Emilia Shepard + Thane Krios; Rakhana Spring
There was silence for a few seconds after he said it. She started to ask if there was something wrong before static burst over the communications link. It was followed by a loud screech, then faded back into silence.
"Where the hell did that come from, Joker?" She demanded. Static and screeching could only mean trouble.
"You're not gonna believe this, Commander." Joker paused. "It came from Rakhana."
"Set a course. Now." Emilia grabbed the railing that separated her from the galaxy map to support herself and leaned forward. "What the hell would be going on there..."
"Yes ma'am. ETA is about one hour." Joker announced. She nodded and shut her eyes.
Three years had gone by since the war against the Reapers had been won. Sheer will and strength had made her victorious. Against the Reapers, and her own Indoctrination. The galaxy had gone back to a somewhat still quiet; patches here and there of problems while people tried to rebuild, but nothing more.
A distress call from a dead planet was far from normal.
She stepped down and walked to the elevator. One slow ride to her cabin left her with her thoughts. Rakhana was the drell homeworld. Eleven billion had been left after the Hanar saved them. Left to slaughter each other over resources.
The elevator stopped at the first floor and the doors opened. What on Rakhana could send out a distress signal? Something didn't add up.
Emilia ran a hand through her hair as she walked into the cabin. Three years and several upgrades later, it looked almost identical to the way it had when Cerberus had built it. It felt more like home than when the Alliance messed everything up.
She slipped into the bathroom and turned on the water. It ran as background noise, the sound washing away her thoughts. She needed that right now.
It was only when she grabbed the little bottle of pills did she let herself think about what she was doing. In an hour, they would be on a planet she had never seen before. She needed to be aware of what she was doing.Â
The way her hands shook told her there was little use in trying to deny the temptation. As damaging as it was, she needed the pills. They took away the pain of withdraw and of reality. If she tried hard enough, she could convince herself it was no different than taking painkillers for an injury.
Emilia poured one of the pills into her hand and walked back to the sink. She took one look at herself, one last look before she let herself fall into the hallucinations. Blonde hair cut short, shorter than it had ever been.
Her appearance changed a lot from the first time she was on the ship. Her hair went from a bun, to a ponytail, now to just under her ears and free from a tie. Scars marred her face, but not the same ones she came onto the first Normandy with.
Back then, she wore a scar proud across her face, from cheek to cheek. After her resurrection she had a notch in her cheek. A parting gift from where her helmet had been cracked. Now, the most prominent scar was on the right side of her face. From her forehead to her jaw. A memory of the war.
The biggest difference was her eyes. The first time she stepped onto the Normandy, they were a bright blue that held promise. Over time, though the color never changed, the brightness did. The shine they once held was gone, darkened by the reality of the years gone by and their promise long gone.
She was just a caricature of the woman who first stepped on the SR-1 Normandy.
She swallowed the pill and leaned forward to splash the water on her face. Joker was the only one who knew her dirty secret. He had tried to find her stash, but was unable every time. She rarely kept it in the same place for more than a week.
The sound of the rushing water twisted and morphed after a few minutes. Purple spots flashed in and out of her vision. The last thing she saw that she was conscious of was her own, twisted smile in the mirror.
1
Kaidan's presence next to Emilia on the shuttle made her uncomfortable. He was too close. Her secret could be discovered if she wasn't careful. She pressed her palms against her knees, hoping to still the shaking.Â
The silence from everyone on the shuttle didn't matter. The sounds of the shuttle itself were loud enough, even if it was only because of the Hallex in her system. Every bump and jump made her head swim in the amalgam of sounds and shifting sights. Taking the pill had been a bad idea.
The shuttle landed with a small jolt and the door opened.
Emilia rose from her seat on the shuttle and grabbed her pistol. There was no telling what waited for her beyond the shuttle. She had no idea what to expect.
She stepped off the shuttle and took a quick look around. The sky was more orange than anything, with a bright, hot star supplying light. All around her was barren land and rocks. The most unsettling thing, however, were the tall, metal structures that reached for the star. They were broken down, worn by time, disuse  and sand.
It gave off every impression of a dead planet.
"You sure this is the place, Shepard?" Kaidan asked from behind her. Emilia struggled to grasp onto his words. How much of what she was seeing was real? Her grasp on the pistol in her hand tightened.
"Y-yeah. This is Rakhana..." She mumbled. Was it? That was where she remembered needing to go. The lingering effects of the Hallex were making things difficult to understand.
"This is what remains of the drell home world..." Liara commented, her voice a clear sound in the muddled mess of Emilia's mind. If she tried, she could make out the sound of the shuttle leaving behind them.
"Seems pretty dead to me. No way the distress signal could have come from here." Kaidan remarked. "Could be a trap."
"We'll take that risk. Nothing can be worse than Reapers." Emilia snapped. She hoped she wouldn't live long enough to regret saying that. The silence that followed her comment told her Kaidan and Liara hoped they did not live long enough, either.
Something moved almost out of sight behind a building. She broke into a run to investigate. Her grip tightened around the pistol in her hand, a part of her hoping she did not have to use it.Â
"Stop where you are!" Her voice wavered. Or was that just to her? Did she even see anything?
Emilia turned between two buildings. It was a tight alley, tighter than she expected, but she managed. She ran down it, turning down another. She had seem something after all.
A small child in tattered clothes stood at the end of the alley. Her eyes were large, almost black, and her skin greenish yellow. She had no hair, as expected when it dawned on Emilia what she was. Though, the frill at the back of her head looked wavy enough to constitute feminine appearance.
Emilia walked closer and knelt down. She smiled, the expression barely visible beyond the visor of her helmet. This girl was no threat, just afraid.
"It's alright. I'm not gonna hurt you..." The little girl shied away and pressed her back to the wall. "Can you understand me?"
The child did not respond. Emilia sighed and hung her head. She should have expected as much. Answers were never so easy to get.Â
She put the gun back in the holster and extended her hand to the girl. Maybe she would accept that as a sign of peace. At the very least, they could escort the girl wherever she needed to go.
There was a moment of still silence between them. If Emilia focused, she could hear the sound of her own breathing. Everything was still covered in a haze from the drugs, but they at least seemed to be wearing off. That meant the girl was real.
Then she screamed.
Emilia jumped to her feet and turned away from the child. Kaidan and Liara stood, turned away from her at the corner, guns drawn. She took one last look at the child then ran to join them.
A drell woman stood in the alley in front of them, a more primitive looking gun in her hand. Her eyes were narrowed when she raised the gun. This did nothing but add to the growing number of questions.
"Get away from my daughter!" The woman shouted. The child ran past Emilia, crying as she latched onto her mother. The woman scooped her up and against her hip with one arm, the other hand still aiming the gun.
"We don't mean-"
"Shut up!" Could she understand them? The woman motioned to the side with the gun. "You come with me!"
Kaidan and Liara looked at Emilia. She stared back at the woman who was half intimidated and half wild with anger. It was in her eyes. She nodded and slowly walked toward the woman.
They would get no where without cooperation.
2
Clouds rolled in across the sky during their journey. Any normal place would have meant that it was cooler, but it seemed like no matter what, Emilia could feel the heat of Rakhana under her armor. It choked her and she could feel the sweat running along her skin. All she could be thankful for was that the drugs effects were almost entirely gone.
The woman led them far from the buildings they had first seen, down a road that seemed to go straight into the horizon. She turned from it and led the three of them into a building where she placed her daughter down. The child ran ahead.
"You three stay there," The woman snapped. "I'll bring someone who can deal with your kind."
With that, she left the three of them in an empty room that seemed unfinished. The windows were cracked and broken, no chairs or furniture of any kind decorated it. Just a floor and walls with a door on either side.
"Rakhana's not half as dead as we thought." Emilia mused. Shocking with the heat. Then again, when she thought about how hot Life Support always seemed, it made a little more sense.
No one else offered their comments.
Minutes went by, long enough for Emilia to think no one was coming. She turned to leave. Whatever sent out that distress signal was still waiting and standing around there would get them no closer to helping them
"Shepard," Emilia stopped. Her own heartbeat filled her ears, going faster than it ever had. "I hoped you were still in command of the Normandy."
The voice was barely heard above the beat of her heart, but she knew it well. She shut her eyes, afraid to turn and see nothing there. Dread formed a knot in her chest, accompanied by the fear that he wasn't there, that she was the only one who heard those words.Â
The sound of Kaidan pulling his gun from the holster made her clench her hands into fists. There was no way this was real. He was dead. She watched it happen, stood side by side with his son as he breathed his last.
"Kaidan, stop!" Liara exclaimed. Emilia hung her head and slowly turned back. This was real. She had no idea what to feel about that.
She opened her eyes and looked up. Anything she could have thought of saying became stuck in her throat and tears filled her eyes. Three years had come and gone and she thought the man standing in front of her was dead, only to discover he was still alive.
She refused to accept it.
Her mind was blank. She pulled her pistol from the holster and aimed it at the drell in front of her, taking quick, lengthy steps toward him until the barrel pressed against his chest. One pull of the trigger and the fake would be dead. That was all it would take. One motion.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Emilia sneered. Those eyes conveyed a mixture of hurt and sadness, masked well with years of practice. He wanted her to see. The man's hand wrapped around her wrist, gentle but firm.
"I think you already know the answer to that question, siha." A tense moment of silence followed that word. Her grasp on the gun tightened, then she pulled it away, yanking her wrist free.
"That explains the distress signal," Right to the point. She put the gun back in it's holster and focused back on Thane. "What's going on here?"
Thane resumed his calm composure, hands behind his back and straight posture. It was easy to believe the man in front of her was really him. She wanted to believe it, after all.
"We needed your help." He kept his gaze on her and she could feel herself cracking. "The tribe I have been helping has steadily been losing numbers."
"Get to the point, Krios." Emilia crossed her arms. "Why did you send out the distress signal. Missing tribe members isn't enough to warrant that."
"Cerberus." That one word, simple in delivery, sent a fire in her veins. Cerberus, the dead terrorist group. Cerberus, the people who rebuilt her. Cerberus, the ones who killed him.
Apparently nothing dead liked to stay that way.
"Makes you think it's Cerberus? I took care of that problem." Even as she said it, she was unsure of the truth. Once, she was sure Thane was dead and convinced she would never be indoctrinated. Time seemed to enjoy making a fool out of her.
"One of them lost their shield. One of the women in the tribe brought it back. She thought I would have an idea of what it was." There was a slight, uncomfortable tone in Thane's voice. Emilia disregarded it, still not sure this was real. Some part of her still thought she may be on the ship, unconscious or high.
"And you expect us to help you?" She asked, looking him in the eye. "Why should we? Rakhana's problems aren't my concern."
Her tone was crueler than she intended. The sorrow in his eyes was evident. Time had changed her and they both knew it.
"No, they aren't. But Cerberus is." He stated. Emilia glanced to the side, to Kaidan.
She hated that Thane was right.
"Fine." She took a deep breath. "I'll help. Just point me in the direction and let's get this over with."
3
Thane led them back through a lengthy hallway and onto the next floor. It was cooler with a breeze going through the windows. The floors creaked in some spots, and in one noticeable corner it was all but rotted. There was a table in the center of the room they were in and chairs scattered around.
More importantly, there was life.Â
Emilia assumed this was perhaps a portion of the tribe Thane mention. Men, women, children, adolescents. It still baffled her Rakhana could even support life. But life like this?
The child from before peeked out from under the table, eyes wide and focused on Emilia and her companions. She seemed curious, but still very frightened. Emilia could hardly blame her. At any age, an introduction to aliens for the first time we not easy. Especially armed ones.
The room fell silent as eyes slowly turned on them. Emilia was fairly certain none of them could understand her, let alone knew who she was. She stood straighter and glanced back at Kaidan again. If he was anywhere near as lost as she was, he didn't show it.
Thane walked past them and to the woman who brought them there. It was easy to recognize her from the absolute hatred in her eyes and the lighter tone to her skin. Emilia turned to Kaidan and Liara.
"I knew there was some life left on Rakhana, but not like this." Liara commented. There was a hint of curiosity in her eyes, mixed with sympathy. "How have they survived so long?"
"I don't know, Liara." Emilia glanced over her shoulder. The little girl was creeping closer. "I don't think I want to."
Emilia turned and knelt down in front of the child. She had gotten brave, the distance between them now only a small gap. Emilia could reach out and touch the girl's shoulder if she wanted to.
The child froze in place. She was scared, with every reason to be. There was no reason to blame her for it.
Emilia hung her head. So many questions raced through her mind. Was that man really Thane? Why was Cerberus still around, let alone on Rakhana? Her stomach twisted.
"Are you gonna bring daddy back home?" The child's voice sounded odd, thick with an accent Emilia couldn't place. She looked up to see the hope in the girl's face.
"Yeah," Emilia drew her lips into a thin line. Whatever reason she ever had for turning her back on these people seemed to dissipate. She fought to help people, not for her own gain. "I'll bring him home, kiddo."
The girl crinkled her nose in response. "You sound funny! I don't even know what you're saying!"
Emilia stared at her for a moment, then chuckled and nodded. She should have guessed as much, but it didn't take the humor from the situation. The little girl seemed to light up and she grinned.
"Thank you, Miss Alien!" She scurried off, back to her mother's side. She grabbed at the woman's arm in an attempt to get her attention.Â
The sight brought a small smile to Emilia's face.
"Shepard, you can't guarantee we're gonna find her father." Kaidan was quick to say what she was already thinking. She looked down and clenched her hand into a fist. The fact was the girl's father could already be dead.
"We'll figure out what to do when we get there." She took a deep breath and stood, her gaze falling back on Thane. He was still talking to the woman. "Chances are, Cerberus has something set up here. If they're taking tribe members."
It felt weird saying Cerberus. For so long, she was under the assumption the group had dissipated with The Illusive Man's disappearance. If he resurfaced, then she still had some cleaning up to do.
Thane walked back to them, the woman close at his side. Her gaze stayed transfixed on Emilia. Hatred and distrust were easily conveyed, even with how difficult it seemed to read a drell's eyes.
"Alien," The woman sneered as she cut in front of Thane. "You are going to put an end to our disappearing brothers and sisters?"
Emilia opened her mouth to speak, then simply nodded.
"I am coming with you." Her eyes narrowed again. "Those other aliens. They took my husband. I want to see them dead."
"Thane, she can't come with us. She has a child to think about, doesn't she?" Emilia looked past the woman and straight at Thane. "Tell her she can't come with us."
"She witnessed the last abduction. She refused to tell me where the Cerberus base is unless I agreed to let her come." He was calm, naturally, and it drove her wild. She wanted to scream at him. This woman was a civilian, a mother.
Emilia nudged the woman aside and moved to strike Thane, then stopped and threw her hands up in defeat. She turned back to the door and started walking. Kaidan and Liara hesitated, then followed.
"You aren't making a damn bit of this any better, Thane!" She shouted. Then her voice got quiet, a whisper only to herself. "For you or me."
4
"You've still got some questions to answer, Thane." Emilia snapped. It felt like half a day had gone by in the heat of Rakhana. The scenery rarely changed. Desert, empty buildings, more desert. Their guide, who Emilia learned was named Savet, moved quickly, undisturbed by the heat.
"Once this is over, Commander, I'll answer any questions you have." Thane's tone didn't change. He was focused on helping the tribe, his tribe she assumed. The way he said "Commander", however, sent a pain through her chest.
"No. You're answering them, and now." She struggled to keep up with him, between the heat and his natural speed. "First, how the hell are you alive?"
Thane met her question with silence. Seconds felt like minutes, passing slowly in the heat. The silence was even more stifling than the heat.
"I'm sorry. For lying to you, siha." He apologized, his voice quiet and solemn. Even in the heat, it felt like her blood had frozen in her veins. The weight of his words sent her back to when the heaviest burden in her life was the Reaper threat. That was a time she was certain her life was crumbling to dust, and she was ready to welcome death with open arms.
For three, long years, she had been ready to die. Now she questioned everything that had happened. Cerberus was acting up, the man she loved lived and breathed beside her. Was this all still a hallucination?
"While you were incarcerated, I... Received the lung transplant." He paused. Emilia felt numb at the revelation. "When I saw you again on the Citadel, I was still recovering."
"So why didn't you tell me?" She blurted out. That was the just the tip of the iceberg. There was so much more she wanted to say, to scream at him.
"I wanted to. But there was still a risk at that time." The sadness in his voice made her want to forgive him, but she was still incredibly angry. "In the end, I didn't want you to worry about my health. I chose to fake my death to allow you to focus on the mission at hand."
There was no answer he could have given that would have made Emilia happy. That one just had to be the worst that she could think of. She wasn't even sure how she should feel or respond.
"Alright. Next question. How and why did you end up on Rakhana?" The conversation got her mind off of the heat. It was a blessed distraction. If she kept the conversation going, she could push the thoughts of betrayal out of her mind as well.
"It wasn't my first choice." There was a note of finality to his tone. The topic was not open to discussion.
Silence fell on the group again.
Savet broke into a run after a while. Emilia chased after her down the road. The buildings had become fewer and farther apart, but cast against the horizon, she could see it. A white building, too modern and too temporary, surrounded by moving bodies.
Emilia grabbed Savet's arm and yanked her back. She stepped back and pulled her down behind a large rock several steps off the road. This was exactly why she didn't want her coming.
"Explain to her she has to stay here." She looked at Thane. It didn't occur to her until then he was unarmed beyond what the tribe had.Â
He gave her a brief nod and knelt in front of Savet. He tried to calm her down, press the need to stay hidden, even reminded her of her child. That was the only thing that calmed her down.
She turned her gaze to Emilia, eyes narrowed again. A moment passed before she spit at her helmet. "Die with the rest of your kind."
Emilia stood and wiped off her helmet with a sigh. She shook her head at the drell woman before heading back to the road. Once they were far enough away from her, she pulled the sniper rifle off her back and shoved it at Thane.
"I trust you still know how to use one of these." She looked back at him when he took the gun and found herself frozen to the spot. His hands gripped the weapon just as they had done when they fought side by side. His posture was firm, eyes unwavering and almost emotionless.
This was the man who killed Nassana Dantius. The man who helped her destroy the Collectors. There was not a single doubt in her mind that this was the same Thane Krios she fell in love with. For that moment, it became clear to her; this was no hallucination, he was real and alive.
"Alright," She grabbed her assault rifle, one hand on the barrel and the other on the butt of the gun itself. "Let's move out."
5
Ever since the attack on the Citadel during the war, Emilia had grown accustomed to fighting alongside Kaidan and Liara. They were powerful biotics and it took little to no time to wipe out a Cerberus unit or a wave of Husks. With Thane there, Emilia felt off balance.
They were at a disadvantage. Little to no cover and no chance for a sneak attack. Their only option was to charge in. The plan had received a look from her three comrades, but was otherwise met by silence. She preferred that to snarky comments, at least.Â
Kaidan and Liara went in first. Blue light flashed across the field, bodies and parts glowing. For every one Emilia killed, Thane had already taken care of three. Before she even knew it, outside the building there was nothing but dead bodies.
"When we get inside, we split up. Kaidan, you go with Liara. Find out if any of the captives are alive and get them out of there." Emilia ordered. She paused. "Thane, you come with me."
No one argued. She opened the door and took the lead down the hallway. It separated into three paths.
"We meet back here." That was her last command before turning down the hall.
Thane's presence only a step and a half behind her was distracting. She had other motives for bringing him with her. She stopped outside of the next door and glanced back. There was no sign of Liara or Kaidan.
Emilia pulled her helmet off and let it and her gun drop to the floor then turned to him. It was a risk, hardly different from the ones she let herself take before. Fighting on drugs, throwing herself into dangerous situations. Though that last one was a constant from the moment she joined the Alliance.
"What are you-" She put a finger to his lips, eyes on his. She moved her hand to the side of his face and kissed him. It was slow, tender, until he wrapped his arms around her middle. She wrapped her arms around his neck and moved to press his back to the wall.
She moved her hands to his neck and traced them up to the frill, silently cursing the armor she wore. They really had no time for this, but she could hardly hide her feelings. The realization that he was real and alive, that he had hardly changed, brought back the feelings she had of love and longing. It was enough to burn away the anger for now.
The edge of reality seemed to blur when she finally pulled away. Every sound was amplified and her skin was much more sensitive. This was stronger than any pill.
"I missed you, Thane." Emilia breathed as she rest her forehead against his. "I missed you."
"You've changed since I last saw you," he whispered. He brought his hand up to her hair, almost mourning the loss of length, then moved to trace the scar on her face.
She pressed her lips to his again, letting herself linger there before kneeling to pick her helmet back up. She flashed a grin at him and put the helmet back on. She grabbed her gun and stood back up.
The door opened before she even turned around.
The room was mostly empty save for a few crates, and dark. There was another door on the other side of the room. Something didn't seem right.
"Stay close." It seemed pointless to say it, but the last thing she wanted right now was to be isolated. She crept into the room and searched for any sign of life.
The door shut behind them and locked itself.
Emilia pressed her back to the wall. The door on the opposite wall opened an automated voice came over an intercom system, "Testing subjects 013 to 029 in closed combat."
Sixteen to two. She glanced at Thane, regret filling her mind. She should have waited to kiss him. The room felt like it was at an angle and she was unsure of almost everything.
She turned her gaze back to the door. People in full armor stepped out in two uniform lines. Either they were well-trained or something much worse.
They spread out across the room and raised their guns. Emilia ducked down behind one of the crates before they opened fire. It was autonomous and unending until the clips were emptied.
The moment she heard silence, she peaked out and fired. Two fell before they opened fire again. These people weren't alive by any right. Were they even people? Part of her hoped they were synthetic, just so what she was thinking wasn't true.
She glanced around for Thane, the sound of the guns mixing and muddling her thoughts before long. He was calm as ever, back pressed against a pillar. He didn't wait for the gunfire to slow and took the chance of firing. Another fire.
It wasn't him she was focused on, however admirable his ability as a sniper was, but what was creeping up on him from the side. She didn't think. She raised her gun and fired. The grunt's body fell to the ground.Â
Thane paused to look at the man's body then over at her. Even if he couldn't see it, she gave him a smile, then moved around the corner of the crate. Ten still remained.
They continued their pattern of waiting for them to reload and shooting them door. It took longer than Emilia wanted to spend on it, but it saved her grenades for later. When it was over, she walked to one of the bodies and knelt down to pull off the helmet.
"Well, that tells us what they're doing with the tribes' people..." The sight of the lifeless drell on the ground made her stomach twist. She turned to Thane, fully expecting to see his hands clasped in prayer and head bowed. The low whisper of his prayer reminded her of him on "his deathbed".
Guide this one, Kalahira, to where the traveler never tires, the lover never leaves, and the hungry never starve.Â
Those words haunted her with the last email she received from him. The words in that email were ones he never said aloud to her. Three words she was too afraid to say herself, but he had found the courage to write them.
Emilia bowed her head in prayer as well, briefly wishing the dead safe travel to whatever afterlife waited for them. She was far from religious herself, still not sure what she believed in, but it seemed right. They had died without cause or reason and at her hand.
After a few moments of silence, she moved ahead to the next room. Thane joined her. The happier air from before the fight had all but disappeared with the slaughter. There was a fresh tension in the air, brought on by memories.
"What the hell made you think faking your death was a good idea?" Emilia hissed as she glanced over at him. The lighting was darker in the hall. Light fixtures were busted along the walls or hanging loose from the ceiling and flickering. It cast an eerie glow on the man she thought was lost to her forever, making him seem almost ghostly.
Thane didn't respond at first. That annoyed Emilia, but she pressed on. The lights soon went out completely. Without thinking about it, she grabbed her flashlight and turned it on.
A destroyed LOKI mech lay against a door. Emilia holstered her gun and set to work on hacking the door's lock. It would have been easier with Tali there. After a few tense moments of focus, the door opened.
The room was bright, almost enough to blind her at first. It disoriented her until a low, mechanical scream hit her. She pushed Thane out of the way then pulled her gun from the holster. The shot hit and brought down her shields.
"Shit!" She dove to hide behind the wall by the door, then looked over at Thane. He seemed vaguely disoriented but was already reloading his gun.
Emilia didn't wait. She grabbed the grenade from her pouch, pulled the pin and threw it. The explosion came only a second later. She peeked around the corner, the smoke already clearing.
"Looks like a lab..." She muttered as she stood. "Let's take a look around."
The first few steps were taken with tentative care, just in case anything else was lurking around. At a glance, it was empty. Empty boxes were here and there across the room, a large desk in the center and a great deal of equipment Emilia had no idea what it did. In the back was a glass wall with a door in the center. Behind it there were several bodies laying on the ground, presumably dead, and one strapped to a table.
Thane approached the door first, his steps quick and short. There was something in his posture that made her worry. She followed him, hesitant at first.Â
He opened the door and the smell of antiseptic, drugs and blood spilled out. A groan came from one of the bodies in the room. Part of her was glad at least one of them survived.Â
"Krios...?" The survivor moaned, his eyes flicking open. He was the one strapped to the table. He had scars on several places and looked thin, even compared to all the others she had seen.
Emilia reached to grab Thane's hand and give it a small squeeze. The man on the table hardly noticed or cared. She doubted he would appreciate a human being there.
"Solon, what happened to you?" There was something in Thane's voice she couldn't place. She heard it once. Fear? Apprehension? Helplessness?Â
"Not... Not important..." Solon coughed and grimaced. "Krios... Get outta here... 'Fore the aliens get you next..."
Emilia looked at Thane. He didn't try to hide his emotions. The distress was visible on his face. He moved to free Solon from the straps.
"Go!" He choked. "Get Chara and Altheta... And get the hell away from here..."
Thane's hands lingered over the straps. Solon moaned for him to leave again and again. His protests drove Emilia mad and she was ready to drag Thane away before he clasped his hands in prayer.
6
The lab was all but destroyed after that. Whatever data Emilia could find, she took with her on her omnitool. After doing a full sweep she took care to throw grenades at the equipment then left.
Thane said nothing as they returned to the meetup spot, making for a silent, quick journey.
"Did you find anything?" Kaidan asked when he saw them. From the looks of it, he and Liara had gotten nothing.
"Just a whole lot of Cerberus and some data. I'll give it a look over when we get on the ship." Emilia looked over at Thane. He was quiet with a distant look in his eyes. Perhaps Solon was his friend. She turned her attention back to Kaidan and Liara. "What about you two?"
"Test subjects." Liara said. "The drell they captured were not acting on their own. We managed to get one to speak, but..."
"He just begged us to kill him." Kaidan shook his head. "Looked like we stumbled across some kind of training area."
"Why the hell would Cerberus remnants want drell soldiers?" Emilia asked herself more than anyone else. Part of her knew the answer. Why waste human lives when you can throw away alien ones? And Rakhana was the perfect place to recruit.
It didn't matter what they were using the tribes for. Personal soldiers, test subjects, whatever it was. It had to stop.
"Looks like we've got some cleanup work to do, then." Emilia rest her assault rifle against her shoulder. "This place clean?"
"Yes ma'am," Kaidan nodded. "But they'll probably come back for their... Whatever they are."
"Then we destroy the facility and keep Rakhana under a close watch." This meant leaving Thane behind. The very idea felt like a stab in the chest. So soon after seeing him again, she would be saying goodbye. He would be there, while she was left to take care of the galaxy. Or at least until she took care of Cerberus once and for all.
Kaidan and Liara nodded in agreement. Once they left the facility, Emilia opened a comm link to Joker via omnitool.
"Send James down with a bomb that we can detonate from the ship. To the coordinates we're at now."
"You got it, Commander."
She looked back at Thane and the others. No part of her was ready to leave him already. Not this soon. Not again.
"Thane," Emilia struggled to find her voice as she walked to his side. "I... Do you need any supplies or anything? I'll bring them as soon as you need them. Anything at all."
"I only had enough power in my old omnitool for that distress signal, Shepard." His voice was flat, emotionless. "If you could bring me another one, then we can go through with this arrangement."
No. It wasn't empty. There was a splash of bitterness. Did he want to leave Rakhana? No, that didn't sound right.
"Anything for the tribe? I could bring rations, water, maybe even wrangle up a few translators..." She tried to keep her voice steady. How long until Vega got there? How long until she had to say goodbye?
"They would appreciate anything you could bring." Emilia found herself craving it. The one word that made her feel strong and weak all at once. The word he was avoiding.
"And... Anything else I could bring? For you?" She reached out to touch his face. He grabbed her hand, frowning for a moment before reaching to pull off her helmet.Â
Time paused for just a moment when she inhaled, the smell of burnt ground and sweat filling her lungs. He watched her, hesitant, then pulled her into a kiss. His hand released her wrist and moved to the back of her head, fingers tentatively playing with her hair.
She let herself fall to the moment, become absorbed by it. Three years and all she needed was him. Thane Krios. The man who made her feel alive.Â
Her hands found his shoulders and she pulled him closer. Damn the armor. Damn Rakhana's heat. Damn the little time they had together. She deepened the kiss, eager to forget she couldn't keep him by her side.
The sound of the shuttle landing nearby forced her to pull away from the kiss. She didn't let go of him, didn't try to hide the tears in her eyes. It was the first time she let herself cry in front of him, the first time she let him see her so weak. She didn't care.
Three godforsaken years had gone by and she thought he was dead. Let him see her cry, that she had been broken by it. She was still only human, after all.
Thane offered her a small smile and brushed his thumb along her cheek. "It won't be forever, siha."
Emilia hugged him, biting her bottom lip to keep from crying.
It felt like only a second before she let go of him again. She offered him the smile he knew well, the one that showed him pain, then knelt down to put her helmet back on. She half considered leaving it off.
"Alert the tribe, keep them as far from this area as possible and take shelter." Emilia started toward the shuttle. "You should have some time."
She didn't look back.Â
James stood at the edge of the shuttle, the bomb cradled in his arms. He looked calm given the situation. She took it from him without a word, eyes on it to avoid speaking with him.
With the bomb in hand, she headed back to the facility. She hesitated once and looked back. Thane was long gone.
She took the bomb to the center of the facility then returned to the shuttle. Her mind raced. A list struggled to form of the things she would be returning with for Thane and the tribe. The thought of leaving him behind on a dying planet for who knows how long plagued her on the shuttle.
"What was that back there?" James asked, pulling her mind back to the shuttle. Emilia looked at him, trying to think about what he meant. "You, uh, seemed pretty friendly with that guy..."
"Oh, right." Emilia looked down. "Just... Someone I was close to."
Someone I loved.
7
Two years came and went faster than Emilia anticipated. Her visits to Rakhana were few and far between, often only supply deliveries. This time was different. This time, she was going to pick something up.
The bottle of pills she once hid were long gone from her bathroom and the mirror showed a glimmer of hope in her image. The scars were still on her face, with a new one across her forehead. Her hair was longer now, and back in a ponytail. Most importantly, the beginning of that old shine was back in her eyes. It was still dimmed considerably, but today it was brighter than it had been in years.
She hurried to the shuttle, her helmet forgotten. This wouldn't take long. She even made the decision to go alone.
Was it risky? Probably, but that was hardly anything new to her.
Emilia stood by Steve as the shuttle took off. She was too excited to sit down, let alone keep still. Today was the last time she would ever come to Rakhana.
"Commander, we'll be there soon. Just calm down," He chuckled. She looked at him and flashed a meager grin.
"That obvious, huh?"
"I've seen people less excited at parades, ma'am." He teased. Emilia laughed, an honest laugh. Nothing could go wrong today.
The shuttle came to a jolt when it landed, something she hardly minded. It was then the nerves set in, but she still gave Steve a smile and stepped off the shuttle. He was on order to stay grounded; this wouldn't take long.
Emilia learned fast how to navigate Rakhana's maze of buildings and roads. It took less time now than it ever had to find the one Thane's tribe occupied at current. The only difficulty she had was keeping calm.
Things did look different from the last time she was there. The ground was wet and plant life was starting to grow around the metal structures. It was cooler, though not by much. Small animals scurried along the shade of the plants.
Rakhana seemed to live and breathe around her for the first time.
She approached the building she recognized from Thane's email. The door was open, allowing her to walk straight in. Hardly two steps in, she heard a loud squeal and the little girl she first met ran to greet her.
"Shepard!" The child exclaimed. Emilia scooped her up. Early on, she made a point to bring the child a translator. The girl had wormed her way into her heart.
"Chara. It's good to see you," She said with a smile. Out of all of them, Chara had seen it the worst. Solon was her father and, after her mother discovered what happened, Chara soon became an orphan.
Chara giggled and hugged onto her. For a child with a sad life, she was happy. She supposed she was partially to thank for that.
Emilia carried Chara against her hip further into the building and up the stairs. Most of the tribe seemed surprised to see her; the last of the supplies she brought barely five months old. One of the younger men stood up and approached.
"What are you here for now, Shepard?" he asked. "We still have enough for several months."
"I'm here for Thane." She set Chara down. The girl giggled and pointed out the window.
"He should be back soon!" Emilia gave the girl a quick pat on the head before heading back out. It took all of her strength to keep from running.
Time passed too slowly while she waited just outside the building for him. Clouds blocked out the sun, dark and ominous. Rain was probably scarce on Rakhana, but clearly not today.
Her hands fumbled with her armor until every last piece was off, leaving her in the black, skintight suit she wore underneath. Rain started to fall, doing some to cool her down. The heat made her ill, but it would be worth it to see him again.
Each second was accentuated with her heartbeat until she saw him approach. She struggled to keep still, mind racing. The heat was forgotten, the rain forgotten.
The look on Thane's face was a mixture of delight and surprise. It didn't stay that way. Emilia threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss, body pressed close to his. His hands slowly fell to her hips.
This was it. Everything she worked for, everything she could have wanted. He was in her arms again and now she could bring him back with her.
A small giggle cause her to pull away from the kiss and look over. Chara stood in the doorway, hands over her mouth. The sight brought another smile to Emilia's face.
"I wasn't expecting you, siha." She looked back at him. He reached up to brush a stray strand of her hair from her face, damp from the now dissipating rain.Â
"It's over," she whispered. Tears formed in her eyes, happy ones for a change. "Did a whole damn sweep. Not a single remnant left. You can come back with me."
He wrapped his arms around her, tight, and buried his fact against her shoulder. Five painful years had gone by since they could be side by side. Now they came to a close.
"Allow me to tell the others..." he murmured against her shoulder. "It... Will not be easy."
"Go on." He stepped back and nodded before going into the building.Â
Emilia knelt down to look at Chara. The girl looked worried, scared even. It amused her more than anything.
"What's with that look, kiddo?" She held out her hand. "You're coming with us."
Chara jumped into her arms and latched onto her. "I was scared you'd forget about me!"
"Never," Emilia hugged her close and closed her eyes. "You helped bring someone very special back to me. I could never forget you."
Five years apart. Three were spent thinking he was dead, two spent cleaning the last of Cerberus out of the galaxy. Now she was bringing him and a little girl back with her. She never would have thought it possible.
By the time Thane came back, Emilia was back in her armor, seated next to Chara on the ground. She looked up at him, noting the hopeful look in his eyes. Their suffering was going to come to an end and they both knew it.
She picked Chara up and stood. Thane gave her a quick kiss before allowing her to lead him back to the shuttle and away from Rakhana forever.
"I didn't know it rained here," Emilia mused. "Or that plants still grew here."
"Only in the springtime, siha." Thane explained. "When all things change for the better."
Some things remained true of every planet, she supposed. A universal truth. Spring brought change, fortune and new life.
She helped him onto the shuttle and looked out at Rakhana for the last time. It was a sight she doubted she would forget. The buildings reached for the darkened sky, the sun peeked out behind the clouds and bathed the flourishing plants in a bright, warm light. It was a drastic change from the desolate, metal graveyard she had seen when she first arrived.
It almost seemed symbolic, she thought as she took her seat across from Thane. When they first arrived to Rakhana, she was without hope. Leaving now, the future seemed bright ahead of her.
A future with Thane and this little rescued girl from a dying planet.
The End.
