Author's Note:
This small short that you are reading now isn't part of the Mass Effect: Genesis story. It might get there if I ever finish that monster, but as of now, this is just a small snippet. This is just a small scene that came to mind as I was listening to the Mass Effect soundtrack, the song of the same name. In the coming months and throughout the summer, I might post small tidbits like this; something to get my muse together as I begin to sit down and finish the monster that is my grand tale.
I hope you enjoy.
XOXO Olivia.
"It's over. It's finally-"
The force from the explosion that occurred after the three special and chosen items were placed in the center of the Crucible's control panel hurled Shepard, Olivia, and Alistair backwards. Due to their locations and where they were positioned in front of Catalyst itself, the three saviors were flung in entirely separate directions.
The notorious space pirate Olivia Shepard's statement was cut short as flew to the right towards a metallic column that seemed it had been built for this purpose, to catch her. Her body hit the column with a sickening clang that shattered most of her armor; the blow being so strong that she bounced off the column and the blunt force trauma to her head knocked her unconscious. She landed on the floor face down, barely alive and barely breathing.
Commander Alistair Creed flew to the left and missed the mirroring column Olivia had smacked into altogether. He slammed into the ground and because of the weight of his armor and the force by which he was thrown; he skittered across the floor and crashed against a huge chunk of debris. It didn't knock him unconscious per se, but it did take the wind from the weathered and battered slayer. He gasped for that precious air, loosening his armor a bit around his torso so his burning lungs could get the oxygen they craved.
Commander John Shepard was flung straight down the middle and into the center column. Because of the existing deep and fatal injuries to his body from the assault on Earth, he couldn't cling onto consciousness and he closed his eyes for what he knew would be the last time, finally letting his body rest. His last thoughts were of he and Olivia's daughter Katie, and he said a small prayer for her protection since she had been residing on the Normandy with the rest of the crew and her boyfriend, Sam. A small tear of defeat left his eye as her beautiful powder blue eyes appeared in his vision.
"I'll see you soon, kiddo," was Shepard's last words before his body ceased to function and he ceased to be.
Around the seemingly defeated trio, the ruins of the Citadel began to crumble under the weight of the Crucible's vigilant attack on the Reapers. Pieces of the ceiling began to crack and fall onto the floor below. Alistair barely dodged a massive chuck of concrete that had fallen on his previous spot with a simple roll to his side. Knowing the Citadel was doomed for destruction, he began to call out his adopted sister's name.
"OLIVIA!" He choked out through a bone rattling cough.
When he didn't hear her usually raspy voice or her usually sassy quips, he managed to stand and clumsily drag his sword behind him, looking for her. Thankfully, his energy had returned to him some and he found her, lying in a small pool of her blood, her tail limp, and lying on her front. Kneeling down next to her and trying to ensconce the feeling of dread that his sister was dead, that was creeping inside of him. He checked her pulse with two fingers to the side of her exposed and fur collared neck.
A wave of relief swept over him as she was alive, but just barely. He violently shook the red haired neko awake, hoping to get some response from her.
"Liv, wake the fuck up!" He screamed into her feline ear over the sound of the impending disaster.
After a moment and more violent shaking, he heard her light groan of pain and one of her light grey eyes slid open, an eyebrow piqued in confusion as she slowly turned her head to look at him.
"You don't have to yell, Ali. Fuck." She managed to say before she coughed up a bit of blood, spitting it to the ground in front of her.
Before Ali could say anything else or worry about why his sister was coughing up blood and her wounds, he heard the secondary shuttle pilot's British twang over his slightly broken comm link, surprisingly enough.
"Shepard? Alistair? Liv? Anyone? Can you hear me?" Jamie called out to what seemed like no one as she stared at the Citadel in horror, gasping as she watched one of the wards collapse onto itself. She bit her nail nervously and prayed for the best, hoping for a response from her CO, her best friend, or the White Wolf.
Hearing the call through the busted speaker, Alistair brought his fingers to his ear and Olivia struggled to sit up, wrapping her arm around her punctured torso as she assessed the physical damage to her form. "Commander Creed, here. Lieutenant Brooke, what's your location, over?"
Olivia snorted hearing all the military jargon and hoopla that she had come to expect from the Alliance Military, but stayed quiet as her eyes scanned the Citadel for her love. As Alistair set up a rendezvous point for extraction, she stumbled to her feet. Blood slowly dripped from her cracked armor as she made her way to where she spotted Shepard's singed and battered body lying on the floor in a pool of his own life force.
The only thing Olivia could think of was getting back to their daughter Katie and her beautiful smile as she managed to collapse on her knees next to Shepard's body. She mustered her energy to roll him over and cradle his head, rubbing his cheek.
"We did it, baby. We beat them. We beat the Reapers. John? Shepard?"
Upon seeing his expressionless face and a lack of response, she couldn't help the grim realization that hit her like a ton of bricks. She began to cry softly, pressing her forehead against his and whispering, "Please. You're fine. Just breathe, John. Please just breathe for me, baby."
Alistair ended the comm link call the moment he heard the loud, emotionally agonizing screech from his sister. Thinking the worst, he ran over to the ear shattering sound, dodging falling debris as he did. Once to the location, his heart sank in his chest as he watched the usually hardened space pirate cry in sheer agony over Shepard's frame. It was then that Alistair knew his "brother-in-law" had finally died and his niece would have to live without her father, a fate he would have never given to anyone as it was once his own fate so long ago.
Watching the emotional scene that brought back his own set of painful memories made his mind go back to his own lovely wife Norah, whom he knew was probably out in the Feather and risking her life as well. He knew he'd be just as heartbroken if not more if something had happened to the love of his life; the same woman he'd cleave a Reaper in half to save. With a deep steadying breath, he rested his hand on Olivia's back, kneeling to speak into her twitching fur covered ear.
"Liv, we need to go." He cooed as comfortingly as he possibly could.
"NO!" She bluntly screamed into his face, gazing back down and caressing Shepard's ashen face lightly. Then, her tone went south as she whispered, "I'm not leaving him, Ali."
"DAMN IT, LIV!" Alistair yelled, almost snatching his sister to her feet and grabbing her shoulders lightly, meeting her pained grey eyes with his determined turquoise ones. He was going to get Olivia to understand, even if it killed him. "THINK ABOUT KATIE! SHE NEEDS HER MOTHER, NOW MORE THAN EVER! GET A FUCKING GRIP AND LET'S GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"
Before Olivia could respond, a piece of debris landed near them and the Citadel dropped about a foot, making the two stumble forwards. Alistair knew their time was growing short and he grabbed Olivia by the waist, dragging her towards the rendezvous point. It was a struggle; as Olivia was fighting against him to get back to her deceased husband.
"WE JUST CAN'T LEAVE HIM!" Olivia screamed over the loud hum of the Crucible.
"THEN GET HIM. BUT COME RIGHT BACK!" Alistair heaved a sigh as he let Olivia go. She quickly grabbed her dead husband's hands and dragged him along behind them with whatever energy she had left to expend. Olivia knew it was probably the adrenaline still coursing through her veins and she was probably just as dead as Shepard was by the amount of blood seeping from her. But she knew she couldn't stop now. She had to get back to their daughter.
As Alistair dragged his Reaper Cleaver behind him and Olivia dragged Shepard, they slowly made their way to the rendezvous point.
It was Garrus Vakarian who immediately flung the Kodiak's door open before it had even touched down and lumbered out of the shuttle. His mandibles twitched as he grabbed Shepard's body from Olivia and easily flung it over his shoulder. Olivia desperately clung to Alistair as the four of them boarded the shuttle and Jamie took off without a glance backwards.
Her head turned to the four as she fought with the controls to keep the shuttle as level as she could. "Strap in, this is going to get bumpy."
Alistair sat his sister down with a concerned look and buckled her belt around her thin waist, as Garrus did the same with Shepard. The two once rivals of Omega exchanged rare looks of worry about the famed Shepard couple as Jamie took off and drove the shuttle away from the Citadel.
Olivia could feel the blood soaking her shattered armor's under suit and she rested a hand over the wound, trying to keep herself alive. But deep in Olivia's mind, she knew was doomed. Alistair's words resonated in her head over and over again as she fought like hell to stay awake on the ride back to the Normandy. Olivia had been through worse in the course of her colorful life, but she knew the moment she allowed her eyes to close she might not wake. And it was Garrus, shaking her that brought her back to the world of the conscious.
"Stay with us, Liv. Please." That hypnotic rumble that she'd come to tease on occasion sounded in her ears as her eyes slowly opened and stared into alien blue. Her eyes slid over to the shuttle door and she noticed the shuttle had landed on the Normandy. She heaved a sigh of relief as she saw Dr. Chakwas and James running over with a gurney.
It was one of the last things Olivia saw before she completely blacked out.