Anneli Cindy and Xanthus Interlude 3 (Department Transfer)

Note: The PPC was originally created by Jay and Acacia. Anneli Rodriguez, Annie Henderson, and Xanthus Garkaran all belong to me. Cinderella first appeared in the Harry Potter fanfiction "My Dragons, Your Phoenix, His Death Eaters" by XxX Fleur-Delacour XxX, and was recruited to the PPC by Cadmar. Ilraen-Aroline-Fothergil belongs to Neshomeh, who co-wrote that particular segment with me.

Interlude: Relocation

In which the inhabitants of RC 2183 get transferred to a new department.

Xanthus had gone right back to bed the minute that they got back to the RC after their adventure destroying the Suvian artifact. Anneli and Cindy had therefore taken it upon themselves to see their new friend off to the Marquis. After dropping him off, they both headed back to their RC.

And they stayed there for a while, the two of them playing Dragon Age. It only took them an hour or so to kill the Archdemon. Right when it cut to a funeral scene, Anneli looked down. Cindy shrugged, looking at Anneli.

“I told you we should have accepted Morrigan’s offer,” Cindy said.

Anneli looked at Cindy. “Like, what was the plan then?” she asked. “Let Morrigan unleash Cthulhu on Thedas? Uh, they totally had enough with the Archdemon, okay? I don’t like leaving Alistair alone, but I’m not gonna let the evil witch lady do that.”

Cindy rolled her eyes. “It’s because you don’t like Morrigan, isn’t it?” she asked.

“Uh, no!” said Anneli. “I don’t wanna live just to see the world end! That’s just common sense!”

Cindy rolled her eyes. “I don’t get you around Morrigan sometimes,” she said. “But whatever.” The end-game results screen came up. “So… you wanna play this game again?”

“Like, totally!” Anneli exclaimed. “Let’s make him a man this time!”

“A man? Okay,” said Cindy. “Who’s the romance?”

“Like, Zevran, of course,” she said. “I mean, I love Alistair, but I wanna see what it’s like to be with that elf guy.”

Cindy glanced at Anneli immediately. “You’re just saying that because you want to see two men boink.”

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaa—okay, yeah, that’s part of why I wanted the Zev romance,” Anneli said.

Cindy gave Anneli a thoroughly perplexed look at this statement. After a few seconds, she sighed, looking up. “Well… I don’t know. I think Zev is a good character and all, but…” She shrugged. “Ah, what the hell, we’ll make our male Warden fall for another man.”

Anneli nodded. “Okay!” she said, cheering up quite a bit. “I wonder what sorts of things he says to a man.”

“Probably the same thing he’d say to a woman, but I digress,” Cindy said. “Why are you so—”

[BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEE—]

“Shut. The fuck. Up!!” The door to the bedroom opened, and a rather enraged Xanthus came out, throwing a book at the console. It missed the console, which left Xanthus to glare at the damnable thing. “Spirits, can’t a turian get some fucking sleep around here!?”

Anneli and Cindy were both so taken aback by this that there was nearly complete silence in the RC. They both blinked in surprise, simply sitting on the couch. They were so shocked they didn’t even register that the game had returned to the title screen.

“Uh…” Anneli’s mouth hung open. “Uh… hi, Xanthus!” She then put on the broadest grin she could, closing her eyes and waving her hand nervously.

Cindy shook her head. “I didn’t know turians were so strict about their sleep.”

“I’m just… gah!” Xanthus faceplanted into the couch. “I’m tired of that damn thing waking me up all the time.”

Cindy promptly stood up and walked over to the console. “Well, if it’s any consolation, I’m pretty sure this isn’t a mission,” she said. “The beeping wasn’t the same.”

Xanthus sighed. “And thank the spirits for that,” he said. “If I had to go on another mission with only one hour of sleep I would’ve strangled the Flowers.”

“Like, isn’t that kinda dangerous?” Anneli asked.

“I wouldn’t have cared,” Xanthus replied. He rolled his eyes, glancing to the side. “What’s the message?”

Cindy frowned, looking at the message. “It… it looks like we’re all being transferred,” she said. “It sort of—”

Almost immediately, Anneli jumped up. “What the hell!?” she screamed, running over to Cindy. “Those flowers are transferring us!?” She slammed her head against the nearby wall, keeping it there as she began to bang the wall with her fists. “And we totally didn’t even do anything to deserve it this time! What the hell!?”

Cindy blinked in surprise. “Anneli?” she asked.

“Damn it, I knew those damn trollfic missions were too good to be true!” Anneli shouted. “And now we’re getting transferred to a new department!”

“Anneli, it’s not that bad,” said Cindy.

“Oh, don’t tell me that!” Anneli shook her head. “It’s totally that bad, trust me! They always lull you into some sense of false security, and then kick you in the ass when you least expect it!”

“Anneli, really,” Cindy said.

“Oh, what’d he say this time?” Anneli asked. “I’ll bet he was all ‘oh, you totally stopped a dangerous Stu, found out that there was a hole in PPC security, and destroyed two very powerful Suvian artifacts, but you got found out by the Gary Stu, so you’re gonna—‘!”

“Anneli!”

As soon as Cindy shouted this, Anneli promptly quieted down. Cindy glared at her for a few seconds before turning her attention back to the console. “It’s not that bad,” Cindy repeated. “Here, take a look.”

With this, Anneli walked up to the console and started reading.

Inhabitants of RC 2183,

I have just received your report from the mission in which you destroyed the Chronicle. Excellent work: the fact that this Stu had infiltrated the PPC is serious. We will look into how it managed to do so in the first place. In the meantime, however… thank you.

Because of this, we wish to honor you. You have shown that you are eminently capable of handling any manner of Gary Stu even within the Department of Floaters. We therefore are transferring you to the new Hunger Games Division within the DMS. Your new assignment will come shortly. Be advised that you may need to move to a new response center.

Don’t worry about it: this assignment is only temporary. Or at least, we think it will be. We don’t know just yet. But we will see eventually. We’re also not breaking you up. I’m serious about that. You three have become a very functional team, and we are not going to break up a team that works. In the meantime, I suggest you get familiar with The Hunger Games quickly. We plan to make this transfer soon.

You will hear from us again.

-The Sunflower Official

Anneli shook her head. “So that’s their idea of rewarding us,” she said. “Instead of getting to go on the vacation that we so need, we get transferred to DMS.” She rolled her eyes.

“Hey, we’re not getting that punished,” said Cindy. “Besides, it’s a new subdivision of the DMS! It’s probably an honor to go there.”

“Probably,” said Xanthus. “I dunno.” He walked forward.

Anneli frowned. “Like, what is the Hunger Games continuum about, anyhow?” she asked.

“Beats me,” Cindy replied. She then grabbed her bag of holding. “I’m going to go to the Canon Library, see if they have anything relating to the Hunger Games. Whatever that is.”

“And I guess we’ll go pack,” Anneli said. She then walked up to the TV, turned the Xbox off, and then entered the bedroom. “Well, I’m gonna start packing.”

“In that event, I guess I’m sleeping on the couch.” Xanthus let out a turian yawn as he situated himself. “Too soft, really.”

“Well, don’t be too surprised if Anneli yells at you,” Cindy said. “We’ve got moving to do.”

“So?” asked Xanthus.

“So they’ll totally spring it on us when we’re unprepared! You know, ‘cause the Ironic Overpower said so!” Anneli shouted as she tossed a bag out the bedroom door. It landed on Xanthus’ belly, causing the turian to immediately sit up. “Now start packing!”

Xanthus groaned. “All right, all right,” he said. “Cindy, get the things.”

The witch nodded. “I’ll be back before you know it!” she said.

----**----

The Canon Library wasn't a typical room full of shelves—or, if it was, no one ever saw it to tell the tale. The Librarian was a mysterious figure who liked his privacy, so the only access was through a sliding panel built into the wall. Agents were obliged to come up to the wall, make their request, and wait while the Librarian fetched it for them. Sometimes there was a line.

Cindy counted four people ahead of her as she came up to the library. The last one particularly stood out, because she recognized him. Also because he was a blue-furred centaur alien. She blinked in surprise, taking her place in line next to him.

“Ilraen?” she asked.

A stalk-eye swiveled in her direction. <Agent Cindy!> He turned to face her. He had a book with a blue dust-jacket in one hand—evidently he was returning it.

Cindy simply smiled, glancing to the side nervously. “Of all the places where we’d bump into each other again, I didn’t think it would be here,” she said happily. “How’re you?”

he answered. <And . . . yourself?> He hesitated. <The last time we talked, things were not so well in your life. Have they improved?>

“Very much so,” Cindy replied. “I’m actually doing a lot better. Thanks, Ilraen.”

His expression brightened. <You are most welcome, and I am happy for you.>

The first person in line departed, and everyone else moved up.

“So...” Cindy looked down at the book Ilraen was holding. “What’re you returning?”

He held it up for her to see: Mockingjay. <My partner just finished it. And you—are you checking something out?>

“Yes, actually,” She said. “My entire RC’s getting transferred to a new department. I came over here to pick up some resources, since nobody in my RC really knows the canon we’re being transferred to.”

<Oh? What is it?>

“Something called The Hunger Games?” she asked. “We’re being transferred to that division of the DMS. Apparently, it’s new.”

Ilraen smiled in his odd, mouthless way. <I see. We in Implausible Crossovers have also been advised to familiarize ourselves with that continuum, since it is being made into films. Perhaps I should just give this to you, although you will need the first two to go with it.>

“Wait, you mean... that’s a book in the trilogy?” she asked. She then noticed the small label on the top of the book’s cover that confirmed it. Her eyes widened imperceptibly, right before she facepalmed. “I’m never going to live that down, am I?”

Ilraen said, sounding amused. <How could you recognize something you have never seen before?>

“Well, the fact that it says ‘The final book of The Hunger Games’ on top should’ve been a dead giveaway,” she commented. “Ah, well.” She looked at Ilraen. “So I guess that it’s experiencing a fanfic explosion right now?”

He nodded. <Perhaps not an explosion, but it is quite popular. It has young people in love, an evil ruling class and oppressed lower classes, lots of exciting battles and sad losses, and a strong but complicated heroine. There is much to enjoy.>

Cindy raised an eyebrow at this. “So it’s like most other fiction in that genre, then,” she said. “What’s the title supposed to refer to?”

The line moved again, and they shuffled forward.

Ilraen used the move to cover his hesitation in answering. <In the book, the Hunger Games are a sort of gladiatorial event pitting teenagers against each other to keep the population in line. Every year, a boy and a girl from each of twelve districts are selected to fight to the death in an unique arena. The Games are broadcast live for public viewing, like... what did Jenni call it... 'some sort of sadistic version of Survivor'. The last one alive wins a reward for him- or herself and their home district.> He looked uncomfortable talking about it and gently toed a forehoof against the floor.

“So... it’s...” She paused, looking down at the ground. “Yeah...” She looked up at Ilraen. “Do they sugarcoat it?”

He thought a moment, and finally said, <I am not sure how you mean that. The book does not, but the affluent ruling districts do. They treat being selected for the Games as a great honor, and specially train their chosen children, even though they are not supposed to. There is a great deal of ceremony attached to the whole thing, particularly in the Capitol.>

“So they sugarcoat it in canon, but it’s not really treated as anything great by the book itself...” Cindy nodded. “Hm. That could be interesting.” She looked up. “It looks a bit like a thick book.”

<Well, there is the cover, but the text is large. All three together would be quite thick, though. And it is an exciting read. Which, of course... > he sighed, <attracts Mary Sues. I suspect many will wish to usurp the main character, or possess her.>

“So it moves quickly,” Cindy said. “Well, if that’s the case... I think I’m looking forward to this already.” Her hand went right up to the book. “Uh... you don’t mind if I look at this, do you?”

He passed it over. <But beware of spoilers!>

Cindy nodded, taking the book out of Ilraen’s hands and looking over it. She opened to a random page, glancing at the font. She scanned a few lines, and then looked at Ilraen. “Katniss?” she asked. “Is...?” She paused, looking at the lines again before turning her attention to him again. “That’s a rather... odd name, I should say.”

The Andalite looked uncertain. <She is named after a plant. I understand that is not unusual for humans.>

“A plant, huh?” Cindy asked. “Well, I guess it can’t be any stranger than naming your character after a fairy tale princess.” She looked at Ilraen with a rather quaint arch of her eyebrows.

Ilraen mused. <I am not certain. I do know that K. A. Applegate used several words borrowed from Tolkien for things in the Animorphs series, however, including some Andalites, so it would not be strange if I were. But, Cindy is a nice name,> he added.

Cindy immediately felt her face heat up just a little bit. “Uh... thank you,” she said nervously. “Ilraen’s a nice name as well, I have to say...”

<Thank you.> His blush was greenish. His shoulders hunched slightly, as though he were trying to appear smaller. <Er... so... we should talk about the books. Once you have read them. Sometime,> he said, floundering for words. <That is, if you want to.>

Cindy blinked. “I... I think I’d like that a lot, actually,” she said. “Yeah...” She paused, glancing to the side. “Maybe we could meet up in the courtyard again or something. Well... you know.”

<Yes.> He nodded once. The person in front of him in line departed, and it was his turn to step up to the Library, relieving him of the need to continue right away. The panel in the wall slid open, revealing a dark room on the other side, impossible to see into. To the shadowy Librarian, he said, He gestured at Cindy. <Also, she will need the first two books, please.>

The Librarian went to get them.

Cindy nodded as she looked at Ilraen. “I think my RC is going to find it crazy that I bumped into you again while waiting,” she mentioned.

<It is a funny coincidence,> he agreed. <Though I doubt my partner will be interested. He is not a 'people person'.>

“Let’s hope he never meets one of my partners, then,” Cindy said. “One of them can be a bit... I’m not sure what the word is. I mean, she’s actually really smart, but... she kind of talks like a total ditz.”

Ilraen smiled. <Well, Nume rarely leaves the response center unless he has to, so it is not likely. I would like to meet your partners sometime, though. You make them sound nice.>

“Oh, they are, believe me,” Cindy said. The Librarian returned, placing two more books on the counter and pushing them out to Cindy. “Well... I should get back to my RC. It was great talking to you again, Ilraen.”

<And you, as well. Let me know when you have finished the books—or, if you would like to discuss as you go. Either way. The courtyard is a good place to talk quietly,> he added, agreeing with her earlier suggestion.

“Then I guess we can meet up in the courtyard in the future.” She smiled. “I’ll see you around.”

<Until then,> he said happily, and waved as they went their separate ways.

----**----

Anneli brushed her hands after placing the Xbox and their library of games in the packing box. She looked over to Xanthus as he worked at the opposite end of the room. “Well?” she asked. “You got that TV there?”

“Yeah,” Xanthus replied. He patted the TV where he had managed to tie up the cord and everything. “Seriously, though, do we have to get moved this early in the morning?”

“It’s the PPC,” Anneli commented. “They totally do things like this to us all the time.” She rolled her eyes. “And of all the places, it had to be the Department of Mary Sues.” She groaned, closing the box and applying duct tape. “At least it’s not the Twilight Division.”

Xanthus frowned. “You were in the Twilight Division?” he asked, placing a talon on the TV.

“Like, yeah,” Anneli replied. “I was one of the few PPC agents who actually liked that book series, so I was totally called in to help.”

“You realize that’s not necessarily a good thing, right?” Xanthus asked.

“Hey, I’ll have you know that Edward Cullen is hot!” Anneli replied.

The turian sighed, closing his eyes and turning his head away from Anneli. “Sure, whatever, you keep saying that,” he said. He opened his eyes, looking at the door. “I wonder what’s taking Cindy so long.”

“Eh,” Anneli said. “It totally could be that the Library’s holding her up. Or she got lost on her way there.”

Xanthus frowned. “Now why on Palaven would she get lost on the way to the library?” he asked.

“Maybe ‘cause the Library is something you don’t enter?” Anneli suggested.

“Eh, that would be stupid.” Xanthus pulled some more items into his bag of holding. “There’s no way that there’s any library in existence that works like that, right?”

He looked right at Anneli as she said this. He was greeted with Anneli looking directly at him, her head tilted slightly forward. The way she was looking at him was one that Xanthus could have sworn he had seen several times earlier. It was strange how...

And then, he realized what she was getting at.

“Wait, you’re serious,” Xanthus said.

“Yep,” Anneli said. “The Canon Library is a hole in the wall that we don’t actually enter. And, like, there’s some guy there that hands out the materials.”

“Oh.” Xanthus frowned. “You’d think I would know that.”

“Well, like, you normally make me get all the stuff,” Anneli said. “Which, by the way, I still totally think you should do your own searching.”

“Maybe,” said Xanthus.

Anneli smiled. “Well, good,” said Anneli. “We’re almost done here...”

“We just need to deal with my bed,” Xanthus said. “Spirits, I’m not looking forward to moving that thing. It’s comfortable, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t hard to move.”

“You mean hard,” Anneli commented. “Like, no offense, Xanthus, but I totally don’t think anything could sleep in that bed except you.”

Xanthus shook his head. “Turians like their beds hard,” he replied. He then walked over there. “Now, I think we should get over there and move that damn bed. The sooner we can get it out of there, the better.”

Anneli shrugged, walking to the bedroom door and tapping the door panel. “Whatever you say, Xanthus,” she said.

----**----

Cindy had just returned to the RC right when Xanthus and Anneli finally managed to disassemble Xanthus’ bed. The turian was carrying the mattress out of the room, while Anneli was busy tying up the metal that had made up the frame. Cindy looked at the two of them, holding the books in her arms.

“I’m back,” Cindy said.

Anneli looked up, and smiled. “Oh, yay!” she said. “I thought you had gotten lost again!”

“What took you?” Xanthus asked.

“I’m afraid there was a bit of a line at the Canon Library,” she stated. “Apparently, it’s not a place you actually enter.”

“Yeah, Anneli was just mentioning that,” Xanthus replied. “I still can’t believe that they’d be crazy enough to think such a library system would work.” He rolled his eyes as he said this. “Hopefully you weren’t bored.”

“Actually, no,” Cindy said. “I happened to bump into Ilraen at the back of the line.”

Anneli and Xanthus both turned to Cindy as she finished saying this. “Wait, you ran into him again?” asked Xanthus.

“Yes.” Cindy smiled as she held the books to her chest, looking up at the ceiling. “And as if to make it even crazier, he was just returning a copy of the last book of the Hunger Games trilogy.”

Anneli immediately smiled broadly. “Oh, cool!” she said. She rushed forward and got right there in Cindy’s face. “So how’s he doing? What’s his favorite hair color? Does he like blonde hair? ‘Cause I totally think he’s got the hots for chicks with—”

“Whoa, whoa, slow down!” said Xanthus as he walked over and separated Anneli and Cindy.

“What?” Anneli asked. “I was just asking if he was into her.”

The blush that flourished across Cindy’s face was red enough that tomatoes would be jealous. “I... uh... didn’t talk to him about... uh... that,” she replied sheepishly.

“Sure you didn’t,” said Anneli. “I’ll bet he was all over you.” She smirked. “It seems like you’ve totally got yourself a boyfriend, Cindy...”

Cindy started immediately, dropping the books in surprise. “I... I don't... I...” she sputtered. Eventually, she stamped her foot on the ground and leaned forward. “Ilraen is not my boyfriend!”

“Oh, please, he totally is,” Anneli said. “You two keep bumping into each other. It’s gotta be love!”

“After only two meetings?” Xanthus asked immediately.

Anneli paused, looking at Xanthus and Cindy blankly. The pause only took a few seconds, but to Cindy it felt like it stretched on for considerably longer.

And finally, Anneli broke the silence with “Uh-huh.”

In response, Xanthus facepalmed. “You read too much Twilight,” he immediately fired back.

“Oh, don’t tell me you don’t see it too,” Anneli stated.

“Hey, he was at the line for the Canon Library!” Xanthus replied while placing the mattress on the roller. “It could’ve been anyone that she randomly struck up a conversation with!”

“It could’ve been,” Anneli said, leaning towards Xanthus. “Or was it...?”

“Uh...” Cindy shook her head. “Okay. This is probably the most awkward conversation I’ll ever have in my life,” she said. “Can we drop it?”

“Sure,” Anneli said.

“Right... so...” She shrugged, grabbing her bag of holding from the far end of the room and stuffing the books in it. “So, we’re moving out right now?”

“Yeah, it doesn’t hurt to prepare,” Anneli replied. “The SO totally likes to spring movements on us when we don’t see it comin’. Trust me, I got it once, and you never forget it, ever. At least we got the bed done first.”

“Yeah, at least there’s that,” Xanthus commented. “It would’ve been a bitch to—”

[BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEE—]

Cindy ran right up to the console and looked at the message. “All right,” she said. “Let’s see...”

She began reading the message out loud:

Inhabitants of RC 2183,

We have finalized the transfer. It turns out we will not transfer you to a new response center, and thus Response Center 2183 will still be where you receive missions. As I have heard from the Canon Library that you only picked up their copy of The Hunger Games very recently, I will hold off on giving you a mission until you’ve read the whole trilogy. But I will know when you are done with the canon. And when that day comes, you are to go to work immediately.

You will hear from me again,

-Sunflower Official.

The three agents looked at the message, and then back at all the stuff they had packed. Anneli’s eyes twitched briefly, and Xanthus looked like he was going to murder a puppy.

It was Anneli who struck the console with her fist. “Oh, like, not cool!” she shouted. “We do all this packing, and now we’ve gotta undo it all!?”

“Well, on the bright side, we don’t have to leave,” Cindy replied. She looked behind her. “And that means we won’t have to lug all this furniture halfway across Headquarters.”

“True, I guess,” Xanthus said. “Still...”

Anneli growled. “Like, that’s totally unokay!” she said. “I wanna see the Flowers about this!”

“Sorry,” said Cindy. “I’ll help you redo all this stuff.”

Anneli nodded. “Good,” she said. “I was totally thinking you were going to run off and meet up with your boyfriend again.”

Cindy frowned. “Ilraen is not my boyfriend!” She extended her hands out. “I mean, Merlin, I almost never see him! How do you think something like that would work?”

And immediately, Xanthus blinked, looking to the side. Neither of the female agents noticed it, but Xanthus’ thoughts immediately went to Annie. He thought about how she was doing, and about how things must be difficult for her from all the things he had heard that happened during Mass Effect 3.

“It totally does!” Anneli said. “Now come on. We’re moving all this furniture back before reading these books.”

Xanthus then raised his hand. “Actually...” he said. “Do you mind if I take some time to go back to my home canon?”

Both of the women looked at him with a surprised look on their faces. “Xanthus?” Cindy asked.

Anneli promptly strode up to the turian. “Like, no,” Anneli said. “You made me take your bed apart. You are totally staying here and helping us reassemble that piece of crap!”

“I can do it myself when I get back,” Xanthus said. He glanced to the side. “I just... I wonder how Annie is doing back on the Citadel... I need to go see her.”

“Seriously?” Anneli asked. “Like, you know the SO’s gonna have our heads if he finds out you took a vacation with the pre-mission time, right?” She shook her head. “And you’re leaving us right when we have to unpack all this stuff? Not cool, Xanthus!”

Xanthus shrugged. “I dunno,” he said. “I’ve been itching to go ever since Mass Effect 3 was released.” He sighed, glancing to the side. “There’s... a lot of bad stuff that happens on the Citadel in that game.”

“There is?” Cindy asked. “I mean...”

Xanthus sighed. “I just want to check on her,” he said. “I’ll be fast, I promise. Maybe I’ll even ask her to come to the PPC. Make sure she’s safe.”

“Okay, like, no,” said Anneli. “We already had to deal with trollfic punishment, I am not having you go there and—”

“And you think that letting her potentially get ground up into genetic paste to be part of a Reaper is any better?” Xanthus asked. He shook his head. “I just... I want her to be safe...”

There was a brief silence in the RC. The three agents looked at each other, noticing that Xanthus had sounded weaker than he normally did when he talked about Annie’s safety. Neither Anneli nor Cindy knew what was troubling Xanthus so, but Cindy realized that there was something about Xanthus’ brief vacation that wasn’t entirely selfish.

The witch nodded, looking at the console. “What year are we talking about?”

Anneli turned to Cindy in disbelief. “What the—? Are you kidding me?” Anneli asked excitedly. “Uh, am I the only one who totally knows we’re going to get in so much trouble for this!?”

“I don’t really care,” Cindy replied. “This is our partner we’re talking about here. I don’t know about you, but I think his peace of mind is more important than something the SO does.”

Xanthus’ expression was nothing short of relieved when he looked at Cindy. “I... thank you so much, Cindy,” he said. “You want to take me to 2186.”

Cindy nodded, inputting the coordinates into the console and opening her bag of holding. “All right,” she said. “I’ll wait for you here.” She took the RA out of her bag of holding and tossed it to Xanthus.

The turian caught the RA, nodding as he walked to the portal. “Thanks,” he says. “Hopefully, I can get back so that only a few seconds pass here.”

“Take all the time you need,” Cindy said. “We’ll be right here.”

With this, Xanthus entered through the portal, and Anneli and Cindy watched as it closed behind him. This left them in the RC, Cindy looking at the spot in the wall where the portal had been.

Anneli simply sighed. “Fine,” she said. “But when the SO gets us in trouble, I so warned you.”

“Duly noted,” said Cindy as she opened one of the bags and pulled out the RC’s gaming console. “Now, let’s get started. We’ve got a lot of stuff to unpack, and not that much time to do it in.”

----**----

It took Xanthus several minutes of searching to find Annie. He had checked everywhere, even amongst the waves of refugees that were piling up at the docking bays. He figured it wouldn’t hurt to check, since one of the docking bays passed her workplace. But Annie was nowhere to be found.

He began to worry just a little bit: he knew that the Citadel must have been attacked by the Cerberus coup before he came in, since he had heard mutterings about Cerberus and safety. And that was not even mentioning the air of disquiet around him, if the various people looking over their shoulders as they walked said anything substantive about the situation on the Citadel. The C-SEC officers around him were more vigilant than usual, and he even saw a few officers with military-grade weapons.

The Citadel actually looked quite crowded from where he stood, and he wondered briefly where his brother was. No doubt he was covering another news story for his network, but Xanthus couldn’t help but wonder...

He shook his head, ducking into an alleyway and teleporting to one of the wards. He’d worry about that later. For now, he needed to look for Annie. And if Annie was nowhere to be found...

He paused. And then, he smacked himself in the head.

“Damn,” he said. “Maybe she’s still got that apartment there...”

He then ducked into another alleyway, seeing a keeper close by before he portaled to Annie’s apartment building. He figured the keeper wouldn’t tell given its nature, and so he closed the portal behind him. He looked around, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that nobody was in the hallway around him.

He stood in front of Annie’s apartment door, and apprehension filled him again. What if Annie wasn’t there? What if there was someone else there now? What if she had died in the Cerberus coup? What if...?

He closed his eyes briefly, drumming his fingers against the wall. No, she had to be there. He figured she had to be. He had to at least believe that. He didn’t know what Annie would say, but... he knew that this was his best chance of seeing her. He balled one of his hands into a fist, closing his eyes and sighing.

He then swallowed, shifting his steps on the carpet slightly. He then raised his hand, and knocked at the door.

“Hang in there! I’ll be right out!”

Xanthus breathed a sigh of relief at hearing Annie’s voice. At least she’s safe, he thought, glancing down at the floor as he smiled ever so softly. He then looked back up, hearing footsteps. Someone walked up to the door, and then it opened, and there she was, wearing a bathrobe with her hair newly wet. Xanthus guessed she must have stepped out of the shower just before answering the door.

“Now, what do you—?” When she looked up at Xanthus’ face, she gasped. The bathrobe shifted down slightly, though she still remained covered as a brief silence passed between them.

“Annie...” Xanthus said. “I know that I haven’t really been by as much as I would like, but—”

Xanthus was immediately interrupted by a tight hug from Annie. The human held him close to her, with Xanthus’ eyes going wide for a few seconds. Eventually, when he got over the initial shock of being hugged so quickly, he put his arms around her, closing his eyes and feeling her there.

She pulled back slightly. “Xanthus, thank God you’re all right,” she said. “I was so worried about you. I mean, with everything going on... all the worlds under attack, the Citadel coup just a week ago...” She shook her head. “I’m so glad you’re all right.”

Xanthus nodded. “And I’m so glad you’re all right, too,” he said. “I heard about the coup. I came here as soon as I could to check on you.”

“Good,” Annie replied. “I don’t know if now is the best time to come here, though. I’ve got...” She glanced behind her. “Other company.”

Xanthus felt a brief pang of jealousy spring up within him. “Other company?” Xanthus asked.

He then looked behind her in the apartment, suddenly noticing that there was a batarian on the couch. Of all things, she had a batarian in the apartment. He frowned, looking at the four-eyed alien.

“Would you keep it down, lady?” he asked gruffly. “I’m trying to sleep here!”

Xanthus looked at Annie. “Uh... what’s the batarian doing on the couch?”

Annie looked down. “He... he’s a refugee from Khar’shan.”

The turian blinked in confusion. “Annie, you’re housing a refugee right now?” he asked.

“C-SEC started asking some of the civilians if they would be willing to house refugees...” she replied. “I ended up housing three of them.” She glanced to the door at the end of the apartment. “There are two turian sisters from Palaven in the guest room. I had to put the batarian on the couch because I ran out of room.”

Xanthus nodded, watching as the door opened and a female turian peeked outside the door. “I see...” he said. “I guess I came at a—”

“—bad time?” Annie asked, grabbing his arm. “Trust me, you didn’t. I actually just stepped out of the shower. And besides, we’ve got a lot to talk about. I just...” She then pulled him into the apartment. “Please. Stay a little bit.”

Xanthus watched as two turian girls stepped out of the guest room, and they both looked at him in surprise. Xanthus noticed that they were quite a bit younger, one of them looking like a teen while the other looked no older than ten years old.

“Uh, Annie?” asked one of the girls. “Who’s this?”

“He’s not C-SEC, is he?” asked the batarian as he stood up and walked to where Annie was.

Annie shook his head. “On the contrary, M’shk,” she replied. “This is Xanthus Garkaran. He’s a very close friend of mine, and one of the first people I ever met on the Citadel.” She nodded. “Xanthus, this is M’shk. He was on Khar’shan when the Reapers attacked.” She then gestured to the girls. “And these are Lyrexa and Sixera.”

Xanthus nodded. “I hope you’re all okay,” he said.

“We’re fine,” said the teenager, probably Sixera. One of her fingers moved up to touch her face, the talon coming to rest against a purple clan marking. “Just a little shaken up, I guess.” She glanced to the side. “Some people I knew didn’t make it out of Palaven, though... one of them was vaporized right before my eyes...”

“I don’t know...” Lyrexa added, looking down at the ground. “It was just... everyone was screaming, and then daddy let go and suddenly he was in that beam and didn’t come out.” She looked up, her eyes round and sad.

Xanthus nodded grimly, kneeling by the kid and placing a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I should’ve been on Palaven.”

“Don’t be,” the teenage turian replied. “It’s better here. If you’re not off of Palaven by now...” She glanced to the side, letting the silence fill in the sentence.

The older turian stood back up. “I guess so...” he said.

Annie nodded. “Well... I guess since you’re here, we should catch up on stuff,” she said. She then looked down at Lyrexa. “I got some more food.”

Lyrexa and Sixera nodded. “I guess that would be good,” Sixera replied.

Xanthus nodded. “I could go for something right about now,” he said. He then gestured to Annie. “Well... I think you’ll know what to do.”

With this, the group of five walked into the kitchen, Annie making a beeline for the fridge as the others took their places at the nearby table.

----**----

The ensuing conversation had been a little grim, even for a conversation which involved a young child. After a while, Xanthus found he could not really take that much suffering anymore, but he bore it for the sake of everyone else. Of course, the night was late on the Citadel, and eventually Lyrexa became rather tired. And so, M’shk decided to go escort the kids to bed. With the batarian and the two turian kids out of the picture, Xanthus found himself nursing his turian Tupari and looking at Annie.

“So...” said Xanthus. “I guess this is what I have to look forward to on the Citadel of all places.”

“It’s what I have to look forward to,” Annie said. “It’s been hard. Thankfully, my job at Exogeni pays enough that I can support them, and on top of that I’m getting a tax credit for taking them in.”

“Really?” Xanthus asked as he leaned forward. “That’s odd. I didn’t hear anything about that on any... news channels I tuned in to.” He tightened his toes a little under the table, hoping to the spirits that Annie hadn’t noticed the brief second of hesitation.

“It’s not something they like to mention too publicly,” Annie replied. “But it exists. It gives the refugees somewhere constant to live, and it keeps some weight off of C-SEC, so nobody complains.” She shook her head. “I’m sure you saw the refugees at the docks.”

Xanthus sighed. “I did,” he said. “I don’t know what they went through, but it’s still kind of depressing to see them there...” He paused. “So you’re still with Exogeni, huh? How’s that going at times like this?”

“It’s gotten even more hectic with the war,” Annie said. “The workload has piled on for us. And now, we’re making war supplies for the soldiers.” She looked to the side. “The war is all anyone ever talks about now. I guess it’s hard to avoid the war when everybody you know is in danger.”

“I guess there’s a lot less time to take care of things,” Xanthus replied.

Annie chuckled darkly. “Yes,” she said. “Now I’m almost always here, or at the office.” She glanced at the adjoining door. “M’shk is rather glad for it. He usually keeps to himself like that.” She sighed. “He lost his entire family in the Bahak System, you know. And then he was on Khar’shan when the Reapers invaded. It’s hard to blame him for that, you know?”

“I guess so,” said Xanthus. He looked at her intently, another thought crossing his mind. “Has anyone we know died yet?”

Instantly, Annie’s expression fell. She looked down sadly, and then sighed. “My C-SEC friend died in the Cerberus coup,” she replied.

Xanthus blinked. “He... I’m so sorry...”

Annie nodded. “He was taken down by some turret fire,” she said. “We were both running from Cerberus troopers when he saw an asari child right in the line of fire of a turret. He saved that child, but... Christ, Xanthus, his body was so...” Annie glanced to the side, looking out the window. “I didn’t exactly like him, but nobody should have to die like that. That was just...”

The turian rested a hand on her shoulder, watching her as she looked to the window. He thought of saying something, but thought better of it and simply rested his hand there.

“We all thought it was safe here,” Annie continued. “We thought we could all flee to the Citadel and be safe.” She paused, looking down at the ground. “To be honest, Xanthus: I’m so afraid.”

“You?” he asked. “Afraid?”

“Yes,” Annie said, placing an arm on the table. “What if Cerberus attacks the Citadel again? If I’m in the wrong place, I could die here... and if I hear things about the Reapers correctly, they’ll kill everyone. I just...” She paused. “I try not to say too much for the sake of Lyrexa, but it’s so hard to do that when you hear the things on the news about everything the Reapers do. I’m just... it’s hard. Even being away from the fighting, it’s hard.”

Xanthus glanced down to the side, and then looked up at Annie. “I...” He paused, thinking about his next course of action. He couldn’t bear the thought of seeing Annie going through something that would be pretty hard for everyone involved. At the same time, though, he knew that he couldn’t stay in the canon for as long as he wanted to, or else he would get in severe trouble with the Flowers. He knew that there was one thing he could do for Annie, though, seeing as how she was not a canon character.

“I... I could take you to my base,” Xanthus said.

Annie looked up. “I... what?” she asked.

Xanthus grabbed her hand. “I could take you and the refugees with me when I go back to where I work,” he replied. “And it would be a place safe from any Cerberus attacks. Trust me, not even Cerberus knows that the people I work for exist, and the Reapers sure as hell won’t find out. You, M’shk, and the kids will be okay.”

Annie glanced to the side, obviously deep in thought. “Are you sure?” she asked. “I mean... I appreciate the offer, but are you sure that it wouldn’t be a strain on them to accept four people who can’t fight?”

Xanthus’ talon trailed down, gripping one of her hands and rubbing it with his thumb. “They have need of people who don’t fight as well,” he said. “And they wouldn’t mind. I mean, they’d probably be mad at me since I’m not supposed to be here, but I’m sure they would be willing to take you in.”

Annie frowned. “Wait, you’re here without their knowledge?” she asked.

“Well... yes...” said Xanthus.

Annie sighed regretfully. “As much as I would like to, Xanthus... I’m afraid I can’t,” she said. “I won’t let you put your own job at risk like that, especially not for me. And besides, the staff at Exogeni need me. There are so few people here who... I can’t abandon Exogeni. Not now, when they need scientists the most.” She paused, looking down regretfully as she gripped Xanthus’ hand in hers. “I’m sorry.”

Xanthus nodded understandingly. “It’s fine,” he said. “I just... hearing about you just now, I thought you might like the security.”

“I guess even despite everything, I feel like I can power through it,” she said. She smiled softly, looking at Xanthus. “Thank you for the offer, though. I appreciate that you care.” She glanced to the side. “I just... please be careful. You’re the only person I’ve got left who I know is alive. If I were to lose you, too...”

Xanthus gripped her hands more firmly. “I’ll be fine,” he said. “I promise you that, Annie.”

Annie nodded, letting go of Xanthus’ talons. “Thanks, Xanthus,” she said. “I needed that. Well, this. The whole visit.”

Xanthus nodded. “Glad I could be of help, Annie,” he said. “Apart from inviting you to my workplace, I imagine that that’s all I can do...”

“Just... don’t be a stranger this time,” Annie said. “And please, try to come back when you can.”

“I’ll do my best,” he said. With this, he stood up, and looked to the door as M’shk left the adjoining room. “Well, I should get going. I’ve already been out long enough. I need to get back there as quickly as I can.” He then placed his hand on her shoulder. “You be careful, Annie.”

“I will, Xanthus,” she said. “Stay safe.”

Xanthus nodded. With this, he walked towards the door of Annie’s apartment, noticing that M’shk was watching him. He looked back at Annie for a few seconds, offering a smile as he stood there at the doorway. Annie smiled back, and then Xanthus left the apartment.

----**----

Anneli and Cindy had barely finished putting the couch together when Xanthus walked into the RC. They both blinked in surprise, looking up at the turian as he entered. He looked a little relieved, though not by much.

Cindy immediately stood up. “Is everything okay, Xanthus?” she asked.

“As okay as it can be, considering the circumstances,” he said. “She’s fine. She’s a little shaken, but she’s fine.” He paused, looking at them. “She actually did tell me she was afraid.”

“She did?” Anneli asked. “How’d you reply?”

“I asked her if she wanted to come to the PPC with me,” Xanthus stated.

Cindy looked at the empty space next to Xanthus. “I guess she said no,” she replied.

Xanthus nodded very slowly, his expression just a little grim. “She declined when I mentioned that I was there without the knowledge of the Flowers. And she also says they need her at Exogeni.” He sighed. “I wonder what would happen if I told her that nothing she’d do would matter in the grand scheme of things...”

“Well, she’d probably call you crazy, for one,” said Cindy. “And then she’d probably wonder what’s gotten into you.” She stood up, closing the book. “I don’t know, Xanthus; if she’s afraid...”

“I know she is,” said Xanthus. “But at the same time, she wants to help the people of her continuum. I have to respect that.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m glad I went, at least. It’s good to see she’s doing all right.”

Cindy nodded as she stood up. “Well, I’m glad you got that sorted out,” she said. “The bed is still in the back, if you want to work on that. We’re almost done with just about everything else.”

“Yeah,” said Anneli. “And when we’re done, we’re totally sitting down and reading. I wanna see what happens in those books.”

“I’ll get right on it, then,” Xanthus replied. He walked to the bedroom, pausing at the door to look at his fellow agents. “I shouldn’t be long.”

A few minutes later, the sounds of drilling permeated the air of RC 2183, and all was well.

----**----

A/N: Well, there’s a pretty short interlude. No new missions, but a department transfer that I kind of wanted to do for some time.

And that marks my return to the PPC! It feels pretty crazy to be back, to be perfectly honest. But, it makes me glad to be back here. It feels like forever since... you know. I’d also like to thank Neshomeh for beta’ing this interlude, as well as writing the cowritten segment between Cindy and Ilraen. That is always fun.

And now, I get to snark stuff in The Hunger Games. Yeah, that’s right, I’m a Hunger Games fan. It’s actually quite a good book series. Sure, there are some things that don’t work, but the things that do work more than make up for the misfires that occur within the series. So yeah, crazy times are had for that.

And what’ll you see after all that? Stay tuned for what that is, ladies and gentlemen, ‘cause it’s gonna be a doozy!

-Herr