The Forbidden Way

Author: Lancealor Windsor

Summary: A female UNSC medic and an Elite fall in love. Will they be safe and saved or killed for treason by the UNSC or the Covenant?

Chapter One: What Just Happened?

Life was boring…life would be better if I joined the UNSC.

God, she was wrong.

The ship was under attack and going down: it was going to plummet to Earth. The only chance for anyone to survive was to get to the escape pods.

Too bad for her: her luck had run out.

Melody was pinned by a weapons crate and had possibly injured her ankle. She cried in pain as she clawed at her medical bag, but with all of her effort she couldn't bring herself out from under the crate. The more she struggled the more trapped she felt.

Overcome with a feeling of hopelessness she whispered to herself, "It's over…"

Looking back, Melody could see her uniform blanketed in ash. She tried to remain calm as she saw flames spreading rapidly.

A disembodied voice gave emergency evacuation orders in a bland monotone.

Melody hoped someone would find her…that was until she looked up to see a Sangheili glaring down at her. She screamed and tried again to lunge for her medical bag. There was a magnum somewhere concealed inside it she now desperately needed. She clawed and stretched but all of her effort was to no avail.

The alien stepped in front of her as she whimpered, "I don't want to die."

Closing her eyes, Melody focused on remembering her training to calm herself:

Melody Vovel; United Nations Space Command; Navy; Field Medic; Corporal; Service Number: 01479-65378-MV...

Her thoughts were broken as the Elite took hold of the weapons crate and lifted it off of her. As she looked up at him in shock, Melody noticed that his helmet and parts of his armor were missing. Before she had a chance to react, the alien snatched her up and threw her over his shoulder. Her ankle throbbed as she was unceremoniously hauled down the corridor toward the escape pods.

Melody found herself dropped onto the small floor space of a pod as the Elite stepped inside and pulled the hatch closed. The pods were designed to fit one person: a human sized person. It was a tight fit for the two of them. As he reached for the release handle the Sangheili gave the human at his feet a long look and Melody thought she saw regret in his eyes. Terror filled her as he grabbed her arm and pulled up against him. She could feel tears of pain and confusion fill her eyes as she fought back. She didn't understand what was going on; all she knew was she didn't want to die. Not like this: whatever this was. She feebly pounded on his armor plating and tried to wriggle from his grasp before she realized any attempt to get away was useless in such a confined space. He didn't seem to notice her struggling as he took hold of the handle and pulled.

The pod gave a loud hiss and Melody felt as if her heart lurched into her throat as it shot free of the ship. She was scared: scared the Elite was going to kill her once they made it to land; scared he had something horrifying planned for her…but, at least she would die on her world and not in space. At least there was hope her body would be found.

She looked up to see flickering lights playing against the Sangheili's face. The tiny escape vessel was so cramped with the two of them in it and Melody found the creature looked even more fearful up this close.

Explosions sounded one after another somewhere beyond the confines of their pod and the vessel grew as dark as space itself. For a while, all she could hear was the heavy sound of the Elite's breathing as she stared at his bare face. He paid her no attention as he appeared to watch the battle that was still raging outside the tiny window. It didn't seem to bother him that she was so close. Not that it mattered with the two of them crammed into such a small space.

Melody felt suddenly tired. Twelve hours of patching up wounded men and women. Most died while she lived…she hated that feeling of helplessness. Now, so many things had happened, there was a tangle of thoughts in her mind, and it was too hot in the little pod. Looking around, Melody realized her head only came up to the alien's lower chest, his forearms draped awkwardly around her shoulders for lack of room. She marveled at how tall he was. She had heard that Sangheili were as strong as Spartans. He had grown still and she looked up thinking he had fallen asleep but he was just staring out the little window.

Tired of thinking, she propped her head against his lower chest. The pod shuttered and creaked, lights flickered on and off, her nostrils were full of the smells of ash and sweat and…alien.

Then, she felt it. Turning her face to press her cheek against the Elite's lower chest, Melody could hear the Sangheili's hearts beating. It was a strangely calming sound, she thought that if this was how she would die then it would be alright for this to be the last sound she heard.

"If either of us survive the landing: this never happened," his spoke in passable English.

She was shocked: her first experience with a member of the Covenant and he spoke half-way decent English…and apparently saved her life, intentionally.

The question of why he would do such a thing, when he could have easily just left her to die, came to mind. But, she was too stunned to ask and worried it might make him angry, or worse: change his mind.

It was all too much to try to take in. Melody closed her eyes and let the rumble of the pod and the stead beating of the Elite's hearts lull her tired mind.

Within moments, she was jolted from her momentary peace as the pod began shaking violently. A red light started to flash and an alarm began to wail. The Sangheili shifted his bulk and braced himself for an imminent crash landing. Melody did the same but found she was sufficiently wedged and could barely move.

Somewhere nearby, a Covenant ship jumped into slipspace and the shockwave from the rift hit the pod. As the vessel was thrown about in the wake it began to tear apart.

A scream rose from Melody's chest but died before she could utter a sound. Her head was slammed against the pod's wall and everything went black.