A/N

Surprise, motherfuckers! I hated the way I ended this, I think I was just burnt out and couldn't figure out what to do. Good news is, I found a proper ending. Most of it's the same, but the ending has changed. I hope y'all enjoy the actual final chapter. Don't worry, I plan on making a part two, and for those who have readPrime Karma that is also getting a second book, it's already being written and chapter one is being refined to be posted. Have a good night/ day y'all.

Two years had passed. The Spartans had been stationed on the Infinity for far longer than they thought they would. They did small missions here and there with the marines, but they always came back to the Infinity. In those two years, Tai had turned twenty and then twenty-one and had joined the UNSC as a soldier and espionage specialist. Anywhere the Spartans went, the woman wasn't too far behind. As soon as he could, Frederick asked John to take Tai on as a UNSC agent, and the Chief had.

But, changes hadn't just come for Tai. The Woods' family went through a couple of changes as well, some incredible, others heartbreaking. Ryner, now twenty-two, got engaged to one of the medical students that had been transferred onto the Infinity about a year and a half ago, a twenty-seven year old man named Theo Goodman. An eighteen-year-old Anya had started training as an engineer and a navigator aboard the Infinity, not quite wanting the thrill of battle like Tai did. Unfortunately, just before Ryner got married, Derrick Woods ended up dying of a heart attack, and almost right afterwards, Lydia was killed on a random planet that the Spartans and fighting civilians had gone down to, shot down by a Covenant Reaper. The Woods' siblings had been devastated and listed as orphans aboard the Infinity.

Day after day, the tally of the deceased got higher and higher, the Covenant managing to kill both people and hope as they continued towards their main goal, Earth. Tai didn't believe in luck, not after all she'd been through, but she had to give it to Tyche. The Goddess sure knew when to spread luck across the UNSC. Like now, in the form of a blonde haired female private running towards Tai, a frantic look on her face.

"Specialist Hover! I have a message from the Spartans. They're requesting your presence at the loading bay." The woman stated, handing out a slip of off-white paper to Tai.

"Thank you, Private Nealson."

Nealson nodded before she took off, this time at a much more composed pace. Tai shook her head in amusement before opening the letter. All it said was "You'll never believe what we found." And was signed by Frederick. There could only be two things the Spartans found that would warrant them wanting their agent with them. Some big Covenant secret that one of the girls wanted the woman to know, or more Spartans that the Chief or Frederick wanted to introduce her to. Considering the message was from Fred, she only had one viable option.

Fifteen minutes later had Tai walking out of the lifts and onto the landing bay floors. In front of her was a group of marines, excited chatter ringing about the room. Tai made her way to the center of the commotion, leaning her weight against the biggest person in the room, which just so happened to be the Master Chief. The marines around her couldn't help the intake of breath. Even with the time they'd spent with the woman, they never understood how she could so casually treat the super-soldiers.

Speaking of the Spartans, John looked down at the woman basically hanging off him and let out an almost inaudible snort at her antics. Even now, she still tried to prove that they weren't as big and scary as the marines had made them out to be. Her blue eyes looked into his amber visor for a split second before focusing once more on the reason that Frederick called her down to meet them.

A hissing from just in front of the two brought the Chief back to what was happening, feeling a strange sense of… something (happiness?) just under his ribs. For years John thought he'd been the last surviving Spartan, only to be reunited with Blue Team. And now, supposedly, they'd all be reuniting with the Red Team.

So many of their fellow Spartans had died during both training and the augmentation process, leaving a precious few behind, where more than half of them got killed in combat. With how long their two groups had been separated, it was a miracle that all of them had made it out of the war alive. Three Spartans walked out of a space-suited pod, their armor worse for wear, but with no truly noticeable damage. Their helmeted heads surveyed the crowd and almost immediately locked onto Blue Team, before spotting Tai and stopping completely.

Unconsciously, John pulled the woman closer to himself, his arm hanging over her shoulders and his Spartans closing their circle around the two. For some reason, the way they were studying Tai made Blue Team uneasy. Red Team, would never try something to the specialist, not with so many marines there, and yet that feeling didn't dissipate. It was slightly disparaging.

Tai looked at the Spartans with slight confusion before masking it behind a bright smile as the others drew closer. She tried to shift out of the Chief's hold, but the more she tried, the harder he held onto her. Weird.

"John's heart rate has accelerated slightly. It seems as though he is nervous of the new Spartans thoughts on you and the relationship you hold with him and his team. He is wary." Neoni whispered in Tai's head.

One of the best things the UNSC had ever done for the specialist was give her complete access to the Smart AI after she made her ranking. The only question in her mind at the moment was why was the Chief wary of his own people?

"117." The lead Spartan greeted. "Jerome."

"You can drop the titles, Jerome. We're among friends here. You can trust her."

Jerome gave Tai a once over, taking in her UNSC camo pants and gray PT shirt. The scars that littered the parts of her skin he could see giving some kind of insight into just who this woman was.

He took in how the other Spartans under John's command stood beside her, almost creating a circle around the woman. It seemed she wasn't any the wiser about the formation, either. Whoever she was, it was clear that the rest of the Spartans were used to her presence. Even John was rather calm with her there. Jerome dared to say that he was more relaxed than he'd ever seen the Blue Team leader. A simple head nod was all the Master Chief got in response to his words.

"Well, then, now that the tension is gone, how about we all go to the mess. I don't think Tai's eaten yet." Frederick interjected, getting shoved by the woman for his efforts.

She had, in fact, not eaten that day. It was nearly 1600. She'd been up since 0400. John would kill her if he knew about that little tidbit of information. Thankfully for her, it seemed as though Naomi felt like staying silent. This time.

"I'm afraid we're not here on our own volition. Command wants you back. All of you. But, they never said anything about her." Jerome stated, nodding towards Tai.

Tai froze. What the hell could the UNSC want with her Spartans, but not her?

"They've given us a new mission. Red and Blue Teams are going to a planet called Veina-6. It's in the Balfore galaxy. About ten thousand lightyears from here. They said to pack what we needed for a three year mission. And to leave immediately."

Tai felt herself choke. Her lifeline on the godsforsaken ship had been them. What the hell was she supposed to do now that they wouldn't be there? Her aunt and mother had left her alone for the last two and a half years, but that would all change as soon as wind of the Spartans leaving got out. Fuck.

Her eyes burned as she looked up at John, blurry vision making his shape waver. Was she crying? She hadn't cried in years. Not since her parents died, not since that random Onyx soldier had sacrificed herself, not since her mother had tried to hit her again. And yet, this one moment felt like it was a million times worse than anything else she'd ever experienced. All because she became too attached to people she knew would never stay.

John's narrowed eyes had her breath catching. Was he really okay with this? They'd been together for the past three years, Tai thought they'd finally bridged the gap between Spartans and humans.

"Command knows we don't go anywhere without her. And that won't change now. So, either we get to bring Tai, or we don't go at all." The Chief stated, his voice harsher than Tai had heard in years.

"John–"

"No, Jerome. We promised to be there for her. She is one of us. She has always been one of us. Tell Command to get back to us in two hours with confirmation of Tai's participation, or I'll pull rank."

Tai felt herself being yanked into a strong chest. She could breathe. He hadn't given it up. How could she have ever doubted? The Chief wasn't one to break promises.

Jerome watched as the people he once saw as his siblings walked away with a new girl. A human. He felt like the Chief had gone soft, but something in him said that the girl had only made John all the stronger. There was a reason the Blue Team had managed to survive so long. How they managed to reunite under impossible circumstances. Jerome had a feeling this Tai was that reason.

Command was not going to be happy. Fuck.