This is a HALO - Buffy the Vampire Slayer crossover story and contains an original character of my creation. I just want to say thank you to the creators, writers and designers of both the HALO and Buffy franchises. They have provided me with hours of enjoyment and entertainment. All characters are the intellectual property of their respective creators and publishers; this story may not be sold or distributed on a profit-making basis.

The final story in the series to follow up "Faithfully Spartan", "Eternal Spartan", "Requiem for a Spartan" and "Devil's Bargain". Faith and Michael-113… These two names struck fear into demons and vampires. Faith was a Vampire Slayer and Michael was a Spartan, an enhanced super soldier. These two had blazed a trail of destruction and havoc through the demon world and then they disappeared…

Over sixteen years later a new family has moved into the Sunnydale area and are trying to settle into a quiet family life or as quiet as you can get living in Sunnydale. Adriana Lehane seems like your typical teenager and on the surface seems to have it all… beauty, intelligence, two loving parents, a younger brainy sister and even younger brother. Adriana seems to be the typical teenager except for the fact that her mom is a Vampire Slayer and her dad is a Spartan enhanced super soldier from alternate universe and that Adriana has been raised in an alternate dimension and had been educated by a 100,000 year old alien AI. Being a genetically advanced human that makes her stronger and smarter than the average human does provide some advantages especially when living in Sunnydale. She'll need all the advantages she can get as her and her family are moving back to Sunnydale and have to face the challenges and enemies that await them.

oOoOo

CHAPTER ONE:

You can never outrun your past…

"…SPARTAN-II Michael-113 was last seen on planet catalog name PX-2235 on November 6, 2552 as a part of an ONI research and recovery mission {refer: Operation "BRIAR PATCH"} declared MIA {presumed dead}… Michael-113 was later encountered by UNSC forces on Paris IV on April 29, 2556 during combat with Covenant forces… Michael was in the company of a female {see attached report regarding LEHANE, FAITH incl. interview transcripts} who was reported to be pregnant with Michael-113's child {refer to medical records in same attached report}. Michael-113 was presumed dead as a result of UNSC nuclear strike on Covenant installation on same date. Faith Lehane was last reported seen in a UNSC Military Hospital in San Diego, Earth on August 23, 2556…" — Excerpt from classified ONI report

Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) Operations Center
San Diego, Earth — Sol System
June 23, 2572

The group of people sitting at the conference table were a mix bag of types—there were the civilian researchers, scientists and doctors and then there were military types. Even though they were from different backgrounds and professions, they were united in a common cause—the defense of humanity and the continuation of the UNSC—no matter what the cost.

The people chatted and talked with each other in low voices. They had all worked on and off together on many different operations and projects, over many years. There was much discussion about the purpose of this meeting as it had been called together on very short notice and no details had been provided about the purpose of the meeting. Everyone in the room was familiar with dealing with their fair share of top secret projects and operations, but the security regarding this meeting was air-tight.

The talking faded quickly as the conference room door opened and an UNSC officer strode into the room quickly followed by his aide. They couldn't help but notice the huge size of the officer. The officer moved across the room with purpose to the speaker's podium as his aide took a seat off to the side holding on protectively to a briefcase.

The officer looked out at the gathered group and they saw his eyes—they radiated strength and purpose.

"Good morning ladies and gentleman…"

The officer paused for a moment as he made sure he had everyone's attention, "I'm glad that you could all attend this meeting on such short notice. I'm Colonel Kyle Baker and I'm in command of Section 12… Special Research Projects Team."

Some of the people started to murmur. Section 12 was one of ONI's closely guarded secrets. From the few rumors that were talked about openly, they worked strictly in Black-Ops and their work stretched from research labs to field operations and they had been given carte blanche in obtaining results. Those rumors went on that Section 12 operated by stealing equipment and technology from the Covenant and even from the UNSC's own Sangheili allies. It was also rumored they were involved with recovering Forerunner tech from the far reaches of the galaxy. One of the most persistent rumors was that Section 12 was headed up by a Spartan—which seemed to be confirmed to the group as they looked at the Colonel.

Colonel Baker gave the crowd their moment as he knew he was being evaluated, "What I am going to tell you today is considered Ultra-Top Secret and will only be discussed in areas with a Class-5 security rating. Please hold all your questions till the end of this briefing."

His pronouncement raised eyebrows among everyone as that was one of the highest security ratings. There were only a few areas that had this rating including the conference room that they were currently gathered in. The Colonel nodded to his aide and the junior officer quickly opened the briefcase he was carrying and pulled out a pile of papers. This raised more eyebrows among the gathered group—paper wasn't used for briefings anymore. The Colonel saw the puzzled looks among the group and he raised an eyebrow in a slightly amused look.

He continued as the papers were handed out, "Due to the sensitive nature of this project, electronic records will be kept on a limited access basis… You will each get a numbered paper copy for you to use for the duration of this briefing. All copies will be returned at the end of this meeting. There will be no exceptions!"

As the briefing papers made their way around the room, the Colonel dove straight into his presentation, "All of you are familiar with the SPARTAN program… When Dr. Catherine Halsey started the SPARTAN-II project, there were initially high hopes for how far the program would go. Unfortunately due to the 'controversial' aspects of the candidate recruiting, the high mortality rate among the candidates and the extreme cost of each SPARTAN-II the program was not developed further. Even with the development of the SPARTAN-III and SPARTAN-IV programs and the successes they generated, the SPARTAN-II is still considered the ultimate achievement of creating an augmented and enhanced soldier as we are all aware due to their performance in the Human-Covenant War."

He could see his words sink in and saw some nods of agreement from the crowd, especially the military personnel. The SPARTAN-III's had been created as cheap throwaway soldiers as they were deployed in large groups and sent on what were basically suicide missions against the Covenant. The SPARTAN-IV's were slightly more enhanced, but again they were pale imitations of the SPARTAN-II's. No—the best soldiers ever created were the SPARTAN-II's.

"If you refer to Section I of the briefing paper. In 2552 a SPARTAN-II designated Michael-113 was on a mission to planet PX-2235 which was reported to contain Forerunner tech…"

Colonel Baker nodded and his aide and he punched some commands into a tablet. A holographic projection of the Milky Way galaxy appeared over the middle of the conference table. A flashing indicator showed the planet location that Baker was referring to.

"…113 was declared MIA as was the standard protocol, but he was presumed dead. On the surface that would appear to have been the end of it."

He paused and another indicator flashed on the holographic display, "But then in 2556 Michael-113 was reported to be on Paris IV… He helped to support UNSC forces to evacuate from the planet when under attack by renegade Covenant forces. The report states that Michael-113 died from a SHIVA missile strike after taking down the shield of the Covenant command installation…"

Good I have their attention now, Baker thought as he saw their puzzled and questioning looks on their faces.

He continued, "If that was all there was we would have been left with a mystery. But Michael-113's AI UNSC-Adriana did a data dump before the end and the info the AI provided was very…let's say…enlightening."

Another dramatic pause to keep the group involved, "...From the data it appears that PX-2235 was a Forerunner research facility. We have confirmed this from doing a data comparison from information regarding Forerunner tech cache locations we gained from the Janus Key that was recovered from Requiem. It appears that this research installation was used by the Forerunners to study and understand Slipspace."

Baker could see that the group was now fully vested in his presentation, "The Forerunners had such a vast and detailed knowledge of Slipspace… To put it basically they drove luxury sport cars and we are still moving around in kid's wagons. The Forerunners had discovered alternate dimensions and realities that could be accessed via Slipspace… The research facility on PX-2235 was the main facility that the Forerunners used to travel between dimensions."

One of the scientists spoke up, which slightly irritated Baker, "Sir… You're saying that the Forerunners travelled between alternate dimensions… That's just so…so fantastic to believe!"

"Yes…you can believe it. Estimates are that the Forerunners explored and cataloged over two million alternate dimensions…" This brought another murmur from the audience and Baker continued with barely a pause, "Michael-113 and his AI Adriana managed to access the equipment, transport off PX-2235 and overloaded the power systems causing the explosion that destroyed the planet denying the tech to the Covenant."

He paused again, not for dramatic purpose as what he was going to say next was going to strain the credibility he had with the group, "The dimension that Michael-113 transported to was one that was very…ummm…unique. He landed on a planet that was very similar to our Earth. His AI rated their technology level equivalent to our late 20th...early 21st century. During that time Michael-113 made contact with the local inhabitants of that dimension and defended them against threats…"

One of the military officers spoke up, "What kind of threats? Did he encounter an enemy similar to the Covenant or Prometheans?"

Baker didn't hesitate as he looked directly at the officer and responded, "No… The threat was from vampires and demons…"

It took a moment for what he had said to sink in to the audience, then the murmuring started with utter looks of disbelief. One of the scientists finally spoke up voicing what the group was thinking, "You got to be joking? You want us to believe that vampires and demons exist?"

"This is no joke…" Baker replied in a tone that showed he was very serious. He nodded to his aide and the holographic projection of the galaxy was replaced by a snarling face from a first person point of view. The face looked humanoid, but it was distorted and the teeth were more pronounced. The image caused the audience to recoil at first and then everyone looked closer to study a creature that had only been associated to horror stories and movies.

"It appears that dimension worked on some slightly different principles. The locals actually believed in magic…" Baker said bringing smiles and some chuckles from the audience.

He continued, "Regardless of what the local inhabitants believed, the vampires and demons existed and threatened the human population. During this time Michael-113 was able to access other dimensions… Don't ask me how as we are still trying to figure that out, but during that period he literally stumbled upon a Forerunner research outpost that had been established to help study other dimensions. Michael-113 was able to establish contact with the Forerunner AI construct and reactivate the installation."

This brought more murmurs from the audience. "If the Spartan was able to locate a Forerunner installation, why didn't he return home?" asked one of the military officers.

Baker looked a little uncomfortable at the question, "Ahhh yes… Michael-113 could have returned home, but by this time it appears from our information that he had developed a relationship with a female from the 'vampire' dimension…"

The audience sat in stunned silence as SPARTAN-II's were known to have avoided any type of human interaction or relationships beyond their group.

"What kind of relationship?" one of the scientists asked curiously.

"It was a romantic relationship…" Colonel Baker said as he paused for his words to sink in once again and saw the looks on their faces.

"Yes… Michael-113 had a chance to return to our dimension and turned his back on his duty…for love, for lack of a better explanation."

He saw confused looks on his audience's faces and quickly continued, "Yes I know what you are thinking… If Michael-113 was in a relationship why and how did he end up on Paris IV and die taking out a Covenant installation…"

He paused again inadvertently building up another dramatic moment before he spoke again. "We don't believe that Michael-113 died on Paris IV…"

He saw the looks of shock in his audience. He let the words sink in before continuing, "What is only known in a very small circle is that Michael-113 appeared on Paris IV accompanied by the female he was involved with…"

The image of the vampire on the holographic display changed to that of a human female. Baker had seen this image many times before, but he couldn't help but always be drawn to the female's face. The female appeared to be in her early to mid-twenties, she had striking beautiful looks and long brunette hair. What always struck Baker were her eyes—there was sadness there, but there was also strength, power and love in there. He gave his mind a quick shake to regain his focus.

"The female in question is named Faith Lehane, she is not what we would call a normal human being. In her dimension she is referred to as a 'Vampire Slayer'. From what we could determine from medical tests we were able to perform on her is that she is stronger, has faster reflexes and has what could only be called 'extreme and complexingly fast' recuperative abilities when compared to normal human standards, that's left our researchers scratching their heads trying to explain it. To put it bluntly we could fit her in SPARTAN-IV MJOLNIR powered armor with minor modifications and she could operate at almost SPARTAN-III/IV ability levels…without any augmentation whatsoever."

As his information sank in, one of the military officers spoke up with unconcealed excitement in his voice, "So where is this female and why do you believe that Michael-113 is still alive?"

Baker looked a little irritated at the outburst, but it hadn't been unexpected. The briefing material was what the uninformed could be considered "somewhat crazy".

"After the destruction of the Covenant installation on Paris IV and the 'apparent' death of Michael-113, Miss Lehane was retrieved by UNSC forces and brought back to Earth and was being kept at a military hospital to undergo tests and monitor her medical condition..."

"What medical condition?" blurted out one of the scientists as the group was curious where this presentation was going.

"She was pregnant with Michael-113's child." Baker replied in a matter of fact tone.

Silence engulfed the conference room for what seemed like an eternity and you could hear the proverbial pin drop. Baker continued speaking to the stunned audience, "We had Miss Lehane in ONI protective custody to monitor her medical condition and interview her. From the information provided by the AI Adriana and Miss Lehane we were able to reconstruct the chain of circumstances and events…"

"What sex was the fetus? Where are the mother and child?" another scientist blurted out.

"The sex of the fetus was female…" Baker replied.

The scientists in the audience started talking amongst themselves immediately discussing the information they were told. Baker knew what they were discussing as his unit had already discussed all the implications and ramifications. He saw some puzzled looks among the military personnel as the scientists continued talking amongst themselves.

Finally one of the military officers spoke up in frustration, "So one of our Spartan's knocked up a woman and was going to have a girl… What does that mean and why all the security?"

Before Baker could respond, one of the scientists spoke up, "Sir… You just had a SPARTAN-II successfully mate with a human that is from what the Colonel has told us is genetically enhanced. The implications are…staggering to say the least."

Baker couldn't help but smirk at the scientist's words as the military officers gathered started to realize the implications—the military implications.

The military officers started talking amongst themselves about the military possibilities. Baker knew what they were discussing as his unit had also already looked at all the potential possibilities... The potential of breeding or even cloning Spartans rather than performing the complicated, risky and costly augmentation process was a dream too good to be true and one that they could not afford to take advantage of.

"It gets better… From the information that we obtained, it appears that when the child was first conceived there were medical complications… The Forerunner AI intervened and performed a medical procedure to save the child's life. From the genetic testing we were able to perform, the child would inherit her mother's abilities and could even be stronger than her mother." Baker said with a slight smirk.

One of the military personnel spoke up, "So where is this woman and child and why haven't we heard anything about this until now… It's been over sixteen years since these events you are talking about happened?"

The group continued talking amongst themselves discussing the information that had presented. Baker could see that he was going to lose control of this briefing and he moved swiftly to regain control, "If you will all be patient… I will continue and explain all events and circumstances…"

The group quickly settled down at the tone the Colonel used and he continued, "Several months after Faith Lehane was put into protective custody…she disappeared."

The audience started talking again.

Baker ignored them this time and continued, "From the information we obtained from the AI Adriana and using hospital security footage we identified two females that had come from Miss Lehane's dimension…these were friends of her."

The audience started to settle down as they took in this information.

A military officer interrupted, "So what you're saying is that Michael-113 survived Paris IV and sent some accomplices to bust his pregnant girlfriend out?"

Baker nodded acknowledging what had occurred, "Yes… That is the theory we are working from."

"So how does this help us and what does this do for us if the woman and her child are both in another so-called dimension?" the officer responded.

"Twenty-two months ago using information recovered from the Janus Key, we located a Forerunner tech cache. In that cache we discovered equipment to open up Slipspace dimensional portals."

A small smile came to Baker's otherwise stern face as he saw his information sink in and could see the cloud of gloom that had settled on the audience begin to lift.

"If you turn to page ten of your briefing paper… The name of this program is referred to as 'PROJECT SLAYER'…" Baker suppressed a smirk trying to form at the irony of the project name, "…Six months ago we finally figured out how to power up and use the Forerunner equipment. For the last five months we have had an undercover recon team established in Miss Lehane's dimension… Geographical location on the alternate Earth is Sunnydale California USA…"

"So what's the plan here?" questioned another military officer.

"PROJECT SLAYER's mission objectives are to observe and locate Faith Lehane and her child. From information we have gathered so far we are estimating that the child's age would now be 15 to 16 years old. The recon team will determine if the child has indeed inherited her parent's genetic advantages. If we confirm what we think this child has been 'gifted' with, we will take both mother and child into protective custody and return them to our dimension for further study for scientific and military applications…" Baker responded.

More murmuring and nodding came from the group especially among the military officers gathered.

One of the scientists spoke up, "Sir...if we already have genetic material from this woman. Why don't we just create a flash clone and use that for breeding purposes?"

Baker met the scientist's eyes, "We have already considered and tried this... For some reason the clones failed to develop and mature properly even with Huragok assistance. We don't know the reason, but we have theorized that it may something to do with the genetic reason she was chosen to be a Slayer. Also we have exhausted all the genetic material we had on hand, we need the really thing in order to proceed on this project."

"Colonel… Won't Spartan-113 be 'upset' and resist if we try to take his woman and child?" another scientist asked. Baker could hear the reluctance in his voice—as if he was questioning the moral implications that this project involved.

Baker gave the scientist a hard stare which chilled the room before he responded as there was no doubt in his mind about the value and importance of this project to ONI and the UNSC.

"We have taken that into account and we will give 113 the opportunity to do his duty and contribute to the best interests of the UNSC, but this Spartan chose to remain in that other dimension and not return to do his duty. If he resists…he will be dealt with accordingly…"