Notes: This is my first Dead Space one shot fic so I hope that you will enjoy it.
Scars and Being Normal
"Scars reminds us that our past is real."
Ellie Langford had managed to by some food that she had hope would enough for her and meeting Isaac to stay on this space station that was called the Bizarre. This space station was official called the Centauri Station due to fact that it was in the Alpha Centauri star system, but most people that had either known about this space station, had visited, or called it home had called it the Bizarre, not because of all of the various different type of commence that took place on this space station, but because of the weird design that the space station had token over the years that it had been in operation. This was due to the fact that after CEC had cracked and squeezed all of the precious resources that came from these worlds could offer to them, they left this system to other systems that they could crack open. But, while the CEC had left and all of the jobs and money that came from that company, they had left the space station that had developed in the decades that the planet cracking operation was taking place in that system. But, many of the residents of that space station, who were second and third generation residents whom known this station as their home, decided that it was best for them to stay on the space station despite the hardships that they knew that they would face without the help of the CEC. So they decided to reinvent themselves from a mining station to one of commence of any type, they didn't care what type of commence it was as long as it made them money with a few rules. One of them was kept all of the business transactions clean, and two, paid a certain amount of tax that was depended on how much money that was made in the deal. Because of this lack of rules of business many legal and illegal business came to this place, which made this the perfect place for the two of them to head to after they were able to get their bearings after they saw Titan Station be destroyed in a brilliant explosion.
Ellie turned around a corner down a well lighted hallway that looked like that it was a mixup of various sections that were pulled from different type of ships and with that she knew what was the other reason that was behind the nickname of this place. For the residents of this space station knew that without the present of the current CEC plant cracking operation they wouldn't get the lion share of resources, if they got any at all. So they knew that the only way to kept this place running when pieces of this station started to fall apart was to scavenged parts of anything that came their was and it didn't matter where it came from, as long as it was something that they could used for the benefit of this place. Which, explain the reason why there was no uniformly to the design of this place anywhere in the station for space debris didn't have any type of uniform to it when it was captured by the people that were on this place.
Despite the uniqueness of this hallway, Ellie managed to ignore all of the destruction that this place had for people that had first visit it, to get where their residence was at on this space station that had the signs that it was reused material with the text of "TMA-1" written on it. With that the heavy class four pilot knew that this was the place that the two of them were staying at while they were on this space station and so Ellie put the bag of food down on the floor in order to free up her hands, so that she would be able to knock on the door. An old custom that was used back in the past before people used magnetic door locks to lock their doors, and this was done on the instruction of Isaac. For he knew that the forces of Earthgov wouldn't knock on the door to get his attention, they would use sheer brute force to knock the door down in an act of surprise that would catch him off guard before he would be able to form up a plan that would allow him or Ellie to escape this place before Earthgov would find out that they were here.
So Ellie knocked on the metal door and waited a couple of seconds for Isaac to response to the noise, which he always did whenever she went out to do all of their errands. But, she found out that wasn't the case and a sudden chill of worry when down her spine, was he captured while she was out doing regular things that normal people would do. So, Ellie used her right hand to move closer to her holstered plasma cutter, just in case there was somebody or something else that was in that room beside Isaac, and used her left hand to slapped the metal door, in an attempt to make a much bigger noise, just in case the system engineer didn't heard the gentle noise of her first knock. Like before she got nothing from the engineer and with that she knew that there was something up with Isaac, which could be anything. So she decided that it was time for her to use the key card to open up the door in the more typical way that a person would do.
So with that thought on her mind, she pulled out the key card that she kept in between her cleavage for she knew that was the one place that nobody would look for a common item, like a key card. After that she slide the key card in the slot and she saw that the key card wasn't damage from being so close to her body. Seconds after that the door open up for her and that caused Ellie to do several things. One, she was forced to look inside of the room and she found out that nothing wasn't out of place, but that didn't mean anything, for it could have been staged to look like this and make her put her guard down, which wouldn't happen. For she did the second thing and that was to put the key card back in-between her cleavage. After that she pull out her plasma cutter, that she learned from her pervious experience on the Sprawl, that while it was a tool, it could be a very effective weapon to kept herself alive against those twisted undead creatures that she learn were called Necromorphs.
When she did that she saw that the tool had recalled the pervious spot that she had and that was at the horizontal position that made the tool look like a mini crossbow. She also found out that she had the thing fully loaded to the point that she had last upgraded the amount of ammo that the tool could hold, which allowed her to cary up to 12 shots and she was somewhat glad with that fact for that meant, that she wasn't going to head into this place unprepared. So with the plasma cutter firmly clashed in both hands as she entered into the room, expecting anything to happen when she walked into that room.
As she slowly walked further into the room she heard the noise of the door closing itself behind her and that made Ellie to turned around in the direction of the noise to see if that was the case. Seeing that was the case, she turned her back to see if there was anything in the room that had changed from the last time and she found out that nothing did, which meant nothing to her. So she continue to be on edge while being in this place with nothing happening to her and with this she now had some understanding the feelings that Isaac had when he went back to the Ishimura so that they could have a way to get back to the government sector of the Sprawl.
She creep toward the kitchen part of the residence and found out that ti was left the same way that she had left when she found out that she had forgotten a few things that Isaac thought were needed. Again she thought that this was staged to make her think that everything was just fine and thus make her drop her guard, which would be the perfect time for them to capture by the forces that wanted them. After that she knew that the next thing that she would have to look in was the bedroom of this place and that what she did. While she was doing that she was looking at the area of the residence just in case something would change and like before she found out that nothing had change from the last time she had seen it. With this she was starting to think that all of this paranoia of hers was unfounded and that nobody from either Earthgov or Unitology was here in this place, that they were alone on this station. But, she wouldn't be sure unless she saw that Isaac was in this room with a sane mind.
So she enter into the bedroom and when she did that she found out that reason why Isaac didn't answer her two calls. That was because he was laying on the bed and at first she thought that he was dead, but that was quickly dashed by the fact that Ellie could see that he was still breathing. With that she lowered her plasma cutter and place the tool back in its holder, glad with the fact that only was Isaac was still her, he was still alive.
Thank God she thought at this as she quickly walked over to Isaac.
When she did that she could see that he was laying on his back with the bed sheets just covering the lower part of his body, showing his bare chest and even in this dim light she could see that real reason why he urged that she shouldn't watch him while he took off his Advanced RIG, not the fact that he was embarrassed by what his genitalia look like. It was the fact that his chest was literally full with scars that look like that they came from different type of sources and she could see that some of them were in various different types of stages of his body trying to cover up the scars were inflicted on him by these Necromorphs.
Looking at this, he realizes she had her own scars, namely the one that involved her eye, the one that Stross had plucked out in a fit of craziest, and thinking about this she wondered why Isaac was so secretive about this. To her theses were a sign that he had live through a nightmare, not once, but twice, that most people would never lived through and to her that was something that he should have pride with. She knelt down on one knee to see if she could get a better look at all the scars to see if she would be able to tell what type of Necromorph had inflicted what type of scar on his body. But, she found out that at this close range she wasn't able to tell where one scare started and where another one ended. Because of that she wouldn't be able to tell what type of Necromorph had caused what certain scare so she straighten up, defeated at this. With this she thought about other things that she could do and with that she thought back to the bag of food that she was forced to lead behind when she thought that there was something wrong with Isaac. So she decided that it was best for her to leave the bedroom and get the bag of food before somebody else would snagged it, thinking that it was a free score.
So she made her way back to the exit/entrance of their residence and she found out that the bag of food was still out there, totally unaware at the brief crisis that went on. Not wasting anything, she scooped up the bag of food before anybody could take this away from them and walked back into their room without paid any attention to what the thing did, for she now felt that she was safe for the time being.
Inside of the room she found out that Isaac still didn't wake up from his sleep and Ellie wondered if him sleeping was the result of him being physical exhausted or mentally exhausted, considering the fact that in the days that it took them to get to this place, he at most had thirty minute cat naps. While she on the other hand was able to get a decent amount of sleep while each one of them did various different watches while they were en route to the Bizarre to see if they were tracked by ships that were from Earthgov. They found out that they won't track by Earthgov and they guessed it was the fact that Earthgov was far more worry about picking up the pieces after what happen to Titan Station that tracking down all of the people, including them, that had found a way to get off of that station before it was destroyed. Maybe that was the reason why he finally fell under the urge to sleep, for he knew that he was safe and finally allowed himself to relax to such a weaken state of being.
Taking out the various different groceries out of the bag and placing all of them in the spots that she thought they would go, Ellie thoughts went to how long Isaac was going to sleep. She had heard of people sleeping in an entire 24 time period and while she had never personally done that she assumed that would happen with Isaac. While she would be trying her best to get the person up for she knew that they would be up all night long, but she knew that this wasn't a normal situation and because of that she thought that it was best for him to sleep as long as he felt that it was necessary to do, not only for his behalf, but for hers. She didn't want to deal with a angered Isaac, so she let him sleep.
But, that wouldn't last long for she passed on the countertop, she brushed up against a butter knife that was just hanging there, for when she had hit with her body the thing fell down onto the floor with a loud clanking noise. The noise had caused Ellie to pick up knife off from the floor and while she did that she heard that Isaac was stirring from his slumber. With that Ellie knew that, she had woken up the sleeping engineer, not the thing that she wanted to do.
Shit! She yelled at herself as she picked up the knife from the ground, for she knew what the next thing she would see, the business end of a fully upgraded plasma cutter complete with the fact that it could set its targets on fire that was being controlled by somebody that knew how to use the tool and wasn't afraid to use it. That what happen, she saw the three holographic sight lines appear on her body and that caused her to freeze, for she didn't want to be shot in the chest by this tool.
"God dam it, Ellie!" Said the familiar voice of Isaac that had showed no signs of him sleeping. "I thought that you were somebody else." After that he lower his makeshift plasma cutter and that made Ellie unfreeze herself, which allowed herself to put the knife back further away on the countertop. While she was doing that Isaac was walking back to the bedroom, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get more sleep, and the best was thing for him to do was to get dress for he knew that was the only thing that he could do at this moment. Right now, he didn't care if he was bare chested and showed all of his scars, he was worry that it was somebody that was either Earthgov or from the Church of Unitology that was in this room. If that was the case he knew that he would be force to deal with them and after that he knew that he would have to fine another place that he thought he would be safe.
"Isaac, I'm sorry about that," said the voice of Ellie that was behind him.
Not thinking about it, Isaac turned around to face Ellie, totally unaware the fact that doing this, he would allow her to see all of his scars. "Ellie, don't worry about it, I was going to get up eventually. After that he realized the situation that he found himself in, Ellie was able to see all of his scars. "Ellie, what are you doing here? I've got to get dress, don't you know what the term of privacy means?"
This caused his olive skin pilot to smile a little, for she knew that this was far deeper than the scars that were on his chest, it was about his recent tragic past that he had only let out small tibet of. Now without the armor of his RIG or simple clothing to hide it from her, she knew that he felt slightly exposed at the slight of this. She could only guessed at how this felt for him to allow her to see this.
"Is not that," said Ellie.
This caused the engineer to narrow his eyes on the pilot. "What do you mean?"
"It is the fact that you don't want to me to see all of those scars, because you are ashamed of what happen to you in your past," answered Ellie.
Isaac was a little dumbfounded by this sudden insightfulness on the part of Ellie, she had never once showed any type of insightfulness while they were on the Sprawl, but that could due the fact that they were dealing with things that could kill them at any moment and all types of thoughts of that nature were shelved, in favor of thoughts that could kept them alive. But, since that was all over with she had time to dig into these thoughts.
"Don't be," she continue on with. "And shitty things happen to me as well." Ellie paused and pointed to her covered eye. "Look at me, yes what happen to me was a bunch of bullshit, but I'm not embarrassed of what happen to me and neither should you."
Isaac paused to think about what she had just said, what happen to him was horrible, but he shouldn't be embarrassed nor ashamed by it, for it was something that couldn't control. He didn't know encouraging Nicole to take the job on the Ishimura would lead to her death, he was doing only what he thought was the right thing to do, would eventually lead him to this spot.
"Also those scars of your shouldn't that you be ashamed of either. They are a sign that you are a survivor," said Ellie.
Once again Isaac found out that Ellie was right about that he did survive this horrible nightmare not once, but twice and that was something that to the best of his knowledge nobody else could say that. As much as he hated the fact that a majority of his body was scared up from the numbers attacks that came from the Necromorphs, he was able to fend them off, while most won't able to do that and that he shouldn't look at them with shame, but with some pride in the fact that he did something that most people couldn't do. With this he realized that there was sense of role reversible, for when Ellie was on the brink of breaking down it was his clam reassuring voice that had allowed her to find the strength to carry on, now it seem that it was Ellie's turn to do that for him.
"You know that you are right, I shouldn't be embarrassed by these scars," said Isaac. "For there is a thing about scares."
"What is it?" Asked Ellie.
"That they remind of us that our past is real," answered Isaac
That caused Ellie to nod her head at that, for it seem that the system engineer was finally getting it and maybe he was starting to act like a normal person would. "It's nice to see that you are starting to get back to what would be consider 'normal'."
This caused Isaac to let out a slight humorless laugh. "'Normal'? I don't think I will ever be what you would consider 'normal'."
Ellie nodded her head at for she knew the engineer was right about, for as much as he tried to rebuild his life to give off the appearance that he was a normal person he knew that would never happen for him.
"And, Ellie," started Isaac.
"Yes?" She asked.
"I need you to leave, because I still need to get dress," answered Isaac.
Slightly embarrassed at this, Ellie walked out of the bedroom and closed the door behind her, to allow the system engineer to get dress in private. While he was doing that the pilot started to think about the two things that they had just talked about, their own scars and being normal, how both of them were about appearances. How both of them effected how another person would react to them when they saw them and with that she knew that the best thing for the two of them was to act as close as they could to be a normal person and tired their best to hide the scars. For they were still on the run from Earthgov, the Church of Unitology, or anybody else that would want to get a hold of them for the things that they knew.
Then Ellie heard the noise of the door unlocking itself and after that the door open up. Out of the portal, Ellie could see that Isaac had dress himself up in a short sleeve shirt that had covered up most of his scars, expect the one that was on his left hand, the sight were Tiedemann had stabbed him with a javelin bolt and a pair of black jeans.
To Ellie this was a little strange for her to see Isaac dress like this, considering the fact that the only thing that she saw him dress in where the various different armored RIGs while the two of them were making their plans to escape the Sprawl and destroyed the Maker. In seeing that the pilot was able to finally see how physical, and mentally strong Isaac was for in these simple clothing she was able to see that he had a decent amount of muscle mass, a lot less than she thought he would have.
"I think the the first step to use becoming normal is that we have some type of meal together," said Isaac.
Ellie nodded her head and started the process of making a meal for the two of them.
Notes: And there you go, my first on shot Dead Space Fic, I hope that you enjoy it. Also with Ellie seeing Isaac in normal clothing, in my gameplay I never used the Hacker RIG, despite the fact that I was able to fine the schematic in the Conduit room. Oh, yes, I play my copy of Dead Space 2 on the X Box 360 and before you ask, no you can't have my gammer tag either.