Running
Korri was finally asleep.
Jak hadn't been sure at all about this small ship. The outside hadn't looked anything like any ship Jak had ever seen, but Illia had led him and Korri into a room that wouldn't have been out of place on any other ship Jak had ever been on. There, she had worked for an hour to cut the binders off Korri's wrists and ankles with Jak's somewhat fumbling help. He knew maintenance on aircraft, not cutting security manacles off. Luckily, Illia seemed to be an asari of many skills.
All the while, the rachni song had surrounded them both. It hadn't been overpowering, more welcoming than intruding. Korri had slowly relaxed and then, in between two breaths, had fallen asleep. Jak hadn't been clear headed with fatigue and worry, but the music had helped a bit. Now however, Illia was easing him down beside Korri.
"Lara?" Jak begged as Illia carefully undid the helmet from his head. He tried to push her hands away, but his fingers had no strength now.
"As soon as you are strapped in, we are going to a rendezvous where the medics will meet us to tend you both." Illia said quietly. "It is not a particularly safe place for people like us, but it is a good place for the rachni to hide for the moment since few people look closely at worlds where humans, asari and such cannot breathe."
"You are going to knock me out." Jak said slowly.
"No need." Illia sat beside him, her fingers twining his. "I am amazed you managed to stay awake this long. I will make some calls, do a pickup on the way to be sure we have dextro rations and medicine. My employers have never treated a quarian before, but they are hopeful. She isn't physically hurt. Just so sad and broken inside."
"Don't leave Korri alone." Jak pleaded as sleep reached up to grab hold of him and the room started spinning even before he closed his eyes. Illia's sad smile was the last thing he saw, but he felt her arms move him close to the slumbering quarian and a blanket stretched over both. Of its own accord, Jak's arm draped over the slumbering quarian.
He fell asleep listening to the mechanical whir of Korri's ventilator. It soothed him as much as the rachni music inside did.
It seemed only a moment later that Illia was calling his name. He surfaced through a fog. He wasn't lying on the surface he had been, Korri wasn't beside him anymore. Now, he was lying in something that felt wet and a little clammy. No, he was floating. He knew he should be worried, but it felt good. He was more relaxed than he had been in years.
"Hey, Jak." Illia's voice came to him and Jak tried to open his eyes. They wouldn't but he didn't feel worried. No. He felt comfort surrounding him. The rachni songs were all around him, penetrating every pore and muscle, easing every inch of his body.
"Illia?" Jak manged to speak through the lethargy. "What happened?"
"We are here." A hand found his and gave a squeeze. "The medics wanted to keep you asleep while they worked. They did and you are in recovery. They say you will be fine." Jak managed to squeeze the hand back although it was hard to focus enough to do even that.
"Korri?" Jak asked slowly. "Lara?"
"Korri is asleep and will stay that way for another ten hours or so." Illia sounded calm. That was good. Right? "She hasn't slept very well for a long time according to her readings. We are keeping her fed and hydrated while she recovers. Lara is a mess." The asari said with a sob.
"Tell me." Jak tried to plead, but his emotions were not working quite right. The hand gave his a squeeze again.
"There was physical damage that mirrored yours." Illia said sadly. "But she did not react as you did. We cannot find her. We cannot hear her. We fear for her. And for you."
"Can the geth do anything?" Jak asked, ambivalent. He knew he shouldn't feel that way, buit he couldn't muster energy to feel anything else.
"No." Illia said sadly. "Physically, there is nothing wrong with her now. We have healed all of the damage, she simply is not waking." Jak thought about that for a long time and then he sighed. "We do not know what is wrong with her. Can you feel her?"
Jak thought about that for a long time. He could. He could her her songs, but they were dim, as if from far away.
"I can still feel her in the link, Illia. I can hear her." Jak said after a long moment. There was utter silence as Jak perused his feelings. "I can."
"That is good." Illia mused. "We both tried to shield her from the pain that hit you during the scans. Maybe you can do something when the medics let you out of there. That should be an hour or two."
"What can I do that you can't?" Jak asked.
"We are just her friends, Jak." Illia had a smile in her voice as Jak faded again.
"You are her mate."
Later
Jak opened his eyes and froze as he felt small things scuttling all over him. He stared up at a rock ceiling and then a familiar blue face appeared in his vision.
"Hey lazybones." Illia smiled and Jak smiled back a bit hesitantly. The feelings of things on him faded and Illia nodded. "All done. You should be able to move with no impairment."
Jak sat up slowly and Illia helped him. He was sitting in something that looked for all the world like a huge cocoon that had split across the top so that he could get out of it. He stared at it and then around. He was sitting in the middle of a small room. The walls were bare rock, no technology was visible at all. Glowing purplish phosphorescence shone in places and gave more than enough light to see by without being too bright. He could see several recognizable rachni forms sitting near the walls and a number of smaller forms scuttled around them. Then he stared down at himself and froze. He wasn't wearing anything! His hands immediately dropped to cover his crotch.
"Don't be that way, Jak." Illia chortled as she handed him a bundle of clothes. "You needed care. The medics undressed you. You haven't got anything I haven't seen before." Jak took the clothes and then covered himself again. "Jak! No one cares."
"I care!" Jak said a bit sharper than he intended and then sighed. Illia smirked, stood up and turned her back. "I am stressed." He started pulling the clothes on. They fit, no surprise.
"You have a right to it." Illia smiled as Jak pulled undergarments on swiftly and then started donning the rest a bit more carefully. "Didn't think you would be body shy after so much time in the Alliance."
"Too much time in hospitals and asylums." Jak finished dressing and made to stand up. Illia offered a hand as he rose and he took it gratefully. "No privacy made me jealous of it whenever I had it."
"I can see that." Illia let go as soon as Jak was vertical and standing on his own. "Korri will likely be out for another eight hours. Lara..." She slumped. "We have done what we can, Jak."
"I can feel her, Illia" Jak said slowly. Indeed, he could hear Lara singing, but it was muted, distant. "I can hear her singing as if from a long ways away."
"You can?" Illia's face lit up and she smiled. "Good. That is good. We can't and feared the worst. We have her on full support. Jak… It is kind of gross." She warned as Jak took a step.
"I can handle it." Jak said and then paused as Illia laughed. "What?"
"Don't say I didn't warn you." Illia took Jak's hand and led the way towards one wall. Just before they got there a valve like thing opened and they stepped through what had to be a rachni door. The roomt hey entered was almost the same as the one Jak had woken in except there was a crater like thing in the middle of the floor instead of a cocoon. A smallish rachni at beside the crater thing and one of its whip like appendages waved at Illia. Illia nodded. "We can look, but you cannot touch without giving us time to adapt. The fluid is set to her body temperature and PH. Any alterations may jar her. We don't want that."
"She is in… there." Jak eyed the crater thing. There was no sign of Lara.
Instead of answering, Illia pulled him forward. A few steps in and Jak could see a clear thing floating in the greenish fluid that filled the crater. Jak inhaled as he saw Lara's sleeping face inside the clear thing. The crater or whatever had to be a lot deeper than it looked for her to be lying like that. Illia nodded as he stared.
"I call those 'goo baths'." Illia said with a smile. "They look disgusting, but you remember how relaxed you were when you first woke?" Jak nodded, not looking away form Lara's face. "You were in one. My first glimpse of rachni came when I was in one. Ultrasonics are used in a lot of places for massage, and the rachni are very good at manipulating sound. I needed the calm. I wasn't very coherent when I first saw them."
Jak turned to look at Illia. Was that shame on her face? Jak did not hesitate. He embraced the asari. She froze and the sounds surrounding them changed a little from a hum to a slightly softer hum.
"Thank you." He hugged her again.
"Jak?" Illia asked, concerned.
"You and the geth were the first people in years who treated me like I wasn't contagious." Jak said quietly, not releasing the asari. "Who treated me like a person. The docs and nurses, some of them tried, but I was just a patient to most of them. Just another number. They had to do that, separate themselves, or they couldn't function. But it hurt."
"Yeah, well..." Illia laid her arms around Jak and gave him a squeeze. "I had my eyes opened rather quickly when I woke in their care. I very nearly died that day. They put me back together. I wish the queen would let me stay with them, but I understand why she refused."
"What?" Jak asked, staring at the rachni.
"This is not the hive, Jak." Illia gave him a squeeze and then released him, retreating a step. He let her go. "I called for help when the geth recovered you. The queen sent a force to my aid, but I do not know where they came from. I won't until and unless they need me to. That way, I cannot lead anyone to them. These… will not return to the hive for the same fear."
"Then what will happen to these?" Jak asked, horror slowly dawning. Illia looked away and Jak had his answer. "No!"
"Jak, rachni are not human." Illia cautioned him. "They are not like any race you have encountered before. They are individuals, but they all exist to serve the hive. This serves the hive. None of them would question."
"Can they?" Jak demanded. It wasn't Illia who replied!
You do us honor, Jak Collains. Jak stared at the small rachni who was at the crater pool and it was eyeing him. Each of us has a purpose and a time. The queen commands, we obey. But she would not command us to do something silly or stupid. If she commands, there is a reason.
"I cannot think that way." Jak said weakly.
Of course not. The rachni replied. You cannot think our way any more than we can think your way. We are not slaves, Jak Collains. Do not think of us that way. Every one of us was honored to aid you and Lara. Now we are honored to aid you, Lara and Korri Zumin's daughter. If we can send an egg to Andromeda, then we will. If not? We will do what we can here until our time on this plane comes to an end.
"I..." The raw certainty in the rachni's tone shamed Jak and he slumped. Illia laid an arm around his shoulders.
"No one understood the rachni. There was no communication during the wars. Some tried, but they failed. They are not slaves, Jak. Neither am I. I serve because I want to. They were born and bred to serve, but they have choice." Illia promised. "And none of us will go quietly into the night. The universe will hear our songs. The sky singers are here again and we will never be silenced again."
"Never wished I could sing before." Jak said slowly. Illia smiled at him and her could feel her mind gently pushing his. "Illia, I am not a singer."
"Jak." Illia smiled wider. "Neither am I." Jak stared at the asari, his jaw dropping and she nodded. "Singing is an art form. One I was never good at. I am a translator, not a singer. With the rachni though, I do not need to be."
Considering that their songs were the most beautiful things Jak had ever heard? Maybe barring Lara's own songs and now Korri's? No, he didn't need to sing to be able to appreciate those. He smiled as Illia hugged him again both mentally and physically. Then she gave him a small shove towards the green fluid filled crater.
"If you can hear her, then you can likely find her." Illia pace a hand on Jak's back, guiding him toward the pool. "Give us a moment to settle the temperature and you can touch her."
"But you said I could jar her." Jak protested, but did not resist.
That may be what is needed. The rachni by the crater/pool/whatever it was replied. She has withdrawn so far. Too far for us to reach her. Call to her. Seek her out. Use the connection you share.
Jak stared from the rachni to Lara's slumbering face, then to Illia who nodded. She guided him to sit by the crater lip and he did. He closed his eyes.
Lara? He called in his mind. Lara, can you hear me? There was no reply. She ran away from the pain.
Yes. Illia replied the same way. You know about that.
There was no censure in her mental tone. He did. Soldiers were supposed to be tough and capable, but in all things there were limits and Jak's injuries had surpassed his limits. He had never lost discipline even at his worst, but it had been close many times during his recovery. He hated remembering the first days he could remember after his capture, hazes of fear and pain mixed with Alliance uniforms trying to interrogate him. He had sunk into himself and it had taken weeks of therapy for him to come out of his shell. The docs had been patient though and he had thanked them all for that.
"Retreating from such a horrible experience is to be expected." Jak said aloud. "But I am no shrink. And we do not have time to let her come out on her own. Do we?"
"No." Illia replied. "The Andromeda Initiative is entering the final stages for launch. If we are going to piggy back on it, we need to get you there soon. But you cannot go without Lara. The separation would kill you."
"Can we tell the Initiative people the truth?" Jak asked. Illia looked at him and Jak frowned. "I don't think they have a problem bending rules, Illia. Ryder certainly doesn't." He smiled a little as she frowned in thought.
"That is a good point." Illia admitted. "But we have hidden so carefully. Such would go against the grain. For right now? Try agan."
Lara. Jak sent on the wavelength they shared. Lara. Come on. You need to wake up, honey. Everyone is waiting, we have a new sister. She needs help too. I need your help Lara. I am not a people person, not really.
Jak. The mental voice was barely a whisper. Jak immediately grabbed for it, only to be jerked up short.
"No!" Illia exclaimed. "Let her wake on her own. She needs to do it herself." Jak stared at Illia and then at the pool where Lara's face hadn't changed.
Lara, we need you. You have scared us all. Please. Sing for me? He begged.
I am tired, Jak. Lara said weakly. Let me sleep please.
I can't honey. Jak replied, reaching for the pool. Neither of the others stopped him as he plunged his hand into the fluid. It felt icky. He reached down blindly and touched something that had his hand recoiling. Illia chuckle,d but did not comment. His hand followed Lara's shoulder down until he found her hand in the fluid, leaning down until his face was inches away form it. It stank! Lara, please I need you. You are safe. We are safe.
Not safe. Lara was crying in her mind now and he saw tears start to fall down her face. He jerked as something arced up from the fluid to wipe Lara's face. He carefully did not look to see what it was. It hurt. Jak. You were screaming and it hurt. Oh my god it hurt!
I know Lara. I know. Jakreached down with his other hand, tracing Lara's other arm until he found her other hand. But it is okay now. You need to wake up. Please. I need you. Korri needs you.
Korri? Jak smiled as Lara's mind was suddenly sharper. Who is Korri?
Zumin's daughter. Jak was not prepared for the sheer rage that tore through Lara and she jerked in the pool. Yes I know. But we have her. She is safe and so are you. But um… I am going to need your help to introduce her to the geth after what the quarians taught her.
No joke. Lara's voice was slowly firming as she relaxed. Her face creased in a slow smile. This feels really good.
Yeah it does. Jak paused as Lara sent him feelings, images of what she wanted to do. They involved him naked and… LARA!
Just setting some boundaries. Lara said with a smirk in her mental tone that was mirrored on her face. Can't see.
You don't want to see what you are in right now, Lara. Illia sent with a laugh. Good news is you are incredibly clean, but we-
Korri screamed.