Not Everyone Can Say Before they Were Adopted they were Kidnapped

Before Solorha’s impulsive decision to whisk Riegel, an orphan who had been causing a bit of trouble in the Citadel since his arrival, off the streets. Few are very sure of where Riegel came from. The few things known is that his parents are dead. The eight year old declared. He had been wearing his Father’s bloodstain jacket. And Riegel came to the Citadel somehow. Maybe some pirates, looking to make an illegal sale, maybe from some mercs. Who knows. What is known is that he was taken in by a well renowned Commando from Citadel Security.

His first adoption wasn’t so official, as his second adoption. When Solorha was called to investigate a kid, causing problems in the Citadel. Solorha was pissed that she would even be assigned to do such degrading work and wondered what C-sec was doing that they couldn’t 1) capture one kid and 2) actually do their job and investigate. How dangerous was one child anyway?

This wasn’t her job. Someone so officially ranked as her, shouldn’t be looking for a small, little rat. That’s work for lesser officials. Despite her grievances with the task, what they couldn’t have was a troublemaking child in the Citadel causing a ruckus. It disrupts trade. It disrupts people’s lives. The plan was to snatch the kid up, and send him off to wherever was appropriate to send him off to. Till she met the child. Solorha was many things, but one without a heart wasn’t one of them.

Seeing him wearing the bloodstain jacket of his deceased Father. Took her back to the loss of one of her own parents. He was just doing, as all kids orphaned on the Citadel do, what he could to survive. Solorha was known for many things, one of them being her tendency to be impulsive and make impulsive decisions. Perhaps this would be please Rith. Her long term life partner. Whom she met several, several, years ago.

“Dearest, I have a present,”
Rith knew whenever Solorha said something along those lines.
It was never anything good.

“And what could it possibly be this time?”

Her eyes fell directly onto the Human child. Wearing a bloodstain coat.
Holding Solorha’s hand. How long did it take for her to convince the boy to go with her?
And did she threaten him in any way, doing so?

“A Human Child,” if Rith was anything, it was not pleased.

“Technically, an Orphaned Human Child,” Solorha responds.

“And you just took him off the streets?”

“I mean where else was he supposed to go?”

“To the proper authorities,”

“I was thinking we could keep him, actually,”

“This isn’t some fish you buy at the kiosk and dump into a tank Solorha,”

“Well I know that Rith,”
“Then, why would you bring him here?”

“We have talked about children,”

“But not kidnapping them!”

“With our position we could easily make it look less like a kidnapping,”

“You’re asking me to use our positions, to officially adopt the child you kidnapped,”

“I mean who is going to stop us-

-it’s also extremely unethical and corrupt,”

“Taking in a child? It’s a lot better of a use of our official positions than embezzling money, paying on gambling fees, or any other uses the officials use their money for,”

Rith sighs, “That’s a fair point, but-

-listen Rith, I know what it is like to lose a parent, to lose two of them, maybe by some universal reason I was sent out to track him for a reason. We have talked about children before and this one, this one needs a home-

-a lot of them do-

-yes, but listen-

Eventually Rith settled down about the ordeal. Truth was Solorha was right. Eitherway this human child would need someone to take care of him. And while it was true that Solorha and Rith had been discussing children, this wasn’t how she officially saw that going. But perhaps she was right and this child would do better in their hands than any others.

Now the question was how to break the news to their eldest daughter, Nysha. If there was anything Rith never wanted was for her to feel like she was being replaced or loved less. This was new territory for both of them, when she was talking about children, she didn’t entirely mean ripping an orphan off the streets. Nysha was growing up to be a fine young lady all on her own.

We need to discuss something,”

Nysha always being the ever so observant pre-teen, and as impulsive as Solorha sometimes, “Does it have to do with the human boy?”

“Yes, yes it does, you see he will be living with us for awhile,”

“But not actually, because he’s human,”

“All right we need to have a discussion about that kind of language before we continue,”

Bored with the conversation already, Nysha leapt from her seat to greet her new adopted sort of kidnapped brother.

Growing up Riegel and Nysha were relatively close. Nysha liked to parade him around like he was an oddity or spectacle in her otherwise Asari home. She enjoyed taking on the big sister role to Riegel. It seemed Rith and Solorha’s worries about her reaction were quelled. Though some could argue Nysha liked to drag her younger brother around like he were some pet, then out of some familial love. That probably would come later, over time.

Tumultuous Struggles of Youth

Maybe Solorha and Rith were a bit naive, thinking they could take a child off the streets knowing so little about his past. Riegel didn’t speak much about his parents or how they were killed. Whether or not he was witness to their death or how he got to the Citadel would seem to be the secret that he would take to his grave. Neither Rith or Solorha believed they could easily heal all mental wounds a child had suffered, but they hoped that they could provide reprieve. A safe space, a loving home. And growing up for Riegel was relatively all of that.

Nysha was the older big sister, who protected him. His Mother and Father’s position meant they didn’t have to worry about money much, and the children were given freedom and education. Which neither of them took for granted, only they acted out when they were bored. And that was relatively infrequent though Riegel was known more as a prankster than his sister Nysha.

One infamous event was the time Riegel was dared by his sister Nysha to deface the front of the arcade.

“Riegel,”

Crap. It was his Mother.

“Mother. Hi,”

He looks over to Nysha. Her eyes are already searching for her escape.

“Have you been behaving?” Ruth takes a second, she eyes the both of them.

“Absolutely. Peak Behaving,”

“So you aren’t in any sort of trouble?”

“Me, trouble? What kind of trouble could I get into? You know around the Citadel, where you um, and Father are well known and quite prominent. That’s me, Master of Behaving, you know,”

“Interesting, because it sounds to me like you haven’t been behaving,”

“Me? That’s weird I would never do that,”

Rith knew all too well it didn’t take long to make the both of them cave. All it took was a single look to get the two of them to cave. Which meant Nysha has been slowly trying to sneak out of the room, and not be noticed. This look is relatively effective on Riegel though because he caves pointing to Nysha,
“She dared me.”
“What! No! I am behaving!”

“Well, so am I, so we both can’t be,”

“Be quiet,”

“So you both were up to something,”

“What? Us, No,” Nysha and Riegel respond.

Though in the grand scheme of things the defacement was relatively light, despite Rith’s coming down on the two for a confession. All they really did was cut out some animal shapes made of paper and taped them onto the windows of the arcade. Defacement the way a thirteen might understand it.

The two of them were punished lightly, you could easily take the animal shapes off the window and it wasn’t entirely that big of a deal.

Growing up wasn’t all that easy, however. The biggest family secret was that Riegel began to show or display Biotic abilities before the age of thirteen. What Rith was worried about was letting others know about his abilities and that he would be forced to join the Alliance. And what Solorha and Rith wished for him was for him to make the freedom of his own choices. Solorha who worked for Citadel Security Fleet preferred their son not be forced into military service and Rith wanted to give him the opportunities of making his own decisions in life.

They would teach him privately. They assumed from the things told by the Alliance about Human Biotics that he wouldn’t never display nearly the full potential of his abilities. However, being able to defend himself was their top priority no matter how much power he displayed.

To no one’s surprise Riegel’s adolescents came with its struggles, any child who would come out of what he went through unscathed. Truth was that likely during his teen years Riegel sought being tough. A part of him yearned to be as powerful as Solorha or Rith or even Nysha, who was old enough to start making her own decisions.

Rith always tried to keep him balanced, always tried to bestow some of her millenia of knowledge unto him. Most of the time it worked, it’s probably what kept Riegel from fully being seduced by seeking the strength he desired in destructive or self destructive ways. While Solorha provided him the tools to cope, perhaps not always with the traditional coping skills - she’s the one who taught him to shoot a gun. While Rith taught him to temper himself.

Fifteen was probably the most tumultuous time for Riegel, who was struggling to cultivate his identity. Nysha was young, and adventurous. She sought exploration, and dreamt of leaving the Citadel. She would constantly talk about going on adventures, taking a ship and flying off. She knew what she wanted to do, and who she wanted to be. She wanted to be like their Mother and Father, wanted a name for herself, wanted to carve a little piece of her into space’s history.

While he was an Orphan. Who lost his parents. Raised by Asari. He wasn’t an Asari, that was obvious. But he didn’t connect very well with other Humans either. Who was he? His Mother and Father wanted to keep him from the Alliance, they never denied Nysha or him the choice to decide where they wanted to be. But the truth was likely even at that age though he knew he wanted to avoid the Alliance types at all cost.

It’s at this age and a few years after, that marked Riegel’s poor adolescent decisions. He sought a cause to fight. He sought the strength to protect people. Because as a child he hadn’t the power to protect his parents, or to stop whatever it is that happened to him. He began taking up a cause on the Citadel. Despite not being Asari or of an alien race, he began to take up the banner banning Humans from taking a seat on the Citadel Council. This would have been fine if Riegel was only protesting against Humans who were anti-alien races, the issue was that these altercations often became physical.

“You’re really going to deny your own race like that?”

“I am not your fellow,” Riegel retorts.

The Human refuge, with the tired expression in his eyes, snarls, “Oh is that so. Cause I don’t see you painting your skin blue and you certainly don’t have any fucking head tentacles-

-which ones? Because I am sure the Turians have fins, and the Asari have cartilage crest, tentacles implies they flop around-

-what are you some Alien expert-

-No I just don’t spew shit from my mouth,”

“You’re just some kid, get out of here, you have no idea what you’re protesting-

-I actually do, funny that I am capable of thought, unlike you,”

“These Aliens are keeping Humanity from-

-they aren’t keeping you from anything, something Humanity hasn’t learned is to shut up and learn from the others before making demands of them-

-wow they really indoctrinated you those Aliens kid-

-yeah and you’re the one arguing with a “kid”,”

One more notorious event was the Citadel brawl that got a few, even Riegel arrested - for a brief moment. Although not the cause of the brawl, Riegel certainly got himself involved in the brawl. Tensions high, the Human Refuges arguing for Humanity’s role on the Citadel Council and those against them, verbal arguments soon became physical arguments, one man was charged for slapping another man with a tablet.

“Surprised to see you here,” Bailey raises a brow, “With the position of your parents, getting arrested looks poor on them.”

“It was self defense,”

“That’s what I heard, we’re investigating those claims, right now, but it’s probably best you stay out of altercations like that,”

“What am I getting a lecture from you now,”

“No, just trying to keep you on the right track, I know your - is it Father? I am not going to lie, I don’t understand how the Asari work, Solorha. She’s extremely effective and I just don’t want her to look bad, or you,”

“This is starting to sound like a lecture,”

“Okay, maybe it is a little, but you’re doing good work. Fighting for what you think is right, but perhaps do it in a way that gets you in less trouble-

-kids telling the truth, someone shoved him first and he shoved back-

-See, I didn’t even need a lecture, self defense,”

While fiercely politically involved for a few years, up to the age of eighteen. He also began to make friends during this time as well. Becoming politically involved and musically involved. It seems like something every politically charged teenager got into. As Nysha was sending in her application for C-Sec. Riegel started to believe he found his purpose. Maybe he would get into politics or music. Or maybe both.

Yet, it wasn’t enough. It never was. It always felt empty. After a while, music was just a hobby and the protesting didn’t feel much like protecting people. And what could he accomplish as a Human politician anyway? It seemed yet again he was lost to who he was and what he was interested in doing. Pulling out of the political scene. He stayed with his friends, the ones he made from protesting against the anti-alien refuges, and the ones he made while briefly singing in a band.

“I thought you had found a path,” Rith states, recognizing him in a state of dejection, yet again.

Riegel slumps over on the couch, staring at the ceiling.

“I thought I did too, but protesting isn’t going to save anyone,” he sighs, “Maybe I should join C-Sec or Alliance. I don’t know.”

“You think those are your only options?” Solorha interjects, as she's just walked into the apartment.

“What do I do then?!” he sits up, frustrated.

“This is the struggle I think of being a short lived species. You’re so eager to figure out what you want to do at such a young age, though it makes sense, by the time you mature you only have so many years before you leave to the stars. You’re so young, just like Nysha, but unlike her, she has years to reinvent herself. Change, if she so desires, we do not remain the same. Even I am not the same person.I wish I could give you my life. So you didn’t have to agonize so much about what to do,”

“A lot of good that helps, being so short lived,” Riegel angrily responds.
“She’s trying to say that it is okay for you to outgrow the things you have done as an adolescent and change who you are at any time. We Asari merely have many years to do so,” Solorha states, watching from the kitchen.

“Thank you love,” Rith smiles.

“Of course,”

“That’s great,but who do I change myself to? I want to be - I,” he sighs.

“There is no rush to consider how you want to change,”

It was easy for them to say. No rush to change. When they had so many years to live. He’d probably die at ninety something, and he was already nineteen. That’s no time at all. Especially when Nysha had already chosen her path.

Speaking of Nysha and the troubles of youth. Nysha was always eager for adventure and excitement, the calm of the Presidium bored her to tears. She was only accepted into C-Sec because of her parents' positions, and she knew that. She was eager to prove herself. Eager to show that she didn’t need to be babysit.

When Riegel was twenty this meant Nysha was going to get Riegel involved in the most trouble they had ever gotten themselves into. It would cost Nysha her short lived career, and put the both of them in jeopardy. The Citadel, all though a good life, had its dark secrets. As most places do. One day on her usual calm patrol of the Presidium, part of her training, she overheard a rumor one that involved the black market and an illegal smuggling ring. Nysha, who was filled with stories of her Father and Mother, aspiring to be them - decided she was going to capture this operation herself.

Of course with a little help with her biotic little brother.

“Maybe this will help you find your path,” Nysha smiles.

“Or maybe you should report the rumor to your superiors,” Riegel responds.

“But it’s just a rumor,”

“If it’s a rumor, then maybe they should send someone to investigate,”

“Or they will ignore it because it’s a rumor,”

“Nysha, this is a lot of trouble-

-when have you ever been against a little bit of trouble,” Nysha leans her chest onto the counter, folding her fingers together, interlocking them into a prayer, “Riegel, please?”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,”

“When have you ever done anything that’s a good idea-

-this is different-

-getting in a brawl at the protest-

-it’s not an illegal smuggling ring-

-getting into brawls at the club-

-it’s not the blackmarket Nysha-

-come on Riegel-

-Nysha, no-

-even if you don’t agree, I’ll go on my own,”

“Fine, you do that,”

Of course he wasn’t going to let her go on her own. Even if he wanted to. She was going to get herself into trouble. He didn’t want to betray her, but it was probably best to tell someone what she was up to. Looking up her personal datapad to figure out what she had found out, he’d swing by C-Sec report it to Bailey or one of her superiors and run off to go stop her from doing something stupid. But then again, this is something Nysha longed for. She sought adventure. She wanted to have an exciting career. Wanted to be known for something. Reporting her in, might ruin her chances entirely. She might lose her job. He had a decision to make, spare her career, but potentially put them at more risk. Or report her findings to C-Sec, then track her down.

Going against all better judgment, Riegel said fuck it to telling C-Sec. And ran off to find her before she got hurt or someone else. This was so stupid. She wasn’t thinking, now he knew how Rith felt when Solorha ran off to do something impulsive.

What Nysha had uncovered was an illegal drug deal. And what they were smuggling into Citadel was red sand, being sold under the table. This was the most danger they had ever been in, he hoped that Nysha was smart and pulled out before confronting the Red Sand dealers. That something came across her senses. When he eventually found her, in an alleyway, it seemed she had been planning for weeks to get involved with the dealer. Was her plan to buy Red Sand and then arrest them? By herself? She had no experience fighting six guys by herself if things went the wrong way. And neither did he. A firing range was not the same as real, breathing, individuals with life.

He hid behind a wall. Not to be noticed at first. Maybe he was being over protective. Maybe she did have a handle on this.

“Chips,” the Batarian demanded.

“I have the chips,” Nysha responds, showing off her credit chips.

“Very well, hand the chips over, make it quick,”

“Here,” Nysha states, handing over the credit chips, the Batarian lifts his hand to accept the payment and hands her over a small envelope.

Nysha accepts the envelope; doing so, she grips the Batarian’s hand. What is her plan? “Caught you red handed.” she smirks, she has been working on that one for a while, “C-Sec, and you’re under-

-A shot rings out, bouncing off her Biotic shields.

All chaos broke loose. The dealer's kinetic rounds rang in the alleyway. Briefly bouncing off her shields. Nysha was pinned. And for a second, he was briefly stunned. Paralyzed behind the wall. The fire of the weapons. Nysha running for cover. For a moment it unlocked a brief memory. One buried in the recess of his mind.

Not now when she needed help.

Nysha Slams a Dealer into the wall.

Her shields are down.

“Oh look boss, they tried to hide a kid from us,”
“Wouldn’t have died if they just sold him for insurance,”

Nysha needed help. Her shoulder now grazed.

She lifts her hand wildly sending a Shockwave hurling through the alleyway.

Somehow he managed to move. Stepping out of the alleyway. This was the first time someone had ever shot at him. Not the first time someone had pointed a gun at him. With what knowledge Solorha and Rith had given him, kinetic slugs striking at his natural shielding. Pushing his hand forward and hurdling a Throw. He felt the weight of gravity at his fingertips. And the impact of the man ricocheting off the wall.

“Nice one-

-this isn’t a game-

-we can take them!”

Her purple blood splattered onto the wall. A slug hit her shoulder. She doubles back. He’s reeling from the fact he might just have killed someone, but they are trying to kill them. They will kill them, what is he thinking. They can’t win this fight.Neither of them have any experience in battle. Every time they hit back, he’s too unsteady, panicky. She’s injured.

A door opens, someone is coming.

“Nysha, Riegel,” their Father seems surprised that they are here.
In fact she didn’t even expect them to be here.

“Father, I can explain,” Nysha begins, holding onto her shoulder.

“Just get down, we’ll talk-

-She raises her hand to create a barrier as the Batarians swing around wildly to shoot at their new target.

While Solorha dealt with the Batarians, Riegel made it to Nysha, to help her with her wound. What does he do? Did she have an omni-gel on her then? Probably. It was easier to look at her blood, say than his own.
Nysha was putting on a brave face, but she was scared he could see it in her eyes. He wasn’t sure he could remain calm either, hands shaking, while trying to apply omni-gel.

“What are you two doing here?” Solorha asks them.

“It’s my fault, I- Nysha began-

-were chasing glory!” It was the first time Solorha had ever raised her voice angrily, “you’re going to lose your job. Your actions will affect us greatly. You do realize that Nysha. You didn’t bother to ask, before you ran off-

-the Presidium was boring, nothing ever happens-

-that’s not why I do this job Nysha!” their Father pauses, “And why are you here Riegel?”

Snapping out of his rattled state of mind, being addressed so firmly from his Father, “I - wanted - knew Nysha was coming here. I am sorry. I didn’t want her to get hurt. I knew what she was doing was dangerous.”

Solorha sighs, “Are you two all right?”

Nysha looks at her shoulder, “Yeah, I am. Fine.” she mumbles.

Was he fine? He wasn’t so sure. He felt the man’s body richot off the wall. It wasn’t like releasing something and then it left his hands.

“Are they dead?” Riegel asks.

“What the Batarians?” Solorha asks, “No. I know how to employ my abilities not to do so. These men will be arrested and taken in by C-Sec. We were investigating the Red Sand Dealers, we came here because we caught wind of a deal going on. Had I know it involved you two-

-he isn’t involved in this,” Nysha finds her voice, “He came to stop me from doing something stupid, that’s his only involevment. I get it, I am not fit for this job.”

“I never said that,” Solorha tells her.

“I am sorry,” Riegel states again, “I didn’t intend to kill anyone.”

“Well it was better you killed them, than the other way around, I understand,” Solorha pauses, “And I am proud you came here to protect your sister despite knowing the danger, trying to stop her from a stupid mistake.”

Nysha frowns.

“I couldn’t let her go out without any help,” Riegel responds.

Solorha smiles, “And I love that about you. There will be consequences, however. And I cannot protect you if C-Sec decides to fire you.”

And Nysha was fired.

For three hours.

Nysha was sulking in her room.

Lamenting about the experience to Riegel, “Bailey was going to give me probation and more special training. But Father told him to fire me. I know I made a stupid mistake, I know I shouldn’t have gone off and done that. And I didn’t thank you for helping me out back there. Or healing me.”

Riegel nods.

“I told you it was dangerous,” he mumbles, still going over the events in his head.

Nysha takes a second, “And I dragged you along. Are you okay?”

“No, I decided to go on my own accord, I could have let you go alone, but if I did,”

She likely would have been dead. If he hadn’t been there.

“Yeah,” Nysha frowns, “Now what do I do? I wonder if I can acquire a ship.”

“You just got out of one dangerous situation, to get into another?!”

“Well Mother and Father get in a lot of danger-

-you’re not them-

-don’t be a jerk when you were so cool back there, and now you’re being a jerk,”

“Because you almost died!”

“Don’t be so dramatic-

-what would you have done without anyone else there-

-I just,” Nysha scowls, “Get better. That’s all.”

“That’s what you took out of this, we killed someone-

-and?-

-you know Mother and Father don’t trivialize life like that-

-they were bad people-

-yes I know that, but it’s reckless, you haven’t learned anything about being reckless-

-just get out of my room if you’re going to lec-

-Nysha, it was Batarians who killed my parents and took me from wherever I came from. Today, I remembered a little about back then,”

“RIegel,” Nysha grabs his hand,”I am sorry. You’re right, I am being reckless and full of air. I should have done the right thing and maybe it was best to fire me.”

There is a knock on Nysha’s door. Nysha slumps, pressing her back to her headboard. It was probably either of their parents and she was likely going to get more of a talking to. The door opens, Solorha is holding a datapad in her hands, waving it around, “Here are your probation details.”

“Wait, probation?” Nysha ask, “I thought I was fired.”

“I wanted you to learn something,” Solorha hands her the datapad, “Your Mother is going to want to talk to the both of you after this.”

“Why can’t I just get a talk from you?” Nysha complains and accepts the datapad, “Thank you for not firing me.”

“Learn from this,”

They both would take lessons from that day. Nysha would learn to temper herself and not be so full of air. And Riegel began to recognize power wasn’t the only way to be strong or a protector. Maybe there were other ways to protect people. To potentially give them a second chance. Whatever that was, he was going to do that.

Eventually Riegel decided the way to save people, to protect them, to give them a second chance was to go into the medical field. He had found his path, or so he thought back then. At twenty-two he sent in an application to join the Citadel Medical Programming. Solorha and Rith approved of this decision, they seemed proud of him actually for finding his path. Riegel waited patiently for a year to hear a response back from CMP. And on the side he would do what he normally always did, something with music, or models.

At twenty-three he was accepted into the Citadel Medical Programming, where he spent six years studying multi species medicine. Despite a lot of hard work, he tried his best for the first time in his life, keeping his head above water. And himself out of trouble.

Nysha and him would regularly convene together in the Presidium where he would study. And for the first time Rith nor Solorha had to worry about the two of them much. His life seemed to be going steady for once. Scars healing over.

Eventually he would complete his six year studies, to be officially seen as an intern in the hospital at the Citadel. As an intern, he would begin more hands-on training. Though as an assistant of a doctor, whom he would watch, and learn from.

He hadn’t known at the time that he was joining his career in the darkest history.

At twenty-nine, the beginning of his internship at the hospital of the Citadel, there were strange rumors beginning to come from the Wards. Of a Commander of the Human Alliance Fleet, making accusations of a Turian Spectre. Something had happened on Eden Prime, or so he heard. Riegel still had friends from his protesting days, and got all of the details usually about what was happening on the Citadel Council. From what he gathered the Human Alliance Fleet, with Prime Minister Udina were making baseless accusations with a lack of evidence trying to pin what happened on Eden Prime on Saren. He would closely watch the events that would unfold of this, meanwhile, dedicating himself fully into his internship.

While there seemed to be greater events going on in the background, the most pressing issue Riegel had to face was the one with his old fashion teacher. Doctor Ramirez. Who was always complaining about something with Riegel’s professionalism.

“Riegel we need to talk,” Ramirez addresses him.

“What about? Am I doing something wrong?”

“Yes, but no,”

Riegel frowns.

“Enlighten me,”

“Don’t be so snarky,”

“Sorry sir, what can I do for you sir?”

“It’s your hair,”

Riegel frowns further.

“What about it?”

“Patients are not going to feel confident with a doctor whose hair is colorful,”

“It’s just blonde,”

“Are you being mouthy with me?”

“I mean, I am sorry sir, I’ll dye my hair,”

From blonde to blue. He wasn’t going to give up his sense of self expression for some crotchy, old doctor. None of the patients they had seen ever complained about his hair, in fact most of them complimented the electric yellow color. Ramirez wasn’t impressed by his “rebellion” he called it. Wasn’t even like Riegel was a doctor yet, he was an intern. He watched other Doctors, and participated in taking things like vitals, handing needles, and reciting the right dosages to give each patient. He wasn’t even authorized to deal with non-human species without strict supervision.

Nysha was having a much better time than he was. After redeeming herself and going through her probation and training, she started to excel. The two of them met up often, usually when her patrols were slow.

“What do you think about this whole Shepard business?” Riegel asks Nysha, staring into the water at the Wards.

“I mean, he proved Saren was a bad guy,” Nysha sighs and frowns, she rolls over, pressing her back onto the railing, and leaning over to stare at the Citadel sky. Bending in a way that would make others question whether or not she was actually comfortable in that position.

“That’s true,”

“What about you?”

“At first, I was concerned that he was just pushing similar Human centric politics, but when Saren was exposed and removed from the Spectres, I am less concerned about that. I wonder what’s going on in the greater world,”

“We’re not really supposed to know any of this,”

“Yeah, I know,”

“Riegel, what if something really terrifying happens?”

“If something terrifying happens, then let’s promise to keep each other safe,”

“I am holding you up to that,”

“Promise then,”

“Promise,”

Looking back at it those five months felt more like a storm brewing, but no one knew anything about it or if they did no one was preparing for the worst. No one even knew the worst was coming. The Citadel Council kept any public panic at bay, and the public continued living their life like everything was normal. Riegel watched events he wasn’t supposed to know about unfold, as he got information from old friends, people who were friends with his Mother and Father knowing he would be interested in what they had to say.

That was a strange year in general. Whispers of Biotic refuges out in galactic space. The abuse of L2s was not something he wasn’t unaware of. A few of the patients he had ever seen come in were that of L2s suffering from health effects. It was also the first year that he tried to keep himself out of trouble, so he kept his opinions to himself - for the first time. Though it felt like he was denying a part of himself. That empty, sinking feeling beginning to return.

It wasn’t necessarily working in the medical field that provided his empty feeling. It was all the rules. All the Citadel attention to professionalism and to look a certain way. He felt stifled by it. You’re not allowed to share your opinions. Keep politics out of the department. You’re not allowed to dye your hair. No music. Such was the Citadel professionalism. They felt like trivial things to worry about, considering the worrisome whispers.

A rumor crept to the surface, bubbling forth like some magic spell - something about Reapers. It came from the shadows, whispers that weren’t supposed to be spoken. Apparently this Shephard, who had become an icon in the world of galactic space in the short span of five months. Shephard was known of, probably before that, though not as talked about till now. First Human Spectre. Managing to remove Saren off the Spectre Force. Some in the Presidium thought Shephard was a conspiracy theorist grasping for power. And others valued the things he had to say.

Riegel was uncertain of any of their opinions. Attempting to remain a silent observer, listening to the rumors, while finishing his education. It annoyed him to no end, having to be the quiet, professional, with no opinion of his own on the job. All he had was his family, more specifically Nysha to lament from time to time. He tried not to take up Solorha or Rith’s time, they seemed strangely busier than usual.

Citadel Attack 1 - Geth Attack

After the Geth attack on the Citadel, things seemed to go back to normal unusually quickly. Despite the attack and the mass casualties, everyone went back to their lives relatively quickly. The Citadel Council put a gag order out on anyone to talk about the attack, and the event was labeled a Geth attack. Though Riegel wasn’t stupid enough to believe that when those events seemed to have changed Solorha the most. She was a Commando after all. She couldn’t speak about it, only indirectly confirmed there were more horrifying things in the world than the Geth. She indirectly implied there was more going on. Though neither Nysha or Him were privy to the knowledge of what that was.

Everyone outside of his home seemed to want to move on. Everything surprisingly moved on. As if nothing had happened. People might have lost family members, but it was like none of that death had occurred. And yet, his actions remained. He did leave the hospital that day and “Stole” a bunch of medi-gel. If it wasn’t for that C-Sec soldier and the people he had helped along the way he might have gotten more in trouble. Though that made Antonio’s hostility towards him even worse. Considering Riegel seemed to have earned some brownie points from others. His fellow Interns thought he was pretty cool.
Other Doctors seemed to want to offer him opportunities to work with him. Once again with his luck, it seemed one setback led to another momentum forward. Though it was evident to anyone that it might suit him better if he joined the Citadel EMT service. Being stuck in the hospital all day didn't really suit Riegel’s style and after hearing his exploits from the Geth Attack he was offered a position in the Citadel EMT. Which he gladly accepted. Tired of the hospital, and the Citadel’s insistence on professionalism, stifling him.

Despite the harrowing Geth Attack, he thought the busy work of EMT medical work suited him better. He continued his medical training for a year under the Citadel EMT services and learned many of his techniques working on the field, which often forced him to be innovative and creative.

He joked, when Shephard returned, he was just cleaning up Shephard’s messes left in the Citadel.

Two years had gone, but it seemed the Geth Attack was behind the Citadel. And the year after was relatively calm despite the rumors coming out from space. Shepherd at this point had become an icon, you couldn’t go anywhere in the Citadel without hearing his name, or his voice. The news seemed to endlessly talk about the Collectors, and the impending Reaper threat. More disturbing news came from deeper intel that he wasn’t supposed to know, but ended up finding out simply due to the positions of Rith and Solorha.

There were concerns about the controversial Cereberus organization. He heard a bit about them during his own research, about their experiments. Their illegal laboratories disgusted him. News about Biotic terrorist circulated for awhile as well. Though Riegel could perfectly understand their reasoning, when they were being affected by disease, rampant health problems, and there was still prejudice against those with Biotic powers. Some people believed there had to be ways to leash them. He was lucky in some ways, fortunate that no one had discovered he was a Biotic. And he made friends among EMT colleagues. Who found Riegel simultaneously unusually cool, and a slightly aggravating person.

Mainly because he refused to take lip from anyone, after enduring doing so when he originally worked in the hospital. Yet, he was good at what he did. Endlessly creative. Full of ideas. He himself was starting to become a person of talk. Though no one was going to sell him as an action figure or use his voice at a kiosk or talking about him on the news.

Citadel Attack 2 - Cerberus Attack

There was some disdain for a while of the Citadel Council from Riegel after the Cerberus attack. He felt that the people of the Citadel were merely pawns in the bigger battles of other more important people. And despite gaining kudos for his bravery after trudging through the halls of the Citadel, evacuating, and applying emergency medicine to civilians and C-sec alike, it didn’t ever bury the void that had developed.

A part of him became concerned or perhaps it was obsessed with Cereberus. He believed that someone should be doing something about them. Months after the Cerberus attack and the Reaper invasion had been quelled. As people were rebuilding he was using his connections. The one his Mother and Father knew, the ones Nysha knew, the ones he knew. Truth was maybe he felt like more could have been done.



Returning months later. With a cat he found, being sold by pirates. Riegel returns to the Citadel, with a warm greeting.

“Where the goddess have you been?” Rith is mad that he hasn’t contacted her.

“I needed, a,” he pauses, “vacation.”

“With, what is that?” Rith asks.

“Some pirates were selling it in the Citadel, I think for meat, said to have slipped onto a ship from Earth during the Reaper invasion,”

“Did you tell your superiors you would be gone for so long?”

“Yes, I did, they cleared it before I left,”

“I’m just glad you’re safe,” she hugs him tightly.

Now he has to suck up to his bosses and hope they would let him back on as an EMT. He had been gone for a while. He never told his Mother or Father what he had been up to or what he had done. Though he suspected, considering they shared so many similar contacts, that they probably knew. But we're never going to pry. Once again, his reputation saved him. His superiors understood the request for needing time to leave, and accepted him back on almost immediately due to his heroism he had shown. At least his actions granted him some perks.

It wouldn’t be for another couple months before he was told in person by Solorha his actions had earned him an even bigger opportunity. There were rumors, always rumors, always whispers when it came to the Presidium, that there was a plan to track down Cereberus. Now his impulsive actions felt like that, just reckless, impulsive actions. If he had waited. If he had stayed he wouldn’t have left in such a rage, and would have heard about this anyway.

One day sitting in his shuttle. Waiting for a call, Solorha approached his vehicle. Opening the door.

“Congratulations,” Solorha tells him.

“What’s going on?” Riegel asks.

“Well, thanks to your services, extensive medical knowledge, your heroism, and your actions in the time of need you have been invited to serve on the SSV-Intervention,” she was beaming with happiness. This was a good thing, then? Him, serving on the SSV-Intervention. He knew from the rumors this was supposed to be the fleet tracking down Cerberus. A part of him leapt at the opportunity, another part of him hesitated.

“I would be serving as?”

“Chief Medical Officer,” Solorha responds.

He coughs.

“There’s a fucking mistake, I an EMT Doctor, certainly there is someone else for the position,”

“You don’t want it?”

“I want to know why me,”

“Oh let’s see, valiantly running into a Geth attack to save as many people as you could, with extensive knowledge of emergency medicine at your side, heroically applying medical aid to C-Sec and Civilians alike during the Cerberus attack, you are the most qualified for the position,”

“Me?” he laughs in disbelief.

“Yes, you. I believe it. I am the one who put in the word for you-

-so you abused your pos-

-and Rith-

-that doesn’t bode confi-

-and Bailey-

-mm-

-and the Citadel Medical Board-

-will you stop listing people-

-and Nysha-

-okay, I get it, why are you telling me this?”

“I intercepted the courier because I wanted to be the one delivering you the news, should you choose to accept,” she hands him a datapad, “Doctor Riegel Clossius Chief Medical Officer.”

“That sounds like a mouthful,” he accepts the datapad, “I um. You approve.”

“I am proud, your Mother and I are going to host a surprise celebration dinner before you leave-

-I am pretty sure that defeats the purpose of a surprise-

-Goddess-

-Uh, yeah, okay, Chief Medical Officer,”

Cian was born and raised in South London. His dad resided in various prisons more often than at home growing up, with three separate long stints before his son had hit adulthood. It’s not worth going into what the prick was like, suffice to say Cian, his siblings and their mum quietly preferred it when he was incarcerated and in the opinion of the concerned majority he didn’t die soon enough.

His mum was a typical south London mum for his area. Tough because she didn’t have much choice, somewhat nurturing but not coddling, overall a decent enough parent but too many odds stacked against her with not enough help in reach. What little goodness Cian sees in himself he attributes to her.

Cian was the middle child of five siblings, and they more than anyone else made him who he is. By the time Cian was fifteen his older sister Violet and older brother Sean had already gone partially down the road of their father and were already into a life of street crime. Violet was intelligent, ambitious and cunning. Sean was violent, ruthless and more than a little unpredictable. Together they took the local gangs by storm. Not long satisfied with working under any of the local leaders Violet and Sean split off, taking almost half their original gang with them and forming their own. This split the local gang-controlled drug industry in half and immediately caused more than one gang war to break out.

Cian himself, about to turn sixteen at this point, wasn't all too involved in that life yet. He still wanted to be as little like his father as possible and the best way he saw to do that was avoid crime, drugs and drink as much as he could. He’d seen what most people had seen at his age. A few shootings and dozens of beatdowns but for the former only as a spectator. This changed when members of one of the rival gangs his siblings were beefing with spotted his youngest brother and sister walking to school one day and murdered Michael, his brother in the street. Cian had always been extremely protective of his younger siblings and this event forced a complete psychological 180 for him. He went from eschewing any act that remotely reminded him of his father to almost channeling him. He harnessed all the hate, fear and anger he’d long suppressed and forced his regretful older sister and vengeful brother to give him targets for his warpath. Over the next several months he went from a relatively innocent sixteen year old to an eager and willing murderer.

It turned out Cian was a naturally gifted criminal. He had the combined traits of his elder siblings in that regard. The cunning and thoughtfulness of Violet and the knack for violence and ruthlessness of Sean, without the lack of forethought or unpredictability. Violet and Cian stalked their enemies and planned how best to carry out their killings and once enough planning had been done Cian with the help of Sean and other trusted gang members carried them out. Over the next year their pool of enemies dwindled as they were murdered, imprisoned or went into hiding. Occasionally a plan went astray and the Flynn brothers came out more than a little bloody but that was just the way of things, easily explained away by claiming to catch a stray on the block or being the victim of a violent mugging.

By the time the majority of killing had ended Sean had also been murdered and Violet and Cian were mentally and physically scarred shells of their former, relatively vibrant selves. With the death of her second child, Cian's mum had a nervous breakdown and had to be hospitalized. Violet, now twenty one years of age and making a considerable amount of money controlling the local drug trade, adopted their youngest surviving sibling and tried to keep things as peaceful as possible for her sake. When that inevitably failed due to the business they were in, Cian was there to swiftly bury any problem, along with his best friend and fellow murderer George Woods. Over the years less and less problems came up though, as Violet and Cian learned more about controlling things and their reputation for warring grew.

Cian found himself in limbo, unable to go back to the person he was before he’d walked this path of blood but hating who he’d become.

By the time the Reapers invaded Earth Cian was 24 years old. Violet and him had expanded and by this point controlled most of the drug, gun and smuggling trade in and out of London. Between the turf wars, discreet trade deals, necessary hideouts and many front businesses they owned, Cian and his sister had become extremely knowledgeable in the traversal of London and how to use the territory to their advantage. This fact alone saved their lives innumerable times during the resistance.

As for all intents and purposes, the world ended Violet and Cian very quickly realized continuing to chase profit was pointless. Working to resist and survive however was as worthy a goal as it always had been. To that purpose they used the knowledge they had acquired over long years of fighting to turn what remained of their gang into a guerilla resistance force. Violet strategized as she had always done and Cian led the troops on hit and run raids and outpost movements.

Over the next year almost everyone Cian knew died. Sophie, his youngest sister, perished when Reaper forces hit a base they were staying at before they could move. Their mother too, as far as they could find out, presumably had died in the initial destruction. Very quickly those things became almost impossible to know for certain, but with what the Reapers did to captives the siblings almost hoped she had. George Woods went missing whilst leading a raid with everyone that accompanied him, and neither Violet or Cian heard word of him after. Aside from that the vast majority of their resistance force had been wiped. Things were looking incredibly grim. They were doing better than any two kids from the streets could have possibly hoped to, both strategy wise and in combat but against the Reapers numbers and power it was simply inert long term.

They were down to a force of maybe two dozen and teetering on the edge of going out in one last “fuck you” suicide attack when David Anderson came to London. Violet was a fantastic small-scale strategist, but Anderson was a genius with decades of experience under his belt. The man was quite literally a living legend. Slowly, things went from utterly hopeless back to just extremely bad, and extremely bad was within their comfort zone. Anderson had a way of making people truly believe they were more than they felt.

Cian was on yet another raid one night when he came across a unit of soldiers almost overwhelmed by a horde of husks and cannibals. Using them as a distraction he flanked the reaper units and wiped scores of them out with grenades and crossfire, giving the soldiers themselves breathing room to regroup and get back into the fight. When quiet fell and the reapers lay dead and still the unit of soldiers took Cian and his men back to their Captain. One David Anderson. Impressed by the tale of Cian’s unit told by his troops and further truths of survival told by Cian himself, he offered to officially conscript Cian, his sister and their men into the Alliance Navy. He would give them equipment, intel, even other conscripts to lead eventually, when leadership skill was further proven. Cian had never been a uniform wearing kind of guy, but he knew to refuse such an offer would probably mean death for him and his sister, likely sooner rather than later.

Together they held out long enough for the Crucible to be deployed. Both Cian and his sister received numerous battlefield promotions, both ending up as Ensigns at the end of the war. David Anderson passed on along with Shepard, but to Cian he remains a living memory. A shining beacon in the darkness of what even men of war can aspire to.

After the war the only things Cian really had left were his sister and his hard-earned career in the Systems Alliance Navy. He didn’t see much point staying on Earth anymore. His sister was leaving to advance her own career and after awkwardly discussing their previous life with her they both quickly came to the conclusion that it had been petty, immoral and stupid. Nothing quite like a genocidal alien invasion and watching the near destruction of your homeworld to make you realize how ignorant it is to fight and kill over profit and territory measured in neighborhoods.

Saying an emotional and temporary goodbye to each other they both headed off-planet to get some ship-board and space experience. It turned out people like them were in very high demand. Folk who had fought the Reapers and not only lived, but thrived. Cian himself was put to both work and education. There were massive efforts to get the many Alliance conscripts up to snuff on all the things that fell by the wayside in the chaos of the war. As such Cian found himself split between studying on board the vessels he was assigned to and taking part in attacks against both pirate bases planetside and Cerberus space stations. Surprisingly he enjoyed both tasks more than he thought he would. Learning was fulfilling and killing slavers and terrorists was putting his illicitly gained skills to justified use.

After a couple of years of touring space Cian was quite deeply ingrained into Alliance life. Perhaps even comfortable with having an official, legitimate career. One of the greatest surprises of his life came at this time when he was called into a meeting and told by an Admiral that David Anderson himself had recommended him for the N7 program. It had obviously taken a hell of a long time to get to the point where telling him was anything close to a priority with everything going on. The top brass were also reluctant about offering any war time conscripts such a thing since so many were unpredictable and turned out unsuitable to Navy life long term. Especially people such as Cian with dubious at best, nefarious at worst backgrounds. Apparently having stayed in the service for a few years, passed dozens of educational courses and fought many battles was enough to ease their doubts in regards to him however. He gratefully and eagerly accepted, and anticipated his trip to The Villa in the near future.

In present time Cian has graduated to become an N5 with a future invitation to return for further training and risen to the rank of Lieutenant in the Alliance. His latest assignment has put him on loan to the Citadel and he has been ordered to report to the SSV-Intervention.