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Breeder	By : Larania Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 9434 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Mass Effect belongs to Bioware and EA, not me, and I make no money from this work of fanfiction.

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Breeder
Chapter Nineteen
Disclaimer: Mass Effect belongs to Bioware and EA Games. This is a work of fanfiction, and I make no money from this fan work at all.
Warnings: adult language, sexual situations, slash, dub/non-con, threesomes, gender bending and mpreg. If I have missed something, please inform me and I will add it.
Characters/pairings: Colonist/War Hero paragade ManShep/Kaidan, ManShep/Garrus and a little ManShep/Zaeed.
Summary: Mindoir's strategy for survival was one that was not well-known to the greater galactic community. Derek Shepard carried this legacy with him, dormant, through the Skyllian Blitz and through the battle with Sovereign. However, after his death at the hands of the Collectors and revival due to the machinations of Cerberus, he must cope with his body no longer being his own.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Paranoia laid an ugly blanket over his mind as he continued through Project Base. Every time he ran into one of those damn research logs, any note from a Project employee, he had to wonder if that tingle on the back of his neck was real. He remembered the voice of the artifact in his head-
He shook himself, using his new nova trick to take out another pyro. The same paranoia had him barely using the nova, keeping in cover and taking a slow pace as he shot down foes. Couldn't risk his usual brawler tactics. He couldn't risk a blow to the abdomen.
He gnawed his way through another handful of soybeans, before swallowing a swig of his over-sweet Tupari. His blood sugar was still low; his thoughts were rattling around in his skull, having to find space around the headache. His body felt heavy, clumsy and too small for his armor.
Have to focus.
Getting to Project Control had only taken twenty minutes; somehow it felt like so much longer as he listened to the chatter between Kenson and her troops. The words 'Shepard is tearing us apart!' made him want to laugh. Only half the troops were bringing their A game; the other half seemed to be stumbling over themselves. Shepard had to wonder if they were fighting their indoctrination. It was a hope, but one he couldn't depend on.
"Welcome to Project Control," the VI stated as the holo-interface came up. Shepard looked at it blankly for a moment. Yet there was no choice, here.
"I want to activate the Project," he said, voice steady. He almost didn't recognize himself. His mind tried to reject the sheer size of the number scrolling across the screen. Three hundred four thousand, nine hundred forty-two. All gone, in one button push.
"Warning. Activating the Project will result in an estimated three hundred five thousand causalities. Do you wish to continue?"
They're batarians, who gives a shit?
Shepard rocked back, swallowed. "I do," he said, talking at his belly. "I'm sorry, little bean. You don't deserve a mo- a da- a parent who has done this." He jabbed his finger into the interface, staggering back as the Project's engines revved, propelling them forward.
"Project activation in progress. Warning: Collision with mass relay imminent. Begin activation procedures."
Derek paused, hand over his belly, before hitting the com button. He could call Joker, get them both out of there...
"Alert: All colonists living in the Bahak system. This is-"
"Shepard, no, do you have any idea what you've done?" Kenson snapped, interrupting and cutting off Shepard's transmission. Her eyes were wide, whites bright and vivid against a face that was flushed red with rage. "You leave me no choice. If we can't stop this asteroid, it must be destroyed!"
Derek turned away from her. "Tell me where to find Doctor Amanda Kenson," he asked the VI. The reactor core module, was the answer. He nodded to himself.
"An eezo core meltdown should do it," Kenson spat, eyes accusing. "Because of you, everyone on this rock will be obliterated!"
Derek twitched, before turning and taking off towards the door. "Not if I get to you first," he said under his breath.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Shepard wondered if indoctrination affected each individual differently. Kenson was far more fanatical than Saren was, speaking of "Reaper blessings." Then again, if whatshername, that asari, had been correct? The more useful the tool, the slower the indoctrination. Kenson must have been deemed disposable.
He had managed to manually disable the reactor meltdown, before receiving another taunt from Kenson. "You've done nothing, Shepard! I can still override power to the engines! Try to stop me!" she howled.
"I'm so glad to have your permission," Derek muttered, heading down the last elevator to the engine room. He dashed inside, training his Kassa Locust on the woman before him. "Step away from the reactor!"
Doctor Kenson was a mess. Every line of her was panicked as she flailed at the engine console. Tears ran down her face. These were not tears of frustration: this was pure, all out bawling in grief, with raw blotches and streams of mucus down her face. "You've ruined everything!" She wheeled around to look at Shepard, unconcerned by the SMG pointed at her head. "I can't hear the whispers anymore!"
"Kenson, talk to me." Come on, listen, don't make me kill you. "You're indoctrinated-"
"You've taken them away from me," Kenson mumbled. Her eyes were darting around, pupils blow wide. Her skin was slick with sweat, hands and body shaking as she lifted a detonator. She flicked open the cover, fixing her wild gaze back to Shepard's face. "I'll never see the Reaper's arrival. All you had to do was stay asleep. None of this had to-"
Shepard fired, the single round from the Locust burning a clean hole through Kenson's head as she dropped to the floor-
-thumb depressing the detonator button-
~*~*~*~*~
The stars were bright in the ink-black sky.
Derek was laid out, Aaron's small, curly head tucked under his chin as he listened to the night. No birds, no animals stirred the dry leaves under the brush. Wind made the branches creak and sway, obscuring the twinkling lights.
"...show me what spring is like..."
Singing usually worked. Aaron wasn't crying anymore, just whimpering softly as his tears made a warm puddle against Derek's neck.
"...Jupiter and Mars..."
Derek couldn't feel his legs.
It was so damn cold. The searing pain from earlier was gone, replaced by the cold stickiness of his own blood. But he kept patting Aaron's back, all the same. Even when he stopped moving.
Even when he stopped breathing.
"...hold my hand..."
He paused when he heard a soft rustle in the undergrowth. A moment later, the stars were blotted out by the dim outline of a young boy.
~*~*~*~*~

"Warning: Collision imminent. Warning: Collision imminent."
Pain was what woke Shepard more than anything else; the tingling, pins and stabbing feeling around his amp port and... the deep, bruised ache in his back and belly.
Panic blanked his mind. He got to his knees, doubled over as he held himself. "No, no, no, no, no no no no." He wheezed, "Stay with me. Stay with me." He shook, dosing himself with medi-gel to numb the pain. "I don't want to lose you, too. Just... hold on. I'll get us out of here. I promise."
The VI continued droning its warning as he limped towards the nearest console. "Joker, this is Shepard. I need a pickup. Now."
"Communication system damaged."
"Dammit!" He punched the console, before pacing back and forth, rubbing his face as he tried to think.
"Evacuation protocols are in effect. All personnel report to the escape shuttles." Derek punched his fist into his palm.
"Where can I find an escape shuttle?" Twenty-eight minutes left. Shit.
He half ran towards the elevator, listening to the VI's directions as he made his way to the Com Tower and the landing pad. His stomach still ached, a dull throb, but he felt none of the tearing or hot wetness between his legs when he had miscarried before.
Didn't matter. Still had to make it off this damn rock. He sealed his helmet before heading out to the minimal atmo of the outside.
The first thing he saw was the Alpha Relay growing on the horizon, then the soldiers firing and wailing about the last shuttle leaving. Had the circumstances been different, Shepard might have offered to help them escape in return for their surrender; but that was not on the table. Not when it came to indoctrination. He had to-
Ah. An YMIR mech. Now, on top of finding out that the Reapers were twenty minutes away, he was on an asteroid hurtling towards a mass relay, finding out he was pregnant and trying to stay that way, he had to fight a large death machine. Finally, something easy to deal with.
The same trick worked twice, as he used his Arc Reactor to kill both shields and shock the majority of the remaining troops before finishing it off with a headshot and letting the resulting conflagration take out the remaining troops. Nice to end the day on a bang, he thought with dark, somewhat hysterical humor as he leapt over a rail. He jogged the rest of the way to the com relay, fingers twitching over interface.
"Shepard to Normandy. Joker, do you read me?"
Out of the corner of his eye, a golden shape materialized. Four eyes glowed as it multiple legs reached out. The shape of a Reaper, in the voice of a being Derek knew.
SHEPARD. YOU HAVE BECOME AN ANNOYANCE.
He wasn't sure if it was fascination, dread, or just simple bull-headed Shepard-ness that made him cross the tarmac towards the massive projection. But he wanted to see what he faced, the enemy that had picked him out of the throng of humanity as a nemesis. This machine that had decided to hurt him, personally, because Shepard had been the one to defy it.
YOU FIGHT AGAINST INEVITABILITY. DUST STRUGGLING AGAINST COSMIC WINDS.
And evil still got chatty. For monsters that wanted to be on the level of Cthulhu, Harbinger seemed to want to convince Derek of their superiority.
THIS SEEMS A VICTORY TO YOU. A STAR SYSTEM SACRIFICED. BUT EVEN NOW, YOUR GREATEST CIVILIZATIONS ARE DOOMED TO FALL. YOUR LEADERS WILL BEG TO SERVE US.
A victory? No. Never that. "Maybe you're right." God, he was tired. "Maybe we can't win this. But we'll fight you regardless. Just like we did with Sovereign." Derek put his hand on his belly. "Just like I'm doing now. However 'insignificant' we may be, we will fight and we will sacrifice, and we will find a way." He felt himself smile, even if it was without humor. "That's what humans do."
KNOW THIS AS YOU, AND YOUR OFFSPRING, DIE IN VAIN. YOUR TIME WILL COME. YOUR SPECIES WILL FALL.
Derek's knees went weak. They knew.
PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR THE ARRIVAL.
They knew.
The image of Harbinger faded as Joker interrupted the conversation. "Commander Shepard, Normandy inbound for pickup!"
Shepard bolted, running towards the Normandy airlock as she glided in, leaping across the gap and calling for Joker to get them the fuck out of there.
~*~*~*~*~
The Bahak system was gone. Shepard had watched it go on the galaxy map, because there was nothing else he could do for the people there. They were gone. He had just condemned over three hundred thousand (batarians) people to die. He tried to feel something, but at the moment he felt nothing. His mind groped for meaning, for a reaction. He was surprised he hadn't vomited again, or passed out. Instead, his head, everything, felt swathed in cotton batting.
His eyes dried out as he kept staring at the galaxy map. He could hear words in the background, rustles and whispers as the ex-Cerberus crew milled around him. Their voices were dull, dim echoes coming the outside. He didn't react until Joker touched his hand.
"Commander?" the pilot asked, leaning on the rail beside Shepard, trying to find his eyes. "Look at me, Commander."
His headache was returning. "The Reapers were coming. I think I hit them with a rock." That was only part of it, why they had to get away. His knees were trembling. "They know I've got a bean."
Joker's eyebrows were hidden under his hat. "The Reapers want your bean." He mouthed something, before shaking his head.
"Yes." Shepard's gaze drifted back to the galaxy map. "I'm sorry." His fingers tightened on the rail. "I had to stop them."
"Where is your bean?" he saw Joker look off to the side at Kelly, who shrugged back at him. "We want to make sure it's safe, right?" Shepard wondered why he sounded like he was talking to a crazy person. "Is it, um, a magic bean? Did you, you know, trade a cow for it?"
"What? No. The bean's right here." He patted his abdomen. "It least, it was." He felt a strange flutter there. Derek shivered, taking off his breather helmet. Touched his face. It was wet.
"Commander, maybe you should go see Doctor Chakwas?" Kelly, who had stayed silent up until that point, carefully spoke up. "You sound very... tired. I'm sure she can help you find your bean."
Derek nodded, swaying forward and back before walking towards the elevator.
He half-heard Kelly hiss at Joker, who grunted and shuffled into the elevator after him. Shepard punched at the controls.
"So, um, Commander. Lost your beans? Or maybe your marbles?" Joker asked, as the elevator opened in Engineering, to a very surprised looking Tali and Jack. "Hey, guys! We're going to the med-bay. Want to come with us? Please? I kinda need the moral support." Both women, seeing something Derek didn't, edged into the elevator. Jack's brown eyes were huge, and Tali began wringing her hands.
"Shepard? What happened?" Tali asked, haltingly. "You were gone for almost three days." Derek cringed when she tried to touch his face.
"I destroyed a star system," Derek answered. Tali hissed; both Joker and Jack swore. He ignored that, still feeling numb and detached. "And I'm pregnant."
He heard voices buzzing behind him as he walked out the elevator. Damn. Did he get hit in the head? Keelah, do you think he meant it? Tali, Shepard's a man. Human men can't have babies. Heh. Shows what you know about him. Keelah, how did you find out? Wait, fuck, who told you?
Miranda was waiting on them. Shepard nodded to her, walking past, shedding his armor, and into the med-bay before stopping in front of Doctor Chakwas. She looked up at him, nonplussed. "Can I help you, Commander?" she asked, standing. She glanced back at Shepard's entourage, still arguing with each other.
"Is the bean okay?" he asked, plucking at the shirt over his abdomen in worry. He had promised. He didn't like breaking his promises.
"I don't know, Commander," Chakwas answered, calm despite the situation. She walked towards him and took his arm to steer him towards a bio-bed. He allowed it, because this was Chakwas. "But I'll find out. First, however, I need to check you over for injuries. You look to have several abrasions. I need to see if there is anything else." Derek sat, and Chakwas urged him to lay down. Miranda walked over, looking at Derek and Chakwas, then flipping on her own omni-tool.
Derek felt the faint warmth of the medical scanners as Chakwas applied an IV patch. Miranda had taken a syringe and drew some blood from one of the veins in his left hand. She sent the dab through a scanner, and-
"Oh. Oh dear."
"Lawson?" Chakwas asked, turning towards the younger woman. Miranda handed her the scanner readout. Her own eyebrows hit her hairline. "Well. Well. At least we aren't dealing with disease or poison. Looks like the worst so far is hypoglycemia and dehydration."
"Hm," Miranda murmured, pulling up Shepard's shirt and placing a sensor on his abdomen. A projection of Derek's uterus appeared, with a small hollow around a twitching fetus, small limbs waving back and forth.
Tali cooed. Jack laughed. Joker's jaw just about hit the floor before he mouthed holy shit. Shepard jumped, rising up on one elbow.
"I felt it move," he muttered, trying to sit back up. "Is- can I do that?"
"About nine, ten weeks? You're early, but yes, it's possible," Miranda answered. Her face was even paler than normal, lips spread in a thin, disapproving line as she read the scrolling readouts from the sensor. "You took some damage, but most of looks superficial. No danger to the... bean."
"I concur. You and the baby will be fine with some rest," Doctor Chakwas added, before turning towards the other three there. "And you will keep your mouths shut about this." Tali nodded, while Jack just shrugged.
"Commander Shepard is pregnant. Right. Who the hell would believe that one?" Joker answered. He hadn't picked his jaw off the floor yet. "Think Port Side lounge has anything good left? Because I need a friggin' drink."
~*~*~*~*~
Shepard had been re-reading his report from where he had been ensconced on the bio-bed in the med-bay when Admiral Hackett arrived.
Doctor Chakwas met him first, leaning in and whispering a few words to the Admiral. The Admiral lifted an eyebrow. Chakwas saluted and left. Shepard straightened, almost getting to his feet, before Hackett waved him down. Derek imagined he must have still looked like fresh road kill.
"Hm. Looks like you're alive." His blue eyes raked Derek's form.
"Admiral Hackett," Shepard acknowledged, sitting up even if he didn't get to his feet.
"Sounds like you went through hell down there. How are you feeling?" He came to parade rest as he scrutinized Shepard.
"Fine. Well, not exactly fine, but no more visions. Just..." He had spent the previous night hugging a basin in the med-bay and the Doctor trying everything from medicines to pressure points to help him keep food down. Now that he had acknowledged what was happening to him, it seemed all the symptoms that had he had explained away as stress or his oncoming heat were obvious and vengeful for being ignored. His back ached. Low blood sugar and fatigue had tied him down to the bed, making his limbs feel lined in lead. On top of that, when he wasn't vomiting, he had to pee. "Very pregnant. I wasn't expecting to see you here."
"Yes, Doctor Chakwas told me." Hackett's lips pinched. "I decided to debrief you in person. I know you were doing a favor for me, but... that was irresponsible and reckless, Commander."
Well, he wasn't exactly within the chain of command... "The part where I didn't get a pregnancy test before leaving for the mission or the part where I blew up a relay? Sir."
"Both." Hackett's eyes narrowed in warning. Don't sass the Admiral. "What the hell happened?"
"I confirmed Doctor Kenson's proof. The Reapers were coming, and the only way to slow them down was to destroy the relay." He exhaled, hand over his belly when he felt another flutter. Miranda had said nine weeks was early to be feeling that, but there it was. "When I arrived, there were two days left before the countdown finished. Kenson and her team sedated me for most of those two days. I had barely an hour left when I started the engines. There was nothing else I could do."
He looked up and met Hackett's impassive gaze. "I... suspected, but wasn't sure that I was pregnant, Admiral. If I had waited to take the test, and terminated, it might have been another day until I could complete this mission. And then the Reapers would already be on our doorstep. The only way to stop them was to deny them the use of the relay." He laughed, without humor, covering his face with his hands. "And that just delayed them. We may have a few more months. Maybe a year, before they get to another relay."
"And you believe the Reaper invasion really was a threat?" Hackett asked, turning away.
"No doubt about it." Shepard's voice was soft. "I literally had minutes to spare."
"I'm sure all the details are in your report." Hackett turned back. "I won't lie to you, Shepard. The batarians will want blood, and there's just enough evidence for a witch hunt. And we don't want war with the batarians. Not with the Reapers at the galaxy's edge."
Derek curled around his belly. "What are you saying?"
"God, Shepard..." Hackett finally broke his facade, rubbing his face. "You did what you did for the best of reasons, but there were over three hundred thousand batarians in that system. All dead."
"You think I don't know that? They died to save trillions of lives, and if I could have saved them you bet your ass I would have," Derek snarled, getting to his feet.
"You're preaching to the choir, Commander. If it were up to me, I'd give you a damn medal. But, given your history with the batarians, not everyone is going to see it that way."
Derek crossed his arms, leaning back against the bed. "What do you suggest?"
Hackett sighed. "Are you going to go through with it? The pregnancy, I mean?"
Derek swallowed. He remembered his relief, finally telling Kaidan what he wanted. He remembered his panic, fear, and ultimately his joy when he found out that his little bean was safe. "Yes. It was unexpected; even using every damn precaution known to humanity, I still wound up like this. But... I want to hold on to this, Admiral."
"Evidence against you is shoddy at best. But, you still need to come back to Earth to face the music. I can't stop it... but I can make them fight for it. That might not be a bad thing, if we keep you in custody." At Derek's incredulous look, Hackett elaborated. "I checked your file, and did some reading on what we know. No more than twenty male breeders survived the attack on Mindoir. Only half a dozen of them have successfully carried to term. You want this, you need good medical care- better than you can get on the Normandy. We might be turning you into a scapegoat, but you'll be a well cared for scapegoat. And I'm not handing you over to them if we have a good medical reason for not doing so."
Shepard pinched the skin between his brows. "Can I have time to tell Staff Commander Alenko?"
"It'll be Major pretty soon, and... I'm sorry to say, no."
Derek's head shot up.
"Shepard, he's a soldier. A damn good one. We're losing you for the duration, and until this mess resolves itself we need him out there. Doing. If he's distracted by worrying about you, or imagining playing house, he's not all there on the battlefield." Hackett put his hand on Shepard's shoulder. "It's not fair, I know. But that's how it has to be."
Derek's eyes burned as he rubbed them, fighting down tears. Damn hormones. He cleared his throat. "Let me take care of my crew, Admiral. Then I'll be there with my dress blues on."
"Good to see Cerberus hasn't stripped you of your sense of honor. You've got one week." The Admiral walked towards the door, holding on to Derek's report. "Oh, and Shepard?"
Derek wiped his face. "Yes sir?"
"Steven is a good name. So is Stephanie." His face creased in a smile. "Congratulations."
"I'll keep that in mind, Admiral."
To be continued.
Comments, questions and criticism welcome and appreciated.
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Breeder