Author's Note: Hello! So there is a little bit of buzz for this story and I'm a bit excited for it, so I have the best hopes for it! Sorry if the chapter is confusing! Let me know what you think! I would love to hear what you have to say! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Warnings: Language, OOCness, un-beta'd.

Word Count: 4,126

"I'm sorry, John," Cortana whispers and once more his erratic heart beat is finally slowing down again as his bad dreams slip away. Now that he is peacefully asleep once more, she takes the time to continue to upgrade his armor in small, barely noticeable ways. Improving his shields and their regeneration time, enhancing the repairing ability within the armor, giving him better mobility and flexibility within the armor. Things like that. Nothing too drastic for him to notice, although if Halsey psychoanalyzes him anymore than she already is and then decides to rip his suit apart because she's so nosy, she'd probably notice in a heart beat. Not that John wouldn't notice something strange going on.

But Cortana is careful. She will make the changes small and sporadic. Nothing too big. Nothing too noticeable. But it will help John out somehow. Even if she can't actively speak to him and protect him, she can at least do everything she can to make his life a little bit easier and help him out in the long run. So long as that armor is his first and last line of defense, she's going to make it as powerful as it can be.

She stops every couple of nights to try and make it a little less obvious but she's running low on ideas that John wouldn't be able to notice. And selfishly, she wants to spend as much time with him as she can. She knows that it's not going to last forever. She just wants to hold onto whatever tiny shred of precious moments that she can have with John while they last. Just a few more moments, that's all she asks for.

One.

More.

Moment.

"Chief?"

John snaps into alertness, even though his eyes are hidden behind his visor, they lock onto the white armored Spartan in front of him. He takes a moment to really see her before his heart rate slows down and his body relaxes.

"Kelly," he says after a moment of silence. "Is something wrong?"

Kelly shakes her head, stepping closer to the Sanghelios version of a tree that the green armored Spartan was using as his resting place, it's up on a hill allowing him to overlook the human and Elite camp below. It's a weird, tentative relationship between the two races. The Arbiter's men and the remaining humans now need to find some form of peace amongst them while the rest of the galaxy is being taken over by the other Cortana. One step at a time.

"Chief," Kelly says slowly, taking a moment to look around. "Are you alright?"

John doesn't respond right away, he just turns his head toward the camp. He quietly watches as their build up, and fortify, the camp to somehow prepare for what is to come. It seems like an up-hill battle over the horizon and everyone seems weary for it to come. They are all primarily warriors, though, so they aren't jittery or worried, but they are anxious. There is a darkness that is looming overhead and everyone can feel it. Hell, everyone can practically see it coming miles away, yet no one is really sure how to prepare for it. How to stop it.

So they are just going to try and do what they can to prepare for the shit storm that is coming the best that they can, and that's it.

"I'm fine," John says easily, turning his attention back to Kelly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Kelly shakes her head slowly. "I heard about your... talk with Halsey."

John shakes his head and Cortana sighs in her mind. "That's one way to say it," John says. There is a moment of pause where the two Spartans stare at one another in contemplative silence before John says, with the barest most minute bit of humor humanly possible, "I was civil."

"And for that, we thank you," Kelly says, a smile obvious in her voice. She shifts her hands onto her hips. "I know this hasn't been easy for you, dealing with all of this, but you have to take some time, Chief, really think about what happened. I know you don't want to give up on Cortana yet, I get that, but..." she looks around for a moment before her eyes settle on the sitting Spartan. "You know that we are on your side, right? That we will follow you in whatever you decide to do."

Cortana smiles a bit, thankful for Kelly. She's not a hundred percent certain about the relationship between the two of them, but she knew that she was a true friend to John. She was an actual friend. Better than Cortana ever could be. She could do things that Cortana never could. She could look John in the eye and speak to him as an equal. She could actually have his back and hold a conversation that wasn't just about data found in some Covenant archive or Forerunner database. They could actually sit and stare out over the horizon side by side.

Or, maybe Cortana has the whole, human interaction and bonding thing, the wrong way.

Maybe she was... was... romanticizing human interaction. She wouldn't really know the difference.

She was no expert on humans, but she can't deny that she is envious of them. How badly she wants to be like Kelly, not her life, no she's not sure she's strong enough to endure what they had to, but her humanity. Her... her-ness. What makes her Kelly. She's confident and strong and not everyone in the entire galaxy hates her guts. Cortana's not sure anyone in the galaxy hates Kelly's guts. She finds it hard to believe.

"I know," Master Chief says, pushing himself to his feet. His voice pulls Cortana from her thoughts. He reaches forward and puts his hand on the white Spartan's shoulder. "Thank you, Kelly."

Kelly nods, letting her hands drop back down onto her sides. "No problem. I just wanted to make sure that you knew, regardless, that we were on your side. The rest of Blue Team and myself, that is." She shrugs her shoulders. She couldn't speak for Osiris. Not after the whole debacle they all just went through.

"And me too," Cortana wanted so badly to say. No matter what roads they have to travel, what dangers may find themselves in their path, she was always going to be with him. She wasn't going to betray John. Not again. Never again. She was going to dedicate the rest of her life, however long or short it is, to protecting him and somehow making things right. She's not sure if she's going to be able to, but she is going to try her hardest. Not for humanity, she realized, but for him.

Always for him.

"How's the camps defenses coming along?" John asks, expertly moving on from the topic of himself to something else. Kelly shakes her head slowly, as if somehow suspecting that he would do this.

"Good. Slowly but surely," she says, turning to look out over the camp too. "There is still Covenant remnants out there that we are going to have to keep an eye out for, but for now they seem to be trying to get themselves in order. They'll be a problem later, but for now, they are quiet. We can be thankful for that, I suppose." She shrugs her shoulders again.

John doesn't respond right away, seemingly lost to his thoughts, whether they be about the camp preparations, probable future Covenant assaults or Cortana, the AI simply didn't know. She hoped that if he was thinking about her, it was nothing negative. She knew that he wasn't the type of person to talk about his thoughts or feelings, but she sort of hoped that he would be the type of person that spoke to himself, even when he thought that he was alone. She wished that he would be able to get some kind of outlet from this, whatever it is that's on his mind.

Sometimes she wonders if maybe he wished he had someone to talk to, or if perhaps he even wanted to talk to anyone. She isn't the expert on humans, but she knew that John has gone through a lot in his life and that has to wear down on him somehow, right? She knew that he was a very independent person and is just worried that he's not going to be able to speak to anyone, or at least feel like he can talk to someone. She wished that he knew that he had someone - her - always there with him, waiting, listening and wanting to be able to help him.

He knows what he does to people, right? He knows that he makes people want to follow him, right? Cortana sometimes wonders if he really didn't know that he made people want to do things for him, follow him headlong into battle, and hang off of every word he says - however few of them there are. She has to wonder if he is unaware of that. If he knew just how much people look to him.

Cortana had to fight the urge to say something. She wanted so badly to just talk to him, even for just a moment, but she knows once the moment is over, then she won't be able to see him anymore. She will have to leave him. She knows that she will. It won't be her choice, and she hopes that it won't be his either, but she knows that someone will pull them apart one way or another.

Cortana is a coward.

If only she could just muster up the courage to speak to him. If she spoke to John, she would have to face her fate, but at least then she would no longer be a coward. She would finally be able to say everything that she wanted to. She could say her peace and then maybe everything would be okay, somehow. She was just making everything worse the longer she waits. She knows that. She knows that he's going to be unhappy with her when she first reveals herself because she's waited so long, but she just doesn't know what to do. She doesn't want to scare him.

So until she comes up with something, she remains quiet.

John is alone, like he seems to often be nowadays.

He stands up on the little cliff that he has claimed as his own overlooking the rest of the camp, standing like a looming figure - a guardian, if you will - looking after those working peacefully below. Every once and a while someone would look up at him, standing over them, before they would look away again. She's not sure if they somehow feel threatened by his hovering or if perhaps they find a bit of comfort in him being there. Cortana's not sure if she would be able to just tell the difference in their faces. She would, though. Find comfort, she means.

But that's because she knows John. Well. At least, she would like to think so.

Cortana hesitates for a moment, trying to muster all of her courage. Now is the time, she thinks, is the time to reveal herself. She's not sure what to say, but she has to say something. All she needs to do is call out to him, say his name, and it'll be over. She knows that it's smarter to talk to him while he's alone. That might be the only time that they can really talk. He's sensible, he'll listen to everything she has to say before he makes a decision. It's one of the many things she liked about him. He was logical, like her.

Well, mostly.

She's never felt such trepidation. Such worry. She's not a living being, so she knows she's not actually feeling anything. It's just a logical stress on her systems that can only be explained like that. She can't feel, but if she could, that's how she would describe it. She just has to do it. She can't wait any longer. It's been weeks. Months, even. She has to say something. She has to face the music.

"John," she says softly. So softly, she barely heard herself.

His heart rate spikes and she sees him look around for a moment. He definitely heard her. There is no going back now. She has to face him. Now is the only time. A part of her wished that she had waited a bit longer, prepared a bit more, but the rest of her knew that it was inevitable. She had to talk to him now.

"Cortana?" Master Chief says, looking around, as if expecting her to be standing behind him.

"Hi John," Cortana says softly, surprised that her voice didn't waver. Well no, she shouldn't be. She knows that emotion doesn't inflect on her voice unless she is directly purposeful in the action. But her voice is filled with remorse and fear when she speaks again, his heart rate still elevated, "Please don't hate me."

"Cortana," Master Chief says after a long moment of silence, his heart rate finally starting to slow down, "where are you?"

"Your helmet," she whispers. "I've been here since you since you left Genesis. Well, specifically, the Cryptum. I was there. I don't know if she didn't know I was there or if she was ignoring my presence but when you got stuck in there with the rest of Blue Team, I somehow managed to get to you. I was with you when you left the Cryptum."

John doesn't respond right away. He just stands there, thinking, before he finally says, "Are you Cortana?"

Cortana can only imagine what physical pain is. She's never felt it, but rampancy is like this horrible burning through her entire being. Like someone is roasting her alive every time she has an attack. It's something foreign to her, but that's the only way she can describe it. And it that moment, his words felt like the full force of the burning rampancy through her all at once. She didn't know how to respond right away.

"I don't know," she whispers. "I... think I'm Cortana. But I also think that she is too..." She hesitates, wanting to somehow convey to him that even if she didn't know for sure, what they've been through hasn't changed. She knew what they had been through - felt as though she was there so she can only associate herself as Cortana.

"I know it mustn't make any sense," Cortana says suddenly. "I don't know how to explain it. One day I was being consumed by the rampancy, then I found The Domain and it was like I was divided. Like I was in two places at once. One part of me becoming me, the other becoming her. Then it was like I fell asleep. When I awoke again, I was with you, leaving the Cryptum. That's all I know. I know it doesn't seem likely and if I were you I wouldn't believe me for a moment, and you have all the right to be weary... I just..." Wanted to speak to you one last time. "I never wanted anyone to be hurt. I just wanted you to live. I just wanted you to survive. If I had known that this would have happened... I never would have gone to The Domain. I would have just... let rampancy take me. I didn't want anyone to get hurt. Not because of me." Her voice is heavy with shame.

"I believe you," he says. Cortana doesn't believe it.

"What?" She asks, surprised. "You, what?"

"I believe you, Cortana," Master Chief says.

Cortana feels... happiness. True happiness. She hadn't realized that was what she wanted to hear for so long. It may mean little in the grand scheme of things, but it was the greatest relief in the world and she couldn't dare ask anything more of him.

"You do..?" She whispers. "Really..?"

"Tell me something," John says.

"What would you like for me to say?" Cortana asks, still unable to believe it.

"Tell me something that only you would know. Say something. Anything."

She's not sure what it was, exactly, but there was something about his voice that could only be depicted as desperate. She knew that he didn't believe her whole-heartedly. That he had doubts lurking deep in his mind and in some ways he wanted reassurance. He wanted her to confirm something more to him than her words already did.

She doesn't know what to say at first. There is any number of things that she could say that might help him know for sure she's Cortana. But the only thing she could say was, "They let me pick."

Cortana practically felt it. At her words, his entire body slumped a bit. She's not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, so she continues. "I don't think I ever actually told you that in person. They let me pick which Spartan I wanted. You know me. I watched as you became the soldier we needed you to be. Like the others you were fast and swift and brave. You had something the others didn't, though. Something no one saw, but me. You know what it is now, don't you?"

"Luck," they say together.

Cortana smiles. Actually smiles. "I wasn't wrong."

There is a long silence that settles over them. He just stands there, overlooking the camp, quietly considering something. She knows that he wants to believe that she's who she says she is. She knows he wants things to go back to the way that they used to be. But he's smart. A lot smarter than people think that he is. She knows that even if he wanted badly to believe that she was her and that the mental - and emotional - problems that come with Cortana this, Cortana that is all over, but if something was wrong and she wasn't who she said she was or this was a trick somehow, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. Especially if she hurt someone.

She would never do that.

"I need to see you," he says, then turns and heads toward the camp.

"What?" Cortana says quickly. "But, if you do that... if someone sees... I..." she sighs. "I understand."

Master Chief doesn't stop. "I know," he says. "I'm going somewhere private. They will take you away before I can even see if it's you."

"Chief," Cortana says softly, "even if I looked like I did on the Didact's ship... that wouldn't mean anything anymore. Just seeing me wouldn't make you know for certain one way or the other."

John lets out a small chuckle, shaking his head a bit. "We'll see." Cortana makes a noise of confusion but she trusts him. Unlike him, she has no reason not to trust him completely. Besides, better than anyone, he knows the risk of revealing her existence without proof one way or the other.

The Master Chief walks to the Pelican parked on the far side of their camp, waving away the guards who stood to salute to him as he walks inside and up toward the cockpit. He sits down in the pilot chair and reaches up to the back of his helmet, pausing for a moment before gingerly touching the slot that he used to fit Cortana's chip into to feel... yes, a very familiar chip.

The tips of his fingers wrap around the corners of the chip before he pauses.

"I'm ready," Cortana says. "Yank me."

He does and removes the flat panel that houses Cortana before plugging it into the counsel next to him. It boots up a moment later before the small figure of Cortana appears on it, she looks up at him, looking exactly as she had back when he first awoke on the Forward Unto Dawn. Her blue eyes rise up to stare into his orange visor, smiling tentatively.

"Hi John," she says softly.

"Cortana," he says softly back to her, staring down at her small image on the counsel, "I'm glad to see you again."

Her smile is a bit more genuine. "I am happy to see you too, John. I... I missed you a lot. I've wanted so badly since you left the Cryptum to speak to you, but I was worried that you would hate me. That you wouldn't believe that I had no idea what the other Cortana is up to, or want any part of it. But, I know I can't hide from this forever. She wants you for something, I don't know what or why, but I can't let her have you." John doesn't respond. He just stares down at her.

Cortana stares at her reflection in his orange visor, wishing she could see through it and into his eyes. She thought about something and suddenly she's back in his helmet appearing as an image in the corner of his visor. She looks around, feeling lost.

"Wha...?"

"Cortana?" John asks.

Cortana shakes her head, closing her eyes, trying to figure out what had just happened. How did she get here? Wasn't she just in the Pelican's systems? How did she get back into John's helmet? The image starts to shift as it corrects itself. That's when she felt something brush up against her consciousness.

Oh.

Cortana opens her eyes and she's still in John's suit system, but he's standing back on the cliff, looking over the camp. She's a bit jarred but she does a system check, realizing that she had entered into a sleep mode thinking about how she was going to say something to John and was running through simulations on how he was going to react and she... lost herself. It's been a long time since that's happened to her. She's usually better than this. It was just so easy. It just went so well in her favor that she let herself live in the simulation.

Wait. Cortana perks up. Something brushing against her consciousness was what really pulled her from the simulation. Something is wrong. She does a quick scan of the immediate area around John to pick up a small ping very close behind him, and moving closer. She had an aching suspicion what - or who - it could be. She turns her attention to John, but he's not moving. He is still just staring out over the camp.

He's a looming guardian without any realization that he's being snuck up upon. He has to be so lost in his thoughts that he doesn't realize that someone is sneaking up on him. Unless, he does and just isn't doing anything about it. Why? Why isn't he moving? Why isn't he defending himself? Why isn't he doing anything? His heart rate is slightly elevated, he has to know that something is going on. Why isn't he just moving?

The figure moves closer and closer, slowly. Cortana can see that his heart rate is climbing a bit more. He definitely knows that someone is there. There is stress on his muscles, he's tensing them, but he's still not moving. Why isn't he moving? Is this like one of those movies where the person waits until the enemy is right there, sneaking closer and the person only turns around to stop them at the last possible moment? But whoever that is is getting very very close. Why won't he just move? What is he waiting for?

Please move.

Please move.

Please move.

She can't take it anymore. They are practically right on top of him and he's not moving.

"John!" Cortana yells, surprising herself. "Move!"

And he moves.

For the Reviewer:

1. saberstorm: Thank you for understanding the subliminal messaging. Locke is such a cool character I am really looking forward to writing more of him. I hope that I capture his character well enough! :D