A.N - Apologies for the delay with this chapter. For those at you at FFnet I especially apologise for the delay, but I was waiting for some beautiful artwork for this chapter. If you'd like to see it, you can view it at the AO3 or on my Tumblr (VorchaGirl). Thank you so much to everyone who is following along - especially if you left a comment. Your support means the world to me. If I didn't get a chance to reply to your comment, I apologise - I'm buried under a pile of marking at work at the moment and I'm struggling to remember how to breath! ^_^
Please enjoy this chapter! Thank you to Reellifejaneway2 for the art
Saren drew himself to his full height, and, to Sierra's surprise, laughed at the sight of Kaidan approaching. He didn't look remotely surprised to see the human Spectre, and if she hadn't known it was impossible, Sierra would have thought the turian had been expecting him.
"Spectre Alenko," he drawled. "I should have known they'd send a loyalist you. Though I must admit I expected to see your partner here instead of two human cattle. Or did you bring them along as a light snack?" He chuckled as though he'd said something hilarious. "As you can see I have quite the smorgasbord here of nasty little asari loyalists."
He waved his hands and indicated the bodies lying around him, some of which were still weakly moving as though injured or in pain. Some of them were asari and Shepard swallowed hard at the thought of a Spectre daring to attack one of their masters. Saren clearly had nothing to lose, and he wasn't bothering to hold back anymore.
"What is this?" Kaidan asked, staying put. "What the hell are you doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing?" he asked, crossing his arms and gesturing vaguely at the bodies again. "Taking a Sunday stroll? Wake up, Alenko. The asari have had the run of the universe for too long. They're destroying cultures and using us as virtual slaves. Someone has to take a stand against them."
Sierra blinked; she'd known that there were rebels out there who resisted the asari's rule, but their Empire offered protection against savage races like the yahg, and they'd brought many races into the very heart of the galaxy. Claiming they were being used as slaves was a bit too far. Yes, the asari conquered worlds, but they avoided death as much as possible – every child was raised to know this.
Brainwashed you mean, a faint voice mocked in the back of her head.
The words whispered through her mind, but she ignored them. It wasn't her place to start a rebellion, and she certainly wasn't about to join a rebellion if it meant this kind of wholesale destruction and loss of life. Her eyes skated over the bodies of the dead and injured on the ground. No. If this was how Saren intended to fight the asari then he was going to find himself at odds with many people in the galaxy.
She felt Kaidan's power curl and risked a quick glance at his face; he looked angry. His biotics vibrated lightly through the air, seeking a power source and she fought hard not to step away from him.
"And you think this is how you resist the Empire?" Kaidan shook his head. "You're every bit as bad as they are."
"Spoken like a good little soldier," Saren spat. "But I suppose you have to keep telling yourself something to do the things you do and get to sleep at night." The turian took a step in their direction. "We're every bit as bad as the asari are. We kill and take lives in their name." His voice rose, vibrating with power. "Well no more. When I kill, I want it to mean something!"
Sierra felt power build around Saren like a storm, an invisible cloud of energy that he pulled from the injured people around him. She dove for cover an instant before Kaidan threw up a barrier and latched onto Ashley with his power, sucking enough energy out of her that the soldier sank to her knees. Saren's biotic attack thundered towards Kaidan, and his barrier flared blue as it held, protecting the Spectre and forcing the energy around him.
There was nothing she could do except take cover and hope that Kaidan didn't become desperate enough to start draining her. The fight was vicious, and Saren was using all the energy available to him as he lobbed Throws and Flares at the human biotic. Kaidan was holding his own and Sierra found her breath catching in her throat time and again as he used minimal power to deflect attacks which she was sure should have flattened him.
He was good; even stronger than she had realised.
She tried to concentrate on Saren, to feel for any breaks in his barrier, something that she could use to her advantage. Having a gun and grenades were all well and good, but they didn't do much against biotic barrier. It was better to wait for her chance; to wait and hope that he wore himself out. The two Spectres were moving closer as they fought, Saren pressing his advantage while Kaidan leaned into each defensive manoeuvre, not attacking, not yet, though she suspected it was coming.
What about Ashley?
The soldier wobbled weakly on the ground behind Kaidan as he fought, her eyes glazed and dull as she stared sightlessly ahead. Sierra forced herself to look away; she'd seen soldiers drained in similar ways on Elysium. Hell, she'd seen soldiers drained like that time and again in times of war. If Kaidan didn't take too much energy at once, if he kept up like he was, Ashley would be fine and would recover.
But if he gets desperate … ?
She left the thought hanging as she crawled through the mud, trying to stay behind the boulders and trees that lined the road towards Saren. She felt her way physically, heedless of the brown slimy mud that slipped in between the plates of her armour, but also felt her way with her power, finally embracing that small pulse inside of her. She sent it outwards, clumsily, feeling for Saren's position when she couldn't see him, tracking Kaidan's power as it ebbed and flowed.
She felt another power heading steadily in their direction, and she'd spent enough time around Nyreen to know it was her. The sound of gunfire was constant in that direction, and she guessed the turian was tangling with Saren's mercenaries. Or at least she hoped she was. Kaidan against Saren was one thing, Kaidan against Saren and his mercs was quite another.
The tree line ended ahead and Sierra pulled up short, having edged her way around the clearing so that she was still relatively close to Kaidan, but much closer to Saren and at an angle where he wouldn't immediately see her. She holstered her sidearm and drew her sniper rifle, setting it up quickly and quietly, hoping that the bastard would slip up and give her the chance she needed to take him out and end this quickly.
Abruptly, and with almost no warning, Kaidan dropped his barrier and leapt forward – using his biotics to propel him faster and further than any human should have been able to jump. He landed almost on top of Saren and two clashed, their movements a blur as they used biotics in their hand to hand fighting. Sierra swallowed hard, her gut twisting as Saren swiped at Kaidan with a knife, the blade glinting silver in the rain, but Kaidan moved fast – using his biotics in a mini-Charge to evade the blade and land a staggering blow to Saren's stomach.
It barely slowed him down.
He managed to catch the human with a flurry of biotic blows that sent Kaidan reeling, but he recovered fast and took the turian by surprise, his body twisting athletically as he caught Saren in the face with a full biotic kick. The rogue Spectre went flying and his barrier flickered as he landed badly, sliding across the ground in a spray of mud.
She lined up a shot, and let the breath drain of her body, everything going still as she tightened her finger on the trigger … .
"I wouldn't if I were you."
Sierra froze as a barrel of a gun pressed against the back of her head, and a stasis field locked around her, keeping her frozen in place. Nyreen sauntered into view, and with a flick of her wrist she raised her up and kicked her gun to the side.
"Thought you were pretty smart, didn't you?" She sneered as she came closer, her biotics crackling. "Too bad you let you guard down." She pressed a taloned hand to her earpiece. "Saren, the rest of the surviving marines have been destroyed, and I have Alenko's pet human."
Fury filled her as she realised that Nyreen was working with Saren and had known all along what was going on. She gritted her teeth and glared at her, wondering how many people Nyreen had killed and drained to reach this level of power. Her biotics swirled around her and she dropped Sierra's feet to the ground, keeping a stasis wrapped tightly around her arms so she couldn't go for a weapon.
She smiled as Saren replied, his voice a tinny buzz on the comm, and Nyreen gestured at her with her weapon. "Let's go."
"What do you need me for?" Sierra asked, refusing to budge an inch. "You're going to kill me anyway, so why not get it over with?"
The turian laughed bitterly. "Kaidan's putting up a fight and Saren's drained those asari soldiers. I did tell him this would happen; that Kaidan would try to take him on. I didn't count on you being with us though, so now you get to be my backup plan to stop him." She put her face close to Shepard's and her mandibles twisted into a smirk. "If Kaidan doesn't stop you'll get to be my snack. I like him; I don't like you."
Sierra kept quiet as Nyreen drew her gun and shoved it hard into her ribs, and with a curse she turned and walked out of the trees towards the brawling Spectres. She swallowed hard, her mind working a million miles an hour as she processed what Nyreen had said and what she hadn't said.
She thought she was helpless.
She thought that she would be unable to fight back if she started trying to drain her.
She'd forgotten that she was every bit as dangerous as they were.
Ahead of them Kaidan stopped as he caught sight of her, and the blue around him flared as his gaze landed on Nyreen. Sierra saw the instant he worked out for himself what was going on, saw the realisation dawn in his eyes followed by the disappointment and pain. His eyes flicked to hers momentarily, but they moved back to Saren as the Spectre got to his feet and set out tendrils of power; seeking more people to feed from.
Sierra curled her lip in revulsion as she realised every single soldier that lay on the ground around them was dead; eyes rolled back into their skulls and their limbs twisted in pain. He'd drained them all in his onslaught, obviously banking on distracting or overwhelming Kaidan before the Spectre could better him. His power moved to her and touched her skin lightly, seeking to find a way into her, to reach that pulse of energy that burned in her core.
She prayed he didn't try to feed on her like Kaidan had done earlier. With him it had been a rush, but she didn't think Saren would be quite so gentle with her, nor did she think their powers would blend as well. There was something ugly and sharp about the way his biotics touched hers. Something that made her skin crawl, and she tightened her shields.
"You knew about this?" Kaidan asked Nyreen. "You're with him?"
"I'm sympathetic," she responded, jabbing the gun into Sierra's ribs. "Like I told you back on the Citadel, one of these days someone is going to put the asari in their place and stop them. Why not us?"
"You know I hate them as much as you do, but look at what he's done here! All these people he's killed!" Kaidan gestured around them. "They'll kill you for this! They'll kill thousands of turians in reprisals."
She shrugged. "Better that and freedom than slavery. The turian race has had enough, and at least with this place out of commission they can't train any more Spectres for a while." Nyreen stroked her gun alongside Shepard's face. "Which means that aside from your girlfriend here, they're out luck-"
Sierra moved then, embracing that spark inside of her and throwing all of her energy into one big heave. The power she'd denied for so long rushed free. It was like a damn breaking as it flooded her system, seeming to reach every fibre of her being as she strained against Nyreen's hold. The turian looked at her in surprise, and even Saren became distracted, staring at her in confusion as her power reached outwards, seeking sustenance.
It found some.
There was no blinding flash of power, no blue flare that burst free, but she felt the power surge inside of her and with a yell she ripped the Spectre's stasis away from her. She sensed Kaidan moving at the same time, felt a roar as the power he'd been saving up rippled outwards and he hurled a Slam at Saren. She wasn't sure what happened to the turian, because Nyreen was on her in an instant, her claws raking across her face and sparking off her armour as she tried to claw her eyes out.
They rolled across the ground together, grappling and fighting, and Sierra's hand closed about her sidearm. The familiar feel of the solid metal in her palm was reassuring and it helped ground her as the turian's razor sharp claws raked at her flesh. She shoved the barrel against the Spectre's midsection and fired until the thermal clip ejected. Nyreen jerked on top of her, a strangled yell bursting from her mouth as she tried to fling Shepard away with a Throw.
She held on.
The mud squelched under her as she locked her legs around Nyreen's waist and shoved her power inside of her. It was so easy, so unbelievably easy, to feed that power into her and draw out biotic energy. Nyreen let out another yell, this one harsher, more of a scream of pain, as Sierra drank her energy down. Hungry. So hungry. She could feel Nyreen trying to do the same to her, trying to drain her too, but she kept her out.
She'd been hiding who she was for years, keeping her shields tightly in place as much to keep the power in as to keep other biotics out.
Finally, Nyreen slumped on top of her, and Sierra shoved her bonelessly to the side. The turian rolled into the mud, so empty and still that she feared she was dead. But when she looked closely the turians chest was moving in ever so slightly.
She was still breathing; she wasn't dead.
Sierra left her there as a roar sounded from overhead and an unmarked shuttle came in low. She cursed and scrambled backwards as the hatch opened and she saw Saren's mercenaries taking aim. There was a moment when she thought she was gone, and then Kaidan slammed into her, driving her down into the mud as he kept his body over hers. His biotics flared, bright blue, and she screamed as she felt him use her power to fuel that barrier.
Black spots covered her vision and she clung weakly to him, unable to work out how he'd made it through her shield. Her body twitched, weakly convulsing as his power abruptly released her and his biotics faded. She gasped for breath, aware of him talking to her through the ringing in her ears, of him cradling her to his chest, but it was several minutes before she was able to think clearly.
"What happened?" she mumbled, trying to push out of Kaidan's arms.
He resisted her attempts to pull free. "Saren got away with Nyreen. I shielded us from the gunfire, but they provided cover for him and … he fucking got away." The self-recrimination in his voice was clear. "I have to contact the High Council before they think I'm part of this."
Sierra tried and failed to stand, and Kaidan swept her into his arms as he called for a pickup.
"Ashley?" she asked, and when Kaidan gave her a puzzled look she elaborated. "The soldier?"
"Alive but unconscious." His hold on her tightened and he nodded to the side. "She wasn't hit by any of Saren's goons, but I'm not sure if she'll make it; I took a lot of energy during the fight."
Her heart sank as she saw the woman's body laying crumpled on the ground, and she shivered as she remembered sending her own power out and feeding on someone in order to break free of Nyreen. Had she done that? Had she hurt someone?
"I'm a monster," she mumbled hatefully.
"Don't think about it," Kaidan advised as though he reading her thoughts. "You did what you had to do to survive."
His words were of little comfort and Sierra curled up into a small ball in his arms, closing her eyes and giving into the temptation to let the waves of exhaustion carry her away.
"Don't let her die," she whispered as things started to go hazy around her. "I don't want to be like the rest of you."
Time passed, she wasn't sure how much, and she heard the voices of men from time to time; Anderson, Joker, a woman she couldn't place. At one point she smelled a clinical medicinal smell and guessed she was in the medbay, and that the woman she'd heard was the doctor.
A long time later she came back to herself, waking slowly.
Sierra blinked, confusion and exhaustion leaving her dazed as she took in the sparsely furnished room. She was lying on a bed with a pair of very firm muscled arms around her, and she sat up slowly, holding her head as her vision swung around her. Everything ached, and each movement seemed to be more of a struggle than it should have been.
"Take it easy," the owner of the arms advised, and Sierra nodded as Kaidan sat up beside her, loosening his hold on her reluctantly. "Don't move too fast."
He was bare chested and wore only long black track pants, and his wavy black hair was mussed as though he'd been running his hands through it. A wave of heat went through Sierra as she realised they'd been lying on the bed together, and that he'd obviously been holding her for some time. She bit her lip, wondering if she should move away, but before she could do anything Kaidan reached for her again.
"Lay back down," he said gently. "You need to recover more before you try to get up."
Sierra flushed a bright shade of red and pulled away. "I don't … I mean … I hardly know you-"
"I know, but I'm trying to make up for what I did." Kaidan looked uncomfortable and he chewed his lip. "I almost killed you."
"And us lying in a bed together is going to make up for that?" She scoffed and put a hand to her head as her vision swam sickeningly. "Oh God, I feel like I'm going to be sick."
"Shh." Kaidan eased her back into his arms and arranged her on his chest. "Believe it or not, this will help. I'm feeding you back some energy."
Sierra swallowed as she realised she could feel the energy flowing from him to her; a slow trickle of warmth that was soothing and pleasant. Despite how little she knew about Kaidan, it felt right to be in his arms. There was something about him which drew her, and even after he'd almost killed her she didn't want to pull away from him.
She settled back against his chest, too tired to resist her desire to be close to him. "How long have I been out?"
"About two days." Kaidan's hand traced patterns on the small of her back, his gentle touches reassuring and soothing. "They kept you in the medbay on the Normandy until we got back to the Citadel, but as you were semi-conscious the High Council allowed me to take care of you here."
Take care of me.
"Am I a monste-" Sierra swallowed the ugly word and tried again. "Am I a biotic?"
He nodded, the bed shifting as he tightened his hold. "It was verified it while you were unconscious. You have biotic nodes, and what you did on Eden Prime was undeniable proof." There was a pause and Kaidan sighed. "I feel as though I should say sorry, I know you don't want this."
No, she didn't, but what choice did she have?
She changed topics. "What happened to them? To Saren and Nyreen?"
"They got away; other turian Spectres have joined them. The High Council are dispatching Spectres to track them down and quell this rebellion. God knows if they'll find them, but when you're well enough we'll join the hunt." Kaidan's arms tightened around her waist again. "It's possible Nyreen is dead. I couldn't feel any energy coming from her when Saren scooped her up and ran for it."
"Because of me," Sierra stated flatly. "Because I probably killed her."
She could still remember the way she'd drained Nyreen; how good it had felt to draw that power out and drink it down. It had been a matter of life and death, of kill or be killed, but it had felt good. Killing wasn't anything knew to her; she'd killed more men than she could count on her fingers and toes as a soldier. But she'd never enjoyed taking someone's life before, and this had been so … intimate.
"What's going to happen to me?" she asked.
Kaidan moved so he could see her face. "You'll undergo basic training and education about council law and Spectre rights and responsibilities. And when you're ready I'll train you to use your powers properly; how to draw energy out without killing people and how to use your biotics defensively and offensively." She made a small sound and he soothed her with a wave of power that left her clinging to him. "It's okay. You're not going to have to go through this alone. I'm going to be here."
The words were more reassuring then they should have been. She didn't know Kaidan, but for some reason the thought of him being with her, of having him by her side, was comforting. Tears blurred her eyes and she fought them down, determined not to fall apart now. She was stronger than this, dammit!
"You almost drained me dry when the mercs fired on us, didn't you?" she asked.
He nodded. "Almost."
"How? I was able to keep Nyreen out. Why not you?"
Kaidan shrugged and his eyes found hers again. They were a beautiful shade of amber, and without meaning to she shifted closer, gravitating towards him, half-hoping he'd kiss her again or feed her more power. "I'm not sure," he said softly. "I know you could have kept me out, but you didn't. Maybe … you were tired?"
"Maybe," Sierra agreed; though she didn't think so. His hands circled around her waist and she let him move her closer. She drew in a breath, resisting the urge to bury her face against his neck. "Why do I feel like this around you?"
Kaidan didn't need her to explain the question.
"Our powers are in sync. It happens sometimes with biotics of the same species." His gaze bored into hers and he tucked some of her red hair behind her ear. "It's rare, but it happens in the best partnerships."
"I feel like … ." Sierra blushed and bit her lip before she continued. "This is crazy, but I want you. I can't control it. It's like my biotics are pulling me to you." She snorted softly and placed a hand on his chest, feeling his steady heartbeat. "I just learned that I'm a monster and all I can think about is getting as close to you as I can."
"We're not all monsters," Kaidan told her with a smile. "But I know what you mean. This, us, it feels good. It feels … nice." He leaned down and kissed her, and a spark of energy jumped between them as their lips met. He pressed his forehead to hers afterwards. "I know you didn't want this, but no matter what happens, I'm going to take care of you. I promise."
Sierra nodded sleepily as exhaustion ebbed through her body once more, sucking her down into the inky black depths of unconsciousness. She tried to struggle against it, to stay away, but Kaidan held her close and the warmth of his body and the pulse of his biotics soothed her. Distantly, she heard his voice, and the words found their way to her as she drifted off.
"I'll make sure you don't become a monster."
A/N - Hmm, it seems the turians are starting a rebellion, and Sierra and Kaidan are getting closer and closer! ;)