Chapter Ten: The Citadel, Part II
In Which: David meets an unfamiliar face, gets pissed, and shit goes down. Meanwhile, Alex struggles to get freed and starts to take a stand but things are never as simply as they seem.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot and blah blah...

WARNING: Swearing, Violence

Anderson walked out of his meeting tired and totally unaware of the predicament Alex and Joe were facing.

The meeting went smooth enough with the ambassador giving them several planets they would need to visit during the next branch of their tour. He also warned them that the Turian Spectre Saren was working in the area. This warning was followed by a stern look in David's direction with an additional advisory that David "stays the hell off of Saren's toes…or whatever the Turian equivalent was."

So David was already tired and slightly tense when he began looking around for Joe and Alex. When he couldn't see either of them he brought out his omnitool and was greeted by a message from Joe.

In the alley by the Citadel Café. Had trouble with the kid.

Anderson frowned, already making a beeline for the location. The message worried him—his thoughts raced with various scenarios all involving Alex getting hurt or having a panic attack. In the back of his mind he realized that the wording of the message was off, but that could just be because Joe was occupied with Alex.

David hurried his steps, trying to get to them quickly. When he finally turned the corner into the alley, he felt his stomach grow cold.

Joe lay at the end of it, propped up against the corner. From what David could see the engineer was a bloody mess and seemed to be unconscious.

And Alex was nowhere to be seen.

Pulling out his pistol, Anderson jogged over to Joe, checking around the corner as he went. Seeing that the coast was clear, he knelt down and began checking on the guy's wounds.

"Dawson?" David asked. "Dawson, can you hear me?"

"Ander…Anderson?"

His voice was slightly slurred and he began attempting to sit up more but Anderson held him down.
"Don't move just yet." Anderson ordered, still looking him over. It looked as if his knee was dislocated and the crooked angle of his nose said that it was broken.

"They…they grabbed Alex." Dawson said between quick intakes of breath. David tensed up.

"Tell me what happened."

"There were four guys…grabbed her." His voice grew dark and angry. "Damn cowards jumped us."

Anderson felt himself scowl as Joe told his tale.
"Don't worry—we'll get her back." He swore.

"Anderson, how the hell did you find me?"

"I got your message." Anderson replied.

"I didn't send a message." Joe replied. "I don't even have my omnitool." He added in a low growl. David reached for his pistol, glancing up.

He wasn't surprised when he saw that there was someone there, although he did expect more than one guy.

David reacted instantly, pointing his pistol at the guy.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't shot you." David ordered. The man quirked a brow as if amused by David's threat and tossed Joe's omnitool forward.

"I have information." He replied, his voice laced with an accent that David slightly recognized. The Commander didn't allow his gun to waiver, trying to get a read on the guy in front of him.
The armor was too expensive to be anything but mercenary but it was unmarked, so he was a solo act. The scars on his face and worn gun on his side showed that he had seen violence.

Seeing that David wasn't budging, the guy added in another tidbit.
"It's information on Alexandra Shepard."

David's grip on his gun tightened.
"What the hell do you know about her?"

The guy shrugged, drawing attention to the Blue Suns tattooed on his neck.

"I know that she's some bloody orphan that you took in. And I know that her life is worth a shit-ton of credits to someone—alive is preferable."

The way he nonchalantly stated the 'valuable' Alex's life way pushed David over the edge. He had dropped his pistol and punched the guy. The mercenary spun and David grabbed his arm, twisting it back and forcing the man against the wall.

"If you touched her I will not hesitate to fucking shot you."

Behind him, David noticed Joe attempting to stand.
The guy chuckled now, shifting against David's grip.

"Calm the fuck down Anderson." He said. "I came to lend you a hand."

"A merc with a conscious? That's new." Joe commented.

"There's no honor in kidnapping a goddamn kid." He responded. "Plus, I have a history with the guys who were hired to nab her."

David let the guy go and stepped back, his pistol still out.

"Who are you?"

"Zaeed Massani."

David didn't even blink. He had heard of the mercenary before, back when it was in association with the newly formed gang called the Blue Suns. The last David had heard of Massani mentioned that he had been shot and then abandoned by his gang.
That explains his face, David thought as he stared at the man before holstering his pistol.

"Anderson." Joe warned. "You better know what you're doing."

"How can you help us?" David asked, ignoring Joe.

"Well, for one I can add another gun to your arsenal…unless you plan on going after the girl with just you and that cripple." Zaeed said. Joe grunted.

"We could call C-Sec." He argued but Zaeed shook his head.

"You do that and they'll just get the girl out of here before those bastards in C-Sec can even begin to look into it."

"And you know where they took her?"

"Chora's Den. The Shadow Broker has an information broker there that will hook them up with whoever put up the bounty." Zaeed explained. "And if you want a chance at getting the girl back then we need to get moving."

David nodded, stopping only when he saw Joe struggling to stand.

"Dawson, you're in no condition to—"

He was cut off as Zaeed moved forward and grabbed Joe's injured knee. There was a sickening pop and Joe let out a pained grunt as his knee went back into place. Standing up, Zaeed handed him a pistol.

"The more the fucking merrier." Zaeed grumbled as he started through the back alley. David shot Joe a glance as he started limping along.

"Thanks." He muttered. Joe scoffed.

"She has my jacket." He responded. "And if they get blood on it I swear nothing will stop me from murdering all of them."

As Zaeed led David and Joe through the back alleys towards Chora's Den, Alex was already waiting by its door.

Almost twenty minutes had passed since she had been taken from Joe and, in that time, she found herself going from being afraid to angry. She had stopped struggling when they shoved a pistol in her face and, instead focused on trying to figure out an escape route from this situation. This meant that she had begun listening

She had managed learned a lot about her captors.
The leader was a human in blue armor with a tattoo on his face that the others referred to as 'Don'. He had been the one to initiate the attack against Joe and carried around only a small pistol.
The other three were relatively quiet, simply frowning at her and muttering between themselves. The group as a whole seemed unfamiliar with kidnapping: they had put the handcuffs on her wrist but placed them over Joe's jacket, which gave her wrist a little more room to breathe.

And Alex hated them with every fiber of her being.

The door to the bar opened and Don and one of the bigger guys came out, giving the others a nod.
"No officers around." Don said. "Me an' Jack will talk with the broker. You two keep an eye on the brat."
He knelt down in front of her, pulling out his pistol.

"An' if you make the slightest noise, I will blow your little head off."

Alex didn't even flinch anymore. Instead she only glared at him, which was the best she could do in her current situation.

"Come on." He ordered, leading them inside. Alex was put in between the two biggest guys of the group which meant that her view of the interior was limited. The group made their way to the back, taking a seat in one of the 'pocket' areas. One of the guys, a small and skinny guy slid into a booth seat while the biggest of the four pulled up a chair. Alex felt Don grab the back of her head and force her forward, slamming it into the side of the table before forcing her down and shoving her under.

Her head throbbed and she could already tell that she was going to have a nasty bruise. She peeked out from under the table, spying only a few patrons in the bar: three Krogan and two Turians, all of whom were located on the other side of the bar. There were also a few Asari and female humans walking around, but no one seemed to be paying any notice to her.

Alex watched as two sets of feet walked away and realized that if she had any chance of getting away she had to first get her hand free.

It took a few minutes of shifting but Alex eventually got the jacket sleeve pulled up, out from under the cuff. The extra space gave her hand more wiggle room, but it was still tight enough to keep her hand from slipping out.

Gritting her teeth, Alex made her hand as small as she could and began pulling it up in order to get it free. She could feel the metal tearing into her skin before it popped out.

Alex gave a gleeful smile, finally feeling as though things were going her way as she stared at her free hand.

"Mikey grab the kid. We have to go."

She jumped at the sound of Jack, who had returned. There was barely enough time to put her hands back in place and slip the jacket sleeve back through the handcuff before the biggest guy reached down and pulled her out, dragging her to a nearby hall.

The sleeve through the handcuff gave the illusion that she was still bound and, for a moment, Alex was worried that it would fail. She was paranoid, expecting one of the guys to notice that her hand was free.

But no one noticed.

They led her down the hall, passing a Krogan and a pair of doors that seemed to lead to the bathroom. By the time they reached the back door, Alex's heart was hammering and, for the first time since she saw Joe get hit, she felt afraid.

When they reached the end of the hall they paused long enough for the door to open before Alex was forced forward.

A human man stood in front of her. She barely managed to get a good look at him before he grabbed her shoulder and yanked her to stand in front of a communications terminal.

"Is this her?" He asked as he held her forward. Alex was too busy craning her neck around to look at the guy holding her and her surroundings to look at the terminal, causing the guy grabbed her jaw and forced her face forward, making her squeeze her eyes in pain.

"Yes."

Alex froze, her eyes snapping open as she heard the familiar voice.

The terminal was showing a Batarian.
He had a scar on the left side of his face, crossing over two of his four eyes and stretching down to his smirking mouth.

Alex felt her heart hammering as she recognized him.

"Then where's our credits?" Don piped up, stepping forward. He put a hand on Alex's shoulder and, oddly, Alex felt inclined to stay with him. Anyone was better than the Batarian in front of him.

"You'll get your money just like we agreed: half now and half when I have her on my ship." The Batarian explained calmly. "Hiler," He spoke to the man that had put her in front of the terminal. "Keep her there until I arrive." He ordered. He gave Alex a chilling smile that made her stomach go cold before the line was cut.

"You heard him." Hiler ordered, pushing Alex aside. He took a seat at his booth, pouring himself a drink. The four mercenaries took various spots around the room, with Don setting Alex on the couch.

"Don't move." He ordered before walking away. Alex tried to stay calm and keep her breathing even. The last thing she needed was to have a panic attack now.

She took several breaths and looked around. The mercenaries and guards were spread out enough to where they would see if she got up.
There was a moment where Alex was stumped, her mind going over everything she saw before she came to a plan. It was risky and would give her one chance to get out.

But she had to take it.

She started by shifting in her seat and giving off a small whine. When no one noticed, she whined a bit louder. That finally caught the attention of the guy closest to her, who grabbed Don's attention.

"What do you want?" He growled as he walked up. Alex shifted again, trying to give him a pitiful look. Don raised an eyebrow.

"You need to piss?"

Alex nodded.

"Well too ba—"

"I don't think so, Mr. Wayne." Hiler suddenly interrupted. "She is not peeing on my furniture. There's a bathroom down the hall, send her and one of your men there."

Don scowled. "Are you sure about this?"

"Oh please Mr. Wayne," Hiler laughed, "she's just a child. What harm could she do?"

Alex slid off the couch as Don nodded to the biggest of the mercs— Mikey, if Alex remembered his name correctly. He led her down the hall to the bathroom.

He opened the door and stuck his head in, forcing two people out with a menacing snarl. Alex stepped inside and panicked when she realized that the guy might go to un-cuff her, only to hear him chuckle.

"I'm sure you'll be able to get your pants off if you're desperate enough." He commented before stepping out. Alex breathed a sigh of relief as she looked at what she had to work with.

The bathroom was small, holding only three meager stalls and two sinks. Alex's eyes were drawn to the ceiling: there was a vent over the wall between stalls. Alex quickly slid the jacket sleeve out of the handcuffs and went into a stall, locking the door behind her. Once that was done, she worked on pulling the handcuff off of her other hand. Like her right hand, it was a hard fit but after several seconds she finally pulled it off—pulling off several pieces of skin as well.

Tossing the handcuffs in the toilet—she wouldn't be able to use them for anything—she began focusing on the task ahead of her.

The wall was a good six feet high and thin, but it was her only way to reach the vents.

Carefully, Alex stepped onto the toilet and reached up to the top of the wall, pulling herself up with a little difficulty. After she had swung her leg over, effectively straddling the wall, she turned to the vent cover. Like the vents on the Hastings, these had only a few latches keeping them in place. It was easy enough to remove it, although setting it down proved difficult. She finally managed to balance it on the joint where the two stall walls met.

That's done, Alex thought with relief. She reached up and grabbed the edges of the vent, pulling herself up.

That's when a bang echoed throughout the bathroom.

"Hurry up!" Mikey ordered. Alex complied with his order, hurriedly climbing up. She had nearly gotten in when her foot, in an attempt to help push her up—hit the cover. She froze, hearing it clatter to the ground with a loud crash, and sprung into action.

"What the fuck?!" She heard Mikey yell out. She began crawling forward without any idea of where she was going while cursing the four inches she had grown, which made travel through vents harder than it used to be.

She took a left at the first fork in her path, remembering that left went away from the room she had been brought to. The sounds of angry yells reached her ears and made her all the more determined to get out.

She wondered if Joe was okay by now. He had to be, right? After all, she had been gone for nearly an hour. By now David had probably found him and they were going to come for her.

Right?

Alex had been so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the vent she was on until it gave out from under her, sending her crashing down.

She had landed on her back with a groan that was covered up by the loud music of the bar. She was still in Chora's Den, having landed on the dancer's platform. Quickly getting up, she noticed that there were only two human women up with her and they were both giving her curious stares.

On the lower part, however, the mercenaries had come out from the hallway and began yelling at her.

Alex quickly scrambled up and, without hesitating, jumped onto the ground below. She landed on the bar awkwardly, sending her face-first onto the ground. That landing had also been clumsy and had caused her to put her weight on her left wrist which gave out a sickening crack.

The adrenaline was rushing through her veins now, pushing the pain to the back of her head as she got back up and tried to find the door. In the corner of her eye she could see some of the mercenaries running into some Krogan patrons, which began a fistfight.

Spying the door, Alex made a dash for it. She was only a few yards away. She was close.

Someone grabbed her injured wrist and yanked her back.

Alex turned to find Don snarling at her. He pulled her closer and she began looking around in desperation. She had to get free. She was so close.

There was a bottle. A large and heavy-looking one sitting on her right.

Alex grabbed it and swung with everything she had. It hit Don on the side of his head and he let go of her wrist to clutch the wound.

Taking her chance, Alex ran for the door.

She made it.

It was almost too good to be true. Alex actually did pause momentarily before jumping at the sound of an angry Don. She darted over, heading for the doors that led to the lower wards.

The wards, as she feared, were empty and a maze of alleys and buildings.

And she didn't know this place.

Alex frantically turned in an attempt to lose her pursuer, only to feel him grab the back of her shirt. He yanked her back and whirled her around.

"You. Little. Fucking. Bitch!" He roared, backhanding her across the face with his pistol. Alex fell back, landing on her injured wrist and tasting blood in her mouth.
Don towered over her, the hand that he had hit her with holding his pistol. His head was bleeding from where she hit it and he glared at her with a burning hatred.

"Mahrik said not to kill you—he never said anything about wounding you." He snarled. Alex began to scramble back. She was cradling her injured hand, too scared to try and stand.

Don aimed his gun at her and Alex flinched.

"Don't. Move."

The threat made Alex jump, although her fear was overcome with the joy of seeing David pointing a gun at Don's head.

"What are you going to d—"

Don's question was cut off as David's hand shot out and twisted the mercenary's arm until he dropped the gun. It clattered to the ground by Alex's feet.
David shoved the guy into the wall, letting him go and backing up while still pointing his pistol at him.

"Alex?" He asked, his voice softer. She stood and quickly went over to him. "Alex, I want you to go to Joe."

Alex looked over, relieved to see Joe alive and relatively okay. She glanced back up at David though, reluctant to leave his side.

"I'll be there in a minute." David said reassuringly. Alex finally let him go, darting over to Joe.

Joe didn't say anything, simply leading her around a corner. He set her on a pile of boxes as he looked over her face.

"You okay?" He asked her. She nodded, glancing over to where David should be emerging.

"He'll be fine." Joe muttered, gently grabbing her chin and tilting her head back.

As Joe checked on Alex's wounds, David was facing down Don.

He grabbed the guy's shoulder and whirled him around, slamming him against the wall.

"Who hired you?"

The guy gave a smirk.
"Like I would ever tell you."

David responded by punching him, breaking his nose.

Don sputtered and David slammed him against the wall a little rougher, noticing Massani out of the corner of his eye.
"I'm going to give you one more chance." He growled. "Who hired you to take her?"

"You're gonna have to be tougher than that." The mercenary taunted. David glanced at Massani, who nodded, and then obliged the man.

He gave another punch to the face and then brought his knee up, hitting the guy in the groin. The guy went to fall down, but David forced him to stand.

"I'm going to make something very clear: That girl is someone I care for greatly. Someone that I will kill to protect. Now, either you tell me who hired you or I will leave you as nothing but a bloodstain on the pavement."

The guy seemed to finally understand David's point.

"It was a Batarian. Mahrik—Somethin'. Contacted us through the Shadow Broker. That's all I know, I swear."

David let him go and walked away, not even blinking as Massani went over to him.
It had been part of their deal: If Massani helped them get Alex, then he got the mercenaries. And he had helped get Alex.

The proof of Massani's help was currently facing Joe, although she immediately got up and darted over to David as he turned the corner.

"Alex." David said with a relieved smile. She looked up at him and he felt his stomach flip at the sight of her bruised face.
She had two major bruises: one on her forehead and one stretching from her cheekbone to her mouth. There was also a cut on her cheekbone where the guy's gun had cut into it and a small trickle of blood came from her mouth.

"Kid, I'm sorry." He muttered, holding her close. Alex buried her face into his coat.

"We need to move." Massani ordered, coming out from around the corner. David felt Alex jump and tense up.

"He's a…" David wasn't sure what to call Massani.

"A friend." Massani finally said, holding up a small object. Alex's eyes widened as she recognized Pup. Massani tossed it and she caught it with her uninjured hand, holding it close.

David glanced at Joe to make sure he was ready, and then gently grabbed Alex's shoulder.

"Let's get out of here." He said. She nodded allowing him to guide her back through the alleys. As they walked, David sent a message to Marcus saying that they had to talk immediately and to prep medbay.

The walk to the elevator was hurried and kept mainly to the shadows. It wasn't until the doors closed behind them that Alex relaxed and leaned onto David.

"We'll get out of here in a minute." David muttered. Joe stood in front of them with Zaeed by his side, the two of them in deep conversation.

The elevator slowed to a halt and Alex smiled at David, excited to go home.

But things were never that easy.

As the doors slid open David saw the glint of a rifle before it hit him in the face. This was followed by the feeling of Alex being pulled away as another guy tackled him.

He began fighting with everything he had, twisting the rifle his assailant had hit him with out of their grasp. He could hear Massani and Joe fighting as well and caught a glimpse of Alex being pulled away from them with a gun by her head.

Alex was staring at him, fighting the Batarian that had a hold of her arm. She could see that the two groups were evenly matched three on three but the surprise attack had put David and his group on the losing side.

Her vision of them was suddenly cut off as she was yanked around a pile of cargo, Mahrik still pulling her along.

Alex gritted her teeth. She was tired of being dragged around like she was nothing.

"Come on brat." Mahrik growled, yanking her towards the ship. "You've cost me a lot of money—money that you will earn back."

Right then, Alexandra Shepard decided to do something.

"No!"

Mahrik jumped as Alex spoke and yanked her arm back.

"What?"

"No." Alex repeated. "Let me go!"

Mahrik snarled and held her arm in a bruising grip. "You're coming with me and you're—"

"No!" Alex insisted, pulling back. "I'm not going anywhere with you. I'm not afraid of you anymore!"

That wasn't entirely true-Alex was still frightened by him, but simply did her best to ignore the feeling. Mahrik snarled and pulled her again, still not letting go.

The one fatal flaw in Mahrik's attempted kidnapping of Alex was that he rarely did any of the labor himself so he had simply believed everything would go according to plan. He never expected the twelve year old to attempt an escape, and certainly didn't expect for two Alliance soldiers and Zaeed-Goddamn-Massani to help her.
The fact that he had thought the girl would come over willingly had meant that he hadn't even bothered putting on armor.

And Alex used his lack of armored pants to her advantage.

Her foot went up and kicked him in the shin with all her might. He yelled in pain and his grip loosened. Alex wrenched her arm away, the momentum causing her to backpedal in an attempt to regain her footing and balance.

Mahrik was furious. He raised his pistol.

Alex attempted to twist around.

There was a shot.

The sound reached David's ears as he finally managed to knock his assailant out, using the guy's assault rifle against him.
The moment he heard it his heart stopped before he darted down the docks, not even glancing back at Joe and Massani. He went to where he last saw Alex and the Batarian, pulling his gun as he turned the corner.

What he found made his blood go cold.

Alex was on the ground, the Batarian already climbing into the ship. He attempted to shot the bastard, but it was too late. The doors shut behind him and the ship shot away from the Citadel docks.

"David..."

David immediately dropped down as Alex whimpered, rolling her onto her back. She had one hand clutching her left shoulder, covered in blood.

"Alex. Alex, I've got to see the wound." He urged, gently pulling her hand away. It revealed a bullet hole the size of a bottle cap that passed through her shoulder. David gently rolled her onto her right side, looking at her back and finding another hole, slightly smaller.

An entry wound, he thought both relieved and worried.

"Alex, this is going to hurt." He warned before he pressed down on her wound. She let out a small whimper, grabbing at his hand with her uninjured hand.

Trying to keep focus, he began assessing the situation.
A through and through shot lacked the possibility of infection but held the complication of two open wounds.
Then there was the addition of the location of the shot: it had entered an inch to the right of her armpit, exiting an inch above it. David was not a medic, skilled in only basic first aid, but his time in the first contact war had taught him the location of the major arteries in the body.

Left Shoulder.

Brachial artery.

A quick glance told him that the wound hadn't nicked the artery, she wasn't bleeding enough for that. But she was still susceptible to shock.

Her panicked blue eyes met his brown.

"You're going to be alright." He said to reassure them both. She bit her lip but nodded.

"Anderson."

David looked up as Massani knelt down on the other side of Alex. He had a small canister of medigel in his hand, held out in offering to David.

David didn't bother taking the medigel, instead ordering Massani to come over to his side.

"Alex, I'm going to roll you over so we can get your back fix alright?"

"O-okay."

Her voice was shaky but the response told him that she was still lucid. Carefully, he rolled her onto her right side, allowing Zaeed to rip the bullet hole in the jacket and in her shirt open more so that he could apply a little of the medigel to the wound.

Alex hissed and David felt her hand tighten around his wrist.

"I know it stings kid." He muttered as they rolled her back. David wished they could apply more but they had to be careful: kids were easily overdosed by the stuff.

"C-Sec is here. You're crippled friend is explaining what happened." Massani said. "You should get her to the hospital."

David nodded, thinking along the same lines, and carefully scooped up Alex before standing.

"Don't worry kid, I've got you." He whispered as he headed towards C-Sec and the elevator.

Notes:

First off: Zaeed Goddamn Massani is really hard to write for me, so major apologies for that. He will be featured in future chapters, so any pointers on writing him would be helpful!
Now: Thank you all for reading this far! I know this chapter is rather long, but it felt wrong to cut it during any part. Hopefully you guys enjoyed this!

Also, I know a few people wanted to see Joe beating up some guys in this chapter, but considering the injuries he sustained in the last one I figured he wouldn't be fighting very well. However fear not, for he will have more opportunities to kick ass in the future.

—Andi