Chapter Text
And just like that: the war was over. They returned to Earth, shook the hands of Admirals and Generals from all over the galaxy. The award ceremony itself took all day, and John stood stiffly for the duration, feeling out of place in the dress uniform someone had procured for him. The rest of Blue Team stood in similar stages of discomfort beside him. They only spent three days on Earth before being assigned a new mission- even though the war was over, there were still Covenant holdouts and Insurrectionist splinter groups that needed to be eradicated. And with plans for mass demilitarization throughout the galaxy- finally, soldiers could return home- the Spartans were first on the list for assignments. None of them had a home to go to. There was no home for a Spartan, other than the battlefield.
John was sure that somewhere, some ONI brass were meeting to decide their fates. Whether the surviving Spartans would be reassigned, forced into desk jobs, or even decommissioned, John paid no heed. He was grateful for these final missions to keep him busy, even if he did lay in his bunk at night and wonder what was next. It was one such night that he lay there, staring at the slats of Linda’s bunk above him, listening to Fred and Kelly whisper on the other side of the room, that he thought about his past. For the first time in many years, John considered the abstract concepts of his mother and father. Would they have survived the war? Would ONI declassify their files and send them back to where they came from? John tried to imagine returning to his family, living the rest of his life as a civilian. Would his parents want him? Would he want them ? He knew that his parents thought he was dead. He was okay with that- it had been over thirty years, their hurt would have faded. Likely they would have had other children to replace him.
A particularly loud snort drew him from his thoughts, and John lifted his head to glare at Fred and Kelly, who merely stuck her tongue out at him. No, he decided as he laid his head back onto his pillow. He wouldn’t bring up old hurts, even if they gave him the opportunity. They’d moved on, and John already had a family of his own.
Decision made, John no longer thought about what the future would hold… so it caught him by surprise when he finished a mission and found out it had been his last. “The Covenant is gone. We’ve cleared the last holdouts, and Sanghelios has agreed to mop up if any try to reform.” Captain Lasky told him during the debrief. “That was the last mission.”
“There’s always another mission.” Chief responded. “Do you know where Blue Team will be reassigned?”
Apparently that hadn’t been the reaction they expected. Both Sgt. Johnson and Captain Lasky looked up at him (he was so much taller than them, especially in armor like he was now) with twin expressions that, if John didn’t know better, he may have mistaken for pity. “We’re going back to Earth, Chief. We’re done.” But he drew a slow sigh and glanced down at a data tablet sitting on his desk, turned on and showing the front page of a file. With his enhanced eyesight, John could read ATHENA PROJECT emblazoned on it, but nothing more. “That being said, we may have something for you. It seems ONI was working on a project, its-” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter right now. You’ll be fully debriefed once we’re planetside.”
“Just me, sir?” John’s thoughts drifted to Blue Team, elsewhere on the ship. Would they have to be separated again?
“Just you.” Lasky confirmed. “But the mission isn’t top secret- they can know about it, if you’d like to tell them.” Lasky’s approval, all three knew, was really just a formality; Chief would not keep secrets from his own team.
Still. “Thank you, sir. Is that all?”
“It is, thank you.” Lasky glanced at Johnson, who so far had simply watched the proceedings. “Chief, if you do take this… mission. If you do take it, you need to know it won’t be like any mission you’ve undertaken before. As such, it is entirely voluntary. If you choose not to accept, you’ll be able to accept another position, whatever that may be. Understand?” His lips lifted into a hesitant smile at Chief’s nod. “Good. We have two days until we reach Earth- I suggest you take this time to get some rest.”
“Yeah.” Johnson chuckled to himself as the door closed behind Master Chief. “Because if he takes this ‘mission’, he’s going to need it.”
Lasky’s smile widened at Johnson’s joke. “That’s for sure. Do you think he’ll do it?”
Johnson pulled an unsmoked cigar out of his breast pocket and examined it for a moment. “I think he just might surprise us.”
Chief spent his two days almost exclusively within Infinity’s S-Deck, colloquially known as Spartan Town. Blue Team had less in common with the Spartan-IVs than with the IIIs, but there was well-won camaraderie there, and the several hundred Spartan-IVs that lived on the UNSC Infinity had been eager hosts. With no specific tasks, Blue Team was near-constantly engaged in some sort of war game or training exercise with a constantly rotating opposing team. Although many would not consider training to be relaxing, Chief could honestly say that he was having fun. It reminded him of when they were children; when the consequence of losing was missing out on a meal, and not losing your life. In between the games they discussed Chief’s upcoming mission. None of them knew what it was but they all agreed- if ONI was involved, it wasn’t going to be good.
The time passed quickly, and soon enough Blue Team found themselves being led into Chawla Base. Master Chief had never been here before, only come across reports that mentioned it. The base exuded a calm yet pressing energy- quite different from the constant buzz of The Hive. They were led through a winding series of hallways before entering an elevator. Even though the elevator appeared to be for industrial purposes, it was a tight squeeze with all of Blue Team, Sgt. Johnson, and their guide, Specialist Woulfe. She had red hair pulled flat against her head and into a serious-looking ponytail, as well as the equally severe ONI uniform. Despite this, her smile seemed genuine when she introduced herself to the group. She seemed much too happy for an ONI agent, humming slightly to herself as she pressed a solid black button on the elevator panel. It stood out against the green, blue, and red buttons arranged neatly around it.
“You’re in a better mood than when I saw you last, Woulfe.” Johnson noted as the elevator gave a single lurch before descending.
“The project’s going well.” She responded simply, and Chief watched from his spot directly behind her as she turned, looked him in his visor, and grinned once more. He couldn’t help but feel that he was missing out on some cue that made sense to everyone except for himself. Well, not just him. The subtle twitch of Kelly’s wrist on his right indicated the rest of his team were just as confused by her behavior. “Are you excited?” She asked him.
He had no answer, so he nodded toward the elevator panel. “Level Seven.”
Woulfe stared at him in confusion for a second but then it clicked, and she nodded rapidly. “Yes, well… the project was only recently declassified. All the- we haven’t had time to move everything to one of the upper levels. Since the end of the war, funding for many of ONI’s projects has been pulled. No sense building weapons we’re not going to use on anybody, after all.”
“Right.” John was saved by thinking of a better response by the clunk of the elevator sliding into place. Specialist Woulfe led the way into the darkness waiting beyond. It was only when the last person stepped off the elevator- Linda- and the doors began to close that lights began to turn on, each bulb positioned inside a glass compartment. Lights continued to turn on, until two rows of ten compartments on each side were revealed.
“What the-” Kelly mumbled into TEAMCOM’s frequency, and John was inclined to agree with her. The scene was eerily similar to their barracks on Reach except for one major difference: where the beds would have been, there were cribs.
“Don’t worry.” Woulfe assured them in that same cheery tone. “They’re empty.”
If it wasn’t for Chief’s respect and trust in Sergeant Johnson, he couldn’t say how he might have reacted. As it was, he spun on his heel to face the man who was standing only a few feet behind them. “I think you should tell me what exactly my mission is.”
Now it was Woulfe’s turn to glare at Johnson. “You didn’t tell him?!”
Johnson shrugged, unperturbed by the angry energy directed toward himself. “Wouldn’t have wanted to ruin the surprise. He might not have come otherwise.” Johnson lowered his gaze from Chief’s visor to Woulfe. With one casual hand, he made a shooing motion. “Go on. Keep walking.” She looked at him for a moment longer, bewildered, before turning back to the room. They’d made it halfway down the aisle of compartments before she spoke again. John used the time to examine each crib and saw that they were indeed empty.
“I’d apologize, Master Chief, but I’m sure you’re well aware of Sergeant Johnson’s lack of respect for the rules. He and Captain Lasky were given strict instructions to discuss this thoroughly with you before visiting the facility. I imagine you must be quite confused.”
“Yes.” Chief answered simply, wishing that she’d get on with it.
“Well, I suppose I’ll start from the beginning.” She came to a stop at the end of the row and gazed down into the last crib. Chief did a double-take when he saw that unlike the others, this one was not empty. A baby slept inside, wrapped in a pink blanket. Fred, who had been at Chief’s shoulder, stepped closer to gaze down at it. Linda stepped forward to take his place. “ONI had many secret projects, all working on stopping the war. This one was attempting to improve the cloning process. Flash clones are too volatile to let onto the battlefield, but regular cloning takes too long, and there’s not much benefit to just cloning random people.” She brushed a loose strand of hair out of her face. “At least, that’s what I’ve been able to gather from the files. I was only assigned to the project after the end of the war.”
“No more funding. So they canceled the project?” Chief surmised, glancing down at the child before returning his focus to Woulfe.
“Exactly. My job is to shut down the remains of the project, and find a home for every child. As you can see,” Her hand spread out to encompass the empty compartments. “I was successful. The war left a lot of parents without children.”
“But there’s one left.” Fred spoke up, pointing at the baby as if he was the only one who could see it. On his right, Linda’s shoulder pressed against his for hardly a second- she must have pieced together what John could not. What did any of this have to do with his mission?
Woulfe sighed and turned her gaze fully onto the baby. “Yes. One last child.” She spoke almost wistfully. “I assume you’re wondering where we got the samples. ONI didn’t just want to clone people, they wanted to clone soldiers. And they already had samples from humanity’s best soldiers. The Spartan-IIs.” She let the words sink in for a moment. “Every child was a clone of one of your teammates.”
If John were a normal person, he might’ve felt violated. As it was, he was only mildly unnerved by the idea of one day meeting a soldier with one of his sibling’s faces. He knew that the Spartan-IIs were little more than ONI property sold to the UNSC. Logically, it made sense they would seek to build on their investment. “What does this have to do with me? With my mission?” Would he be transporting the child to its new home? No, that would be too simple.
“We don’t have a mission for you.” She answered softly. She jerked like she’d wanted to put her hand on his arm but thought better of it at the last second. “What we have is an opportunity. The war is over. And with the success of the Spartan-IV program and the newly minted Spartan branch, the UNSC is seeking to distance itself from certain… morally exempt projects that ONI led.”
“Such as you all.” Johnson supplied. He was watching Chief carefully. “Given the opportunity, that is.”
Woulfe pushed on a section of the compartment and it opened with a near-silent whoosh. She scooped the still-sleeping baby up in practiced hands and came back out. Now that it was closer, John could see the pink face, and one hand drawn up to its neck. He could see the medical band wrapped around its wrist, and the numbers written in careful handwriting. 117-F .
“What?” The word slipped out between clenched teeth, more an expression of shock than anything.
“Master Chief… she’s your clone.”
He took a single breath. Then another. His eyes studied the baby as his thoughts whirled. He had a clone. That clone was in front of him. That clone was- “Why is it a girl?”
His voice must have been too loud- the baby began to stir. Woulfe chuckled under her breath. “Near as I can tell, there was an issue with the cloning process. I’m not a scientist, so it was mostly nonsense but… she’s a girl. Would you like to hold her?” Before he could formulate an answer, the baby let out a sharp shriek. It- she began to sit up from the pliant position she’d been in, and she grasped Woulfe’s shirt with both fists. Her eyes were on John’s visor, and they stared at each other.
The baby began to cry. First her face twisted and turned an uncomfortable shade of red, and then she buried her head in Woulfe’s shoulder. The harsh shriek muffled only slightly at the motion. Woulfe, on her part, looked sheepish. “I think she’s-” She patted the baby’s back and bounced her. “I think she’s frightened of your helmets.” The words were no sooner out of her mouth than Fred was reaching up toward his seal. After a moment Kelly did the same, then Linda. John hesitated a moment longer, before undoing his own. He held it awkwardly in his hands as Woulfe continued to pat the baby. “See?” She spoke softly, in a similar tone to the one from the elevator. She pointed at Chief. “All gone. It’s just Chief.” The baby’s cries stopped, and it turned back to John curiously. Apparently that was enough of a sign for Woulfe, because she stepped up to John and held it out to him. Instinct he hadn’t even known he had had him reaching out as the baby leaned forward, and suddenly she was in his hands. The first thing he noticed was that she was nearly the same length as his BR55, but heavier. He held her under her arms, which she apparently did not like. She began to squirm as John watched, and opened her mouth to cry again when she was interrupted by Johnson’s gruff voice.
“For God’s sake.” He was there in a flash, grabbing the baby out of John’s hands and adjusting his arms roughly before handing her over again. “You gotta support her. Kids like to be close to you.” She was now resting comfortably against John’s shoulder, in a similar manner to when Woulfe had held her and was examining his shoulder plating with curious fingers. John didn’t pay much attention to her, too busy looking down at Johnson. The rest of Blue Team was doing the same, and Johnson glanced at each of them. “What? You think a man gets to be my age and doesn’t end up with a few kids?”
“You once told me you were married to your shotgun.” Kelly pointed out.
“Well, a man my age also ends up with a few divorces.” Johnson waved her comment off. “What are you thinking, Chief?”
What was he thinking? John let the question roll around his head as he stared back at Johnson, who waited patiently. He wished Cortana was here- what would she say? Then again if Cortana was here, John was sure that Johnson wouldn’t have even considered this. Most likely it was because she was gone that this had even been considered. Holding the child felt strange- it wasn’t until this moment that he realized he’d never actually held a baby in his life. None that he could remember, anyway.
A tiny hand on his neck drew him from his thoughts and Chief turned to look at the baby, who had finished exploring his shoulder pad and had decided to get his attention. She razzed her lips and stuck her tongue out at him, babbling incoherently. For his part, John could only stare in confusion. “What did you say?” The question came out before he could stop himself, and Chief heard Woulfe snort.
“Chief?” Fred still stood by the glass but when John turned in his direction, he stepped closer. “Could I hold her?” The simple question took the group’s attention off of Chief as Fred stepped forward and plucked the baby from John’s arms. He held her with an ease that made John frown. How was Fred good at this? It wasn’t as if the other Spartan had held any more children than John had. “Hello~.” Fred cooed, grabbing the baby’s hand with his free one. “How are you doing today?” She made the razzing sound again and he mimicked it, much to her delight.
“She likes you.” Kelly, also drawn to the baby, stepped closer. “Linda, look! Her eyes are bluer than mine.” Linda huffed, as if she considered such a feat impossible and broke from John’s side to move next to Kelly. The awkward tension in the room had broken- and there were no longer so many eyes on Chief, waiting to see what he would say or do. It had never been something that bothered Chief before- he was a leader, people looked at him for answers nearly every day. But this wasn’t exactly mission planning. He knew he should say no; the battlefield was his life. And yet, as he watched his team, his family , fawn over a child that was apparently his clone… he found himself hesitating.
At some point, the baby got tired of being passed around between Kelly, Linda, and Fred. She was in Fred’s arms (Linda had lost holding privileges after experimentally holding the baby upside down. The baby had seemed to enjoy it, but Specialist Woulfe had not) when she began to fuss and reach for the ground. Obediently, Fred put her down, and Blue Team got a whole new surprise when she stood and began to hobble toward Johnson and Chief, who had been standing a few yards away. “Here she comes.” Johnson commented with a smile and squatted. She grabbed the hand he extended, and with one quick swoop Johnson threw her briefly into the air- Woulfe let out a panicked gasp- and caught her again. The baby’s squeal of laughter and subsequent babble was similar to when Linda had flipped her upside down, but it only distracted her for a few seconds before she spun to face Chief. She barely regarded him before reaching out with both hands.
“She wants you to hold her.” Woulfe prompted, and just like that the attention was on Chief once again. He took the baby carefully, trying to imitate how he’d held her before.
“What’s her name?” Woulfe hadn’t mentioned a name, he realized.
“Currently? Baby 117. They weren’t interested in names- or if they were, the file was destroyed before I took over the project.”
They left soon after that- Baby 117’s positive attitude had begun to dissolve into an overtired fit, at which point Johnson had announced they needed to get back to the Infinity . Chief was more than grateful, so much so that he let his shoulders slump once the doors to the elevator had closed. Even with their helmets on their heads once again, he could still feel his team’s eyes on him. “So…” Johnson broke the silence when it became apparent no one else would.
John could have punched him. “You said this was a mission.”
“It is. You just have to look at it the right way.”
“I won’t look at it any way.” Uncommon vehemence crept into his tone, though his volume did not change. “This was not a mission- it was a waste of time. We have important things to do.”
“So she’s not important? For god sake, she doesn’t even have a name . She’s got nothing in the world except for you.”
“She doesn’t have me.” Chief corrected. “Specialist Woulfe seems capable- she’ll have no trouble finding a family for the child.”
“And in the meantime, what will you do? Rot behind a desk?”
“There’s always another mission.” He retorted. It had become something of a mantra the past few months.
Johnson grumbled to himself, but made no further comment that John felt was worth responding to. The rest of the trip back to the Infinity was long and silent.
“Thought I’d find you here.” Captain Lasky’s voice bounced off the thick glass that made up the observation window on the far side of the room. “You’re a creature of habit, Master Chief.”
Chief stood by the window the way he had only a few months before. However, instead of turning around to greet his commanding officer, he only turned his head. “Captain.” He turned back to the window.
Lasky took that as an invitation and came forward until he was standing beside the Chief. “Sgt. Johnson told me about the meeting. I figured I’d come ask you personally.” He paused, giving Chief room to talk if he felt like it. “Are you going to turn down the offer?”
“I don’t like to feel tricked, sir.” Chief answered, glancing briefly at Lasky out of the corner of his eye.
“I know. I would have told you straight up, but Sgt. Johnson said this was the only way you’d consider it.” Lasky scowled at his reflection in the glass and shook his head. “No, I shouldn’t blame him. I’m your commanding officer Chief, and it was my decision. I’m sorry.”
That seemed to surprise Chief, if the minute shift of his helmet was anything to go by. “I’m still a valuable asset.” He said after a moment. Even without Cortana.
“I know!” Now it was Lasky’s turn to be surprised. “That’s not what I meant at all, Chief. I’m sorry if it came across that way. Trust me, I know you’d keep fighting until your luck ran out. But pretty soon, that might not be an option.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure how much you may have heard… but there are a few higher-ups, particularly in the UNSC, that have had it out for your Spartans. Mostly because of ONI’s involvement in the program- they think it makes the rest of the UNSC look bad. What with the Covenant, and everything you and- you and your team have done, it's never gone farther than a few Admirals complaining to each other. But now there’s no more war, and there’s hundreds of brand new, battle-tested Spartan-IVs picked from the UNSC, by the UNSC.” Lasky paused, shifting his gaze to Chief. “And now those few Admirals want to get you guys out of the way. Off the field. Whether that’s with your cooperation or… forcibly.”
Decommissioned, is what Lasky meant. ‘Shot like a rabid dog,’ was how Chief usually heard it phrased, when the offending parties thought he couldn’t hear. He’d come across many who despised the SPARTAN-II project, frequently to the detriment of the officer’s own men. It was hard to believe that the UNSC would go that route, but Chief had seen officers with more pride and arrogance than sense before. He was just lucky that Lasky wasn’t one of them.
“So, you’d rather we play it safe.” Chief rolled the concept around in his head. “And what if we do, and the Didact returns? Or the Insurrection?”
“Then I’m sure your team will be more than happy to be back in the field.” Lasky answered simply. “But until then… take this chance. Give yourself the one thing Halsey and the SPARTAN program never could.”
Lasky’s words sat heavy in the air. Chief let them, for a moment. “Okay.”
The captain seemed surprised. “Okay? You mean, ‘okay’ okay?”
“I mean, I’ll try. If it doesn’t work out, Specialist Woulfe can find someone else.”
Lasky huffed out a laugh. “Don’t admit defeat just yet, Chief. I’ll get the paperwork started- what with all four of you, High Command’s going to have a field day.”
“All four of us?” Chief repeated.
“Oh, yeah. The rest of your team told me they’d take the offer to retire- but only if you said yes.” Lasky’s smile told Chief exactly what the captain thought of that. “I’m not surprised they didn’t tell you.”
Chief… didn’t know what to think about that. He was so distracted that he almost missed what Lasky said next. “What’s that, sir?”
“I asked what you wanted to name her. She can’t be Baby-117 forever.”
John turned back to the window. Earth turned lazily below, and Chief tried to imagine what it would be like to spend day after day there. In the same place, the same roof over his head. He imagined having Blue Team there with him, like they had been for nearly his entire life. He told Lasky the name.
Lasky seemed taken back for a moment but nodded. “You’ve got it, Chief. Give it a few days- within two weeks you’ll be off this old boat, I guarantee it.”
“Master Chief!” Captain Lasky tore himself away from the computer screen faster than Master Chief had time to salute. The bridge was bustling with activity- every officer was working hard at their task.
“What is it, Captain?”
“We’re setting course for the Hestia system. There are reports of a Covenant splinter group massed there. They took out a squad of ODSTs and Spartan IVs.” His serious expression faded. “I’m sorry, Chief.”
Chief ignored the sentiment. He may have addressed it if they were in private, but here on the crowded bridge he had no inclination. “Blue Team will be ready.”
“I know.” Captain Lasky nodded and turned back to the NAV screen. Chief took the dismissal for what it was and retreated from the bridge to prepare for the long journey ahead. He very carefully set aside the mild disappointment that had wormed its way into his chest, then pushed it down and away. He was a soldier.