Chapter 41: Lines Crossed
Jack paced nervously back and forth in front of the screens before her. It had been almost two weeks since the Forward Unto Dawn had left Elysium, since then most of Jack's time had been spent near these screens. She would only leave the communications room of Grissom to eat and teach the students that were still on the station. Jack had known that Palavin had been hit just as hard as Earth had, knowing that Rah willing went head first into that slaughter had kept her up most nights. She hated this, not knowing if the person that had stolen her heart and even saved her from going somewhere that no one should go was dead or not. Not knowing was the worst part of loving a soldier. It was different when they were both on the Normandy, at least then she would know if he was still alive or not.
"You know he'll be fine right?" The voice of Foxtrot spoke in her ear. Jack looked to see the image of Rah's AI watching the screens and news feeds with her.
Jack still didn't know what to think about the AI. Sure she was more advanced than EDI was, and Rah treated her just like a normal person, but Jack was still on the fence. The fact that her avatar was a woman, a smoking hot one at that, whose only clothing was a stream of ones and zeros running over her body made her suspicious. The AI and Rah and an odd relationship as well, the two of them seemed to be both like siblings and an old married couple at the same time. Jack just couldn't wrap her head around it.
"Nothing's for sure with the Reapers." Jack replied to the AI. "That's what scares me the most."
A far away look passed over Foxtrot's face. "I've reestablished a connection with him. He has minor injuries and so does the rest of his squad. They're headed to the Citadel for repairs and resupply."
With those words, a massive grin came over Jacks face. Only a few other things could have made her happier in that moment, two of them however, she was sure would never happen. It was be only wishful thinking on her part, but she'd been burned by too many before to bother with hopes and dreams that would never happen.
"Fucker wouldn't let himself die on me." Jack grinned to the AI.
"He has that effect on people." Fox replied with a smirk. "Always said he wouldn't get himself killed long as I was with him when I was first assigned to him. Almost got both of us killed that ever same day."
"Sounds like him." Jack laughed.
"Jack, there's something I think you should see." Fox told her and a new screen appeared in front of Jack.
The screen was a list of various image files. Some of them had long names of codes that Jack couldn't understand. When opened, they showed to be battle maps, star charts, anything that someone waging a war would need at a moments notice. The last few images however were named plainly. There were some that appeared to be named after battles and they opened to be tattoo designs, some that were on Rah and others that were not yet there. The last three however, caught her eye. One was named "Past Family", another named "Brothers and Sisters" and the last was simply "Home".
Jack opened the first image to see a family photo with a thirteen year old Rah in the center surrounded by his rediscovered parents and siblings. All of them had massive grins on their faces, and Rah even looked like he'd been crying before hand. It surprised Jack that the image hadn't been opened in over six years. Did Rah really feel too much guilt over the death of his family that looking at his pained him?
Jack opened the next file. It opened to show about two dozen men and women, all in black Alliance uniforms. In the center was a short grizzled old soldier with general's bars on his sleeve. Jack didn't know most of these people, but she managed to pick out Rah, Shepard, and the other N7's that she'd met at Grissom. She was surprised to see that Shepard had her arms around Rah and another woman. While the around Rah was like that of a sister and brother, the arm around the other woman was that of lovers. Jack made a note to ask Rah or Shepard about that later, there head to be a good story around it. The image of all the N7's had been opened just over a month ago.
When Jack opened the last image, the image titled "Home" she took a double take. The image was taken from Rah's helmet feed, his HUD was around the edges of the image with everything from his ammo in his weapon, to his bio readings from his armor. The image was from the last leg of the suicide mission and from a moment that had been burned into Jack's mind. The majority of the image, was taken up by Jack's face. Rah's gloved hand was cupping one cheek and she was looking up at him with pleading eyes. Jack had never seen herself looking so pathetic, but something about it made Rah keep the image. Jack brought a hand up to her mouth when the readings of his biosigns registered in her mind. Even then, Rah had known that he was dying, and even then he knew that he wouldn't likely come back alive. Even with all of that in mind, Rah had promised that he would come back to her. Jack couldn't believe that the only thing that had kept him alive, was his promise to her to come back.
Jack felt tears come to her eyes at seeing how often the image had been accessed. In the last month alone, the image had been opened over a thousand times. In the last two weeks, it had been opened everyday and had been left open for hours on end. Right before her eyes, the stats on the file changed to show that he was looking at it even now.
"JACK!" Fox screamed in her ear, making her wince in pain.
"What the fuck!?" Jack shouted back, rubbing her ear.
"You need to get to the students! Cerberus sent a ship here! They're coming for the students!" Fox told her, her voice urgent and worried.
"What?!" Jack exclaimed in bewilderment. "How do you know?"
"I've picked them up on long range sensors, they're only two days out." Fox replied and her avatar disappeared. "We need to get ready for them!"
"Boyscout, you better be on your way." Jack muttered before leaving the room, going to find Sanders. "Let the N7's know, we'll need their help holding the station."
"Already done, Robo and his squad are starting to get the students up and getting them into Orion Hall." Fox replied and Jack nodded. Orion Hall was the best place to defend the students against invaders.
"Let's hope we can hold out long enough." Jack muttered to herself.
Robo looked around him at the biotic students of Grissom Academy. He was used to doing the impossible, hell it was part of being a Ghost, but defending a bunch of kids from trained Cerberus soldiers? Even he didn't think he and his squad could do it for long.
Not for the first time, Robo was glad that one of his squad was an Asari Matriarch. With some of the students being younger, around ten to thirteen as opposed to the late teens students that Jack mainly taught, the Asari was able to be like a mother to them. She had centuries of experience with children, and the students responded well to her.
While his Asari squad mate had a calming influence on the younger students, the Krogan Warlord that was apart of his squad had the same effect on the older students. While Jack helped get all the students into safe locations with either his squad or Loco's squad, the warlord told ancient war stories to the older kids. The older kids, especially the boys, couldn't keep themselves from being enthralled by the ancient Krogan.
The last member of his squad,a young Quarian engineer, had busied herself with helping with one person. Robo couldn't help but feel sorry for Jenny, Rah's assistant. She was the kind of girl that should never see combat at all, yet soon enough she would. Robo let out a sigh and walked over to where the two women were sitting.
"How are you holding up Jenny?" Robo asked the civilian.
"I'll be fine staff commander." Jenny replied professionally. Robo couldn't imagine how she could act so cool and calm, while at the same time having the head of a varren in her lap and scratching the beast affectionately.
"No need to be like that around me or any other Ghost. Long as you're working with Carmine, we're just people." Robo smiled to the woman. "People that don't exist, but people none the less."
Jenny's lips turned up into a smile at Robo's crude joke. "Thanks, this is all so different from what I'm used to."
"What?" Robo asked, blinking at her. "Don't tell me you're not used to being around people that actually understand what's going on in the world?"
Jenny's smile turned into a grin and she shook her head no. "By now, I'd probably have found a new job. It's either that or have been doing 'favors' for General Carmine by now."
"Who-?" Robo began to ask, Rah's rank and name not clicking at first. "Oh, yeah well, Rah's not one you'll need to worry about with that sort of thing. He likes you, but he's not the type to use others when he very well could."
"I never understood that about him." Jenny replied, turning to look at the older kids when they all burst out laughing at something the Warlord said. "How did someone like him move up the chain of command? And so young too?"
"Rah's a genius." Robo shrugged. "That and anyone that's served with or under him love him. He was like the favorite son in the Ghosts until our last CO changed assignments. Now he's almost like a father figure to us. People like him, like Shepard, they go places that they shouldn't and yet handle it better than those that should."
"I can tell." Jenny replied. She looked as if she was going to say more, but was cut off when claxons blared around the station.
"Show time boys and girls!" Robo barked to those in the room. "Get into your positions! Stay in cover and don't take risks! Let the pros handle this!"
Robo turned back to his Quarian squad member. "Keep her safe, Rah would kill me if something happened to her."
"She'll be safe with me." The girl smiled to him from behind her mask. "Come on Jenny, lets get to some cover."
Rah observed the approach of both the Dawn and the Normandy from his spot in the Dawn's CIC. Both ships had shown up at the same time and they were now on their way to Grissom. The plan was for the Normandy to deploy its shuttle with Shepard and her team to go and be the reinforcements to those in Grissom. The Normandy and the Dawn would take care of the Cerberus fighter squadron and the cruiser.
Where is she? Rah asked Fox when the AI connected to his omni-tool and his mind.
"She's not here." Fox told him. "They took her. No one was around to get to her in time. She's on the cruiser."
Rah's fists clenched and he forced himself to hold in a snarl. Cerberus wasn't going to take Jack from him, not after all he'd done to help her, not after all she'd done for him.
"Death Angels." Rah spoke over the Dawn's PA. "Suit up and prepare for boarding action."
"Sir?" The ship's pilot asked him. "What do you have in mind?"
"Get in touch with Joker on the Normandy, I want those fighters destroyed and I want the engines to the cruiser to be taken out." Rah ordered the pilot.
"Yes sir." The pilot replied.
"I'm going to get ready myself, if you need me, call me." Rah told the woman before heading to get the only thing he'd be bringing with him, his hammer.
Cerberus had crossed a line. It was one that no one was allowed to cross and they would pay for it. He'd make the Illusive Man beg for death if any harm were to come to Jack. Rah didn't think of himself as much of a romantic, but in this one case, his princess needed him and he'd be her knight in glowing blue armor.
"The students should be in the hall just ahead Shepard." EDI spoke and her synthetic body, now clad in light armor, took point.
"Liara, stick close the Garrus. James, Javik, you're with me." Shepard ordered her squad while they followed EDI.
While in the past, her missions were better off with only two or three others with her, against the Reapers and now Cerberus, Shepard wouldn't waste time bringing a small team. Now, everyone that could fight and keep up with her would be coming with her.
In only moments, the team reached what Sanders had told them was Orion Hall, one of the two halls where the students were being protected by the Ghosts. Everyone took up breaching positions around the door. Shepard nodded to EDI, who opened the door. Right when the door opened, the six of them rushed into the room.
Their sights were filled instantly with Cerberus soldiers. In what looked like a break room that overlooked the hall, about a dozen and a half students were hunkered down in cover behind the low wall of the overhang. out from cover, popped a Quarian and an Asari, both fired down at the Cerberus troops. While the Cerberus soldiers scattered for cover from the fire, the students popped up and launched a volley of biotic attacks at the soldiers.
Down on the main floor of the hall, were three non-Cerberus figures. One of them, was a large Krogan holding a massive shotgun in his hands and a smaller version of Rah's hammer on his back. Another, an Alliance soldier in medium armor with an assault rifle on his back, a pistol in one hand and a glowing omni-tool in the other. From the omni-tool, a large shield sprung into existence completely protecting him from the fire from the side the shield was on. The final figure, a girl in her late teens who was crouched behind an overturned table. The girl was shaking and holding her head in her hands, her legs drawn up to her chest.
"Let's get in there people!" Shepard barked to her squad. She powered up her biotics and flung herself into the midst of a large group of Cerberus soldiers.
At first, the N7 and the aliens didn't know what to do when even more guns started firing in the hall and green and azure biotics began entering the fray. However, they soon got their bearings again when they realized that the newcomers were only attacking the Cerberus forces.
"Glad you finally decided to show up!" The N7 called to Shepard when she made her way into cover next to the shaken girl. The soldier had also made his way to protect the girl just as Shepard had.
"I wouldn't miss this for the world Robo!" Shepard chuckled back when she recognized her friend's voice. Shepard sent out a shockwave at some Cerberus forces that were trying to get to the three of them before dropping back into cover. "Can you get her to safety?"
"Just give me cover and I can." Robo nodded before crouching down next to the girl.
"Hey, Sarah, we need to get back to the others." Robo spoke to the girl gently. "Come on, you can do this, just a few feet and a couple minutes."
The girl, Sarah, though shaken, looked up to Robo with pleading eyes. She managed to nod and got to her unsteady feet.
"Kat, you ready?" Robo asked her. Shepard nodded and jumped out of cover again. Robo stood up as well, his shield held up to protect the girl over himself. Robo began walking backwards slowly, with the girl staying just behind him. Shepard lost sight of them when she turned to the door that Cerberus had been using to flood troops into the room.
A massive mech, just like the one she'd fought on Edin Prime, had managed to squeeze into the room. Shepard yelled out a warning to everyone before charging the mech. Just as before, her squad and now Robo's squad, took care of the regular Cerberus soldiers before tuning to the mech. Shepard along with the Krogan kept the mech occupied, hitting it on both sides at once before moving out of its firing ark.
It took them all nearly an hour of fighting before Cerberus reinforcements stopped showing up. Once they finally had a breather, Shepard looked around and did a head count. None of her squad had been severely wounded and as far as she could tell, all of the students and Robo's squad were fine.
"Saved our asses there Kat." Robo thanked Shepard, doing the same as she was now. "Not sure we'd have made it if you and your guys hadn't shown up."
"We showed up, all that matters." Shepard replied to her friend. "I'm not seeing Jack, you know where she is?"
By the way that Robo stiffened, she wouldn't like the answer. "We don't know Kat. She went to go and help reinforce Loco and his squad, but she never made it there."
"Students of Grissom Academy." A voice came over the station's PA system. "The Alliance soldiers cannot help you. We have your teacher and she came with us willingly. Turn yourselves over and you will not be harmed."
"EDI!" Shepard barked to the AI. "Shut him up!"
Robo strode over to the group of students who were now muttering between themselves. Some of them seemed unsure about the man's words, some even looked like they would do as he said.
"Listen up people!" Robo barked. "If I know Jack, the douche from Cerberus is lying. Jack has more reason to hate Cerberus than anyone else in the galaxy, there is no reason that she would ever go with them willingly."
Robo's words seemed to strike something in the students. All of them agreed and quieted down, some began eating or drinking energy foods to try and restore some of their lost strength.
"Excuse me? Commander Shepard?" A civilian woman approached Shepard. "Have you heard anything from General Carmine?"
Shepard looked over the woman, by the genuinely concerned look on the woman's face, Shepard knew that this had to be a friend of Rah's, just not one that called him by any of his nicknames.
"He is on the other ship that came to help." Shepard replied to the woman and a relieved look passed over her face. "He's currently trying to take down the Cerberus cruiser that has been sitting outside the station."
"Good." The woman sighed. "I hope he slaughters everyone on that ship. I bet he will if Jack's been taken there."
It dawned on Shepard then what the Cerberus voice meant. Jack was in one of two situations; one was her being dead somewhere on the station, the other ws having been taken by Cerberus. In either case, Shepard felt pity for the poor souls that would soon be standing in Rah's way.
While waiting for the airlock to cycle open, Rah received more than his fair share of odd looks, both from the crew of the Dawn, but also from his and Vakarian's men. While the others were all in battle gear and hardsuits, Rah was in nothing more than a pair of shorts and his hammer resting on one shoulder. For what he was going to do, any armor would just get in the way. Rah needed speed, and he needed to be free of everything that could restrict his movement.
"Carmine, you sure this is a good idea?" Lommy asked from behind him.
"No. But it's what is going to happen. I'm going in there and finding Jack. Anyone or anything that gets in my way will be killed." Rah replied to the man and looked over his shoulder. "Just make sure that you and the Turians get to the bridge and clean out the rest of the ship."
"Yes sir." Lommy replied with a grunt. "Still don't like this."
"Noted." Rah replied and the airlock door cycled open.
Rah gripped his hammer in both hands and charged into the Cerberus ship. Not even ten feet in, bullets began flying around him. He let out a roar and raced into the Cerberus defenders, his boitics active and shielding him from harm.
Jack let out a cry of pain. She had never thought it possible, but laying in a Cerberus operating chair, bound hand and foot, she'd been rendered helpless. She didn't know why, but her mind reverted to back when she was only a few years old back in her cell. Jack should have been able to break out of the restraints that held her, but she couldn't.
Jack let out another cry when the doctor that was operating on her cut deeper into her flesh. Jack felt hot tears run down her face. First these fuckers had done something to her implant, now they were cutting into her flesh and preparing to shove Reaper tech into her.
Everything around her stopped however, when a massive boom shook the entire ship around her. She couldn't see anything with her tear filled eyes, but she could feel everyone around her freeze up in fear.
"They can't be here already!" One of the doctor's aides gasped and another boom shook the ship, closer this time.
"We can't stop, we need to keep going." The doctor growled to the aide.
"But if they get here they'll kill us!" The ide replied. "We should just take Zero with us and continue in the escape pods!"
Any response from the doctor or anyone else in the room was cut off however. Another massive boom thundered in the room, this time followed by the crash of the door being smashed in.
Jack tried blinking her eyes clear to look around, to try and find her rescuers. She froze up in fear when a primal roar of rage echoed off the walls from the door.
The ensuing moments were followed by the screams of men and women that tried fleeing for their lives. The screams were joined by thunderus booms and roars of rage and anger and hate. Jack felt something in her stir at the roars and the screams, something wanting to join in and take part in the fun.
Before long however, everything went silent. Jack managed to get her eyes clear and looked around the hazy room. Standing in the center of a mass of broken bodies, was a blood covered tattooed man, clad in only a pair of shorts with a glowing biotic aura around him and a massive hammer in his hands. The man was breathing hard and it gave time for Jack to realize that the tattoos were ones she'd seen before, ones that she loved.
"R-Rob-" Jack tried speaking, her voice coarse and scratchy.
The man turned to her and the face of feral rage and anger that had been there changed instantly. Rah rushed over to her side and began breaking her out of her restraints.
"Rob-" Jack tried again, only to be silenced by one of Rah's fingers.
"Shh." Rah soothed her, his hand coming to cup her face. "Don't talk, I'm here. I've got ya."
Jack felt a new wave of tears come to her face. Rah turned away only briefly to finish pulling her free of her bindings. When she was free, rah pulled her into a light hug and she hissed out in pain.
"Fuck." Rah cursed and let go of her. Jack reached out to find his hand. When she found it, she wouldn't let him go.
"Jack, Princess, I need to do something, but you need to trust me." Rah spoke out, his voice soothing, but Jack could hear the worried undertones to his voice.
"Do it." Jack told him around a sob. Rah pulled his hand from hers and stepped away from her. Jack began to panic at not seeing him, but when he returned with two handfuls of bandages, she calmed down somewhat.
"This is going to hurt, but I can't do anything about the pain.." Rha told her, his voice holding both sorrow and anger. Jack looked to Rah to find him making a large square pad out of some of the bandages.
"I'm sorry." Rah spoke to her softly. Before Jack could ask why, Rah placed the pad of bandages on her abdomen. Pain shot through her and she cried out again. She screamed when Rah put more pressure on her.
"Stop! Please stop!" Jack begged but to her horror Rah didn't.
Jack looked to Rah's face to find that it was a stony mask, the light shine under his eyes however gave him away. She could see that doing this to her was hurting him almost as much as it was her.
Rah pressed harder and Jack screamed and arched her back in pain. Before she could lower herself back to the chair, Rah began wrapping more bandages around the pad he'd made. After several times of looping them around her, Rah pulled his hand away and the pain let up. Just when she thought he would do no more harm to her, Rah tied a knot in the bandaging he'd used to hold the pad in place, Jack screamed and began sobbing again. Why was he doing this to her?
"It's over." Rah whispered to her, his voice tender. "I'm done, you don't need to suffer any more."
Jack grabbed Rah and pulled him to her. She pulled him into a hug and began sobbing into his neck. What was wrong with her? Why was she acting like this? What did Cerberus do to make her like this again?
"Don't leave me." Jack sobbed into his neck and Rah squeezed her against him.
"I won't." Rah told her, his voice calm and soothing. "Never again."
"Joker, this is Carmine. I need a pick up." Rah spoke, turning his head away from her. "Have Chakwas prepare for surgery."
"No!" Jack sobbed at the last word. "Please, not again!"
"Jack, listen to me." Rah spoke to her and pressed his forehead to hers. "Cerberus put tech in you. We need to get it out. Do you understand?"
Jack nodded. "I won't leave you the entire time, if something goes wrong, I will fix it."
Rah's words and his voice soothed her fears away. Jack brought her lips to his, needing to feel the love that he had for her, needing to feel something normal, something right.
Rah slipped one arm under Jacks thighs. As gently as he could, Rah lifted Jack up and hugged her close to his chest. Inspite of all his efforts, small jolts of pain sparked out from her stomach, but it was pain that she could handle now.
Jack could feel that Rah was straining to hold her up. She could feel that he was on the edge of exhaustion, but he carried her away from the room that had caused her so much pain.
About halfway out of the Cerberus ship, Jack felt her own wave of exhaustion come over her. Rah must have picked up on it, for he started singing to her. It was a soft song, one that he easily sang and that soothed her. By the time she fell asleep in his arms, they were almost to the airlock of the ship.
When Shepard finally returned to the Normandy she found out about what happened with the soldiers that were on the Dawn. Joker told her that Rah and his men had boarded the Cerberus cruiser and killed every single member of the Cerberus crew. It was being spread around both ships that Rah had gone onto the Cerberus vessel with only a pair of shorts and his hammer, and yet had a higher body count from the Cerberus vessel than the rest of the soldiers from the Dawn combined.
What rattled Shepard however, was that both Rah and Jack were now on the Normandy. Jack had been taken captive aboard the Cerberus cruiser and had been operated on. Rah had found Jack right when she was having Reaper tech implanted into the flesh of her abdomen. According to EDI, Rah was even now still in the mess hall, staring at the shuttered window to the medbay. EDI had also told Shepard, that Rah was running on fumes. From his bio-readings, the man should have been passed out by now.
Shepard took the elevator down to the crew deck and found Rah within moments of leaving the lift. Rah was a statue. While a few of the crew moved around him, he stood in the same place, boring a hole in the shuttered window of the medbay.
"Hey." Shepard greeted her friend, coming to stand next to him. "How are you holding up?"
"How do you think." Rah spat out with hate in his voice. Shepard knew that it wasn't directed at her, but at those that had dared to harm Jack. "If I had the chance to, we would be having a very different conversation right now."
"You and I both know that wouldn't help you." Shepard told her friend, laying a soothing hand on his shoulder. "You might want to, but torture wouldn't give you revenge, it would just make you like them."
"I wouldn't use Reaper tech." Rah snarled. "Just my bare hands."
"From what I've been told, you got damn close to that already." Shepard replied. "You want to talk about it?"
"What's there to talk about?" Rah asked, looking at her for the first time. "Cerberus just signed their death sentences. As long as I'm still breathing, I will hunt down Cerberus and make them pay. Before long, I'll make the Illusive Man pay too, pay for everything he's put her through."
Shepard didn't like the evil light that sprung to Rah's eyes. She knew that he'd cash in on his promise before he died. If there was one thing about Rah, it was his devotion to those he loved. At times like these, his devotion would turn him into the monster that he was out to destroy.
Both Rah and Shepard fell silent. Shepard wouldn't push him, she knew better than that. She would stay with him until he let himself succumb to his exhaustion however.
"I made her suffer." Rah told her softly, his voice full of pain.
Shepard turned to him with horror in her eyes. His chin was touching his chest and his eyes were closed.
"I found her in the middle of more tech being implanted. After I slaughtered her tormentors, I had to stop the bleeding from the incisions." Rah took in a shaky breath. "When bandaging her, she screamed. She cried. She begged me to stop, but I couldn't."
Rah turned to look at her, hate and self loathing in his eyes. "It shakes you, ya' know?"
"You did what you had to do." Shepard told him and pulled him into a hug. "Jack will understand."
"I need sleep." Rah told her. "Mind waiting for her? I told her I wouldn't leave, but I can't do it, not after today."
"Yeah." Shepard replied, beginning to feel him slump against her. "I'll wake you when she's done in there."
"Than-" Rah began but he was asleep before he finished the word.
Shepard chuckled and, in what must have been comical to watch, slung Rah over her shoulders in a fireman's carry. When Shepard turned around to find Rah a bed, she found Garrus and Liara watching her.
"Been there long?" Shepard asked quietly, walking towards her lover and friend.
"Long enough to see the last bit." Garrus shrugged. "We heard what he did, what he did for Jack."
"Bring him to my room, he can use my bed until he wakes up." Liara offered.
"Blood covered and all?" Shepard asked, motioning to the dried human blood that covered most of Rah.
"I can get new sheets." Liara shrugged.
"Thanks Liara." Shepard smiled to her friend.
"He's your brother, so in a way, he's like mine too." Liara replied with a smile.
"Let's tuck him in then." Shepard chuckled and followed Liara into the Asari's room.
A/N: So that happened. Very much enjoyed writing this chapter, and hopefully you all enjoyed as well.
Please let me know what you all think!
Thank you all so much for the continued support! Happy turkey day for anyone that's a dirty American like me!
Until next time!
