Radioactive

Fanfiction by Krystal Shepard

A/N: Radioactive is a purely fanmade story. I hold no rights to its creation.

Chapter 3: Spectre Down

The trio cleared the science camp with no difficulty after dealing with those… things that had attacked them. Jon had hung back during the fight, throwing warps and holding a barrier around his allies instead of using his guns. He wouldn't have been able to shoot straight anyways, what with the pain now lancing through his groin and up through the main part of his torso. Luckily, it was over quickly, and Jon was able to shake off the expression of pain that wanted to twist itself across his face at that time.

They found two scientists in one of the storage lockers, and while Ashley and Kaidan went to talk with them Jon stayed behind, supposedly on the look out for more Geth. Instead, he was actually leaning against the wall, breathing heavily as he fought off the pains. Goddess, his cramps were never quite this bad before. What was going on? He pried open eyes that he did not remember closing, and unwrapped arms that had wound themselves around his torso, right as the door to the storage locker opened. Footsteps moved quickly to him, and Jon had to blink several times before his eyes would focus on the person before him: Alenko, whose whiskey eyes held a worry that Jon felt was unnecessary.

"Shepard, are you all right?" he was asked. Jon blinked one more time, wondering why the Commander would be so interested in his well being.

"I'm fine, Alenko. Nothing to worry about." Lie, that was all he did. That was all he ever did when this happened.

Alenko shook his head. "You're not fine, you haven't been going at the level you started at since we got Ashley, and I know you weren't in the best of conditions to start with. What is wrong?" The soldier walked over to them, confusion and worry in her eyes as well. Jon sighed, realizing that he was cornered.

"…I take it you two know about Carrier's, right?" he mumbled, keeping his gaze downwards and away from theirs. A resounding agreement came from the two. "Well… according to the doc's that knew human physiology while I was working with the STG, I'm more than likely the first natural Carrier in centuries, my brother being the second since he's the younger of the two of us. They didn't find any areas of gene mods for the Carrier genetics, thus the conclusion. And of course," he chuckled depreciatingly, "I'd started my cycle a day before I got on the Normandy. The cramps always kill me, especially close to the end. That's all." The two stayed silent, and when Jon lifted his eyes to meet their gazes he saw similar emotions: Ashley was shocked and sympathetic – then again, he had yet to meet a female, no matter the race, who did not feel sympathetic towards the menstrual cycle, while Alenko was shocked and… Wary?

Alenko backed off slightly, clearing his throat and, from the looks of it, fighting back a flush. "Ah. I see. If you need some medi gel to help…" Jon shook his head.

"Been applying the medi gel. The cramps fight their way through. I'll be careful, but in a hell of a lot of pain."

Alenko nodded, dropping the conversation at that. Jon watched the Commander start to walk off, and started pushing away from the storage unit, stumbling once as another cramp hit him. Ashley was right beside him in a flash, saying, "Easy there, Skipper," while looping one of his arms around her shoulders. Jon flashed her a thankful smile before the two started after the Commander in silence.

Silence, which was broken with a sharp pain in Jon's chest and a distant, familiar gunshot ringing in his ears.

Jon bit his lip harshly, fearing what they might find at the airfield. He activated his omni-tool, pushing away from Ashley as he did, and surfed through the comm. channels until he found one that did not belong: Saren's comm. signature was on planet. "Alenko," he said, catching the Commander's attention. "I think we have an unexpected visitor," he explained, waving the Commander over to take a look at what he found. "A Spectre who was not supposed to even be in this sector is on planet, close to where Nihlus' comm. signature is. Saren Arterius, a Turian who absolutely despises humans, and is one of the Spectre's elite." Alenko glanced at him.

"Do you know why he's here?" Jon shook his head. "Then we hope that it's something good, and expect the worst."

Jon wasn't too sure about that, but continued on with the two, managing to stay on his own two feet without help. He kept track of Saren's coordinates, monitoring them for any suspicious activity. They came over another rise, and Jon just happened to glance up when he saw it launching away: the ship from the transmission, scorching the ground surrounding it as it left the surface. Ashley yelled over the noise, "What is that?"

Jon shook his head. "No clue, but we have no time to worry about it. We need to get to the beacon." They headed down the rise, fighting off the Geth that were already there and quickly finding yet another group of survivors, three farmers turned smugglers. The small group was quick to rat out a dockworker that was helping them smuggle the weapons off planet, and as the squad of three started to leave the leader attempted to offer Alenko a smuggled gun.

Alenko promptly told them exactly where they could shove it before leaving them at their storage unit.

Jon was shaking his head, but understood why Alenko would do that. Smuggling was one of the ichors contaminating the galactic community, but unfortunately it was a profitable one. Even he would not have taken the gun, especially considering the fact that he'd more than likely lose his Spectre status.

They started for the loading dock, and Jon had a bad feeling about what they would see, especially considering Nihlus' signal had not moved since he started the track.

He was right.

Laying on the floor of the dock, surrounded in dark blue blood, was Nihlus. A bullet went right through the back of his head, and Jon almost felt sick to his stomach when he realized that he was calculating the caliber of weapon used to create such a clean shot straight through the brain stem of his best friend. He swallowed, almost stumbling forwards as he fought to maintain control over his body movements. Alenko was right beside him, trying to find some way to save an already dead man. Jon's eyes, however, were focused on the bullet wound. He had seen that wound before on so many Spectre targets it was not even funny.

Ashley caught sight of someone behind the cargo boxes, bringing her pistol up and requesting that they come out slowly. Turns out, it was one of the dockworkers who had managed to survive. Jon didn't care. Instead, he knelt down next to Nihlus while Alenko and Ashley grilled the man about his whereabouts during the attack and what had happened here. His gauntleted fingers brushed over the wound, gathering dark blue blood on his fingertips. Even before the dockworker had said that it was another Turian who shot Nihlus, Jon knew their culprit.

And he did not like the thought.

"It was Saren," he whispered, violets closing softly so he could imagine what had happened here. It was a clean cut, and there were no signs of struggle on Nihlus' body. Had to be from behind, and while the young Turian was standing. Which meant that Saren, in cold blood, killed his own student while tricking him into thinking that he was on their side.

He stood from next to Nihlus, eyes opening slightly as a cold fury started to flow through his veins. Alenko was saying something, trying to calm him down, while Ashley was trying her best to stay as far away from him as she could. Jon walked calmly past the two of them, ignoring the fact that there were Geth shooting at him as he made his way to the transport. Any Geth that got close was destroyed from the biotic corona flaring a good three feet away from him, others that were attempting to snipe him dropped as he turned his gaze towards them, enveloping them in a bright blue haze similar to a reave. He got to the control panel of the transport, knowing that Alenko and Ashley had followed him, and pressed in the commands to get it moving without much thought. The only thought filling his mind was that Saren, whom Nihlus looked up to like he was the Turian's father, had killed his best friend, and that he would pay.

He thought it was Alenko who had managed to get to all four bombs and disabled them, or maybe Ashley. Either way, Jon was still fuming coldly when they got to the other side, practically sending his strongest Reaves towards the Geth in one swell of biotic power, knocking them all out of commission. Alenko made sure that Ashley stayed out of his way while keeping a hand on Jon's shoulder, mitigating some of his biotics to form a barrier around the elder man, and becoming a constant presence in Jon's mind even as the female soldier started to fade from his radar. They made quick tracks to the Prothean beacon thanks to Jon, and he managed to calm down enough that the fury was no longer an issue and he could push it to the back of his mind. Saren had left, more than likely with his flagship, but Jon would make sure the Turian was removed from the Spectre position once they got back to the Citadel. He shook his head, drawing himself from dark thoughts as they approached the beacon.

"It wasn't doing anything like this when they dug it up," Ashley said, confused at the fact that the once inactive beacon was now glowing. Alenko turned from it, hailing the Normandy for a pick up and not noticing that Ashley had wandered closer to the beacon, her curiosity getting the better of her. Jon sidled closer to the woman, just in case something happened. He knew that Alenko could take care of himself, but with Ashley off in satiating her curiosity she would be slower to react.

And then all hell broke loose.

As if the beacon gave off its own gravitation, Ashley started to be pulled in, and the woman instinctively curled in on herself, hands moving to clutch at her head. Jon acted without thinking, grabbing her by the waist and dragging her out of the gravitational field. Unfortunately, by getting her out, he placed himself in her place.

His feet slid on the metal floor as he was dragged closer, and he could barely hear Alenko and Ashley as they yelled to each other about whether or not to get him away from the beacon. Then the pain hit, and he was pulled rigid up into the air before the beacon. His eyes were almost forced open, and then white filled his vision.

The hum of machines was what awoke him, his senses deadened from the pain medication that they more than likely pumped into him upon arriving back in the Normandy. Flashes of the dream kept popping into his already skewed vision, nightmarish screams and grating metallic groans filling his ears even as he heard Alenko say, "Chakwas, I think he's waking up." His eyes fluttered slightly, still heavy enough that he could not find the strength to open them as fully as he wanted to but just enough to see that Alenko was standing next to his bed while the doctor was rushing over to his other side. "Shepard, come on," Alenko whispered, something hidden deep within his gravely voice that would have made Jon's heart soar if he was more cognizant of his surroundings. As it was, he latched onto that voice as he continued to speak with the doctor. "Chakwas, are you sure you gave him the proper dosage?"

"Commander, please do spare me the insult of what you just suggested. Of course I gave him the proper dosage of the medication." Chakwas' voice was indignant, and Jon almost cracked a smile at that.

Alenko sighed roughly, asking, "Then why isn't he recognizing our presences?" One of Alenko's hands had somehow made its way into Jon's right, just resting there as its twin swept over his forehead. Jon decided to use that to his advantage, and squeezed his hand slightly, turning his head towards Alenko and almost forcing his eyes open just to prove that he was awake.

All he saw that time was fuzzy shapes, and an equally fuzzy astonished face, before his eyes slammed back shut and the world tilted kilter once more. His hands tightened on Alenko's, using that as his lifeline and attempting to draw himself out of the horrifying broken images playing through his head. The metallic screaming began again, and Jon gritted his teeth against the want to scream, pain filling his head once more. He thought that he heard a scramble of activity around him, but all he noticed was that Alenko was still next to him, letting his hand be held in Jon's crushing grip while the other made soothing motions over his forehead. Jon's breath by that point was coming in short, pained pants, with more than a possibility of small whines slipping out with each breath. He barely heard the voices, as if he was deep underwater and they were not.

A faint pulse came through him, and then he was gasping for air, eyes wide and everything in sharp images once more. Alenko and Chakwas held him down as he coughed, almost choking on nothing as he tried to take deeper breaths than what he was capable of. Jon closed his eyes as he started settling out his breathing, noticing that the side that Chakwas was standing next to shortly did not have hands holding him. Alenko actually took longer to let him go, helping Jon sit up before slowly pulling away. "Thanks," he gruffly said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed before cradling his head in his hands. "How long was I out?"

Chakwas was efficient in answering, "Fifteen hours. From the report that the Commander made, something went wrong with the beacon and it drew you in." Jon glanced over at Alenko, who was nodding.

"You managed to get Ashley out of the way, winding up being drawn in yourself," Alenko started with, a self-depreciating emotion in his whiskey eyes. "I shouldn't have gotten distracted. Maybe then this might not have happened." Jon shook his head.

"Nothing you could have done. If you'd been the one to get Ash out of the way, then we would just be in opposite places, or Ash would have been in here instead," Jon stated simply, a small smile on his lips. "You did what you had to." Alenko then did something that Jon did not ever believe would be directed towards him:

He gave a small, shy smile.

Jon blinked before returning his gaze to Chakwas, who was going on about him being physically able to return to duty and how his brainwaves were a little off. Jon rubbed at his temples before stating, "I… the beacon gave me some sort of vision before I passed out. It wasn't pretty." Chakwas hummed before running a few more scans on him.

"Well, I can't hold you in here any longer unless you're incapable of duty, and since you are, that means you're free to go," she stated just as the whir of the door opening caught Jon's sensitive hearing. He turned around on the bed to face Anderson, whose face was stony as he approached the three of them.

"Chakwas, if you could give us some privacy? The three of us need to talk," Anderson practically ordered. The good doctor nodded and swiftly vacated the med bay. Jon hopped off the bed and leaned against the edge, tilting his head as he watched Anderson start pacing. "What happened down there with the beacon? All I got was that you got too close, and it exploded," the elder man started with. Jon sighed heavily through his nose.

"David, I managed to get the Gunny out of the way before it pulled me in with a sort of gravitation field. What happened after more than likely was true, since I doubt the Council will approve of the fact that it gave me some horrifying vision before it exploded," Jon said in a tired voice, once again rubbing his temples with one hand while he did not even bother looking at the other two in the room. "I was still in the middle of it when I woke up." Anderson grunted at his answer, continuing his pacing before coming to a stop before Spectre and Commander.

"We're heading towards the Citadel now. The Council will want a report on this, and I hope you two can give them one." Anderson glanced towards Jon. "Jon, they will listen to when it comes to Saren. All of our accusations towards him will come from you; I'll make sure that Udina understand this." Jon snorted.

"He won't. I'm not recognized as a Spectre by the Alliance, remember?" Jon quipped, giving Anderson a look of, "You should know better." "Besides, Saren's going down, one way or the other. Nihlus looked up to him like he would to his father." Anderson nodded, turning his attention to Alenko.

"We'll want to see if the Council will allow you into the Spectre's sooner rather than waiting the full term for an evaluation. Now that this has happened, Udina's going to be pressing them for it." Alenko nodded silently, a glum look on his face. "I'll want to see you two and Gunnery Chief Williams at Udina's office as soon as we dock at the Citadel. Since you three were the ground team, you're just going to have to do." The both of then nodded their agreement before Anderson started to walk out, throwing over his shoulder, "And Jon? Warn me when you're going into your cycle so I don't send you into any of these missions." Jon rolled his eyes, grumbling under his breath as he crossed the room after the Captain, trying to ignore the feeling of eyes staring at his back. Normally, it was him doing the staring, not the other way around.