CHAPTER 12
"I walked in on Balint having sex with an old sex... partner. On my bed."
Rosemary looked up to see zero sympathy on Garrus' face. He looked... confused. "The bed part was rude, yeah, but... is that it?"
Rosemary scowled, frustrated. "I know turians have a lot of casual sex, but come on!"
Garrus rolled his eyes. Rosemary noticed they were blue, like his sister's. "You can't hold turian customs to your human standards. We're two different races, different cultures. Can't you respect both of them?"
She didn't want to admit it, but she could see reason in what he was saying. She still didn't like it. "I didn't like seeing him with someone else," she admitted.
"Well, yeah. That's why you make compromises."
"You... sound like you're speaking from experience."
Garrus hesitated. "You... have no idea. Shepard... Emma had a jealous streak a mile long." He leaned back and had a faraway look on his face, remembering. Rosemary waited until he was ready. She knew he didn't like talking about Shepard. No one on the Normandy did, as far as she could tell from CARD's surveillance. "There was this female in a Citadel casino... turian, like me. Smoldering eyes, trim waist... Never mind. Point is, Emma got jealous. Like she wanted to blow the other female's head off."
Rosemary's eyes widened. "Would she have?"
"Not over that. But she might have found a reason to," Garrus admitted. "People on Emma's shit list had a tendency to get into bad situations."
She wanted to hear the rest of the story. "So... how did you compromise?"
Garrus cleared his throat. He was careful not to look at Rosemary when he continued, "She, uh... confronted the other female, I think her name was Nisara – and they had it out. Hand-to-hand combat, of course – no guns." Garrus' subvocals had taken on a strange note – like a purr and a growl mixed together.
"And?"
"It was our first threesome."
"AcK!"
Garrus grinned and thumped Rosemary on the back. She'd chosen the wrong moment to take a bite of her sandwich. Once her pipes were clear, she pushed away the rest of her meal. With the direction the story was going – eating could become a health hazard. She couldn't hide her confusion. "But you loved Shepard."
Garrus inclined his head. "Yeah, but with Nisara... it was just sex. Sex can be amazing."
From what she remembered, sex had been a pretty great way to pass the time. Still... to have sex with someone with no strings? No promise of a future? She'd never... really thought about it. Was it possible to separate feelings from sex? Garrus had pretty much said it was, but it was still an alien concept to her sheltered self.
"How long has it been for you, anyway?"
Rosemary shrugged. "A while. I'm rusty," she told him honestly. "I watch a lot of vids."
Garrus laughed, and Rosemary laughed with him. It was nice, talking candidly with someone like this. It was different, though, talking sex with another guy. A really attractive guy. She could feel herself getting warm.
Their omni-tools pinged. "Yo, girlfriends," Vega's voice called out. "Sorry about cutting it short, but it's war room time. Everyone's here."
"Right. Shall we?"
Garrus and Rosemary walked out of the lounge, both more relaxed than they'd been in a while.
XOXOXOXO
Yadai was waiting for them by the elevator.
"May I speak with Rosemary for a minute," she asked.
Garrus looked at Rosemary. She nodded. "Go ahead, Garrus. We'll catch up."
Yadai pulled her to the side, just outside the door to the scanner. She got right to the point. "I wanted to say I'm sorry for spying on you. I understand why you're angry."
She wasn't really angry at the Spectre, more disappointed. She decided to be equally honest with K'Mohi. "I was just disappointed. I thought we were becoming friends."
Yadai's shoulders slumped. "We were, I mean... I was told to keep an eye on you, but I really do like you as a person. Love your coffee. Nuni said you were good people, and well, it's fun teasing you."
She heard that a lot. "What do you want, K'Mohi?"
The Spectre's smile was wry. "I want us to try to be friends again. Real ones this time."
Rosemary thought about it. K'Mohi seemed sincere, and who couldn't do with another friend? And her betrayal had been the least damaging one, if she could be honest with herself. "I think... I might like that."
"Oh, good." They got scanned together and had just walked through the door to the conference room. "Oh, and one more thing?"
"Hm?"
"Could you call me by my name? My first one. It's Yadai," the Spectre informed her.
Rosemary hesitated. "Are you sure? Seems disrespectful and well..."
"Rosemary Fletcher, are you afraid of me?"
"Slightly terrified," Rosemary assured her. "You are a Spectre, and all. It's kind of your job to kill people."
"I only kill bad guys, not my friends," Yadai defended herself.
"Doesn't make you less terrifying."
"Get off it. You're a killer too, remember?"
Rosemary didn't want to think about it. "No, I'd rather not."
XOXOXOXO
In the War Room, Rosemary was introduced to Kaiden Alenko, another Spectre.
Garrus shook his head. "Two Spectres. Don't you hotshots have your own ships?"
Vega and K'Mohi grinned. Alenko was definitely the most serious of the lot. He shook his head and projected a map in the middle of the group. "We just got some new intel on the assassins. They call themselves 'Divide'."
Alenko's fellow Spectre, K'Mohi, leaned forward. "And their agenda?"
"They... disapprove of the fact that pretty much all sentient beings of the galaxy are now connected... compatible with each other. They're afraid their culture and bloodlines will be lost," Alenko explained.
"They are afraid of change."
Everyone turned. The voice belonged to an asari that had quietly entered the room. She was taller than K'Mohi, and wore red, intricately-patterned armor. She regally inclined her head in greeting to Rosemary and K'Mohi. "I am called Samara."
"Good to have you here, Samara," Alenko greeted her.
K'Mohi bowed her head in respect to the asari. "It is an honor to make your acquaintance," she said formally.
Rosemary stared at the asari Spectre. This was the most polite she had ever seen Yadai K'Mohi. She looked at Garrus, a question in her eyes.
He understood. "Samara is a Justicar."
Another one? Rosemary eyed Samara warily. She had never really asked, so this was about as good a time as any... "What's a... Justicar again?"
"They are members of an ancient monastic order," K'Mohi told Rosemary. ", that follow a strict and precise honor code. Justicars are highly respected among the asari."
Rosemary had only known one Justicar, and that one had killed her father. "And Saeli...?"
Samara's silvery blue eyes turned icy. "Saeli T'Garu cannot be called a true Justicar. She has perverted the Code, twisting it to service her own corrupt agenda. She is a rogue and a slayer of innocents."
"Did you know her personally," Rosemary asked, needing to know.
Samara slowly nodded. "Saeli was... my friend. She trained me in the ways of the Justicar. She reached out to me once – recently, in an attempt to turn me to her cause. She sees the hybrids as abominations of justice – a result of the sinful synthesization."
Alenko frowned. "And you can go against her?"
Samara straightened. "I had great respect for Saeli. But she has dishonored the Code. I will cleanse her soul of the corruption through death." Samara's tone was hard, and cold.
"Damn," Vega whispered.
Kaiden Alenko turned his attention back to the data. "What we need to do now... There has to be more like Rosemary – those that can absorb the excess energies of young hybrids. The problem is finding them. Hybrids are rare enough, but they number in the thousands. What Rosemary is, the Council has named them Unique Energy Facilitators – UEF's – must be even rarer. But how rare? Are there hundreds like her? Dozens? A handful?"
I'm right here, she felt like saying – but didn't. They had bigger problems. Alenko was right. Finding others like her – UEF's (Reapers, that sounded silly even in her mind) – would be problematic. But Keeya had somehow known she was one... kind of. "I could talk to Keeya, ask her what she knows."
"I could talk to her," Samara offered. "If she will let me, I can meld with her, and find out how and why she chose you as a vessel."
That was a good idea. Rosemary nodded her assent.
"Feels good to be doing something," Alenko said, sounding relieved.
XOXOXOXO
Rosemary felt like she wasn't doing anything. She went to the lounge after the meeting to brood. Saeli must have been laughing at her the entire time she had pretended to be her 'friend'. She must have thought Rosemary a ridiculously easy mark. Just thinking of Saeli cut Rosemary deep.
What was she going to do? All she could do was make coffee. Everyone but EDI and CARD loved her for it, but that was it. Sure, she had krogan strength every once in a while, but that ability was extremely unreliable.
She couldn't be on the run for the rest of her life. Besides, there was a new Wakey Brews to open. If she could, she would be hunting and annihilating the Divide... but she wasn't a Shepard. It wasn't like she could storm into Divide central headquarters and blow it up like Shepard had done to Cerberus. True, it had been Shepard AND the Alliance who had taken down Cerberus... but she wasn't even a soldier.
The door to the lounge opened, and Garrus walked in. "Was Kaiden here?"
"No."
"Ah, it can wait. He hates it when I talk battery maintenance, anyway." He sat down next to her. "What are you thinking? You have that look."
Just with him being near, Rosemary felt relaxed, and safe. Still, she hoped she wasn't overstepping her bounds when she dared to ask, "Garrus... what was Shepard like?"
Garrus was silent for a moment. He didn't look upset, much to Rosemary's relief. "She was... beautiful. Tough." His mandibles shifted in a smile. "Sexy as hell, too... for a human."
Again with the 'human' thing, Rosemary thought, rolling her eyes. "Are humans really that strange? Are breasts that weird?"
The turian laughed. "That depends who you ask. What do you like about turians?"
Yadai's voice echoed in her head – ridges! Ignoring that voice, Rosemary shrugged, trying to appear nonplussed. "Well, judging from the turians I know... they're straightforward. Tall, with really nice voices. And the fringes on males look regal – primal."
Garrus smiled at her honesty. "You're not as shy as you used to be."
Rosemary shrugged again. "Don't see much point to it anymore." With everything that had been going on, there seemed to be less reason to be concerned with how others viewed her. This new viewpoint was freeing, but still new. "Was I really that shy?"
"Virgin-shy," Garrus confirmed.
Rosemary scoffed. "I haven't been a virgin for a long time, Garrus." Virgins were pretty rare nowadays, too. "Not that many virgins these days. Is it the same with turians?"
"Most turians enter boot camp at fifteen. A lot of us were teenagers – very rebellious. Sex was a very enjoyable outlet for teenage frustration. We're also naturally sexual creatures. We're not very shy about sex. We just don't like mingling it with business."
Balint hadn't seemed to get that memo, she thought wryly. Despite herself, she wondered what that turian was doing now.
"Yadai told me you're practically a virgin. You only had sex once, right?"
That rat. Annoyed, Rosemary tried not to sound defensive. "Yeah, why?"
"Exactly. Why? You're not unattractive and your beasts are nice and large."
Rosemary had to smile. "They're called breasts, Garrus."
"Right. Those. They seem to hold human men captive. Vega's been eyeing them since you came aboard."
Rosemary laughed. Vega walked into the lounge just in time to hear the last part of Garrus' statement. "Hey! Not cool man," he protested. He looked embarrassed, and like he was debating on leaving the room already.
Garrus ignored him. "Well?"
Rosemary didn't know what he wanted to hear. "I kind of like being a wallflower. I don't dress provocatively on purpose. I guess I am the shy kind."
Garrus' grin was slow. "Ah. So you like to watch. That's fine. I don't judge."
Vega burst into laughter. Rosemary punched Garrus on the arm, then promptly rubbed her knuckles. His damn armor had been in the way. "You are such an ass, Garrus," she said. But she was smiling.
