Reyes got to Elaaden seventeen hours after the vid call with SAM, he pushed the limits of his ship to get him there as quickly as possible. His men offered to take him, but he was more than capable of flying himself. He headed straight to the main building that held the exiles, he'd not been there for a few months but knew one Turian who'd gladly help him.
He made sure to carry his pistol and assault rifle. Elaaden was probably more dangerous than Kadara. He checked his armour before finally entering, the whole room fell silent as eyes dropped on him.
To Reyes' biggest surprise was the two human males that were behind the counter. The last time he checked, an Angara female, Annea ran this outpost. She was a cold-hearted bitch that charged people for water when this planet barely had any.
He walks up to the counter, leaning against the side of it. "Hello, can you please tell me who's in charge?" he asks with his best smile.
The ginger hair lad turned around, smiling at him. "That would be us, sir. The Initiative has taken over since Pathfinder Ryder found out the old owners' true intentions. She spared her life to let us take control of this place. Would you like some water?" He passes Reyes a bottle, though not thirsty, he accepts it.
"Thanks. Do you happen to know where the Pathfinder is?" The blonde older man stood up from his chair.
"No, she hasn't been through in a couple of days. Sorry, kiddo," he says. Reyes nods, walking away towards the far corner. He decides to take a sip of the water, he forgot how hot the planet is.
"Reyes Vidal?" A deep voice called from his side. Reyes stands up straight, surprised someone knew him.
He quickly relaxes when he realises who it was. The one person he was looking for, "Velonia," he greets the Turian. She smiles with her mandibles loose against her cheeks. "You're just the person I was looking for," he smiles.
"I'm glad to see you still alive. What can I do for you?" Velonia was much taller than him, but for a Turian she was actually pretty shy. She was young for the smuggling job she does but was confident when someone got to know her and very ambitious. Reyes uses her to lift most of his cargo from Elaaden to Kadara and back again.
"Pathfinder Ryder, you seen her about? Or know where her ship is?" Velonia leans against the wall, looking him over.
"What she to you?" Reyes smirks. He was about to give all his secrets away.
"No one, a business partner if you must know. Something important has come up and I need her assistance ASAP," he lies. Velonia's brow plates lift, but she nods and points to the window behind her.
"Head towards the Krogan colonies, her ship is parked next door. They have started the building for the outpost," she explains. Reyes nods, sending some credits her way for the help.
"Much appreciated," he says as he leaves in a haste. He took his ship but decided to land a few clicks away and walk the rest. The Tempest would detect him coming and he needed to sneak on without being seen. Luckily he had one more trick up his sleeve to help him accomplish that.
"Mr Vidal?" SAM answers as Reyes calls him. "What can I do for you?"
"I know you said you couldn't tell me where she was. But I'm smart enough to figure it out myself. I need your help getting me onto the ship," Reyes explains.
SAM is silent, Reyes guessed he was making sure he was really on the planet and not tricking SAM into telling him where Ryder was. "I see you are here, Mr Vidal. I shall aid you, but I cannot hide these intentions from the Pathfinder if she asks. If she needs my full attention, I will have to leave you," he explains.
"That's fine. Where is she right now?" Reyes was sneaking through the back parts of the outpost. It was mostly empty, just stacks of cargo and buildings that were yet to be assembled. He saw the Tempest dead ahead of him.
"Ryder is currently speaking to Specialist Kosta in the crew quarters. You will need to get past her to get to her quarters," he answers. Reyes hisses to himself, he had to be extra careful then. "Also Nakmor Drack's room is right next door to Ryders," SAM happily adds.
Reyes rolls his eyes, "fantastic," he sighs. He saw the bridge to the ship was down but the doors were closed. "Can you open the doors?"
SAM is silent, "no. Jaal and Peebee are currently in the cargo bay. They will know you have entered. There is an emergency hatch to your left you can use. If you move through there, you will be taken to the science lab."
Reyes finds the hatch, he pulls it open but an alarm is set off. "Fuck, SAM?" he hisses as he pulls himself up. The AI is silent, Reyes stays still, panicking he just blew his cover.
"Do not worry, Mr Vidal. I masked the alarm, no one was notified," SAM finally answers. Reyes had to crawl on all fours through the small metal tunnel, his guns kept scraping the sides. "Mr Vidal, someone will hear you," SAM comments.
Reyes grunts, "I know, SAM. It's hard to do this in full armour and guns strapped to my back," he near shouts.
He finally makes it through the tunnels, but SAM locks the escape hatch before Reyes can reach it. "Stay still. Lieutenant Harper is currently below you." Reyes instantly turns himself into a statue, almost holding his breath.
SAM then left the call, "SAM?!" he hisses. Cora looks up, and Reyes shuts his mouth.
"SAM?" Cora calls. SAM comes onto the comms in the room.
"Lieutenant Harper," he greets.
"Is there someone calling your name?" she asks, looking at the empty space around her.
"No, Miss Harper. I merely answered when you called me. I would like to notify you that Vetra wishes to see you in her room." Cora shrugs her shoulders and leaves the room. SAM unlocks the hatch and returns to the call. Reyes climbs through.
"That was too close," he mutters. "I didn't know you could lie?"
"I can, but shouldn't," SAM answers. Reyes smiles, he opens the only door in the room and pokes his head out. He was in the main CIC of the ship. No one was there. "Proceed through the doors and turn left," SAM says.
Reyes tiptoes over the metal flooring, the ship was beautiful. He nearly got distracted when he kept stopping to look at the middle table terminal. "Strike teams?" he whispers when he sees the name. "Ryder has strike teams?"
He walked down the single file walkway, he could see the bottom floor over the edge of it. "Yes, they are Nexus trained operatives. The Pathfinder controls where they strike and what equipment they have," he answers. "Proceed down the left-sided ladder," he adds.
Reyes looks down before turning around to climb down. He almost freezes when he hears a deep rumbling laugh. "SAM?"
"Just a moment," SAM quickly replies. Drack was in the kitchen just across from where Reyes was holding himself close to the ladder. If that door opened, his cover was blown.
"SAM? This damn door is stuck," Drack shouts as he tries to leave.
"Quickly get down the ladder and go through the double unlocked doors," SAM says. Reyes practically flings himself from the ladder. and runs into the room. SAM locks it behind him, Reyes puts his ear to the door. "I am sorry, Drack. I temporarily lost connection to your door. I locked it for your own safety."
"Bloody Kallo and Gil fighting about the ship upgrades again?" Drack asked as his heavy footsteps could be heard.
"I believe so, yes," SAM answers.
"Bloody pyjaks," he grumbles as he walks away. Reyes sighs in relief.
"You're a lifesaver, SAM," Reyes says loud enough. He looks around the room, it was much nicer than his own apartment back on Kadara. The bay window stretched the entire room, with a king size bed on the far left with a wardrobe. A couch and coffee table that was on their own small level. Then in the far right was a desk with ship ornaments hung up, a small hamster-like creature was playing on its wheel. Reyes smiles as he walks around the whole room and sits in Ryder's chair.
SAMS AI terminal lights up. "I shall contact Ryder to come here," he says. Reyes nods, and he decides to look through Sara's terminal. Though not snooping through her emails, he looked through her folders with holos of her family on them. He'd never seen Scott in person or in pictures, but he was surprised just how much they looked like. Sara had told him they weren't identical twins, but to him they were. He looks at the pictures of her father and mother, they all looked alike and very happy.
Ten minutes later Ryder walks in, arguing with SAM. "I don't see the damn urgency," she shouts as she walks in. She only sees the back of Reyes' head and pulls her pistol out. "Who... Reyes?"
"Missed me?" he smirks. She drops her pistol to the ground, they both stand glaring at each other. Ryder finally moves, throwing herself into his arms. Reyes chuckles as he hunts for her lips. They both kiss aggressively, he stirs her towards the couch as he nibbles her plumped lips.
Just as he sits her on his lap, she pulls away. "The hell are you doing here? And how did you get on the ship?" Reyes trails kisses along her neck.
"I have my ways," he whispers. Ryder giggles, but then goes stiff. She looks at SAM's terminal.
"SAM?! Did you have something to do with this?" she asks. SAM's terminal flickers.
"Mr Vidal wished to see you. I did not tell him where you are, he did that alone. I helped him enter the ship without being detected." Ryder playfully slaps Reyes, she gets off him.
"Well since you got my own AI partner to conspire against me, you gonna tell me why you're here?" Reyes stands up, closing the distance between them.
"SAM contacted me last night, told me about how much you're struggling," he explains. Ryder's crossed arms drop, she sighs and turns her back.
"Let me guess, you're here to fuck me senseless for disobeying your rules? Your way of making me forget?" Reyes shakes his head, pulling her shoulder to turn around no.
"No," he sternly says. "I love having sex with you Ryder, but not at the cost of your mental health." Ryder felt the tears well up in her eyes. Reyes holds her. "You are okay, pequeña Paloma," he whispers into her hair.
"Eres un bastardo astuto," Ryder replies. Though she could speak fluent Spanish, her accent was far off from what Reyes was. He instantly pulls back, his brows deeply furrowed.
"Tú hablas español?" he asks in shock. Ryder nods, laughing at his dropped mouth.
"No eres tan encantador como pensabas," she laughs. Reyes can only kiss her, somehow he was ten times more attracted to her.
"Sara Ryder, you're something else," he mumbles against her lips. Ryder kisses him, her arms tracing around his neck as Reyes firmly holds her waist. She needed to speak to him, this was just temporary to the bigger issues she currently had.
End of part 1.
A/N: Eres un bastardo astuto: You're a cunning bastard. Tú hablas español: You speak Spanish? No eres tan encantador como pensabas: You're not as charming as you thought. Well, Reyes now knows she speaks Spanish, I felt it was a good fit. SAM and Reyes would also make such a good team in infiltrating together!