SECRETS IN THE SHADOWS
Nightfall was falling upon the cliffs of Kadara. Most people, who were smart, quickly found shelter away from the wild beasts and scavengers that raided the outskirts of the port. Sara found herself sitting on a rock a few feet where the Nomad was parked. The fatal rendezvous with Sloane was a few hours ago and it was still daylight then. So either she had been sitting there for a lot longer than she thought or the nights came quick. She sent her teammates back to the port and wait for their next assignment. There were a few protests but eventually Peebee and Liam took the hint. Sara wanted to be alone. No, she needed to be alone. Her mind raced with her memories so far once arriving there. Her intent was to find their next vault to unlock and get closer to hunting the Archon. Though, it turned out she was involved in a gang war and her being naïve made her gullible.
Hook, line and sinker. She took it all. All the lies that he told her. Reyes Vidal. The so called smuggler who was part of the Nexus uprising and found himself an exile on Kadara. The man who joined the initiative to be somebody. The man, with his suave personality, poured her constant lies like Asari wine and made her think there were more to his intentions with her than he gave away. He was the Charlatan and he used her to get Sloane away from Kadara and alone. With Sloane away from her bodyguards, she was easy prey thinking she had the safety of the Pathfinder and he took her out with a sniper.
Rubbing her blood shot, watery eyes, Sara sniffed in her helmet and heard her own breathing echoing in her ears. "Dad…I miss you. I thought I was ready for this. My whole team had such hopes for me…but maybe I'm just a smooth talker," she chuckled lightly to herself. "Just like Reyes…damnit! Why do I care so much? How did he get to me?!" Reflecting back to her past encounters with the dashing good looking man, she couldn't help but to smile no matter how hurt and betrayed she felt. The first meeting with code names at Kralla's Song, the crime scene with the Roekaar, Sloane's party….and that first kiss. The distraction so they wouldn't get caught sneaking…for six hundred year old whiskey! It all went too fast.
"You going or coming?" A gruff voice asked from behind.
Instinctively, she reached for her pistol as she turned but came face to face with the barrel of a shotgun with a Krogan on the other end. The face paint markings easily identified him as the warden on Kadara. The one who kicked out and the one who let you back in. Recognizing her, he eased his aim. "Sorry. I didn't know it was you, Pathfinder. Sloane wanted me to make sure nothing happen to you…heh, then again she's dead now."
The statement really didn't ease her. Her body remained tense. "So who's calling the shots now?" Not sure how much word came out about Sloane's killers and if she would be named as a guilty party.
The Krogan didn't eye her too suspiciously and gave a slight shrug. "Beats me. Complete power vacuum up top but no word down here in the slums. As long as I have a job and I'm not too long on the other side of the gate, then I'm good." His dark eyes moved past her to the darkening horizon. "I'm locking up for the night and there will be guards to shoot on sight. I wouldn't be out here too much longer. I can't watch out for you forever."
Still in her slump, Ryder eased herself off the rock and reholstered her weapon. "Probably be best I go back in then, huh?" She tried to crack him a smile, but then remembered her helmet was hiding most of her face. The warden responded with a grunt and walked away. Taking the invitation and warning, Sara followed him back inside the gate that kept the outcasts out of Kadara port.
"If you're looking for your boyfriend, he's not here," Umi was wiping off her counter at Kralla's Song after a pair of salarians left.
"Just me tonight. I'm done with him," Sara somberly leaned up against the counter. Umi welcomed her with a shot glass of dark bluish liquid. Pausing, she glanced up at the Asari bartender for a description of whatever concoction she was about to ingest.
"Just drink it. I'm probably the only damn friendly person on this port." Umi sighed in frustration as she walked over to address another human that walked up to the opposite end of the counter.
Sara rubbed her fingertips along the rim of the glass. The liquid's reflection of her gazed back into her eyes. The locale's humming beat placed her in a trance as she stared down at her glass. All the times she spent at the club…she side glanced the space next to her. To think, days ago, he was right there being all smug at her arrival. Sheya. As much as she hated him at the present moment, deep down she hoped she would hear his famous line, "You look like you are waiting for someone."
"There you are, kid. Thought something bad may have actually happened to you." Drack's familiar voice broke her thoughts. She turned around to see him and Vetra entering the club with their alien eyes directly on her. Their faces filled with worry. She couldn't help but to smile. The only family she had left at the moment were a bunch of aliens.
Umi came up to take their orders, but Vetra dismissed her with a wave of her hand. Like a protective mother, the female turian took the spot closest to Ryder. Intentionally, leaving Drack out of the picture. "Heard what happened out there. Want to talk about it?"
Vetra's soothing voice was so comforting that Sara felt her body untensing. "Not really, Vetra…" A small chuckle escaped her lips. "I just feel like an idiot and not sure how to face everyone yet."
Vetra eyed the drink beside her and took her talons to move it away. "Well, you are going to be more of an idiot if we find you passed out in the streets of Kadara port."
"May be good for her. When I'm in a mood, a good drink of Ryncol helps me." Drack motioned for Umi to come over and fill his drink order.
"The usual?" The purple skinned bartender asked as she took out a glass.
"All the way to the top." Drack sat down in the stool next to the pair.
Vetra turned on her heel to look at the krogan. "Really, Drack? Now?"
Drack gave a shrug. "When is there not a good time?" His yellow eyes looked over at Sara. The way Krogan could look at you from the side was always kind of eerie to her. "You should know better not to trust anyone at Kadara, Ryder." He took a swig of his drink and some of it poured around the sides of the cup. He let out a breath and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "People not as friendly as they were in the Milky Way." Umi overheard his comment and glared hard at him. "Some," He corrected himself.
"Let me handle this, Drack," Vetra turned back around to look at Sara. "Love is a hard thing to get over sometimes." She lifted her head to look at Umi and then her voice softened to a whisper, "I say it would be wrong to get back at the bastard since he's in control of Kadara now...but hey, I've been in worse spots before."
Sara followed her gaze and knew it was probably not the brightest to talk about how she just helped the Charlatan kill Sloane. It was hard to depict whose side everyone was on. "I'm heading back to the Tempest. Maybe a good read may help me clear my mind."
"Don't forget that message from Bradley about Eos," Vetra reminded her.
"Duty calls then." Sara paused and reached over Drack's shoulder to take the glass that Umi poured her earlier and downed it quickly. The old Krogan's eyes went wide and then he busted out laughing. Instantly feeling the liquor hit her, Sara's body turned warm and her brain felt like it was swimming. She saved face by forcing herself to concentrate and not stumble around. As she exited, she could Vetra and Drack exchanging a few words but the club's music was pounding in her head and muffling whatever they were saying.
Stumbling a bit after she walked out, she turned to head out to the dock when she was stopped by a young angaran male. "Are you the Pathfinder?"
Embarrassed that she was probably smashed, Sara wobbled a bit to gain her footing and stood up straighter. "Yes. Is there something you need?"
The male looked to see who was around them and then his voice lowered, "The Charlatan wished to speak with you. He said he can meet you here in twenty minutes."
Hearing the name and the thought of him actually being in the same vicinity as her made Sara's blood boil. "Tell your boss that I reject the invitation. I did enough of his dirty work and I have a galaxy to save. Excuse me." She sidestepped around the angaran and made a beeline to the Tempest. She couldn't wait to leave this planet. As she was walking out to the docking area, she felt like someone was watching her in the distance. She turned around to see if she could see who it was, but there was no one in sight that was the least bit interested in her. "Must be the drink…next time I should listen to Vetra…"
"So Poc here may help us more than I thought," Peebee instantly had grabbed Sara once onboard and ushered into her makeshift room: The escape pod.
"Okay, I'm listening." Sara was glad that the aftermath of the drink was only temporarily and she was finally to gain some footing as she stood there.
"I have been studying some of the relics we picked up on Eos. Which I'm eternally grateful for, by the way. I think with a few tweaks, Poc will be ready for battle."
"Battle?" Sara's blue eyes gazed up at the hovering idle Remnant observer.
"You know…lasers…shields. Just name it. We will have more of an edge against the Remnant."
The idea was tempting but this was the only Remnant that they assumed was safely in their control right now. "What if it breaks?" Ryder asked the obvious question.
Peebee bit her lip as she glanced up at Poc. "I'm sure she may get some damage but I'm sure I can fix her."
"I don't know who you are, but I must ask you to leave immediately!" Kallo's raised voice attracted their attention.
Sara rushed out of the room to where Kallo was standing. The salarian pilot was alarmed and in a complete panic as he stood at the boarding door. His arms were waving to block whoever was on the other side from entering. Suvi watched from afar with her mouth cupped over by her hands. As she got closer, she saw Reyes standing there, unarmed, and trying to get around the blocking salarian. "Sara! Tell your friend to let me in." Reyes called out to her as he caught her presence.
Sara crossed her arms as she stood a few feet behind Kallo. She hoped not to see this man until at least the next day to give her time to reflect and calm down. "What do you want, Reyes? Or should I say…Charlatan?"
Reyes tried his best to maneuver around Kallo but finally backed off in defeat when he noticed that Kallo was not budging. "I need to talk to you. At least give me that. The meeting with Sloane was not the best time."
"Want me to do some weird Asari commando shit to him?" Peebee asked Sara as she took her side. The question made Reyes tense up as he looked at Sara for chance of mercy.
"Didn't know you were a commando…." Sara asked her Asari friend, dumbfounded.
"I'm not but he didn't know that," Peebee huffed.
Alarmed by the audience that she was getting, Sara lightly motioned Kallo to step aside to grant the man access to her ship. "Let's go, Reyes." Her heart raced as she led the way off the bridge. She really didn't know where their meeting point should be on the ship. The idea of her room came across her mind…but the thought of that flashed the image of them in bed making up. As much it still enticed her, she declined the chance. He was not going to get to her and perhaps he only came there to celebrate his victory with her. There could be no intention of making up and her rejection to his invitation probably angered him.
"Nice ship," Vidal commented as he walked behind her. The mixture of a sand smell and some cheap cologne filled her nose. It made her long for him. All the good times they had together…before…the betrayal.
"Just keep moving," She cut him off, pained.
"No, idle chatter?" He then waved to Liam who was at the science lab. The dark skinned man waved back awkwardly as he watched them pass by. "How's it going?" Reyes called out to the man.
"Um…fine," Liam was still perplexed.
Leading him up the ramp to the vid con meeting room, Sara felt this was the best place to speak. They would be away from prying eyes, but not ears. Not the best to be alone, but it would fend off temptation towards him again. She whirred around quickly to confront him. "You want to talk? Here we are."
"Sara," Reyes held up his hands. "I know you are hurt, but believe me, that was not my intentions with Sloane's meeting. I wanted to tell you, but everything was moving too fast. I needed to get Sloane by herself."
"So you just didn't trust me?" Sara snapped back. She could already feel the tears boiling up in her eyes, but she restrained herself. No, she was not going to cry in front of this man.
"It's not like that." He reached out to take her into his arms, but she pulled away.
"I fell for you, Reyes. I'll admit that, but you kept a lot from me. You used me."
"Only to get Sloane, but Ry-"
"And your ex?"
"It wasn't like that. I needed that money. Unfortunately, she got in the way."
Slamming her hands down on the meeting room's table, Sara felt her body shake in fury. Her mind flooded with "what if's" and she couldn't even look at the man before her in the eyes. She wanted to retreat back in her room and do twenty miles on the treadmill. She wanted to be deep inside a vault to access its atmo-processor. Hell, even aboard the flagship of the Archon. Just not where she was currently. Unable to hold her tears anymore, she felt the wetness cover her cheeks. Every emotion was tearing her apart like some demented kett test. The loss of her dad, the loss of her mom, her brother in a coma, the failure of Habitat 7, everything. When she was going to wake up from the nightmare?
Suddenly, she felt Reyes come in from behind and wrap his arms around her. His warm breath on her neck and ear as he whispered to her, "Shhh….it will be okay. I want to make this up to you. I want to fix this. Right now."
Feeling his embrace, Sara felt herself sinking back into him. Her face lightly nuzzled back. She couldn't fight this. His voice brought chills down her body and quenched the fire that burned deep inside. "How can I trust you?" She sniffed lightly. The question was not meant to offend him. She wanted to trust him. She wanted to believe every word that he said.
"Name your price," Reyes took a step back and gave her a flashy smile.
"What?" Sara wiped her eyes.
"I'm a smuggler, Sara. I'm use to negotiating deals so name your price."
Pausing for a moment to think of something, Sara sighed hard to calm herself. Of all the planets she encountered, this dark haired man had to walk into hers… "I don't know what you want…"
Reyes moved in closer again and cupped her face lightly with his hand; using this thumb to lightly stroke her cheek. His lips were inches from hers. "I want to prove myself, Sara," His voice was soft and soothing. "I didn't use you to seize control of Kadara. That was never my intention. Maybe the old me….but I'm different now with you. You broke me…damn you," With a grin, he bent down and lightly touched her lips with his. "Name your price."
Her instant answer was to tell him to take her to bed and make love to her, but it had to be more than that. She wanted a relationship with his man, but not like whatever he had before with his other women in the past. She wanted this to go beyond Kadara. She thought back to the code names, the secret places, the plots. Then the idea hit her! "Make it public."
Taken aback by this, Reyes lifted his head away slightly as he studied her face. Then a boyish grin spread across his lips. "I like your style," His fingers reached out and slipped teasingly underneath her hoodie.
Retracting, Sara laughed as she smacked his hands away playfully. "Not that. Go out in public and be with me. Let everyone know that you are off the market and involved with a Pathfinder. No more secrets in the shadows. I don't want to be a backroom deal."
Reyes cupped his chin with his hand to think. "I do not know, Sara. That is asking a lot." He saw her tense up again and then moved back over to her. "Sloane is dead and if they put you with me…then…no. I can't risk losing you."
The answer was not what she wanted to hear and Sara felt herself falling into another stupor. She knew he was right, but she didn't want this restrain on their relationship. "I'm pretty sure that Sloane's men may pinpoint me to her murder. How many people know that you were there?"
"One…well besides you. I keep my attachments to a minimum. Kadara won't know that I'm the Charlatan. I made sure of it."
"Even now?"
"Absolutely. Kadara is filled with exiles, remember? Some do not like authority. I will have someone play the role in the public eye…nevertheless, I will make sure you are protected."
The workaround still was not pleasing to Sara and she gave a fake smile. "So, like armed bodyguards at every encounter?"
Reyes held her to him again and kissed her softly. "Even better. The Charlatan himself."
"I guess that will suffice. Must be pretty special if I have that," Sara kissed him back and teased his mouth back with the flicker of her tongue.
Reyes held out his hand for hers. "Shall we go and get some drinks? Still haven't gotten a chance to celebrate."
Walking down the ramp from the meeting room, Sara noticed the entire science lab area filled with her crewmates. They shuffled off in each direction, muttering to themselves, but she knew they were listening intently to the conversation. "Don't you guys have anything else better to do?"
Reyes squeezed her hand as they walked by to head back to the bridge. "Hold my calls, Liam. Don't worry. I'll bring her back at a decent hour tonight."
"Oh yeah," Sara grinned over at him. "We need to finish our date."