At the End of the Day

"I've read your file. Even the parts ONI didn't want me to see... That Lone Wolf stuff gets left behind."

It wasn't Lone Wolf stuff. It wasn't that she chose to separate herself from others. She had bad luck. Really awful luck. Things went wrong around her- more so than other Spartans- and she had always survived. The rest of any squad she'd ever been on... they weren't so fortunate. She was left to deal with their deaths, and she did. Like any other spartan. She eventually learned that she had to not get close to anyone. It hurt.

Then she'd been assigned to the NOBLE team. She was Noble 6. They all made it clear on her first day that they wished she wasn't there to fill the sixth position. Though she wasn't sure about how everything worked around her, she didn't think her questions would be met with a friendly answer. It wasn't worth adding to the already-awkward silence that she met when she walked into any given room.

...

Jorge died the way everyone hoped for- thinking he'd saved the world. Not for the first time, she was thankful for her helmet. For the few seconds where he carried her over the edge, her eyes threatened tears. It was poetic, what he was doing. But she didn't appreciate self-sacrifice. In fact, she hated it. If someone had to make the choice to give their life, it meant something had gone wrong. Since she was usually in charge, it was her fault. But this time, she was greatly moved. Then he dropped her, and she had a long time to sit and think.

...

It could have been her. That was almost all she could think about as Carter bent to pick up Kat's body. They had been standing next to each other. Shoulder to shoulder. A stark difference from before, where she could feel the glares from behind the walls. And then she was gone. Just like that. And it could have been her. One bullet. A sniper. Gravity. Silence. Kat was forever quieted. And it could have been her.

…

Nobody knew what happened to Jun. At least, no one said anything. They all knew. There was only so long someone could survive. No one wanted to say it, but everybody was thinking it. He was dead. Survival wasn't really an option anymore. No, there was no way. He left when they did from Sword Base. The silence that he left behind was unsettling. The only place that was as quiet as the NOBLE team at this point was the grave. And it was not a pleasant thought.

...

Carter had been reliable, and fair. He'd never once made her feel unwelcomed. He seemed a bit stiff at times, but she would be, too, if she had to lead so many spartans. They'd given their comrades lives to secure this AI, and whoever was pulling the strings wasn't satisfied. They had to take the leader as well. The scarab fell and exploded with a crash, but it wasn't enough. It didn't feel right. To have Carter just...crash and burn. Leaving herself and Emile the only survivors. She could already make out how this day was going to end.

…

Though she hadn't been too sure about it, having Emile operate the AA gun was a good idea. He was a good shot. She had to take care of all of the Covies basically by herself, but that was alright. At least, until the LZ was cleared. As soon as she handed over the AI, she could hear Emile grunt. She'd barely looked up, no time to react, when the glass protecting Emile broke. There were several Covenant around him with energy swords. And she knew it was too late. No matter how hard Emile fought, no matter how quickly she got up there.. he was going to be dead. Bled out on the ground. Two deep cuts hadn't put him down, but he would eventually die. And she couldn't get to him fast enough.

…

Not this time. She decided that she wasn't going to leave Reach. In the short time she'd been a part of it, NOBLE had become like a family. At the very least, a nice pack of friends. And now she was the last of it. Nothing new, of course. But it was different this time- she made it so. She nodded curtly as the Autumn took off. It was the last human thing she would see, she was sure.

…

…

…

The crack in her helmet was rather annoying. She threw it down, frustrated. There were so many around her, so many... and she knew she couldn't last very long. She took a breath, trying to focus, as she was thrown on her back. Ugly, alien faces were all around her. But she kept fighting.

At the end of the day, she was the last one left. It wasn't lone wolf. It wasn't anti-social. It was the lone survivor.

But at the end of today, she wasn't even that.

Not this time.

A/N: Okay, I brain farted. I completely forgot about Jun (probably because he didn't die on screen) but I fixed it. And, maybe, I need to put a disclaimer. But not really. Because if I owned anything, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction about it. I'd be out, making more games or whatever. So, for legality's sake, I don't own the characters, the game, etc...

SECOND EDIT

Yes, I am aware that Bungie has released that Jun is, in fact, ALIVE. I would like to make a few points:

I knew that he was more than likely alive when writing.

Noble 6, because of military thought processes, assumed he was dead, as we all would.

It serves my purposes better if I make sure Noble 6 doesn't believe in hope, alrigh'?