fadewalk | RP: Ashley, F!Shepard, M!Shepard, Kaiden, Tali

{{occ: This is probably going to start out as Ashley and Fem!SHep, but Kaiden, Male!Shep, and Tali, please feel free to join in whenever. We will update the posting list as needed if that's okay.}}

It had only been a few days since Ashley had awoken in this place. She had stayed close to the ship, too afraid to venture forth. Even if she knew that there were other people in the place as they were, trapped it seemed as she was, the Major had yet to really grasp what happened.

Since walking around the ship had usually helped her work out whatever problem she was facing, Ashley decided that doing so now, in this place couldn't hurt. It was strange how quiet everything was. She was so used to hearing something humming, whether it be the drive core or the quiet murmur of the crew. Never had she ever heard the Normandy like this.

When she reached the docking bay, Ashley decided that walking around outside the ship couldn't really hurt. Granted, there were weird people about, but nothing could be weirder than having to work with a Turian. The thought of Garrus made her smile. She wondered where he was, if he was okay. Really she was concerned about all of her crew, but she had faith that they could take care of themselves.

Ashley didn't notice the body laying face up in the grass until she was practically on top of it. And when she did, the blood drained away from her face.

"Shepard!" Her commander looked like she was dead, the blood a sharp, crimson contrast to the white pallor of her skin. Ashley immediately bent down and checked for a heart beat, sighing when she felt a faint beat beneath her fingertips. "Shepard! Oh come on, Commander, you have to wake up!"

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Hacketts last words were echoeing back and forth in her mind as she drifted away. 'The Crucible's not firing' Her lungs hurt with every breath.

'It's gotta be something on your end.'

She had failed. When the universe needed her most, she had failed. Her limps were heavy and unresponsive, every muscle in her body ached. There was still blood leaving her body as she laid there on the grassy surface beneath her.

He fingers twitched. Grassy?

'Commander Shepard'

"-Commander, you have to wake up!"

Hacketts voice in her heard shifted, pitched until it was no longer his own. It almost sounded like Ashley. Shepard wondered what had happened to her, after leaving her behind on Earth. Had her and the rest of the crew survived long enough to know that Shepard had failed?

She hoped that they had a quick death if nothing else.

There was a pressure on her neck, her back, almost like a memory of a touch through her burnt armour. Had someone found her body? Did the Crucible work without her after all?

Who was she kidding, when was she ever that lucky?

Her exhale sounded like a low whining when it left her throat. The movement of her lungs made her rips shift uncomfortably in her chest.

Edited Date: 2015-08-12 11:44 pm (UTC)

She heard the soft sound and that was good enough for her. Shepard needed all the medigel and medical attention she could get. And of course Ashley had gone on her walk in nothing more than her casual clothes. No medigel to speak of.

"Shepard, I need to get you back on the Normandy." Ashley huffed out a breath as she looked around. Of course the one time she could really use Kaiden or the other Shepard, they were nowhere to be seen. And one look at the Commander's face told her that she didn't have time to wait.

"I'm going to move you okay? It's.... well, it's probably going to hurt." And with only a moment's pause, Ashley gently guided her commander into a sitting position, praying that she wasn't making the unseen wounds worse. The Major managed to get Shepard standing, sort of, and she slowly made their way back toward the Normandy.

"Shep, if you can help by walking that would be helpful." The armor made Shepard's dead weight harder to bear, and Ashley wasn't sure how much longer she could support the other woman.

The world was turning, shaking and all at once Shepard was hyper aware of her body. Every inch was on fire.

"move-" Was all she understood in the haze of pain and confusion consuming her. It was still Ashleys voice, talking in a steady stream without making any sense except for that one word. Shepard didn't need anymore. Her job wasn't done yet, she couldn't give up.

She wasn't lying down anymore, the grass beneath her fingers had disappeared but there was something under her feet. All her concentration went into willing her feet or legs to move, to walk, to do anything other than be completely useless. Shepard stumbled along, trying to gain her footing.

Edited Date: 2015-08-13 12:06 am (UTC)

"That's it, Shep. One foot in front of the other. We're almost there." Ashley's arm tightened around Shepard's waist, trying to support her weight as they moved painfully slow through the ship. Part of her didn't want to think about just how badly Shepard was wounded. If the Commander was hurt this bad, what about the rest of the crew? Garrus and James? What had happened to them? Did Shepard stop the Reapers? There was no way for her to know, and the questions continued to plague her.

"Hang on, we're almost there." Ashley pounded the button for the elevator, opening the doors and taking them up to the third level. She doubted that they had the supplies to treat Shepard's wounds, but the medigel would help. At least until they found another option.

The minutes seemed stretched like hours, and finally Ashley was moving into the medbay and laying Shepard down on the bed as gently as she could.

"Just rest, Commander. We'll get you patched up."

{{OOC: Kaidan, M!Shep and Tali: You all can join in now if you wish!}]

Tali had been curled up on Garrus's bunk in the Forward Battery, feeling sorry for herself and homesick for the Normandy that she remembered (not necessary the garish orange and black but the people - Donnelly and Gabbie and Gardner...and Garrus, of course). When she heard the uneven thump of booted feet, she started. With all the castle to explore, and all the excited drama going around, she had assumed she was alone...

Tali stuck her head out the door into the common room, just in time to see Ashley drag someone into the Medi-bay. Who in the world had gotten hurt now? Tali hurried after them, and then stopped on the doorway, curiosity in her body language.

Ashley turned her head to see Tali in the doorway. Oh thank God. If anyone could help her think of a way to shave Shepard, Tali could.

"Tali! Thank god! Shepard needs help and I don't know if we have the equipment to help her."

(OOC: *giggles* I'm sorry, but you have a hilarious typo. "Shave Shepard")

"Shepard?" The confusion was evident in Tali's voice, but that didn't stop the quarian from rushing across the Medi-bay towards the two women. Tali began grabbing medical supplies (luckily still in the cabinets where she'd put them after helping put Ashley, Shepard, and Kaiden back together). "The armor needs to come off, Ashley. And put some gloves on!"

[[ooc: lol oops. Thanks, though I don't know how to edit it]]

She didn't ask questions, instead Ashley did as she was told. Slipping gloves on, the Major then tried to take Shepard's armor off as gently as possible. The suit looked like it had gone through a hoard of Krogen without a shield to protect it. Bullet holes, scorch marks, scratches and dents were only a few of the things that had marred the surface. Ashley knew her commander to be so careful. How had her suit obtained this much damage.

"Just hold on, Commander. We'll fix you up."

The world had finally stopped shifting around her and other voices drifted throught the fog that clouded her mind. Shepard almost believed to hear Tali's voice saying something, voice coming louder and then quieter as if she were moving around.

If this was what the afterlife felt like, Shepard would have prefered there to be nothing. Everything better than this confusion and agony that held her hostage.

Maybe it was just another trick of the Reapers, their last attempt at indoctrination before the Crucible finished them off. Shepard certainly hoped not.

Tali hissed anxiously at the impressive damage that this human woman had sustained. She hoped, for Ashley's sake, that they had enough supplies to get her stabilized - they'd figure out the next step when they came to it. She muttered, "What was it that Shepard said? Jump in the deep end?"

Tali thrust antiseptic spray into Ashley's hands, and a pair of medical tweezers. "All the abraded skin, burns, and minor wounds. Don't spray that on the major injuries - it will aggravate them. Pull any fragments you see out of the wounds."

Tali got started on applying antiseptic washes, medigel and spray sutures to the larger wounds, starting from the woman's torso.

Ashley didn't think. She instantly shot into motion, trying to ease as much of Shepard's pain as she could. Being a soldier she had seen her share of injuries, but this?

In all honesty it was a miracle that the Commander was still breathing. She knew Shepard could be stubborn but this was taking stubbornness to a whole new level. And Ashley prayed that it would be enough to make her pull through, just like she had managed to every time before this.

If she had thought the pain was bad before, it was nothing compared to what Shepard felt now. Hands touching her, peeling off her skin it felt like. She couldn't breathe, her lungs were burning, filling with fire.

Her eyes flew open, unseeing, blinded by light but she grabbed at the hands on her skin. She had to fight them, they were trying to kill her. She wouldn't allow it. People were waiting for her, Garrus was waiting for her.

Shepard couldn't give up now. There was still a job to do. A world to save. Many worlds to save.

Shepard's sudden movement made Ashley jolt in surprise. Of all the possible reactions that Ashley had pictured, Shepard fighting her wasn't one of them.

"Commander. Shepard, Stop it, it's me!" Ashley tried to hold her commander's arms down with one hand, the other making sure that the medigel didn't go flying. But Shepard wouldn't stop, and Ashley couldn't begin to count how much damage she was doing to herself while she thrashed.

'Is there anything that can calm her down?" She asked, looking to Tali. By some miracle she was able to set the medigel and Tweezers down on a nearby table before placing her hands against Shepard's shoulders.

"Shep, please. It's me, Ashley. I promise you're safe But I need you to calm down please... You're only making your wounds worse."

Tali had been helping to try and restrain the woman, and she hesitated at Ashley's request, obviously torn. "We could sedate her but...my Shepard never stays under for very long, even with high doses."

All of the beds in the medi-bay had strapped to prevent patients from moving during Relay jumps and space combat. Tali wasn't sure those would be of much use either.

Tali sighed, and scuttled off to grab a sedative, muttering about 'temporary being better than nothing.' She returned quickly, and hesitated again, before saying, the words strange on her tongue "Shepard, it's Tali. You need to breathe and relax. You're in the Medi-bay with Ashley and I. You're safe."

Her vision returned slowly, the ceilling of an all too familiar med bay swimming into focus. The medi gel felt like an old friend, greeting her by engulfing her in numbness. It wouldn't last long but it cleared her head long enough to process the words spoken to her.

"Ash? Tali?" She croaked out, her voice rough and thin. Were they real? It didn't matter. They were her only source of information right now and they were helping her, easing the pain.

Ashley smiled when Shepard seemed to calm down. At least now the medigel could do what it was supposed to.

"That's right. Just stay still okay? I'm trying to mend the worst of your wounds." She wouldn't ask what happened, after all Ashley already knew. The Reapers were responsible for this. And if the Commander was here, only God knew what was happening down on Earth.

If Earth was still there.

He chest heaved and every breath dried out her mouth until her tongue felt like sandpaper.

"Wha-" She swallowed and tried to get some moisture into her mouth. "What happened? Where is Garrus and the others?" Shepard asked, unsure if she wanted to know the answer.

She hadn't seen any of them since she made it to the Citadel. A lot could happen quickly in this war and god knew that the Reapers had it out for her and her crew. At least the Normandy seemed okay, which meant EDI and Joker had to be here.

With the medi-gel in her system it was slowly getting easier to think but she knew the effect wouldn't last long in her system.