"DEANA wait…" Miranda was almost as quick as I was even with a twisted ankle. I didn't stop for anything as soon as exited the med bay. I ran straight into the female Quarian I saw earlier. I pushed right passed her and headed straight for the elevator. I pushed a button on the elevator screen and sank to the floor. The lift started to move, adrenaline was pumping through my veins so I couldn't feel my ankle pulse. I looked at the unwrapped part of my foot; it had swollen pretty big despite the fact that it was wrapped tightly. I cried from the onslaught of feelings that had rushed on to me then. I started to notice the pain in my ankle when the elevator door opened. The Asari from earlier walked into the elevator, I crawled my way past her trying not to jerk around my ankle.

She didn't realize someone was there till the door was already closed. I pulled myself into a sitting position outside the elevator and listened. Other than the hum of the engines, I heard three separate voices coming from the hall between the core and the hallway where I was sitting. They were muffled through the door. I stayed where I was till the voices disappeared.

I looked around me and crawled through the door closest to me. The door hissed open and I crawled down the hall. Coming to the stairs, I pulled myself up to my feet and hopped my way down them clutching anything sturdy to keep my balance.

Once I was down the stairs I climbed to the back of the room. In the back, a deep red light created shadows of the pipes in the ship and I made it my hiding spot for the rest of the day.

I cried some more, feeling betrayed by the only person (besides Kale) that I trusted whole heartedly. She had kept a secret like this from me and I started to feel angry towards her.

It must have been around morning because my stomach gave a painful growl. I clutched my stomach and tried to ignore it. I heard footsteps coming down the stairs and I looked around for an escape route but saw none. All the holes between the pipes were too small to crawl through.

"Hey. I heard you took off on Miranda yesterday. She's been worried and looking for you ever since." It was Kaiden. He stayed at the opening of the small room with his hands in his pockets. I turned away from him and ignored him. He just stood there, I could feel his stare on the back of my neck; his stare indicated he was waiting to be acknowledged.

I turned to study him and I noticed a few features that looked familiar. His dark hair was the exact same color as mine, except his was dusted with grey and mine was long. His eyes had a friendly crinkle to them. I looked him up and down, his build was buff but not overly so, and he was of average height. There were a couple scars on his face but they weren't as prominent as Shepard's. His lack of a five o'clock shadow showed where they were. His presence wasn't threatening and there was something about him that allowed me to drop my guard and crawl out of my hiding spot.

"Nice to see you again Deana." He took a seat on the cot that was pushed up against the wall. He relaxed in it and folded his arms across his chest as he leaned against the wall. He seemed nice enough but I still didn't trust him.

I limped over to the work bench and climbed onto it. When I had completely gotten myself on top, I pulled my knees up to my face and stared at Kaiden.

"What's your relationship with Shepard?" I asked. He looked surprised that I had spoken and just looked at me. Then he smiled,

"She's my wife. For almost fifteen years." He wiggled his ring finger which held a broad silver band on it. That explains the brushed hands in the med bay. They probably told each other everything which put me back on edge. I moved to go back to my hiding spot when my stomach let out another painfully loud growl.

"When was the last time you ate?" I didn't answer him and pulled myself as far from sight as possible. He put his hands on his knees as he pushed himself off the cot. I curled myself up from how hungry I was. "You're a biotic right? It's dangerous if you don't eat." His footsteps grew faint. "I'll go get you something to eat." His footsteps disappeared and I didn't move.

When he was gone I breathed again and curled a little tighter. I was homesick and I dwelled on the fact that this whole situation was such a mess.

I didn't really care about the kidnapping anymore. It seemed like forever since it had happened but in reality it only happened yesterday. My stomach started to hurt and I cried out of frustration.

I heard footsteps again and I peeked around the corner. It was Kaiden with a plate of steaming rice and some sort of paste. He set it on the work bench and took a seat on the cot again. I looked at him; I was so hungry. But I was stubborn; I stared him down until the food on the bench went cold.

He sighed and got up from the cot. "You don't have to push everyone away Deana." He put his hands in his pockets and walked away. Only when his footsteps faded did I come out to clean the plate.