Revenge - Part 9

Thomson waited. And waited. He hadn't been allowed to see Emi since her heart had stopped. He didn't know whether she was alive or dead... But he was starting to fear the worst.
He hoped she'd be fine. He couldn't live without her. If she died, he'd die too. He'd kill himself. There was not any kind of future for him without her. She was his entire world.
If she survived, he'd ask her to marry him. He decided.
Another Quarian woman kept passing in and out of the medical bay with various supplies. Her environment suit was a darker shade of purple than Emi's was, and the purple glass of her helmet was also several shades darker than the one Emi had. He much preferred Emi's suit. It was brighter in colour.
As the Quarian passed again, Thomson decided to speak, "Is she ok?" he asked simply.
The Quarian nodded, then said in an accent similar to Emi, though Emi's was far richer, "They managed to start her heart again. The wound has healed a little and they've plugged the artery to stop it bleeding. She's still... not out of the darkness yet. But she's conscious if you want to talk to her... Well, I think that'll be ok with the doctors."
Relief swept over him like a shockwave. He felt the muscles in his arms relax.
"I didn't catch your name," Thomson said as the Quarian prepared to walk away.
"Tali'Zorah vas Normandy," the Quarian introduced herself as.
"Lt. Thomson of the SF-2 Falcon," Thomson responded, "Are you another one of Emi's friends?"
Tali'Zorah shook her head, "I've never seen her before. But I couldn't just let her die. Quarians aren't like that."
"Thank you, anyway," he said, "I doubt she'd have survived without your help. The medics knew nothing about your species."
She shrugged, "You're welcome. But I should probably get going. I have a drive core that needs some repairs. I've done all I can for her."
Thomson turned towards the medical bay. He had been foolishly waiting for the doctors to come and say she was ok, he realised, but they would be too focused on trying to make sure her heart wouldn't stop. He should have gone in beforehand...
He pressed the green hologram that was in the centre of the locking mechanism and the door opened.
The medical bay was full of activity. The doctors were checking equipment and tending to her gunshot wound, making sure it had stopped bleeding and wouldn't be infected.
As he drew near, he noticed that her eyes were open. She squirmed as a medic applied pressure to her injury as he applied another medigel-soaked bandage.
She turned her head as soon as she heard his footsteps, "... Thomson!" she cried weakly, her voice croaky and soft, "I'm..." she sneezed, "I love you..."
"I love you too," Thomson responded, as he moved his hand so his was entwined with hers. He squeezed her hand, "I thought I'd lost you..."
"... I could never leave you..." Emi replied, "... You're my boyfriend. I love you... I can't stand to be without you..."
He kissed her helmet, "And I can't stand to be without you."
She coughed loudly, "... Next time... I'm staying on your ship..."
"Our ship," he corrected her.
"... Getting shot... hurts..."
"Tell me about it. I'm just glad you're ok."
"... Can... Can we go home?"
Thomson shook his head, "I really, really want to... But I can't be at home whilst a gang is selling people technology with the ability to make remote control bodies. I'll stop them. Then I'll quit completely."
"... We... We need to cement our reunion properly..."
He wasn't sure whether it was the medigel, the immune system boosting drugs or the fact that she had been shot and lost a lot of blood, but she seemed to be acting rather... excitable. She kept changing the conversations every few seconds.
"Uh... I don't think this is the time, Emi."
"... But I love you..."
Thomson tapped a doctor on the shoulder, "When will the medigel wear off?"
"At the current rate... Another few minutes. We're using it in large quantities to heal the wound and it's being used up quickly because of its severity."
"Ok, thanks."
Thomson turned back to Emi, "The medigel will wear off in a few minutes. Then you'll be back to normal."
"... Aww..." she sighed, "... But it makes me feel all warm..."
"That's because it contains a pain killer, Emi. And you've been given a lot."
She shrugged, "... Have you... have you got any help for your injury?"
Thomson shook his head, "Not yet. I'll get some when you're fine again."
"... You should really get some..."
"I'm fine, honestly," said Thomson, "Well, I will be when you are."
He sat down on a chair and her head snuggled into his uninjured shoulder.
"... I really do love you..." she coughed.
"I really love you too," he responded, and kissed her helmet again.
"... Ow..." she mumbled, "It hurts..."
It took him a moment to realise she was talking about her injury, not the fact he had kissed her.
"That'll be as the effects of the medigel wear off," he explained, "Don't worry."
"... I don't feel as warm, now... I feel cold..."
Thomson squeezed her hand, then moved off the chair and down on to one knee, "I told myself if you made it I'd ask you... Emi'Derik vas Falcon... Will you make me the happiest man alive and do me the honour of becoming my wife?"
Emi nearly choked in surprise, "... Thomson... Of course I will... I love you... So, so, so much..."
Her hands moved to her helmet and she unclicked her glass faceplate. It came away in her hand, revealing the beautiful face Thomson had missed seeing in all the time they had been on Tuchanka.
"Emi, what are you doing? Are you sure it's safe?"
"... Immune system boosters... Remember? And... Am I doing it wrong? Sorry... the videos I watched on the extranet kind of showed when someone asks you to marry them it normally ends up with a weird form of kissing..."
"What do you mean, weird?" Thomson asked.
"... Do you lot really stick your tongues down each other's throats? Because that is slightly weird..."
"Hey, it's not down each other's throats. Only in their mouths," he laughed, then added, "But it isn't compulsory."
"... Why do you stick your tongues in people's mouths?"
"I'm not sure. It's just something that people do."
She smiled at him, her glowing eyes glistening, "... I kind of hoped it would be compulsory."
She wrapped her arms around his neck, being very careful not to touch his stab wound, and moved her head closer to his.
He kissed her deeply, and she kissed him back. They continued the kiss for several minutes. Every second of it was fuelled with passion and relief. Their pain was forgotten in the moment.
When they finally broke away, her eyes were closed and she was smiling.
"... Ok," she said, "... It feels a lot nicer than it sounds..."
"You know we'll be getting married, what will happen to your name? Will you be Emi'Thomson?"
She shook her head, "... Emi'Derik Thomson. I think... And you need to meet my parents..."
"Do they know about me?"
Emi nodded, "... They're not very happy at the fact I have a human boyfriend, but..." She sneezed.
"Fiance," he corrected her, "And bless you."
"... Fiance, then... But we will be together, forever..."
"Mhm. Just you and me. For the rest of our lives."
"... I suddenly dislike death... Forever would be better..."
"We all have to die, Emi," he told her, "But we can hope whatever comes after lets us be together too."
"... If it comes down to it, I want us to die together..." she said, "... If you die, I die..."
"But we can't leave the children as orphans," Thomson pointed out, "That'd be selfish of us..."
"... I love them," Emi explained, "But I love you more..."
"We should probably stop talking about death and stuff. We'll be getting married!"
They kissed, as deeply and as passionately as the first.
"... I..." said Emi, "I love you... I just want for us to be together..."
The doctors seemed to be ignoring their romantic outbursts, and instead applied another bandage to her leg. It didn't have much medigel on it, this time. They began fastening her environment suit again.
Once they had finished, Emi fastened the glass back on to her helmet. A nurse came, pushing a black wheelchair in front of her.
She was lifted off the table and into the seat of the wheelchair. She made a sharp intake of breath as her leg was knocked. The doctor apologised.
"We've done all we can," explained the doctor, "She's free to go. She won't be able to walk for a while so she'll be in the wheelchair for a few weeks. But after that she should be fine. We'll give you some medigel and then you can go."
A bandage was applied to his shoulder.
"Thanks," said Thomson, "Thanks for everything."
"... Thank you," said Emi, "... Thank you for not letting me leave him."
They exited the medical bay. Bei appeared next to them as she deactivated her tactical cloak.
"Emi!" she cried, "You're alright!"
Bei leant down to Emi's level and the two embraced.
"... Why are you a soldier?" Emi asked Bei, "... Being shot hurts... Oh keelah. I was shot..."
Thomson moved his hands either side of her neck and rubbed her shoulders. "Have you heard anything from Srateris?" he asked Bei as he felt Emi relax beneath his grip.
"Yes and no... He died when the Reaper fired at us," Bei answered, "Apparently I'm wanted in Engineering too. Something to do with a drive core overheating."
Commander Shepard walked down the corridor towards them.
"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner," he said.
Bei tilted her head, "Your timing was fine. Though it couldn't have hurt to be a few moments sooner. To be honest I'm glad you came at all."
"Well we were told by the Alliance to come. After the events of Earth and when I destroyed the Reapers, they presumed I'd be the best for this job."
"Well, it is a good thing you came. Just in time, too. We were going to be toast out there," said Thomson.
Shepard shrugged, "I'm sure you'd have done alright. It's not like you're new to battles. I read your file."
"We were about to be shot by their energy beam. I doubt we would've survived," said Bei.
"If it's alright," Thomson began, "I'd like to go back to my ship."
"... Me too," Emi pointed out.
"You have a ship each?" Shepard questioned.
Emi shook her head, "... I want to go back to his ship..."
"Oh, right. Oh... I get you," Shepard laughed.

Revenge felt his body collapse under the sustained fire from the starship's cannons. His mind left the metal shell and was uploaded completely to the Reaper network along with the rest of his species. He was no longer alone. At peace, even.
He could no longer see anything but data. Streams and streams of data that sustained the Reaper form inside a network hidden in unexplored areas of space. There was no sense of time. Just a drifting sensation and a slight tingling of data transfer across his entire species.
Hello again, old friends, Revenge thought.
He saw... no, felt, a presence within the network. A evil, vicious presence.
A stream of data was sent his way.
"You indoctrinated my body," said Vengeance, "But I will forgive you. I have a plan."
"What is that?" Revenge questioned with another data transfer, "We have no bodies. All we are is data."
"I have a... client who can help with that. One of the gang who gave Cerberus the technology to let me change bodies. I am currently in contact with them. Then we can have our revenge."
Revenge was starting to regret teaming up with Vengeance. Yes, he still wanted payback, but Vengeance was hell-bent on destruction. At least Revenge still kept the logical side of his mind.
"Fine," he said, and made it clear he wasn't happy with what Vengeance was proposing. He still wanted payback on the people who killed the Reapers, but less so. He'd let Vengeance do all the work.