40 Days ASR
"Now there's a welcome sight." Nihlus yawned, jaws stretching wide in an impressive show of teeth, as he guided the cab in to land in front of Archangel headquarters. "Who would have thought this greasy, filthy pit would become home?"
Shepard grinned, straightening from her flopped against the door position to look out the window. "Home is supposed to be where the heart is, according to the old human proverb. I guess that's Omega, at least for now." As the grimy, but well-kept buildings grew in the windshield, she allowed herself to imagine something better, or at least something different. Maybe some day, if they managed to survive. For the time being, the saying was true … her people … her family lived there, and that made it home.
Unlike the last time they'd flown up to the base, no long lines milled around the front door. Apparently the refugees from the outer bases had all returned and been integrated. She climbed out, stretched, then reached into the back seat for her kit and Ingrid's gun case before she looked over at Nihlus.
"You okay?" she asked, angling her tone to encompass more than the wound he'd taken two days before. He'd been quiet ever since they climbed out of bed that morning. They'd spent the day prior debriefing the ground team and piecing together the best of the hardsuit footage as well as downloading all the raw footage for analysis. After all that was prepared, they met with Liara and her aunt—via the QEC—to discuss how best to approach the matriarchs. Nihlus had remained warm, close, and professional throughout, but that day, he'd hardly spoken a word despite being her steady shadow.
He slung his kit over his shoulder, picked up both of his gun cases in one hand, and nodded. "I'm fine. Looking forward to a good shower and my own bed."
Shepard let out a soft grunt of understanding, allowing him his lie, and led the way into the lobby. "I'll see about getting the mattress changed out while we're here. The thing is only marginally less painful than the one on the Normandy." She realized the implications of what she'd said about ten seconds too late, and turned away, hiding her flush by shuffling her grip on her rifle case.
The lobby stood as empty as the entry when they walked in. Shepard groaned when she saw the dark kitchen. Activating her omnitool, she checked the time on the station. "Wow, no wonder it's all quiet on the home front … it's bedtime." She chuckled. "We really need to coordinate all these different time zones. I was just starting to think about supper."
Nihlus shook his head and herded her toward the stairs. "Don't worry, there are always meals packaged in the refrigerator. Marcie is good that way." A soft, ironic chuff added punctuation as he continued, "There are probably even cookies somewhere with your name, and various threats, written on the packaging." At the top of the stairs, he rested a hand on her shoulder as if unwilling to part ways, even just for a few hours.
Shepard understood. They'd sealed something solid and permanent between them while the Collector machine held them captive. It seemed strange not to share every breath … like her right half stepping away from her left. But the break had to come eventually. They had lives to get on with, lives that couldn't include occupying one another's back pockets.
Even though you're going to start missing him about five seconds after he walks away.
Yeah, well … . Reaching up, she patted his hand. "I'll see you in the morning. Sleep well, and enjoy your shower." Without waiting for him to release his grip on her shoulder, she turned toward Garrus's door and palmed the control. A wide smile greeted the welcoming, soft lighting and the smoky tang of his incense.
"Hi, honey, I'm home!" she hollered and stepped through the door, only to lurch to a stop on the other side when she saw someone sitting across from him. "Oh," she said, a fiery flush heating her face, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were in a meeting."
She started to back out the door, but Garrus jumped up off the couch, initial startlement transforming into a bright smile.
"Shepard!" He stepped around the table and strode across the room. "You're home early." He wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off the floor as he embraced her. Setting her down, he gripped her shoulders, holding her at arm's length while he looked her over. "Are you okay? You look wiped out."
Stiff and awkward, Shepard nodded, her gaze flitting back and forth between her boyfriend and his guest. All she could see of the person was wavy, graying hair pulled back in a pony tail. "Yeah," she said at last, dragging her attention back to his face, "we hit a lucky lull in the relay and docking queues." She ducked her head back toward the door, uncomfortable, her entire body twitchy, electricity lifting every hair as if a massive high pressure system circled at ceiling height, waiting to unleash a violent storm. She backed up a couple of steps. "Should I come back later?"
Garrus followed her, mandibles still spread in a smile as he wrapped his large hands around the balls of her shoulders. In an alarming contrast, the rest of his manner changed into his 'brace yourself' posture.
Oh, for frig's sake, Janey. What now?
"No, don't leave." He gathered her back into his arms, pressing her against his solid warmth. "But I do need to explain something, Shepard."
Her gut began to twist, knotting in on itself even as she settled her hands on his hips. "I feel like I should be sitting down for this," she whispered, not wanting the other person to hear her, and pulled back just far enough to see his face.
His smile softened a little as he rubbed her back, slowing her racing heart a smidge. He wouldn't be smiling if it was terrible. "It's a good thing, Kahri, just unexpected." He stepped back again, a fierce sort of set to his features, his shoulders braced. "Remember the promise you asked me to make? To make sure Anderson kept looking for Bunny?"
The room swooped hard to the right, nearly dumping Shepard on her ass even with Garrus gripping her arms. When it settled to rocking back and forth, she looked up, focusing on his eyes and the joy she saw there. "You found her?" she whispered, her voice barely carrying as fear and wonder snatched away her breath. "Is she okay?" The dizziness began to draw back, purpose and excitement bulldozing it aside. "Where is she, Garrus?"
She glanced over at the person who still sat on the couch with their back facing her, but no … that couldn't be Bunny. Even though clearly female, the curve to the woman's back and the faint gray streaked through the red hair both said middle age. "Where? We need to go get her. I can be ready to go in an hour."
Her torin chuckled and shook his head, one hand abandoning her shoulder to caress her cheek. "Breathe, Kahri, I'll answer all your questions, but first, let me explain."
Shepard gave him a sheepish grin, but nodded and cradled his face between her hands. "Okay, sorry … getting a little carried away." She pulled him down to kiss him, then released him and twisted to set all of her gear on the floor. Taking a long, steadying breath, she turned back. "Right. you've got my complete, absolutely calm attention."
Garrus grinned and captured her hands in his. "A couple weeks back, Martin and I headed to the Citadel to meet an art appraiser who represented someone interested in acquiring some of the pieces from Donovan Hock's estate."
Shepard felt the blood rush from her face, the skin around her nose and mouth suddenly cold and numb. "Art appraiser?" No no no. It couldn't be … after all that time. Mama? No, Mama died on Mindoir. Pulling her hands free of Garrus's grip, Shepard reeled back a couple of steps. She'd always known that Mama died. Stepping around him, Shepard stared at the woman on the couch. Mama died, just like Daddy.
She clenched her fists, the dull ache of her nails digging into her palms a single anchor as guilt roared, washing over the last fifteen years. After escaping Mindoir, Shepard remained so sure of her mother's death that she'd never even looked. Sucking in a shaking breath, she took a single step forward.
Oh god, I never even looked for her.
The woman stood and turned to face Shepard. She smiled, and for a moment, Shepard felt sure that she faced a slightly warped mirror; the face so very like her own, but off. "Mama. Oh, gentle, sweet baby Jesus." Her stare flitted from feature to feature, the evidence of each new sin visited upon Lucille Shepard striking deeper and deeper.
And then a gentle smile transformed the downward cast of the mouth that lived in Shepard's memory as owning perpetual scowl of disapproval, and the woman shook her head. "Taking the Lord's name in vain; that has to be my Janey."
Shepard felt rather than heard the bastard chuckle-gasp that tumbled from her mouth, and then the tile floor leapt up to smack her in the knees. Garrus crouched just behind her, cradling her between his legs. One arm wrapped around her shoulders while his other hand caressed her neck and around her ear. He didn't speak, his touch saying everything.
Leaning back into him, she settled onto her heels, heart racing once more, a leaf trembling in the embrace of a desert zephyr. Stare glued to her mother's face, Shepard waited for the mirage to vanish and leave her hands scrabbling at the sand. Instead, Lucy strode over to stand before her daughter. Reaching down, she grasped Shepard's hands in a tight, dry grip.
"Some things never change," Lucy said, her smile deepening as she drew Shepard back up onto her feet. She let go of one hand, hers lifting to press against Shepard's cheek. "Still so strong and beautiful."
Shepard leaned into her mother's touch, her pulse slowing as reality settled over her. "Mama? But … how?" Burning eyes drank in the face and gaze so changed, yet so very, achingly familiar. "How didn't I know you were alive?" Throwing her arms around the taller woman, Shepard buried her face in her mother's shoulder and took a deep breath. Subtle changes marked the passing of more than a decade, and yet the similarities—the earthy, floral scent that she recalled—turned those years to dust.
"Oh my god," she whispered, then chuckled as a gentle hand clipped her in the back of the head. "Sorry, Mama."
Strong, loving arms wrapped around her, arms so tight and so familiar that they set loose all the tears that shock had held captive. She'd been so wrapped up in her own drama since coming back that she hadn't given much thought to whether Garrus had kept his promise let alone fulfilled it.
Pulling back a little, she turned to her love. After swiping at the joy raining down her face, she held out her arm, inviting Garrus in. When he stepped up, pressing into her side, Shepard lifted a hand, stroking it along the smooth sweep of his undamaged mandible. Slipping the hand around his neck, she pulled him down until their brows touched. Gratitude and love flooded through her, quenching the pain in her body and heart more thoroughly than any painkiller. Damn, wasn't she in love with the most remarkable being in the entire galaxy?
"Thank you," she said, locking away the rest of what she needed to say: treasures waiting for privacy and time.
He simply nodded and relaxed against her, mandibles fluttering in a bashful smile when Lucy touched his wounded cheek.
The gesture started Shepard's tears anew, her mother's acceptance of Garrus just one more blessing. She allowed herself three, blissful moments of standing within their embrace before she pulled back, looking up into Garrus's eyes.
"Bunny?" The name tiptoed from her lips, a singular, fragile hope held in trembling hands.
Garrus nodded. "She's up in the hospital." His hand jumped up to thaw the terror that flash-froze her blood. "She's fine, Shepard. Well, as fine as can be expected." He nodded toward the couches. "Come and sit down. We'll explain everything."
Lucy pulled Shepard close again when Garrus stepped back, her hands cupping her daughter's cheeks. "I never dreamed that I'd get the chance to do this." She smiled, and then soft, maternal kisses pressed against Shepard's brow, nose and cheeks. Loving arms gathered her into a breath-stealing embrace .
Shepard wrapped her arms around her mother, her embrace gentle as she felt the bandages beneath Lucy's clothes. A numb, chilled sadness set in. What must her mother and sister have endured over the years? All those years that she wasted her life and then tore into it like a dog biting out of fear, her family had truly been living in hell. She turned her face into her mother's neck, shame scalding her neck and cheeks.
"I'm so sorry, Mama. So sorry," she whispered, the apology scraping the depths of her bottomless well of self-pity.
Lucy stepped back, a strong grip taking Shepard by the shoulders, that oh, so familiar scowl lining her mother's brow. "For what, Janey?"
Shepard shrugged. How did someone apologize for fifteen years of freedom and life wasted, for not searching harder, for not being more dogged, more determined? "For not protecting Bunny. For Daddy. For not finding you so much sooner." Another shrug sloughed from her shoulders. "I'm just sorry."
The grip on her shoulders tightened, her mother's fingers digging into the crevasses in her flesh. "No!" The barked refusal startled Shepard from her guilt. "Don't you dare take all of that bastard's sins on yourself, Jane Gwendolyn Shepard." Lucy shook Shepard hard enough that her teeth clacked together. "He's standing before his maker, and his measure is being taken. He'll pay for what he's done."
Shepard barely recovered from her throttling before Lucy yanked her into another, almost ferocious hug. Her mother pressed her mouth next to Shepard's ear, her breath as heated as her words were passionate. "Stop paying for his crimes, Janey. It's a debt you don't owe." Lucy's kiss was rough, but loving. "You have done us all so very proud."
Throat too tight to speak, Shepard just nodded, giving her mother a tight-lipped smile when she pulled away. Letting Lucy take her by the hand, Shepard followed her mother to the couch and sat to listen to the story of how Garrus had found and rescued her family. As they told her of their chance meeting, which turned out to not be chance at all, and the huge operation that Garrus mounted to free them and the other slaves, Shepard watched her torin, in awe of what he'd accomplished.
An hour later, it was taking all of Shepard's self-control to keep from twitching, every cell in her body trying to levitate up through the floors to the hospital. After so many prayers and dreams about finding her baby sister, Bunny was in the same building. All she wanted to do was run to the elevator, and go see the woman her annoying little doll rescuer had become.
Lucy gave Shepard's hand a squeeze, smiling when the captain turned to look into her eyes. "I think we've tortured you long enough," her mother said and chuckled. "But, Janey, you have to know just how angry Bunny is. She was raised to believe lies, tortured and trained to focus all her hatred on you." Shaking her head, Lucy shifted, the leather creaking as she turned to face Shepard. "I don't know why he did it, but she's a danger to you as long as she's like this."
Shepard heart sank a little as she glanced over at Garrus, the depth of the worry in his eyes far more eloquent than any words. She nodded, more to assuage her mother's worry than out of any commitment to be careful around her sister. If that bastard had tortured Bunny and made her into a weapon, Shepard would damned well heal her and bring her back. If that took a little risk, then it did.
"Well, I'll head up and see how she's doing," Lucy said, breaking through Shepard's thoughts. She released Shepard's hand and stood. "I'll give you two a chance to catch your breath, and see you up there." Her finger brushed her daughter's cheek before she shuffled between the table and couch.
"Mama?" Shepard jumped up, two jogging steps catching her mother. When Lucy turned, the captain wrapped her in a careful hug. "I love you."
"And I love you, my impossible girl." Lucy squeezed her tight, then kissed her brow. "See you in a few minutes."
Shepard watched her mother until the door closed behind her, then turned to face Garrus. The general stood between the couch and coffee table. She shook her head when he started to walk over to her. "Sit down, General."
His mandibles flicked. "Is that an order, Captain?" he asked, emphasizing her rank.
"Damned straight it is." She closed a couple of steps toward him. "Now, sit your asslessness down."
When he did as he was told, she walked over, kneeling on the couch beside him for a moment before swinging one leg over his to straddle his lap. She settled in, pressed as tightly against him as she could manage then draped her arms around his neck, hands clasped loosely behind him.
"Whatever am I going to do with you?" she asked, leaning in to brush his mouth with hers as she spoke.
A mandible brushed her face as he grinned. "I have several ideas about what you can do with me. None of them can be accomplished in the few minutes before we need to be upstairs, however."
She kissed him, all of her joy and love pouring out through the moist caresses of her lips and tongue. A deep, throaty chortle answered her fervour, and then his arms pulled her in hard against his left side, nipping lightly with his mouth plates, his tongue teasing hers. Passionate and eager, all of the old hesitancy gone, Shepard deepened the kiss, lips moving over his with a real and urgent hunger.
When they broke apart, breathless, Garrus leaned down to press his brow to hers. "On a scale of one to ten, that thank you just rocketed straight past a hundred." A sigh whispered between them, feather soft.
She tilted her head to kiss him, just a chaste brush of lips against his rough hide. "Oh, General, it's nothing compared to the thank you that you're going to get a little later." Pressing her cheek against his, she wrapped him in a tight hug. "This … ." She shook her head a little and cleared her throat, frustrated with her inability to articulate how she felt. "It's the most amazing thing, Garrus." Pulling back a little, she brushed her lips against his mouth. "I'll never be finished thanking you."
His nose whistled a little as he sighed. "Your happiness is the only thanks I need, Kahri. You know that."
She kissed her way up to his nose. "Happy doesn't even begin to cover it. Finding both of them alive after all this time is a miracle." She kissed him again, then swung off his lap and held out her hand. "Come on, let's go up and see just how much my baby sister hates me."
Garrus tugged on her hand, stopping her. "Kahri, wait." He pulled her close enough to take both of her hands in his. "She is a threat. Please, don't underestimate that."
Shepard backed toward the door, pulling him along with her. "She's my sister, Garrus. It's my job to love and protect her however I can, no matter what." She smiled, a soft, loving smile as that truth rang through every cell. "And you knew that would be my answer, because if there's something you understand, it's the need to protect."
His brow plates canted as his mandibles dropped and spread. "So you'll understand if I need to protect you from her?"
Nodding, she released one of his hands and reached up to press her palm against his keel. "As long as you obey one very important rule … and you know it's important because it's from Wonder Woman." She pressed her lips tight, her mouth tugging to one side at his bemused expression.
"Wonder Woman?"
"Yep, and here it is: Don't kill if you can wound, don't wound if you can subdue, don't subdue if you can pacify, and don't raise your hand at all until you've extended it." She raised her eyebrows. "Can you live with that?"
The general chuffed and struck out for the door. "That's remarkably wise coming from someone called Wonder Woman." He palmed the control and led her out, heading for the elevator.
Shepard shrugged and wrapped her arm around him. "What can I say, she was my hero when I was a kid."
The ride up to the twenty-fourth floor passed in silence, Shepard glad to be able to melt into Garrus's strength and relax. It felt as though it had been a hundred years since she just breathed and let all her muscles go slack. Something so simple shouldn't be so impossible to achieve. Maybe she'd ask Thane about teaching her to meditate. He certainly seemed to have the whole relaxation and peaceful heart thing figured out.
As the elevator door opened, her heart began to thump hard and quick, banging against her ribs harder with every step until it threatened to shatter ribs under its onslaught. Pressing her eyes closed, Shepard trusted Garrus to guide her while she wrangled her stampeding emotions back into line.
"Here." Garrus stopped and when she looked up, he nodded toward the door directly across from the nurse's station.
Shepard stepped up to the door, her heart flipping into reverse and flopping into her belly as she watched the young woman within pace between the two beds. Sweet baby Jesus, could that lovely, fierce amazon actually be her Bunny? "Look at her." Awe and love—worn but still aureate—tinted her whisper as she leaned into Garrus, borrowing his strength. "She's beautiful."
All the missing years wrapped around Shepard's chest, constricting until her pulse and breath tangled up with unshed tears to form a massive, choking ball in her throat. Her fingers dug at her neck, fighting to either claw it out or swallow it all down. "My little Bunny."
"And deadly," Bunny said without looking their way. "Don't forget that part." She stopped midway through her pacing cycle, her glare sharp-edged and scalding. "And I'm not your little anything." Shepard staggered a little, the words leaving welts as they slashed past. Damn, Garrus hadn't been wrong about the vehemence of the girl's hatred.
"I know who you are, oh late, great Captain Shepard." A sneer marred the beautiful face as Bunny laughed, a missile of frozen acid. "The universe fucking hates me. That's the only explanation for your big, hunky boyfriend screwing up my escape and dragging me back here to the Holy Cult of Jane fucking Shepard." A vicious shrug sliced across her shoulders. "So, what's it to be, big sister?" Bunny stalked two steps closer to the door. "Only warning: if you want to live, best put a slug right between my eyes."
Burying that idea under two metres of hell no, Shepard pulled her sidearm from her hip and held it out to Garrus.
"I'm right here," the general said as he took the gun from Shepard's fingers.
She nodded, his presence helping her wall up all the weak, terrified, wailing guilt, sealing it away where Bunny couldn't use it as a weapon. She could face anything with him at her side.
Opening the door a crack, Shepard squeezed through, unsure if Bunny would make a break for it given a big enough opening. Despite her resolve to avoid showing any emotion, a smile crept across her face when she looked over at her mother. "Mama, it's probably best if you wait outside."
For a moment, Shepard thought her mother intended to argue, but then Lucy nodded and stood. "Behave yourselves," she said, her hand warm and comforting as she gripped Shepard's shoulder on the way past. Shepard waited until Garrus stepped forward to close the door before she moved toward her sister. The laser drill of pure rage and hatred ramped up with every step that narrowed the distance between them. Shepard didn't blame her baby sister: four was too young to understand anything that had happened to them. Still, despite the gelid guilt worming its way through her guts, she slapped the guilt out of her body language before it exacerbated the issue.
"Have you had a good life?" Bunny asked, stalking to the far corner of the room. She spun once she got there. "Has your freedom been worth giving me to the slavers? Worth getting Daddy killed?"
Each word slammed an iron fist straight into Shepard's guts, but she clenched her jaw and breathed through it, doing her best to avoid reacting. She just closed in on Bunny, staying loose and ready, letting the love she'd felt for that little bundle of annoying cheeriness bleed through. Damn, but hadn't she adored the broken-doll-adopting, read-me-another-story-begging, big-sister's-stuff-breaking little pain in the ass?
More than anything. So much that you let those bastards … .
Stomping on the scalding tears before they appeared, Shepard cleared her throat. Emotion would only register as manipulation and shove her sister further away.
"Don't." Bunny backed up a little more, then tried to squeeze past, escaping into the front of the room. When Shepard blocked her, she backed up. "Say something, damn it. You're creeping me out." Charging, she bulldozed past, hitting Shepard hard enough to spin her around. "If you're going to kill me, then do it. I don't want your love, your excuses, or your bullshit apologies."
Shepard closed, approaching her sister like a grappling opponent. She both knew and regretted that their reunion would turn into a wrestling match before it became anything more productive. Bunny always had matched her sister blow for blow in the stubbornness department. A slight smile tugged at Shepard's lips as she let that fact seep through her, reinforcing her resolve. They were sisters, joined in a way that could never truly be broken. She'd find a way to get her hug monster back.
"Seriously," Bunny said, the word a sharp bark, "back off before I start swinging." Tensed to spring, the teen circled, an ambush predator forced into a direct attack against prey it knew would fight back.
Shepard spread her arms, inviting the attack. It might just save a lot of time. "Then start swinging, because I'm not going anywhere." She took another step and another, upping the pressure until she could see Bunny shaking. The fury blazing fierce and hot across the teenager's face a new sort of hell.
Damn, and I thought I'd visited them all.
She threw that pain behind the wall with the rest and beckoned to Bunny. "Come on, sweetheart, show me how much you hate me. Turn it all loose."
Something flashed across the younger Shepard's face, something surprised and vulnerable and so very, very young that it set off a grenade in Shepard's chest, nearly taking out the wall. Bunny's body might be nineteen years old, but a huge part of her remained four and trapped in a nightmare she couldn't wake up from. Shepard knew that nightmare; after fifteen years, they remained old, hostile companions.
Screaming all bloody fury, Bunny launched herself at Shepard, fists aimed for the captain's solar plexus and throat. Shepard swept Bunny's lower hand aside, a feint to distract her sister from the hand that swung out and around to grip Bunny's wrist. Spinning the girl around, Shepard held her from behind.
Curses that should have melted their pious mother's ears ripped from Bunny's mouth at the gentle strength of Shepard's grip. Stabbing back with an elbow, Bunny twisted, wrenching herself free. As soon as she broke the hold, the teenager ducked her shoulder and drove it into Shepard's gut, ramming the captain into the bed. Grinning fierce and cold, she sneered at Shepard's gasp of pain.
Despite the bed frame tearing into the backs of her thighs, ripping open her wounds, Shepard merely spun away when Bunny backed up a step. Taking advantage of Bunny's thrown balance, Shepard gave herself room to react. Actually getting hurt didn't factor into her plans.
Nice job. That is blood running down your legs.
"Fight back," Bunny said, her voice a vicious growl. "Are you some sort of pacifist bitch?"
Shepard choked back a heavy wave of sympathy and love, opening her arms again, that time holding her hand out to her baby sister.
Come on, baby, reach out. Just a little.
"You're fucking amazing." Bunny backed up a step, then circled. "You think I'm going to take that hand after what you did?" She stopped suddenly and looked down at her arm. After a second, she flexed her fingers, a thoughtful scowl swapping places with the rage. "You broke my arm." As she looked up, the rage returned. "You broke my fucking arm."
Shepard nodded, owning it. "We were running, trying to get to the rock across the creek." She withdrew her hand, but kept her arms open, welcoming the next attack. Some abscesses needed to be lanced with a scalpel. "The batarian, Remit, jumped out of the trees ahead of us. I slipped and we fell in a pile. I heard a snap." A thin smile cracked through her porcelain control to betray the love roaring through her veins. "You barely made a squawk. So brave."
"Fuck off. Seriously?" Bunny rushed her, barrelling into Shepard's embrace and slamming her back against the door. Her fist crashed into Shepard's belly, a small wrecking ball driving the wind out of her in a pained gasp. "This isn't some Sunday drive down memory lane." She threw another punch, but that one Shepard blocked, throwing it wide.
Spinning away, Shepard retreated to the back of the room and held her arms wide again. "It'll never be that, Bunny. Never that." That time, she braced subtly. Injury and pain nibbled away at her calm. Time to move in for the kill.
When Bunny came at her again, Shepard grabbed hold of her sister's arm and spun her, pulling the arm across Bunny's stomach. Catching the other arm as it flailed, Shepard dragged the young woman down into the corner. Crouched, legs spread wide to stabilize her, Shepard held Bunny in kind, but impacably strong arms.
"Fuck off, Captain Shepard," Bunny spat, bitter emphasis drawing out Shepard's rank. She flailed, trying to get out of the hold. "I don't want your pity. You can shove your memories and love up your ass, bitch."
Shepard just hugged her, carefully keeping her face out of headbutt range. "Come on, Bunny," she whispered. "Jump. I'll catch you." She paused as her sister stopped fighting, freezing rigid in her arms. Good, maybe enough of the true memory remained to break through the batarian bastard's programming. Keeping a solid hold on the teenager, Shepard continued, "Good girl. You're only a few centimetres away from my hands. Let go. Come on, baby, you know I won't let you fall."
"Stop it," Bunny said, but it came out more like a mewl of pain than anger. She wriggled a little, trying to break free, but without her earlier force. "Just shut your face. You left me to that bastard."
"You fell in the mud and cut your palm," Shepard continued, determined to bull through even as her body trembled and her heart keened from the strain. "You threw a tantrum, beating up the mud and screaming for Mama and Daddy." She blew a short, sharp sigh out her nose and shifted a little, settling her back against the wall. "I lifted you out of the muck and kissed the cut on your hand, then told you that they'd meet us at the big rock."
When Bunny didn't take advantage of the change in position, Shepard lowered them both all the way to the floor so that her sister sat sideways, still restrained but cradled in her arms. "You were tired, but doing your best when Remit stepped out onto the path. I tried to stop, but slipped." Shepard scowled as the memories played out behind her eyes. Unlike the other times she'd set them loose, the memories didn't attack with meathooks and carving knives. Instead, Nihlus tangled through every one of them, his presence and comfort buffering the pain. A soft, relieved sigh drifted out as her muscles relaxed, still holding her sister, but loosely. "Remit picked you up by the collar of your pj's and said he was going to keep you for himself."
Bunny pulled away a little, twisting to look Shepard in the eye. The fire remained, but something lie beneath it, a slight crack that sent a flood of warmth pouring through to bulwark Shepard's weariness. Scowling and thoughtful, Bunny said, "He threw me at Kiral."
"Yeah, and then he grabbed me by the hair and pulled me up. He said he was going to take his time with me … that I was a tasty looking piece of meat." Shepard's shoulders popped a little, surprised that she could dismiss the horror. But, the protection of her guardian angel remained between her and the terror and revulsion, stalwart and comforting. "He shoved his fingers down my throat, so I did the only thing open to me."
"You bit him." Bunny withdrew a little further, her gaze dropping to the floor. "Just about bit right through his fingers … the farm's doctor had to do more than one surgery. The scars never faded."
"Good, I wish they'd rotted off, gone septic." A sharp, ferocious grimace slashed across Shepard's face. "I broke free and charged the one holding you, but Remit grabbed me again before I could wrestle you loose." Deciding the time had come for a show of trust, Shepard released her hold on her sister. When Bunny scrambled away to crouch just out of arm's reach, Shepard just adjusted her position, easing the pain gnawing at the backs of her thighs.
"You bit Kiral, too." The words came out with the same edge, but a thoughtfulness hid behind them.
Shepard let out a long breath, but kept her smile in check. Glory hallelujah. "Yeah, I attacked him on the roof after Daddy helped us get out my window. The batarian grabbed my shoulder, so I tried to take his thumb off."
Bunny stood and paced to the door, staring out at their audience for a moment before she turned. "Why would Remit try to turn me against you? If you were trying to protect me … if you didn't sell us out, why?" Bunny braced, so defensive and sharp that Shepard knew the teen would rebuff whatever she said. Still, as her father had always said, 'nothing ventured, nothing gained'.
"How better to make you a loyal slave?" Shepard pushed up onto her feet, wincing a little as the damage Bunny had inflicted began to howl. "Make him less the villain, turn you against anyone you might cling to emotionally." She shrugged and held out her hand. "But all I can do is guess. I can never know what he was thinking."
Rejecting Shepard's hand, Bunny jerked her head toward the door. "Get out."
"Okay." Unsurprised, but pleased with the progress she'd made, Shepard let her hand fall to her side. "But I'll be back in the morning. You aren't the only one who inherited Mama's stubbornness, so prepare yourself for that." When her sister didn't reply, the captain moved to the door. Looking back, she finally let the wall crumble, a gentle smile and slow tears meeting Bunny's spikes and claw traps. "I love you, kid. I never stopped looking for you."
"Yeah, bloody lot of good that did me." The teenager crossed her arms, the gate dropping, locking Shepard out.
Even though a deep, frantic ache insisted that Shepard push until she brought her baby sister all the way back from her personal hell, Shepard pressed the door control. Bunny had taken enough.
Garrus stepped up the second Shepard passed through the door, earning a slightly crooked smile. Ever the protector.
"I'm fine," she said, holding back the rest until she closed the door. Looking to her mother, Shepard said simply, "She'll need you."
Lucy nodded, drawing Shepard into a hug. "Thank you for being so kind with her. I'll see you in the morning." She pulled back, still gripping her daughter's shoulders. "You look worn out. Go get some sleep."
Shepard hugged her mother tight again, unable to put voice to the storm of gratitude and love and relief and joy that roared inside her. After a few moments, she managed to wrestle the lump in her throat down far enough to say, "Goodnight, Mama. I love you."
"And I love you. Goodnight." Lucy turned and entered Bunny's room, moving to sit on one of the beds. Instead of talking, she turned on the vid screen.
"You should go get checked over," Garrus said, his voice too soft to be heard through the door. "You're bleeding." He stepped into her, one hand pressed between her shoulder blades,
Turning to face him, Shepard nodded and looked up into his eyes. "Yeah, I'll take care of that now. Go ahead down. I won't be very long." Her stomach let out a ferocious growl. Laughing, she pressed a hand against it. "I think it can smell your brain again."
"I'll find it something better." He leaned down to nuzzle her lips, his subvocals rumbling when she returned the kiss, her tongue teasing his. "Don't be long."
"I won't." She kissed him again, then gave him a gentle push. "Go on, we're making out in front of my mother." Laughing at the bashful flick of his mandibles, she winked, then turned to look for Dr. Chakwas.
(A-N: Yes, I am still sick. So sorry for it taking so long. Combining sick Kim with the chapter that grew to 12K words, well … here we are. The second half will post tomorrow unless my trip to the ER for antibiotics goes horribly wrong and they take me captive. If so … send rescue. So, without further ado, the first part of the second anniversary duo of chapters … Reunions.
Oh, and PS: I love you. Especially you hardy souls who have been reading for all two years. And the rest of you too. You all rock.)
Chapters 123 and 124 were written to:
Contact Redux (feat Meredith Hagan). It just suits the people and situations so very, very well.
Love Me Like You Do performed by Grace Kelly. Just a fantastic version.
The Doomsday Theme from Doctor Who. Cried so hard during the goodbye to Rose. *sob*
A Thousand Years by Christina Perri … because it is Garrus and Sassy's theme.
And Baba Yetu by Christopher Tin, just because it's freakin brilliant.