Blue Monday
Chapter Three: Clarity in Darkness

A/N: This chapter is special, in a way. If you've seen my Tumblr account, then you've seen the framework for this chapter. As I've mentioned before, the story Eclipsed will be taken down and re-structured to fit the From Ashes universe (which was my intention after a few ideas hit me) This is a preview of what is to come. As always, thanks for reading!

Fear

It was the first emotion to register as it crossed the younger asari's face. The slightest of chemical burns was starting to appear across her skin as the red haze descended.

"Bastard!" The harsh tone she used cut through the air, but it didn't make a mark on the one it was directed toward. The salarian turned away and strode off with a smirk curling his thin lips.

A shipping crate had been hit deliberately with a tech attack so that its contents would become volatile and explode. The sides of the crate had splintered, and the bolts that had held it together had shot off faster than a cork from a shaken bottle. One of them had taken some skin from the side of her face as it had passed, but that wasn't what worried her.

Elnora had been closest to the crate when it had detonated, and now, she was flat on her back. The neurotoxin had hit her full in the face. Already, an unstable barrier had begun to pulse from her. Ultraviolet whisps, warping the very air around her, threatened to touch other items scattered about the warehouse's floor. She had instinctively raised her hands to her face, but it had already been too late.

"Pray I don't catch you, you spineless worm!" Wasea's first instinct had been to go after him and grind his bones into dust. As good as it would have felt, the price was too high. She'd seen what the others had gone through in their final moments. None had been this severe, but it had been bad enough.

She wasn't about to let a kid be torn apart by her own biotics.

"What happened?" A voice came over her earpiece as Wasea worked to amplify her own, more stable, barrier. It would have to be strong enough to endure contact with Elnora's, and it would have to act as a balancing factor. She'd never done this before, but the theory was sound.

"He knows the reason I'm here." She managed through gritted teeth. "What is your position?"

"Just south of the building. My people have it surrounded."

"Take it. When you find that salarian, I want him." She stopped talking then to concentrate. She'd faltered a bit, and the contact with Elnora's spiraling barrier had felt like a corkscrew in her side. "Wait, sweep for explosives first."

"Already on it. Stand by."

"Try to contain them." Wasea murmured. She knew it would do nothing, but she said it anyway. At this point, her barrier was acting as a suppressor, and it was the best she could do. Elnora's hands fell away from her face to reveal watering eyes and a clenched jaw.

She was trying, at least.

"Hang in there, kid..."

What felt like hours may have been mere minutes, but that voice came through on her earpiece again. By this time, Wasea could more than feel the strain. A thin sheen of cold sweat had formed over her brow, and her jaw was aching under the pressure.

"First sweep clear. Moving to secondary."

"Should have known you were in league with the cops." The same salarian who had caused the explosion spoke from somewhere above. "How long have you been twisting the knife in our back?"

"Longer than five of your lifespans, you coward." Wasea had half a mind to turn her head and look for him, but what she was doing was too important.

"Ah, so you mean longer than she'll live. I see." Korlan, the overseer of the warehouse, was just above her. She could hear him pacing on top of a catwalk. "Interesting to see just how someone's own biotics can be their end."

"When I get to you, you'll know just how that feels."

"Oh, but you won't." She could tell by his tone that he was smirking. "This building is rigged to the teeth. As soon as Illium Law Enforcement breeches, it goes up like a krogan war bomb, and there's no telling how many people it will take with it."

"Is he bluffing?" Another voice over the earpiece. This one was different; it as male.

"Scans show multiple class one explosives. They're scattered through the facility." The first voice, her voice, came again.

"They're in random shipping containers." Wasea guessed under her breath. "Last resort. They're meant for damage control."

"Tell me, has she started to bleed yet?" Korlan taunted after a few minutes' silence.

"Stay focused." Detective Anaya cut across. Her voice wasn't distorted. It wasn't coming over her earpiece as it had been. Eyes darting up briefly, she saw the silhouette of the woman nearby. "He's carrying what looks like an old-fashioned dead-man's switch. If any harm comes to him, this place goes up."

"Should have known you'd bring one of those in with you." Korlan hissed.

"You followed me." Wasea didn't look up; her words directed to the detective.

"Later." Anaya deflected the comment. "How is she?"

"Not good. I can't contain it much longer."

"When he agrees to let her go, medical is standing by."

"And why would I do that?" The salarian shot back. "This isn't a charity."

"No, but you want her to have your full and undivided attention when you take her out." Anaya reasoned. "To kill her while she's distracted wouldn't do it for you."

"Glory isn't my forte, detective."

"Isn't it?" Anaya goaded. "You're a glorified bookkeeper for Eclipse after you failed as a lieutenant."

Wasea listened carefully as she concentrated harder on suppressing the unstable biotic field that was still peaking. Elnora, who had been looking up, turned her head violently to the side; eyes tightly closed again.

"I didn't fail!"

"All of your people died in a raid on Omega. What do you call that?"

"A set-up-"

"Right, and this was an error in inventory." Anaya crossed her arms. "Eclipse's greatest traitor going up in a warehouse while attempting to save a kid's life; you'll be lucky to get a mention on the evening report while they hail her as a hero-"

"Get her out of here then." He snapped. "Stay where I can see you. When she's clear, I'll deal with you both."

It was difficult; the two of them working in tandem to stabilize a violently shifting biotic field. By this point, Elnora had lost consciousness. Wasea and Anaya went through the warehouse, taking the most direct route, to the exit. As they walked, they shared a quiet conversation.

"You got his horns in a knot."

"Enough to get her out of here."

"How did you get through without him knowing?"

"This used to be a power substation. Maintenance access."

As they reached one of the bays near the front of the building, Anaya hit the switch that would release the door. It opened to reveal a wall of police barricades and personnel. As Anaya predicted, a medical team was standing by. They passed off Elnora, and a comment came over both of their earpieces:

"Positive. We have a shot. I repeat: We have a shot."

"Single or multiple targets?" The second voice from earlier.

"Two Eclipse targets."

"Green light!"

Two words, they were enough to take what little time they had away. Two shots were fired simultaneously. One hit its mark while the other did not. She had seen the rifles from behind the elevated barricades. One had been pointed toward the center of the warehouse, likely targeting Korlan. The second shot…

"Down!"

The collision.

The consequence.

The world around them exploded in a range of sound and colour. White, yellow, and red bloomed in violent bursts above, while the ground shook with heavy shockwaves below.

She fell against something smooth and rigid while the rest of the world rained down over her. Ears that had just clearly heard a gunshot were subjected to the worst of what silence had to offer. Sound fell away and left her with a shrill ringing.

The floor was falling.

She was falling.

Someone was with her, holding onto her.

Everything stopped.

Water dripped from somewhere above. Rhythmic droplets landed on her forehead and slowly made cool tracks through the ridges of her scalp. For the first few moments that she was aware of this, Wasea simply lay there. The vibrant colors from before had dissolved into blissful dark. The shrill ringing in her ears had gone. She could hear the water as it fell, as well as her own breathing. The water, while cool, was causing pain, but that couldn't be right.

No, the water was dripping into a wound.

A muscle spasmed, and it finally forced her to move. The seals that had kept her armor balanced were gone. and her shoulder was exposed. Water running down it had been the source of the muscle tick. Moving it, she realized that it wasn't only the shoulder guard that was gone. Half of her chestplate had cracked and was hanging loosely from its frame.

Testing her luck, Wasea moved her left arm and reached for the clamps that held the chestplate together. Her movements were slow, and she went at it from memory with the lack of light. Finding them, she released them, and the chestplate fell away. Only then did she realize that she found it easier to breathe.

"You're awake."

The voice was sharp, a stark contrast to the silence.

It was familiar.

It was hers.

"Detective." Her own was stronger than she expected. "Where-"

"Hang on." The dim, orange, glow of an omni tool illuminated their surroundings. They were maybe a meter apart, if that. The surrounding walls looked aged but steady. They were in a corridor. Rubble from above was scattered around. When Wasea's eyes adjusted, she could see the path that had been their descent. "There." Small, dim, but equally spread lights illuminated the corridor, as Anaya deactivated her omni tool. "Emergency lighting should stay on indefinitely." She shifted from where she had been sitting to get a better look at her companion. "How are you feeling? You've been out for nearly an hour."

"Better than you look." Wasea managed to sit up and shake off the chestplate completely. "Damn-" She swore as that same shoulder hitched slightly.

"Really?" Anaya crossed battered and bruised arms as she observed. "You look like you just sent through a warzone, and you still manage to crack wise?"

"Even if it is the adrenaline, you still look worse than I feel." Wasea shook out her left shoulder. When she heard a crack and felt the joint fall back into place, she bit down to suppress a groan.

"Sure about that?"

"Positive." Wasea examined her left arm carefully before running a check on her armor with her omni tool. Even it was damaged, but it worked well enough to tell her that her armor was ruined. "At least I don't look like I lost a bet with a set of blade armor."

"No, you just look like yours took a few choice shots with a spike thrower." Anaya retorted. That earned her a short laugh. It was followed by a serious question.

"You say I was out for nearly an hour?" Wasea carefully started releasing the seals manually, so that her armor fell away and added to the jumble of wreckage and water on the floor.

"Yeah. Nearly as long as we've been down here." Anaya shouldered a large piece of stone that had fallen down with them and began to move it. "Looks like you hit your head on the way down…" She indicated the left side of the other asari's scalp.

"I take it we're in one of those maintenance corridors you mentioned." Wasea asked as she raised a hand to check the area indicated. Frayed skin and warm blood met her bare fingertips.

"Yeah. These used to house the cooling lines that kept the condensers from overheating." Anaya managed to shift the stone a bit before falling back against the wall. "Finally..." She let her shoulders drop slightly. "Was losing circulation in that leg."

"You're bleeding." At first it had just looked like a dark spot against the detective's torn uniform shirt, but the light that had been hidden under the shifted rock revealed a glossy sheen.

"It's fine, just a scratch-"

"The hell." Wasea moved closer and placed her hand against the wound. It was warm and still open. The contact caused the detective to look up sharply. Nodding, Wasea reached back with her free hand and tore one of the medigel dispensers free from her armor and activated it manually. She then removed the torn glove from that same hand and pressed it against the newly treated wound. "Those are scratches." She motioned to a few long abrasions along Anaya's exposed arms. "They're starting to knit already. That," She indicated the wound that she was still applying pressure to. "Is worse."

"Thanks." The other offered then. "Regardless of severity, they were well worth it."

"You think so, do you?"

"Better a few scratches than you getting a bullet between the eyes."

"Good to know that it only took an explosion to knock off the chill." Wasea commented dryly. It resulted in an eye roll and a half smile from Anaya.

"Seriously." She pressed on. "I heard what you said to Elnora."

"Who said I was being truthful?" Wasea chose that moment to look away. Anaya didn't let that go unnoticed.

"I've observed you long enough to know when you're being truthful and when you're bullshitting."

"Is it skill, or is it that I let you see it?"

"Let me counter that with another question." Anaya said simply. "If it wasn't skill, why would you let me?

"Maybe I enjoy watching you chasing shadows."

"There's no maybe about that."

"No," Wasea looked her in the eye then. "I suppose there isn't." Their conversation was temporarily interrupted by the sound of metal creaking. It was distant, but she could feel the vibrations against her eardrums. Letting out a breath, she strained to hear anything else. Every now and again, she thought she could hear someone speaking above, but it was too muffled to be sure. When the noises stopped, Wasea posed a question.

"These access corridors," She looked around the one they were currently in. "There should be an exit somewhere, right?"

"There are a few." Anaya paused before continuing. She'd heard someone above them as well. "Damn, we're too far below for anyone to hear anything." She then looked up and down the corridor. "This one is a secondary path. It should link to one of the primary access corridors, and there should be an exit from there."

"Good." The response was short, but Wasea found thatt she couldn't get her jaw to move much. It was tight with tension, and it was starting to ache.

"Hey," That hadn't gone unnoticed. Anaya was watching her with concern creasing her brow. "You alright?"

"Fine." Again, a short answer, but Wasea wasn't even listening to her own voice anymore. Her eyes were focused on the running lights along the corridor. They were pulsing gently, and it made her uneasy. "Just…" A metallic whine sounded from somewhere nearby, and it made Wasea flinch violently.

"Easy." Anaya reached up and covered the hand that was still held against the treated wound with her own. All the while, she was taking in Wasea's expression. Her eyes were focused on a point down the corridor, and her jaw was quivering from the pressure it was under. Her one hand was trembling slightly while the free one was twisting backward for a weapon holster that was empty. "Hey," Squeezing the hand she was holding, Anaya saw the slightest of eye twitches indicating that she had the other asari's attention. "It was a water reservoir. It probably released pressure somewhere down the line."

Finally, Wasea nodded jerkily. Her next words were a clear give away as to her state of mind.

"We need to get out of here."

For a few seconds, Anaya didn't move. The thought that had just hit her didn't seem likely, but she was seeing it.

"You're claustrophobic."

"What?" That got Wasea's attention. She turned her head completely away from the path ahead to look at the detective.

"You're claustrophobic." She repeated.

"… Situationally." It was reluctant, but Wasea did admit it.

"How did that happen?"

"Once we're out of here, you'll know."

"I'll hold you to that." Anaya carefully shifted positions and rose to her feet. "You good to walk?"

"Should be." Wasea stood as well. "I should be asking you that, seeing as that was crushing your leg earlier." She looked down at the large chunk of stone that had fallen with them earlier.

"It hurts, but I'm good."

Before they started down the corridor, Wasea moved toward her discarded armor. Her weapons pack was still attached to it. Removing the shotgun from its place, she checked it over. There was minimal damage. It would still work. Pulling what thermal clips she had from another compartment in her armor, she pocketed them and turned to Anaya. "Be sure you're armed. You don't know what to expect down here."

"Access corridors are usually empty." Anaya remarked as she checked her pistol. "Nothing in them to attract people."

"You'd be surprised at what lingers in dark spaces."

They started down the corridor in search of a junction. While moving, Wasea felt the tension slip slightly. She had something else to focus on. Her jaw was aching from the pressure she'd put on it, and her eyes were constantly roving the area ahead. Unfortunately, that reprieve didn't last long. Soon, every noise had her on edge again. The walls were getting closer, and air was thinner.

No.

They weren't.

"What I said to Elnora," She was talking. Talking seemed to keep things in perspective. "I meant it."

"I know." Where Wasea's voice had been laced with tension, Anaya's wasn't. It was almost norma. "Who was she?"

"Someone I would have been proud to call my daughter."

"You ever had children?"

"No." Wasea shook her head. "No, I never gave myself the time." She then thought back a bit. "By what you said to Shepard, I assume you haven't either."

"Work tends to keep my social calendar pretty empty." That was the truth. There had been many times when someone had tried setting her up for a date, and the job had come first. Anaya's comment to her partner about only using work as a viable excuse for so long had come from experience.

"When it comes, don't let such an opportunity pass you by." Wasea managed to say that before a thought hit her. She was sounding more like a matriarch. "It will leave you with the greatest of regrets."

"When did you know?"

"I found out too late." They had reached an access ladder, bit it led down instead of up. "She had a bright future ahead of her."

"Had?" They moved on from that ladder and proceeded down the corridor a few more paces.

"She was killed in a shoot-out on Thessia two centuries ago." Wasea squinted then. Something was ahead. She could see it moving. "Hold." She motioned to stop. Raising her shotgun, she activated the searchlight on its barrel. What she'd seen moving was a pipeline that had come loose from its brackets. "Damn."

"I'd say a lot of those are falling now." Anaya was looking in the same direction. "How many explosives do you think they had?"

"There is no way to know." Wasea lowered her shotgun and turned off the searchlight. "That shootout is actually the reason I came here."

"You think Eclipse had something to do with it?"

"I know they did." They were approaching a ladder now. This one led up, presumably to a primary access corridor. "I caught the bastards responsible; some of Jona's first and most foolish."

"Don't tell me," Anaya gave her a sideways look as she began climbing the ladder. "You've been on a personal crusade since." When she reached the upper level, she looked back to see the other asari giving her a pointed look. "You have, haven't you?"

"Was it really that obvious?" Wasea finally asked as she neared the top of the ladder. "To guess that from the off?"

"Wouldn't have been if I hadn't just heard the backstory." Anaya shrugged. They were in one of the primary access tunnels now. Utility boxes hung along the walls, and there were supply closets scattered throughout as well. Anaya activated her omni tool for a second to check their position. Its holo interface flickered dangerously, but she saw where they were. "Glad I studied the blueprints of this place well enough before going in."

"Why did you?" They started walking forward and then took a right. "Follow me, I mean."

"The easy answer would be I don't know." Anaya kept her eyes forward as she said this. "It's one where I wouldn't have to think about it."

"And the more difficult one?"

"A gut feeling I couldn't ignore." Finally, they reached a secure storage room, and Anaya leaned against its locked door. She then elaborated. "I was behind the police barricade when you went through security. While you two were on the upper level, something just felt wrong."

"Korlan was a bit too accommodating." Wasea admitted. "Especially after the uproar on Omega recently, he's been gunning to prove himself. Still, you were right. Something was wrong. He knew we were coming and what we were there for."

"How would he have known that?"

"Someone would have had to have tipped him off, but…" Wasea trailed off. The running lights along the corridor flickered and died.

The tension that had slowly rolled off of Wasea's shoulders was back with a vengeance. It wasn't the loss of light that triggered it; it was the nagging suspicion that someone was down there with them. "Keep your barrier up." She said it in a tone she almost didn't recognize. She hadn't used it in many years. When her eyes adjusted to the dark again, Wasea adjusted her grip on her shotgun.

"Hang on." Attempting re-activation, Anaya swore. "Power has been cut. There could be a multitude of reasons. Hell, the Fire Service could have done it to prevent any further damage."

"How much further until we're out of here?"

"Shouldn't be too much further." Anaya activated her omni tool again to check the floor plan. "Little way down this corridor and we should find one there." She indicated it on the display before it flickered again.

"Good." They started walking again at a slower pace. Wasea's senses were heightened, and every sound nearly made her pause. After a few moments of ambient noise, she spoke again. "Is that the only reason you decided to follow me?"

"No." The answer came with a sigh. "No, it wasn't." Another pause, and Anaya continued. "I couldn't get it out of my head."

"What?"

"What happened after you were arrested." She said simply. "The conversation and everything after."

"Couldn't get that out of your head, hmm?"

"And there's your opportunity to gloat."

A small laugh escaped her. It wasn't sarcastic, cocky, or even derisive. It was genuine. Wasea let her thoughts wander as she walked for a moment. Specifically, a dark corner in the sleeping quarters of the police station and the exchange that happened there were clear in her mind.

"There it is," Anaya indicated a door with a security lock on it. "That's the way out." She began running an unlocking program via omni tool. While the reticle spun as the command processed, she holstered her pistol. "…And for the record, it wasn't the explosion that broke the ice."

Wasea just did have time to turn her head. She hadn't heard the other woman's approach from the door. So, to say that it was a shock to feel the detective's lips on hers would have been an understatement. The consolation prize: it was a welcome one. Brief though the encounter was, it was most telling; accented by Anaya's next comment:

"It was something similar to that, that did."

Anaya didn't have a chance to pull away. With a few choice moves, Wasea's shotgun hit the floor, and her arms found their way around the detective's waist, keeping her close. When their lips met again, there was no element of surprise to hold her back. With only her huntress' uniform, that she used as underarmor, left after her partisan armor had been left in pieces, Wasea could feel every last inch of the other asari's body against her. It was almost mind-blowing , how much she had missed these sensations. The encounter Anaya had mentioned earlier, the one she'd thought about, had been different. She'd still had her armor then…

This was a whole different thing entirely.

"Hey, hold on." Anaya finally got those words out when they broke apart again. She took a second to enjoy the slightly confused look she received before smirking. "You had your chance at an ambush back in the station." Gently, but with controlling force, she took a step forward; nodding with satisfaction as Wasea's back hit the nearby wall. Leaning forward, sh trailed a slow and deliberate line of light kisses down the thinner folds of skin at the base of the other asari's neck until she reached a pint just above the leather collar of her uniform. She let her smirk, borne of confidence, release into a light smile when she felt Wasea's fingertips press against her spine. When she leaned back to catch a glimpse of the other's face, she added, in a lower tone:

"Yeah, that door can wait a few more minutes."