Sister Complex And Deadly Assassins
Emily walked walked through CIC, holding two mugs of coffee as she made her way to the cockpit, tossing Kelly a smile and a nod.
"Hey Emily, you got new messages on your terminal, better check em..." said Kelly avoiding her gaze.
"Let me give Joker his coffee first," Emily said holding up the thermal mug.
"I can bring Joker his coffee, Emily," Kelly took the mug on her way towards the cockpit.
Emily turned towards her terminal turning it on. Her eyes scanned the messages she had received, suddenly her heart stilled as her eyes alighted on one message,
Shepard,
I'm sorry for what I said back on Horizon. I spent two years pulling myself back together after you went down with the Normandy. It took me a long time to get over my guilt for surviving and moving on. I'd finally let my friends talk me into going out for drinks with a doctor on the Citadel. Nothing serious, but trying to let myself have a life again, you know?
Then I saw you, and everything pulled hard to port. You were standing in front of me, but you were with Cerberus. I guess I really don't know who either of us are anymore. Do you even remember that night before Ilos? That night meant everything to me... maybe it meant as much to you but a lot has changed in the last two years and I can't just put that aside.
Please be careful. I've watched too many people close to me die - on Eden Prime, on Virmire, on Horizon, on the Normandy. I couldn't bear it if I lost you again. If you're still the woman I remember I know you'll find a way to stop these Collector attacks but Cerberus is too dangerous to be trusted. Watch yourself.
When things settle down a little... maybe... I don't know. Just take care.
-Kaidan
Emily let out a sigh, tilting her head back she looked at the bright light in the ceiling. Her lip caught between her teeth biting hard, tasting blood.
"Are you okay, Emily?" Miranda asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Uh yeah...maybe," Emily mumbled, swiping her console off. "Don't worry Mira, we'll find your sister okay? Why don't you finish getting ready we'll be docking soon I think."
"Emily..." Miranda said worriedly.
"I don't want to talk about it, so just drop it." Emily said softly, her eyes carefully blank.
"Joker ETA?"
"One hour, and thanks for the coffee Em," he said holding up the mug Kelly had handed him.
"Alright, send Garrus a message to meet me in the mess hall in fifteen."
"Mess hall? Uh-oh this doesn't sound good," Joker teased as he waved at her from his chair.
"Just do it Joker," Emily palmed the elevator.
She went down to Med bay and greeted Dr. Chakwas.
"So, what can I do for you Emily?" Karin asked, a smile on her face.
"I need a stim...or two and can you check if my tattoo is healing nicely?"
"You never used stims," Karin's eyes narrowed. "What's going on?"
"I haven't been sleeping well lately, just feeling...odd," Emily mumbled as she tugged her shirt up and over her head.
Emily's eyes focused on the main battery and watched as Garrus walked into the mess hall, their eyes locked and Emily blushed.
"Nightmares?" Karin's cool fingers lightly touching the tattoo on Emily's shoulder.
Emily looked away from Garrus and looked down, "Yeah something like that."
"I can give you some sleeping pills that should help," Karin said looking behind Emily before activating the privacy window.
"If you think it'll help," Emily mumbles pulling her shirt back on and tugging on it gently down her hips.
"Here, take these before you go to bed and here is the stim," Karin handed her a bottle of pills and the energy stim.
Emily nodded and slowly made her way out of the room.
She walked into the mess and saw Garrus leaning against the counter watching her intently. She moved towards him and settled on the table, dropping the bottle of pills and energy stim next to her.
"We need to talk," Emily sighed, running a hand through her hair.
"We're going to talk about 'that' here?" he said.
Emily's eyes widened and a blush spread up her neck to her cheeks.
"No Garrus, not that," she looked down at the floor and let out a sigh. "We're docking at Illium in a few minutes. Miranda asked me to help her with something and I'm going to take Grunt with me. I need you and Tali to check the market for upgrades we'll need to the ship and weapons. While Tali looks for upgrades for armor and mods I need you to-"
He walks up to her, trapping her between the table and his chest, his breath a hot puff of air against her down turned face, "Emily, you remember the last time you left me behind..."
Emily bites the inside of her lip, and stared pointedly at his chest. As his hands ghost up her arms to slide up and tangle into her hair, tilting it up. Stormy blue eyes look into her dark brown eyes.
Emily leans forward, her lips inches from his mouth plates. His hands drift to her waist and slowly pull her towards him, his mouth inching closer to hers.
A cough drew them apart slightly, turning they saw Tali standing there arms across her chest.
"You two need a room?"
Emily pushed Garrus back slightly, a blush staining her cheeks as she smiled at Tali.
"Sooo Tali how would you like to go shopping? Unlimited credit chit...and a very big market."
Tali bounced on her feet, arms clasped to her chest and a laugh in her voice as she nodded enthusiastically.
"Sweet, take blue guy here with you while I run an errand for Miranda."
"Emily..."
"Grunt has been going crazy in the Port Cargo, he snapped on a few ensigns and almost hurt Jack. If I don't let him take his aggression out, he could either burst a hole in the hull or hurt someone seriously. Plus, this is Miranda's request so she'll be coming with us either way. Just take Tali shopping and I promise to bring you when we pick up the drell."
Garrus let out a grunt and pushed away from her.
"Fine, but we'll talk later okay."
"Oh, we're also meeting Liara later today too," Emily said making her way to the elevator.
Emily sighed and watched as Miranda paced in front of her, a thumb nail chewed between her lips.
"You know, I could just order you to talk to her..." said Emily.
"Emily, I can't..." Miranda's eyes still focused on her sister across the packed docking bay.
"She's your sister, she deserves to know that. She doesn't need to know about what you do or who you work for. She deserves to know that there is someone out there, watching out for her," Emily pushed Miranda towards the docks.
Emily watched with half hooded eyes, as she wiped the graze on her cheek. She knew Garrus was going to be pissed knowing that their quick recon to find Miranda's sister turned into a fight against mercenaries dead set on kidnapping the poor girl and sending her back to Miranda's insane father. Her thoughts drifted to Miranda's tear stained face as she realized the only person she's trusted betrayed her being gunned down by a Merc.
'Trust is a funny thing, sort of like love. Some people, no matter what, will always put a price tag on it...'
Miranda returned with a faint smile, "Thank you, Emily, I'm glad I did talk to her, we have so many things in common...I just want her to be happy and have her own life. Anyway, lets head back to the ship so Dr. Chakwas can check out your cheek."
"Yes mom," Emily teases as they drag Grunt back towards the ship.
Garrus and Tali were leaning against the wall waiting, Tali intent on typing on her omni-tool while Garrus buffed his talons on his armor impatiently. His eyes locked in on Emily's serene smile and the cut on her cheek. A deep rumbling growl erupted from his throat as he pushed away from the wall and advanced on her. His progress was blocked by Grunt who was dead set on getting back on the ship.
"Move Turian," Grunt growled irritably pushing him to the side. "Your mate is fine, she's got quad."
"So are you two ready to visit Liara? Oh Mira, let the crew know we'll be docking here for a few days, give em some shore leave." Emily grinned as she twirled a strand of her hair.
"Of course, Emily," Miranda nodded and followed behind Grunt.
"Keelah Em, how did you get that? " Tali lightly gripped her chin turning it side to side.
"Sniper, didn't see em at first, but its fine now. See, almost healed." She grinned as she licked her finger and smeared the dried blood off her cheek, ignoring Garrus' deep growl.
"Ew that is disgusting!"
"C'mon Liara's office is this way," Emily said moving quickly, hips swinging enticingly.
Tali chuckled as she saw Garrus' eyes honed in on Emily's waist, "How do you say 'You're fucked big time?' in turian? Because between the two of you, I'm putting my money on her."
Emily navigated the crowds and stalls heading towards a flight of stairs leading to the financial district of Illium. Running up the stairs she smiled at the asari secretary who waved her through a door.
"I'll make it simple, either you pay me or I'll flay you alive with my mind," Liara was speaking to a man through a hologram. After her outburst she promptly cut the call.
"With your mind eh, Little Wing," Emily entered the room.
"Emily! Nyxeris, hold my calls!" Liara gestured her secretary to quickly closed the door.
Emily leaned back assessing her old friend. The once innocent scientist who cried for her mother was no more, what remained now was someone entirely different.
"So the rumors were true, Cerberus did manage to bring you back from the dead."
"I'm sure that you know more than you're letting on, Liara," Emily gave a glare as a smirk stretched on her face.
"Uh...what's going on?" Tali asked.
"I'm sorry Emily, it was them or the Collectors," Liara's eyes fell to the floor.
"How, wait, what are you talking about?" Garrus gave a perplexing look.
Emily pulled a datapad out of her pack sliding it across the table.
"The Illusive Man was very insistent I give this to you, I'm sorry I read it."
"Feron..." Liara let out a deep sigh as she picked up the datapad. "Emily I..."
"I know, I'll do what I can when you have more information but right now I need whatever information you have on this guy," Emily slid another datapad towards Liara.
"Thane Krios? He's taken a hit against Nassana Dantius. You can talk to Seryna in cargo transfers." Liara said as she turned her focus to her console.
Emily let out a light sigh looking to Tali and Garrus as she made her way out of the group made their way to cargo transfers and spoke briefly to Seryna finding out more information on Nassana and Thane. She agreed to help them by driving them to Nassana's building after she was told that they had no intention of killing Thane.
They drew closer to the building as mechs began their attack on salarian workers. With a quick burst of her shotgun the glass shattered and the trio made their way into the building. They move quickly through the building, Tali overloading the mechs while Garrus snipped them from a distance. Emily blazed through both mechs and mercs, biotics and shotgun blazing. They managed to free some trapped salarian workers finding out that Nassana had started killing the people working for her to cut up loose ends. They reached the roof and stared across the bridge between the two towers. With a quick nod to both Tali and Garrus Emily charged across slamming behind barriers and dispatching the enemies that drew close. Once the bridge was clear they entered Nassana's office.
"Wait, before you kill me, just tell me who hired you!" She asked, standing in front of a wide window, her guards flanking her.
"Who do you think?" Emily responded with a smirk, as Tali and Garrus redrew their weapons and pointed it at Nassana.
"Screw you!"
"Charming as ever," Emily reached for her holster.
"Kill me, then, I'm not playing your stupid games," Nassana stood firm. "You've made it this far, now finish the job."
Emily cocked her hip tilting her head, "You really think I'm here to kill you?"
"Do you have another reason for destroying my tower? Decimating my security?"
"Oh, I'm just looking for someone."
"You expect me to believe that?" Nassana's voice had a bit of bite to it, "Is it credits? Is that what you want?"
"Trust me, if it was credits I'd simply kill you and rewire all your funds to me," Emily smirked then paused as a soft thud could be heard over head.
She gestured Garrus to check it out.
"What?" Nassana asked as her guards caught wind of the sound.
"I heard something..." the asari commando turned to look behind her.
"Damn it! Check the other entrances!" Nassana ordered.
Emily shared a quick smile with Tali and shook her head as she found the asari's antics amusing.
It happened quickly, a blur of shadow dropped down from the ventilation shaft above one of the guards as the assassin dropped down. Flicking it's wrist, one of the guards dropped dead from a snapped neck. The assassin then turned and punctured the other guard through the throat with it's fist then, dispatched the final guard with a pistol shot to the head. In the next moment the assassin shoved the pistol's barrel into Nassana's abdomen firing once. The assassin carefully set Nassana down on the table, closing her eyes before stepping back and bowing it's head in prayer.
"Impressive. You certainly know how to make an entrance," Garrus's eyes were fixed on the assassin.
Emily moved closer, curiosity burning brightly in her eyes as she studied the assassin, skin tight leather that hugged the muscular body, scales rippling green with black accents. She watched as the sun rays played along his scales. Ignoring the subtle growl coming from Garrus' throat, she moved closer in front of the assassin.
"I was hoping to talk to you," said Emily.
"I apologize, but prayers for the wicked must not be forsaken," Thane's voice rung husky in her ears sending slight shivers down her body.
'Oh boy...' Emily let out a tired sigh, "Do you really think she deserves it?"
"Not for her, for me," Thane finally rose to a standing position looking at Emily with eyes large and dark seemingly staring into her soul. "The measure of an individual can be difficult to discern by actions alone. Take you, for instance, all this destruction...chaos." He observed the three with a cautious eye. "I was curious to see how far you'd go to find me. Well...here I am."
Emily's arms crossed as she turned to a resting position, "I do want to talk to you...but how did you know I was here?"
"Gunfire and explosions, I prefer to work quietly. If I had to fight through guards I'd have made a mistake, I rarely make mistakes. You disrupted my plan, but your distraction eventually proved valuable."
"So you used me?" Emily growled as she moved a step closer to him.
"Well Em, you do love gunfire and explosions...seems to follow you around." Tali attempted to ease the tension.
Emily tossed Tali a pained expression before turning her attention back to the Drell, "Let's just cut to the chase then. I need you for a mission."
"Hmm?"
"You're familiar with the Collectors?"
"By reputation."
"Well they've been abducting human colonies. Freedom's Progress was one of their handiworks among others. I plan to stop them."
"Attacking the Collectors would require passing through the Omega 4 relay. No ship has ever returned from doing so."
"My ship would be the first."
Thane moved to confront Emily, staring directly into her eyes, "You'd like me to protect humans I've never met? From aliens no one knows about by going to a place where no one has ever returned from?"
"Yes, that's the jist of it."
"You know, this was to be my last job," his firm gaze softened, "I'm dying so low survival odds don't concern me. The abductions of your colonies however, do."
"I hadn't heard that, is there anything I can do?" a saddened look paled her face.
"Giving me this opportunity to atone is enough. The universe is a dark place. The chance to make it brighter before I die..." Thane turned towards the window, "Many innocents died today. I wasn't fast enough, and they suffered. I must atone for that. I will work for you Shepard. No charge."
She reached out her hand, "Just call me Emily. Let's get back to the ship and see if we can find you a place to bunk."
A/N: Well, now I kinda have a update schedule temporarily made up. I'll be rotating between my other stories including this one. I also nabbed a AO3 invite so I'll be posting my work up there eventually. Now, before anyone complains the lack of reaction from the letter, I don't know...I mean from the last chapter shit did kinda hit the fan and they already had their 'words'. But don't worry they're not done yet.