San Francisco Maritime Museum. #SanFrancisco #Calfornia #ArtDeco #WPA #NewDeal 📸:me/02/2025 What blew me away was that the much of the 'squiggly' artwork was by Sargent Claude Johnson since it was not a style of his I was familiar with, but I love it, nonetheless.
Sargent Claude Johnson is hard to categorize. He worked with so many mediums. Oil, stone, clay, watercolor... and more.
He is probably best known for his ceramic and sculpture works, his masks and figures in the round.
The third of 6 children, he was a mixed race man. His father of Swedish ancestry and his mother of Black-Indigenous ancestry.
Both of his parents would die before he was an adult.
He and his siblings would move to live with their aunt and uncle in Washington DC.
His aunt, May Howard Jackson, was a skilled sculptor working largely in portraiture and a prominent figure in DC's black intellectual culture. Her work must have influenced and inspired Sargent. But, he was not there long.
His brothers and himself were sent to an Orphanage while his sisters went to a Catholic School for racialized peoples.
What happened between then and the beginning of his career as an artist, isn't known. What is known, is in 1915, he moved to the Bay Area, married and began attending the A.W. Best school of Art, all in the same year.
He would also attend the San Francisco Art Institute then called the California School of Fine Art.
His first show was with the Harmon Foundation, and he was met with success, even winning the $150 prize for the best work. But he would win many more awards garnering national attention.
At this time, he was primarily showing his ceramics works.
In the 1930's he hit his creative stride. He began to push the stylization in his work even further and began to explore other mediums including wood, copper, etchings, drawings, terra cotta, and porcelain. He also received several large commissions from the WPA Federal Art Project. One an 18 by 24 foot carved relief organ screen, the other the interior of the Maritime Museum and Aquatic Park in San Francisco.
For the Golden Gate International Exposition (1939) he completed two massive 8 foot cast stone sculptures of Incas riding atop llamas.
He did many more projects, his animal series, cast in terrazzo and his other large works for exhibition.
Toward the end of his life, his works became very abstract. Yet, they always retained his signature simplicity.
He separated from his wife in 1936, their daughter also going to live with her. But despite their separation, they remained on good terms until her death. His work, always heavily influenced by his wife and daughter.
Sargent has suffered from angina, and settled in a hotel in downtown San Francisco in 1965. He would die there of a heart attack in 1967.
Sargent Johnson was an artist that never stopped exploring his work, truly embodying the craft as having no peak. His work was inspired by many different artists and styles, blended through him into something truly unique and special.
If you'd like to learn more about Sargent Johnson:
Smithsonian American Art Museum -Sargent Johnson
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art - Sargent Johnson Works
African American Registry - Sargent Johnson
Sargent Johnson : African American modernist
Right after you and John begin to figure things out, you are captured by the Covenant after they shot down your Pelican. You find yourself trapped as they try to extract information from you about the Spartan program and a demon of some kind..... little do you know they're referring to you're Spartan.
POSSIBLE TRIGGERS! If you're triggered by torture or physical brutality then please do not read.
A/N. I'm aware Infiniti didn't exist here but I'm flexing some creative liberties here, plz don't kill me xD
2 weeks before the attack on Cairo Space Station...
"Tell us human... tell us what we wish to know about the demon!"
Your chest heaved as you fought off the scream that desperately wanted to tear through your lips, the past three hours feeling like its own eternity. The Covenant had you hooked up to some machine that had been trying to force its way into your memories, causing you extreme amounts of pain as your neural implant rejected the alien technology with a ferocity.
"You are only causing yourself to be damaged human," The elite stated as he turned the machine on once more, "just tell us about the demon!"
"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" You insisted, hissing loudly as another spike of pain shot through you, "I don't know any demons!"
"You lie!" The giant monkey creature accused, raising a giant, metal hammer as he quickly charged at your restrained form from across the room. You're eyes widened and you cried out in fear as you screwed your eyes shut.
"I do-don't know who you're talking about!!" You cried as you attempted to curl in on yourself,
"You fool! Our orders are to extract the information from the human without damaging them.... you will kill them with such primitive measures."
"We will not keep the hierarchs waiting elite...." The ape creature declared as its giant hand grabbed a hold of your chin, forcing you to look at it, "no matter what happens to this human....we will not be denied."
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'John!....'
'John...'
'Jo-John please...'
"JOHN!!" Cortana's sudden volume drew the Spartan out his thoughts as he glanced over at his AI, having to momentarily break his focus off of you,
"I know you're worried.... but sitting here staring at the incident report won't get us anywhere."
As much as John appreciated Cortana trying to take his mind off it..... she didn't know what it felt like. Perhaps it was the connection they shared, but the strike she took hit John harder than anything he'd felt previous to this. He couldn't feel her presence completely which meant more than likely whatever had just happened rendered her unconscious. But the terror he felt at that moment confused him as he couldn't discern if it was stemming from you or him.
John felt his limbs lock, rooting him to the spot as waves of vengeance, grief, and stinging pain overtook him, his chest felt constricted and for a moment he thought he'd need a medic.... why couldn't he breathe?? He had no frame of reference on how to handle these.... emotions... these feelings he'd never previously divulged in and that fact alone terrified him. Yet true to his Spartan, battle-hardened tendencies, he shut them down completely, zeroing in on his two most crucial objectives. To find you and be certain no further harm came to you.
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"Ahh Master Chief, we've been expecting you," Lord Hood greeted as John walked into the command deck, glancing at the map on a screen behind the Admiral,
"I'm sure you're aware of the current crisis at hand," Admiral Hood began leading John to the command console.
"Yes sir, the Covenant attacking our Pelican and kidnapping personnel,"
"Correct, including a young medical officer, (Y/N) (L/N)."
John felt his chest constrict slightly as your picture popped up, but refocused his attention to the Admiral.
"Miss (Y/N) has through emergency situations come to possess much knowledge about the Spartan, which as we all know was kept highly classified. If the Covenant break her and extract the information, I fear what abominations would spawn from such knowledge."
The room fell silent making John feel almost twitchy,
"Due to the severity of the situation and the fact that she's carrying official ONI intelligence, this takes priority, Master Chief, I'm putting you in charge of the strike team. You'll be collaborating with Sargent Johnson and the ODST's and according to command.... this mission is off the record. No mistakes can be afforded."
"Understood sir," John replied, saluting Admiral hood before retreating to his room,
"Are you alright?" Cortana asked softly as John took off his helmet, plugging her chip into the holo table by his bed, John wasn't sure how to answer her as he was still trying to determine that same answer himself.
"She's scared," He replied feeling his throat tighten, Cortana nodded treading carefully with how on edge John looked at the moment,
"Don't worry too much John," Cortana comforted, "we'll get her back.... she's a strong woman.."
John nodded, gazing at the chrono, 3 days was too long.... you could be dead by the time he reached you.
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John tried his best to sleep that night, but his thoughts were consumed by you, the way you're voice shook, how terrified you sounded.... the pain you were in. John shook his head, turning over on his side, desperate for some rest. He'd never get you back if he wasn't fully focused and rested, sighing heavily he felt his eyes begin to close.
'Jo-John......'
John's eyes flew open as you're strained, yet still, beautiful voice echoed in his mind,
'John......' You called once more, this time getting a response,
'(Y/N)!' He replied feeling your disorientation, what had happened to you??
'Are you alright?! What are they doing to you?' John felt back for bugging you're already agitated and hurting head with questions, but he needed to know you weren't dying at the very least.
'No-nothing extreme... they-they've got some sort of machine trying to hack my neural implant.... so-something about a demon...'
'Demon?..... you haven't given them anything have you?'
'John I thought you'd have more faith in me....' You dryly joked, yet John could feel the hurt undertone in your voice.
'....... It's nice to hear you're voice John,'
John felt his chest constrict once more, almost to the point of pain as he swears he can hear you begin to sniffle.
'(Y/N)........ just hold on, I'm coming for you..'
'I'm sca-scared John....'
'I know you are...... but just hold on a little longer, the Admiral's assembling a rescue squad.'
'Only because I-I have information O-ONI doesn't want to be released... if I didn't have that they'd leave me to die...'
'I would still come for you regardless...'
You fell silent for a moment, making John think you'd fallen asleep when you're quiet voice filled his mind once more,
'I miss you...'
John, instead of feeling pain, felt a new sensation, like he'd been under a warm light for too long, his face feeling warm and slightly... tingly? The feeling spreading from his cheeks to the tip of his ears those three words swirled around in his mind, penetrating deep into his heart and sticking there for a moment.
'.................................. I.... miss you too..'
The sound of your chuckle made that warm, fuzzy feeling in his stomach grow bigger than last time, stretching all the way to his toes,
'You're getting better.... I'm proud of you...' You stated, making the warmth on his face increase,
'You're tired.... you should rest...'
'I'm too scared to sleep John........ this place... these Covenant are.... terrifying... I don't know how you're so fearless all the time...'
John hesitated for a moment, wanting to tell you that he wasn't fearless all the time.... that he had been afraid just a few hours ago when he got the news... but for your sake, he kept these feelings hidden from you.
'...............Its the armor... makes things easier to handle when you're inside a mini tank.'
The sound of you're laughter sent a jolt of joy through his body, feeling relieved he was able to make you laugh, even in this situation. As the two of you chatted some more, John felt you begin to relax and in turn, he also felt relaxed. And with relaxation, came the fatigue, soon the two of you began drifting off, you're connection slowly breaking. The only thing keeping John in the sweet embrace of sleep was the feeling of you being at rest with him.
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You woke up the next morning to feel a sharp, invading pain that made you feel like someone was splitting you're skull open, screaming first thing in the morning was not something you ever wanted to experience again.
"Good.... you're awake...." Your eyes flew open to see the chief of the ape creatures hovering over the machine you were hooked up to, turning the intensity up. A hoarse scream tore through your lips as you felt your mind fighting against the probe violently. After several hours of them ripping through your waking, conscious mind, the Covenant tried a different method, they injected a serum into you that made you hallucinate and more likely to talk as it loosened your concept of reality.
For the rest of the day, you felt nothing but searing pain, went through countless hallucinations, and endured several rounds of physical beatings. Leaving at least two broken ribs, a cut in your arm in need of stitches, and several large bruises covering your body. You fought off another bout of nausea while trying to control your breathing, feeling a familiar sensation in your chest, John..... he was trying to reach out to you... but you were too exhausted, too injured to respond to his call, closing your eyes, you allowed yourself to listen to his voice, you sighed as the sound brought you comfort. Like a warm blanket being wrapped around you after you'd been in the cold.
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She was in pain, that much John knew, every time he tried reaching out to her, he was blocked by this wall of pain, sending a shock that nearly caused him to crumple in pain against the wall of the shower. Hissing loudly, John took deep breaths, counting backward from ten then counting back up to ten, by the time he reached ten once more, the pain had faded, all that remained was a dull yet deep ache in his chest. He hated sitting on standby, he should've already had you back by now.... what happened if you were gone by the time he got to you? He wouldn't be able to live with himself, just the thought alone was enough to steal the breath from his lungs as he turned off the water. Wrapping a towel around his waist, he looked at his reflection in the mirror and it made him angry as he knew you were suffering, and he was in Infiniti enjoying things like a hot shower and a comfortable bed. You could be dying and he was sitting there doing nothing! The more he stared at his own face, the angrier he became.
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"You do know you have to use that hand shortly," Cortana gently reprimanded as John bandaged his hand, the mirror in his bathroom would need to be replaced, maybe putting his fist into the wall hadn't been the best idea, but he didn't know how else to process what he was feeling...
"I know..." John replied bitterly, not meaning to sound so cold,
"Your frustrated I know, but you and I both know that shattering a mirror won't bring her back..."
John nods as he secured the bandage, feeling this horrible stinging in his eyes coupled with an odd feeling of stress and frustration, what was happening to him??
"Chief, take a deep breath, you're breathing and heart rate are all over the place................ John..."
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Three days...... three days was finally up and John was just about bursting, as he suited up he couldn't help but wonder if you were still alive, would he finally reach you only to find he was too late? If the Covenant had extinguished your life, then he wouldn't rest until they'd all been wiped out. Only that would suffice...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sleep was a welcome friend as your mind was often too tired from resisting the Covenants prying, thankfully they'd only managed to pry Kelly's name out of you.... not enough to harm anyone, but it's more than you wanted to give away. You were so tired, everything ached and your wounds were becoming infected from the lack of treatment. Your body shook and shivered as no doubt the infections were beginning to make you sick, maybe John and the others had forgotten about you.... maybe no one was coming, after all.... you were just a medic... they could replace you. As the Elite injected you with another bout of drugs you felt lightheaded and sick, your neural implant throbbing with every beat of your heart. The questions were the same: What was the Demon's secret to immortality, what gave him his strength, and so on.
You on the other hand were so tired that all you could think about was being back on Infiniti, playing a game of chess with Cortana while waiting for John to walk through the door. Your heart ached as you realized you may never get to play another game of chess with her, or worse, die here on the cruiser and never see your Spartan again.
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A few hours later, the drug was still very much in effect and you seemed to be in a daze, even with the loud sounds of Elites shouting, guns firing and people shouting, you felt almost like you were drifting away from your body. However, a loud, pained cry semi-snapped you out of your trance, suddenly aware of every breath you took. The image of Cortana and John fading from your mind as the doors began to open. A mix of green and camo filled your clearing vision, but what was meant to bring hope and joy, only made the feeling of dread sink farther into your bones as you saw them all in Covenant binders. But the worst was yet to come, maybe it was the drug that amplified your terror and switched off the logical part of your brain, but when you saw a familiar helmeted figure being dragged into the brig, you felt sick to your stomach with horror. His arm was bent unnaturally far which was impressive considering his armor should've prevented that.
You nearly broke down in tears at the sight, you just couldn't believe it, Master Chief taken down by the Covenant. He had been injured before as your impeccable records would describe, but he had never been captured by enemy forces...... EVER. A feeling of complete hopelessness filled you, it could've been all the drugs you had in your system, maybe it was just another hallucination.... but the more you heard and saw, the more you came to realize this was real. And there might not be a rescue....
Sargent Johnson on the other hand was in high spirits, laughing and mocking their captors with that odorous cigar lit in his mouth. You couldn't even recall how many times you'd told him to quit for the sake of his health only to be shrugged off. But as his eyes landed on you, he went from jovial prick, to pissed off. It was jarring and made you wonder exactly what you were seeing.
"Really?! This is how you treat the ladies?" Johnson roared as he struggled against his captors. You bastards will get what comin' to ya once my buddy here gets some shut-eye!"
You flinched as the Elite held his energy sword to Johnson's throat,
"The Demon will die for his sins against the Covenant!"
Sargent Johnson then fell backward, avoiding being stabbed into his cell. Unlike some of the others who yelped upon feeling the energy swords scalding prod. One of the Elites still had a tight grip on Chief who struggled in its grasp, but even he couldn't help the small cry that slipped out when his broken arm was jarred due to him landing roughly in his cell. His cry causing your heart to ache as the Elites left to inform their hierarchs of their progress and capture of Master Chief.
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"Chief, if you ever want to use that arm again don't even THINK about touching it."
Out of all the places Cortana had been with Chief, this was one of the worst, they at least skipped the whole searching the ship step, but now she was going to have to work twice as hard to come up with an escape plan. She could tell John was distracted by your pained whimpers from the way his jaw clenched, a concealed grunt of pain shortly following as no doubt his arm was killing him.
"Let me see what I can do to help us get out of here."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Several hours and one Spartan-sized nap later, Cortana has managed to hijack the Covenant system into thinking nothing in the brig had been compromised. Yet as she looked at the trail of dead Covenant forces, the truth said otherwise. Sargent Johnson and the others watched the room while Chief made a beeline for you, broken arm or not, he was going to be the one ripping those restraints off you. Thankfully his left arm was just as good as his right, You were still quietly mumbling things under your breath, Cortana cursing the Covenant by every god she knew as she took in the mess you currently were. You had long, infected gashes on your arms and torso, heavy bruising on your ribcage, and several new and tender cuts on your face. Your unfocused eyes made direct contact with Chief's visor and it seemed to snap you out of your trance instantly.
"Jo-Jo-John??" Your dry, hoarse voice managed to croak out, before you threw your arms around his giant frame, being careful to avoid his hurt arm. Cortana could feel John flinch at the touch, as he wasn't quite used to it, but you were more than a little traumatized at the moment and Cortana seriously doubted you'd remember this once you slept. Regardless of that fact though, John brought his good arm up and held you tightly against him for a moment. You didn't need a lecture on being professionalism.... you needed comfort and the three of you knew that John was the only acceptable option.
"(Y/N)....." John's deep, now strained voice seemed to help bring you back to your senses, even if it was just a little bit "We have to move, Cortana's bypass won't hold forever."
You nodded and soon found yourself being carried by Sargent Johnson when you realized without support, you were unable to walk. The Covenant hadn't bothered keeping you fed, they only gave you the minimum amount of water when you had needed it to stay alive.
"We have about thirty more seconds before they realize you guys aren't in your cell, that pelican better be here..." Cortana quipped from inside Chief's helmet. Making the group move a little faster. And precisely 60 seconds later and minus one soldier, you all jumped on a hovering pelican and made a beeline out of there.
You shot up out of a dead sleep with a cry already escaping your lips, your chest heaving as a thin layer of sweat clung to your skin, your heart was beating incredibly fast and for a moment you thought it would burst from your chest. You felt utterly pathetic as you pressed the heels of your palms into your eyes, attempting to stop the tears from flowing.
"(Y/N).... are you alright?" Cortana asked as she popped up on your holo table, John had asked Cortana to keep an eye on you which Cortana graciously agreed to, she cared about you and knew it would put John's mind at ease. You shook your head as you swung your legs over the side of your bed, hands shaking as you attempted to ground yourself to reality.
"I-I'm fine Cortana............" You lied, legs shaking slightly as you got up and trudged to the shower, "I just need to shower."
Cortana stayed silent knowing full well you were doing terribly, you had woken up flailing and screaming your first week being back aboard the Infiniti, and you could barely sleep anymore. Everyone had hoped you would begin to recover after your rescue, but you only seemed to be getting worse. So while you were in the shower, she alerted John that you were awake, John of course was worried, it pained him to see you struggle so much. If something made a loud noise you jumped, and if a gun was fired or a scream was heard, you were crumpled in the corner crying and shaking.
John waited till you were out of the shower to enter your quarters, catching you slightly off guard as you were drying your hair with a towel, having changed into fresh pajamas.
"John??.... what are you doing here?" You asked with a curious tilt of your head,
"Cortana told me you had another nightmare, I was coming to check on you..."
"I'm fine John..... really it was just.... it was nothing,"
John frowned as the shared bond between the two of you revealed otherwise, you were hurting, ashamed, afraid, terrified even.
"(Y/N)......."
You stopped your rambling as you knew John didn't believe you, it wasn't hard to see that you were struggling, and while it was normal, you still felt helpless. John noticed that you were barely keeping it together, unshed tears already creeping back up on you. Your bottom lip beginning to quiver as you looked back up at him.
"I just can't seem to get past it, John...." You began as the tears silently began to flow, John nodded as he stepped closer to you, he hated seeing you cry and the past few weeks he'd seen it enough to last him a lifetime.
"I know...." He started lifting his large hand and moving it to wipe your tears, hating how you flinched at his touch, it was almost as if the two of you had switched places.
"E-Every ti-time I clo-close my eyes I'm back on that ship, an-and I'm all alo-alone...."
John nodded as he listens, stopping to wipe your tears every few moments,
"I-I was so-so scared, John...." You whispered, hiccuping slightly into John's chest,
"I know you were...... I could feel it, but you did well..."
"I'm-I'm sorry.... I shoul-should be past this by now..." You apologized after John had led you back into your bedroom, sitting with you cradled in his arms, his back resting against the headboard of your bed.
"Don't apologize," He gently instructed, "what you went through..... it's not something you can rush. You need to recover first, then work on getting yourself back to normal."
You nodded allowing yourself to relax in John's gentle embrace and found yourself slowly drifting back to sleep but stiffened when John shifted to put you back in bed. As soon as his warmth left you, your brain went on high alert and you felt a spike of anxiety hit you, why was he leaving?? Despite your brain screaming for sleep, you didn't want to be alone.
"John....." You called sleepily, your eye cracking open the tiniest bit to see John was in your bedroom doorway,
"Yes?"
"...................... Can you stay?..... please... I don't want to be alone...."
You worried you'd pushed a boundary, even though you two were definitely in this unspoken relationship, John had never stayed overnight yet, and you didn't want to push him... but you needed your Spartan tonight. You heard movement and soon felt this incredible warmth enveloping your entire body. John gently turned you over so that you face him and let you huddle against him, your legs intertwining with his. And as quickly as the fear came, it passed as John wrapped his arms around you, it was a little awkward at first due to him not knowing much about cuddling, but he understood you needed to be held and protected... and that he could do.
.
.
.
.
"Goodnight (Y/N)..... don't worry...... your safe now.."
Holy heck it is 3 freaking am... do I regret this?? Absofreakinglutely not xD. Tagging @morganas-pendragons and @logiclover. Enjoy guys! Hope you like soft John cuz that's what's up next. Some soft Spartan.
