Serena
"What the hell I am doing here? I've got enough problems for myself I cannot cope with, this is not the way to make things easier. Tomorrow I will leave this station and she will have the same problem again, and then? I'm a damned fool, shit, I am an assassin, I bloody well know that I endanger her with this" Pushing aside these thoughts I moved towards the small lodge, fortunately no one was present on our arrival. Disabling the alarm systems I installed earlier this day, we entered the room, enabling my additional security devices again. "If you want to leave the room, I have to disable these again, please don't forget about that" I told her with a stern expression on my face.
"Ok, I guess I can feel a little safe now with these…well, whatever they are. Not to mention my guardian angel" She stated looking at me with a smirk.
"Some additional warning systems, accompanied by a nice little "I blow a hole in the face of an unwanted guest" device, the latter only engages if someone actually tries to open the door using uncommon methods." I explained my array of tech which was now installed at the door. "And I must say, you look cute when you are genuinely surprised" I added with a wry smile when recognizing her astonished gaze at the only door of my – or better our – room.
She blushed, or at least I think she did, her blue cheeks resembling some darker areas now. "I didn't expect such a detailed and profound explanation. And I must admit your blunt description of what this device actually does, terrified me a little."
"I'm sorry for that, it was actually meant to be a joke, but I guess you are not used to this kind of humour. It is not uncommon between humans; we often use irony when speaking to each other." I replied, really feeling sorry for being so rude to someone who faced death and violence in its ugliest form only half an hour ago – and maybe for the first time in her life.
"Don't mind, you are right, I'm not used to humans and their behaviour, I actually met the first member of your species a few weeks ago." She replied now returning my smile in kind.
Leaving the matter aside I dismounted my armour and weapons, arranging them on the small desk in the corner of the room, the poor thing nearly gave way under the weight. "I suggest you take a shower now, you need it, believe me. Do you have some spare clothes in your bag, or should I try to find something for you, it won't fit, I'm sure about that, but at least it would cover some parts of you." Another wry smile curled my lips while saying this.
"I have some clothes but I would rather spare them for daytime, so if you could afford to lend me something, I would be glad. And you are right, a shower is a good idea, I guess I'm a little, well, dirty." She went to the bathroom and closed the door, only to emerge a few seconds later "I'm looking like a mud-covered slime bowl, why didn't you mention that earlier" she demanded, a stern look on her face.
I couldn't help but laughing out loud, it was too hilarious to see her standing in front of me, dressed to kill and pondering about the dirt on her face. Still laughing, I managed to usher some words "Ok, next time I'll save you from some thugs, I'll inform you beforehand - Hey, don't worry, I help you, but did you happen to know, just for your information, you're all muddy and that."
Her stern expression vanished to be replaced by surprise and then she started laughing also "I'm such a fool, it's just, you know, I could have washed my face, so you would have been able to see it."
"Well, as I said, you need a shower"
"But you left out the reason, now I know why." Still smiling she returned to the bathroom.
I used the time pondering what to do with her, especially when I would leave tomorrow as early as possible. "Somehow I feel guilty to leave her behind in this hell, she won't be able to survive in this place, she is too young, no, not to young, she's possibly older than me, too innocent, that fits better. She obviously never saw such violence, and she is not able to defend herself, what is crucial to survive on this station. So, what now, Mr guardian angel?"
I was still contemplating about this question when she opened the door just a slit "Did you find something which will cover some parts of me?"
"Give me a second" I said while I started to rummage through my clothes, finally coming up with a white T-Shirt of medium size and handed it over to her. "It is not your size of course, but should be sufficient. You need some trousers or anything else?
She took the T-Shirt, donned it, and came out of the bathroom. "No thanks, this one goes for a skirt already." Spinning around once, she sent the shirt flying, revealing a spot of her underwear. "What do you say, fit for the night?"
I couldn't help but grin "Right away, but this spin-around-thing does no good to the cover some parts of you-thing, you know."
She blushed again, sitting down on the bed, looking shyly in my direction. I returned the look and for the first time – now that her face was visible - I realized the stunning beauty before me. Her azure skin seemed to glow in the dimmed light of the room; the well-shaped smooth face had an oval form accentuated by distinctive but perfectly matching cheekbones and sensual lips. Most remarkable where her eyes, the intensive midnight blue colour in combination with this well-shaped face was simply breath-taking. I forced myself to look away fearing my stare would insult her.
I quickly picked some clothes and went to the bathroom "My turn now, I am in need of a shower likewise."
"I guess the difference won't be that striking, but I'm sure such an armour will enforce some sweating." She replied with a knowing smile.
"Perfect, caught in action and guilty. I must have gazed at her like a 15-year old first timer, next time I should start drooling, just to make sure she actually gets it." I chastised myself after closing the door behind me.
While in the shower I tried to come to a conclusion concerning the fact I intended to leave tomorrow morning. "I have to tell her what I'm going to do and why, of course I have to leave out the details. But I cannot just leave her here…maybe I can pay her a trip to another destination, won't put a big hole in my pocket, and I will have my piece of mind, well at least concerning this topic."
As I left the bathroom she welcomed me with a smile and immediately continued the conversation "May I ask you some questions?"
"Of course, I have some of my own, but you were first"
Her first question completely dumbfounded me. "First of all, I still don't know your name, it is ok if you don't want to say it, but my name is Serena, Serena Massana."
"Now it is my turn to feel like a complete fool, I seemingly forgot all my manners in the past years, since I'm not used to have company which is interested to know my name. I am sorry for that, but to answer your question, my name is Grayson Carlyle, call me Gray."
"Don't be embarrassed, our first coincidence didn't imply a formal introduction, I still was not sure if you didn't tell me your name yet with intention." She reassured me with a warm smile. "This also counts for the next question I have, and again, if you don't want to tell me, it is ok for me. Why did you help me? I mean, in the first place you walked by, but then you returned and made a stand, risking your own life to protect me."
I pondered upon this question for some time before I answered. "There is no easy answer to this, in fact I don't really know it myself." I made a pause, again thinking about my answer. "In the past years I continually lived a life on the edge, eventually seeking to forget who I used to be. When I approached the trio of them in the first place, I just told myself to stay out of trouble as everybody does on this station. But then I somehow felt if I would just walk away now and leave you to your doom, I will lose the last bit of my former self, loosening the last anchors that hold me in reality." I made another pause in my speech "I must admit, I did not realize this until now." My words left me brooding over this perception, leaving the room in a tensioned silence.
Serena looked at me now sorrowful. "I must admit, that I didn't expect such an answer. I already recognized that there is something hidden behind this self-confident behaviour you present to others, your eyes betraying you in that, there is a deep sadness not far from the surface. It seems there is more to it, than I anticipated. I would like to help you, but I don't know if you will accept whatever help I can offer."
"You already helped me, Serena, more than you can imagine. You reminded me who I used to be in times of my life where I was happy and confident with it. I am a shadow of my former's self now and it will take some time and effort to regain what I've lost. Maybe you can help we with this, time will show. Anyway you are the first person in the last years to whom I talked about this, but for now please don't ask any more. I suppressed five years of grief, denying the truth and trying to forget my past, trying to forget myself. This can't be mended in a single night" I closed my eyes and lowered my head as a few tears spilled down my cheeks.
Serena stood up from the bed, came over to me, and gently removed the tears on my cheeks. I looked up and as our eyes met my raging mind calmed down, as if she had injected a soothing drug into my veins. "Thank you, whatever you just did."
Hey eyes widened in surprise "What did I do? I only removed those tears."
"As you touched me and I looked into your eyes I had a strange sensation, as if you would soothe my mind, calm me down…I can not really describe it, I just feel at ease now." I tried to explain what had happened.
Serena moved back to the bed again, pondering my answer. "I guess you know that we Asari are able to meld with another mind by using our natural biotic abilities, but if this happens, it is intentionally, not by accident. As for the touch, well I don't know about that, maybe it is possible to influence feelings or emotions by that way, but I would have to ask a more experienced Asari concerning this. All I know is the theory, I did not have any practical experience" She concluded, seemingly not satisfied with her own explanation.
"Wait, you said you have no practical experience, which means…" my voice trailed off.
"…I never bonded with another being, yes. You seem rather surprised by this?" She finished my sentence.
"Erm…yes, you know, I don't know how old you are, but as far as I know Asari can reach a thousand years or more, so I guess you are older than me, and a human of my age who never had sex…well, we would call him or her an old virgin." I felt a little awkward telling her this "Good guy, telling a woman she is an old virgin is a perfect way to drive her off…again the old story…if you don't have a clue better shut up!"
She laughed at that. "To answer your implicit question, I am 97 years old, for my folks I'm barely an adult, so the fact that I have no sexual experience is not unusual. In your terms, I am an ancient virgin. So, if we already have this topic, how old are you?"
I must have expressed my shock rather explicitly, because she started to laugh again. "97? To humans this is unbelievable; most women would kill to look like you at this age. I'm just 33, but look at me! I won't go for a youngling any more, but you are almost three times my age."
She tilted her head and gave me an answer to think about. "I believe this is difficult to understand for short-lived races like you are, but on the other hand Asari tend to do everything with patience and consideration, which is not bad, but sometimes quick solutions are necessary to survive."
"Never thought about it that way, but I also never had the possibility to talk to an Asari in private" I concluded, glancing at the clock hanging above the bed.
"Let's close this matter now, it is getting late, and if I remember it correctly you also had some questions?"
"Ok then, my turn, the first one is easy: How did you end up here on Omega? I mean, you obviously don't belong here. You are unused to violence which is a daily sight on this station and you wander through dark sideways I'm usually trying to avoid." I started my questionnaire.
Like me before Serena thought a while about the question before she gave an answer. "For reasons I do not want to explain right now, I had to leave my home planet. For the same reasons this had to happen very fast, so I gathered some belongings and the little money I had in reserve and tried to find a ship that would bring me somewhere else." She paused shortly before continuing. "I wanted to reach the Citadel, but couldn't find a direct transfer, so I decided to go for Illium first. From there I found a small freighter whose captain headed for Citadel space, but first he had to take care of some cargo here on Omega, at least that's what he told me. As we arrived here, he told me it would take two days and that I should stay on the ship, for Omega is not a safe place – a reasonable advice as I know now. Well, I could wait for some days, but on the fourth day when we were still in the docking bay I got suspicious. At the afternoon of this day a group of well-armed people came to the ship, as the freighters captain didn't want to open the door, they forced themselves a way in. As they found me I feared the worst, but one of them – a turian – kept the others in check and just told me to catch my luggage and get off the ship, it surely won't leave the station very soon, as the owner had some severe issues with his trade accounts.
I left the ship with all I could gather in the short time they permitted me and went into the station, not knowing where to go and what to do. So I tried to find work somewhere to gather money, because I had spent nearly all of it for the two trips. It seems to me that you have to be either a dancer or a prostitute in order to get a job on this station, anyway after three denials I decided to find a cheap lodge somewhere or try my luck in the Afterlife. On the way to the club I rambled into the batarians, well, you know the rest of the story."
"Yeah I do, quite some bad luck you had there." I commented. "But I am glad I'm not the only one with secrets"
With a sigh I pushed myself to address the next topic. "Serena, the next thing is rather not a question; it is more an explanation of my current situation and some decisions I have to take in the very near future."
She looked at me seriously after this introduction, her eyes showing a glint of fear "Ok then, move on".
"I pondered what I should tell you and what not; at last I decided to be honest. What do you think my profession is?"
"Considering your armour and weapons and the ease with which you wiped out those batarians you are a mercenary or soldier, and a good one I guess, although I cannot really judge this." She answered, giving me another example of her quick comprehension.
"A good guess, and correct if not for one fact, I am a very specialised mercenary, most of my jobs are assassination." I waited a few seconds before moving on. "As you already pointed out, I have a reputation to be good and reliable, but unlike other members of my profession I am also known to turn down a job offer if it interferes with my personal codex."
Her expression was somewhat shocked but composed, as she asked me with a calm voice. "And what may this personal codex be?"
"I only accepted jobs where I had to kill bad beings; at least they were bad by my standards: Other mercs, members or leaders of a criminal organization, smugglers, and so on. And I tried to deny jobs which would cause evil in the aftermath, but this is not always visible at the beginning." I made a short pause again "But anyway I am still an assassin, an evil person myself, waiting for the day that I'm running out of luck."
She ushered a sigh "This is hard to swallow, and, if I may say that, I cannot match the person before me I got to know a little this night with an ice cold killer."
"That is maybe exactly what held me back from leaving you in your misery, the last part of the man I used to be, the ice cold killer would have moved on without a second thought. At least I hope that." I gazed at the floor while saying this.
"I hope so, too. But I feel there is more you want to say" She encouraged me to move on.
"You are right, there is more." I continued my revelations "As I said I am waiting for the day my luck is actually running out, and that day may be tomorrow. Today I was offered a job above my usual level; along with a reward ten times my usual price. I asked for some time to think about it, which was granted, but only to buy me some time, because I will deny it. It would change this whole station unmistakable, possibly causing a full scale clan war, and I don't wanna be the one that pulled the trigger." Again I made a pause.
"But where is the problem then?" She gazed at me now, impatiently waiting for me to move on.
"The problem is, now that they revealed to me their plans and whom they want to see dead, they cannot take the risk to just let me go if I say no…"
"…so you think they will kill you then? She finished my sentence, now wearing true concern on her face.
"Exactly, and that is why I'll try to find a ship early next morning to leave this rock, I'm pretty sure I can fend them off if they really follow me, but I think they won't do. And that brings me finally to the reason of this revelation: You."
"Me? But what does this have to do with me, they are after you, if your suspicion turns out to be true, that is." She said her eyes widened in surprise.
"First of all, they will surely watching me, by means they will have seen you going into the lodge with me. But I don't think they will harm you, rather guessing I wanted some fun. But I cannot be sure, with 80 murders a week on this station, one more doesn't make a difference.
Second, I am pretty sure that this station will consume you in a short time, with no money, no protection no nothing you will end up as a prostitute if you are lucky, more likely you will add up to the 80 murders of next week. For those reasons I would like to pay you a trip to a destination of your choice, and before you protest, it won't ruin me, I can afford it, be sure of that." I concluded and sighed, unsure what she would answer.
She took her time before answering. "You gave me a lot to think about. I am not sure if I really want you to pay me a trip, on the other hand I want nothing more than to leave this cursed place. But I must ask this, even if the question hurts you: Why do you want to do this? Is it because you feel guilty for all the people you killed and now you want to buy yourself some piece of mind by doing something good?"
The question surprised me, but considering what I had just told her I should have expected it. "It must be hard to believe me now, but it has nothing to do with piece of mind. All the money in the galaxy couldn't buy me this, it will follow me my whole life. I cannot put a finger on it, but I somehow feel responsible for you, I am not asking for absolution, I just want to ensure that you get of this pisshole."
She looked me in the eyes for some time, finally giving in. "I believe you, and I will accept your offer, but under one condition."
"And that condition is?" I asked raising an eyebrow.
"I will accompany you to your next destination, wherever that may be" She said with a firm expression.
My eyes widened in surprise. "Are you sure you want to roam the galaxy with a professional murderer? And if so, I also must ask the same question to you now: Why?"
"I cannot answer this question, it just feels right in the moment, and maybe I can return that you saved my life by saving yours, literally said at least."
"I am not sure if this is possible after all what I've done in the past years, but you already saved me from becoming the ice cold killer, so who knows – given some time - what wonders you are able to accomplish?"
"We will see, anyway, we need to get some sleep if we want to catch a ship early in the morning. One last thing I want to say: Although you shocked me with your revelation, I appreciate your honesty and I also thank you for my rescue earlier this day. Both are no deeds of a murderer, but rather of someone who cares for others. That is why I don't think of you as a soulless killer but of a being on an ill-fated path." Her amazing eyes were fixed on mine while she said this.
"Again I hope that you are right. I`m following this path for quite some time now, and I am not sure if I can find a way back, if not, be sure to be far away then. But let's catch some sleep now." I stood up and moved to the other side of the bed now feeling how tired I actually was.
"I am sure we will continue this conversation, but for now I need some sleep."