Five Seconds

Chapter 2: I had a Date

Authors Note: I know I said that I would update once a week, but after getting my first review from an Italian no less!(I know I was excited ) I decided to push out another chapter, and it seems cruel to hold onto it until next week, so as an act of good faith that I won't leave you waiting forever for another chapter, here's an new one fresh from the oven! If you send a review I will do my best to respond if you want me to, and if not know that I appreciate the advice and reviews. Now let's start from the top! First I apologize for any grammatical errors, and secondly I do not own anything in Mass Effect. That is Bioware and EA's alone, it is their preciousss (Gollum, Gollum).

"Not exactly what I hoped for Shepard, but not everything can be so easy." That was the first thing that came out of the Illusive Man's mouth when Shepard appeared on the holo, sitting in that same chair, possibly with the same glass and damned cigarette he had last time, Shepard wondered how he wasn't overweight.

"At least we got something from it, I'd be more pissed if it was all for nothing," Shepard reasoned, she was as disappointed as the Illusive Man that they did not retrieve the Reaper tech. After they found the frozen soldier they brought him and the container into the Med Bay, waiting for him to thaw out, it didn't take long for the Illusive Man to come calling, she would have ignored him if it wasn't for him overriding her controls on the galaxy map.

The Illusive Man brought his cigarette to his lips, the tip flaring up in an orange glow before he pulled it away, blowing smoke towards the hologram Shepard, she had to resist wiping her hand in front of her face, a reaction that grows when higher ups blew smoke in your face to prove a point, "Does the doctor have any idea of his condition?", asked the Illusive Man.

At that point Miranda stepped into the holo, appearing next to Shepard as the red haired woman looked over at the operative, "We do," Miranda confirmed before continuing "The cryo kept him alive, but it wasn't perfect, his muscles and bone structure are weak and we can't even begin to guess the status of his mind."

Shepard looked down for a moment in thought before she put one leg behind her as she leaned back, crossing her arms as she decided, "Can you get him running again." She looked over more at Miranda then the Illusive Man; she was the woman that ran the Lazarus Project that brought her back after all, and she was in a worse state then he was.

The dark haired woman didn't need much time to figure out her chances, "We can, Cerberus has the technology, we brought you back from a worse state didn't we?" She voiced the thought Shepard had in her own mind, "We need a science team and…" She started for a moment as if debating whether or not to say what was next.

Shepard just looked at the woman curiously "What's got her tight panties up in a bundle?" she wondered before she said out loud, "Go on."

Miranda seemed to have decided to continue and dropped the bomb "L5 implants."

"What?" Shepard looked at the woman shocked, even the Illusive Man had perked up his brow at the request.

"There's Elemental Zero in his blood stream, we don't know how, but that's the facts," Miranda confirmed as she placed her hands behind her back.

Shepard looked over at the Illusive Man who was nodding his head as he seemed to be working those wicked wheels in his mind before he finally spoke, "The team is already on their way to your ship, they will arrive soon."

That statement surprised Shepard, not Miranda she saw, she put two and two together, "That was your plan all along, and you knew I would request this." Her storm grey eyes looked over to the Illusive Man; she didn't need words to know she was correct.

"If there is one thing that is predictable about you Shepard," he started before he took a drink from his glass, setting it back down as he shifted in his chair, "It is your compassion for people you don't even know, plus there is the chance he could be an asset."

Shepard bristled slightly as she caught a hint of contempt when he spoke of her compassion, her eyes narrowing slightly before she finally responded, "Just make sure you don't mess with him in a way that doesn't need messing with." She looked over at Miranda when she said this, remembering how the Cerberus agent had admitted to wanting to place a control chip in her mind. She said nothing else; instead she turned, leaving the blue circle, her image leaving Miranda and the Illusive Man.

"So I hear we have a human ice cube in the Med Bay, can you shave me off enough for a snow cone? Kinda hungry," Joker quipped as he spun around to face the Commander.

A few hours had passed since her talk with the Illusive Man, and half of those hours were spent in the shower washing sweat and sand that got places she didn't even think were possible. "Sorry, it's first come first serve, you're going to have to walk your crippled ass down there with your own chisel," She fired back with a sly smirk crossing her lips.

"Ouch," He placed his hand on his heart as she just shot him, "Right in the thumper Commander," He chuckled before spinning back around to face the orange screen, pressing a few buttons before he tilted his head around, seeing her still standing there, "Soo…anything else I can do for you Commander?" He asked the look on his face almost curious.

She was about to respond before EDI chimed in, "The Cerberus team is here and prepared to dock Shepard."

This earned the AI a nod from Shepard, she turned walking over to the airlock to bring the team on, not to mention keep an eye on them, and it earned the AI a scowl from the helmsman who mumbled, "I was fine with the old Normandy not reminding me the 'Airlock is ajar'" doing his best EDI imitation before the cockpit got quiet…

"Mr. Monroe." EDI's voice chimed in after a moment.

"Yes?" He sighed, looking over at the blue image.

"The Airlock is ajar."

Shepard stood in front of the Med Bay window, her grey eyes staring through the glass, but mostly at her own reflection. The Cerberus medical team was already at work on the sedated soldier. Her fingers brushed against the metallic chain of the dog tags they removed from around his neck; bringing it back up to her eyes she read the information on the dog tag.

Heraldson

Daemon, A

AB

Christian

"Colonel Daemon Heraldson eh?" She thought to herself before looking back up at the glass. She tried to keep thinking about the army ranger in the med bay, even researched them while she stood there, but she couldn't stop thinking about the people not there it had happened to her back in the cockpit. In her minds' eye she pictured Garrus and his trusty sniper rifle, always watching her back when she charged out in the field, and Kaiden running right alongside her. Her throat clenched slightly when she thought of Kaiden, again those silly thoughts running through her head, wondering if he still cared, she had to keep her mind busy…but with what?

The answer came almost immediately when the voice of Yeoman Kelly Chambers came over the intercom, "Commander, the dossiers on the recruits just arrived; they are on your private terminal."

"Thanks Kelly," She replied with relief, she looked over at the Med Bay window, having to reassure herself they wouldn't do anything to her possible recruit before she went up to her private quarters.

"I hate elevators," She claimed out loud to no one in particular as she stepped off the elevator into her quarters, she sat down on her terminal chair, her finger reaching out idly as she clicked at the blinking message icon, grey eyes looking over the names and information.

"Commander Shepard," EDI's voice sprang her out of the sleep that had ambushed her while she read, her face pressing against the metal desk, pulling her face from it as she groaned.

"What is it EDI?" She asked as she looked over at the clock "I've been out for that long?...Shit," She thought to herself, she hadn't gotten a good night's sleep the day before they went to Area 53, it must have caught up to her as she read cause it said she had been out for six hours.

"We have a situation down on the crew deck," The AI announced with a slight tone of urgency in her synthetic voice that caused Shepard's head to jerk up, the sleep vanishing from her bones.

"What's happened is the Colonel dying?" She asked as she held her breath, she didn't want a death on her ship so soon.

"The surgery was successful, however...he is awake."

She blinked her eyes rapidly, "So soon?" she thought to herself before she asked out loud "What is the problem with that?"

That is when she got the response she wasn't expecting from the AI, "He's knocking out personnel."

She cursed before she kicked away from the chair, running to the elevator, "Why didn't you say that first?" she shouted as she hit the button for the crew deck, the elevator moving so far slower now then she ever thought was possible.

"How much longer are you going to keep me and my team here?" The Colonel asked impatiently as he watched the scientists scan that Godforsaken piece of meteor junk that fell from the sky. The scientist had started to respond, but that was when he got that feeling, the terrible feeling…"FIVE SECONDS!" he shouted, his men knew what it meant, he grabbed the scientist by the scruff of his lab coat, pulling him behind the door, his chest pounding, he watched his men running to the door, he gritted his teeth, hoping, praying that they made it, until he saw the man in the white lab coat run to the console near the door "NO!", he yelled at the man before the door shut, and then the explosive BOOM.

His green eyes snapped open as if the explosion had just happened to him; he expected his body to be on fire, that was how hot he felt, the sweat sliding down his forehead and bare chest, the only thing on his body was a pair of pants. After a few moments he finally started to get his bearings.

The room he was in seemed to be an ICU, half the machines in the steel room he couldn't even recognize, scratch that, none of the equipment he saw was recognizable, save for the IV that dripped what he had to assume was morphine into his system. He slowly sat up, his muscles screaming for him to stop, but he kept at it, slowly turning he slowly slipped to his feet, he had to lean against the IV stand. He felt so weak it was pathetic, his teeth gritting he pulled out the needle from the morphine, no doubt tiring him worse than he was, using it as a cane he slowly inched towards what must have been the door.

"What hospital has these kinds of doors?" He wondered to himself as the door opened after a moment, as he got closer to the door he heard voices, suddenly pressing himself against the wall he held his breath as he listened in, wondering how close they were since they were so loud and clear.

"My sister hasn't talked to me since I joined Cerberus," one voice said, Daemon couldn't help but wonder who Cerberus was, no doubt the company that he was now a guest of.

"That's rough man, I'm sorry, you can't help it they think we're terrorists." the other voice responded.

The word terrorists sent alarm bells through his mind, his heart starting to quicken as he took in that information, suddenly he didn't feel so exhausted anymore. "Who are these people? Where am I? How long was I out?" these questions and so many more rocked through his head so fast he felt dizzy, not even realizing that one of the men had noticed the door open wide.

"Hey you're not supposed to be-!" was all that came out of the man before the Colonel reacted on pure instinct, his hand snapping up, striking the man in the gut, sending him keeling over before slipping over to his side, slamming his elbow down onto the mans' back, sending him to the ground.

"Stop!" The shout came from the other Cerberus employee, his fist swinging straight for Daemons head, his arm shooting out, catching the mans' wrist with his hand, his free hand curling up into a fist, punching beneath the outstretched elbow, dislocating it before he kicked the man in the groin, sending him over to the steel floor.

He was about to make a run for it before that tingle went down his spine, something was about to happen in five seconds, instinct narrowed it towards the black haired woman in the skin tight white and black outfit, what must have been the Cerberus logo right on her breast.

"One…." He counted in his head, whenever the feeling hit him it felt like the danger moved so slowly, her hand slowly rising up "Two…" Fingers slowly out stretching "Three…" her fingers were pointing straight at him "Four…" a glow of what looked like blue flames wrapped around her hand, he didn't have the time to be stunned because he was diving to the side at "Five!" a blue wave nearly clipping him, smacking against the wall as he rolled onto his shoulder, already aware of what came next, in the next five seconds she was running towards him in his minds' eye, foot out stretched to kick him in the head, a knockout blow it seemed.

To her it would seem like he had caught her foot with his hand out of pure luck, using that moment of surprise to suddenly kick his foot out to swipe her other foot out from under her, she slammed onto the ground with a 'thud', he was already scrambling onto his feet, about to try and get as far away from the magic woman until he was face to face with what looked like a pistol pointing straight at his forehead, his eyes having to focus past the barrel to look at the tanned, red haired woman with grey eyes, who seemed to be wearing loose black jeans and a tank top.

"That's enough out of you Colonel," the woman said with an American accented voice that was relaxed, yet had that edge of authority that you wouldn't question.

Daemon only glanced with his eyes over his shoulder, seeing the black haired woman getting up "I'm sorry Commander," she apologized, his ear catching a slight British, no, Australian accent "I didn't expect him to be able to recover so quickly."

"What do you want? If you expect to use me as some bargaining chip we don't make deals with terrorists," He said with a calm tone, his blue eyes looking from the gun to the woman's arm, too far away for him to grab, and if he tried to run, it would do no good.

"Over heard that did you?" The red haired woman, who seemed to be in charge of this group asked, her lips curling into an amused grin, what she said confused him even more, "Cerberus are terrorists, at least they are in my mind and half of other people, that's why I need men like you for this mission, I'm Commander Jane Shepard, you're on the SSV-Normandy." She lowered the pistol, placing it in a holster on the belt of her loose black jeans, her other hand outstretched to shake his hand.

Daemon could only look at the woman with suspicion, his arms crossing loosely across his chest, "If they're terrorists why let them on your ship…Commander?" He asked as his green eyes searched her face for a reaction.

He watched as she gave a shrug of 'what can you do?' before she responded, "Sad fact the bad guys are the good guys here, they're the only ones helping us fight the Collectors."

"Collectors? Who the hell are they?" he wondered before he shook his head, he felt so confused, "Ma'am I don't get any of this…where am I? How long have I been out?"

This caused the red haired woman to flinch, she pulled her hand away as she raised it up to the side of her face, it looked like this was a question she hoped she didn't have to answer, "You've been out for a long time Colonel…170 years give or take… it's the year 2185 CE."

The air left his lungs as if someone had hit him, his head felt so light that he felt like he was about to collapse, he felt himself about to fall over before he suddenly burst into a run, blazing past the Commander, not hearing a word she said, she had to be lying, she had to be, he turned to the left, running straight for the automatic door, it opened wide before he stood in front of a window…that brought him to his knees.

All he saw was the expanse of space, no water, no waves, no sun, just the stars that dotted the universe. The SSV-Normandy was a space ship, not a navy ship. But that didn't matter to him…no what mattered was that everything he had, his home, his family, everything that mattered to him…was gone. He didn't even hear the footsteps of someone approaching from behind.

The Commander looked down at the Colonel with sympathy, she couldn't see his face, but she could see the despair that sank down onto him, she knelt down beside him, her hand touching his shoulder "Are you alright?" she asked, knowing the answer, at least she thought she did.

For a moment all he wanted was a bullet in his skull, to end this despair that threatened to drive him mad, but then a thought came to his mind, a mission, the Commander mentioned a mission, a mission he was needed for, his head bowed as he murmured, "Readily will I display the intestinal fortitude required to fight on to the Ranger objective and complete the mission though I be the lone survivor." That was right, there was a mission he was needed for, and he would complete it, and perhaps then he could die holding his honor.

His head slowly turned to look over at the Commander, his eyes starting to get blurry as tears slid down his face "I'm fine..." He choked for a moment quoting a movie he saw that was now so long ago, from a fictional character that suffered the same fate as he.

"I had a date."

And thus ends the second chapter to this story. I don't plan on having Daemon being a sad sap the entire story; he'll have his moments though. Since this is my first time doing a fight scene please let me know what you think! I didn't want to draw it out. Also if you're wondering what he is saying about the "Ranger Objective" that is a part of the Ranger Creed, a vow that Army Rangers take, so that bit is where that comes from, and other bits of the Creed will be used in parts of the story, please review! :D Also just so I don't get sued, the movie he is quoting from is from Captain America, the new version. Free cookies to you if you figured that out :3