Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect…I only meddle in their world!
A/N – This took me longer to get out than I original planned. Partly because it was one of the most troublesome chapters I've ever had to write, and partly because I've been working on a Vega/Shepard challenge fic. Hopefully everyone enjoys this chapter because it's important to the plot...even though it was bloody tough to get through!
Reviews are welcome and always loved :)
Anne Bryson was clinging to James as though he was a rock in a fast flowing river, and no matter he did to try and convince her that she could let go of him, she didn't seem to want to listen.
She'd kept her head for most of the reaper attack on Namakil, but when the platform she was on had abruptly given way and fallen beneath her, she'd been left holding onto to a bent support strut miles above the ground and she'd gone into hysterics. James had been able to save her, jumping down and swinging out athletically, moving in quick leaps that he was only able to do because, embarrassingly, he'd been a gymnast all through high school.
He'd carried her back up safely but by that time she was beyond hysterical and James had become her knight in shining armour. She'd kept a hold of his arm the entire time she led them to the artefact, and he hadn't been immune to the amused looks Kaidan was giving Shepard as they watched him try to deal with the clingy woman. He felt sorry for her and all, but it was hard to do his job when she was clinging to his arm and begging him not to leave her.
When they'd reached the artefact and Leviathan had seized control of Anne, James had been totally freaked out to see Anne's eyes go black and hear that otherworld voice coming from her. Thankfully Shepard had acted fast and destroyed the artefact and Anne had passed out briefly after it was destroyed. He'd had briefly gained his freedom from her while she'd been unconscious, but she'd woken up before long and had latched onto him again.
The shuttle flight back to the Normandy had been worse, as the moment Shepard informed Anne of her father's death she began to cry, and had clung to James all the harder. He did what he could to console her, but didn't miss the annoyed looks that Rennah have him as he tried to soothe Anne. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do though, it wasn't like he could just shove her away from him.
He empathised with the young woman; it was clear that her father had meant a lot to her and, despite Shepard breaking the news of his death in a sympathetic way, she was heartbroken. So here he was, sitting with Kaidan watching him with amusement, Shepard watching him with something that he suspected was jealousy, and Anne Bryson sobbing all over him.
"Having fun?" Kaidan mouthed at him and James rolled his eyes as the biotic grinned at his discomfort.
Contrary to his fears, they were functioning well as a team and Kaidan had been nothing but professional to James for the entire mission. In fact, the two of them had actually managed to joke with one another as they fought together to take out several brutes. Loathe as James was to admit it, Kaidan and Shepard did make a good team, in fact if he was completely honest, they were a great team.
They used their biotics in way that made it seem as though they intuitively knew what the other would do, complimenting each other's attacks and doubling the damage a regular biotic team would have done. He still hated the way Kaidan watched Shepard, but he was doing his best to let it go. Especially seeing as how Rennah had made it very clear that he was the one that she wanted.
As the shuttle touched down in the Normandy's shuttle bay James managed to disentangle himself from Anne and stand up, but before he could step away she'd let out another small sob and grasped his arm tightly. Her fingers clung to his armour so tightly he wondered if she had suckers on them or something. He wanted to shake her off but the sight of her face, tinged grey with fear and despair, made his heart contract and he stifled a sigh as he patted her hand kindly.
"Lieutenant Vega has to attend a debriefing." Shepard snapped as she stood beside him and stared down at Anne frostily, her face far less sympathetic than it had been earlier. "You'll need to let go of him."
"But I...I don't want to be alone. My father..." She began to dissolve into tears again and Shepard looked at James in exasperation as though this was somehow his fault.
"How about if Major Alenko takes you down to the mess and makes you a cup of tea." James dislodged her hand carefully and looked hopefully at Kaidan, trusting that the other man didn't hate him so much that he'd leave him stuck in this predicament.
It seemed he didn't and he nodded as he aimed a pleasant smile at Anne, "Of course I will. C'mon Miss Bryson, we'll head down to the mess and we can chat if you like..."
Kaidan smoothly led Anne out of the shuttle, and James stifled a feeling of guilt when she tossed him a look of genuine distress over her shoulder. It was as though she were certain something bad would happen to her the moment he was out of her sight. He couldn't help but notice that Shepard watched her go with narrowed eyes and far less empathy, glancing at James with obvious irritation on her face.
"I suppose you enjoyed that?" She seemed almost angry at him, but James didn't take it personally. If they'd rescued a good looking man and he'd clung and pressed himself against Shepard he would have been annoyed too.
James shrugged, "I feel sorry for her, but I'm not really into weepy women." He checked no one was watching and slid his arms around her waist to pull her closer to him, "I'm more into sexy warrior women who have really big guns."
There was something about seeing Shepard in her armour that made him think naughty thoughts that were much more suited to the bedroom then the battlefield. He pulled her body tightly against his, their armour grinding slightly as he held her close, and then he covered her mouth with his and kissed thoroughly. Rennah murmured quietly in pleasure and opened her mouth to his kiss, raising her hand to the back of his head to hold him closer.
When she pulled away she looked slightly dazed and looked at him with smouldering eyes, "Are you trying to distract me, Mr. Vega?"
"Not at all, ma'am." He grinned and dropped another quick kiss on her lips.
Shepard pulled away from him and jumped down from the shuttle, "So, working with Kaidan wasn't as traumatic as you feared?"
"No, he was surprisingly pleasant to work with." James was relieved to see that Kaidan and Anne had vanished as he leaped down beside her.
Rennah slung her sniper rifle over her shoulder and lead the way towards the armoury, her hips swinging sexily in her amour, "Well he is usually quite professional and friendly. It's only been his recent behaviour in regards to us that has been less than appropriate."
"If you say so." James jogged to catch up with her, "I must admit I had no idea how good his biotics are. He uses them differently to you, but they're still impressive."
"We have different skill sets." They went into the armour and Shepard put her guns down on a shelf so she could begin removing her armour, "I'm better at close combat and biotic blasts but he's infinitely better at holding people in stasis, throwing and using cryo-blasts."
James tried not to watch Shepard too closely as she stripped down to her underwear and then began to dress again, "What's it like?" He asked absently, "You know, being a biotic? I mean, does it hurt or tingle or what?"
She laughed softly, "It tingles when I use my biotics, but it's more of a rush. I feel powerful, like I have electricity in my veins."
"Is that why my skin tingles a little when I'm around you?" James finished pulling his armour off and began to dress in his BDUs, glancing sidelong at Rennah to flash her a cheeky grin as he pulled a shirt on. "Or is that just our chemistry?"
"You're lame, Vega." She rolled her eyes and came over to slap him on the shoulder, "You need some new lines."
He closed his locker and stepped away, picking up his guns from the floor so he could return them to the rack, "I'll work on that, Lola. In the meantime, can I call on you to be my bodyguard against Miss Bryson?"
"Oh, you bet." Shepard followed him out, her mouth twisting in annoyance as they racked their guns, "If I see her clinging to you again, I might end up tossing her back to the reapers!"
The journey back to the Citadel passed mostly without incident, although Shepard couldn't help but find Anne Bryson annoying. The woman spent the majority of her time crying in the room they gave her, and when she did come out she had a tendency to roam around the ship looking for James. Rennah felt sorry about her father dying, but she was sick of the way she was blatantly throwing herself at Vega.
If the woman hadn't been their best shot at finding Leviathan she would have been tempted to dump her at the Citadel and leave.
Unfortunately she needed Anne Bryson to help her locate Leviathan, which was why she was currently standing in Bryson's apartment listening to her and EDI discuss quantum entanglement communication. Shepard didn't understand a lot of it, since tech had never been a speciality of hers, but she could understand that they thought they could trace Leviathan's signal when it used an artefact to control someone.
"Commander Shepard?" She looked up to see Anne watching her, her brown eyes uncertain as she walked towards her with EDI in tow, "I want to drop the shielding on the artefact and let it…take control of me."
"Is that safe?" Rennah frowned, the thought of exposing herself and James to Leviathan's controlling signal didn't exactly fill her with joy. Anne could expose herself to its mind-altering properties all she liked; she was already indoctrinated but they weren't.
"It should be fine, and it's the only way." Anne gave her a watery smile that Shepard guessed was supposed to be reassuring.
It wasn't.
"I'm not sure, Anne. We don't know enough about how Leviathan works. This artefact is dangerous. What if it…"
"It's nice of you to be worried about me, but this is the only way. We can drop the shields and let it take control of me, and then EDI can run a trace on the QEC signal and we can find where Leviathan is hiding." Anne spoke in a rush, clearly determined to do her part to track down the creature that was responsible for her fathers death.
Worried about her?
Shepard belatedly realised that Anne thought her reluctance to drop the shielding was out of concern for her, "Is there no other way?"
"Miss Bryson is correct Shepard." EDI stepped up, tilting her head as she spoke as though finding Shepard's reluctance curious, "Tracing the signal is our best and only chance of finding Leviathan."
She nodded and glanced from the artefact to Anne, "If you're sure about this then we'll do it."
"I need to do this for my father." Anne gave her a brave smile, "This thing is hiding in the cold and dark, but I'm not afraid of it." With a final nod, she moved off with EDI to the galaxy map and began to open up programs.
James drifted across from where he had been playing with a husk head experiment, frowning in concern as he watched as Anne and EDI began to set up the trace, "Commander, is this safe?"
"We should be fine." She shrugged, "We haven't been exposed to the artefact long enough for it to have any effect on us."
"No, I meant safe for Anne." James gave her a look as though he assumed she was joking, "It doesn't seem right to her let take a risk like this."
"Noted. We don't have a choice though."
Shepard tried to ignore the faint threads of annoyance that started to work their way through her as she heard the note of concern in James voice. She knew that he was just being his usual boy scout self and worrying about a helpless civilian, but after the way Anne had been throwing herself at him, she couldn't help but wonder if maybe he'd enjoyed it. It was all well and good for him to say that he preferred sexy strong women, but what man didn't enjoy being wanted and needed?
How the tables have turned…
She ignored the snide voice in her head, although it was speaking the truth. Only a few days earlier she'd been secretly revelling in the way James had been acting jealous of Kaidan. Every time her fellow Spectre looked at her or touched her James had looked ready to punch his lights out – and she'd loved it. It had even been a bit of a turn on, knowing that he wanted her so badly he couldn't stand the thought of her ex-lover still being around her.
"Commander? We are ready to begin." EDI motioned for Shepard to join her where she stood.
Anne was sitting on a bench in front of the artefact, which was shielded behind a glowing blue force field. Even though this was her own idea, she looked absolutely terrified; her face was pale, her eyes were wide and her hands were shaking a little bit as they sat in her laps. Shepard stifled a sigh and went to crouch down in front of her, meeting Anne's frightened eyes and trying to look reassuring.
"You don't have to do this, Anne." She looked earnestly into her frightened face, "We can just let this go if you're frightened."
"No, I want to do this." She nodded bravely and looked sideways, "Plus, Lieutenant Vega is here. I know he'll keep me safe."
"You bet." James nodded at her and moved to stand near the button that would deactivate the force field, "I'm going to be right here."
His very presence seemed to fill her with confidence and Rennah had to fight the urge not to roll her eyes as Anne looked at him and nodded, "I know you will."
She gave the nod to James and he dropped the shield, instantly the artefact began to swirl and glow and she heard the sound of EDI beginning to process the search, "Anything yet?"
"No nothing, I…" She paused and shivered and James stepped forward, placing a hand on either side of her shoulders as her body gave a sudden jerk and she seemed to almost crumple in on herself, clutching her head and whimpering. Just as quickly she convulsed again and her back arched as she twisted on the seat, her eyes staring sightlessly ahead as she let out a low whispering hiss and then spoke in a terrifying inhuman voice, "Turn back! The darkness can't be breached!"
"EDI? Anything?" Shepard looked away from Anne as she shrieked and twisted again, but glanced back when she heard James grunt with the effort of holding her still. He held her shoulders tightly but cursed loudly as he was almost thrown off balance by her convulsing.
"Still searching. Maintain connection."
"Where are you?" She stepped forward and Anne raised her head to glare at her, her eyes swirling with an endless black, "You can't hide forever! I found you and that means the Reapers will too!"
Anne hissed at her again and her face contorted into an angry snarl, "You are a threat. You must be eliminated."
"I'm not a threat to you!" She stepped back as the other woman twisted violently and clawed at her, wondering what leviathan thought it would achieve by hiding, "We need you! We need your help to stop the Reapers."
Anne laughed, but it was an alien laugh that lacked all humour and made the hair on the back of Rennah's neck stand up, "There is no war…there is only the harvest."
The scientist glanced up at her again and there was a fury in her eyes that Shepard suspected wasn't actually aimed at her. Whatever Leviathan was, it was angry at the Reapers. It feared them, that was clear, but it also hated them. That meant that there was still a chance that she could persuade this thing, whatever it was, to join them.
EDI looked up at her suddenly, "We have a partial lock, Commander, but it covers a wide area of space. Maintain the connection to narrow the search."
James looked relieved at EDI's words and he started to let go of Anne as he glanced at the button to raise the shield over the artefact, "I'll raise the shield…"
"Belay that, Lieutenant!" Shepard interrupted and shook her head at him, "We need to narrow the search band." She switched her attention back to Anne, wincing as she contorted like an angry snake and James struggled to hold her down, "We need you. Help us stop this."
Anne went perfectly still for a heartbeat and her eyes found Shepard's; there was silence for a moment and then she spoke in that low echoing voice that send shivers down Rennah's spine, "The cycle cannot be broken."
Abruptly, she let out a whimper of pain and she redoubled her efforts to break free as she thrashed in James' grip. Anne let out a sound of pain and despair, her face going slack as Leviathan held her in its control. Her body twisted at an almost painful angle and Vega looked up at Rennah, his eyes brown eyes full of horror at what was happening to the woman he was holding.
James started to let go of Anne, "This is loco! I'm stopping this…"
"Back off!" Shepard growled at James and her eyes flashed warningly, then she turned her attention back to Anne once more. She was sick of this. Sick of wasting her time chasing this thing all over the galaxy when it had the power to kill a reaper! She seized Ann by her shirt and pulled her up, her voice loud enough to make James flinch as she lost her temper at Leviathan, "Where are you? Tell me!"
Ann looked up at her silently for a second, and she went completely rigid. Blood began to trickle from her nose and eyes, and she smiled coldly at Shepard, "Beyond your reach."
Then all hell broke loose; the artefact emitted a sound so sharp it made both her and James cover their ears and it shattered the glass in front of it, exploding outwards in a wave of heat, light and razor sharp shards. Shepard covered her face with her arms, and saw Anne get flung forward from the force of the explosion, her petite frame crumpling motionless on the floor. For a second, as the wave passed over her, Rennah felt a peculiar feeling of intense cold and pressure, and then the feeling faded.
EDI looked up, apparently unconcerned about the explosion, "Search complete. We have Leviathan's location, Commander."
"James, get that shield up!" Shepard pointed at the artefact and felt a shiver of relief pass over her as he slammed his hand over the button and the oil-coloured artefact was once more safely ensconced behind the shield.
"Got it!" James turned around from the button and surveyed the room, his expression of relief changing to one of panic when he saw Anne lying sprawled on the floor, "Shit…Anne!" He rushed to her side and gently turned her over, guilt swimming in his eyes when he saw her pale and blood stained face, "Dios…"
Shepard dropped down next to them, "Anne?" She gently touched the woman's shoulder, and ignored the tight feeling of guilt that was starting to form in her chest. "Talk to me, Anne? Come on!"
This is my fault, she thought guiltily as Anne murmured and stared straight ahead with eyes that were open but unfocused, I had to do it though! I had no choice if I wanted to find Leviathan quickly!
"Hey Anne, hang in there." James gently pushed some hair back from her face and then slipped her into a sitting position, slinging her arm around his shoulders as he put his own around her waist and lifted her up. As he stood up his eyes met hers, and Rennah almost stepped back at the angry look he gave her, "I'm taking her to the med lab to see if there is anything they can do for her."
"James," Shepard stepped forward, swallowing hard as James stopped but didn't turn around to look at her.
He was angry with her, she realised unhappily, angry because she'd refused to let him shield the artefact earlier and had let Leviathan deeper and deeper into Anne's mind. Regardless of if it had been the right decision, James hadn't wanted to stand by and watch a helpless woman get hurt. It was clear that he was going to blame her for whatever happened to Anne, and Shepard wondered what she could say to ease his anger.
"You made a liar out of me, Shepard." He spoke quietly as he glanced at her, his eyes disappointed more distant than she'd ever seen them. Rennah shifted uncomfortably and glanced away, unable to keep eye contact with him when he was looking at her like she was a monster. She heard him start to walk away again and only just caught his final words as he left, "I hope it was worth it."
A/N – Oh no. Things aren't looking too cheery for our favourite couple… :(
As always a very, very big thank you to the people who favourite, follow and review this fic. Your support means a lot and your reviews always brighten my day. Last week I had some nasty troll message me something horrible – and a few people went out of their way to cheer me up when I was feeling down. You know who you are. Thank you!
