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| - Felix awoke to a world of pain. Every muscle in his body ached, and spasms of pain shot through his limbs when he tried to shift himself on the hard surface he found himself lying on. His throat was dryer than he'd ever felt before; all he could taste in his mouth was gunpowder and the copper tang of blood. It hurt to swallow. He could feel the paneled folds of a wilderness survival blanket draped over his body. He tried to push it off with his left arm; a huge mistake. The mere attempt to move it sent a hideous pain jolting through him, and as Felix suppressed a scream he realized that someone had set the arm in a sling. A dim light illuminated purple-tinged walls as he opened his eye. It took him several moments to realize that he was in a room of Covenant design. From the gentle humming reverberating around him, he guessed he was on a warship of some kind. It hurt to sit up even a little, but Felix eased himself up and gingerly pushed the blanket up with his prosthetic arm. He'd been stripped of his armor and his bare chest was covered with bandages. He could feel even more of them on his face and back and for a moment he wondered what had happened to leave him in this condition. As the memory of the fight poured back into him, he was suddenly incredibly grateful for the arm sling. The memory of the bullet ripping through his hand and forearm was almost too much to bear. "Don't move too much." Felix jerked his head around--another painful mistake--to see Cassandra watching him from the corner. The former Spartan was out of her armor and clad in only the body-glove worn underneath. Her chestnut hair was pulled back behind her head and Felix couldn't help but notice the blood stains on her arm and face. "You," he wheezed, struggling to rise. "Where are we?" "Don't move," she insisted. There was an authoritative edge to her voice that Felix had never heard before and he decided not to press the issue. He settled back down onto the cot, resting his back against the cold wall. "Fine. What happened back in that mine?" "That commander, Rosch, left me on my own when he went to help you," she explained. "I followed him and found him with you and Kahn. All three of you were unconscious, so I did what I could on the scene." She paused, then shook her head and fixed Felix with a curious stare. "You should be dead. I thought I was going to lose you back there. If the Sangheili hadn't found us when they did and given me access to better equipment, you would have died." Felix knew instantly what she was talking about. "My blood." "It doesn't coagulate, at least not on its own. I've seen a few cases like it, but they were all lifelong conditions. I'm guessing you're different." "Yes," Felix admitted, not sure how much he should tell someone facing desertion charges. "I wasn't born with it." "I injected you with some blood-cell enhancers, but you were bleeding from so many different places..." She grimaced, as if the memory of it still frightened her. "You're just lucky there were two humans with your blood type on hand to give transfusions." "Transfusions? Who were they?" Cassandra looked away. "Myself... and David Kahn." "Kahn?" Felix sat up a little straighter. "He's here?" She nodded. "He's in a holding cell, if that's what you're worried about. The Sangheili took him into custody. Technically, all of you are in custody." "All of us?" Felix demanded. His head was starting to hurt. "Jian, too?" "The Sangheili weren't happy when they learned what happened to Tuka, the one Jake shot. They told me they wouldn't hold you accountable, but right now they've revoked all of your authority on Sanghelios." "Oh." Felix shook his head. "I bet that made Rosch happy." "He doesn't know," Cassandra told him. "He's in a coma. Kahn gave him a serious concussion and there wasn't much I could do besides stabilize him. Right now, you're in charge of the entire operation." Felix raised an eyebrow, which hurt only marginally less than moving anything else. "And why are you the one telling me this and not Jake?" Cassandra motioned at the room's door. "He and Ralph are on this ship, but the Sangheili have them confined until you can meet with Autel 'Vadam and get this sorted out." "Ah. So they let you free to treat me?" "Actually," she said, glancing back over at the medical tools she had been working with. "I'm not in custody. One of Autel's friends, Fira 'Demal, knows me personally. He's assured me that I'll be under the Sangheili's protection for as long as I need it." Anyone else in her position would have felt entitled to some degree of smugness over the complete reversal of fortune, but if anything Cassandra seemed embarrassed, even worried. Felix ran a metal finger through his hair and sighed. "So Kahn's captured. What about the girl who was with him?" "Her name is Nimue." Cassandra's voice tightened. "She's in a holding cell, too. I tried to get her released, but there's only so much they can do for me." "So you know her." Felix remembered that the girl had been defending the hospital where Cassandra had been working back on New Madrigal. He was surprised he hadn't made the connection sooner. "She's my friend," Cassandra replied with a hint of defiance. "You meet the strangest people out on the frontier," Felix said ruefully. "What else should I know?" "The rebels are all dead." Even Cassandra didn't seem too sorry about that bit of intel. "The Sangheili recovered a lot of prisoners they'd taken as well. They took us into orbit to keep things within the military. Otherwise the civilian government on Sanghelios might have stepped in." "How long have I been out?" He was in charge of Jian now. It was best to take full stock of the situation before he talked to Autel. He'd need to get Kahn into UNSC custody for starters. And now there was this business with the girl, Nimue, to handle as well. "Almost a day. You have your augmentations to thank for most of that. Someone else with your injuries would still be out." "Sangheili aren't all that great when it comes to treating us humans," Felix mused. "Do you mean to tell me you treated Kahn, Rosch, and myself in under twenty-four hours? By yourself?" She shrugged. "It's what I do." If he hadn't known it would hurt like hell, Felix would have laughed. "Jake and Ralph weren't lying. You really are something else." The compliment actually made her blush, though she tried to hide it by glancing back at the door. "I had another patient as well," she said quietly. Felix's hands tightened, even the one that had taken a bullet. So this was it. The moment he had been dreading had finally arrived. "I think I've got an idea of who you're talking about."
*
* Simon groaned and sat up. The cot he'd been lying on was as hard as a rock, but he was pretty sure that wasn't to blame for why his body felt like kneaded dough. As his eye adjusted to the bad lighting, he saw that he was wearing a military-issue undershirt and trousers. His bare arms and legs were covered in bandages, and a quick check of his forehead told him his ruined eye was still covered up as well. Where am I? he wondered, glancing up at a purple-hued ceiling. What the hell... did the Sangheili find me? In spite of the pain all over his body, he couldn't suppress the grin that crept over his face. Yes, he'd been on Sanghelios all right. The snarls of the predators and Venter's dying yells were still ringing in his ears. He was alive, Venter was dead, and the Sangheili had gotten him to safety. After the hell he'd come through, this ending couldn't be sweeter. He felt a rushing feeling in his chest, one that made the lingering soreness insignificant by comparison. He hadn't felt this good since... come to think of it, he could hardly remember a time he'd ever been this happy. He let out a short laugh--a real one, not one he forced out of bitterness or the need to throw someone off guard--and threw himself back against the cot, soreness be damned. "You're up." He yelped with surprise and turned to see Zoey sitting on the other side of the room. She looked much cleaner than she had when he'd left her back in the facility and she was wearing military-issue clothes identical to his. Even her hair looked a little less grimy. "Oh," he said, his voice reverting to its usual callous tone. "You're here." "They wanted me in a separate room, but I didn't want to get stuck alone up here," she told him. "We're on a ship. The aliens brought us to it." "Yeah, I figured. You sure you want to be with me here? The last time I woke up alone with you a pissed-off clone gouged one of my eyes out. I'm not keen on losing the spare." She looked down, shamefaced. "I'm sorry about--" "Save it. We went through this before, remember?" He shook his head and grinned up at the ceiling. "Right now I'm in a pretty forgiving mood." He glanced back at her and smirked. "You're positive we're on a ship, right? I'm not dead and stuck with you in some weird afterlife am I?" "No, we're alive," she assured him, pointing to a small box on the floor between them. "They left us some food, too." He hadn't realized how hungry he was until he'd pounced on the box and eaten half of its contents in less than a minute. It was only after he'd peeled off half a dozen ration bar wrappers that he recognized what kind of food he was eating. "Wait a second," he said, his elation dimming as quickly as it had come. "Where the hell did they get their hands on UNSC rations?" "Um..." Zoey squirmed. "That's the other thing..." Simon fixed her with his new one-eyed glare. "This is going to piss me off, isn't it?" "I imagine a good deal of things can do that to you, Mordred." Simon and Zoey nearly jumped out of their skins. Neither of them had even heard the door open. Craning his neck, Simon found himself staring up into more than one familiar face. "Oh hey Fira," he said, sliding out of kicking distance. "Nice of you to drop by. Were you planning on thanking me for saving your city before or after you handed me over to the UNSC's goons?" He had enough experience reading Sangheili expressions to see the flash of embarrassment that crossed the officer's face. So that is what's going on here. His fists clenched and he fought back the urge to make a bolt for the door right then and there. "Simon, you won't be handed over," Tuka assured him from over Fira's shoulder. Unlike the armored Fira, Tuka wore a plain robe and carried what seemed to be a pair of crutches. Simon could see his bandaged and splinted leg through a slit in the robe. "Tuka," he said, reminding himself how much he owed his friend. It was all he could do not to scream with frustration. The UNSC could get here at any minute. "Nice to see you got out of there alright. Mostly." "I am a warrior now," his friend replied. "Injuries such as this are proof that I am worthy of the title." "You certainly haven't changed," Simon told him as he slouched down onto the cot. "The sad thing is, I know you actually mean that." "Your fate currently rests in Autel 'Vadam's hands," Fira informed him. "The human government has no authority here unless we grant it." "Which you of course won't be doing, seeing as I'm supposed to be relaxing under that protective custody business you promised me right about now." Fira glared down at him with a contempt Simon was getting to know very well. "You would have let the entire city burn if I had not--" "Excuses, excuses," Simon waved his prosthetic hand dismissively. "And don't tell me you're doing 'everything in your power' to get this done, because we both know you're not. So why don't you just turn right around and get this whole thing figured out?" The look Fira gave him would have cowed an oncoming assault squad. "You do not give orders to me, scum," he snarled. "You make deals with me though," Simon reminded him, an anger of his own rising in his chest. He was fed up with having to deal with this bullshit at every turn. "So go crawl back up the chain of command and start kissing whoever's ass needs to be kissed in order to keep me away from a firing squad, got it?" Zoey backed away towards the back of the room and even Tuka looked as if he wanted to retreat. Simon met Fira's burning gaze and started to wonder if he'd gone too far. His arms tensed, but if Fira decided to jump across the room and pull his head off he wouldn't be in much shape to fight back. "Excuse me," said a wonderfully familiar voice. "I need to get in here." Fira kept his eyes locked on Simon, but stepped aside to let Cassandra into the room. Wearing just her armor's body glove, she carried a bag of medical equipment under one arm and looked incredibly tired. "It's getting crowded in here," Simon noted. "Cassandra, you just got here. Tuka, I like you, you can stay. Fira, don't you have some arrangements to make? Somewhere else?" Fira's mandibles twitched, but he spun on his heel and marched away. "Tuka, with me," he ordered over his shoulder. "Understood." Tuka limped away with an apologetic glance at Simon. "You should try to get along with Fira more," Cassandra said as she unpacked her bag. "Like you said, he's the biggest thing standing between you and the UNSC." "You should have been there when he tried to bring an entire battalion down on my head," Simon retorted. "Besides, guys like him are easy to read. Now he'll work extra hard to fulfill our deal just to prove me wrong." She shook her head. "You always assume the worst of people." "And I'm usually right." Simon shrugged, but gave voice to his ugly thoughts before he could stop himself. "How did they get you, anyway? To get to me?" "They brought me in when they were trying to kill Kahn back on New Madrigal," she explained wearily. "But yes, you were the reason they had me down there." There wasn't a hint of accusation in her voice. There never was. But Simon felt the guilt twist his gut into knots and he looked away. Of course she had been caught because of him and Kahn. It was enough to strip away the bravado he'd thrown in Fira's face and make him sick with shame. Off in her corner, Zoey looked embarrassed. "Um, should I go wait in the hall?" "Why the hell should you?" Simon demanded, but it took effort to keep up his front of practiced contempt. "Here's the real hero. Now you can stop thanking me for freeing you and give the credit to someone who actually deserves it." "She has," Cassandra told him, giving Zoey a kind smile. The sight of it was another twist of the knife, but Simon refused to look away this time. "She told me just about everything that happened while I was treating you." "Really," Zoey said, still squirming. "If you want me to wait..." "Tell you what," Simon told her. "Go out there and try to figure out how many credits my eye is worth. Then get to work on planning for how you'll work to pay me for it somewhere down the road." Zoey seemed more than happy to oblige. As the door slid shut behind her, Simon shook his head. "I just don't get her at all." "She looks up to you," Cassandra explained, pulling out a small syringe. "The same way Tuka does. You gave them a reason to admire you." "Admire me? And I thought you were a bad judge of character." He shook his head. "How did the Sangheili find me, anyway?" "You were beside a wrecked Pelican," Cassandra explained, moving up to inject the serum into Simon's arm. The brush of her hand across his skin was enough to send his pulse raising and bring a flush to his face. He looked away, hoping she wouldn't notice, but he knew she would. "I guess that makes sense," he muttered. "What about Venter?" "There wasn't much left of him, if that's what you mean." "Yeah. That's what I wanted to hear." She didn't reply as she set the syringe aside and did a quick check of the bandages on his head. "Your eye's completely gone, but the nerve endings were intact when I changed the bandages. They'll accept a replacement." "Well, that's some good news," he sighed. For once, money wasn't the issue. He still had the cash from the Beta-14 job ready and waiting. All he needed was a place he could go to get an operation without getting shot. "Zoey told me about what you did for her. About the clone." The look she gave him echoed Zoey's own admiring glances, but this time Simon had no intention of swatting it aside. "She's not wrong for calling you a hero." "Yes she is. If I'd known what was going to happen I wouldn't have done anything." "I don't believe that," she said simply. "And neither do you." Simon broke her gaze and they sat in silence for several minutes. Finally, Cassandra stood up and put her hand on his shoulder. "Simon." There was an edge to the way she said his name that immediately put him on his guard. "There's something we need to talk about." "There's a lot we need to talk about." For once, he was utterly serious. "It's about the UNSC." She looked back down at her bag and took a breath. "Felix made me an offer." "Who the hell is Felix?" Something was off here. He could feel it in his gut; he wouldn't like whatever was coming. "The Spartan who was with Jake and Ralph. He wants me to come back to the military." "Come back..." It took several moments for Simon to register exactly what she was saying. His chest tightened. "He wants you back? And you believe him?" "Yes," she said simply. "I do." "Didn't you see what they did down there? They were going to kill you. Our 'friends' shot Tuka because that bastard they were with told them to. You want to go back to all that?" "It's not like that across the board," she cut back. "I loved being able to help people through the clinic, but I can't run forever. Neither of us can." He didn't know what to say. Was there anything he could say to that? There wasn't a reason for even an ONI stooge to come up with a trick that contrived. He could see Cassandra's reasoning as if were his own, and his instincts told him this was the real deal. "Simon, I told him yes. If he can get my record cleared, I'll go back." When he didn't answer, she looked back up at him. He could already see the unspoken question in her eyes and he didn't want to answer it. Not now, not ever. All he felt was the hole that was expanding in his gut. "Simon..." "I ruined your life when I took you with me on that shuttle," he said slowly. The truth burned in his throat, but it was the only thing to say. "Now you have a chance to get away from all this. Take it." "Simon, he's going to ask you, too." That caught him off guard. "What? Ask me?" "He said as much. He said he had plans for you, ones that didn't involve killing or jail." He leaned back against the wall and suddenly felt very tired. "And you believe him." "He doesn't have a reason to lie to me. Simon, he's going to give you another chance. I know how you feel about ONI and the UNSC, but please, just listen to him." "I'll listen," he said slowly. All he could see were the huddled corpses of his Rat Pack friends on Mamore's broken landscape. His fists clenched and he looked away. "I can do that." "I'm sorry, Simon." He closed his eye. His head ached, and he was now keenly aware that the rest of his body did, too. "Don't apologize. Never apologize to me." "Felix can save us both," she told him. "Remember that." The room was silent for several minutes. Simon sat back on the cot as Cassandra rummaged in her bag in search of something to do. Go back to the UNSC. Work for them again. He can save us both. He looked down at Cassandra. How long had it been since he'd last seen her. Famul had brought them back together after Hekate, and that had been two years ago. If he accepted and went with her... Finally, Cassandra looked up and caught his gaze. "When you killed Venter... how did it feel?" He looked at her out of the corner of his remaining eye. Finally, a question he knew the answer to. "It felt great." She blinked, then looked away. "Oh," she said quietly. "I thought... never mind." Cassandra stood up and picked up her bag. "This can save us both, Simon," she said, turning to go. "Just think about it."
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