ME: Lost

Trust

Crouching behind a shattered column, Commander Shepard drew a shaky breath. A high pitched whine echoed from her armor and her shield generator stuttered for a moment before finally recharging.

"Shepard? Are you alright?" Liara's voice crackled in her ear, "what's going on?"

"I'm ok, just forgot to duck," she laughed hoarsely, her ribs aching slightly where the slug had impacted her armor. She hoped the injected humor would distract from the fact that she really had, in fact, forgotten to duck.

Combat usually shut down all her senses and emotions, except those needed for speed and precision. This ability made her calm and capable under pressure, the perfect soldier, but something was different this time. A small part of her mind rose up in panic every time she allowed herself to remember where she was. There were so many people that she could lose today - people she needed, people she loved.

Thane was dying, Udina was a Cerberus spy, and Kaidan was out there with him, unaware of the danger.

The hall fell silent as Liara and Garrus dispatched the last assault trooper, and Shepard straightened slowly, completing a quick check of her armor before crossing to the door where her team waited. She'd just raised her hand to release the door's lock, when an odd movement caught her eye. A door in the corner of the room shifted open slightly, jerked closed, then open again. This action repeated several times and as she neared, she realized the door was unable to fully close, blocked by something on the other side.

She jabbed at the malfunctioning door lock, cursing under her breath, but the thing wouldn't budge. Liara pressed at her arm, gently shifting her aside. The asari's fingers flew over the keys and with a beep the door lurched open.

Jae froze, unable to breathe.

A human female was slumped across the table, blood spattering the wall behind her. In the corner, a small figure was partially hidden by a bookshelf, his limp body contorted unnaturally. A child, barely nine or ten, his eyes open and empty, the wall around him cracked and scorched.

A strained gasp echoed behind her as Liara turned quickly from the door, but Shepard couldn't look away.

Rage boiled up inside her, a slow burn that started in her stomach and inched up her chest. Her face flushed hot as her mind cleared and her hands stilled. All thought of loss disappeared, replaced by a calm anger. Anger towards the one man who'd promised to represent human interests. To protect them. The cowardly politician whose betrayal had caused so much death and destruction.

Shepard ejected her thermal clip and slammed a fresh one into place. Straightening slowly, she growled through gritted teeth, "I will burn that man to the fucking ground."

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Acrid smoke stung his nostrils, and Kaidan knew the shuttle was gone before the elevator doors finished opening. His mind raced, cycling through alternate escape routes. "We'll have to go down another level," he informed the other three, "there should be a-"

A loud clang cut him off, and he jerked his head up, jamming his pistol towards the ceiling.

"Someone's on the roof! Move!" He squeezed off a few shots, hoping to slow down their pursuers, before slamming the door release and dashing after the politicians.

The platform was empty except for the burning vehicle, no stairs or ramps offered a means of escape. Kaidan swung around and planted himself between the elevator and the shuttle, raising his gun carefully. He could hear the faint ring of shifting metal as the elevator hatch scraped open, then a heavy thump as someone dropped to the ground. Silence hung in the air for a second before the doors slid apart.

"Commander?" He sagged in relief as he recognized the three that exited, "I'm glad you're here."

The gun in Shepard's hands bucked as a shot rang out, shattering the silence, and Kaidan jumped back in horror. Behind him, Udina howled in fear as the bullet skittered off the ground near his feet.

"Udina, you lying son-of-a-bitch," Shepard snarled, advancing slowly, "you brought Cerberus here."

Garrus and Liara mirrored her every move, guns raised.

Her pistol jumped again, sending another round spinning towards the councilor, this one burying itself in the burning shuttle just behind him. Udina cowered, his hands flapping in panic, "No! No! It's a mistake. She's lying!"

Kaidan immediately shifted to the right, directly in front of the politician, "Shepard, what's going on?" The calm fury in her eyes terrified him and he tightened his grip on the raised pistol.

"Kaidan, get out of the way," she growled, "he's going to pay for his betrayal."

"She's still working with Cerberus! She's trying to kill us all!" Udina whined from behind him, "shoot her, major!"

"Shut the fuck up!" she snarled, "don't you DARE accuse me of that, not after what you've done!"

"He's unarmed, Shepard, if he's in league with Cerberus we'll get to the bottom of it."

"Not good enough!" she snapped, advancing another step, "there are hundreds of people dead because of him. Hundreds!"

"Shepard, my job is to protect the council, I can't let you shoot one of them."

She gritted her teeth and dropped the barrel slightly so it was no longer aimed at his chest, "please, Kaidan, you have to trust me."

He hesitated, weighing instinct against responsibility. Her eyes burned into his, begging him to understand, to believe her.

It was the most difficult choice he'd ever made.

Kaidan relaxed his arms, lowering the gun and stepping towards her, "I better not regret this."

The scraping noise was barely discernible, but his adrenaline-heightened senses identified the threat. He spun towards the sound as light exploded from his outstretched hand - sweeping a barrier around Shepard just as a bullet slammed into his side, knocking him back a step.

Three gunshots echoed simultaneously from behind him, and Udina slumped back against the shuttle, a small pistol slipping from his grasp.