Chapter 50

Tearing Apart of Family

Victus bolted down the corridors with Atilius not far behind him.

The moment they'd reached the hospital they'd been immediately directed up several flights of stairs to the intensive care wards assigned to infants.

"Where are they?!" Victus huffed out breathlessly as he threw his work bag to the floor next to Sappho who was sitting awaiting their arrival in the waiting room.

"Adrien, I need you to take a deep breath before we go through."

"Sorry?!"

Sappho pulled him back from the door and took a firm hold of his tunic. "Listen to me, okay? Jack is inside working on Atticus and Tib right now."

"Tiberius?" Victus blinked. "My boys... they're both sick?"

Sappho glanced at Atilius who shrugged. "Couldn't tell him on the way here. He'd have a meltdown."

"WHAT IS GOING ON?!"

"Okay. Sit down. I'll go get Jack. Marcus, make sure he stays put."

Before Victus had any say in the matter, Atilius had grabbed him and shoved him firmly into a seat while Sappho disappeared into the main ward with the door shutting firmly behind her.

"What's happening? Where's Miri?"

"Just wait until Jack gets here."

Victus leaned forward in his seat. "Why wasn't I called? Why didn't Miri ring?"

"She did. Several times."

"I-I-... I didn't get a message."

"A story for another day, Adrien. Jack is here."


The door slid open and Sappho stepped back inside with Jack Kynes who looked disheveled at her side.

"P-P-Primarch."

Victus shoot up to his feet. "Skip the pleasantries, Jack. Tell me what's happening."

Jack glanced anxiously at Sappho who took the lead knowing of the human's stutter.

"There's a problem with the boys and their nanites. They've been reprogrammed."

"I don't understand. I thought that was impossible," Victus retorted.

Sappho shook her head. "It is. Mostly. Unless the mother's changed."

"Miri..."

"We don't know the mechanism just yet but Miri's nanites were reprogrammed. That fed down in a cascade to the boys. It hit Atticus first. Being so small it didn't take long for the effects to appear. He's currently on a ventilator and having to be fed intravenously. Jack has managed to stave off organ failure for now. Tib is struggling to breath but not as serious as Atticus. Jack managed to locate the problem in time."

"Who did this?! Where's Miri?!"

Sappho turned her gaze to the floor. "Miranda had to leave, Adrien. Her nanites were the cause of the illness. If she had stayed-"

"D-death," Jack blurted out. "The c-c-children would h-have d-d-died with her c-close proximity."

"As it is, Atticus is still extremely ill. So Miri has gone with Sabia to find out what they can."

Victus was stock still. "I need to speak with her."

"You will. But not now. The boys need you since... they can't have their mother."

"Spirits! Miri... I have to see her! Speak to her!"

Sappho grabbed his arm. "And you will. Just you need to go to the boys first. While you settle and comfort them, I'll see about Miranda. You know that she won't be able to be anywhere near the boys until this is sorted, right?"

Victus shook off the attempted comfort. "I know. That's why I need to see her."

"Of course. Jack? Would you mind escorting Adrien to the children?"

The human nodded and eagerly led the way for Victus through the ward.


Atilius and Sappho waited until he'd gone out of hearing range before speaking to each other.

"Where has they gone, Marcus?"

"Sabia hasn't said. Only that Miranda is currently going over every location she'd been to over the past day or so."

"Do we tell him our suspicions?"

Marcus shrugged. "We could but later. He'll only want to be out there with Miri chasing them down. He can't be like that as Primarch."

"Would be unseemly for him to chase down Cerberus operatives through Palaven and beyond," Sappho agreed. "Not that he'd care about that."

"Titus, whatever it takes I'm willing to do. For them both. You know why. Cerberus can't win. They've just struck what could be a fatal blow to Miri with this, separating her so fundamentally from her family. I don't intend on standing by and letting this happen without a fight."

Sappho nodded. "I agree and will do the same. At the same time, I have to admire their ingenuity. Forcing Miranda through her children to abandon safety and become an easier target."

"Admire all you wish, Titus. I'm gonna be more focused on ending this game in our favor. Look... I'll head out and find out where they are. Do a swap with Sabia in fact. I'll be in touch when I can. Just keep him from doing something silly."


Victus gently stroked Atticus's tiny hand, afraid to do anything else even though he desperately wanted to hold him tight and never let go.

Atticus was asleep, had to be for the various tubes and wires that were jabbed into his small body.

He seemed dwarfed by all tech around him which horrified his father and caused Victus's heart to squeeze painfully in his chest.

"He'll b-b-be fine," Jack whispered to the Primarch who tore his gaze away from the baby to the human at his side. "T-the nanites are repairing themselves. Destroying t-t-the damaged ones and m-making new."

"Do you know when he'll be able to be held? When he'll be awake?"

"I'm s-s-sorry but nothing is d-d-definite. Will know more in a f-f-few hours."

"Thank you, Jack. Tiberius?"

Jack smiled and gestured to the connecting room. "M-made sense to have them close to e-each other."

Victus nodded before reluctantly he left Atticus's side and slipped through the door to find an very tired, irritable and wheezing Tiberius in the company of a nurse.

"Dada!" he huffed out painfully at seeing Victus.

"Hey Scout," he rumbled before quickly covering the distance between them in just two strides. He bundled the boy in his arms, careful to not knock the various tubes that were also poking out of Tib's plates. "How are you feeling?"

"I want Mama."

Victus gave the most comforting smile he could. "Your momma has to do something really important right now. The minute she's done she'll be right here with you, Tiberius. You know what... I'll see if I can get her to talk across vid so you know how much she wants to be here."

Sappho strolled in right at that moment.

"Sappho, could we borrow your omnitool so Tib can see and talk to his mother?"

The turian paled a little but was saved from having to explain by Jack.
"S-s-she can't."

"Why not?" Victus demanded, controlling the flash of temper that threatened to erupt.

"The nanites, Adrien," Sappho whispered. "They transmit through short range frequencies from her body. If she makes contact with voice or video it'll transfer across and..."

"Oh spirits," Victus whimpered. "She can't be in contact with the boys at all." Sappho and Jack, both appearing to have aged over the past few hours, nodded.

It struck Victus hard that for now he was a single parent and Miranda was alone.


Atilius met Sabia and Miri on the outskirts of city in a practically empty playground.

"Miri! How are you holding up?" Marcus said as he hugged her, noting the rigid way she held herself.

"I'm okay, Marcus. The boys?"

"Better. Atticus is rebounding. Jack's all over them both. I doubt he'll be leaving them until he's certain the danger has passed."

She nodded. "Adrien?"

"Shocked. Desperate to talk to you."

"Could you organize for us to meet in about an hour or so?"

"Why?"

Miri stared at him intently. "We have a lead but it's currently heading off world. I've booked flights to their destination which leave in another two hours."

"Really?" Marcus asked with a gaze that flicked between Miri's stony face and Sabia's.

"Thanks to the geth," Sabia answered him. "Their tracking of Cerberus movements have been most helpful. They noted a transmission that came from Palaven to a Cerberus receiver this morning. They haven't decoded it yet but where able to match codes previously seen to a few lines. Referenced a job done here and that they were en-route to the next location. Earth."

Marcus nodded. "Right. We need to get our stuff together."

"There's no we in this, Marcus," Miri said simply. "There's me. I need to do this."

"Not without backup!"

"I couldn't live with myself if your twins grew up fatherless because of me."

Atilius bristled. "I'm not that old and weak that a few Cerberus operatives would cause me any trouble!"

"Don't. I'm doing this without you. Your children need you, Marcus. And they need you, Sabia."
The couple glanced at each other before Marcus replied, "How about Sappho?"

"She'll... need to take my place for now. Adrien can't manage both boys on his own. Especially with them being in hospital."

Atilius grunted. "Okay. I know someone who can give you back up. Avitus is off world at the Citadel. I'm sure he'll have no problem helping."

"Marcus..."

"Don't argue. I need to make a call to him. Avitus Vakarian is everything you need in one man to help you find the operative or team who did this."


Victus barrelled down the corridors of the spaceport to reach the small alcove that Atilius had directed him to. He slowed upon seeing Miranda sitting waiting for him.

"Hey," she called softly before being swept up in a crushing embrace by the turian.

"Spirits, Miri! Tell me this isn't real."

"Adrien, I can't... I don't know. Jack's working on what he can but I need to find the team that Cerberus sent that did this. I need to get the program they used so we can reverse engineer it. Even then there's no guarantee."

Miri slipped from his arms. "If this can't be fixed then I'll disappear. I'll have to. I can't even... I can't even hear their voices or see their faces, Adrien," she whispered with a voice trembling with sadness. "They've robbed that from me. They've robbed my family."

"Not yet! Don't give up on us, Miri!"

"Promise me something."

Victus paused, unsure of whether he wanted to hear this or not.

"Promise me that if this can't be fixed that you'll find them a new mother. One who'll love them as much I do. Who'll read them stories and play games and..."

Tears suddenly burst from Miri's eyes and ran in streams down her face. She shut them tight, her voice gone too as if she was afraid to continue with words that hurt her to say.

Victus wrapped himself around her before he sank with Miri in his arms on the nearest seat.

"Don't," he mumbled. "I won't hear of it. We can fix this. If not us then Jack of all people. We've gotten through worse, Miri!"

"I feel like they've won, Adrien. That after all this time I let my guard down and Cerberus slipped through. That this is my punishment. My penance for everything I let happen over the years."

"Don't let them win, Miri. Don't let them break you, break us. Where are you going?"

"Earth. Avitus Vakarian has agreed to come with me. This is the last time we'll be able to talk for awhile. I don't know how long this will take."

Victus squeezed her a little more tightly. "You must promise me something Miri. Promise me that you'll come back to us... no matter what happens. Come back to Palaven. Don't run."

"Adrien, I-"

"Promise me!"

"... I swear. I'll come back. Even if its only to say goodbye."