Chapter Two

Circle The Drain

Asari science vessel

Holding Cells

Feron awoke to a dim light.

His eyes blinked rapidly as his vision adjusted to this new place he had been taken to after that strange blue woman attacked him and Thane. Black eyes widened when he thought about his comrade and he hurriedly looked around for him. The room he was in was a simple square shape and there was a tray of what looked like food on the floor nearby.

It didn't look all that appealing as Feron wrinkled his nose at the smell. Across from him was a blue energy field and he could see out into a long corridor. Directly across from his own cell was another one and he breathed out his relief when he spotted Thane in that cell. He sat cross legged on the floor, his hands clasped together as he meditated. Feron knew that his partner had a lot of information to process after their long sleep but they needed to get out of here.

He was still weak from the long hibernation and using the wave against those aliens had taken a lot out of him. No doubt Thane would give him an earful once his strength was fully restored. Feron watched him from afar, his features a perfect stoic mask as he digested the information left behind by their masters. Thane was the only one capable of accessing that knowledge thanks to the Protheans while Feron was here because he volunteered to be.

He had known Thane all his life when the Protheans tried to fight against the Great Extinction that had descended upon them. Feron shivered when he realised why he and Thane were awake now. That threat was coming back. They had to escape from this place and find the device before the evil returned.

"We shall let them take us back." Thane murmured causing Feron to jump a little.

"Thane! Are you alright?" Feron scrambled across the floor. "Has the knowledge been assimilated?"

"I am well Feron." Thane opened his black eyes. "I know where we need to go."

"Thank the gods." Feron breathed out. He looked around the cell again. "We need to get out of here now."

"This is an alien ship." Thane stood up. "We do not know the species that has taken us. For now let us remain here."

"But the device!" Feron pointed out. "We can't just sit around."

"I know Feron." Thane sighed. "But until we know more about our situation we cannot take any chances trying to escape."

"I guess so." The younger alien relented finally.

"We'll be fine Feron, I promise." Thane smiled softly at him. "How are you feeling? It has been a long hibernation."

"I still feel weak." The younger alien admitted with a whimper. He hated looking weak in front of Thane. "But I am strong enough to fight if the time comes."

"Of that I have no doubt my friend." Thane smiled slightly. He looked around the cell again, his mind processing everything around him along with the ancient information he had taken.

"I wonder how much has changed." Feron placed his sore head between his hands. "Will we even be welcome here now?"

"Even if we are not welcome we still have a mission to complete." Thane stopped examining the room. "We shall make our move once the ship docks. We have to reach Valla soon."

"And what about the other stones?" Feron inquired. "Will they all be there too?"

"I don't know." Thane admitted.

Feron jolted a little when the door hissed open and that blue skinned woman walked in with her bodyguards. The guards reminded Feron of large lizards with their hard shell skins and claws for hands. He moved away a little into the cell he had been placed in while Thane held his ground.

The woman stared openly at Feron, her dark eyes looking over him thoroughly. He snarled a little but otherwise kept his mouth shut. She turned away from him to look at Thane who in turned simply stared back. She was talking again but Feron couldn't understand a word of it. In time their minds would be able to process the alien languages being spoke but until then he needed to wait.

Feron watched as the blue skinned woman became frustrated and started talking to her guards. They nodded then stepped aside to let her leave the prison cell. Thane closed his eyes and returned to his mediations but Feron was nervous and more than a little intrigued about the aliens guarding him. They were indeed a unique looking race and if he could understand them a little then he and Thane had a chance to get away from here.

Crawling to the front of the cell Feron sat on his legs and stared at the guard next to his cell. His inky black eyes blinked up at the creature who in turn shifted a little. Feron jumped a little when a rumbling sound escaped his stomach. He was starving but he was unsure what to eat here. The guards had heard the sound too and they began talking amongst themselves.

"Thane..." Feron whispered to him once the guards left the room for a moment. "Listen, if I can create a distraction once the ship docks can you get out of here?"

"I'm not leaving without you Feron." Thane responded instantly.

"I'm not important." The younger shook his head. "You have to get out of here Thane."

Their conversation was interrupted when the lights came on and an alarm briefly blared across the vessel. It shook greatly then stopped moving entirely. Footsteps came towards the holding cells and then the blue skinned woman was there with more of her kind. More of those hard skinned guards arrived and they pointed their guns at Feron and Thane then motioned for them to back away while they opened the cells. Before Feron could do anything a blue light hit him and he was suspended while the woman approached him with a needle in her hand. She jabbed it into his arm and his body went slack. It was all a blur after that.

Everything moved in slow motion. He was placed on something hard and was lying on his back. His head turned sluggishly to the side and he could make out other aliens staring openly at him and Thane. Feron tried to turn his head again but he was just too tired now. He didn't even have the strength to turn his head around again.

Lights flashed and the voices were nothing but a garbled mess, simply noise in his head.

Unable to keep his eyes open for another moment Feron fell into blissful darkness.

John Shepard's Apartment

An alarm went off somewhere nearby causing Shepard to slam his hand against the table next to his bed. He hated alarm clocks but they managed to drag him out from his dreams or nightmares depending on how his night had been. Sitting up in bed Shepard rubbed his eyes before yawning and stretching then he got off the bed. Alice was starting to pack her things for her new job on Eden Prime and Shepard had promised to spend a few days with her before she left.

It wouldn't be the same around here without his little sister but the upside was that she would no longer set him up on blind dates. After getting a quick shower Shepard left the apartment and headed to the Wards. He wanted to look over a few things at the club before it opened tonight. The place had been booked out for a bachelor party tonight and Shepard had offered to organize food and booze for everyone invited.

He had hosted these events before and they were quite enjoyable. Usually Shepard drank a little extra booze which usually resulted in him getting completely shit faced and ending up screwing a hot soldier on leave. If he couldn't find the perfect guy he might as well take what he could get. He went through any new messages that arrived during the night. Most of it was spam but there was another letter from Anderson. Seriously the man couldn't take the fucking hint.

Shepard refused to go back to that life. He had left for a reason and Anderson was really beginning to test his patience. Until Shepard got a straight answer from the man he refused to have anything to do with a military career again. Serving drinks wasn't the best profession for an elite soldier but Shepard enjoyed it and talking to people helped him cope. He deleted the letter and concentrated on sorting out the party for tonight.

An Alliance marine was getting married to his lover from Earth, a young man who worked as a teacher from what Shepard had heard. He wanted to make sure the shipments would arrive in time for the party and he sent Alice a message letting her know he'd meet up with her in an hour.

While passing through the market area on the Presidium Shepard noticed that a crowd had gathered outside the Council Tower. He couldn't tell what it was about but the aliens were arguing while the doors into the tower remained firmly locked. Shaking his head Shepard moved on and used the Transit Terminal for a cab to the Wards. He lived at a decent place in the Presidium thanks to the money he saved up during his military career. But he felt more at home on the Wards.

His club was empty as it should be at this hour of the morning. Making his way to the back office Shepard activated his personal terminal and started going through the shipment records. Once everything was in place he signed off and left the office with some time to spare before meeting up with his sister. He was on his way to the door when he heard what sounded like a crash and gunfire from a nearby alleyway. His club was situated next to a single alley so it wasn't that hard to find the source of the noise.

Unable to ignore the sound of gunfire Shepard ducked behind some steel crates and watched when a wall was blown inward. Rubble rained down across the alley while smoke clouded his line of sight. Despite that Shepard could make out shapes moving fast through the smoke and then something came at him, running fast and desperate to escape the pursuers.

Shepard felt his breath catch when he got a good look at the man running towards his location. A tall green skinned man who reminded the human of a lizard was pumping his arms as he gained more speed. Bullets flew in all directions, some hitting the walls while the green alien dodged incoming attacks as he reached the crates at the other end of the alley.

He stopped and pressed his back against the wall and it was then he finally took notice of Shepard. Large black eyes stared at him while a luscious mouth opened slightly in shock. Shepard had never seen anything like this alien before in all his time as a marine. He would have remembered a species if the men were that hot.

"There's nowhere left to run!" a voice yelled from the other end of the alleyway. "Surrender now!"

"What the hell did you do to piss these guys off?" Shepard stared at the alien who only shook his head frightfully.

Shepard knew that if this guy was a fugitive then he had an obligation to hand him over to the C-Sec forces. There had to be a damn good reason as to why C-Sec were putting holes through the Wards to catch this one alien.

Before Shepard could move from the crates the alien in question balled up his fists and stepped out from his safety zone. Blue light shimmered around his body, the telltale sign of a biotic charging up their powers then he sent a wave of energy towards his pursuers. Cracks appeared in the floor and walls while the men and women were thrown against anything nearby.

"Stop!" Shepard brought up his pistol and pointed it at the alien who was now swaying on his feet. "What the hell are you?"

"You?" the alien cocked his head to the side as those black eyes stared at Shepard.

"I dunno what you are but you're in enough damn trouble." Shepard narrowed his eyes.

"..." the green skinned man tried to talk but his eyes rolled up and he collapsed.

"Shit!" moving on instinct Shepard grabbed him before he hit the ground. "Ok, you better tell me why I shouldn't take you to C-Sec."

"H-He..." the alien gasped out roughly.

"What? He? Who's he?" Shepard asked quickly.

"H-Help..." the alien grunted then went still as he passed out.

"Help? Help who?" Shepard shook the man but he refused to awaken and he didn't have a medi-gel on hand. Shit, he needed to take this guy back to C-Sec. He had attacked officers and was a powerful enough biotic. But he sounded sincerely scared. He had asked for help.

"Alice is gonna kill me." Shepard groaned as he picked the alien up and took him back to the club.

I'm alive!

so, so sorry about the delay in updating here but I was working out a story with a friend over Christmas on YGallery for his OCs and it kinda took control of my brain.

well i found this document and i've recently staretd replaying Mass Effect 2 after watching that awesome teaser for ME3. i got kickstarted into writing this story again so updates will be a lot quicker.

chapter 3 is already halfway done and will be ready hopefully tomarrow or the day after.

hope you liked the chapter :)