A Warrior's Mind, a Lover's Heart
Chapter 25: The lover's broken heart
Authors Note: The chapters from here on out are going to get very very dark. For awhile. Consider yourself warned. There will be sensitive topics talked about.
Teyshan felt his body being dragged acrossed the dirt riddled floor. Blood trickling down the side of his temple. His legs burned, his shoulder aching from Hayshek pulling sharply against his wing. The Prothean felt himself wavering in and out of consciousness. Everything blurry, everything hurt. For once he actually felt…scared. His omnitool was off. Luckily Hayshek wasn't aware Teyshan had it. In due time Teyshan would use it to warn the others of what happened. It was going to be his only ticket in getting out of this alive.
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Melina looked over at Javik as he scanned the hallway with his deep golden hues. The elder Prothean's top lip pulled back, baring his teeth. Thoughts running through his head about what could of happened.
"Did he tell you what he was off doing, Melina?" Javik asked, breaking the silence.
Melina sighed inwardly. Closing her eyes she shook her head. Teyshan didn't say a word about what he was planning. Only that he needed a bit of time alone to get some things done. The woman turned herself towards Javik, her cloudy hues opening.
"No.. not a word. He just told me he would meet me later at the bar." Melina's eyes narrowed..
"Foolish to go off by himself." Javik muttered softly.
The woman knew Javik wasn't mad at Teyshan, but more frustrated over all of this. A leader was always responsible for their subordinates, even during shore leave. It could be a poor reflection on Javik's skills as a leader if one of his own had went missing. Then again nobody was questioning Javik's leadership skills. It was ingrained into him from the Empire.
Javik suddenly turned himself, all four of his golden hues staring down at Melina. The woman stopped herself in her tracks and nearly froze. The look he was giving her was alarming. A slow frown settled onto the woman's brows. The Elder Prothean gazed at Melina sideways, thoughts running through his head. Melina could read it on him. He was up to something, his mind was racing. Javik looked like he was debating. That's when it hit Melina. She knew exactly what he was debating. Without hesitation, Javik took a step in to Melina's space, his arms outreached. Placing his hands on the woman's shoulders, the Prothean cleared his mind. Melina relaxed under his touch. Her body feeling warm, her mind opening up to him, she was willing to help in anyway possible, even if that meant Javik seeing.. Well everything.
Javik didn't wish to look back far into the woman's memories. He didn't need to see the moments closest to her and Teyshan, but he had hoped to get enough of an idea about what Teyshan was possibly planning. Maybe it was a clue he said, the way he looked at her. Something Melina perhaps didn't pick up on. Protheans could be a lot more subtle then the woman could realize. Though Javik was quite surprised how much she did pick up on, over the others in his crew. The Prothean was able to feel something, recent. A memory not really buried deep within the woman's mind. She wasn't resisting their transference. Something that helped Javik immensely.
Melina felt the weight on the bed adjust as Teyshan pulled himself close to her. His warmth giving the woman a sense of comfort. Something she sought out each night. Even more so when she was feeling stressed or upset.
"Teyshan" The woman gave a soft smile.
"Yes?" The young Prothean focused himself.
"I debated something."
"What is it that you debated?" Teyshan's sub harmonics growing tight. A sign of unsurity.
"About getting my vision fixed." The words slipped out from Melina's mouth. She hated that. The woman wished she could of eased this conversation on Teyshan a bit easier, but she knew Protheans preferred the cold harsh truth sometimes and this wasn't something she wanted to keep from him. There was no point in keeping secrets.
"Why?" Teyshan broke the brief silence.
"Just thought I could be more useful out in battle with a clear set of eyes." The woman sighed.
Javik pulled himself away from Melina's form, his hands dropping down to his sides. The woman opened her own hues, gazing up at the elder Prothean, she could tell he was processing all of this. She knew what he was reading, she could feel it. It played in her mind just as much as it played in his. Though she wasn't sure why Javik was particularly interesting in this memory. It seemed a bit useless.
"I see." Javik rumbled a bit.
"What is it?" Melina adjusted her weight to her other leg. Her body feeling a bit tired.
Javik was quiet for a moment, his four golden hues gazing down at the floor. He was thinking deeply. Reaching up to his mouth, the elder Prothean ran a finger over his bottom lip, his top pulling up a bit, almost sneering. Dropping his hand, Javik closed his mouth. Those four golden hues gazing back at Melina sharply.
"That is it, you have mentioned wanting to have a pair of clear eyes for battle. I believe Teyshan went to go search for something to help you. Perhaps a weapons mod, or a visor. We need to search the market place." Javik's hues narrowed.
Melina's mouth dropped a bit, she was in pure shock over how the elder Prothean was able to figure that out from that simple memory. Melina would of never figured out that Teyshan went to go look for weapon mods. Though it didn't surprise her. Teyshan could be a very caring individual. Specially when it came to her.
Javik turned his gaze from the woman and looked down the hallway. Motioning for Melina to follow him, the Prothean kept his steps light and quick. Everything was unusually quiet around this part of Omega. Javik remembered spending a fair amount of time here during his travels with Commander Shepard. It was always so busy in the marketplace. Though with the Reaper war going on at that time. People were naturally more on the move, buying what they needed instead of putting it off later. Keeping his golden hues on the look out, the elder Prothean browsed around several shops until one caught his eye. It was tucked back in the corner a bit out of the ways. Turning himself around, Javik made sure Melina was still following him closely. The woman wasn't more then a few steps behind him. The air was thick around here. Heavy. It felt dangerous. The Prothean's stomach was almost making flips with how unnerving this area was to him. He could feel everyone's emotions dripping off of every surface in Omega. He was going to need to shower extensively when they got done.
Sighing inwardly, Javik made his way over to the small shop in the corner. Rifle mods, scopes, visors lined the walls of the booth, the counter tops were littered with armor, biotic amps and much more. A few issues of Fornax stacked in a pile along the corner. The elder Prothean reached out towards the counter, closing his eyes. He began reading, feeling, sensing. He could see Teyshan here looking at the scopes. He felt excited, hoping it would please Melina but soon the Prothean was interrupted by an Asari who wouldn't leave him be. He looked upset. Javik couldn't read what Teyshan said to her, but only saw that he pushed her away several times before leaving the small shop. Javik's hues opened, turning their gaze over to the woman who was keeping a look out for anyone who could attack while Javik was busy.
Smart girl.
"He was here." Javik broke the long silence.
"Did you see what happened? Where he went?" Melina frowned softly.
Javik only shook his head for a moment.
"We will need to continue searching. I sensed that he left after being harassed by a foolish Asari." Javik sighed knowing Melina wasn't going to be happy to hear it.
"Dammit, ok." The woman shook her head.
Javik didn't say another word. Turning himself away from the shop, he began to follow the hallway down in another direction, the air growing thicker. Occasionally the elder Prothean would stop and touch the floor, a wall. Hoping to pick up some kind of trail. Yet it felt cold, Teyshan's signiture couldn't be felt anywhere close.
It was frustrating.
Melina followed closely behind Javik. Granted the elder Prothean's walls had been up for some time. She could read the frustration over Javik's face the further they had gotten away from Teyshan's trail. The Prothean was hard at work, hoping to pick up something, anything to find the other. Melina knew they wouldn't be able to ask for any kind of security footage in hopes of finding him. Omega didn't have such a thing. Landing on the port meant you knew what you were getting into. Whatever happened to you or your own ship was your own responsibility and not those of who ran Omega. It was frustrating. Melina knew if this happened on the Citadel there would be some hope of finding something, even then it could have been a stretch. Melina stayed close to Javik but noticed he was beginning to pull away from her quicker. The elder Prothean had picked up his pace, breaking into a jog, he must of found something.
Following him into a corner, Melina immediately stopped in her tracks when she noticed deep crimson blood pooled onto the floor. It was a bit dried, signifying how long it had been possibly sitting there. Javik reached down on the floor, touching the metal. His golden hues closing.
'I hope its not his' Melina thought to herself.
Javik stood up, his arms dropping to his sides. The Prothean's hands balled up into tight fists, his head shaking back and forth a bit before sucking in a gasp of air through his teeth. This wasn't good. Melina could read it all over his face. He was hesitating in telling her what he saw, what he sensed.
"What…" Melina whispered.
"It is not good, Melina." Javik's tone was gentle. A lot more gentle then he ever had it before. It alarmed her.
Javik's fists relaxed, looking up at the woman, the Prothean's golden hues narrowed a bit. His top lip pulling up a bit, he was hesitating.
"Please tell me." Melina whispered once more.
"Teyshan was cornered.. I sensed much pain. That blood is his. Hayshek took him. I could not tell where. We need to get back to the ship and start the search as soon as we can. Just know Melina I will not give up on him, until we either find him alive… or well.."
"No we will find him alive." Melina interrupted.
Javik didn't respond. He only nodded in understanding. Losing a good soldier such as Teyshan was a huge blow to the mission and a even bigger blow against the unit. They all worked well together and a without Teyshan, it meant Melina wasn't able to focus. Without the woman's focus. Dean would be distracted. It was a dangerous but well working chain they had created together. Javik could only hope Melina could keep it together. So far she was. Though only time could tell. Something like this could wreck someone, or make them stronger. With Melina it could swing either way. Her past had shown losing someone would wreck them. Now he needed to focus on getting him and his crew back onto the ship and breaking the news with the rest of everyone else. Nobody was going to take this well.
Melina felt her heart sinking deep into her chest. She had to keep it together. For her sake and for Teyshan's. The woman knew if she didn't focus on possibly triangulating Hayshek's attack patterns, then she was going to lose her partner, the love of her life, her husband forever. Though it was going to be hard to stay strong when it felt like your soul was going to shred apart with this news.
Authors Note:
Super dark chapters coming up. I will be keeping the warning up as long as I have this arc going. Chapter updates will be more regular since I've got the time to kill. Thank you for all the love!