Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sara Ryder stood with her hands braced on the Pathfinder's console, the Kindrax system spread out before her. They were right on the edge of the Heleus cluster, several light years out of their way, and all because Sara hated saying no. It was, she would freely admit, her biggest flaw.

This time, it was vanadium. The Nexus scientists who'd waved her over the last time she was on the station were convinced that the Kindrax system had the richest deposits in the cluster, and could she please set down some mining probes when she was next in the area as vanadium was vital for developing new weapons to defend their outposts against the kett. The Tempest had no reason to visit Kindrax any time soon and it was in the ass end of nowhere, a whole day's travel from Elaaden at best, so of course Sara had said yes. Of course she had.

“Ryder, there's a deposit of vanadium on this comet,” said Suvi, her brow slightly creased as she studied her sensor readings.

“Good. Kallo, bring us in close enough to launch a mining probe, then we can get out of here.”

“Right away.” Ryder felt the familiar, comforting rumble of the drive core as the salarian guided the ship in close to a huge comet, its ion tail glowing a luminescent blue in the starlight. A few seconds later, their probe shot out from the Tempest and latched on to the comet, leaving its own shimmering gas trail.

“Look at that,” Suvi sighed. “It's even more beautiful out here than when you see them planetside—hold on.” She sat up in her chair, suddenly alert.

“What's up?” Sara leaned over to look at the graphs and writing gliding over the surface of Suvi's console, but she couldn't make sense of any of it.

“I'm picking up something,” said Suvi. “A...signal of some kind? It's hard to make out.” She fiddled with the controls until the static dissolved into something like a voice. Though it was impossible to make out any words, the frantic terror needed no translation.

“Pathfinder, the signal appears to be angaran in origin,” SAM piped up.

“Suvi, can you track it?”

“I think so. I'll need a minute.”

“SAM, ask Jaal to come up here. We don't want to run into Roekaar by mistake.” Sara had had enough of the Roekaar in the last few weeks. Shooting Jaal had disgraced Akksul and driven the fighters at his side away, but there was no guarantee that they'd all got the memo.

“Got it,” said Suvi as the bridge doors opened and Jaal came to stand behind Ryder. She tried to ignore how his presence made her heart race, and focus on Suvi's words. “It's coming from the asteroid belt, near Tunharaset. I'll be able to narrow it down once we're closer.”

Ryder glanced over her shoulder at Jaal, who was listening to Suvi's playback of the signal with his head tilted to one side. “Jaal, do you know if there's any Roekaar activity in this system?”

“I have not heard anything, and the Roekaar congregate around Havarl, but I would not like to say for certain.” He was still listening to the message intently, his gaze focussed on something in the distance.

“Okay. Kallo, take us in, but only close enough for us to pinpoint the signal's location. I don't want a fight if we can help it.”

“Will do,” said Kallo.

As the system blurred around them and the Tempest picked up speed, the signal sharpened until it became clear that the voice belonged to an angaran woman, though only a few words translated. Those being family, stolen, and kett.

“Damn it,” Ryder muttered. “SAM, why can I only understand a few words?”

“She's speaking in a dialect of Shelesh SAM has probably not encountered before,” said Jaal before the AI could answer. “It's from the south of Voeld. I think. Even I cannot understand every word.”

“But it's enough,” said Ryder, turning back to the viewing window. Kallo had brought the Tempest to a stop at the edge of the asteroid belt.

“Suvi, may I see your readings?”

“Sure.” Suvi turned her chair to the side so Jaal could get a better look at her screen, and Sara's stomach sank as Jaal's face settled into a frown. She was pretty sure she'd do anything he asked when his face looked like that.

“Ryder, this is a Resistance emergency channel,” he said, his voice strained with worry.

“Then we have to help them,” Sara decided before Jaal had even finished his sentence.

“We should be careful. I don't know of any major Resistance activity in this system, but a lot of our operations are covert.”

“But it could be bait,” Sara finished. “Noted. Kallo, do you have a navpoint yet?”

“The signal seems to be coming from a large asteroid one point five AU to our left. We can be there in five minutes, Pathfinder.”

“If it's an asteroid, then it may be a mining operation,” said Jaal from behind her. “A lot of our resources come from small family-run mines. They're easier to hide and defend than large-scale operations, and Evfra makes sure they can protect themselves. If we get there quickly they may have a chance, Ryder.”

Sara turned back to the viewing screen and sighed. “Take us in, Kallo. Jaal, meet me and Cora in the cargo bay in five minutes.” If the mine already had defences, then hopefully they could help the Resistance clean up and be on their way before anyone noticed she was delaying her search for a home yet again.

The mining camp was silent and still, the air sour with the acrid smoke from destroyed machinery. No alarms had triggered when they had entered through the airlock, and the kett shuttle outside was deserted. Ryder lay on her stomach between Cora and Jaal on a rocky outcrop, hidden from anyone coming out of the cluster of prefab buildings in the centre of the dome.

“See anything, Jaal?” Ryder whispered, her voice carrying far more than she wanted. The stasis field that arched over them distorted the senses, amplifying some noises and muffling others, all while bathing everything in a sickly red glow. It was nauseating.

Jaal peered down the scope of his rifle. “No movement. Though possibly...” she heard him suck in a breath through his teeth. “Ryder, there are signs of a struggle. Some crates knocked over...” He trailed off, then his voice grew dark. “Bullet holes in the walls, and angaran bloodstains.”

We were too late. Ryder dared not say what they all must have been thinking—that the miners had been taken for slavery or exaltation. “Let's take a look inside,” she decided instead. “Could be a few survivors.” And if we'd been a few minutes faster, there would be more. She glanced over at Jaal, wondering if he thought the same thing.

“Wait, I see movement,” he said, adjusting the scope on his rifle. “Two armed kett patrolling to our left. Another's just come out of the central building, loading a crate into that truck.”

“So the first lot dealt with the miners, and these are the grunts left to loot the place?” said Ryder, checking her assault rifle had a full clip. She'd snatched it off a dead kett a couple of months ago, and it had served her well ever since. Dropping kett with it held a grim sort of satisfaction, now that she was using their own weapons against them.

“They need minerals just like we do,” said Cora.

“Can you take out that guard, Jaal?” The kett with the crate had disappeared back into the building, and now there was only one hovering by the door. He'd probably look bored, but facial expressions weren't really a kett thing.

“From this distance? Of course,” said Jaal, sounding a little affronted, and Ryder smirked to herself. Two seconds later, the guard was dead. Another three seconds, and so was the kett who came out to investigate.

When nobody raised the alarm after a full minute, Sara shifted into a crouch. “Cora, you go check that outbuilding.” She pointed at a cluster of squat buildings that looked like some kind of residential complex. “Jaal, you take that office-looking thing,” she said, indicating the tall, narrow structure that was now decorated with kett blood. “I'll take the warehouse. Keep in touch over the comms, and let everyone know as soon as you find any survivors.” Ryder could only hope that was a when, not an if.

The warehouse was a huge hulking thing that cast a shadow over half the mining complex. Ryder pressed herself to the wall outside the doors and waited until she had seen Jaal and Cora disappear inside their assigned buildings. When there was no gunfire immediately, she poked her head into the warehouse.

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dimness, but luckily SAM had her back. “No life signs in the main room, Pathfinder, though there are additional rooms in the basement.”

“Great,” Sara muttered, edging into the warehouse and along the wall, sticking to the shadows as much as she could, her rifle clutched at the ready.

There were faint noises from the far end of the warehouse. It sounded like someone moving around, and then voices—she froze and listened. Her translator couldn't make sense of what she was hearing, but even without it she could tell that those voices were not angaran.

Wishing SAM could give her night vision or something, Sara edged over to the far side of the warehouse. Now that her eyes had adjusted, she could see a square of faint white light near the wall, and a set of steps leading down into the basement. She glanced over her shoulder, and when the voices continued, she crept down towards the light.

She crouched in the shadows, hardly daring to move a muscle. The basement was a small storage space of some kind, full of lockers, shelves sagging under the weight of years worth of files and documents, and spare machine parts covered in dusty cloth. Two kett soldiers stood facing away from her, guns slung across their backs as they rummaged through a huge storage crate. Occasionally they would pick up something—a computer component, a spare machine part, anything of value—and toss it into another crate next to them.

Ryder tensed. She calculated that a single, well-timed nova could take out both kett at once, especially in an enclosed space like this. She'd have to be careful though, because if she wasn't quick enough and one of them managed to grab their rifle—

Pathfinder, said SAM through their private channel, and Ryder's heart lurched at the panic in his emotionless voice, behind—

Something that felt a lot like a foot slammed into her back, and Ryder swore as she tumbled down the stairs and landed on her face at the kett's feet. They stared at her in shock for a split second, and Ryder rolled to the side on instinct, just as there was a resounding crack. When she opened her eyes, ears still ringing, there was a smoking hole in the floor where her head had been half a second ago.

Then her Sidewinder was in her hand and she managed to shoot the kett who'd kicked her down the stairs in the chest. He staggered backwards and dropped to the floor, green blood splashing up the wall.

Ryder raised her fist in the air, prepared to unleash all the biotic energy she could muster into the small, enclosed space, but then she froze.

There was a high-pitched wailing coming from inside one of the crates that the kett had not yet touched.

They heard it as well, to her horror, and before she could do anything the one that was nearest jerked the lid open, which triggered another wail.

There was a tiny angaran child nestled among the junk, maybe hidden by a desperate parent. Ryder didn't know much about angaran biology, but this one could not have been more than a year old. It had pale yellow skin and enormous blue eyes, which were looking up at the kett in terror as it recoiled further into the corner of the crate.

Before Sara could even think about what she was doing, she diverted most of the energy she'd been ready to send into a nova into a biotic shockwave that slammed the kett into the wall, then she rushed over to the crate and put the rest into a barrier that enveloped both herself and the baby, which was now crying in earnest.

“Cora! Jaal!” she screamed into her radio as the last remaining kett started emptying his assault rifle into her shields. “I need backup, now!” She didn't dare drop the barrier to retaliate.

Cora got there first, and Ryder finally let her arms drop as her arrival cut the gunfire off. “Are you all right?” she started, brows knitted together with concern. “There was only one—oh.”

Ryder turned, still catching her breath. The child was now standing on unsteady feet, gripping the rim of the crate to stay balanced, wide eyes fixed on Ryder. “Hey there,” Sara said, crouching down so they were at eye level. “Are you all right?”

No reply, but plenty more staring. Sara sighed, guessing that it was too much to hope for that the baby could talk, let alone understand her.

“We'll need to get back to the Tempest for a medical evaluation,” said Cora from behind her.

“Did you find any other survivors?”

Cora sighed. “None. A couple of kett, but I think this must have been a salvage crew.”

“Looters, you mean.” Ryder turned back to the toddler. “Now we just need to work out how to move you.”

She straightened and realised she had no idea how to hold an angaran baby. Jaal would know, but he hadn't caught up to them yet.

She went to call him on her omni-tool, but then she felt something tugging at her armour. Sara looked down. The baby was now bouncing as if to get her attention (angara were quite bouncy, Sara had noticed) and gripping one of the straps on her greaves in a chubby little fist.

“You've made a friend,” Cora teased.

“You think?” She holstered her weapon and bent down, picking the baby up under the armpits as she would a human child. There were no more shrieks of complaint, so she must have been doing something right.

As soon as the baby was in her arms, it latched onto her chest piece, gripping with both hands and feet. “I guess you're coming back to the Tempest, then,” said Sara as she turned to leave. “SAM, can you get into any of the miners' systems? Lexi will want any medical records you can get a hold of.” She paused. “A name would be nice, too.”

“A moment, please, Pathfinder.”

Cora led the way out of the barn and back out into the red glow of the mining dome. Jaal met them at the entrance. He was unhurt, though there were green blood splatters on his normally-pristine rofjinn and a grim frown on his face. “Cora. I found no survivors. Did you—“ he stopped when Sara emerged into the light.

“One little warrior,” said Cora, stepping aside so Jaal could get a better look.

His eyes widened. The human pathfinder with a tiny angaran child clinging to her armour like some kind of deranged koala must have been quite a sight, but Sara thought he took it in his admittedly long stride very quickly. “Did they hurt her?” he said, taking a step closer.

Sara shook her head. “I don't think so. Not physically, anyway. We'll have to take her back to the Tempest so Lexi can take a look, though, right after SAM gets her medical records, if there are any.”

Right on cue, SAM spoke up over the comm. “Pathfinder, record-keeping on this outpost was poor, but I have forwarded the medical records that exist to Dr. T'Perro. Additionally, I have discovered that this child's name is Yavaya Verae, and she is six months old.”

“Only six months?” She looked down Yavaya. Sara had her arm under her legs, but otherwise Yavaya seemed to be supporting most of her own weight. “She's strong.”

“As are most anagaran young ones,” said Jaal, somewhat proudly.

“Kallo, we need an extraction,” Cora said into her comm. “And tell Lexi we found one survivor, six months old, unhurt but needing medical evaluation.”

“A baby?” she heard Suvi say in disbelief somewhere in the background, but Kallo's voice was as measured as ever when he replied.

“Acknowledged, Pathfinder team. On our way.”

Cora brought up the rear as they headed back to the airlock, Sara balancing Yavaya on her hip. Though she was pretty sure any human that age would be screaming up a storm at this point, Yavaya was quiet, only fidgeting a little. Sara hoped that was a good sign. She kept her head tucked into Sara's chest, occasionally peeking over her shoulder at Cora and the only home she had ever known.

“Evfra will need to know about this,” Jaal muttered as they traipsed back up the ridge surrounding the mining camp.

“So this was definitely a Resistance operation?” Sara said as she adjusted Yavaya's weight. The baby angara was now holding onto her chest piece with only one hand, with the fused fingers of the other crammed into her mouth. She was growing heavy in Sara's arms, her head lolling onto her shoulder. How she could sleep after all she'd been through was a mystery.

“Hm. I was able to access some of their financial records before you called for help. This mine was owned by the Verae family and supplied the Resistance with nickel. We need it for weapons manufacturing, and it seems that the Veraes were one of Evfra's main suppliers.”

Sara glanced up, and was a little surprised to find Jaal watching her. “You okay?” She shifted Yavaya again a little self-consciously, hoping she wasn't holding her wrong.

“I suppose it depends on what humans mean by 'okay',” he replied, his tone dark. “I am glad we managed to get here in time to save Yavaya, but hundreds of angaran children are not so lucky.”

“Yeah. I'm sorry, Jaal. If we had got here sooner, then her family...”

Jaal took a step closer, his head bowed in sorrow. “No, Sara. You did everything you could, and her family were likely gone before Suvi even picked up the distress signal. I was thinking of the other children of families the kett take, who don't have anyone to hear their cries for help.”

Yavaya was now soundly asleep, and Sara couldn't help reaching over with her free hand to stroke the top of her buttercup-yellow head, where a tuft of hair would be on a human infant. “The kett don't...they don't take them, do they?” She had seen no children—or adolescents, even—in the exaltation facility they'd infiltrated to rescue the Moshae, but knowing the kett, that meant nothing.

“No. It is worse—they leave them. Before now the Resistance has attempted to help a daar after receiving a distress call, as we did, and found the place scattered with...” he swallowed, and Ryder could tell he was fighting back tears. She would have hugged him, were she not carrying Yavaya. “Little ones,” he finished, his voice cracking a little. “Occasionally we got there in time to rescue a few, but most of them...They were not old enough to survive for long with their families snatched away from them.”

Sara didn't know what to say, and not for the first time, she wished she had Jaal's way with words. Staring at him was probably not very comforting. “Christ, Jaal, that's...I'm sorry.”

He gently touched the centre of Yavaya's forehead with a gloved finger. She stirred in her sleep, her hand slipping from her mouth, but did not wake up. Perhaps this was some kind of angaran gesture, a way of giving comfort when no words were enough.

“Yavaya is fortunate that you were there to help, Sara.”

“I suppose so,” she said, suddenly unable to meet his eyes. It was a miracle she had been in the right place at the right time, and if that scientist hadn't asked her for help, she would have been on the other side of the Heleus cluster. She thought it was best if she didn't remind Jaal of that.

“Ryder, Kallo says he's landed the Tempest as close as possible, on top of that ridge,” Cora called over. She already had the airlock open and was halfway to the Nomad. “He's ready to leave when you are.”

“Let's not waste any more time, then,” said Ryder. “Hey, Cora?”

“Yeah?”

“Still wanting to drive the Nomad? I've kind of got my hands full over here.”

Sara had to smile at the way Cora's eyes lit up, though she tried to hide it behind her usual professional manner. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Just try to keep the ride smooth, okay? We have a baby on board.”

“You got it,” said Cora, hopping into the driver's seat. Ryder followed eagerly, desperate to leave this graveyard behind and get back to the warmth and safety of the Tempest.

Chapter Text

Yavaya was still clinging to Sara when Cora manoeuvred the Nomad into the docking bay, so smoothly that Sara had to wonder if she hadn't been practising. The bumpy, low-gravity ride had disturbed her sleep, and as Sara climbed out of the Nomad Yavaya looked around the cargo bay with wide, terrified eyes, her knuckles blue where they were gripping the top of her chest piece.

Gil was waiting for her by the workbench, as usual. This had become a familiar routine to Sara—Gil would help her out of her heavy armour, a comfortable quiet between them as he made a note of any repairs and adjustments he needed to make before she headed out next. After being shot at by outlaws and yelled at by unhappy colonists and hunted by kett, it helped her decompress and organise her thoughts before heading back into the comparative calm of Tempest life.

She doubted she'd be getting any of that peace this time.

“Hey, Gil,” she said as she approached his workbench, Jaal and Cora following close behind.

“Hey, Ryder. And...friend?”

“Her name's Yavaya. Only survivor we found.”

“Yeah, Lexi told me. She didn't tell me that angaran babies were so...”

“Adorable?” Cora suggested.

“Well, yes, but I was thinking more of how...squishy-looking she is. Hey there,” he said, bending down to get on eye level with her.

Yavaya eyed him cautiously from her perch on Sara's chest piece, but when he made to move closer, she turned and buried her face in Sara's neck.

“Uh oh, someone's shy,” Gil chuckled, drawing back.

“Yeah, she's been through a lot. Jaal, can you hold her for a second while I get my armour off?”

“Of course,” he said. He reached out to gently prise her from Sara's armour, but Yavaya was not having it. As soon as he tried to pick her up, she let out a wail that was really quite impressive for one so tiny.

“Okay, maybe not,” Sara winced. Jaal instantly let go and Yavaya snuggled back into the crook of Sara's arm.

“Don't worry, I'll manage,” Gil said as he started working on the fastenings at Sara's ribs. “I've made repairs to this ship as we were being chased through the Scourge by a dozen kett warships, I think I can work around a clingy baby.”

It took longer than usual, but eventually Gil was able to remove the last of Sara's armour, leaving her in the comfortable black bodysuit she wore underneath. She rolled her shoulders, glad to be free of the confines of her hardsuit. “Thanks, Gil.”

“No problem. And hey, you only got it scratched a few times! No dents or anything!” He held her chest piece up as if to admire it, and Sara scoffed.

“I'd like to see you get through a firefight all pristine,” she retorted. “Come on, Yavaya, let's get you to Lexi.”

“Good luck, Ryder,” Cora said as she made a beeline for the galley, probably in search of coffee.

As she headed towards the medbay, Sara was acutely aware that Jaal was following close behind her. His presence was like a magnet, and she couldn't resist pausing so they could walk side-by-side. It was the kind of thing she wouldn't think twice about doing if it had been Cora or Liam or Vetra behind her, but Jaal made her hyper-aware of her every action, her every word, her every sideways glance at him when he wasn't looking. It was driving her crazy, making her feel like a bumbling mess when she was supposed to be a representative of her entire species.

“You're coming too?” she said, then instantly regretted the words. Of course he was coming, he was walking right next to her.

“Yes. I may be able to offer advice to you and Lexi. I'm sure she has been reading up on our physiology, but I have experience with our children that she does not. Growing up, my family's household was always full of young ones.”

“You know, I can imagine you with kids. Uh, getting along well with them, I mean.” She studied him over the top of Yavaya's head, but if he thought her wording odd, he had the grace not to show it.

She was relieved when they reached the medbay. Lexi stood up to greet them, her face pulled into a worried frown. “Sara. Cora told me about our newest crew member. Is she all right? Sit down on the bed with her, please.”

“I didn't notice any injuries, though she did have a few close calls.”

“I'll need to scan her to make sure,” said the doctor, producing a small, handheld scanner. She raised her eyebrows when Yavaya shrunk further into Sara, though she did not cry this time. “Fascinating how she's become attached to you so quickly,” she observed. “She's probably never seen a human before.”

“Angaran children form attachments quickly,” said Jaal from where he stood at the end of the bed, arms folded over his broad chest. “They have to, since they are surrounded by family from the moment they're born.” He sighed heavily. “And she will be confused, and scared. Sara protected her from the kett, so it seems she's latched on to her and sees her as a figure of safety and stability. Your biotics may also be a factor.”

“How?” Sara looked down at Yavaya, who was dozing again now that Lexi had finished her scans and was checking her readings on her datapad.

“You protected her with a biotic shield. It's possible that it feels similar to our bioelectricity to her.” Jaal came to sit next to her on the bed. “Angaran babies don't cry much, instead communicating with their mothers through bioelectric impulses. You would not have been aware of such a weak current, but I could feel it when we were walking back to the Nomad, and on the way back to the Tempest. She was terrified at first, but your presence...it calmed her.”

“Well, she's not injured,” said Lexi before Sara could think about what this meant. “I'd like to keep her under observation in the medbay, though, just in case I've missed something.”

“I don't think Yavaya will allow that,” said Jaal. “As far as she's concerned, Sara is her caregiver now.”

What Sara thought was, Oh God, I am not cut out to be a mother, but what came out of her mouth before she could stop herself was, “She can stay in my cabin. I can look after her.”

Lexi's stern gaze could have thawed Voeld into a tropical paradise. “Have you ever looked after a young child before?”

Sara flushed. “No, but I grew up with Scott. Same thing.”

“I will help,” said Jaal brightly, and Sara's flush deepened. “I grew up with many younger siblings and cousins.”

Lexi sighed. “She can't stay here forever, you know that.”

“No, but she'll need someone to look after her until we work out what to do with her. We'll handle this, Lexi. Trust me.”

It was another twenty minutes before Lexi finally released them from the medbay. Jaal had lost count of how many times he'd had to reassure her that yes, they would bring Yavaya for a checkup every day she was with them and yes, with few adjustments nutrient paste could be perfectly safe for babies and no, Yavaya wouldn't start crawling for another few months so there was no need to baby-proof the Tempest. Lexi was very good at her job, perhaps too good sometimes, but all her questions had made Jaal feel as tired as Yavaya looked.

“Can you just hold her while I get changed?” said Sara as soon as they were alone in her quarters. “I don't think I'll be able to get this off with her clinging to me.”

“Of course.” Jaal took her quickly, so she wouldn't have time to protest, and settled her high on his chest so she was tucked securely against his neck. She made a whimper of complaint, but Jaal shushed her and sent what he hoped was a soothing wash of a gentle bioelectric current over her. She fell silent, but her large blue eyes never left Sara as he took her to sit on the couch.

“So,” said Sara. There was the sound of her under-armour dropping to the floor, and Jaal forced himself to think of anything but her changing behind him. It was simple curiosity, he told himself. Stars knew Liam had no qualms about taking his shirt off in front of him, and Jaal wasn't shy, but he'd been told most humans were pretty sensitive about who saw them without clothes, especially the women. He made a point of keeping his back to her while she spoke, though he didn't think he would ever understand the taboo they put on their own bodies, as if they were something dirty or to be ashamed of. From the figure-hugging armour she wore, he had recently noticed that Sara's was quite the opposite. “Tell me what you know about angaran childcare.”

He racked his brain for anything that might be useful. It normally all came so naturally to him, there had never been a need to put it into words, and while he'd been trying to read up on human physiology, babies had not been his priority, so he didn't have much to compare his experiences to. “At this age, she'll spend most of her time sleeping and eating. Yavaya will not start talking for a few months,” he said. “In the meantime she will communicate her needs using bioelectric currents.”

“And I won't be able to understand her,” Sara finished.

“No, probably not.”

“But you can?”

“Yes, to an extent. It is not language, but she will be able to alert me if she needs something.”

“Guess I'm going to be seeing a lot of you in the next few days, then.”

Jaal heard the teasing tone in her voice, though he didn't look at her until she came to sit next to him. As she drew closer, Yavaya leaned out and reached for her, and Jaal handed her over. “No, somehow I don't think you will be getting much privacy.”

Once Yavaya was settled in her lap, Sara leaned back against the cushions and blew a few loose strands of hair away from her face. Jaal watched in fascination as it fluttered back down to rest over her face. He'd touched her hair before, back on Havarl when she was still reeling from seeing Akksul's bulled graze his face, but he'd been wearing gloves. Not for the first time, he wondered what Sara's hair would feel like if he were to run it through his bare fingers. “We still haven't decided what we're going to do with her.”

“There is a genetic database on Aya which is used for this exact purpose, as well as to prevent accidental intermarriage. We should take her there. She will have some relatives who can take her in.”

“What if she doesn't?”

Jaal chuckled. “She is angara, of course she will.”

“So, Aya it is. I'll tell Kallo.” She grimaced. “I should also tell those scientists as well, if we're going to be delayed by a few days.”

Yavaya was whimpering again, and Jaal felt a distinct pull at his bioelectric current. “Someone's hungry,” he said, reaching over and pressing a finger to her forehead, sending a tiny spark of elecricity down it to calm her.

“Want to try feeding her while I call the Nexus?”

The way Jaal smiled at her as she handed Yavaya over made her heart flutter. “I can certainly try.”

“Ryder. Do I want to know why you are holding an angaran child?”

“She's not mine, Tann. I promise.”

“I can see that.”

Sara patted Yavaya on the back, and she let out a little squeaky belch. Jaal and Lexi had managed to find a way to make angaran nutrient paste safe for her to eat, and Sara had managed to get through a five-minute conversation with the Nexus scientists before Yavaya had decided she was full and demanded to be back in Sara's arms. She wished Jaal hadn't handed her over when she was on a vidcall, but really it was too late as soon as the scientist, a woman named Dr Byrne, had heard the crying. When Jaal had strolled over and Sara's arms were suddenly full of squirming baby angara, the small matter of mapping a minor asteroid belt had immediately become one of utmost importance, something that required Tann's personal attention immediately.

And so, Ryder found herself staring at a holographic projection of her boss, trying to look as professional and Pathfinderly as possible while burping an alien baby.

She could only imagine the rumours that were probably flying about her at that very instant. There were already serious questions being raised about the possibility of human-angaran hybrids. Some of Heleus's citizens weren't the brightest stars in the cluster, and she wouldn't be surprised if some of them genuinely believed that the human Pathfinder could carry and deliver a hybrid baby without anyone knowing about it.

There was an awkward silence. Had Tann actually been present in the room, she would have said the air between them was so thick with tension you could cut it with a knife. But Tann was lightyears away, and Jaal was creating enough tension on his own. She could feel him standing to the side, just out of Tann's line of sight, leaning against the railing. She didn't mind him being there. Quite the opposite, in fact. She knew his presence would calm Yavaya, and it's not like vidcalls from that part of the Tempest were ever private. He gave her the confidence she needed to straighten her back and look the salarian in the eye.

“Yavaya was a victim of a kett attack on her home, a mining colony in the Kindrax system. I know the Nexus wanted us to map it and deliver a supply of vanadium, and we will, but right now our cargo is far more precious. We're taking Yavaya to Aya, where she'll be safe and we can find someone to take care of her in the long term. Tell Dr. Byrne that I'm sorry her vanadium will be delayed, but Yavaya is my priority now.”

Tann sighed, narrowing his eyes at her. “See that this doesn't jeopardise our relations with the angara. They're strained enough as it is without you being accused of kidnapping.”

Ryder glanced at Jaal, who shook his head slowly. “Jaal didn't seem concerned, and he is our envoy.”

“Part of being a Pathfinder is that I have to trust you, Ryder, even when I have...reservations,” said Tann, folding his arms behind his back. “You've already bought us some time by finding those resources. Our people can do the rest.” Something in the room with him caught his attention. “I'm needed elsewhere. Tann out.”

Ryder stood there for a moment, staring at the spot in the air where Tann's head had been moments before. Jaal came to stand next to her, so close that she could feel the tingle of his bioelectric current on her skin. She let out a relieved sigh; she hadn't appreciated how worried she'd been about Tann's reaction.

To her surprise, Yavaya reached out to Jaal when he approached. “Looks like she's warming up to you.”

“Her shyness did not last long, did it?” said Jaal, and there was a definite note of pride in his voice. “Truly, she is courageous.”

Sara had to smile at the sight of them both, Yavaya perched in Jaal's arms (they were very muscular, Sara noticed, not for the first time), his rofjinn scrunched in her fists.

It took all of Sara's willpower not to melt when Yavaya smiled back at her.

Chapter Text

Vetra sat with Yavaya at the kitchen table, the smell of Drack's cooking wafting around her. It would probably smell amazing, if the scent of levo foods didn't provoke an instinctive sense of mild disgust. The ancient krogan stood with his back to her, chopping Earth vegetables for a roast.

It had been three days since Ryder had brought Yavaya onto the Tempest. When Vetra had first glimpsed their new passenger, she'd been a tiny, timid thing, clinging to Ryder and burrowing into her neck whenever someone new approached. The exception had been Jaal, who she seemed to regard with a cautious kind of trust. However, after her first night spent sleeping with Ryder in her quarters, she'd warmed to the rest of the crew incredibly fast, and Vetra had been flattered when Ryder had asked her to keep an eye on Yavaya while she got some much-needed rest and Jaal helped Gil with some repairs to the Nomad.

An Initiative reconnaissance ship didn't have much in the way of entertainment for a child, but Vetra had managed to convince Gil to lend her some of his poker chips, and Yavaya seemed perfectly content to bash them on the edge of the table, apparently loving the clacking noise they made.

“I remember when Sid was this small,” Vetra sighed, reaching up to catch Yavaya's hand before she could shove a poker chip into her mouth. “Seems like only a few years ago. Hard to believe she's all grown up now.”

“Tell me about it,” Drack grunted. “One minute they're small enough to sit in your hand, the next they're almost as big as you are.” He considered this a moment. “Though I guess for you lot it goes by quicker.”

“Yeah,” said Vetra. “Raising Sid would've been a lot easier if she had slept as much as Yavaya does.”

Drack let out a hearty laugh that gave Vetra a sudden wash of affection for the grumpy old warrior. “Now there's one thing krogan and turians have in common.” He put the vegetables in the oven and eased his bulk into the chair next to Vetra. “You know, with all this kett stuff I'm surprised she's letting an alien hold her like that. She's awful trusting.”

“Yeah, well, she latched on to Ryder pretty fast,” said Vetra, shaking her head slightly. “I think we'd be pushing our luck if you tried to hold her though, old man.”

“Ha. You're probably right there.” Even so, Yavaya didn't seem distressed when Drack reached over and dabbed a bit of dribble away with the corner of his apron. She watched him with open curiosity for a moment, before going back to her poker chips. Vetra hoped Gil didn't have any games planned any time soon.

Jaal shifted uncomfortably, trying not to jostle Yavaya, who was perched on his lap. He was immeasurably grateful that Ryder had allowed him to use her tech lab as a makeshift workstation, but the furniture really was not suited to angaran anatomy.

He watched the screen from the corner of his eye, waiting for the connection he needed. Though Jaal didn't know exactly how important the Verae family's mine had been to the Resistance, Evfra was certainly not going to like his news, and Jaal hoped his reaction would not be too explosive. He'd upset the baby.

While he waited for the connection to establish, Jaal held Yavaya on his lap, facing him. Her laughter was a beautiful sound, filling the room as it did. Her tiny body shook with giggles every time he reached out with his bioelectric field and tickled her, gently encouraging her to push back at him in return. It was vital to help little ones strengthen and hone their bioelectrics as soon as they were able to use them, his True Mother had drilled into him when his older sister Mahra had had her first litter, so they would be able to communicate properly with it when they were older. He had only been young then, but the lesson had stuck with him.

The console beeped, making him jump and retract his bioelectric field. Yavaya whimpered at the loss of contact, gazing up at him with beseeching blue eyes. Jaal instantly felt guilty. “I am sorry, little one,” he murmured, quiet enough so that anyone on the other side of the comm channel wouldn't hear as they patched him through to Evfra. “I had better give Evfra my full attention. I will be with you again soon.” She couldn't understand him, of course, but Jaal felt better for apologising.

“Jaal, report,” came Evfra's voice suddenly, a little distorted by distance and as brusque as ever.

“Evfra,” he said in greeting. “I have bad news about a Resistance mining operation in the Kindrax system, though I do not know how important this mine was to us.”

There was a pause and a shuffle on the other end of the line, as if Evfra was rifling through a stack of papers. “Which one? What happened?”

Jaal warily watched Yavaya out of the corner of his eye as he spoke—her bottom lip was starting to tremble. He wished Sara would hurry up with her shower. “It was owned by the Verae family. We received a distress signal and investigated, only to find them all dead or taken by the kett, the place looted, and the mining equipment destroyed.”

Evfra cursed. “They were one of our main vanadium suppliers. Damn it. There were no survivors, I assume.”

“Well...”

Yavaya chose that moment to cry. It started as a high-pitched whine, but soon tears were streaming down her round cheeks as she wailed. “Hush now, Yavaya,” Jaal whispered, rocking her and attempting to soothe her with his bioelectrics, but the damage was done.

“Jaal?”

He swallowed. “Yes, Evfra?”

“What,” said his commander, his voice dangerously low, “was that?”

“...A survivor?”

He could clearly picture the scowl Evfra had to be wearing at that moment, the deep scar on his face pulling his mouth into a frown and his nose wrinkled in displeasure. “Don't be coy, Jaal, what the skkut is going on?”

Yavaya's cries trailed off into silence as he explained, perhaps soothed by the sound of his voice. He told Evfra of the SOS they had found in the Kindrax system, how Ryder had rushed in and risked her life for an angaran child, how said child had refused to leave Ryder's side at first, but had since adopted the Tempest crew as her own family.

When he was done there was a pause that went on just long enough to be uncomfortable. Jaal could almost hear Evfra grinding his teeth.

“Sara has taken to angaran parenting methods very quickly,” Jaal said, just to fill the silence.

“Of course she has,” Evfra grumbled. “Jaal, you know that this will not go down well with some of our people. There is enough objection to their very presence in Heleus. If you bring this child back to Aya and the wrong person—like a Roekaar sympathiser—sees the Pathfinder handling her as if she were her own...”

Anger flared in Jaal at the suggestion. “We will be arriving on Aya tomorrow. Evfra, if someone should give Sara trouble, you can be assured I will deal with it swiftly and thoroughly,” he said, voice tight.

“Oh, I'm sure you will,” Evfra replied, a cutting, sardonic edge to his voice. “Report in at HQ as soon as this business is taken care of. Stay strong and clear, Jaal. Evfra out.”

Jaal sat there staring at the console long after the crackle of static had died away, still rocking Yavaya gently. Not for the first time, he wondered exactly what Evfra thought was going on between him and Sara. Jaal had already told him in great detail all the good Sara had done for the angara, but he also knew of how she had let Akksul shoot Jaal in the face, never mind that she was doing exactly as Jaal had asked. Whatever he knew, or thought he knew, it was certainly more than he let on. That was Evfra's way.

Even Jaal wasn't entirely sure what there was between himself and Sara Ryder. He was certain there was something—he treasured the memory of how her breath had ghosted over his skin when he had drawn her close after being only inches from death, as much to reassure himself that he was alive, that they had both escaped the Forge unscathed, as to comfort her. Her hair had fallen over her face and she had shyly lowered her eyes no matter how he hard he silently willed her to look up and meet his gaze, and those few precious moments had incessantly replayed in his mind on nights when sleep eluded him. He wanted to hold her like that again, not when they were both still trembling with adrenaline and exhausted after a long, taxing mission, but somewhere where it was just them. He wanted her to fill all his senses, breathe her in until there were no kett, no Archon, no Roekaar, no exaltation, no war; just the two of them, alone in their own tiny blissful bubble of space.

He didn't know what he'd do if she didn't want that as much as he did.

Yavaya's last night on the Tempest was a difficult one.

She had been crying almost non-stop since the late evening, almost as if she knew she was soon to be parted from her temporary family. Sara had tried rocking her, singing to her, feeding her, all to no avail. Eventually she had asked Jaal for help, certain that Yavaya would keep most of the ship awake if she didn't.

Now he stood in her quarters in a loose white undershirt and black pants that reached his knees—she'd never seen him dressed so casually. He always looked like he was ready for combat at a moment's notice; now, without his armour and his rofjinn and his visor, he hardly looked like a warrior at all, save for the scars. Just a man, cradling a screaming infant and singing to her softly in a language Sara could not understand, though she supposed a lullaby was a lullaby no matter the tongue. Yavaya seemed to be calming down in his arms, and Sara was happy to watch from where she sat curled up on the couch.

Yavaya wasn't content yet, though. Her cries had faded to whimpers, but she started to wriggle and squirm in Jaal's hold, clearly reaching out to Sara.

Jaal sighed and came to sit next to her, handing Yavaya over and perching awkwardly on the edge of the couch. “It seems she will only be happy with your arms and my bioelectrics,” he said, voice heavy with tiredness.

Sara cradled Yavaya against her chest, where she'd buried her face in Sara's neck. “Seems that way.” She glanced at Jaal out of the corner of her eye. He looked uncomfortable, sitting on a couch not made with the angara's unique leg structure in mind. “You don't mind staying?”

His quiet laughter was a rich, low rumble that sent a wave of heat rushing over Sara's cheeks. “Not at all, if this is what Yavaya needs. After all, it will only be for tonight,” he said, his voice becoming sad at the end.

“Yeah, I guess.” Sara looked down at Yavaya, who was now dozing against her, eyelids growing heavy and her mouth slightly open. “I'm gonna miss her, Jaal.” Looking after her had not always been easy, but Sara was more than a little surprised at how quickly Yavaya had become a part of her life—and Jaal's.

“As will I, but she must be with her family. The Tempest is no place for a child, Sara.”

She leaned down and kissed Yavaya's forehead before she fell asleep. “Yeah, I know. It won't make leaving her any easier.”

Jaal's large, warm hand came to rest on her bare shoulder, and it was then that she realised this was the first time she'd ever seen him without gloves. A warm tingle spread over her skin where they touched, gentle, but enough to make the hairs on her arm stand on end. “No,” was all he said, “it will not.”

Sara fought back a sudden urge to cry, and hoped her voice did not betray her. “You know, I never thought I'd be a mom, even if it's just been for a few days. It was never something I pictured myself doing, you know? Looks like Yavaya won me over.”

Jaal was looking at her with a strange, melancholy expression on his face. “You have looked after her so well, Sara. Any child, angara or not, would be blessed to have you as a mother.”

Sara felt her heart swell with pride, and maybe a little of something else as well. That was a high complement coming from anyone, but from an angara? “Thank you, Jaal,” she said, her voice coming out softer than she intended. He wasn't helping her efforts not to cry.

“I mean it,” he said, as if he had ever been anything but sincere to her. “You would be welcome in any angaran family, should you ever join one.”

“Any angaran family, huh?” she said, raising her eyebrows at him. Was he implying what she thought he was implying?

“Of course,” Jaal said, and did not elaborate further.

“And Jaal, for what it's worth, watching you singing to a baby in your pyjamas was almost too cute to bear.”

“Just one of my many hidden talents,” he said with a definite teasing note in his voice.

“You look uncomfortable sat there. Do you want to move to the bed?” she said suddenly, though it came out as more like wannamovetothebed? She swallowed nervously, hoping she hadn't destroyed the mood and feeling as though her cheeks were about to catch fire. She studied his reaction, desperately hoping she hadn't said something that was outrageously offensive to an angaran. She thought she had a pretty good grasp of Jaal's culture and what was and was not acceptable by now, but you never knew. Still, if she was going to ask Jaal to spend the night with her and Yavaya, she wasn't going to let him stay uncomfortable.

Luckily, there was no offence in his face, just that quiet, close-lipped smile of his that always set his eyes twinkling. “Thank you, Sara. That would be much more comfortable, though I trust I would not be overstepping any of your boundaries?”

She shook her head, making her way over to the bed and propping the pillows up against the headrest. “Nah. We're doing this for Yavaya, remember?”

Jaal chuckled again, bringing some pillows from the sofa so they could settle into a half-sitting, half-lying position, side by side, with Yavaya curled into a little ball on Sara's chest.

“May I…?” Jaal said after a few moments, and Sara couldn't keep the smile off her face as she tilted her body to the side so Jaal could slip his arms around them both. His bioelectric field washed over her in a cascade of calm, making her whole body hum pleasantly. She wondered what it must feel like to Yavaya, who gave a happy little snuffle as she slept. Sara joined her soon after.

She woke some time in the early hours, when the ship was silent other than the steady rumble of the drive core. The stars of Heleus bathed her cabin in a faint silver light, and she wondered if she was just imagining that she could feel the Tempest slowing down as it hurtled through space towards Aya and the Onaon system.

The alarm clock on her bedside table read 5:27am. She sighed, debated getting up, then decided against it. She was in no rush to disembark on Aya, and anyway, they weren't even there yet. There wasn't much to do to prepare for their arrival, and nobody else would be up now anyway, save for Gil and possibly Kallo.

Also, she'd be a terrible person if she got up now and disturbed the angara she was sharing her bed with.

At some point in the night, Yavaya had shifted off Sara's chest and lay nestled between her and Jaal, his nightshirt gripped in her fist. She had her stubby thumb in her mouth and her knees drawn up to her chest, and looked totally at peace, a jarring contrast to earlier.

Jaal, thankfully, was not snoring as he sometimes did during long Nomad rides. She couldn't see him, as his cheek was pressed to the top of her head, but his breath was warm on her hair and he had a hand resting on her hip, almost dangerously low. Sara was certain that hadn't been there when they were awake, but found that she didn't mind at all. His other hand cradled Yavaya to his chest, holding her safely to him. His bioelectric field was weaker in sleep, but still there, a faint buzz in her veins.

Yawning, Sara stretched languorously, pulling the comforter up over her shoulders, her eyelids growing heavy once more. She felt, for perhaps the first time since arriving in Andromeda, no rush to get up and face the day.