Hello there fellow Mass Effect fans! It's been a long time since I've been able to write for fun, so I'm considering this as much needed practice.
The story is M rated for later chapters, and will deal with serious themes such as death, loss, PTSD, and interspecies romance.
I have no idea how long this will end up being, your guess is as good as mine.
BioWare owns the characters — I'm just playing in their sandbox.
The Normandy was gone. Commander Jane Shepard stared blankly, trying to comprehend the finality of that fact as flaming pieces of debris hurtled past. Her ship. Gone. She was so stunned that it took her a few seconds to register the hissing in her ears, and the alarm flashing on her heads-up display.
She grappled frantically, reaching around her suit to try and stem the leak in her air supply. She strained, muscles in her arms and fingers stretching to their limit, and still the damage remained elusive. Shepard grinned wryly as the enormity of the situation finally registered. She was alone in an unpopulated area of space, hours from rescue, and she was going to die due to a pinprick air leak. She wasn't going to go out in a blaze of glory, no dramatic death in combat as she had always expected. She was going to suffocate. Alone.
Fucking fantastic. At least most of the escape pods made it out in time. Shepard tried to console herself with the knowledge that most of her crew made it to safety, but she had no idea which members had actually made it to the pods, and worry and fear for her closest friends gnawed at her.
She had other things to worry about as her air supply abruptly ran out and the useless alarm began shrieking in earnest. Shepard gasped as the pain began searing through her, her lungs burning for the breath of fresh air that would never come. Shepard thrashed desperately, unable to control her movements as instinct kicked in, choked gasping ringing in her ears along with the blaring of alarms, and her final thoughts as the pain dragged her into oblivion — regrets.
Shepard rolled to the floor and smacked her elbow against something hard, the blaring of that horrid alarm screeching in her ear. She couldn't breathe! Her hands fumbled around her body, but didn't encounter the air rupture, let alone her suit. Why wasn't she wearing her suit!
"Commander, your vitals are spiking. Adrenaline, and blood pressure are reaching dangerous levels. Would you like me to call Dr. Chakwas?" a pleasant electronically modulated voice intoned from the ceiling.
"Good God EDI! Turn off that blasted alarm! No, don't call Chakwas, I'm fine," Shepard gasped out, finally registering her surroundings. She lay sprawled on the floor of her cabin in a tangle of sheets. Her elbow throbbed from where she had smacked it against the apparently industrial strength nightstand.
She barked out a laugh that turned into a sob halfway, and curled into a ball trying frantically to banish the vivid flashback that masqueraded as a dream.
"EDI?" she asked, her voice quivering slightly.
"Yes, Commander?"
"Please change my alarm setting so it plays only Earth classical music, or something similarly soothing." Shepard shuddered. This was the fourth time she had woken in a panic after an early morning alarm. It seemed that any standard alarm tone that played while she was still asleep triggered a flashback. "If that doesn't wake me up, just try talking to me from now on."
"Of course Commander. Anything else?"
"No. Thank you, EDI."
"Logging you out Shepard," a slight click signaled that EDI was no longer concentrating on Shepard directly. She was the ship, so it was impossible for her to not pay attention, but Shepard appreciated the effort.
Gritting her teeth, Shepard got up, tossed the tangled sheets back onto the bed and made her way to her bathroom. The cold metal of the floor beneath her bare feet did wonders to bring her back to reality.
She went through her morning routine quickly and efficiently, glancing in the mirror only long enough to slap on some concealer beneath her pale green eyes. Granted, with the angry looking scars still glowing red and fresh from her skin she wondered why she bothered to try and hide how tired she looked. Vanity? Probably. Stupid female instincts.
A dab of product on her fingers, a quick run through her short cropped red hair, and she was ready to face the day. Just so long as Miranda left her alone until she had her coffee.
"Commander," Kelly chirped brightly from her spot at the mess room table, "Miranda would like to talk to you as soon as possible. Something about the dossiers on Omega."
Shepard just barely stopped the groan of irritation from passing her lips. These morning people were severely testing her sanity. "Tell her I'll be there momentarily. I need my coffee."
"She said it's urgent as we'll be arriving at Omega shortly," Kelly said.
Shepard stopped walking. She turned to Kelly and leveled her patented don't fuck with me glare. "I. Need. My. Coffee."
Kelly's eyes grew large and she nodded meekly before ducking her head back down to her breakfast.
Shepard felt a faint twinge of guilt, but it was too bloody early to be dealing with Miranda without being fully awake. She'd apologize to Kelly later — when she wasn't in the mood to bite people's heads off.
She continued over to Gardiner who was grinning at her like a maniac. "Heard you were a monster in the mornings, Shepard."
She frowned, but then noticed the steaming mug of caffeine-laden miracle being pushed in her direction. People could say what they wanted about Gardiner's cooking, but his coffee was divine.
"Are you talking back to your superior officer?" Shepard asked quirking her left eyebrow, while taking a sip.
"No ma'am. Just stating the obvious," he said still smiling.
Shepard grinned. Gardiner was one of the few members of her current Cerberus-laden crew who didn't take her too seriously, or act like they were terrified of her due to her reputation. He respected her, but also realized that when she was on her down time she appreciated not being treated like the "boss lady."
"Thanks Gardiner," she said, and saluted him with her mug. Then she sighed and glanced over in the direction of Miranda's closed door. "I guess it's time to face the music."
"She can wait until you finish your coffee I think. ETA's still three hours out," he said.
"I knew I liked you for a reason," Shepard grinned.
