Chapter 18: A Last Wish

Kal sat on the edge of the bed in their quarters again and Jack did his best to smile. While the Quarian was doing his best to stay upbeat for Jack, it was obvious that Omega left far more than physical scars. He hated the fact that he couldn't wipe away the bad memories that planet had given his husband for almost two years. What made things worse was the fact that Kal seemed reluctant to talk to him about his time there. Did he just feel guilty about the Batarian he was with for a time, or was something else bothering him? Normally, Jack would've let it go and just moved on but, with Kal confronting The Illusive Man like that, they needed to have a conversation about Omega. At the very least he needed to know who this Cora was and how she was involved with what happened.

Kal put his hand up to keep Jack from talking first, "Just let me start from the beginning and we'll get to Cora. By the time Garrus found me, there were 7 members of Archangel; Garrus, Lantar, Jax, Erash, Sensat, Mierin, and Vortash. They were former military operatives, CSEC agents, the usual type of people you'd find washed up on Omega. We were each Archangel really since Garrus was a bit of mess himself... Garrus' tech expert was the Batarian we talked about, Erash, believe it or not. Was the friendliest guy I met there, and he could hack any system ever built."

Erash was definitely something he was curious about, how did he break through Kal's stubborn adherence to rules to sleep with him? Kal wasn't the type to do completely crazy things when drunk, so, there had to be more to the relationship. With the knowledge this Erash was an engineer, maybe they bonded over technology. Then again, Kal wasn't exactly a techie, he was more focused on art and explosions. In the end, it didn't matter, they bonded in the middle of a difficult situation and Kal regretted it. He decided that unless Kal wanted to discuss it, he was going to ignore the Batarian. There were plenty of other more pressing issues about Omega they could talk about instead.

Jack raised an eyebrow as he sat across from him, "How did Garrus get a squad like that on Omega? I'm sure what he was suggesting wasn't exactly popular with the people that lived there."

Kal stared at him seemingly comforted talking about this, "From what I understand, it wasn't too different from how you formed your squad to fight Saren actually. You prove that you get things done, and people join up." His tone took a disgusted turn, "And you saw Omega, it was full of thugs kicking the helpless. Garrus formed the team to kick back. You'd be surprised how easy it was."

Jack took a cautious tone not wanting to step on his toes but he had to ask, "So what happened to the team? How'd you end up pinned back at the hideout?"

Kal played with his hands for a few seconds before speaking, "I think it was my own damn fault. I have a feeling Erash betrayed us for me."

Well, he didn't plan on talking about him but, here they went, "Why would you think that? You cared about them, how could it be your fault?"

Kal took a deep breath, "There's something I didn't tell you...Erash was umm, he was on Torfan, in the KAC control room..."

Almost three years ago, Torfan:

_o0o_

Jack had dropped the Mako like a missle on top of the KAC's exterior, Balak had to die. Unfortunately, Jack underestimated just how much energy protecting himself with biotics he needed. Alarm bells sounded repeatedly as he stumbled into the hallway he had rammed into with the front of the vehicle. Normally, it would've been a good idea for Jack to have some medi-gel and take stock for a few minutes, he couldn't do that today. Hundreds or thousands of slaves were burning far below them, and more importantly, Mandaria was dead, Akira was dead, Karosn was dead and, Kal was dying from an infection. He had to kill that fucking Batarian to make any of this bloodbath worth it. So, Jack grabbed his pistol and marched down the hall with a dizzy head towards the control room.

Two Batarians rounded the corner and one whistled, "Damn he actually survived, well maybe this crazy plan will work after all."

Jack fired at the head of the first right between his top two eyes. However, the kickback from the shot made his wrist jolt far away from his other target. With his head pounding from the noise of the gunshot, the second Batarian shot his ankle making his leg buckle underneath his weight. He pulled the trigger on his pistol and luckily, the bullet bounced off the wall and into the slavers eye. Jack didn't feel like he could walk and so he used his arms to keep going forward. He couldn't stop, Kal was too important to stop.

Another Batarian emerged from the control room and grabbed his arm, refusing to look at him, "Hey boss, I found him!"

His heart stopped seeing who was in the room; a naked trembling Kal. His usually creamy, smooth, moist, purple skin was dry, cracked and seemingly turning green. Kal's eyes were dull and gray with colorful mucus gliding down his small nostrils and his breathing was harsh and short. The Quarian was slowly dying, not even his more advanced immune system could handle this many Batarian's germs. The sight terrified him more than anything in his military career, he was about to lose the love of his life. Balak had made a huge mistake thinking he could do this and not be put through just a painful of a death.

Despite the fact he was on death's door, Kal smiled at him briefly, "It's good to see you right now sweetheart..." His words ended in a coughing fit.

Balak clapped his hands together with an amused smirk, "It is so good to see you Jack. I was worried you weren't going to make it before Kal died."

Jack gritted his teeth trying to lunge at him even though the other Batarian was holding on to him, "I'm going to kill you and make it as slow as possible you son of a bitch!"

Kal groaned throwing up all over the floor and Balak smirked, "Careful Jack, you keep talking to me like that and I won't let you walk out of here together. All I'm asking for is one little thing."

Jack snarled watching Kal curl up into a ball next to his own vomit, "What would you want now?! Me to get you a drink of water?"

Balak laughed obviously not caring about the Quarian next to him or the fleet battle outside in low orbit, "That would be simple wouldn't it? No. No." He stepped aside revealing the controls to the KAC, "I need you to willingly fire this thing into the Everest. You do that and you can go with your little fire cracker. See? It's so easy!"

His gut twisted into knots with fear and shame, Mandaria had been right. Balak had set this trap just so he would fall right into it. The Batarian had enough forward planning to reveal himself on Mindoir to kidnap Kal and get them all here. He couldn't have accounted for the Migrant Fleet joining the fight but, in the end it looked like they were just soaking up Batarian weapon damage. Jack still now had to decide whether to do what Balak wanted or most certainly watch Kal die. The choice was overwhelming him, either destroy the Alliance's only dreadnought, or destroy a future with the man of his dreams.

Kal whimpered and coughed desperately trying to talk, "Don't do it...he's lying.."

Jack looked at him and then Balak, "How do I know your telling me the truth? You expect me to trust you after everything you've done?"

Balak frowned and looked disappointed, "You know I can't tell you anything that could convince you, but I can bring up the pressure." He pulled his pistol out of it's holster and put it to Kal's temple, "You have five seconds to decide."

The other Batarian dragged him towards the console and Kal shouted between wet coughs, "Please...don't do this Jack... I die and he has nothing."

"FIVE!"

Kal continued roughly, "We'll be together again...in the next life... Please, let me go."

"FOUR!"

Kal finished pleadingly, "One life...is less important...then the Alliance..the slaves. You taught me that...let me go."

"THREE!"

Jack was staring at the keyboard to the KAC, his mind full of conflict. Kal was right, his life was less important than the entire Alliance, it was easy to say that. It was a lot harder to put aside his feelings, his memories of them in bed talking the night away, the possibilities of their future after this moment. Could he really just let Kal die and carry the body out of here? The answer was definitely a no but, his only other option was to pull the trigger and doom everyone on the Everest to die. It was an impossible decision that he had to decide in the next second and a half.

The other Batarian put his hand on top of Jack's and he whispered into his ear seemingly desperately, "Just press the button...please."

_o0o_

Jack spoke trying not to react too surprised, "The Batarian who kept me up right..."

He cleared his throat awkwardly, "Yeah." Kal looked down and continued softly, "He always felt like he was responsible for not stopping Balak, he wanted to make amends for what happened.. Shortly after we were together we raided a base that we thought was Blue Suns, a base Erash found and Cora owned."

The way that Kal refused to look at him made it clear Kal thought this was going to harm their relationship. He had slept with one of the men responsible for countless Human deaths, it was safe to think that would've been a problem. Jack knew Kal though, and he knew the Quarian wouldn't sleep with someone like Balak. If he said Erash wanted to make amends, that was the truth. It made no difference to Jack in the end, he loved Kal and couldn't imagine having any sort of meaningful life without him and he knew Kal felt the same way.

Jack took the hand Kal was fiddling with in his own, "I haven't changed my mind Kal, Ni kar'tayli gar darasuum ner cyar'ika."

Kal couldn't help but laugh, "It's pronounced 'seeareeka' not 'charika'... Anyways, we found evidence that you were alive and just frozen with Aria. Erash convinced me it was possible but tried to get me to stay at the base instead of going to Afterlife to try and find you. I think he knew you weren't actually there because he made a deal with Cora. Let you live in exchange for getting everyone in Archangel besides me, killed. He wanted us to be together I think.."

Jack let all that sink in, "He could've just wanted you safe, do you have anything besides his behavior."

Kal nodded squeezing Jack's hand, "You remember that Quarian who kidnapped me on Noveria? Before I killed him, he implicated Erash as the traitor...and that The Illusive Man's daughter was involved. He only worked with Cora and you saw how that kriffing bosh'tet reacted when I brought her up. She played Erash and the gangs for her own twisted game."

Jack couldn't really argue with the logic but, "Ok, so someone you knew betrayed you. How is that your fault?"

Kal sounded frustrated with him, "Everyone that went to Afterlife except Garrus, Mand, and me are dead because of him. All because I didn't want to see it coming. He gave me signs I refused to think about because he was a friend. If I didn't reach out to him for a shoulder to cry on in the first place, he wouldn't have taken a deal with Cora... I'm responsible for the deaths of every single Talon, Sensat, Jax, Lantar, Vortash, Mierin, and Erash."

He understood why Kal felt that way, on the flotila everyone was responsible for others actions, you were supposed to put the flotila above everything else. Kal might've been an exile but he still operated under the culture he grew up in. The fact Erash betrayed their group for him, made him just as responsible for everyone elses deaths as a result in Quarian culture. Jack wanted to explain to him that wasn't true, that he wasn't responsible but Kal wouldn't want to hear that right now. His tone of voice made it clear he was determined to take the blame, there would be a time later on to convince him otherwise.

Jack merely stood up, walked over to the bed, and pulled him into a close hug, "I'm so sorry Kal, don't carry this alone. It's my fault too, Erash did it to save me afterall."

Kal turned his helmet towards him slowly, "Promise me something? When this is over and the Reapers are dead, we'll retire on a beach somewhere and adopt. And we'll help Mandaria find her sister."

Jack blinked surprised by the ask, Kal wanted to eventually retire and adopt a child. It wasn't that he was opposed, he dreamed about that possibility on more than one occasion, he was just stunned Kal wanted that too. Every other time they had discussed a future together, Kal stated he was going to fight alongside Jack until the day they both died. He said fighting was in his bones. If Kal had wanted, they'd run away together tomorrow, Reapers be damned. Unfortunately, they still had work to do, thank the gods Kal was willing to help him.

His hand cupped Kal's mask as they layed down on the bed, "I promise. When this is over we'll have little babies to take care of."

Kal snuggled into him with a sigh, "Good, Erash made me promise we would right before he died."

Jack held Kal as close as possible, it was too early to sleep but, they could snuggle until the Normandy reached Purgatory prison. He was touched that a Batarian, a race full of slavers who needlessly attacked Humanity, would do everything in his power to make sure they would be happy.