HPDBC [Book Three] Chapter 14: One more step forward
[Book Three] Chapter 14: One more step forward
[Book Three] Chapter 14: One more step forwardChapter 14: One more step forward
Hearing her name, the blue eyed brunette began to fight her restraints while saying something agitatedly, the gag however forbade her to be understandable. Jane went for the bed to free her when hearing a command stopped her.
“Don’t do that.”
Turning around, she saw Rick, exiting what she believed the bathroom, as naked as Miranda was. He hadn’t dried himself and water was giving his skin a peculiar gloss that Ashley and her found really sexy as it emphasized his muscles. EDI was the one that went for the kill.
“That’s a bit bigger than the ones in Jeff’s vids.” was all she said as she looked at the appendage between his legs.
““EDI!”” / “Hmmff.” exclaimed the rest of the women in the room.
“Thank you, EDI. Commenting positively on a man’s penis is a strong ego boost for them, remember that.” he said as he began to dry himself with a towel.
“I don’t understand how the size of a man's genitals could be related to their ego.”
“Me neither.” replied the man.
Once dry he went to Miranda and began to undo the knots of the ropes restraining her, then removed her blindfold and gag to finally cover her body with the bed’s sheets before joining her under it as he took her in his arms and began to rub her wrists. The woman was very subdued and a pink hue was present on her cheeks.
“Any reason why you’re here?” he said, looking at his sister.
“I... Hmm... I wanted to talk.”
“And you couldn’t wait, so you bursted in the room all akimbo after destroying the door.”
“I... that’s... not...”
“We heard someone’s muffled cries for help.” Ashley interjected as clearly her commander had not her head in the game.
Turning his head to look at his bed partner he simply asked: “Were you? Asking for help, I mean.” The negative shake of Miranda’s head said it all.
“You can talk now.” Rick ordered.
“I was trying to get your attention, that someone was at the door.”
“Wait a second! ‘You can talk, now.” ?” Ashley interjected.
Miranda’s blush became even more pronounced. She wanted nothing else than to get out of there and make everyone forget, probably with a bullet to the head. She was ‘saved’ however by Rick who put an arm around her waist and brought her close to him.
“No kink shaming. I won’t tolerate anyone bullying you, I won’t tolerate anyone bullying Miranda either.”
“I wasn’t! I’m just... surprised, that’s all.” defended the brunette.
“Miranda? Not Bubble?” noted out loud his sister.
“If you don’t mind...” he began ignoring her, “Could you please leave the room, so we both can dress.”
“You’re not going to jump through the window, are you?” asked the redhead suspiciously.
“No. Now out.”
Giving one last look at the pair, Ashley and Jane left the room in silence, going through the destroyed door, with EDI in tow looking quite pensive.
“Oh God. This is so embarrassing.” his bed partner said once they were alone.
“I’m sorry. I should have known they would find me. EDI probably put some tracking software in my helmet or my omni-tool.”
“That’s what you get for freeing her.”
“If this is all I get nefariously wise, I’m fine with it.”
Looking up to him she asked the same thing that Jane did.
“Miranda?”
That was new. He never called her by her name before. It was either ‘Bubble’ or ‘Pet’ when they were in private. That he used her birth given name was an indication that something in their relationship changed, on his side.
“I wasn’t going to call you ‘pet’. That’s just when we’re being intimate.”
“My lower body is filled to the brim and plugged, that’s more than intimate enough.”
“Yeah, but we had an audience. I didn’t want to embarrass you.”
“They saw me naked and tied up in the most compromising position ever. It was beyond embarrassing. Try again because you could have used your nickname for me.”
She insisted, wanting to know why the change.
“I supposed I grew quite fond of you.” he replied with a sigh. “Enough for me to want to keep you.”
“Keep me?” she repeated to verify that she heard him correctly. She didn’t want to raise her hopes up.
“Yes, keep you. By just being yourself you help me a lot. And let’s not forget that you’re my vice-president. See it as an incentive to do an excellent job, something that you could look forward to too. At least until I find you someone who will treat you how you need to be treated.” he joked.
“What if I already found that someone? I’m perfectly fine with you.” she argued.
“Don’t you want to find love?”
“Love? For me?”
She began to laugh at the absurdity of it. Love was something she had never known and didn’t believe was in the cards for her. The fact that she couldn’t get pregnant drastically reduced to near zero any prospect in the love department.
“Don’t laugh, I’m serious! I didn’t believe in it too and yet I got lucky. There is no reason you shouldn’t be too.”
“No one would love a defective woman like me. Fuck? Sure, I was engineered for that but love?”
“You’re not defective Miranda.”
“You don’t know what...”
“I know.”
She looked him in the eyes to find any deceit but found none. She didn’t even bother asking how he knew, after all knowing things was his thing.
“How could you say I’m not then?”
“Because...”
“Are you decent?” came the voice of Jane outside the door.
The two lovers looked at each other for a moment and Rick simply kissed her on her full red lips.
“We’ll talk another time about it, but I may have a solution to your problem.” he said as he got out of bed and went for his clothes.
Miranda looked at him, wondering if he truly had a way for her to have a child. Considering the many crazy ideas and theories he had that proved factual she dared hope that it was true.
She got out of bed and went to dress too, not having the time for a shower, she’d have to take one later. When she didn’t remove the plugs Rick commented on it.
“You’re going to stay like that under your clothes?”
“No time for a shower and I don’t want to leave a trail while walking.”
He just nodded and put his helmet back on. That had been a surprise to Miranda that he chose to remove it in the first place but she didn’t complain, far from it.
When for the second time the interlopers entered the room without any invitation, both lovers were presentable. Realizing that now wasn’t the time nor the place to have a talk with him, Jane just played catch up with Miranda while Ashley gave Rick a stinky eye.
The brunette was utterly pissed at his actions and quite a bit jealous. Not that he had sex with another woman but because they were supposed to spend the time together like he did with Miranda. Jane’s change of plans has been something that she had okayed but seeing that he had made his own plans disregarding her stung a bit, making her feel as a simple bed warmer when she believed, rightfully, that she was more than that. His interactions with the other woman, which she had to admit was sex on legs, didn’t help with her insecurities regarding her relationship with him.
Noticing the look he was getting, Rick took her by the hand and dragged her outside, saying goodbye to Miranda.
“What is it?” he asked his lover.
“Nothing.” she replied, barely containing her anger.
“Translation: I’m pissed at you because you did something wrong but I won’t tell you because you should know what you did wrong.” he said. “But here’s some news: I don’t know what I did wrong.”
“You’re a genius, you shouldn’t have a problem figuring it out!”
Sighing, he squeezed her hand and took the elevator to the first floor while thinking about it. It didn’t take him long to reach the right conclusion.
“Miranda, huh. Never thought that you of all people would be jealous.”
“I’m not!”
“Uh-huh. If you say so.”
“I say so! It’s about you treating me like a wet tissue! We were supposed to spend the day together in a hotel room and you did but with someone else!”
____________________________________________________________
“Are you sure, you don’t know what she wants?” Jane asked as she walked side by side with Rick.
“Yes.”
Aria had sent her a private message, an invitation of sorts for a meeting at the Purgatory, a nightclub on the presidium. Jane had asked her brother a few times if he knew what it was about but answered negatively. The last time he had seen her was when they were on Omega to deal with Samara’s daughter, Morinth.
Entering the place, Rick chuckled at the sight.
“What’s funny?”
“She’ll be in a bad mood. Everything she hates is here. Bad music, not very good dancers, and the aesthetic... I’m not even talking about it. If she’s here then the other nightclubs must be worse. I’m so going to have a field day.”
Going up the stairs leading to the upper level of the nightclub they immediately saw Aria sitting alone on a couch having taken possession of an entire section of the nightclub. She was being harassed by some human woman and Rick almost felt sorry for the idiot for going against his mother. In silence he sat himself down right next to Aria and gave her a greeting kiss on the cheek, ignoring the vociferation of the human woman. The Queen of Omega seemed to have had enough and ordered her human assistant on the side to contact councilor Tevos, who was bothered at first but quickly changed her tune when she saw Aria and Rick sitting hip against hip. Never in her wildest dream did she think that the two were that close. Anderson had shared their connection but nothing indicated such a close bond. While she was afraid of Aria, as any asari in their right mind should, she was also afraid of Rick’s abilities, notably his mind. She knew that he was a good man who did the right thing but his intelligence alone could start wars. The fact that the two of them seemed to have a close bond terrified her.
“Gorgeous.” Rick greeted.
“Gorgeous?” Aria asked with a brow raised. “You fucked her?”
“Nah, didn’t have the time to turn on the charm.”
Their small talk was done while looking at Tevos who felt like a prey in front of two predators. Wanting to get rid of that feeling and of the two of them, she asked what she could do for them.
“It seems immigration has a problem with me being here.” explain Aria.
And just like that, immigration didn’t have a problem anymore as Tevos quickly dismissed the immigration agent then said her goodbye and cut the transmission. Jane, who had been watching on the side, finally took a seat and looked at the pair.
“Not the queen just on Omega, huh?”
“Live as long as she has and...” Rick stopped in his jest when Aria grabbed him by the balls, literally.
“Mind repeating, that? I didn’t quite hear you.” the asari dared.
“Does that count as a handjob?” was his snarky reply and to his surprise she didn’t squeeze harder and instead release her grip.
“I don’t have time for this. Shepard, I... need your help.” The queen confessed, prompting Rick to turn his head to the side so fast to look at her that Jane believed it was a miracle his neck didn’t break.
“What happened?” the man asked.
“Cerberus.”
“What did they do?” Jane inquired.
“After luring me out of Omega they took control of it.”
“What?! You never leave the station!”
“And here I am, in his hell hole.”
“I thought it was because of the reapers, not those morons. How did they succeed?”
“Liselle.”
“They captured her? How?!”
“No.”
Her ‘no’ has been curt and dry and Rick immediately understood what she was implying.
“Who?” he asked in a cold voice and tone, that both Aria and Jane could recognize despite his synthetic voice.
“Kai Leng. The Illusive Man’s right-hand man.”
“He’ll die.” proclaimed her son as he stood up and left for the bar on the opposite side of the level.
“Who’s Liselle?” Jane asked without any tact.
“My daughter. I want them all dead Shepard, every single one of them, especially Kai Leng and the Illusive Man. Unfortunately I know it would take time. Time that we don’t have with the Reapers around.”
“Is that why you asked me to meet with you? I have better things to do, like a war for our survival to win.”
“It isn’t though it’s not unrelated. You help me take back Omega and every ressources at my disposal is yours. Credits, man power, technology; ask and you will get. The whole might of the Terminus.”
“That’s... generous of you. The other leaders of the galaxy are not so invested in helping me.”
“I’m no fool, commander. I understand full well that cooperation will be the key to our survival. It will cost the others dearly, especially the asari. Goddess damned matriarchs sitting on their asses thinking they are better than everyone else.”
At that moment, Rick came back with a drink in each hand and gave one to Aria as he took back his seat next to her.
“What’s the plan?”
“I made some deals with the mercs but there are some complications that I need you to take care of.”
“Alright, I...”
“Not you, her.” she said looking at Jane.
“Why me?” the redhead questioned, perplexed.
“Because, that little shit right here, will probably blow up to smithereens the negotiations by killing some of them. Hell, the deals may go sideways just because they saw him, thinking that I sent him to clean them up.”
“To be fair, you did send me to clean them up, sometimes.”
Aria looked at him with narrowed eyes but said nothing else. Jane stood up and went to work as she couldn’t pass on the opportunity to have the full might of Omega and the whole Terminus behind her against the reapers. Looking at Rick he signaled her that he was staying and motioned for her to go on. She hesitated for a moment, not wanting to leave him alone but relented and exited the nightclub alone.
“She knows.” remarked his mother. “I’m surprised you told her.”
“I didn’t. Things got hot on Mars. Got hurt and my helmet had to be removed. Why didn’t you tell me? I was a message away.” he answered then changed the topic.
“We were both busy. Especially you. Did it pay off?”
“Hypothetically, yes.” he replied and explained further as she looked at him intently. “What the alliance is building has never been done before, the protheans were missing a crucial component for their weapon and couldn’t complete it. We don’t know what that is and we don’t know if the thing works or what it even does. We’re going in with a lot of faith because this is the only thing we have.”
“If anyone can find the answers to these questions, it’s you.”
“You are putting a lot of faith in me.”
“I know my son.” she replied with a small smile.
“Gee, thanks for the pressure, I think I didn’t have enough on my shoulders.”
“We both know the harder the challenge the harder and better you work.”
Rick just sighed and rested his head on her shoulder.
“What are you doing?”
“Finding comfort from my mother.”
“In public?”
“I don’t care anymore about being your dirty little secret. It’s not like anyone would say or do anything. No one would dare touch you or me. I’m too important now.”
“And why, pray tell, do you need comfort?”
“Reapers?”
“Yeah, I call bullshit on that one.”
“Ugh... I found out who my father is and that I have another half sister from his side.” he replied truthfully as he showed her a picture of him and Kahlee on his omni-tool. It had been taken by the woman a few days before they arrived on the Citadel.
“Definitely your sister, you look too much alike. Your father then?”
“Jon Grissom.” answered her son, making her laugh.
“The alliance is so screwed.”
“Yeah. There are other things that happened...”
“Such as?”
“Met my birth giver, for one. I... blew up and ran away. Carrot Top spilled the beans and now she wants me back. Apparently she’s sorry.”
“And? What are you going to do about it?”
“Nothing. I already have a mother and I’m pleased with her. More or less.”
“More or less?”
“Mm-mm. She never popped my cherry while constantly grabbing my crotch, a big meany I tell you. Now what are you going to do about it?”
“Why should I do anything?”
At that, Rick lifted his head from his shoulder and looked at her.
“You will let her take me away?”
“If she’s genuinely remorseful...”
“You’re kidding, right?!” he exclaimed in anger as he stood up straight.
“Oh, I won’t let you go. You’re my son and I’m keeping you but I’m not adverse to sharing custody. I know how it feels to want to reconnect with a child you failed because I am an awful mother myself.”
“And you would let her?! Where is the hard ass woman you don’t fuck with?”
“She got softer when it’s about her son. I’m blaming you.” she replied as she grabbed his arm and made him sit back down. To prove his discontent he laid on the couch and rested his head on her lap.
“I still think it’s a trap to get rid of me once and for all.”
“Perhaps, in that case, she’ll die.”
“... you’re the best.”
“I am your mother. Nobody else could have handled you.”
“Analysse did it better, she wasn’t mean.”
“She was your wife.”
“Is.”
“Was. You need to let her go.”
“No. Never. I can’t.”
“You can.”
“My relapse on Eden Prime a few weeks ago proved otherwise.”
“You relapsed?!” she exclaimed, grabbing him by his newly bought shirt.
“Nearly succeeded. Stupid people brought me back.”
“Smart people. We can’t win this war without you and I don’t want to lose another of my children. You’re the only thing I have left.”
“Not after we take back Omega.”
“That’s not the point.”
“It is. You just don’t want to say it.”
“You know damn... No, I’m not playing your game. You’ll find no sympathy from me other than a well deserved and needed kick in the ass.” she replied as she let go of his shirt.
“And I love you for that.” he said as he put a hand affectionately on her cheek.
“You better.”