Time to Dance

Edward Buck liked dancing.

It wasn't something he regularly admitted of course. Even in the 26th century, stereotypes existed. Fortunately for humanity, the gender stratification of armed forces had been lifted, ensuring that not only more recruits could join up or be conscripted, but that the male majority of them had an extra something to fight for. But dancing...that was still seen as feminine. Shame really, one in that while Buck didn't dance in the literal sense, it still prevented him from using his "time to dance" phrase on a regular basis.

But some things did change in the 26th century, among which was a genocidal conglomeration of aliens deciding that humanity was some kind of affront to their gods and thus deciding to wipe them out, a task that had taken them all the way to Earth. So while Buck knew that declaring a time of dancing would no doubt be a risky move in this kind of situation, he decided it was worth it. This could be his last drop after all-his last dance. And even in the company of replacements, he was determined to get the most out of it.

"You know the music," declared the gunnery sergeant as he walked into the briefing room, his teammates having heard the klaxon of the cruiser. "Time to dance!"

The ODSTs looked at him. Or at least they did for a second before their eyes drifted to the person next to their leader. Well, technically former leader, but he doubted that was the main reason as to why their tongues seemed to be hanging out of their mouths.

Maybe armed forces stereotypes should have remained.

"Pods," snarled Buck. "Now."

To his surprise, the simpletons listened. Unlike most surprises he'd become acquainted with over the last 27 years however, this one was pleasant. Humanity's survival, along with his pride, was hanging by the skin of its teeth and the ODST was in no mood for a dentist to come by and remove the fillings.

"Replacements?" asked the one beside him.

Buck affirmed quietly. He wasn't in the mood to chat with the ONI Section 1 captain. He liked to deal with certainties, not females who somehow managed to hold on to recessive genes that made them blonde and insisted on having everything about them classified, from age to blood type.

Seriously. Why the hell is blood type a factor? I'm a universal donor, so if I need to help her out I...

Buck's pod of thought deployed its drag-chute. Why was he thinking charitably about this?

"At least they listen," said the new arrival, as if aware of her subordinate's bruised ego.

"To me," Buck answered, wishing that was the truth. "And they're not going to like what they hear."

"Orders are orders."

Buck raised an eyebrow. That was a phrase he wasn't used to, or at least when it came to hearing it rather than delivering it. Despite having his position usurped by an ONI spook, maybe this "Dare" character wasn't so different from him after all. And at the least, her armour was nice to look at.

Idiot. It's not so different from your own, numb nuts.

"Come on," said the gunnery sergeant as he walked towards her, falling to the voice that he supposed was either his conscience or Freud. "What could be more important than killing-..."

"My orders," said Dare, interrupting his sentence rather than finishing it along with his advance. Not that it took much effort. The voice in his head wasn't something he encountered often. But then again, maybe there was hope. Because with the captain extending from two word sentences and heading into the realm of the sacred trinity of grammar ("Oh, and Buck?"), the notion of having a dance didn't seem so farfetched after all.

"I'll pass on that dance. But you can show me where to sit."

Damn it!

His superior walking past him, Buck knew that he'd been upstaged, both figuratively and literally. Perversive instincts taking over in his mind, authoritarians taking over in the waking world, his men having their minds set on who was truly in charge...Well, Dare admittedly was, but no need for Romeo to exploit that fact. Letting whatever sense of authority he had run its course, Buck handed him a sniper rifle. Very limited in practical inside a Covenant assault carrier, namely the one above New Mombasa they were about to assault, but if a sniper rifle kept Romeo's eyes on targets rather than assets, then it was a sacrifice the NCO was willing to make.

Less competition for you then?

Buck said nothing, remaining silent right up to the moment of climbing into his HEV. As bad as things had become, he could at least dance figuratively. Even if Captain Dare was leading it...

"Latest intel reports that Covenant troops are massing beneath the carrier," said the spook over the radio.

"They're pulling back?" Buck asked, letting curiosity overwhelm his...well, whatever he felt. "Why?"

"We're not going to find out way up here," said the blonde simply.

Buck smiled faintly. Intentionally or not, Dare had left him an opening. And declaring his troops to be green and mean in a corny rhyme that only commanders about to be dropped into hell were allow to, he exploited the opening as best as he could.

Maybe this won't be so bad after all, thought Buck to himself, relishing how he was able to silence Romeo's wisecracking during the drop with ease. This could be a good dance after all, especially if my...partner is willing to let me lead sometimes.

Or not, given that suddenly they were heading away from the assault carrier. A possibility made even more unlikely given that the Covenant ship suddenly violated everything Buck knew about physics (which admittedly wasn't much) and jumped into slipspace within a planet's atmosphere, sending out an EMP that fried his pod instantly. What was once a ballet suddenly became an out of control tango. Shouting orders to his squad over a now inoperable radio, Buck only had one regret...

He never got to have the dance he really wanted.

A/N

There's a certain trend I've noticed when it comes to Halo pairings. They're either weird/disturbing (JohnxCortana, especially in fanfiction), sudden (Johnsonxal-Cygni/JohnsonxMiranda) or when approaching a sense of normality, are gutted (AndersxForge/LocklearxPolaski). Anyway, in the spirit of reading too deeply into things, adapting material from the intro to ODST and wanting to try a pairing that might not be doomed to failure, I came up with this.