CHAPTER TWO

WARNING! This chapter contains heavy violence & implied acts of rape.

Shepard held her hair over her shoulder as she twisted her head to gaze at her back in the mirror. In particular the latest addition to her beloved body art. Mike had done a good job, the name stood out over all the others. Thane… the Spectre's scythe, her source of strength. It worked well. But it felt insufficient. She'd thought having his name added might bring her some closure but…

Her eyes watered again and anger rose up against herself. She would not cry! Not again! She dropped her long black hair and let the waves cover the tattoo. She turned and instead inspected the sharp features of her face.

She possessed fierce emerald coloured eyes, almond shaped and cat like with an arching, regal brow over them. Her cheek bones were sharp and angular, her nose long and miraculously straight, the tip pointed. Her mouth was narrow in width but with full, sharply defined lips set just above a pointed chin. She might not be a human picture of perfection, not with the glowing orange scars anyway, but she took some comfort in the knowledge she was a fierce looking woman at least. Except for now.

Right now tears were pooling in her eyes and a kind of unacceptable vulnerability had swamped her features.

Thane.

She'd been arrogant enough to think that she could save him. She was commander fucking Shepard! The universe quaked before her! She'd come back from the fucking dead! Destroyed a reaper, saved the citadel, taken out the collectors cured the genophage and brokered peace between turians and krogan! Surely she could've saved her dying lover!? But it seemed her luck had run out. The forces of fate had taken payment for all the times they'd spared her. God damn it! Did the cost have to be so high?!

She stormed from the small bathroom. She needed a drink.

Shepard was not a tidy person; her Cabin was already in disarray. In her foul mood she kicked aside the debris as she made her way to her drinks stash under the desk in the lower half of the room. She poured herself a shot to vodka… downed it, then another and another before switching to a generous glass of brandy and sitting with it on her sofa.

She starred at the amber liquid for a long moment.

She could almost feel his eyes on her now. He never said anything about her bad drinking and smoking habits, but there was always concern in his gaze. He would wait patiently for her to tell him whatever it was that was bothering her… if she told him at all. Regardless… he would wait.

God she missed him! She missed how he would hold her, his strong arms wrapping around her shoulders and pulling her close to him. She missed drowning her overworked senses in everything that was him and finding a few moments of precious peace. She had never let any man touch her before Thane. Even Garrus, her closest friend, kept a respectful physical distance, aware that it was more than the rough feel of his skin that would cause her pain.


Ryan King, a greasy, foul, evil man, backhanded her with such force that Seryna felt her lip split on her own tooth. "Who the fuck do you think you're talking too slut!" He grabbed her chin in strong, waxy fingers, forcing her head round to stare into her eyes. "You will do as I tell you!" He turned away and the two men that had been holding her threw her to the ground, gaffing at her stupidly as she fell.

"They're kids Ryan." Seryna spat through her own blood. "They ain't no threat to you!"

"What kind of prat do you take me for!? You think I ain't seen those damn white stripes!?" He lunged towards her, poking a finger in her face. "I know what you're up too… I know who them white stripes report too! You think you can take on me!? You think you can handle the tenth street reds!? I shoulda put you down like your fucking brother!"

Seryna narrowed her eyes at him, hate burning through the emeralds. "Why don't you make up for it now then!? Go on! Shoot me in the face!"

"And let you get away with it!? You stupid brat! I will break you!" He hit her again. "I will make you wish I'd blown your fucking face off!" He grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her against the tattered old bed in the corner. "I will make you submit!" He ripped at her top, tearing it down the middle to bare her scarred flesh. His hands were on her… all over her… burning her with their heat and his anger. He bit at her neck like an animal, tearing at her flesh as much as her clothes. "You ain't nothing but a whore! It's all you've ever been! It's all you'll ever be!" He screamed as he pounded at her.

Seryna didn't fight… that's what he wanted her to do. No, she went limp, infuriating him with her impassive response to the violent act. He couldn't hurt her; he could only fuel her fury, her determination, her courage. He couldn't break her… but she would destroy him! For vengeance yes… but mostly for the others. For all the innocents caught up in the fury of the tenth street reds. For the orphans and the forgotten. The ones left on the streets, hungry broken and desperate, flocking to Ryan because they had no choice… well now they had one. She would take the beatings on their behalf… then they would be strong… then there would be vengeance for everyone. There would be vengeance for everyone…


Seryna held the gun to Ryan's head, the blood poured down her face from a head would, her lip was split, her eye blackened. But all the blood and bruises in the world would not have quenched the fire in her face. Blinding, wild fury.

For the first time in her life, Seryna witnessed fear come to Ryan's face. It flooded his eyes and made him pathetic, made him weak before her. How could she ever have trembled before him!? He was nothing. Just a washed up junkie. Crazy… broken… worthless. She snarled at him "I'm not afraid of you Ryan… not anymore." Her finger twitched and squeezed, the trigger was so easy to pull. She watched, almost in slow motion, as the bullet impacted against his head. A sick kind of satisfaction filled her gut as he fell… down… down… the blood pouring from the wound on his head to bathe at her feet. The demon that had haunted her every living moment… was dead.