Title: Virmire Part Five
Author: Dinkymew
Game: Mass Effect (One)
Disclaimer: Bioware owns all character and contents related to the Mass Effect franchise. Abigail Shepard is my own creation inspired by the character of Jane Shepard created by Bioware. All Original characters herein are my own creations and not necessarily affiliated with Bioware. The story may deviate from the original game and for this I ask your forgiveness, any anomalies are for entertainment purposes and not to offend.
Characters Featured: Kaidan Alenko (M); Abigail Shepard (F); Ashley Williams (F); Original character Stewart 'Spooner' Cooper (M); Jeff 'Joke' Moreau (M)
They hadn't got very far before Kaidan decided to stop at a Batarian noodle bar, the kind with the glass counter so you could see what they were cooking and how. He was standing by the glass watching with his shirt tucked into the waistband of his jeans. She could see the raw tattoo on his shoulder glowing pink under the muted lighting in the lower wards, could see the muscles in his back shift under his tank top as he turned to glance at her.
His eyes caught hers and she felt the breath leave her instantly. She adored Kaidan's eyes, timeless dark pools that bore into her very soul whenever they rested upon her. She blinked, chiding herself for mooning over him so openly, and returned his smile cooly.
"You want some?" He asked, gesturing back to the restaurant with a jab of his thumb. She scrunched her nose, shaking her head in response.
"I'll just steal some of yours." She grinned taking a seat at one of the small round tables outside the store front. It was a little wobbly but clean enough, a flyer for mercenary recruitment sat idly and she lifted it, running her eyes over the foreign text. She had no hope of reading Batarian, but she recognised the tattoo in the corner of the flyer – a red circle with a black palm stamped into its centre. She frowned, unable to trace exactly where she had seen the design before and equally unable to shake off its familiarity.
This whole district was filled mostly with batarians; the flyer could belong to any number of mercenary gangs and likely it was a group they had come across in their quest to hunt down Saren. She pushed the flyer to the side of the table just as Kaidan sat down with his prize passing a liquor tube to her.
The cartons reminded her of those old Chinese boxes, the kind you used to get chopsticks with in another era. Despite her reluctance to try alien cuisine it didn't smell too bad – and she gave a cautious peek into the container as he got himself comfortable in the chair next to her.
"What is that?" she asked, unable to decipher exactly what the contents were. It resembled noodles, but seemed to be a little more gelatinous than she would have liked them to be, with some chunks of pink meat mixed about. Popping the liquor tube open she took a long drink, the alcohol was heavy and strong and she coughed a little as she focused on him again.
"I don't know." Kaidan said, looking at her seriously "But I am starving."
"You could be eating varren." She warned, wrinkling her nose as he popped a piece of the meat into his mouth.
He moved his shoulders, smiling playfully at her "That is a risk a hungry man is willing to take." He said, his voice deadly serious as he tucked into the meal.
"Did you find it was a relief?" She asked, leaning her head on her hand "When you found out you were a biotic and suddenly there was a reason for you always being so hungry?"
He paused in his eating, considering her question before shaking his head slowly "I suppose it was but… well, by the time I knew about biotics I was already out on Jump Zero." He said it casually, but she could see the darkness in his eyes as he mentioned the facility; the reserved and guarded demeanour that came over him as they broached the subject.
"I heard Jump Zero was…" She cleared her throat "I never went there. By the time my biotics emerged BAaT had been closed for a few years. I went to Blue Horizon – the facility on one of the asteroids around Arcturus?"
He nodded, swallowing before he spoke "I was there. I finished my training there when I came back to the Alliance. Did three years at Blue Horizon; it's a wonder we didn't run into each other, I thought I knew every cadet in that place." He glanced around him as a group of batarians settled into a table a few seats from them, he turned back to her "Yeah BAaT was severe. You either came out of it a superman or a wreck."
"And you?" She asked, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
He smiled wryly at her, his face colouring as he picked at the noodles "Well… I guess I was a wreck when I left." He frowned "But you live and learn I guess."
"I wouldn't say you're a wreck Kaidan." She said honestly, and he paused, looking at her. There was a long moment between them, painfully electric as she looked into his eyes and he looked back into hers. She wanted to lean in and kiss him, breathe in his scent and press her body against him; she could feel the gentle flare of her biotics humming against his, like some kind of deep sense that made her heart hammer against her ribs.
"It's surprising." He said slowly, his eyes never leaving hers "What can change a man."
"Hey Otro!" A batarian from the new table called pulling her from Kaidan's gaze momentarily as she glanced beyond him to see the Batarian leaning forward over the table "What the hell you serving these filthy humans for? Pickings that slim down here eh?"
She could feel Kaidan bristle as he cleared his throat, and she met his look as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. She could see his hands clench to fists in front of him as he looked to her "Maybe we should think about going." He said quietly.
Abigail frowned, she would be damned if she was going to let some Batarian chase her away with some stupid comments. There were five in the group, all laughing and joking now as they waited for their meals to be delivered to their tables. The one who had shouted appeared to be the leader, dressed in an impressive suit of armour with that same tattoo branded on the breastplate, the one she had seen on the flyers. The other four were dressed in red worksuits, perhaps dock workers here in the wards?
"Come on." Kaidan said quietly and she looked back to him as he finished his meal and pushed the carton to the centre of the table. "We should be getting back anyway." He added with a small smile.
Relenting Abigail downed the rest of her alcohol, pushing her chair back carefully as she got to her feet unsteadily.
"Are you a little drunk Commander?" Kaidan asked playfully.
"What makes you ask?" She smiled, turning to face him as she pushed her chair back in carefully.
"Your attempt at a straight line." Kaidan mused.
Fixing him with a playful glare she turned her back on him once more, flicking her hair over her shoulder with attitude. "You are so lucky I have no idea where we are going Alenko, otherwise I would lay your ass out, right here – in front of all these witnesses." She declared, moving to sweep past the table of batarians.
Somehow, whether it be a genuine miss-step or the belated effects of alcohol she couldn't be sure, but she stumbled, her ankle turning under her and she collided into the back of the Batarian leader. Face blossoming with colour she righted herself, pushing her hair behind her ears as she cleared her throat.
"Sorry." She smiled, stifling a laugh – suddenly everything was hilarious - as she took a wary step back. The batarians all turned to face her, all eyes fixing her with a solid, tolerant glare. Behind her she felt Kaidan touch her arm, but her attention was elsewhere – caught by that tattoo on the batarian's armour. It was so familiar, she grasped at the edges of memory but it fled from her fingers.
"If you're not careful, you'll lay yourself out on your own ass." Kaidan mumbled, gently pulling her back toward him. She frowned, staring at the batarians as they stared back at her. At last, the one she had knocked into growled, turning away from her as he faced his friends again.
"Only thing they are good for is slaves." He muttered, under his breath but she heard him and as though a light had been turned on she froze suddenly realising where she had seen that tattoo before.
It had been back on Mindoir, printed on the wreckage of a carrier shuttle, scored into the skin of every slaver that had been on the planet that night.
As though someone had opened a floodgate to her memories suddenly images flashed before her eyes – her mother, her father, her friends, her school – Mindoir burning, the rubble the screams the smell of smoke and death and the sound of her whole world ending and above all: that permeating, vulnerable feeling sinking through her skin like acid rain.
"Shepard?" The words were like a drop of water, falling to a lake below, and she was the ripples.
She turned, her vision focused on that Batarian leader – everything else almost blacked out as her sight funnelled so she could see only him.
As she strode toward him his friends began to scramble to their feet, but they were too late – she was going to kill him before they were even on their feet. Summoning her strength, feeling the sudden kick of biotics she worked the power, reaching a hand out to throw a warp against him. At the moment she anticipated the blast though, it never came.
Instead a barrier flushed through her skin and she was left standing, her arm extended as the Batarian leader got out of his seat slowly, menacingly.
There was a reason biotics didn't drink.
She had little time to react, the Batarian rounded on her, pushing her arm aside as he threw a punch she somehow managed to dodge, coming at her immediately with another and she was forced to back away, blocking his strikes successfully – but feeling the repercussions of taking on such brute strength hand to hand.
Behind her she heard Kaidan rush to join the fray, momentarily caught off guard and worried for his safety she glanced for him and the Batarian seized the advantage, wrapping a thick hand around her throat as he lifted her clean off the ground. She struggled uselessly in his grip, raking nails over his fingers as she thrashed and kicked and clawed at him. He smiled up at her, four eyes blinking in unison as he let out a thunderous laugh.
She could see Kaidan now, slugging against the other batarians, he had managed to take two out; the remaining two circling him menacingly.
"You would make one pretty slave." The Batarian murmured, pausing to stroke her hair down her face. She crushed her eyes closed, willing her strength to return, willing control into herself.
"You… were on Mindoir…" she choked, black spots floating into her vision as she blinked into unconsciousness briefly.
The Batarian squeezed harder on her throat, bringing her face closer to his so he could growl at her "Only way you could know that is if you were there." He said dangerously "And that's not possible. My whole gang was wiped out that night – them and every single child we had captured by some crazy bitch with a grenade." He tightened his grip a little more and she felt her life draining from her slowly. Somewhere in the distance she could hear Kaidan shouting her name.
"Did you know her?" The Batarian whispered viciously.
A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she met his eyes "She was my mom."
With that she summoned everything she had, everything she had left in her, pushing outward with her scream as she brought both arms up and threw them down viciously on the batarian's extended one. With the combination of the blow and her biotics she heard the bone snap and she was dropped mercifully to the ground. With a roar she barrelled forward into the Batarian, taking him to the ground with her as she gripped his head in both her hands. With a wicked twist he went still beneath her.
It was over.
She tried to get to her feet, but the blackness was sweeping in thick and fast – pressing a hand to the floor she sucked in a breath, the ground rushing to meet her as the yawning darkness swallowed her whole.
"This is Nicola."
I look her up and down; she's very pretty with long red hair and skin the colour of marble. Her blue eyes are kind and she smiles nervously at me; I have no idea why I am being made to meet her – not every new crew member on the Humbee is big news.
"I've heard a lot about you." She says, and her accent is English, it makes me smile; not because I like it, but because it sounds so funny compared to everyone else's. I look to Spooner to see if he shares my humour but his face is serious, and he is watching me closely so I let it go, dropping the corners of my mouth as I take the hand she has offered and shake politely.
"Nice to meet you." I say non-committedly; CIC officers are uninteresting to me. I glance over her clean, pressed uniform and feel a little self-conscious standing in my grubby denim dungarees – I'm covered in grease and oil having just been through the shafts for the engineers installing new thermal-graded sensors in the more awkward places.
"Well, I suppose I will see you around the ship." Nicola says, her sweet sing-song voice grating as I give her my best smile. I hope I won't see a lot of her. She gives me a little wave, moving back toward the bridge of the frigate and I turn to Spooner. His arms are folded over his bulging pectorals, his green eyes making me freeze to the spot.
"Be nice. It's not easy for a new crew member to blend in." He says and I smile; he knows me too well. "None of your shit you pulled with Craigles in engineering." He warns and my smile widens as I remember the pranks I had set out for the newest engineer to the roster.
I'm about to answer when the sound of an alarm blares through the ship. I immediately duck, covering my ears, as I glance around for a source. We're grounded; we're not in motion so there is no way we could be getting attacked. We've been grounded on this planet a few days now while we repaired some minor damages.
Spooner is in motion, striding toward the bridge he barks some orders at the CIC officers, the Admiral coming to his side as the commotion drowns out their voices.
"They're outside the ship." A voice reports "Heavily armed, we're going to have send a task force out."
I look to Spooner for guidance, already marching away from the console he pushes past me in a rush and I follow him, more in desperation than anything else, keeping pace as he makes his way to the shuttle bay.
"What's happening?" I ask him as he moves to his locker, pulling the pieces of his armour free swiftly.
"We're under attack Skipper." He says getting ready "There are mercenaries attacking the ship outside."
I watch him as he pulls armour on feeling my heart sink in my chest. It's happening again and the knowledge that this could be the end of my home grips me with a terror I've felt only once before. A terror that roots me to the spot as I watch him gather weapons from his locker. The moment you're not moving is the moment they find you.
"Don't go." I beg him, reaching for his arm suddenly "Please Spooner."
He looks to me, only his eyes visible through the visor of his helmet.
"I'll be back." He says firmly, placing a gloved hand over mine on his forearm "I promise."
He touches my chin, shouldering a rifle as he takes off in a jog. I watch him go, fear and panic swelling within me to the point I think I might faint. I can't just sit and wait; I won't just sit and wait. Shaking, my eyes blurry with tears I lift a pistol from the locker.
By the time he got back to his apartment Joker and Ashley were passed out on the couch. Luckily he had managed to get Shepard out of the district in a cab without too much commotion; he would have stayed to talk to C-sec but the owner of the noodle bar had waved him off, thanking him for doing the sector a favour and insisting he would handle any C-sec officers that came by. Reluctantly Kaidan had accepted the arrangement; more concerned with getting Shepard somewhere safe where he could check her over than covering his own ass.
His apartment wasn't terribly big and it was still cluttered with boxes from when he moved back in from Arcturus at the end of his Alliance training. The kitchenette was pristine, as he liked to keep it, but he noticed the wine cooler was empty. Carrying Shepard as carefully as he could he made his way to the seated area which was down two steps. It was a snug setup – two couches sitting at right angles framing a large glass coffee table that he noticed was littered with empty wine glasses and a couple of bottles.
Laying Shepard on the empty couch he moved silently back into the kitchenette taking the wine glasses with him by the stems. Placing them gently in the sink he filled a bowl with cool water, grabbing a cloth from the drawer he took the steps quickly again and sat the items on the table, kneeling by the sofa where Shepard lay.
She looked peaceful; her angelic face still in slumber, long lashes resting on her cheeks, full red lips slightly parted. He watched her as her brow furrowed a little, creasing just above her nose and he took the cloth carefully in his hands, wringing it over the bowl carefully.
He had never seen her like that before; but he had heard her mention Mindoir – and that couldn't be good. He had read Shepard's personnel file, like every crew member on the Normandy he had anticipated her arrival on the frigate with a mixture of awe and excitement; the hero of Elysium – a legend within the Alliance, and a biotic too; he would be lying if he hadn't thought she was an idol. So he knew her parents had been killed on Mindoir, that her whole colony had been killed on Mindoir, that she had been the only survivor.
Gently he swept the cloth over her forehead, pressing gently against her temple where a bruise was beginning to colour. Her eyes fluttered, and then opened, those long lashes parting to reveal the crystal blue of her eyes within. He paused, looking down into her eyes as they focused on him – momentarily worried before those walls came crashing down once more and they became the colour of steel.
"Hey," He smiled "There you are."
She blinked, looking up at him, her chest heaving as she took in her surroundings like a cornered animal "What happened?" She asked, her voice wavering.
"It's ok." He said, pressing the cloth back to her temple "We're at my apartment. You're safe."
She seemed to relax a little at that statement, wincing against the cloth as she closed her eyes briefly. "Why are we whispering?" She asked.
"It's late." Kaidan smiled gently "And Ashley and Joker are asleep just there." He waited a beat before he added "How are you feeling?"
She moved her shoulders, her eyes still closed as she ground her teeth "I'm fine."
He held his composure, but inside he sighed heavily, frustrated that she could be so open and closed in one breath. Setting the cloth aside he got back to his feet slowly and moved back into the kitchenette. Flicking the button for the coffee machine he rubbed his face quickly with his hands, setting out two mugs as he took a moment to go over the events of the night.
He could hear the creak of the couch as she got up, and for a fearful moment he thought she was going to leave, but he didn't hear the door. Pouring a mug each he moved back to the living room. She was up, sitting on the wide windowsill of the apartment window, watching the flightcars zoom past – their lights dancing and twinkling off the glass and the lakes of the presidium. Her knees were drawn up to her chest, her face turned away from her.
Quietly he offered her a mug and she turned to him, taking it gingerly in both her hands as he wedged himself onto the wide windowsill carefully. "You don't like talking about this stuff do you?" He prodded. To an extent he could understand it, after all he had plenty baggage himself he didn't like to share – but his feelings for this woman made him persist – he wanted her to be happy; he wanted to help if he could.
"I just don't like talking." She said carefully "I don't remember a lot; if that is what you're asking. If you want to know what happened on Mindoir I don't know." She looked away from him, back out onto the presidium "I spent most of that time locked in an LPR."
He frowned the acronym familiar "An LPR?" He asked gently.
"Last Point of Refuge." She said quietly, sipping the coffee "My mother bundled me inside before she took off."
He cleared his throat, setting his own mug behind him "Do you remember her? You would have been what…16?"
She shook her head, her eyes glittering with tears as she fought to hold them back "I remember her hair. It smelled like honey." She cleared her throat, but when she spoke her voice was still thick and it cracked as she whispered "She was pregnant with my baby brother the night she died. We were going to call him Charlie."
With an embarrassed smile she wiped at her eyes, shaking her head "I'm sorry Kaidan." She said firmly "This is really unprofessional of me. It was a long time ago and… well… you live and learn right? You said that."
He smiled bitterly as his own words came back to him "What did you learn Shepard?" He asked and she moved her shoulders, setting her mug down.
"I guess I learned that the minute you stay still in someplace is the time you are most in danger. The moment you start to really love something is the moment you are setting yourself up for a world of hurt." She sniffed, raking fingers through her hair as she added "You're never safe. Not really."
"You're safe with me." He offered, and he meant it – every word of it, but when she looked at him her eyes were filled with a pain that killed him.
"Kaidan…" She whispered, but he reached for her, his hand sliding into her soft hair and silencing her as he leaned forward. Her scent surrounded him, soft and sweet with vanilla and almonds, he could hear her heart – or was that his own? – as he pressed closer, the heat of her lips radiating against his as he brushed his mouth against hers-
"Oh you're back!"
The voice was so loud in the quiet, and they both jumped back like criminals caught in the act. Bumping his mug behind him Kaidan scrambled as it shattered on the floor, spraying glass and coffee over the wooden flooring.
"Chill out Alenko." Joker mused from where he sat "I didn't see anything."