Undead Scientists
The woman was nothing short of disheveled. The plates of her armor – beaten, battered, and burned – were a size too big for her form. Her face was grimy and weathered; her unkempt hair was pulled back into a shoddy ponytail. Her aim wavered, although it was difficult to determine whether she was uncertain or weary.
Kaidan stared down the barrel of her gun, unfazed.
"Stand down," Kaidan ordered, not the stranger, but his own crew. He spared a quick at to the man at his side. Williams, at least, knew how to listen; Jenkins, while dependable, could still a bit twitchy from time to time, and twitchy was not what they needed right now. "Corporal, secure your weapon before she starts to take it personally."
"Oh, thank God." Between them, a tall, square-jawed, and smartly groomed scientist – presumably Dr. Wayne – stood wide-eyed and sweating through the collar of his labclothes. Before he could say more, the woman gripped his arm.
"Shut up," she growled, dragging him directly in front of her. The scientist whimpered; unsympathetic, she him held him tightly, using his body as a shield and his shoulder to steady her arm. "I can still kill you."
"Please," Wayne insisted, "You have to do something, she's insane."
"I believe the lady told you to shut up," Kaidan reminded him calmly. The woman tightened her grip, eyes narrowing, reading him. She didn't need to know how fast he could end this if it went too far. "What's all this about? Who are you?"
At first, she merely held her breath, then sighed. "You first."
"Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, SSV Normandy."
"Cerberus?"
"Systems Alliance, Military," Kaidan replied.
The woman snickered – a succinct, skeptical sound. "Same difference, isn't it?"
"Not to my knowledge, no." He nodded to her. "Your turn."
At her hesitation, Wayne began to cut in, "Lieutenant Shepard-"
"First Lieutenant Shepard," the woman dragged the answer out, as though having trouble pulling it from her own memory. "N5, Delta Squad, Alpha Platoon, SSV Reykjavík; under Captain Singh."
"Wait a minute..." Kaidan glanced at Jenkins, who was shaking his head as he spoke, "That sounds familiar."
"She's delusional," Wayne insisted, "She doesn't know what she's saying."
"Weren't listening when you were told to shut up?" Williams chirped. Kaidan rubbed his forehead; the situation wasn't quite deteriorating, but it wasn't improving either.
"Everyone, please-..."
"Akuze!" Jenkins blurted out. "That's it! The Reykjavík lost an entire platoon of marines there!"
Silence fell as the implications sunk in. Shepard seemed lost in thought; Dr. Wayne's eyes darted nervously from the gun hovering over his shoulder to the marines in front of them.
"Smart kid," Shepard remarked at length. She wasn't looking at them anymore.
"He has his moments," Kaidan agreed. "Is he right? You were on Akuze?" If that's true, how the hell did you make it out alive? And where've you been in the meanwhile?
"For about sixteen hours."
"Wow!" Raw enthusiasm colored Jenkins' voice. "Akuze was a bloodbath! I didn't think anyone survived."
"We almost didn't."
"We?"
"Six of us," Shepard said. "We'd lost contact the Reykjavík, jammed, maybe. We were picked up by a... by a rescue squad, Alliance... or Cebrerus. Both." She shrugged her off shoulder, almost nonchalant. "They knew all along what was on that planet; they sent the colonists, then they sent us."
It was all starting to sound like some old horror vid. Still, nothing indicated that she didn't believe every word she said. "You aren't bullshitting, are you Lieutenant?"
"You can't possibly believe the ravings of a madwoman," Wayne scoffed.
"Dude," Jenkins told him, "Shut up already!"
"I could have shot you at any time," Shepard said. "Or him. What have I got to lose?"
"So..." Williams shifted her weight, uncertain. "Those mercs we just plowed through..."
"Cerberus wetworks, no doubt. I'm alone."
"Where are the others?" Kaidan asked. At his shoulder, Williams huffed in relief.
"I don't know. They split us up, sent us to different facilities. They..." Hesitating for a mere moment longer, Shepard slithered back, and, shoving Wayne to his knees, lowered her weapon. "He knows."
Kaidan kept an eye on Shepard. Jenkins was fast on the draw and triggerhappy, but, just in case, the Spectre wanted every possibly chance to stop anything that started before it began. Biting back his skepticism, he addressed Wayne, "Is what she saying true?"
"I don't know, I wasn't..." Under the scrutiny of three armed and armored soldiers, Wayne shrunk, gaze to the floor. "I didn't administrate the project, I was only there to study and collate the results. I didn't have any part in it, I swear..."
That was that. Damage control, but no outright denial. Shepard breathed a deep, shuddering sigh.
"If you come with us," Kaidan promised, "We'll get to the bottom of this. We'll find your people."
"And I can trust you?" It was hardly a whisper.
"I'll take this to any admiral you want. Or I'll look into it personally," Kaidan replied. Shepard sized him up, clearly suspicious. "Besides," he added, smiling faintly, "I could have knocked you on your ass and called it a day. At any time."
She paced a tight circle, shaking her head. Abruptly, she paused, studying her weapon as though she was seeing it for the first time.
"I'm keeping my gun," she said at last, tracing faint markings along the casing. "I'm not going back to a cage."
"No cages," Kaidan assured her. Still wary of a last-minute turnabout, he studied her face. Shoulders slumped, exhausted, Shepard reached for his outstretched hand; he could feel her tremble through the their thin gloves.
Welcome home, soldier.
Working Title: Cerberus AU
Inspiration: Oddly enough, I don't remember the specifics.
Noteworthy: I can't help but shake the feeling Kaidan is Shepard's runner up to the Spectre business. So if Shepard and Akuze and... well. Fic.
Disambiguation: ... it was a quick fic and it made sense in my head, damnit. O_O
Derivative work of material © BioWare, Electronic Arts.