Vulpine

When a skull greets you at the door, you know you're not welcome.

Technically it wasn't the first indication the Spartan-III had received that he wasn't welcome here. Silent drivers and equally silent snipers gave the impression that you'd just walked into the proverbial cow pasture and it was your job to pick up the droppings while everyone sat on the fence and watched. And while Noble Six had never seen a cow in his life, he understood the metaphor. But what he truly understood was that people who painted skulls on their visors and sharpened combat knives on their shoulder guards for the sake of it weren't the most social people in the world. And with Emile-239 giving him the silent treatment, the lieutenant knew his place.

Right. Back in the sand on Pegasi Delta.

Noble Six willed himself not to think of the hellhole but even now, seven years after the suicide mission, he had a hard time not to do so. Still, he had to admit, it was almost a blessing in disguise. Pegasi had shown him how fragile life could be and associating with people was going to get yourself hurt, even on missions that didn't involve suicide missions on refineries involved in smelting deuterium and tritium. So if Noble Team's grenadier was going to give him a hard time, he could take it. He was a lone wolf and couldn't give a damn what someone with more grenades than brain cells thought of him.

"You took your time."

It took a second for Noble Six to realize that 'face of death' hadn't said anything, but that was all the time the squad's XO needed to get between the two. Still, as slow as his reaction had been, the lieutenant knew that the squad only had one female, so when Lieutenant Commander Kat-320 came face to face with him, he expected no less. However, actually coming face to face with her was another matter entirely. He'd read her file of course-read all of the team's files come to think of it, but that didn't prepare him for what brown hair, green eyes and scars that actually added to a visage could do.

"You our new recruit?"

"Yeah..." the S-III murmured, all thoughts of being a wolf temporarily forgotten. "That's me."

Emile murmured something that included the words "ONI" and "thinking." Still, the lieutenant didn't care. Not only did he have similar sentiments sometimes, albiet for different reasons, but his superior had announced his presence to his own. So as much as he would have liked to...analyse the squad's second in command, priorities came first. Priorities that included Jorge-052 questioning history and Commander Carter responding in turn.

"Spartans never die Jorge. They're just missing in action."

Noble Six decided he liked Carter-259. Down to business, spoke the truth...no wonder he was the head of the team, surviving numerous missions against all odds. And if Kat was anything like him...well, maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

Carter had other plans though. Plans that involved leading him to a different Falcon from the squad's only female member.

"I read your file lieutenant, even the parts ONI didn't want me to," said the commander by way of explanation.

"Oh...really?" the recruit asked, not fully listening.

"Yeah..." said Carter, his grip on Six's shoulder tightening in an effort to wake him up. "And let me make something clear. I'm glad to have your skill set. But you can leave that lone wolf stuff behind."

Noble Six nodded and not just because the sniper (a.k.a. Mr. Frosty) had suddenly turned into Mr. Friendly. He didn't want to get on his CO's bad side on his first day, even if it would probably be his last. And he had to admit, maybe he had a point. Heck, maybe they both did. And listening to Kat's voice over the radio, he realized three things.

One-Jun was probably right about his bad timing and in the remote chance that he got a gravestone, August 30, 2552 would likely mark his death. Two-Carter was right. It was time to stop being a wolf. And finally, in light of the XO...

...maybe he should be a fox instead.

A/N

First impressions can be strange. Strange in the sense that this idea was recorded when the second trailer for Reach was first released. Strange in that I don't know why character establishment 'inspired' me to go on an OOC tangent. Still, since Noble Six's personality will probably be even less detailed than that of the Rookie, I guess it's within our power to give the player character treatment in regards to fanfiction.