Chapter 20: Time off, confession and secret dealings

Two days after their departure from Omega to the Citadel, Rick had woken up and was breathing roughly though not with difficulty. Not unexpected for someone with a recovering lung. He didn’t even bother asking for his helmet, he knew Karin would not allow him to wear it despite the fact that he could breath perfectly well with it.

Speaking of Karin she had been surprised that Rick was such a pleasant patient to have. Well pleasant in the way that he did as he was told for once and only after complaining and doing the tough act. She just gave him access to extranet and the real world was dead to him. No one was allowed to see him but her. Not even Tali or Samara. Mordin could have, but his job was done so the salarian stayed in his lab and textually conversed with Rick. Or rather Mordin talked and Rick wrote back. Tali came every morning to get some news from her despite the fact that she was communicating with him the same way Mordin did. Shepard was the one who came thrice a day to her surprise. To Karin something was going on between the two of them and it came from Shepard’s side. She didn’t know what but after the first girls night she had some ideas.

“Doc, how long before I can hide my face?”
“When we arrived at the citadel in… two days.” she said as she looked at her terminal for confirmation.
“What’s going to happen?”
“For reasons above my pay grade, Admiral Anderson is the one taking charge of you.”
“Really?” Rick asked a brow raised.

“Yes.”

Rick wondered about why. Every thought he had was discarded as he didn’t have enough data to get to a proper answer. He’d to ask the man himself.

____________________________________________________________


“Shepard, I don’t suppose you’ll let me stay with him?” Tali asked as the redhead invited her to come inside her cabin.
“I thought I asked you to call me Jane?”
“I know! It’s just… I’ve been calling you Shepard for so long, it’s weird to call you anything else. I’ll try though.”
“Thanks and no you can’t stay with him, I need you too much for the next big mission, Tali. With Rick on medical leave you’re the only tech expert on the team.”
“What is the mission about?”
“Infiltrating a dead reaper.”
“What?!”
“From EDI’s analysis of the data we took from the Collectors, they are using an IFF for the Omega 4 relay.”
“That would explain why no one ever came back… And you think that dead reaper has one? To begin with, how come  there is a dead reaper still drifting around? I thought they erased their existence? And how did it die in the first place?”
“Good questions, EDI?”
“From the reports of the Cerberus team, it seems that one of the space faring species that the reapers exterminated did it in a last act of defiance. The blow was so powerful that he scarred the planet behind the reaper deeply.”
“One of… not the protheans then?”
“No. The study of the reaper’s wounds suggests that they are at least 37 million years old.”
“Keelah… No chance to ever recover anything about their technology. It would have been nice.”
“As for why it was not found… I do not know. Its location is rather remote; the reapers may have missed it.”
“Just like they did the leviathan of Dis.” commented Shepard.
“Yes.”
“Are we sure that it’s dead?”
“Yes, though there is still some power signature going off, but nothing significant for a ship that size.”
“That doesn’t reassure me one bit.” replied the quarian.
“Me neither, but we have time to prepare ourselves, first we need to help Kasumi and Zaheed and then we’re onto that reaper.”


____________________________________________________________


Rick was resting in a bed from a clinic he was familiar with along with the doctor running it. Familiar, was stretching it a lot though. He had only been here once and that was to find some information on Tali. Rick ended up killing two thugs, saving the doc, Doctor Michel, an acquaintance of Garrus, in the process.
He didn’t have much to complain about. He had his helmet back on its head, the bed was nice so was the doc.

Garrus must be even more dense than I if he can’t see Michel is crushing on him hard.

He was just bored and it only has been two days. While he had access to the extranet he didn’t have access to a terminal to work on something and that was driving him a bit mad. Whatever he was currently thinking was interrupted by Anderson.

“How are you doing?”
“Fine, bored to hell but fine. In fact your visit is the most exciting thing that has happened since my arrival. I would have preferred Gorgeous instead of you but beggar can’t be chooser.” he replied monotony making the Admiral laugh. “What do I owe the visit to?”
“Just a friendly visit, to escape work a bit and Udina. Especially Udina.”
“Still a pompous ass?”
“Yes. He does have his usefulness though, I won’t deny him that.”
“I wonder though, why am I here? Why all the secrecy? I’m not known in the Citadel. How come you know Doctor Michel?”
“I got to know doctor Michel after you and Shepard saved her from Fist’s men. Since I was stuck on the Citadel with my new affectation, I tried to make some connections who would have been beneficial to Shepard. Doctor Michel was a perfect candidate. Private clinic in a good location, she wasn’t afraid to do some deal under the table to help people. I had her at the ready during our preparation for the geths. Afterwards, I sent her way any member of the alliance who needed both help and discretion.”
“While I’m in need of the former, I’m not of the latter.”
“That was more for the Alliance’s protection than yours. Can’t have your DNA lying around unsupervised.”

Rick looked at the man in silence for a moment, trying to understand the meaning behind those words. It didn't take him much time.

“You know.”
“Yes.”
“Who else?”
“Doctor Michel as she was the one to perform the DNA test for me after the battle, Hackett obviously and Helena Müller.”
“Akimbo? How come?”
“She joined the boat so to speak when we approached her after our last meeting. We had to share your official file with her which does not actually exist outside the safe in my office and does not contain your identity. She found it fishy, rightfully so, and immediately pressured Steven to know what we had omitted from the file. Too smart for her own good he keeps saying.”
“She pressured him?”
“Helena is his niece.” explained Anderson.

“I see. What I don’t see is why you didn’t tell them. I understand why you swiped that information under the rug and don’t want it to be made public but why not tell them?”
“Many reasons. One, we didn’t want to alienate you to the alliance more than you already are. We couldn’t take the risk of you disappearing or worse, working actively against the alliance. You’re way too valuable for humanity in general and for the war to come against the reapers.” Rick nodded at that. The two admirals had not been far off of his reactions. “Two, your… birth giver would have made it very public by her actions and created the biggest shitstorm of the Alliance to date. A real PR nightmare. She would stop at nothing to get you back.”
“I sincerely doubt that. She never cared for me, why would she care now? I can see it if it was to put me down and hide her dirty secret forever though. It’s what she does after all.”

“She does care.”
“About herself. Any other reason?” Rick asked not believing that for a second and choosing to move along the conversation.
“It’s none of our business, that’s why we didn’t tell your sister either.”
“Well, you got that right. What now though?”
“Right now, you get some rest.”
“So you just came to tell me that you knew. Why?”
“To be honest and build trust out of that honesty. Steven and I didn’t expect to ever reveal to you that we knew who you were. But considering the circumstances, I argued that it would be for the best to come clean. You’re smart, you would have figured out why you’re here on your own and perhaps come to the wrong conclusions.”
“I would have. There is a problem though. I lost a lot of blood.”
“I asked Karin to dispose of any trace of it on the Normandy.”
“Even Miranda Lawson’s catsuit?” he asked, making the military man frown. “She applied first-aid on me. I was barely conscious but I remember, her hands were stained with my blood. Shepard would have just rinsed it off but Miranda would have analyzed it. I’m too much a mystery for the Illusive Man to pass on this opportunity.”
“That’s… problematic.”
“Then again, it’s possible she didn’t share the information with him. Miranda is a very obedient agent, but tends to not follow orders when it’s about doing the right thing and things that matters to her.”
“Let’s hope so, we can’t do anything about it anyway.”
“Not with me here at the very least.”
“On another note I have good news. The alliance approved the contract. The military side likes your creations and the political side likes the money they would make out of your new business model that they would control. The other weapons companies won’t be happy though. “
“It’s not like they can do anything about it. On the other hand Tali and I are 6 billion richer, and will earn 15% each for every sale for the next forty years. Is Stevie, okay? Not too hurt?” Rick joked.
“Oh, he won’t like you calling him like that.” Anderson smirked.
“Good. He’s fun to rile up.”
“I have to go, anything you need?”
“A terminal! I’m dying here with just the extranet!”
“I’ll see what I can do.” the councilor chuckled as he left the room.
“Thanks!”

____________________________________________________________

“You know, to begin with the plan was faulty.” Tali said as she joined Shepard at the dining table. The latter was back from her mission with Kasumi which went fubar.
“How so?”
“That you, of all people, would pass for someone else was stupid especially in the eyes of another human. You’re a  hero Shep - Jane, you saved Elysium, you saved the Citadel and you’re the first human spectre.”
“I… never thought of that.” the redhead admitted.
“Because you never paid attention to your reputation.”
“Tali has a point.” Garrus said from across the table.

“That’s for those kind of things that I have Rick on the team.” Jane said with a sigh.

Garrus leaned towards Tali and whispered to her.

“Did she just subtly admit she can’t do anything without him?”
“I heard that!” yelled the commander from the other side of the table, throwing one of the fries in her plate towards her turian friend’s face.

____________________________________________________________



“How is he?” Hackett asked through the secured coms.
“Better now that I gave him a terminal to work on. Other than that, Michel says he’s an exemplary patient who’s only complaining about being bored, confirming Chakwas report.”
“How did he take it?”
“Well. I was right to push for honesty, he confirmed himself that he would not have taken it well and would have retaliated.”
“Glad that we avoided that.”
“He’s very satisfied with the contract and I believe he will invest his part in the project.”
“Fine with me, it’s more alliance’s credits used wisely.”
“Any news from your niece?”
“Yes, she contacted a few retired N7 but nothing concrete yet. On your side of things?”
“I received a message from Urdnot Wrex. It was a list of people, around a hundred names. Mostly children. He gave us the location of pirates hideouts and slavers' routes we didn’t know about. I believe he wished for us to raid them and deprive them of anything valuable to put in the project.”
“Credits that will not leave any trace… Smart. He’s really in then?”
“Yes, but he wants the alliance’s support when the time to ask the council for a cure for the genophage comes. I intend to agree, regardless of what the higher ups say. From Shepard and Rick’s report he genuinely wishes the best for his people but the right way. Sure he also wants glory for them but not necessarily through bloodshed. I have a meeting with Tevos tomorrow, I’ll speak to her about it then. The problem is Varlen. The salarian are even more against the idea of a cure than the turian.”
“Good. Meanwhile send me those pirate coordinates, I’ll talk with Helena, see if she can’t do something  with the information we were provided. We can’t miss this opportunity.”


____________________________________________________________


That may not have been the worst mission she had been on but it has still been a mess. Zaeed losing control of himself had nearly cost the lives of forty innocent people that had been enslaved and used as labor workers. His mistake was to let Vigo, Virgo or whatever his name was monologuing instead of putting a hole in his head. The merc nearly killed himself with how much he had been blinded by his rage and she had to save his ass. The mission had been short and not engaging enough to tire her, so she went down to the cargo bay to use the gym. She found Jack, there flaring her biotic on and off.

“What are you doing?” she asked her.
“Trying to replicate what Dickhead did on those assholes’ ships.”
“Using his biotic with his feet?”
“Yeah. Shit was smart. Damn obvious but smart.”
“And how is it going?” Jane asked.

Jack released her biotics and sighed.

“Not well.”
“What’s the problem?”
“It needs a lot of control. With your hands it’s easy, you use them all the time, it’s an instinct. Your feet? You never really pay attention to them as their only use is supporting you on the ground. That’s why enhancing your legs is harder than your arms.”
“And a biotic charge so difficult?”
“Yeah. With your hand you aim, you reach, you grab but with your legs…Squat shit. It’s like learning again how to use your biotics that you’ve been using your whole life. Did he tell you anything about it?”
“No, not that I remember why?”
“Because he did more than just use his legs, he fought with them and even did the curve shots he does with his hands! That you do too…”
“I promise to not share any tricks he showed me.”
“Damn.”
“You can always ask him.”
“Think he’ll tell me?”
“Hmm… I don’t know. I’m not sure he wants to spread his knowledge. I’m not sure either that he wants you to know it. I mean, he can hold his ground against you because of it, despite not being as powerful.”
“... Think you can give it a try?” asked Jack, changing subject.
“Use my legs? Why not.”

Shepard got some distance between her and Jack and began to focus on her feet. Nothing happened for a while until a slight small glow appeared around her ankle.

“Well, I’ll be damned. Must have been the way he taught you.”
“I would have gladly shared if not for my promise.”
“It’s fine. It’s not like I’m not the most powerful human biotic in the galaxy.”
“You know… He was practicing late at night and early in the morning…” Jane began to think.
“So?”
“EDI? Do you have records of Rick’s training?”
“I do, commander.”

Shepard looked at Jack with a smirk.

“I may have promised but EDI did no such thing.”
“I will show you if you order it, commander but I’d rather not. Just because he never asked me to not share means that I’m willing to do it.”
“Oh. Never mind them.”
“I can show you what he studied though.”
“You would do that?”
“Yes, his research was not about biotics but about human anatomy and martial arts. It will be up to you and Jack to recreate his feat.”

Jack and Jane looked at each other and nodded. If Rick did it, there was no reason they couldn’t. That he was a genius was a small fact they had forgotten.

____________________________________________________________

Today was the day. They would finally come to pick them up. He couldn’t take it anymore, sure he’s been working here and there but he wasn’t allowed the exert himself. He wanted to move as he wished and not just walk. He thanked doctor Michel and left the clinic. He still had some time before the Normandy would dock so he decided to do some shopping. He had an idea about a present for Tali and he intended to realize it. Doc, Michel had been very helpful for that. He also had something in mind for EDI but there was no shopping needed for that, just his skills.

When he was done with his tasks he went to the dock Anderson told him the Normandy would be. He waited only for half an hour for the ship to arrive. Once the ship was docked he entered it and greeted Joker.

“So, anything interesting happened?”
“Plenty. I thought that with you gone for a while there would be less drama, turned out there was more.” the helmsman answered. “Don’t bother asking me for details, the commander wants to brief you herself.”
“We’re here for how long?”
“Originally for 3 days but things changed and we’re living tonight.”

Rick nodded and went straight to the bridge where he saw Shepard talk with Chambers. She saw him from the corner of her eye and quickly finished her conversation before entering the elevator. One look from her and he understood that she wanted to talk urgently. Quickening his steps he joined her in silence in the metallic cage.

Shepard was glad to see him back and healthy. She hoped that seeing him like that would replace the mental images she had of him being impaled and of him unmoving on the floor of the shuttle, a big hole in his chest, his deep and dark red blood coloring everything.

“It’s good to see you back among us.” she said looking at the side of his face as he was looking forward. He didn’t answer and an awkward silence fell.

“You could at least say thank you if…”
“I’m thinking of something nice to say without sounding insulting. It’s rather difficult.” he said, cutting her off.
“Go ahead, give it a try.”
“...It’s good to be back, I’d rather see your ugly face every day for the rest of my life than stay one more second in that place.”
“...”

“...”
“There is progress, you almost had it.” she said in a flat tone.

The nod of acknowledgement he gave her made her ticked.

He’s been here less than five minutes and I already want to punch him. God I missed it. I missed him.

The door opened and they entered her cabin. Rick took his usual spot on her couch and Jane hers.

“So… What shitstorm is going on?”
“Shitsorms, plural.”
“Oh, I can’t wait to hear it.”
“Let’s begin with the most urgent ones. TIM sent me a message, one of Cerberus cells went off the grid. No contact at all. They were working on a project codenamed Overlord.”
“Ominous.”
“Yes, though all we know is that the cell was experimenting on highly volatile technology.”
“Ten credits the cell worked on something they shouldn’t have and did something they shouldn’t have and it backfired horribly.”
“No need to bet, that much is obvious.”
“So we go  there to investigate, put the agents in body bags, and solve the problem. What else?”
“Cerberus got their hands on some information on the Shadow Broker. Information significant enough that it could help Liara hunting him down.”
“That seems fishy, but alright I’ll bite.”
“There is also Jack. She found the place Cerberus held her in. She wants to go there and blow it up.”
“Okay, next?”
“We infiltrated a dead reaper to get a reaper IFF.”
“You what?!”
“From the data we collected on the Collector’s ship, they’re using an IFF to pass the Omega 4 relay.”
“And the dead reaper entered into play how?”
“Cerberus found it a few months ago and sent a team to investigate.”
“The reaper was not so dead and the team is either dead or indoctrinated, I gather?”
“No and yes. The reaper is dead for good but it still emitted a trifle of power, enough to have his shields activated and indoctrinate the team. Anyway what matters is that we got the IFF but also a… non-hostile geth.”
“You’re kidding right?”
“No. He saved my life by shooting a husk sneaking up on me. He also tried to deactivate the reaper’s shield as we were stuck on it. He got.. Knocked out I guess during the last fight. He’s currently in EDI’s server room.”
“Are you mad?! You put a geth near EDI’s body?”
“He’s inactive and she put up shields to prevent any intrusion.”
“I supposed you ignored Tali’s advice to space the thing.”
“Yes. She’s rather cross with me at the moment.”
“What a surprise.” he said, the sarcasm apparent despite his usual monotonic voice.
“I suppose you’ll activate it after everything is dealt with?” asked Rick and he received a nod of confirmation. “What about the IFF? Already installed, I presume?”
“No, not yet.”
“Oh?” Why so?”
“I… had a gut feeling. I didn’t think it wise to do anything without your input on things."

"I see. Let’s put it on hold then.”

He rose to his feet and walked in the door’s direction when Shepard called out to him.

“About the use of your biotics…”
“What about it?”
“Jack would like to learn to do what you do. She asked me but I promised you so…”
“If she asked me.”
“How about the use of the feet? I never saw anyone do that.”
“I'd be surprised if you did.”
“So you really developed it yourself? This fighting style, I mean. Because we studied what you researched and …”
“Your experiments failed a lot.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll see what I can do but do know that it’s not perfected yet. I just invented it.”
“Thank you. One last thing!” she said as he turned around.
“Yes?”
“Would you be interested in giving lessons? Nothing full time of course.”
“I don’t intend to teach the discoveries I shared with you. Not just to the alliance but to any one related to a government or organization. Teaching everything else… Depends on who I’d teach and how much I’m paid.”
“Either for the project ascension or for the N7 program.”
“Hmm.. I’ll think about it after we’re done with the Collectors.”
“Thank you. And Rick. I meant it when I said I’m glad you’re back.”

He didn’t say anything to that and just nodded slowly at the sincerity he saw on Shepard’s face.

____________________________________________________________

Rick entered Miranda’s quarters and was greeted warmly by the brunette or rather warmly for the brunette.

“Hello Rick. It’s good...”
“You have one chance, Bubble. What did you do with my blood?”

That took her aback a bit. They hadn’t seen each other in six weeks and the first thing he said to her was that? When their last interaction was him drowning in his own blood and her trying to keep him alive? She looked at him as he waited for her answer.

“I washed it away. I admit, I wanted to analyze it and find out who you are. I decided otherwise.”

He leaned forward from across the desk, his face a few inches away from hers. He cupped her cheek with a hand and moved his head forward. The jaw part of his helmet retracted and allowed his lips to meet hers. The kiss was very brief, almost a peck. Almost. Pulling back his helmet set itself back to his natural shape. Without saying another word he turned around and moved to leave. It was a bewildered Miranda that stopped him. First Shepard, now Miranda. He hoped Tali wouldn’t do that.

“What was that?”
“What was what?”
“The kiss. You kissed me. You’ve never done that before, despite the kind of relationship we have. So, why?”
“You earned it.”
“I earned it for telling you that I got rid of your blood? How do you know I told you the truth?”
“Because you're smart, Bubble and because while you’re a stickler to the rules when it matters to you, you do the right thing.”
“What makes you think you matter to me?”
“You put the collar on.”

He said nothing more and exited the room. Miranda was left speechless. Not because what he said had been absurd but because it was true. He did matter to her. He had been supportive of her when dealing with Oriana and his praise about being a good sister had been the first in her life that she felt proud of herself. Her look, her mind, her skills, everything that she was and is, all perfect because her father made her so. She never took pride in any of it as it was natural for her. Being a good big sister however had not been in the package, had not been in her father's design of her. It was all her. No matter how perfect she was, that was something that didn’t matter much when it came to being a good sister. Yes she had been damn proud of it and it was thanks to him. Then there was the fact that he rang her bell like no man ever did before. Their first night together had been eye opening for her and their second liberating. When he had presented her with a black leathered coller with the word ‘pet’ on it, she had been left speechless. She had thought that he was joking and perhaps under it all he was a bit but without him saying a word she still put it on. From there on she had never felt so free. That thought made her chuckle the next morning at how ironic it was, she was giving up her own body, her mind and freedom to become a slave for the night and she felt freer than she ever did.
For all of that she had been thankful and when she saw his body tainted in his blood she feared for the worst. She didn’t want him to die. A feeling that she never really felt for anyone. Sure there had been the competent agents here and there but it was for work reasons, not emotional reasons.
That’s why, when the idea to analyze his blood and find his identity presented itself she didn’t take it. It felt wrong to her to betray him like that after unknowingly helping in being in tune with herself.

I hope he intends to reward me with more than a kiss later.

____________________________________________________________

After exiting Miranda's quarter, he went to see Samara and freeter her with a kiss on the cheek, after talking a bit he left her to her meditation and left for the engineering deck when he saw the elevator door open and his favorite quarian walking out of it. When she saw him, she gasped and literally jumped on him making fall backward with Tali in his grip.

“You Bosh’tet! You scared the life out of me!”

His only answer was a deep groan and only then did Tali realize that he was just just out of the hospital. She apologized in her usual panicked manner and tried to get up from him but she was brought back down by his powerful arms ending up face to face with him.

“If you think I will let you go after 6 weeks without a pretty woman’s touch, you’re mad.” he said as he gently let his hands move across her lower back, getting as close as it was acceptable for his hands to be before they reached her ass.

“Rick! We’re in public!”
“Whose fault is it?” he said as he moved his body swiftly and reversed their position, pinning her to the ground.
“Rick!”

This time he got up and extended a hand to help her be back on her feet. Once she was, he hugged her tight.

“Hmm… I really miss that. A lot.”
“Me too.” she said in almost a whisper.

He released her and promised her to catch up later, to which Tali agreed and that tonight was movie night even if it originally wasn’t.

“EDI and night skipped movie night, it wasn’t the same without you. “

Rick nodded and left her to her own things. He entered the med-bay, greeted Karin and went into EDI’s server room. He saw the inactive Geth at the far end of the room and resisted the urge to examine and put holes in it. Instead he brought up the terminal that Anderson had gifted him ( and that surprisingly hadn’t been full of spywares) and connected it to the servers.

“Rick, what are you doing?” EDI’s voice came through the coms.
“Something that I should have done long ago.” he said as he was coding away. ”I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone.”
“You’re doing more than just looking at me.”
“I won’t change you if that’s what you think.”
“Then what …”
“EDI, do you trust me?”
“... Yes.”
“Then don’t worry and just be happy.”

He went silent and kept on doing what he was doing. EDI kept watching her mind full of questions.