AN: Dear Giant Squid. Sorry. I forgot about this. And I could have sworn I had updated this past only six chapters. Looks like I was wrong. Well here's my atonement: 11 pages.

A freak. Something other than a human.

"Your parents were human. Are human. They just happen to be faster and stronger."

"A Second Generation SPARTAN has one parent as a SPARTAN I or III. Aaron's parent must have been from a I. My dad was a III."

Vince's eyes went wide. "Wow…" He let James take his chin again and a few moments later his face was no longer blood covered. "I didn't know that III's were so much more powerful than I's."

"Neither did I. Aaron's the first Second Gen I've fought." James set down the bloody paper and slowly reached out for Vince's arm. Vince shied away. "Is it broken?"

"I think so."

"Anything else damaged?"

"I'm not sure."

"Then let's get you to the Office."

"No!"

James frowned. "Why?"

"Then my dad is going to wonder why I get beat up and he's going to find out about me and then…"

James nodded. "Okay. Where do you want to go then?"

"I don't know." Vince was crying again. It made sense seeing as his father was not going to be happy when he found out that his son was gay, Vince was most likely going to send some time at the hospital recovering from injuries that he got because he was gay, and Aaron would most likely come back and finish him off later.

"Well, I'm not going to leave you here bleeding."

Vince smiled a little.

"Offer to take him to your house. It's safe there. Your father will not be home until tomorrow."

Since when did James' dad work late?

"A technical issue has arisen that needs his attention." Franz had messed up the computers in a way that only Caboose could fix them.

Thank you, Franz.

"Any time."

"You could come to my place. I could clean you up properly there. I know how to sent bones fairly well. If you wanted you could spend the night. Stay a way from home for a while."

This seemed to be the right thing to say. Vince's smile brightened. "I'd love that."

James helped Vince up.

"Do you have anything here you need?"

Vince shook his head. "That makes things much easier. Come on. It's not too far a way."

About ten minutes later, Vince was laying on the couch and James was putting ice into a rag.

"Here, put this on that nose." James handed Vince the ice.

"Thanks."

James pulled up a chair and sat down next to Vince's broken arm. It seemed to be a clean break, easily set. He glanced up at Vince, who was holding the ice on his swollen nose and not looking at him. Quickly James placed his hands on Vince's wrist and upper arm and pulled the bones straight. Vince shrieked.

"Don't move your arm. It's set but it still needs to be wrapped up."

James leaned over and picked up the rags he had pulled out. As he bandaged Vince's newly set arm, Franz asked him, "Why did you tell him about your dad? You just found out and are still learning everything that you can do."

I don't know. It just felt right. Something told me he needed to hear it.

"You didn't tell him about Church."

Would you have?

Franz smiled but otherwise remained silent.

"There ya go. Your arm should be good until it heals."

Vince took off the ice and looked at his arm. "Thanks." Then he blushed. "James, I'm sorry. I lied to you earlier. I didn't want to go home because of my dad; he's not my dad. He's my step dad. And a SPARTAN I. He thinks I should be a Second Gen and should have his discipline and everything. Ever since Aaron started to beat me I've started to avoid home because if he ever saw me like this…"

James reached out and stroked Vince's forehead. "It's alright. I'll talk to my dad when he gets home; see if you can stay."

The phone rang. James smiled and got up.

"Hello?"

"James, it's dad. Something happened with the computers here. I'm going to have to be here late. Maybe I'll have to spend the night. I'll try to get home at some point before work tomorrow."

"Alright."

"You'll be okay by yourself?"

"I always am."

"Alright. Talk to you later then. Bye."

"Bye."

*click*

James went back to the living room and leaned against the door way. "Do you need something to eat?"

"Sure."

"How does spaghetti sound?"

"Wonderful."

James smiled. "I'll start making it." He went to the kitchen and started to boil water. When he got back, Vince was asleep.

"His father will want to know where he is. So will his mother."

James knew he should have Vince call them but not now. Not yet. For now he'd let the injured boy sleep. He fetched an extra blanket and laid it over Vince's frame. Before James left his side, he really looked at Vince. Under those bruises and the swelling, Vince was very good looking. His skin was tanned and his hair was bleached. It didn't scream out that he was gay. It just was like that.

James smiled before checking the water.

"Interesting."

"What?"

"Your bodies reaction when you are around or think of Vince."

"What do you mean?"

"Your heart rate almost doubles. Do you like him?"

James' face went slightly red.

"You don't need to answer."

"Yeah. You already know the answer to that."

Franz paused before asking, "Why him? You have forced down all emotions that hinted your feelings for anyone, male or female, for years. Why now?"

"We are both outcasts. My father will never tell me about where I came from. Vince will never be accepted where he comes from." James paused before shaking his head. "So what? It doesn't mean anything."

"Not true. When someone has this effect on another it means that someone has some kind of feelings for said someone."

Not to self: don't argue with an AI.

"Feelings doesn't mean love."

James knew he had said the wrong thing. "Very true but I never said love now did I?"

James could feel his face grow hot and he had no idea if it was because of the boiling water he was standing over or not. Needing something to do, he quickly poured in a little too much olive oil into the water and threw in some noodles. He turned and pulled out two bowls and two forks. He then hopped up and down until the noodles were done. As he poured the water out Franz made one more comment.

"I just don't want you to miss an opportunity to find someone because you misread the signs."

James paused, with two bowls filled with steaming pasta. He didn't know to reply to that statement. So he said the first thing that came into his head. "Thanks Franz." As he made his way back to the living room and Vince, he looked at the clock; it was five. James frowned. It didn't feel like five.

James sat down and placed his two bowls of pasta on the floor before nudging Vince who woke easily. "Is that food I smell?"

"Yep," James said and handed him a bowl. "Sleep well?"

"Very." He inhaled the steam still rising from the spaghetti and smiled before frowning a little. "I guess after this I'd better call my dad."

Despite the fact they ate in silence it late before the bowls were empty and James got the phone for Vince.

James left the room and started to clean up the kitchen but even from that far away he could still hear everything that was said in the conversation.

Five rings. "Hello?" The voice was rough.

"Hi dad. It's me Vince."

"Where have you been?" Roughness became anger.

"I went over to a friend's house. I forgot to call."

James could hear Vince's dad grit his teeth. "So I noticed. Where am I picking you up?"

Vince hesitated and James took his opportunity. "Stay the night, Vince. It's already pretty late. We can get you home in the morning." It was late, almost 8:30; they had stalled as much as they could before Vince had to call.

"If I stay the night, I can get a ride tomorrow."

There was a lengthy pause on both ends.

"Okay."

James heard Vince let go a breath neither of them knew he was holding. "Thanks."

James finished up in the kitchen and went back into the living room.

Vince looked up when he came in. "How much of that did you hear?"

"All of it."

"Both sides?" James nodded. "Wow. Thanks by the way. I really don't want to go back home."

James noticed how Vince didn't just mean tonight; he never wanted to go home again. Who knows? Maybe he wouldn't have to.

"Told you you liked him."

Franz was right. James didn't know if it was love or lust or the desire to simply protect the boy but James did have something for the broken boy before him.

Vince handed James the phone and James took it, an idea forming in his head.

"Do you game?"

"Like video game?"

"Yeah."

Vince nodded. "But I'm not very good; dad doesn't like them."

"I wanna show you something." They got up and James led Vince up to the top floor. This was were the attic was but it was also were James kept all his consoles.

In the year 2532 the ONI had gone public with the SPARTAN II's. The SPARTAN III's, what James' parents had been, was announced in 2584 and just six years later the SPARTAN IV's were on the battlefield. Sometime in those six years, someone noticed that video games improved reflexes more than any other exercise. 2593 saw a large boom in video games. Maybe it was because Caboose had been trained using them or maybe he just liked them; either way he had bought many consoles and games for his son, who had turned the upstairs guest room into a video game haven. Some of the games or consoles were harder to find than others.

Vince had gone bug eyed when he first stepped into the room. "Where did you get all of these?"

"My dad got most of them for me. A few I had to get."

"Which ones?"

"A few of the older ones." James pointed to a white slender box. "That's an Xbox 360. Cost $2,000. The one under it is the original Xbox. That was another $1,980. One next to those is the PlayStantion 2."

"Where did you get that did of money?"

James paused. "No idea."

Vince laughed. "Geeze. There are what? Almost six hundred years old! Do they still work?"

"Do they still--? Of course they work. Took me a month to fix the PS2 but the Xbox's worked like new when I got them."

"Got games for them?"

"Yep."

James could see a fire in Vince's eyes that had never been there before. "Can we play?"

James grinned as Franz's voice sounded in his head. "I knew you liked boys with a spark in them."

"Sure. There's a pile over there. Just be really careful with your arm. I don't want to set it again."

Vince seemed to have forgotten how he had come to this place and the injuries he had sustained. He nodded and carefully started to fish through the games. Every once in awhile he would stop and make a comment about the collection. Sometimes he'd pause and look at the back of a game before putting it down. James watched him without a comment until Vince pulled out a game he had almost forgot he had.

Vince stared at the cover and then shot James a look. "You have this?"

James shrugged. "Yeah. It's a really good game. Harder than it looks."

Vince flipped the case around to look at the back.

"Wanna try it?"

Still eyeing the back of it Vince said, "I thought only perverts had this game."

"The game play is fun and the gifting is a challenge. Not my fault all the characters are half naked girls. So… Wanna try it?"

Vince seemed unsure.

James had the strange urge to say If you don't like it you can do what you want with me including tie me up and have your naughty way with me but felt it might make Vince crawl back into his shell he had just come out from.

There was a long pause before either boy moved. Vince shrugged and passed the game to James with his good arm. James took it and placed it into the Xbox. There was a rumbling sound then the Xbox logo showed on the TV James turned on. Next there was a long screen that threatened the lives and health of the those who tried to some how steal the game. Next a sequence for Team Ninja showed up with waves and clouds. Finally the title screen appeared.

Vince blushed. "I can't believe you have this…"

James smiled. "Why? You are the one who wanted to play it," he said and handed Vince a controller. "Just start a new game."

Vince studied the controller before starting a new game. He frowned at the eight girls in front of him.

"I'd go with Helena. She's well balanced and Lisa likes her enough not to leave in two days."

Vince nodded slowly and selected the French blond. After the screen finished loading he blinked at the black woman stretched out on a pool side chair dressed in a bikini. "Why are they speaking Japanese? Helena's French and Lisa's American."

James laughed. "I know. It's weird. And Hitomi, whose German, and Lei Fang, who's Chinese, and Christie, who's English, all speak it. Quite well too." He shook he head and sat down next to Vince.

The next half an hour was used by James to show Vince the finer points of the game and soon Vince felt very confident in his virtual volleyball skills. After an hour of playing he challenged James to a one on one or two on two match of seven points. James shrugged and a smirk played about his lips as he accepted.

Vince saved and quite the game and selected the Exhibition mode for two players.

"You can pick whom ever you would like however I would recommend Helena and Lisa just because you are used to how they work together."

Vince gave him a look. "And how do I know that you aren't trying to mess up my chances?"

James smiled even wider. "All I am trying to do is give a novice as much help as I can before pounding said novice's players into the ground. If you don't want it…"

Vince selected Helena and Lisa.

James picked Christie and Hitomi, explaining why. "Christie has control over the ball but also has power. All in all she's a well rounded player, as is Lisa. Hitomi is one of two power houses, the other being Tina. What makes Hitomi the better choice as an AI controlled character is her high defense. Meaning she can be in the back and catch the ball while Tina needs to be in the front or she'll lose the ball."

'Sounds like this AI has trouble… Maybe I could fix that.'

Don't touch these girls, Franz. I like them how they are.

'Half naked?'

No and you know that quiet well.

Vince shook his head. "You play this game too much…"

"Yes but remember it's you who thinks you can defeat me after barely two hours of playing."

After thirty seconds Vince realized he was heavily out skilled. The game had given him the ball and he had preformed a perfect jump serve only to have it catch easily by Christie who passed it to Hitomi in the back. The German set up a spike that Christie used to perfection. She hovered in mid air for a long moment and Vince thought she would cause the ball to hit the net but nope; Christie hit it and it went straight through the hole in the middle of Vince's girls.

The game didn't last too much longer. By the end of it Vince had gained a ton of great tips that came only from a person who played over seven hundred hours.

James turned to Vince and sighed. "You still have a great deal to learn in the arts of volleyball my young Padawan."

"Padawan?!"

James grinned. "In that case I get to show you something. C'here." He stood up and pulled Vince by his good arm, leading him to a side room. A large TV was set up along with a large number of DVDs, something else that had long been replaced.

"We are going to watch Star Wars and there is nothing you can say about it," the Second Generation SPARTAN said bending over to grab a hand of DVDs.

Vince found himself staring at James' butt and unable to move his eyes away from the sight. He felt a twitch in his pants and was grateful when James straightened up again. "What are they about?" he asked hoping James wouldn't notice the heat in his cheeks.

"You will like them. I'm sure of it." As he placed a DVD in the player he paused. "Hm."

"What?"

"I just realized that these movies remind me of now." James frowned and eyed the back of the box. "People with abilities that few have. Abilities that can win wars."

Vince knew he was talking about the SPARTANS. "Still want to watch them?"

James looked up. "You kiddin'? These are classics. Of course I still want to watch them."

And they sat down on the couch placed on the other side of the room.

Caboose sighed heavily as he stared at the screen before him. He looked at his watch and sighed again. It was already three am. He groaned and rubbed his eyes. Just a few more hours and this problem would be over. In fact he wasn't too sure on what it problem was. It was almost like an outside force was letting something else go wrong when ever he fixed it.

He rubbed his eyes as the echo of foot falls drifted towards him. He just stared at the screen, waiting for Dave to finish making his way to his office.

Caboose turned around and sighed at the sight of Dave. He was thin and a little short with reddish hair showing though his bandana. He was holding a mug of coffee in his hand.

They just stared at each other for a moment. "Here. You look like you could use this," Dave said and handed Caboose the mug.

"Thanks."

"How's it coming?"

"I have no idea. Every time I fix something something else shows up. I don't get it." He cast the screen a hateful look. "It's late. I think I'm going to call it quits for tonight. See if I have any better luck tomorrow."

Dave nodded. "Sounds like a wise move to me. This is reminding me of a few years ago, back when we still used AIs, you know. One of them got pissed off and started to make things just happen. It wasn't very fun to try to clean up. Took over a week."

Caboose nodded slowly, a frown marring his features. "Yeah… Thanks for the coffee again. I want to check something really quickly then I'm heading home."

"Okay. Comin' into work tomorrow?"

"Yep. Need to finish this up."

Dave nodded and left.

Caboose turned back to the screen and quickly checked AI connections. There was one shown but it had to have been tampered with. It claimed the last time an AI logged in was four years ago. This wasn't true; the story Dave had told was the last time they ever had AIs and that was over six years ago. If an AI had logged on it would be able to cover its tracks so why make leave false ones? Caboose had no idea. All he knew was there was no way any of their old AIs would be able to do such a feat. There were only two that he knew of that could. One had been deleted after a long chase. The other… The other was safely locked up in his attic. Right? Right?!

What if he wasn't? He would be able to get into this system from anywhere, he wouldn't even need access to a computer.

He closed his eyes. Please still be locked up…

His eyes sprang open as a soft purple glow shone from the screen.