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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"It happened. I'll deal," Allie shrugged. "Besides I remind myself that if it hadn't happened, I probably never would have left New Covington. If I never left, I never would have found the causeway and wound up in Fandom."

She smiled slightly, continuing the thought. "If I never wound up in Fandom, I never would have had a chance to go to space in the future and help break up a smuggling ring. So I don't think I can wish for things to be different, because present circumstances aside, things are pretty good now."

"I'm glad I've helped, then," Kaidan offered, halfway between honest and wry. "I'll try to dig up more smuggling rings for you in the future."

He took a deep breath. "But okay," he said. "Now that that's done... maybe we can get out of here."

Tough luck, Alenko.

"You have. More then you know. Trust me."

Allie was already searching for a way out. She didn't want to stick around to relive any other traumatizing moments.

"There has to be a door somewhere."

Kaidan followed her. The scenery hadn't changed, it was quiet-- they'd be fine.

And then, like whispers: "You know it's the right choice, L-T."

"Stay alive, Ash. I'll be coming to get you afterwards."

"I think we both know that's not going to happen, Commander."

He froze. "Not this again..."

It only took a moment to connect the voice and the name with the woman Allie had met during that weekend last fall.

"Again? You've been through this yourself already?" she asked. "That's not fair. You shouldn't have to..."

Turning quickly, Allie tried to find a way out. Hell, forget the door, if she found a wall she was going to bash through it.

"The first part," Kaidan said, following her. Didn't want to see more. "This is... this is what happened next."

The humming of Saren's hoverboard, the water splashing against Kaidan's legs as he struggled to stay with the bomb despite the bullet wound in his leg. And behind him would be Shepard, dodging and weaving.

"See anything?"

Somehow Allie wasn't betting on a sudden happy ending.

With no way out in sight, there was nothing to do but watch.

"Who's that with you?" she asked quietly.

"That? That's Shepard," Kaidan said, gesturing at the armored human man running for his life to escape the biotics Saren was throwing after him. "The turian... that's Saren. Spectre gone rogue."

Saren leapt off his platform and landed in the water. Shepard darted behind cover, then fired shots: one, two, three. They all impacted off Saren's shield, which glowed blue briefly before disappearing again.

Young Kaidan mostly just bled out into the water.

Comforted by the fact that Kaidan was standing right next to her, Allie wasn't too disturbed by the vision.

Yet. She had a feeling the worst was still to come.

"I'd ask what happened next, but somehow I think we're going to see it in color."

"Yeah," Kaidan said weakly.

He knew that somewhere off... well, screen... Ash was dying. And there was nothing he could do about it.

"I applaud you," Saren said as he approached Shepard. "My geth were utterly convinced the salarians were the real threat. An impressive diversion. Of course, it was all for nothing. I can't let you disrupt what I've accomplished here. You can't possibly understand what's really at stake."

Shepard inhaled a sharp breath. "Why are you doing this?"

"You've seen the vision from the beacon, Shepard. You, of all people, should know what the Reapers are capable of. They cannot be stopped. Do not mire yourself in pointless revolt. Do not sacrifice everything for petty freedoms. The Protheans tried to fight, and they were destroyed. Trillions dead! But what if they had bowed before the invaders? Would the Protheans still exist? Is submission not preferable to extinction?"

Kaidan inhaled a deep breath. "Saren did always like his speeches," he said dryly.

"It's the first thing they teach in bad guy school."

Realizing this had to be difficult, Allie stepped a little closer and bumped her arm against Kaidan's, leaning in with just the tiniest bit of pressure. "You okay?"

"No," Kaidan said, which was truthful. "But it doesn't matter."

That was, too.

Saren rambled on for a while, but Kaidan had been too busy fighting to hold onto consciousness at the time, and so even the words were blurred.

"You're afraid Sovereign is influencing you. You're afraid he's controlling your thoughts."

Shepard's words, however, were crystal clear.

"...Sovereign needs me to find the conduit. My mind is still mine. For now. But the transformation from ally to servant can be subtle. I will not let it happen to me."

At that point, younger Kaidan had apparently lost some sense of consciousness again: the memory became blurry.

Allie would argue about whether or not it mattered. But even she realized now wasn't the time. Instead she thought about who was involved, and what she'd seen and heard.

"You were hurt pretty badly weren't you?"

"Not badly enough that I couldn't get up and fight a few days later," Kaidan said, watching himself splash around, his younger self's fingers clenching around his gun. "But I was running out of fight."

"Sovereign's manipulating you and you don't even know it! You're already under its control!" Shepard called, because he had been, if nothing else, always dedicated to the art of trying to talk his opponents out of things.

"But Sovereign needs me. If I find the Conduit, I've been promised a reprieve from the inevitable. This is my only hope." Oh, Saren. Kaidan wondered if the turian had realized at the time just how futile his efforts were.

He watched as Shepard attempted to convince Saren to step down and join him, but failed. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"You were bleeding out. That's completely understandable."

She listened to Shepard speak, giving him credit for trying long after the point where Allie would have gone for the faster, and most likely more violent approach.

"He's impressive."

"He's one of the best people I've ever known," Kaidan said. He'd been avoiding looking at Shepard until now. Doing so made his chest hurt.

Shepard's patience seemed to be fraying now. "You were a Spectre! You were sworn to defend the galaxy! Then you broke that vow to save yourself!"

"I'm not doing this for myself," Saren snapped. "Don't you see? Sovereign will succeed! It is inevitable. My way is the only way any of us will survive! I'm forging an alliance between us and the Reapers! But you would doom our entire civilization to complete annihilation. And for that, you must die."

That was the end of talk. Shepard fired several shots at Saren, who retaliated with biotics, flinging him across the room. The Commander barely even had time to hit the ground before Saren was on him, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him high.

There was a loud noise. Saren glanced over his shoulder, distracted, and Shepard punched him straight in the face.

For some reason Saren's reasoning reminded Allie of Kanin's decision to expose vampires in order to help cure Red Lung. Considering how well that turned out, she wasn't all that impressed.

On the other hand, Shepard's punch had her nodding in approval.

Shepard fell to the ground, reaching for his gun as soon as he had himself under control. Saren was already on the run, though, hopping onto his hoverboard; the few shots that struck him pinged neatly off his shield.

Gritting his teeth, Shepard got up and ran towards younger Kaidan and the bomb. Offered him a hand, which Kaidan took - but he nearly collapsed again almost the moment he was onto his feet, grabbing for the bullet wound.

More loud noise. This time it was the Normandy's engines, though, and as the ship lowered, Shepard picked young Kaidan up and flung him over his shoulder.

"Not one of my more dignified moments," Kaidan said wryly.

"Screw dignity, you were alive."

But someone else didn't survive, Allie realized, remembering a quiet conversation on the beach. She should have put all the pieces together earlier, but maybe she was a little more disturbed by reliving her own death then she wanted to admit.

"You shouldn't have to see this."

"Yeah," Kaidan just said quietly. "I was alive."

The ship took off, and... suddenly they were standing in the Normandy's cockpit, watching as the planet below became smaller and smaller.

Then there was a visibly huge explosion on its surface - nuclear.

"Bye, Ashley," he said softly.

Even knowing it was coming, Allie still flinched at the sight of the explosion. Half a dozen things to say ran through her mind, but ultimately Allie decided there really weren't any words that were suitable at this point.

A hand on the shoulder? Allie had found that comforting, it seemed the least she could do was try and return the favor.

The corner of Kaidan's mouth tugged up. "Thanks," he said quietly. "But I... I think I'm getting past this. Finally."

He was going to hold onto that until the room forced him and Jack to go through the whole thing with Shepard an hour later.

The room sucked and if Allie ever found out who was responsible, there was going to be violence.

"Anytime," she promised. "What do you say we go find a door."

Or at least try to.

Stupid room.

"Yeah, let's--"

"I wanted to see how you were dealing with Ash's death," a familiar voice said behind him. He paused and glanced over his shoulder. There his younger self was again, healthier now, but looking tense.

Kaidan was starting to realize why people had always told him to loosen up back then.

"Dealing, sir." Younger Kaidan paused, then added, awkwardly, "Sorry for anything I said back there. Adrenaline."

"I understand," Shepard said quietly. "I don't like losing people either."

"I've served for years," other Kaidan added, "But never lost a soldier under my command. Not to hostile action, anyway. If you don't mind me asking-- how did you deal with the losses on Elysium?"

Current Kaidan's mouth formed the tiniest little smile as he watched. "I think we're almost done here."

Maybe this was the room's way of apologizing. Giving him just a few moments with an old friend.

Taking her cue from Kaidan, Allie let herself relax the tiniest bit. "Good memory?"

Twisting Paths of the Dungeon, Somewhere, Thursday

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