She couldn't breathe simply from the fact she had been running for over three hours. Running, leaping, dodging, trying to escape, trying to escape the Reapers. They were here! Damn Dr Kenson for being right damn her and her stupid countdown, and most of all damn her for actually trying to aid the Reapers. As soon as the Normandy had touched down after the Doctor Kenson issue and the small matter of the genocide of over three hundred thousand Batarians by Shepard's own hand, she had been grounded and commandeered by the Alliance and Shepard herself had been taken into custody and flown to Earth to await trial, for acts of terrorism and war crimes. The charges were laughable, acts of terrorism and war crimes were exactly what she had been preventing ever since she joined the Alliance at eighteen, even being dead for two years hadn't prevented her from being awoken to solve the galaxy's problems once more. Sometimes she wished she had stayed dead living was harder.
She rolled over what had once been the roof of a skyscraper and slid down until her feet touched the ground, almost safe. Anderson had been leading her to safety and constantly telling her that a ship was on its way and they would be saved, but seeing the destruction around her and what the Reapers had already done, she wasn't as confident as he was that rescue was coming. She could smell the death in the air, she had come across literally hundreds of Husks already as well as more than enough dead bodies to last her another lifetime. She had also faced enemies she had never seen before they were stronger than Husks and much more terrifying, she thought Scions were bad, these were horrifying.
"Come on Shepard hurry this way!" Anderson shouted as he gunned down the remaining Husks in their path, they had even come across some Collectors, and that fact had shocked Shepard more than the hundreds of Reapers floating above her head snapping buildings in two like matchsticks.
"We've' got company quick get down!" Anderson flew into cover and reached for a thermal clip in his jacket then slid it over to Shepard who had bunkered down in cover as instructed. It was funny she had been leading for years now but it was funny how quickly she slipped back into being a subordinate obeying Anderson's orders and tactics as loyally as a new recruit. She was stripped of all her official titles at the trial anyway so she was no longer even a Spectre so following Anderson's orders had been easy she was nobody special anymore, according to the Council and the Alliance.
She popped her head above cover and saw the 'company' and cursed under her breath as no less than thirty Collectors and Husks stood between them and their way out and they only had two thermal clips between them. She put in the last of her thermal clips and cocked the lousy pistol Anderson has given her god how she wished she had her Arc projector now!
The Collectors started to advance and Shepard popped up again from the safety of cover and shot at four of them two went down the other two had barriers and armour. Well thank god for Cerberus L5 implants she thought and proceeded to lift and throw several Collectors into the air and Anderson finished them off. Even with the L5's however she was exhausted three hours of running and putting her biotics to their limits she was shocked she was still standing it was the sheer adrenaline that was stopping her from collapsing there and then, that and the fact that she needed to watch Andersons back. If it came down to it and only one of them made it out she would make sure it was him. She wiped her jacket sleeve over her forehead to remove the blood and sweat pooling there and stood up to give her last biotic attack a real kick, she threw a shockwave which knocked down and disbanded many of the remaining advancing Collectors and Husks. However they were still surrounded and they now had no thermal clips left and her biotics were spent she couldn't lift a glass no let alone do any damage to an enemy she had nothing left to give.
Then she saw it, the most beautiful ship in the entire galaxy she sighed a contented sigh as she and Anderson ran for the safety of the Normandy.
"God bless you Joker" she said to herself
"Run Shepard I'll cover you!" Anderson said suddenly producing a flash grenade, it would stun the remaining Collectors and allow them precious moments to escape, but merely seconds, he dodged the bullets flying at him and pulled the pin and let the grenade fly from his hand. At that he turned and began running, the resulting flash meant they only had a few moments before the enemy would continue with the barrage of bullets. The Normandy's airlock slid open and two armed soldiers came into view covering them. As soon as the Collectors vision came back they resumed their endless tirade of bullets.
A Collector holding a sniper up and taking aim for Shepards head was about to take his shot when his alien head suddenly exploded into mush and the body sagged down. Shepard saw the bullet fly past her head and turned around to see the falling Collector body, she mentally thanked the solider responsible for the perfect headshot without taking off her ear in the process and turned back around towards the ship, she was so close now a few feet away from the doors when non other than Kaiden Alenko came into view holding a rather large sniper rifle.
Shepard's world slowed down and everything around her became a low hiss, explosions and gunshots filled the air but she couldn't hear them she just stared at him unable to take notice of anything else. She hadn't realised her feet had stopped moving she wasn't running anymore. She heard Anderson shout in the background for her to keep moving but her feet wouldn't allow her to she was stuck just staring at Kaiden.
Kaiden looked at her as if to say 'come on' but she still didn't move what was she playing at she's in the middle of a war zone with bullets flying all around her with no armour on and no cover just standing waiting to be shot man, does this woman have a death wish without thinking he leapt from the airlock.
Kaiden suddenly was leaping from the doors and closing the distance between them in a few quick strides he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her back to the ship and shoved her through the doors. After a few seconds looking blankly at him Shepard regained her senses and grabbed an assault rifle off the other solider in the airlock and swung round towards the doors.
"Give suppressing fire don't let them hit him!" Shepard yelled over the engines and gunfire.
The four of them shot in unison until the last collector fell Anderson closed the distance between them quickly and came to a stop at the airlock doors clearly exhausted.
"What are you doing come on" Shepard went to grab him but he recoiled and stepped back.
"I'm staying Shepard there are still people here who need me, I can still save them you go, assemble an army and show these no good motherfuckers that the galaxy won't go down without out a fight, tell them we won't just lay back and take it!" with that he gave her a quick salute and ran off around the corner out of sight before she could stop him.
"NO! NO! Anderson!" Shepard tried to go after him but she was being held back by someone. Kaiden struggled to hold her back Shepard had always been strong but now she was like a mad woman holding her with one arm across her waist he managed to reach for the ear piece he had in and opened and comm link with the pilot.
"Joker go just go now!"
"What? What about Anderson?"
"He's not coming now go go!"
Everyone in the airlock was thrown down when the ship took off and entered FTL speed, the others quickly got up but Shepard just lay there staring at the ceiling of the familiar ship eyes wide and alert. That was the second father she had lost now, Anderson had taken her in and saved her when she was just sixteen from Mindoir he had given her the military the most important thing in her life and now he was gone, he wasn't dead yet but he soon would be he didn't have a weapon or armour and nowhere to go. Her heart ached and hot stinging tears rolled down the side of her face stinging fresh wounds and settled in her dirty blonde hair. The ship shook and then over Kaiden's comm it was confirmed they had hit a mass relay and were safe for the moment en route to an Alliance facility in the Terminus system.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and the two soldiers left and went up to the CIC leaving Kaiden and Shepard alone for the first time since Horizon. Suddenly Shepard was very aware she was alone with him and got up and wiped away the tears from her eyes. He had never seen her cry before and she wasn't going to let him see it now, instead she punched him square in the jaw and he fell back against the weapons locker and clutched his bleeding already swelling lip, he gave her a look that could have turned her to stone.
What the hell? We just saved her and this is how she repays me with a punch in the jaw Kaiden wiped at his lip and stalked over to Shepard with every intention of asking her just what the hell she was playing at, when she suddenly clutched at her side and began to sway, he quickly caught her before she collapsed to the floor. She was drifting in and out of consciousness and Kaiden frantically checked her over, then he saw the growing scarlet patch on her jacket he moved it aside and winced at the sight of a fresh bullet wound.
"MEDIC! I need a medic get Dr Chakwas here now! Oh god Shepard don't do this to me again"
A/N Just a little one-shot thats been on my computer for AGES since I saw the footage for ME3 at E3 earlier this year Just thought I would upload it to see if anyone besides me would enjoy it.