Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Halo universe, which is the property of Bungie Studios.
However, originial characters belong to me.
Note: To people who don't like the story, PLEASE DO NOT READ THE FAN FIC AND LEAVE.
Chapter 18 Lost and Found
N'kev woke up, and blinked as the light hit his face. He sat up and he looked around. He noticed he was now in a medical room. The last thing he could remember was that he fell asleep on a pelican with Zen Black on a stretcher, Nira (he only knew her first name) and Stahn Zeban resting on the seat; and had Jess under his arms.
'Jess!' he immediately remembered. He looked around and to his relief she was sleeping on a bed next to his. He sighed in his relief. It was really hard for him to lose her since she was the only person that comes close to him as family. N'kev tried his best to avoid breaking down to crying as a flood of memory filled his head as he remembered his and her parents.
He immediately looked up as he heard the door hiss and slid open. It revealed a man, wearing a blue top and jeans. He smiled as he saw N'kev.
"Oh, you're awake." N'kev tried his best to put a name on the man, who undoubtedly knew him.
"You may not know me but I'm Zen Black. I'm the man behind the helmet." Zen said. Zen approached the elite child sat next to him on the bed. His expression immediately changed from warming to serious.
"N'kev I need to ask you a question. Who and where are your parents?" N'kev winced as heard Zen asked this question.
"Don't bother trying to find them." he said weakly.
"Why?" Zen asked confused.
"They're…-"he sniffed"-…dead." he said in a monotone voice.
Zen immediately felt pity for the child. He could now vaguely understand why N'kev was close to Jessica. He wasn't sure about his theory but it seemed plausible. He felt quite bad for the children to lose their parents; it always hard to lose parents especially at their age when they are so vulnerable.
"I'm…sorry." said Zen reached a hand around and placed a comforting hand on N'kev's right shoulder.
"I might as well tell you the story." said N'kev. Zen nodded.
"We boarded a phantom just in time to escape High Charity as the Great Schism happened. We managed to find a planet that was accepting civilians and we landed there."
"Since shelter was practically limited I and my father had to share a tent with another fellow survivor. Obviously it would be Jess's family. Her family was in the same situation as ours. She didn't have a father because he died while on the military. My mother died on High Charity, killed by a brute while we tried to escape." said N'kev.
"The next day passed and that was when they…arrived. We all thought they were Sangheilis that will help us but when we saw the brutes, we immediately thought otherwise. The moment they beamed down the gravity lift. They immediately shot the Humans that were going to meet them."
"It was all chaos; shots were exchanged amongst the 2 parties. In the end they took over the camp and we all became somewhat hostages. They threatened us that if we were to try anything odd, they'll kill us. Others defied this and we saw them murder them. The hours passed and my father and Jess's mother, seemed to talk often among themselves."
"Since my father was always busy with…things along with Jess's mother; I and Jess were practically left alone. During these times we became close friends and even reached the point that we treated each other like brother and sister. Little did we know that my father and Jess's mother were planning something that will inevitably get them...-" N'kev gulped "-killed."
"It was about at dawn when they told us about there plans. We both tried to stop them but they only assured as that they were going to be all right. Jess's mother made me promise that I take care of Jess if anything were to go wrong. They stepped out of the tent and made their way. A few moments later we heard the sounds of a firefight."
"We tried our best to drone it out but kept ringing in our ears. A few moments it faded off and we heard someone approaching the tent. We thought it was our parents but instead it was Brute. We were surprised as it asked as our names. It gave a malicious smile as we gave our names; then out of the blue it grabbed us by our necks and carried us to a big cage. He slammed us to the ground, which hurt a lot."
"After I got up, I noticed that there was someone else in there with us. The two of us rushed to their side as we saw it was our parents. I tried to wake them up and then the realization hit us hard, the same way we hit the floor earlier. I checked their pulses and was devastated. They were dead. Apparently they died from plasma fire. We sobbed for who knows how long. Jess cried longest."
"But our hopes flickered as we overheard some of the brutes talking that our parents succeeded in their mission. Their mission was to send an SOS signal to the UNSC to tell them the Loyalists have captured the camp. But it quickly dropped down as we also heard them say that they were going to execute for who knows the reason why."
"We had to escape and we managed to. Apparently the bars of the cage weren't really that thick and were oddly spaced to the point we could easily squeeze through if we were to try. And that's what we exactly did. We ran for our lives as we were chased by the brutes. Then we hid in the building and then that's were you came in Zen." said N'kev looking at Zen with his silver eyes.
Zen sighed. He felt really sorry to the child which had lost their parents. So it was really their parents that called for help. If they hadn't well… Worse could have happen. N'kev rested leaned on to him, resting his head on his chest. This is the point where Zen began to worry; the kid was becoming attached to him. It was fine for the child to snuggle to a parent or a sibling, but he wasn't anyone of them.
He was just some guy that rescued 2 kids from certain death. But a part of him felt he was given a responsibility to help these 2 kids; as they have already lost their parents. But the other part of him, that this was wrong. He was allowing a child to snuggle up to him and he wasn't even doing anything. But it was clearly undeniable that he loved them both and wanted to take care of them. Zen smiled at the thought of him adopting children even though he was just an 18 year old… that…had…a…consort.
The thought hit Zen so hard it felt like he was slapped. Of course; he said it himself both them and Nira agreed that they'll just adopt kids. And the perfect opportunity was right in front of them. He was so deep in his thoughts he didn't realize that Jess had stirred on the bed and was rubbing her eye.
"N'kev?" she asked her voice a little slurred.
"Right here, Jess." she turned and smiled as she noticed Zen.
"Hello." said Zen smiling.
"You must be that guy who saved us?" she asked.
"Yeah." replied Zen. Jess climbed out of bed and approached Zen. To his surprise she sat on the bed and hugged him.
"Thank you for saving us mister." Zen was shocked but nonetheless laid a comforting hand on her back.
"Zen by any chance do you know what will happen to us?" asked N'kev.
"I don't know. But I think you two will end up in an adoption house." Jess and N'kev shuddered.
"Please Zen, don't leave us there." pleaded Jess.
"Well… Do you know any living relatives then?" the 2 shook their head somberly. Zen sighed. He couldn't see any more option other than him taking care of them. 'I hope they would accept Me.' he thought to himself.
"Well…" he paused still doubting his thoughts then he continued, "Since I love you both as if you were my own children, (this sounded so wrong coming out of Zen's mouth since he still hadn't had children of his own. This would be his first) would you mind if I were the one to take care of you?" The other took look surprised at this. They looked at one another then back to Zen.
"Really, would you do that?" they both asked simultaneously. Zen was surprised at their enthusiasm,
"Well…yeah, of course if you don't want to…-"But the two quickly embraced Zen tightly and said,
"No! We would love you to care of us." Zen was filled with joy as they said this. He embraced them back and then let go.
"Ok…You 2 get some rest." the 2 nodded, Jess went back to her bed.
Zen stood up and went to the doorway. He opened in, stepped outside, and sighed. He sighed at the thought that he was going to become a parent.
He chuckled lightly to himself and felt he did something good for society. He was giving a second chance for those who lost someone dearly to them which were, N'kev and Jessica; and at the same time he was giving them something they both had lost, a father. He started walking down the hall, heading towards the cafeteria knowing the gang would be there along with Nira. They needed to talk.
* * * * *
Zen walked into the doors of the cafeteria and looked around. He was searching for the Nira in which he had found her sitting at a table talking to Stahn. Zen approached the table and noticed they were playing chess. It appeared that Nira was winning, she still had 2 rooks, one bishop her queen 3 pawns and knight. Stahn on the other hand was left with 4 pawns, 2 bishops, 2 knights but he had no queen and no more rooks.
"Um… excuse me Stahn, Nira I need to talk to you." said Zen. Stahn didn't pay him attention, he was still thinking of a strategy. Nira turned to him,
"Ok, what is it?"
"I need to you, privately." said Zen.
"Oh… Ok." said Nira. "Stahn, lets continue this next time. K?" Stahn exhaled,
"Ok." and then he scattered the pieces and started putting them back in the box.
"C'mon lets talk somewhere, alone." said Zen. He grabbed Nira's arm and dragger her out of the cafeteria. Zen dragged her out into the hallway, and into a nearby door. It was a storage closet. Zen shut the door behind him and opened the lights.
The room was filled with mostly cleaning supplies and a couple of shelves with boxes. The room was small so they cramped and their bodies were only a few inches from touching.
"This is comfy." said Nira with a grin. Zen stared at her seriously. She wiped the grin of her face.
"Nira, I have to tell you something." said Zen seriously.
"Ok, what is it?" asked Nira. Zen bit his lip; he didn't know how to break it to Nira that he found the perfect kids to adopt. He opened his mouth but only to close it again. Sensing Zen's problem Nira asked with an eyebrow raised,
"It's about the adoption thing isn't it?" Zen looked at her surprised.
"How did you know?" asked Zen.
"I overheard you talking with N'kev earlier." said Nira honestly.
"Oh… So you heard everything?"
"Yes."
"So?" Zen asked.
"Yes, Zen yes, I approve of us adopting them. I feel bad for the children already losing their parents. And I always wanted to have children." Zen nodded.
"Zen I also saw how N'kev was close to you… It appears he has gotten a shine for you. I and Jess are the same. I managed to talk to her earlier the day. She actually told me that if she were to have a mom again it would be me."
"Wow how sweet, you must be a really good mom figure then." said Zen grinning mischievously.
"You're not so bad yourself." said Nira suggestively and softly leaning close to Zen, so that he could feel her breath.
* * * * * * *
"Hey Stahn, Watcha doing?" asked Z'jo as he approached along with Zide.
"Nothing." said Stahn.
"Hey there boys, what are you all up to?" asked Thel as he came from behind Stahn.
"Nothing." said all them simultaneously.
"Hey guys, have you seen Zen?" asked Johnson as he came from behind Thel.
"Yeah, he's with Nira." said Stahn dull tone.
"Do you know where they are?" asked Johnson.
"I don't know, down the hallway I think. Nira and I were playing chess earlier when Zen came and told Nira they needed to talk privately." answered Stahn.
"Down the hallway…?" said Johnson trailing off. His facial expression changed and was replaced by a mischievous grin.
"Why are you smiling?" asked Thel, Z'jo, Zide and Stahn curiously.
"Let's just say I think I know where they are and what they're doing." said Johnson smirking.
* * * * * *
Before Zen even knew it Nira nuzzled him. He froze, due the shock, became tense when Nira licked him with her snaking tongue, but he gripped her back, and began to nuzzle as well.
They were nuzzling each other for about a few moments then, the door opened. The two turned to the door but was still close to each other. At the doorway was Sergeant Johnson, smirking, beside him was a shocked Thel and behind the 2 were Stahn, Zide, Z'jo whom were snickering.
"See." said Johnson mockingly to Thel. "I told you so." Thel turned to him and scowled.
Author's Note: Pronunciation Guide for my OC's
Z'jo 'Evanam= Z-joe 'Evanam
Zide 'Evanam= Zide (read as "side" but 's' is read as 'Z') 'Evanam.
Nira 'Evanam=Ni-ra 'Evanam
N'kev 'Xem= 'N' is read as in "knee", 'kev' is read as 'kev' and 'Xem' is read as 'Zem'.
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