Chapter Text
If this was it, then he'd put up one last act of defiance. He began to stand to his feet, then-
Everything was spinning. His entire body ached and there was a burning smell coming from his chest plate. A hand grabbed him by the back of his armor.
"Alice, we're leaving."
Leaving? No, the Brute wasn't dead. They couldn't leave yet.
"Yes," it said excitedly. "Run, little demons."
"Spirit of Fire, we have a Spartan casualty!"
Wait. He wasn't dead. He could still fight!
"Hunt them down!"
Douglas felt himself slipping into unconsciousness. His grip on his magnum had loosened.
"Douglas, stay with me!"
His eyes were closing. They... felt so heavy...
"Find out where they came from,"
He heard something colliding with the metal floor.
"And bring me back anything..."
"Douglas!"
"...Useful."
A war cry echoed echoed off of the walls. It was the last thing he heard before passing out.
The scene changed. Now it was the fall of Arcadia. He had just ripped an Elite out of the cockpit of its Wraith and then took control of the alien vehicle. Next, he turned it towards the Covenant force approaching the evacuation port he was defending-
Behind the Covenant force of Elites and Grunts, tentacles burst forth from the ground. Slimy, disgusting tentacles. From the breaches, a plague spilled out. All Douglas knew was that this wasn't how it happened. He knew that. But seeing those things again after he thought they'd seen the last of them on that world sent ripples of fear through him.
The infection forms jumped at the surprised Covenant forces, burrowing themselves into the Elites and strangling the Grunts to death as they tried the same with them.
Twisting their forms. Sporting new, grotesque limbs. And oh God the screams...
Even if they wanted to genocide the human race, nothing deserved this fate. Douglas opened fire on them in the hopes that he could put them out of their misery before it was too late, even if it already was.
A scream left his throat as his eyes shot open. Forget the pain in his chest, he needed to run, he couldn't handle those things alone-!
"Douglas, hey! Calm down!"
Two hands kept him in place and stopped him from bolting for the nearest weapon. His eyes darted around frantically looking for who the hands belonged to to find Alice towering over him. "Relax," she continued. "It's me! You're fine!"
"I-" Douglas panted. "Alice? But that Brute, he didn't-?" Alice eased him into an upright position. "I'm not dead, he didn't get me or Jerome. Relax Douglas. Breath, okay? Just take a few deep breaths."
He did as she suggested and urged himself to calm down. It was only a nightmare. But still, that Brute, he'd decimated him. All but humiliated him in combat. He'd humiliated all three of them. Once he'd finally calmed himself down he looked up at Alice. "How long was I out?" he asked. "What did I miss?"
Alice winced. "Let's just say you missed a lot. That answer both of your questions?"
"That bad?"
She nodded. "Yep. How about we get your armor back on you and I get you up to speed? Can you stand?"
Douglas scoffed. "Of course I can. Even if I couldn't I'd find a way, I got a score to settle with that Brute."
"Douglas," Alice said nervously as she stood aside for him. "Atriox almost killed you."
"That's his name?" he laughed. "What kind of mother names her kid Atriox? I mean, I guess they're Brutes, but still! What kind of name is that?"
It's a facade. Alice knows that. He used to do it all the time back on Reach during their training after being reaugmented. He'd lose a sparring match, or come up short on weapon inspections, and start cracking jokes at the expense of those who beat him or their superiors.
In reality, he's battered and livid. She can tell that he wants nothing more than to strangle the life out of Atriox, but at the same time, he knows he can't. He's out of his league. They all are.
So Alice decides to play along because she knows he's not stupid enough to go after Atriox. "Yeah," she replies. "Stupid name. Now, your armor..."
She looks up at the ceiling with her helmet tucked under her arm. "Hey, Isabel?"
"I- Hold on, Captain. What is it, Alice?"
"Is Douglas's armor ready?"
"Yeah, the readings are strange, I know. Almost like..."
"Uh, Isabel?"
"She always like this?"
"Douglas?"
"Yeah?"
"Shut up for a second please?"
"Yeah, yeah..."
A short pause.
"Sorry, just trying to figure out what these readings are. Me and Ellen are working through a few theories, but... Sorry, yes. His armor should be ready. After that, can the both of you come to the observation deck? Maybe you can help us make sense of- Oh, sorry! Right away professor!"
Isabel fell silent over the intercom, leaving the two Spartans alone once again. Alice sighed. "She forgot to mention where your armor is. There's a group of technicians in the armory with your armor. Isabel trained them on how to outfit a Spartan."
Douglas stretched lazily. "Gotcha. I'm guessing you'll get me up to speed later?"
She shrugged. "That's probably why we've been asked to the observation deck now that you're awake. Oh, and before I go..."
He raised an eyebrow as Alice looked at him sadly. "You talk in your sleep."
There was tension in the air within the observation deck of the Spirit of Fire. Not hostile, but more personal. And only between two out of the six present. Ellen and Alice. They hadn't talked since the former had kissed her. Granted it was only her cheek, but still. A kiss was a kiss.
Now with Douglas finally awake, thank God, Alice's thoughts remained squarely on three things.
One, how they would all make it out alive from their fight with Atriox and the Banished. She had faith they would of course, but that beach assault had shaken said faith among other things. The Covenant and the Flood had greatly diminished their forces. So many dead or MIA and they still had to contend with Atriox.
Second, her "happy ending". Given that they all survived, what would even constitute a happy ending? A few things came to mind. Not having to fight anymore, living a quiet life with Ellen, maybe even getting to see her parents again. If they were even still alive that is.
Finally, did she even deserve a happy ending? She still hadn't found an answer since the first time she asked herself that. When she first thought she didn't deserve one with the kind of life she's led. Besides, there would always be another threat aside from the Banished. Another Flood outbreak, or maybe the Covenant persisted as a few small splinter groups. And what about the Insurrectionists? Were they ever taken care of? Or did they finally set aside their differences with the UNSC to fight the Covenant?
She had no idea. But what she did know is that one less Spartan could mean the end of humanity. A bit extreme, sure, but it rang somewhat true.
So what would happen if she chose to lay down her weapons to hopefully spend her life with the woman standing next to her once this was all over? How would humanity fair? Did they even remember her? And what about Jerome and Douglas? Would they resent her for abandoning the fight for humanity's survival? Would they even get an ending themselves? Too many questions raised by other questions. Too many she didn't have answers to.
She shook them from her mind, even if only temporarily, and then looked around the observation deck. Jerome was bringing Douglas up to speed while Captain Cutter and Isabel went over battle plans to employ against the Banished. That left Alice with Ellen, who was still trying to make sense of some new readings from the Ark, along with an intercepted Banished communication. At least that's what Isabel called it. The Ark.
Alice watched while the professor worked with her helmet being set aside, though if she was being honest, her eyes were mostly focused on Ellen. In this kind of setting, with this kind of atmosphere, tense but also light, what would even be a good conversation starter? Should she even start one? Ellen looked busy after all.
Ah, fuck it. Better to try than never have tried at all.
"It's, uh..." she started nervously. "It feels like it keeps getting bigger every time I look at it."
Ellen blinked as she turned her gaze partially to Alice. "Hm? What does?"
"The Ark. Everything about it, really. I feel like it keeps getting bigger whenever I look at it."
The professor snickered as she continued to try and discern the readings. An encrypted signal that was identified as a Banished signal by Isabel's processes was also found, so Ellen chose to temporarily set the readings aside to try and crack that message's encryption. "You're not the only one who thinks that. When you compare it to that world we were on, well, it looks small in comparison to the Ark. It's probably just as old too."
Alice whistles. "Wow. That old?"
"Maybe older, now that I think about it."
"You got an estimate on that?" Alice asked jokingly. Something like this, she wasn't sure that even Isabel would know just how old it was.
"No idea," Ellen replied. "But my gut says it's older than any of the ruins on Earth."
Then Ellen frowns as she leans against the holo table. "Is it bothering you?"
The Spartan blinked. "What?"
"That... exchange between us. Is it bothering you?"
Oh. That.
She wanted to talk about it but had no idea how. She was lucky she was even able to start a conversation with her in the first place. But would it really hurt to try? Alice sighed as she lowered her voice. This conversation was for Ellen's ears only. "Was it just a spur-of-the-moment thing? Or did it, y'know, mean something more?"
Her response wasn't what Alice had initially expected. Ellen gave her a small smile as she turned her eyes back to her work. "I already know what it meant. The question is, however, what did it mean to you?"
What did it mean to her?
"Everything," she answered tentatively. "I'm not great with relationships that aren't familial so I never wanted to say anything but then you kissed me...-"
"You sound like a grade-schooler, Alice. Relax for a second!" Ellen joked.
She was right. Relax. Deep breaths. "I... I realized something before we all went into cryo. I- I fell in love with you. It's out. Oh my God, I said it!"
And Ellen laughs. It's not at Alice directly, but rather the delivery of her confession. Her actual confession. What she said down on the Ark was a heat of the moment thing and, not only that, they weren't face to face. But now? She'd said it again which meant she was serious about it. About her.
Then there was the fact that it didn't come straight after a siege from the Banished. A calm environment for the most part where her feelings were aired out, truly aired out.
Of course, Ellen would be lying if she said she hadn't fallen for her as well. She doesn't remember when it started. Maybe it was before they all went into cryo, on that Shield World. Maybe it was after, here on the Ark. Or maybe it was when they met.
She honestly can't remember.
And it doesn't really matter. The heart knows what it wants. Who it wants.
Ellen's wanted the Spartan standing next to her.
Could they even make it work? A super soldier who, for the most part, was emotionally stunted and a regular human who had a tendency to make even smart AI look dumb at times. Serina was proof of that. There was a reason they'd come to hate each other.
So for the first time in who knows how long, Ellen chose not to be cautious with something. Hell, when it came to this, she'd shove it into the nearest ODST drop pod and launch it with no safety precautions. The professor moved her hand over the armored one still clenching the holo table.
"You can relax a bit. The feelings mutual, Alice."
The Spartan's face turned a deep shade of red at Ellen's words. "You mean-?"
"I do."
A sort of giddy, childlike excitement fills the Spartan's heart nearly to bursting. What should she say now? What should she do? A hug? No, she'd probably break Ellen's back because of her armor. Maybe a kiss, then? Yeah, yeah, that could work. Maybe.
Alice has no idea what to do. It's the first time she's been this way, nerves on fire and her heart feeling it could burst through her armor. It was always one battle after the next, never enough time to just... feel. So she feels now and God, not only is it terrifying, it's exciting. "I..." she starts, struggling to form a single coherent thought. "God, I, can I-?"
Ellen nods and Alice takes a deep breath, preparing herself mentally. And just as she starts to lean in...
"Professor?" comes Isabel's voice. Alice fights back the urge to grit her teeth. "I decoded that transmission, you're gonna wanna hear this. All of you will."
Then everyone else, the Captain, Jerome and Douglas, they all gather around Ellen and Alice. Both women try to hide their annoyance as Isabel plays the transmission.
"If you fail him one more time... I won't be able to save you."
"You worry too much, brother! What could go wrong?"
Everything. Everything could go wrong.
Voridus thought it was only a myth, a ghost story to keep the Banished away from High Charity...
Oh, how he was wrong. Curse his pride, his damned pride! It had unleashed a damned nightmare. Voridus watched helplessly as he struggled to fight his way through the horde he'd unleashed, his fellow Jiralhanae fall to the infection and rise once more as twisted, perverted creatures.
He had to contact Pavium. At this point, the parasite could take him as long as he could spare the Banished the cost of his hubris. If he could spare his brother.
"Pavium," he shouted into his comm piece. "Pull back! The legends were true, the Flood live!"
Nothing but static. Voridus roared in defiance as he continued to push forward, somehow having yet to fall, covered in the viscera and blood of the parasites, his anger and rage and desperation fueling him.
"-Dus?" came Pavium's voice. "What's going- Static- Overrun! Where are you!?"
Overrun? No, no, no no no!
"GET OFF OF ME!" Voridus shouted as he pulled an infection form off his armor, quickly crushing it as he continued to push his way forward. "Retreat, brother!" he said into his comm piece. "Don't wait for me!"