"Cass?" Shepard questioned, touching the girl's shoulder gingerly.
"What?" The girl turned toward her mother, leaning into the shuttle's wall.
"Are you okay?"
"Am I okay?" Cass frowned. "Cerberus is attacking the Citadel. I don't really think we have the luxury of being okay."
"Cass." Shepard sighed.
"Sorry, I'm just- I'm just angry, okay? I'm so sick of Cerberus thinking they can come in and take and take and it's not fair! I mean, like, who do they think they are? They-" The teen continued to rant, gesturing with her arms wildly, until Shepard put her hands on the girl's shoulders.
"Cass." Shepard shook the girl out of her ramblings. "I know, okay. I know."
"I know you know." The girl grumbled, leaning into her mother's shoulder and resting her head against the woman's chest. "I'm just tired."
"I know." The mother sighed, petting the girl's head affectionately.
"I'm sorry, you know," The girl sighed against the woman's chest. "about Mordin. I didn't mean to avoid you, I just- I didn't know how to say-"
"Cassie." Shepard squeezed the girl in hug; clearly relieved to hear this. "It's okay. And thank you, and I know you liked Mordin too, and that he was your friend as well."
"How many more people are going to die? How many more of our friends?" Cass mumbled.
"Oh kiddo, you know I don't have the answer to that question, we just have to take it-"
"Day by day," The teen groused. "I know."
"Shepard?" Cortez called.
Shepard released her daughter and ducked into the pilot's space; leaving the girl to fold her arms over her chest and make an annoyed face at the grinning Asari across from them.
"What?" Cass rolled her eyes at her mother's lover.
"It's just nice to see you two getting along." Liara commented.
"Shove it, Liara." Cass growled, folding her arms over her chest defensively.
"Hey." Shepard interrupted. "We're going in hot; the place is crawling with Cerberus troops."
"Woah! Bailey?" Cass slid in next to the C-sec officer. "You okay?"
"Yeah, fine. Nothing medigel can't take care of. But we need to get back into the offices. C-sec is flying blind without out our Com system."
"Bailey?" Shepard appeared.
"Commander." Bailey greeted with a huff as he stood on his feet unsteadily.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. I'm fine." The officer replied and turned back to the door and began to punch in a code. "Now I can get the door unlocked without a bullet interrupting me."
"Yeah, I can see how that may not have helped." Cass rolled her eyes, leaning against the wall.
"Alright, I'm in." Bailey coughed; heading through the now unlocked door, straight for the reception desk right inside. "Cerberus has taken over the system, but I can set up a new channel that we can communicate through; without it, our people have no plan and no chance… and hello..."
"What have you got?" Shepard asked.
"A warning from Councilor Valern, It looks like he was supposed to be here, meeting with the executor." Bailey explained. "Be on guard, betrayal from within is high, there's not a lot else, but if he's inside, we could get the answers we need.'
"Why would the Salarian councilor be meeting with the executor?" Cass scowled. "This could be like Tuchanka all over again, How can we trust him?"
"He gave us the warning in the first place." Shepard frowned.
"What if this was all a trap and there's some giant conspiracy between the Salarian councilor and Cerberus." Cass spoke excitedly. "This could be like a movie or something, where the good guys end up being in league with the bad guys, but then I guess we'd be working with the bad guys cause we're the good guys and that wouldn't make any sense, because-"
Cass' rambled was cut off as Liara placed a hand over her mouth from behind and pulled her away to leave Bailey and Shepard to talk.
"Hey!" Cass whined as Liara released her. "I was-"
"Rambling about a bad movie plot." Liara finished. "Maybe right now is not the best time."
"I know." Cass spoke apologetically. "I'm just really fired up and all of this adrenaline-"
"We need to move." Shepard interrupted. "Valern could still be here and in danger."
"But if it isn't the Salarians, then who's responsible?" Cass asked, following after her mother.
Shepard's expression turned grim. "The councilor mentioned Udina, but we can't be sure."
"Does he even have that kind of pull?" The girl frowned.
"I don't know, but Valern should have the answer to that, which is why we need to get to him first." Shepard spoke as they continued to move.
"I think they could still be in the executor's office." Garrus added. "It's a fairly defensible position."
"Let's hope so." Shepard nodded. "Thane? Did you get all that?"
"Wait!" Cass whined. "You have Thane on your channel. Why don't I have him-"
"Yes." Thane responded on the channel. "I'm moving to your position, but running is difficult. I will meet you there."
"Heh." Cass smiled sheepishly, "Never mind."
Shepard shook her head with an eye roll at her daughter's behavior. "Let's just keep moving.
"There's no one up here." Cass frowned; poking a deceased Salarian with the toe of her boot. "Well other than these guys."
"Bailey," Shepard spoke into her communicator. "Looks like they got the executor and two Salarian body guards."
"Damn. Alright, keep searching. If you haven't found his body, don't count him out yet."
Cass' eyes narrowed as she looked down through the windows at the café esque area below the office; as a chair slid out from under one of the tables, the Salarian councilor's tactical cloak wore off.
"Mom?" Cass called over to her parent. "I think I've found him."
Shepard rushed over to the window and then turned away once more motioning the team back down the stairs, the teen not following. "Bailey, we've got him, he looks unharmed."
"Get him somewhere safe." Bailey responded.
"Oh crap." Cass groaned as her eyes followed a black shape drop from the one of the supports above; the man landing before the now, obviously, frightened councilor. The girl shot her gun into the glass as a few shards fragmented, cutting her face. Ignoring the pain, she jumped down the base floor; her weapon raised.
"Don't you fucking dare." The girl growled; her hands tightening around her gun; her mother and team appearing behind her.
"Shepard." The Salarian whisper-shouted as they circled around him, "He's going to kill us all."
"That remains to be seen." Shepard growled; stepping ahead of her daughter.
"I mean Udina. He's staging a coup. He's got the other councilors now, ready to hand them over to Cerberus."
The Cerberus garbed man's hand raised, the energy glowing and flashing in his palm as the they continued to circle in a dance; the councilor remaining the barrier.
"Four on one, pal. It's over." Shepard's eyes followed the assassin's.
"No." The Cerberus man grinned. "Now it's fun."
The nearly silent click of Thane's gun unsheathing was the only sound heard from the master assassin as he appeared next the black garbed man. As the Cerberus man's hand shot out to knock Thane away, their limbs began to intertwine in a flurry of exchanged blows, as the black clothed man began to flee the oncoming gunshots coming from the Drell and the rest of the Normandy team. Vanishing from sight, the man appeared in front of Thane once more, as they began to exchange blows again; this time his sword drawn.
Cass watched in awe and had to peer around her mother's shoulder, as the elder woman held her behind, along with the Salarian councilor.
As Thane delt two swift kicks into the Cerberus officer's abdomen, his hand glowed the familiar biotic blue as his fist connected with the man's head, knocking him onto his back a few feet away. Picking up his discarded gun, Thane reloaded swiftly as the black garbed man jumped to his feet. As if in a final stand, the two assassins began to charge, each holding their offending weapon. The Cerberus officer dodged each bullet that was discharged from the Drell's weapon, and as they collided, Cass watched with horror as the sword slid into Thane's torso; blood spilling onto the floor.
"Thane!" Shepard cried; firing her weapon at the fleeing officer; missing as he leaped off the stair railing down to the lower levels. Shepard sprinted after him; discharging her weapon repeatedly, reaching the drop off of this floor, The man jumped down, a sky car lifting him into the air and away. Shepard ran back to her injured friend and team who were knelt beside him.
"How bad is it?"
"I have- time." Thane breathed slowly, hunched against the doorway.
"Shepard?" Bailey's voice came into the channel. "What's going on up there?"
"Thane needs medical help, fast. And I need to take care of an Assassin."
"He must be going after the rest of the council."
"Get the word out. Udina's trying to seize power. I've got to get to the councilors."
"They're being taken to a shuttle pad outside of the presidium. Get moving."
"We're on our way." Shepard replied; eyes going back and forth between her injured friend and the sky cars.
Cass watched her mother closely, as she continued to kneel next the Thane; the girl spoke. "I'll stay here."
"Are you sure?" Shepard's brow furrowed.
"Yes; I'll stay with Thane until help arrives." Cass affirmed with a nod; her hand pressed against the now unconscious Drell's wound.
"Okay. Be careful. I'll come back for you when I can." Shepard replied, giving her daughter one last look before dropping into the sky car with Garrus and Liara.
Cass watched as the car disappeared from sight; headed in the direction of the Cerberus Assassin.
"Are you okay, kid?" One of the doctors asked.
"Yeah." Cass nodded, inhaling sharply as the woman pressed a gloved hand against the bloodied cuts on her face from the glass. The teem pushed away the woman's hand and motioned to Thane who now like in one of Heurta Memorial's hospital beds. "You should help him."
"The other doctors are working on him now." The doctor spoke gently. "You should let me take care of these."
"Fine." Cass nodded with a sigh and allowed the doctor to do her job.
The gunfire had died down since the paramedics flew them back to the hospital, and almost all of the Cerberus troops had either fled or were being taken into custody. She had yet to receive any word from her mother, but she had recently spoke with Bailey who reassured her that everything was fine. Thane had yet to wake up; and from what she heard from some of the passing physicians, his prognosis wasn't good.
"Okay; you're all finished." The doctor nodded before turning to the next patient. The hospital was now crawling with the injured that were being siphoned in. Standing, the girl began to meander through the crowds towed the exit as her omni-tool received a message.
"Cass." Aria greeted.
"What is it?" The girl frowned. "Are you alright? Cerberus didn't get to you, did they?"
"Would I be talking to you if they did." The Asari deadpanned.
"What do you want, Aria?"
"Come meet me outside of Purgatory, now."
"Seriously?"
"Get your ass over here." Aria hung up the line.
Cass groaned; and ran a frustrated hand through her hair as she continued to make her way through the incoming crowds.
"What do you want?" Cass asked upon a greeting.
"It's time." Aria said simply; her arms folded over her chest.
"Time?" Cass scowled. "Time for what?"
"To take back Omega."
"You're kidding." Cass snarled.
Aria's eyes gleamed. "The time to take back Omega is now; you swore loyalty to me in favor of assets for the war. It's time for you to hold up your end of the bargain."
"My mother isn't even here right now! I have no idea where she is-"
"I don't want your mother, Cassandra." Aria spoke sharply. "Omega is your home; you know it well, and its time we take it back."
"How is this even a good time?"
"Cerberus has lost a lot of men today; we need to strike when they least expect."
"And you're prepared to go right now? You didn't lose anyone today?"
"We're going today. Out ships are prepped and ready." Aria replied harshly.
"I can't just-"
"Why not? Why can't you? What's holding you back?"
"Everything!" Cass exclaimed throwing her arms up. "I can't just ditch my mom!"
"If I recall, you were ready to come crawling back to me the moment she left you again."
"Things change, Aria." Cass barked; staring down the Asari. "I can't just leave like this, she's my mom, I won't abandon everything, I can't."
"You don't have too." Aria pursed her lips. "I'm merely borrowing you; and you're fulfilling your promise to me. I don't care what you do afterward."
"But-"
"We're leaving now and you're coming."
"You can't honestly expect me to-"
Aria's eyes narrowed at her progeny, stopping the girl mid-sentence.
"Fine." Cass sighed heavily, already severely regretting this decision. "Tell me what to do."
As Aria began to explain the instructions, Cass swallowed the forming lump in her throat. One thing was for certain; her mother is going to kill her.
AN: Please don't hate me! I know I am so slow when it comes to updating right now, but this semester is so swamped for me. And when you have to write so many academic papers, writing for fun takes a real dive in priorities, if you know what I mean lol. And it also doesn't help that Dragon Age Inquisition is out (And you all should cut me some slack here, fellow Bioware friends) Anyways, I will do my best to be better about updating, I'll have a lot more time around the holidays for break, anyways. And don't worry, Cass and Shepard will be reunited soon! And for those of you worried about Javik, I will be getting him in next, somehow I forgot about him, which is terrible since he is such a great character. Thanks for your patience! Please review!