AN: Hey guys! Guess who's back? *Realises it's been over six months and looks sheepish*
Okay, well, I've been busy. But this *is* a fairly long chapter, so there's that.
Thanks to everyone who reads, with special thanks to everyone who follows/favs and super special thanks to everyone who has reviewed. You guys rock!
Super special thanks to 2kinds from DA for betaing for me!
Hope you guys enjoy!
Part Three - Afraid To Call This Place Our Own
Chapter Twenty Six – Familiar Shadows
The Citadel - The Quarian Councillor's Office
2253 - 57 Years After the End of the Reaper War
The quarian councillor sighed at the long list of documents on his terminal, just waiting for his attention. Sometimes he felt as if he never had enough time. Actually, he felt like that all of the time.
"Knock knock," he heard from the other end of the room, prompting him to lift his head. He couldn't help but smile at the woman leaning against the doorframe, the red hood of her red and black combat suit still up, covering the majority of her features.
Like this, she almost looked entirely turian.
"I didn't realise you were back on the Citadel," he told her as she approached his desk.
"I literally just arrived," she answered, shrugging, as she finally pulled down her hood, revealing her blonde ponytail; the only indication that her heritage wasn't entirely turian. Though, she didn't like to talk about it. He didn't even know if she was part human or quarian. Not that it really mattered. There were more than enough hybrids around for their presence to no longer be as noticeable as it had once been.
His smile couldn't help but widen a little as he realised that this was the first place she had come after arriving. "You haven't checked in with the rest of the council yet?"
She simply responded by leaning in and kissing him. After a few moments, she pulled away, passing him a data disk. "I can't be bothered to deal with them. I figured I would just pass this along to you."
"Riina…" he sighed. "You have to know that some of the other councillors are tiring of your irresponsible attitude. They're worrying that they might have another Shepard on their hands."
The Spectre smirked at that as she leaned back against his desk, folding her arms. "I can think of worse comparisons."
"I'm being serious," he told her as he stood to face her.
She dropped her gaze away from his, clearly becoming uncomfortable as he showed concern for her. "So am I. If you don't like the way I do things, strip me of my Spectre status. But I'd be willing to bet that the reason you haven't already is that, while you may not agree with my methods, you can't argue with the results."
"But it's been close, Riina. Your actions have been… they could be construed a certain way. You've given them reason to doubt your loyalty. I've been fighting them on it but you haven't been making it easy."
"Because I don't care. This was Vi's dream, not mine. And now she's gone and retired."
"Then why didn't you leave as well?"
She shrugged. "Because I'm still not sure where I want to be. But, while this gig may not be perfect, it's also not terrible."
"Then you'd better figure it out. It would… look bad if the council stripped the first hybrid Spectre of her status."
"One of the first," she corrected.
"Regardless, if they decide to get rid of you, they will probably use other methods."
"Because I don't deal with enough assassins as it is," she commented, sarcastically.
"You know that if that ever happened, I would make sure you knew what was coming, right?"
Whatever reaction he had expected from her, it was not the death glare he received. "Offering to betray the rest of the council for me is getting dangerously close to territory we swore we would never approach."
"You swore," he corrected.
"Pol, this works because I don't feel that way about you. I know you don't understand so just… think of it as if I'm incapable of love."
"Except I know that's not true."
"You're right, it's not. But you never seem to understand the truth," she reasoned, sounding a little sad, as she stepped away from him. "Regardless, there is a more important issue right now. I'm assuming the council has some idea of what I can do to prove my loyalty? You guys are very fond of your little tests."
He sighed a little before nodding. "Yeah, we do. We need you to find someone."
"That can't be just it. That's just another Tuesday for me."
He replied by handing her a datapad. "Except this one has been off the grid for over twenty five years. Any trails that might exist will probably be cold by now."
"Why are you sending me after her?" Riina asked quietly as she realised who she was being sent after.
"Because we've heard rumours and they're not encouraging. You have to understand that someone with this level of… potential influence, must be dealt with."
"Hang on a minute, you said find not kill."
He simply gave her an apologetic look. "I know that it's difficult for you. It would be for any hybrid. But it's why this task was chosen for you. It's her or you, Riina."
"What if she's dead? You have to know that almost all accounts have her dying when she disappeared."
"Our intel suggests otherwise. But, if she is dead, then all we need is confirmation."
She gave a frustrated sigh, shaking her head. "You guys are arseholes, you know that, right?"
"Yeah. And I'm sorry."
"I just bet you are…" Riina muttered as she left the office, datapad in hand.
"Do you think he knows?" a metallic voice asked over her comm.
"Don't worry, Cassi. I doubt you were what he was referring to."
"That's not what I meant."
"I know. And, again, I doubt it. They're not smart enough."
"Shall I establish a link to your sister?"
"No! Just… Vi doesn't need this too. It'll be just you and me on this one."
"So, where shall we be going first?"
"The Shadow Broker, I think."
"I had assumed that you would go to others first. Shepard, for one."
"There's no way she won't know why we're looking. Do you really think she'd betray her daughter?"
"But if she's dead, it would allow us to get evidence."
"Yeah, there's just one problem with that… I'm not convinced that she is."
"I think we both know that stories of her going underground for a normal life are unlikely."
Riina didn't answer as she approached the office of the Shadow Broker agent that she used the most often.
"I need some information," she told him as she entered the office, her hood up once more to hide her hair.
"Tactful as always, Spectre Murasaki," the volus replied.
"I think we both know that I don't like small talk. I'm looking for someone."
"I might need a little more to go on than that."
"The Original Hybrid. I need to find her."
"I was under the impression that she was dead."
"Yeah but, let's face it, she's died a few times. This wouldn't be the first time her demise had been exaggerated."
"I suppose not. Though this time my information tells me that it's true."
"Then I'm sorry to have wasted your time."
"Not at all. I always look forward to our little… exchanges."
She smirked as she realised that 'exchanges' was probably a substitute for something not so pleasant. "You should know by now that you don't have to worry about offending me," she told him as she left, not bothering with a goodbye.
"This means nothing more than, if she is alive, the Shadow Broker is covering for her," Cassi observed.
"My thinking exactly," Riina agreed, smirking a little at her bad joke.
"Do you truly find that amusing?"
"A little."
"So, what next? The Shadow Broker must know by now that you're searching for Sarah."
"She'll make assumptions about my motives. I mean, you know what Vi was like, gushing over the legends as we grew up. She always dreamed of finding the Original Hybrid. I suspect a lot of hybrids do. Only a handful of people know me well enough to know that I never gave a shit and some of them could probably be convinced otherwise."
"But not Shepard?"
"Are you kidding? She was the only one who ever understood the fact that I didn't care. Plus, I'm not fool enough to try to trick the person who taught me everything I know… Is there anyone else on the Citadel who might know? Someone who served on the Normandy with her would be best."
"You mean like one who lives here?"
Riina groaned, realising who she meant. "I don't really want to deal with him today… He's as likely to shake his walking stick at us as he is to help us."
"He is one of the few people alive who knew her best."
"I also don't want to get on C-Sec's radar. So, next option."
"What if they were also on the Normandy when you were?"
"Even better. Like I said, very few know me well enough to guess my true motives."
"What about her sister?"
"Hilary? Sure, she'll do."
"She is currently at Kara's."
"Of course she is…"
"Dad!" a young asari yelled as soon as Riina entered the shop, dropping her colouring pencils. "Riina's here!"
"You really have a set of lungs on you, don't you?" Riina asked, shaking her head a little.
The young girl just nodded enthusiastically as her father moved through from the back room.
"Hey Riina. I didn't realise you were back on the Citadel," Kara said.
Riina shrugged. "I only docked an hour or so ago."
"You're always in such a hurry."
"I just don't like the Citadel," Riina reasoned simply. "There are too many people."
"I wonder where I've heard that before," Kara replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Well then, can I assume you're not here for a friendly chat?"
"Maybe another time. I'm actually looking for Hilary."
"Right here, Kid," the woman sitting in the corner informed her. "Your eyes aren't as sharp as they used to be."
"Side effect of getting older, I guess," Riina replied as she sat opposite Hilary.
"I guess so. Now, I haven't seen you since… well, since Vi's wedding. Can I assume that Cassi is listening in?"
"Of course," the AI informed her via Riina's omni-tool.
Hilary just nodded at that before turning her attention back to Riina. "So, what's up?"
"It's… It has been drawn to my attention that I'm a little fuzzy on certain aspects of recent history."
Hilary snorted at that. "Is that really surprising? Riina, you've always looked to the future, rather than the past."
"Except… I need information on someone I'm tracking down. Information that traces back to the war with Cerberus. I figured, who better to ask than someone who was actually there?"
Hilary leaned back in her chair, regarding the woman in front of her carefully. "If this is about-"
"It's not," Riina cut her off, realising where she was headed.
"It's okay if it is, you know? No one expects you to-"
"Are you going to tell me what I need to know or not?"
"You still haven't told me who you're looking for," Hilary observed.
"I… Just tell me everything you remember…"
Hilary smirked at that, confirming Riina's theory that she would make an assumption about her motivations. "Alright, I guess I should start at the point at which Sarah returned to the Normandy…"
Shuttle Approaching the Normandy
2220 - 24 Years After the End of the Reaper War
"Sarah?" Tiberius asked, unstrapping from his seat so that he could approach his bondmate as she leaned over in her own, clutching her head.
"I'm fine," she lied through clenched teeth.
"Blue… Come on, what is it?"
Sarah shook her head. "The closer we get… I can't shut it out…"
"Shut what out?" he asked with concern as Philip and Tia pretended not to be able to hear them.
"Their thoughts… It's a deafening noise… I can't… It hurts…" she managed weakly, gasping for air as tears laced her eyes.
"Hey, you're okay. I've got you," he reassured softly as he pressed his browplates to hers. "Just… try to focus on me, block everything else out."
Sarah nodded as she lifted her gaze to meet his, her eyes laced with tears of pain. She concentrated on her breathing, trying to bring her barriers back up in an attempt to block out the deafening noise.
"Getting better?" he asked as the tears seemed to stop.
"You're worried," she stated, sounding a little dazed as her stare bored into him unsettlingly.
"I don't like seeing you hurt," he explained simply.
"Not just that. You think…" She seemed to pull out of her daze as she gave him a questioning look. "You think they won't like you?"
He looked away sheepishly before asking, "Better?" ignoring her question altogether.
She nodded. "Yeah. Sorry, just… I opened myself up when I was fighting before and… It's getting harder to shut it down… I haven't managed it fully but… It's better…" she told him, realising that the engines were already shut down as the shuttle was now securely parked in the Normandy.
"Maybe you should keep your guard up until…"
She sighed. "There's not really an 'until', is there? There's no one who can really help with this if it's acting up…"
"Maybe it was just the adrenaline of the fight or something."
She nodded. "Hopefully…" she said, before realising just how worried he seemed. "Hey, I'm okay," she told him, pressing her browplates to his once more. "I promise."
"You know, if we just sit here, someone's going to notice," Philip told them.
Sarah nodded, keeping her attention on her bondmate. "You know, you're silly for worrying. They're not going to have an issue with you."
"Right. I'm just entering a ship full of legends. The two most legendary of which just happen to be your parents."
She managed a smile at that. "It'll be fine. Just don't introduce yourself as 'the guy fucking your daughter' and you'll be okay. They'll like you, I promise. Even if it seems like my mum doesn't, she does. She just… doesn't like strangers."
Before he could respond, someone whacked on the side of the shuttle door. She rolled her eyes before going to open the door.
"Oh good. I was beginning to wonder if Cerberus had got you with a booby trap or something," greeted a young woman, a few years younger than Sarah, with short dark hair, brown eyes, and wearing a jumpsuit that wasn't quite Alliance issue.
"Hey, Sis," Sarah replied, pulling the younger woman into a hug. "It's been way too long…"
"Nah," Hilary told her as she pulled away. "Only eighteen months or something. Of course, this time there's no sneaking around or disguises… Shame, really. It was actually kind of fun…"
Sarah rolled her eyes at that before grinning. "Alright, I'll admit, it was kind of fun. At first. After four years, though, it does get a little old…"
"I guess it would. So, you going to introduce me to your friends?"
"Of course. Guys, this is my sister, Hilary. Hil, this is Tiberius, Philip and Tia."
"Ah, so this is Tiberius?" Hilary asked as she folded her arms, giving Sarah's bondmate an appraising look.
"Funny," Sarah commented dryly, rolling her eyes. "Seriously, I am just so overcome by how hilarious you are."
"Sounds like someone woke up on the bitch side of the bed this morning."
"Just the 'we've got a prisoner in here who we should probably get to the medbay before she decides to wake up and start killing us all' side."
"Noted," Hilary commented as she moved over to where the hybrid girl was sleeping. "Wow, are all Cerberus hybrids this messed up?"
"More or less," Sarah confirmed.
"Okay, well," Hilary started, turning to point at Tiberius and Philip, "one of you two can probably manage to carry her on your own, right?"
"Why us?" Philip protested.
"Because she looks bigger than your other friend here - Tia, right? - so she probably can't manage her, and Sarah and I are lazy."
"Hey!" Sarah protested before sighing. "No, I can't even pretend to be insulted. You just know me too well."
"I'll do it," Tiberius told them before picking the girl up, carrying her in his arms. "If you make Philip do it, he'll never stop complaining."
"Very true," Tia confirmed.
"Well, the medbay is upstairs. Follow me," Hilary told them leading them to the lift. "I'm sure Chakwas and Alice are dying to take a look. The last hybrid we captured burned out months ago."
Sarah gritted her teeth at that but took a deep breath to calm herself before replying. "That won't be a problem. I gave her a dose of the cure before we arrived. Hopefully, she shouldn't have to worry about time running out on her."
"Yeah, I just realised, that last thing I said? That was… kind of callous, huh?"
Sarah shrugged. "It's okay. I get it. You've been fighting Cerberus for years. I understand that 'hybrid' would become synonymous with 'bad guy'."
"It's true that we've been fighting Cerberus for four years now, but you've been my sister for almost twenty. 'Hybrid' means 'person,' just as 'human,' 'turian,' or any other species does…"
"It's okay. I understand that a degree of desensitising is required for this fight, I really do. I'm just… a little out of it at the minute," Sarah explained apologetically as she pressed her hand to her head once more, attempting to reinforce her barriers against the incessant noise of thoughts bothering her.
"You okay?" Tiberius asked her as they exited the lift.
"I'm fine, ani. It's just a headache," she told him before turning to Hilary, who was grinning at her. "What?"
"You have a bondmate," her sister sang, nudging her.
"I know," Sarah replied, raising her eyebrows.
"It's cute," Hilary explained as they entered the medbay. "And a little odd… But mostly cute."
"Sarah!" greeted Alice as they entered the medbay, pulling her into a bone-crushing hug. Dr Alice Graham had been brought onboard when Sarah was just a child. Dr Chakwas had complained that between Sarah's constant illness and the propensity of the rest of the crew to be hurt in battle, she needed more medical staff.
"Hey, Alice…" Sarah managed as she pulled away. "We've got someone here who needs your attention."
Alice immediately moved over to where Tiberius had lain the hybrid girl on one of the beds.
"Have you already given her the cure?" Alice asked.
"Yeah. Will she be okay?"
"She seems stable for now. I'll have to run more tests to be sure. I'll keep her sedated while the cure takes effect. It won't be… pleasant for her, I'm sure."
"No, probably not," Sarah agreed just as she found herself being grabbed from behind and sat down on one of the beds herself. "Hey!"
"Don't you 'hey' me," she heard a familiar voice tell her as an omni-tool was passed over her face. "I don't trust that you've been giving yourself more than basic scans. When was the last time you gave yourself a full workup?"
"Nana Karin…" Sarah complained, rolling her eyes.
"Sarah," the doctor warned.
"Fine… Probably just before Nat left. But I've been taking all of the necessary readings and they've been fine. Plus, I needed the extra time for training." Tiberius gave her a pointed glare which she responded to with a roll of her eyes. "Don't you start as well," she warned him.
"Sarah, how much pain would you say you're in?" Chakwas asked.
She shrugged. "Not that much. Just a couple of leftover aches from the cure rearranging my genetic makeup. And a bit of a headache, but that's more of a telepathy thing… It'll die down in a while."
"Your neural readings are all over the place."
"It'll be fine in a while…"
"Yes, well, if I give you my recommendation as your doctor, will you actually listen?"
"Maybe. But Red probably will and he can be a real pain in my ass when he puts his mind to it."
The doctor smiled at that, folding her arms. "Honestly, this looks like every other time you've overexerted your abilities. Make your 'hello's quick and then sleep it off."
"Thanks, Nana."
"I'd like to check your friends too, but that can wait until morning. I want you asleep asap, okay?"
Sarah nodded before getting down off the bed. "Then I'd better fill Mum in on the plan."
"We have a plan now?" Philip asked.
"I'm still working out the details, but yeah. There's a plan."
"It was nice meeting you two," Alice told Tiberius and Philip. "And, of course, I'm glad we've got Tia and Sarah back."
"Wait, when was Tia ever-" Philip started, but Sarah cut him off.
"Guys, can you argue later? We've got slightly more important shit to deal with."
"Language," Chakwas warned.
"Right, sorry," Sarah apologised sheepishly as she headed out of the medbay. "Give me a call if her condition changes," she said, indicating towards the hybrid girl.
"Of course," Alice told her, just before the door shut.
"So, where to next?" Tiberius asked.
"Well, we should probably- Hey!" Sarah yelled as she was almost knocked down by a thirteen year old human boy. "Wait, Jim? Fu- Freaking hell, when did you get so big?"
"Sarah! When did you get here?"
"A little while ago. But, seriously, the last time I saw you, you were tiny…"
"You should see Liam. He's even taller than Dad now."
"Yeah, I'll believe that when I see it," she said, just as Liam came running around the corner, closely followed by a toddling little asari with a huge grin on her face.
"Sawa!" the little asari cried, prompting Sarah to lift her up into her arms.
"Hey there, Nezzie. At least I know you won't grow up on me. At least, not for another decade or so…" she said, before turning to Liam, her eyes wide with surprise. "Holy sh- hmm, yep, no, I can't come up with a non-swear word fast enough. Your brother's right, you are bigger than your dad."
"Yeah, well, I've been training with both him and Mom…" Liam told her sheepishly, the awkward shrugging looking way too odd on his large frame.
"He and Rael have been training every day," Jim told them, earning himself a glare from both Hilary and Liam as Sarah frowned a little.
"Wait… Rael's on board?" she asked them.
"Yeah," Hilary confirmed. "I just hadn't gotten around to telling you that part yet… On account of… well, the awkward stuff…"
"What awkward stuff?" Sarah asked, fooling no one.
"Perhaps your conversation should be halted," came EDI's voice over the speakers. "Rael is currently on his way to greet Sarah and her friends."
"Thanks, Mom," Hilary said.
"Hey, Auntie EDI," Sarah greeted.
"It is nice to have you back on board, Sarah," she replied, just as the lift arrived on the floor.
"Maybe we should leave you guys to it," Liam said, the sound of his voice prompting Nezzie to squirm towards him, out of Sarah's grasp.
"Probably a good idea," Hilary told them as the three kids headed back to whatever game they had previously been playing.
"Hey, guys," they heard as soon as the kids were gone. "Why are you- Oh… Hey…"
Sarah almost did a double take at the sheepish quarian standing in front of her. Where had the lanky, awkward teen she had known gone? Sure, his change wasn't as drastic as Liam's, but he had genetic precedence, at least. There was really no denying that Rael had really grown into himself and his 'cute' had evolved into full-blown 'hot'...
"Hey," Sarah managed, attempting to keep her surprise to herself. He had grown up. It shouldn't really have been so shocking. But it prompted her to think for a minute about how strange she must look to him. She had been fully grown the last time they had seen each other, but now? She was paler and sure she looked a little haggard. Combine that with the scars trailing all up her right side and she was a mess.
She felt a sudden unclenching of tension at her thought. After half a moment, she realised that the tension had been stemming from Red as he was faced with her former lover. She questioned that briefly - it wasn't like turians to get worked up over past casual relationships - but decided to stash it away for later, her focus drifting to Red's thoughts for the briefest moment.
Wrong, was all she managed to pick up.
Huh? she couldn't help but respond.
You're wrong. You're not a mess. You're beautiful. Especially your scars.
She couldn't help but smile at his sweet thoughts as they helped her to collect herself. "It's good to see you again," she told the quarian.
"You too," Rael said.
"I hadn't realised you were back on board."
"Well, I wanted to help. Plus Aunt Jane always says the engine doesn't run right without a Zorah keeping an eye on it… Speaking of, I should really get back."
"Okay, well… I'll see you later, then…"
Rael left at that, heading back down to engineering.
"Okay, well, that was possibly the most awkward thing I've ever seen," Hilary said, shaking her head.
"It wasn't that bad," Sarah muttered.
"What wasn't that bad?" a dual-toned voice asked from behind her, prompting her to spin around, launching herself at the older turian.
"Daddy!" she cried, her subharmonics trilling with happiness.
"Hey there, Filia. We missed you."
"I missed you too."
"Let me look at you," her father said, pulling away. "Your hair's longer…"
"Yeah, it does that."
"Your scars look much better. They're barely even noticeable."
Sarah couldn't help but laugh a little. "Right… It's okay. They don't really bother me any more."
He smiled at that. "Just as mine no longer bother me."
Sarah noticed he way her father's eyes darted over her shoulder, reminding her of the nervous turian standing there.
She placed her hand in Red's before giving him a brief trill of reassurance. "Dad, this is Tiberius. My bondmate."
"Nice to meet you, Sir," Tiberius greeted.
What's got you so surprised? While all of the other thoughts Sarah could hear were just low mumbling, this one rang much more clearly. Not only that but it felt familiar, allowing her to identify it as her mother's.
You should see this kid, ani. It's like seeing a ghost, her father replied silently.
Not really that surprising. I would have assumed that he looked like his father.
There's a difference between 'looking like' and 'identical to'.
"Guys?" Sarah interrupted. "Telepath, remember?"
I forgot our private conversations are no longer private, her father thought.
Aw, does that mean I'm no longer allowed to distract you during the day by thinking about-
Sarah used what little remained of her mental energy to yank her barriers up as hard as possible. "Guys!" she protested. "I really don't need to hear that…"
"Sorry. You should probably go and see your mum. She's been worried about you."
"How is she?"
Just as her father opened his mouth to speak once more, she felt something similar to a large pressure, even through her barriers, and she assumed it was her parents silently talking again. Her thoughts were confirmed by the way her father rolled his eyes.
"She's definitely not been worried about you or stressed about getting Cerberus and she has definitely not become even more reclusive for it."
"How bad?"
"The last time we had new crew members was… tough… And she's currently yelling at me over our bond for telling you that."
"I can imagine. I'll go see her now."
The five of them made their way to the lift, but paused when Hilary's omni-tool bleeped at her.
"Shit," she muttered. "Sorry, I was kind of in the middle of something when you guys showed up…"
"It's okay," Sarah assured her.
Hilary nodded, about to head off, when she instead paused to frown as something caught her eye. "Are you bleeding?" she asked Philip.
He frowned, looking down at where she was indicating. He had removed the upper portion of his armour in the shuttle so was now just in his undersuit, which appeared to have a patch of blood on his side.
"Shit," he muttered. "My suit must have been dispensing medigel. I guess it stopped when I took it off…"
Tia sighed at him, moving to inspect the wound. "How did you not notice this?"
"Probably because it's not so bad…"
Tia rolled her eyes at that. "Come on you. We'll catch up with the others later," she told him before dragging him back towards the medbay.
"Need a hand?" Alice asked as they entered.
Tia shook her head. "No. This idiot just needs a little patching up but I can handle it."
"Ow!" Philip protested as she removed the upper portion of his undersuit.
"Quit whining. It didn't hurt that much. But I am surprised that you weren't complaining before now. What happened to the guy who couldn't take so much as a papercut without bitching about it?"
"He grew up," he told her softly, prompting her to lean in and kiss him as she applied more medigel.
He hissed as he pulled away from her. "That was a dirty trick…"
She smirked at that. "I know."
"So… do you want to tell me why everyone on the Normandy knows you?"
"I already told you. Shepard's the reason I ended up at C-Sec."
"No, I mean, everyone's talking as if you served on the Normandy. Recently."
She sighed as she averted her gaze, focusing on bandaging up his wound. "I wasn't allowed to tell you. It was all classified."
"When you were working with Spectres… You were here, weren't you?"
"Yeah…"
"So you knew. You knew all along where Sarah was. That she was safe."
Tia sighed once more at his accusatory tone as she finished up on his wound. "You already knew that. I made it clear that I knew when we first got to Earth."
"But you made it seem as if you'd just figured it out on your own. Not that you knew. Tia, you saw how bad Smiley was..."
"If I had told him, he wouldn't have been able to remain on the Citadel. He would have gone to her and it would have been a flashing neon sign for Cerberus. I wanted to say something, you have no idea how difficult it was to not, but he couldn't know."
Philip sighed at that. "You ever get tired of having to be responsible?"
"All of the fucking time…"
"Okay, give it another try…"
"Shepard, I would not recommend-"
"EDI, just trust me on this one okay?"
Sarah threw her aunt's mobile platform a questioning look as she and Tiberius entered the CIC, which she returned with an eye roll, indicating to where her mother was currently elbow-deep in the, currently disassembled, galaxy map.
"Re-activating current in three, two, one-"
"Kao!" Shepard yelled as she jumped away from the piece of tech that had just electrocuted her. "Stahko… I was sure that would work…"
"I did try to warn you," EDI pointed out.
"Yeah, but you warn me not to eat burnt toast… Nevermind. It's not as if it's necessary. Just flashy."
"Shepard, I realise that this is futile, but I will once again recommend that the Normandy gets a proper overhaul-"
"EDI," Shepard cut her off as she climbed over her console next to the galaxy map, "are we still flying?"
"Yes, but-"
"Are any of your systems compromised?"
"Not yet, but-"
"Then don't worry about it. We'll get it done when we have time."
Sarah decided to step in at that point, realising that if androids could grind teeth, her aunt would very much be doing so. "Hey, Mum."
"Sarah!" her mother yelled before drawing her in for one of her awkward hugs. "It has been way too long."
"Agreed," Sarah replied. She found it comforting that, despite how everything had changed, her mother was still the same. She even looked the same. Her hair had lightened gradually years ago, from golden blonde to a silvery-white, but she otherwise looked exactly as she had when taking down the Reapers. Admittedly, it wasn't so odd now that there were so many different anti-aging methods available, but Sarah knew that her mother had never used any of them. "Mum, this is Tiberius. My bondmate."
After what her father had said, the way her mother's gaze only briefly flickered to Tiberius was painfully obvious.
She nodded to him quickly, her mouth quirking up into a stiff smile as she just said "Cool" before turning back to Sarah. It was almost disconcerting, the way her features went from animated to dead and back again. "Oh, before I forget, Hilary's been bunking down in the shuttle bay. So, you two have your room all to yourselves."
"How come?"
Shepard shrugged. "She does a lot of work on the shuttles when she's not flying them and I think she just found it more convenient. Anyway, not important, what is is how we're gonna deal with Cerberus now. I hear there's a plan."
Sarah nodded. "Right, the plan. Well, the plan is simple. No more hiding."
"That's it?"
"Well, I'm still working out the details. First part of the plan is going to the Citadel and trying to get the Council to recognise me officially in some capacity. You know, as a sentient being with rights and shit. It would be good to get some precedence set up before any other hybrids are cured or born."
"You know that they won't give any aid when it comes to Cerberus, right?"
Sarah nodded. "I know. I am very well aware that the Council thinks all of their problems will be solved if Cerberus manages to kill me…"
"Well, that's because they're a bunch of P'Toks. So, making you visible helps in the long-run, but what's the plan for Cerberus?"
Sarah folded her arms at that. "Mum, it's okay. I know you already have a plan. I was actually counting on it."
"I was trying to be tactful and, you know, not be overbearing or anything…"
"You're Commander Shepard. I think you're allowed to be overbearing when it comes to tactical planning."
"Okay, well, Liara's sure that she's pretty close to getting a location on one of the Cerberus bases. Might be a good place to release your cure. But, in the meantime, the Citadel is as good a place as any to head. It will also give your new pal time to wake up. She might know something relevant."
"How did you- Aunt EDI told you…"
"Aunt EDI tells me everything that goes on on this ship."
"Which makes me super glad that Hilary managed to deactivate all of her surveillance equipment in our room."
Her mother held up her hands at that. "Hey, what you do in your room is your business. Quite frankly, I don't want to know… Speaking of your room, Chakwas said I wasn't allowed to keep you from your sleep. Go on, I'll plot a course for the Citadel while you catch up on your rest."
Sarah nodded before heading back to the lift with Tiberius.
You were right, she heard her mother think, he does look like his father.
Told you.
Sarah found herself surprised, not because she picked up the thought from her mother, but because her thoughts had been quiet before that. Sarah's barriers had slipped once more just moments after she had managed to get them back up fully but, even so, her mother's thoughts were difficult to read, even when she tried to concentrate on them. It was like listening to a radio just off the right frequency.
"You okay?" Tiberius asked her as they exited onto the crew deck.
She nodded. "Yeah, just tired."
"Which way to your room?"
"Left. But hang on a minute," she told him before approaching the memorial wall, searching for a particular name. "I passed this thing every day when I was growing up. I can't believe I didn't realise before now…"
He followed her gaze as soon as she found it, more than a little surprised by the name her gaze was fixed on.
Quintus Tallin
"Dad…" he muttered softly.
"When Shepard first returned to work with the Council, they tasked her with evaluating Q as a potential Spectre," EDI told them."His mentor, Spectre Alenko, also came aboard to evaluate Garrus. When they didn't make it back from a mission, Shepard insisted on putting their names on the wall."
"I hadn't realised…" Tiberius muttered.
"Me neither," Sarah told him. "You okay?"
He nodded, pulling himself from his thoughts. "Yeah. So… which way to your room again?"
Sarah took his hand in hers, leading him back to the room she and Hilary had once shared.
"Final stop on the tour," she told him, looking around her room. "It's… Okay, I might have outgrown some of this stuff." Her gaze fell on an old poster of a turian boyband she and Hilary had had a slight obsession with, immediately jumping up to take it down. "Yeah, I have definitely outgrown most of this… Angel wasn't too big on decorating, so this room hasn't changed much since I turned fifteen…"
He smirked at that. "I think it's cute."
"Cute, huh?" she asked, moving close to him, one hand settling on his waist as the other brought his head down so that she could kiss him.
"I thought the doctor prescribed you rest," Red told her as he pulled his lips from hers, though he kept her held close to him.
"Urgh, sometimes you could use less self control, you know that?"
"Blue, if you have a headache, I have a headache. Seriously, my head feels as if it's about to explode…"
"Sorry," she told him sheepishly as she moved over to her drawers, pulling out an oversized t-shirt as she began to get out of her combat gear. "I can't even fully block out the outside world right now, never mind you…"
"I don't mind. It's just… usually not this unpleasant or painful to be linked to you…" he explained as he worked on getting his own armour off.
"I'm sorry," she told him again as she finally pulled on the t-shirt before climbing into her bed.
"I think I can deal until you sleep it off," he told her as he settled down next to her. "But, honestly, I'm more worried about you. It's getting stronger, isn't it? The telepathy, I mean."
"I'm okay," Sarah promised, not really answering his question. "Like Nana said, I just need to sleep it off."
"Blue… when you faced the hybrid… the way you fought… it was unlike anything I'd seen you do while we were training. You went from 'good' to 'unbelievable'..."
"Practice isn't the same. I don't know why but… when I'm in the fight… it's almost as if something else takes over. I have no idea how or why but… it's just instinctual."
"Is it to do with the telepathy?"
Sarah shrugged. "I suspect they come from the same source. But actually related or tied to each other? I have no idea…"
"Why does it feel as if as soon as we deal with one thing, another pops up?"
She shrugged. "Because my life is crazy. Don't worry, this won't be a permanent problem. At least, I hope not," she said as she snuggled close to him, shutting her eyes as he began to play with her hair a little. But, after a few moments, she opened her eyes once more to look at him. "You're not even a little bit tired, are you?"
"It's still a little early," he told her. "But I don't mind staying here with you."
"You just don't want to wander the ship without me."
"No, I don't," he admitted. "It's still a little too weird…"
"Yeah… that's understandable…" She sighed a little, her subharmonics trilling with contentment at the feel of his talons lightly tracing across her scalp. "You can ask, you know," she finally told him.
"I know that the fact that it's bothering me is annoying you."
"I just don't get it," she reasoned. "You know that I never had any real feelings for him. It was never even really me. I was so broken and messed up at the time… I just thought it would help me to feel something. But it didn't work. Nothing worked until I met you and the others."
"I know that. It was just weird when you thought that he was 'hot'."
"Yeah, Red, I'm bonded, not dead. I'm still perfectly capable of differentiating between 'attractive' and 'unattractive'. But it doesn't mean shit in the end. That would be like me being jealous of that actress, what was her name? The one from that terrible inter-species buddy cop movie we watched a few weeks back. The one with the 'amazing waist'."
"In my defence, I am never going to actually meet her in real life. This guy is actually your ex and he's on the same ship as us for the foreseeable future."
She sighed at that. "Okay, this is really going to annoy me. You know that I would never betray you-"
"It's not about that."
"Then what is it about?"
"What if he still cares about you? You know, romantically?"
Sarah snorted at that. "Okay, you really have forgotten how I was when we first met. Remember how much of a bitch I was? I was ten times worse with Rael. I used him when it was convenient for me and then pissed off. I was the dictionary definition of 'emotionally unavailable' but I strung him along for years, never completely extinguishing his hope of having a real relationship, because it was convenient for me."
"You can't have been that bad…"
"I'm surprised he didn't set me on fire when he saw me," she admitted. "He'll probably just avoid me."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
"Okay then."
She smiled, shaking her head, as she felt the worry leave him. "You're so weird," she told him as she snuggled closer once more.
"Says the telepathic hybrid…"