Cassandra did not expect to get iced out when the combined ships approached an asteroid belt close to a planet called Eridanus II. While her partners kept her in the loop, the UNSC crew were doing their best to not involve her in their plans unless absolutely necessary.

"I am somehow not surprised," she sighed while checking the status of the partner she was training up. She was aiming to get an Omegamon X in order to buff up her team while assisting the crew at the same time. So far, she was on track to meet her goal. "Looks like I'm benched until a digital emergency comes up. Ugh! This is so frustrating!"

"Join the club, kid," said a Marine cleaning his equipment. She had been helping the Marines with inventory organization and cleaning when Magnamon caught her up to speed with the plan Admiral Whitcomb and Captain Keyes came up with. "Say, did you do any sports in school?"

A little caught off guard, it took Cassandra a moment to answer, "Yeah, I was on the swim team. I wasn't great, but it was fun swimming with everyone."

"Swimming? I figured you'd be a basketball girl," another soldier said.

"Heck no," she deadpanned, remembering the rampant nepotism in that team. "Not with the coach we had for that team."

"Why? Were they an asshole? Ow!" The soldier that asked got a swift cuff to the back of their head by Sargent Johnson.

"Don't cuss around the kid!"

"Too late for that, and the basketball coach favored the teachers' kids over anyone that actually put in effort in to the sport."

"And they wondered why they never made it to regional tournaments," Herissmon chimed in, hopping onto Cassandra's back and latching on swith no effort. "Speaking of sports; time for a work out, Cassy!"

"What?! Right now?"

"We've been slacking off too much! If you wanna join another team when you get to Earth, you've gotta be in tip top shape!" Now he had fiery determination in his eyes and she was reminded that he'd been her biggest cheerleader and supporter before everything went down.

"How can you even be thinking of—"

"Quit yammering and hustle to the gym!" He nearly shouted in her ear. She positioned her partner better on her back and held him as she began to run to the Gettysburg's gym.

"Haha! I like you even more, little guy," Sargent Johnson decided to run with them. They sped down the long hallway, other crew members and soldiers stepping to get out of the way, all the while the Staff Sargent barked at her. "Come on! Is that the best you got!"

"Bugger off, old geezer! I'm just getting warmed up!"

"Who're you callin' old, midget? I can run laps around you!"

"On a scooter in a nursing home, maybe."

"Someone's been learning how to trash talk."

"Like how you're learning to keep up with an eleven-year-old kid?"

"Oh, it's on now! And I thought you were ten!"

"My birthday was on the 4th of this month. How old are you? Ninety? Do you need a walker?"

"I sure as hell don't need training wheels like you do."

John didn't expect to see Cassandra carrying Herissmon on her back while running with Sargent Johnson tagging along when he was making his way back to the maintenance bay. It was an odd sight, but he couldn't help but smile when he heard his niece trash talk the older man.

"Cortana, please tell me you got pictures of that."

"Plenty for you and the other Spartans," Cortana brought up a few images on his HUD. "Aren't you worried that Johnson will treat her like one of his Marines?"

"He'd have a team of Spartans chasing him down and he knows it. Also, it might do her some good to have someone to train with again."

"I heard her mention she used to be on her school's swim team. Her medical records say she was in peak physical condition at the time, but that doesn't tell me about her performance in the pool."

"She placed second in regionals several months ago in the Butterfly category." John continued to walk as he spoke with the AI. "She had multiple trophies from local tournaments, but she never bragged about it."

"Humble? Or low self-esteem?"

He didn't answer that as he was still figuring that out. In any case, he had things to do and a team he needed to speak with.

Fred helped Sam get used to the new modifications the Engineers did to his armor. So far, his old friend was quick to catch up with the rest of the Spartans. Right now they were examining footage from the Halo construct, including footage from John rescuing Cassandra.

"How is she still standing after all of that?" Sam asked, genuinely surprised the girl wasn't a shell shocked mess.

"She and her team are like us in a sense," Fred explained with pride. "They rely on each other and they have established roles for all team members. She and her partners know when one of their own is in trouble almost instinctively."

"You know, we all had a bet going that you'd be a dad figure to new Spartan recruits, but I don't think any of us expected you to actually have a kid."

"Cassy was a surprise, even to me, but John being an attentive uncle was an even bigger surprise to everyone."

"Really? I've gotta hear this!"

None of them noticed the old Digivice Cassy accidentally left behind start to glow silver.