CHAMPION OF DEEP SPACE

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Chapter 2- Madness descends.

The sky was burning, as if reflecting the blood that had saturated into the once fertile land. It was burning above him, and all he could was keep running. He had hold of his sister's wrist, tightly pulling her along, his eyesight starting to fuzz from the day that had been. But they kept coming. They kept screaming. And then…oh the skies it came shaking the ground below it! The earth trembled; his mother cried out…the blood. So much…NO! BETHANY NO! PLEASE!

"BETHANY!" Hawke sat up so sharply his head began to spin, sweat rippling down from his hairline. He had another shock when he looked around…and it took him some time to remember where he was. Hawke swung his legs around to the side of the bed, and closed his eyes, willing that yesterday had never happened. "Hawke what the…?" Varric had awoken to his scream, "Nothing. Sorry. Go back to sleep, it's still early." Hawke actually had no idea what time it was, there was no sun to calculate by, no wind to fall into, no sound of…he shook his head. This was no time to get worried. Standing, he made his way through the darkness, only a low humming coming from the vessel to guide him.

…..

The stars didn't seem to be…'twinkling' this morning. They sort of just sat there, surrounded by the thick black blanket… "Wish I had a blanket…" Shepard said out-loud to the black. Samara had gone for a few days to visit the Citadel… (although under what pretence she wasn't all too sure), but it meant she had the observation deck to herself. She was curled up by the window, arms around herself, knees to her chin. Thoughts of that… 'elf' had they called him? Well. Whatever he was, he kept swimming in and out of her mind. And it was getting irritating. Shepard sniffed, and decided 3 hours was certainly not enough sleep for the mission she had ahead of her.

"Oh, urm, sorry, I didn't…" The door had opened onto a bedraggled and slightly flustered Hawke. "I was just…trying to get my bearings." Shepard smiled, and without saying anything led him back into the glow of the universe.

"This place is amazing. I never would have thought it…" He sighed, and rubbed his eyes.

"This must be a lot to take in. I can only apologise again for having you come with us."

"I know there was no choice. How is Fenris doing by the way?"

"Dr Chakwas seems to think he'll be fine. We'll have to be careful she doesn't keep him in for tests…" She chuckled to herself, but stopped when she saw the look on Hawke's face, "She won't actually…."

Only the evening before, they had picked up 3 beings on an uncharted planet they'd found in the Armstrong Nebula…even EDI hadn't picked up on it though. After one of them was badly wounded, they simply had to get out of there. The crew's faces were a sight to behold when Joker brought the shuttle in, but nowhere near as shocked as the faces of their guests. She had refrained from explaining things, insisting they slept first. They had been too overwhelmed to argue.

"In the name of Andraste WHY DID YOU BRING US?" Hawke suddenly slammed his fists on the floor, "I don't even know where we are! How will you get us back? Could this be part of the fade?" Slowly sitting back, as if seeing clearly he spoke more, "Yes…yes perhaps an unexplored part of the fade, of course of course! All those strange creatures, they must be demons…and you…YOU! YOU LEAD US TO THEM!" His eyes took on a new form and Shepard fell backwards as Hawke reached out his hands and grasped her shoulders, he began to shake them violently.

"HAWKE! Calm down! Calm! Please!"

"WHAT ARE YOU? COME OUT GREED DEMON!" His right hand moved to her throat, slamming her head into the floor making Shepard cry out in shock.

"No…Haw…ke…" Her hands grappled at him, choking more as he put his knee onto her stomach, pressing hard. "DIE! DIE AND SEND US BACK!" His eyes…they were on fire. Madness flared within them, and her sight started to go black…his black hair flew in and out of her vision, fuzzy…fuzz…

"Argh!" The weight was all at once released, Shepard clenched forward desperately gasping for breath and throwing her hands vulnerably to her stomach, and she could barely make out Garrus' rough yelling. "Don't…don't hurt him Garr…" She began to cough, and she felt strong arms pick her up, his blue armour jutting into her forehead, before placing her onto a seat. She felt him turn back. "I'll kill you."

"Garrus no…I order you to stop…"

Hawke was screaming now, hands across his face, scratching and clawing, until Garrus took hold of his chin, lifted him into the air, and made a small, quick click of it. "GARRUS!"

"It's OK. He's just unconscious." Shepard sighed and went back to that nice old past-time of breathing. "He caught me by surprise. I couldn't even fight back. We need to get them home; they will go mad out here. In the blackness." She glanced briefly out of the observation window, knowing that feeling well. Her first time off the colony on an Alliance ship had been…thought provoking. "We've got the full meeting tomorrow. I'm sure Miranda will be able to say something. Even if it is completely irrelevant." Garrus chuckled lowly and brushed her shoulder gently, carrying Hawke along on his back.

Shepard sat a few minutes more, nursing her neck, and decided to go check on the Med Bay's latest arrival.