A/N: Hey guys, here's the next chapter :) Hope it sounds okay. The next chapter is mostly finished but I probably won't finish it until tomorrow, I'm exhausted and wanna go to bed right now :P As it is, I do hope this sounds okay! I'm never very good at actions scenes...

Onward!

Chapter Fourteen

Shepard hated doing that to Kaidan, but it was the only way to make sure the sentinel stayed put and rested like he was supposed to. He couldn't let Kaidan join him in the fight because he himself wasn't entirely sure he would come out of it, let alone Kaidan who stopped breathing on him not that long ago.

No, he couldn't risk it and he wouldn't let Kaidan risk it either.

As much as he told Kaidan he rarely went into a fight thinking he wouldn't come back, this was one of those rare few times. He knew Kaidan knew that on some level, which was why he tried to fight with him, but in the end Shepard couldn't let him risk his own life simply for him.

He couldn't let his crew do this, after all. It had to be him. Him against his look alike, even if it killed him, because he couldn't force someone else to do it. He knew firsthand how powerful his look alike was – it was him but without any of his restrictions. He doubted his look alike would care if he was cutting into Garrus or Kaidan, and Shepard couldn't let that happen.

No, it had to be him, no matter the outcome. He hoped that somehow, someway, Kaidan would someday understand that. If not… well, at least he'd be alive. Shepard would make sure of that.

He'd told Garrus to watch Kaidan and make sure no one made it into med bay. If it looked like Shepard Garrus was to ask him a series of questions to determine if it was the look alike or actually the commander. Either way, Kaidan was being guarded. Shepard hoped it would be enough, but he didn't plan on letting Brooks and his look alike past the shuttle bay. If they wanted a fight, he'd give them one, and hope it was enough time for the rest of the group to come up with a plan, a way to contact the Council or something.

He just needed to buy them some time – he didn't need to actually win.

Except he wanted to win. So badly, because Kaidan would be there waiting for him. Kaidan would bring him back just to kill him again if he died during this fight, if he didn't fight tooth and nail to get back to the sentinel in one piece, like he promised.

He wanted to win…

But he was already so tired, and there was only so much one person could go through before they finally lost the fight. He didn't have much else to give, honestly.

Except Kaidan.

He would fight for Kaidan, to see him again, keep his promise and apologize for sedating him. He'd fight for that.

He took in a breath and decided to take the elevator down. Perhaps it would be more straightforward and they wouldn't expect him to use the simple way in. He might catch them off guard or he might walk into a large trap, like Garrus said. Either way, he could keep them busy long enough for the others to come up with something.

Somehow, he doubted it would be simple. He doubted his look alike and Brooks were down there alone – Garrus wouldn't have made such a fuss about it if that was the case.

The elevator stopped suddenly, causing him to shift uneasily because he knew this was not the shuttle bay, but deck three, where Kaidan was in med bay. He was going to the shuttle bay from deck two.

The doors opened to reveal Tali and James, weapons at the ready as they moved to join him in the elevator.

"What the hell are you doing?" Shepard growled, glaring at them.

"Saving your ass, Loco," James replied.

"Going down?" Tali asked, pressing the button for deck five, the shuttle bay.

Shepard shook his head. "You know this is probably a trap, right? We're going to be walking into their waiting hands."

"All the more reason not to go alone, Loco," James said with a shrug. "And Indigo would never forgive us if we let anything happen to you."

Shepard took in a breath and released it in a quiet laugh. "Is that so, Lieutenant?"

"Affirmative."

"Alright then. Let's give them hell."

Kaidan's return to consciousness was quick and frantic, his last thoughts that of desperation. He came awake with a gasp, instantly sitting up. A hand kept him from leaping out of bed and he followed it up to find Garrus watching him, standing next to the bed.

"Where's Shepard?" Kaidan demanded.

Tell me he didn't… tell me he's not…

"You should lay back down," Garrus said instead of answering, and that told him everything he needed to know.

"Goddamn idiot," Kaidan growled under his breath as he threw his legs over the side of the bed, Garrus's hand be damned.

There was a sudden jolt as the Normandy lurched forward, taking off from the docking bay, and Kaidan blinked in confusion, glancing at Garrus. The turian seemed just as shocked as him, which only made things worse.

"I take it this isn't a planned departure."

"You would be correct," Garrus said.

"So… did Brooks and the other Shepard get control of the Normandy?"

"I have no idea. I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary on this deck."

"What about Shepard? Where's he?"

"He, Tali and James went down to the shuttle bay about an hour ago," Garrus admitted quietly. "I haven't heard from them in the past half hour. Your guess is as good as mine."

Kaidan took in a breath and nodded. "Alright, so… I guess we take the Normandy back first."

Even though he wanted to go to the shuttle bay and find Shepard, fight with him, make sure everything was okay…

But no, right now he knew the Normandy came first because if something happened to it, they were all dead.

"Joker would never let someone fly this thing."

"Joker isn't here at the moment," Garrus said. "He and Cortez took a shuttle out earlier, looking for Brooks and Shepard's look alike. We haven't been able to contact them since communications went offline. We only have very short-range radio contact at the moment, and I can't even contact shuttle bay right now."

Great. Just freaking great.

Could nothing ever go right? Why did things like this always have to happen to them?

We must have been horrifying cruel to puppies in a past life.

He took in a breath and lightly eased away from Garrus's hand. "We need to find out what's going on. No time to make me rest."

"Shepard gave me very clear orders, Kaidan."

"Yeah? Well…" He swallowed, averting his gaze to the ground. "He could be dead right now. Are you really that worried? A madman might have control of the Normandy."

Garrus hesitated only very briefly, the soldier in him understanding the severity of the situation. "Alright, lead the way."

It was a battlefield in the shuttle bay. Shepard looked angrily at his last remaining clip of ammo for his rifle, deciding to go ahead and switch to his heavy pistol for the time being. Next to him, hunkered behind cover, was Tali, using her shotgun and her combat drone which was actually working wonders with its long range rockets. It at least got the focus off of them for a little while.

Shepard wasn't entirely sure where James was but he knew the man was still alive, still fighting, even though he couldn't physically see him at the moment. He could hear his frag grenades going off every so often, one time startlingly close to him and Tali. Thankfully James seemed to realize that was where they were taking cover because he didn't throw or shoot in their direction again.

He wasn't sure where his look alike was, or even Brooks for that matter. Right now he was worried about the other men they brought with them, the people with those horrible blue shields. If he could use pull, it would be easier to deal with them – sure, their armor was tricky to get through, but that shield was the main part of their problems. Using pull would definitely relieve them of their shields, but unfortunately he was the only one who could do such a thing and he wasn't supposed to use his biotics.

This did not stop him from doing so.

He'd already accepted this could very well be a suicide mission in the state he was in – why not do everything he could before his luck ran out?

He tried to only use his biotics when really necessary, though. Like when those shield people were literally right on top of them – he'd relieve them of their shields and Tali would use her combat drone. James would use carnage and they'd be dealt with rather quickly.

Exhaustion weighed heavy in his limbs, reminding him that he was overdoing it, and he could almost hear the chewing out he'd get from Kaidan… if he made it back to him.

He'd call him reckless again, and berate him and scold him but then kiss him and hold him because that was what they did – they yelled because they cared but in the end it all came down to how they felt about each other.

The jolt of the Normandy as it took off was unsettling because he knew Joker and Cortez weren't here at the moment – they'd gone out looking for Brooks and the look alike on their own, in a private, red shuttle. So who was driving the ship, and why?

The only thing that made sense was that somehow, Brooks and his look alike, or someone on their team, had gotten to the pilot area and had taken control of the ship. This did not bode well for any of them, and he couldn't help but worry about Kaidan and Garrus on deck three, wondered if they were okay, if he'd somehow inadvertently led to Kaidan's death because he sedated the man and left him vulnerable to attack.

Please don't let that be the case.

He sedated Kaidan to keep him safe, not…

Not for him to be helpless and vulnerable to attack.

EDI was offline, they learned on their way to deck two. So were the elevators. There was no easy way down or up in levels, no easy way to the cockpit or down to Shepard.

Luckily Kaidan knew a 'back door' from helping work on the original Normandy, and this ship was designed to be similar to that one. Plus he was, once upon a time, a co-pilot of sorts. It was his job to know the ship he was serving on, so he easily found the hatch which led through the levels. From what he'd heard, Joker used them to get to EDI's AI core when the Collectors attacked the ship.

Now he used it in a similar way, to get to deck two even though he wanted to go down to deck five and jump into the fight, make sure Shepard and the others were okay…

Later, he told himself. Ship first, it saves everyone. Then help Shepard.

It went against everything he wanted to do but he did it anyway, and led the way up.

The sound of a biotic charge was the only warning Shepard got before his look alike hit him head on, 'teleporting' through his cover and ramming into him, knocking him out of it. Bullets flew past his head and he hurriedly jumped to the side as his look alike used a nova. Shepard brought his pistol up, firing at the look alike but he had a decent amount of armor and barriers, easily block the shots from hitting his vulnerable flesh.

Shepard rolled away from the next biotic charge and nova combo, his barrier taking a hit as bullets whizzed past him. He hurriedly hid behind cover again, firing blindly at his look alike as his barrier fixed itself.

This time when the look alike charged at him, Shepard was ready, knew what to expect.

He used a nova just as the look alike got to him, causing the not-Shepard to stagger back a step. He then brought his gun up and shot at him as Tali's combat drone appeared behind his look alike. His look alike quickly used medi-gel, healing what little damage they'd managed to deal to him.

I am an asshole, Shepard thought, growling under his breath.

Two more shielded people were heading toward his cover as he peeked around the corner.

Goddamn it.

The Normandy lurched to the side then, causing him to go tumbling out of cover, practically sliding across the ground, back toward Tali.

The hell is going on?

Thankfully the shield guys were knocked off balance and Tali promptly began shooting them in the face with her shotgun, a defense drone fluttering around her.

There were three hostiles in the cockpit of the Normandy. Kaidan took in a breath, summoned his biotics, feeling his amp flare at the base of his head, and used reave on two of them while Garrus used a concussive shot on the third man. Within minutes they had the three down, unconscious.

The Normandy started to lose altitude, then, a sharp nose dive.

Kaidan quickly slid into the co-pilot's seat where EDI usually sat, and where he used to sit once upon a time. Frantically he summoned his co-pilot training and brought up the nav system as Garrus desperately clung to the back of his chair.

"Get this thing straight!" the turian said.

"I'm trying!" Kaidan growled back.

Flying the Normandy was one thing – pulling it out of a nose dive in the middle of the Citadel, buildings rapidly coming up on them, was another matter entirely.

He did manage to pull it out of the nosedive, though, and turned them around so they were heading back toward the docking bay. At least there it would be safe… well, safer, than it was flying around out here with hostiles on the ship.

Once the ship was safely back in the docking bay, he could finally go help Shepard.

You better still be alive, you reckless idiot.

Sweat dripped down Shepard's brow, arms shaking with the energy it took to hold his rifle up. This was his last clip of ammo and he needed to make sure it counted, because after that… he'd have to resort to using only his biotics, which he'd been trying to keep from doing despite the fact his look alike loved using his biotics against him.

Not-him had to be running out of medi-gel. How many times had he healed himself? Five? Six? Shepard honestly couldn't remember. He'd kill for just one thing of medi-gel at the moment but that didn't seem to be an option.

"Shepard… you're kind of an asshole to fight," Tali breathed from where she knelt next to him, completely out of ammo and down to using her combat drone exclusively.

"Noted," Shepard grunted.

He didn't hear the biotic charge until it was too late, until he'd been rammed into by his counterpart, groaning as he all but doubled over, reserves dry. Tali's combat drone appeared behind his look alike and Shepard dove to the side as it fired its rockets, the explosion of impact knocking him off his feet. He jumped up only to be charged into again.

He barely made it out of the nova's range. Summoning his strength he used a biotic charge of his own, along with a nova combo like the look alike kept doing to him, managing to at least stagger his counterpart back enough that Tali's combat drone could fire at him again.

The look alike used more medi-gel and Shepard wanted to shout in frustration.

How many damn things of medi-gel does this asshole have?

James appeared around the corner, using carnage on the look alike, eating away at his armor. The look alike rounded on the lieutenant, charging at him. The attack left James knocked off his feet, and as not-him raised his hand to deliver the following nova, Shepard used his own biotic charge to slam into him, knocking him off balance, interrupting his next attack.

James got away, firing at the look alike as he did so.

Bullets hit Shepard's barrier from behind him, causing him to spin around and take notice of Brooks, finally showing herself after this whole batter. She seemed to like watching from the sidelines. A shot broke through his barrier and shields, tearing into the armor of his shoulder, leaving him growling as he used a charge to offset her balance. Carnage tore into her and he easily rolled away, back into cover, panting as he did so.

His whole body ached and he felt so exhausted. It felt like he'd ran a marathon in the desert. It was like being back on Tuchanka, fighting all those brutes under that Reaper.

Keep going.

He took in a breath and used his N7 training to push the pain and exhaustion into the back of his mind. He was only fighting his look alike – he could do this. He took down a Reaper on Rannoch, on foot – he could do this.

He charged into his look alike as soon as he saw him.

"Shepard!"

The voice was familiar and rough and he found himself responding to it instantly, snapping his head up as he used a nova on his look alike. Kaidan stood across the shuttle bay, near that secret hatch few people knew about. Behind him stood Garrus, aiming his gun at… him?

Shepard spun, then, and saw his look alike right there, behind him. He had no time to dodge the nova which left him collapsing to his knees, his barriers destroyed, his breath caught in his throat, eyes burning from the pain and exhaustion.

He watched, almost detachedly, as the look alike was hit with reave, taking a quick step back as though that would help. Shepard pushed back to his feet and charged at the look alike again, even though he could hear Kaidan in his head – and aloud, come to think of it – growling at him for using his biotics, but he was running out of options.

Sorry, K… if we live through this I'll make it up to you.

Goddamn idiot!

Shepard was using his biotics against his look alike. Kaidan just got down to the shuttle bay with Garrus so he had no way of knowing how long or how often the commander had been using his biotics, but he looked like literal hell. His skin was pale and flushed at the same time… come to think of it, so was the look alike's. Both looked like hell.

The two Shepards collided then, both using their biotic charges to meet in the middle, causing some kind of biotic explosion which sent them both flying in opposite directions. They landed on their backs and both lay there for a moment before Brooks ran toward them, shooting at…

The fake Shepard? No, she wouldn't shoot at him. He must have been the real Shepard, then. He looked far less exhausted than the other one, but maybe that meant he hadn't been using his abilities like Kaidan thought he had.

Shepard seemed shocked that Brooks was shooting at him even though he really should have expected it. Her and not-Shepard were working together, after all.

Kaidan ran forward to help Shepard, using reave on the not-Shepard as he did so.

The look not-Shepard gave him left him freezing. It was one of pain, shock and… betrayal?

Oh, God. That's the real Shepard.

A/N:There's that chapter :P Hope it sounds okay! Thanks for reading and please review!

~Muffy the Dough Slayer~