The door creaked open.
Raiga stepped inside, slower than usual. His jacket hung half-open, stained dark at the sleeve and along his side.
Liara stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed, her eyes locked on him the second he crossed the threshold.
Her voice cut through the stale air, tight and sharp.
Liara: "Where the hell have you been?"
Raiga shrugged off his coat, letting it fall by the door with a grunt.
Raiga: "Ran into some Riders. Wanted the case."
He tossed the metal case onto the table with a dull thud.
Liara's eyes tracked the fresh blood trailing down his arm, the dried cut on his cheek a harsh red slash against his skin.
Liara: "They did that?"
Raiga sat heavily on the cot, leaning back against the cold wall.
Raiga: "Yeah. Just a bad night. Dropped my guard."
His hand pressed against his ribs, pain flaring underneath. But he avoided her gaze, staring instead at the ceiling like that would make the conversation disappear.
Liara didn't move for a moment. Then she marched toward him, stopping directly in front of the cot.
Liara: "Get. Up."
Raiga sighed, annoyed.
Raiga: "Liara, it's nothing—"
Liara: "I said GET UP."
Her voice cracked the air like a whip.
Raiga clenched his jaw but stood.
Liara grabbed his arm roughly, dragging him toward the old chair by the workbench and shoving him down.
Liara: "Fine. Lie to me all you want. But quit playing the invincible bastard while you're bleeding out all over my floor. You're not impressing anyone, least of all me."
Her words cut deeper than the wounds.
Raiga sat in sullen silence, his fists tightening against his knees.
Liara moved behind him, yanking supplies from the medkit with sharp, angry motions.
She pressed a soaked cloth against his arm, harder than necessary. He winced but didn't pull away.
Liara: "Garret thinks he's found a way out. For good."
Raiga lifted his head slightly, eyes narrowing.
Raiga: "How?"
Liara wrapped fresh gauze around his forearm, pulling it tight.
Liara: "Intercepted a Dominion shipment. Top secret. High clearance. Garret's sure whatever's inside could change everything. Set us up for life."
She yanked the bandage tighter, enough to make him grunt.
Raiga: "You think it's real this time? Not another dead end?"
Liara shot him a look, her voice low and biting.
Liara: "Does it matter? It's the only shot we've had in months. If you're serious about leaving this city... this is it."
Raiga leaned back, tension grinding through his jaw.
Raiga: "What's in the shipment?"
Liara met his eyes, her expression unreadable.
Liara: "Fragments."
That word settled over the room like a stormcloud.
Raiga's fists tightened. His mind spun ahead, thoughts fracturing and colliding.
Fragments.
Power. Freedom. Or destruction.
Liara crossed her arms, her stare sharp as a blade.
Liara: "So, Raiga... you wanna keep bleeding out here, acting like a ghost? Or do we start thinking like people who actually want to live?"
Raiga stood abruptly, ignoring the sting of his wounds.
Raiga: "You're forgetting something."
Liara raised a brow.
Raiga: "Anything involving fragments in Galmera—especially Zenithar—goes through Barren. Nothing moves without his blessing."
Liara straightened, her fists clenched.
Liara: "So? Isn't that why you joined the Covenant? That was the plan—fast credits, faster way out."
Raiga's expression darkened.
Raiga: "It was. But if this backfires... if this ties back to me... we lose everything. No more contacts. No more leverage. We're done."
Liara stepped closer, her frustration boiling over.
Liara: "Then tell me the truth, Raiga. Do you even want to leave?"
He flinched like she'd hit him.
Liara: "Because lately... you're different. You lie to me. You don't say where you go, what you do. While Garret and I are killing ourselves trying to find a way out, you—"
She swallowed the knot in her throat.
Liara: "You're sinking deeper into this place like you belong here."
Silence.
Finally, Raiga spoke, his voice low and raw.
Raiga: "...I hired the Five."
Liara's breath caught in her chest.
Liara: "The District Assassins?"
Raiga nodded once.
Raiga: "I asked them to dig up anything about me—where I came from, who I was before all this. They found nothing. Like someone... or something powerful wanted me erased."
Liara's voice dropped, quiet and cold.
Liara: "Raiga... did you...?"
Raiga: "Yeah."
He didn't even blink.
Raiga: "They're dead."
Liara turned away, her hand slamming against the table.
Liara: "Shit, Raiga...! You really think this is how you find answers?"
She turned back to him, softer now, her voice breaking just slightly.
Liara: "Why won't you just trust me? I can help you. You don't have to fight through this alone."
Raiga shook his head, his voice barely above a whisper.
Raiga: "I don't know, Liara. I'm walking blind. I don't even know if there's a way out of this."
Liara stepped closer, her fingers reaching out, gently covering his.
Liara: "Then let's be lost together. Just... don't shut me out."
For the first time in what felt like forever, Raiga's fingers tightened faintly around hers.
Liara took a deep breath, her voice steady again.
Liara: "Listen to me. Garret's plan... it's risky, yeah. But it's our shot. We pull this off, and we buy our freedom. For real this time."
Raiga looked up at her, conflict plain in his eyes.
Liara: "You told me once the only thing that mattered was the promise we made. So tell me, Raiga... does it still matter to you?"
Raiga closed his eyes for a long second, the weight of everything pressing down on his chest.
Raiga: "...Yeah. It does."
Liara smiled faintly, her thumb brushing across his knuckles.
Liara: "Then let's finish this."
Raiga exhaled, his shoulders relaxing for the first time that night.
But as Liara turned to start preparing for what came next, Raiga sat back down on the edge of the cot.
His hands trembled faintly.
He stared at them, his voice barely a breath.
Raiga: "...Let's finish this..."