War never takes a wicked man by chance, the good man always. – Sophocles

Please don't hate me. *runs and hides*

** 38 **

'Why couldn't these mercs help fix things instead of being assholes?' Stoke cursed as he hid behind a tree and sent out a drone.

'Careful who you're calling an asshole,' Massani grumbled in his ear.

'You're not a merc any more Massani,' Anders amused voice made Stokes grin, 'you're one of us now.'

'Not bloody likely, no goddamned way I'm putting on a uniform.'

'How we doing, Stokes,' Reigler pulled them back on track.

'I'm reading a dozen outside and around fifty or more inside, maybe more. They're all huddled together so it's hard to tell.' He had Tracy to thank for the upgrade to his thermal scanners. which were also being used to find buried survivors. He was so proud of her. 'I'm also picking up a large group huddled in what looks like a basement. I'm guessing that's where we'll find the people they've taken.'

'I found the tunnel entrance,' Buckner broke in, 'half a click west of your position. Sending in a drone.' One of Dawson's team who had lived in the area told them about the tunnel. Built during a time when the owner might have to flee if he got on the wrong side of politics.

The mercs had made themselves at home in a half destroyed castle north of London, helping themselves to whatever they could find and capturing people wandering the area looking for help. They'd set up their own little kingdom, had shuttles and weapons, more resources than they should have and a well organised set-up. Major Coats wanted them stopped, sending several squads under Reigler's command. Plus they'd raided the refugee camp set up about two kilometres away. Taking medical supplies and more people.

Stokes switched to visual scanners. 'There's a lot of firepower. I count six turrets, four on the ground and two on the roof. Assault rifles, rpgs, mortars and what looks like an old cannon.'

'A cannon,' Anders scoffed, 'doubt it still works.'

'Can't take the chance, Callan, on my go take out that cannon and as many turrets as you can,' Reigler said, receiving an affirmative reply from the cloaked shuttle above the trees. 'You all know your mission, let's get this done. Buckner is the tunnel clear?'

'Looks like it, drone made it all the way to a wooden door.'

'Move out, wait for my go.'

The forest around the castle provided excellent cover and Stokes thought it laughable the mercs hadn't taken it into account. But what if they had.

'This is too easy.' Reigler had been reading his mind apparently

'Yeah,' he stopped and scanned for any kind of electronic devices and found none. 'No trace of detonators or - .' An explosion to their left cut him off.

'Medic!. Landmines.' Anders yelled in their ears.

'Everyone hold.' Reigler barked into the coms.

Shit. The mercs had gone old school. Stokes adjusted his scanners and sent out several drones to survey the ground. A trio of mercs moved to check out the explosion, a single one they could put down to an animal. He doubted they would take the chance on it not being more though. Anders' team took them down without a sound.

'Fuck.' He sent the updated map to everyone on the field. Mines were scattered through the forest and, thinking old school, he would guess there were trip wires he couldn't see connected to other undetectable explosives.

'We've got trip wires,' Burkley from Bravo squad informed them. God he hated being right.

A loud boom followed by a huge tree splintering and falling left little doubt the cannon still worked.

'Callan, take out the cannon and turrets.' Reigler ordered. 'All squads move in, check your updated maps and eyes peeled.'

The trees muffled the thunderous roar of the Kodiak's guns but the effect was instant. Mercs rushed from the building, setting up a perimeter and opening fire even though they had no clear targets. Reigler had ordered snipers into the trees and they lowered the odds but their positions soon became compromised. Moving took time, giving the mercs space to pepper the forest with gunfire.

With their approach hindered by the need to keep their eyes on the ground they finally reached the outer wall of the castle. Stokes rolled his shoulders, releasing some of the tension, he'd half expected to lose more men. Their team had the task of infiltrating from the top while the mercs were distracted and as they set climbing lines he hoped the wall would hold their weight and not come crashing down around them.

'In position to breach,' Buckner said in their ear.

'Roger. Breach now.' Reigler hooked his ascender onto the line and they followed his lead as it lifted him up the wall.

Clambering over the top had his heart pounding and his hands shaking, they could walk straight into weapons fire if the mercs had expected a roof breach. Thankfully they hadn't which made him chuckle, they could have mowed them all down from here and stopped the incursion before it began. Sloppy, very sloppy. They slipped through the guard entry into the castle proper, their boots making soft echoes on the old stone as they wound their way down the spiral stairs of a tower.

Reaching the bottom Reigler indicated for him to go left while he went right. With a drone ahead of him he crept along the corridor with two marines behind him. A door opened and a woman wearing a tattered white lab coat stepped out, she opened her mouth to scream. His drone reacted faster, shocking her into silence. Rushing forward he caught her as she fell, laying her out on the floor and checking for a pulse. He found one.

He blew out a relieved breath. The last thing he wanted was to kill a civilian, if that's what she was. He reached for the datapad she'd dropped, flicking through the screens, his eyes widening at what he found.

'Take care of her,' he ordered and the marines made quick work of tying her hands and covering her mouth.

Stokes stepped through the door she'd come out of and stopped. His arms trembled as he stormed across the room to the multiple beds with people strapped onto them. Not only humans. Krogan, asari and turian. Someone needed to die. His armoured fingers cracked the datapad in his hand.

What had once been a large bed chamber had become a laboratory. No, a torture chamber he discovered as he moved closer. Body parts on all of the victims had been altered to something resembling husk skin. An arm here, legs or torsos there. IVs fed god knew what into their bodies but they were still alive. His stomach contents threatened to rise and he swallowed hard.

Then he saw it. The world shrunk to the diamond logo that had haunted his life for so long. Hate, pain and anger exploded out of him and he roared, swiping his arm across a table, sending the medical equipment flying. Metal hit brick, ringing like some macabre tune as scalpels and other paraphernalia bounced off the walls and crashed to the floor. The table followed, skidding across the room as he flipped it.

'Stokes.'

A hand on his shoulder made him spin, his arm raised and fist clenched. Reigler didn't flinch. Struggling to breathe he leant over his knees, Reigler continuing to offer support with a squeeze of his shoulder.

'You good?'

He straightened. They didn't have time for his personal shit to distract from the mission. 'Yeah.' He rolled his shoulders.

'We'll come back for this.' Reigler looked past him at the beds. 'You have my word.'

He nodded and without looking back left the room. Behind him he heard Reigler order the woman they'd found to be locked in with the horrors she'd helped create.

'Nothing that way,' Reigler said, motioning behind him with his head. 'We need to go down.'

A few steps further and they found a staircase. Coming out in the kitchen they spun with weapons raised as footsteps sounded in a corridor. Buckner stepped through the door, three soldiers behind him.

'Woah,' he held up his hands. 'Only me.'

'What did you find?' Reigler asked, signalling for his men to take positions in the doorways.

'Tunnel comes out in an alcove down the hall, we can get prisoners out through there.' Buckner pointed his thumb over his shoulder. 'I sent half my team to check out the rest of this floor.'

'The basement is this way,' Stokes pointed and led the way through a doorway and down another flight of stairs.

Solid wooden doors blocked entry. There were no electronic locks, everything was old, from the iron lock on the door to the huge hinges. He couldn't help with this and he stepped back to let Buckner through. Stokes admired the big man, his knowledge of explosives almost matching his knowledge of tech. He watched with fascination as Buckner and a team member spread what looked like honey on the hinges and lock.

'Old school needs a different technique,' he grinned at Stokes and waved for them to step back.

For a moment nothing happened. An acrid smell burned his nose, like rusted metal but much stronger. He stared, wide eyed, as the hinges and locks melted away. Catching the doors as they toppled Buckner and his team set them aside.

Whimpers sounded in the dark and as their weapon lights filled the room eyes reflected back at them, terrified, haunted eyes. He wasn't the only one to whisper a curse as the group shuffled away, huddling together in the dark. Women held children, men held women. All of them wearing tattered clothing, unwashed and unfed. The smell of urine and shit made him retch. It was Quebec City all over again.

Why the fuck had they bothered fighting a war when humanity did this to itself? What was the point? How many others were suffering, held captive, tortured or worse all because some thought they were better, had more rights than others? The world would never change, history always repeated. Maybe they should have let the Reapers win.

Buckner moved forward slowly, helping a woman to her feet and she trembled, breaking into tears as she curled in on herself. Stokes shook off his anger, these people needed help, not him feeling sorry for himself.

'We're here to get you out.' Buckner caught her as she fell against him and it forced everyone else into action.

Stokes didn't miss the rage as it crossed Reigler's face, his jaw clenched so hard Stokes waited for the crack as it broke. But he gently helped people to their feet, urging them to drink water, to follow his men back to freedom as the muffled sound of explosions and gunfire sounded around them. When the last of the prisoners walked out into the light he ordered Buckner to get them to safety.

'I'm coming with you.' Buckner stood his ground and behind him several other marines did the same. 'We have enough men to get them out. We have other places to be.'

Reigler nodded once. Stealth flew out the window as the prisoners disappeared down the hall and they trotted towards the sound of fighting. Entering the great hall they found several mercs restocking ammo from a small armoury in a corner. They had no time to get off a shot Stokes let rage drive him. Not only his. He fed off the palpable rage from those standing by his side. His finger on the trigger, the bark of his rifle and the sound of men dying held nothing but satisfaction. It wasn't enough.

They were halfway to the entry when another group of mercs rushed in to restock. They were dead before they knew it. Stepping over their bodies the team stepped through the entryway and out into the open, coming up behind the mercs who hid behind the barricades they'd set up. But they hadn't expected the enemy to come from behind and they swivelled as the line of soldiers bore down on them. A walking wall of destruction as guns roared, biotics flared, drones ducked and wove through the air and assault turrets flew out in support.

Some tried to run, some fought back others simply accepted their fate. Finally they stood in silence, the crack of cooling weapons, the sound of their breathing, a whisper of wind in the trees, a moment for the world to find balance

'Buckner, sweep the building, make sure there are no stragglers.' Reigler broke the moment, movement and voices filling the silence. 'Stokes, take medics and see what you can do for those people down there.'

He nodded and led the way, knowing they probably couldn't do anything except help them die. He'd been here before. He didn't know if he could do this again. But they needed the intel from that room and he was the best person to get it. If Cerberus were still an enemy to be reckoned with he needed to find them. Straightening his shoulders, his steps solid and his jaw clenched he stepped into the room.

'See what you can do for them,' he waved the medics to the beds before stepping up to the console against a wall. Time to do his job.

Coming back to base should have been a relief, a chance to take a breath. But the thought of going into those tunnels, down into the dark had his hands trembling and his chest tightening.

'I need a minute,' he waved everyone else ahead but Reigler stopped and while he appreciated his concern he didn't want to fall apart in front of him. 'I'm good, I'll be down in a sec.'

The narrowing of Reigler's eyes said he didn't believe him but he nodded and left him alone. Sitting on the remains of a wall he forced himself to breath deep. He looked out across the destroyed landscape as his vision blurred, making the greys and reds run together like some kind of painting of an apocalyptic nightmare. He scoffed a laugh as he closed his eyes and gripped the wall to stop his hands from shaking. They were living in an apocalyptic nightmare and maybe they would never wake up.

'Matt.' Hands cupped his face, soft, tender hands and tears rolled down his cheeks. Concern filled her voice and he knew Reigler had sent her to find him.

She deserved better than a man who was falling apart, who could feel madness tugging at the edges of his mind, slowly unravelling the threads of his sanity. She deserved to be happy.

'Tracy,' his voice cracked as a sob caught in his throat, he couldn't bring himself to look at her. 'You should - .'

'Don't.' She lifted his head and he opened his eyes to meet hers, wet with tears. 'Don't shut me out.'

He choked on a breath as he pulled her into him, frustrated by the armour between them he scrambled to rid himself of his chest plate but he fumbled. She swatted his hands away and undid the clasps, dropping it on the ground. Wrapping her arms around him his head rested on her chest and she held him as he cried.

It was all wrong. He should be strong, stronger than this. She shouldn't have to be the one supporting him, but he needed her, he couldn't get through this without her. The sound of her heartbeat, strong and steady against his ear grounded him, helped him get control over his spiralling emotions.

His hands flattened against her back as her fingers ran through his hair, her head resting on his. The tears stopped but he held his ear against her, listening to the thump, thump of her heart, taking strength from it.

'God I love you,' he lifted his head and she smiled through trembling lips.

'I know.'

She kissed him, her lips soft and pliant as he plundered her mouth with his tongue, greedy to feel the life in her, to feel alive. A different kind of tightness filled his chest as they parted and he loved how her eyes opened slowly, meeting his, dark with want. He needed her, ached for her, but he wanted it to be in a place away from death and destruction, somewhere they could just be them, no fighting, no emergency they had to fix. It couldn't come fast enough but he knew they weren't there yet. Boots scuffing rubble sounded behind him.

'Zahedi,' she leaned in and whispered, 'Andrew didn't make it.'

'Fuck.'

Running her fingers through his hair she kissed his forehead and stepped back. 'I'll be inside.'

He nodded and stood up, turning to face the man who was entitled to some happiness and had lost it to this fucking war. Not hesitating he stepped forward and hugged him. Zahedi trembled under his touch.

'I'm so sorry,' he said against Zahedi's neck.

For a moment Zahedi held on before pulling back and they moved to sit on the wall. They sat in silence, lost in thoughts of love and loss before Zahedi spoke.

'He died saving a woman when Reaper troops attacked the farm and they had to flee to the caves. He placed himself between her and the enemy. He built his life around saving people. It was a good death for him. Regretful, but it is how I think he would have wanted to die.'

He studied his face and while he saw sadness there he also saw acceptance. 'Did you love him?'

'Perhaps.' His eyes trailed out along the horizon. 'My people believe we meet those we need at a time when we need them most. I shared a moment in time with a man who willingly gave himself to me, who gave me a reason to fight. In that moment I needed him to show me there were better things on this earth than war and death. He showed me life. I love him for that and if we had been given more time it possibly would have become more.' He dropped his eyes to his hands where they rested on his thighs. 'Destiny and fate give and take for reasons unknown to us. If I am meant to meet him again I will. Until then I will continue to live because it is what he would want me to do.' He closed his eyes, moisture pooling in the corners, 'but I will miss him.'

'He was right where he needed to be,' he said and Zahedi let out a soft chuckle. 'I am glad I met you Zahedi and that fate brought you into my life.'

'As am I, Mr Stokes.' He bobbed his head.

Footsteps sounded behind them and a hand landed on each of their shoulders. 'You guys okay?'

They looked at each other before glancing up at Buckner.

'Yeah, we're good.'

'We are fine, Mr Buckner.' Zahedi agreed.

'Hey man, I'm sorry about Andrew.' He moved around and they shifted so he could join them on the wall.

'His loss is … difficult.'

'If you need anything, I'm here.' It was a strange sentiment coming from someone who always seemed full of bravado.

'Thank you.'

A presence behind them made them jump, finding Reigler with a half smile on his face.

'Fuck, Reigler,' Buckner said, 'you scared the shit out of me. Make some noise next time.'

'And defeat the purpose,' he raised an eyebrow and grinned. He placed his hand on Zahedi's shoulder, satisfied when he received a nod in return. 'We need a vacation.'

'Hell yeah.' Buckner agreed.

'I have a place, if it's still standing.' Stokes looked at them as they stared at him. 'A house by the beach on the south coast of Australia. It's big enough you can all come visit.'

'You've been holding out on us Stokes.' Buckner said with a laugh.

'Bought it as an investment, it's an old bed and breakfast. Planned to live there when I retire, which probably won't happen now.' He grimaced at the thought of never walking away from a job he loved but had one day imagined ending. Rebuilding a world meant everyone needed to play a part.

'It would be enjoyable to spend some time by the water,' Zahedi agreed.

'I could go for that.' Reigler nodded.

'Might even teach you all to surf.' He laughed at the surprised look on their faces.

'That's just your way of trying to drown me,' Buckner shook his head. 'I'll keep my feet on the sand thanks.'

'Not up for the challenge,' Reigler chuckled and Buckner gave him the middle finger.

'Matt,' Tracy stepped into view, 'sorry to interrupt but I need to get to the Citadel. They're waking Andy up.'