Darkness. That's all Caius saw as he looked around him. He felt something wet on his hands and he looked down to see blue. Thinking that he hurt himself Caius looked down at his body but there was no indication that he had been harmed until when he noticed a trail of blue ahead of him leading to the corpse of Kanus. Rushing over to him Caius knelt down beside him and shook him.
"Kanus!" There was no answer though, no breaths and no heartbeat. He smelled more variations of blood and he looked around to see the bodies of everyone close to him. His family and even Rila and Kania. Voices whispered all around him.
"If you brought death to your best friend you're bound to bring it to everyone you love."
"It should've been you, then they wouldn't be in danger."
"You should have never come on this mission." Caius clutched his head.
"Stop!" He pleaded but the voices continued.
"You know it deep inside don't you Caius?"
"It's your fault that Kania doesn't have a father."
"And it will be your fault when they all die!"
"NO!" Caius screamed and he startled awake, bolting upright as he felt sweat drip down his forehead. Caius looked around and sighed when he saw the familiar surroundings of his quarters and put his head in his hands. He's always had the nightmares ever since Kanus died but now. Not only have they become more frequent but more severe in their torment, this was the worse one yet. Caius looked at the time on his omni tool and groaned. He had only slept for three hours and he knew for sure that he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep now. Getting up Caius went to the shower room and since it was so early no one else was there. For once he let himself enjoy a longer shower since he was alone and it would be hours before someone else came to use it. Caius closed his eyes and leaned his head against the cool tile, enjoying how the water ran down his back for several minutes until he heard a soft curse. He turned his head to see Lana who had crossed her arms and was glaring at him. However, he didn't miss how she briefly ran an appreciative eye over him before snapping back into reality.
"Can you hurry up so I can shower?" Caius snorted, his mask put back on. Never revealing the troubles that lay beneath.
"You're more than welcome to. What? Never seen a naked male turian?" He teased and she stayed quiet. He could hear the embarrassment in her subvocals and he widened his eyes in realization.
"Wait you really haven't? You mean you're a vir-"
"Yes I am!" She snapped and shuffled her feet uncomfortably. Seeing his shoulders shake in silent laughter Lana growled.
"It's not funny! I just didn't have the time for it in boot camp okay?!" Caius raised his hands up in surrender.
"I'm not saying anything, just take your shower it's just me here."
"Exactly" Caius rolled his eyes and turned around.
"There happy? I'm almost done here anyway."
"Good' He heard her huff before hearing the rustling of clothes. Caius sighed softly and let the water hit his face. He smirked when he caught the scent of her arousal.
"Something exciting you Lana?" He purred and she hissed.
"It's just a natural reaction so don't let it get to your ego!"
"Totally understandable, given the fact of your...inexperience." He ducked when she threw a bar of soap at him. Chuckling he turned off the shower and dried himself before putting his clothes back on.
"I highly suggest taking a cold shower since I can smell that you're feeling some sexual tension." He caught another soap that she threw at him before tossing it back to her. The whole time she was here he made sure he didn't look at her, sure she was infuriating but didn't mean he was going to be a creep and look at her vulnerable form if she wasn't willing. A moral code his mother drilled into his head for as long as he could remember to respect women. Didn't matter what species they were. Heading back to his quarters he still knew he wouldn't get any shuteye so he passed the time by catching up on reports. A tedious task but it was better than sitting there, twiddling his thumbs as his mother would put it. Still, it was a great way to pass the time because when he checked the clock again on his terminal he knew everyone was up by now. Hearing the hiss of his door opening he turned to see his mother walking in.
"You're up early. Keep forgetting that I don't have to push you from the bed anymore." Caius chuckled.
"No my biological clock adjusted to this kind of life so it's now superb." Jane smiled and tilted her head curiously at him before she frowned.
"You didn't get much sleep didn't you?" It was more of a statement than a question and he sighed.
"No. I didn't but I'm fine."
"How many hours?"
"Mom…"
"How many?" She insisted and he rubbed his face.
"Three"
"Caius that's not healthy."
"I know but it doesn't happen all the time so it's no big deal. Besides, how did you know?"
"Because I know that look."
"What look?"
"That look a soldier gets when the battles start to haunt him. It was the same one I saw in the mirror during the Reaper War." Sadness flickered in her eyes for a brief moment at the memory.
"You want to talk about it?" Caius shook his head.
"No"
"But-"
"No mother, I'm just not ready yet." Jane sighed in defeat.
"Alright, but you should talk to someone about it. Eventually. I talked to your father during that time and he helped me the best he could. Without him...I probably would have lost my sanity."
"I will mom but I don't think I'll find that person anytime soon."
"Yes you will. If you let them get to know you they'll see what kind of a good man you are but you've built a wall. Ever since…" She didn't want to finish the sentence but she didn't have to. He knew what she meant and he closed his eyes in pain before standing up.
"After everyone has had their share of breakfast we should meet in the war room to discuss what we found on Omega. Aria had sent some new information that should prove useful." He said quietly before exiting the room, not waiting for a reply as he headed to the mess hall. Jane sighed, she was worried about her son but it wasn't like she could make him talk. She just hoped he would soon before his mind went to dark places.
In the war room, Caius brought up his omni tool to show them a hologram of the ship.
"This was the ship that Aria saw on her dock." Jane looked at it closely.
"Those thrusters...I recognize them on Alliance ships and the front it looks like salarian made."
"The style is mostly turian, whoever built this ship obviously has a lot of money and power if they're with other species to this extent," Garrus commented as looked at the front of the ship.
"And they have no problem working together apparently. This looks bad." Wrex sighed and Caius looked towards his parents.
"What did you find in the markets?" Jane sighed.
"We weren't able to get anything from the 'normal' markets but when we check the black market it was...unsettling."
"A friend of mine had told me that there had been a large shipment of bombs. Not just any either." Garrus brought up his omni tool and the hologram changed into what looked like to be a very advanced bomb. Caius cursed.
"Grenades look like toys compared to this thing. If they had a large shipment of these they must be planning to hit another colony."
"The question is which one is it? We still haven't found a pattern with all these assassinations." Jane said quietly and Caius looked at his father.
"Since you were with C-Sec you think you can find a pattern if I have Aria send me information about the deceased asari?" Garrus hummed.
"Of course, I didn't spend all those years with C-Sec for nothing." Joker then patched through over the intercom.
"Uh Commander, the asari councilor wants to speak with you and Caius. Urgently." Jane nodded.
"Alright, come on Caius." While Wrex and Garrus discussed the ship and the bombs Caius walked over to the comm link section with his mother.
"Patch her through Joker." Moments later the asari councilor appeared in a hologram form. Her usual cool and confident composer were lost by the fear in her eyes.
"They hit another colony, Nilia. The reports gruesome and this time they had used bombs. Not just any either...Please tell me you have something." Jane sighed softly.
"We had managed to find out what the ship looks like and about the large shipment of those bombs I'm assuming. I'm sorry that we didn't manage to save the colony in time." The asari councilor held up her hand.
"Don't be. This is a start at least and I know that both of you will do everything you can. I now know what the humans felt like when their colonies were being attacked. Twice now. This is a very rude awakening…" The asari shook her head and for once, Caius felt sympathetic towards the councilor.
"We can investigate Nilia and see if we find any clues or traces to what were dealing with exactly. It's obviously a very powerful organization." The asari nodded, Caius was glad he was able to at least make her feel a little better.
"Alright...yes that seems like the best option." She cleared her throat, her cool composer returning.
"I'll leave you to it Spectres. The council will expect a report soon. Good luck." She said quietly before the comm link was turn off. Caius never felt this amount of pressure as he did this moment.
"So this is what it feels like when an entire species is counting on you?"
"Horrible isn't it? At least it's not the galaxy but we can share this burden, together." Jane smiled and Caius returned it before he turned.
"Joker set a course to Nilia" Jane ordered.
"On it Commander." Jane sighed wistfully as she and Caius returned to the war room.
"I wonder if I could use the mako for Nilia." Wrex's eyes widened.
"What?" Jane explained the situation to them and when she finished Wrex shook his head.
"That's terrible but if you're using the mako there's no way in hell I'm going."Jane frowned.
"What? Why?"
"Shepard your driving is horrible, I felt so sick afterward I didn't even want to hold my shotgun."
"Yeah I'm not going either Jane" Garrus said with a shake of his head and Jane put her hands on her hips before huffing.
"Oh yes you are, if Wrex chooses not to go fine but you are definitely going." Garrus frowned.
"Why me?"
"Because you're my husband and I said so."
"No winning there" Wrex muttered and Garrus sighed.
"Fine but Caius is going too." Caius snorted.
"Of course I am, I have no choice since I'm the second Spectre assigned this mission. Plus I think you guys are exaggerating."
"Oh, little pyjak you're going to regret those words as soon as Sheperd puts her foot on the peddle"Wrex groaned at the memory of being in the mako the last time. Caius rolled his eyes.
"While you guys whine over the mako I'm going to finish with my reports" Caius hummed before turning to leave the war room. Garrus sighed and thought of a plan to get to the mako first before his wife. If he didn't make it they were all very screwed. It would be another case of everyone fighting over the bathroom to vomit in once they returned to the Normandy.