Is it worth it?

Disclaimer: I do not own halo.

-grins- heh, some of you reviewers are sharp. Constructive critism as well as bursts of pleasure are dually noted and appreciated.
-------------------
Master Chief blinked. Without even thinking, his arm whipped out to latch on to Ghlariknee's. For the moment, the Sanghelli was a comrade in arms. A soldier's life to save. But deep down the Spartan knew it was more than that. He OWED it to save Ghlariknee. He needed to make up for what he almost forced the other to do.

'I was not fully in control!' He raged in his own defense.

Just then, he hesitated a micro second too long. Ghlariknee's expression twisted to one of horror as he realized the Demon had missed. The Sanghelli let out a muted cry as he was dragged behind the creature in the mist.

"SHIT!" Master Chief cursed audibly, turning heads from several feet away.

--Focus, Chief.--

'I AM focusing!!' The Chief's growled back as he sprung onto his feet, dashing after Ghlariknee. To say he did it with haste would be an understatement.

Ghlariknee could see the armored Demon giving chase. But he realized the creature was traveling much too fast to be caught easily. He had to slow it down somehow! Flexing his fingers, he slammed them down into the ground whizzing by a few inches below him. The ground was cold and hard and with the speed they were traveling, the reptilian-like skin at his fingertips began to tear painfully. Gritting his teeth, Ghlariknee forced his fingers to remain gouging deep into the tough hardened ground, ignoring the pain as much as he could. Pain he could handle. The fear he could not.

--The thing's too fast! We can't possibly catc- Wait.... what is the Elite doing?--

Master Chief's eyes hardened as he saw exactly what the red Sanghelli was doing. He saw the claws dragging deep into the ground. He saw the pain in Ghlariknee's eyes. Quickening his pace, the Spartan growled, "He's slowing the thing down for us."

Noting the determination in his voice and the near impossible pace he set himself with, Cortana decided it wise to keep her mouth shut. With all the fighting and running and... well, basically trying NOT to die, everyone seemed to have forgotten what had happened in the Purification Chambers. At one point, she had felt a tremendous amount of anger. The Chief had effectively shut her up when he took the helmet off. But just because she hadn't been completely connected with him didn't mean she hadn't seen what happened.

To her knowledge, four people knew, herself excluded. Drajha-Lee, Arbiter, Master Chief, and Ghlariknee himself. With the attack, there hadn't been much of a chance for the news to spread. And now that she thought of it, Cortana wondered if they would LET the news spread beyond the four already involved. Cortana shook her head mentally. Now was NOT the time to be thinking about this. Later, when everything calmed down, she would talk to the Chief about it. She knew it must be killing him inside.

The Chief's breath was ragged. His legs pumping way faster than should have been physically possible. And STILL the thing was gaining distance. It was hard to see it in the mist. A spike of fear hit the Chief as he realized that soon he wouldn't be able to follow it at all.

Ghlariknee paled. He could barely see the Demon's figure now. His fingers were a bloody mess by now, but he didn't care. Numb, he found some smooth object run under his fingers. Before they could pass it, the Sanghelli instinctively made a grab for it, bringing it closer to his eyes to see what it was.

A Brute shot!

Unbelieving of his luck, Ghlariknee forced his fingers, numb and slick by the blood, to grip it tighter. He jerked his head to look at the thing holding him.

The creature was still unaware.

Not wasting another moment, Ghlariknee fired the Brute shot right through the beely of the beast. To his horror, he watched as the thing's physical form simply opened up like the mist itself and let the explosive ammo fly straight through it.

KaBAM! It exploded a few feet away.

Ghlariknee was getting dizzy. He knew he must've had a badly bleeding wound somewhere. Or maybe just a whole bunch of wounds leaking slowly.

But he was determined, 'I am NOT giving up.'

With an outward yell of defiance, the red Sanghelli squng the weapon, aiming its scyth-like blade at the creature's tail. The mist creature jerked, giving a surprised cry as the blade sliced cleanly through its tail. Ghlariknee gaped, still disbelieving what had just happened. The next moment the Sanghelli tumbled head over heels, jarring his bruised body and weary mind even more. But at least he was free.

Clutching his head with one hand and the Brute shot with another, Ghlariknee just lay there, trying to gather what strength he had elft to stand and defend himself. It was so... hard. It was hard just to breath. How could he possibly get up and fight?

'Because... I have to.' Ghlariknee thought, jaw clenched, as he struggled to a sitting position.

It was coming back.

It was coming back and Ghlariknee hadn't managed to gather the strength he needed to stand.

'I can't fight that thing. What am I thinking?' The Sanghelli frowned, 'Nothing really hurt it, except...' He turned his gaze to the weapon at hand, 'Was it just a fluke? Would it work again?' He started to raise the Brute weapon, his gaze also raising to lock onto the crimson red of the creature. It was unnerving how those orbs were the only thing he could distinguish of the creature's form. Yet as it was moving he could see it owned a mostly humanoid figure, with the exception of a tail. That's when the tip of the tail, the one he had cut off, attacked.

"Gah!" Ghlariknee yelped in fear and disgust, throwing what the thing had latched onto as a reflex. The Sanghelli's eyes widened.

He had thrown the Brute shot.

And the thing was still coming at him.

It was fast.

Ghlariknee's startled gaze flickered to the piece of tail as it launched another attack. Backpedalling as fast as he could, the Sanghelli's arm collapsed under him from the sudden stress put on it. The creature still charged. But the tail was closer. The Sanghelli flinched, his eyes shut.

SQUISH.

Two realizations came to the Elite at once. One, was that the tail hadn't attacked. And the second, was that he wasn't alone.

Something was standing before him. Ghlariknee's eyes flew open, jerking away from the presence.

It was the Demon.

Master Chief frowned at the state he found the Elite in. The Sanghelli seemed to be running on pure adrenaline, if the Sanghelli had adrenaline. He watched as the Sanghelli's wide eyes flicked from the Chief to the wiggling body part he had deliberately squished under his armored feet. Comprehension slowly unfogged the Sanghelli's eyes. Reassured that the Elite was okay for now, the Spartan spun on his feet, a growl on his lips.

The Thing was coming. And the Spartan placed himself directly between the mist creature and Ghlariknee.

"I won't let him get you." The Chief stated, his voice and intent clear, his body deceptively calm.

Cortana knew not to mess with him when he got like this. But she had never seen him so protective of another being before, especially a fellow warrior. Sure he always made sure his team pulled through, but he never had gotten so gung-ho about it and all.

'Curious...' The A.I. thought to herself.

The thing rushed at the Chief, murder in its blazing eyes. But the Spartan stood his ground, unmoving. Until the last second, that is.

;-;

"Where ARE they?" Drajha-Lee exclaimed, looking deeply into the mist on all sides.

Arbiter frowned thoughtfully, looking back at the large huddle of Renegades they had managed to gather up. Near the middle, a very nervous looking grunt was holding the jamming device, clinging to it as if his very life depended on it. And from the way the Arbiter had explained the task to him, it did.

"The Demon should have made it back by now." Drajha-Lee commented aloud, his worry evident though it was barely detectable in his voice. He turned towards the Arbiter as he saw the cobalt Sanghelli fidget with his weapon, "That Sanghelli in the mist, who was it, Arbiter?"

Clenching his teeth, the Arbiter looked away, "I... am not sure."

He prayed to the gods it hadn't been Ghlariknee. If it was...

Could the Demon be trusted with the Sanghelli's life?

;-;

Deathly silent, Master Chief clashed with the mist creature head on. It was the first time he felt the chill of its solid form. He wondered how the Sanghelli had been able to stand its grip on his ankle, before remembering the Elite hadn't had a choice in the matter. Apparently the creature could consciously choose when to be physical and when to be solid. It was information he was sure to record and store away for later. And this time it had decided not to dematerialize.

That was unfortunate. For the creature.

Whipping up the Brute shot Ghlariknee had flung, the Spartan ripped it brutally through the creature's body. Mercy never crossed his mind as he remembered seeing mutilated corpses of the Grunts. As he remembered laying eyes on the bruised and battered Ghlariknee. It had HURT Ghlariknee. The creature didn't deserve mercy.

But the thing was too fast. It quickly darted back, but not before leaving a parting gift with the Chief.

The Spartan blinked, looking down at his chest as he staggered back. Ghlariknee was confused. He had seen the near fatal slash the Demonhad inflicted on the creature, but where was the Demon hurt? The armor was still fully intact.

--It... bypassed the armor...-- Cortana gasped, forming words to the unbelievable realization.

Master Chief gagged, resisting the urge to throw up inside the armor. Already, he could feel the suit and Cortana working furiously to put pressure on the cold numbness he felt spreading across his torso.

"How bad?" The Chief asked, his voice hitched at a sudden attack of nausea. Already he was falling back into a defensice stance. The mist creature was no where to be seen. But the Chief knew it was out there. Waiting. Watching.

--Chief... I wouldn't recomment fighting.-- Cortana said in a worried tone, already knowing the stubborn Spartan wouldn't follow her advice.

"Not as if we have a choice." Master Chief grunted.

With a groan, Ghlariknee tried getting toh is feet, only to collapse back on the ground with a pained cry. The Chief wanted to just forget about the creature and kneel at the wounded Sanghelli's side. But that would leave him vulnerable to attack. Master Chief also had a strange feeling the quick movement would further irritate his suddenly muscle clenching queasiness in his stomach.

"Don't move." The Demon said, throwing a quick glance behind him, checking on the Elite.

"You... do not have to... do this..." Ghlariknee said through deep breaths. Something was definately broken. And there was bleeding. Gritting his teeth, the Sanghelli continued, "Just leave... get help... I'll manage."

The Spartan grimaced. There was so much blood on the Sanghelli. He hoped that half the amount splattered across the warrior's skin didn't belong to the wounded Elite before him.

"Yes, I do. And no, I won't and you won't."

The creature attacked again. The Chief was ready, and more than willing, to face it. He wouldn't let his new allies down. He wouldn't be defeated. And he wouldn't... wouldn't let the Sanghelli be hurt and frightened again. Ever.

Unfortunately, the creature had other plans.

After a few more lightening fast clashes, the creature slowly retreated, one of its limbs barely intact. As soon as the percieved threat was far away enough, the Chief allowed himself to drop down to one knee, drawing in pain-wracked breaths for his weary and torn body. His left arm hung limply from its socket. And despite the numerous wounds, his armor remained strangely untouched.

Ghlariknee eyed him worriedly.

'Why does he try so hard?' The Sanghelli was troubled. Confused. He voiced his thoughts aloud, "Why... why are you doing this?"

"Won't..." The Demon clenched his jaw as a wave of pain crashed through him. Regaining composure, he turned his visor-covered eyes to the Sanghelli's, "I won't let it hurt you."

It was coming again.

Master Chief struggled to his feet.

"Demon... DON'T." Ghlariknee exhaled, picking himself gingerly to his feet.

The Demon planted his feet, back squarely facing the Elite.

'He is... protecting me.' The realization hit the Sanghelli hard. He floundered. What was he to think? To do? The Demon was an ally now, right? So then why did this sort of protectiveness feel more... personal?

;-;

From behind the Renegades, they heard a large figure lumbering up. They all tensed, the edges of the circle training their weapons on the dark form barely seen through the mist.

Stepping forward, Drajha-Lee instantly took charge of the situation, "Who are you? Show yourself."

With a low, deep grumble, the form finally stepped within their vision, the mist swirling from his large armored body.

The Renegades gaped in surprise.

;-;

--Chief, we can't take much more of this.--

"Don't you think I know that?" Master Chief snapped in reply, his eyes locked with the crimson orbs coming steadily closer.

He took a step forward. But his leg failed him and he dropped forward to his knees, only keeping from falling flat on his face by a trembling hand.

"Demon!" Ghlariknee gasped.

The thing was coming and both were helpless to stop it.