Chapter 9 – Not a White Knight, nor an Archangel with wings.
"DOWN!"
Before Titus knew what was what, a blur of C-Sec black-and-blue landed on top of him and pushed him down, into a narrow and terrible excuse for cover. A red beam of light, a blazing white bullets and a mass of jet-black hair all happened at once. It was Tori; she had just saved him from a kiss with a sniper bullet. His armour made a hard crack against the metal floor and he wiggled to get up, but she kept her weight on him for a moment longer as the air above them was alight with white tell-tale signs of bullets. She didn't meet him in the eyes once; her face looked cold, like it was calculating over a plan of action. She seemed so at ease in battle. If Titus was to be honest with himself, he had been waiting for a moment to see her truly in action. Her little spar with Leiada didn't count.
There was a quick pause in the fire and Tori pushed against him to bring herself up. She crouchedover him as she fired six consecutive shots from her favourite gun, the carnifex handcannon.
Powerful little gun; it had many uses although its problem was that it didn't have the ammo capacity to be truly useful. Still on his back, Titus drew his eyes over Tori's standard issued armour, pondering if he should encourage her to get something a little better. This one wasn't made for vanguards. They needed something protective, yet light – this one looked like it was weighing the human down a little. He could tell by the awkward, sluggish way she swung round cover. During the many hours he spent watching her dedicated schedule to the gym and training, her movements were fast, but always graceful.
It was in that moment she decided to look down at him and frowned. "Are you staring at my ass?" she said looking a little displeased. The fire had started again and she pushed herself a little closer to the box edge, slapping the side of her gun to eject the wasted clip and replace it with another one. "Eyes front solider!" she commanded in her 'ice princess' voice. Despite the chaos erupting around them, Titus managed to find a moment to roll his eyes.
"You were waving that thing in my face like an asari dancer, how was I not supposed to look?" Titus he replied, wiggling his eyebrow plates at her. There was another gap in the fire. And she rolled across the floor, back to her cover where she was originally, fired three shots this, time there wasn't enough time for six, before she was pressed up against the wall again.
She checked her gun and peered around the edge to see the combatants, never taking the time to look at the turian. "You know if I didn't need this entire clip, I think I would give you a bullet between the eyes" a surprisinginly calm smile came across her lips; it was a threat, but with that grin it meant she was playing with him.
Titus couldn't help but laughing, as he rolled onto his side and propped himself against the cover.
"Lei, you in position yet?" he spoke to the com quickly, changing the topic.
"I've been in position for the last five minutes, what has you so distracted, T.C.?" Lei's static tones over the radio couldn't hide her 'I know what you were doing' hints.
"Something fleshy and unappealing…" he retorted quickly and before Tori could shoot him a look like she was going to murder him - one that Leiada has kindly helped her perfect - he continued on more professionally. "OK, Leiada, you know what to do. Get in, get the girl, get out."
"Roger, but I could use some distraction, only so much an infiltration suit can do…" Before he had time to consider what to do. Tori shifted her weight behind her cover.
"One distraction coming up, I'll draw as much fire as I can, Lei."
And she was off, hopping over her cover and into the fray. She didn't even give him time to slap the implant attached to the side of his face, to activate his visor. Tori…that little idiot.
Vanguards… Headstrong, haphazard, high risk, and yet drew out high rewards. Oh, and stubborn; how could he forget stubborn. Tori all over.
Activating his omnitool, he pointed it to the heat energy signature, that his visor read as 'sniper', and hit the command for Exa.
The combat drone materialised beside the sniper and instantly started harassing him with a collection of shocks, forcing him out of cover.
Tori saw the opportunity as soon as it happened; she swerved out of her new cover behind a column, lined up her scope on her pistol and took a perfect headshot.
"Scoped and dropped!" she said enthusiastically over the radio, before sliding back behind the column as she came under fire again.
Titus laughed. He had never felt so at ease in battle before. This was different; interesting, but not unpleasant - it flowed like water, everything and everyone seemed to have its place and time. Tori knew when to move and when to fall back, she also knew when to take the advantages he was giving her. Who would have thought all those months back, the two of them would work so well together
Titus hit up his omnitool again, activating his quite unusual omnishield. He held it over his head, so he could continue to watch Tori from the back of the field.
"You ready?" He drawled, flicking his gaze over to her. She switched out her pistol and grabbed the standard issue shotgun from curve of her back. It unfolded in her hands and the woman] gave it one stroke along its length.
"I was born ready, Cato"
He chuckled, "We will see. Let's dance!" Picking out his avenger and loading it. "I'll give you a covering spray; do what you have to do." He saw her turn her body and shift her weight on her back foot, yet another gift from Leiada. How much had that asari been teaching her out of Titus' viewpoint? "Always, Captain" Tori scoffed back, flirty in her tone. Then she ripped across the battlefield quicker than the eye could follow, a tail of mass effect blue behind her.
Titus balanced his gun on his arm that was holding his shield. The barrel pointed out the sythentic mailbox. And pushed those Tori had drawn attention too back into cover with his spray.
As crazy as he thought vanguards were, he had to admit they were unique in battle. She fitted well into his stye, like a foot and boot. She was ready, to meet SRT-Alpha, he would present her to 'Chief' soon.
Nova to draw in close, pull if they weren't, followed by a simple shot gun blast. If they were still standing she swept them off their feet with a well-placed biotic fist to the face. She danced between enemies and cover. Seamlessly.
One that tried to come up behind her. Titus easily distracted with a carefully placed 'incinerate'
"Coward" Titus muttered.,as the target tried to bat out the flames in panic. That alerted Tori to their presence and she turned on the balls of her feet and shockwaved them, clean off the ground. The strange base line sound of her biotics was like a music of the deepest clubs, heavy and deep; she danced to her own tune.
Lei was dead over the com, her silence could only mean that she was nearing her objective. Good, they wouldn't have to continue this for much longer. Get in, get the girl, get out. It was the only goal on their mission.
What happened next was unexpected, to put it politely; how he allowed it to happen was a little beyond him. Tori had found herself surrounded by enemies; she didn't call for assistance, just dealt with what was in front of her. But there she was in a collective of mercs, only with her nova, shockwave and shotgun.
Her shields were out, a rookie mistake for when you don't have cover near. But that's not what would eventually take her down.
Something stream-lined and fast whisked across the blue of his visor screen. "ROCKET!" he called out. Tori turned in time just to see it, she didn't freeze. She flipped back her gloved hands pushing herself back, out of reach of the blast. The rocket landed where she was standing before, but the blast caught her, making her stumble backwards.
As she tried to regain her balance - that's when it happened. One bullet, one singular precise shot caught her in her in the shoulder. Titus heard her cry through the chaos as she flinched from the shot, dropping to the floor in what Titus witnessed as slow motion before she dragged her body behind a crate. Bullets ripped into the flimsy cover; they would eat away at it within seconds. Titus' world went white.
'Left means death, left means death come on, Tori… wiggle your left hand!' Tori repeated in her head as she lay on the floor, seemingly unconcerned that her cover was being blown away bit by bit. She wrote with her left hand. So she wiggled it. It was the hand holding onto her shoulder. Thank the gods.
She had been shot before; one didn't spend eight years as a solider and didn't get caught by a bullet. But one never got used to the pain. Her hand was shaking as she fumbled to pour medigel over her wound.
Her wounded arm felt useless beyond the pain.
'What do we say to the gods of death…' she thought, as she examined the blood on her hand. That was something she would never get over, her own blood on her hand. Strange, wet, sticky and - despite being her own - foreign. She turned her head to examine what was going on behind her. Help would be coming in the shape of a white turian. 'Not today…'
A flash-bang grenade landed next to her. Tori had just enough time to close her eyes, but it was the high-pitched whine she hated. The world was nothing but white noise.
Perhaps that's how she noticed him;Titus, hopping over his cover effortlessly, crouching behind his shield, firing shots that at those who dared to fire one bullet at her. He moved sideways, towards her. And Tori rolled onto her back; to see his combat drone hovering over her. Orange, like all drones were, but this one had an interesting red outline. What was more peculiar, was that it was shooting out steady pulses of electrical energy. Did they do that? Tori was sure that drones she had seen only electrocuted at close rage. Perhaps she was delirious.
A black shadow lingered over her; its silhouette was familiar, with its long crest, one bit missing. "Titus" she whispered as he gingerly grabbed her by her good arm and assisted her to her feet. He pulled her close, his arm wrapped around her waist, so that she was covered by the majority of his shield. Her white knight, she couldn't help but smile at the thought... The turian was screaming something in his com, she could see his mandibles fluttering wildly, his mouth wide as he made words she couldn't hear, and it wasn't the look she had come to identify as a grin.
He suddenly pushed her roughly into the wall. She cried out in pain, as she was slammed into the cold, hard surface. But the reason for this mishandling was revealed quick enough, as an explosion erupted behind them. Titus seemingly ignored the bullets whizzing behind them, as they were pinned down in their pathetic excuse for refuge
He grabbed hold of the pauldron of Tori's armour and ripped it off with ease. She winced, too distracted by marvelling at his strength to pay attention to the pain. She could feel his hand around her shoulder blade, drew his hand back and saw it come back covered in her blood. The bullet had gone all the way through.
Tori saw a shadow move behind him; her eyes went wide as her mouth opened to shout a warning.
But Titus noticed the look in her eyes and turned - pushing her back, shielding her with his body, no concern for himself. His hand pushed her further, as if she could bury herself into the wall any further.
The human man stepped forward, shaking in his armour, his eyes looks glazed, this wasn't fear. It was wild delirium his shotgun ready to blow through the white turian before him. It was almost as if Titus did not even see the gun in front of him. He stepped forward and with one swift move slammed the front of his skull into the man's head. The guy slumped to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Titus turned back to Tori, his brow plates cracked and bleeding; that was right, his plates were softer than normal. Ultramarine blood dripped down his face, but he didn't even notice.
His eyes were only for her, his concern was only on her. She was safe; he would keep her safe. That relief washed over her and she could feel her legs give into the call. Closing eyes and gave in allowing] her eyes flutter shut and falling into the darkness.
Leiada rushed to the hospital as quickly as she could after dropping off her mission objective. The girl was only nine A timid, shy thing; she was a favourite of the asari consort and was being held for ransom.
Leiada knew that she asked for a distraction… but sheesh, who knew that a downed cop and a slightly berserk turian could draw so much attention.
She ran through glass doors and through sterile hallways, till she could hear a familiar voice being shouting in a not so familiar emotion.
"I demand you let me see her!" Anger, which was not something she associated with Titus as level-headed and gentle as he was. She turned a corner to see him bent over the counter, finger pointed in a salarian's face. The salarian looked less than impressed but also his eyes announced he was about to shit his pants.
"Sorry, but we can't let anyone but family see the patient, and you are not family."
Titus hissed and slammed his fist down into the counter; it bent and warped under the pressure. "What bureaucratic crap is this?" he chortled, his mandibles fluttering in that turian, threatening way.
"I'll have to ask you to calm down, before I call C-Sec" The salarian receptionist threatened, although his voice wavered and was giving into his fear.
"I AM C-Sec!" Titus hissed back, his mandibles fluttering, at the sides of his face as he drew in close, doing the one things turian's did not do, unless they were about to seriously hurt someone and that was invade their personal space.
Ok, time for her to step in. She approached Titus' side quietly, and placed her hand on his arm, looking at the salarian receptionist with a cold look. "Leiada E'leust, Spectre, first class. I'm going in and I'm taking this guy with me." She could feel Titus' gaze burn into the side of her face; she moved her blue eyes to glance at the look he was giving her. It was angry but also hurt. Betrayed. She gave him an apologetic smile. Yes, she had kept it a secret from him this long. She opened up her omnitool, waving her holographic Spectre badge at the receptionist.
The salarian looked at the two of them. "Well, I am not the one to deny the authority of a Spectre…" he mumbled and waved his hand gesturing them away. Titus snatched his arm away from her, before hastily moving to the room where he knew Tori was in; he stopped over the threshold and seemed unable to continue any further. Leiada followed him with a sighand slipped passed unoticed.
Only to see Tori sat upright in the bed, huge smile on her face as a doctor cleaned up her wound to place a fresh dressing on it.
"Giving you are a biotic, I expect you will discharged in a few days. A little physical therapy and we will have you in tip-top fighting condition in no time." The doctor said kindly. Leiada saw the tension in Titus' shoulders drop. His hand rubbed at his face as he tried to rub the worried look away. Leiada smiled. Who would ever known Titus Cato could be so worried for a human, almost as if she was part of his own clan. This was an interesting turn of events.
"Hey, guys…" Tori's calm and happy voice greeted them. Her words were also a little slurred - obviously they had put her on some serious pain medication - but she obviously tried to fight through the cloud of fuzz in her brain.
Tori smiled wider, before she met Titus' long gaze and for a moment neither of them blinked. Ok, how did Leiada miss these? Silent conversations of those two - she had seen them before, and she had not yet learnt to read them. But they were usually saved for those who had spent many years together, not a few brief months.
Titus still didn't move from his spot fixed on the floor. Of course, Leiada would once again have to do a little meddling; this was just too good not to pass up. She leant in towards him and gave him a gentle nudge with her elbow.
As commanded, he stepped to the side of the bed and stared down at Tori, still wordless. Goddess, Cato, you are helpless sometimes, the huntress thought as she took up her position at the foot of the bed. She was about to say something to cut the tension in the air, when Tori did it for her. "What?" she looked up at the turian beside her, her head tilted to the side like she always did.
"I-Umm" He mumbled, scratching the side of his head and looking away.
Leiada couldn't help but grin wider. Titus Cato, smooth-talker, was lost for words. It was brilliant.
"I was worried," Titus said as he managed to fumble through his thoughts. He reached out for the chair behind him and dragged it closer allowing himself to sit down. "They wouldn't let me see you…"
Tori reached out with her hand and stroked the top of his frontal plates; he winced as her thumb stroked over his new crack. Leiada wondered if Tori knew how rubbery Titus scales felt in comparison to other turians. And when did they get so touchy-feely?
"I'm fine" Tori assured, before snapping her hand away and looking to the doctor, who was still poking away at her newly acquired wound. "Right, Doc?"
The doctor nodded, before looking up at the turian sitting across from him. "Couple of painkillers, lots of rest and she'll be back to kicking asses in no time" He said with a smile, before he frowned. "Goodness, look at that crack! We'll need to patch that up right away" he said, finishing applying Tori's clean shook his head.
"I'm fine, doctor. My punishment for headbutting someone."
"You headbutted someone?" Leiada said in amazement. Titus never got into physical confrontation, he hated it. She laughed at the thought that he headbutted someone to protect Tori, "How adorable…" she teased, before 'mother asari mode' kicked in. "Don't be stubborn, T.C, let the Doc look at you."
Titus sighed as the human doctor started fiddling around his new crack, using the ultrasound waves to make the medi-gel melt away, before applying a swab of cotton to absorb the bleeding.
"So, if they didn't let you in, how are you in here?" Tori then questioned Leiada directly, letting Titus be fawned over by the doctor. But Titus was the one who replied.
"Ask the Spectre here…" He said bitterly. He was clearly hurt over the fact she hadn't told him sooner. Tori's face was warped in an expression that said 'I don't believe it'.
"Alright, alright, children, let's not make a big deal about it. Yes, I am a Spectre, been so for the last hundred years."
Tori nodded and tried to shrug, but winced at using her hurt shoulder.
"Well, it makes sense. Now I know how you get your hands on those beautiful guns of yours." Tori she dismissed light-heartedly, despite being spoken through her teeth as she fronted the pain.
Huh, the human knew how to lighten the mood. Seemed like getting shot suited her, it had blown down the last of her defences. Leiada moved to the edge of the bed, where the doctor was before, and gave Tori's bandage a poke.
"Ow! Quit it!" Tori exclaimed and tried to slap the asari's hand away, but her movements were so slow she missed completely.
Leiada laughed.
"You're one of us now, Tori" she said affectionately and patted her the human closer to her neck not to disturb the wound more than needed. "Your first C-Sec scar… Wear it proudly" The doctor decided he would interrupt at this point.
"Oh yes, it will leave quite an attractive scar."
Tori turned her head to look at her bandage with a confused look. Leiada didn't know what to make of that expression. Then all of them in the room decided to laugh in unison, before they were interrupted by a sudden whirlwind of silver and white.
"Jesus Christ, how did this happen?!"
An older woman barged in, pushed passed Leiada and embraced Tori tightly. The human tried to repress the pain and just smiled, stroking the silver head of hair affectionately.
"Mum, I'm I cop, I'm going to get shot."
Leiada examined the woman's face a little closer, to see that she was indeed just an older version of Tori - differently coloured eyes, lighter skin, but the resemblance wasn't hard to miss. The older Shaw woman took her child's face in her hands and studied her eyes carefully.
She then decided to look around the room, looking to the woman she pushed first and then her eyes settled on the doctor and the white turian he was working on. The strife in her face melted away and was replaced with something Leiada could only interpret as pure hate.
"You!" she said, pointing directly at Titus, Her voice had even startled the doctor, who stopped] patching up the crack in the turian's head. Titus looked alarmed, but he quickly hid it behind that rigid, turian demeanour.
"Get out!" Tori's mother seethed, her body bent over Tori's protectively. Tori looked "mostly dazed.
"Mother, this is Titus Cato. My partner, he saved my life." she protested, trying to push her mother back across the bed.
"Save you, indeed! It was most likely his fault!" Leiada witnessed Titus flinch ever so slightly, guilt perhaps, maybe she was reading a little too into it? Perhaps it was just his Cato pride being hurt. He stood on his feet slowly; never taking his gaze off the Tori's mother's own hate-filled one. He bowed his head and left the room without a word.
Leiada didn't follow, she knew better, but it was Tori's mother's words that fixed her to her position. "Filthy turian…"
