Thank you to my beta, Amyress, for the support and input. Always welcome and greatly appreciated!
And thank you to BJHanssen, my best critic. J
Breathe, I told myself. In through my nose and out through my mouth, I concentrated on clearing my head and slowing my heart rate. John still held me but when my breathing evened out he gave me another squeeze before letting go.
"Better?" he asked. I nodded. "Good, take another minute and-"
"Get back here Shepard," Garrus' voice came across the comms, "they're coming in through the door!" I raised my eyebrows then narrowed my eyes at John.
"Let's go," I said, turning to look for my helmet. Finding it, I scooped it up off the floor and slipped it back on, checking that the area was still clear. John grabbed his and we took off running.
We got to the foyer and started shooting, taking out a few while they were unaware then fighting our way back upstairs to the others. Of course when we got upstairs there was a giant red Krogan with a huge gun between us and them. More shooting and eventually that went down too.
Scanning the area everything was calm so I rested my Avenger on my hip as Garrus came out from cover and approached John.
"Thanks Shepard," he said, obviously relieved, "they hardly got through to me. And we took out Garm and his Blood Pack! This day just gets better and better." The two men chatted some more as I checked my gun then the bridge, feeling more confident every moment.
"Only the Blue Suns are left," I heard John point out, "I say we take our chances and fight our way out." Garrus agreed, confirming they were nothing they hadn't faced before when suddenly I caught sight of the gunship approaching.
"Get down!" I shouted, jumping to cover and grabbing John on the way. We landed with a thud as I spun around to face the new threat.
"They're offloading troops!" Garrus shouted, "Watch your backs!"
The battle raged on and I took a few hits but the armor held up nicely. Feeling far more confident, I leapt from cover a few times to get better positioning.
Once the last one was taken down Garrus confirmed more troops were on the way so I grabbed a few more thermal clips and reloaded, digging in for the next strike. This time they landed downstairs so it was like shooting fish in a barrel from the many windows while Zaeed and Jacob rushed them.
A few slipped through but John got them as they came down the hall then left to join the others downstairs. A few minutes later he called clear and I moved to check the bridge once again, just in time to see the gunship come across, its weapons pointed right at me.
"Fuck."
Being the only ones still upstairs Garrus and I opened fire, moving to stand together to increase our advantage as we backed up to find cover. Some of the bullets found purchase, hitting the weak spots of my armor and piercing the skin. I grunted in pain and fell to the floor, blessedly out of the gun's range for a moment. Looking around I caught sight of Garrus on the ground as well, reaching for me. I grabbed his arm and he tried to pull me to cover.
I heard an explosion and everything went black.
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Voices.
Lots of voices, men, women, but none I could recognize. They all sounded so far away I could barely hear them, much less what they were saying. Some got louder, panic maybe, but most were soft, demanding but calmer.
I felt pain. Searing pain, burning then electrifying, almost like before but… grounded? I wasn't comforted by the darkness surrounding me.
I wanted out.
Breathe. I could breathe, felt the air go in and out through my nose. Inhale, exhale, at least I knew I was still alive.
Then the smells, I inhaled again and smelled an antiseptic of some kind and a hint of something, something burnt?
Fuck it, just sleep.
And I slowly drifted away.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"She should wake up shortly," I heard Dr Chakwas say, "That is why I took the breathing tube out, Shepard."
"I…" John's voice was strange but unmistakably his. "I'm sorry Doc, I'm just…"
"I know," she replied and I opened my eyes to see her turn and look at me. She smiled. "Our patient is awake." John appeared in my blurry field of vision and Dr. Chakwas moved aside as he reached for my hand. I tried to smile but realized I was really tired, even that movement was difficult. I closed my eyes and swallowed but my throat was dry.
"Water," I croaked out, John nodded and picked something up from the nearby med-station. Lifting my head, he helped me to take a few sips then rested it back on the pillow. He put the cup back down and pushed my hair away from my face.
"You and I are going to have a long talk about priorities," he whispered, squeezing my hand. I smiled faintly.
"I'm alive," I whispered. He huffed, shaking his head.
"Almost not," he whispered. He looked at me curiously, opening his mouth to say something else but stopping as the door to the med bay opened.
"Is she awake?" I heard Garrus ask, his two-toned voice unmistakable. John glanced over at him, nodding then giving my hand a squeeze before releasing it.
"I'll be back," he promised as he disappeared from sight, replaced by Garrus. He took my hand into his talon, another reassuring squeeze and what I thought was a smile.
"You ok?" I asked as I noticed some of the exoskeleton on his face was damaged. He caught on, touching it with his other talon and shrugging.
"Eh, I'll live," he replied, attempting to be unaffected. Understanding the inclination, I nodded.
"Glad to hear it," I said, squeezing his talon back. I nodded toward my lower body. "How bad is it?" He glanced at my legs then shrugged.
"I don't know, you humans being all squishy and such," he said with a wink. I narrowed my eyes at him and he laughed. "Doc says you'll be alright, it's amazing what they can do with prosthetics these days…"
"Garrus," Dr. Chakwas called from the other side of the room in her mommy-tone. I heard a few steps and she appeared just behind him. I smirked at him as he cowered slightly away from the older woman. "You will be fine, Kayla, no prosthetics required but you do need your rest, take a walk Vakarian." He nodded as Doc walked away. Looking back at me, he gave my hand another squeeze.
"Do me a favor," he said, leaning a little closer. "Next time you get the idea to jump in front of a gunship, please don't." He looked to see if anyone was near then looked down at me. "I've known Shepard for a long time and I can say this with all honesty. When he caught sight of you on the floor…" He shook his head.
"That's the first time I've ever seen fear in his eyes."