Authors Note: Just a reminder to those that have read my 'Misfortunate Events' shorts: unless otherwise stated, they are not 'canon' to the Zendou storyline.

Thanks to my beta for proofing this.

Disclaimer: Halo, Sangheili, Rtas, Thel/Arbiter and other canon characters belong to Bungie Studios/343 Industries. However, Original Characters, like Zeno, belong to me.

Chapter 2: Unexpected Help

The man didn't look much younger than he was, his eyes a mix of yellow and yellow-green: not a common color combination, at least in the region Zeno was from. Zeno had also noted that he was surprised when he first revealed himself and had relaxed a little. That was the intention of course: if he had walked in here with full armor on, the man would have likely panicked.

"Alright, Sani," Zeno said, keeping his tone reassuring. "Talk to me, how did you end up in this mess?"

"I…." Sani turned his head away. "I was trying to get away from a bad situation…."

"And ended up in another one."

Sani nodded and said nothing more.

"And you are afraid of being sent back to the first 'bad situation'?"

Another nod.

"What was that situation?"

At that, Sani balked, curling up tighter into a ball. It must have been a very bad situation indeed to cause a reaction like that. "Alright, let us try a different angle then. What did you mean by 'the Shadow'?"

Sani looked confused for a moment, but then it dawned on him what he was referring to. "The Shadow of Intent."

This shocked Zeno. "I admit I am confused," he said. "I worked on that very ship for a couple of years and worked with its shipmaster for even longer. I fail to see how something could get so bad on there without Rtas knowing and doing something about it."

"There was little Shipmaster Rtas could do...," Sani said softly. "And…he was not in charge when things escalated to this point…."

Ah, that is right. The commander is currently on extended leave, Zeno thought. But surely if things were bad, he would have left instructions to prevent things from getting any worse. Unless…. "The one Rtas left in charge did not give a damn I take it?" Zeno asked.

Sani shook his head. "No…Second Master Ruro did nothing at all. Called me weak…questioned that I was even Sangheili…." The man started shaking.

Zeno remembered Ruro: that male always came off to him as someone that had a permanent stick up his ass. He was also now recalling what little he knew about Sani himself, which wasn't much at all. If he remembered correctly, Sani was one of a number of new recruits assigned to the ship that were drafted into the military service due to the Schism. Drafted, meaning under normal circumstances Sani would have never left Sanghelios. No wonder the man was having difficulties, though Zeno had the feeling there was more to it than what he knew. He could find out later though, right now, Sani needed reassurance.

"Hey, it is alright. You are far away from Ruro and whatever else it was you were trying to get away from," he said.

"Not for long…," Sani said, whimpering. "I know I will be sent back…And the pain will just start all over again…."

"Not if I have anything to say about it."

"Forgive me, but I do not see…."

"I am the Ambassador, I can bend the rules a little if I feel it is justified."

Sani recoiled at the man's admission, shocked and even a bit confused. This man, this human clothed, black marked man was the ambassador? It didn't seem to fit his image of an ambassador at all of a highly polished, fully armored, proud warrior. Someone he would expect to look down upon him as nothing. Yet, this man was sitting on the floor with him, speaking to him as if he was an equal. No, what he imagined and what he is seeing didn't fit at all.

Wait…, Sani thought, remembering something he heard. He overheard Rtas speaking to a zealot once about the ambassador. The zealot was questioning why the current ambassador was chosen and Rtas was saying something about how he was chosen because not only did he have more experience with humans than any other Sangheili, but because he wasn't the arrogant type. Those two things certainly fit this man before him, but that did not negate the possibility of the man pretending to be the ambassador.

What was his name… he thought. It was on the edge of his mind, but no matter how hard he tried he could not remember.

"How rude of me," the man suddenly said, a faint smile on his face. "I gave you my title, but not my name. It is Zeno 'Ribal."

Yes! That was it! Sani thought, a bit ashamed he could not recall it himself. Then again, after all the things he had been through, could he be blamed? "Zeno…I…I remember the shipmaster speaking highly of you," he said softly. "But now I am even more confused as to why someone of your status would want to bother with me."

Zeno snorted faintly. "As I said before, I understand that sometimes we get into situations that are beyond our control," he explained. "With how you were discovered and the outburst you gave, people here were assuming you were an escaped criminal."

"By the Spirits! No!" Sani exclaimed, horrified at the thought. "I am not criminal."

"Well, stowing away on a ship is a crime," Zeno pointed out. Sani whimpered and shrunk back. "Though I will admit I am not innocent myself," Zeno continued. "So I know that sometimes we can get so desperate that we end up doing something stupid and foolish."

"Yeah…What I did here was definitely stupid and foolish," Sani muttered, mostly to himself. "There was at least one other option I could have taken instead."

"Such as?"

"To go back home, to my keep," Sani said with a heavy sigh. "They…They would have understood my situation and protected me."

Zeno looked doubtful. "You are certain of that?"

"Yes. Though…I-I admit that after what I did now, I do not know if they would be as understanding."

The ambassador made a rumbling noise in his throat. "Let us worry about one thing at a time," he said. "I know you are trying to get away from a bad situation, a situation Rtas could not do much to help you with, correct?" Sani nodded. "I tell you what, you come with me and I will give you a warm meal to fill your no doubt aching belly and a safe, warm place to sleep tonight. I will contact Rtas and tell him what happened. We will figure things out from there."

Sani's eyes widened in shock. "Wha…What about tomorrow?" he asked, his voice shaking. "What about Second Master Ruro?"

"Unless Rtas surprises me, you will likely remain in my personal care until this is figured out. As for Ruro…Fuck him: I hate assholes like him. I am certain between Rtas and I, we can figure out a solution you would accept."

"But you know nothing about why I did this!"

"Not exactly, no, but I made my living during the war figuring out motivations and other things from what scant information I could gather. You get the right pieces and you can usually figure it out. Plus I consider myself a good judge of character: you are not a bad person, Sani, you just got yourself into a situation you did not know how to get back out of. I feel you deserve a second chance and I want to give you that chance."

A second chance…, Sani thought, tears threatening to well up in his eyes. Wasn't that the reason he pulled this stunt in the first place? To remove himself from a bad life and try to start a new one? And here was the Ambassador offering the same thing, with no apparent strings attached. It seemed too good to be true.

"Sani." He looked up and saw that Zeno had risen to his feet, a hand extended out to him. "Come with me, and I will do what I can to make things better for you."

Sani stared at his hand, knowing what the gesture meant, but also knowing the concept was rather foreign to most Sangheili. You either stand on your own feet or don't stand at all and to help another was rather rare. Rtas tried to help me, he remembered. And now the Ambassador wants to try. Could the Ambassador succeed where Rtas has failed?

He so badly wanted that to be true.

With a slight hesitation, Sani reached up and took Zeno's hand….

It was hard to concentrate and keep a kind expression on his face when Sesai was protesting his decision in his ear hole. Unfortunately, there was no way to block her or otherwise turn her off: not that it would help anyway since this was a highly advanced AI he was dealing with. When Sani finally took his offered his hand, he ended up with a slightly awkward situation on top of that.

The smaller male, just after raising to his feet, suddenly wrapped his arms around him and started sobbing, soft 'thank you's' being muttered, over and over again. Zeno was taken by surprise at first, but then his hearts melted a little: Sani had to have been desperate indeed to end up breaking down like this. Sesai had gone quiet at that point, likely as surprised as he was.

"It is OK," Zeno said to him softly, lightly wrapping his arms around Sani in a comforting embrace. It felt…Odd…to be holding someone like this again. "So long as you are with me, I will not let any harm come to you."

-Ambassador, need I remind you that you do not have the authority to be making such….- Sesai started yammering in his ear again.

"Sesai, shut up and let the security team know we are coming out," Zeno said with a tired sigh.

"Hu-who?" Sani asked, looking up at him.

"Sesai, station AI," Zeno explained, tapping the ear piece. "She was protesting my decision."

"O-oh…I…I do not want you to get in trouble on my account…."

"Do not worry about me," Zeno said with a smile. "I like giving that annoying lizard a hard time."

-I heard that.- Sesai growled. Zeno ignored her.

"If…If you say so…," Sani said.

"Come," Zeno said, keeping an arm around Sani's shoulders as he gently led him back out. "A warm meal and a soft bed awaits."

It didn't take long for them to reach the exit, where the security team was waiting. The moment Sani saw them though, he balked and hid behind him. It didn't help any that the captain immediately reached to pull out a pair of cuffs.

"Captain, you will not be needing those," Zeno said quickly. "I will take care of him."

"Sir, protocol states that all individuals being transported to the brig must be restrained," the captain protested.

"He is not going to the brig," Zeno explained. "He will be staying with me."

The human blinked as he absorbed this new information. "Sir I must protest! The potential threat to your life…."

"On my honor, Sani is of no threat to my life or to any one else on this station. I will take full responsibility for his actions from here on out."

The captain as flabbergasted. "You Elites and your honor," he grumbled. "Alright, but if he turns on you, don't come to me."

"Fair enough, oh and here is your earpiece back: I am tired of Sesai snarling in my ear."

The captain simply shook his head as he accepted the earpiece back. "Good luck, Ambassador, I hope you are right about him."

"I am certain I am."

Sani was certain he had been tricked when he saw the security team start to reach for him. A part of him wanted to bolt, but the logical part of his mind told him that he wouldn't get far if he did. He had felt the strength in Zeno's hand, though the ambassador's grip had been gentle: Sani was certain that Zeno could catch him easily on his own, if the security team didn't shoot him first. So he just hid behind the ambassador, certain that Zeno was about to turn him over to them any second.

He listened to Zeno converse with the security team's leader in the human's language, unable to understand a word of it. Zeno sounded assertive, if a little annoyed, while the human sounded like he was upset. Then, to his surprise, he heard the team start to leave. Confused, he peeked around the ambassador and saw that they were indeed, leaving. He looked up at Zeno, a questioning look on his face.

"What? You thought I was going to turn you over to them?" Zeno said, sounding slightly hurt. "I am a man of honor, Sani: I do not go against my word."

Sani blushed, feeling foolish. Of course the ambassador was an honorable man; otherwise he wouldn't be the ambassador! "Forgive me…I…," he started to say.

"It is alright," Zeno interrupted. "You have been through a lot, so it is not that unreasonable to not completely trust me or anyone else here yet."

"Oh…." As they started on their way once more, Sani asked. "So…where are you taking me?"

"I have a guest room in my quarters," Zeno replied. "I do not have any dignitaries coming over for a while, to my knowledge at least, so you can use it for the time being."

Sani was once again surprised: to be assisted by the ambassador was one thing, but to actually stay in the same space? "You are sure you want to do that?" he asked.

"Positive." Zeno smiled, then his face turned serious. "We have a small population of Sangheili here: most are doctors learning the human techniques in that trade, but there are a few warriors here as well. Warriors that may decide to try to do you harm if they find out the circumstances of your arrival here. Therefore, it may be too dangerous for you to stay in a place on your own for the time being."

"I see," Sani said, agreeing with the logic. "That means so long as I am with you…?"

"They will not touch you."

"But that does not exclude you…," Sani said softly to himself. To his embarrassment, Zeno heard him.

"Hmm? Am I making you uncomfortable?" he asked.

"N-no…I…I…." Sani couldn't get the words out, his face turning purple as he became flustered.

Again, Zeno smiled at him. "If at any time something I say or do make you feel uncomfortable, just say so and I will cease. Alright?"

Sani simply nodded.

Zeno looked down at Sani, a bit concerned. This last bit of conversation added more pieces to the puzzle that was Sani, pieces that gave him a clearer idea on what was going on with this Sangheili. Zeno felt his subtly spoken worry about him doing anything to him tied in with his questioning about staying with Zeno. That suggested the source of the problem was likely a roommate, or someone similar that he spends a great deal of every day with.

He wasn't going to press him for details though. Sani was obviously uncomfortable about it, even ashamed, which in on itself was a clue. He knew how dangerous it was to assume things though, so he avoided speculating on it right now. Sani would fill him in when he is ready to and right now, it was more important to ensure he felt safe and comfortable.

Speaking of Sani, he was getting more and more nervous as they walked. Was he really that concerned Zeno would try to pull something on him? By this point though, Zeno felt that words would not be enough to reassure him: his actions will need to support them. When they entered his residence, Zeno resisted the habit of locking the door right away, not wanting Sani to get the wrong idea. Afterward, he gently coaxed Sani to the guest room.

"You are free to take a shower if you want," Zeno told him.

"I...I probably should," Sani confessed. "I do not even remember the last time I washed…."

Zeno smiled at him and showed him how to operate the shower. "Just leave your clothes on the edge of the bed," he said once he was certain Sani understood. "I will see if I have any spares you can use until what you are wearing now can be properly cleaned. I will also see about a light meal for you to tie you over until morning."

"Th-thank you…."

Zeno turned to leave, to give Sani some privacy when he remembered something fairly important. "Oh, uh…there is one rule I have…," he said, feeling slightly embarrassed.

Oh gods, here we go…, Sani thought. Please do not be like' him'…please… "Wha...What is that?" he asked, unable to hide the nervousness in his voice.

Zeno visibly swallowed. "Every time you take a shower, please dry yourself off completely before stepping out of the bathroom," he replied.

Sani blinked: of all the rules he had heard, that was certainly one of the weirder ones. He was relieved that was all it was, but still, he couldn't help but feel a bit confused. "Huh? Why?"

"Trust me; it will save us both from having awkward and embarrassing situations." Was all Zeno added on the matter. "Enjoy your wash…I will let you know when the food arrives."

Sani nodded, muttering a soft 'thank you' as Zeno finally left the room completely, closing the door behind him. He waited a moment before gladly stripping off his soiled clothes, setting them on the bed as Zeno requested, before returning to the bathroom. Sani locked the bathroom door behind him and then stepped into the shower, operating it as Zeno showed him.

Oh gods, the water felt so good. For a moment, Sani just stood there, savoring it: he even purred for the first time in what must have been months. Eventually, he forced himself to actually begin washing, which also brought relief. It felt good to finally wash away the filth and stench he accumulated from the journey here. It also was relief to be able to wash without 'someone' coming in and….

He shook his head, banishing the thought from his mind. Zeno had not done anything to harm or otherwise take advantage of him. So far, Sani reminded himself. After all, 'he' wasn't like that toward him initially either. Time will tell if Zeno will turn on him like 'he' did.

The shower done, Sani stepped out and made sure to dry himself off thoroughly like Zeno asked, though he was still puzzled as to why Zeno was picky about such a trivial thing. When he stepped out of the bathroom, he found a set of simple clothes on the bed. After putting them on, he found that they were a bit on the big side, though considering Zeno was taller and larger than he was, it was not surprising.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, making him jump. "Y-ye-yes?" he called out.

"Food is here," Zeno voice, slightly muffled, replied.

With a relieved sigh, Sani stepped outside the room. Mmm, whatever it was Zeno ordered for him, it smelled good. Then again, considering how hungry he was, any food probably would have smelled good to him right now.

Zeno directed him to a table by the living area, where a plate of various meats sat waiting for him. "I did not know what human foods you have had before, so I just ordered a smaller version of my usual," Zeno explained as Sani sat at the table. "Want something to drink?"

"Yes, please," Sani said as he looked over the offerings on the plate. He had indeed eaten some human food before, so most of it was familiar to him. Zeno came back a moment later, placing a bottle of water by his plate.

"I have to use bottled water here," he explained when Sani raised a brow at him. "Something they use in the purification system on the station does not agree with me."

Sani just nodded and started to eat. It was hard to not just wolf everything down at once, as hungry as he was, but he managed somehow. He drank the water quickly afterward, once he figured out how to do with this odd drinking structure human's use.

"How do you feel?" Zeno asked when he was finished.

"Better," Sani confessed. "Though…I am a bit tired."

"After all that running around and the stress you were under? I am not surprised," Zeno said softly. "It is the night cycle right now anyway, so it is best you get some sleep."

Sani nodded and stood. "I think I will," he said as he headed back toward the guest room. "Oh…Zeno?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you…."

"My pleasure."

Sani managed a smile and closed the door behind him. Then he climbed into the covers of the bed, only bothering to remove his shirt. This bed, though foreign to him in shape, felt very welcoming indeed. With a yawn, Sani closed his eyes, and fell asleep, hoping things continued to look his way….