ME: Lost

Promise

"I'm alright!" Kaidan coughed violently, "just banged up a bit." Blood poured from the gash in his forehead, matting his wavy hair. He heaved himself to his feet, wincing as he put weight on his right leg, "where's Garrus?"

Shepard spun around, horrified that she'd forgotten one friend in her concern for the other. The turian lay in a twisted heap on the other side of the flipped Mako; his leg jutted out in an odd direction and she realized he was pinned under the left wheel base.

"Get ready to roll him out," Kaidan directed, "it might shift and crush him when I lift."

A blue halo rippled down his arms as he concentrated, and a faint buzz hummed in the air. The Mako's metal hull vibrated as it glowed with energy. Ever so slowly, the vehicle shifted, lifting inch by inch. She wrapped both hands around Garrus's shoulders and when there was just enough clearance, heaved back.

"Normandy, do you copy?" Kaidan's voice sounded in her ear, tight with worry, "we need an evac, right now!"

"We're taking heavy fire up here," Joker's voice crackled over the poor connection, "it'll take a minute."

Shepard peered around the wreckage, counting the wave of husks advancing from the massive beam of light. Sliding her pistol into the matching groove on her leg, she flexed her fingers in the armored-mesh gloves, welcoming the familiar warm tingle in her arms as her biotics warmed up. The husks shrieked as they lumbered closer, drawn by the smell of Garrus's blood, and just as they reached the halfway point, Shepard dove from cover, braced herself on one knee, and shoved both hands forward. The massive shockwave of energy she released slammed into the horde, lobbing them in all directions.

"The path to the beam is clear right now," she called as she scrambled back behind the Mako. "When the Normandy gets here, get Garrus on it and get the hell out of here."

"That's not going to happen, Shepard," Kaidan clenched his jaw in anger, "I'm not letting you go up there alone!"

"Kaidan, I wasn't asking."

She saw his eyes tighten, and worked to soften her tone, "I have to go now, and I need you to stay with Garrus."

"I wasn't asking either, Jae," her first name sounded so foreign on his lips that any argument died in her throat, "I made you a promise. When Normandy arrives I'll get Garrus to safety, but then I'm coming after you."

His voice rang with finality and Shepard simply nodded, placing a gloved palm on the side of his face before sprinting towards the beam.

<><><>

Shepard's head pounded, the smell of rotten meat and incense swirling in her senses and clouding her mind. She breathed heavily as each step jarred her cracked ribs. The bridge over the chasm stretched out before her, seeming endless. How had Anderson beat her here? His convoy had been cut off from the rest when they made the final push, and he'd radioed that he didn't think he was going to make it through.

"Anderson," her voice came out in a gasp, "how'd you manage to get here in time?"

"Hold on, I see something," his voice crackled over her earpiece, "a control panel, maybe. I'm going to-"

The transmission cut off in a garbled mess.

"Anderson? Anderson!" Shepard doubled her pace, breathing as deeply as she could and ignoring the added pain. "Damn it!"

A few more steps and she reached the top of the walkway. A small circular platform jutted out, bathed in red light, and in the middle of the platform glowed a small console with the admiral hunched over it.

She lunged towards him, shuffling forward a few steps before realizing something was terribly wrong. He wasn't working on the console, simply standing next to it as though dazed.

"Anderson!"

His body lurched and he turned slowly, arms extended, eyes glazed.

The rotting stench intensified, filling Shepard's lungs, and she fell to her knees, retching.

"I underestimated you, Shepard," a smooth voice swirled in her brain, mocking her weakness, "you've truly surprised me. But I did warn you, control is the means to survival."

"Illusive Man!" the words that escaped her throat sounded garbled, unintelligible.

Something stirred in her brain, a faint memory struggling to break free. Something was wrong, the Illusive Man shouldn't be here, but why?

The memory surged, then faded, slipping through her grasp.

"Control of the reapers," the voice continued, "and of you, if necessary."

<><><>

Kaidan staggered through a corpse littered hall. The room glowed red, a jarring hue that stabbed at his brain and threatened a migraine.

"Shepard? Can you hear me?"

Only his own sharp breathing answered, and he knew one of their communicators had to be malfunctioning. A stab of pain radiated up his right side as he placed his foot wrong, and he marveled for the hundredth time how lucky he was to have escaped the Mako's destruction with only a bloody leg.

"Shepard, if you can hear this, I'm coming."

He reached the far side of the hall just as a wall slid away, revealing a door.

"I'm in a large chamber. I can't tell how high it goes, but it looks like it has hundreds of levels. This must be the very core of the Citadel."

Kaidan paused to tighten the bandage he'd wrapped around his thigh, as he studied the room.

"There's something in the middle, looks like some kind of platform but it's a couple levels up. I'm going to look for a lift."