Chapter 14: Elysium
She was getting sloppy, and she knew it. She could only hold out so much longer before one of those slavers got her. But it wouldn't be while she still had fight in her. She couldn't use her biotics anymore. If she did, she would pass out. Suddenly, she saw an explosion take out a small group of Batarians, while the rest turned their fire to the incoming group.
After a few more explosions and some well placed biotics, the group moved closer. And as warm caramel eyes met green eyes, she realized that the leader who had just saved her life was none other than Kaidan Alenko. He quickly took off his helmet, shouting at the men to hold the perimeter, and approached her.
"Lieutenant Annalisa Shepard. How's the situation?" He saluted and then addressed her, all business. She attempted to get up, but stumbled back down. He knelt beside her as she gave her best salute back. Apparently that leg is kicking my ass, she vaguely thought.
"A hell of a lot better, now that you're here. There's a group of civilians holed up here." She jerked her thumb back at the school. "It's mostly children, families, and teachers. Your presence has to mean that the teacher was able to get the comm tower working." Kaidan nodded in response.
"Who else is with you and how long have they been here?" He pulled out an energy bar and canteen, handing them to her. She took a greedy gulp before tearing the energy bar open.
"Just me now. I have no clue how long we've been here. There were a few more when we were trying to get more civilians in here. Lost three to the Batarians and I've been on my own since then." She wouldn't, couldn't process the loss of good men and fellow crewmembers until they were out of danger.
"How long has your leg been broken?" Kaidan's question was quieter as he ran his omni-tool over her.
"Before I lost them." She gave the short reply back.
"I'll need to set it. You're lucky that I'm trained for this stuff," he gently chided.
"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. You're once again pulling my ass out of the fire. I just thinned out the crowd for you. Let you look like the big hero so the ladies pay attention to you." She winced as he injected something into her leg, but it quickly went numb.
"Let's face it: you enjoy me coming to your rescue. I'm going to put my greave on your leg. It'll help hold it in place after I set it. You should be able to put minor pressure on it, but don't let the pain killers lull you into using it." She gasped as he set the bone. She didn't feel any pain, but her body still registered it as a shock. She started to see double and she felt very light-headed all of a sudden.
"Hey," Kaidan snapped his fingers to get her attention. "How long have you gone without sleep anyways?"
"Umm," She couldn't think of any witty responses, so she simply muttered. "However long I've been here, plus the flight time getting us here."
"Long enough to start messing with your head." His look was of genuine concern. "How many fingers am I holding up?" She attempted to separate the two hands from each other unsuccessfully. It didn't help that they were both moving.
"Stop moving 'em and I can tell yuh." She shook her head to clear the slur out of her speech.
"We have to get you and the civilians out of here. There's a large shelter where we've got civilians holed up. I can get you to my ship to recover. Watson! Kranz!" The two men fell out of battle to head over as he helped Anna stand. "Kranz, I need you to help escort the civilians out of here. Is the area secure enough?"
"Yes, sir. I'll get on it immediately." Kranz replied as he turned to enter the school.
"Wait. I need to be the one. I told them to shoot anyone else who came through." Kaidan sighed and shook his head. "I saw Human slavers here. I didn't want one to take advantage of them."
"You think of everything, don't you?" He asked as he helped her into the school.
"One of us has to be the brains of the operation." She retorted before calling out, "Mr. Westfall? It's Lieutenant Shepard. I'm coming back with reinforcements. They're going to escort you to a safe area." They entered what had to be a gymnasium, and saw several men holding guns, but at the sight of Anna, they all lowered their weapons and began to herd everyone out. As Mr. Westfall passed her, she reached out and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Thank you, sir. We wouldn't have this backup if you didn't fix the comms." The man merely grunted in return and went back to helping the others.
"And now I need your help, Watson," Kaidan turned to the man in question, who was more like a young kid. He then helped Anna into his and Watson's joint hold. "I need you to get Lieutenant Shepard back to the ship. She's got a broken leg and is need of medical treatment." He helped the two get out of the school before breaking his hold on Anna, grabbing his gun instead. "I'm going to help finish clearing the city. Take good care of her. I made a promise to her dad, and he'll kick my ass if she gets hurt on my watch." She stuck her tongue out at him in defiance. In response, one side of his mouth quirked up in a secret grin. Watson then began to move her along.
"Well well, Lieutenant. You and Alenko must have an interesting history." The young ensign grinned at her.
"What makes you say that?" She inquired.
"Because I've never seen anyone crack a joke at him, much less seen him crack a joke at anyone, much less smile." She laughed in response.
"Oh I would ruin his reputation if I told you what I knew." The pain meds really must be getting to her if she was grinning this stupidly.
"How about we get you another dose of those meds and a few beers." She was now laughing out right.
"He'll warp my ass if I say anything," she answered as she put a little too much weight on her leg, wincing.
"Easy now. You need to rest?" He slowed down and the world began to spin.
"Not unless you wanna carry me the rest of the way. Come on, before the ground starts spinning again." He nodded in response and began moving faster again. Thankfully, the rest of the trip was silent, and she focused on moving. It wasn't until she was hopping into the medbay that she realized she was even on a ship.
"Easy now, Lieutenant. On the bed. Let's get you fixed up." A male voice and hands began to push her onto a table, reading her title from her dog tags before passing an omni-tool over her.
"Mind telling me whose greave that is and who set your leg that well? I'd like to compliment the worker," the doctor asked as he plied the greave off her.
"Kaidan Alenko," she muttered in response as the room began to spin around her.
"Hmm. Are you dizzy?"
"Oh yeah."
"I'm going to give you a sedative and more painkillers while I fix your leg with better supplies." The doctor pulled out a bottle and needle before she could respond.
"I'll be sure to get the beer when you wake up," the ensign added. She chuckled in response.
"That is not wise, Ensign Watson. Alcohol in combination with painkillers is not beneficial for the patient's health." The doctor scolded as he injected the next round of painkillers.
"Sorry." Watson replied to the doctor, before turning to Anna and mouthing "I'll sneak some in here." She tried her hardest to keep a straight face as he slipped out. She barely felt the second prick for the sedative, and once the doctor set an IV in her, he asked her to count backwards from ten. She didn't make it to eight.
Everything was dark, and her leg was still throbbing. It didn't help that she was also sore all over. She gave a soft groan as she tried to sit up.
"Easy there, Anna. You don't want to sit up too fast. The sedative may still be affecting you." A firm hand held her shoulder while another held a cup of water, which she greedily drank from.
"So, you're still trying to see if you can come up with another way to rescue me? Earn another mark in your hero book? Or is it my good looks?" They grinned at each other.
"Actually, none of the above. I'm helping the doc keep an eye on all the patients. You weren't the only one out there needing help." His hand gently pushed her back onto the bed, despite her head-shake. "You're staying down until doc says you're good to go. And you may not want to go."
"Oh really? We already know that I'm immune to your charm, so why would I want to stick around?"
"Because the people out there are already touting you as a hero. You helped organize a small battalion into defendable positions with almost no prep and limited access to guns and ammo. Anyone who got in contact with the people you helped spread the tactic. You saved a good part of this town. Rear Admiral Hackett wants to speak with you soon." She groaned in response as she thought about having to deal with cameras and dignitaries. She heard Kaidan's chuckle, low and private. "But for now, the doc wants to at least let you recover before setting you lose."
"I don't see how anyone would think I did something special. I didn't." Her voice was quiet, attempting to keep anyone from hearing her thoughts. "I saw good men die in the streets. I saw civilians cut down." She felt a warm hand squeeze her shoulder.
"You did. You heard what I said. It's worth merit. And I know you; you did the best you could. So don't doubt yourself. You didn't shoot them down. The slavers did." His words were soothing, comforting, and level-headed enough for her to begin to believe them. "Now get some rest. Everyone will want to talk to you soon enough." He removed his hand as he turned to walk away.
"Won't you tell me about the ship you're serving on? We never get to swap much more than the basics. Tell me about the people here." He paused a moment.
"Tell you what. They should be serving lunch here pretty soon. When they bring lunch, I'll tell you stories while we eat. Deal?" He offered his hand to her.
"Deal," she shook before settling back down. She knew he wouldn't let her do anything else, so she simply closed her eyes and listened to him walk around, occasionally murmuring words to other patients.
Kaidan glanced over a few minutes later. She was sound asleep. Probably still exhausted, he thought to himself. But she's a fighter. He checked his omni-tool. It was still an hour before lunch, and now he had nothing to do. So he went over to Annalisa's bedside and allowed himself an unnecessary extra check. She was doing well and would make a full recovery. She had used her biotics until she was ready to collapse. The broken leg hadn't helped at all, and the fatigue would have killed her if he had been delayed. He moved an errant strand of hair off her forehead as he sat down beside her. Nothing more to do than wait an hour. Might as well do something enjoyable. He stopped for a moment as the thought went through his mind. He shook himself. That's just the fact that I'm tired speaking. It's nothing. I should get some shut-eye while I have a break. He leaned against a nearby cabinet as a backing and let his eyes close. One of the crewmen would bring him lunch and he would wake up if an alarm went off. Satisfied, he fell asleep, knowing he had kept his promise to Kennan Shepard.