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Hallowed Truth	By : Spiritwolf71 Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 3767 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Mass Effect and its world is owned by Bioware, I make no profit from this tale.

Chapter List
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Sam had been raised in a colony on Horizon and, as a child, really loved to be outside in the fresh air, playing with the other kids. She had ridden a horse most of her childhood, which was rare since there were very few horses on the planet. She had loved taking long rides and enjoyed the scenery and serenity of being alone, controlling the horse, being in charge of her own path.
Then she had discovered her natural ability with the computer and electronics. She had quickly become everyone’s favorite person and was constantly being called to fix and wire homes. When she had joined the Alliance this skill took over her life. She loved her job she loved communications and some of the other areas she had been allowed to delve into while she had been in research and development department. She had always loved fiddling with electronic equipment and had taught herself to hack at an early age. It had been what prompted her parent to place her in advanced studies. She had always been academically sound, if not quite a nerd. She loved video games and movies and she loved to invent new programs to make life that much easier.
She had joined the military to help pay her way through school. Oxford was not the cheapest University she could go to but it was the one she had wanted and her parent would have never been able to afford it. She received Bachelor of Applied Science in Computer Engineering with and major in mathematics and electrical engineering.
Sam had originally planned on ending her time in the military and creating video games and systems for the masses. She had a minor apprenticeship with the creators of Galaxy of Fantasy by BioArt during her time at school. She had loved her time with them. She had once had grand designs for her own company one day.
Then, the war had hit and she had found herself stuck on the Normandy. She had originally hated the idea of being on one ship for an undetermined amount of time but it had grown on her, as had working for the Alliance. She had been a factor in the final outcome of the war. She had been the one that had traced Kai Leng back to Horizon where Miranda Lawson had placed a tracker on him and they had found the Cerberus Headquarters and she had been a large part of that.
She would never be found in the history book, or at least nothing more than a mere mention but it was something she would always be proud of. During her time on the Normandy there had been numerous things she had done that she had been proud of and then there were a few she was not so proud of.
Her biggest embarrassment was her infatuation with Commander Shepard. She had known precious little of the Commander before she had been assigned to the Normandy’s retrofit. She had heard all the rumours; she knew she had save the Citadel but it was not clear what she had saved it from. Then she had blown up the Bahak system killing tens of thousands of Batarians and been arrested, or turned herself in.
She had been intimidated when she first learned the Commander had been reinstated and returned to the Normandy. She met her soon after her arrival to update her on the changes that had been made but then pretty much watched her from the sideline, standing beside her on the CIC. She used to love to watch her looking over the galaxy map, pondering what she was going to do. Shepard had this stance where she would lean back slightly, one arm cross over her stomach supporting the other while her finger and thumb rubbed her jaw line.
She had fallen in love with the blueness of the woman’s eyes and the slight poutiness of her lips. More than that she had fallen in love with the Commander, or was infatuated anyway. She loved the Commander’s quiet, yet imposing demeanour. She had no idea those first few weeks that Cayle Shepard was in love with their resident Asari. She wouldn’t have made a fool of herself by trying to get the woman into the shower with her if she had.
It was her worse habit, falling in love quickly and sometimes very hard. She attached herself to people very fast and usually ended up hurt. Shepard had never brought up the incident and Sam figured she had never even realized that she had been hit on, which was fine in Sam’s book. She had still had many dreams on the Normandy consisting of either Commander Shepard or even EDI and that voice of hers.
She had only been in one other serious relationship and even that had built up quickly. She and Alicia had been nervous with each other at first, but once certain barriers had broken down Sam had decided she was in love and she fell hard. It had been great at first and she had never wanted it to end. She had even remained optimistic when she came to Earth for University. However; eventually she received a letter from Alicia telling she had found someone else. She had been devastated but not enough to block her heart out from her next interest.
She had to admit Lanie had scared the hell out of her when they first met. She was an unknown that had a gun and was threatening her. Over time she had decided that her fear had turned into respect and pretty much skimmed right over the friendship stage. Sam could actually pinpoint the exact moment she had decided she was in love with the woman. It was when they had pulled up at the observatory and she had watched the infiltrator try to approach the deer, one hand out and this completely innocent child like look on her face. It had almost been a magical moment for the Specialist and one vision she would treasure, even if they fell apart after this whole affair was over.
She just hoped that there was an end to this affair and one where everyone made it out alive and happy. Lanie had accused her thinking she was in the middle of some game maybe even a fantasy. Sam was more than aware of Stalkholme syndrome and she was also more than aware that stress in a dangerous situation triggers the same emotions and chemicals as falling in love. She had heard it discussed quite regularly after the war.
They said the birthrate for humanity had jumped exponentially around the nine month mark after the war and was still growing. It also corresponded with single parent family’s growth. Most people contested that love created out of stress never lasted. She found she was taking offence to that but somewhere in the back of her mind she was afraid they might be correct. She did not want to lose the wonderful woman she had just found.
She and Lanie had been through so much that it felt as though they had already spent a life time together even though in reality, it had been only weeks. There were times when she felt as though she knew the woman before and times when she realized that she didn’t. She knew there was much to the Marine that she didn’t know and might never know.
Adding to her fear was the fact that she had not told Lanie that she knew Gary’s child that was probably Lanie’s. She was not certain what that would do to the woman. She had a gut feeling that she would not be able to stop the Marine from launching an all-out assault on her ex-handler, the man she had named as enemy number one. She decided that now was still not the time.
Not that they would really be able to launch an all-out attack. They had begun a long trek back in the direction of Vancouver from Quesnel. Doing quick math, Sam figured it would be a couple weeks’ worth of hiking to get back and she could only hope that Lanie hoped to steal another car by then.
The marine however seemed to be growing discouraged. They had gone to Quesnel to resupply and get a vehicle only to find the town swimming in Alliance officers. Lanie had decided against entering the town and cabins and houses were few and far between over the last three days. Sam could only thank god that they had acquired armour that kept them warm. Not that it was cold, it was actually very comfortable during the day, but she knew at night that the temperature could drop to fourteen to sixteen degrees. It was not as cold as winter, but it still would have made for uncomfortable sleep if not for the climate control of the uniforms.
The young communications specialist had almost had enough of walking and they were only on day three of what could potentially be a long hike. They had been walking along side Fraser River which her Omni told her took them south and if they followed it completely they would eventually be in Vancouver once again. But Sam knew she would not make it that far. She was not made for hiking or the great outdoors. She was a techy and what most people would call a nerd. She preferred video and strategy games to sports. The young woman has done what she needed to get through basic training but she was not a warrior.
Her feet already ached beyond anything she ever remembered. The armour, although light was chaffing her skin and she had not bathed for what seemed forever and she was well aware of how she smelt. Not that she felt guilty about that fact because she was more than aware of how Lanie smelt as well. At this rate they would scare off any animal that came near them. She certainly wouldn’t eat a meal if it smelt like them.
“How much longer,” Sam finally called to the Marine, who was a few feet ahead of her, personally she wanted to stop now. She knew that the there was a highway nearby and that they were close to a village called Alexandria. She figured they were far enough to take a chance. Sam needed for them to take a chance because her feet and legs would not take much more.
“For what?” Lanie said and cast her gaze toward Sam. Sam inwardly sighed.
“Are we going to walk? I’m not made for this.” Lanie stopped completely and looked into the distance. Sam watched as her face seemed to go through several different thoughts. A slight parting of the lips as if she was going to say something, a slight huff when she obviously decided against it. A wrinkle of a brow and then she bit her bottom lip and chewed it for a few moments staring to the ground. For a few seconds Sam thought she might have lost her.
“I think we’re in trouble Sam. They are flooding the roads, making bases in most of the towns. I have been wondering if leaving Vancouver was the right thing to do. At least there we had the media on our side. They had to be more discreet.”
“I don’t understand,” Sam said in earnest, she ran a hand through her hair, which desperately begged to be washed. “How can an entire army be looking for you when you have been declared dead. I mean, I am an Alliance soldier, I certainly don’t understand it.”
Lanie sighed. “I think,” she paused, “I think I was drawn into something quite big and I was not supposed to make it.” A pained expression crossed her beautiful features and she look in the opposite direction as the communications officer.
“Talk to me Lanie,” Sam said feeling like she was losing the Marine. She wanted to take a step forward and take the woman into her arms, but she knew that would not help at this moment. She needed to give her space.
“I don’t know Sam, I,” she trailed off and Sam waited patiently, letting the women chose her words. “It’s been a long walk, with lots of time to think.” It was another reason the Communications specialist wanted to get into a car. She had sensed the slow change in her girlfriend’s demeanour; the long bouts of silence and short answers to questions. They had stopped sharing stories shortly after the first night out in the fresh air.
The day before it had rained slightly for a couple of hours and Sam had complained and that was when Lanie had closed up almost completely. She couldn’t help but dwell on the time that Lanie had admitted to playing Russian roulette with herself. She was more than aware that even though Lanie seemed normal and was still functioning, she probably still suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
She was not a stranger to it herself, although hers was pretty minor. Her Doctor had rated her eighty one on the GAF scale. She could only imagine that Lanie was probably closer to forty or fifty. The Marine had possibly never spoke to anyone about her issues or lied about her feelings. She could not see the Alliance allowing a soldier that had gone through what Lanie experience to not have some sort of counselling. Sam had no doubt she was still highly functional but mood swings and depression were probably more common that Lanie would ever admit to.
“I just can’t help but think that I was supposed to have been killed in my car, if I had been this all would have never been. We wouldn’t be out here tramping through the woods; you would probably be completely oblivious, working on your project. I stole that from you.” She paused again, “You would be safe, dreaming about your Commander Shepard,” Lanie smiled slightly. “I would, I don’t know, maybe be in a better place, with my family.”
“No,” Sam said, not even thinking about it, “If you had been in that car I would never have met you. You would simply be a face in the media and I’d believe that you killed the Prime Minister. I wouldn’t trade out time together for anything, even if we are running for most of it.”
Lanie closed the distance between them and looked into her eyes; Sam almost winced at the sorrow and sadness that poured from them. The marine reached up and placed a hand on her chin and ran her thumb along her cheek, resting their foreheads together.
“Don’t get me wrong Sam, our time together, as chaotic as it has been, has been the best thing that has happened to me in two years. Most of me wants to grab a hold of you and hang on for dear life, I can be selfish that way, but this small responsible part of me, it’s telling me that if anything happens to you, it’s my fault and the best thing I can do for you now is get you to safety.”
Sam placed a hand on either side of Lanie’s face pulling her forward and kissing her softly, holding the moment as long as she could. When they parted she looked into those steely grey eyes. “Don’t you dare even think about getting rid of me.”
“Sam, every soldier in British Columbia seems to be looking for me. There is something big going on and I have no idea what it is or if I can even beat it. I can still get you to James and he can keep you safe,”
“No, you can keep me safe and I can keep you safe,” the Specialist protested, she could at least keep the Marine from falling further into depression and hurting herself or taking unnecessary chances, not caring if she lived or died.
“Sam, when I was a slave for the Batarians, I worked for them because I was forced to, when I was rescued by Cerberus I worked for them because I was grateful,” She paused. “I worked for the Alliance because they were just and noble and something I could believe in. I have to believe that what is happening here has nothing to do with the Alliance, that it’s something else we can’t fathom yet. It scares me that something is this twisted but it doesn’t scare half as much as the thought of losing you.”
“You’re not going to lose me,” Sam defended, she could understand Lanie’s fears, everyone else she had loved had died, that had to leave scars and create defensive mechanisms. “We can do this together; we have already come so far I have enough faith in both of us that we can get through this.”
“How can you have faith when we know so little about what we are up against? All I see is an opportunity for your god to steal someone else from me.” Lanie played with a strand of her hair and Sam smiled.
“I have faith that he will not, enough for both of us if need be. I didn’t survive the reaper war just to get killed the moment I find someone.” The black haired woman took the marines hands in her own and looked into her eyes. “Please, don’t send me away. I can help, you know that. I might not be a survivor specialist, or might not be the outdoors type at all, but I am a damn fine analyst, computer and communications specialist. We get to the right equipment and I can get you anything you need. I can also be a very good cheerleader, your cheerleader.”
This provoked the reaction she was hoping for and Lanie smiled. “I would like to see that.” She said.
“Well you just wait, when all this is over, short skirts and pom poms. I’ll cheer like you have never been cheered before.”
“Yeah, I bet,” Lanie teased. “I’ll hold you to that.”
Sam bounced slightly as she thrust her hands into the air. “Lanie, Lanie, she’s won’t rest, just …”
Lanie froze for a moment as she stepped up to the cheering woman and placed a hand over her mouth. They both stood as still as possible. The Marine stepped away and drew her assault rifle from the magnet lock on her back and turned around, keeping one hand on Sam at all times.
“What?” whispered Sam? Lanie didn’t answer right away.
“What do you hear?”
The specialist strain to hear what her lover did but she figured she was missing it since she heard nothing. It all seemed quiet and then it dawned on her, “Too quiet?”
Lanie nodded, cursing inwardly, there were so many places for one to hide and she found herself wishing she had a Kuwashi visor. It would have helped her to look past the trees for heat signatures. She didn’t need it to know someone was out there but she would have like to know how many and where.
“You have your barriers up?” Lanie whispered, Sam gave a slight nod, not that they would mean much if there was a talented sniper with the proper equipment. “Good, run.” She took Sam’s hand and at first pulled the Specialist until they were running side by side. As she suspected bullets were absorbed by the barriers and she knew they were going down fast. She found them some quick cover behind a fallen tree but the Marine knew it would not be enough. She guessed there were at least five people out there.
“They certainly do not want us alive,” Sam whispered.
A snapping branch drew Lanie’s attention and she turned to her stomach and looked out aiming and shooting almost simultaneously, satisfied as a figure fell out of a tree close to where they had been standing. She had no doubt they would still be alive though, they would not have come for her unprepared.
“Where is a large bear when you need one,” the Marine whispered as bullets sprayed the tree they were using as cover. Sam closed her eye and yanked her assault rifle off its magloc. She bit her lip and simply held it. She had never been a good shot, barely getting by the range classes. As a matter of fact she had been forced to take extra lessons and still barely got by. Her instructor had told her she needed to stop anticipating the recoil but she had never been able to. Some people were born to fire weapons and some were born to build communication systems. She did not delude herself to thinking she was born to fire a weapon.
“Ok,” Lanie said still whispering, “The river is back a bit and has a strong current. We’re going to take a swim and let it take us down river for a bit.”
“What, wait, you know there was water fall.” Sam protested immediately. As much as she loved a hot shower and a hot tub swimming against a strong current did not appeal to her at all.
“If we stay on land we don’t stand a chance. I have no doubt they are surrounding us as we speak,” Lanie countered. “We chance the fall or we chance them killing us. The waterfall was strong but not that high and the river below is pretty deep. I would rather take chances with it then whatever number of guns is out there. The only thing we have going for us this instance is that river, we take it now before they close the circle. I’m going to cover you.”
“But,” she started to protest.
“Go,” Lanie said and moved up firing. Sam moved her feet even though everything told her not to. It wasn’t that she didn’t recognize that it might be their only chance of survival; it was just that she was not the strongest swimmer in the world.
She heard the gun play behind her and trusted in Lanie enough to know the Marine was indeed covering her back. The river was still a good minutes run away and she was winded by the time she hit the water, which was not warm by any stretch of the imagination. She squealed as the cold water hit her skin and then immediately struggled against the current.
Over the years the Fraser River had changed drastically. In order to save the fish hundreds of years ago the river had been reshaped and deepened in some places. Sam had not been in Vancouver long enough to really see what they had done but it had brought the river’s temperature level back down to where it was supposed to be to save the salmon. It was probably the reason why the water was so cold now. Without thinking about it she dove in. If she had hesitated she was not sure she would have been able to. She immediately felt the current hit.
She tried to relax and go with the current but she struggled to keep her head up and ended up with a mouthful of water which went straight to her lungs and she started to panic. What was once a seemly bad plan became a terrible one and she went under the water and struggled. She had never felt panic like this before as she broke back into the air and took a deep breath but in her alarmed state she took another mouthful of water and went back under. She was not even aware that she was approaching the drop off. She couldn’t get air into her lungs and her chest was burning. By the time she hit the falling water into the calmer water below she was unconscious.
She was not even aware of Lanie’s arm snaking around her waist and pulling her to the water’s surface. The strong woman held Sam tightly to her as she made her way to the surface. As she pulled the communications specialist onto the land she could still hear gun fire in the distance. The soldiers were obviously not aware they had left the area. It was a secondary sound to the pulse echoing in her head. Sam was not moving and it took every ounce of her being to stay calm.
“Hold on Sam,” she said and tilt her head slightly and began resuscitation. Leaning over the young woman she placed her lips over Sam began to try and resuscitate her. She tilted her head to the side and silently willed Sam to spit out the water. When she didn’t Lanie groaned and forced herself to continue to stay calm. She reposition Sam’s head and followed the steps she had been taught again and twice more before she could not control her panic any more. She felt the tears in her eyes and she fought to keep her lips from trembling as she forced air into Sam’s mouth. “Come on baby, please,” She begged she would have prayed to god if she thought he would actually listen to her. She had lived in shadows unseen by him for too many years for her to even consider he would bless her now.
She breath in the fourth time, only to be greeted by water and she pulled away tilting Sam’s head to the side as she coughed out a lung full of water. It was the most wonderful sound Lanie had heard in a long time and she laughed nervously running her hand through Sam’s hair. “That’s it baby, just cough it out,” She felt the tears flow and she tried to stop them for a moment, before giving up. She rubbed Sam’s back as the younger woman continued to cough. “That’s my girl,” she pulled Sam close.
“Did we make it,” Sam finally asked, she wrapped her own arms around the warrior as she began to enjoy the fact that she was able to fill her lungs with air again.
“Yeah, we did, you did good.”
“I drank too much,”
Lanie laughed, “Yes you did, but I got you.” She said rocking slightly as she held Sam, caressing her cheek. “You should have told me you were not a strong swimmer.”
“We didn’t have time to discuss it.”
“I just figured with your love of the showers and hot tubs that it was a water thing.”
“It’s really a sexy woman in the water thing,” Sam smile and reach up to wipe a tear that had been sliding down Lanie’s cheek. “You’re crying?”
“Oh, Sam, I thought I lost you, I…” she stopped at a loss for words.
“I’m not going to die,” the Comm specialist said, “You need to come to terms with the fact that I plan on being around for a long time. I told you I had enough faith for both of us.”
Lanie could not stop herself as she bent over and placed her lips on Sam’s kissing her deeply, smiling as they parted. “You keep that faith, hold on to it.” She whispered resting her forehead on the younger woman’s. It was quiet for along moment.
“We can’t stay here,” Sam whispered.
“I know, but just give me a second,” Lanie whispered back, “Just a second so that I can hold this exact moment in my thoughts for a long time.”
There was sudden gun fire in the distance. Lanie figured they were trying to “smoke” them out. Almost like the depth charges the destroyers would use to destroy submarines. It wouldn’t take them too long to figure out they had left the area.
“Ok, come on,” she said standing and helping Sam up at the same time. “We need to get into the trees before the shuttles start coming.”
They moved into the forest and Lanie made sure she stayed close to Sam this time. She could not help that her heart felt like it was still stuck in her throat. That had been a close call, almost too close and she needed to end this thing as fast as she could. She just wished she knew the big picture.
“Next car we get a chance to take, we’ll take it,” she said knowing that Sam was not used to this long hike they were on. Lanie could walk almost endlessly. She had done so in the past and during her N6 training. She actually enjoyed long hikes, granted, she enjoyed them much better when people were not chasing her and trying to kill her. She used to love to camp and fish and hunt and just be out on her own. She had even spent two summers camping with Lotte that she really enjoyed.
“James contacted me,” Sam said suddenly, Lanie stopped and looked to her wondering what she was talking about. Sam looked to her. “I sent him some info that was untraceable and he, or one of his people, sent one back the same way.”
“That was risky,” Lanie said simply but trusted that Sam knew what she was doing. Sam gave her a lopsided grin and brought her omni tool up.
“James says they have been compromised and their office was blown up, they are safe on the citadel right now,” she reported. Lanie frowned; she really did not need the only people who believed she was innocent to be compromised. She always figured having James on the same case would give her a safe place if she really needed it, but obviously he had stepped on the wrong toes as well. She was glad his team was all right.
“They want me to do some more facial recognition on some man in a photo,” Sam reported and brought the picture up. “Oh.” She recognized a couple faces in the photo and realized the implications of the power of those people. One face was circled though and she did not know who he was. Lanie moved over to her side.
“Gary,” she cursed then went silent as she recognized the man who was circled, her blood seemed to freeze in her veins and she could only blink.
“Lanie, you ok,” Sam asked feeling the woman tense up considerably.
Lanie was suddenly aware of how deep the deception went, how many years had been poured into whatever end game these men had planned. Her hands slowly balled into fist, clenching hard enough that her fingernails were digging into her flesh.
“I know who he is,” she said finally, “We need to get back to Vancouver.” She said simply as she felt anger flush through every pore in her body. “I have to go and visit an old friend.”

Well I know it had been quite some time since my last chapter but I had a lot of things on my plate. I have however, also completely re-written Chapter two (The first after the prologue) and added quite a bit. Im hopefully back on track now although I don’t think it will be a chapter every few days at this point. It might be but I won’t make a promise I can’t keep. I hope you all enjoy.
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Hallowed Truth