Mass Effect - a Hero Rises

Book 2, Chapter 11 -- Rescue Me

*****

"Are you both settling in okay?" I asked.

"My quarters meet my requirements, Shepard," Thane replied, "I do not require much comfort otherwise. A soft mat for meditation is all that I need."

"And you still feel fit enough to assist?"

He nodded his head, the flicker of a grin. "Your concern is admirable, Shepard, and I do thank you for it. But I would not have accepted your offer if I did not deem myself capable of performing to how I would expect of myself."

"Great. And you, Samara?"

"While I did not expect to ever fly aboard a vessel bedecked in the colours and symbol of an avowed enemy of the Council, I am pleased to see that many of the humans on board do not match the stereotype of what I had expected of a human centric organisation."

"And do you have everything you require?"

"I am comfortable, Shepard. All I need is a place to lay my head at night and a quiet place to meditate. Thane has already joined me during our brief time together on the ship."

"It brings harmony of mind, body and soul, Justicar."

"Indeed it does." She looked back at me. "Suffice to say, I believe we are both well, Shepard. Thank you for asking."

"Good. Glad to hear. You need anything, just shout and I'll see what I can do." Both looked confused a moment before realising the human idiom.

"Shepard, if I may broach one subject, in private?" Thane took that as a cue to leave, dipping his head in respect towards both of us before leaving the lounge, leaving me across from Samara. I had a feeling I already knew what this would be about, but I let her start. "I do not mean to cause embarrassment, Shepard, but I feel I must say this before we go further."

"Sure, Samara. No problem."

"I will admit I do not know you well. However, suffice to say, I have learned of your reputation as a... I believe the term is ladies' man. Would that be correct?"

"In a manner of speaking."

"I can admit I already understand why many women may flock to your bedside, Shepard. It is not just your deeds. Already I have seen the strength of your character and force of personality, and that's ignoring your physical attributes. However, I am a Justicar and... I cannot be another of your conquests, Shepard, to put it as bluntly as possible. I took a vow of celibacy and no-one, not even you, can make me break that vow."

"I would never expect that, Samara."

"I know that already, but I felt it necessary to vocalise my thoughts, just so we know where we each stand. I will stand by your side until the Collectors are defeated. I will offer you advice whenever you need it. I will protect you with my life as I know you will protect mine with yours. I hope, by the end of this, I can consider you a close friend, forged in the arena of war. But that is all we will ever be."

"Thank you, Samara."

"For what?" she asked, sounding surprised.

"For being honest. I know nothing of your order, and you've just given me a tiny insight. You gave up everything correct? Material possessions but also the idea of... love? Intimacy?"

"In a manner of speaking. I can still feel great love but that is all. I now live by the Code."

"I certainly expect nothing from any woman I meet except friendship. If it develops naturally from there, then I certainly appreciate that fact. But I never expect something to happen. Now that I know where each of us stands, I can only echo your hopes and feelings, Samara. By the end of this, I hope to consider you as close a friend as I consider many others I have fought alongside."

She dipped her head in respect. "Another reason why you have developed such a reputation, Shepard. I am eager to see how we progress in the coming weeks."

"This is still just the beginning. We haven't even really begun yet."

I left Samara to her meditations, heading out into the mess to grab a bottle of water, looking around and walking into the med-bay. Chakwas was pleased to see me, gesturing immediately to her seat. Once I'd sat down, she simply said, "Thank you, Commander."

"Shepard, Doc. I'm no longer of that rank."

"You still command this vessel, Commander. But I understand why."

"Why the thank you?"

"For the bottle of brandy. I know I told you about it but I didn't think you'd actually buy me one."

"Of course I would. I look after my friend's."

"We'll have to have a drink one day."

"Definitely. Once we've recruited Tali, we'll spend a night together drinking."

Something in her eyes sparkled. I remembered her affection for me during Saren, but neither of us had made a move to be anything more than friends. I certainly had affection for her. She was a lovely woman and I enjoyed our constant conversations. But I didn't think she wanted anything more than a friend, so I didn't push it. "Well, that will give me something to look forward to, Shepard. Did you need anything else?"

"No, just wondering if there's anything I need to be concerned about?"

"Your injuries have clearly healed, so you're fine. Our recruits are all fit and healthy. No, I think I can claim that the entire ship is running smoothly in regards to their health."

"Well, who can't help but be pleased by that."

"I'll let you know if anything major does happen, but that will likely only be due to action off the ship."

"I can't help it if bad people want to shoot me constantly," I stated, rising to my feet, "But it seems to be a habit nowadays."

"As long as your visits with wounds doesn't become a habit, Commander."

"What? And miss your bedside manner, Doctor? Almost a good excuse to get shot!"

"Behave, Commander," she retorted with a grin.

"Of course, Doc. I'll talk to you later."

Heading upstairs, I clicked on my terminal and checked for any new messages. Of course, within the couple of hours I'd been away, I'd been inundated like usual. Most of it was junk or things I simply didn't need to know or care about, but there was always news to catch up. Rumours of Collector movements were always something I wanted to know about. Since Freedom's Progress and even Horizon, at least another half a dozen colony's had simply disappeared. It was almost like they were mocking our efforts at times.

As for where we were headed, the only dossier I'd received since leaving Illium was to recruit a quarian. A certain someone by the name of Tali'Zorah vas Neema. I remembered her telling me everything about her society and culture during our time together before, so what her new name told me is that she was now a member of the

Neema

and was now considered an adult. She'd been an adult, at least in regards to age, when she was on the old

Normandy

, but due to their own unique rules, she was only considered a contributing adult when she returned from Pilgrimage with a gift. I could only hope the one I gave her had been as good as she'd hoped when leaving.

We were headed to a planet called Haestrom, which was arse deep in the middle of geth space. I didn't like that idea. Hated geth almost as much as I hated batarians. At least the latter were organics. Geth were heartless, emotionless machines, hell bent on doing god knows what to the rest of us. They'd come ever so close to helping Saren achieve his ambitions at letting the Reapers invade, so my only rule regarding the geth nowadays was to shoot every single one I ran into.

I couldn't figure out what Tali was doing there though. I'd been told that the quarians tried to leave the geth alone at the best of times. But considering she had told me about her own mission, I could only assume this was somehow related.

"Joker, how long until we're in orbit of Haestrom?"

"Well, considering we'll need to stay cloaked the entire time we're in geth space, we're going to be at least another couple of days, Commander."

Joker was another that refused to call me Shepard. I'd given up asking him as well.

"Okay. Do what you can to shave off an hour here or there if you can. But I'd rather not be chased out of the system by geth if possible."

"Sure thing, Commander. With any luck, they won't know we've been and gone."

Thankfully, everyone had their role on the ship, or at least those wearing Cerberus colours, so while the ship was flying anywhere, no-one could complain of being bored. Of those who were not Cerberus, Garrus worked the main batteries, so kept himself amused. Kasumi liked to read. Thane and Samara meditated. Jack did... whatever Jack did downstairs. Grunt found joy in assembling weapons. Zaeed drank and smoked in his quarters.

As for Kelly, I'd kept my word. The first night after we'd left Illium, we had dinner together in my cabin and she stayed the night, where we made love and then we simply cuddled together. And I knew she was happy in the thought that, for the time being, she'd be my sole focus. I didn't think anything would happen with Jack again anytime soon, and I wasn't going to go looking for it. Miranda... I wasn't sure about. I was left thinking there was a slight attraction, despite the way our relationship had started, but I wasn't going to pursue it. Kasumi didn't seem interested, which I didn't mind at all. Just like I'd told Samara, I accepted friendship above all else first. But I could sit and chat with her for a couple of hours and just listen to her talk about her life. At least she was interesting and had no problem sharing her opinions about numerous topics.

The next morning, I was downstairs with Jacob, both of us having just finished working out, when Kelly wandered in with a couple of bottles of water, handing one off to Jacob before giving one to me. "Good workout?" she asked.

"Certainly got the old heartrate going, that's for sure."

"I can't keep up with him," Jacob said, "I think we rebuilt him a little too good!"

"I'm not going to complain," I said, "Though the muscles still burn just like that used to."

"But could you bench press that sort of weight before?"

"Not a chance. But I don't do too much of that. I don't want to get too big, otherwise I lose some of my athleticism."

"So you're just showing off?"

"Just want to see if I can do it. One of those test yourself moments." I offered my hand, which he took. "Nice workout, Jacob. Same again tomorrow?"

"You know it, Shepard. I'll catch you later."

Kelly waited until he'd stepped onto the elevator before she said, "You're certainly getting on with him."

I took a sip of my bottle, nodding at her statement. "Good man. Explained his history. I can almost understand why he left the Alliance. Hell, I'm here now because the Council and Alliance are not taking the Collector threat seriously." I took another sip as I gathered my thoughts. "Actually, I've come to a realisation," I added, taking a seat on the crate, Kelly sitting beside me.

"What are you thinking?"

"What I'm doing now... no, what

we

are doing now, as everyone is involved, it's given the Alliance an excuse to barely lift a finger. Leave it all to us to solve. If it goes wrong, we get the blame. If we manage to achieve victory, they can applaud but still call Cerberus terrorists, me a traitor, and still come out smelling of roses."

"So the chances of you going back to the Alliance?"

"I'm not so sure now. I'm almost tempted to become something like an 'independent military contractor'. A fancy name for a mercenary, I guess."

"Heard from anyone in the Alliance?"

"Anderson sends the occasional message, but they are only brief. Ashley sent one after Horizon, which I appreciated, but nothing since. Hackett sends the occasional one too, generally asking for small favours, which we have done from time to time. Other than that, the messages are not worth repeating."

"That bad?"

"Honestly, I sometimes hate politicians more than batarians and geth." I turned towards her. "What brought you down here anyway?"

"No reason. Just wondering where you were." I gave her a look, as I suspected there might have been another motive, which made her giggle and lean in. "No, Shepard, not that. I'm actually a little sore after last night."

"You're the one who said their pussy needed a pounding, Kelly."

"I'm not complaining, Shepard. I loved it. But I am feeling a little delicate right now." She cuddled into me, despite the fact I was still sweating. "Maybe a bit gentler tonight. Maybe just your tongue."

"That I can quite happily do. Or we could, you know, not do anything. We don't always have to have sex, Kelly. I just like your company too." I think what I'd just said was quite unexpected as she seemed to get a little emotional. No tears or anything but it was definitely a surprise, so I turned my body towards her. "Kelly, you don't think this is just about sex, do you?"

"Well... I..."

I grabbed both her hands once she turned towards me. "Kelly, if you ever thought that, I must apologise. I thought my intentions were clear. You are more than that to me." I pulled her into a hug, which she definitely liked, running a hand through her hair. "So much more than that," I added quietly.

"Just surprised, Shepard," she eventually whispered.

"Well, a good surprise, I hope?"

"Oh, the best. Just what I wanted to hear."

"You're very special to me, Kelly. Dear to my heart." I lifted her chin with a finger. "And I trust you completely."

That made her lower lip tremble as she knew what that meant. Despite the fact she worked for them. Despite the fact she wore that symbol. Despite the fact I knew she sent reports to the Illusive Man, I trusted her. She leaned forward to kiss me, and the depth of feeling in that one kiss told me what her true feelings were for me in return. Leaning back, she met my eyes and smiled as I caressed her cheek, running my fingers through her hair as always, watching her eyes close at the feeling.

Taking her by the hand, I led her towards the elevator, pushing the buttons for the CIC and cabin. She didn't get off at the former, so we travelled together to the latter, where I headed straight for the shower. She didn't join me there, but when I walked out a few minutes later, I was given a surprise of my own as she was lying naked on the bed. I quickly dried myself off and joined her, simply lying next to her as I took her in my arms. Running fingers up and down her back, we lay like that for what felt like a long time, barely swapping a word, kissing occasionally, but otherwise just enjoying each other.

We couldn't stay there all day. She certainly had work to do, and I couldn't not make a regular appearance in the CIC during the day. She finally got up first and I lay back and watched her dress. She somehow managed to make getting dressed rather erotic, and only when she was putting on her shoes did I finally get up. After I'd slid on some trousers, a shirt and my boots, I took her by the hand and led her back out to the elevator. We walked out hand in hand into the CIC before I let her go, walking to our own terminals.

The work never seemed to end.

With still at least two days of travelling, we enjoyed a night in the bar lounge that evening. Everyone joined in, including Jack and Miranda, and the new recruits were more than happy to stay, though neither of them consumed alcohol. I was pleased to see the Cerberus crew further prove they didn't fit the stereotype Samara had expected, as they quite happily spoke to a drell, asari or even Garrus without a problem. I was left thinking they were not a true reflection of Cerberus, but were chosen as they were not the anti-alien fanatics that probably fit the bill for most members of their organisation. I drank enough to get a slight buzz going, eventually finding myself between Miranda and Jack, surprised they were even sitting that close together.

"So, when are you going to come down and fuck me again?" Jack wondered, not being quiet nor subtle. Miranda simply scoffed which earned a comment from Jack. "You're just jealous you haven't got your claws into him yet, cheerleader. He's already come down and fucked me good and hard a couple of times."

"I want nothing from Shepard except the guarantee we'll defeat the Collectors, Jack. He can find his sexual gratification with others if he needs to."

"Oh, but I bet you'd love nothing more than to slide down his cock, cheerleader. You've obviously seen it, considering you rebuilt him. I bet it pisses you off that he's fucking Kelly instead. Yeah, she's getting the good stuff nearly every night. The smile on her face each morning lets everyone know she got some deep dicking the night before."

"Sometimes in the morning too," Kelly added cheerfully.

"Jack," I said, a warning tone in just the use of her name.

"Just being honest, Shepard. I know Kelly would admit you're a great fuck. I can admit you were pretty damned good. Who else has fucked him on this ship?"

"No-one else yet," Garrus stated, "I use the term yet loosely, of course."

"He's obviously fucked some others too, off the ship. Damn, cheerleader, it must just piss you off at the fact you haven't been one of them."

"You'd be surprised how much I'm not, actually."

"Tell yourself that all you want, cheerleader. I know for a fact you want Shepard in your bed, or you want to be in his bed, your head buried in a pillow as he just pounds you from behind. Maybe a bit of hair pulling? Or maybe one of his firm hands slapping your arse?"

"Okay, Jack, that's enough," I said, "Teasing is fine but..."

"I'm a big girl, Shepard. I can handle it myself," Miranda stated.

Jack got to her feet. "I think you're full of shit, cheerleader. About what you think in regards to Shepard and a lot of other things. But it's clear you're not any fun, so fuck it... Shepard, you're not going to come join me?"

"Not tonight, Jack."

"Suit yourself." She looked around at the available males, no doubt assessing who might would suit her needs. "You're fun, Zaeed, but too old. Garrus... no, turian dicks are too weird, even for me. Thane? Never fucked a drell before."

"While I appreciate the offer, I feel I must decline."

"Suit yourself." She looked around and groaned. "Fuck. I'm going to have to take care of myself then." I did glance at Jacob, but all he did was meet my eyes and return a subtle shake of the head. I didn't blame the man, to be honest. Looking back, Jack had already disappeared, hearing her mutter all the way towards the elevator.

Once the doors shut, I turned to Miranda. "I'm sorry. You didn't deserve any of that."

She looked at me and grinned. "Not your fault, Shepard, so thank you, but not necessary. You asked her to stop twice, but she was clearly looking for a reaction. I wasn't going to give her the pleasure of one. It was obvious she was pressing

your

buttons, hoping you'll follow her down there later." I looked away, giving it some thought. There must have been a light bulb moment as she chuckled. "Exactly. She's down there now, waiting for you."

"Well, she's not getting what she wants then. All she's done is piss me off."

"Seems to be a habit of hers."

"I think she needs to get off the ship. Though she had plenty of chances while on Illium, but from what I've been told, she rarely left." I shrugged. "Her problem, not mine. I'm not here to coddle people."

The night ended a couple of hours later, and I headed upstairs with Kelly that evening, where we simply undressed and lay together before going to sleep. The next morning, I woke early, leaving Kelly to sleep as I dressed and headed to the elevator. I hadn't slept well, left angrier than I thought about the confrontation in the lounge. Exiting at the engineering level, there was no-one around that early in the morning, heading down underneath to find Jack fast asleep on her cot. I ripped her blanket off her and yanked her out of bed. "On your feet," I ordered.

"What the fuck?"

"I said on your feet," I barked. She snarled and summoned her biotics. I moved fast, grabbing her by the throat and spinning her towards the bench nearby. "Disrespect my crew in such a manner again and I will make your life a world of pain."