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Shepard didn’t know where she was.
Her head felt fuzzy, foggy, a sharp pain stabbing at the side of her skull. As a matter of fact, her whole body was throbbing, pain shooting through her limbs like lightning bolts. She wanted to groan but her voice failed her, a faint whisper coming out instead. She couldn’t move, and when she tried, it was if she was being held down by something. When she opened her eyes, she saw nothing but white light, searing her retinas. She groaned again. She began to see the shapes of people above her. She couldn’t make out who or what they were, but by their shape, she guessed human.
“Sir, she’s awake” a monotone voice said. Shepard noticed that her hearing was a bit fuzzy, barely being able to make out any words. Then, another figure appeared before her, much closer to her than the others. She couldn’t make them out, her vision blurred and distorted. She then heard a low voice. It reminded Shepard of a snakes hiss, and immediately made her feel uneasy.
“Good” the figure above her said. It was a man’s voice, deep and almost haunting. The figure let out a laugh. “Let’s begin.”
She then felt a suddenly sharp prick on both her sides, grunting. She could hardly tell what was happening to her, the world around her felt as if it was spinning. The pain on her sides grew and grew, until she finally found her voice, and let out a scream of pain. It felt like they were burning both sides of her body with hot metal.
“More sedative” the low voice commanded. She then felt another prick on her neck, and quickly the world became fuzzy and dark. Her screams ceased, as the world around her went dark.
Everything after that was a haze. But the only thing Shepard could remember was the pain. Pain. Pain. And more pain. The constant prick of needles and syringes. Her vision was always blurry, she could never make sense of what was happening around her, but whoever these people were, they weren’t helping her. Her body felt different, as if it was not her own. Her skin felt stretched along her bones, her limbs and muscles ached and burned. Her whole body hurt painfully. She remembered being moved from place to place, being moved in different positions. Lying on a table, lying up in a tube, on her knees, her arms hung up my what she guessed were restraints. It all blurred together in a haze. She could never make out the people around her, the voices around her. The low, venomous voice of the man. He was the only voice she could make out clearly half the time. He was the one doing this to her. She didn’t know where she was, how long it had been. She remembered the war, the Reapers. She had chosen to destroy them, all synthetic life, wiped out in an instant. She died, in order to save everyone. Earth, Thessia, Palaven. The rest of the galaxy. To save her crew, her friends, her family. She thought of Garrus, Tali, Wrex, Ashley, James, Joker. All of her crew.
Liara.
Liara.
She thought of the asari more than anything else. She wondered where she was, how she was doing, if she was even alive. She remembered her face, her eyes, her beautiful blue skin, her smile. The sound of her name on her lips. She remembered the promise she had made Liara, even though there was no guarantee she could keep it. She thought of her love, her light. Her Liara.
One of the days was different than the last.
One day, during the haze, Shepard felt angry. Not just angry. Furious, enraged. Her limbs burned, and she saw nothing but red. She had broken free from the things holding her down, and she remembered hearing screaming, loud screaming, blaring sirens, gunfire. She remembers running through crisp, white hallways. She remembers seeing a red symbol on the wall, in the shape of an H. She felt warm liquid on her hands and face. Blood, perhaps? All she felt was anger, intense anger. She remembers running through an airlock, the familiar sound of steam hitting her. She remembers grabbing hold of controls, the sight of the infinite black void before her. She remembers prying someone off the controls. She remembers the familiar feeling of the rush of flying through space. Her stomach was twisted in knots. She felt sick. She then heard a loud bang, heat hit her face and body, as it flew and hit the nearest object. Then the word around her went black once again.
Shepard woke up to a warm light, contrasted against a dark, metal ceiling. Her vision wasn’t as blurry as all the over times she regained consciousness, as she let out a weak groan. Her head was pounding, her shoulders stung painfully, along with her abdomen. It took her some time to realize she was laying on a soft bed, a single sheet clinging to her body. She was also half dressed, wearing nothing but long pants and a sports bra. Bandages were wrapped around her arms and shoulders, along with a patch on her abs. She groaned again as she looked around; she appeared to be in a small living room. It was cluttered with books, shelves, a desk in the corner, a lounge chair across from her. It looked like an apartment of some kind.
Where the hell am I? she thought.
“Hey, easy” a sudden voice appeared next to her, and she immediately flinched, raising her hands to fight off whoever had snuck up on her. When she faced the voice, it was a turian; he was wearing standard turian casual wear, a light grey suit and pants, a hood pulled over his head tendrils. He had light purple markings under his eyes and on his cheeks. He was holding a cup of something steaming, and didn’t seemed surprised at Shepard’s reaction to seeing him.
“It’s okay, I’m not gonna hurt ya” he said calmly, as he slowly sat down on the table next to her. “Just wanted to bring ya this.”
He held the cup of steaming liquid towards her. Shepard looked at it hesitantly. The turian laughed.
“It’s medicine, don’t worry. It won’t bite” he explained. “Had to go out and get the human kind. Didn’t exactly have it lying around, y’know?”
Shepard didn’t reply, but she slowly took the cup from his hand. The liquid was almost neon green in colour. She quickly drank it all. The second she did, the taste of bitter metal filled her mouth. She spat in disgust, but managed to shallow it all.
The turian laughed. “I know, tastes like shit. That’s something turian and human medicine have in common.”
After trying and failing to get the taste out of her mouth, Shepard looked up at the turian sitting across from her.
“Where am I?” she asked, her voice hoarse. It had been awhile since she’s used her voice, for words at least. Her throat felt raw.
“Omega. Your ship crash-landed into one of the ports on the lower levels” he explained. “I was working there, doing some repairs when all of a sudden a ship just came crashing in. Managed to grab ya out of the rubble before it exploded or any gangs showed up.”
“Ship? I-I….” Shepard asked. She groaned again, clutching the side of her head. This headache was killing her.
“What’s your name?” the turian asked calmly.
Shepard looked up at the turian, clearing her throat. “Jane. Jane Shepard.”
The turian grinned. “Good. You remember that at least.”
“Y-You know who I am?”
“Everyone in the galaxy knows who you are, Commander” the turian replied. “You did save the whole damn galaxy after all.”
He carefully took the cup out of the commander’s hands, placing it on the table.
“Thing is; yer supposed to be dead.”
“Dead?” Shepard croaked. She was beyond confused, and it was making her headache even worse. Then, a realization hit her. “What year is it?”
“2187” the turian replied. “Been about a year now since the Reaper war ended.”
A whole year? Shepard kept pressing the turian for answers. “What happened? After the war?”
The turian shook his head. “I don’t know much; ‘lot happened, and it happened fast. All I know is that all the mass relays got destroyed in a massive blast that was let out. Screwed with anything electrical, wiped some of it out completely.”
A sudden realization hit Shepard. “What happened to the geth?”
The turian tilted his head in a confusion. “The geth? Erm, don’t know much about ‘em. Probably got wiped out as well. Whatever that blast was shut down anything AI or synthetic related, far as I know.”
Shepard felt a pit form in her stomach; so the Catalyst, the child, didn’t lie. Her shooting that power core destroyed the Reapers, but also destroyed all synthetic life along with it. Including the geth. And Shepard quickly guessed, EDI as well.
“Look, it’s a lot, I know, and I bet you’re confused as hell” the turian said. “I’ll answer what I can but, I’m just a port worker. Wasn’t involved in the war much. But you saved all of us, so the least I can do is patch ya up.”
Shepard rubbed her temple, sighing. She was confused, but she had to regain her bearings first before she had a panic attack. She looked at the turian, nodding. “T-Thank you, for helping me.”
The turian nodded back. “‘Course, commander. By the way, name’s Garth”
Shepard smiled gratefully, as Garth stood up to put the bowl of tea away. As he did, she glanced down at her body, groaning as she did so. Her whole body ached, and it hurt to even breathe at times. But something was off; it only took her now to realize of the odd marks strung across her body. Some looked like burn marks, where others looked like lacerations and cuts that didn’t quite heal properly. She also noticed that her body seemed…bigger? Her muscles on her arms and abdomen seemed to be bigger than the last time she looked at them. And her legs were cramping. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves, running a finger along her arms, feeling the rough skin of the scars and burns.
What the hell happened to me?
“Now, I got some questions for you, if ya don’t mind” Garth returned, taking a seat on the chair across from her.
Shepard only nodded in response, still reeling at the state her body was in.
“What’s the last thing you remember?”
Shepard tried to think, but nothing came up. If anything, trying to think about it made her head ache. “I…I don’t know. It’s hazy. I remember…bits and pieces…” the only thing that stood out to her was a white light, and a sterile lab. “I remember a lab and…doctors, I think…I don’t know…”
Garth didn’t seemed surprised by her answer.
“That doesn’t shock me. When I found ya, you were mumbling out of ya mind, shaking like crazy. I’ve seen Red Sand addicts with more awareness” he explained. “Pretty sure you had a lot of drugs in ya system. Honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t OD or something.”
“I was on drugs?” Shepard asked. “How did-“
“Before I lived here, I was a combat medic for the turian military. Was a part of it for over 25 years” Garth explained. “I could tell just by looking at ya that drugs were the cause.”
That just made Shepard have even more questions. Why the hell was she drugged out of her mind? And what were these marks on her body? She knew the lab, the people in it had something to do with it.
“What was I mumbling about?” she asked.
Garth shook his head. “Nothing coherent. You were so quiet I could barely understand ya” he suddenly shot his head up, as if remembering something. “Oh, I did understand one thing. Ya mumbled ‘Liara’ a couple times, right before you passed out again.”
Shepard’s heart leapt at hearing the asari’s name. Of course she would mumble her name in a drugged state. Jane would’ve laughed if she wasn’t unbelievably confused.
“Who’s Liara, may I ask?” the turian questioned.
Shepard cleared her throat. “Liara T’Soni, she’s one of my crew mates, on the Normandy. She’s my…” her throat went dry, as she felt her cheeks flush. Garth understood immediately.
“I see” he said. He shook his head sadly. “She probably thinks you’re dead.”
Shepard’s heart shattered at the thought. Liara, alone again, having to grieve Shepard not once, but twice. Jane blinked back tears. A sudden wave of energy hit her; she had to get to Liara, to wherever the hell she was.
“I have to-“ she tried to sit up, but was immediately hit by a wave of pain in her abdomen. She cried out, as Garth immediately went over to her.
“Hey! Easy there” he said. “You’re not going anywhere, mate.”
“But I have to-“
“You got an abdominal injury from that crash. Ya ain’t going anywhere until that’s healed properly” he explained.
Shepard grit her teeth in annoyance, but he was right; she was barely in any condition to walk, yet alone fly a ship out of a Omega. Besides, she didn’t even know where the asari was.
“Liara T’Soni huh?” Garth chuckled. “Wasn’t sure if it was the same Liara. Heard a lot about her.”
Shepard shot her head up. “What have you heard?”
“Other than being part of your crew, she’s helped a lot with rebuilding efforts everywhere since the war ended” he began to explain. “Last I checked she was still on Earth, but that was weeks ago.”
Shepard breathed out a sigh of relief. So Liara was alive, and safe, at least just based on what Garth said. That was the best news she’s heard today.
“What about the rest of the crew, on the Normandy?” she kept pressing for answers.
Garth shook his head again. “Not much. They’re all damn heroes, that’s for sure. Keep seeing vids of them all over the damn place” he explained. “As far as I know, they all made it out alive.”
Shepard felt a weight being lifted off her chest. Hearing that her crew was alive, that they had all survived the hell of the war, was the best thing she’s ever heard. She hadn’t fought- hadn’t died- in vain.
But a sinking revelation crushed her soul- they all thought she was dead. And she had no idea where they were, or how to find them.
Garth shook his head. “I know this is a lot to take in. Being gone for an entire year…couldn’t imagine.”
Shepard suddenly laughed sadly, which caused the turian to flinch slightly. “Trust me, I’ve been in this position before.”
“So I’ve heard” Garth chucked back quickly. They were both silent for a moment, Shepard still trying to process what she was told. By the sound of it, she had spent a considerable amount of time drugged, was surrounded by doctors, and somehow crash-landed a ship onto Omega. She also remembered the pain; they pain the doctors caused her, the pain associated with trying to remember. Her hands began to shake at the thought, as she took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Then, something suddenly stood out; an H symbol on the white walls of a lab.
“An H….” she whispered.
“What?” Garth asked, turning his attention back to the human.
Shepard rubbed her temple. “I remember…I remember an H symbol, on the wall, in one of the labs I was in” she replied. “It was in red, I think, and had shapes around it…” her head was throbbing at this point, but she didn’t care. She had to try and remember.
She saw Garth’s face darken slightly, as if he had remembered something grim.
“What is it?” she asked.
Without saying a word, Garth stood up and grabbed a data pad on a nearby desk, as he quickly began to type something in. He sat back down next to her.
“Is this the symbol you saw?” he turned the tablet towards her, and on screen was a blood red H symbol, a bunch of angled shapes surrounding it, almost like a box.
Suddenly, a sharp pain zapped through Shepard’s head. She cried out, clutching her head, as a flash of memories returned to her; more images of doctors, but more clear and focused. Dead eyes staring at her behind medical mask gloved hands covered in…her blood. Needles and wires attached and stabbed into her like a pin cushion. Her own pained screams echoing in her ears. To the left, behind one of the doctors; the blood red H symbol on the wall.
“Hey, hey, easy” she returned to the world, and saw Garth putting careful hands on her shoulders, as if he had stopped her from thrashing. Her heart was hammering in her chest, sweat dripping from her forehead. She dug her fingers into the blanket, her knuckles turning white.
“Lost you there for a second” Garth spoke to her calmly. He then carefully put a hand to her chest, just over her heart. “Just breathe, nice and easy.”
Shepard starting taking low, shallow breaths, and slowly her hands stopped shaking. She shallowed the lump in her throat, looking up at the turian.
“Thank you” she whispered.
Garth nodded. “Of course, ma’am” he replied. “Sometimes tells me you remembered something.”
Shepard nodded. “I know that symbol…those people” she looked down at her scarred hands and arms. “They did this to me.”
“I was hoping it wasn’t true but…shit” Garth’s gaze darkened.
“Who are they?” Shepard asked.
The turian took a breath before responding. “They call themselves Hades…they’re a pro-human group that’s been terrorizing Citadel space for months now. They popped up just after the war ended” he began to explain. “I don’t know much but…’lot of people saying they’re made of…whatever was left of Cerberus after the war ended.”
She didn’t think it was possible for her stomach to sink any lower, but it did. There were people from Cerberus still out there? And they made their own organization? And they had done…whatever they did to her? And why her? She had so many questions it made her head spin.
“Hades…” she whispered.
“Yeah. And whatever they did to you, whatever they wanted from you” Garth said grimly, “it couldn’t have been good.”
“What else do you know about them?” she asked.
“All I know, they’re worse than Cerberus ever was, even during the war” the turian explained. “Been terrorizing colonized worlds, pushing pro-human propaganda, using information to make the council races look bad” his gaze darkened. “They’ve even been aiming at military bases, killing officials. Says they want humans at the top…and that no one can stop ‘em.”
Shepard almost held back a groan. As if Cerberus wasn’t bad enough; she didn’t need another terrorist organization bugging her. But, it seems, they already had. But the real question was; why the hell would they bring her back?
“Fuck” was all she could say.
“I feel you” Garth chuckled quietly. “It’s been a mess since you’ve been gone, ma’am.”
And I wouldn’t be surprised if I was brought back again to clean it all up.
She kept that thought to herself.
“I need to find my crew” she stated. “I need to know more about what the hell is going on and-“ she looked down at herself, “what the hell happened to me.”
“I know ya do, but with your injuries-“
“I need to see Aria.”
Garth’s eyes widened. “Aria?”
“She can help me. At least, if she wants to” Shepard replied. “I just need help getting there.”
“You’re in no condition to walk all the way to Afterlife.”
Shepard lightly grazed the wound on her abdomen. It still stung badly, but wasn’t as bad as before.
“I have to try.”
Garth realized quickly that nothing he said was going to change the commander’s mind. Eventually, he sighed reluctantly. “Not alone you’re not.”
He stood up, going over to grab some medi-gel on the kitchen counter. “I think I’ve got some spare clothes that’ll fit ya. I got a cane too, to help ya move”
Shepard nodded gratefully. “Thank you, Garth”
The turian nodded back, before disappearing into another room, leaving Shepard alone. The commander then carefully moved her legs to the side of the bed. Her abdomen stung, but she fought through it. She noticed a mirror on the wall in the corner across from her. She saw her body littered with scars and strange marks. Her muscles seemed huge, some veins bulging from biceps. She even seemed slightly taller. Whatever the hell Hades had done to her…her body was different, altered.
She had to figure out why.
“Alright…” Garth walked back into the room, holding a pair of black trousers, an oversized grey sweater, and a long black jacket with a hood. Shepard wanted to ask how the hell he got hold of human clothes, but that would come later.
“Let’s see if these fit ya” he said. “Gotta look yer best to see the Queen, after all.”