Afterwards chapter 2
A/N: Thanks to :iconVy1956: for betaing this chapter for me.
Disclaimer: Still don't own anyone except Aura and Marcus.
All around her the bodies of the dead were piled together. Dankia Shepard could see thousands of every species around her, but it was the ones in front of her that really caused the pain to tear through her heart. Those she thought of, not only as her crew but as her family, lay on the ground, their eyes glassy and dull.
Dankia rushed forward, but was thrown back as a red beam exploded in front of her. Looking up she felt white hot rage burn through her as she saw Harbinger floating above her family.
"You will know pain before the end."
Even as the last words echoed around her, Dankia saw Harbinger release another beam toward her family. Just before it reached them, she saw Kaidan's eyes clear, and his hand reach out toward her, only to be vaporized in the heat of the beam.
Dankia shot up in bed, immediately pain assaulted her making her vision swim and her heart pound in her ears. She could see shadows coming toward her, and she panicked as her mind told her that they had to be husks. She threw out a biotic wave, only to have her panic rise as it wasn't as strong, or as controlled, as she was use to. As she pulled back to toss another wave, she felt two hands grab her own, their biotics cancelling each other out.
"Dankia!"
The shout of her first name managed to break through the haze of her pain and confusion. She raised her eyes and focused on the brown orbs inches from her own. They weren't right, though. They weren't the color she was looking for. As her hazy mind tried to figure out how to react, Dankia felt a sharp pinch in her arm and her vision once more began to swim as exhaustion began to pull her under. Just before she gave into the darkness creeping over her one last thought crossed her mind.
'Kaidan…where are you?'
Aura let out a sigh of relief as she slowly lowered Shepard back onto the hospital bed. Looking over at the other side, she gave the man standing there a tired smile.
"Thanks Marcus. I was not excepting her to wake up like that."
"I don't think anyone was."
He set down the needle he used to give Shepard the sedative, before pushing his hand through his red hair. Walking around the bed, he pulled Aura into a hug and kissed her forehead.
"I'll see if I can find a doctor to come check on her. I think that display scared most of them off."
"Thank you, Marcus." Aura said her voice full of affection. "If you can find Doctor Christopher, I'd be grateful, and also tell Doctor Frazer to stay away. I told him she wasn't ready to have the meds reduced, but he never listens to me." She sighed, a hint of exhaustion coloring her voice.
Marcus nodded and giving Aura one more kiss on the lips, he turned and walked out of the room.
Sighing, Aura combed her hand through her hair, before flopping down into the chair by the bed. Looking over that the sleeping woman, Aura picked up the data pad she had dropped earlier and once more began to go through the data she had downloaded from Shepard's omni-tool. Most of the data files she stopped reading after a few lines and placed in a safe folder for the Commander to review later. Aura was looking for a specific set of data, and had no interest in reading something that might be classified. Finally after several folders, her eyes lit up as she found a list of Shepard's personal contacts. She knew any name on Shepard's personal list should be someone Aura could trust with the knowledge that the Commander was alive.
Looking for a name that she might vaguely recognize, she stopped as she saw the name 'Admiral Steven Hackett' appear on the screen. After a moment's consideration, Aura grabbed a modified data pad out of her bag, and began to hack her way through the communication network. She was determined that the signal would not be traced back to her or the Commander. After fifteen minutes, she was satisfied and hit the button to connect the call.
Admiral Hackett sat at his desk with his head in his hands trying to rub away the growing headache. The causality and damage reports continued to grow by the hour, and there were still ships that escaped the final battle listed as MIA. The mass relay was out of commission, which meant all of their allies were currently stuck in the Sol system. The only good news they had right now was that their dextro-based allies would not starve - at least not yet. The Quarians' live ships would keep their people fed for now, and the Turian Primarch had listened to Shepard and had each ship coming into the battle stocked with five times the normal amount of food. They had also been able to recover food from the destroyed ships with still more being found. So by current estimates it would be a year before they faced starvation, and before that they were hopeful about getting the mass relays running again.
"You look like you could use some good news, Admiral."
Snapping his head up, the Admiral saw the com on his desk was now showing the image of a young, brown-haired girl.
"How did you get this number, and how did you get through the com channels?!"
"How else does one get into channels they shouldn't? I hacked my way through. By the way don't bother trying to trace this, it won't work. As for how I have your number well that's part of the reason I called you, I'm just hoping I can trust you. Can I trust you, Admiral?"
Hackett straighten up under the girl's searching gaze and gave her his full attention.
"That all depends on what you have to tell me."
Hackett calmly met the girl's searching eyes, and he could see a bit of uncertainty and worry enter them before she looked to the side. A look of determination crossed her face.
"All right." She murmured more to herself then him, before turning her eyes back to the screen.
"The first piece of good news - Admiral David Anderson is alive." The girl held up her hand as he let out a shout of disbelief. "I know you don't believe me, so contact the Dublin city hospital I'll even wait while you do so."
Hackett found that his arm was already up and his fingers going through the familiar motions of opening his com. After going through some channels, a brief wait and a short but detailed conversation, he shut down his omni-tool and turned back to the girl. She looked up from a second data pad when he cleared his throat and tilted her head at him.
"Your information checks out. Thank you for telling me, it means a lot to know he's alive. But that's not the only reason you called like this, is it Miss…?"
The girl once more cocked her head to the side, studying him before she seemed to find what she was looking for.
"Aura. You can call me Aura. My second piece of news will be a little harder for you to believe, so I guess I'll just show you, instead."
Hackett watched as the screen turned to face a hospital bed and he gasped when he recognized the red-head woman lying on it, and what the machines around her meant.
"Shepard? She's alive?!" he breathed shock filling his voice.
"Yep." Aura sounded very pleased to have shocked him and it showed when she turned the screen around to face her once more.
"Now, Admiral, as we both know, there are still people out there that would love to take advantage of Shepard's weakened state. So, before I let you anywhere near her, we have to set out some ground rules."
"I'm listening."
Kaidan rubbed his face as he entered the elevator and hit the button for the crew deck. They still hadn't been able to get the com systems up and running and the lack of news from home was starting to get to the crew. He wasn't unaffected the blackout was slowly making his nightmares worse, and he knew it was starting to worry Joker. As the doors opened on the crew deck, he had to suppress a groan as he heard a voice shouting in anger. Racing around the corner, he took in the scene and, throwing out his hand, placed a stasis field around James.
"What in the world is going on here?!"
"I was merely expressing my opinion, Major." Stated Javik, who didn't seem troubled by the fact that James' fist was froze inches from his face.
"Well you need to keep it to yourself!"
Kaidan looked to his left and saw that Tali had Garrus backed into a corner. Even from here, he could see the Turian shaking in anger and knew that only his fear of hurting Tali kept him where he was.
"What did he say?" Kaidan asked as he used his biotics to pull James over to him, so he could grab the solider before unfreezing him.
"I'll tell you what that pendejo said!" shouted James, as he shook in Kaidan's hold. "He said that…"
"I'm sure the Major doesn't want, nor NEED, to know what was said Jimmy."
"Right," James said tensely, as he took a deep calming breath. "You can let go of me, sir. I promise not to go loco, again."
Hesitantly, Kaidan released his hold on the younger soldier and watched him send Javik a glare before he turned and walked out of the room. Kaidan was just barely able to hear James say he needed some air, before he heard the elevator door open and then close.
"Will someone please tell me what just happened here?!"
Kaidan's question was met with silence and averted eyes.
Up on the command deck, the crew members jumped out of the way of Vega's fuming form. Though he wasn't just angry at Javik, he was now angry at himself, and could only silently thank Garrus for helping him keep his big mouth shut.
Reaching the airlock, he waited for it to open as he heard Joker's voice come over his ear piece.
"I'm not sure you should do that, Vega."
"Joker, if I don't get some space and air, I'm going to explode and go mouth off to that pendejo. If I do the Major might hear, and do you really think he needs more doubts about Lola's survival put on him."
He heard Joker sigh softly through the piece, before hearing several faint beeps.
"No, Kaidan doesn't need that on his shoulders. Please tell me you have a weapon on you."
In answer James pulled his shotgun from his back and formed his omni-blade.
"First lesson the Commander taught me; always have a weapon or two on you when on an unknown planet. Good enough for you, Joker?"
In answer to him, the airlock door opened and James gave a smile.
"Thanks, compadre." He said, as he stepped through and out onto the ground outside.
Taking a deep breath, James felt some of his anger cool, before he hefted his shotgun and walked off into the woods. After walking for ten minutes, he found himself at the edge of a cliff overlooking a small valley. Looking over the edge, he saw that while the drop was steep he would survive a fall. Still he didn't want to add to the pressure that everyone was under and took several steps back.
For a while he just stood there, allowing the quiet atmosphere and the cool breeze to calm his anger and relax him. It was the rusting behind him that had Vega tensing, and spinning, with his shotgun raised, only to see nothing but trees and vines as far as he could see. Lowering his weapon, he turned back to the view but heard the rustling, once more. When he still didn't see anything behind him, he decided it was time he headed back to the ship.
He had only taken a few steps when he felt a tug on his foot. Looking down, he was surprised to see a vine crawling up his leg. Quickly, Vega called up his omni-blade and cut through it realizing that had been a mistake when more vines began to grab for him. The marine didn't realize how close he was to the edge of the cliff until he felt the ground give slightly. His hesitation, as he tried to regain his balance, allowed one of the vines to slip around his neck and jab a thorn into the flesh above his armor.
Vega cut the vine but already he could feel his limbs growing heavy and his head was starting to swim. Taking a step back he didn't even have time to yell, as he felt himself begin to fall. Then there was only pain as he hit the slope and continued to roll down until he hit the bottom of the valley.
"Hey, Vega, you read me? Kaidan says it's time for you to head back to the ship. Vega?"
Joker's voice called him back from the edge of unconsciousness, but he could tell it wouldn't last long.
"oker? Oker…elp…"
Vega?! Vega, answer me! Damn it! Hang on, Vega, I'll get Kaidan and the others, they'll…"
James never heard what they would do as the blackness finally rose up and drug him under.
