A/N: Mass effect does not belong to me. I'm only borrowing to gleefully make stuff up.
The girl, 16, took confident steps towards the woman with an air of pride.
She looked more like a young boy; tall and athletic with very short copper hair. Her clothes were gray like her eyes, and she was wearing a smug grin.
As she walked the other kids made way for her; some out of fear and some out of grudging respect.
Muttered curses reached her ears, but she couldn't have cared less.
She stopped in front of the woman, hands behind her back.
"It's done," she said.
Lilith's red painted lips curved into a smile. She was a beautiful woman with long raven hair, dark eyes, high cheeks and full lips; a beauty that made the girl feel out of place around her.
"My little thug," said Lilith as she reached out and stroked her hand, almost with compassion. "Well done, as always." She patted the chair beside her. "Come, sit with me."
The girl, Riley, obeyed.
She was aware of the jealous looks, but no one in the gang would dare challenge her, not after the incident with "turian" Pete, who'd made the mistake of groping her and lost two fingers.
"Now, tell me the details," commanded Lilith with a sweet smile.
When Lilith had assumed the leadership of the Tenth Street Reds seven years back; it had been nothing more than a bunch of street thugs. She'd turned it into something a little more organized, hand picking the kids to mold and shape as she saw fit. She had a large pool to choose from, since there was never a shortage of poverty driven children on Earth.
Riley Shepard was one of those children, and she was a survivor if nothing else. Running with the Reds was a way to survive.
But it was Lilith who drew her in and kept her around, a moth to a flame.
Lilith taught her, punished her and rewarded her. She paid attention.
Riley wouldn't admit it; not even to herself; but she craved that attention and consciously or not, she strived for it.
Twisted as it was, the woman was more of a guardian to her than any social worker or foster family ever had been.
A mother figure, albeit distorted.
When the newborn baby Doe was found half starved in a junkyard screaming at the top of her lungs, no one at the hospital where she was brought believed she would pull through. But against all odds the baby; named Riley Shepard from a list; survived.
Adoption at that time only happened in the vids; gene therapy had stopped infertility from being an issue long ago except for some rare cases. And as far as the children on the streets were concerned, rich people with hearts of gold were a myth.
Abandoned children, if the system knew about them, were placed in foster homes and forgotten until they caused trouble.
Riley Shepard was no exception.
Life in the foster care had its ups and downs; ups mostly being left alone. Not all of the people at those homes were evil as such, though she'd met one or two; but none of the people Riley had stayed with had any compassion or kindness either.
She had grown to be resourceful enough to stir just the amount of trouble to get herself relocated in case someone touched her the wrong way, and she considered herself lucky that she at least learned to avoid that particular brand of hell.
Riley kept to herself, trying not to be noticed by the older kids whose idea of fun was picking on the little ones, but not because she was scared.
The shock and the terror of getting hit had dulled as she learned to escape herself while it happened, to a place where she could feel no pain, where she could feel nothing at all.
Being locked in small dark spaces wasn't much trouble anymore, after she'd gotten over the fear of being forgotten there. Now she saw the punishment as an opportunity to sleep undisturbed, and she could handle the cramps after.
Hunger was the worst. It hurt, and it burned not only in her stomach but also in her heart; but in time she'd learned how not to cry.
A broken bone would heal, a door could be broken down, and she would survive; one way or the other.
No, she wasn't scared at all.
She hid because the real trouble came when she showed her teeth.
Once she'd made the mistake of shielding a younger girl from getting roughed up; and all she had gained was that little girl's hatred, who was denied dinner for days.
She'd learned to read people on her own, but the fear of others being punished to teach her a lesson was what taught her when to tread carefully and when to disappear.
So she kept herself from meddling and accepted the fact that she was looking for justice in the wrong place.
In Riley's world where everything was so scarce, things like friendship, love, justice, trust were empty words; she had nothing to fill them with.
But then Matt came into her life.
She was 11 when he arrived; a blonde boy with a thin, girlish face and a distant look in his eyes. He was maybe a year older as far as Riley could tell.
The boy hardly spoke a word and he was so pale that Riley felt that he'd fade away and eventually disappear.
About a month after his arrival, out of the blue, he startled Riley when he sat next to her in the backyard.
He fixed his eyes on hers face, looking at her as if he was trying to read her mind.
"Leave me alone," Riley grumbled. "What do you want?"
The boy took something out of his pocket and put it in her lap. It was a toy Alliance frigate.
"Toys are for babies," she said giving it back, but the boy put it in her lap again.
"What are you, and idiot?" asked Riley, pushing him. The boy pushed her back and smiled. The girl gave him an angry look, got up and ran away, agitated and confused.
The next day Matt approached her again as she was doing her chores. He tugged at her shirt and she punched him.
For two months the boy followed Riley around with a peculiar determination, keeping her silent company after she gave up on chasing him away.
She was annoyed at first, but she got used to his presence after a while, and as time passed by she began liking it. Matt comforted her in a way she hadn't experienced before, making her feel not so on her own.
Still she resisted interacting with him, afraid of all kinds of things that could happen if she showed weakness. What if this was a joke he'd planned? What if she held out a hand and he laughed at him? What if she depended on him and he betrayed her for a favor from another?
But what if he was just a boy, as lonely as she was, reaching out?
It was a crisp but sunny day, and they were lying on the grass by the river half a mile from the house. She turned her head to look at the boy, who had his hands clasped behind his head, watching the clouds.
Riley picked up the toy ship between them off the ground and turned it around in her hand, which caught Matt's attention.
She whirled it in the air.
"This is Captain Riley Shepard of SSV Sparrowhawk," she said, looking at the boy to see his reaction. Matt's eyes gleamed as he straightened up and smiled wide.
"We're under attack by an unidentified ship!" she continued. "We suspect it's the…" she paused to think and Matt nudged her, pointing in the direction of the house.
She giggled. "It's the pirate ship Joseph Murray!" she said, naming the imaginary enemy after their foster father.
She sat up.
"Ready the weapons Matt! We're taking down these pirates once and for all!"
Matt saluted and Riley's laughter rang in her own ears like a stranger's.
She couldn't sleep that night. A warm and unfamiliar feeling kept her awake and she felt like crying even though she didn't feel sad at all. She wanted the morning to come soon, because she couldn't wait to see him, to laugh with him again.
For the first time in her life, Riley had something to look forward to.
Riley Shepard, 13, stood face to face with a girl twice her size.
Blood trickled from her split open brow to her mouth, and she was clutching her shoulder.
"Give it back," she hissed.
The older girl laughed, taunting her with the drawing she was holding.
"Make me," she said.
Riley shot Matt a glance, who was on the ground trying to catch his breath.
Her anger grew hotter, boiling her blood.
Picking up a rock from the ground, she charged at the girl and smashed it against her knee. When the girl lost her balance and fell on her knees Riley jumped on her, hitting and clawing and biting like a wild animal.
She left the girl on the ground crying and helped Matt up, the bloodied drawing in her hand and a victorious smile on her face.
That night when they snuck out like they always did, Matt put some gel on her brow as she rested her head on his lap.
"It wasn't worth it," he said. "It was a crappy picture anyway."
"She hit you," Riley said, as if it explained everything.
"Forget the drawing; we'll see the real thing one day. The stars, the planets, the whole universe."
"Yeah," she said. "We already have a ship."
Matt laughed and stroked her hair.
Two weeks later, he was gone.
Riley was inconsolable; not that anyone was trying to console her. She didn't want to believe that anything bad had happened, but she'd seen enough to know it couldn't have been anything good.
"That pervert who killed his mother and kept him for years," Joseph said during breakfast, as casual as if he were talking about the weather. "I bet he found and silenced him."
Riley threw a plate at him, and was locked inside the wardrobe for the rest of the day.
She cried bitter tears, blaming herself for not knowing Matt's story, thinking she could have protected him if she did, blaming the foster parents and the system for not taking better care of him.
When they let her out, she was so out of it that the foster father felt the need to say something.
"Cut it off," he said, towering over her. "What that kid's been through, he'd be better off dead anyway."
Riley stayed silent, but she looked him in the eye with all the hatred she'd piled up over the years, making the man shudder.
Next day she snuck into his bedroom, stole the money and the pistol stashed under the floorboard and ran.
The only thing she took with her other than those was the toy ship.
Riley crawled out of the duct she was hiding at the shopping center she'd been frequenting. She'd cased the place long enough and tonight she was expecting for her hard work to pay off.
She took light, silent steps as she snuck past the security cameras to enter another duct that lead to a storage room.
Rummaging through the crates, she exhaled with relief when she found the one labelled "Aldrin Labs".
She opened her bag to equip the tool made from scrap parts and hacked the box's lock. She got mild shocks as she worked, but it was a small price to pay for the brand new omni-tool she now held in her hands.
She smiled and put it on, turning the old material into omni-gel.
She made herself comfortable among the merchandise and closed her eyes to get some sleep before she left the place for good.
I'll find you, she thought. No matter what it takes.
Staying close to a group of teenagers entering a store, the red haired girl cloaked and stuffed some sandwiches in her bag.
The shopkeeper was busy watching the local news as Riley slipped out hiding behind a woman.
She didn't hear the reporter's words.
"The body of an unidentified young boy in his early teens was found washed up along the riverbank in the 5th district…"
She sat down in a quiet corner, munching on a sandwich when she heard the soft female voice.
"Don't you know it's wrong to steal?"
Riley, who took pride in her ability to hide in the shadows, tried to hide how startled she was by staring her down.
"The world doesn't give a shit about right or wrong," she said, her voice defiant.
She wasn't afraid to get caught, she knew she would be able to escape the moment opportunity arose. But instead of turning her in, the woman smiled and held out a hand.
"If you need somewhere to stay, we have a place for you."
"No thanks," Riley said flat-out.
"It's your decision of course," said the woman. "But I'm always open to expanding my family."
"And why exactly would you want me in your family?" Riley asked. "Out of the goodness of your heart? To make sure I won't have to steal ever again?" she said in a dramatic tone.
The woman looked amused as Riley noticed the two boys standing a few feet away, watching them.
"No dear child," Lilith said. "I'm not promising you a fairy tale."
"Then what the fuck do you want lady?"
Lilith shrugged her elegant shoulders. Riley didn't want to be impressed by how she carried herself but she couldn't help it. She was beautiful, but it was the way she acted that made the impression; calm and composed, like she owned everything around her, including Riley.
"I want you to steal for me," she said. "And I'll provide food, shelter and maybe more, should you prove yourself worthy."
"I'm not coming with you," said Riley. "So what now?"
Lilith beckoned to one of the boys, and Riley reached for her pistol hidden behind her back, keeping her hand around the hilt.
The woman sent the boy away and turned back to the girl. "This is where you can find me if you change your mind," she said, handing her a datapad.
"I can see that you're capable of surviving," she added as she walked away. "But the world doesn't give a shit about lonely kids either. We take care of our own."
Riley watched her go as she ate the rest of her sandwich. She put the datapad in her bag and felt the hard plastic of the treasured toy at her fingertips.
She jumped up.
"Wait!" she yelled as she ran towards the woman. "Wait!"
Lilith stopped and turned around, surprised to see the girl. She'd expected more resistance than that, and she was rarely wrong.
"Yes?" she said. "Changed your mind already?"
"I'll do anything you ask," said Riley, panting. "If you do one thing for me."
A small, satisfied smile appeared on Lilith's lips.
"In my family, favors are earned," she said. "Tell me what you want, and I'll tell you what you need to do to get it."
Riley, 14, held the pad in her trembling hands as cold sweat poured down her body.
"No," she whispered, her hoarse voice hurting her throat as it came out.
"Is that him?"
Riley's hold tightened around the datapad as she stared at the holo of the lifeless body.
"He was drowned last year, autopsy says no foul play. All the info is there," Lilith said as she left the room. "Take your time."
Riley kept staring at the screen as her body went numb. 'Matthew Rayner, 14,' said the report with a smaller picture attached. She expanded it. The thin, emotionless face from three years ago, with his messy blonde hair falling over his eyes looked at her. The face before they'd met, before they'd helped each other.
She read the report over and over again. It didn't make any sense. How could he be dead?
But when she looked at his face again in the holo, she understood that she'd never see his smile again.
'Hey Rye?'
'Hm?'
'We should agree on something.'
'What?'
'When we go into the space and have all those adventures…'
'Yeah?'
'You won't get jealous when the asari are all over me.'
Riley turned to him with an aloof expression.
'Why would I, when I can have all the hanar in the galaxy?'
Matt almost choked laughing.
'Hey Rye?' he said again when he could breathe.
'Hm?'
'I love you.'
Riley felt every crack inside her chest as her heart broke into pieces. She knew how to live with pain, but this pain didn't go away with reasoning and it couldn't be eased with any hope.
It pierced through her body over and over again until tears began streaming down her cheeks.
As grief overwhelmed her, Riley escaped to the empty place inside her where there was no hurt, and locked herself in.
She would be safe. She would not lose.
She wouldn't let this world destroy her. This very world which was her enemy, which never welcomed her, never wanted her, which gave only to take away and make her suffer wouldn't be able to kill her.
She wanted to hurt it. She wanted to exact revenge on the world and every single person in it, and she knew where to start.
She wiped away the tears and left the room, stomping her way to Lilith.
"Can you find someone else for me?" she asked, her nails digging into her palm.
"In time," Lilith answered.
"It wasn't me," the man whimpered. "I haven't seen him for years! Please…"
"I don't care," said the young girl, cutting him across the chest with her omni blade. "You had this coming either way."
The man cried out as the girl paced. "To think you were so easy to find," she said, her contempt so strong that the words came out with difficulty. "But who gives a shit?"
"I cared for him," he wailed. "That bitch didn't treat him well, I rescued him!" he sniffled. "I loved him!"
Riley stopped her pacing and stood in front of the man who was on his knees, hands tied behind his back.
"No," she said as she leaned in and grabbed his hair, pulling his head back.
She pressed the omni blade against his skin and looked into his eyes as she slit his throat with one swift slash.
"I loved him."