Sorry for the shorter chapter and the longer wait, been super busy at work and the holiday screwed me all up.
Thank you Miss Amyress, you and your committee keep me straight
Looking forward to those reviews!
As I reached the engineering level the elevator door opened, making an odd hissing sound. I'd never noticed it before, but I was hypersensitive to my surroundings at that moment so I thought maybe it was just my nerves. I looked to the right, seeing Zaeed's door open, then to the left. The door at the other end of the hallway was closed, as always.
"EDI, can you point me in the right direction?" I asked the AI.
"Shepard is in the cargo bay, the door at the end of the hall to your left," her response came from the glowing orb in front of me.
I looked at it and smiled, "Thank you."
The light flashed a little brighter for a moment, "You are quite welcome, Ms. Reid."
I put up a hand, holding my smile, "Sam, please. Formalities are for officers."
The light flashed even brighter, "Of course, Sam," then disappeared.
"Wow, even polite to the machine," a female voice vaguely sneered from behind me. I turned to see a young girl with a shaved head and more tattoos than I'd ever seen on one human being before. They decorated all parts of her body, some even disappearing below her belted pants.
My eyes skimmed over them, then went to her eyes, "Never hurts to be civil. Not a lot of that left in the galaxy from what I hear."
The girl laughed, looking at her nails in an obvious attempt to appear casual, "Why bother? So many people are only out for themselves, no time to be civil." She dropped her hand to her side and smirked at me. "But not you."
I smirked back, putting a hand on my hip, "I tend to swim against the current. Old habits and all."
As we stood there looking at each other, I watched as her body language and expression slowly changed. It was slight, but definitely there. She became more relaxed, the tension in her neck and shoulders loosening. Her eyes softened, losing the slight wrinkling at the corners. It almost seemed like she wanted to let me in.
In that moment I realized I wanted her to let me in, to get her to open up to me. Reminds me a lot of myself when I was young. A lot.
Relaxing my smirk to a soft smile, I reached out the hand that had been perched on my hip, "Name's Sam."
She looked at the hand, hesitated a moment, then took it firmly, "Jack."
Warming my smile, I gave her hand a gentle squeeze before releasing it, "It's good to meet you." I waited to see if she would start a conversation or walk away.
She did neither so I stepped up, "So what's your superpower?" I must have taken her off guard because her eyes widened slightly.
Recovering quickly, she shrugged, "I can do stuff with my biotics."
My smirk returned, "Must be some impressive stuff if Cerberus wants you on board." I leaned against the wall, showing her I was interested enough to stick around. Her stance and expression shifted, as if she was going to bolt but she must have changed her mind, moving to lean on the glass opposite me that overlooked what I assumed was the engine. Shit, she looks like a scared bird at times. Gotta play this carefully.
She lifted a hand, creating a ball of the blue energy, "Yeah, I'm pretty good with it." Slowly the ball grew to the size of her hand. "And I have a lot of it."
Playing it cool, even though I was unnerved by the blue light floating in the air above her hand, I smiled, "I can see that. I assume that is handy in a fight?" Can't let her see it makes me nervous, I thought. It will make her self conscious.
Again, she shrugged, "Yeah, especially when I let loose a shockwave." Closing her fist, the energy dispersed. "I could destroy this ship with that one." It was obvious there was no exaggeration on her part, her tone was even and her eyes stayed level with mine.
Conveying understanding with my eyes, I kept my expression calm, lifting the corner of my lips slightly, "I would greatly appreciate this ship staying in one piece, if that's ok with you."
Obviously pleased to have gotten a reaction out of me, no matter how small, she grinned, "Yeah. Me too." She looked down the hall toward the cargo bay, gesturing to it. "Shepard's in there with the baby Krogan."
Holding back as much of the shock and panic as I could at that statement, I looked at the door and deadpanned, "The baby what?'
Again she shrugged, "Not like a tiny baby, it's a Krogan that was grown in a tube. Shepard's in there with it now, probably trying to decide whether or not to wake it up." That statement had me streaking down the hall, toward room that was possibly holding a dangerous creature... and John was alone with it.
When I reached the door it opened, revealing John who was staring at something to my right, across the room from him. Carefully, I entered and saw the giant tube with the very large Krogan still inside. As I breathed a huge sigh of relief I heard a low rumble of laughter from him.
I shot him an annoyed sneer, "Don't."
His smile intact, he rested his hands on his hips, "Really Sam, do you have so little faith-"
I shot across to room, anger taking hold of me as I grabbed his arms, giving him a shake, "I said don't, I can't believe you would consider waking this thing up without backup. You know absolutely nothing about it. What if it decides to tear a hole in the side of the ship? Or maybe it decides it wants to have you for dinner? As an entree!" My grip was so tight on him that I could feel my nails sinking into flesh. Jesus, woman, reel it in!
I took a breath as I dropped my hands to my sides, closing my eyes in an attempt to focus. "John, I'm not questioning your decision, just the fact that you felt the need to do this alone." Looking into his eyes, I tried to convince him that I wasn't questioning his authority, only that I was concerned for his safety.
His hands found my arms, his thumbs rubbing gentle circles on my biceps as he smiled down at me, "Ok."
Confused, I blinked a few times before responding, "OK?"
He nodded slowly, "Ok. You're here now so what are your thoughts?"
My mouth partially open, I looked at the tube then back at John. What the hell just happened? Is he really listening to me? Even after I just freaked out? Christ, I probably drew blood. I closed my eyes again, trying to focus, but only managing to feel more embarrassed as the moments went on. For fuck's sake, I'm an ass.
I clamped my mouth shut and took a breath before releasing a sigh, "I'm sorry for reacting the way I did. I should never have raised my voice and I definitely shouldn't have made you bleed." Taking his arm in my hands, I turned it to examine the area I thought I'd broken the skin. Sure enough, there were four puncture marks in his shirt. "God, I am such an ass sometimes."
Removing his arm from my grasp, he turned to face me, taking hold of my arms, "Relax, I will live." Releasing an arm to push some hair away from my face, he smiled. "Does the Krogan really bother you that much or is it something else?"
My pulse was racing and it wasn't from my embarrassment anymore, his hands were on me and his face was inches from mine. I could feel his breath on my face as he spoke and it was pushing me over the edge. No, I have to get away from him. Now!
I slowly turned from his grasp and toward the large tube, "There are a lot of things bothering me, as you are aware," I stated plainly, focusing my energy on slowing my breathing and heart, "but right now I'm concerned about this guy." Facing the Krogan, I scanned his face looking for any sign of life but found nothing. "Are you sure it's alive?"
John stood next to me, looking at the apparatus, "He is very much alive, and intelligent." Tapping a few buttons some readings came across the screen beneath the glass. "His creator had information digitally transferred into his subconscious so he has the entire history of the Krogan civilization in his head."
I looked over at John, apprehension clear in my eyes, "Among other things, I'm sure. Like how to kill people quickly and easily."
Picking up on the hint that I was totally against waking 'him' up, John shook his head as he smiled at me, "Sam, come on. Give him a chance, he may surprise you."
I sputtered in shock, "Are you out of your mind? Why are you so hell-bent on opening this can?" I slapped a hand on it. "Honestly! Please, explain it to me. Make me understand and I will back you up, stand here and watch your back as you open it, but you have to tell me why."
John's eyes narrowed as the gears started turning behind them. His lips clamped shut between his teeth, he worried them as he pulled together what to say. Jesus, I don't even think he knows why he wants to open it.
Just then, his facade went blank as he shifted his stance to face me. His eyes grew intense, as if every fiber of his being were crying out in unison. Whatever he was thinking, he truly believed it, down to the very core of who he was. Damn, he is so freaking sexy when he looks at me like that.
"Because he is alive," he replied, his tone soft but firm, "and I don't see how I could decide otherwise."
In that moment it hit me, the 'why' behind the 'why', the root reason for his not disposing of the unknown Krogan to avoid issues. It wasn't about the Krogan, wasn't about how he was created or the usefulness of the extra passenger. It wasn't even about Cerberus. It was about John, the fact that he was alive when he felt he shouldn't be, didn't have the right to be. He wouldn't take that opportunity away from an innocent, no matter the situation. I also realized that regardless of how I felt I would help him and I wanted to slap myself in the head. God I am in deep with this guy.
Understanding in my eyes, I nodded with a small smile, "Ok. Let's open it." I moved to stand in the back corner, crouching down. "If he tries something I'll come at him from behind, take him down." Noticing his hesitation, I gestured toward the tube and gave him a quick nod as I readied myself. "Come on now, before I change my mind!" Half kidding, I took a long breath and focused on the machine, waiting for it to open.
John reached out for the controls to activate it, "OK, 3, 2, 1…" the final button pushed, the tube started beeping as the liquid filtered out of the main chamber. As the body of the Krogan was released, it fell to its knees, coughing up the excess liquid from its lungs.
Once it recovered, it stood slowly, towering over John as I watched silently. Ok, you bastard, your move. What are you going to do? I waited, holding my breath so as not to give my position away when I saw John slowly approach him. What the fuck, you jackass!
Before he could get a word out the Krogan roared, ramming into him and slamming him into the opposite wall. I ran at the creature then sprung onto his back, grabbing his left shoulder with both hands as I drew both feet up to the wall. Yanking the appendage back as I pushed off, I spun my body around to get between the two men and slammed the alien into the ground with a loud crash.
Drawing my pistol, I jammed it into its crotch with a sinister glare, growling, "Move and I'll turn you into a woman."
At first there was only surprise, in its eyes and all over its face, but it was slowly replaced by some kind of excitement. The excitement then became laced with respect and it nodded carefully at me.
John approached, putting a hand on my shoulder, "I think you can let him up now."
Unsure yet of 'his' intentions, I continued to glare at the Krogan beneath me, "Attack him again and your balls will be the least of your worries, understood?" I shoved the gun hard into 'his' flesh, accentuating my point and eliciting a grunt and a nod. Slowly pushing to my feet, I held the gun aimed at the alien's head, waiting for a wrong move.
Its eyes glittered as he watched me, then moved to stand, "You are strong, stronger than you look." Definitely male, his voice was smooth, his annunciations calculating and intelligent. He glanced at John, "Do you serve him?"
I nodded, "Yes. And you will too if you know what's good for you." I held my stance and my glare.
The Krogan seemed to scoff at my words, "Why?"
Not flinching, John took the gun from me and held it level with his face, "Because if you don't you are of no use to us and I will kill you now." As soon as the words were out of his mouth I knew they were futile, the Krogan's stance and expression conveyed no fear, no trepidation. Only calm evaluation of myself and John, and he was not enamored with the one currently holding the gun.
He shifted his feet as he glanced at the Commander again, "He relies on you to protect him, he is weak." Suddenly the Krogan glared at him, as if John was something he'd scraped off his boot. "He should die, not lead."
Bang! Bang! Bang! John let off shot after shot at the huge alien, throwing off his footing as he stumbled backward, holding his hands in front of his face in a vain attempt to protect it from the barrage of energy. As he landed on his ass Shepard stopped shooting, approaching him aggressively and grabbing the collar of his armor. Jerking it forward, he got right in his face.
Glaring at him, dead in the eye, John growled, "Let me make something perfectly clear to you. You will do as you are told, by Samantha and by myself. You will not question what you are told. You will not disobey. You will fall in line. Do you agree or not?" He shoved the pistol into the huge alien's face, the barrel expanding one of his nostrils as it entered the cavity, shouting, "Answer me!"
The 'baby' Krogan gathered his wits, then a rumble of laughter erupted from his chest, "You are strong, excellent." Matching John's glare, he sat up straight, pushing the gun away with his nose. "You will give me strong enemies? A chance to find my own reason for the skills in my blood?" Suddenly the 'baby' stood, straight and tall, and looked down at Shepard. "Very well, I will fight for you."
John backed away, but only enough to give the Krogan room to stand, and held his glare, "Try that bullshit again and I'll make sure the next shot I take is a kill shot."
As John handed my pistol back to me he headed straight out the door. Wow, pissed off John is a little scary. I looked back over at our guest and saw him staring at me expectantly. He really is like a baby, he needs direction. Hmm...
Tucking my pistol into the back of my pants, I looked up at the much larger alien, "What's your name?"
He tilted his head at me, pondering the question, "I… I do not know."
I narrowed my eyes at him, disbelieving, "You were never given a name?" I was shocked, as valuable as he was supposed to be you would think something as personal as a name would be at least thought of.
His eyes narrowed, matching mine, "I am trained, I know things, but the tank… Okeer couldn't implant connection. His words were hollow." " He seemed to lose himself in a thought, but recovered quickly, "Warlord, legacy, grunt… grunt. 'Grunt' was among the last, it has no meaning. It will do."
He appeared content with the choice so I nodded, noticing he also had become more relaxed. Hopefully he settles in while I'm gone. Looking him over, I took note of his body mass, structure and armor. It was advanced, more so than I'd seen on any other Krogan, and according to EDI he was 'an exceptional example of the Krogan species'. He definitely looks like it, but he's still a baby!
"Ha, a baby," I smirked as I looked back at his eyes. He tilted his head in confusion, which just made me giggle. "Think about it, you were technically born today. You're a baby." I gave him a wink, changing my smirk to a warm smile.
He did not take that well, a deep frown taking over his face, "I am not a baby."
Bursting into laughter, I slapped a hand over my mouth to try and stop it, but gave up, "Oh come on, you can be 'Baby Grunt'!"
His glower deepened, "I am not a baby."
Walking up to him, I put my hands on his cheeks and kissed his nose, "Yes you are, you are my Baby Grunt." Giving him a playful pinch, I turned to head out the door.
I heard him growl from behind me, "I am not." Not once did he yell, nor did he exhibit anger toward me. He just grumbled like a child who didn't want to eat their vegetables, making me giggle even harder.
Stopping at the door as it opened, I turned around to face him, "Don't worry, only to me will you be 'Baby Grunt'." A wink and a wave later, I spun out the cargo bay door.