CHAPTER 40

This was it.

Her heart in her throat, Rosemary watched Balint's progress through the lower levels of the Armax Arsenal Arena – the heart of the Divide headquarters. The reception wasn't the best, but through his visor, she saw what she needed to see.

She still couldn't believe the time had finally come. Weeks had seemed like years, waiting for the results of the sabotage. Through subtle, but reliable channels, whispers had spurred the rival gangs to action. Stirred from disquieted dormancy, the fight for territory had begun once more. And.. she was stuck in Wakey Brews, once again utterly useless, watching all the action through a terminal while her boyfriend and friend with once-upon-a-spaceship-time benefits risk their lives to hunt down the villain. Villainess. Whatever.

A few guards had been dispatched upon entering the belly of the Divide beast, but so far... that had been it. Had her plan worked that well? Had Saeli directed all her forces to combat the territorial threat...? No. This wasn't right. Saeli was smarter than that; then what was her plan? What's really going on here?

Balint and Garrus were leading separate squads, and so far, they were encountering minimal resistance. Something was very wrong. Weakened by the gang attacks and their resources sabotaged, Divide wasn't putting much of a fight – but this was so easy, it was ridiculous.

Rosemary hadn't touched her coffee, and Haka had prepared it just right. She forced herself to let out the breath she'd been holding. She wiped clammy hands on her pants, feeling dread rise up in her like a fast-acting poison. This had to be a distraction. Divide would have been weakened by their efforts, not completely wiped out...! Then were was Saeli? Where was her army?

"I gave you a chance, and you blew it."

Rosemary froze. That voice. Saeli.

Slowly, Rosemary looked up from her terminal. Saeli was right there – standing in her office. Fully armored, but armed only with a pistol, her old friend regarded her, utter loathing in her eyes. Unlike her white-armored guard, she wore a set of deep purple, her crest proudly gleaming on its chest-piece. Just outside her office were half-a-dozen Divide members, silently pointing their guns in her direction. Well, all but one. Her eyes darted towards the front, where she could see one of them keeping Haka at bay with a shotgun. Haka snarled at her captor, seething.

Rosemary's mind raced; all she had to do was give Haka the opportunity to move. But how many could the krogan take down all by herself? Rosemary would have to deal with Saeli; could she get her krogan skin up before Saeli shot a bullet through her head? The answer was... no. Shit. She could do nothing but wince when Saeli stepped forward and struck her head with the butt of her pistol. God-damn it.

XOXOXOXO

Rosemary awoke to the sight of Saeli sitting behind her desk, and herself tied to one of her chairs. She looked around slowly. They were alone. Well, kind of. Three of Saeli's soldiers were unconscious, in a pile in the main room. Chairs and tables were broken and scattered all over the place... and shotgun blasts marked the entrance to the secret room.

Saeli saw where Rosemary was looking and smiled mirthlessly. "It's what it looks like. Your employee didn't take too kindly to you going down. Somehow, she took out a few of my people and got to your secret little room. She's quicker, and more skilled than my investigation into her background indicated."

Rosemary hadn't known about that, and she hadn't known that Haka had known about the secret room. She really should give that krogan a raise.

Rosemary licked her lips. "If she's in there..."

"She brought your army to your door," Saeli confirmed, sounding unconcerned. Pointing her pistol at Rosemary's heart, she leaned back in the chair. "We have five, ten minutes tops before your knights break through my soldiers. I don't need five minutes to kill you, dear."

Saeli's voice was cold. Rosemary's expression was equally frosty. "You know Balint, Saeli. He won't let you leave this room alive. And Garrus won't stop him."

Saeli's smile was of pure ice. "Do you think that frightens me?"

"No." Rosemary regarded her, her chin up. "I'm not afraid of dying, Saeli. If you're going to do it – do it. And do us both a favor, and leave the villainess monologue out of it."

The asari smirked. "You never did like those parts in the novels you read."

"It's an egotistical waste of time and ink," Rosemary agreed. "And gloating doesn't suit you."

Saeli leaned forward. "Why aren't you afraid of dying, Rosemary?"

That was a good question. Rosemary's heart beat hard in her chest; but she had spoke truly. Her mind was unnervingly calm. "Because everyone I care about... will be fine. Oliver has grown strong, and he has protectors. He, in turn, will protect Keeya. Bridgeton also has its protectors... and there are more with my abilities now. There are others, and others can be made, to protect the hybrids. C-Sec has Nuni, and so many good officers. They have always been fine. I just provided them organization."

"And your precious Wakey Brews?" There was a hard not to Saeli's sneer.

"As you saw yourself, Haka can handle more than you can think. Wakey Brews isn't even mine; it's Imitha's, and she's grown into her role. With Imitha, Haka, and Ossuri – this shop will be around for a long time."

"And Garrus? And Balint?"

Balint... Thinking about that turian beat a crack into the ice newly erected around her heart. Rosemary licked her lips. "They'll be fine, too."

Sensing vulnerability, Saeli slowly stood. "Garrus will be, yes. Losing you will hurt him, but it's a hurt he's familiar with. Balint, on the other hand..."

"Leave him out of this," Rosemary snarled.

Saeli shook her head. "Love has always blinded you, Rosemary. Losing your mother, and essentially, your father, had you handing me your complete trust in a matter of days. You put your brother into my tender care, not knowing a thing about me."

The truth of it stung. Rosemary knew she had been an idiot, and that there was truth in what Saeli was saying. But... she had grown. The mistakes she'd made in the past had only made her more cautious.

Saeli now sat a foot away from Rosemary, on the edge of the desk. "I underestimated you, Rosemary. Because of you, the hybrids sit behind their little wall, protected. Because of you, Divide will just be another street gang, weakened and scrambling for territory. But it will survive. You only killed one of my successors, Rosemary. And they will tear down all that you have built. … Goodbye, Rosemary."

BAM!

Rosemary smiled as the bullet clattered to the floor. Saeli's eyes widened. She stared at Rosemary, disbelieving. "What...? No... that bullet's made to go through krogan plates!"

Rosemary tore her arms free and stood. "That may be... but it was nothing a biotic shield couldn't handle."

The asari shook her head. "No – I saw Chakwas' files! Your abilites can only absorb krogan energies!"

"Not true. I can absorb asari energies – they just don't sit well with me. I still had a bead of it from the last time I took some in. I couldn't get rid of it; it sat under my skin like a painful, diabolic pimple. It wasn't much, but it was enough to make a biotic shield the size of a cupcake. And that's all I needed." Rosemary couldn't stop it; a grin spread across her face at a sudden thought. "Blissful beans! I was doing a hero's monologue. And it worked!" It had given her the time she'd needed to focus and form the troublesome little shield; biotic energies had been unexpectedly jumpy and tricky mess to manipulate. But she had to stop gloating; this was how assured victories were always upset. … In books, anyway.

The expression on Saeli's face was one Rosemary had never seen before. Shock. Rage. Disbelief. … Relief? They were all there on the asari's face. "You realize that pistols in this day and age hold more than one shot," Saeli said calmly.

The asari cursed as her pistol snapped out of her grasp, crackling. Saeli whirled around to see a familiar quarian pointing a shotgun at her head. "It's over, T'Garu."

Rosemary didn't feel like gloating anymore; the hate in Saeli's face dampened any flush of victory she should have had. But Nuni was right. It was over. It's finally over.

XOXOXOXO

WARNING: FINAL LEMON AHEAD!

LEMMMOOOONNN