True Loves

Chapter 2: Unexpected Aid

Garrus and Shepard stared at each other, as if trying to apologize to each other for their imminent deaths. Shepard had never thought that anything like this could happen to Garrus; it was her fault for not helping him before he was stung. Garrus was mortified that Shepard would die because of him; it was his fault for being careless and staying outside the barrier too long, and Shepard should have let him go. They closed their eyes and attempted to remember the good times they shared, to take solace in the fact that they would be together no matter what they faced.

As they resigned themselves to this, they were suddenly surrounded by blue light. The seekers flew away from the two as they dropped back to the ground, uttering loud grunts of displeasure as they hit it. A second biotic bubble was quickly approaching from the rear. Something in the bubble was shooting and killing every Collector in its way.

"All clear, go for it, froggy!" a voice shouted from inside the second bubble. A loud roar shook the air and Grunt suddenly burst from the bubble, charging toward Shepard and Garrus.

He ignored the seeker swarms in his way as he got closer and closer to Shepard and Garrus, the two beginning to yell muffled cries through sealed jaws as they prayed he would stop before he stepped on them. He snatched the two up and ran directly into Samara's bubble. Samara and Kasumi stared blankly at the krogan slinging the two over his shoulder, so immovable that they might have been statues. He looked back at them.

"Hi," he said emotionlessly.

The second bubble approached and enveloped them all. Jack emerged in sight and approached Samara. "Hey."

Samara's blank stare turned to Jack. "Wh… what are you doing here?"

"Cheerleader sent me, and it looks like we got here just in time," Jack replied. "She said they could hold up fine without two extra people. And she thought having two strong biotics would be better for you guys than one." She smirked. "At least now she's accepting that I'm a better biotic than her."

Samara looked relieved. "I am quite grateful for your assistance. Would you be able to sustain the biotic shield the remainder of the way to the next room?"

Jack rolled her eyes. "What do you think I'm here for, bluey? Since you guys did a pretty damn good job of clearing the way, me and froggy here were able to run straight through." She smiled darkly. "I've still got power to spare. So just… chill, for a while. I'll make sure even you survive. I wanna see if I'll ever have to kill you." Kasumi wrapped her arm around Samara to help her walk as the group continued on the way to the door, Jack holding the shield steadily the whole way. As they approached the door, a large group of Collectors flew in, interposing themselves between the squad and the door. The Collectors erected a wall of impenetrable yellow shields in their way, preventing the squad from continuing forward or attacking them. Jack looked pissed.

"Get out of our damn WAY!" she shouted as she began vigorously glowing blue, exerting a massive amount of power. "Listen," she said to the others breathlessly. "When I say 'go,' you all run for the door. We'll have to close it fast once we're all inside."

Kasumi nodded. "Leave that part to me," she said. Jack began yelling, vast volumes of biotic energy erupting from her small frame.

"GO!" she screamed. The other three began running to the door, Shepard and Garrus still in tow, as the biotic bubble expanded in front of them. It hit the lines of Collectors, smashing them all out of the way and overloading and destroying the shields before dissipating. The rest of the squad made it to the next room as Jack began running there to catch up, vulnerable without her biotic shield. Seeker swarms had emerged and began chasing her.

"Start closing it now!" she shouted to Kasumi. Kasumi hesitated for a second and began working on the door's controls. It began sealing quickly. Jack ran faster, but she could tell that she would not be able to reach the other room before the door was completely closed. She quickly summoned whatever remained of her biotic energy reserves and channeled it into her hands. She shot biotic jets out behind her from her hands, incinerating the seekers and giving her the necessary boost to shoot into the next room while the door was still open. It closed directly after, keeping all seeker swarms out.

"Hmph," Grunt snorted, "pretty impressive, tiny. Who knew someone like you would have it in you?" At the mention of the word "impressive," Shepard thought she could hear Garrus grumble softly.

Miranda's voice echoed through Jack's communicator. "Jack? You there? Come in, now! We're in position!"

Jack answered back, "Yeah, I'm here, cheerleader. Got here just in time to save dino-boy and your precious Lazarus project. First time for everything, I guess."

"…What? N-never mind, we need your help, now! Are you in position yet?"

"Yep. Sneaky, open the far door." Kasumi nodded and worked swiftly on a nearby panel. The large door to the next room opened to show a great firefight. The squad had their backs to a wall as the Collectors were endlessly barraging them with shots. Grunt dropped Garrus and Shepard out of sight, roared, and ran off to join the fight. Jack and Kasumi followed. Samara remained near Garrus and Shepard to guard them if any Collectors saw them.

"Are you two all right?" she asked them.

"Mmm hmm," they muttered in muffled tones.

They overheard the sounds of the battle. "Jacob, on your left!" "Thane, take this guy out!" Eventually, the sounds grew sparser and dropped away altogether. Legion came running up to the three.

"Shepard-Commander, Vakarian-Officer, Samara-Justicar. Collector horde has diminished. You must rejoin us so that we may seal every door to prevent Collector reinforcements from entering." Samara nodded. She began to walk toward the others. Legion picked up Shepard and Garrus and carried them into the room as the large doors closed behind them. Jack and Miranda approached.

"Shepard!" Miranda yelled. "Are you all right? What happened?"

"They were stung by seekers," Samara answered. "They were about to carry them both away. Were it not for Jack and Grunt's timely arrival, they would both be dead."

Miranda turned to Jack, her eyes wide. "Really? I thought I misheard the communiqué… well, I… thank you, Jack, for saving them. Truly." Miranda seemed to be at a loss for words. She looked at Jack with true appreciation.

Jack looked away. "Yeah, whatever." She seemed to want to change the subject. Her eyes turned to the frozen pair. "Hey, doc? Get over here and fix these lovebirds! They're starting to make me sick, what with all their handholding… and stuff."

Legion set them down as Mordin approached and projected some writing through his omni-tool, perusing it more quickly than Shepard would have ever thought possible. He took out a pair of syringes and filled one with a precise amount of a medication. He injected it into Shepard, the latter moaning a bit as the needle stuck her. He filled the second with a different medication and injected it into Garrus. "There. Should be better now. Muscles will relax shortly. Might feel soreness for a few minutes afterwards, though. Also had to make sure to use different medicines for different DNA. Hmm… hope they didn't get mixed up. If you feel like you are dying, begin coughing blood, passing out, come see me. Quickly. Any other injuries?" He quickly examined them both, stopping to look at where Garrus was shot in the back. "Hmm, Collector bullet. Completely blocked by armor, superficial. No tissue damage. Very good." He stood up. "Now, must go apply medigel. Zaeed shot in foot. Crying loudly. Claims it is 'my Goddamn neck-crushing foot!'" Mordin shuddered and shook his head before turning to walk away.

Shepard felt her muscles loosen as she yelped in pain at the sudden burst of soreness from them. She sighed. Just like the doctor said, she thought. Garrus soon let out a cry, as well, and she knew he had to be feeling the same thing she was.

"Um, Shepard," he asked. "Mordin wasn't… mmm…" he groaned in pain "…serious, was he? About the coughing blood stuff?"

Shepard chuckled. "Don't worry, Garrus. Mordin… ooh… knows what he's doing. He can just be a bit of a jokester. Albeit oftentimes at… guuhh… extremely inappropriate moments." She reached for her communicator. That soreness just did not want to go away.

"Uhh, EDI?" Shepard called into her communicator when she was able to make herself stand up. "Ahh, how is everything? Did the… unghh… crew make it back okay?"

"Tali and the crew just arrived, Shepard. No casualties."

"Great. Now we can finish this," Miranda piped in. "How do we blow this place, EDI?"

"You must get to the center of the facility. There, you can program the station's self-destruct on a timer. I have hacked into the program controlling the floating platforms. The one arriving now at the far end of the room will take you directly to the center of the facility." Right on cue, a platform floated into sight and docked itself at an opening at the end of the room.

"However, Shepard," EDI continued, "I do not recommend you go alone. There are too many possible surprises for you to find waiting for you."

Shepard agreed, her soreness finally subsiding. "I'll take a small squad with me. The rest of you, hold this area. If the Collectors find a way in, try to keep the Collectors from overrunning it, it's our only way out from the heart of the facility. But if something happens, like you just can't hold this location any longer, or if I tell you to, open the doors and run like hell to the Normandy. Garrus, Kasumi, you're with me."

Kasumi smiled. "After all we've been through together, Shep, I'd be kind of insulted if you didn't take me."

"What she said. Definitely what she said," Garrus said with a knowing smirk on his face. The three of them walked toward the platform EDI mentioned. It was floating over an enormous chasm. There were several tubes running along the ceiling going toward the center room. The Collectors were channeling the human goo into the center of the facility.

"Shepard?" Miranda called before the three stepped onto the platform. Shepard turned to face her. "Good luck out there. And please don't die," she added quickly. She had a genuinely distressed look on her face. "After getting to know you, I'd really hate to lose you again…"

Shepard smiled. "Ah, don't worry, Miranda. The three of us will be back before you know it." Miranda smiled back, nodded, and turned around, ready to face any Collectors that might approach. Shepard, Garrus, and Kasumi stepped on the platform as it began to carry them to the center of the facility.

"Whatever they're using the… processing for, I highly doubt it's anything but bad news," Garrus said, turning to Shepard.

Shepard turned to face him. "Well, yeah, I don't really think that molten people can be used for anything good."

"Well, there is a small chance. They might make a damn tasty mixer." He smiled creepily at Shepard.

"That's… unnaturally disturbing, Garrus. Maybe I should just take you to that bartender at Eternity. She saw a krogan drinking a liquefied turian once. Maybe we could get Grunt to see what Garrusade tastes like.

Garrus backed away from Shepard a few steps. He pulled out his sniper rifle and examined the scope. "Um, never mind, I've gotta do this calibration…" Shepard smirked in satisfaction. Kasumi rolled her eyes and sighed at the lovebirds.