AN: Hey, look, a long chapter! Remember those?

Also, another end of the week update. ^^ Next chapter will be up Monday.

Part three sort of ended up in two distinct parts of its own, with this being the start of part 2... Section 2, maybe? Yeah. Part 3, Section 2. ^^ Only four more chapters to go until the end. :( Or :) I guess it really depends on how you feel about this story ending.

I feel as if most of you are probably rolling your eyes and going "About bloody time!"

Sometimes I feel as if continuing this story is just me beating a dead horse... Or a pile of dust that was some sort of equine animal long ago, during a time no one can quite remember any more...

Anyway, thanks to everyone who reads, with special thanks to everyone who follows/favs.

And super special thanks to 2kinds from DA for betaing for me!

Hope you guys enjoy!

Chapter Thirty Three - Five Years Time

The Citadel - Quarian Councillor's Apartment

2253 - 57 Years After the End of the Reaper War

Riina awoke groggily, feeling unusually well rested. The bed she was sleeping in was of a far better quality than the one she had on her ship. Plus, it smelled almost like citrus which she, for some reason, found comforting.

Of course, as the haze of sleep left, the fact that she wasn't in her own bed became alarming, causing her to bolt upright.

"Morning," Pol greeted as he entered the room, passing her a cup of tea. "I would have got you some of that bright orange drink you like but I don't have any. I wouldn't even know where to buy it."

Riina remained silent, frowning a little as she drank her tea. "I slept here," she eventually said.

"Yeah. You must have been really tired. You just kind of passed out," he explained, shrugging.

"I don't sleep here."

"I… I know. But it wasn't so bad, was it?"

She took a deep breath before shaking her head. "No. I guess it wasn't."

"Riina… I just want you to know that, no matter what, I'm here for you." He brought a hand forward and, in stark contrast to the rough grasps of the night before, he gently brushed a few strands of blonde hair away from her plates. The soft touch sent a panicked chill down her spine. She could see that he was trying to convey something through the touch but, whatever it was, she couldn't identify it. And that absence of knowledge was terrifying.

He moved forward to kiss her but she pulled away rapidly.

"I… I should go," she told him quickly, moving over to her combat suit and putting it back on as fast as she could.

"Okay," he replied, his voice filled with sadness. "When are you leaving the Citadel?"

"I don't know," she told him as she went out of the door, not bothering with a goodbye.

She made it back to the ship in almost record time and quickly stripped off, moving towards her shower. Her plates felt… wrong. Especially across her brow plates where Pol had gently touched her. She wanted to rip the plates off just to get rid of the awful feeling, which was now churning up her insides.

But, of course, she couldn't tear them off, so she settled for scalding herself in the shower, her talons digging in hard to the plates in question as she tried to wash them with her shower scrub.

"This is a little more extreme than usual," Cassi pointed out as her hologram materialised next to Riina.

Riina couldn't quite reply, a sob coming forth instead of words.

"Riina, you're only ever this bad when your emotional energy is occupied elsewhere. As much as you like to pretend this mission isn't bothering you, I think we can both see that isn't the truth."

"Of course it's not!" Riina eventually screamed. "Doing this mission betrays the only people I actually give a crap about."

"Shepard and Vi will understand."

"No, they really won't. Vi already thinks I'm an 'emotionless robot' so this'll only confirm it. And Shepard… this is her daughter we're talking about."

"She's the only one who ever really believed in you and stood up for you after your mother left and now you're scared that you'll lose that."

"And why wouldn't I be? Everybody leaves. It's understandable, though. It's not as if there's anything worth staying for. They'll figure that out eventually."

"Does that 'they' include Pol?"

"It includes everyone…"

"Riina… You're going to have to tell Shepard. You must know that she's the only avenue left open for answers. If not even Hilary knew where she went…"

Riina shook her head as she shut the shower off, realising that it wasn't going to do any more good. "No, there's still one left on the Citadel. I can still see the Old Man." She left the shower, drying herself off with her towel.

"It's doubtful that he can help you any more than Hilary could."

"He was there until the very end," Riina reasoned, walking through to her quarters and pulling jeans and a hoodie out of her drawers. She figured that there wasn't much point in wearing armour for another fact-finding mission with a family friend.

"But all you could hope to get from him is more stories. How will they help?"

"I just… I need to know more to figure out where she might have gone."

"And you think that fact will be tucked away somewhere in an old war story?"

"Do you have any better ideas or are you just criticizing?"

"Just criticizing," Cassi admitted. "I'm trying to understand your self destructive behaviour."

"I wouldn't go so far as 'self destructive'..."

"You forget, I'm a perfect copy of you fifteen years ago. Before Evan."

"What's your point, Cassi?"

"My point is that you like to play the flirtatious vixen while on the job but you never let it get anywhere. But you keep coming back to Pol. If you had met him when you were me, you would now be where Vi is. You're more compatible with him than you ever were with Evan."

"Yeah, well, some things can't be broken down to algorithms. People change, Cassi. Plus, I'm sure if we'd met back then, it would have been statutory…"

The hologram rolled its eyes at her. "You know what I mean. You're also still a Spectre. You never wanted to be a Spectre."

"What else would I do?"

"Riina, you built me from scratch when you were thirteen. It's like you're utterly lost without your sister leading you by the hand."

"That's not true!" Riina protested.

"Then prove it! Choose something for yourself for once!"

"I… I need to go. I'd rather catch the Old Man at home than have to trek all the way to C-Sec."

"Save the lies for someone who'll believe them," the AI told her, sighing.

Riina left the ship confused. She relied on Cassi to back her up. Hell, they were the same damn person; they weren't supposed to argue. She pulled her hood up over her head, keying up her music and setting it to shuffle.

"Your love is nothing I can't fight,

Can't sleep with the man who dims my shine.

"I'm in the bedroom,

With tissues and when,

I know you're outside banging then I won't let you in.

'Cause it's a hard life, with love in the world,

And I'm a hard girl,

Loving me is like chewing on pearls.

"You've got me wondering why I,

I like it rough I,

I like it rough I,

I like it rough."

Riina groaned, rolling her eyes. "Very funny, Cassi."

"Are you mad at me?"

"No, I'm not mad."

"I'm just worried about you."

"Don't worry. If anything happens to me, Vi is under strict instructions to make sure you're not scrapped."

"Thank you. But I'm still worried. I have been for a while now."

"Cassi, there's nothing to worry about."

"Riina, I don't recognise you anymore. Not really. It's scary…"

Her words hit Riina like a ton of bricks. She was just… more experienced now. Less naive. It had been necessary to survive. She hadn't thought that the change had been so drastic.

"Cassi, I… I'm still me. I just needed to… to harden myself. To survive."

"Maybe you hardened yourself too much…"

"Maybe I did," Riina admitted, "but I don't know how to go back. I don't think I can."

"Maybe you just need a little help."

"No," Riina answered firmly, realising what Cassi was suggesting.

Their conversation was cut short by Riina approaching the Old Man's front door, only to see someone already leaving.

"Vi- Oh! Sorry, Riina. I almost confused you for your sister for a moment there."

Riina took her hood down as she greeted Cee. "It's okay. At least you realised, even if it took a moment."

"Well, admittedly, that's only because she cut her hair a few weeks back."

"She did?" Riina hadn't realised just how long it had been since she had spoken with her sister.

"Yes. She and I had a girl's day out and had makeovers. She's been so… well, I guess she just wishes that your mother was still around. Especially with the baby on the way. I've just been helping out as much as I can to give her that familial support, you know?"

Vi was pregnant?! Riina did her best to hide her shock at the news, realising that Vi hadn't told her. "I'm sure she's grateful for any help you can give her," Riina eventually managed to say.

"Well, I'd better head off."

"Alright. See you." Riina turned to see the Old Man standing in the doorway to his apartment, smirking through his beard as he motioned her inside.

"Vi's pregnant?" she asked as soon as the door was shut.

"Apparently," he answered. "You hadn't heard?"

"No! She hasn't told me anything about it…"

"To be fair, I also heard through Cee."

"It's not the same thing," Riina pointed out. "Fuck…"

"You okay or do you need a drink?"

"It's ten in the morning."

"I won't judge."

"You know, for the Executor of C-Sec, you're actually pretty terrible."

"If I was so terrible, I wouldn't know why you were here," he answered, moving over to one of the chairs and sitting down. He moved slowly, thanks to his limp and walking stick. Despite Riina's nickname, he wasn't actually that old, with no indication to his age other than a smattering of grey in his hair. The walking stick was from a wound he had sustained about twenty years ago. The doctors had healed him up perfectly but he had never been able to walk properly since. Everyone figured it was psychological. Especially since his wife had left him around the same time.

"So enlighten me, then."

"The Council have sent you after Sarah. You went to Hilary and fed her some bullshit line to get her to tell you what she knew, which wasn't enough. Then, after a detour to the quarian councillor's apartment, you decided that I was your next best bet."

"Well, I just know how you love spinning war stories. Plus, given how much of a gossip you are, you must know something of value to me. Though, I guess you won't be so inclined to tell me now that you know why I'm here."

"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't tell you where Sarah is now. Even I don't have that information. But, I will tell you what I can."

Riina frowned at that. "Wait, why? Isn't she your friend?"

"Of course she is. I just don't believe you will be able to kill her. You must have realised that you're hunting Angel, not Sarah, right?"

"I figured as much. But I was trained on the Normandy too, remember?"

"Still. I figure it's safe enough for me to tell you what I know. Plus, if anyone can find her, it's you. And I have to admit that I'm curious as to where she ended up."

"Then start spinning your tales, Old Man."

"Alright. I suppose the holiday is as good a place to start as any…"

The Normandy

2225 - 29 Years After the End of the Reaper War

"What is it?"

Tiberius tried not to sigh at the way Sarah was hunched over the Galaxy Map, not turning to face him as he approached. Her twenty eighth birthday had just been and she was wearing the new combat suit she had gotten. Unlike her previous attire, it no longer looked like her old lab coat. Instead, it was a form-fitting black affair with blue highlights. If anything, he felt that it was almost like a blue version of her mother's old N7 armour.

She had taken to plaiting her hair again, as she had once done at C-Sec, now that it was long enough. She had been threatening to cut it all off so that she wouldn't have to deal with it but he suspected that there was no real intent behind the words. Beyond her dying her hair red, there had been no talk of them taking each others markings. By tradition, he should take hers, since she was from the more prominent clan, but she wouldn't have it. He was Red and changing his markings would be almost the same as changing that, in her mind. Plus, it didn't really matter. There was no real need for the consistency. It was just tradition and they weren't exactly a traditional couple to start with.

"Your mum has finally given in to EDI's demands. We're docking on the Citadel for repairs."

Sarah's low growl told him exactly what she thought of the proposed delay as she finally turned to face him. "How long will that take?"

"A week. Maybe two."

Her growl intensified at that. "Red… We can't afford that kind of break. Not while hybrid numbers are on the rise and Cerberus are still a threat."

"Haven't the Council given protection to all families with hybrids?" he reminded her.

She just shook her head. "That doesn't mean that we can affords and delays."

"Honestly? I think we need it, Blue. When was the last time we left the Normandy for any longer than a day?"

She sighed, shaking her head. "You know, I honestly can't remember," she admitted, giving a low chuckle, though it lacked any warmth.

"I'm pretty sure it was two years ago, when we went to visit Cee and Damien for Evan's third birthday."

She frowned at that. "Was that really two years ago?"

"Yep."

"Crap… Okay, maybe you're right. I just… We're struggling enough to figure out what Cerberus is up to without taking any kind of break."

"I thought Tia managed to get a hold of a whole bunch of their transmission logs. Wasn't that why she was gone for six months?"

"Yeah but that's the weird thing. None of these troop movements make any sense or indicate any kind of plan. It's almost as if they're deliberately being confusing but it seems like overkill. And if EDI and Mum can't find a pattern, there usually isn't one."

"Okay, I think we definitely need this break."

"Alright, so what are we going to do? I guess we're just staying at your place on the Citadel?"

"I actually had another idea."

"Oh? Care to enlighten me?"

"No. I want it to be a surprise."

She pouted a little at that but then gave him the first true smile he was sure he had seen from her in days. "Okay, now I'm definitely intrigued." She moved down from the galaxy map but seemed unsteady on her feet.

"You okay?" Tiberius asked as he moved over to help her steady herself.

She nodded. "Yeah. I'm just a little dizzy. I guess I'm more tired than I realised."

"Has there been anything else wrong?"

Sarah tried not to sigh at that, knowing that he was just concerned for her. It wasn't as if he didn't have reason to be but Nat's cure had finally run its course a few months ago and she had shown no signs of any residual defects. "No. I mean… my telepathy has been a little more sensitive than usual for the last couple of days. And I guess I have been feeling… off. But it's just little things. All of which can be put down to lack of sleep."

Tiberius raised a browplate at that but didn't otherwise comment. "Alright, then. We'll be arriving at the Citadel in a couple of hours. Our transport departs about half an hour later."

"Okay, now I really am curious as to where we're going… I guess I'd better go and pack."

"Actually, that's already taken care of. I didn't want to spoil anything by having to tell you what clothes to put in."

"Okay… I've got to admit that I'm a little worried about that… Are you sure you thought of everything?"

"Yes, Blue."

"Even toiletries?"

"If I've forgotten anything, we can get it when we get there."

"What about underwear?"

Her bondmate paused at that. "Okay, maybe not, but that was more of a personal choice…"

She responded by frowning a little. "See, the minute you start making jokes is the minute I become concerned…"

"Oh, come on, it's not that strange."

"It's strange enough."

"I'm just in a good mood," he reasoned as he moved close to her, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Why would I not be when I'm bonded to the most beautiful and intelligent woman in the entire galaxy?"

He leaned forward to kiss her, his subharmonics trilling with adoration and a little impatience.

"I guess you've been waiting for this holiday for a long time, huh?" she asked as she eventually pulled away from the kiss.

"Blue, as much as I love the fact that we've spent the last five years living with your parents-"

She raised her hands to stop him before they ended up back in the old argument. She couldn't deny that he was right. She hadn't exactly envisioned herself still living with her parents at this point in her life but there had been extenuating circumstances and they didn't really have much choice.

"I'll go double check the packing," she told him before heading towards the lift.

Sarah left her quarters in a happy mood, the kind of which had become so foreign to her over the past few years. She was very prone to letting her work absorb her, especially when she saw it as vital, but when her work went on for this long with no end in sight…

She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't realise where she was going, walking straight into Rael.

"Hey, careful," he said as he caught her to stop her from falling down.

It had taken years, but Sarah had eventually managed to repair her friendship with Rael. Not long after the virus had failed, he had stumbled across her late one night. He hadn't realised how late it had gotten as he had been so wrapped up in his work on improving the engines and Sarah's sleep patterns had been pretty messed up at that point. When he found her, he had every intention of ignoring her and heading back down to engineering. At least, that was until he noticed that her eyes were red and puffy. Almost as if she had been crying. Except, he had known Sarah for years and she hadn't cried since she was a child. In fact, she hadn't had much of a reaction to anything while they were together.

He had ended up talking with her, just to allay his curiosity. But he had quickly found that the person he was mad at no longer existed. Lia had tried to tell him after her trip to the Citadel but he hadn't quite believed her. And yet… here was the girl he had fallen for in the first place. He hadn't wanted to see the change all those years ago, mostly because it coincided with her finally giving him a chance, but now that back to the person she had once been, he had to admit that she hadn't been herself when she had been with him.

So, now she was, once again, the woman he had originally fallen for, but it was too late. She was bonded to someone else. He often found himself wishing that he had continued to avoid her. He could deal with being mad at her but this? This was much worse. He had hoped that over the years his feelings would fade as they rebuilt their friendship, but that hadn't happened.

At least she had put his reluctance to renew their friendship down to him still being angry with her. He didn't want her to figure out that he still harboured feelings for her. It would only make things awkward between them.

"Sorry about that," Sarah told him sheepishly, all too aware of how he continued to hold her, despite her having already regained her balance. Between that and their proximity, she felt a familiar spike of arousal as memories from their time together flashed through her mind. She felt a familiar spark, crackling down her spine and straight to her-

Wait… I don't have a- She pulled away rapidly as she realised that the less than platonic thoughts were originating from the quarian in front of her.

"You okay?" he asked, concern lacing his voice, though she could still sense that it was something else entirely that was lacing his thoughts.

She tried to remind her body that the instinctual reaction wasn't her own, but it was difficult to ward off the heady feelings. "I'm fine," she finally said, impressed that she had managed to keep her voice level.

And then, just as quickly as the arousal had arrived, it disappeared, burned away by a sudden and all-consuming anger. She wanted nothing more than to tear Rael's head from his shoulders and see how well he could flirt with her bondmate then.

She stopped herself from doing anything rash, realising that, once again, she was at the mercy of another's feelings. She figured that Red must have felt what had happened through their bond and was now on his way to deal with Rael.

She turned around just as Red exited the lift, dragging him by his arm as soon as she saw him, towards their quarters and away from Rael. "There you are. I was just coming to find you."

As soon as the door of their quarters shut behind them, Tiberius let out an ear-splitting growl. "What the fuck, Sarah?!"

"Calm the fuck down, Red! He didn't say or do anything. People can't control what they think."

"Why are you so quick to defend him?!"

"Because, as much as I may not appreciate how he thinks of me, I also don't want you to brutally murder him."

"Don't exaggerate…" he muttered, the anger still there but she could see him slowly regaining control.

"I didn't think that I was. You forget, I felt exactly how angry you were. Red, I've felt you angry, but never like that before…"

His gaze dropped as his subharmonics trilled with shame. "I'm sorry Blue. I don't know what came over me."

"I think I do. I think we both need this break more than we realised. It's no wonder your temper is frayed and I'm struggling to keep control of my telepathy. I mean, I have never known it to be this sensitive before."

"Yeah… You're probably right…"

The first indication Sarah actually had of where they were going was the planet of destination for the shuttle they boarded. It shamed her to admit that it took her more than half of the trip to realise why it sounded so familiar. They were headed to the colony where Tiberius had grown up.

Once they landed, Tiberius took her to the coast in a skycar, all the while refusing to tell her where they were heading.

They landed by a spacious, modern house, overlooking the ocean.

"You okay?" Sarah asked, realising that her bondmate was hesitating as he struggled with bittersweet memories.

He nodded. "Yeah. It's just been a while since I've been back here."

"Are you going to tell me where 'here' is now?"

"It's my house. It used to be my home, when I was a kid. I was kind of hoping that it could be again. It's just been sitting here for years. I figured… we need a proper place of our own. I would kind of like it to be here. But only if you want that too."

Sarah nodded. "Of course I want that. This place is… Red, it's incredible."

"Yeah, well, whatever you say about the council, you can't deny that they take care of those their Spectres leave behind."

"Red…" She allowed her subharmonics to trill with sympathy as she moved over to him, cupping one of his mandibles in her hand.

He nuzzled her palm gently before taking the hand in his. "Come on," he said softly, his subharmonics trilling with appreciation. "Let's take a look inside."

She followed closely as he lead her by the hand, curious as to what the house would look like on the inside.

The first thing she noticed as he opened the door was that all of the furniture was new and looked just as it would in a showhome, rather than one that had actually been lived it. The next thing she noticed was the smell. It smelled of newly unwrapped plastic and cleaning products. She had expected it to smell… like a home. Instead, it was a sterile space. It was nice, but it certainly held no memories within it.

"I had all of the old things put into storage," Tiberius explained. "I also had everything cleaned and new furniture brought in."

"That seems like a lot of effort," Sarah ventured, prompting Tiberius to turn to face her, taking both of her hands in his as he gave her a reproachful look.

"Blue, I want this place to be our home. I want us to make the memories here that should have been made years ago. But… this was the only way I could come back here. Without being haunted by the sorrows of the past."

"It's okay, Red. I understand," she assured him. "And I want that too."

"I'm glad."

"So… We've got a week or so to spend here."

"Yeah. I figured we could see what life could be like."

"I think… I'd like that. Now, come on. How about you show me the rest of this place?"

Sarah awoke a few days later feeling content and well rested. She had found her time with Red, here on this small colony, to be exactly what she had needed. A small part of her treated the experiment into normalcy as sorrowful, knowing that they would have to return to the Normandy in another few days, but the rest of her was just plain happy.

Here, she didn't have to worry about Cerberus, about letting those she cared about down, or about how the next mission could be her last. It was the most free she had felt in years. This was the future she had dared to dream of for the five minutes between Tiberius returning and Cerberus making their appearance.

Maybe we can come here more often, she thought. As much as Cerberus posed a threat, there hadn't been another attack on an innocent hybrid since Jones had died. Maybe it was all him. Maybe he was the one pushing against the hybrids I was creating.

Sure, she knew that they had to stop Cerberus from continuing their routine of creating more hybrids just to burn them out but maybe it was time to switch tactics. Perhaps to ones that weren't so time consuming for her.

She halted her thoughts as she realised that she had woken up alone, sending a silent question out to Tiberius through their bond.

I'm downstairs, he told her, piquing her curiosity.

She rolled out of bed and grabbed her silk dressing gown - with it being a turian colony, it was always warm - before heading out into the hallway. Before she even made it to the stairs, she was greeted by the smell of a traditional turian breakfast, causing her to hurry.

"What is all this?" she asked as she entered he kitchen to find her bondmate plating up breakfast for the two of them.

"I made breakfast."

"But you don't cook," she pointed out. "Neither of us do." They had survived the last few days by a combination of eating out at local restaurants or ordering takeaways. The closest to actually 'cooking' either of them had gotten was when they had made sandwiches for their lunch the day before.

"I had a little help from the extranet." She raised a browplate. "Okay, fine, a lot of help. Now, how about, instead of interrogating me, you actually try eating some of this?"

"Sorry," she said before quickly shovelling the food into her mouth. She hadn't realised just how hungry she was. "I's guff," she managed through her stuffed mouth.

"You know, you'd think that, given that you haven't had to use your biotics in over a week, you would be eating less food, not more."

She shrugged. "I never eat properly when I'm stressed. This is probably just my body catching up for many years of not eating right."

"Speaking of stress… You know how my grandparents live on this colony?"

Sarah took a deep breath to steel herself as she realised where he was going. "They're coming over, aren't they?"

"Just for a little bit. They wanted to meet you."

She nodded. "Okay. So, when are they arriving?"

"About an hour," Tiberius answered, his subharmonics trilling apologetically.

"Great. I guess I'd better go get dressed then," she figured, glancing around as she realised that neither of them had put much thought to keeping things tidy over the last few days. To her surprise, everything was spotless.

"I tidied after I got up," Tiberius explained, his subharmonics betraying his nerves.

Sarah responded by getting up and walking over to him, pulling him into a hug. "Why are you so worried?"

He shrugged. "I guess I just… I want this to go right."

"I promise not to show you up," she joked as she pulled away. Right now, she really needed to leave and get dressed, and being so close to her beloved was making her want to do the opposite.

"I didn't mean that I was worried about that," he told her quickly.

She just smiled as she headed back upstairs. "I know, ani. I'll just leave you to your fretting."

Oddly for her, it took a long time for Sarah to figure out what she wanted to wear. She had never been one for fretting over her appearance but she couldn't help but worry about making a good first impression. Her family was extensive and Red had met quite a few of them before they had even really been friends. But Tiberius only had his grandparents and they knew that they would be meeting their grandson's bondmate.

By the time she made it back downstairs, it was almost time for them to arrive.

"Do I look okay?" she asked her bondmate, nervously.

"You look fine," he assured her, lowering his browplate to hers.

"You seem calmer," she observed.

He gave a sheepish shrug at that. "I realised that this is probably just as nerve-wracking for you as it is for me, if not more so. I mean, I remember how nervous I was to meet your parents."

"Which you now realise was silly."

"Yes, well, I had no way to know that at the time. I figured the last thing you need right now is to have to help me."

"Red, helping you is never a burden to me."

"Just as helping you never is to me."

She responded by shifting so that her lips pressed against his. However, before he had the opportunity to fully reciprocate, they were interrupted by the door.

"Sounds like they're here," Tiberius said as he pulled away from his bondmate and headed towards the door to open it. "Hello, Grandfather. Grandmother."

He motioned them inside as Sarah stood nervously, trying not to fidget. The two elder turians immediately looked her over as soon as they caught sight of her, making her nervous. She reasoned that they had probably never seen a hybrid before, which would only add to their curiosity about her.

"Would you like anything to eat or drink?" Tiberius asked them, in an effort to draw their attention from Sarah.

"That's okay, Ti," his grandmother assured him as she moved back over to him. "Are you going to introduce us to your bondmate?"

"Of course. Grandmother, Grandfather, this is Sarah. Sarah these are my grandparents."

"It's very nice to meet you," Sarah told them, sheepishly.

"You too," his grandmother told her. "I only regret that it has taken so long for us to meet."

Sarah nodded in agreement. "I know. And that's my fault. I guess I've been too busy dragging Tiberius all over the galaxy."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," her bondmate chipped in, bringing a smile to her face.

"That, I do not doubt," his grandmother told them. "I like what you've done with this place. It's nice. Don't you think, Varius?"

His grandfather gave a grunt of agreement. "Very… appropriate." There was an awkward pause, where no one was quite sure what to say, before he spoke up again. "So, Tiberius, I can't help but note that you both still have your old markings. Does this mean that her clan leader rejected you?"

"Of course not!" Sarah retorted quickly. In truth, her grandfather would have accepted her bondmate no matter what. She was his first grandchild and he doted on her. Though, she knew that he was glad that she had ended up with a turian. He had been more than happy for Tiberius to join the Vakarian clan. They had simply seen no point in messing around with changing names or markings. Especially when Tiberius had no desire to advance his position within the Hierarchy.

"A lot of people choose not to change their markings," Tiberius defended, a little heatedly.

His grandmother stepped in at that. "Ti, why don't you show your grandfather upstairs?"

You okay if I leave you here? Tiberius asked Sarah silently.

I'll be fine, she replied, not really certain of how true her words were, but determined to not let Tiberius sense her uncertainty through their bond.

"Alright then," Tiberius said aloud, leading his grandfather away from the two women.

"You seem almost scared," the elder turian observed, good naturedly.

"I- I don't… Sorry, I just… I'm sorry."

"There's no need for you to be so nervous. You're from one of the highest ranking clans on Palaven. There's no possible issue we could take with you."

"Oh? Even the fact that I'm only half turian?"

She simply shrugged. "To be honest, it wouldn't have mattered if you were entirely human. Tiberius loves you and that's what matters. We're just… worried about him."

Sarah frowned a little at that. "What worries you?"

"When Quin - his father - went to join the Spectres… we were concerned. He was committing himself to two separate lives, both of which needed his full attention. We understood when Tiberius joined you on the Normandy, even if it was a little too close to the past for our liking. But this… By coming here, I fear you're making the same mistake."

"This is just a short break," Sarah defended.

"If that is truly the case then our concerns are for naught. Tiberius told us of how you grew up on board the ship. It seems that, over the last five years, you've truly built a life there."

Sarah looked away sheepishly at that. She had the right of it, they had built a life together on the Normandy. It just wasn't necessarily the life either of them wanted. This was. Tiberius could get a job with the local law enforcement and Sarah could return to her research and they could live in peace. But that was a fantasy, set in a world where Cerberus no longer existed and the hybrids didn't need Sarah to speak for them.

As much as she wished otherwise, this truly was a temporary arrangement.

"Yeah," she finally agreed. "Our life is on the Normandy. That's not going to change any time soon."

Tiberius had to admit that he was concerned as he realised that Sarah had remained locked up in their room since his grandparents had left. In all honesty, the only reason it had taken him so long to realise was that he had been chewing over what his grandfather had told him.

"I don't think you realise just how quickly you're going to have to make the choices you and your bondmate seem reluctant to make," the elder turian had told him, chuckling a little. "You're going to let everything sneak up on you. Your father was much the same. Though, he had the Reaper war going on, so he had an excuse."

Tiberius had always figured that he would make a more official move to the Vakarian clan eventually, but there wasn't any rush. It would be different, he knew, if he and Sarah were going to have children but, since they weren't, there was no real reason to.

He moved up to the door of their room, knocking before entering. "Blue?"

"Yeah," she responded.

He entered to see her sitting on their bed, her nose buried in her omnitool. "You okay?" he asked. "You've been shut up in here for a few hours."

She nodded, shutting down her 'tool. "Yeah… No. I just… Maybe coming here was a bad idea."

"What do you mean?"

"Red… I don't want to go back. I have to and I don't want to."

"Well, this place isn't going anywhere. We can always come back. Maybe for a little longer next time…"

She shook her head. "Red, we can't live two lives. Life on the Normandy isn't great, I know… It's cramped, we're living with my parents, and we're spending our time doing work neither of us enjoy. But it is our life. As much as I wish things could be different, they can't be. Not for the foreseeable future."

He sighed, knowing she was right, but not wanting it to be the case. "I guess this was wishful thinking on my part."

"I'm sorry. I know that this is all my fault…"

"Hey, come on. I meant what I said before; I really wouldn't have things any other way. I want to be by your side, no matter where that is."

"I know, I just… I see here the life you could have if you'd bonded to someone else…"

"If it were anyone else, I wouldn't have bonded to them. You know that."

"If there was any way to do this… You know that I would, right?"

"Of course I do. Look, we may not be entirely happy with how things are but at least we're not happy together."

She smiled a little at that. "Yeah. I guess so. God… Contrary to this entire conversation, I really want to shoot something right now."

"Well, that's why turians have gyms and gun ranges in every town. Though, I may be able to do one better. My grandfather may have informed me of a pirate base at the edge of the system. It's nothing more than a nuisance, but I figured it might be a nice change of pace."

"Isn't this a little outside of our jurisdiction?"

"Well, I'm C-Sec and this is a turian colony and, therefore, under council protection."

"Okay, then. Let's go…"

Sarah quickly found that Tiberius had been right. The base was barely more than a couple of hastily put together prefab units. 'Nuisance' had been generous for the small group of barely-trained pirates. But, still, she found as she made her way through them, cutting them down in droves, that it had been exactly what she had needed.

By the time the last pirate fell to the ground, Sarah was covered in blood. It was rare for her to get so aggressive without reason. She realised that she must have been far more worked up than she had realised.

"That took long enough," she heard her bondmate growl in her ear.

She felt her cheeks instantly flush at his proximity, all of her breath quickly leaving her lungs. She turned to face him, growling back with lust as his scent hit her. It was the familiar scent of home but combined with the tang of battle and a new, sweet note that had her head spinning with desire.

Before she could act upon her arousal, Tiberius grabbed her by the waist and pulled her towards him before bringing his mouth to her neck, nipping lightly across her bondmark. His tongue soon followed to soothe the skin he had pricked.

Sarah couldn't help but squirm beneath his ministrations. She knew that this was probably the least appropriate place for this but she was swiftly losing the will to care. She wanted him and she hadn't the patience to wait.

"Red," she moaned as he continued on.

He responded by lowering his hands to her rear, lifting her up so that he could place her on the crate she had been standing in front of. "Blue… Spirits, help me get this armour off before I tear it off."

She responded by placing one hand just beneath his fringe, bringing him in for a kiss as her fingers teased the nearby sensitive spot. Her other hand wandered south, removing the codpiece of his armour. She wasn't all that surprised when she found him rock hard beneath his undersuit, given how his subharmonics were rumbling lowly in such a way that had shivers of anticipation running down her spine.

He growled into her kiss as she teasingly moved her hand up and down his length. She knew that she had soaked through her own undersuit at this point and she had little want to draw things out any longer.

Tiberius, however, had other plans, moving his hands up to her breastplate rather than down to her own crotch. As soon as it was removed, he tore through her undersuit, with little regard for keeping it wearable. Though, she found that she simply didn't care as he grasped one breast firmly in his hand, running circles over her hard nipple with his thumb.

She responded with a gasp, just as he extracted himself from their kiss, bringing his mouth down to take her other nipple within it. She writhed beneath him at the pleasure he was bringing her, the hand around his cock faltering ever so slightly.

She paused her work on his length, bringing her other hand up to grab him by the fringe so that she could pull his head back. "Please Red," she managed, breathily, "no more teasing." She brought her lips down to kiss him once more.

He responded passionately before nipping her lip a little so that she gasped once more, just as he impaled her with his length. She moaned as he filled her and he responded by burying his head in the crook of her neck, his mouth just hovering over her bondmark as he began to move within her.

He built his pace steadily and Sarah lost all coherence, managing only to whisper lustful nonsenses at him. His growl deepened, informing her that he too was reaching his climax. Though, she found herself caught off guard as he sank his teeth into the skin of her neck, over where her bondmark was.

She knew that this was how turians used to mark their mates, and that the instinct could still be triggered, but it was rare and she was sure that it only happened at certain points. Any further thoughts were lost, however, as the feeling of him biting down triggered the same instinct in her, causing her to bite down on his bondmark, just as he had done to hers.

The metalic taste of his blood filling her mouth was enough to send her over the edge. She came hard, unable to hold back a feral growl as her bondmate continued to pound into her. One orgasm rolled into another and she found herself struck by the entirely new sensation.

That was when Tiberius finally reached his own climax, spilling inside of her with far more force than she had previously experienced from him.

"Fuck…" she finally managed to mutter against him as she examined the mess of blood and sweat and torn clothing.

"You can say that again…"

She examined the wound she had left on his neck for a moment. "We should probably get some medigel on that."

"Yours too," he informed her.

"Care to explain what that was about?"

"I have no idea," he admitted, laughing a little as he brought his browplate to hers.

She couldn't help but join in with his laughter. "Come on, we should get back to the shuttle."

"Right," he agreed, but he was already nipping down her skin, towards her breast, once more.