Author's Note: First, many thanks for those who are keeping track and giving suggestions. They are well needed and are very encouraging. Many thanks especially to Prioris for the badly needed information.
Lucas walked away from the commercial area having made a rather large investment. The commando absentmindedly brushed back his raven black hair with a numb hand. The metallic gray of his eyes seemed even more lifeless than usual as he thought on the decision he had made. There was no turning back now of course, but someone who jumps off a cliff still has a couple seconds to contemplate their decision before they get the jolt of their life.
"Oh my gosh...what am I going to say?" Lucas muttered, a finger idly scratching his mustache. He glanced at a nearby clock.
"Rrgh, well it has to come quick. Dalora will be off her shift soon..." the strangely agitated lieutenant stomped off, quite certain that he wasn't certain about what he was doing.
After taking a few steps, Lucas realized he wasn't getting anywhere by being agitated and nervous. In fact, it would probably only make things worse and impede his thought process. If he could only calm down then this decision, and the hefty discussion that would follow, would probably be made all that less painful. He would have plenty of time and there shouldn't be any complications.
His hypothesis came crashing down the moment he saw Dalora step out of the work bay. He had extremely mixed feelings about what he was seeing.
"Lucas, you'll never believe who decided to drop by for a visit!" Dalora announced, despite the fact that the visitors were right behind her. If Lucas had any disbelief to voice, it was cut off by a hug from a very familiar Quarian.
"Jima, what are you doing here? Nice of you to drop in" Lucas greeted, awkwardly returning the hug.
"I'll let Julland explain that. It's nice to see you too again, Lucas." the Spectre answered before turning to chat to Dalora. Meanwhile, Lucas and Julland saluted each other before easing into a firm handshake.
"Lieutenant."
"Commander. What brings you here?"
"Jima needed to get away from her administrative work and the crew needed to get back on the Shiloh. Badly. We all had to get away from it all." the Turian explained before smiling.
"I'm sure everything has been going well, correct sir?" Lucas asked the taller alien.
"More than well, Lieutenant. The crew is as disciplined a group as I could ever ask for and Jima doesn't mind me taking over most of the command. She's still the Spectre but she prefers to deal mostly with the medical stuff. I could not have imagined being in such a position like this even a year ago." Julland admitted, a rather content look on his face.
"That's good, so could we quit being professional and drop the formalities...sir?"
"Agreed, once again, nice to see you too, Lucas."
"As you, Julland."
"Lucas, we really have to take them out to dinner tonight." Dalora stated. Lucas did his best to keep his composure.
"But that's when I really needed to talk to you about something!"
"Uh, yes. Yes, of course." Lucas sputtered.
Before Lucas knew it, he was in his formal uniform sitting at one of the tables in one of the more high brow restaurants of Jump Zero. The four traded small stories from the few short months absence. Dalora could see that for the most part, everything had been made for the better. She would not have traded the steady relationship she had with Lucas for anything. She saw an expression on Julland's face that she could only catch for faint glimpses back when she first met him. It slowly hit her that despite his periodic grumbles and complaints, his countenance was a testament that he was in fact happy. Even Jima'Riznah vas Shiloh, Spectre and doctor, always wore a radiant grin even if her face was forever veiled behind a visor.
"Have you heard anything from Nalia?" Dalora asked Jima and Julland in reference to the former Asari Spectre that had unwittingly brought them all together all those months ago. As abrupt and rough Nalia was, they could not deny it was her spirit and leadership that got them through the fires of the Apollyon virus, and in a way, sealed their friendship.
"No, we have not heard from her in awhile. Last I checked, she was still recovering on the Asari homeworld." Jima admitted.
"It wouldn't surprise me if she found some adventure to amuse herself with. We'll get a postcard eventually, I'm sure." Julland muttered.
Jima took the moment to watch what the rest of her crew was doing. It had been quite a shift from becoming the Shiloh's doctor to its captain, Spectre, and overseer. She had always felt a responsibility to maintain their well being as their doctor but now that sense of commitment was multiplied as they now looked to her as the leader. It left an uncomfortable feeling, like a glove two sizes too big. Talana, her navigator, was apparently making new friends with the Alliance soldiers at the bar. Some of her Asari marines were also mingling in the crowd or simply keeping to themselves. Julland was here at her side trading stories with Lucas but she knew she would never need to worry about him. She did get a little concerned when she noticed her chief engineer, Merjj the Salarian, marching off with his workers. They seemed to be carrying a large package. She always knew that Merjj was up to something and it would make sense that the boys in engineering would probably off and buy some new component for heaven's knew what. She finally decided she could trust Merjj, so long as they found a place to put their new toy, whatever it was.
Dalora and Jima noticeably if subtly reacted when they heard a change in the background music. Apparently, the one night they decided to visit was when the restaurant also hosted a dance on the center floor. The inevitable persuading and bantering between the women and the men about joining the dance lasted for about thirty seconds. Dalora finally shrugged and decided she would go anyway while Jima faithfully trailed right behind her. Lucas and Julland both decided that the music was way too high pace for them to have any hope to follow. Instead, the found it as an occasion to do what they did best: analyze.
"We know a lot of cultures took to dance, even the ship locked Quarians enjoy it." Lucas started.
"And by the looks of Jima, they're pretty good at it." Julland observed, his outlook on Jima forever shattered as the Quarian apparently proved to be much more of a skilled dancer than they could have guessed.
"I've heard it serves numerous functions from personal expression, art, to trying to find a mate." Lucas murmured.
"Hmm. I think we're missing the point here, though." Julland replied.
"What do you mean?"
"You think they could be doing it just for...I don't know, fun?"
"Yes, but why would organics be wired to find fun in dancing?" Lucas inquired.
"I-I don't know. Maybe it just is."
"Well, while we're on this topic, I need to talk to you about something." Lucas announced.
"What's that?" Julland asked. The Turian was immediately startled when Lucas pulled him closer and had a brief but heated discussion with the Turian commander.
"The point is, I'm going to need some help." Lucas finished.
"And how do you propose I help?" Julland sputtered.
"I just need a couple minutes alone with Dalora so we can talk. You think you can find a way to make that happen?"
"I'll keep my eyes peeled."
And as if on cue, the music changed. Instead of a fast tempo it changed into a softer, more sentimental melody. The intent was so obvious Jima walked off the floor while Dalora lingered on. Such is the cultural understanding of music meant only for couples.
"Take the shot, Lieutenant." Julland whispered before unceremoniously booting Lucas out of his chair. Before he could protest, which he really did want to, Jima firmly took hold of his shoulders and continued to shepherd him closer to the dance floor. Now that he was face to face with Dalora there was no escaping it.
"Why are you trying to so bad to hide from me?" Dalora chided as they awkwardly got into the step of the music.
"I'm bad at dancing." Lucas muttered quickly, letting one hand fall to Dalora's waist while the other took hold of her shoulder.
"Are you nervous?" Dalora asked quietly.
"Yes." "I'm nearly out of my mind, I'll go mad!"
"Don't be, just relax." Dalora whispered into his ear as they drew each other closer and quietly stepped to the music. In fact, she was already so content with how perfect everything was. Grateful to have found someone who accepted her for who she was and knowing that he loved her despite her flaws, she could not help but rest her head on his neck, just under his chin.
Meanwhile, Lucas and Julland were exchanging a long distance heated discussion conveyed by looks and subtle signals that only two brothers in arms can.
"You confounded Turian! This wasn't what I was expecting!" Lucas glared.
"You irritating Human! How was I suppose to know!?" Julland gestured.
"Well how the heck am I going to get out of this!?"
"How in Palaven am I suppose to know?! You figure it out!"
"Jerk!"
"Clod!"
Suddenly, Jima left the restaurant. Julland was torn at the moment but decided his chances were better with Jima. Leaving Lucas to his personal hell, he followed Jima out of the room and into the hall.
"What's the problem?" the Turian asked as they walked down the hallway.
"Dolphos sent a message to my omni-tool. Sounds like something important." the Spectre activated the device and listened to the Hanar's message.
"Most gracious Spectre, this one humbly must announce to you that the esteemed Council has just recently sent a message. It appears to be of utmost importance and this one would strongly suggest that you pay an audience to it when you are able to. Dolphos out." the highly diplomatic communications officer informed.
"They never let you have a day off, huh?" Jima quipped as they walked towards the Shiloh.
A couple moments later, the Spectre stood in the briefing room while Julland struck an attentive stance just behind her. On the screen, the Asari Councilor spoke first. Her peers looked rather somber.
"Spectre Jima, your training exercises could not have come at a more fitting time." the Asari announced. Were it not for the visor, they would have seen the Quarian blush just a bit.
"Uh, yes. What is this about?"
"A couple of days ago, we sent agents from the Citadel Extreme Medical Situations Response to Eden Prime. On one of the worlds the humans have been colonizing, an outbreak of some unknown disease claimed a whole village that the Alliance was working with in mining nearby resources." the Councilor explained while a video highlighted the exact locations on a galaxy map.
"What do you need me for, to try and identify the pathogen?" Jima guessed.
"More than that, it seems that we keep losing agents. Some have contracted this unknown disease and there seems to be a hundred percent mortality rate. The last straw was when two agents disappeared yesterday trying to take samples in the quarantine area." the Asari explained.
"All right, I'll investigate."
"Be on your guard, Spectre. We wouldn't just send you out if it was just a search and rescue mission." the Turian Councilor interjected.
"Oh?" Jima asked. The Salarian Councilor stepped into to explain.
"Intelligence shows that there may be a group of mercenaries working in the area. Our agents have tracked a mercenary special forces group that seems to have taken an interest in the outbreak, despite out best efforts to keep it top secret."
"You think they may want to try and get their hands on whatever this is to develop a biological weapon?" Jima inquired.
"Precisely."
--
Meanwhile, Lucas had finally managed to walk Dalora out of the restaurant and towards one of the large windows. It was the same one that they had spent countless hours just watching the beauty of night canopy. Dalora was still resting her head on his shoulder looking extremely content. Lucas felt extremely uneasy with what he was about to do as he tenderly brushed the long braid of her hair idly.
"Dalora?"
"Yes, Lucas?"
"We need to talk."
"About what?" Dalora asked, suddenly alarmed, her eyes wide. Lucas mentally kicked himself.
"About something important...about us." the lieutenant stated, trying to choose his words carefully despite being painfully aware of how much this wasn't going the way he wanted.
"What-what about us?" Dalora asked softly. Lucas ground his teeth and fidgeted a moment.
"Oh God, help me!"
"What's wrong, Lucas?"
"Dalora...I've been thinking..." Lucas painfully stated, placing his hand on her shoulders.
"About...?"
"Well, okay, I know we don't spend a lot of time together, but when we are apart you're all I can think about. Before, all I thought about was duty, service, and lofty ideas. I was living to die, to find that great eternal truth that I have spent so many years searching for. I know it sounds morbid, but its the truth. I didn't care for this life, I just did what was told of me, I always put myself on the line to die and if I didn't, I could just say I pulled off just one more crazy stunt."
"But...why would you do that?" Dalora demanded.
"That's the problem. I can't do that anymore. I was minding my own business and then, well, I can only say that God sent an angel to show me the error of my ways. At first, I thought it was my job to save her and point her in the right direction when all this time she was sent to save me. I can't get enough of her now. I live each day for her smile and to gaze into her eyes and somehow I get lost in them and...and..." Lucas realized he was stumbling. Gosh, that sounded so cheesy. Dalora looked like she was about to cry, in fact, there were small rivulets running down her face. Lucas awkwardly wiped them off.
"What I'm trying to say is that I know from holy scriptures that man is commanded and empowered by God to love those around him. I look at you, and I find the one sent to show me that I also need to live to do that, I find someone who I thank God for each day, each minute; someone I'm so afraid to hurt, someone who I realize I can't live without."
Dalora heard a small, mechanical pop just as Lucas took one of her numb hands.
"Dalora...would you spend your life with me as my wife?" Lucas asked softly, the faint gleam of a diamond ring shone in Dalora's eyes even though she was intently looking back at him.
A moment of silence, a flicker of eternity passed on as Lucas literally felt a single heart beat turn into memory.
"You never can say something simply, can you?" Dalora chided with a smile.
"You know I like complicated speeches." Lucas said, suddenly feeling her snatch him closer in a heartfelt hug.
"All too well." Another moment of silence passed and Lucas felt himself slowly dying.
"Please, Dalora, I need an answer." Lucas begged.
"If you don't get this as my way of saying 'yes' you're not as smart as I thought you were." Dalora giggled.
The moment suddenly was interrupted when they noticed a rather somber atmosphere in the near vicinity. Julland and Jima had apparently found them. Despite being hidden, Jima's face held a pained smile and a serious face.
"I'm very happy for you guys which is why its difficult for me to ask the following favor from you. I'm going to need your help."