Comments are always welcome, as are questions and critique. Of course Bioware owns all except my specific ideas and creativity. For Jen, the anon girl who messaged me, I'm sorry for the sadness and bit of angst of the last chapter, but it is necessary at this point. I promise there WILL be fluff and romance. Just hang in there sweetie!
Chapter 2
James paced back and forth in the makeshift emergency room. Within the last few days, what remained of Alliance forces in the city worked around the clock to restore power and functionality to the hospital in the center of town. Other clinics were operating at every checkpoint with the manpower to handle both injuries and searches, but this was the only functioning hospital in all of Vancouver. James knew things looked bleak all around. He still hadn't heard from the Normandy and it had been nearly two weeks since Shepard had done the impossible and blasted the reapers to hell. James said a silent prayer to a God he wasn't even sure existed for their quick return as he turned toward the operating room doors.
Shepard looked terrible with all the monitors, cords, and medication lines attached to various parts of her body. A good portion of her once fair features covered in burns and cuts, she looked more vulnerable than James Vega thought possible. She was both wise mentor and younger sister-like to him at the same time. Fierce and courageous, but also playful and caring when needed. He longed to see her icy gray eyes glaring at him once more as he poked fun of her ever so slight speech impediment. He was most saddened by her once bright, fiery copper hair now singed and dull, almost completely lifeless. If he hadn't seen her chest rise and fall raggedly, he'd assume the worst. She'd received enough medication to keep her under for quite some time, but was in need of someone who could handle her cybernetic implants. James knew only one person alive had the knowledge to handle such a task. He chastised himself for the thought, as he could think of no one, not even Admiral Hackett himself, that knew a way to find Miranda Lawson; The Cerberus Operative turned traitor made a point to stay hidden, no matter the cost.
Just as he turned to the dented metal doors leading out to the exit hallway, wondering how to find a person who was good at leaving no trail, all the while having very little communications ability, Miranda Lawson hastily stalked into the hospital, paying no attention to the guards with weapons drawn, who paused waiting for an order from James. As he motioned for them to stand down, he took in the perfect beauty. She looked tired, her usual skintight jumpsuit replaced by alliance fatigues, though she still wore her trademark knee-high black heeled boots. "Where is she Vega? I know she's here somewhere!" Miranda demanded, her voiced raised slightly as she looked accusingly at the dumbfounded Lieutenant. James quickly ushered her through the doors behind him, warning her that Shepard was in bad shape. "Vega, I brought her back from the dead once. Nothing you can possibly show me will shock me", she said calmly as she approached Shepard's bed.
A sad smile took the place of Miranda's scowl as she looked at her former Commander. Seanne Shepard had done so much for her, even when she didn't deserve it. The broken woman before her was the only reason her younger sister, Oriana, was even alive and safe. Miranda had to save Shepard; She had to repay this woman for everything she'd ever done for her. James stood there for what seemed like hours, but in reality was a mere twenty minutes, before Miranda spoke. "Vega, I think I have a solution, but it's going to be difficult with extremely limited resources. Is the Normandy nearby?" Miranda asked earnestly, looking up from her frantic typing on her omni tool. James sighed as he leaned against the soot-stained wall and crossed his arms. "Miranda, we haven't had contact with the Normandy since the final battle. We don't know where she is, if anyone survived, we just don't know." He replied as he shook his head.
The two remained silent for a few minutes before James walked over to a closed cabinet and removed a blanket. He handed it to Miranda and pointed to a makeshift cot near Shepard's bed. "You can take my bed, and I'll take the chair over here. Someone should be on guard duty anyhow, just in case." He motioned toward a small red chair covered in dirt and grime by the door. Miranda thanked him and wearily took the blanket as she stood and turned to the cot. Previously, before all of this, Miranda would have scoffed and turned her nose up at the notion of sleeping in these conditions, but now she welcomed the ability to sleep anywhere. It didn't take long before she was in a deep sleep, the first sleep she'd had in days.
James awoke to a loud humming noise outside the building, just far off enough to be near what rubble was left of the spaceport docks. He lifted the thick fabric covering the window, effectively blocking all light from the room, and peered outside. There were no street lighting operational, and the outline of singed trees could barely be seen on the hospital courtyard. Though he carefully scanned the area as far as his vision would allow, he couldn't see very far. What was left of a business center was blocking his sight to the docks. Quietly as he could in an attempt to not wake Miranda, he gathered his sidearm and extra ammo from the counter top and headed outside to get a better view. James knew moving about the city in the dark was highly discouraged; They were still fighting pockets of reaper-created mutations. Cannibals were still a common sight, and they always traveled in packs of three or more. No sooner had James finished that thought than he heard the gurgling sound of a group. He stealthily peered around the wall he was standing next to and saw a group of three accompanied by a marauder. Severely outnumbered, he knew his best chance was to stay undetected and move slowly.
Getting no more than ten feet away from his starting attempt, James sidestepped around a pothole filled with water and drew his pistol. As soon as he took his next step, he knew it was a mistake, as his foot crunched into a pile of broken glass alerting the enemies directly ahead of him. He closed his eyes for a moment, and took a deep breath before engaging his targeting system and readying his weapon. Taking down the first two cannibals was easy, but the marauder was closing in quick and somehow still had shields despite all the rounds James wasted on him. He quickly dived behind a pile of debris to reload before peering out just in time to see an unidentified person use a biotic throw and kill the marauder. He aimed and shot the last cannibal between the eyes and holstered his weapon. As he stood up and began to walk toward the figure, they came into view and he was taken aback. In the dimly lit street now covered in what remained of the group of cannibals stood the one person he hadn't expected to ever see again. "Major Alenko? Is that you!?" He said in disbelief, hoping he wasn't hallucinating the presence of the dark haired, obviously enraged officer, currently illuminated in a blue glow before him.