Caboose the SPARTAN

Part 5: Manhunt

Part Description: While Michael and Veronica have been apprehended by the guards, it seems three other soon-to-be SPARTANS have taken off in the night! Will the three boys be apprehended with compassion like Michael and Veronica, or will this be the first of many terrible trials for Michael and his teammates to overcome?

Description: Caboose the SPARTAN AU, from part to part, leading to the lovable Blue Team rookie we all know and love. But where did it all begin? This is his story.

A/N: Sorry this took so damn long! I've had a lot going on, but I've finally got the next chapter done! I'm just glad I didn't have to bury this fic. Please R&R!

Hershey drags Veronica-56 and Michael-57 into the bedchamber room without a word, his silence frightening the two children enough to join him in it. He opens their bedchambers without any warnings, lying them each down in their respective pods before locking them closed. Michael stares at the ceiling for a long time, too afraid to speak. Everyone else is asleep, save for Veronica, who is watching the ceiling as well, yet the young boy still struggles to join his new comrades in some sort of dreamland. Cursed by the looks of it with temporary insomnia, Michael rolls over a few times, trying to find comfort on the still unfamiliar bedding. He feels conflicted, like there's so much more to come tomorrow and he needs to rest, yet it's that excitement for tomorrow that keeps him from slumber.

Not to mention how he's still in trouble, Michael remembers, feeling a shiver run up his spine at the thought. He ran off without a word, not only that, but he dragged Veronica into the mess with him. Michael sighs in the silence of the room to himself, feeling guilt consume his mind and solidify into a block of granite in his stomach, heavy and painful. There's no telling what might happen now, but still, Michael can't help but try and figure out a way out of this whole mess. Well... the ODSTs and supervisors never directly SAID he and Veronica weren't allowed to stay up. Sure, they hadn't gone into the bedchambers with everyone else, but it's not like they were told they couldn't. A bit of hope fills Michael at the idea, and he smiles, arms behind his head as he tries desperately to settle his mind.

It isn't much longer before he's finally asleep for the night.

The next morning, Michael is awoken suddenly and painfully, as two strong arms pick him up from under his armpits, carrying him without any explanation out of the room. The two strong arms, Michael realizes after a few moments, belong to the same guard from last night: Hershey. Behind Hershey, Michael can see from over the guard's shoulder, is another guard, whose carrying Veronica in the same fashion as Hershey is carrying Michael. With no time to contemplate what's going on, Michael and Veronica are both taken into a room not too far down the hall from the bedchamber room. Hershey and the other guard carry them into the room, closing and locking the door behind them. The room is almost pitch black, with only one, tiny fluorescent light-bulb hung from the ceiling.

There's a brown, dinner table type desk in the middle of the room, with two lone chairs by the entrance to the room. On the other side of the table is a person in ODST type armor, yet they don't have the white with purple accents like most everyone else, having blue accents instead. Silent as the dead, Hershey and the other guard plop Michael and Veronica into the two unoccupied chairs, leaving the room immediately afterwards, leaving Michael and Veronica alone to face the strange ODST-armored person before them. The person is silent as they study the two soon-to-be SPARTANS, trying to figure them out, before they stop, standing up abruptly. Both Michael and Veronica flinch violently, causing the person to pause, hands on the table, before they sit back down, as if satisfied.

"You've both been abused before... that's good. I understand you two caused quite a bit of trouble last night, correct?" The person asks, earning two identical nods from Michael-57 and Veronica-56. "Well, I'll be straight with you both. You're both in some really hot fucking water right now, but there's a way you two can change that." He stands up, less suddenly, beginning to circle them like a shark around swimmers. "You see, you two aren't the only ones who were out last night. We still have three boys missing: Russell-18, Jeremy-19, and Matt-23. Here's where you two get to make a choice. One, you can both refuse my offer and be killed for treason against the UNSC... or you track down those other kids, and either A, kill them, or B, capture them. It's your choice."

Michael and Veronica exchange a look, both beginning to shake with terror. This is real, as hard as it is for them to believe. This is real life, and they know this is a big, big decision. "What... what do we do?" Veronica asks Michael, eyes big and terrified.

Michael swallows, looking away from her to think. The person in front of them is sitting on the desk now, arms crossed as they stare at the two child, head tilted in thought. "I..." He looks to the person for guidance, but finds no answers or kind gestures. "C-Can we do the second option, please?" He asks, voice shaking.

The interrogator seems pleased with this, a chuckle leaving their mouth as they nod, going back to sit calmly in their chair as the guards come to retrieve Michael and Veronica. "Good choice, kid. You'll both be sent out after you have breakfast, and be armed with weapons and the proto-type SPARTAN armor Halsey is working on." Then the interrogator waves as the children are taken, as if nothing at all is wrong with this situation.

As soon as they placed in the large mess hall by the guards, Michael-57 and Veronica-56 are swarmed by the other children, all asking questions and yelling excitedly in a rush. Both soon-to-be SPARTANS hurry away from the others, running to their seats to be served breakfast. The other kids fight to sit beside them, eager to hear all about last night's adventures. Michael tries to ignore all of the attention, but Veronica seems to love it, grinning as she nods and waves at the other kids, excited to be treated like some big, amazing superhero whose done the impossible. One girl, who has Judy-41 on her left wrist, sits right beside Veronica, eyes gleaming as she smiles at the slightly taller six year old.

"Um... are you Veronica-56?" Judy-41 inquires, gaining Veronica's direct attention. "Can you tell us about your and Michael-57's big adventure last night?"

"Sure!" Veronica chirps, sounding oh-so boastful as she elbows Michael excitedly, trying to get him to revel in the glory as well. "Well, it all started when Michael decided to try and play some more, since he wasn't tired. I was lucky enough to be grabbed by him in the crowd of hundreds of other kids to join him on his adventure!" She's over-exaggerating a bit, but no one seems to notice or mind. "We hid around corners, hid in the shadows, and were faster than thunderbolts! We even outran twenty-something guards! We were afraid, but me and Mike had a plan! We escaped into an office, and climbed out a window! Gosh, we must've been a thousand miles off the ground! It was so easy to fall, but we were like ninjas!"

The other children's eyes are big and bright with wonder, all bouncing in their seats as they listen on to Veronica's tale. "The ledge was super narrow, I bet even humming couldn't have landed on it! But me and Mike were super cool, we walked on the ledge and slid down a ladder to the ground. But outta nowhere, Mike fell from what was probably ten miles up and lost a tooth! He's okay now, but man, it looked like it HURT! Also, big, scary, dinosaur sized birds were EVERYWHERE once were on the ground. It was incredible! But we were stronger AND faster than them, so they were too afraid to come near us. Just as we were REALLY starting to explore the outside... they came."

The others gasp in awe, terrified of what has happened thus far to Michael and Veronica. "They came in thousands, all running at us with guns and tanks and spaceships! We ran for cover, running across miles and miles of black war-ground! They were upon us, and with no other choices, we hid in a half-blown up spaceship! We waited, alone, but we didn't dare cry. We were too strong and mighty for such a thing! We waited until they found us, and fought to tooth and nail until they dragged away, screaming and clawing. I think I took one guard's eyes out even!" By the end of her tale, the other children are absolutely crazy as they cheer and celebrate. Veronica stands in her seat, poised like superhero.

Michael feels the need to add in that, no, that's not exactly how it went down. But he doesn't say anything. If Veronica wants this adventure's story to be that crazy and awesome, he's not about to make her look stupid in front of the others and call her out on it. If anything, Michael figures that it's a good thing she's making it sound so frightening. After last night, he sure as heck doesn't want any other kids going out there on their own, and he hopes Veronica's tale is scary enough to keep them from going out there. However, as the cheering gets louder, Michael begins to realize what exactly Veronica has just done. The guards don't step in as the children abandon their breakfasts, too excited to wait for adventure.

"I wanna go! I wanna go!" A boy cheers, jumping up and down along with a few other little boys. "I bet we can get even farther! No big bird's gonna scare us!"

"Wait-" Michael goes to override the boastful boy, whose he's certain is in way over his head without even realizing it. "You can't, it's too-" He's overridden quickly.

"No way! I can go WAY farther than you ever could, Tony!" A girl proclaims, holding hands with a girl who looks very similar to her. They look like twins. "Me and Amelia are the toughest kids here!"

"Oh yeah?" The now addressed Tony challenges, sounding headstrong and confident before the twin sisters. "I bet you can't even catch those runaways!"

"You're gonna bet?" Amelia, the other twin, replies mockingly, looking just as determined and brave as her sister to venture into danger. "You're gonna lose if ya do!"

"I triple-dog dare you both!" Tony screams over the roar of the crowd, and all at once, they go silent. Among any group of children, a triple-dog dare is something no man or child can turn down, no matter how crazy or dangerous. "I triple-dog dare you two to catch those kids first! If you win, you guys'll be the best around! In fact, whoever catches them first is the best SPARTAN in the whole universe!"

And, again, the room fills with excited cheering and screaming. "WAIT!" However, they go dead quiet as Michael speaks- he is the other adventurer after all- all eyes turning to give him their full attention. "You can't go out there! It's too dangerous!" He warns, looking fearful. "You have no idea what you're doing!"

Tony and the other kids stare, all amazed by the adventurer's admission. How could such a brave survivor be afraid? Finally, Veronica swallows, feeling ashamed for having caused such a terrible reaction from the others. "Mike's right." She agrees, and this time they all gasp, because Veronica was the one who sounded so brave to begin with. "It's dangerous out there."

And just like that, the children all seem to stop at once. They exchange looks, whispers quiet and barely heard above the trembling silence. After a few moments, they all nod one by one to each other, quietly returning to their breakfasts. The meals are cold by now, but no one comments. Maybe they're just as scared as Michael and Veronica? If they are, they don't say it. Michael and Veronica exchange a long, terrified look. Whatever is happening to them all... it's spreading fast, and it's not nearly as controllable as they want it to be. Also, whatever this is, the staff seem to want it to happen, if their silence and neutrality towards the almost-riot from before is anything to go by.

Michael swallows roughly as he and Veronica go back to eating their meals, eyes glued to his tray to avoid looking at the other kids or the staff members. Fear feels like weights trapped in his bones, now hollow, but he doesn't say a word. He just keeps eating.

"So that was... scary." Veronica later comments, walking side by side with Michael, with two guards behind them and two in front of them. She doesn't hold his hand, thinking it too childish to do in public.

"Yeah." Michael agrees quietly, fingers flexing as he considers grabbing Veronica's hand. The feeling would be comforting, but he figures she doesn't want that right now. "I think what you said was... scary."

"It was powerful." Veronica corrects, and Michael hums to that. Not to disagree, but to agree without voicing it aloud. "I think those other kids... they look up to us now. They think we're strong now 'cus we did the impossible."

"It wasn't impossible. It was just hard." Michael reminds his friend. He doesn't want to revel in any sort of glory, if anything, he wishes he'd never gone out at all. Veronica's acting so weird now because of it. "So... what ya think we're gonna do when we find those runaways?"

Veronica shrugs, before a cold glint enters her big, green eyes. "Whatever we gotta do. Remember, we have to find them. Otherwise, we're gonna die."

Michael nods, accepting her words, though his face scrunches, concern evident in his features. "Do you... do think, if there's no other way, that you'd ki-" He's cut off as he's grabbed abruptly by the wrist by a guard behind him, shushing him as he and Veronica are ushered into a big room.

Silence follows as the guards cover Michael-57 and Veronica-56's mouths, keeping them both quiet while they lead them into a hanger-type room. The room is absolutely massive- much bigger than the gym or any school they've seen in their lives- with Pelicans, Hornets, tanks, and other big, heavy-weapon vehicles surrounding the walls. All around, groups of soldiers and staff members push and pull crates into empty or near-empty Pelicans, loading them up for sending out supplies to other bases. A few groups of soldiers are training, either running laps inside the room or doing exercises, but what really catches the children's attention is a tall, broad-shouldered man, decked out in full body armor, save for his head. He stands patiently waiting for them head tilt as he examines the twosome.

"Hm." He hums, taking in both children's features, analyzing them internally like a computer analyzing coding or files. "Not bad. The boys pretty damn scarred up, but that just means he's seen more combat. The girl looks pretty sharp, too. They'll do fine, I think."

Michael and Veronica exchange a look. What could this guy be talking about? The man suddenly continues, running into his explanation. "So, you two are the little runaways that damn-near outran all of our guards, hm? My name is Browning, and I'm this compound's lead trainer for you soon-to-be SPARTANS. You might be pretty young still, but I think you can handle this mission. You should already know that you're tracking down those three boys, right?" They nod, both in perfect unison. "Good. I'm here to get you two prepped before we send ya out."

And so, without further distractions, Browning strides over to the two children, grabbing Veronica first, as to go by number order. He tries to lead her away, but she panics, kicking and punching to try and get away. "Oh, you're a fighter, huh? Let's hope your friend there is as tough as you are." Browning comments, almost amused by the girl's disobedience.

Browning, being much stronger and bigger than both children, is easily able to keep his hold on Veronica as he leads her towards a few large crates. He picks her up, handing her to a guard, and searches through the first crate's contents until he finds a small suit of space marine-type armor. Browning, after locating the armor, takes Veronica back, forcing her rather roughly into the new clothing. Once she's been secured in the armor, he grabs Michael, who, unlik Veronica, doesn't fight back, even cooperating as he lets the commander stuff him into his new armor. Once they're both fully armored, they're both allowed onto the ground, allowing them to look each other over. They're both now wearing dark green armor, but to their surprise, the helmet, arms, and legs of the armor suits have dark blue accents on them.

"Those accents mean you two are squad leaders." Browning explains, giving the two children proud once-overs. "After your little performance last night, Halsey thought it best to make you two temporary leaders until you've all trained yourselves up more in the field. In a few minutes, you two'll be sent out to track down those runaways. The other kids'll be out too, but you two'll be the only ones with guns." As if reminded of this, he reaches back into one of the crates, digging out two pistols and two satchels filled with ammo cartridges. "Now I'm gonna tell ya both this before you're sent out: if you have a clear shot and they're not surrendering, you take that shot. You got that?" They nod, causing the commander to smirk. "Good kids. Now get going!"

Browning gives them both an encouraging push towards a few of the guards, who lead the two children down another hallway, towards the front doors of the compound. "So, what was it you were saying earlier, Mike?" Veronica asks, the pistol in her hands held as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

For Michael, holding the pistol feels... wrong. Like it's not right. He decides to forget about it, returning his attention to Veronica. "It's nothing, Veronica. Don't worry 'bout it." It's something he's going to be worrying about, no doubt about it, but he's not about to worry Veronica with his useless worries. "Let's do what they say, okay?"

For a few moments, Veronica is silent, before she nods, if a bit hesitantly. "... If you say so, Mike. Just... don't do anything stupid."

And Michael nods, promising in silence that he won't. He probably will, but it's not like she needs to know that. No one needs to know that.

It's long since begun to rain once the children as escorted outside. Already, Michael and Veronica can see the other children running around outside, trying to hide that they're playing while looking for the missing children. "Gather up!" ODST Troy orders, voice barely heard over the pounding rain from overhead. "We want all of you over here!"

Soon enough, all the children gather around Troy, Clawson, Veronica-56, and Michael-57. Now that everyone is there, Clawson clears his throat, earning their attention. "As of now, Veronica-56 and Michael-57 will be your squad leaders. They will be the only ones armed with weapons, so don't take their guns. 56 and 57 will lead a team of eighteen other SPARTANS into the jungles nearby, while the rest of you may form groups of your own among you. Stick together, and avoid using lethal force when capturing the boys. They may be hostile, so approach with caution." He explains, before nodding at Michael and Veronica. "Choose whoever you like."

One at a time, Michael and Veronica start picking kids playground-style, choosing one after the other. Surprisingly, they both pick only girls, until they're surrounded by eighteen little girls, all looking excited. Clawson and Troy don't comment, and after re-explaining the situation and instructions, they go back inside of the facility. This is the SPARTANS' mission, not theirs. Michael then goes through the group, doing role-call. There's Minnie-51, Amelia-52, Stacy-43, Gina-38, Judy-41, Alexandra-20, Kara-14, Lisa-9, Sara-10, Yuki-74, Destiny-92, Emma-105, Zoey-65, Charlotte-49, Nora-62, Grace-23, Savannah-112, and finally Eva-72. That's a LOT of little girls. They all chatter excitedly as Michael finishes up, confirming that everyone is there to Veronica, who clears her throat like Clawson to earn their attention.

"Listen up," Veronica begins, examining the girls closely. "We're gonna go in there and catch those runaways, okay? I'm in-charge, so you all gotta listen to me. Got it?" They all nod, which makes Veronica grin triumphantly. "Good. Follow me."

Michael doesn't comment on Veronica's speech as he follows her in. Unfortunately for him, all of the younger girls immediately take his place on either side of Veronica, asking excitedly to hear more and more about last night's adventures. She treats them to an even more daring and terrifying recollection of it, and as expected, they all compliment and worship her as they follow her through the dense jungle. As a result of the other girls surrounding Veronica, Michael falls back, feeling defeated and like a stranger as he follows behind the group. He probably shoved picked some boys to join in, but all of the girls had seemed so nice and happy... he'd figured they'd be better company than the boys.

Luckily for him, two girls start drawing back, beginning to walk on either side of them. Michael recognizes them quickly as the twins from breakfast, the ones who'd challenged Tony's bravery beforehand. Part of Michael suspects that Veronica chose them specifically for that. "Hey," Minnie, the first twin greets, a big smile on her face. "You're Michael, right? The one who went adventuring with Veronica?"

Michael nods, if only to satisfy the younger girl. "That's really cool!" Amelia announces, just as excited as her twin sister. "Was it scary, running from all those guards? You must not be scared of anything if you did all that in one night!"

Michael shrugs, not nearly as convinced. "I was pretty scared. We could've been killed if we weren't more careful... I have a bad feeling about all this. I think something bad's gonna happen on this mission."

Minnie and Amelia exchange a look, before they give Michael a shared, serious look. The two are impressively intimidating together. "You feel it, too?" Amelia whispers, and when Michael nods, her face looks grim. "Our Mom always says that when we feel like something bads gonna happen that we should run... what should we do?" She sniffles, a low whine leaving her throat. "I want Mom..."

Minnie grabs Amelia's hand from behind Michael, making the boy feel out of place. "Don't cry, Amelia. We're helping protect Mom now, remember? It'll be okay. We'll see her again someday." She promises, voice low. She's almost believable. "We'll just have to follow orders, even if this feels bad."

"I'll protect you guys." Michael assures the twin girls. They look a little older than him, but not by much at all. "Don't worry, okay? We'll do this together."

Before Michael can further assure the girls that they'll be alright, a twig nearby breaks. The entire team of girls along with Michael go dead quiet, waiting in silence for what might happen next. "I'll go." Michael whispers to Veronica, whose still at the head of the group. "You keep going with the others, okay? I think it's only one of 'em."

Veronica nods silently to Michael, confirming that she's heard him. With his orders to be followed, Michael then holds the pistol tighter as he creeps deeper into a brush to the left of the jungle path, towards where the twig broke. Behind him, he hears the girls quickly shuffle away, allowing Michael to breathe more easily. With no one making noise behind him anymore, Michael continues into the thick brush, pushing past bushes of strange coloring until he hears another twig snap. Careful not to make a sound, Michael tiptoes towards the source of the sound. Resting against a tree trunk is an incredibly tall, strong-looking boy, with deep grey eyes and a scar running over his cheek. His left wrist is turned in a way that Michael can read the name: the boy's name is Matt-23. He's one of the missing boys.

"Hands up." Michael orders loudly, appearing in front of the boy with his pistol raised threateningly. He feels like a cowboy in an action movie, but he can't tell if he's the hero or the villain.

Matt-23 doesn't even look at Michael, and that's when he sees the cut. Matt has a long, bloody cut running over his left side, being pressed down on by Matt's right hand. His breathing is labored, meaning he's been bleeding for awhile, and he looks like he's about to faint. "Hey... are you okay... can you talk?" Michael asks, going quiet, in-case Matt has a headache.

"I can talk." Matt grunts out, his voice oddly gruff and harsh. "Jus' hurts. I fell." He explains, hissing as tears slip down his cheeks. "... I think I'm gonna die."

"No you won't." Michael assures the older boy, swallowing roughly. "Here, let me-" He steps forward, ready to examine the wound in-spite of his lack of medical experience.

Out of nowhere, Matt jumps him. Michael falls easily, Matt being much bigger than him, and allows the bigger child to pin him to the ground, left hand on Michael's chest, Matt's other one holding Michael's pistol to the younger boy's head. Michael squirms, trying to get away, but Matt is strong and he's not about to let him win in a fight. "Stay down." Matt suggests, voice low and threatening. "I don't wanna kill you."

Yeah right. Before Michael and vocally inform Matt that, no, he probably DOES want to kill him, a loud, deafening gunshot fills the air. Afterwards, silence fills the air. Michael opens his eyes and looks down. Matt hasn't fired the pistol. So that means... *BANG*! This time, Matt jumps off of Michael, spooked even worse by the second shot. Michael stares at Matt, then at the pistol. Again, it wasn't Matt. It had to have come from Veronica's pistol. With the energy of a man whose life could end at any moment, Michael leaps forward, knocking the pistol out of Matt's hands. He's careful to not land on his cut, refusing to make the wound worse, and pins the other boy easily. Matt simply stares up at Michael, his expression blank, and Michael has to wonder how many times Matt's been hurt by someone else.

With no other signs of another gunshot going off, Michael hoists the pistol in it's pouch after un-pinning Matt, and once his pistol is secure, he let's Matt lean on him for support. Together, the two boys begin trudging back towards the compound, Michael careful not to drop Matt as they hurry along. "Thank you." Matt suddenly says, making Michael nearly jump in surprise. "You saved me... thanks."

For a moment, Michael just keeps walking, before he smiles, shooting Matt a lopsided yet well-fitted grin. "Anytime, buddy." He assures, continuing on the path ahead.

When Michael meets back up with Veronica, her pistol is missing two bullets and all of the other girls looking absolutely shell-shocked. Michael stares at her, eyes wide, as she turns up her hands to him, showing the blood that covers her dark palms. "They fought back... then they went over the cliff." She explains, not mentioning the gunshots at all. "There was nothing I could do, Mike. They jumped."

Michael considers, for a moment, asking if this is true, but one of the girls- Alexandra- begins to sob openly and loudly. Some of the others follow her lead. Faced with triggering the younger girls on the team, Michael chooses not to ask. Instead, he and Veronica take Matt and help him back towards the compound. The girls cry the whole way home.

Soon enough, Michael will learn the truth. For now, though, he will be joyfully kept from the dark truth of what happened to Russel-18 and Jeremy-19.

Part 5 Complete

A/N: Not as dark as I had wanted it to be, but this is what I've got. Again, sorry for how late it is, but I didn't wanna make myself write it if I wasn't in the mood. Otherwise it would've been crap. I hope this satisfies though! Please R&R, I wanna know if anyone still likes this fic or not!

NEXT PART DESCRIPTION: Part 6: Captains. Four months have passed, and as Michael and Veronica continue to argue over their very different views, Dr. Halsey announces that captains will soon be picked for different groups of SPARTANS. Will Michael be chosen to be a leader once more after his successful capture of Matt-23? Will Veronica's charisma and bravery earn her a squad of loyal SPARTANS?

~CabooseHeart.