Tags:
Bad Things Happen, Tooth Knocked out, Biotic, Sparring, Pre-relationship, Post-ME1, flashback
Summary:
Bored after weeks of being stuck in the hospital, Shepard is out for a little excitement, a little exercise after she got discharged. Biotic sparring is the way to go, she decides. And what Shepard wants, she won't stop until she gets.
Prompt fill for Tooth knocked out, Seo Kanori
"Come on," Shepard called out. "Is that all you've got, T'Soni?"
The asari frowned and put her hands on her hips. The white short sleeve shirt was tight across her chest. It paired well with a thigh length workout pants. Her blue skin was flushed a deep purple. "This is not supposed to be serious, Shepard," T'Soni reminded.
Shepard just chuckled. Her braid of flaming red hair was dark with perspiration. She was clad entirely in N7 themed clothes — a tank top and a pair of shorts. T'Soni's eyes darted towards her left shoulder again, checking on the healing wound. It was an impressively small scar considering the Citadel fell on her after they had defeated Saren. Well that's an exaggeration, it's just a portion of it, but who's keeping score?
"Stop it," Shepard said, rotating her shoulder to work the tightness from the muscle. Her shoulder definitely did not appreciate taking a rebar through it, but with the wonders of modern medicine, she was only left with two inch wide circular scar, horribly tight muscles and occasional aches and pains. She got off cheaply all things considered.
"You were just discharged not two days ago," T'Soni pointed out. "Chakwas hadn't even cleared you medically for combat yet."
Shepard bounced on her heels to keep from cooling down. "This isn't combat," she explained in a completely reasonable tone. She had managed to book a biotics certified sparring room. In the wake of Saren's defeat, finding a functioning training centre for biotics was near impossible, what with the Council suddenly finding the need to increase the security of the Citadel. "This is merely a workout, a biotic workout."
T'Soni glowered at her.
"Come on, T'Soni. I'm fine. I was discharged, remember? I need to keep my muscles limber for rehab."
She sighed and her shoulders slumped. Shepard knew she had won her over, but she still needed a little something to push T'Soni over the edge. "Nobody wanted to spar with me, you're my only hope," she said, delivering it in her most sincere tone.
T'Soni narrowed her eyes, but her gaze was filled with a resignation Shepard recognised. It was most often seen in Anderson's eyes when he was exasperated but had given up fighting her on whatever it was she wanted. Shepard grinned, her green eyes flashed in victory. Even after rebuffing T'Soni's advances, back while they were chasing Saren across the galaxy, they had remained friends and Shepard was grateful for it. T'Soni represented more than just a lead, she represented the every person. It reminded her why she fought, grounding her in a way nothing else could.
"Let's go again," she said, impatient to get her body moving again. Sitting still wasn't never her strong suit.
"We'll go slow this time," T'Soni said firmly.
Shepard agreed eagerly just to get started.
T'Soni sighed and centred herself, biotics buzzing just under her skin with an ease Shepard was jealous of. Her biotics though powerful had been something she had struggled with. Running with the Reds, with a faulty amp installed in her head made for the worst possible combination. Anything she learnt to do with her biotics were stuff she experimented and figured out on her own. Though it made her a deadly biotic on the field now, armed with both Alliance training and dirty street fighting tactics, she would have liked the road to be a little less bumpy.
Shepard grinned and flared.
"Show off," T'Soni accused.
Her grin only widened. T'Soni was trained by commandos, and she hand seen what T'Soni could do on the field, she would get the workout she wanted. They exchanged a nod and Shepard closed the distance between them with a charge.
"Fuck," Shepard cursed as she picked herself up. Something was poking against her skin as she landed heavily.
"Are you all right?" T'Soni called out as she jogged over.
Her eyes were focused on the ground. Bending over, she picked up a tiny shard. "Shit, why is there a broken piece of armour here?" She pocketed the piece. "Don't they have bots cleaning the place up? I've got to let the staff know. This shit is dangerous." She straightened and found T'Soni staring at her. Eyes wide, she asked, "Something on my face?"
"You're bleeding," T'Soni pointed out, finger pointing.
Now that T'Soni had mentioned it, the back of her neck did hurt. "Am I?" She looked at her tank top. It was blood free. "Is it on my back or something?"
T'Soni pressed a hand on her shoulder, Shepard turned with the pressure. "Here," she said, finger brushing against the back of Shepard's neck, right where her amp scar was.
It was the barest of touches, feather light and soft, over skin made sensitive by a deep ragged scar. Lightning ignited in Shepard's mind. One moment, she was standing at the Citadel with a friend, a N7 soldier, a spectre and a newly minted hero; the next she was a street kid with another name, forced to shoot up Red Sand.
Frank, the leader of the Reds, was smiling at her, teeth sharp, gaze hard. The vial of Red Sand sat on his table, its red particles danced brightly against the harsh fluorescent light. Shepard blinked and he was gone, but she could feel his solid presence behind her anyway. Hot breath prickled against her neck. A hand pushed her hair out of the way. Before she could speak, before she could ask for a reprieve, a sharp pain stabbed the back of her neck.
"Shepard!"
She gasped, head bowed and lungs heaving as if she had been running. Eyes blinking away tears that welled up for no good reason, T'Soni was holding her shoulders, shaking her. The contact more than her voice, more than the shaking, was what bought her back to reality.
"Are you all right?" T'Soni bent to look at her. "We shouldn't have sparred. You're not ready."
Shepard forced a grin on her face. It was part deflection, part instincts to never show weakness. "Got you good, T'Soni," she chuckled. It sounded brittle even to her ears.
The asari stared at her eyes narrowing suspiciously. Shepard had to either take a step back or risk a crick in her neck to hold T'Soni's gaze. She was a little sick of being the short one around the crew.
Shit, T'Soni must have been learning investigative techniques from Vakarian or something.
"I'm sorry," she apologised. "It's a bad joke. Let's go one more round. We still have some time on the clock."
"I don't think it's such a good idea. The cut doesn't look too bad, but you should get it looked at anyway," T'Soni pointed out.
"After we're done, I promise to go to a clinic," Shepard countered and mustered up her best puppy dog eyes.
T'Soni sighed a familiar sigh. And Shepard smiled.
Sweat coated Shepard's brow, her biotics sang. This was when she was truly alive. It was one of the few things she missed from her life as a street thug. She was a Champion among other biotic fighters there. Winning was the highest of highs.
T'Soni ran, or rather glided effortlessly, at least that's how it looked to Shepard, dodging and finding cover. Her lips were pressed thin in concentration. Shepard, on the other hand, panted and tried to keep up. Her stamina was trashed by her stay in the hospital. She was feeling all her 28 years weighing on her bones. With a snarl, she summoned a burst of speed to dart behind cover as T'Soni's warp detonated behind her. She winced at the sound as she caught her breath. Remnants of her flashback clawed and snarled in her mind. Shaking her head brought no relief.
"Shepard, I thought you wanted to spar," T'Soni said, her voice echoing slightly in the small simulated battlefield. "What's with all the hiding?"
Shepard frowned. "Have you been learning how to talk shit from Urdnot?" The answering laughter was light. It reminded her of the trickling of the canal of her childhood, though dirty brown and choked with trash, it was still melodic and soothing. As a kid on the streets, beauty could be found in the unlikeliest of places.
"Actually, it's Ashley," came the reply.
That took Shepard by surprise. She popped her head out of cover. "What?"
What she should have seen was a flash of a grin perched smugly on T'Soni's face, but instead, it was Frank and the syringe filled with Red Sand. A ghost of his touch ran up her neck and she froze. It was only for a split second. Then her vision went all blue and purple.
Shepard didn't know what was happening. One moment she was couching behind cover, the next she was lying face down on the floor. She coughed and spat, the taste of iron thick on her tongue.
"Shepard!" T'Soni cried, feet rapidly approaching. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit."
Pain flared from her healing shoulder as Shepard tried to get up. Tears sprang from her eyes as she breathed through the fire that got ignited there. A pair of hands helped her into a sitting position.
"You're bleeding."
"Am I?" Shepard managed to croak out. She wiped the mouth with the back of her hand and it came away red. "Oh."
I'm going to call the emergency services."
"No." She must have bitten the inside of her cheek, nothing to call the emergency services for. Quickly, she wiped her mouth with her shirt. "Please don't."
"No?" T'Soni barked, "You can barely get up without help. I knew I should have refused you. Now I've hurt you when you have barely healed."
"I'm fine," she rasped adamantly. "Look I'm just winded, I just need a little rest."
T'Soni's lips twisted, her finger hovering over her omni-tool, poised above the button to bring mayhem down on them.
"Please, I promise we can go find Chakwas after I catch my breath," she countered. "Spare me the indignity of having to explain what happened to the paramedics."
T'Soni sighed. It's fast turning into a habit. Her gaze softened and nodded. "Fine, you promise?"
Shepard smiled, the effect was spoiled by the bloody teeth she displayed. "Spectre's hon—" She frowned.
"Are you in pain? Maybe I should call the emergency services after all."
Shepard lifted a hand, forestalling T'Soni. She worked her tongue around in her mouth, finding something loose. Coughing, something small and white came tumbling out. It flew across the space and landed square in front of T'Soni. She couched down and picked it up.
"Is this what I think it is?"
Shepard grimaced and pushed herself to her feet. "I think so."
T'Soni studied the small white object between her fingers intently as if it was a Prothean artifact. The asari had an innate curiosity that's unquenchable no matter the subject matter. Apparently this was no different.
"Can I have it back?" Shepard asked, holding her hand out. "Chakwas is not going to be happy."
A deep blue flush ran up T'Soni's face. This, Shepard recognised as an asari's blush. She pocketed the tiny piece of enamel and hoped Chakwas would be able to do something about it. "Come now, lend me your shoulder."
T'Soni's eyes flashed quickly to her face, alarmed. She quickly took on some of Shepard's weight. "Are you truly ok? Maybe…"
"I'm fine, really. With you with me, Chakwas wouldn't scold me quite so much," Shepard said. "I hope."
"I shouldn't have given in and sparred with you," T'soni said, worry creasing her brow as she pulled Shepard's good arm over her shoulder. Glancing Shepard's way every step they took, anxiety poured from her pores.
Shepard shelved her military like demeanour and relaxed a notch. "It's not your fault, Liara."
T'Soni's head jerked up at the mention of her first name. She ducked away as the deep blue reached the tips of her ears. Before Shepard could puzzle out why, the VI chimed in from overhead, "Your rental for Armali biotic range has expired. Please vacate the range for the next customer."
Shepard shrugged and hid the wince. "You heard them. Come on. I need to get this tooth put back into my mouth. I don't think my Alliance insurance cover dental work due to stupidity."
T'Soni laughed, Shepard couldn't help but joined in. They walked, one leaning against the other. One feeling guilty while the other made jokes to ease the tension. Theirs was a friendship born from the most unlikely of places. And it was much stronger than a tooth.