Chapter Text
Chapter One: Call from Reyes
Another day had come and gone for the Pathfinder and her crew. The day had been spent with the usual, go to a planet, help the locals, work on trying to make the vaults run so the planets could be colonized.
Her brother, Scott, was still in a coma and the kett were still out there. Sara had done so much, but it still felt that they hadn't made a dent in progress.
But all of that was far from her mind as she slept in her quarters.
“Sara,” SAM's voice echoed in her mind, lulling her out of sleep.
“Hmm... SAM?” she moaned softly, slowly opening her violet eyes.
“You have a vidcom waiting for you.”
The lights in the room slowly came on, giving Sara enough time to get used to it. Moaning a little more as she sat up and rubbed her eye a little.
“Can't Cora take care of it? I've only gotten three hours of sleep...” she yawned, as she glanced at the time.
“She cannot. Mr. Vidal asked for you specifically.”
Sara perked up at hearing the name, suddenly feeling more awake. “Reyes?”
“Yes, and from the tone of his voice, it seems to be urgent.”
Sara found herself out of bed and grabbing her hoodie from the back of her chair as she left her quarters.
“Hey, where's the fire?” Liam stuck his head out of crew quarters to see Sara running across the platform.
“Her boyfriend's calling!” Peebee shouted, stepping out of the galley with a snack.
“What?”
Sara rolled her eyes at the exchange as she made her way up to the meeting room.
“...as I said before, I need to talk to Ryder.” Reyes voice came out of the console, but there was no holographic image of him.
“And as I said before, the Pathfinder is sleeping, so you can talk to me,” Cora answered, leaning against the console, glaring down at it as if it was Reyes himself.
“It's all right, Cora, I'm up,” Sara said, making herself known.
Cora turned to her in surprise, before sighing. “Did SAM wake you?”
Sara nodded in response.
“Ah, Ryder! Good to hear you again,” Reyes said, sounding pleased to finally be speaking with her.
“Yeah, 'bout that, you do remember that this is vidcom right?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
Reyes chuckled at her greeting, though it sounded off to her ears, at least slightly. “The vid part of the com isn't working here. They're... working on getting that fixed.”
“Uh-huh,” Sara said, skeptical. “So, what is it? SAM said it was urgent?”
“Really? Well, I never said it was.”
Sara raised an eyebrow. “Oo-kay, is this a social call then?” she asked, moving closer to the console.
Reyes chuckled again, still sounding off to her. “Sadly, no, it's business.”
“What? No party for us to steal the alcohol from again?” Sara said, receiving another chuckle from the smuggler, but this time it sounded more normal.
“Trust me, you'll be the first one I call for that. Last time was very... enjoyable...”
A slight smile came over her features, knowing he was referring to the 'distraction' in the storage closet and then later on the roof.
“Will you just get to the point already?”
Sara jumped slightly, turning her head to see Liam standing next to her, his arms crossed as he glared at the console. How long had he been standing there? She had forgotten for a moment that she wasn't alone.
Glancing around, she saw that most of the crew (minus Suvi, Kallo, and Gil) was in the meeting room now. She blushed a little at the sudden realization that they had an audience.
Hearing a giggle, she turned to see Peebee behind Liam. Sara glared at the asari as she giggled behind her hand. Peebee just grinned at her before popping some food into her mouth.
“Ah... Kosta, was it? Nothing wrong with having some small talk, no?” Reyes said, trying to smooth things over.
Liam scoffed. “Whatever, if this isn't important, I say we should just end the call.”
Sara turned to him in shock. “Liam!”
“Oooh, this is getting intense,” Peebee whispered to Vetra, who just shook her head in slight amusement.
“I'm just saying, if all he does is want to flirt with you, then he can do that when you go back to Kadara.” Liam sent a glare to Sara, which she returned. His look turned to one of slight surprise, not having expected her to glare back.
Sudden coughing caused the two to look back towards the console.
“Reyes?” Sara asked, concern lacing her tone as red flags went up in her mind.
Reyes cleared his throat. “Sorry- anyways, Kosta's right,” he said, surprising her a little. “To business then...
“I have some... contacts that are wanting to speak with you, Ryder. They have some... information that could be beneficial to you.”
Sara leaned against the console. “What kind of information?”
“Ah, well, I really can't give details over an unsecured channel. But...” he paused for a moment, almost seeming to choose his next words carefully. “Let's just say that it could mean the difference of life and death... so to speak.”
Her eyebrows went up in slight alarm. “Reyes-”
“I'm sending you the navpoint,” he cut her off, almost seeming rushed. “My contacts and I will meet you on Elaaden.”
“Wait, you're not on Kadara?”
“No, the situation needed my... personal touch.”
Alarms were going off in her head. Something was definitely wrong. Reyes never left Kadara.
“...All right, when do I need to be there?” she asked, not letting it show how alarmed she was suddenly feeling.
“As soon as possible would be best,” Reyes told her.
“Can't wait to see me again, huh?”
“Hmm, you have no idea.”
Yep, something's wrong... Normally he'll be allusive with his flirting.
“Oh, and, Ryder... the contact requests you come alone.”
Cora scoffed, shaking her head. “You can't be serious? Elaaden is still a dangerous planet, full of Exiles that still want everyone from the Initiative dead. We're not sending Ryder by herself just to meet your contacts. We're a package deal, Vidal, all or none.”
Reyes sighed on his end of the call. “I know... but my contacts are very persistent that the Pathfinder comes alone... Believe me, I've tried to talk them out of it.”
“Right,” Cora said, skeptically.
“If going alone is the only way to talk to them, then I'll go alone,” Sara said, getting the attention of her crew-mates.
“Is this going to be Aya all over again?” Vetra asked, crossing her arms.
“Hey, that turned out all right, didn't it?” Sara smiled at her.
“That was different. We didn't have a choice,” Liam quickly reminded.
“Hey, is anyone going to ask Reyes who the contacts even are? I mean, sheesh, seems to be important information missing here...” Peebee pointed out.
“I'm sorry, I can't really say at the moment...”
“So... not the Resistance, then?” Jaal spoke up, having opted to just listen until now.
The smuggler didn't answer.
“Reyes, tell them I'll be there,” Sara confirmed, ignoring the looks from her teammates.
“Good,” he said, sounding slightly relieved. “I'll see you when you get here then. By the way, not sure if I said this, but I apologize about disrupting your sleep.”
Sara's expression softened a little. “Don't worry about it, I slept for over six hundred years.”
Reyes chuckled a little. “Oh, and one more thing... you look lovely with your hair down, Sara.”
Her eyes went wide at his words, suddenly reaching up to her brown hair. It wasn't in her signature ponytail, but down, which she had done when she went to bed. She had forgotten to put it back up when SAM woke her.
“How-” she began to ask, but the call suddenly cut off.
“Well, smells like a trap to me,” Drack said, speaking up for the first time after a moment.
“Yeah, I know,” Sara said, sighing.
“Oh, really? 'Cause I was under the impression you weren't thinking straight.” Liam spat, causing Sara to glare at him again.
“SAM?” Sara asked.
“The camera on Mr. Vidal's end had been turned off while he was receiving imagery of you.”
“Why the hell didn't you say anything?” Liam asked, his annoyance showing too strong.
“Because it was clear that Mr. Vidal was trying to relay to the Pathfinder that he had to keep it a secret, for a purpose we do not yet know.”
“Reyes is in trouble...” Sara stated, pulling the hair tie off her wrist. She tied her hair back up into her usual ponytail.
“How can you be so sure?” Cora asked, stepping in before Liam could say anything again.
His temper seemed to be getting worse.
“Maybe Reyes is the one setting the trap?” Vetra suggested. “I mean, you don't really know him.”
“You think he'd really do that?” Peebee asked, swallowing her food. “It'd be pretty stupid, right? He knows messing with Sara would screw up his rep in the Resistance, not to mention it would make it almost impossible to make Heleus liveable for us.”
“Don't know, maybe he got bought out by somebody? He's always after the next pay out,” Liam stated, seeming to calm down a little.
“The only thing we really know about him is that he's with the Resistance. How can we be sure everything else he's said is even true?”
Sara shook her head, almost not believing what she was hearing. “You're wrong about him... Dismissed.”
“Sara-”
“I said,” she turned and looked back at her squad, a hard and tired look on her face. “Dismissed.”
She turned and walked down the ramp, walking past Lexi. She headed straight for the galley to get a cup of coffee before going to the galaxy map.
“Sara.” Liam came into the kitchen as soon as she grabbed a mug from the cabinet. “You can't actually be doing this...”
“What? Getting coffee?” she said, sarcastically.
Liam rolled his eyes. “Look, I get you like him, but that shouldn't be a reason to go to him every time he calls you up.”
Watching the coffee pour into her mug, she blew out a breath of air. “This has nothing to do with that. Did you hear anything he said?”
“Honestly? It all sounded like a load of bullshit, just to get you to come to him alone.”
She looked at him skeptically, before taking a sip of her coffee. “Really, Liam?”
He sighed. “Fine, maybe not that, but I don't trust him. Something about him rubs me the wrong way...” he said, looking at her. “And that was before you started flirting with him, F.Y.I..”
Looking away from him, she stared down her mug. “You're right, Liam... I do like him, but that's not why I trust him.”
“Oh? You trust him after, what? Two times you helped him out with something? Then you go to some party with him and that somehow gains trust for you? What about us, your team? The ones who have actually fought along side you?”
Sara looked up at him, appalled. “...I can't believe you just said that,” she mumbled, before downing the rest of her coffee, not wanting to take her time anymore.
When she moved to leave the galley, he blocked her way. “Liam-” she began in a warning tone, only to have him cut her off.
“My point is, you're risking your life for a guy, who you're not even sure if he has your back... in a fight, I mean.”
“Liam!”
“All right, all right, that one was bad.”
Sara glared daggers at him. “Yeah, no kidding. You done now?”
“No, actually. If you're so worried, just see if you can send someone from the Resistance to check this out,” he told her, trying to change her mind on going. “There's no reason for you to risk your life, a life that billions depend on, for just one lousy smuggler.”
“Ugh! Liam, he will die if anyone else but me goes!” She was getting beyond frustrated and tired of him not understanding how Reyes' life was in danger.
“And that's a risk that you should be willing to take. You're the only Pathfinder we have, Sara!” he shouted back, causing her to freeze.
Staring at him, she slowly shook his head. “I'm not... I'm not willing to risk it,” she said, looking away from him.
Liam felt his whole resolve shatter. “Fine... you want to throw your life away, go ahead... I see you've really made your choice...” he said, walking out of the galley.
Looking back up at him, she caught his hurt expression. Realizing he meant more than just meeting up with Reyes, she started following him. “Liam, you know that I care about yo-”
He held up his hand, stopping her. “Don't,” he said, moving towards the crew quarters. Before he entered, he looked back at her over his shoulder. “Just... promise me one thing.”
Sara watched him silently, waiting for his request.
He sighed, before his brown eyes connected to her violet ones. “If this turns out to be a trap by him... don't hesitate to kill him... and come back alive.”
The idea of killing Reyes hurt her more than she thought it could, but she knew if it came down to it...
She would have to pull the trigger.
“...Sounds fair. I promise.”
His look softened at her words, before he looked away. “Good...” he said, before entering the crew quarters.
Sara sighed as the door closed behind him, before she turned and climbed up the ladder up to the bridge. Looking up, she saw Suvi glance away from her, while Kallo seemed tenser than usual.
“Did you get the navpoint?” Sara asked, choosing to ignore their reactions.
One thing about the Tempest was that it lacked privacy for certain things...
“Yes, ma'am. The galaxy map is ready for you,” Kallo said, already moving the ship out of the Nexus' docks.
Sara put in the destination, Elaaden, into the galaxy map.
Hang on, Reyes...