Story: Birthed By Fire (chapter 2)

Authors: Shadowflame66

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Chapter 2

Title: Chapter 2: Seventeen

[Author's notes:

Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect. If I did, ME2 wouldn't have been trying to convince me that Jack was a better biotic than my Adept. Also there would be Force Choking.

]

Chapter 2: Seventeen

April 11, 2171

 

Shepard stood in a hallway staring at an info screen that displayed various date for the students at E-3. She was looking for her name, and was very happy with the placement it appeared at: first. It’s something, she thought, imagining that her parents would be proud of such an achievement. She was still trying to decide if focusing on the event one year ago today was the best decision, or if trying to distract herself and forget it was a better choice. Still lost in thought, she blinked when Faith grabbed her hand (after once more appearing from nowhere) and pulled her down the hallway. “Wha…?” was the only response she managed before she was pulled into a supply closet.

With a grin, Faith yanked the door shut before pushing her against a shelf and kissing her solidly. Ah, she thought, forgetting all complaints and returning the kiss, resting her arms around Faith’s waist.

The brunette pulled back slowly, but not very far, opening her green eyes. “Happy birthday,” she said with a smile.

“Is it my birthday?” Kira said with a tilt of her head, her fingers on Faith’s back playing with the hem of her shirt.

“Don’t act like you didn’t remember,” she admonished. “I remembered.”

“I can see that,” Kira said softly, kissing her again.

Faith hummed into the kiss and looked at her as they pulled back. “It’s also almost a year since you came here, eight months since we met, and six months since we got together.” She tilted her head. “I know the anniversary that’s in the front of your mind, though, and I don’t plan on letting you sit around alone thinking about it.”

“What if I feel like sitting around thinking about it?”

“Then I’ll sit with you.”

Kira smiled, lifting her hand to brush some hair from her girlfriend’s eyes. “Honestly, when I first came here, I thought April 11 would be a much harder day than it is now. I thought this whole year would be harder.”

Faith smiled at her. “I’m glad that I help.”

Kira raised an eyebrow. “You just assume I’m talking about you?”

“Please, I’m the best thing you have going.”

Kira chuckled. “You’re right about that.”

“So…” Faith moved forward again, tracing a finger on Kira’s chest and tilting her head invitingly. “Wanna celebrate all of it?”

Kira blinked. Faith laughed as she was pulled out of the supply closet and towards Kira’s room at a rapid pace.

Mass Effect

Shepard hadn’t become any more popular with other students or faculty over the past year; in fact, she became less popular with most of them, and Faith by association, but the brunette just seemed to find it funny. Kira was glad to have her, and she still got along with Dr. Nova alright, but the others…

“I see you don’t think my lesson is worth paying attention to, Miss Shepard,” Dr. Marks said with irritation, even though Kira had only glanced at the door.

It was so petty and childish. Half the researchers here were less mature than the students. They demanded respect; Kira simply demanded respect be earned. She gave it to those that earned it. Those that didn’t, well, they tended to react petulantly and prove why she didn’t respect them in the first place. With a sigh, Kira stood even as he started the whole ‘why don’t you come to the front’ thing, mentally preparing herself. It would be a victory for him to see her fail, so she knew this wasn’t about to be fair.

She was right; he assigned three students to attack her in order to “show how biotics should work together as a team”. Bullshit, Kira thought as she glanced around at the three with a bored expression. She had learned early on that confidence was one of the most important parts of a fight, and she had confidence in spades. It was simply a fact that she couldn’t lose this, and so she wouldn’t; none of the others were going to try that hard even if they disliked her. At the instructor’s words they all started and Kira felt the lack of gravity that meant she was about to be hurled somewhere. Focusing on her rage, she threw up a barrier, her eyes flashing as she virtually batted away the weaker attacks.

Before they could switch gears she threw her arms up and created a Singularity, smiling as the other three were lifted into the air around her. She stepped up to one of them who was struggling as he was turned upside-down. “Biotics are enhanced by emotion,” she informed him as she flipped him around before throwing him at a wall, looking at Dr. Marks as she continued, “Your problem is that you’re simply… dulled.” She could see the irritation on the instructor’s face despite his attempts to hide it, and it made her smile.

Unfortunately, due to her distraction the other two students broke out of her grip and hurled her at the wall. As Kira hit it she snarled, a flash of batarian faces filling her vision. She biotically pulled one of them towards her and shoving herself off the wall to meet him in a midair tackle. She landed on top of him and extended her hand to lift the third student, slamming her into the ceiling and letting her drop before standing and placing her foot on the neck of the boy underneath her, beginning to press down. “Shepard, that’s enough!” Kira glared at the instructor before removing her foot from her fellow student and walking towards the door. “You are not dismissed!”

“I’m done anyway,” she responded, slamming the door behind her and heading down the hall. This would certainly come back to bite her, but honestly she was finding it harder and harder to care about consequences and punishment. Someone would lecture her, she’d be confined to her room for a period of time, whatever – in the end, they would keep her around because of her ability. She knew the limits she could push, and she was going to push them, partially because she despised them for letting her. No one here was worthy of respect, no one gave orders she felt a need to follow; she was just getting through it. Within a year she would be out of here anyway.

Mass Effect

“You have a way of causing trouble around here,” Faith said as she stepped into Kira’s room and shut the door behind her.

“Word travels too fast,” Kira responded from her position lying on the bed, staring at the bottom of the bunk above her.

“People like to talk.” Faith dropped her bag in front of the door and walked over, looking down at her. “Are you okay?”

“Just another flashback. Nothing new.”

Faith nodded, climbing onto the bed and resting her head on Kira’s shoulder, smiling as she felt the arm curl around her. “I heard you broke another rib.”

“Really? Whose?”

“The boy you apparently performed a ‘flying tackle’ on. Please tell me someone in the class recorded it.”

“Probably.”

“Think I could get a copy?”

“You need help with your obsession for watching these things.”

“Cataloguing incidents of your badassery isn’t an obsession, it’s a hobby. Trust me, when you’re famous across the galaxy, we’ll make millions off of these early vids.”

“You’re going to merchandise me, aren’t you?”

“Think about it! Kira Shepard posters, replica weapons and armor, movie and book deals, plushies…”

“Plushies?”

Faith grinned as she hugged her. “What? You’re more huggable than you think, despite your whole angry intimidation thing.”

“That’s really not going to help my reputation.”

“Yeah, but then you’ll punch a reporter or something and your reputation will be good again.”

“Are you trying to be my agent? What makes you think you won’t be the famous one? You’d be a far better public figure.”

“I just don’t have that quality you do. I’ll be known, though, don’t you worry – especially when people start asking about all the dirty details. My erotic stories are gonna sell like hotcakes.”

“I think we should break up.”

“Oh, don’t be grumpy – people will write those stories anyway! Shepard fanfiction, it’ll be the biggest thing. I just want to make sure they know just how hot the real thing is.”

Kira smirked. “You’re damn lucky I love you.”

Faith sat up. “What was that?”

Kira blinked. “I said, ‘you’re lucky I like you’…”

“No, no, you can’t go back on me now! I heard what you said!”

She sighed. “Fine, I love you, let it go.”

Faith grinned. “I’m never going to let it go.” She leaned down and kissed her, smiling as she rolled to rest on top of her. “I love you too, by the way.”

“I thought you were just going to tease me forever,” Kira said with a smirk as she looked up at her, brushing her brown hair aside.

“I’m going to do that, too,” Faith said as she tugged on a lock of crimson hair. “But that’s not what’s on my mind right now.”

“I think I can guess what’s in there,” Kira said, giving another smirk as her hand slipped between them.

Mass Effect

The instructor was telling them all what they were going to be doing, but Shepard wasn’t paying attention; her attention was, as usual, focused on the girl beside her as she snickered at a comment from the brunette. It was clear what they were doing anyway, they’d been told everything before, and Kira didn’t have the patience for repetition. She and Faith were too busy finding it funny that they’d been singled out and ‘handicapped’ for this exercise.

All of the students were being put through some survival training. They were split into teams and given a certain amount of supplies, and they were about to be flown out to various destinations where they would be dropped off to survive and make their way back to the base over the course of the week. The funny part was that every team was comprised of four students… except for their team, which was simply the two of them for reasons that were obvious to pretty much everyone. Shepard was disliked by the majority of the instructors and students, and Faith was in the same boat not only by association but because she had wholeheartedly embraced Shepard’s methods of dealing with other people and had angered or irritated a good number of them herself, a fact that Shepard found endlessly amusing.

They were being set up to fail, again, but both were just glad they wouldn’t have to deal with others for an entire week out in the wild. “If we had teammates they’d probably just end up dead anyway,” Faith remarked with a sidelong glance at Shepard.

“You think they’re that lacking in survival skill?”

“No, I think it would just be really naïve to expect them to survive through a week of annoying you with no supervision.”

Kira smirked. “Fair enough. This is certainly better for my health, but how do you feel about being stuck alone with me for a whole week, with no one else?”

“Are you kidding? This is what I’ve been wishing for since we got together. I’ve even been secretly planning to sabotage us so it takes us longer to get back.”

“You’re not very good at secret planning.”

“I decided to use my wiles instead, it’s easier.”

“You and your wiles.”

“I don’t hear you complaining.”

“Nothing to complain about.”

Since the instructor seemed to be ignoring them as much as they were ignoring him, they weren’t called on their lack of attention – the instructor was likely hoping they would miss vital details and end up failing the exercise, anyway. Ten minutes later they sat on a transport, and a few hours later they were dropped off and abandoned at their destination. As Faith looked around and took stock of their location, she sighed. “I see a lot of rocks, dust and sand. Given that information, I’ve narrowed our current location down to ‘anywhere on this fucking planet that isn’t inside the research station’.”

“There’s not a lot of variety,” Kira admitted, examining their surroundings. “One place looks just like another. We’ll just have to hope we don’t get any sandstorms; I can’t imagine being turned around even more would do anything to help us keep our bearings.”

“We’ll get one for sure, but we can keep our bearings by finding shelter before then.” Faith shielded her eyes against the sun and turned, pointing in a direction. “We came from that way, even though the transport flew off in the other direction to mess with us.”

“I’m glad you paid attention.” Kira adjusted the pack on her shoulder. “So, we’ve got a full day of trudging through a rocky desert to get through. Considering we’re probably a lot further out than anyone else, we should get started if we don’t want to be last.”

Faith sighed, giving her a look. “Are you sure we can’t take our time?”

“I’m not letting them win.”

“You’re so competitive.”

Kira raised an eyebrow. “Just imagine the smug looks on their faces.”

Faith paused. “…Okay, we can’t come in last.” She sighed again. “I guess we can have a vacation someday anyway.”

“We will, in someplace nicer than this,” Kira assured her as they started walking.

“What, you don’t like this lush, lovely landscape?”

“The only things ‘lush’ on this planet are the security guards.”

“Wordplay! I like it. Does that mean you want to play a game? Maybe The License Plate Game?”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“Oh yeah, colony kid. It was a thing back on Earth a long time ago, using plates they put on cars.”

Kira gave her a look. “Great. You just point out the first ancient Earth vehicle we come across with one of those.”

“Fine. How about I Spy? Just pick a color you see, and I have to guess what you see.”

“Yellowish-brown.”

“Is it sand?”

“Yep.”’

Faith sighed. “I hate this planet.”

Kira smirked. “Well it’s not about to get better – looks like they dropped us right at the edge of the storm.”

Faith looked ahead and saw the approaching wall of sand, letting out a groan. “Those assholes! We haven’t even made it more than a few dozen meters!”

“I think that was the idea. We’ve got no cover, either.”

The brunette watched the redhead start to unfold the tent. “What do we do? That thing won’t hold up against the wind…”

“You’re right – this thing’s useless.” Kira shoved it back into the holder and through it back over her shoulder, flexing her fingers. “Let’s keep moving, huh?”

Faith looked from her to the storm, then back, before grinning. “Crazy – I like it.”

“I know, it’s why you’re with me.”

The storm approached at ridiculous speeds; it came like a wave, unstoppable and unavoidable. Kira stepped in front, cracking her neck before throwing her hands forward. The storm suddenly split around them like a river diverging around a boulder, joining back together on the other side of them – but the majority of sand and wind skipped them entirely. Faith was surprised it had worked, but she didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about it. The two of them moved forward under the biotic barrier Kira had created, walking against the weather.

When Kira started to grow tired, Faith took over, keeping them protected. Through teamwork they eventually made it to a rocky outcropping where they were able to take shelter by digging under it. Faith shook sand from her hair after warning Kira to shut her eyes, flinging it everywhere. “I doubt anyone else is doing that! Seriously, are they trying to kill us?”

“Maybe,” Kira responded as she brushed sand from her own hair. “It wouldn’t surprise me. That’s okay, though – it just means we end up stronger than the others.”

“Ohh, what if that’s the point?” Faith looked up at her. “What if they’re harder on the most promising students to make them better?”

“Then we must be the best damn students in the program.”

Mass Effect

Four were watching them as they walked. Kira recognized them as other students, though she didn’t bother to remember their names. When they made it within range, one of the four called out, “Surprised to see you still alive!”

“They honestly think we give a shit,” Faith said with a note of disbelief.

“As long as they don’t mess with-“ Kira stopped as a spiked tent pole stabbed into the ground in front of her, thrown by one of the others and causing their group to laugh.

Faith grimaced. “That was a bad move…”

Kira dropped her pack, looking up as the two boys from the group barred her way. She didn’t hear what they said – after that it didn’t matter. All she knew was that she’d been challenged – and she knew how to respond to that now. They were trying to slow her down, stall her so that she wouldn’t be first. These weren’t even the same assholes that had bothered her before; everyone on the planet was against her, aside from Faith; trying to hold her back. She’d decided early on not to be held back anymore, and as she tuned back into their taunts, she decided to remove the obstacles in her way in the best way she knew.

The tent pole was pulled from the ground and spun in the same movement, striking one of the boys across the face. Kira moved it low and tripped the other before turning back to the first, slamming the pole into the boy’s face and sending up a spray of blood, causing the two girls with them to scream. In the back of her mind she simply thought they were being weak, but she didn’t realize just how much she looked like she was going to kill one of them. As the boy lay on the ground cupping his nose, Kira turned back to the one she’d tripped, who was starting to get up. With a growl she shifted her grip on the pole and struck him in the side, knocking him back to the ground.

He turned onto his back and looked up as she stood over him, turning the pole again so that the spike was aiming down at him. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! What the hell, bitch, are you crazy?!”

Kira ignored him, simply narrowing her eyes as she raised it.

“Kira!” She barely stopped herself at Faith’s yell, steeling her body as she glanced over. “Enough is enough – they’re done.” Kira looked back down, stabbing the pole into the sand next to the boy’s head before lifting her back and stalking away. Faith looked at the boys before running to catch up, falling into step beside her. “What was that? You looked like you were gonna kill him!”

“I don’t know,” Shepard answered honestly, keeping her eyes on the sand as she walked.

Faith considered her, her expression softening. “Instinct again?”

Kira nodded, sparing a glance back. “I would’ve killed them.” She looked back ahead, giving an almost imperceptible frown and continuing more quietly, “Still would.”

“They’re just…” Faith stopped herself, trailing off. She’d been about to remind her girlfriend that the boys were just bullies following the crowd and hadn’t even physically attacked her, but by Kira’s expression she surmised that she knew that already. Kira was just as confused as she was, and she could only imagine how frightening it would be to not have control or even understanding of your own actions. “It’s alright,” Faith said, deciding not to rebuke or reinforce Kira’s actions. “It wasn’t your fault. Honestly, after all that’s happened, anyone antagonizing you should know by now how it will end.”

“With a rage-fueled violent overreaction?”

“Yes, actually. Kira, if there was a particularly mean dog in your colony and you saw it bite people multiple times, why would you decide to throw a rock at it? And if you did, could you really blame anyone but yourself for being so stupid?”

“I guess… Dogs are just animals, though. I’m…” Kira gave her a worried look. “I think there’s something wrong with me.”

Faith stopped them and faced her, brushing Kira’s hair back. “We’ll fix it,” she assured her.

“What if I hurt you?”

“But you haven’t.”

“But what if I did?”

“But you haven’t. Maybe it would be safer to leave – but it would also be safer not to join the military, and we’re both going to do that. I know you won’t and that’s what counts – besides, you need me.”

Kira sighed, looking away. “Yeah, I do.”

“Hey – an abusive relationship is one thing, but this is something in your head.” Faith tapped her forehead. “Something that can be fixed, or at least helped. Besides, you only lash out at people you see as your enemies – which is everyone but me.”

“You’re right… You’re right.”

“Besides, I can take care of myself better than those losers.”

Kira smirked. “I’m holding you to that.”

Mass Effect

They’d made it back before anyone else, but they hadn’t bothered celebrating – as soon as the team they’d run into returned, Kira was put in a solitary room awaiting “review”. With a history of increasingly violent incidents, she didn’t really have an argument. She sat on the floor with her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands, staring at the floor because she was afraid to close her eyes. She was struggling with emotions and a mind that she didn’t understand and couldn’t control; it was as if someone else took over at times and that other person only knew one way to deal with problems.

Her biotics were powerful, but lacked all control – being connected to her emotions, they were just like them. As it was she doubted she’d be useful to anyone, and a new voice crawled into her mind through the hole made by the doubt. How cold have I become? There was still blood on her clothing and it seemed to mock her. She was more of a bully than anyone who insulted her, and she couldn’t just hide behind a mask of “payback” and pretend they deserved it. After all the incidents that had occurred, she was the only constant between them – she was the problem. Worse, she had no idea how to fix it – it was like falling with nothing to catch onto.

She was afraid of bringing Faith down with her, possibly more than anything else. She knew she’d never willingly hurt her, but she simply didn’t have the control to guarantee that. Surely she should be in control of her own actions – everyone else was. Did she really have an excuse? Was there some sort of chemical imbalance in her brain, was something broken? Was it her fault? She had no answers for any of these questions, and her mind told her that she was alone – and that she deserved to be.

Mass Effect

Outside of the room, two people discussed the fate of the girl inside. One of them was quite adamant for their position; “She’s dangerous,” she argued. “She’s unstable, and she becomes increasingly violent under duress; she’s not reliable.”

The other, an older male, seemed to be bolstered by the ‘opposing’ argument. “All of those qualities would make her into a weapon,” he stated with certainty, looking through the one-way glass at the figure sitting against the wall. “The military isn’t interested in the weak, and she’s been proven strong.”

“Strong and unstable.”

“Stability can be taught, or enforced. She may even be useful as she is.”’

“She needs help-“

“She needs training. We can provide that. This is a military-funded installation – remember that. You will not expel her from this program. She will finish your training.”

The woman sighed. “Fine. What if there’s another incident?”

“Then we will handle the situation.”

“You mean sweep it under the rug?”

“I mean handle it.” The man turned back to the window. “How we choose to do so is none of your concern.”

Mass Effect

Kira was quiet after being released from her punishment, simply trying to avoid everyone. She hoped that no one else would try to antagonize her – at this point, she just wanted to fade into the shadows and go unnoticed. Faith refused to leave her alone – she walked with her on the circuitous routes she took to avoid crowded halls, and ran interference when it looked like someone was going to bother her.  Together, they managed to make it through their final year at the station – and the next one would be far better.

Mass Effect

Elsewhere in the galaxy, a 21-year-old woman was tired of running. Every night she slept lightly, and every morning she awoke early and was on the move in minutes. Tonight she was sitting in the bathroom of a hotel room with one blanket and one pillow, slowly nodding off. Sleep was difficult – any tiny sound would wake her immediately, and she would clutch the pistol in her hand even tighter every time. At the moment she was running on three hours of sleep during the past seventy-two hours, but she was built to run in bad situations. Even now she wasn’t planning to rest for long – resting meant her father’s men catching up to her, and that was not allowed.

A quiet squeaking sound snapped her awake once more and she tensed, straining her ears in the darkness. It happened again – a window being raised. A muffed sound followed and she stood silently, moving against the door and listening to the room outside. Three of them. Heavy boots – soldiers. There was a very small sound, but her ears picked it up. Static. Comm chatter – more outside. She listened carefully, placing a hand against the door – she’d already removed the hinges. At this point, it wasn’t even possible for her to enter a room without immediately thinking of every possible situation that could conceivably occur.

A second later she heard it – the soft sound of darts hitting the bed. She didn’t waste a moment, summoning her biotics and blasting the door outwards, taking them by surprise. The door hit one of them, smashing him into the wall. She stepped out and fired on the second, sending a round straight through his goggles with perfect precision. As the next one slid another dart into the chamber of his tranq rifle she took a few steps and ran along the wall for the last three before lashing out and kicking him across the face. As she landed in front of him she threw out her hand, using her biotics to shove him out of the window – one of the reasons she always picked the second-highest floor.

She then walked over and pulled the broken door aside, shooting and killing the final soldier before taking the comm piece from him and sticking it in her own ear. She quickly learned that there were three more outside, two snipers on separate rooftops and another in a vehicle somewhere below. She pressed against the wall, leaning slightly to look out the window, quickly spotting both snipers – she’d chosen a corner room to have two windows, and one was watching each window. That still wouldn’t be a problem – preparing herself for a run, she lifted one of the soldiers biotically and threw him through one window a split second before bursting through the other one herself.

The snipers were momentarily distracted, and that was all she needed; her jump carried her to the opposite building, where she managed to catch the edge of the roof with her hand. She vaulted up and wasted no time continuing the sprint; by the time the sniper on the next roof noticed her she was already in midair. She landed in a roll and kicked out, her foot hitting his face and stunning him. She finished the roll and slammed his head into the roof before finishing him with the pistol, and then dropped the pistol and immediately threw up a biotic barrier. The other sniper’s dart hit it, deflecting away inches from her face. She picked up the tranq rifle from the dead sniper, sighted on the other, and fired, hitting the base of his neck and knocking him out in seconds.

Four seconds later she was on the street below, pistol tucked into the back of her pants beneath her jacket. A simple dark jacket, shirt and pants were her chosen outfit, keeping her from standing out in crowds. Fortunately this area was full of people, so she just started walking. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a vehicle flying overhead, searching over the area, but she kept herself from looking directly at it and didn’t change her speed, continuing to walk casually even when she thought it had spotted her. Eventually it moved on and she breathed a little easier.

Finally she slowed down, feeling the fatigue hit her hard. She couldn’t go on as she was for very long; she’d end up dead or caught, one way or the other. But she was almost there – a Cerberus contact was waiting for her just a few days away (hours if she managed to secure transport that wouldn’t throw up a flag to her father’s trackers). He’d somehow managed to leave her a message, and though she was cautious due to her father’s ties to the organization, she knew it was really her only option. She couldn’t disappear, not alone – she needed the help of a powerful group like Cerberus.

When she finally arrived, the contact gave her a message from the Illusive Man himself – if she worked for them, they would provide protection from her father. For Miranda, it wasn’t even a choice – she was willing to do anything to keep out of his grasp, and while such a life would be dangerous, stressful, and even criminal, it would still be hers. Hours later she found herself on a Cerberus transport, heading away from the planet and the grasping arm of her father. And, for the first time in a long, long time, she fell asleep immediately.

[End notes:

I'm going to be trying to stick to a once-a-week update schedule (weekends) for this story, but don't hate me if I miss one. I managed to do it with Crimson Regret, but next year is going to be far busier for me; still, I won't leave you hanging for too long.

 Drop me a review if you can, I'll love you forever! Or at least for the next hour or so!

]

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