Rigel and Tela had left rather soon after Aria's galaxy-shaking announcement. Taking advantage of the stunned silence in the wake of her words, Tela had grabbed Aria while Rigel guarded T'soni, both of them watching for anyone thinking themself smart and trying to eliminate the Shadow Broker. Rigel and Tela covered Aria and T'soni as they left the building. The crowd outside was larger than when they entered, but a few threatening glares from Tela and Rigel got everyone to back off.
Hilariously, Aria's skycar had been valeted, but Tela and Rigel just loaded Aria and T'soni into theirs, transporting them both to the spaceport while Nova scrambled their position on any searching scanners. Not much was said during the ride. They went over details of how to ensure Aria stayed protected now that she had such a major target on herself, but Aria assured them both she had plans in place to see to her safety and that of Omega. Tela and Rigel escorted T'soni and Aria to their ship and saw them offworld. Once more, Nova flooded any scanner in the area with static to ensure they had a clean getaway. With that done, Rigel and Tela returned the skycar to the spaceport and boarded the Blind Well. Wherever Tela was taking Rigel, it was too far away for her to feel comfortable risking the skycar's meager range to get there.
"Where are we going?" Rigel asked as the Blind Well flew away from the spaceport, staying within the atmosphere as Tela piloted them towards whatever she'd wanted to show him. He and Nova had shown her how to fly the ship while they were waiting for Shepard to show up on Mercury.
Rigel's mind wasn't focused properly. He was still feeling numb from Aria's announcement. The Broker's resources had seemed limitless, but now they would all be gone as Aria threw them at the entire galaxy. Not that he was displeased with Aria's announcement. In fact, he was as supportive as he could possibly be. With ten minutes of speaking, Aria had done more to prepare the galaxy for the Reaper's coming than Rigel had with months of preparation. Politics were never his strong suit, so it hadn't occurred to him that talking would be this effective. Most people just stopped listening when he talked that much. He didn't have the same stage presence Aria did.
"Didn't I tell you it's a surprise?" Tela asked, a bit of mirth creeping back into her tone. She'd seemed put out when Aria upstaged her. Whatever she was planning for the meeting had been thoroughly trampled over the moment Aria stepped on the stage, but the end result couldn't be decried, so she'd let it be. Though Rigel could tell she was a little pissed she hadn't thought of Aria's play before Aria had.
"Is it a surprise that involves fighting, or should I relax?" Rigel asked. After Aria's announcement, he'd half expected to end up in a gunfight. He'd rather have time to prepare himself if such an occasion were to rise again, so soon after the first.
Tela sighed tiredly. "Just relax, Rigel. You'll like this."
"Okay." That was good enough for him. Rigel shifted in his seat to look out the viewport, watching as the city slowly disappeared, overtaken by a lush forest with trees he'd never seen before. They encountered no other air traffic as they flew, and the lone radio contact they received inquiring about their destination was quickly rebuffed by Tela's Spectre status. Rigel was beginning to wonder what he'd do without Tela's Spectre power to blaze through all the bureaucracy in this universe. He'd probably get into gunfights every other hour. It almost happened on the Citadel when he'd first arrived from Omega. Void, that felt like a decade ago.
The forest beneath them gave way to rolling hills and green plains. There were a number of houses set on streets running along the hills. The structures were lost over a large lake before another clearing of land.
"Provided we beat the Reapers and come out the other side, what are your plans for once it's all over?"
Rigel turned to look at Tela, surprised by her question. "Any particular reason you're asking?"
Tela shrugged. "I just don't want to fly in silence."
"Fair enough. I… Honestly, I haven't thought about it. I'm used to stopping the end of the world, so, shitty as it probably sounds, the Reaper threat has been kind of good for me. It's given me a purpose and something to focus on." Rigel cringed. "Sorry. That's really fucked up to say."
Tela shook her head. "You won't hear me complaining. If you weren't focused on it, we'd have to figure it out ourselves. Without you, we wouldn't have any new tech, and we sure as hell wouldn't have had the Broker's resources to throw at Aria's scheme. This is going to sound screwed up too, but I'm glad you're stuck in this shit with us."
"Happy to help." Rigel said, grinning. Tela wouldn't meet his eyes, and his grin turned to a slight frown.
"You didn't really answer my question though." Tela said, her eyes fixed out the viewport. "What do you think you'll do if everything works out well and we beat the Reapers? You'll probably head home, right?"
Rigel sighed, sitting back in his seat. He'd intentionally avoided thinking about this for a while now because the fact of the matter was… "I don't know if I can even get back. I'm here, and I know a lot of people and entities that have slipped between worlds before. Hell, I'd done it myself before Atheon tossed me here, but I've never been the one to control the method of travel. I always took advantage of someone else's work or activated something someone else set up. The only person I know of who can travel even somewhat freely has other things on her plate. I… I think Mara considers me a friend, but things were not going well for us when I left, and she wouldn't focus on recovering one man while under that threat. Not that I'd even ask her too. She's too important to allocate her time and resources to what might end up being a lost cause."
"You know that screwed up Hive magic, right? Can that get you back?"
"No." Nova said, appearing directly in front of Rigel's face. She'd answered Tela's question, but she was talking to Rigel. "I am vetoing any and all experimentation with Hive magic for that purpose."
Rigel looked at Nova through half-lidded eyes. "I'm not an idiot." Turning to Tela, he said, "Trying to open doorways with Hive magic is a great way to invite the Hive through the door you're trying to open. I don't care how homesick I get, I am not going to risk the Hive slipping into this universe just to get myself home."
Tela swallowed nervously. "Got it. Hive magic is a very bad idea. We have enough trouble on our plate with the Reapers. I don't want to have to fight soul-eating gods."
"Glad that's settled." Nova said, bobbing her shell up and down contentedly before she disappeared in a flash of blue light.
"Hive magic aside," Tela said, seeming somewhat insistent to get away from that topic. "Is there anything else you could try?"
Rigel pursed his lips as he thought about it. "I mean, there's stuff I could try, but I have no way to know if any of that would work."
"Do you think you'd try to get back? You've got people back there, right?"
Rigel stared out the viewport, faces flashing past his vision unbidden from his memories. "Most of my friends are dead. I told you I was a loner for the most part. The few friends I have that aren't dead will be fine without me." Rigel chuckled. "And I don't mean that in the depressed 'no one cares about me' sense. They'll all be alright. I don't know. If we beat back the Reapers and we all make it through, I think I might stick around here – at least for a while."
Tela's grip tightened on the controls, her gaze fixed forward. "I'd like that. I'd like that a lot, Rigel." She coughed loudly, angling the ship to descend. "We're here."
Rigel refocused on the land outside the viewport. The ship was descending towards a small lake surrounded by flower fields. Rigel didn't recognize any of the blooms, but he was taken by the beauty. A short distance from the lake was a small two-story house. It was the only structure for miles.
"Where are we?" Rigel asked.
Tela had a small smile on her face. "Home."
Rigel looked at her in surprise before looking back out the viewport to inspect everything more carefully. "This is your house?"
"I own the land and lake around it, too. I don't have a family, and the Citadel pays all my work expenses, so my paychecks were just sitting in the bank. I decided to splurge a while ago and bought this." The Blind Well landed gently in a clearing around four-hundred meters from the house and away from the flower fields. "Come on." Tela said as she powered down the ship and stood up. "I'll show you around."
"Please do." Rigel said, following her out of the ship. There was a gentle breeze sweeping through the area, bowing the flowers in the wind. The air was cool, but not uncomfortable.
Tela took a deep breath. A relaxed, happy smile on her face as she exhaled. "It's been almost a year since I had a chance to stop here last. I wanted to see it one more time before the Reapers came through. It might not be here after that."
"It's beautiful." Rigel said, staring out over the lake as they approached.
"I think so, too. There's nothing fancy about it, but that's part of the charm. Come on." Tela led Rigel towards the house, inputting a code into a keypad by the door. The door swung open and the lights flickered on.
It was a modest house. The entire first floor was open. The kitchen was to the left with an island separating it from a sitting room along the opposite wall. The back wall was all glass, allowing a view of the lake beyond with a pair of chairs set facing the view. A spiral staircase in the sitting room led up to the second level.
"I'll be back in a minute. I'm going to change. Feel free to make yourself at home." Tela said, heading for the staircase.
Rigel slowly wandered around the area, taking it all in.
Not bad. Nova said in his head.
Not at all. It doesn't have the same charm as a subterranean cave, but the view makes up for it.
Not all civilized people live in holes in the ground, Rigel. In fact, we're considered the weird ones for preferring caves.
That just means everyone else has shit taste.
Oh, definitely.
Rigel and Nova chuckled together quietly.
You want something more comfortable? Nova asked.
You mean clothes-wise? Might as well, I guess.
Coming up.
Rigel's armor was transmatted away, a pair of gray sweatpants and a plain red t-shirt taking their place.
This is very classy. Rigel said dryly.
Oh, just relax. It's not like Tela cares. She's practically wearing the same thing.
Rigel rubbed his eyes. Why did you hack the cameras in our friend's house? He wasn't surprised that Tela's place had cameras. There were probably guns hidden everywhere as well. He was wondering why Nova felt the need to assume control of those cameras though.
Someone has to watch the perimeter. Nova said innocently, but Rigel could hear the mischief in her voice.
A huh. Just don't break anything. With Aria burning all our credits, we don't have anything to pay for damages.
It'll be fine.
"The hell did those come from?"
Rigel turned around to see Tela coming down the stairs, looking questioningly at his clothes. The Spectre was no longer wearing her armor. She had on a slightly crumpled blue shirt and a pair of loose-fitting black pants.
"Transmat is a hell of a thing." Rigel said with a grin.
Tela snorted. "You don't even have to put on clothes like us mortals. You're straight bullshit, Rigel."
"You've got a nice place, Tela. This is a lot more homely than that apartment on the Citadel."
"You mean the one you bled all over? Thanks for that by the way, but yeah. That's just a place to get away from idiots with cameras and drink. This is where I go to actually relax." She walked towards the kitchen, glancing over her shoulder to say, "You want anything specific for dinner?"
Rigel raised an eyebrow as he walked over to join her. "Are we cooking?"
"Unless you want to eat MREs again. We're limited by ingredients I was sure would keep for a decade, but it will be hot at least."
"I'll take a hot meal. What were you thinking?"
Tela shrugged. "Most of the stuff I know how to make is either simple or an Asari recipe."
"I'm open to trying new things. How can I help?"
The two went about grabbing pans and ingredients. Rigel followed Tela's lead and basically did whatever she told him to do. They were making something called 'crubles' – some kind of Asari stew. The name didn't sound all that appetizing, but Rigel had eaten some questionable things in the past – it came with the job – so he wasn't too concerned.
"What about you?" Rigel asked as the meal was nearing completion.
"What?" Tela said, confused.
"You asked me what I wanted to do after the Reapers were dealt with. Provided we beat them and everything goes well, what do you want to do?"
Tela was quiet for a moment, leaning back against the island and looking out over the lake. The sun was starting to descend, dancing off the rippling water. "I haven't really thought that far ahead for a while." Tela said finally, counting contemplative. "I never really had any goals beyond becoming a Spectre. Once I got my Spectre status, my goal became to do my job as well as I could, but there wasn't anything else."
"'Wasn't' anything else? Is there something now?"
The corner of Tela's lip pulled up. "Yeah, there's something now."
The timer on the stove dinged, and Tela and Rigel shut everything off and scooped some stew into two bowls.
"Come on." Tela said, carrying her food towards the glass wall. She touched a control panel on the wall and a panel of glass slid open, revealing a path outside. Tela walked out onto the porch and sat cross-legged, looking out over the water.
Rigel followed behind her and sat down, tasting the stew. His eyes widened and he immediately took another bite. "This is pretty good."
"Glad you like it. I'm not exactly the best chef, but remind me to take you to this place I know on the Citadel sometime. The girls there can make some killer crubles."
Rigel snorted. "Still a weird name."
"You mean like 'Blind Well'? You never did tell me the story behind that name."
"I told you it was an inside joke. I lost a bet."
"But where did the name come from, and what bet did you lose?"
Rigel groaned, setting his bowl down as he leaned back, supporting himself with his arms planted behind him. "I don't know the exact mechanics of it, but the Blind Well is an engine that, when powered, can be used to chart a course between worlds. I used it a couple times to visit Mara when she was off on one of her…jaunts."
Tela froze where she sat, slowly putting her spoon back in her bowl, having abandoned taking a bite. "Could the Blind Well get you home?"
Rigel rubbed his forehead tiredly. "Theoretically? Yes. The main thing we used it for was finding people who weren't present in our world, but those were all tied to ascendant realms and throne worlds and a whole bunch of shit that would take four hours to explain. Short answer: it would be really hard to use it to find me, but that's beside the point. The Taken overran the Well when the Dreaming City was corrupted a while back, and Risen were dispatched to beat them back every once in a while. Petra bet me I couldn't beat one of the knights with my fists."
"Knights?"
"Nova?"
"Got it." Nova said, appearing over Rigel's shoulder and projecting an image of a large, corrupted Taken knight with a pulsating glow in its white eye, putting a picture of Rigel right next to it to give Tela scale for how large it was.
Tela looked at Rigel like he was stupid. "You tried to fistfight a shadow demon with a sword taller than you are?"
"I'd done it before. Petra didn't tell me that specific asshole was shielded by dimensional screwery though." Rigel grumbled, remembering the shit-eating grin on Petra's face after Nova rez'd him. "Damn knight broke my gun and cut open my armor. When Nova rez'd me, I was buck naked in the middle of a firefight. I had to spend the rest of the fight running around in the nude. Petra's prize for winning the bet was to make me name my next ship 'Blind Well' so I'd remember that embarrassing episode every time I flew somewhere."
Tela was staring at him with a dumbfounded expression on her face. "That is why you named your ship Blind Well? Did…" Tela threw her head back and started laughing.
Rigel just sighed, watching as Tela fell backwards and clutched at her stomach, still howling.
I told you it was funny. Nova said smugly in Rigel's head, having disappeared a moment before.
To everyone other than me maybe.
I told you to dodge.
That isn't very helpful when a hand as large as my sternum is holding me in place.
If you hadn't let it pick you up, you could have dodged.
Shaxx said the best way to get at a knight's face was to let it pick you up!
…Shaxx is a titan. Did you really expect his advice to be anything other than suicidal?
Rigel sighed, picking up his stew and dejectedly taking a few more bites.
Tela slowly sat up, taking deep breaths to control herself, a wide smile unmoving from her face. "Shit, I would have paid money to see that."
"I'm glad my suffering amuses you." Rigel said dryly, setting aside his empty bowl as he looked out over the lake. "To blatantly change the topic, you mentioned there was something you'd want to do after the Reapers were gone, right?"
Tela's smile flattened into a thin line. She slowly ate a mouthful of stew, looking out over the water contemplatively. "It's not something for after, just something…something where I haven't really had anything before."
Rigel turned to look at her; she wouldn't meet his eyes. "What do you mean?"
Tela sighed heavily, setting her food aside. "I haven't ever really had anyone. I never knew my parents. Thessia has a pretty good foster system, so I never went hungry, but I didn't really have a direction. I joined the military to get my life on track and just worked my way up the ladder as far as it went. When I became a Spectre, I was at the top, but I still wanted to do better. That's actually why I ended up working with the old Broker. I wanted to get more done than anyone else, and he had the means to facilitate that. The whole while, I always worked alone. I had contacts and other Spectres I worked with on occasion, but I did most of my jobs without any help." Tela rubbed her eyes, turning to look at Rigel almost shamefully. "I'm lonely, Rigel. I have been for a while, but I always ignored it by focusing on work. I tried flings for a while, but they all felt hollow and pointless, so I stopped pretty soon after I started. Now I'm facing the very real possibility that there won't be a galaxy in five years and wondering if being one of the baddest Spectres around was worth not actually living my fucking life."
Rigel didn't know what to say to that. Hoping he wasn't about to piss Tela off, Rigel said, "I kind of get it. My solitude has almost always been a choice. But every time I go to a bar in the city and see the dumb shit fireteams get up to with one-another… It made me question why I didn't look for teammates. Then I'd…" Rigel paused, sighing and looking away. "Then I'd remember all the friends I lost and decide it was better not to get attached. Not at all healthy, but it wasn't like I was ever supposed to be healthy. I'm a weapon that an uncaring, selfish god resurrected to buy itself a little more time."
"Fuck that."
Rigel turned to Tela. She looked pissed.
"Fuck that god, and fuck that whole idea. Maybe it made you for a certain purpose, but who gives a shit? I've seen what you've done with the life it gave you, and I don't see a weapon."
Rigel snorted, self-depreciative. "Tela, all I've done since coming here is fight or get ready to fight."
"You know the difference between a weapon and a soldier? A soldier chooses who they fight and why. A weapon just kills whatever the person holding them uses them against."
Rigel smiled softly. "Thanks, Tela." He shook his head. "Sorry, I didn't mean to blitz over you and make everything about me."
Tela huffed, sliding her bowl to the side so she could scoot closer to Rigel. Before Rigel could ask what she was doing, he felt a soft pair of lips press into his own. The Risen froze, his every muscle tensing at the alien sensation. It took him far longer than he'd admit to realize Tela was kissing him. He was so dumbfounded he just sat there until Tela moved back. When the Spectre pulled away she placed two fingers over his lips.
"Thirty seconds. Give me thirty seconds to talk." Tela was practically pleading.
Numbly, Rigel nodded.
"I'm tired of being lonely. I'm tired of not having a reason to do what I do. I want something in my life other than shooting people, and I think you want that too. You need to let yourself be happy, Rigel because you deserve that. I…I don't want to push you, but I really want this, and I'm tired of waiting. The longer I wait, the less time I have with you before the Reapers get here. I know we talked about this before, but you didn't say you weren't interested. I know losing Calliope hurt you, but I'm not going anywhere. If I have to carve through a Reaper with my fucking teeth I'll do it if it means I can get back to you and have this." Tela swallowed nervously, moving her fingers away from Rigel's lips and breathing quickly as she waited for him to say something.
Rigel didn't speak, he didn't know what to say. He sat and stared into Tela's eyes, seeing the anxiety and desire in them. He tried to think of the last time he did something for no other reason than that he wanted to. For the life of him, he couldn't think of anything. The only times he ever went out and had fun were when Cayde, Petra or Drifter dragged him somewhere or when Shaxx wanted help humbling some young Risen in the Crucible. He'd rejected friendships out of hand because of what happened to Kabr. He'd killed anything romantic before it could even start because of what happened to Calliope during The Great Disaster. For centuries, he'd pushed almost everyone away. Why?
"I'm afraid." Rigel said softly, his eyes falling away from Tela's gaze. "I don't handle loss well. I'd rather not have anything to lose than to lose it."
Tela reached forward and picked his chin up, looking into his eyes. "You will not lose me. I won't let that happen."
Uncertainty, fear, doubt, long-buried pain – all of it warred in Rigel's head, warning him this was a terrible idea. Rigel was trapped in another universe, preparing to face a race of machines bent on eradicating all life. He'd fought apocalypses before, but things felt different now. Before, he was alone by choice. Now, he was truly the only Risen in the entire universe. It wasn't possible to be more alone than that.
Rigel was tired of being alone.
Slowly, hesitantly, Rigel leaned forwards. Tela's breath caught as she saw him moving, watching him slowly inch closer to her. When he was almost touching her, Tela sprung forward to meet him, pressing her lips into his. Rigel's hands slid up Tela's back, pressing her against him.
Tela slid out of his grasp, breaking the kiss as she grabbed Rigel's hands. "Come with me." she demanded, her eyes intense, breathing accelerated. She pulled Rigel to his feet and practically dragged him behind her. She led him up the spiral stairs onto the second level of the house. The stairs let off into a sitting area. Tela pulled Rigel past it and down a hallway with several doors. She threw open a door that led to a large bedroom and dragged Rigel through behind her before slamming the door shut.
The world faded away around Rigel. He lost himself in Tela's embrace as she pulled him down atop her on the bed. His clothes lay in a heap on the floor next to Tela's. Nothing mattered now but her. Tela's eyes turned pitch black, as they moved against each other.
"Embrace eternity."