Gemma stood in the middle of her hospital room with Liara in front of her. She'd slept for hours the day before and mentally did her best to prepare herself. Miranda gave her the all-clear to try the mind-melding, but they only had one chance. If not, they'd have to wait a few days to try it again.
Shepard, Kaidan, Miranda, Thane and Garrus all sat in the room with them, waiting patiently for it to begin. Liara tried to convince Javik to join them, but he was still pissed from the altercation the day before with Kaidan. The main concern was Gemma freaking out if all the memories came back at once. Liara was to make sure if she could, to pull the memories out slowly and not overwhelm them both, but that's if she could even meld with Gemma and the power of her biotics.
Okay, are you both ready?" Shepard asks as she stands between them both. They nod in union. "Alright, remember don't rush this. It will physically and mentally drain you both. Gemma doesn't overpower Liara with your biotics," she explains in a flat tone.
"Got it," Gemma confirms. Shepard turns to sit next to Kaidan, nervously shakes his knee. Shepard sees and places her hand on his to calm him.
"Relax your mind, Gemma," Liara says as she moves closer. Gemma nods and closes her eyes, letting Liara place both her hands on her shoulders. "Think of nothing but myself and you." Gemma does so, letting her mind concentrate on Liara's sound, scent and closeness. Her biotics reacted as everyone watched them flow around them both like a fluffy cloud. It was a mellow blue, showing just how relaxed Gemma was. Liara felt the tingle of her biotics as they touched and caressed her skin.
"What shall I do with my biotics?" Gemma whispers in a relaxed voice. Liara closes her eyes.
"Let them take control of us both," Liara replies. She takes a deep breath. "Embrace eternity," she nearly yells as her eyes open to the sight of pure black irises and pupils. Gemma felt her body go numb as the area around her fell into plain darkness.
She couldn't feel Liara either, just the flow of her biotics. She wasn't sure if it was working, but then a memory hit her. The fight on Horizon, losing her mother and fainting after attacking a group of cannibals. Kaidan woke her up, saved her when she was lost, afraid and alone. He was right by her side during all her hospital appointments.
The darkness kept changing with a projection of each memory, it was as if she was watching a movie. The next was meeting Thane, this time the blank part of Kaidan being there was filled in. She was shy about meeting Thane but excited as her love for the species was strong.
Liara twitches constantly. Gemma had taken full control of the melding and she couldn't break free. To her she was watching Gemma, watching her memories unfold. She watched in awe as they each played. It was as if she was there in the presence of Gemma. The biotics tickled her slightly, forcing her to turn her head to the left; the darkness showed a video of Gemma and Thane at the lake together.
It was after the argument Kaidan and Gemma had, an explosive argument at that. Liara tilted her head as she watched them both kiss, she could almost feel the warm sensation over hers as she moved her fingers to cover her lips. Thane's warm lips and long, controlled tongue. Gemma moaned and the memory ended, it was back to Kaidan and Gemma making up and finally testing out their relationship together.
Thane and Gemma were never meant to be, they both knew that. Thane had given her the push to embrace her feelings for Kaidan. The next memory was their first date, the night before the coup attempt. Liara tried to look away, but it was as if Gemma's biotics forced her to watch when she sees them have sex for the first time. The time it started on the dining room table, leading to the bedroom and they shared their first intimate moment together.
Gemma thought the process would be slow, but she screamed when all the memories flooded back to her, she held her hands out. Liara was back in front of her, they held onto each other. "You need to accept this, Gemma," Liara shouts as her biotics turn red in anger. The wind picked up and a smokescreen engulfed them both. Liara is pulled out, they only wanted Gemma.
"No, don't leave. I can't do this alone," Gemma cries as she tries to hold on. The noise felt like a dramatic piano solo in the background as it went very loud and took Liara off her feet. Gemma was the only thing holding onto her.
"Just remember," she shouts as she's pulled away and disappears into the smoke. Gemma holds her hands to her ears, screaming.
On the outside, everyone was panicking. Gemma's biotics had unleashed themselves and swallowed them both. The melding couldn't be broken, it was too dangerous.
"We have to do something," Garrus shouts as the wind knocks at them. It was freezing. Liara screams as she's physically pushed out and thrown into the wall. She grunts as her face hits the metal beam of the medical equipment. Shepard rushes over, pulling her up and sitting her on the bed. The biotics slow down, turning from red to a slow orange. They could see Gemma screaming inside.
"What happened?" Kaidan shouts as he tries to move closer to the biotic cloud. It almost felt as if it could shock his own biotics.
Shepard held a towel to Liara's bleeding head. "It worked, the memories started slowly and now they are out of control. She's living through it all again." Kaidan had to do something, he held his hand out and put a barrier around the cloud, hoping to contain it. Liara held her hand out to him. "No, don't. It will cause more damage if we try to stop it," she warns.
Kaidan drops his barrier, but Gemma's biotics zap his implant in warning as he does. He grunts as he holds his implant scar. "Fuck, this was a bad idea. What do we do now?"
"We wait," Miranda says as they all watch Gemma screaming with her eyes shut tight inside the cloud.
She remembered everything, but she still felt empty. She loved Kaidan, she loved her friends, she missed her father and adored her biotics. Why were they torturing her like this? The star gazing child stared up at her.
"You! I remember you!" she shouts. The child smirks at her.
"You will always remember me," he shouts in a Reaper's tone. The biotic bubble drops, Gemma feels as if she is falling. Then it freezes, and she's caught. She finally opens her eyes, looking right into the brown eyes she loved. Kaidan had caught her when the cloud fell and she finally came back to earth.
"Gemma?" he whispers in horror. Gemma can only stare at him, placing both her hands on his cheeks and pulling his lips to clash with hers. She loved him, she remembered him. She remembered everything.
Kaidan and Gemma forgot all was there when they kissed each other hungrily. Kaidan pushed his tongue into his mouth, he'd missed her taste and scent. They finally broke free as Garrus had loudly cleared his throat.
"Sorry," Kaidan mumbles, getting them both up properly. Gemma felt dizzy, she remembered it all. How she saved the galaxy.
"Liara, are you okay?" she asks with worry. She saw the purple blood drip down her cheek.
"Yes, I am fine. What happened? Did it work?" Gemma nodded.
"I remember it all, my biotics had to take control. The meld wasn't strong enough to get the deepest memories out. I remember how the Crucible deployed, the star gaze child." Shepard stood up.
"What happened up there?!" she asks. She looks at Garrus. "Get Hackett!" Gemma knew she had a lot to explain, but she was back. Her old self was restored. Though that voice sent a shiver down her spine. Why was the child still haunting her after she destroyed it with the Crucible?
Hackett paced the room, listening to each word spoken as Gemma retold the full story of what happened in the Crucible to the smallest detail. Shepard felt odd hearing it again, she'd come so far just to force back down. Gemma was the key this whole time, Shepard was just the pawn needed to get her there.
"I see. And what happened with Anderson, do you back Shepard's story?" Gemma looked at her, seeing the mention of Anderson hurt her.
"Yes, sir. The Illusive Man caused her to shoot him. She did not do it out of her own free will." Hackett scratched his chin.
"I see. Well, I am glad you have your memory back. Now, I can tell you all something that's been classified for the past few weeks." The room was empty besides Kaidan, Gemma and Shepard. Liara was fine, though very tired from the joining.
"What is it, sir?" Shepard asks as she pulls her chair forward. Gemma was leaning into Kaidan, she was so tired her feet could barely keep her up.
"We looked into your reports of the stargazing child. We could not find any information to suggest this was true or not. But what you both saw up there... it was not real. It was an Illusion." Gemma and Shepard looked at each other. It couldn't be true, they remembered so much of it.
"How?" they both say. Hacketts gives them a datapad about indoctrination.
"Some Reapers had processes still working, though nothing strong enough to make them sentient again. The child is nothing but a myth to the Reapers. They were never controlled. Shepard, your cybernetics and Prothean visions made it near impossible to indoctrinate you. So this was the last way the Reapers had to convert you into either controlling them or forcing the merge on us all." Shepard felt her mouth drop, just how in the hell did they manage that.
"And Gemma," he says, turning to her. "Whatever the child told you about your biotics and how they manifested, is probably incorrect. We cannot explain how you got to the Citadel, but the Reapers had not played a part in that." Gemma looked down at her hands, was she just their pawn as well. "They couldn't indoctrinate you either. Your biotics wouldn't have allowed it. The 'destroy' option you chose?" she nods. "It was the light your biotics was showing to stop the indoctrination. You chose correctly."
"So where were we during this whole time?" Shepard asks.
"Well you both did make it to the Citadel, but for whatever reason, You got sent back down, Commander. Gemma stayed, but when you became conscious again, it was all in your head. You imagined it all." Gemma looked at Kaidan. The child had told her she would always remember it. Was it still trying to convert her?
"So it was all made of? A dream?"
"More like a nightmare?" Gemma corrected. Hackett nods.
"Yes, you both broke the indoctrination and won this war for us." They were silent, it didn't feel like a victory. It felt like everything they fought for was a lie.
"I need some time to process this," Shepard mutters as she excuses herself. Hackett understood her need for space, it was a lot to take in.
"I shall leave you both. Gemma, the council wishes to see you tomorrow," Hackett says as he slowly backs towards the door.
"Yes, sir," she replies. Hackett gives a stern nod and leaves the room. Gemma looked up at Kaidan, "I can't believe none of that really happened."
He brushes her hair behind her ear. "You have your answers now. The war is over, we have our lives to build together now."
"I love you, Kaidan," she says, turning and hooking her arms around his neck.
"I love you too, Gemma," he replies, leaning down to catch her lips. Oh, how we missed her. This was the fresh start they needed. Now they had a galaxy rebuild together with their crew and family.
A/N: I remember watching a video about the indoctrination theory and how Shepard imaged it all. If you chose the control ending, you could actually see Shepard slowly turning into a husk as her body dissolves. I can agree with this theory, indoctrination is confusing as it is. I wanted to try to add this into the story, give us some more closure into the Reapers and that horrid star gazing child. I think with Shepard shooting Anderson, it never happened. He actually died on the final push to the Crucible beam, but that is just my own opinion. Until next time!