Crossing the River

The sense of danger grew; the voices were incessant but incoherent now. "Wait here, I'm going to check this out." Jordan opened the door and entered the final chamber of the mine. He saw the probe lying at the side of the room, under a pair of staging lights, but there was no other sign of whoever had brought the probe down here. He cautiously walked closer, and too late noticed the plate on the floor. The door slammed shut, cutting him off from Garrus and Kaidan.
"Shepard," said a voice from behind him.
Jordan turned to the projection. Radio, not recorded. He vaguely listened to the man introduce himself, and his evil plans. Jordan tried to keep him talking while he worked to get the door open.
"You ruined my life, Shepard," Haliat droned. "I'd repay the favor, but I just want you dead. You're not going to be able to get the door open in time, and it won't do you any good anyway."
Jordan looked back at the probe, and realized that Haliat was right.
"Don't worry, I'll take good care of your men while you're gone," Haliat laughed, and cut communications. The timer started counting down, and Jordan dove for the probe, started working feverishly.
"Hold still, Turian," snarled the slaver, slapping Garrus in his face to make his point. Obviously, these Humans had dealt with Turian prisoners before, because they hit him in the right spot and made his head sing. The slaver used the butt of his gun to hit Garrus in the midsection, forcing him to his knees. "Cuff him, quick."
Garrus struggled, but they hit him again, wrestled his arms behind him, and managed to get the restraints on before he could make an effectual attempt to escape. They then chained his hands to his legs, proving that they knew way too much about keeping a Turian prisoner. Garrus snarled in fury.
In the corner of the room, another slaver was injecting Kaidan with something, probably a biotic suppressant, so they wouldn't have a repeat display of Kaidan's abilities. Kaidan stirred slightly, but didn't wake up.
"We should just drop him down a shaft," snarled the Batarian, nursing a shattered arm. "We can't sell a biotic."
"Malikos will want him, at least until the drugs wear off," said a Human calmly.
The Batarian sneered. "Disgusting."
"What is?" A Turian entered the room, a tall, barefaced, sleek Turian with strangely sharp eyes.
"We found you a new toy," said the Human who was working on Kaidan. He propped Kaidan up against the wall so that the Turian could see him. "Just be careful with him, he'll be dangerous when the Tetorgen wears off."
The Turian tilted his head, and considered Kaidan carefully. "I'll be done by then."
Garrus couldn't stop himself from growling with rage.
Malikos turned towards the captive with a dark, cruel laugh. "A Human for me, and a Turian for you. How fortuitous." The Turian crossed the room, and picked Kaidan up, tossed him over his shoulder. "Thank you for the present." He smiled at Garrus. "Have fun with your toy." The Turian slaver walked out without another glance at Garrus.
A shock rippled through the room, and a loud boom sounded in the distance. "That's the end of Shepard," chuckled the Batarian, and walked out to get his arm seen to.
Garrus stiffened with rage and disbelief. It couldn't be true; there was no way that Shepard could have fallen into a fatal trap so easily. He looked despairingly at the door where the slaver had left with Kaidan. Not like this, Shepard would never have died and left them like this.
Kaidan woke up slowly, groggily. He felt like his head was wrapped in wet cotton. The room was dark, and cold. He was hanging on a wall, his hands chained over his head, and his feet chained together. Kaidan tried to move, causing his restraints to rattle with an ugly, heavy sound.
"You're awake," said a strange Turian voice. He sounded pleased. "My name is Malikos. Remember it, and be sure to use it when you decide to start begging."
Kaidan didn't respond.
"Strong-willed," Malikos ran his hand along Kaidan's body, careful not to rip the Human flesh with his talons, but ripping his shirt to shreds and leaving dark welts on his skin. "I like the feel of Humans, so soft and warm. But what I like best," Kaidan started in surprise as he felt the Turian's tongue on his neck, going up the side of his face, drinking in his sweat, "is the way you taste. No other species puts their emotions on their skin the way you do. I can taste your fear, your shame...." Kaidan cringed as the Turian's teeth dug into his shoulder, stopping just short of breaking skin. Malikos laughed, forced Kaidan's legs apart with his hand. "Are you enjoying the Tetorgen, Human? People would pay thousands for as much as we had to use to keep you still."
Kaidan turned his head away, and tried to think of anything but the monster touching him.
"You're fighting," Malikos laughed. "Why do you Humans always fight? Your bodies are built to submit to violation. You're going to respond to me whether you want to or not." He laughed and licked Kaidan's neck again, the thick alien tongue sliding under his shirt to touch the bruises left by his teeth. "Delicious."
Kaidan flinched, and couldn't stop himself from making a small noise as his body began to respond. The drug was eating away at his self-control. He couldn't focus enough to use his biotics, and everything had a weird extra sensation to it, as if he were floating underwater. He writhed at the chains, trying to get enough purchase to force them to dig into his skin, give him something else to think about.
"You're not going to get loose that way." The Turian tilted Kaidan's head up and away from him, exposing his neck. "You'll have to think of something else." He bent down, and Kaidan felt the sharp teeth just touching his skin.
The door rattled.
Malikos snarled. "Savages, have they no manners?" He stalked over to the door, and opened it. For a second his outline was perfectly framed in the light. "What do you - "
The silenced shot was still loud in Kaidan's ears, and he realized the sniper was over his head somewhere. The Turian crumpled, and someone jumped down and ran to the door. Slammed it shut before anyone could see. Fumbled for the lights, got them on.
"Shepard!"
Jordan was covered in dirt, and looked like he had rolled down the side of a mountain. "Are you all right?"
Kaidan nodded. "I'm fine, just tripping. A lot."
Jordan stripped the sheets off the bed and used them to wrap what was left of the Turian's head, so that the blood wouldn't seep under the door. He found a keycard on the body, and used it to release Kaidan and helped him down.
"No, not the bed," mumbled Kaidan in sudden terror of what could have been. "Just the floor, floor is fine." He sagged against the wall, felt like a poorly stuffed toy, very floppy. "Not enough polyfill."
"What?"
"Nothing. Tripping, sorry. I'm not... I can't do anything at the moment. I'm sorry."
"No, no, it's alright. I'm the one who should be apologizing!" Jordan carefully sat Kaidan in the far corner of the room, propping him up with some pillows and a clean blanket that he found in the closet. "I was going to tell you to stay here anyway. I'm going to get Garrus, and bring him here. I'll be right back."
Kaidan nodded, too grateful and happy to do more. He watched Jordan climb back up the wall, into the ventilation shaft. For a moment, he couldn't believe that Jordan had really been there, but in a very few minutes Jordan was back, helping Garrus limp into the room. "That was fast."
Jordan grinned. "Making up for lost time. Here, sit next to him." He helped Garrus sit down and then handed him the medkit that he had found. "Okay, you guys stay here. Do not open that door." Jordan calculated in his head. "It will take me about ten minutes to get to the communications room so I can call the Normandy."
"I thought you were dead, Shepard," said Garrus.
"Unless you see my body with your own eyes, don't ever believe I'm dead." Jordan took the dead body and left through the door this time. They could hear him setting mines before he ran down the hall, followed by shouts, and then a series of explosions.
Garrus laughed a little. "Nice trap." He looked nervously at Kaidan. "You all right, Alenko?"
"A little fuzzy, but I'll be fine. More scared than anything. Here, let me try and get that for you." Garrus' leg looked broken. "They hurt you."
"Yeah.... I mean, do you want me to move? I don't know, sometimes people get weird."
It took Kaidan a minute to process Garrus' concern. "What? No, don't be so stupid." He did the best he could with the medigel and Garrus' wounds. "Wasn't even hurt, could have been worse," he mumbled before he could stop himself. "Could have been so much worse."
"What?"
"Nothing." His head was swimming from the drugs and the stress. "Drugs. A little fuzzy around the head."
"Here," Garrus pulled him back before he could topple over, and they leaned against the wall together. Listened for the distinctive noise of a headshot, the sudden explosions of a mine. "He's amazing."
Kaidan laughed a little shakily. "It was almost worth it for the rescue."
Garrus laughed as well, "Yeah, I was thinking something like that."