End Game – Chapter Two

With leaden footsteps, Thane Krios left his and Tabitha's apartment on the Citadel for his daily treatment at the hospital. His mood angst filled, "Why even bother," he thought to himself, "Tabitha is dead. I need to stop the treatments so I can join my beloved Siha across the ocean." Another part of his mind countered, "You do not know if Tabitha is dead. If she was dead, a representative from the Alliance would let you know. Admiral Anderson would let you know. Counselor Udina would let you know. Even if Tabitha is dead, you must live for Kolyat. He needs you."

As he travelled down the corridors toward the elevator, holographic screens showed the devastation of the attack of the Reapers on Earth as news anchors from around the galaxy corresponded with what information could be obtained. The doctor and technicians at the hospital tried to bolster his mood, but to no avail.

While Thane was having his treatment, his acute hearing overheard a tech state excitedly, "Commander Shepherd-Krios is here!"

Joy filled his heart and soul as he turned, took off his mask, sped after the voice, grabbing the arm of the tech, startling her, "Did you say Commander Shepherd-Krios?" His voice deep, throaty, and raspy from the treatment for his lungs.

The tech turned, her face one of fright, till she recognized Thane, "Mr. Krios, is it..? Yes, your wife is here."

Thane let go of the tech's arm, bowing slightly, "Thank you." He stated simply, a smile ghosting across his features as he turned to leave.

Once out in the main waiting room, Thane quickly scanned the area but not seeing his Siha. He walked over to the side of the room away from the bustle and busyness stepping into the shadows disappearing leaning against the outside wall. He brought his hands in front of his chest interlocking his fingers in a prayerful position, bowing his head in mediation, "Arashu, thank you for protecting my Siha and bringing her back to me." As he finished the prayer, he heard the voice of Tabitha, his Siha.

Looking up, he saw her hunched down by two Asari. He listened as Tabitha gave her "Shepherd Special" to the Asari commando. Thane stayed in the shadows watching his warrior angel comfort the distraught Asari commando then dress down the Asari Counselor, smiling to himself.

Thane stepped out of the shadows as Tabitha turned in his direction. He saw her face light up as soon as she saw him. She ran to him, stopping just before colliding with him. Thane lifted his right hand cupping her left cheek, "Siha, I thought you were…the vids of Earth…the Reapers…I tried to reach you…all my messages came back…" Thane's voice was thick with emotion as unbidden tears filled his fathomless black eyes rolling down his cheeks."

Tabitha leaned her cheek into his hand, tears silently falling, his thumb wiping them away. Tabitha placed her hand over his hand on her cheek, "Thane," she breathed. "Once the Reapers attacked Earth, all communication was disrupted. Once I escaped on the Normandy, I had orders from Admiral Hackett and Admiral Anderson. There was to be no communication till I arrived at the Citadel." Tabitha took Thane's hand between her own placing it on the armor over her heart. Her voice broke as the tears continued to flow, "I wanted to contact you. Tell you I was safe. I would never want to hurt you, my love." Tabitha looked at Thane, her eyes pleading, "Hold me, please. I need your strength," her voice small and raspy.

Thane saw such love pouring from Tabitha's eyes. His Siha was alive. His strong warrior angel needed him. Her love gave him strength. Her presence lifted the fog of oxygen deprivation from his mind and the constant tingling and numbness from his limbs. He took a breath and his lungs did not ache. Gently, he disengaged his hands from Tabitha's grip opening his arms, "Siha, come here," he spoke gently, his voice deep and resonant from his chest.

As Tabitha came near, Thane enfolded her within his arms pulling them both into the shadows away from prying ears and eyes. Tabitha wrapped her arms around Thane's back as Thane leaned back against a wall. Thane placed his chin on top of Tabitha's head speaking softly, "You are safe now. I am here." Tabitha wept silently as Thane held her, her head on his shoulder. Thane moved one had to gently caress her head and neck, purring to her a Drell melody, he knew which calmed her.

Tabitha had had modifications done on her hearing and vocal cords to be able to hear and produce the same range of vocals that Drell produce at an early age. The rumbling purr from his chest calmed Tabitha's frayed nerves as she quietly purred back in a tone only Drell and Turians could hear.

Once Tabitha stopped crying, Thane quietly asked, his voice rumbling from his chest, "Feel better, Tabitha."

Tabitha pulled back to look up at Thane seeing such love pouring from his eyes. Thane loosened his grip to allow Tabitha to look at him, but kept his arms around her back holding her close. Tabitha lifted a hand wiping at her eyes, " Yes, thank you."

Now that he knew his Siha was safe, he looked at her closely, seeing dark circles under her eyes and a faint bruise above her right eye. He breathed deeply again smelling the battle and blood…blood of humans, batarians, turians, reaper tech, and …His eyes widened as he smelled his Siha's blood. His Siha was hurt.

Thane's eyebrows furrowed as he spoke, "Siha, you are injured."

Tabitha voice sounded tired as she answered, smiling weakly, "Yes, Thane. I acquired some injuries, none life-threatening. Some medi-gel and everything is fine."

Thane hmmpfted, as he continued, "How long has it been since you last slept or ate?"

Tabitha shook her head, "I honestly do not know. Everything is fuzzy. I have been on auto-pilot since leaving Earth…maybe two,,no, make that three days."

Thane looked at her armor, "You have been in your armor for three days?" he inquired.

Tabitha smiled broadly, looking a little like her normal self, "I must smell terrible, like a varren in heat, huh."

Thane could not suppress the chuckle as he pulled Tabitha back into a hug, "Let's get you home so you can get that armor off, take a shower, eat some food, and get some much needed rest."

Tabitha's voice became husky as she replied against his chest, "I am injured and so tired. Will you help me take my armor off and assist me in the shower. I would not want to fall and hurt myself."

Thane kissed the top of Tabitha's hair, "Siha…" he chided.

Tabitha pulled out of Thane's embrace, "Okay, I will behave for now." She looked up at Thane smirking slightly, "Only because I am so tired."

Thane kept one arm around her waist as they moved out of the shadows heading toward the elevator. Both Thane and Tabitha could hear whispering about them as they passed. Tabitha whispered so only Thane could hear, "I never knew you were such a celebrity. I leave for six months and look what happens. Did you publish our email exchanges while I was under military arrest? That's it.. you contacted Fornax, didn't you? Do I have to fight off any groupies? I will you know. You are mine. I am a very possessive Siha."

Thane pulled Tabitha in closer to him smiling and chuckling, "No, Siha. I am not the celebrity, but yourself. Remember the savior of the Citadel. Commander Shepherd who came back from the dead to take on the Collectors and beat them. Commander Shepherd-Krios who will kick the Reapers right back into dark space. I believe I will be the one fighting off your groupies."

As Thane and Tabitha exited the elevator walking toward their apartment, a group of humans stopped them. A male crossed his arms blocking the path, "Earth is burning. Humans are dying. Why are you here, Commander?" He shouted. " You should be on Earth saving humanity!" He pointed at Thane, "Not f….ing this lizard freak!"

Tabitha felt Thane stiffen beside her. Looking up, she saw his facial features go blank as his eyes went cold and hard as obsidian. Tabitha touched his arm whispering where he could hear, but out of the range of normal humans, "They are scared. They are grieving. Let us not start a scene."

"Let us pass." Thane's voice cold and hard as his eyes.

The man sneered, "What if I don't, Drell. What cha' goin' do?"

Thane moved so fast no one saw the strike. One moment, the man was standing and the next he was on the ground, gasping for breath, his hands clawing at his throat. "Your friend needs assistance. I suggest you let us pass before more injuries occur."

The group moved so Thane and Tabitha could pass. As Tabitha passed one woman, she spat at Tabitha, the spittle striking the side of her face, "You betrayed us, Commander. You alien lover, you. You are not human. I do not know what you are, but you are not human." Tabitha turned to face the woman as tears run down the woman's face. The woman's words were filled with bitterness and hate as she continued, "No human would leave Earth. You saved the Citadel, but not Earth." She gestured wildly, "Why the aliens and not your own kind? Why, Commander?" Her face set in a grimace, venom dripping from her words, "We don't need you! Go be with your alien lover! We will save Earth without you."

Turian and Human C-SEC officers seeing the disturbance came up behind Thane and Tabitha, "What is the problem?" The officer looked at Thane and Tabitha recognizing both, "Commander Shepherd-Krios, Mr. Krios..Are these people disturbing you?"

The group of people seeing the C-SEC officers armed and ready for action broke up and left the area. Both the Human and Turian came up. The human spoke, "We heard what they said to you both. Do you want to press charges?"

Tabitha glanced up at Thane as she wiped the spittle from her face with the back of her hand, "No, officer. We do not wish to press charges. Emotions are running out of control for a lot of people right now."

The Turian C-SEC stated, "Copy that."

Before the C-SEC officers turned to continue on their patrol, Tabitha continued, "I would discuss the incident with Bailey and suggest looking at the video feed for this time period of both this corridor and the surrounding area comparing the pictures of the people against Spectre and Alliance records for Cerberus agents and known Pro-Human sympathizers. As a Spectre myself, I give authorization into the required records. Tell Bailey to contact me and I will give him the access codes."

The Human C-SEC saluted, "Yes, Ma'am," turned and walked swiftly away with the Turian C-SEC officer at his side.

In a vocal range only the two of them could hear, Thane inquired, "Cerberus…You think Cerberus is involved?"

As they continued toward their apartment, Tabitha answered, "Maybe…I fought Reapers escaping from Earth, but I encountered and fought against Cerberus on Mars and Eden Prime."

Neither spoke again till they entered their apartment. Tabitha placed a finger against her lips looking up at Thane. Tapping her omini-tool, "EDI, please scan this apartment for surveillance devices. If you find any, deactivate them. Once that is completed, activate the "Delta Force" perimeter shield around this apartment. Let me know when this has been completed."

Less than a minute later, Tabitha's omni-tool beeped, "Commander, no devices were discovered in the apartment and the shield has been activated."

As Tabitha headed toward the refrigerator in the kitchen, she called back to Thane, "I could not take any chances on us being overheard." She continued talking as she opened the 'frig, pulling out vegetables and fruits sitting them on the counter, "Admiral Hackett gave me orders to go to Mars. Liara T'Sonia was there working at the Prothean site. Evidence had surfaced of additional artifacts and information from the Protheans. Admiral Hackett sent me to acquire all the evidence and information from the archives. Once on Mars, we discovered that Cerberus was there, also."

Thane gathered up the fruits and vegetables from the kitchen counter in his arms moving them to the kitchen/dining table. Tabitha moved over to the table carrying a half gallon container of juice, native to Kadje. Taking the container from Tabitha's hands placing it on the table, Thane placed one hand gently under her chin lifting her head, his thumb gently rubbing the underside of her chin. Tabitha could hear a contented hum coming from his throat. She could also see the love in his eyes along with concern and worry as he spoke, "Siha, I wish to know the reason why you did not eat or sleep for three days. You know you have to eat. You are a biotic. You are a soldier. You know you have to get your sleep, to be at your best." When Tabitha would not look at him, he used more force to lift up her chin to look into his eyes, "Siha, look at me."

Tabitha looked up at him again seeing disappointment in his facial features. A single tear slipped from her left eye as she spoke softly choking back more tears, "Everything happened so fast. I was trying to reach you wondering why my emails were not going through when I was called in front of the Alliance Board. Admiral Anderson met me on the way telling me communications had been lost throughout the Sol System and there had been sightings of huge ships, which resembled Reapers. The Alliance Board wanted to know what to do."

Thane could see the play of emotions across Tabitha's face, anger, fright, uncertainty, as she continued, "What to do? Really?" Her voice raised as she stepped away from Thane pacing, "I was not politically correct. It was way past the time for that. I told them the brutal truth. I had been trying to warn the Alliance and the Council for over three years," frustration in her voice.

She turned abruptly catching Thane's hands in hers. Tabitha's biotics activated Thane's biotics causing the two fields to collide and merge enclosing them in a blue-green aura. Thane's eyes opened wide, both sets of lids rapidly blinking as Tabitha's thoughts and emotions placed across his mind. He saw what she saw, felt what she felt, smelled and tasted what she did, experiencing everything – the electricity across her skin as lightening played across the rapidly darkening sky outside the Alliance HQ-sound of the Reapers screeching, crawling in her mind, as they dropped out of the sky-smell of burnt flesh as their lasers cut through everything in their path. He saw through her eyes as the window was blown by a laser blast throwing her against a far back wall, furniture landing around and over her. Admiral Anderson helped her up, both bleeding from glass and shrapnel. Thane saw the devastation wrought by the Reapers on Earth as Admiral Anderson and Tabitha ran from rubble to broken building to rubble getting to the Normandy. Reaper converted Humans, Batarians, and Turians attacking them every step of the way. Thane saw Alliance Fleet ships destroyed raining debris around Admiral Anderson and Tabitha like a fireworks display. The memories ended with Admiral Anderson throwing his Siha her dog tags, reinstating her as Commander, telling her to get to the Citadel, get support, and get back to Earth while he stayed to rally the troops on Earth for a final stand and seeing a small boy holding a model of the Normandy climbing into a shuttle then seeing the shuttle disappear as a Reaper laser cut right through it.

Thane asked, "How am I experiencing your memories and emotions, Siha?"

Tabitha looked into Thane's worried expression, shrugging her shoulders as an answer, "Can we sit down?"

Thane let go of Tabitha's hands pulling a chair out for Tabitha to sit down. She did grabbing an apple taking a bite out of it. Smiling, apple juice running down her chin, she wiped her chin with the hand holding the apple patting the chair next to her with her other hand for Thane to sit down. Thane looked down at his Siha, smile ghosting across his features lighting his eyes, "What a contradiction, his Siha was," he thought to himself. "She was both a little girl and grown woman, trained killer and humanitarian, wearing N7 armor battle scarred, covered in gore, Geth Black Widow sniper rifle and Krogan Claymore shotgun on her back, eating an apple with juice running down her face. He slowly shook his head, sitting down.

Tabitha wiped her mouth again with the back of her hand, "What…what's so funny? What are you smiling at?" When Thane did not answer, Tabitha smiled, "Okay…okay." Thane watched attentively as Tabitha drank the entire container of juice, and ate all the fruit and vegetables, while continuing her tale, "I do not know how I am projecting memories and emotions? I believe it has something to do with the Prothean we found, but I am getting ahead of myself."

Thane steepled his fingers in front of himself resting his chin on his hands listening as Tabitha continued, "As soon as the Normandy broke orbit from Earth, Admiral Hackett came though on a comm channel. He said over fifty percent of the fleet had been destroyed and Acturis Station had been destroyed along with the entire Earth Parliament. He told me the remnants of the Fifth Fleet were in full retreat. I was given orders to get to Mars as quickly as possible and help Liara T'Sonia with retrieving Prothean artifacts and information from the Archives. As soon as I arrived at Mars, I knew something was not right. Cerberus soldiers were on Mars executing all the Mars personnel. Once inside the main Archive buildings, I came across Liara evading capture from Cerberus forces.

Tabitha stood up starting to pace again as Thane watched her concern etched across his features, "These Cerberus soldiers were not normal. They had been heavily augmented and Reaper teched." Thane heard such anger and disgust in Tabitha's voice, "These Cerberus agents murdered all the scientists and Mars personal by letting all the atmosphere out of the buildings." Thane saw the horror in his Siha's eyes as her voice broke, "Those people...died such horrible deaths...I was too late…could not help them. When Liara, LC Ashley Williams, and I arrived at the Archive Computer Core Terminal, a Cerberus agent was hacking into the computer. Ash stopped her. The agent, a robot was disabled, but not before critically injuring the LC. When I came in contact with the Prothean ruins, I received more visions. I felt like my brains and entire body were being rewired. We recovered the data discs from the robot finding schematics for a Prothean super weapon. Liara thinks it might be able to destroy the Reapers. After I gave my report to the Admiral, he ordered us to Eden Prime. The Admiral stated that Cerberus was excavating the Prothean ruins close to where the Prothean Beacon had been excavated. Ashley Williams had been stabilized, but I knew her injuries were severe. I planned to get on and off Eden Prime as quickly as possible."

Thane asked, "Isn't Eden Prime where…"

Tabitha smiled wearily, "Yes, Eden Prime is where we first met and I came in contact with a Prothean Beacon for the first time having my brains scrambled, poached, and fried. I did not take off my armor because I did not know what to expect. Between the Reapers and Cerberus, we were getting hit from both sides. I tried to lay down and get some sleep, but to no avail. Every time I shut my eyes, I saw the face of the small boy on Earth, the disfigured features of the people on Mars, and husks clawing after me. I could not even meditate. I could not eat. Every time I looked at food, I got nauseous."

Thane stood up coming around the table, "Siha, you need to get your armor off. You talk while I remove the armor." Thane placed the sniper rifle and shotgun on top of the table, "I will clean these for you." Thane knew Tabitha's emotions were raw because a stray tear slipped down her cheek when he said he would clean her weapons. Tabitha held her arms out as Thane took her armor off piece by piece. Some of the pieces Thane had to use his full Drell strength to pry and pop the pieces off. Tabitha continued talking, "On Eden Prime, we encountered more augmented Cerberus troops and ATLAS Mechs. Cerberus was using the Eden Prime citizens as slave labor to unearth a Prothean statis capsule. This statis pod contained a living 50,000 plus year old Prothean. Coming in contact with the Prothean artifacts, I was able to decipher and read the Prothean script easily. From that information, I was able to activate the pod releasing the Prothean. When he could stand up, he touched me. From his touch, I could see his memories and experience his emotions the same as he experienced mine. I know this Prothean…maybe from coming in contact with his statis pod before I met you so many years ago. The Prothean stated his name was Javik. He was a soldier and the avatar for his cycle for Vengeance against the Reapers. He stated that Protheans communicate through touch and residue DNA."

Tabitha had an undersuit weave underneath of the armor. The undersuit was soaked in sweat and caked with blood in places where Tabitha had taken injuries, which had punctured her barriers, shields, and the armor itself. Once out of the armor, Tabitha slowly rolled her shoulders walking toward the bathroom, "I am going to take a shower."

The smells of battle and scent of his Siha brought forth primal instincts within himself as Thane caught Tabitha's arm with his right hand, "Siha…" his voice reverberating from his chest. Tabitha saw the play of emotions across his features and heard in the timbre of his voice. Sweat broke out across her upper lip as her heart skipped a beat. Her breathing increased as she turned back to face him. She wanted him so bad right now she was riding an emotional roller coaster. Tabitha rested her head against his chest, "I need a shower and twenty fours of rest. You need to save your strength." She kissed his chest before turning back to the bathroom, "I will not be long, my love."

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