"Commander Shepard?" a familiar turian voice inquiries from the entrance to her quarters.
She looks up from the orders on her computer screen to see Garrus in his C-Sec armor, duffel bag slung over his shoulder, his beloved sniper rifle no doubt safely concealed within. "Garrus," she says as she feels the smile growing on her face and the sadness growing in her heart. "I see you didn't waste any time getting your things packed."
Garrus doesn't take his eyes off her as the door slides shut behind him. "Believe it or not, Pallin wants actually wants me back ASAP," he answers lightly as the doors slide shut behind him. "He seemed…anxious to have an experienced turian back on the force," he added in the privacy of the closed room.
She glances at her orders again, briefly re-reading them to confirm a few key details. "I don't remember you two parting on the best of terms," she said as she returned her attention back to the turian who had, until now, never been alone with her in the same room…which was hardly unusual, most of the crew had avoided her quarters up until now-
"If you're referring to my leave of absence from C-Sec, those are fairly common," Garrus answered as she shifted his weight around a bit. "Also, letting me join your crew could have been viewed as C-Sec cooperation with both Alliance and the Council."
She smiles. "Or just a turian hunting down one of their own whose giving them a bad name?" she asks.
Garrus chuckles. "That too," he answers with a chuckle. He pauses again as he rests his eyes on something behind her. For a fleeting moment, she senses that Garrus wants to say something else, but seems unsure of how to word it. Instead, his mandibles flick as he turns back to her again. "I'll miss this ship…"
Another pang of sadness as she reads over Anderson's message one last time before pushing back from her desk and standing up. "But orders are orders," she says as Garrus nods in agreement. "Got a place already?" she adds in what she hopes is a happier tone as she attempts to change the subject.
Another nod. "Lamont and Ridgefield…old C-Sec contacts," he answers as he steps aside, his movement activating the motion sensors for the door. "Their place still has power," he adds as she starts to walk out of her quarters, which Garrus takes as a cue to follow suit.
Shepard smiles as she takes a moment to process the names and their potential species. "Humans?"
Another affirmative nod. "Same training group for orientation," he answers. "Both had parents that knew my dad…and they were curious if I turned out to be anything like him…"
Shepard chuckles slightly as they pass the table, where a few crew members offer friendly waves and goodbyes, which Garrus returns in kind. "And…"
"Top of my class during sniper rifle qualifications," Garrus said. "Didn't realize that most humans aren't trained to handle high-powered weapons during their adolescent years," he adds as an afterthought as they reach the bottom of the steps.
She starts her ascent up the stairs. "For the most part, no," she comments as she takes a few steps, pausing briefly as another high-priority Alliance message flashes across her omni-tool.
The first few steps are filled with the hum of the Normandy until Garrus breaks the silence. "You seemed…preoccupied with something on your console when I came in," Garrus begins hesitantly, and maybe it's just her imagination, but his tone seems almost concerned.
Shepard pauses at the top of the stairs, right before her movements can trigger the automatic door. "It's the Normandy's next assignment," she begins quietly as she turns back to face Garrus, who's now at eye level with her. For a moment, she allows herself to look directly into his one visible blue eye, which has a cold, marble-like quality. "Council wants us to run geth patrol missions."
Garrus doesn't answer for a few moments. "Geth patrol missions…" he comments slowly.
"It was…a compromise," she says finally. In reality, it had been a heated exchange of words between her and the Council: she had been hell-bent on continuing to hunt for further evidence of the Reapers, but Anderson had quietly pulled her aside and informed her that geth patrol missions were the only way she could maintain semi-independent command over the Normandy. (The Alliance had been insisting that the ship and crew be returned to their full control.)
For a moment, an uncomfortable thought hangs between them: the idea that the Council is about to attempt to sweep everything that they uncovered together under the rug and use the geth as a convenient distraction and scapegoat. Garrus responds with a soft sigh. "Well, good thing Tali's staying aboard then," Garrus comments. "When do they want you to leave?" he adds quietly as she turns back around and takes the final step that triggers the automatic door sensors.
"Tonight," she answers, unable to keep the note of sadness out of her voice as the door slides open in front of her. She quickly straightens herself up to re-assume the confident facial expressions and body posture more befitting a commanding officer.
..and not a moment too soon, as her emergence onto the main deck is quickly noticed. "Morning, commander…oh, hey there, Garrus," the visored guard says as he salutes her and grins at Garrus.
"Morning, Vadim," Garrus says in return. "Those upgrades work out for you?" (She'd found out from Presley that the pair of them frequently chit-chatted about visor issues, a move that probably played in Garrus' favor, given Presley's view on aliens.)
"Very well, actually," he replies as "Good luck back at C-Sec, sir," he says as he nods at Shepard.
"He knew you were leaving today?" Shepard asks as she realizes that maybe she wasn't the only one who had developed an attachment to the turian as Pressley offers a friendly wave in Garrus' direction.
Garrus returns Pressley's wave before turning back to her. "Saw me down in the armory packing my bag when he went to pick up his sidearm this morning," he answers. "Don't worry, already said my goodbyes to most of the crew before I came to your quarters."
At Garrus' words of "said my goodbyes," a pang of sadness washes over her as she realizes that she hadn't been the only person he'd managed to befriend aboard the Normandy…and that she needed to deal with the reality of him really leaving her command. "Glad you managed to make friends here," she finally adds as she quickly looks away from him under the pretense of observing her crew.
At the edges of her peripheral vision, she notices that he hasn't moved from her side. "Everything okay, commander?" he asks, and this time she can definitely hear the concern in his voice.
No…and right now, it's too late to do anything about it, she thinks as she clears her throat and zones in on the one person at the Normandy's helm who has a reasonable chance of distracting and possibly cheering her up right now. "Just thinking about what's to come," she answers quietly, not completely able to keep the sadness out of her voice. "Come on, your friends are waiting," she adds quickly as she heads towards the portside airlock before any more unpleasant emotions can manifest themselves on her face.
As the pair continues to make their way forward, more waves of uncomfortable thoughts present themselves in short order: He teamed up with you to take down Saren, Wrath…when did you ever have reason to think he'd be a more permanent part of the Normandy?
Not initially, she answers herself as they enter the narrow walkway. But you finally found someone who reflected a bit too much of your own ruthless personality back…and maybe you realized that being that kind of person isn't always the best way to go-
As they reach the cockpit, she finally lays eyes on the back of Joker's head, his chin propped up by his hand and reading what looks like space traffic and weather reports. "Looks like we'll have a fairly uneventful flight, commander," he says as he finally twists his upper body around to see both her and Garrus near the airlock door, and for a moment, Joker's expression appears confused as he takes notice of Garrus' gear bag slung over his shoulder. "You leaving?"
She starts to open her mouth to form a response, but another wave of sadness washes over her again as Garrus appears in her peripheral vision again. "C-Sec's numbers took a hit after Sovereign's attack," Garrus answers. "Not that I wouldn't mind a few more high-risk drops like Ilos…" he finishes lightheartedly.
"What, you turians never drop your armored vehicles into a twenty-meter window?" Joker asks as he turns back to face his screen.
Garrus laughs. "Not really…we have drop capsules for high-risk missions like that," he finishes. "But if I had a choice, I'd definitely take that Mako drop from here on out," he adds as he takes a step towards the airlock. "Take care of her, Joker."
Joker twists back around in his seat again and shoots a confused look at the commander. "Her?"
Garrus' mandibles flick as he shakes his head in apparent dismay. "The ship," he explains as he reaches up and taps part of the Normandy a few times. He sighs. "Old turian tradition of departing crew reminding the pilot to take care of the ship, but I don't think mine translated correctly…"
Shepard repeats Garrus' last words to herself a few times, allowing the warm feeling they brought to grow stronger and stronger within her. "We appreciate the sentiment, Garrus," Shepard cuts in. "Joker, we ready for departure when I'm finished with our turian guest?" However, the moment she speaks the words aloud, she immediately regrets the phrasing.
Joker grins slightly as he turns back to his console. "On your order, commander," Joker answers, his tone and humor at the situation dancing the line between playful and respectable.
Shepard sighs as she reaches for the internal airlock door switch, which triggers the airlock sequence. (Even in breathable planet atmospheres, the Normandy still maintained pressurized airlock entry and exits…however, the pressurization sequence was much quicker.) "Five minutes, Joker," she says.
"Aye aye, ma'am," Joker replies as he turns back to his console while tapping at the screen.
The interior airlock door opens, which signals the end of the pressurization sequence and serves as her and Garrus' cue to step into the airlock for the next stage.
As the pair steps through the interior doors, Garrus quietly breaks the semi-awkward silence between him and his soon-to-be former commander. "I hope I didn't offend either of you, commander-" Garrus says, clearly worried that he's just committed a major faux pas in the world of human military etiquette.
Shepard turns towards the turian with a relaxed smile as the door quietly shuts behind them with its characteristic whooshing and clicking sounds. "No offense taken, Vakarian," she reassures him again. The pair of them are silent for a moment as the Normandy VI politely reminds them that there is decontamination in progress.
"Turians have any specific farewells for their commanding officers?" she asks suddenly as she glances over at Garrus.
The turians hesitates before answering her. "Definitely afraid of that one mistranslating…" he answers slowly.
"Try me."
Garrus' mandibles flick again as the airlock continues its decontamination process. "Turian etiquette says I should compliment what I admire in you while praising it for being an excellent example that all turians should follow," he begins hesitantly, as if he's choosing each word carefully.
She looks up expectantly. "And?"
"You…" Garrus hesitates again as they make eye contact, and maybe it's just her projecting, but his gaze feels more…emotional… than his usual marble-eyed stare. "…were the best commander and friend I've ever worked with," he finishes quickly as the outer airlock door opens to reveal the brightly lit C-Sec bay.
The word "friend" hits harder than she expects as she finds herself fighting the urge to throw her arms around him and pull him close to her. "I…thank you, Garrus," she finishes somewhat lamely as she glances down at her feet and scratches a spot on the back of her neck to…what, hide her face from the alien who easily towers over her? She forces herself to make eye contact with him again.
"You're welcome…commander," Garrus replies as he glances out at the pair of C-Sec officers chatting by the elevator doors, seemingly oblivious to the turian and human within the airlock. Their physical presence quickly reminded her of their unpleasant reality: Garrus' impending departure.
She allows herself to look him in the eyes again, but this time, she focuses on taking in every last detail of his face, his visor, and even his colony markings. "You're always welcome aboard the Normandy, Garrus. Remember that."
Garrus hesitates as he looks out at Lamont and Ridgefield, and for the first time, it occurs to her that something else might be preventing him from leaving her side right now."I'll…keep that in mind…Commander," he says as he finally looks back at her. "Good luck out there," he says as he extends his hand out to her.
Shepard grasps his hand as she finds herself fighting against the desire to grab it with both of hers. "You too, Garrus," she says, as she holds onto the turian hand just a bit too long for what should be a simple farewell-
"Revisiting an old friend?" the raspy voice echoed from felt was inside her head, as the image of white-helmeted figure surged to the forefront of her mind-
Fuck. Almost forgot where I was, Rathanit thought as her eyes shot open as the unpleasantly familiar voices snapped her back to her current reality. She automatically tried to bring her biotics up, then recoiled as her head exploded in pain and forced her to her knees. "If I ever find your home planet, I swear I'm authorizing asteroid bombardments!" she shouted out angrily.
At the other end of the room, a door slid open. The unwelcome sound of a man clicking his tongue in disapproval and the click-clanking of oversized insect legs on metal grew louder. Sure enough, the expected pair approached her containment cell. "Now, now, commander…is that any way to speak to those who rescued you from the products of your own actions?" the man chided her.
"Fuck off, Banes," she spat as she glared up at him through the barrier field. In front of her stood the black-robed and masked figure of a man who had introduced himself to her as Armistan Banes, an Alliance operative long thought KIA. (Rathnait had initially refused to believe it, but he had freely divulged information that only a top-ranking Alliance researcher would have had access to.)
"Mmmmmm…I don't think our guest is in a very cooperative mood right now, Mordin," Banes commented as he turned to the crothu. Beside him stood the insect-like alien that resembled a horrifying cross between the rachni and turians, with the additional horror of being covered in brightly-colored neon spikes.) Said crothu had been part of the "first contact" after she'd activated the Crucible, and had earned itself a broken limb when it had tried to attack her. "Perhaps we should return later after we've attended to our other friends?"
Friends… Per her usual, Rathnait said nothing, but maintained her stern glare at the darkened human figure and sharp-limbed alien. Not that he treats me any differently if I don't talk-
"Your increased weight loss has not gone unnoticed by our hosts, commander," Banes continued pleasantly as if the woman in front of him had not told him off. "Is there a problem with the food we've provided?" he inquired, his head still turned towards her as he began to serenely pace in front of her cell. At the same time, the crothu stood at the ready, occasionally swiping at the air in what Rathnait assumed was a display of dominance.
Rathnait paused. She'd lost track of how long she'd been stuck in this cell, but during her waking hours, elaborately prepared meals emerged from the wall slot closest to her table. Fearing that her captors were trying to further cripple her, she'd limited herself to the absolute minimum. She eyed the crothu suspiciously. "Don't trust that thing," she finally replied. Or any of the other aliens you've paraded through this room…
Banes stopped his pacing and paused to look at the crothu. "Rest assured, commander, I am the only one who handles your food," Banes offered in a reassuring tone. "Most of the species serving aboard this vessel are unfamiliar with modern-day human tastes and food preparation, and therefore would be highly unsuited to the task." With a slow turn of his head, he glanced back at the crothu again before turning back to her. "But perhaps you feel that we are altering your food in such a way to make you weaker?"
Come on, Wrath, he was going to reach that conclusion sooner or later. "You already deactivated my biotics," she answered.
Banes tilted his head in acknowledgment of her accusation. "Our hosts sustained significant injuries during your rescue, commander," Banes replied without a pause. "May I remind you that you yourself were in quite a damaged state yourself?"
Shepard glanced down at the rest of her body and examined her hands again. When she'd regained concicouness after choosing to destroy the Reapers, she'd done so with a body riddled with broken boned and charred skin. When the new group of aliens had found her, a brief fight followed, where she managed a few biotic attacks before she'd been knocked out by a blast of light. When she'd woken up again, it had been in this cell, her wounds and fractures completely healed, save for a scar from the crothu's first attack and her biotics deactivated. Probably as a reminder. As for the rest of the Cerberus implants, she suspected that they had been removed, as a few minor "test" injuries revealed that her healing had returned to the pre-Normandy attack levels. "I noticed you removed my cybernetic grafts, too."
"Cerberus and their antiquated ways," Banes answered as he clicked his tongue in disapproval. "Our hosts possess more… sophisticated abilities to restore a hero to her natural glory."
"You mispronounced 'weaker,' there, Banes," she retorted. Hell, you might have not agreed with Cerberus on many points, but the Illusive Man rebuilt you stronger, even if it was only to strengthen his own resources-
"Weaker?" Banes shook his head. "On the contrary, you were great before Cerberus rebuilt you, commander. Their unnecessary modifications to your body undermine the strength of our race." Banes countered again.
"That apply the Alliance's DNA modifications, too?"
A pause from Banes. "Yes, but the densorin wouldn't dare alter that…too much risk of altering the very fabric of you are."
Densorin…Bane's utterance of the word wasn't the first time she'd heard it-
Javik?
-she enters the port observation deck, surprised to see Javik, Garrus, and another Alliance crew member currently occupying the room. Garrus and the other human have settled themselves of opposite couches, the Alliance member clearly enthralled in Garrus' story. (Despite his comments to Liara about not wanting to talk, he'd been making more efforts to socialize with the rest of the crew now than he was before their suicide mission to the galactic core.)
"-everyone was fighting the rachni, trying to push them back through the relay. Finally, the krogan were turned loose and stopped them," Garrus continues. While he doesn't acknowledge Shepard's entry, she figures he's just trying to keep things professional in front of the rest of the crew, even if two different females crew members winked at her last time they saw her exiting the gun battery-
"I see," Javik replies, his tone neutral. Javik also doesn't acknowledge her entry, but if Garrus was in the middle of a galactic history lesson, she could hardly blame the Prothean for not diverting his attention towards her.
"They've attempted it with other races…did not always work out to their advantage, unfortunately," he continued with a loud sigh at the crothu-
"-But when the krogan rebelled, we had to deploy the genophage to stop them." Garrus pauses. "Wasn't the only rebellion. A thousand years later, the geth revolted against the quarians. That was a whole other war." At this point, Garrus glances at her briefly before returning his attention the Javik. "Then came along the humans-my own people tangled with them for awhile-and now, to top it all off, we've got the Reapers." Another pause. "What about you?" he asks, clearly trying to draw Javik into the conversation.
"The Oravores fought the Densorin-"
"So I take it they finally conquered the Oravores?" Rathnait interjected.
Banes paused mid-monologue. "It seems that your Prothean friend attempted to educate you on his cycle's races…how very interesting," Banes said as he brought a hand up to his face and stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"Rest assured, you do not want to meet an oravore at this moment, as they are one of the most challenging races that the densorin…" Another pause from Banes, as if he was taking great care in choosing his next word. "…manage."
"So you're a zookeeper," Rathnait said.
"I am a caretaker tasked with the preservation of individuals that the densorin consider priceless," Banes corrected her, clearly unrattled by Shepard's goad. "Now, as much I've quite enjoyed chatting with you today, I have other duties I must attend to…good day," he concluded as he twirled around, his floor-length divided robes (similar style of those who had captured her earlier) sweeping the ground. "Mordin, follow me, please," he commanded one last time before the pair finally disappeared through the sliding doors.
Also, fuck you for giving it that nickname, she thought to herself as the doors slid close. With them finally gone, she sank back down on her unmade bed as she cradled her head in her hands and took a moment to process the exchange.
Another piece of intelligence: the name of the alien race holding you hostage, she thought as she sat up and leaned her back against the wall, taking a moment to survey her surroundings: Her current quarters were by no means barren: her so-called "cell" contained a comfortable bed, a dresser stocked with a variety of Alliance uniforms, casual wear, workout wear and surprisingly comfortable undergarments (all in her size) and a single chair and table. Behind a small alcove, a small bathroom was hidden, complete with a shower, toilet, and sink with labeled spigots for soaps and lotions. Two of the walls in the rectangular room were solid (except for one or two well-concealed slots that produced food and hydration.) The third wall consisted of the barrier field, the colors shifting from red to blue on occasion. The fourth appeared to be a screen that depicted various calming scenes, and occasional glimpses she suspected were an exterior view of space.
I might be an animal in a cage, but at least it's a comfortable cage, she thought with a sigh as she pushed herself off the bed and onto the floor for her morning high-intensity workout routines, her mind aimlessly returning to the exchange between her and Joker-
-Joker sits quietly at the helm, lazily flipping reports about geth sightings. "Hey commander, looks like there's been geth sightings on Kobayashi…think the Alliance wants to send us there?"
"Thought you'd be one to take these missions a bit more seriously," she says as she comes to a stop behind him. She leans over the pilot's shoulder and briefly scans the report. "Also, that's a known slaver center. We'd probably make an impression just showing up in orbit."
He turns his head and looks up at her briefly before returning his attention to the screen. "Too bad Garrus isn't coming with us for that one…he'd probably relish the chance to go to town on a bunch of slavers with a Spectre," he comments…and is it just her, or is there a note of sadness in her helmsman's voice?
Shepard sighs as she looks through the window, where she can just barely make out the figures of Garrus and his two human C-Sec officer friends waiting at the elevator. Garrus glances back at the Normandy again, and it's almost like the pair makes eye contact. "Yeah, he would…but the Normandy isn't under my full control anymore."
Joker snorts. "Yeah, well, as far as this crew's concerned, we are," he mutters quietly-
And as far as he was concerned, I was the only commander worth abandoning the Alliance for, she thought as she found herself having to take a break one-quarter of the way through her push-ups. And as much as you don't want to admit it, Banes is right, I am losing weight, she thought again as she ran a hand over her ribs through her shirt. She looked up at the table, where a tray of food would most likely appear after she'd showered. If they wanted to kill you, they would have done it already, Wrath, she thought as she resumed her upper-body workout. Between the N7 program and growing up in the Reds, she'd learned how to detect if her food had been tampered with, and for the most part, most of her current weight loss was due to her own self-restriction of her captor-provided meals.
Taking a few moments to catch her breath again, she glanced up at what she had dubbed the "exterior view" wall, which now depicted what looked like Earth's sun rising over the mid-western United States city she'd spent most of her childhood in. Interesting choice of display, she thought as she rolled over and began the abdominal portion of her workout, her thoughts now drifting back to an early childhood memory when she'd first learned of her own biotic potential-
-the medical resident at the low-income clinic looks from her fire-red waves to Tess's dirty blond bun, as if she doesn't fully believe the cover story of Tess actually being Rathnait's mother. (She *thought* she might have seen her real mother stumble into Tess' bar a few weeks ago, but the woman was so foul-smelling that she couldn't bring herself for a closer look.) The young doctor looks down at her datapad before she clears her voice. "Your suspicions were correct, Ms.-" the young African-Asian doctor says in an unsure yet calm tone, as if she's not entirely sure how to address Tess-
"Shepard," Tess answers in her own soothing southwestern United States accent, the lie feeling completely natural as Rathnait clings to her. Tess tightens her arm around her to calm her. (She'd actually opted for a more "matronly" look today instead of her usual revealing bartender attire...in fact, her make-up wouldn't look out of place at any local coffee shop.)
"Shepard," the doctor says in acknowledgment. "Your…daughter…" the resident says again with a hesitant pause, "-was indeed exposed to element zero a few years ago…" she says as she projects the data pad's contents to a nearby display, where a series of pictures and words appear.
Tess tightens her grip on her. "Does she have-" Tess' voice drops as if she's afraid to speak a word aloud in front of her, as Rathnait's frequent complaints of her head hurting and temporary loss of vision were what had sparked Tess' decision to bring her to one of the city's many free clinics.
"Cancer?" the doctor finishes. "No," she answers as Tess lets out a relieved sigh. "But she is showing signs of biotic abilities-"
-which Tess probably suspected, based on the fact that I used to try to tip over the drinks of unruly drunks when I was a child, Rathnait thought as she switched into the abdominal portion of her workout. Before the bar opened, Tess usually had the morning news on in the background as she prepared her downtown bar for its afternoon opening. Whenever the words "element zero exposure" were mentioned, Tess had frequently paused and paid attention to the newscaster's voice before glancing down at Rathnait, who was usually in a corner playing with her meager collection of stuffed dinosaur toys. But her face when she found out about my biotic abilities-
-Her hand in Tess', the pair of them are silent as they exit the doors of the clinic. As a rule, she always remains quiet and cooperative when Tess is pretending to be her mother, because well-behaved children rarely draw attention, and her early days with her real parents taught her this the hard way.
Tess scoops her ups and carries her as she quickly makes her way back to the bar.
"You've been using those biotic abilities in the bar, haven't you?" Tess asks her with a smile.
Rathnait buries her face in her shoulder. "Those men were being mean to you," she says defensively as she recalls the most recent incident: a drunken patron had motioned for her to come closer, and as soon as she did so, he'd roughly shoved his credit chit down the front of her low-cut top before the bouncer had even had time to react-
Tess hugs her. "I should be angry with you…but I know how you get when someone tries to hurt me," she finishes with a sigh.
Rathnait doesn't say anything.
"Should I stop?"
Tess pauses. "For now…and for both our sakes, let's keep these newfound powers of yours a secret, okay?" she says as she turns to glance behind her.
She looks up at Tess, who has the same expression on her face after whispered conversations with Red gang leaders that end with the pair of them disappearing upstairs with them into their shared sleeping quarters while she's told to remain downstairs and "clean the kitchen." "Especially from Reds?" she whispers back quietly amongst the conversations around them.
Tess gives another hug as Rathnait catches smiling faces from the surrounding crowd, who no doubt think they're a touching moment between a mother and her child. "Especially the Reds," she says as they make their way back towards the bar.
But she couldn't protect you after the second exposure, she mused as she jumped up and began the lower body portion of her morning workout. While she'd been more careful about testing her biotic abilities (usually in the privacy of some abandoned alley) she'd been on a scouting job for the Reds, a nearby transport carrying element zero had exploded just close enough to dose her and another gang member with a high dose of element zero…which she had thought nothing of, until the unfortunate incident in 8th grade-
-principal Delillo's office, but it's not the fact that she's sitting in an uncomfortable chair that has her feeling uncomfortable. One of the "popular" girls had been making snide comments about Tess, and the phrase "at least my mom doesn't have to sell herself to afford my clothes" had been too much before Rathanit found herself releasing a biotic push that had pushed the bitch backward and over her desk. Since this had happened in full view of her classmates, she now found herself across from Delillo herself, along with a few other angry faces-
"We've tried to contact her mother-" the school's assigned police officer says as a man in an expensive suit says as her alternates between looking at his datapad and his omni-tool. (A lawyer, no doubt.) Beside him stands Terri-Anne's mother, dressed in the most recent fashions and enough jewelry to fund a round-trip ticket to the outer rims of the Sol system.
Delillo holds up her hand. "I'm well aware of who her mother is," she answers. "And rest assured, I will have a word with her." The principal turns to face her again. "Rathnait, you have every right to be angry at Terri-Anne's comments-"
"She should be locked up!" Terri-Anne's mother shrieks, her multiple jeweled bracelets jangling against each other as she points at Rathnait. "These biotics are animals, animals I tell you-"
The principal glares at Terri-Anne's mother with enough rage to momentarily silence the woman's banshee-like screeching. "Ma'am, this 'biotic' that you're referring to is nothing more than an adolescent who has been unlucky enough to have suffered exposure element zero." She makes eye contact with Rathnait, and she can see it in her eyes: a few years ago, Mrs. Delillo's own son had died of brain tumors related to element zero exposure, a fact she was only privy to because she overheard the Reds disusing element zero conspiracy theories. "Also, let it be noted that until today, this is the first time that Ms. Shepard has been in my office for an altercation." Delillo presses a button, which brings up Rathnait's entire file, her above-average grade percentages on display for everyone to see. "Her teachers state that she's a model student for the most part, with her physical education teacher most impressed with her recent two-mile time-"
I mean, when you spend your weekend literally running errands for the Reds for pocket money, running two miles is easy, she thought as she transitioned into her leg workout.
-Tess bursts into the office, still clad in the semi-tattered clothes she wore for her monthly deep-cleans of the bar. "Rathnait Eilís Shepard.." she begins, genuinely angry. (Tess hated when she came home after rumbling with the Reds, and had warned her to not let her behavior spill over into her school life…and also, she'd broken their agreement about using biotics in public.)
Terri-Anne's mother sneers at Tess's appearance. "She's not worth the rate she charges-"
Tess immediately makes eye contact with the police officer, who tilts his head just imperceptibly enough that Rathnait realizes that the pair of them recognize each other, but aren't about to reveal how in front of the current crowd.
"Ma'am, you do realize discipline meetings like this are recorded, correct?" the police officer begins, and the tone of the room changes-
Rathnait smiled as she dropped into the final round of squats as she recalled what had happened after Tess' appearance in the principal's office: the officer and Tess knew each other when the cop had been doing undercover work years ago, and had always left a generous tip in exchange for information about the Reds. When he realized the connection between her and Tess, "Officer Brian" quickly realized exactly who he was dealing with and managed to…convince…Terri-Anne's mother that her snide comments wouldn't play well against her in court. Then again, he's used to working under pressure if he was undercover, Rathnait thought. Another memory flashed to the surface of her mind-
-it's mid-April, and she's due to graduate in just over a month and a half. (Principal DeLillo had transferred from the middle school to the high school two years ago, and had made a point of keeping in contact with Rathnait ever since the incident in junior high.) As they talk about Rathnait's future plans, a man in an Alliance uniform enters the room, immediately making eye contact with her. "So, DeLillo, this is the biotic you've been telling me about?" he says as he turns to her former principal. "Looks a bit underfed…"
Principal DeLillo glances at Rathnait and sighs, as the topic of her stick-skinny figure was frequently a complaint she dealt with from both her principal and Tess. (Who had no room to speak, considering her own state since her chemotherapy treatments had begun.) "Fast metabolism?" her principal offers.
The Alliance officer sizes her up again, but this time, he grins. "Comes with being a biotic, actually," he says as his entire body takes on a blue glow as he makes an upward sweeping motion with his hand. As he does so, Rathnait feels her chair begin to lift from the ground, and she automatically counters by extending her hand and trying to push him backward-
-and even then, an L1 was impressed with a non-implanted teenage, she mused as she dropped into one final squat. Her workout complete; she took a moment to wipe the sweat off her forehead before she settled herself into a chair. Not entirely unexpected, a water bottle had emerged from the wall. Right on schedule, she thought as she removed the cap and proceeded to take a long, refreshing swig. She glanced toward the shower alcove. Time to de-grime-
"Our hosts have expressed admiration regarding your commitment to maintaining your physical fitness," Banes' voice began over the concealed loudspeaker. "However, steel requires steel to stay sharp, does it not?"
Rathnait's eyes automatically moved towards the door, which had now slid open as a group of aliens paraded into her room. The first, Mordin the crothu, kept its eyes on her from the moment it entered. No surprise, given our first meeting, she thought as she turned her attention to the arthenn, who she quickly recognized as the same one that tried to suffocate her to death. The third, however, was new: this humanoid alien looked about seven feet tall and was currently clad in the same black robes that Banes wore, the skin a grayish color and a vertical slit for a mouth. Hovering between the trio was a black cryostasis chamber similar to what she'd found Javik in.
Spirits, they freeze them, too? She quickly climbed to her feet and pressed her face as close to the barrier as she could.
"I believe you are well acquainted with this particular race," Banes said as the silver-gray alien moved a hand over the end of the stasis chamber, which caused it to open. The cryo-ice instantly sublimated as it made contact with the slightly warmer air of the room. As the pod opened, she immediately caught sight of a pair of long, dinosaur-like hands-
Turian, she thought as the robed alien roughly forced the turian to a sitting position. Her initial guess was correct, and a quick glance at the head confirmed that it was male. And also completely naked, she realized as she was confronted with the rare sight of an unclothed turian. (Garrus had told her that this was mainly due to turian bodies not regulating heat well, so their tendency to stay clothed was more out of comfort than anything.)
"Commander Shepard, may I introduce you to the esteemed Admiral Mehrkuri, chief of turian naval operations during the Krogan Rebellions," Banes said by way of introduction as the tall robed alien reached down and roughly yanked the barely-conscious turian out of the pod by his shoulders.
Rathnait pressed her face against the barrier. Krogan Rebellions? They've had him on ice that long? she thought as the robed alien lifted Mehrkuri up and out of the pod with ease, taking a moment to pivot his upper body towards her. Spirits, they bound his hands too? she noted as her eyes immediately noticed the shackles about his wrists. She quickly racked her brain in an attempt to recall Garrus' comments when they'd been scanning planets in the Armstrong Nebula during the geth mission during their hunt for Saren.
"Up and retires with no warning, then disappears into uncharted territory-"
"Pressha…they found his ship on Pressha," she said aloud as the turian began to cough and sputter. Unable to focus her rage on Banes himself, she settled for glaring at the crothu. "The Densorin had something to do with it, didn't they?"
"Very perceptive, commander," Banes complimented her. "He was drawn to Pressha via a distress call from who he believed was a former lover," Banes answered. "Unlike Cerberus, the Densorin were capable of duplicating turian secondary encryption-"
Fuck you again for using that against him, she thought as she watched helplessly as the arthenn roughly pushed him over onto his back. Half of the turian's face visible, she quickly studied his colony markings: A thick red line coming across the nose, under the eye, and a few inches into the crest before it took a downward motion towards his feet and ended in two short branches…colony markings she was all too familiar with, even if half of said turian's face had been nearly obliterated by a rocket. It can't be him.. the colors are all wrong- she thought as she pressed her face against the barrier again.
"Mmmm…now I see it…" Banes' voice said. "His markings…the same as Mr. Vakarian's, are they not? How interesting…"
"You…" Rathnait growled. "What else have you done to him?" she demanded as she glared angrily in the general direction of Bane's voice.
"Commander, we've done nothing to alter your own natural form…why would we have done so with one of the most legendary tactical minds of the Krogan Rebellions?" Banes answered, his tone sounding almost genuinely injured. As he spoke, the robed alien extracted a syringe from its robe and immediately stabbed it violently into Mehrkuri's neck, to which the turian responded to with a pained growl.
"NO!" Rathnait screamed as she slammed the barrier again, momentarily forgetting what happened the last time she had done so. Instantaneously, every nerve felt like it was on fire as set aflame as she involuntarily attempted to unleash some sort of biotic attack Damn every single one of you… she thought as she collapsed to her knees, tears springing to her eyes.
"Relax, commander…it's just a stimulant meant to reduce the effects of cryo-freeze," Banes answered as the tall robed alien quickly released Mehrkuri's hand shackles. As she heard the soft click of the restraints releasing, the robed alien barked something in an unintelligible language. In response, the rest of the aliens quickly retreated towards the door as the turian began to push himself up to a kneeling position. "I must admit, it'll be quite fascinating to watch his reaction to a new species…"
Mehrkuri's cold blue eyes met hers, the similarity of them to Garrus' causing her to freeze up as he inhaled deeply through his nose. "Kria…" he growled as he blindly fumbled around the top of where his boot should have been. He's looking for that turian talon…although knowing these guys, he was stripped of anything remotely resembling a weapon when they captured him-
"Who's Kria?" she asked as the turian's mandibles flicked as he fully realized his own completely unarmored state.
"Fascinating asari commando…well-known for her exotic scalp crest colors…" Banes droned on as the barrier wall separating her from Mehrkuri disappeared, leaving nothing between her and the seasoned military veteran who was now climbing to his feet. "Rumor has it she left him for a krogan warlord after the turians deployed the genophage…"
Oh, great, ex-lover that left him for the same species he'd been waging war against…and she and I apparently have the same hair/cartilage crest color. She climbed to her feet and held her hands up. "Admiral? If you can understand me, I'm Commander Shepard," she began as she stepped forward into his personal space.
Mehrkuri blinked a few times before he narrowed his brow plates suspiciously at her before clenching and unclenching his bare hand.
Shit. He can't understand me.
"Oh dear…it appears the Densorin haven't updated his translator software in about…oh, 50 years?" Banes announced casually. "And the entirety of the human language upload process can take a few minutes…"
"Fuck you, Banes," Rathnait muttered under her breath as she quickly assumed a defensive combat stance.
"Kill her!" the raspy, echoing voice ordered, the sound angrily reverberating in both her ears and from within her mind-
A/N: Stress-induced migraines are a you-know-what. Also, passed said stupid-hard nursing certification at the end of October (yay, small raise in my hourly rate) so guess who's going to actually aim for monthly updates now?