When Sara told Reyes she'd be coming to Kadara after doing all her other duties, he was expecting her to be a week or two at most. It'd been six weeks and she still hadn't been to see him. They spoke every day without fail, but her job had become even busier after taking Meridian. The last of the Kett had been chased out of Heleus, the odd straggler would be found and instantly killed.
Reyes threw himself into his work. He had full contracts in place with the Resistance, golden worlds and the Nexus. He did tell Moshea Sjefa who he really was, it made it that bit easier when she came to represent the Nexus species. She was the voice of reason to everyone and worked closely with Tann to keep everyone happy.
Keema was still publicly known as the Charlatan, the name was now a symbol of something good. Many came to her with their needs and Reyes would help when he could. He was slowly and secretly becoming the most powerful person in the cluster.
"Reyes, you need to contact Evfra," Keema says over the vid call. Tensions were started to slowly raise the issues with Helium-three. A powerful gas that could be mined into fuel. The Nexus was running out, but Ryder found an asteroid belt filled with the stuff, now the Resistance and Nexus were arguing about who should have it and how it should be split. Reyes got his fuel from the Resistance, he took the pay cut in return for a monthly supply, but now he was struggling to keep up with the demands of what the Collective needed.
"Great," Reyes groans. He was in a bad mood as it was, Ryder's twenty-third birthday passed days ago and he couldn't celebrate with her. He called her than Scott to wish them a happy birthday, but it wasn't the same without being there together. His own birthday was only a week away and Ryder knew that. She'd been arguing with Tann to get some time off, but the Salarian wasn't budging on his decision that she had to finish her tasks first.
"Tensions are high, Evfra is pissed with the Initiative and Tann is being an ass," she says. Reyes nods, rubbing his eyes as he ends the call. He doesn't speak to Tann, Keema does. Though the Salarian can be friendly for the most part, he was shit at dealing with pressuring situations.
Reyes calls Evfra from his terminal, it didn't take long for the angry looking Angara to answer. A scowl on his face. "Reyes, your people are annoying me," he hisses.
"I know, Evfra. They're pissing me off too. What's the problem?" Evfra groans heavily, Reyes could hear the bustle of the Resistance workers in the background of his office.
"That asteroid your Pathfinder found. It's got enough Helium-three to supply fuel to ships for nearly three-hundred years. The Nexus had taken the ground before we could and now won't talk about splitting it." Reyes scratches his neck. Tann really couldn't think he could show up to Andromeda and take whatever the hell he wanted. The asteroid was found in the same system as the Turian ark. It was meant to be the Turian and Quarian homeworlds, though the Quarian was currently lost. SAM found their distress beacon, and Kett was trying to find them. They were in hiding and were still a few years out from reaching Heleus. Everyone could only hope the dark space would hide them during the last leg of their journey.
"Has Ryder said anything about this?" he asks. Evfra shakes his head.
"No, Jaal has spoken to her about it. I am yet to hear back," he replies.
"And what do you want me to do about it?" Reyes sternly asks. He liked Evfra a lot, but the Angara was sometimes so broody, that it made his job harder than it needed to be.
"She is your mate, you sort it," he shouts in agitation. Reyes rolls his eyes, moving in his seat.
"I don't speak to my girlfriend about her work. We cross the line there," he calmly replies. Evfra grunts, his eyes shut tightly.
"Vidal, if you want this alliance to continue. You will call your... girlfriend and sort this out. She is the only one who can sort out this issue. The Moshea refuses to get involved in such matter." Reyes sighs, he needed Evfras fuel reserves, he couldn't risk losing ships and men.
"Fine, I will contact you soon," he says abruptly, ending the call. He sighs heavily, looking at the time. It had just gone midday. Ryder was on Voeld, it wouldn't be late there, so she should be awake. He opens his omni-tool, first calling her AI partner.
"Hello, Reyes," SAM's voice answers.
"Hey, SAM. Ryder about?" he asks as he massages his aching neck. He was soon turning twenty-eight, a young and healthy age. Yet he felt like he was nearing his fifties.
"A moment," he replies. There was a short pause before Ryder's face came into the vid call. She'd not changed much, the weeks of tiredness could definitely be seen in her eyes and saggy cheeks.
"Dove, how are you?" he asks sweetly. Ryder looked annoyed, she was walking through the Resistance base, he could see the backgrounds of ice blockades around her.
"Freezing my tits off," she snaps. "Tann is a prick for sending me here. I told him the vault here was the slowest on the network. but noo," she drawled. "He expects me to fix the frozen planet in a a fucking day."
Reyes just listened to her vent, she was much more snappy these days. Reyes knew it was her job, but she admitted going six weeks without sex was literally killing her. "Little dove, take a breath," he soothes.
Ryder does just that, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. "Right, sorry," she sighs. "Everything alright on your end?"
"Ish," he mutters. "Have you heard of the issues the Resistance and Nexus are having with the Helium-three you found?" Ryder sighs again, nodding slowly.
"Jaal told me, but I was in a rush so brushed it off. Are they arguing about it again?" Reyes nods. "Fuck sake, I told Tann not to piss Evfra off. Alright, I'm leaving Voeld. There is nothing else I can do for this planet, SAM planted a node here to help the Resistance. He can take over from me." SAM had been growing stronger with his AI abilities. He could split his tasks much easier and have nodes planted where programs of himself would stay to help the colonists. Ryder was still his main attention and his main full processor was still connected to her.
"Are you heading to the Nexus?" Ryder nods, she is walking full pace toward the Tempest.
"Meet me there, call Evfra to tell him to get his ass there as well. We are holding a meeting for this. What's the Moshea's word on this?" Reyes stands up, pacing the room slowly.
"She does not wish to be involved," he answers. "Ryder, I can't see Tann, Keema needs to go to my place."
"Reyes, he needs to know who you really are. The Collective are bigger than the Nexus and Resistance at this point. You don't need to tell the whole galaxy, but Tann has got to know. You have enough leverage on him to make sure he doesn't say anything." She then pauses, smirking slightly. "And if the asshole had an issue, I will kindly remind him I can easily leave and SAM goes with him. We need him more than ever now."
Reyes smirked, it was true. Tann brushed SAM off just before the final battle. Not impressed with how much say and freedom the AI got. Now, he respected SAM, he'd done more work than anyone and helped in all corners. SAM could still work if Ryder left, but he'd never be the same with giving them his attention. His main priority is to help Ryder and keep her safe.
"I need to think about it, I will still come. Keema will as well," Reyes slowly says. Ryder looks down at the camera, smiling at him.
"Good, I will see you there. Also," she whispers, moving her head down closer. "You need your birthday present."
"What is that?" Reyes huskily replies.
"It evolves me being on my hands and knees for you," she mumbles. Reyes hitches a breath, the words, her voice. It instantly turned him on.
"Fuck, you're killing me, Ryder," he says pulling the groin part of his pants around to stop the uncomfortable boner forming.
"Good, I like seeing you struggle," she whispers. "See you soon. I love you," she says as she blows a kiss at him.
"You're such a tease," he grumbles. "I love you too," he adds. Ryder smirks before ending the call. Reyes sits back down, feeling annoyed as he looks down at the bulge between his legs. He was now flustered and sexually frustrated. He sends Keema a voice note. "We need to head to the Nexus. Get a shuttle ready in the next hour, we are both going."
He sends it then looks down, sighing to himself. He decides to take care of his issue, letting his thoughts run to Sara as he starts. God, he did miss her so much.
A/N: I remember doing the Helium-3 mission in the game and even though SAM told Ryder the Initiative really could use it. There was no way the Resistance wouldn't notice nor get angry if they took it for themselves. Let's see how it goes when Tann finds out who Reyes really is.