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#Leah'sHouse – November 7, 2016
Tara is sitting on the couch, watching the TV. She has taken a liking to the shows Leah have introduced her to, especially the cheap soaps. With little to any exposure to entertainment media over the course of her life, it is still a brand new world to her in many ways. What little understanding she has gained of the world beyond her own life, and of how to interact with others, has largely come from what she's seen on the TV.
She's started to adjust to living in Leah's house, if slowly. Her new job seems to be helping, as she would grows restless upon running out of housework, they way she used to. A small smile is on her face as she curls up in the couch, pulling up her blanket and continuing to watch. The unprecedented sound of a quiet giggle is followed by a wider smile as the bride and groom kiss as the wedding cermony on screen culminates.
Leah is currently doing her daily stretches on a mat laid out in the living room dressed in a pair of shorts, a simple t-shirt and a pair of long sports socks with her hair pulled back into a neat ponytail. Her daily routine was usually handled outside in her little makeshift training area, but the weather has made sure that was no longer possible. Given the relatively small size of the house, the old-fashioned fireplace in the
living room keeps it mostly warm. It was a feature Leah's father was insistent on when they moved here and, while she wasn't too fond of it at first, it was now a pleasant reminder of him. In his absense, Tara has filled a much-needed role: Person to talk at. Leah has been grateful to have someone around the house to keep her from getting lonely. "Do you think that's really him?" she asks as she scrunches up her nose, taking
a break from her exercise to study the screen. "Like, really really him? What if it's his evil twin brother?" As the groom reaches for the bride's hand with his left hand, Leah brings her hand up to her mouth. "The evil twin was a lefty!" she gasps as she points at the screen. "I knew it!"
Tara frowns, shaking her head a little as she watches. "No." she says. Her voice is quiet as always, but she's been getting more comfortable speaking, at least with Leah. "It's the real Cornelius. Malelius meant his promise to stay away." she asserts, fairly confidently. She glances at the fireplace, her faint smile returning. She wasn't accustomed to the cold of Aite, but between the blanket and the fire it was quite comfortable.
Leah lets out a deep sigh as her shoulders slump, seemingly doubting Tara's assumption. "I hope you're right... Amanda has already done enough. Cornelius deserves some happiness." she frowns before switching positions and beginning her next set of stretches.
Vasquez stops the car at the side of the road, stepping out and locking it with a swipe across her omni-tool. She zips up her jacket with a shiver and looks up at the house, studying the lonely building for a moment before starting up the path, snow gathering on her head and shoulders as she walks. Upon reaching the front door she stops, hesitating for a moment before pressing a finger against the interface to buzz the door,
Tara immediately sits up straight as the buzzer is heard. Visitors aren't exactly a common occurance. She looks to Leah for guidance.
Leah looks to Tara with an equally confused expression. "Dad isn't supposed to be back for a few more days..." she muses aloud before giving a shrug of her shoulders. "Uhhh.... One moment!" she announces loudly as she climbs to her feet and starts towards the door. She gives one more brief glance back at Tara before checking the inner interface. After a tap and a swipe, an image is displayed showing what's on the other side of the
door. "Chief...?" she mutters to herself, scrunching up her nose. She steps aside and opens the door, keeping herself out of the doorway to shield herself from the cold outside. "Hey! It's freezing out there! Get inside!" she greets, waving the woman in.
Vasquez steps inside with a nod, stomping the snow off her boots as the door closes behind her. She makes an uneasy attempt at a friendly smile, giving up on it rather quickly. "Mercier." she says curtly. "Sorry to come by unannounced. I thought we should talk."
Tara steps out of the couch, following after Leah but stopping in the doorway to the hall, almost hiding partially behind it as she observes to see who the visitor is.
Leah straightens up her posture, giving a very rigid nod of her own, suddenly feeling like she's at work and the boss has eyes on her. "It's not a problem, Chief. We were just-..." she gestures towards the screen with a shrug. "You met Tara already..." she says, giving another gesture towards the aforementioned woman. She furrows her brow, slapping both hands against her sides and allowing them to hang loosely, "Is everything
alright...?" After everything that had happened, it was undoubtedly an equally uncomfortable situation for Vasquez to be here, so surely this wasn't just a house call for some friendly chit chat.
Vasquez nods. "I-... yes, of course." she says dismissively, unzipping her jacket and wiping her boots before stepping further inside. She gives Tara a nod, glancing at Leah. "How... are things going with her?" she asks before looking back to the quiet girl, asking her directly: "Are you alright staying here?"
Leah glances to Tara once again as well, a small smile returning to her face. "She's doing good. We're both doing good." she says as her gaze returns to Vasquez. "It's been pretty quiet at the Respite for the most part. Tara managed to get a job down there, too, working in the kitchen. My dad should be back in the next few days." she lists off, giving a tilt of her head as she flashes a bigger, brighter smile, "Things are almost
starting to feel.... normal again." A small pang of guilt stabs at her as the words leave her mouth. 'Normal' won't bring Damien back. Or undo all the damage she did.
Vasquez nods again, standing in silence for a moment before glancing further into the house. "Can we sit down?" she asks, raising an eyebrow questioningly as she gesturse towards the living room. "It's good that she has someone to look out for her. What she's been through, it's-..." she trails of, her gaze falling for a moment as she shakes her head, regretting voicing the line of thought.
Leah blinks a couple of times before giving a shake of her head. "Oh! Of course! Yeah! Come right in! Have a seat!" she says with a gesture towards the couch. As Vasquez begins to talk about Tara's situation, Leah casts a glance towards her. "We look out for each other." she says with a nod, hoping to relay the fact that she enjoys having Tara around. "She has been a huuuge help around here." She starts towards the couch, giving
a brief glance down at her sports socks, causing her to frown to herself. "Sorry, I would've gotten dressed if I knew you were stopping by! I don't need to be at the Respite for a few more hours so I just sort of... you know. Rolled out of bed."
Vasquez follows Leah into the living room, taking a seat in the couch and looking around. She gives a a glance at the TV, raising an eyebrow at the questionable choice of entertainment, but saying nothing of it as she looks to Leah. "I was hoping we could talk. About... everything that happened." She furrows her eyebrows and adds, with a sigh. "I'm not here as your boss. So... don't worry about that." she says with a
Leah lowers her gaze, giving a single nod. "...Right... Of course." she says softly. It was something that was bound to come up eventually. She did kidnap the woman after all. And murdered a fellow employee. She lets out a deep sigh before looking up to Tara, forcing a smile into place for her sake. "I-.... Ummm.... I'm sorry about all of that, Chief..." she says. But that doesn't even begin to cover how she feels. "So
Vasquez shakes her head, lifting her hand to try and stop Leah. "Don't. Don't apologize. Please." she says, an uncomfortable look on her face. "I'm... I'm not sure to what degree you-..." she glances at Tara, who's still just standing there. "I'd like to speak to Leah in private." she explains.
Tara 's eyes widen momentarily as she realizes she's being adressed, and she is quick to leave the room.
Vasquez returns her attention to Leah. "I'm not sure if-... I want to make sure you fully understand what happened. Why it happened to you."
Leah furrows her brow as she studies Vasquez' face. "I don't follow, Chief..." she says, suddenly sounding confused. She falls silent for a moment before shaking her head, her expression suddenly turning defiant. "I know why it happened. It happened because Cerberus are a bunch of psychopaths willing to do anything.... no matter how fucked or depraved to succeed at their agenda. With little worry about who they hurt in the
process. They play with people's lives for their own gain and-.... and I-..." she stops, sucking in a deep breath to calm herself. "I just wish I would have been strong enough to do the right thing, Chief. The way things played out? Everything that happened?" she shakes her head once more, "I did it for my father. But that doesn't make it right... It's not what he would have wanted...." She clears her throat, straightening
her posture as she looks Vasquez dead in the eyes. "You don't need to tell me it wasn't my fault or-..." she waves dismissively, "...or whatever it is you think I need to hear. I know who to blame. But it doesn't make me feel any better..."
Vasquez listens in silence, shaking her head again towards the end. "I-..." she sighs. "Like I told you, before you left for Omega... you're not the only one that did things for them. I was their pawn. Just like you. I know exactly how you feel. Hell, what happened to you, it's on me. I let that happen because they got to me first." she says, her gaze dropping a few times as she speaks, but by the end she locks eyes
with Leah. "So yeah. I know. I know it doesn't help. To be told it wasn't your fault. That you didn't have a choice. I know..."
Leah lowers her gaze briefly upon hearing that Vasquez knew what was going on. She remains silent for a long while, simply biting her lower lip as she stares at her knees. It made for a good scapegoat. Hearing that she knew. Somehow it made her feel like she could just sweep all of the blame into Vasquez' lap. All of the pain she felt. All of the pain she caused. Damien. The lies. One step removed from her own blame. But that just
isn't who she is. Finally, she looks back up to Vasquez and reaches out, placing a hand on her boss's shoulder. "Then you know it wasn't your fault, either..." she says, looking Vasquez straight in the eyes. "We were both used, Chief... We were their pawns. I-... I'm not mad at you. I know how I felt when they-.... you had to be terrified." She sighs to herself, lowering her voice before continuing on, "...I'm sorry you
Vasquez seems a little surprised as Leah puts a hand on her shoulder. She makes a brief attempt at a smile but it doens't form, and her gaze falls to the floor past Leah as she gives a faint nod. "I-... thank you. I try to tell myself that every day, but... it doesn't make the guilt go away. I knew you'd understand. You're probably the only one here that can." she says, letting out a sigh as she leans back, looking up for a
moment before returning her gaze to Leah. "You've... seen Jason's arms, right?" She shakes her head. "Of course you have." she says, a little frustrated with herself. She closes her eyes for a moment, taking a breath. "I know he hasn't told the rest of you, but... that was me. I... did that." A faint trace of a sad smile crosses her lips as she continues. "Every time I look at him, I'm reminded of what I did. Of how
Leah brings her hand back to her side, lowering her gaze briefly. "Oh..." she says softly, "I-... I didn't know." Duh. Of course you didn't know. She just acknowledged that you wouldn't know. Leah scrunches up her nose, unpleased at her failure to speak. If there was one thing she had an abundance of, it was words. "But-... But you two are still together. And getting married!" she says, as if she may be reminding Vasquez of
something she hadn't considered. "So obviously he doesn't blame you." Just like Damien didn't blame her. He allowed it to happen. And that did nothing to ease her guilt. If anything, it just made it worse. "...But you're right. I get it. You just feel-... wrong. Used. Cheap. Disposable." she sighs. "And it becomes a part of your life. Of who you are. Looking over your shoulder. Reading a little bit more into everything and
everyone. But-... I guess we have a choice, you know?" she asks, tilting her head to the side, "We can let what happened to us decide how we're going to live. Or we can pick that baggage up and keep moving forward, right?" She shrugs her shoulders, giving a brief glance in the direction Tara made off in. She bites down hard on her lower lip once again as her eyes gloss up a bit, but she sucks in a deep breath and continues,
"I couldn't be strong enough to do the right thing for Damien and it costed him his life. But there's someone right now who is relying on me to be strong and push forward and I'm not going to let her down. I'm not going to let my father down." She quickly brings a hand up to her face, wiping at her eye with the palm of her hand before she rests her green eyes on Vasquez once again, forcing a bright smile despite the tears
Vasquez expression turns grave once she's done speaking, and she falls into silence listening to Leah, nodding in recognition a few times, meeting her gaze now as she listens. Towards the end a smile manifests, even as she does her best to push back mounting emotion. "Yes. We will. We have to, for the people around us. I'm-..." she pauses briefly as her voice breaks a little, and she closes her eyes for a moment. When she
opens them she's looking past Leah. "I'm glad you see that too. I was... worried you'd shut yourself in. Push people away. I got... damn close to doing that. Hell, I'm still struggling with it." She looks back to Leah, smile flashing briefly again. "You've got more sense than me. Jason's all I've got. All that... keeps me afloat. I don't feel like I deserve his forgiveness, but I don't know what I'd do without him.
It's... it's good that you have people to care about. People that care about you. Nothing's more important." Her tone remains entirely sincere as he speaks, and despite some uneasiness she seems unusually comfortable being as open as she is, perhaps due to their shared experience.
Leah sniffs hard once, but nods a bunch of times. "I-... I almost did." she admits. "On Omega. If it wasn't for Tara, I probably never would have came back from that. I-.... it's hard. But I came out the other side. I don't think I'm ready to forgive myself..." she continues, scrunching up her nose as she shakes her head, her ponytail bouncing from side-to-side, "Not yet. But maybe now I have a chance to earn that forgiveness now,
right?" she asks, giving another smile and a glance in Tara's direction. "Sounds like you have your own share of reasons to... to figure all of this out...." she says, despite not really knowing what 'this' is.
Vasquez nods, looking out across the room, her gaze once again landing on the TV for a moment. It's playing an ad for the Cision Pro Mark 4. She sighs, nodding once more as she looks back at Leah. "Yeah. I-... I've wanted to try and... dig, again. To... try and understand. Maybe prevent. But... after what you told me... I can't. If they'll truly stay away, then... maybe we should just... let it be. Try to... move on." She
shakes her head to herself. "I don't-... I don't know. I just-... nothing matters more to me than the safety of my family." she says, hand almost subconciously moving to her belly as she looks out towards the window at the bright white outside. "I... don't know what to do, or... what to think..."
Leah shakes her head a bunch of times at the mention of digging, and doesn't stop until Vasquez finishes speaking. "No, no, no, no, Chief! They-... They'll know. You can't!" she pleads, the terror that the ordeal has inflicted on her quite obvious. "They promised to leave me alone as long as I-.... I have Tara to think about now..." she explains, "...I'm sorry." She falls silent for a moment, passing a strange gaze around the
room. She leans to her side, craning her neck to get a better look through the window before speaking again, her paranoia suddenly getting the best of her. "I want nothing more than to burn their entire organization to the ground, Chief... I made Damien a promise..." she says, his final words playing in her head once again. 'Make 'em pay, Leah.' She sighs loudly. "But-... But what is there to gain out of this? Who are we even
fighting? They're too big. They're everywhere. We don't have an enemy to fight. It's just-... a nameless, faceless group. Maybe this is how we win, Chief? By living our lives. By being happy again."
Vasquez nods again, with a sigh. "Yeah. I know. There's... no winning. We just have to try and move on, and... hope that someone else can deal with them. It's just... hard to sit and pretend everything is fine when you know that they're out there. That they could come back into your life at any point and wreck it all over again. That they might be out there right now, doing the same thing to someone else..." Her gaze falls
lower and she frowns, it's clear the thought troubles her greatly. She lets out a heavy sigh. "...but there's nothing we can do. I know. We have to just... go on. Hope we can live in peace."
Leah's knee bounces a bit. It's clear that she's uneasy even talking about Cerberus. Her gaze moves back to the window once again before settling on her boss. "If-.... If there was something we could do..." she says, lowering her voice to a whisper, "...I would do whatever it takes to make things right... To make them pay for what they did." she says, holding Vasquez' gaze as she looks from eye to eye, hoping her intent is
understood. "But there isn't." She bites her lower lip as she studies Vasquez for a moment. "Please.... Be careful, Chief."
Vasquez nods yet again. "I know, Leah. I'm-..." she reaches out, putting a hand on the woman's knee in an attempt to calm the bouncing. "I'm not going to do anything. Alright? I'm not going to provoke them. I can't. I can't risk it." She withdraws her hand, moving it to her own belly for the second time. "I have something more important to focus on." she says with a shrug and a meaningful look. "Someone to keep safe."
Leah nods numerous times, though it's clear that she doesn't even get the implication right away. Her eyes move to Vasquez' belly and her knee slowly stops bouncing as it sets in. "Oh..." she says softly. "Oh!" she repeats, not so softly. "Oh shit! That makes so much more sense now!" she says, not particularly giving any context. She shuts her eyes and shakes her head a few times as she realizes she just skipped over a part.
"Last night!" she explains. Yep, that clears everything right up. "Jason and-... uhh.... the turian...? Tarkus!" she exclaims as she recalls his name, "They were at the Respite and-..." she leans in, speaking out of the side of her mouth as if telling a secret, "...they were preeeetty wasted...." she leans back once again, the words flooding forth from her mouth without missing a beat, "...So I decided to check on them and
make sure everything was alright and Jason just looked up at me, smiled, and shouted 'I'M PREGNANT!' at me." She begins to snicker to herself as she recalls the situation. "I had no idea what in the hell he was talking about, so I was just, like, 'oooookay, I'll be on my way' and went about my business. Figured he was just wasted and, well, Jason is a weirdo." She scrunches up her nose, "Oh, why am I telling you that?
You know that already. Buuuuut yeah." she takes a deep breath as her hands fall into her lap. "Now it all makes sense." she finishes with a smile.
Vasquez cracks a smile at Leah's breakneck rambling. She nods. "Yes. Yes, that he is." she says, before furrowing her eyebrows and clarifying: "Weird, not pregnant." She looks pleased with herself at the passable attempt at humor. "We've started spreading the word. Well... mostly Jason has been. He'll probably be shouting from the rooftops soon..." she says with a roll of her eyes.
Leah gives a loud chuckle as Vasquez speaks, nodding along with her. Her eyes go wide as her mind is flooded with a million questions. "Is it a boy or a girl!?" she asks, "Have you guys decided on a name? OH! What about a baby shower? Speaking of parties, when is your bachelorette party!? The wedding is in, like, two weeks, right?" She frowns, cocking her head to the side, "Wait, I didn't miss it, did I?" Her frown turns
somewhat accusatory as she furrows her brow, "Did you not invite me, Chief!?" she gasps. Her blame dissipates just as quickly as it appeared as a brief sigh interrupts her rapid-fire yapping, "I mean, I did kidnap you. I guess it's not too weird that you wouldn't invite me to your bachelorette party after something like that." Uh oh, now she's pouting, "But I could've helped with the planning! I'm good at crap like that!"