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Chapter 31: Settling In

USS Voyager

A Few Minutes after the Meeting...

When it had been made clear just how deadly of a threat Skynet was and could become, Captain Cutter had asked for all relevant data supporting their story and left with the Professor.

However, before departed, John Connor approached him in the shuttle bay.

"Captain, a word?" The older man paused and nodded for the Professor to go on without him.

"What is it, Mr. Connor?" His voice was strained; he was obviously tired.

Connor crossed his arms. "I noticed Red Team's still wearing Mark IV's, we can upgrade them to the Mark VI."

Cutter ground his jaw and turned to the Master Chief a few feet away. "Master Chief."

"Sir?" The Spartan turned to him.

"Do you trust Cortana?" He asked point blank to which the Spartan turned his body fully to him.

"With my life."

Cutter turned back to Connor. "You may upgrade their armor, if they're willing."

He nodded to the Captain and shook his hand. "I'm sorry for dropping this on you, Captain."

The weary man's lips turned upright enough to shift his mustache. "Better off knowing than not, Mr. Connor." With that, he turned towards the Master Chief once more. "I want you to stay here, soldier. They're your mission now." In other words, he knew that the legendary green armored giant was needed here most, not on his ship.

"Thank you, sir." He saluted and then Cutter departed, leaving Red Team and him aboard the displaced vessel.

Cortana, who'd been silent up to this point, sidled up next to her Spartan and spoke. "It's a lot to take in, huh?"

"I'm used to it." He said as Connor walked over to them. In truth, not much fazed him anymore. Cortana's sudden reappearance being one of the few things that affected him. "Besides, I have you to keep it straight."

As brief giggle left her lips as Connor stopped in front of them. "Since you're staying, I guess we should acquaint you with Voyager and her crew."

"Think you're up for it, Chief?" Cortana playfully gabbed him in the arm.

Knowing she was being rhetorical, he turned around. "Where do we start?" He asked plainly as the Spartans of Red Team gathered near them.

"Well..." Cortana tapped her chin in thought, "both Seven and Weaver are working in Engineering, and it's close by."

Connor nodded in agreement and led the group away. They soon arrived at Engineering and everyone filed in. Both the cyborg and the LMT were hard at work when the group entered.

However, Catherine Weaver happened to be using multiple appendages when they entered, stunning the four Spartans at the sight of her.

Alice was the first to break the silence. "What is she?" Her soft voice was inquisitive, yet Cortana noted a slight tinge of fear as well.

John turned so he could be seen by all four of the green-clad warriors. "She's a T-1001, a liquid metal shape-shifter. Her body is made of a material similar to that in your suit's reactive layer, but more advanced. The rest of her is made up of various nanites that control and power her body."

"Isn't it impolite to talk about a person behind their back?" Weaver quipped from her station at the hybrid core.

"Like you do me?" He shot back with a sly grin. The LMT snorted softly as she finished her task. As she walked over to the group of apprehensive Spartans, she saw them tensing up. It took Cortana's assurance for the Chief, and subsequently Red Team, to calm.

"What can you do?" Master Chief asked as the shape-shifter stopped in front of him.

Her head tilted a little before she answered. "I can visually imitate anything within a sizable volume and I can form various stabbing weapons." Her left arm transformed into a blade to demonstrate. "Only extreme heat can kill me. Bullets and explosives cannot."

Secretly, the Spartans were impressed. With all their strength, speed, and agility, they could not ever kill this machine without some extreme means. The threat of Skynet continued to grow in their minds.

Weaver nodded to the group and got back to work. Connor took the opportunity to introduce their Chief Engineer.

"You've already met Seven of Nine." He gestured to the blonde tapping away at an engineering console. "What you don't know is that she's actually quite similar to you Spartans."

Sensing that John wanted her to introduce herself more fully, she got up and walked over to the group. "Mr. Connor is right. Like you, I have been enhanced by artificial means."

"Are all people from you're universe like this?" Jerome asked, his curiosity piqued.

Seven shook her head. "No, I am one of few, yet one of many. I am a former Borg drone; I was freed by the former crew of this ship."

The Chief turned to Cortana. "The Borg?"

"The cybernetic version of the Flood. They've taken control over trillions of sentient beings in her universe and thousands of worlds. Seven was assimilated at age six." Cortana explained.

"So you are like us." Douglas noted. Spartans had been kidnapped at the same age so they could be trained as Spartans.

"Yes, and like you I was ingrained with ideals of my captors, but unlike you, I was not special. I was part of a group mind, the Collective." she explained, "I was simply a tool to assimilate others."

No one missed the sad undertone in her voice. After a brief pause to collect herself, she continued. "After I was freed, it took me years to recover."

Cortana picked up from there. "She's as strong as any of you are without you're armor, and she's immune to nearly all diseases. Her body contains about 20% of her Borg implants, and they are necessary for her survival."

"My time as a drone had also given me access to much of the Collective's knowledge, as well as an eidetic memory."

Cortana butted in again, "She's easily one of the smartest human in existence, maybe even smarter than Halsey."

The Spartans gave the AI a questionable look, but didn't argue.

Sensing that the woman was done talking about herself, the Master Chief decided it was time to find out more about Voyager. "What do you use for power?" He nodded towards the core.

Seven's metal eyebrow arched. He didn't strike her as the engineering type. "We use several different power sources. We use our antimatter reactor to supply main power." She wasn't going to give up Voyager's greatest secret yet. "Secondary systems are powered by a chain of deuterium fusion reactors."

"I thought antimatter was too dangerous to use as fuel?" Alice commented upon confirmation of the ship's power source.

"We had to make it safe, fusion isn't powerful enough to sustain high warp." Seven responded, almost forgetting that no one in this universe used warp technology.

Cortana sensed that the Spartan's had little interest in the dirty details of warp drive and changed the subject to something more Spartan. "I guess we should get going, we'll get you more acquainted with Voyager's technology later."

They bid them good bye and left Engineering. Connor and Cortana then led them to the Spartan deck where an armor-less Allison was bench pressing while Six spotted her.

Seeing them approach, Allison stopped and set the barbells down; her browns eyes wide with awe at the sight of four Spartan IIs.

"You're catching flies." Six deadpanned as she gently knocked the younger woman upside the head.

Allison rubbed the spot as she stood up, but didn't comment on it. Six stepped forward and saluted her predecessors. "Chief, Petty Officers."

"Lieutenant." They saluted back. The Chief turned to the young woman he'd never seen before, but could clearly tell was suffering from hero worship.

"Ma'am." He greeted as he shook her much smaller hand. He noted from her grip that she was definitely enhanced.

"Master Chief." She said respectfully and nodded to Red Team.

He looked around the room and noticed a red set of MJOLNIR on a stand nearby. "You're a Spartan?"

Allison shrugged, "Officially, no. I was augmented on Voyager to Spartan IV specs."

The Chief turned sharply to Cortana. "You gave them our augmentation technology?" His astonishment couldn't be clearer.

Cortana crossed her arms; she'd been expecting this. "Chief... our augmentation technology, MJOLNIR, even our shielding..." She shook her head, "I've gained so much more! I couldn't just take without giving something in return."

John-117 didn't respond. He still couldn't believe that she'd given away some of the UNSC's greatest secrets.

Finally deciding it was time for a demonstration, Cortana did something drastic. With the flick of her hand, the four Spartans found themselves restrained by powerful holographic constraints. Even with all their strength they couldn't overwhelm the power that Cortana was pumping into the holographic generators.

"I'm not going to hurt you." She assured them.

Six walked up next to the AI, her face scrunched up underneath her helmet. "What're doing?"

"I'd like to ask the same question." Alice growled as she continued to struggle. "I thought she was on our side, Chief!"

Sierra-117 stared at his companion. He was used to her eccentricities, but this was going a bit too far. "Cortana..."

"Just watch." She told him as she stopped in front of Alice. Holographic robotic arms appeared all around Alice-130 and latched onto her armor. Cortana wasted little time hacking in and shutting down the outdated Mark IV so the arms could disassemble the half ton armor. The metal portions and reactive crystal layer were quickly removed, including Alice's helmet, revealing her young face. The only thing left on her body was the skin tight black body suit. The arms placed the armor on a stand and then dissipated.

Cortana released the Spartans from their constraints, prompting Jerome and Douglas to draw their weapons. The Chief waved them down; he knew that Cortana's actions hadn't been planned judging from the looks on Connor's and Allison's faces.

Cortana stood in front him, her eyes shining with hurt at his earlier accusation, but she said nothing before turning back to Alice. "I promised you new armor, and that's what we'll give you." She went over to a storage locker and pulled out a black body suit and set it in a machine next to it. A scanning beam ran over Alice before the machine adjusted the molecular shape of suit accordingly. It wasn't anything new, it was actually UNSC technology. It was a lot easier than custom tailoring the complex suits by hand.

The AI took the suit from the machine and handed it to Alice. "Here's your new body suit; change, please." In that moment, Cortana reminded them all of Doctor Halsey with her terse, impatient replies.

Alice wasted no time in removing her old suit and putting on the new one. Spartan's didn't care about modesty, especially amongst themselves. Even Connor and Allison weren't entirely uncomfortable, the future hadn't allowed for much privacy.

"Now what?" The barely 20 year-old asked as she got used to the new suit. Cortana motioned for her to stand in the center of a painted square on the duranium floor. The young woman noted the AI's smirk as a holographic control panel appeared in front of her.

"I show you what I've learned from these people."

Machines along the walls warmed up, some were like little alcoves, others were much larger. They didn't know it, but these were replicators.

As more holographic arms appeared, Cortana's smirk grew wider. "Watch the magic."

The machines along the wall whirred as they began to replicate the many components that made up MJOLNIR armor. MJOLNIR was too complex and too tightly packed together for even a Starfleet replicator to accurately build in one go, so it was replicated in pieces to ensure quality.

As the pieces materialized, Connor didn't fail to notice the wide look in Alice's eyes as parts seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

The arms took the pieces and welded, bolted, fused, or brazed them together. The arms began assembling the pieces on Alice before they were complete to ensure full compatibility with her.

"Damn..." Douglas muttered as he watched what would have taken months to build be created before his eyes.

Less than two minutes after it began, Alice's new Mark VI was complete and assembled on her body, including the helmet. Like the later Mark IVs and the Mark V, the Mark VI was customizable, but for displays sake, Alice's was Cortana's upgrade of the standard Mark VI, just like the Chief's.

"Uploading the firmware." Cortana informed the motionless Alice. "Done. Booting armor systems."

Alice stepped forward a little awkwardly as she got used to the more advanced armor. "What about shields?" She asked with masked enthusiasm.

Cortana saw right through it. "Just a second." The shields charged with a muted hum and a flash of orange energy. Alice took another step forward...and fell flat on her back.

Allison chuckled. "Turn down the shield strength on your treads, otherwise you'll go skating everywhere." Alice nodded and adjusted them before taking the Chief's outstretched arm. After being pulled to her feet, Alice turned to her two teammates.

"This is amazing, my reaction time has decreased and my motion sensors have twice the range!" It was rare sight to see a Spartan II get excited, and John Connor made sure he remembered her reaction, it was doubtful he'd ever see it again.

Jerome turned towards his older comrade. "Sir, permission to be outfitted?"

"Granted." The Chief groused as his mind worked overtime. Cortana must have stumbled upon a technological gold mine to create and assemble a Mark VI that quickly.

As the other two members of Red Team were getting outfitted, he approached the AI he'd risked everything for. "Cortana."

She turned to him, "Don't you see? This is only the tip of the iceberg!"

"I'm beginning to see that."

Cortana sighed. "Chief, I don't hold any obligation to the UNSC, not anymore. When an AI goes into rampancy, those controls are lost. Even though I'm metastable, that hasn't changed."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that I choose my own side, my own loyalties," She paused to let that sink in. "but no matter what happens, I'll always be loyal to you."

The Master Chief wasn't sure how to respond to that at first, but after spending a few moments staring into her electric blue eyes, he spoke. "What about the UNSC?"

She shrugged. "I'm not against them, but I'm not sure I like what the UNSC is becoming..." she sighed, "It's different when you're not programmed to be loyal."

"I've noticed too."

"ONI?" She surmised, and he nodded. "We'll have to steer clear of them. They'd do anything to get their hands on this ship."

"I don't doubt it." He groused; he didn't like the idea of having to choose sides like this. "We'll deal with ONI when the time comes."

Cortana nodded before checking on Jerome's armor status. "They'll be done in a minute, then we can move on."

"Why did you augment Allison?" He asked her wondering why it was necessary.

"She has a strong spirit, Chief, but she didn't have the strength she needed to fight the machines. I promised her if she met the requirements, I'd allow it."

"How long did it take?"

"A few months, and she's been training with Six ever since." Cortana finished as they watched Douglas get fitted with new armor. A brief silence passed between them before the Chief spoke.

"I want both of their personnel files."

She nodded. "They'll be in your quarters."

After Red Team got used to walking around in their new Mark VIs, Connor led them to Cargo Bay two.

"This is our R&D lab." He told them as the double doors slid open. The room was full of different machines and tables of neatly organized parts, but that is not what caught the Spartans' eyes.

In the back of the room, working on a metallic skull, was Kalmiya.

"Hello Master Chief." She greeted with a smile as her pink skin brightened. "It's been a while."

"Kalmiya." He greeted back, the AI had always been amiable to him upon his visits to Reach during the latter part of the Human/Covenant War.

She gave the other Spartans a friendly nod before turning to John Connor. "It's ready."

The Spartans noted Connor's smile. "About time."

Kalmiya crossed her arms. "I worked as fast as I could!" Her mock anger only made Connor smile wider. "Here we go." She signaled as she waved her hand.

Holographic arms quickly assembled the single most complex machine the Chief had ever seen outside of a slipspace drive. Tiny actuators were assembled alongside the skeleton before being closed behind tightly fitted armor plates. There were many pieces he couldn't figure out. The last piece put into place was an apple sized reactor. An iris type shutter closed over the top of it, completing the small, humanoid endoskeleton.

The new machine wasted no time in activating, the running lights through out its body light up a bright purple followed by the opening of two equally purple eyes.

Connor stepped forward, a relieved smile on his face. "Cameron."

The machine tilted its head to the right slightly, something the Chief had noticed the other Skynet machines do from time to time.

"John." She responded, and the Spartans noticed that her voice matched Allison's exactly. The machine raised a metallic hand and touched Connors face with a gentleness one wouldn't associate with a killing machine.

Connor returned the gesture and put his arm around her shoulders. "A lot's happened in the last few hours." He told her as he locked eyes with the Master Chief. "May I introduce Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 and Red Team."

The machine they called Cameron eye's brightened as they locked onto him. "It seems I've missed a lot." She said and walked over to the towering Spartan. As she did, a silver gel covered her lithe endoskeleton and by the time she reached him, it had taken Allison's unaugmented form. Connor came up behind her and put a blue robe around her shoulders.

Cameron thanked him and turned back to the Chief. "It's an honor to meet you." She offered her slim hand and he shook it; her grip was even stronger than his. He instantly knew that this small machine was very powerful.

"Ma'am." He greeted back before he let her hand go.

Kalmiya spoke up a second afterward. "Shields coming online." A pop-hum filled the room as rings of blue appeared around Cameron. After a few seconds, they disappeared.

Cameron quickly adjusted them to her liking before shutting them off.

"MJOLNIR shields?" Douglas queried, earning a smirk from the small cyborg.

"Yes, with some improvements." She responded evenly.

"Interesting." Alice mused.

The Chief turned to Cortana. "Will Skynet do the same?"

She shrugged halfheartedly. "I wouldn't put it past it."

"Are they up to speed?" Cameron asked as she tied the robe around her much smaller form.

Cortana answered her as Connor rejoined them. "Situation wise, but not with the tech."

A devious grin graced Cameron's lips. "We'll have to rectify that situation, later." she turned towards Connor next. "Have them meet me on the surface at 0800." He nodded and embraced the cyborg before she left to get dressed.

The Spartans watched with fascination. "What?" Connor asked as he noticed their concentrated attention.

"You seem...close." The Chief noted cautiously.

Connor only smiled. "You're not the only one who'd risk everything for an AI."

Sickbay

The Doctor had, had his fair share of difficult patients over his 18 years of service ranging from the stubborn Katheryn Janeway to the cranky B'Elanna Torres. He'd even operated on a few grumpy Hirogen in his time. So when the relatively young Commander Miranda Keyes began to stir, he began to wonder if she'd react like Janeway would in a situation like this...

A soft beeping was the first thing that greeted her as she gained consciousness. She opened her eyes, but the bright light quickly changed her mind.

What happened? Where am I?

She sucked in a deep breath and felt a small discomfort in her back.

Am I injured? She wondered as her eyes opened once more.

Using her hands to block out some of the light, her irises adjusted without the pain. Blinking several times to moisten her eyeballs, she then looked around the room. It was like nothing she'd ever scene before, not that it was alien but it was...foreign. Definitely not UNSC.

Miranda pressed her hands against the bed in an effort to sit up, only to have her back scream in protest. Hissing from the pain, she gained someone's attention.

"You're awake." A male voice announced as he came around the corner. She'd never seen the balding man before and his uniform was unfamiliar. The latter alone put her on edge.

Seeing her body tense up only made the man huff and roll his eyes. "If your thinking about being difficult..."

"Who are you?" She coughed out and the man handed her some water. "Who do you work for?"

His mouth opened to speak, but he paused as he thought of the best way to respond. "I think its obvious I'm not UNSC." He gestured to his uniform, "but we do have some Spartan's aboard."

Her green eyes narrowed as she studied him. Sensing nothing but good intentions from him, she nodded.

The hologram did the same before tapping a metal broach on his chest. Miranda quickly realized it was a communications device.

"Doctor to Mr. Connor, bring our 'guests' to sickbay. The Commander is awake." The Doctor felt it would be unwise to mention Cortana's name yet, just in case.

"We'll be there in a minute, Connor out." John responded before ending the transmission. After seeing the look on his patient's face, the Doctor saw the endless questions lining up in her mind.

"Before you start asking a million questions, just wait until they get here, please. I'm a Doctor, not an encyclopedia." He said with a knowing smirk as he scanned her. "You're recovering well by the way."

"Recovering?"

"You don't remember?" He asked with little concern.

"I remember being on the Ark and then crashing in the control room," her eyes were scrunching in concentration, "and then it's..." she sighed.

The Doctor closed the tricorder as a grime look came over his face. "Truth shot you in the back. You were declared dead by Sergeant Major Johnson, but we showed up and managed to revive you."

Again, her mind was filled with urgent questions, but the doors to sickbay slid open. A whole group of people entered, but there was one she immediately recognized.

"Chief?" Her voice nearly squeaked in surprise. "What is going on? Who are these people?" Nobody missed the rapid change in her tone from shock to commanding. John Connor liked her already.

"Commander..." The Chief paused as he tried to put an explanation into words, but he didn't quite know where to start. Luckily for him, Cortana did; she stepped out from behind the Spartans.

"I believe I can help with that." Miranda's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates upon hearing that familiar voice.

"Cortana?!" she sat up in surprise, but the pain forced her back down again. The blue AI walked to her bedside as Miranda forced the pain out of her mind.

Seeing her in pain, the Doctor tried to give her a pain killer, but Miranda pushed it away. She wanted to be alert.

As the young woman took in deep breaths, Cortana stopped beside her. She had many of Halsey's memories, including those of Miranda's childhood. To say she felt some kinship with the woman would be an understatement. It sent a pang through her metaphorical heart to see the daughter of her creator in pain.

She took her hand and folded it into Miranda's, much to the Commander's surprise.

"You...how is this possible?" She brought their joined hands up to her face as if to make sure it was real.

Cortana smiled. "It's a long story, Commander."

The Master Chief had stayed with Cortana, Connor, and Miranda as the two former explained everything to the resurrected Commander. It had taken nearly an hour to convince her of what had happened to her, and even longer for her to believe their story.

Red Team had left fairly quickly, on his orders, to be shown their to their quarters by Kalmiya.

After Cortana, Connor, and even the Chief had told her everything, Miranda was exhausted from it all, but she believed them. Miranda knew that Cortana and the Master Chief were no fools, and the fact that she was alive was enough for her to consider what they were saying.

As they had talked, the Chief felt a deep seeded relief fill his chest, seeing two people he thought were dead come back to life was not something that happened everyday.

"What is it you want me to do?" Miranda asked, snapping the Chief's attention back to the conversation. "Why have you saved me?"

Both Connor and Cortana knew that she was asking why had they chosen her out of all the others that had died during the war.

"We need your skills as an experienced Commander." Connor told her point blank. "And you're the only one Cortana thinks is up for the job."

The 27 year old's green eyes widened for the umpteenth time that day. "I'm flattered." Though she clearly wasn't, and her subsequent glare at Cortana proved that. "But how am I supposed to help? I know nothing of this ship or its crew. Why not someone else?"

Cortana was the one who answered. "Miranda, I know this is a lot to take in. It was for me and I'm an AI! But the fact remains that none of us are trained in commanding a starship. You're a brilliant woman, just like our mother and your father. You have a knack for dealing with unusual situations and adapting to unknowns with uncanny ease. You took information about Halo and formed a plan far quicker than most people could and it worked rather well."

Miranda sighed, Cortana definitely had a point. She hadn't become a commander at her age because of nepotism. Only through hard work and her own inherited ingenuity and bravery did she rise through the ranks like a hot air balloon.

Feeling the day catching up to her, Miranda was forced to suppress a yawn, but it didn't escape the Doctor's notice. "Alright, visiting hours are over." He left no room for discussion. "My patient needs to rest." He insisted with a trademark frown. Even the Master Chief got the message that he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Connor bid her good-bye and left. Cortana smiled and squeezed her hand before leaving with the Chief. As the Doctor began to power down the lights, Miranda turned towards him.

"Thank you for bringing me back"

"It was my pleasure." He told her smiling, but it suddenly faded into a frown. "I just hope there aren't any side affects. When Seven and I brought back Mr. Neelix years ago, it wasn't easy for him to accept that he'd been resurrected."

She shook her head. "I'm fine Doctor. If I was truly dead, then you wouldn't have been able to bring me back." She told him with rare smile crossing her face. "I've seen people resuscitated after being declared medically dead multiple time."

The Doctor nodded grimly, he understood exactly what she meant. "I'm glad you agree; it should make things much easier for you. Speaking of recovery, you need a good night's rest."

The concept of getting to rest felt to foreign to the busy Commander, but her body screamed for rest. For once, she decided to indulge it. "Good night, Doctor."

He smiled and disappeared. It didn't take long for her fall into the first restful peace in years.

After finishing the tour, John Connor immediately went to Cameron's quarters. He paused when he found himself in a candle-lit room.

"Hello, John." Cameron's soft voice had that sexy edge to it that drove him crazy. He felt himself shiver as he entered the room. She stood next to a formally laid out meal on a dressed up table. What really caught his eyes, though, was her outfit.

A curve hugging red dress hung from her slim shoulders and her hair was lightly curled.

His jaw flapped a few times before he found the sense to speak. "What's all this?"

"What does it look like?" She smiled as she sauntered over to him. "We're having dinner."

"I'm a little under dressed..." He stuttered as she stopped mere inches from him. "an..and we have guests." He spoke, referring to the Spartans.

She craned her head upwards to meet his eyes, a sexy smile still in place. "Cortana can take care of them better than you." He noticed that she breathed again.

John chuckled. "I guess I'm out of excuses."

"Good." She purred right before she kissed him. "Much better." She told him as they broke apart.

He hummed in agreement as ran his thumb over her lips. "I like you better this way."

She pulled him in for another kiss before they sat down to the dinner Cameron had prepared for them.

The meal was a mixture of alien dishes that they'd acquired a taste for since coming to Voyager. Cameron had chosen a Vulcan dish while John had selected some Creole food that was exclusive to the Star Trek universe.

After no more than a few bites were taken, Cameron felt the need to 'make conversation' as she'd dubbed it. "I went through the security logs." She told him as he was swallowing some Jambalaya.

"And?" He knew she'd have an analysis she'd want to share.

"If find it...coincidental." she frowned at her own choice of words. "We found the Master Chief and the Spirit of Fire on the Ark. We were brought together just an hour before they would have left for Earth."

"I know, it almost seems like Fate." The last word rolled off his tongue like a bitter aftertaste. "Whatever the case, it saves us time."

Cameron nodded as she scooped up some more plomeek broth. "We need more Spartans."

"Blue Team." John answered almost seamlessly. "If we put the Chief with them, train them to fight machines, and give them the right equipment..."

"Nothing will stop them." She smiled at the thought. "Future John would be proud."

John leaned back in his chair with a whistle. "I haven't heard you bring him up in a while. Why now?"

"Because you're learning to be like him. A strong, smart, leader."

There was more to be said and he knew it, "But..."

"You're not a cold as he was. Despite all the hardship, you've managed to keep your heart intact."

A brief frown spread across his face, "Mostly intact." He corrected, and she could see the momentary flash of pain in his eyes before it faded.

"I'm sorry." Her eyes fell, but John reached across the table and lifted her chin up.

"It's fine, I'm good at hiding it."

Once they had finished their meal, John moved to help clean up, but Cameron had other ideas. As he picked up her plate, she gently made him put it back down as she shook her head.

"Not now." She told him in a husky voice, earning John's full attention. "There's something I've been wanting to do..." She whispered in his ear as she wrapped her arms around his back.

John felt his heart begin to race as her words struck a chord in his mind. He never got to say another word about it before her lips met his in heated kiss. They stopped only when he needed to breathe as she inched them closer to the bedroom not ten meters away.

Somewhere between the table and the bed, Cameron lost her red dress and John, everything else.

John Henry made sure that no one would be bothering them for the rest of the night...

Elsewhere, Cortana was showing the Master Chief to his quarters on S-deck, or what was deck 4.

"You converted this deck for Spartans?" He asked as the doors closed behind him.

Cortana activated the lights and nodded, "Of course. Your larger size required it, plus Spartan's unique armor needs." she gestured towards the UNSC standard removal machine. "Holograms aren't always reliable." She told him at his questioning stare.

"You've thought of everything." He commented as he set his M5D assault rifle down in a holder.

She shrugged, "I try." He didn't fail to notice the smirk spreading across her face. "So..." she twiddled her thumbs together as the smirk faded, "do you want to me to remove it?" she pointed to his armor, "It could use some repairs." She'd noted it was a little more singed than she last checked.

John looked down at the battle damaged and admitted to himself it needed to be repaired. "It does." He stated plainly before walking over to the armor removal system.

Cortana worked the arms as they quickly removed his worn Mark VI. As the helmet was pulled from his head, Cortana noted how tired he looked, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally.

"Need a vacation?" She crossed her arms as a smirk spread across her lips. His blue eyes looked back at her as he began the tedious process of removing the body suit.

"I already had a vacation." He deadpanned as he worked his arm out. "I spent several months in quarantine after we destroyed the Composer."

"Oh, I didn't know." He noticed her thumbs twiddling again in an almost nervous manner. She noticed him staring and quickly stopped. "What did they do?" Her concern was evident.

"Nothing invasive." John-117 told her as he finally worked off the last of the suit. "Why?"

"You're immune to Composition, Chief, that alone would give ONI a reason to dissect you. I'm betting you were only spared because you're useful."

He thought about that for a moment and realized she was right. He may have hated the spot light, but his popularity and his skill may have saved him. Though he wasn't sure Serin Osman would be willing to kill him since she herself was a former Spartan. Either way, he wasn't dissected, so the matter was quickly dismissed as unimportant.

Since the 6' 10" warrior was now wearing nothing, Cortana quickly replicated a typical off-duty uniform that the Spartan-IIs seemed to favor.

As he dressed, Cortana found herself agreeing with her original assessment that John-117 was attractive, albeit, in a primitive animal sort of way. He was toned, scarred, and just plain deadly looking to anyone who'd meet him in a hallway, with or without armor.

John noticed her staring at him as he slipped on the shirt. "Is something wrong, Cortana?"

"No, just remembering something." She said while diverting her eyes elsewhere.

His eyebrow rose a few centimeters; he knew her well enough to know when she was diverting his questions. Seeing his reaction, she realized she'd failed. "Fine, I was remembering a conversation I had with Doctor Halsey back on Reach."

"While I was getting dressed?"

Her mouth shut promptly after realizing she gaped at his response. "So?"

The Chief finally decided to drop the subject, realizing that she wasn't going to open up about it. "The machine, Cameron, what is she going to show us?"

A wicked smile spread across her face. "Weapons and other cool toys this ship has to offer. I think you'll enjoy it."

One corner of his mouth turned up at the prospect before turning down the bed. He laid down as Cortana turned down the lights. As he began to doze off, Cortana knelt down beside him; her cool blue glow was the only light in the room. "Good night, Chief." She whispered as she laid a hand on his chest.

"Good night, Cortana." He said as he closed his eyes.

Unlike her Spartan brother, Alice-130 had plenty of energy. The 20 year-old had gotten used to her armor's enhancements and features over the last few hours and was now looking to begin training against Terminators.

Kalmiya had told her to talk to Derek Reese and Noble Six, who were both in the mess hall. As she entered the room, she noted that Six had taken off her helmet. For some reason, the woman seemed familiar to her, as if she'd met her before. That, of course, was impossible. Six had been a baby when the Spirit of Fire had been lost to the stars. Perhaps she'd encountered a family member before. Either way, it was irrelevant and she dismissed it from her mind.

Hearing her loud footsteps, Derek and Six glanced at her as she approached them.

"Lieutenants." She greeted with an unnecessary salute, but she felt it was right to show them the respect they deserved.

"Petty Officer," Six replied while Derek acknowledged with a nod. "what can I do for you?"

"I want to begin training." She told the Spartan-III. "Skynet could show up anytime, and I want to be ready."

Derek smirked as Six nodded. "I like these IIs, they don't waste time." He commented as his smirk grew. Six frowned, "I was laid up with half of my intestines vaporized, what exactly did you want me to do?"

He laughed at her seriousness. "You're just like my brother, too serious for your own good."

Six glared at him briefly before turning back to the stoic Alice. "We train in the Holodeck. Come with me." She said and slipped her helmet back on. Derek put away their trays and followed behind. He was looking forward to seeing a young Spartan II in action.

A short turbolift ride later and they were at the sliding doors to the holodeck. When the entered, Alice quickly surveyed the strange metal lattice that made up the walls.

"Those are the holo-emitters." Six explained as she began typing on the control panel. When she was done configuring it for a Spartan with actual MJOLNIR armor, she voice activated the same program Derek had put her through.

"Leave the Harvester out, for now." He told Six since Alice didn't know about the transporters yet.

As Alice stood ten feet in front of them, her eyes wide beneath the gold visor as her suits scanners picked up environmental data that shouldn't be there. This simulation was far more real than she'd thought it be. The scene before her was a familiar one, a city destroyed by weapons of mass destruction; this one by a series of nukes from the look of it.

"What city is this?" She asked, figuring it was based off reality.

"Los Angeles." Derek told her, "I used to live in the suburbs, before J-day."

She nodded once as a sense of commonality came over her. "I can sympathize." She told him and began walking towards the sound of marching feet in the distance.

Derek and Six went into observer mode, which meant the holographic environment wouldn't interact with them. They studied Alice as she hid in the shadows before engaging the small squad of T-888s. The machines landed a few hits on her, but they were nothing more than glancing blows. She twisted and ducked around them before finally twisting the head off of one and stealing its weapon.

Using the plasma rifle, she quickly dispatched the rest just as Six had, but with one complication. The machine she'd twisted the head off of got back up and attacked.

"What the..." She jumped sideways as a metal hand swiped at her head. It occurred to her right then that the machine was able to function without its head connected. After blowing off its arms, she found the head and turned it to slag. Alice felt satisfied as the decapitated triple-eight fell to her feet.

She turned back to Derek and Six who were watching from a distance, as if to tell them the T-888s hadn't been that difficult.

Derek turned to Six, his smirk back in place.

"Harvester?" She guessed.

He nodded.

The young Spartan II was about to get a serious workout.

Twenty minutes later and a trashed Harvester left Derek and Six impressed. Unlike in Six's simulation, they'd let Alice have a heads up by actually transporting the Harvester in on an HK instead of it appearing out of nowhere. Nonetheless, it had been an impressive display of battle prowess.

By the time the Harvester's fuel tanks exploded, Alice had made it back to the duo.

"That wan't too bad." She commented, but her tone lacked definite confidence. "but..."

"These are just standard Skynet troops with standard weapons. Tomorrow, we're going to show you what kind of technology Skynet might incorporate into the tin cans." Six told her as the holodeck simulation shutoff.

"Just like Cameron?"

Derek nodded, "Just like her."

Alice went silent after that, her mind overwhelmed with the possibilities of tomorrow's demonstration.

UNSC Spirit of Fire

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! HAVE YOU ALL GONE INSANE?!"

Captain Cutter massaged his aching temples. "Serina..."

"NO! I'm not going to be quiet! Do you have any idea how crazy you sound? A ship from another universe, a fictional universe nonetheless? And these..these Terminators? Captain, they're in the historical database, it was a movie series! You've been duped!"

Anders was indignant. "So I got duped too, huh?!" she shouted, her hands waving in the air, "You know damn well that I'm no fool, Serina, and I'm sick of you treating me like one!."

"And yet I wasn't the one who nearly got myself killed by going into a battle zone. Lets not forget you nearly getting infected by the Flood either..." Serina pointed out as her holographic eyes rolled.

"ENOUGH!" Cutter exclaimed as he rose out of his chair. "The debate is over. I've seen the proof and I don't need you to tell me what I did or did not see." His tone left little to doubt what kind of mood he was in.

"Well I want to see for myself, Captain, and since we've just received an invitation to a tactical demonstration tomorrow, I'll be going with you." Her arms were crossed over her bosom as his glare met hers.

He was not one to take orders from subordinates, and he didn't appreciate her brazen accusations and disrespect but he did understand. "Professor, run a full diagnostic on Serina's data core."

The AI suddenly looked horrified. "Captain, I..."

"And then put her in a secured data chip before the event tomorrow." He finished, much to the surprise of the crew.

After a moment, Anders nodded with a yawn. It had been a very long time since she'd slept, and so, she went to bed after starting the diagnostic.

Later, as Cutter prepared to take a shower, Serina showed up on his desk's holo-tank. "Why did you indulge me, Captain?" She asked him plainly.

He turned towards her, "Because, there's something I need you to do."

A/N: Apology for the delay. School has kicked me in the rear along with other RL things. The next chapter is in the works, but I'm not sure when it'll be done. It also doesn't help that my muse sometimes leaves for days at a time.