Halo: Awake and Alive (Book 2, Arbiter x Female human series.)

Reunite pt 2

Bria's heart dropped to the bottom of her stomach. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Cassie?!" She said in shock. Her mouth hung open. It couldn't be her. Or was it actually Bria's best friend from college?

Suddenly she heard a huge cracking noise, the building right next to them was tumbling and it was heading right for Cassie! Cassie stared up at the building as it began to crumble. Bria could tell she was in shock because she didn't move an inch.

"Cassie!!" Bria sprinted towards her while screaming her name. She slid right in front of her and held both hands out towards the building. The power rushed through her finger and held the building still. But Bria was weak, she couldn't hold it for long.

"Run Cassie! Run for the pelican!" Bria shouted.

Cassie shook out of her daze and amazement and ran for the vehicle.

Okay. Now what?

Bria felt like the building was crushing her. If she let go, it would most likely fall right on top of her. Or if she was fast enough, she could let to go and jump into the pelican.

The building didn't let her still. She had to let go. And she did. Her heart started racing and she bolted for the pelican.

When do I jump? What if I miss?!

She pushed harder and she ran faster than she ever did before. She could feel the air changing as the building got closer and closer, but she grew closer and closer to the pelican.

Finally, she leaped right off the side of the building. The whole world felt like it was in slow motion.

I'm not going to make it! She thought as she saw the distance between her and the pelican. But behold, a marine reached out just in time to grab her hand.

Her arm hit the back of the pelican. She let out a painful scream. She felt the bullet hole tear. The marine pulled her up. She sat on her knees gasping as they closed the back.

She felt someone kneel down and hug her tightly.

It was Cassie!

"Cassie! Oh my gosh!" Bria hugged her back tightly.

"I can't believe it's you! I can't believe you're alive!" Cassie cried. And backed up. "After I heard about what happened to your family. I was devastated."

Bria frowned. "You heard about my family?" She repeated.

Cassie nodded. "Yes. It was all over the news. I thought you were in the house fire too. I'm so sorry about what happened." She said.

Bria took a breath. The house fire. Right.

"And I didn't expect you to be in the freaking army! And what you did back there, was that some sort of new technology?? Like, what?!" She talked so fast.

Bria chuckled and put her hands on her shoulders. "Cassie, calm down."

"Calm down? You're alive and here with me! And you have cool technology powers to stop buildings from falling. And, and..." Cassie's eyes focused on something behind Bria. She quickly got up and backed up. "A-And that's a freaking Elite!"

Bria followed her gaze. Thel stood in the doorway to the cockpit.

"Oh no. It's okay. This is Thel Vadam, also known as Arbiter." Bria stood up and smiled. Soon Thel walked to stand right behind her. "He's my..." she froze. What was Thel? I mean they love each other so does that mean...? "He's my b-boyfriend?" She said proudly but still blushed. She didn't even know if Thel knew what boyfriend meant.

Cassie's eyes grew. Then she burst out laughing. "Oh wow! This is the best day ever. Besides almost dying but you have a Sangheili as a boyfriend??" She laughed some more which made Bria blush deeper. "Man if Mariah was alive, she would owe me 500 bucks!" She wiped a tear from her eye.

Suddenly a light turned on meaning that they were landing.

"So besides mister big, tall, and scaley, what else happened to you? Did anyone else make it out of the house fire?" She asked.

Bria looked down and shook her head.

"I'm really sorry..." she placed a hand on her shoulder. Cassie picked it back up. "Oh my gosh, you're bleeding really bad." She said.

"What?" Thel's protective nature turned on and inspected the wound.

"It's no big deal," Bria said. "Pain means you're alive right?"

Cassie frowned. "Well... yeah.... but pain also means you can die." Bria stared at her for a second. "What did you mean by that?"

"I'm going to tell you before you get too excited." Bria took a breath. "I'm... I'm dying."