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."

"And so he brought you back...from peace and rest. And Lori...she was afraid of you. Am I understanding it?" Tyros crouched in front of her, his touch gentle and not in the least forward. "You resented him and I don't blame you. Then there was Qim and Maggie and Quinn. How did they fit in?"

Lori shook her head, making it clear she didn't believe a word of it. "I hope you registered that starship." She muttered, getting to her feet and dusting off her knees. "If not you're stuck with a ship without a name. Nobody likes to dock those, Vakarian. The paper work sucks." She turned her back on him and shoved Tann aside, walking up the street with her head held high. It w asnt hard to see how much the action was costing her.

Betty's yellow eyes very almost seemed vulnerable as she looked at Tyros. "Quim cared." She breathed simply. "The voices weren't so loud when he was with me. Then... Maggie was..." Quite suddenly she pushed Tyros away and and yellow eyes were once again hard. "I know what you are trying to do!" She hissed.

Brutus turned his anger on Tann this time. "I know about the general." He hissed, grabbing the smaller alien by the front of his shirt. "No one to keep you safe from me now, is there?"

"Mrs. Betty, no." Tyros' remained gentle. "I truly wanted to know more about you. To understand and try to help you." He reached out to touch her shoulder. "What happened when Maggie was born? Don't stop now. Please? I won't turn away or mock you. I swear on my life."

"I will have you spaced so fast your head will spin, merc." Tann snarled back. "Whatever you were trying to do, whoever you were doing it for, go crawling to them on your belly and tell them you lost. It's over. I win. I always win."

Betty had dismissed the other kett that had been nearby, not wanting them to see her weakness. "Jack never understood that what he had done... it was unnatural in a way no one should ever know. He was distant, just glad that he didn't have to care for Lori alone now. That's when I met Qim... he was the sweetest quarian... so concerned that I didn't seem happy." For once Betty actually smiled, thinking about those first few days with her husband's assistant.

Brutus was smiling, enjoying the fact that Tann had no idea who had sent him. "You like human women, don't you?" He asked out of the blue. "Why? They're no more appealing than an asari, and not as ingenious as a quarian. Most certainly not as smart as salarian or brave as a turian. In all seriousness, all humans have going for them is that they are brash and reckless, which is a long shot as saying that is even a good quality."

"I knew Qim. He saved my life. He was a good man. So funny and lively. So willing to listen and so kind." Tyros paused and smiled. "Did he do the happy dance for you? Or cheat at cards on purpose. He was terrible at it." 

"I like those that are worth something. Not just any of them." Tann muttered. ""Most humans are so breakable and stuck on themselves. But she...she isn't like the others and you know it."

Betty smiled, recalling a fond memory. "He loved to dance, even when there was no music. Jack us d to hate him for it, said it was a waste of energy."

"Oh trust me, I know better than you do." Brutus purred, his face close to Tann's.

Tyros laughed. "Quinn often told him the same. She said he was far too cheerful for his own good. He told her that if she w asnt happy she had nothing to live for. Then he would point to me and tell her he knew she had plenty to live for." 

"You son of a bitch!" Tann's forehead connected with Brutus'and the two of them en't sprawling into different directions. "I will ruin you!" He squealed.

"He thought you made her happy?" Betty breathed, her long legs now tucked under as she sat in front of Tyros. "Even when she was a child Qim worried that nothing made Quinn happy, not when maggie found joy in everything she saw. Quinn... seemed like everything was colourless."

"With what?" Brutus sneered as he picked his large form back up. "I ain't got anything for you to take, worm."

"Colorless? Quinn? I couldn't imagine." Tyros laughed. "She's so full of life and...joy. She and Qim taught me to read when I'd forgotten how. She used about kittens. It's was called...Five little kittens have lost their mittens. Have you ever read it? It makes Quinn laugh when the Kittens get in trouble."

"Oh but you do..." Tann too picked himself up. "Don't think I didn't see the way you were looking at Lori she ran into you. That strange look in your eyes when she said she hated you. I could end her. And now that her General father isn't here to stop me...who would care?" He paused when he saw the slight hitch to Brutus' chest. "That's right. You. As I was saying. I will ruin you, merc."

Betty truly didn't know this side of her youngest daughter. "When she was four she asked for a kitten." She breathed. "When I told her no she cried. That was the only time I ever saw her do such a thing." She confessed. "Somehow she managed to keep it secret for over a year that she had ignored me anyway and rescued a wounded varran that had escaped from a docked ship at the citadel. Four years old and able to keep such a thing a hidden... that girl always worried me."

"I could snap your neck right here, would anyone even notice, or would they celebrate?" Brutus challenged hatefully.

Tyros smiled. "I can see her doing things like that. What happened to the Varren?" He was watching Betty as she moved, amazed at how much she and Quinn resembled one another. The two of them carried the burden of death so how had it skipped Maggie was beyond him. "Maggie was still alive when they returned you from the sea of Kalahira w wasn't she? That's why she doesn't understand you and Quinn. That's why...like Lori...She's afraid of you. Oh Betty. I'm so sorry."

"They would crucify you." Tann promised. "What would your father have said? The great name of Vakarian ruined by a murderous monster like his youngest son. It's no wonder you stowed away on a quarian starship."

Betty had been pacing and toying with her long hair when Tyros offered his gentle words. "I don't need your pity!" She snapped, again proving how much alike she and her youngest child were, and not just in appearances. "That damn varren bit Maggie, so I had it shot." She added a moment later. 

"Stowed away?" Brutus asked with a sneer. "I chose that ship. Have you ever even met her captain? No, I suppose you haven't... he wouldn't have tolerated you long enough for you to drawn breath."

Tyros cringed. He should have known the story had a terrible ending. "You are a wonderful mother. I can see where Maggie gets it from. One day I hope that Lori and Quinn will make you proud in this way as well." He smiled. 

Tann brushed off the front of his shirt and walked a few feet away from Brutus before looking back. "I do hope you come too the wedding. It would be a shame not to have you there."

"Lori already made a name for herself. I am proud." Betty replied icily, though made no mention of Quinn. It didn't seem to matter how brave Quinn had been when faced with torture, and then mutilation at the hands of her mother. 

"Sure, I wouldn't want to miss your face during the ceremony, knowing you'll never have that first taste of her." Brutus purred. "I've had something you never will." He sneered, imply to hurt the other man.

Tyros wouldn't get the chance to say more. A kett soldier entered and whispered in Betty's ear that her daughter Lori had been spotted on the Nexus docking port. She'd sealed herself off and was looking like she was planning something she couldn't come back from. 

Tann gave him a nasty look and left in a huff. More than a little furious.

"She's done what?!" Betty hissed, her yellow eyes narrowing in anger. "Prepare my shuttle! I swear, that girl won't walk for a week once I am through with her!" For just the briefest of moments, she seemed like normal mother worried about her daughter.

Brutus didn't care how childish he looked, but he poked his tongue out at Tann's retreating back.

"There is a turian that can talk sense into her. Brutus Vakarian. Have you heard of him? He's been protecting her for the General until she marries Tann. It's all over the Nexus. But...i have seen them in my travels. I think there is more. I think he'd have a better chance. Reach out to him. If you go, it will spook her. Betty, listen to me." Tyros said gently.

Betty had that look that all but screamed that she was not in a reasonable place right then. "Why would you divulge such information freely?"

"Because I care about you." Tyros said honestly. "Now go. Before you run out of time."

Lori sat on the edge of the dock, her feet dangling into nothing. She'd locked the ramp behind her an hour ago and stopped looking to see if anyone saw her. Soon she would pull off the helmet and let herself fall. It wouldn't be that hard. She'd fall asleep long before her lungs burned up. Her only fault was why she hadn't thought of this earlier.

Betty looked at Tyros strangely as he confessed this, then stalked from the room like the Queen she was.
The kett female spent sometime locating Brutus, and yet more time convincing him she knew all about his feelings for Lori.

"This is how humans deal with things?" Lori would hear her lover's voice through her earpiece as she sat on the dock.

"Did it work?" Tyros asked. He hadn't realized how long it had been since he'd even asked about Quinn. "Is there a way we can monitor it?"

"Some of them. Yes." Lori answered softly. "Not everyone gets glorious battle deaths like turians. Go away. I'm not talking to you, bull."

"That desperate to see Lori?" Betty asked as her full lips curls into a smile. "Not that I blame you, she always was the most beautiful of my daughters."

"Why does this need to end with more death?" Brutus asked coolly. "Come inside and punch me until your fist breaks."

"I have seen her. She is...the most...strange of your daughters to be honest. Beautiful but not like you. Hers is a plain beauty. Yours is exotic." Tyros said. "No. I know that you love her the most. I was simply asking for you." 

"Everyone does that. You're used to it." Lori kicked off one boot and then the other, watching them disappear into nothing. "I don't want to hurt anymore. Go away, bull. You're ruining my silence."

Betty's head cocked to the side slightly, her ebony hair swinging with the motion as almost cat like eyes watched Tyros. "Is that what you had to tell Quinn to convince her she wasn't hideous?" She asked, much like her youngest Betty hid behind insults and anger.

"Sorry, princess, you ain't getting your silence. Even if I gotta sing." Brutus snorted before screeching a quarian song he had heard in Reegar's ship.

Tyros ignored her. He wondered when she'd stopped looking like a kett. He'd been so worried about other things he hadn't even noticed. Before he could help himself he ws reaching out to touch her silken hair. 

"Is that the one about the krogan who loved  varren too much? That's inappropriate, bull." Lori snapped. "And don't quit your day job. Singing isn't for you." She was sniffing now, her fingers sliding along the seal of the helmet.

Betty's fingers snapped out, catching Tyros' wrist. It was almost like she had forgotten anything but hard, unfeeling way she and Hunter had treated each other. However, she didn't let go of the drill in front of her right away.

"Wait... was that you calling me a krogan, or are you calling yourself a varren?" Brutus pressed when he saw where her fingers were reaching.

"Forgive me. I should have asked permission." Tyros whispered, leaning in close to her. "But you are so lovely. I couldn't help it. I'm sure you hear that all the time." 

"You're a goddamn vorcha." Lori snapped, her fingers hesitating on the latch. "I hate you, you know that." Her voice shook. "Is someone paying you to stall me? The other half million to drag it out? To see just how much more I can be hurt?" She shoved to her feet, her chest heaving. "There's nothing, bull! You tell Maggie it's over. She wins! You all fucking win!"

"From kett?" Betty breathed, her thumb brushing Tyros' wrist where she held it. 

"You've got it wrong, princess." Brutus breathed. "She paid me to destroy Tann, that was all. You saw what he nearly did to you... he succeeded in doing it to her."

"I suppose you're right..." Tyros whispered, looking down at the tiny fingers now brushing his wrist. There was nothing Kett like about them. When had she changed herself? How had he missed such a massive detail? "How terribly lonely it must be for you. I understand that so well..."

"So the way to get him back was to..." Lori shook her head. "I could think of a dozen other ways besides...stop defending her, bull." Probably to his relief, Lori sat down again and hugged her knees to her chest. "Go away. I'm doing this. You're dragging it out. No amo7nt of quarian drinking songs..." She paused sniffing through her tears at the thought.

"You have two wives, I seriously doubt that." Betty retorted with a snort, finally letting her fingers slide away. "Of all his failures... Hunter despised you the most." She added with an odd smile. "He didn't like the way he claimed you looked at me."

"If she hadn't sent me to do this, I wouldn't have been there to stop him violating you the other night. Do you regret that, too?" Brutus pressed.