#cal 141

If the Headhunter program existed for the Spartan IIs, who do you think would get flagged for it?

Ooo, good question.

My first answer would be Linda-058. She's perfectly comfortable on her own, and I feel her skill set is made for the job.

Then, gut feeling, without much to back me up, I'd say Anton-044. He's a skilled scout, so I imagine he's good at sneaking around to get intel behind enemy lines. Maybe Li-008 as well, since he's the most comfortable in space and good with hand to hand combat, and I feel like behind enemy lines might involve space. (My favorite odd couple, and I am giving myself fanfic ideas. Oh dear.)

From Halo: Legends, I feel Cal-141 would have been a good choice.

Daisy-023 from Halo: Legends, too. Because she was able to escape from the Spartan II Program, and later was shown apparently being a lone operator, and utterly calm about this. (I specify the one from Halo: Legends, because the Daisy-023 from the Halo: Silent Storm novel seemed more like a hothead with a firm attachment to her fellow Spartans, which is my preferred way to write her in fanfic.)

James-005 for reasons, other than my undying love for him.

And Gray Team is kind of a proto-Headhunter unit.

Hmm... Spartan II Headhunter AU.

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Linda-058 likes to sneak up on her partner when they're not aware and hug them from behind. She tends to do this at the end of the day in your quarters, usually when you're so busy or stressed or when you're occupied with something else that you never see or hear her coming. She lives for the delight on your face when you turn to see her, and she can feel your heartbeat through her chest while she places her chin on your shoulder. It makes her day.

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Kelly-087 likes to steal her partner's food. She swears that it just tastes better than her food when you catch her. It doesn't matter if it's the same MRE, the same food from the mess, or food you packed yourself, she will steal it. The first time you packed her the same lunch as you and brought it to her at the start of the day, Fred could've sworn she was skipping for the rest of the day.

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The fastest way to fluster Cal-141 is to unexpectedly hold her hand. It's adorable how she has to confirm that it's your hand in hers and then pretend to not be excited that you are. Sometimes, she forgets where she is and just stares at your conjoined hands in wonder and daydreams of what life after the war would be like for the both of you. It makes fighting this war worth it if she gets to see that wintery cabin in her dreams become reality.

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It's easy for Sarah Palmer to forget that, beneath the armor and rank, that she's human too. She often goes for long periods without sleep and pushes herself to be the very best for every soul under her command and on the Infinity. It's only with her partner that she truly lets her vulnerable side free. After one particularly stressful day, you had suggested she take a break and slow dance with you. It was in your arms, swaying to the music with her head to your chest, that she found peace. It's the little moments at the end of the day that make she lives for.

When I say I'm screaming and kicking my feet, I really am. OMG THOSE ARE SO CUTE! I love seeing you in my inbox. You are giving me every reason to make a Sarah Palmer relationship headcanons post. I'm tempted to link these on my masterlist if you're okay with it.

I think seeing the delight on her partner's face makes Linda feel so loved. Like she's more than a Spartan, a feeling she didn't realize she enjoyed until you.

All I imagine is Kelly running through the ship with her lunch above her head in utter delight. But also I agree with Kelly, stealing your partner's food always tastes better. This habit soon develops in you two sharing different meals, like you get one thing and Kelly gets another, then split it between you too and Kelly still steals off your plate.

It grounds Cal when she feels her partner's hand in hers. It's like a warmth that pulls her back to reality no matter how far her mind has traveled. And if you ever kiss her hand while holding it, Cal.exe has stopped working. She's also one to think about the future together even though she knows she shouldn't.

Linda-058 loves to express her love for you by touching her forehead to yours. There was something so intimate about it, as she would close her eyes, and this feeling of peace washes over her. It was like a small moment of meditation with the person most important to her outside of Blue Team.

Kelly-087 has a tendency to lean her head on you. You can kind of track her mood when she does it. If she leans her head on your shoulder, she's had a very good day (which is most days with you), and she'll lean her head on top yourself if she had a bad one. Please pet her hair.

Cal-141 is scarily good at cooking. Since she despises eating MRE, she learned to cook. At first, it was for herself, but then she fell in love with you. Please compliment her cooking. If you compliment her and the meal she made for the both of you, she visibly beams to where she's as bright as sunlight.

Kai-125 loves your laugh. She heard it once before you started dating and decided that it was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard and would do anything to keep hearing it. Turns out, it was a sound only she could get from you more than anyone else, and she gets this lovestruck look on her face when she sees you laugh.

Sarah Palmer is competitive, and the Spartan-IVs aboard the UNSC Infinity dread the day that you and her lead the teams during a War Games sim. It was one thing for her to assume command of a team for an exercise. It was an entirely different matter when she happened to lead a team against you. It was a joke that these matches were just some advanced form of flirting between you two, and considering that a simple Capture the Flag match ended with her on top of you, straddling your hips and satisfied with her victory, it wasn't hard to see why.

KAI?! OH MY GOSH, *ROCKING BACK AND FORTH* I have all these saved on my iPad, so they never disappear.

I-

LINDA!!! My heart 🥺 I feel like that really fits in canon with her.

I have a feeling Kelly lays her head in her partner's lap to get her hair played with. It's her ultimate sign of trust.

I imagine Cal letting out a huff of pride anytime she finishes cooking and is satisfied with how everything turned out.

KAI!! I straight kicked my feet at this. And Kai will say it to your face that she loves your laugh. but what if it was pre-pellet removal? Something about the thought of Kai being moved by your laughter when she's supposed to be an emotionally-suppressed Spartan

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Since the firing range had been down for maintenance, Linda-058 had been noticeably less enthused. Without being able to use Nornfang, she had quickly grown to be bored. So, thinking quickly, you suggested that she'd trying a game of accuracy or two. She wasn't very fond of pool, but she loved darts.

It was cute to see the concentration spread across her face before every throw of a dart. Part of you wondered if that was what it was like when she was behind a scope - the regal, calm, collected grace of the Sniper Goddess. When she turned to you and the red of your face, she gave you a playful wink. She won again, of course, but you got the consolation prize of a loving kiss from Spartan-058.

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Kelly-087 has a tendency to steal your casual clothes. Even though most of your clothes don't exactly fit her, she will wear them. You'd be losing your mind looking for that sweater you could've sworn you had a week ago only for her to barge in with a guilty smile and returning it because "it doesn't smell like you anymore!" 

She tends to do this when you or her are busy, and she doesn't get to see you as much as she would like. John caught her wearing one of your hoodies once, when Blue Team was on back-to-back missions, and she hadn't seen you in a month. Kelly nearly tackled you when she got to see you again.

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In public, Cal-141 acts as expected of her and her reputation as a Spartan-II. But, in the privacy of your quarters, she lets the walls down and basks in the freedom of being her true self. It doesn't matter how long you've been together. Everything you do together is like the first time for her, and it never fails to fluster her.

Slow dancing together, cuddling, holding hands - she loves it all. By far, her favorite thing to do is to compare the sizes of your hands. It never fails to make Cal blush, and if you weave your fingers with hers and kiss the top of her hand afterward? She'll be red in the face thinking about it for the rest of the day.

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Your relationship with Sarah Palmer was sort of an open secret aboard the Infinity. Despite you and the Commander doing your best to keep your relationship under wraps, it was obvious to observers. Every other Spartan under her command respected the hell out of her but were kind of afraid of her. Sarah was only this gentle with you and you alone.

One time, Captain Lasky had found her going over your gear before one of your missions with Fireteam Majestic, and he laughed at how quickly she turned red, stuttering excuses for messing with your armor at 0200. Roland will never let her hear the end of it.

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I've been waiting to read this, also same, all the Spartans deserve kisses and hugs and someone to love them so much that they're kinda shocked by it but omg gets excited to be with their partner, anyways-

Linda is skeptical when her partner drags her to Spartan Town's activity room and hands her a case of darts. She understands the concept of them and has seen the IVs play, but she isn't sure why they would insist on her playing. Until she actually starts throwing them. Yeah, it's not firing off Nornfang but she's having fun figuring out how to adjust her aim every time she moves back. And she's not complaining when the reward of kisses because you both know she's gonna win.

Blue team 100% gives Kelly shit for stealing her partner's clothes, and she could care less. It's comfortable, and it's not her fault they can't rizz someone up. The rest of the team can tell when Kelly wants to see her partner because she gets restless and is practically hopping between one feet and the next during missions.

I just adore the idea of Cal getting flustered over someone loving her. She's heard Maria-062 talk about retiring and having a family, and she remembers all the other spartans looking at her weirdly. But Cal gets it now. Yes, there are things she doesn't always understand with relationships, but every time her partner kisses her hand or calls her beautiful, it feels like the first time for her.

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Linda-058 has a secret sweet tooth. Growing up in the Spartan program, sweets were usually fought for if they weren't given out as a reward or hidden well, so she learned to hide hers the best. (She also learned where all the other candidates hid theirs.) Even outside the program, she kept it a secret because she had a reputation to keep. She couldn't be Linda, the Sniper Goddess if she was caught eating ice cream. Then, she met you. You had never seen her blush before, but her face was as red as her hair when she shared a chocolate milkshake with you. When you both finished, she kissed the leftover whip cream off the tip of your nose.

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Kelly-087's affections are usually expressed physically in a variety of ways. She has a tendency to lift you off the ground when she hugs you, playing with your fingers while holding hands, or "sneak attacking" you with kisses when she thinks you aren't paying attention. You know she's coming, but you don't have the heart to tell her that.

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Cal-141 likes to carry you in the way one would carry a bride. She thinks it's cute, and it reminds her of the tales of knights and princesses from when she was a child before the Spartan program. One time, you had bought her a golden dress that would fit her because she had mentioned wanting one ever since she was a kid, and it was like the fairy tales had come true. Cal offered her hand to you after she managed to put it on, insisting on dancing with her knight in shining armor.

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Sarah Palmer isn't the best with her feelings. Being an ODST during the war and the Commander of all the Spartan-IVs after the war, she tends to hide her emotions behind a mask. Fortunately, as her second in command, you're able to see past the mask she puts on for others. She shows her love in subtle ways, in ways your subordinates wouldn't notice. The way her touch lingers just a few seconds longer, the way her lips ever so slightly curl upward when she sees you, how her eyes tend to flick to you. She's a lot less subtle with her affections in the privacy of your own quarters though.

PART 3 WAS FREAKIN AMAZING, tell me more,

Linda would threaten you to never tell anyone, not even the rest of blue team can know. This is also where she would confess to stealing everyone else's sweets in the program. AND KISSES MY NOSE *FERAL NOISE* that got me good, I'm screaming, and I just tossed my laptop to the side in excitement. Linda <3, honestly, Linda is a beauty-

Kelly is the most affection spartan and she has moments where she looks at her partner and this unexplainable desire to shower them with kisses comes over her. She also likes holding their face in the palm of her hand and will say "my whole world fits in the palm of my hand" ALSO, I would really like Kelly to pick me up and hold me against the wall-

because she would just to see her partner get flustered as hell

omg Cal <3, sweet angel, she would carry you like a princess and even kiss your nose or forehead when she's getting overwhelmed with feelings. AND THE DRESS, first, she would look beautiful, and second, you would help her pin her hair up while you also kiss her scars.