fh_dungeon | Twisting Paths of the Dungeon, Somewhere, Thursday

Twisting Paths of the Dungeon, Somewhere, Thursday

The pathways of the dungeon had changed overnight. Anyone who had stayed in a room beyond their welcome had found themselves booted out back onto the hallways that belonged to their camp and feeling pressed down by the sudden increase in gravity. The doors of yesterday had closed. Other doors had now opened.

And other routes.

[ pathways | gremlins | space battles | room of the past | flooded room | free space | strange vault | ooc NOTE: room doors not belonging to your camp will lock when you enter. so please designate whether you're from camp 1 or the joint camp 2/ camp 3 ]

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"Not good," Kaidan said. He was keeping it together, but in the process of doing so he... had gone a little overly-upright and distant. "Where's the door you used to come in?"

Because they had to leave. Now. The light was already starting to shift for the red and he really didn't want to know what was in store for him next.

Jack lipped his lips against the dry air, a little puzzled by Kaidan's tone.

"I just walked straight, so it should be right behind me," he said, and glanced back. "Except --"

Except it wasn't, and Jack didn't like the look of that red light either.

Something exploded near them, swallowing any opportunity Jack might have had to finish that sentence - or say anything else. Their surroundings shook and shivered - and Kaidan recognized it in an instant.

"It's the Normandy."

And there was Kaidan himself, a year younger, dashing through the hall in full white armor bar for his helmet, which was in his hand.

Jack had brought his hands up over his ears on reflex at the explosion. He lowered them again as he glanced from one Kaidan to the other. "I don't understand," he said. "How?"

"I don't know," Kaidan said. "It's like it's... reaching into our heads and plucking out our memories. Saw it happen to Allie, too. It's... cruel."

To her. He wasn't going to complain about it being anything to him.

There was another explosion, flames licking up out of the nearest chunk of wiring. Whatever was happening, it was ripping the ship apart - and the younger Kaidan kept running. "Shepard!"

"Jesus." Jack didn't want to see this. Not for Kaidan, not for Allie, and certainly not for himself. "Is this a battle?"

He knew the flames were fake, shadows of things, but he still felt their heat lapping at his shoes.

"It's the destruction of the Normandy," Kaidan said. His voice seemed level, but there was obvious tension underneath.

He followed his other self, because he'd long since learned running away wouldn't do him any good.

"Distress beacon is ready for launch," said the armored figure on the other side of the corridor.

The other Kaidan slid his helmet over his head. "Will the Alliance get here in time?" he snapped.

Another blast sent the two of them stumbling.

"The Alliance won't abandon us," Shepard snapped back, changing his trajectory so that he was less falling, more lunging towards the fire extinguisher. "We just need to hold on. Get everyone onto the escape shuttles."

Younger Kaidan snagged another fire extinguisher off the wall. "Joker's still in the cockpit. He won't abandon ship." He shot a look over his shoulder. "I'm not leaving either."

Jack shook his head slightly, eyes on the Normandy scene as he tagged behind the older Kaidan. He knew his housemate was brave, but seeing him lay his life on the line made that even clearer. And hadn't Shepard died in the Normandy explosion?

He had no questions for the moment. He folded his arms, keenly watching the scene play out.

Shepard yanked himself violently away from the opposite wall. "I need you to get the crew onto the evac shuttle," he snapped, "I'll take care of Joker."

Other Kaidan cast the fire extinguisher away. "Commander!"

"Kaidan," Shepard snarled, pulling on one of the broken hatches. "Go. Now."

And, as Kaidan knew he would, the other Kaidan wavered, on the edge of disobeying orders-- then pulled back. "Aye, aye," he said.

Kaidan flinched visibly. Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid decision.

Jack flinched at Kaidan's flinch. "You're doing what you can," he said quietly. "No one would have expected you to drag your commander by his hair."

"No," Kaidan said. His throat felt dry. "But I could've. That man is one of the greatest people I've known-- saved my life, saved the life of the crew. Wasn't just my superior, but my friend when things got real bad. And I let him outstubborn me. And it killed him."

"I would feel guilty too," Jack acknowledged, because he was excellent at taking responsibility for things that weren't really his fault. "But -- it looked to me as if he knew the risks and he made the choice. And he got Joker out doing it."

"I knew the risks, too," Kaidan said, sounding distant. "And I'd say we need him a lot more than we need me."

"And it's probably a lot easier to find a decent pilot than it is to find either of you," Jack said sardonically. "Maybe the important thing was doing something. Stand there arguing about who would play hero and you might have lost the whole crew."

He glanced over again, hands in his pockets. "Which doesn't make it a fair thing for you to carry."

Kaidan shook his head. He wasn't sure what he was shaking it for: saying no to Jack or to something in his own head.

"Ashley died because Shepard chose me," he said. "I have to wonder why I'm always the one who lives."

"The universe must want to force Hannah to happen," Jack said, so airily it was clearly only a joke. "I don't know, why am I here and not rotting of some disease in Prague? It's -- chance or luck or God or something."

He tended to see it as chance. Mre thoughtfully, he added, "But --- you could feel honored the best person you know picked you twice. Maybe Shepard knew something I don't."

Kaidan released a long breath. "I don't know," he said truthfully. "I know this is what I got and I have to live with it. It's just..."

He had a reason to shake his head this time. "Never mind," he said. He watched the debris of the Normandy float off into space, fading around the edges. "I think we're done here."

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Twisting Paths of the Dungeon, Somewhere, Thursday

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