Torin - Turian for male over the age of majority

Tarin - Turian for female over the age of majority

Fratrin - Brother by oath and honour rather than one by blood

Dilan - Turian for fiancee

Tarc - Turian equivalent of shit.

Nais - (Asari) pronounced Nah-ees. Asari over the age of majority (40) Plural - Naisa

Ciscera - a sparkling, turian cider made from cactus analogs.

Ungentira - A large cat-analogue predator native to Palaven.

Maraquil - Iconic, predatory seabird analogues native to Palaven

Preteril - A tiny, burrowing marsupial analogue native to many dextro worlds.

Caris - Dear one. Beloved

Spurin - Bastard.

Haksaya kubenar - A term of endearment, literally translates as my strong, true heart.

Cikabeknai - The reciprocal term of endearment for the above. Literally translates to brave love.

(Previously on Future Continuous: Shepard's return means it's right back to work preparing for the reapers and taking down the collectors. Still, she and her torini decide to make sure there is time for themselves as well. She and Garrus married just in time to get dragged off to Korlus, then taking Legion to bond with the chiastyllia. Now, the day after they laid Mordin's baby bomb on their families, they are doing Miranda the favour of rescuing Oriana from the clutches of Henry Lawson, who is on planet and looking to cause all the trouble.)

87 Days ASR (0845 Ypres time) (Nos Astra)

Nihlus straightened the already pristine lines of his best black and red suit as he crossed the street, tugging his cuffs down. Despite the many roles he'd played over the cycles, he didn't know if he could pull off headhunter … well, at least not the corporate sort. He winced and shuddered. Frankly, he preferred crushing criminals beneath the weight of his Spectre authority, but that day, the gun work fell to Shepard and Operative Lawson.

He glanced at Thane and Sol, both looking as comfortable in business garb as he felt. Sol picked at hers while Thane vibrated at high alert, as if worried that he'd shed his skills along with his leathers.

At least early morning painted the city with bright, rosey-golden hued light, and the opening buds on the trees sweetened the grey bite of the industrial, city air. The crowds flowed in orderly, practiced columns, hurried ripples of life parting around benches and kiosks just to stream right back into the same lines: insects negotiating their grayscale jungle. The sterility of it—the sameness of everything around him—skittered down his back, the endless tide of "normal life" sucking the heat from his cells and the steel from his bones.

"I've never understood how they endure it," Thane said, his voice a coincidental breath of understanding, the subtle wheeze behind it, a commentary on the strangulation of civilian, urban existence.

"They don't know any better," Sol answered, the unaffected calm of her voice belied by the talons that tugged at the throat of her suit. "Not everyone is built for chaos, violence, and uncertainty like we are."

"Dressed to kill and looking yummy, cikabeknai," Shepard's whisper through his radio broke over the rest of Sol's explanation.

Nihlus searched the docking bay, spotting her cheeky grin in a queue waiting for an elevator.

That smile dragged him back to their goodbye at the apartment. Teasing, Shepard had given him a heated wink, her fingertips trickling down his throat, as cool and gentle as rain against his hide. "You're going to have every tarin on Illium chasing after you and most of the naisa as well." Teasing him down into kissing range, she pressed her lips against his mouth, words breathing against his plates as they breezed past in the wake of her kiss. "You'd better come back single, because I'm selfish. I'm completely and absolutely not willing to share you with anyone."

He smiled and nuzzled along the line of her jaw, savouring the slight salt tang of her skin on the tip of his tongue as he tasted the hollow beneath her ear. "That seems somewhat hypocritical, haksaya kubenar."

She leaned into him. "Now, be fair, this whole thing wasn't my idea." She squeezed him tight. "But now that you crazies talked me into it, I can't imagine trying to breathe without either one of you. Okay?"

Pulling her in tight, he nodded. "Definitely." Mandibles flaring and fluttering, he thanked the spirits she couldn't read the minutia of turian body language, or he'd have given his secret away.

"Hey! You with us?" Sol's elbow between his plates yanked him out of his thoughts.

When he focused back on the crowds, they'd swallowed Shepard whole. Letting out a noisy breath, he nodded. "Yeah, I'm here. Let's get this done."

"Beta Team reporting in," Garrus said across the mission channel. "Target acquired. Lawson just left his apartment in the Eclipse base. He's shadowed by two squads of Cerberus and private guards. They're playing it casual and trying to blend in, but they're definitely loaded for ungentira."

"Roger that, Beta, but the phrase is 'loaded for bear'. Geez, get it right, already." Shepard cackled for a second before reporting, "Alpha Team is still ten minutes from intercept."

"Is it stupid that I'm sort of pissed off that we don't have an official team title?" Sol grumbled. "We should totally be Shadow Team or Team Hotness or … something sexy." Despite the bitter slant of the sigh that followed her words, her mandibles flicked.

"Team Annoying, Whiney Little Sister?" Nihlus offered, dropping a deadpan stone into the deep, white-noise-quiet of the crowded docking bay.

"Team Amazing Warrior Goddess," Thane countered, earning a ray of pure sunshine from Sol and a grumble from Nihlus.

The Spectre coughed over his words as he glanced at the drell and said, "Suck up."

"And that's why he's my favourite," Sol said and flounced a few paces ahead of them.

After ostracizing him for a handful of metres—just a little longer than she needed to—Sol dropped back next to Nihlus. "I'm not sure how we're supposed to do this," she said after another couple of seconds. "Do we just walk up to this family and say, 'Hey there, heard Cerberus was giving you a job, how about a better one?'"

Nihlus shrugged. As much time as he'd spent trying to come up with a big speech, he still had no clue. It seemed more than a little sinister to mug people at a transit station and offer to whisk them off to a new job.

"Plans change?" he offered after a long pause, his tone casually interested, just tossing the idea out there. "We can play the part of the team sent in to give them the new marching orders and speed them on their way. If we prepare Anderson to deal with their enquiries, we should even be able to get them on the Normandy."

Sol grinned and wrapped an enthusiastic arm around his cowl. "See, this is why we put up with your surly disposition and peculiar odour."

"Thank you, caris," Nihlus said, deadpan. "You're support is underwhelming."

"Our targets?" Thane asked, his hand extending past Nihlus to gesture to three people, clustered together and looking lost. They hovered near the custom doors, their baggage clutched tight as if they expected it to be robbed any moment.

"Looks like it." Nihlus elbowed Sol, prodding her to lift the sign with their surname on it. He shook his head when she tried to hand it off. "Nope, you drew the short straw, you hold the sign."

"I take back all the nice things I just said," she said, practically growling as she held up the sign. Plastering what Jane called a 'shit-eating grin' onto her face, she said, "You're a spurin and you smell like krogan toenail fungus."

"Nice." Nihlus plastered on a smile that welcomed the newcomers and strode toward the small cluster of people. "Good morning. Mr. and Mrs. Ferrer? Oriana." He held out a welcoming hand, shaking their slower, nervous ones. "Nihlus Kryik."

"You're here to see us to our new posting?" the woman asked. She looked back and forth between the three of them, tweaking Nihlus's memory: these people owed their livelihoods to Cerberus and three aliens had shown up to greet them. Spirits, they needed to be smarter.

Oh well, too late to do anything about that, the family would run screaming before Miranda and Shepard made it across from the cargo docks.

Nihlus nodded, trying for confident and businesslike. "Yes, we're here to escort you to an Alliance frigate to take you to your new post on Horizon."

Mr. Ferrer scowled and backed up a step, placing himself in front of his wife and daughter. "I was told that positions awaited us at IPE on Beckenstein."

"Ah, yes," Thane said, his voice smooth and low. "We feared the head office hadn't been able to contact you while in flight." He smiled and held out an arm, ushering the family toward a table in the lounge. "Please, we'll be happy to sit down with you and discuss the details."

"Hey, Team-Stuck-With-My-Annoying-Baby-Sister, where are you?" Garrus broke through, his voice tack-sharp. "Still near the family's arrival point?"

"Excuse me for just a second," Nihlus said, smiling and giving the Ferrers a shallow bow. "Head office." He walked away, losing himself in the crowd while Thane and Sol seated the family. "What's going on?" he asked. "We're still at the docking bay, trying to convince them to come with a bunch of strange aliens."

"Lawson is on his way there. Didn't even try to hide it, so he either knows our plan, or he always expected Miranda to circumvent him." Quick, heavy breaths interrupted the general's words. "He just got in a car. You need to get them out of there, just in case."

"Damn it," Shepard cut in. "We're fighting our way through Eclipse guards, enough that they could well be a delaying tactic." He voice muffled a little. "Miranda, how well do you know and trust Lanteia?"

Both Nihlus and Garrus waited through the discussion that ensued. Less than a minute ticked away, feeling more like a half hour, Nihlus able to feel his cells aging as they prickled beneath his hide.

"Miranda insists Lanteia is trustworthy," Shepard came back, shouting over loud accusations from Miranda in the background. Guess their secret was out. "Miranda, back off. Yes, I didn't tell you the whole plan, but the aim is still to save your sister, so shut up for a second." She let out a growling sigh as the background noise died to a low roar.

"Finally. Okay. Beta Team and Team Sol-Wants-a-Cool-Name: we've overheard Miranda's other trusted contact, Niket, mentioned on Eclipse comms as meeting the family and turning them over to the Eclipse." Shepard made a low humming sound. "Maybe since the fighting started and the family is not in Niket's custody, Lawson just figured it out and is coming to search for Oriana."

Shepard cursed when Miranda started back up, her volume completely not in keeping with her usual calm professionalism. The sound muffled before Shepard continued, "Cikabeknai, I don't care if you have to drug them … or god forbid ... tell them the truth; just get them out of there. If Lawson wants Oriana that badly … if Cerberus does, they can't be allowed to get their hands on her."

"I'm right on Lawson's tail," Garrus said, his voice resolute. "We jumped in a cab right behind him, so we'll have your six if he comes after you at the docks."

"Contact Anderson and have the Normandy ready for guests," Nihlus said, returning to the table. "We could be coming in hot."

"Will do." Garrus broke for a second before continuing, "Link your nav data to my tool, so I can track you if we're coming after you."

Nihlus did. "Thanks. Keep me updated. I have to go explain to three people why they need to run for their lives." He clenched his jaw, studying the three wary travellers, wondering how much they had guessed over the cycles? Had they bothered to trace their employment back to Cerberus? Wondered why their adopted daughter came with so much secrecy attached to her? Well, if they hadn't, they were in for a surprise straight out of the ninth level of buratrum.

Mr. Ferrer met Nihlus's gaze with a stare of pure steel. Suspicion simmered beneath, bubbling up through in the set of his shoulders and rigid angles of his jaw. Maybe he knew more than Nihlus could have guessed about the shadows that haunted his daughter.

"Something's wrong," Oriana said, the statement hitting cudgel hard, solid and intractable. "Maybe you should stop giving us this story meant to keep us calm and go with the truth."

Nihlus nodded. Good for her, not the preteril she seemed to be at all. Time for the truth and nothing but the truth. "How much of Cerberus's involvement in your lives are you aware of?" He pulled out a chair and sat despite the alarm sinking claws into the back of his neck, insisting that they get moving.

Ferrer's jaw tightened. "I traced our company back to them nearly a decade ago, but it's a subsidiary, and definitely not involved with their more dubious activities." He stood. "Are you going to take us hostage? I assure you, we are not important enough for Cerberus to pay ransom."

"Quite the opposite," Nihlus replied. "I was not entirely upfront with you. My name is Spectre Nihlus Kryik. I'm here with my partner and our team to extract your family to safety." He pulled his chair a little closer to the table and leaned in. "Your daughter, Oriana, was born to a very rich, powerful, and corrupt man named Henry Lawson, and placed with you by Cerberus."

He winced as the blood drained from all three faces. While her parents moved closer to her, Mrs. Ferrer clasping her daughter's hand, Oriana took less than ten seconds to go from pale and shocked to a clenched jaw and a stare filled with fire, her entire body tightening with fury.

Nihlus met that stare with a firm nod. "Originally, our information was that Cerberus arranged your move because Lawson discovered your location, but we've since found that the Illusive Man is in bed with Henry Lawson. Suspecting that she'd be abducted during the move, we arranged for you to come work for our colonization and safe haven program."

"Mr. Bossman?"

Nihlus held up a talon as Kasumi's voice came through his comms. "Apologies, but this will be more information coming in." He lifted his hand to his aural canal. "Go ahead, Ms. Goto."

"I'm in Creep-Psycho-Father's rooms and hacked into everything I could find." She paused, a satisfied chuckle betraying her success before she continued. "He's good: he wiped everything clean." The chuckle again, tickling his ear like cisera bubbles. "Too bad for him, I'm better."

Nihlus's omnitool beeped, a message from the thief popping up with several attachments. He opened the first, a confidential, heavily encrypted email.

"The first thing was an email sent last night telling Creep-Father that Subject Twenty Three's test results came back positive in two of three categories. The adjustments to the genome between Subjects Twenty-Two and Twenty-Three appear to be successful. Further adjustments on Subject Twenty-Four should result in passing grades in all three categories." Kasumi's tone voiced Nihlus's confusion as he read along with her. "And it finishes with a guarantee that the subject will be apprehended and taken to Site A41 where testing and program integration will commence." The thief's face replaced the document on his screen. "This sounds bad, Bossman. You need to get that girl out of there."

"Spectre Kryik?"

Nihlus looked up to see Oriana's father standing less than a metre away, his stare riveted to the back side of the omnitool's holo screen. "Sir?"

Ferrer scowled. "Raising a teenager has taught me how to read backwards." The man drew a breath deep into his well-dressed barrel chest. "Promise me that you'll explain everything once we've reached safety."

Nihlus nodded, a single, solemn jerk of his head, thanking the spirits for Ferrer's ability to remain calm and see sense.

The man turned back to his family. "Come, we need to save explanations for once we're clear of whatever trouble is tracking us." Arms wide, he shepherded his worried wife and angry daughter between metal tables and through the coffee crowd. "Spectre, our lives are in your hands."

Nihlus scanned the shifting tide, then checked with Thane and Sol before moving into the crowd, setting a line as the maraquil flies for the nearest maintenance hatch. They needed to get somewhere he could see the enemy coming. Crowds made his hide twitch. Too many hidden agendas, identities, and firearms lurked out in the masses. Too out of control.

"Why is this man after me?" Oriana startled him with her demand as she jogged up to stride at his side. "If he gave me up for adoption, shouldn't that have been the end of it?"

"That will be up to others to explain," Nihlus deflected. Turning sideways he placed himself between Oriana and a small cluster of brokers too engrossed in their discussion of Alliance colonial futures to step aside. "I was just sent to make sure you and your parents get to safety."

She scoffed, a low, very familiar cough. "And if I don't buy your hired muscle excuse?" Instead of dropping back when he checked his floor plan of the docking bays and detoured toward a maintenance hatch, she shook her head. "Who hired you? Tell me that and maybe I'll trust you enough to let you take my parents somewhere safe."

Equal parts frustration and admiration turned a heated stare at the young woman. "Your twin sister." He answered her open-mouthed silence with a cocked brow plate. "Good enough? Can we get out of here now?"

Oriana retreated back to walk between her parents, deep lines drawn in her brow, bracketing her mouth, and spidering out from the corners of her eyes. "I'm not helpless." She shot the words at him, accusing him of a crime he hadn't committed.

"Don't suppose you are, if your sister is any gauge, and if we don't get moving, you'll have a chance to prove it," he assured her before turning to override the hatch. He pulled it open and lunged through, grateful to finally pull his weapon, the pistol settling easily into low ready. Leaving it to Sol and Thane to get the Ferrers through and lock up behind them, he pushed on.

A message flashed from Kasumi, a map charting the fastest way to a service entrance to the Normandy's docking bay. Sending her a mental thank you, he entered the route and activated his scan to keep an eye on the fifty metres ahead and behind.

They moved quickly through the first tunnel, but the crowds on the trading floor slowed them to an irritating pace when they stepped back out. When Nihlus glanced back, Thane moved up to partly shield the Ferrer's from the side while Sol moved to their opposite flank. The Spectre shook his head. For how little they'd worked together, they formed a seamless unit.

Oriana closed on him from behind. "Something's off here, Spectreman."

Nervous tension, brittle and saline, pricked his nose along with the ozone and sulfur bite of her biotics. He reached out, talon-tips just touching her arm. "Keep the biotics locked down unless we're attacked." Reacting to her gentle, confident scoff, he chuckled. "All right then, why do you say something's off? Besides the crazy DNA donor trying to capture you, I mean."

The young woman shook her head. "Ever looked at a picture and felt as though something was missing? Like the artist intended something to be there, but then erased it?" She shrugged, squinting into the crowd, her head cocking a little to one side. "It's like there is a blank space … no … not blank." A soft, frustrated growl rolled in the back of her throat. "Like there's a piece of the universe that was there, but someone removed it, or shifted it just enough that I can't see it."

Nihlus frowned, and reached up, raking his talons over his fringe. "I'm not sure I understand."

Another little growl, and she stamped her foot. "Dammit." She glanced back at her mother. "Sorry, Mom." Deep blue eyes stared up at him, a combination of searching and frustration begging him to understand. "I'm not explaining it well, but there's something ahead that just isn't right. Please? Believe me?" She grasped the cuff of his sleeve and tugged him toward a side alley.

That stare commanded respect, its source deep beneath layers of instinct and intuition. He'd seen it too many times pinning him down from Shepard's field of green. "Okay." He allowed her to lead him into the alley, while he searched for another route.

"Take the door behind you, bossman," Kasumi said in his ear. Head down a level and left to the end of the street. I'll have a van waiting."

"Nihlus," Garrus interrupted, "we landed ahead of you at a private dock a couple down from the Normandy. We just entered the dock end of the trading floor, and he's heading your way in a hurry. Get off the street."

"He's got to have a way to track us," Nihlus said, leaping into motion. He opened the door and hurried Oriana through. "Sol, fry that door." Without waiting for a confirmation, he locked his hand through the young woman's elbow, pulling her along. Apparently, whatever she felt out there scared the protests and smart-ass attitude out of her, and she followed without so much as a bleat.

Facing an empty corridor, Nihlus jumped into a run, keeping a pace the rest could maintain.

"That's a firm on Lawson's ability to track you," Garrus's voice broke through the hollow thump of boots on tile. "He headed straight for that door, didn't even twitch in another direction. His people are trying to get through, but it's going to take them a bit. Congratulate Sol on a first rate muck-up job."

"We'll scramble the other end of this alley as well, give you some room to whittle them down without any collateral damage." Nihlus slapped his palm against the door control, waiting as the damned thing rotated through its cycle. Muffled, but definitely somewhere close, klaxons blared an alarm. What in the name of …?

"Tarc! They aren't subtle. They're cutting through." Garrus chuffed, but it came through strangled. "Illium cops are moving in, but he doesn't appear to care. Get moving."

"Kasumi!" Nihlus barked the thief's name as he dragged Oriana through the portal and down a flight of stairs to merge with the crowds of the booking floor. "Lawson has a tracker on us, so we're just going to run for it. Get to the dock." Glancing back to make sure the rest of his tiny squad was with him, he took off, racing down the street, across a court, and up another level of stairs.

"Nihlus." Shepard this time. "Two gunships just bolted out of this docking bay like they had a bloom of over-zealous hanar evangelists on their tails." Breathless, her words punctuated by curses, she shouted to be heard over the din of battle. "I guarantee they're headed your way." A rocket detonated close enough to Shepard's head that it set Nihlus's ears ringing, deafening him enough he missed her next few words.

"... plan: get the family to the Normandy and tell Anderson to haul ass for Horizon. Miranda and I'll follow once we take this Eclipse bitch out. Over."

"Roger that, Shepard. Stay safe. Nihlus out." He shook his head, trying to clear the remaining ringing, but jumped right back into a sprint up the staircase toward the customs floor. The sound of gunfire echoed like fireworks across the tile and polycrete lounge as Garrus engaged Lawson's mercs.

The door across the cargo lounge opened and mercs poured through, fighting backwards. A high powered bullet tore through an Eclipse helmet, pulling a harsh, "Fuck!" from Oriana. Gore splattered across the white lounge, a jarring reality that tightened the girl's grip on Nihlus's arm.

Civilians screamed and bolted, guns fired, and behind him, Nihlus heard, "Oriana Ferrer, you watch your mouth."

If he hadn't needed all his air for sprinting down the alley and dodging a small phalanx of panicked volus, the absurdity of scolding the girl for her curse would have pulled a disrespectfully loud bray of laughter from the Spectre.

"Oriana, stop running," a deep, accented voice called as they reached the other end of the alley. The accent rolled smooth as silk, but something gelid and slimy slipped along the underside … something that made Nihlus shudder as it continued, "These people … these aliens are lying to you."

Nihlus slapped the door control, turning away from the voice in favour of bolting through and down the long customs plaza. Despite struggling to keep pace in heels and a long dress, the young woman dragged behind him without a word of complaint.

"Oriana," the voice continued, still completely unruffled and calm, but colder than Noveria's ass. "You can never escape me. I can track you anywhere." A long sigh. "More than a hundred people have already died because of these aliens interfering in a family matter. Will you be selfish and force me to kill the rest of their accomplices? If you come with me, no one else needs to be hurt."

"Ms. Goto, where are you?" Nihlus demanded, when he slid to a halt at the cab stand at the end of the departures platform. He herded Oriana and her parents behind him, Sol and Thane taking positions on his flanks to give them cover.

"Five minutes out." She cursed. "Sorry, Bossman, but the traffic gods are not with me."

He growled, low and threatening as Lawson entered the door at the far end. "If it comes down to gunplay, Thane and Oriana put up a shield, keep the Ferrers safe as long as you can. We've got five minutes before extraction." Nihlus stepped out three paces, just far enough to give his team time to react.

"Hand over my daughter." Slowly and without a gun drawn, Lawson closed in on them. The gunfire making its way up the alley effectively cleared most of the people from the customs floor, but some remained hiding behind kiosks or jumping into cabs at the far stand. "You haven't got anywhere left to go. My men will keep your general busy longer than it takes for Ms. Goto to arrive."

Nihlus pushed Ori behind him when she lunged from shelter. "Don't panic," he whispered under his breath and backed a step toward the empty dock. Staring down Lawson, he shook his head, diamond hard, a threat and a promise. "Not going to happen. You're mercs are surrounded on all sides."

The indecently well-dressed monster laughed. "Don't take me for a fool, Spectre. Neither you nor your General Vakarian are going to open fire with all these civilians in the crossfire." Shaking his head he made a gesture toward the long fall below the dock. "If I've anticipated this much of your uselessly over-complicated plan, do you really believe I don't have contingencies wired into all your possible escape routes?" The mock humour sloughed from his face, revealing nothing beneath but darkness disguised as a man.

When Shepard escaped from Cerberus, she'd told him and Garrus about the reason for the experiments run on them and Al: to create layers of command units. Dear spirits. Some of those units, most likely the uppermost echelon needed to blend … needed to plan and execute those plans.

Saren.

Suddenly, Nihlus knew exactly what Ori had tried to explain to him moments before. Henry Lawson reeked of dark energy and corruption. Indoctrinated, mad, ruthless …

Saren nearly destroyed Eden Prime to access a beacon; how much destruction could Lawson wreak upon Nos Astra to prevent his daughter's escape?

"He's the missing spot in the picture," Ori whispered, pressing tight and trembling against his right side as her second hand wrapped around his arm. "It's not even a man, it's a skin suit."

Nihlus merely nodded, his mind racing too quickly to even tell her to shush. He needed to get the girl out without the entire customs floor ending up thirty levels down. Lawson had them cornered. No wait out but down unless ….

"Tell me about these tests," the Spectre shouted back across the gulf between them. "Subject Twenty-Three passed on most fronts while Subject Twenty-Two failed on all but one?" He pressed Oriana back toward Thane. "Subject Twenty-Three would be Oriana? That makes Operative Lawson Number Twenty-two?"

"You couldn't possibly understand my goals … what is needed to perfect humanity … what is needed to face the reapers." He held out a hand, his stare sliding off Nihlus to latch on something behind the Spectre. "Oriana, I can track you anywhere in the galaxy. I will kill everyone between us." He took a breath, sighing a little, but kept up the steady tread eating the distance between them. Although he never glanced behind him, Nihlus could see that he awaited backup. Whatever happened, Henry Lawson didn't intend to die that day. "Haven't enough people died in this foolishness already?"

"What were the tests?" the girl shouted, her tone solid and cocky. She stepped up beside Nihlus again, bold and steady. "You want to use me to create the perfect human? Or, what, turn me into a weapon? Not an incentive. Tell me why I should go with you … without all the threats."

Nihlus clenched his mandibles against his face to hide a prideful grin. Damn, wasn't she something? He wondered if Operative Lawson knew how little protection and coddling her baby sister needed. Keeping his weapon leveled between the man's eyes, Nihlus allowed the girl to step just past him. One step past him. When she slid her foot forward to take another, he rumbled a warning that she heeded.

"Well?" Oriana prompted. "Is that all you can do? Threaten and lie?" She sidestepped closer to Nihlus. "What you want me for is so terrible that the truth would make me fight to the death to avoid it, right?" She scoffed as her sperm donor hesitated a split second. "You're not my father. My father is the man standing behind me, the one I'll die to protect."

"Kasumi?" Nihlus whispered.

"A minute out, tracking those two gunships though," she replied, whispering as well. "Not sure how this well cargo van is going to stand up to them while it's parked. Once we're away, I'll be able to leave them chewing my vapours."

Garrus appeared in the doorway at the far end, looking exhausted and blood-splattered, but well. Nihlus shook his head ever so slightly, warning his fratrin to stay at that end of the plaza. Before Garrus acknowledged the gesture, Shepard stepped through the door and reached out to grab his arm, holding him back. Operative Lawson followed them in, but just wrenched her arm loose when Shepard tried to stop her.

"Your men are all dead, Father," the operative shouted, so much hatred on the last word that it dripped venom. She shook her head and scoffed when he spun to face her. "What? Not still tracking me as well? I suppose there's no need once Lanteia tells you that we've failed your tests." She retched, an arm wrapping around her belly. "Once you find out that we won't work into your perfect breeding program."

Shepard leaped forward, grabbing the operative around the shoulders. "Come on, this isn't the time or place." The captain turned on the elder Lawson, one of the ugliest, most furious stares Nihlus had ever seen twisting her face. "Your backup, and most of the Eclipse in this city are all dead."

After a dramatic pause—always the showman—she lifted her hand to her ear. "Normandy, do you have clearance to fire?"

"Yes, ma'am. Firing now," Sparky replied.

Nihlus saw the shots and subsequent explosions reflected in the glass of the large departures board. Tarc, but wasn't his dilan something else? Lawson didn't stand a chance even though he knew the plan.

Hearing a vehicle pull in behind them, the Spectre took Oriana's arm and backed toward their exit. Knowing Shepard, he'd have a half second to get everyone in the van and gone before all hell broke loose.

Shepard smiled, the expression more terrifying than the last, it slowed his heart … making him wonder for the first time if Cerberus had left something out in her reconstruction. He hadn't expected her to come back exactly the same, but the frozen hatred in her eyes ….

"I don't like slavers," Shepard said, placing herself between her people and Lawson. "Leave before we take the risk that you're bluffing about the explosives."

"No!" Miranda shoved Shepard out of the way and bolted toward her father. "You don't get away with this. You'll never stop hunting us unless you're dead."

A burst of black, chaotic energy exploded from the man in a flare stronger than Nihlus had ever seen. It roared like a freighter decelerating from orbit as Nihlus reacted on instinct, throwing himself down and dragging everyone in reach with him. The odd cold/warm tingle of biotics surrounded him, Thane and Oriana buffering their group against the worst of the blow. Nihlus leaned up, glancing over his shoulder in time to see Miranda gripped by a biotic field stronger than even Saren had ever created.

Nihlus leaped up as Kasumi pulled in next to the platform. "Get them into the van!" he shouted, running toward Lawson. The man turned to look at Nihlus, grinning as, with a casual flick, he sent his elder daughter flying over the edge of the platform. Before he could change direction to intercept Miranda, Lawson hit him with a throw. His keel let out a resounding crack that told him Mordin and Chakwas's careful work had been undone even before the pain registered.

"Nihlus!" Shepard and Garrus screamed in unison as he hit the ground rolling.

He tumbled toward the edge, talons shredding his gloves as he scrambled for purchase, but then he slammed into the side of the van, the sudden stop the air out of him. Fighting back against the blackness trying to close in on him, he reached out, trying to find Oriana.

"Please tell me someone caught her," Shepard hollered, making herself heard over the sudden din of overlapping voices.

Nihlus heard thundering feet racing across the tile, and hands grabbed him, practically throwing him through the air. Then a door slammed and darkness fell.

"Did someone catch her?" Shepard screamed again in his comms, her voice thick with fear.

An absent thought wandered through, skipping along the edge of consciousness … when had Shepard and Miranda bonded so tightly? And why was everyone talking at once … and slurring?

"I did," Sparky called through the comms. "You can buy Mordin, the geth techs, and Melenis a cup of coffee when we get back. I never would have been able to hold her without the new amp and all those lessons." He let out a long, trembling sigh. "Okay, we got her onboard. Holy blessed Enkindlers, if no one could need a mid-air rescue from the hatch of the Normandy for a while, that would be awesome, thank you. I'm going to go pass out now."

"Don't you dare, Sparky. You're my hero, and I'm going to kiss all over that handsome mug." Shepard paused, then cursed. "Bastard. Bloody baby Enkindler Jesus … that shit-faced, evil-ass demon of a whorebinder!"

What? Reacting to the absolute rage in Shepard's voice more than her words, Nihlus pushed and kicked at the darkness, trying to hold it off. "Oriana." The name came out as a gasp. "Your fa … Lawson?"

"Escaped in the distraction, but I'm okay." A warm hand closed around his. "Just take it easy. You've been the hero long enough today. We're heading for the Normandy."

"Where Chakwas will lock you up and throw away the key," Kasumi said, entirely too cheerful. "Later, you can thank me by buying me something nice … and expensive. Don't forget expensive."

Nihlus groaned softly as he lost his battle against the darkness. "I intended to get married tonight."

(A-N: So sorry for the wait, but both I and this stories (and my others are alive and well). Thanks for your support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.)