a thousand miles (left behind) & no one's wiser - part two
all headers are on part 1
Today is a serious test of her patience.
So much so, she forgoes trying to preserve what’s left of the station in light of just blasting through the incessant mechs with pure biotics. She leaves a trail of dismembered parts on her way to the shuttle bay - there’s a failsafe module there that only she knows about.
When she arrives, she seals all the doors from her way in; one last scan shows no one outside the four of them are still alive at this point. If anyone else is healthy enough to make the ride back to Central, they’d be here by now.
She’s pulled up the failsafe on a hidden terminal in the room, activating it and effectively shutting down all the mechs by triggering a full system purge. It takes about ten minutes before the entire station will be fully shutdown.
Her HUD link to the station is useless now, so she has to venture out to find him on her own. Last she sees him is through one of the main bridges that connect the two chief labs. By now he shouldn’t be too far away, she’s only two rooms away from where he was before.
Just as she shuts off the terminal, the opposite door beeps to signal someone opening it from the other side - if it’s him, he takes priority. If it’s Casey or, better yet, Emmett, it’ll save her some trouble.
She’s about to open the door herself after she readies her pistol when it slides open. The first thing she sees is a very much alive, not worse for wear Commander Shepard with Casey right behind him. To his right is a less favorable sight, though she enjoys the efficiency of him coming to her before she even lifts a finger.
“Walker! But you were -“
“Dead?”
Perhaps offing him isn’t the best way to deal with things but she’s been much too tolerant of Emmett in general. He’s nearly destroyed everything she dedicated the last two years of her life to and she’d rather be condemned to the hellholes of Omega for the rest of her life than let that pathetic excuse of a human being get the best of her.
Besides, as far as she’s concerned, Lazarus is a success and Emmett has played his part beautifully up until this point.
Casey is the first to say anything, she expects him to gripe at least a little bit for just flat out shooting Emmett although it’s more because she probably got a blood stain or two on his armor he just polished two days ago.
“Ey!” he yells, “watch where you’re pointing that shit, Walker.”
“Calm down, sunshine, a little red isn’t going to ruin your precious suit. Besides,” she says while turning over to look at Shepard, “I did you two a favor.”
He has his gun trained on her despite her own being holstered away already. The expression on his face suggests he has something on his mind and she’s willing to play ball. She lets a smirk ever so slightly tug on her lips, raising an eyebrow in challenge. He raises his own in response, giving her a slight once over before answering, “I’m pretty sure Emmett would disagree with you on that front.”
“Seems that way, doesn’t it?” She nudges her foot around, thinking about what a waste that brain is on such a foolish little man. “I’m sure he would’ve preferred it if the mechs he sent me were actually capable of killing me but as it stands, I just saved you from death - again - you’re welcome for that, by the way.”
“Personally, I would have kept him alive at least until I was done questioning him,” he says, releasing the empty heat clip with a puff of smoke, “what if it wasn’t him?”
“Then I guess Casey is going to shoot you in the near future, if that’s the case, I’d suggest you watch your back - he tends to enjoy dragging things like that out.”
He brings it up again, once they’re in the shuttle and well on their way, asks if it’s possible that someone else from outside could have been hacking into the station and if that is the case - if there’s someone else who’s after him out there - if she can be okay with killing someone innocent so offhandedly.
The answer is of course she can, because she’s a professional. Because she’s devoted (given) up two years of her life to bring this stranger in front of her back to life, one that doesn’t know an ounce of what she’s done that makes shooting Emmett in the head look placid. Because she knows her shit and there is no way in hell that anyone knows he exists - that he’s the unrecognizable, charred piece of crap they place in the med bay with four extra walls of security.
Because no one knows that except for the three vital personnel and if it’s not the two in the shuttle, the only choice left is the one left behind.
She could tell him this, show her superiority that leads her to headline this project, to deal with him but that same station is what allows her to not give enough fucks to waste her breath. She doesn’t bother proving him wrong so much as she tells him she’s right, looks him dead in the eyes with a stone face and asks “can you feel your heart beat?”
He may be more trusting than she’d like him to be but she’s glad to find that he’s not as dumb as he seems when he picks up on her less than subtle implication. It’s somewhat reassuring that the savior of the galaxy isn’t a complete wash, he may prove to have something to bring to the table, yet, though she keeps her expectations fairly low, still.
“We’re going to run through some tests before we reach Central.”
She grabs a datapad, flipping past diagnostic tests to his bio. The Illusive Man makes it more than crystal clear that he won’t accept anything other than the same man before he died. It’s not that she doubts her work, simply the circumstances are unfavorable. It’s in her best interest to know as much as she can about her final product.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that this will go over as smoothly as she wants, his jaw is set in a stubborn way, a hard gaze along with the scars marring the otherwise boyish nature of his face. “Where are you taking me?”
“To another facility,” she answers curtly. Loathe as she is to admit, the day is getting to her on a variety of levels so if answering needless questions is what it takes to shut him up and do what she wants, then she’s willing to say everything he wants to hear.
“Boss man wants to play with his new toy,” Casey pipes up from the cockpit. Before anyone else can say anything further, she interjects. “The Illusive Man - I’m sure you’ve realized we’re Cerberus by now.”
He gives her a terse nod, one of agreement not acceptance. She decides to take it as permission to continue her business.
His name is Devon Shepard, born July 3, 2154 to Woody and Hannah Shepard, both of whom also served in the Alliance. The oldest of three brothers, he is also the only one to follow in his parents’ footsteps and enlist. He is chosen for the N7 program not too long after, graduating with the highest marks in his class - setting most, if not all records that are still held today. His notability comes mainly from his acts on Elysium, risking his life to save his team while managing to almost single-handedly fend off a Batarian slaver attack.
She’s surprised at how well he knows his own file. He nearly recites the entire thing verbatim from start to finish without being prompted further.
It’s impressive - all of it - him, his heroism, his naïve disposition despite facing some of the worst this galaxy has to offer.
She finds it almost more disturbing he exists like this naturally before he was killed than she does resurrecting him. On paper, there’s no one else like him and there probably won’t ever be. And while this is about him, not her, she can’t help but feel a sudden emptiness at the thought of not being good enough when she’s already more than enough.
(it’s something stupid and frivolous and she stomps it down and locks it away as quickly as it surfaces)
The only thing that’s left is all physical, the tiny transit shuttle is an inappropriate place to conduct such tests to say the least, though she’s willing to forgo the standard tests she’s constructed given him still being in one piece after successfully fighting his way through hoards of mechs.
Besides, Casey is apparently impressed with him enough that he’s fairly enthusiastic when he vouches for the “new guy.”
He’s still in the white shirt and shorts they’ve had him in for the past however long he’s been able to while he’s in the med bay; aside from a few stains from running around the station, the shirt is still fairly white, lacking bloodstains that would indicate something more undesirable. From what she can see, the skin grafts on his face get the worst of it, glowing and angry but serving their purpose. It’s a small relief that four billion credits poured into this man can assure that he at least doesn’t bleed out before he takes his first step.
“We’ll have to get you some new clothes,” she finally says, it’s not meant to be heard, barely loud enough for him to pick up if he his listening and small enough to be denied if he questions her about it.
She’s not exactly sure why she feels a need to try cutting the tension but the air is thick and none of it settles well with her.
It takes a beat before he says anything in response, catching her eye before he simply says thank you, leaving an opening for her again. His face has softened considerably, to the point where if she tries she can make out a ghost of a smile.
It’s enough to coax a whispered Sarah out of her because also it makes it occur to her that he has absolutely no clue who she actually is.
The smile that’s been waiting finally appears across his face, wholesome and genuine and sincere that when he thanks her by name for promising to get him actual clothes, it feels like he’s thanking her for a lot more.
(when she says you’re welcome, she finds she actually means it, too)
/ part 3 (coming soon)
Today is a serious test of her patience.
So much so, she forgoes trying to preserve what’s left of the station in light of just blasting through the incessant mechs with pure biotics. She leaves a trail of dismembered parts on her way to the shuttle bay - there’s a failsafe module there that only she knows about.
When she arrives, she seals all the doors from her way in; one last scan shows no one outside the four of them are still alive at this point. If anyone else is healthy enough to make the ride back to Central, they’d be here by now.
She’s pulled up the failsafe on a hidden terminal in the room, activating it and effectively shutting down all the mechs by triggering a full system purge. It takes about ten minutes before the entire station will be fully shutdown.
Her HUD link to the station is useless now, so she has to venture out to find him on her own. Last she sees him is through one of the main bridges that connect the two chief labs. By now he shouldn’t be too far away, she’s only two rooms away from where he was before.
Just as she shuts off the terminal, the opposite door beeps to signal someone opening it from the other side - if it’s him, he takes priority. If it’s Casey or, better yet, Emmett, it’ll save her some trouble.
She’s about to open the door herself after she readies her pistol when it slides open. The first thing she sees is a very much alive, not worse for wear Commander Shepard with Casey right behind him. To his right is a less favorable sight, though she enjoys the efficiency of him coming to her before she even lifts a finger.
“Walker! But you were -“
“Dead?”
Perhaps offing him isn’t the best way to deal with things but she’s been much too tolerant of Emmett in general. He’s nearly destroyed everything she dedicated the last two years of her life to and she’d rather be condemned to the hellholes of Omega for the rest of her life than let that pathetic excuse of a human being get the best of her.
Besides, as far as she’s concerned, Lazarus is a success and Emmett has played his part beautifully up until this point.
Casey is the first to say anything, she expects him to gripe at least a little bit for just flat out shooting Emmett although it’s more because she probably got a blood stain or two on his armor he just polished two days ago.
“Ey!” he yells, “watch where you’re pointing that shit, Walker.”
“Calm down, sunshine, a little red isn’t going to ruin your precious suit. Besides,” she says while turning over to look at Shepard, “I did you two a favor.”
He has his gun trained on her despite her own being holstered away already. The expression on his face suggests he has something on his mind and she’s willing to play ball. She lets a smirk ever so slightly tug on her lips, raising an eyebrow in challenge. He raises his own in response, giving her a slight once over before answering, “I’m pretty sure Emmett would disagree with you on that front.”
“Seems that way, doesn’t it?” She nudges her foot around, thinking about what a waste that brain is on such a foolish little man. “I’m sure he would’ve preferred it if the mechs he sent me were actually capable of killing me but as it stands, I just saved you from death - again - you’re welcome for that, by the way.”
“Personally, I would have kept him alive at least until I was done questioning him,” he says, releasing the empty heat clip with a puff of smoke, “what if it wasn’t him?”
“Then I guess Casey is going to shoot you in the near future, if that’s the case, I’d suggest you watch your back - he tends to enjoy dragging things like that out.”
He brings it up again, once they’re in the shuttle and well on their way, asks if it’s possible that someone else from outside could have been hacking into the station and if that is the case - if there’s someone else who’s after him out there - if she can be okay with killing someone innocent so offhandedly.
The answer is of course she can, because she’s a professional. Because she’s devoted (given) up two years of her life to bring this stranger in front of her back to life, one that doesn’t know an ounce of what she’s done that makes shooting Emmett in the head look placid. Because she knows her shit and there is no way in hell that anyone knows he exists - that he’s the unrecognizable, charred piece of crap they place in the med bay with four extra walls of security.
Because no one knows that except for the three vital personnel and if it’s not the two in the shuttle, the only choice left is the one left behind.
She could tell him this, show her superiority that leads her to headline this project, to deal with him but that same station is what allows her to not give enough fucks to waste her breath. She doesn’t bother proving him wrong so much as she tells him she’s right, looks him dead in the eyes with a stone face and asks “can you feel your heart beat?”
He may be more trusting than she’d like him to be but she’s glad to find that he’s not as dumb as he seems when he picks up on her less than subtle implication. It’s somewhat reassuring that the savior of the galaxy isn’t a complete wash, he may prove to have something to bring to the table, yet, though she keeps her expectations fairly low, still.
“We’re going to run through some tests before we reach Central.”
She grabs a datapad, flipping past diagnostic tests to his bio. The Illusive Man makes it more than crystal clear that he won’t accept anything other than the same man before he died. It’s not that she doubts her work, simply the circumstances are unfavorable. It’s in her best interest to know as much as she can about her final product.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that this will go over as smoothly as she wants, his jaw is set in a stubborn way, a hard gaze along with the scars marring the otherwise boyish nature of his face. “Where are you taking me?”
“To another facility,” she answers curtly. Loathe as she is to admit, the day is getting to her on a variety of levels so if answering needless questions is what it takes to shut him up and do what she wants, then she’s willing to say everything he wants to hear.
“Boss man wants to play with his new toy,” Casey pipes up from the cockpit. Before anyone else can say anything further, she interjects. “The Illusive Man - I’m sure you’ve realized we’re Cerberus by now.”
He gives her a terse nod, one of agreement not acceptance. She decides to take it as permission to continue her business.
His name is Devon Shepard, born July 3, 2154 to Woody and Hannah Shepard, both of whom also served in the Alliance. The oldest of three brothers, he is also the only one to follow in his parents’ footsteps and enlist. He is chosen for the N7 program not too long after, graduating with the highest marks in his class - setting most, if not all records that are still held today. His notability comes mainly from his acts on Elysium, risking his life to save his team while managing to almost single-handedly fend off a Batarian slaver attack.
She’s surprised at how well he knows his own file. He nearly recites the entire thing verbatim from start to finish without being prompted further.
It’s impressive - all of it - him, his heroism, his naïve disposition despite facing some of the worst this galaxy has to offer.
She finds it almost more disturbing he exists like this naturally before he was killed than she does resurrecting him. On paper, there’s no one else like him and there probably won’t ever be. And while this is about him, not her, she can’t help but feel a sudden emptiness at the thought of not being good enough when she’s already more than enough.
(it’s something stupid and frivolous and she stomps it down and locks it away as quickly as it surfaces)
The only thing that’s left is all physical, the tiny transit shuttle is an inappropriate place to conduct such tests to say the least, though she’s willing to forgo the standard tests she’s constructed given him still being in one piece after successfully fighting his way through hoards of mechs.
Besides, Casey is apparently impressed with him enough that he’s fairly enthusiastic when he vouches for the “new guy.”
He’s still in the white shirt and shorts they’ve had him in for the past however long he’s been able to while he’s in the med bay; aside from a few stains from running around the station, the shirt is still fairly white, lacking bloodstains that would indicate something more undesirable. From what she can see, the skin grafts on his face get the worst of it, glowing and angry but serving their purpose. It’s a small relief that four billion credits poured into this man can assure that he at least doesn’t bleed out before he takes his first step.
“We’ll have to get you some new clothes,” she finally says, it’s not meant to be heard, barely loud enough for him to pick up if he his listening and small enough to be denied if he questions her about it.
She’s not exactly sure why she feels a need to try cutting the tension but the air is thick and none of it settles well with her.
It takes a beat before he says anything in response, catching her eye before he simply says thank you, leaving an opening for her again. His face has softened considerably, to the point where if she tries she can make out a ghost of a smile.
It’s enough to coax a whispered Sarah out of her because also it makes it occur to her that he has absolutely no clue who she actually is.
The smile that’s been waiting finally appears across his face, wholesome and genuine and sincere that when he thanks her by name for promising to get him actual clothes, it feels like he’s thanking her for a lot more.
(when she says you’re welcome, she finds she actually means it, too)
/ part 3 (coming soon)