A Dying Light

Summary: Once before she had almost died and it nearly killed him, this time he had seen the video feed about her death only to be informed of her retrieval by Cerberus months later.

This isn't directly related to any of my other FemShep/Kai Leng fics but it could be considered a sequel of sorts to the fics in the N-School series.

He turned sharply, boots clicking on the metal floor beneath him as he walked back and forth in-front of a locked door.

A door that had remained locked since his ship had docked at the port. If the floor had been carpet there would have been a clear path marred into the surface by now. This door had been his first and only destination when he came aboard the Cerberus facility. It had taken some time to get there though, the security had refused to let him leave the docks at first. That is, until he broke a few fingers and made them clear him through the checkpoint.

Evidently even with his high security pass from being a part of Cerberus for so long he still wasn't allowed full access. That was the nature of Cerberus though. Each cell had it's own team in the organization and only ever knew about the project they were working on.

It was highly likely he wasn't even suppose to know about this facility that housed the Lazarus Project. That housed Shepard.

Was that why he hadn't been told about it? Because Shepard was involved? Or rather her body, but this project was recreating the cells inside of her, reviving her.

The screen switched back to normal programming as he felt his blood run cold. In the dim light of the bar, conversation had slowed during the announcement.

That the Normandy had yet to return from a routine mission concerning the Geth. Remnants of the army that had attacked the Citadel. That had been the mission the Commander and her crew had been given. To find and eliminate any Geth found hiding in the Terminus systems, there ship was the only one capable of remaining undetected by those in the Terminus systems. It wouldn't do to start a war just after they managed to stop one from truly coming to fruition.

The people here had forgotten about the battle that had taken place at the Citadel easily enough. They had chalked it up to a single incident caused by one rogue Specter, just like the Council did. That's why Shepard had been sent on such a menial task. That's why-

"Missing? Yeah, right. The whole crew was probably killed by the Geth. Probably ran into more than they could deal with."

There was a scoff to his right. "What a joke. The Alliance can't even keep it's supposed war heroes alive and well in their own part of space."

The Terminus systems isn't their part of space, Kai Leng wanted to snap but he held his tongue. That part of the mission wasn't public information since the Alliance was suppose to stay in Citadel space.

He only knew as much because he had intercepted all messages concerning Shepard, not that the alliance had noticed the leak. After all he had been looking through their information for years. He knew how to hide his tracks, to be no more than a ghost in their systems.

"I don't give a damn what happens to the Alliance, as long as they stay away from our colonies and don't get us involved in their political mess."

A few mutters of agreement filled the bar as Kai Leng reached for a bottle in front of him, wondering where the nearest Alliance outpost was so he could check for the details of the botched mission. To see if she was really dead and then...

He looked up quickly as he saw the red light turn orange then flash to green before spinning and the door slid open, a woman standing in place of the doors, eyes on him just like his were on her. "Leng." Miranda Lawson didn't move an inch even when he stepped toward her. "You don't have the clearance to be here."

It was almost funny how much he didn't care about that small fact. "Let me in the room through the door or I'll find another way to get inside to see her."

Miranda only crossed her arms at the threat hidden in his words. "She's not complete yet."

His eyes narrowed at those words. She wasn't complete? This woman... if she wasn't a Cerberus operative he might seriously consider ripping out her spine. "She's not a machine, Miranda. Now get out of my way."

"No. This is my facility, Leng and I won't have you here messing with the Lazarus Project. I want you and your ship out of here in the next five minutes or I'll throw you back onto your ship myself." Her hands glowed briefly as she spoke, a display of her biotic powers.

She wasn't the only one with them though. "My ship is being refueled. So I'm afraid you'll have to deal with me staying for more than five minutes." He walked along the back of the room, eyeing the doorway Miranda continued to stand in.

"You got here a little over an hour ago. If your ship isn't ready by now for your departure you need a new one and I'll happily hand over one if it will get you the hell out of here." Miranda still had her arms crossed as she glared at him, as if she could stop him with just her gaze.

"I got in through your security, Miranda. So I clearly have the clearance I need to be here." Leng stopped at the door leading out into the hall, hand resting along the metal frame. He just needed an opening, one second when her concentration was broken and he could make it through that door. He knew that, but Miranda had worked with him before. She knew a handful of his tricks having seen them firsthand, she wouldn't fall for those.

"I'm pretty sure you harassed my guards to get that clearance."

"Maybe," he admitted, gaze flickering behind her, but he couldn't see into the room from this angle. He couldn't see Shepard.

Miranda laughed at that. "So you are capable of honesty and not just lies and deceit."

He turned his gaze back on her, scowling. Why couldn't she just move to the side a little? Why did she have to stand exactly in the spot between the doors? "Right, 'cause you would never even think about lying to someone, would you? Just keep that attitude up, like your superior to everyone here. I'm sure they appreciate it."

Her own eyes narrowed, body shifting toward him, fingers clenching for an instant and he launched himself forward, pushing off the edge of the door at her.

Miranda's hands glowed, the air shifting around her as any object not nailed down in a ten foot radius began to float upward, in front of her anyway. He had been expecting this though and his own hands glowed in response, except instead of the usual blue/purple glow it was orange as he got within range and was lifted up. His own momentum would speed him forward through the sluggish air for a bit though, long enough for him to jam the omni-blade in the top of the door and regain control of his body to flip into the room, landing on the ground to turn quickly and jam a second blade into the door's controls as he blocked her path inside.

The machinery reacted instantly, the doors closing with a bang that surely would have split Miranda in half if she hadn't jumped out of the way at the same time as he extracted the first blade from the door.

Her palms sounded against the metal with a loud bang and he twisted his omni-blade further into the console. The edges of the door flashed red and the reinforcement plating was sliding into place as Miranda gave an angry yell from beyond the door, "Damn it! Jacob get in here!"

He turned quickly, knowing that even with the door locked down and reinforced he wouldn't have much time in here...

The sky was dark beyond the glass, a range of shadows stretching across the land. The moon was directly above the emergency Alliance facility, unseen from within these walls.

He slid from the vent, hitting the linoleum floor with a soft thud.

The form on the bed shifted, blue eyes seeking out the source but he made no attempt to hide himself from her gaze. The doctors were long gone from this room, sleeping or treating another patient that had been rushed into the hospital. As for the nurses, their station was too far away to have heard him enter the room.

"Leng?"

She must have seen his face from the one light in the room, blue and pulsing softly as a sign that all was well within if anyone happened to pass-by. It was past midnight though, no one was likely to be out in the hall at this hour unless a nearby patient went into a critical state. Unless Shepard went into another critical state from her own injuries.

He stood up slowly, walking to the edge of the bed to look down at the woman that laid on-top of it.

Her gaze followed his movements the whole time, face highlighted by those brief flashes of blue. The usual blaze of her hair was dimmed by the color, even her skin looked paler, almost sickly. But that's why she was here, wasn't it? Because she wasn't doing well.

Her brow raised at him, questioning when he still hadn't said a word. "You know, visiting hours are over. If they find out you're in here they'll throw you out."

He glanced to the array of buttons near her right palm, just in reach of her fingers. "Are you going to call for them?" If she tried in her current state he could easily reach the button before her, even though she was closer. She was too tired, her reaction time easily cut in half if not more. A few tweaks with his omni-tech and that button could be disabled in a second.

Her lips only twitched up though, a soft laugh slipping through before she winced. "Ah, don't make me laugh."

For a moment he couldn't move and then he pulled over a chair, slipping into the seat as he gazed down at her. Even after being here for a few days there were cuts all over her body and he could see stitches along her arms. There had to be more along her legs, possibly her stomach and back as well. He could tell just by looking at her that no part of her had gone untouched in her fight for survival. To go up against such a creature without the usual equipment to deal with it... He should have been there.

She was the only one to have survived in her whole team. It was almost a shame that she had managed to kill that Thresher Maw. Almost.

"Serah..." What could he possibly say to make it better? The fact was that she had nearly died out there, very nearly been killed in combat like everyone else. There wasn't anything to say to someone that went through that, was there? Seeing your comrades fall around you, to be the last one standing in the most dangerous of circumstances.

"Usually when a person comes by it's to cheer them up, not to sit there and be depressing. The doctors did say I would heal, surely you read about it in a report while crawling around in those ducts."

He felt his jaw twitch. "Shut up."

She blinked, just watching him for a moment before her mouth closed and she was silent once more. He couldn't decide which was worse; hearing her talk like the ordeal had been nothing, joking about her own condition or this silence, as if she really had died back there on that planet.

Her gaze flickered past him after a few more minutes had passed. "You left the cameras on."

"If they had gone off they would have sent someone to your room to check what had happened," the words just slipped from him and he forced himself to focus before explaining further, "I don't show up on the feed."

She glanced away from the camera then, looking out to the mountain range shrouded in the dark. "So I look like I'm talking to myself, then? Great. They can use it as evidence that I'm slowly going crazy."

His fingers dug into the metal of the chair, one of the most uncomfortable pieces of furniture he had ever found himself sitting in. Another reminder of why he hated hospitals. "Don't-"

"Don't?" Her voice made him falter. "I can't stop hearing them, Kai. Their screams, cries for help. While I didn't do a damn thing for them. I couldn't save a single one other than myself. How is that fair? I should have been able to save at least one. What was the point of all that training if we can't use it to help those depending on us?"

He felt his throat stiffen. The point? To protect the galaxy. To protect their colonies and Earth. But none of that seemed good enough. Not when other members of their squads who had been given the same duty had fallen, failing all those that depended on them.

"Kai?"

His head jerked up. When had she stopped calling him Leng? Her eyes were back on him now and he pushed against the chair to stand up. He had been here too long, he needed to report back to his own missions-

The palm of her hand was laid flat across his arm, her fingers wrapping around so that he could feel the nails digging into his skin. Even so the grip itself wasn't particularly hard, her whole arm was shaking from the effort of keeping a grip on him, from keeping her arm suspended in the air. "No. I won't let you get away that easily. You can't just run out of here, Kai. I can't. So you shouldn't be able to either. It's not fair," her voice cracked and he had to keep his head lowered, watching her trembling fingers around his arm rather than looking up to see the tears trailing down her face. "You can't just leave me whenever it's convenient for you, damn it. I haven't seen you for years. So why have you come here all of a sudden?"

He forced his mouth open, "The reports said you were in critical condition. That you may not make it."

Her nails dug deeper into his skin, still not applying enough pressure to cut through. "If I hadn't? You would be staring at a corpse. You would be able to see me one last time while I wasn't given a choice in the matter. How is that fair?"

He yanked his arm out of her grip, forcing himself to ignore the gasp of pain that emitted from her mouth. "I wouldn't have come if it was your corpse, Shepard. You think I would want that image as my last memory of you? Whether it's fair or not is irrelevant. You're alive. That's all that matters."

Leng turned swiftly, walking quickly back to the vent and pulling himself up into the small space. There was one last thing he had to do before he could take off. He turned to grab the grate, fitting it back in place even as he heard Shepard's voice from below, calling after him, "Kai. Please, come back. I need you." He activated his omni-tool, the grate melding back into place, as if he had never loosened it in the first place. As the orange glow died down he could see a flash of red coming from below, could hear her murmuring into the comm, "Kai Leng."

The alarms seemed to erupt around him, nearly splitting his ear drums but he just turned and slipped back out the way he had come in.

His footsteps stopped, his whole body seizing up as his gaze dropped to the table in front of him.

Pieces of bone were view-able through the patchwork of skin clinging to the skeletal frame. In those gaps of skin he could see bits of metal in the bone as well, each one glowing softly in a different light. He had no idea what any of the lights meant, if it was good or not. If it meant it was ready for a layer of skin to start growing above it.

He took a step closer as he found himself able to breath again. Her eyes were closed. As if she was sleeping. As if there wasn't a pair of machines buzzing above her, piecing her back together. Would her eyes even be there if he dared to look? Or was it missing like those patches of skin? Still unfinished.

"She's not complete yet."

The words echoed in his head as his gaze refocused. Her hair... it was still red, but shorter than he remembered it. The strands didn't reach down to her back any longer, instead they barely brushed her shoulders.

His fingers twitched at his side and he raised a hand slowly, just floating above her skin for awhile until his fingers brushed against her cheek. He pressed his hand down; feeling the bone beneath the skin, the warmth emanating from beneath his fingertips.

"Shepard." He laid his palm out across the skin, running a finger over the bridge of her nose, thumb brushing along her jaw line, pinkie resting on her lips.

There was a screech of metal behind him but he didn't move, keeping his hand pressed to her face. Just seeing her, knowing she was alive was enough for him. It didn't matter if little bits of machinery were needed to make it happen. As long as she continued to breath, heart beating steadily in her chest he couldn't find the will to care about anything else.

"Leng," there was a growl behind him as the doors were forced open.

"How much longer?" His fingers lingered over her skin for another second, until he was able to tear himself away and look over at Miranda. "When will she get off the table?"

The operative's eyes met his after running over Shepard, her hands lowering back to her sides but not quite losing their biotic glow. "I don't know. Another year, six months, it's hard to tell. Why don't you move away from my subje-"

He had her slammed up against a wall before she could finish. "Shepard is not your subject. She is your patient," he snapped, ignoring the gun pressed to his temple for the time being by one of Miranda's thugs. Probably the one she had shouted to earlier. What was the name? Jacob. "Remember that."

"If it makes you let go of me." Miranda had a hand wrapped around the wrist of his hand that was nearly wrapped around her throat, holding her up in the air with a biotic field. Her other arm was extended towards his chest, glowing softly.

Leng held his grip on her for a few more seconds before letting go, still glaring at her as she slid down back to the floor, light as a feather on her biotic waves. "If you change anything about her I'll kill you." He shoved the gun away from his face before making his way to the door, glancing back once to see Shepard still on the table.

"Are you okay?" He could hear the man, Jacob ask Miranda as he moved through the twisted metal of the door.

"Fine. Just see that that bastard leaves my facility."

Thoughts? Comments?