Author's Note: With regards to the naming of Chapters 11-13, I decided to split "Abandoned" into parts because it was so long and so I could keep track of things.
A quick note regarding the Khala: I did decide to adopt its official fate here.
Antioch, Aiur
"What? Mohandar left to confront Nahaan?" Artanis demanded. "How long ago?"
"Four days ago, and with marginal security," droned the Sentry giving the report to the Hierarchy. Since Tabrenus had confirmed evidence of influence swaying the Hierarchy's vote of weeks prior, the members had been laying low and without contacting each other after the Templar in question, along with a Preserver that had aided in the discovery, were discovered dead. The fact that the murders had not been detected by those in the next room was a warning of their vulnerability. The Khala had all but died out during the hybrid war, with only a few Preservers maintaining the communal link in the hopes that it could one day be resurrected. The Protoss possessed purity of form, but their nerve chords could only be regenerated with the assistance of Zerg regeneration.
Few Protoss trusted outside the Khalai members of the Hierarchy had been willing to make the move, but naturally Nahaan had mandated a group of his closest confidantes and warriors to undertake it. Tabrenus broke the silence and Artanis' train of thought.
"Most unusual of him, especially given his distrust of Nahaan. Could he have been influenced or baited into doing this?" mused Tabrenus.
While the Hierarchy continued to debate, Zeratul stood outside the building, deep in thought. Nahaan surely could not influence the great Prelate, and Mohandar had never been known to make such a rash decision in his life.
His accompanying Templar suddenly shut off his communicator excitedly. "Great one, we have a report from the western gate that Mohandar has returned!" The euphoria of Zeratul's return to Aiur following the end of the hybrid war had worn off slightly, but they took few steps without a round of reverent bows.
(music - Breispower: X vs. Zero)
When he reached the gate, he found a strange sight: Kerrigan arguing with a Zealot to let her in, with two weakened Nerazim propped up against the wall behind her.
"Just please let me in; I just saved them!"
"That act, while commendable - " the Zealot's ironic emphasis on the last word was not lost on Sarah " - does not afford you entry. Only a member of the Protectorate may grant you access to our capital, and neither of your supposedly rescued victims have done so. Remember that you have a death sentence in the Protectorate; we are being lenient as it is."
Sarah opened her mouth to retort when she caught sight of Zeratul and paled slightly. The Nerazim, however, was more interested in checking up on his kin than confronting her.
"They are fine, merely weak," he pronounced after a few moments.
"What about their minds, Zeratul?" asked the irritated Zealot.
"Another loyalist," Sarah deduced with a sigh. This was getting nowhere. "Zeratul, I have urgent information for Artanis. I swear on my life I did nothing to Mohandar and his companion other than save their lives - whoa!" she gasped as Zeratul blinked in front of her and slammed her hard enough to send her sprawling into the wall. A cacophony of unpleasant laughter arose from the gathering crowd.
"And I care not why you come," he hissed. "I never discovered your influence over Raszagal, but it happened nonetheless. I will not take that chance again! I warned you in good faith not to show your face here again now that I have no cause to spare you, and you recklessly ignored me. This shall be the last time that you exploit my benevolence!"
"Wait!" Sarah propped herself up against the city wall, her head ringing from striking the barrier. "I didn't come here willingly. I got kidnapped!"
Zeratul pretended not to listen and simply stood over her.
"You would not dare refuse her a chance to explain herself! It is not our way!" Mohandar suddenly got to his feet, invigorated by the plight of his former savior.
"Mohandar, stand down. You are understandably indebted to her, but the situation must be evaluated for the greater good!"
"And is the greater good to kill her without trial or cause? We owe our survival as a species to her! The entire sector does!"
"Cause?! She murdered billions of our kin!"
"And you refuse to believe that it was not her but a corruption of her persona that did so! You are very well aware that infested Terrans can act completely unlike their previous personality, and on that subject, James Raynor's word is as good as any!"
"What about Raszagal? Did you forget about her?" Sarah looked down shamefully at that. Zeratul took a moment to calm himself. "You are greatly weakened from your ordeal. Come with me; you must rest now and recover your wits." He didn't add that it involved a more thorough check for any external influence. "We can resolve the issue of Kerrigan later."
"And leave her alone amongst a race that would be all too eager to end her? It is not the Protoss way to deny anyone, friend, foe, or both, the justice they deserve without proper consideration, Zeratul! Perhaps it is you who needs to recover your wits!" Mohandar stood and ignited his warp blade. Clearly the Prelate knew well what "rest" entailed.
"Fighting on the Queen of Blades' behalf?! Have you gone senile, Mohandar?!"
"I assure you I am as sane as I always have been. We Protoss have always fought for what and who we believed in. The situation now is no different."
"No! Wait!" Sarah begged and tried to step between them, but neither Nerazim was willing to back down and they pushed her back as one.
"Then...I'm sorry if this ends poorly for you, but I shall meet your challenge. Let this duel decide Kerrigan's fate, for today, I avenge my Matriarch!"
Both Dark Templars vaporized into shadow. The smoky trails cris-crossed each other as they climbed into the sky, the telltale green sparks of clashing blades and blue flashes of Void powers marking each intersection.
At the apex of their climb the two Nerazim met again and Zeratul slammed Mohandar downwards. The Prelate bought himself a few seconds by blinking down into the forest and cloaking.
"I do not need my eyes to see what assails me!" Zeratul followed, extinguishing his blade to better hide himself.
Mohandar lunged from behind a tree, but in his weakened state his cloak was imperfect and Zeratul saw the attack coming. Mohandar barely avoided the counter-slash of Zeratul's psi-blade, and his own counterstrike was parried. The two continued to push against each other until the tension between their blades broke and both were thrown backwards.
Mohandar attempted to blink back towards the gate, but Zeratul caught him just before he disappeared with a Void Prison. Before the older Nerazim could close the distance, Mohandar had broken the prison with his own powers and blinked away. Zeratul gave chase.
"I have to stop them before either one gets hurt!" Sarah found the strength to move despite the fatigue of past two days and crawled the short distance to where the two were dueling. As the tension between their blades broke again, Sarah grabbed Mohandar's leg.
"Please stop! I don't want either of you hurt on my account!" The Prelate fixed her with a look of understanding but was nearly dismembered by Zeratul's blade for his lapse.
Sarah grabbed his arm to stop Mohandar from retaliating. The Prelate irritatedly tried to shake her off, but she wouldn't let go.
"I know it's your way to fight for your beliefs, Mohandar, but please let me fight my own battles! I don't want anyone else hurt on my account!"
Mohandar made to reply but his eyes widened slightly as Zeratul appeared behind Sarah with his psi-blade raised. Mohandar shoved Sarah aside before diving away himself, but it was too late for her to avoid the blow. Zeratul's thrusting blade sliced deep into Sarah's right side just below her breast, piercing her rib cage and destroying organs as it sank deeper.
Sarah gasped in pain and collapsed, clutching the gaping wound in her side. Mohandar stood between her and Zeratul, fixing the latter with an icy stare. "I hope your hunger for revenge is satiated enough to overlook the consequences: If Kerrigan dies, you will be tried for obstructing justice."
"Is that a threat, Mohandar?"
"Merely the unfortunate truth, Zeratul." Both Nerazim turned to face the Selendis as she and a security force of Khalai Zealots arrived. "You are both under arrest in the name of the Hierarchy for causing civil disorder and obstructing justice. Arrest Kerrigan too, but ensure she receives treatment for her injury."
Hyperion (music - Mega Man X: Cast Roll)
Jim wasn't sure what to make of her. She was a lot of the Sarah he remembered, but at the same, something felt off.
The Sarah he'd gotten to know after his rescue from the Moros was always remorseful about letting herself lose control. She kept her head down, never wanting to meet the eyes of the people she'd threatened for four years, and always tried to do the right thing. Even if it meant taking great pains, she always tried to show acquiescence to others, except when she strongly believed she was right, and even then she wasn't pushy about it. And she'd never ceased to take a moment out of her day to reflect upon her atrocities over the years of her infestation.
The Sarah he saw now wasn't any of those things. Her demeanor slightly reminded him of the Queen of Blades', but it more closely resembled her behavior during her Sons of Korhal days. Back then, she walked around with her head high, and though she didn't look at people over the bridge of her nose there was a certain air of overconfidence about her walk and speech. True, it was fed by the fact that the entire crew feared and respected her, but those same perceptions no longer existed among the Hyperion's crew and she'd had no reason to respect the remainder of humanity then. So why was she acting that way again now?
She also shunned the hostile environment suit that he'd previously hardly seen Sarah out of. Sarah usually didn't worry about her appearance other than keeping her hair in a ponytail, but she wore subtle makeup now, unnoticeable to anyone but him. Even more unnerving was her choice of clothing now; though purple had always, ironically, been her favorite color she'd never worn the dress he'd bought for her birthday because it reminded her subtly of her infested carapace. She'd also hated wearing high heels for a similar reason. It alarmed Jim slightly that she was now choosing to wear both when she'd so adamantly refused to before.
But the biggest problem was that he couldn't figure out why she'd changed this way or if it was of her own doing. Since she'd returned Sarah had grown slightly distant from him like she had in the weeks after her de-infestation on Char, as if there were some massive directive occupying her mind instead of her love for Jim. But what pressing problem of that nature would she have now?
"If I find that Nahaan did any of this, that bastard is dead..."
He pushed the thoughts aside as he saw Sarah enter the room. He waited patiently for her to join him.
"Hey, darlin'."
She sat down next to him and put her head on his shoulder without a word. He drew her close and both of them said nothing for a few moments.
"Do you think we should still stay here?" she asked after a while.
"We haven't fulfilled our obligations to the sector, darlin'. We caused this much war, we might as well go above and beyond to bring them peace."
"Why bother?" Jim pulled back slightly in shock. "Terrans and Protoss are so fractious they'll start fighting amongst each other again. And only a simpleton will think that one side or the other won't try to play the other race as allies in such a conflict."
"Okay, Sarah definitely would not use that term. What about the Zerg? They're the biggest threat, and they'll be gone once we're done."
"We both know better than that, Jim. Nahaan gassed the hive and is purging Char as we speak. Before you ask, I overheard a Zealot bragging about it. Stupid bastards...thinking that they can keep me out..."
Jim squeezed her a little tighter to quiet her. "Well, we've come this far in our plan, we might as well see it through. Besides, with this kind of deed on your side, the Hierarchy will almost certainly allow you to live. Running now makes it look like you have something to hide and will just make them come after you."
"Fair enough," she sighed after a while. "It's just so tempting to run away now...be alone like we always wanted to be without having to worry about anything else."
He kissed her forehead. "We will make it through this. Just let things run their course. I promised to protect you if things went south, and I still will. But I'm only willing to take the risk if they do."
She smiled in appreciation and snuggled closer against him. They cuddled for a few more minutes before Jim took the spoon off of Sarah's tray and gently pried her lips open with it. She laughed and gave him a kiss before taking the spoon from him and turning to her food.
Jim smiled in spite of his doubts. Change or not, he still loved her. And in some ways, once he got used to them, he preferred her that way.
Aiur (music - Mega Man X5: Zero's Death)
Sarah regained consciousness in time to see her captors discover her regeneration. Thankfully the Protoss had provided her with a small bed.
"Impossible! Such a severe injury should have killed her!"
"She still retains Zerg genes. There is no other possible explanation. I suspected it after the incident with the Hyperion's captive specimen, but now it is confirmed."
"Then how do we know she will not revert sooner of later?"
Sarah raised her head weakly. "I...I'm not going to change back into a Zerg unless something like that happens."
Selendis and Artanis turned to look at her. "And you are sure of that?" the former asked.
"It's...complicated. Ariel Hanson can give a full explanation of why, but it revolves around a lack of the Zerg virus in my body. The virus is needed to start the infestation..." Sarah winced as the pain in her side spiked.
The two Protoss exchanged a look before leaving the room without another word. Out of respect, Sarah didn't probe their minds.
"Wait!" Sarah called. "What about Jim? Has he asked..." her voice trailed off as Selendis and Artanis left.
She gave up trying to sit up and simply stared out the window of the room she'd been given at the star-studded sky. She didn't know how long it'd been since Zeratul had stabbed her, and part of her didn't want to know.
"Jim's out there somewhere, and worrying deeply. I...I can't sense him out there though...you've always watched my back...when will I get the chance to reciprocate...?"
Her mind began to wander, sifting through various memories of the past ten years...back to when she'd finally decided to trust in Jim...
Flashback: Cormorant, January 2500
"Aw come on, you can't be serious," grumbled Jim as Sarah snapped the handcuffs onto his wrists.
"I've got this. Trust me. And no, this isn't revenge for the pig thing. We're over that."
"That's news to me," he grumbled but didn't argue further.
As the Cormorant dropped out of warp space into Orna III's orbit, the sensor readout lit up with dozens of weapon locks.
"Attention, incoming vessel. Identify yourself or be vaporized."
"Geez, your gunners need some sleep and less caffeine. This is Confederate Agent No.24601. I am under orders to deliver Convict 493, the traitor Jim Raynor, to this facility for indoctrination as a test subject."
Playing his part as an outraged prisoner, Jim spoke up, interrupting the Confederate scientist's reply. "What?! You didn't say anything about test subject!"
"Excuse me." Sarah ducked out of sight of the viewscreen and there was a smacking sound, followed by the sound of ripping duct tape and muffled shouting. "I'm sorry, repeat your last, Dr. Harris."
The scientist's nostrils flared in a clear sign of irritation. "We are transmitting the list of preparations for his indoctrination now. Are you satisfied?"
"I have to send them to my superior." Sarah fought the urge to smile as the doctor's expression visibly soured. "I'll report back once they send their approval. In the meantime, may we land? Our ship is almost out of fuel."
"No. We'll send out a tanker."
"That's fine." Sarah cut the communication and started to head for the Cormorant's drop-pod bay before remembering Jim. She thought briefly about just leaving Jim on the floor, but decided against it and untied him and removed his gag.
"What - !" He was stopped as Sarah pushed him up against the wall playfully, pressing her body against his.
"Shhh," she cooed, pushing a finger gently against his lips. "It's all part of the job, and nobody asked you to do this. Now let's get a move on before these eggheads wise up."
Hyperion, 5 hours later
"See? That wasn't so bad," Sarah remarked as she landed the dropship.
"Yeah, after the first part. Would've been nice if you told me I was getting slapped and gagged beforehand."
Sarah giggled. "Oh, please. I know you enjoyed that because you got to touch me."
"Oh right..." He'd forgotten that she was a telepath. "I suppose you enjoyed destroying that facility against orders?"
"Hey, can't blame me for hating eggheads after the Ghost Academy."
"I'm being serious, Sarah. You can't go around letting your prejudices dictate you actions like that."
"What's it to you? Why do you care?"
"Because I care about my friends. You're a good person, Sarah. Whoever made you into a Ghost tried to cover it, but you have a chance to recover it now. I'd hate to see you lose it."
She could tell he wasn't lying about his intentions. Well this was something new. Someone who genuinely cared about her. Maybe there were good people left after all. "Thanks, Jim."
"Don't thank me; just make sure you take my advice seriously," he replied, a little more coldly than he intended. She gave him a slightly bewildered look before walking out of the dropship.
"Oh, Sarah, I almost forgot," Jim called as he ran after her and pulled a small stuffed toy out of his pocket. "Thought you might want the whole toy rather than just the head."
Sarah looked at the teddy bear uncomprehendingly until she realized she had what remained of a similar bear in he room. It was a trinket she'd kept since her earliest days at the Academy, the one thing her captors hadn't taken from her...
She remembered running home after school with it dangling out of her backpack when she was eight. She'd brought it for show-and-tell that day in school. Later, several older girls had picked on her for bringing it, kicking it around in the dirt on the playground. When she got home, her mother had asked Sarah to give it to her so she could clean it.
"I don't want to," she whined and hugged the toy tighter.
"Sweetie, don't get your clothes dirtier. I'll give it back to you tonight."
Her father squeezed her shoulder gently. "Listen to your mother, Sarah."
"I don't want to!"
"Please listen to mommy, Sarah. I promise I'll give it back."
"No! It's mine!" Her mother leaned over to gently pry the toy from Sarah's grip. Sarah yanked back and, with a ripping sound, the teddy bear's body tore off from the head, the latter part staying in Sarah's grip.
"You broke it! You broke it!" Sarah screamed and instinctively lashed out. Her mother's promise to fix the toy died on her lips as her head exploded.
Sarah stared uncomprehendingly at what she'd just done. One minute her mother was fine, now she was a bloody mess. Behind her, Sarah's father began to babble, muttering "her head came apart" repeatedly among other nonsense.
The next day, recruiters from the Confederate Ghost program had showed up to take her away and health officials to take her father to a mental institution. Sarah hadn't let go of the head since her mother died. She'd cleaned it just like she'd seen her mother do before and searched in vain for the remainder of the bear throughout the night while her father drunk himself into a coma.
Unbeknownst to her, the remainder of her favorite teddy bear had also been destroyed by her psychic outburst. As her house disappeared into the distance, she looked out the back of the vehicle whisking her away to her destiny and vowed to find the rest of it and fix her bear when she came home.
Tears started to well up in her eyes as she remembered her last act as a free person. Making an innocent promise that she would never be able to fulfill. From that day forward, she'd lost the ignorant bliss that she grew up in and become destiny's plaything.
Jim saw tears in her eyes and wondered what he'd done to upset her. A step closer and a comforting hand on her shoulder soon became a hug as Sarah began to cry.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know."
"It's okay, Jim. You couldn't have."
He simply stood and held her for a while as her tears stopped. "What...what happened?" he asked softly, quickly adding, "You don't have to tell me now."
Sarah shook her head and reluctantly played the memory. If she trusted anyone with it, it was Jim.
His expression was unreadable after she finished, though a few more tears rolled down her cheeks as she lived it again.
"Now you see. I've...I've always been a bad person. I killed my mother over a goddamn stuffed toy!" She broke down again and Jim quickly put his arms around her.
"No you're not," he whispered in her ear. "You feel guilty over doing it even though you couldn't control yourself, otherwise you wouldn't be crying about it. Shh, don't cry, Sarah. There wasn't anything you could do. You didn't know you had psychic powers until then."
"Why...why do you still care about me? Anyone else would have left me if they found out."
"I stick to the people I believe in, Sarah. Through the good and bad. Life isn't worthwhile if you don't have something to fight for."
Sarah didn't reply. She didn't completely believe his answer, but didn't want to probe his mind after he'd just done a huge favor for her. Whatever his reason was, she was grateful for him now.
They stayed in an embrace for a few more moments before Sarah kissed him on the cheek. She drew back immediately, a blush forming on her cheeks. There wasn't a thing between them, so it was slightly awkward, but so what? It just felt good to have someone to lean on again in a long time...since Somo died...
"Um...should we go give Arcturus that mission report?" she asked to break the silence.
Jim nodded and tenderly took one of her hands in both of his. "You're not bad, Sarah. You've done some bad things against your will, but now you have a chance to redeem yourself; take it." She nodded in agreement and they walked out of the hangar bay hand-in-hand.
Aiur, the present day
Sarah hugged her knees and continued to stare out the window, recalling other memories of their happy days in the Sons of Korhal. They had only known each other for three months and dated only on the night before Tarsonis, but by comparison to what she'd gone through since then, even getting shot on a mission was a memory to savor as Jim was always by her side while she recovered.
"You truly desire to be with him...?" Sarah jumped. She hadn't realized Zeratul was eavesdropping. Apparently his stay in prison had been very short.
"Yes," she muttered, ashamed of making her loneliness so obvious.
"Perhaps I was mistaken in suspecting you had ulterior motives." He must've been reading her mind the whole time.
Sarah didn't move or reply and a tense silence lapsed between them.
"We Protoss understand companionship and camaraderie, but not to the level of what you Terrans call love," he continued in an attempt to justify himself. "I apologize for my actions earlier. I believed you had corrupted Mohandar to side with you." Sarah still remained silent and after a while the Nerazim decided to leave her alone, walking out of the room rather than blinking.
"Excellent work, debriefing Kerrigan for the information she claimed to have while she was weak, Executor Selendis. She will not remember what she has divulged and this has the greatest chance of being the truth."
"Truth or not, Hierarch, this is a difficult piece of news to comprehend. The Ara of all tribes siding with the Zerg and attempting to control them? Nahaan would be the last suspect of such scheming, even if his ulterior motive was still their destruction."
"Its difficulty of comprehension matters not, Selendis. The fact remains that we were too late to act and only chance prevented Kerrigan's death and possibly our own. Otherwise we would not be meeting in her prison."
"I fail to see why sparing the Queen of Blades' life is necessary, my lord."
"For one, Kerrigan has claimed the Queen of Blades a perversion of her character wrought by the Overmind as a mental jailor of sorts when she would not cooperate. For another, would you not agree both that she has done our people a great service in the hybrid war and that James Raynor deserves his own personal peace?"
"I agree on both counts, Hierarch. I can also vouch that Kerrigan's behavior has differed widely from what we saw from the Queen of Blades."
"Then there should be no further explanation necessary. Kerrigan's approval among our people is ambivalent; Raynor's is not."
"There are, however, many outliers to the general opinion." Zeratul approached the duo.
"That there are," sighed Artanis in frustration. "Yet it is not honorable in the least for an ally to destroy another ally by their own hand."
"So I am not the only one who longs for days when the boundaries of morality were much more clearly drawn."
"You would be extraordinary if you didn't," Selendis replied. "But our situation as a species was far more dire then. Would you not agree, great Zeratul, that this peace has done wonders for our kind?"
"It has not wrought the changes we hoped for. The Protectorate as a whole will remain, but the former Judicator tribes are growing discontent. We are on the verge of returning to civil war. And for all of our attempts to reform our political system we are still very much reactionary; one only needs to observe the current situation to deduce this."
"While we are on the subject, what is to be done with Kerrigan?" Zeratul inquired.
"We shall return her to the Hyperion come daybreak. We have the information we need from her, and if the need to acquire more arises she cannot give us it anyhow. Give her and Raynor time to complete their plan, assuming it can be completed at all now, and we shall then summon her for an official trial."
"Can we be sure she will obey our summons?"
"Force can always be used, great one. However, I doubt its necessity: Kerrigan was acquiescent to our summons when I was originally assigned to bring her here."
"I shall inform Raynor immediately, then," the Nerazim replied.
"What...? What do you mean you found someone else..." Sarah mumbled in her sleep.
Artanis gently shook her awake. "Come with me, Kerrigan. I promise you will not be harmed."
Nahaan had told her the same thing the only time he'd escorted her to the torture chamber. Sarah hesitated for a moment, wondering whether she should confide in a Protoss' word again. She decided to trust Artanis and followed him to a shuttle, rubbing sleep from her eyes.
"Where are you taking me?" she asked before she entered.
"We are returning you to the Hyperion. You have my assurances that the crew will leave you unharmed. You will have three more weeks to complete your plan; after that, I cannot guarantee a solicitation of further postponement of your trial."
Sarah nodded in understanding and ducked inside. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you won't have to."
Despite her excitement at being reunited with Jim, she couldn't shake a feeling of dread.
Author's Note: I'm sorry if this chapter was a bit dull, but the setup was incomplete from last chapter so I split the setup into 2 chapters.
The flashback is based on an excerpt from StarCraft: Flashpoint. Yeah, I know Confederate Ghosts aren't exactly the most expressive people out there and that Kerrigan is supposed to pose as one, but Ghosts are still humans; the way I see it, they can joke if they want, they just aren't inclined to because of their conditioning.