A/N: Crying SPARTANs, cuddly SPARTANs, and SPARTANs who don't know how to emotions. Also, Noble Team could probably afford to have a holiday
Also, to the lovely guest who left a review: Thanks! I hope you can hold on for a few chapters to where Jorge explains his survival...blame my brain for putting it in the story where I did but I had no clue where else to fit it lol

"I just lost my home... can't believe Reach is gone." Jorge said sombrely. He was playing the game of "look after the childish injured SPARTAN today"; the others were either resting up or eating, or generally elsewhere in the ship, and he'd volunteered upon seeing how tired they were.

Well, half of the rest of their team. Their leader was snoozing in one of the uncomfortable-looking office chairs in the corner of the medbay, arms folded across his chest. Why he didn't just go to sleep in his own bed, the others didn't understand...but none of them could be bothered to question it, so they just left him be.

"So did I," Artemis was staring off into the distance, her thoughts a thousand miles away. She blinked back into focus when she felt rather than saw the older SPARTAN's quizzical expression, and glanced over at him. "I was born in New Alexandria; grew up there 'till I lost my parents when I was four years old." she clarified, "Watched the place get glassed around me. Almost lost my best friend there, too."

"Best friend?" Jorge questioned, and Artemis allowed a fond smile to flicker over her face before she responded.

"Yeah. Kat. Elite Field Marshal tried to headshot her with a Needle Rifle from a Phantom. If I hadn't heard it, and I hadn't been fast enough..." she shuddered, not wanting to think on what might have happened. Kat might have died...

"Sajnálom," Jorge patted her shoulder; she was able to find comfort in such a simple gesture.

"I don't quite understand Hungarian yet, but I got the gist of what you said... thankyou." the lone wolf smiled up at her companion, and the gentle giant chuckled softly in response.

"You should get some sleep," the older SPARTAN said next, and Artemis rolled her eyes, barely stifling her groan.

"You too? I swear, what is it with you lot trying to mother hen me? I'm nineteen – which means I'm a fully grown adult – and I know how to take care of myself." the Lieutenant grumbled, and then held up her hands sheepishly when Jorge gave her a stern look. "Okay, okay, I know when I'm beat..."

She gave in and lay down, deciding that it was probably better for her to not argue with the big guy...she didn't want him to... pout at her or something.

Jorge said something along the lines of "that's more like it" as he ruffled her hair the way an older brother might do their younger sister before leaving the room quietly. Neither SPARTAN saw the Commander, tucked away in the corner, stir in his sleep and smile, knowing exactly what had transpired between the two.

He was glad that his team was getting along better than before.

Jorge, Jun, and Emile had all been called to the medbay to have a discussion about Six and what was going on with her, but it seemed that Kat and Carter had started already by the time they'd reached the room; the Commander and Lieutenant Commander were arguing quietly about someone being...compromised? That didn't sound like good news. One of the two must have sensed them outside the door, because they both called out for them to come in; they shuffled into the room almost like scolded schoolchildren, a little nervous about what they were going to hear.

Carter and Kat started to argue again whilst they both tried to explain what was going on with the presently sleeping sixth team member they were supposed to be discussing. However, it didn't quite seem that they were going to be talking about anything at all until the blue-clad SPARTANs reached some sort of agreement, and turned to the other three.

"She's compromised," Kat concluded with an air of finality to her voice. The other SPARTANs – save for Carter, who already seemed to know this – exchanged glances with each other, their expressions mixtures of confusion and concern. Noble Six, compromised? So they had heard right, after all. But how was she compromised, and how in slipspace had none of them even noticed?

"If I may," Emile interjected, looking directly at the Commander, green eyes tinged with worry, "I'd like to add onto this with somethin' I witnessed before Reach fell. Long before, as a matter of fact."

The older SPARTAN-III cocked his head as he considered this, before nodding slowly, looking unusually sombre. "Go ahead."

Exact location unknown, Eposz, planet Reach, Epsilon Eridani system, July 27th, 2552

Emile had been sent off to find Noble Six – they had orders from Carter to go on a scouting run, and check out the local Covenant forces, ahead of tomorrow's planned attack. Why the Commander had paired him with who was essentially the rookie of the team – nevermind the fact that she outranked him – was beyond him, but at this point in time, he wasn't gonna question his superior. Not when there was so much at stake.

Whistling some long-forgotten ditty and tapping his kukri against his armoured leg, the assault specialist wandered away from the base in his search for the Lieutenant.

His keen eyes never missed much, but if they did, his HUD would notify him of any nearby friendlies – e.g. the missing SPARTAN.

It didn't take him long to find the steel- and teal-armoured warrior – said armour wasn't very good at disguising the SPARTAN who was evidently trying to hide amongst a stack of weapons crates. Emile had barely even approached his teammate when she lunged out of her cover towards him, combat knife glinting dully in the dim light. The assault specialist actually had to jump out of the way, shouting a "whoa!" as he went.

"Stay back!" the other SPARTAN warned, and even encased as she was in MJOLNIR armour, helmet firmly in place, Emile could tell that she was seething with emotions that she was having a hard time keeping under control. And were those tears he detected in her voice?

Impossible! SPARTANs never cried, save for when they were mourning one of their own, and even then they didn't shed enough tears for it to show up in their voices.

And besides, the Lieutenant hadn't even experienced the loss of a fellow supersoldier recently – well, as far as he knew, anyway. So what in slipspace was going on?

Emile hesitated before stepping forwards, sheathing his kukri to show he was unarmed before raising his hands in a submissive gesture. However, he had to dance out of the way when the lone wolf's combat knife arced through the air towards him, dangerously close. "I said stay back!" she snarled, but it sounded more like a hysterical shriek than a warning growl.

"Hey, I ain't gonna hurt you. On your side, remember?" Emile finally spoke up, making sure to keep his distance from the enraged soldier. His words fell on deaf ears, however, as he had to dodge yet another swipe of the blade.

"You're crazy!" he remarked, shaking his head at her. "Look, I'm useless as shit with words, so how 'bout you talk, and I listen? That sound good to you?" Honestly, his offer was kind of a last resort; he was hoping she'd just pull herself together of her own accord and they'd be able to get on with their mission.

It seemed that wasn't gonna be the case today, as the Lieutenant full-on launched herself at him, and as he was too slow in dodging this time, he wound up with the younger SPARTAN-III clinging to him like a plasma grenade clings to an unaware Grunt, and was she – sobbing?

What the hell was going on?

Emile had expected Noble Six to stab him, but instead she had her arms around his neck in the kind of grip signifying that someone needed a physical anchor, and she was bawling her eyes out. Meanwhile, the assault specialist was utterly bewildered – what was he to do? He wasn't Jorge – he was useless with words, and even more useless with physical contact.

Unless...

To hell with his boundaries, and to hell with sucking at giving comfort! He'd take a leaf outta the SPARTAN-II's book, and give – well, attempt to give, at any rate – the lone wolf a hug.

Slowly, unsure and wary at first, Emile brought his arms up and around the other soldier; almost immediately he felt her slump against him, falling quiet. Huh. So that's all she'd needed? It wasn't so bad... felt kinda nice, if he was being honest.

"I'm so scared," Six admitted in a whisper, and for once, Noble Four was inclined to agree. The Covenant on humanity's primary military stronghold? That was bad news – Jorge was particularly worried about the safety of his home planet. Emile couldn't blame him – hell, he was worried too, though not for quite the same reasons, of course.

"You ain't the only one," he began, but stopped when Six shook her head at him.

"It really isn't what you're thinking. More of a ... fear of failure, and a fear of the unknown. It's like a steel vice gripping my chest – well, feels like it, anyway. Usually I can keep a tight lid on it, but uh... sometimes... sometimes it gets out. That's why I wanted to be left alone – I was afraid I might hurt you. Almost did, too." the younger SPARTAN explained quietly. By this time, she'd moved away from him, resting on her haunches and twirling her combat knife in her gauntleted fingers in a loose, almost relaxed manner.

Such a far cry from the angry, vulnerable soldier she'd been earlier!

It was so strange for her to act like this...perhaps, Emile thought, she had some bad things happen to her in the past and she had that ... PTS-whatever that Jun had been diagnosed with. Whatever it was, he was sure that they could deal with it later. For now, though, they had Covies to kill. He stowed that thought away for later, and helped Six to her feet; the two SPARTAN-IIIs commandeered a couple of Mongooses, and set off.

Present day

"Huh." Carter remarked quietly, his brain absorbing the information. "I can see why you didn't think to report this earlier, but ... that's – hugging?" He was a little bewildered by the ... uncommon... method in which the assault specialist had calmed down the lone wolf and effectively prevented himself from being stabbed.

Emile lifted and dropped his shoulders in a nonchalant shrug. "What? I didn't know what else to do. I had – well, my older brother was all I had for awhile, and sometimes hugging was the only way he knew how to make me feel better when I was missin' my parents. Figured it was worth a go with Six when she lost the plot. Guess I was right. Kid – heck, I ain't one to be observant, but hell...the kid was acting like she really needed it. Like she has this ...this thing I heard about awhile back, somethin' to do with not being touched in awhile and then kinda going ga-ga for it? That's my interpretation, anyway."

"Touch deprivation," Jorge clarified, and Emile nodded in confirmation.

"So, what do we do, boss?" The keen-eyed sniper tracked his gaze across the room, studying each of his teammates in turn though the question was only directed to one.

"I suppose we'll just have to...try our best. Isn't much else we can do. Oh, and remember, this stays off the books. Word gets out about this, and we'll be up to our helmets in paperwork and ONI will be clawing at Six in an effort to have her locked up and psychoanalysed. That clear?" the Commander said seriously.

"Crystal." Emile said quietly, and the others were quick to agree.

Camp Hathcock, Highland Mountains, Eposz, September 1st, 2552

Kat checked over the team, noting who was already asleep, and who was still wide awake. She saw that Emile was curled up as tight as he could manage, and he was ... – was he sucking his thumb? Baby. Shaking her head, she noticed that Jun was also asleep, counting bullets to himself very, very quietly. Artemis was also in bed, flat on her back and out for the count due to all the drugs and pain meds in her system.

Three out of five. Now to take care of the others.

"You would not believe what I managed to find around here," she told Jorge, and from behind her back produced a teddy bear, handing it to him. "There you go."

The SPARTAN-II smiled at her and snuggled the teddy bear close, saying something to her, but she didn't quite catch it as she was already moving across the room to Carter's bed. But it didn't matter – she knew that the big man was thanking her.

Much to her chagrin, the Commander was wide awake, staring up at the ceiling. His knees were drawn up, and one arm rested over his abdomen. He moved his head when she approached, but didn't say anything. She frowned and shook her head, noting the haze of pain in his almost unnaturally blue eyes, and pulled a syringe out of her pocket.

"I know you won't like this, but it's for your own good," she informed him, and gently pushed his legs down and tucked him under the blanket. "Get some sleep, Commander." Her voice dropped to a soothing whisper, and she patted his cheek as she injected the contents of the syringe into his neck. He was still silent as he regarded her, and once the drugs took hold, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Good. They're all done. Now I can get some rest.

Pleased with the good work she had done, all for her teammates, Kat made her way over to her own bed, and the instant she lay down, she was fast asleep.

Artemis woke shaking, her body coated in a fine layer of sweat, chest heaving as she panted for breath. She slowly sat up, looking about the room at the sleeping forms of her teammates, and then swung her legs over the side of the bed, making up her mind to get up. Placing one foot at a time, she limped her way over to the room's sole window, and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw Carter standing there at parade rest, hands clasped neatly behind his back.

He turned his head in her direction, and frowned slightly. "You shouldn't be out of bed," he scolded quietly, and Artemis wanted to laugh at that – he was almost as injured as she.

"Yeah, well, you shouldn't be, either," she retorted, and the Commander uttered a snort of amusement, giving a shake of his head.

"Touché."

They fell into a companionable silence after that – what words were needed when it was time for them to be sleeping, anyway?

Artemis let out a breath to try and steady her nerves, and stared out at the moonlit, snow-capped mountains surrounding Camp Hathcock. She could also mentally "see" the destruction that the Covenant had done by glassing the planet – the mountains reminded her of the territory surrounding Aszod, where she had almost died – and she shuddered internally. Don't go there.

It didn't work as well as she had hoped – her heart was still racing, and her clammy hands were clenched into fists that shook. She closed her eyes, trying to block the images from her mind. She winced, shoulders slumping with resignation; rest would not be hers tonight, it seemed.

Carter must have noticed that something was wrong with her, because he placed a hand on her shoulder, and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'm not gonna lie and say that I know what you're going through, because I don't; it's different for everyone. But I will say that you're not the only one who has nightmares. And, well...if you ever need somebody to talk to, don't be afraid to come to me. I might be your commanding officer, but I'm also your teammate, and, I hope...your friend."

Artemis didn't know what it was that did it, whether it was the simple offer of help, or the fact that Carter wanted to befriend her, or maybe she was just overtired...she suddenly broke down in silence, tears streaking down her face, muscled frame trembling.

"Whoa, hey, are you-? Here." The next thing she knew, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her, and she gave in and leaned into the embrace, biting her knuckles so as to stifle the sounds of misery that her body wanted to release. She didn't understand – couldn't understand – why he was helping her, but she didn't resist the comfort that he was offering.

Perhaps it was just one of those things that people did with no motives behind it.

She didn't know, and honestly, she also didn't care. She would take any form of comfort right now...even as awkward as a hug felt that was given to her by her commanding officer – no, teammate...no...he was her friend...she was so tired...

Sheer exhaustion soon overcame her, and her body went limp as she passed out for about the second or third time that day.

Carter hadn't exactly known what to do when Artemis simply passed out in his arms. He certainly couldn't help her back to bed – he was far too weak for that – and he didn't want to disrupt any of his teammates. And so he simply entered a state of ... existing ... standing there in stoic silence with the other SPARTAN-III flopped against him.

He hadn't even realized that it was morning by the time he felt a pair of eyes tracking him, and he glanced over his shoulder to see Kat silently watching him. Internally, he wondered how long she had been standing there, but aloud, he said quietly, "What?"

"Didn't take you for a hugger, Commander," Noble Two ribbed with a smirk, moving to stand beside him. She sobered, and inquired with a trace of concern to her voice, "How is she?"

"Exhausted, for one. And ... probably needing help. Don't know if she'd accept or not, but..." He shrugged, and resumed staring out the window. "I thought I'd do something, at least."

"You know, you could have asked for help to put her back to bed." Kat stated, sounding like she was chiding him, but she placed a hand on his arm, looking up into his face. He met her gaze and shook his head, shrugging again. "Yeah, I know, but I didn't want to wake any of you guys, and besides, it just felt like ... when I hugged her, I don't know ... it felt like I was ..."

"Home? Mm. I get that too, sometimes. Whatever "home" is for us. Better to take any chance you can get to feel it as much as you can. We are all brothers and sisters-in-arms, whether SPARTAN-II or SPARTAN-III, and we have all lost so many of our friends and family members."

"Mindannyian egymás családja vagyunk." Both SPARTANs turned – or Kat turned, and Carter shifted around as much as he could – to see Jorge wide awake, join them by the window. He chuckled at the confusion on their faces, and repeated himself in English. "We are all each other's family now."

He stepped forward and gently prised the Commander's arms from around Artemis, and picked her up with little trouble, placing her back onto her bed and drawing the covers over her. "Figured you might've had some trouble."

"Don't make me put you on toilet cleaning duty," Carter said sternly, but his eyes showed that he was amused and teasing rather than serious. "Get much sleep, big guy?"

"As much sleep as one can in a bed not built for someone just over seven feet tall," Jorge answered, cracking his neck and shaking out his arms. "What about yourself?"

"Sleep is not fun." was all Carter said, shaking his head. "Those beds are clearly not designed for comfort. Especially not when you're severely injured."

"I agree, and I ain't that injured. Can we get out of here? Lookin' out the window's givin' me the creeps. And I can't imagine it would be much fun to see your planet go up in flames in front of you." Emile was sitting up in bed, watching the trio and twirling his kukri. "I hate it here."

Jorge chuckled and leaned against the wall. "It is rather cramped in here," he agreed. He glanced at their commander questioningly, as did Emile and Kat.

Carter held up his hands and let out a groan, shaking his head. "Oh no, don't go looking at me for answers. I'm in no condition to be flying any kind of vessel. Besides, where can we go? The Covenant could easily track us down. Not to mention we're no longer under command of the UNSC or ONI."

A grin slowly spread across Emile's face, and it sent shivers down the other SPARTANs' spines, as well as the manic look in his eyes. "Not to worry. I know just how to get us outta here."