Author's Note: Gotta get away from school work for a while… keep myself sane (remotely)…

Anyways… Really enjoyed writing this chapter. Got a great mix of action, drama, and romance.

Chapter 23

Sean slowly dropped his finger onto the key, opening the drive. He shook in anticipation as the computer froze. His heart stopped. What had he done? Was the drive just a virus? He breathed a sigh of relief as the drive opened up. Sean slowly scrolled through the screen. His eyes widened as he saw the thousands of files the drive contained. Was all this on him? He took a deep breath as he opened the first file. His eyes immediately locked on the name on the top of the dossier: Alexander Dean.

"Alex." Sean murmured to himself closing his eyes to think, the name echoing through his mind. His eyes instantly snapping open. Instantly memories began to pour into his mind.

Alex shook the stars from his eyes as he lifted his hand to right himself. He felt a sudden weight pull him up and off of the ground.

Lifting Alex within inches from his face, the sergeant yelled, "We are leaving!" He released Alex and quickly ran towards the exit. Alex looked around getting his bearing once again. He was deep inside one of the mines of Elysium. He was on one of the flimsy metal catwalks far above a seemingly endless pit.

The ground shook violently, causing large stalactites to break free and come careening downward. A stalactite glanced off the catwalk, causing it to jar from side to side aggressively, throwing Alex off balance and into the rails. Cracks rapidly began to shoot their way up the walls as pieces of the wall dislodged themselves. "Move!" His sergeant yelled at him.

Alex stumbled as he began to sprint forward, desperately trying to keep up with his sergeant. He looked up just in time to see a gigantic chunk of the wall break off. He screeched to a halt as the chunk collided with the catwalk. The catwalk lurched under the weight. Instantly, the metal suspension beams crumpled under the weight. Alex vaulted the rock and continued to sprint. His life depended on it. The catwalks were a blur as Alex tucked his head down and forced all his remaining energy into his legs, begging for just a few hundred feet more. He lifted his head to see the rest of his team waiting inside a metal elevator

"Move it Corporal!" the sergeant yelled holding the doors open. As if the cave wanted to take Alex with it, a stalactite collided with the catwalk before the elevator, tearing it off the wall of the cave. "Jump for it!" The sergeant yelled, his voice booming over the collapsing cave. Alex took one last step before propelling himself into the air, the distance between him and the elevator quickly dissolving. His hands latched onto the edge as his body careened into the elevator. His teammates quickly pulled him up and into the elevator, punching the button. The elevator lurched upward.

The team breathed out a collective sigh of relief as natural light began to pour into the mineshaft.

"It's not over quite yet." The sergeant said, "Load and lock."

A voice crackled over their headsets as they made radio contact, "Come in Delta team; I repeat, come in Delta team!"

"Delta three here." The sergeant said lifting his hand to his earpiece.

"Status update, what the hell happened down there?"

"The mine was packed with explosives. We barely got out of there alive."

"Understood Delta. The capitol in under heavy fire, we need all squads to regroup. Take the Mako and get back to the city."

"Rodger that." The sergeant responded, ending the transmission, "You heard the man!"

"Yes Sir!" the squad responded in unison as they began to file out of the elevator, loading up inside. The door hissed shut as the rest of the squad clambered into the Mako. There was momentary darkness. Then a small red LED light turned on, barely illuminating the cabin. Only the outlines of his fellow soldiers were visible, making reading their emotions near impossible. Alex breathed out a painful sigh as he slouched forward in his seat, resting his arms on his assault rifle.

"Shepard! Get on the turret!" the sergeant yelled back.

"Sir!" Shepard responded standing up and moving up front

"Johnson! Get behind the wheel. And remember, I want to keep my lunch down."

The Mako quickly lurched forward and made its way across the rocky landscape towards the capitol.

Minutes past and the squad began to grow restless. Many of them twisted in their seats or fiddled with their weapons. The cabin remained still.

"Hey Dean, you look pretty young, how old are you?" one of the soldiers said breaking the silence.

"Seventeen. I just signed up and made it through basic training before they shipped me off." Alex responded, fiddling with his rifle.

Chuckling, the soldier muttered, "Join the Alliance, see the galaxy… as if!"

"30 seconds!" the sergeant yelled, instantly ending the awkward conversation. In response the team stood up and grabbed the handlebars on the ceiling. The door opened as the bright light and defining sound of battle flooded into the Mako.

Sean winced as he was pulled back to reality. He looked up to his screen and saw that he had read through his entire Alliance dossier. He quickly scrolled through it once again, skimming the basic facts:

Name: Alex Dean (July 17 2159 – November 4 2180)

Cause of Death: Shot down in a small transport shuttle, no survivors.

Family: Christian Dean (Father) Jillian Dean (Mother) Jace Dean (Brother)

Sean sighed as he leaned forward, resting his forehead on his arm. What had happened? He asked himself.

"Are you alright Sean?" Tali asked, looking over his shoulder, causing Sean to jump. He had been so absorbed in the files that he had completely forgotten that Tali had been with him the entire time. He put his arm around Tali and pulled her close to him, saying nothing. Tali leaned in and hugged him tightly; she couldn't even begin to imagine what he was going through.

Minutes passed in complete silence.

"It's getting late." Sean finally said slowly sitting up and moving to his bed, closely followed by Tali. "I need some time to think…" Sean trailed off, lifting his head up and staring of into the empty void of space.

"I'll let you be." Tali said standing up.

Sean quickly stood up and embraced Tali. "Thank you for being here. You don't know how much this means to me." Sean said, tears forming in his dry eyes.

"You now I'll always be here for you Sean." Tali said hugging him back. She slowly released him and exited the room.

Sean turned off the lights to his room and flopped down onto his bed. He laid there, arms crossed over his chest staring up into the ceiling, piecing his past together. Slowly he drifted off to an uncomfortable sleep.

Alex slowly flipped through photos his younger brother, Jace, had sent to him. They were of Jace and his friends getting ready for prom. Jace and Alex had been really close as they grew up. Jace had always had the brains, while Alex had the muscle; they made the perfect combo. It was hard to leave his family when the Alliance shipped him of to Elysium for the Skyllian Blitz, but Jace took it the hardest. To him it was like losing a piece of himself. They stayed in constant contact while Alex was off on duty. Alex continued to flip through the pictures. Jace was graduating soon. He had been accepted into one of the most prestigious schools on Earth. He laughed as he came across a picture of Jace and his friends striking poses in their tuxes. Alex pulled up the holographic keyboard on his Omnitool and typed in a quick message, "Looks like fun. My little brother's growing up so fast! I'll be back for graduation, I promise." A weak smile spread across Alex's face as he found a picture of his mother and Jace together, beaming. He missed them so much. Maybe after his tour with the Alliance ended he could sign up for C-Sec, or something closer to home.

"How's it going Alex?" a soldier asked sitting down next to him.

"Just looking forward to the end of my tour." Alex replied, turning off his Omnitool, "So what are we doing again?"

"What's a matter Alex? Just got amnesia?" The soldier chuckled, "We're transporting a VIP. Easy mission."

"It always seems that way." Alex responded standing up and moving to the front of the shuttle. "How long until we dock with the Ain Jalut?" He asked.

"We're headed to the coordinates. They'll be in the atmosphere sometime soon."

Suddenly the ship shook. The lights died then suddenly came back on, along with a blaring siren.

"What the hell is going on?" Alex yelled over the din of the siren.

"We've been hit!" the pilot hollered. The shuttle shook once again then immediately began to drop. Alex began to float in the air, caught in the freefall of the shuttle. He desperately grabbed for any object that could stabilize him. His face quickly met the metal floor of the shuttle as the engines came back online.

"They're taking shots at us!" The pilot yelled. Alex slowly lifted his head up, wincing as he felt his nose. Blood quickly poured from his nostrils.

"From where? There weren't any AA guns on the scanners!" the soldier yelled back. The ship shook once again as the AA rounds connected with the hull, this time taking both engines with it.

"I'm losing control!" The pilot yelled.

"I got the VIP!" the soldier yelled running to the private room in the aft of the ship.

"Brace for impact!" the pilot yelled moments before the shuttle collided with the snowy mountains of Noveria. Alex was flung forward into the cockpit door. Everything went black.

Vision slowly came back to Alex. He lay beaten and bloody in the snow, burning chunks of the shuttle lay scattered across the mountain face. Every bone and muscle in his body ached. Judging by the amount of pain, Alex deduced that he had broken multiple ribs and had a collapsed lung. His hands and legs were now bleeding, armor town away from the crash. Gasping for air, Alex fought through the pain, his hands desperately grabbing handfuls of snow, trying to move. He breathed out a slow, lingering breath as he rolled to his back. He saw five blurred figures appear from the mountain and run to the wreckage. Alex fumbled around, searching for his pistol. Nothing. He then twisted his head from side to side, desperately looking for something to defend himself with. To his luck he saw the pistol of the other soldier resting a few feet away from him. Taking a deep breath he began to pull himself forward. Pain tore through his entire body, but his hand finally wrapped itself around the gun.

Flipping onto his back, Alex raised his pistol and aimed it at the five blurry figures sifting through the rubble. A soft click was heard as he pulled the trigger. No. No no no! The gun was broken, useless. Alex let it drop from his fingers as the figures drew closer. He was able to make out what they were saying, barely.

"The target's dead." One said.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" Another shouted.

"You were the one who gave the order to shoot the shuttle down!" the first one responded indignantly.

"Anyone else alive?" the third asked.

"There were four people on the ship: the target, two soldiers, and the pilot." The second responded.

"We have three bodies." The first one added.

"He's around here somewhere. It won't be a total loss." The third said.

"Here he is!" one shouted. Alex felt hands wrap around his shoulders, pulling him away from the wreckage.

"He'll do." An icy voice said, sending chills up Alex's spine. "Tell Dr. Grey we have his patient."

Alex felt a pinch as a needle was injected into his neck. Moments later the cool, soothing feeling of medi-gel filled his body. His eyes grew heavy and he slowly shut him.

"We'll get our soldier in no time. Wither he likes it or not." The icy voice added.

Sean let out a shout as he bolted up from his bed, and quickly falling to the floor.

"Ow. Damn it." He muttered to himself, pulling himself back up and fixing the sheets.

"Are you alright?" Tali asked running into Sean's room. Sean looked up to see that Tali was only wearing her enviro suit. He must have awoken her.

Damn it. Sean said to himself. It struck him as odd. He had grown so accustom to seeing her with her hood on. But her voice helped calm his rapidly beating heart.

"Nightmare." Sean quickly responded, taking a seat on the foot of his bed.

"You were shouting again." Tali said taking a seat beside Sean.

"I didn't mean to wake you." Sean said, embarrassed. "It was different this time. It was about my past, what was written in those files."

"I'm worried about you" Tali said, scooting closer to Sean.

Sean gave a small smile then said, "I'll be fine. I just need to get used to this." He breathed out slowly then said quietly, "It's hard to do this alone."

"You're not alone." Tali said, slowly rubbing her hand up and down Sean's back. "Do you need company?" She offered.

Sean smiled as he rested a hand on Tali's leg, "That would- That would be great." Sean slowly lay back down on his bed, pulling Tali with him. "Thank you." Sean said, wrapping his arm around Tali and pulling her close. Tali just smiled as she put her hand on Sean's chest and rested her head on his shoulder. Sean beamed as he slowly closed his eyes.

Author's Note: Dawwwwwwwwwwwwww :)