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Chapter Thirty Two - Venting
The Normandy
2220 - 24 Years After the End of the Reaper War
Tiberius wasn't sure what to make of Sarah's behaviour. She wasn't shutting down - that much was clear - but she had sort of settled into the low-burning anger and he could see the occasional spark of biotics across her skin, though she didn't seem to notice.
The anger gave her the focus and drive she needed, helping her to escape from the pain of loss, but it was also wreaking havoc with her biotics, which had never really been all that stable. He thought back to when he had first met her. It had been a miracle that she had never hurt anyone in her occasional outbursts.
He left her to clean up and change, going to retrieve their weapons. He didn't expect to see anyone else hanging around the armoury. Only Hilary ever hung out in the shuttle bay and he knew for a fact that her father was currently letting her fly the Normandy.
So, he was surprised to find Shepard sitting cross legged on the workbench. Despite having been on the Normandy for months now, he had rarely seen Sarah's reclusive mother. She seemed to shut herself away from the rest of the crew most of the time but no one else seemed to consider it odd.
"How is she?" Shepard asked, her gaze stuck on the pistol scope she was fidgeting with, not looking up to acknowledge that he had entered the room.
"She's… not great. I would say 'coping' but I honestly couldn't attest to how well."
Shepard nodded. "She was always too sensitive for this work. We've known that since she was little. We tried to raise her elsewhere but… I don't know how much Sarah has realised of this over the years but, after the Reaper War, I retired. I wanted to live and raise Sarah on my own terms. Being a Spectre didn't line up with that. And then Sarah was born and, at first, she was perfectly healthy. But that didn't last long. At around six months, her health started to fail. And I, in my infinite wisdom, had informed the Council of Cerberus' attempts to make their own hybrids, hoping that it would afford us some protection from them. They had responded by restricting certain medical tech. The kind that we needed to help Sarah. They wouldn't hand it back over without reason and a little something from me.
"So, I became a Spectre once more and the Council learned of Sarah's existence. They agreed to keep her identity a secret and not to interfere so long as Garrus and I continued to work for them. Though, to their credit, they only occasionally called. And only when it was actually important. Still… it was difficult to keep her out of it.
"Wrex would argue that, as a Blood Born, she was always going to have an affinity for combat. Plus, Garrus is always quick to point out that her turian half needs some kind of outlet… I guess I just wanted her to have the choice that I did not. I didn't pick this life, though I can't deny that it's suited me well. Sarah didn't chose this either, Angel did, and she never had the constitution for it."
Tiberius tried not to be shocked by Shepard's outpouring. She had barely said more than a sentence to him before and now she was speaking with him as if they were close. Though, despite the serious topic, Shepard's tone was almost emotionless, as if she was discussing the newest weapon mods.
"I guess my point is that I'm worried. I want Sarah to have the life she wants, not the one she feels obligated to lead."
"Sarah's going to see this through no matter what," Tiberius told her, finally finding his voice. "She wants to help the other hybrids. No matter what that entails."
"I know. So why do I still feel as if this isn't going to end well?"
"Because it probably won't."
Shepard smiled at that, finally lifting her gaze to examine him for a moment, making him feel a little uncertain. "I'm glad Sarah found you," Shepard eventually said. "You're good for her. Even I can see that."
"I… erm… Thank you… Commander."
Shepard laughed at that, finally seeming comfortable. "Oh, Christ… No one's called me 'Commander' in years. Seriously, just call me Jane. Everybody else does. Well, except for the students. But that's more of a discipline thing."
"Okay… Jane…"
"I'm coming with."
Sarah lifted her head from assembling her gear to see Philip storming in, a fire behind his eyes that she hadn't really seen from him before. Though, she couldn't help but shift uneasily. She was already unhappy about Red coming along since her biotics were still acting erratically. The only reason she was even vaguely okay with leaving her room was that Tiberius was lending her his strength through their bond. Plus, Tia was going as well and could theoretically counteract her biotics but it wasn't something Sarah ever wanted to test. But she knew that the Normandy could only stay undetected in the system for so long and they needed to move as quickly as possible.
"Philip," she started, reluctantly, "I don't want any more people coming than necessary. With my biotics acting up, it's just not a good idea."
"Sarah, I really don't care how dangerous it is. I need information on my father and this is the best chance we've had so far."
Tia chimed in at that. "Sarah's right. If her biotics act up, I can't protect both you and Tiberius, and Tiberius' presence is probably the only reason why she's remaining even vaguely stable right now."
"I've already said that I don't care."
"But I do."
Sarah nodded in agreement. "Plus, the worry of hurting you will probably make it more likely that I'll lose control."
"What if we brought another biotic with us?"
"Like who?" That statement earned Sarah raised eyebrows from the rest of her friends. "Right… Sorry. Forgot where we were for a moment. So, then the question is which biotic to bring."
"You could always take me."
Sarah spun around to identify the eavesdropper, only to immediately shake her head. "Nope. Not happening, Liam."
"Come on. I've been on missions before!"
"Look, Liam, any other time, I'd consider it. But I can't look after you right now." I can't guarantee your safety. I'd only let you down, just like everyone else.
"Are you kidding?" the boy asked, shaking his head as he approached, making Sarah very aware of just how big he was. He certainly towered over her, forcing her to reconsider her classification of 'boy'. "Sarah, I'm older than you were when you started going on missions. Not to mention the fact that I'm hardly new at this. Mom and Dad kind of have a 'trial by fire' attitude to my training."
"You only think that because you don't realise just how much effort goes into making sure we're safe on training missions. Trust me, if it had ever been truly dangerous, you weren't there."
"Aunt EDI?" Liam immediately called. "Please could you tell Sarah my dad's opinion on me joining her?"
"He is more than happy for you to get some more field practice. Both he and your mother are currently of the opinion that there is little more that controlled environment practice can teach you."
"I can do it, Sarah," Liam assured her. "My biotics have always been stronger than yours and I'm pretty sure that I'm stronger than Tia, too. If you're struggling, I'll be able to help. I know it."
Sarah gritted her teeth, though she couldn't argue with his logic. And if his parents agreed… She had no legs to stand on. "Alright. Fine," she agreed, "but you need to listen and obey every order I give you."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Even if it's to go back to the ship. Understood?"
"Understood."
"Good. Now let's get going before I change my mind…"
Sarah shut herself in the cockpit of the shuttle, needing a few moments to herself. Her mind kept on returning to what had happened with Esme and with Harry… She couldn't bear it if the same thing happened to Liam.
Her biotics began to flicker over her hand and, no matter how she tried to stop them, they just kept on building. She knew that she should be panicked but she couldn't feel anything through the haze of pain.
Her omni-tool beeped at her and the blue glow disappeared as rapidly as it had started. She took a deep breath and tried to steady the panic that was rising in her chest. She wasn't ready for this. Chances were, she would just be a liability. But nobody else seemed to agree. Red, her parents, her friends… Everyone seemed to think that all she needed was to get back into the fight.
She answered her 'tool, wondering who would be calling her. To her surprise, it was Harry who appeared on her screen.
"Hey," she said, a little confused as to why he was calling.
"Hey. I just thought I'd check in. It's been a while," he figured.
"Oh… Well, I'm good."
He snorted at that. "Liar."
"Shut up," she retorted, shortly.
"You always get angry when you're scared or upset," he figured, laughing a little. "You'll be fine. Just find some way to vent."
"Yeah… That seems to be everyone else's advice too…"
"Well, that's because you surround yourself with smart people."
She smiled a little at that, before sighing. "You didn't just call randomly, did you? You know exactly what's been happening."
"You know those smart people I was talking about? That bondmate of yours is definitely one of them. He figured that you needed to be reminded that no one ever blames you as much as you blame yourself."
"Harry…"
"I'm serious, Sarah. I know enough about what happened after I got hurt to know that I never want to see you like that. And there wasn't a single second when I blamed you."
"Not even when you first woke up?"
"Nope. I was worried about you but I never blamed you. The people who hurt me, they were the ones to blame. Just as Cerberus are to blame for this. You can't save everyone, Sarah. And trying to will break you. It's incredibly sweet that you try but it will break you."
"I miss these conversations with you. They're always so cheery," she said, sarcastically.
"I miss you too. Any chance you'll be swinging by Earth soon?"
"Nope. But I'll be sure to drop by when we do."
"I look forward to it."
"Anyway… I'd better get back to it."
"Alright. Just… remember what I said. And take care, okay?"
"Okay. You too. See you." Sarah shut down her 'tool just as Tiberius entered the cockpit. "So," she started as she turned to face her bondmate, "you messaged Harry?"
"I was worried. You weren't going to listen to anyone else."
She responded by standing up and wrapping her arms around him, burying her face into his armoured chest. "Thank you."
"You know that I'm here for you, right?"
"Red, you are quite literally the only thing keeping me together right now. I could never forget that you're here for me."
"I'm not doing anything that you don't do for me all of the time."
She frowned a little at that. "Red, I've never had to lend you my strength like this."
"Maybe not to this extent but certainly more often than I ever have to do for you."
Their conversation was stopped by the shuttle landing.
"We'd better get going before Cerberus realises we're here," Sarah said.
"I can't believe that we didn't notice that we were landing already…"
"Yeah. Thank God for autopilot. If there was actually any need for us to pay attention to the controls, we'd be screwed."
"Agreed."
"Come on." They moved back out to the main ship and Sarah took a moment to take in the fact that Liam stood taller than everyone else, seeming even more bulked out than usual thanks to his heavy armour. "Put your helmet on," Sarah told him.
He rolled his eyes at her but did as she asked. "Happy now?"
"No, but it'll have to do," she replied as she finally opened the shuttle door and they headed out.
They had landed behind a rock formation, hoping that it would conceal the existence of the shuttle along with the stealth systems. Sarah made her way to the top and brought out her sniper rifle, using it to scope out the base.
"I don't think they're expecting us," Sarah told them. "Most of the guards out here seem to be bundled up over there."
"Not surprising," Tiberius replied, looking over the desolate desert environment. "Who knows how long this base has been here, undetected. They're probably bored."
"And here I was thinking Cerberus had more discipline than that."
"Don't complain. It makes it easier for us. The question is, how quickly can we deal with them? If we can take them out quickly and avoid letting them alert the others, that would be great."
"I can disable their comms, but only for sixty seconds and only at close range," Tia told them.
"I can do it," Liam told them.
"By yourself? No way," Sarah replied quickly.
"Sarah, come on. How am I supposed to prove to you that I can handle myself if you won't let me?"
"You're not. You're supposed to get through this without getting hurt."
"Except you're treating me like a child!"
"Liam, you are a child!"
"I'm sixteen. When you were my age, you were doing far worse than this, Angel."
Sarah gritted her teeth a little but she had to admit that he was right. She wanted to retort that her abilities made her an exception but going to C-Sec had taught her that, even as Angel, she had been nothing special. She could fall back on the argument that she was half-turian and, by turian custom, she was an adult at fifteen but that was just an arbitrary cultural custom and had no real bearing.
"We can easily take them out from here," Tiberius told her, indicating to their sniper rifles. "I would suggest that we let him deal with them. We can provide cover from here if things go wrong."
Red… Sarah began, trying to articulate her worry though their bond.
I know, Blue. But trust me on this. Please?
Sarah took a moment but finally nodded, reluctantly. "Alright. Let's do this."
"Alright!" Liam exclaimed before jumping down the rock formation.
Sarah moved to position her rifle looking back at the group of guards but Tiberius halted her with his hand on her shoulder. "Don't fire until the absolute last moment. You'll do more harm than good," he reminded her.
She made a disgruntled grunt but nodded in agreement as she finished setting up, giving herself a good view of the enemies.
"I'm activating the comms jammer now," Liam told them over the radio.
Sarah turned her full attention to the view down the scope, knowing that the device would jam Liam's comm as well. He used his biotics to charge into the middle of the group, knocking most of them down. With one arm, he grabbed the closest Cerberus operative who was not already dead, snapping their neck as if it were nothing. He used his other hand to bring up his pistol, shooting all of the remaining operatives between the eyes with almost frightening precision.
"Okay… So, maybe he's not a child anymore," Sarah replied, a little shakily as she stood back up. Liam had been right, she had been much the same at that age, but looking back now… It just made her feel old. Now she was one of the adults, underestimating the younger ones, who were now grown up themselves. When had that happened? It felt like just yesterday that she had been leaving for the Citadel. Had that really been five years ago?
"So, are you less worried now?" Tiberius asked.
Sarah groaned, rolling her eyes. "Yes, I admit, he can take care of himself. Hell, give him another few years and he could probably take over the galaxy with skills like those…"
"You going to tell him that?"
She snorted, shaking her head. "That boy does not need me inflating his ego," she said before making her features return to their stoney facade as Liam returned.
"See, I told you that I could take care of myself!"
"The display was… acceptable. But the next lot are mine."
No one argued with that as they made their way over to the only entrance. Tia and Tiberius shut down any security systems they detected along the way before turning their attention to getting the door open.
"Five seconds," Tia told her as she finished up hacking the door.
"You might want to step back," Tiberius informed Liam as Sarah began to power up a biotic charge.
"You don't have to tell me to stay clear when Sarah goes Bloodrage," the teen replied under his breath.
"Two… One…"
As soon as the door opened, Sarah charged forth, knocking down one of the guards patrolling the corridor. She dealt with the rest by pulling them towards her with her biotics before slitting their throats with her omni-blade. Her guns remained holstered through the entire encounter and, by the time she was done, Sarah was panting slightly and splattered with blood.
"You okay?" Tiberius asked as he approached, knowing that she had pushed herself to the brink of biotic exhaustion.
Sarah nodded, grinning a little. "Yeah. Fuck… I feel so much better for that…"
"Told you so."
"I know, I just… After what happened with Harry, I did a lot of shit like this and it never helped."
"Of course it didn't," Tia chipped in. "You had completely shut yourself down. There was no way that you were going to be able to feel better if you weren't letting yourself feel at all."
"Well, anyway. We've had our fun. From here on out we're avoiding any more conflict. We don't want alarms raised before we get to the Control Room and we also don't want to deplete the hybrid numbers too badly. The more left alive, the more conduits the virus has."
After that, they moved quietly, using motion detectors to avoid the more heavily guarded areas. Tia put all of her efforts into bogging down the security systems, so they didn't have to worry about sensors or cameras detecting them.
Sarah quickly decided that something was wrong as they swiftly made their way to the Control Room, the skin on the back of her neck crawling.
Does this seem too easy to you? she silently asked Tiberius.
Yes. Almost like a trap…
The feeling continued until they reached the Control Room.
"Tia… Can you tell what's in there?" Sarah asked.
"I'm only picking up one lifesign. But then, I'm not the telepath, am I?"
"Oh. Right." Sarah squirmed a little at that. The last thing she wanted to do when she was in such turmoil was open herself up like that. But then, walking in unprepared was an equally unpleasant prospect.
Sarah took a deep breath before lowering her mental barriers just enough to sense the number of individual thought patterns, trying to focus her energy on the room in front of them.
"You're right," she told Tia. "There's only one person in there."
"Any idea who?"
"No. I can't lower my barriers that far. It's… It's a human male, I think. That's about all I can sense…"
"It's possible that they've grown complacent," Philip reasoned.
"Possible but I doubt they would have been giving us so much trouble if they were this stupid," Sarah countered.
"Well, only one way to find out," Tia interjected, indicating to the fact that she was now through the door's security systems.
"Then it's through the door we go…"
The door slid open at Tia's command, allowing the five of them to enter. They filed in to find that their assessment was, indeed, correct. There was a lone human male, standing with his back to them.
"I've been expecting you," the familiar voice said, prompting everyone but Liam to look towards Philip.
"Great," Philip said sarcastically, "but now that we're here and have you outnumbered, with all of our weapons trained on you, you should perhaps put your hands up so that we can arrest you."
"Oh really?" Jones replied, flipping a switch in front of him.
The door slammed shut behind them and two small turrets slid up from the sides of the console in front of him, training their targeting lasers on Sarah.
"Oh, you vastly underestimate me if you think that will stop me from shooting you," she growled, all of her anger focusing directly at the man in front of her.
"Then perhaps different targets are in order." The two turrets retrained, one focusing on Tiberius while the other found Liam.
Sarah's growl intensified but she did as she was bid, lowering her weapon.
"Don't give in for me!" Liam and Tiberius yelled in unison.
"What did I say about following orders?" Sarah yelled back at Liam, all the while keeping her eyes focused on the man in front of her. At least, until a message flickered across the edge of her glasses.
Buy me some time.
The message had come from Tia and Sarah realised that the asari was planning to hack the turrets. They just had to keep Philip's father distracted for long enough. Sarah informed Tiberius of the plan through their bond before she carefully began sending her thoughts out towards Philip, hoping to send him a silent message. Of course, the last thing she wanted was to alarm him and tip off his father, but, if anyone could keep him distracted, it was Philip.
"What do you want?" Sarah asked, hoping that it would lead him to give a long-winded answer.
She was right. "Why, I would imagine that it was obvious. The last thing humanity needs is other species polluting the genepool. You represent the death of the human race and only your death will eradicate the threat."
"Do you even hear yourself?" Philip asked, incredulously. "You were always a bigoted asshole but this is ridiculous!"
That made his father finally turn around to face them. "How can you not see the danger she poses?"
"You see danger in any decision that is not your own. You can't punish people for choosing differently to you. Especially when your own choices have been far from exemplary."
"You made your opinions more than clear when you left."
"Which is why I suppose you devoted your efforts to killing my friends instead of trying to find me, like you told Alicia?"
"There's no point in searching for someone who doesn't want to be found. I gave your sister the hope she needed. Nothing more, nothing less."
Sarah interjected at that point, realising that Tia was almost done. "Well, while this personal chat is fascinating and all, we have more important issues. Like if there's any way to deactivate the chips you've put into the hybrids' brains."
"Perhaps you should remember the position you are in before you start to making demands of me. I think that a reminder may be in order."
He charged up the turret which was aimed at Liam. Sarah brought up her biotic barriers to reinforce his own, but the turret never fired.
"I think you forgot the first rule in taking prisoners," Tia informed him as the turrets retrained on his head, "don't capture more than you can handle."
"Now, about those chips," Sarah started once more, bringing her weapon up once more.
"Ah yes. Clever little idea of mine, weren't they?"
"How do you deactivate them?" she demanded, her growl almost feral. She had to know. There had to be something she hadn't thought of… Some way out of this…
"You can't," he told her, laughing. "We never needed one. It was the perfect control mechanism. If a hybrid was out of line, we could kill them and make it seem like it was the defects. It would renew the need for a cure in the others, ensuring their loyalty."
Sarah responded with a roar, smashing the butt of her pistol into his face, battering his features into a bloody mess and knocking him to the ground. Tiberius grabbed her arm before she could do anything more, pulling her back towards him.
"Don't, ani. This one's not yours," he told her gently.
She continued to growl for a moment but finally settled, nodding. "You're right." She turned to Philip. "I'm leaving his fate to you."
Philip nodded mutely, seemingly not sure if he was happy about that or not. However, after just a moment, he turned back to his father with a cold fire burning behind his eyes. He bought his own pistol up to aim it at the older man's head.
"I should just shoot you here and now."
"Then do it."
Philip honestly looked as if he was going to for a moment before shaking his head. "No. I'm better than that. I'm better than you. We'll take you back as a prisoner and you'll be tried properly."
As soon as he'd said the words, Tia had brought out a pair of handcuffs and took his father into custody.
"I guess that just leaves one last thing," Sarah said reluctantly as she moved over to the environmental controls, bringing out a vial of the virus.
"Won't that kill you too?" Liam asked but Sarah shook her head.
"No. It targets the Cerberus defects. Ones that I never had."
She had no trouble inputting the instructions to the systems but her hand hovered over the proverbial trigger.
Tiberius brought his hand up and placed it on her shoulder. "You sure about this?"
"Not at all," she replied before hitting the button. "And, with that, I just killed the rest of my kind."
"Come on," Tiberius said, knowing that if Sarah was going to break down, it should be far from this place. "We need to get back."
Sarah nodded, leading them back out of the building where the deadly virus was now circulating through the air.
The Citadel - Chora's Den
2253 - 57 Years After the End of the Reaper War
"Wait a minute," Riina interjected, "the war didn't end then. It didn't end for another five years."
"I didn't say the virus worked," Hilary replied, sighing into her drink.
"So, what happened then?" Riina asked.
"Nothing. Not really. It took a few months to realise that the virus wasn't working. After that, we were out of clever ideas. Sarah wanted to try to beat the answers out of Jones but Cerberus beat her to it. He was killed not long after he was brought to the Citadel. We were left with no choice and so ended up moving back to traditional combat, dealing with one Cerberus base at a time."
"Sounds… time consuming."
"It was. As you said, it went on for nearly five years before anything changed."
"So… what changed?"
"Unfortunately, I'm probably not the best person to answer that. I left the Normandy a few months after they tried to release the virus. You'd be better off asking someone else."
"Oh…" Riina tried not to sigh at the roadblock. Everything she had been told predated the disappearance by long enough to not give her the answers she needed. They would only come with more knowledge of the fight with Cerberus.
She took a moment to regard the woman in front of her and noted how she seemed relieved to have come to the end of her story. She felt a twinge of guilt at that. She had been so focused on getting answers and her one-track mind hadn't allowed her to see how she might have been hurting the woman in front of her. She supposed it had been obvious but, then, Riina had never been good at reading emotions in others. Even the 'obvious' ones.
"I'm sorry. For dragging all of this up."
Hilary seemed surprised by that, though she shook her head. "Don't be. Sure, it's difficult to talk about in places but… I'm glad to finally be able to speak with someone about it. Most times it's just safer to not talk about Sarah at all. And I do hope you find her. Not just because Vi deserves to know the truth, but because I want to know. Far too often, I find myself unable to sleep, wondering where she is and if she's okay… I'm just sorry that I couldn't give you more."
Riina nodded, trying to not let the growing guilt in her stomach bother her. She didn't have a choice. Feeling bad about it wouldn't change anything. "It's okay. It's more than enough and more than I could have hoped for. Thank you."
"Riina," Hilary said, stopping the other woman as she got up off her barstool and prepared to leave, "don't be a stranger, okay?"
"Okay," Riina answered, though she didn't turn back to face the other woman.
"You always say that," Hilary pointed out with a resigned sigh. "If nothing else, at least talk with your sister. She's worried about you. Don't disappear on her like Sarah did to me."
That raised Riina's hackles. "It's nothing like that!"
"Maybe not. But, trust me, it'll feel the same to her."
"I… I'll give her a call."
"Promise?" She hadn't asked Riina to promise anything else beforehand, for which Riina had been thankful. If there was one code of honour she followed, it was to always keep her promises.
"I promise," Riina agreed. Even if it was difficult for her, Hilary had a point. Of course Vi would be hurt by the distance growing between them. But what was Riina supposed to say? That she had only ever found one man who she had felt she could open her heart to and he had chosen Vi over her? No. Evan had made his choice. Riina figured that there was no point in upsetting her sister over her own unresolved feelings.
"How are you holding up?" Cassi asked as soon as she had left the bar.
"Fine," Riina answered.
"Liar."
"Cassi," Riina warned, growling a little into the comm.
"Can you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Kill her. There's no point in doing this if you're going to choke once we find her."
"I… I'm not sure. But there is a point. To get answers."
"You've never wanted answers."
"Not answers for me. For them. For Vi and Hilary. They sure as hell deserve them."
"So, what? You'll get your answers and then kill her? I think we both know that this doesn't work like that. Riina, don't forget the stakes here."
Riina couldn't help but smile a little at that. "Why, Cassi, do I detect a note of concern?"
"Oh, don't flatter yourself. What do you think will happen to me if you get yourself killed? I'll be left to gather dust. Or worse! In case you've forgotten, there's little love out there for illegal AI."
Riina nodded, knowing that Cassi was right. It was her or Sarah, and she wasn't quite ready to take her final bow just yet. Stories from decades in the past wouldn't change that.
"I need to see Pol," Riina eventually said, sighing, before heading towards his place.
"He has sent a few messages," Cassi informed her. "He was worried that you would leave without seeing him in person."
Riina sighed once more at that. It was true that she was annoyed with the Council for their cruel task but she also knew that she had brought this on herself. Shepard had been a problem for the Council and Riina had learned well from her mentor. Something like this was inevitable and, knowing Pol, he had probably fought against it. That knowledge was what made her uncomfortable, more than anything else.
Somewhere along the way, Pol's feelings for her had mutated from the simple thrill of fucking a Spectre to actual caring. He was starting to care about her. At first, it had just been as a friend. They spent enough time together and shared similar interests; friendship had been inevitable. Although, she supposed that, through her distrust of others, it was quite one-sided. She knew everything about him and yet… he only knew what was in her file. Which, admittedly, wasn't much. But she supposed that she liked that about their relationship. With him, she could be anyone. Just another woman in the crowd. Her past didn't have to define her while she was with him. He was a refuge from the outside. A safe harbour.
And yet… And yet, he was ruining it all by falling in love with her. She couldn't open herself up like that. She didn't know how. In time, he would finally understand that, and their relationship would end. The thought made Riina sick to her stomach. He was her safe harbour and she was going to lose him because she was too fucked up know how not to.
She shook the thoughts from her mind as she approached his place. She didn't bother with knocking - she hadn't bothered with it for months now.
"Pol?" she called as his front door shut behind her.
"Riina?" she heard him call from his bathroom, the surprise clear in his voice.
"I got your messages. I thought I'd come over." Anything else she was going to say died in her throat as the quarian councillor walked through to the living room in nothing more than a towel wrapped around his lower half. She knew that he had served with the quarian military when he had been younger, but she had been surprised with how well he had maintained his fitness. He was tall for a quarian, even if he still didn't quite reach her height. She didn't mind, though. Most people weren't as tall as she and her sister were.
Despite all of this, however, it was his hair that had her smiling. Whenever she saw him in the office, everything about him was neat. He always looked the image of professionalism. And she loved nothing more than turning that image into a dishevelled mess. Right now, however, his hair was still wet and stray locks were strewn about his features. It was something she rarely got to see but it was definitely how she prefered to see him.
"I must admit… I was worried that you were mad at me. I feared that you wouldn't want to see me."
Riina shrugged as she walked over to him. "That was business. It has no bearing on our personal lives. Isn't that what we agreed?"
"It is. But most people don't see things so… black and white."
"I'm very good with black and white," she reasoned.
"I've noticed," he replied with a smile. "Still… are you sure you're okay?"
"Pol? Time to shut up now." She brought one hand up to the back of his head, threading her fingers through his hair as she brought his lips to meet hers. The alcohol still coursing through her system did a good job of increasing her arousal along with the stress hormones flooding her system.
Her other hand ventured southward, tearing the towel from his waist and leaving him completely bare. Patience was the last thing on her mind at that point.
Pol responded in kind, with one hand roughly gripping her sensitive waist, sending spikes of mixed pain and pleasure through her that had her growling into the kiss, biting his lip a little. His other hand reached around her rear, pulling her towards him so that his arousal was rubbing up against the groin of her combat suit.
Riina gasped a little as she felt her lower plates begin to shift, a little more quickly than usual. "Pol," she muttered against him, indicating to the zipper of her combat suit.
He responded by pulling it down, allowing her to pull it off easily. As soon as she was free of the constricting fabric, he grabbed her, throwing her up against the wall, earning him a lustful growl and a grin. He brought his hands back down to her waist, digging his nails in a little as her talons scratched up his back.
"Fuck," she muttered against him as her plates finally fully shifted, leaving her entirely open to him. "You have no idea how much I need you right now." The words were out of her mouth before she could even begin to consider their consequences.
"Come on," Pol said, pulling away a little and leading her through to his bedroom.
Riina took the moment to take in his dishevelled state once more, particularly the throbbing erection between his thighs. The sight had the skin beneath her plates flushing an even darker shade of indigo.
The moment didn't last for too long, however, as Riina quickly pushed her lover back onto his bed, straddling him as she pinned his hands above his head with her own. She leaned forward for another bruising kiss before lining herself up with him and lowering herself down onto his length.
She set her own pace, riding him vigorously as she felt herself beginning to reach the precipice of orgasm. Her grip on Pol's hands slipped a little and he responded by bringing one of them to grip her waist again, the surprise move pushing her over the edge. He followed straight after, spilling inside of her as she screamed profanity in more languages than he could count.
"Fuck, I needed that," she eventually said as she collapsed down next to him.
"Well, I am more than happy to oblige," he told her with a grin.
"That's why you're awesome," she told him sleepily as she tried to stifle a yawn. "I really need to get back to the ship." She knew that the words were true but she couldn't bring herself to lift her limbs, which now felt as heavy as lead.
"You know, you are more than welcome to spend the night here," Pol told her.
She shook her head, struggling to keep her eyes open. "I don't sleep here," she said, simply.
No sooner had the words left her mouth, however, she drifted off where she lay, completely unaware of the quarian next to her rolling his eyes and bringing the blankets up to cover them before turning out the lights.