Love and War

"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 're disgusted with me. You can't even look at me. When you asked how I was...you wished I wasn't ok. I heard it in your voice." 
Maggie whispered. 

"But I loved her." Qim whispered. "I would have given us anything. The whole fleet if she'd asked." He laid down his cards. "Jack of hearts. That's as bad as a joker. I lose."

There was another pause as Kandros tried to find the right words. "Maggie... It wasn't you that I wished wasn't okay, as much of a monster it makes me... I wished the thing he left you with wasn't okay."

"But she never did." Quinn observed, still holding her cards, though she hadn't even glanced at them. "She was the doting little wife of an Alliance Admiral. Appearance was everything to her."

"The thing is an innocent life, Tiran. Just like us. He is an infant. A new life waiting to be shaped by good or bad. It's not his fault how he came to be and it..." Maggie found her voice cracking. ""It's not fair to punish him for that bastard's decisions!" 

"Queen of Spades." Tyros said as he leaned over to inspect the cards she held. "The warrior..."
"It did seem that way. Didn't it?" Qim asked, wondering if maybe he'd been wrong about his lover all long. Had Betty simply been using him too?

Kandros knew Maggie was right, but he couldn't help the way he felt. "And you're telling me you wont see that bastard's face in the kid every day? Or how about knowing you're going to outlive your own child, thanks to his father's contribution to his genes?"

Quinn glanced up at Tyros and smiled sadly, wishing she felt like a warrior. It seemed she had done little but depend on other's since being exiled.
"She was a scientist married to a man who had power, there was little she really cared about. Why do you think she loved Maggie so much more? Her very own ongoing science project."

"Kandros...i love you." Maggie didn't know why she was confessing this now. It wasn't like it mattered. She got up and gave him another dose of the pain medicine. Then she sat beside him and placed a cool rag on his head. "I can't wait to meet him to be honest. If I can keep him away from Tann this baby is going to be something special. Will you let me bring him to meet you sometime?" 

"I see." Qim said sadly, suddenly in no mood to play cards. "And what was I for?"

"Why? You walked away from what we had, remember?" Kandros breathed, refusing to open his eyes out of something other than physical pain now that Maggie was close. "I love you, and you just walked away like I was worthless!"

"Curiosity." Quinn replied bluntly. "The woman didn't know how to love." She added, her own hurt spilling free, as the last thing she wanted was to wound Qim.

"I walked away because you will never look at me the same now. I can't bare that. I wanted to spend my whole life with you but not if you cnt accept me and my child. Regardless of how he came to be." Maggie said softly.

"I see." Qim stared at the table, unable to look at either of them. "Well...at least I got something out of it. Betty was the one who lost everything. Not me."

"You weren't even going to tell me what he did to you." Kandros breathed, his voice barely above a whisper.

Quinn stared down at her cards now, well aware she had hurt the man she was supposed to call 'dad'. It wasn't her intention, and she felt like shit for it. All she could think was that Maggie would never have put her foot in it like this. Maggie knew how to talk to people, Quinn... not so much. She was far too used to being given a gun and pointed in the direction someone needed it shooting.

"I'm ashamed..." Maggie breathed, her voice cracking. "You really think I want you to know that I let another man have what belongs to you? Even if it wasn't by choice? How could I tell you? It made me sick. I'm afraid of the dark now, Tiran. I'm so sorry for what I've done..."

"I need to check my garden..." Qim said quickly, getting to his feet. "You two go for a walk and look around. Dinner will be ready soon..."

Kandros finally opened his bruised eyes, even sitting up while holding his bandaged ribs. Tann's men had truly done a number on him. "You are the light, Maggie, you shouldn't ever have to fear anything."

Once Qim had left, Quinn flipped the table, cards and all over in a fit of rage before simply burying her face in her hands. She didn't deserve this, any of it. Not Qim, not a home, least of all Tyros. There was a lot of anger in the young woman, something life as a soldier had allowed her to release.

"I used to feel brave. Not anymore. It's hard to be brave when I'm facing all of this alone." Maggie's blonde curls hid her face from his view. "It's my fault. I'm so sorry..." 

Tyros let her rage, only pulling her into his arms once she was done. "Breathe, my love. It will be all right. Let's go for that walk. I'd like to see the snow again. Maybe I will remember something else..."

Kandros forced himself to stand, and leaned forward to gently push Maggie's hair behind her ears. "Then stop running." He breathed. "You're not alone, I was weak. It was all my fault."

Quinn buried her face against Tyros as he held her, though she nodded her head slightly. "I'm ruining everything... I don't know what to do with happiness."

"Marry me, Tiran." Maggie whispered, surpring herself with the request. "I know it's not a turian thing to do but...I promise not to make you regret it. No I...promise to try..." the tiny blonde's nose began turning a deep shade of red as she fought to keep from crying. However, large tears were already clinging to her lashes. "I love you, Kandros. I can't live without you. No matter what stupid stuff I said." 

"It is something we shall learn together." Tyros promised her, tipping her chin up for a long and heated kiss. "But I can tell you one thing, this right here and now is a good place to start."

Kandros could feel blood seeping into the bandages around his torso, but he didn't care. He wiped Maggie's tears with a rough thumb, then kissed her lightly, afraid he would hurt her somehow. "I love you, I always have. You don't have to promise me anything." He added, leaning his head down gently against her own.

"I wish you wouldn't do that..." Quinn murmured against her lover's lips. "You know I'll agree to anything..." She added with a smirk.

Six months passed in a very short time. Maggie wasn't sure how it all had happened. She and Kandros had been married aboard the pathfinder's ship with a feed "accidentally" sent to Tann's omni tool. The salarian's angry squeal of rage was a source of great pleasure for the Tempest crew that day. 
Maggie had settled into a routine on the ship of helping where she was needed but today it wasn't hard to tell her pregnancy was coming to an end. 

Tyros and Quinn's marriage was nothing like her sister's. There as no one to celebrate or wish them well except her father. Qim was also watching Maggie's wedding that day, heart broken that not only could he not be there but his first born didn't even know who he was. 
Tyros was in heaven. Though he worked quite often with Qim, he always found time for his new wife. He made all sorts of gadgets for her. Today's gift was a music box he'd been working on for some time. It played a soft song and two skeletal figures dancing inside.

"What have I told you, woman?" Kandors breathed when he found Maggie in the mess preparing food for the crew. He was behind his wife, his hands resting on the swell of her belly. "You, and my son, should be resting." He added, kissing her neck lightly.

Quinn was trying her best to push the darkness inside her away. Life with Tyros was indeed good, and she enjoyed spending time with her father, but she always felt it; the comparison to Maggie. She had seen him watching the other girl's wedding video today and heard him sob quietly.
Thankfully, she was pulled back to the good in her life by the gift her husband gave her. "Ty... It's beautiful." She breathed, a slender finger hovering just over the two delicate figures. "You're too good for me." she added, smiling up at him warmly.

Maggie was sweating. She'd been trying to ignore the contractions all morning but by now it as doing little good. They were just about five minutes apart. 
"Kandros, we've been pinged by an enemy ship. Ryder wants on everyone on deck. Now." Vetra said into his ear piece. "We're getting hits suggesting Drak and Lexi."

"It is your birthday afterall." Tyros smiled. "Why wouldn't I be?" He pulled her into his lap and kissed her deeply. "I wonder if you music box will fit inside...nevermind...you seem lost in your thoughts. I'm bothering you." He pretended to pout.

Kandros didn't answer Vetra, he could feel Maggie's heart pounding, and even to him she was warm to the touch. "Silly girl, always keeping your secrets." He breathed, turning her face face him.

Quinn grinned and rubbed her soft nose against her husband's rough cheek. "I have thoughts?" She breathed, tracing a finger lightly against his lower lip.

Maggie winced. She was trying to keep a brave face but it ws getting harder by the second. "You need to help the others. I'll be fine. I promise." 
She was truly worried about his change of heart for the child. She didn't know if it was real or he was simply afraid of losing her again.

"Uhm..." Tyros had no thoughts in tht moment. All he could do was react to the warmth and red hot desire that was eating away at his insides. "What do you do to me, woman?" He ground out. "I need you..."

"There are many of the others, only one of you." Kandros breathed. He himself wasn't exactly certain of his feelings for this child even now. He had told himself he needed to try though for Maggie's sake, and even for his own. He couldn't carry his anger forever.

"It's magic..." Quinn teased as she re-positioned herself in Tyros' lap. "I can't see any other way I could call you mine." She added, taking his fingers and using them to pull down the zipper on the front of the thermal suit she had been wearing when he found her. Voeld was indeed cold, and it seemed humans tolerated it far less than kett, and Qim didn't really feel it due to his own environmental suit.

"Rigt now I wish there was more of me..." Maggie squeaked, grabbing Kandros hand even though she didn't mean to. She wasn't hiding as well as she hoped.

"I worship you." Tyros told her. "Kalihira be praised...but you are perfect in every way. He stood with her in his arms. "Will the home I have been building for you be a good place to prove it to you?"

That was all it took for Kandros to scoop Maggie into his arms. He was hardly a vital part of the crew, they could manage without him. He was running through the ship to ward the infirmary when something struck the side of the ship, sending the pair of them crashing down the hall way.

Quinn's lavender eyes grew wide when Tyros told her what he had been building. "A home? Our home?" she breathed, barely able to contain her smile.

Maggie cried out in pain as she and Kandros rolled down the hall and landed against the wall. It didn't help matters when she heard a low rumbling laughter. "I may have lost the krogan, my dear, but you are right. His tracking chip makes it so much easier to track fools." Hunter chuckled.

 "It's not much now but it's a good starting point I think. It's near that lake with the fish that the Angaran tell stories about. The one you were so fascinated with. Remember?" Tyros said almost timidly

Kandros really wished he didn't recognise that voice. "Now?" He growled, thinking the timing all too perfect as he scrambled to protect Maggie once more.

"You remembered." Quinn breathed, her soft fingers again touching Tyros' cheek lightly.

Maggie bit into her lip as warm water slid down slid down her legs and puddle at her feet. Her water had broken. 
"Betty, I don't understand your obsession with this woman." Hunter said, pausing in the hall near to the newlyweds.  "I can get you any number of pregnant humans. Why this one?"

"How could I forget? You came home telling me all those wonderful stories after talking to the Angaran. I loved them too." He grinned at her. "Come on. We'll start in the bedroom and work our way around. But Quinn I want you to promise you'll tell me the truth about this place..."
"Quinn, I've found it!" Qim's voice came over her ear piece. "Your mother's tracking chip. She is close! Meet me in the main lab! Hurry!"

Betty stepped out from behind her massive partner, making ti quite clear he was also her protector. The rather small kett looked down at the pregnant woman and slowly she began to smile. "This one will cut my research time down considerably. We don't yet have specimens of all the milky way inhabitants." She replied as she used a strange looking device to scan Maggie.

Quinn groaned softly and rested her forehead against her husband's shoulder when her father's voice cut into the moment. "I'm sorry." She told Tyros gently. "Promise me we can come right back here once I've helped Qim out?"

Maggie tried to slap the device out of her hand and Kandros received the butt of  Hunter's gun.  "And the insect still inside her? What do we do with it?" He asked in a disgusted tone.

"I will do my best." Tyros promised, not sure it would matter. He kissed the too of her head and followed her toward the labs where Qim was already excitedly shouting things at his omni tool.

"How else will I learn how they reproduce?" Betty asked sweetly, smiling when Kandros slumped to the ground. "The scanner is picking up strange readings, that aren't entirely caused by the parasite inside her."

Quinn had been learning much from her father about his research into genetics, though she hadn't told Tyros, yet. She wanted to be more than a soldier, and she wanted to help her husband regain the life that was stolen from him.
"What's so important it couldn't wait?" She asked as they arrived in the lab, rubbing at her arms as the cold again seeped into her bones.

"That's interesting." Hunter grabbed Maggie's chin and stared deeply into her eyes. "What do you think it is?" 
"Please..." Maggie breathed. "The baby is...I need to lay down..." her body was on fire. She couldn't stand another moment. Oddly enough just having Kandros unconscious form against her was giving her comfort however.

A vid of an enormous kett and a smaller female one came up on screen. "I'm getting this from Tiran Kandros. He's been tracking them for months. The large one is Hunter. You asked about him right? He's the one who created Tyros for the Archon. And he also created....your mother." He gestured to the smaller one. "They are on the ship where your sister is about to give birth to her baby. Kandros has asked for our help."