The Renegade Adored

Disloyalty: "He beats her, he binds her, He lays her on a band" (Fairy Tales, Traditional)

"I don't drink," said Hayden flatly. "I'll just have water."
The bartender shook his head in disbelief, and handed her a glass of water.
Hayden ignored him, and sipped at her glass while waiting for Garrus to finish talking to his old friend from C-Sec. Thane was just outside the bar, talking to a Hanar. Hayden drank more from her glass of water, and barely noticed the bartender slip away. Or rather, she noticed it, but didn't make anything of it. She was too absorbed in staring at the Hanar. Finally she couldn't stand it anymore, and walked out to where Thane was standing.
"Is something wrong, Commander?"
"That Hanar... it's pink."
Thane didn't react for a moment. "All Hanar are pink, Commander."
"Yeah, but that one is really, really pink. Are Hanar squishy, Thane? Like huggable? Or do they squoosh?" Hayden made gestures with her hands as she spoke that would have made sense to a human, but were impossibly alien to all other species.
"You're not all right, Commander."
"No, I'm fine, it's just... very pink. A very nice pink. A happy pink. Oh! Is that Kaidan?" Hayden ran off before Thane could stop her.
Thane quickly apologized to the very embarrassed Hanar, and chased Hayden up the stairs. He opened the comm channel as he ran. "Vakarian? Something is wrong with the Commander. Come to the domestic shuttle bay immediately." Thane found her hiding behind a door to one of the private shuttle stations.
"Shh!" she whispered. "I think the Volus saw me."
Thane shifted Hayden slightly away from the door, and scanned the shuttle bay inside. He spotted the cowering Volus immediately, as they are not built for stealth. He also noticed that the small private shuttle inside had weapons and bore marks of a recent fight. That meant the owners weren't honest traders.
"Thane! Look out!" Hayden pushed him out of the way as a container, hurled from the shuttle bay opposite, struck the wall and shattered, releasing a pungent bluish-red powder. Hayden tried not to inhale it and stagger away, but didn't get very far.
Thane saw her fall, and covered his face with his sleeve, went back to get her. His communicator beeped.
"Krios! Where are you? What's going on?"
"Vakarian, it's a trap. Be cautious." Thane knew there was no point in telling the Turian not to come after them. He managed to pull Hayden out of the range of the powder. She was still breathing. Thane felt himself stagger, and knew that he had inhaled some of the poison.
"A Drell?" snarled an unfamiliar voice, obscured by the breathing mask he wore. "You're new. Hands up, or we kill you both right here."
Thane felt his head pounding, trying to keep his body in some sort of order, and knew that the poison was affecting his biotic ability as well his motor control. Helpless and frustrated, he raised his hands. He would just have to trust that Vakarian would be able to save them.
Hayden shook her head, trying to wake up.
"She's moving." The voice was cruel, alien, unfamiliar.
Hayden looked up slowly. Her hands were painfully chained to a wall, a heavy chain linked her feet together. She forced herself to stand, fighting against confusion and pain. Her clothes were dirty from being dragged on the floor, but otherwise intact. Something felt very wrong, but she couldn't figure out what it was. She just knew it wasn't the obvious.
She was standing on an open platform, a sort of stage. A motley assortment of men were watching her. Batarians, Turians, Humans, even a Volus. Hayden fought down a dizzying wave of nausea and waited for someone to speak. She noted that her legs were weighed down by the chain, but not bound to anything. Most likely for easier access.
One of the Humans stepped forward, took her chin in his hand and forced her to look at him. "Do you know who I am?" he growled.
"Not really. Should I?" she asked calmly. There were entirely too many people in here for her to be comfortable. But they didn't need to know that.
"My name is Jovanos Haliat," he spat at her.
"Huh, doesn't ring a bell." Hayden cocked her head and looked at him. "Oh, wait!" Hayden measured the distance, wrapped her hands around the chains holding her to the wall, and brought her legs up as quickly as she could. The chain struck Haliat squarely in the face, splitting open his lip, cracking teeth, and sent him flying backwards. He stumbled over a table and fell to the ground, bleeding profusely. "Oh, now I see the resemblance."
With a furious roar, Haliat stood up, backhanded her savagely. The other men pulled him off before he could continue, one of them taking the precaution of standing on the chain between Hayden's legs so that she couldn't pull that trick again.
Hayden spat out a mouthful of blood with a sly grin. "How many bastards do the Haliats have, anyway?"
Haliat slapped her again. "You little bitch! You're going to pay, once and for all."
"I know I left two of your ugly duckling brothers back on Torfan. And then there was that one on Agebinium," she mused. "Your mother must have done some serious servicing to have such a brood."
Haliat raised his hand one more time, but didn't strike her. Hayden continued to smile, counted the men in the room and noted that the hallway beyond was empty.
"You're going to pay, bitch," he repeated. "I'm going to unchain you, and you're going to get on that table, spread your legs, and let every man here fuck you until they're done. And we're going to tape you doing it. So we can all savor the memory over and over again."
Hayden finally looked at him. "You don't know me very well, do you?"
Haliat laughed, harsh and cruel. "Oh, no, Shepard, I know you very well." Triumphant. "Bring him in."
A Turian half-dragged, half-carried a limp form into the room. Human. Male. Stripped of his armor. Bleeding where they had beaten him. Warm, copper-colored skin. Dark, curly hair, that she had buried her hands in countless times years ago.
"Chain him up where she can see him," commanded Haliat.
Hayden was very still. Looked around the room. Watched them chain Kaidan, barely conscious, to the wall beside her. He stirred slightly as they moved one damaged arm.
"Unchain me." Her voiced trembled slightly, as if in panic.
"Oh, so now you're going to behave. Keep in mind, Shepard, anything you do, he gets punished for. Unchain her," Haliat commanded. Haliat sat down on a chair, wiped the blood from his face.
"This is going to be great," gushed the Volus. "No biotics, no will to fight. We can do anything we want to her!"
So that's what was wrong, she realized. The drugged drink had done something to her ability to control her biotic abilities. She brushed aside the man who had unchained her and rushed over to Kaidan. Stroked his cheek before she remembered she shouldn't be doing that.
Kaidan murmured something. He was going to wake up, she realized. Haliat was yelling something at her, but she ignored it, looked Kaidan over. The damage wasn't so bad, really. Superficial cuts and bruises, one deep cut on his arm. He had struggled a lot. Most of his injuries were from the pirates enforcing restraints. He would be fine, she decided.
Hayden stepped back with a little frown. "Sorry," she whispered under her breath, and struck him squarely on the jaw, knocking Kaidan out cold.
"What the hell are you doing?" asked a Turian.
Hayden looked up in confusion. "I don't want him to see this!"
Haliat stood at the same time that Hayden moved her arm, summoning a thundering wave of biotic energy. The men around him were flung backwards like rag dolls. Before he could move, Hayden closed the distance between them, and dropped him with one stunning kick to the midsection. The Volus had been crushed against the wall, and his suit cracked, leaking foul-smelling gases into the air of the room. Some of the other men tried to stand, tried to run for their weapons.
Hayden fired off another wave, so powerful it snapped their spines as it lifted them into the air. Anyone who survived being hit by it landed in agony, screaming as they lay twisted by the force of the blow. Bones had punctured skin; some fell, impaled, on the debris in the room from the first wave. Haliat cowered on the floor, alone, terrified. She sent one more wave through the room, rippling outward from her. Haliat was still untouched.
The others stopped screaming. The room was silent except for her breathing and Haliat's whimpering and the sound of Kaidan sagging against his chains.
Still standing over Haliat, Hayden turned her head to make sure Kaidan wasn't awake. Haliat cringed at the way she moved. Slowly, deliberately, her neck curving like a predator. She looked down at him. Used her biotics to lift him off the floor so they were eye to eye.
"You know, Haliat, this compound you used ... it's incredibly painful to use my biotics in this condition. In fact," she lifted him a little higher, noted the tang of fear in his stench, "the pain would drive a normal person insane. That's probably why it works." She began to contract the field holding Haliat in place, listened to him shriek in agony. "Normal people wouldn't be able to stand the pain." Dropped him to the floor. Heard the crunch as his leg snapped under him. Hayden knelt down next to him. Watched him writhe, her face thoughtful.
Hayden stood, lifted the remains of a chair, broke both his arms so Haliat wouldn't be able to crawl. She paused for a moment, to check that Kaidan was still unconscious. He was breathing, but moving fitfully. Haliat lay on the floor, shattered and helpless. Coughing up blood and lying a pool of his own terrified piss.
Hayden snarled angrily, warring with herself. She stalked between them for a few seconds. With a scream of frustration, she lifted Haliat with a surge of biotic energy, and flung him against the wall so hard every bone in his body shattered on impact. Sent another surge after it, crushing him to a grisly paste. Haliat - what was left of him - sank to the floor, a vile trail of bone shards and gore loosely wrapped in skin. She ignored it, turned to Kaidan.
Hayden suddenly felt nervous as she approached him, fumbled with the chains and manacles. He slumped weakly into her arms. He wasn't breathing properly, a reaction to the drugs, she guessed. Hayden felt a strange panic and realized that she had no idea what to do. "Help," she heard herself whisper uselessly. "Help me!" Sank to her knees, cradling him in her arms.
She heard a noise from the hallway. Looked around.
"Shepard! Where are you?"
"Here! Garrus, over here!" She held Kaidan tighter in sudden joy. "Help."
"What - what happened?" Garrus looked around the room in shock. "Is that Alenko?"
"He's not breathing right, Garrus. I don't know what to do!"
Garrus knelt down, ran his omni-tool over Kaidan. "This is the same crap they used on you and Thane. We need to get him to the shuttle so Mordin can take a look at him. Can you walk?"
She nodded, stood. "Well, I can walk if I can lean on you."
Garrus smiled at her. "Always." He carefully lifted Kaidan and let Hayden prop herself on his arm, led them out of the pirate compound.
Hayden tried not to collapse, but by the time they got to the shuttle bay, she knew she was at the end of her endurance. Mordin didn't wait for them, and ran out of the shuttle. He didn't ask who the stranger was, but began treating him. Hayden let herself sink against Garrus, trusting in his strength. The world spun for a moment, and then she knew she was safe in his arms. "You're tall," she whispered. "I can see so much more from up here!"
"Keep her awake," snapped Mordin. "Don't let her fall asleep."
Garrus carried her a little distance away from the shuttle. "I have just the thing," he grinned at Hayden.
"Oh, Garrus, we can't have sex out here! Everyone would see us!" she whispered.
He laughed. "Don't you ever think of anything else? No, no," he turned on his omni-tool and brought up ColonyTown. "You have to explain to me why this Nug is unhappy."
"Oh! Let me see," she snuggled up to Garrus, ignoring the blinding pain in her head and her nerves. Gave in the urge to babble senselessly about happiness and truthiness levels and other minutiae of the game. Once or twice she felt herself fading, but he always brought her back. A gentle stroke on her hair. A quick squeeze. A ribald comment about his avatar's new position as the Colony Blacksmith.
Finally, Mordin came over and injected her with something. "You're going to fall asleep now," he said, and she did.
Hayden woke up in an unfamiliar medical ward with a dear and familiar face watching her.
"Garrus!" She coughed. Her mouth was painfully dry.
"Here," he handed her a flimsy cup filled with icy water. "Drink this."
She drank it gratefully. "Thank you." Her mind raced back over the day's events, but all she could think to say was, "Did you really make that joke about a blacksmith's forge? Or did I imagine that?"
Garrus chuckled. "Oh, come on, that was a good one."
Hayden sat up a little, looked around. Winced at the pain in her head. "Where ... where's Kaidan? Where are we? And Thane?"
"They're in the next room, getting dressed. They're both fine, neither of them had it as bad as you. We're on the refueling station. Mordin needed more supplies than the Normandy had on hand, or something."
"Oh." Hayden looked around. "I wasn't that bad, was I?"
"Don't even think about getting up."
"I guess I was," she mused. She looked down at the IV, resisted an irrational urge to rip it out.
Garrus laid a hand on her arm. "Get some rest." She looked up at him, her blue eyes wide. Not a suggestion - a command. He stood up, looked down at her. "I'm going to get Mordin."
She lay down on the bed, quieted. Garrus stroked her cheek before leaving the room. She followed him with her eyes, and tried to wait patiently, but ended up falling asleep before Mordin arrived.