This Chapter, while not explicit, contains a lot more sexual material than every other one. Just giving you a fair warning in case you're offended by that

Chapter CXXIII: Firsts and Thirds

September 15, 2544 (UNSC Calendar)/two months later

UNSC Inconvenience, Omicron Ebur

"Here's to new beginnings."

"Despite having been long abandoned by all the members of its working class, the specimen continues to work in its assigned station. It has been almost two weeks since the last member decided to forsake the required work in favor of more recreational activities. This specimen in particular is a great example of perseverance and dedication to its job. If only more individuals of the species behaved like her then the colony would be most successful."

"Frank, will you please shut up?"

I chucked to myself and stood up from my chair. My butt was starting to hurt from having been sitting so long. "I'm sorry, while you make for a very distracting view I can only take not doing anything for so long."

Hanna was a sucker for flattery. I'm not saying that that's necessarily a bad thing, but everyone loves a little bit of ego puffing on occasion. She loved it as often as possible. "So, which part of me is interesting to look at?" I could tell that she was smiling even though her back was turned to me.

I took advantage of the brief distraction and got close to her. I used my right hand to grab her by the waist and pull her close while my left hand took the datapad from her hand and placed it away from her reach. I put my lips next to her ear. "All of you."

This time she giggled. "Come on Frank, I have to finish work…" She actually sounded a little bit regretful when saying that, it was a minor victory for Team Man.

"It's inventory," I complained, kissing her neck lightly. "Nobody cares about it, nobody else is doing it. And it changes every day."

"I know!" she exclaimed. So far she had been purring nicely as I kissed her neck, I'd have to be more careful if I wanted to pry her from the evil clutches of professionalism and un-procrastination. "That's exactly why I have to keep doing this. What if we're suddenly attacked?"

"A couple of band-aids aren't going to make a difference," I assured her. I looked around to make sure that nobody was watching. I had already gone way past the public displays of affection rule, but it could always be forgiven, what actually bothered me was that someone saw us kissing. Well, it didn't bother me, but Hanna was very private about those things. Once I confirmed that no one was hiding behind a curtain I did kiss my girlfriend.

"What if somebody sees?" she said after pushing me back. It had taken her at least five seconds to push me off, so I knew that her heart was not in it. Her flushed face and ragged breath were a pretty good indicator too.

"We're alone," I told her, "I checked."

I could hear the crowd roaring in approval when she turned completely around so that she was facing me. Pardon my language, but she was so fucking sexy. Sorry, I didn't mean to rub it in your face, but Pavel was right when he said that I hit the jackpot with her. She placed a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear and smiled at me with that shy smile of hers. "So, Gunnery Sergeant, what do you propose we do?"

"Well Corpsman Lockley," I started, grabbing her by the butt and lifting her onto the table. "We could lock the door."

Hanna had been turning down my not-so-subtle suggestions for mind-blowing sex for the past few weeks. She had been very assertive about it, telling me very clearly that she would allow my pee-pee into her hoo-hah when she felt like we were ready for that next step in the relationship. I had done my best to dissuade her from denying herself the best sex that she had had until that point by giving her puppy eyes and doing some light begging.

Yes, I just heavily implied I'm a rather gifted lover, deal with it.

Still, Hanna would not give in, she would stonewall my attempts to enjoy an evening of sexual pleasure with her but would leave subtle hints that it would happen soon enough. By this point I felt like I was ready to explode, if that didn't work then I'd have to go down on my knees and beg her for it. I had hoped that it wouldn't come down to that.

When she didn't immediately turn down my suggestion to lock the door and engage in some wanky sexual antics in one of the various supply rooms I felt like a choir of angels was singing a epic piece to my back. I was so sure of it that I had to stop myself from confirming the presence of beautiful angel ladies singing behind me. I was assured that it was just my imagination when Hanna didn't mention them.

"Here?" she asked me, her tone playful.

"Why not?" I replied, eager to get started. "No one will walk in on us and this table seems rather sturdy. I bet it can support both of our weight."

I almost groaned when she wrapped her legs around my waist and pulled me closer to her. To people that didn't know her Hanna might've looked like a socially awkward, shy, introverted girl, but once you got to know her she was the exact opposite. She also knew exactly which buttons to push on me. It probably helped that I had told her what my turn ons were in an attempt to get her to tell me hers. A complete failure by the way, I had only succeeded in making her tease me where it really hurt.

I wasn't really surprised when she looked down while keeping her eyes trained on mine. She then proceeded to bite her lower lip, pretending to be nervous. Well, at least it seemed like she pretended, because the whole action had only served to get me to fall for her even more. "I don't know Frank. What if someone knocks?"

"You ignore them until they decide to go away. Or bring a battering ram."

She chuckled quietly. Either she really had me pinned down or she was a natural at being cute and sexy at the same time. Few people can do that, you know? Except that chick from Crazy Stupid Love, but you probably have no idea what the hell I'm talking about. She proceeded to glance at the door quickly before looking back at me. She said nothing for a moment, just looking at me. I took advantage of the moment to stare deep into her beautiful eyes. I must've been smiling, because she seemed to notice.

"I still don't know." One of her hands was now rubbing the back of my head in the most distracting way. Ever since I had come out of cryo I had let my hair grow, I didn't have it as long as I did before coming in, but I was certainly past regulation by now. That made the scalp massage all the more pleasurable. Usually she made an actual worried face when I suggested sex, now she was just playing it, pouting and making cute faces while pretending to look worriedly at the door.

She was teasing, on purpose. Well, two could play that game.

I leaned in close to her, looking at her lips. She stopped playing hard to catch and immediately tilted her head slightly sideways, parting her lips ever so slightly. I closed in on her and let my lips brush against hers. AS soon as I felt the contact I pulled slightly back, forcing her to lean forward a little bit. Next time she closed in I yanked my head back more, forcing her to lean further into me. I got away with it one more time before she yanked my head into hers and started doing an incredible display of tongue gymnastics. Down my throat.

Not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth I grabbed the back of her head and secured her tightly against me. I was kissing her fiercely, with reckless abandon, she returned the kiss in kind, pulling me close to her. I could feel myself getting more desperate by the second. I wasn't the only one. Hanna's hand had moved from my neck to my cheek, the other one had gone off to the most distracting places. I knew then that that was my cue to start attacking.

"Fire everything!" Schitzo cried wildly from somewhere behind.

I ignored him completely, this was the best moment of my life, I wasn't going to let a measly multiple personality disorder ruin it. I used my free hand to push aside anything that might make for an uncomfortable distraction off the table. I smiled to myself as I heard clattering on the floor. I didn't even bother to check what I had broken, I pushed her further down the table, keeping myself upright with one hand while pulling Hanna against me with the other hand. I had to lean back a little bit when she took off my shirt. As soon as it fell to the floor I attacked her again. And by attack I mean attacked. She muttered something sounding like 'Ow' when her back slammed against the wall, but otherwise said nothing. I reached down and unbuttoned the top button of her pants.

"Wait, we haven't even locked the door yet," she said, looking slightly alarmed.

I smiled reassuringly at her. "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."

"Wow," I said, complimenting Hanna's but as she wiggled into her pants.

"Frank," she chastised lightly. "You're…"

"Handsome? Sexy? An extraordinarily gifted lover?"

"…a lost cause," she finished with a laugh.

I chuckled and stepped into my discarded boxers. "Well, at least they're not mutually exclusive." I put on my underwear and reached for my pants. For some reason my clothes were discarded all over the small supply room even though we had stuck to the table. Well, mostly stuck to the table. By the time she was dressed anybody could tell that she had just had a little fun. Her face was still flushed, she had a smile on her face, and there was also that thing that people called afterglow. One could just tell if you took a moment to look closely. With the looks Hanna had, more than a couple of Marines and soldiers would indeed be looking closely.

I could only imagined how I looked.

"Stop grinning!" she berated me. "You look like a little kid watching his first porno."

"Curious expression you chose there."

Hanna huffed and shook her head before fixing her shirt and rubbing her back. She really was in no position to say anything, judging from the grin on her face she had had a pretty good time too. Yes, yes, I was extremely satisfied with myself. Little Frank should've been proud of himself too, but his head wasn't exactly made for thinking, so he would never know the great deeds that he had done. With me it was the other way around, I would know what I had done but the world never would, Little Frank wouldn't know what he did, but the world would.

After I was done putting on my clothes I sat down on the chair that I had been using before. My mind had been too clouded during the act, but this sturdy piece of furniture would've made for great support. Of course, Hanna probably wouldn't have enjoyed having to do all the work, but I digress. Hanna had just finished tying her boots and sighed happily while looking at me. I smiled back at her and she just shook her head while laughing. I invited her to my lap and suppressed a victory cry when she sat across my legs, holding my neck so that she wouldn't slip off.

"That was great," I told her. "Honestly."

She seemed delighted with the flattery, delighted enough to return the compliment. I felt like a little kid, but I was happy that she had enjoyed it as much as I had. We just sat there for a few moments, Hanna took the opportunity to kiss my jaw and neck lightly while I just enjoyed the afterglow that I just mentioned. After a while of just sitting there Hanna finally stopped and looked me right in the eyes.

"Frank, there's something I've got to confess."

"Don't tell me that you used to be a dude," I joked.

"Why, would that turn you on?" she asked innocently.

I shook my head violently.

"Well, then you'd be glad to know that I was born with the plumbing that I have right now." She giggled a little bit at her own eloquence before she went on. "Well, I…uh, it had been a long while since I had sex," she started. "So I was nervous that I wouldn't be everything that you imagined our first time."

"You were great," I assured her. "Went above and beyond the call of booty." Yes, yes, I stole that from a twelve year-old.

She slapped me lightly on the chest before resuming her speech. "As I was saying, thanks by the way."

"No problem."

"Anyways, I asked a friend for tips." She saw my dumbstruck expression and continued rapidly. "A girl friend of course," she said. "Well, she helped out on some things."

"Who'd you ask?"

"Emily."

"Hardwick?"

"Yeah."

"Why did you ask her?"

She raised her eyebrow. "I thought it was obvious." When I pressed her for an answer she sighed and went on. "Because you had been sleeping with her for a while before going out with me."

"Wait, you knew?!"

"Girls talk Frank, of course I knew."

"Wow," I chuckled nervously. I don't know what to say. Thank her for me."

"I'll be sure to let her know that her lessons were successful."

"What exactly did the…lessons consist of?"

"Well," Hanna said in a sultry tone. "First she would assume the role of a man, then she would guide my hand to- they were mostly verbal you idiot."

"Well, now I can't get that idea out of my head."

"Interesting," she mused, putting her finger on her cheek and adopting a pensive expression. After a moment of me staring she laughed. "She also said that you were quite open about your fantasies. A little leading on might be nice, but never allow him to think that it could happen, I think those were her words."

"Ouch, I think she messed up on that lesson."

"Frank…" she warned.

"Sorry, sorry. I'd never do anything to make you uncomfortable."

"Oh Frank," she said dramatically, leaning backwards and putting her wrist to her forehead. "Whatever would I do without you?"

"Suffer a lot," I suggested. "By the way, you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but I'm curious. How long has it been since…well, you know. Since you last had sex."

Hanna actually jumped from my lap, narrowly avoiding hitting my crotch. She had gone from all lovey dovey to blushed and shifty-eyed. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm just curious," I repeated.

"I-uh-ah-I," she stumbled over her words. "It's been…"

"Two years?" I suggested, purposely giving a high number.

"A little bit more than that," she admitted.

I had to hold back a smile of incredulity. I don't think that I was entirely successful, because she took a step back and crossed her arms angrily. "I told you that you didn't have to answer," I reminded her softly.

"Fine."

"So, how much longer than two years?"

"Hmm," she grumbled.

"Three?" I asked, leaning back on my chair, stretching my hands behind my back. I smiled when I felt my spine crack.

"More like twenty-four years."

I fell from my chair.

Next thing I know I'm rubbing my head and Hanna is standing over me, a hurt expression on her face. Normally she would've done the right thing and kneeled next to me to ask me if I was ok, but she had obviously been hurt by my laughing at her. Me falling off of a chair probably didn't hurt matters either.

"So?" she asked me.

"So you really were a…"

"Virgin," she finished. "I know, what you're going to say, but you're twenty four!"

"Actually, I was going to say that I could hardly believe someone as beautiful as you hadn't caught the eye of some lucky guy."

"Nice save," she said, helping me stand up. She had gone from angry to her usual shy self in record time. I have to admit that I was surprised by her revelation, but why the hell would I care, Emily's tips had obviously paid off. In fact, I found it a little flattering that she had trusted me enough to be her first. I really have to compliment her on her choice. She hardly could've done any better.

"Twenty four years, then," I mused. "Well, we'd better make up for it."

My beautiful girlfriend was at a loss of words, instead blushing yet again and smiling nervously. "Now? What if-"

"We're a little bit past that," I suggested. I took two steps towards her, grabbing her cheek and lightly caressing it. "We could always go to my room," I suggested. "If you're uncomfortable doing it here."

"Yes," she managed out, she seemed to be very happy with my idea. "Let's go."

For the first time in my life, I had been the one that was hard pressed to keep up. Normally I was the one that kept pressing for second and third rounds, but twenty something years of repressed sexual urges usually beat perviness. Not that I was about to complain, I might've been slightly dehydrated and extremely tired, but I wouldn't have changed it for anything in the world. Pavel was the only one with a right to complain, he was rather pissed that he was locked out of the room for more than a few hours.

"Just what the hell are you doing in there?" he asked loudly after knocking on the door.

"Making up for lost time," I whispered in Hanna's ear. She giggled and slapped my arm before standing up from the bed and reaching for her clothes, giving me a gratuitous view of her rather well-sculpted posterior while bending down.

"Wait a second Pavel," I said. "I'll be right out."

I had to patiently wait while Hanna put her clothes on. Take note that she took her time while doing that and essentially did what you would consider a reverse-striptease. I enjoyed the view while Pavel no doubt stood with his eyes staring at the room's door in anger. I actually did feel a little bit guilty for the guy, when he had been going out with Chloe he had taken his time when he hooked up with her. I had found myself on the side that he was in quite a few times before. It was not something that I enjoyed, so I assumed that Pavel wouldn't be too happy about it.

"All done," Hanna announced, slapping her hands as if to dust them off.

"Unlock door," I commanded.

Pavel barged in with a look of annoyance in his face. He paused to look at Hanna and then glared at me. I was still naked under the sheets, so I didn't stand up to lead Hanna out the door. Instead she just straightened her spine and looked at Pavel.

"Pavel," she said neutrally, sparing a quick nod to him.

My friend nodded in reply, clasping his hands behind his back. "Corpsman."

I laughed loudly, breaking the tension between them slightly. They both chuckled a little bit before Hanna walked out the door.

As soon as the doors slid close Pavel looked at me. "What the fuck Frank?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"Well sorry doesn't cut it. We agreed that we wouldn't let each other locked out of the room anymore."

"That was years ago man!" I said in my defense. "Besides, you locked me out plenty of times after we agreed on that."

"Never for three fucking hours!"

Full stop. "Wait, it was three hours?"

"At least."

"Man, time flies when you're having fun."

"Listen Frankie, I'm really happy for you, trust me, I am, but if you ever lock me out again I'll enlist that Ranger chick to bust in and kick your ass."

"She'd probably enjoy a little physical contact with me," I admitted.

"Yeah," Pavel huffed. "As long as that physical contact involved her shoving a foot up your asshole."

"Maybe you're right."

"Damn right I am."

I counted to ten. "You ok now?"

"Yeah, yeah. It's just not fair that you get to have sex."

"Well, you knew what you were getting into when you got married," I told him. "Besides, you could always ask Amber to give you a free pass."

He laughed without much humor. "You know, that works both ways."

"An open relationship might solve that problem."

"What?" he exclaimed. "That would mean that-"

"She'd have the right to mess around with other guys, but you'd also get to jump in bed with anyone you wanted."

"You're sick."

"Hey, I'm only trying to help."

Pavel hadn't taken my idea very well, deciding to walk around angrily while muttering in Polish. I decided to ignore him and grab a pair of shorts to put on. At least Pavel had the decency to turn around and let me change in peace. He still kept cursing in Polish, though. I probably wouldn't have liked what he had to say about me and my stupid ideas. I was only trying to help, if sex is what he needed then an open relationship made perfect sense. Well, I have to admit, the thought of an asshole getting wonky donky with Hanna didn't exactly seem like a good one to me.

"You're right, it's a pretty bad idea."

"Right?!"

"I just said that…" I mumbled. "Anyways, what time is it?"

"You can go to sleep," Pavel sighed. "We don't have any guard duty until next week."

"Thank God," I preached. "All the more sex for me!"

"Keep going an I'll punch you."

"Fine, fine," I apologized. "Just let me catch a nap."

"Aight. Have a good one."

I was so tired from all that strenuous physical activity that I had just partaken in that I fell asleep within a couple of minutes. The aforementioned physical activity also allowed itself to some very vivid dreams. Ah, it had been a pretty sweet day.

Next day started out pretty normally. After my nap I had dinner and then went to sleep. I actually needed to pop a couple of sleeping pills to fall asleep, but after that I slept like a rock. Pavel and I both reported for our breakfast. You see, the ship has so many crewmembers and a huge complement, so the mess hall is barely big enough to hold all of us. That's the main reason why we took turns. That and the men and women on night watch had to sleep until later. There were only a couple of situations when the ship could be deserted. One was when everyone was in cryo, the other one was during a couple of "nighttime" hours.

Breakfast was…ok, I guess. Pavel's dear wife (who would most certainly never be in an open relationship) could cook some mean deviled eggs. I had eaten them a few times during our last leave. That and my late uncle was a master of Mexican food. huevos divorciados, chilaquiles, tacos de chilorio. Oh dear, my mouth's starting to water just from thinking about it. And there I was, eating powdered eggs with fake bacon. At least you couldn't go wrong with bacon.

"This shit sucks," Pavel grunted.

I drank a healthy swig from my coffee. It was marginally better than the battlefield coffee rations. That in turn meant that it was one step below shit in taste. What it did succeed in was removing every single ounce of sleepiness from me. "Compared to the things your wife cooks, of course this is going to taste like shit. She spoils you, you know."

"Damn right she does, I love it when she cooks for me."

"Does she make good waffles?" I asked.

"What?"

"I mean, are her waffles better than mine?"

Ok, I don't mean to brag, but there's probably a need for a quick parenthesis in the narration. I had once decided to make Belgian waffles on a whim. It happened maybe three or four years ago. Pavel was still a bachelor and I was either already broken up with Marina or on a break with her, I don't remember. Anyways, I bought a used waffle maker thingy and all the ingredients necessary, I am pretty sure that I was drunk while I bought everything. When I returned I started making the waffles, following a recipe form a cookbook that somebody had left in my hotel room. I mixed the ingredients and poured a little bit of Jack into the mix before making them.

Pavel had called them the best goddamned waffles in existence. He hadn't retracted that comment next time I made them, or the one after that, or every single following time. Funny, I could barely cook myself a steak but somehow managed to make the best goddamned waffles in existence.

Ok, the waffle story parenthesis is over.

"Her waffles are excellent."

"The most excellent in existence?"

"Shut up."

Yes! Victory, I shall tell his espoused of this event!

"Oh! I heard yesterday that they finally found my new armor in the cargo rooms."

"Good for you buddy," Pavel said. "I really wouldn't want you to jump with black-painted Marine armor."

"You make a fine point Pavel." I finished what was left of bacon and wiped my fingers on the napkin. "You know, I'm going to check it out. Maybe get a paint job on it."

"Carve stuff on your knives?"

"You know, I've been meaning to do that," I told him. "Can't come up with anything though."

"Latin always works."

I laughed loudly. "Wise words my friend. Enjoy your breakfast."

Pavel just grunted while looking at the meal in question with disgust. I didn't really have anything interesting to do other then pick out my own eyes for a long while, so I headed straight for the hangar. Most of the Pelicans were clamped to the ceiling, but one in particular was firmly tied down to the floor of the hangar. It had red streaks across its hull. I smiled when I saw it. That ship and its predecessor held many fond memories for me, most of them involved getting pulled from a hotzone at the last possible moment, others involved more intimate one-on-one stuff, but those were a thing of the past.

Marina was on her back on a skateboard-like device underneath the nose of her craft. She had a multitool in one hand and a datapad in the other.

"Trouble?"

"Morning Frank," she groaned from underneath. "Ammo feed keeps jamming, the thing fixes itself, but I'm trying to optimize the damned machine."

"What's the problem?" I asked.

"Well, I have no idea, that's why it's so frustrating, the scans show nothing."

"Uh-huh, have you thought that maybe it's the ammo belts?"

There was a loud clang as she hit her head on the bottom of the Pelican. She grunted in pain before sliding out from underneath the craft. "You know, you always did have an ability to make me feel stupid."

I smiled at her when I realized she wasn't actually serious. "Well, there's nothing that you can do to fix that."

"I wish I could."

I shrugged. "How have you been?"

"Well," she replied dryly. She wasn't being outright rude, and neither was I, that was progress. Actually, that was some serious progress. "Well enough at least."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"And I've heard that you finally snagged another blonde."

"As pretty as you," I replied. It was the perfect reply, I didn't insult Marina's looks and also had plausible deniability in case that comment got out. In retrospect I could've simply remained quiet or given her a smile.

"Smooth," Marina complimented. "So, Francisco, what do you need?"

"Can't I just come down to have a chat with a friend?"

"I think that we're both a little bit beyond that."

"Ouch, I'm hurt," I said. "But you're right, I need that laser writing, carving tool thing of yours and some paint."

"What color?"

"Can I lend that multi-nozzle pistol thing?"

"You know, all these things that you want have names, you know?"

"Well, I don't know their names."

"Consider that a lesson in modesty."

"I've been getting plenty of those lately." I scratched my back and frowned a little. "So, can I get them?"

"Sure, they're in that crate locker over…there. You know the password."

I smiled. "Thanks. I'll get them back to you later."

"Have fun. I know that I'll be staring at the bottom of my Lamb for several hours before I find something interesting to do."

"Would you have preferred to try and find something wrong with the ammo feed for hours and then just have to slap yourself on the head because you realized that you had been missing the most obvious solution to a problem that isn't really that-"

"Ok, enough," she interrupted. "Don't get wound up."

"Yeah, sorry."

I moved to the locker that she had pointed to and unlocked it. I chuckled quietly to myself when I did, she always did use the same password for anything. Inside were several tools, I had no idea what most of them would be used for, but some of them looked pointy enough to be used as torture devices. Hell, for all I knew some of them were. There were even a couple of steel bars in there, Marina was a master of five things: smithing, mechanics, flying, sex, and making milkshakes. She could make a sharp machete of top-notch quality, fix an engine, fly a Hornet as if it was a Longsword, and…well, you can figure out the last two on your own.

It was a short walk to the drop bay. There was a large crate sitting on one of the tables in there. I smiled when I saw the note on top.

"Here's to new beginnings," I read out loud to myself. "Let's hope this one lasts longer than the last one."

I have no idea who wrote down the little note, but it certainly made my day. Someone in the equipment area of this ship (or down in Reach) had a pretty neat sense of humor. If they sent little notes like this one when replacing equipment then a lot of the grunts in here would live happier lives. I know that mine would certainly be, even if just a little. I pocketed the note and drew my knife, I cut the bindings that closed the box and opened it.

The first thing that drew my attention was the color of the visor. When I had put in a request for another piece of armor I had asked for the visor to be colored black. It was mostly a whim on mine, but the non-reflective surface of the color meant that it was less likely to bounce off light. Sure, I could've gone for navy blue if I wanted actual stealth during the night, but it's not nearly as awesome as black. I pulled the helmet from its foam covering and looked at it. It was painted in the typical black that us Helljumpers loved so much. It had the letters UNSC in the bottom back. They were carved into the helmet as well as painted white. It was a little reminder to us lowly grunts to never forget who gave us our lifelines.

I placed the helmet next to the crate and proceeded to pull out other pieces of armor. I couldn't help but notice the ever-so-slight changes in design. There were minor detail changes in the overall shape of the chest piece and the gauntlets were noticeably slimmer. Those pesky elbow spikes had been removed too. I can't say that it was a vastly improved version of the previous ODST armor, but I can say that it certainly had an advantage on the aesthetic.

"The ODST BDU Mk. XIV is…" I trailed off as I skimmed through the user's manual I knew everything about the armor and more. The only thing that I paid attention to was the section outlining changes from the previous versions. Once I was satisfied that there was nothing important that I was missing I sat down on a chair and grabbed the helmet. I looked at it carefully and mentally imagined what the best color to go with it would be. My very first ODST armor had been painted a deep shade of red. Unfortunately, I had lost it when the Count Me In went down. My replacement suit I had never really gotten around to painting it, but right now I had free time and was pretty excited about painting this one.

I had the paint pistol analyze the helmet with its scanner and secured it to the sides of my new headpiece. It stood there for a moment before launching a spray of crimson paint from the center of my helmet's forehead all the way to the back, stopping right above the UNSC letters. It stood there for a second, immobile, and then it whirred some more and came forward again. It gave the helmet a few coatings of paint and then beeped, telling me that everything was done.

And I didn't even need to raise a finger.

I placed the helmet to the side and considered exactly what I should carve into it. It had to be something badass and cool-sounding. My Latin was a little bit rusty, but Pavel was on the right track when he suggested that I used that dead language for phrases. It did carry a certain ominous feeling to it. The first two phrases that I came up with were: Aetas ex fortium and Diem ex deis, meaning 'Age of the mighty/strong' and 'Day of the gods' respectively. Both were certainly impressive sounding and would've been a rather fitting motto for a military regiment or battalion. Well, in this situation it was me who had come up with them. Next thing I came up with was a little something that my uncle had drilled into my mind. Aut viam inveniam aut faciam, I will either find a way or make one. That was as badass a phrase as I had ever heard. The next that I came up with wasn't so bad either, Nulli secundus, meaning 'Second to none'. I might be coming off as a little cocky, but as a Helljumper, and a damn good one at that, I think I had the right to use that one.

Suddenly ideas started flooding my mind. Canes bellum, Semper invicta, and more. I then found myself not looking for one awesome phrase, but instead eliminating them. It was a while before I finally decided on what I was going to go with my armor and the carving thingy. I placed my left forearm armor on the table and attached the carving thingy to it. I tapped the phrase that I wanted and selected roman-style letters on the screen. I set up the thing so that it would run from the nook of my elbow to just above my wrist.

It would've been pretty neat to tattoo those same words on my arm proper, but Scarecrow had already secured a place in my left forearm. When the carving was done I pulled out the machine thingy and examined the result on the armor. Carved on it were the words Nulli secundus. Every time I was in a firing stance I would be able to see the phrase on the bottom of my forearm. It would do for some nice inspiration if I ever needed some.

Phase one complete.

Next up came the pretentious Latin motto that would go on my helmet. This one was a little harder. I could choose pretty much anything that sounded badass. In the end it was a close finish between making my own way or it being my age. I decided to honor my uncle's memory. I placed the laser carving thingy on the 'jaw' section of my helmet behind the flashlights, that way the phrase would reach from the equivalent of halfway up my jaw to behind my ear.

"Find a way or make one…cute."

"Shut up man, let him be."

Schitzo and Scarecrow delved into a brutal argument behind my back, but I mostly ignored them as I examined my handiwork. This time I had chosen the standard UNSC font for the phrase. I had also picked smaller letter size. The laser carver had done its job exemplarily, leaving a little bit of smoke behind as I removed it from my helmet.

"Aut viam inveniam aut faciam."

"Find a way or make one."

"And she knows Latin!" I exclaimed after getting over my surprise. "You surprised me."

Hanna approached from behind. "Eliza told me that you were here."

"That's violation of privacy Liz," I said out loud. "You hear me."

"I hear you Francisco." The AI manifested her avatar on the holotable, full color and human size, something unusual for her.

"Damn Liz, have you been working out?"

"I did lose a couple of pounds now that you mention it." The hologram grabbed her belly through her shirt and squeezed. "I've also been exercising a little bit, those routines really helped make my stomach flat."

"It shows," I joked. "Must've been tiring."

"Oh, you have no idea."

Both of us laughed out loud. I noticed that Hanna didn't join in the laughing. "You're not very familiar with Liz, are you?"

"Can't say I am," she admitted.

"You'll get used to her," I assured. "You pretty much have to."

"I'll leave you two alone," Eliza said after a pause. "Well, as alone as I can leave you." The hologram disappeared with a flash and an evil laugh. I was left rubbing my eyes for a minute after that, the flashy spots on my eyes wouldn't disappear for a long time after that.

"New armor?" Hanna asked.

"Yup, adding some final touches."

"Nice quotes," she said. "But what's wrong with English?"

"Someone once said that Latin makes everything sound more awesome."

"Oh really? Who said that?"

"I believe it was me, but I might be mistaken."

Hanna laughed at that and sat down next to me. "What else are you going to add?"

"I'm going to paint the chest pad."

"No streaks on the boots or shoulders?"

"These shoulders I'm going to discard," I told her. "I have better quality ones that are still serviceable, those are too scratched to paint. But I like your idea about painting a stripe on the boots."

"Just on one, asymmetric stuff is cool."

"I'm not going to dispute your taste in art."

A couple of minutes later my right boot had a red line covering the front of it and my chest pad in crimson red. I have to admit that it did look pretty awesome, but there was something with the armor. I couldn't quite make out what it was while I examined the laid out pieces. I paced around them, wondering just what seemed to be off about them. They were too…

"Clean," Hanna said. "It looks to shiny."

"That's exactly it, you're right."

"I usually am."

"That's my phrase."

"You're a pretty bad influence."

"And yet I was hoping it was the other way around."

We chatted for another couple of minutes while we literally watched paint dry. Eventually I realized that I had failed to ask a vital question. "Why were you looking for me anyways?"

"Is it so hard to believe that I just wanted to see my boyfriend?"

"Clingy much?"

She slapped me on the arm. "Fine, fine. I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner today."

"Dinner?" I stumbled over what to say. "Where? In the officer's club or something?"

"No, I've got something prepared. Something pretty romantic."

"I thought I was the one supposed to do the grand romantic gestures."

"It is a modern age we live in."

"Indeed."

Hanna examined the armor. "It looks good, intimidating. Get a couple of scratches on it and even brutes will be running away from you."

"I don't doubt it," I chuckled.

"Well, I gotta go, I'll see you at…2000 hours, ship time."

"Where?"

"Mess hall."

I can't say that I wasn't surprised. The mess hall didn't exactly scream romantic. "Ok…I'll see you there."

"Looking forward to it." Yup, she definitely had the sultry tone nailed down. I'd have to thank Emily for this sometime soon. Maybe a box of chocolates… Hanna leaned in close to me and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. Yup, she definitely had the seduction techniques down. As soon as she walked out the door I let myself relax, I placed my hands behind my head and allowed myself to smile. New armor, new girlfriend, hot sex, what else could a man like me wish for?

So here I was, down the mess hall, the only human being in the entire room. I was dressed in cargos and a t-shirt. Yes, I hadn't even bothered with a change of clothes, but I wasn't about to put on my dress uniform for a casual dinner with a chance of wild sex afterwards. So far it seemed like I was being stood up. I sighed and rocked myself on my feet, thrusting my butt or crotch respectively to keep balance. After a few seconds I got really into it, rocking back and forth and shifting my body so that I wouldn't have to move my feet from the ground.

"Frank!"

I stopped moving and adopted a dignified posture. "Beloved girlfriend."

"Sometimes I worry about you…well, it doesn't matter. Come on, follow me."

"You? I'll follow you anywhere."

Hanna just rolled her eyes and grabbed my hand. She led me into…into the kitchen. I looked at her quizzically, noticing that she had set up a small folding table with some folding chairs. No candles, you couldn't find those anywhere on the ship. I once tried to snag a couple for Layla, but they didn't stack up on romantic scented candles. Bummer, the ship's crew would be a lot happier if they did. Well, at least the female percentage.

"I made dinner."

"You cook?" I asked. "I'm surprised."

"When I was in foster care I learned to make myself breakfast. My fellow foster sisters weren't the only ones that woke up drunk every now and then."

"Well, you're a woman of many talents."

"Thanks, you're a pretty nice catch too."

I smiled despite myself. "You know, you don't have to respond to every compliment with one in kind. You'd end up boosting my ego too much."

"If you say so," she shrugged. "Well, I prepared some lovely courses for us. Salad, of course, don't expect it to be particularly good, I only had so much to work with. Then we'll have some lovely fish, it is the trash that they bring on board, but I managed to improve it significantly. For dessert…pudding."

"I love pudding!" I exclaimed excitedly. "Is it chocolate."

"We have all varieties of pudding."

"Best. Dinner. Ever!"

We sat down and enjoyed what was a pretty decent meal. I'm not going to say that it was food worthy of the gods, but it was heaven on earth if you compared it to what I had had for lunch. She had done a pretty nice job improving the quality of the salad. By the time I was done with it my mouth was watering in expectation of the main course. When she served the fish in front of me I couldn't help but notice that it smelled incredibly nice.

"Wow," I wowed.

"Thanks," she said happily, glad to know that her effort was appreciated.

I hesitated before asking. "Ok, I really have to ask this, but just how exactly did you manage to stay a virgin until yesterday?"

"Why do you ask?" she redirected my question nervously.

"Well, look at yourself, you're a perfect ten if I ever saw one. I'm not just saying that to make you smile, although it's a nice bonus, but a girl like you would've had every single boy in high school after her."

"I went to an all girls school."

"All the girls must've been after you."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"It is a nice idea."

"Do you really want to know?"

"If you don't want to say it then I don't mind."

"It's actually pretty simple, one of my friends went through the usual pressured into having sex thing. She was very, very distraught over it. She was close friends with me and it influenced me a whole lot. After that I stayed away from boys for a while. I had a boyfriend during college, but it wasn't serious. When I joined the ship I pretty much left behind all my social life on Reach, I'm only there once ever few months."

"That actually makes sense."

"You're only the second person I've told that."

"How'd Emily react?"

"She thought that I was an idiot."

"Well, sex is great, and you have been missing out."

"I have, haven't I?"

I nodded and took a bite of my fish. "Mmm! This is delicious."

Hanna looked positively radiant at all the compliments. She hadn't bothered with a change of clothes either, and her tired look only served to make her look more beautiful than usual. She finally seemed to relax a little and sat across from me, allowing herself to enjoy the meal that she had cooked. She took small bites from her fish while making small conversation. Normal date, unconventional situation. It could make for a pretty interesting story, you know.

"Well, I gotta thank your drunken foster sisters," I said. "They really shaped you up well."

"At the cost of my childhood."

"Most of the people here didn't have much of a childhood," I told her. "My squad is one of the lucky few, but hell, living in bootcamp isn't really every kid's dream."

"I think it is."

"Oh, you know what I mean."

"So, you hold any bad feelings over your childhood? Maybe resent your uncle?"

"You sound like my ex-girlfriend," I complained. "Always doing some sort of psychoanalysis."

"I did a minor in psychology," she revealed.

"Really? What else don't I know about you?"

"Lots of things, but that's the fun of it."

We finished our improvised dessert and I helped her wash the dishes. After that we put away the table and the chairs. The kitchen looked as dirty and greasy as it had when Hanna first arrived. We probably should've left the tables there, it looked cleaner somehow. But unfortunately, we had to do some manual labor, poor us. Of course, it wasn't until after we were done cleaning up that the action started.

I kissed Hanna softly as a way to give her my thanks for dinner. Then I kissed her fiercely as a way to indicate just exactly what we should do to close of this evening. She reciprocated in kind and things seemed to be going well until it was ruined.

"All hands to their battle stations."

"Damn," I muttered. "Where's your battle station?"

"Hangar bay, with my squad."

"Ok. If we go down, promise me that you'll be careful, that you'll take care of yourself."

"I promise," she assured me. "You?"

"I'll do my best. Tell your squad leader that if he gets you hurt he'll have an angry Helljumper to deal with."

"I'll be sure to let him know," she smiled at me.

We walked out the mess hall together, not saying anything. When we reached the point where we had to take different roads I stopped her, the sailors were rushing through to their positions while Marines and soldiers elbowed their way through.

I looked Hanna straight in the eyes. "I love you."

She seemed surprised by the sudden confession. I didn't expect anything else, instead of waiting for an answer I let go of her and turned around towards the drop bay. I was pissed that my day had been ruined and some covvie bastards were going to pay for that. I was off to do what I did best. I was off to kick some alien ass.

Thanks to Sniper Fodder for proof-reading this chapter.

Well, I wrote two and a half pages worth of foreplay, barney stinson woud be proud. And I went the whole thing without writing the word moaned once, I did make a couple of references though, the obvious one is Crazy Stupid Love and the other one is Gone with the wind.

The reason why I wrote this is because I was in a vulnerable place in my life and I needed to feel loved. Relax, I joke. Sex is a part of romance and romance is a part of life. If you pay close attention, you'll see that this story is titled The Life. Hence the sex and all that. Oh, by the way, this might sound incredibly selfish (because it is) but I wouldn't be bothered by one review per chapter instead of one big one at the end...

:)