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Alex looked frantically around the ward. Practically every building was reduced to rubble. It was deathly quiet save for faint cries here and there. He was close to her when the explosion sent him hurtling off the citadel tower so she had to have landed nearby… would she even have survived the fall? The artificial gravity produced by the citadel’s mass effect fields was failing so she couldn’t have fallen hard… He didn’t …

“SHEPARD!” He called, desperately.

No answer… He sniffed the air; perhaps the scent of fresh blood could lead him to her? He focused his predatory senses and he caught a faint whiff of blood from a nearby pile of rubble. He dashed over to it and his heart nearly stopped.

Shepard was almost indistinguishable from the rubble; her armor was broken, scratched and burned. Her left arm was missing from the shoulder and her left leg was gone from the mid-thigh down. Her left side was burned badly, luckily the burns had cauterized her limbs so she was not about to bleed out. Unfortunately the left side of her face was badly burned as well. The rest of her face was covered with cuts and bruises and she had clearly been coughing up blood at one point.

He gently lifted her into his arms. He could feel her heartbeat as he held her close. It was weak and dangerously slow. She was alive but fading fast.

He needed to get her to a clinic… but the whole damn citadel had turned into charcoal and he couldn’t tell where anything was anymore. He was lost, he had no idea what to do and the only person he ever loved was dying in his arms, he almost feared that if he tried to carry her to safety her body would simply fall apart. There was only one thing he could do.

“Help!” He shrieked, desperately. “HELP! FOR GOD’S SAKE SOMEONE HELP!”

How long did he have? Each beat of Shepard’s heart could be her last… There were cries for help all over the place… this entire effort seemed futile but he couldn’t bear the thought of losing her. Not now, not with the reapers defeated. Not now that they could actually have a life together. It wasn’t fair!

“HELP, PLEASE! God damn it SHE’S DYING!” He cried out. “FOR FUCK’S SAKE SOMEONE HELP!”

You know… You don’t need any help to save her…

Elizabeth’s voice echoed in the back of his head. Alex tried to ignore her but she always grabbed a hold of his consciousness when he was in his emotionally fragile states.

If you infect her she’ll make a full recovery, she’ll grow her limbs back and not even have a single scar… You know you’ve thought about it… Wanting to thwart her mortality so she could be yours forever. Now is your chance. Just tell her you had no other option. She’ll understand. Just infect her. She would evolve beautifully!

“NO!” Alex screamed out loud.

You’re running out of time. Is it really so bad if she loses her humanity?

“I…I can’t…”

He cradled Shepard’s head with his hand and looked at her ravaged face, feeling her heartbeat growing slower and slower.

No one is going to come to help in time. Do you really want her to die? She saved the galaxy, She deserves to become a higher form of being!

“No… She can pull through…!” Alex shook her slightly. “Come on Shepard! Fight god damn it! You’ve never given up on anything in your entire life don’t give up now!”

She can’t hear you.

Minutes… he only had minutes… maybe even seconds… what if Elizabeth was right? What if this was the only way?

Would she ever forgive him?

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Sometimes my head likes to vomit fanfiction all over the place. and I feel like I need to Illustrate pieces of it.... and because I'm too lazy to draw most of the time I use XNALara instead.

Content (c) Bioware and Activision

Alex Mercer human injured model by o0Crofty0o
Injured Custom Female Shepard model by me