Sorry that it took so long guys, I have been very busy with day-to-day stuff lately. Anyway, the UNSC found the Counselor and bring him on board. Needless to say Epsilon freaks out. Enjoy.


Chief and Epsilon had spent a lot of time together, sharing a mind and all did that to you. At first it had been mostly arguments and Chief telling Epsilon to be quiet. The nightmares drove him nuts and he hardly got any sleep, making it hard to pay attention during the day. But soon he got used to it, asking Epsilon nicely to be quiet and comforting him on the nights he had horrible nightmares. Chief learned to listen-in on Epsilon's thoughts and found out a lot of interesting things about him. Like how he had a team of idiots that were annoying but he loved them anyway, and about Washington and Tex and Carolina.

On missions Epsilon would always make jokes and Chief would feel his mood light up a bit, on some missions he would joke about getting sick and how Chief was doing something stupid. After a long while Chief managed to make witty banter back at Epsilon, the two joining each other in laughing fits from time to time on the battle field. This one time Chief had lept out of a burning Pelican and Epsilon started singing I Believe I can Fly. And that's how Chief found out that he can't sing to save his life. After telling him so Epsilon didn't say anything for the rest of the mission, not that Chief really minded it all that much.

Everyone would give him weird looks if they caught him playing checkers with Epsilon, looking to them like he was playing by himself. Epsilon was good at checkers as well as Chess, Poker, and a good many other games. Chief had managed to make good friends with Epsilon over the many months they spent together. Epsilon rarely had fits anymore and became very calm around Halsey, enjoying the talks the three had together.

Chief had gotten to like Epsilon in his head, but both knew that he could never replaced Cortana, she was his first AI and thus would hold a special place in his heart. But Epsilon had helped bring him back from his sadness from her passing and taught him that just because you lose someone doesn't mean that you can't befriend someone else. Epsilon seemed to learn something as well. He learned that just because some people treated you badly doesn't mean everyone will or, as he put it, not everyone is as big an asshole as some people.

There were moments when Epsilon would drive Chief crazy or visa-versa, but for the most part both got along with each other quite well. When Epsilon had a nightmare Chief managed to comfort him and they would go back to bed. Having spent so much time together the two had nicknames for each other. Epsilon was Eppy and Chief was Johny-boy. Though admittedly Chief hated that, but it was the agreement that if he could call him Eppy he got to call him Johny-boy. And that's how their friendship worked.

...

Chief walked down the halls, Epsilon still whispering in his head as they did so. He was talking about his old team and some of the stupid things they used to do, some of them bringing a slight smile to Chief's face. Epsilon thought about his old team often, something he got angry at the thoughts but mostly they brought him joy. Chief entered the bridge for the meeting and came to a halt instantly as Epsilon silently panicked. There in front of him, with datapad in hand, was the Counselor of Project Freelancer. He looked up at Chief and they shared a moment of silence before Chief walked over to the holodesk.

"Chief, are you all right?" Lasky sounded very worried his fingers shifted by his pistol. Chief looked down to see the his left hand had already started to unsheath his pistol without his knowledge of it. He slowly took his hand away and looked back at the others, trying to ignore Epsilon's screaming into his head. Lasky seemed to look even more worried now. "Chief, you're shaking, are you ok?" Chief looked down at his hand to see that Lasky was right, he was indeed shaking. Chief's fist clenched and Epsilon continued to scream inside his head.

"Master Chief, are you feeling all right?" The voice was slow but not in a good way. It was also right next to him. Chief's head whirled around to see the Counselor right beside him. Inside his head Epsilon panicked, screaming at him to shoot him or to at least get away from him. Chief backed up and reached for his pistol, dropping it to the ground so he didn't fire it on the Counselor. The Counselor didn't look confused like everyone else, in fact he looked like he knew exactly what was going on. The Counselor took a few steps forward and reached out a hand, and that set Epsilon off into what Chief had come to call a Fury Fit.

"Get away from us!" Epsilon's voice spoke from Chief's throat. Chief gasped, this was new, this was very, very new. Chief clutched his head and groaned in pain as Epsilon continued to scream. "Leave us alone, don't touch us!" Everyone backed away from Chief in fear as the new voice came from his mouth, though the Counselor did not seem to concerned as he backed away ever-so-slowly. Epsilon appeared, hologram flickering as he glared at everyone.

"Ep-Epsilon, s-stop," Chief begged, falling to his knees in pain as the screaming only got louder inside his head. Soon Chief was curled up on the floor, shaking from the mental pain. "P-please, s-stop." Epsilon didn't seem to notice Chief's please as he continued to scream inside his head, the light blue hologram flickering more and more as it got louder and louder. Chief took a deep breath, determined to have the AI hear him. "EPSILON!" The hologram turned to Chief. "Stop! Please!" He could sense Epsilon's shock at the state he had put his partner into. The screaming lessened but didn't quite stop.

"I-I-" Epsilon stuttered. His shoulder's sagged and his head hung. "I'm sorry..." the screaming stopped and Epsilon disappeared. Chief's body went limp and he stared at the ceiling, struggling to get air into his lungs. Someone knelt by his side and there was shouting, pounding feet, and his helmet was removed. Chief's lungs filled with air and he felt lightheaded, the world faded away.

...

"He's waking up." Chief's eyes slowly opened a light entered them with a force he hadn't seen before. Chief flinched slightly and sat up, holding his head with his left hand instantly going to his neck. He froze when he did not feel the chip there. "We had to remove him Chief, he could've killed you." Chief didn't answer as he slid off the medical table to floor, and walked out. "Chief? Chief, wait!" Chief stopped and turned around, shocking Lasky.

"Where is he? Where is Epsilon?" Chief demanded. Lasky didn't answer and Chief huffed, storming off in anger. He heard footsteps behind him as he continued on his way. Chief stopped and turned to look as Lasky. "Why are you following me?" Lasky gave a funny look.

"Chief, I know that losing Cortana must have been hard, but that doesn't mean that you can just march into the cargobey and take Epsilon from the Counselor who will be leaving in about five minutes," he answered, giving a smile as he spoke. Chief found himself smiling as well as he ran down the hallways with Lasky right beside him. Chief had to admit that he was impressed that Lasky could keep up with a Spartan.

As the two entered the cargobey Chief bolted towards them. He was surprised as two other Spartans ran over and grabbed onto him, pulling against him so that he couldn't get to the Counselor. Another ran over and tried to help, but not even that stopped him. Soon two more bolted over and he was just barely being held back. The Counselor's hand enclosed over Epsilon's AI chip and he gave Chief a slight glare. Epsilon's hologram appeared out of the chip and he screamed, startling everyone.

"Chief! Get him away from me! HELP!" Chief stopped shoving, making all the Spartans jerk backwards and fall onto the floor, allowing him to bolt towards the Counselor. He grabbed Epsilon from the startled man and backed away from him, Epsilon's hologram leaning against Chief and shaking. "He was going to take me back there, I don't want to go back to that scary place, Chief! They hurt me there!"

"Don't worry, they aren't taking you anywhere," Chief told him, glaring at the Counselor. Chief's hands wrapped around Epsilon and everyone came towards him, obviously intent on getting Epsilon away from him. Epsilon screamed as the Counselor reached out and Chief took a large step backwards in shock.

"Church? CHURCH!" Everyone became still and looked over as a bunch of soldiers in Spartan armor ran over, some blue and some red. Epsilon stopped screaming and looked over at them, a happiness flowing through him that Chief felt. The one in the darkest shade of blue took Epsilon from his hands and hugged the little hologram. "Church! I knew we'd find you! Are you ok? Why were you screaming?"

"They were going to take me back, they were going to hurt me!" Epsilon ducked behind the man's arms and looked at the Counselor. All the soldiers raised their weapons at the Counselor, who backed away from them. Chief stood in front of the Counselor. "Chief? What are you doing?" Chief looked at Epsilon.

"That's enough," Chief said. Epsilon tilted his head, confused. Chief found himself having to force himself to speak. "Your team's here now, you don't have to go anywhere with anyone. You can go home with them, go on those stupid and crazy adventures again like you used too." Epsilon stared at Chief a long moment.

"Wait, what are you saying, Chief?" he asked slowly. Everyone looked one, unsure of what was going on here. Chief gave a light smile.

"Come on Eppy, you know what I'm saying," Chief told him, swallowing a lump in his throat. Epsilon stared at Chief, not knowing how to respond. "Go home buddy, you deserve it." Epsilon stuttered, trying to find something to say but not being able to speak. "Oh, and, thanks." By this point every single person in the room had their full attention on Chief and what he was saying. "Thanks for everything really. You-you really taught me a lot. I never thought I could joke around like that again after losing Cortana, but you taught me how too. And even though you were a huge pain in the ass, you were a great friend, and I hope I was too. But, it's time you went home."

"But-but," Epsilon stuttered. His hologram flickered in the other man's hands. "I learned a lot from you too. I always assumed that I hated my team, but thanks to you I realized that I don't. And I think I owe you more thanks than you owe me. You helped me with the nightmares, never ratted me out, and hell, you even went against orders just to save me. Hell, you are fucking amazing, you know that? Thanks, a whole bunch." Epsilon's hologram flickered and his voice cracked. Chief smiled a bit.

"You're welcome buddy," he said. "Now, go home, all right?" Epsilon nodded and his hologram faded. The man handed the chip to one of the other men and walked over, hugging Chief tight around the waist.

"Thank you," he said quietly. "Thank you for taking care of him." Chief nodded and the team walked away, waving to him. The room was silent for a long moment, then Chief just walked away, down the hall, and into his room. He leaned up against the closed door and took in a breath as if he hadn't breathed before. He slapped a hand over his mouth and swallowed down a sob. Why was that harder than saying goodbye to Cortana? Was it because this time he actually had to say goodbye? Chief sighed and sat on his bunk, leaning his head back a bit. He was gonna miss that little guy, but it was for the best that he went home.

...

Epsilon's hologram stood on Wash's shoulder, both being perfectly silent as they watched their team arguing about something below them. They sat high upon the canyon wall, their own little hiding spot, to get some peace and quiet. Epsilon couldn't help but think about Chief at this moment, of all the times they would just sit there and be quiet. During that time, because he was going a bit insane, times like that were rare but very enjoyable. Epsilon sighed. He was going to miss Chief, he really was. Wash glanced up at Epsilon, sensing these feelings. He sighed. If the AI were human, he would be in tears. But sadly, he was not of flesh.


And that's a wrap. Yes, short, I know.

Thanks for reading, please review, and have a bow chicka bow wow day
Perla: And may it be the best day ever, of all time