"is everyone ready?" Halsey asked the group. Red team was going to stay behind and look after things on their side while blue team would continue through into the armory rift and be transported to the null space carrying all the equipment. Blue team consisted of Fred, Linda, Kelly, Ash, Tom and Lucy. Olivia and the others would stay behind with red team and guard their backs and give them a relay point back out once they retrieved their fallen comrade.
"hold that thought. I need an air check on my suit" Majah asked as she tweaked some controls on her suits air supply. They all had to be fully encased for a vacuum environment for the one minute they would be floating in the armory before the condensers responded to the new equipment and try and crush their atoms to save space.
"scanning now" Fred said as he did a quick poke and prod of her suit's air and diagnostic systems.
"what's wrong Majah?" Halsey asked.
"something's odd, I have a weird compression response happening" she responded as she watched her suit try to respond to an unknown reading.
"that might be the frequency shift from the open rift. It sends most equipment into a reflective state of emergency. I learned that quickly with a sniper scope a long time ago. It shouldn't have much effect" Linda told her.
"if you say so" Majah said as the Spartans surrounded her and Halsey.
"going somewhere without us?" Gad said suddenly as he walked into the bay.
"we're about to cross through the threshold, why?" Majah asked before Halsey told her to be silent.
"Majah, we don't have time for this. That rift is gonna close very soon" Halsey told her sternly.
"but… wait. Hold on, just a few more seconds" Majah asked before jogging up to Gad, Baz coming up behind him, seemingly fully suited for vacuum as both Elite and grunt stood there.
"what's wrong?" she asked.
"we are offering our assistance if you require it. I have a debt to repay the demon you are going to save, as does my lieutenant here" Gad said as he motioned down to Baz. Majah was surprised, she didn't expect Baz to be in such a position to be acknowledged for his voice in the trinity.
"we already have enough assistance, but thank you for the offer" Halsey told them suddenly.
"ma'am, with all due respect, may I speak freely?" Fred asked.
"I don't have a rank Fred, you can ask away" Halsey told him.
"having backup may not be such a bad idea. If Garrett is indeed in a combat zone, in uncharted territory, having someone covering our backs might put us in a good position to retrieve our squad member more efficiently" Fred told her. Majah was stunned at all the new information she was learning. She had known Garrett since she was eighteen, and even now was just finding out he was a part of a greater force. She had learned everything she could about him, and yet now was realizing even she didn't have access to most of his data records, only who he was towards her.
"I understand that, but, do you really want them to assist us?" Halsey asked.
"are you afraid we will turn our backs on you? The trinity and the human race are together now Doctor. Your squad member… is our squad member. Until we know an elite is dead, we will not abandon a lost comrade unless ordered by he himself" Gad told her.
"I doubt Garrett has the authority to do that Commander" Fred said as he remembered his field promotion Kurt had given him of Lieutenant. He wasn't at the height that John was before him of Master Chief, but he frankly didn't want to fill his position. The shoes were too large to attempt with the legend his friend had become.
"it is not a matter of rank Lieutenant, it is a matter of honor. Even a lowly private has a right to refuse aid and die with honor and dignity and order his squad to abandon him, for the greater good. Even the Arbiter is held by that binding oath. To continue on the march of glorious salvation, those who sacrifice themselves for their kind will have their names honored in stories of legend, their names not lost to time" Gad said, his tone filled with pride.
"as is such, Fred, there is something I need to address with you once we reach touch down" Halsey told him.
"understood. We still don't have an answer to whether they should come though ma'am" Fred asked.
Halsey stared at both the grunt and elite standing there, waiting.
"if they want to help, I can't think of a reason to stop them from doing so. Sync your com frequencies to-" Halsey started to say.
"freq is locked and rotating, green blips acknowledged. Welcome to the fold" Fred said as Gad dropped his armor mask fully over his face and sealed it, and checked his ranger suit for flight integrity.
"clear the zone in five, prepping for entrance" Halsey said.
----------------------------------
One minute later
----------------------------------
"what the hell is that?" Jr. asked as he aimed his pistols at the rift.
"I… don't know, Captain was that what you came out of?" Shion asked as she stared at the ripple in the air.
"beats the hell out of me, we were knocked out for our nonstop flight to hell, somehow I don't think that's a teleportation field though": Archerson said as he squinted at the light.
Suddenly multiple forms walked out, and Jr. readied to fight, KOS-MOS materializing her chain gun as T-elos seemed to watch, amused. In walked six Spartans, prepped to rip anything apart that decided to tangle with them, easily more than a match for the ragtag group as they aimed their rifles at Shion's group with jackal shields walling them off from each other. Any projectile sent in their direction wouldn't do more than ping off the reflective circular shields each green armored warrior held on their arms.
"whoa, it's like a group of… Garretts… are those his squad?" Jr. asked.
"sort of. Those are pretty much his brothers and sisters. I'd suggest you put down your weapons guys, I seriously doubt you'd be able to handle them prepared like that" Archerson said as Helden whistled as the other marines stared. They'd never seen so many Spartans in one place at one time.
Majah suddenly stumbled forward with Halsey, Gad and Baz following behind as the rift closed.
Majah collapsed on the ground, pulling off her helmet and vomiting on the ground.
"guess the suit really was acting up" Fred mumbled on a secure channel to the other Spartans.
Halsey kneeled and helped Majah up, handing her a handkerchief she was carrying to wipe away the spittle on her mouth.
"Ma'am, we have company" Fred said he motioned towards the people twenty feet away from them in the AMWS bay.
There was a long pause and silence filled the air before Archerson walked forward.
"I'm Captain Archerson of the 105th ODST Strike Recon squadron, the one your Spartan 003 is connected to. I take it you're here cause of our distress signal?" the Captain said as he stared at the six visored soldiers aiming their rifles at them.
"stand down" Fred said slowly as he realized they were ODSTs, and all Spartans suddenly were at ease.
"where is our injured Soldier Captain" Halsey said behind Fred and walked around him.
"ma'am, I don't really know how to tell you this, but-" Archerson tried to explain.
"his life signs are almost crashing but frozen somehow, he's in the other room it looks like" Majah said as she stared at a readout on her left arm.
"how the-" Michaels said as he noticed the medic armor on her.
Spartans escorted Majah and Halsey into the next room, Shion still wondering what was going on.
"dear god…" Halsey whispered as Majah gasped. Garrett was lain on the cot, his hand frozen stretched out with his blade still in hand, his rifle still firing in the other as both Revenants were broken away and set aside, the blade still fully active even in the time warped state.
Majah ran straight to him and fell to her knees, touching at the holes the revenants had made in his armor, pulling back each time almost as if they had burned her.
"what did they do to him…" Majah whispered, her eyes watering.
"ma'am, we have some stuff to talk about if you want to" Archerson said.
"yes Captain, I believe now would be the time to give us a full briefing on just exactly what the hell went on here" Halsey said as she placed some glasses on her nose ridge.
------------------------------
Three hours later
------------------------------
"so that's what happened" Archerson told them. The Spartans looked eerie, all of them standing behind the two women as they sat, reading through all the data. Gad and Baz stood against the wall, watching the whole thing, and it wasn't like they wished to be apart of most of it. Almost everyone there besides the group they came with were staring at them.
"they look like gnosis almost" Jr. whispered.
"especially the little one over there, how is it they won't attack us?" Allen whispered back.
"I dunno, maybe they tamed them or something?" Jr. said.
"we were not tamed little human, don't presume to think an elite can be controlled except by our binding honor and upholding our family name. we live for battle, something you could not possibly understand" Gad growled, hearing the entire conversation. Both men jumped at finding out they were heard, and T-elos again was amused at seeing them look afraid at the huge alien.
"unfortunately, we don't know how to get him out of the field" Magen said as Halsey finished reading the data they had compiled.
"we might have the coordinate data to unphase him out of that stasis" Halsey said.
"you do?!" Shion exclaimed.
"yes Shion Uzuki, I may, however, it isn't exactly some simple process, I'll have to take a look at the machine that did this" Halsey said as she looked up from the pad she was staring at.
"but if you know the coordinates to get him out, why not just do it?" Shion asked.
"that's the exact same thing as playing with dynamite. If I don't know anything about what the machine can do then I cannot do anything to undo it. I said I may have the coordinate data yes, from Onyx, however it does little to change the current situation here if I do not know anything about unknown technology we have not encountered before. Simply flipping a switch and hoping for the best with the data we have effectively says you want Garrett to be torn apart or disintegrated molecule by molecule, or completely sent into another dimension of existence. Use your head. You above everyone here should realize the risks that are involved with this type of unknown, considering your work on that KOS-MOS unit there" Halsey said.
"How did you… how did you know about that?" Shion stuttered as she looked at KOS-MOS shocked then back at Halsey.
"Athena didn't send me back just a request for assistance, she downloaded most of your ship's database through the com bandwidth. Think, would we really come without knowing who our allies and enemies on this side would be?" Halsey countered with her own question, pushing her glasses up her nose and staring sternly at Shion.
Both women were squared off, and by the looks of it Halsey was easily outmatching the young woman.
"guys, with all due respect, this shouldn't be a pissing contest, we really should get some effort put in on how to figure out the stasis chamber" Wilson suddenly said.
"agreed. Majah, help their technician extract any data from the stasis field generator and compile a systems listing of commands. I'll translate afterwards once you've gained the data" Halsey ordered.
"is there anything we can do?" Shion asked.
"stay out of their way" Archerson suddenly said sternly, and she looked up to find he wasn't meeting eyes with her, and realized her predicament. Her group was outmatched in this field of experience, Halsey having more interaction with forerunner technology, language and effects, not to mention had the resources at the moment to do what she wished.
"Archerson, have your team stay at range for the testing of the machinery, I don't want anyone having an unknown reaction should Majah and Wilson activate a trip line" Halsey told him.
"understood ma'am" Archerson responded.
"Wait, if something goes wrong? What about your two techs near it?" Shion asked, motioning towards Wilson and Majah.
"they know the risks" Halsey said, annoyed.
"enough talk, let's get this done and help our Spartan. I'll prep the medical pad" Halsey told everyone and got up, seemingly dismissing the meeting with those words.
"how can that woman be so arrogant…" Shion started to mumble as KOS-MOS came up next to her.
"Shion" Archerson said behind her as everyone filed out of the room.
"what?" Shion asked as she turned around.
"do yourself a favor. Don't butt heads with her. She's trying to save someone who shouldn't need saving, has never needed this much extensive medical work on in the past and frankly in the past week we've gone from a fully suited Super Soldier to a time compressed life support vegetable. And all while being on this ship. Her beliefs that you can handle things are a little low right now, given the fact Garrett just went through hell to cover our backs" Archerson told her.
"he was trying to save KOS-MOS!" Shion yelled.
"and that cost him. Shion, we aren't just fighting on one front anymore, we have the covenant and Albert as well as some very disgruntled colonists landing all over the place on this planet. There's no stable government for light years except back through the rift the Doctor just came from, and that rift for all we know is a one way ticket this way. There's gnosis rampaging throughout the world, we're counting down to doomsday and we have no actual tactical LZ point we can land on that isn't a down right hot zone for the next week. We're running out of resources and frankly running out of options as well. Let her do what she does best, and realize you're outclassed. She's just trying to protect her super children" Archerson told defiantly.
Shion was silent as she stared at Archerson after his rant, before he sighed and walked out. She sat down as KOS-MOS tried to comfort her.
"just because someone thinks they know best doesn't mean they do. I'm tired of everyone telling me to stay out of things and go about a boring life. We know Garrett now too, he's our friend as well, right?" Shion asked KOS-MOS.
"Shion, we have known these people for a short time. They've defended us, laughed with us, worked with us, they've done everything they can for us so far. They've gained nothing, not even a shred of hope of going back to their home yet, and now they've lost one of their most valuable people to a powerful enemy. Now I believe it is time to give them that hope, help them as they helped us" Mirie told her as Shion looked depressed. She looked to KOS-MOS for assistance, who nodded in agreement.
"oh please, once we've helped them they'll return through that rift and never come back. With the number of enemies we have at the moment, you would expect them to not turn tail and run? Humanity has always been pathetic that way" T-elos commented in the corner, staring out at the stars through a window.
"T-elos, our humanity may be weak and pitiful, we may have reached our end and some have lost hope, to become gnosis and lash out at others, but their humanity, their people, even in the face of impossible odds, against the Covenant, they've fought on, to survive. I've learned much about their history from Magen, and she has told me of the horrors they have witnessed and felt throughout the years. I, for one, believe they are honorable, strong, and indeed worthy allies, worthy of being called friends" Mirie replied.
"you're right. We need to find a way to help them get Garrett out of there. I'll… try my best not to step on anyone's toes" Shion sighed.
"do not worry Shion, the stress on this ship is widespread. I do not believe you will have to worry once we have saved Garrett" Mirie told her and smiled.
"thank you Mirie. Let's go see what their doing and see if we can be of any assistance" Shion said.
---------------------------------
Four Hours later
---------------------------------
"so the red crystal goes in this socket?" Wilson said with his head pushed into a cubby hole of the stasis generator.
"I don't think so, the socket is pulsing with a diametric positive feedback loop. I think we'd overload the ignition pods" Majah said as she typed away at her portable mainframe as she tested different plug points on the machine with power prods.
"hmmm, that looks interesting…" Wilson suddenly said.
"what does?" Majah asked as she blew her baings out of her eyes again.
"there's a forward power inversion control in here. Can you get a reading on the thing Athena?" Wilson asked.
"it's hard to pinpoint, but there's definitely a control reaction grid there. Gimme a few seconds" Athena said as she floated over her holographic matrix pod.
"um, Athena…" Wilson suddenly said as certain pieces of equipment started to turn on inside the generator near his head.
"don't worry, I'm diverting the power to the grounding generator we hooked up, you shouldn't have anything happening" Athena warned him.
"yeah, how many times have I heard that one before from mine technicians…" Wilson groaned as he remembered memories of him running through a "deactivated" exploding plasma mine field.
"oh… my… god…" Majah suddenly blurted out as Athena started to download huge amounts of conversion data onto her laptop.
"what?" Wilson wiggled out quickly and ran to her side as she stared at the screen in surprise.
"this is… am I really looking at… Athena, what is this?!" Majah yelped out.
"forerunner data logs, activation routines and subroutines, defensive grid outlines, power emissions and feedback data. Some of it is junk, dead code from such long exposure to time and no maintenance, but that's most of it" Athena told them as she reappeared over her matrix pad and flitted around.
"Wilson, get me another hard drive! It's still coming in!" Majah yelled out as she checked her laptop's carriage, the drives reaching full limit and inserting two data crystals into the side to attempt to slow the download.
"transfer it to the server, I'll throw some more blades in" Wilson said as he ran to the base camp and unlatched a case of data blades, each with over one hundred data crystals layered out on each side and slid them into the server.
"Majah to Halsey! I think we just hit the mother load of forerunner data, and untouched by Covenant to boot!"
-----------------------------
One hour later
-----------------------------
"is there anything we can use?" Allen asked.
"how the hell should we know? Ask the docs there" Archerson responded as Allen backed away.
"alright, just tweak this here and-" Momo mumbled to herself as the generators started to whine to life inside the stasis containment unit.
"it works!" she squealed in delight, everyone sighing in relief.
"how did you figure it out?" Majah asked.
"the data logs were in forerunner, mostly compressed tech data on running emissions and power diversion, nothing really useful, but there was a log hidden BEHIND those logs that gave every single control algorithm used to tell the machine what to do. All we had to do was translate the information into something we could read, with Halsey helping with that, and type out a new code to reverse the effects, and insert it into the machine. It knows English now!" Momo beamed as she readied to activate the machine.
"Wait!" Halsey told her.
"huh?" Momo asked in confusion.
"first of all, Garrett hasn't been placed on the machine yet, you may be wasting the last available energy the thing has before we can actually put it to effect, and second, for all we know it could release the revenants out of stasis at the same time. Add on the fact we are not fully set up yet in the medical bay to receive a fully armored Spartan, nor the available transportation up to the medical bay yet, and you want to turn it on to see if it works. Momo, please. keep it simple for the time being" Halsey scolded her.
"uh… wha… er…" Momo tried to speak, but then realized it would just dig her a bigger hole, so she remained silent.
"now, give us some time to prepare for our outgoing traveler. Fred, I want all Spartans ready to open up on those things should the stasis field revert them back as well. Michaels, help me get the medical bay prepped for surgical emergency. I want that place set up for a code blue. Majah, you're with me. Wilson, stay here and monitor the power emissions, let us know if they start dropping. Everyone else, stay clear of us and this room. I'm worried with the little maintenance the stasis unit has received may give off unwanted radiation or chemical effects we don't yet know about. Wilson, get a hazmat suit and get that thing moved to the airlock. When Garrett is brought back to our time, if it starts going wonky I want it shock dropped" Halsey ordered. The marines acknowledged and Spartans winked green on her glasses.
"I… I didn't mean to…" Momo mumbled sadly as if she did something wrong.
"it's ok Momo, don't worry about it. Thank you for the help though on the translation process. Your transport column research really helped on the stasis leveling energy transfer readout" Majah told her and smiled. Momo sighed in relief
"is there anything we can do?" KOS-MOS asked.
"do you have any medical experience?" Halsey asked.
"before I was… I… I was trained in emergency medical" KOS-MOS replied, trying to find the words.
"on field or off?" Majah suddenly asked, much more confident in her abilities now.
"on" KOS-MOS told her.
"that does little to help us here. Just help Michaels with the prep, then your out of the way" Halsey said as both ladies walked to the elevator and floated up.
"I… I want to help…" KOS-MOS whispered as Shion stared at her.
"we've tried KOS-MOS. I guess the best thing is to wait and hope he makes it through. We'll be waiting for him once he's safe and well, won't we KOS-MOS" Shion hugged her friend.
"yes. Yes we will" KOS-MOS replied, smiling. She had so much she wanted to tell the wounded Spartan, especially about her heart.
---------------------------
Six hours later
---------------------------
"we're good to go" Michaels told them.
"KOS-MOS. Out. Now" Halsey ordered as KOS-MOS put down the last syringe on the table. KOS-MOS nodded solemnly and walked out, waiting with the others in the restaurant.
"converting in five" Wilson reported in as the Spartans watched the revenants in the corner, contorted in ripped pieces as they aimed multiple Lasers and rocket launchers at the frozen machines. Archerson had aimed the turret of the Scorpion directly into the corner, ready to assist if necessary as he watched out of his orange helmeted hazmat suit.
"popping the bubble in three, two, one" Wilson sounded out as he dropped the power and activated the machine, Garrett propped inside the field deflector cups.
"it's working!" Wilson said as he reported up to Halsey.
"elevator primed?" Halsey asked.
"release locks for emergency lift have been primed, it'll reach our floor in less than six seconds" Majah said.
"he's warm… he's dropped! No revenant's functional! Get that man to the evac lift now!" Archerson roared out to the Spartans as they ran to pick up Garrett, collapsed on the ground and rush him to the elevator.
-------------------------
Eight hours later
--------------------------
"any word from the medical bay yet?" Allen asked.
"you just asked that five minutes ago, nothing yet again. They're still working on him" Magen told them.
"he must really be messed up" Helden mumbled.
"Helden, you have no idea" Ash said as he leaned against the wall, his Caduceus helmet off and left on the counter of the bar. The whole room was silent, waiting.
"maybe we could-" Jr. was about to speak as everyone stared at him.
"don't even think it. If we walk in to see how their doing it could kill him if we distract them. They'll come when they come" Archerson said coldly in the corner as he waited.
Halsey walked in suddenly, slowly, and looked like she had been run over by a truck. She was covered in blood, her medical smocks changing partways from blue to purple to red, and removed her mask.
"how is he?" Fred asked as they crowded around her.
"we'll have to wait and see. He's stable, for now. We had to do a lot of work on him. The revenant produces a neuro toxin that directly interrupts the regenerating effects of his cells. Considering his brain has to actually send the signals subconsciously to get his cells to heal so fast and close up wounds, this numbs that sense of thought processing, making us have to rely on standard surgical procedures. A normal human being would have died the instant the stasis field dropped. Thankfully, however, Garrett is far from normal" Halsey explained.
"so, can we see him?" Shion asked.
"I don't want anyone in there besides me, Majah and Michaels for the next twenty four hours for observation. It's critical he get some rest and flood the neuro toxin out of his system" Halsey told them before nodding and turning around.
"no one can see him?" KOS-MOS asked almost in a whisper.
"no one. I'll tell you all once we think he can have visitors" Halsey told her.
"alright…" KOS-MOS sighed sadly.
Halsey left the room and everyone followed, going towards quarters and other rooms for the rest of the day.
"it's alright KOS-MOS, you'll be able to see him later" Shion whispered and hugged her friend over her shoulder.
"there is so much I want to tell him" she whispered back.
"and he'll want to know it too" Mirie smiled.
"fool…" T-elos snickered as she walked out.
"if being in love is being foolish, then yes, I am a fool" KOS-MOS replied sternly.
"you are only opening yourself to unnecessary pain" T-elos mocked her.
"if he feels the same for me, then it will be far from pain T-elos!" KOS-MOS yelled back.
"he? Feel love for you? Oh that is rich. Please, I'm practically dying of laughter here! The only person who felt anything towards you was that psychotic pre pubescent governor, and even he was out of his mind to do so. Oh that was a good joke there KOS-MOS. Very funny indeed" T-elos let out a bark of laughter. KOS-MOS narrowed her eyes and stared coldly at her.
"just watch and wait" she said sternly.
"it is your loss, not mine. Do not say I didn't warn you" T-elos suddenly became serious and walked out.
"don't worry KOS-MOS, you'll show her. Just wait. You'll be able to walk in there and tell him. Ok?" Shion rubbed her friend's shoulder as KOS-MOS stared at the door.
"Right" KOS-MOS said slowly as she forced herself to wait.
-----------------------------
One day past
-----------------------------
"is he ok? How is he doing?" Shion asked as everyone crowded around after breakfast. The previous day had gone by at a snail's pace, and few words were exchanged between anyone. The Elsa had become escorted by federation ships entering the atmosphere and gaining control over the area, but otherwise nothing had happened.
"I think it will be alright for one person to go see him, one at a time. I don't want him to be overwhelmed until his body has fully healed, which it is doing at an amazing rate. Majah is checking on him now" Halsey explained.
"KOS-MOS, you go see him first ok?" Shion told her friend, and she nodded.
--------------------------
Meanwhile
--------------------------
Garrett woke up slowly, trying his best to realign his sense of sight as the world floated around him. He noticed a figure nearby looming over him, and he tensed to find straps keeping his arms down.
"hey there big guy. You gave us quite a scare for a bit there. We were worried about you" Majah said softly, smiling down at him as her hair flowed down from her shoulder and onto the bed. She was still wearing her medical suit, the body hugging armor covering vital areas, the rest protected by a catsuit underskin.
"er em I" Garrett mumbled out.
"onboard the Elsa. Do you remember the fight before big guy? Don't talk, don't push yourself. It's ok" Majah asked him softly, the lights around him dim to keep his eyes from being strained. He was about to nod, but remembered the little way of saying yes and no to her when he couldn't speak. She put her hand in his and let him squeeze, twice, to say yes. she undid the straps and let his hand out of their braces, and he flexed slightly before wincing.
"easy now, you're still weak from the surgery, don't push it" she said as she touched his arm and made him relax.
"good. You're probably wondering how I got here. Don't think too hard, I'll explain everything later. You need to just recuperate. Halsey said it should take a few more days in one of our stasis pods, a human one this time. No worries, it's not going to freeze you for now, it'll just put you in an R-gel and accelerate your cell regrowth until you can do it on your own again" Majah explained.
Garrett tapped his thumb on her wrist three times to tell her he understood.
"I need to do a quick checkup on you before the others come in to see you" she said as she picked up her med glove and softly poked and prodded his body, checking on his dermo scan and registering his blood pressure. She stopped suddenly as she poked at his neck and jaw, running the back of her hand against the stubble of newly growing facial hair.
"I missed you big guy. Don't scare me like this again alright? No more stupid stunts ok? I think you've already used up most of your nine lives, save one at least for me" she smiled at him as tears welled up in her eyes. He squeezed her hand again, twice.
"I'll try my best Certs, no promises though in this line of work" he whispered. She laughed softly as she sniffled and tried to wipe away the building tears.
"you know how much I hate that nickname" she said as she slowly raised him to a sitting position to check his back and muscles. He winced slightly, his body still not healed fully and acted like a decrepit old man. All of his training wasn't working as his body just didn't respond as well as he wanted it to, and he was annoyed at himself for it. Garrett winced again as his center of gravity made him tilt towards her, and she pressed her shoulder in to prop him up. He stabilized himself somewhat, but she was far closer now than before, her head almost leaning against his shoulder.
There was an awkward silence as they stared into each other's eyes, before Majah pushed her head under his chin and nuzzled slightly. Garrett could smell her scent, lavender and a hint of rosewater, and it was intoxicating. He did nothing, didn't put his arm around her, didn't return the nuzzle in anyway, simply stayed frozen as he searched desperately to figure out how to not destroy the situation. Both sat there, Majah wanting him to put his arms around her, and he just sitting there. He didn't know what to do.
"it's ok if you don't know what to say. I… I know… ok? Words don't explain things very well between us. They never did. So don't say anything. Just squeeze my hand back" Majah whispered softly to him as she squeezed his hand twice. He sat there, close to her, a huge hulk of a man with the raven haired beauty holding onto him. He squeezed her hand, and she smiled.
She pulled away slightly and looked into his eyes, and he felt awkward. He winced slightly as she pressed against a surgical dressing accidentally, and she recoiled as if she had hurt him. She moved her med glove over the dressing and sighed in relief, then looked up at him and smiled.
"built like a tank, as always. That's just one of the micro packet incision points" Majah whispered as she sighed in relief and held his hand in hers.
She looked over towards the door as it opened, flooding bright light from the outside into the dimly lit med bay. KOS-MOS walked in and stopped suddenly, staring straight at both of them. Her mouth slowly dropped and she brought her hand up to her heart, and Garrett could almost sense her aura changing, a feeling of… jealousy?
"your med tag shows yellow, you're sound and clear big guy. Don't talk too long, you need to rest. I'll be back in an hour" Majah said smiling to him softly and rubbed his shoulder slightly, the one of the few parts of his body that weren't injured.
"shouldn't you get some sleep though? I should be fine if you tell Halsey or Michaels" Garrett said to her as KOS-MOS watched.
"always looking out for me. Same old same old. Don't worry, I'll be back later. Trust me" Majah winked and got up, her own center of balance slightly off as she tried to hide her fatigue.
"thirty two" Garrett suddenly said.
"close. Thirty six" Majah said with her back turned and smirked.
"I'm not going anywhere. Check up on me tomorrow morning. You need more rest than I do with that many hours" Garrett told her.
"what, you don't wanna see me again?" she said over her shoulder and faked a pout.
"Majah. Go to sleep. I'll be fine" Garrett said.
"always stubborn. I still can't break that out of you. Fine, Halsey and Michaels will be in in one hour to put you to bed" Majah said as she looked at him over her shoulder. Even in the medical suit she still looked mystifying in the dim light, her eyes bright despite the fatigue showing.
"good night Certs" Garrett smiled weakly towards her as she smiled back. She walked out of the room and nodded to KOS-MOS, who still stood there even when the door closed.
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((Madonna, "You Must Love Me"))
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"good evening KOS-MOS. I trust our mission was accomplished in rescuing you successfully" Garrett said weakly, laying back down in the medical bed. KOS-MOS just stared at him, and through the dim light he could see her eyes welling up in tears. She took a step forward, checked the motion, and looked at the wall, downcast and depressed.
"is something wrong KOS-MOS?" Garrett asked.
"Garrett… I…" KOS-MOS started to say, then became silent.
"what's going on? What happened?" Garrett asked and winced as he spoke too much. She suddenly looked towards him from the wince and took a step towards him, worried.
"I… I'm glad you are ok. We were worried about you" she told him, and shoved her feelings aside.
"why are you crying?" Garrett asked her.
"I'm… happy you are alright. That's all" she lied. She tried to smile to keep up the lie, but he could tell something was up.
"I am alive if that's what you are referring to. Is everyone else alright? Did everyone else make it out without injury?" Garrett asked before wincing again.
"please, everyone is just fine, thanks to you. I will let you rest, you shouldn't talk anymore in this condition it seems. Please, sleep well" KOS-MOS told him.
"are you sure you don't have something to say?" Garrett asked.
"I am fine, really. We are all just worried about you that is all. We will see you in the morning. Good night, Garrett" KOS-MOS said as she suddenly turned around and walked briskly to the door, her eyes filling with tears as she left the room.
"KOS-MOS, how did he-" Shion tried to ask as KOS-MOS walked right by her and entered the women's quarters.
"something's wrong" Mirie said over her shoulder as both women went into the cabin as well.
"can we see him though?" Jr. asked.
"only one tonight, you can see him in the morning" Michaels told them.
"but why? KOS-MOS got to see him" Allen asked.
"boy, we docs are only googly towards hot chicks and old ladies, and you're neither. You can see him in the morning" Michaels told him annoyed.
"fine… hey, wait! Does that mean KOS-MOS was let in cause of-" Allen tried to say.
"I'm sayin get the heck away from that med door! We got a patient who needs his rest and I don't want no darned pests pickin on him while he's gettin his body to work right again! Now move!" Michaels barked in his texas accent as he ordered them to leave.
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Meanwhile
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"KOS-MOS?" Shion asked softly.
KOS-MOS was sitting on the couch, crying before trying to hide her face from her friend.
"KOS-MOS, you're crying. What's wrong?" Shion asked her as she sat down, putting her hand on the blue haired woman's shoulder.
"he doesn't feel the same way. He cares about Majah" KOS-MOS told her.
"oh… well, how do you know that? Did he tell you that?" Shion asked.
"no…" she whispered.
"then, how do you know he doesn't care about you the same way?" Mirie asked.
"because I know!" KOS-MOS snapped at both of them, her eyes red staring at the two ladies before realizing what she did and looked away.
"I could tell… when I saw them… T-elos was right… I am a fool…" KOS-MOS sat depressed as Shion tried to comfort her.
"hey, maybe they're just… close friends… maybe. You never know" Shion tried to think of other reasons.
"he loves her, she loves him. Why didn't I think he would have someone back home… I thought Archerson had said the military was his family. Why didn't I think of that! Why!" KOS-MOS blurted out, asking the air and both ladies for answers.
"KOS-MOS, please calm down. Everything will be alright. No one could have known" Mirie tried to soothe her.
"Everything cannot be alright… it would have never been alright, why did I even think it would be alright… how could I even think he would care… about me…" KOS-MOS mumbled to herself sadly.
"KOS-MOS, he struggled to defend you on Albert's ship, he must hold you in high regards over his own life. That must stand for something" Shion told her.
"he is a Spartan. He protects. That is what he does. He would do the same for her, even more so for her. She has more than his life… she has his heart…" KOS-MOS breathed out, still crying.
"KOS-MOS…" Shion whispered.
"I love him Shion. But he doesn't love me" KOS-MOS told her and looked up at her friend. Shion was silent. She hugged her blue haired friend close and tried to soothe her as Mirie sat opposite, trying to help where she could.
"we should get some rest, you'll feel better in the morning KOS-MOS" Shion told her.
"how can I sleep? Why would I sleep?" KOS-MOS asked.
"we are all tired KOS-MOS. Don't worry, everything will be clear in the morning. You need rest. We all do. You will feel much better once you have slept" Mirie told her. KOS-MOS looked to Shion for guidance, and she nodded in agreement.
"alright" KOS-MOS said and all of them got up to get ready for bed. Majah and Halsey walked in and both got ready to go to sleep as well.
"I swear, those revenants are vicious. The equipment on them to rend those holes in the caduceus are just horrifying. Halsey, we have to figure out a way to counter those" Majah continued a conversation with Halsey as both got into bed, Shion and Mirie watching them.
"the Mjolnir should offer a very different approach to the fight than the caduceus. Just wait and see" Halsey told her.
"hey, KOS-MOS, thank you for helping Michaels out with setting up the medical bed. I was too busy setting up the biofoam packets and microbe injection tubes to work on it. I appreciate the help" Majah told her.
No response came from KOS-MOS as she lay staring at the wall.
"uh, er, maybe she's already asleep?" Majah asked Shion.
"uh, don't worry about it, I'm sure she'd say you're welcome" Shion.
"oh. Ok, then, good night" Majah said as she lay down and the lights slowly dimmed out.
KOS-MOS rolled over slightly and stared at the form of Majah's body laying on her bed, prone and falling asleep. Beforehand she was kind and considerate to the raven haired woman, now only spite and jealousy replaced the feeling of cooperation. She couldn't understand what Garrett saw in her. Yes she was beautiful, and smart, but KOS-MOS was also considered fairly stunning by more than a few men, and she thought as fast as most super computers from the lasting effects of the transfer Mirie had for her from circuits to flesh and bone.
KOS-MOS narrowed her eyes as she stared at Majah, silently sleeping, looking innocent.
She loathed her now, hated the fact she was the reason for her heart feeling so much pain. KOS-MOS drifted off to sleep after trying desperately to think of other things, but one thing kept creeping into her mind that she tried to shove out, never wanting to sink low enough to physically harm the other woman.