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."

"Fine. Then I will publicly support the marriage of Tann and the General's daughter. I'll even add credits to her dowry." Reegar waved an absent hand at him and turned to leave, "Suit yourself."

"No. My grandfather told me to kill my mother. The voices told me to see what her blood looked like." Connor shrugged.

"Even he can't marry what's dead." Brutus muttered, his mind ticking over ways he could get Lori out of there.

"You don't miss her?" Betty asked, finally realising that now Maggie was dead, maybe she hadn't loved the girl after all.

"The wedding is this evening. You're not getting off the station with her." Reegar purred. "The call is out for her. Kidnap..."

"I...i do..." Connor breathed. "I feel like a monster."

"You're preventing all passage from the nexus?" Brutus sneered. "You can't stop everyone."

"That's because you are." Betty replied simply. "Without purpose that's all you will ever be." She added. "Your grandfather... does he speak with the voices?"

"Indeed. But the General is a smart man. His prized possession has a tracking chip inside her. How do you think the Director was able to find her wherever she was at?" Reegar chuckled at the large turian's expression. "Oh yes. I've been here longer than you realized, boy. Give up. You can't win this."

"No. I don't even tell him. He already calls me names. One can imagine what he would say if I told him that I hear...things." Connor admitted.

"What do you even get out of all this?" Brutus asked, still holding Lori close. "I know money isn't your motivation."

"I would never." Betty replied, playing the concerned party all too well. "Come with me, and I could teach you more than he ever will."

"I've told you. I want my grandson trained. The boy is...not right. For whatever reason I cannot make him any different. Fix him. I will even allow you to bring your new pet. Right out from under the General's nose. You are the best. A Vakarian no less. I need the best." 

Connor balked, shaking his head and stepping backward. "I don't know you. Why would I want you to teach me something when I don't know you?"

Brutus looked down at the bleeding woman in his arms, seeing no other way out of the situation that didn't leave Lori dead, or open to more pain. He had just witnessed her youngest sister's insanity first hand, and he didn't want that for Lori. "Fine." It was clearly a reluctant acceptance.

"You didn't know your grandfather when you abandoned your mother to go with him." Betty pointed out coldly. She was seeing Connor as a second chance to fix the things she had never gotten right in  Quinn. The poor boy just didn't see it.

Reegar's wicked smile was the same as it ever had been. "Get the human fixed and get supplies for her. I'll deal with the General and fetch the boy."

"I didn't have a choice. A kett murdered me while my dad watched." Connor said bitterly. "He saved me...he's calling...i have to go...sorry to bother you. I...hope your friend is ok." The gentle boy he should have been was there for a short moment and then he was turning to leave, replacing his mask and dragging in a shaking breath.

Brutus was sat in the infirmary with Lori as a medic patched her up. He had told them Quinn had done it during her escape, as no one had yet apprehended her. He didn't even know if Lori's youngest sister was still on the station.

"He doesn't love you." Betty called after the boy, though she didn't say anything further. The wicked woman with the amethyst skin was already call for assistance of her own to meet them at the air lock.

Six months on Reegar's starship seemed to be hard on everyone. Because he was turian Connor took an instant dislike to Brutus. He argued everything and spent a good deal of his time staring if into nothing. His training was much slower than it should have been.
He also kept contacting someone of ship though he wouldn't explain who it was or why he was speaking to them.
Lori was struggling with the new life and Reegar loved it. He did everything he could to get under her skin. He teased her relentlessly about her father and his death, even throwing in jabs about her sisters. He was more than happy to tell her that her middle sister was gone, adding to her grief. Then to top it off he'd demanded that if she were living in his ship she would work. He put her in charge of charting the courses for their journeys,  not thinking this would be something she could handle. 
As far as Lori and Brutus themselves went, when they were alone things couldn't be better.

Tyros had shut down since joining Betty's crew. He'd become little more than a puppet for her use. He barely knew the passage of time anymore. He came and went as she commanded nothing more. He'd lost every thing. There was no more reason to care.

Brutus had thought training the boy would be easy, but he soon realised that th only way he would Lear would be by beating the boy down. It was the same way Brutus himself had been treated, and he had hated every moment of it. He had smiled to himself when that realisation occurred; he was becoming what he hated most. His father.
Time with Lori was short, but he loved her more and more. He had seen her suffer, and grow stronger because of it. He didn't think he would ever win her forgiveness, but he still hoped.

Betty was growing ever more frustrated with Tyros. She had showered him with gifts, given him rank and power, but none of it made him happy. She was beginning to wonder if he had ever wanted her at all.
Word was spreading through the cluster quickly of ships disappearing without a trace. Like they simply turned off all communication and went on their way. This was assumed to be what happened, until their derelict husks began showing up. The crews were half missing, the rest dead. No one could explain the strangeness of the findings. Or perhaps they simply didn't wish to think what was happening to the crews that were missing.

Lori sat on the floor of the room she shared with Brutus, her knees pulled up to her chest. She couldn't handle another moment with that quarian captain. He was a monster. Forget her father and forget the kett. They had nothing on this man. The things he said to her were monstrous. No one had the right to speak to anyone,the way he spoke to her. She was miserable. Not for the first time she found herself wondering if Quinn was paying him.

Tyros stood beside betty, shaking his head. " it makes very little sense to me. Those men are gone, their tracking chips with them. Ardwin is Not that good. I suppose Kandros could be behind it. He's desperate to avenge Maggie. But he's not so quiet."

Brutus had just finished another training session with Connor and came back to the tiny room he shared with Lori, sitting down on the floor in front of her when he saw hos miserable she looked. "Ready to mutiny yet?" He asked, hoping to see a smile.

"There's something everyone seems to be missing." Betty commented as she stopped reading the report in front of her to stretch her arms out lazily. "All the bodies they found, they have their spines torn out."

For the first time in what seemed like forever, she rewarded him. She lifted her head from her knees and gave him a tiny one. "I miss my books." She confessed, wiping a tear from the tip of her nose. "At least they were an escape. He's so mean, bull. The General had nothing on him. He...he called me a Volus." She snickered at the thought and then laughed harder when she saw her former lover's face. 

"How odd...thats What Kandros told me happened to Qim." Tyros said thoughtfully. "I wonder if it's a Quarian thing?"

"Well that's ridiculous... you're at least a foot taller than a volus." Brutus replied with a playful grin.

"Quinn was there when it happened." Betty replied, again reading some of the information in front of her. "It's the fact that only some of the crew are dead. What happened to the rest? Why are the ships stripped down when they're found?" She didn't like where this was going. "That damn girl is building her own fleet." She muttered.

"Are you calling me fat and greedy?" Lori asked, poking out her tongue at him. The last thing she expected was for his deep kiss or herself to return it. She'd missed him so much over the past several months. She honestly thought very little of anything until he was being called away several hours later. 
She moaned in protest when the cot shifted as he got up and began to dress. "Be careful..." She whispered, tossing the covers over her head. "Reegar had me chart to Eos for today..."

Tyros snorted at this and shook his head, "For what? Nothing would follow her. She's become a monster not unlike those who have her life." He added bitterly.

Brutus paused where he was reaching for his boots when Lori told him this. "Eos? There's nothing of value there." He breathed, though had a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"And who made her a monster, hmm?" Betty asked with a wicked grin as she turned her head to look at her lover. "Nothing I ever did pushed her to what she is now. It took only one very simple act to create this delicious beast." She added, running her fingers along Tyros' ribs where Quinn had stabbed him all those months ago.

"That's what the pilot said and Reegar shot him." Lori said, poking her head out of the covers. "From what I could gather it had something to do with the kid you're training."

"Indeed." Tyros said, looking down at her fingers as if they disgusted him. "I will mount a defense against her. Draw her out in the open and take it from there. Anything else?"

Brutus sat back down in front of Lori, genuine worry in his eyes. "Promise me you won't do anything to upset him?" He breathed as he took hold of both her slender hands. 

Betty saw the look and pulled her fingers back, her mask of disinterest back in place. "I want her heart, huntsman." She replied with a snort.

Lori blew out a heavy sigh,  her bangs floating back into her eyes. "That won't be a problem. I'm not busy trying not to let him see me cry." She snorted. "But what if I make you promise the same thing?" 

"This is not a fairy tale, woman. You don't get everything you want." Tyros muttered, making a show of looking at his nails. "I'll do what I can." He gave a theatrical bow, his eyes lingering on the swell of her belly.

Brutus smiled and lifted her ands up as he kissed her fingers gently. "I can stop breathing, princess." He mused.

"Hear that? Daddy is mad." Betty purred, a hand gently stroking her belly.

"Are you going to stay in bed all day, you fat lazy human?" Reegar's voice boomed over the loud system so everyone in the ship heard him. "I should have you shoved out the airlock if I thought your ass  would fit." He snarled. 
Lori groaned,  leaning forward to rest her head on her lover's chest. "Be careful today, bull. Please..." She breathed. 

"Don't say that. The...thing inside you is not mine. It never will be." Tyros snapped. "Who knows who you pulled between those thighs before I came along."

"If it helps, I think your ass is just perfect." Brutus replied with a grin, kissing his lover once more before again getting to his feet. The door didn't close right away however, as he had returned one last time and leaned in behind Lori with his lips close to her ear. "Just right for biting." He added with an amused chuckle before he was finally gone.

Betty seemed amused, rather than annoyed by the outburst. "If only you knew the half of it." She purred, though wouldn't fill Tyros in on the details. "No matter how you wish to look at it, this child is yours, boy. But for the record, you were the one to manhandle me. You made the choice to betray Quinn, and thanks to that one act of betrayal, she is now a monster raping the galaxy for her own gain."

"What color is her blood?" Connor asked as he caught up to Brutus in the hall. He was picking at a scab on his elbow, purple blood seeping through the wound. "Is it the same color as my mother's? If you bit her bottom you should know, right?" He added, proving he'd been listening at their door for no telling how long.

"So basically she is at last proving to be your daughter. One would think you'd be pleased with this." Tyros grumbled. Again his gaze moved to the swell of her belly. "Have you discovered the gender yet?"

Brutus glared down at the younger man, clearly not happy that his private conversation had been over heard. "I make it point not to make her bleed." He relied curtly. 

"Yes." Betty replied thinly, clearly not happy with the result. "Quinn was always going to be a failure. There is simply too much of her father in her. These recent events... clearly nothing more than a result of insanity."

Connor's grin was rather cruel. "Now where is the fun in that, teacher?" He laughed as they stopped to inspect the weapons set out for them. "I hear human blood is the thinnest of all the races. Grandmother says..." He stopped speaking and made a show of cleaning his weapon, already knowing he'd made a mistake. 

Tyros couldn't help but laugh. "A girl." For some reason he knew it wasn't the result she wanted either. "How interesting for you."

Brutus paused with his hand hovering over a weapon when Connor let this slip. "Grandmother? Your grandfather actually has someone on the ship with him?"

Betty narrowed her yellow eyes at Tyros in obvious irritation. "Yes. Yet another worthless female. Thank you very much!"

Connor let out a soft sigh, realizing it had gone straight over the large turian's head. He gave no answer, taking his gun and aiming the barrel at the windows on the other side of the room.

Tyros leaned down and kissed the swell of her belly, feeling the unborn infant shift to where his head was. It was an irresistible moment for him and he rested his hands there as well. "Give her to me and we will try again. There is no harm in that." He breathed, already in love with his daughter whether he knew it or not. Betty had him wrapped so tightly around her finger simply because of what she carried inside her, she now possessed the greatest of slaves.

Brutus didn't want to understand. Everything about Connor and his grandfather filled him with dread. Everything on this ship just felt evil and wrong. "You hold it like a child." He growled, though hadn't even looked at how Connor held his weapon right then.

Betty was quite clearly surprised that Tyros had touched her, let alone that he now wanted to call this child his own and try for another. "What gain to you possibly get from that?" She asked.