Author's Note

Posting this super late on a work night, one eye open as always...

But I hope you all enjoy, and thank you to everyone who reviewed!

This will be a little break in the action, I know everyone has been wanting some of this fluff. Please let me know if its too much, or if you all want more and or what specific type of fluff you would enjoy seeing going forward. I'm still writing my story, but I do appreciate outside input while writing it, lol.

Uploaded

09/22/2024

LEGEND BELOW

"Chief, that's not a good idea..." = Normal speech.

''You're you, don't let it control you...'' = Normal thoughts/Receiving coms.

Chapter 47

Rated-M

M rating for blood, and language, and violence, and romance, and adult themes.

Music of the day

Metroid AM2R - Ancient Power

Location / High Orbit in Requiem

Six months and one week since the Didact's defeat

He limped away from the suddenly empty engineering deck, the plentiful number of Covenant corpses left behind him in his wake still warm. Samus had taken the situation into her hands, trailing off in a blaze of inhuman speed and strength that left him breathless.

Everything hurt as he shambled off towards the command deck, his mission accomplished for the time being. He was mentally counting down the seconds before detonation, wondering if she would get away from it in time, wondering if she knew how large the blast radius would be.

He didn't have any time to explain, he didn't even have time to explain why he didn't have time to explain-

Nevertheless, as he heard the explosion rock the outside world, he knew she'd done it. The Infinity shook a bit from the shockwave, but otherwise took the heat perfectly enough despite the fact that her shields were down.

He didn't find himself caring about that though, not in that moment. No, he found his mind traveling to her, wondering if she was okay. He knew her Power-Suit was far more advanced than anything both the UNSC and the Covenant had ever seen before, but he doubted even she could suffer that sort of blast without being totally annihilated.

''As cute as it is to see you worrying about someone else Chief, please take better care of yourself. You almost died…'' Cortana mused in his head, her voice laced with an almost motherly worry. Was it due to the fact that she was made after Doctor Halsey, the woman who viewed herself as John's surrogate mother?

Perhaps…

Did that bother her at all?

Not even a little bit.

"I'll be fine." He groaned, hiding a wince of pain. There was a significant limp to his step, his right leg nearly useless from repeated plasma damage.

Spartan's never showed their pain, they simply weren't coded to. Most of the time when one did, it was usually followed with them flatlining moments later. They were made to fight until they died, pain wasn't a concern in the long run. Perhaps that was why he never took notice of his poor shape until it was nearly too late…

''The last time you said that it wasn't fine.'' She huffed indignantly, arms crossed underneath her breasts. Then she sighed, reaching out to the captain. "Captain, do you copy?"

''Go ahead Cortana.'' The man's voice rang through.

"Engineering is cleared, Infinity is safe." She reported.

''Copy, Cortana. Return to landing bay five to rendezvous with Samus, she'll be returning here shortly.'' The man's words echoed.

"Understood sir." She replied, before the line went cold.

The Spartan limped along, making his way back through the ship. Most of the Covenant forces had been annihilated, those that remained being picked off by the soldiers in the area.

"Sir! This sector is secure! All Covies have been taken down." An ODST ran up to him, offering a salute to the tall super soldier. That was before the trooper took in the sorry battered state of the hero. "Shit, sir, you need medical assistance!" He exclaimed, but he faltered when the Spartan waved him off.

"I will worry about that later. Make sure any survivors reach the medical deck." He ordered, pointing towards the others on the deck.

"U-Understood sir!" The man saluted, before running to render aid to whoever needed help.

It didn't take long for the Chief to reach landing bay five, the bay a total mess.

It looked like something or someone had crashed face first into the bay, slid across the ground before coming to a stop at the end of the room. He had to wonder just what had happened.

"Do you really have to wonder…?" Cortana chimed in, lips quirked up, eyebrow raised.

"…" He couldn't find anything to say in response to that. The image of Samus coming in hot without any hesitation appearing at the forefront of his mind.

He approached the massive open bay doors, the sounds of footsteps echoing out behind him. Multiple friendly iff tags lit up as Spartans poured into the bay, running up to flank behind him. He didn't even offer a glance back, his radar telling him that they'd all moved to stand beside him in a line formation.

"Sir!" The grey painted super soldier called out, gaining his attention. "Infinity has been secured. All Covenant forces have been eliminated. What are your orders?" She exclaimed lowly, armor charred from plasma burns.

"Hold position." He muttered gruffly, a hitch in his voice.

He turned his eyes forward out into the skies of Requiem, watching as what appeared to be a swarm of flying objects came ever closer. The identity of the mysterious flying swarm became ever clearer as they neared, Samus flying in with a platoon of her heavily armed and armored Zebesians hot on her tail.

Literally.

He stepped forward from the line of Spartans, looking up as the ex-Bounty Hunter slowed her approach. Her legs kicked out forward from the shift in momentum, large wings flapping to hold her aloft as she descended down to him. He reached up, taking his helmet off, air escaping with a hiss as he shifted to hold it by his side.

He expected her to land slowly, hand on her hip as she leveled that collected gaze his way.

Perhaps she would say something in regard to seeing him again after all this time?

Maybe she would introduce her armored soldiers who followed loyally after her, explain what had happened since she left all those months ago.

What he didn't expect, although he really should have, was for her to land quickly, boots skidding against the ground as she slid towards him. Her wings flapped to slow her forward momentum.

His eyes widened when her helmet dematerialized as she slid into him, wrapping her arms around him as she stood on the tips of her toes as she pulled him into a desperate kiss, lips smashed against his own. He nearly lost his balance, grounding himself as he tentatively raised his arms to wrap around her, as if unsure just what he was supposed to do in this moment.

His helmet lay forgotten on the ground beside him, visor facing forward towards them.

Her Zebesians all landed in a line, standing across from the wall of Spartans. Their wings all flared out, buzzing slightly before being pulled up against their backs. They didn't move to join their leader, instead all stood at attention in preparation for another command.

As for the human super soldiers, it was safe to say that they too were not prepared to witness the sudden public display of affection. They glanced between each other, wondering if anyone had the answers to their questions. However, it seemed as if they did not.

However, it was safe to say that none of them had expected to see the Master Chief himself engaged in a lip-lock with the winged alien woman, pink energy swirling around the two of them.

When Samus finally pulled away, a trail of saliva connecting their lips, she couldn't hide the worry on her face. Her cheeks dusted red, gaze half lidded. "Hi John…" She breathed, breath hot. Glowing pink energy left her lips on a hot breath, tickling his cheeks, washing away the cuts that littered them.

Yes, with every ounce of her precious life giving energy that swirled beneath her breasts, it served two major purposes. One, to utterly annihilate anything that got in her way, leaving no trace of her enemies behind.

And the second?

With even a breath, she healed cuts and bruises. With a more direct, forceful application of her pure energy…

Could reverse even death to a certain degree, and seeing her dearly beloved Spartan in such a sorry state drew out the depths of her desire to restore him, and more then that, her desire for him.

The taller man blinked, azure blue eyes staring deeply into her blood red orbs. His lips quirked up a little at the woman he held in his arms. "Welcome back, Samus." He muttered in that deep guttural voice of his, a hint of possessive desire bubbling below the surface.

She couldn't repress that shiver of desire that traveled down her spine at his voice, the way his breath ticked her lips as it washed over her. Oh the things she wanted to do, if only they were alone right now.

"I thought I'd never see you again." The man admitted, hands gripping her wide armored hips just a little firmer. "After you left…" He added quietly.

Her eyes softened, all three of them staring up at him unblinkingly, almost in hurt. Both of them were there in that moment, the alien woman he'd come to know, and the Queen inside her mind, staring right up at him like a slumbering beast awoken with the promise of something deeply desirable.

"I promised that I would return…" She murmured quietly, green bladed tail shifting slowly back and forth over the ground. Her cheeks darkened as the alien within the confines of her psyche muttered something unheard by the man, but she didn't avert her gaze. "I meant what I said…" She added after a moment, leaning just a little bit closer.

His hands gripped her just a tad tighter, the metal of his synthetic left hand cupping her as firmly as his real limb. He could tell that she wanted more, far more than a mere kiss could provide. But so much stood between them in that moment, and more than merely just their armor. As much as she hated to admit it, right now wasn't the time for such luxuries.

For the first time in his life, he could say that he finally understood what people meant when they said that it seemed as if the universe was standing in between them, even if they were mere inches apart. He could hold her, here and now, cup her gently and embrace her tenderly. Nothing was physically stopping either of them from that, but it was the duty that bound them that had their desires placed on the back burner for the time being.

For him, duty had always come first, nothing ever changed that, and rarely challenged his stance on such matters. His duty was to protect humanity…

Whatever the cost…

And yet, over the years he'd been fighting….

The decades of war and death, fights for survival across the borders of the galaxy…

He'd forgotten one crucial detail…

And the woman before him, the beautiful creature in his arms, was responsible for reminding him of that truth.

"Soldiers are people… To believe otherwise would go against what it means to be human…"

"I was human once, when I was a little girl. Things change, the universe would like to have you believe that nothing matters more than the duty you must serve to your people…"

"It's the reminder that despite all that I am, despite that not a single strand of human DNA remains within my body now… That I am still human."

"That…"

"That goes for you too, John…"

"Being a Spartan doesn't mean you are not human… You are just different."

Her words back then reminded him of what he'd forgotten during the endless years of war, and now it came rushing back to the forefront of his mind. He realized now with a jolt of electricity, that he wanted to keep this woman close for the rest of his life.

And he realized that she probably wanted the same from him, and more.

That would come later, if and when she finally got him alone, nothing would stop her from getting what she wanted. She'd waited so long, a few more days wouldn't kill her.

Taking in a deep breath, his scent filling her senses, she stepped back. Long green locks cascading down her armored backside. The Spartan stood a little straighter, finding it considerably easier to breathe after she'd healed him.

He noticed how some of her long green tinted locks seemed to get caught up in her wings, and he had to withhold the urge to fix it.

But, duty called. Bending down, he picked his battle scarred helmet back up, sliding it on with ease. As the suit hermetically sealed, he reestablished contact with the Captain.

"Captain Del Rio. Confirming Samus's arrival on Infinity. The ship is secured, bomb has been neutralized." The Spartan transmitted, hand falling to his side.

''Reading you loud and clear, Master Chief. I want you to meet me on the command deck, and Samus, please join us too. I know you're listening in.'' The man responded, smirking at the last comment.

"Understood, Captain." Chief nodded, glancing back to her. A little smile graced her lips, her weight shifting to one side as she placed her claws on her wide jutting hip armor. He took in a short breath, before motioning behind him with a swift tilt of his head.

Her tail whipped about once, wings clenching as they folded up on her backside in such a manner that they nearly disappeared if viewing her from the front. In a flash her helmet was returned, visor a thick baleful red in color as it formed to shield her half lidded eyes from his own. "After you, John." She hummed, voice dulled slightly by her helmet. Her tail snapped about briefly, before wrapping itself up around her waistline like a belt, the bladed tip hanging off of the crook of her hip and inner thigh.

''You may want to keep an eye on this one…'' Cortana teased within the confines of his mind. He huffed in amusement, but otherwise did not respond.

He turned to walk off, the ex-Bounty Hunter hot on his heels. Once they were out of earshot, she addressed him, secured within the privacy of the elevator tram.

"John… Once this is over..." She breathed, expression only partially obscured behind her visor. He glanced down to her, noticing her sudden clinginess and shift in demeanor. A dull scraping could be heard, and a curious glance a little further down saw her bladed tail shifting about in excitement.

The look in her eyes, half lidded, a light flush of her cheeks, sparked something inside him. He tilted his head to the side slightly, an almost amused lilt in his voice as he spoke. "Later."

Her eyes narrowed slightly, her head tilting just a tad the other direction. "Tsk." She clicked her tongue quietly in a little sound of understanding disappointment. Seeing him again had made those deep feelings of passion bubble up beneath her breasts, a pleasant warm feeling spreading within her core that made her feel just a tiny bit lighter despite the situation they'd found themselves in on Requiem once again.

That and, the choice words Queen Bee was muttering in the back of her mind certainly wasn't helping cool off those feelings either. Metroid's were fiercely territorial creatures, as they were primal.

So when she wanted something…

She usually got it.

It was just a blessing on everyone's part that she was also a woman known for her outstanding level of patience, given most circumstances. It was also a patience the man in green knew not to test, lest he push her past it…

The remaining Spartans all watched them go, before turning their attention to the aliens Samus had brought alongside her. They all shifted in place, limbs clasped together behind their backs in loyal patience.

''Spartans.'' Del Rio's voice suddenly addressed the super soldiers collectively. ''Please treat our guests nicely.'' Was his only order, before the line closed.

One alien stepped forward, the one dawned in power armor that stood to resemble the Hunter herself. She made herself known, her role as higher in command compared to her fellow warriors apparent. "Greetings, Human warriors. I am Vespian, most loyal to my beautiful Queen. You may know her as Samus Aran, although I would never dare to address her so casually." The named alien soldier introduced herself with a gentle bow.

"To those who are friends of my glorious leader, you are friends of mine." She stated with a calm voice, her stance relaxed. Yet there was a strange giddiness to her words.

None of the super soldiers seemed to deem it necessary to step forward, until one did. Vespian watched curiously as the Spartan approached her, his differing armor design designating him as some sort of status above his fellow warriors. The same was true of the other blue colored Spartans. He approached her with a casual walk, hand raised to hold out to her in greeting.

"I'll be the gentleman and show the pretty lady around. The name's Paul DeMarco." The man greeted with a little laugh, holding his hand out to her own.

The slender feminine alien gazed at the offered limb curiously, before taking it with her left paw. The Spartan smirked behind his visor, walking off with a casual, cocky air about him.

"DeMarco, you serious?" Hoya asked in disbelief, eyeing the slender alien up and down. It had removed its helmet, cradling it between the gap of her cannon arm and her chest. The creature resembled the Sangheili, but more reptilian in a manner of speaking. Her facial structure was far more gentle looking than the dangerous aliens humanity had been fighting for over forty years, the same digitigrade legs as their visual counterparts.

However, that's where the similarities seemed to end. Her feet seemed to resemble that of an ancient Raptor from Earth's history, three large claws all armored with the same green plated material that made up the rest of her armor. Her body was slender, waistline thinner, her skin a soft leathery gentle red in color.

She seemed to share the three fingered claws, yet they were far more dexterous than an Elite's. Her mandibles were soft and less garish, four eyes on either side of her head all blinking in unison, green orbs glinting in the light of the UNSC ship.

It was the wings on her backside that drew the Spartan's attention, fluttering about in a show of her nervous excitement as his fireteam leader took her away as he flirted with her the entire time.

"I never took him for a…" Grant muttered in surprise, words escaping her.

Madison's eyebrows raised. "For a what?" He challenged curiously, lips quirking upwards.

She shook her head, cheeks tinted red. "Never mind." She muttered, glancing over to a similarly shaped alien. "I will show you around, Captain's orders." She stated.

The other Zebesian nodded silently, offering her a paw...

The door to the bridge slid shut behind them, the two green armored warriors stepping onto the Infinity's bridge. The deck was alight with life, soldiers and crewmen rushing to and from, gathering damage and casualty reports, information being narrowed down and relayed.

Del Rio stood over the main ship terminal, hands firmly locked behind his back in a sweaty grasp, gaze firm on the form of the small A.I standing before him.

The Spartan approached, standing at attention a short distance away. Samus followed closely behind him, very closely, before coming to a stop beside him. Her shoulder brushed again his bicep, arms down by her side.

The captain noticed their presence, turning around to face them. His eyebrows rose just a tad, almost imperceptibly, when he took notice of the Ex-Bounty Hunter's long bladed tail unconsciously wrapping itself around the super soldier's inner thigh.

His lips quirked upwards just a tad, before he got down to business. "Aine, report." The aged man muttered tersely. The golden digital woman nodded sharply, offering a short bow.

"Of course, Captain." The shipboard A.I. hummed, bringing up a map of Requiem. "Approximately six months ago saw the end of the Requiem campaign, Infinity fleeing the planet on course for Earth. To accomplish such a task called for the destruction of the planetary gravity generators powering the gravity well. Unfortunately, it now seems that doing so has led to deterioration across the planet."

"Deterioration?" Cortana chimed in curiously as Chief inserted her chip into the main terminal, the beautiful blue woman appearing beside her yellow counterpart.

"Correct." Aine hummed, snapping her fingers. The image of the planet changed, video footage from the other side of the planet appearing on the display. "This is what remains of the mountains surrounding the second primary gravity well in the valley of the mountains."

Samus's eyes widened.

The gravity had been stripped away, hidden Forerunner facilities once deep underground were now exposed as the terrain around the continent was trapped in a vortex of irregular gravitational waves.

"Would the destruction of the gravity well cause this?" She muttered under her breath, claws held up to the chin of her helmet in thought.

"It's possible, given the nature of the planet." Cortana mused. "However that begs a better question." She pointed out, glancing to the green clad woman.

"Why did this not occur sooner?" Samus muttered introspectively. "Had the attack caused this reaction, we would have seen it far sooner. Planetary gravity patterns were still normal before we pursued the Didact off world…" She recalled.

"What about the facility forcing the communications blackouts? That was the last facility we destroyed." John spoke up, adding his two cents. "We made a quick exit, we didn't have much time…"

"Something could have happened down there…" Del Rio murmured, holding his hand to his chin. "We detected odd energy readings from the tunnels below during your escape, but we had no time to look into it until now. The Didact was already on the move." He shook his head.

"Captain… These Forerunner facilities are armed with numerous security lockdown measures." Chief spoke up. "It wouldn't be the first time a military mission resulted in triggering a lockdown. Perhaps we let something in after destroying the main security measures to gain access?"

Samus held her claws to her chin, eyes narrowing. "Is it possible we let something out?" She muttered, glancing up to the taller super soldier. "I took a few scans during our run throughout the tunnels. Low level scans brought up dead cells within the air and the appearance of a pathogen unknown to my systems…" She glanced to the ship captain, worry filling her bosom at the look his face dawned.

The aged man had suddenly started to go pale. "No… That's not possible…" Andrew murmured, turning on his heels. "Aine! Bring up all we know of Forerunner facilities. What stations are known to contain dna research, biological storage facilities, genetic research labs." He quickly listed off.

"Captain?" Samus murmured, an uncomfortable feeling settling in beneath her breasts.

"Requiem is a shield world. The Forerunner's weren't known to contain storage of biological research within the confines of a facility such as this…" Aine explained, before she bit her lips.

"But… That hasn't stopped them before." Cortana picked up on what she must've come to understand herself. "Captain… It is very possible that in our haste to escape the planet, we released something else…"

Del Rio turned away, eyes hardening in worry. He turned towards the skies outside the command deck, watching as the Forerunner world as he knew it began to fall into chaos. Gravity was beginning to warp across the entire planet, the biosphere was in chaos, and severe weather was assaulting paths previously traveled…

But, that wasn't the end of the world…

The existence of something else lurking beneath the surface was the real danger, a danger that if true, meant that this situation was far worse than any of them previously thought possible.

"Captain, that is not all." Aine brought the attention back to her. "Following our arrival at Requiem, the Infinity suffered near catastrophic power loss. It was difficult to regain control, but after a thorough examination of systems ship wide, I have come to another conclusion." The golden woman explained, turning to hold out her hand to her blue colored counterpart.

Cortana glanced at the offered limb, before taking it. Knowledge was shared immediately, too much to handle were she not such a sophisticated work of creation. She ran through it all faster than any mortal could hope to attempt, before she addressed the other A.I. "It is possible."

"What?" Chief asked in his typical single word manner, head tilted to the side questioningly. Cortana bit her lips nervously, glancing up to him.

"Chief… If the Flood is on the planet, then that explains the sudden unmitigated lockdown across all of Requiem airspace. I don't think it's only the Infinity that can't activate our slip space engines, I believe the Covenant are sealed here with us too. Both of our ships use Forerunner technology, both are susceptible to ancient lockouts that we still don't understand."

"If that is true, then we're stuck here until we deal with the problem." Andrew hummed lowly, arms crossed. "I hate to say it, but even if we weren't, now that it's likely that the Flood have a presence here, protocol dictates we secure the threat completely first. Those… things, cannot be allowed to escape."

"The Flood?" Samus found herself lost so as to the meaning behind the mysterious name, these mystery creatures seemingly dangerous enough to spook the Captain more than anything else.

Cortana looked her way, a brief moment of confusion, before she remembered that she was not of their universe. Of course she wouldn't know a single thing about the Flood…

"Cortana, I will leave it to you to bring Samus up to speed." He stated.

"Understood, sir." Cortana nodded grimly, glancing over to the alien queen.

"Lasky, bring Infinity up to yellow alert. Warn Fleet Com of the situation here immediately. If we fail, we'll need the fleet outside playing damage control. I don't think even the Covenant here understand the dire consequences we are all in, because if they did, they might be singing a different tune right now…"

"Understood." Lasky nodded firmly, already walking off to take care of the task at hand.

Andrew ushered Palmer over to him, the white armored super soldier standing at attention, arms clasped behind her back.

"Palmer, prepare the Spartans. Things could get ugly quick, we don't want any slip ups. Spartan Fireteams suited to Flood containment should be alerted immediately, all Spartans must undertake a full biological scan, and make sure no suit malfunctions are detected."

Andrew faced the two of them. "Chief, once the debriefing is over, I want the two of you to take a platoon down to the planet. We can't afford to falter here. Investigate those facilities for any trace of Flood activity, and report it immediately." He ordered sharply, before turning away, shoulders tense. "The longer we're stuck on this cursed planet, the more I feel like we might not get out unscathed…" He muttered underneath his breath.

One single Flood spore could ruin an entire species…

Chief glanced down to the woman clinging to him, expression grim behind his visor. "Well, I wish I could promise you that we were almost done here…" He murmured dryly, gruff tone sounding almost disappointed.

She smiled despite the severity of the situation. "I am a patient woman, John." She murmured in a low, almost purr, her tail slithering out from where it had been wrapped snugly around his thigh. "But, I will hold you to your promise..." She trailed off quietly, cheeks warm as she turned to leave.

There was a parasite to purge, and she wasn't going to do it standing in the middle of the bridge.

The Spartan watched her go, once more at a loss for words. The little chortle from behind him brought his attention back to Cortana and Aine, his eyebrows creasing firmly.

"I dare say, I do believe she has taken a liking to Master Chief…" Aine pointed out plainly. Cortana raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"You have no idea…" She shook her head.

The Spartan would've sighed, but it wasn't like him to do so. Instead he turned to follow after her, knowing that he was in need of suit repairs before any mission was to take place.

When he finally got to the elevator, he noticed that she'd seemingly been waiting for him.

Chapter

47

End