Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Hunter and Soldier. Enjoy the 2000-word chapter. I don't own Halo, Microsoft, and 343 do.

(2526, April 2nd Marathon Class Heavy Cruiser Leviathan, midnight)

Cal found Gram in the hanger of the flagship. He sat cross-legged atop a crate. His magnum lay in pieces in front of him he slowly and methodically put the weapon back together.

"Couldn't sleep?" Cal asked, dusting off her tank top before sitting next to Gram.

"I never sleep, Cal," Gram responded and put the gun back together. "I'm still wondering what happened at Eden. It bugs me not knowing to be honest. We've been fighting Covenant for a year and yet the URF still wants to try and kill us." Gram said as he placed the weapon to the side.

Cal said nothing and simply nodded. She knew very well that Eden wasn't a normal planet. The covenant was after something, and it was clear they would deploy more to get it.

"Rather be back on mission, don't you?" Cal questioned as she folded her legs under her.

"I'd rather not be stuck on a damn ship… Like I know you don't either." Gram responded and looked out into Slipspace. "We're soldiers, Cal. I can't do anything aboard the Levi." Gram added, uncrossing his arms.

Cal hummed, Spartans were meant for war, being cooped up aboard a vessel meant they weren't busy doing what they usually did. Gram picked up his magnum and turned the weapon over.

"The URF is easier to deal with than the Covenant, the Covenant doesn't burn their planets down to glass for an advantage." Gram put in to which he turned back to the window.

"Sam proved the covenant isn't unstoppable," Cal said as Gram shrugged and hummed.

"How many ships has it taken to kill one ship?" Gram asked Cal and looked at the spartan scout. "13… Out of 40. Spartans can only win battles on the ground. The second covenant doesn't win the invasion? Their just scorch everything." Gram said before looking around.

"Do you remember how hard we thought it was dealing Tango Company in the mountains?" Cal questioned and got a nod. "Running out of ammo, surrounded? You remember how you came up with the plan to wait until night, pick them off one by one until we could walk back to the LZ?" Cal asked as Gram nodded once more.

"I'm just not used to being cooped up on a warship instead of in the field, rifle in hand." Gram said before starting to look out over his magnum once more.

Cal was silent, she knew that Gram was just deep in thought. Gram never gave up; it wasn't in him to just surrender towards the enemy. However? It did bother her that the Covenant was ruthless and relentless. The Covenant was the same way… But that didn't mean they were impossible to overcome and defeat.

The tall Spartan turned to look at her partner who placed the inspected magnum aside. He hummed and turned to her.

"You know, you were always different from the others." Gram said with a smirk. "Supertall, Helluva shot, snow-white hair and amber eyes… And you ALWAYS wanted to plan things out, even if Chief Mendez wanted us to try and do things by instinct." Gram said and got a slug to the shoulder which probably would have broken a normal human's arm.

"And you're still the scrappy, hotheaded dumbass I keep saving," Cal said to which her partner rolled his eyes. "You were so tiny that I think only Grey Team had a smaller spartan to you. Kept darting around, almost made me wonder if you were a spartan or a rat." Cal said with a smirk of her own.

The two Spartans stood in contemplation. Both remembered the years ago when things were more similar, and training was a part of their lives.

"Why did you pick me out of every spartan?" Cal asked, shifting her weight towards the scout. "So many other Spartans you could have teamed up with… Yet it was always me, always me out of the rest of the group. There were 33 Spartans." Cal said to which Gram hummed.

"Because you always had my back." Gram said and looked around the room. "Everyone else liked to do things by the book, never chat, never stop to rest…. You didn't, you put up with my bs. You knew that even if I didn't try to do things the same way? I was still fighting. You were the most caring even towards people outside our group." Gram said and cracked his fingers.

"Someone has to keep you from doing something stupid and getting yourself killed," Cal said, leaning on her partner. "You'd keep running off, always trying to make sure I knew what was up ahead. One time it ended with half the group getting the drop on you… You know how many times you'd be dead if that wasn't training?" Cal questioned as Gram shrugged.

"Every sniper needs a spotter." Gram stated and turned to Cal. "You always had my back… Do you know how many times I had to stop you from trying to take all the pressure off others? I'm too hotheaded… And YOU are far too ready to take a bullet for someone else. It's why I started forcing you to keep up with me, that way you didn't almost keep getting yourself killed." Gram said and smiled.

The two Spartans turned their gaze back to the Slipspace conduit outside. Both wanted to be back in the field, quite curious what their next assignment would be.

"I almost thought that MBT had me." Gram said, his eyebrows raised in surprise. "I didn't think you'd make the shot in time… Did you expect to run out of ammo like that for your rifle?" Gram asked he got up and slowly walked towards his room.

"No. I didn't, I wasn't expecting much of a long mission…" Cal said before Gram rounded the corner.

Cal was about to say something before Gram entered his quarters. Cal was puzzled for a moment, curious if Gram had simply tired of his conversation with her.

Gram hummed and then returned with a pack of playing guards and motioned towards a nearby table. Cal hummed and joined Gram who moved a supply crate under the table before he took a seat once more.

Gram laid out cards as Cal took her seat at the other end of the table. She knew for a fact that Gram enjoyed cards, the random luck and uncertainty was the perfect counter for a scout.

"I heard that the rest of Silver Team is going to meet us at this place." Gram said and set up a deck for Cal. "It will be nice seeing the rest of the team… But I thought Arthy, and Solomon was reassigned to Blue Team in the meantime." Gram said while looking at his deck.

"Maybe, but it's different," Cal said before setting down a pair of twos and fours. "How much do you think that data is going to help? I barely got 2 minutes' worth of footage." Cal asked before Gram shrugged and then placed a pair of threes and fives down.

"I'm sure that it's worth something, Cal." Gram said before looking at his deck. "What's this game called again? I haven't played cards in over a year." Gram stated which caused Cal to raise her eyebrow.

"Duos… I'm not calling it by the real name." Cal stated as Gram chuckled with amusement. "Anyway, you like cards. You've been playing cards since the first mission we had." Cal added while Gram hummed and shrugged.

"I like the random and uncertainty." Gram said and hummed before he cracked his fingers with interest. "It's not the same if you play a game, you know you're going to win at… Remember when John was the one running us through these things?" Gram asked to which he got a nod from Cal.

Cal drew another pair of cards from the deck and placed a pair of sevens on the table Gram sighed and started to draw more cards from the deck.

"This game is not as lucky as I thought it was when I played." Gram said, gaining a smirk from his friend as he started to look around with interest.

"Maybe because you didn't shuffle the deck like you forget to do," Cal added, gaining a roll of the eyes from Gram. "How many times have we played this?" Cal asked while Gram placed a pair of 3s upon the table.

"A dozen." Gram put in as he hummed and shrugged. "How did you get so good at shooting? I know most of us are good, but you've been getting headshots more and more to where I don't think you miss." Gram stated, placing a pair of 8s on the table.

"Remember those training rounds that went missing from Tango Company?" Cal questioned and placed a pair of 1s, both having 2 cards that didn't match. "I kept sneaking out to practice. Chief caught me after the third time, put me in solitary for a week if you didn't notice it... Damn it, no matches." Cal put in as Gram rolled his eyes.

"Well, at least the game isn't screwing me over alone." Gram stated and grabbed another pair of cards from the table. "And I used to run laps at night, you wondered why there was always 2 days I was exhausted in the morning? It was the cause of that. I doubt the chief didn't notice, there were cameras everywhere. I don't know how we didn't get caught talking." Gram stated while clicking his teeth together.

"Chief knew, remember?" Cal asked and looked over her deck. "That's why he said we were better as a duo… We just weren't as bad as Grey who tried to run away or Black who beat the Red team for attacking their commander." Cal put in as Gram leaned backward.

Gram said nothing, more curious about what the next mission would bring. Cal was a good sniper, but she often put others' lives over her own. A good trait and one he admired, but not one that kept her in the game… Nor was it a trait that snipers normally had.

"Plenty of Spartans were somewhat out of line like that. We were kids, Cal." Gram said while putting another card down. "And we're still kids. War doesn't exactly come with a rule book, there's only so much training can do before you experience it. Remember the first mission we went on? Operation: Firecracker?" Gram asked while he put a pair of 2s down on the table and then placed his deck on the ground.

Cal's brows furrowed and her fingers tapped against each other as she placed her deck on the ground. Cal looked at Gram with a serious face which made the spartan scout lean back on the crate, his posture showing how unperturbed he was.

Operation: Firecracker was simple, they were to destroy the FLP, another rebel cell. Cal forgot how that mission went aside from the fact that the cell was utterly destroyed, and it ended with a destroyed Halberd class destroyer.

"We aren't supposed to discuss operations, Gram," Cal stated to which Cal could only hum and shrug.

"Didn't tell me we couldn't." Gram said before standing up and slowly cracking his back. "I'm going to the sleeping quarters to get some sleep if the Vice Admiral asks." Gram stated and left.

Author Notes

Phew. Another chapter is done! I want to point out that the next chapter will be delayed, and such the next chapter will be in 2-12 weeks or a few months and will show more downtime and such. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!

P.S: Next chapter is 1200-2500 words. I might be making another Halo story or such sooner or later hopefully.