Chapter Three: Visions
Death, and dying seemed to be the theme of Shepard's recent dreams. If it wasn't Protheans screeching and dying in horrific ways, then it was Benezia getting killed by his own hand or something related to Alex. The nightmares very rarely involved the actual people. Usually it was about something that the individual or people loved, or something that reminded Colt of them. It was somehow worse dreaming about things that were almost people or memories.
The Benezia problem sat heavy in his mind, since her fate was still in the future. No matter how hard he tried to reason with himself that the matriarch could be talked out of her… tendency to hate most living creatures, there was still a doubtful voice in the back of his mind saying it would be impossible not to end her existence. He hated that voice even more after his talk with Liara.
Then there was the Protheans being massacred by some unknown threat. This troubled him even more than Benezia. If a powerful race such as the Protheans could be wiped out by something, why couldn't human beings be wiped out? Or the asari? The list went on and on with potential limitless prey for this evil. Eliminating Saren would hopefully shine some light on the Prothean's death.
Another headache tore through Shepard's mind just thinking about the Protheans. These headaches would be the death of him. For just recently he had traveled to his bathroom, and had been treated to the sight of a man who should have probably been sent to the funny farm. His eyes were locked in a thousand-yard stare, his hair (he sported a shaved head, so hair was a shocker) was tousled and unkempt, but by far the worst part was the bags under his eyes. To say that it looked like a champion fighter had given him two black eyes was an understatement. Something had to be done about his condition or else Wrex would be leading the fight against Saren. Imagining Wrex wearing a much too small Alliance uniform and a cap atop his… back/head thing brought a smile to his face. Colt could only hope that none of his crew had noticed his terrible state.
...
"Did you see the Commander when he came out of his Commander cave?" Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams asked Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko.
"Yes, it looked like Wrex had mistaken him for a seat," he said quietly, not wanting the rest of the crew to notice how their fearless leader looked like shit.
"I think he's been hitting the happy juice too hard," Ashley Williams told him, looking thoughtfully at the kitchen.
"Happy juice, Williams?" Kaiden asked, truly confused. It was way too early to be up.
She sighed, and said, "You know liquid courage, giggle juice, moonshine." Seeing that Kaiden wasn't getting anything out of her informative list she said, "Alcohol!"
Finally understanding, Kaiden nodded in agreement, "Could be, although Shepard lives, breathes, and shits the Alliance. It would be stupid of him to drink heavily on the job. Hackett would have him stripped of his command if he ever found out."
"True, so than maybe that's not it then… I know! He's p-," Ashley quickly stopped when Kaiden started motioning over Doctor Liara T'Soni. The doctor slinked over to them and sat next to Kaiden. He wondered if she was suffocating or something because she had turned a darker shade of blue in just a few seconds.
...
One minute Liara had been trying to get some food, and the next she had been waved over by Kaiden Alenko. She found herself next to the enthusiastic lieutenant and across from Ashley, who appeared to be deciding on whether she should fight or fly. Awkward silence stretched out over them, caused by Ashley's unflinching glare. Kaiden cleared his throat and took a swing at the silence, "Sooo, nice weather we're having."
Williams, almost succeeding at breaking her glare, reminded Alenko that they lived on a spacecraft and the only weather was a balmy 72 degrees with the only atmospheric change occurring if they were blown to pieces. So there they sat, in an almost unbearable silence, until Shepard stumbled out of his cabin.
Liara had found that one of the most intriguing things about Shepard was his ability to make everyone comfortable with each other, and so happy you could almost see the rainbows pouring out of their features. His appearance had even made Ashley come dangerously close to happiness. The whole mess hall seemingly turned their eyes upon Shepard, who had succeeded at finding the coffee pot and after a rather impressive amount of expletives had gotten himself breakfast too. All the tension melted away from Liara's table when Shepard sat down at it. She was even going to ask him about how he slept until she actually saw his face.
The commander's eyes were sunken with dark rings surrounding them; his hair, which was already odd since he usually had a shaved head, was a violent mess and his overall appearance matched that of a wild varren. Ashley and Kaiden also took in his looks and remained silent as Shepard ate. Liara decided then and there that she would convince Shepard to let her help him. It was obvious that the Prothean beacon was doing serious damage to his mind. Without help he would become useless to the Alliance, which she imagined was his worst fear.
"Shepard, may I speak to you alone?" Liara said, hoping her anxiety didn't seep into her words.
Looking up from his meal, Shepard replied, "Of course, let's go." He moved to put his plate away and gestured Liara to follow him to his cabin.
Liara looked around her commander's cabin, surprised by what she saw. There were posters of Alliance ships (no surprise), maps of planets and what she could only assume were locations on Earth, and most notably posters of animals. They included the anatomy of some animals she recognized, but most she did not. Perhaps Shepard was interested in biology, since the posters depicted different biological systems. This was a bit of a shocker considering Shepard never mentioned his love of animals. In fact, he had never really said anything about himself.
"So what seems to be the problem, Liara?" Shepard's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. The Commander was perched on the end of his bed. He studied her intently; his scrutiny making her tense.
"Shepard, it's clear to me and most of the crew that something is wrong. My guess is that the Prothean beacon is doing this to you," she said, "Please let me help you; I can meld my mind with yours and get to the bottom of what's happening." She half expected Shepard to send her out the door but he only studied her for awhile longer, looked down at his feet and nodded.
Being only one hundred and nine, she had never melded with anyone before. Liara gathered her courage, and approached him. Even though touching was unnecessary to melding, she sat next to him and touched her forehead to his. She whispered Embrace Eternity and everything changed.
...
"They have the best here, right?" Liara heard what sounded to be a young, male human's voice. The picture of him was fuzzy, but then focused in. He looked like a ten-year-old version of Commander Shepard but she quickly realized that her Shepard, a much younger version, was walking next to the boy. The two were walking down a crowded street with mostly humans bustling around them.
"Why would we come here if they didn't? This zoo is galaxy-famous...I even hear they have your favorite," her Shepard said, grinning down at the tiny Shepard.
"Horses, no way!" the tiny Shepard's eyes were full of excitement. Whatever horses were, they must have been a great source of entertainment for the young child. Then the scene changed.
Bodies were piled around two people hunkered down behind a long gone hover car. One was the tiny Shepard, and one was the Shepard. The Shepard was firing at an unknown enemy while the other one was crouched low, trying to cover his ears from the screaming that had started. Smoke billowed from burning buildings making it even harder to see the pair. Unbeknownst to the larger Shepard, a Batarian had snuck up around the side of the car, and was heading for the tiny Shepard. Liara tried to call to the large Shepard, but her voice would not work and she could only watch in horror as the smaller Shepard was picked up by the Batarian. Watching, she sighed in relief as the Commander noticed, and had started to run after the Batarian. Her relief turned to disbelief as the Shepard stopped, and looked back at the city. He then retreated back to his hover car, and resumed firing again at the approaching Batarian mob. The scene once again shifted.
She found herself in an abandoned warehouse with a group of teenagers surrounding something. A lone voice rang out in the warehouse, "This'll teach the Reds, make it clear this one stepped over the line." She closed her eyes once the screaming began.
When she opened her eyes she was amongst what looked like Protheans running away from something. She stood in the middle of the street while Protheans streamed around her and through her. In the distance she could hear roaring that sounded machine made. One thought kept coming into her mind: 'Run, they are here.' She continued to feel that sensation while flashes of large machines went through her mind. After an eternity of panic, she found herself in Shepard's room.
Liara, and Shepard faced each other. Shepard looked nervous and opened his mouth to say something…
...
Author's Note: Hope you like it so far! I also hope you like my pure Paragon (almost to the point of causing diabetes) Shepard. I like Paragon Shepards better, but Renegades are more interesting. Props to those who can write a Renegade, I know I can't.
Also if you feel like you're reading some of the worst chapters (or mediocre chapters, which is worse than bad) in an increasingly crappy story, PLEASE tell me! I can only make it better if you review and tell me what I'm doing wrong. If you hate this story and don't review it, then I will continue down my happy little oblivious trail and you'll be forced to see this story and shutter in agony that I'm still trying to write it. So really, you're helping yourself.
-Wolfstar