Five Seconds

Chapter 13: Dissonance

Authors Note: The wait is finally over! Though I have no doubt you've been busy with other (and probably better) fanfictions :3 College is still my main focus at the moment, but I will do my best to put out chapters when I can, and hopefully they will be satisfying for you to read as we go on in this adventure. All grammatical and spelling errors are my fault! So without further ado we continue!

"Are we fucking there yet?" Jack cursed as she shifted on her seat on the shuttle, looking over at the Cheerleader who seemed to get more agitated every time she asked.

"The shuttle is going as fast as it can, we're in a city, not in an open space where you can just 'gun it'" Miranda repeated, "Why you even bothered to come with is beyond me."

Usually Jack would take a little pleasure in pissing Miranda off, however this time the unexplained anxiousness she had killed anything she thought pleasant. What the hell did that green eyed bastard get himself into this time? She heard from Miranda that he was in a bad shape, but in what way? She didn't want to ask; instead she made it look like she was in it for the fight.

"What exactly happened?" Garrus asked. She looked over at the turian, he seemed pretty anxious himself, brushing his finger against the barrel of his sniper rifle.

"From what I can tell the Eclipse threw a toxin called Minagen X3 at them, it's dangerous, but can increase your biotic power for a time, Daemon got covered in the chemical and reacted to it violently," Miranda responded.

Jacks fingers clenched her shotgun tighter, she wanted to hurt someone, more then she usually did. She felt the ship jostle slightly, the door opening up to the open area, she could hear the sounds of gun fire echoing from her right, she was going to get to Daemon faster than she had expected…and to kill someone of course, right.

"This isn't good…" Shepard thought as she crouched behind wide crate, looking down at Daemon, his eyes wide open, his face slick with sweat. She hadn't even realized he'd been covered with the minagen at first, too focused on the incoming Eclipse mercs. Then she heard the sounds of pain coming from behind her. There was Daemon on the ground, grasping at his head, his body glowing head to toe with biotics, and then it faded, and he started to seize. She had no idea how she was going to pull him to safety without hurting him, until Thane lifted him up with his own biotics, leaving the Ranger twitching above the ground, setting him down behind cover while Shepard called for help.

At first she thought they would be able to make where they were, but the problem was that the Eclipse knew they had them outnumbered and out gunned. Shepard couldn't make a run for the hall, not with a seizing party member; someone else would probably get hurt in the process. They couldn't push forward because she wouldn't leave Daemon alone, and the mercs could easily zero in on them and waste their shields and drop them dead. And it would take far too much time and risk to let Kasumi pop in stealth and take out targets, they'd get smart eventually or hit her by accident. Like she said, this was not good.

She blamed herself for this; it was a terrible idea to bring two people that she'd never fought with before. She thought that she would be fine with Daemon, but now he was incapacitated. She pictured Garrus in her mind for a moment as she popped out of cover for a second, firing off a round at one of the mercs before ducking back behind cover. She missed that turian, she had missed him this entire mission, she always felt a comfort and confidence knowing that he was behind her with his trusty sniper rifle.

She glanced back to Daemon, giving a soft exhale of relief as his seizures finally stopped, but he still had that same blank look in his eyes. The relief was short lived however, when she felt the crate she leaned against begin to slip away from her, eyes widening she looked and saw the container rise up, that Eclipse leader Wasea had had enough of playing around it seemed. She lunged for Daemon, grabbing him as she tried to drag him over to Thane and Kasumi, but the bullets came flying for her, her shields whittling away, she cursed between gritted teeth, where the hell was the help she requested?

Just when her shields were gone and she thought she would bite that proverbial bullet, the Eclipse mercs firing on her suddenly got blasted back behind their cover.

"Yeah right on your asses!" the turian voice coming to her ears brought a huge amount of stress right off her shoulders.

He wasn't alone either, right after she felt the shake of a biotic wave rushing past her and into another group of Eclipse, Jack?

"I'll fucking destroy you!"

Yep, Jack.

She finally got Daemon behind cover, looking over as she saw Garrus, Jack, and Miranda take cover behind the crate she was just hiding on.

"How is he Commander?" Miranda asked, standing up as she took down one merc with her SMG before popping back down.

She looked back down at him before "He's stopped seizing, but we need to get him out of here, now." She popped back up, firing at one Eclipse merc, bringing the asari down as she saw another merc aiming for her drop with the help of Garrus' rifle, this was more like it! "Kasumi, you and another person take Daemon to the shuttle, get him to the med bay," she ordered.

Kasumi nodded, grabbing Daemon by the arms, Shepard first expected Thane to do it, and then she turned, seeing Jack suddenly roll out of cover, reaching their cover as she lifted Daemon up a little with her biotics. Is he why she was here? She shook her head, it didn't matter, "Cover fire!" she shouted as Jack and Kasumi began to move Daemon towards the door. The convict making a biotic barrier with one hand while Shepard and the team kept as much pressure off the two women as they could. When they got through the door, closing shut behind them Shepard grasped her rifle tightly "Alright, now it's our turn," she said.

Jack eased Daemon into the shuttle with a gentleness she wasn't used to; a part of her couldn't look at him in this state, another part wanted to see if he was okay. Why couldn't anything be simple with this guy?

She was about to climb into the shuttle when Kasumi beat her to it, jumping into it as she turned, looking down at her from beneath that hood of hers, "I'll take care of handsome here, you should go help the others," she said.

Jack gritted her teeth, looking back towards the sound of gunfire before looking back at the shuttle. Why was this pissing her off? Any other time she would have already been back there, but this little thief calling him 'handsome' made her want to strangle her with that damn hood of hers. A part of her realized arguing meant time wasted that Daemon could get help, "Fine!" she said, having to force it more then she expected "Get the fuck out of here!" she said.

She couldn't see Kasumi's face really, but there was a certain gleam there in those eyes that made her brown eyes narrow before the woman nodded once. "He'll be fine Jack," she said in a more serious tone then Jack had heard her use before.

The convict didn't respond to that, watching the shuttle door close before taking off without her in it. She watched the shuttle fly away, her fingers clenching, she was pissed, and she had no idea why...she finally tuned back to the sound of gunfire, reaching back as she grasped her shotgun. She knew only one way to get the anger out.

With reinforcements and her closest friend at her side what had been a bad day turned into business as usual. The Eclipse mercs folded beneath the pressure of the sudden turn of events. Finally Wasea of the Eclipse mercs fell in a bullet and biotic ridden heap, filling the large space with silence in what felt like hours. Shepard brushed away a bit of hair that stuck to her sweaty face as she relaxed, moving towards the desk Wasea had been hiding behind she found a data pad. After a moment of reading through she uploaded the data onto her omni-tool, "This is what we need, let's get back to the Detective before Samara changes her mind about waiting a day," she said, looking over at Garrus. "Thanks for coming," she said sincerely, looking over at Miranda and Jack as well.

"Come on, when have I let you down?" Garrus asked in that playful cocky tone of his.

"Nothing comes to mind…yet," Shepard smirked at him.

She watched as Garrus' mandibles twitched before he looked at her "You've got a cut on your cheek," he said.

Her eyes widen slightly as she reached up, touching her cheek, pulling back and looking at her cherry red armor, she saw the darker red fluid sliding down her finger, "Must have gotten grazed when they lifted the crate," She said.

Shepard reached up, about to place some medi-gel on the cut, but Garrus beat her to it, stretching his hand out he smeared the gel onto her cheek with his clawed hand. The feel of his hand against her cheek brought heat to her face, bowing her head slightly as she turned, hiding a blush as she coughed "Thanks," she said.

"Don't mention it," he said, coughing himself as his mandibles flared out, turning away as silence filled the room.

Shepard was actually relieved when Jack broke the silence, "Can we get the fuck out of here already?"

"Jack's right, let's get this data to the Justicar before she starts blasting her way out," Shepard said, looking around before she headed towards the exit.

His eyes slowly opened up, head throbbing and eyes stinging from the bright light. Daemon felt as someone had taken a sledge hammer to his head. Once his eyes became accustomed to the light he realized he was in the Med-bay on the Normandy. He reached up and rubbed at his forehead, what happened? Why was he in the Med-bay?

It came back to him in a rush that made his head spin, the red container with the strange powder, inhaling it, he felt as if his body was blazing with biotics…until the vision came and then darkness. It must have been the Minagen X3 he inhaled. He looked down at his hands slowly clenching them, somehow his…ability was connected to his biotics, he wasn't sure how, but that was how it was. More importantly what happened with the mission? His answer came when the Med-bay door opened. In came Doctor Chakwas and Shepard right behind her.

"It seems he's awake, good," the Doctor said, moving over to the bed, "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"A bit of a headache, otherwise I'm fine," he replied, reaching back rubbing the back of his head, "Are the others okay?"

"Everyone's fine," Shepard answered crossing her arms "Garrus, Miranda, and Jack came as reinforcements, Jack and Kasumi pulled you out of the battle zone."

Daemon's eyes wandered over to the window, seeing movement behind the glass, Jack? His green eyes moved back over to Shepard "We won't get so lucky next time," he said, there were a lot of mistakes made during the mission, and he was sure Shepard knew as well.

"You're right," Shepard said, looking to the side, "it was a mistake to bring two new people along without training with them, that's why every day we'll be doing practice fights on the fifth floor, pit teams against each other."

"Sounds like a plan," Daemon said, "What of the Justicar?" he asked.

"Samara is in the Starboard observation deck, opposite of your room," Shepard said, but the look in her eye suggested she knew why he was asking, "She's sworn an oath to follow my orders over her code…at least for a short while so she won't kill everyone on the ship."

"Fair enough," He said, turning in bed as he slowly stood up, he felt a little dizzy, but he at least didn't sway.

"Don't push yourself Colonel," Chakwas advised rising her hand slightly, "I'd rather you didn't become a regular in the Med-bay."

"The feeling is mutual Doctor," Daemon replied, "Thank you for the medical care all of the same." He nodded his head at her before he gave Shepard a salute, walking past them, heading to his room.

Shepard wasn't done talking to Daemon however, when he left she waited a few moments before following right behind him. She figured it was time for a bit of one on one with the Colonel like she usual had with the rest of the crew. Except for Garrus…nowadays he just kept muttering something about 'being in the middle of some calibrations' and it was starting to piss her off.

The door opened up, showing Daemon sitting at the piano, not playing, but just sitting down looking at the keys. His head turned at the sound of the door, his brow raising up slightly, he started to stand up, but stopped when Shepard raised her hand giving a shake of her head. "Was there something else you needed to tell me Commander?" He asked curiously.

Shepard walked over to the bar counter, sitting down on the stool resting her arm on the counter when she just asked, "How are you?"

His green eyes squinted at her slightly before he replied, "It's just a headache Commander it will pass."

"I'm not talking about that, how are you mentally, emotionally," Shepard elaborated. She watched as he looked back down at the keys of the piano. She didn't say anything else, not wanting to rush him in his response this wasn't something to be done in a hurry.

He was quiet for so long she thought that he wasn't going to answer before he said "Dissonance."

"I'm sorry?" She asked, the answer taking her aback, along with not having any idea in what he meant.

"Dissonance, it's a chord in music," He explained, holding up a finger before he placed his hands on the ivory keys, playing a chord on the piano.

When Shepard heard it she frowned a little bit, it didn't sound terrible, but it wasn't comfortable, it felt…incomplete.

"Dissonance is an unstable, tense chord, it is not like consonance, stable and restful, it needs resolution to move away from it," He explained then his fingers drifted over the keys and played another few notes.

With the added notes the feeling washed away from Shepard, feeling relaxed instead of the tension she felt in her mind, "So you need a resolution then," she said "and you think it is going to be found at your home that some random message showed you?"

"Maybe," he said, "If anything it is a start," he stood up from the piano, moving over to the window, hands sliding behind his back.

She didn't like the aspect of that topic at all, not right now, so she decided to change the subject, "You seem to know a bit about music," she commented "not to mention a pretty good singer."

"Music was one of the few things I found comfort in," He said, "I wasn't exactly popular when I was younger, if anything I was treated like a leper, except by one person anyways."

"Who was that?" Shepard asked.

"Lauren," He said. Shepard saw the Rangers eyes stare out into space; she knew he was thinking about her, she couldn't blame him for missing a close friend. "I wish I knew…what happened to them," He murmured softly.

"What do you mean?" Shepard asked, standing up from the stool, moving over to the window. She only got silence from him; gently shaking her head she tried a different subject, "If music is your passion, what made you join the military?" She asked.

"…I wanted to save lives," he said looking at her "A rather cliché reason I know, but I wanted to know…" he started before he stopped.

"Wanted to know what?" Shepard urged him.

"That I had a reason for who I am, that I could make a difference," he said, looking at her, his green eyes sad.

"You have a reason, and you did Daemon," Shepard said, crossing her arms as she leaned against the window.

His lips gave a little twitch as he turned from the window, walking over to the counter, "Nothing that matters now maybe not even back then."

"You can't think like that, you saved those men you fought with plenty of times I bet," Shepard said.

Daemon looked down for a moment before he raised his head up, "There's only one life I really ever truly saved," he said as he sat down on the stool, "We were in the middle of a town, at first everything was fine, but then I spotted a sniper on one of the roof tops, I saw where he was aiming and jumped in front of his shot.." Shepard watched as Daemon rubbed at his shoulder, "It was the first time I was ever wounded in battle, and I don't regret it for a moment."

"I imagine the person owed you a hell of a drink after that," Shepard said with a little bit of a smile.

"Actually I considered us even, he saved my life before…hell he was the reason I became a Ranger," Daemon said, "He was a good man, a good leader, he knew when to let things slide and when to crack the whip."

Shepard's brow perked a little bit at the last bit, but she just smiled a little more, "All good leaders do that for sure," She said.

"That's how I see it," Daemon said, the Ranger taking a deep breath before he exhaled "Thank you…for the talk Commander."

"Don't mention it," Shepard said, "and when you can, please try and talk with the rest of the crew, I don't want to hear you being in here all the time."

"Is that an order Commander?" he asked with a little perked brow of his own.

"If that is what it takes, then yes," She replied with a smirk.

She heard him give a soft "Hmph," of amusement before he said, "I will do my best."

"That's all I ask," She said, "Tomorrow we're going to help Jacob with his…dissonance," she said using the word Daemon used to describe himself.

"And bring his resolution eh?" Daemon said in an amused tone.

"Exactly, we'll be focusing on the teams personal problems for a bit, along with practice fights," She said before walking towards the door, "Good night Colonel."

"Good night Commander," She heard Daemon say before she went out the door, hearing it close behind her.

"Bring resolution hm?" She thought to herself as she went into the elevator "I hope we can all find some when this is all done with…"

Daemon watched as Shepard left, shaking his head softly as he moved back to his bed, laying on his back as he stared up at the ceiling, his mind going back to his vision...of the strange ships falling from the sky and the possible demise of Shepard. The question in his mind wasn't what if it happend. Rather it was when.

Authors Note: I'm sorry it was so short I'm a bad bad man I know _, but I at least wanted to post something. I at least hope it's fulfilling for now while I work on the next chapter. Thank you for your patience and by all means put a review whether critical or positive, it all helps!