Jane stepped out of the comm room defeated.
Thessia has gone dark, Vendetta was lost, and the damage could not be undone. She felt a grief so deep, it squeezed her chest and lungs. She was still in her armor when she entered the war room, torn to pieces inside. She stopped on Saren's left side, visibly in agony.
"Commander, the asari forces are in full retreat. This system is not safe." EDI informed, stepping to her. Jane raised her hand to her face.
"Get us out of here."
Liara was leaning on the console, staring at the hologram of the planet that was once her homeworld.
"I… don't know what to say" she whispered, barely audible "I didn't expect Cerberus."
"I did" Jane added "I should have been faster."
"It's not your fault." Garrus stepped into the room, stopping next to Saren. He looked at the ground party and he could see the desperation on them - even Saren was ragged for some reason. But obviously not because he was mourning the planet, he figured. "Maybe, we should beat Cerberus, instead of them beating us" he suggested "By destroying them."
"Ok. Does anyone know where they can be found?" Liara asked, disbelief in her voice. But then Specialist Traynor stepped forward, uncertainty, but also hope in her voice:
"Well… there is something."
"Go ahead!" Jane instructed her. Traynor took over the console to show them what she had. A holo route of a shuttle appeared in front of them.
"I tracked the gunship Kai Leng left in, and identified his spaceship. I'm able to track his moves, and it appears he left the system. The only problem is that it's still moving. Until it reaches a destination, there is really no point going after him."
Saren added: "I agree. He's probably onto the Illusive Man here, but if not, we might find ourselves in grave danger if we go in unprepared. We can also easily waste valuable time chasing a possible copycat. I would not be surprised if Cerberus had a defense system in place against tracking, that disturbs readings."
Jane crossed her arms and leaned on her right leg. Her face was covered by her palm, going through the possible scenarios in her head.
"Leave it." she eventually decided. She looked around the room and her eyes stopped on Traynor. "This could take days, if he's travelling somewhere far. Keep tracing him, and when we have a destination, we'll act as how we see fit. Until then, we have another lead to go on."
"We do?" Liara was shocked, and her question voiced the surprise of the whole room.
"Yes." Jane nodded. "I did not only visit Tevos on the Citadel, but also Ann Bryson. We managed to track Leviathan, and have a possible location for it."
A brief moment of silence settled on the war room.
"We'll find Leviathan first. Any edge finding him could grant us, we'll need it against the reapers. EDI, set a course to the 2181 Despoina."
"Understood." she chirped then left the room. Jane leaned on the console and for a moment the desperation just took over her. She listened, and her heart was going erratic and she felt her chest tighten. She pressed her lips together to fight the nerves.
"Are you okay?" Garrus asked.
Sharp silence settled in, waiting for her reply. She moved her head in angst, removing her hands from the console. She straightened up, and turned in the direction of the two turians. She opened her mouth to speak, but the world went spinning around her.
Jane stumbled, collapsing for a second, but Saren caught her by the waist, keeping her standing up, but relieving her of her own weight.
"You need rest." he said to her, more of a demand than an observation. He was keeping his eyes so close on her, Garrus picked up on it. His eyebrows furrowed.
"We'll take care of her!" jumped Traynor.
"I'm fine!" she waved, pushing Saren and Traynor away, and starting for the door to leave with Liara. As soon as they were out, Garrus turned to Saren.
"What the fuck happened there? Why is she so weak and what is up with you?" he growled, already baring his teeth.
"Kai Leng happened" Saren said, his anger already building up. Garrus was way too protective of his Commander, and it seriously started to annoy him. "He zapped her with electricity, and he zapped me too."
"Why didn't you protect her?" Garrus snapped.
"I protected her! And I owe you no explanation, so you better stand down while you can still walk away."
Traynor stepped back. The two turians were at each other's throats now, the argument started escalating to a dangerous route.
"You're lying" Garrus snarled, stepping to Saren. "You are dangerously close to her. And if you think I don't see through that, you're wrong. I know who you are, and I will never trust you! You're the same fucked up monster you've always been!"
The two turians were now an inch away from each other, their nerves stretched to the end, growling, a moment away from a fight.
"Shut your mouth, you dog!" Saren snapped, baring his teeth at Garrus.
And Garrus needed no more.
He jumped on Saren, beating him down to the ground. Traynor screamed, jumping back from them. Saren kicked Garrus in the gut, removing him from his position. Both of them stood up and started a fistfight right then and there.
When Jane went through the security scanner she heard the commotion from behind her back. She turned back as the alliance soldiers looked at each other. She heard loud thuds, a scream from Traynor. She decided to go back, as there were only two people in the war room, who could produce these sounds.
And she was right. As the doors opened, he saw the two turians in a brutal fistfight in the middle of the room, destroying each other. Traynor was oozing backwards from them to escape the room.
Her breath stopped when she saw their movements.
They were fast, landing blows of such power on each other's faces that their plates were swimming in blood in a second. They blocked beautifully too, landed blows that were impossible to land in a normal scenario, their fists crashing together with a force that she could hear their plates crush. It was sheer luck that in the narrow war room they had no space to use their legs for kicks, because the room would have been wrecked already.
They were slamming each other on the console like this already, completely wrecking themselves. She never saw turians - much less turians of this high caliber - fight before, but a part of her found it fascinating. The sheer power of the two of them amazed her. But this thought was buried deep within the longer she looked at their faces, and the blood on it.
"STOP!" she cried out, her eyes firing looks of anger at both of them. She descended down the stairs and stood right next to them.
"What the fuck are you doing?" she screamed into their faces. They stood there, dumbfounded. They released each other and took a step back.
"Ask this idiot!" Saren spat, pointing at Garrus with his eyes. He then turned around and simply left. Garrus remained there, wiping the blood off his plates.
"Don't provoke him!" Jane commanded, tired of the drama. She looked at Garrus, the drops of blue blood running down his temple. She knew he only wanted the best for her, but she had no patience for their fights now.
She eventually said nothing else, and left the room.
Saren went to take a shower, still pumped from the fight they had with Garrus. He could not believe he had the audacity to confront him like this, much less attempt to fight. He killed for much less, many times, and it was sheer luck that Jane came back to separate them. He wouldn't have killed Garrus as he was a great asset to the war effort (he wasn't going to abandon logic just for one sweet death), but he probably would have hurt him to point of a nice, not-so-easy to heal state. But Jane did intervene, so that was out the window for now.
Oh yes, Jane… he jumped under the water and just soaked himself, trying to divert his thoughts from the Commander, but he had no luck. He never thought he would ever feel anything for anyone. Sure, he had his fair share of women during his missions and travels, but just as a passing fancy. Love was a concept he could not grasp at all, and never entertained the thought of having someone or even thinking of someone. Love was a state of mind that ruined people: reducing the bravest of men to weak shambles, and strong women to all too eager bitches. It caused confusion and craziness everywhere.
But his mind was surprisingly calm.
Jane was a strange creature, and it made him smirk a bit under the water. The confusion and craziness that he saw other people exhibit when in love, was not even present in his mind. Out of all the women he met in his life, Jane was the only one who ever interested him. It was almost… natural, as if he knew this all along.
He decided to put an end to his thoughts, or at least try, and after getting out of the shower, he went right for the gym. Training always put him in the right headspace. But when he entered the gym, someone was already there. Considering how many times they used to run into each other on the ship because of their similar habits, it was all too logical that it was Jane, beating her nerves out on the unsuspecting, new punching bags.
But it wasn't her this time. It was that ridiculous human, Kaidan Alenko. He was training, doing pushups next to the wall.
"101… 102..." he counted under his breath, eventually noticing Saren. He raised his chest, finishing the pushups.
The human was laughable. Every time Saren saw him anywhere, it was so obvious that he was after Jane, it hurt his stomach from the inside. He regularly found himself trying to repress his laughter, but this was not the time. He was upset seeing him here: he wanted to train but there was no way he would stay in the same room as this idiot.
And so without a single word, he turned around to leave the gym.
"Hey" Kaidan called. Saren stopped in his tracks, quietly sighing from annoyance.
"What do you want?" he asked, not hiding his frustration.
"What? You don't want to train in the same room as me?" he teased.
"What an insight… you're correct."
"Figured. You think a little human is below you and you are the apex of predators."
Saren snorted. "At least I'm not hiding it. If I recall, you demonstrated the same thing many times when I entered a room, but it looks like it's only ok if you're doing it. But when it's done to you, you're offended. I can't fathom how Jane puts up with you…. And just in case you haven't noticed, turians are indeed apex predators."
"Don't call Shepard Jane… you have no right." Kaidan hissed, standing up now.
Great. All Saren wanted was another unnecessary fight. Why can't he just train in peace? He loved to fight but this man was below his stimulus threshold.
"You think so?" Saren teased.
"Yes. He's the Commander of this ship, and you should show some respect." Kaidan stepped closer. Not dangerously close though. "I know what you're doing, everybody does. You're gaining her trust so you can get close to her to do who knows what."
"Oh, is that so?" he teased again, starting to enjoy the exchange. This man was digging his own grave and it was quite funny to see. "And what if that's true? You think your oh so respected Commander cannot defend herself against a little turian spectre? That is what you think of her?"
Kaidan was silent.
"You pay way too much attention to who is close to her and who's not, when you have no idea who she really is or what is that she wants..."
"Really? You think you fit her?" Kaidan was offended and it was visible. Saren was entertained by this already.
"Alenko, you're talking about Jane. Do you think she would be entertained by a squishy, whiny human who calls himself a man? Who rejects her when she needs friends the most - Correct, I do know about Horizon -, someone who constantly whines about their headaches, doubts her, and cannot be relied on on the battlefield? Do you really think… a woman, who killed reapers, would give a single fuck about you?" Oh he was hurting him, he could see it on Kaidan's face. He was learning his lesson now. "Do you even know her? Are you even aware that your respected Commander loves killing, loves the blood and the war? Do you realize what it meant when she decided to save the Council, leaving hundreds of your own species to their deaths?"
The disgust on Kaidan's face was apparent. "And that is coming from the turian who killed one of her friends." He thought of Ashley, it was evident.
"Incorrect again. How I heard, Jane herself sacrificed her as a result of your shitty distraction plan which couldn't have been her idea as she hates these kind of tactics. You know nothing about her. So I suggest you shut up about who fits her and who doesn't.."
Saren turned round and left the gym, the door shutting behind him. Kaidan just stood there, flabbergasted.
Jane jumped into the lake.
The water covered her up to her hips, and was extremely cold. She squeaked a bit from the sensation, quickly starting to run to the middle of the lake. Saren just stood there, his mind in a haze from the countless shots of horosk. His eyes fixed on her hair as it flew in the air from the motion.
"Hey!" she screamed from far away, laughing at the same time, waving at him. "Come oon! It's not deep!"
Saren looked around. It must have been the alcohol, but it was just like in his dreams, where he dreamt he was on Palaven, in the ocean. The only difference was that this was the Citadel, the Presidium lake, and this was reality. He put his cigarette in his mouth and decided he didn't care. He was already drunk, and it mattered not.
He crouched down and jumped into the water.
It was freezing cold, and he already regretted doing it, but she egged him on and he couldn't look like a coward now. So he swallowed his nerves and followed Jane to the middle of the lake. If he was going to die here (turians weren't good with water), he is going to kill her, it was decided. When he reached the middle of the lake and Jane, he removed the cigarette from his mouth and gave it to Jane.
"Good, good" she laughed, taking a puff. "It wasn't so hard now, was it?"
"Your team's bets are idiotic.." he growled. She just laughed.
"Well, you're taking part in them yourself..." mischief spread across her features.
Saren's face went white. Is she saying he's idiotic now?
That was it.
He raised his hands and suddenly pushed her back just enough that she lost her balance, and fell right into the water. His mandibles parted in a loud, evil laugh, enjoying the sweetness of vengeance. But in a second he was under the water as well, tripped by Jane, the shock of cold hitting him. He sat up, and saw her as it was now her turn to laugh out loud.
Damned woman, he thought.
Saren woke up in his bed.
The dream he had was a recent memory that burned in his mind on the shore leave. He looked at the clock and saw that it was only a couple hours before they would reach the Despoina. When he thought about the Leviathan, a strange uneasiness took over him. A creature killing reapers… whatever it was, it sounded powerful, and the fact that it was so hidden that it took months to find even added to his nerves. It was something big, he knew.
He eventually left his bed and equipped his armor. He went to the mess hall to drink a coffee, and found it empty.
He prepared his coffee and started drinking it, in armor, just sitting at the table deep in thought.
"Hey" he heard, and looked up. It was Jane of course. Who else? She was also in armor, getting ready. A console in her hand, possibly preparations for the mission. She sat down at the table across from him, scrolling on her omni-tool with a troubled face.
"Hey" he replied.
"I have no idea how to prepare for this.." she admitted with a sigh "The only information I have about the Despoina is from human probes, and all I know is that it's covered in an ocean."
"Don't stress yourself. You'll find a way. You always do."
She looked at Saren. He spoke so softly and calm, it was unusual. He had been like this since the shore leave, and she wasn't sure why. Maybe he felt it too.
The feeling that kept creeping in her heart any time she saw him. The craziness, the confusion, the urge. She wanted to move closer to him, but she decided not to.
"Do they hurt?" she eventually asked, changing the subject. She was looking at his wounds he got from Garrus on his nose and temple. Nothing serious, but they sure looked uncomfortable.
"No..." was all he said before taking a sip from his coffee. He looked her in the eye, and couldn't ignore the tension in the air, the shadow looming over them anymore. "I wonder what this Leviathan is. A creature killing reapers… not wanting to be found. It's important."
"It will get us closer to the reapers." she agreed.
He suddenly stood up. He left his chair, rounded the table and stopped next to her. Out of instinct, she stood up to meet him, waiting for what he had in his mind. She felt her heart leap as he stopped a few inches away from her with a serious, dark expression on his face.
"Do not remove your ring.." he whispered as he took her right hand into his, and raised it up to eye level. He searched her fingers through her glove with his talons, feeling the ring on her ring finger. "No matter what happens, you must have it on."
Her heart raced as he touched her hand, even through the gloves. She felt the ring's pressure on her finger as he touched it, giving her a sense of safety.
He saw the question in her eyes.
"It protects you." he gave her the answer in his usual baritone. He heard her heart, beating in complete synch with his. He didn't want to let go of her hand now, and for a second both of them just lingered in time, lost in whatever they saw in each other's eyes.
"Yeah, see you soon!" came from the corner at the elevator, and suddenly Kaidan stepped into the mess hall. He froze when he saw Jane and Saren, in armor, standing at the table. He held one of her hands almost above his heart, their faces inches away from each other. Saren noticed him, his eyes darting to him in the corner.
He stepped back, let go of Jane's hand, and without shooting her one last look, he turned around and disappeared in the elevator. Jane didn't move for another minute, and whatever Kaidan was asking her, she couldn't concentrate on.
The 2181 Despoina was a nightmare.
The whole world was one ocean, no land whatsoever. The probe they followed was way below the surface of the water, so they planned on going under with the shuttle - according to Cortez it was suitable for deep sea as well, even at high pressures. The only problem was that a pulse hit them that disabled the shuttle and they crashed on a shipwreck.
They had no idea where the pulse came from or what it was - possibly Leviathan's last line of defense - but they weren't the first one to get trapped by it. Wrecked ships floated on the surface of the ocean, some unrecognizable. Their crash now made it impossible to dive down with the shuttle, not to mention that the reapers somehow managed to follow them to the planet, sending husks and other monsters against them. They needed another option.
And they were given one.
The ship they crashed on was a military ship - equipped with giant diving mechs - Tritons. There was still one in operation, and they managed to gather energy from the shuttle to give it some juice so Jane can dive down in it. She tried it out - it was a welcome sensation to shoot the shit out of the reaper squads from a giant, bulky mech. And while it was fun, it didn't last. She got out of it as the reapers retreated, so that Cortez could take a look at it.
"Shepard, are you sure, you're doing this?" Tali asked, visibly worried. This could go wrong in so many ways she didn't dare to think of even half of them.
"I need to do this" she said as Cortez examined the mech "The shuttle won't take us home while the pulse is online, and if we call the Normandy, the whole crew is going to be trapped on this planet."
"She's right" added Saren "Leviathan is the only way out."
"All right, finished." Cortez stood up, closing his omni-tool and looking at Jane. She stepped up to the mech, and just as she was about get in, Saren grabbed her ankle.
"No" he said, demanding. Jane looked back at him, already upset, but seeing his eyes she was more and more anxious by the minute. "I'm coming with you." His determination was unbreakable, his voice smooth and strong.
He needed to go.
It was as much as his battle as it was hers. They were equal, alpha and omega, and there was no way in his mind that he wouldn't go.
"What?" Cortez gasped "This is the only Triton we have!"
"We don't need another. We're both going in this one."
"I don't know if there are enough resources or power in the-" Cortez was interrupted.
"He's coming." was all Jane said. She didn't care about the resources or the energy, she agreed with him. It was extremely reckless of her, she knew, but they needed to do this. Saren was destroyed by indoctrination, was basically reaper technology... he had more than the right to come along. He said nothing, just stepped up on the mech and sat down. He connected his hands with the controls, and looked at Jane, waiting for her.
"I can't believe you're doing this..." Cortez shook his head, turning away. He didn't understand, but Jane didn't blame him. She stepped into the mech and sit in front of Saren, throwing her legs together across his things. She inserted her hands to the controls, putting her palm on the back of his hand. They both controlled the mech now, and as the windshield closed, they both pressed the handle to move.
They stopped at the edge of the platform, just a step away from the water. She looked up at him, his expression hesitant. A turian under water. Saren cursed himself now for tagging along.
But they jumped.
The mech sank deep into the water that seemed to have no end. They almost forgot to breathe as the sensation kicked in and they started to feel a bit of pressure, as if they were free falling. The mech did a good job at keeping the pressure inside at normal levels, and everything else seemed fine. But as the meter count on the console showed more and more, they became more entranced. The water turned dark, almost black, the light slowly fading away above them as they descended more and more. The comms were jammed, then non-existent.
"Saren" she gasped quietly, squeezing his hand on the controls.
"Almost there" he calmed her, but he was just as weirded out as she was. He went through a lot even before Sovereign, but this depth had an effect on him he couldn't really compare to anything. He felt weirder than when he first met Sovereign.
Something big was here.
They soon started to see the bottom, rocks riddled with plants and jellyfish.
They crashed to the pit, the mech shaking from the impact.
"Here we go." he said "Energy levels optimal. Life support operational."
"We're at 3079 meters." said Jane. They looked around and shot out a flare to provide them with light. The mech slowly started moving, following the rock formations as path. They remained silent, a strange darkness settling on them. They felt pressure, but not from the depth, but from the anticipation that grew more and more within them.
As they jumped deep down below, they knew that Leviathan was indeed here. This place was so old, so hidden, so frightening... Eventually, they found the probe that led them here. They took a few more steps with the Triton, reaching a precipice.
They couldn't speak, any words they might have shared got trapped in their minds.
A small bubble escaped from under them, from the depth that laid in front of them. Then another bubble. Another, and another.
And in a second, a giant, reaper sized creature showed itself to them. It looked like a reaper, but it looked so much older and organic. It's carapace like that of the turians, but darker in colour and visibly thicker. It gave off a vibe neither of them had ever felt before. They followed it with their eyes as it towered over the tiny Triton they were in, entrancing them.
This was not what they came for.
It was something completely different.
Jane looked back, just to see Saren, to look at his face, his reaction, but as she did so, he was no longer there. She turned back to face the creature, but she found herself in a grey emptiness. Her armor was gone, her black dress was on her now, water under her feet. As she looked down, she could see her own reflection.
"Jane" she heard. She looked to the side, and saw Saren. He was in his black robe, a confused look on his face.
They heard a sound emanating from all around them, coming from everywhere, hugging them.
"You have come too far. You have breached the darkness."
"You killed a reaper" Jane replied, looking around for the source of the voice. "We need to know why!"
"They are the enemy. One that seeks our extermination."
Jane looked at Saren.
"But we thought you were a reaper." said Saren, automatically. They again looked at each other, confused. He somehow knew what she was going to say. And she knew it too. Something was different now between them as they stood next to each other. They were connected, an invisible weave between them bringing their minds together.
"They are mere echoes" the voice said "We existed long before them."
"Then who are you?"
"Something more."