Zeus woke up to see Riley's face in his, kissing him. 

"Well, good morning, sleepyhead," she poked his nose and he smiled.

"Good morning, sweetheart." It felt like Zeus was in a dream. He was next to the one person he loved almost as much as God- and that was Riley.

The same Riley who called him a crybaby when he first arrived at the Spartan Training Facility.

The same Riley who had brushed him off right before augmentation.

The same Riley who he almost had died for during a training exercise.

The same Riley he jumped off a cliff for right after- and that wasn't even the most dangerous thing that Zeus did for her.

"I swear... I gotta get used to waking up to your pretty face every morning now. I was so used to Derek and his clumsiness." Zeus said.

"Oh, good ole' Derek." She laughed and kissed Zeus's forehead and got up and out of bed.

Zeus arose as well, walking to his bathroom. He looked at Riley and then shut the door.

"I always thought the rule was ladies first!" She yelled, and he opened the door to her.

"You got it, sweetie." He said, and walked out.

He watched as the fire from the ravaged Covenant ship raged on the ground. It covered two miles with plasma fires.

"At least it's melting the glass..." He said to himself.

"Hey babe," Riley shouted from the shower, "Can you get me a uniform and stuff from my room?"

"Yeah, I can. I'll be right back."

Zeus walked down the hallway in his shorts and a UNSC T- Shirt when he ran into Erica.

"What are you doing up? It's like 4 AM!" She shouted in his face.

"I'm going to go get Riley some clothes... What are you doing on the Fire Of Dusk?"

"I have to give a report to Admiral Renault. He's my commanding officer. So... Chappy, did you two tie the knot yet?" She smirked at him.

"Uh- no! I confessed my feelings  to her at this time yesterday after delivering Z. I'll have to talk to you later, Erica."

"Mmkay. Remember, you still gotta tell me why you became a Chaplain."

Zeus ran to Riley's room and grabbed her clothes, then ran back to his room.

"Colonel Makara to the bridge at 0600 hours," the intercom said.

Riley came out of the shower with towels wrapped around her head and body. Zeus handed the clothes to her and gave her a kiss.

"I have to be at the bridge by 0600," he whispered in her ear, "we'll talk later."

"I love you," she said, her soft lips caressing his ear. 

"I love you too," he said, chills running down his spine.

He showered and then put on his dress blues and was ready by 0530. He stepped outside of the bathroom and looked outside his window.

An explosion took place down in the city of Arcadia, the one city he had once called home. Multiple plumes of smoke surrounded the city, visible to him from space.

He laced up his boots and then sprinted to the command center. To his surprise, three familiar faces greeted him there.

"Hey there, Chap-stick." Team Icarus' leader,  Spartan Asher-182 said to Zeus, making fun of his appearance and Chaplain decision.

Zeus' blood boiled. Asher had it out for him since day one. What Zeus lacked in physical appearance Asher supplemented. Where Zeus was smaller in appearance, Asher was more handsome, tall, able.

"What are you doing here, Asher?" Zeus asked.

"Commander Palmer sent us here while you were sleeping," Finn-228, Asher's second in command, stated. "We have to go to Arcadia together."

Arcadia. Well played for revenge, Commander Palmer. 

Zeus decided to go along with the plan. Even though he hated how Asher and his lackies treated him, his mission was to protect Harvest at all costs. 

"What of my team?" Zeus asked, really concerned with Riley and Derek and Erica and Reeva.

"They've been assigned to protect the town of Rexor. The one you landed in." Alicia-257 said to Zeus. "You are coming with us."

--------------------------------------------

"I'll miss you. Stay safe." Riley looked Zeus in the face and stared into his eyes. Her soul radiated from within her.

Zeus squeezed her. "I wish they would let you and Derek come with me. "

"I'll be praying for you..." she whispered in his ear, and then broke away to board a Pelican that would take her back to Exodus Team and the town where they were hailed as heroes.

Zeus, well, Zeus went to go face the wrath of Hell for the second time in the past 72 hours.

"Okay, Chap-stick," Asher said, "if your reunion with your geek queen is done, we got a job to do."

"Shut up, Asher. I'll board when I'm ready." Zeus smugly replied, and jammed his helmet on. Faux flickered in his visor.

"Okay, boot. Derek just radioed me and told me to tell you to mentally prepare yourself. As punishment for you out-doing them on the Operation's board Asher is going to take you to the one place where he can prove that you're weaker than he is," Faux continued, "Do what you gotta do to make it back alive."

Derek wants me to stay strong, Zeus thought.

Asher and his squad were going to take him to the place that he had lived in his dreams for so long.

They were going to take him to his home and subject him to the weakness he had.

Zeus boarded the Pelican and looked at the three Spartans who hated his guts. Alicia wasn't the one who hated him the most, but he did turn her down in boot camp after she had seen him save Riley. It gave her a reason to want to see him suffer.

Asher was jealous because he couldn't be the hero to Riley. He would have rather been the all star who didn't want to ruin his image.

Finn, well Finn just was along for the ride.

"Where are we going?" Zeus asked.

"That's for us to know, and for you to find out when we get there." Asher said.

Zeus quivered in fear. He remembered the first time he had met Asher.

----------------------

"Look at him. He won't even make it through the mile."  Asher said as he stood over Zeus. Asher's lips twisted into a wicked smile, as he thought about  what he could do to the little child that he stood over.

The two had just got through with the first initial workouts in the wilderness, with Zeus pushing himself to be even better than Asher. 

"Y-you don't scare me,"  Zeus said, and shoved him away with his foot. He arose to face the one who had caused him immense pain.

"Enough!" The Spartan who protected Zeus came over and broke up their scuffle.

"Why don't you run back to mom and dad? Oh, wait, they're dead!" Asher taunted.

"Shut up, you arrogant punk." Zeus's heart raged with fire. He wished he could take down this giant with the same stones that David took down Goliath with.

A crowd was surrounding them, most shouting for Asher to kill Zeus where he stood, and Asher looked at Zeus.

"For being named after a god of thunder, you really are a wimp." He walked up to Zeus and grabbed the silver cross necklace his father had given him.

He yanked it off of his neck, and the cross clinked on the concrete sidewalk. 

"Your God and you can both bite it," he spat, spitefully.

Zeus's knees buckled. A thirteen year old shouldn't have had to endure this mental and verbal abuse from a sixteen year old. He started to cry and tried to stand.

Asher kicked him in his side, and Zeus fell over.

"STOP!" A kid named Jon ran out to grab the cross and blocked Asher from Zeus. Five more kids did the same. "If you mess with him, you mess with us. Don't you dare berate him. We are all brothers and sisters, and we will give our lives for each other." Jon helped Zeus up.

Asher cursed under his breath and stalked away. Zeus stared blankly at the cross in Jon's hand as the crowd walked away, save the Spartan II and the six kids surrounding him.

"Congratulations. You all passed the test. As Spartans, we must stick together, and we can't have division in our own ranks. You will now all be known as Exodus Team. Zeus, your necklace will be fixed. Stand strong. Your resolve and patience will make you a far greater Spartan than Asher ever will be."

------------------------------ 

Those words rang out in Zeus's head as the Pelican touched down.

"Come on, Chap-stick, we're here."

The ramp opened to the shattered shambles of Arcadia, and Zeus realized that this... this was his home.

"Welcome home, Chapstick," Asher said with a snarky tone.