(ಠ_ಠ) (break_the_cycle) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-06-01 15:03:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, aria t'loak, commander jane shepard |
how’s business
Who: Shepard and Aria
What: Checking up on friends
When: Late May
where: Afterlife
status: complete
Rating: PG-13
To say that Aria’s mood had deteriorated ever since her dream of Liselle’s death was an understatement. A few more dreams had graced her, and it only confirmed her fears. Cerberus had appeared on Omega and she didn’t like it. So she’d thrown herself into work after taking out that base with Logan. She’d gone back to L.A. for a couple days to check on how things were operating there. Once she was satisfied things were running smoothly, she’d returned to Orange County to tend to Afterlife. It was new and needed her full attention now.
Thus far, no bad incidents had occurred and things were running smoothly. Still, she stood in her office that overlooked the dancefloor and watched the people down below through the two-way mirror. People were coming to the club, or both of them, to be specific, which was a good sign. Her staff was working well. Though she could use her own succubus, but that was besides the point.
A thought that she could use an ardat-yakshi passed through her mind, but she quickly dismissed it. That would only result in clientele dying. A succubus might be a little safer, if they were anything like Bo.
Though she spotted a familiar red head down below. She wasn’t exactly in a chatty mood, but she figured she should at least say hello. Leaving her office, she went downstairs and into the club, finding her way to Shepard’s side. It would probably be an odd sight for Shepard to see a human Aria wearing the outfit she wore in the dreams, but it wasn’t as odd as Aria herself felt. She felt wrong still being human.
“You’re here without your turian bodyguard. Did you give him the slip or are you off the hook?” She asked, icy eyes focused on the people around them.
Shepard’s exertions had extended her recovery by quite a bit. Or at least it appeared so, as she’d walked into the club wearing a suit and wielding a snazzy looking cane. She leaned on it as Aria approached, half imagining Callisto in that outfit. It was enough to make her lick her lips. “As long as I behave and don’t set myself back another couple of months, I think I’m a free bird.”
“I suppose that is an improvement.” Aria commented. She kept her gaze roaming the people, though she was more looking to ensure her security was where they should be. She ran a tight club, ensuring no one underage got into either part of it. She didn’t abide people causing trouble either. “So what brings you to Afterlife dressed in a suit? Do you have a business proposition for me?” There was no element of humor to the purr in her voice. Her tone was low, in that range that suggested she was unhappy with something. Or someone. She was being calm and calculated. Though Shepard knew her well enough to know that the calmer that Aria was on the outside, the more powerful the storm that was raging on the inside.
“I wanted to dress up. Can’t a woman dress up?” She swung the cane around all dashing like. “It went with the cane, and I was feeling dandy.”
And it beat the hell out of her Dream formal wear. She was hopeless, but not that hopeless.
“Of course a woman can dress up. It works for you.” Aria responded, glancing at Shepard out of the corner of her eye. “So, out to have a good time this evening, then?” She was trying not to be suspicious of Shepard showing up. In the dreams, that tended to mean either Shepard had something for her or started asking questions about her past.
“You’re looking at me like I’m threatening to shoot your pet varren. Stop being so suspicious, Aria.” She clapped a hand on Aria’s shoulder and squeezed it. “Unless you’ve got reason to be. This cane is also a gun.”
Aria fully looked at Shepard, then glanced at the cane. “Perhaps I should subject you to thorough searches before coming in here.” She drew in a breath. “Besides, if I weren’t suspicious, I wouldn’t be me.” And perhaps Cerberus wouldn’t be on her station and her daughter would still be alive.
Fucking Grayson. She really should’ve listened to her gut and not her daughter.
“You’re definitely you,” Shepard agreed, sobering up just a little. She could feel the weight of Aria the Queen of Omega. It was a weight that had been noticeably missing. There was sometimes bliss in ignorance. Even if one might feel better being more themselves, there was also that feeling of knowing too much.
She looked at Shepard in silence for a moment. Aria more than understood that the comment was in response to the dreams. She nodded her head towards a door, the one Aria had come out, indicating Shepard to follow her. If the dreams were going to come up, Aria wasn’t going to talk about them in the middle of a dance club.
There was a rather burly looking man by the door. He gave a look to Aria’s company.
“She’s with me.” She said sternly. He then opened the door for them both.
Shepard nodded at the burly man before following Aria inside. “Actually got a present for you. Something to help with your Omnitool. And you’ll love what gets delivered tomorrow.”
Even though the Citadel had seemingly vanished, Shepard and Vakarian had salvaged a metric ton of tech from it in the year or so it had been around. More than enough to give Aria a few things.
Once in the safety of her office, which was, of course, on the spacious side (she did need to have a view of both sides of her club from there). “What is it?” She asked, waving a hand at one of the seats Shepard could take if she wanted. There was a couch and a couple arm chairs against one wall, aside from the two chairs in front of her desk.
“Would you care for a drink?” She asked as she walked over to a cabinet. She needed a drink, and today’s poison was a hard whiskey.
Jane pulled something from her front jacket pocket and put a chip on the desk. “Some choice bits downloaded from the Citadel. History, biology. Mostly music and art.”
Conspicuously missing were weapons. She liked Aria, she just didn’t want a whole bunch of 22nd century weapons around.
Picking up her glass of whiskey, she took a drink of it before she crossed to her desk, looking down at the chip. She then looked at Shepard. “Is there something buried in there that should interest me?” Aria wasn’t certain how this kind of information would benefit her. The music could be used in her clubs, but playing 22nd Century music that didn’t exist here would get too many questions asked.
“I don’t know. I can bring you some more information too. Wasn’t sure what interested you. Figured Asari biology was probably a good start, at least. Tomorrow you’ll get delivered some actual tech. A computer system, couple extra omnitools.” Shepard shrugged. “I can get you some other shit too if you want it.”
“No, that will be fine.” Aria took the chip. “Though what do you want in return?” She wasn’t used to getting anything for free, even in this life. Aria was used to having to give something for something she received. It felt...wrong to not give anything in return for Shepard’s gifts.
“Free drinks,” Jane suggested. She knew that Aria wouldn’t just accept a gift without some kind of trade. “And to keep your ears open about anything related to Hydra. I know Logan took you on a little date.”
“Free drinks it is.” Aria could live with that. Though when Shepard mentioned the word ‘date,’ she looked at Shepard, an icy fire in her eyes. “It wasn’t a date.” It had been a mutually beneficial thing. Logan had needed to take out the cell, Aria had needed to let loose after her dream about Liselle.
“That was a joke. I often call going on destruction sprees a date.” Half the time they pretty much were one and the same.
“I suppose it makes sense for you.” Considering how much trouble Shepard tended to find herself in, at any rate. Aria didn’t exactly date in either life. She had her lovers, but Nyreen had been the last person she would give the term ‘dating’ to in her dream life. In this life, she hadn’t dated since her last girlfriend several years back. And, come to think of it, she reminded her a lot of Nyreen.
Shepard shrugged again. “The data you two picked up will help a lot. Even if I can’t technically do field work right now.”
She honestly should be enjoying herself. They’d saved the planet, she was alive. And yet, Shepard felt restless.
“So it would seem I’ve inadvertently found myself on the right side of the law.” Aria commented. She sipped her whiskey, and eyed Shepard. “It seems you are in need of being on field work. Sitting around isn’t your style.”
“I don’t like sitting still,” she admitted. “My forced retirement never really sat well with me, so joining the Agency was only natural.”
Shepard glanced down at her leg. “Honestly this might be permanent without my implants.”
Aria’s gaze slid down to Shepard’s leg as well, before lifting back up. “Your Cerberus implants or do you have ones from this life?” The word Cerberus had a bite to it, as though it were poison on Aria’s lips. Which it was, and not just because Aria wasn’t human in the dreams. But she was keeping that pain and anger close to her heart. Logan would be the only one to see her so upset, and even then the worst she’d done was flash her biotics and punched a hole in his wall.
“The ones from my dreams,” Jane replied, her tone indicating she wasn’t exactly happy with that idea either. When you died, you were supposed to stay dead. Not come back.
Part of Jane had never felt like she’d deserved that second chance, and part of her resented that she hadn’t been left to rest in peace. “They learned to regret it.”
“I certainly hope so. There is much they will come to regret.” Aria would decimate their ranks if she had half a chance to do so. She polished off her glass, then got up and poured herself another. If she wasn’t careful, her biotics were going to manifest themselves, and she didn’t want to destroy any part of her new place of business.
“Spoiler alert, we all get our revenge,” Jane assured her. At least where it came to the Illusive Man and Cerberus as a whole. “The Illusive Man was indoctrinated. No telling for how long. But long enough to do a lot of damage to the war effort.”
“That fucker was indoctrinated?” Aria asked, genuine surprise in her voice. There was little that surprised Aria, mostly because she tended to always either know or strongly suspect something of being true. All the more reason she had a really bad feeling about Cerberus’ presence on Omega. She almost wished that Shepard, or even Aria herself, had set the Omega 4 relay to be destroyed. That might have stopped Cerberus from having such a presence in the Terminus Systems.
She frowned, taking a drink of her whiskey. “I doubt what he got was far less than what he deserved. Cerberus deserves to be flayed from the inside out.” Again, harsh venom, and as she clenched a fist with her free hand, her body was encased in a blue biotic glow for some moments before she calmed herself. “I hope it hurt.”
“That was pretty much the only way to beat them. Tear them down inside and out.” Jane sometimes wished she’d put the bullet in his head, but there was something satisfying about watching the realization on his face. Knowing what he’d become, knowing what he’d done, and seeing only one way out
“Yeah. It hurt.”
“Good. It’s the least they fucking deserve.” Aria had more hate for them than most non-humans did. She knew they were little more than a glorified terrorist group, but they had taken her daughter from her. They broke Omega’s one rule in the worst possible way. Aria turned back to Shepard now that she’d gotten herself under control again.
“Now, this Hydra. I know very little about them, but I assume they’re rather similar to Cerberus?”
“In function, yes. Isolated cells, terrorist activities, penchant for experimentation. In the dream world they came from, they’re a Nazi offshoot.” Shepard scowled. “Really don’t mind putting bullets in them.”
“Nazis. Explains the experimentation.” Aria commented, remembering what she’d seen at the place with Logan. “It’s very satisfying to kill those bastards. They certainly didn’t expect us when we hit them.” And they hadn’t expected Logan to be thrown through the air at them either.
“You’d think they’d learn by now. Did you run into any of them that seemed augmented? Glowy red eyes, shadowy powers?” From what Natasha had described, they didn’t seem like people one would want to tangle with unprepared.
“Not that I recall. We didn’t run into many people there, actually. Course using my biotics and some C4 didn’t call for getting up close and personal much either.” Aria responded, sipping her drink.
That brought a smile to Shepard’s face, “C4 and biotics? Now that’s a combo I have to try sometime. Why didn’t I think of that?”
“I highly recommend it. It packs quite a punch,” Aria said, a little smirk finally gracing her face, though it faded almost as quickly as it had appeared.
Aria definitely wasn’t okay. Shepard wasn’t sure what to do about that, only that she wanted to help somehow. They were a special club, the Mass Effect Technology club. “So.. how’s business?”
“It’s going well so far. Afterlife is still new, but there’s plenty of buzz about it.” Aria moved over to the two-way mirror that overlooked the strip club, getting a look at how things were going over there. “It’s a challenge, but one I welcome. Especially in a different market outside of L.A.”
“Is the buzz translating?” Business wasn’t exactly her strong suit. Hell, she’d played all the businesses on the Citadel for discounts. Now that had been fun.
“Little by little, which is how you grow a business. Word of mouth and repeat customers are the best form of advertising.” If someone liked something, they were highly likely to tell their friends and family about it. “It’s far cleaner than my operation on Omega.”
“Keeping anything clean on Omega was impossible.” Shepard meant that both dirt-wise and dirt-wise. So many underworld dealings went on in Omega that it was a wonder there was anything legitimate on the station.
“Even the lawless need a home. Plus it was outside of Citadel space, perfect place for them to go.” Aria had always loved Omega. It was her home, her pride, her everything. She ruled with an iron fist, but she’d kept people in line. It made her a hard-assed bitch, but that’s what it took to rule Omega.
“You miss it, don’t you.” It was a stupid question with an obvious answer, but some questions needed to be voiced aloud.
“Yes. It’s my home, and Cerberus has started to take root on it.” She clenched a fist. It was at least an admission of where Aria was in her dreaming. And she didn’t like where the dreams were heading.
Shepard’s lips thinned. It was going to get worse before it got better, but she knew it would get better. At least for Omega and Aria. And the Earth, eventually. Not for Shepard. “Industrial strength weed killer.”
“Never was good at gardening, that’s how they ended up in my home.” Aria had let her emotions override her gut. She’d listened to Liselle, and now look where that had gotten her. Her daughter was now buried on Thessia, and Cerberus was encroaching. The Illusive Man could be highly persuasive, but Aria knew nothing would turn out for the better where Cerberus was involved.
“They’re like destructive pests, aren’t they. I never asked to be resurrected. I spent the whole war wondering if there really was some kind of control chip at the back of my mind.” She folded her arms. “Turns out they made a clone as back up. Now I wonder if I’m the clone.”
“The thing about clones is that you can’t clone someone’s memories. If you weren’t the real you, I highly doubt you’d have all your memories intact. There would undoubtedly be gaps in it, or details missing that couldn’t be filled in for whatever reason. Besides, I don’t think a clone would’ve been able to do half the things you’ve done.” It was oddly a good pep talk from Aria.
Shepard snorted, but she didn’t argue with Aria. One learned it was best not to argue with her anyway, but she was probably right. It was some small amount of comfort. “Just imagine the threesome potential.”
“Plenty of Shepard to go around, in that case,” Aria said, sipping her whiskey. She thought for some moments before she eyed Shepard. “Considering my reputation in this world does not cast a long shadow the way it does in the dreams, there is something I should tell you.” Shepard had done enough to earn some amount of trust from her in the dreams. “Cerberus killed my daughter.”
That would probably explain a lot for Shepard and how utterly Aria had hated Cerberus and wanted to take Omega back from them even more. She had a deeply personal stake in that.
That explained everything. It was the kind of confession that was hard to come up with a response to, but she tried anyway. “Fuck. I’m sorry. They hurt too many people.”
She sometimes felt hurt at the way her old crew had treated her for being with Cerberus, but she could understand it.
“It was partially my fault.” Aria shifted her weight from one foot to the other and took a deep breath. “A former Cerberus operative came to Omega. He and my daughter had a relationship. I didn’t want him anywhere near my station. We both know what Cerberus is like when their operatives leave the organization. My daughter, however, persuaded me to let him stay and work for me. It ended with him disappearing, my daughter’s naked body on his bed, and Cerberus knocking at my door not long after.” She clenched her jaw momentarily. “Had I continued to listen to my gut and my head, my daughter would still be alive. But I let my emotions sway my judgement.”
Though there were other times when Aria’s emotions got the better of her, though it tended to only be in times when she had very good reason to be upset.
It was impossible to tell if that man had been the one to kill her, or if he’d been a victim too. It looked like that he probably wasn’t, and Shepard wouldn’t blame Aria for taking vengeance. And her daughter must have meant to a lot to her. What would it be like to have a child? She didn’t know, but god did she want to.
“I’m surprised there was a Cerberus left.”
The evidence had initially pointed to Grayson having killed Liselle, but Aria had seen through it, once she’d been a little more removed from the initial emotional rush of it all. But Shepard was correct, Aria had loved Liselle, as she’d loved her other daughters as well. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have gone to such great pains to keep her relationship to Liselle a complete secret. Aria’s enemies would use her daughters against her if they ever discovered them.
“Believe me, I wanted nothing more than to flay all of their minds and kill them slowly. I did work with Cerberus for a time, in search of the murderer, and only because the Illusive Man had the information I needed. I would have happily wiped them all out, but a deal was made and I always hold up my end of the bargain.” And then monsters had attacked Omega, and Aria didn’t like what that signified.
“Cerberus has their own funny definition of making deals.” They were not people to be trusted, but sometimes you had to make a deal with the devil.
“And uncanny timing,” she stated. Aria was still trying to figure out what possible connection the creatures had to Cerberus, but she figured her dreams would eventually answer that.
“Yeah. They do have an uncanny timing. Like they got their fingers in things just so they can make themselves out to be the heroes.”
“Humanity’s champion, only working with non-humans when it benefits them.” Aria had always been wary of Cerberus since she’d first learned of it. She was right to be wary of them, especially being an asari. They’d shoot her in the back at the first chance they got, and she was going to ensure she never gave them that chance. “Luckily, I don’t judge people in groups, I judge individuals. Cerberus is on my shit list. You, on the other hand, are on my good side.”
“Glad to hear it. Wouldn’t blame you if you felt different than that. I’d still try to persuade you otherwise. I think we both know that you have to work with the devil sometimes.”
Of course, sleeping with the devil sometimes meant you got fucked.
“I learned a very long time ago that one should only judge an individual. That sometimes applies even more to humans than the other species.” Aria didn’t always understand humans, but she liked to think that she understood them at a basic level. “I tend to prefer being that devil. It makes me uneasy when I find a devil I need to work with.”
“You only need the horns.” Shepard’s eyes went to the top of Aria’s head. “They’d suit you. Probably need to be blue.”
That actually made Aria laugh. And it was an actual laugh, not just a chuckle or a half-assed laugh. “Wouldn’t that be a sight? An asari with blue horns.”
It would be a sight. Shepard made a mental note to buy a pair for Aria for Halloween.