Around Every Corner

Hello hello! I am ever so sorry for this prolonged wait :( First it was school, now it's school and work. I said I was going to upload a new chapter last week but it never happened :/. Better late than never though! And as a side note, I went through an earlier chapter and realized that it was absolutely horrible. So at some point I need to get around to fixing some of these errors. Anyways, please leave some reviews and let me know what you think. I do not own anything Halo.

Blood pumping, the sound of heavy breathing and the shifting of armor; these were the only sounds the Master Chief could hear as he nimbly rolled from cover to cover and stormed through group after group of covenant. They were all he had been running in to since he had left the control room. If the covenant were already moving in then that meant he had to hurry and enact Cortana's plan as quickly as possible. It was not until he had reached the bottom of the winding multiple tier platform that the Chief realized this was going to take more effort than he had initially realized. There was the distant sound of a wraith as it fired round after round in his direction, only to be blocked by the massive snow and ice bridge above them.

"Hrok mal neir! The Demon is here!" The gruff voice of an elite alerting what was probably a large number of other covenant was heard not far from where the Chief now crouched, machine gun at the ready. But just as he was about to slip forwards and engage the enemy his foot knocked against something quite heavy. Looking down, a plan immediately formed itself in the spartans mind at the sight of the rocket launcher. If the covenant were going to play dirty then he might as well join the games right?

With a concealed smirk the Master Chief hefted the large weapon easily, checking to make sure it was properly loaded, before continuing his crouched walk out of cover. Albeit a bit more confidently, but anybody that was not Cortana would not have been able to even notice. The spartan always appeared to walk confidently on the outside, but it was the inside confidence that she could sense that had increased. Even though Dr. Halsey had made these soldiers, these spartans, to be nothing but focused on the task of preserving and saving humanity and its resources, the AI could not help but notice some subtle changes. Changes that would have never happened if Agent Dusk had not stood against the regular flow of soldiers and turned around to walk a different way. She challenged the spartan in a way that he did not know how to react and in kind his mind was trying to change. But would there be consequences?

Cortana did not have long for her mind to run the possibilities as a sudden explosion shook the helmet she was currently residing in. Turning her attention back to the world she noted that the Master Chief was now tossing away the rocket launcher next to a now obliterated wraith. How long has she been in thought? Apparently long enough for her spartan to finish off all surrounding threats and bring them that much closer to stopping 343 guilty spark.

"Cortana. I need you to set nav points to the closest entrance that I can access." His voice was as steady as always. No hint of worry or doubt...just like always.

"Right. It looks like there's an entrance above us that you can access from one of the platforms. Commandeer that banshee and I'll try to get in contact with backup." As she spoke the spartan made his way over towards the extra banshee that had been unharmed, making sure to check for any more covenant before entering the aircraft and taking off skillfully. It only took about ten seconds of getting into the air before a blue arrow marked his destination.

"There, on the landing pad. But be careful, my sensors are picking up more covenant on the pad and inside the structure. Looks like they're trying to cut the flood off."

"Maybe they'll buy us a little more time until I can get inside." As the Master Chief said this he carefully picked off the few grunts and single elite that were awaiting him on the platform. When he was sure there were no more hostiles he brought the banshee in for a landing and hopped out quickly, muscles tense and ready for anything at this point. Having both the flood and the covenant nipping at your heels was not the best situation, especially if somebody was looking for a stress free day.

The snow outside began to pick up and become heavier as it fell, thus making it even more difficult for the spartan to see father than a foot in front of his face. Even with his heightened sight. Quickly making his way towards the door way, weapon drawn and at the ready as usual, it wasn't until he was about 3 yards inside that Cortana halted him in his tracks.

"Wait...I'm picking up another signal from one of our own. It's too distorted to make out whom though. Guilty Spark is probably sending out signal blockers all around, but I'm fairly positive that the signal is very close. Quite possibly in the next room."

"Do you think it could be one of Johnson's team?"

"I doubt it. Johnson went on a search to try and locate the Captain after we disappeared into the Library. Could be a lone survivor." Cortana sounded just as puzzled as the spartan felt at the moment. All remaining marines had been pulled from this area as soon as he had reached the control room, and even if there had been one or two men left behind how had they lasted this long?

Not wanting to waste anymore precious time and risk loosing the survivors life, Master Chief continued forwards with vigor. His blood rushed through his veins as adrenaline began to kick in once more at the thought of a lone marine fighting for their life and he felt the grip on his gun tighten. Too many soldiers had been lost already, and more were probably being lost now. The only way to end this mess was to find a way to destroy the flood. That was his primary mission and he would not fail.

As he neared the door that lead to one of the rooms that contained a pulse generator, the spartan faintly heard the sound of somebody struggling. Metal scrapped against the wall and the disgustingly garbled laugh of an elite sounded out over a pistol firing. It was now or never. Without giving it a second thought the Master Chief barreled through the doorway, not even looking over to see whom had been shooting, and honed in on the golden armored elite. The alien stood taller than most with intricate carvings on the armor it wore. A green and yellow glowing energy sword was shinning threateningly in its right hand, the prongs now pointed in the spartans direction. Seemed he had burst into the room just in time.

"S'vuen neir mal ha! Demon!" The bellowing shout made the elites odd mouth open wide revealing rows of dangerously sharp teeth as it moved towards the spartan. Most marines would have dodged and ran. Their training telling them that they were not equipped to win against a covenant force this threatening. But Sierra 117 was not most marines.

"Chief look out!" Cortana shouted out a warning just as the Master Chief rolled to the side, avoiding a harsh slice of the energy sword. Before the elite could react he jumped up and shot at the unarmored parts of the aliens legs, hoping to gain the upper hand when it came to maneuverability. Unfortunately the elite saw it coming and moved towards the soldier again before he could fire the first round. Sword swinging his way John had no choice but to try and block it. He brought his arm up just as the sword came down towards his chest and winced only minutely at the impact.

"John!" Again the AI that he carried with him called out to the spartan in a worried tone. The energy sword hadn't severely injured him, but it had pierced his armor and seared the skin on his arm to a certain extent. This earned a hiss of satisfaction from the elite and a grunt of discomfort from the human he was fighting against. John pulled his arm away as fast as he could, but the sword was stuck. Eyes narrowed behind his helmet, the spartan watched as the towering elite leaned closer and closer, not stopping until its hot breath fogged up his visor. A low growl escaped its throat.

"Muv nak seir. Demon is no more." As the elite spoke, slow and deliberate, it sprang another energy sword from its free hand. Green eyes scanned the room quickly looking for something, anything that could be used to defend his life from the inevitable end that this elite was trying to force onto him. But just as the Master Chief could see no way out he heard the elite give a growl of pain, and then the weight that had been pressed up against his body suddenly vanished.

Not wasting any time with questions the spartan picked up his dropped weapon and trained it on the now floored elite before unleashing a barrage of bullets without a second thought. The sound of gunfire echoed around him and filled his ears with a sense of safety. Guns, war, fighting...these were things he had been made for. To act on them so easily gave him a sense of safety merely because he felt he had purpose when he did so.

When he stopped firing a type of eerie silence enveloped the room once more. It did not last long.

"Rikki!" Cortana sounded somewhat relieved and confused as she addressed the woman whom had just saved them.

"Rikki?" The Master Chief said it so quietly that he didn't even realize it had been said at first. It was then that he wondered how the elite had been thrown to the floor, giving him a chance to take it out. The figure that stepped out from behind a metal pillar answered his mental question. Familiar white armor glinted in the low light as Agent Rikki Dusk finished sheathing her knife, wiping the blue blood off of it as she did so. Usually when she talked to him Rikki took her helmet off. This time she made no move to do so.

"Master Chief. Cortana. I have named it my duty to accompany you to finish this mission, no question. If you would like to have me dismissed afterwards for my actions...well...that is up to you. All that I ask is that you let me help." Her voice was surprisingly level for how twisted up her insides were. Just being within a three foot proximity of this man had her restless, how the hell was she going to fight beside him without worrying to death? Not realizing that she had been lost in thought Rikki nearly jumped when the Master Chief handed her one of the energy swords the elite had possessed. When had he moved?

"You'll be needing one of these." Did he mean to linger on her hand for more than a second? And did he sound relieved? The composure that had taken so much work to build immediately crumbled in the face of the one whom she had broken the rules and regulations to help. But why? Oh right, she was whipped. Even in the midst of war some weird type of attraction had wormed its way into her life without a question. Maybe after this was all done she could get transferred and clear her mind...

"Agent are you paying attention." It wasn't a question because he already knew she was drifting. The way she loosely gripped the energy sword handle was a clear indicator, but it was almost humorous the way she snapped to attention when he called out out to her. Almost.

"Yes sir. So uh, what's the plan?" Rikki had expected the spartan to answer her, but instead the voice of the AI filled her ears.

"We need to overload the pulse generators here so that 343 won't be able to activate the ring. If you give me a moment I can re calibrate your shields to emit an electrical pulse when you stand next to a generator." A moment. John believed that it was easier said than done. A moment alone in the same room with the woman who had been making him question his own sanity was quite a bit harder to do than Cortana would believe. Maybe if he just tried to act like he was checking his guns-

"Chief." Shit, no luck. With a slowness that could only be described as agonizing, the spartan turned around to see that Rikki had taken her helmet off. John's breath caught in his throat as her hawk like gaze honed in on him without mercy, her silver hair accenting the golden color of her eyes. When had she become so battle hardened? Maybe he had just never looked at her long enough to notice the dark circles under her eyes or the stern set of her brow. She looked so tired, but could he blame her? Endless hours of battle and years of fighting would leave any normal, or semi-normal human in her case, worn down. This woman had to be some type of lab created experiment to test the temptation levels of spartans whom were not even supposed to feel in the first place. Why did she effect him so?

A hand grasping his forearm brought him back to reality and the spartan quickly back stepped away from the agent. His stance was not at all agitated, but it was guarded. The logical part of his mind, the spartan part, was ordering him to keep his distance and focus at the mission they were currently tackling, and so badly did John want to give it his rapt attention. It was obviously the best choice. But there was this little part of him, so small he could go as far as to say that it did not even exist, and it was sinking its fangs deeper into his mind every time he acknowledged it. It was shoving all these emotions to the forefront of his brain and making him act irrationally. It wanted him to move closer to the infamous Rikki Dusk. Fighting back the urge to shake his head to clear the thought, a voice pulled him out of his thoughts this time instead of a hand.

"Chief? You okay?"

"I'm Fine. We should focus on the mission." So cold. He sounded so emotionless...but when had that started to bother him?

"Oh...yes. Of course. I was just going to ask if you have had any recent contact with Johnson or the Captain." Rikki tried to keep her voice as neutral as possible, hoping that none of her pent up worry for her comrades leaked out.

"Johnson is back at base camp, but the Captain has been captured by the flood."

"Shit." An armored hand slammed into the metal of the wall, denting it slightly. The pain that radiated up her arm had no affect on Rikki as she ran several scenarios through her mind on how they were going to rescue the Captain. There was no way in hell she was going to let these alien bastards take his life.

John watched as the agent grew agitated at hearing about the Captain's situation. She obviously hated losing good people as much as he did, but the difference was that she let those around her see it. Letting the other marines around know that you were fearful would only lead to doubt and stress amongst the group. It was best to keep a level head in even the worst situations. Green eyes that were hidden behind a golden visor continued to watch the white haired woman with interest that only grew every minute that they were near one another. It wasn't until Cortana broke the heavy silence that John realized he had been gripping his assault rifle a little too tightly.

"Alright, the shields on both of your suits should have enough power to over load the pulse generators. I've set both of your suits to let out an emp pulse to interrupt the generators."

John and Rikki both nodded and moved towards the glowing pillar in the center of the room. Rikki placed her helmet back on after feeling the thrum of power coming from the pillar of light, a feeling of safety washing back over her at knowing that he face was hidden from view. If this worked, them overloading these reactors, should she radio Richard and tell him to be ready at the landing pad? But before she could even think of an answer to her own question a violent explosion wrack the room around her and her shields beeped erratically. She turned to look at John as he loaded a fresh clip of ammo into his assault rifle and hooked the energy sword handle onto his belt for later. She followed suit.

"Lets head out and move on to the next pulse generator."

"But how am I going to-"

"Chief, Rikki! Sentinels closing in on your position."

Rikki let the Master Chief pass her while she loaded up her own weapon, her battle rifle.

"Get ready." Both soldiers tightened their grips on their weapons considerably as the familiar hum of the sentinels grew closer and closer. They crouched low and held their breath in anticipation of the fight that was about to ensue.

The doors slid open with a mechanical 'swoosh', and before the sentinels even had a chance to fire their lasers at either of the soldiers a spray of bullets rained upon them. Quite a few bounced off of their metal bodies, but there were a few that hit the center 'eyes' and quickly took nearly all of them down.

"Get behind cover now!" John yelled over to Rikki as soon as both of them stopped to reload, making sure she rolled behind a solid form of cover before ducking around a pillar himself. By the sound of it they had gotten all but two of the annoyingly persistent machines, one of which sounded like it was circling around to try and flank them. With the efficiency and accuracy of a seasoned soldier, John stepped out from his cover and immediately honed in on the sentinel that was currently firing its laser at Rikki's cover.

As if she had read his mind, the agent sprung up and they both fired at the machine together in sync. Stray bullets pelted the walls and left black marks. Good thing there weren't more marines around to get hit. The sound of gunfire subsided as the sentinel finally exploded, crashing to the floor and breaking into pieces. Both watched a small fire spring up from the remains, but neither made a move to put away their weapons. There was still one more roaming around, but no noise accompanied the floating machine like usual. Had it left?

"Where the hell is it? I don't see anything on my scanner."

"Neither do I."

Precious seconds ticked by as they waited for a sign as to the location of their last enemy, but none came. Rikki lowered her weapon and waited another moment before locking it into place on her back.

"Looks like it left, probably a smart decision to choose life. Lets get out of here and to the next reactor."

"Right." The Master Chief nodded and began to walk after the agent, but he kept his weapon out and loaded. Maybe it was intuition. Maybe it was just luck, but whatever the reason John had no more than a split second to react as the sentinel suddenly flew out from one of the vents and set its sights on the woman in front of him. With their shields so low it wasn't going to take much for the machines laser to bite through her armor. He could begin to fire, but the bullets wouldn't take the sentinel down fast enough. Growling in frustration John threw his assault rifle onto his back, not caring if it locked correctly into place or not, and surged forward to throw himself in between Rikki and the oncoming attack.

Anxiety gnawed at the back of my mind like a starving animal that didn't know when to call it quits. If I told John that Richard and I stole a pelican and went AWOL to come help him then I know for a fact that I would never earn his trust and respect. He would also probably have me immediately reported. Whatever. If doing what I knew was right...doing what I knew the Captain would want me to do...then so be it. At least I would help stop the flood and end this nightmare. I was about to sink a little deeper in thought, but all thoughts were wiped away as a strong arm suddenly wrapped around my middle securely. There was only John and I so I knew it was him, but why was he being so physical?

I gasped at the feeling as I was pulled back into a heavily armored chest, a scraping sound hitting my ears through my helmet as our armor clashed. It was probably only my imagination, but I could have sworn that I could hear both of our hearts beating wildly in our chests. Whether or not it was from the adrenaline or from the contact I couldn't tell; all I knew was that there was no denying the feelings he drew from my body and mind. I cared for this spartan...and there was no way that I could ever make anything of it. The emotional side of my life was doomed from the first time I merely read about this man in a file. But why this one? This specific spartan that had been engineered for one thing only, and that one thing was not to feel.

Unfortunately, or maybe it was fortunately, I was yet again pulled away from my many thoughts by the sound of a sentinel firing its laser. John tossed me towards the door way and I tumbled into the wall. Of course it didn't really hurt, but I wasn't worried about my own well being at the moment. I could hear the sound of gunfire as it bounced off the small room and I struggled to get to my feet quickly so that I could assist in taking down the sentinel.

"Fuck!" I bit my lower lip as I struggled to yank my battle rifle off of my back, but the damn lock was jammed. A frustrated noise escaped my mouth and I pulled out my pistol right as I got to my feet only to see the machine fall to the ground and burst into flames.

I stared at the flames for only a moment before lowering my weapon and looking up to see John already walking past me as if nothing had happened. How could he not acknowledge anything that had just transpired? Were all these feelings of connection in my head? Mere illusions that my brain has conjured up because I was so emotionally depraved? I could feel the corners of my mouth pull down into a frown, and it only deepened as I spotted the burn mark on the back of his armor as he began to lead the way back outside to the platform. He shouldn't be taking hits for me. It felt...wrong. Like my safety had become his responsibility.

The frown stayed plastered on my face as we quickly made our way through the hall and outside onto the platform. My eyes immediately honed in on the one banshee that was parked and waiting for its pilot and my inner frustration turned into anxiety once more. Now I knew that I had no choice, I was going to have to comm Richard and have him follow the Master Chief. With a sigh I activated my comm and got ready to call my friend over, but my words were cut off as the very same pelican that I was about to call came hovering down. My eyebrows pulled down in confusion as I tried to figure out how he already knew; that is, until Cortana spoke up. There was an obvious tinge of humor in the AI's voice.

"Did you think that I wouldn't notice Rikki? I do have access to the ring's mapping systems, so it's pretty hard to miss one of our own pelicans on the radar. Nice try though."

Thank the gods for this helmet because I would probably crumple down into an embarrassed heap. Of course, why the hell didn't I think about Cortana's monitoring system picking up on the pelican?

"Hey Dusk! Your ride has arrived!" Richard had definitely not noticed the tension between the spartan and myself, but maybe that was a good thing. Not looking over to even try and gauge John's reaction from behind his visor I hopped up into the pelican and grabbed my sniper rifle that had been hooked to the wall. My hands ran over the locks and my finger rested ever so slightly near the trigger like clockwork. I positioned myself near the opening of the pelican so that I would be able to take out any enemy that came into my line of sight.

"The next pulse generator is through the door to the left on that bridge. I'll mark it on your radars with a nav point."

"Thanks Cortana." I waited until Richard flew closer to the bridge and then turned the pelican around so that I could see before looking through my scope. The sound of John flying past in the Banshee reached my ears, but I blocked out the sound as I honed in on a few grunts and jackals that were emerging from one of the doors. Deep breath...line up the shot...now! Three quick pulls of the hair trigger ended the lives of three grunts, one of which had been running around with a fuel rod cannon. They can thank me for that one later.

Shot after shot rang out as I picked covenant off from one side while John took care of the other. It wasn't until two jackals bounded out, shields at the ready. They hadn't noticed me yet so now was the perfect time to get a couple shots in. My sights lined up with the first jackals head perfectly and I held my breath to steady my hand, but just as I was about to fire off a round the pelican jerked to the side violently and my hand slipped. The shot bounced off of a patch of snow and ice that was right near the covenants foot and they jumped back in surprise, their shields now moving to cover every visible part of their body. I felt my jaw clench tightly and I yelled back to the cockpit.

"What the fuck Richard?!"

"Sorry Rikki! Had to dodge an incoming blast from an enemy banshee. You need to hurry it up a little, we're like sitting ducks out here!" His voice wasn't stern, merely matter of fact. And he was right. The longer we hovered in this same spot the higher chance that an enemy was going to land some solid shots on us. If I could just get those bastard jackals to turn or something then I could take them out! Failed shot after failed shot rang out and bounced off of their annoyingly bright shields. That was when I began to get irritated.

"Master Chief, I need you to shoot near those jackals and distract them so I can land a shot!"

"I'm a little busy at the moment." I knew this was true. I could see him firing and diving away from three elites off to my left, but for some reason I snapped at him.

"Fine. I'll take care of it myself." Without hesitating I set my rifle on the floor of the pelican and looked around for the weapon I wanted at the moment. Seconds ticked by and I was beginning to think that both myself and Richard had forgotten to load up the pelican with the correct weapon in our hast, but a glint in the very back caught my eye. There she was. With an inner joy that could be written off as slightly sadistic I wrapped my hands around the rocket launcher and hefted it up onto my shoulder, the weight slightly uncomfortable but not unwelcome. Now standing to my full height I walked back to the opening in the back of the pelican and immediately honed in on my intended victims. Their shields still shone brightly even through the blizzard that was raging on all around us.

"Today really wasn't the day to piss me off..." I huffed out words as I looked through the targeting scope and took aim. Only for one second did I think about how I might hit John if he flew too close, but that thought disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. With one last adjustment, making sure I didn't miss no matter what, I pulled the trigger without mercy and was blown back from the force of the rocket shooting forth; the rocket launcher clattering to the floor in the process. Pelicans didn't have the best footholds.

"Jesus Rikki! You can't fire that thing in here!"

"Too late...did I hit them?" A chuckle from Richard made me smirk and as I pushed myself back up I felt the pelican turn to head down to the bridge. I'm going to take that as an unspoken yes.

By the time Richard dropped me off and headed out to look for a spot to land in the meantime, John had already left his banshee and was waiting by the door to the next pulse generator. He was probably impatient. My pace picked up to a jog at the thought of making him wait and within a minute we were inside and out of the storm.

"I suggest some caution in the next room, I'm detecting multiple hostile signatures." I nodded, mostly to myself, and readied my battle rifle before looking to John for our next move. He usually had a good idea of how to handle close quarters combat.

"I'll sneak in first and create a distraction. Then you come up behind to flank them and we'll take them down easily."

"Affirmative." I nodded to the spartan and made to move closer to the door to wait, but an arm shot out to block my path. I turned to look at him with my head cocked to the side and my weapon shouldered.

"Sir?"

"One more think Agent Dusk. No more rockets."