A/N: It was a stretch, but I got chapter 25 ready for you guys in no time flat. So let's get started.
I own nothing
Alexander 'Maverick' Drake
SSV Normandy - Private Quarters
August 1, 2183 - 03:21 hours
He couldn't sleep. That wasn't anything new.
Alex could survive on very little sleep every now and again with how much his body has changed. He had a little more energy than before and had to find different ways to burn it off so he could actually get a good night's sleep.
At the moment he was at the terminal in his room going over data he'd collected in the last few missions when his strong hearing picked up a noise from the next room. Again not surprising, his and Jane's rooms are right next to each other. Meant so that the Captain and XO could be within close proximity while separate from the rest of the crew.
Shepard had nightmares once in a while, the Post Human wrote that off as a cause from her troubled past. But tonight was different. Ever since the incident at the Citadel with Talitha she'd been getting less and less sleep. The crew had noticed, the ground team had noticed, and he noticed.
He started to hear a bit of thrashing and he couldn't let this happen to her any more if he could help it.
Getting up from his desk he slipped his helmet back on and went to the Commander's room. Making quick work of the door, he peered inside and saw it completely dark save for the slight glow from her terminal's screen.
Jane tossed and turned in her bed, her tank top and sweatpants drenched in sweat as he face contorted in pain. "...no...mom, dad...NO!" she screamed.
Alex gently grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Shepard. Shepard! JANE WAKE UP!" he shouted.
The Commander bolted awake, her fist connecting with the jaw of his helmet making his head snap to the side slightly. She breathed heavily for a few moments before she managed to get herself back into control. "Maverick?...what?" realization hit her then. "I'm sorry." she said looking upset.
"It's no problem. I heard you from the next room and thought you could use a wake up." he said rolling his neck a bit. "Nice right-cross though."
Jane smiled slightly as she looked back at him, "Wait, you heard me from the next room? How? The bulkhead is too thick."
Alex pointed to where his right ear would be. "Sensitive hearing. Could hear a pin drop across the room, effective when it's needed."
Silence filled the room, "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked a little concerned for the normally strong willed Commander.
She sighed, pulling her legs up to her chest. "The last thing you want to hear is my problems." she said quietly.
The nano soldier grabbed the chair from her desk and sat down next to the bed, "Let me tell you of my observations since I got on this ship, Shepard. You spend a lot of time going around the ship helping everyone with their emotional baggage, yet you never once think of yourself. Out of everyone on this ship you got more right to let things off your chest than you may think."
He leaned forward a little, "And like I said on the Citadel, I'll always be here to listen if you need me to. So...here I am."
Jane sighed as she looked out the viewport of her room. "Back on the Citadel, I helped C-Sec with a young woman who was suicidal. It turned out she was from Mindoir...my home." she looked back at him with a defeated look in her eyes. "The whole thing brought up bad memories for me. Making me remember when my home was attacked and my family..." she choked back a breath.
Alex reached out and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Tell me about your family. What were they like?"
She smiled, "Dad served in the First Contact war and retired a few years after I was born. Mom was an engineer serving on the ship he was stationed. They met, fell in love, got married and decided to live a peaceful life as farmers and raise a family together."
"Not long after I turned seven my little brother Carter was born. The kid followed me everywhere, always willing to explore and learn new things. He wanted to be an engineer like mom was, while I wanted to be in the Alliance like dad."
The Commander seemed to have an aura of peace around her remembering the people she loved. "Mindoir was the perfect place to me. Just a bunch of farming folks who cherished each day that passed. There was hardly any trouble for us there. It was...home."
Her eyes darkened and her mood turned south, "Then...that day came."
Alex nodded, "The Batarian pirates attacked."
Jane nodded, "It was just like any other day. I had stayed with a friend when the attack happened. They hit the colony's center first and spread out from there. Capturing and killing everyone insight. The colonists fought back hard. But the Batarians had stronger weapons and armor. We were outmatched in numbers and firepower."
"I ran home while they were laying waste to everything. My dad had rounded up our neighbors to defend the women and children. They may had been outmatched, but their courage more than made up for it."
Tears began to build up in her eyes. "All I could do is watch as my father and the other parents were cut down while we tried to escape. They caught up to us, capturing those who were a certain age while killing the ones who were too young to be useful. Mom...she...she pulled a grenade from one of the pirates' belts as they tried to rape her. She killed herself taking half a dozen of the bastards with her."
The nano soldier remained silent as she spoke, mentally making a reminder to slaughter any and all Batarian pirates he came across with extreme prejudice.
"Me and Carter were all that were left. Our friends had all been captured or killed while we tried to hide." she said after a little while. "We were good for a day or so, the slavers started to leave but a few had been left to get stragglers. Three of them managed to find our hiding place."
She reached up and touched the scar under her eye, "After what happened to our parents I fought with everything I had to make sure Carter was safe. It took a lot out of me, and I was injured, but I killed the three of them before they had a chance to call for help...then...then..."
The hand on her shoulder squeezed gently giving her a little comfort. Shepard drew in a shuddered breath, "There were actually four slavers. One managed to get to Carter when I was dealing with the others. He had a knife and..."
Jane wiped her eyes, "I killed the bastard. When he...killed Carter, all I saw was red. I made him suffer before he died. After that I woke up in the medbay of an Alliance ship, they said I had gone catatonic when I killed the slavers and they found me with the dead Batarians while I held Carter's body close."
"Jane, you don't have to say anymore." said Alex as she started shaking. The Commander looked up at him before burrowing her face into his chest. Not at all hindered by the hardened weave of his nano suit.
Alex wrapped his arms around Shepard as she cried silently. His heart went out to her. The game always portrayed an unbreakable, unstoppable leader of Humanity. But that was the farthest thing from the truth.
Jane Shepard was just as real and as Human as he was, with a heart and a mind that could be easily broken. She was broken. And she needed someone there to help put the pieces back together again.
He didn't think he was the right one for the job, considering everything that had happened to him up to this point. But as she held him tighter it appeared that it didn't matter in the slightest.
"Thank you." she said leaning back and wiping her face.
"It's alright, you need someone to unload on when things become too much." he said with a light shrug.
Jane looked up at him, "What about you? I mean, you can't honestly tell me that things haven't gotten to much for you more than once."
He was silent, his thoughts diverting toward one example in particular. "Your right, there have been times where things got too much for me. One of which happened a few months ago."
His wrist turned revealing the bracelet that never left his arm. "Almost eight months ago, I had just stopped a bunch of Red Sand dealers from distributing a new variant of the drug across the Citadel. Since the public knew about me after my actions during the assault on the Presidium I was able to walk around the wards at times without being hounded by C-Sec."
"I was walking back home when this little girl approached me. She couldn't have been no more than eight or nine." He held up his wrist. "She gave me this, said her name was Hannah and that she wanted to grow up to be just like me. A hero that saves people."
He chuckled, "Fans and hero-worship had become a second nature after what happened with the Blue Suns. A lot of kids had come up to me telling me I was a hero and wanted to grow up to be like me. But this girl was different. There was a fire in her eyes that made me realize that I really had given the children of the Citadel another role model to look up to."
Jane smiled, "Sounds like a smart kid."
With the nano suit on he sat as still as a statue as his eyes starred off into the distance behind his visor. "She was..."
The Commander picked up the sudden shift, "Was?"
" I was spending my down time around the lower wards. There hadn't been much trouble so I left my suit at home. It was then that I came across an apartment building in flames. C-Sec and the fire department had combated it for almost an hour before they managed to put it out." he looked at Shepard, "Two people died in the building. One of them was a little girl who had a holo of me clutched in her hands. Hannah died hoping that I would be there to save her."
His fingers traced over the beads slowly. "The media ate it up. For weeks they made constant reports about how 'Maverick failed' and that if I really was the hero everyone portrayed me as. I never saw myself as a hero, just a man doing his duty to protect the public...but seeing what happened to Hannah..."
"It wasn't your fault. You can't hope to protect and save everyone. Any soldier would tell you that." said Jane.
"I know that better than anyone may think." He looked back at the Commander, "But it's something that haunts me. Knowing I had the power to save someone who believed in me...and I failed them." he said solemnly.
Shepard looked at the bracelet before meeting his gaze again, "I can understand how something like that can affect someone. And that it still hurts you even now just proves that you are still Human under all of that. But you shouldn't let something that was out of your control destroy a part of who you are."
Alex nodded, "Thank you, Shepard. I guess we both just need someone to unload on."
Jane smiled, "You be there for me, I'll be there for you."
"Deal." replied the Post-Human shaking her hand. When the hands dropped, Alex couldn't help but notice the Commander's figure and how tight the tank top was against her breasts.
"NO! NO! NO! Stop staring! She's vulnerable right now you Jackass!" he ranted in his head moving his eyes back to hers. "We'll be at Edolus in a couple hours. Better get some sleep."
The Commander was glad that the room was dark to hide the light blush that dusted her face. "Right. Good night Maverick." she said trying to hide the fact she had stared too.
He nodded, "Night Jane." he said before leaving the room and returning to his own.
Jane pulled her knees against her chest and hugged them, her heart feeling a little lighter and her mind at ease after being able to talk to someone who wouldn't judge and was there for her. Another blush covered her face and her heart rate picked up after he ha said her name when he left.
"I wouldn't mind talking to him again like this." she thought with a smile.
X
Alexander 'Maverick' Drake
SSV Normandy - Orbit Above Edolus
August 1, 2183 - 11:41 hours
Have you ever been in one of those situations where you knew something bad was going to happen, but didn't know how to tell anyone about it?
That was exactly how Alex felt at that very moment. He knew what they were going to find down there and what was going to happen as a result of it. But he had no way of telling Shepard or the crew about it without giving away the fact he had this knowledge.
The only thing he could do was tag along and make sure people got out alive.
"Maverick." he perked up from loading his weapons to see Liara approach him wearing a light suit of armor.
"Liara." he said with a nod. "Shepard's finally letting you out into the field with us?"
The Asari smiled, "Yes, she wanted to make sure that I was properly trained with a weapon and was fit for duty before bringing me along. I have to admit it feels good to be able to contribute to the team with more than my expertise on the Protheans."
"I have a feeling you'll do great. And I had to agree with the Commander on your training. No offense, but you seemed more like the scientist/behind the scenes type instead of a frontal assault soldier." he said honestly.
"I must admit, I had very little experience with a gun in the past. I know the mechanics of it, and a little self defense, but being on a battlefield is something that is very new to me...I just hope that I don't get someone killed with my inexperience." she said clasping her hands together.
"You'll do fine, blue." said Ashley from her station. "I oversaw most of your training personally. Your a damn quick study with weapons and tactics, so don't count yourself out just yet."
Alex couldn't help but smile. Ever since his talk with her, Ashley had been trying to get along with the non-Human crew members much more openly. Granted she was still hesitant every now and again, but it was a lot of progress for someone who was so against being around aliens.
Liara smiled at the Gunnery Chief, "Thank you again, Chief Williams. For all of your help in preparing me."
Ashley waved her off, "No problem Liara. Just don't go all gung-ho on us out there."
The Asari looked confused, " 'Gunghoe'?"
"She means don't get over confident and think your invincible when we're out in the field. It's a Human phrase that's been around a really long time." Alex explained slamming a clip into his Grendel and slipping it on to his back.
"I see. I still need to learn more about you Humans and your culture. Ancient species has always been my field, but ones that are with us nowadays have eluded me." she explained.
The nano soldier chuckled, "Just talk to the crew. Get to know people and go from there. We got a lot of time in-between missions so use that to ask the right questions and learn something new."
The elevator opened revealing Jane already suited up. "Alright folks, let's get to it."
Garrus snapped on the rest of his armor and joined them at the Mako as everyone prepared for the drop.
X
When the Mako touched down, Alex was damn sure that Liara was more white than blue at the moment. "...Goddess...I don't think I'll get used to that..." she groaned from the back proving his thoughts.
"You will. It's always a bit rought the first few times with Privates and Cadets in the Alliance. So don't worry." said Shepard as she gunned the engine and they took off toward the missing teams last known coordinates.
"I don't like this...something doesn't feel right." said Alex as they drew closer to the target.
"What do you mean? Seems like a simple Op to me." said Garrus from the turret.
"Think about it. The only thing that's transmitting to us is the distress beacon that the missing team had tried to respond too. If the team disappeared here, and the beacon is still active, then what the hell happened to them?" he said without giving too much away.
Jane slowed the rover down, "You think it's a trap?"
"Considering the variables we're faced with...I know it's a trap. Everything is too convenient. Something happened to the team that came to investigate, and what drew them in to begin with is still there and they're not. It seems like they were lead here on purpose."
The Mako came to a complete stop. The team was now thinking things over much more closely. With the distress beacon just a click over the next hill they wondered how right the Post-Human was about this.
"We still have to check for clues about what happened to the missing Marines." said Jane hitting a few switches to make sure that the rover's barriers were at full. "Garrus, if it moves and is hostile, kill it."
"Yes ma'am." replied the Turian as the Mako started moving up the hill and over.
Beyond was a large crater, most likely caused by a meteor long ago. The transmission was coming from the center of the crater making the Commander think about what Alex had said about it being too convenient.
They moved across the large open terrain with no trouble at all, but when they reached the location they were greeted with the sight of two Grizzlys that had been damaged beyond repair, one of which was flipped onto it's roof.
Among the debris was the bodies of seven Alliance Marines. Each one suffering from some kind of burns that had melted away at their armor, some of them missing limbs completely. "By the Goddess...what happened to them?" asked Liara as they pulled up to the site and got out. Garrus staying in the turret to cover them.
"I don't know, but a simple ambush couldn't do this." said Jane looking at the burn holes in the side of one of the Grizzlys. "What troubles me is that there were a dozen Marines in the team...what happened to the others?"
Alex was on high alert. Having Prophet scan everything above, and below, the ground for anything out of place. "Shepard we need to leave. This really doesn't feel right." he said looking over his shoulder at them.
Jane nodded and went over to the beacon that was still transmitting...that was when it all clicked for the Commander.
It was just the beacon. No ship, evac shuttle, nothing. Alex was right, they were lead here on purpose. But for what exactly.
After shutting down the beacon, she told the team to head back to the Mako so the Normandy could get them out of there. They were about half-way back when Prophet spoke in Alex's ear. "Warning: Seismic Activity Detected."
The ground shuddered under their feet, "What is that?" asked Liara getting a bad feeling.
"Everyone to the Mako now!" Alex shouted as they began running back full sprint as the shaking got worse by the second.
The ground under the Mako suddenly exploded upward in a cloud of dust and rock. The team slid to a stop as the rover flipped over in the air and landed hard on it's side a couple meters away from them. "GARRUS!" Jane shouted into her comm before looking at what had caused it.
The sight before them made both women pale and Alex feel not so strong anymore.
Towering over them with the height that rivaled the tallest buildings on the Citadel was the armored, serpentine-like form of a Thresher Maw.
The large beast gave a deep hissing as it looked down at them, it reared it's head back and let out a bellowing roar that echoed out far and wide throughout the barren land of Edolus. "FALL BACK!" Jane screamed into her come as the team ran back toward the downed Grizzlys for cover.
The Thresher Maw saw them running, opening it's mouth and letting loose a glob of it's acid that splashed against a rock they had just run past. Reducing the hardened stone to a puddle in seconds.
"Don't let the acid hit you!" Shepard called out as they got behind the destroyed Alliance transports. The Maw lifted it's large head up and disappeared back under the surface putting the team on high alert.
"Where did it go?" asked Liara with fear in her voice.
The ground shook under them as the creature moved under their feet. Jane got on her comm again, "Garrus? Garrus can you hear me? Respond."
A groan came over the line a moment later, "What the hell happened?" asked the Turian.
"There's a Thresher Maw out here, it flipped the Mako. Can you move?" asked the Commander as the ground shook more.
"Think I broke my arm when the rover flipped...wait, did you say Thresher Maw?" he asked horrified. The ground shook again, harder this time making the team stumble a little bit.
"Yes, and the thing is right underneath us. We need to regroup and think of a plan. Get out of the Mako, your not safe in there with this thing's acid." said Shepard. "Joker, are you reading me? We have a bit of a situation down here."
"I've noticed. I'm already on approach to pick you guys up. ETA 9 minutes." said the pilot.
"We could be dead in 9 minutes." said Alex peering over the Grizzly and seeing Garrus stumbled out of the overturned Mako and make his way over to them. The ground shuddered violently before the Maw burst from the surface with a roar just outside where the team was standing.
"MOVE GARRUS!" Jane shouted as she fired her assault rifle at the creature. The small rounds did almost nothing to the hardened exoskeleton of the Maw, but it caused enough of a distraction for Garrus to move into cover out of it's range.
The creature spat acid at the team, Alex tackled Jane aside as the highly corrosive substance burned through the armor of the Grizzly they were behind as though it were paper. "We need a plan before that thing takes us all out." said the nano soldier tagging the large large worm on his HUD.
The whole team started firing on the Maw, throwing grenades, biotic attacks, and just about everything else in their arsenal as they could at the beast. "We're not causing enough damage!" Garrus shouted throwing another grenade with his good arm.
Liara pulled the gas tanks off of one of the Grizzlys and hurled them at the Maw. Alex raised his Grendel and shot the tanks as they got close enough causing them to explode. The Maw reared back and screeched in pain before burrowing back into ground.
He scanned the surroundings until he settled on the Mako. "Tactical Options Available." "I got an idea, cover me!" he shouted as he sprinted out of cover and toward the overturned rover. Ignoring the shouts coming from behind him as the ground shook under him.
The ground burst beneath him, sending the Post-Human hurling him through the air and crashing to the dirt next to the Mako. "Ah, shit." he groaned rolling to his feet and reaching the rover.
"Maximum Power." Alex slammed his shoulder hard into the roof of the Mako causing it to tip over and land back on it's tires. He then ripped the hatch off of the side of the vehicle and got inside as the team engaged the Maw.
"Prophet, give me a run down on the Mako's systems." he said getting into the driver's seat and bringing the rover online.
A display of the Mako appeared on his HUD appeared with almost 60% glowing red. "Weapons System Offline. Kinetic Barriers Offline. Hull Integrity Compromised. Hydraulics Damaged." said the AI running down the damages.
"Shit..." he muttered as his hands flew across the the controls. The rover was still mobile despite the damage, but he needed a way to bring the Maw down before they were done for. He paused as on program appeared on screen. He looked out the window and saw the Maw burrow back into the ground. "No other options." he said going through the the procedures needed to do what he had planned.
X
Jane threw her assault rifle aside as a few drops of acid landed on it and began to eat through it. Thresher Maws were a hard enemy to kill even with the proper equipment, on foot it was damn near impossible.
Four people against one Maw was not very good odds.
The Maw burst from the ground gain and the team prepared for another round when the sound of the Mako's engines powered up.
The rover raced across the ground and slammed into the side of the creature making it screech and burrow back under. "Maverick what the hell are you doing!" Shepard shouted into her comm.
"Putting this fucker down." came the reply as the vigilante backed the rover up as far as it could. The Maw bursting from the ground where he had stopped a moment before and roaring at him. "Weapon systems are offline, so I'll have to improvise."
Alex cranked the wheel and swerved around several globs of acid fired at him from the creature's mouth. "That's it asshole, follow the car." he muttered swerving around another shot. Straightening out the wheel he gunned the engine and raced toward the Maw.
The beast roared and launched another blast of acid that struck the turret of the Mako and melted it on contact as it continued to power toward it. It then lashed forward, mouth open wide.
"That's it ugly, OPEN WIDE!" Alex roared smashing the button causing the Mako's thrusters to kick on and launching it into the air...headfirst into the Maw's mouth. "Prophet activate the Mako's self-destruct!" he shouted getting out of the driver's seat and heading for the hatch. "Self-Destruct Sequence Initiated. 1 Minute." said the AI.
The hatch suddenly had several tenticles from within the Maw's mouth entering through it making the opening a no go. The Mako creaked loudly as the creature's mouth crushed down on it. "Dammit!" the nano soldier shouted moving to the back to the rover to the emergency hatch only to find it smashed inward.
"30 Seconds." chimed Prophet as Alex braced himself, "Maximum Power." He rammed the hatch hard making a large dent in it. He struck the hatch again and again with his enhanced strength as the countdown timer continued to drop.
The front end of the Mako crunched down, sparks flying as the control panel was destroyed. One final kick from the Post-Human sent the hatch flying flying off of the back of the Rover allowing him to dive out as the counter hit zero.
The Mako exploded with the force of a ballistic missile. Obliterating the Thresher Maw's head in a cloud of smoke and fire. Alex was thrown from the blast, slamming into the ground and bouncing across the hard surface of the planet. Coming to rest several meters away from where the creature's now headless body collapsed onto the ground.
"Suit Integrity Critical: 31%."
"Severe Bone and Tissue Damage Detected."
Alex's vision blackened, pain lancing through his whole form as he laid on the ground unable to move. He vaguely heard the sound of people calling out to him and the Normandy's engines overhead as the darkness claimed him.
X
Commander Jane Shepard
SSV Normandy - Medbay
August 1, 2183 - 13:12 hours
Jane kept her eyes focused on the medbay doors. After seeing Maverick take down the Thresher Maw with the Mako and saw him laying on the ground unmoving she thought the worst.
When the couldn't get him to respond Joker had gotten the Normandy in the pick them up and rushed the vigilante to the medbay to be treated. That was hours ago. The whole ground team were present in the mess hall as they waited for word on their comrade.
"Taking down a Thresher Maw with a weaponless vehicle? Impressive." commented Wrex from his spot against the wall nearby.
"Impressive or not it was wreckless and too impulsive." said Kaidan.
"He saved our lives Alenko. That thing would have taken us all out long before the Normandy arrived. It cost us the Mako, but it saved us." said Garrus.
Ashley looked at Shepard who hadn't taken her eyes from the medbay doors. "Skipper?" she asked making everyone look at her.
Jane remained silent, her thoughts still in chaos after the mission and worrying that her fellow Spectre was okay.
The doors slid open making everyone nearly jump up. Dr Chakwas stepped out with her face looking grim. "I can't get a read on his condition. His suit is causing interference with the equipment. And with no way of knowing how to remove it to get a good reading...there's nothing I can do Commander." she said solemnly.
The feeling in the air turned cold. "You mean we can't tell if he's alive or dead?" asked Tali shocked.
"No, he's alive. I was able to get a heart beat. It's faint, but he's alive. I just cannot gauge his condition as long as he's inside the suit." said Chakwas.
"And the only one that would know how to remove it..." started Ashley. "Is unconscious." finished Garrus.
Jane pinched the bridge of her nose and chewed on her lip. There just had to be a way to get through to Maverick and help him...that's when it came to her. "Liara, is it possible for you to meld with him and try to figure out how to help him?" she asked the Asari.
Liara perked up, "Yes. It is very common for we Asari to meld with people who have lost conscious to help them medically. I am still a Maiden, but I might be able to find out how to help him or at the very least pull him back to consciousness again.
The Commander looked into the medbay and saw Maverick laid out on one of the cots on the far end. A heartrate monitor attached to the chest of his suit keeping tabs on his weak heartbeat.
She knew that it was dangerous. Having Liara going through his head was a serious invasion of his privacy. But he was injured, and they needed to know how to repair the damage. "Then let's get started. Whenever your ready Liara."
A/N: Uh oh. There won't be anymore hiding for Alex if Liara goes poking around in his head. Just what will she find? And how will the Post-Human deal with the aftermath?
Update coming soon.