I slowly woke to the sound of an incessant beeping.

From my days in a hospital and in comas and even when I gave birth to my twins Dylan and Violet, I recognized the sound as a heart monitor. That meant that I was alive which depending on who you were was either blessing or a curse. I'm gonna say blessing.

I tried to sit up but I felt a hand on my chest giving me resistance and pushing me back down on the bed. What the fuck? I wanted to fight and get off this damn bed to find out where I was, who'd saved me, and generally what the fuck was going on but between my wounds and the lethargy in my muscles, I was fucked two ways from Sunday. I just hoped the hand wasn't batarian.

"Don't move. Yer safe so ya ain't gotta worry 'bout nothin'."

I didn't immediately recognize the voice and the pirate drawl but it was definitely human by the way it rolled off the person's tongue. That was a relief. I slowly opened my eyes and turned to face the currently disembodied voice, which to my surprise was a man and a handsome older man at that. I took a quick sweep around the room and it was a sight for sore eyes. It was a med bay, albeit a smaller one than the standard, but a med bay indeed. It had windows that reflected the hallway outside and it seemed like it was stocked with supplies by the overflowing drawers. Although it needed a new bed because it felt like I was lying on a fucking slab of concrete.

I'll just have him add it to my tab.

As our eyes finally locked my breath hung in my throat and I can bet a hundred creds my eyes widened to the size of silver dollars. His eyes were that undeniable, very noticeable, shade of steel lavender that defined our entire family; the entire Marcellus clan. I had them at one point, Marcus and Lily still had them. Had Katie truly been mine, she would have had them too. So who the fuck…?

"Who are you?" I croaked unsteadily and I probably sounded more like a frog singing in the middle of a humid summer night.

McDreamy (is what I named him for the time being) was seated in the corner all suave and shit and he chuckled softly as he spoke. "Name's Derek. Let's git ya patched up first then we can talk semantics."

Bull. Fucking. Shit. I might have been beaten all to hell, brain scrambled like an egg on a hot sidewalk, and probably hallucinating this shit due to the fact that my mouth felt like the Sahara and there was no way my fucking luck was this good, but I could have sworn…

"Did you say…Derek? As in… Captain Derek Marcellus?" I managed to query a bit more in my own voice, but even to me it still sounded hoarse and distant.

"Even half dead yer still damn quick." He slowly rose from his place in the shifty corner and sat on the edge of my bed, those eyes peering straight through my soul like the strong leader of what I'd associated as my family. At least it was the family I thought I'd had. I /did/ get a good look at him and for a man nearing his sixties, he seriously looked good. As a matter of fact, he was hot. Very hot. Like good Buffalo Wings. With a side of Tabasco. Mmmmm. I shook off the obvious thoughts that crowed my mind. And now, I was hungry.

"I'm using my brain, not my itchy trigger finger. My brain still works, damn it. " I rolled my eyes and even /that/ shit hurt. Spirits be damned, what the fuck did I /do/ to myself? The question should have been, what the fuck did I put myself through?

"Yeah. It'd be hard holdin' a gun with them busted hands o'yers. And let's not talk about holdin' it straight." Derek held a straight face, almost like…Was he?

"You don't think I don't know that? This "ain't" my first rodeo, space cowboy." I groaned softly and rubbed the bandage on my face. "Maybe not even my last. Shit."

"Better not be. Marcelluses don't die easily. Take it from me." A shadow of sadness shrouded Derek's strong features and it was then that I felt sorrier for him than I felt for myself.

I let out a long sigh before smiling as best I could through the pain still coursing through my veins. Although it occurred to me then that this old man, this man that Marcus and I pretty much modeled our entire lives after, my fucking hero in so many terms, called me a Marcellus. You'd think this wasn't something to be all proud about since Marcus and I dragged the name through the mud a few dozen times. But it meant something to me. It meant I had more family than I knew what to do with. It meant that maybe in some fucked up universe in some fucked up time, this man was trying to be my father.

"Damn skippy. You want me to at least tell you what happened to me before we get all sentimental and shit?" I couldn't help but snort and I swore the sand embedded in my nose created a cloud in front of me.

"Sure, why not? If you think you can with yer condition." He rose from my side of the bed and grabbed a tumbler of water with a straw and handed it to me with a soft smile.

I took the tumbler, thankful for the relief it gave as I took a few swallows and cradled it in my hand. "It all started when I tried to be a badass…"

Battered, beaten, and bleeding; Olivia followed the trail of blue blood Aria had left on her hasty exit. Fucking Bray. Had he not come into Destiny and Olivia's fight with his gun blazing like the lumbering Neanderthal he was, Olivia /might/ have left the fight with just the long gash on her cheek. Destiny caught Olivia slipping and one strategic slice sheared open the side of Olivia's face. Then, here came the knight in dead armor popping a few in Olivia's back before she could even have a chance to retaliate.

But oh my best believe Olivia got her revenge and it was sweeter than her love for her kids. She honored the promise she'd made to herself and slowly and agonizingly (she channeled Kathryn for this one) gouged out each one of Bray's eyeballs with her thumbs before stringing him upside down and slicing his throat so he could die agonizingly slowly. Let's just say he wouldn't be leading Eclipse anymore. Before that she'd impaled Destiny on her sword through the soft tissue of her stomach, making sure to gut her from waist to throat in a sheer Valkyrie rage that was only paralleled to her dearest daughter Kathryn.

Poor Destiny. She only felt a minute amount of remorse for the girl because Olivia was such good friends with Vera and killing the girl wasn't Olivia's original intention. Slowly sliding the bay doors open to the large warehouse she initially didn't see Aria as she panned around the room. There were crates, machines, maybe even a few YMIR mechs to which puzzled Olivia because they had the Cerberus logo still painted on them. Why in the fuck Aria would keep these was beyond Olivia's comprehension but Olivia prodded into Aria's well placed trap.

But Aria was a sneaky bitch. She watched Olivia with her arms coolly folded over her torso from in the shadows for a moment and it wasn't her icy tone filled the room that Olivia turned in her direction.

"Since when does a Marcellus wield a sword?" The purple kingpin arched a tattooed eyebrow and slowly moved from the shadows and into the light.

"It doesn't really matter does it, Aria?" Olivia sighed deeply and tried to hold herself straight despite the pain radiating through her body. "Let's just do this and be done with it. You know what I'm fucking here for so let's skip the foreplay this time."

"You /want/ to die? Shame, really." Aria positioned herself between Olivia and the exit making sure that Olivia stayed in the warehouse and didn't try to make a hasty and cowardly escape. Not like she could with her wounds. "I'll have to remind myself to send Carmen and White Wolf a condolence card with my signature in your blood."

"And you wonder why I've always hated you." Olivia stood there in place with her sword pointed downwards, watching Aria's moves carefully.

"To each their own." Aria extended her arms as two glowing blue biotic whips appeared. The air seemed to crackle with electricity and make the hairs on the back of Olivia's neck stand on edge. "I hoped you saved your energy." Aria smiled darkly at the small drops of blood pooling around Olivia's feet. "I won't make this easy for you."

"I'd be disappointed if you did." Olivia rotated her weapon downwards and to the side from above, parting her feet to take her defensive position. The Creed's Revenge was slanted downward and behind her with the handle edge aiming forward at Aria.

Olivia knew she was fucked before this even started. With Aria's biotic whips and just the fact that Olivia was already starting to feel the effects of her blood loss, she knew that she needed a miracle to beat Aria in this state. Hell at least she would die honorably and the fact that she'd never have to hear Bray's whiny mouth ever again was worth the sacrifice she'd made.

Aria took the first shot and ran forwards at a speed Olivia had a hard time keeping up with as she cracked one of her whips in Olivia's direction. Olivia's sword glinted in the lights as she rotated it upwards to block the first attack but left her side open for the second. As the biotics from the first whip crackled around Olivia's blade, Aria cracked her whip against Olivia's side, slicing her side open like butter.

The pirate stumbled backwards and let out a soft groan of pain as more blood started to seep from her body. She was instantly thankful she'd taken those blood thickeners before this fight. That meant she didn't bleed as much and could still retain her wits about her which she needed as she lifted her sword again. No words were exchanged as Aria came at Olivia again, this time switching up her method and cracking her whip where Olivia's head would have been. Thankfully, it only tagged her ear. Olivia wanted to cry out but she knew it would have given Aria the pleasure she wanted as her blood mingled with her crimson silk.

A few more lacerations to her stomach and back and Olivia let her body fall backwards. She hit the metal floor like a ragdoll. Her breathing was ragged and she was panting, trying to get in any breaths she could manage before it was lights out. Fuck, she was in pain and a lot of it. Olivia watched in a bit of amusement as Aria loomed over her with that icy smile she always had.

"Tch Tch Tch, little Marcellus. When will you learn that you can't fuck with Aria and just fucking walk away? It just doesn't work like that." Aria chuckled darkly. "By the way, say hi to Archangel and Hackett for me."

Aria lifted her whip to perform the coup de grace and as Aria was speaking and rattling on about that one fucking rule of hers, Olivia spotted a crate that she knew probably held some pretty heavy equipment and a fuel tanker not far from that. With some residual energy and probably the last bit of her own adrenaline Olivia took out her revolver and aimed it at the fuel tanker. One shot and the container hissed out whatever flammable gas had been stored inside. Aria only flinched lightly as she gave Olivia a smug look.

"You missed."

"Why don't /you/ say hi to them for me, bitch? And by the way those were incendiary rounds. Cunt."

It was then that a mighty explosion rocked the warehouse and sent Olivia and Aria in two opposing directions. Olivia slammed hard against the wall and slid down leaving a small blood trail behind her. Aria only slid across the floor as she'd thrown up her biotic barrier to protect her. What Aria didn't see as Olivia struggled desperately to stand was that the explosion knocked the crate loose and before Aria could charge Olivia again or even wonder what the fuck was going on, the crate came tumbling down onto Aria's head, effectively turning her into a blue stain on the warehouse floor.

All Olivia could hear over the roar of the raging fire above her was the sound of metal screaming and Olivia covered her eyes, barely picking up on the squish of Aria's insides being ejected from her body and the crack of bones under the weight of the crate's contents.

"I don't miss, Aria. You should have /known/ that." Olivia breathed out to a now empty room.

The pirate counted exactly sixty seconds she'd have to possibly make it out of this alive and she bolted for the door, barely dodging en flambé debris, and red hot metal pools. Olivia didn't even have time to open the door as the shockwave from the second and most devastating explosion sent her soaring out of the warehouse and into the daylight of Ontarom.

She landed hard on her leg, which broke on impact and sent Olivia rolling down the hill through the sand. A few snaps of her bones (her tail primarily) and she finally came to a stop. When she did she looked back towards the warehouse and watched as Aria's empire and hold over the entire Terminus came crumbling down along with the steel walls. Her sword came flying her way as well, landing blade side down in the sand next to her.

Olivia would have cheered and done more obscene things. What Olivia /should/ have done was made a break for her shuttle and bid this hell of a planet adios. But not Olivia. Oh no. Olivia rolled over and tried to stand but realized very quickly, that shit wasn't happening. And to add insult to injury Aria's goons, some of the ones that had survived the ordeal, came lumbering after her with a vengeance.

Thankfully Olivia had at least one of her revolvers and she unholstered it while snatching Creed's Revenge from the sand. She was going to plow through these assholes because in her mind, she'd just killed Aria T'Loak. She could take on a few goons.

That was /not/ the way it was going to work.

Olivia quickly realized it was futile and holstered the Revenge on her hip, hobbling towards a small alcove of rocks that she could either A, use for cover or B, wait it out. However, salvation came in a different form for her. She barely made it to the rock shelter before she was spotted and had it not been for the timing she would have met her end along with them. Just as quick as she'd made it to the shelter the electrical storm started up and one by one, she could hear the sounds of skulls exploding. A terrified scream there. Sizzling armor from nearby. A pop here. Like capacitors in a reversed electrical current.

The storm faded and Olivia crawled out of the shelter, barely making it over to one of the guards and to her elation, they were all dead. This meant Olivia had two hours to make it back to the shuttle which would be ample time. Except one thing.

Her adrenaline faded and down she went like the Berlin wall, her face planting the sand and to Olivia, it was truly and finally lights out.

"And shortly after, you found me and here we are."

I was feeling much better as the drugs Derek had given me had finally kicked in. As I watched his reaction to this grandiose story I wondered if he'd actually believed me. It was a tall tale in of itself and had this been someone /else/ telling /me/ I might have called them crazy and had them committed to Huerta's Psyche ward. I mean, really? Killing Aria?

Okay, thinking about it now I /might/ have added a few things here and there to spice the story up because hey, Pirate.

What was it you ask? You may never know. Just know that Aria and her band of merry shit heads are dead

Make a note. This was the day you almost saw Olivia Creed die.

The End.