Mass Effect belongs to Bioware – I only play the game to enjoy the story.
Chapter Song: You Really Got a Hold on Me by She&Him
Requiem Shepard kept her head tilted back as she let the water flow over her. She could feel the hot water gently washing away the layers of blood, sweat, and grim from her body. Raising her hand, she watched as the water turned pink as it dripped from her fingers. She remembered the first time she was so thoroughly drenched in someone else's blood. It was her sister's. Slowly and meticulously, she picked up her soap and began to scrub the red pigment off her skin and out of her hair. Her mind quickly drifted as her hands kept doing the task.
She was going home.
It was a place she's been trying for the longest to stay away from. The closest she's gotten to Earth had been when the VI went crazy on the moon. That was back when they were looking for Saren. She never even sent an e-mail or vid to anyone back home. She always figured if something happened the White Lotus would find her. Requiem shook her thoughts out of her head as she rinsed the soap from her body and hair. Pressing the button for the shower to stop, she reached over and pulled the robe off the sink. Wrapping it around herself she exited the bathroom.
Her room was filled with the sound of a soft female voice singing. Her lavender eyes looked over at the table beside her bed. There were two full sized holograms. One was of the real Drusilla Shepard, her twin sister. The woman was wearing a pair of black tights with a pair of dark gray knee high boots. Her gray turtle-neck tunic draped down to her knees with a green belt resting on her hips. Her dark brown hair was long and braided over her shoulder. In the hologram she had a gentle smile on her face. The other hologram was of a short black haired Euro-Asian woman. Her blue eyes were slightly squinted and she had a maniac grin was on her face. She was dressed in a leather jacket that had the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. The woman wore a pair of dark blue jeans over a red halter-neck uni-shirt that she wore. This woman was Revan Onasi, her almost-sister.
Slowly walking to desk beside the holograms, she lifted up her old helmet that she found on Alchera. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she stared at the piece of armor. Her fingers slowly smoothed over the cracks. She could practically feel the coolness of Alchera from the metal as her mind jumped back to what happened.
She began typing furiously at the console. The Alliance was too far away and they were in Terminus Space. She did a quick scan of a small sector and felt relief flood through her body when the signal bounced back with a positive beep. She began to type on the keys as she readied the distress beacon with a small message.
'Sanctuary is collapsing over Alchera. Relay to Wolf: Fox is initiating Primavera Contingency.'
The message was finished just as Kaidan raced up to her. "Shepard!"
"Distress beacon is ready for launch."
"Will the Alliance get here in time?" He asked after putting his helmet on. She felt her chest tighten as the ship shook. Shepard knew that they wouldn't, so she did something she never thought she would have to do with Kaidan.
She lied to him.
An explosion caused Kaidan to stumble into her. She gazed into the visor of the Titan armor he was wearing, knowing her own visor was too dark to see through. Pushing him away slightly she went to the extinguisher. "I'm not doing this just so they can find our frozen corpses. Get everyone to the escape pods."
"Joker's still in the cockpit, he won't abandon ship!" He stood there as she tossed him the device after putting out a fire. He began to use it as he spoke. "I'm not leaving either."
Grinding her teeth, Requiem knew she had to get Kaidan off the burning ship for his own sake! He was her Lieutenant after all. Moving away from the console she was fiddling with she went to Kaidan, grabbing his shoulder to turn him to her. She quickly pushed him toward the way he needed to be going.
"Get to the damned shuttles! I'll haul Joker's crippled ass out of here!"
"Commander!"
That was it! Why couldn't he listen to her when he needed to? Walking toward him, she let her anger come out in her stance and tone as she pointed. "Get the hell out of here!" Kaidan, thank god, listened and quickly left the area.
Shepard stumbled back to the console and slammed her hand to send out the beacon. She hoped that the ship in the area had Wolf on it. Turning, she quickly made it through the wrecked ship toward Joker. She had to be rude to him too! What the hell was it with the men when there was disastrous trouble?
Before she knew it she was drifting backwards in the cold nothingness of space, suffocating. Her thoughts centered on her lover, hoping he got away safely. Her eyes watched the stars and planets as she began to plummet through the atmosphere to the planet below, her thoughts solely on him. She knew that Kaidan would be okay. She knew that the White Lotus would grant her last request. It was in contingency plan Wolf and she had set up and she had revised it not to long after Saren, knowing that the White Lotus would allow it after all the media surrounding her.
Protect Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko.
It was not specific, but she knew her brother would understand.
Knowing her lover would be protected, let Shepard fade with a small smile on her face.
Requiem's gave a soft smile to the helmet. The chill of the frozen planet seemed to be forever embossed into the metal. Her fingers pressed against the cracked visor. A second life was something not everyone got. But now, with the White Lotus behind her, she could effectively do what she needed to keep everyone safe.
"Shepard?"
Blinking, Shepard looked up to see Kaidan standing at the bottom of the small stairs. He was staring at her with a grim expression.
Kaidan had walked into the cabin after EDI slid the door open for him. To him, it still was a bit creepy to have an AI in control of parts of the ship. When he entered, he didn't think he would find Shepard staring at her old helmet, that she wore when she died, with two holograms standing behind her. Seeing one of the holograms looking identical to her, he figured out that it was of the true Drusilla Shepard, Requiem's twin. He stood at the top of her stairs watching her silently. She was running her fingers over her the helmet lost in thought. Kaidan's eyes roamed over her form. He could see the scars that ran up her legs and disappeared underneath the robe. Moving his gaze up, he zeroed in on her chest, where the robe had parted. He could see the scars patch worked over her chest and collar in a small network, like a quilt. Kaidan frowned grimly. She kept the reminders of her resurrection.
When he called her name, he had stepped down into her room. She had blinked at him before one of her hands reached up to close the robe more securely around her chest. Shepard said something in Italian causing the two holograms to disappear and the music to stop.
"Sorry," She murmured as she looked down at the helmet again. "I need to get dress, I…"
Kaidan moved across the room while she spoke and put his hand on top of hers, which was on the top of the helmet. He could feel the coldness seeping off of the helmet into her hand. Gently squeezing her hand, he slowly pulled the helmet away from her and set it gingerly on the bed next to her.
"Are you okay?" He asked as his right hand tightened around hers.
Requiem looked at their hands. The warmth from his hand was a welcome burn. Looking up at him, she gave a tight grin. "I haven't been back to Italia since my sister made me promise her…." She trailed off and shook her head. "It's just been a long time." Standing she moved over to the couches which held some of the clothes Alma had gotten for her. Clothing that didn't have the Cerberus symbol on them. It was times like this that she was grateful for the other woman's foresight.
"You aren't even going to tell me what's bothering you?" Kaidan asked. She turned to look at him. He was standing with her helmet in his hand glaring down at it. "You went to Alchera didn't you? It's the only way you could have gotten this."
"Hackett wanted me to put a monument at the crash site for those that died." She was staring at the helmet. "I was able to collect some of the dog-tags of those that didn't make it out of the Normandy."
The Staff Commander looked up at her in shock. He was with Anderson when the dog-tags were delivered to his office. He had wondered who had gone back to the site to collect them all. Anderson refused tell him who did it, only that the families would be grateful for the closure.
"That was you?" He asked putting the helmet down on the desk beside her omnitool.
"I had asked Joker to take me to the site, on the way I got an e-mail from Hackett." She said as she lifted her clothes. "Excuse me…"
Kaidan watched her move back into the bathroom to change. He could practically feel the invisible elcor trampling them both. There was so much to discuss between them but neither of them knew what to say or where to start. Running a hand through his hair, Kaidan decided to busy himself in her room while he waited. His eyes caught sight of something on the desk by the bathroom. Moving toward it, Kaidan felt his lips twitch into a smile as he looked down at the picture of himself. Picking up the frame, he stared at the picture. It was one of the regulation pictures the Alliance had wanted. He was surprised to see her with it.
Behind him the door to the bathroom slid open and Shepard walked out. Kaidan turned to see the woman in a dark pair of low riding blue jeans and a form fitting, long sleeved dark gray top that looked like it was a one-piece. He tilted his head at her when she threw the fingerless gloves on the desk with a snort. Looking at him, she raised an eyebrow before seeing him with the frame.
"Oh…" She murmured. "About that…."
"You've had this?" Kaidan asked with a small smile.
Shepard blushed a bit. "I had Kasumi steal it from Anderson's office when I went there after…seeing you."
"You went back to Anderson after Horizon?" He asked in surprise while putting the frame down.
"He had stonewalled me when I asked about you the first time." Shepard replied as she walked back down into her room toward her other desk to get her omnitool. She stiffened when she felt Kaidan's arms trap her against her table. "What are you doing?"
"Why did you never tell me about your brother?" He asked calmly. "I thought we had something special Shepard…"
Shepard was quiet as she slipped on her omnitool. "Not telling you about my family and past, had nothing to do with our relationship Kaidan. It was just something I wasn't ready to reveal to anyone." She turned her head to look at him. "But…that night…the night the Normandy fell, I was thinking seriously about it. It would have taken time to convince my brother not to kill you…"
"I can't imagine why he hasn't yet…."
"The Primavera Contingency Plan is technically still in place."
"Contingency Plan? What contingency plan?" Kaidan grabbed her arms and turned her toward him.
"I told you before that Brian was suppose to continue where I leave off if I died," Shepard answered. "I had sent the distress beacon to the White Lotus when the Normandy fell. It held a message for him. The Primavera Contingency is when one of us dies, the other will continue what they were trying to achieve." She took a deep breath, hoping that he would understand why they made this plan. "For example if I lived, but Brian died fighting the other organizations, I would retire from the Alliance to take up his position as the leader of the White Lotus."
"You would leave the Alliance…for the White Lotus?" He asked slowly.
Shepard raised a hand to his cheek, letting her eyes soften. "The White Lotus must have a leader. If we both die, it gets handed down to Alma, if she dies then Julian takes the mantel."
"You make it sound like the Universe would implode if the White Lotus doesn't have a leader."
"The White Lotus still has contracts with the Alliance that need to be upheld. Without them, some of the Alliance's intelligence will fall. Some of the members don't agree with Brian, but because they fear his anger they follow his rule." She let her hand drop. "They fear me for my renegade prowess and combat abilities, they fear Alma for her scientific and sadistic mind, and Julian is feared for his strategy and tactics. But after Saren…I went into the plan and added an extra, well…rule if I died."
Kaidan tilted his head to the side slightly. "What rule?"
Shepard looked into his eyes knowingly. "Protect you," She whispered. "I told Brian to protect you." She let her hand rise to cup his jaw. "I wanted you safe from anything that could have killed you. It's why Brian lost two teams on Horizon, it's why Callen was assigned to your unit." Tears began to drop from her eyes. "I had died and my brother was going against his own opinions to fulfill my last wish."
He realized that she was slowly coming to terms with the fact that she died. She had died and left him alone. She had lost everything. He couldn't imagine what it was like to die and come back without anything or anyone. Shepard must have felt like she was out of place in the world. She had asked her brother, a man who loathed the Alliance with a passion, to protect him, an Alliance Staff Commander. Kaidan pressed his lips to her temple as she shook. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close to his body. She was still the same Shepard, rougher around the edges, but still the same. She was still jumping to his rescue when he didn't know it. He lifted her up and sat her on the edge of the table as he wiped her tears away.
Shepard watched as Kaidan smiled gently at her as he wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes. It was the same smile from before the crash, the one that he used just for her. She knew that there still might be a chance he would walk away from her. She knew that two years had changed him in ways she didn't know, but…she still could see the man she fell in love with in him.
The urge grabbed hold of her, despite the awkward situation. Her hand rose up and grasped hold of the shirt he had on. She roughly yanked him forward, crushing their lips together. The passion that has been settling in the pit of her stomach burned. Shepard wrapped her legs around Kaidan's waist pulling her body closer to his. She didn't know what would happen, but she needed…she wanted to taste him on her lips and feel his warmth against her body.
Kaidan immediately leaned forward, increasing the pressure between them. His hands grabbed her waist, holding her as their mouths fought. He didn't even try to stop her hands as her nails dug into his arms and ground her hips forward. Kaidan growled at her teasing and lifted her from the desk. Turning around, he deposited her on the bed, immediately crawling over her so she had no where to go. When he didn't come down to her, she grabbed his shirt and used it to haul her body up to nibble at his lips. He wrapped an arm around her back, holding himself up with the other arm and his knees. Kaidan leaned down and kissed underneath her ear and along her neck. He grinned when Shepard started making mewling sounds. Kissing her neck, he went back to her lips and demanded his dominance. She tried to gain the upper hand, but Kaidan immediately flared blue as he thrust his tongue into her mouth. Shepard gasped and arched into him. He watched her eyes flare into their silver-blue as she withered beneath him.
"Kaidan…"
The way Shepard said his name edged Kaidan's desire higher. He pushed his hips down against hers as his kiss became fiercer. Laying her flat on the bed, Kaidan let his free hand roam over her clothed body as the blue aura faded. Her hands tangled themselves in his hair behind his head, as her eyes returned to normal. Kaidan let his hand caress the side of her breast causing Shepard to mew in his mouth.
Her legs tightened around him forcing him to grind into her. He let out a groan that vibrated through her. She attacked his mouth with more fervor than before. She pulled him down flush with her, enjoying the weight of his body against her own. His warmth chased away the ever biting cold that has been with since she woke up in the Cerberus station.
"Commander, Brian is requesting you in the cargo hold." EDI's voice echoed through the room as the blue hologram appeared at the door.
Kaidan pulled away with a groan. He buried his head into Shepard's neck, hiding his face from the world. He felt her hands start to slip from his hair and immediately reached up to intertwine his hands with hers. He felt her try to turn her head to look at him. Kissing her neck, he stayed where he was.
"Tell him I'll be right there EDI," She was still panting for air. That alone caused a stirring within Kaidan.
"Logging you out Shepard," The AI said before the hologram disappeared.
"No privacy huh?" Kaidan murmured against her shoulder.
"Not on my ships…" She replied as she pulled a hand from his and rested it on the back of his neck. "I want to stay like this…" She quietly admitted, her legs squeezing around him. "I don't want to let go."
He rose up a bit and looked down at her. Shepard stared back, a sad expression on her face. A hand caressed her cheek as he leaned down to kiss her gently on the lips. Kaidan pulled away as she rocked her hips into him. "Now stop that," He said with a smile.
"Stop what?" She asked innocently as she rocked her hips again.
"Shepard," His voice was stern yet a bit strained.
Shepard leaned up and nibbled on his lip before biting it a bit roughly. "What ever happens, do not interfere until Alma says. She will be having Carth doing short jumps instead of a long one." Kaidan nodded to her. She smiled and flipped them over so she was on top of him. "You can send your report to Anderson from my computer here. Okay?" She swiped her tongue along his lip where she bit him.
Kaidan let out a groan as she slid off his body. He threw an arm over his eyes, knowing he had to cool himself down before he got up. It didn't help that after Shepard put her boots on she walked over to him and kissed the tip of his waistband. "Tease…" He managed to say. He didn't get a response as she left, but he could imagine a small smile on her face. God, that woman knew how to stir him up.
The three White Lotus members turned as Shepard walked toward them. Two of them grinned while their leader raised an eyebrow.
"I see someone been making up with a certain Commander," Alma said as Shepard got closer. "Well that's a look I haven't seen in a while…Requiem Shepard smiling her mischievous grin." The older woman smirked.
"I have no idea what you are talking about." Requiem answered as she looked at her brother. Brian was wearing a pair of loose fitted black jeans with some old style Converse sneakers. His tank top was tight, but it allowed his arms free range. She watched as he held a hand out to her.
"Fidati di me sorella (Trust me sister)?" He asked in Italian.
"Sempre (Always)," She answered as he pulled her toward him.
Brian led his sister to where Callen was kneeling. Towels were set up against one of the crates. There was a bucket next to them, Requiem assumed a caution for the nausea that she knew would hit her. A few feet away were Alma's medical supplies as well as a small half circle device.
"No needles…" Requiem stated as Brian sat down on the towels, his back against the crate.
"We will try not to use them." Alma promised. "But if you thrash around to much we will need to."
Requiem's lips thinned out but nodded as Brian tugged her down between his legs. The brother and sister situated themselves so Shepard was leaning against Brian. Her head was on his chest allowing her to lie between his legs while he reclined back against the crate. Brian bent his knees up on either side of Requiem, resting his wrists on them as he looked down at her.
"You guys ready?" Callen asked.
"Comfy?" Brian tilted his head.
Requiem shifted then raised her arm and punched her brother in the stomach. He let out a grunt and raised an eyebrow at her.
"I want a different pillow." She answered, punching him in the stomach again.
"Damn it, stop!" Brian rubbed his stomach. "Fucking strong…."
Alma giggled at them. "I'm sorry Requi but he's the only one that has a chance of containing you."
"My pillow needs to take another shower…" Shepard answered with a glare.
"Blame Callen, it's his clothes." Brian answered as his eyes lit up with his power. "Let's do this."
Alma tilted her head slightly. "Admiral, you get that?"
"Got it Shaw," The former Alliance pilot's voice echoed in the cargo hold. "Countdown to relay jump: Omega Nebula to Hawking Eta in t-minus ten minutes."
"Warning Issued," EDI voice continued as Carth's stopped, but hers wasn't confined to the cargo bay like his. "Wolf has asked that all biotics and biotic sensitive personnel be cautious during the jumps. Echoes of his and the Commander's power may be amplified due to the relay's mass effect fields."
"Cute message," Requiem murmured as she began to prepare herself. "Didn't want to say it yourself?"
"Unlike you, I don't do speeches well." Brian retorted. "That trait comes with a black cloak and poisoned dagger."
The younger woman shook her head as Alma's small circular device was switched on by Callen as he placed it near them. A green transparent glowing force field appeared around the two siblings as Brian's biotic power flared.
"Relay jump in one minute." Carth's voice announced.
"Req," Brian murmured.
The woman nodded and opened her eyes as her biotics flared up under her brother's. Brian tilted his head a bit as he wrapped both his sister and her biotics in his. Only when this was done did the siblings' breathing slow until they were synced.
Alma glanced down at her omnitool before looking up. "Do it Onasi."
"Hitting the relay…" As the man spoke, the White Lotus spy could hear the tension in his voice. Carth was biotic-sensitive. He didn't have biotics, but he showed signs of knowing where and when certain biotic attacks would be aimed at him. It has saved his life more than once.
"In three….two….one."