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Slaves of Cerberus	By : NakedOwlMan Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 138070 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: Mass Effect and all the characters in it are owned by people that are not me. I have not made a cent off this work of fiction

Chapter List
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"Nnngh," came a light groan from the head of the bed. Vega's eyes snapped open, and he sat up in his seat next to the bed to see Rooker writhing in her sleep. "Not her..." she moaned to herself, her eyes still shut. "Can't be her... What have I done... God, what have I done... NO!" Rooker's eyes suddenly snapped open, and she let out a gasp as she tried to sit up, a look of sheer panic on her face.

"Hey, hey, calm down," he said, laying a hand on Rooker's shoulder as she tried to rise up. "You're okay. You're back on the Orpheus." He kept her held down until the frantic look on her face finally went away, and she stopped struggling against his grip.

Rooker winced, feeling at her side at where the Phantom's sword had penetrated, the pain finally bringing her completely out of whatever dream she had been having and into reality. "Dammit," she grunted. Finally, her eyes focused on Vega. "Am I hurt bad? How long have I been out?"

"Less than an hour," Vega said. "And Doc said you should be fine. A little more bed rest and you'll be back up and in fighting shape in no time."

Sliding up the bottom hem of her tanktop, Rooker ran a finger along the rough scar where Tali had hastily patched her up with medi-gel. "Stupid," she cursed herself. "Should have been keeping a closer eye on my six."

"No way you should be blaming yourself for that," Vega said, giving a quick glance over at the empty bed behind him and scowling. Riggs had left about fifteen minutes ago, the Doc robot giving him a clean bill of health. "That chingado Riggs, he was supposed to be watching your back. But one of his old Cerberus buddies gives him a bump on the head, and you're left with no backup." Vega shook his head in disgust. "Dammit, we shouldn't have sent you up there with just one spotter. Jacob should have known that..."

Rooker shook her head. "It isn't Jacob's fault. And it's not Riggs's fault. What happened happened. Nothing to do now but dust ourselves off and do better next time." Rooker furrowed her brow. "We gotten word back on Kasumi yet?"

"She's sending back a tracking signal to the Orpheus," Vega told her. "Last I heard, her last ping was somewhere in the Ninmah Cluster. Joker's tailing the Normandy as close as we can without the Orpheus showing up on their scanners. Once they stop somewhere, we'll try to figure out our next move from there."

Rooker nodded. "Best we can do, I suppose." Prodding against the barely-healed wound in her side, she frowned. "Dammit, all this trouble over one ship. If they had pulled this back when the Alliance fleet was at its strongest, all we'd have to do is point a finger, and even the Normandy would have been a lump of twisted metal by the time they were done."

"Yeah, but then all our comrades on board would be blown up, too," Vega said. "Ash and Liara and Shepard..."

The name brought a fresh wince of pain to Rooker's face. "Can only imagine what they're putting her through," she said. "At the mercy of those bastards. We were so close..."

"We'll find them, chica," Vega said confidently. "The two of us together, we'll take them all down. That clone, Brooks, that Phantom that put the sword in you... we're gonna make 'em pay."

Rooker smiled at him, one of the first genuine smiles he had seen her give since he'd met her. It was breathtaking. "I like your enthusiasm, soldier, but maybe we should let the rest of the crew help us out. As backup, if nothing else."

"Yeah, well, the ones that can actually manage that assignment," Vega said, his expression turning sour.

"Seriously, James," Rooker said, laying a hand on his. "Don't take this out on Riggs. He's... not who you think he is. And right now we need to work together if we're going to rescue Shepard and your old comrades. So please... promise me you won't go after him, okay?"

Vega looked conflicted, but he finally took hold of her hand and raised it to his lips. "For you, chica? Anything."

"Thank you," Rooker said, for once not looking annoyed at one of Vega's flirtatious remarks. "And I appreciate you staying and making sure I'm okay. But if you don't mind, I think I'd like to get a little more rest. I'm sure Jacob and the rest of the team could use your help planning our next moves."

Vega smiled at her. "Planning was never my strong suit. Usually don't get more complicated than 'run in and start shooting until everything stops moving.' But I'll give you some privacy if you want," he said, his chair making a metallic grind against the floor as he rose to his feet.

"Thanks," Rooker said. "And don't worry. Now that we've got Kasumi aboard the Normandy, I've got a feeling things are finally looking up for us."

Nodding and smiling at her, Vega turned towards the medbay door.

"Actually, hold on," Rooker said, and Vega stopped in his tracks. "While I was asleep, did I... was I saying anything?" she asked, her expression suddenly nervous as she leaned herself up on her elbows and stared intently at Vega.

Vega rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, maybe," he said, not sure if Rooker actually wanted an honest answer, or if she'd rather he not know about what haunted her sleep. "Don't really remember, but might have heard something about... uh... 'not her,' and... 'what have I done?'"

Rooker shut her eyes, the pained expression on her face most likely not caused by the wound in her side. "I was worried about that," she said. "Did I... say any names?"

"No," Vega quickly answered. "Just that stuff I mentioned. Nothing else, no names or nothing. And hey, it's none of my business, and I tried my best not to listen, but..."

The wounded marine nodded. "It's okay, James. It was just... The war with the Reapers. We all had to deal with a lot of hard choices back then, didn't we? We've all got those moments that will never leave us, no matter how long we live."

Vega nodded, vivid images in his head of a tattered stuffed bunny, and a smiling blond girl wearing his combat helmet. "Yeah. Yeah, we've all got those moments," he quietly agreed. "Get some rest. We'll talk more later."

"Yeah," Rooker said, watching as Vega turned and walked out of the medbay. Once the door was shut and she was sure she was alone, Rooker reached over to the side table next to her bed. Finding the object of her search, she let out a long, pained sigh as she lay back into her pillow.

"You poor fool, James," Rooker said softly. Gripping the device in her hand, she activated her omni-tool. "If you knew the truth... would I be your chica then?"

As she typed in an address and waited for the connection to establish, Rooker closed her eyes. In her mind, she saw the image that had been in her nightmare: a familiar face, framed in a trembling sniper's scope.

And as always, she heard the screams.
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Slaves of Cerberus