DISCLAIMER: Unfortunately, I do not own Bungee; if I did, Noble Team would've survived Reach. Except maybe Emile. But that's just my opinion. Also, in this story, as no equivalent rank is given for the Spec Ops Officer, I'm going to assume that the Spec Ops Officer is roughly the equivalent of a Sangheili Major, which is more or less the equivalent of a Lieutenant in the UNSC Navy. That's right, K'tal is the same rank as Six.

REVIEW RESPONSES:

Lina Inverrse: Thank you.

ParanoidSchizo91: I did not say there would be no romance, just that it is difficult for me to write. There may be romance yet, I haven't decided.

Ralf Jones: Indeed they will my friend, indeed they will.

EverlastingLife: Thank you.

Karl-591: You'll see. *Evil grin*

"Secretly Awesome": Thanks for the review and offer. Unfortunately I do not own Halo: Reach. :'(

Kairi-loves-Sushi: Thank you.

KrimsonGuard Bites BaronP: Here are the details you asked for. K'tal wears the Halo: Reach Spec Ops armour variant, jet-black primary colour, dark gray secondary, and is a Spec Ops Officer (that is his rank, look it up on Halopedia if you don't believe me), and his armor has no specific scars except for the cut and warping on the side of his helmet from the energy sword and maybe some slight scoring from plasma damage, and has patches of dried Elite (indigo blood) and Hunter blood (orange blood) splattered on the chest and arms. However, I would maybe not draw much besides his head for now if I were you, as I have a few changes in mind for K'tal that will be added in a few chapters. Or do whatever you like.

Halloween265: Thank you.

iEspeon: I'll do my best.

Manga154: Thank you.

"4RuNNeRSPAR217": Don't worry, this story still has some ways to go.

CHAPTER 5: RETURN

Six and K'tal walked side by side to the waiting Pelican, Six moving slowly and grimacing slightly as the pain from her injuries began to catch up to her. As they drew near to the idling dropship, the squad of UNSC marines array near the Pelican visibly tensed at the sight of K'tal, gripping their guns tighter and looking nervously up at his imposing frame.

Despite the discomfort and pain from her wounds, Six laughed slightly to herself as K'tal walked up to one of the more green looking Marines, who was blocking the troop bay entrance, and spoke. "Excuse me." he said politely, deftly maneuvering around the man. The marine looked about ready to pass out from fear, and Six was finding it hard not to laugh at the priceless expression on the man's face.

Seemingly oblivious to his terrorization, knowingly or not, of the soldier, K'tal deftly slid past him and into the troop bay, where he eschewed the seats, and instead leaned against the forward bulkhead next to the hatch that led to the cockpit.

Turning to the most sergeant, Six addressed him. "Lieutenant Spartan B-312, reporting."

The man snapped to attention at the mention of her rank, and he saluted crisply, as did the entire rest of the squad, though they looked a bit disconcerted by her battered appearance. "Staff Sergeant Daniels, ma'am. We've been ordered to escort you to Cairo Station for your debriefing. Admiral Hood has requested to speak with you, as well."

"At ease, men." Six said, waving them down. "Thank you, Sergeant." she nodded at the sergeant and walked into the troop bay. She heard a low whistle come from one of the marines, followed by a loud thwack. Six turned around, to see one of the marines with his helmet off and rubbing the back of his head, while one of his comrades, with a still-partially-extended arm that suggested he had smacked the man upside the head, was glaring daggers at him. Smirking very slightly, Six turned back around

"Alright men!" the sergeant shouted to his squad. "We're moving out! Get your lazy asses in that Pelican!" he bawled, and the marines filed into the dropship. The sergeant entered last and sat beside Six, leaning his shotgun against the bulkhead next to himself.

As the hatch closed up and the Pelican rumbled to life and took off, the sergeant leaned slightly in her direction. "Ma'am, I don't mean to pry, but are you sure about him?" he gave a significant glance in the direction of K'tal, whose helmeted head swung to scrutinize the man, as if he could feel the sergeant's eyes on him. "He could turn on us at any time."

Six shook her head. "No," came her reply. "I don't think he has anywhere to turn to; if their military is anything like ours, the Covenant probably has a rather harsh view on deserters."

The sergeant leaned back in his seat. "Whatever you say, ma'am, but I still don't trust him."

...

The Pelican ride to Cairo Station was spent in silence, with the sergeant suspiciously watching K'tal, who met his gaze unflinchingly the entire way there, and Six doing her very best to ignore the two of them by staring intently at the bulkhead across from her position. The marines just looked extremely uncomfortable and stared at their boots.

When they reached the station, a uniformed ONI official was waiting right outside the Pelican for her and K'tal. "Welcome back Lieutenant," he addressed her. "If you and your... friend... will follow me, we can go to the debriefing. Though we should probably get you a uniform first." Then he spun on his heel and walked off. Sighing to herself, Six followed him, gesturing to K'tal to come along as well.

...

Two hours later, Six walked out of the debriefing room, letting out an exasperated breath and running one hand through her short-cropped hair as she tugged at the collar of the uniform she had been procured with the other. The officers in the debriefing had been insufferable; constantly telling her to recount the details of her capture and imprisonment on the Covenant ship, and once they had finished, they started on K'tal, checking whether he was lying about deserting the Covenant. The Elite had obviously been highly irritated, and less than civil to several of the officers in the debriefing. However, Six had managed to convince the board that K'tal would not betray them anytime soon, though it had taken the rather creative modification and application of a polygraph so it would work with K'tal's alien physiology before the board had believed her.

Six walked to the med bay. K'tal was already there, looking distinctly unhappy as, stripped to the waist of his armor, he had to stand and be poked and prodded by a group of doctors and scientists. She noted that the damage on his helmet from the energy sword appeared to continue onto his face, resulting in a ridge of pink scar tissue running along his head

Seeing her enter, K'tal acknowledged Six with a nod, before, having apparently had enough of the situation, pulling himself away from the probing eggheads with a low growl, repeatedly pushing away one who was doggedly pursuing him with a hypodermic needle, trying to get a blood sample. They would not give up though, and K'tal was soon surrounded again.

"Ah, Lieutenant! I guessed you would come down here for an evaluation eventually. Follow me, and I can get you an examination." said a woman with a swarthy complexion, wearing a doctor's coat. The doctor lead her over to a separate room, and, after making her change out of the uniform she had been wearing, bid her to lie down on an examining table, and after a few minutes of probing, running a scanner over her body to check for breaks, and a battery of various other tests, gave her the diagnosis.

"Well," the doctor said, looking over the results, "You appear to have some internal bleeding; nothing major, but you'll have some rather lovely bruises for a while, and you also have a fair number of lacerations, puncture wounds, abrasions, and burns of varying degrees of severity. And you have significant blunt trauma in your left arm, centered around a hairline fracture in your left ulna." she finished, looking up from the results and setting them down. "All in all, I'm actually surprised you managed to remain able to function for so long; a non-Spartan probably would've gone into shock from the trauma."

"I'm fine," Six tried to argue weakly. The doctor stopped her.

"No, Lieutenant," the doctor said firmly. "You've probably been through seven kinds of hell to get back here, and you need to get these injuries looked at and treated before you make them worse."

Realizing she was not going to get out of it, Six agreed, and laid there on the table, ignoring the slight pinch as the other woman hooked her up to an IV drip. Six looked up at the lights and watched the cieling blur together and fade as the sedative in the IV kicked in.

...

K'tal leaned against the wall next to the door that led to Six's room, holding his helmet loosely in one hand. He had requested to see her, but had been ushered away by a small human female in a white coat, and been told that she was resting. Bored, he stared meditatively at the floor, running one finger along the thin, cord-like scar on the side of his face, following the curve of the line as it ran down from the back of his skull, just behind his eye, and terminated in a gap on the front of his upper jaw where it had destroyed part of his maxilla, preventing teeth from regrowing there. He sighed slightly, feeling exhausted.

Quick footsteps sounded to his right, and K'tal's head snapped to see what it was. There was an elderly-looking human male in a uniform that suggested high rank standing off to his side, looking at him. Pushing himself off the wall, K'tal turned to face the human and inclined his head respectfully.

"My apologies if I am making you uncomfortable." K'tal said politely, "I am merely waiting to see someone."

The human seemed to look perplexed, though K'tal found it hard to tell, with the deep-set wrinkles all over the human's face making him hard to read. "Who?" the human asked.

"The Spartan." K'tal replied.

The human's eyes narrowed slightly, but he nodded. "As it happens," the human said, "I am here to see her as well." He started toward the door.

K'tal stopped him. "The... doctor," K'tal stated with distaste, "Said that she needed to rest."

"Well, that's something I can circumvent, as I outrank everyone else on the station." With that, the human opened the door. "You can come along, I suppose." he added, before heading into the room. K'tal smiled toothily and followed, turning sideways and ducking in order to fit through the small doorway.

Six was in the room, laying in a bed while hooked up to various monitors. K'tal had to suppress a small, instinctual growl at the sight, and went and hunched into a small visitor's chair that was not designed for his body shape. The human male immediately went to speak to her, and was addressed by her as 'Admiral Hood.' K'tal's head snapped up at that, as that was the closest human equivalent to the rank of Fleet Master, and thus was very prestigious. However, seeing the other human near Six seemed to trigger a rush of feelings of protectiveness for Six. He did his best to ignore them.

After some generic-sounding praise from the human admiral, he turned on his heel and began walking to the door. He stopped as he was passing K'tal, and said to him, "Before I leave, you have unofficially been inducted into the UNSC navy. Your commanding officer is Spartan B-312."

K'tal stood up from the chair, towering over the admiral, who took a step back, and brought his hand to his chest, resting it over one of his hearts. "I am honored." he thanked the admiral, "I will not let you down."

The admiral nodded and left the room. K'tal walked over to Six's bed.

Six looked up at him, craning her neck slightly. "Hi," she greeted, smiling slightly.

K'tal said nothing, just nodded.

"Any particular reason you came to see me?" she queried.

K'tal shook his head. "No. I just wanted to make sure you were alright." Spotting her smirking at that, he added, defensively, "I have reasons for wanting to see that you are alright." He crossed his arms, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

Her smile stayed, but she changed the subject, perhaps sensing his discomfort. "It seems that I am now your commander." she stated, her tone sounding much more business-like.

"Indeed."

"Also," she sounded thoughtful, "I have some shore leave piled up; I'd like you to see Earth. It could be interesting."

K'tal frowned. "I think your people would not take kindly to me wandering your cities."

Six waved a hand dismissively. "They can think whatever they want; I could not give less of a damn. You're on our side, and that's good enough for me." She smiled slightly again. "Now, go get some rest." she commanded. "You look like you need it."

K'tal's mandibles twitched slightly at that. How did she know I was tired?, he thought to himself. Is she just trying to get rid of me?

Respecting her wishes, K'tal nodded and withdrew from the room, leaving the white-coated female, along with several others in odd-looking blue clothes, who had been hovering in the corner, to swoop down on Six again. His thoughts, however, were far from the idea of sleep.

...

TWO WEEKS LATER

SEPTEMBER 15, 2552, 0900 HOURS

Six walked through the crew area of Cairo Station, wearing a new set of Mjolnir armor. It was almost identical to her original armor that she wore, the only differences being that her torso armor was now the Tactical/Patrol variant, and that she had the kukri gotten from Emile strapped into a sheath on her left shoulder plate. On her right shoulder was stenciled the Noble team emblem and around her neck were Jorge's, Kat's, and Emile's dog tags, alongside her own.

She stopped outside one door, and knocked, gauntlet clanking loudly against the metal. "Come in." the occupant growled. Entering, Six saw K'tal hunched over a piece of shaped metal, cutting a design into it with one of his energy knives. At a closer glance, the metal appeared to be K'tal's chestplate.

"What... are you doing?" she asked. K'tal flicked off his knife and held the plate up for her to see. The design, roughly circular in shape, but open on either side, with curved, intersecting lines running through it, was on the upper left side of the chest plate, roughly where the heart would be located for a human.

"It is a Covenant glyph called the Mark of Shame," he explained, "Usually burned into the flesh of heretics and traitors, and it means that the individual is dead to all those who follow the Covenant. The receiver of the Mark is almost always executed afterward."

"Why would you burn something like that into your armor?" Six questioned, confused.

K'tal shrugged. "Why not? I may as well show where my loyalties lie." he finished, removing one shoulder plate and tapping the painted UNSC eagle and globe on it with a finger, then reattaching it. As he clamped his chestplate back in place, he added, "Though I am certain you did not come here to talk about what I am doing to my armor. Is there something you need?" He leaned back in his seat on his makeshift bed.

"Yes, in fact," Six answered, "There is a medal ceremony being held for me that I need to attend, and I would appreciate it if you would come along."

K'tal stood up. "Certainly." The two of them walked from the room.

As they walked into the elevator, Six asked, "How have you been? I never asked during the times you visited me."

"Not bad," he answered, "You superiors were kind enough to send over some of the food stores from the corvette we stole before they took it apart, so I won't have to worry about starving anytime soon, and in a worst-case scenario, I can always eat your food; it would not be the first time.

"As for the people, it's different. Your marines have gotten used to seeing me around, but most of them still hate or fear me, so I mostly stay in my quarters and meditate."

Six spent a moment absorbing that, then answered, "I'm sorry to hear that."

K'tal shook his head. "There is nothing to be sorry for. Your people have been waging a war against mine for more than two decades. They have the right to be distrustful."

The elevator doors opened then, and Six and K'tal stepped out onto the bridge. They walked to the group of UNSC officers and marines standing stiffly at attention that were there for the ceremony, K'tal walking behind her and to the right, similarly to where a bodyguard would be for a politician.

Immediately after they stopped, the ceremony started. Lord Hood came forward and took a small medal from a case containing one other medal. Attaching it to a small magnetic strip on the chest of Six' armor, he intoned, "Lieutenant, the Colonial Cross is awarded for acts of singular daring and devotion. For a soldier of the United Earth Space Corps, there can be no higher honor." he looked up at her, "Your actions on Reach were in keeping with the highest of military traditions. Your bravery and dedication in the face of impossible odds reflect great credit on yourself and the UNSC."

He took the second medal from the case. "The Prisoner of War Medallion is awarded to those who have been captured by in combat by an enemy of the UNSC. Your ability to not divulge information to the Covenant while under the threat of torture and death reflects great credit on your strength of will." he attached the medal to her chestplate, next to the Colonial Cross. "You have earned these commendations; continue to make the UNSC proud. Dismissed."

Six saluted and walked away. K'tal followed her. "What now?", he asked.

Six stopped walking and turned to a window that showed Earth. "I think it's time for you to see what we're fighting for."

A/N: God, I hated writing this chapter. This will be my last post for a while. I am not abandoning it, but I need a break from writing. So please do not nag. Review!