Brooklyn's Effect
Disclaimer: I own nothing! Nothing, except my wild imagination. (Which if you ask me isn't so wild. :P)
Summary: Set after season 3 of Gargoyles and during Mass Effect 2. It's not a good idea to insult a newly re-empowered fey. Brooklyn figures this out the hard way, and ends up meeting a certain sarcastic pilot, among other people...
Author's Notes: 3/18/13 Update; I am rewriting/continuing this story with the assistance of Vergil1989 the Crossover King. Be sure to check out some of his great stories!
Chapter 1; I don't think I'm in New York anymore.
Erie Building
New York, NY
July 1998
"Ah, not again!", an annoyed Brooklyn said as he entered the workshop that David Xanatos had insisted on building for his brother, Lex, months earlier. He found himself glaring, for the umpteenth time, at the omnipotent being known as Puck. Puck was barely tall enough to reach to the middle of his chest and he looked like a kid, except most kids weren't able to make dandelions the size of semi trucks with a wave of their pinky fingers. Considering Puck was a fey, a magical being of immense power, it kind of fit for the annoying prick.
More like obnoxious being. Brooklyn thought, as he looked back at the remains of his motorcycle that Lex had been tinkering with for him, and which Puck had tried to 'help with'. He didn't consider the bicycle bell, tassels, and pink paint job, that Puck had added with a flick of his fingers, to be an improvement. It looked like Puck's typical handiwork, which was to say the fey was an annoying little brat that thought it good fun to trick those he was summoned to help. Sometimes they got exactly what they wanted, which rarely turned out well for them. Other times, Puck was just in a bad mood, and those that summoned him or happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time paid the price.
"This will take forever to fix, Puck!", the young gargoyle shouted as he fumed and stomped over to the fey, who had a nasty habit of severely irritating everyone around him. "I'll never understand why your parents gave you your powers back!" He really should have known better but Brooklyn was not in the mood to notice he was potentially angering an omnipotent being into blasting him into dust particles. If Oberon and Titania were here right now I'd beg on my knees for them to take back THAT particularly bad idea.
Before his parents had shown mercy on Puck, Alexander Xanatos, the son of David and Fox Xanatos, had been the only one Puck had been able to 'help' with his magical powers, until recently that is. Now, Brooklyn was seriously hoping that those two would reverse this little turn around of fate that should have seen Puck mortal for the rest of his days, instead of tormenting people again as he saw fit, like himself for instance.
As Brooklyn came within inches of the fey's face, looming over him, the only very recently re-empowered Puck was a bit intimidated by this act, and tried to back away. Unfortunately for Puck, he slipped and fell gracelessly onto his ass.
Brooklyn just stared at first, and then after a moment, broke out into a fit of laughter saying, "Ha ha! ...Have a nice trip, Puck?" Okay... maybeI'm enjoying this too much, thought Brooklyn as he sighed, and lowered his taloned hand to help Puck back up. He should have known to keep his beak shut since the glare in the fey's eyes was something he had hoped to avoid at all costs when rational thought returned just a little too late to save his bacon. Where's the rest of the Clan when you need them?
No one had EVER had the nerve to treat him this way in the past, and Puck was raging inside at this embarrassment. I'm getting soft from all that time of being forced to act like a weakling, mused Puck. Suddenly a wide smile split his face, as a particularly nasty piece of retribution entered his twisted little mind, and he said, "I suggest you apologize gargoyle... NOW."
Brooklyn smirked, and replied to the fey. "Tell ya what, you snap your little fingers again and get that junk off my bike... and I'll think about it." He should have apologized, as he was about to find out the hard way as he watched Puck's face uplift into a smile that could only mean one thing. Ah crap, me and my big beak. Why haven't I learned to think before I talk?!
Puck's smile instantly turned into a sneer as he darkly said, "Well...you can't say I didn't give you a chance mortal...just remember...you reap what you sow!" At this point Puck's eyes began to glow and he started speaking, in that annoying sing-song voice of his, a rhyme:
Ah foolish mortal... to threaten me with your ugly mass!
'Tis folly to treat a fey with such sass!
This I shall find quite amusing, I expect!
Now choose wisely...if you wish a heroic...effect!
This is not going to be a good day, Brooklyn thought, as he knew all too well what usually happened after one of Puck's little rhyming sessions. There was a brilliant flash of light all around him as he immediately realized a certain problem with his surroundings. Well...one thing's for sure... this is definitely not the castle, he thought, just before he was startled by someone shouting.
"WHAT THE SHIT?!" This was being yelled at poor Brooklyn, by a man who was sitting in a chair directly in front of him. He was a bearded man, with a baseball cap, who had just had the crap scared out of him. Who could blame him? After all, it's not everyday that a red, six foot tall gargoyle with claws, wings, and a tail, just popped into existence next to you.
Well this is new...I'll give Puck that. He had to give Puck points for originality at least; this was many times stranger than his usual tricks he pulled. Snapping back to the present, Brooklyn realized he still had this guy to deal with. He had to say something to break the really awkward and tense silence between him and the human, still staring at him all bug eyed. "Um...hi there!", he said to the shocked man while giving him a meek wave, and trying to be as non-threatening as possible. Apparently that didn't help very much.
If anything, the guy in the cap freaked out even more, if that was even possible, shouting, "SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! EDI, tell Mordin he needs to move his salarian ass, and get back here, pronto! Preferably beforethis thing eats me!" Joker shouted into the comms, knowing that the away team couldn't have made it back in time if they weren't already under fire, but he had to say something dammit!
Brooklyn grimaced, and thought, Not the response I was hoping for. It probably didn't help when he jumped back in surprise, looking past the man, as a blue sphere appeared out of nowhere and started talking. "Jeff, Mordin's group should be here shortly."
Brooklyn's eyes widened as he looked back at the guy in the cap, Jeff, who was now pointing a rather nasty looking rifle at him. Brooklyn stepped back a couple feet lifting his hands, palms up, toward the man. There was no way he could run away or grab the weapon before this guy fired. Maybe a quick tail lash would help, but that was also unlikely, especially with the tight quarters he was currently in with this human. Besides, he was hoping to avoid making a mess of things right out of the gate...more than he had already.
"Whoa...calm down man! I'm not here to cause any trouble!", a slightly worried Brooklyn said to him. "Besides, if I had wanted to eat ya, don't you think I'd have done it by now?" Jeff wasn't buying it as he took a step back, furthering distancing himself away from Brooklyn and himself just in case, but as much as he didn't want to admit it, the thing had a point.
The blue sphere seemed to turn and 'look' at Brooklyn before turning back to Joker a moment later. "Jeff, you are being rude to our...guest. Welcome aboard the Normandy...please do not give Jeff an excuse to shoot you." The only thought in Brooklyn's mind at that moment was,Puck...what the heck have you done to me this time?! If he ever saw that pesky fey again, he was going to throttle him if at all possible.
"There is no need to be afraid...my name is EDI...I am an artificial intelligence. Jeff...I would advise you to lower your weapon, there is a 94.7% probability that if this being had any hostile intentions he would have acted on them by now." Brooklyn was surprised...EDI? seemed to agree with him. "He did say that if he had plans to eat you, he'd have done it by now and I could detect no lie in his voice. Perhaps he only wishes to devour you later? That was a joke."
Brooklyn just continued to gawk at the talking globe of light, and the rifle in his face. Then, to his astonishment, this 'Jeff', surprisingly, lowered the weapon he was pointing at him. He sighed, and said, "EDI, you're not helping." Joker countered the A.I.'s attempt at humor before turning his full attention to Brooklyn next. "Alright look...I'm under a little time pressure here Wingboy...so I'll make you a deal, alright?" Brooklyn nodded faster than he thought possible while Jeff continued talking, "Okay... you stay right there...not trying to eat me... and I promise I won't turn you into red Swiss cheese with this baby." He motioned to the rifle, now on his lap.
He'd have agreed to take his loincloth off and dance naked under the moon if it meant keeping himself in one piece. "Uh...sure thing...buddy." Brooklyn told him as the man actually turned away from him right before his hands had begun flying over some sort of cool looking computer console. The gargoyle lowered his hands and breathed a huge sigh of relief, glad that he wasn't going to end up dead yet, but the night was still young. Anything was possible at this point where Puck was involved.
For the first time since being dropped, wherever he was by that fey, Brooklyn was able to take in his surroundings, and he realized he must be on some type of ship. He quickly glanced back at the man next to him, and thought, Huh... that must make this 'Jeff' the helmsman then. He still didn't know whatto make of EDI. He had never met anything quite like it, her, in his life. If he was to remain though, Brooklyn had a feeling that he'd get to know everyone aboard quite well, provided he didn't end up in another lab anyway. He had been there and done that and didn't want to do it again thank you very much.
Just then, EDI spoke up once again, " Jeff...Mordin and the rescued crew members have arrived...no casualties."
Breathing a sigh of relief of his own, the helmsman turned to the holographic projector beside his seat. "Well... at least something is going our way.", Jeff muttered, seemingly to himself, and told her, "Open the airlock for them EDI."
"Yes, Jeff.", she instantly responded.
When he had a moment, Jeff turned to Brooklyn saying, "Oh... I'm Joker, by the way...It's a little shorter than saying Ex-Systems Alliance Flight Lieutenant, Jeff Moreau. So...what's your name... tall, red, and fabulous?
Brooklyn cocked his head to the side, and said, "Fabulous? ...What the heck is that supposed to mean?" This 'Joker' was seriously starting to annoy him. Given how his day had gone so far though he probably wasn't in the best mood to be around anyone at the moment, but Brooklyn was just trying to keep himself together until he figured out what to expect from whoever was coming back to the ship. No easy feat when you're pulled out of your own time and put into another, or was this a whole other reality? He had no way of knowing, and that made it even harder for the gargoyle.
"What, you never looked in the mirror big guy? Red skin and white hair...sorry...just a little tackyfor my taste. Those wings are cool as hell though! Hey...can you actually fly with those?" Joker was practically jumping out of his seat with excitement, something EDI, if she could have, would have rolled her eyes at. Instead she remained silent for now, letting the two men sort it out until and if they came to blows. If needed, then she'd step in and hopefully not have to find a way to physically harm the stranger until the Commander returned.
Brooklyn snarled at this and said, "I am not TACKY..." He took a moment to calm down from the man's insult and flexed his wings in the cramped space. "...and I can fly...well, glide anyway. The NAMEis Brooklyn to you, pal, Ex-Systems Alliance Flight Lieutenant, Jeff Moreau." The gargoyle's eyes flashed just a moment but it was enough to hint at a potential threat to his life if Joker continued to provoke the recent addition to the ship.
"Geez don't get your loincloth in a twist Bright Eyes. I got the not so subtle hint..." Brooklyn tilted his head in surprise, no one had ever just shrugged off his 'monster look' as he liked to call it.
At this point, Brooklyn and Joker realized as they looked behind them at the same time that an entire group of newly liberated crew members, plus one hyper-curious salarian doctor, were gawking at Brooklyn, and probably had been for most of their little conversation. Joker was the first to speak, "What? You guys never saw a... um Brooklyn... you wanna' help me out with this?"
Brooklyn squirmed as he felt his cheeks turn a shade darker than they were already at all the sudden attention being directed towards him, and quietly said, "I'm a gargoyle... and I can guess from the way everyone is staring at me... you've never heard of us before." As if things weren't complicated enough.
Brooklyn couldn't help but notice an amphibian looking person studying him. Very closely. He also had to be the fastest talker Brooklyn had ever heard. "Hmm. Fascinating. Never have seen a species quite like yours before. Must speak with you when... if... mission is completed. Take some samples and scans perhaps?"
Why do I get the feeling...he's dissecting me with his eyes? Brooklyn thought, and couldn't help shuddering slightly. He had seen one too many scientists in his life already, and most of them had wanted to cut him open like a fish regardless if he was intelligent or not. Brooklyn was going to make it a point to stay away from this guy at all costs. I am definitely not going to be in a room alone with him if I can avoid it.
Just then, Joker saw Dr. Chakwas push to the front of the crowd, who looked confused as to why everyone was just standing around when they should have been making a beeline to the med bay. She was not pleased to say the least. "What in heavens name is going on here! We need to get the wounded to the med bay, stat!"
Joker turned to look at her and with a smirk on his face told her, "Hey Chakwas...great to see you too!"
"Joker! Thank you for coming so quickly with the others!" She said as she glanced over to the cockpit. Then she laid eyes on the visitor standing by Joker, did a double take, and composed herself remarkably fast. "WELL then, get a move on people! You can talk to the...I'm sorry... Brooklyn is it? What exactly are you sir?" She got her answer when Joker and Brooklyn, who pointed to himself, simultaneously said, "Gargoyle."
Brooklyn could easily tell that many of the humans were badly wounded. It seemed pretty obvious to him what he should do next. "Uh, ma'am!", he called after Dr. Chakwas, who was already shepherding a group of crew members into what looked to be an elevator. When he got her attention he said, "Is there anything I can could do to help you Dr.?"
She smiled at him, and said, "Thank you young man! For a start...you can help me get everyone to the infirmary!" This was a nice change of pace, but he didn't let this woman's unusual understanding slow him down as he got to business.
Simple enough. Brooklyn thought before taking over in getting his newly assigned task done as thoroughly and quickly as possible, his voice booming over the chaos that was increasing the more survivors and crew members came out of the fire, so to speak. "Well you all heard the lady!" He said as he raised his voice to get their attention, and spread his wings out, which seemed to work quite nicely. Considering he was over six feet tall even without his wings to add to his already imposing figure, that was an easy feat anyway. Then, he began to gently, but firmly, make sure they all did exactly as Chakwas asked. Somehow he knew, immediately, that he did notwant to disappoint this woman.
Suddenly he noticed as a red-headed woman at the back of the last group waiting for the elevator collapsed, not four feet away from Brooklyn. He rushed forward and caught her by the shoulders, trying his best, to prevent her from any more hurt than she had obviously already been through. She must have been exhausted and in total shock, because she didn't so much as flinch as Brooklyn gently picked her up and headed for the elevator.
Looking down at her, he quietly spoke so as not to startle her further. "It's okay...you're safe now...don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm Brooklyn, by the way." Being a nice guy came easily to Brooklyn; it was just in his nature to help those that didn't immediately shriek and run away from just looking at him for a moment.
She looked up at him, and spoke barely above a whisper. "Kelly... my name's Kelly... Thank you Brooklyn." Brooklyn couldn't help noticing how she held onto him, as if making sure he was actually real. The gratitude in her eyes made Brooklyn's beak turn a few shades darker, which he promptly tried to ignore, and hoped, beyond hope, that she didn't realize how badly he was blushing. He looked down at her, and softly said, "Nice to meet you...Kelly."
Brooklyn carefully laid Kelly down on the last empty bed remaining, in what was obviously the ship's medical center. Or as he thought of it, a real life sick bay out of that old, sci-fi, show he always watched with his brothers. 'What was the name again? Space Trek... or Star Travel... whatever.', he thought. He couldn't remember the name, but Brooklyn did know that he had liked it quite a bit. That wasn't important now though as he got Kelly settled.
Immediately, Brooklyn saw that Dr. Chakwas and that creepy, fast talking, big eyed guy assisting her, someone had called him Mordin earlier, were going to have their hands full. Why do these places always seem to never have enough beds? Or doctors, he fumed silently.
Wounded crew were being placed on the 'sick bay' floor, and around what looked like it must be an eating area, just outside the medical bay. Having helped Kelly, he decided to ask Dr. Chakwas and Mr. Creepy-Fast talking-Big eyed guy, about any other help he could provide for them. But, as he started to move away he was stopped short when he realized Kelly was still holding onto his arm. He gave her a gentle smile and said, "Sorry...but, I 'm gonna need that back, Kelly." She nodded, letting him go while he grabbed a nearby blanket and covered her with it. Something about the look in her eyes made him say, "Don't worry... I'll be sure to come back and check on you."
A few minutes later Brooklyn was busy giving out medicine, it was something called medi-gel, and blankets to the more mildly hurt crew members, after Chakwas had basically tossed them at him with a curt, "Here...be useful and start handing these out." Given what was going on, Brooklyn didn't even react to the woman's curtly given order. Time was not something to be wasted in an emergency situation like this.
Just then, he heard Joker's voice coming over what he guessed was the ship's intercom. "Hey guys... good news. We are almost outta here, the rear group is all abroad and in one piece. We're heading to grab Shepard's team...and then getting the hell awayfrom here. Keep your fingers crossed boys and girls... oh and you too, Samara."
Even though Brooklyn had absolutely no idea whatexactly was going on, he was relieved that it seemed no one had been killed at least. Having helped the wounded as well as he could, he asked Dr. Chakwas, "Hey Doc! Mind if I head back up and lend a hand there?"
Seeing that he had actually done an outstanding job of triage, under these terrible circumstances, Chakwas said, "Go on...and thank you for your help Brooklyn...just be careful, EDI can help you get to the CIC deck." Not bothering to ask what the heck CIC meant, Brooklyn headed for the elevator that he had come out of earlier.
He just stared at the control panel for a moment and asked, "Um... how do I work this thing, EDI?"
Once again he saw a blue orb appear, smaller this time, that started speaking to him. "I can operate the elevator, if you wish Brooklyn."
Looking at 'EDI', a wry grin formed on his beak, and he said "Okay then...one to beam up, EDI." He just couldn't resist even under fire. Brooklyn had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing at his own humor.
As the elevator doors opened, and he stepped out onto the familiar looking deck, Brooklyn took stock of all the new faces. He counted nine more men and women, some of a kind he had, again, never seen before. Oddly enough, that didn't bother him that much by this point. Although, he was definitely getting a bad vibe from the girl who seemed to be covered in tattoos.
Up ahead, he heard Joker's voice as he talked with someone. He thought to himself,that must be the last group they need to rescue that Joker mentioned earlier. He noticed a few weapons being pointed his way and he yelled toward the cockpit, "Hey um... Joker... EDI... could you pleasehelp me out here?"
Joker looked back over his shoulder for a moment and said, "Brooklyn's cool guys! No need for the artillery, I'll explain everything later." Brooklyn gave a sigh of relief when the weapons dropped, but he was still getting suspicious looks, to say the least.
As he walked up to Joker's chair, careful to not bump into and/or tick off any of the new people around him, he noticed Joker getting up and grabbing his rifle. His eyes flared white and, surprised/angry, Brooklyn said to Joker, "Whoa! I thought we had a deal!"
Joker just smirked, and said, "Relax Cupcake... I need to help a few friends of mine with some covering fire. Whole lotta bad crap coming right behind them."
Brooklyn couldn't believe his eyes as Joker opened the outer hatch of the ship. Wherever they were, it looked like a horrible and terrifying place. As he looked closer, he noticed three figures running toward them, with one them them lagging behind the other two. Right behind them was a swarm of dozens of bug-like beings.
He had to shout over Joker's shoulder to be heard over the incredible noise, "I'm going to take a wild guess here...and say that those things are the badguys!"
"What gave you the first clue?", Joker shouted back to him. His shoulder was going to be hurting like a bitch later, but it would be worth it if he could take down a few of these damn bugs first. It would definitely be worth it if everyone made it back alive, and so far it seemed that was going to be happening.
The first two people had reached the hatch, much to Brooklyn's relief. One looked like a bird of prey, with blue face paint, and the other, a woman he was guessing, seemed to be wearing a completely self-contained suit. The one with blue armor and face paint shouted to be heard. "Joker, Tali! Help me cover Shepard!"
Brooklyn couldn't stop himself from waving and yelling toward the figure, who must been have this 'Shepard'. "Run! Come on, you can make it! Run!"
At that moment, a falling piece of debris destroyed the last platform between them and 'Shepard'. "Oh... Keelah! She's not going to make it!", shouted the woman in the suit. Brooklyn watched as she jumped and, just barely, grabbed onto the bottom of the door frame. Brooklyn helped the girl in the suit,'Tali', with pulling the woman in, as Joker and Mr. Blue-face-paint, covered them.
Aside from staring at him for a split second, Shepard didn't seem to be phased at all by Brooklyn. But just as she went to shut the hatch, a round struck Joker in his shoulder, shattering it. Brooklyn saw what was going to happen as Joker slipped, and was about to fall over the edge. He only had a second to act. As Joker fell over the edge, Brooklyn rushed past the others and, diving after Joker, shouted to them, "GRAB THE DAMN TAIL!", as he desperately hoped that they had heard him. He managed to grab Joker and, thankfully, they stopped falling a split second later.
Brooklyn was ecstatic as he shouted, "YES! ...You okay down there, buddy?"
Joker looked up at him, and through gritted teeth, said, "I've been better... Hey! Watch the arm!" By now, the others above had pulled them to safety and the ship was already picking up speed and accelerating away from wherever this nightmare of a place was.
Seeing the extremely pained expression on Joker's face, Brooklyn noticed he had accidentally grabbed Joker's wounded arm and shoulder while diving after him. He gave the beat up human a gentle nudge, in his good shoulder, and said, "Sorry about that pal...I'll be more careful where I grab you the next time I'm saving you from certain death."
"Yeah...let's not make it a habit." Joker replied, grinning despite his injuries as he returned the nudge with one of his own.
Brooklyn almost jumped when everyone around him started laughing in pure joy over their friends' split-second escape from death, everyone except a grimacing, but still very much alive Jeff 'Joker' Moreau.
It felt like the entire ship let out a massive sigh of relief as the outer hatch finally slammed shut. This crazy situation was rapidly becoming less surreal and more just plain real as Brooklyn realized the impromptu laughing around him had tapered off quickly. The tense silence that followed didn't last long though. "EDI! Get us the hell out of here and back to the Omega-Four relay NOW!", yelled a grimacing Joker.
"Course set Jeff, we will be transiting the relay in approximately two minutes, forty-seven seconds."
"That...that was amazing! Thank you so muchfor saving our sarcastic bosh'tet of a pilot! Um...whoever you are." A still slightly nervous Brooklyn almost jumped for the second time in nearly as many seconds as Tali wrapped her arms around his waist and tightly hugged him. Jeez she's strong! Can't...Breathe! Well...at least nobody looks like they want to kill me at least...that's an improvement.
After a few moments she let go of the mildly stunned gargoyle with a quiet, "Sorry...", and Brooklyn was relieved to be able to breathe again. He also noticed that the woman they called Shepard had removed her helmet, and by the confused/concerned look in her dark emerald-green eyes he could tell she was going to be asking him a boatload of questions any moment now.
"Sure Tali hug the new guy, and insult the cripple... that just got shotin the damn shoulder! And here I always thought you were the nice one..." Brooklyn instantly could tell something was wrong, as Joker's slight grimace turned into a deeply concerned frown. "Oh crap... Tali you didn't get hit did you? There's blood all over the front of your suit!"
Tali quickly looked down at her suit, and then her gaze shot instantly to Brooklyn, "Oh, keelah!"
As Brooklyn's wings and back slammed against the wall of the airlock, it became immediately obvious to him and the rest of the strangers around him where the blood on Tali's suit had come from. Slowly sliding down the wall, half a dozen different areas of intense pain made their presence known to him. He hadn't even realized he had been hit until then. 'So this is it... At least Goliath would be proud of me... or tell me how reckless I am...probably both.'The clan leader was funny that way.
Suddenly a flanged voice was shouting, "We need to get him to the med bay now! Alright everyone, lift him on three... one, two, three!" Brooklyn could feel several hands grabbing onto him, lifting him, and as he instinctively tried to get out of their grasp he heard a gentle, but confident, female voice. Something about her voice, even in his current state, made Brooklyn calm down almost immediately.
"It's alright, we're not going to hurt you. Just calm down, we need to get you medical attention right away...Shepard to Chakwas! I have another patient for you Dr...multiple projectile and energy wounds!"
"Prepping the med bay for surgery now Commander!" Brooklyn could just barely make out the kind doctor's voice in the background.
He barely had the strength to choke out, "Light... need...light..."
The pain in Joker's right shoulder and arm seemed to have been temporarily forgotten as Brooklyn saw him limp over to reassuringly tell him, "It's okay buddy... you're gonna be fine..." And then Joker started to frantically limp just ahead of the group carrying Brooklyn, as he shouted, "Make a hole! You can give me that bitchy look later Jack! Make a damn hole! We have wounded here!"
As he felt his consciousness rapidly fading away, Brooklyn was quickly carried to the elevator by the three people he had just met, along with the help of another man whom he had only briefly glimpsed earlier.
"Bloody 'ell Shepard, you're not guddamn payin' me enough for this shit! ...Should make for one 'ell of an interesting story though..." Just before Brooklyn finally passed out his last thought was, 'Huh ... why does the grumpy old human have two different colored eyes?'
Med Bay
Seven hours later...
Brooklyn gasped for air as he snapped awake, laying on a rather uncomfortable bed in what he suddenly remembered was the strange ship's medical bay. Trying to sit up, he let out a grunt of pain, Okay... I'm not trying that again for awhile, as he noticed several bandages on his wings and body. At least he was still alive, and apparently he was still in one piece, more or less, so that bug eyed fellow hadn't gotten his hands on Brooklyn; another plus in his opinion.
"You're finally up! It's wonderful to see you awake young man.", a wearied, but smiling, Dr. Chakwas beamed at him as she got up from a nearby computer console and approached his bed.
Looking past her, Brooklyn couldn't stop himself from glaring at some of the crew members that he had helped earlier. They were, annoyingly, staring at him with curious and concerned looks on their faces through the med bay window. "Why do I get the feeling I'm in a zoo Doc...?"
Chakwas glanced over her shoulder at the gawking crew and let out a quiet laugh. As she turned back towards him, the doctor must have clearly seen the angry expression on Brooklyn's face. He was grateful for her understanding as she made a shooing motion at the crew and then somehow darkened the window so that hopefully no one could see in through it.
The doctor gave him a knowing look as she carefully checked on his wounds and applied some of that stuff she had called medi-gel wherever she felt it was needed. "You haven't been treated well by humans... have you Brooklyn?"
As she finished her work he found it hard to look directly at Chakwas. Her gaze held more compassion than he had ever seen in most humaneyes, with only a few rare exceptions. Elisa had been one of those exceptions, but she had gotten attached to Goliath, which didn't really bother Brooklyn that much. She was cool but not his type, and he was rambling in his own thoughts.. Great, as if he didn't have enough to worry about he was potentially going crazy too. "Well... sometreat me great, but most just usually run in the other direction when they see me...or shout something like 'It's a monster! Kill it with fire!' ...weird right?", Brooklyn told her, as a slight grin formed on his beak.
Chakwas leaned toward him, as if sharing a little secret. "If it makes you feel any better I can definitely think of at least one person on this ship who fits into the 'some' category... and if she happens to set you on fire I can safely assure you that it wouldn't be on purpose..."
Now Brooklyn found it impossible to look at the kind doctor at all, most likely because of the sudden guilt he was feeling. "Jeez... Doc I didn't mean...I'm just going to shut up now...", as he thunked his head against the pillow.
A terse whisper pierced the air, "That's the smartest thing I've heard you say so far Cupcake...I'm actually beating EDI at something for once, and your yakking is driving me nuts!"
EDI quietly responded with, "Jeff, you are being rude...and I am far better at Global Thermonuclear War than Chess, to be completely honest."
Brooklyn was notcomforted by the sudden expression of shock and unease on his doctor's face, and Joker was now being eerily quiet for the first time in the brief period that Brooklyn had known him. "As your heart rates have almost doubled in the last three seconds, I feel compelled to tell you ... that was a joke." Brooklyn couldn't be sure, but he was almost certain that there was a hint of mirth in EDI's voice.
Chakwas quickly recovered from EDI's 'joke' and gave him a wry grin, saying, "As you can clearly hear, Jeff is thankfully on the mend. EDI's sense of humor, on the other hand, is unfortunately notimproving. Oh... and I'm flattered dear, but I wasn't actually talking about myself.", she finished, as her eyes flicked to a spot next to Brooklyn's bed.
Curious to see what she meant, his gingerly tried to shift his position to get a better view. Before Brooklyn could even admit that he might need some help, Chakwas was already adjusting the bed and he got his first look at the rest of the med bay, not counting what had been directly in front of him, since he woke up.
Every bed was still full, and he was greatly relieved when Chakwas informed him that even the more severely wounded crew members had all managed to pull through. When she told him that this was in no small part thanks to his earlier assistance, he was glad the room was darkened. Maybe the doctor wouldn't notice how his beak was suddenly a few shades of red darker than it had been moments before.
He wasn't surprised that Joker was on the bed next to his, playing his futuristic game of Chess against EDI. Somehow, Brooklyn suspected that the A.I., as she called herself, was actually letting Joker win. Naw... a computer can't purposely lose...can it?
He wassurprised however to see Kelly curled up with a blanket and pillow, peacefully sleeping on a chair that had been placed near his bed. "It seems Yeoman Chambers was quite worried about you Brooklyn. As a matter of fact, she refused to leave that seat since you were brought in. Now, please try and get some rest. I promise I'll have you out of that bed as soon as possible."
"Thanks Doc...for everything", Brooklyn said, as she readjusted his bed to make him more comfortable and gave him a nod before going back to her work. When he slowly drifted back to sleep, his rather pleasant dreams were filled with images of a particular young human woman.
Unheard by everyone else, except the Normandy's benevolent Overlord, Joker muttered, "Lucky bastard..." Oddly, the holographic Chess board he was using decided that was the perfect moment to give him a mild electric shock. Jerking his hand back, Joker gave EDI a glare which she 'returned' with another jolt for his trouble. "Alright EDI, that's enough out of you. I was only kidding anyway! Sheesh, for a sophisticated A.I., you sure get jealous easily."
"Actually, I think another member of the crew, whose affections you seem to have been ignoring, would be far more jealous than I, Jeff." EDI replied, earning a puzzled look from the pilot.
"Huh? Wait you mean... who are you talking about EDI?" Joker could be pretty clueless, especially for a human, but EDI found it to be one of his more adorable qualities, if she used the term correctly anyway. She did at times find it hard to emulate the proper human responses at times, but she was learning.
"Now Jeff... that would be telling." Her humor at least was improving, much to Joker's annoyance as he scowled at her before responding a moment later, earning an 'amused' look from the ball projected nearby, if that was even possible that a ball could have any semblance of emotion anyway.
"Gee thanks." Was Joker's simple response. There wasn't much else he could say anyway as he got another playful zap from the Chess board for his trouble. "Cheater."
An hour and a hot shower later...
Shepard had made her way down to the med bay to get a good look at their newest member of the Normandy. From the looks of things, the...gargoyle as Chakwas had called Brooklyn, was resting comfortably. She tried to recall something she had heard in one of her old high school history classes since that name sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place it then and there. Still, given the guy's actions, it was clearly apparent that he wasn't an enemy. From what she had heard from Joker and whoever had been conscious, he had helped get medical aid to everyone that had needed it under Karin's guidance despite his sudden appearance onboard the Normandy.
Cool under pressure even when he was as confused as the rest of us. I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, especially with what's waiting out in dark space for the rest of the galaxy.She thought to herself as she stood against the wall facing Brooklyn's bedside, having smirked a little when she had laid eyes on Kelly asleep in the chair right beside the red skinned creature. Why am I not surprised? Looks like she wasn't exaggerating about how open minded she is. She wasn't much different though was she? Shepard had brought together people from every known race just about and had done the impossible, or so everyone else had claimed. She had done that twice now; once against the Reaper, Sovereign, that had attacked the Citadel, and now the Collectors which were now no more.
Maybe we'll have a chance after all? I'm not holding my breath but as long as I'm able to get people behind me, as long as the galaxy can somehow look past their differences just long enough to stand united against the threat that's coming, we just might do this and survive. Some days she wondered, some days she even considered throwing in the towel, but if a complete stranger and a completely alien creature even by their standards could render aid with minimal fuss, then maybe they could pull this off.
They would need all the help they could get either way. The answer to her earlier question never came that night, but Shepard was too tired then to give it much thought anyway after her trying ordeal against the 'human' Reaper she and her team had annihilated before blowing the Collector Base to Hell where it rightfully belonged. Considering the Reapers had completely changed the protheans into those bugs, in a way it made her feel better about putting the race to rest at last after being mindless slaves to the mechanical beings from dark space for who knew how long. No one deserved what had been done to the protheans.
Whatever the future brought, she'd be ready for it, one way or the other.
Author's Notes: I recently got the itch to start working on this story again and Vergil was nice enough to help me out with it. This chapter was made up of all the originals, plus quite a bit more. So now it's time to get to the really fun part, what happens next for everyone's favorite gargoyle and the crew of the Normandy. And you'll get to find out who's crushing on Joker... Be sure to leave a review! (How else will we know how awesome or terrible this is? :P)