In Ruins

04. Heat Wave

A/N: The intro in chapter one has been updated. It may or may not be a deal breaker for some so take a gander if and when you can.
Edit: WOW! Sorry guys! I just had a major upload flub! I'm sorry if anyone gets bombarded with notifications... I deleted the wrong chapter after I uploaded this chapter without including the scene breaks by accident and... it wasn't pretty. I also just realized that all the scene breaks in my chapters were removed without my noticing. I have a lot of fixing to do.

"Callum!"

Groggy eyes opened with heavy lids to stare at metal frameworks. Another dreamless night. Callum tossed a hand lazily over his eyes, rubbing them gently in a weak attempt to rub the tiredness away. Pulling his hand back, he peered over to the source of the voice: Ashley. She was dressed in the regular alliance uniform, but her hair was damp and untied and able to run loosely over her shoulders. His eyes widened slightly in both irritation and admiration. Groaning audibly, he sat up and tossed his legs over the side of the crummy bed.

"About time! I've been calling your name for a while now. You're one hell of a sleeper, Cal." A smirk lined her lips as she tugged at the towel wrapped around her neck. Callum hadn't failed to notice what she called him.

Callum groaned once more as he rubbed a kink in his shoulder, "Remind me again why you're waking me up?"

"Damn, you're not a morning person, are you?" Someone was spot on. "The commander sent a message out a few minutes ago. We're just over an hour away from our destination. I figured you'd at least like a shower and breakfast before heading out."

Callum muttered under his breath. At least it's a good enough reason. He yawned lightly before speaking, "Thanks." His response was curt and to the point.

"No problem. Us new guys have to help each other out, right?" She smirked lightly as he got up from his corner. It was then that he noticed just how beautiful the gunnery chief was, particularly when she was not yet battle-ready. Her skin urged him to wonder how soft it would be to touch or the plumpness of her lips, naturally rosy and attention-drawing. He mentally shook his head as he pushed the thoughts aside, accounting them to his morning demeanor. Just then, Ashley gave him a nod and turned to leave.

"Ash," he called out, drawing her to stop and peer over her shoulder, "You should let your hair down more often." A gentle smile lined his lips before he set off to his showers. Had he turned to look behind his shoulders, he would've spotted a defenseless Ashley watching his every step.

His mind tried to run over what he should do. It seemed simple enough. Shower, eat breakfast, suit up, and then meet with Shepard and the others in the conference room for a debriefing. If only the first part was as easy as it seemed. He found himself leaning against the metallic wall of the corridor as he stared at the door to the men's showers. The scar over his heart began to heat up as he felt a fear swelling up inside of him. He didn't want anyone to see it; no one had to and no one should. It was his weakness and it was bound to bring up questions he did not want to answer. Eventually, he just swallowed his fear in resignation, assuring himself that no one was bound to notice in a five minute shower. Just… get in, get out, and get on with your business.

"Good to see everyone's here." Damien called out from his seat, leaning forward and resting his arms on his knees. His eyes betrayed the slight bags cradled beneath his eyes. It made Callum curious… he'd have to ask later.

"Onto business then," Damien's omnitool flashed to life as he pressed a few buttons and the conference's room came to life. All eyes turned to view the image of what seemed to be mining equipment on a red-tinged planet. The first thought that crossed Callum's mind was the fact it looked like it was scorching hot. "Joker informed me that he picked up some strange signals coming from Therum. From what we've managed to gather, it may be geth transmissions or gibberish. Regardless, it's as good a sign as any for where to start our search."

"How exactly do you expect us to find this asari, Shepard?" Wrex grunted out his question.

Damien turned to Wrex, "Glad you asked. We've found reports indicating that a group of miners discovered some prothean ruins while excavating."

"And we're looking for an asari with a thing for protheans…" Callum voiced out his thoughts as he shifted in his seat.

A small chuckle came from the others before Damien spoke up again, "Something like that, yes. Our main objective is to secure T'soni. When we're down there, we need to watch out fire. These mines belong to a colony and I don't think they'd appreciate us destroying their equipment. The rest we can figure out as we go."

"Shepard," Tali chimed up with enthusiasm in her voice, "If it's the geth we're dealing with, I'd like to join you. My knowledge of them may come in handy should we run into them."

Damien seemed to consider the option. It was likely he had a different squad formation planned out in his head, but he seemed flexible enough to adjust. After a few minutes of silence and staring at the floor panels, his gaze returned to the anxious quarian, "All right, Tali. You can come with."

If he had to guess, Tali was beaming beneath her helmet, "I won't let you down!"

Callum noticed a short look of discontent coming from Ashley when Damien announced Tali was filling up one of the two squad positions. Strange. He found himself yanked out of his thoughts as Damien's gaze turned sharply to him,

"Callum, you're also with me. You both have ten minutes to do what you need to before meeting up in the engineering deck. We're taking the Mako for this one."

"Keelah!"

Tali's yell resonated within the cramped confines of the Mako. Callum found himself holding similar thoughts to Tali as his body was rocked by the sharp turns and jumps performed by the vehicle. The mental image of him and a quarian bouncing around in the back of the Mako managed to squeeze itself into his head. Within seconds, he found himself breaking out into a fit of laughter that drew Tali's attention.

"Why are you laughing?" Tali's voice sounded as though she was confused to a whole new level at his strange behavior.

Trying to catch his breath, he rested his head (for what little he could without it bouncing off) against the head rest. His mind had decided to drift back to his younger days and on the outskirts of a colony where most people didn't care what a kid did out in the open spaces. "No offense, Commander, but I don't think that I've been a vehicle this badly driven since I took my dad's car out for a joyride at fourteen!"

Damien took his eyes off the road and looked back at him, a stern look on his face, "Are you criticizing my driving, corporal?"

Callum felt himself stiffen at the rigidity of Damien's question and found himself coughing his laugh away. Damien seemed to notice the tension building in him because a sly grin lined his lips seconds later, "Gotcha."

He felt the blood rushing to his face and ears again as his mouth parted slightly. Mere moments before he felt as though he had made one of the biggest mistakes ever and now he found out his commander was just yanking him around, "Not cool, Commander."

"You set yourself up for –" Damien began to speak with victory laced in his voice before Tali cut him off.

"Shepard! Eyes ahead!"

The two of them turned their attention straight ahead to where several screens were blaring with various warnings and alerts. Off in the near distance, a geth ship had appeared out of nowhere and dropped several geth troops and a strange tank-like construction. Damien took a firm grasp of the wheel before shouting out orders, "Tali, monitor our readings and try to keep our shields strong. Callum, man the turret! Now!"

Just as he was setting himself up, the Mako shook violently as a surge of blue energy collided into its frame. All the sensors flared up for a moment before returning to normal. Sensing the urgency of the situation, he sped up his process and finally started lining up shots with the smaller troops. A wicked smile grew on his face as he watched the geth collapse after being barraged by bullets, "Down you go!"

"Tali," Damien called out as he tried to keep the Mako steady and away from any pockets of lava, "What the hell is that thing?"

Tali's eyes never shifted from the screens as she tried to reroute noncritical systems to boost the shield's performance, "It's a geth armature. I can go into details later but right now you need to make sure we don't get hit by it again!"

"Why?"

"It nearly decimated our shields! One more hit and we'll suffer structural damage! Callum, once you get its shields down, use the rockets!"

Callum glanced back at her before returning his attention to the geth, "Understood!"

"You couldn't have chosen a hotter planet, Commander?" Sarcasm seeped into his voice as he passed a gloved hand over his forehead. He felt as though every single pore in his body had decided to ooze sweat the second he stepped out of the Mako. The scenery wasn't even great either. It just made him want to get off the boiling rock known as Therum even sooner. His eyes were steady as he scouted around with his pistol at a ready.

"Don't your suits have temperature regulation?" Tali seemed to ask the question innocently, but she found herself being stared at by two sweating men.

Almost simultaneously, Callum and Damien spoke out, "No."

"Oh…" Tali's voice seemed laced with embarrassment at the brusqueness of their response. It brought a smile to Callum's lips as he followed behind Damien and kept an eye on their flank. Their previous quarrels with the geth had been easy enough to take down, but the area just seemed way too empty at the moment. Something in his bones kept yelling at him that something was off… He could feel it.

"I think I see the mine over by those crates. Keep close," Damien spoke softly as his fingers kept adjusting themselves on the grip of his rifle.

They had taken only a few steps near the crates before the sound of an approaching geth ship blasted their ears. A loud thud rang out ahead of them as an armature plummeted into the field. Shit! Damien yelled out orders as soon as the armature started to open, "Get to cover!"

Instinctively he lunged forward into a roll and positioned himself alongside one of the crates. Taking a glance, he spotted Tali and Damien behind a different crate. A tinge of anxiety crept through his nerves as he felt vulnerable on his lonesome. In preparation, he strengthened his barriers just in time to watch Tali pierce the torso of an incoming geth trooper with a spray from her shotgun. His eyes widened at her accuracy for a moment before peeking out of cover and firing a series of bullets at the head of another geth trooper.

"It's charging an attack!" Tali shouted in an attempt to urge the others back into cover. Taking heed of her warning, he drew himself back into cover before he watched the blast of energy fly past where he was before.

"We've got quick enemies on the railing! I can't line up a shot! Tali, overload their systems!"

"On it!" Tali pressed a series of numbers on her omnitool before launching her attack on one of the geth leaping around. He and Damien took the opportunity to tear the frozen geth into pieces before another one tore through his barriers.

"Shit! Watch yourselves! It can sap your shield!" At his warning, Damien lured the geth into a corner with a controlled fire, leaving Tali open to fire the killing shot.

Callum peeked out of cover to observe the armature. It was slow and its shields were strong. If they were able to get its shields down, he could easily crush it with his biotics. "Take its shields down! I can handle the rest!"

Once the tank-like machine fired, the trio began to rain a hail of bullets at it until its shields flickered away. Stepping out of cover, dark energy began to pour out of him as blue light while he stretched his hand out and lifted the heavy armature. He could feel the strain pouring from his head to every muscle of his body at the immense weight of the synthetic. He grunted as he lifted his spare hand parallel to the other one. Pushing his hands closer to each other with no ease, the armature began to crumble beneath its own weight until it was little more than a ball of scrap metal and electronics.

"Keelah… I had no idea a human biotic was capable of that."

Damien seemed just as surprised as Tali and cast a suspicious glance toward him, "Neither did I…"

Callum found himself catching his breath as he walked over to the others with a weak smile. It wasn't often when he used his biotics to such a magnitude, but he felt the need and he found himself empowered to do it. The look on Damien's face changed momentarily as he patted him on the shoulder with a 'nice job', but he went on ahead. Tali gestured for him to follow as they approached the entrance to the mine.

The venture into the mine was a slow, cautious one. Neither of them had a clue what to expect down in the tunnels. It was possible that there would be more geth, or maybe a psychotic asari waiting for them to arrive to kill them. Callum wasn't really sure which of the two he found to be more favorable. Shooting down the sparse geth patrols was easy enough. Otherwise, everything seemed to be going well until the elevator they were in began to release sparks in a frenzy. The elevator dropped suddenly, toppling him into the other two as they all collapsed in a heap once the elevator came to a loud halt.

"Ow…" Callum couldn't think of anything else to say as he lifted himself up from the crash and helped Tali up. A muffled feminine voice drew their attention.

"Uh… Hello? Can somebody help me? Please?"

Damien stepped over to the edge of the platform and peered down, "It's just a short drop to the platform below, but be careful. It looks as though a bomb hit these."

With that said Damien hopped down carefully and gestured for the others to follow suit. Once they were all down, they walked towards the source of the disturbance only to find an asari trapped in what seemed like a containment field behind a kinetic barrier.

The asari seemed panicked, "Can you hear me out there? I am trapped. I need help!"

Damien stepped forward, "Are you okay? What happened to you?"

The asari took a breath, "Listen. This thing I am in is a prothean security device. I cannot move, so I need you to get me out of it. All right?"

Callum took a moment to tap the barrier with his knuckle. It didn't even budge. "How exactly are we supposed to get past this?"

"It's a prothean barrier curtain. I knew it would keep me safe from the geth." The asari's eyes wandered away, "When I turned it on, I must've hit something I wasn't supposed to. I was trapped in here. You must get me out. Please!"

Tali seemed skeptical, "Wait. You're hiding from the geth? Wasn't Benezia working with Saren and the geth?"

The asari's eyes widened, "What? I have not spoken to my mother in years. Please, just get me out! There is a control in here that should deactivate this thing. You must find a way past the barrier curtain. That's the tricky part. The defenses cannot be shut off from the outside. I don't know how you'll get in here."

Damien raised his hand up to placate the asari, "Don't worry, Dr. T'soni, we'll find a way to get you out."

"Be careful. There is a krogan with the geth. They have been trying different ways to get past the barrier."

Sweat dripped down his hairline, leaving lines of dirt running down his face. Pain resonated from him head where an open gash had begun to scab over from the impact of a falling boulder. Turns out that running out of a collapsing mine wasn't as easy as it seemed, particularly when rocks threatened to crush you to death around every corner. Callum bit back a grunt as he stepped out of the sickbay. Doctor Chakwas sealed the wound on his forehead with a quick application of medi-gel and spared some to relax the strained muscles of his ankle. It wasn't surprising to him that she was quick to get him going seeing that she wouldn't let anyone from the ground team go without a thorough inspection of their condition.

The pain began to numb away, but he still found himself with a slight limp as he made his way up his stairs to the command deck. Most normal people would've decided on cleaning themselves up after that mess, but he didn't feel like standing at the moment. There was a craving in the pit of his stomach to just sit and chat with someone… someone who wasn't going to pester him about how the mission went. The first name that crossed his mind was Joker's.

He could feel the eyes of the crew watching his every step down the corridors. It didn't bother him. If anything, it made him want to laugh at the sight they probably saw: a strange man with disheveled hair covered in dirt, blood, and sweat walking toward the cockpit. It wasn't the most… attractive image, but it did seem chuckle-worthy.

The co-pilots chair creaked/ loudly at his sudden drop into its cushions. A sly smile tugged at his lips as he watched the pilot's surprised reaction. Joker seemed to change attitudes quickly and gave him a quick glance to his appearance before pointing to various spots on his face with a finger, "Uh, you've got a little something here. And here. And over here."

Callum sorted lightly as he leaned his head against the headrest. It wasn't all that comfortable, but it did the job. Without opening his eyes, he spoke, "I'm more than aware."

"Right…" Joker turned his attention back to the screens. There was silence for a few seconds before he glanced at Callum, only to find him with his eyes still closed, "So, uh, not to be an ass or anything, but is there any reason why you're up here instead of with the others?"

Callum rolled his head to face Joker and opened his eyes lazily, "Not really. Figured I might as well go chat up the man who pulled our asses out of harm's way." He repositioned his head again and let his eyelids shut, "Nice going, by the way."

Joker glanced at the other man with a grin, "Damn straight. Ten more seconds and we would have been swimming in molten sulphur. The Normandy isn't equipped to land on exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull."

A smile crept onto his lips, "It was a nice save. I don't think any other pilot could've done it."

Joker's grin faded away as he shifted in his seat and squared his cap into place, "That's just pity for the cripple."

Callum's lifted his head away from the headrest and opened his eyes to witness the solemn look that found itself on Joker's face, "Pity? No." His comment drew Joker's gaze, "Joker, if you're on this ship, you're the best of best. I don't care if you need crutched to walk. I don't. I don't need to pity you, and I doubt you want it too. Respect, though? That I can do." Callum let his head fall back once more.

There was a silence between the two for almost a solid minute before Joker spoke up, "Callum, right?"

"Yep."