Hello to all the new followers, I'd name you all but I'm afraid I'll miss someone out. I'm just glad you've taken the time to read my story and know I love you :) Also, I'm considering putting up Faust and Giger's story; it's why I included this particular beginning. However I'm not sure how well it would do or how people would respond. Tell me how you feel about that.
Chapter Twenty-Five: After the Fall
Six Years Ago, Tuchanka
Giger lay bleeding on the ground of Clan Tase'la, he felt the wound that cut diagonally across his body. The blade had torn through his armour and his hide, but oddly enough he felt the wound was not life threatening. He was more in shock than anything, being hit by a biotic-infused blade did have that effect on people.
If that was true, if the blade wasn't deep, why had Steel spared his life? Giger had kidnapped Ryo, he threatened to kill Steel as part of his vengeance, yet Ryö had fooled them all and now Giger was lying on the floor.
Ryö was a clever turian, she had purposely allowed herself to be kidnapped in order to bring the two brothers into contact and force them to resolve their issues. And now what? Steel was gone with Ryö after sparing his brother's life, but what was left for Giger?
His vision began to fade, the shock of his wound finally dragging him under, and as things turned dark he saw a figure approach him. She just appeared, like a flash of light. A human dressed all in white, just like what the humans referred to as an 'angel'.
...
Now, Shepard Memorial Hospital
Giger slowly woke, feeling a grinding pain in the back of his head, like a terrible migraine. His vision was blinded by the sheer white glare of the room, but there was a cool breeze rolling in and it soothed him. It reminded him of when Faust took him to a beach and was lulled to sleep by the lapping of the waves.
Slowly his senses returned, the room took shape and the cool breeze eased the ache of his muscles enough for him to attempt to sit up. He failed, but the fact he could move informed him he was still capable of movement. He was not finished yet.
It took him a moment to realize where he was, but the room became familiar and with this familiarity came the memory of what happened. He remembered worrying about Faust, going to his apartment and then being shot in the back of his head.
He was a little surprised he had survived, another stroke of luck, it seems. He counted all the times he had almost died and came to a nice even count of six, not including everything that had happened whilst working under Grunt.
He raised his head with some ease and spotted Faust asleep on the chair beside his bed and Grunt sat in another chair opposite. Grunt smiled, glad to see Giger awake, and quickly left to retrieve a glass of water. He returned some seconds later, a nurse with him, and handed Giger the glass.
"How long have I been out?" he asked.
"About a week," the nurse replied. "The fired shot didn't break through all your layers of crests, but what it did break through messed up the nerve endings and sent you into shock. Some of the nerve endings are irreparable, but it won't cause any serious long term damage other than slight occasional migraine-like pains."
"Like I'm feeling now?" he asked.
"Yes, but they can be treated with medication," she said. "For now you are to remain in our care until we've run all our tests, then you are free to go."
She had a quick word with Grunt, who was now Giger's career alongside Steel. All he had to do was keep an eye on Giger, make sure he took his medication and be wary of any lapses in his health. The nurse then promptly left, having others to attend to.
Giger took a sip of his water, he hadn't realized how parched he was. The cool liquid eased his sore throat and gave him an almost refreshing wake up, which made him wonder if Faust had been with him this whole time, never leaving for any food or drink.
"You pulled a weird face just now while you were sleeping," Grunt remarked. "Dreaming, was you?"
"Just remembering a... weird time in my life," Giger remarked. "So what happened? Who's the bastard who shot me and killed Isandro? Was it Aeacus?"
Grunt grabbed the chair and brought it forwards, sitting beside his brother.
"It wasn't Aeacus," Grunt said. "It was Monger."
"Monger?" Giger gasped. "Why? We let him out of stasis and Isandro tried to help him."
There was a lot to explain, so Grunt was quick about it. He told Giger that Monger was another Okeer project who wanted revenge against Grunt, that he had created krogan-like mechs to replace real soldiers and tried to kill both him and Faust when she uncovered important information concerning Monger.
Giger didn't appreciate Monger's attempt on Faust's life.
"We're still searching for some kind of body after the building collapsed," Grunt added. "But there's nothing, not even a blood trail."
"I don't like that," Giger scowled. "Without a body I won't sleep well."
"I know the feeling," Grunt said. "The same can't be said for Faust."
Giger turned to her and smiled. She still rested peacefully, somehow. She had always been like that, no trouble ever seemed to keep her awake. No, that wasn't strictly true. She worried, worse than he did, but she never let him know just how much she was suffering and never asked for help.
She thought she could handle everything and often she could, but bearing weight alone would eventually take its toil until you collapsed from the weight. Giger knew just how that felt.
"Speaking of Faust, why isn't she your career?" Grunt asked. "She is your partner. I thought these kinds of things fell automatically to partners."
"My partner of almost six years," Giger said proudly. "But that doesn't mean anything. We signed some hospital forms some years back after an accident, but neither of us is qualified to be carers because we're not married."
"That's stupid," Grunt said. "If something happens and there's no family..."
Grunt automatically looked to Faust, though he hadn't meant to. He remembered what she once told him about her father, how he was cruel to her mother and sisters, how Faust had pretended to be a boy in order to escape her father. Was Faust even in contact with her family?
"Did she tell you about her father?" Giger asked. "I guess she did, you wouldn't look at her like that if you didn't know."
"She told last year, when we went to see Shay after Skoll revealed her heritage," Grunt asked. "What happened to her father and her family? She doesn't talk about them so I assume she doesn't have any contact."
"Faust's father died some years after she ran away from home," Giger replied. "Her mother remarried some years later while her sisters went on to do various things - one's dead from a Red Sand overdose, another is a prostitute, while one is a soldier and the oldest is a happy house wife on Illium."
"You forgot about Sparrow."
They turned to her, both wondering how long Faust had been awake for. She stretched, working a kink out of her back, and once loosened up she touched Giger's face. She was pleased to see him awake, always fearing that perhaps he would never awaken.
"Who the hell is Sparrow?" Giger asked. "You've never mentioned her."
"Because I only just discovered her," Faust laughed.
"What?" Giger gasped.
"When I went to see Aria she was having trouble with a group of thieves known as The Nest," Faust replied. "I had somewhat straightened things out with her at this point so I went to see to this problem, and then discovered Sparrow was my sister. My remarried mother managed to pop out one more daughter before dying."
"How did you find out she was your sister?" Grunt asked.
"She had been injured and left a blood sample," Faust replied. "A quick check showed we were related."
"So things with Aria are fine?" Giger asked. "No more sneaking around, no more aliases?"
"We're fine now," Faust assured him.
He relaxed in his bed, seeming so light as if a great weight had been removed. Grunt watched them both and again he wondered what had happened between them and Aria, what was so bad that they were forced to change their names when necessary and hide on Equality?
Faust laughed suddenly and patted Grunt's head. "Poor guy, he wants to know," she said. "I suppose it's safe to trust you with it, considering it's now over with."
"And he's family," Giger added.
"You know family doesn't mean much to me," she replied, "but if it means so much to you..." She shrugged. "Alright then. Story time."
...
Wrex stared into his coffee, watching bubbles rise only to pop and fade away to be forgotten, much like his own position, he supposed. He sometimes wondered what the history texts would write about him, if he would be painted as a good leader or one who desperately clutched at the seams.
More recently he had begun to wonder what his son would think of him in years to come. He didn't want his son to hate him as Wrex hated his father. There was no guarantee this Golden Age would last and if it did eventually come to an end, what then?
Perhaps he was just being pessimistic, as there was just something about sitting alone in your office, staring at a drink, that made you awful depressed.
His terminal lit up with Krill's face. Aeacus had a nice send off, with the whole of Aralakh Company (minus one coma-induced Giger) and many Senators attending the service. He had been buried within the new cemetery with hero rights, but Krill had been very upset and used work as a distraction.
"A surprise guest has come to see you," he said.
"Guest?" Wrex repeated. "Who?"
"If I told you then it wouldn't be a surprise," Krill teased.
Wrex sighed, "Alright, send them in."
Krill smirked and his face vanished off screen. A second later the door opened and Wrex's day got a little brighter. Wrex rose to meet Shepard and gave her a hug. Councillor Shepard, formerly Commander, had become council member a week after the Normandy memorial, as expected.
Garrus had settled well into his role as a trophy husband, but could never sit still for long and so had accepted a role from Palaven that had him ensure relations between all the races remained stable. Currently he was seeing to the krogan/batarian alliance that had grown stronger since the repair of the batarian society.
Normally Shepard had a small army of security to follow her around, occasionally including Samara and Kasumi, who still enjoyed working with their ex-commander. Wrex had not seen Shepard since the memorial, they had last talked over the phone, but that wasn't the same.
He let her down and she took a seat.
Her councillor's gown was very much like her old officer's uniform, only with more medals. Her prosthetics didn't take anything away from her prowess and she had even continued to keep her hair short, just as he remembered her and just how he how liked it.
"I wasn't expecting to see you," he said.
"I was on my way to the new batarian home world and decided to stop by here first," she said. "I wanted to talk - and I mean, talk. The last few times I've seen you has always been at parties, I wanted time to just see you."
"Saying stuff like that will get people talking," he teased.
"Oh, let them," she said. "We had enough of that back on the old Normandy."
"From Alenko, mostly," he added with a grunt.
"Let Alenko talk," she said. "It didn't necessarily stop us from having fun."
"No, that's true," he said. "My time on the Normandy was the most fun I had on any ship!"
He laughed loudly, remembering the practise sessions he shared with Shepard, the new things she taught him and the moves he showed her. He remembered the jokes, the long talks and that one night. She made time for all her team mates, a practise she continues to follow, but that one night they bonded in such they transcended friendship and entered a whole new realm of companionship.
Of course, when she died it put to rest any visions he had of any possible future together. And then when she did come back, after only a shred of hope remained, there was Garrus who was there to support her. Wrex may have been upset at first, but Shepard was happy and he focused on rebuilding his people.
"Can I ask you something?" she asked.
He wondered why she would put on such a serious tone all of a sudden, wondering what could be so bad she suddenly seemed so business-like. He gestured for her to go ahead.
"Are you happy?"
"Happy? Of course!" he said. "Have you seen my planet? My son? My people? We have never been this great and my son will never have to look down in disgust at what his father has become."
"You really didn't answer my question," she said. "I know things are great for you - you're a good leader, the state of Tuchanka is proof of that, but are you happy with your life? Does Bakara make you happy?"
Ah, there it was.
Shepard hadn't forgotten about that night either, not surprisingly, considering it would be difficult to forget sharing one's bed with someone so big. What they had now was better than friendship, almost like an understanding but deeper.
While they could not be together, with Shepard in love with Garrus, she still wanted to ensure he was happy with the woman he had made a child with and decided to spend his life with.
Krogan's traditionally mated for life, though divorces were allowed. With his current position, politically it would serve him best to stay faithful and married. But what was best for one's political career did not mean it was best for one's health and honestly, Wrex had never actually stopped to consider what his life with Bakara had been like thus far.
"I... enjoy her company," he answered. "She is intelligent, witty and an excellent mother. But do I love her? I only mated with her because she was the best choice being a Shaman and a product of my campaign to cure the Genophage, so I can't say I do."
"Then maybe forcing you two to stay together is not good for either of you," she said. "You may end up resenting her and she you."
"I want to try, Shepard," he said. "I can't let my son be forced to choose between us."
"Bakara is not the type to use him as a weapon," she said. "But I think there's more to this. What are you afraid of?"
Wrex looked at her, silently, and didn't dare answer. He knew why, as foolish as it was. He did love Bakara, but because she was the mother of the Golden Age and the mother of his son. They would always be bonded, be dearest friends, but lovers for ever?
He just didn't know.
...
Grunt left the hospital late that evening, after hearing the tale of Faust and Giger and he was a little glad his life was not as complicated as theirs. Perhaps it was as bad as theirs, he had just never considered it that way. Or maybe he handled things better than expected.
He decided to return to his apartment, taking the long walk home in order to spend a few extras minutes to consider the Monger situation. He and Giger had briefly discussed it and while things seemed resolved, alone with his thoughts he returned to what Giger had said.
"Without a body I won't sleep well."
There had to be a body, something amongst the rubble, something to ease him to sleep. He found his legs taking him back to the sight, back to the destroyed lair of the war monger. There was no crew around, they had taken the afternoon off as the heat made it too difficult to work, especially for large krogan in heavy suits.
You better be under there, he thought. I don't care what condition you're in and I don't care how you died, but you're better off down there.
No one attacked his family, not even the members of it. If Monger knew what was good for him, he would stay buried beneath the pain he had caused.
To Be Continued...
Sorry for the super late chapter, but I have suffered through two art exams (both of which last ten hours) along with another art deadline and other revision for my upcoming exams. I'll try to stay on top of things for now on :)