Chapter Seven:

"Wake up!"

Tevos groaned as she pulled her face away from her pillow. It still held some of Aria's scent, and she was reluctant to give it up. "Just a few more minutes," she murmured, not bothering to open her eyes. Her voice broke on the word 'minute', and she pressed her lips together to stifle a yawn. They still felt swollen from Aria's kisses, and her muscles were deliciously sore. "You wore me out earlier."

"Madame Councilor, please, you have to wake up!"

That got Tevos's attention. She and Aria had shared a few interesting role play sessions in the past, but Aria had never called her 'Madame Councilor' before. Besides, there was no warm body pressed against her, no wandering hands, no good-morning kiss. She opened her eyes, and the blurry blue smear in front of her gathered into a recognizable face. It was Neota, her assistant, and her eyes were wide and bright with panic. "Neota? What are you doing here? Where is Aria? How did you get into her apartment?"

"I got C-Sec to break in," she said in a rush. "Please, we have to go! The Reapers are…"

Tevos did not wait for Neota to finish her sentence. She climbed out from under the covers, ignoring her own nakedness as she scrambled for her clothes. None of Aria's were left, but thankfully, her dress was still serviceable. She pulled it over her head, and without being asked, Neota hurried to zip up the back with trembling fingers. "How close are their ships?"

"Already here. No one knew until it was too late…"

"How much of the Citadel is still functional?"

"Most of the lower levels haven't been damaged yet. The first attack on the station only came four minutes ago."

Tevos turned around and looked at her assistant with some surprise. "You managed to find me in four minutes?" she asked as she slid her feet into her shoes.

Neota rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, ten, but-"

"Never mind." Tevos grabbed her Omnitool, which was flashing with countless unread messages, and slid it onto her wrist. Then, she headed for the door. "Is the docking bay still operational?"

"For now. The Destiny Ascension is waiting for us. They can't leave until all three of you are on board."

"Then we had better hurry." She fell into a run, wishing she had chosen to wear pants or a loose skirt yesterday instead of a form-fitting dress. It pulled at her hips and restricted her movement, but she managed to make it down the hall and through the living room in a matter of seconds. Neota kept pace with her until she stopped short at the front door. A C-Sec agent in full armor was waiting for her, his assault rifle clutched against his chest.

"I guess you were right," he said to Neota. "She was here. Whose apartment is this, anyway?"

Tevos hurried to cut off that line of questioning. She supposed it did not matter if anyone found out about her affair with Aria while the Citadel was under attack, but she was still instinctively cautious. "It doesn't matter. We need to leave immediately. Do you have a car?"

The agent nodded. "Right outside. The elevator is still..."

A loud rumble drowned out his voice, and the building shook around them. Tevos clutched at the doorframe to steady herself, wincing as she heard several crashes behind her. In a few more minutes, Aria's apartment probably wouldn't be standing. "We'll take the stairs," she said when the walls and floor stopped shuddering.

They hurried out of the apartment in silence, but several startled voices drifted toward them once they entered the stairwell. Panicked shouts overlapped and ran into each other.

"What's happening? I can't-"

"Where are you? The building is…"

"...have to get out of here, now!"

Tevos deliberately shut the voices out. There was nothing she could do. She needed to board the Destiny Ascension and contact Admiral Hackett as soon as possible. Losing Thessia was terrible enough, but losing the Citadel was unthinkable. It was the center of the galaxy, the hub of all their resources. It was also her second home, and the thought of losing the place she had lived for the past several centuries was too painful to contemplate.

Finally, she reached the bottom of the emergency stairwell and burst out into the artificial daylight of the Presidium. Tevos thought she had been prepared, but what she saw made her freeze in mid-stride.

The lake was on fire.

All of the trees, all of the grass, all of the flowers were burning. Columns of smoke trailed into the air, and there were gaping, uneven holes in the false sky. Every few seconds, another loud boom shook everything around them, and blackened pieces of metal and glass fell from the ceiling. Tevos turned to look at the building behind her, and she saw more flames tearing through the top floors. They had escaped just in time. "Goddess," she whispered, fighting back tears. "Not again…"

It was Sovereign's attack all over again. The screaming, the fire, the loud wail of the warning sirens. But this time, there was more than just one Reaper. It was worse than the nightmares she had suffered two years ago. It was the end of everything. Tevos felt her stomach drop. The Citadel was lost. No one could save it now, not even Admiral Hackett with all of the resources they had given him.

Neota's voice broke her out of her trance. "Please, we have to keep going!"

Tevos felt the C-Sec agent tug at her arm, forcing her into another run, and she followed instinctively. Her eyes stayed fixed on the ground just ahead of her, but she could not forget what she had seen. Fire burned behind her eyes.

She remained in a state of numb shock as Neota shoved her into the back of the squad car, sliding in behind her and closing the door. Not that it would do much good. If the ceiling fell in on them or the fire spread, a door would not protect them. And once the Reaper troops started arriving…

As if she had summoned it with her thoughts, a large, black talon slashed at the window of the patrol car. The glass splintered, and Tevos screamed. "Drive!" she shouted at the C-Sec agent in the front seat, moving as far away from the window as she could. Her instincts took over, and she gathered her biotics around her fist. The creature outside swiped at the door again, denting the metal inward.

The C-Sec agent hesitated. He was staring out through the window, watching more shadows move toward them through the smoke. "What are those things? They're… they're turian? But-"

It was the last thing he said. Another set of talons smashed through the window, sending glass shattering everywhere. They pierced his throat, and blood spattered against the windshield as he twitched in his seat, eyes still wide with shock. Tevos reacted in seconds. The pulsing energy in her hands released, rippling toward the door in a shockwave. The skycar shuddered, and the thing at the window pulled back, shrieking with rage.

When the talons did not reappear, Tevos risked checking on him. It only took one glance to confirm that he was dead. "We've got to move him," she said to Neota. "Somebody needs to drive."

"Goddess," Neota said, undoing her safety belt and climbing over into the front seat, "I heard the reports, but I didn't know…" Her voice wavered a little, but otherwise, she seemed unexpectedly calm.

Tevos took a deep breath. Her heart was hammering somewhere in her throat. She looked out of the window, peering through the smoke and watching for any sign of movement. It was better than the alternative - watching Neota move the C-Sec agent's corpse into the passenger's seat. "We have to get out of here. The indoctrinated turians are usually in the first waves. You don't want to know what's following them."

Neota slammed her hand against the propulsion button, trying to coax the Skycar into the air. The frame shuddered, and the engine revved as it tried to start, but it remained still. "Our people?"

"Yes. They…"

A monstrous shriek came from somewhere outside the window, and Tevos flinched, nearly sending a warp through the door. She was no combat specialist, and had only the most basic self-defense training, but she knew what that sound was. It was surely the same otherworldly scream that countless asari on Thessia had heard in their last moments before…

Aria. What if Aria was still somewhere out there? What if…?

The Skycar lurched into motion, taking off in spurts and starts and weaving drunkenly through the air. Finally, Neota managed to get it under some semblance of control, and they sped off through the air. Other cars around them were abandoned, and a few were even on fire. One passed right in front of their field of vision, spiraling towards the ground and forcing Neota to swerve abruptly to the left.

As they descended into the wards, the warning sirens grew louder, and there were several signs of life. More functional Skycars appeared, and Tevos could see people moving below through the window, running in unorganized clumps. She did not want to watch them, did not want to think about how many of them would die, but she could not tear her eyes away. This disaster was partially her fault. The least she could do from up in the air was acknowledge their existence.

"Do you think the Destiny Ascension is still there?" Neota asked from the front seat.

Tevos did not know how to answer her. It was possible. Matriarch Lidanya was not supposed to give the order to leave until all members of the Council were onboard the Ascension, but none of them had anticipated that the Citadel would be destroyed. Even Saren had only managed to damage a few of the upper levels. This… this destruction was on a scale that none of them had imagined.

"I suppose we're about to find out," Tevos said as they arrived at the docking bay. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the familiar silhouette of the Ascension. The ship was still there. Lidanya had not left yet. There was a large crowd of people down below, packed together so tight they could barely move, but somehow, they managed to make room for the descending shuttle. Shouts greeted them as they opened the door, and hundreds of eyes peered at her.

"It's the Councilor! She…"

"Councilor, save us! They won't let us board the-"

Tevos's stomach sank. She knew just by looking at the size of the crowd that not everyone would be able to fit on the Ascension. It was one of the largest ships in the Citadel fleet, but it was a warship, not a passenger vessel. Before she could say anything, and before the crowd could surge forward and overwhelm her, a full squad of C-Sec agents shoved themselves through. Without a word, one of them took her arm and dragged her forward. The others fell into step beside her, and Tevos only just managed to make sure Neota was being taken along with them before they were whisked up the walkway and onto the ship.

She was not entirely surprised to see Lidanya waiting for them just inside. She was as tall and imposing as ever, and Tevos instinctively tried to stand a little taller as well. "Good," Lidanya said as the doors closed. "You finally got here. All signals from your section of the Presidium went dark seven minutes ago. We weren't sure you made it out."

Tevos was a little put off by Lidanya's coldness at first, but she understood that it was probably a coping mechanism. As long as Lidanya could still command the Ascension, it didn't matter how rude she was. "Are the others here? Sparatus? Valern?" Aria's name hovered on her lips, and it was only the last shreds of her control that prevented her from blurting it out before anyone else's.

"Both of them arrived ten minutes ago. We can start the departure procedures and be out of here in another minute. I'm confident the Ascension can handle any Reaper ships that get between us and the Relay. Then, we'll head for the rendezvous point."

"And where, exactly, is the rendezvous point?"

"Does it matter?" Lidanya snapped. "Somewhere the hell away from here. Now, if you'll excuse me, Councilor, I have to give the orders so we can get out of here."

Tevos shook her head. "No. That isn't good enough. Tell the navigator to set course for Earth."

"Earth? Are you crazy?" Lidanya's eyes widened with shock. "They're almost as bad off as Thessia! It's a Reaper hotspot. You can't order me to take the Ascension there…"

Lidanya looked like she was about to keep protesting, but Tevos cut her off. This was her chance. Her chance to do something right, to make up for her mistakes. "Don't make me call Asari High Command, Lidanya. You know they'll side with me." It was something of a bluff, but Tevos prayed it would work. "Earth needs every resource it can get, including the Ascension. If the Sol system falls, the rest of the Galaxy falls with it." She stared into Lidanya's eyes with unwavering resolve, letting her words hang between them.

Finally, Lidanya sighed and looked away. "Very well. I'll tell the navigator to re-set the coordinates for Earth. We've updated the shielding and firepower since Saren's attack, so at least the Ascension will be able to do some damage once we get there." She made to turn away, but Tevos raised a hand to stop her.

"Not yet. How long can we safely remain here before leaving through the Relay is no longer possible?"

"Maybe another ten minutes or so. Why?"

Tevos gestured over her shoulder. "Open the doors for the next nine. Let as many people as you can onboard. Soldiers, civilians, everyone the ship can hold."

"Damn it, you really are crazy," Lidanya muttered, but Tevos noticed a small smile threatening to pull at the corners of her mouth. "Part of me was hoping you would say that. Only you could order me to ship a bunch of civilians to a war-zone like Earth and make it sound like a good idea."

Tevos smiled. "Technically, I can't order you to do anything. I can only make really strong suggestions."

"Well, that's one suggestion I don't mind taking." Lidanya activated her Omnitool and stared down into it. "Kressida? Change of plans. Set new coordinates for the Sol System. We're going to Earth." Once she received an affirmative response, Lidanya strode over to the metal doors and punched in a series of commands. They opened with a hiss, and she called down to the C-Sec agents standing guard at the base of the walkway. "Start lining up as many people up as you can. We're boarding for the next nine minutes."

Tevos moved back from the doors, turning a nearby corner to give the crowd below room to board. To her surprise, she ran into Neota. Her assistant looked none the worse for wear after their escape, although she was still a little shaken. "I heard what you said to Lidanya. I've never heard anyone talk to her like that before."

"Lidanya and I have known each other a long time. We don't particularly like each other, but we have a mutual respect." Tevos gave Neota a thoughtful look. "I'm sorry about earlier. Tracking me to strange apartments in the middle of the night and moving dead bodies aren't exactly part of your job description."

"You'd be surprised," Neota muttered.

Tevos ignored her. "How did you manage to find me so quickly, anyway?"

"I, well… hacked your Omnitool," she admitted, a little sheepishly. "I have a few more skills than the ones I put on my resume."

Tevos stared at Neota in surprise. Then, she shook her head and blinked a few times. "I think, considering the circumstances, I'm not going to ask how or why you hacked my Omnitool. I'm just grateful you managed to find me." A shudder ran down the middle of her back. She did not want to think about what would have happened to her if Neota hadn't been there. With Aria gone, she would have…

Goddess, Aria. She had been so focused on dealing with Lidanya that she had forgotten about Aria. The person she most wanted to save. It was a disconcerting thought. She had no idea when Aria had become something more than just sexual release, had become so important to her, but she could not wish away the grief that pierced her chest.

So much had happened over the past few days. So much had changed. She had changed. Something in Aria's behavior had touched her, and the thought that she might still be back in the upper levels of the Citadel left Tevos cold. It was too painful to contemplate for more than a few moments at a time, almost like the fact that Thessia was gone.

Suddenly, it hurt to breathe. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to continue breathing. All of the grief, all of the fear, all of the feelings she had forced down during her escape came flooding back, and experiencing them all at once was nearly too much. Tears pricked at her eyes, and she turned away, unable to keep eye contact with Neota. Swallowing did nothing to ease the hard lump in her throat.

"Goddess, please let her be all right…"

Neota reached out to touch the side of her arm. Tevos looked at her, barely noticing the people filing past them. She saw sympathy in Neota's eyes, and she was not sure whether to be relieved or nervous that her assistant knew exactly who she was talking about even though she hadn't said Aria's name. "She will be. If anyone can get out alive, it's her."

Tevos did not believe in the Goddess, and although she followed the teachings of siari, she did not consider herself a particularly religious person. But in this moment, she felt like praying. Praying to any deity or force in the universe that would listen. The words she had spoken moments before ran through her head again and again, falling into a predictable rhythm. She had to believe in them, because doing otherwise was unthinkable. 'Goddess, please let her be all right...'

. . .

AN: Dark Horizons releases this Saturday! =D That's when I'll next be updating The Only Thing, Love Alters Not, and posting my new FemShep/Liara project. And once The Only Thing is finished (it should take about 3 more chapters), Neota will be getting another spin-off. I *think* I can balance three fanfics at once if I update each of them once a week, but we'll see.