Earth – Hospital...
Oriana giggled into her elbow. "So you and this Joker, got drunk together and decided to bring a varren onto the Normandy?"
"We were docked at Tuchanka," Shepard started to explain with a large grin on his face. "We just finished helping a Krogan squad mate with a few issues and we decided to celebrate."
"While we were in the Krogan camp I came across this varren named Urz. I overheard that his owner died and I felt bad for the little guy, so I fed him some meat that I bought from a merchant." His smile widened. "He started following me around and begging for my attention when I visited the camp."
"So you let him on the ship because he was cute?" Oriana cocked an eyebrow in a similar fashion as her older sister.
"no," Shepard stared at the roof and sighed with a smile on his face, unable to believe his own reasoning. "Joker and I were so drunk that I managed to convince him that Urz would make an amazing squad mate."
Oriana giggled into her hand. "Did my sister know about this?"
"We sobered up enough to realize that it would be a horrible decision and we got him out of there." Shepard smirked as he looked down at Miranda. "She wasn't very fond of Urz; she patted his head if he wanted her to. But she would've killed Joker and I if she found out what happened."
"Did my sister scare the great commander Shepard?" Ori asked with a smile.
"No, Miranda and I openly disagree with each other all of the time." Shepard laughed lightly as he thought of the pilot. "Joker on the other hand was terrified of her, he begged me to get Urz off the ship."
Oriana laughed. "Really, I know she can be intimidating, but terrifying?"
Shepard could feel Miranda's head shifting on his lap. "She used to scare some of the crew members too."
"Ori," A weak, raspy and confused voice called out from the commander's lap. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Oriana smiled as she kept her older sister in the dark. "Why do you ask?"
Miranda sat up in her chair. "I heard talking, I thought you needed something." She wiped the sleep from her eyes. "Why didn't you wake me up?"
Oriana's smile widened. "He told me not to."
Miranda hesitated before she looked towards Shepard. "J-John..." She stuttered as she looked at his smiling face. Miranda quickly launched herself out of her chair and hugged her lover tightly, her lips kissing his neck and face.
Shepard winced as his body ached. "Careful." He said with a light chuckle.
Miranda lightened her grip. "You scared me." She whispered softly as she kissed his jaw.
Shepard caressed the side of Miranda's face. She leaned into his touch. "Sorry," He smiled lightly. "I will try not to nearly die as often."
"Good," she said before kissing his lips deeply. She moved her mouth to his ear. "Because you still have a lot of things you need to do to me." She whispered seductively.
Oriana cleared her throat. "I will give you guys the room."
Miranda looked back at her sister and thanked her before turning her attention back to John.
Oriana got up to leave when there was a knock at the door. "I got it."
"Hello Oriana." The woman on the other side of the door said with a smile. "Is your sister still awake? I need to talk to her."
"It's great to see you again doctor." Oriana stepped to the side, letting Doctor Michel into the room. "She was sleeping for a little while, but she is awake now."
"That's good to hear, I was worried that I would have to slip a sedative in her tea."
Miranda rolled her eyes at the doctor's horrible joke... or at least she hoped it was a joke.
The doctor started to walk into the room. "Hello Miss..." Her words stopped as she saw the commander. "Shepard, you're awake. How do you feel?"
"Great, a little sore and stiff, but other than that I feel fine."
"That's good to hear." Michel's attention was turned back to Miranda. "Lawson, I wanted to inform you that Williams was escorted... well, carried out of the building and cannot return until you are gone."
Miranda nodded at the doctor. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." The doctor smiled at Miranda and Shepard. "I will leave you three alone for now." She said before she left the room, the door closed behind her.
Shepard gave Miranda an inquisitive look. "Why was Ashley removed from the building?"
Oriana slowly backed out of the room, not wanting anything to do with what was about to happen.
"Maybe you should ask her," Miranda rolled her eyes. "Considering that you persist on being friends with her."
Shepard raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Miranda," He reached out to brush the back of his fingers on her skin. "What's wrong?"
She caught his hand and pushed it away gently. "You trying to be her friend, she is destructive, manipulative, and obsessed with you."
John sighed. "I didn't let her back on the ship, so we probably aren't on the best of terms."
Miranda rolled her eyes. "You likely made up some excuse for it, like she is a leader and needs to use her talents elsewhere."
He scratched the back of his head nervously. "What did she do?"
"She assaulted me."
Shepard's eyes were consumed with rage. He thought it was just going to be about an argument, he would never have guessed that Ashley would actually attack Miranda. Ash had called him a traitor, questioned his humanity and pointed a gun at him. But when she attacked the woman he loved, she crossed the line. He kept trying to rebuild their friendship, but all Williams wanted to do was tear it to shreds.
John winced as he tried to sit up, his eyes examining Lawson for any sign of injury. "Did she hit you, are you hurt?"
Miranda felt a pang of sadness as she watched her lover struggle. None of this was his fault. She moved her chair closer to him and grabbed his hand. "She fractured my zygomatic." She said softly as she lightly pressed his hand to her damaged cheek, showing him where her face was swelled. "I had someone take care of it, I'm fine now." She pulled his hand to her lips and kissed it. "I don't want you around her. She is determined to rip us apart."
With his free hand, John pulled Miranda closer to him. He kissed the top of her head. "She won't." Anger burned in his veins, he was done trying to patch things up with Ashley.
Earth – Refugee Camp...
Name: Volkov Dasha
Age: 28
Place of birth: Russia, Moscow
Next of kin: None
Spouse: Volkov Artyom (K.I.A.)
Status in the Alliance: M.I.A. (presumed dead)
All of the words on the data pad seemed meaningless and unrelated to her. Subject twenty five scrolled further down the document, reading about her accomplishments as a sniper for the Alliance and her adduction by Black Watch. She still felt nothing, not even a small spark of pride or anger. She continued reading about all of the torture and unethical psychological and psychical experimentation that they put her through. The words still failed to cause any emotion to arise in her. Even as she read about the gruesome death of her husband at the hands of Cerberus, she still felt the same.
It was strange. Reading about all of the things that had happened to her, caused her to feel nothing. Yet, there was still a ravenous need for vengeance against all of those in Black Watch.
The only thing that caused her to feel was killing and... the man that sat across from her. She held feelings for him when most things caused her to feel nothing. She tried to think of what could have created these intense emotions of attachment and vengeance, yet she could not find anything. Her memories of the Black Watch facility and her life before were a blurry mess. The psychological torture and training that they put her through was supposed to wipe her mind of all emotion. Yet she still felt something for him, a man she knew almost nothing about.
Name: Mercer Andrew
Age: 30
Place of birth: United States of America, Chicago
Next of Kin: None
Spouse: None
Status in the Alliance: K.I.A
Five felt nothing as he read through his own file. His former self grew up practicing boxing and Karate, becoming a hand to hand professional by the age of twenty. His family was killed in the Akuze Massacre which pushed the young twenty one year old to join the Alliance. He excelled in the army, a professional in close quarter and stealth operations. He was also taken by Black Watch, and felt the same as the woman who sat across him. His memories were also just like hers, a blur that failed to stir any sense of emotion. The only things that made him feel was the blood of his enemies and... Her, he looked up from his data pad and gazed into twenty five's eyes. His heart raced and his veins flooded with adrenaline as if he was in combat. It made him uncomfortable. He was ready to strike, to kill, to pounce upon an enemy and rip them apart limb from limb. Yet... he was safe within the walls of their tent.
"We should look at each other's files." Twenty five said as she looked down at the floor, unable to maintain eye contact. "It would be good for us to learn each other's talents and abilities."
Five closed his eyes and rubbed one of his temples lightly. "Agreed, it would prove useful when planning our attack."
Twenty five got out of her chair, her slender body silently walking over to five. She sat down beside him and swapped data pads.
Normandy crash site – Abandoned ship...
Dust lied in thick layers upon everything. Dim emergency lights lit the command center of the abandoned ship.
Garrus was watching Tali fiddle with a terminal while James and the rest of the team were exploring the nearby area.
"Can you get it back online?" Garrus asked
"The wires are completely shredded." Tali said as she got off of the floor. "Whoever did this did not want anyone to fix this terminal."
"Shit." Garrus mumbled. "Do you have any idea where the engine would be?"
Tali shrugged. "Human's are notorious for putting the engine on the lower floors, we could try there."
Garrus nodded. "I guess it's the best shot we have."
One of the crew members ran into the room, catching the attention of the Quarian and the Turian. He tore off his helmet and threw it to the side before vomiting. Bits and pieces of undigested food floated in the sickly pale yellow paste.
"Garrus..." James called out. "You should come see this."
Tali and Garrus stared at the pale faced soldier before they quickly jogged over to James' voice.
Normandy crash site – Normandy – Crew's quarters...
Joker hobbled drunkenly toward the cafeteria, a bottle of bourbon clutched tightly in his grasp.
Stumbling over to the counter, the drunken pilot rummaged through the cupboards and fridge. "Hells yeah!" The pilot hollered as he found the bread, peanut butter and jelly.
"What is going on in here?" A voice asked sternly causing joker to jump and nearly drop the peanut butter.
"Holy shit Liara," Joker took a deep breath to calm himself. "We need to get you a bell."
"Is this what you have been doing the whole time we have been here," Liara was obviously frustrated. "While I have been working endlessly, trying to re-establish my connections, you have been what... getting drunk and making sandwiches?"
Joker applied a thick sloppy layer of Peanut butter onto one slice of bread. "I like to call it edible modern art, thank you very much." His words were slurred and more cynical than ever before.
Liara sighed, she was tired and cranky. She had to let this go. "Drinking is not going to fix what happened to EDI, please talk to someone." She walked over to the fridge and grabbed two bottles of water. "Here," She handed him one of the bottles. "At least try to rehydrate." She said with a light smile.
Joker grabbed the water and placed it down beside his half made sandwich. "Yeah, thanks."
"My door is always open." Liara said as she started heading back to her room. "Please try to keep it down in here."
The pilot slathered the other slice of bread in jelly. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." He mumbled to himself.
Joker pressed to two slices of bread together as Liara's doors closed. He took a bite and slowly chewed the sandwich, letting the taste fill his mouth. It was missing something. The pilot grabbed the bottle of bourbon and dripped some of the liquor onto the edible modern art. He took another bite and smiled lightly. "Perfect."
Normandy crash site – Abandoned ship...
The room was filled with the scent of rotted blood and death. Dried blood stained the walls and the skeletons that lied in a pile upon the floor with a dark red colour. Upon closer inspection of the bones, one could see deep cuts and puncture wounds; some of the bones were snapped in half.
He wouldn't go back there, not again. Garrus and Tali had ran over to see that vile scene that James found, but he wouldn't go back. The scent and taste of puke pervaded his mouth like a shot of hard liquor. A light humming started to fill the room as the lone crew member finally felt the presents of his solitude.
Then he heard it, a faint laugh or maybe a cry for help. It was not the cry of a man or woman, but that of a child. The man raised his gun and shone his light down the hallway.
"Anyone there?"
The darkness consumed his light and voice, another small scream was projected out of the dark abyss. He slowly started to follow the sound of the cries. "Hello?" He called out as he reached the door that contained the screams of the little child.
He waved his hand to open the door but it could only open a quarter of the way before jamming. "Hold on, I'm coming!" He yelled as he grabbed the door and forced it open, the door screeched painfully.
Once he got the door opened he stared at the child in confusion. "What... the fuck?"
In another room, far away from the vomiting Soldier, Garrus knelt down beside the medic. "Can you tell what happened to them?" He asked as he gazed out at the piles of bones and splatters of rotted blood.
"All I know is that they were eaten, whatever did this is incredibly strong."
The medic placed the snapped bone back onto the floor. "This is a mess."
"I already called Chakwas." James said as he leaned against the nearby door way. "This looks like a feeding ground." He muttered as he lost himself in the gory room.
There was a loud scream of mortal terror that quickly devolved into gurgles of painful desperation.
"Form up!" Garrus shouted as he ran towards the scream, his team following closely behind.
Garrus froze as he reached a door that was forced open, his team close behind. All of their eyes were fixated on the scene upon them, lost in a river of blood and death.
Earth – Hospital...
Miranda pressed herself into Shepard's side as her neck rested on his arm. Shepard pulled her closer with one hand on the small of her back, and the other caressing her arm as she hugged him tightly.
"Do you know if Cerberus gave the Alliance any information on me?" Miranda whispered into Shepard's ear.
"I don't know."Shepard whispered as he kissed her temple. "They normally keep me in the dark with stuff like that. Why, is something wrong?"
"No." Miranda said quickly. "Ashley just said some stuff to me that I was unaware she knew."
"Don't worry about her." Shepard said as he kissed her hand, comforting her as best as he could.
He knew that she was in a new position. The femme fatal was use to being the unknown, the puppeteer in the shadows with invisible strings. But she was no longer in the shadows, no longer in control. She was now an actress upon the stage, her actions and words were seen by all who were watching.
"Why should I not," Miranda huffed "She physically assaulted me and she is obsessed with you."
Shepard stroked her hip softly. "I promise I will handle it, she crossed the line." His hold on the woman in his arms tightened.
She used to hate how safe, warm, and blissful she felt in his arms, but she didn't care anymore. She savoured every moment like this one, indulging in all of the feelings that he gave her. Willfully deaf to the pragmatic voice that screamed at her, cursing her for thinking one man could keep her safe.
Miranda kissed Shepard's jaw as she snuggled closer to him. "John," she whispered softly into his ear. "I love you."
He stroked her jaw encouraging her to look into his eyes. "I love you too." He kissed her deeply and held her close, scared of ever letting her go.
Normandy crash site – Abandoned ship...
Blood dripped from the walls and ceiling, pieces of flesh clung to almost everything. The crew member who had been seen vomiting only moments before was on the floor, gutted like an animal. His intestines hung out of his body, the rest of his organs were too shredded to recognize. Bits and pieces of brain matter floated in the red pond that was forming on the floor. His eye balls were a soupy like liquid, lost within the mixture of blood and shredded flesh and organs.
The medic gazed into the room. "What is that?" He asked as carefully started to cross the room, his boot losing grip as he walked across the bloody paste of his comrade. Most of the crew looked at him in horror and shock as he pulled a small doll and a data pad out of the bloody mess. The doll's white porcelain face was stained with blood; bits of flesh were clumped and stuck in its blood soaked hair. The screen showed an audio file that was ready to play on loop. The medic stared at his squad mates as he pressed the play button. The speakers started to play the sound of a little girl laughing.
Garrus mandibles twitched in an uneasy manner. "For now on, everyone sticks together. That's an order."
