My first non-OC-oriented Mass Effect (2) fanfiction. It centers on no particular person, but it starts off strongly as a Joker fic. Take that as you will.
I do not own anything of Mass Effect, nor Mass Effect 2. Not even the games.
The ship.
The Normandy.
She's…
"—exploding, so make sure everyone gets to the escape pods!" Joker bellowed, typing furiously at the helm of the Alliance ship.
Navigator Pressly.
Dead on the floor behind him.
Crewmen dying. Somebody…
"—put those damn fires out!" He was at his wit's end. Out of all the things to do them in—Saren, the geth, the reapers—it was some goddamn ship?
Shepard.
Down in the lower levels.
Was she…
"—alive, damnit. I'm not going to let them take the Normandy!" he growled. He didn't realize he was alone, and that the cockpit had sealed itself off from the vacuum of space that used to be the CIC. When he did, he swore, then put on his helmet. It wouldn't be worth three whoops in hell if—when—that crazy-ass ship finally hit him with that laser, but fuck it.
The orange glow of the controls flickered, so very bright against the darkness of the helm. Making a face, Joker didn't hesitate as his fingers danced hurriedly across the interface. Like the helmet, it was useless, but that wouldn't stop him from trying to salvage the Normandy. Still, even if he could get away, they were stranded in the middle of nowhere, their fuel was practically non-existent, people were dying, and that ship, that fucking ship—
"Joker! Come on, we need to get out of here!" Shepard's voice suddenly crackled through his helmet speakers. She was right behind him. Alive.
"No, Commander! This is my ship, and I'm not going to let those sonsabitches take it from me!"
"Damnit, Joker, this is no time to be sentimental! The Normandy's going down, and I'm not letting you go with it! Now get your ass in gear and get out of that damn seat!" she snapped, grabbing his shoulder and hauling him up so roughly he thought his humorous was going to snap in half.
"Alright, alright!" Joker relented, though he was still half-dragged to the escape pod near the cockpit. Hauling himself inside, he gave a small yell as the Normandy took another hit, falling onto the seats in front of him. He steadied himself, then looked out onto the bridge, and this time strained his throat shouting, "Commander!"
She had been jarred loose from her hold on the ship, and was now floating away. He would later think back on this moment, sure that she had looked at him with a finality that one should never see in life; and he would be sure that he had looked into the face of Death itself.
"COMMANDER!" he hoarsely cried, but that look—that look told him it was futile.
Shepard, as a way of saying goodbye, slammed her fist onto the escape pod's eject button. Another explosion knocked her clear of the ship entirely, and the last thing Joker would see of his commander, and in the dreams soon to come, was her struggling with her oxygen tube as she twisted and flailed about in the cold reaches of space.
He wasn't to sleep for a month after that.