A/N: Sorry for the delay this chapter proved to be tough to write with writers block. The conversation on the Citadel was what took me so long because I was stuck on what should happen and be said. I would like to say that I appreciate the reviews I receive. I love reading your reviews they provide me with information and let me see from the readers point of view. Also when I see that someone put my story on their alert or favorite list that fills me with joy and excitement because that tell's me that I'm doing a good job and that pushes me to continue and improve. It's you guys that read, review, and/or favorite/alert this that motivates me to push on and continue writing because without you my story wouldn't be worth writing, thank you. Now I should probably stop making you read because I've kept you away from this chapter long enough so here it is enjoy.
The weeks past far too fast as we were already nearing the Citadel. I didn't spend the amount of time with everyone like I wanted. Since the completion of Tali's mission I have been head deep in information. The data retrieved from the Geth base has been keeping me busy as I sorted through it all. I have taken the opportunity to start a couple of projects using the data. There was an abundance of information involving hacking and decryption that I have taken the opportunity to modify into my own hacking system, one that I think would prove much more effective than traditional methods.
Now as people are getting their things ready for their departure I'm at a desk in Liara's room working, since it's the quietest room I could think of. Liara has been too busy helping everyone to spend much time in here so it was isolated for the most part.
"Joseph" I hear a voice I identify as Jesse's calling me from the Med-bay snapping me from my recap
"What!" I shout back rubbing my eyes; darks rooms and bright screens kill your eyes after so much time staring at them
"Pull away from your Omni-tool for a second and get out here. Everyone's going to the Citadel." He shouts back
"On my way" I yell standing up and stretching, siting for hours on a hard chair can really tense up your muscles. Once I was loosened up I quickly grabbed the clean uniform that Liara left me and threw it on
I saved all work and closed my Omni-tool as I left the room. Walking towards the stairs I saw Jesse sitting at the base of the stairs.
"About time" he said punching me in the shoulder "you must enjoy isolating yourself. I for one wouldn't be able to stand it. At any rate let's head up I told Shepard I would get you while she took everyone and left."
I rubbed my shoulder not playfully but because that actually hurt. "Lets go" I say slapping him on the back hard enough to get back at him for the punch. Unfortunately Jesse isn't one to let things go, he tripped me and shoved me down the stairs "Race you" I heard him shout down as I tumbled back
When I struck the bottom of the floor I laid there looking at the ceiling. I turned my head sideways and saw some of the crew staring me. "Hi… missed a step" I said smiling awkwardly while remaining on the floor. The crew that looked at me rolled their eyes and continued to go about their business. I slowly stood up and cracked my back when I heard Jesse at the top.
"I'm already ahead" he laughed from the top
"Jesse you ass… that's cheating" I yelled up as I ran up the stairs
When I reached the top I saw Jesse exiting the airlock and I was forced to sprint at full speed. By the time I reached the exit Jesse was already heading towards the elevator. Thankfully the elevators are slow so I was able to reach him the moment it arrived and we both entered at the same time.
"Where's Shepard even at" I ask turning my back trying to stretch out the tight and hurt muscles "I think I might have messed up my back" I complained as I hit the elevator button to descend
"Don't worry I'll give you the same treatment I gave Ashley on the way to Ilos" he said smiling
I flinched and took a wide step away from him "You're going to do what?" I said leaning away from him, Brent told me what he heard that night and I was beginning to freak
"Don't worry I can fix your back although if I apply to much force I could make it worse. Ashley really enjoyed it, she said it was amazing and it's only a little different with a guy." He replied to me still smiling
"Whoa dude what's wrong with you" I say with a raised voice, thankfully we are still in this slow ass elevator so no one could hear use
Jesse jumps from my outburst and stares at me with an expression of confusion "Calm down… why are you freaking out?" he says holding up his hands
"You know why man. How could you offer something like that!" I shout at him as we reach the bottom. When we stopped I held him back and clicked the button to go back up "I'm not finished" I say dropping my tone as the door closes. As we began to rise I continued my rant "The fact that you would offer that to me is so very wrong. I have nothing against it but I'm not like that."
Before I could say anything else Jesse cupped his hand over my mouth preventing me from saying anything else "What the hell are you going on about? All I was doing was offering to give you a massage to relax and loosen any tension in your back. I gave one to Ashley to calm her down because she was stressed over the final mission. Now explain to me what the fuck you though I meant!" he said glaring at me
My eyes nearly popped from their sockets when I realized my mistake, at this point I was very hesitant to say anything else. "Well…well…I…I…thought that you meant something else." I struggled to say as I was fumbling with my words
"Spit it out or I'll throw you through this elevator door and watch you fall to the bottom" Jesse demanded as he grabbed me by my collar and lifted me up, someone has gotten a lot stronger
"Ok… ok… ok" I replied in a worried manner trying not to provoke him, wait did he just intimidate me "I thought that you meant… well that… ok I got it" I said snapping my fingers "Alright you see Brent told me that on the way to Ilos he heard moaning coming from Ashley's room and thought that…" but I was interrupted when Jesse suddenly released his gripping the surprise caused me to fall to the ground
"No need for more I can see where this is going" he commented as he clicked the elevator button again "How could you think I would do that? I mean yea I had been with Ashley for some time but we haven't done anything. All I did was give her a massage" he finished as he helped me up
"Male Shepard did in the first one so you never know." I jokingly said but my comment lead to a slam into the wall
"Don't put that in my head" he said turning back to looking down towards C-Sec
I slowly stood up and stretched my back that hurts even more now. Looking at Jesse I could see a look of some anger "What's up?" I asked in a calm voice, placing my hand on his shoulder trying to find the reason for the aggressive look
"We should go see Shepard, she's waiting for us at the Presidium and we've delayed long enough" he said as the elevator door to C-Sec opened and he walked out completely ignoring me
As we walked through C-Sec I kept glancing at Jesse to read his facial expression and I could still see some anger remaining. Not wanting to make him mad which can really bad for someone's health I dropped the topic… for now
When we reached the elevator and rose to the Presidium I looked around and saw a couple of pieces of Sovereign still littering the ground, scored patches of grass here and there but I also saw new flowers, water, and reconstruction of destroyed sections. "Well at least they started to clean up" I said observing the still healing Presidium with Keepers working quite quickly on the repairs
"Yea" Jesse quietly stated as he scanned the area "Found Shepard" he said pointing towards the center of the Presidium and sure enough on a bridge near a garden was Shepard and the rest of the crew
Jesse and I quickly rushed to them not wanting to make everyone wait any longer. The rush for some reason turned into another race that had us laughing, I enjoy these kinds moments where every trouble leaves us I wish they would last.
As we rushed through the crowds of people and workers I could see our squad mates looking at us with a look of "are they really doing that". I even caught a glimpse of Liara shaking her head as I jumped over a bench trying to keep up with Jesse.
We quickly approached the final stretch to Shepard. Jesse and I released a dead sprint towards her to finish this race that was delayed in the elevator. Unfortunately my ever so loving mind wondered off on me. This caused me to forget that Jesse was next to me and Jesse being Jesse took advantage of that moment. While I was at my weakest Jesse cut me off and rammed into my side sending flying over the bridge into the water.
In seconds near impact of the water my body apparently turned on me in the air for its own reasons. So while turning I smacked into the water with my back and sunk feet under. The landing also seemed to have revealed that the water in the Presidium was freakinging freezing, seems to be a consistent run of amazing luck that has struck me today. As I swam to the top I grabbed for the railing of the bridge and sluggishly pulled myself up. When I reached to top I collapsed on the metal floor.
On the floor dripping wet I just lied there breathing heavily from the sprint. Feeling completely embarrassed I didn't want to get up; I just wanted to lie here and disappear. I remained on the floor covering my eyes with my arm hoping it gives me the sense of disappearance.
"Joseph" I hear someone say, I removed my arm and saw Jesse squatting next to me holding out his hand "I win" he said smiling
His response to the situation made me chuckle. Figuring that I have been laying here long enough I grabbed his hand allowing him to help me up. When I was able to stand I looked around and saw the crew staring at us. For some reason the looks they gave us gave me a feeling that they were thinking, "These guys helped us stop Saren?"
"You ok" Jesse asked slapping my shoulder
"Yea just freezing" I respond "Didn't know the Presidium's water can be so cold" I finish removing my shirt and squeezing out the water
"Systems are still down in areas so whatever keeps the water warm is probably out too." Jesse states
"Yea that's a possibility" I reply as I put my shirt back on and we began to walk to our group
Walking towards them I could hear Shepard and Garrus discussing his departure while Liara and Kaiden were giving us some strange looks.
"You guys are really strange" Kaiden states with a small smile as we finally join the crew
"Yea it's the competitive nature that we share that makes us seem that way" I respond taking my place at Liara's side
"I don't think I fully understand" Liara said giving me a puzzling look
"You see Liara" Jesse begins as he places his arm around her "Joseph and I have a friendship built on our shared competitiveness and knowing Brent of course. So when that competitive friendship comes out it displays a strange sight. We can turn anything into a competition that allows us to go against one another to see who is better, you get it now" he explains looking at her and waiting for a response
"I think I do" Liara said in a not for sure tone
Jesse nodded his head approving the answer and turned to everyone else with his arms out and giving everyone a hug… never seen him so affectionate before it's almost disturbing
"So how is everyone doing" I asked Liara as I watched everyone enjoy their last moments together
"They're dealing with the situation very well. Garrus and Tali seem to be taking it the worst compared to the others. Wrex is being him, you know tough and like stone but I think he's hesitant to leave. Kaiden is…" Liara explained but was interrupted by my curiosity
"Wait Kaiden is leaving… geez is the entire crew leaving Shepard when she needs us most." I say getting frustrated
"What do you mean leaving when she needs us most?" Liara asked giving a puzzling look
It was with her question that I realized that I had slipped in my knowing of Shepard's death "Um well I was saying that because now she has to deal with…. um…. because she is dealing with preparations with the Reapers arrival." I say trying to come up with something to pull me out of this hole I dug
"Joseph she's doing a run in the Terminus it's not like she's going to fight a Reaper army or something." She said placing her hand on my cheek and smiling, I think my crappy excuse might have pulled off but it could have also made me sound incredibly stupid
"Ok" I said grabbing her hand and brought it down off my cheek before I turned to Jesse "Hey Jess I need to talk to you" I call out to him and motioning him towards the water
"Yea" he said as he walked away from Garrus
"Did you know Kaiden is leaving" I asked him as I leaned on the railing in front of me while looking out on water
"Yea he said something about students and Grissom Academy, I don't know" he said shaking his head "Maybe if you weren't locked up in a room staring at a screen for weeks and only emerging to eat half the food the ship has you would know these things" he said all knowingly
"Well at least I do something productive with my time." I countered
"So what you call avoiding everyone productive work" he snapped back
"Yea… yea well…" I stutter trying to make a comeback "Well at least I can fight without guns and explosives" I finally say trying to hit him in his spot
"You want to die" he said staring at me with his head tilted to the side, bam knew that would get him
"Please you won't kill me in a public place" I respond folding my arms challenging his threat
"You got to return to the Normandy at some point in time" he said smiling as he walked away to rejoin the group
"Well that's going to bite me in the ass" I whisper as I look out into the distance, wonder how Shepard's death will play out cause I'm pretty sure I won't see it
"Joseph" I hear a rugged voice say pulling me from my thoughts, I turned and saw Garrus standing there in front of me. I watched him walk next to me and lean on the railing that I was resting on "How have you been" he asked looking at the group laugh and enjoy each other's company
"Doing well I guess" I said shrugging my shoulders and turning to face the group's direction
"You know when I first met you guys I thought you were some stupid kids that got into something that was over your heads but you've proved me wrong"
"Thanks Garrus" I said smiling and giving him a light slap on the back "However you were right we were some stupid kids in over our heads." I continued looking at some bits of Sovereign
"You miss him don't you" he said catching where my eyes wondered
"Yea it'll be weird going through this without him" I comment as a small smile comes across my face "Always backing us up no matter how in the wrong we were; that was who he was."
"Sounds like a good friend" Garrus stated "So I need to ask you a favor." He commented quickly changing the subject "I need you to look after Shepard and make sure nothing happens to her" he finished as he turned his head and fixed his gaze on her
I looked at him giving a questioning look but before I asked why, I remembered that he likes her too. God my memory is beginning to fade me I should have known that instantly; time is a bitch to your memory. "I'll do my best" I said trying not to make a promise I know I can't keep
"Thanks Joseph" Garrus said as he walked away but stopped short "You were the last person I needed to say goodbye to so I'm off" he finished then departed from everyone
"Later Garrus… it has been fun." I whisper as I watched him walk away until eventually disappearing in an elevator, great one of my favorite characters just left
With Garrus gone I continued to keep myself distant from the group hoping to avoid these emotional departures that I'm not very good with. Even though Kaiden left without talking to me he did, however, wave bye but that kind of goodbye for everyone would be too simple because here comes Tali now.
"Hey Joseph" she said in a soft and calm voice
"Hey Tali" I respond with a friendly smile
"I'm about to leave and I just wanted to say bye" she said in that calm and soft tone "and give you this" she finished handing me a frame with a holo-photo of her with Brent, me, and Jesse. I don't remember taking that photo but then again there are a lot of things I don't remember. I think this was taken sometime before Noveria or maybe it was a few days after we joined Shepard's crew… dang you memory
The picture showed us in the clothes we entered this world in and Tali in her suit. We were standing next to each other all of us with big smiles well except Tali because of that helmet, and Brent had his arm over Tali and Jesse. When I looked at the picture I really took note of the height difference between us, I found it kind of funny. Brent stood over us all while the three of us were much closer in height… never really noticed before.
"Why are you giving this to me" I asked in a low voice
"Oh I'm sorry I just thought…" Tali began stumbling with her words "I thought that it would be good item to remember him. I mean I know you guys were close and I thought… well I figured" she tried to finish her sentence but I think my attempt at not sounding rude failed
"Tali" I raised my hand to stop her "Thank you for the gift I am really glad you gave me something like this" I say with a smile to signal my thanks
Tali nodded her head in response "Goodbye Joseph" I hear her say as she left
"Bye Tali" I whisper as I watched her enter an elevator and disappear "Well I guess Wrex is the last one to say goodbye to" I say to myself
"Actually Wrex already left" I hear Jesse say while he approaches me
I'm taken aback by this "When did he leave" I asked feeling kind of hurt he didn't say bye but then again it's Wrex and I know he isn't one for pleasantries
"He left after Garrus. How did you not notice a giant Krogan missing from the group?" Jesse said making me sound stupid; in this case it's well deserved
"I don't know I wasn't paying attention. Why did he leave?" I asked trying to get some answers
"He said something about not wanting to just stand here anymore and that he's got pressing matters to take care of." Jesse commented shrugging his shoulders
"Dang I really wanted to see how he would have said goodbye." I say folding my arms and releasing a deep sigh "Oh well if that's everyone then I guess there's nothing left to do except head back to the Normandy"
"Yea, we should also make preparations for that event" Jesse said hinting at Shepard's death
"What event" I hear Shepard's voice call out from our side; oh crap why just why these slipups can't stop is just one mystery of our carelessness I mean two in the past like ten minutes is too much
"The event for when we beat the Reapers of course" Jesse says without missing a beat surprising me at his quick thinking
"Well that isn't for some time" Shepard responded with a small smirk
"Yea but when it comes it will be huge" Jesse replied by spreading his hands out and smiling "and I already have ideas for the party."
Shepard shook her head and chuckled "Ok Jesse I'll make sure you are in charge of the party when it's time to celebrate. Now come on you guys it's time to head out."
When Shepard turned, Jesse and I followed behind her ready for what we knew was to come.
Weeks Later
You know the one thing the game never showed was how incredible slow, dull, and boring the patrol in the Terminus was. I'm not even kidding, I found Jesse banging his head against one of the walls because he was being driven mad by the boredom. I didn't stop him because well I found it funny and entertaining, but I can understand his pain. The data I recovered had been filtered, altered, and uploaded into my Omni-tool so I was left with nothing to do. I think spending time with Liara and Jesse was the only thing that prevented me from slamming my head against a wall. Strangely Jesse spent much of his time alone when not hanging out with me. I wasn't sure if the lack of action of fighting had made him snap or if it was something else. I don't know what's bothering him but I don't like to press him on his personal life. I did find some comfort in Liara's room however where things were quiet and I could think or sleep, for what good it did.
"Joseph!" I hear a loud shout that interrupted my recap but this shout sounded terrifying and troubling
I jumped up and ran out of Liara's room and through the Med-Bay in my uniform to see Jesse come running towards me with a look of worry and fear
"What!" I shout back as I run to him
"They're here, the" he stopped short and brought his voice down so the nearby crew wouldn't hear him "the Collectors. We need to get our armor on before…" but Jesse wouldn't be able to finish as we felt the Normandy shake with so much force that we both fell and the crew around us scrabbled away
"Crap" I shout as I jump up "there's not much time to grab our armor we need to hurry and…" but another shot from the Collectors rocked the ship and this time blowing up some of the pipes above us bringing me back to the ground
Jesse quickly recovered and helped me up "There may be some spare armor in Brent's old locker and the other ones near it" he shouted pointing to the row of lockers
As we ran to the lockers another shot from the Collectors caused some of the wiring in the walls to explode. The fire that sprung from this blast hit me and set fire to my right arm. Thankfully Jesse quickly jumped on me and patted the fire out. I looked at my arm and saw that the fire burned through the uniform and had reached my skin. I could tell that I had first degree burns on the lower part of my arm but nowhere else thankfully. Knowing there was no time to feel the pain I rushed to get up. When I stood up I quickly looked around and saw Shepard standing in the same spot she was in the beginning of ME2, and as true to the scene Liara ran past us to her.
"Shepard, we need to get out of here" she shouted to Shepard
I was going to run to her but then another wall ruptured and launched a piece of metal towards me. Before I could react I felt a hand grab me and toss me to the ground. I rolled and saw that Jesse had threw me out of the way
"We have to get out of here or we're going to die!" Jesse shouted as more of the Normandy began to explode and rupture in fire
We turned to leave but I stopped short "I have to get something!" I shout and quickly rush through the Med-Bay jumping over some fires until I reached Liara's room. I rushed in my search but found the object I was looking for. Knowing that I couldn't save Brent's laptop I grabbed the picture Tali gave me and bolted through the Med-Bay again, putting the picture into my side pocket.
When I exited I found Jesse waiting for me "Let's go, no more waiting!" he shouted and grabbed me by my burnt arm making me flinch in pain
We quickly rushed looking for the escape pods with Jesse dragging me behind him. Running through the second floor we found Liara waiting by one… waiting for us.
"Come on!" she shouted as the ceiling near her exploded "We can't wait any longer!"
Jesse released my arm and we kicked it into overdrive and sprint to her in, seconds we reached the escape pod and stopped on a dime. "Where's Shepard" I asked remembering where but it not being clear until after I asked
"She went to get Joker!" Liara shouted as she jumped in with us on her heels
As we strapped ourselves in Jesse hit the launch button. While strapping myself in I took notice that there four other not including Jesse, Liara, and myself. There were two men and two women. We began to launch when the Collector ship beam hit the Normandy and turned it a good ninety degrees. So when the pod shot out it separated from the rest of the group. At this point I'm clueless as to what is supposed to happen and I'm going to say I am actually worried.
"No, we're off course with the rest of the pods" a crew member shouted that I wasn't familiar with
"It's ok we have a distress beacon so they'll find us" a woman said trying to reassure the distressed crew member but she herself sounded scared and why wouldn't she
Seeing that we were safe, for now, I stood up and looked out the clear door hatch. I watched as the Collector beam began to cut a dead Normandy into pieces, chunks of red metal falling into the atmosphere of the nearby planet. I watched the Normandy get ripped apart by the Collectors and it pained me. That place was home to me and my friends and now the Collectors are destroying it.
As I watched it Liara walked up next to me and the moment she did the Collector ship shot the Normandy right down the middle… destroying it. Liara shouted and slammed her fist against the door. Watching the Normandy explode I was able to see a single pod drift away, Joker's pod. I grabbed Liara and hugged her, trying to comfort her in the loss of Shepard. Observing the Normandy's wreckage drift into orbit I caught a glimpse of a small dot one that I felt was Shepard but I was unable to look and I returned to holding Liara
When the Normandy exploded and drifted into the planets orbit the Collector ship disappeared as it activated its FTL drive leaving us and the survivors to our fate.
Hours later
Time past as people cried and tempers flared. I found myself becoming angry even though I knew Shepard was going die. The pain of losing a person I could call a friend and the loss of my home has taken a huge toll on me. We've been drifting for hours and still no one. I don't know where the rest of the pods are anymore and being stuck in this small space with a bunch of emotional people is just asking for trouble.
"Hey what's that" the woman from before said standing and pointing out the door
I stood up, approached the door and looked through to the empty space that we have been drifting in. I scanned the area looking for the object the woman saw and after a few seconds I saw a small dot approaching us. As the dot got closer the object was revealed to be a ship and a large one at that. First it thought it was the Alliance based on the outline of the ship but as it came nearer and nearer I soon realized it wasn't the Alliance.
"Oh god what if it is slavers or the Blood Pack" panicked the same male crew member from before
"No it's not the Blood Pack." Jesse said as he walked next to me
"That's a carrier class ship" I heard a different guy behind me say
As we observed the ship and it came even closer I was beginning to see the color scheme of the ship. Due to the distance from the nearby sun I was able to see the colors when it got even closer "Crimson or a red" I whisper. I began to think about whom it could belong to but soon the answer hit me and I looked at Jesse. He turned his head and the moment our eyes met he knew what I was thinking
"Red Hounds" we said in unison
We looked at each other with fear; both of us knew we were dead if they grabbed us. We both knew that there was no way we could beat them and that we would be slaughtered. Liara approached us and the people in the pod stood up when they saw our fear. Before any of us could do or say anything the pod picked up the ships signal
"Hello" a voice rang through the pod, didn't know the pods could communicate with other ships "this is Commander Isaac James Lee of the Red Hounds, Omega Relay and Commander of the Ares. We have picked up your signal and are preparing to acquire your pod" the voice died away as the massive ship pulled to the pod and grabbed it, bringing us into the ship's hangar… they had us now
And that is the end of this chapter hope you enjoyed it. This was probably the hardest chapter I have written. I read this a couple of times but I tend to miss a few mistakes so please excuse those. Also to kick it off I left it on a cliffhanger. I don't think I have done many of those. So what will happen to Joseph, Jesse, and the others, well you can find out in the next chapter. As always thanks for reading and I will see you next time.