Chapter Text
“Here we are!”
After a short walk, in the duration of which not a single word yet a lot of suspicious (on the Pathfinder’s part) and amused (on his part) looks had been exchanged, they were standing next to his shuttle. He’d left the engines running, so it was hovering low above the ground with a familiar, steady murmur.
As Ryder took in the spacecraft, the wary expression on her face shifted, giving way to curiosity.
“Fancy,” she remarked.
He couldn’t help but grin at the unexpected compliment.
“Thank you! Made all the modifications myself, in fact.”
It certainly was a welcome change after his service in the Alliance, where all the vessels were identical and underwent standard maintenance procedures. The military required strict order, yet to achieve the best possible result, one had to be flexible.
For all its faults, the Initiative recognized the fact that to succeed in Andromeda they’d need to be able to adapt. This was the reason why he, along with other pilots who possessed the required skill set, had basically been given free rein of his assigned shuttle. He’d started working on it pretty early on and was still tweaking it here and there. Besides the obvious benefits of personalised customisation, it was also a pretty good way to unwind when he wasn’t in the mood for company.
Ryder regarded him with a raised eyebrow. “A smuggler, a pilot, and a mechanic? You are full of surprises.”
He was absolutely sure he hadn’t mentioned his initial occupation in their conversations.
Someone has clearly been making inquiries.
“You have no idea,” he replied smoothly, filing the thought away.
Reyes punched in the code to disengage the lock, and the door slid open with a low hiss. Then he turned to the girl and offered her his hand.
She gave it a sceptical look, then narrowed her eyes at him.
“Are you trying to fluster me?”
“Your charming friend over there,” he nodded at the entrance to the Roekaar hideout, where her two teammates were busy loading up the Nomad, “called me a gentleman. It would have been very rude of me to refute her compliment.”
Looking thoroughly unconvinced, the Pathfinder hesitated. It seemed that she was trying to decide whether it would be smarter to ignore his gallant gesture or to just go with it - and deny him the satisfaction of making her back down from a challenge, which it undeniably was .
In the end, her stubborn side won out.
Raising her chin, Ryder placed her armoured hand in his and hopped into the shuttle. It didn’t escape his notice that she moved deeper into the shadow before facing him again.
“It’s not working,” the girl declared.
Reyes followed her inside and pretended to check the control panel just over her right shoulder. Her face remained inscrutable as he leaned in, she hadn’t moved an inch. That was an impressive level of self-control the Pathfinder was demonstrating. Unfortunately, with skin that pale, even in the dim lighting of the shuttle’s interior the blush on her cheeks was as bright as the northern lights.
Sure it isn’t.
Suppressing a smirk, he headed to his seat.
As his hands were retracing their familiar journey over the controls, it occurred to Reyes that it had been quite a while since he’d taken anyone with him. The last time had been back in the Milky Way, actually, since after their arrival in Andromeda he’d only made a couple of short scouting trips and cargo deliveries. He’d grown used to being alone.
And the statement applied to more than just flying.
Finished with the pre-flight checks, he strapped himself in and glanced over at his unanticipated passenger.
The Pathfinder was quite preoccupied with the safety belts. Her palms glided over the harnesses, slender fingers carefully checking every single buckle before finally lacing together in her lap.
“You seem a little tense, Ryder,” he pointed out, amused and, at the same time, vaguely offended by her apparent discomfort. It was as if she half expected them to crash.
If he had to, he could pilot this shuttle blindfolded, with one hand tied behind his back. However, he never was one to brag.
Ryder’s eyes darted over at him.
“I prefer to be on the safe side,” she replied, shifting the ‘amused to offended’ ratio toward the latter. “We don’t exactly get along, so who knows what you’ll do next? What if you decide to do that scary somersault thing?”
He raised a questioning eyebrow at her.
“You know,” she continued impatiently, waving her hand in the air to illustrate. ”That thing when an aircraft does sort of a loop.”
“A barrel roll?”
“Yes, that .”
A corner of his mouth twitched.
“Whatever would I do that for?”
“I don’t know, to show off?" she shot him a pointed look. "To make me admit that I'm impressed? Which - once again - I am not.”
Stubborn, indeed.
“And here I thought you were finally coming round!” Reyes shook his head in pretend disappointment.
Ryder just continued staring at him, and he chuckled.
“Don’t worry, there will be no barrel rolling. I promise.”
“Thank you,” she replied primly, settling back into her seat as the engines rumbled awake.
He made the lift-off nice and slow, to let her enjoy the full extent of the enthusiasm with which her teammate - Peebee - was waving her off. Judging by the expression on the Pathfinder’s face, there was definitely going to be a conversation about it later.
The shuttle gained the necessary altitude. As he set a course back to Kadara Port, his thoughts returned to Ryder and her friends.
Based on what he’d seen of their interactions so far, the closest relationship the Pathfinder had was with Pelassaria B'Sayle, aka Peebee. He still hadn’t figured out why, though.
Reyes had talked to the girl several times since their initial meeting. He'd also read the numerous reports on her activities both on Kadara and off-planet. By now he was fairly certain she was a much more serious person than her flippant, happy-go-lucky attitude suggested. So, he’d say someone more down-to-earth - like the turian, Vetra Nyx, or her second-in-command, Cora Harper - would have been a better match.
Yet, her choice of best friend wasn’t what intrigued him the most.
From what information his agents had gathered while the Tempest was travelling the cluster, as well as his personal observations, the Pathfinder was on good terms with all members of her crew, without exception. That was no mean feat, considering how diverse a group they were. More than that, Ryder avoided open conflicts in general, always choosing the diplomatic approach and smoothing ruffled feathers whenever the situation called for it. And that made him wonder why she behaved the way she did with him.
Reyes decided to try and approach the problem directly. And if there was a good time to do it, it was now, since in the next seventeen minutes the only way for her to avoid his questions would be to jump out of the shuttle.
“So, Ryder,” he began conversationally, ”I’m getting the impression you don’t like me very much.”
Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second, and then her expression became flat.
“I’m not sure why you’d think that,” she answered, brushing off an invisible speck of dust from her knee. “I’m perfectly civil.”
“Perfectly,” he echoed with a small smile.
When their eyes met, the Pathfinder stiffened, as if she was a child caught stealing cookies before dinner. Reyes could almost see the scales tipping back and forth in her mind.
Deflect.
Admit.
Deny.
Concede.
At one point, she looked like she would actually prefer to jump out of the shuttle rather than have that particular discussion with him.
Then, with a dejected sigh, she pinched the bridge of her nose.
“Okay,” she said, sinking a little deeper into her seat. “The thing is… I don’t really trust you.”
Clever girl.
He considered her admission.
“A healthy modus operandi, if there ever was one,” he replied amiably. “Be that as it may, I’m still curious - what is the cause of your suspicion?”
“You really want me to say it?”
“Honesty is the best policy! Or so they say.”
She huffed quietly and then gave him a very thorough once-over. This kind of scrutiny didn’t bother him much, but it did make him feel a bit as if he was a mysterious box someone had left on her desk, and she was deciding whether it was going to blow up in her face if she tried to open it.
“You are too… smooth .”
Reyes snorted at that. Her reply was certainly original. He’d expected something more along the lines of ‘You are a criminal living in the murder capital of the cluster and obviously doing well for yourself’.
“You say it like it’s a bad thing,” he retorted with a small chuckle.
“In your case? It totally is,” she deadpanned.
“I shall endeavour to be more awkward then.”
“As if you could .”
Reyes smirked.
“Already you know me so well!”
Over the years he had met a lot of different kinds of people, but Pathfinder Ryder was unique in the way she managed to simultaneously insult and praise a person, and be so charmingly sincere about it. He’d go as far as to say it was her trademark - just like her AI partner.
“Jokes aside, though. I’d like you to be able to trust me,” he said, his voice turning serious.
And he did mean it. Her allegiance was an important element in his plan to get rid of Sloane. The Outcasts had to be dealt with, and the stronger the connection between the Pathfinder and him was, the lower the chance of her choosing the wrong side in the impending conflict would be.
Yet, when he said the words out loud he realized that gaining her trust was something more than a good strategic move for the Collective.
It was what he himself wanted, too.
Reyes didn’t have the chance to examine that strange, out-of-the-blue thought any closer, as he was interrupted by the insistent beeping of Ryder’s omni-tool.
“Excuse me,” she said, ever the polite one, and turned her attention at the notification that had popped up on the screen.
“Pathfinder, there is an undocumented mineral in this area,” SAM reported.
“It’s that last one we haven’t scanned yet, right?”
“Correct.”
She hummed thoughtfully and leaned closer to the window, her fingers drumming on the armrest of the seat.
“How do I get up there?” she murmured under her breath.
“Is there some kind of problem?” Reyes inquired.
“More like a nuisance,” she replied distractedly, still focused on the landscape below.
He wasn’t surprised when she didn’t elaborate. Whenever they talked, Ryder hadn’t been keen on sharing any details about her work - just like any personal information. Everything he did know - which was less than he’d have liked - he’d had to find out from other sources.
And though Reyes had promised her his help, she had yet to take him up on the offer.
“Ryder, I believe Mr. Vidal could be of assistance in the matter,” SAM announced.
Apparently, her AI companion didn’t share her reservations.
The Pathfinder straightened in her seat and glanced down at her omni-tool, where a tiny sphere of light representing SAM had appeared.
“You do?”
“Yes. My analysis of the terrain suggests that the optimal way of reaching the location in question is by air. Mr. Vidal is currently piloting an aircraft suitable for obtaining that objective.”
The girl fidgeted, watching Reyes from the corner of her eye.
“Um…” she cleared her throat. “I suppose he is.”
Why did she hate the idea of asking for help so much? Was it because she wanted to prove her ability to operate independently? Was she too proud? Or she just didn’t want to ask for his help, specifically?
Whatever the case, her AI had provided a perfect opportunity for him, and he wouldn’t squander it.
“I did say I’d be willing to lend a helping hand,” Reyes reminded her, keeping his tone casual. “What do you need?”
She hesitated for another moment, looking at him and then to the side as if she was listening to someone - it appeared that SAM was saying something to her using their private connection.
“Yes, okay, you have a point,” the Pathfinder grumbled. “God, why do you have to be so rational?”
Ryder shook her head at the AI’s avatar and then half-turned in her seat so that she was facing him.
“It will probably sound extremely boring…” she admitted. “I’m helping out our chief geologist on the Nexus. There are several new minerals on Kadara, and I already have most of the samples and scans I need. But the last one is somewhere on top of a mountain. The Nomad can only get about two-thirds of the way up. I was thinking of climbing the rest of the distance, but, like SAM said, it would be easier to just fly there. So...”
By the end of her explanation, the Pathfinder was almost babbling. Though it was kind of adorable, he didn’t want to add to her obvious discomfort.
“Just send me the coordinates,” he asked, sparing her from the dreadful task of articulating the actual request.
The relief on her face was so clear to see it was almost comical.
Talking to Ryder was always akin to a ride on a roller-coaster. She could make him go from grinding his teeth to holding back laughter, sometimes in the span of one sentence. It was a completely different experience from what his usual interactions with people were like.
Yes, at first, he hadn’t been completely sure what to think of the Pathfinder. As time passed, though, he’d made a surprising discovery that he actually enjoyed talking with her. It made him feel lighter, somehow, more like his old self back from the Milky Way. When things looked brighter. When he hadn’t yet stopped caring about anything else but revenge.
His omni-tool chimed, bringing him back from the darker turn of his thoughts, and he changed their course so that they were headed to the nav point Ryder had just sent him.
The mountain loomed ahead. Its top looked as if the middle and the side closest to them had been carefully scooped out, leaving a large flat area half-surrounded by rocks, as if in an incomplete embrace. As they drew nearer, a crescent-shaped lake on the far side came into view. In the rays of the setting sun, the surface sparkled red as if it was filled with rubies instead of water.
This place looked like it belonged on a postcard.
“Wow,” Ryder said softly.
“Wow, indeed,” he agreed. “And you said it wasn’t going to be exciting.”
She glanced at him, then lifted her shoulder in a half shrug.
“Well, I suppose it can’t all be about fighting for survival and sorting through terrible options. We must stumble on something nice from time to time, too. If only so that when we are back to the pain and the suffering, we can really feel it.”
“Now that’s a very positive outlook on life,” he commented wryly.
“What can I say? I’m a true optimist.”
The open space beside the lake was covered in grass, and it undulated in waves beneath them as he gently brought the shuttle down and landed. They both unstrapped. Then he followed the girl as she stepped outside and started looking around.
“This shouldn’t take up too much time,” the Pathfinder said, activating her omni-tool. “As soon as I locate the mineral, I’ll do a quick scan, take a sample, and we’ll head straight to the docks.”
And then she turned on her heels and marched off toward the lake before Reyes had a chance to reply.
He shook his head at her retreating back. Maybe he was the last person in the cluster to point it out - with his tendency to drive himself to exhaustion dealing with the logistical nightmare of running the Collective and juggling all of his alter egos on top of it - but the girl needed to relax.
He decided to give her space, and headed in the opposite direction, to the side that was free of any rocks and probably provided a great view of the badlands below. Near the edge, where the mountain dropped steeply away, there grew one of the local plants that reminded him of a giant mushroom. He stopped next to it and leaned on the stem.
If they’d thought the mountain top they were on looked nice, the panorama that opened before him here was nothing short of breathtaking. Surely, he had seen Kadara’s landscape from above plenty of times when he was flying over it, but it was not quite the same.
Govorkam was halfway down the horizon. Like an ebbing tide, its amber light was slowly pulling back from the valleys, making all the shades and hues of the planet especially bold. In contrast with the deepening purple of shadows, the scarlet and orange of the Kadaran flora burned like fire. And far across that sea of living colour lay Kadara Port. The light reflected from the rooftops of its crude prefab buildings, making the city look as if it was cast in gold. From way up here, one could easily mistake it for a capital of some fairytale kingdom that had sprung right off a page of a children’s book.
And very likely end up dead in an alley within five minutes after crossing the city limits.
“I’m done!” Ryder announced, coming up to stand beside him. “We can --”
She stopped abruptly and, for a long moment, just watched.
“Okay, I take it all back. A view like this is worth all the pain.”
He smiled slightly at that.
“And the suffering?”
“And the suffering, too,” she agreed wholeheartedly.
Reyes thought about offering her to stay a little longer. He seldom got to have moments like this, when he could just savour something pleasant and not think about much else - if only for a short while. Yet, reluctant as he was to leave, Ryder would probably not appreciate the idea. He could guess what her reply would have been - she’d probably raise an incredulous eyebrow at him and state that enjoying a sunset together strongly implied a date, and the two of them most emphatically were not on one.
He wondered idly what she would have said if he had asked her out.
Now that’s a stupid thought, he chided himself.
Their relationship was turbulent enough. Besides, he wasn’t interested in wooing her. He wouldn’t mind being friends, he could admit that, but he did not need anything more than that.
“Are you ready to leave?” he asked instead.
Ryder paused before answering, as if she was considering something, then nodded.
“Yes. I’ve wasted enough of your time already.”
“I wouldn’t call it a waste,” Reyes disagreed mildly, following her back into the shuttle.
“Still, it’s not like you planned to be saddled with dragging the annoying Pathfinder all around the neighbourhood.”
They took their seats. This time, the girl strapped in quickly, not giving the task any conscious thought.
They lifted off and headed into the deepening twilight.
“Especially when there’s a mountain of shady stuff for you to do back at the port,” she continued with a tiny smile.
That was certainly an improvement over their earlier controversy. Even though Peebee had been pursuing her own goal - namely, the angaran member of their crew - her idea to send Ryder back with him had proven to be very advantageous.
“I can neither confirm nor deny that,” he chuckled.
The Pathfinder fidgeted a little, looking down on her lap, then back at him.
“In any case… Thank you.”
“It was my pleasure,” Reyes replied sincerely.
Done with the slightly uncomfortable task of expressing gratitude, Ryder lightened up again.
“Can you believe we’ve just had a normal, civilized interaction?” she shook her head in disbelief. “What is this world --”
Yet again her omni-tool came to life with a series of urgent beeps. Ryder brought her forearm up and concentrated on reading the message. She scrolled it down… and down... all traces of humour draining from her face.
Reyes suddenly found himself wishing he could make whoever the missive had come from sorely regret sending it.
“Bad news?” he asked.
She pursed her lips.
“It’s Tann. He needs me to get back to the Nexus and sort out another … situation.”
He should have guessed. The salarian had fucked up everything else he’d got his grabby hands on, after all.
He heard Ryder let out a long, resigned breath. Then she started typing out a reply.
No, that just wouldn’t do.
She would go and deal with the Director’s mess - it wouldn’t be the first time, and the salarian’s incompetence was a guarantee that it sure as hell wouldn’t be the last - but she didn’t have to immerse herself in it right now.
And Reyes knew just what to do to snap her out of it.
Discreetly shifting his gaze to the side, he made sure that the Pathfinder hadn't missed any buckles in her more carefree state earlier.
And then he sent the shuttle into a series of 360-degree spins.
It wasn’t a particularly difficult maneuver, but he didn’t want to scare Ryder by appearing anything less than completely focused. Only when he finished the last roll did he allow himself to look.
The Pathfinder’s hands were tightly clutching the armrests of her seat, and she somehow managed to look pale and flushed at the same time. Her perfectly neat haircut was now disheveled, and several copper locks had fallen into her eyes. In passing, Reyes noted that this look suited her much better.
“What,” she breathed, “was that ?”
His answering smile was a picture of innocence.
“I just thought you needed a distraction.”
She took in a shaky inhale, then slowly faced him.
“You promised !” she seethed. “You said there would be no barrel rolling!”
“I did,” he confirmed easily, and she almost choked on her next breath.
It took all of his considerable will to keep his poker face intact.
“So you lied ?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did !”
Why he was having so much fun pushing her buttons he would probably never know. It was a fact, though. He enjoyed it immensely. But she was getting really angry with him - he saw the blue fire of her biotics ignite in her eyes - so it was probably wise to explain himself.
“I promised you no barrel rolls.”
She just stared at him, uncomprehending.
“SAM, would you help me out here?” he asked. “What is the type of roll I’ve performed called?”
“You performed a series of aileron rolls, Mr. Vidal,” the ever-helpful AI replied.
“See?” he tilted his head at her. “I’m a man of my word.”
She slowly turned away from him and lowered her face in one hand, covering her eyes. The email interface blinked out, Tann’s message disappearing with it.
The silence stretched.
“Reyes,” she finally spoke, her intonation slow and measured. “I have two things I’d like to say to you.”
It was nice hearing her address him by his name - it was the first time she'd ever done it, in fact.
“I’m all ears.”
“You are a jerk,” she stated in that same matter-of-fact voice, as if she was talking about Kadara’s orbital period and atmospheric pressure.
He shrugged, nonchalant.
“Guilty.”
When she didn’t continue, he spoke up again.
“And what’s the second?”
Ryder lifted her face from her palm. Then, surprisingly, she threw him an absolutely lovely, roguish, crooked grin.
“Can you do it again?”