When Saedah opened his eyes, Nala was still above him, not touching him, and not even bare beneath her skirt. But she was smiling down at him.

She was smiling.

What kind of Dark-blinded hells-spawned hallucination was he experiencing? He blinked and shook his head, attempting to dissipate the image. Still, she remained there, just above him, still smiling.

"What?" he asked dumbly, sincerely confused.

After an even more confusing bloodshot wink, Nala rolled over him to the side of the bed and unclasped her chains. She stood, unencumbered and free as her bonds rattled to the bed, and walked to the love seat. With an exaggerated huff, she flopped down onto the moist shawl and groaned.

"All due respect, I am never doing this for you again, captain." She growled into a pillow, her body curling in upon itself with her hands pressed against her abdomen.

"Wait. What?" he asked again, still unsure if he was hallucinating or if his confusion was justified. He fought to sit up with some difficulty, hands still clasped and asleep behind his back. Surveau, Nala, and Mountain were grinning at him like fools. "What is this?"

"Stand." Mountain demanded. So Saedah stood, grumbling a small bit below his breath. Surveau walked slowly around him, where she picked the lock to the manacles. When they clanked to the floor, she allowed him to rewrap the loincloth about himself.

When done, Surveau made another circle around him, running her fingers over the scars of his twisted left arm. Saedah ground his teeth together, fighting the urge to jerk his arm away. Mountain stood to the side, arms crossed, leaning against the door frame. His lounged with his down, looking through his lashes as the Maverick examined her purchase. Saedah could tell the huge male was more than ready to spring to her defense if necessary, and he knew he did not want to make it necessary.

She took his left hand in hers and forced Saedah to loosen his fist and allow her to examine the remaining fingers. She moved the joints of each digit as far as they would allow, then his wrist. When he winced, she stopped the movement.

She rubbed at the wrist, massaging it.

What the fuck is going on here?! A near hysterical voice screamed inside his head.

She moved to his elbow, then his shoulder. She did the same with his right. She examined the topographical map that was now his back, careful around the fresh and still healing wounds marring his dark skin. She moved to his legs and feet, then back up to the chop-job that was his deep black hair, shimmering red in the light.

By that point, he'd had enough of this confusing bullshit.

"What the fuck-"

"Shhhh. We have the noise cancelers, but they only do so much. We've got a loop going. Care to come check it out?" She stepped away from him to a small side table.

Saedah followed Surveau to her slate, which showed a high definition visual feed of three different views of him and Nala in the throes of heat-fueled mating. Nala on top. And it didn't appear that he was enjoying it very much.

"That's… impressive." He breathed.

"Thank you," she sing-songed, snatching the tablet away. "The audio feed is fed into the mics around the room too, so we. Are. Clear."

Saedah looked at her long and hard, stumbling back before collapsing. His ass met the edge of the bed. If he hadn't sat down, he would have fallen down.

"You alright, half-breed?"

"Stop calling me that." He snapped. "Fuck. Sorry, don't… don't report that." His eyes pleaded with them.

The Bault laughed. "You'd prefer I call you 'Lucky'?" Saedah's glare was answer enough. Surveau ignored their exchange, choosing to address Saedah's anxiety.

"We are not going to… gods… We need clearer directives, Saed-…" Surveau paused when Saedah flinched, remembering the reaction to his name. "For the love of the Light… What do you want us to call you?" she snapped, at a loss for what to do. "We are wasting time."

"Call me Veron DeCrawley." He focused on his breathing. If this was one of Akumini's schemes, he was well and truly boned. He knew he was screwed, because he was going to tell these people precisely how to contact Vorn.

"Gods, please don't let this backfire." He whispered to himself, then looked back up to the three people focused on him with pity in their eyes. "Don't look at me like that."

"Snappish ain't he?" Nala asked, leaning close to the Maverick.

"You would be, too. Hush." Surveau took a step towards Saedah, who tensed in preparation for pain. But she only pointed to herself. "I am Nyx Surveau. This is Troache, my second. You've met Nala, my daughter."

Saedah did a quick mental calculation. Pteroisian + something else= Neofei… it did not add up. The three species that could not interbreed were Neofei, Agamid, and Pteroisian. The mother, one of the three breeds, could become pregnant by one of the remaining two. The biology was close enough for that. The fetus never survived though. It was rare enough for a surviving young when mother or father were human, but it had happened. Saedah, himself, was proof of that. For Nyx to be that close to full blood, if not an outright pure blood, to produce a Neofei of Nala's caliber, would have taken a miracle. So, in Saedah fashion, he settled for pointing between Nyx and Nala.

"No, she's not my blood daughter." Nyx rolled her eyes and signed. "I found her."

"And she kept me." Nala added, rubbing her back against the couch.

"And I kept her. Wasting time." Nyx reminded as she sat beside Nala and massaged her daughter's lower back, lifting her com and activating the display. "This is the message as I recorded it: Ghost stop Seek V stop Red Horizon IcoMera stop Saedah stop Ghost stop Seek V stop Red Horizon IcoMera stop SOS stop"

"Yea?" Saedah asked, not sure how much clearer it could get.

"I am assuming ghost, as in the Conclave Ghosts: Requiem, Penance, Dirge, Raze, Ker, and Flux? Correct?" Nyx was looking at him as though he were a poisonous snake.

"Yes." He nodded. He wanted this over and done with. He was uncomfortable with taking such a massive risk that had no promise of returning anything but pain.

"Seek V. Am I looking for a Ghost?" Her nose wrinkled as she concentrated, but be continued without giving Saedah time to answer. "Which Ghost is that?"

"Not happening." He would only be giving out the bare minimum info for this to work. "Just ask for V. Just V." This was so stupid. He was going to get himself killed. Seadah really hoped that having them ask for V would bring Vorn down on them instead of Vidian or Vector.

"V." Nyx repeated in a deadpan tone.

"V." Saedah Confirmed. He was going to get the others killed, as well.

"Why?" She asked.

"Oh for the love of… Just pray V gets to you first. The others would probably kill you." Saedah rubbed his right eye. He needed sleep. It had been a long day and it did not appear to be getting any better, or shorter.

"That's reassuring." Troache grumbled, showing Saedah his incisors.

"Truth has a way of doing that." He growled back, returning the gesture.

"Oookay…" Nyx breathed, taking notes in a language Saedah had never seen before. While he couldn't read them all, he could regionalize or identify a large number of written languages. "Red Horizon IcoMera."

"Yes."

"This is a place?" Her voice was thick with frustration. This was beginning to feel more like an interrogation to her, rather than a rescue.

"Ever been to IcoMera?" Saedah asked, cocking an eyebrow at her.

"Once." Nyx admitted.

"Didn't go far, didja?" Smart people rarely went far into IcoMera. The city, the one true city, was named after the planet.

"Just answer the questions, please." She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"It's a club." He stated with a shrug. It wasn't anything unusual for IcoMera.

"A club." Nyx repeated slowly, with an 'are you kidding me' look.

"Seek V."

"Got that part, already." If she wasn't sick of this fool by the end of the hour, it would be a miracle.

"The Red Horizon club in IcoMera."

"Okay. What is Saedah?" She asked.

"My name." He responded.

As expected, the Bault giant nearly choked on a laugh. "Your parents must have really hated you, half-breed. Lucky? Really?" Saedah only glared at the uncouth prick.

"You are Saedah." Nyx clicked her tongue before continuing. "Are you..." She paused. "Are you a Ghost?"

Saedah hissed and planted his face in his hands, muffling curses while he ran his hands up to his hair and back down to cover his face. He took a deep breath, balled his fists against his eyes, and thought long and hard about the future. This is stupid. So stupid! he yelled at himself mentally. Cursing, he raised his head to eye each of them. "… yes."

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"Are you…" she paused. "Are you a Ghost?"

Saedah hissed and planted his face in his hands, muffling curses while he ran his hands up to his hair and back down to cover his face. He took a deep breath, balled his fists against his eyes, and thought long and hard about the future. Cursing, he raised his head to eye each of them. "… yes."

"I like this one." Nala whispered, a mischievous glint in her eyes. Troache and Nyx were looking at him as though they had seen an actual ghost. The paranormal, 'go get a straightjacket or a priest' kind of ghost.

"You are a Ghost." Nyx pointed at him again with the pen, "You are a slave. Here." She pointed to the carpet beneath their feet. After a moment, she clasped her hands together below her chin and let out a deep breath. "We don't have the time to get the details. Even though I would really love to know how you are still alive… but… I will help. I will find V."

"Use my name. That'll get their attention real quick." Saedah mimicked her posture, meeting her eyes.

"You mean dead. That'll get her dead 'real quick', most likely." Troache grumbled with a voice like a landslide. It was clear he did not like the suggestion.

"Not by using my name" he shifted so that he could see them both at once and pointed at the Baultoni to emphasize his words. "They'll want answers." He looked them each in the eye, shifting the hand pointing at Troache back to his lap. "You have to be alive to give answers. Don't go in with numbers. Don't start asking stupid questions. Just tell the barkeep you have a message for V. He'll be an old fat man with a scar running up his face" He traced a finger from his chin to his left eye. "Sometimes he wears a patch, but he finds it funny when people can't look at the prosthetic. The last one was red and glowed. Anyway, when the old man asks who the message is from, tell him Saedah. Get a room there. Ask for the bayview suite and pay upfront. Tip the geezer for the message and the room, but for the love of the gods don't do it openly. Don't get drunk. That place is a snake den." He thought for a moment, "Don't take the cat." He added the last part while thrusting his thumb over a shoulder in Nala's direction. She stiffened and laid her ears back threateningly. It might have been a trick of the light, but Saedah could have sworn that her fuzz fluffed. It was amusing.

"Why?!" She demanded, looking between Nyx and Saedah.

"It's a snake den." He deadpanned with a shrug. That should have been explanation enough. When it was clear that it was not, he continued. "We try to keep it down, at least we used to…" His attention turned internal for a moment before he snapped back to the present. "But most of the people that go - went missing in IcoMera would wind up dead or in slave chains, such as yours-truly." He indicated himself for effect. "You, Nala, are an exotic. And…" Saedah pointed to Nyx with a questioning gesture, having forgotten her name.

"Nyx" She supplied.

"Nyx has intimidation on her side. And my name behind her. You…" He pointed back at Nalah and flicked it up and down her body. "You are a fetish. Especially with the stripes. I've never met a striped. Given the right opportunity…""

"Enough. She'll stay on the ship." Nyx rolled her eyes. Had the fool been open to an opportunity, he'd have taken it when he had the opportunity.

"We're talking RREC colonies, here. While the Conclave has done a lot with establishing some form of government, there is - was -a lot of work left to do." He paused as he really thought about how long he had been enslaved. "At least there was… Well, there are too many people on IcoMera who's survival is dependent on opportunities of circumstance. There was a lot of theft and headhunting. We were fighting a war on multiple fronts. I have no idea of the state of things now. I don't get much information here. Just watch your backs, and try to not advertise yourselves as bloody Mavericks." Mavericks were prideful of their sept. All Litigion septs were. To conceal who they were, was a matter of dishonor to them.

"We'll try. Two weeks." She held up two fingers.

"Two... holy hell. You are the epitome of optimistic aren't you?" Saedah spoke in an astonished tone, but before Nyx or the others could respond, he held a hand up and continued. "… fuck it. Do me a favor: Don't tell them about the viewings. Or how bad this is," he motioned to his body, "ok? That's my family. I've been on the other side of this. Don't get them riled up."

"Very well. I'll do what I can." Nyx conceded, holding her hand out for him to shake. Once they shook, sealing the deal, Nyx went back to the couch and frowned at the cooled towel.

Nala stood and walked to Saedah, right hand extended. Saedah took it, thinking to shake her hand as well, when she jerked him from the bed and drew him in for a hug. "Welcome to the family, Ghost-boy. You're indebted to a Surveau, now."

Troache scoffed. "Yea, aren't we all." He slapped Saedah on the back, then mussed Nala's hair. Nyx shook his hand again and nodded before he climbed back onto the bed, where they again removed the loincloth and snapped the manacles in place. Troache removed the devices from the door and clicked his tongue quietly. Saedah watched it all warily before catching a flicker of concern or constipation flit across Troache's face..

"Listen here, Lucky." Troache groweld, moving to the bed and looking down at Saedah. "If I so much as think this is going south, I will end you." The Bault bent until he was far closer than necessary, accustomed to using his size for intimidation. Too bad it actually worked.

Great, Saedah thought. Not only did the Bault beast latch onto his hated nickname, but he had everything he needed to follow through with his threat.

In the worst way possible.

"Yeah, well." Saedah replied, sounding more calm than he was. "If things go south, I won't need your help. Akumini intends to make me suffer more than you ever could, big boy."

Nala walked up to the bed, hair mussed and clothing in disarray. She climbed up on the bed, allowed Nyx and Troache to re-clasp the manacles, and straddled Saedah. Nyx and Troache consulted the tablet while Nala made a show of 'riding' him. The whole thing was supremely surreal.

Nala was Nyx's daughter. Nala was, what, posing as a slave? On top of him, currently acting like she was…

Then Nala swiped at his chest with her claws, bringing forth four bloody welts and ripping a startled cry from his throat.

She whispered an apology in his ear as she maintained her barrage. With his hands bound behind him, he couldn't avoid her claws or fists. After she was satisfied with the number of scratches and bruises, she collapsed to the side.

Nyx coughed, looking to both Troache and Nala. Silent communication passed between the three. Saedah was obviously at a loss, as he had been since meeting Nyx's eyes that first time, mere hours before. Troache approached Nala, treating her like a slave. He pulled on the chains, yanking her clumsily from the bed and into the corner, where he re-bound her wrists in manacles with shorter chains and forced her into a kneeling position. The new chains were much more familiar to Saedah than the long-leashed ones she had been 'encumbered' in.

Troache opened the door, revealing the guard leaning against the frame, nearly asleep. The poor guy almost fell through when the support of the door was removed. He stood straight, bowed to Troache and Nyx, eyed Nala, and passed through the door. He walked carefully with one hand on his holstered pistol. Nala had done an excellent job of casting her eyes down and sniffling quietly, and his eyes slid off her to the bed.

A passing concern for Nalah's history flashed through Saedah's mind. She was too good at that. But reality came crashing in on him, too quickly to analyze it in depth. The bite from a yanked chain radiated pain from the tight restraints around his chafed wrists.

As Saedah struggled out of the bed and to his feet, the guard and Nyx began conversing.

"I trust he did not disappoint?" The guard asked, rushing Saedah by pulling on the chains again.

"He was rather well-behaved, to be quite honest." Nyx replied, the regal air returned fully to her. "I am beginning to question whether the fight at the viewing was a staged matter." The guard huffed.

"No. I can assure you, this one has a long history of causing us a lot of trouble. Keep the spawn under thumb from birth." He nodded his head toward Nala. "You wouldn't want it to get any ideas like this one. Fights like a darkspawn demon when he can, kills more often than not, and with his bare hands at that. Never seen anything like it." Saedah was finally on his feet but the guard gave him a yank just for the hell of it, nearly toppling Saedah to the floor. "Don't know why he's still alive." Without his arms free to help him regain his balance, Saedah wobbled on one foot for a moment. Troache twitched before settling back against the post of the bed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I am grateful for the chance to add new blood to my flock. Powerful blood at that." She smiled, and it sent a chill straight to Saedah's soul. Had he not lived the past hour, he would have believed the Maverick to be a soulless slave-monger. Even with the past hour burned into his memory, he was still unsure what to believe about her.

The guard passed Nyx a slate, on which a questionnaire displayed.

"The lady wished for you to fill it out after your female was serviced."

Nyx took the device, answered the short five part questionnaire, and passed it back.

"I was under the impression that this male was not of the common stock." Nyx demanded, crossing her arms. "Was I charged extra for a non-existent specialty?"

"No, my lady. This male has never before been offered for studding. Your slave was the first." He looked over to Saedah and shook his head. "Our lady only recently found a way to control his temper. Until now, it wasn't safe to offer him."

"He is so difficult to control?" Saedah realized she was baiting information from the guy.

"He had been." The guard seemed to sense this as well. "I really must get him back for inspection. Good evening, Lady." The guard bowed and pulled Saedah along behind him.

Down the hall, out of earshot, the guard let up on his chains.

"Damn, but you're more trouble than you're worth." The guard rubbed the back of his neck. "Seriously, why can't you just do what you're told?" Saedah had a sinking feeling settling in his stomach.

"Sorry?" He ventured, hoping against all hope that his fear was unfounded.

"Hah." The guard chuckled. "I'm tired. Okay? I don't want to be here any more than you do."

"I highly doubt that." Seadah fought the urge to snarl at the man.

"I have to get paid. I have to live. This is the best paying gig a single dad my age can find. I can't risk my kids being ripped from me." The guard slowed. "I don't know who you are, but you obviously come from a military background. I don't care if you are a deserter or sentenced to the block, but not all of us are bad. And no one deserves your level of pain. You just have to know where to look. Stop hurting everyone, or no one will be there to help when we can." He pulled a picture from his wallet. It was a vaguely familiar young man standing behind an elderly woman in a wheelchair. "This was Thomas. He started here four months ago. I got him the gig. He took the job to keep his mother out of the reapings." He turned very angry eyes towards Saedah. "You killed him yesterday."

"He was-" Saedah started, feeling his own anger heat his cheeks.

"I don't care." He interjected, cutting Saedah short. "We don't get to kill any of you. You shouldn't get to kill us." The man turned to continue down the hall, pulling at the chains again.

"So rape is okay, then?" Saedah demanded, anger turning to rage and burning away his self-preservation. He pulled on the chain, doing more damage to his own wrists than unbalancing the man.

"Wha-? No." He growled, brows furrowing. "Thomas would nev-"

"Thomas was. Go watch the video." Saedah interrupted, jutting his head forward, meer inches from the guards' face, glaring into his angry eyes. "I dare you. Do that, then come tell me what I can and can not do." He stepped back and continued with a low growl, "And more of us are killed by you than I could ever hurt."

Saedah turned and walked away from the guard. Saedah knew well enough where the infirmary was. The guard still caught up quickly, keeping a very close eye on Saedah and a tight grip on his chain. Save for the echoes of their foot falls and the metallic clinks of Saedah's chains, the rest of the walk was suffered in tense silence. The guard's gloves creaked with the rhythmic clenching of his fists. When they reached the infirmary, Saedah breathed out a sigh of relief. His shoulders had itched, imagining the knife Jones could have planted there. The man only spun on his heel and stalked away in a huff of aggravated relief, washing his hands of the slave.