It was extremely awkward, to put it nicely.
They hadn't talked much since the day Ala had woken up from her coma. Mostly because she was either too exhausted from moving around too much or she was as high as a bedrock due to all of the pain killers they had her on.
Around the third day after having woken up, the black-haired woman had insisted on not using that horrible night pot anymore. She wanted to go to the bathroom on a normal loo and after enough nagging, she managed to do so. She also was adamant about being able to at least sit up regularly to eat or drink something or to have a chat with visitors. She did not want to be lying around like a dying swan, thank you very much!
Luckily, there were her lieutenants who were eager to help her in her moment of weakness. North couldn't tell if that was because they were so thankful for her helping them during the war or for whatever other reason there was for it. He strongly suspected some of them being major suck-ups.
Speaking of the lieutenants… That was another reason why they hadn't been able to talk for a full two weeks since Ala had woken up again. There was always a horrible bustle of activity in her room the moment that people were informed that she was awake again.
There were the guys from the Blood Gulch Crew showing up, one by one. Tucker was back the next morning, looking a bit more relaxed along with Washington. This time they were accompanied by Junior, the huge Sangheili.
Albeit being weak, the black-haired woman switched languages and greeted the young boy in his native language. His reaction was hilarious. So hilarious, that even North had to laugh.
Junior's eyes went wide in surprise and his jaw, or mandibles in his case, dropped. He stared at her for a full minute before catching himself and answering the formal greeting with the correct answer and an obvious note of happiness that someone put so much effort in getting to know his culture.
Tucker was laughing right beside him during his son's hilarious reaction, but it died down to a fond smile when his son and sister were communicating in Sangheili. He would sometimes correct Ala when she pronounced something wrong or had a wrong syntax.
They soon switched to English again, Ala asking how Junior was doing and if he was okay.
Junior would reply that he was okay and thankful for all of them, but especially her, for bailing him out. He had gotten caught by Felix soon after sending the distress signal and had been held captive until the Blood Gulch Crew showed up.
They talked some more until Wash and Tucker had to leave because they had to train their squads and do some fitness exercises for themselves.
Soon after they left, the dinner was served and the moment Ala was done eating, she was almost asleep again. Her energy reserves were depleted rather fast given her healing at the moment. That was no wonder considering that her body had to heal from at least two major injuries as well as the aftermath of a concussion, along with some minor scratches and bruises.
After the woman fell asleep, North was left alone with his thoughts again.
Spontaneously, he decided to get a shower and change his clothes since he felt somewhat grimy. If you once got into the habit of showering regularly, you soon started feeling grimy upon breaking that habit.
Anyways, he was back after an hour had passed. Ala was still fast asleep, the soft rising and falling of her chest indicating that she was in some kind of dreamland.
Leaning over her with a small smile, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. It had become something like a given that he would do that, if only to show her that she wasn't alone.
Another couple of days later, North had started to sleep in his room again as Ala had practically thrown him out of her infirmary room. Said soldier was returning from a training session and had decided to check in on her when he was clean again.
During Mac's absence, North had decided to teach the kids what he had learnt and what Ala was lacking in some places when it came to sniping.
He had been forced to go away far too soon, leaving Ala with only part of the knowledge of what it took to be a thoroughly trained sniper. She knew a lot, don't get him wrong, but there were still some things she didn't know.
Okay, so she was able to fill those gaps with her intuition and with the old method of trial-and-error, but sometimes she did something in not exactly the way a real sniper with all his education would do.
For having missed so much, however, she did a great job with the kids. He must honestly admit that he was impressed.
Anyways, upon entering the room, he could see Ala sitting in a wheelchair with her back to him and her head tilted forwards a bit. Behind her was Donut with some scissors and a comb, obviously trying to get a halfway passable hairstyle out of the mess that was her hair when she had to cut it off during the fight. He was chattering excitedly whilst Ala made grunting noises every now and then.
Feeling like he was interrupting an intimate moment, North decided to close the door silently and busied himself with doing something else while waiting for Donut to leave.
While walking to the training area to check on Wash and the others training their lieutenants, he had another dispute with Theta about if he should talk with her or not.
North opted for waiting another couple of days until Ala was better, while Theta insisted on doing it now since they all knew how it could turn out if you waited too long from personal experience.
He had been having those disputes quite frequently with Theta, lately.
The Fragment had gotten his piece of mind from North for not telling him who Mac really was, whereas Theta hounded the Freelancer for not having enough balls to step up and make things clear and claim the girl as his again.
They seemed to be in some kind of stalemate at the moment.
On another day, North was sitting with Ala and debating with himself about whether or not he should talk to her.
This decision, however, was taken out of his hands by Tucker opening the door. A group of six kids ran into the room with loud squeals and shouts, and soon all of them were sitting on the bed with the black-haired woman and hugging her.
It was a nice view. Drew had always been of the opinion that Ala would have been a great mom. They just never had the chance to become parents, although he would have loved to have kids of his own.
Ala, Tucker and the kids were sitting together with North for the next few hours, talking about different things and playing various games.
Around noon, Tucker announced that the kids had to go back to the orphanage. This didn't go down without some complaining from the children, but the teal-wearing soldier stayed adamant.
One of the kids wanted to tell Ala goodbye, obviously one who was closer to the woman than the other kids. With a momentum and a strength unknown to North, the kid jumped on Ala and hugged her fiercely.
Tucker and North both were on their feet immediately when they heard Ala's suppressed whine of pain.
Almost hurriedly, Tucker ushered the kids out and ordered them to stay put while he was looking over the black-haired woman.
North was bent over her, trying to decipher what had happened. He checked the bandages for any signs of blood, but there was none.
So why was she curling up and obviously having horrible pain?! He felt at a loss when Tucker walked up and laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Hit the bad spot?" he asked, a note of panic in his voice but otherwise calm.
The woman only nodded with a face twisted in pain.
"I'll get Grey then. We can't wait any longer."
North felt like he was back on the battlefield once more. He was only the bystander again, with everyone else obviously knowing more about his girlfriend than he did.
Yes, he still was referring to her as his girlfriend… shut up!
"What's up?" Drew asked, just as Tucker was about to leave the room.
He cringed, "Not my place to tell, dude. Better ask Mac when she's better."
With that, he was out the door, leaving a flabbergasted North behind with Mac who had to force herself to draw shuddering breaths.
It didn't take a minute for Grey to enter with a stony expression.
"Oh, sweetheart, you should have come to me long ago when it's that bad." She said, giving the woman a syringe that was probably an anesthesia of some kind and starting to unhook her from the IV and some other things still attached to her.
If the situation wasn't so dire, North would have laughed at the devastating glare Ala threw the doctor albeit while still in pain.
"Why? What's wrong with her?" North was growing frustrated and angry about everyone keeping things from him. She was his girlfriend, at least.
Giving the nurses some orders, they left with Ala towards the surgery room while the doctor stayed behind.
She looked at him with a serious expression, "It's a private subject. I suggest you ask her when she's awake."
"Everyone keeps telling me that!" North protested.
There was a brief flicker of something North couldn't quite name, but it resembled hurt as though Doctor Grey couldn't tell him what was going on but she wanted to.
"I really can't tell you, Agent North Dakota. It's confidential. It's something very personal and I really do suggest talking with Mac herself about it once she's ready to tell you. This isn't only about her body, it's about her soul too." She explained, trying to give North as much information as she could without breaking the rules of confidentiality.
Although still feeling slightly pissed, he appreciated her talk.
"Thanks, Doctor, I will do that then." He was smart enough to know that she couldn't tell him more and that Tucker didn't want to tell him.
Given that this seemed to be a rather sensitive subject for Ala, he could even understand the aqua-clad soldier's hesitation.
"Well, if you'll excuse me now… I have to get your girlfriend sound again." The doctor chirped and was out of the room before Drew even had any time to form an answer.
After everyone left, a nurse appeared and changed the sheets that Mac had been lying in. North only now realized that there was blood in the sheets, but that it was lower than her wounds had been.
And he had seen the bandages, they hadn't been bloodied.
The nurse left after changing the sheets and left him alone.
Sitting down in the armchair beside her bed, being alone left him with his thoughts once again. Why was what had happened, whatever it was, so painful?
It didn't look like something that was new, or unknown, or surprising. It seemed as though it was something that Tucker, Doctor Grey, and Ala herself were very much aware of and none of them seemed to want to talk about it.
Closing his eyes, he felt Theta move in the back of his mind.
'Theta…' He growled, but the Fragment only yelped and holed himself up in the farthest corner of his mind.
Great… Again, the AI seemed to know more than he did and it was frustrating, if not outright infuriating, him. He was the only one being left in the dark and nobody seemed to want to talk about it.
What the hell was up with Ala? Given her reaction, it must be bad! She wasn't one to curl up like she did just because of a mere hit. There must be something worse behind it.
Sighing, he opened his eyes when he heard the door open. About one and a half hours had passed since they had brought Ala away.
Looking up, he could see Tucker standing in the doorway. He looked uncomfortable.
"Uh, look…" the dreadlocked man started, playing with one of the dreads. A habit he must have picked up from Ala.
"I can't tell you what is up. Pretty personal shit…" chewing on his bottom lip, North decided to only stare at him. Tucker was an easy one to get to talk by making him feel uncomfortable. Staring him down usually was the best way to get him to talk.
"It has something to do with you, okay? So I am pretty sure she will tell you at some point. It's just… You showing up didn't help matters here. It's not only her body that took damage." Averting his eyes, Tucker seemed to look to all kinds of places except North's face.
"So I was told." The Freelancer said calmly, showing his anger, but not lashing out although it was difficult. Tucker was one of those who was holding onto a secret he wouldn't share, after all.
"It is, okay?" the Sim Trooper snapped, "It's pretty fucked up shit and I promised her that I wouldn't tell and on top of that, it really is some personal shit. It's not my place to tell." Tucker started to defend himself, as if he had done something to personally offend North.
Drew knew just too well that he could seem intimidating as fuck what with being so tall and rather muscular. Thank goodness that Beta had implemented a training program to keep their bodies in shape during cryo.
Exhaling, North closed his eyes again and rubbed his forehead. He felt a headache coming on.
"It's okay. At least I know a bit at the moment."
Dropping his hand, he opened his eyes and stared at said limb, "It's just difficult for me. For a while, Ala and I had been really close and now, it seems like she's a total stranger to me." He muttered.
Tucker snorted at that, his arms crossed, "And you still are wondering why that is? Dude, she thought you were dead for ten fucking years. Don't you think that people move on and change during that time?"
North nodded jerkily at that, "I know, but it still is strange."
"For you, yes, since you're missing those years. Anyways, for her and us all ten years had passed and we changed. Take Wash, for example. As far as I know he had been different in the Project. Fuck, he even was different when we first met. A paranoid, always looking over his shoulder bundle of nerves. I was afraid he would shoot me whenever I did something so much as breathe wrong." Tucker chuckled at the memories where he more often than not was glad to be wearing armor since he usually ended up flat on his back with the breath knocked out of his lungs and a knife to his throat when Wash hadn't heard him coming.
"Yeah, he's changed quite a bit." North smiled sadly, "He became what we all feared to become. Being broken by the Project."
"No shit." Tucker scoffed, "But seriously, his bad days today aren't half as bad as his good days back in Valhalla."
North smiled, a bit afflicted, "I can imagine. York and I had been rather paranoid too when we got away from the Project. But it seems that Wash was affected the worst. Mainly because of Epsilon." He stated, remembering how Wash had woken up in the infirmary, disoriented and not even knowing his own name.
Tucker's face fell a bit at the mention of Epsilon.
Right, it hadn't been so long since he had shattered himself to rescue Tucker and the others. Epsilon was more a friend than an A.I. to them.
If he was remembering things correctly, Caboose even referred to Epsilon as a ghost instead of an A.I. and his 'bestest friend ever.' It was rather understandable that the childlike man had been extremely crestfallen when he realized that Epsilon was gone for good.
"Yeah, pretty crazy stuff went down there." Tucker sighed, "Anyways. Gotta go now. Guess Ala should be coming back soon but she won't be awake until tomorrow. I suggest you get some rest too and check in on her then?"
It was a question, but North could hear the worry behind the words.
He smiled apologetically, "I guess you're right. I will do that then." He muttered, getting up with a low groan and leaving the infirmary room together with Tucker.
Ala had already hounded him for staying up so long and for pushing himself to his limits when he couldn't help anyway. Such as in this moment, for example.
Ala was in surgery and he wouldn't be helping her by staying up all night. He had promised Ala that he wasn't going to do that anymore if there wasn't an extremely important reason to do so. She was grateful for his help, but there were times where he really couldn't help and would do her and everyone else more good by resting up instead.
As much as he hated the thought of it, he decided to do good on the promise he had given her then and get some rest.
Returning to his room, he took a shower and lied down on his bed.
It took him quite a while to fall asleep, and upon finally having done so, his sleep wasn't the least bit fitful and he always woke up after two or three hours of sleep from a nightmare of some kind.
The only common thing any of the nightmares had was that there was Ala in them, blood running down her legs from a wound in her lower abdomen that he couldn't see clearly.
It was just like in the infirmary. He saw the blood, but no wound.
He couldn't tell where the blood came from, he only knew that it was there.
It kept him up and when dawn rolled around, he was already up and out in the training area to get his mind cleared and his body untensed.