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

(2551, August 9th, Kronstadt 3:42 AM, UNSC Leviathan)

Cal looked at Gram before she looked towards the ground, something about it all when it came down to it as both Spartans looked towards the ground.

Cal seemed to be dealt with for now… She looked towards the ground, something at the time being as she looked to the side.

She and he were silent and both were able to try and figure it out now.

She and he were able to think. She knew Gram by now that this little mannerism he was trying? It was him trying to get her to admit she was on the edge of the rope… She knew she was at the end of the rope… Both were exhausted… She knew this more than him. She guessed that Gram was cranky.

"You usually say something when you are annoyed like this… You know that?" Gram stated before he looked towards the ground.

"And you were usually the one to get annoyed when I get put through the wringer… Like last time." Cal stated as she paused to the side.

She guessed Gram was mad. They had little time to relax, Spartans did not get time off and both were able to atone for how it would need to relax for now.

Something about them had amused her when it had come down to it. Both were tossed for a loop by the face the Spartans had started to fall silent as they realized the war had taken a different turn.

She crossed her legs under her. She had known better than this… Much better than this had she guessed.

"I have a feeling we die next mission… There is more covenant on the next mission, they stepped up security." Gram stated in a tone that suggested he meant it more than she had.

Cal sighed and shook her head, something about it all would have made her laugh… But she was guessing he was not trying to talk her out of it.

The wide-open cavern that was the hangar bay seemed all too quiet at that moment. She looked at Gram who held his shotgun… Both were unable to properly convey their words and feelings, it felt as if the words themselves were laced with honey.

Something about it all had been more than she needed to. Cal wanted to break something but she knew she could not have said anything without making herself look bad… She would not be able to sway Gram, merely nudge him along the path that they had to walk.

Both were warriors… Something was going to be the end of it all, something about it all had been harder and harder to deal with for now and it would be… Very hard for them to properly deal with it all for now.

Gram was tiresome, both expected more… Far more than they were capable of now, something about this all had torn them up and down.

Cal being Cal? Knew that Gram was all too amusing for now at the time being… He had to deal with it all at the time being… They had a lot more to try and figure it out now.

He had been too distracted; torn asunder by words he did not know… Ideas he did not have… What he could and would grasp was simple idealism.

Gram said nothing, knowing that Cal was trying her best… It was just that he had not tried at all disturbing for now… It would be harder and harder now… Something which had not yet been torn down now.

Something within him had broken and snapped entirely… He would laugh if nothing else as Cal drummed her fingers on her knees, something which had entirely pushed him past his weakness…

Cal still said nothing, perhaps noting that he of all people that Gram had been trying to neglect for fear of it being shown.

"You are never this quiet at all." Gram heard as he hummed.

"I am tired," Gram stated in a tone that suggested as much.

Cal? Cal knew this was true. Gram was beaten into the ground and he was all too unsure of himself. what he could do? He knew it would not last, now? Now Gram was curious as to WHAT he would do.

Cal looked at him with more amusement at the time. Both were at the end of the day and they relaxed as he had been.

Something which had torn him to bits now. He had too much on his plate. He had no idea of it all now at the time… Both had been pushed and both had been eager to think, to act… It was a rare sentiment to where both could and should have been, the only problem being how they would retrieve this.

It would be much harder for them to have to deal with this, mostly because these issues highlighted how often it had been done… But could be done… It would need to be dealt with and dealt with before now… Before long.

Something such as her insanity had pushed her screaming down a path one could only dream of… Not that she minded, it was a common cause and one they would be working on now.

They have been dealt with now at the time being at the end of the day, it was a hard time to deal with for now.

Gram would fall silent; he would fall silent now or he would die…. Something within it all had been enough for him to deal with now and for good reason.

All of it was more than they could deal with alone, hence the reason they did not at all understand it at the time.

Perhaps even then it was something that both could understand… And it was only within the confines of their argument would they need to be reminded of a simple fact… now? Now he had nothing else left.

Both were all too interested in it all before he relaxed for now as he looked downwards at the ground and looked to the side.

He had a lot more to try and figure out as Gram sighed, thinking of it all as a little game as he looked downwards.

"What's the next mission?" Gram asked in a tone that suggested he very well knew what was going on and did not at all want it to be said aloud.

"We must hunt down a team of covenant special forces. They were said to have found something." Gram heard as Cal hummed.

"Something vital?" Gram asked in a tone that suggested he knew.

He did know. He could tell when she was too amused for now… She was too amused at the end of it all, something which had driven Gram up a wall.

Cal tapped on her knees, too exhausted for now to try and figure it all out.

Something within him made him want to scream for now… He had a lot more to try and understand it for now… A lot more he would not be understanding for now.

Something about the mission he had to deal with for now. Gram seemed to be relaxing for now as he looked downwards at the ground.

"You know the long we end up dealing with this? The more damage we must deal with within the galaxy… It is not as fun as you think it is." Gram stated before he sighed to himself.

Something before long would need to end best…. Something within it all had been too much.

Cal tapped on her knees before she looked downwards at the ground. She looked towards the sky… She and the others were destined to be soldiers and nothing else… Both times they had to fight. They were fighting chaos now and fighting a storm that he would need to relax.

He had a lot more to deal with, something as he thought of it all while he relaxed. He had a lot more to try and figure it out now… An idea like this would not relent.

They had a lot more to try and figure it out… Something about each little idea now… They had a lot more to try and figure out… And it bothered him for now. An idea like this would impede them as he and she thought of it all.

They had a lot more to relax… An idea within them that had not died down.

There needed to be a balance they could have shared at the time being. They were soldiers and yet Cal showed zero amounts of mercy, zero knowing what was going on at the end of it all now.

Something within them both had to deal with more than just what was going through the brains of several groups.

He had been too distracted within his mind… They had a lot more to try and think of it all for now. There was a lot more to try and think for now.

Cal hummed and then looked at him, Gram leaned back, his bulk set on the wall before he looked back at Gram.

Gram being himself? He had no desire to think of what was going on in her mind, it was more than he could stomach.

They had a lot more to deal with for now…. That much was obvious for now and they would not have been able to think.

Gram was tired… And now? Gram craved conflict. He had no desire not to be at odds with everything going on at the end of the day.

Battle? The battle would conflict and it would be much harder and it would be harder to think now.

This battle was going to be something that defined them. Now? Now Gram was too tired at the end of the day.

Gram and Cal hummed; the words of the admiral were still ringing in their mind… He knew these missions would define them and that it would be harder to think.

Cal hummed and then sighed to herself and relaxed her mind. She thought of John for a second and then she remembered that Gram was a lot like the other Spartans.

The soldiers within the UNSC were more focused on survival than fighting. The rest of them were soldiers at the end… They had a lot more to deal with.

Gram seemed to be tired, they had a lot more to focus on anyway.

Gram and Cal both looked at each other, Gram finally decided it was a lot more to talk about small details like this rather than just fight, both wanted to fight and be here.

Well? They were too interested in being Spartans anyway it was a lot easier to relax.

They had a larger part to play in the battle. The UNSC like them were too easily beaten into place.

Gram closed his eyes, almost wanting to sleep and it was clear both soldiers were beaten down into the ground.

They were all too interested in it all now. Something like conflict drove them further apart now, yet? They were skilled soldiers now and both were different in manners of war.

Being soldiers? It brought them further and further for now and for a different mannerism than before.

He tried to think of it differently now as he clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

Author Notes

Phew. Another chapter is done! I want to point out that the next chapter will be delayed by 2-10 months… It will also not be as repetitive. The next chapter will also show more and more of Cal and Gram relaxing for now. Until the 900–6500-word chapter, Lighting Wolf out!

P.S: The next chapter will set up another battle scene. Until the 900-6500 words and such.