Shepard stood alone in the shuttle bay, anxiously awaiting her team's arrival. Grumbling as she checked her omni-tool, she said, "I understand Garrus being late, but Carmine's room is on this floor! What the hell are those two up to? Wasn't Carmine helping the engineers out a couple of hours ago?"
Shepard let out a small groan as she rotated her left arm, a small pop came from her shoulder. "Damn, I should really take it easy when we get back," she said.
"Hmm...maybe Carmine can give me a back massage." A small grin tugged at her lips with the thought of Carmine's large hands working the knotted muscles of her back. She quickly swatted herself, she was just getting to know the man. But what she did know was causing a ruckus in her mind.
"Hey Shepard," Garrus said as he approached her. Shepard spun around to face him, letting out a sigh of relief and cocking one of her hips, leaning one hand down to rest on it.
"It took you long enough. Where have you been?" her harsh tone was blanketed by the small smile on her face.
Garrus rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah, sorry about that. I got caught up chatting with Carmine about his helmet. Don't worry he's coming, might just be a little bit. One of the engineers had contacted him and asked for a favor while we were talking."
Shepard raised her eyebrow, "What kind of favor?"
Garrus shrugged, "Not too sure, has something to do with some wiring on one of the upper floors, I'm sure he's alright. He knows a surprising amount when it comes to fixing things. Even more so when it comes to his own gear. Apparently he's been helping the engineers out for most of the day."
Shepard, appeased by his answer, relaxes a bit and takes a seat on a nearby shipping crate.
'Not even a week and Carmine is fitting in rather nicely around here. Nice of him to be helping out.' a smile grew on her face as she sat and thought about Carmine.
She noticed Garrus was pacing a bit, and having known the turian for so long she can't help but dig, "Garrus you were with me when I faced Saren and the reapers, and you weren't half as nervous as you are now. What's got you so riled up?"
The turian let out a gravely sigh and crosses his arms as he stops to face Shepard. "Do you know for sure that Carmine is going to follow your orders and I don't know, maybe not try and kill me again?"
Shepard stares blankly for a second, 'Ah crap that's what I forgot to do. I've been so blinded by that big handsome bastard that I forgot to talk to him about all that.' a small frown took its place on her face as she shook her head.
"No, I haven't talked about that specifically with him yet, but he's been honest with me, and I'm starting to trust him. We have to extend that olive branch or he'll never feel comfortable around us."
"As for your second question. I'm convinced Carmine is not going to try and shoot you again. What makes you say that? Did something go wrong when he went to talk to you?" Shepard was worried for a moment, fearing the big guy might have had an episode.
"N-no nothing like that, that was actually pretty pleasant. But...I tapped into my surveillance feed from Omega, and he wasn't exactly gentle with those mercenaries. Though not entirely unwarranted, he's done things I haven't even seen krogan do before. I've seen some pretty bad shit, but he makes that bad shit seem like child's play." Garrus pulled up his omni-tool and sent Shepard a small snippet of Carmine from Omega.
Shepard sucks air through her teeth and grimaces as she watches Carmine choking a batarian, tearing into his throat with his fingers.
'Well that's slightly disturbing. Very similar to the footage I've reviewed so far. I think people could get used to him. But I will have to talk to him about how he does things. Maybe I can convince him to tone it back a bit.' she turns off the video and transfers it to her main computer to put in Carmine's file. She looks to Garrus who wears a stone faced expression.
Shepard sighs once again and pinches the bridge of her nose, "Look I know how brutal he get when he fights, and I aim to work on that, but him tagging along on this mission is vital. I'm sure in time we'll get to know him a bit better. Why don't you try talking to him? Trust me when I say he's a good person to hold a conversation with. Or are you too scared of him?"
The turian audibly gasps, pressing a mocking hand to his chest armor, "Me, scared? You wound me Shepard."
The commander lets out a little laugh, standing to join her friend. She clasps an armor covered hand onto his shoulder and shakes him gently, "Don't worry archangel, I'll protect you from him if he gets out of line."
The turian lets out a distorted chucked and narrows his eyes playfully at her, "I'm sure he'd be shaking in his boots." he teases.
Shepard punches Garrus in the shoulder making him laugh, wince, and rub the spot she punched, "See! Now picture that but with Carmine."
"What with me?" Both Garrus and Shepard jumped nearly out of their armor, the commander letting out a small scared squeak, making her cover her mouth. A horror stricken expression carved on her face.
Carmine did his best not to laugh, his long sleeve covered arms crossed over his broad chest making his arms practically bulge out. Shepard could almost see the smirk on his face, 'Don't you dare say anything you muscular bastard.' she thinks angrily.
"So you snort, aaaand you squeak, that's almost too much information to handle." Garrus and Carmine share a hearty laugh following his smug comment, causing Shepard to blush and glare at Garrus who immediately coughs and looks away. She pauses before speaking, a devious look in her eyes, one that made Carmine slightly uneasy.
'Oh no, you've done it now.' Carmine's inner voice says, internally facepalming. He grew nervous under her gaze.
"Yeah yeah, never mind that. Where have you been Carmine? I sent you a message nearly an hour ago, and to top it off you're not even geared up. Makes me wonder if you even want to go on this mission, hmmm?" Shepard decided to get a little payback on the surprisingly sneaky soldier as she turned to face Garrus.
"So Garrus who do you think should come with us?" Shepard says mockingly, barely able to contain her smile.
"Hey wait! I'm still coming, I just had to help out Daniels with something." Carmine exclaimed, uncrossing his arms and raising them.
The pair ignored the big man as they continued, "I'm not too sure Shepard. Actually now that I think about it, Kasumi did mention something about wanting to come with us." Garrus answers the commander with smug laced words.
Shepard smiled as she glanced over to Carmine who grumbled and dropped his arms to his sides, "Alright I get it, I'm sorry for scaring you guys. Please though, don't leave me behind, I'm itching to prove my worth." He states with a small smile hidden behind his helmet.
They turned to face Carmine, Garrus seemingly warming up to the big guy the longer they interact. Shepard's eyes latch onto Carmine's shirt choice, 'Sleeves, no sleeves. Doesn't matter, Carmine just has to be so damn hot.' Pink continues to stain the commander's cheeks as her thoughts wander.
"Apology accepted, now go get geared up, we have to head out soon. Oh and get back here fast private Carmine, I have something I need to discuss with you." Shepard ordered with a smirk tugging at the corners of her lips.
Carmine stood straight and saluted Shepard, "Yes commander!" he practically yells, making Garrus and Shepard snicker as she tucks a stray hair behind her ear.
Carmine's eyes wander to her smiling face, 'Well let's go get geared up so we can help out the little cherry.'
Carmine smiles under his helmet, finding his nickname for her rather fitting as the blush on her face is apparent even to him.
"At ease helmet head, now hurry up, the pilot will be here in 20 minutes." Shepard playfully shoos him away and he quickly turns and makes his way in the direction of his room, his footsteps barely audible to the pair.
Shepard raises an eyebrow, an inquisitive look on her face as she turns her head to Garrus.
"How is he so quiet? It makes less sense knowing how much he weighs." Garrus shrugs his shoulders at her question.
"I heard that!" Carmine's voice echoes from the far side of the shuttle bay making Shepard let out an exaggerated groan. Carmine's chuckle was barely audible to her, but she smiles all the same knowing she got the noise out of him, pink still present on her cheeks.
"I think we both underestimate how well he can sneak. And apparently his armor is real heavy, so maybe that has something to do with it." Garrus says with a chuckle while observing the interactions between the commander and the Normandy's newest crew member. He looked upon her with a knowing glance, seeing the chemistry between the two already forming.
"You can say that again. Well he won't be long most likely, anything else you want to talk about before him and those enhanced ears get back into range." Shepard jokes, her smile and blush persisting, making her gently run a hand over her warm cheeks.
"You like him don't you?" Garrus says with a smug smile.
"I like all my crew members Garrus you should know that. Well maybe not all of them." She shoots a playful glare in his direction and smiles back. The commander's response only makes his smugness grow.
"Heh, just like you let all your crew members use your shower right?" Shepard's smile instantly dropped from her face, a brighter shade of red finding its way onto her pale cheeks.
"W-well he's a rather...large man. He wouldn't be able to fit in the normal showers we have." Shepard nervously eyed her old friend, who's smug grin had reached its full potential.
"So it has nothing to do with that all the time you two have been spending together?" Shepard's head snaps to look at him.
"Who told you we were spending time together?" Shepard said defensively, 'I swear to god Kasumi.'
"Oh we both know it was Kasumi, she's been keeping a rather keen eye on the big guy too. Seems you may have some competition Shepard."
Shepard looks away, face getting hotter by the second, finding the wall to her left rather interesting.
"I don't know what you're talking about, there's no competition between anybody. He's only been here a couple of days anyway. Nothing wrong with being friendly to our new crew mate."
Garrus chuckles and lays a gentle hand on her shoulder, 'Garrus I swear to god. I'm pretty sure any woman on this ship with a functioning uterus is attracted to him after that sparring match, so it's not exactly my fault that I want to...stop right there Jane, stop. Right. There!'
Shepard stopped her spicy train of thought before it could pull into the station and held her breath, waiting for the unstoppable teasing that Garrus could dish out.
"Look Shepard I'm not going to tell you who you can and can't be attracted to, that's not how it works. Just be careful alright. I know you have the most knowledge about him and his past, more than anyone on the ship, but just promise me you'll be careful around him." Shepard let out a deep sigh and smiled warmly at the turian.
"Thought you were going to lay into me there Garrus. Thank you for your concern but I'll be ok, I just want to get to know him. You know how I am with new arrivals, also it's not every day that you meet someone from another dimension. I promise I'll be safe." Garrus leaned over and half-hugged the commander, one which she returned, chuckling as their armor clanked together.
As they separated the sound of a door opening and heavy footsteps could be heard approaching them.
"Ah there's the big guy." Garrus said as Carmine came into view, fully geared and now sleeveless, which Shepard took note of almost instantly, cocking her eyebrow while sneaking looks.
"What happened to the sleeves Carmine?" She teased with a smirk. It grew wider as she watched him nervously scratch the back of his helmet. An action she's grown to find rather cute.
"It's nothing personal, I like all the new clothes I have. Shit it's the first time in over a year since I got new clothes. But when I wear my armor I prefer having nothing on my arms. Enough about me, what was that thing you needed to talk to me about?" Shepard nodded and sat back down on her makeshift seat next to Garrus, motioning Carmine to do so with a crate close to him.
"Before we get out there I need to make a few things clear Carmine." he nodded, noticing the sharp turn of her tone.
"If you're going to be a member of my crew, and be out there on missions with me and your fellow cremates you need to follow my orders. We need to be able to rely on you out there, and we can't do that if you're off on a rampage, slaughtering whatever is in front of you. One of my highest priorities is the safety and good health of my team." Carmine hung his helmet covered head for a moment.
'That means no manic episodes you crazy bastard. Fuck that's going to be tough, not like I choose when it happens, it just...does.'
Carmine let out a low rumble at his thoughts and looks back up to Shepard's waiting eyes. As he looks deep into her icy blues he can see right through her. He could see how much she cares for her crew, and if he was going to be a threat to that she wouldn't hesitate to put him down, he respected that.
"You won't get any problems from me Shepard, your word is law out there." Carmine said as serious as he could.
Shepard narrowed her eyes, a small smile trying to claw its way onto her face, "Take the helmet off and look me in the eyes."
Carmine hesitated for a moment before he hooked his thumb and pointer finger under his faceplate and swung off his helmet. Shepard kept her composure, a light tint coming to her cheeks but her hardened expression remained.
Carmine donned his newest scars from the raven crash with pride. He looked into Shepard's eyes, steel meeting ice.
"I'll be honest with you Shepard, I can't guarantee you that I wont lose myself, to be fair not even my old sergeant or even my friends back home could reel me back in most of the time. But I'll do whatever I can to help keep you and whoever comes with us safe and get the job done. You can count on me out there, I promise you that." Carmine didn't waver under the intense glare of the fierce, young commander.
They sat there for a moment, Garrus believed him. He didn't fully trust the gear yet but he could tell he was a man of his word. He looked into Carmine's steel colored eyes and saw an honest yet troubled man. He also trusted the commander, and if she trusted Carmine, he couldn't be all that bad.
Shepard broke before Carmine, her lips not being to help themselves from curling upward. Carmine flashed a toothy grin, his eyes not leaving hers for a moment.
Carmine broke eye contact first, having heard someone approaching he turned his head to spot their pilot, or who he assumed their pilot was. The small woman met his eyes and blushed lightly as she saluted the commander and headed into the shuttle. Carmine scratched the back of his head, confused with how the pilot was acting.
"Good to know big guy, I know I already said this, but welcome aboard. Now let's go grab ourselves a convict." Shepard said as she sprung up from her seat and extended her hand. Carmine recovered from his confusion and smiled again, meeting her in the middle.
Before they shook Shepard stopped, wanting to clarify one last thing, "Oh and before I forget to ask, if we do get into a combat situation, at least try to avoid going on a rampage. You have that translator now, so no excuses for executing surrendering enemies."
She saw Carmine pause, his face molding into a look of contemplation making her snicker, "I-I'll try my best Shepard. I'm not exactly used to showing mercy. God knows the grubs didn't show us any." Carmine replied as they locked eyes again.
'That's good enough big guy.' she thinks as he finally extends and engulfs her hand in his.
Shepard felt lightning shoot through her hand as Carmine held it in his own. Well, more like completely swallowed it because of their size difference. Even with their armored gloves on Shepard felt his warmth through them.
Shepard visibly shivered for a moment as they shook hands, a smile on each of their faces. Shepard's smile dropped into a cute little pout when Carmine swung his helmet up and back onto his head, something that blew past Carmine but did not go unnoticed by Garrus who looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
As she turned to board the shuttle she noticed him and glared, "Don't say a word."
She poked a finger into his chest as she climbed into the vessel.
"About the pout or-" Shepard grabbed him by the ear and tugged him into the shuttle leaving a confused Carmine to climb aboard last.
The shuttled rumbled gently, making Carmine shift his stance. He checked over his lancer for the 10th time since leaving the Normandy roughly 15 minutes ago.
Carmine felt her eyes on him. His lips turned upward into a small smile and his eyes flipped over to catch the commander. Her icy blue orbs were stuck on him like glue, blissfully unaware that he was staring right back.
She was gently nibbling at her lower lip, her attention attached to his hands and arms as he worked over his treasured firearm. Thoughts running rampant.
Of course he didn't make his staring quite so noticeable as his hands worked along the blade of his lancer's chainsaw bayonet, checking each tooth. His helmet was tilted downward as if he was deeply enthralled in the mindless activity.
"You alright commander? Been staring an awfully long time." Shepard jumped in her seat eliciting a hearty laugh from the gear as well as Garrus.
Shepard wrinkled her nose and glared at the two. "Very funny, and for your information I wasn't staring. I...spaced out, yeah." she defended, crossing her arms.
"Is that what they're calling it now?" Garrus asks with a raised eyebrow and matching smirk.
Shepard let out a huff and stood, opening her omni-tool, "Enough about that, let's go over the details one last time. We are headed toward The Purgatory prison ship for a prisoner named Jack. A powerful biotic wanted for crimes that include vandalism, piracy, murder, kidnapping, you get the picture. This is supposed to be a clean job. Cerberus has fronted the funds and paid for the prisoner, so all we have to do is get in, get Jack, and get out. Clear?"
"Crystal Shepard." Garrus's monotone voice reverberated through the small shuttle.
"What do you mean paid for?" Carmine asked with a scratch to the back of his helmet.
"The way this prison operates is that any inmate they capture can be sold if the price is right. I'm told the warden isn't one to be trifled with. So Carmine," Shepard looked to his blue lenses, "Behave yourself."
Her comment about criminals being sold off to whoever had the money to buy them rubbed him the wrong way, but he shrugged it off, 'Hell we shot most of our so called criminals. So hey, who am I to judge?'
"Yes ma'am." Carmine gave a small salute and snapped his lancer on his back. Shepard smiled and turned her back to the two men.
Shepard chatted with the pilot of the shuttle. From what Carmine heard it was about an emergency pickup if needed. He took a seat across from Garrus and leaned back, his helmet clacking gently against the metal wall of the shuttle.
"Heh, be careful Carmine. Don't wanna ding that helmet up anymore than it already is. I just ordered those parts you mentioned before we left." joked Garrus.
Carmine snickered at Garrus and focused on the turian, who was preoccupied tweaking his sniper rifle.
"Don't worry, this piece of metal has lasted long enough, one more mission won't do it in." Carmine retorted as he leaned forward, pressing his forearms into his knees.
"From what I saw back on Omega you're a pretty good shot." Garrus turned his attention to the large man across from him and noticed Carmine's focus seemed to be on the sniper rifle.
"Thank you Carmine, I pride myself on my marksmanship. Especially since I've been able to outshoot just about everyone I've ever met, including the commander." Garrus said with a smirk as an irritated Shepard made her way back to the two and took a seat next to Garrus.
"It was one time Garrus, and I'm almost positive you cheated." She poked an angry finger into his armored shoulder and smiled. She was happy that Garrus was making an attempt at getting along with the gear.
"Keep making excuses Shepard. Though it would be pretty poetic if the big guy was able to outshoot me." Carmine shook his head at Garrus's remark.
"Don't think I can chicken head?" Carmine shot back.
"Chicken head? Ah I see, very funny. Personally I think you're a great shot, as long as the target is two feet in front of you." Shepard chuckled at the jabs each man gave, earning a playful side glance from the turian next to her.
"Let's settle this then, most kills at the end of a mission wins. Even if this one goes smooth I don't doubt we'll be working together again at some point." Carmine proposed, leaning a bit closer to the two of them, which didn't take much effort considering he took up a decent amount of space in the shuttle.
Shepard eyed Garrus curiously, he seemed rather intimidated by Carmine when they spoke on the ship. Perhaps her conversation with Carmine gave Garrus the confidence to extend the olive branch.
Shepard usually didn't enjoy killing, but even she seemed interested in Carmine's proposal. Even if she thought Garrus was a 'smug son of a bitch who almost definitely cheated' he still beat her, and was one of the most accomplished marksman she has ever known.
"You're on helmet head. If you win, I'll waive the fee for any future repairs I will no doubt have to preform on your gear. But if I win, you have come out drinking with me."
Carmine rubbed the bottom of his chin for a moment and hummed, "You've got a deal." Clay extended his hand confidently, and the two shook on it.
Shepard smiled as she watched the two men continue to talk. It wouldn't be much longer until they were at their destination, so she closed her eyes and listened to the deep hum of Carmine's voice. Extremely content with how well the two men were getting along.
"Commander, we're 5 minutes out." The pilot of the shuttle announced. Shepard opened her eyes, releasing a deep breath she wasn't aware she had been holding in.
"You two ready?" Shepard turned to her two squad mates and smirked when Carmine enthusiastically nodded his head, already standing next to the shuttle door to her right, head almost scraping against the ceiling. She saw Garrus chuckle and rolled her eyes when he nudged her arm gently with his elbow.
"Last reminder to stay cool and follow my lead. We'll be in and out in no time." Shepard dropped her smirk and made her way off the shuttle.
"God damn, are all your prisons this big? Or is this just a space prison thing? Do you guys have normal prisons?" Shepard smirked at Carmine's questions as the three made their way into a hallway leading deeper into the Purgatory. The large man's helmet covered head was looking around rather curiously.
Shepard was quick to answer him, "We do have regular prisons Carmine, but not usually this big. From what I've heard this is a private facility with some of the most dangerous inhabitants you can find. Which is why it's so large."
Garrus hums before asking a question, "So Carmine, what were your prisons like back where you're from? You being from a different dimension and all." Shepard turned her head to look over at Carmine, wanting the answer almost as much as Garrus.
Carmine scratched the back of his helmet as they walked, "Well, we did have normal prisons, none in space obviously. Pretty similar to this to be honest. But for the most part, by the time I enlisted anyway, prisons weren't used much."
Shepard looked at him puzzled, "What do you mean?"
His helmeted head tilted over to the pair for a moment, "I enlisted when the war was already seven years deep. By then we needed every able bodied man and woman, anyone who could fight. So naturally with the odds stacked against us, the COG turned to the prisons. Ironically my sergeant was one of those people released to fight, Marcus Fenix, great guy."
Shepard looked shocked, and Garrus hummed before his face contorted into a confused expression, "So wait, what would happen to people who were convicted after all that happened?"
Carmine rolled his right shoulder before answering, "Well basic laws weren't a priority anymore. So the only real crime was disobeying a direct order which most likely ended in being shot. Happened to my friend Baird once, I still don't know how he got out of all that mess." Carmine spoke low and in confused tone at the end.
Both Garrus and Shepard looked between themselves with shocked expressions, 'If you disobey orders you get shot!? Things must have been worse than even Carmine said if they resorted to executing their own troops.' Shepard mulled over what Carmine had said in her mind, Garrus seemingly doing the same.
Carmine looked to his companions and frowned for a moment noticing their concerned faces. He felt like he'd said too much but quickly shook off the feeling before scoffing to himself, 'Fuck it, they did want to know after all. I don't need or want their sympathy.'
The three approached the end of the hallway in silence and came to a checkpoint with a few of the prison's guards. One guard spoke up once in range.
"You must be commander Shepard, Jack is awaiting pickup. You just simply have to turn over your firearms before entering." he spoke calmly, as if he'd done it a thousand times over.
Carmine was the first to speak, obviously not interested in the idea, "Fuck that, I've never willingly given my guns to anyone I didn't trust. That ain't about to change, 'specially for these grubs." Shepard was quick to step in between him and the guards, placing a hand on his chest plate just above the Grub Killer paint job. Effectively making the big man back down with a stern look.
Carmine took a step back as he snatched his lancer off his back and held it in both hands rather tight, Garrus following suit with his custom rifle. Shepard held her M-6 Carnifex in her hand as well, all three of them not comfortable going unarmed.
"Sorry but that's not going to happen." Shepard says facing the prison guards.
"Hold it, everyone calm down." the warden made himself known as he appeared in the doorway leading into the prison's depths.
"Commander Shepard, I'm warden Kuril, I apologize for the inconvenience but it's simply standard procedure. Someone of your position can understand that."
Shepard narrowed her eyes at the turian. "And someone in your position can understand I'm not giving up my guns." she said firmly, the hand wrapped around her pistol audible tightening.
The two locked eyes until Kuril finally gave in and looked away with a sigh, "Fine, our facility is advanced enough to deal with three armed individuals. Let them through."
Shepard displayed a smug smile as the guards stood down. The warden disappeared back through the doorway motioning them to follow before he'd left.
'Damn, Shepard can be pretty scary when she needs to be. Hmm, small but strong. Why does that seem so familiar?' Carmine thought with slight shock at the verbal dominance from the woman.
Carmine placed his hand on her shoulder and looked down to her, her head immediately snapped to him upon contact, "Great intimidation Shepard. Just in time too, was going to introduce these grubs to my saw." Shepard looked down bashfully for a moment as Carmine's heat soaked through her shoulder armor.
"Well I'm glad you didn't big guy. Come on let's go." Shepard said with a smile as the three followed the warden into the next section of the prison.
Shepard was slightly disappointed in the lack of warmth after Carmine took his gauntleted hand back, but they really needed to get going, 'The longer we're here the chances of Carmine disemboweling someone rises...god that's a crazy thing to think about.' she sighs and walks first through the doorway.
Garrus and Carmine trailed behind the commander and warden, both parties a fair distance from the other. Carmine was keeping a keen ear open incase the warden said something worthwhile.
The warden places a hand on his ear for a moment then looks to Shepard as they walk, "We're taking Jack out of cryo as we speak. As soon as the funds clear you can be on your way. If you feel so inclined, follow me to outprocessing for the pickup commander."
"After you warden." Shepard says dismissively, her eyes surveying the prison complex. Something didn't feel right to her. She pushed the feeling down for the moment but unbeknownst to her, Garrus and Carmine felt the exact same way.
The pair stood behind her and Carmine gazed in pure shock at the sheer size of the prison, 'Damn, that's a looooot of grubs. Eh I could take them.' he smirked under his helmet at the thought.
Garrus tapped the big man on the bicep with the butt of his rifle, effectively grabbing his attention as he turned his helmeted head toward Garrus, "Hey Carmine, do you use kinetic barriers by chance?"
The big man scratched the back of his helmet and shook his head, "No? I don't think I know what that is so I'm going to say no." Garrus chuckles for a moment.
He takes out a small device out from under his armor and shows Carmine, "This is a kinetic barrier, it helps protect someone from mass accelerator weapons. But if dealt enough damage it can break, needing time to recharge." Carmine let out a low hum.
"I think I remember reading something about that. So it helps protect you from those toys you guys carry right?" Carmine juts his finger toward Garrus's rifle. Garrus lets out a small gasp and clutches his sniper rifle like it's his first born child.
"Don't worry darling he didn't mean it." the pair share a small laugh before Garrus continues.
"Jokes aside yes, although shots from higher caliber weapons like my baby here and heavy artillery will shred the shield." Carmine nods his head and overhears Shepard and the warden talking about the prison's history.
'Christ that shit is boring. Hmm, Anthony probably would've like it though...' Carmine looks down at his right arm and reaches his left hand up to gently tap on Anthony's helmet.
He shakes his head free of those thoughts, dropping his arm back down. Something new comes to mind though as he glances toward the turian at his side.
"Hey Garrus," the turian looks back to Carmine, having been observing a few cells as they walked by.
"What's with all this friendly banter? First the shuttle, now here? I thought you didn't trust me." Garrus smirked at the big man.
"Hmph, pretty perceptive. Shepard seems to trust you, and if I can be honest, she's one of the best commanders I've ever served under. Next to being a great friend to me. If she trusts you, then I don't see why I can't." Carmine smiled under his helmet.
Carmine isn't one to trust fast, but his 6th sense was tingling, he could tell Garrus and Shepard were being genuine with him, so in his mind there's no reason he shouldn't reciprocate that.
"Feeling is mutual Garrus. Oh and I really am sorry for almost taking off that head of yours. I really thought you were a grub back on Omega. It doesn't help that you look like a Kantus."
Garrus quirked his eyebrow, "I'm going to take that as your apology, and I accept it. What the hell is a Kantus?"
Carmine lets a soft sigh slip from his lips, "It's would be best if we talk about that some other time Garrus." he says as his shoulder's tense at the mentioning of the locust priest.
Garrus notices Carmine's slight change in demeanor and decides to leave it alone. "Sounds good to me big guy. Maybe over that drink you'll owe me."
Before doing anything else Garrus decides to extend his hand to the gear, "Garrus Vakarian, glad to have you on board."
Carmine snickers and shakes his head before shaking the turian's hand, "Clayton Carmine. I'm glad to be here chicken head."
The pair share a laugh and nod to one another, continuing in silence.
Carmine took a more in depth look around at the seemingly endless sea of prison cells. Each holding all sorts of humans and different species of aliens, many of which he recognizes from his research.
He scowled at the smells around him, letting his nose wander. His eyes skim over some inmates, 'Christ there are some ugly ass grubs in this place. How in the hell would someone want to sleep with something that smells and looks as bad as that!?' he cringed at the thought while he eyed a vorcha.
Quickly looking away, Carmine catches Shepard's sweet scent and smiles, noticing that she's stopped walking.
The warden held a finger to his earpiece. Carmine tuned his hearing to try and get a grasp of what was being said, only catching a snippet.
"The containment cell is ready sir, all that's necessary is for them to reach outproccessing." the warden looked toward them all, stopping to look particularly long at both Shepard and Carmine.
Carmine didn't like what he heard through the warden's earpiece, gripping his lancer rather tight in his right hand and letting a low rumble sit in his chest as the warden's eyes scraped over him.
"I'll catch you later Shepard, something requires my immediate attention." Kuril bids them farewell and disappears into another section of the prison. Shepard's shoulders tense for a moment and she doesn't speak until Kuril is fully out of earshot.
"Keep your eyes open, both of you. I don't like this one bit. Kuril gave me directions to outprocessing, it should be further down this way. Let's get moving." Garrus and Carmine nod, following Shepard as she makes her way toward outprocessing.
Along the way the trio pass two guards, one of which is beating the living piss out of a prisoner as the other watches.
Carmine's quiet laugh was muffled by his helmet, 'Ha, poor fucker.' his humor was not shared however as he looked and saw concern written on Garrus and the commander's faces. He shrugged as Shepard stepped forward trying to convince them to stop wailing on the prisoner.
She was able to talk the two down and save the prisoner from the continued beating, "Nice job Shepard." Garrus said as they continued walking.
They were stopped a second time by a prisoner leaning through the bars of their cell.
"Hey, if you're buying prisoners, can you buy me?" Shepard stopped in her tracks.
Carmine was taken aback by what the prisoner said, "Are the prisoners here like whores or something?"
Garrus broke out laughing at the big man's question while Shepard blushed, a shocked expression etched onto her pale face. She shook her head and turned to the prisoner.
"What do you know about Jack?"
The prisoner spit on Garrus's boot before starting, "The worst trouble you ever saw mixed in with crazy and waaay too much biotic power." the prisoner explains as Garrus groans, taking a healthy step back from the cell.
Shepard rubbed her chin with an armored hand, 'Seems this Jack has a reputation for being rather...unhinged. Eh I can get used to a little crazy now and then.' she stares up at Carmine with a knowing smile and slightly narrowed eyes. He looks down to her and rubs the back of his helmet.
"What?" he says nervously.
"Oh nothing Carmine," she lets her gaze linger on him for a moment.
"Let's get going, outprocessing shouldn't be much further. Then we can get out of here." Carmine blushes and nods. The two start walking ahead.
Garrus finishes scraping the prisoner goop off his boot and yells out as he catches up to a laughing Carmine and jabs his left bicep with the barrel of his rifle.
Shepard motions for the pair to holster their weapons, the door to outprocessing in sight. They walk through and spot a technician at his station.
The man notices Shepard almost immediately, "The funds have successfully come through commander Shepard, your package is waiting for you in the room at the far end." Shepard thanks the man but feels uneasy.
Garrus shares the feeling, the room seemed out of place to him. Carmine was equally as tense having felt like he was walking into a trap, 'Small room, nowhere to go but back out. Keep your eyes peeled Clayton.'
As Carmine finishes his thought the main door to outprocessing closes behind them, and the door they were directed to opens up, it's a jail cell. Carmine quickly gets his lancer back into his mitts, the other two following suit.
The loudspeaker buzzes and Kuril's voice comes over it. "Sorry Shepard, you're far more valuable to me as a prisoner than a customer. Same for your big friend there. Never seen someone like you before, and that's saying something. All of you drop your weapons and head into the cell, you won't be harmed."
By the time he's done Clayton's blood has sufficiently boiled, and he's itching to kill something, "Oh I'm gonna rip that little fucking grub's spine out." he says with a deep laugh, his knuckles cracking as his hands tighten around his lancer. Shepard tries to talk Kuril out of it to no avail.
The door previously locked behind them whooshes open and eight blue suns mercenaries rush in. The trio quickly take cover.
Disclaimer: this part isn't going to be pretty, you've been warned. Now back to the action.
Garrus quickly snaps out of cover, sighting in he effectively headshots one of the approaching mercs. The man's head snapping backward, a clean hole in his forehead. Garrus's custom rifle was powerful enough to shatter the basic barriers that most grunts had, and he snickered as the rest begin to panic.
They scatter out to find their own cover after the death of their comrade. Shepard does what she does best and takes charge, "Garrus, we're going to take the three on the left, and Carmine-" she pauses and looks to her right, surprised to see a very twitchy Carmine just waiting to be let loose.
"Good to see you haven't jumped the gun Carmine." she says with a smirk, a gravely chuckle coming from the man. She could practically see his bloodlust.
"I'm going to need you to take the four on the right, you got that?" Carmine's head perks up and Shepard can't help but snicker at the cute act.
"I was born to do this, those grubs are as good as dead." his anticipation reached unbearable levels awaiting the go ahead from the commander.
Shepard nodded and got ready, "When there's a break in the fire let them have it."
The three waited as shots peppered their cover, but as soon as it stopped they made their move. Shepard and Garrus popped out for a moment, using the gap in fire as an opportunity to quickly gun down their set of mercs with deadly precision.
When they pulled themselves back into cover Shepard looked to her right and noticed Carmine was missing, "Goddamnit Carmine." she said while facepalming.
Clayton had vaulted his cover with haste and unleashed a hail of gunfire on the closest merc, shredding the man's chest open and spraying blood onto the wall, effectively killing him, 'One down, three to go.'
He snapped into cover as a man and asari steadily approached him, he felt a shot twang the back of his helmet and he growled, "You don't fuck with the helmet grubs!"
He pops out of cover and rushes them kicking the man in the chest, flinging him onto his back. He revs up his lancer and brings it down on the blue woman. She attempts to use her biotic power but Carmine is just too fast.
The asari stands no chance as the lancer's teeth tear through her armor with sickening ease, spilling some of her blue insides onto the floor. The last two mercs fire upon him frantically, but Carmine barely reacted as the rounds whizz by him.
He lets his lancer fall into his left hand, forcing his right up inside the woman's gaping stomach wound, "Oh now THIS is what I've been waiting for!" he yells out as he yanks more of the poor woman's entrails out of her body.
Her limp form crumbling against his massive frame as he slides to the left and lets her tumble to the floor into her own blood and internal organs.
Carmine's adrenaline flowed like a rapid as blue blood dripped from his lancer and hands, 'There you go, only two left, make it good.' his internal voice was egging him on.
The last two mercs, one of which being the man Carmine had kicked back, had taken the time to back the hell up as Carmine butchered the blue woman.
He clips his lancer onto his back as he hears the frantic panicking of the last two mercs, he laughs and slips his gnasher into his hands, closing in on them, "Damn I'm getting sloppy, didn't even notice that grub retreat." he scolded himself.
"Come on out grubs!" he yells to them, they don't reply, and remain behind a turned over table. He shrugs his shoulders, "You don't wanna come to me, so I'll come to you!"
Carmine quickly vaults the cover, bringing his boot down on the first man's face making him skid backwards onto the floor, his avenger flying out of his hands. The second man tries to shoot Clayton who palms the front of his gun and yanks it from his grasp then smashes an elbow into the man's face.
The man recovers rather fast and squares up to Clayton with an undoubtedly broken nose and wobbly knees. Carmine cocks his head to the side and laughs, grabbing the man by the throat with impressive speed.
Carmine puts the gnasher to his waistline and pops a shell in the man, shredding him in half. The man yells in pain as most of his organs begin to fall from the torn open maw that used to be his lower body.
Clayton chuckles and throws the man's body up, quickly cocking his shotgun and blasting the man into meaty chunks and scraps of clothes. Clay wasn't safe from the splash of viscera.
"Blood is one thing, but grub chunks are always the hardest to wash out." he groans while wiping a bit of brain off the front of his helmet. He slips his gnasher on his back and looks to the last merc.
He pulls out his lancer, grinning from ear to ear, "Oh it's time to kill something."
The man looks up to him with fear in his eyes as Carmine's blood soaked lancer comes into view. He begins to beg for his life.
"Please don't kill me, I promise you'll never see me again. I-I'll turn my life around, go straight and narrow I promise!" his begging only makes Carmine angrier, his world view shifting, the darkness of the hollow creeping into his peripherals.
Garrus and Shepard have watched the entire display with a mix of shock, wonder, and disgust, 'How is he so fast? The big guy is over seven feet tall but moves faster than I do!? And his weapons are the most brutal things I've ever seen, a kinetic barrier can't even withstand one shot from his lancer, let alone that shotgun.'
Shepard quickly snaps out of her stupor and notices Carmine slowly closing in on the man. She quickly rushes toward the gear with Garrus in tow.
'No, you don't get to live. None of you walk away.' Carmine thinks with a sickening smile behind his helmet as he plants a boot on the now crying man's neck and revs his lancer, inching it toward the man's belly.
Darkness closed in on his view, and the man beneath his boot began to change. His plea began to shift into that of a locust drone, the deep and distorted cries only fueling the fire that raged inside him
"Carmine! Stop!" he hears Shepard but his thirst for locust blood ignores her. She won't let him execute an unarmed man begging for mercy. She pulls her handgun and aims it at him, "Don't make me do this Carmine!"
Garrus follows suit and points his rifle at him. "Come on Carmine it's not worth it." he pleads for the man's life.
Clayton pauses, the lancer mere inches from tasting intestines, 'No! What are you doing! You can't let this grub go! You make sure every one of them is dead before you walk away, you swore to that!'
His mental battle rages on, but he latches onto Shepard's voice as she speaks up, "Come on big guy, let's go, he's beaten and done. We have to find Jack and get out of here. Please."
With that last plea Carmine snaps free of his bloodlust, he blinks a few times and the darkness fades from his eyes. The locust drone beneath him slowly turns back into a man.
Carmine carefully steps off the man's neck, who immediately goes into a coughing fit. Shepard and Garrus share a relived sigh.
As they're about to go over to him, Carmine pulls back and boots the man in the face hard, scattering a few teeth on the ground, "Carmine!" Shepard yells and charges him, ready to lay into him.
As she gets to his side, gun still pointed at him, she notices the man is still breathing. She also takes note of Carmine who is noticeably tense, "You said I couldn't kill him. Didn't say anything about knocking him out, teeth included."
Shepard lets out a small groan at him and punches him hard in the arm, "You're crazy Carmine."
He looks down to her and narrows his eyes, "I'm crazy!? You're trying to break someone out of a max security space prison." Shepard raises a finger and opens her mouth but nothing comes out.
"You know, he's got a point there Shepard. If he's crazy what does that make you?" Garrus says with a smirk. The commander grumbles for a second, a light pink on her cheeks.
"Alright you two, let's go get Jack and get out of here." she quickly changes the topic.
"You need a shower." Clayton smirks at her as she points at him and she wrinkles her nose before smiling warmly at the gear.
They exit the room and pause, Shepard quickly spotting the door to the security controls, "Come on, quick. Let's get in there."
The trio make their way over and stand guard as Shepard hacks the door. They don't wait long as the door whooshes open and Shepard steps inside first, spotting a technician with a gun aimed straight toward her.
However before she can react she gets pushed to the ground, turning her head to catch Carmine take the bullet to his right shoulder. He lets his right hand free of his lancer and swiftly retaliates, pulling his boltok at lightning speeds and aiming.
With a smooth pull of the trigger the large hand cannon booms and the technician crumples to the ground clutching at a giant hole in his chest.
He clips his lancer to his back and looks to Shepard with worry, 'Shit maybe I pushed her a little too hard? Nah, got her out of the way. That's all that matters. Hmm I'm getting deja vu.'
While she was impressed by the fast reflexes of Carmine. She was also incredibly angry with him. She rose back up to her feet and quickly stomped over to him and punched his injured arm, getting a slight flinch from the big guy, "Jeeze Louise what did I do?"
Shepard fought back her urge to smile at his response to her punch. She scowled at him, "I don't need to be protected Carmine. I'm more than capable of protecting myself."
Carmine was visibly confused as his helmet tilted to the side, making Garrus chuckle and shake his head as he passes the pair.
He went further ahead to inspect the security room's control panels, "Tsk tsk Carmine, you've done it now." his words only confusing the gear even further.
Shepard rolls her eyes at Garrus's comment and continues with Carmine, "You didn't have to do that, my shield would've stopped the bullet." she says sternly while crossing her arms.
Carmine rubbed the back of his helmet and let out a sigh, 'Ah fuck I forgot about those barrier things Garrus was talking about.'
"I'm sorry Shepard, I suppose it's just an old habit." he said with a small nervous chuckle. Shepard dropped her scowl and arms as she tucked a stray set of hairs behind her ear. She sighed and smiled at the fact he was willing to take a bullet for his fellow squad mates.
'It must come from his time during the war. I imagine what happened to his family made him quite protective of his team.' she felt sad for a moment at the thought of what Carmine has gone through.
Shepard beamed up at the big man, who visibly relaxed upon seeing her change in expression, knowing he wasn't in deep water anymore.
"It's alright Carmine," she notices the bullet wound on his shoulder leaking a small amount of blood and frowns for a moment.
"You gonna be alright?" she says pointing toward his wound.
She hears him scoff, "This is nothing but a flesh wound Shepard, I'm all good. Would rather me get shot than you." he replies with a shrug, shocking the commander.
'A flesh wound!? A shot like that would stop a normal marine any day of the week. God you're durable big guy' she was impressed by Carmine's ability to take damage, sure she'd gotten a small peek back on Omega but taking a round and barely blinking was a whole other level.
"I personally would rather none of us get shot you bullet magnet." she says with a small smile as she looks into his helmeted covered eyes.
"Nothing you wouldn't have done for either me or Garrus." he says confidently as he pops open the chamber of his boltok and replaces the round while maintaining eye contact with the commander.
"As true as that statement is I can't have you getting injured when you can avoid it, I can take care of myself. I don't want you spilling any more blood for no reason understand?" he nodded to her with a hidden smirk behind his helmet.
Shepard returned the nod and walked over to Garrus at the control panels, Carmine joining her a second later, still fiddling with the chamber of his boltok.
"Goddamn latch." she heard him mutter.
"Shepard if you hack this panel it should release Jack, but it's also going to release every other prisoner on this block." Garrus says while adjusting the scope on his rifle.
"Ooo, that'll be a lot of grubs to go through." Carmine's excited tone wasn't lost on the commander who only snickered and shook her head at his eagerness, especially after being shot.
The commander took a moment to think before looking at her team, "It seems this is the only way to get Jack out under the circumstances. You're right though Carmine, it's going to be a lot of bodies between us and the exit. Not just prisoners but guards as well. The whole prison will be gunning to get Jack as well as us. Are you two with me?" she ends her question expectantly.
"Ah, it's never a dull moment with you Shepard. How could I refuse?" Garrus smirked at her and tapped her shoulder with his own. Jane looked to her old friend and smiled.
"How about you Carmine?" she looked over to the large man with confidence. He swung the chamber closed and spun his revolver before holstering it, pulling his lancer back into his large hands.
"Oh hell yes!" he replies with vigor causing Shepard and Garrus to smile and chuckle at his enthusiasm.
"Then get ready, I'm starting the hack." Shepard says while pulling up her omni-tool and getting to work on the panel. A few seconds pass before they see a machine start to move from their vantage point, a layer of glass separates them from the room containing Jack's cell.
The machine moves to Jack's cryo tube and begins unlocking it. Carmine is quick to notice the mechs mobilizing to stop Jack from breaking out, "Three big metal grubs incoming." he says with anticipation dripping from each word.
The front of the cryo tube pops off and an inebriated Jack lay chained inside. Carmine scratched the back of his neck, Garrus also does a double take and raises an eyebrow.
"I can't tell if that's Jack or not Shepard." Garrus says while rubbing his chin.
"Is Jack a man or a woman? Because I can't tell with those tattoos all over them." Carmine continues to ponder but before anyone can answer him Jack's eyes open, pulsing blue with raw biotic energy. The chains that confine her glow and snap off as she falls out of the tube.
She manages to catch herself but wobbles. As she recovers she looks up and sees not only the three mechs waiting for her, but mysterious blue lights coming from the control room. She shakes away her confusion before yelling and charging the mechs, blue enveloping her body as she gets closer.
The ground beneath Shepard rumbles and Carmine chuckles, "Well whatever they are, I'm a fan of their style."
Shepard smirks at the big man and leads the trio to a set of stairs which takes them into the room Jack was locked in. The three mechs lay torn apart near a large hole in the wall where Shepard assumes Jack escaped through.
"Quick, we have to catch up with Jack." Shepard motioned to the hole and climbed through into a hallway. Rubble was scattered in the hallway by the opening. A piece of which Carmine nearly trips on as he hops down. He growls before punting the scrap.
Shepard shakes her head and muffles her laugh as they proceed down the hallway. As they make their way through, the loudspeaker pipes up again, "All guards restore order! Jack as well as the commander and her team are loose in the facility! Lethal force is authorized but do not kill Jack!"
Carmine's lips turned upward into a sadistic smiled, "Oh this is about to get real fun." Shepard looked back to Clayton and rolled her eyes playfully.
"You've got a strange idea of fun Carmine. Let's keep going, can't be too far from Jack," the trio continue in silence.
"Sectors seven, nine, and eleven have lost life support, there are no survivors," the ship's computer says over the loudspeaker in a monotone voice. As the three listen to the broadcast they come upon a blocked off section of the hallway, clearly Jack's doing.
"You know I appreciate the girl's methods, but she lacks subtlety." Garrus jokes, making Carmine look over to him with a titled head.
"Wait so that IS a woman?" Shepard eyes him with a raised eyebrow.
"Can you really not tell? I thought you have enhanced senses?" Shepard asks out of curiosity. She notices the faint tint of red coming to his neck and smirks.
"I have good eyes but like I said, those tattoos are covering her so I couldn't really tell." Shepard chuckles and shakes her head.
'Your eyes are better than good, those steel puppies probably killed the ladies back where you're from.' she thinks with a small sigh, shaking her head lightly for a moment to get back on track.
Garrus smirks at the small interaction before a hail of gunfire snaps them all in the direction of a large crack the wall next to them. Carmine could tell from the sound of it that the guards and prisoners were getting into it. He smiled wide at the thought of tearing apart some more grubs.
The three made their way through the crack, it being a rather tight fit for Carmine. They came upon a catwalk overlooking the battlefield as the prisoners they were forced to let out were fighting against the guards. The trio snagged covered as they surveyed the massive room.
Carmine was quick to spot Jack at the very far end as she rushed through a doorway, bringing down a section of rubble in the process to cover her tracks, "Shepard, had eyes on Jack. She disappeared in that doorway at the far end."
Shepard nodded, "Nicely done Carmine," the commander pulled up her omni-tool and checked the map of the prison, "Jack's headed to the hangar, which is good on one hand because the warden almost definitely locked that area down."
Garrus sighed, "But bad because she'll have herself cornered. We have to get to her soon, Kuril won't be far off her tail."
Shepard analyzed the map for a moment longer. Meanwhile with every gunshot, every injury, and every death that he overheard from the fight just below them, Carmine's lust for battle grew.
With a loud boom the trio peaked over their cover to see a mech burst through a wall making Shepard smirk, "Perfect, that will speed things up. We're going to have to get through that hole and into the next room. That area has much easier access to the hangar."
"Alright but how are we getting there? There are a lot of angry people and a mech between us and the next room. We could probably sneak by if they haven't noticed us yet." Garrus said while aiming his rifle, surveying the carnage just below.
"I say we kill them all." Carmine said clutching his lancer rather tight. Shepard shot a glare at the man.
"Well we're not doing that. Garrus stay up here and provide sniper cover, Carmine and I will hit the ground floor and carve a path through to the next area. This catwalk leads right to the hole in the wall so we'll group back up there." Shepard ordered, making Carmine shrug and vault their cover, smacking down onto the floor and holding the area down for Shepard when she decides to jump.
Shepard sighs, "I should probably get down there." Garrus chuckled at her and focused back to his rifle which he cleanly mounted on the railing.
"I'll start taking shots when you engage. Be safe Shepard." Shepard nodded to him and followed Carmine, who upon seeing her leap off the the catwalk was quick to spring into action, snapping his lancer to his back and catching her around the waist. His hands fitting snuggly around the commander.
They stood there for a moment, his hands wrapped firmly around her armor covered middle.
"Do I weigh anything to you?" Shepard asked with a smirk, her empty hand instinctively holding onto his shoulder for support.
"N-no, not really." he says embarrassed as he puts her down and rubs the back of his helmet. She lets out a small laugh before looking back up to Carmine.
"Another habit of yours, catching falling damsels?" Shepard jokes with an added snicker as Carmine narrows his eyes at her.
"Maybe I'll drop you next time smart ass." Shepard let out a small snort followed by a full blown laugh.
'If she didn't have such a nice laugh I'd fuck with her for snorting.' Carmine thinks with a smirk of his own.
The cute moment is interrupted by a bullet whizzing by Carmine's head. He immediately gets into cover, practically dragging Shepard with him, "Whoa! Good save big guy. I don't want you going crazy but it would be best if we split their attention between the both of us."
"Got it Shepard." Carmine says while listening closely. A prisoner was inching close to their cover. Clay's head was fully turned away from her. The commander could see how much he was itching to kill.
"Carmine," Shepard says making his head snap back to her, "Be careful." she jabs her small pointer finger into the front of his faceplate, tracing one of the claw mark.
He smiled deviously, "You don't have to worry about me cherry." he says warmly before vaulting their cover and smashing his boot into the prisoner who got too close for comfort. The man slammed into the ground and tried to sprawl away on his stomach.
"Where do you think you're going!?" Carmine yelled out as he hoisted the man up, taking him as a meat shield as he pulled out his boltok.
Shepard smiled for a moment before pressing her pointer and middle finger to the communicator in her ear, "Time to get to work. You got eyes on us Garrus?"
"It would be kind of hard to miss you two down there, especially the seven foot tall giant." Garrus responded. Shepard rolled her eyes at his comment.
The booms of Carmine's boltok were unmistakable, and Shepard decided it was probably time to dig into whatever Carmine left behind.
Carmine had already dropped three prisoners. Large bloody holes marring whatever was left of their lungs.
*BANG*
Make that four. The fourth in question had its arm torn completely off as Clayton advanced further. He watched as the prisoner began yelling in pain.
The laugh that came from the gear made Shepard shiver. It was a deep, menacing noise that rustled her bones.
She blushed to herself, 'Why the hell does the sight of Carmine looming over his enemies make me more attracted to him?'
Shepard growled at herself as a bullet flew just above her head, 'Get your damn head in the game Jane, kill first, look at him later.'
She nodded at her own instructions and pulled out her avenger. She popped out of cover providing support to Carmine who was being lit up by a couple guards.
Shepard quickly unleashed a swarm of rounds into the pair, killing them far cleaner than her big friend would have.
Carmine groaned as his meat shield began to fall apart, the man long since passed out from the shock of being shot at least a dozen times, and his left leg was almost completely amputated from the gunfire.
"Aww come on don't quit on me so soon little fella." disappointment laced his words.
Carmine shrugged and dropped the now one legged carcass to the floor, getting his lancer back into his hands as he grabbed cover. Garrus spotted a prisoner with a knife sneaking up on Carmine, gunfire peppering the large crate he was behind.
Just as Garrus slipped his finger on the trigger Carmine quickly went out of cover to grab the asari and pulled her into cover with him. His lancer now gripped in his left hand.
Garrus watched through his scope as Carmine easily snapped the woman's arm, the bone protruded from her jumpsuit, and her knife clattered to the floor. The woman began to yell as fresh blue blood squirted onto Carmine's chest armor. Garrus grimaced, turning his sights to the guards that had been shooting at Carmine.
"Oh will you just shut the hell up!" Carmine groaned out as the woman weakly punched him with her working hand. He chuckled before dropping her ruined arm and pushing her back away from him. She stumbled and grabbed at her damaged arm before looking at Carmine only to be met with a revving chainsaw bayonet.
The metal teeth tore through the small woman's neck like a hot knife through butter. She was left only to gurgle and spit up blood as Carmine's lancer tore through her spine and severed her head which surprisingly stayed atop her body.
Carmine kicked the wobbling body of the asari, her head flying off as her corpse smashed into the cold floor, splattering a mess of blue from her neck stump.
Carmine realized he was almost fully out of cover but the guards who'd been shooting at him were frozen. He turned to them, the smell of fresh blood and fear were almost too much for the gear to handle.
It took every ounce of willpower he had to keep himself in check, 'I told Shepard I'd do my best but fuck! I have to make them bleed, make them pay!'
Carmine smiled like a psychopath and raised his lancer, two shots rang out and the guards dropped dead, but Carmine hadn't pulled the trigger. He laughed to himself and glanced back to where Garrus was camped out.
Clayton made sure to follow the golden rule and get himself back into cover before pressing his fingers to the side of his helmet, "Nice shooting Garrus but you'll have to kill a lot more grubs than that to keep up with me."
"We'll see about that big guy." the monotone voice of Garrus filled Carmine's helmet.
'This omni-tool is the tits. With the radio in my helmet connected to it, it's just like talking to control back home.' he thinks with a smirk.
Carmine was torn from his small nostalgia trip by a bullet bouncing off his back armor, "Fucking grub!"
Carmine quickly traced where the round came from and unleashed some lead rain into a prisoner. Blood explodes from the prisoner's chest as they're shred to ribbons.
Shepard hustles her way into cover closer to Carmine, who was busy unleashing his lancer onto any unfortunate soul that wandered into his path. He stopped to reload, gathering himself. The two locked eyes and nodded to one another.
Shepard and her team rinsed and repeated the process. Carmine drawing fire, and Shepard capitalizing on the distractions as they advanced further through the room. Garrus picked off anyone unlucky enough to still be alive.
Garrus didn't want to admit it but Carmine was severely out killing him.
Speak of the devil, Carmine skewered a vorcha prisoner on his lancer and chucked him over his shoulder before getting into cover. Garrus put the vorcha out of its misery as Shepard found her own cover a solid distance behind the gear.
She noticed they were close to the breach in the wall, one more push would get them there. However she also noticed the massive mech that was currently shredding apart a group of prisoners.
"Carmine wait!" she was a step too late to warn the gear before he charged back into the fray.
"Come on! Shoot me like you mean it grubs!" Carmine ran into the open, firing small bursts of bullets at the plethora of guards near the end of the room. He was quick to spot the large mech as it turned to face him. Carmine faced the mech head on and smiled, squeezing the trigger of his lancer.
A few rounds managed to pierce the metal flesh of the mech before Carmine's lancer ran dry, "Ah fuck my life." he muttered. The mech lifted its guns and fired.
Carmine was fast though, diving away into cover, "Oh if I had my mulcher you'd be nothing but bits you overgrown tin can." he said angrily as he reloaded his lancer.
Clay sighed as he loaded his last magazine. He put the gun away and spotted a prisoner cowering in fear close by.
Clay grabbed the man by the back of the neck and dragged him over to his cover, putting the barrel of his boltok against the prisoner's head, "Don't worry pal, you don't struggle and I won't shoot ya. Got it?"
The prisoner nodded furiously and Carmine let out a deep chuckle. Garrus came over the coms, "Hey can I get a little help!?"
Carmine's head whipped up to look for Garrus and he bared his teeth as he saw the turian battling over his sniper rifle with a prisoner.
Garrus had been pushed up against the railing, his rifle being used at leverage to keep him pinned, "Carmine I'm a bit busy at the moment, go help Garrus!"
Shepard's voice hit his ears and he looked over to her, her cover was being berated by the mech, which had made its way past Carmine, slowly advancing and overwhelming the commander
Carmine's blood reached its boiling point, 'You grubs will never understand. You fuck with my team, you fucking die! I don't give two fucks if I've only known them a couple days. It's MY job to protect them!'
With a growl he wrapped his arm around the prisoner's throat and took him as a meat shield. Clay then thrusts himself into the open and quickly kills two guards.
Carmine then shoots the mech in a joint behind it's leg making it wobble as the lead tears the appendage up pretty bad.
The mech slowly turned itself to look at Carmine giving Shepard ample time to pop out of cover and finish off the prison guards left in the immediate area.
Clay yelled, "That's it, look at me you mechanical motherfucker!"
"You move and I'll kill you myself." he threatens before pushing his meat shield out toward the mech and turning to look at Garrus who was almost fully pushed off the catwalk. He was far away, but Carmine was confident in his aim.
He held the boltok in both hands and steadied himself, he took a deep breath in and let it go slow. Applying pressure to the trigger as the breath left his lungs.
Garrus was starting to panic a little as he fought off the huge prisoner.
'Well, he's not bigger than Carmine. But this asshole is way bigger than me.' he thinks while struggling to keep his footing.
With a loud gunshot and a blink of an eye the prisoner was gone, and a surprisingly clean Garrus regained his foothold on the catwalk. Garrus grimaced as the large man lay dead.
His head was completely split down the middle, two flappy bits of skin and skull fragments were all that remained on either side as crimson ran down the metallic grooves of the catwalk.
Garrus let out a relived sigh as he readjusted himself and took aim, "Thanks for the assist Carmine. Oh shit look out!"
Garrus fired a round into the mech who was now facing the prisoner in front of Carmine. The man was following his orders, completely frozen in fear as the mech began firing.
The metal slugs were slightly buffered by the prisoner's body as Carmine turned back to the mech trying to heed Garrus's warning. He was a bit too late though. The meat shield was torn to ribbons in seconds leaving Carmine to suffer the end of the mech's barrage.
Carmine felt the rounds hit his right side followed by stinging pain as he covered his head with his arms, diving to his left into cover. The mech's heavy guns were formidable.
Shepard was quick to try and reach the big man as she watched him dive away from the gunfire. Checking the area, she saw only the mech and a few guards left standing in her way of finding Jack, or more importantly getting to her injured squad mate.
"Carmine? Report private! Carmine, you better not be fucking dead!" Shepard yelled over the radio. Carmine chuckled as he let himself sit on the floor while his cover was being battered.
'None of my old C.O.'s besides Marcus gave a fuck if I got shot. Nice to know she wasn't just bullshitting me.' he thinks while reloading his boltok, holstering it after closing the chamber.
He took a look down at himself and was surprised that his chest armor was barely even scratched, "Damn, I guess the guns here really are toys." he says with a small laugh before pain bites into his right side like a hungry wretch, making him gasp lightly.
Clayton reaches up under the armor on his right side and winces, there were at least four slugs that snuck under his armor and were leaking fresh crimson. Carmine pulled his hand out and saw the sticky red blood covering most of his gauntleted fingers.
"You're really starting to piss me off tin can." he says with a snarl as he clenches his bloody fist.
He presses his fingers to his helmet, "Yeah I'm still alive Shepard, got hit pretty good but I'm fine."
He hears a relived sigh from the other end, "Good. Ah crap the mech's turning back my way."
His fists clench tighter at the thought of the commander in trouble. So he ignores the biting pain in his side and gets up.
The mech began firing at the commander, busting her shield fast before clipping the top of her shoulder armor making her letting out a small grunt in pain and fall to the ground from the sheer impact.
Carmine hears her pained noise despite all the gunfire. All he sees is red, slipping his gnasher off his back and into his hungry hands he rushes the mech, quickly jamming the barrel into the already damaged leg and blowing the limb clean off. Carmine rolls out of the way as the mech dips in his direction.
The mech shifts to one side swinging its right gun toward Carmine, lining it up clean with his head. Clay is fast to dodge the burst of gunfire that comes out and slips under the gun, getting up close and personal. He sticks his gnasher right in the center of the mech.
"Go on! Fall to pieces!" he yells, firing the gnasher with one hand as it shreds the mech nearly in two.
Carmine lets out a victorious laugh and slumps slightly as he backs away from the wreckage, looking down to see blood leaking from under his right side, smalls drops gathering on the floor beneath him. Some smearing down his right pant leg.
In all the commotion of trying to keep Shepard safe Carmine barely notices the guard sneaking up behind him, but he allows it.
The guard points her avenger at the back of his head, "What the fuck are you?"
The question angers Carmine more than the slugs that tore through his side, and he tilts his head to look back at the woman, "The Grub Killer, bitch."
The woman's eyes widen before a bullet shoots past Carmine's helmet and into her head.
'Good shooting Kantus face.' he snickers at his thought and loads a couple shells into his gnasher.
"Damn I'm running low on everything. I'm going to have to check up with Jacob when we get back to the ship." Carmine says while checking his ammo pouches on his waist. He wastes no time in making his way over to the breached wall.
A very angry Shepard and a smirking Garrus meet with him. Shepard immediately going over to him and throwing two punches into his right arm.
"Don't scare me like that Carmine!" Garrus and the gear share a laugh at her small outburst.
"You're going to leave little bruises all over my arm by the time we're done here." Carmine jokes while holding his bloody side.
Shepard shakes her head and sighs. She looks worried as she sees the blood trail from under Carmine's armor and down his leg.
"Are you ok? I heard you go down." Carmine says, worry in his voice. Shepard nods, not truly believing he of all people was asking if she was fine.
"I'm fine, my armor caught the round for me. I'm more concerned with your wounds." she says sternly.
He tries to wave her off but catches a glare from the commander, making his blood run cold.
"Come here, I have some medi-gel for those wounds." Carmine looks confused for a moment, tilting his helmeted head to the side. Shepard sighs dramatically before pulling out the canister and slathering some gel on her hand.
"This will help keep your wounds shut until you can have them properly treated. It's standard issue out here in the field. Saved my ass more times than I can count."
Carmine nodded approvingly and lifted his chest piece up enough for Shepard to get access to his wounds, "Any exit wounds or is Doctor Chakwas going to have to dig around in me?"
Shepard takes a small step to her left and lifts the back of his shirt first, finding four nasty looking exits wounds, "Oh yeah, big time exits. Jesus Carmine are you sure you're alright?"
Shepard's worried tone makes Carmine smile, "I'm just fine Shepard."
Shepard looks up to him with doubt, but his composure wasn't faltering. Which only made Shepard whistle at him in amazement, "You know, a marine like me would be crippled out here with wounds like this. Probably hospitalized for weeks if they made it out alive."
Carmine hummed at her as she gently applied some of the gel to his back wounds, "I've had some pretty bad injuries over the years Shepard, but this. This is nothing compared to what the grubs did to me."
Shepard frowns for a moment, not knowing how to handle the idea that the near life-threatening wounds he sustained were nothing in comparison to his past experiences.
She lets her eyes linger on one of the visible hook scars along his lower back, gulping as she assumes it probably hurt way more than a couple gunshots.
She changes the topic quickly, "Guess this shirt is ruined now huh?"
Carmine scoffs playfully at her, "Nah, a couple bullet tears are easy to patch, don't worry. I'm just surprised my canteen is still intact."
The gear takes the opportunity to take the container out and unscrews the cap with one hand. He takes a janky sip, tilting his helmet up with one of his fingers. His other hand still holding his armor up for Shepard.
The cool liquid hits his tongue and he couldn't be more grateful for keeping the thing around. Carmine takes a few sips before offering it to Garrus and Shepard. The pair refuse with small shakes of their heads.
Shepard smiles as she finishes smearing the gel along his entry wounds, letting her hand linger and run over the hard muscles on his stomach. He blushed at the contact, Shepard seemed lost in her thoughts as her icy eyes gazed at his tanned skin hungrily.
She quickly pulled back and gave him a thumbs up which he returned. Slipping the canteen back onto his belt.
After the gel set in Carmine couldn't even feel his wounds anymore, he smirked while twisting himself, testing the flexibility of the seals on his wounds.
"Holy hand grenade commander, that medi-gel stuff is awesome, thank you. Oh and thanks to you too Garrus, you're a hell of a shot."
Garrus smiled at the compliment and shot one right back, "You know, you're not too bad yourself Carmine. I might have some real competition."
Shepard smiles wide, 'This is going pretty well all things considered. He works well in a team. Just have to reel him in now and again. I could think of a few ways to restrain him..' she shakes away the thought with a small blush.
"Alright this should be the home stretch, keep your eyes peeled. How are you guys doing on ammo." Shepard led the trio through the breach into another corridor that would lead into the room they were shooting for.
"I'm doing just fine Shepard." Garrus answers while checking over his rifle.
Carmine answers next, "I'm running dry on everything but my torque bow and boltok, I'll have to get in touch with Jacob to see if he can manufacture my bullets when we get back. I really don't want to use your guy's toys, no offense."
Shepard and Garrus shoot the big guy a playful glare making him scratch his helmet and nervously clear his throat, "I uhh, I'll take point."
The gear leads a healthy distance ahead leaving the commander and Garrus to chat. He can still hear them of course, but it seems that information gets lost in Shepard's mind as she starts up a conversation with the turian.
"Garrus what do you think of Carmine so far?" The commander asks while making sure her weapons are all fully loaded.
Garrus lets out an amused noise, "Hmm, he's a far better shot than I realized. Can't judge just by looking at him, he's much faster than I thought possible for someone as big as him. Not to mention those weapons he has which can tear just about anyone apart, barrier or not. He seems willing to put himself in harms way to protect us as well. I think he'll fit in just fine."
Shepard smiles at the response, "I couldn't agree more. I was put through some of the best training anyone can go through. I work to improve constantly, hell I'm a spectre. Yet Carmine is faster, stronger, and better trained than me."
Garrus lets out an understanding hum, "Guess he went through some pretty strict training of his own."
Carmine smirked at their kind words, 'Nice of them to say that about me. They aren't too bad themselves. Shouldn't be putting themselves below me, they're better than me.'
Carmine leads them into the next room through another hole in the wall, most likely where the mech originally came from. He immediately spots Kuril atop a platform. Shepard and Garrus follow Clay's lead as they all point their weapons in his direction.
"It doesn't have to end this way warden! Stand down and let us get to Jack! Nobody else has to die here!" Shepard tries to negotiate.
The warden shakes his head, "It's a little too late for that. I could have sold you and lived like a king! Ah well, I guess I can still recapture Jack."
"Well, you tried. Now I get to rip his spine out." Clayton says followed by a sadistic chuckle.
The commander gives him a side glance and is about to respond but is cut off by the sound of generators starting.
Three generators were spaced out around the room. They start to power up as energy runs in Kuril's direction, creating a massive shield around him. He aims his rifle at the trio.
Carmine is quick to act, firing a few rounds from his lancer into the shield. It buckles under the powerful rounds but won't go down, "Get to cover quick, I'll distract him."
Shepard and Garrus nod, grabbing cover as guards start to pour into the room from the other side. A shot rings out and Carmine dodges it, diving out of the way and into cover a few spaces down from his team.
"Alright, what's the plan Shepard?" Carmine says as he pulls out his lancer's mag, sighing as he notices the container was less than half empty.
'What was it Sam always calls me? The glass half empty kind of guy? Yeah, seems fitting.' Carmine reminisces as bullets smack into his cover.
Shepard takes a couple seconds to devise a plan, checking the room. It was obvious they had to bring down the generators for Kuril to be vulnerable. There was a generator on the ground level, one up higher, and the last was on Kuril's level.
"Alright, Garrus I'm going to need you to get up high and take out those two generators. Carmine and I will head for one on the ground. Keep me up to date when you take out a generator alright? They're feeding power to Kuril's shield, we take them out. We take him out."
Garrus nods and transitions to another piece of cover, heading toward higher ground.
"You get all that Carmine?" she turns to him and is pleased to see he's still waiting in cover.
"Yep, let's get moving shall we? I have an extra special grub to kill and I don't want to keep him waiting." Shepard scoffs at the gear and gets over to his cover, a few extra rounds clipping the wood crate they're behind.
Carmine gets his lancer ready and moves with Shepard as Garrus starts drawing fire, snapping skulls in half left in right with precision shots.
"Good shit Garrus!" Carmine yells out as the pair keep moving toward the generator.
Before they can get into the next bit of cover Kuril fires a shot from his rifle that smashes Carmine in his wounded side. He was out of cover but turned to Kuril, having only moved a step or two by the heavy caliber slug. He raised his lancer and unleashed the remains of his magazine into the shield, shattering it.
The shield quickly regenerated, making Carmine growl and internally punch himself, 'Next time bring more ammo dipshit. Well you know if I knew I was going to get pulled into a new dimension I just might have!'
Carmine repeatedly dry fired his gun, the dull clicking ringing in his ears. Shepard turned to see what had Carmine firing so rapidly, and was shocked to see him completely out of cover, "Carmine get your ass in gear!"
He was actively taking gunfire, but quickly pulled out his gnasher and began to return fire, ignoring the commander. A few rounds grazed his exposed arms.
Shepard glared at him and sighed angrily, "Don't take too much gunfire you damn bullet magnet."
Carmine gave her a thumbs up as he peppered a guard in front of him with buckshot, shredding the man in half easily, "Haha! Nothing but bits!"
Shepard shook her head at the gory display and turned back toward the path to the generator.
In a split second a guard jumps out from around the other side of her cover and began lighting her up. She returns fire and both their shields break at the same time.
Shepard gets hit in the thigh, the burning sensation of being shot was not lost on the commander. She grit her teeth and let out a pained noise. A noise that Carmine caught almost immediately.
Luckily Shepard had struck the guard as well, the man fell to the floor with a shot to his stomach. Unluckily for him, Carmine was nearly frothing at the mouth to get at him.
Carmine quickly leaps over the downed Shepard and pounces on the man as he writhed on the ground. The gear makes a feral noise as he poised over the man, ready for a beatdown. Left hand wrapped around the guy's neck, right fist rearing back.
It only took three unmerciful punches from Carmine before the man's head caved in, splattering gray matter and blood across the floor.
Shepard was shocked at Carmine's violent reaction, but as she tried to get up to check on him she let out a gasp, the wound on her leg shooting pain through the limb.
Carmine's head snapped over to her direction and he quickly let go of the bloody, headless body of the guard and went over to the fallen commander. He shook and wiped away the blood coating his hands before reaching her.
"First generator down." Garrus says over the radio as Carmine hastily approaches the injured Shepard.
Carmine gently drags her into better cover before taking a knee beside her. He takes a large hand and places it under her left thigh, raising it slightly, "Getting all kinds of lucky with these exit wounds today commander."
She doesn't respond partly due to the pain but also due to the burning heat of Carmine's hand on the sensitive underside of her thigh. She almost gasps as he places his right hand on the top of her thigh.
Carmine can just barely fit his hands around the commanders muscular leg as he clamps them down on the wounds to slow the blood flow.
'Damn Shepard has some big thighs. Glad the armor is in the way or I'd feel real awkward about this.' he blushes at the thought but keeps himself focused.
Shepard blushes a deep shade of crimson as Carmine firmly clamps his gauntleted hands around her leg, "C-Carmine you don't have to do that. I still have a lot of m-medi-gel left."
Carmine takes note of the sputtering commander and quickly releases her leg with a deep blush coming onto his own face, "Oh fuck, yeah. Sorry commander."
His nervous tone makes Shepard smile weakly at him. She reaches back and pulls out her canister of medi-gel, "It's alright Carmine you were just trying to help."
He growls to himself, "Wouldn't even need that if I didn't have my head up my ass. I'm sorry commander it won't happen again."
Shepard looks up to him after applying the gel to her exit wound first, relief coming almost instantly. She smirks and jabs him in the arm before getting mildly serious.
"It's battle Carmine, I know you understand that sometimes people just end up getting hurt. Nothing you can do about it now. And call me Shepard, that's an order."
"Yes ma'am-er Shepard." Carmine snickers at his slip up.
Shepard chuckles as she gently shakes her head before looking the gear up and down. He loomed over her protectively, his shadow completely engulfing her form.
She let out a small surprised noise as her eyes trail from his exposed muscular arms to his middle. Fresh blood leaks from under his armor.
"Carmine!? You're bleeding again. Here let me-" he stops the commander with a shake of his head, forcing the raised medi-gel container back to Shepard.
"Kuril snagged me with a shot from that rifle he's got, and opened me back up. Don't waste any more on me right now." Shepard looks at him dumbfounded and raises her eyebrow.
"I'm good, I promise. Now let's get to that last generator. Can you walk?" Carmine asks the commander, who's mouth slightly hangs open.
'How can he be alright!? He's leaking blood all over the floor but still seems so confident and calm. He was so worried about me as well. He's...certainly something else.'
Shepard looks up to his helmeted head and smiles sheepishly, her mild blush distracting the gear. An expression Carmine finds adorable even under the circumstances of being shot at.
She attempts to get up, but is stopped by Carmine who gently takes her around the waist again and raises her up, planting her on her feet. He quickly lets go, but places a hand firmly around the middle of her arm. Shepard blushes deeper at the contact but nods to him in thanks.
"Second generator is down. It's just up to you two now. Everything alright down there?" Garrus's voice comes through the radio. Carmine looks away, nervously scratching his helmet with his free hand but stays beside the commander in case she needs him.
"Everything is fine down here. Great job Garrus. Wait for my signal and we'll bring Kuril down." Shepard responds, testing the strength of her leg and finding success as the limb responds positively.
She smirks at Carmine's supportive grip on her as she places her hand on top of his, "I'm all good. Let's go take down the warden and grab Jack."
Carmine let's go and immediately pulls his gnasher back out, reloading the last of his shells into his shotgun, "About that, I have an idea."
Shepard looks to him with curiosity etched onto her blood speckled face and he chuckles at her.
"What? I do something funny private?" she shoots back at him with a small pout.
Carmine shakes his head as they transition to another set of cover, a powerful shot whizzing between them forcing the pair to exchange some suppressing fire with the warden and nearby enemies.
"Nah, just kind of funny how people say I'm so animated, yet you have quite an array of expressions yourself." he says while putting away his shotgun in favor of the torque bow.
'If I didn't know any better I'd say he was trying to tease me.' Shepard thinks while looking away with a devious smirk.
"That generator thing is past us to the left, if you can get it down and Garrus can weaken the shield, I'll pop that grub like a gore filled balloon." Carmine says with a smile as the torque bow blades extend.
Shepard grimaces slightly at his wording but nods, "Good plan Carmine. You catch that Garrus?"
Garrus shoots down yet another guard and smirks, "Caught it all Shepard. Maybe blood loss is good for Carmine's thinking process." he jokes, making Shepard groan and Carmine snicker.
Shepard smirks before moving past the gear, tapping him on the top of the helmet as she went since he was crouched down.
"I'll give you the go ahead when the shield is down. Be safe."
Carmine smiled briefly before laughing, "Oh I will be Shepard."
Shepard shares his smile unknowingly. She rounds the corner and starts blasting at the generator. It was rather resilient but a thought hit her. A twisted little smirk comes to her face as she pulls out a grenade. After all, Carmine wasn't the only one who liked blowing shit up.
*Boom*
The sound of Shepard's grenade going off gave Garrus and Carmine all they needed as Carmine walked himself out into the open, pressing the trigger and charging the bow in his hands.
The warden scowled as he aimed his rifle, losing focus on everything but the big man, "So cocky and for what? Now you're going to die." he growled out.
Shepard looked out worriedly to Carmine as she catches the blood under his armor dripping onto the ground, making a small trail as he walked further out of cover. She used the distraction however to take out any guards still left in the room.
Garrus fires shot after shot into the shield until his gun is empty. Shepard following suit, emptying her avenger.
The shield still wasn't down, and Shepard grew worried. Her worry was quickly silenced as the only sound that could be heard on the battlefield was Carmine letting out a bloodthirsty laugh.
Kuril shook his head at the gear and aimed his gun again, training the scope on his helmet. But felt a stab in his chest.
He pulled his head away from his rifle and noticed the shield around him is broken. Looking down he sees a large metal spike jutting from his chest, "Wait-"
*Boom*
The warden explodes into a bundle of blue organs and blood.
"Oh Hell Yes!" Carmine chants out as he sticks another bolt into his bow before putting it onto his back.
The three regroup at the exit, "Great shot Carmine! I'd love to get a hold of that bow of yours one day, that thing has some power." Garrus says as he claps the big man on his not injured shoulder.
The gear smiles at him before patting him on the shoulder, nearly knocking him over.
"Not a chance in hell, maybe I'll let you shoot the boltok. I'm honestly a little disappointed I didn't get to beat the fuck out that grub but whatever." Carmine says with a chuckle.
The turian laughs at the big man, "I'll take it. I'm sure you'll find plenty of people to beat with those stone hands."
Shepard gets a good laugh at the small interaction. "You both did great. Now let's get the fuck out of this prison." she suggests with a hand motioning toward the now opened door.
Carmine beamed at the commander, enjoying her praise. However the team building moment was butchered as Carmine heard rustling from the other side of the room.
He turned and aimed his boltok at the opened hole in the wall that they had initially come through. Both Shepard and Garrus looked puzzled for a moment before a number of prisoners funneled their way out and into the open.
They whooped and hollered. Their leader was a mountain of a man, and he stepped up into the front to address them, "Oooo, if it isn't the sexy commander Shepard and her cronies. You know I've never slept with a spectre before boys."
His prisoner pals laughed and bumped him as he continues, "So here's what's going to happen sweet cheeks. You get to stay with me and have a little fun for helping us escape and for killing that bitch warden. Your boys here are going to have to die though."
Before Shepard could respond, Carmine lowered his boltok and protectively stepped in front of Garrus and Shepard, "You two get out of here, go grab Jack."
"Who are you? Never heard of Shepard running with some giant freak before. Maybe she's fucking him boys. Maybe I won't even have to stretch her out since this monster already ruined her pussy." Carmine growled low at the lead prisoner as his vision started to turn red.
Shepard grabbed a hold of Carmine's forearm, "Are you crazy? Why am I asking that of course you are. There are too many, you won't survive them alone. We do this together." Garrus nodded in agreement with Shepard making Carmine sigh deeply.
"I'm sorry then, but I won't let you two get hurt on my watch."
Shepard looked puzzled before Carmine pushed the pair through the opened door with minimal effort, closing and unintentionally locking the door.
Shepard and Garrus scramble up and begin trying to unlock the door, "Carmine you bastard open this now! That's an order! Garrus can't you hack the door?"
She looks to Garrus who shakes his head and closes out of his omni-tool, "Would take too much time. Its a lock used during riots to prevent people from getting out, Carmine must have triggered it."
The angered commander bangs a small hand into the door. Carmine chuckles and presses two fingers to the side of helmet, "I got this, trust me."
Shepard was shocked, there was no way she was letting the big man get himself killed this early into their friendship. She wanted to know more about him, hear his laugh, stories of his past. She felt like she could rely on him after his performance this mission.
Carmine proved himself in her eyes. She let her hand flatten out onto the cold metal. Jaw tightening at the big man's words.
Carmine felt a small pain tug at his heart. He turned from the door and took off his chest armor, dropping it as well as all the guns still attached to it by said door.
He looked down and saw the blood soaked into his shirt by his side and shoulder, "Nothing new."
He pulled the knife from his belt free, the large serrated blade was flipped nonchalantly in his left hand as he twirled the boltok in his right.
Garrus saw the look on Shepard's face and let out a gravely sigh, "Come on Shepard let's go grab Jack, it's still a good bit until the hangar."
Shepard turned with an angry look in her eye, teeth bared.
Garrus didn't let her speak, holding up his hand, "We have to trust him. Right? Come on, we've seen what he can do. He'll be just fine."
Shepard slowly closed her mouth, her angry face turning to one of worry and longing as she let her hand slide from the door. Her expression hardened back into one Garrus recognized all too well.
"You're right, let's go grab Jack. We're waiting until Carmine gets back though. I'm not leaving him behind. You hear that you big asshole, we'll be waiting for you." Shepard let out a deep sigh before turning and heading off with Garrus.
Carmine chuckled as her angry voice came to his ears. He turned his attention to his front and began observing the crowd of prisoners. The leader being the most threatening of all, nearly Carmine's height.
'Thirty men and women, all weak grubs by the look of it. Knives and other melee weapons. They don't stand a fucking chance.' he thinks with a sick smile.
"Now what was that you said about Shepard again?"
"Oh you heard what I said big boy, and you might want to put that armor on and use those other fancy guns. Because after we kill you, we're going to kill the turian, and then I'll keep that little sweet red haired piece of ass as my personal slave." the prisoner responds cockily.
Carmine's smile fades at the word slave, "I won't need any of it to handle you grubs."
Clayton's eyes begin to sting, then burn. He's forced to close them, the darkness from his time in the hollows following him as they open.
Turned over slave containers lay scattered around the area, a river of imulsion to his left, but most importantly a sea of drones that stand before him.
A grenadier elite at the helm. It was laughing at him. The scar across the elite's face being noticed by Clayton almost immediately.
'No no no no, this isn't real! They're not real!' Carmine tried screaming in his mind. But the evidence was staring him right in the face.
"Weak Human!" the elite growls out at him, and the drones begin slowly advancing.
"No, no you're dead. I killed you, all of you! But you..."
Carmine raises his boltok, his finger coming off the trigger to point at the elite, "You took him from me. You burned him. You...are going to suffer."
Before any of them could react Clayton fires a shot, taking the elite's left leg off at the knee leaving it to scream out in pain.
"Who's next!"
The drones are wary as Carmine walks further from the door. Letting himself be surrounded in the middle of the room. He starts laughing like a psychopath when none of them make any moves.
"Destroy Hominid!"
With the elite's orders one of the drones attempt to stab Carmine, he bats the knife away with his boltok and stabs the grub through the chin with his blade, the tip popping out the top of its head.
Carmine feels a weight on his back and a pain as a small knife is jammed into his right shoulder close to his neck. The drone on his back is quickly swung off. It hits the ground, head crushed by Carmine's heavy boot not even a second after.
"Come on you worthless grubs! Come and fucking get me! Already got a taste of me, so dig in!" Carmine yells out as the knife close to his neck slowly bleeds.
It's doesn't take long before Carmine grows impatient, "Bunch of wholesale pussies!"
He lifts his boltok and begins firing round after round into the grubs. Deafening booms from the large revolver shreds heads and limbs from their bodies.
The drones swarm him in the panic and wail on him. The blunt and edged attacks doing very little to stop his onslaught as he laughs the pain away. His eyes are set on only one grub, the scarred grenadier elite.
The now legless prisoner leader looks up from clutching his leg stump to witness the massive man slowly decimate the crowd of prisoners, who are yelling and screaming in their attempt to stop the rampaging Carmine.
Their efforts are futile. Some get off easy with a clean shot to the dome. Until he runs out of bullets, hastily putting the hand cannon in its holster, favoring CQC to reloading.
The rest don't get off so easy. There are so many things Carmine knows how to do with his hands, let alone a knife.
They batter him, beat him, stab him. A couple prisoners even get brave and scavenge some guns from the dead guards. Nothing can stop him though, he's let himself sink back into the locust tunnels.
And there's nothing the prisoner leader can do but watch and hope they take the big guy down.
By the time the fighting stops only two men are left in the room. The prisoner leader, and Carmine. Only fifteen minutes have passed.
Carmine breathes heavily, and blinks once, twice, three times. The world comes back to him, and he looks around to see the bodies of those who tried to kill him and capture Shepard. Not locust, but still grubs in his eyes.
He pauses for a second and looks down at his hands, one clenching his blood stained knife, the other holding a human spine, the head of a man still attached at the end.
He lets the spine drop to the floor and looks around at the torn apart and mangled corpses of the men and women he saw before his episode. He stares at his hands and clenches tighter around the knife, his hands begin to shake uncontrollably.
'If we didn't do this, they'd have taken Shepard. They deserved to die. They were no better than the fucking grubs, but they aren't the locust. So why did I see drones, and why did I see the grenadier who tortured David?'
Carmine closes his eyes, takes one solid deep breath, and exhales. Dismissing his thoughts as he steps his way out from the circle of corpses littered around him. Stopping when he hears a groan of pain and shuffling. He still has a job to do.
He spots the prisoner leader immediately and stomps his way over to the crawling man, bringing his boot down on his other leg and shattering it. The man cried out in pain as he flipped onto his back, hands up as Carmine glared down at him.
Carmine was covered in small cuts, a couple knives stuck from his upper body, and he felt numerous spots that were most definitely going to bruise.
"What the fuck do you want man?! You killed them all, great. Now leave me the fuck alone!"
Carmine couldn't help the dry laugh that worked it's way out of his mouth. The man stared at Carmine, confused as to how he could even be laughing with all those wounds. His sleeveless white shirt was stained all over with bits of red, not just from his massacre, but his wounds as well.
Carmine wiped a fake tear from his helmet's lens before pulling the majority of sharp objects from his body, each staining more of his shirt with fresh red.
"Holy Christ man just leave me be I promise I'll go back to my cell, I'll do whatever you want just let me be." the prisoner watched in horror as each wet squirt and tearing of flesh was met with no reaction from the monstrous gear.
Carmine didn't say a word. He slipped his knife into its sheath and grabbed the man by the throat, easily hoisting him in the air. The man clawed at the hand squeezing his throat to no avail.
"You're no better than them. Than the grubs. So you're going to die just like every grub that crosses my path dies. Like a fucking savage. I won't let you hurt her."
Carmine doesn't hesitate to bring his other hand up and jam his thumbs into the man's eyes. He screams of course, but it stops soon after as Carmine tears the man's head open. Dropping the corpse like it wasn't just a human being.
He walks back to the locked door, the bottoms of his boots splashing blood onto his pant legs as he walks past the sea of destroyed bodies. An ocean of blood and viscera painted the floor.
"Fuck, forgot one." he says as he reaches up and tries to pull out the knife dangerously close to his neck. It's frighteningly easy as blood squirts from the wound for a moment.
"Whatever. I'm sure Shepard is going to want front row seats when Doctor Chakwas patches me up, heh." Carmine pauses and takes another look back at the bodies he's left behind.
"New places, but I guess some things don't change...fucking monster." he mutters.
The gear slips his armor back on carefully, making sure his weapons are all still intact. He lifts the lock on the door with his omni-tool, smirking at the blue device. The door opens with a small whoosh as Carmine reloads his boltok.
"Shepard is going to be pissed." he groans before heading off.
Shepard and Garrus are approaching the entrance to the bay. It's been almost fifteen minutes since they left Carmine and Shepard was starting to get nervous.
'Shouldn't he have caught up already. No, no he said to trust him, and you're going to do just that. Goddammit you big bastard you better get back safe!'
Garrus notices the look of worry that worked it's way through her stone features and bled into her eyes.
"He'll be here Shepard. I got a good feeling about it."
Shepard looks gratefully toward him and sighs, "Let's just get in there. But thank you Garrus."
He nods to her and the pair walk into the Hangar. Jack is currently smashing two dead prison guards into the barrier that blocked off the hangar's exit. She growls and throws the dead bodies toward Shepard and Garrus who dodge the corpses. Shepard takes note that they're thrown drastically off course for someone of Jack's ability.
"Great, another set of pussies to come take me back. Come on let's get this over with!" Jack says with an annoyed look on her face. Blue energy pulsing around her hands.
Shepard motions to Garrus to put his weapon away as she does the same, "We aren't here for that. We actually just got done killing the warden. I'm building a team to take down a race called the collectors and I want you to be a part of it."
Jack puts her hands down but glares into Shepard's stone cold eyes as she pulls open her omni-tool and opens up the bay before using the radio, "This is Shepard, the landing zone is clear. We're holding for Carmine, shouldn't be too long."
Jack turns as the doors open and the Cerberus marked shuttle lands not too far in front of Jack. Jack shakes her head angrily, "Fuck no. I'm not working with no Cerberus pyjacks. You came to get me so they could experiment on me right? To lure me in and use me? No, fuck you and fuck that!"
Jack prepares to charge and Garrus pulls his pistol. Shepard forces his gun down before addressing Jack, "I know you don't have any reason to believe me, but I'm not willingly a part of Cerberus. We share the goal of defeating the collectors but that's all. I can personally guarantee your safety on board my ship."
Jack sneered at the commander, "Oh yeah and who the fuck are you then?"
"Commander Jane Shepard of the Normandy. First human spectre of the citadel.
Jack's eyes narrow, her powers dwindle into nothing as she relaxes only for a moment. The first human spectre was known for being a woman of her word. A fearless leader who always did well by her team. The way Jack saw it, it gave her a chance to get paid to kill people legally. That is, if what she'd heard about the commander was true.
Jack turned toward the shuttle, "Fine I'll join your little team. But I want everything Cerberus has on me."
Shepard smirked, "I can make that happen."
Garrus let out a sigh of relief as he holstered his gun. Shepard looking rather triumphant as she started walking to the shuttle.
Garrus was a decent bit behind her, "Jesus Shepard, are you trying to give me some kind of heart attack?"
Shepard chuckles at his comment and shakes her head.
Jack takes a glance behind her and sees some kind of big ass figure sneaking up behind Shepard and Garrus, "Well I guess I'll start earning that paycheck." she says sarcastically.
Shepard and Garrus are confused to see Jack levitating a piece of scrap metal, "Jack, what are you-?"
Jack throws the sharp scrap back toward them, however her time in cryo has left her weakened and out of practice as the metal unintentionally heads straight toward Shepard's neck. Shepard knows she can't dodge it, it's going too fast.
Jane's eyes widen, and her world slows down as her body prepares for the incoming decapitation. Garrus is reaching for her but she is just out of his grasp.
She closes her eyes and waits for death. But death hasn't come for her yet. She's yanked backward by the collar of her armor, planting her ass right on the floor.
"Auuugh!"
Shepard hears the cry of pain and scrambles to her feet, hoping Garrus didn't get hit instead of her. But as she gazed upon the person that took the scrap in her place, she freezes, 'No, no no no no no.'
Carmine is on one knee, hunched over. He's grunting in pain and clutching the thick piece of scrap lodged into his side.
Just like the mech's shots the sharp metal bit snuck right under his armor and dug itself relatively deep into right side, 'Fuck this hurts! Well it seems our right side is the bearer of bad wounds today.'
"Well, not exactly the welcome back I was-gaaah, looking for. But I guess I deserve that." Carmine wheezes out a small laugh snapping both Shepard and Garrus out of their stupors.
"Carmine!!"
Clay prepared for the punches, saying he was dumb, etc. But it didn't come. Instead Shepard threw herself into him, wrapping her arms around his neck making him groan in pain as she unintentionally knocked into the scrap in his body.
She sprang away and blushed, "Oh fuck I'm so sorry. I'm just happy to see you're alright. Well you're not alright, but you may have just saved my life. Fuck that looks bad. Garrus contact Karen and tell her to prepare the med bay." her words came out fast.
Despite being in an decent bit of pain, Carmine smiled at the nervousness of the commander, 'She talks quite a bit when she's worried, cute.'
Garrus nods, and heads toward the shuttle, giving Jack a dirty look as he passes her, climbing into the shuttle, "What the fuck are you looking at scar face."
Garrus shrugs off the insult as he gets in contact with the good doctor. Jack following him soon after.
"I-fuck! I'm alright Shepard. Nothing too bad."
Shepard glares at the big man as she attempts to help him up, looping herself under his left arm. He of course wasn't going to let her try to lift him so as she started, he stood himself up, blood significantly dripping from the end of the metal in his side.
"You saved my life Carmine. I won't ever forget this. I also won't be forgetting that dumb shit you pulled back there."
Carmine chuckled dryly at her, before stopping and tearing the metal out with a vicious roar of pain, "Carmine! What the fuck is the matter with you?!"
Shepard yells at him and let's go. He's able to stabilize himself as Shepard scrambles in front of him. She pushing his armor and shirt up and begins covering his now gushing wound in medi-gel. It seals effectively, and to her surprise Carmine is still standing. He holds the bloody metal scrap in his right hand.
"Come on, we need to get you to medical, asap."
Carmine nods his head and forgets to protest when Shepard's small warm body tucks itself into his healthy side, her right arm gently wrapping around his back, or as much as her arm can go across his back that is.
"So how'd I do cherry?" Shepard blushes at his nickname as well as being so close to the man, his heat was almost intoxicating if he wasn't covered in his own, and many other peoples blood. She knew he probably didn't need her help, but she takes care of her crew. At the very least she tries her best.
"I'm going to beat the shit out of you for what you pulled...but besides that you did really well. Thank you again for saving my life Carmine, I meant what I said. I'll never forget what you did."
Carmine returns the smile she gives him as his neck runs hot, "Aww come on now," he takes a breath, "You're making me blush. Think I'm gonna make it commander?" his joke followed by a raspy laugh.
Shepard smiled, picturing his handsome face with a red tint to it, "You'd better you big doofus. Let's get you fixed up."
"Couldn't agree more."
The pair climb aboard the shuttle and Carmine pats Shepard on the shoulder. She looks up to him unsure, but he nods at her and she heads to the cockpit. Carmine clambers over next to Garrus and take a seat, resting his aching wounds.
"Heh, so maybe at least one of you ain't a pussy. Surprised even a big pyjack like you could take that." Jack says as she cockily leans toward the big man.
"What did you just call me?" Carmine felt his anger spike at the insult, and he motioned to get up. Garrus quickly placed a hand on his chest armor and shook his head.
Jack laughed at him. Carmine's eyebrow twitched, "I don't think that's very funny you wretch."
Jack looked at Carmine slightly amused by the name and stood, "Oh yeah? Why don't you come say that to my face pyjack."
Carmine took Garrus's hand off his chest and stood, his head almost touching the ceiling as he towered over Jack, "Yeah, fucking wretch."
Jack scowled at the man as she looked him over, 'Hmm, a big set of muscles with a spine. By the look of him he can take a real beating too. Just the kind of guy to make me all hot and bothered. Been a while since I've had a good fuck.'
She cracked a smirk at him and took a step into his personal space, "And what are you going to do about it, huh?"
Carmine cracks his knuckles just by squeezing his fist, his other hand still holding the bloody scrap metal that was stuck in him, "I'll get a little gratitude from you."
Jack feels her body heat up at his words, her eyes raking along his blood splattered arms as they flex. Small cuts and bullet grazes lace the defined muscles of his tattooed arms. He's absolutely covered in grime, sweat, and blood. A gruesome mixture of blue and red blood cover the gear's front
"Oh I think I'd like to see you try." Jack says with a hint of suggestion. Garrus catches on and raises a brow in question.
The two stare down for another moment before Carmine scoffs and sits back down with a small groan. Jack doing the same, minus the groan, "Pussy." she mutters, making Carmine glare at her.
Shepard comes back into the cab and looks to Jack angrily for a moment before softening her expression.
"I'm going to assume you thought Carmine was going to try and kill me. I'm also guessing the cryo pod messed with your abilities and that's why you almost cut my head off and nearly gutted one of my crew."
Jack shrugged, "That sums it up. Yeah."
Shepard rolls her eyes at the biotic, "Welcome to the team."
Jack shakes Shepard's extended hand before Garrus pipes up, "Garrus Vakarian."
Jack nods to him then looks to Carmine who's attempting to wipe his knife free of the blood covering it.
Shepard looks to him and cocks her hip. She clears her throat, "Ahem."
Jack snickered at how disinterested he seemed to be in the little meet and greet, "Oh I think we've been introduced already. She knows what she needs to, damned wretch."
Jack folds her arms over her nearly naked chest and scoffs at the man. Shepard walks over to the big guy and clears her throat louder, "Ahem!"
Carmine groans and stabs his knife into the seat next to him before looking to Jack, "Fine jeeze. Clayton Carmine, but you can call me Carmine. That's not a preference thing, don't call me Clayton."
Jack smirked deviously at the gear, "Sure thing pyjack."
He ran a tired hand over the back of his neck, 'God she is going to get on my nerves.'
Shepard smiled at him, "Don't worry Carmine, it'll take a bit for Cerberus to get the me the info I need for the next mission. You'll get plenty of time to rest up, heal those wounds, and clean yourself off. Oh and you're paying for that seat."
Carmine chuckled, "Fair enough. Can't wait to get something to eat."
Shepard held up a finger, "Ah Ah, first we have to get you checked out by Chakwas. Nothing before that understand?"
Carmine sighed dramatically and banged his helmet against the back wall, "Yes ma'am." he says in a depressed tone.
The commander shakes her head jokingly and stifles a giggle. She looks down and notices he's still holding onto the piece of metal once lodged into his side, "Uhh Carmine, what are you still doing with that?"
Carmine looked confused before following her eyes to his hand, "Oh this?" he holds up the sharp piece of scrap.
"Well I thought I'd keep it. More of a memento to remind me of the mission. I used to keep bits when I was stationed on a ship-err water ship, not space ship. But that hunk of metal got sunk nearly a year ago. So I'm starting again with this."
Shepard rubbed her chin in interest, "So are the bits you usually collected things that injured you?"
Carmine shrugged, "Not usually, unless I got hurt real bad. Then yeah, I would take whatever fucked me up. Shame I lost all my old mementos, had quite the collection of grub knives which is probably not a surprise."
Shepard and Garrus chuckle. Even Jack smirks at the big man. Anyone who could take as much damage as he seemed to have taken intrigued her to no end. Well that, and the thick veins that ran along his arms had her nearly hitting herself in order to stop staring.
"Nope, not even a little surprising big guy. Let's hope you don't make you're own knife collection here." Garrus jokes making Carmine scoffs and wave him off.
"Knives are cool, even grub knives."
Shepard shakes her head and hides a smile as she goes and sits by Jack.
"What the fuck is a pyjack?" Jack rolls her eyes at the man as he asks.
Shepard snickered at the gear, "Why not just look it up on your omni-tool?"
Clay blinked a few times before rubbing the back of his helmet, "Fair point."
"Hey Garrus. How many grubs did you kill?" Carmine asked as he opened his blue device.
The turian looked nervous as he turned to face the gear, "Eh about twenty three or so. How about you?"
Clayton's face lit up and a laugh rumbled in his chest. Garrus glared at his outburst but didn't speak a word.
"Holy shit really? Haha man you lost, I had around fifty seven." Garrus hung his head for a moment before Carmine nudged his shoulder with his elbow.
"I know I won but I'd still like to have that drink one day."
The turian smiled at the big man, "I can work with that."
A bit of silence filled the shuttle. That silence was short lived however as Carmine discovered what a pyjack was.
"You called me a fucking monkey!" Garrus was shocked by Clayton's volume. Jack laughed and looked at the big man smugly. Shepard let out a sigh, grasping the bridge of her nose.
"For Christ sake Carmine, Shepard! Are you two alright?"
Doctor Chakwas was flabbergasted as the big man walked in with the commander. He was still covered in blood, most of it dried. But the visible knife wound on his neck still oozed a small amount of blood.
Shepard was significantly more clean but was still smudged with more red than usual. Her leg felt much better but she still needed to get it properly checked at some point.
"He did something stupid." Shepard says as Carmine shrugs his shoulders.
"Never claimed to be a smart guy, but I'm good at what I do." Shepard couldn't argue. Doctor Chakwas however, began fawning over the bloody man.
"Off, all this chest armor off, hands too. Thank you for escorting him here Shepard, I doubt he'd have come otherwise." Shepard paused and looked to Carmine who sheepishly began pulling off bits of his gear.
If Shepard's eyes didn't deceive her, Carmine seemed genuinely nervous, 'Serves you right.'
"Is your leg alright Jane?" Chakwas asks the commander while she prepares for Carmine.
"Yeah I applied the medi-gel correctly. I'll come back later to get it checked on if that's alright with you." Doctor Chakwas nodded to her and they overheard Carmine groan.
"Ah come on, if I gotta get patched up so do you."
Shepard cocked her hip, "I don't think so Carmine. I didn't stay behind to single handedly take on a small mob."
Chakwas shot him a dirty look, "Helmet off."
Shepard laughed as he immediately took hold and flipped his helmet off his head. His messy black hair flopping around as he turned to place it on the table next to his memento.
Shepard blushed for a moment, but still chuckled at him, she could see a bit of anxiousness in his steel colored eyes.
"That's better, just necessary to check for head injuries. The scans don't go through metal." the doctor says as the big man blushes slightly and run one of his hands through his sweat soaked hair. Shepard felt her insides warm up at the sight.
He was covered in his own (and many other peoples) blood, sweat, and grime from the battlefield. But still, the sight of his handsome face lighting up red made Shepard's knees weak. She needed to get out of there before she did or said something weird.
Clayton's eyes glance over and catch Shepard's gaze, smirking at her for a moment. Shepard blushes harder and avoids his eyes, "I-I should probably get showered and stuff, you can come up and shower as well whenever you're done here Carmine. Just let me know before hand. Oh and I'll pop back in later Karen I promise."
Carmine sighed, wanting to keep eye contact for a bit. He was confused why she looked away in the first place. The amusement in her eyes was worth the embarrassment of being nervous around the doctor, "Oh, alright yeah. I'll make sure to let you know Shepard."
"Oh I'll have to go debrief Jack as well. Do you mind if I tell her about your situation." Carmine tilts his head and raises his scarred eyebrow for a second before nodding.
"Oh the whole dimensional travel bullshit. Sure I don't care. Thanks for asking though." He shrugs his shoulders and smiles weakly at the commander. He inhales her sweet scent and his muscles start to relax.
Shepard quickly says her goodbyes before her body betrays her and waves to the two, hurrying out of the room, 'I have to hurry, I really need that shower.'
Carmine looks longingly toward the door for a moment, letting her scent dwindle from the room. He enjoyed every second it stayed.
Chakwas observed the small interaction with a knowing look and smiled at the gear, "Well, I don't want to keep you too long Carmine. Let's get to business shall we?"
Carmine looks to the doctor and shrugs, "I guess that would be best."
Clayton takes a seat and removes his shirt, the doctor bites her lip but shakes her head once she sees the rather harsh wounds that he's adorning.
It takes some time for Chakwas to fully examine him, but to her surprise he only needs a few syringes of medication to stave off infection. And even then it's simply precautionary.
His ability to heal rather fast, combined with the medi-gel had resulted in his smaller wounds already fully scabbing over. The internal damage done by the slugs and metal scrap were on their way to successfully healing as well. It wouldn't be long before his larger wounds scabbed and healed.
"Everything looks alright, just don't push yourself too hard and you should be just fine Carmine. If you have some time would you mind if I take some blood samples?"
Carmine nodded and the doctor filled a few vials with his blood, "They have to do with those tests you're looking to run on me?"
Doctor Chakwas smiles at the much younger man and holds one of the vials, "Yes Carmine, I'm going to be observing any special qualities as well as running your blood through numerous tests. Oh that reminds me, we'll have to go through a more extensive test in the future but I imagine you have some things you want to do."
Carmine nods, "Yeah, I gotta get my gear cleaned as well as get some more bullets made for my weapons. Do you know where Jacob is by any chance?"
The doctor was currently placing the vials of Carmine's blood into a machine but looked back to him momentarily, "I do, he's on this floor. If you head back by the elevator you should be able to spot the armory. You might want to take a trip over to see professor Mordin as well in the tech lab. He's a salarian who will be observing your samples with me."
Carmine rubs the back of his neck, 'Ah shit I remember reading about salarians, they have those weird ass things at the top of their head. Might as well meet with him before Jacob.'
"Alright, will do doc. Thanks again for checking me out."
The doctor doesn't look to him as she waves, her other hand holding a small data pad, "Of course Carmine, I hope I don't see you too soon. I'll contact you with details of my findings."
Carmine slips his helmet back over his head, then puts his gauntlets on but favors just carrying the rest of his gear. His weapons and the memento from the prison mission dangle from his chest piece, which is held firmly in his left hand. He puts the armor down momentarily in order to slip his bloody shirt back on.
Before he leaves Chakwas tries to hand the gear a small bottle of pills, "Here Carmine, your scan came back showing you're massively sleep deprived. These should help you get the necessary amount."
"No thanks doc. No offense to you or nothing, I just don't sleep much before going out into the field. Old habits ya know, heh." Carmine nervously rubs his neck. The doctor sees through the lie and puts the bottle on her desk.
"Very well. They'll be here if you're interested in the future Carmine." Chakwas smiles warmly at the big man.
Clay says one more goodbye and thank you before heading out the door and toward the armory. The doctor looks back to her data pad, her smile falling immediately. Carmine's brain scan was just as troubling as she pictured it would be. She put the pad down by her desk and looked toward the door, "Please get some rest Carmine."
On his way over to the Tech Lab Carmine hears something familiar, and stops close to the elevator, "Hi Kasumi."
He puts the armor down as she de-cloaks in front of him, hand resting on one hip, "Howdy, nice new wounds. Mission go smoothly?"
Her hidden eyes can't look away from his arms as they cross over his chest, "Eh not really, but Shepard recruited that biotic chick so it is what it is. Got to kill a decent amount of grubs so I can't complain."
Kasumi nods before nibbling on her lip while circling the big man, "My my, you're covered in red and blue big guy. Might want to clean yourself up."
Carmine chuckled, "I have some things to do first, but yeah it's on the agenda."
Kasumi smiled deviously at him as she stops right in front of him, "Going to keep Shepard company up there? You might be able to catch her before she gets into the shower."
Carmine dropped his arms to his side and stood rigid, a red tint showing on his neck, "What? W-why would I want to catch her?"
Kasumi giggles at the embarrassed gear, "You're tall, handsome, are easy to talk with, and have muscles for days. Why wouldn't she want you to catch her? I know I do."
She takes a sultry step closer to him and Carmine, while recovering from that loaded ass statement, takes a step back and holds out his hands, "Whoa whoa hold on, can you run that back by me?"
Kasumi say nothing as she gives the gear a sultry smile and fades away, "Just teasing you Carmine, it's all in good fun."
Carmine's face was as red as a tomato but he laughs none the less, "Jesus Kasumi, you need to take it down a notch."
He hears her footsteps dwindle as she leaves, muttering one last thing that makes him shake his head and sigh.
"Not a chance."
Shepard needed that shower. Both to clean herself and find relief for that aching between her legs. She'd basically tossed herself into the bathroom after she had gotten back from having her leg checked out as well as talking to Jack.
She stood dressed in a comfortable t-shirt and shorts. She ran a hand through her freshly dried hair and let a small content sigh fall from her lips, 'Oh god I hope EDI didn't hear me.'
"Uhh EDI?" Shepard asked, hoping the intelligence didn't answer.
"Yes commander." Shepard's face grew warm as the A.I. greeted her. She nervously smiled and walked over to where she kept her armor.
"Did you by chance hear anything coming from my bathroom in the past, I don't know, half hour or so?" Shepard asks sheepishly while looking at her armor. She knew there was no surveillance equipment in her bathroom but her room in general was in EDI's observation range.
"If you're asking for a replay of the footage of your room from the past thirty minutes I can happily oblige. Sending the data to your omni-tool."
Before Shepard could stop the A.I., she opens her omni-tool and is greeted with footage of her empty room. She is scared to press the play button but makes sure to lower the volume.
Shepard hovered over the play button, and caved to her curiosity.
It started out quiet, sounds of running water being the only audio. The video took a turn as her rather loud moaning could be heard. Shepard was appalled by how many times she was practically yelling out the gear's name. Her face turned cherry red as she quickly deleted the video.
"EDI please do me a favor and completely wipe that from Cerberus's data banks."
"Done, anything else commander?"
Shepard let out a breath of relief and smiled, "Thank you EDI, that's all."
The commander let herself fall onto her bed, resting her arms under her head and crossing her legs, "Fuck, you're going to be the death of me Carmine."
She let a devious smile fall to her face as she closed her eyes, making a small sleepy noise as she settled in.
Her conversation with Jack went exactly how she'd expected once she told Jack about Carmine being from another dimension. Hopefully it doesn't cause any trouble for the big man. Jack seemed keen on getting her answers from the source rather than through Shepard.
Karen had cleared Shepard and her leg wound as well. All Shepard needed was some good rest, food, and liquids. She'd managed to grab some food and water before heading back to her room, so all that was left was some good sleep.
Shepard let her mind wander further, all her thoughts leading back to one man.
He was brave, protective, impulsive, but most of all he was a force to be reckoned with. Sure she had to reel him back in a few times, but besides the last encounter with the prisoners, Shepard was surprised that Carmine followed her orders without hesitation. She smiled warmly knowing he proved himself to be a trust worthy member of her team.
It seems the more she got to know the big man, the more she was attracted to him. And with the information she gathered on their mission, let's just say she was very attracted to Carmine. Shepard digs her face into a pillow and smiles as she drifts into sleep.
Carmine walked into the armory flustered, he'd just introduced himself to Mordin and let's say things didn't go that smooth.
Carmine spotted Jacob and walked over, placing his armor on the floor close to a workbench, "Hey Jacob, did that Mordin guy ask you any weird questions when he came on board?"
Jacob jumped and spun around only to find Carmine tinkering with a bit of paper and pencil.
"Christ you're pretty quiet for a big dude. Uhh yeah Mordin did ask some pretty off color stuff, but he's good people." Jacob walked over to the gear and observed him carefully.
"I see. Sorry to barge in, but I'm hoping you can help make a few things for me. I'm just drawing up the design for the ammo crates the COG use." Jacob looked down to the paper and was surprised to see an impressive, partly done drawing.
"Yeah I don't see why I wouldn't be able to, I can make all sorts of things happen with Cerberus's funding. You have any spare bullets?" Carmine nodded and handed Jacob the now finishes drawing.
"This is really good Carmine. You some kind of hidden artist or something?" Carmine laughed as he rummaged through a few pouches on his belt for spare rounds.
"Nah, just have a good memory. A friend of mine back home made some mods to the original crates of ammo so they could carry more. I got a good look at them is all."
Carmine set a few bullets on the bench and set each corresponding gun next to them. Only his bow remained on his chest armor.
Jacob raised his eyebrow and set the ammo box plan on a table near his main station, "What about that explosive bow of yours?"
Carmine quickly shook his head, "No, and don't touch it. Sorry, but it's for your own good. I shouldn't have to use it at all as long as I have a steady supply of bullets. So can you make them?"
Jacob held his hands up and nodded, not wanting to push the subject. He walked over and took each round, taking a little time to analyze the massive shotgun shell. Carmine smirked, "You a gun nut too?"
"Not exactly, but these rounds are some of the largest I've seen. How tough were those locust things you had to fight?"
Carmine froze for a moment. He let out a sigh and a small cynical chuckle, "Tough enough to take more than one of those, that's all I can say for now."
Jacob nodded, understanding it was probably a sore topic, "Well shit man they work better than anything we got here. I'm assuming you drew up the plans so I could fit the ammo in there for you right?"
Carmine nodded and Jacob smiled at him, tapping his temple, "Smart man. Alright I'll get to work on this for you."
"What do I owe ya?" Carmine said after popping off his helmet.
Jacob looked up at the big man and chuckle. Carmine's hair was all sorts of messy, "Don't worry about paying me Carmine. Cerberus supplies it's operatives with whatever they need. And what you need right now is a shower and some hot food."
Carmine smiled at the man and held his fist up. Jacob bumped it and Carmine began clipping his weapons to his armor again. He slipped the empty magazine of his lancer out and placed it next to the lancer bullet before clipping it to his armor.
'Can't let anyone have our bullets but us.' Carmine put his chest armor on and walked his way over to Jacob, who was analyzing the ammo box plans.
"I'd prefer if this information stuck between us Jacob. I don't want your people getting a hold of my bullets. Alright?" Carmine made sure his face showed no signs of anger so he didn't come off threatening. Last thing he wanted was a bad relationship with another crew member.
Jacob contemplated for a moment, but turned to Carmine with a smirk, "I got you Carmine. I'll make sure this stays between us and the commander if she asks. I'll contact you when the ammo is ready. You'll probably be the only one that can transport it. These projected numbers seem to be pretty hefty."
"Perfect."
The pair share a handshake before saying their goodbyes, Carmine preferring to keep his helmet in his hand as he took off for the elevator, heading down to the bottom floor. Carmine was surprised he didn't run into anyone. He checked his omni-tool and noticed it was extremely late.
"Makes more sense why nobody's around. Guess I lost track of time." he muttered as he makes his way down to his room.
Once the door to his room closed behind him Carmine let out a small sigh, running a weary hand over his face. He dropped off his gear and set the scrap memento down next to his helmet on the table. He reached high and stretched out his aching body, now free of all his gear. His boots and bloody clothes were all that was left.
He was quick to grab a chair, rag, and his canteen as he began scrubbing his armor down. His rag didn't last long though, the small cloth being fully soaked in grime and blood.
He shrugged and pulled off his torn shirt, tossing the rag into a basket with the rest of this dirty clothes. Clay proceeded to wash down the rest of his gear with his now significantly bloodier shirt. Throwing it into the clothes basket with his rag.
Clay took a seat on his bed. He pulled his brother's tags out of a pouch on his waist and held them, "I-I love you guys, and I miss you."
Carmine's face fell into a small frown as he reached over and placed the three tags on top of the letter next to the artifact on the nightstand. Taking the small thing into his hand he noted some key changes to it.
The four pieces seemingly being brought together by small blue traces of energy. Carmine noticed it was similar to the color the cube was pulsing when he first touched it. However he was holding it in the palm of his hand so it obviously was still broken.
Carmine hummed at the small object, "Guess you're still broken. Maybe...maybe that's a good thing. Everyone is probably already moving on. The last Carmine kicked the bucket. Haha I guess Cole has to pay Baird back."
Carmine chuckled low, a small sad smile coming to his face as he pulls out the bill Cole had given him. He placed the cube back down on the nightstand, slipping money underneath it.
He stood and quickly grabbed some spare clothes, not bothering to wear his helmet or a shirt. Not like anyone was awake to see him.
He made his way to the elevator and his stomach growled at him, "Ha, almost forgot to grab some food."
Carmine made his way up to the mess hall and was surprised to see the cook still inside. The whiff of decently fresh chili hit his nose like a sucker punch. Carmine damn near fainted, his mouth almost becoming a fountain of drool.
Still shirtless, he set his helmet and clothes down where he usually sat. Carmine then made his way over to an older man who was rooting around in some cabinets.
Carmine cleared his throat, "Uhh, excuse me sir?"
The red haired cook turns around and gasps at the large, half naked man, "Jesus boyo what are ye doin here at this hour, and where's your damned clothes?!"
Carmine chuckled, "Haven't heard anyone talk like you before old timer. I was with Shepard's crew, we just got back recently and to be honest I'm starving."
The cook smiled up at the gear, "You've never heard an Irishman before? Ahhh you're that Carmine fellow who's just shacked up with us. Welcome aboard boyo, name is Patrick. I'll fix you up something right quick."
Carmine smiled and shook the cook's hand, "Pleasure to meet you Patrick. I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot of me."
The Irish man waves a dismissing hand at him, "I see everyone a lot boyo but you. You! Of all people you don't have ta say that. I know your giant arse will be in here."
Carmine and Patrick share a laugh as the cook gets a rather large bowl and fills it with chili. Carmine's eyes are locked onto the food and his stomach growls loudly.
The cook smiles and sets the bowl in front of the big man. As Carmine goes to grab it though he pulls the bowl back, "Wait just a feckin' minute, I've got something special for you boyo. A little welcome gift from old Patty to ya."
Carmine cocks his head to the side as Patrick goes digging back in the cabinet. Only to pull out a pair of dark bottles. He opens the two and heads back over to Carmine, looping around the counter, "Well come on boyo, I won't let you drink alone now. Guinness is to be enjoyed with others, well it is now since I've got someone else to drink with."
Carmine can't help but smile at the cook. He quickly scoops up his bowl and walks over to where Patrick has planted himself. Which conveniently is back by his clothes and helmet.
Carmine takes a seat and starts digging in, "Holy shit Patrick this is amazing." Carmine says with a mouth full of chili.
Patrick lets out a hearty laugh at the gear as he takes a sip of his beer, placing the other one next to Carmine. The big man finishes in record time, washing down what's left with his beer. Carmine pats his muscular, wounded stomach and closes his eyes for a moment.
"It's been a long time since I've had a nice meal and a drink. Thanks for this Patrick. If I can be honest this is really strange to me. Everyone has been so accepting." the aging Irishman smirks at him and looks away.
"Ah don't sweat it boyo. You're risking your life out there with the commander, least we can do for ya is make sure you're comfortable. Especially with that whole situation you've got going on." Patrick says as he sips on his beer.
The two drink in comfortable silence after that, occasionally exchanging small talk. Where Carmine is from, what kind of foods each of them like, so on.
Carmine downs the rest of his beer and stands, "I'm telling you bacon is a goddamn superfood. Thanks again for the food and drink Patrick, but I should get myself cleaned up."
Before he can grab his bowl and empty bottle the Irishman snatches them, "I couldn't agree more. Ah don't worry about it Carmine, it was a pleasure boyo. I'll be seeing you around."
Carmine smiles and waves as he grabs his things and heads for the door. The Irishman watches as the big man walks away, his eyes widening slightly at the scars on his back. Patrick sighs, a knowing look on his face as he tosses the bottles away and starts cleaning the bowl.
Carmine decides he should probably message Shepard and let her know he'll be heading up to shower.
Hey Shepard, just letting you know I'm going to be coming up to shower in a couple.
-C. Carmine
Clay lets the blue device fade back into his wristband as he makes his way over to the elevator and up to Shepard's room. He knocked on her door a couple times but was met with nothing, 'Hmm, I haven't gotten a reply yet, maybe she's busy? She did say just head in whenever. Fuck it, executive decision time.'
Carmine opened the door and his eyes widen, "That's just fucking adorable."
He grinned warmly at Shepard who was fast asleep in her bed, violently clutching her body pillow as she spooned it on top of the covers. He can't help his eyes from trailing down to her shorts, which reveal her muscular legs. Carmine's hands twitch as his eyes rake over her lower half.
He shakes his head lightly and goes to shower. Her little sleep induced mumbling making him chuckle as the bathroom door silently shuts.
Carmine strips his remaining clothes off, taking a few extra minutes to clean off his blood stained boots. With his boots cleaned to the best of his ability Carmine pulls off his boxers and steps into the shower, adjusting the shower head as best as he can. He turns it on and the spurt of hot water on his skin brings his muscles relief.
He can't help the low groan that claws at his throat as the water runs down his body. He washes his head first, cleaning the sweat from his thick hair. Then works on his body, carefully cleaning around his wounds. By the time he's done, no more than ten minutes has passed.
Carmine allows himself to stand under the water for a moment longer. His thoughts drifting as he can't get the image of Shepard's exposed legs out of his head.
'Christ why did I have to see that. Reminds me of when Sam and I used to share a tent all those years ago. I always used to wake up with Sam's legs curled around me, arms wrapped around my waist. Fuck, I bet Shepard would feel just as nice.' he lets out a low groan and slowly opens his eyes.
His eyes snap open when he realizes his southern region has reacted to all his intrusive thinking. He quickly calms himself down, turning the water cold.
He shakes his head for a moment, 'Let's try and stay clear of that. These people have been really nice to me, no need to fuck that up. I'm sure Shepard has someone anyway, just like Sam does. Not like it would matter anyway. I don't care how many off color things Kasumi or anyone says. Nobody can be interested in a monster like me and that's that.'
Carmine sighs before chuckling, 'Well with that out of the way I guess this place isn't too bad. Garrus and Jacob seem cool. Patrick and almost all the engineers like me and I like them. Doctor Chakwas seems more so like my mother than when I first met her which I'm grateful for. I have my own room, new clothes. The best part though, I get to kill grubs again.
Carmine shuts the water off and steps out, drying himself with the towel he'd used before, hanging it back on the rail. He dresses himself quickly and heads over to the sink. He bends down to look at himself in the mirror, hands pressed on either side of the sink, "Howdy ya ugly bastard."
Clay chuckles as he fingers some of his facial scars, remembering how he got most of them. He trailed the bullet scar going above his ear, pulling his hair back to see the old torn flesh on the side of his head.
"If Sam wasn't there that night, I wouldn't be here. Just my luck I guess, heh. What kind of woman would be attracted to someone like you..." the grim laugh he has is quiet and deep. He shakes his head and frowns, scraping together the rest of his clothes before leaving the bathroom.
He takes one more look at the sleeping commander and lets a small embarrassed smile come to his face as his shower thoughts come back to haunt him. Clay quickly turns to leave.
"C-Carmine, that tickles." the slumbering commander mumbles with a small sleep giggle.
Carmine pauses mid step and slowly turns to her, her peaceful expression making him do a double take.
He can't help himself from placing his clothes down and walking over to her. If someone saw him it would probably look creepy as all hell as he towered over her sleeping form. But he could have sworn he heard his name.
Shepard death gripped her body pillow, her small muscular arms and legs wrapped around it. Carmine smirked at the sight, "Maybe if you're good I'll let you up." her sleepy voice rang in his ears.
Carmine's smirk grew wider as he crouched down to her level. Anthony was a chronic sleep talker, Clayton and his brothers would always mess with him, "Aww come on, what if I ask nicely."
Shepard shook her head gently, making a small noise, "Just let me lay on you-u-u-u-u."
Her slightly cranky tone makes the big man smile warmly. He decided to stop the teasing he hesitates for a moment as he reaches his hands out to grab her. Carmine gently pulls her away from the pillow and into his arms bridal style as he slides her covers down.
She clung to him, nuzzling her nose into the fabric of his short sleeved shirt letting a content sigh fall from her now smiling face. Her bare legs curled around his arm.
Shepard was pretty cold to the touch. She clung tighter in order to utilize his extreme warmth. Carmine shivered from her contact, blood threatened to rush to his groin.
Carmine seriously contemplated just sitting there for a bit with her clinging to him, 'No, a monster like us is good for one thing. We don't deserve this. We don't deserve her, or anyone. But fuck her legs are so smooth.'
He lets a low chuckle sit in his chest. The small rumble in his chest slightly waking Shepard. Her tired icy blue eyes cracked open as she nuzzled herself deeper into Carmine's peck, "You smell so good."
Carmine freezes and blushes at the sleepy commander, reluctantly laying her into bed. She immediately whimpers are extends her arms and legs, trying to find him.
Clayton slips the body pillow back into her awaiting limbs and smiles, 'Thank god, I think she thinks this is a dream.'
"Sleep good cherry." he flips a few strands of her messy red locks out of her face and stands. He walks over to his pile of clothes and grabs them before leaving.
As soon as her door closes Shepard opens one tired eye, her smile extremely wide as she hugs her pillow even tighter, his scent clinging to her as she drifted back to sleep, "Goodnight Carmine."
Authors note:
Hooooowdy, look at that, I finally finished this dammed chapter. Thought I'd end it with a little cutesy moment for Carmine and Shepard. I'm not going to make excuses as to why this took so long, and I'll try to keep it short.
First a thanks to those sticking around this long, thanks for all the new people who found my silly little story, and thank you for being patient with me. I won't be making any promises of faster releases or nothin. This was my largest chapter yet, and has taken the longest to complete. I feel like I may have jammed too much into it, but it's been a good few months here, and you all deserve some reading material.
So don't be expecting 20k plus words every chapter from here on out, unless this chapter does overwhelmingly well, oooor I take like 6-7 months again to drop a new chapter.
As usual, thanks for dropping by, I appreciate any and all feedback. It's nice to know people are enjoying my story, gets the creative juices flowing. Feel free to dm me if you need any clarification about any of the story so far or want to drop any suggestions for future chapters.
As always, Adios amigos
