White hot pain slices through her skull, blinding her, overwhelming her senses, as though a part of herself were being torn away, leaving a gaping wound.
She can't think.
She can't hear beyond the Archon's voice in her head.
The room spins around her as she struggles towards the door.
Images flash in her vision, full of pain and heartache.
The tattered breath of her mother during the last few minutes of her life.
Her father's face close to hers when he gave her his helmet on Habitat 7, the pain in her lungs as she'd gasped for air.
Her brother in a coma, lying silent on the hospital bed.
Her brother awake and alive, but in the hands of the Archon.
Sara can hardly draw breath.
Hands reach towards her but she pushes them away.
The door dances in her vision.
Muffled voices hit her ears, beyond her comprehension.
The door is so close now. They're almost free.
Then the hatches slide shut and she pounds her fist against the metal as it seals.
They are trapped.
No.
No!
Her vision goes dark.
Then there is nothing.
…
"Ryder!" Cora cries as Sara collapses into a heap on the ground. She scrambles towards her, but Jaal reaches her first.
"Sara!" he cries, dropping to his knees and scooping her limp figure into his arms. "Oh no. No, no, no!"
"Jaal, let me see her!" Cora barks, kneeling down next to him and whipping out her omnitool. "Shit!" she cries after angling it above Sara's chest. "I'm not getting a pulse!"
"Not again..." Jaal moans. "Oh stars not again, please!"
"SAM?" Cora cries, panic slowly descending on her as the AI doesn't respond. "SAM!"
But there is only silence.
"Shit!" Cora repeats. "Jaal, I need you to lay her down!"
Cora doesn't understand how her own voice manages to sound so even when all she feels is crushing panic. She has to stay calm. She has to focus, remember her training.
For a moment Jaal doesn't move as he hunches over Sara's lifeless body. Then, gently, he lays Sara back onto the cold ground, careful as he lowers her head.
Immediately Cora presses her mouth against Sara's and pushes deep breaths into her lungs. Then she bears down on Sara's chest, pumping as she counts in her head.
"Breathe, dammit!"
She repeats this process, her movements automatic.
Keep her heart beating.
She won't give up.
She refuses to give up.
Jaal watches her, unmoving, head bowed, defeated.
Only when dizziness threatens to overpower her does Cora finally pull away and look up at him.
"Can you continue?" she gasps.
Jaal's gaze doesn't leave Sara's, but Cora can see the tears glistening on his face. Without a word, he bends low over her and blows air into her lungs, then compresses her chest.
Satisfied, Cora leaps to her feet and faces he door. She rests her hand against the metal, sealed tight.
"Jaal, move her to a safe distance."
Again, Jaal gathers Sara into his arms and moves across the room. As soon as they're far enough away, Cora closes her eyes, drawing from deep within her before releasing a massive biotic charge at the door. The room itself seems to reverberate at the contact, but the door doesn't budge.
She clenches her fist, powering up again, pushing the dark energy out of her body and into the door's seam, trying to pry it open.
She doesn't know what else to do.
All she knows is that they have to get out.
They have to get back to the Tempest.
...
"Breathe! Just breathe!"
Jaal whispers the words with each compression of Sara's chest.
He can't lose her. Not again.
Not when he had only just found her.
"Please, my darling. I'm begging you!"
His lips are against hers, blowing air into her lungs.
"Please come back."
His hands bear down on her chest.
One, two, three…
"Come back to me."
…four, five, six…
His movements stall, hands trembling.
Tears roll off his chin and splash against her neck.
Please.
A ragged gasp escapes her throat and Sara's eyes fly open. She sputters and coughs, her arms automatically reaching out and clinging to him, the only thing that's tangible as she tries to gather her bearings.
Jaal gasps too as relief crashes over him, and he pulls her close.
"You're alive! You're alive!"
Sara's eyes are wide as she turns to look up at him.
"Jaal?" she croaks. One of her hands grips his arm, the other clenches around the collar of his rofjiin.
"Ryder!" Cora cries, jogging over. "We thought you were dead!" She pauses. "You were dead!"
Sara's breath comes in short gasps. "I…I don't…" She coughs again, and the cough turns into a strangled sob. Tears stream from the corners of her eyes and she presses her face into Jaal's chest.
"It's okay…" Jaal whispers, and he wraps his arms around her, holding her in a protective embrace until her breath becomes even.
"I…I need to stand," Sara finally whispers, and Jaal carefully helps her to her feet, holding her steady as she makes her way back to the access panel and uses it to hold herself up. Her head is pounding and her chest hurts, but only one thought rings in her mind.
"We need to get back."