Blood... Rain... Screams...

His armor was ripped open and his weapons were gone as he staggered away from the wreckage of a Mako...

The soldier reached a rocky outcrop and hid before the monster could spot him. It took all his strength just to stay conscious...

He took off his helmet and cried out as the rain stung his wounded face...

A bright light surrounded him as the man collapsed and heard a voice yelling, "Hang in there, soldier!"

A strong grip lifted him up and far off he heard somebody shout for a medic before everything went black...

Sam woke with a start in a cold, dimly lit room. He sat up and looked around. Sam's vision was blurred; he couldn't make everything out clearly. There was nobody else in the room with him. What was he doing here? Suddenly the image of a gigantic Thresher Maw flashed back into his mind and he shouted in terror. Sam blinked, trying to get the memory out of his head as he sat up. His legs were shaky but Sam managed to stand up straight and wander around the room. It looked like the sickbay of a ship. Probably Alliance. A sharp pain suddenly shot through Sam's ribs, and caused him to keel over against the wall. "What the fuck..."

He looked down at his chest and flashed back to the crash of the Mako. Sam had sustained a wound on his chest in the explosion, and apparently somebody had stitched him up while he was out. Sam blinked again, but his vision was still blurry. So why can't I see clearly? He reached up to feel his head, and with a creeping sense of horror he felt stitches. Despite fearing what he might find Sam kept running his fingers up his right cheek, following the stitches until he reached his eye. A small patch was covering it, but he could feel a dull pain meaning his eye wasn't entirely gone.

Where am I? Sam went to the door and tried to open it. It wouldn't budge? "Hello? H-hello? Is anybody there?" Sam tried looking around the room, but he was the only one. None of the other marines from Akuze were in the sickbay with him. "I'm all that's left..." The memories and images from the massacre came back in full force now; The mangled body of the Mako's driver, dozens of marines being crushed or eaten alive right in front of him, blood dripping from the gaping wound in his chest with every step he took...

It was all too much, and Sam fell to his knees on the cold metal floor while shaking uncontrollably. He barely even noticed the doors opening and a woman in a doctor's uniform running in. "Shepard! Shepard you need to relax!" He looked up and saw an older woman looking down at him with two guards flanking her. One of them looked almost like Sara, another marine. But Sara's dead, she was split in half right above me. I'm covered with her blood right now! Sam held up his hands and a blue shockwave sent the guards and the doctor into the wall. "GET AWAY!" He stumbled to his feet and tried to run.

"SAM!" The shocked young soldier stopped dead in his tracks. Turning around, Sam saw Ben standing in the doorway. "You're... you're here?" Ben walked over and took him by the shoulders. "Sam, it's me. It's Ben!" This almost didn't register with Sam, but he tried to slow down his breathing and say something. "I... B-Be.. Ben. I'm sorry... I tried... I'm sorry..." He couldn't even form a whole sentence before Ben wrapped him in a tight hug. "No, Sam. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. But I'm here now. Just... just calm down." The doctor and the soldiers stood by quietly; giving the two moment while Sam began to cry into his brother's shoulder.

2 DAYS LATER

Sam tried his best to sit still as Dr. Chakwas removed his stitches. She paused, asking him, "If this hurts, just let me know. I'll try to be more careful, Shepard." He shook his head. "It's fine, Doctor. Trust me, I've been through worse." The embarrassed look on Chakwas' face was almost funny. "Of course. Stupid of me." She finished up, putting her tools down and standing him up. "Try your best not to aggravate the scars. They may ache for some time."

Sam took a brief look at his reflection in the window before dressing. The wound on his chest had become an ugly scar and a thin white line traveled down his face. Luckily, Sam's eye was not too badly damaged; only slightly discolored. "Thank you, Doctor." He exited the Tokyo and saw they were back on the Citadel. Furthermore, Sam was rather surprised to see Captain Anderson waiting for him outside. "Captain? What're you doing here?" Anderson gestured Sam to walk with him answering, "I just wanted to see how you're holding up, Shepard. You went through hell down there."

He escorted Sam back to the Wards. "I'm going to have to head off soon, I'm afraid. But before I go I want to ask you something." Sam shrugged. "Go ahead, sir." Anderson seemed to shift uncomfortable for a second before saying, "I'm aware your unit and CO were killed on Akuze. What's more, I have been looking for new recruits to my ship. Most soldiers would have died or gone insane after what you went through, Shepard. But you came through in one piece. You were bruised and bloodied, but you proved yourself one of the best damn soldiers I've ever known. I need that kind of determination. I'm asking you to join my crew, Shepard."

Sam had no words. This wasn't just any old soldier trying to capitalize Ben's fame. Based on everything he had read Anderson was a good leader in his own right, and more than that he had saved Sam's life. It would take a long time for Sam to recover from what happened, if he ever did. But serving under Anderson wasn't a bad start. Sam saluted and replied, "It would be an honor, Captain." Anderson smiled in response and saluted back. "I'll give you some time to get yourself together. Let me know when you're ready to go back into the fray, son."

He walked away, leaving Sam feeling a little more than humbled. The young soldier straightened himself up and headed for Purgatory Bar. Before going out again, the first thing Sam needed was a good, strong drink.

Nihlus and Ben watched Sam catch a ride on the transit. "Where do you think he is going, Shepard?" Ben shook his head; he had not gotten much sleep within the past couple of days. "The closest bar, most likely. I should probably go with him." Nihlus nodded, "Of course. I should be going too. I'm... sorry about all of this." Ben turned to Nihlus and put his hand on the turian's shoulder. "Don't be. You at least tried to help. I'm glad I just didn't find out some other way." Rubbing the bridge of his nose Ben confessed, "I was scared, Nihlus. Sam could have died down there and there was nothing I could do to save him."

He was clapped on the back by Nihlus who replied, "But he didn't. He's still here, and he has you to look after him. Take some comfort in that." The two shook hands before Nihlus walked away. Ben couldn't make out what Nihlus was saying, but he thought he saw the Spectre talk into an earpiece muttering, "...candidacy put off for now. They both need time to recover..." Whatever that meant, Ben wasn't even going to try and guess. Right now all he cared about was finding Sam and keeping him out of trouble. Going to a bar when likely suffering post-traumatic stress wasn't going to turn out well. And even after that, Ben was going to keep looking out for him.

I won't let anything like this happen you again, Sam. I promise.

Author's Note: Here we are. My Mass Effect universe is started, with each of the brothers Shepard having a background of their own. Ben is the war hero, revered for his courage and natural leadership skills. Sam is the lone survivor, scarred mentally and physically but not broken, ready to keep fighting. The next story I'm going to cover is a series of personal events in the first Mass Effect game, some told entirely from Ben's perspective and some from Sam's. How will this play out? Which love interests will each Shepard have? And how will Ben take Nihlus' death, after the turian helped him reach his little brother in time?

Leave a review here, and stay tuned!