Ryder pulls away, Reyes almost bites the air as she does. "What is wrong, dove?" he asks as she moves past him to sit on the couch. He stands in front of her, taking his uncomfortable armour off.

"I'm just..." She pauses, feeling the tear well up in her eyes. "I'm depressed, Reyes," she finally admits. Reyes stops with his armour plate off, he drops it to the floor as he keeps a steady gaze on her.

"What are you depressed about?" Ryder laughs.

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be depressed," she replies. Reyes smiles, kneeling in front of her.

"I guess you're right. Well, when did this start?" She laced their fingers together. Reyes was like her own personal water bottle, he was always so warm.

"After I spoke to Scott about three weeks ago," she answers. Reyes raises a brow at her.

"He's awake?" Ryder shakes her head, narrowing her brows.

"No, Scott has the same implant as me. SAM was able to connect to it and I spoke to him through that. But," she sniffles as looks down. Reyes pulls her chin up, trying to look at her. "I lied to him."

"About what?" he asks, wiping the falling tears.

"He asked about dad and the worlds we'd hoped to live on. I told him dad was on a mission and was still kicking," she cried. Reyes looks at her in surprise. "I even told him the golden worlds were fine and we've settled right in."

"Ryder..." he whispers. She pulls her hands away, throwing them over her face.

"I'm the worst sister ever. He is going to wake up and realise everything I told him was a huge lie. What do I do?" Reyes pulls her hands away, holding her wrists with a slight grip as he keeps a steady glare at her.

"Nothing, you can't at this point. But you did the right thing, I would have done the same," he says. He really would have, she could have made Scott worse if she told him the truth. "You were protecting him, Sara."

"I hate myself for it and everything went to shit with the Asari ark." Reyes stands back up, it was too painful to kneel in his armour.

"I thought you got it back? My contacts told me it docked with the Nexus last week?" Ryder nods, watching him pull his armour apart and pile it on the corner single-seater couch.

"We did, but the original, first-picked Pathfinder had died. We thought by the Kett attack, it turns out her own second in command left her to die for some Kett data she deemed necessary. SAM found the logs, her own Pathfinder begged for her help and she just left her to die." Ryder felt her fists turn white as she squeezed them. "I threw her right under the bus with the Captain, her other second in command, Vaderia was chosen to take over. She's a good person, kind and sweet. I helped her settle in before leaving."

"I thought only death could stop a Pathfinder... pathfinding. SAM can't transfer?" Reyes didn't choose his words well, but it made Ryder smile.

"They can, my SAM can't. They are only connected through their implants. SAM literally has his own AI DNA linked to my own, he'd become useless if I died without proper transfer or if we were forced apart." Reyes shivered at the thought of someone pulling SAM and Ryder apart. "Anyway," she says, getting back on track. "Cora hated me throughout the entire mission, she used to run with an Asari squad in the MilkyWay and didn't shut the hell up about it. She constantly compared this to her own experience. I snapped and told her to shut the fuck up. Then sent her back to the Tempest and sent Jaal in her place."

"Wow, really. Cora cares for Asari, correct?"

"Yup, she's not spoken to me since." Ryder didn't care, she'd always had a stale relationship with Cora. She idolised Alec and was jealous of her relationship with Sara, but Scott was an exception. She had a crush on him. "She despises me," she adds.

"Fuck her," Reyes says. Ryder chuckles. He was now in his undersuit. "Well now that I am here. I have a question for you."

"Oh yeah-" She was cut off when the doors opened.

"Ryder, I know it's a bad time, but..." Cora stops in her tracks. She locks eyes with Reyes. "Reyes Vidal," she snarls.

"Cora Harper," he shoots back. Ryder stands up, getting in front of Reyes.

"The hell is he doing on the ship? Who let him aboard?" Ryder shook her head, ushering her out of her room.

"I did, this is my ship. Go away." Cora pushes her back, which Reyes grunts in agitation, pulling Ryder behind him. "I will call a briefing in a moment, just go Cora. Seriously," Ryder shouts. Drack and Vetra come out from the crew quarters, shocked at what they are witnessing.

"Fine, you have five minutes," Cora shouts equally loud.

"She has as long as she wants," Reyes says before pushing Ryder back into the room. Ryder instantly falls to the floor, crying as her body curls up. Reyes drops behind her, holding her close to his chest. "It will be okay, Ryder," he whispers as he rubs her back. He never realised how much she was suffering.

A half-hour later Ryder calls a meeting around the comms table, the whole crew attends minus Suvi and Kallo who were listening through the comms. Reyes was sitting on the sofa in the far corner. Now wearing a leather black jacket and black jeans, Liam was kind enough to lend them to him.

"So you're all probably wondering why he is here?" Peebee chuckles.

"I mean, he is cute," she says. "I'd want to hide him away as well." She giggles when Reyes winks at her.

"How did Reyes get on the ship? You were talking to me at the time?" Liam asks. SAM popped up in the middle of the table, his main terminal coming to life.

"I helped him," he answers. Cora almost gasps.

"You shouldn't be able to do that, SAM," she shouts. Ryder slams her hand on the table.

"Don't you dare shout at SAM, he was helping me. I am the one struggling," she shouts back. Cora crossed her arms over her chest.

"How in the hell are you suffering, Ryder. You seemed to just fine bullying the Asari." Reyes was ready to get up and punch Cora in the face, but he never would condone violence against women unless they left him no choice.

"You second-guessed me that entire fucking mission. I did the right thing and nothing you say can change my mind on that. Vedaria is much more suited for Pathfinder than Sarissa." Cora scoffs, Ryder points a finger at her. "This would be the exact same if you did the same to my father."

"Don't drag Alec into this. He would have done things differently," she yells.

"I'm close to kicking you off this fucking ship, Cora. I am the damn Pathfinder, this is my ship, my rules. If you don't like it you can fuck off. My father would have done the exact same thing as me. You may know him but I've known him for twenty-two damn years. He was my father before your damn idol." The whole room fell silent, Reyes watched the standoff between the two women before Cora broke and left the room.

"Now," Ryder says as she pushes her hair over her shoulder. "Who has a problem with Reyes being here?" No one raised their hand or said anything. "Good, we have three days before he has to be back in Kadara. He can accompany us to the coordinates Liam has for the trapped Angara," she says looking over at him.

"Yes, ma'am," Liam quickly replies.

"Good, dismissed," she sternly says. "Kallo head to Sephesa System, I want us there in the next three hours, no later."

"Yes, Pathfinder," he quickly replies. Reyes waits until they all leave then walks over to Ryder who was leaning heavily against the table.

"I never spoke to any of them like that before." Reyes turns her around, letting her lean against her chest.

"Don't beat yourself up, she needed putting in her place. If she was one of my people, they'd have gotten it much tougher." He feels Ryder smile against his shirt. "Come on," he says, leading her to her room.

"Where we going?" she asks letting him drag her.

"I've got you for three hours, I'm going to make you forget all your troubles," he whispers. Ryder instantly became excited just thinking about it. She was relieved Reyes actually listened for once, letting her vent her frustrations on him and giving her good and supportive advice.

Though, she hoped she could make up with Cora. She hated arguing with the crew, they were the closest thing she could call family.