Love and War

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"Maggie, you were attacked." Kandros replied firmly, though he still didn't open his eyes. "I never hated you, only what that bastard did to you."

"Brave? That woman?" Quinn snorted. "I hardly think so. She was a brainless idiot who only cared what would make her dear husband happy."

"You made that threat a lot." Betty commented calmly, though made no effort to hand the baby over. "Funny, I thought you had no desire to leave your floatilla behind?"

Quinn quickly removed her helmet, looking down at her sister in horror. "When?" She demanded, knowing now that things were infinitely worse for all of them, herself included.

"You never knew me at all did you?" Qim asked her softly. "I've begun to see that you never cared either. You used me, and you used our children. I refuse to allow it any longer, much less for a third generation." The quarian moved closer to her, his fingers on his weapon. "Give me the infant, Betty. Don't make me do something I will regret."

"Just now..." Maggie was choking on her sobs, unable to shake the feeling that Kandros had abandoned her and the baby. "I don't even know what he looks like. I..." She choked on the words. "I didn't even get to hold him."

"You?" Betty scoffed, not backing off. "You couldn't stand up to a human, what makes you think you'll do any better against the kett?"

"It's alright." Quinn assured her sister as she looked round for something to clean her with. "I have a ship. You're going to get up, get on the shuttle and never look back, got it?" She had returned now with what looked to be a lab coat too. "I'll find your son, I promise."

"I didn't stand up because I loved you. I obeyed you. You asked me not to." Qim hissed, stepping forward. "Remember That? I was ready to kill him and you told me to leave him be. I will not do that this time not now that I know how you truly feel about me and our family."

"Where is Kandros?" Maggie asked, pulling on the lab coat with shaking fingers. "He...did he just leave me here?"

"Family? They were an experiment, nothing more." Betty sneered, her kett eyes narrowing at the man she had once confessed her love for. "Both outstanding failures!"

"You don't have time to worry about him now." Quinn breathed, her weapon drawn once more as she checked the coast was clear. "I'll handle everything, trust me." What she didn't know what that Kandrosnhad run into troubles of his own in his search for help for his wife. The turian had been shot, though the kett who had shot him was already dead. The new father was already making his way back, though it was slow going.

Qim laughed at Betty. It didn't matter that it was something that no one dared to do. All those years the girls had feared their father when if they had only known the truth. Their mother was the one they really needed to fear. "I don't think you ever knew anything about those two girls. What a fool you are." 

Maggie sighed and nodded her head, following her sister into the hall. Quinn was right. Kandros would show up as he always did. She had to have faith in that.

"I know plenty." Betty assured her former lover. "Maggie was never right, and Quinn... well she may have been physically healthy, but that girl was never mentally stable." She sneered. 

Though he was bleeding profusely from his stomach, Kandros still, gripped the medical supplies tightly. All he thought of was getting back to his wife and making her well again.
"The shuttle is ready to go, it will take you back to someone who is waiting to get you far from here." Quinn told her sister as she pointed her in the direction of the shuttle bay. "I'll find your son, and I'll bring your husband back to you. One way or the other."

"Then it seems the girls are more like us than we wanted them to be." Qim said darkly. Through all his talking he had moved closer. Now he was close enough to touch the baby. If only his grandson could see how much he was smiling. The boy had no way of knowing how much he looked like Qim. "Not all Quarians have purple skin...did I ever tell you that, my lovely?" He breathed. 

"I'm going with you." Maggie said, leaving no room for argument. "I need to save my baby. I need to help my husband."

Betty was hesitating, seeming to be struggling with what she remembered, and what the kett conditioning had her believe. She had been so young when Qim had crashed into her life, they met before she was even married. "You were an anomaly." She breathed, looking up at the silver eyes she knew were hidden behind that faceplate. 

"Come with me, and we all die." Quinn told her sister bluntly.

"You were my best friend on my pilgrimage. It's a shame your father forced you to get married. He told me once it was because he was afraid of you. I can't imagine why." Qim said sadly, finally slipping the baby out of her fingers completely.

"Do you all think that I'm that worthless?" Maggie asked her sister sadly. "Do you all think so low of me?"

Any idea that Qim was reaching the last of Betty's humanity was gone. Her eyes were once again cold and she head a weapon aimed at Qim's chest now. "You wont get off this ship alive." She swore.

"Maggie, you just gave birth." Quinn replied simply. "You wont be any use to my nephew if you don't survive."

Qim ignored her, turning toward the door with the gurgling baby. He began singing to him as he had his daughters. The rain song made the dual eyes infant to yawn widely and stretch. The quarian laughed at him gently, rocking him in his arms.

"I'm. Ok fine." Maggie sighed, turning in the direction her sister had told her to go.

"Hunter, we have a problem." Betty told her partner over the private channel. "There are intruders. I don't know how many."

Quinn watched her sister go, wondering if that was the last conversation they would have. That had often been her thought every time she left on a mission.

"I am coming. Keep them busy." Hunter growled. He heard the singing in the background and remembered the voice they belonged to. He was going to kill the quarian. He didn't need to be told twice. 

"I love you, Quinn. Take care of yourself." Maggie said, pausing at the end of the hall.

Betty knew what was coming, just as she knew she couldn't stop it. Qim was going to die. Her first love. Gone forever.

Quinn held her sister's gaze, then replaced her helmet. Care didn't get the job done, something their father had drilled into her at a young age.

Qim would be able to imprint himself onto Connor only moments before Hunter arrived.  He wanted his grandson to remember him. He knew as well as Betty did that he was going to die. He whispered a prayer for the boy and his mother as Kandros burst into the room. He prayed for Quinn and her future children even as the large kett wrapped his talons around his throat  and ripped his vocal chords out. 
Hunter paid little attention to Kandros or the baby he barely managed to catch as he turned to his partner with the quarian's spine. "What's gotten into you?" He hissed. "This should have been easy for you. Now look what you've made me do. There's none of these aliens left."

Even Betty was somewhat speechless when she saw Qim's torn body drop in pieces to the ground. She didn't even realise that her youngest daughter had seen the entire thing.
Quinn could barely breathe. She couldn't remember her last words to her father, only that she would never hear his gentle voice again. The young woman was quick to shake herself back into action however. She flicked her gaze to Kandros, slamming a shoulder into Hunter while he was distracted. The female soldier caught the child, pushing it into Kandros' arms before forcing him in the direction of the escape pod. Quinn knew it wouldn't be that easy. Things were never that easy. However, the two of them were almost free when pain ripped through Quinn's body.
The escape pod was open as Betty found them. She had made Hunter all too disappointed in her and knew she had to make up for it. The small kett had wanted to shoot the man stealing her toy, but ever the protector, Quinn had stepped in the line of fire.
Quinn looked up into Kandros' face for a lingering moment, knowing what needed to be done. "Tell Tyros... I'm sorry..." She breathed, then shoved Kandros into the pod and ejected it into space before he could stop her.

Tyros was there as the escape pod opened, grinning like a fool. "You did it." He said before looking in. "Your sister is here and safe. I've even found the asari doctor they were looking for. She is with Maggie now. Let's go..." his voice died off when he saw Kandros,  his smile gone. "Where is she?"

Kandros was gripping the child he would call his son tightly, unable to break the news to Tyros. Ultimately, he didn't need to, as it was right there in his eyes. Quinn had given her life so he and his family could escape. Once again she had lost everything. All the turian could do was shake his head.

Tyros  could barely stand as he moved aside and allowed Kandros to step onto the ship. "Qim...he will bring her back." He said after a moment, bolstering his hope.

Kandros again shook his head. The sight of the quarian's body torn so easily in Hunter's hands was not one that would leave him soon. "We need to get out of here." He finally managed to breathe. Quinn was still alive, but Kandros didn't think it would stay that way for long.

Tyros stumbled away from Kandros to the pilot's seat, unable to speak further. He refused to let this go. He would drop these people off like Quinn expected, then he'd be back for her. He did not for a moment believe she was dead. 

"Kamdros..." Lexi was a shell off her former self. She looked tired and sad. Never the less she took the baby from him and began patching his wounds. 
When Connor was laid beside his sleeping mother he finally began to make sounds. These were happy coos and then he too slept.

Kandros seemed to be simply staring ahead of him as Lexi worked on patching him up. "Is she okay?" He managed to breathe, afraid to hear that once again he had failed Maggie. "They took Connor... she was in so much pain that she passed out. I went looking for something to help her, but before I could come back Quinn had arrived and everything went to shit." He was rambling, and he knew it. It mas him trying to keep his mind from the big question; would Maggie forgive him for leaving her sister behind?

"She will live." Lexi assured him softly, motioning for him to pick up the baby again. "He needs to eat and I'd like to look him over. Where is Quinn? Didn't she want to see her sister?"

Kandros shook his head. "Maggie will never forgive me." He breathed. "Quinn was shot as we were getting into the escape pod, she pushed me in and ejected it. With our history... no one will believe that. It will seem all too more convincing that I simply abandoned her."

"Then maybe you should tell them nothing." Tyros said from the doorway. "It will be hard enough dealing with Tann. I've alerted him to our impending arrival. He's demanded that be be the first to board despite protests from the pathfinder."

"NO! Not a chance!" Kandros roared, his intense rage seeming to come out of nowhere to anyone in the room with him. "You let that bastard set even one slimy foot on this ship, and I swear I will kill him with my bare hands!"

Tyros looked lifeless and he simply shrugged. "His ship is already docking. The pathfinder was an hour behind. Qim would call it karma." The broken kett muttered, the door sliding shut behind him.

Kandros was pushing Lexi aside to get to his feet, unable to accept what was happening. "You know, don't you?" He asked the asari doctor. "Before Quinn helped the kett kidnap you, you knew what had happened to Maggie?"

"I had a good idea." Lexi admitted. "I knew she was pregnant, yes." For a long moment the asari doctor stared down at her own now flat belly. She herself was no longer in the same state. The kett had stolen hers. She was fairly sure they were dead.