Hey guys, not quite the end yet but we're getting close. I really hope you like the chapter :)
Mel
That was it. She was finally done. After praying to God, Buddha, the Goddess, the Spirits, and every other divine entity she could think of, Casey had finally finished being sick. She stood up shakily, her eyes drifting to the clock on the wall. The team would be on board the derelict Reaper by now. She was disappointed not to be with them (though if her morning so far was anything to go by, staying had been the right choice), but was at least happy they were all together. She knew that Garrus could take care of himself, but having other people to watch his back too was reassuring.
After brushing her teeth for what felt like the hundredth time, Casey decided to take a little walk. She was restless, and needed something to take her mind off it. Otherwise she knew she'd simply sit there imagining all the awful things that could be happening to the others.
Casey went to the Command deck first, where she found Joker and EDI, who were arguing about the temperature in the cockpit.
"Two degrees EDI, that's all I'm asking!" Joker sighed.
"The results of my tests are clear Mr Moreau, raising the temperature above Cerberus' suggested levels has a negative impact on performance," EDI's voice was as steady as ever.
"How can raising the temperature by two damn degrees effect the Normandy?!"
"Not the Normandy, you, Mr Moreau. My previous tests have demonstrated that as the temperature becomes warmer, you become sluggish and tired, and so do not perform at your best."
"Wait, what tests?" Joker asked.
"During your first few days I experimented by raising and lowering the temperature, and recording the results. These are available to view on the Crew Network, under the title 'Crew testing', subheading 'temperature and performance', subheading 'Jeff Moreau'".
"It's weird that we never noticed that," Casey chipped in with a grin, as Joker rolled his eyes and clapped his palm against his face. Then he suddenly looked up, a look of understanding and annoyance on his face. "Iis that why I spent two days sweating my ass off, and then the next two wearing three jumpsuits just to try and keep warm?"
"Yes Mr Moreau, and if you ignore my findings now, all that hard work will have been for nothing."
Joker sighed, "Fine, I give up!"
Casey grinned, "Well, I'll leave you guys to it."
Neither EDI nor Joker appeared to have heard her, as Joker began to eye EDI's terminal suspiciously. "Hang on, all those times I swore the clock in here was moving too slowly, or too quickly-"
"You can find the results of my time/work efficiency testing in the Crew Network under the title 'crew testing', subheading 'time/work efficiency', subheading 'Jeff Moreau'."
Casey found herself next at Traynor's computer, watching as Samantha winced every time she pressed a button. "Are you ok?" Casey asked.
"What? Oh, yes, just wondering why everything is so loud today," Traynor muttered.
"I really have no idea," Casey replied sarcastically.
Traynor smiled, "Ok, perhaps I over-indulged a little last night, but it was your birthday!"
"I don't actually remember seeing you at the party," Casey said, trying to remember if Traynor's face stood out anywhere in her mind.
Traynor looked embarrassed, "Well, no…I wasn't exactly there." Casey raised an eyebrow questioningly, and Traynor continued quickly. "Well I thought I'd have a couple of drinks as I got ready, but I didn't have any alcohol of my own so I just grabbed something from one of the tables. Obviously it was meant for one of the other races, as I felt a little….umm…squiffy, after a glass or two, and I must have passed out. I woke up on my bed with my glass in one hand and a tube of lipstick in the other."
Casey laughed, and Traynor looked relieved. "I'm so glad you're not upset, I feel awful!"
"It's fine," Casey replied.
"Did you get my present?" Traynor asked.
"No?" Casey replied.
"We laid all your gifts out on a table in the starboard observation deck, they should still be there."
Casey felt a smile spread across her face. The crew had got her gifts too? She thought the party had been enough! "Thanks!" She called to Traynor, suddenly realising she was halfway to the elevator already.
There were several packages wrapped up and placed on a table in the observation deck: four small ones, and one huge one. Saving the biggest one for last, Casey began with the closest one. It was a book on treating minor to moderate injuries during combat, from Mordin. Casey flicked through it for a moment, noticing that Mordin had made little notes along the margins, suggesting his own preferred method of treating 'biotic cramps', and defining any words that he thought Casey might not understand. Casey was touched that he'd taken the time to go to all this effort, and made a mental note to give him an awkward hug later.
The next gift was from Kasumi, the label read: "To Case, thought this would come in handy. Love K x", Casey unwrapped the present to find another book, however this one was entitled: So you've decided to have sex with a Turian: Helpful hints and tips for the maximum pleasure of both species. Casey couldn't help but laugh at Kasumi's total lack of subtlety, and put the book under Mordin's in case anyone should happen to walk in (however she made a mental note to read it from cover to cover later).
The third present was from Traynor, and the label read: "Casey, saw this and thought of you. Lots of love Sam xx". It was a beautifully elaborate hair clip, exactly the opposite of what Casey would've expected from Traynor, however it was just to Casey's taste, and she immediately used it to sweep her mass of curls into some kind of order. She smiled, that was probably the girliest present she was likely to receive from a member of the Normandy crew, and her suspicions were confirmed when she opened her next present: a serrated knife from Grunt. He'd included a heart-warming message on the label: "Casey, killed some guy with this and it worked pretty well. Grunt." Casey inspected the blade carefully, at least he seemed to have cleaned it before wrapping it (or possibly getting someone else to wrap it. Casey couldn't imagine Grunt spending much time with wrapping paper and sticky tape).
Casey now turned her attention to the final gift, and read the card first. "Dear Casey, we all chipped in to get this for you, we hope you like it. Love Shepard, Garrus, Samantha, Tali, Grunt, Samara, Kasumi, Thane, Miranda, Jacob, Mordin, Steve, James, Jack". Casey was mildly surprised to see that last name, seeing as Jack had barely said two words to her since joining.
No, wait, that wasn't true, she may have called her "a fucking pussy" after Casey almost quit the drinking contest at her party. But Casey wasn't thinking about that now, she was trying to figure out what on earth could be in the huge box. Unable to wait any longer, she ripped open the packaging, and gasped.
Inside was the most beautiful armour she had ever seen. It was black, but when she picked up the chest-plate she could see that had a blue tinge, which was only noticeable in certain positions. It was so light to hold, yet she could tell it was stronger than anything she'd worn before. It didn't have the Cerberus logo on it like Shepard's did, but instead had 'SR2' emblazoned over the spot where her heart would be. Casey felt a little emotional, which she knew was silly, it was only a set of armour: not exactly a pair of diamond earrings. Most people wouldn't have understood, but to Casey, it was one of the most precious things she owned (alongside the necklace she wore, and Garrus' heart). It meant she was important to these people, it meant she belonged.
Casey carried her gifts back to her room, laying them all down on her bed in order to admire them properly. Just as she leaned forward to stroke the arm of her armour again, she felt the ship judder. This was something new, the Normandy usually flew so smoothly that it barely felt like it was moving. Then she heard the alarm sound, and the lights began to flicker. She hurried over to her bedroom door and walked out into the hallway, where various crew members were looking around with confused looks on their faces. More juddering, and Casey lost her balance and fell against the wall.
"What's going on?" She heard someone shout.
"No idea!"
"It feels like we're being boarded?!"
"That's ridiculous, no one knows we're out here. Who would-"
But the voice was cut off. Casey, currently standing in the hallway outside her room, watched helplessly as the elevator doors opened and four Collectors strode out. Casey felt her stomach drop and her mouth dry up. One of the Collectors raised his gun and fired at the nearest crew member. It sounded like a concussive round, and within seconds the man was on the floor. The Collector dragged him back into the elevator, as his accomplices fired more shots. Casey was just far enough that they hadn't seen her, and she ran as fast as she could back to her room, locking the door behind her.
"Fuck!" Casey cried, running her hands through her hair. The screaming outside was getting louder, and Casey paced her room, desperately trying to figure out what to do next.
Joker, she suddenly thought. She knew he could barely fire a gun without breaking his wrist, she needed to find him, and maybe she could keep him safe while he and EDI figured out what to do. But she couldn't go outside, the Collectors would capture her within minutes. She looked around her room for some kind of inspiration, then she saw it, one of the things which seemed to be the bane of her life, an air duct. She sighed, and quickly removed the grate, wondering how often she'd be forced to crawl around in these things.
Casey ran back to her bed and grabbed the knife Grunt had given her, slipping it into her belt. Just as she was contemplating whether she'd have enough time to put her armour on, she heard something outside, something that sounded unmistakably like her door being hacked.
She darted into the vent, pulling the cover across just before the door opened. She didn't wait to see the Collectors enter her room, instead crawling through the duct as fast as she could. She'd never been in here before, and wondered if it was even possible to get to the command deck from the crew deck, or if she'd just have to find a vent near the elevator and risk it.
She'd been travelling for a few minutes, stopping every now and then and peering through a grate to try and establish her position. In fact, she was so focused on this that she didn't realise she was about to collide with another body until she did.
"Shit, my arm!"
"Joker?!" Casey didn't think she'd ever felt so relieved.
"Casey, are you ok?"
"Yes fine, I was coming to find you, what the hell's going on?!"
"No idea," Joker replied, shaking his head. "It all happened so fast, before EDI and I could figure out why communications were down the Collectors were boarding. They've already taken more than half the crew. I've unshackled EDI."
"You…what?" Casey couldn't believe it, an unshackled AI? That was surely a really bad idea? But then as she heard another scream, one that sounded unmistakeably like Kelly Chambers, she knew that there weren't many alternatives.
"It's the only chance we have of saving the Normandy. Come on, we need to get to engineering."
Casey nodded, but then another thought crossed her mind. "Wait, what about Samantha?"
EDI's voice emitted from Joker's Omni-tool "Operative Traynor is currently in the crew quarters. The door is locked, but Collectors are attempting to hack it, so far unsuccessfully."
"We have to get her!" Casey urged.
"Casey I hate to say it, but the Collectors will get to her before we even reach her room," Joker began.
"Well then we'll fight them!" Casey persisted. "She's still on this ship, we can save her!"
"What can I do, break my arm at them? Besides we need to finish giving EDI control of the ship: that means going to engineering."
Casey could tell Joker didn't want to leave Traynor, but he was right, he had other things he needed to do. "Ok," Casey began. "You go, but I'm getting Samantha. I'll meet you in engineering."
"What? No, Case-"
But she had already crawled past him, moving as quickly as possible to where she thought she could find the crew quarters.
"Shit!" She heard Joker say. "Just…just make sure you get your ass to engineering, quickly!" The sound of him crawling away soon disappeared as Casey travelled further through the cold ducts.
At last, she found the vent she was looking for, the one inside the crew quarters. Casey hadn't been in here much, it was where the majority of the support crew slept, and was filled with bunk beds. She could see Traynor by the door, frantically typing something into the locking console.
"Samantha!" Casey yelled, and Traynor turned around, her eyes wide.
"Casey?" She sounded unsure she'd even heard anything.
"Over here!" Casey banged on the grate, and Traynor hurried over, quickly opening it up and pulling Casey out. She held her close for a moment, breathing heavily. "I didn't know if you'd made it," Samantha breathed. "I ran in here, I've been hacking the door to stop them getting in but I don't think I can stop it."
Casey pulled away, taking Traynor's hand. "Come on, we'll go into the vents, Joker has a plan."
Traynor nodded, and Casey led the way, but she'd only just climbed into the vent when she heard an all too familiar clicking sound. She squinted, trying to see further into the blackness. Movement. They're in the vents! She jumped out and grabbed the grate "Quick, put it back on!" She cried, holding it in place as Traynor attempted to lock it in. But within moments the Collector had pushed hard against the grate, forcing the women to fall backwards. He climbed out, followed by two others. The Collectors watched Casey and Traynor climb to their feet, but for the moment made no attempt to capture them. Casey backed up towards the door, Traynor doing the same. But suddenly the door opened, and when she turned around, Casey found herself facing five more Collectors.
They were trapped. There was no other way out of this room.
Traynor took Casey's hand. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
"It'll be ok," Casey breathed.
The largest Collector gestured at Casey and Traynor, and within moments they were separated by the others and dragged and out of the room. Casey saw two of the coffin-like containers that the Collectors used to transport their victims, and fought harder than ever against her captors. She could see Traynor doing the same, but it was no use. The Collectors were too strong. Traynor was first, forced into the coffin kicking and screaming. The door was closed, and within moments she was silent.
Now Casey. They shoved her inside the warm, sticky container, and slammed the lid down. Casey hammered her fists against the glass, but already she felt herself weakening. There must've been something inside the tube to sedate them, something Mordin's seeker repellent wouldn't work against.
Casey was drowsy. She watched as the Collectors picked up her coffin and carried it to the elevator. She tried to stay awake, tried to break out, but she couldn't reach her knife, and she was so tired.
Her last thought was of Garrus, what would he do when he realised she was gone?