Chapter 2: Too good to be true
It was dark. The blackness lay thick and smothered him, making it difficult to move. No, not difficult, impossible. He slowly started to feel the bindings on his body that held him down. Strength depleted, he feebly struggled against them.
He was being held here against his will, but why?
It was still black, but his sense of touch was slowly returning. He wishes it hadn't.
He felt the sting of myriads of tubes piercing through the skin of his arms, neck and legs, and other places that rang in agony. He wanted to scream, but he found his throat to be encroached by a number of tubes going down his esophagus and trachea.
The pain traced across his body like a hand drawing a knife across his skin. His body tensed against his restraints, causing the pain to spike even more. His movements still felt heavy, and he was pretty sure he was immersed in some kind of liquid.
He bit down on the tubes as he felt more needles snake its way roughly into his body.
He could hear now, but the sounds were muffled at best. Slowly, he began to be aware of the sound of a loud beating drum, almost tribal in nature. It was his heart, reverberating in his head through the muffled silence. The sounds rang clearer now over the beating drums. They were voices. He was not alone; he didn't know if that was a comfort or something terrible.
His lungs burned as air was forcibly pumped in and out, somehow keeping him alive. The taste in his mouth was coppery, like blood, and he gagged on the tubes down his throat.
Where am I? He asked himself as his thoughts became more coherent. His mind raced as his memories flooded back into him. A sudden alarm overtook him, his heart beat increasing its pace. He had to get out of here.
He slowly felt control come back to his face, lids quivering as they stung against the unknown liquids.
Slowly, reluctantly, he opened his eyes, the liquid searing them as he did so. Slowly, shapes began to form in the haze. His eyes darted to and fro, searching frantically for any sign of escape. The space was confined, a tank, he thought. Then as his vision slowly regained itself, the silhouette of a man slowly formed in front of him.
He did not know how he had accomplished it, but he had screamed.
Surely he was in hell, for the devil was staring right back at him, a fiendish smile on its lips.
John Shepard woke up with a start. Bolting upright, he ran his hands through his face, arms and chest. His heart was racing and his breathing felt as if he had just run a mile under fire. The sheets felt damp, and he noticed he was soaked in his own sweat. "What… What was that?"
He took a deep breath and wiped his face with his hand. Looking at the bedside clock, he saw that it was still early in the morning, Earth time; the time they used when on the ship.
A nightmare, he told himself as he inspected his arms for any sign of injury. Unsurprisingly, maybe even a little thankfully, he found none that he could see.
"Must be the stress." He muttered to himself as he inwardly grinned at the understatement. Looks like the endorphin rush Mordin talked about had worn off and Mr. Harsh Reality decided to pay him a visit in his sleep. He was laughing softly about it now, but he remembered it so vividly. Unnatural was the best way to put it.
He was snapped out of his musings by an almost squeak like groan beside him, and he remembered he wasn't alone.
Next to him was Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy, his trusty engineer, crewmate and recently, lover. She was still clad in her protective suit as she slept next to him. Despite what Garrus had been teasing them with last night, they had not done anything beyond cuddling and sweet talk. Shepard didn't want to push their luck and risk Tali's health further. It was a 'difficult' choice, given how last time Tali had showed him just how… let's just say she wasn't as sweet and innocent as she seemed to be. He smiled as she mumbled something in her sleep and cooed, curling up underneath the sheets.
Nope, he had never seen that coming. He still had the scratch marks to prove it.
He sat there for a little while longer, just watching her sleep. She was beautiful, he thought. No, not just what lay underneath the helmet; Not that he didn't like what he saw, mind you. The first time they met was a day he'd never forget. It wasn't quite love at first sight, but the thought slowly crept its way into his heart. She was soft yet strong, gentle yet fierce, intelligent but not overbearing. He remembered the time they had together before the tragedy of the first Normandy. He had all the time in the world to have told her, and he had died not letting her know how he felt. Died like a damn fool, wondering if she ever loved him back? Wondering was there something that could've been? All that time they had together, who knew she felt the same way?
2 years, four billion credits and a miracle of science later, he had the chance countless other beings will never have.
Whenever she was with him, it felt like everything made sense. So he just sat there and watched the rise and fall of her chest as she slept. By chance, he took another glance at the bedside clock and was shocked to see he had been watching her for nearly an hour now.
"Hour well spent…" He whispered as he rubbed his eyes and lay down back next to her. He drifted to sleep as he touched his forehead against her visor, and she nuzzled into his neck.
Several hours later…
Shepard had slept peacefully the rest of the night, waking up as Tali gave him an affectionate hug. The quarian gave a tiny yawn and said. "Ahhh… Did you sleep well, John?"
"Like a baby…" He replied half-truthfully, rubbing his eyes and smiling weakly at her. No need to panic her over some dream, he thought, stretching his arms.
He's so cute when he's just waking up, she thought, resisting the urge to just tackle him and hug him all day long. This was a side of him only she got to saw. Commander John Shepard, Specter and decorated war hero, Savior of the Citadel, adorable as a child. Her eyes were then drawn to how his muscles flexed as he stretched. The tingling sensation in her chest told her that there wasn't anything remotely child-like about that. She was thankful she still had her suit on because she was blushing furiously as her mind wandered to the more intimate things they had done a few nights prior. Keelah, the things he did with those strong hands… Who knew that another's touch could be so… intoxicating.
She was brought out of her reverie when she felt said hand holding hers. "Oh!"
"Somebody was out of it." Shepard said, smiling. "How are you feeling?"
"I… I'm feeling better, yes…" Tali replied, looking into Shepard's eyes and squeezing back. She paused for a little bit in uncertainty, but the look he had in his eye overrode any semblance of common sense. Keelah, I need this, she thought. She slowly glanced to the side, holding in a hurrah of victory as she noted there was still a couple of hours before either of their assigned duties start.
"Tali?" Shepard said, still smiling but puzzled.
"Oh I am definitely feeling very well, Shepard." Throwing uncertainty to the wind, she placed her other hand on his chest and violently shoved him back down onto the bed. In a fluid motion, she was straddled on top of him. "In fact, who knows…?" She ran her hands up to her chest and proceeded to accentuate her endowments with suggestive squeezing. "I might be well enough to get sick again…"
Shepard recognized the woman in front of him as Tali, but the sound in her voice and the things she was doing put the sluttiest asari to shame. Suddenly, she grabbed him by the back of the neck, and pulled him up until he was face to visor with her. "What the-"
"Hush." Tali said, putting a finger on his lips. Her voice was husky, predatory. "Listen to me. Out there, you might be the great and powerful Commander Shepard, captain of the Normandy and savior of the known galaxy."
She shoved him back down again and rand a finger across his bare chest. "But in here..." She paused as the hand ran down his stomach, past his navel and snagging on the garter of his underwear. "You are mine." Her fingers slowly tugged downwards, and she was pleased to see her ministrations did not go unappreciated.
"Tali, wait!" Shepard blurted out, and he could all but see the raised eyebrow directed at him.
"Too intense for you, Shepard?" she said with a sweetness laced with something else.
"Er… No, actually, It's just that well, I…"
Tali had to hold her laughter at the irony of Shepard fumbling over his word, deciding to take a mental note of it to harass him later. Instead, she spoke musically. "John Shepard, I just worked my ass off making sure your damn ship stayed afloat with only paperclips and string to work with." Her voice narrowed into something sharper. "This better be good."
Shepard, for his part, finally got it together. "It's just that I sweated a lot last night in my sleep due to an air-conditioning malfunction and who knows what kind of bacteria I'm harboring in my skin?" Smooth, Shepard… he thought to himself.
Tali sighed loudly, "Do you have that heavy antibacterial scrub Mordin formulated for you?"
"It's uh, it's in the shower."
Tali cocked her head to the side and got off of him, sidling off the bed and stood up, facing the exit. At first he thought he had offended her and he sat up to her and stop her from leaving. Then his eyes saw the sway of her hips and just how much her suit hugged her body.
There was the hissing noise of air and Shepard glanced upward to see that she had taken off her visor and helmet with her back to him. Her hands worked around her suit as she unclasped, unbuttoned and unzipped; every few steps leading to more of her suit lying on the floor. Soon she was practically topless with only her leggings left, her hair draping across her back. She went up the steps and stopped at the top, bending forward as she snuck both thumbs to the sides of her leggings and pulled them down. The full moon never looked so beautiful thought Shepard, as Tali got back up, still sticking her behind out. With a flick of her foot, she kicked off the leggings to the side of the stairs and ran a hand over her glorious rear.
She turned the corner and Shepard saw her nude form through the display of model ships he had. She lazily opened the bathroom door and turned to look at him over her shoulder, giving him a lusty look that would send lesser men into a coma. She stepped into the shower and closed the door behind her.
Shepard sat there for a few seconds before fumbling his way out of the bed and practically jogging after Tali.
Two glorious hours later…
Shepard stretched his fingers as he slipped on the gloves and gauntlets of his armor. Like the rest of the suit, the plates' surface were chipped, burnt and riddled with bullet holes; testament to the death defying feats his crew performed during the mission. He clasped on the greaves and the steel soled boots, hearing the gratifying click of the locking mechanism as he shifted his position to adjust to the sudden constriction. He grabbed his helmet and slipped it on, the mechanism locking in with the rest of his suit with a twist. It was dark for a little bit, until the HUD fired up, streaming start-up data before calibrating properly. He checked himself in the mirror and cocked his Carnifex Hand cannon, aiming it at his reflection. He always had this baby close-by just in case. Sitting by the foot of his bed was his girlfriend, looking on with amusement.
"Pretty slick, John." Tali giggled as she adorned her scarf over her helmet. "Real intimidating like."
"Hey, a knight in shining armor has to be prepared to defend his princess." He replied, holstering the pistol.
She gave him a top to bottom look over. "Shining. Riiight…." His armor had definitely seen better days.
"What? This thing got me through hell and back." He said, "I mean Garrus still wears his beat up armor and it works fine."
"Garrus' armor doesn't make him look like a knight from the kingdom of junklandia." She said wryly, as she stood up. "I'm just saying the look would be complete if you had some duct tape wrapped around a few places."
Shepard laughed and walked towards his lover, putting his arms around her waist. "Well now, at least you're pretty enough to cover up for my fashion faux pas."
"Keep talking, Sir Knight, your princess likes what she hears." She giggled but cut herself short as she coughed. "Ugh… Bosh'tet…"
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." She began, though she sensed he was unconvinced. "Really, I am." She stood up on her tip toes and pressed her visor against his. She then got free from his hold and made for the door, her voice was that of a mischievous child, a skip in her step. "C'mon commander, play time is over, time for work."
"Yes ma'am." He replied.
After a quick breakfast, Shepard said his goodbye to Tali on the elevator, getting off on the CIC while she proceeded to Engineering. The CIC was bristling with activity as crewmen worked double time to monitor any fluctuations on the damaged ship. He went up to his yeoman, Kelly, who handed him a datapad.
"Good morning commander." Kelly said, "Just a few things for you to sign."
"Good morning, Kelly." he said cheerfully, as he scrolled through the data. "Got anything else for me?"
"Nothing unusual to report for now, sir." she began in her usual peppy demeanor.
"Thanks," he said as he signed the datapad with his digital signature. He gave her a nod and proceeded up the bridge towards the cockpit. The crew men he passed all saluted him enthusiastically. Par for the course when the man who just saved you from a gruesome death strode by. He saluted back, although he never did like the overly disciplined formality of military ships. He figured he'd let it run its course. As he approached the cockpit, he could hear the usual banter between Joker and EDI.
"And that's why it's funny when you say 'I'll be back.'" Joker said with an exasperated tone in his voice.
"Joker, EDI, how's the helm?" Shepard asked, walking up to the duo.
"Hey commander," The pilot began, swinging around to face Shepard. "We're just taking her slow and steady. I was thinking maybe we could make EDI our new symbol since we're ditching the Cerberus motif. With artistic interpretation of course."
EDI piped up "Mr. Moreau, for the last time, the images you were pulling up on the extranet last night does not symbolize me in the least."
"Relax EDI, I was just teasing you."
Shepard merely stared at them.
"Honest." Joker added, turning to Shepard as he cleared his throat. "Besides, I hear Goto-sama is our new CEO, so we should use her symbol."
"Goto-sama?" Shepard repeated, cocking an eyebrow.
"I'm just using the proper honorifics to address the new boss." Joker stated flatly.
"Kasumi's just our main financier, I still call the shots, Joker."
"And yet who countersigns all the chits?" Joker replied matter of factly as he spinned around, facing the helm again. "ETA in 3 hours, Commander. Just try not to come back with another crazy, gung-ho, cut-throat lunatic when we leave, okay? I mean the bunch you have is fine and all, but you're gonna be pushing your luck sooner or later."
"I'll do my best." Shepard said with a chuckle, "Also, we won't be making port immediately. Cruise around the station until I give the signal."
"You got it, Shepard." Joker said, looking over his shoulder. "Just remember, no more crazies."
"Later Joker, EDI." He said as he turned and left.
"It'll be the death of us one day!" Joker yelled after him. "I bet Goto-sama would agree with me!"
Shepard just shook his head in amusement as he walked off. Still, Joker had a point. Maybe he should have a talk with Kasumi if she needed anything in particular? He feels it only proper to oblige her now. But that can wait until after Omega.
"Kelly." He said as he approached the yeoman.
"Yes commander?"
"Inform the team that we'll have a meeting in an hour, tell them it's about organizing our little shore leave."
"You're expecting trouble, aren't you commander?" Kelly began, a tinge of concern in her voice. "You don't usually wear your armor on deck."
"Just making sure we're ready for anything they throw at us." Shepard said reassuringly, "I'll be in the armory if I'm needed, thanks, Kelly."
"Anytime, commander."
Shepard nodded and headed for the armory. All thoughts of that nightmare had since been dashed from his mind. The only thing that bothered him now was that maybe his armor could use a little polishing.