[Book Three] Chapter 15: Patching up and moving forward

Chapter 15: Patching up and moving forward

Rick didn’t know what to expect when he talked with Aria about his current problem with his asari girlfriend or rather he knew but was hoping for a miracle. Miracle that didn’t happen. When he broached the subject of the Asari, as a whole, being uplifted by the Protheans with the explanation of how he came to believe it his mother’s answer has been curt, short and dry.

“That would make sense. So?”

He both loved and hated that about her. Her uncaring attitude about things that didn’t concern her one bit was inspirational. On one hand it brought him back to the real world and things that actually mattered; on the other he couldn’t spend his time in his head speculating, asking himself questions and answering them. It didn’t help him either with mending the bridge with Liara, who was still irate about the subject at hand and refused to talk to him.
He knew better than asking his mother for relationship advice, considering she hadn’t had one in years as far as he knew and that the only person that stuck by her closely was him which was not really a good example. He petulantly whined and Aria simply told him to “suck it up”. With no help from the person he trusted the most he found himself in a quandary. He couldn’t ask Ashley, not after her outburst of jealousy she had on the citadel, EDI was of course of no help being an AI, Garrus was out since his relationship’s experience amounted to only Turian females, Joker had none and he knew better than to ask Mordin or Wrex. James Vega who he thought was knowledgeable by his behavior turned out to be a really serious man relationship wise and had no help to offer as he botched the few relationships he had. In the end Rick was left with two options. Number one, his sister, but since it was not freezing in hell yet that was not something that would happen even if she was the great guru of relationship, something she definitely wasn’t. Number two was Steve. From what Rick learned from reading his Alliance’s file, the man had been married for a few years before his husband was taken by the Collectors earlier in the year before their destruction.

The shuttle pilot was receptive to his situation and simply advised him to apologize. That bewildered Rick a lot as he didn’t believe he'd done anything wrong.

“It doesn’t matter what you believe, what matters is that she’s upset with you. I’m not saying to grovel at her feet, I’m saying apologize and acknowledge that you upsetted her even though you don’t know why and asked her to explain it to you so you won’t repeat the same mistake again.”

Rick thought about it for a minute before nodding and thanking the man. Quickly taking the elevator he stopped at the crew quarters and went straight to the kitchen to cook something for a peace offering. Once done he immediately went to Liara’s room where he found her  working behind her terminal. She turned her head to see who had come to see her and turned back to the multiple screens when she saw him, refusing to acknowledge his presence.

“I’m sorry.” he began as he entered the room and went to its end to put down the dish he had prepared. “I made you upset and I’m sorry. That was not my intention.”

Lira stopped typing on her keyboard at the apology  and after a moment, closed her eyes, took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. Turning her head she observed him for a few seconds before speaking with an impassable face.

“You don’t even know why I’m upset with you.”
“No, I do not. I… know that we both see things differently and that my view and understanding of that particular topic is wrong to you. I wished…  I wished yours would make sense to me. That I’d see what you see and understand the way you understand it. Because… well… here we are and because the more I understand you the closer I feel, if… if that makes any sense?”

Sighing again, Liara walked slowly towards the bed where Rick was sitting and sat right next to him. She leaned forward and picked a fry on the plate, blew on it a bit and put it in her mouth. She savored the taste for a moment before eating it completely.

“Imagine… Imagine, everything you ever did, all your successes, how smart you are, everything that you are is not because of your hard work or because of a fluke but because you were engineered for it. How would you feel?”
‘Ahhh. She’s pulling a Miranda.’
“Not happy at all.”
“Now you understand.” she said matter of factly as she picked up a second fry.
“Not in the least.” he answered immediately and followed up before Liara could say anything.
“I don’t see the Asari like that. The way I see it is the total opposite. If my theory is true, then you were engineered to follow some parameters, like a pet or a puppet of the Protheans. Instead, you flipped the bird to who could have been considered gods and said ‘fuck you, I’ll do what I want’. You went on to develop your own way of thought, your own way of life, your own culture despite the protheans’ interference and you became greater than what they could ever imagine. You stopped one invasion, gave the galaxy time, you challenged the established order of things and beat it to make your own. I found that beautiful, awesome, amazing and inspiring. If that wasn’t already the case, the Asari would have become my favorite species just for that. No other space faring race did what you did and went against the natural order of things. And… It makes me even more proud that the best of them is my girlfriend.”

Finishing his tirade, silence fell in the room for a moment until a well placed elbow hit the side of Rick making him yelp.

“What was that for?!” he said as he massaged his hurt ribs.
“For being lame.” Liara replied with a barely contained smirk.
“I wasn’t lame, I was cheesy at best!”
“Same difference.”

Wanting revenge, he leaned back on the bed dragging Liara with him then took her in a very solid embrace which she couldn’t escape, not like she was trying.

“Well… If being lame and getting an elbow in the ribs is the price to pay so we are good again then I pay it gladly.” he announced as he kissed her forehead.
“Who said I’ve forgiven you?”
“You did by still being in my arms.”
“Maybe I'm just taking advantage of…”

She went no further as Rick pressed his lips on hers, shutting her up. She didn’t answer the kiss the first few seconds but got into it afterwards, slowly.

“Bribe, huh? That might work.”
“There are plenty more from where that came from. We don’t really have time though, too much work to do.”
“Sadly.” she said with a sigh.
“Tonight?”
“Jane is letting you out of her sight now?”
“Don’t know, don’t care. I need my asari cuddle time, so I’ll get my asari cuddle time.”
“Good luck then.” She said with a smile punctuating her sentence with a kiss on his lips before getting away from him.

____________________________________________________________

Rick was just finishing compiling his research and theories on Utukku, the planet for the next mission of the team given by Wrex, when Jane entered his room.
“Do you have…” the red head began but stopped when Rick gave her a datapad with the info he knew she wanted. Taking a look at the information, Jane frowned, not liking one bit what she was reading.

“Are you sure?”
“No but if I had to choose, I'd go with it. There is no reason for the reapers to not go after the Rachnis again. They’re too useful.”
“Enraged rachnis were already a nightmare, I dread what they would become with reaper modification.”
“Keep reading.” he said and she did so until her brows raised up.
“That’s…”
“Insane, yes but it’s worth giving it a thought. I mean the Rachnis on our side instead of the reapers? It’s an advantage we cannot miss. They could help for communication, help for the crucible and help on the ground.”
“If the queen is not indoctrinated.”
“Yes, if. To be fair, the odds are rather high she’s not.”
“How so?”
“Queens get the memories of their mothers through their DNA. From the bits of information from the one we freed on Noveria said, her ancestors resisted the indoctrination, otherwise she would have been indoctrinated too and there was no indication of it.”
“So the current queen may still be sane.”
“Yes. It’s up to you to see if she is or not and recruit her or not. Careful though, her children are definitely indoctrinated if the reapers are there.”
“I guess we’ll see once we’re there. I’ll give the file to James and Ash so…”
“I’m not going.” Rick announced, making her pause as he turned his seat around and started to work on his current project on his terminal.
“Why?”
“As stated in the file, the rachnis are probably deep underground.”
“So?” she asked without understanding the relevance.
“So dark, closed spaces don’t sit well with claustrophobic people.”
“You’re…” she began before changing her question. “Since when?”
“Since I was seven. The older kids at school used to lock me up in lockers.”
“Why didn’t you…” She stopped herself and simply hugged him from behind resting her chin on the top of his helmet. “I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault.” he replied simply with a shrug of his shoulders.
“How come you didn’t have any problem when we were chasing Saren?” she asked, referring to the many times they had to explore a digging site during missions, most notably Therum where they found Liara.
“They were man made, spacious, for people walking around with plenty of light. Here, it’s natural caverns and dark, totally different.”
“I see. I’ll ask Garrus then.”
“I think you better take EDI.”
“Which one?”
“The organic one. We need to see what she’s actually capable of and with the terrain being restrictive a team of four or a team of three won’t be much of a difference. Besides she’s rather tanky like James, you could make two pairs with them at the front and you and Ash at the back.”
“Hmm… Good idea.”
“By the way, do we have enough TR models now? I didn’t have the time to check.”
“Helena gave us three of each.”
“Enough to gear up one team at all times…” he said as he began to think a bit. “I’ll update the software to have a save for anyone's specs, that way I won’t have to reset it every time they end up in another team member's hands.”
“That’d be great.”
“What would be great would be to have one of each type from everyone.”
“True but the factory was on Earth…”
“Maybe the Alliance can come to an agreement with the Salarians for the production, that will have to wait though, with Linron still around.”
“Not for much longer I hope.”
“Last time I talked with Mordin he was almost done with the cure.”
“Good.”

Seeing that he never stopped typing ever since he turned around to the terminal during her conversation, she couldn’t help but satisfy her curiosity.

“What are you working on?”
“At the moment, an upgrade for ships’ shields, a new type of armor with a new material, something not inorganic but organic, or a mix between the two and a special personal project that would replace the omniblades.”
“That’s… a lot. Do you get enough rest?” she asked in worry.
“EDI is cutting off the power when I reach the twelve hour limit you imposed on me. Useless, detrimental even as my mind is still working and I can’t write down my thoughts.”
“It’s for your own good. I need you at your best, always.”
“I’m always at my best the bigger the challenge is. A war of survival is, sadly, the biggest challenge there is, so don’t worry.”
“It’s not what I mean and you know it.”
“We all have to make sacrifices, Gingerbread and I fail to see how limiting me helps.”

She raised her chin from his helmet and turned him around to look at him in silence.

“Eighteen hours. No more, I want you to have at least six hours of sleep.” she declared after a moment of reflection.
“Deal.”

With nothing more to say, Jane left for the bedroom to Rick’s surprise, thinking she would have left his quarters.

“What are you doing?” he said aloud so she could hear him loud and clear.
“It’s time for movie night.” came back her loud answer.
“Didn’t know you were invited.” he said as he looked at the time then saved his work before getting up from his chair.
“It’s my ship I’m invited whenever, wherever.”

Entering the bedroom area he saw Jane covering her ass with one of his newly bought clean shirts.

“Seriously?!”
“What? I like this one.” she replied innocently letting her hand roam along the black fabric of the shirt which bore the picture of a white light going through a prism giving birth to the color of the rainbow.

“This one is not meant to be put on! It’s a collector edition of one of my favorite bands! It’s pristine!”
“I’m sure you can get another one.” she said as she got on his bed not caring one bit.
“The last band member died in 2028! There won’t be another one!”
“Oops?” she replied sheepishly.
“Oops?! Oops?! You just dropped the value of a one million five hundred thousand credits shirt to nothing and all you have to say is ‘Oops’?” he replied disbelievingly.
“Ehhh…”

She didn’t quite know what to say, her mind a bit mushed at the revelation of the price of a simple shirt. Fortunately EDI entered the room.

“EDI!”
“Commander. I see you’re joining us tonight.”
“Yes/NO!” came the answer from the siblings who then began a silent staring contest.

EDI didn’t care one bit and walked around Rick and went to his closet where she disrobed and also picked one of his shirts. Putting it on she joined Jane on the bed. Seeing the shirt Rick began to hyperventilate and had to sit down on the floor.

“Why is…” asked the black goddess.
“I wore an ultra collector shirt of his that should not have been worn and apparently so did you. He’s not taking it well.”
“IT’S A SHIRT FROM QUEEN DAMMIT! IT WAS WORTH THREE MILLIONS!” Rick yelled.
“Oh.” was all EDI said, only understanding the price. “My apologies.” she added and surprisingly meant it.
“Why do you have shirts worth that much in the first place?!” Jane asked, fighting back as she was beginning to be annoyed.
“It’s my hobby!”
“Rather expensive hobby.” commented EDI.
“Yeah, I’m just interested in my fish and hamster, it’s cheaper.”

At that point Rick was up and growling loudly at Jane, ready to pounce on her.

“See the good side of it!” the redhead quickly said.
“Oh, because there is a good side to the loss of nearly five millions credits?”
“Well… They may be worth more if people knew that the first organic AI and I wore them? With nothing underneath?” she explained tentatively.

Rick looked at her silently for a whole minute making Jane really uncomfortable. Finally he went to his closet and changed his clothes appropriately. When he went to the bed he signaled EDI to move towards his sister so she could be in the middle of the trio.

“What’s the movie?” he asked curtly.
“Dredd.” the white haired woman replied.
“Which one?” Rick inquired further.
“The second.”
“Good, the first is so bad it’s not even funny.”
“Wait! Won’t it be a problem to start with the second?” Jane interjected.
“It is not a sequel.” replied EDI.
“It’s a reboot, or a remake. Way more faithful to the original material.”
“... Okay… what is it about?”
“The Law.”

____________________________________________________________


Credits were rolling and the trio laid there in silence. Jane lifted her chest and looked intently at her brother beyond EDI.

“No.” he said without even looking at her.
“Come on! That gun is awesome!”

Standing up, Rick went to the bathroom while Jane followed him until she was blocked by the locked door.

“I’m not just asking for me…”
“No.”
“Can you imagine having one on the field?”
“No.”
“No more dependency on one mod!”
“Still no.”
“... You already tried and failed, is that it?”

Hearing the flush from behind the door she didn’t have to wait long before Rick opened the door and got out of the bathroom.

“I didn’t try because there was no point in the first place.”
“Why?”
“The technology behind the type of ammunition is different for each type and takes space. Packing every type into one mode would prove difficult and ineffective and take a lot of space.” EDI explained from the bed.

As Rick joined her she moved to the side to give him more space, something that Jane took advantage of as she readily glued herself on his back. Suppressing a groan, he ignored his sister to talk with his friend.

“Anything to say about Dredd?”
“I find his self control remarkable. He’s clearly angry, all the time, but doesn’t let it influence him more than necessary. His work and oath comes first and uses his rage in a controlled manner when he acts.”

“Anger is one of the most primal emotions, be very careful with it. Especially with this body.”
“I will, I’m not yet ready to release my emotional limiters. I’m still processing the sensations.”
“Any problem with them?”
“So far none, with the exception of my sense of smell. Sometimes the smells are too strong.”
“I see. Did you start uploading the data to your synthetic body?”
“Some, mainly everything vision related as it’s the one I have the most of. For now it’s just the perception of colors. I noticed that a color that I appreciate with this body, I appreciate it too with my synthetic one despite not having the same perception of it.”
“It seems the feedback is inferring with yourself. Not a bad outcome for certain things.”
“I’m a bit afraid of losing my objectivity.” the AI confessed.
“I don’t think you will lose all of it. In the end it’s a matter of choice, to let your sensation and emotions make the choice or your logic. Sometimes it’s difficult, sometimes it isn’t.”

Both fell silent afterwards and it was Jane, who has been silent and listening until now, who changed topic.

“What’s the next one?”
“Who framed Roger Rabbit?”
“Ah! Finally a redhead I can stand.” Rick joked earning him a glare from Jane.

Instead of verbally protesting she simply lifted his arm and went under it so her head would rest on his shoulder. Not stopping there, she lay down the arm with its hand right on her ass and locked it there with her own. Turning his head to look at his sister he uttered one single word in a tired tone.

“Really?”

Her only answer was a predatory sweet grin while batting her eyelashes. Letting out an ‘I’m so done’ sigh, he turned his head back to the screen in front of him but failed to resist the urge to squeeze her butt, to Jane’s delight.

____________________________________________________________

As Jane, James, organic EDI and Ashley were down on Utukku dealing with the rachnis, Rick was working on his new shield for ships or to be more precise was running ideas through synthetic EDI.

“It might work but the ships would need very advanced hit-course detection. All of them.” she answered his query.
“That’s not something that is difficult, it’s how the power would be shared that would pose a problem I think. The ships would need a sturdy physical connection with a very fast transfer rate and be coordinated perfectly.”
“I admit, there are plenty of obstacles but the idea is sound. Impractical perhaps but sound.”
“Well, that’s good enough for me, it’s up to the Alliance to come up with a way to make it work.”
“You’re not doing it yourself?” she asked in surprise.
“No. I don’t have the right tools for it nor the interest and I have better things to do.”

Standing up he warped his right arm around her waist and kissed her temple. The act prompted EDI to ask another question.

“Why are you more affectionate with my synthetic body than my organic one?”
“That’s… a good question.” he said as he began to muse. “I guess because…I don’t want to overwhelm your organic one. The sensations and feelings involved, for the both of us, could be problematic. With this one there is no such problem and it’s easier to express my care and love for you.”
“I see.” she answered before asking a question he never expected in his wildest thoughts. “Would you like to have sexual intercourse with this body?”

That made him freeze and if he hadn’t been wearing his helmet she would have seen the total bewilderment on his face. His jaw moving up and down, trying to let out some sounds, some words that never came. In front of his mutism, EDI was perplexed.

“Did I ask something wrong?”
“I.. No. I mean… I’m… I was just surprised, both by the bold question and by the ability of this body to have sex if that is what you were implying.”
“It can. It was designed for infiltration after all; the womanly curves would have been not as effective if the act of sex was not possible.”
“That’s… a lot to unload on me out of the blue.”
“I understand it can be unfamiliar for you. You're the one usually doing the unloading. In Dr. T’soni, LC Williams, Miss Law…”
“Alright! Alright! I get it! No need to sass me further! Damnit, you spend too much time with Joker.”
“Perhaps.” she replied with a sheepish and knowing smile.

“Next thing I know you…” he began but didn’t elaborate his thoughts further. “Why the question, though?”
“I’d like an answer first, please.”
“Guess that’s fair… I don’t know? I mean… sure this body is pretty to look at but… I never was attracted to it before I guess? Certainly not when the Cerberus bitch was inside and looked like an organic. Now? Now… I never really pay attention to it, I just pay attention to you.”

“But would you?” she insisted in her query.
“Hmm… Why not? It would be an interesting new experience and most of all it would be you. Helping you gather data while getting our jollies? I don’t think there is much better in terms of experiment.” he replied with a chuckle.

If the question had completely turned his brain upside down for a brief moment, EDI, grabbing him by the hand and dragging him to his bedroom melted it completely.

____________________________________________________________

Rick made his way towards the com room to speak to Hackett, grumbling. EDI’s prank of dragging him to his bedroom did not sit well with him and he cursed the AI under his breath. She was just testing the effect she had on him out of curiosity but never went further than just throwing him onto the bed and straddling him. Once she felt his erection she put an end to it and left his quarter with a mischievous smile, promising that if that ever happened she would follow the usual human rituals but that she required more firsthand data first. He didn’t get what she meant by that but let it go.

Getting to the back room he pushed the call button for a transmission with the Alliance Admiral, whose hologram quickly appeared in front of him.

“Command -Wald?!” the man asked in surprise.
“Admiral.”
“Did something happen to…”
“As far as I know she’s currently on Utukku trying to recruit the rachnis or at the very least make sure they are not indoctrinated by the reapers.”
“Recruiting the rachnis? That’s… not something I ever imagined.”
“They would help a lot and I’m sure instinctively the queen understands the need to band together against the reapers. Which is more than most politicians. I’m sending you the file I compiled for gingerbread, the reasons as for why their help is necessary is in there.” Rick said as he used his Omni-tool to transfer the file along with another. “I also send you an idea to make the shields of a ship better. It’s the beginning of an idea in truth but I outline most of what would be needed to realize it. I’m sure your engineers could come up with other ideas for some new tech from that at the very least. Could do it myself if I had the time but I do not. I have more important projects to work on.”
“I’ll send the file to a team not working on the crucible, hopefully they will be able to put something together quickly. Anything else?”
“Yes. Carrot-top told me the production factory for the TR model was on Earth, and since it’s occupied I would like to know if a new factory has been put in place?”
“Sadly, no. Our forces and resources are spread too thin for that. The current priority is the construction of the crucible and the evacuation of the people.”
“Perhaps we could ask the Salarians? I’m sure they have all what’s needed to develop it. I would have asked the Turians first but they are barely holding up.”
“That’s a good idea but I don’t see the dalatrass making a deal with us.”
“That’s the third point I wanted to talk about. Did you make contact with her political opponent?”
“We did, actually. She was very interested in our plan to remove Linron from power and understood the necessity to fight together. She didn’t like all the conditions for the deal but agreed to them all nonetheless.”
“The krogans’ cure I gather?”
“Yes, though she’s not openly opposed to it like Linron is, she is… wary. I think she will take the wait and see approach on it but will be ready to deploy another genophage if need be.”
“Well, we can work with that. Maybe she’d be open to start the production of the TR models, at least the cheapest ones.”
“I’ll see what I can do. If she doesn’t perhaps the STG could help.”
“What about the new shields?”
“We can’t produce them massively yet but our engineers on it made a manual to replicate your prototype. From the reports I receive, they saved a lot of soldiers' lives. Anderson quickly put a whole squad dedicated to their production with what they had on hands. Their guerilla warfare is more successful than ever with the death toll decreasing.”
“Good. Now that I think of it, it might be possible to apply the concept to area wide shields from stationary power sources.”
“For once they are ahead of you, the first prototype is almost done.”
“If they still have a problem with the power consumption, looking into the velocity of the shield would help greatly.”
“I… don’t know what you’re talking about but I’ll pass the advice.”
“It’s just the difference of working between a singular one person shield and an area bubble shield. It’s… Something I’m training Red with her biotics, very useful.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“What about the GR canon?”
“They have started to build one, they assured me it will work as intended though the R&D are banging their heads against the wall with how simple the solution was. Half of them want to kill you, the other… Well, let’s not talk about them.”
“I figured. Smart people are usually so focused on the most difficult things that they forget that sometimes the solution is simple. A simple spring shape around the power core is proof of that. I wish I got into it earlier." Rick said with a sigh.
“You did more in the last three years than anyone in the last hundred, son. Don’t blame yourself, you can’t do everything at the same time.”
“I know, it’s just… frustrating. So many things to do, so little time and so little help. Anyways, here’s my last topic: what about propaganda? How is it going?”
“I didn’t think that would be something that would interest you.” Hackett said with a raised brow.
“It’s important for the war so yeah it does.”
“It’s doing well, though more often than not people just try to find refuge.”
“The team on it is focused on humanity isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“That won’t do. We’re trying to build an alliance with every race in the galaxy, we can’t just target humans.”
“Hmm.. true. Perhaps blurring the line between the different militaries would push the members of the other species to collaborate more.”
“Thankfully we already have a crew of multiple origins working together and have been for a long time.”
“The crew of the Normandy is perfect, yes.”
“Especially with a focus on her. I’ll work on something, in the meantime it may be wise to try to recruit artists from the extranet. I know you have a team for that but military people are not the most creative ones when it’s about art.”
“I’ll put people into it.”
“One last thing; she must never know. She already has enough on her shoulders. Knowing that she’s been made more than a symbol but a living icon is something that she can do without. Unfortunately the rest of the galaxy can’t.”
“I agree, though I don’t see how that would be possible to keep her in the dark.”
“Don’t worry, I’m on it. At least from her side of things.”

____________________________________________________________

The ground team came back exhausted from their mission on Utukku. The reapers were there and had already modified a good number of rachnis grunts and made them very dangerous. Fortunately the queen didn’t seem indoctrinated and just forced to give birth non-stop. Jane had freed her and allowed her to escape at the price of the Krogan team that was on the ground and led to Rick’s surprise by Grunt. The little baby krogan as he would always refer to him to had quickly climbed the ranks of his people hierarchy and gathered the respect of even krogan old enough to have seen the Quarian without their envirosuit. The krogan has been badly wounded as he gave time for the team and the queen to escape with their lives. Though from what Wrex said he’d be patched up in no time on the Citadel, ready to bust some reapers’ heads.

EDI’s organic body had proven itself more than ready for battle from what both she and Jane had told him. Apparently she had lifted a big modified rachni with rocket launchers on its shoulder and swung it more than thirty feet away, right in the middle of a bunch of rachnis eggs. Rachnis eggs that explode on contact and let out some nasty little explosive spiders with a nice addition of very corrosive acid. All in all, Jane didn’t regret one bit to have indulged EDI in her project. The only downside was the smell of the rotten flesh and the acid that was too much for the AI, but she used her implants to dampen her olfactory sensation so that wasn’t much of a problem.

“So the queen agreed to help?” Rick asked from Jane’s couch in her cabin as she was taking a shower to wash away the sweat, blood, dirt and grimness of her.
“Yes and she’s really not happy with the reapers.”
“No surprise there. Did you have time to talk to her about how she could help?”
“Sadly, no. We were already being overrun.”
“I guess Stevie will have to do it. Good thing he’s aware of the possibility.”
“He knows?!”
“Yeah, I gave him a call while you were down there. To give him the files on projects I don’t have time to work on but could help and to get an update on how things are going.”
“And?”
“It’s… better than expected from the predictions made from the data at the start of the invasion. With the new shields less people are dying. Anderson put a squad dedicated to their production. With more people surviving they’re launching more guerilla strikes, getting more resources so saving more people… It’s going well for the ones on Earth. Relatively speaking.”
“Good.”

He heard the sound of the falling water stop and waited in silence for Jane to finish what she was doing. His wait was not as long as he thought as he saw her walking right in front of him entirely naked. Not even a towel to hide her still glistening body. She had a grin on her face, a mix of mischievousness and pride. For his part. Rick was impassable but watched silently her well muscled body. His eyes roamed all over his sister, forever imprinting in his memory every detail of it. Every mole, every scar, her well toned stomach, the size of her breasts and the deliciously pink nipples on them which complemented perfectly the white of her skin. Even the well groomed patch of red hair just above her sex. However what gave him the urge to just get up from the couch and ravage her in every way possible were none of that, not even the few droplets of water falling down slowly on her chest or towards her navel. No, what gave him the primal urge to mate was her emerald eyes. There was a fire in them, a raging one and an ungodly amount of lust too. He resisted his instinct though and stayed unmoving. Unfortunately a part of his body had a mind of its own and didn’t agree with him.

That is why Jane, seeing the reaction she was giving him, decided to go further. Very slowly she walked forward and reached him. She put a knee on each side of his legs and straddled him making sure that her more than decently sized breasts were pressed hard against his chest.
Having enough of her ministrations Rick spoke in a flat tone.

“Really?”
“Really.” she echoed but with a teasing tone.
“You really thought that presenting yourself naked in front of me would help you? Get a reaction out of me?”
“Yes.”
“That was stupid.”
“Was it?” she said as she laid her ass into his lap, feeling his erection against her pussy which she began to grind against. “This one proves it wasn’t.” Jane added.

Not for the first time but the first time while she was naked, Rick grabbed her ass firmly and stood up. Slowly he walked towards the bed and dropped her on it like a sack of potatoes.

“EDI has more game than you do.”

That was the only words he spoke before turning around and walking towards the exit of the cabin to the mystified look of the red head.

“EDI, LOCK THE DOOR!” Jane ordered loudly as she got up from the bed.
“Again?” groaned Rick as the AI did as she was ordered.

Turning around he saw the rage on his sister’s face as she made her way to him.

“FIRST OFF! EDI! You, me and the girls are going to have a long talk about you having some game.”
“Yes, commander.”
“Jealous much?” remarked snidely Rick before Jane told him to shut up.
“Second…What do I have to do? What do I have to do to have a healthy relationship with you? You don’t want me as your sister, you don’t want me as your lover yet I know I have an effect on you. I tried everything I could think of! I’m there for you, I’m being seductive for you, nothing is working. So what is it?” she asked heatedly.
“Trust.” he simply replied.
“Haven’t I proven that you can trust me?!”
“With my life, yes. With my heart or what’s left of it, no.”

That made Jane pause as it was perhaps the most truthful answer she ever got from him about their relationship. He never lied to her except when it was personal and that she was concerned. While he was being more honest with her about that particular subject with time, he was always more or less vague with the only exception of the declaration of his hate for her. To hear him talk about his heart was something new and something she never thought he would bring up. This was definitely new territory she was treading on and she took her time to say something.

“I would never hurt you like that.” she said softly, all anger gone, as she put one hand on the side of his helmet.
“You did. Once. It destroyed me, it destroyed John. That was enough.” he replied, giving birth to a mix of sadness and guilt in Jane.

“I told you, I learn from my mistakes. I will not make that mistake a second time.”
“The price is too high to verify that for me.”
“What about the sex then? It has nothing to…”
“If you think that sex with you won’t have any feelings involved, you’re an idiot. Last time was proof enough.”
“I… I’m lost Rick. How am I supposed to prove to you you can trust me in that regard? You gave me a chance but… is it really one when there is no hope from you?”
“I… I don’t know. It’s… difficult. There is the you right now, who’s behaving more or less like the big sister I adored more than anything in the universe, then there is the you that left me behind without looking back despite all my pleas. She… she scares me, it scares me that at any given time she could be back to hurt me again. I guess… I guess until I’m sure she’s gone we’re stuck.”

She didn’t know what to make of his answer. She was herself and no one else. She didn’t have a split personality or anything like that. That Rick saw two different versions of her worried her deeply. She always saw herself as the loving and protective big sister that did anything and everything she could for her little brother just like he had described her at first but never saw herself as the second description. She had left for him, to protect him, from her like she always did and yet he saw it as someone else. As if that someone else was the real Jane Shepard, selfish and uncaring, while she, herself, was just a persona, a mask that had an expiration date and would drop when it was time.
She was at an impasse. How could she show him that the person he’s afraid of never existed to begin with? Especially with the impact that person had on his life and on himself. That it was her and only her? That she was who she presented herself as?

“She doesn’t exist. She never existed to begin with but even if she did, she’s probably gone by now and if she’s not I’ll kill her myself. It seems to me that this Jane was callous and selfish. That she used anyone for her benefit and discarded them once they weren’t needed anymore. Have you ever seen a glimpse of her ever since we reunited? The answer is no. You haven’t. So there is no need for you to be afraid because it’s me and only me you’re dealing with. Not her, not ever.”
“If it were that simple…” he mumbled.
“It is, you just need to have a little faith. Now here is what's going to happen: I'm going to drag you back to bed and we’re going to cuddle. No, I won’t put something on because I don’t want to and because I still want to entice you, so deal with it. Tomorrow and every day afterwards, I’m going to go at you with everything I got to get you to see me either as a sister or a woman or both. I will be much more proactive too, I won’t just tease to make you react, I’ll be more blunt. The time to give you space and time is gone. I will not hound you but I will get what I want because I know it’s good for me and more importantly because I know it is good for you. You are free to fight back or not but that won’t stop me. I’ll take everything you diss, be it words or physical blows but I won’t back down anymore. I won’t let you choke me without doing nothing about it but hoping that you’d stop by yourself or anything of the like.”

With her declaration done, she dropped her hand from his helmet and grabbed his. She dragged him to the bed where she pushed him gently on the mattress. His subdue demeanor was not expected but she wasn’t going to complain about it. She would not waste this unexpected advantage. She began with his boots, removing them then tossing them aside then went for the socks. The next thing that went was his shirt which went flying straight to the top of the aquarium by accident and finally with a bit of work she removed his pants. The only thing left was his helmet and his underwear. She hesitated for a moment before going for the latter and it was only then that his hands grabbed hers to make her stop.

“No.”
“I don’t care. It comes off, one way or another.”

She said that with such authority in her voice that his grip relaxed to the point where it released her hands. Going at it again, she slid it down his legs and threw the cloth behind her without even looking back. Finally she crawled up his body and removed his helmet. The look on his face was uneasy and fearful. She didn’t care. She grabbed his head with both hands and kissed him forcefully. As she expected it didn’t answer it at first but using her tongue she tried to breach his lips to invade his mouth. She didn’t have to put much effort in it as it easily went it. It was only then that Rick began to kiss her back, letting her keep the lead of what was happening. When she felt a thick and hard object land right between her asscheeks she broke the kiss and rolled off of him and got under the sheets inviting him to do the same which he did. With her arms she dragged him toward her changing his position from on his back to on his side and locked his body with her arms and legs, his cock neatly stuck between her own legs. She used every ounce of restraint she had to not grab it and impale herself on it and instead brought his head down into the valley of her breasts.

“I love you.”

Was all she said before they stayed in that position, unmoving and in silence until sleep took them.

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