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Chapter 13

Time Turner

"I'm sorry, it appears that Ms Skylar is not at home at the moment. Would you like to leave a message?"

The turian shook his head, removing his talon from the intercom button that he had been pushing intermittently for the past ten minutes, ignoring the Vis casual 'thank you and goodbye.' Dragging his fingers through his maroon fringe he took a step back, wondering where could the psychologist be at this time.

He was not an impatient person; the many years of hard-core training made sure of that, but he deemed it too below him to stand here and wait. Mandibles flaring slightly with frustration, he turned around with the intention to head back to the Presidium.

The hot, blazing artificial sun caused streaks of light to reflect from his standard red and black armour, scattering pretty kaleidoscope patterns on the metallic pavement. But the turian paid them no mind, focusing on the human dragging herself towards his general direction.

He recognized her from the dossier. Skylar- just Skylar. He thought that it was strange that she had no last name. He was used to barking out surnames as though they were an order, enjoying the authority and distance it gave him. But for this human, there was no such luxury. Skylar; he didn't like how informal it sounded, even in his own head.

Still, her arrival meant that she saved him a separate trip to the ward.

As she neared him he could tell that there was something wrong, even by human standards. It was obvious that she was distracted, since she showed no signs of acknowledging his presence. She was dressed in a casual training outfit, hair messy and sticking in all directions with a slight limp adding to her gait and yet, she held a dreamy, satisfied smile on her face. He cocked his head, wondering if she had just finished a sparring session. Unlike most of his turian counterparts, he did not harbour a great dislike for humanity. Sure, he partially blamed them for the deaths from the First Contact War, but he did see the potential the human race offered to the galaxy as a whole. But, it did feel slightly… odd. Like the view of the woman weak and tired, yet looking so absolutely content should be a private one reserved only for herself or those close to her. He shifted his weight from one foot to the next; discomfort was not a feeling he was used to.

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Jane is going to be okay. Sky thought to herself as she dragged her tired body towards her apartment building, thankful that it wasn't too far of a walk from the hospital. She looked longingly at the zooming cars overhead, missing the good old days of transportation actually touching the ground.

It genuinely surprised her, since she was one that really enjoyed roller coasters and such, to find that she was particularly susceptible to motion sickness when aboard the contra-gravity vehicles. She didn't have a problem in the Hastings, but discovered her inability to stomach moving tight, small spaces in her first taxi. It was rather embarrassing, but she had to make due: either by taking medication before a particularly long ride, or walking. One of the reasons why she traveled to the Presidium as little as possible, it was just easier to lounge around the ward.

Not that she minded, Sky loved where she lived. She had briefly visited two of the other five wards a couple of years back, and was genuinely surprised to find that they were not identical in structure nor aesthetics. It seemed as though each of the Citadel's 'arms' focused on different types of genres. While Kithoi concentrated on business and Shalta, development; Tayseri was the cultural epicentre of the Citadel, home to famous attractions such as the Museum of Galactic History, Gaeron Botanical Gardens, Auxua School of Arts, and the Dilinaga Concert Hall, the most prestigious of them all. The architecture here had a hint of ancient Rome and, to her elation, China. It was a strange mix between futurist metal with glass and archaic marble with stone. Before she even began working at the CCF, she had fallen in love with this particular part of the Citadel. It appealed to her artistic soul, and even though she hadn't the chance to pursue any of her other interests in a long time, it felt good to walk out every morning and marvel at the sight of the grand colosseum-resembling stadium. Sometimes, late in the day, the beautiful works of the Tayseri Philharmonic would creep through her apartment walls and soothe her to sleep. It was a wondrous privilege to have.

"I'm gonna walk five hundred miles and I'm gonna walk five hundred more." She hummed to herself happily. The past week had been extremely taxing over her emotions; the constant flitting between worry, anxiety, sadness, frustration, determination, hope, anger and back again drove her absolutely crazy. And finally, with one simple message, it was over. Despite the lethargy that emitted from her very bones, she hadn't felt this good for the longest time.

Logic told her that her adopted sister would be okay, seeing as this was nothing but a simple milestone in her entire story. But still, it was getting progressively difficult to see things objectively, not when she has developed such close ties to the blonde.

After living in this world for so many years… It was impossible for Sky to tell herself, 'no worries, this is just a story that you're stuck in'. The many sleepless nights spent on the extranet researching for ideas as to what had brought her here did nothing. Now, she no longer could think of Jane, or Anderson, or Chakwas as just 'another character', they have become as real to her as the memories of home. In fact, home was such a distant thought that it could be argued that Jane felt more like family than her real one. It was a sad, difficult, painful thought, but it was true.

So wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't realize she wasn't alone until she collided into a very hard, very strangely shaped body.

"Oof." She let out a breath of surprise before she took a shaky step back to balance herself. Alas, her already exhausted body didn't respond fast enough and before she knew it, pain was shooting up her tailbone as she smacked butt first to the ground. Letting out a little whine of pain, she cursed her luck and glanced up at the random obstacle in her path.

Blood drained out of her already pale face when she registered the scaly, reptilian face looking down at her with dark beady eyes. Great, of all her luck, she had to hit into a turian.

It wasn't as though she harbored any particular prejudice against turians. It was just that most she had met so far really didn't really like the fact that she was human. In fact, 'dislike' would be an understatement to describe the way one would snarl at her every time she crossed their path. Perhaps they were better mannered on the Presidium, it being the political capital and what not. But down here in the wards, the hostility was startlingly obvious. She sighed, cursing fate before pushing herself to her feet.

"I'm really sorry. I didn't see you there." She wrung her fingers together, bowing her head slightly in apology.

Her expectation of a few well-placed insults was dashed with a simple: "It's fine," the unmistakable flanging voice of a turian causing shivers to go down her spine. So many years here and she still could not get used to the double bass voice of the avian species. She lifted her face to smile thankfully at the stranger, glad that for once she wouldn't be subjected to some inter-galactic species prejudice.

Curiously, she allowed her eyes to roam over the figure before her. He stood at a full foot taller than herself, face tattooed with dark maroon ink and white stripes. His military grade armour however, told her that he was here for a very specific reason. She didn't often see soldiers down in the wards aside to visit family and friends, and this one was still fully armed. Even from her limited knowledge of weaponry she spied the tip of a sniper rifle peaking out from his back. Whatever he was here for, she sure didn't want to be caught in the middle of it.

Again, nodding apologetically she moved to the side. "I'll get out of your way then."

The turian shook his large head. Ah, she knew she wasn't so lucky. "Are you Skylar?"

Of all days. Really? Today? She really just wanted to get home to shower, change, and call her sister who had been the source of her distress for the past few days. Sighing, she just nodded. "Yeap, that's me. Looking for something?"

"I came here for you." The stranger glanced down the empty street, and then towards her apartment. "But perhaps we could go elsewhere to discuss this in private?"

Sky's eye narrowed in suspicion. Having come from a developing country, some habits were hard to lose, such as expecting every approach to end up with her in a compromising situation. "What is this about?"

"Your patient, Rahan."

The woman paused. Not many people knew about her work in the CCF. Once again she assessed the alien before her, taking in his strict posture and proud attitude, before nodding. This had to be something of great importance if the military was involved. Professional façade back on, Sky stood with her back straighter, weariness dispelling at the thought of Rahan being in trouble. "And who exactly are you?" she asked as she gestured at him to follow after her.

She lost her footing and stumbled at his following words: "Nihlus Kryik, Special Tactics and Reconnaissance."

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Nihlus. Nihlus Kryik. NIHLUS? What on Earth is a Spectre doing sitting on my couch? The Asian woman thought frantically to herself as she forced herself to put on an outward layer of calm, sitting down on the sofa across from the Council agent.

"So… what do you need from me?"

"This is a Council matter, one that needs to be dealt with as much discretion as possible." She nodded at his words, listening carefully. Shut up and keep everything a secret, got it. "But we have a… proposal concerning one of your patients. Rahan Ikren." Her breath caught slightly at his words. Rahan's full name was not known to many, but of course, a Spectre would be able to get that sort of information quite easily no? "We understand that he is to leave the CCF in a week or so and be placed in a separate prison facility."

Again, Sky just nodded, forcing herself to concentrate on the matter at hand. She was having a difficult time trying to stop herself from staring at the face of the character that she knew would die in a couple of years. She hated this feeling, this constant battle of wondering if she should say something to prevent his death, yet fearing that she would mess up something should she do so. She believed that Professor McGonagall was very right to warn the Golden Trio against changing the events of time, who knows what sort of catastrophic, astronomical events could unfold from her meddling. She shook herself out of her thoughts when she caught him staring at her expectantly. Clearing her throat she confirmed his statements. "Yes, Rahan is due for transfer in two days time. What proposal is this?"

"We need an unknown person to conduct a specific mission where we cannot risk the knowledge of the Council being involved. And your drell has both the abilities and… situation to carry this out." Her eyes narrowed, immediately dubious.

"A mission… An assassination?" The turian nodded in confirmation. "What are the risks…?"

Nihlus leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees as he placed his head on his hands. "I won't lie to you. The chance of him returning with his life would be incredibly low."

Fury ignited within her, but she forced none of them to show as she watched the man before her cautiously. He would not have revealed such information to her if he wanted something. Her voice steeled over slowly, coldly. "So you want a guinea pig… You want someone to conduct a suicidal mission and you cannot sacrifice the lives of your precious soldiers."

The Spectre did not even seemed remotely bothered by her change of tone. "More or less, but Mr Ikren has a certain set of skills that many do not have. He is also free from the Compact, meaning he will be able to carry out orders from other hierarchies. Furthermore, he does not have any known ties to the Council."

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"We are aware that Mr Ikren has a… condition that you have been attempting to cure. We need to know that your assassin will carry out his orders to the best of his ability, and not be hindered by his illness. We have reports that the treatment has been going very well, but would rather hear the fruit of it from you. Also, as his therapist, we were hoping you could give us a better insight to the success rates of the mission."

"Why would you need my say in this?" Sky frowned. If the Council really wanted Rahan to do something, they would very easily be able to go behind her back and do it. They required no official consent from her.

"Because you are his therapist and you are the best judge on his current condition. We trust that you would tell us the truth. If you believe he is not fit for such a situation, we will be forced to rely on other methods."

"What makes you think I am going to agree to this? You want to send my patient out to his death."

Nihlus leaned back casually, tilting his head to the right and stared at the woman before him curiously. He did not expect to hear the indignation in her voice, nor see it in her eyes. Could it be possible that she had come to care for the criminal? A strange, new concept, but certainly plausible. Humans were odd creatures. "It is a proposal for a reason. What he does for the Council, he will be paid back in turn."

"Such as…?"

"The drell will have years cut off his life sentence. Depending on how well he deals with the mission and the aftermath." There it went, his ace card. Now he can only hope that she would agree to this.

"Who is the target? And what is he doing this for?"

The turian shook his head, "I'm sorry. I am afraid that kind of information is confidential. Ikren will assume an unknown identity, moved to an unknown location after this is all done, to ensure that no one would find out about this. You will never be able to come into contact with him again."

Sky's eyebrows furrowed. "How do I know that you're telling me the truth then? That you're not going to kill him immediately after all this is over?"

The Spectre remained silent for a while. "You're just going to have to take my word for it, as a Spectre and a turian."

She was worn-out and her bones still ached from this afternoon's torture session. Sighing she placed her face into her hands, ignoring the fact that they were laced with dirt. And now a Spectre wanted to send one of her patients to his death. She knew that Rahan would be perfect for any assassination. That man had a 100% success rate, and personal experience told her that he would not fail at anything the Council intends for him. But she had no idea what the mission would involve, and how he would react to it, either parts of him.

To make matters worse, she was still suffering from the inner turmoil of knowing that the man before her would die in a couple of years. She totally forgot about Nihlus, his death feeling so insignificant during the game. But to actually see and talk to him, it was crazy to know that she could predict his death. The empathizer within her wanted to say something, anything. But what could she say that he would believe?

Groaning, she squeezed her eyes shut. "Would Rahan be given the choice, to accept or decline this mission?"

"Of course."

She would be a much better judge if she knew the mission perimeters, but the Spectre was stonewalling her. Looking up, she knew from his stoic stance that he would not budge on the matter. In her right mind, she would tell him Hell no and to get out of her apartment. But… Rahan could get a few years off. Plus, knowing the drell, he would only do the mission if he deemed it worthy and for a good cause. She knew that he would rather go out with a bang, than to be in confinement for his whole life anyway. Her stomach tightened and she felt sick. How was she supposed to make this sort of decision?

"Well..." She found herself saying. "If this job is a quick in-and-out assassination, there is no one more suited for this than him."

Nihlus nodded, before standing up swiftly. "Thank you very much for your input."

"Wait." She stood up as well, stopping him from leaving. "Can you let me know when the mission is done? If he succeeded or not."

The turian stared down at her, but she ignored his towering presence, fixing a strong, hard glare in return. Finally his mandibles shifted slightly as his posture relaxed. "I can make no promises. But depending on the situation… I'll try."

Sky nodded slowly. "Alright. Thank you."

Perhaps she should have said something more, told him about Saren, or at least warned him to make the next few years count. But by the time she sorted through her thoughts, he was gone.

And that was the last she saw of the white and maroon tattooed Spectre.

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A bit sad really, predicting Nihlus' death. But I do want to stick to the cannon as much as possible. A little sneak peak into the future I suppose. Aha, I am still unsure if that was a very smart idea. But whichever, what is done is done. =]

I just wanted to show a little bit of her reaction to meeting a character that she knew would die in the future. Show her stance a little bit. But of course, to her, Nihlus is still just another person, plus her doctor in the previous chapter did try to stem her hero-complex. Either way, we'll see what happens when the events of ME1 actually start.

I think that is going to happen in about 2 chapters time. Enough back story if you ask me, time to get into the real thick of it.

And for all those who think I might make her side wound some weird mutated power. Don't worry it will not. My character is no Mary Sue! Or at least, I'm trying to make sure she doesn't become one. =P But yeah, a very genetically strange, painful wound, but that is all it would do to her, cause her alot of pain and distress. Sucks huh?

Thank you Liege Lord, Nanobot5770, Helljumper 1337, greed11, Generator X, S058 and Death-Dimension for your input, compliments and criticisms. I especially love those of you who have given me much food for thought. Especially about the pairings. Remember a while back when I said I know who I'm going to pair who to? I lied. Now I'm even more confused. Aha, but we'll see where this wind takes us.

-[[ MASS EFFECT 3 SPOILERS! DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED IT! ]]-

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I read Thane's letter to Shepard after he died if you romance him in ME2 and 3. Holy shit, I was depressed for about half the day. It was actually, really sad. =[ =[ Still can't believe they killed both him and Mordin off. Asdfghjkl. My own fault for forming such deep affections for them I suppose. But still.

Also, I've signed the petition for a new FREE DLC for the ending. Also, a very interesting video to watch to all those disappointed ones out there:

http:/www (dot) youtube (dot) com/watch?v=4H_A7SeawU4&feature=share

Yeapp, I'm still annoyed at the ending. But it seems like I'm not the only one... So I don't feel too bad. Hopefully, bioware WILL make another ending.

ALSO. I am looking for some PC ME3 players to play coop with. Anyone interested just PM me. Maybe I can join a group... or we can make our own? Anyway, if you're interested in someone who only played up till Hardcore (I couldn't handle Insanity) do let me know.

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-[[ SPOILERS END ]]-

Anyway, I hope y'all will stay tuned for the next chapter. Do let me know what you think, etc. I always, always want to hear from you guys.

Love,

Fee

ps. Helljumper 1337 introduced me to a veeerry interesting site: http:/ tvtropes (dot) org/pmwiki/pmwiki (dot) php/Main/MarySue If you're writing a fic yourself, I suggest you go check it out. It was a very interesting and enlightening read.

xx