A/N: Why hello there. The next chapter is here, and it was quite the experience reading it as it rolled out of my hands, into the keyboard, and onto the screen. You are about to read it, and don't worry, you will have the chance soon enough.

While I have your attention however, I have a short public service announcement. Chances are that many of you dear readers are also writers, or may be in the future. Now, I'm not claiming to be a master of the language, far from it! There are a few things, however, that really peeve me when I read fanfiction (or any story). Maybe by sharing them with you I can make the world a slightly better place.

Thus, I am delaying your reading of this chapter by a few seconds in the hopes that you will read this. (Except for Casey. You can skip it, you hear me rant enough already.)

I: It's is a contraction of it is. It is not the possessive thingy for it. If you don't know this, well, now you do. There's no excuse for it waved it's arms or the like.

II: Semicolons are serious business! They are not toys. Please check before you put one in: does it connect two sentences with the same idea? Could I have used a period or coma instead?

III: Do not go ballistic with comas. Do not put a coma before and, unless you really know what you are doing! Periods are your friends! Got a lot of weird pauses? Start a new sentence, there's no penalty!

Chapter 12

Kal's dreams are troubled. He sees trees and moving figures through a film of red, muffled voices crying out to him in the back of his head. They scream for blood, and the tree trunks blur as he leaps forward, moving effortlessly over branches and rocks. A figure in the distance is growing closer, and as he speeds toward it it turns slowly to face him. Kal catches a glimpse of familiar features frozen in terror, and as the voices grow to an unbearable crescendo his eyes open and he is on the floor of the cave, shivering in the cold.

An echoing boom startles him and he rolls over, looking outside the mouth of the cave. The cacophony of rain splashing against rock fills the small cave, and outside lightning forks across the sky. James taps his shoulder and Kal looks back at him. The human is pointing out into the forest.

Kal rises, carefully so as not to hit his head on the low ceiling, and steps to the opening of the cave. "There's a light out there," calls James from behind him. "I figured it was worth waking you for. It must be the rest of the quarians."

Kal squints through the rain. In the darkness he can just make out a point of light among the trees. Lightning flashes again, followed by a roll of thunder that seems to shake the ground. "We won't be able to find them in the morning," says Kal.

"That's what I thought. How are you feeling?"

Kal's ears still seem to ring with far away voices, but he ignores it, pushing aside his strange dream. "No different from yesterday," he says. "Are you ready to go?"

James nods. "Let me lead the way. It's a tricky enough path in daylight."

The two make their way down a narrow, stony path that winds around the hillside. Moonlight seeps faintly through the clouds in places, giving barely enough illumination to see by. Nevertheless, Kal finds himself having little trouble finding his way in the darkness. Perhaps it is the lack of a visor in front of his eyes, but his night vision seems to be better than usual. Yet again, he wonders uneasily what the hunters did to him. Forget about it, he tells himself as he and James scramble down the end of the path. Worrying about what you can't fix won't do you any good.

…

Kal leads the way through the forest. Something seems not right, like a half-heard voice on the edge of perception. The rain pelts his skin, but beneath the chill is a warm tingling. He leads on, squinting to make out the glow through the downpour. The undergrowth and trees end abruptly. Kal stops, and in an instant his hope turns to dread.

The forest ends, rocky ground continuing for a hundred meters before falling away in a sheer cliff. Lightning flashes, and as it does a huge wave breaks against the cliff's face. Kal can see nothing but stormy water beyond it, stretching off endlessly into the darkness.

The light is coming from a small fire burning under a tent of leaves and branches back by the trees. The men standing by it are not quarians. Even before Kal feels the hand close around his neck he knows who it is they have stumbled upon.

"Look who it is." Something sharp digs into the small of his back and the fingers on his neck squeeze tighter. He casts a glance over his shoulder. Two more men have come up behind them. One of them holds James with his hands behind his back. The blade of a knife glints in the firelight. "Jamie boy," croons the voice beside his ear. "Look what you've brought us."

Kal is shoved forward. He complies, feeling the point of the knife pressing into his skin, and he and James are brought before the small campfire. Kal is forced to his knees, and when he looks up he sees that three more men have joined them. The pirates number six in total, and Kal counts at least three knives among them. They crowd around James and Kal, pressing in to get a look at their new captives.

"Isn't this funny," says the voice behind Kal, accompanying his words with another prod of the knife. "First we catch you, then you catch us, then we start all over again. Except this time, there's no damned turian around to tell us what to do. We would have been off this world long ago if not for you, you little bitch. This is all your fault."

One of the pirates runs a finger along his blade. "Let's gut 'em, nice and slow. I hate those alien fucks. Let's start with that one."

"Shut up!" yells the first man angrily. "I'll decide that, not you! I say we start with the one of our own who betrayed us!"

Kal shakes his head slightly. His ears are ringing, and a muffled buzzing fills the back of his mind. Beneath his skin the tingling and heat intensify, so much that he barely feels the rain.

Misreading his gesture, the man behind him laughs harshly. "You got a problem with that, E.T.? Good. In that case, I'll enjoy watching you watch this, almost as much as I'll enjoy it when it's your turn."

On the other side of the fire one of the pirates grabs James by the hair, yanking his head back roughly. A small cry escapes James's throat.

That small noise of pain fills Kal with anguish. It is a little thing, but in it is the innocence of a man who has never been willingly violent to anyone, now the subject of eager violence and hate. It is injustice. Kal bares his teeth, struggling uselessly against his captor.

The man holding James raises his knife. The tip trails down the side of James's face, drawing a thin red line. The human's eyes are shut tight, his breath coming in short, ragged bursts. Above him the pirate smiles.

Kal can no longer hear the rain. The pounding in his ears fills his head, his head filling with the shouting voices from his dream. His insides are burning, rage filling his blood with fire. You can't touch him, he thinks. He is a better man than any of you. You have no right. His vision seems to narrow, focusing on the man holding the knife against James's face. You will not hurt him. I will not let you hurt him.

A gust of wind blows through the trees. Above the plateau the clouds shift, and for a moment the wind pulls them apart. Between their dark bulks the moon shines, silver and perfectly round.

Kal's skin is suddenly burning, an awful heat that rises from within him and pushes outward. The fuzziness in his head is gone, and within his mind the voices scream. His mouth opens but his voice is somewhere else. The hand at his neck loosens but he does not notice. His body shakes, his vision blurring around the edges, and in that moment he feels as if he is being physically ripped apart. His mind is not his own and he is being pushed out of it, thrown aside with a force that sends his consciousness reeling.

With all his effort Kal pushes, forcing his way back into himself. There is something foreign in his mind, and he struggles with it for an eternity. At last the invader relents, and the world begins to come back into focus around him.

...

He feels different. His muscles ache as if waiting to be stretched after a long journey, and there is an energy within him that was absent before. He tries to remember where he is, but thinking is so hard.

He swings his head, taking in his surroundings. A group of humans stand in a ring around him. They stare at him, eyes wide. A face among them stands out to him. Thoughts move sluggishly through his head, reaching him as if from far away. This is James, they say.

Yes, thinks Kal. I know James. He is mine.

Kal draws in a deep breath through his nose, smelling fresh blood on the human's face. Someone has hurt him, prods the voice in the back of his head. They have hurt your James.

Anger fills him and he growls, a deep rumbling that comes from far inside his chest. His eyes travel upward. Another human stands over James, his face frozen in shock. A short knife dangles from his hand, and on it is James's blood.

The movement is explosive, and it happens so fast that it surprises Kal. One second he is still, like a wound up spring, and the next he is leaping across the fire, heedless of the flames as he hits the man in the chest and bears him to the ground. The human screams once, then Kal snaps his jaws, surprised again at the strength of his muscles, and his mouth fills with the man's blood. He shakes his head, feels the neck snap, and tosses the limp body away. He feels alive, more than he has ever been before. The anger within him mixes with fierce joy, and he knows without a doubt that he will kill them all.

…

James opens his eyes when he hears the growl. His first thought is, Oh no oh mother of God how did it get here? Then he sees. Kal'reegar is gone.

He stares across the fire. Orange light flickers over the beast. The torn remains of Kal's suit lie around the creature. Lightning flashes, and its bared teeth glint viciously.

James has another thought, but it moves through his head in slow-motion. The whole world seems to have frozen, holding its breath. It can't be. No. It's not possible.

Then the moment shatters. The beast leaps at him, sailing over his shoulder close enough to touch and pinning the pirate behind him to the ground. The man screams, blood flying into the air.

James turns and runs. He doesn't look back, just runs on and on, branches slapping at him, the rain pelting his face. Behind him he hears more screams. He runs on, pushing through the undergrowth, until something catches his foot and he trips, sprawling in the mud. In a blind panic, he turns over onto his back, pushing himself frantically backward on his elbows. His back hits a tree trunk and he collapses against it, panting.

James's mind whirls. He can't put together a coherent thought; as soon as he tries to grab the pieces to one they fly away and are lost. What he has just seen cannot in any way be real. It is not possible.

Time passes. James feels his breath coming back to him. Gradually, his mind begins to reassemble itself. The forest is silent again, save the ever-present patter of the rain on the leaves.

He takes a deep breath. He takes another one.

He stands up.

…

The fire has gone out. The awning above it has collapsed, its supports snapped. James does not look at the ground.

Darkness presses in, but there is a little light coming from the partially hidden moon. At the edge of the cliff something dark is hunched over, slightly darker than the sky behind it. James's boots squish on the rain-soaked ground.

Kal is sitting with his arms around his knees, head bowed, facing out toward the violently tossing sea. His body shakes occasionally. He hears James as he approaches. "Stop!" he cries, and his voice seems to James to be filled with agony. "Go! Get out of here!" He lowers his head and his shoulders shake again. James hears a sob through the sound of the waves and rain.

He sits down next to Kal, adopting the same pose and resting his chin on his forearms. A few feet away a wave collides with the cliffside, throwing up a shower of spray. He sits quietly and watches as lightning forks down to the water, far away.

Beside him Kal pulls in a breath, his voice shaking. "Why won't you listen? It's not safe for you here. Can't you see what I did, what I am?!" He chokes, looking away. "Go. Please. Get as far away from me as you can."

James turns to face him. "I'm not going anywhere, Kal," he says quietly.

Kal's head whips around. "You have to! Didn't you see? I killed them, James! I killed them all! I, I, oh Keelah James, I killed them all..."

James puts his arms around Kal, and he holds him there on the cliff as he begins to cry, his tears mixing with the rain and the sea water and the blood.