BAMS: Yeah, they don't appreciate being 'bullied' or showed up for that matter.
Hound Akragth: I just said oracle because Raegas made it known in the beginning that she had a talent for 'precognition'. And yes, I know they hate AIs and all. I figure the Vertoak are keeping that under wraps- for now, at least, until negotiations are done. I think the reporters are only being nice because they too want to know what the Vertoak have to say. Besides, I didn't feel like writing overly obnoxious people at the moment. And sorry about the crew thing- I plan on fixing that this chapter. Along with the 'we need to talk' stuff. Don't worry, I'm getting to it. XP
Hopelessly Blue: Damn! I can't believe you found out so quickly! Wrex was so happy to help, too! ;) And yes! Why must Kalisah be trippin'? She just kills me sometimes, I swear. XD Great choices there too, HB- not that I think those are what will happen, but maybe after the Normandy takes off. *primes self for writing another ridiculous shenanigans chapter* Bring on the challenges!
Liege Lord: I would go into a rage if the Council dismisses that shit! Raagh! (And good joke there, I actually got it! Tali's got a pervert inside of her somewhere, I'm sure of it!)
A/N: ~'cause you had a bad day, sing a sad song just to turn it around~ Oh sorry, I got distracted and just started singing for no reason. Let me just… okay, got mah pen… mah paper… Alright, I'm ready! Let's get through this update!
"Who are you?" Miranda's demanding voice was the first thing I heard after exiting the lift to the hangar. How was I not surprised? Shepard and I exchanged looks as we walked over, getting everyone's attention. It was apparent in how everyone was placed that my team hadn't said much of anything to Shepard's present crew and it was bothering the new arrivals.
As we neared everyone, they looked to us and started half-staring at me, making me feel uncomfortable. It had already taken ten minutes to get Shepard to stop attacking me so the tension must've been higher than earlier. If going by the group's expressions was any indication, I came off as angry or something akin to it.
"She's way hotter in person!" I heard Kasumi whisper, leaning toward Joker, who nodded as if he knew everything. I had to keep from rolling my eyes at the look. After all, I had to look dignified. –For first impressions and all that. Obviously.
"Jersak, escort those not of Shepard's team to the recreation unit." I said, getting only a tight nod from the usually arrogant man. He gestured to the crew and got them to follow him along relatively easily.
"Who are you?" Miranda demanded, crossing her arms as if she were the queen of the world.
"It's a wonderful to meet you as I had thought, Ms. Lawson." I drawled, injecting only a small amount of sarcasm into my voice. It was easy to catch Jack's smirk from her perch on a crate not too far away, either. It looked like Shepard only got a few people before heading to the Citadel, though. It made sense given the new timeline, but still, I had gotten a little excited at the prospect of having a huge reunion/meeting.
All in all, Shepard had Zaeed, Miranda, Jacob, Jack, Garrus, Mordin and, surprisingly, Kasumi. Shepard had told me earlier that she had found the pure Krogan but because of the state it was in, it had a while to go before it would be 'finished' enough to actually 'birth' out of the tank. I was only put off by the early start to the second game's timeline and how it seemed to be progressing as it would have originally; only with a few changes here and there. Like, for example, my species popping out of nowhere or Liara not being an information broker.
"You should know who this is, Miranda." Garrus piped up unexpectedly, taking a step forward. "This is Raegas. Or otherwise known as Princess Lixeria, now." His humorous tone caused me to smirk and I stepped to Garrus. We exchanged a fist bump in the spirit of companionship, not needing words.
"Nice scar." Well, not too many words, anyway.
"Thanks, I got it from a rocket to the face." His proud tone made me smirk larger.
"Makes you look like a half-eaten bug." My little punchline got a snort out of Jack and a narrowing of the eyes from Miranda. Still, it was the kind of narrowing of the eyes that looked more satisfied than irritated.
"Amazing similarities to human bone structure and appearance. Highly evolved. Stronger. Smarter." I smirked at Mordin's funny speech, glad that he was having a field day. Even so, I was surprised he wasn't jumping off the walls. "Cousins perhaps? No no no no, different galaxy. But… same planet type? Yes yes, that would work. Less mistakes."
"Hey! I'm not a goddamn mistake you lizard-lipped baboon." Zaeed announced, drowning out Mordin's quiet prattle. Still, the salarian kept muttering to himself and looking me up and down with a hand to his chin like I was a science experiment. Maybe I was in his mind.
"I can take Mordin to the labs, Raega." Vetrali said, walking over. I hadn't realized she came as well. I hated it when she got so sneaky even if it was always convenient. Oh well.
"He'll probably have more fun there anyway." I said, getting an eager nod from the scientist salarian. Vetrali almost had to grab Mordin's collar to slow him down as he rushed for the lift, too.
"What is this meeting for, Raega?" Adel asked, seemingly not pleased with being stuck in the hangar while she could be working or something.
"As you all know, Shepard has to get back to her mission in a couple of a days. My place is with her." I announced, getting a shocked response out of pretty much everyone there.
"What? You can't be serious." Miranda was actually getting on my nerves at that point. I had never actually thought of her in a bad way either, when I played the games. From what I remembered of that life, I had liked her quite a lot; after she warmed up a little.
"Yes actually, she is." Shepard stated, sounding a little irritated herself.
"Disrespect my princess once more, human." Adel stepped up to Miranda, her face completely serious. A cold block formed in the pit of my stomach when I saw the woman's eyes were only beginning to turn red. She always had been protective- especially after I returned to my people.
Shepard saw Adel's eyes as well and tensed, but stayed still. I was glad that she had enough faith in either me to stop her or Adel to stop herself if anything did come of it. The others seemed to tense as well, obviously unused to seeing people's eyes change color spontaneously. Miranda clenched her jaw but said nothing, luckily, seemingly knowing just what danger Adel could pose. After all, she was my top Lord- my cousin. And my best friend.
"Where my Battlemaster goes, I go." Herga announced, looking to me. I nodded, offering a small smile of appreciation.
"You may need Shepard, princess, but you need us too. You won't be leaving without your team." Graide smirked, crossing his arms.
"I hate cramped places…" Rota sighed, looking dejected. I gave her a look and she smiled in return, obviously making fun. "But you're the princess so we might be able to squeeze another ship out of Emperor Haieven."
"If you get another ride, I'll hang in your cargo hold instead." Jack suddenly declared, looking straight at me. I raised a brow but nodded, knowing she probably hated the very idea of being on a Cerberus vessel. She hopped off of her crate, exchanging glares with Miranda.
"Fucking hate Cerberus." She muttered, walking past me, toward the lift. I couldn't help but blow out a smile at her oh-so-charming attitude. Even if she was supposed to be seen as the villain type in the game, she had always made me laugh with her scathing comments.
"I came here for a break. Call me if you need anything." Jacob announced to no one in particular, walking off after Jack.
"Me too. I've got somewhere to be." Zaeed waved without turning as he walked off toward the lift as well. I wonder what the rush was, but it could've been just as well. I didn't even know what to say to them anyway, since I was used to being the one to be approached.
"I've just got to see is there's a single Vertoakan here, because…" Kasumi trailed off for a moment before throwing her arms out at me, smiling that smile of hers. "Well just look!" she stated. Joker, surprisingly still there, hummed, nodding in agreement.
"I'm with the kleptomaniac, Shepard." The pilot announced, smiling a hello and goodbye to me as he limped toward the lift where Jacob and Jack were fighting over the controls. "Peace out bitches!" he called back. Before I knew it, something metal flew past my ear and hit Joker dead in the back of his head. He yelled out in pain and glared back at whoever threw it. I looked back as well to see a severely aggravated Adel. The poor woman would pop a blood vessel if she didn't loosen up. Thinking that, I was grateful for Shepard forcing her way into my heart in more ways than one.
Now, all that was left was Miranda and most of my team. It was a little awkward since the woman was still glaring at everything she looked at.
"I'll, uh… go make sure they don't get lost." Graide said, rushing to the lift before the others could go without him. The man always had been aversive to awkward situations. Of course, who wasn't?
"Miranda, why don't you look around and take a break from working? It's healthy." Shepard tried, being diplomatic as usual. I wasn't sure why, but it peeved me that she was being so reasonable. Maybe it was just because Adel's anger was rubbing off on me. The only response Shepard got though was a sour expression.
"I believe that is a human expression for 'leave before something bad happens'." Herga grumbled, eying Miranda. She frowned but locked eyes with me, ignoring Adel's piercing glare. I had a feeling she'd call me out later to talk with you-know-who. In the end, the Cerberus officer turned and sauntered off, toward the lift with the others still watching Jacob and Jack bicker like kids over a toy.
"That could've gone better." Rota muttered. Herga grunted and stomped over to the lift as well. He pushed Jacob and Jack out of the way and pushed the control to make the machine rise. Unfortunately, Jack was offended by the push and decided to pick a fight with the giant Krogan. As they disappeared into the ceiling, I hoped no one would get hurt.
After a few moments of silence, the lift came back down I saw a small puddle of blood on its floor. I sighed and decided to just trust everyone was okay and no one killed anyone yet. I had figured Shepard's team wouldn't quite get along with mine, but I hadn't thought it would be… like this.
An awkward cough caught my attention and I looked back over to see Garrus was the only one left of Shepard's crew in the room. I smiled in humor and shrugged, wondering what to say.
"It's… been a while." I started awkwardly. I never did have the best social skills after all.
"No kidding." Garrus smirked in that weird turian way and crossed his arms as if self-satisfied. "But I really want to know… Was that you, or someone else?" he put his hand up to keep me from talking just yet. "And don't say you don't know what I'm talking about because I recognize your team. The Krogan especially." I sighed, knowing he was talking about the week before Shepard awoke.
"It was me but it wasn't me." I answered, telling the truth. Garrus paused, confused.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked, registering Shepard's confusion as I did.
"I was in a bit of a rough spot, okay? I was in a bad mood all of the time. –And it was Rota who shot you, not me." I said.
"What?" Shepard spoke up then, taking hold of my shoulder to get my attention. I looked to her.
"I was the one who gave Garrus that sphere of yours. It's called a Holo-Sphere." I said, earning a sigh from my commander.
"I'll just leave you two alone then. We'll talk later, Raegas." Said the turian as he walked off. I frowned at his back but said nothing, instead choosing to take Shepard's hand. Rota and Adel went with Garrus, only offering nods as they passed. I'd have several people I'd have to talk to after Shepard, that was for sure.
"We need to talk, huh?" I asked, knowing the answer. Shepard nodded, pushing a hand through her hair before gazing back to me. The small smile that graced her features put me to ease a little, but I couldn't help the guilt knowing at me in the corners of my mind.
"Yeah. Let's talk."
A/N: Oh, sorry, I meant to get further than that today but I have to update and I need to get my ass in the shower and get some sleep before I pass out of blood loss. (Long story) -_-