28: The Entanglement

The motel was situated on the edge of New Thebes and was a somewhat grungy affair in dire need of refurbishment. Nonetheless, it offered cheap lodgings that held all the necessities anyone in need of a roof over their head would require, and as such the place continued to bring in good business despite the lack of overall maintenance. Paint was flaking in places; the carpet and furniture bore their fair share of stains and the vid-screens in some of the rooms only worked properly about half of the time they were switched on. Being a motel, there was no restaurant or bar on the premises, but there were vending machines. More than one of them had been vandalised during recent months and the proprietors had done nothing to repair or replace them.

It was, in the case of the four disparate fugitives, a good enough place to lay low. They had booked two rooms next door to one another, although for now they gathered in one of those rooms. Seated within the living area that also doubled as the main bedroom, the four of them found themselves attempting to make sense of the day's events with varying levels of success.

The curtains were drawn over the windows, shutting out the rather unremarkable view of the motel parking lot at night, cast as it was under the glow of multiple streetlights. Privacy was paramount here, and Booker had been sure to do a sweep of both rooms to ensure that no listening devices were present. Only after he had been certain that they were not being spied upon had they gathered here to discuss the most pressing of matters, with Chas the drell seated at the small circular table by the kitchen bench whilst Booker paced about the room in an impatient manner.

Sevarn was seated across from the drell, with Lyssa having taken a spot on the edge of the nearby single bed, one of two present within the room. The vid-screen at the wall nearby was switched on, tuned in to some old disaster movie with the volume set loud enough to ensure that any potential eavesdroppers would have difficulty discerning the words spoken by the group from the noise of the film. The atmosphere within was a somewhat dour one, and whereas Booker bore the most intensity, it was Sevarn who appeared the most shocked of them all.

'My own commanding officer,' he stated, and he shook his head at the thought of it. 'He tried to kill me, more than once. He had my entire team killed. Why?'

'Why?' Lyssa sounded far less shocked in this regard. 'Because he's not telling you the full story, that's why. He only told you part of the story, Sev. He was hardly going to spill the beans before he was sure he could trust you.'

'I know that, but he told me more than enough. He told me that this whole thing had been some kind of elaborate plan from the start, a way to misdirect and gain hold of that data.' Sevarn glanced to Chas, who had a holographic interface projected before him. He had been attempting to decrypt that data since they had arrived here, and even now his dark eyes were narrowed at the screen in a look of deep concentration.

'And there's still more to it,' Lyssa added. 'He wouldn't have gone to all this trouble otherwise. I suspect he has ties to Cerberus, ties that may have turned sour. It would certainly explain why my own boss has tried to frame me and now wants me dead.'

'That may be so, but we have no idea what the full story is.' Sevarn sighed. He shook his head slowly, unable to quite believe that things had come to this point. Never had he thought that his own commanding officer would try to have him killed. It was one thing to be directed into battle and to potentially die in such an action, but to be used like a pawn in some elaborate game? It had left Sevarn feeling cold, with a deepening sinking feeling having taken hold in the pit of his gut

Venarus had influence within the Hierarchy's military, and if he had not had Sevarn labelled as a traitor or deserter or some such, he likely would have by now. Sevarn knew that he could not return home until he had sorted this situation out, through whatever means he had on hand. He was too much of a risk to Venarus, being the one who could expose him. And yet, he could hardly expose him without proof, something that he was sorely lacking at the moment.

'There is something we can do.' It was Booker who suggested this, and both Sevarn and Lyssa turned to him. He had paused in his pacing about, his expression once again grim. 'It's simple, really: we capture Venarus alive. We take him alive and we question him, we squeeze him for every bit of information he has and we make him confess to his crimes.'

'That sounds like a great plan, secret agent man,' Lyssa remarked, nodding her head slowly. 'Except for one thing: we don't actually know where Venarus is. And even if we did, chances are he won't be easy to catch.'

'I suspect your drell friend can locate him,' Booker said, and he glanced towards Chas. Now the drell perked up, his concentration on his work having been momentarily interrupted.

'I suppose I could,' Chas said, and he swivelled on his chair to face the others. 'But this data's going to take some time to decrypt. I can only focus on one thing, either finding Venarus or deciphering this Cerberus data. Which will it be?'

'Find the turian,' Lyssa said, without pause. 'If we can get him, then we may learn more within the time it takes to decrypt that data.'

Chas nodded in acknowledgment.

'Sure thing, boss lady.' Chas sighed and went back to work. Booker regarded Lyssa and Sevarn in turn, before he checked his watch.

'I'll go next door and get some rest,' he told them. 'I suggest you two do the same.'

'Can I rest?' Chas asked, looking up yet again from his work.

'No.' Booker started for the room's exit. 'We need you to find that turian, remember?'

'Go with him, Chas,' Lyssa announced, and the drell offered her a curious eye. 'We've only got two beds in here. Two more next door. It's a question of simple math, you know?'

Chas appeared suspicious, but otherwise rose from his seat and switched off his display for the time being. He turned to Lyssa, and then glanced at Sevarn, offering the turian a smirk. Sevarn was a little perplexed by the look, for it suggested that the drell knew something he did not.

'Fine, fine, send me on my way.' The drell sighed, before he started after Booker. He paused before the now open door, looking back to Lyssa one more time: 'I thought maybe you and I could share the room, catch up on things in greater detail?'

Lyssa narrowed her eyes, but otherwise smiled in turn.

'Not this time, Chas. I think you misconstrued what we had.'

'Huh, is that so? Because I'm always happy to let you have your way with me.'

'Get out of here.' Lyssa stood up and snatched the loose cushion from the armchair closest to her. She threw it at him, sending the drell darting from the room. As soon as he was gone, along with Booker, she approached the door and pulled it closed. She made sure to lock it, unwilling to take any chances with her or Sevarn's safety. Then again, if anyone wanted to force entry it would not be difficult to do. It had been some time since she had found it necessary to sleep with one eye open, in a manner of speaking, having been far too accustomed to the luxury accommodations Cerberus had provided. Now here she was, forced to lay low in some grimy motel with countless heavily armed foes looking for her. Cerberus, turian black ops, local CED; she had racked up quite the list of enemies in what was probably a new record time.

She turned to face Sevarn, noticing the turian appeared glum. His demeanour had spelled out as much since they had escaped from the train station, and she knew something of what he felt. She strode towards him, stopping a few paces from the young Lieutenant. There, she took a close look upon that frowning, shining grey-blue face of his, and she found the ocean blue of his eyes to carry a depth that his otherwise youthful appearance did not outright indicate. Those were the kind of eyes one could get lost within.

'You all right?' She asked him. He looked up then, frown fading with something more neutral taking hold.

'I've been betrayed by my commanding officer,' he told her. 'I don't think I could ever be "all right" after that.'

'And yet you're still alive,' she countered. 'As am I. We're alive and in a position to do something about the whole mess. The fact we're still alive throws a wrench into Venarus' plans. By his measuring, we should have died when that convoy got hit.'

'We should have died with the rest,' Sevarn added, nodding his head slowly. 'That may have been easier. I had some good friends on that team. They were all good soldiers.'

'I lost some good friends at the facility,' she told him. 'Friends as well. We've all been screwed over, whether it be by Venarus or by my own boss, Rickard. I intend on getting my payback. I'll bet good money you're planning much the same thing.'

Sevarn's face seemed to lighten then, and the faint trace of a smile took hold at his mouth. It was a bit hard to tell with turians, although since meeting Sevarn, Lyssa had become somewhat adept at reading those more subtle facial cues when it came to this particular turian.

'We'll find Venarus and we'll make him pay,' Lyssa said, and she injected a suitable amount of confidence into that statement. 'And we'll clear your name and mine doing it. How's that sound?'

'It sounds like the beginning of a plan,' Sevarn remarked. 'But we're going to need a little more detail on it.'

'Yeah, well, details are sometimes hard to come by. But I do trust Chas, mostly. His skills are second-to-none, at least where this planet is concerned.'

'It sounds like you two have a history.'

'Sure, I enlisted his help more than once when I worked for Cerberus. He was a sort of "independent contractor".'

'And more, I take it?'

Lyssa shrugged. Sevarn sounded curious, if little else.

'Not jealous, are we?' She asked him. 'I mean, it was more curiosity that put me in that idiot's bed. And we're talking maybe three occasions.'

'Jealous?' Sevarn's smile broadened, enough to reveal the pointed teeth further along his jawline. 'No, not at all. Your life is your life, Lyssa. I'm not going to judge you.'

There followed a silence that Lyssa felt went for longer than she would have preferred. Sevarn scratched at his mandibles in a gesture she took to be contemplative one. She walked past where he was seated and stopped before the vid-screen at the wall, where she switched off the old disaster movie that was playing. That put an end to the background noise, and she once again turned to regard the turian with a more curious eye.

'A lot's happened these past days,' she told him.

'You could say that.'

'I mean, when you put it in perspective the whole thing seems crazy. And then there's the good that's come out of it.'

'Like what?' Sevarn's doubt was apparent. Lyssa offered him a smile, as she took a step towards him. There, she planted a hand on his shoulder. His mandibles shifted slightly at the touch, seemingly tensing if only for a moment. He relaxed almost immediately, and it was then that he rose from his seat. He was much taller than her, and despite the typically turian slimness of his figure, it still made for a sizeable and powerful form when compared to her smaller human one. His armour only added to his overall bulk.

'Like meeting you,' Lyssa replied. She took herhand from his shoulder, feeling a little awkward. She sensed something similar from him, and for a moment there she simply looked into his eyes as he looked into hers. 'Meeting you and having you watch my back. You saved my life, more than once.'

'You saved mine a couple times, if I recall correctly.'

'We make a good team, don't we?' She smiled then, feeling at once so very relaxed but strangely self-conscious. The thoughts that were intruding in her head now, when faced with this turian offered a mix of curiosity and uncertainty.

'I suppose we do.'

'And when this is all over, what will you do?'

Sevarn's mandibles twitched as he contemplated the question for a moment.

'I'll return home,' he told her. 'That is, if I'm still alive to do so. I've so far managed to avoid numerous brushes with death since meeting you.'

'None of which I'm actually to blame for, you know.'

'Oh, I know.' Another brief pause, before his blue eyes locked onto hers again. There was something else in them now, a look she might have almost likened to that of a predator: 'So, Lyssa, what are your intentions here? Because if I may be so bold, I have come to consider you a friend. And seeing you in a fight makes for an impressive sight. You handle yourself well, as good as anyone in the Blackwatch.'

'Flattery, Sev?' Lyssa smiled at him. 'You keep talking like that, and I think my intentions will become very clear very quickly.'

Another quiet fell between them, but it did not last long. It was Sevarn who broke it, but not by any spoken words. He simply stepped forwards and put his powerful arms around her, pulling her in close, pressing her flush against him. And then his mouth plates were at her lips, an attempt at a more human kiss or simply a turian one regardless, Lyssa did not know for sure. His long, blue tongue found its way into her mouth and Lyssa wrapped her arms around him in turn. She practically buried herself in the warmth his armoured bulk offered, tongues dancing in a long, passionate kiss that spoke of all the dangers they had endured together, providing that much needed outlet for all the stress and all the contained emotions that had built within the both of them since their first meeting. A meeting that had begun with a convoy being attacked and about two dozen turian soldiers being slaughtered, a meeting that had seen this very turian Lieutenant attempt to arrest her, even at shoot her.

And now they were lost in each other's bodies, kissing and groping and caressing. Fingers found latches in armour, longer clawed ones found the zippers on Lyssa's clothing. Hearts pounded in either chest, so close to one another. Lyssa broke away from him then, if only to start stripping herself bare, her face and lips flushed. Sevarn began doing the same, tossing aside pieces of his armour all while his eyes remained locked firmly upon this dangerous, yet so very alluring woman.

His body was like a work of art, sculpted with a careful and discerning eye, all gleaming silvery-grey plates and muddy tan hide between. Even without his armour, his overall slim frame still made hers seem petite in comparison. He stood before her with something she took to be a small grin on his face, yet it was a little difficult to tell where a turian was concerned. Her eyes roamed his naked body, and at the same time she reached out and trailed a hand down his chest, her fingers gently pressing the rugged plates that covered most of it. They were firm, certainly, but there was a level of pliancy to them as she pushed her fingers against the organic material. His eyes watched her, slightly narrowed, attempting to gauge her reaction to his revealed form.

'I've never been with a turian before,' Lyssa stated. She felt a slight chill in the room, and she felt gooseflesh spring up across her arms. Even her nipples hardened in response, partly from the breeze and partly from what she saw before her. This turian was a living weapon, an apex predator, and no amount of civilisation could detract from this. The claws at the ends of his fingers and toes had been filed short and blunt, no doubt for practical and social purposes. Her eyes worked their way down to his crotch, and she smiled at what she saw.

'I have heard about this, however,' she remarked. She trailed a hand down the softer skin of his stomach, all while the turian watched her carefully. That hand went to his groin, and there she traced a finger down the protective slit within which his genitals were concealed. A result of his home world's potent electromagnetic field, his species had evolved to keep these more sensitive parts tucked away until needed. And right now, Lyssa perhaps needed them more than he did.

He let out a low hiss as she toyed with it, sighting the vibrant blue of his cock as it squeezed forth. It was certainly long, with a slightly tapered head and multiple slight ridges, complete with a somewhat larger bulge at the base. Some curious extranet searches had kept her from being completely surprised by what she saw, but it still made for a welcome and certainly alluring sight nonetheless.

'It's probably good you keep a weapon like that squared away,' she remarked, and Sevarn quirked a brow ridge upon hearing this. 'You could do a lot of damage with that thing.'

'Good damage, or bad damage, Lyssa?' Sevarn asked her. She could hear the smile in his voice, even if it was not easily discerned on his face.

She looked into his cool blue eyes once more, before she took a step forward as to press her body against his. Arms around him, she met his gaze and smiled.

'What do you think, big guy?'

He leaned in again and put his mouth to hers, his hands roaming down her back, his blunted claws leaving faint white marks on her skin as he trailed them along her curves. Lyssa could feel his erection pressing against her stomach now, hard and urgent, the turgid blue length slick with his own natural lubricant. She let out a short giggle as she broke from the kiss and took a few steps back. Her legs hit the edge of the bed behind her and she allowed herself to fall across it. Sevarn looked over her naked form with hungry, predatory eyes, and Lyssa felt her heart flutter at the sight of such a look. No human male had looked at her quite like that, and the thought of having this apex predator in bed with her filled her with a primal thrill.

Maybe she was crazy, the thought did cross her mind. After all, they had known each other for several days, maybe little over a week really. Yet, multiple brushes with death had a habit of forging strong bonds, and Lyssa was not about to let such opportunities pass her by when there was a good possibility she might be dead tomorrow. Here and now, she had an opportunity to indulge, and indulge she would albeit with an unusual choice of partner. She had never really considered a turian male before, but recent days had convinced her that life had a habit of throwing curve balls and developing a genuine attraction to an alien was certainly one of them.

She lay back on the bed, eyeing Sevarn with a sultry smile. She spread her legs as he approached the bed after her, and the mattress audibly creaked as he climbed upon it. Sevarn toyed with her breasts, fondling them with a gentle curiosity. Evidently, turian females did not carry such intriguing, fleshy mounds, although Sevarn was smart enough to know that providing each of them attention did offer her some amount of pleasure. He leaned forwards, trailing his long, blue tongue over one, before he gently toyed with the nipple with his pliant mouth plates. He did the same to the other, all while one hand drifted to her crotch, toying with the thatch of curly hair there before a blunted, clawed finger worked its way along her moistened slit. Lyssa squirmed under the turian's powerful bulk, watching him as a look of unbridled curiosity took hold upon his face. He met her gaze, mandibles twitching, and he continued to tease her womanhood with his surprisingly gentle fingers.

'You have hair in some intriguing places,' he remarked. For emphasis, he swept his hand through her pubic hair, seemingly fascinated by its placement on her. Lyssa smirked, closing her eyes as the turian's skilled fingers seemed to find all the right spots.

'I was thinking of getting rid of it. Haven't got round to it, yet.'

'Well, I hope you keep it around. I kind of like it.' Sevarn reached up, one hand caressing the side of her face, before he lifted it further and ran it through her hair. She had undone it earlier, releasing it from the confines of the neat ponytail she had kept it within. 'No matter where it happens to be on you.' Before she could respond, he had shifted himself lower upon her, nuzzling her crotch. The heat of his breath on her most sensitive of parts sent a shiver through her, and she could only gasp as the turian's long tongue emerged and swept along her folds, tasting her.

She put a hand to his fringe as he began to lavish attention upon her with his tongue, his head buried between her legs, his tongue teasing her before he outright thrust it past her folds. The first stirrings of real pleasure shot through her then, and her grip about his fringe tightened involuntarily. It had been a long while since she had last been intimate with anyone, and she supposed that this dry spell had left her feeling all the more sensitive. The speed at which this turian's oral skills brought her to her peak caught her by surprise, and she could not help it as her thighs tightened about him and her back arched as her orgasm swept through her. Head back, eyes closed, she let out a sharp cry, the turian's teasing having become all too much all too quickly.

Moments later, he was above her again, his chin carrying with it a slight shine in the light, smeared as it was with her pleasure. He offered her another toothy turian smile, before he leaned forwards and pressed his mouth to hers again, allowing her to taste her on his lips. Now she could feel his cock hard against the inside of her thigh, and with one hand she reached down and took hold of it. Sevarn let out a short gasp at the touch, before she guided him to her entrance. With a gentle push, the slightly tapered head had entered her. Even that felt like too much, but she nonetheless laid back and allowed him to hilt himself inside her completely.

She felt so full, and when he moved she could feel the small ridges upon his shaft rub her inner walls. He propped himself above her with his hands to either side of her, his eyes fixed upon her own as he began to thrust inside her. His pace was slow and languid, yet the hunger in his eyes made it clear that he was taking considerable effort to control himself. All he wanted to do was plough her, rut her into the mattress like some kind of beast. Lyssa would have loved that, yet the slow and steady lovemaking they were currently engaged in felt just as good.

He kissed her neck, then her mouth, even gently nipped her with his pliant mouth plates. She had her arms tight around him as he thrust against her, the sound of their continued joining bringing with it the audible and somewhat obscene sound of flesh smacking against flesh. His body was so warm against hers, more so than any human man's might have been. And his breath was just as hot, and the feel of it on her neck only spurred her ever closer to another orgasm.

Suddenly, he pulled from her, his cool eyes ablaze with lust. He rolled her over abruptly, although Lyssa's surprise was fleeting as soon as she realised his intention. She sighted the haze of biotic energy that had swirled up around him, his every touch seemingly amplified tenfold, his hands trailing a thousand tingles across her flesh as he ran them along her sides. Lyssa had almost forgotten he was a biotic.

Emitting a short laugh, she propped herself upon all fours, presenting her rear to the turian and his slickened cock. He grabbed her by the hips, blunted claws digging into her flesh, before he lined himself up and proceeded to take her from behind. Now his pace was fast and frantic, his control all but gone, his rapid thrusts bringing upon Lyssa a quickly building, almost overwhelming sensation of pleasure, yet she was not at that peak, not yet, just a little more…

She put her head against the pillow, her rational thought all but gone as this turian pounded her. Hands clenching the bedsheets, she finally plunged over that edge, screaming his name as her entire body shook and her inner walls clenched tight around Sevarn's impressive, ridged length. Biotic energy swirled around him, having even enveloped her, alighting her skin with so many pleasant, warm tingles. It was all too much, a sensory overload she had never experienced with any other man.

He followed her seconds later, allowing himself to let go, throwing his head back as he emitted a growling cry. She felt the heat of his release spilling into her, his hands tight about her hips. That slight bulge at the base of his cock had entered her seconds before he had come, only adding to that sensation of fullness to a point that Lyssa felt he might split her open. The biotic field dissipated with his orgasm, and the loss of those enhanced sensations was one Lyssa keenly felt right away.

Panting, Sevarn released her, pulling himself free of her. His blue-tinted manhood glistened in the light of the lamp nearby, and a trail of his greyish-tinted semen trickled from her womanhood. Lyssa relaxed onto the mattress, panting as heavily as he was, and slowly she rolled over onto her back to better regard the turian. He settled in beside her, cock slowly receding into its protective sheath. He met her gaze then, and with the cloud of lust having faded it appeared that his more rational mind had come back to the fore.

'I wasn't too rough, was I?' He asked her, a tinge of worry in his voice. Lyssa slid in close against him, rolling onto her side as to press her body against his. She leaned in close and planted a light kiss to his mandible, and from the way his eyes lit up it seemed that this had answered his question.

'Don't worry, Sev. I'm not easily broken.' She put an arm across his chest, before she nestled her head in close. She could feel his heart beating beneath his skin, now a slower, steady rhythm now that the action had ended. For a few minutes, neither of them said anything more. They simply basked in the afterglow, both feeling some level of contentment that had been missing from their lives in recent times.

Finally, Sevarn spoke again. This time, his voice was a low rumble, and he wrapped an arm about her to draw her in closer.

'I don't think I've ever met a woman like you before, Lyssa,' he told her.

'Flattery, Sev?'

'It seems to have worked well so far.'

Lyssa smiled, and she propped herself up on her forearms to get a better look at him. There was the reserved, almost by-the-book Lieutenant again. The predator who had been rutting her only minutes ago had disappeared. She suspected it would not take much to bring it forth again.

'You know, for everything we've been through, I don't really know that much about you.' Lyssa watched him with keen interest. 'I mean, your life back home.'

'The life of a Cabalist isn't all that interesting.' Sevarn sighed and leaned his head back on the pillow, only to realise that his fringe did not make simply lying back all that practical. He instead rolled onto his side, partly to alleviate this issue but also to better gaze upon the woman beside him. 'The Hierarchy has never been all that keen on biotics. We're a rare breed back home. Oftentimes, we wind up doing little more than training exercises. Deployments are rare.'

'Sounds like your superiors are old-fashioned.'

'That's about right. We turians are very set in our ways. That's probably why my people are so worried about yours. Humans are adaptable, or so the analysts say.'

'You seem to have adapted pretty well to all this craziness so far,' Lyssa remarked. 'I mean, look at you now: you're in bed with a human girl. If that isn't "adaptable", I don't know what is.'

Sevarn emitted a low chuckle, one that provided an oddly pleasant tone for Lyssa's ears such as it was with its dual flanging sound. She figured that if he read out the dictionary in that voice, she would be enraptured.

'What about you, Lyssa?' Sevarn asked her then. 'Is there something about you I don't know about that I should?'

'A girl's got to have her secrets.' Lyssa paused briefly, as she considered his question. 'Did I tell you I have a sister? She's a doctor, over on Elysium. She never did approve of what I chose to do with my life.'

Sevarn nodded slowly in acknowledgment.

'She's younger than you, then?'

'Yeah. I always looked out for her. We lost our parents on the attack on Mindoir, but we were both off-world at the time. In that regard, we were simply lucky. Had we been there when the attack happened, we'd probably be dead or slaving away on some batarian world somewhere.' Lyssa shook her head slowly as the memories came flooding back. 'I still remember that day, when I was told of what happened. We were with our grandparents when the news came through, and then it was a few days after that we got confirmation our parents had died. I'll never forget it, Sev. And our grandparents, bless them, ended up looking after us until we were old enough to go out into the world on our own.'

'I'm sorry to hear about your loss.'

'That's nice of you to say, Sev, but it was a long time ago. The galaxy is a mean and nasty place, I learned that when I was very young. Sometimes the best thing you can do is take the blows and just keep moving forward.'

'I didn't know my parents all too well. The Cabal was my family, such as it was.' Sevarn's features adopted what Lyssa took to be something wistful. 'I didn't have much say in the course of my life. I was a biotic, and biotics in the Hierarchy end up in Cabals. At least there, they can be kept a close eye on.'

'Sounds paranoid.'

'That's because it is.' Sevarn might have smiled, but the topic was obviously one he had issues with. 'I never asked for these abilities. I'm not even sure how I got them. A freak of genetics, maybe. My mother was certain she was never exposed to raw eezo when she was carrying me. Spirits know what really happened.'

'You have a gift, Sev. It's good that you're making use of it.' She leaned forwards then and planted another kiss to his cheek. 'All the more so when you use it in the bedroom. I mean, I'm still feeling it even now.'

Sevarn looked a little sheepish then, but Lyssa allayed his worries by putting a hand to his chest where her fingers gently traced the joins in the leathery natural plates there.

'I'd be lying if I said I wasn't eager for more.' She moved her hand lower, once again finding that slit of his that concealed his manhood. Sevarn emitted a low, if startled huff as her fingers teased the opening.

'You're insatiable,' he remarked.

'Your performance deserves an encore. Indulge a girl, would you?'