Fic: Sound Of Distant Thunder
Title: Sound Of Distant Thunder
Rating: PG
Characters: Fem!Shep, Garrus Vakarian
Summary: One-shot. Shepard tries to get closure. Takes place right before the Omega 4 Relay.
Word Count: 1,073
When Shepard's boots crunched down into the ground that was once her home, she felt the same old ache deep in her chest. Everything was still vivid in her mind. She could still see the remains of her parent’s bodies nothing more than a smoldering pile of flesh; her brother’s broken form sprawled out across the road.
She didn't know why she had come back her after all this time. She thought she had closed this chapter of her life after graduating from Basic. Maybe it was trying to find closure before she jumped through the Omega 13 relay to an uncertain fate.
She walked out onto a hill that had once overlooked the space dock. She remembered playing down among the workers with her little brother. Her mother always yelled at them; worried that they would get hurt. It was the most interesting place to be on the small colony world. She had even seen her first Turian there. Her brother had wanted to get a piggyback ride saying there was a perfect spot for him to sit on. This brought a smile to her face. She almost laughed. She wondered if Garrus would have obliged her little brother a ride.
Her face fell again. Her brother would never get that ride. His life had been snuffed out at the age of six. And all because she hadn't...
A hand on her shoulder shook her from her thoughts. She turned around to see Garrus standing behind her. “Garrus?”
His hand dropped from her shoulder. “I didn’t think you should be alone out here Shepard.”
She forced a smile and then turned back to the remains of her once flourishing colonial home. She could see the monument they built in her “honor”. A Tribute to the lost colony. She scoffed. Really she was getting too riled up about something she put behind her.
“See that hill near the cliff face?” She motioned with her hands, “That’s where my home used to be. It wasn’t anything luxurious, just a simple two bedroom. I shared a room with my little brother.”
Garrus’s mandibles flared. He wanted to ask questions but now was not the time. Shepard had never mentioned a brother before. She had never really mentioned her family at all really, even on the original Normandy.
“Van and I were always getting into trouble, well mostly me. I would drag him off exploring. He was born with a regenerative disease.” She smirked “But that would never stop us. I’d bundle him up and carry him around while we went exploring. He always wanted to see space. We even promised to go exploring together when we were older.”
Shepard shifted her stance. Lightning shot across the sky. It was going to rain. “I would always take him everywhere, even if it was just to sit in the fields.” She began softly. “The day it…happened I was angry with my Mother. I wanted to take a job on one of the transit ships. Earning some money and getting to see something new. She was furious. Said I had to stay here and help Father with the work. I was so angry at her always holding me back. I can’t even remember what I shouted at her before I took off running out the back door.”
Garrus noticed her posture stiffing. “Van called out to me to take him with me but I yelled at him and told him I didn’t want to be stuck here on this backwater planet with them anymore. I remember him crying before I turned away to leave. He called out my name but I didn’t turn back again.”
“I went out into the fields as I often did back then to clear my head. It began to rain and that’s when I heard it. At first I thought it was thunder, but then I heard the screams. I began running back and noticed the sky was on fire. I…”
She took a deep breath. “I followed the old dirt road to our house. When I arrived I saw my parents or what was left of them on the porch. They had almost been burned beyond recognition. I called out for my brother. Everything was on fire. I jumped over my parents’ bodies and frantically searched our house for my brother. When I couldn’t find him I ran up the road to the small hill where we use to watch the ships.”
“He was laying face up in the middle of the path, a gaping hole in this chest. He had tried to run. I held his small body close as my world was shattered. His lifeless eyes staring at me questioning why I had left him when I promised to protect him.”
“I didn’t hear the Batarian’s until they were almost on top of me. But it’s like Zaeed says, rage is a hell of an anesthetic. I still don’t remember too much about what happened. I know a couple Batarian’s attacked me. I took my small utility knife to the face of the first one and then everything is a blur.”
“When the Alliance came I was holding my brothers body covered in blood. Not all of it was my own.” She touched her cheek where her old scar had been. Her hand came away wet.
Shepard lifted her gaze to the clouded sky. It was raining when she lost everything. They say time heals all wounds, but it was probably said by someone who had never known the agonizing pain of loss. Not even her own death had eased the pain.
“Bury it deep kid and keep a tight grip.” Her old Gunny used to say. “Because when we’re dealt a shitty hand, we’re not allowed to fold. We have to keep going for the ones who weren’t able to. We keep going ‘til we can’t take no more. And then we go further.”
A flash of lightning danced across the sky followed by the sound of distant thunder.
“I’m not going to lose my family again.” She said firmly.
“You won’t be alone this time Kate.” The sound of Garrus using her first name made her release a breath she didn’t realize she was holding.
“We’re all standing right beside you.”
Rating: PG
Characters: Fem!Shep, Garrus Vakarian
Summary: One-shot. Shepard tries to get closure. Takes place right before the Omega 4 Relay.
Word Count: 1,073
When Shepard's boots crunched down into the ground that was once her home, she felt the same old ache deep in her chest. Everything was still vivid in her mind. She could still see the remains of her parent’s bodies nothing more than a smoldering pile of flesh; her brother’s broken form sprawled out across the road.
She didn't know why she had come back her after all this time. She thought she had closed this chapter of her life after graduating from Basic. Maybe it was trying to find closure before she jumped through the Omega 13 relay to an uncertain fate.
She walked out onto a hill that had once overlooked the space dock. She remembered playing down among the workers with her little brother. Her mother always yelled at them; worried that they would get hurt. It was the most interesting place to be on the small colony world. She had even seen her first Turian there. Her brother had wanted to get a piggyback ride saying there was a perfect spot for him to sit on. This brought a smile to her face. She almost laughed. She wondered if Garrus would have obliged her little brother a ride.
Her face fell again. Her brother would never get that ride. His life had been snuffed out at the age of six. And all because she hadn't...
A hand on her shoulder shook her from her thoughts. She turned around to see Garrus standing behind her. “Garrus?”
His hand dropped from her shoulder. “I didn’t think you should be alone out here Shepard.”
She forced a smile and then turned back to the remains of her once flourishing colonial home. She could see the monument they built in her “honor”. A Tribute to the lost colony. She scoffed. Really she was getting too riled up about something she put behind her.
“See that hill near the cliff face?” She motioned with her hands, “That’s where my home used to be. It wasn’t anything luxurious, just a simple two bedroom. I shared a room with my little brother.”
Garrus’s mandibles flared. He wanted to ask questions but now was not the time. Shepard had never mentioned a brother before. She had never really mentioned her family at all really, even on the original Normandy.
“Van and I were always getting into trouble, well mostly me. I would drag him off exploring. He was born with a regenerative disease.” She smirked “But that would never stop us. I’d bundle him up and carry him around while we went exploring. He always wanted to see space. We even promised to go exploring together when we were older.”
Shepard shifted her stance. Lightning shot across the sky. It was going to rain. “I would always take him everywhere, even if it was just to sit in the fields.” She began softly. “The day it…happened I was angry with my Mother. I wanted to take a job on one of the transit ships. Earning some money and getting to see something new. She was furious. Said I had to stay here and help Father with the work. I was so angry at her always holding me back. I can’t even remember what I shouted at her before I took off running out the back door.”
Garrus noticed her posture stiffing. “Van called out to me to take him with me but I yelled at him and told him I didn’t want to be stuck here on this backwater planet with them anymore. I remember him crying before I turned away to leave. He called out my name but I didn’t turn back again.”
“I went out into the fields as I often did back then to clear my head. It began to rain and that’s when I heard it. At first I thought it was thunder, but then I heard the screams. I began running back and noticed the sky was on fire. I…”
She took a deep breath. “I followed the old dirt road to our house. When I arrived I saw my parents or what was left of them on the porch. They had almost been burned beyond recognition. I called out for my brother. Everything was on fire. I jumped over my parents’ bodies and frantically searched our house for my brother. When I couldn’t find him I ran up the road to the small hill where we use to watch the ships.”
“He was laying face up in the middle of the path, a gaping hole in this chest. He had tried to run. I held his small body close as my world was shattered. His lifeless eyes staring at me questioning why I had left him when I promised to protect him.”
“I didn’t hear the Batarian’s until they were almost on top of me. But it’s like Zaeed says, rage is a hell of an anesthetic. I still don’t remember too much about what happened. I know a couple Batarian’s attacked me. I took my small utility knife to the face of the first one and then everything is a blur.”
“When the Alliance came I was holding my brothers body covered in blood. Not all of it was my own.” She touched her cheek where her old scar had been. Her hand came away wet.
Shepard lifted her gaze to the clouded sky. It was raining when she lost everything. They say time heals all wounds, but it was probably said by someone who had never known the agonizing pain of loss. Not even her own death had eased the pain.
“Bury it deep kid and keep a tight grip.” Her old Gunny used to say. “Because when we’re dealt a shitty hand, we’re not allowed to fold. We have to keep going for the ones who weren’t able to. We keep going ‘til we can’t take no more. And then we go further.”
A flash of lightning danced across the sky followed by the sound of distant thunder.
“I’m not going to lose my family again.” She said firmly.
“You won’t be alone this time Kate.” The sound of Garrus using her first name made her release a breath she didn’t realize she was holding.
“We’re all standing right beside you.”