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Warrior Song 15

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Well, we made it to the end of this fic. This is not the last I'll write of Master Chief, but I may take a break for a bit. I think I managed to wrap up everything with this last chapter, but if you have any lingering questions, I'd love to hear them!

Now, let's get this lot squared away, shall we?

Warnings: Swearing, mention of injuries, little bit of politics, everything will be okay.

Word count: 2.7k

By the time you caught up to John, there were a group of Sangheili walking towards him. He didn't have a weapon in hand, so you figured it was safe enough.

“Master Chief,” the one in front greeted, silvery armor different from what you were used to seeing. “It has been a long time.”

“Arbiter.” Chief inclined his head, ever so slightly.

“You are a difficult man to find.”

Chief just shrugged. You held back your laughter.

“How did you find us?” Fernando joined you on your other side, subtly bracing you to help you get weight off your injured leg.

“There was unusual slipspace activity,” Arbiter said calmly. “Whoever was controlling the computer was sloppy - pieces fell through, and from them we were able to determine the coordinates of this weapon.”

You blinked. You’d gotten probably half of that, but you were also exhausted, so. Whatever.

“We have injured,” Chief cut in, fortunately not looking down at you. “Limited supplies.”

“I have enough to share,” Arbiter agreed easily. “I will summon aid as well from the nearest human ships. In the meantime, you must tell me what happened here.”

Chief nodded once, taking a step forward. Kelly (who had appeared from nowhere and nearly gave you a heart attack) ushered you and Fernando away, more or less gently.

“Kelly, what–?” You started to ask, frowning.

“You are supposed to be resting,” she reminded you. “I could always carry you.”

You huffed but didn’t object further. Okay. Fine. So she was right. But you wanted to know what was going on!

Somehow you ended up back in bed, pouting, a tray of food on your lap and Kelly making sure you and Fernando both ate. (Fernando opted to sit on the floor.)

After the third time you huffed at your food, Kelly huffed back at you.

“Keep that up and I won’t ask Fred for updates.”

You pouted harder but ate in silence.

Vaguely, you could hear the camp buzzing around you, excited voices and the stomp of feet and movement all combining into one continuous drone. You’d bet news of the Sangheili ships had spread fast. Or maybe they’d heard about the human ships coming to aid too? How long would that take? How long had you been asleep, even? Long enough for Arbiter to arrive, clearly, but how long had that taken?

“Stop thinking,” Kelly advised, poking your cheek.

“Easy for you to say,” you grumbled. And then paused.

Welp. You were dead.

Kelly huffed a tiny laugh. “So the explosion did knock the sense out of you,” she teased.

You had no defense for that, so you just hunkered down in your bed, ears burning. At least you weren’t as sore today, though probably still some level of dehydrated. Your thigh was definitely the worst of your injuries still.

“Why did you blow up Atriox?”

The sudden question from Fernando startled you, and you blinked rapidly as you refocused on him. “It seemed like a good idea at the time? And, I mean, it’s not like he was friendly.”

Fernando shook his head. “No, I know that, but why you?”

Oh. That was the issue. You swallowed, looking down at the blanket pulled up over your lap. “It’s not like I sat there and debated the pros and cons,” you started slowly, picking at a loose thread. “It just… happened. I was there. I had a grenade. Nobody else was close enough, and he was doing something, and I couldn’t think of any other way to stop him.”

Fernando perched next to you, taking one of your hands in his, ducking his head a little to meet your gaze. “Hey, hey, it’s okay, you got out okay, yeah?”

You sniffled once, hands starting to shake. “Only because of John,” you whispered, shaking your head a little. “It was dumb, but I couldn’t do nothing.”

Fernando wordlessly pulled you into him, one hand patting your back gently but a little awkwardly as you fought back tears.

“Here. Tea.” Kelly nudged you, ever aware of her strength, holding a mug until you took it. Fernando looked a little relieved, honestly. You couldn’t blame him.

“Any idea how long things will take?” You took a sip of the tea. A little bland, but warm and soothing.

Kelly shrugged, a monumental shift of broad shoulders. “Arbiter is chatty. Could be a while. Longer for ships to arrive.”

Naturally. You made a face but didn’t protest, just drinking your tea. You still felt unsteady, like thinking too hard about anything might tip you out of balance again. Logically, you knew you shouldn’t be surprised - you’d had a harrowing experience that was going to stay with you for a long time.

But logic was hard to come by when you were busy wrestling your emotions back under control.

The quiet was almost too much, after the stress of the last few days. But it was good, too - at least it meant there wasn’t any further excitement. Against your will, your head started to dip, eyelids growing heavy. The quiet was also very good for making you sleepy, at least when you were running on so little sleep.

Fernando pushed you to take a nap, promising he’d wake you when something happened.

So when you did wake up, bleary and confused, to someone sitting next to you, you thought it was Fernando.

“Go back to sleep,” John murmured, voice low and rough. A heavy arm settled over your waist as John laid down behind you, already dressed down.

“What happened?” you asked, voice still thick with sleep.

“Nothing yet.” He breathed out slowly, tickling the back of your neck. “Sleep.”

You huffed half-heartedly. You wanted more answers. But the furnace-like heat of him was soothing, his even breathing lulling you back to sleep before you could voice a complaint.

You woke next time over-warm, restless and finally alert again. It took a bit of doing to get out from under John’s arm, but you did it.

Only to find him awake, lips twitching with the barest of smiles, eyes bright with amusement. You dropped your head, torn between embarrassment and amusement.

“How long have you been awake?”

“Long enough.” He didn’t move, just watching you.

“Good, you can catch me up on everything that I missed yesterday.” You sat up carefully, mindful of your bruises and aches.

John shrugged, looking up at you while still reclined. “Nothing interesting.”

“Nothing interesting?” Your eyebrows shot up. “Somehow I doubt that.”

John shrugged again, though his lips twitched. He knew exactly what he was doing. “Arbiter has agreed to give us aid,” he said, either taking pity on you or deciding not to test your patience. “UNSC ships are on the way, but it’ll take time for them to get here.”

You nodded, not quite sure how you felt about that. You’d been away for so long, and then this Halo had become its own kind of existence. You didn’t know what would happen after this, anxiety rising at all the possibilities parading through your mind.

You breathed in slowly. You didn’t need to have all the answers right now. You were okay. You had time.

John was watching you, though he didn’t reach for you. He just watched.

You managed a little smile. “Breakfast?” Sure, you did both need to eat, but also you needed out of this conversation and out of your head.

That got him moving, and it wasn’t long until the two of you were walking to get food. Your thigh ached, forcing you to go slower than normal, but you grit your teeth and worked through it. John didn’t offer to carry you, which was good because you probably would have hurt yourself smacking him.

It was odd to see Sangheili around the base, standing taller than most everybody else. They kept out of the way, mostly, though a few of them had humans with them. You couldn’t hear the conversations, but you imagined mostly it was to do with supplies. Probably.

John still attracted stares, as always, and you could just hear murmurs rippling through camp about the encounter with the Endless. How anybody knew, you weren’t sure, and you weren’t sure you cared to find out. It didn’t really matter, anyway. Soldiers were terrible gossips, so the story was bound to get around and probably even grow.

But he wasn't the only one attracting stares.

You finally caught on when someone ahead of you in the chow line actually stopped and turned to look at you. Not at John. At you.

“John,” you whispered, gaze flitting from person to person, uncertain.

“Ignore them,” he muttered, gaze flicking down to yours before he gently nudged you forward.

You frowned but didn't say anything more, just getting your food and then finding an empty table. The stares bothered you though, in a way they never had when it was just John people stared at.

And then Fred plopped down next to you, making the bench shudder under his sudden weight, the bulk of him blocking most of the rest of the room from your view. The arm he threw over your shoulders helped.

“Good to see you awake,” he rumbled, flashing you a smile.

“Thanks.” You relaxed, finally doing more than just poking at your food. “What did I miss?”

“Oh, not much.” Fred smirked down at you. “Just that you became a legend.”

You choked on your bite of food. There were several moments of flurry as both Spartans tried to help, until you were no longer choking. “What?” You managed to ask, a little wheezy still.

Fred and John exchanged a look before Fred cleared his throat. “Well,” Fred started, unusually slowly. “Word has gotten around about your part in defeating Atriox.”

“I'm sorry, my what? My part?” You couldn't quite help the way your voice slowly went up in pitch.

“You did roll a grenade under him,” John pointed out, entirely too reasonably.

“That was hardly anything,” you pointed out, gaze darting between the two Spartans. “I was mostly useless.”

“You survived.” Fred spoke quietly, almost gently, his gaze fixed on you.

Your jaw dropped a little and you looked between the two rapidly, not sure how you felt. How you should feel. Your head throbbed, too much too soon, and you shoved away from the table abruptly. It felt like every eye in the mess was on you as you walked swiftly out, palms clammy, breathing fast.

You didn't want any of this. You hadn't done that for recognition, or anything like that. You'd just wanted to help.

A call of your name finally jerked you to a halt, and you blinked rapidly. You'd made it almost all the way to the edge of camp, the Pelican not far from you. Fernando watched from the open door, hair extra ruffled.

“You okay?” He asked, brow furrowing in his concern.

“Just…” You shrugged, hands flapping uselessly at your side as words failed you entirely.

Fernando didn't push. Instead he stepped down onto the grass, walking over to you. He looked at you, closely enough that you weren't sure what to think, before he nodded once.

“I see you learned part of why I avoid the mess.”

That startled a huff out of you. “I think so,” you agreed, dry but more settled.

“Come on, got some rations here.” Fernando dropped his arm over your shoulders, leading you into the Pelican. “Did Chief bother to catch you up on the actual news?”

“I think so,” you murmured, settling easily into the copilot seat and taking the bar that Fernando handed you. “We're getting supplies and stuff from the Sangheili, and human ships are on the way to us.”

“That's about it,” Fernando agreed. “Joy says it shouldn't be more than a week.”

“Right!” Joy popped to life between the two of you with an easy smile. “And then everybody will get to go home!”

Home. The thought filled your chest with an odd ache. You weren't ready to think about home yet. “But we've had so much fun here,” you snarked. “What are we doing about the remaining Endless?”

Joy shrugged, though the look she shot to Fernando was almost worried. “I don't think that's been decided yet.”

“You are doing nothing,” Fernando scolded, even as he held out a canteen to you. “You are staying where it is safe.”

You snorted. “I'm staying with John.”

Fernando eyed you, clearly debating if he could win an argument. His lips twitched. “Stubborn.”

You laughed quietly. “What's that old saying? Pot something kettle?”

Fernando just snickered at you. “Finish eating,” he ordered you. “And drink more water.”

You blinked at him, momentarily nonplussed. “Since when did you get bossy?” But you took another bite of the bar.

“Since things keep happening and you keep getting hurt.” Fernando watched you to make sure you ate and drank before he finally looked away, satisfied.

Silence settled between the two of you, comfortable after all this time together.

You wondered if you'd still be able to find this kind of quiet after the rescue ships arrived.

“You know you're not going to end up alone, right?”

You jerked your gaze to Fernando, who wasn't even looking at you, but out at the view ahead of you both. It looked deceptively peaceful, with only a few lingering marks of humanity around.

“I don't…” You swallowed, not sure how to finish that sentence.

“Chief will follow you wherever you go,” Fernando continued. “And I'm with him. Pretty sure Blue Team follows him too, mostly. So you won't be alone.”

You breathed through the shock and revelation of that. You'd unpack that issue another day.

“Neither will you,” you pointed out, giving him the same courtesy of watching the long grass sway.

Both of you pretended not to notice signs of high emotion in the other.

Heavy boots coming up the ramp made you both turn, watching as John approached. He didn’t say anything, just stood calmly between the two of you, one hand resting on your shoulder.

He didn’t magically make things better. The panic still gnawed at your chest, the ache in your thigh hadn’t abated, and the dampness under your eyes hadn’t suddenly gone away.

But you felt better, anyway. Just having John at your side helped.

Things weren’t okay, and possibly never would be. But you were all alive.

That was enough.

–

It took a week for human ships to arrive.

Arbiter had led an assault against the remaining Endless, with Blue Team of course. You stayed behind, with Fernando threatening to sit on you. You did hear afterwards that there were fewer Endless than anticipated. Kelly seemed relaxed… except for the tap of her fingers against her thigh.

But there was nothing else to be done. If some Endless somehow managed to get off the Halo, nobody knew how, or where they had gone. There was nothing to be done.

It took a little time to arrange evacuation - the wounded went first, then everyone else. Chief, of course, insisted on being on the Pelican, along with Blue Team and yourself. Fernando, of course, was piloting.

You personally made sure Lindsay and Carter got on board a ship.

It was odd, seeing the base so empty. Not many were left beyond a few Sangheili and the last of the survivors of the Infinite.

“Strange, isn’t it?” Fernando murmured, unconsciously mirroring your thoughts, even as he stood next to you.

“It is.” Your lips twisted in some complicated expression. You wouldn’t miss life here. You’d never miss those months of fear and cold and survival. But all the same… “Just as strange to suddenly be going back.”

Fernando hummed soft understanding. “It’s not all bad,” he said with a little teasing nudge of his elbow to your ribs.

“No,” you agreed, hearing John coming up behind the two of you. “Not all.”

“These are the last to board,” John informed you, one big hand settling at your waist. “The Pelican is loaded.”

You breathed in deep, slowly. This Halo truly was beautiful.

Maybe someday you’d be able to look at long grass and flowers again.

“Let’s go,” you said, turning away from the view to look up at John, staring into the familiar gold of his visor.

Even though you couldn’t see his expression, you knew he smiled. Just a little. Just for you. “Together.”

#warrior song #master chief x reader #john-117 x reader #f!reader

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