"K… Kaidan?" Jane's blood runs cold and she presses her back to the door, subtly covering the keypad with her hand. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you…" He towers over Jane, breathing heavy and eyes glistening as he licks his lips, grabbing Jane's wrist. "What you did back there… wasn't nice. Now I'll teach you a lesson." He chuckles darkly, shoving her back into the lab, ignoring her cry out, and strapping his weapon over his shoulder to free a hand to fondle with his pants.
"No! Stop!" Jane struggles, trying to push him away and swat his hands away, but he's too strong. "Please!" She screams, tears running down her cheeks, as he crowds closer. Grabbing her throat in a bruising grip as his other hand yanks at her pants, Jane tries clawing at his leering face too far for her to reach. "Garrus," she gasps, throat too tight to scream.
Kaidan doesn't see it coming as a three fingered hand grabs his neck and rips him off Jane. Garrus eyes are wide and pupils pinned, his mandibles twitching in rage as he tosses the man against the wall with what is left of his strength. Moving in as fast as possible, he pins the Lieutenant Commander against it with his forearm over Kaidan's throat.
Jane coughs and gasps air, stumbling to Garrus and body in shock. This has to end. She doesn't think she can take any more violence. "Garrus… wait…" she whispers and Kaidan scoffs.
"You know this fuck's name?" Growling, Garrus presses harder, making the man choke and groan, hands moving to grip the immovable arm. "You… traitor…bitch..."
That's enough. End it! Garrus takes a step back, grunting as his massive hand flies through the air just to connect with Kaidan's face. A sickening crack echoes through the lab and the human soldier's head snaps back, hitting the wall hard. Blood splatters the wall, dripping from the back of his head as he collapses to the floor and it begins pooling under him. A visible dent is on the left side of his face where Garrus hit him on the temple, leaving the seven foot turian breathing heavy as he looks to Jane as no sound comes from the soldier lying on the floor. "We need to go. Now."
"I… Oh god…" she whispers, eyes wide and skin pale as she can't pull away from the sight. It's obvious to Garrus that she can't move, frozen in place.
"Jane. Now. I don't know the place." He lays his hands on her shoulders, shaking her gently yet firmly. "Come on. You're the expert here."
Snapping back to reality, her head jerks up to look him in the eyes, seeing them dilated and glazed from the loss of blood. She nods rapidly and gently takes his hands off her shoulders and notices how they are so much heavier - either from the armor or, more frighteningly, his weakening state. "Come on," she says quietly, helping him grip onto her to support his weight. "I think we can take the back way."
"You're the boss, Jane." Chuckling, he walks as fast as he can, limping a bit, yet still in a rather good state since the medigel is doing its job. He still lost a lot of blood, he needs to get back to his ship for a transfusion of the synthetic equivalent to blood. The light in the white hallways still hurts his eyes and he prays for the hall to finally end.
Rounding a corner, Jane sees what she's hoped for, the maintenance elevator. She lets herself puff a weak sigh in relief as she tries to close the distance. Suddenly, a problem presents itself.
How is she to open the locked lift that only responds to a pass key?
"Oh no," she whispers, hope melting into panic. "Oh crap…"
"Problems?" Garrus chuckles weakly as he shifts his weight off her, leaning against the wall.
"I don't have the pass card to open the lift." She looks to him, eyes filled with nervous worry. "It's electronically locked."
"That's all?" His omnitool comes to life, shining orange on his wrist. Three fingers fly fast over the interface and, after a few seconds, the elevator door opens with the characteristic bing. "Let's go?" Garrus doesn't wait for a response as he walks into the elevator, leaning against the wall with a relieved sigh.
Jane rushes into the lift and jabs the ground level multiple times as if it would make it move faster. The lift seems to feel her hurry as its doors slide shut with a dizzying speed and she turns to Garrus, panting in panic. "How… How did you...?"
"Get the door open? Wasn't a big deal. Your technology is outdated… i sent a simple electronic impulse into the control unit and tricked it to believe I entered the right code." He smirks at her with a slightly pride filled purr and she smiles weakly.
As the elevator begins to slow and the lights above the door closes in on the ground level, Jane steps closer to him and hauls his arm over her shoulder. "We need to get ready. They are bound to be looking for us everywhere."
He swallows and nods, opening his tool again to show her the coordinates of his ship. "Here… We need to get there asap… Can you do that?" He raises his browplate, looking at Jane as they hurry to get to her car, luckily still no alarm to be heard on this level.
The main level is suspiciously quiet and Jane can't help the racing of her heart. Tightening her grip on Garrus' waist, she can't stop her eyes from jerking around the room and doorways in nervous anticipation of being caught. She doesn't fear for her life, doesn't care if this ends in them locking her away forever or killing her, but what she does dread is the loss of her best friend and someone she cares so deeply for.
Almost to the main doors, a shadow falls over the floor around the decorative wall that backs the main desk where an after hours security is always waiting. Jane gasps and immediately yanks Garrus with her around the wall, looking to him in question of what to do. She doesn't get much of a reaction, the turian too weak from blood loss as he lays his head back against the wall.
"Hold on just a little longer," she whispers as the loud static of a radio bounces off the walls.
"Westmore. Come in." The voice sounds like a radio. Perhaps only one guard watches the door. She can only hope.
"This is Westmore," a female voice responds, no doubt the soldier behind the wall.
"Westmore, get your ass down to the sub basements. We have a code 5-7. I repeat, 5-7."
"Shit!" Hurried shuffling. "Yes, sir!"
Hearing the stomping footsteps as the woman comes closer, Jane holds her breath and holds Garrus close while also pressing her back to the wall. Please, god… Don't see us. Don't see us.
An armed soldier runs, shoulders squared and back straight as she closes the distance to the main lift. Her fist hits the command before pulling her weapon from her belt, a handgun by Jane's uneducated guess. Westmore steps into the elevator and turns, sending ice through Jane's veins as her eyes seem to lock on their position against the wall. For a moment, Jane is ready to give all she has to give Garrus a few more moments of life, but she soon realizes from the lack of response from the woman that they must be hidden from view. She doesn't move an inch, however, in case it's merely a hope until, after an eternity, the doors slide closed.
"Holy… Oh my god." She glances towards the lift one last time before looking to Garrus to make sure he's still awake. "Just a bit more. I promise," she says softly as she pulls him gently from the wall and rushes him as much as she can towards the main doors, seeing nothing out of the ordinary outside through the glass.
"Don't worry… takes… more than a scratch to take me out." Garrus says with a hint of amusement in an effort to keep Jane calm. "Just let's get the fuck out of here."
"Just stay awake." Not waiting for the main doors to slide open completely, she all but drags Garrus at her side. It's going to be a long walk down the roundabout driveway and towards the parking lot, but they have to make it faster than her usual, casual stroll.
As if a taunt that will always last beyond reach like a nightmare, her old truck gleams in the overhead lights. Building up her strength and cutting through her suffocating fear, Jane grips Garrus' side harder as she urges him on at a speed faster than they've been moving. Being so close is all the strength she needs to believe she could almost throw him over her shoulder and carry him. Almost.
"Being in a hurry now?" Garrus chuckles, trying to keep up with her, reaching out to lay his hand on the truck. "Mind opening the door for me?"
She shakes her head. "You can't." Moving to the bed, she drops the tailgate and pulls off the tarp. "Climb up and I'll cover you. You have to hide so they don't see you at the gate."
"Yes ma'am. As you wish." It takes him a little bit of time but ultimately manages to climb up, curling up to be as small as possible. "Good?"
"Yeah," she lays her hand on his shoulder before pulling the tarp over him. "I'll be as gentle as possible," she promises and shoves the tailgate up with a loud bang.
Jumping into the car, she turns the engine over so hard her wrist aches and slams the shifter back to reverse. The old tires squeal a bit as she shifts into gear and pulls out of the aisle, clenching her hands on the wheel as she tries to reel in her desire to speed off the base. Forcing her foot off the gas, she lets the truck slow and gives herself a moment to take a deep breath before driving closer to the security checkpoint at the gates.
A soldier walks up to the car with a flashlight in his hand. He knocks on the window with it and, as soon as Jane rolls it down,leans down and looks in. "Sorry, ma'am. No one is allowed to leave the perimeter as of now. We have a situation down in the laboratory."
"Oh… uh…" She tries for nonchalance. "What kind of situation?" Biting her lip, her left leg fidgets on the floorboard. What do I do? What do I do?
"One of the subjects broke out… I'm sure they will have it under control any second." He smiles as Garrus can't hold back his cough any longer. "What was that?" The guard's head snaps around and eyes narrow. Glancing back to a wide-eyed Jane, he sternly says, "Ma'am, step out of the truck."
As he reaches for the door handle, she yelps and slaps the lock peg down. The guard grunts and scowls, yanking the handle once more before releasing, stepping back, and reaching for his weapon with one hand and radio with another. With only one thought - to get her friend to safety - Jane stomps on the gas, speeding forward.
The truck crashes into the metal gate and it holds for just a moment before swinging open, bouncing off the side of the truck with a screech, and hitting the unsuspecting and shocked guard to the ground. Throwing dust and rocks into the air behind her tires, Jane doesn't look back at the unconscious soldier or military base as she pushes the truck to its limits.
She knows she can't take the city streets, can't give the military a chance to use the police to search for them. Her only logical choice is to stick to the old highways and country roads where little life exists this late into the night. It's her only hope as she turns off her headlights is that she can get far enough away to be safe enough to tend to Garrus' wounds, yet close to his ship. Which reminds her, she has no idea which direction that ship even is.
Fuck she really has a quad…
Blasting through the gate like that? But when was that? How far out are we? Where is the ship?
Damn… my head hurts. And my eyes too…
Close it for a second.
No sleeping idiot!
Of course, I know! I'm not sleeping… He draws deep breaths, eyes closing as his heartbeat evens out, breathing calms as he lays and waits.
Hours pass and Jane's eyes burn as she slowly comes to a stop in the middle of darkness, nothing but flat ground all around her and only hills in the distance. She sighs and rubs her eyes with the palms of her hands, groaning at the ache in her head. With as much strength as she can build up without sleep, pulls the set of suture tools and gets out of the cabin, heading towards the truck bed.
"Garrus?" She reaches for the tarp and pulls it away. "I think we're safe for now…" Her words drift off as she sees him motionless in the truck bed, gasping and dropping her tools. "Garrus!"