It felt like they had been walking through the jungle forever. The sound of gunfire and explosions had faded away and they were moving through a dripping wet labyrinth of enormous trees covered in vines and layers of lichen and moss. As the sun rose higher and higher so did the temperature. The rain had stopped falling and gathered in puddles on every available surface. It where now starting to evaporate filling their world of green with mist. The tepid air was saturated with the smell of growth, of soil and decomposing leaves.

With the rain gone, the bugs returned. With a vengeance.

James cursed, swatting a mosquito that had started munching on the exposed skin of his neck.

They had set a slow but steady pace and were making good time. Kaidan was staying close to Shepard, taking readings of the status of her health ever so often, making sure the fever didn't rise and that she wasn't succumbing to dehydration. They still had about three hours walk to the clearing where Cortez would pick them up, but bit by bit the tension eased. The operation had been a success and they were going to make it off planet and back to the Normandy.

"We'll reach the river in a couple of minutes", Garrus said, having checked his nav. "Once there we'll contact Cortez and rest for a while. Then we follow the river to the RV. We'll be home before sunset." He glanced over at Shepard and caught her gaze. "How are you holding up?" She was shivering, arms wrapped around herself.

"I'm okay."

He huffed at her, exasperated with her stubborn denial. "Shepard..."

Her eyes flashed angrily at him, her jaw set. "I'm okay, Garrus. Now, back off!" She was turning away but he grabbed her arm, forcing her to face him.

"You are not okay, Shepard."

She reacted violently. Her fist impacting with his face before he even finished the sentence. Garrus stumbled back, completely taken by surprise. Shepard stalked off, her back adamantly turned to him.

James came up to the turian, putting a hand on his shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze. "I'll go after her." He jogged off in the direction Shepard had headed, disappearing amongst the thick foliage.

Kaidan shifted his stance, as taken aback with the Commander's reaction as Garrus had been. "You're bleeding a little", he finally said. "You want me to take a look at it?"

"No!" Garrus all but pounced on the man. He knew he was taking his frustration out on the wrong person but he couldn't seem to rein in his anger. "I don't!" With a deep growl full of dark sub-harmonics he slammed his fist into the trunk of the tree next to him, crumbling the bark. With his knuckles aching he took a deep breath, then another, closing his eyes, leaning his forehead against the rough bark, letting the rage settle back in his gut again. "Tell me about the torture chamber."

James caught up with Shepard after a few metres. She was sitting on a tree-stump, almost doubled over, elbows resting on her knees, face buried in her hands. He stepped deliberately on a twig, breaking it, not wanting to startle her.

"Hey, Lola", he said softly, making sure he didn't get too close, giving her time to recompose herself. He shrugged out of his backpack and opened one of the outer pockets, pulled out a dark green plastic bottle and undid the lid, pouring some of the thick, acrid smelling oil into his hands, rubbing it into the exposed skin on his neck and face. He winced as the deet stung and burned in the scratches and bug bites he had gotten during the attack and the following escape. "You better deet up, Commander, the bugs are nasty here."

Shepard stared at the bottle before taking it. "Thanks", she mumbled and started rubbing the strong-smelling stuff on to her legs and arms. The sting of it as she rubbed it into scrapes and cuts was almost soothing. It dulled the black ache in her soul a little. She felt broken, soiled and filled with shame.

"You have to get it on your back too", James said taking the bottle from her. He sat down next to her on the tree stump and gently made she turn slightly so she was sitting with her back to him. He then started rubbing Deet on her back and shoulders. She tensed and he thought for a second that she was going to hit him too, then her shoulders slumped and quiet sobs shook her slender frame.

James said nothing, simply continued to gently rub the oil into her knotted muscles. Her skin was pale in comparison to his hands and smooth and delicate like fine silk against his callused palms. Little by little the tension seeped out of her and she relaxed somewhat.

"I hit Garrus", she said quietly. James could hear the tears in her voice. He wanted nothing more than to put an arm around her and comfort her but kept his distance, not wanting to make her feel threatened.

"Scars' a big bad turian", he said, keeping his tone light. "He can take it. Besides it's not like he can get any uglier."

This made Shepard turn to glance at him over her shoulder. "Garrus isn't ugly."

James didn't bother to hide his grin. "If you say so."

"He's just... different."

"If you say so", he repeated jokingly. She frowned at him but said nothing. James' heart sank. He had hoped she would give him either a sharp reply or a smart-ass comment, not this silent numbness. "I got an extra T-shirt in my pack if you want to wash up and change once we reach the river", he said, changing the subject.

She nodded. "Thanks", she mumbled in that quiet, hushed voice that was so unlike her.

Kaidan crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I don't know what to say, Garrus. There was a chair... sort of like a dentist-chair. There were straps on the armrests and the legs." His voice was low, dark. "There was blood. Lots of blood. And a camera drone. I took the memory-card."

"Good." The sub-harmonics in Garrus' voice was hard with anger. "Once we're back on the Normandy we can let EDI analyse the material and when we find the bastards behind this I'm going to put a bullet between their eyes." He looked up, meeting Kaidan's gaze with dark, troubled eyes.

"I'll come with you", the human biotic said in a voice that was rough with barely contained emotions. "I want to make sure they suffer before you shoot them."

Garrus gave Kaidan a look. "You don't want to go through official channels and have them arrested and tried legally? You surprise me, Major."

"You know as well as I do that to kidnap the Commander you have to be powerful, and connected. We would never be able to even arrest them, not to mention getting a trial. The guilty would just slip away." Kaidan's brown met the turian's blue. "Shepard has to get her own justice... her own vengence. And we have to help her."

"I agree."

The rustle of leafs made them turn to see Shepard return, followed by James. Garrus' heart ached when he saw how careful she carried herself, how shattered she was. Kaidan was right. Just shooting the ones that had done this wasn't enough. The bastards would suffer. They would see to that.

The small group continued towards the river in silence, the mosquitoes swarming around them in a buzzing cloud. The sun rose to its zenith and so did the heat. It was slow, hard work moving through the dense vegetation. They had to stop often to catch their breaths and drink a couple of mouthfuls of water to replace the fluids they lost sweating.

Shepard's strength was declining fast. Kaidan kept an eye on her and didn't like what he saw. She was shivering, her teeth clattering. The drugs were leaving her system and he suspected that she was suffering from withdrawal. He couldn't help but to feel another surge of hatred towards those who had done this to her.

When they finally reached the river it was a relief.

"Hallelujah..." James lowered his heavy pack with a grunt. He ran a hand through his short cropped hair. It was sticky with deet and days worth of sweat and grime.

Shepard squinted in the sudden sunlight. She stumbled towards the water. The bank was stony and the sharp shards of rock cut into her bare feet but she barely noticed. Shepard fell on her knees at the waterfront, cupping her hands in the cool water, washing her face and neck.

The river was slow moving, meandering along its narrow banks. The water itself was tainted slightly yellow, but it was cool and soothing on her flushed skin. James was busy going over his assault rifle and she could hear Garrus and Kaidan talking softly a few feet away. She had as much privacy as one could have when on the run through a jungle.

Steadying herself against one of the large boulders that protruded out into the water, Shepard stepped into the water.

"Here."

She turned to see James holding out a plastic bottle to her. Not the dark green bottle of Deet, but a pink one. She took it, flicking the lid open. A familiar smell rose to tickle her nose. She gave him a look, her eyebrows arching. "You brought a lavender scented soap into the jungle?" There was a hint of mirth in her voice, a glimpse of her old self, and it was good to see.

"Hygiene's important", he replied.

"It's lavender scented", she repeated. An amused smile quivered in the corner of her mouth.

James shrugged, grinning a little sheepishly. "Lavender is soothing."

Shepard could only shake her head at that. At the absurdity of bringing scented soap on a mission. Pink scented soap. Then the shadow of the torture, the abuse, fell over her again. The light in her eyes died. She turned her back to James, pulled off the A-shirt and placed it on the boulder beside her. Then, clutching the pink plastic bottle, she moved away from the bank until the water rose to her hips.

The marks and bruises on her body told a story she didn't want to remember. Couldn't remember.

It didn't happen. Forget the... the things they did. Don't think about it. It didn't happen.

Shepard closed her eyes and emerged herself in the water in a feeble attempt to wash away the feeling of strangers' hands on her body. Of being invaded and ripped apart.

Thank you all of you for your kind reviews! It really makes my day to know that you like the story. And now I'm off to work. The next chapter will have some more action in it. I think.

Oh, and I'll go through and edit the story as soon as I can find the time. There's a couple of details that needs to be sorted out. Cheers for now!