personalapocalypse | Escape [ME2, Zaeed/Chakwas, M]

Title: Escape
Author: Wallwalker
Fandom: Mass Effect
Rating: Mature
Characters: Zaeed/Chakwas
Word Count: 1544
Warnings: Violence
Notes: Written for kink_bingo - the prompt was "Danger."

---

A little voice in the back of Zaeed's head was telling him that he was going soft in his old age. For the first time in a long while, he was starting to wonder if it was right. That was the only explanation he could come up with for why he wasn't fighting with the others, why he was running back to the Normandy with Chakwas close behind.

Shepard was a tough bitch, and a hell of a leader. No one was going to tell her she wasn't, and definitely not Zaeed. He hadn't forgotten what she'd done for him, letting that facility go up in flames, roasting all of those workers alive so that he could finally get rid of that bastard Vido. But letting the ship's doctor try and run back alone? Seemed like that was going too far, even for him.

She'd given him a funny look when he'd volunteered to run escort duty. Then she'd just smiled that weird little twisted smile of hers and nodded, as if she was telling him to do whatever the fuck he wanted, she didn't care. And maybe she didn't - she'd already lost two people on that trip, and she didn't even seem to give a damn. He'd worked with some cold-blooded people in his time, and Shepard was right up there. He wasn't surprised - he'd heard about Torfan just like everybody else had - but hearing about it wasn't the same as seeing it.

At least she was on her feet now; when he'd first started this she had barely been able to walk. He hadn't been looking forward to carrying her back to the Normandy. But now she was on her feet, and she was actually holding that pistol like she knew what to do with it. All that Alliance training must've been coming back to her.

"How much longer?" she said, her voice faint and very matter-of-fact. Her eyes were red, almost swollen shut; her lips had been pressed tightly together almost the entire time, like she didn't want to say too much. She hadn't said much since they'd left the others behind.

"Not much," he said, not looking back; he was too busy looking around for more of those damned Collectors. Sure, most of them were going to be back throwing themselves against whoever Shepard had left behind to guard her back, but he wasn't going to take any chances. He was living on borrowed time as it was; he wasn't going to waste it by being stupid. "I know this route. Came in this way as backup."

She nodded. Her fingers were tightening on her pistol. "I haven't used one of these in a long time," she said, half to herself.

"Hopefully you won't need it." His words were short and clipped, and as he finished he looked back at her, flashed her an old sign he'd seen among former Alliance soldiers before. It meant to shut up and keep moving, if he'd gotten it right. Apparently he had, because she didn't say anything else, just gave him a quick signal of agreement.

They walked through the corridors in silence, and with each step Zaeed grew more and more nervous. They had to have left someone behind, hadn't they? They had to be watching their backs. For all they knew Shepard had more backup coming in from the Normandy; they'd be idiots not to watch their rear. He hated to question his good fortune, but the last time he hadn't... well. It had cost him an eye, and it had nearly gotten him killed besides.

He wasn't going soft, he told himself, a token argument that he'd been having for a while now. Just gettin' out of what he was sure was gonna be another bloodbath. He knew the signs well enough; he'd led his own men into enough of 'em. Sure, he'd been willing to trust in Shepard, but now? To hell with it. He'd done his part. Besides, they were going to need the doctor to patch everybody up when they got back. If they got back.

They were close, anyway. Zaeed saw a mark burned into the wall of the base, where that old salarian had scorched the hell out of one of the Collector grunts. It hadn't been long after they'd inflitrated the base, he knew that. It would only be a few more minutes, he told himself, and he'd be back. Just a little longer -

He didn't see the bastard coming, but he sure as hell felt the bullets - pounding into his abdomen, the force barely absorbed by his armor. "Damn it to hell!" he shouted, as he stumbled back. How had they caught him off guard? He hadn't picked up a gun yesterday, he knew better than this!

There were three of them, emerging from the shadows, with those strange weapons in their hands and the shimmer of barriers around their bodies. "Take cover!" he yelled as he recovered, spraying the closest one with his assault rifle. It flinched but held steady, even as the biotic field around it started to fade from the strain of absorbing the impact.

Chakwas was already crouching behind a pile of rubble when he reached her; he saw the sweat running down her forehead as she aimed her pistol at them, saw her snap off a couple of shots. He didn't watch to see if they hit them, but he heard one of them hiss, heard a scrabbling sound. She looked pale, and sweat was glistening on her forehead; she wasn't in any condition for this and he knew it.

"Gotta deal with this fast," he said, mostly to himself, and pulled out one of his grenades - he'd gotten the upgrade off of Vido's dead body, one of the only good things he'd ever gotten from that bastard. "Eat this, fuckers!" he shouted as he popped up from behind the pile of rubble and lobbed it towards the three Collectors - no, two now, one of them was on the ground with a big bleeding hole in its head, and he wasn't going to complain about that. The grenade bounced over to them and blew, spraying them with flame. They both went down hard, parts of their carapace burning to ashes right in front of him.

He breathed hard for a second or so. "Got 'em," he finally said, relaxing. "We've got to -"

"Zaeed! Watch out!"

He turned just in time to see a big one - how the hell had it snuck up on them like that? - charging at him, barrier flashing as it absorbed the force from a few pistol shots. It was on him fast, smacked him with its claws - he felt his flesh tear on his arm, under the armor, a bad hit. It took him completely off balance, and he couldn't stop himself from falling on his ass again. There it was, looming up above him, ready to finish him off for being a sloppy bastard. In a way, he thought, it was almost hilarious.

Sudden energy crackled around the Collector's head, and Zaeed watched the grunt reel back, its arms going completely limp. It screamed in sudden pain, and started to sway, as if it were about to fall.

He had no idea what was going on, but he'd be a damn fool not to take the opportunity. He managed to get his rifle to bear and started to fire, screaming as the bullets buried themselves into its stomach. He kept firing until the thermal clip ejected itself, and stared at it as it slowly, disbelievingly began to fall.

He pulled himself back up as best he could - firing an assault rifle while he was on the ground was not an experience he cared to repeat, frankly - and leaned against the rubble, breathing hard. He'd almost gotten himself killed. What the hell. He'd almost gotten them both -

Huh. Right. He turned around, saw her dismissing the projection from her omni-tool, shaking slightly. "You okay?" he asked.

She nodded. she looked flushed, her skin red, her silver hair gone completely wild. "Are you?"

"I'll live." He walked up to her, intending to do something reasonable, he wasn't sure what but something. He hadn't intended to grab her by the waist, and he definitely hadn't expected her to wrap her arm around him and pull him in for a kiss - a hard one, too, more teeth than he was used to and a lot less gentleness than you'd expect from a doctor. But her didn't stop her, and kissed her back so hard that by the time he pulled away her lips were darker than they had been before.

He hadn't realized how much the fight had stirred him up. Fuck, he wanted more. A lot more. But he wasn't some dumb kid, not anymore. "We've got to get back," he said.

She wasn't stupid, either. And it looked like she wasn't as weak as he'd thought. "Yes. We do."

No need to bother trying to be stealthy. If there was anything out there, it was coming for them. Time to run the gauntlet and hope for the best, he thought, slotting a new clip into his rifle. "C'mon. Let's get the hell out of here."

Escape [ME2, Zaeed/Chakwas, M]

no subject