Inside the broken down warehouse were large amounts of weapons, munitions, and other generic supplies one needed to keep a large operation running. By the looks of things this place had been in use by the rebel organization for quite some time and had undergone large amounts of repair and modification. The only lights that werent very dim came from under the sheet metal wall of the "Lab" where they were prepping for their latest test.

There was a metal grinding sound as a garage door opened to allow a small flat bed truck into the building. On the bed was strapped Tavish with as many fiberthread steel cables they could fit over him. As it came to a stop almost everyone came out to look, as well as an older man in a blood stained lab coat and dirty gloves.

Tavish peeked one eye open slowly, looking around at the people crowded around him. "God I haven't been this stared at since that girl pounced on me in the chapel's confessionary" he grumbled, loudly enough for everyone to hear him. "Where's Sori!" he called out, trying to turn his head to look around him for any trace of the girl.

"Why im right here." Sori said as she swung around from the cab of the truck setting foot onto the truck's bed. She walked over to stand above him and look down at him. "And I wouldnt worry too much about being stared at. Soon it will be your innard's turn."

"Yeah, well that's wonderful and all" Tavish was getting nervous, which meant he was talking faster "But I have an itch..." He wriggled his head, managing against all the odds to expose his chin to Sori "I need it scratched. Please?" This was a truck... he was the damn expert on trucks, he needed to think about how to get out of this... and one of the first things they should have done was tied him to a truck bed. Now where were these cables tied to? He was scanning the cable's length under the pretense of showing Sori his itchy spot "Right there."

"Oh, sure thing hun." Sori said as she stepped over to the side of his head instead of standing above him. She looked down as if to inspect his chin and then promptly kicked it full force with her boot. "Did I get it?" she asked with sarcastic concern.

It took Tavish a moment, then he said in obviously fake, but none the less well played surprise "Oh, I'm sorry, you did something? I forget that I'm a Spartan sometimes. I mean I've walked through AIR STRIKES and not felt anything." That was a lie. He'd DRIVEN through air strikes and not felt anything. He turned his head, then grinned lecherously up at Sori "Ummm... try again. Go on. I've got a great few from here." His hands were creeping as he spoke, squirming slightly beneath the cables and trying to grasp hold of one without anyone noticing.

Sori smiled before hopping off the truck and walking over to stand next to the leader. "Go ahead and be smug now, because your going to have a hard time doing it when your being dissected."

The old man in the doctor's scrubs walked over to him and quickly jabbed a needle into his neck, injecting the concoction into Tavish's blood stream. "Let me know when you lose all feeling in your body and your brain feels like several pounds of liquor soaked cotton balls."

"Alright..." Tavish said as he gripped onto the restraint firmly "But... it will take ages for any sedative to work. And I was kinda wanting some questions answered before you decide to kill me and all. One of them has GOT to be... what colour do you want your casket?" He grunted as he flexed his muscles, knowing that everyone would now know what he was doing; but he was pouring his strength into it, concentrating as the sound of squealing metal filled the air and the weak joint he knew it was attatched to... gave way. The metal restraint came around like a whip, arching over Tavish's restrained body and aiming straight for the old man's head.

The old man dodged the flying part with unusual ease, as if he was used to having things thrown at his head by his "patients". After the dodge he answered all the questions. "I would like a green casket with a white lace interior. And yes, normally this would take a while if it even worked, but thats why I quadrupled the dosage for an average human before injecting it into you. The affects should be felt soon."

"Sounds nice" Tavish grunted, glaring at the man in front of him and blinking several times "Suppose you're going to dump me in one of the buildings huh?" He slipped his hands over to another restraint and took hold of it, but he knew the more he did this the faster the sedation would work but he had to try "Because I wanted to fight against the people trying to kill the human race? Seriously, what good will come from... any of this." He hesitated, his eyes shutting again as he tried to fight the sedation, flexing his muscles and trying to pull the next restraint free.

"Right now you are fighting those trying to save the human race." the doctor said as he poked and prodded Tavish, testing for response and other things. "What would happen if the Covenant regrouped? What about another Flood invasion? Or worse, a different more powerful aggressor attacks? The only reason we are alive right now is due to sheer luck, luck that will fail us the next time."

Sori spoke up this time. "We cant rely on the UNSC to protect us as you can see by the monument I showed you and the run through the destroyed section of the city. We cant rely on Spartans fully either as was proven on Reach. All we can do is rely on ourselves and the Government is preventing us from being able to properly defend ourselves. So we are going to find out what they did to you so we can do it to ourselves."

"That's... dumb" Tavish was having difficulty speaking, his eyes constantly closed now "We're picked... for a reason. Screened... If you do what they did to me to yourselves... you'll die. You think it's controlled... cause they don't want MORE victories? There are so few of us... because most of the world would DIE if this happened to them." He screwed up his eyebrows as his brain felt fogged "And... and you think you're the right people to win a war? Look at you... you've not had a single... day of training in your life." He was starting to slurr now "You'v... trickted an'... flirted... me 'ere. You think the... covy would fall for this?" He couldn't even summon the energy to shake his head "All... yur doing... is killin'... me."

"We know the screening process and most of the other important information." Sori said as the doctor started writing down notes. "You werent the first nor will you be the last. From what I hear your friends will be here shortly."

"Very... very dumb." Tavish mumbled softly "Killin' your own people... just to get info... so you can kill your own people." Tavish was trying to flex his muscles, burn the sedation out of his body; the faster he got it out, the faster he could get free. He had to keep talking, keep moving, keep his heart pumping fast. Luckily this came naturally to him. "Shame... I liked you thinkin'... that I wasn' a Spar... Spartan... felt nice. Not being a freak."

"You sound like you've never killed anything before. Dont play innocent with us, your more of a monster then any of us will ever be...other then the doctor." Sori said with a shake of her head. "And we never said that we were going to kill anyone, just defend our homes the way we should be allowed."

Tavish was weak from the sedative, but the laugh rattled the restraints with how hard it was "So you're going to capture... and kill!... all the Spartans you can... Gonna slice them open... stare at their insides... kill your own people with faulty... faulty tests and screenings... and then do nothing?" He coughed hard, straining his muscles and trying to burn through the sedation faster "You call me a monster? Who was... was the one who went out tonight... just wanting to make friends. To... to have a good time. An' who... whooo was the one" he swallowed, it was difficult to talk, his tongue felt heavy and melted at the same time "who came out... wanting to trap... to decieve... to kill me. A-and apparently!" again that laugh that made dust fall from the rafters "After all that! You're... you're not MONSTERS. You're not going to HURT anybody. Cause... cause I'm not a person am I? I didn't have parents... or'a broken heart... never cared... never happy. Nope. No. Tavissh... Redding never existed."

"Thats about the truth." Sori said as she signalled the doctor to hit him again with the sedative, she had grown tired of talking. "Your nothing but a living, breathing weapon that the UNSC throws at whatever doesnt do what they want done."

The doctor stuck him with another hit of sedative, a smaller dose this time so they wouldnt kill him now. "Oh dont worry. We dont intend on killing you right now. A dead body in this sort of facility wont last too long and we need you and your friends alive as long as possible." The doctor smiled a smile that seemed intended to be sincere and calming but just came off sarcastic.

"Lady I drive a tru-thhhh..." Tavish hissed as he felt the needle, that was deep enough to get through to him; he was tensing again, trying to squirm, do any kind of movement so he could burn through the sedative. He didn't want to pass out, he had to keep talking "You... you're going to do... terrible things to yourself. An'... an' I BET you're gonna... gonna blame me for it as well." He managed to open one eye, but it was unfocused, bleary, but still looking towards Sori "Did... did ya at least... like the meal?"

"Yes, as usual the chef cooked the blowfish perfectly." Sori said with a nod of her head and for a second, through Tavish's blurry vision, it almost seemed as if she regretted doing this, but the flash was gone as quickly as it showed up and she went back to hardened guerilla.

Tavish couldn't see, couldn't concentrate on the girl's face. He was too out of it, his eyes looked as if they had died already, even his struggles had slowed down. "Good... good good..." he said weakly "Wish I'd... had a last request." With that he went silent, either through the sedative or just difficulty finding anything else to say... Or perhaps torture, his breath had gone down to almost unnoticable, his body almost dead on the truck.

"Prep the room and get all my tools cleaned. It wont be much longer." The Doctor said as Tavish succumbed to the drugs.

---

When Tavish awoke he was strapped down to the table, which seemed like a unneeded precaution as he was unable to move anything below his neck. If he were to look around he would see that the room looked much like a surgeons stations with more scientific devices then necessary. There was no one in the room with him right now other then Sori.

"So, the great warrior awakens." Sori said with a smile that could have been genuine.

"Hey" Tavish said weakly, giving the room a once over before turning his gaze on Sori; it wasn't hard, it wasn't hatred or disgust, it was just... a stare. It was as close to the thousand yard stare as you could get when the person wasn't quite mentally broken "So... you kept me alive huh?" He tried to move his hands and feet, shuddering slightly as he realised he couldn't; his eyes closed for a moment, then he opened them again and stared at Sori "Is it paralysis or sedation? Please... let me know that much..." He was worried that in order to get him to not move they'd actually paralysed him from the neck down...

"Its sedation, the good doctor hasnt even started yet." Sori explained simply, "Something about his bone saw shorted out and he had to go locate another one."

"Well" Tavish gave a weak chuckle "Machines do love me..." He sighed slightly, his eyes always on Sori, just staring at her "So... do you have a grandmother?" He didn't know what to say really, and calling her a traitorous lying cow would get him in her bad books... So he was tralling through everything she'd said to him before, wondering if it was real.

"Oh yes, but she died a year ago. I live in her house since she left it to me in her will." Sori said as if remembering the old woman. "And yes, my parents really did die in the falling debris and that is why I got involved with this organization."

"Oh" Tavish said simply, eyes still staring blearily at Sori; he was silent for a while before saying "My parents think I'm dead. At least that's what I've heard; they never really told us what happened, they just... took us." He let out a gentle sigh, blinking slowly as he hoped the sedation wore off soon "I don't know if their alive or dead..." He let out a soft sigh and blinked a few times, trying to make the sedation wear off "Ummm... am I... am I naked?" He couldn't see further down, he was strapped to the table after all; he didn't like the idea of him strapped there naked in front of Sori. At least in front of Sori, who was going to kill him.

"Yes, but your covered by a cloth." Sori said with a hint of a chuckle. "Staring at imminent death and the Spartan only cares about whether or not he's naked."

"What else would you worry about if you couldn't move and you were being told you were about to die?" Tavish said simply, staring at Sori and trying to shrug; he didn't know if his muscles responded or not, but he tried. "Beg for my life? What would be the point? You've already convinced yourself I'm not human, already decided you have a right to take my life, why bother begging with a psychopath?"

"Oh, now name calling is such a childish thing to do." Sori said with a shake of her head. "And its not that you arent human, its that you are a weapon. You lost your humanity when they gave you all those augmentations and implantations."

"It's not name calling, it's the truth" Tavish muttered "If you're so emotionally distant that you can gaze at a man who you're about to kill and call him not human you're a psychopath. It's a scientific definition. And I think I am still human... still a man. You stop being a man when you stop caring, stop loving, stop learning and stop changing. What you see is physical, you look at me and all you see is a body. A body does not make a man, one of the greatest scientists of the twentieth century could barely move, but he was a man. You are condeming a spirit because of the body it is in."

"I am very far from emotionally distant. I feel fear for myself and my friends, and fear for my fellow man that is left unprotected by our governing body." Sori said with increasing anger. "I feel love, and hate, and fear, and all those emotions. So dont imply to know me."

"Yet you can look me in the eye and tell me I am a streak of nothing and you want to harvest my organs. You don't feel sadness at my passing, you don't even feel guilt that you're taking the life away from someone who went through years of torture just to try and save people like you. People like his parents, people that he just might love..." Tavish closed his eyes then, turning his gaze away from her, denying her his stare "If I am not human, if I am just a weapon, I did it for the same reason you say you are doing this. But my method didn't kill anyone. So at the end of this... when you have turned yourself into a weapon... will you let them do this to you? Will you let them strap you down and kill you without a fight? Or will they find once they go after people who know what's coming it isn't so easy? Once the people cannot be tricked into their hands, will their supply stop?"

"I dont want to harvest your organs and I cant say...." Sori trailed off as if she was unable to answer the rest of his challenge. "We will do what he have to do in order to acquire the ability to defend ourselves the way we should be able to. No matter what the cost or the sacrifice."

"And you say I'm not human" Tavish muttered darkly, still staring at his own eyelids "There's a reason we doubt ourselves. A reason they created Spartans in the first place; we might be a formidible fighter in battle, but we are the ones meant to stand up to the brass. Even monkeys have heretics in their clans, it stops the bloodlines from inbreeding too much. If they stick to one plan... never faulter... never think that maybe they should break away from the normal then people end up killing themselves." He let out a loud sigh "But then again they always beat that damn heretic monkey half to death for being different... So why should I expect any different?"

"How did this conversation get to monkeys?" Sori asked as she moved around the room starting to get some items prepped.

"My point is" Tavish sighed "You're beating on the guy who is necessary. You want to turn yourselves into Spartans? Kidnap a scientist, hack a computer, what do you really think you're going to find through killing me? You fear me... I know it... I don't like it but I know it, why else would you need to make me seem not human? I'm new, I'm different, so you both destroy me but try and become me as well. And never realise I'm just like you underneath it all."

"Oh yes, just like us. But with enhanced strength, agility, stamina, reflexes, mental capacity, etc all done by a grueling medical process and trained from a young age to kill and maim for the Earth." Sori said with much sarcasm. "Exactly like us."

"I said underneath" Tavish hissed, shaking his head and rolling his eyes at her "There you go again, physical, that's all you see. If they wanted a weapon they wouldn't have given us increased cognative processing; why go to all that trouble of getting a weapon that can disobey an order and do what they want when they could have spent all of that money on another big gun. They wanted us to be human, they want us to make decisions that no lifeless hunk of metal can." He had his eyes closed still, he wished he could have covered them with his hand, but either the restraints or the sedative was still pinning him down. "Look... why you?" he said finally, fed up with trying to reason with her; if he was going to die he wasn't going to wax philosophical. "Why, in the last few moments I might be consciously alive, do you decide I should talk to you? I would have thought you'd want to avoid me, what with me having a reason to hate you."

"Because, I didnt want you to think that we hated you." Sori said simply as if it was obvious.

"You don't hate me, you don't feel anything about this" Tavish pointed out as he kept settling there and just listening to Sori "I mean even if you did hate me that would be better... cause then I could hate you in return and we could all be angry at each other. You just... don't care. And I can't really get myself riled up when people just don't care..."

"I wouldnt say I dont feel anything about this." Sori mumbled softly. "I may not like the way this has gone down but I dont have much choice in the matter. It must be done."

"Not had any choice? You didn't even try talking to me" Tavish muttered, a hint of bitterness in his voice "And you had a lot of choice... you just never took it." He wished he could moved his hands, or at least feel something from the neck down; slowly he turned and watched her again, eyes gazing at her from the brightly lit table "Did you know straight away..? That I was a Spartan? Or did you figure it out when I handed over that card? Was there even a moment where you didn't think I was some kind of freak?"

"We knew that you and your friends were coming in today on the shuttle. We just had to make sure that we had our people spread out wide enough to catch you all." Sori said business like. "They went after your friends in the theater, the only one we had to work for was the big one."

"That's not what I asked... but alright" Tavish sighed again, rolling his eyes at her before staring at her "I don't get you Sori... you were so nice to me... so sweet. Yeah you had... some minor flaws but I actually liked you because you seemed honest. Then after you brought me here you started kicking me in the face and insulting me in front of everyone. The moment you get me alone though... you're all nice again. Well... which is it? Are you a cold hearted sneering bitch who mocks the man she tricked into liking her? Or are you a normal person, confused and afraid of an enemy they don't think they can defend against, just doing what they think is necessary, even though it makes them sick to their stomach?"

"Well its really a mix of all of that." Sori said with some pause, as though she wasnt sure herself what she was.

"You don't know what you are." Tavish projected the words, to get them driven home in her skull "You kick me and mock me in front of others, to make yourself seem big again, the moment I'm alone it's as if you're begging me to forgive you for what is going to happen to me... Come here." The last part was not a question, and it didn't sound as if he was expecting her to say no.

Sori was taken back by the fact that he had ordered her over to him, but much more at the fact that she suddenly found herself drawing closer to him. "What is it?"

"Come down here" Tavish said, jerking his head to the side to encourage Sori further down, trying to get her actually leaning over his restraints. It wasn't as if he could go anywhere, and thrashing out wouldn't get anything done, so why shouldn't she?

"I think I will stay standing," Sori said hesitantly. "I dont know how long that sedative was suppose to last."

"Come down here" Tavish groaned softly "Even if I tried anything I can't raise my hands. Seriously... I just want to look at you..." He was gazing up at her, frowning slightly but as if he was merely miffed at her resistance to a simple request.

Sori leaned a bit closer but seemed tense and ready to attempt a leap away should Tavish try and attack her.

"Down here" Tavish said softly "I need to look into your eyes... alright?" His own eyes were staring up at her, the frown trying to anchor her to the spot so she didn't just run away in fear. It wasn't as if he really could do anything. Maybe bite her, but that wasn't something he did outside of particular circumstances.

"Tell me what you want to say already!" Sori practically yelled. "If I get any closer I could see up your nose."

Tavish stared at her for a long time, then tried to shrug and closed his eyes, looking away "Just that I forgive you... I guess. That's all. I don't have it in me to hold it against you. You don't have to feel guilty about this... Though that doesn't mean I want you kicking me in the face all the time either. But standing above me in a skirt... that I wouldn't mind." He gave a cheeky grin, actually playing with her as he was strapped down to this table "To be honest I didn't get much of a look before, I just said it to tease you."

Sori gave him a look that was a blend of shock, shame, and disbelief. "You are a very strange one Tavish, I will definitely say that about you."

"Hell, I'm barely a Spartan" Tavish chuckled, grinning up at the woman who had condemned him to death "I just do the driving after all..." He met her eyes, lapsing into silence for a moment with that slight grin on his face. Finally he spoke up again, but it seemed his mind was having difficulty keeping away from one subject "Will you tell me before it's finally time? Will you let me have a last request?"

"A last request?" Sori asked as she stood back up, "And why would I give you a last request."

"You didn't have to, I just wondered if I was going to get one" Tavish said, giving a slight shrug and watching Sori as she stood up again, or at least trying to he couldn't feel much from the neck down. "It would be nice to be given that bit of human decency before I go, since a lot of it has already been stripped from me. I mean even if this was all done to me, I'd like to have a bit of humanity in my death."

"You make it sound like we are just executing you for shits and giggles." Sori said, "Your death will help save humanity, is that not a big enough gift as is?"

"If I was doing this willingly maybe, but then again I might still ask for one. Anyway... don't you at least want to hear what it is?" Tavish stared up at her, his eyes were shining slightly in the light; it wasn't impossible for Spartan's to cry, just unlikely. Or when it was fake, like now. "Anyway... there's no way you're going to stop with me. If you were you wouldn't go after my team mates right? You might as well be killing me for fun..."

"Fine! What is this last wish you have?" Sori asked so Tavish would stop.

"For you to lay with me" chirped Tavish, gazing up at the girl as if it shoulder have been obvious "Not... sex, I mean I wouldn't force you to do anything like that. It wouldn't be right. No just... lay there... with me. Just the feeling of a soft... warm... feminine body beside me again before I die. Just... a companion I guess? Pretend for a moment what it could have been like if I hadn't been turned into a Spartan."

Sori looked at him with disbelief, "No. Absolutely not. I cant even believe you woud suggest that."

Tavish shrugged slightly "I can't get a bit of human warmth before I'm killed? To be honest I wasn't expecting you to be over the moon about it... It's just what I'd want as a last request. To have someone hold me before the last moments, to just feel that there was... someone there before I died. I've never had anyone there. They never let us have that. One of the worst things they take away after you get turned into a Spartan, other people."

There was silence in the room as Sori said nothing, just turned to face the far wall. There was a faint sniffling noise.

"Don't cry" Tavish said gently, his cheek twitching slightly as he tried to smile at the girl "Come on... that's meant to be my job right? You're still going to walk away from this... I said I forgive you. You don't have to cry..."

"God dammit, cant you stop talking for five minutes!" Sori said as she whirled around to face him, her cheeks streaked with tear trails. "Everything you say is designed to hurt me."

"Sorry... I've always been told I can't stop talking... You can come over here if you like" Tavish mumbled, immediatley going silent and turning to look at the ceiling. He hadn't meant to make her cry.... Well... not really. He was glad to see she wasn't happy, and maybe he had been a bit heavy with that stuff but he had meant it. He'd just stay quiet for now.

Sori's crying had slowed down as she walked about the room, pacing more or less. Occasionally she would pass an object on the counter and she would grab it and hurl it across the room. "Why do you have to be so same talkative?! The others were never as bad as you."

Tavish winced slightly as she threw objects, watching as they sailed above him and clattered or broke across the other side of the room. "I... like talking?" he said, hoping she'd take that as an excuse "I like knowing what people are like inside?"

Sori didnt reply, but seemed deep in conversation with herself. Asking and answering questions and pacing slightly. then she stopped and looked hard at Tavish before quickly walking over to a cabinet and swinging it open. Inside it she grabbed a large, empty syringe and a bottle of green liquid. She started to fill the syringe, once she was done she threw the bottle back in and started towards Tavish.

"Tranquiliser right?" Tavish said, his voice full of dissapointment as he looked at Sori approaching "Don't do this. The dirtier your hands get the more you're going to blame yourself. Let the doc do it when he comes back. Right now just... I dunno. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry."

"No, this is the course of action I have to take." Sori said as she pushed his head away from her to gain access to his neck. She sunk the needle deep into his neck and into the muscle before she began injecting the liquid.

Tavish let out a small hiss as he was injected, turning his head back towards her and smiling weakly up at her as he did. He blinked slower as the time passed, finally opening his mouth and saying "Don't let this place... turn you bad... ok?"

The sudden weakness started to pass and strength started to return to Tavish's limbs as the liquid started coursing through his veins burning away the sedative.

Sori began undoing the buckles of the straps, fumbling with the large buckles. "Damn that doctor and his unneeded caution. So many damn straps."

The last few came free with a hearty "plunk" though as the leather was ripped by Tavish waking from the sedative. He almost leapt from the table, landing firmly on his feet and gazing around the room with strong eyes, the blanket he was covered by slipped off and he was completely naked in front of her. Before she could get a moment to truly appreciate the augmentations of his body he swooped down and kissed her hard on the lips, grinning widely and gazing into her eyes. "Thank you so much Sori... Now... no, no time for that" he grinned and kissed her neck suddenly, his grip was almost holding her off the floor "Mmmm... you gotta get out of here. Get somewhere nice... somewhere out the way where you can start again." Tavish seemed a bit hyper after the sudden slowing down, as if getting feeling back in his limbs made him want to use them more.

"First I have to get you out of here. If I dont lead you around the patrols and scouts you wont make it more then a mile before--" BANG! Suddenly Sori lurched forward with a dazed look on her face as she looked down at her stomach where a wet, red patch had started growing around a hole in her shirt. "Huh." She muttered as she touched the patch and pulled her fingers away red. She slumped forward against Tavish and tried to grab a hold of him.

"Traitorous bitch!" Said the Leader of the group as he pointed his pistol at Tavish. "Good thing we showed up when we did or this whole thing woulda been for nothing."

"We still have to get him back on the bed, strapped in, and sedated." The Doctor said as he moved through the group to stand in the front. "Get the Tranquilizer gun."

Tavish stared down at the girl against his chest, blood soaking down his body slowly from her chest. He immediatley picked her up, placing her on the table and wrapping the sheet that he'd been covered in around her middle. He might be able to stop the flow long enough to save her somehow. "Come on... not another person... not like this" she heard him muttering as she finished the tight knot. It seemed that the others had finally finished talking as well... He turned around on the spot, staring hard at the figures at the other end of the hall. His hand came around, picking up the empty tool table beside Sori's prone figure and throwing it straight at the leader. He would knock him out... or twist his head off... and take the gun. He'd hold the doctor at gunpoint and tell him to save Sori. Then he'd shoot the doctor and leave, hopefully with Sori.

There was a tap on Tavish's back and he could feel hard metal pressed gently against his back. There was then a faint voice that could be identified as Sori's, "Here, take this." In her hand was a 10mm pistol with a full clip. She held it behind him so that no one could see it.

Tavish's hand fumbled for a second, then the gun whipped around in his fingers, two shots ringing out towards the men on the other side of the room. Kill everyone but the doctor because he needed him to save Sori. That was his plan. He didn't need to guess the bullets would hit, the leader with the gun was getting the table he'd thrown in the face. He trusted his aim, the doctor would not fall until after he was done. He just needed to get the doctor alone first.

After Tavish's two shots rang out and two men fell, all hell broke loose. There was a loud boom from one side of the warehouse that was quickly followed by more gunshots. The men infront of Tavish broke into disarray, running this way and that seeking cover. The doctor seemed to have vanished before the two men's bodies had hit the floor.

"Dammit" Tavish shuddered slightly where he stood, looking down at Sori. That explosion... it wasn't a coincidence. The others were coming for him, he had to keep Sori safe. He moved down to her side, one arm over her body while the gun waved towards the door. He was still naked, covered in blood but he was trying to protect Sori "It's ok Sori... it's ok... We'll get you some care, the others are coming to help me. We'll get you to a hospital."

Sori laughed a weak, barely perceptible laugh before she started coughing, blood flecking her lips. "Im not going to make it and we both know it."

Aaron spotted the first of the rebels running for cover and immediately started spraying the area with fire downing one or two before they reached their destinations. "Shaft! Shaft are you here?" He yelled as he reloaded.

"Out back!" Tavish yelled "We've got a man down here! Don't worry" this was to Sori "We'll help... we'll get you a transfusion. Hell, you might get some Spartan in you after all..."

Several men and women came in from another door at the back and quickly filled in the spots the dead men once filled. As they came in the bullets started flying heavier, beating relentlessly against the large metal door that Aaron was holding.

Aaron was starting to swear most ungentlemanly as a bullet grazed his leg. "I just got this damn uniform!" He yelled as he put four bullets into some unfortunate person.

---

A shot came from outside and the sound of breaking glass followed it. Spook had been aiming at one of the men, but her scope was off, it struck the shipping container he'd been hiding behind and therefore she'd missed. After a few expletives and a quick adjustment of the scope she fired again, expecting that she'd righted the issue.

---

Despite his lack of armor, Scorch stepped out from behind Aaron and his door shield and started laying waste with the AA-12. Multiple shotgun blasts resounded through the air, sending shards of wall panelling and body parts flying as the automatic weapon unloaded it's impressive clip

---

Though Spook's second shot was more deadly than the first she'd struck the man in the back rather than the back of the head. Another quick adjustment and her third shot hit home, causing the man's skull to effectively expose, putting him out of his misery. Now that she'd calibrated her weapon properly she began unloading single shots into every head that was unlucky enough to pop up to try and shoot at Scorch.

Through her scope Spook spotted a man that stood out above all the others. He was a much older man wearing a medical lab coat and was looking this way and that as he moved quickly and quietly down an alley-way on the other side of the warehouse.

---

As Spook's support fire began to take on rebels left and right, their resolve began to shake and more of them started running away. This gave Aaron much better targets to hit till they all cleared out. As quickly as his caution would allow he rushed to where Tavish had called out. "Who's hit?" He asked as he saw both Tavish and a young Japanese girl covered in blood.

Tavish nodded to Sori, frowning down at her. She was still alive, he could tell, but she was bleeding fast... They had to get her somewhere, and quickly. "She let me out" he said as he looked back up at Aaron "I... I was talking to her and she let me free. I can't just leave her behind..."

"Who's askin ya to?" Scorch asked him as he loaded a new clip into the AA-12. "Please tell me there's more to shoot." His smile was quite sadistic as he begged for more targets.

"Shut up and help me get her out of here. And find me some clothes" tavish didn't fancy running into a gunfight naked, or anywhere naked. He had blood on him but that wasn't coutned as decency. "Violence..." Tavish muttered under his breath as he began to wheel the table with Sori on towards the doors, moving quickly and hoping that no one sprang out at them.

"Scorch go find his clothes if you can." Aaron said as he slung his rifle over his shoulder. He walked over to the table with the girl Tavish said helped him out. "How did they get you?"

"Later" Tavish muttered, trying to wheel Sori out by himself with one hand still clutching his gun. "No time for a debriefing now" he was slightly unsteady on his feet, but he needed to get her out and to the hospital. "How did you get there? Is there a car?" driving, that he could do, he could drive her there quickly.

Scorch shook his head and went in search of what Shaft had been wearing. He couldn't believe the guy had managed to get himself captured and entirely disrobed. He himself has been close to being captured, but still, at least he wasn't naked.

"No car, we had to hoof it here to avoid the security patrols." Aaron said as he started helping Tavish move the table through the warehouse. "I can call for Emergency help since we have the place cleared now." Instead of waiting for Tavish's opinion he went ahead and called for medical help immediatly.

"Here that?" Tavish said in a faux cheery voice to Sori "You've got help coming real soon. We'll get you all fixed up I promise!" He looked around, hoping that aid would just spring out the ground.

Sori did not speak nor move with the exception of her chest rising and falling shallowly. Her skin had paled exceptionally and the blood around her wound had widened.

Aaron came back from calling for help. "They said they will send immediate aid to our location and that they should be here within a minute or two. I also got a call from Spook saying she caught someone fleeing the scene that may be of interest."

"I hope she catches him without taking anything vital off, it's probably one of the heads of this place sneaking out while everyone else is dying..." Tavish swallowed hard and stared down at Sori "S-sir..." He was falling back on protocol, something that was almost a comfort to him "We're universal donors right? Well... they have some medical equipment here. Could I give her some of my blood to keep her alive?" He'd need help finding the instruments he knew, he'd need Aaron to search with him.

Aaron turned to look at him and his face showed a sadness of knowing something bad is going to happen no matter what. "Do you know how to work the medical equipment, or where the blood veins in your body is?" He walked over and put his arm on Tavish's shoulder. "We have done all we can for her, we gotta leave it up to the medical people to keep her alive once they get here."

"Here" Tavish tapped his forearm, he knew where to inject on the arm, he was a front line man and had seen way too many people on his vehicles getting the same treatment. "And the stuff is easy to work, two needles, one in my arm one in hers. Come on, we have to TRY!" He didn't like the idea of just giving up, he didn't like that he was still naked, he didn't like that Sori was dying...

Aaron turned to face the general direction of the rest of the warehouse "SCORCH! How are you coming with those clothes?!" Figuring that solved that problem he turned back to Tavish. "How do you know your blood wont kill her? We are altered a good amount and not exactly a normal person."

Scorch came back with a shirt and pair of pants slung over his arm. "Doubt they're his, but I guess they'll have to do. Everything else is filled with holes."

"I can't try?" Tavish looked desperate, staring up at Aaron with more emotion than most Spartans would dare to show. He wanted to save her, he wanted to try, and even if his blood did kill her... she would probably die anyway. This way he could try.

"If you try you could end up killing her yourself and take away any chance she may still have." Aaron said, trying to keep his voice in check as to not offend Tavish. He didnt know why Tavish cared so much about this woman, except that she had undid his restraints.

The sound of sirens and hum of engines could be heard faintly, but quickly getting louder as the emergency vehicles scurried to get to the Spartan's location and render any aid possible.

Tavish practically sighed with relief as he heard sirens; he went to move towards the door, stopped, moved back towards Scorch and almost snatched the pants from him. With a hurried "thanks" he started to put them on, the blood rather helping him slide into the ill fitting pair. He just hoped they could do something for Sori... he also hoped that their time off wasn't cut down.

As the Spartans step out of the warehouse the medical vehicles showed up, several cars and two Hornets. A few UNSC vehicles showed up as well to round up any rebel stragglers. Three medics with a gurney hurried over to Tavish and Sori and quickly transfered her over to the gurney. "Are you to accompany her?" he asked Tavish as the started off.

Sori didnt give him an option as she weakly reached out and grabbed a hold of Tavish's shirt.

Tavish was about to say yes anyway, simply nodding at the medics as he almost choked up right there. He reached out, smiling slightly and taking Sori's hand as he saw them starting to put plasma into Sori straight away. She'd get her blood back... she could start to recover, hopefully.

As Tavish left with Sori Spook came through the building with a what looked like an old medic which peaked Aaron's interest. "What's your story for this one?"

Spook still by the scruf of his coat, but she pushed him toward Aaron almost hard enough to knock him off his feet. "Caught ya fish boss. It's chatty too."

"Ooooooo fresh meat, can I riddle him with bullets, Sir?" Scorch asked Aaron when he saw the doctor. To emphasize the point, he brought the AA-12 up to center the barrel with the man's chest. One pull of the trigger and the poor man would be blasted in half.

"No good killin' him before he's talked Scorch." Aaron said as he grabbed the man, painfully tight. "Im pretty sure that the UNSC will have plenty of questions for this geezer." As he said this he waved over a few armed soldiers.

"So you must be Lil' Scorp, or Aaron as that is your real name." The doctor said as he looked him up and down about the same way he did Spook. "They sure didnt do your size any justice in their description of you." He then turned around and looked at the man wielding the shotgun. "And your Scorch, the groups pyromaniac."

"I prefer to think of myself as a close quarters combat specialist." Scorch explained, lifting the AA-12 to emphasize. "Not a flamethrower, see?"

"Yes," Spook said. "He's the pyromaniac. You'd cream yourself if they figured out a away to get that shotgun of your's to spray flame, wouldn't you Scorch?"

The two UNSC marines came over and too posession of the doctor. "We'll take him back to the compound and do a little questioning." As they turned and walked away the doctor looked back at them with a smile, "See you all soon."

---

The medics loaded Sori up into the Hornet and pointed to a seat near her for Tavish. From the frantic and hurried talk and actions of the medics it was clear that she was still in danger.

Sori rolled her head over to the side to look at Tavish and she attempted to smile but ended up wincing in pain. "Look at you. Big, bad Spartan fawning over a stupid little girl." she said weakly, barely able to keep her eyes open.

"Hey now" Tavish was trying to keep her spirits up, smiling down at her and squeezing her hand "Don't sell yourself so short. You're a sweet girl, a wonderful girl..." He was trying to keep her talking, keep her awake "A kind girl... Anybody would be lucky to be with you Sori. Come on, stay awake, you're too strong to give in right now."

"You make it sound like...like im not fighting with every ounce of strength I have left." Sori said before she went into a small coughing fit. By the time she was done, blood specked her lips. "I just want to know that I did good by you before I die. To know that the one last bit of good I did in my life was worth seeing the end of it so soon." As she spoke the medics began to grow more frantic as her vitals began to drop.

Tavish never let his eyes leave hers, but he offered the hand not holding her own to the medics, telling them to plug him into her. He didn't care, they were either universal donors or it would make her last moments pass quicker, either way would be mercy. "You did good by me Sori" he said softly to her "No one has ever shown me better..." He squeezed her hand softly, staring down into her eyes "But you can't give up alright? You have to keep fighting. You can't give up now we're so close to saving you."

"Im not giving up, im just....taking a small break." Sori said faintly before she seemed to pass out.

As the medic began to prep Tavish to try a minor transfusion, the alarms started going off. He quickly abandoned that task and began charging up the paddles. They hit her with the jolt of electricity that arched her back with no other affect. They did this over and over several times before the medic stopped and declared her dead. Sori still had a hold of Tavish's hand as she lay motionless on the gurney.

Tavish let out a shakey breath, leaning over and resting his forehead against her own, eyes closed as he practically willed some life force into her. He sat back, a weird half smile on his lips as he watched Sori on the bed, still holding her hand; he had been around too much death in the back of a moving vehicle to cry, but this still made him sad. They were Spartans, they were here to save people, he couldn't even do that; he was barely a Spartan.

---

An odd streak of white passed threw Spook's scope and she pulled the weapon away from her eye to get a better look. It was some guy in a lab coat... Well he looked certainly more suspicious than the goons who's brains were splattered all over the inside of the warehouse. Mr. Labcoat disappeared from her sight quickly and she reasoned that he was making an exit toward the back. Not if she could stop him that was. She slung the mouser to her back and broke from her location and sprinted along the rooftop of which she was soon running out of. Forgetting completely that she had no armor with which to amplify her jump, when she came to the ledge she vaulted, sailing threw empty space and realizing quickly that she'd not go nearly as far as she intended. She fell short of her landing place and reached for the ledge as it came towards her. The only thing that passed threw her mind was My arms aren't long enough... shit

Spook slammed into the wall of the building and slide down the wall till a window ledge presented itself which she was able to grab a hold of and stop her death guaranteed drop.

Spook unintentionally put her arm threw the glass as she reached for the ledge. She'd stopped her fall but earned a tremendous gash in her left palm. She ignored if for now, opting to hoist herself up and smash the stock of the rifle into the remaining glass to allow her access. The building was in disrepair but there was a door across the expanse and she took to foot, looking out the windows for the lab coated man as she ripped a strip of cloth from the hem of her shirt. Her eyes glanced for the "doctor" while she wrapped the wound and prepared to barrel threw the door at the other end.

Right before Spook barreled through the door it was swung open leaving the Doctor poised to catch her charging body.

Spook slid to a halt, mere feet from having bowled the doctor over. She pulled her auto-mag rather than one of the two pistols she'd acquired at the shop. "Stop right there white coat." She ordered and in her next breath initiated her comm to speak with Aaron while holding Lil'Buddy on the doc. "Boss, I caught someone fleeing the scene. I'm assuming you'd like to have a chat with him."

The Doctor stood infront of her looking tired from running but not worried about having a gun to his face. "Hmmm, another one of you Spartans. It seems like your kind are crawling out of the woodwork like roaches." He said as he looked her over.

"Yeah? Well we're about to crawl all over your ass." Spook told him. "Why don't you about-face and we head on back over to that building you ran out of?" It wasn't really a request because Spook spun the doctor around and grabbed him by the scruff of his coat and began leading him ahead of her so he couldn't make a break for it.

"You seem to be a much better specimen then your friend that was on my table." The doctor continued, "And I was really hoping to see the clockwork behind the large one you call Aaron."

"I'm glad all we are to you are a bunch of cogs and wheels." Spook said still leading the doctor by his scruff as they headed down the stairs and to the street level of the building.

"Arent we all just cogs and wheels?" The doctor asked cryptically. "Everyone is built different but yet the blueprints are the same. You and your team, however, have been rebuilt with aftermarket parts that many a person are dying to get their hands on." He said as they passed the corpse of one of the rebels.

"I'm glad you're so chatty about it." Spook said, stopping the doctor short of crossing the street so she could check things out before crossing. "You can tell my boss all about it soon enough." Detecting no one on the street or in the surrounding windows Spook dragged the doctor forward, sprinting across the street to slip into the building.