Never Leave Me
By Kachimoochi
Chapter III
Wasn't Her Style
6 Months Ago
It was the night cycle of the Citadel, and the bright blue covering gave way to the dark, seedy dark blue covering overhead. CLED officers had changed their shifts around two hours previously, including RJ Clifford and Revin Tyuvio. As per their routine, they stopped to Revin's favorite fast food restaurant before RJ dropped her off at her "less than secure" living quarters.
RJ went to his penthouse apartment, compliments of his brother, who was a higher-up in the Human representative government. He always approached the apartment with unease, not only because he was a cop, but because he knew what it represented.
Instead of continuing his law career like his father insisted, such a task fell to his little brother, who saw it through in totality. From that he advanced through the ranks in a small number of years to serving on the Citadel as an assistant, or some sort to a diplomat, or some such. RJ loved his brother with all his heart, but it felt a bit humiliating to have to go home to an apartment that his younger brother paid for. It certainly made holidays at his parents' house awkward.
The final thought stuck in RJ's head for a while, the implications being oh so obvious. Christmas was around the corner, RJ would always return to Earth to stay with his parents and brother for a week until the New Year. Then something else connected itself to the thought, just when he thought he'd been rid of it.
In ten years of being partners with Revin, she'd never met his parents or his brother. She'd heard of his brother, mentioned in connection with a diplomat, but never seen him in person. RJ thought this strange, not that it had any connection with his romantic feelings towards her, but rather that in 10 years of working together she'd never met his family.
RJ had met her family on one occasion or another. She first unintentionally invited him to her little sister's graduation from the Academy on Palaven, and her induction into the mandatory military service. There he'd meet her parents and her sister, Revin would never admit something so humiliating, but she suspected that her sister possessed a crush on her then clean shaven, blonde, and charismatic companion. Though RJ would never act upon it, he would think on it from time to time, savoring the ego boost.
From that day, her family insisted on bringing RJ to their functions, graduations, birthdays, even funerals. Turian culture had loose family roles, to them, a partner in the military, or even CLED was tantamount to a blood relation. In a strange way, he considered them family as well.
RJ recalled on multiple occasions trying to invite Revin to his family's functions in return, but she coincidently always had an excuse for bailing out at the last minute. They weren't unsubstantiated claims particularly, as her sister would break her arm, her father would end up in the hospital, or she'd be put on mandatory assignment just after she agreed to accompany him.
Even before RJ found love for Revin, he still attempted to get her to meet his family, but finally surrendered on the thought, as fate seemed against it by all odds. Still, he made a point to assure her that she'd be welcome at any event he was obligated to go to, which she agreed she'd accept when the time was right.
These were RJ's final thoughts leading to the moment in which his life would change forever.
After he'd returned home, changed into his pajamas, and went to bed, he got a call on his home Omni-Tool before his head even hit the pillow.
*ring-ring*
"Hmm, hello?" RJ asked.
"Hey…it's me" The voice of Revin announced.
"Hey Revin, shouldn't you be in bed?"
She chuckled before answering. "I'm a night owl, you should know that"
"So what is it?"
"I just wanted to talk…about us"
"Is something wrong?"
"No…well, no. I just wanted to say…that I think we're…drifting apart"
"What do you mean, we're fine" RJ said surprised, sitting up in his bed.
"No, I know… it's just that…something's happened, and I think we're going to be spending even more time together, and I just wanted to be the first to know" Revin spoke, periodically stopping to find the right words.
"What does that have to do with us drifting apart?"
"The time we'll be spending together, it won't be the same like it used to"
"What do you mean, what's happened?"
"I really can't say much more, I've already said too much" She spoke ominously.
"Ah Jesus, I get it. Vikeni's given us separate cases, sounds like something he'd do. Don't worry about it, we'll see each other plenty" RJ said, trying to calm the shaky Turian down, while trying to analyze what she'd been talking about.
The voice on the other end of the Omni-Tool didn't speak for a number of seconds, RJ could still hear Revin breathing, but it seemed labored, or maybe like she was sighing again, and again.
"You there, Revin?" RJ asked after half a minute.
"Goodbye RJ" The voice finally said, as it cut off.
This wasn't her style; usually you'd have to ask her to ask her to be less detailed in her information, than more detailed. It was as if she'd told him an entire story, while telling him nothing at all. She seemed normal too until the final minute of conversation, but she was secretive. In truth, that's what scared RJ the most.
Revin never kept secrets from RJ, she'd talk his ear off with office place gossip, spoilers on movies she'd seen, even recipes she'd found in her cook book collection, and every secret she possessed. RJ thought himself naïve that she'd tell him all of her secrets, but there wasn't much she hadn't told him before, such was the reason he never told her his secrets.
Was she in trouble? Was she scared? She never got scared, is she being kidnapped? What's going on?
Those were the questions that raced through RJ's mind as he wondered what happening to his partner. Perhaps his new found love for his partner had clouded his judgment, manufacturing an issue where one didn't exist. Ever since those 4 years ago when she first sung for him, he'd notice that he was more protective of Revin. Going first on busts, shouting at people who sassed her, and even so far as sticking around her apartment for a few minutes to make sure no one broke into it.
All along he knew that she was more than capable of taking care of herself, hell, she'd even killed more perps than him by a long shot. Surprisingly, Revin never caught on to RJ's protectiveness, perhaps assuming it was due to lack of sleep or boredom. RJ was scared to confess to her after all those years, being shot, kidnapped, fired, and enslaved didn't faze him, rejection did.
RJ laid his head back on the pillow, and tried to go to sleep, deciding that his protective alarm was tricking his mind. He would deal with whatever was going on in the morning, alongside Revin, one way or another.
Until his Omni-Tool began to ring again.
"Hello?"
All RJ could hear was heavy breathing, and choking periodically. He looked at the caller ID, which read Levita Tyuvio: Revin's sister.
"Vita? Is that you?"
"ARJAY!" Levita exclaimed, followed by a bombardment of sobbing.
"Vita? What's wrong? Are you okay?" RJ immediately stood up out of bed, pulse racing.
"She's dead RJ…She's dead!"
"Vita! Listen carefully, who is dead?" RJ said, putting on his jacket and running onto his balcony, and summoning his car.
"REVIN!...she's been shot!" Levita screamed, as she continued sobbing.
"No! No… no no no, I just got off the phone with her, it was only a few minutes ago"
"She's been dead for 3 hours RJ" Vita whispered in between sobs.
RJ didn't need another word, just as he activated his car, and he heard those words, he froze. He deactivated his Omni-Tool and froze, not moving, not crying, not even thinking. He didn't know how long he froze, around a minute or two, but it was as if he had an out of body experience.
He eventually passed out of his catatonia and the car set its course to Revin's apartment complex, where the caller ID said Levita was, or Vita as her family called her. He didn't even think along the way, he just stared out the window, staring out into nothing.
He'd known Revin for 10 years, and just like that she was gone, without a single word, only a goodbye. What did this mean? How could Revin have talked to him if she were dead? The answer was obvious, she was still alive, she must be.
In a few minutes RJ arrived at the scene of the crime, an alley way beside Revin's apartment, with the entire complex surrounded by CLED and C-SEC skycars. He arrived just in time to see two EMT's carrying the body into an ambulance. He landed his skycar and rushed over to the body, everyone knew who he was, and who she was to him. Nobody stopped him.
Vikeni tried to step in to stop RJ from approaching Revin's corpse, but Vita held him back. This was something that RJ had to see for himself, something nobody could stop him from doing.
RJ climbed into the ambulance, pushing the EMTs out of the way. He maneuvered his way to the front of the ambulance, where Revin's head lay, and unzipped the body bag. There was no question, it was Revin.
She'd been wearing what she wore to work that day, her red and blue plated armor, with her red and blue facial markings. They were a design unique to Turian culture, but RJ insisted that it appeared to be modeled after an atom. Her eyes were closed, and her mandibles relaxed, meaning she died after she was shot. He hoped she didn't suffer for long.
He continued to unzip further to see the shot, only to get his fingers covered in her blue blood as he did. He exposed her torso, which possessed a still smoldering hole in her abdomen, a single shot from a lazer. He didn't know if she had her shield activated, most CLED did even off duty, meaning either the shot pierced the shield in one shot, or she didn't wear it at all.
He activated his Omni-Tool to conduct a facial scan, in the vain hope that she'd somehow faked her death. Though as expected, the scan revealed only Revin's identity, it was her, and she was gone.
RJ rezipped the body bag, and exited the ambulance. As he exited the ambulance backwards, he turned to face an audience that had gathered before him. The crowd was comprised of Vita, Vikeni, Revin's parents, other CLED officers, and tenants from the complex observing the commotion. RJ couldn't handle the stress any longer, he broke into a spirint in the first direction he could think of, ingnoring Revin's family and his Captain.
"ARJAY!" Vita screamed after him, being prevented from chasing him after being carried by her father, who also had tears in his eyes.
Vikeni ordered all officers to stand off him, to which they also obeyed.
RJ continued running for minutes on end, tears streaming down his face, his face contorted in anger and rage. His legs would eventually give out as he ran through an alley way, forcing his body to fall, tripping on a piece of trash.
As he stood, he punched a wall in anger, leaving a sizable crack in the metallic, fabricated façade. He broke down beside it and hid his face in his hands, crying where nobody could see him. He felt guilty for abandoning Revin's family, their daughter had just been killed and instead of hunting the bastard that did it, he was weeping in an alleyway like a girl.
"Why? What happened Revin? Why did you leave me? You can't?" RJ repeated to himself obsessively.
"I don't know, I hoped you would" A feminine voice exclaimed out of sight.
RJ jumped to his feet in search of the voice, to find Revin standing just beside him, hidden only by the small corner of the back of a building.
"Revin?" RJ squeaked.
"What's left anyways" Revin whispered, a small smile upon her face.
RJ began laughing uncontrollably and maniacally, pointing and crying simultaneously.
"I knew it, you had a plan! This is why you didn't tell me right? I knew you'd be okay! Please let me hug you, I have to know you're safe" RJ yelled, approaching the Turian, and gazing upon the half foot taller figure.
He walked bowlegged, sauntering and limping towards the figure, a look of joy and sadness upon his face. He reached out above her neckpiece with one arm, and another around her miniature abdomen. He gripped, and there was nothing.
"What? Revin?" RJ whispered, still crying.
"I'm gone, but I'm still alive to you" Revin spoke ominously.
He tried once more, fingers slipping through her face and body, as if she were a ghost, not reating to the pressure of his body in the slightest. This was it, he couldn't take anymore. He broke down on the ground of the alleyway, and covered his head while pounding the ground in pain.
"No! Please! You can't leave me!" RJ sobbed, "You said you'd never leave me….Never Leave Me…" he cried and choked.
Vikeni lowered his skycar to the alleyway still out of sight, squinting his Salarian eyes to recognize the broken figure as his subordinate, detective Clifford. The figure was down on all fours, pounding the ground and sobbing, occasionally speaking unintelligibly.
RJ soon noticed the figure stalking and observing him, and turned to face him, face red from crying, and knuckles bleeding from punching.
"She's right here, right Vikeni? I'm looking at her, you are too, right? She's still alive, she's right here?" RJ continued to sob, staring at nothing.
"Let's go Clifford; we're taking you to the hospital" Vikeni said, lifting the Human up by his arms, and assisting him to his car.
"I'm not crazy, I see her. She's here; she needs me to save her. I have to find her!" RJ recited spastically, being led to Captain Vikeni's car.
The car lifted into the sky above, and slowly made its way into another line of travelling skycars. Just as the car lifted itself above, RJ stared out the window of the passenger seat, looking at his dead partner another time. She simply smiled back at him, and waved goodbye.
"Goodbye my love" Revin whispered.
"Goodbye my love" RJ answered.
