I don't own ME.
The platform fell silent as the last sounds of gunfire died away and Ashley carefully rose behind her cover. The geth's and Husks' dead holey bodies were lying scattered across it where they fell when one of the marines managed to hit them. Shooting them with two Sentinels who'd first got rid of their shields was a lot easier then what she'd had to put up with before Commander Shepard's team had found her.
The Commander had already jumped over the crate she'd been hiding behind to make sure they were really dead and the other two marines followed, their posture relaxed, completely trusting her to finish off any surviving geth or those zombies.
"That was a great job, Commander," Ashley commented and crouched to the Husk closest to her to examine it. To her horror she realized that its features still resembled one of the colonists. She didn't know his name, but could remember him. He'd worked at the spaceport, but now… She gulped and stood up quickly, trying to forget the empty eyes, the face larded with electronics and transparent tubes. A dark blue liquid was in those tubes. It had fluoresced when the thing had been still alive.
A bark of her Mattock punctuated the silence as Shepard shot two bullets into Husk she stood above, her face emotionless. Then she finally collapsed the rifle and snapped it to its slot. "You weren't all bad yourself, Chief," she replied in professional voice and shot a quick glance towards the object they had found at the dig site. And suddenly Ashley noticed that she was holding the Mattock in her left hand. But she could swear the Commander had been holding in her right hand.
"Our work here is done," Maya said and paid a glance to the beacon before turning her back to it. She lifted her hand to her helmet to contact the ship.
Unlike Shepard, both Lieutenants still stared at the beacon. John was frowning, but Kaidan looked intrigued. "Amazing, isn't it?" Ashley asked when she walked to them. So they stood there, staring at the strange, unknown device that emanated eerie green light. Only a few steps parted the beacon and the group and Ashley suddenly shuddered. Something about it made her skin crawl.
"Unbelievable," one of them responded. Kaidan, that's how the Commander had called him. Ashley blinked. Only now she realized how weird it was that she used his first name. She doubted Kaidan was his last name.
"A functioning Prothean technology," Kaidan added, seemed really fascinated by it.
"This isn't how I imagined the beacon to look like," John Shepard commented, folding his hands over his chest. He turned around and headed to the Commander, leaving Kaidan and Ashley together.
When he joined her, she was calling Joker. Despite knowing he simply had no way to see her, she nodded at something he said. "Thanks, Joker. No need to rush, though. The site is clear. Shepard out," she closed the comm channel and turned to John standing beside her. She grinned. "Twenty five headshots," she said in low voice, reminding him suddenly very vividly of Tanya. This was her game and apparently had told his sister. "Six of them Husks. It was damn difficult to hit those bastards," she shook her head and her eyes travelled back to the beacon.
They widened and she pushed John aside abruptly, nearly knocking him off his feet as he hadn't expected it. She didn't say anything. Speaking was a waste of energy. She simply darted forward. What happened then was very quick. Kaidan had been staggering forward the beacon and yet trying to get away, when she caught him by his waist. Using the momentum of her speed, she managed to shove him away. Suddenly she felt her feet leave the ground and then she heard the most ear-splitting, high-pitched scream that almost made her head burst. It turned into grow immediately and she could feel it vibrate within her chest as a sequence of images flashed in front of her. It didn't make sense. None of it made sense and her head was killing her. The images, full of creatures with four eyes she'd never seen before being killed, butchered by hundreds, thousands by...by whatever was screeching so much. It was giant, enormous and…and…she wanted to close her eyes, but her body didn't respond to her.
But suddenly her eyes were shut and she could see bright light through her eyelids. Her head was killing her and she felt sore all over. She felt she was about to black out when a pressure on her hand brought her to present and she fought her heavy eyelids to finally open.
…
When May's body stopped tumbling, Kaidan finally managed to wriggle free of Ashley's hold and he rushed to her side. Turning her on her back, he quickly turned on his omnitool to scan her vitals.
"Joker, this is Shepard," John immediately contacted the ship, kneeling on the other side of his sister's limp body. "Make it a double time, guy, and tell Chakwas to get ready. May…the Commander's been hurt…" he said in steady voice as if not speaking about his sister at all, but some stranger. He shut the channel before the pilot could respond, and his eyes focused on Kaidan's face.
Kaidan closed his eyes and let out a long breath. "She's alive." His voice was trembling. So were his hands that moved to carefully take her helmet off.
Ashley, standing above them, suck in the air when she spotted a trickle of blood running from her nose. She frowned and looked at remains of the beacon. It had exploded and one second the flames had swallowed her. An instant later, she'd emerged from the flames as the shock wave tossed her back.
A wind rose suddenly and they all looked above them. Normandy slowed down and turned around."He's never going to fit her in here," Ashley quickly stated. "The platform's too small," she added and grabbed Shepard's helmet.
Kaidan immediately reached under May and lifted her into his arms gently, his eyes on her pale face. This was his fault.
"Get her down, Joker, and open the airlock. We'll jump in," John ordered and in grimmer voice added. "What remains of the beacon can wait and no one else is coming."
The decontamination took always exactly the same time, but as Kaidan watched his fiancé's white face, he had the feeling they were in the small airlock for twice as long this time. His eyes searched her. She'd come through the whole colony, dozens of geth and Husks, she'd saved as many colonists as she could, found Nihlus' corpse with a huge hole in his skull, deactivated the bombs set to blow up the whole colony, all this without a single scratch. And because of him, because of his stupidity, she'd been knocked unconscious by a strange, unknown device that could have done anything to her.
He closed his eyes, but couldn't get rid of the imagine of her in the air, held by some unfamiliar force of the beacon. Her whole body twitching as if in cramps as she tried to fight the hold, her head thrown back, hands fisted firmly. She didn't make a sound the whole time, but it was plain to see, whatever it was doing to her, it made her suffer. And he was the one to blame.
When the inner door finally opened, he ran deeper inside the ship, ignoring all the gazes the crewmembers gave him. He even ignored the Captain as he rushed down the stairs, careful not to bump her head or legs into walls. And when he was ushered out of the infirmary, he collapsed with his back to the wall just outside the door, sliding down the wall until he sat.
He wasn't left alone for long as a pair of black military shoes stepped into his view. He didn't stand up, however. He just didn't care about the right military protocol at the moment. "It's my fault she is in there, Captain," he told Anderson's shoes.
"What happened?" he asked and Kaidan was glad someone else responded. "The beacon…" John started and immediately found himself at loss for words. His steps echoed as he walked heavily from the stairway. "It pulled her to it and lifted in the air. Then exploded and knocked her cold." John voice was empty, the kind of empty he always used when trying his best to bury something stirring inside him. "We brought a marine from Eden Prime, sir. Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, who helped us through the colony," John reminded him, sounding a little better when he focused on business instead of his sister.
Anderson didn't say anything, but his legs retreated quickly, heading to the upper deck. Kaidan didn't lift his head when someone else appeared in his vision field. John crouched in front of him. "Did Chakwas say anything?" he asked, his icy blue eyes bearing into Kaidan.
But all he could do was to shake his head helplessly. "She just told me to get out."
John was silent for a moment. "Well, I'm no doctor, but she had no visible injury…"
"The nosebleed?"
"Biotics? Despite the implants, she's bleeding when she overdoes it. Maybe whatever it was that held her in the air, messed up with her implants and…" he stopped right there. "Which wouldn't probably be very good," he added in much darker tone, closing his eyes and pressing his fingers into them. Yeah, they both could remember the day she'd almost died. "But she was breathing, wasn't she?"
Kaidan nodded. "She looked like she was sleeping, you know? Like this day when she was fast asleep on the couch. She'd been writing a report and it was late and she was tired from hours of travelling from the Citadel to Earth. She'd promised to join me in bed soon, but she didn't come so I went to check up on her. And she was sleeping like a child, curled to a foetus position ," he chuckled at the memory. "She didn't wake up when I lifted her up and get to bed, or when I took off her clothes. Just…murmured my name and smiled as if she knew. She slept for almost forty hours."
"Yeah, she told me she can be up for days, but when she finally has a minute to sleep, nothing would wake her up," John agreed and suddenly regretted something. Even with more or less long distance relationship, Kaidan and Maya had probably spent more time together then the two siblings. Ever since he'd been on the mission to wipe out whatever Cerberus bases they could find, they didn't have much time to indulge in each other's company. Sure, they were in touch. Emails, calls, but that wasn't the real thing.
She should have hated him for the way he'd treated her when she needed him most, right after Mindoir. Lena had been right about that. But instead, Maya loved him and trusted him…which, unfortunately, didn't stop her from shamelessly gossiping about him with Lena. And, of course, she passed all the information to their mother. He sighed, rubbing his face with his hand.
Their mother was not exactly a happy thought at the moment. The last time Maya and she had seen each other was when she had told her about Kaidan's proposal a couple of months prior. And now John should call her and tell her she'd been knocked out by explosion of an incredibly old, unfamiliar alien device that no one knows anything about?
John frowned and looked at his friend. He looked miserable enough and so John tried to put on a determined face. "She's going to be fine," he said finally. "She's been through worse."
Kaidan lifted his eyes to him. "That was a foreign technology, John," he rasped out. "We have no idea what it did to her before it exploded. Didn't you see her?" he asked, rubbing his face with both his hands as if it could somehow get rid of the images flashing in front of his eyes.
John didn't say anything. Of course he'd seen her.
"I'll never forget it. Damn…one second everything is relatively fine, just an ordinary shakedown run, and then everything is suddenly so fucked up!" he snarled angrily. Kaidan seldom swore, and that he'd just done it twice in a row meant he was on verge of losing it. "Jenkins dead, Nihlus dead, the beacon destroyed and May…"
"…hurt," John cut him off firmly. "She'd had a pneumothorax during N4 training, remember? And she not only finished it, but performed so well they invited her again. A little explosion can't kill her. Her kinetic barriers surely shielded her from most of the damage."
"I'm not worried about the explosion, but about whatever that goddamned beacon did to her," he growled, his hands shaking.
"May's tough. And stubborn. Too stubborn to die, she loves to say, huh? And you know what? I believe it. Even if something did manage to kill her, I'm sure she'd come back and kicked its ass as payback. That's how strong she is."
"Are you trying to convince me or yourself?"
John frowned. "One of us has to have faith in her," he said and stood up. "I'll go check Anderson and Williams. "
…
John found the two marines talking in the CIC. Ashley was just describing what exactly happened to Anderson and when she noticed John, she frowned a little bit. Anderson followed her gaze and lifted his eyebrows when he spotted Shepard.
"How is the Commander?" she asked immediately.
He shrugged. "Chakwas didn't tell us anything. But I trust her to do her best," he added, trying not to sound like Kaidan. He took a quick breath and looked at his CO. "Sir, I'll take care of Chief Williams," he offered immediately. "I'm sure you'd have better luck finding out how your XO's doing, provided the Doc will let you in. And maybe it would be nice if someone was there with her while she's unconscious. You know, talking to her. They say it helps," John said and hoped Anderson would understand he really meant: "Make sure Chakwas allows Kaidan to be with her."
When Anderson disappeared down the stairs, Ashley shot him a questioning look.
"I'm not sure what the Captain plans with you, but for now you stick with us," John told her. "Come, I'll show you around the ship." Okay, this was more for him then her. He needed to keep himself occupied with something so that he wouldn't think about whatever was happening in the infirmary. But then he looked at her and frowned. Worrying over his sister he'd forgotten someone else just had a very rough day. "But you're not probably interested in a tour, right? How are you holding up? Watching your whole unit being wiped out couldn't be pleasant."
She made a face, but didn't flinch or look away from him. "We're marines, sir. That comes with the job. People like us die quite often. It's the civilians that are bad."
John nodded. "I know what you mean. Unfortunately, civilians die even more often," he said quietly. Eden Prime was full of dead civilians now.
"I'll never get used to it. Especially if it's someone I knew. I'm…I'm just glad you were down there. You helped a lot," she nodded her thanks, meaning it. "Things were really bad, but you cut through them like…" she trailed off and John used the moment to speak. "You were a good asset on the team, too."
She smiled hesitantly. "Thank you, sir. It's nice to…I mean…Captain Anderson said he'd have me on the crew, but I wasn't sure."
"You'll be once you see the Normandy and meet her crew, especially the pilot's golden. When we're not worrying about our XO, we're quite a friendly bunch of people," he repeated the offer to show her around. When they walked down the stairs, John noticed Kaidan wasn't waiting in front of the infirmary anymore. He doubted he would just get up and go have a shower or something, so Anderson must have understood his hint.
Now all they could do was wait and hope May would win this battle.
…
She did look like she was just sleeping. Which was pretty much what Chakwas had told him, too. Her body wasn't hurt and the only abnormal thing about her was her brain activity. From time to time Kaidan could see her eyes moving behind her closed eyelids as if she was dreaming. But she didn't move or make any sounds. She was stable and that was important.
It was more important than his growling stomach. He wanted to be there when she would wake up and nothing would make him move from the spot. He was holding her hand, which was unusually cold and limp in his, but he needed to touch her. His eyes examined her face over and over and sometimes they rested on the piece of chain showing from beneath her BDU. It had both her dog tags on it, and the ring he gave her. And she accepted it. And when asked about it, she had joked like she usually did: "Well, not all men are intimidated by me." But it was what she'd added that touched Kaidan. "On a more serious note, it's a sign that there is at least one place where I don't have to be the Commander."
No, he couldn't lose her now. He sighed and rested his brow against her side, gripping her hand as if the force itself could wake her up.
When the door opened to his left, he ignored it. Until a quiet voice sounded right next to him: "It's been fifteen hours. Here, you need to eat something," doctor Chakwas laid a plate with a sandwich on it on a bed behind behind Kaidan's back.
"You said she was fine. Why isn't she waking up yet?" Kaidan asked impatiently instead, his eyes never leaving her serene face. Her eyes had started to move again.
"I don't know," the doctor told truthfully. "And I'm afraid I have no way to find out with the beacon destroyed." She sounded apologetically.
Kaidan sighed and looked away from her, using his other hand to cover May's, too. He flinched when the doc touched his shoulder gently. "But she is going to wake up. You're not going to lose her." Only a blind fool would miss that there was something going on between the Lieutenant and the Commander. He didn't even try to conceal it, as worried as he was.
Yes, Kaidan was beyond caring if anyone knew at the point. He closed his eyes, taking a slow breath to answer, when suddenly he felt May's cold fingers move inside his palms. His eyes snapped open as he sprung to his feet. Maya frowned slightly and turned her head to one side slowly.
"Doctor…" Kaidan managed to say before May opened her eyes. Not that it was necessary. She'd been right next to him and seen her waking up. She quickly walked around the bed to get better access as May's eyelids fluttered and finally opened.
At first her eyes seemed distant for a moment, but they quickly focused and when she noticed him a beautiful smiled crossed her lips. "Kaidan…" she whispered his name and moved to sit up slowly. He helped her up and cupped both her cheeks. He kissed her gently, fighting the urge to crush her against him and never let go again.
She touched him on his chest lightly and he pulled away. "Never do this to me again," he said softly, his thumbs caressing her cheeks gingerly. He was pleased to see the colour slowly returning to her face.
"The Lieutenant speaks for us all," Chakwas' voice said gently. "You had us worried for a moment. How are you feeling?"
"Fine now…" she mumbled as Kaidan gathered her into his embrace. She rested her chin on his shoulder. "How…how long was I out?" she asked, focusing her eyes on the doctor standing on the other side of her bed. She had a mild smile on her face as she watched them. And suddenly Maya wanted to push Kaidan away. Not that she was uncomfortable with someone watching them, after all they didn't do anything, but Chakwas was a crew and Shepard was her second in command and Kaidan was May' subordinate and this simply wasn't appropriate and…
But she couldn't do it, not when she focused on the way his hands held her firmly, desperately. "Fifteen hours," he murmured into her ear, pulling away. His hands, however, stayed on her waist, gently running them up and down her ribs.
May smiled at him and touched the side of his neck. "Could you bring Anderson? I'm pretty sure he feels the need to let me know just how much we screwed up down there," she tried to joke despite herself. She could still see the dark blue pool under Nihlus' head, still liquid and warm, his green eyes staring unbelievingly at the morning sky. And then another image flashed in front of her eyes and she closed them to press her fingers into them for a moment. When she looked back at Kaidan, he was frowning. "And John. I'm sure he was worried, wasn't he? If not I'm throwing away his Christmas present."
He smiled at her…for a moment before the scowl settled in again. "You sure you're…"
She silenced his worries with a kiss and then rested her cheek against his. "Yes. Don't worry about me. I'm tougher than that," she purred in his ear. Knowing what it would do to him, her lips were casually touching his earlobe as she spoke and when she finished she nipped at it gently. Yeah, she played dirty. After all, Chakwas couldn't see what she was doing, so why not? Then she gave him another relaxed smile, sliding her hands down his shoulders and chest. He was reluctant to go, but eventually left the infirmary and the moment he did Shepard's smile slipped from her face.
"So how really are you?" Chakwas asked knowingly.
"About to ask you to cut off my head how much it throbs," Shepard said, sounding tired. "Okay, that was a little exaggerated. It's not that bad." Then she took a deep breath and looked into those grey and green eyes. "I've got a favour to ask, Doc. Could you…keep what's between me and Kaidan for yourself? I don't think it would be good if the rest of the crew knew."
She smiled and approached Shepard's bed. "The rumours are already all around, Commander. Half of the crew believes the Lieutenant feels simply guilty, the other thinks he has a crush on you."
"Isn't it sweet…" May sighed, touching her brow once again as if it could kill the pain. "How did I end up here actually? I remember calling Joker, the rest is fuzzy," she admitted and Chakwas' eyebrows knitted together. "Something happened down with the beacon," she started talking slowly. "The Lieutenant is strongly convinced it was his fault."
"What? Why would he…" Maya narrowed her eyes when she remembered. "I pushed him out of the way when he got too close to the beacon. Ah…yes, that explains it. Kaidan…" she sighed. Of course he blamed himself.
"Truth is we don't know what exactly happened to you," the doctor went on. "And with the beacon destroyed I'm afraid we'll never find out."
Shepard's attention snapped to her quickly, intensifying the acute pain. "Destroyed?!" she gasped. She groaned and covered her face for a moment. "And here I thought things couldn't get any worse when we found Nihlus' body…"
"You were caught in the explosion. You fell unconscious and your team had to carry you to the ship." She made a short pause for Shepard to absorb all the information. "Physically you are fine, but the whole time you were out the readings detected unusual brain activity. Abnormal beta waves."
Shepard blinked and swung her legs down from the bed. "I'm just a marine, Chakwas. I know how to stop a massive bleeding on the field or extract a piece of shrapnel without causing any further damage, but that's all. What are beta waves?"
The doctor smiled softly. "One of four kinds of waves our brain produces. Namely beta waves are emitted when we are consciously alert, agitated, tense or afraid," she explained. "I also noticed an increase in your rapid eye movement, signs typically associated…"
"…with dreaming," Shepard finished for her. This she knew. And even if she didn't…" I was dreaming. Or…I don't know. It didn't feel like a dream. And it didn't make much sense." How could you explain something you didn't fathom yourself? "There was destruction and death. It was…unclear."
"Hm…" Chakwas hummed, touching her chin thoughtfully. "I better add this to my report."
The door hissed and both women looked at Kaidan and Anderson walking inside. "Captain Anderson," Chakwas greeted him.
Maya straightened when he approached them and tried to wipe all traces of her physical discomfort from her face.
Anderson looked at her casually, and then focused on Chakwas. "How is our XO holding up, doctor?" he asked. Maya didn't like when people talked about her like she wasn't present, but it was Anderson and she could forgive him.
"All the readings look normal," Chakwas said. "I say the Commander's going to be fine."
"Glad to hear it," Anderson nodded and then finally looked at Shepard. "I need to speak with you," he said and then looked at Chakwas and Kaidan. "In private."
Well…at least I don't have to worry about being a Spectre, Shepard thought grimly while the doctor and Kaidan left the infirmary.
Only when they were gone, Anderson's face relaxed a bit. "Sounds like the beacon hit you pretty hard, Maya. You sure you're okay?"
Maya. He'd called her Maya. But this time she couldn't bring herself to smile like she usually did. "I'm far better than Jenkins," she said with her eye fixed on the floor between them. She took a breath to speak again, and then hesitated, unable to find the right words. "I just…don't like people dying on me. I could have…"
"Jenkins wasn't your fault," he said gently.
"I was his CO at the moment, sir. His life was my responsibility and I failed him."
"I know you haven't lost many men under your command, but people die in missions like that."
"That doesn't diminish their importance, sir."
He smiled at her response. "You're a good soldier, Shepard. If everyone in the Alliance thought like you, we'd have less to worry about."
"Well," she sighed. "Now you praised me, so I guess it's high time to turn the coin and focus on the bad stuff. The mission was a disaster."
Anderson's features turned all business and he put his hands behind his back, lifting his chin up slightly. "I won't lie to you, Shepard," he started. "Things look bad. Nihlus is dead, the beacon is destroyed and geth are invading. The Council's going to want answers."
"Easier said then done, sir. At least we can explain Nihlus' death, though. We had an eyewitness who saw another turian, Saren, shoot him when Nihlus let his guard down around him. They knew each other. But the beacon…" she shook her head.
Anderson nodded. He'd already heard this version three times. "And this is exactly why I'm here," he said darkly. "Saren, the other turian, is a Spectre, too. One of the best. He's dangerous and he hates humanity and if he's been behind this attack it means he's gone rogue. But it will be your word against his and try to guess whom the Council will be inclined to believe. Eyewitness or not, it is bad."
Shepard took a deep breath. "Damnedfuckingpolitics…" she wheezed as one word when she breathed out again. "Sorry, sir," she added immediately, though Anderson didn't look offended. "Does the Council know about Saren's animosity towards us? It could help if they knew he holds grudges."
Anderson shook his head. "A lot of aliens think we're growing too fast. The Council won't hold his opinion against him. He's free to think whatever he wants. The results are important and his results were always good."
Shepard frowned and stuck her hands into her pockets while leaning against the bed with her hips. "Yeah, results liked setting several charges to blow up the whole colony?" she asked.
"Your word against his," the Captain repeated simply. "Unless you have a solid proof of his cooperation with the geth. And no, witnesses don't count. They can be bribed or threatened. Not to mention the colonists were traumatized by the whole attack."
Maya bit her lip, frowning. "Well, maybe we'll find something. He didn't bother hiding his presence, hoping the charges would destroy everything. The massacre, those husks, geth…even the beacon." She shuddered involuntarily.
"Did you notice anything before it exploded?" he asked. "Anything that might tell us what he was after?"
She dropped her eyes. "I don't even remember the explosion. Just…the vision or whatever it was," she closed her eyes and was rewarded with the images once again. She shook her head, then stopped when it hurt again.
"Vision?"
She waved her hand. "I saw something when the beacon caught me before I blacked out. Death, destruction…four eyes. I remember four-eyed creatures dying. Something…" she paused for a moment. "Synthetics," she specified, suddenly very sure about it. "I saw synthetics slaughtering them and this felt like a warning of some sort," she shrugged. Weird. Now when she was up, it all became much clearer. "Yeah, it was a warning."
The Captain's answer surprised her. "We need to report it to the Council, Shepard," he said in sombre voice and she laughed. "What? That I had a bad dream? Come on, Anderson. They won't believe a witness and they should believe a dream?"
"We're talking about ancient, unknown Prothean technology," he said slowly. "Something of importance might have been stored inside and we can't underestimate what little we have, especially if it's something Saren was interested in, too. Something he has. Whatever it is, a weapon, a blueprints, whatever, he will use it together with all the geth under his command to wipe us from the face of the galaxy. And believe me. He will do it given a chance. We need to have the Council on our side if we want to stop him."
She contemplated his words for a moment. "I think we simply need to take him down," she said eventually, and sighed. "But he's a Spectre and that means all the best equipment and authority. How can one take down a Spectre?"
"That's why we need the Council so that they would revoke his Spectre status."
She smiled and straightened again. "We'll do it. I'm sure he's made some mistake and we just need to find it. And we will find it."
Anderson returned the smiled, looking proud. "That's what I like about you, Maya. Nothing's impossible for you." Then he turned from being her friend back to being her Captain. "I'll contact the Ambassador Udina and see if he can get us an audience with the Council. He wants to see us as soon as we reach the Citadel. We should be there shortly, so pull yourself together in the meantime."
"Aye, aye, sir," she saluted him and watched him leave the infirmary. Slowly she followed him.
…
They were quite close to the Citadel. She just managed to take a shower and wolf down something in the mess and she had to head to the hangar to gear up again. John and Kaidan were already there when she stepped out of the elevator. They both shot her a worried look, but she'd already talked to them and told them she was okay, so she ignored them now. She changed quickly, noticing John and Kaidan, who were already done, were wasting their time chatting. When she snapped her weapons to her armour and looked back at them, John was gone and only Kaidan stood in front of the lockers.
Yeah…how very inconspicuous. Actually, maybe it was. Only she knew why Kaidan had stayed behind, so she viewed it as not so subtle. Other people in the hangar, however, didn't even seem to notice.
It was, of course, a great happenstance they both walked into the elevator at the same time. And even bigger one when Kaidan's finger by chance hit the stop button. They were both quiet, unsure what to say, so May decided to ease the atmosphere a little. "You know, this is just weird. An hour ago, I was wearing this armour, shooting geth and husks and even though I don't remember taking it off, here I was, putting it on again," she smiled at him.
He looked at her sadly.
"Come on," she whispered and crossed the elevator to him. With her hands on his chest she pushed him until the wall stopped him and kissed him. His hand immediately tangled into her hair as he tilted her head gently.
"That was a joke," she mumbled against his lips. "You were supposed to relax. It's when I don't make jokes, that it's bad," she explained and touched his forehead with hers.
"I was terrified, Maya."
"But I'm fine now," she insisted.
"Yeah, but you might not have. Because of me."
Her shoulder slumped slightly and she took a slow breath. "There is a rumour going around the ship," she said, her fingers playing with his hair absentmindedly. "You acted the way you did when you brought me on board because you either felt incredibly guilty or were in love with me. Since I know you are head over heels in love with me, the other option simply must be off," she smiled gently.
He took a breath to speak and she quickly closed the distance between them, capturing his lower lips between her teeth gently. Then she kissed him again. "No. I don't blame you and so don't blame yourself either."
His hands hesitantly encircled her waist, pulling her closer when he finally smiled. "Is that an order, Commander?"
She laughed gently, resting her hands on his sides. "Are you flirting with me, Lieutenant?"
"Wouldn't think about it. You're my commanding officer, Commander. It's against regs."
"Regs are meant to be broken…" she grinned, but when Kaidan wanted to kiss her again, she moved away, "but later, please. Let's not start something we can't finish," she said, giving him an apologetic look. She hit the button again and the elevator started moving slowly. She cleared her throat and combed her hair with her fingers, stepping to the centre of the small cabin. She glanced at what Kaidan was doing and she froze. "Why are you looking at me like that? Kaidan…what exactly are you thinking about?" she asked him.
"That I believe you capable of blocking this elevator for hours if it came to it," he responded in quiet voice.
"Nope. I can a do a lot, but not this. This elevator is the only way to the hangar."
Pushing himself from the wall, Kaidan approached May and rested both his hands on her neck. "They could always use the emergency shafts, ladders or whatever…" He bent to kiss her, closing her eyes. "That would be something."
"Over my dead body. No…not here," she laughed, grateful the elevator was so incredibly slow. But then it suddenly stopped and they stepped away from each other just in time before the door opened.
It revealed Ashley waiting in front of it, looking impatient. "The elevator takes eternity," she complained and got in, just as the couple walked out. "Believe me, it's even worse when you're inside," Maya assured her and paid her a soft smile. "By the way…welcome on board. I've heard you're part of the crew now. "
Ashley nodded, smiling hesitantly. "Yes. Captain Anderson has reassigned me to the Normandy."
"At least something positive about this day. We need more marines like you, Williams. And…thanks for your help, down there. Now, don't let me delay you any longer than I've already done."
"No problem, Commander," Ashley nodded, oblivious to what she really meant. And when the door closed behind her, May giggled, turning to Kaidan. "You know, thanks to you I don't think I'll ever be able to look at any elevator with a straight face."
"I'm glad you're okay," he whispered back.
Just like respectable Lieutenant and his Commander, they walked up the stairs and through the CIC. Kaidan stopped next to John who was chatting with Pressly, but stopped to give a bear hug to his sister when she was about to pass him by. She didn't struggle, knowing how rare moments like this were. John loved her, but he hardly ever displayed it so openly. After he let go, she continued to the bridge.
When she stopped behind the pilot's seat, Joker gave her a strange look over his shoulder.
She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm fine, Joker."
"I'm sure you are, Commander," he responded with highly bemused and mischievous expression. But only for a second. "It's terrible what happened to Jenkins though. I like the kid."
"I didn't know him that much, but he seemed a decent guy," Shepard agreed.
"Yeah…he was," Joker agreed quietly. For a second they both watched the Citadel in front of them. Maya usually liked the sight, but now it made her queasy.
Something of her feelings must have mirrored on her face, because Joker suddenly nodded. "Yeah. That's one of the moments I'm glad I'm just a helmsman."
She smiled and touched his shoulder. "Actually I think it will be great fun."
"Sure," he snorted. "Let's ask you after you come back, okay, Commander?"
She laughed and playfully cuffed his shoulder. "Oh, come on. I'm your superior and I'd have your back anytime. Now it's me who needs a little support. I'm going to fight politicians."
"You have my condolences."
Oh, she already loved the guy.
…
The day in the Presidium was, like always, sunny and warm with a soft breeze blowing all your worries away…or at least trying, but it didn't work much on May. Growing up on a colony, she was never fooled by it. When she closed her eyes, she could always feel the difference. It didn't smell like a fresh air should. Sure, it was nice enough, better than what was in the wards, but still not good enough to compare to what the air smelled like on Mindoir.
And this particular day it was even worse. John, Ashley and Kaidan were leaning against the handrail with their elbows, watching speeders swoosh by them almost soundlessly. They were watching the traffic and people seething deep below them in the Presidium with awe that made one think they'd never been here before.
Maya, however, was not interested in the beautiful sights the Presidium had to offer. She stood behind her CO, hands clasped behind her back, legs slightly apart, and watched the disastrous discussion - if it could called be a discussion – between the Ambassador and holograms of all three Councillors. To say that the Council was tearing Udina apart wouldn't even begin to cover it.
When the three shimmering Councillors shut the channel and disappeared, Udina stayed motionless for a split second. Then he turned to Anderson and Shepard standing a few steps behind him. It had allowed them to observe the whole conversation without Councillors knowing they had been watched.
Udina shot her a stern look that mirrored a lot of the anger he surely must have felt, and then focused on the elder man by her side. "Captain Anderson," he said, sounding calm all of sudden. "I see you brought half your crew with you." Shepard narrowed her eyes at him with disdain. They all knew things were bad, but the sarcasm was uncalled for.
"Just the ground team from Eden Prime," Anderson corrected him patiently. "In case you had any questions." Following her Captains example, May's face relaxed again, so did her tense posture.
Udina's eyes flicked towards Shepard for a second. "I have the mission reports. I assume they're accurate?"
"They are," Anderson nodded and paused for an instant. "Sounds like you convinced the Council to give us an audience," he changed the topic. And maybe it was for the best. No need for them to snarl at each other.
"They were not happy about it. Saren's their top agent," he said, turning his attention to Shepard. "They don't like him being accused of treason."
Shepard took a deep breath. "Saren's threat to every human colony out there," she brought herself to speak as calmly as Anderson. "He needs to be stopped. The Council has to listen to us."
Udina shook his head. "Settle down, Commander," he barked out as if he had any right to command her. "You've already done more than enough to jeopardize your candidacy for the Spectres."
"What?!" a pair of male voices sounded from behind Maya. She ignored them, grateful for Anderson to step in so that she could pretend to mishear Kaidan and John while listening to her Captain. "That's Saren's fault!" he immediately defended her. "Not hers!"
"Then we better hope the C-Sec investigation turns up evidence to support our accusation. Otherwise the Council might use this as an excuse to keep you out of the Spectres," he growled at Shepard, then continued with just as harsh tone. "Come with me, Captain. I want to go over a few things before the hearing. Shepard, you and the others can meet us at the Citadel Tower. Top level. I'll make sure you have clearance to get in," he added and his eyes scrutinized her from head to toe as if contemplating if she was to be let in or better not.
Udina walked from his office in quick strides, and Anderson moved to follow, but Maya caught his elbow. With her eyes on the door that had just closed behind the Ambassador, she hissed. "With all due respect, sir, my drone would do a better job with the Councillors. I mean…demanding anything of the Council? Is he out of his mind! Our situation is bad enough without his aggressive approach to add fuel to the flame."
Anderson patted her hand resting on his elbow, trying to placate her. "Udina has only the humanity's best interests at heart."
"I don't trust him, sir."
"He's the only one who can help us get the Council's favour."
Her eyebrows rose. "You mean by yelling at them?"
Anderson looked at the office door and sighed. "I don't like this either, Maya," he said in low voice. "But now, it's politics. There's little we can do to help now." With that he took her hand and put it off his elbow. Nodding to her and the rest of present company, he followed Udina out of his office.
"And that's why I hate politicians," Ashley said.
"Spectres?" John's voice sounded really surprised. "You're going to be a Spectre?!"
She shook her head and turned around slowly. "No, thanks to this I'm probably never going to be a Spectre. Not that I mind, I'm not excited to be under the Council's command. But, yeah," she shrugged. "Nihlus was impressed by the Blitz and forwarded my name on the list."
"You're kidding, right?" Kaidan asked in quiet voice. "May, the first human Spectre? That's…"
"Impossible now, so let's forget it. Our priority is to get the Council to like us. Not to get into Spectres," she snapped and took a step to the door. Then she hesitated. "Eh…did the Ambassador say when the hearing starts?"
…
The long way up the Citadel Tower was breathtaking. It gave them view over the whole Presidium and it was a sight for sore eyes. Beautiful and magnificent, but also a little bit unnerving when you thought about it. The journey was quite long; not as long as some other elevators here on the Citadel would take, but long enough. It gave you a lot of time to - at first – admire the view, and then to think. Think about why you were going up. About what kind of persons it took to control this all. And, finally, if their power was enough to keep all this on a leash, what possibly could they do to you?
It wasn't a threat, oh no. It was a warning.
About halfway up, they all started to feel this warning. They stopped staring outside and focused somewhere else, they started shifting their weight nervously and clear their throats. Of course, the knowledge of how important the hearing up was did little to comfort them.
"Finally…" Ashley muttered when the elevator stopped and the door let them out. Just like the rest of the Presidium, even the Tower was large, spacious, fancy and richly lit with what seemed like hundreds spot lights.
"Waste of money," John pretty much summed it up, not impressed by it at all. As if obeying some order, they all set off at the same time, climbing up short stairs that took them to a little square with a large fountain in the middle. Even before they reached top of the stairs, they could hear two loud voices.
"Saren's hiding something," one of the turians was saying when they emerged. From her first time on the Citadel Maya recognized the black uniform with dark blue stripes down the chest and arms of it as the C-Sec uniform; a knowledge that could have saved her a lot of trouble back then. "Give me more time," the turian with blue paint went on impatiently. "Stall them!" he said and tossed his head towards the Council chamber, leaving little doubts as for his meaning.
"Stall the Council?" the other turian repeated incredulously, his white paint shining from his dark face. Unlike the second turian, he didn't wear armour, but casual clothing. "Don't be ridiculous. Your investigation is over, Garrus," he stated and turned around, walking away.
Maya stopped so abruptly, Kaidan, who didn't see it coming, bumped into her. Murmuring apologies, he quickly steadied her by grabbing her arms, but she didn't even seem to notice something was wrong. She quickly closed her mouth when she realized she was staring stupidly at the C-Sec turian.
And when the turian turned towards them, she was already smiling. Twelve years, but she still recognized the paint. And, of course, the name helped a lot. "Garrus Vakarian?" she asked immediately, making a few hesitant steps.
The turian blinked once and turned his head to the side slightly, watching her through the blue visor he wore. Then his eyes widened as he realized who was standing in front of him. "Maya Shepard," he said as if he couldn't believe it. "The galaxy is small, isn't it?" he asked, his mandibles twitching gently.
"You know each other?" Ashley asked, apparently astonished.
Maya looked her, smiling. "Garrus and his father saved my life once," she explained quickly and focused on Garrus again.
Kaidan frowned and glanced at John, who nodded. The Citadel.
To her surprise, Garrus made a step forward and flexed out his arm to offer a handshake. Maya's eyes dropped to his thee-fingered hand and back to his eyes and her smile widened. "I bet you still have no idea what it means," she said and grasped his hand in hers, shaking it.
"No," he agreed. "I didn't ask anyone…and I didn't forget your promise," he added and then cleared his throat. "But enough pleasantries. Shepard, if you're heading to talk to the Council about Saren…" he paused for a second. "I was the officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation into him."
"I've figured that much," she nodded, gesturing her had towards the direction the other turian had left. "I'm glad you want to bring him down just as we do."
Garrus nodded, his eyes narrowing. "Unfortunately wanting is of little help. He's a Spectre. Everything he touches is classified. I can't find any hard evidence," he added.
"Commander?" Kaidan spoke up. "I think the Council is waiting for us," he finished and his eyes watched the turian intently.
Maya tilted her head slightly. Kaidan knew about her admiration of the species. And suddenly they met a turian whom she knew personally to that extent they shared a joke only the two of them understood. Could it be? Nah…Kaidan and jealous? Nope, she shook his head. "You're right. Garrus, thanks for the heads up. At least we know we're walking to our own execution," she said grimly.
"Maybe they'll yet listen to you," he shrugged, stepping out of their way. He watched them as they walked deeper into the tower.
"Damn…cherry trees?" Ashley mumbled as they climbed another stairway and ended up on another square. This one had a small park in the middle, an area covered in the most perfect grass with trees and boulders. But Maya didn't care. Her eyes were front, fixed on the dark skinned man in dress blue uniform pacing impatiently under yet another stairway; another sign, like the long ride up the elevator, to show the importance of the Council.
Anderson's eyes caught hers and he quickly walked towards them. "The hearing has already started. Come on," he urged them on. Side by side, Shepard and Anderson climbed the stairs, with the rest of the ground team hot on their heels, to find themselves face to face with the Councillors…hypothetically speaking. Between them and the three figures was a huge gap and only holograms of their heads projected into the air between them that allowed Shepard to see the Councillors clearly. But today there was another hologram. And it scowled darkly when it noticed Shepard.
Tadaaa - another update! Yeah, with a few days off school, I'm really quick. Unfortunately it ends next week :(
Hey, I'm glad Garrus is back!
Minnie: Thank you so much. And I'm really glad you liked it.
Ahem...as usually, thank you all for reading and your reviews and your continuous support and everything. I love you guys, have a nice day and see you later ;)