Six meets the 0051st part 2

Six meets the 0051st part 2
The next morning John was not a happy camper. Not only had the soldiers drilled him about Kelly the day before, but the guys had asked very personal questions about his relationship with Kelly. He'd been so glad that he could shut himself into his room, not that they hadn't stood outside of the door and tried to ask him questions from the other side for a few minutes.

He's snuck out early so as to avoid any that might try to catch him and ask him questions before their daily training. He was looking for Shar, though he didn't know where she had stayed the night before. When he finally found her she was near the water spouts. He was surprised to find her in the familiar dark green pants but rather than the light green shirt that most of the other soldiers wore she wore a white tank top.

"Seems you've settled in." John scowled at her, letting her know he was unhappy with her.

Shar looked to him and frowned. "Seems the focus of my mission has no desire to hurry, and wanted my armor for something." She crossed her arms. "What bring you out here this early?"

"I came to look for you." John took a step toward her. "Why did you do that yesterday?"

Shar tilted her head to the side. "You mean why did I mention Kelly, tell all of them about you and her being together? Don't like them knowing that you are human?"

John's scowl deepened. "It's hard enough to be staying here, and you just made his harder. Besides, there isn't anything between me and Kelly." His gaze turned toward the ground.

"Odd, because Kelly doesn't know that. And from the look on your face it seems like you don't really believe that." Shar uncrossed her arms and set them on her hips. "Is there really nothing between you two?"

John groaned. "There used to be but…it's against the rules." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Listen, I just don't want people asking me about her."

Shar smirked and leaned a bit toward him. "What, you don't like an excuse to talk about your best friend?"

"I don't mind talking about my best friend with you, but the soldiers are completely different. They don't ask about back when we were kids, they ask about if I've kissed her or if I've slept with her." John took a deep breath and let it out. "And it's all because you told them Kelly was my girlfriend."

"Well she is. It's not like I lied or anything." Shar scowled at him. "Did you answer any of their questions? I bet Kelly would have answered them."

"No, I didn't answer them. I told them it wasn't their business, and it's not your business either." John was becoming more and more annoyed. She didn't realize how much harder she had made things. Sam hadn't even talked to him for the rest of the night, rather annoyed by the entire thing. He didn't understand why the only real friend he had among the soldiers had decided to stop talking to him.

Shar took a step toward him and he ignored that she was getting rather close. "Well someone's mad. What are you going to do about it?"

John wasn't sure what to say at first. He was mad, and he wanted to get back at her for making things harder. He finally decided on what to do. "I am challenging you to a paintball match. They have the equipment here. If I win then you have to stop talking about Kelly to the soldiers."

Shar thought about it for a moment. "All right, but if I win then you have to give me a kiss." Her left hand reached up, resting on John's chest.

John didn't back away. He did hesitate to answer. He calculated the odds that he would lose. No, he didn't lose, that was the way things were. "Fine, you're on."

Ten minutes later John was moving through the forest, looking for any signs of Shar. They had decided that using the forest as their playing grounds would be the best idea as it would make it an actual challenge. They'd both moved to chosen locations, far from each other, and now they were looking for each other. So far John hadn't found any sign of the younger Spartan, but he was going to. He couldn't lose this game. Sure his life wasn't at stake, but his lips were and that was enough.

There was a flash of movement and John turned toward it. He caught sight of her foot vanishing behind a tree. He slowly moved toward her, moving the other way around the tree. If he went the same way she might be waiting for him with an ambush. He checked the capsule of red paintballs being sure that they were feeding cleanly and he wouldn't have issue with it when it came time to fire. He'd wanted blue, but Shar had beaten him to calling it.

John moved around the tree but found that there was no one there. He spotted Shar taking off at a run around a rock and he moved a distance to the side and then moved around it as well, not following her path directly. He rounded a tree and found himself face to face with the woman. She dodged out of the way as he fired and the pellets missed her. John moved to get a line of fire again and took aim. As he did Shar kicked, hitting the tree.

John fired but at the same moment something spilled over him. He stood, arms outstretched as the thick liquid dripped down. He looked over at his arm and found himself covered in blue pain. He spotted a paint can on the ground, the same shade of blue that was all over him. He wasn't sure where she had gotten it but it was blue, and it was paint so he supposed it did count.

"Damn." John turned when she spoke and he spotted the red splatter in the center of her chest. "So then who won?"

John reached up, wiping some of the paint from above his eyes so it wouldn't get in his eyes. "No one wins. We both lost, which means neither of us wins."

Shar tugged at her shirt. "Well, I'll need to find another one of these. Do you know how hard it is to find something in this dump that's not green? Guess I can always get the soldier in supplies to give me another." She paused for a moment. "So if we both lost I can keep telling them about you and Kelly? Oh, I bet that Sam girl would like to know about all the things you do that Kelly thinks are cute."

John looked at her stunned. "You wouldn't dare."

Shar crossed her arms. "Why wouldn't I? The only other option is that we both win. I stop talking about Kelly and you kiss me." John groaned and closed his eyes tight. He really didn't want to be in this position. "Is it that awful to think of kissing me?"

"It's…it's complicated. Besides, wouldn't Kelly get mad about it? If, I mean…Wouldn't she be mad?" John wasn't sure how to word things without giving anything away. He didn't want to give Shar more that she could use.

"She wouldn't have to know. I'm not asking you to sleep with me, just asking you for a kiss. If it helps just close your eyes and pretend I'm Kelly." Shar was visibly hurt by his reluctance.

John groaned again. He weighted the two options and decided that there was only one choice that seemed logical. Shar would leave probably before he got to leave, and he would have to still deal with the marines at the base. "Fine, as long as you stop talking about Kelly. Though I want you to know that you're black mailing me."

Shar didn't seem at all phased by the accusation.  "I'm well aware of that."

John closed his eyes and brought up the best image he could of Kelly in his mind. He remembered her from the last time he'd seen her. They'd had a close call on a mission and Kelly had ended up having to see the medics. He'd been cleaning his pistol when she'd returned to the barracks. He'd been so glad to see her healthy and she had joked with him about her injuries. That had always been Kelly's way. She underplayed her wounds, though she'd always had a high endurance for pain that seemed unnatural, though little about the Spartans was natural. He smiled as he remembered the way she had assured him that it had been her own fault. She was always trying to make him feel better when he was feeling guilty.

He felt lips touch his and it was easy to place Kelly in his mind as the source of the touch. He pulled the person toward him, not really registering that it didn't really feel like Kelly, or even the metal hand as it touched skin.

Someone coughed loudly and the two Spartans pulled away. They looked to find Petey staring at them, stunned. "Um…Lieutenant, the Captain wanted to see you."
Shar took a step away from John and cleared her own throat. "Of course." She moved through the forest and toward the camp.

John looked to Petey and he broke out into a wide grin. "I can't wait to tell the guys about this." He turned and ran toward the camp.

John growled slightly. "I should have let us both lose." He wasn't looking forward to it but he went back to the camp. He made a stop at his quarters to grab some new clothing before he went to the showers to get cleaned up.