Mass Effect: The Reaper War (LadyMatsudai and Ducky)

[LadyMatsudai]

Still in a small ball on the bed, Sage felt her stomach start to calm, her breathing growing steady while she felt her eyes slowly flutter open to the sound of Chakwas and Ducky talking in the background. Her sapphire eyes stared up into Ducky's tiredly, exhausted from the horrible day of fighting off those monsters and her staff abandoning her before her ears perked to the sound of another voice. Her head turned to see the other man that had accompanied Kaidan down the ramp when the Normandy first rescued them. Vega...Vega was his name. She watched Vega look over to her on the bed, blushing a little to the new nickname after another spice as she tried to speak to say it wasn't her real name but the one she had kept.


Chakwas could not help but smile to seeing Vega marching off, chuckling as she glanced over towards Ducky. "Seems you are now part of the crew, Ducky," she chimed, going back to her desk.

 

[Ducky]

Ducky smiled. Given the state of Earth, formal transfers were moot. The Titan may very well have been destroyed as part of the initial Reaper attack. For now, the chain of command within the Alliance seemed to be holding strong. He hoped this would be the case in six months. If not, things could resemble the ancient apocalypse vids he watched in college. But for now, the Normandy was a good place to be. A couple of old crew members told stories about the Geth attack on the Citadel. During the time Shepard worked with Cerberus, rumors floated around that he was performing undercover work for Alliance brass. Whether or not this was true, Ducky felt safer under his command. "Indeed I am", he replied to Chakwas.


Walking over to the bed, he checked up on Sage. Look down at her, he smiled, pleased to know the pain of being carried and of having spinal taps inserted was gone, "I'm glad you're ok. I'd love to chat some more, but I'm sure you need your rest and I need to get settled in." Lightly putting his hand on her arm, so as not to irritate the burns, he glanced at her body and briefly wondered what had been done to her. "I'll be by tomorrow when I'm not on duty to check up on you." Looking down at his arms and legs, he saw the various scratches and wounds he picked up in the hospital, "Probably should have this checked out. But I think it can wait until after I get settled in."

 

[LadyMatsudai]

It had been almost a week since Sage and Ducky made their way from the rooftop to the Normandy back in Vancouver, where Sage had been in her bed in the medbay the entire time at the insistence of Chakwas, Shepard, and Ducky. She was never one to like sitting around and being completely helpless. It was almost as if fate decided to give her one last chance with the Normandy and the crew within it, righting wrongs and protecting the galaxy one last time from the Reaper threat. Hopefully, it would be the final time... At last, Chakwas had given Sage the okay to move around outside of the med bay.


Wincing to the bandaging on her body and her old scars flaring up from old wounds, Sage had decided to take a stroll along the hallways of the massive Normandy, softening to the feeling of the metal grated floor under her bare feet again, her hand gliding along the shining walls as she hobbled along slowly.

 

[Ducky]

Walking down the hallway, life had almost returned to some sense of normalcy in the ensuing week since Sage and him were picked up by the Normandy on the hospital rooftop in Vancouver. Arriving with only the clothes on his back. Vega had done an excellent job fitting him with armor and even went out of his way to issue him a Paladin as a weapon instead of the normal Carnifex. Ducky made sure hide his laughter as he had watched Cortez and him argue like an old married couple. A couple of times, he would have sworn that the shuttle pilot had given Vega a wistful look. Letting discretion get the better of him, Ducky didn't so much as hint about it when Vega and him drank beers in the lounge and he recounted the events of Vancouver hospital. "Romeo, mi amigo, I don't issue Paladins to just any puta who shows up down below.", Vega had said last night, kicking his feet on the table, "I want your ass by my side next time I have to hit the dirt. We're gonna need men like you if we want to beat those pendejos, the Reapers." Several beers later, Vega had surprised him by asking if he thought Cortez was cute. "Yeah, he does have those looks that make you want to check your heterosexuality", Ducky had responded under the influence. For now, he shrugged the whole thing off as drunken ramblings.


The addition of a Turian and an Asari to the crew had been an interesting twist. One of the navigators aboard the Titan had served on the original Normandy. He was always going on and on about how the end of the First Contact War was just a ruse to study humanity more before striking again. He wondered aloud if the Turians had equipped the Normandy with a homing device which subsequently brought them destruction. It had been too convenient that no alien races had been aboard when they were destroyed. However he had also heard stories from a fellow engineer who worked with the Turians to build the original Normandy that humans had the wrong opinion of them. Not knowing what to think, he kept an open but cautious mind. A few conversations with Garrus had quickly swayed him into the pro-Turian camp.


Liara, however, remained enigmatic. She seemed to hide away in her office and had little interaction with the rest of the crew. He caught a glimpse of her once, and like all Asari she too had an exotic attraction about her. Rumors had even gone around that Liara was actually the Shadow Broker. Ducky shrugged it off as an exaggeration. She likely did regular work with the Shadow Broker, but somebody that influential would surely hide behind the safety of their own fleet. Unlike Vega, Ducky doubted that he would be drinking with her anytime soon.


Continuing down the hallway, Ducky saw a familiar face slowly approaching from the other direction. His first thought was that somehow Sage had managed to evade the watchful eye of Dr. Chakwas. Seeing a nearby monitor, he realized that she wouldn't have gotten very far from med bay before quickly being escorted back to her bed. Smiling, he approached her, "Good afternoon, Sage. I'm glad to see you finally have the ok to be up and about." His attention was once again drawn to her eyes, which he never tired of looking at.

 

[LadyMatsudai]

Remaining close to the wall as a safeguard in case she were to fall, Sage kept walking slowly down the hall before looking up to see Ducky, offering a soft smile. Usually she was not the first person to trust humans after the experimentation she went through. Sapphire eyes glanced up to the taller engineer as she nodded gently.


"Good afternoon...yeah, Chakwas said I could walk around the ship as long as I go back to her office at the end of my exercise," smiled Sage before brushing her short raven hair from her eyes. "I wanted to look for Liara and Garrus actually. I haven't seen them for a while," she added.

 

[Ducky]

Ducky raised his eyebrow at the mention of the two 'newcomers' to the Normandy. He liked Garrus' willingness to cut through red tape to get the job done. It followed his own philosophy of 'it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission'. Garrus loved that line and even jokingly suggested that after the war Ducky start self improvement courses on Palaven that promise to cut the time it takes to complete a task in half. And Liara... Ducky relished a chance to peer behind the veil of mystery the surrounded the Asari.


"So... um... you ah...", he stammered while asking Sage, "Chief Adams wanted me to check with Garrus on some calibrations." Finally coming up with a good reason to tag along, Ducky continued, "I wasn't planning on doing it until later in my shift. But... um... mind if I tag along?"

 

[LadyMatsudai]

Sage smiled to Ducky asking to tag along as she nodded gently to the question. "Of course you can, Ducky. He should be in the main battery, his own little turian cave away from everyone else," she smiled, slowly beginning to walk down the hall with the IV module floating beside her. Her scarred hand carefully slid along the wall to give herself support.


(( OOC: I am sorry this is so short ))

 

[Ducky]

Ducky smiled back, has step having a little more bounce to it in anticipation of asking Garrus about some recent weapon calibrations that he hasn't seen before, "Thank you, Sage." Watching the young woman take deliberative steps , he wondered how much longer it would take to recover. Ducky saw no visible port implant which would indicate that an IV tube was attached on a frequent basis. "How long until you don't need your dance parter, I mean, the portable IV unit if you don't mind me asking?"

 

[LadyMatsudai]

Sage smiled to Ducky's grin and quickly following her lead as the two walked towards the direction of the Main Battery, the sleek metallic hallway guiding them. Blinking to Ducky's question, Sage glanced to the portable IV before smiling a little to the joke about it being her dancing partner. "Chakwas says I will only need it really until tomorrow, I believe," she confirmed, finally reaching the Main Battery door before stepping through and smiled to see the turian himself quickly at work. "Garrus," she called warmly.

 

[Ducky]

Garrus looked up from his console and his eyes got wider at the sight of the young biotic in the doorway, "Sage! What a pleasant surprise. From the way Kaiden talked, I hadn't expected to see you for another week or two." Pushing the 'pause' button on the calibration program, the Turian walked from behind his console, leaned over, and gave Sage a gentle squeeze, "It's good to see you again." As Garrus let go of the embrace, his hands moved towards hers as he held Sage's hands briefly before ending all contact, "We get through this mess with the Reapers, and my next cause will be to track down whomever did this to you and see they meet justice. It pains me to see you even like this."


Looking over to Ducky, Garrus continued, "Sergeant, I'd like to meet with Chief Adams and the rest of the engineering team when", a 'beep' from the console interrupted the conversation as Garrus turned around to see what was happening with the console, "Hell. Burning out the eezo couplings so quickly isn't worth a two percent efficiency increase. Let's delay that meeting until my latest simulations don't strand us in the middle of nowhere." Ducky nodded as he only briefly made eye contact, "Yes, sir. Though, I, um, do have a few suggestions of my own." Garrus cocked his head to one side, eyes looking up to think about it, "Sounds good. Meet me back here in about four hours. But first", reaching down, he picked up a few regulator modules and handed them to Ducky, "If you don't mind quickly running them down to engineering, it would save me a trip." "Sure thing", the Sergeant replied before taking the modules and momentarily stepping out.


Garrus turned his attention back to Sage, "We dock at the Citadel in two days. I think a few hours over lunch would be a good time to catch up. We could make it a group affair if you want, or it could be just the two of us. I'm good either way."

 

[LadyMatsudai]

"You know Kaidan likes to exaggerate a little bit, Garrus," smiled Sage, bare feet padding along the metal floors as she embraced the taller turian warmly before holding his hands and squeezing them lightly before lowering them to return her hands to the IV stand. Hearing Garrus's promise to hunt down the people who recently hurt her, Sage shushed the turian and patted his chest. "I am ok, Garrus...I promise I am ok," she cooed, hoping it would help him relax. She could not help but smile to seeing Ducky interacting so well with Garrus. Two brainiacs working on the efficiency of the engines and the ship as a whole like it was some second grade school project. They made it sound so easy...


Looking back up to Garrus after Ducky quickly stepped out for a minute, Sage smiled to the thought of having some of the older members getting together for a good meal. "I would love that, Garrus...I have been needing something like that for a long time," she confessed, looking down to the ground quietly.

 

[Ducky]

Garrus looked down upon Sage and smiled while putting a hand on her shoulder, "I understand. You don't go to hell and back, or in our case through the Omega relay and back, without learning a few things about your crew mates." Sage looked up again as the Turian gave her a gentle squeeze on the shoulder, "Even clueless me can see how your eyes light up when us old timers from the simpler times of chasing down Saren get together." Garrus released his hand and shoulders slumped as thoughts about Virmire drifted to the surface, "Some of those missions even rival what we face today as far as hardships go, but this little family aboard the Normandy look out for each other." Garrus regained composure as he thought about the get together, "I still have a few favors that I can call in to make reservations. Leave the planning to me."


Footsteps announced the arrival of Ducky from his trip to engineering as he reappeared outside the doorway, "Chief Adams appreciated the regulator modules. Saves him the risk of drawing power from life support." Garrus rubbed his hands together as he thought about his improvements in action, "Excellent. Glad to hear it." Turning his attention to Sage again, "I do look forward to when Dr. Chakwas clears you for duty. How long did she say that would take?"

 

[LadyMatsudai]

Smiling more to Garrus resting his taloned hand on her shoulder with a soft squeeze, Sage giggled to Garrus calling himself old as she shook her head gently. "You are not old, Garrus...you have aged with beauty," she teased, softening to seeing his shoulders slump before holding his hand gently with her taped one, squeezing it to comfort him. "But we got through it, Garrus...and we will get through this one together. We always do," she cooed, smiling more to Garrus offering to make arrangements for the get-together.


The biotic turned back towards the door to smile at seeing Ducky returning from his quick errand, glancing back up to Garrus with a small smile. "I...did a real number this time, Garrus. So Chakwas said maybe a couple more days then we will see how I am," she cooed a little quietly.


((OOC: Ducky is so cute ^^ lol Hurry and heal so I can love you! ))

 

[Ducky]

Garrus looked down upon the young biotic, gently squeezing her hand and returning the smile, "I'm glad to hear it. When Cerberus and the Reapers come knocking, I'm proud and glad to have you by my side in the fight." Seeing the Sergeant returning from engineering, Garrus nodded in his direction before resuming the conversation, "I look forward to catching up at dinner. You'll have to tell us exactly what happened at the hospital. Seems you two made quite an impression on Vega, though between you and me I think he was jealous that he couldn't mix it up with the Reapers." Remembering what happened on Omega, he shook his head, "Comes with inexperience, I suppose. Makes me wonder if he's looking for something to die for. Hope I'm wrong."


As Ducky approached, Garrus' voice became crisper and more formal, "Glad to see you both on board. Sergeant, I admire your willingness to get things done in spite of the rules. As long as you know the limits, I think we'll work well together. Good afternoon." After saying their goodbyes, Garrus turned around and resumed work on his calibrations.


The door shut, and Ducky glanced at it and back to Sage, "I like him. He's not like most other Turians I've met who seem to want nothing to do with me. Looking forward to dinner." Seeing tension lines erase from Sage's face, Ducky smiled. Garrus had obviously done her a world of good. "So I have another hour until I'm back on duty." Looking down on the floor and back to Sage, he asked, "Um... off to see Liara?"

 

[LadyMatsudai]

Smiling more to Garrus squeezing her hand, Sage teared up a little to Garrus mentioning how happy he was to have her beside him, nodding before wiping her eyes clear of her tears to try and keep Garrus from worrying. "Thank you, Garrus...that means a lot to me...and the same goes for you," she sniffed, looking behind her to see Ducky having returned from his quick errand. She giggled to being told she had to spin the story to the others at dinner to give them the full details. "I promise I will explain everything," she assured her turian friend, her features softening to Garrus's grim observation.


Stepping out of the main battery from Garrus ending the conversation, Sage glanced up to Ducky with a small smile and giggled to Ducky's statement. "He likes you too. Don't get too hung up with him being so serious. He is one of the biggest goofballs you could meet," she assured Ducky before she smiled to the idea of seeing Liara. "That sounds wonderful. She will love to meet you too. Another human for her to study," she joked, looking over her shoulder to see how Ducky would react.

 

[Ducky]

Ducky nodded to Sage's comment about Garrus, "For the moment, I just have to take your word. Turians are so", Ducky paused as he tried to come up with the right word, "formal. At least they seem that way to me. But dinner will be fun. And good." Putting his hands on his hips, Ducky smiled as he remembered how far the pair have come from the escape in Vancouver. "Life has been so full of twists and turns lately. Seeing the lighter side of a Turian almost pales in comparison."


As the two headed towards Liara's quarters, sweat started to bead up on Ducky's forehead at the mention of another human to study. "Oh. I see. Um. Am I going to be, like, have Liara all inside my head as she examines how another human reacts?" Leaning in closer so only Sage and none of the microphones could pick up his next words, he whispered, "I heard a rumor that she has dealings with the Shadow Broker. Have you heard anything about that?"

 

[LadyMatsudai]

Sage giggled at the idea of Garrus being 'formal', holding the staff to her IV stand a little more as she grew a little tired with walking around so much with her body being as exhausted as it is. "Formal is sometimes the last word I would use with Garrus...silly would be a better one to explain his antics," teased the biotic with a soft giggle as she nodded in agreement to the thought of a happy dinner.


The mention of Liara 'studying' Ducky making him sweat so much only made Sage laugh a little more. "No no...she is better than when I first met her...I hope," she said a little absentmindedly before reaching the door to her room, glancing back to Ducky with a smile. "She is the Shadow Broker," she corrected him, stepping through to see Liara diligently working on the console of multiple screens, eyes darting across each point of information as she kept tabs on her collection of data, eager to see what would be in store to help them in the war against the Reapers. Glancing up, Liara turned towards the door, her face lighting up as she rushed towards Sage, embracing her carefully as Sage returned the hug warmly. "Sage...it is so good to see you. You were so injured...Dr. Chakwas told me not to worry but-"


"I am fine, Liara. Really...just need to rest a little more then I am back 100%," she assured her Asari friend, who nodded before glancing up towards Ducky.

 

[Ducky]

Ducky returned the nod as the color in his face got red, "Hello, ma'am. Nice to meet you. I. um. Have heard a lot of things about you." He held out his hand to shake Liara's hand. Sweat beaded up on his forehead as he hoped that the Asari couldn't read his mind. Ducky heard stories about Asari mind readers. He had hoped Liara wasn't one of them. Trying to relax and make small talk, he continued, "Yes. Sage is recovering quite nicely. With a little more rest, she should be out and about once again." Fidgeting with his hands, he tried to keep his mind focused on the conversation at hand.

 

[LadyMatsudai]

Liara glanced over Ducky once for an overall impression and looked back down to Sage for confirmation, that familiar protective glare in her eye. "He's alright, Liara. Ducky is the one that saved me from the hospital...I owe my life to him," she elaborated to the Asari, the blue eyes glancing back towards Ducky while Liara followed her gaze to the red-faced, nervous sweating Ducky. Sticking out her hand as well, Liara shook Ducky's hand with a firm grip and returned one hand to Sage's shoulder.


"All good things I hope," teased Liara a little to Sage, giggling with a nod to confirm it was all good things. "I must thank you for saving Sage, Ducky. She is very special to us...we are not sure what we would do if we lost her," confessed Liara, hugging Sage a little closer.

 

[Ducky]

Ducky nodded as he shook Liara's hand, "Yes. My old captain was telling us stories from her time on Illium. She said of Shepard, 'Behind every great man is a woman. And in Shepard's case, I bet it's Liara.' She had an assignment on Illium during the time you were an information broker." The perspiration stopped as he felt more comfortable, "I could go on, but I'm sure we'll have plenty of time for old war stories."


He nodded again when Liara thanked him for saving Sage, "You're welcome, ma'am. Truth be told I may not have made it out of there myself if it weren't for Sage. The odds were pretty overwhelming." Ducky fidgeted with his hands as he thought of the possibility of dying at the hands of the Reapers, "My singular focus was saving Sage, so I didn't have time to think about much else. " Some redness returned to Ducky's cheeks with that last statement.

 

[LadyMatsudai]

Liara smiled a little towards Ducky's compliment from the stories of his old captain, features softening to watching the human becoming more relaxed in her presence while her arm remained around Sage's small frame. "We will when you join us for dinner," she cooed as Sage glanced up to Liara with a smile. "Garrus managed to convince us to let the newest member of our crew join us," she smirked with a wink.


Sage blinked in surprise to Ducky saying he may not have escaped without her. "You could have made it out without me, Ducky. You could have left me behind," she said honestly before growing quiet to the soft squeeze from Liara. Her eyes widened a little to Ducky's last words, blushing furiously as well with her gaze darting to the ground as Liara smiled a moment towards Sage before glancing back to Ducky. "And we are thankful you saved her, Ducky...we don't know what we would do if we didn't have our little Sage..." she purred, kissing Sage's head sweetly.

 

[Ducky]

Ducky smiled upon hearing the thanks and seeing Liara kiss Sage's head, "Yes, agreed. And I'm glad to see she's been taking care of herself so she'll be once again at full strength." The engineer pointed his thumb towards the IV unit, "Though I think Sage may might miss her dance partner. The two have been inseparable". He chuckled a bit as his nervous tension began to ease.


Cocking his head to one side, Ducky realized that Liara, in her role as Shadow Broker, might be able to find out about who escaped Earth during the initial attack. "Liara, since you were an information broker, I thought I'd ask if you heard about who managed to escape from the Alliance Vancouver Military Base after the Reapers attacked. I'm guessing it's not a long list given the circumstances surrounding the attack."

 

[LadyMatsudai]

Still rubbing Sage's arm gingerly, Liara smiled a little to the joke about the IV unit no longer being next to Sage as she would hobble around the Normandy once she was back at full health. "I could say the same about the two of you," she teased, making Sage blush furiously. "Liara..." she mewled innocently, making the Shadow Broker giggle with delight.


Liara's face softened to Ducky's question as she shook her head gently. "Only two people made it out alive..." she hinted, glancing down to Sage who grew quiet and leaned against her friend for moral support.

 

[Ducky]

Ducky's face grew red as he blushed, and he had trouble maintaining eye contact. "I... um...", was all he could say in response. He laughed and his face returned to normal after Sage's comment. Looking over to her, Ducky noticed softened features for the first time since he'd known her. He smiled. It felt good to see Sage happy and forget the pain of recent events.


After hearing Liara's response, he rubbed his neck and looked down. Part of him didn't want to believe that only the two of them made it out alive from Vancouver. Having been in denial at the destruction witnessed, memories of Dragon's Teeth bubbled up into consciousness. The Reapers had been converting dead hospital staff into husks. Feeling Sage's weight press against him, Ducky put his arm around her back and gave her a very gentle squeeze so as to not aggregate any burns or wounds still healing. "I'm.... so sorry to hear that. I didn't know. I was so focused on getting us out of there... I thought for sure somebody else would have made it out." A shiver went up his spine as he remembered all those people in the hospital cafeteria. It would be a long time before Ducky would fully come to grips with what happened that day. His arm around Sage's back was as much for his benefit as it was for Sage.

 

[LadyMatsudai]

Liara could not help but smile more to how embarrassed Ducky seemed about him and Sage being quite the little couple, shaking her head to herself. Her features softened to seeing Ducky holding Sage against him to keep her from falling over from her exhausted and now saddened body. Sage sniffed sadly to the news, feeling the soft squeeze from Ducky's strong hand on her back and nestled her face a little into his shoulder to rest her head, tears gently falling down her cheek into his shirt. "Hey, Ducky, why don't you take Sage back to her room? I think she is looking a little tired," encouraged Liara gently as Sage stumbled a little, clinging to Ducky's arms to keep herself standing upright. "I am fine..." she whimpered.