It had been one of the more grueling fights Shepard had been in, but they got it done. Her and Garrus had tracked the power drain into a chitin-infested section of prothean bunker, killed the warped, and killed a number of warped, mutated researchers along with a rough dozen of some of the Hive units Crow had described.
Seeing what happened to the people had reminded her vaguely of husks, but at least husks didn't look human anymore. Well, not human enough to make them hard to shoot. What had happened to these people was shocking, to say the least, and she tried not to think too hard about Garrus' offhand comment that they had nearly joined the body count themselves.
Nothing like a little body horror to make you appreciate the intervention of a reality-hopping stranger.
The Hive themselves were disgusting creatures, and the smell made her cry. It was like a combination of vomit, rotting carcass, and everything rancid. Garrus threatened to throw up. Discovering the Thralls, the Hive's husk analog melee shock troops, didn't help. They had somehow dragged mummified protheans out of their stasis pods, and were crouched around the ancient corpses in groups.
Only after killing them had the two of them realized they were eating the protheans. Shepard could only imagine what happened to fresh bodies. When they found the mass effect power generator, it was covered in strange technology. Chitin attached tubes to the generator in places so random, she couldn't figure how the Hive were drawing anything from it.
Crow's knives and grenades worked like a dream, especially against the wizard in the mix, who went down just like the strange man said it would. Too bad we can't keep him. Powers like his would doubtlessly come in handy against the Collectors and Reapers.
She shouldn't have thought that. She really, really shouldn't have, because what do you know; she jinxed it.
Because after the howling had stopped, after the generator went quiet, after she sat down on the floor with Garrus and knocked back a healthy dose of water from her canteen, she realized Thane was being a little too quiet, even by Thane standards.
"Thane, what's going on over there?" she asked over long-comms, seriously hoping that Crow hadn't gotten him killed.
"Crow is still here." What.
"Crow?" she asked, just to be sure. What.
"I... it was the only way. I didn't know they had an anchor on this end." Sure enough, it was him, and he sounded like he was in shock. Didn't he say he should be on the other side? "There was an army coming, they would have gotten through."
"Oh, shit." Garrus swore beside her.
"Shit." she echoed. "You're stuck here, aren't you?"
"Language!" cried a mechanical voice she recognized as Crow's drone. Did it really just...? "And yes, ma'am, I suppose we are."
Next to her, Garrus nudged her with his elbow. She switched off the output. "Hey, Shepard, can we keep him?"
"What? No, we can't keep him, he's not a stray cat, Garrus!" Shepard guffawed.
"Oh, come on, I can see you thinking about it. Unkillable soldier against the Collectors, don't say you aren't tempted." the turian rolled his eyes, took a sip of his own water, and continued. "If we don't, some lab will. Test subject that can't be killed sounds like a horror show waiting to happen."
She grimaced when she saw the picture he was painting. There were a lot of ways to disappear in the galaxy, and Cerberus knew about Crow. If not them, some other clandestine, ill-meaning psychopaths would find him somehow, and deathlessness gave one plenty of ways to justify inhumane treatment.
Garrus was right; if not them, someone else would, with far less noble intentions. She clicked her long-comms back on.
"Crow, I don't know what to say or how to get you back, but you could come back to my ship with us, if you want. We've got an important mission we're working towards, any any unique talent is welcome." It felt a little wrong, taking advantage of the situation, but it was better if he wound up on the Normandy, where she could make him off-limits to Cerberus as part of the mission.
"What kind of mission?" came the shaky, suspicious response.
"Aliens called the Collectors have been kidnapping entire colonies. They're serving machines called Reapers, and we're going to find a way to stop them." She told it as simply as she could, if he came along she would debrief him fully later.
"We have a med bay," Thane interjected, "one you would do well to utilize."
"Lightbearers don't really need medicine." One more check on the 'useful abilities' list. "Somewhere safe to lay low does sound appealing, though."
"Not a bad idea, considering what you can do." She pointed out. "The option's open to you if you want it."
Please come. The most she could do otherwise was hope the Alliance got to him first, and between the panicking prothean experts that were bound to flood the site soon, the regular scientists who would want to study what the Hive left behind, along with all their individual private protection, there were no guarantees that would happen.
"Yeah... yeah, okay, I'll come." Yes! He sounded shaken and exhausted, and there was no way she would be able to take him out in the field until he had gotten over the shock of being stranded in an alternate reality, but she considered this 'yes' as a victory.
"Welcome aboard. Head on out and we'll meet you with the shuttle." There were so many questions she wanted, needed answers to. Answers she'd been certain she would never get ten minutes ago. Sure, this whole situation was a horror show that ended with incomprehensible disaster, but at least something good had come out of it.
Crow was dead on his feet. His Light had taken as much of a beating as his body had, and the lack of sleep, paired with malnutrition, wasn't helping. The portal had had it's negative effects on Glint, as well; his Light felt raw, like someone had scrubbed it with steel wool. At the moment, they were just waiting for Shepard's shuttle. Crow was sitting on a boulder, hood drawn up, and Glint, longing for contact, sat in his hands.
Thane stood a respectful distance away, hands folded behind his back as he watched the sky with an air of boredom.
"Glint?" Crow addressed him softly. His eyes were dull with shock and exhaustion, and Glint wished, not for the first time, that he could have led his Lightbearer to a happier life.
"Yes?" he inquired, voice equally quiet. They were downwind of Thane, and Crow didn't seem to want to be overheard.
"If... I'm sorry, about yelling at you." His Lightbearer always apologized for every little thing, even if what he had done seemed justified. If anyone had deserved to be angry at Glint it was him.
"It's okay." he nudged Crow's arm a little. The only things that couldn't be forgiven were things that Spider did. The yelling had been scary, but Crow, he knew, would never physically harm him.
"It's not to me." the Awoken shook his head, and then hesitated. "Could... could I ask you to promise me something?"
"Anything, of course!" Glint assured him. He was a Ghost; his sole purpose in life was to find and care for his Lightbearer. There was nothing he couldn't do(unless it required thumbs).
"If I ever... become Uldren." he said slowly. Glint shook.
"You won't" he insisted.
"Leave me." Crow told him
"What? No!" That was the one thing he could never, ever do, his heart wouldn't take it! Leaving your Guardian...
"Yes." Crow insisted, expression firm. "If I ever become him, leave me. I won't be worthy of you anymore, I won't be worthy of myself anymore. I'd rather die as myself than live as the echo of a monster."
The sound of a strange ship drew close, whipping up leaves and prompting the trees to turn into a rustling chorus. Could I do it? Even for you? What Crow was asking broke his heart. That his Lightbearer even thought so little of himself, to consider a future where he was no longer a good man.
"Please?" It hurt even more to feel in Crows emotions that unless he made this promise, his Lightbearer may never be at peace again.
"Okay." he said, voice small. Even as he spoke, he was certain he would never need to fulfill this promise... and he wasn't certain if he could fulfill it if the time came to pass. "I promise."
The shuttle hovered overhead, and Thane backed up. Glint's Light fell even more raw now, but Crow smiled at him. It was the first smile he'd seen since the Wolf told the truth, and it soothed the hurt, just a little.
"Thanks, Glint." He brought the Ghost up, and stuffed him in the hood of his cloak. Glint spun around a bit, making himself comfortable. It always felt safe, here, even when they were in Spider's den. Crow's knife-hair felt a bit odd, thought. Must get that fixed, once I can find him something that can do it.
The box-like shuttle landed, kicking up dirt, leaves, and tiny bits of gravel. The side opened, revealing Commander Shepard and Garrus strapped into seats along the wall of the interior. Thane walked over, looking back before entering as if he, too, could sense Crow's apprehension, and waved them over.
Glint's Lightbearer got to his feet, and the Ghost fought back his own flicker of fear. Whole new reality, no more Spider... I hope this Normandy place is a good one. Because he wasn't sure how much more his Chosen could take. One thing was for certain, though:
Glint would not let another Spider happen. That, he could promise without trepidation.
Let's end things on that depressing note, shall we? We know from Drifter's backstory lore that, somehow, Ghosts can accelerate to the point they can smash through a human skull. That was a fun little tidbit to find out. Given that nobody ever points this ability out again, Drifter's Ghost either has something illegal under the hood, or it's something that became little-known as the Dark Age days became more distant. I like to think post-spider Glint would consider all his options regarding potential threats to his and Crow's freedom, even up to becoming a living wrecking ball.
Slaggedfire: You did, but since it's a video game it was in the form of those player tutorial pop-ups. Because video games.
Steve: I give to the final chapter.
E: And since he doesn't quite know how to fight like the other Guardians(he spends all of season of the hunt hiding and sneaking, barely does anything else), it's a good excuse for him to learn how to fight like a mortal, and it wouldn't be as much as a learning curve as it would for a Guardian who's used to flinging themselves carelessly into gunfire.
Ebuc: Lol that was an example of my though process, not a concept I was actually considering for this fic. I just though ahamkara leviathans and Taken Javik sounded freaky. But thanks for pointing out the Splicer stuff, I hadn't considered Quria as an option, though it would be iffy. If I were stick to the timeline of both games, the problem would arise sometime within the six-month lull between 2 and 3. I'll give it some thought; I'm already looking for new excuses to trash Javik's doomsday man cave again. Don't know why.
KINGREADER: I've never heard of that, but this Guardian reality hack has already left the station. Choo Choo! Jack and Crow won't get along, I've already made sure of it.
Musizlover2008: there are parts of the Dark Forest environment that can be destroyed, actually. Like they experimented with destructable environments and forgot to take those bits of code out.
In other news, I introduced my gecko to silkworms today. Had to sniff it, lick it, do both some more, before he realized it was edible. That exact moment was priceless. I also have a couple chapters already written for part 2, but I think I'll write a few more, take a break, and then start posting and writing again.
That being said, how was this? Never tried my hand at a 'short' story. Good? Bad? Thoughts on Zavala seeing our Savasiris and low-key raising us a Saladad in the new armor lore(no really, check the Iron Forerunner cloak, he might as well set Crow on the desk and say 'hey this needs looking after, you down bro?')?
Anyway, this was fun to right, and it was fun getting back into fanfic again.
Fare Thee Well!