Chapter 5: Run
Kaidan heard a single gunshot and didn't need to turn to know what had happened. Before he could take another step, a tug on his arm halted him. Anna had turned around and was staring at Kennan.
"Daddy!" It was the only time he'd heard her scream in panic, the only time he'd heard her use that term. She stood still for a moment, and before he could reach out to grab her, she was sprinting back. He couldn't run now. As she knelt over her father's body, her eyes grew a crazed look and she suddenly glowed blue. Is she-he hadn't fully articulated the thought before she threw her arm out and threw a ball of biotic energy towards one of the Cerberus troops with a feral scream.
"Shoot to capture! They're both biotics!" Kaidan heard one of the men shout.
"You bastards won't take me alive!" She screamed back before unloading her father's pistol on them. By that time, he had run close enough to her, close enough to see the blood shine as it poured from her nose.
"Come on!" He shouted as he grabbed her by the waist, enveloping both of them in a biotic shield as best as he could. He heard her shout as a bullet grazed her. This seemed to put fire in both of their steps as they suddenly shot down an alley and down several turns before running into an abandoned building. They ran up a flight of stairs before stopping, both trying to catch their breath while listening for pursuing footsteps. A trickle of blood from the earlier cut was starting to get in his eye, and he brushed it away impatiently. A glance at Anna told him that the nosebleed had barely phased her; however, the wound on her arm was bleeding too. Fortunately, the bullet only grazed her. He then looked around the room they were in. Is that?-he walked over to inspect the spigot he saw. A quick handle turn showed that the water was running and clean enough. He then found several scraps of cloth. Not the most sanitary thing, but it'll hold for now. "You hear anything?" He whispered as he approached Anna.
"No. I think we lost them." She was still tense, and her voice was clipped.
"Good. Let's clean our wounds then." He led her over to the spigot. "But first we need to take care of your nose." She brought a hand to her face in curiosity, looking surprised when she found a small amount of blood on her hand. "It's mostly dried, but cleaning it won't hurt." He got one cloth wet and began wiping off the dried blood. "I'm guessing you didn't know you were a biotic." She softly shook her head as he leaned in to get a closer look at her. He felt his heart begin to pound in response to her nearness. He could feel her breath, light on his wrist and fingers. He could smell the burnt eezo on her. This is so not the time for this, body, he thought as he pulled himself away. "Just keep that under your nose and that should catch the trailing edge of the nosebleed." He said as he handed her the bloody rag.
"I don't see how this helps either of us." She murmured softly.
"We need to at least keep our wounds bandaged if we're going to keep running. Now this won't be medigel, but it should keep the wound clean for now." He grabbed her arm to change the subject. He didn't want her panicking. But he kept taking one hand away to wipe blood out of his eye or keep it from falling into her wound, destroying any chance he had of helping her.
"You'll never be able to properly clean that if you have blood in your eyes. Now stop being a hypocrite and stay still." She leaned in, taking a new rag and cleaning his wound as well as she could. She then tied a rag around his head to keep the rough bandage in place. It wasn't until she was almost finished that she realized how close they were. She could feel his breath on her collarbone, and she was sure he could hear her heart thudding. Now is no time for that. You need to keep your eyes sharp. Keep moving. She shook herself mentally as she tied the knot and stepped back. "Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" She asked him, a little sass in her voice.
"No, and you shouldn't have any trouble staying still." He reached down again to grab her arm again, but his eyebrows furrowed. "What's this?" His question barely reached her ears as the world began to spin. She shook her head again in an attempt to clear it. "Hey, look at me." Her eyes focused on him after a moment. "You're pale. Sit." He didn't have to push very hard for her to sit on a box next to the water spout. "There must be some sort of taint on these bullets." She was suddenly sweating and used a shaking hand to her wipe her forehead. This is definitely not good, she realized. "We have to get out of here. This is good enough for now, but we have to move before they find us." She nodded as she slowly stood. "Can you run?" He knelt down to look directly in her eyes as she gave a shaky nod. "Then let's go. I'll check that the coast is clear, and then we'll run." He slunk to a corner, carefully peering down the stairs. He nodded and they crept down the stairs, hiding again. For a second time, he peered around, looking for troops. He gave a second nod, and they took off running again.
"There they are! Get them!" A voice sounded behind them, and Kaidan seemed to gain a second wind as he pulled them around a corner. But as they reached relative darkness, he heard Anna grunt followed by a thud as her hand slid from his. He turned to see her collapsed and shaking on the ground. She won't be able to run. They'll capture us if we stay here. He quickly came up with an idea, but hesitated for a moment. He then knelt and scooped Anna up in his arms.
"Come on. We have to get out of here." He whispered to her as he used his biotics to lift her. Then he took off running. He just started taking turns.
"Other way," she whispered when the shouts started getting closer. He then started to use her for direction, letting his muscles and biotics take over. They finally dashed into another building as gunfire and more shouting erupted around them. By the time he ran up the flight of stairs, he was almost exhausted. Fortunately, there were boxes everywhere. He went to the back of the room and set her down on the floor. By then, they were both shaking and covered in sweat.
"I need you to stay here. I'll make sure nobody gets back here. If they take me, don't come out." His words brought her back to her senses. No, not again, she thought.
"No," she defiantly whispered. But she knew she couldn't fight now. She was too weak and would only make an easy target. Footsteps thudding up the stairs halted their conversation. Anna pulled out her father's gun and Kaidan wreathed himself in biotics, senses trained on the door, when a large black man in Alliance blue walked through the door, gun pointed.
"Hold your fire! Friendlies!" He shouted at the others behind him. "And bring a medic up here while you're at it," he added before lowering his gun. "Easy there. Put the gun down. I'm putting mine down. We're not going to hurt you. We're with the Alliance." He held one hand open while the other slowly placed the gun on a crate. Kaidan stopped his show of biotics, but Anna spoke instead of lowering her weapon, unwilling to trust the stranger.
"How do we know you're Alliance?" She was surprised by the weakness in her voice.
"How about these? I'm gonna toss them to you." He pulled out something shiny from his uniform and tossed it to Kaidan.
"It's his dog tags. He's Alliance alright." Kaidan showed her the object in question. "David Anderson" was what it read. Anna then lowered her gun, feeling the world spin again as she leaned against the crate.
"Get the medic over here. She needs to be looked at." Anderson commanded. A medic then hurried into the room, gently nudging Kaidan to the side.
"I need to get a better look at her, son." The soldier's voice was gentle, and Kaidan finally conceded, walking over to this Anderson man.
"How did you find us?" He asked.
"Commander Shepard sent a distress signal. The signal said that there were civilians with him. You both did admirably. Most civilians wouldn't have made it this long." Kaidan absently nodded as he leaned against a crate, exhausted and hungry. His stomach made its protest, and Anderson tossed him a snack bar, which Kaidan promptly wolfed down. "You're certainly hungry. Those troops interrupt lunch?" Anderson asked politely. Kaidan shook his head in response.
"Biotics always make me hungry. Carrying her definitely made it worse though," he replied. Anderson turned to the medic.
"You got any energy bars on you, Titus? We've got a hungry biotic here who's earned 'em." The medic nodded and tossed Anderson one. "There. That should tie you over until we can reach a facility."
"Thank you, sir." Kaidan managed between mouthfuls.
"Now I'm going to have to sedate you until we can get you to a hospital." Kaidan heard the medic say, followed by Anna's vehement 'no' in response. He got up and began to walk towards her.
"Kaidan," Her voice was tinted with fear as she called for him, and he scrambled to get near her, crawling on top of a crate to be next to her. Her hand instantly shot out to him, and he gripped it.
"If it makes it easier, I won't separate you two." The two nodded immediately, and the medic sighed. "Alright. Here's the dose." She closed her eyes, and he squeezed her hand when he saw the shot go in. He didn't let go of her hand; not even when her grip slackened and her eyes lazily drifted open once more.
"I'm right here. And I'm not going anywhere. I'll see you when you wake up." He whispered before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and her grip completely slackened.
"Son, you need to let go for a minute. She won't get out of your sight, but we have to get her out of here." Anderson's hand was on his shoulder as Kaidan slowly nodded, letting her arm fall. True to his word, Anderson kept Kaidan within sight of Anna as they walked. "Now, what are your names?" He asked as they stepped into an Alliance transport.
"I'm Kaidan Alenko. That's Annalisa Shepard."
"Do you know where Kennan is?" He gently asked.
"He's dead, sir. We saw it." He numbly answered.
"I'm sorry, kid. I know this is tough, but do you know who attacked you?" Anderson gently prodded.
"Cerberus. I remember Dad and the Commander mentioning that he had recently done a mission that involved them, but I don't know the specifics." Anderson nodded and gave a deep rumble as he contemplated the information. Kaidan quietly reached over and took Anna's hand.