"She is here." Yutani touched Irving's shoulder and motioned at something behind him. He turned, found Valeria trudging through the hospital's main entrance, and smiled.
He glanced at the geth, patted "her" hand, and said, "Thanks."
"You are welcome." Yutani turned back to the rest of the Sulaco crew as Irving jogged over to Val and put his arms around her.
"You okay, honey?" he whispered.
"My body hurts. All of it. And mentally … I don't know. That might take even longer to recover."
He nodded, cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her. They held each other for a long moment before she opened her eyes and looked at him.
"I was a little worried that you might not want to see me after the things I did today."
"What? Honey, there will never be a time when I don't want to see you."
"It's just, well, what I did - I've told you before that I'm afraid there's a monster inside me, and was worried it might change how you feel about me."
"Nothing will change how I feel about you." Irving stroked her mandibles and smiled. "Even if what you said is true, I love that part of you just as much as I love the rest."
She let out a long, shaky breath and wrapped her arms around him. He smiled and kept his arms around her.
After letting them hold each other for a few minutes, Chula walked over. "Here's something that might make you feel better. After you told us about the mess Akos caused during your chase, Weyland started checking into it and keeping track of the fallout. Especially that kid you mentioned."
Valeria nodded and squeezed her eyes shut.
"The child was not seriously wounded," Weyland said. "Two shots grazed his right leg, but with some minor surgery, he will recover."
Another relieved sigh rushed out of her. "Oh, thank you! I know a lot of other people were hurt and killed, but … well, knowing this helps."
Weyland nodded, reached out to touch her shoulder for a few seconds, and walked back to Yutani.
Val turned to glance around at her friends, keeping her left arm around Irving. "Is everyone alright?"
"The hostages are being checked out now, but we didn't see any visible injuries." Chula nodded at the merc with the broken arm standing at a comm terminal. "She insisted on everyone going ahead of her."
"Ah." Valeria nuzzled Irving again and walked over to the front desk. She showed the man behind the counter her ID. "Valeria Terakkis, Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. I'll authorize my Spectre funds to cover the medical costs from the incident this afternoon. Including hers," she added with a nod at the merc.
"Okay, ma'am. Give me a moment and I'll set it up."
"Thank you." She turned to watch the merc.
An asari appeared on the screen - the same one in the photos the merc had shown Valeria.
"Hi!" The asari grinned - then she seemed to notice the look on her wife's face and the grin vanished. "Hey, Calista, what's wrong? Are you okay?"
"Not really. Our last job blew up in our faces. Everyone's dead except me, Grula, Kerensky, and a handful of guys who were smart enough to run when our target told them to. Kerensky's been arrested and Grula's planning to get out of the merc business entirely. I've got a broken arm and probably some bruised organs, at least."
"What the hell happened?"
"I …" She sobbed and pressed her hand to her forehead. "The boss tried to take on a Spectre. He kidnapped her husband and family. She came out of nowhere and mopped the floor with us. She killed at least two hundred of us."
"What? Who is she? I'll fucking destroy her!"
"No!" Calista shook her head frantically. "Nela, no, you won't! Listen to me - this Spectre ripped through us like we were amateurs. I know you've got centuries of combat experience, but it won't make any difference. Grula's a krogan and this Spectre scared her enough to hang up her guns. That should tell you everything you need to know." She burst into tears again. "Please, promise me you won't go after her. Don't do that to me and Ryla. Please!"
"Okay, okay!" Nela held a hand up. "Alright. I won't try it, I promise. Goddess, it was really that bad?"
"Bad enough that I'm done with the whole mercenary thing, just like Grula. I can't take the chance that I'd ever end up pointing a gun at her again, because next time she won't let me live."
"You've invested nearly ten years into it, though."
"I don't care. I can't do it anymore. And … and I hope I can talk you into doing the same. I can't bear to lose you." Calista sniffed and wiped tears from her eyes.
"We'll … talk about it later."
Calista nodded and more tears trickled down her cheeks. Nela held her hand out toward the camera.
"Is there anything I can do?"
"I just …" Calista sobbed again and reached out to touch Nela's image. "I want to go home!"
"So do I," Valeria whispered.
Nela nodded. "I'm on my way. Are you still in Polchinski Valley?"
"Yeah. I'm in the hospital on Khayyam Avenue."
"Will it be safe to bring Ryla?"
"Yeah. The fighting is over."
"Okay. We're leaving immediately. Should take about an hour to get there from Boscovich Bay."
"Thank you."
"I love you."
"I love you, too. See you soon."
Valeria turned away from Calista and sniffled. Irving put his arms around her again and nodded at a nearby elevator.
"You need to have a doctor check you out. I'm guessing that knife you took to the gut is just scratching the surface."
"Yeah, I haven't been in such rough shape in a while."
"Let's get you checked in, then. Once they get you settled into a room, you'll have a little peace and quiet. I think it'll do you a world of good."
"Yeah. I don't often admit this, but I could use some downtime." She let Irving escort her over to the front counter and describe what she'd just been through. The woman at the desk opened her eyes wide and nodded quickly.
"We'll get you set up right away."
The team spent the next twelve hours in a waiting room. Surgery on the knife wound and Valeria's other injuries had been done without any problems cropping up, and then she'd been moved to a private room to get some rest. Her doctor had told them that they'd be informed when she was awake and ready for visitors.
Chula noticed that Valeria's parents and Irving spent most of the time trying not to talk with each other, as if worried about getting into an argument. He'd stayed with the Sulaco's crew and they'd taken turns offering what comfort and reassurance they could. Valeria's little brother and sister had wandered over to them early on, asking tons of questions about their big sis and her crew, while their parents sat on the far side of the room and conversed softly.
Scott Bailey and Sixpack sat nearby, each keeping an arm around the other and finally nodding off after the tenth hour, both of them slumping against each other. A few seats to Chula's left, Quint and Dakka sat side by side, holding hands. The two geth platforms sat in a pair of seats on her right, with Lia beside them, poking at the Omni-Tool interface around her left arm. Sidonis alternated between pacing around the room and returning to his chair to check the news on his Tool.
Dakka glanced sharply to the left, then relaxed. Chula turned to find Kal'Reegar and his nephew Skru standing in the doorway.
"Hey," Kal muttered as they entered the waiting room. "We took a shuttle down here after we got the report on what happened. How is she?"
"One knife wound, an assortment of bruises and cracks in her carapace, the lingering effects of a hallucinogenic gas the mercs used on her, and just plain exhaustion." Irving rubbed his hands over his face and appeared to stifle a yawn. "The doctors took good care of her, though. Shouldn't be much longer before they let us visit her."
"Glad to hear that." He and Skru found a pair of vacant chairs.
A nurse appeared in the doorway a few minutes later and said, "Is there an Irving Kostmeyer here?"
"That's me." Irving rose to his feet. "Is Val still okay?"
"She's well on her way to recovery. She's asking to see you. All of you, actually." He motioned at the hallway beyond. "Right this way."
He led them to Val's room.
"Just a few minutes, for now. She still needs plenty of rest."
Irving nodded and stepped into the room. Chula and the others followed and gathered around her bed as she put down a cup of water. Irving grinned from ear to ear and clasped her right hand in both of his.
"Hey, honey. How're you feeling?"
"Appropriately enough, I feel like shit." Valeria winced. "Gonna be sore for a good, long while, I think."
"I'm just relieved to have you back alive."
"Heh. You didn't think I could live up to my reputation?" She laughed softly and winced again.
"Oh, I knew you could do it. There's just always a chance of an enemy getting a lucky shot. One is all it'll take."
"Speaking of enemies," Lia said softly, hesitating as everyone turned to her. "I know this is a bad time to bring this up, but I thought you'd want to know this. I found a connection between Akos and those Blue Suns you faced just before you finished him off."
"Yeah," Quint said, "that seemed weird because Akos was independent. I figured he had a deal with them or they owed him a favor or something."
"What's the connection?" Valeria was suddenly focused, as if she'd simply forgotten the pain she was in.
"Lantim Akos's mother is a high-ranking officer in the Blue Suns," Lia said. "She has a whole division under her command."
"I was afraid it'd be something like that." Valeria sighed, sat up, and dangled her legs over the edge of the bed. Irving and several others reached out to stop her. "I need my armor. This isn't over."
"Whoa, hold on!" Irving put his hands on her shoulders. "This can wait. You need time to recover."
She glanced at him and Chula caught a glimpse of the same look in her eyes she'd had on the Citadel just before her rampage started - as if something else was staring out from within her. Chula took a step back and bumped into Dakka.
"Uh, sorry," she whispered.
"No worries. Hey, are you okay?"
"Irving." Valeria's voice suddenly had its hard edge back. "Her husband died in prison because I defended us from him. Earlier today, I murdered her son. What the hell do you think she's going to do now?"
Irving nodded. "I know, she's gonna send someone after you or come for you herself. But you can't put yourself through any more. You need time to recover."
"Time she won't give me. If she's already heard what happened here, she could be on her way now."
"Hey." Dakka stepped forward and rested a hand on Valeria's shoulder. "You've already made your point. Let the rest of us handle this one."
"She's right," Chula said. "You don't need to do everything alone. Shepard had the whole crew of the Normandy when he became a Spectre. You've got us."
"At least take another day or two to recover. We'll be right outside your door around the clock until you've had enough rest. If Akos's mommy or any of her goons show up, they'll have to get past us - and they won't."
"If you still insist on going after her yourself, we'll back you up."
"Listen to them, Val. Please." Irving leaned over to nuzzle her gently. "You know what shape you're in. How far do you think you'd get if you had to fight your way through another army?"
"I can't believe I agree with him on something," Desentos said, "but he's right. You've done enough. Let your crew take it from here."
"Please. We can't bear to lose you." Irving gave Valeria a gentle push, urging her back into bed, and she gave in with a long sigh.
"Fine. I'll wait one day. When I go after her, I don't want anyone to fight my battles."
"We'll be there to back you up." Dakka gave Val's shoulder a gentle pat. "No arguments. If you're going to be training and observing Chula, we're your support unit because we'll be hers if she decides to join the Spectres someday."
Valeria's eyes fluttered closed and she forced them back open. "Alright, alright. You can help, but …" She closed her eyes again and fell asleep. Irving smiled and stepped back.
"We will gather information on the target," Yutani said, keeping her volume low. "We will have everything Spectre Operative Terakkis needs for her mission by the time she is ready to begin."
"Thank you." Irving motioned at the door. "Well, everyone, we should let her rest."
"I'll take the first watch," Dakka said, stopping outside the door to Valeria's room. Quint nodded and planted himself on the opposite side of the door.
"Me, too. You guys can relieve us in a few hours.
"Okay. Thanks." Irving smiled and turned back to the others. "Think I'll grab some lunch. None of us had a chance to eat while we were being held hostage and I was too worried to even think about it until now."
The rest of the group followed him to the cafeteria. Lia glanced over her shoulder and sighed, wondering if she should've held on to the info she'd discovered until Valeria had time to recover.
"You okay?" Chula put a hand on Lia's shoulder as they continued walking.
"I'm worried that Valeria might get herself hurt or killed when she goes after Akos's mother. I felt like she should know about this so she could be prepared in case someone takes another shot at her, but …"
"I think you made the right call. We don't know if his mommy has heard about this yet, but just in case someone's already on the way, she and Irving should at least have some idea of what might be coming." Chula shrugged. "If Valeria does go back into action too soon, we'll just have to be there to back her up."
"Everything I've heard about the Spectres made it seem like a glamorous job." Kal'Reegar shook his head. "Sure doesn't look that way now. I imagine things like this happen a lot - a Spectre's family being targeted and whatnot."
"It's only happened to us twice," Irving said. "At least, in the two years Val and I have been married. She never mentioned it happening before we met. First time was when a small-time crook on the Citadel grabbed me, but that was because he'd put a hit out on my grandmother and used me to get to her, so I guess that doesn't really count."
"And this thing with Akos was the other time?"
"Yeah. Kind of an extreme case, but I guess it's an occupational hazard for a Spectre. There's always potential for Val's other surviving enemies to get the same idea into their heads." Irving winced and rubbed a hand over his forehead as a realization sank in. "This could become a recurring thing."
"Perhaps you'd be better off if you and Valeria separated." Val's mother fixed a scowl on him for a few seconds.
"Never gonna happen. I love her." Irving glared back at Lithia. "I bought the ticket, so I'm gonna take the ride - no matter where it goes."
"I can't imagine anyone trying anything after they hear what she did to Akos and his crew." Lia shrugged. "Well, anyone with a functioning brain, at least."
"If there's one thing I've learned," Reegar said, "it's that betting on stupidity is usually a sure thing. I'll certainly do what I can to spread the word about Operative Terakkis slaughtering two hundred mercs, though. If enough of them hear about it, maybe they'll think twice about going after her again."
"That's what we're hoping," Irving said.
Reegar laughed softly. "I'm not sure whether to be impressed or terrified, by the way. Your wife has certainly earned her reputation."
"She doesn't like being that kind of person, but yeah, days like today are the reason the three main merc corporations hung those nicknames on her." A loving smile spread across Irving's face. "That's the thing these guys need to understand about her. She doesn't get into fights - she goes to war. If she didn't need a handful of the mercs to tell everyone they know what she did here, she would've killed all of 'em."
They reached the cafeteria and Lia wandered over to the vending machines. She skimmed the labels and found a selection of drinks for dextro-based species, then was surprised to find a few sterilized and sealed for quarians. She selected a cold fruit drink and picked an empty table.
Chula joined her a moment later with a hot dextro cocoa. The rest of the group made their selections and filled the rest of the seats.
"Do we know anything about Akos's mother aside from her running a division of Blue Suns?" Kal'Reegar inserted a straw into his helmet's induction port and sipped.
Yutani stepped forward. "Her name is Caesetiria Tantamus. She rose to her current rank by fighting with ruthless efficiency. She has demonstrated a pattern of accepting high-risk, high-payout missions with no regard to the safety of those under her command or the innocence of her targets."
Reegar pulled the straw out, shook his head, and sighed. "Oh, terrific."
"Yeah. Sounds like she takes on a lot of jobs for clients like Elias Kelham but with more money and resources." Chula glanced over at Yutani. "Where is Tantamus now?"
"She is based in the capital city of Elysium, Illyria."
"Huh. That's a major Systems Alliance colony. Security there is extremely tight. Seems an odd place for a bunch of mercs made up of turians and batarians as well as humans."
"She probably did some wheeling and dealing to get set up there," Irving said. "The planet's a hub for tons of businesses. Lots of money flowing every which way. Val and I did some tour stops there when we were promoting vids for Fornax."
"It's also in the Skyllian Verge, where the Suns operate. And there's a lot of merc and pirate activity."
"Not only that, but Elysium's economy took a hit when the Collectors were abducting human colonies in the Terminus Systems." Irving popped open a tumbler of cola. "They never hit Elysium, but from what I remember, just the possibility of it screwed things up. The Alliance issued a security advisory and all travel and trade was stopped dead in its tracks. It's only been a few months, so the economy is still recovering."
"So Tantamus might've found an opening to set up shop there and start recruiting locals. A flood of new jobs and there's no shortage of work for the Blue Suns in that part of the galaxy."
"Makes sense." Lia glanced around at everyone. "Well, I guess we know where we're going when Valeria's ready to travel."
Oh, hell, here we go. Irving tried not to wince when he spotted Valeria's parents striding over to his table. He'd gone up to the counter to order a proper meal and returned to his table with a large taco salad on his plate. Worrying about his wife would've made enjoying lunch difficult enough, but with Desentos and Lithia likely coming over to give him even more shit …
Both of them sat across from him without asking if they could join him. He tried to keep a pleasant expression on, arched an eyebrow at them, and took a bite of his taco salad while waiting for them to make the first move.
Desentos opened and closed his mouth several times while working up toward whatever he was about to say. His mandibles twitched and quivered before he spoke and continued afterward.
"You … are really willing to keep risking your life to stay with our daughter?"
You've got to be kidding me. He took a slow breath before replying.
"Yes. That's part of what being married is all about, right? Or, I don't know, does it work differently for turians? Do you two have any actual feelings for each other or did you pair up for some other reason? To boost both of your careers, maybe?"
"What the hell kind of question is that? Of course we care about each other."
"Then you should understand the relationship I have with Val without even asking. Or did it never occur to you that a human could have genuine feelings for a turian because of a war that happened before she and I were even born?"
They glanced at each other and shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Irving shook his head and sighed.
"Your daughter means everything to me. More than my own life, even. I love her. I wish you could accept that."
"Yet you encouraged her to continue pursuing Akos even after she'd been stabbed and beaten by twenty mercs."
"I told you already - she couldn't live with herself if she let Akos go and he tried this again and actually succeeded at killing one of us. And she would've been pissed at me if I tried to hold her back. She needed to finish it and I knew she could. I know she's the best there ever was, but it still worried me sick because no matter how good you are, your equipment can fail or you can just be unlucky and that's all it'll take to end you." He let out another long breath. "I know her. I understand her. She needed to do this, so I supported her. That's part of being married, too. You support each other."
"But you held her back today." Lithia stared coldly at him and her tone took on a hint of smugness as if she'd caught him in a lie. "She wanted to move on to her next target and you begged her not to."
Jesus Christ, these two are so dense, I'm amazed they don't have accretion discs orbiting them.
"She's going to do this anyway. When she's ready, I'll be okay with her burning Tantamus's entire division to the ground if she has to - but I begged her to wait long enough to recover. When she goes after Tantamus, I want her to be ready. And when she finishes the job and comes home, I'll be the first person she sees waiting for her and I'll give her the love and support she deserves. If neither of you can grasp that, then I don't know what the hell to tell you."
They exchanged another uncertain glance before facing him again.
"And if her plan fails and more of her enemies keep coming after you?" Desentos scowled directly into Irving's eyes.
"If that's how it turns out, so be it. I'll ask her to teach me how to fight and handle weapons if it'll help reduce the chances of being abducted again. But for the last goddamn time, I love her and I'll be with her for the rest of our lives. I'll adapt to whatever changes are coming because of all this. What I won't do is abandon her. Not ever, but especially not now."
Irving held his gaze for a few more seconds, then shifted his eyes to his meal and took another bite, hoping they'd get the hint.
"Very well," Desentos muttered. "If she truly means that much to you …"
"We mean that much to each other."
Desentos nodded slowly. "Fine. If you truly mean that much to each other, we … won't stand in your way."
Lithia stared at him for a moment, turned back to Irving, and nodded once.
I guess that's as much as I could hope for. Irving continued eating for a moment, then looked back up at them.
"I probably can't stop you from disliking me, but I will ask you to warm up to Valeria. She's your daughter and she needs your love and support, too. As her parents, you should be willing to go that far for her." He started to smirk but forced a neutral expression quickly. "And if that isn't enough, she put her life at risk to save you and her siblings as well as me, so I figure you owe her."
Lithia narrowed her eyes at him for several seconds before relenting. "Perhaps."
Fuck me. They're both so goddamn cold-hearted and Valeria's so caring and willing to risk her life to save others. Not to mention she's smarter that both of them combined. Maybe she was adopted. Irving kept a bland expression on, nodded, and finished his meal. He stood, decided to offer one more olive branch, and motioned at the vending machines.
"Think I'll go get a root beer. Want anything?"
Both of them shook their heads and he wondered how hard they had to bite their tonges to keep from saying, "Not from you." He shrugged, smiled as pleasantly as he could, and walked over to the machines.
His brain suddenly flashed back to the meeting Val had with Councilor Sparatus in a restaurant just before she rejoined the Spectres and went after Elias Kelham - specifically, the moment when she decided to fuck with him by offering a few explicit details about making vids for Fornax.
Hah. If they won't stop giving me shit, I should go off on a passionate rant about how much sex Val and I are gonna have when this is over and she's fully recovered. Like, just go overboard on how much cum I'm gonna fill her with until they bolt from the room in utter disgust.
He stifled a laugh as he returned to the table with his drink.
Yeah, that'd go over real well, wouldn't it?
Chula's Omni-Tool chimed softly as she made her way to Valeria's room. She poked at the interface and accepted the call from her father.
"Hey, Dad. What's up?"
"I just found out that the geth crew members flagged the genetic profiles of Caesetiria Tantamus and everyone in her division so they'd be alerted if any of them landed on Bekenstein."
Chula's heart pounded suddenly. "Lemme guess - they detected a shipload of them at the nearest spaceport."
"Yes. It appears Operative Terakkis's concerns were on target. They exited the spaceport about five minutes ago. A squad must've already been nearby for them to get here so quickly."
"I was already on my way to Val's room to relieve Quint and Dakka. I'll warn her if she's awake. Irving went back there after lunch, so he'll know, too."
"Your mother and I are on the way down and we're bringing a shuttle filled with our other crew members - both quarian and geth. Weyland has also alerted the Polchinski Valley police. Between all of us, those Blue Suns will have a fight on their hands if they try to force their way in."
A chill ran through Chula's chest at the thought of her parents on the wrong end of a bunch of Blue Suns' assault rifles - but she couldn't object when she was about to put herself in the exact same position. She took a long breath and let it out slowly.
"Okay, Dad. I'll let everyone here know and some of us will guard Val's room while the rest meet you in front of the hospital. We'll try to keep the fight outside, but if those assholes get past us, we'll be able to pin them between both of our teams."
"Sounds good. See you there, Chula." He ended the call and Chula sprinted to the elevetor and rode it to Valera's floor. She dashed up to Quint and Dakka.
"Oh, hell," Dakka muttered. "I don't even need to see your face through that helmet to know some shit's about to hit the fan."
"Tantamus has already sent a squad and they passed through the spaceport a few minutes ago." Chula filled her and Quint in on the plan and both of them nodded.
"I'll stay here and keep myself between them and Valeria and Irving," Quint said. "As long as at least a half-dozen others join me as soon as they arrive."
"I'll make it happen."
"Good. Dakka, you should join the team intercepting them out front. You're among the people with the best chance of stopping them right there." Quint stood on the tips of his toes and kissed her. She stroked his cheek and headed for the elevator.
A shrill, extended beep came from Valeria's room and Chula's heart almost punched out of her chest. She rushed inside and found Val pulling the medical sensors off her forehead and chest while Irving held a hand out to steady her.
"I heard everything. Someone bring me my armor and a fucking gun." Glaring, she forced herself to her feet and tore the hospital gown off. "Now."
