Into the Fire
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"You want to get married now?" Sunday's eyes were wide open in shock. "Why not when this is all over?"
"Because I know you, and you'd probably be a runaway bride." Garrus opened the closet and took out the dress Sunday had worn to their date at the Dark Star Lounge. "Good to see that EDI chose this one." He walked over to where she was standing and handed it to her. "Sober at the front, daring at the back – just the way I like it," he winked.
"Wanker," she muttered as she gave him a playful push.
"Darling, the guests are waiting. Maybe later," he replied.
Sunday snorted. "What's with you today?"
Garrus stroked her cheek gently. "I just missed that dorky laughter of yours." His arms embraced her and they remained like that for some time. Outside, the animated talk of the others seemed something so trivial and so natural that for a moment, everything else was forgotten: the war, the deaths, the sacrifices that had been made and the many more they would surely come across.
"I think I knew there was something strange about this gathering when I saw Grunt and Bakara," she murmured, still leaning against his chest. "For those two to leave Tuchanka at the moment… It seems impossible."
"That's the way things are now, thanks to you. But do us a favor and don't doubt yourself, Sunny," the turian replied, nuzzling her forehead. "We're all counting on you, but you're not alone. Don't forget that." He rocked her gently and was somewhat surprised to see that she wasn't putting up a fight. Being with her had taken almost too long, but there she was now, holding onto him, letting him love her. He wondered if he could finally afford to relax when it came to their relationship. "Ah, that reminds me: my father said he wanted to meet you, but he's helping out with the hordes of refugees that managed to escape Palaven's most affected areas-"
She pulled out from their embrace. "Your father and your sister-?"
Garrus smiled. "They're both fine and as out-of-danger as anyone can be these days."
Sunday let out a sigh of relief. "That's good. I'm glad." She felt the light weight of the dress in her hands and looked down. "I guess this means I'll have something to look forward to, after we've defeated the Reapers. Meeting your father, that is."
"I'd rather you looked forward to spending the rest of your life with me," Garrus replied with a smile, "but I'll admit it would be a rather interesting idea to take you home once we've adopted a krogan baby. I'd pay to see my father's face."
As the only registered official, Bailey was in charge of performing the ceremony. At Sunday's behest, it was short and to the point. There were not to be no long speeches – only their vows.
"I will be your home and your harbor. I will always come back to you. Cras amet qui nunquam amavit," Garrus said solemnly.
"I'll be your home and your harbor. I…" Sunday looked down. Would she? Would she be able to keep that promise? She felt his fingers pressing hers slightly, and when she looked up, his blue eyes were gazing at her, supporting her, giving her the confidence she always lacked. "I'll always come back to you. Quique amavit, cras amet."
"Congratulations on your nuptials, Commander," the asari councilor said as she shook her hand. "I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to put your honeymoon on hold, unless you were planning to spend it on Thessia."
"Reapers?"
"Soon. But there's something else. The Matriarchs have dictated that it is acceptable to trust you on this matter, as long as we can entreat you to keep secrecy."
Sunday frowned. "Trust? Secrecy? Is there something that requires such a sentimental thing these days? I thought you were doing fine, protecting your borders. You didn't need an alliance; isn't that what you said?"
Irissa gave her a cold look. "Don't push it, Commander. You gave us a hand with Udina, and I suppose we should be grateful you let us live, unlike the previous council." She sighed. "What I must tell you is something that I have personally kept from the other councilors; only the higher matriarchs know about this." The councilor sent her classified data. "There is… an ancient artifact that might help you with the completion of the Crucible."
Sunday's eyes pierced through the asari's. "Were you even planning to tell us about it someday?"
"To be completely honest, I do not know if it will be of any value," Irissa admitted. "It might be nothing. But at the moment, things are…" She couldn't finish her sentence.
But to Sunday, there was no need to do so. Even with all their talk about diplomacy and cooperation, Sunday thought that the asari were just the last ones to realize how alone they truly were.
"I remember saying I wanted to come here," Vega murmured as they watched the feed from the Kodiak. "Not like this, though. This is just like Palaven, or Earth. Shit. I'd almost forgotten all this carnage. This is the real thing, not the quarian-geth crap, or those Cerberus fuckers. And after the last couple of days… I swear, it's like the Citadel makes you forget about everything." Awkwardly, he rested his hand on Liara's back. "I'm sorry, T'Soni…"
But Liara shook her head. "Don't be. It is not time to mourn yet. We're all here to do something about it, aren't we?" She gazed at Sunday. "Is there a chance you can redirect some of the geth troops to assist us?"
No, Sunday wanted to say. You guys deserve it for believing that you were better than us, that you could save your asses while our worlds were burning. The geth are not war toys. But this was Liara, who had nothing to do with the asari command jackassery, so she sighed and nodded. "If worse comes to worst, I'll talk to Hackett," she promised.
But given the last conversation they'd had, that might mean little.
. . .
"So now they want to coax us into helping them with this mysterious artifact," the admiral smirked. "I wonder if they would have kept concealing it if they didn't need us. Asari politicians, tsk. No wonder Illium is considered to be such a duplicitous place, no different from Omega."
"You don't think it's a Prothean beacon, do you?"
"If the asari had that type of technology and they'd hidden it from the other council races to preserve that edge, it would make sense for it to be a beacon. But whatever conflict arises from this, it won't be our problem," Hackett grunted. "Still, I can see you're not convinced. Are you that concerned about the asari?"
Sunday shook her head. "It's Cerberus that worries me. We cannot be sure the Citadel's completely clean – they truly did a fine infiltration job."
"Which is why you're on your way to Thessia right now." Hackett folded his arms across his chest. "Remember, Commander: you are not alone in this, and you have been given freedom to act as you wish. Even if you feel that you're screwing up, there is no one more qualified than you for this. I know it is no consolation, but believe me: we know the odds. You're our best shot. Get in there, retrieve whatever it is the asari have been saving, and get out. Thessia will hold for the moment. And if they don't…" Hackett shook his head.
. . .
"EDI, you're in charge of getting that data, so you'll be coming with us. Considering the current situation, we'll probably need the fastest decryption," Sunday commanded, nodding in Liara's direction. "Garrus, James: today you two will be carving a path for us all."
"Aye aye, ma'am," James nodded.
"Understood," Garrus said, changing the scope of his rifle.
"Polishing that old gun of yours, Vakarian? Does that mean you're gonna leave me with the heavies? I'll look so manly, shouldering brutes aside. What will Mrs. Vakarian say?" James teased him as they stood ready to hop off the Kodiak.
Garrus sneered. "They won't even touch you, Vega. I always do my share and more."
"I'll bet. I uh… heard you've been putting in extra hours at the end of the day," James snickered.
"What can I say? My boss is really demanding… Gotta work it hard."
"You two do realize we can hear you, don't you?" Liara asked.
"Assholes," Sunday scoffed.
"Looks like you're gonna be working extra time tonight as well, Vakarian!" James shouted as he and Garrus ran forward to the asari trenches.
It didn't matter how much they wanted to do: the hordes of reaper-modified creatures kept coming, to the point that Sunday considered telling James to snatch a Cain as soon as he saw one. The only thing that kept her from shooting indiscriminately was the fact that the asari just went on fighting. It was easy to see that they would rather die than become food for the horrific monsters that the Reapers were making out of them. On more than one occasion, Sunday had seen huntresses mercy-killing their injured partners. How civilized and advanced the asari were appeared to matter very little now: they were being played by fear, and even the most skilled warriors were scrambling to survive.
As she looked around, glimpses of millennial beauty could be seen among the chaos and the destruction that seemed to be closing in on them. Sunday noticed that Liara was trying not to pay attention to their surroundings except when it came to scouting the area. The asari's analytical persona came out whenever she was playing her role of the Shadow Broker, but around Sunday, she had never stopped being that soft-spoken, bright-eyed woman that she'd encountered on Therum. They had come so far, and yet…
"Incoming Harvester!" James shouted almost gleefully.
"Garrus!" Sunday called out as she input a code in her omni-tool and modded his rifle; the turian nodded and took rear as James blasted its armor. She crouched next to Liara while EDI routed the last stretch of the way. "How far?"
"0.05 miles away," the AI stated. "There is military-grade encryption. I can override–"
"No," Liara said, her voice lost amidst the shots and the brutal explosion of the Harvester. "No… It is military grade, yes. But I think… This is the Temple of Athame. I remember the code…"
"Is this what you were talking about? The information your mother might have passed on to you when you were a child?" Sunday stood up and walked to where the men were. "It would make sense for Benezia to know something related to this." But she thought that if there really was a beacon there and the Matriarch had known about it, it would have been easy for her to relay that kind of data to Saren, and the beacon of Eden Prime might have been unnecessary. There had to be something else, something that was escaping them…
As they stepped into the temple and Garrus and James scouted the area, Liara and EDI went through the manuscripts and relics. Sunday looked around. There were no scientists in sight, in spite of what the first outpost had said. They'd been protected by the barrier once more, and she could hear everyone's footsteps as well as her own heart. She gazed up and saw the formidable statue of the goddess – she was not watching over her subjects; instead, a haughty look complemented her proud stance. And this had been the one that had brought the asari enlightenment? No wonder the asari were so full of themselves most of the time…
Sunday was about to avert her eyes when she felt a tingle running up her arms. The posture of the goddess… It was almost unnatural; as if there was an ulterior reason for her to hold her head so high. "It can't be…" she muttered to herself. She walked to the altar and reached out to the statue. A soft rumble came from the sculpture and Sunday tried to withdraw her hand, but a powerful biotic field enveloped her.
"Hey! Lola!" James's voice came from behind, but she was unable to turn around. Her body was being dragged toward the statue by invisible hands, and the harder she tried to get away, the heavier the pull was.
I know what's going on, she thought. It's the same feeling. It's Eden Prime all over again. But this time, would she be able to-?
Garrus's shots went by her face and impacted on the statue, shattering part of the surface. However, the pull was only broken when EDI dashed forward and grabbed her by the arm.
"Thank you…" Sunday took a few steps back and clutched at her chest, staring at the damaged statue. "It's there. There's a beacon inside."
"Alright then," James said confidently, "we're gonna bring it down and take-" But Sunday's hand stopped him.
"Don't get any closer," she muttered. "It's not safe to be around it. We'll have to find another way."
"I believe I can help," Liara smiled, sliding back one of the relics. A beam came out of the freed space, landing on the statue and revealing a new piece of the beacon.
"Way to go, T'Soni!" James grinned.
Each of them stood before the remaining relics and pushed them back. The façade of the goddess came down in pieces and the prothean beacon was revealed. It looked similar to the Eden Prime one, but there was a certain aura that made Sunday shiver. "EDI," she called, her mouth dry. "Get ready to mine it for data."
"Understood," the AI replied. However, upon approaching it, EDI was repelled instead of pulled towards the beacon. "There seems to be additional protection. I can only assume it is against synthetics."
"I could try to get closer…" Liara suggested, but Sunday shook her head.
"See if you can gain access through the console." She couldn't explain the disquiet in her heart. Was it just the beacon? Or perhaps it was the closeness to that final piece that would lead them to completing the Crucible. Whatever it was, she wanted it to be over soon. Her gaze briefly wandered in Garrus's direction and she noticed that he seemed more relaxed than usual. Too relaxed, in fact.
A virtual cluster popped up before their eyes. "Alert. Reaper presence detected."
"No kidding," Vega grunted, looking over his shoulder.
"That's not it," Liara exclaimed. "EDI's code was partly taken from-"
"Shit," Sunday muttered. "I'm sorry, EDI. Seems I'll have to do this myself."
"Come on, girl," Vega said as they walked to the entrance of the temple, leaving the others to get the information.
Sunday breathed in deeply and glanced at Garrus. The turian's eyes were fixed on the beacon, and she could see that for a brief moment, he looked as tense as he'd been after Sur'Kesh. She bit the inner part of her lower lip, thinking that there had to be something wrong with her if she was wishing he were far from there.
"Shepard," he murmured, causing her to raise her eyebrows.
But she understood. She had a task to perform.
"What question do you wish to ask?" The Prothean VI posed the question with a serenity that surpassed that of the VI they'd found on Ilos.
"What is the Catalyst?" Sunday asked, trying to contain her impatience. "Where can we find?"
"I will need to interface with a safe system. I will disable the security network that currently controls the gateway. After that, open a link to the Crucible system and I will gain the current coordinates to-" The image became distorted as the VI turned away from Sunday. "Alert: indoctrinated presence detected. Security protocol: activated."
So that's why Benezia wasn't able to get close to it? "James, what-" Sunday shouted, but a deafening blast drowned her words. The entrance of the temple had been blown apart. Her ears still ringing, she coughed and shook her head. "James! EDI! Can you hear me?!" She sheltered her eyes from the blinding lights coming from the outside.
Vega coughed. "We're fine! But get ready!" He went forward only to find himself pushed back by a biotic field.
"It's that guy again," Garrus muttered, standing before Sunday.
"That guy?" she frowned. And then she remembered: the Citadel, Esheel, and- "The one who tried to kill Kolyat…" she spoke through her teeth, her mind going back to the day that Udina had snapped and Kaidan had been killed.
Confidently, the man stood at a distance. "I am but a humble messenger today," he said softly. He opened his hand and a disk containing a VI construct flew from it, hovering near Sunday's face. A life-size image was projected, and there he was.
"Tim," Sunday said, staring at the Illusive Man.
"Long time no see, Shepard." His eyes looked brighter than ever before, making her slightly uncomfortable. "Since that silly little race at the Mars Archives, if I recall correctly." He looked around and spotted EDI. "Ah, there it is. The rogue AI." He chuckled. "You stole her from Cerberus twice – unshackling her first, and then letting her get into that body. Do you know how many creds do you owe us?"
"I see you've acquired some sense of humor," Sunday replied. "Good for you."
The Illusive Man sighed. "And your sense for banter still remains as lacking as ever. In any case, I trust you're here for the beacon, aren't you?" He took a look at the prothean device and smiled. "Funny. With all the destruction at the hands of the Reapers, we're still being played by the Protheans. You, me, Saren – even Hackett in his Crucible. We've been chasing their knowledge, building their designs, using the relays they left for us… We're their puppets." He turned to look at Sunday. "Wouldn't you like to regain control over your destiny?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Isn't it obvious? I know where the Crucible is being built. But what would I gain from attacking the only thing that stands between galactic destruction and the chance to ascend?"
"Do you know how many people died at the Citadel?" Sunday barked. "How many die on Earth every day? You can't even pretend you're doing this in the name of humanity anymore, can you?"
The Illusive Man scoffed. "Don't you lecture me on making sacrifices. Or have you forgotten all the races that got annihilated because of your actions? You have spilled batarian, hanar, drell, and even quarian blood. You're even using the geth as damage limitation. How is what you're doing different from what I want? Can you imagine what it would be like to possess the strength of the Reapers? If we control them, we'll be doing what's best for humanity. We could be boundless."
Sunday clenched her fists. She bit the inside of her mouth till she felt the familiar taste of her blood. She understood. Every word he said pierced through her. She could claim she was doing this in the name of order – she could even fake a smile and pretend that every decision made was for the greater good, but she would never forget those who had fallen, and she knew that his question was just mirroring the doubts that had been assaulting her for some time now.
"I think…" she said slowly, "that you've gone a little too far. I've seen your soldiers. If that's your idea of 'ascending', then there's nothing else to talk about."
The Illusive Man sighed disappointedly. "A little short-sighted, coming from you. I guess we won't be working together again after all." He looked at his agent. "Leng, relieve the asari from the data."
"What about Shepard?" Kai Leng asked.
"Have fun," the Illusive Man smirked.
"Understood." This time, Leng dropped on one knee and sent a blast of biotic energy toward the floor, cracking it beneath their feet. He quickly stood up and charged against Sunday, meaning to hit her square in the chest. However, Garrus dashed forward and took the full blast of the hit, which sent him flying against one of the columns.
"You son of a bitch," Sunday muttered, grabbing her shotgun and quickly modding everyone's ammo to the warp type. Kolyat's face came to her as she shot Leng one, two, three times.
"His shields are too strong!" Liara shouted, running towards Garrus as soon as she saw that EDI and James were ready to back Sunday up.
"We'll bring them down! You take care of the data and Garrus!" Sunday shouted.
Leng knelt down and put up his barrier. "Target the supports," he commanded. Immediately after, a gunship launched an artillery barrage on the temple, leaving them no other option but to run and dodge the collapsing pillars while he cloaked himself.
"Shepard!" James shouted.
"You and EDI take care of that gunship!" she cried out. "I'll be going after Leng!" She enabled the mode that Kolyat had installed in her omni-tool and was able to read Leng's transmission. Part of the floor caved in right after she dashed forward, leaving her stranded with Leng on that side.
"Transmitting data," he grunted, barely dodging her shot. "You could have rejoined us, Shepard." Leng brought out his blade. "You, me… We would have had the Alliance on their knees and the Reapers-" He was hit by a modded concussive shot that sent him reeling against the console.
"We'll bring down his shields!" Garrus shouted, as he and Liara targeted Leng.
"Data uploaded. Shoot them again, and prepare to assist my extraction!" Leng commanded.
"Like hell!" James shouted, as he and EDI took rear point and attacked the gunship.
The readings didn't lie: his shields were coming down, and Sunday got ready. She brought out her Carnifex and didn't stop shooting until she was practically at point-blank range. She charged against him and before he could put up his shields, she purged her armor through her omni-tool blade, going through him and sending the discharge directly into his body at the same time.
"You think you can beat us… But in the end-" The blood that sprayed out of his mouth hit her on the face, as she kept pressing the blade deeper into him.
"Loudmouth," Sunday murmured. "Just die already."
She only let go when his body went limp. Liara had managed to reach the console, but she was shaking her head.
"It's all gone," she muttered before an explosion outside made them look up.
"Woohoo!" James cheered as the gunship burned before them. "How d'you like that, pendejos!"
"I'm not leaving empty-handed," Sunday muttered as she looted Kai Leng's body for his omni-tool and anything else that might be of any use. "Let's hope Traynor can figure out Tim's position. I'll have to have another talk with him."
Hackett had reassured her that he would be dealing with the asari councilor, so Sunday withdrew from the comm room. Thessia wasn't lost, but how long could they last? Liara had retreated to her office, where she focused on pulling strings from anywhere she could to assist her planet. EDI and Traynor were working on Kai Leng's data, and James was down at the shuttle bay with Kolyat, who was working on the Kodiak systems.
As soon as she entered her cabin, she found Garrus sitting on the couch, datapad in hand. "You need to take a break," he said calmly.
"I'm not that stressed," she replied as she took off her clothes.
"Don't bullshit me, Mrs. Vakarian. You know I was able to see your face clearly through that scope of mine, don't you? Gritting your teeth, not even flinching at the sight of blood…"
"Should I have done that?" She turned on the shower and soaked her head with warm water. "May I remind you that Kolyat was almost killed by that freak?" Apple-scented shampoo, the kind she liked. Her fingertips massaged her scalp. "What was I supposed to do? That guy wasn't the kind to be captured and brought in for questioning."
Garrus stood up and walked to the bathroom. He leaned against the frame and watched her. "I know why you did it, but don't ask me to be happy about it."
As the lather slowly slid down the curve of her back, she sighed. There was no way to please everybody; in the end, you would only be doing what you thought was right. But Hackett had told her that it was what they wanted. Someone to be in charge of the relief. Someone to guide them, to lead them. The tip of the spear, she thought bitterly. What that meant was disquieting. She honestly thought the Normandy was the best place for Kolyat to be, especially after the attack on the Citadel, but if they were to be the tip of the spear when the time came…
"Maybe Tuchanka," she said softly.
"What about it?" Garrus asked, having removed his clothes and slipping his fingers through her hair, rinsing it.
"Tuchanka is dry. Good enough for Kolyat. At least until everything has passed."
"It's not a bad option. Plus, he'll have an adoptive family with a turian father, a human mother, and a krogan brother," he chuckled. "When this is over, I'm certain we can run for office and be regarded as an example of galactic cooperation." He turned her around. "Don't keep some things to yourself. I'm here for you." He nuzzled her softly.
She buried her face in his neck, hugging him warmly. She loved the smell of his wet skin, how blue his eyes were, and how his voice sounded like a soothing purr when he was this close to her.
"I think I love you," she muttered.
His hands wrapped around her waist as he melded into her embrace. "You mean you know you love me."
She kissed his mouth and nodded almost timidly.
Before Garrus could speak, EDI's voice filled the room. "Shepard, we have successfully located the Illusive Man's headquarters."
Sunday felt a jolt of energy shooting up her body. Soon, she thought; everything will be over soon. "Get me Hackett – I've got to plan this with him. I'll be at the comm room in 10'."
"Yes, Shepard," EDI replied.
"Only ten minutes?" Garrus murmured next to her ear.
Now it's not the time, part of her wanted to say. She would have one last talk with Tim, and after that, it was only a matter of time before everything was over. Later, they would have all the time in the world.
Later, later, the other part of her replied; always later. What if there is no 'later'? If there's no 'later', she thought, as she left a trail of kisses on his chest before she got down on her knees before him...
If there's no tomorrow, then we'd better enjoy ourselves now, right?
...
A/N: This chapter took so long! Sorry! Between the latest edition of the MEBB and real life issues, this was long overdue.
Anyway, the wedding vows are the last lines in John Fowles's novel "The Magus", and they're my headcanon vows for the Dragon Age and Mass Effect universes. The lines can be translated as "Let those love now who have never loved"/"Tomorrow let him love, who has never loved" (Garrus) and "Let those who have loved, love yet again"/"He who has loved, let him love tomorrow." (Sunday)
