Welcome readers,
Just a quick author's note. Please feel free to ignore and get right to reading!
This could seem very familiar to some of you readers. Originally, this project was titled "IDGAF," but I have re-titled and re-edited it. This is NOT a recently written piece of work; this is a re-write of an original story that I wrote ten years ago.
That being said, there is some new content and scenes in this story that I believe give it a fresh feel if you are a returning reader. Also, all of the poor grammar and spelling errors are being addressed. If you are new, thank you for stopping by and I hope you enjoy my take on a Shepard/Kolyat romance.
I just want to give credit to some people that were originally apart of this story's creation, as well as give credit to some new people helping me now. My original beta for this story was voltagelisa; she is very talented, and I believe she still has her own stories posted to FanFiction if you wish to check out her own work. I also had several followers who always encouraged me and became a wonderful support system throughout writing this; I still remember you all and I am still incredibly thankful to you!
New to the team is my extremely talented, wonderful, just graduated from UCLA, English major sister of mine. She is acting as my new beta to this project and has done a fantastic job with it. Thank you little sis, I much appreciate your hard work! Also, my equally wonderful and supportive husband is acting as a third set of eyes in reading over this story.
I have no creative claim to any of BioWare's world, characters, or plot that is featured in this story. There will be mature content in this work such as, but not limited to: cursing, violence, themes of domestic abuse, themes of child abuse, and mild sexual content. If you are underage, or might be triggered by any of the above, I recommend you do not continue.
Thank you, and I hope you enjoy,
SeverMariaBlack
Even from the catwalks, the noise from the club below was deafening. Commander Selene Shepard watched her targets maneuver around the wall-to-wall bodies, the strobe lights pulsating to the beat of the music. It was a struggle to keep an eye on the krogan and turian; her associate lost among the throng of people reported the same problem. Selene felt foolish for losing a krogan of all species, but there was no denying it at this point: the turian, Tallied, and his bodyguard were beyond her sight.
With a frustrated growl, Shepard reached for her comm and reported to the assassin below. "Thane, I lost them in the crowd. The fucking club is too packed, let's head them off at Tallied's apartment."
Thankfully, the duo had a reasonable idea of where Tallied would go next. His apartment was only a few blocks from their current location. With luck, they could intercept him there. Selene gave one last look around, searching the club below for any signs of their primary target: Thane's son, Kolyat. If they were having a hard time tailing Tallied, she was sure that Kolyat would have even more difficulty. Hopefully, he would also retreat to the turian's apartment.
Selene gave one last curse under her breath before abandoning her survey of the room. She sprinted in the direction that Bailey had given her to the 800 blocks, hoping they could beat Tallied home. She couldn't detect Thane amongst the chaos, but she knew with certainty he was down below, moving as quickly as she was.
Shepard came across a stock boy as she rounded the last corner towards her destination. The kid stood like a dear in her headlights, shaken by her sudden appearance.
"Ma'am, you can't—" he began, but was cut off sharply by Selene's well-placed punch. He crumbled to the ground, but he earned Selene's begrudging respect for verbally confronting her. She gave a soft apology to the empty space he once stood, stepping over his unconscious form.
He would have a headache when he finally came to, but otherwise he would be fine.
Shepard stormed through the next door, determination keeping her body taut and alert. Her vision zeroed in on the apartment building in the distance. She jogged to the ledge of the building and peered down below, her eyes immediately locked on Tallied and his bodyguard as they exited the building. The commander's eyes scanned the plaza quickly, searching for any sign of Kolyat.
Her attention was immediately snatched by a figure immerging from the shadows, leaning against a wall nearby. As Selene reached behind her for her sniper rifle, the tall frame of the man came into view. Kolyat stood below her, a blue scaled drell dressed in familiar form fitting leather.
Selene instructed EDI to shut down the cameras in the square, she didn't want any video footage to be taken. She watched as the younger drell rubbed at his eyes tiredly, his mouth turning down into a frown as he stepped out into the open.
Selene wondered with a pang of sympathy why he would continue with this assassination when he was clearly conflicted. The Commander was pulled from her thoughts as Kolyat fell into step behind his targets, reaching for his pistol as he tried to remain subtle.
Kneeling to the ground, she lined up her shot with the sniper scope and took aim.
The courtyard was filled with screams and charged with frantic anxiety as the shot rang out with a loud, clear crack. Startled civilians ran in all directions across the plaza, bumping into each other and stumbling away from the now dead turian's body. Tallied's bodyguard searched the area with sharp eyes, trying to locate the assassin.
The krogan's gaze landed on the only visible threat in front of him: Kolyat, standing a few paces away with his pistol half unholstered, eyes wide. Selene watched with mild curiosity as the drell stumbled back in surprise, staring down the angry Blood Pack mercenary's gun barrel. Kolyat did not run, but he did not try and defend himself either. Regardless, the distraction was all the time Selene needed to reload and take her last shot.
The bullet whizzed by Kolyat's face, barely missing him. The drell ducked down in alarm as the krogan fell back with the impact of the bullet in his skull. The Commander smirked down her scope at him, taking slight enjoyment at startling him.
Kolyat anxiously scanned the now deserted area in front of him. He noticed some terrified looking faces peaking over shop stalls or out of windows, none of which were carrying a firearm. His head jerked upward to the catwalks above. Through the darkness and railing of the ledge, Kolyat could glimpse a presence in the shadows.
He squinted his eyes, hoping to spot any details.
The figure stood suddenly, returning their weapon to the holster on their back. He could barely make out the smaller form of the stranger as they leapt over the balcony and landed gracefully to the floor below.
Kolyat's lips parted in disbelief as a human woman came into view, making her slow progress to him, her gait resembling a lazy stroll.
How her legs hadn't snapped in half upon impact was beyond him. The distance between the floor and the balcony had to be at least a twelve-foot drop. Why had she killed his target? Who the hell is she? The questions raced through Kolyat's mind as he stood rooted to the ground, too stunned to move.
The mystery assassin was clad in all black like a shadow herself: a pair of black boots, fitted jeans, and a high-collared leather jacket thrown over a plain black t-shirt. Waves of dark hair cascaded down to the middle of her back, framing a light-brown, oval face.
Her full lips were slightly quirked at the corner in a smirk, and her intense silver-green eyes were locked on to his larger black ones. Kolyat felt his body tense under her powerful gaze, as she stopped a few feet from him. He took particular notice of the large, menacing knife strapped to her thigh, and the pistol holstered at her hip. He briefly recalled with unease the sniper rifle at her back.
Through the cacophony of confusion and fear fogging his mind, he couldn't deny the fact that she was an attractive woman, if a bit terrifying.
Though she only stood perhaps five foot five, several inches below him, her athletic frame radiated a confidence that made her feel much taller and more powerful than a person her size normally would. She looked at him with amusement, the smirk that still played at her full lips making the freckles splashed across her nose bunch together.
The abnormal orange glow from the scars on her face seemed to burn brighter as she examined him with interest.
"You going to get off the floor, or you just going to continue to sit at my feet?" Her voice was deep, but pleasantly warm, and her words seemed to roll off her tongue with ease. She spoke smoothly and with purpose, as if this was just a normal conversation.
Time had momentarily paused in the breadth of the moment, but his surroundings flooded in once more. The lights above were giving off a silver glow around her, making her feel ethereal in the empty space, the backdrop of the Citadel's dusk cycle played behind her.
A flashback of his childhood came unbidden to his mind: the stories his parents use to tell him of the warrior angels of Arashu. The beautifully terrifying creatures were described as fierce in their wrath to those that deserved it and tenacious protectors over the innocent. Currently, Kolyat was not sure which one the creature before him judged him to be.
When he was young, he had been captivated by the stories of the gods and goddesses of the past. The omnipresent creators of the world who were responsible for everything and everyone in the galaxy. However, after his mother was taken from him in the cruelest manner possible, he stopped believing in those gods. Why should he pray to gods that did not care for him? Why should he believe they existed?
The woman in front of him made him rethink those questions.
Kolyat forcibly shook the ridiculous thoughts from his head, his face hardening as he stood. This was a human, not an angel.
The man towered over the smaller woman; he was nearly a full foot taller than her.
For a split second, Kolyat contemplated reaching for his gun. This human had killed his target without hesitation, and with one of the cleanest shots he had ever seen. It was probably unwise to threaten her.
"What do you want? And why did you kill those men?" he asked instead, curious despite the admittedly dangerous scenario.
While Kolyat's attention had been fixated on the Commander, Thane Krios had located Selene and watched the scene unfold from the shadows behind her. Though Kolyat remained oblivious to his father's presence, Selene knew Thane was there. She turned to the side and jerked her head toward his son, inviting the nervous drell to join the conversation.
"I think this man can answer those questions for you."
Selene moved out of the way, revealing Thane. He walked towards the pair with his head hung low, appearing as if he were walking to his own execution. Shepard felt sympathy for her friend, and she remained close enough to give support, or protection, depending on how this conversation turned out.
Kolyat's face exploded into shock, then quickly shifted to anger. He gritted his teeth, his hands fisting at his sides. Shepard casually fingered her pistol, watching the younger drell closely.
She had not forgotten that he was still armed.
Thane apprehensively stood before his son, melancholy keeping him from starting the difficult conversation.
Shepard surveyed the two as Kolyat continued to glare in open hatred at his father. Thane could barely meet his son's eyes. She remained silent, the awkwardness expanding into full-fledged tension, wishing she could break the silence herself. However, she knew that she needed to let them work some of this out on their own.
As the silence stretched on, she took the opportunity to compare the two men side-by-side.
She noticed Kolyat was a couple inches taller than his father, but with a slimmer build. Kolyat had a more prominent chin than Thane, his lips slightly wider with a fuller bottom lip. Kolyat's coloring was also different than his father's, shades of dark blue dominated his scales, fading into teal. The ribbing at his neck was a deep magenta and the black markings that decorated his features outlined his high cheeks and thin face.
Despite the glaring differences between the father and son, there were a few noticeable similarities: the matching hexagons at their forehead's, and the large, calculating onyx black eyes. Selene remembered when Kolyat had spoken, the sound of his rumbling voice was as deep as Thane's as well.
"Kolyat." Thane's voice came out as little more than a breath, his expression falling away to worry and uncertainty, not something Selene was used to seeing on her friend.
"This . . . this is a joke. Now, now you show up?" Kolyat spat incredulously.
He could not believe that his father was standing before him after all these years. The blue drell's attention snapped to the human that stood behind Thane; he turned his glare on her.
"Why did you even bother bringing him? Whatever it is you want, you will not accomplish it by having my father speak to me."
Selene narrowed her eyes at him but spoke calmly. "I didn't bring him, he brought me. We came to stop you from making a horrible mistake, Kolyat. I suggest you listen to what your father has to say, he doesn't have much time in this world."
"What, so you came to get my forgiveness? So you could die in peace or something?" Kolyat growled spitefully, glaring at his father.
Thane took a few hesitant steps closer to his son. If he could not build a relationship with Kolyat, so be it, but he needed to know everything.
"I came to grant you peace," Thane whispered. "You're angry because I was not there when your mother died."
"You weren't there when she was alive, why would you be there when she died?" The young drell yelled, reaching for his gun in his anger. Shepard did not hesitate. She drew her pistol fast, shooting at the hip. The bullet grazed Kolyat's bicep, causing him to drop his gun and clutch at his arm.
"Fuck!" He looked murderously at Shepard. "You fucking bitch!"
Selene smirked at him, putting her pistol in its holster. She winked at Kolyat, "Your lucky that's all I did. I usually kill people who pull guns on my teammates."
She did not think he would actually shoot Thane. Kolyat was angry, confused, and hurt, but she suspected that he did not wish to see another parent die. Let alone be the one to murder his father. The younger drell was being forced to process twelve years of abandonment issues at the sudden appearance of his father. Thane was trying to assume a role that he had essentially abandoned when it mattered most. Regardless, Shepard was not about to risk her teammate getting shot.
Thane looked disapprovingly at her, shaking his head. Selene shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest, making her feelings clear on the matter.
Thane returned his gaze to his son, who held his arm and continued to glare at Shepard as if he wanted to attack her. Thane noticed small amounts of blood escape through the boy's fingers, but the wound was not fatal.
"Kolyat." Thane brought his son's attention back on him, "Your mother . . . they killed her to get to me. It was my fault."
Selene winced at Thane's confession, wondering if leading with that statement was the wisest choice. She wanted to object but bit her tongue.
Kolyat's hostility faltered, scrunching his eyebrows together in open confusion.
"What?'" Kolyat questioned softly.
He had always believed that his mother's murder had been a random attack. Possibly by thieves who she had crossed while they broke into their home. He had never considered his absentee father's role in her wrongful demise; even after he had prematurely come into knowing what Thane did for a living.
Before Thane could continue, EDI's voice came over both the Commander's and his comms, loud enough for Kolyat to hear.
"Shepard. My scans are picking up a squad of C-Sec officers headed your way; I recommend departing from your current position." The AI's voice almost sounded concerned. Thane and Selene shared a quick look, before nodding to one another.
Shepard turned her attention to Kolyat, who looked lost. "Come on, you two can continue this conversation on my ship. Also, we can get that little cut fixed. Don't forget your gun." She turned from the two men, not bothering to wait for a reply. She moved quickly towards a row of sky cars parked at the edge of the plaza, selecting one from the line up as their escape ride.
Thane gave his son a hopeful look, nodding in the direction Shepard had gone. Kolyat's eyes shifted between the two, weighing his options at the moment.
He did not have to go. He could leave right now and turn his back on this unexpected night.
Kolyat knew as quickly as he had thought it that leaving was not really an option; he could not leave without hearing more information regarding his mother's death. The opportunity to gain some answers from his father was too tempting, no matter how much Kolyat wanted to lash out in anger and resentment.
Kolyat fell in step behind his father as they caught up to Shepard. Currently, the woman was hacking the sky car's controls, forcing the doors to unlock.
"Shepard, how are you going to explain those bodies?" Thane's voice held a hint of disproval as the car's doors swished open; Shepard turned towards him as they did so.
"I had EDI shut down the cameras; Kolyat was never recorded and neither was I. The crowed did not see me, and Kolyat never fired a shot. I doubt anyone even saw he had a gun." As Thane nodded, she could tell he was not fully satisfied with her answer.
As he went to climb into the car, Shepard grabbed Thane by the neck of his coat, "You seem like you don't like what I did back there?" The question was more of a statement as she met his gaze evenly.
"It was an interesting solution, killing them." Thane's voice and face held no emotion, but Selene had spent enough time with him to know that he was put off by what she did.
She pulled a data pad out of her jacket pocket and pressed it into his exposed chest, "Look at this, then tell me what you think." The Commander went to slide into the driver's seat but stopped short as she looked between the two drell. She gave Kolyat a distrusting glance before speaking to Thane, "Sit in the back, I don't want him behind me while I drive."
"Afraid I might try and kill you, Commander Shepard?" He sneered.
Looks like Jr. knows who I am, Selene thought amusingly.
Shepard removed the leg that was half in the car in order to step closer to Kolyat, invading his personal space. She had that smirk on her face that warned of trouble. Thane looked on with trepidation at what she might do.
"No." She drew out the single syllable before continuing, "I just don't want to upset your father more by putting another bullet in you. This time." Her hand shot out quick, the hard steel of her gun pressed into his lower abdomen, causing Kolyat to stiffen.
"I might just aim lower." Her eyes looked down as she whispered her last set of words. Kolyat winced slightly at what she implied; he turned himself away from her, as if that would protect him. She gave a low chuckle at his expression, swiftly holstering her pistol as she turned her back on him.
"Come on. We've wasted too much time." She jerked her head to the car, before climbing into the driver's seat.
Kolyat let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding; the muscles in his shoulders relaxing a fraction now that the threat of her gun was removed. His eye's fell on his father as the older drell shook his head, nodding to the car before entering through the rear-passenger side. Kolyat took a deep breath before following the two, seating himself next to the Commander, trying to not show how tense her presence made him. Selene shifted the car into gear without a word, speeding through traffic in seconds.
Thane sat in the back, reading over the data pad that Selene had given him, his face growing tighter as he read. Shepard surveyed the side mirrors, making sure she did not see any blue and white lights flashing behind them. As her gaze shifted to her passenger, she noticed he did not have his seat belt on.
"Put your seat belt on." Shepard ordered evenly.
Kolyat looked at her defiantly, "No."
Selene's jaw clenched in irritation. She narrowed her eyes at him and sharpened her voice with the order, "Now."
Kolyat bravely leaned over towards her, "No."
This woman had already shot him and took clear enjoyment in intimidating him. She made him uneasy, but he was not going to keep being ordered around like a child. It appeared she cared too much about what his father thought about her actions to kill him or cause him serious injury, so he took a chance at disobeying her. What more could the woman do that she had not already done?
She returned her eyes in front of her and maintained a neutral expression, "Fine, have it your way. Thane, is your belt on?"
Thane did not wish to answer right away, for he knew what was coming. She had already shot his son, and he did not want to be responsible for causing him more pain.
Reluctantly, he answered, "Yes, Shepard." Thane's hands tightened over the seat and arm rest.
Selene's lips quirked into a small smile, before maneuvering the car into a move that would have made Joker proud. She released the stabilizers that kept the car balanced, allowing her to turn into a barrel role as she made her next turn towards the docking bay. Kolyat had no hope to save himself from the pain and embarrassment of summersaulting out of his seat, hitting his head against the window and the dashboard as he traveled through the air.
As the vehicle started to right itself, Shepard switched the stabilizer back on, zooming forward at great speeds once again. Kolyat clumsily lifted himself back into his seat, only partially getting situated, before being thrown back into the dashboard as Selene made a sudden stop in front of Docking Bay B. The drell groaned in pain as he crumbled to the floor of the passenger seat.
"We're here!" Shepard declared in a deceptively sweet voice. She exited without another word, leaving Kolyat and his father behind in the car.
The sound of Thane deactivating his seat belt added salt to Kolyat's wounded pride. As the blue drell forced himself to climb back into his seat and out of the car, he was met with his father's concerned gaze. Thane held out his hands as if to help Kolyat, but thought better of it; the younger man did not appear receptive to receiving his father's help. Instead, the assassin gave his son an apologetic look and let him stretch out the aches and pains he had received.
Kolyat seethed inside as he tested out his limbs, making sure everything was working properly. If he had not been mad before regarding the gun shot, he was most certainly angry now.
"Kolyat, I am sorry for today's events," Thane began hesitantly. "I know this has been a lot to process in less than an hour."
Kolyat snorted bitterly and glared at the Commander's retreating figure, "You think? Who the hell does she think she is?"
Thane's brow ridges raised, "That is the woman who has most likely saved you from making one of the biggest mistakes of your life."
Kolyat's expression softened, and he had the good grace to look mildly ashamed. He knew his plan to assassinate Tallied had not been properly thought out. However, at the time he just wanted to prove he was every bit as capable as Thane was. The fact that Shepard had probably saved his life, or his freedom at the very least, had not dawned on him until now.
Well, shit, he thought to himself.
As his father escorted him to the Commander's ship, he begrudgingly reflected on the last hour. He most certainly would have failed his assassination. He would not have been able to kill Tallied and either, he would have gone to prison or he would have been killed. Most likely the latter of the two.
Shepard also had the piece-of-mind to make sure the incident had not been recorded, further absolving him of any substantial guilt that he had attempted his plan.
What about her trying to shoot him? It only took his eidetic memory a second to recall that he had provoked that attack. In his anger, he had reached for his gun, not fully knowing what he planned to do with it.
He realized that the Commander might have also stopped him from murdering his own father. As angry as Kolyat was, he was not entirely sure he wished Thane harm. Permanently losing one parent had been hard enough, to lose the other after they suddenly walk back into his life could have caused more trauma.
Kolyat let out a frustrated sigh as he came to the conclusion that the woman had really helped him more than she had caused harm in the last hour.
But he still did not think he had deserved to be thrown around the car.
As Kolyat's anger started to cool, his father stopped in front of a familiar ship.
He did not believe that there were many in the galaxy that did not know what the Normandy SR1 looked like after the Battle of the Citadel two years ago. Models of the ship had been widely distributed, becoming even more popular when the news of the ship's destruction had come to light.
Clearly, a Normandy SR2 had been constructed with the image of the first in mind. Supposedly, Commander Shepard had also been lost in the sudden attack on the ship; evidently those rumors had been misleading. As Kolayt and Thane made their way up the gangplank, the younger drell had to admit to himself that the ship was beautifully impressive. Despite the situation, he was curious to view the inside; a bit of excitement creeping up as the doors swished open.
The two men came out of the decontamination chamber and stepped onto the ship's CIC.
Kolyat stood behind his father as he took in the long hallway of chairs and the crew operating the ship. To his right, the hallway opened up into a large operations space, dominated mostly by a large galaxy map. Various human crew worked along the map's table, where monitors relating to different parts of the ship flashed at them.
To Kolyat's left was the main cockpit, this area intrigued him far more than anything else he thought he might find on the ship.
Kolyat caught the eye of a shorter human man in a hat, leaning against the main pilot's seat. Currently, this human was speaking to Shepard, but as Thane stepped further into the ship, the two turned to greet them.
The unknown human smiled as he addressed his father, "So Krios, this is the baby boy then?"
Kolyat did not know whether he should be insulted by the man's question. He assumed he was joking with him as his father smiled in return.
Strange, Kolyat thought. He could not recall a time in his perfect memory of his father having friends to joke with.
The human looked back at Kolyat, puzzlement replacing the smile for a moment, before returning full force as he shifted his gaze to Shepard. "So, I'm assuming it's safe to say that that is your handy work?"
Selene returned his smile, "Yep."
Kolyat assumed the hat wearing human was referring to the bruises that were most likely forming on his face. He could taste a bit of blood where his lip had split as well. Kolyat didn't have time for his temper to flare over Shepard's clear enjoyment of the memory as she turned to speak to him.
"Kolyat, this is the ship's pilot, Joker." She lightly slapped the brim of Joker's hat, causing it to turn down over his eyes. Joker just chuckled as he fixed his hat, giving Kolyat a nod in greeting.
Joker turned to Selene as he spoke again, "Shepard, EDI was saying that C-Sec discovered the bodies about fifteen minutes ago. No reliable witnesses though. A few traumatized onlookers that couldn't get a clear view from where they were hiding. The best they managed to scrape together was that the shot seemed to come from a distance, and a human in black was seen speaking to two drell after."
Selene nodded her head, folding her arms casually across her chest, "C-Sec would have come asking questions regardless of how this played out. Bailey knew we had a vested interest in what was happening."
Thane looked down at her beside him, "You do not seem particularly concerned about that Selene?" Thane was worried the C-Sec Captain would blame Kolyat. He did not want his son to go to prison, and if he did, he was blaming Shepard.
The Commander gave her friend a smile and nudged him with her shoulder, "Come on Thane, relax. Remember who your speaking to, I'll get this shit done. Promise."
She winked at him, noticing the corners of his lips pull up slightly.
Kolyat was looking at the two with suspicion, it was strange to see his father act this way. Hell, it was strange to see his father at all. He wondered what exactly his relationship with the Commander was; they appeared very close. This caused him to scowl bitterly, but before he could continue his thoughts, Shepard spoke.
Selene placed a hand on Thane's shoulder and nodded down the hallway, "Now, go speak with your son."
The older man nodded in return and shifted towards Kolyat, instructing him to follow. Surprisingly, the blue drell complied without protest. Selene watched them go, disappearing into the conference room.
"Please. Listen to your father," she murmured to herself.
She turned to Joker, who was leaning against the archway. He smiled mischievously, "So, what happened?"