A/N: Another quick fic based on a prompt from tumblr: Broken, as you clutch the sleeve of my jacket and beg me not to leave.
Liberties were taken with sleeve & jacket to fit the story.
She could hear their voices before she saw them. It was difficult over the din outside, the earth shattering clang from the reaper's weapon, the mechanical ratatatat of weapons firing.
"Yeah, that's not gonna happen!"
"Don't argue with me Kaidan."
"Don't leave me behind, Shepard," Kaidan's voice cracked as she finally made her way to the edge of the shuttle bay.
Oh no. Thoughts of the three of them flitted through her mind, barely leaving room to register the destruction outside, the husks, explosions, and the bright white light that lit the sky.
Kaidan was bloodied and limping, only standing with James' help.
Io stood below him, on the charred rubble of what used to be London.
They only had eyes for each other right then, "No matter what happens, know that I will always love you," Io ran her hand down Kaidan's cheek and she heard him say in return, "I love you, too."
Her breath caught in her throat and then she was moving, not even caring what could happen to her, unprotected out on the gangway.
The cloak fizzled and faded around her as she pulled her hood down quickly, shouting a name, "Io!"
Shepard froze halfway between facing them and the reapers that lay behind her.
"'Sumi?"
"Io you can't-"
"Kasumi what are you doing here? You're supposed to be somewhere else…" she registered fear in Io's eyes, "somewhere safe." Shepard had to step back up onto the gangway to meet her unsteady steps.
She felt Kaidan's hand on her wrist, tugging her back towards the belly of the ship, he was saying her name, but she didn't budge.
BWAAAAM.
The shock of the reaper's laser firing shook the Normandy. Everyone out on the gangway was exposed and she fought to keep her balance.
"Io'ken," she tore her wrist away from Kaidan and grappled at Io's armor, desperate to feel the other woman in any way she could.
"Kasumi, you have to get out of here!"
"Don't go, please," the words tumbled out of her, a desperate plea for something she knew would never happen.
Husks swarmed behind them, their stumbling gait uneven but quick.
"I have to," a deep breath, "If I don't, this doesn't end and we all die."
"Kasumi," Kaidan's voice was pained behind her, mirroring what she felt but couldn't say, "we need to leave."
"Please. Please don't go," It was a desperate attempt, a pitiful thing. She knew deep down that her begging didn't help the situation at all but she couldn't let her go like this, "I love you."
Violet eyes met hers and she swore she saw a crack, a break, moving Shepard away from the Commander and back to being theirs, their Io'ken, but then the reaper fired again, blasting a huge piece of concrete up and over the upturned tank that had crashed nearby.
Ducking against a cloud of rocks and debris, Io stepped off of the gangway and back on to the ground, yelling and waving at them, "Go! Go! Go!"
Someone pulled at her arms, dragging her away from the opening. Her cheeks were wet with tears. She didn't even realize that she had started to cry.
The gangway was rising beneath her and before Io turned to face the light, Kasumi barely heard her yell over the clamor, "I love you, too."
Then Io was gone and the Commander was there with a look of desperate determination on her face. The bay door closed, shutting them off from one another.
Finally the unknown pair of hands let her go and she collapsed on the floor.
A broken voice called out to her, "Kasumi, please… I need your help."
Kaidan.
She stood and went to him as the Normandy shifted and pitched under their feet. They clung to one another, his blood mixing with her tears as he pulled her close.
There were no more words to say.