AN: Hey everybody! I've got another long one for you here, all filled with plot. The next few chapters are gonna be good ones. ^^
Once again, I want to thank everyone for reading, special thanks for following and favouriting, and super-special thanks to 1054SS325MP for the epic review! You guys are awesome!
Hope you enjoy! ^^
Chapter Ten - Drunk is More Fun
"Tom told me I could find you here."
Kira spun around in the empty dance studio to see Caius, her brother's best friend, standing at the the other side. "Hey Caius. Why were you looking for me?" She asked, a little confused. She was friendly with Caius, sure, but he was very much Tom's friend.
"I have a favour to ask you."
She folded her arms, frowning a little. "Okay, shoot."
He looked a little sheepish. "I, erm... There's this girl and I want to impress her and she likes dancing so I thought that if I learnt how to dance..." He trailed off as she raised an eyebrow at him, smiling a little. "I just sound pathetic, don't I?"
"No, not at all," She told him. "I think it's sweet. I'm just not sure how I factor into it. If you want dance lessons then you should go to Mrs Armstrong."
"Well, I did. And she sent me here. She said that you were easily the best dancer on the colony, even if you refuse to compete. She told me that you might benefit from having to teach someone else."
She simply gave him an apologetic look. She knew for a fact that she didn't have the patience to teach someone else. Especially a young turian who'd never seen the inside of a dance studio before today.
"Look, Caius, I don't think this is a very good idea. I'd be a terrible teacher."
He shrugged. "She really did insist that you should be my teacher and Tom told me that your parents have stopped your allowance and my parents did give me money for dance lessons so..."
"I would make an excellent dance teacher," She finally said. She had been contemplating getting a job anyway and she figured it might as well be something that she enjoyed. 'How hard could patience be?' She figured.
Kira needed to do something. She couldn't sleep. All that brought her were memories that were too painful for her to deal with right now. She was at her wit's end. She just wanted to stop feeling, well, anything. She just couldn't bear it.
"You okay?"
Her attention was pulled from her task of stripping her weapon by the familiar voice as Nihlus sat down beside her. "Yeah," She answered shortly.
He simply sighed. "When are you going to understand that you can't lie to me?"
She halted her hands from her work, leaning back to look at her friend. "Look, I'm just not used to talking openly with anyone who isn't Cai..."
"Not your brother?"
Her gaze shifted guiltily at that. "No. I guess I stopped talking to Tom after... Never mind."
"After you found out exactly what you two were?"
She snapped her head up at that. "I don't know what you mean," She replied, shortly.
"Right. It was clever, misdirecting both me and him so completely, giving credibility to so many alternate stories that no one's quite sure what to believe..."
She seemingly ignored his comment, instead smiling. "You think I'm clever?" She asked, with feigned embarrassment.
"You know I do," He replied, the softness in his tone surprising her. Almost as much as the tone of his subharmonics, which she hadn't heard since...
She yanked her weapon up at that, pressing it up against his temple as she glared at him. "Using that tone with a bonded woman? Are you insane?!"
"Kira, it's been six months. How much longer are you going to let this loss rule your life? A year? Two? Your brother has every reason to be worried about you. I'm worried too. I didn't mean anything by it, but your reaction is a little extreme, don't you think? I was simply trying to show you that you're clinging too hard to the past. So what if you do make it back? It'll be five years from now and we both know that he won't-"
"No," She growled. "Stop right there."
"Kira, you need to face this. How much longer? We both know that he won't wait too long before he'll have to take another mate. It's expected of him. I just worry that you'll cling to this reality that will no longer exist."
She growled. "Don't you think I know that?! But... He won't give up on me. He knows me. He knows that I wouldn't die so easily."
Nihlus shook his head at that. "I hope you're right but... Kira, you've been little more than a ghost lately, and you're getting worse. I just want you to be realistic about your chances of getting back to him."
She lowered her gun as she gave a frustrated growl, turning away from him. "I am, I just- What do you want from me? To just give up?"
"There's a difference between giving up and accepting the truth."
She shifted her gaze away at that. "I'm sorry, it's just... that's a sore spot with me. Despite what you may think about our lives before we came here, things weren't easy for Cai and I. His parents were always supportive of us but... Let's just say that we tended to avoid family reunions. I know that-"
"That he'll end up taking a new mate?"
She nodded. "We talked about it. With our jobs, we couldn't not. I told him to not do anything that would piss off his clan. If I ever died, I didn't want him to hold on so that it ruined everything for him. He told me the same."
"But neither of you are dead," Nihlus surmised.
She nodded, blinking away tears that were threatening to form. "Yeah. Basically... It doesn't matter. I'll simply return to the point at which I left, no harm done."
Nihlus simply regarded her for a few moments before replying. "If you really believe that, then why are you so upset? I think that you know, deep down, that Tom is right. And trying to deny it instead of just accepting it is tearing you apart."
She shook her head. "I just... I'm busy. I'll talk to you later." She moved past him before pausing, frowning a little. "You're awfully good at faking your subharmonics..."
He shrugged. "All just part of the job. Trust me, Kira, if I wanted you, you'd know."
She smiled a little at that. "Yeah, I guess even you're not dumb enough to hit on your best friend's daughter."
Six months of them dancing around each other was more than enough, Shepard decided as Tom walked out of the medbay to get some food for himself and Tali.
"Hey, Tom."
"Hey, Shepard," He answered, giving her a slightly confused look as she blocked his path.
"How's Tali doing?"
"Better but the doc says she probably won't be groundside for the next mission. Although, there's no way you didn't already know that." He folded his arms, fixing her with a knowing look.
That's my thing...She thought to herself before shaking her head at him. "Fine, you caught me. I'm actually worried about you."
"Me?"
Shepard shrugged at his surprise. "You have barely left sickbay since we came back from Feros," She observed.
He ducked his head a little in embarrassment, maintaining a guilty silence.
Shepard simply smiled. "Tom, why don't you just admit that you like her? It's not the worst thing in the world."
He shook his head. "Because it's a shitty thing to do to Kira."
Shepard raised an eyebrow at that. "Let me get this straight, your sister's miserable because she's missing her husband, so you have to be miserable too? You know how dumb that sounds, don't you?"
He looked away at that, confirming her suspicions.
"Let me guess; you feel guilty about the two of you getting trapped in the past and now you don't feel that you deserve to be happy while she wallows in self-pity, right?"
He growled at that, his biotics beginning to flicker a little across his plates. "I was the commander. I should have scanned the facility more thoroughly before we entered, maybe I would have seen some initial fluctuations or something..."
"And then what? Tom, if you and Kira hadn't shown up..."
He nodded. "We still don't know if all we've done is enough but things are definitely staying on track now without much input from us..."
"Tom, everyone in this timeline may yet owe you and Kira their lives. If you could have not made the trip, would you?"
Tom sighed, shaking his head. "I would have and I would have paid the price but I don't know that Kira would say the same..."
"Tom, this decision can't be made by anyone else. If you love Tali, then that's all that matters. Your sister's opinion shouldn't be a deciding factor in this."
Tom gave her what she figured was the equivalent of a weary smile. "Spoken like a true only child. But, maybe you're right... I don't know. Tali's still got a few days before she's back on her feet.. It seems a bit unfair to confess any feelings while she can't even run away..."
Shepard didn't dignify his self deprecation with a smile, instead just folding her arms. "I care about you, Tom. All of you. The whole crew are all like family to me and it pains me to see you hurting each other like this."
Tom raised a browplate at that. "Family, huh? Even we aliens?"
"Sometimes, you guys especially. No offense, but you, Tali and Liara are all like younger siblings. Although, I have been told that I have an overactive maternal instinct," She admitted, making him roll his eyes a little.
"You know that I'm the same age as Garrus, right?"
She shrugged. "I know, I just can't help it."
He frowned a little as he thought of something else. "So, do you think of Garrus as family?"
She looked away at that. "Somewhere along the way, Garrus has somehow become my best friend and, for whatever reason, he's the person I trust most to watch my back, so, yeah, I guess I do..."
"And you think I'm the one who needs to own up to their feelings. I'll be in the medbay if you need me." He left at that, leaving Shepard wondering what exactly he had meant...
She made it to the other end of the crew deck before she tripped over something solid in the middle of the empty corridor.
"Kira, I've told you a million times not to use your tactical cloak on the ship. It makes people uneasy..."
The younger woman decloaked at that, but didn't otherwise respond. Her eyes were red and puffy, making her look as if she had been crying.
Shepard sighed a little before sitting down next to her. "You okay?"
"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Her tone was empty of emotion.
"You've been crying."
"No I haven't."
Shepard sighed a little at that. "Your makeup's running."
Kira immediately brought her hand up to her face, trying to rub away the tear streaks. However, she only succeeded in removing more of her makeup, revealing small purple tattoo's beneath.
"Why do you cover these up?" Shepard asked, indicating to the markings.
Kira's eyes widened a little at that. "They're just... unusual. It makes it easy for me to be picked out in a crowd."
"They almost look like turian markings."
Kira looked away at that. "My brother's a turian, remember?" Her voice was so quiet that Shepard almost didn't hear her.
"But he has blue markings, like Garrus."
Kira shrugged. "I used to, too."
"So, why'd you change?"
"I got sick of people equating me to my mother. I tried to distance myself from her as much as I could, so when I bonded to Caius, I took his markings."
Shepard frowned at that, giving Kira an incredulous look. "Wait, Caius? As in 'Cai'? Your husband is a turian?"
Kira nodded, before frowning a little. "Why is that so difficult for you to believe?"
"Well, just, I guess it never occurred to me that humans and turians could ever... Well, you know..."
"So, what? I have a turian brother and it never occurred to you that one of my parents was turian and the other human?"
Shepard's frown deepened. "I guess not... I mean, how would that even-"
"Commander, we're approaching Virmire now. We'll touch down in ten minutes," Joker told them over the comm.
"Virmire?" Kira asked, her voice a little panicky.
Shepard nodded. "Yeah, the Council told Nihlus that they lost contact with a Salarian team here. They suspect Saren's involved."
Kira nodded. "I know, I just didn't think it was so soon. I'm sorry, I didn't realise that I was letting this affect my work. Spirits, I am such a mess, I am so sorry."
Shepard held back a sympathetic smile, knowing that it wasn't what Kira needed right now, as she folded her arms. "You're right, Kira. I need everyone at their best and you've not been at yours. I've tried to be patient with you but enough is enough. My best tech expert is currently in the medbay, so I need you fully functioning for this mission. We can talk this out over drinks once we're done here, but right now I need your mind on the job. Can you do that?"
Kira nodded, pulling herself up. "Yes, ma'am."
"Good. I highly suspect that killing geth is exactly what you need, anyway."
"Commander, I won't be able to land due to those AA guns. I'll have to drop you off in the mako so that you can take them out," Joker told Shepard over the comm as she suited up along with Kira.
"No problem, Joker. Take us in range," Shepard replied as Tom and Garrus entered the room, before turning to Kira. "You know, you should probably wear a bit more armour."
Kira shrugged. "I'll be fine. I need the maneuverability more than the defense."
"So, the four of us are going to take down the AA guns?" Tom asked.
Shepard nodded. "Yeah, I figured that I still hadn't seen you two in action together. Plus, Chakwas keeps on giving me grief about the fact that someone always ends up in the medbay after every mission, so I'm going to start taking teams of three instead of two with me. That okay?"
Tom nodded as he and Kira shared a look of amusement. "That's fine."
"Okay, Garrus will take the guns while you and Kira target enemies with your biotics and her sniper rifle through the main hatch. I'll drive." Everybody groaned at that, causing Shepard to roll her eyes. "Harhar, very funny. I'm not as bad a driver as you guys seem to think..."
"Right..." Garrus joked, prompting her to hit him lightly on the arm as Kira and Tom found themselves having to stifle their laughter.
"You having flashbacks, too?" Kira asked Tom lowly as they entered the mako.
"Of every family roadtrip ever? Yep," He replied, equally low so that Shepard and Garrus couldn't hear them.
"If you two are done whispering to each other, you should probably strap in," Shepard called back to them as they once more had to stop themselves from laughing at the familiarity of the situation.
Shepard couldn't deny that Kira and Tom were ridiculously efficient. If anything, she was a little annoyed that she hadn't thought to bring the two of them out together before. Although, the most surprising thing had been when they had all left the mako and had begun fighting together. When two biotics work together, they become accustomed to the push and pull of the other person over time. The surprising thing about working with Tom was that the familiarity seemed long established, despite the fact that she had never worked with him before.
By the time they had arrived at the Salarian camp, Shepard was thoroughly confused, although she pushed it to the back of her mind. She couldn't allow herself to be distracted while she dealt with Saren.
"Nihlus," Shepard greeted as she approached the turian spectre and salarian captain.
"Shepard, this is Captain Kirrahe. He's leading the men down here."
"Commander, as pleased as I am to meet you, we're running out of time. Where are the rest of the forces we asked for?"
Shepard raised an eyebrow at that as she rested her hands on her hips. "Unfortunately, your message to the council was too garbled to make sense of. We were sent to investigate."
Kirrahe sighed at that. "That is just a repetition of our task, Commander."
"So, what is the situation here?"
"We've found a facility run by Saren. It appears that he's breeding an army of krogan."
"That's impossible," Wrex interjected, having been listening in along with the rest of the crew. "The genophage would prevent him from doing such a thing."
"Clearly, he's found a way around that," Kirrahe answered, earning him a growl from Wrex. "You see why we must destroy this facility, Shepard?"
"Saren has found a cure for the genophage and you want to destroy it?!" Wrex asked.
"Wrex, stand down!" Shepard yelled, causing the krogan to storm off, towards the water. She shook her head, wishing that there had been a gentler way to calm him down.
"Is he going to be a problem?"
Shepard narrowed her eyes at the salarian, liking him less and less. Sure, he had a job to do, but would it kill him to have a little more tact? "I'll deal with him."
"Any idea how exactly you're going to do that?" Garrus asked her as she walked away from the salarian.
"Not a clue," She answered, shrugging.
Garrus sighed at that. "Want me to keep my weapon on him?"
She grimaced a little before nodding. "Yeah, I guess you'd better..." At that, she headed towards the fuming krogan, her hands once more on her hips.
"Wrex."
"Shepard... This isn't right."
She sighed. "I know that, Wrex..."
"Do you, Shepard? Do you honestly know what a cure would mean for my people? Because, if you did, you wouldn't be talking about destroying it!"
"I know, Wrex. But I also know that if we allow this to continue, yes your people will be cured, but they'll also be Saren's slaves. Is that really the future you want for the krogan?"
"I- No..."
"Wrex, I promise that I will do everything I can to help you find a cure but not like this. Come on, we've known each other for years, you know that you can trust me."
He nodded. "Alright, Shepard. I don't like this but I do trust you. And, you're right..."
"I promise that I'll do everything I can to help you cure the genophage, but not like this."
"I'm gonna hold you to that, Shepard." His gaze shifted over to where Garrus was keeping his weapon trained on the krogan. "He's not a bad one, as far as turians go," He told her.
"I know. I don't know how I would have gotten this far without him..." She admitted.
Wrex laughed a little at that, shaking his head. "You still haven't figured it out yet, have you?"
She frowned at him. "Figured out what?"
"Never mind, though I might be tempted to stick around just to see the look on your face when you finally realise..."
"Okay, are you gonna keep babbling or are we gonna kill some geth?" She asked, folding her arms.
Wrex nodded before following her back towards the salarians.
"Alright Kirrahe, like it or not, this is all you've got so you'll just have to make do. Do you have a plan?"
He nodded. "My men will create a diversion while you slip in the back and plant a bomb. It will destroy the facility."
Shepard frowned, placing her hands on her hips. "That sounds awfully risky, especially for your men."
"I have no doubt that there will be considerable losses but we have neither the time nor the resources to come up with other options. This is our only chance to stop Saren now."
Shepard nodded. "What do you need from me?"
"You'll lead the Shadow team into the facility and plant the bomb while my men create a diversion. If you could spare someone, I could use some help from one of your men."
"I volunteer, Commander," Ashley said, surprising Shepard.
"You sure you can handle it, Chief?"
She nodded. "Yes, ma'am. Look, Skipper, I know that you don't trust me because I have been less than... pleasant towards the alien crew members. I guess this is my attempt to show you that I won't let my prejudices get in the way of my job."
Shepard folded her arms, regarding the gunnery chief carefully. "I'd be lying if I said that this wasn't a surprise, Ashley."
The other woman shifted her gaze away at that. "I know, Commander. I guess I earned that."
Shepard nodded. "I guess you have." At that point, she smiled. "But, if you're willing to try, I'm willing to give you the chance."
"Commander-" Kaidan interrupted but she shook her head.
"Ashley will go with the salarians, Kaidan. I'm gonna need you to help plant the bomb, anyway. Shadow team will be comprised of myself, Garrus, Tom and Kira."
Kaidan momentarily looked as if he was about to object before he finally simply nodded.
"Okay then, let's go," Shepard told them.
Shepard once again found herself confused as they worked towards the interior of Saren's base. She and Garrus had fallen into a good routine over the past few months, but, somehow, Tom and Kira managed to fit in perfectly right away, as if they had always been there...
Shepard was pulled from her thoughts as they entered an office, occupied by a lone asari.
"Please don't hurt me!" She cried.
Shepard put away her weapon, raising her hands in an effort to calm the asari. She could hear a slight warning growl from Garrus but she shook her head a little. Thanks to her biotics, she was never unarmed, although the asari didn't know that.
"I'm not going to hurt you. Who are you?"
The asari didn't reply, instead her gaze shifted rapidly between Shepard and Garrus in a manner that made Shepard's eyes roll.
"Yes, we're a human and a turian working together. News flash: the war is over. Seriously, did half the galaxy just not get the memo or something?" Shepard asked, sarcastically. She was getting more than a little tired of people thinking it odd that she worked so closely with aliens.
"I'm sorry, it's just... unusual. I just didn't- Nevermind. I'm Rana Thanoptis, neurospecialist. But this job isn't worth dying over. Or worse. You think the indoctrination only affects prisoners? Sooner or later, Saren will want to dissect my brain, too!"
Shepard folded her arms, regarding the asari carefully. "Give me one reason why I should trust you?"
"I- I can help you! The elevator behind me goes to Saren's private lab. I can get you in. See? Full access. All of Saren's private files. Are we good? Can I go?"
Shepard pressed the asari for the next few minutes, gaining confirmation about everything Kira had already told her. She had hoped that some of the information had been wrong or, at least, exaggerated but everything seemed to match up.
Fuck.
"I'm gonna blow this place to hell and gone. If you want to make it out alive, you'd better start running."
"What? You can't... but I'll never... ahh!" The asari ran from the room as Garrus turned to Shepard.
"You enjoyed that, didn't you?"
Shepard shrugged. "Maybe a little."
Neither of them noticed as Kira turned to her brother, an unspoken question in her eyes as she readied her sniper rifle. He lowered his gaze with regret before nodding. She relied by aiming carefully out of the window, shooting the fleeing asari right between the eyes as soon as she came into range.
Before either Kira or Tom could explain, Shepard had the younger woman pinned to the wall with her biotics. "What the hell was that for?!" She demanded.
Tom replied by flaring his own biotics the counteract Shepard's in defense of his sister. "It was too late for her. She was already indoctrinated. Letting her go only leads to more deaths."
Shepard's biotics died down at that, loosening the hold they had on Kira. "What?"
"She killed fourteen top asari officials before committing suicide. Not to mention her work with Okeer," Kira supplied, her voice still a little rough from having been pinned by her throat.
"How did you know that she was already indoctrinated? It might have been done at a later date. We still might have saved her."
Tom shook his head. "You can see the indoctrination," He told her, flaring his biotics a little to show what he meant. "When we confront Saren, really look at him. I guarantee you'll be able to see it."
Shepard frowned a little at that. "How did you know that I could do that?"
It was Kira who answered her. "Future people, remember? We know everything."
Shepard sighed a little at the non-answer as they headed down to Saren's lab. She was getting sick of the mystery surrounding the two siblings. She had avoided prying - an example she knew that most of the crew wasn't following - because she knew that no good would come of it. She didn't want to know about her future. If she knew the name of the man she was going to marry, would she end up marrying him for love, or because she had been told to? That was exactly the kind of existential crisis she didn't need right now.
"Hey, Shepard. Looks like the one on Eden Prime wasn't the only beacon Saren collected," Kira commented.
"Huh. I didn't think you had been coherent enough to remember what it looked like," Shepard replied.
Kira simply shrugged. "Maybe not, but I've seen enough pictures in the database."
Shepard stepped closer to the beacon as Kira spoke, activating it so that she was once more bombarded by the images of destruction that had begun to plague her nightmares. She was pulled back to reality by a comforting, three-fingered hand resting on her shoulder.
"You okay, Soph?" Garrus asked, his subharmonics trilling with something that Shepard had come to identify as worry.
She nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay."
As she spoke, a menacing red hologram of Saren's ship was projected into the middle of the room.
"This is the part where things get interesting," Kira commented as they worked their way back up to the upper level to confront the hologram.
"You are not Saren," The hologram stated, causing Shepard to instinctively raise her biotics.
"Is that some kind of VI interface?" Garrus asked, earning him a slight shrug from Shepard as she kept her gaze firmly on the hologram in front of her.
"Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh. You touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding," The hologram continued on as if he hadn't spoken.
"Okay, so maybe not a VI, then..."
"There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own you cannot even imagine it. I am beyond your comprehension. I am Sovereign!"
Shepard turned to Kira. "I guess you were right about Sovereign not just being some Reaper ship Saren found. It's an actual Reaper..."
Kira nodded. "Yep, a sentient machine race of pompous assholes. I wouldn't wish Reapers on my worst enemy."
The hologram interrupted them at that. "Reaper? A label created by the Protheans to give voice to their destruction. In the end, what they choose to call us is irrelevant. We simply are."
"What did I tell you?" Kira continued, earning her a glare from her brother. "I bet now it's gonna go off on some tangent about how synthetics are better than organics, blahblahblah..."
"Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades. You wither and die."
"What did I tell you?"
Shepard rolled her eyes. "Could we perhaps not have the running commentary?"
"What? He's just telling you stuff you already know."
It was Tom's turn to roll his eyes at that. "Right, but it's being recorded this time around, remember? So that we can have proof for the council."
Kira groaned. "I don't see why we even bother trying to deal with those assholes. We both know they'll never listen."
Tom shook his head. "What is it with you and Nihlus trying to circumvent their authority?"
That seemed to strike a nerve with Kira as she looked away, prompting Tom to realise that their little side conversation had been running alongside Shepard's talk with Sovereign.
"You're not even alive. Not really. You're just a machine. And machines can be broken!" Shepard told the Reaper, her biotics flaring as she lost her temper.
"Your words are as empty as your future. I am the vanguard of your destruction. This exchange is over."
Shepard and Tom threw up their biotics simultaneously to protect the group from the onslaught of crashing glass as Sovereign ended the transmission.
"What a pleasant guy..." Shepard said, sarcastically as she shook her head. "Why do I get the feeling we'll be seeing a lot more of him?"
"Commander, can you hear me?" Ashley's voice called over the comm.
"The nuke is almost ready. Get to the rendezvous point, Williams!"
"Negative, Commander. The geth have us pinned down at the AA tower. We've taken heavy casualties. We'll never make the rendezvous point in time."
Shepard groaned at that. This was the last thing she needed. "Get them out of there, Joker. Now!"
"Negative. It's too hot! Can't risk it. We'll hold them off as long as we-" The comm unit shut off at that.
"It's okay, Commander. I need a couple of minutes to finish arming the bomb. Go get them and meet me back here," Kaidan told her.
"No offense, Kaidan, but this bomb has to go off. I don't feel comfortable leaving just you here."
"Then I'll stay with him," Nihlus volunteered as he exited the Normandy. "And I'm sure you can spare Kira to stay, as well."
Shepard nodded, much happier about the situation. "Alright, we'll pick up Ashley and the salarians and be right back."
And soon as she was gone, Kira narrowed her eyes at Nihlus.
"Don't tell me you're still mad at me?" He asked as they prepared their weapons, keeping an eye on the perimeter.
"Should I not be?" She replied, her voice dripping with venom as geth began to flood the area.
"I already told you that it didn't mean anything."
She shook her head a little in disbelief as she reloaded her rifle. "Because, you know, that makes it less dishonorable to use a flirty tone with a bonded woman."
"Don't you think you're overreacting just a little bit?"
"Nope."
"Besides, it's not dishonourable if your mate is dead."
She growled at that, taking her anger out on the surrounding geth. "He isn't dead!"
"He might as well be. Kira, you know that you're never going to see him again."
"You don't know that!"
Nihlus sighed as he shot down the final geth, finally turning to face the stubborn woman in front of him. "Fine. You want to stay like this forever, be my guest. But don't try to deny that this is anything less than denial on your part. I've seen enough people lose their loved ones to see what's happening here. Sixty years from now, you'll look back and realise that you've wasted your entire life on what might have been, instead of just moving on."
She fixed him with a glare at that, making him glad that she didn't have any biotic ability, otherwise he would most likely be painted across the wall by now.
Before she could reply, Shepard arrived back with Ashley in tow, just in time for Saren to appear. Everyone concentrated their fire at him, although it seemed to have no effect.
He jumped down from his platform, turning to confront his fellow turians. "Nihlus, Vakarian, do my eyes decieve me? Lowering yourselves to working with humans?! Do you have no shame?"
"Shouldn't we be asking you that question, Saren? Working with Reapers? Are you insane?!" Nihlus responded.
Saren shook his head. "I never figured you for narrow minded before, Nihlus. But you can't possibly understand what's really at stake."
That was when Shepard decided to speak up, letting her biotics flare so that she could round the corner to confront Saren head on. As soon as she did so, her vision became tinted with a familiar blue, however instead of the familiar brightly coloured lifeforce, when she looked at Saren he seemed tainted by darkness. Tom had been right, she could see the indoctrination, and he was far gone.
"Why are you doing this?"
Saren's face contorted into a sneer, clearly not happy at the idea of talking to a human. "You have seen the vision from the beacons, Shepard. Even a human must understand what the Reapers are capable of. They cannot be stopped. Do not mire yourself in pointless revolt. Do not sacrifice everything for the sake of petty freedoms. The Protheans tried to fight, and they were utterly destroyed."
"No." It was Kira who replied this time. "There is still hope, a lot more than you think."
Saren's gaze flickered from Kira to Shepard in a confused manner as Tom stepped forward to stand beside his sister, shielding the both of them with his biotics.
"She's right. We can still stop them."
Saren frowned at the two siblings, having had no information or idea about their existence before now. Shepard took advantage of his distraction, to try to reach him.
"Saren, you have to see that Sovereign is manipulating you, just like everyone else in this place."
"No! Sovereign still needs me to find the conduit."
Shepard shook her head. "Together we can stop Sovereign. We don't have to submit to the Reapers. We can beat them!"
"I no longer believe that, Shepard. The visions cannot be denied. The Reapers are too powerful. The only hope of survival is to join with them. Sovereign is a machine. It thinks like a machine. If I can prove my value, I become a resource worth maintaining. There is no other logical conclusion!"
Shepard let her biotics flare further, once more releasing a sound that Garrus thought resembled a turian growl a little too much. "You were a Spectre. You were sworn to defend the galaxy. Then you broke that vow to save yourself!"
Before the conversation could continue any further, the bomb made it to the final countdown, prompting Saren to turn and run.
"Did he just run away?" Shepard asked, incredulously.
"Yeah, and it might not be a bad idea, unless we want to get nuked to death," Garrus replied.
Shepard nodded as they headed back on board the Normandy. "Take us out of here, Joker," She told the pilot as soon as everyone was aboard.
They all held their breath as they escaped the blast by the narrowest of margins, watching the nuclear detonation from orbit.
"Well, that wasn't too shabby. I would've been happier if we'd gotten Saren but we destroyed his facility with no casualties so I think we did well," Shepard told her crew. "I couldn't have asked any more from you, I'm proud of each and every one of you."
At that, Tom turned to Kira, a slightly worried look on his face. "We weren't supposed to make it out of there with a full crew," He reminded her, his eyes firmly on Kaidan.
Kira shrugged. "I don't think that she even really likes him. Sure, they're close, but I don't think it'll change things."
"Kira, Mom and Dad don't start dating until they start working with Cerberus. That's plenty of time for things to change."
His sister looked away at that. "Look, they're working together to take down the Reapers. In the end, that's all that really matters."
He sighed. "I guess you're right... I'll be in the medbay if you need me."
Kira nodded, before pausing, her expression conflicted. "Tom... I know I've said this before but... I just don't want you to get hurt..."
"Kira, if today's proven anything, it's that we can prevent things from happening. We don't have to lose people."
Her gaze shifted away at that. "I just hope you're right..."
"Looks like you started without me," Shepard commented, folding her arms, as she found Kira in her usual spot, a bottle of beer in her hands. "Did you break into my stash?"
The younger woman shrugged. "Maybe."
Shepard smiled a little, sitting beside her. "So, is it just me or is there more than a little tension between you and Nihlus at the moment?"
Kira groaned at her observation. "He has been trying to prove to me that I'm clinging too hard to the past."
"You think he isn't right?"
Kira looked away at that, refusing to answer, so Shepard continued on.
"Kira, you seemed to be coping, well, about as well as anyone could expect, when you first came here. And then a few months ago, you fell into this... despair, I guess. What happened?"
Kira sighed, taking another swig of her drink. "I figured out that Caius is still alive. But then I realised that, even if that's true, I can never go back to him. Tom's right, it's too risky."
"Why is it too risky?"
"Because it's more likely to tear apart the fabric of the universe than to get me anywhere. Though, as terrible as it sounds, that wasn't actually what made me decide against it."
Shepard raised her eyebrow. "Oh? What did make you change your mind?"
Kira looked away once more, refusing to meet Shepard's gaze. "Even if it worked, and I did make it back to him, the idea of what I risked to do it... He'd never be able to look at me again. Tom's right, you know, I am selfish. I look out for myself first and foremost. I wasn't always this way but it's been so long, now... Every good thing that I managed to scrape together in the past few years came from him."
"I still can't quite believe that you married a turian..."
"Bonded."
"Huh?"
"Turians don't get married, they bond," Kira explained, pulling down the fabric of her top so that Shepard could see her bondmark.
She gave a little sympathetic wince in response to the sight. "Are they... bite marks?"
Kira nodded, her hand running up and down her neck, as if to check that it was still there.. "I guess I grew up with this stuff, so I have a weird perspective on it... Spirits, I can still remember when he asked me..."
"And, finally, the cockpit. So, what do you think?" She asked, turning to her boyfriend, grinning a little with excitement.
"I think it's brilliant. Definitely worth leaving the military."
She bit her lip a little at that. "Are you sure? Because I hate the idea that you-"
"Kira, stop, okay? The look on your face just now, when you were so excited for the future, was worth everything," He told her as he pulled her into his arms.
"Can you blame me? Not to sound cliché or anything, but this is a whole new chapter of our lives. We're in charge of our destiny now."
The entire time she'd been talking, he had been nipping at her neck, making her a little weak at the knees. "You know, I don't think I've ever been more in love with you than I am right now. I want this feeling to last the rest of our lives," He told her softly, his teeth resting gently on the exact spot on her neck where bondmarks would be placed.
"Me too." Her voice was as loud as she could manage, but still so quiet that he might have missed it.
He lifted his head up, pressing his forehead to hers as his deep blue eyes locked with her light ones. "Bond with me," He said, softly, causing her breath to catch in her throat.
"You're serious?"
"Completely."
"I-" She started, but then decided to abandon her attempts to vocalise her answer, realising that it was a futile attempt, instead pressing her lips to his as passionately as she could manage, her hands pulling him closer by the cowl.
"I know that I can't get back but... Realising it after that brief hope was like losing him all over again," Kira explained.
Shepard nodded, before frowning a little. "So, if you know that Tom and Nihlus are right, why are you so mad at them?"
Kira shrugged a little. "I'm mad at Tom because I don't want him to go through this and he's just setting himself up for it..."
"I've been thinking about what you said, about having to choose between your brother and husband, and, just... don't you think that Tom is facing the exact same dilemma?"
Kira nodded. "I know, and I was mad at first - that, out of all the places we had been, it was here that he finally found someone that he cares about - but now I'm just worried."
Shepard narrowed her eyes a little. "Don't tell me that you're going to be one of those people who suffers a loss and then declares love a stupid risk forever."
Kira smirked at that, taking another drink. "As if you're one to talk..."
Shepard raised an eyebrow, before deciding to just let that one go. "So, then, why are you mad at Nihlus?"
Kira looked away at that. "I- He- Ah, okay, this is... He, erm... Earlier, when he was trying to prove to me that I was clinging to the past, he used a particularly nasty tactic..."
"What did he do?"
Kira shifted uncomfortably. "He used a subharmonic tone that's reserved for... showing interest."
"So, what, he likes you?"
Kira shook her head. "He said right away that it didn't mean anything. He was just trying to show me that I was clinging too hard to the past."
"But, it's not what he did that's bothering you, is it?"
"No, I- Damn it, I don't know if it's just because I've been feeling alone or if it was just an instinctual response, but... I came damn close to responding..." She muttered. "What kind of horrible person does that make me?"
Shepard gave her a sympathetic look at that, placing a comforting hand on her arm. "A human one, piccina. You can't change how you feel, it's how you act on those feelings that matters."
"I just... I need time to figure this out on my own. It's been distracting me and I've been... missing things. Things are slipping through the cracks and I can't let them..."
"It'll get better, piccina."
Kira frowned a little at that. "When did you start calling me that?"
Shepard shrugged. "I don't know, I use little pet names with everyone. Why?"
"It's just... Ah, never mind..."
Shepard frowned a little as Kira finished her drink. "So, okay, I'm still not... I mean, how exactly..."
Kira's frown reflected her own, until she realised what Shepard was trying to get at. "Okay, if we're going to have this conversation, I'm gonna need something stronger than this." At that point, Kira pulled a bottle out from behind one of the crates. "Turian brandy. This is the good stuff."
Shepard groaned a little at that. "Yeah, I may not be dextro-sensitive, but last time I drank too much, it really upset my stomach."
Kira shrugged. "Yeah, your body can't process the protein so it just kind of passes through. You acclimatise over time, but I hear it's a bit unnerving at first."
"I guess you've been eating dextro food since you were a child."
Kira nodded. "Pretty much," She answered as she poured them both a drink, downing her own in one go.
"Impressive."
"Thanks," Kira replied before sighing. "Okay, it looks exactly the same except it's a bit bigger and blue. Oh, and it's internal until they're ready to, you know..."
Shepard almost spat out her drink in shock at that. "Wai- What?!"
"That's what you were going to ask, wasn't it? What turian... equipment looks like."
"Well, I, erm... Maybe..."
Kira smirked a little at the furious blush across her mother's face. "Anything else you want to know about turian anatomy?"
Shepard shrugged, looking more than a little sheepish. "I just... I was just curious about how it would work with a turian and a human, I mean... That just doesn't seem like it would work..."
"From what I gather, it's not that different. But, then again, I'm not really in a position to make comparisons. I've only ever been with Caius before."
Shepard frowned. "So, wait, you've never been with anyone of your own species?"
"Nope."
"That's just..."
Kira shrugged. "I'm from the future. Whole different set of rules. Well, not really, I guess. I was just never one for following the rules..."
"So, being with a turian was just another way for you to be contrary?"
Kira smirked a little. "Actually, I think my bonding with Caius was one of the few choices I made that my mom agreed with. I didn't tell her at the time, but when I finally did... I think it was the first time in years we genuinely talked."
"Okay, okay, another question; does the different amino acid thing matter?"
Kira shook her head. "As long as you're not allergic, it's all good. But now I'm wondering why you're so curious..."
Shepard's blush deepened at that as she shrugged. "No reason..."
"So, it's just curiosity for curiosity's sake? Yeah, I'm not buying it." Shepard remained silent, so Kira continued on. "I think that it had never occurred to you before that humans and turians could ever be together but now that it has, you've finally realised the thing that's been staring you in the face for months now."
"Oh yeah? And what would that be?"
Kira stood up at that, a knowing smile across her face. "Oh, I think you know. Night, Shepard."
She left at that, leaving Shepard trying to avoid applying Kira's words about big and blue to her best friend. Something she wasn't quite succeeding in.
Kira stumbled around a corner only to run slap-bang into a slightly confused Nihlus. "Whoops! Sorry..."
He raised a browplate at her. "Kira, are you drunk?"
She shrugged. "Little bit. I- I was just- Just speaking with Mom."
"'Mom'? Wow, you really are drunk."
"Yeah, no... Hang on..." She attempted to straighten herself up to no avail. "'M not gonna 'member... 'M a total blackout drunk... Bu- But I think that I managed to set her up with Dad."
"How'd you manage that?"
Kira shook her head. "Awkward, reverse sex talk..."
Nihlus smirked at that.
"'S not funny. You try 'splaining the advantages of a turian dick to your mother. Don't think 'm drunk enough..." She stumbled again, prompting Nihlus to place his hands on her sides to help steady her. To his surprise, she actually seemed to lean into his touch for a moment before frowning, pulling away.
"You're still mad at me," He observed. "For using that tone with you."
She shook her head. "No, you said... Didn't mean anything..."
He sighed at that. "I lied."
Her gaze seemed to snap into focus as she lifted her eyes upwards to meet his. "I-"
He interrupted her before she could finish. "But I refuse to chase after a woman who is still in love with someone else..."
She didn't know how to respond to that, so she simply watched as he sighed before leaving her alone once more.