Love and War

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"I swear to even the Asari goddess that when I get out of here, that lizard Kandros will wish I was an exile for what I'm gonna do to him!" Quinn Talos raged as she was unceremoniously shoved into a holding cell on the operations deck. The dark haired woman paced for time, thinking it was would all be straightened out once Tann got wind of what Kandros had done. She should have known better. As far as she believed, human's still weren't exactly favourites of the other alien species. On earth Quinn had an excellent service record within the Alliance, just as most members of her family did, but she had wanted more. She wanted to explore, to see things no human ever had, which was why she signed up for a place on the Andromeda Initiative. The only problem was, she wasn't the pathfinder, and her superiors didn't believe in security personal leaving the Nexus. As well as she performed her job, the call sign 'Cutie', thanks to her unfortunate initials, meant she wasn't exactly taken seriously. Quinn was slumped on the floor with her back against the wall now, glaring at the Turian guard outside the forcefield. She had fought her hardest for the safety of everyone on the Nexus, and this was her reward; being called a traitor and about to be dumped on some godforsaken planet with the rest of the exile scum. All because Kandros feared losing what little power he had to her. The asshole can keep it, she thought bitterly.

Quinn remained still, noting that the girl was giving up a lot of information freely so long as she seemed an oddity to her. Ardwin... Why did she know that name? "Where are they now? Maybe I should meet them?"

Kandros was finding it increasingly more difficult to control himself around this soft looking alien, and for the most part... he liked it. "You're hungry." He breathed, suddenly wishing to get Maggie someplace dark and secluded. Someplace no one would see how he felt for her.

"Kros is the warden to the gates here. And Ardwin...he'll show up sooner or later." She grabbed for Quinn's hand and pulled her toward the outer gates, her dirty face set in a determined line. 

"No. I have to talk to Tann." Maggie said, shaking her head. She didn't understand Kandros lately. He had begun to change over the last few months and that worried her. "Are you...all right?" She asked softly.

Quinn allowed the girl to drag her along, surprised to find herself wondering if she could have have even planned for all of this. Yesterday morning she had simply woken up and started her shift in security as usual. 

"Why wouldn't I be?" Kandros asked, taking the hint that Maggie didn't want what he was offering.

Kros, as it turned out, was an enormous and angry krogan. He turned to glare at the woman and the slender asari girl, shaking his head. "I ain't opening. The gate for nobody, Rat."

"You're not acting like yourself." Maggie told him. She reached out to feel his forehead but stopped short, knowing he'd snap at her.

"Really? Then maybe we should get Ardwin down here so you can explain why I can't pick up the package he asked for." Quinn bluffed, folding her arms across her chest as she looked up at the Krogan.

When Maggie pulled her fingers up short, Kandros knew it was pointless trying any harder. "Know me so well, do you?" He asked with a snort, finally returning to his own side of the office.

"No need to get hateful, lady." Kros muttered, turning to open the gate. The little girl gave her a scathing look. 

Maggie sighed heavily, sure she'd just lost everything she truly cared about.

"You were the one throwing 'rat' around." Quinn muttered, beginning to remember why she avoided people.

Kandros spent the next hour reading the same data pad again and again. He could see the words, they simply weren't sinking in. He felt such a fool, like a love sick child.

"He's going to call Adrwin, you know." The little girl muttered. "He'll get the credit and I won't get dinner. Thanks a lot."

"I'm taking an early lunch." Maggie said, getting up slowly from her desk. Shed spent the hour on the phone with Tann's secretary and had gotten nowhere. She was going to try and talk with him herself.

"Credit for what?" Quinn asked, still not thinking she mattered enough to have someone keep an eye on her, she simply assumed the little girl had been doing it out of boredom.

"Liar." Kandros breathed. "You think I can't tell by now?" He added as he watched Maggie's sluggish movements.

"Ardwin is looking for you. He and Jargon promised to keep you here." The little wiped her nose, her eyes red. "I haven't eaten in days." 

Maggie was still feeling under the weather. It was going to take a good portion of her lunch to even get to the Director. "You have a meeting with Kesh. She's on her way. I almost forgot." She said quickly, hoping to make him forget her.

Quinn groaned and sat down in the chair Kros had vacated when she entered. "They have me confused with someone else."

Kandros was well aware of what Maggie was doing, but nodded anyway. "I promised her drinks the next time we were both free."

"We all saw the Nexus guards drop you off. There's no mistaking who you are." The asari girl said. "You'll be lucky if Sloan doesn't decide she doesn't like you and sends you to the badlands."

"She's going to drink you under the table again." Maggie sighed gently. "I'll clear your schedule for the day and make sure you have a ride back to your apartments."

"Just because Nexus guards dropped me off doesn't make me a somebody." Quinn pointed out. "Surely everyone here was dumped by the nexus at some point?"

"It's the quickest way to wipe this day from memory." Kandros muttered to himself, not thinking Maggie would hear.

"I don't know. I just know Ardwin made a big deal about you." The little girl named Rat shrugged. "He started shouting. He wanted to know where the other one was. Jargon said the turian kept her. If that means something to you..." 

"Why would you want to do that?" Maggie asked him, the lines of her forehead knitted together.

Quinn was glad she still wore her helmet, as it masked the various looks of horror, and then anger on her face right then. "So... I guess it would be a shame if I suddenly disappeared, right?"

"Because clearly I am screwing everything up." Kandros replied. "You wont even eat lunch with me."

"Yeah because I told him I'd keep an eye on you and he said I'd get food." Rat said with a scowl. 
"Ain't no package." Kros said she. He came back, scowling at them both. "Ardwin is on his way."

"You're having lunch with Kesh, remember?" Maggie said gently. "And I need to talk to Tann about my sister."

Quinn groaned, knowing she had missed her window to leave by standing here arguing with the Asari girl.

"I'm having lunch with her because you declined my earlier offer." Kandros pointed out. He was edging his bets on Quinn being long gone from existence if Ardwin had gotten involved.

The krogan was surprisingly quick as he crossed the distance and tossed the girl aside. Then he put a gun to Quinn's head. "You ain't going nowhere until he gets here neither."

Maggie gave him a warm smile, daring to pat his cheek. "You'll have more fun with her any way. You two like to drink and get loud and you know I don't drink."

Quinn seemed oddly calm, clearly this wasn't the first gun against her head. "Go ahead, blow my brains out before your boss gets here." she taunted.

"You get loud though." Kandros replied with a devilish grin.

"My boss ain't even on this planet lady." The krogan growled. "This guy just lines my pockets well." 

Maggie's pale cheeks went an interesting shade of scarlet. "You're going to be late." She muttered, turning to leave.

"So you're basically a babysitter?" Quinn remarked, well aware she was earning no friends in this place.

"What's Kesh going to do? Start without me?" Kandros snorted, though he too was leaving his office, though in a different direction.

"You're going to die awfully quick on Kadara," Kros snarled. "Just hope your dear sister ain't too upset about it."

Maggie waited patiently for Tann to see her, sure he would listen to her. She had herself convinced that he would believe her every word and send a shuttle to retrieve her sister that very day. It was all a very simple matter after all.

"What makes you think that hasn't been my intention all along, to die here?" Quinn challenged, smiling inside her helmet.

"No need to state your case, I have seen the evidence." Tann informed Maggie as she was shown to his desk. "You know as well as everyone, no exile can return. Sends the wrong message."

"Because your father owed me credits a lot of them. And if you don't figure out how to pay up, I'll go and collect from your big sister." Ardwin said from the doorway.

"But...cant you make an exception? My sister fought for the Alliance and now the Initiative. She saved more than a dozen Turian soldiers from the kett. You can't just toss away a record like that, sir. Especially when she's innocent. There is no proof!" Maggie said passionately.

Quinn tilted her head slightly to glance at the figure in the doorway. "Like you could get on board the Nexus." 

"I can when the safety of not just this station, but all the lives on the arks are at stake." Tann replied curtly.

"I have friends." Ardwin purred,  glad the young woman seemed to remember him. "Your sister doesn't seem to have many these days. Still... A few more than you..." it seemed fortunate for Maggie no one knew of her relationship with Kandros. 

"But sir..." Embarrassingly Maggie's voice had taken on an insistent whine. This was not like her at all. "My sister saves lives! She would would never take them! You don't know what you're...where did you get your information from? You sound crazy!"

Quinn slowly rose up out of the seat she had taken from the krogan gatekeeper, not that it had much effect, the top of her helmet was just about level with Ardwin's powerful shoulders. "And let me guess, you're Mr. Popularity?"

"My information is sound, it comes directly from the security chief himself." Tann replied, seeming oddly proud of this fact.

"Not exactly." Ardwin breathed, looking down as if he could see her eyes through the helmet. "But I knew your father fairly well. I also know what's wrong with your sister."

"What?" These words were barely audible. Maggie felt like she'd been punched in the gut. "I see...sorry too have troubled you...sir..." She whispered, making a quick escape from his office.

This seemed to knock the wind out of Quinn, though she quickly tried to hide it. If anyone on the Nexus found out about Maggie's illness, they would put her right back into cryo. "And you think I can pull credits out my ass, is that it?"

Tann looked rather confused as Maggie left his office. He didn't think he had said anything wrong, but then humans are strange creatures, especially the females.

"You're going to work for me. Us. However you want to put it."  Ardwin was smiling as if he'd won the lottery. "And you're going to enjoy every moment."

Maggie locked herself in her apartment, feeling more than a little betrayed. She changed the access codes so that even if he tried, Kandros wouldn't be able to simply let himself in.