Author's Note: I think I've gotten into a rhythm for writing, so rejoice, the story begins to move once again. And beware, here is where it begins to kick into gear and some real changes begin to happen.

As always, read and review.

The catwalks creaked and strained, moving back and forth, forcing us to move slower than I would like.

I moved next to Liara, doing my best to keep her upright.

Her blood sugar has to be somewhere in her socks. No wonder she's in such bad shape. Too bad I can't run an IV while we're running for our lives. Wish I knew more about asari medicine. Something to look into when we get back to the ship.

We reached the entry borehole without any hostiles appearing. Shepard took the lead, but staggered slightly when the ground shook again. She barked, "Williams, take point, Tali, watch our backs, I've got a bad feeling about this."

I'm glad we didn't have to fight back there. Means that we can get out of here ahead of the worst of the earthquake and whatever else. Still makes me nervous about something having changed though. What could have caused it to change? I never told anyone about that part yet. There's something going on here that I don't understand.

Liara stumbled again. I caught her before she could hit the ground, and asked

"Are you okay? How do you feel?"

She grimaced. Something in her face told me that she hated being a burden.

"Some discomfort. It is also disconcerting to attempt to do something as familiar as walk and to have one's body disobey."

I gave her a smile, hoping I could cheer her up.

"I am somewhat familiar with the experience. They put us through exhaustion drills at times in the academy. We'll get you on board the Normandy and get you some food and fluids, give you a chance to get cleaned up. You'll feel much better."

She returned my smile with a grateful smile of her own.

Up ahead, Shepard was at the exterior hatch to the mine. She apparently was nervous about the lack of resistance thus far and had Ash and herself stacked up against either side of the hatch as if about to clear a room.

She hit the control to open the hatch and the both of them leaned into the doorway to check for hostiles. The moment the hatch opened, several things happened at once.

My Omnitool lit up, causing me to look at the alert. As a result I wasn't looking when a barrage of fire came through the hatch. My 'tool was reading a lot of hostiles. There was nearly a reinforced platoon of geth out there, including Armatures and...I looked at my 'tool in horror, a Colossus.

I looked up, finally having registered the fire that Shepard and Ash were taking. Ash had taken a round in the arm, and Shepard was bleeding from a near miss to the side of her face.

Liara, beside me, had crouched down and readied her biotics.

"Shepard! I'm reading a crapton of geth out there, including a Colossus. I don't know how they hid from us." I shouted over the comm.

"Doc, tell me something I don't know!" came her retort. "Normandy! We are pinned down by heavy fire at the entrance to the mine. Hostiles estimate reinforced platoon strength. They have heavies, repeat, they have heavies. Need reinforcments and an evac ASAP."

Static.

"Damn it. Doc, work with Tali on getting a signal through." I could hear Shepard working with her biotics.

Tali's voice came then, shrill in near panic.

"Hostiles behind us!"

I made sure Liara was down with a glance and rushed back to help Tali.

Sure enough, there were 8-10 geth and the missing Krogan.

I whipped out my assault rifle, and began laying down fire. I saw one geth drop, leaking opaque white fluids.

Tali's shotgun discharged, dropping another geth's shields, but it ducked into cover before either of us could take it down.

I heard a grunt of effort from just behind me. I turned to see Liara encased in a corona of biotic energies. I turned back to see that many of the geth had been lifted off the ground orbiting what looked like a miniature star, but darker.

A Singularity! I've never seen one before. That'll keep them off our backs.

I turned back to congratulate Liara, but only just managed to stop her from hitting her head on the ground as she fainted.

Up at the hatch, I heard more gunfire, and an enormous impact that shook the tunnel again. Followed by the distinctive Whump, Whump, Whump of a biotic shockwave.

The Krogan howled with rage and attempted to throw something at us with his own biotics.

I watched as a ripple moved through the air, the lensing effect it had on the catwalks behind it attesting to how powerful an attack it was.

I shouted to Tali, "Get back!" and covered Liara's insensate body with my own as the krogan's attack intersected perfectly with Liara's Singularity.

You know how explosions are always loud in vids? Not accurate to a biotic explosion whatsoever.

There was a flash of light and an almost soundless blast that knocked the three of us nearly into Shepard and Ash, 20 feet away.

After a few seconds, I lurched to my feet, a ringing in my ears. Running to the base of the tunnel with my rifle at the ready and a plasma charge ready to fire.

I was not prepared for the destruction I found.

The geth had been torn apart into pieces no bigger than my spread fingers.

The Krogan, was impaled on what was left of a catwalk railing in multiple places. From what I could see, at least one of his hearts had been pierced and maybe a liver.

The catwalks themselves had been severed from their mounts and the elevator rails creaked as they leaned our way.

My mouth dropped open inside my sniper's hood. But then the Krogan stirred.

My attention snapped over to him and let loose with my incineration blast. It hit him dead center and set him ablaze.

With a roar he was on his feet and charging. I got a few rounds into him, but it didn't stop his charge.

I was hit in the torso and knocked off my feet. I felt several somethings snap as I hit the wall, sandwiched between it and the krogan's fury. The wind was knocked out of me and I gasped for air.

This is it, this is how I go out...how pathetic is that. Can't even survive the first major mission.

My acceptance of death was premature, however. Without warning, the krogan's head exploded.

Beyond the huge, yet suddenly limp body, stood Tali. With her shotgun smoking and still aimed at what had been the krogan's head.

I pushed the bulk pinning me to the side with a grunt of effort and hissed with pain. It hurt to breathe.

What the Hell! I must have some broken ribs. No wonder people describe it as your chest being on fire.

Tali helped me to my feet.

"Thanks, I thought I was dead for sure." I managed to gasp, still fighting the pain as I tried to catch my breath.

"Not a problem. I still owed you for saving my life." Tali's helmet dropped to her chest rather than meet my eyes.

I pulled out my 'tool and ran a quick scan on myself.

several broken ribs, and a few bruised. no internal bleeding, thank heavens.

The renewed gunfire from the exit reminded me that we were still in a heavy firefight.

"Shepard, I might be able to cause some confusion in the ranks up there." Tali said as we made our way back to them.

"Go ahead," came Shepard's reply in between shotgun blasts.

"Doc, you're wounded?"

"Yeah, ribs."

"Then you keep working on getting a signal through."

"Aye aye."

I opened my 'tool again, and tuned it to the various Alliance communications bands. I got nothing but static.

They're jamming us. I wonder if its broad spectrum or just military bands...

I tried one of the civilian bands, and got nothing. On my third attempt, I managed to get a line through to Joker.

"Normandy! We are in need of reinforcements and immediate evac. We are pinned down at the mouth of the mine by a crapload of geth, including heavies. We have multiple wounded. What's your position?"

I quickly patched the usable band into the team's comms.

Joker's normally snarky tone was absent as he replied, "We had to backtrack a bit to offload your extraction team. They are inbound, should be there soonest."

"Roger, Normandy. Please alert Medbay to be ready for cases of GSW, broken bones and exhaustion and dehydration."

"We'll be ready."

I looked up from my 'tool to meet Ash's beautiful eyes as she leaned back into cover after loosing a salvo at the geth attempting to storm our position.

"AHA!" came Tali's triumphant whoop. I risked a peek out of cover as Shepard threw another geth away from the entrance.

One of the Armatures had turned on its fellows and was wreaking havoc.

Shepard grinned and said to Tali, "Attagirl."

Behind our temporary ally (dare I call him Bob?), there was a series of explosions clustered around the Colossus as it prepared to fire. The shockwave of the impact washed over us, kicking up ashes in our eyes, as the Normandy passed overhead. The Colossus' shields flickered, and flickered again, as it came under fire by Bob the Armature.

The fire aimed at our position had slackened enough that I could take a few shots over Shepard's shoulder with my pistol.

As I did so, I could see a very familar krogan charging into the Colossus, firing his enormous shotgun as he charged. Its shields finally died just as Wrex reached it and plowed into one of its legs. The huge geth turned to fire at the now meaningful gnat twisting at its leg, but Wrex had taken hold of the leg and wrenched with a herculean effort...and ripped the leg out of its housing.

The sudden loss of stability knocked the walker's aim askew, and the powerful round it had aimed at Wrex hit a cluster of 3 geth troopers instead, incinerating them despite their shields.

The tide is turning!

Geth began dropping all around in time with repeated sniper shots I could hear over the noise of battle.

Several geth lifted into the air as Kaidan appeared in Wrex's wake. His captives did not remain still for long, as they soon impacted the ground with impressive force. The marines following him were bearing what looked like grenade launchers, from the explosions that followed them.

The geth began retreating.

I tried the Normandy again and found that all jamming had ceased.

Shepard took advantage of the slackening fire aimed our way, and with a blur of blue light charged into the face of the enemy, causing further mayhem.

Just then, an unfamiliar voice came over the comms.

"Very well done, Though I did expect more, even from our first encounter. More the fool me, I suppose."

"Who are you, and are you responsible for this attack?" I ground out into the radio.

"Ah, yes, where are my manners? I am Joseph Drake. And yes I am aware that you are recording my voice for later identification and trace. Much good may it do you, Doc. May I call you Doc? Everyone else seems to."

"Why are you attacking us? Are you working for Saren?" It was difficult not to snap.

"Saren, that pretender? You really have no idea, do you? What you're capable of? Ah, my friend, Saren might be the Commander's foe, but you and I have more in common than any of these other plebeians. But I shan't deprive you of the joy of discovery. Learn well, Lieutenant. We will meet again."

I lay there, stunned. Barely noticing that the last of the geth had been mopped up.

What could he possibly mean? There was something about him that was...familiar.

My musing was shattered when Ash took my hand to help me to my feet again.

She ducked under my arm and put an arm about my waist.

I smirked and said, "Hey, beautiful, come here often?"

Ash shook her head, but there was a smile on her face.

"I'm beginning to think you get injured just so you can put your arm around me when I help you to the med bay." She glanced at me, mischief in her eyes, "Unless you just wanted a hug from anyone, and thought that a krogan would do. Newsflash! Not all krogan are as cuddly as Wrex."

I chuckled, and winced as my ribs lit up with pain. "Yeah...I think I figured that out. I'll limit my cuddling to Wrex from now on." I looked at Ash, "Unless you'd like to volunteer, that is..."

By this time, we had arrived at the Normandy. Kaidan stood at the entrance to the cargo bay, and true to form, Shepard was behind us, ensuring that everyone got aboard. I called to Kaidan. "Hey, was that airstrike your idea? That was risky but brilliant."

Kaidan shook his head, "That was all Vakarian's idea, down to sending in Wrex after the colossus and everything."

I stumbled a bit, and winced as my ribs were jarred. After the wash of pain passed, I could hear Shepard mutter, "...impressive..."

We had all made it aboard, hardly a minute to spare before the volcanism buried the site.

Admittedly, Liara had been carried aboard on a stretcher with an IV, but we didn't lose anyone, and achieved our objective. Despite the unforseen difficulties with our exit strategy.

"I see your plan, young man. You get wounded to get out of work." Karin chided.

"I must disagree, milady. I wished to spend more time in your divine company." I flinched away from the cold instrument as it brushed my skin.

"If nothing else, it might improve my own bedside manner."

Karin was busy scanning my ribs. We had been aboard now for about an hour. I knew the triage order, unconsciousness before walking wounded. Liara had been fussed over, but ultimately the diagnosis was the same I had given her. Fluids, food, and hygiene to raise her mental outlook.

"It would seem that your head isn't the only stubborn thing about you, Ben. You have several broken ribs, several more bruised, a cracked spinous process to a vertebra. But you have no organ trauma, so you'll be on light duty for only a few days. You should make a full recovery." Karin's lips pressed together firmly and her eyes were steel. "When I heard you had been charged into a wall by a krogan..." She shook her head, looking down. "I feared you would need organ replacement or would be crippled."

Her manner was brusque as she bustled about gathering the tools needed for regenerating the bone.

I sighed, then winced again. "It would seem I finally broke my streak. 25 years plus without a broken bone, and now all these at once." I felt a grimace on my face.

Perhaps there is something I need to learn here. I dunno, more specific empathy for patients maybe?

Karin turned back, laden with medical equipment. "Then perhaps the next time you confront a hostile krogan, you should do so from behind cover. If you come to this medbay looking like an insect that has smashed against a shuttle hull, even with all the marvels of medical science I could not fix it."

As she began applying the osseus regenerator contacts to my ribs, I admitted with a grimace "LIke I told Ash, I'll restrict my krogan cuddling to Wrex in the future."

That got a chuckle out of her. "A good plan. Now, you know that these need to be in close proximity to the breaks for at least 16 hours, so stay put, or next time I'll charge you a bottle of brandy in advance to patch you up."

"Hail Caesar!" I added with a mock salute.

"Oh, hush. It's definitely true that any kind of medic makes the worst patient."

She started walking away, having finished the setup for the miracle machine that would fix my ribs. "I'll be working with Williams for now, so if you need anything, let me know."

"Aye aye."

With that, Karin disappeared behind the privacy barrier, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

Who is this Joseph Drake? What is he talking about, we have more in common than with others? I'm definitely not as snobby as he is. At least I hope not.

That ambush was so well done, we barely survived. How did he know we were coming, and were we'd be?

I almost gasped aloud when another thought occurred to me.

What if Drake is also from another universe?

Is that what he meant when he said we had more in common with each other than with others?

I've got to tell Shepard about this.

I opened my 'tool and composed a private message to Shepard. Essentially it said: We need to talk privately.

Once it had been sent, I lay back and tried to get comfortable. A task made more difficult by the placement of the regenerator nodes and the location of the breaks themselves. They were spread pretty evenly between the front and the back. On both sides even, so there was not a position I could really be comfortable in. I made the best of it that I could.

Karin opened the privacy curtain and both she and Ash stepped out.

Karin's head was turned to look over her shoulder at Ash. "Now remember, don't overdo it. I'll take those stitches out tomorrow, but if you pop them with overexertion I'll take it out of your hide."

Ash glanced at me, but answered Karin with a roll of her eyes. "You got it, Doctor."

I gave her a half smile.

Karin went back to her desk, but Ash stopped by the foot of my diagnostic bed. She lightly trailed her nails up my shin, through my shipboard pants, following her fingers with her gaze.

"You get better. Wouldn't be nearly so much fun without your wit on the team."

She met my eyes for a moment, and then looked back down.

I smiled and quipped, "Well, I had just about given up, but since you ask, I'll pull through."

She chuckled, a warm and fond sound. "You be sure that you do, or I'll bring you back just to kick your ass. We need at least one officer on the crew who understands how to work for a living."

She started walking toward the door.

In my best (fake) drill sergeant voice, I said, "Dismissed!"

Ash turned around and walked backwards out the door with a salute and a grin on her face.

"Aye, Sir."

As I watched the door close behind her, I was left in silence except for the low buzz of the osseus regenerator.

Only one thought was on my mind.

Seeing Ash enjoy herself makes my heart smile.