Author's Note: BA JOW! Next chapter!

Chapter 21

Sean breathed out slowly, watching his breath vanish into the frigid air of Noveria. He wiped some of the falling snow off his armor and began to scan the landscape. He watched as waves of snow slowly blew over the tops enormous mountains like waves. A thick layer of snow had settled on the entire landscape, making walking difficult. Lightly shivering, Sean began to slowly trek across the frozen landscape.

"It should be somewhere around here…" Sean said to himself as he casually walked around the bend. "Eureka." Sean said smiling to himself as his eyes locked onto a small lab on the side of a mountain. He lifted the scope of his Mattock up to his eye, scanning the outside. It was clear, not a single guard in sight. Sean shrugged, who would want to be out here anyways? He asked himself as he slapped the Mattock onto his back. He took another step forward, towards the answer to all of his questions.

Sean stood still as the lab loomed above him. The lab appeared to be mostly dug into the mountain, leaving only a portion visible. Slanted metal supports held what appeared to be a concrete building in its place.

Sean took a tentative step forward onto the metal pathway. Kicking the snow off his boots he withdrew his pistol and jogged to the door. Plastering himself to the wall beside the door he cautiously reached forward and keyed the door open. Peaking around the corner with his pistol raised, he paused. The hallway was completely empty. This was not what he had expected. He slowly pressed on, running through empty hallway after empty hallway. He gradually began to wind his way through the bleached white hallways of the lab.

Peaking around another corner, he saw a shadow of a man angled across the wall. Sean's heartbeat quickened as he slowly dropped to a crouch and silently walked toward the shadow. The shadow nodded and then began to walk away. Damn it! Don't lose him! Sean said to himself. As he turned another corner he saw the shadow do the same. Losing his stealth, Sean broke into a run. The shadow sped up as well. He rounded another corner. He had lost him.

"Shit!" Sean cursed through gritted teeth, skidding to a halt. Demoralized he kicked the wall. His ears perked up as he heard a door slam shut. Lifting his pistol and aiming down the sights, he rounded the next corner. It was a dead end. He ran down the hallway, frantically kicking door after door open. Each room was empty, save for a desk, chair, and filing cabinets. As he reached the last door he took a step back, preparing to breach. A soft click was heard and the door slowly opened.

"Easy there…" a grey haired human said calmly, raising his hands up in surrender. His face was old and wrinkly, but his eyes shined a bright green like they hadn't aged one year. He was wearing a pressed, blue suit with a green tie. Sean squinted. The eyes looked so familiar to him, but he couldn't put a name to the man.

"Who are you, and why shouldn't I put a bullet between your eyes!" Sean demanded, raising his pistol so that the laser sight was trained on the man's forehead.

"I'm the man you're looking for." The man said, a small smile curling up on his face.

"Grey…" Sean said, slowly lowering his pistol. He was at a loss of words. His heart leapt as the man ushered him inside. The room was small, just like the other ones; a small desk with two chairs furnished the otherwise empty room.

Dr. Grey slowly sat down on a large leather chair, "My you have changed since I last saw you." Grey remarked, "Please take a seat." He said pointing to a cushioned chair in front of his desk.

"I'd rather stand." Sean said, pistol still in hand.

"Fine then." Grey said shrugging, "I know why you're here." Grey began, pausing, "You're here to fill in the blanks of your life. And I'm here to answer them." He added folding his hands on his desk.

"What is this place?" Sean demanded, his heart still beating hard.

"This place." Grey said chuckling, "This is where you were born!"

"Born?" Sean said, his head swimming in uncertainty.

"Created, manufactured, whatever you want to call it. This is where you became a soldier." Grey said smiling and taking pride in his work.

"I was- created?" Sean mumbled, trying to grasp the concept.

"Not in that way." Grey chuckled, "You were born normally, we just created the soldier you are today here."

"Liar!" Sean said lifting his pistol up once again. His mind questioning every word he had heard.

"See for yourself." Grey said standing up and walking out of the room, "Follow me." He said as he began to wind his way down the hallways.

The whitewash hallways slowly formed into concrete walls as they walked deeper inside the mountain.

"Here we are." He said stopping in front of a large metal door. Punching a password into the electronic door lock, the door hissed open. They slowly stepped inside. As Sean's eyes adjusted to the darkness memories began to flood back to him.

He saw himself again. He was limp as two guards drug him and placed him on a metal table.

"Are we ready to begin?" a younger Dr. Grey asked, his voice reverberating in Sean's mind.

"Do you have the chip ready?" the icy voice of the brown-haired man asked.

"Yes."

"Then lets begin." The brown-haired man said.

Sean shook his head as his mind was overwhelmed by emotions.

"Magnificent." Dr. Grey said, "You were my best creation. Who knew that a simple chip could do so much?"

"How?" Sean said weakly.

"It changed everything you were. It rewrote everything you were. You changed into the perfect soldier. You never questioned an order, you were perfect!"

"What was I before?" Sean asked.

"You were nothing." Grey said frowning.

Sean ran up to Grey. Grabbing him by the collar he shook him, "Who was I before?" Sean demanded.

"A guard." Grey said, panicked.

Dropping him Sean asked, "How did I get here?"

"Whatever ship you were on crashed. You were basically dead, clinging to what was left of your life. We brought you back." Grey said, standing up and straightening his suit.

"What was my name?" Sean asked.

"After all this, that's what you want to know?" Grey scoffed.

"Just tell me!" Sean said spinning around and training his pistol on the doctor's chest.

"Here. Just take this." Grey said tossing him a drive, "Everything about you is on here." Sean snatched the drive and tucked it into his suit.

"I never want to see you again. Got it?" Sean said turning his back to Grey and holstering his pistol.

Shaking his head, a small smile crept its way up his face. "I knew it would lead to this. The doctor putting down his own monster…" Grey said, slowly withdrawing a pistol from his jacket.

"Sean!" Spinning around he saw Tali burst through the door. His eyes then locked onto the pistol Dr. Grey was holding. Fumbling for his own pistol, Sean saw Grey turn around and fire his pistol at Tali. Tali stumbled backward and fell to the floor.

Kicking Grey down to his knees, Sean fired one single shot into the back of his head. Grey shook then collapsed to the floor.

"Tali!" Sean yelled running up to her. As he ran to her side he noticed that the shot had torn through her leg. "No! no, no, nonononononono." Sean said as he began to cradle her head. He checked her pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when he felt it.

"We're here to save you." Tali said, pain in her voice, "There's soldiers everywhere."

"Can you stand?" Sean said helping her up.

Shepard's voice echoed through Sean's headset, "Sean! I know you're in there! You need to get out now!"

Sean threw Tali's arm around his shoulders and broke into a run, pulling her along with him. "Tali's hit. She needs to leave now!" He yelled into his headset.

"Get to the main entrance!" Shepard ordered.

Sean raced through the halls, a weak Tali in his hands. "Come on we're almost there!" He begged. Two guards rounded the corner and raised their rifles up.

Sean fumbled for his pistol with his left hand. He heard two shots ring out and turned to see that Tali had shot both soldiers. "Come on!" Sean said to himself as he continued to run. Sean felt Tali's body become weak in his hands. Taking no time to pause, he swept her legs into his arms, cradling her body.

Reaching the main lobby Sean summoned the last of his energy and sprinted to the door, Tali still in his arms. He kicked open the door and ran out. Shepard was there, firing her assault rifle into a wave of soldiers advancing, guarding the drop ship.

"Shepard!" Sean yelled running to the drop ship.

"Get in!" She yelled throwing open the door.

Stumbling into the ship, Sean yelled, "We're good!" Shepard nodded and jumped into the ship, banging on the cabin door. The door swung shut as the drop ship lurched forward and took of. "We need to get Tali patched up!" Sean said frantically pulling the first aid kit off the wall. Shepard stepped in and offered her help.

Quickly they patched Tali up and helped her up onto a seat.

"That'll hold for now." Shepard said taking a seat across from Sean. Sean just nodded. Shepard didn't say more. She just stared at Sean.

"I fucked up…" Sean said, his head dropping into his hands, "I shouldn't have done that… and now Tali's going to die because of me."

"She'll make it. She's strong." Shepard responded, her voice strong. There was a momentary pause before Shepard spoke up again. "You need to know that your actions effect the entire crew." She said, "Tali deeply cares for you. And the moment she found out that you had run of to Noveria she was packing and getting ready to bring you back. I'm not going to ask you about it. All I need to know was: was it worth it? You don't have to answer that, I just want you to think about it."

Sean sniffed quietly, choking back his tears. Looking up slowly he examined the form of Tali. She was unconscious, but her strength was returning to her. Her breaths were less labored. Sean smiled weakly as he reached for her hand with his robotic hand. He delicately gripped Tali's hand in his, rubbing his thumb over her hand.

"I'm so sorry." Sean said, tears running down his face.

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Author's Note: Sean's taking some consequences for his actions. And don't worry, Tali's not going to go into a coma like Sean.

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Psst here's a secret… sparks will fly in the next chapter… don't tell anyone!