Lost Soldier

Chapter 6: A revealing shore Leave

Two hours Later John's POV

When John woke up he could barely think. His head was throbbing so hard. John took around; he was in the Med Bay… again. His first thought was that this is the first time he had been in a Med Bay twice in one day. When he looked to his right he was surprised to see Shepard in the cot next to him passed out. He looked around for a change of clothes and lucked out when he saw a pair of new shorts and an intact t-shirt.

As soon as he tried to get up however he felt a pain in his chest. He looked down to see heavy bruising on his chest. All he could think about was how Shepard sure knew how to give a beating. He grabbed the clothes and slipped them on, he was relieved that they were a little bigger. Before his fight with Shepard he had noticed a lot of roaming eyes focused on him. A suicide mission wasn't the time for attachments.

"Chief what are you doing up, you should be resting."

John looked over to see Chakwas looking at him with a rather disappointed face.

"I'm fine."

"That's what you said last time, and you were far from it."

John noticed for the first time how much Chakwas reminded him of Dr. Halsey. She certainly reacted the same way to his disregard for his health.

"I wasn't stabbed this time."

"No you just took a beating from the Commander."

"I think she took more of a beating."

"Well I think she did pretty well considering your enhancements."

John frowned, he heard her talk about his augmentations when he woke up from the surgery but he hadn't paid attention to it at the time.

"How do you know about that?" he asked

"I saw your bones during the surgery, and then Mordin did an analysis of your DNA. We know about all of the upgrades, enhanced vision, denser muscle and bones, and of course your reflexes. He told us that he believed that the augmentations could only be applied to teenagers, is that true?"

He didn't answer; he just closed his eyes and thought back to the week he spent in that hell. Pain for at least a week, it felt more like an eternity, and how only thirty three of his friends came out intact thanks to the procedure.

"So I'm assuming it's true, and I bet Mordin was right when he said it was painful."

He nodded.

"Why didn't you tell us about it Chief?"

John turned around to see Shepard sitting up straight.

"It isn't exactly my favorite memory."

Shepard didn't say anything; she just looked into his eyes.

"Okay" she finally said

Turning the conversation to a lighter tone Shepard asked Chakwas, "Who won?"

"You two tied."

John didn't react but he saw Shepard make a smile from ear to ear.

"Something I should know?" he asked

She hopped out of her cot, walked up to him, stuck a finger in his chest and said, "You didn't win."

"So?"

"Our agreement was that you beat me, we tied."

John's brows arched downward, he knew what this meant, Shepard was actually going to force him to undergo physical therapy.

"That fight wasn't exactly far, I was just stabbed."

This only caused Shepard's smile to grow bigger, which didn't seem possible.

"So you admit that you weren't recovered from the stab wound after all."

John realized his mistake, rubbed his temples and groaned.

"So it's settled. Chakwas send me a report of recommended therapies after we get back from shore leave. Oh and Chakwas, see what you can do about those bruises. The Chief already stands out enough."

With that Shepard slipped on a t-shirt and some shorts and left the room.

He looked over to Chakwas who was chuckling. She activated her omni tool and waved it over the Chief's bruises.

"Well the swelling and discoloration should be gone in about twenty minutes."

"Is she serious?"

"Oh she is."

He groaned again and walked out of the room.

He was about to head down to the cargo room when he heard someone say Chief from the mess hall table.

He looked to find Garrus, Grunt, Tali, Zaeed and Thane eating. He walked over to find that they pulled a chair up just for him. Normally he would have stood but he was pretty sore.

He took a seat and when he did Zaeed congratulated him by saying, "God damn impressive, kicking the crap out of Shepard like that. Never thought I'd seen the day."

"Thanks but Shepard did just as well."

Garrus was the one to speak next remarking "True but no has done that to Shepard ever since… actually I can't think of a time, can you Tali?"

"Nope"

Thane asked "All joking aside are you okay, you took two beatings in less than a day."

"I'm fine but thanks for the thought."

Thane nodded while Grunt gave John a good smack on the shoulder.

Just then Shepard's voice ran out on the intercom, "Everyone, we will be arriving at the Citadel in half an hour. I'm giving you all one day of shore leave, and the Illusive Man has agreed to cover any and all fees. So have fun."

Thirty Minutes Later Shepard's POV

Shepard walked up to elevator, when it opened it seemed half of the crew poured out. When the elevator cleared out she went inside and pushed the button for the Cargo Bay.

When she got there she wasn't surprised to see the Chief working on his armor, she walked up behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders and whispered, "You know you are allowed to leave right?"

"I have more important things to do than go on shore leave."

"When was the last time you had shore leave?"

He didn't answer but that gave her all the information she wanted to know. She asked, "Are you going to waste the one time we are going to get shore leave on your armor?"

"It's not a waste."

She pulled him up to his feet and started to push him to the door, saying "Okay you need to get out and see the sights if you think that sitting down here by yourself isn't a waste of good shore leave."

She was surprised that he didn't resist. But she didn't want to give him any chance to escape so as soon as they were in the elevator she sent up to the CIC.

When the door opened she walked out, turned around and said, "Chief I order you to go and enjoy your shore leave, and to make sure you do I'm coming with you."

When they walked out of the airlock Shepard said "Joker, don't let the Chief in unless I'm here and I tell you to."

"Alright Shepard"

Shepard looked over to see that he had his arms crossed over his chest and he wore a frown.

"Come on Chief, relax. You might actually enjoy yourself."

He shook his head to say that he disagreed but she paid him no mind.

John's POV

John turned to look at the Citadel and was shocked to see that the Citadel reminded him of the Ark. It didn't have as many arms as the Ark and it wasn't nearly the size, but he couldn't shake off the similarity.

"You coming?" asked Shepard

He turned and followed her for the longest time. Their first stop was the Presidium. When John looked out he was actually pretty impressed. It seemed that the Presidium was the first true place that he had visited in a long time that seemed … peaceful.

"Great isn't it." Asked Shepard

"Yeah." Answered John

They didn't stop there though; Shepard took him to some club in the wards.

Shepard walked up to the counter and ordered two drinks. When Shepard gave it to him he stared at the liquid.

"Something wrong?"

"It's… green."

She laughed and replied, "Yep, strongest thing they have."

He usually didn't have alcohol but he realized that Shepard was right about not wasting shore leave. He gulped it down all at once. He vision started to get blurry.

"Chief you okay?"

He blinked a few times and his vision returned.

He put on a weak smile and said, "Yeah I'm fine."

The rest of the day was a blur, they went all over the station, or at least the parts that were repaired from the attack on the Citadel.

The Chief asked "How long have we been here."

"What getting bored already?"

He put his hands up defensively and replied, "No, I just lost track of time."

Shepard looked at her Omni tool and her eyes grew. She answered "We've been gone for six hours now."

John was about to note his surprise when somebody called out, "Shepard, Chief"

Shepard and the Chief turned to see Tali and Garrus walking over to them.

"Hey guys what have you two been up too?" asked Shepard

"Just walking around seeing what changed since the last time we saw it." Remarked Tali

"So what have to two been doing?" responded Garrus

"The same although Shepard and I got a drink." Answered John

John saw that the Garrus had either a rather large smile on his face or he was frowning, he couldn't tell. He wasn't able to read Turian expressions well, he still needed practice.

Shepard asked, "Have you guys seen anyone else yet?"

"Yeah we saw Grunt by Dark Star, guess who he is having drinks with. Mordin."

John was taken back, from what he knew Salarians and Krogan almost always hated each other thanks to the Genophage. He was surprised that Shepard had managed to get them to work together; he had no idea why they would drink together.

"No way." Shepard turned to John and said "Let's go, I have to see this."

On their way to Dark Star they overheard a terminal giving a report on Shepard, talking about how there have been sightings of her on Omega and how the Council denied she was still alive.

Shepard just chuckled and walked away with John following closely. They reached the lounge before long, when they entered they saw Mordin and Grunt sitting next to each other each with several empty glasses next to them.

Shepard walked up and said "Wow this wasn't something I was expecting."

Mordin looked up at Shepard then grabbed two more drinks and handed both John and Shepard one.

When John gulped it down he noticed something seemed wrong, but then again this was alien liquor, how could it feel right.

"Too strong for you?" asked Shepard

He shook his head a little when he vision clouded up, then responded, "No, I'm fine."

"What have you two been doing?" asked Shepard

"Talking some, drinking a lot." Answered Mordin

"What have you and the Chief been doing?" asked Grunt

"Walking around, and just a little bit of drinking." Answered Shepard

"See you two later." Said Shepard as she and John left the lounge.

Mordin's POV

Mordin watched as the two left, and when they left he said, "Thank you Grunt."

"That was wrong."

"Wrong for the right reasons."

"Was it doctor, what happens when Shepard finds out you did that to him?"

"She won't, unless you tell her of course."

"You can count on me to keep my mouth shut. I still believe you just made a mistake."

"I already explained to you why, you agreed with me then, you change your mind?"

Grunt didn't respond, he ordered a little Ryncol, drank it, then left.

Mordin couldn't blame Grunt for feeling like that, but he knew he actually did the merciful thing. He got up, then started to head to the Normandy.

Shepard's POV

She and the Chief took a look at a map, Shepard wasn't pleased that most of the Citadel was marked "Undergoing Repairs".

Shepard said, "Want to go find the rest of the team?"

He nodded and they took off. Shepard had no idea how she was going to find everyone but she had a good idea where to start. They took a shuttle to the Presidium and Shepard smiled when she noticed Samara meditating besides the lake.

Shepard took a seat next to Samara and stared out into the Presidium. She noticed that John walked over to the map.

"Quite a view isn't it?" asked Samara

"Yes it is." Shepard breathed back

Shepard looked over to see Samara look towards the Chief. Shepard arched her brow when Samara looked back at her.

"I think that you have made a good choice."

"In?"

"Him"

Shepard hadn't thought about it but she knew that she was starting to develop feelings for him.

"Yeah, I'm starting to fall for him but I don't even know his name."

"Yes but I think he cares about you more than you know."

"How can you tell?"

Samara chuckled, and then said "Well he did agree to stay you this whole time did he not?"

"Yeah but …

"Does he spend more time with anyone else?"

"No but ...

"Shepard you sound like you're in denial."

"No I'm … maybe." Shepard looked away suddenly, feeling ashamed of needing help to see this.

Samara stood up and helped Shepard up. Samara suddenly got serious and said "Shepard, we are going on a suicide mission. Don't waste what time we may have left."

Shepard nodded then walked over to the Chief who was still looking over the map.

John's POV

John had been looking over the map for about five minutes now. He had thought it would have been awkward to sit with Shepard while she and Samara talked.

"Hey, you have any idea where we should go next?" asked Shepard

He gave the map once last look and when he didn't find anything interesting he just shrugged.

"Well you want to go back to the Normandy then?" she asked

He nodded and they went to go find a taxi.

They climbed in a taxi but the driver said it would be thirty minutes before they would arrive. He had started to feel rather strange, he didn't feel sick, but he felt like someone else. He felt something inside of him, something primal. Every time he looked over to Shepard the feeling intensified, he felt lost. He knew this was worse than feeling weird though, memories had started to flood back recently about Halo, the Flood, the Captain and Commander, Johnson, and of course what was left of his team. He never had time to sort through all of it, and now he was paying for it.

"Something on your mind?" asked Shepard

He didn't say anything, as usual.

"Come on, talk to me."

He turned to look at her again, and again the feeling inside of him intensified. She stared right into his eyes, and he stared right back.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Shepard snorted and replied "That's what you always say when you're hurting, you ever notice that?"

He opened his mouth to tell her that wasn't true but he realized that most of the time he ever said that he was hurting.

"I do now."

"Then what is wrong?" she asked. Her looked into her eyes and noticed that she seemed very distressed.

"It's … you don't have to worry about me."

Shepard sighed, then responded "Let me in there, let me help you. Please"

"Alright."

She placed a hand on his shoulder and asked yet again "What's wrong?"

"I feel … strange, nothing I've ever felt before."

Shepard looked into his eyes yet again, but he turned away.

"What else is bothering you, I don't believe you feeling a little different would get to you like this."

"Nothing is getting to me, other than feeling a little different, I'm fine."

"Again with the 'I'm fine'." She retorted

"Shepard I'm not you, I don't get over things by talking about it. I need to work it out on my own."

"Chief you're kidding me right? Everyone needs to talk about what is bothering them, you may be a super soldier but every soldier has their limits, and you were in a war for about thirty years. You need help."

He was starting to get angry, and that never happened. He was always in control. Just more evidence that something was wrong, and as always he refused to accept it.

Before he could respond the taxi stopped. He looked out to see the Normandy through the glass. He got out of the car, helped Shepard out then paid the driver.

He started to walk towards the Normandy when Shepard said "No, you aren't getting away that easily."

He groaned, then turned around. He noticed that Shepard was really upset.

"Why do you care so much, why can't you just leave me alone!" he yelled, realizing too late that he did that.

"Damn it because I care about you!" Shepard screamed, and he noticed that there were tears going down her face.

John instantly felt regret. He had thought Shepard was worried that he wasn't going to be able to do his part, but now he saw the truth.

He walked over and embraced her. He felt her cry a little into his chest but he didn't care. He thought about how to fix this.

He didn't say anything; he knew that Shepard needed vent.

He felt the tears stopped and looked down. She was actually started to smile just a bit.

"That's a start I guess."

"Was that just an act then, trying to get me to open up?" he asked as he backed up. His mood suddenly soured.

Shepard's good mood suddenly evaporated, and she slapped him right across the face.

John's head reeled a bit; he looked back at her realizing that he deserved that.

"Don't you dare say that." She growled

That's when Shepard pulled him into a rather long kiss. What surprised John the most though was the fact he didn't pull away, he actually embraced it.

She pulled away after a bit and said "See, was that so hard?"

He didn't respond, he was thinking about what just happened. That would never have happened before he met her, even more proof that something was wrong … or maybe right.

He felt his hold on her tighten just a bit. He looked down into her eyes, searching for … something. For the first time he could remember he didn't know what to do.

"Shepard. You're right; maybe I do need to talk." He whispered

She smiled then responded "Told you so."

Garrus' POV

Garrus smiled a bit when he saw the two kiss, but he was also curious. Didn't Mordin say that the Chief's sex drive was lowered thanks to his augmentations? He told himself to go ask, after all this was very surprising. He waited for the two to go back into the Normandy before he dared speak.

"Well that was … surprising." He said

"I'll say" noted Tali

"I'm going to go talk to Mordin. My mind says I should be happy for Shepard, which I am but my gut says that something's wrong."

"How can you … yeah, you're right. I'm going to go get some equipment for the Normandy; I'll be back in an hour."

Garrus nodded and started heading towards the Normandy. When he got inside he peeked his head around the corner to see if Shepard was around. He saw her and the Chief get in the elevator. As soon as it left he started walking towards the lab. He was a little surprised to find Mordin taking a nap, he was about to go when he heard "Garrus, need something?"

"Its okay, I can come back."

"Don't worry, just finished nap. Something wrong?"

"Not really but I thought you said that the Chief's sex drive was rather low, thanks to his upgrades."

"It was yes. Why do you ask?"

"Because Shepard and the Chief were kissing outside the Normandy."

"Interesting, kicked in sooner than expected."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I added medication into one of his drinks. Should counter lowered sex drive for about six days, after that will need to administer the drug again. Until I come up with more permanent solution."

Garrus' felt his jaw drop. He almost yelled "You drugged him!"

"Of course, it was merciful."

"How?"

"Humans never meant to be that way. It changed who he was."

"What happens when Shepard finds out what you've done?"

"If she does she will either thank me … or kill me. But that is irrelevant, only people that are aware of this are you, me, and Grunt."

"Grunt?"

"He helped lure Shepard and the Chief. As well as you, though you didn't know."

"So that's why you two were having drinks together." Garrus said

"Yes"

"Does the Chief even feel anything towards Shepard?"

"Yes, drug does not create feelings just causes a greater reaction to them, in the Chief's case. Would you want the Commander to be heartbroken during assault on Collectors?"

Garrus didn't answer; Mordin did this for the right reasons, as hard as it was to admit this.

"You ... have a point."

Mordin nodded and went off to do some sort of experiment.

Garrus was somewhat disgusted with himself for agreeing with Mordin. But in a way he was actually doing those two a favor. He just hoped he wouldn't lose some sleep over it.

Shepard's POV

Shepard was a little angry at the Chief for what he had said, but she cared about him enough to let that slide. They went to the Cargo deck; she intended to make the Chief reveal something about him, even if it was just his birthday.

The elevator arrived and the first thing that the Chief did was to go look over his things. Though he hadn't said anything she knew that he was very paranoid, at least with his equipment. He never shared or even talked about it, though he rarely talked.

She went over to his cot and sat down waiting for him to join her.

He started to walk around the whole room, and Shepard was just a little curious.

"Something wrong?"

"You know that Miranda tried to bug this room, I just want some privacy."

Shepard could respect that, she smiled as she thought about when EDI had told her. As soon as she knew she went to Mirada's office and laughed about how she got caught. Miranda wasn't so amused though, her biotics started to flare so Shepard had gotten out as quickly as possible.

"Shepard, something wrong?" asked the Chief

"No nothing, before we start I have a question."

He didn't say anything so she just asked, "What do the words Halo and Flood mean to you?"

His eyes grew a bit and his skin grew even whiter. He responded "I don't know …

This sent Shepard over the edge; she got up and screamed at him "You agreed to talk to me, why if all you're going to is lie to me!"

He looked down at his feet and scratched his head, then responded "You're right I'm sorry. First where did you hear that?"

"You muttered them in your sleep, right after the surgery. What do they mean?" Shepard asked

"Well I guess I'll start with Halo." He said as he walked over to his cot and took a seat.

Shepard followed him and sat in his lap, waiting for him to gather his thoughts.

"Halo is a set of seven planetoid sized rings spread throughout my galaxy."

This caught Shepard off guard, if he was telling the truth it must have taken massive amounts of resources to create.

"They were designed by a race we called the Forerunners, an ancient race which used to rule the galaxy, but they were attacked by a race known as the Flood. The rings were designed by the Forerunners to destroy all organic life that the flood could use, including them."

"Why did they have to do that, why didn't they surrender."

"The flood would have wanted them to surrender, and it would have been the doom of everything. Eventually the Forerunners activated the rings, causing all organic life to be destroyed, well besides the Flood."

"How did that stop the flood then?"

"The flood needs organic life to survive."

"Why?"

"It will be better if I show you." He said and gently nudged Shepard off of him. He walked over to his armor, and put it on.

Shepard was a little curious as to why he was putting his armor on but Shepard trusted him.

EDI's voice came over the comm. "Shepard I'm routing the video to your quarters."

"Thanks EDI." Shepard was a little surprised; the Chief had only been inside his armor for about a minute.

Shepard stood up to see that the Chief was actually taking the armor off, she smiled. It seemed like she was having an effect on him after all. They waited for the elevator to come down, and when they got to her quarters Shepard noticed that John seemed rather surprised by the size of it. Shepard led him over to a seat then pulled up the video.

Shepard turned on the video, and sat down on the Chief's lap. She noticed that his grip on her was starting to increase, which suggested he was nervous. That made Shepard nervous, what could scare the Chief so badly.

The first part of the video was just showing several marines walking through some sort of swamp when somebody said "Stay close Jenkins."

Shepard looked towards the Chief and asked "Your name is Jenkins?"

"No"

Shepard shrugged but just continued to watch. It showed them entering some sort of base; the video was taking its sweet time though. However Shepard felt that something bad was going to happen. It happened when the group entered some sort of room; it was a big room, completely open. Then things started to go crazy, it showed some sort of creatures that looked like walking balloons attack. It cut to the Chief's view, she could tell because she saw the green armor. It showed him fighting taller versions of it. They wouldn't die; they just kept getting back up. The video started to show the multiple forms of the Flood, and each clip was from the view of the Chief. The video ended and Shepard was left there with a million questions.

She looked back at the Chief and said "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have pried into your past." She looked away from him, feeling regret for making him living this all over again.

"Shepard"

She didn't look at him, so he gently moved her head around so she would look at him.

"Chief, I had no idea."

"It's okay."

"No it's not; I just made you relive that nightmare all over again, because I was selfish." Shepard responded

"You're never selfish, you given up almost everything to save a galaxy that doesn't even believe you, I think you deserve to know something about me."

Shepard smiled and replied "Smooth talker."

He didn't respond with words but he did hold her a little closer.

"Well I guess if I'm going to start playing twenty questions I guess I'll start off with the basics. What's your name?"

He chuckled then responded "Lets save that one for later."

Shepard gave him the sad puppy dog face but he didn't break. So she continued "How old are you then?"

"Forty Five."

"Forty Five?

"Well that's my age technically. In reality a bit younger, cryo slows down aging."

Shepard thought to herself, "Wow I'm dating a man 'technically' fourteen years older than me."

"Hmm, what was your life like before you 'joined' the military."

"I don't remember."

Shepard looked up at him; Liara was right when she said he was a man who forgot what life without war was like.

"What is the earliest thing you remember then?"

"The meeting where I was conscripted."

Shepard thought long and hard to try and figure out a question that couldn't be involved with his war. She couldn't come up with anything.

"What was the most important thing that you did during the war?"

She looked up and he seemed to be deep in thought.

"When I almost destroyed the Ark."

"The Ark?"

"It was basically a factory for the Halos."

"How big was the Ark?"

"I was told about one hundred and thirty thousand kilometers."

That really got Shepard's attention. That was beyond massive, on a scale she couldn't even imagine.

"How did the forerunners ever build something like that?"

"I don't know."

"Is there anything that you want … or need to talk about."

"Us."

"Need or want?"

"Both"

"What about it?"

"This isn't something just to blow off steam, is it?"

Shepard looked up and asked "No its not, it's real. If you don't want this I …

"I want this."

Shepard looked at his face and ran her hand through his hair, and whispered "Good, I was starting to worry."

He didn't reply, same old Chief. She asked "So we're going to be dating and you won't even let me know your name, what do I have to do to earn that."

He sat up and said "Come back alive."

Shepard responded "Chief"

"Shepard"

Shepard leaned over; their eyes maybe an inch from each other's when she said "I promise"

Shepard started to close the gap when somebody knocked at the door. Shepard leaned back and mentally kicked herself for not telling EDI to make sure no one disturbed her.

"Stay here I'll be back." She whispered

She walked over to the door and when she opened it she was surprised to see Mordin there.

"Mordin what's wrong?"

He started to walk in and said "No time to explain."

He walked around the corner to see the Chief. He ran over to him and started to scan him with his Omni tool.

"Mordin what's wrong with him?"

"Medication he took doesn't mix with augmentations, about to go into cardiac arrest."

"Wait what!" screamed Shepard

"Shepard, go get a cart for him. Chakwas is preparing for surgery."

Shepard didn't need to be told twice. She ran into the elevator and set it to go to the crew deck. When she got there she sprinted as fast as she could towards the Med Bay. Shepard wheeled a cart back to back into the elevator. When the elevator opened she noticed that it had opened on deck two, she looked out to see Joker waiting for it. He looked rather surprised. He backed up knowing something was wrong.

The door was closing slowly, and Shepard was really starting to freak out.

She yelled at nobody in particular "Come on, come on. This can't be happening!"

The door finally opened to show Mordin struggling to hold the Chief up. Shepard helped Mordin put him on the cart and hit the button for the crew deck.

They wheeled him into Med Bay, and that's when Mordin said "Shepard its best you leave."

"No I can't."

"Shepard, please."

Leaving was one of the hardest things Shepard ever did.

She walked outside, to find Tali waiting out there.

"Shepard what happened?"

"Tali, he went into cardiac arrest, bad reaction to some medication."

Tali walked up to her and gave her a hug; Shepard lost all control at that point and started to sob into her shoulder.

"Tali, it's not fair." Shepard said

Tali just held on and replied "It will be alright."

Shepard didn't say anything more after that. She just kept crying.

Tali's POV Three hours later

Tali was beginning to worry, the Chief had been in surgery for three hours, and from what Tali could see Chakwas and Mordin had been working nonstop.

Tali looked to Shepard; she passed out from exhaustion and stress thirty minutes in.

Everyone had come at one point of another to see how things were going.

Tali decided that Shepard would need her when she woke up, so she had been waiting the whole time.

Tali felt something stir next to her and she noticed Shepard waking up.

Shepard got up, but then appeared to remember why she was down here. She walked over to the glass and watched as they worked.

"Tali come here, I think there almost done."

Tali walked over to see that Chakwas was just finishing the stitches.

Chakwas looked up to Shepard and smiled. Tali noticed that a moment later Shepard was actually inside the Med Bay. Tali decided to wait outside, to give them some privacy.

Shepard's POV

As soon as Chakwas smiled Shepard made a break for the door, she ran past Mordin and asked "Is he going to be alright."

"Yes I think he's going to make a full recovery, just a week or two in here is all that is needed now."

"Thank you, so much."

"You don't have to thank me Shepard."

"Yes I do, you've saved his life twice now."

Chakwas smiled then said, "I'll give you two some privacy."

Shepard went over to the Chief's side.

He opened his eyes and asked "You alright?"

"This isn't about me."

"I'm alive, this time anyway."

"Chief, please don't say that."

"Shepard…"

"No please, you don't understand. I've had to watch you almost die twice already. Please, don't."

"Alright" as he said this he reached out and grabbed her hand.

They didn't talk much, they didn't need too.

But then a thought hit Shepard, she asked "What's your ..."

"John"

Shepard smiled, then kissed his forehead.

"Thanks for the early present."

"You're welcome."

John eventually fell asleep. Shepard climbed onto his chest and fell asleep herself.

John's POV Five Hours Later

John awoke to find Shepard on top f him. Seeing her like that made him smile, it made this thing whole accident worth it. He didn't move, afraid to wake her up. Eventually John actually started to drift back into sleep when he felt Shepard move. He looked up to see Shepard stretching.

She didn't notice he was awake, so he decided that he was going to surprised Shepard.

He waited for the moment that Shepard her head laid back down on his chest. He then quickly flipped them over, so he was on top.

He scared her pretty badly. She then wrapped her arms around his neck, and her legs around his waist.

"Well hello there John." She said, in a rather seductive voice.

"Am I interrupting something?" asked Chakwas

"Yes" was Shepard's reply

"Sorry to ruin the fun but Chief you really shouldn't be doing that much activity."

Shepard flipped them over this time.

But John had different plans; he grabbed Shepard then got out of the cot. He put her down on her feet then went to go put on some spare clothes.

"Chief you aren't leaving this Med Bay this time."

"Doctor I'm not in any trouble, I guarantee it."

"Really, how?"

"I've been through worse."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, I got my augmentations."

She didn't seem to be satisfied one bit, but for some reason she actually stepped aside.

"Alright Chief, but I'm going to ask that you go to Mordin at least three times a day so he can check for any anomalies."

"That's fair."

She nodded and unlocked the door.

Shepard walked up to him and grabbed his hand.

John turned to Shepard and asked "Do we have any weights?"

"Yeah, in the cargo bay."

"I'm going to go use them."

"Alright I'll just watch the show."

He grunted his approval and went for the elevator. When it opened Tali was inside.

"Chief, I thought that Chakwas said you were going to be out for another day?"

John turned to Shepard and said "I was?"

"I was asleep with you the whole time, how would I know?"

He shrugged and went inside the elevator followed by Shepard.

Tali looked towards Shepard and gave her a wink, then headed off to somewhere.

When they got down to the Cargo Bay it took a few minutes to get everything in order but he got started soon after that. He had been working for an hour when Shepard came and laid down on his chest.

He put the weight he was working with down and put his arms around her waist.

"Enjoying something?"

She smiled seductively and said "Yeah I am."

He chuckled, and was about to find the weight that he was using before when Shepard leaned in and planted her lips on his. He returned the kiss. After a minute or two of this Shepard leaned back and said "Wish I could stay, but I found out I have a few things I need to do."

"Like?"

"I promised Miranda that I would help her with her sister."

"Just tell me when you're ready to go."

"You're not coming."

"Why?"

"You just went into Cardiac arrest, I'm sorry but I'm not going to risk you dying."

"I'll be fine."

"Yeah you will be fine… on the ship."

"But…"

"Commander's orders."

Shepard's POV

It took all of Shepard's will power to leave. When she got in the elevator she sent it towards the CIC. However instead of going to the galaxy map she went towards Mordin's office. And as always she found he was working.

"Mordin, can you explain what happened?"

"Medication enters bones to self replicate. Normally harmless but medication couldn't enter."

"Because of the augmentations."

"Yes, so the medication started to self replicate inside muscle tissue, surprised he took so long to go into cardiac arrest."

"Mordin, what medication was he taking?"

Mordin didn't answer, and that scared Shepard, he never ignored a question.

"Mordin what was he taking exactly."

"Medication that cancels side effect of augmentations."

"Which one?"

"The lowered sex drive."

"Why wasn't I aware of this, why is he hiding this from me?"

"He isn't, he doesn't know."

Shepard's mood suddenly grew dark. She backed up to the doors of the room and hit their emergency lock down button. Once they were sealed she screamed "What the fuck do you mean he wasn't aware! What have you done?"

Mordin proceeded to put his equipment away. Once he was finished he answered "Put medication in his drink, had good reasons for doing so."

She put her face a mere inch from his and asked "What reason was good enough?"

"I did this to help you."

Shepard retorted "Me, what have you done for me other than create something that isn't real!"

"Medication doesn't create feelings, just causes greater reaction to them. Made what you two are possible."

Shepard didn't say anything, just stared looking to see if Mordin would flinch, he didn't.

"We'll discuss this later, but if you're going to endanger my boyfriend then you better let me know about it."

Shepard turned around, deactivated the lockdown and almost ran out of the room.

This was so unreal to her, Mordin had almost killed him; what was she going to do? She looked up and remembered her promise to Miranda.

"EDI how long will it take to reach Illium from here?"

"Two days."

"Alright let's go."

Shepard went up to her cabin; she was exhausted from Mordin's revelation. Mordin's POV Mordin was actually surprised by Shepard's actions, he had expected to her to kill him. The door opened to show Garrus with his assault rifle drawn. "Doctor you okay, I was told there was screaming in here." "Fine, thank you though. Shepard was less than pleased with my actions." Garrus put his sniper rifle away, then responded "She found out?" Mordin nodded. "Wow I'm surprised she didn't kill you." "Agreed" "Well what is going to happen to the Chief now?" "I was able to come up with safer solution, but will need to reapply twice as often." "Does it have any side effects?" "Yes like the one before it dramatically increases aggression." "Great an unstoppable killing machine with even more aggression, is this a good idea?" "Chief shown incredible restraint, will be fine." "Okay then, any progress made on a permanent solution?" "Yes, I believe that it will be complete in two days." "So fast?" "Yes, discovered what was causing 'side effect'?" "Which was?" "Catalytic Thyroid Implant." Mordin spat "What bothers you so much about this?" "Any doctor would have seen that this would have happened. Believe the reduced sex drive was there on purpose." "So it wasn't really treated as a side effect more as another upgrade." "Exactly." Garrus noticed that this was really starting to bother Mordin, so Garrus decided to leave him to his thoughts. John's POV Two days later John was starting to get bored, Shepard left an hour ago, and he was confined to the ship. He had thought about leaving but when he started to back some of his stuff EDI alerted him that Shepard ordered her to confine him to the Ship. He looked over his armor; it still had most of the holes that the Broker had made. He immediately set off to fixing it. It was slow work but he was making progress, he was able to fix the biggest breach in about forty minutes. Just as he started work on the next one he heard the elevator open. "Yes" he called out. "Good afternoon Chief, I just came down here to get a few readings." Answered Chakwas He looked over to see Chakwas fiddling with a rather large needle. "Something tells me you here for more than just readings." Chakwas chuckled and replied "What gave me away?" Chakwas did a quick scan of him, and looked pleased by the results. "Well it appears that your wounds are doing just fine, now for the shot." He held out his arm, and he felt the small prick of the needle. "Anything else doctor?" "No … wait Mordin wanted to see you." He was a little surprised but didn't voice it. He stopped working on his armor and went immediately to Mordin's lab. When he arrived Mordin was waiting for him. "Good, now we can begin." "Begin what?" "Treatment" "Let's get this over with." "One shot is all, but believe this will be painful." John extended his arm and he again felt the prick of a needle. But that wasn't it, what felt like fire started climbing up his arm. The feeling quickly spread throughout his whole body. He blocked it out though, and in a few minutes the feeling was gone. "Be aware; believe this treatment will increase aggression." He nodded and left. The Chief was back down in the cargo deck in no time, and was again working on his armor. That was until Joker said over the intercom "Chief, I have a message from Miranda for you." "On my way." Was all he said before he sprinted for the elevator. When he got up there he noticed that Joker was incredibly tense. "What is it?" Joker hit the play button. "Chief it's Miranda. Our shuttle was shot down. Grunt and I were knocked out cold. When we woke up Shepard was gone, we were following a trail of bodies when we found a transmitter. Shepard was injured and they are probably going to kill her. We trying to get to her but the mercs are slowing us down. I've uploaded their coordinates, you need to hurry!" John never ran faster. He had gotten his armor on in five minutes and was out of the Normandy in another two. "Cortana" Cortana started laying a map of waypoints. The Chief was running at least thirty kilometers an hour, so he was gaining a lot of attention. He was finding that he was slowing down dramatically as he was constantly dodging people. Having to slow down, then moving around them. But he figured out a solution. He stopped and fired his weapon in the air. Everyone scattered and he was able to go at top speeds. John eventually found himself at a ledge over some sort of cargo transfer site. He looked down to see an eclipse soldier hitting someone with the butt of her gun. "Who the hell are you working for?" screamed an asari, he guessed she was in charge He heard "I'm going to warn you one more time. If don't leave my boyfriend is going to find us and is going to kill you all." "I think we'll take our chances." "I was hoping you would say that." John decided that this was probably the best time to strike. He took several steps back and started running as fast as he could. He jumped over the edge and was going to land right on top of them. Captain Enayla's POVThis was going nowhere; they hadn't managed to get anything from the prisoner. She was considering just killing her now, she had killed thirty of her people before somebody managed to shoot her a couple of times in the chest. "Who the hell are you working for?" she asked yet again. "I'm going to warn you one more time. If don't leave my boyfriend is going to find us and is going to kill you all." "I think we'll take our chances." "I was hoping you would say that."

She was about to kill her when she heard several loud thuds.

"What was that?"

She turned toward the prisoner who was looking up, and smiling.

Enayla looked up to see someone in green armor falling towards them.

"Oh shit!" she screamed

Everyone looked up just as it landed. It rolled under around her, and then she felt a stabbing pain. When she fell over she noticed that there was a knife sticking out of her side, then her vision turned black.

Shepard's POV

Shepard watched as John tore the mercs apart. He had stabbed the leader in the side. He grabbed another one by the head and shoved him into the wall at full strength. The merc's head was crushed between the wall and John's hand. He broke another's neck then shot the last one in the throat. She watched as he fell to the floor, chocking on a bullet and his own blood.

Shepard looked down at her own injuries. He had two holes in her chest, both had gone straight through. And blood was slowly seeping out.

"Shepard!"

She looked up and smiled as he crouched by her.

"John"

He pulled out some sort of can, and said "This is going to hurt."

He injected the tip into her wounds and pulled some sort of trigger.

Something started pouring into her wounds, and Shepard screamed.

He did the same with the other wound but she was too tired to scream again.

"Chief, Shepard!" screamed Miranda

She crouched beside her and scanned her with her omni tool.

"What is that stuff in the wound?"

John simply said "I'll explain later."

He pulled Shepard to her feet, and to Shepard's surprise she didn't feel so bad.

"Where is Niket?" asked Miranda

Shepard looked at her feet. When she had entered the room a man the asari leader had referred to as Niket started to leave. And since they were talking to each other Shepard knew he was a traitor.

"Miranda … Niket was working with the mercs."

Miranda's eyes shot wide open and she got into the nearest elevator and sent it on its way.

"We have to go, she will kill him." She said

Shepard realized she could stand, but she could hardly walk. John helped her over to the elevator Miranda used. When it came back Shepard hacked the elevator and set it to go to its last destination, and they were off.

They arrived a second too late because a gun shot rang out when the door started to open. Shepard was pleased to find that Miranda had shot Niket's leg, Miranda walked over to them and said "Niket is out of the way. But I want to make sure my sister is safe."

"Of course."

It took ten minutes to find Miranda's sister but when they did Miranda tried to just leave. Shepard convinced her to go talk to her, and she was glad she did. Miranda actually looked happy for the first time since Shepard had met her.

When they got back to the Normandy, Chakwas had looked over her wounds and said "How come you guys keep coming back?"

Shepard smiled weakly, then Chakwas asked "Chief what is this stuff?"

"Biofoam. It will break down in a few hours."

Chakwas shrugged and said "Okay then, Shepard as soon as it starts to break down come see me."

Everyone left, leaving the two alone.

"John, thank you." Said Shepard as she embraced him.

"You don't need to thank me."

"Yes I do."

John took off his helmet and said "Shepard, I'm coming with you next time."

"But…"

"Shepard, I'm coming, it's final."

"Alright then."

"Well I'm going to go finish fixing this armor."

He walked away and Shepard was left alone. Shepard didn't mind, she knew she could go down and visit him anytime.

She walked down to Miranda's office. She was staring out her window.

"Shepard did I do the right thing by letting him go?"

"Killing people isn't always the answer."

"Yes but what if he tries going after Oriana again?"

"Don't worry Miranda; I think you gave her a big head start."

Miranda chuckled and replied "Yeah I don't think that he will be walking very soon, let alone chasing her."

"I'm glad I could help."

'Shepard … thank you."

"Anytime."

Shepard left Miranda's office in a great mood, Shepard had been able to help and Shepard had a feeling that Miranda was now focused on the mission.

"One down."

Hey guys, I'm assuming that you are just a little surprised that I updated so quickly. Hopefully this will become a regular occurrence. Well I have to say this is going to probably be the longest author note that I'm going to write. We have a lot to talk about.

First of all last update there was a match between Shepard and John, and some of you didn't understand my reasoning behind the double knockout.

Reasons that I thought this made sense were:

The Chief was just stabbed repeatedly by a yahg.

Shepard is an N7 commando and a Spectre. Give Shepard some credit.

She has implants that Cerberus gave her, one of which is her decreased reaction time (Adrenaline)

The Chief got slightly over confident; some of you say that he doesn't get overconfident. But in my story Cortana remarks that everything in this reality is easy to kill to which the Chief agrees. This happens after he kills one of the drones on the Shadow Broker's ship. It hints at overconfidence.

This is my reasoning behind the result, but I'm not mad at anyone who disagrees, I was actually expecting worse.

Second some of you might disagree with me for having Mordin drug the Chief; this was the only way that I could see to even start a romance between Shepard and John.

Third is the fact that the Chief's personality is much more open, well some of the time. One of things that convinced me that he would be more open in this situation is the fact he isn't in charge. In First Strike John remarks that he wish he could join his friends when they were relaxing and making jokes. He believes he has to keep his distance to be a good leader. Plus any time he is with Shepard isn't really going to be the Master Chief we know; after all he is dating Shepard now.

And finally I know some of you are going to be confused as to why I seem to be trying to kill both John and Shepard. The answer to that one is simple … it would be boring if nothing went wrong.

If anyone has any questions regarding anything feel free to PM me. Also if anyone has any suggestions PM me, and we can hopefully discuss your ideas.

I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and I encourage you to review.