A/N The more I've been writing in further chapters (which will be later on), I can't wait for you readers to find out all the subplots come together. This has kind of turned into an addiction. Oh, and Bioware, I own nothing, claim nothing and kudos on the amazing story of Mass Effect.

Enjoy~ RelayJumper

Tali's POV

Kyson! Tali, still in shock from the sudden attack, barely registered her movements. She already had her shotgun out, but to no avail. The attacker had already maneuvered inside her reach in a blink of an eye. Grabbing Tali from behind, the phantom wrenched her arm causing Tali to drop her gun to the floor. Holding her there, the operative kicked the shotgun away and threw her hard against the barracks door bulkhead.

"Sorry, sugar, didn't mean to interrupt your little moment. But Kyson had this coming. He has a habit of leaving women in pain." Dazed, Tali reached for her pistol only for it to be kicked away.

"Nuh uh, can't have you trying that again," the Cerberus operative said with fickle amusement.

"Interesting, you just told him off for the pain he caused you, yet you still want to save him. You can't. This is a message from the Illusive Man to Shepard. Oh, and one from myself as well to you. Only I can have him, no one else. Take care, Miss Zorah." With her message sent, the phantom activated her cloak and left. After the operative had taken her abrupt departure, Tali got up and ran to Kyson's side.

"Keelah, Kyson! You damn Bosh'tet!" Her omni administered a dose of omni-gel, but it wouldn't stop the internal damage. Oh Keelah, not again!

"Shepard! Kyson's down! I need help getting him out of here and to the Normandy now! There's a Cerberus operative with a sword! Be careful!" She was full out crying now. She wouldn't let the last words Kyson heard be her leaving him.

Shepard's POV

"Damn it, we're on our way!" Shepard motioned to the team to get rolling, giving them the heads up on a potential target. It took them only moments to get back to Tali and Kyson. Blood was pooled under his body.

"Have you patched his suit? We can't move him with a breach," Shepard asked quickly. If there was any chance of saving him they had to move swiftly.

"I… I just finished," Tali said. Shepard noticed she was shaking, voice racked with sobs.

"Garrus, Zaeed! On three we get him outta here and double time it!" Reaching down, Shepard took position and helped hoist Kyson, proceeding to the shuttle. Garrus was holding up Kyson's torso while Zaeed had his legs.

"Tali, what happened?" Shepard was at point while Kasumi brought up the rear. Tali was trotting beside Kyson, monitoring his vitals.

"I don't fully know. We were leaving when he shoved me from behind. I had no idea she was behind us. Shepard, she said it was a message from the Illusive Man…" Shepard knew she couldn't finish. They had to keep going though. Now out in the open, the small drop ship was already waiting as ordered. They all scrambled in laying Kyson gently on one of the benches. The door sealed with a hiss and they could feel themselves tilt as they left orbit of the small moon.

"EDI, Have the med bay ready for an emergency. Kyson's been impaled."

"Right away, Commander. Dr. Chakwas has been notified as well as Dr. Solus. ETA for arrival is 15 minutes. I hope to see Kyson well soon." With that EDI, the ships AI, cut out. Shepard then finally let himself sit down next to Tali.

"How are you holding up?" He asked. Tali was holding Kyson's head in her lap, not moving for fear of him slipping away to the ancestors. Not even turning, she replied with her voice full of sorrow.

"I won't forgive myself. The…the last thing I said to him was that I was leaving." She began to sob softly as she leaned closer to Kyson. Shepard knew what the situation was between the two of them. He also knew the impact those words would have had on Kyson. He must have been devastated. But Kyson will pull through. He's stronger than he knows. Garrus, having similar thoughts, spoke up.

"He'll pull trough Tali, he's not the kind to give up." If Tali heard him, she didn't show it.

Shepard reflected on how he had met Kyson. They had just finished up with the omega-4 relay mission and the destruction of the collector base. The Normandy had sustained heavy damage and had to make the first stop possible. Omega was the obvious choice. Shepard had decided to give everyone shore leave to celebrate their unlikely success on what was to be a suicide run. The crew had gone to Afterlife to unwind quickly after the announcement of the leave.

On the way to the celebration, two of the Normandy's engineers had been stopped for a shakedown by a couple of Blue Suns mercs. Unknown to the mercs, they were being shadowed by Kyson. He had dropped down on them from a moving transport and took both of them out before he even reached the ground. Impressed and thankful for his actions, Kenneth, one of the engineers offered to repay him with a few rounds at the party.

The two had hit it off quickly, Ken and Kyson trading stories well into what was the space stations equivalent of night. After hearing what had happened on the Normandy, Kyson mentioned that he was a ship repairman on a local repair ship and would love to help out any way he could. After introducing Kyson to Shepard, the go ahead was given after payment details were worked out. Kyson was not in charge of the operation but he proved to be one hell of a worker; never leaving the Normandy except for supplies. Garrus and Joker also took a quick shine to him. The sarcasm that came from the three of them while joking around the mess was hilarious, unless you were the topic. After the numerous repairs had been made, Garrus, Ken, Joker, and even EDI had gotten together and requested for him to stay.

"Docking now Commander; the doctors are outside, ready for transporting Kyson to the med-bay," chimed in EDI, bringing Shepard back from his thoughts. He gave his thanks and readied everyone to move Kyson to the waiting stretcher. The door opened and Kyson was rushed to the med-bay. Zaeed and Garrus both took their leave to unwind from the mission. Damn, what a day. First his friend he found from home slaughtered in that facility and now a crewmember in critical.

With the elevator now free, he hit the consol to go to deck three. He knew that Kyson's condition was grim and it had only been twenty minutes, but best to check in. He also needed to talk to Tali. She had said something about leaving. The doors opened and he headed directly to the med-bay.

"Tali, I know you want to be here but you need to get some rest. This is going to take some time. You heard the doctors," Kasumi had a hand on Tali's shoulder leading her out of the bay.

"I can't just leave him!"

"Your not, but staying in there would only hamper their work." At that moment the two women noticed Shepard.

"Hey Shep, Chakwas and Mordin still need time. They have a long way to go from what I heard," Kasumi said in a low voice while guiding Tali to one of the mess tables. Shepard wanted to ask Tali a few questions but thought better of it. Tali was crying again, her body trembling with barley controlled restraint. She was resting her head on her hands.

"Tali, lets get you cleaned up…" Shepard said softly while placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. After a few minutes she finally looked up. Kyson's blood smeared on her faceplate.

Samantha's POV

Waiting for the Normandy to depart, the Cerberus operative lay in wait in her small shuttle, shielded in a small but deep crater. She had not planned on killing Kyson. She also had not planned on Kyson's reaction time. But, she had sent the message the Illusive Man wanted. Shepard was going to pay for his actions.

Blowing up the collector base was a crime against humanity, even if only Shepard and Cerberus knew about it so far. As for the SR-2's crew, they were deemed traitors for what they had allowed to happen. Sighing deeply, she checked her suit to kill some time. After cleaning the blood splatter, she slipped it on her lithe form. She was only five feet tall but she had honed her body tight.

She was once a Tenth Street Red, a street gang from the outskirts of the giant metropolis of Washington D.C. That was where she had first met Kyson. Oh the wonderful memories she had of him. How his brutality at his young age inspired his fellow members.

But then he went soft. Left the Reds for that little hussy he met while visiting Illium. She remembered the anger and hate she had felt. They were going to take on the galaxy together. After hearing that he had picked up another little whore, she volunteered for this mission immediately.

The Illusive Man knew of both her and Kyson's past and loved the irony. He had given her the dossier on the Normandy, and revealed his plan to lure them in. She was shocked to see that Kyson's new pet was alien. A Quarian! She wanted to make him suffer by taking her life like she did the one on Illium.

She loved killing lovers in front of each other.

Smiling now, she realized she needed to get her report ready for the Illusive Man, and needed a new hobby. At this last thought she let out a cackling laughter full of madness.

"Now for the little whore," she smiled wickedly while staring at a picture of her and Kyson on a mound of bodies.

Kyson's POV.

"Kyson it's wonderful!" The young woman said dancing into the middle of the condos small living room. Her toned body is carrying her across the space as if floating, joy consuming her. She had eyes the hue of emeralds and red hair that ran down to her lower back.

"Oh, God no," Kyson muttered softly. Watching the scene before him, he knew this was to be his hell, reliving his failures every day. Kyson was back in his condo on Illium two years ago. He didn't want to watch. He couldn't go through the pain again. But a force he couldn't control drove him forward and kept his eyes open.

Looking towards the small kitchen, his former self waltzed into the room, pride and love in his voice. He spoke:

"This is where our life turns for the best! No more D.C.!" Laughing he swooped her up in his arms and twirled her around the room causing her to yelp in surprise and excitement. He then dropped both of them on the large sofa he had just purchased both now laughing.

Pride, pride was what Kyson remembered that moment. He had overcome so much to get there with that girl.

"Kyson, I love you." Her words full of content and security at what she felt.

"I love you Cynthia." he tried to put as much emphasis in not just his words but his soul, casting out everything evil from his being and basking in that four letter word. He lifted her up after a moment and led her to the small balcony from their small bedroom. There, on a small table were numerous candles and a full dinner, steak and all.

The balcony looked over the lower levels of the small condominium development on the bottom rungs of Nos Astra, Illium's capitol city. While they were considered the lowly class, those who worked hard enough could escape that. Kyson was finally in a legitimate job and had bought this place with honest money.

"You shouldn't have…" before Cynthia could finish, he embraced her and gave her a deep passionate kiss. Breaking from the kiss, Kyson stared into her captivating eyes and smiled.

"For you, only the best, for I already have it in my arms." Cynthia blushed at his words, he could charm a Krogan to dance with him if he wanted too.

"Ha! You slick one you. I know what steak for dinner means…"

"Then I'd best get the wine. Hold tight for a sec and I'll be right back." Kyson could be heard chuckling to himself down the hall.

"No, don't leave her, you son-of-a-bitch!" Kyson yelled at the specter of himself. The pain was too much. He knew what was coming. Kyson turned to see Cynthia walk over to the balcony, gazing out over the city. From behind her, a form he knew all to well crept up from behind, moving from the bathroom being used as cover.

The figure crept up and cupped her hand over Cynthia's mouth and restrained her, pistol in hand, pressing against Cynthia's head.

"Shhhh, be still now. Everything's gonna be ok," the figure said in a soft low tone. At that moment Kyson returned to the room. Seeing his ex, he dropped the wine with a crash to the floor.

"Samantha…" He couldn't believe his eyes. He left that life behind.

"What the hell do you think your doing?" It came out as a growl. Samantha was here for one reason, revenge. He knew what she planed to do.

"You know what I'm doing Luv," she said in an airy British accent.

"You think you can just walk away from the Reds and not pay for it? You think you could just walk away from me!" she screamed at the end. Cynthia's eyes were wide with fear. She started to cry, not knowing what was going on. But she knew Kyson would figure out a way. The girl Samantha continued to speak to Kyson.

"This is the payment I demand for your betrayal" and with those words she pulled the trigger.

Kyson didn't hear the shot. He didn't feel the blood and brain matter spray across his face. All he could remember was the fear on Cynthia's delicate face. And then, she was gone. He watched her body crumple to the floor as Samantha jumped off the balcony laughing. Kyson blacked out.

But for Kyson watching, it didn't end.

"NO! Oh fucking God NO!" Tears were streaming down his face, now losing all control. He ran over to her as if he could save her. But all he grasped was air.

"WHY?" he screamed, the pain threatening to tear him asunder. His heart was beating a million miles a minute. Down on his knees, her still form staring at him, he wept. All the tears he held back over the past two years consuming him. He stayed that way for what felt like hours, losing himself in what he knew was hell until the images started to dissolve. At the same time he heard a voice in the background.

"Cynthia?" It sounded like her to his ears but barely audible. His mind felt foggy. But could it be? Please let it be. He thought to himself. Looking back where Cynthia's body was laying, he saw her. Standing with her had held out to him. He jumped up with shock and joy.

"Cynthia! My god your al…" His words died as he saw her face. It was serene like the last nigh he had with her. But the hole in her head was still there.

"Let go, Kyson," she said smiling. She dissipated before him.

"What? No! I won't let go! I can't loose you!" Bright light flooded his vision as he bolted upright in his bed, pain searing in his back and chest. It was like he was on fire!

"Kyson, wake up! Wake up, damn you! Keelah! Dr. Chakwas, do something!" Tali screamed. Kyson's heart rate was through the roof, t he stress he was under catching up.

Dr. Chakwas administered a sedative to calm the young engineer down. Guiding Kyson back down on the bed, she checked over his vitals again. Seeing that he was more calmly coming to, she went back to her desk. After what Tali just heard Kyson screaming, she would need to give them privacy.