Chapter 11: Separate but Together

Six POV

Six groaned as he awoke, shaking off the fogginess of unconsciousness. Suddenly, something fell from the sky and violently crashed into the ground next to him. He turned his head and saw a piece of jagged metal buried point down in the ground, nearly slicing him in half. He looks upwards, instincts forcing him to assess any immediate threats. However, it didn't take him long to figure out where the debris came from.

Thousands upon thousands of pieces of ship wreckage were falling from the skies, and he was right in the middle of it.

He jumped to his feet and attempted to run for cover when a sharp pain in his arm made him halt. He turned his yell of pain into a grunt of discomfort and tried to run again, only to fall down, his ankle was acting up now.

"Come on." He grunted through clenched teeth, forgetting the pain that ran through his entire body, forcing his bruised and battered muscles to force him along. More and more pieces of metal came crashing down like metallic rain, forcing Six to jump, leap, and dive out of the way of the incoming projectiles. To his relief he saw he was almost out of the kill zone of falling debris, he could just see the area beyond him free of any plummeting fragments of the ship. He scrambled as fast as he could to escape the barrage when something on his HUD stopped him. His radar was reporting that there was movement twelve degrees behind him; a red dot marked it as hostile. Six was going to forget about it and leave when a realization took over.

'Where is Shress?'

Shress POV

Shress felt like a Jiralhanae Chieftain was beating on her head with his hammer when she finally awoke. Her entire body felt sore, her left arm throbbed, her lungs burned, and she felt a sharp pain in her right foot. She tried to shift her body to relieve herself of the crushing weight, but found that she couldn't move. Slowly, she opened her eyes, but she was still shrouded in darkness.

She tried to move, but she was pushed against something solid, like what felt like a large sheet of metal resting on top of her. She tried to wriggle to the side, but she was pressed too tightly against the objects. Outside she heard heavy pounding, as if a pair of Lekgolo were stomping through the lands. Worries about the unknown sounds, she redoubled her efforts.

She moved her hands and pressed her palms on the crushing weight above her. She began to push with every ounce of strength she had. Her limbs were shaking violently, but soon the metal on top of her began to shift. Her muscles were starting to burn, and her breathing became more labored when she began to see sunlight streaming through the sides of the sheet of metal. She was almost out; she just needed to push a little more and–

Something slammed on top of her, causing the metal to cave in and crush her deeper into the ground as a loud boom rang into her ears. She tried to breathe, but whatever was on top of her was squishing her lungs flat.

Realizing that she might die, she felt fear arise within her. She always imagined that if she were to die it would be death by combat, not by suffocation. Soon her fear became horror as the full impact of the situation hit her; she might be crushed to death, here, in the dark, with no one by her side, or even knowing of her passing.

Her strength waning, and her gasps growing weaker and weaker, she felt her head growing heavier. Her chest was beginning to cave in as her ribs bent, possibly being readied to skewer her own organs; the end had arrived. She closed her eyes and willed her end to be swift.

Suddenly the weight on her chest was gone. She opens her eyes, still in darkness, but alive, and so was her fear as uncertainty took over. The heavy sheet of metal began to move, back and forth, until finally, bottom up, it was lifted off of her. Bright sunlight blinded her as she desperately gasped for air.

"Come on!" A familiar voice yelled.

It was then she noticed a figure holding up the piece of metal. She couldn't see who it was since the person was standing in front of the sunlight, but she was able to see that her savior was in the shape of a human.

"You want to live?! Come on!" the voice cried, more urgently.

Realizing this was her chance, she scrambled forward, forcing herself to keep her pained whimpers within her. She struggled out of the hole as the figure dropped the metal behind with a grunt.

She looked up and saw Michael, his armor was dirty, busted in some areas and he had a dent on his helmet. Before she could thank him, a large piece of metal fell a unit away from her. She jumped to her feet which caused agony to spread all over. She felt herself falling, but Michael caught her. They looked at each other, her silver eyes meeting his blue faceplate. Before they could say anything, more shrapnel continued to rain from the sky–Pieces of the Long Night of Solace.

Michael shook her and shouted in her face, "Run!"

They both turned to sprint out of the way of the falling shards when Shress fell again, her foot, her chest; she wasn't sure which one ached more.

Michael ran back to her and said, "Let's go!"

She attempted to stand once more, forcing her wounded leg to take some weight before she fell back down to the ground and shook her head.

Michael ran to her side; he draped one of her arms over his shoulder and helped her up.

"I said, let's go, Shress!"

She sucked in a pained breath as they started to move. She struggled to keep up with the human, but soon she couldn't stand being on her damaged foot and against her will her leg went limp. Michael didn't say anything and just pushed forward. More and more debris continued to fall, forcing them to duck and weave through incoming ordinance. Once a piece of the ship the size of an Ungoggy hit Michael in the head, she thought Michael was stunned and was going to drop, instead he lifted himself higher and pushed onward. Soon, Shress's whole body was aching and about to fail when they stopped. She thought Michael was finally tired and was about to collapse, but then she noticed there was no more falling shrapnel. She looked behind them and saw that they had exited the area of bombarding steel.

Gently, Michael lowered her to the ground. She let out a sigh of relief, but she tensed when her battered body lay down on the ground. She tried to hide the pain, but she knew Michael was aware of her injuries. Why else would she have allowed him to carry her like that? He bent down in front of her and asked, "Where does it hurt?"

"It's nothing–" she began to say when Michael cut her off.

"Where does it hurt?" He said again in a stubborn voice. She sighed, annoyed, but secretly glad that Michael cared for her well-being.

"My left arm aches and there's something wrong with my right foot."

Michael nodded before bending low over her body and began inspecting her arm. She couldn't help but flinch when he moved it, and she let out a hiss of discomfort.

Michael let go before calmly stating, "I don't know much of Sangheili anatomy, but from a human's perspective, I'd say you sprained your arm."

Shress nodded, suspecting as much and asked, "And my foot?"

Again, Michael bent down, moved her foot into uncomfortable positions until finally he informed her. "It looks like you've broken it." He looked up at her. "You're quite lucky you didn't receive more severe injuries."

She nodded in thanks before asking, "What about you? How are your injuries?"

He just shrugged. "Nothing bad. Dislocated shoulder and twisted ankle, but I patched them up before getting you."

She looked down and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be a burden to you as we ran."

She felt him touch her shoulder and she looked up into his faceplate, "You didn't burden me Shress, believe it or not, but I was made to do this stuff, trained to do what others cannot."

With that, he looked around before seemingly spotting something in the distance. Standing up, he began to make his way towards it. "I'll be right back," and with that he began walking off. Shress couldn't help but feel ashamed of her injuries since they put an extra load on Michael as he slowly limped away, wondering if he just said those things to comfort her.

As she waited for his return, Shress began taking in her surroundings. She was in an area that looked as if it had sported rolling green hills and was sparsely populated by a few scraggly trees. Now, those hills were flattened by the large wreckage of what was left of the Long Night of Solace, the few trees that were remaining in the area were now set ablaze, leaving blackened skeletons in their place. The whole land seemed to be shrouded in grayness, the skies were a sad sight to take in and the ground had a sort of dreariness about it.

'This land is dead,' she thought to herself when she suddenly became alert to an approaching sound. She let her guard down when she saw Michael returning, carrying something in his arms.

He walked up next to her before squatting down and letting the object tumble to the ground.

There were only two things, one she knew; the other was a mystery. The object she recognized was a human weapon, a pistol. The other was some strange box with a red plus painted on it.

Michael grabbed the box and opened it up, Shress felt her mandibles crinkle slightly at the pungent smell that escaped from it.

"What is that?" she asked.

"It's called a med-kit," Micheal replied. "I found it in the remains of a Saber that fell down with us." Seeing her questioning gaze, he elaborated, "The Sabers were the ships we used to get on the corvette."

"And what does this… med-kit do?"

"It contains healing devices and medicine," he explained as he pulled out a strange rolled up ribbon and another roll of white cloth, "But in your case, I think we need to resort to the old ways."

Shress didn't like the sound of that and shifts slightly as she asks once more. "The old ways?"

Noticing her weariness, Michael spoke in a reassuring voice as he continued to dig around in the med-kit, "I'm just going to wrap your arm up with gauze, tell me, how long does it take for a Sangheili to heal a broken bone?"

"Not that long," Shress replied. "Usually they should be healed by the end of the cycle."

Michael glanced at her, and then at the materials he had gathered and said, "In that case… I'm not sure if I should bind your wounds. We would just be wasting supplies but this should cause you a little less pain until your arm and leg are fully healed," he said.

He shuffled closer to her and asked her to sit up, which she did awkwardly. He then took a long piece of wood he had found close by, held it against her leg and wrapped it with the white cloth. She hissed as he twirled the cloth around her foot and lifted it until it was firmly kept in place. She inspected the strange position of her and the use of the cloth which she had never seen before, and idly noted that despite the fact that Michael was human, he remembered how her leg was supposed to be positioned. It was rough and somewhat itchy, but when she thought about it, the "gauze" as Michael had called it, was preventing more pain from piercing throughout her limbs.

"How's the arm?" He next asks, "Do I need to put a splint on it too?"

Shress had no idea what a "splint" was, but she guessed it was what he did to her leg and shook her head. "You don't have to Michael, it's already getting better."

He nodded before replacing all the equipment in the med-kit once more. She noticed he hadn't really talked much and when he did, it was mostly about the task at hand, so unlike his usual self who would usually attempt to make light conversations.

"Michael…are you feeling alright?" She asked.

"What do you think?" he came back harshly, causing Shress to remain silent, unsure what to say next.

Michael sighed, "Sorry Shress, I don't mean to be rude, but I think you can see," here he gestured to the devastation around them, "That I, and pretty much everyone else on the planet, is having a really, really bad day."

Shress was again still for a moment before saying, "I am sorry Michael. Other than my condolences. I don't know what else to say."

Michael sighed again and then she noticed now he was just moving objects around in the med kit, not looking at her again. She knew she shouldn't push him, but she was concerned. She had never seen her human friend like this before and it was slightly frightening her.

"Michael, there is something else wrong. What is it?"

"Nothing," he said. Still shuffling around in the med kit, not looking up.

Tired of him evading the issue, Shress slowly began to rise until she was in a crouched position, trying to keep weight off of her bad foot and attempting to keep her arm in the split. Now Michael looked up at her and said, "Shress, you shouldn't be moving, not until–"

He didn't get to finish. Shress crawled towards him and lowered her head until she was almost face to face with him and put a hand on his shoulder, halting whatever he was going to say. She stared into his blue faceplate once more and repeated her question.

"What's wrong?"

Michael tried to look away, but she applied pressure to his shoulder, her inhuman strength allowing her to lightly pinch the skin underneath the armor, forcing him to look up at her. He remained silent for what felt like units until finally he let out a deep breath and said in a heavy hearted voice.

"It's Jorge."

Shress suspected as much but just nodded her head, waiting to see if there was anything else he wanted to say. When he hesitated again, she said, "Michael, you were there for me when I needed someone to talk to, let me return the favor. I swear I will not tell anyone what you will speak of if you want your thoughts to remain a secret," she said with sincerity.

The silence lasted for units again until Michael finally broke down and said, "Before we left…I promised Carter, our commander, that I would watch after Jorge. I told him I'd watch his back… and it was him who gave up his life when it should have been me."

"Why you?" asked Shress, surprised by his response.

"It… it should have been me." He finished, rather unhelpfully, before looking down in a look that she saw as shame.

Shress leaned in close and said, "Michael, it wasn't your fault, Jorge made the decision himself. He chose you to stay alive, to help fight the Covenant, and to protect your people."

"But I promised–"

"Michael, when you are a commander, you can't promise you can keep those under your command alive," she sighed, taking a moment to remember all those that were lost under her command over the years before continuing. "I know how you feel, the pain, the confusion and the injustice of it all, but what I haven't experienced, is a soldier dying for another, to save his comrade, a great honor among my people."

The human refused to look at her, so Shress squeezed his arm, forcing him to raise his gaze again, "Do not dishonor your friend's sacrifice Michael. Embrace it, and use his memory to help those he fought for, as he would have wanted you to have done."

Michael's faceplate gravitated down again. She let out a deep breath and was ready to move away when the last thing she expected happened; Michael leans forward and rests his head on her uninjured shoulder.

All that Shress could do was freeze, completely stunned by the sudden action. She looked down at the human who was leaning on her. Never before has anyone been in this close proximity with her, making her both nervous and curious at the same time. She witnessed this happening to human soldiers sometimes on the battlefield and tried to imitate what she had seen them do whenever one of their own was in this position. Awkwardly, she raised her uninjured arm and gingerly wrapped it around Michael's broad shoulders.

She wasn't sure if she was doing it right, but Michael didn't move, giving no indication whether he liked the contact or not, so she just left her arm there. Units passed and slowly Shress's rigid posture started to fade; she slowly began to relax, now becoming accustomed to the hardness of the demon's armor. She was starting to wonder what Michael's skin would feel like without his armor on when he let out a sigh and pulled away from her. She was surprised when she felt disappointment arise from within her when she could no longer feel his body pressing into hers, but she gave no indication of her feelings.

Michael sighed once more and said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to…" he didn't finish as his voice trails off.

"No, it's alright Michael. I was glad to comfort you"

'I think,' she thought to herself after speaking.

He was silent once more before looking her in the eyes and saying, "In that case, thank you."

She nodded and soon a silence filled the space between them, both unsure what to do or say next. Finally, Michael stood up, grabbed the gun and med-kit, pocketed them except for the weapon and held out his hand, to which Shress swiftly took as he pulled her to her feet.

"I think we landed close to New Alexandria," he said, nodding towards a small hill behind him. Before she could ask, he added, "One of our major cities. Can you walk?"

Shress nodded, eager to regain her pride. "I can manage."

She saw Michael hesitated so she pushed by him and said, "I'm fine, really. Let's go."

She heard him sigh–not out of depression, but semi irritation–before walking after her.

Six POV

Six had to admit. If Shress was a human, she would have made a good Spartan. He could tell her arm and her leg were bothering her, but she pushed on, ignoring the pain. That is until they hit the steep hill. She tried to climb up the mound, but gravity was against her ankle, forcing her to the ground.

Six reached out to help her up, but she swatted his hand away,

"I'm not weak," She hissed.

"There's nothing wrong with accepting help," Six replied.

She pondered his words for a while before conceding and allowing him to put her arm around his shoulder to lift her up once more. Together, they trudged up the hill, heading in the direction of smoke and what sounded like a battle.

As they climbed Six couldn't help but feel himself become slightly flushed as he found he was once again within Shress's personal space. He thought back to what had just happened a few minutes ago. He had no idea why he leaned on her, but at that moment he just needed some reassurance, needed some time to think, so he just leaned on the nearest thing closest to him for support: Shress. He was nervous that she was going to be angry at him when he remembered how the simplest of contact among the Sangheili was seen as offensive in some cases. He was about to pull away from her when she did the last thing he expected.

She put her arm around him.

Six was a Spartan, the ultimate killing machine and also one of the best lone wolves to have ever been created. He shouldn't rely on the company of others, but at that moment, he actually felt content with the world, almost happy even.

He took that time to calm himself and think before pulling away from her, it happen only a few minutes ago, but he already longed for the feeling to lie his head on her shoulder once more with her arm wrapped around him, but he figured that wasn't very professional, especially with the whole developing situation at hand.

'Why do I even feel this way?' he wondered. 'I shouldn't be feeling anything, and she's a completely different species. The best thing we can ever have is a firm friendship, anything beyond that is just plain–'

Six thoughts died as they crested the hill and saw the destruction in front of them. New Alexandria was once the pride jewel of Reach, now it was in ruins. Small Covenant corvettes hung over the sprawling metropolis like purple clouds, raining destruction and launching pods into the city's center. Six could see the exchanging fire, plasma bolts against whirling bullets.

With his enhanced vision he could see small skirmishes all over the city, but most of them were with civilians facing the alien invaders. Some people were cornered and murdered on the spot, most of their begging ignored by the blood hungry Covenant. Some brave souls tried to fight back, but they weren't soldiers, they easily fell as the prey they were to the aliens.

Cold fury welled up within Six. The brutal images were now burned into his mind; he wanted to kill, to avenge his fallen brother, to–

Suddenly Shress let out a sharp gasp and Six turned to her. With horror he realized he squeezed her so hard he almost broke her uninjured arm.

He quickly let go of her and said, "Sorry! So sorry, I didn't mean to, I was just, I… I–"

Shress put a hand on his arm and said, "It's alright Michael." She casted a sad glance to the burning city and said in a mournful voice, "I understand."

"I hate to say it, but we have to go down there if we want to reunite with our people."

She nodded and began walking down the other side of the hill. Six noticed she was slightly avoiding him now, probably out of guilt and shame. He made a note to speak with her later. At the moment he had no idea what to say.

Unknowingly he reached into one of his pouches and took out Jorge's dog tags. He took in a deep breath before wrapping the necklace around his knuckles and followed his otherworldly friend into the burning city.

The two allies weaved through the outskirts of the town, which was hard for Shress with one leg, but soon her silent movements improved and Six was shocked to learn her arm was already feeling a whole lot better.

'At this rate she'll be able to fight,' he thought to himself before another thought springs to mind. 'But if she fights will she fight the humans or the Covenant?'

Six shook this wondering out of his mind. It was agreed Shress would try and make it to one of the ships and avoid fighting as she resumed her spying position. However, for a reason unknown to the Spartan, he didn't want the Sangheili to leave his side, not even for a moment. What was wrong with him?

They entered a courtyard and stopped in their tracks. Spread out in front of them were hundreds of human corpses. Most of them had plasma burning into their skin, but some looked squashed, mauled and eaten. Men, women, and children… it was just sick to Six who turned away from the carnage and hit a concrete wall with his fist, leaving a small crack in the structure.

Bloody aliens.

Shress stared at the massacre before leaning over the body of a child that looked like it was gutted. She looks at the deceased boy before saying something so low Six couldn't hear before she stood up.

"I'm sorry… I don't understand."

"It's not your fault, Stress–"

"I know. But it's worse."

This sparked Six's attention.

"What's worse?"

She gestures to the slain child, "There's only one thing that could have done this. A Jiralhanae."

Six instantly felt his blood chill as the words impacted him. "Brutes," he hissed in a curse-like fashion.

"What?" Shress asked.

"It's what humans call Jiralhanae,"

"An appropriate name for their species," She said in disgust..

A sudden roar of blowing wind interrupted them. On instinct they both went into a crouch and Six raised his hand gun. Two Falcons flew overhead, going too fast for Six to signal in time. He watched as they flew to the main skyscrapers in the middle of the city.

"Whenever a Covenant threat is positioned over a populated city," Six said, quoting from the UNSC manual, "the primary objective is to move all civilians to evacuation points." He finished and looked at Shress who had a blank expression on her face.

He pointed up after the Falcons, "Those birds are most likely heading to an evac point. That's where the UNSC forces are." He looked back to her, "If we run most of the way, we will be there in no time."

"We?"

Six turned to face her, surprised at what she said.

"You're not coming?" he asked.

He already knew the answer and her reasons, but at the moment he wanted her to tell him she would stay.

She shook her head, "Michael I can't, Jorge barley accepted me as an ally, and if people see me what will stop them from killing me?"

"I will–" Six began to say when she interrupted again.

"Then they will either kill you or accuse you of being a traitor. Your people are angry at the moment, blinded by rage. Only you can help them. If they see me with you it will only cause distrust and disorder, making it easier for the Covenant to wipe you out."

Six didn't want her to leave, but what was saying made sense. The people of the city were undoubtedly afraid and needed the reassurance of a Spartan. How would they react if he came to the rescue with a Zealot in tow?

"So…you're suggesting we depart ways here, now?"

She sighed and nodded her head, "It's for the best Michael."

'The best? What did she mean by that, the best by military standards, or something else?'

After a moment, Six sighed and finally spoke his mind. "I don't like it, I don't like it you have to spend time with the Covenant, being treated with little respect and being forced to murder…You don't have to do that, you can stay with us, the UNSC can help you."

Shress just shakes her head, "I can't, besides, I'll be doing a greater service giving you information rather than hiding within the "safety" of your people."

Six could tell she made up her mind, but he could tell by her subtle movements, the twitching foot, the shaking hand and the constantly shifting eyes that she was afraid. He didn't want to see her like this, but what can he do if she refuses to come with him?

Shress takes out one of her energy swords and cuts through the gauze holding up her arm. She grimaces a bit but quickly hides the pain before looking up at Six.

They stared at each, separated by three feet in reality, but by situation it was as if they were standing on the opposite sides of a battlefield. Two different species, now friends, and now, maybe more. Six didn't know what to do, didn't know what to say. He wanted the best for her, as she sacrificed so much for them, but the only thing she's being repaid for her efforts are abuse and ridicule among her own people.

Yet what surprised Six the most was that he wanted to pull her into another hug, to comfort her. He still had no idea how she really felt about their earlier embrace. She returned it, but he was the one who forced it upon her, so did she mean it, or was it just a returned gesture?

Shress nods at him and says, "Farwell, for now Michael." She turned before he could reply and was already walking away.

Six watched her retreat before running after her. He grabbed her shoulder, bringing her to a halt. After a moment of the two of them standing there, she laid her hand on his. They stood like that, frozen in time as their emotions seemed to flow across the contact.

In that second, they understood each other. They both needed each other, yet they knew that that would be impossible.

Right now though, Six knew that she needed reassurance. Sadly, the Spartan didn't quite know how to provide it. For lack of a better option, he decided to let his thoughts wander aloud.

"Shress…I'll be here for you if you ever need me. If you decide to join us, I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe." He reached up to his neck, grabbed his dog tags and ripped them free. He glanced at the pieces of metal before handing them to Shress, "I want you to have these, to remember I'm here."

Her mandibles went slack for a moment before saying, "I can't take these Michael–"

Six just laughed and said, "You already did, remember?"

The question caused Shress to chuckle and stare down at the necklace again.

"If you decide you are ready to join the UNSC, show them and ask to speak to me, or you can just hang on to them until we meet again, agreed?"

Shress stared at the object for a moment longer before reaching out and taking them, her claws slightly pinched Michael's suit but he didn't mind, now that he thought about it, he liked the contact.

"Agreed," She promptly said before looking up again. Six had no idea what happened next, but an overwhelming sensation to comfort her took over and before he knew what was happening, he rushed forward and trapped Shress in an embrace. He heard her sharp in-take of breath, which woke him from whatever had just possessed him.

'What am I doing? She's going to kill me for this!'

Feeling like an utter idiot, Six began to pull away, but before he could move any farther, Shress grabbed him as well, and returned the awkward hug. Six had no idea what to do but continued to hang on to her. The awkwardness disappeared and soon he was no longer clutched by fear but by something else, like a deep pressure in his chest, like his heart was going to burst as he held Shress. She lowered her head and to his astonishment, she actually started nuzzling his neck. He wasn't sure which shocked him more, the fact that she was returning his show of affection or the fact that he actually enjoyed it.

Soon he closed his eyes and was careful with how much pressure he applied to Shress. although, he doubted she could feel it through her armor and strong skin. Shress continued to nuzzle him; he hoped that this was a sign that she was enjoying it as much as he was.

He wished that they could remain locked in that position forever when a sudden explosion caused them to jump away from each other. They turned to see another plume of smoke rising from the city's skyline, a dark reminder that they were in a warzone.

Shress reached over to Michael, grasping his hand with both of hers before looking down at him. Six actually started to feel annoyed when he realized just how small he was compared to Shress's height. The discomfort went away with her next words.

"Perhaps we can…talk more under better circumstances."

"Yeah… that would be nice."

Before he knew it, Shress wrapped him in a hug once more. This time it lasted only for a moment before she pulled back and gave him a strange smile.

"Farewell Michael."

With that she activated her active camouflage and disappeared.

Six soon felt an emptiness replace the tightness in his chest when she disappeared; his senses went cold.

He mentally reviewed his recent memories, trying to piece together what just happened.

'What is wrong with me? What was that feeling in my chest? Why did I just hug her? Does she feel the same way about me? What did she mean by 'talk more', was she referring to what had just happened? Is it possible what I'm feeling is…'

He shook his thoughts away. He was a Spartan, a Spartan! A professional soldier, he shouldn't be feeling this way towards anyone, especially a member of a genocidal species determined to destroy humanity. The Spartan augmentation should have suppressed those emotions, it should be impossible for him to develop feelings for a person, especially an elite. . . Right?

Another explosion caused the ground to shake, bringing him back to reality. He had no idea what was wrong within him or how to fix it, but he did know some ways of fixing some problems outside, in his environment. He pulled back the hammer of the pistol and loosened his muscles before turning to the fire engulfed city where the distant cries of peril and barks of gunfire echoed.

It was time to get back into the war.