Chapter Fifty Three: Save You
"We're almost out of creds, Shepard," Chakwas had called Shepard to the med bay. He wasn't expecting good news, but this was plain shocking.
"You mean we just went through my entire life savings just like that?" Shepard snapped his fingers.
"God...I'm sorry. I didn't know it was your life savings," Chakwas looked at him with sad eyes.
"I didn't have anything else, but I don't suppose there's any good news," he leaned against a table for support. Life was getting too overwhelming.
"No change, but that's good news. It means that you aren't doing worse, and that you can continue with missions," Chakwas tried smiling at him, but stopped when she looked at him. He didn't mean to look so down, but everything was just against him.
"I'll get the creds we need," Shepard vowed. A sudden fire had been ignited inside of him. He would get the creds he needed to live, and then he would defeat the Reapers.
...
The photo in Shepard's hands was taken when he was on a free-lance mission a few nights ago. He didn't do anything illegal (he hoped); he was actually recruited by a high ranking Turian military official. Technically he could free lance missions as a Spectre, but the Alliance frowned upon that sort of thing. He wasn't exactly sure where he landed with the law. The Turian wanted an up-and-coming mercenary band's outpost raided. Shepard gladly accepted the job as it would hurt bad guys, and he would earn money for his treatments. That wasn't too troubling.
The worrisome part was that an old rival gang member knew about it, and could potentially leak the information. It would be a massive blow to the galaxy to learn that the person driving the war effort was terminally ill. Plus, the personal repercussions was a terrifying thought. Just the thought of Liara finding out was enough to make Shepard shudder.
It didn't help that the rival gang member wasn't just a Serpent, he was the one who had enough artistic ability to carve a serpent into Shepard's am. The serpent wasn't as noticeable on his arm, but it was still shocking to see the mutilated, twisted flesh. Plus, the asshole had left the same knife that had carved the image into his left bicep.
"Colt, you okay?" Liara stood behind him, and asked. She was searching his face for any emotion, but she would find nothing. He knew how to make his face blank. He could feel her presence trying to gauge his emotions, but he tried hard to conceal those.
"Fine," Shepard said curtly. For the first time he noticed the reporters everywhere, the flashes blinded him for a second. He didn't want to be here anymore. He wanted to be in his cabin far from the public's eye. "Let's go," Shepard shoved the picture and knife under his arm. Then he started off towards the elevator. He needed to get to Huerta Memorial, and he definitely needed to get away.
…
Colt was back on the Normandy getting ready extricate a female Krogan from the Salarians. The bad news was that he had given fifty thousand dollars to a specialist making his medicine. The fifty thousand had come from the high ranking Turian official, but it would only be enough for a week's worth of treatments.
The happy news was that Wrex was aboard the Normandy and as awesome as ever. Their first conversation was a blast from the past. They always had an easy back and forth banter.
He felt bad about snapping at Liara earlier, so he decided to take her on the mission. However, he was going to talk to her first.
"Hey," Shepard said after he entered Liara's room without her noticing. He had just planned on apologizing but something compelled him to talk about his past a bit.
"Oh hey, you okay?" Liara turned her pretty blue eyes from her screen to him.
"No, not really," Shepard sat heavily down on a chair next to Liara. She didn't say a word. "That guy was a rival gang member. His name is Vincent, and he's a very nasty person. Caught Alex and I when we just got into the Reds. We didn't know the boundaries, and wandered on to Serpent territory. Let Alex go on account he was only four, but he took me to an abandoned warehouse," Colt drew in a ragged breath. Liara was looking at him intensely, worry etched on her features.
"There were five, and they were able to tie me to an old dentist's chair. Then he took this knife," he pulled out the knife the picture was attached to. "And carved a serpent into my arm. I bled so much I passed out. I would've died all alone in a dirty, old warehouse. Tied to a dentist chair, but another Red found me," he was staring at his hands, caught in the memories. It was one of the most terrifying things that had ever happened to him.
"Colt, you're okay now. He can't do something like that again," Liara said gently.
"He found me though, and he hates me. That's a dangerous combination," Colt looked at the grotesque picture of the serpent on his arm. "But I hate him too. So there's power in that," Colt looked up sharply as he tensed with anger.
"That seems like a flawed way of thinking," she responded.
"Maybe, but it's how I survived for two years on the streets. I was fueled by hate, rage, and Red Sand," he said. He stood, and started pacing. "Anyways, I just wanted to tell you that's what happened," Colt had to leave the room. It was too painful to stay.
"I'm hoping that you'll come on the Sur' Kesh mission," he asked on his way out.
"Of course I will," Liara told him with the same gentleness. Her calm helped quench the fire in his soul, but it was still there. It wasn't the good fire he had, the Reaper ass-kicking fire. It was the same fire that had made him a very capable member of the Tenth Street Reds.
...
"We don't want the Krogan in our facility. You may go, Commander. Plus the asari, and other human, but not him," a small Salarian had to look up to see Shepard, but the little thing was intimidating.
"Why?" Shepard crossed his arms, and looked down at him.
"We don't want some angry Krogan running around the facility. We have standards, Commander," Shepard could tell he wasn't going to budge on his decision.
"Wrex, sorry buddy," Shepard turned towards the massive Krogan, who was looking at the salarian like he was dinner.
"I'm going down there and you can't stop me," Wrex started forward with a dangerous intensity.
"Going down there will piss the salarians off, and maybe cause a conflict between Krogans and salarians. It's not worth doing that over something I can easily do," Shepard knew his words made sense to Wrex. The big guy glanced over to the waiting guards and walked towards them.
"Salarian is a delicacy, dat liver," Wrex told the guards after he positioned himself comfortably. He would stay there for the duration of the mission.
…
"Kirrahe!" Shepard yelled when he saw the inspirational salarian.
"Commander Shepard, I haven't seen you in almost four years. Heard you died," Kirrahe greeted. Shepard was very fond of the salarian, and impressed with his motivational speeches.
"So they say," Shepard loved his mind games.
"But...you were dead. Resurrected," Kirrahe blinked curiously.
"Maybe," Shepard answered, his eyes narrowed, "Anyways, how goes it?"
"Still in STG, and I see that Liara is still on the Normandy," he nodded enthusiastically towards her. "War has a way of bringing people together," Kirrahe said warmly. Shepard would've gladly talked to him for awhile longer, but alarms started going off.
"What's that?" Shepard asked no one in particular.
He got an answer from a youngish salarian, "Perimeter breach, sir."
"Any idea who it is?" Shepard asked while putting his helmet on, and checking his gun.
"It appears to be a former employer of yours," the salarian said. "Cerberus," he said with finality.
"Well, we better get moving," Shepard jogged towards the elevator that would take them to the lower levels where the Krogan waited.
...
There was a bomb in the elevator. It took Shepard a couple seconds to recognize the threat. Not a second too soon Shepard threw up a barrier, then it detonated. A massive explosion bent the metal in the elevator, and left it black. His barrier had stopped anyone from getting hurt, but their only way of movement had been destroyed.
"What do we do?" Shepard turned to consult Liara and James.
"This can't be the only exit," Liara said while scrutinizing the crater. "Top military places like this would have a way of getting out. Elevators break down sometimes, so they wouldn't want a bunch of scientists stuck," Liara turned her intelligent gaze back to him.
"Your friend is right, there's an emergency ladder over there," some scientist told them.
"Right again, Doctor. Remind me to give you an award or something," Shepard grinned at her.
"Shepard!" Liara hissed; she was blushing profusely. He usually didn't mention how impressed he was with her during missions. He didn't want the other person he took with him to get jealous. He couldn't pass up the opportunity to make her blush, however. He loved making her blush.
...
"No way!" Shepard's eyes were being jerks. They told him that Mordin was standing in front of him.
"Had to help. Female Krogan shouldn't be subjected to this treatment. Belongs with her people, helping them. Staying here would've killed her, like the rest," Mordin eyes shined with greeting. Hopefully he was excited to see his former captain.
"The rest?" Shepard glanced at the other pods, only one had a Krogan.
"Had ten here, they died. A damn shame," Mordin looked towards the Krogan regretfully.
Shepard moved towards the Krogan's pod. He did it purely on impulse. "Hello, I'm Commander Shepard. My team and I are going to save you. Just hold on," Shepard had no idea if she could hear him, but the fire in her eyes calmed a little bit.
He walked back towards the group. "Let's get moving. Cerberus is trying to get her too. Do you have a plan?" Shepard asked.
"I do, but it involves a lot of fighting on your part," Morin said to him.
"Good," seeing a person kept like an animal made Shepard's blood boil.
…
Cerberus was pounding their position. It wasn't so much that they were talented, there was just a shit ton of them. It didn't help that everyone was yelling at him. Wrex was yelling at him to save the female, Mordin was yelling at him to hurry, and his omni-tool bleeped telling him the Krogan's health.
Shepard had it with this fight. He would end this. Now.
He stepped from cover with his barriers increasing. Every shot he fired from his gun hit someone. Several headshots made Cerberus trooper's heads explode in interesting ways. His rally allowed James and Liara to move up. Their push continued until only a few enemies were forced against the back wall of the level. Shepard let his team kill the stragglers while he went to the female Krogan.
He opened the pod, expecting to see very weakened Krogan. Instead he saw flashing eyes, before a thousand pounds knocked him to the ground. "You saved me for your own selfish gains. I can't trust you, or anyone," the Krogan kneeled over him. She had a gun in her right hand, but it was pointed in a different direction.
"Shepard!" Liara, and James had finished up with Cerberus, only to find their commander pinned by an angry Krogan.
"Stand down!" He could see biotics flaring, and guns raising towards the Krogan. She was just terrified and needed to be shown that she was safe. "You're right, but only partially. I did save you because I needed support from the Krogan. Wrex, the Krogan leader, demanded you be returned to your people before he helped me," Shepard could tell his words weren't helping his case at all.
"That's only part of it. One way or another I didn't have to save you. I could've persuaded Wrex to allow me to do something else. I could've ignored his bargain completely, and sided with the salarains. The point is-I did it because you needed help. I will never turn my back on anyone who needs help. Everyone deserves to be with their people, somewhere happy. I care about you, and not just because you're crucial to the war," Shepard shut his mouth. If she thought he was full of it, then he deserved to die.
She stared at him for a long time, probably trying to see if he was lying. Her eyes softened, and she nodded. "You're genuine," she said.
"If I didn't think that, I wouldn't have said it," Shepard responded. She stood up from the pin she had him in. Then she extended her arm towards him. He took her hand and was pulled up.
She looked Shepard over for a second, and then pulled him into a hug. The site of a Krogan hugging a human must have been comical, but it signified something deeper. Maybe there was a chance for the galaxy to get along. "Thank you for saving me. You're the only person who's cared about me in a very long time, and you don't even know my name," she laughed at the last part, and then released him from the hug.