I stared in shock at Kaidan for any sign that it was some sort of sick joke.
There wasn't any.
"What?" I whispered quietly as Kaidan have a look of sympathy.
"The reports says that Mark Shepard was taking hostages at a local bank in London. He's threatening to kill them all" he explained though it sounded like there was more.
"There's something you're not telling me…" I pushed him. H sighed, putting a hand to his head before dropping it and began speaking.
"One of the hostages…she's your mother" he confessed. I felt a lump grow in my throat to the point that I couldn't speak.
"Lily?" he asked concerned, putting a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see his eyes full of pity.
"He's got my mom…that bastard's got my mom," I said venomously as I shook his hand from my shoulder. I turned and glared at him angrily.
"Don't you dare pity me. I don't need it. We are going to Earth and solve this problem. If the problem ends with a bullet in the man's head, so be it" I said, charging away from Kaidan and towards the stairs.
"Hey, Lily" Garrus said, walking out of the elevator.
"Not now" I grounded out of my teeth. I saw him flinch as I went up the stairs and towards Jane.
Jane turned to me as I came nearer, and upon seeing my look, she smirked.
"Sorry, sis. I finished the coffee," she said, holding up the empty cup.
"Hey, sis. Have you talked to Kaidan recently?" I asked, saying it with sarcastic cheerfulness.
"No, why?" she asked me, confused. Just then, Kaidan appeared with Garrus from the staircase.
I turned to him, wearing a fake smile.
"Go on, Kaidan. Tell her," I told him. She turned to him, confused.
"Umm…" he said, rubbing his neck.
"Tell me what, Kaidan?" Jane pushed him. He sighed before replying.
"There's a hostage situation back on Earth…your dad's the man taking them…including your mother" he finished. A minute of silence past through the ship before Jane spoke.
"Kaidan…two things…one: Why wasn't the report given to me when you received it?" she asked as she slowly walked towards him.
"And two: why did you tell my sister about this instead of me?" she asked him, crossing her arms in front of him.
"Well, I-" she cut him off.
"Don't give me an excuse. You know you shouldn't have told her. Everyone who knows Lily knows she's emotional about this sort of thing, especially when it involves family. I love my sister but we should have dealt with this discreetly" she lectured him like a mother telling off a small child.
"She has the right to know" Kaidan argued.
"I didn't say we wouldn't tell her, I would've waited till after the mission before telling her" Jane retaliated. I felt the anger against my father wade away as it was replaced by the pure want for them to stop arguing.
My rage blinded me from seeing the repercussions of snitching on him to my sister. I felt so immature.
During the argument, I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Garrus looking at me.
"Do you want to leave?" he asked. He didn't show pity or sympathy, he showed understanding.
I gave him a small smile and nodded. He moved his hand so it was on my back and gently pushed me towards the stairs. The others were too busy arguing to notice.
We entered the elevator and Garrus pressed to button to take us to the crew quarters. No one said anything as the elevator stopped and the doors opened.
"Well, ladies first" he said, outstretching his arm towards my door. I nodded in thanks as we walked towards my bedroom. Quickly opening the door, Garrus and me went inside as I shut the door.
I sighed, leaning my head against the door before turning to face Garrus.
"Feel better now you're away from the arguing?" he asked me.
"I guess…" I replied as I walked and sat next to him on the bed.
"Still doesn't change things," I said, looking at the floor.
"At least now you can think about it without all the noise" he replied.
"But that's the thing…I don't want to think about it" I confessed sadly.
"He's taken my mom...and maker knows how many more people…I just feel like it's my fault. I could have done something when I had the chance instead of leaving her…" I whimpered. He placed a hand on my knee.
"Lily, there's no way you would've seen this coming, and you know that" he argued.
"Yeah, but-" he cut me off.
"No buts. You couldn't have done anything. If I remember, you were scared of him. The only thing that gave you courage to see him was Jane," he told me.
"When did I tell you I was scared of him?" I asked, confused.
"It was one of the things we talked about when you were still living on Earth" he replied. I smiled at that.
"You remember what we'd talked about?" I asked him, surprised and a little touched.
"Yeah, well…you were a special friend to me then" he replied casually.
"Then?" I asked him.
"And now" he told me; his hand still on my knee as we stared at each other, thinking.
A knock on the door broke my chain of thought as I turned around when the door opened, revealing Ashley.
"Commander wanted me to give you a heads up. We're going to deal with the hostage mission back on Earth before heading out to Noveria" she said before glancing between Garrus and me.
"Am I…interrupting something?" she asked me, quirking an eyebrow towards me.
"No, Ash. Just talking" I replied as I blushed lightly, understanding what she thought she was interrupting. She nodded but she looked a little unconvinced. She closed the door behind her, leaving the room in silence.
"Well" he said, standing off the bed as I turned to him.
"I should probably get back to the cargo hold. I need to finish off some calibrations on the main guns," he said, standing in front of me.
"Oh, sure. No problem" I replied but my mind was elsewhere.
He nodded as I watched him leave the room. I sighed before lying on my bed.
'Did she really think…' I thought as I drifted off to sleep.
Dream
"Lily! Jane!" a rough man's voice shouted up from downstairs in the barely-standing house.
"Yes?" a meek voice shouted back as she clutched to her sister's leg, frightened.
"Downstairs, now!" he shouted before a door slammed shut.
"Don't worry, Lily. I'm here" the girl replied, taking Lily's hand since the other was firmly gripping her leg.
They both silently walked downstairs before opening the door, revealing a man sitting in front a T.V and a woman sitting on an armchair, silently knitting her needles.
"Quit making that noise, woman! I can't hear the T.V" he ordered her. Without a second thought, she quickly stopped, putting the needles on the floor. As she reached down, the sleeve of her shirt pulled back, showing a dark purple handprint.
Lily gulped as her sister pushed her behind her leg. They entered the room, gaining the man's attention.
"What's this?" he asked calmly, holding up a leaflet labeled 'Alliance recruitment leaflet: All you need to know'
"A leaflet" Jane replied with a bored tone. He glared at her, before standing up and walking towards us. We were teeny compared to the 6 and a half-foot tall man in front of us.
"Thinking of joining the Alliance?" he asked, crossing his arms while glaring at Jane.
"Maybe" she replied, not in the least bit scared by him.
"Well, guess what' he said, crouching so they were eye-level.
"Even those pencil pushers at the recruitment office wouldn't be desperate enough to hire a couple of no-good, worthless couple of street rats like you" he insulted.
Lily looked towards her mom desperately but she just sat there, watching him before looking at her. She gave her a helpless look before turning away from her.
She whimpered quietly but he still heard me.
"Awww did I upset you?" he asked with fake concern before putting a grubby hand under her chin and lifting her head as Lily cried.
His face shriveled in disgust before he slapped her.
"Stop being a whiny cry baby. Your sister doesn't cry but she is a bigger pain in the ass than you" he went back to his chair as Jane went over to Lily, placing a warm hand on her bruised cheek.
'You okay?" she asked quietly as Lily nodded. Jane turned and glared at him.
"Jane, stop standing there like an idiot and do something useful. Grab me a beer from the fridge," he ordered. Jane glared at him before walking past him to the kitchen, but not before he slapped her ass.
"And stop glaring at me" he ordered as she went into the kitchen. She came back, a hand on her side as she gave him his beer. He snatched it, before waving her away so he could see the T.V.
She grabbed Lily's hand as they left the living room and up the stairs to their bedroom. It was nothing special: two beds, one large closet, a picture of the two at the park and a few posters near the plain small window. Jane shut the door behind her and removed her hand from her side, letting two objects fall onto the bed. They were beer bottles. She past one to me as she unscrewed hers and took a gulp. Lily eyed her, uncertain.
"It will make you feel better" she replied.
"But won't dad find out?" Lily asked her.
"No" she replied shorty as she unscrewed Lily's for her. Shrugging, she took a gulp from hers. The sting from the slap was slowly dying down as she continued to drink.
"Do you want to go to the park later?" Lily asked her.
"Can't. I'm grounded remember?" she asked her. Lily smiled, remembering.
Jane got grounded because she punched a dude from her school for flirting with her. Not the sweet, nice flirting but the dirty kind of flirting, Jane wouldn't tell her what he said. 'When you're older' Jane always says.
"Okay. I guess I'll go by myself," She said, standing up before brushing herself down.
"See ya later" Jane replied as Lily opened the window and climbed down the pipe next to it. Technically, they're not supposed to leave the house but what they don't know won't kill them.
She reached the bottom and quickly left the house and headed towards the park.
She sighed happily as she walked past the roses in the park and sat on a nearby bench. Lily sat there, watching the birds fly around the trees before she heard a noise behind her. She turned and saw two men, a man and a small boy, walking down the path.
"I'll be back soon, James. You just stay here with your friends for now. You haven't seen them in ages so I'm sure it will be fun to see them again" the man explained to the boy.
"But I want to go with you, dad" the boy whined.
'Well that makes one of us' Lily thought as the man walked away, leaving the boy. She heard him sigh before he turned and saw her.
Without thinking, she waved at him and smiled. He returned it before slowly walking towards her, like he wasn't sure if he should or not.
"Hi" She said when he was near enough.
"Umm…hi" he replied, nervous.
"My name's Lily" she told him.
"James" he replied, seeming less nervous.
"Do you want to hang out?" she asked him. He smiled and nodded. Lily got off the bench and went towards James.
"Okay…you're it!" she giggled before running away. James stood shocked before laughing and chasing after her.
End of dream
I woke up, quickly putting a hand to my cheek before sighing. It was all a dream. I smiled as I remembered meeting James that day at the park. I think he joined the Alliance but I'm not sure, I haven't seen him since I was on Earth.
'I hope he's okay' I thought as I got out of bed and stretched before heading to my closet for some fresh clothes.
"Approaching Earth, Commander. ETA 30 minutes" Joker informed us over the radio.
'Today's the day' I thought as I got changed and left the room.
'No matter what happens, they will be at least one casualty at the end of this'
I walked towards the elevator before I noticed a familiar man down the corridor.
"Hey, Pressly" I smiled at the ship's navigator as he turned around to face me.
"Good morning, Lieutenant. Haven't spoken to you in a while" he replied, smiling as we shook hands.
Pressly was one of the first crewmembers I became friends with when I first worked on the Normandy. Jane and me both agree he is a very loyal crewmember who would gladly help us anyway he can.
"We've been busy, what with Saren and the geth," I told him.
"I've noticed. I've also heard about the news of your father…you have my deepest sympathy, Lieutenant" he told me. I smiled in thanks before nodding.
"Well, we'll have to catch up soon. Maybe after this is over, we could have a drink at the citadel. I know we'll need it" I joked. He chuckled before nodding.
"Definitely. First round's on me" he promised. I smiled and began to walk away.
"I'll hold you to that, Pressly" I told him as I enter the elevator. His laugh was the last thing I heard as the door closed and rose to the mess hall.
After a few moments, the elevator stopped and opened, revealing Shepard talking with Liara.
"Hey guys," I said as I walked up to them.
"Hello, Lily" Liara said smiling before turning back to Jane.
"I'll talk to you later, Commander" she smiled at her as she walked back to the med-bay.
"Bye, Liara" Jane smiled before turning to me.
"What was that about?" I asked curiously.
"I'll tell you later. Right now, we've got family to take care of" she replied. There was a double meaning in her words.
"Agreed" I said seriously as we walked together up the stairs and towards the cockpit.
"Are we almost there?" Jane asked, as we got closer to Joker.
"15 more minutes, Commander" Joker replied as I sat down at the terminal next to him.
"We might be there awhile so tell my crew that they can have a look around London before we return to the ship" Jane ordered Joker. He nodded and broadcast the message into the intercomm.
"How will we let them know we're leaving?" I asked Jane. She pulled out a map with blue dots all over the screen.
"This is a virtual atlas. It lets me know where certain people are at a time. Namely, the crew that go with us on missions are on this map" she explained.
"Where'd you get that?" I asked her, confused. I don't know anyone who sells that sort of stuff.
"I didn't get it, it was a gift. Liara was building something like this in her spare time to let her know where her team of scientists were to make sure they were doing what they were supposed to" she answered.
I didn't know how to reply so I just shrugged and turned to face the terminal.
A few minutes later, we all remained quiet as entered the mass relay into the Sol system. We watched as Earth came closer and closer until we could make out London.
"Just a few more minutes" Joker said as we flew towards the docks.
Towering white skyscrapers shone like crystals around the large shimmering blue lakes, surrounded by dark green forest areas. Sky cars flew below us gracefully twirling around each other. It was magnificent, beautiful like the citadel even.
After joker asked permission to land, we landed at the docks as the familiar ship-holders locked onto the ship.
I stood up from the terminal and turned to face Jane.
"So, who's coming with us?" I asked her. She thought before replying.
"I think it's best if we complete this mission ourselves" she replied.
I nodded, understanding, before we left the ship.
"Wow…" I whispered as we looked at London. 10 years really did a number on this place. It's even more beautiful on the ground, with multiple shops of vibrant colours against the white buildings and pavement and various people smiling, laughing and dancing with each other in the streets like it was a festival.
But we knew it was just a mask, hiding the true London, the London we grew up in.
"Ready, sis?" Jane asked.
"Ready and loaded" I replied, patting my pistol at the side. She smiled before we left the docks and towards the bank. It didn't take us long to find the right bank since there was only one bank with police and reporters outside it. When they saw us coming, they immediately went towards us.
"Shepard! Shepard! How does it feel to know that your father is holding the bank hostage!" a reporter shouted at us.
'Some people don't know when to keep their mouths shut, obviously' I thought darkly as I carried on walking towards the bank with Jane at my side.
'After the mission on Torfan, do you think this type of aggression runs in the family?" another reporter asked.
I severely wanted to punch them all but surprisingly, Jane held me back. She grabbed my hand and squeezed it, reassuringly.
I smiled at her in thanks before we reached the police line around the bank.
"Ma'am, it's not safe to enter the bank at this time" a policeman stopped us.
"I'm Commander Shepard, this is Lieutenant Shepard. I believe we have full rights to enter the bank, sir" Jane said calmly.
"I'm sorry, Commander, but I can't let you in" he replied. She sighed before speaking.
"I'm also a Spectre. Let me in right now" she tried again, starting to lose patience.
"I don't know of any human-" he began but Jane cut him off, putting a gun at his abdomen so the reporters couldn't see.
"Let. Me. In" she tried again, eerily calm. He shivered before nodding quickly, allowing us through the line. Normally, I'd call her impatient but I couldn't force myself to condone her action when I'd probably have done the same.
She quickly stepped through and up the steps.
When we reached the top, we could see the outline of bodies along the edge of the walls inside. Whether they were alive or dead remains to be seen.
"Huh…I feel like I'm 8 years old again," I commented outside of the large, dark glass doors. She nodded, probably feeling the same, before squeezing my hand again.
"Except this time, we're not the victims. We're not going to do what mom did, we're actually going to fight this time" she replied. Those words gave me courage enough to open the door, allowing me and my sister to enter the bank.
Silence and darkness filled the bank as the door closed behind us.
Muffled noises were heard from a room at the back. Jane kept watch as I went to investigate the noise. I opened a door at the back to see my mum tied to a chair with a gag in her mouth.
"Mom?" I said surprised before shaking it off and removing her gag. She seemed to be panicking about something.
"Mom, are you ok?" I asked concerned as I removed the gag.
"Behind-" she began but stopped as I felt a blow to the back of the head. I fell from the attack before my arms were roughly grabbed from behind as I felt circular metal wrap around my wrists.
Handcuffs.
I was then grabbed by the cuffs and pulled up. I made no sound as I was pushed forward to see my sister in the same position as me, except she was unconscious. I twisted my body to see the man I remember so well.
"Father" I spat, glaring at the arrogant man before me. He grown older, more wrinkles lined his face and the ever so cold brown eyes glared at me in return.
"I figured this would grab your attention," he said before kicking me in the chest.
I coughed at the pain from the kick surrounded my stomach.
"Took me forever to find out you'd joined the Alliance. Think of it as punishment for leaving. You girls were fetching me a wealthy sum from the business you did on the streets. How were we supposed to get money with you two gone? Did you not think about your poor, starving family!" He shouted the last bit, dealing me another blow to my chest.
"Well you seem to be doing just fine" I managed to say. The kicks were making it hard to breathe let along give a smart-ass comment.
"Just. We would've lived a wealthy life if you hadn't screwed us over!" he shouted again, kicking me in the chest. This time I gave a short cry in pain.
He took out a gun and pointed it at my sister.
"Perhaps I should deal with her first. The bitch probably had the idea in the first place about leaving to join the Alliance," he said.
Without thinking, I argued.
"No, actually. It was mine. I couldn't deal with your shit anymore, and then I found the leaflet. I decided enough was enough" I lied. He then switched the gun from her to me, surprisingly making me relax.
"Oh, so the quiet one had a voice after all. Too bad it was a waste," he said. Suddenly, he fell forwards next to me. I turned to look to see mum standing in front of me, holding a hard cover ledger.
"Thankfully, a shard of glass allowed me to cut out of my bonds" she mumbled, dropping the ledger.
"Mum?" I asked, confused. She quickly grabbed the keys from him since he was quickly recovering from the blow and undid the cuffs on Jane and me.
"Mum?" I tried again, standing up from the floor. She stopped and turned to me.
"Why did you come back? Why couldn't you just leave it?" she asked me angrily.
"Mum, I-" I was cut off as I was pulled backwards, my head hitting a desk near me.
"You bitch!" dad's voice screamed as I watched his blurry form hitting my mom. I reached out an arm towards her, not being able to focus on anything at all.
The one time I don't wear a bloody helmet.
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out around the room as I watched my dad's blurry body fall to the ground.
I turned in the direction of the sound to see another person run up to me. Up close, I could make out Kaidan's worried face.
"Lily?" he asked me, gently shaking me. I looked at him since that was all I could do. I watched his eyes glance to my head as he began moving my hair. When his hands puled back, I could see red.
'Great…' I thought dizzily as I felt his arms wrap around my body and pick me up bridal style.
I glanced around to see another larger form pick up Jane. Even though I couldn't see his face, I could tell by the body form that it was a krogan.
"We'll get you to the hospital. Just hang on," he whispered soothingly to me. I felt safe and relaxed by those words as I slowly shifted so my head rested in the crook of his neck. He smelt of some sort of cologne. It helped me relax as I fell asleep wrapped in his arms with the scent of cologne.
I felt his arms tighten around me but I took no notice. He was probably getting a better grip.
At some point, I remember his arms leaving me as I was placed on a bed before I felt a hand enclose around mine as the cologne stayed with me.
"Please be okay" Kaidan's muffled voice was heard as I drifted into a deep slumber.
I never would've realized that the only reason his grip tightened was because he was angry.