Kaidan climbed down the last few steps to engineering and stopped to gather his breath. Two weeks had been long enough for him to mostly recover from his injuries but he was tired, so tired. Sleep was almost impossible, every time he closed his eyes he saw Shepard, longed for her. Twice he had felt the sense of her failing and he was terrified that he was losing her, again. His heart reached out to her, the feeling of her had strengthened and he knew she had survived and it gave him hope. He remembered their last moments together in their cabin and it was only when his body virtually collapsed from exhaustion that he got the rest he needed, and that wasn't often enough.
It didn't help that the humidity was stifling, especially in the narrow shafts of the ship. While the planet they landed on supported human life, at least they had been lucky there, it certainly wasn't comfortable. It was hot and steamy, even the regular afternoon rain was warm and while that allowed for showering the sweat and stickiness was soon back. After some discussion they'd decided not to set up a distress beacon yet. They had no idea what was happening out in the galaxy and the crew was confident they could get things working. If they didn't they could always put the beacon up later. He was hoping that they wouldn't be here much longer.
He slipped through the half open doors of engineering and found Adams half buried under a console, a jagged scar ran the length of his arm from a nasty slice he took during their well-managed but unfortunate landing. They were lucky, no-one died.
'Major,' he mumbled as he straightened, he looked haggard and pale and Kaidan wondered when he'd slept last.
'Adams, how are we doing?'
'Just putting the final bypasses in place, should know within the hour.'
Kaidan nodded and walked to where the drive core sat silent and still. Whatever the Crucible had thrown at them it had fried most of the major power linkages. Adams, Tali, Daniels and Donnelly had worked miracles with bypasses and reroutes to get them to a point where they were ready to try and restart the core. If, and he hated that word but they were relying on hope right now, if it started they would have power back. If they had power they could work on communications, navigation and flight control. He'd promised Joker they would also try and restart EDI. He had hated pulling Tali, Traynor and Liara off working on EDI but survival came first.
'Boshtet!'
'Problem, Tali?' Kaidan turned to see her working on her suit.
'Caught my suit again,' she sighed and shook her head. 'I'm already swimming in antibiotics from the rip when we landed, I'd rather not add more.' She examined her suit more closely and gave another sigh as she realised she hadn't actually torn it.
'Why don't you take a break,' Kaidan placed his hand gently on her shoulder, she had been working non-stop since the crash, only taking a break when Garrus came down and dragged her away.
'I'll take a break when we know this works,' she snapped but quickly turned to face him. 'I'm sorry, Kaidan…but I….'
'It's alright,' he squeezed her shoulder and sighed. 'We all feel the same.'
They had all been working non-stop. Garrus and James had been surveying the area around them, bringing in samples for Dr Chakwas to test, finding fresh water and generally watching for threats. Some of the fruit tested okay and they had brought back something that looked like a rabbit in the hope that it was edible but apparently when it was cooked it produced a toxin that was deadly. It didn't help Garrus and Tali with their diet anyway and Kaidan was worried that they would run out of food for them.
Steve, with help from the crew had managed to drag some of the smaller storage crates outside to collect rain and had manufactured portable showers out of them so at least they could feel clean. He'd also rigged some outdoor toilets so sanitation didn't become an issue inside while the systems weren't functioning at full capacity. Kaidan realised how lucky they were to have him on board on day three when he set up a bbq outside to cook the slowly defrosting frozen meat they carried before they had to toss it because of spoilage. It lasted slightly longer once cooked and they enjoyed full meals until it was gone. Now they were down to tinned or dried foods, and they wouldn't last forever.
Traynor, Liara and others on the crew had been working on the communication and electronics in CIC. They too were ready to test their work but they needed power first. Kaidan had stumbled on Traynor and Liara kissing and while he was happy for them his heart had cracked. He wanted so much to feel Karra's lips, her hands, to hear her laugh. It was all he could do to stop himself from curling into a ball and crying.
Joker spent his nights outside looking at the sky, trying to work out where they were from old star maps he'd had tucked away somewhere. Kaidan sat with him, fascinated by his knowledge of ancient navigation, he hadn't realised that Joker was so informative, he was so used to his sarcasm. He made it his job to make sure Joker didn't fall over something in the dark, the last thing they needed were broken bones. It also helped to keep their minds of other things for a while.
'I think that does it,' Adams informed him and he pulled his thoughts back to the task at hand.
Everyone gathered and watched the core as Adams punched in the start commands. At first nothing happened then slowly sparks ignited, lights flickered and the core roared to life. Kaidan let out the breath he had been holding and he felt Tali shaking his arm with joy. Daniels and Donnelly were hugging and Adams had a grin from ear to ear. Kaidan reached out and took his hand, pumping it madly in gratitude. With a renewed sense of hope he headed for the CIC.
'I think we're over the worst of it.'
A voice echoed in Karra's mind and she struggled to comprehend where she was, what was happening. She was floating in a dark void, sounds and sensations of a world around her intruded but she simply wanted to sleep. Silently she slipped back into the void, welcoming the darkness, the silence the finality.
Then she felt it. A longing for her, want, need and love. It wrapped itself around her like a warm blanket and she instinctively snuggled into it. She let it in, let it fill her. Her heart responded and she smiled into the void. Kaidan. She knew, she believed and she fought back the darkness.
'She's sleeping normally now.' The voice said softly and Karra slipped into a dream.
Arms tightened around her and soft kisses worked their way down her neck, across her shoulders. She surrendered to the sensations that tingled across her skin, sent shivers down her back and aroused her in ways she never thought possible. Calloused fingers softly worked their way across her shoulders, lightly caressing her nipples as they brushed over them. She felt the electricity of biotics as a hand ran across her hip, down her thigh and found her wet core. A moan escaped as pleasure overwhelmed her.
'Stay with me forever, my love,' a husky, emotion charged voice whispered in her ear. 'I love you, until the end of time.' The lips that spoke those words found hers and she wanted, needed to have him, to have life.
When she managed to open her eyes some time later she was surprised to see the Citadel spread out before her. Confusion took hold and she felt panic rising. Had she been dreaming? Were the Reapers still out there? Monitors above her registered her rising heart rate and a hand on her arm made her turn.
'Shepard,' a familiar face smiled down at her and she swallowed the cry that had been building.
'Miranda?'
'Relax,' Miranda looked up at the monitors before looking back at her. 'You need to rest, to heal. The worst is over but you are extremely weak, you need to regain your strength.'
'Where am I,' she whispered hoarsely, her throat felt closed over and she gladly accepted the water Miranda offered. 'What are you doing here?
'On the Citadel, what's left of it,' she raised her eyes to the view out the window. 'It took some serious damage when the Crucible fired but parts of it are still intact, still operating. The facilities here are better than on Earth for the moment. Admiral Hackett asked me to come and make sure you survived, I think he has a soft spot for you.' A half smile formed and her eyes glistened.
'How long?'
'You've been in an induced coma for almost three weeks. We had to perform major surgery, your legs were badly damaged, not broken but the skin and muscles were torn open. Your arms and lower legs were missing skin where your armour burned away but the skin weave we applied earlier is rebuilding itself. Two broken ribs and bruised pretty much everywhere. You had a severe head injury and we had to reduce the fluids and swelling. All in all you were a mess.'
'I was supposed to die,' Karra mumbled. 'My synthetics, I should have died.'
'You almost did, but your synthetics are fine.' Miranda took her hand gently and Karra was surprised to see tears forming. 'You saved us all, Shepard. You destroyed the Reapers.'
Karra sighed and allowed herself to enjoy the relief that filled her. It was over. They had a future. They could get married. Then it hit her.
'Kaidan,' she looked up at Miranda with fear in her eyes. If he was alive why wasn't he here?
'Shepard,' Miranda had dreaded this moment. 'We don't know. Hackett ordered the fleet to leave, the Normandy was the last ship to obey his order and they got caught in the wave that knocked out the Reapers. We haven't heard from them and no-one had been able to find their tracking beacon. Unfortunately, most of the com buoys were damaged by the same wave that killed the Reapers so if they do have communication working we still may not hear from them. Engineers are working on getting communications back up but it takes time.'
Tears formed and she choked back a sob. Karra turned to stare out the window, unwilling to accept that he was gone. She could still feel him, sense him. He couldn't be dead, she'd fought to hard for that to happen. After everything she'd done, been through, she was entitled to some happiness. She had to find him. With a grimace she tried to sit up and get out of bed. Pain stabbed through her and she cried out as Miranda gently pushed her down.
'Shepard, you're not ready to get up, you need to recover.' Miranda placed her hand gently on Karra's shoulders. 'If I need to I will sedate you. We are trying to find them, please trust us to help you.'
Karra nodded, giving in to the exhaustion. She knew Miranda would sedate her and she needed to think, to work out why she was alive, where the Normandy and Kaidan were.
I'm waiting Kaidan, please come home. She closed her eyes for a moment but sleep claimed her, her body repaired itself slowly as she slept.
