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 think me too stupid to be able to track them all down?" Reegar asked her. There was no hint of fear in his movements. He made no attempt to try and stop her from what she was doing. "Tell me how that power makes you feel." He breathed. "What does it do for you?" 

Lori could feel her insides burning. For a long moment she stared at her mother, able to see that her anguish was actually making the elder woman happy. That's what hurt her worse than who it was.
Before she could stop it a single tear slipped down her nose and dropped onto the floor between the two women. "You...haven't called me sparrow since the night I tripped you on the stairs." She whispered. "Is that why you're doing this?"

Lori remembered that night as if she were still living it. It was her hell. She'd been trying to show her mother she could fly. Her mother was trying to hem her dress. She was only five. She truly didn't understand how dangerous her actions were. She'd been laughing and giggling with her arms out and her eyes closed. She wanted to fly. Her mother had told her little  sparrow stop and come to her. The next thing she knew it was her mother flying so gracefully and she was shoved the other way. Her mother had sacrified herself for her...
She'd run down the stairs screaming for her mother but it was too late. There was blood and gasping. She'd cried for help but no one came. And she'd been punished for it ever since.

"I can't...you..Brutus...you should have told me...not her... You knew...and you let her..." She made a sharp turn to leave, embarrassed when she bumped into the wall. Her glasses had fogged. She couldn't see a thing. "I have to get out of here..."

Quinn narrowed her eyes at her captor, unwilling to believe the words passing his lips behind that faceplate. "You couldn't possibly have found my entire fleet." She growled, though didn't ease up, or answer his question about power. In all truth... powerful was the last thing she felt.

"Lori, it isn't like you're thinking!" Brutus replied, not even ashamed of the pleading tone to his usually gruff voice. "She was just a whore, nothing else!" He added, which most likely would only earn him a beating from Betty once they were done here.

"Not yet but I am oh so close." Reegar purred, his long fingers dancing on her hips. "Why are you so worried, dear? It was just a Hodge podge fleet. Pathetic really. Not fit for someone like you." 

"Leave me alone, both of you!" Lori shouted, disappearing around a corner with her demons in tow.

"You don't know me." Quinn growled, though she did let go of Reegar and backed away before returning to searching the room for clothing. 

"Are you happy?!" Brutus snarled at Betty as he turned on her with hate in his eyes.
The turian's only reply was a small but powerful fist to his gut as Betty struck him. "You are alive only because Lori wished it so. Right now... I imagine she wouldn't be quite so vocal about your wellbeing."

Reegar didn't show weakness by gasping for air until he was alone. He dropped onto a bed in a bare room and took in a shaking breath, his throat on fire. 
The girl was power and lovely. She was everything he'd always longed for. He was not about to let her go.

Lori returned to her room and locked herself in. She didn't know how to deal with all this. She just wanted to sleep.

It would be little less than an hour later when the lights on the ship suddenly dimmed and an alarm could be heard somewhere. Quinn had found clothing and had every intention of taking this ship.
"S-sir?" A young quarkan was knocking at Reegar's door, clearly rather terrified at having to tell him they had lost control.

Not that Lori would know, but Brutus was currently suffering the same fate as his younger brother in that moment; a firm beating.

Reegar's eyes snapped open and he looked around him with a frown, for a moment not remembering where he was. He'd fallen asleep in the tiny bed his crew usually slept in. This wasn't like him at all. "What?" He grumbled. "What is it?"

Lori had fallen asleep on the rumpled sheets of the bed she shared with the massive turian. She was blissfully unaware of what was happening to him.

"The... ah... prisoner... she... she..." the young man was beyond terrified. "She has taken control of the bridge, we can't gain access."

Brutus was dumped inside the room some hours later. No explanation, no medi gel for his wounds. Pay,nets had simply been taken for his 'actions'.

"What kind of bumbling idiots..." Reegar muttered, still lying in bed. "Figure it out. Or I'll kill you myself!" He hissed.

Lori opened her eyes when the heavy body hit the floor. Her head ached from crying and she groaned softly. "Bull? Is that you?"

"Sir... she has your command codes..." The younger man squeaked. It was common knowledge that the codes for the ship weren't stored on any drives, they were all on the captains person.

"Parts of me..." Brutus replied with a groan. He hadn't tried to fight back even omce, feeling this was his best way of showing Lori how sorry he was.

"goddammit!" Reegar's roar of rage could be heard all the way to the command center. The captain shot the message outside his door, not even bothering to replace his suit as he stomped toward the bridge.

"Where have you been?" Lori asked, not yet moving from the bed. She heard the pain in his voice and like always step wanted to immediately take it away. But this time the betrayal was too deep. And not entirely his fault.

Quinn was using Reegar's impressive ship to locate any of her own fleet. That didn't mean she didn't hear Reegar shouting as he got closer, leaving an amused smile on her lips. Yet somebody else who had underestimated her.

"Nowhere you should ever follow... princess." Brutus breathed as he forced himself to his feet using the wall for support.

"What do you think I do with those who steal from me, girl?" Reegar's true face appeared on the monitors all around her. It was a sight very few had seen and none lived to tell about it. "What do you think I should do to you?"

Lori turned her back on him, her shoulders shaking. "I'm surprised you're back so soon." She breathed. "You didn't want to play with her a little longer?"

Quinn continued what she was doing before she finally looked up with a cocky grin. "Gotta catch me first, bosht'et." She told her captor bravely. "My guess is, you can't get in here, else you would be spewing your idle threats at me in person."

Brutus snorted quietly, not having to lean on the wall simply to remain upright. "That's what you think I was doing, princess?" He wheezed.

Reegar's smile was hateful and cold. "Are you truly challenging me, child?" He hissed. "Be prepared to back those words up. I want to see everything you have." The monitors clicked off, leaving her with nothing but the mechanical whir of the mechines around her. 

"I don't know. I don't know anything anymore. My...my father contacted me..."

"I think you've seen quite enough of me." Quinn snorted to the otherwise empty room. She still watched the now darkened screen, most definitely set on edge by that smile Reegar's undeniably handsome face had worn as he made that last threat.

"Impossible." Brutus breathed before he could help it. "What I mean is... wasn't your sister on the run for killing him?"

Reegar set to work on the door to the bridge, opening a panel and ripping out wires. He was beyond livid at this point. He hardly even noticed when electricity sparked through his fingers. 

"That's what you told me." Lori said pointedly. She opened the message on her omni tool and played it for him. 
The General's fave appeared and he looked grim. "Despite what you have been left to believe, my dear. I am alive and rather well. Those who have taken you away...that slimy merc who calls himself a Vakarian included...will pay dearly. I will get you back my child. Just be patient."

Quinn could hear the sparks, and the lights in the bridge dimmed every few moments. She continued to work, though so far was unable to locate any of her ships.

"I didn't lie." Brutus told Lori firmly. "Your sister was even apprehended before she escaped the holding cells on the nexus." He added. "If that really is him, do you not think he would have rescinded the bounty on her?"

Reegar grit his teeth until his gums bled, using words from his native tongue he was sure he'd forgotten. The tips of his fingers were black and he'd lost much of the feeling in them. But his rage flamed higher. This lovely creature would pay for making him destroy his own ship. Then he would kill her. He wouldn't bother making her beg. He never made anyone beg. 
The last wire tore free and the bridge was plundged into darkness. "Ready or not, little one, here I come." He snarled.

"There is no bounty on Quinn. I don't know why." Lori sighed, finally turning to look at him. "Bull! My god! What did they do to you?" Lori's emerald eyes went wide and she shoved off the bed. When her lover seemed hesitant to let her touch him, however, she stopped just short of him.

Quinn was nowhere in sight, not that any normal person could see much in the darkness. For the first time she was somewhat thankful of the optical implant her mother had forced upon her, as she could see exactly where Reegar stood in the darkness. The young woman gripped the stolen pistol tight, unsure why this man scared her more than all the others she had encountered.

Brutus had backed off slightly, ashamed for Lori to see him like this. Allowing those men, and Betty, to beat him had made him feel so weak. He could have ripped them apart but instead he had felt spilling his blood was the only way to prove to Lori he was serious about loving her.

Aside from the few sparks that illuminated the bridge every so often there was nothing. There was no sign the feared captain of the ship had actually made it into the room. 
And then there it was, the tell tale sign of groaning from vent over her head. But the man that dropped down was not the captain. Instead it was a trembling prisoner with his hands over his head. "Please...I don't want to..." The batarian pleaded. He was dead before he'd finished speaking. The gunshot hadn't made a sound.

"Sit down." Lori said softly, "Let me at least look at you." She motioned him toward the bed, staring hard at the floor instead. "Brutus...what were you thinking? Was this like a bar fight?"

Quinn didn't move, not even to help the man who had just dropped into the room in the moments before his death. She was watching the door way, assuming this was a distraction to keep her from running. In the end, she figured she had nothing left to lose. Strong legs pushed her to her feet and she made a break for the illuminated exit.

Brutus did finally do as instructed and sat down on the soft bed. "Well... there was no bar... and I didn't fight back, so no. Not really."

Quinn would never make it to the exit. Reegar dropped to the into the room behind her and tackled her to the floor. "Were you really planning on leaving after what you did?" He hissed in her ear. 

"Why didn't you fight back and why were they trying to hurt you?" Lori asked, gently dabbing at his eye with a rag.

Quinn could feel her heart pounding as she was forced to the ground. She couldn't explain why this  quarian seemed so much more dangerous than any other asshole she had come across. "Actually, yeah." She replied with a snort, covering her fear well.

"I was being punished for what I put you through. I didn't want to fight back."  Ruth's replied, wincing slightly as a Lori dabbed at his eye.

Reegar flipped her over, holding her arms above her head. "If you'd like for me to disable the use of your arm and leg you will do even the slightest thing to piss me off. I can no longer feel my fingers. It won't bother me a bit to shut you down from the inside out." He hissed in her face.

Lori shook her head but didn't say anything. Silently she continued to patch him up, her fingers loving as used them to heal him as best she could.

"Trust me, I can piss you off without even breaking a sweat." Quinn sneered in reply, though didn't put up any struggle as Reegar held her to the ground. Clearly this woman had been so well broken that even his stone cold threats held little fear for her any more. 

"Why do you still love her?" Brutus asked after a long stretch of silence. "Surely even you can see pure evil when it's right in front of you?"

"I am well aware." Reegar breathed. He reached up and brushed the wild hair from her face, gently pulling away the threads that clung to her forehead and neck. "You could have asked what became of your silly little fleet, girl. You didn't have to let things go this far. Why did you force my hand? I had no intention of hurting you." Reegar's own silver hair dropped into his eyes, preventing her from seeing their color as the emergency lighting came on.

Again Lori remained silent, removing Brutus' shirt and appliying the medigel across his now heavily bruised back. 
It was only when she was done that she spoke up. "You need to get as far away from Betty and the General as possible, Bull. You need to leave now and not look back." She replaced his shirt and and closed up the first aid kit, feeling like she was dying inside.

"Asking for help is depending on someone else. I'm not that weak." Quinn informed the man pinning her to the ground firmly. She could hear the blood rushing in in her ears as surprisingly gentle fingers pushed her hair aside, it was clearly the kind of gentle touch the young woman was not accustomed to. "Do what you want to me, boshtet. You can't break what is already broken."

"Not happening, princess." Brutus replied, though didn't get up from the bed where she had made him lie. "You think I'll leave you alone with that woman? She showed me everything she did to your sister... I can't risk her doing the same to you. For all my flaws... I love you."

"I'm not trying to break you." Reegar snapped, finally getting to his feet and shoving his fingers through his sweat soaked hair. "Whoever did try was a fool for it. Now get up and help me fix what you've done. My shop needs to return to normal functioning. It's far too hot in here for our kind." He growled. 

Lori paused where she was returning the kit to the shelf and smiled at him. "I love you too." She breathed. "But I can't ask you to stay here with this. Not after what you just went through. It's not fair."

"For your kind, maybe." Quinn replied, simply to be contrary as she too got to her feet. "You kidnapped me! Why would I help you do anything?!"

"It's not fair to ask me to leave." Brutus countered. "I won't let anyone hurt you... and you'll never know how sorry I am that I have."