Donnelly tried to ignore how hard he was gritting his teeth. He kept telling himself to stop being such a dunderhead. This was just another mission, nothing more. Never mind the fact that the supposedly 'dead' Reaper had somehow activated kinetic barriers right after the ground team went on board. Never mind that Jack was now trapped on board the damned thing.

This was still just another mission, right?

"Are you okay, Marcus?" asked Tali.

He looked down and realized that he was gripping the edge of the main board very hard. Donnelly almost brushed off the question with an automatic I'm fine, but reconsidered.

"I'll survive, Tali. It's just nerves. Too many bad memories coming back up with that damn beastie outside."

He felt the quarian touch his shoulder. "Jack will be fine. I've seen her in action, and I know she's too damn mean to die."

Donnelly did relax a little bit at that. After all, Tali's paramour was also stuck inside the guts of that biomechanical horror. "And I'm sure Shepard will come waltzing out of there as well," he replied.

"He'd better," growled Tali. "He and I have a special date, and I'm not letting a silly little thing like a Reaper get in the way."

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"So how does a geth know you?" Jack's face became set in a suspicious frown.

Shepard was not having any of it. "Damn it, I don't know! If anything, I'm number one on their hit list. I've certainly killed enough of them. But that one just...said hello and walked off." He shook his head. "Never mind. We have a job to do, and no way back out until we reach the drive core." He looked ahead. There was a series of stairs and platforms that ran along the side of the Reaper, with a yawning chasm off to one side leading into the oblivion of Mnemosyne's atmosphere. "I still think there's some instinct driving this fucking thing. There's gonna be plenty of opposition between us and the core." He looked over at Grunt. "You should use it."

The krogan gave a wide grin. "About time!" There was a loud clack as Grunt slung the OMFG off of his shoulder and cocked it. "I was wanting to use it before now."

Shepard snorted. "Before we thought there might be scientists on board. That damn gun tends to go through walls, and I didn't want to hurt any of them." He looked forward. "By now, I'm sure they've all been turned into husks or worse."

"Shit." Jack's frown had turned into a mask of concentration.

Shepard knew that meant she was scared. "Stay frosty, people. Just do it by the numbers, like we've trained."

They moved forward, their boots clanging against the deck-plates. Shepard heard nothing from his squad but the sound of their breathing, until...

"Contact right!" snapped Garrus. Four muzzles swung and blasted away at a blue-glowing form that was clambering over the edge of the platform. Shepard saw something else move out of the corner of his eye.

"More are coming. Form a wedge," he said. They flowed into a flying 'V' shape as they moved forward, with Shepard and Grunt at the tip of the wedge. More glowing humanoid shapes clambered over the sides of the platform. A few of them glowed red instead of blue. "Keep an eye on the red ones," said Shepard. "We don't know what they do-"

One of the red-glowing husks ran at Grunt much more quickly than his brethren. The krogan gave the thing a blast from the OMFG which tumbled the red husk backward, and then-

BOOOM

The red husk detonated with a shock wave which threw them all to the deck.

"HA!" Grunt sounded like a kid in a candy store. "The red ones explode!"

"Yes, very fun for you I'm sure," grumbled Shepard as he pushed himself back upright. "Sound off. Anyone hurt?"

After getting three 'nos' in response, the Commander motioned them forward. There was something that looked like a large metal container in the middle of the platform, and just as they approached it a lower, louder moan sounded and the bulbous shape of a Scion came tottering around the corner on spindly legs.

"Damn!" Shepard hit the thing with a concussive shot and staggered it, while simultaneously it threw a shockwave through their group. He tumbled to the side and raised up on his elbows to give it another shot. As the round hit home, there was more movement at the platform edges.

"Fall back," he snapped into the comm. "Garrus, get a good perch."

"On it," replied the turian. The other three fell back to the stairs, with Shepard and Grunt dealing out shots as Jack used her own shockwaves to keep the husks from rushing them all at once. Garrus was able to get the Scion down within a minute, and then there was silence again.

"Garrus, where are you?" Shepard looked around but couldn't see his friend.

"I'm on a little gangway up to your left," said Garrus. "It looks like it's a straight shot towards the core. It's probably too small for Grunt, though."

The Commander nodded. "Understood. You stay there and move along with us while you keep oversight. Sing out if you see something." He turned to the other two. "Okay, the next platforms we go forward and tease 'em out, then fall back to the stairs and clean them out like we just did. Garrus will take care of any larger threats."

They quickly fell into a rhythm of advancing, waiting for the husks to emerge, and then falling back and dispatching them. Meanwhile Garrus had scouted ahead and tagged a couple of Scions that had been lying in wait further ahead.

The team finally made it to the final platform, which had airlock leading to the drive core. Garrus swung himself down from the gangway as they approached. "That will be locked, I'm sure," said the turian.

Shepard checked the control panel. "Actually, no. Somebody's bypassed it already."

"I think I can guess who," said Jack. "Our mystery geth."

Grunt laid the barrel of the OMFG onto his shoulder. "Perhaps he is attempting to do as we are, and disable the drive core."

"We can't assume anything," replied Shepard. "We have to make sure. Okay, Grunt, you take point as I open this."

The krogan nodded and set himself in front of the door as Shepard toggled it open. The airlock was empty. They did the same for the inner door, which opened onto a small corridor. This was also the same pre-fab Cerberus architecture as before. In a little alcove to one side was a storage area with several containers.

"Shepard," said EDI. "According to the logs I have been able to access, the IFF beacon should be right there."

A little rummaging through the containers turned up a piece of biomechanical hardware. Shepard looked suspiciously at the gleaming gray lump. It was no bigger than his fist.

"That's it?" asked Grunt.

"Indeed it is," replied EDI. "Do not let its appearance fool you. That single piece of hardware has an informational density more than that of organic brain tissue."

"Well, at least we've got what we came for," said Shepard. "Now we just need to get out of here. Move out."

They carefully continued down the corridor towards a corner. Grunt took a peek around and waved them forward. The end of the corridor opened onto the room containing the Reaper's drive core. It was a swirling mass of blue light held within a gigantic hoop of metal. The room itself was huge, easily big enough to fit the Normandy into it. On a platform in front of the drive core was a surprisingly small control panel.

The mystery geth was indeed at the drive core controls. Its hands manipulated two small levers as it carefully examined the drive core's fluctuations. As Shepard's team approached the door, it threw a glance behind towards them and touched a switch on the panel. A kinetic barrier snapped into place in front of them, preventing them from entering.

"Damn," muttered Shepard. "EDI, are you getting our video feed? Can you tell what the geth is doing?"

"I believe it is attempting to drop the drive core's power output by a specified amount. If it can achieve this, then the kinetic barriers should drop automatically while keeping the derelict at its current altitude."

Shepard gritted his teeth. He hated not being able to do something. Especially since it meant he had to rely on a geth. "B Team, stand by and make ready to pull back into the Normandy the moment those barriers go down."

"Got it, Shepard," replied Zaeed.

An all-too-familiar moan sounded from the room in front of them. Several husks came into view and ran at the geth. The robot stopped its manipulation and turned to meet them. It had a pistol in one three-fingered hand and dropped the husks with quick, well-placed shots. But the moans kept rising, and still more husks were coming into view.

Shepard waved his arms, trying to get the geth's attention.

"Boss? What're you doing?" asked Jack.

He ignored her. "Let us in!" he yelled, hoping that the machine would see the sense in allowing in reinforcements. The geth tilted its head, then reached back towards the control panel as it was swarmed by a black-and-blue tidal wave.

The barrier into the room went down and the Normandy team charged in. "Watch your fire!" yelled Shepard. "Don't hit the control panel!"

Grunt barreled forward like a linebacker, scattering several husks. He grabbed two more and tossed them into the walls like they weighed nothing. Shepard rolled his eyes. "Okay, that works too. Jack, Garrus, watch our backs."

He ran to join Grunt. A glowing black-and-blue head swung towards him and he threw a straight punch into it that caved in its skull. While he wasn't anywhere near a strong as the krogan, his cybernetics still let him deal out one hell of a punch. Within less than a minute the last husk was down. Shepard looked at the control panel and breathed out a sigh. The console was a smoking wreck. The geth was curled up at the base of the panel's column. It looked to be somehow disabled. Maybe the husks had some kind of knockout effect on geth circuitry?

The destruction of the panel must have triggered some sort of automated protection protocol. Two metal hemispheres slammed over the glow of the drive core, hiding it from sight. The automation itself looked to be corrupted, however, since the hemispheres didn't stay shut. They began slamming open and closed with no apparent rhythm.

Shepard shook his head in exasperation. "EDI, can you access the core? Or is the control panel too badly damaged?"

"I cannot do anything from here, Shepard. I am afraid you will have to destroy the drive core using brute force."

"Got it." Shepard unslung the particle beam weapon as more husk moans filled the room. "Of course there's more," he muttered. "Why should this be easy? Now open wide..." He pointed the weapon at the smooth metal hemispheres protecting the drive core, waiting for them to open.

They did, and he pulled the trigger. A brilliant white beam stabbed into the blue heart of the drive core, emitting a piercing shriek as it did so. The entire wreck of the Reaper heaved, throwing Shepard's aim off. The hemispheres slammed back shut as the room filled with the ululating moan of biomechanically corrupted humanity.

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A shudder ran through the Normandy. Donnelly saw Oriana blanch a little behind her helmet. "What was that?" she gasped.

Tali's hands flew over her console. "Mass effect field fluctuation from the derelict. It looks like they're attacking the drive core."

"I'm getting an alarm from the inner starboard nacelle," said Oriana. "That jolt must have knocked something loose."

"I'm on it," replied Donnelly. He ran a trace and felt a cold prickle on the back of his neck. "Shit. It's an outside junction."

"Engineering, Conn," said Joker's voice over the comm.

"Go, Engineering," snapped Donnelly.

"Doing station-keeping just got really hard. Did we lose any control thrusters?"

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"One pod," said Donnelly. "I think one of the outer junctions got banged by a little piece of debris on our way in. That last shake must have knocked it loose."

"We need to keep physical contact with the airlock to get B Team out," said Joker. "I'm having to fight it pretty hard right now."

Donnelly's shoulders slumped. "Aye, it needs fixing." He turned to Tali. "You've got the main board until I get back."

"What?" Tali tilted her head. "No, Marcus, I should go, you can't do that again!"

He shook his helmet. "You've got the board. My ship, my responsibility. Hey, at least nobody's shooting at us this time, eh?"

Oriana put a hand on his arm. "You're going out?"

"It's all right, lass. I'll have a safety tether on me, after all." He gave a graveyard laugh and jogged towards the supply locker.

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An emergency airlock sat just outside Engineering. For the tenth time Donnelly made sure he had extra grapples attached to his suit's belt along with two tethers. If he was going clambering outside a warship again, he was damn well going to make sure he could hold on properly. The outer door of the airlock opened to reveal the roiling brown clouds of Mnemosyne outside. Donnelly grabbed the edge of the door frame and pulled himself up. Now that he was outside of the Normandy's artificial gravity, his movement became a lot easier. He still had to take into account his inertia, however, so he carefully pulled himself up and along the ship's hull. Fortunately this was on the other side of the ship from the wreck of the Reaper, so he at least didn't have to look at that.

Donnelly clambered along the underside of the wing that led out to the starboard nacelles. He hooked and unhooked his tethers into handholds as he went along, making sure to always keep one attached at all times.

The general comm crackled. "Dammit, keep them at distance!" yelled Shepard. Donnelly heard the boom of Grunt's OMFG in the background.

"On it, Boss," said Jack's voice. He knew her well enough to know that she was scared. He wanted to say something to comfort her, but there was no time for that now. Also, the last thing she needed was a distraction. He reached the first nacelle and began pulling himself up along the inside of it. He could feel the Normandy twist underneath him as he climbed; Joker's attempts to keep contact with the airlock attached to the Reaper were getting harder.

As he reached the top of the nacelle, he could feel the presence of the biomechanical horror at his back. He knew he shouldn't look. And yet his head turned as if on a pivot to look at the vast black bulk which stretched alongside the Normandy. He could hear his breath rasping louder in his helmet as fear gripped his heart. He tried to tell himself to stop being foolish. The Reaper was a ruin, it was smashed to hell and gone. There was nothing left to fear.

And yet he could somehow hear a small voice in the back of his head.

Donnelly.

He wrenched his head away with great effort. Nonsense. There was no voice. It was all bad memories and a case of nerves. He had a job to do, and it was time to do it. The bad thruster pod should be close by. As Donnelly cast his eyes around, he saw it. Sure enough, there was a long scar in the hull leading up to the pod. He clambered along the hull towards it...just as he heard the voice again.

I know you.

"Ach, fook off ya great lump 'o shite," he muttered as he got to work. He set three clamping tools into the hull of the ship and made sure he was tied to all of them, then opened the cover plate to the pod.

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Shepard fired the particle beam again as the core's armor slammed open. He felt another tremor underfoot, but this time he was ready for it and kept the beam more or less on target. He ignored the shouts and gunfire from his teammates around him, overlaid with the moaning of husks. His focus narrowed to nothing but the drive core; as the beam tore through it, he could see it falter.

There was a presence at his shoulder, and instinctively he knew it wasn't anyone friendly. Shepard snapped his elbow back and felt his armor crunch into the nose of a husk. The thing's arms flailed as it tried to grapple him, and he bared his teeth as he struck again and again. The husk toppled over with most of its head now smashed into pulp.

He heard the core armor slam back open behind him and he spun and fired again. That was enough; the blue glow of the core finally spasmed and collapsed.

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Sweat trickled into one of Donnelly's eyes as he slammed the cover plate shut. "Done!"

"That's much better," said Joker, just as a vast wind hit the Normandy. Donnelly had one hand on a clamping tool, but that wasn't enough and he was knocked flat against the hull. The only thing that kept him from bouncing away was the multiple anchors he'd set. His pained cry of alarm resounded in his helmet.

"Marcus, are you okay?" asked EDI. Donnelly's teeth clenched as he pulled himself back upright.

"What the fook?" he yelled.

"Both the Reapers's mass effect field and its kinetic barriers are now down," said Joker. "They must have taken out the core."

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There was another, larger tremor which nearly threw Shepard to his knees. "Sound off!" he yelled. "Status!"

"All good, Boss. I think you got the last of them." Jack jogged up to the console, followed quickly by the others.

Shepard felt the deck continue to vibrate under him. "B team, get your ass to the Normandy!"

Zaeed's voice panted in his ear. "We're already there, Shepard. You get yer arse out as well."

"We can't make it all the way back there in time," said Garrus. "Can they come pick us up outside the airlock?"

"Sure thing," said Joker. "Soon as Marcus gets back inside, we'll be on our way to get you."

Jack's eyes went wide behind her visor. "Assface? What is he doing?"

The Chief Engineer's Scots drawl cut into the general comm. "Nothin' I haven't done before, lass. Get yer bum outta there, and let me worry about the rest."

"What about that thing?" Grunt pointed at the geth that was still sprawled in front of the console. "You want it for target practice?"

"Bring it," said Shepard simply. "Tali said that no one's ever captured a geth intact. I need to know what's going on."

"You know the risk," replied Garrus. "That's all I'm going to say."

Shepard just looked at him, and the turian sighed. "Anyone want to give me a hand?" He grabbed underneath one of the geth's shoulders as Grunt grabbed the other. The entire room shook as the team stumbled for the exit. As they reached the door of the airlock, Shepard heard more husks moaning behind them.

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"Get back to the airlock, Marcus," said EDI. "The B Team is inside."

He looked down and estimated it would take him at least two minutes to get back to the emergency airlock. Two minutes of them all sinking deeper into the crushing atmosphere of Mnemosyne. "No time," he said. "Go get the others."

"No way," said Joker. "This is gonna be rough. You can't possibly hold on."

"I'm fastened down well enough, now go!"

He clung to the hull as the Normandy broke away from the airlock and slewed to starboard. The ship began racing back alongside the hull of the Reaper as that damn voice kept sounding in his head.

Donnelly. Join.

He ignored it and gripped tight with both hands onto one of the clamping tools. This physical sensation was reality. Muscle and metal and bone and electricity, that was truth. Not some bloody stupid voice in his head.

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Jack saw the sleek delta shape of the Normandy rise up from below. The wind howled and the platform shook; the Reaper's mass effect field was gone, and they were now fully exposed to the fury of Mnemosyne's atmosphere. She had to damn near get down on her knees to keep her balance in the wind. A husk came lumbering out of the airlock towards them, and she gave it a shockwave which threw it out into nothingness.

She glanced behind her and saw Grunt and Garrus pitch the inactive geth towards the Normandy's airlock. The synthetic sailed limply through the void, followed quickly by the turian and the krogan.

"Jack, go!" snapped Shepard.

"Go yourself, Boss. I'm right behind you." She gave a husk a shotgun blast which spun it around and then ran for the edge of the platform herself. She saw Shepard make the jump with perfect form, his arms tucked back and his legs trailing. Jack felt a little tingle as she gathered herself and leapt herself. This wasn't quite as thrilling as sex or killing, but it was the next best thing. She sped through the brown murk towards the Normandy.

She could see something unexpected on the outer wing. A small and vulnerable gray figure which clung to one of the nacelles. Jack's breath caught in her throat.

"Assface?" she whispered.

He must have heard her, because the distant figure raised one arm and gave her a thumbs-up gesture. That was the last thing Jack saw before the edge of the Normandy's airlock cut off her view. The outer door slammed shut behind her.

Shepard looked around as he counted heads. "We're all in, go!"

Jack slammed one armored fist into the airlock's wall. "No! Give him time to get back in!"

"We're getting too deep, lass," said Donnelly's voice. "I'm tied in as well as can be. Move yer arse, Joker."

Jack screamed in helpless frustration as the ship began to accelerate.

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Donnelly hooked an elbow through one of the clamps and clung as the wind buffeted his legs against the ship. He stared at the hull underneath him, trying not to think about the void that yawned just a few meters away. The voice in his head kept sounding.

Donnelly. Join us.

"Fook off. You're not real."

We know you. Join.

He said nothing. At least the voice seemed to be getting fainter. Something banged off of the hull next to him, and Donnelly snapped his helmet up. Now that the Reaper's drive was completely dead, the debris which had been orbiting the wreck was now being blown around. Some of it was coming their way.

"Joker!" he yelled. "Big chunk o' stuff coming up to starboard!"

"I see it, dude," said the pilot's voice. "How are you doing?"

"Hanging in there, heh. Literally."

Jack's voice now cut in. "You do not have my permission to die, Assface. Is that clear?"

"As crystal, lass. Glad to hear your voice."

The wind got worse. One of his anchors creaked alarmingly. Donnelly knew that he also had a tether hooked in, but if the anchors failed then he'd be banged against the hull like a conker on a string until he was turned into jam. His hardsuit would keep his corpse together, but that was all. No, he had to hold on. There was a flicker of shadow overhead, and Donnelly looked up.

He missed seeing the piece of debris which smashed into his right leg.

The pain was quite amazing. He couldn't scream at first. Fortunately his instinct was to grip tighter onto his anchor. After a moment of pure agony, he managed to howl in pain.

"Marcus!" Jack sounded frantic.

"Joker, are we high enough?" Shepard sounded almost as stressed.

"Not yet, Commander. Give it another minute."

Donnelly could almost hear Jack's jaw set. "FUCK your minute! I'm going out to get him!"

"Jack, stand down!" Shepard was using his Command Voice, but Donnelly could tell that wasn't going to work this time.

"I'm...okay...lass," he managed to wheeze out. It felt like his right leg had been dipped in molten metal; the pain just kept coming. Fortunately his suit had sealed off around his thigh, so at least he still had air. But with the pain he knew he was close to passing out. And if that happened he was a good as dead. "Stay there, just...keep talking to me, okay? Keep me awake."

"Okay." Jack sounded close to tears. "You hang in there, you hear me? You're too fucking stubborn to die."

Donnelly remembered what Tali had just said, and managed a ghost of a chuckle. "Heh. And you're too mean to die."

"Too fucking right. You and me, we're living through this, you got it?"

"Right, lass." The anchor creaked again, and the wind slammed his legs into the hull once more. "AAAH!"

"Hang on, folks, almost out of the atmosphere." Joker's voice was tight and composed, a sure sign he was also close to losing it.

Donnelly could see black sky beginning to show overhead, and thought that he might just make it. And that was when the anchor he was holding finally broke loose from the hull. He grabbed at another one, and just managed to get one hand onto it. There was a few seconds of triumph as he thought he'd be able to hold on, but then his fingers slipped off and he bounced down the hull. There was a huge snap as he reached the end of his tether and all went black.

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He felt pain, nothing but pain. However he figured that was good news. After all, he had to be alive to feel pain, right? He tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt heavy as lead.

"Uahh?" he managed to croak.

There was a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Assface?"

He managed a chuckle. "Guess I was stubborn enough, eh lass?"

Jack's lips pressed against his forehead. "You were, you big lug. Now get some sleep."

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The next time he woke the pain was definitely less. He was also able to open his eyes and see the ceiling of the Normandy's medbay. He looked around. He'd been put into a hospital gown at some point. Jack was curled up and sleeping in a chair nearby. He was a little surprised that nobody else was in there.

Donnelly regarded Jack for a moment as she slept. She wore nothing but a leather vest and shorts which showed quite an amazing amount of thigh. The sight of that gave him a little warm sensation down below, so he figured he couldn't be that badly hurt. The almost-sneer she normally wore was gone. Fortunately it looked like she hadn't been hurt herself during the mission on the derelict Reaper. Jack might be disappointed about that; she always liked showing him any new scars.

"Hey," he croaked.

Jack awoke in an instant and leaned over him. She gripped his face in both hands. "If you ever try anything like that again, I will..." she trailed off, then kissed him hard. He tried to return the kiss as best he could, but felt a warning pang of pain from his abdominal muscles. Jack broke the kiss and pressed her forehead to his. "You don't need to impress me ever again, okay?"

He nodded and felt a smile on his face. "Okay, lass."

"How do you feel?"

"Like Grunt was using me as a punching bag. Where's the doc?"

"I sent her to bed. It's been a couple of days since Mnemosyne, and she's been here without a break since then."

Donnelly leaned back. "So how bad is it?"

Jack looked away, as if she didn't want to meet his eyes. He began to feel a little bit of panic. "Jack?"

"Just...don't freak out, okay?"

He tried to sit up and look down at himself, but Jack held him down. "Before you look...I'm still here, okay? I'm not going anywhere." Then she slid a hand under his back and helped him sit up.

There was a sheet obscuring the lower portion of his body. He could see his left leg outlined underneath it. But starting where his right knee should have been...the sheet lay flat against the bed.

"Oh," he said.

"Your leg was smashed, Marcus. Between that and the banging around you took, the doc wasn't able to save it." Jack snuggled her head under his chin and hugged him.

He sat for a moment, trying to take in what had happened. Suddenly a random thought hit him and he laughed.

"Assface?"

Donnelly stroked her shaved scalp. "I guess I can get a peg leg now. All I need is an eyepatch and I'll be a proper space pirate."

Her head shook against his chest as she giggled. "That's the spirit." She leaned back and looked up at him. "Seriously though, prosthetics are awesome. You can get one just as good as the original."

"Until then, I guess I'll have to hold off on me tap-dancin' lessons."

Jack laughed, then nudged him. "Move over, Stumpy."

Donnelly gave her a raised eyebrow. "Now lass, is that any way to address someone wounded in the line of duty?" He wriggled himself to one side of the bed as Jack climbed onto it and laid down alongside him.

She drew the sheet over herself as well. "It's too damn cold in here."

"Well, you could always put on proper trousers."

"Then how am I supposed you get you all hot and horny?" Her hand rested on his stomach. He could feel her rubbing his abdominals gently through the gown. Then her hand started moving lower. "At least all of your important bits are intact."

"You mean like my brain? Ohh..." Jack's hand had found her target. She massaged his member through the gown for a bit, then pulled up the hem to expose it to her questing fingers.

"Yeah, right. Your brain." He looked over and saw a devilish twinkle in her eyes. "Now you just lay back and let me do all the work. You're still injured, after all."

Her slender fingers danced along his length as Donnelly groaned. By now she knew all of his weak spots and where exactly to touch him. Within a minute she had him fully erect. Jack's voice whispered in his ear. "Successful test so far. You want me to keep trying it out?"

"Yes..." he managed to whimper.

Jack nibbled at his earlobe, then slipped her tongue inside his ear as she began to stroke.

Donnelly didn't dare move, it hurt too much. The various aches and pains faded away as the pleasure rose. Jack's tongue probed further into his ear as her hand sped up. His breath came faster, which in turn made the pain from his chest and stomach increase. It was going to be a race between pleasure and pain to see if he was going to be able to climax.

Jack's tongue pulled out of his ear. "Now," she whispered. Her other hand reached down to fondle his scrotum, and that touch was enough. Donnelly groaned through clenched teeth as he erupted into the sheet. He heard her earthy chuckle as she continued to caress him.

The door hissed open, and Donnelly heard Dr. Chakwas's voice.

"Jack, what on earth are you doing with my patient?"

Jack turned her head upwards and gave the doctor a grin. "Just makin' sure all of his important bits are working, doc."