A/N: Sequel-ish to 'Three Small Words' you don't have to read it but I am not above touting for traffic for my other story. Oh and all copy-righted/protected materials that belong to Bioware/some-one else, still belong to Bioware/some-one else.

Mass Effect 3 'Stuck in the Middle'

Bahak System

Joker, EDI and Shepard had come to the Bahak system to investigate a lead from the fragmented data that the AI had retrieved from the Collector Base during their escape. Records that showed something had been hidden in the system but which had been recently disturbed. They had hoped it would prove to be an archive, a back-up for the information contained in the Collector Base and which was now in the hands of Cerberus. They had been right and wrong, whilst it had been an archive containing the information they wanted. It had also been pure Reaper technology, without the Prothean based interface to reduce the effects of indoctrination. Prior to the Normandy's arrival an Alliance covert research team had installed a series of thrusters and mass effect generators on the asteroid before they had succumbed to the artefact's indoctrination. Their original intention had been to alter the asteroid's flight when it passed near the system's Mass Relay and then use the relay to send it to an unclaimed and uninhabited star system where they could analyse the artefact fully and without the threat of the Batarian Hegemony detecting them then executing them as spies. The plan had been in the final stages when the Batarians had captured Doctor Amanda Kenson, the project leader, whilst she was transporting the last shipment of element zero. Being an uninvited human in Batarian space had been enough to see her imprisoned being caught smuggling refined eezo had resulted in what the Batarians referred to as 'interrogation'.

The commander had successfully rescued Doctor Kenson from the prison and the two had used a commandeered Batarian shuttle to reach the rest of her team. They had spent the flight conversing about the doctor's plan, Shepard had felt awe at first at the audacity but as the conversation progressed he had become uneasy. There was almost a fanaticism within the doctor, which when coupled with an unwillingness to listen to Shepard's concerns made him wary. When the two had finally arrived at the hidden base the now completely indoctrinated personnel had promptly attacked them. Alone, Shepard had escaped from the hangar but was finally cornered in the base's medical section. Only the arrival of a Batarian patrol, responding to the prison breakout, had given Shepard the chance to escape alive. After that it had been a nightmare whirl of mayhem and destruction as the Batarian soldiers and the indoctrinated project staff had fought whilst hunting the commander. In desperation Shepard had activated the asteroid's engines, he couldn't, wouldn't, entrust the Reaper artefact and the information it held into the hands of the Batarian Hegemony.

In the end though, all Shepard had achieved was a catastrophic failure, the Batarian's attempts to seize control had resulted in the destruction of the engine controls and most of the asteroid's combatants. Shepard had made his way to the project control centre from there he had hoped to use the project's mainframe to create and transmit a relay transit calculation. Only to find the centre's computers already destroyed by Doctor Kenson who had resolved to ensure the artefact's annihilation. Shepard would never be sure if her callous disregard for the system's three hundred thousand inhabitants, who would be killed by the energy released by a Mass Relay's destruction, was a symptom of her struggle against Reaper indoctrination or whether it was plain human indifference. Either way the thing that had confronted him in the control room hadn't been Amanda Kenson anymore. The monster that had taunted him and raved about the imminent arrival of the Reapers was not the person he had conversed with on the shuttle. Shepard had left the control room alone, the sole survivor of asteroid 157-Golgotha and his last chance of remaining so had mandated a space walk to the project's communication dish.

Asteroid 157-Gologtha

Shepard finished linking his communicator to the much larger transmitter dish that loomed over his head and which obscured his view of the near-by Mass Relay. He quickly checked the connection. The work was crude and basic, any engineer would have disapproved. His tech instructors from his academy days would have failed it and probably have thought it necessary to order a completely new dish to replace the one he had just butchered, whilst Tali would have… Shepard stopped that train of thought, his nightmares would have to wait, and after his actions today he was due plenty more. Shepard activated his communicator; the message would be broadcasted in all directions and unencrypted, but it would have to do. Time was fast becoming an issue. "Normandy, this is Shepard. I need a pick-up ASAP."

For several seconds there was only silence then, thankfully, it was replaced by the confused sounding voice of Joker, the Normandy's helmsman. "Err, commander you do know that you just told the entire batarian populated system that we're here, right? I mean, I thought the purpose of a covert mission was to not tell people who we are?"

"Normandy, save the wise-cracks for later. We need to get out of the system, right now."

"Well you got that right commander 'cause about an hour ago an asteroid changed course somehow, so now in about eight minutes it's going to smash into…" Joker's voice trailed off then returned in a despairing tone, "…You're on the asteroid aren't you?"

"Correct."

"…We're moving ETA, probably less than eight minutes, hopefully."

"Sooner would be better Normandy."

"Well gee maybe if you hadn't left the whole crew on Omega, they could have repaired some of the damage from our last little trip. You know, some-time during the past three days me and EDI have spent skulking around up here."

"If you can't make it in time Normandy, just go. Leave me."

Joker made an exasperated noise, "Pfft right, and then when I get back to the others they'll be drawing straws to see who gets to kill me. Dying in a super-nova would be a hell of a lot less painful than what Garrus or Miranda would do to me, definitely be quicker anyways."

Shepard was suddenly glad that he was the only living thing on the asteroid, his sudden flinch when his friend mentioned Miranda had proved sufficient in the low gravity to send him slowly drifting. Shepard knew that sooner or later that he and Miranda would have to talk about the events back on the Collector base as well as Jack's final words, he just needed more time to sort out his own feelings first. The commander's anchor cable pulled taut, arresting his drift and Shepard focused back on his current problem. "Normandy we're about to lose the channel, my suit's damaged and I need to move. Trace this signal and pick me up from the top of the antenna, repeat top of the antenna, literally."

EDI replied instead of Joker, the AI's voice as calm and collected as it always sounded. "I have traced your signal Shepard and provided Jeff with the necessary co-ordinates. I calculate our transit time at 5 minutes, 19 seconds." There was a slight pause then her voice returned, "I calculate our new transit time will be 4 minutes, 36 seconds."

Shepard grinned for the first time in what felt like a month, "Understood Normandy, Shepard out." He looked at the tangle of wires and circuitry that linked his space-suit with the larger transmitter and tore into them. The painfully delicate wiring, bypasses and patches that had frustrated him whilst creating the link, took only a handful of seconds to rip apart. That done he lined up with the top of the communication dish detached his anchor from the metalwork and pushed off, drifting upwards. Keeping his body parallel to the superstructure that held the transmitter, and using the ubiquitous safety grips to control his speed and direction, the commander travelled swiftly keeping his gaze determinedly fixed on the terrain ahead of him and not on the swiftly enlarging Mass Relay. Shepard slowed as he neared the top of the communication dish, bringing himself to a graceful stop when he arrived which allowed him to swing himself perpendicular and crouch with his boots now touching the metalwork as well. Now all he could do was hope and wait.

It wasn't long before he saw the Normandy, Joker had dropped the ship out of FTL ridiculously close to the asteroid and the flare from her bow thrusters illuminated her entire descent slowing the ship down until she hung, stationery, about a dozen metres in front of the crouched commander. Shepard was once again impressed with the skill of his pilot he hadn't seen a single correction during the entire manoeuvre it was as if Joker had planned and rehearsed for months for this exact situation, not cobbled it together with no warning and in a couple of minutes. The airlock door in the Normandy's flank slid open, now it was Shepard's turn to fly. He shifted slightly, ran a rough calculation through his head and using the strength of his legs threw himself off the communication dish towards the waiting ship. Three seconds into his flight and Shepard realised he had miscalculated, his angle was off and instead of drifting squarely into the middle of the Normandy's airlock the commander was instead going to clip the upper edge first. Shepard cursed and readied himself, this was going to hurt. His outstretched hands reached the Normandy first and in that split second he clung onto the hull and pivoted himself into the airlock, where the Normandy's artificial gravity conspired with his existing momentum to wrench him free and send him crashing into the inner airlock door and then onto the deck. Shepard swore again, and waited for the green light by the door to activate telling him that the chamber had been re-pressurised and he could enter the Normandy proper. Until then he felt like he could just lie on the floor and curse some more.

The green light flashed brightly twice, the light illuminating the entire airlock claiming Shepard's attention before settling to a constant steady glow. The commander tiredly got to his feet and hurried to the bridge, the external microphone detecting Joker's voice and relayed it to him through his ear-piece.

"…Approaching relay in 4, 3, 2…"

Shepard grabbed the back of Joker's chair, relay transitions could become turbulent if rushed and the commander believed that he had been bounced off the deck enough for one day. The stars outside merged into the glow that accompanied all relay travel, then separated into new positions. They had escaped, they where safe. Shepard looked down to congratulate the pilot then hurriedly flicked his gaze back to the stars outside. In a surprising level voice the commander asked, "Joker where are your pants, and why are you sitting with a damn beach towel on your chair?"

Hagalaz System (5 weeks later)

Shepard felt the jolt of the shuttle landing through his seat, which he used as his cue to power down the small craft's systems. The silence that followed pulled at the commander and just for a second he paused and tried to relax. But it was no good, as soon as he stilled the doubts came swarming, the extranet was flooded with reports and speculation about the destruction of the Bahak system. The sole concrete fact was the presence of one Lieutenant-Commander Shepard who had escaped from an asteroid shortly before it had crashed into the Mass Relay and obliterated the system. The Batarians had promptly blamed the Systems Alliance, demanded that Shepard stand trial in a Batarian court and posted one of the largest bounties ever seen for the capture of Shepard and the Normandy. Between avoiding the Batarian military, evading what Shepard assumed where Cerberus teams hunting for the Illusive Man's badly damaged but still very expensive rogue starship and eluding what seemed to be every third bounty hunter in the known galaxy, the trio aboard the Normandy had little chance to rest or refute the accusations. Their single transmitted message sent to the infamous Shadow Broker had somehow summoned a Batarian carrier that had dogged them for four days. The resulting heat build-up combined with the damaged thermal sink had transformed the Normandy into a sweltering misery and almost saw Joker's clothing optional policy make a return.

The quick release for the pilot seat restraints seemed to resist Shepard's efforts forcing him to focus, his fatigue was transforming the routine into a challenge. The doubts, ignored for now, settled. Shepard knew he needed help that was why he had returned to the remote, storm wracked planet. The partial information the Normandy crew had extracted from the Collector's database during their escape needed distribution and analysis before Cerberus could use their access to the full archive to gain an advantage over the rest of the galaxy. Shepard was aware that his connection with Cerberus made him suspicious to the Council's eyes and recent events would have done nothing to reassure them. The commander needed the Shadow Broker's resources to launder the data and Shepard needed Liara, ever since Miranda had shared her medical logs detailing the extremes she had gone to restore him there had been an unspoken question in his mind. Miranda had realised that, she had given him reassurances which with time and his own experiences he had accepted. He had come to trust her, more than that he had fallen in love with her. But after the events of the Collector Base, that question had resurfaced and the trust had become questionable. The love was still there, somehow, but now the uncertainty twisted that emotion into something that now strengthened those doubts instead. If there was one other person left in the galaxy who could help him with that question it was Liara T'Soni, the problem was the last time they had spoken things had become confrontational and had left their changed relationship feeling even more fraught. In such an atmosphere Shepard had no idea on how he could ask her for the reassurance he badly wanted.

Shepard activated the hatch release, stepped out of the shuttle and onto the deck of the Shadow Broker's ship. As usual the cargo bay was deserted, populated only by the anonymous shipping crates that carried in the supplies Liara needed. The air was colder than he remembered, or maybe it was because he felt tired. He hurried across to the door that led further into the ship, but which this time refused to open. He tried the controls again then entered the access code Liara had provided during his last visit which resulted in the display flashing red before shutting down. Shepard heard the locking bars slide into place, sealing the cargo bay, and tapped his ear-piece.

"EDI, contact Liara again and ask her to let me out of this cargo bay." The commander felt his breathing become ragged, the air rasping at his throat. He was on a knife-edge, furious over the simple malfunction of a door. It took him a moment to realise the Normandy's AI hadn't responded, "EDI?" There was only static on the communication channel. Shepard started moving back towards the shuttle, his eyes scanning around him, realising now that the scattered shipping containers created too many blind spots to have occurred purely randomly. A glimpse of movement drew his attention as a small palm sized white disc sailed through the air before landing a few feet in front of him. Shepard whirled away, opened his mouth wide, closed his eyes and then covered them with his hands. Without armour it was all he could do to protect himself from the effects of the flash-bang. The explosive crack from the grenade left the commander deafened, leaning against a shipping crate and feeling dizzier than the first time he had tried sharing a glass of ryncol with Wrex. Shepard started counting and got to two when the grenade's flash turned the darkness of his protected vision into a red glow; he lowered his hands and opened his eyes. There where three attackers, one standing further off and at an angle that allowed them a clear aim at Shepard with a pistol whilst the other two closed in with batons, the tactics numbers and equipment where all straight out of the Systems Alliance N7 field manual. Shepard pushed himself away from the container with his left hand and stretched the other in front of him, it wasn't Shakespeare but Shepard hoped it would convince them that he was blind, he needed an advantage.

The first of the two baton wielding marines stepped in reaching for Shepard's outstretched arm, but the commander whipped it away and then reversed the momentum to kick the surprised Marine's legs out from under him. The second marine then attacked, flicking his baton towards Shepard's knee, only for it to break Shepard's wrist instead as the commander brought his arm around to block. Shepard planted his other hand against the marine's visor and rushed him into the side of a shipping container, then slammed the marine's head against it a couple of times for good measure. The second marine slid to the ground, he was probably only stunned but Shepard hoped that was enough, he turned back to face the one he had kicked to the floor just as they got back up. A quick glance showed him the third still holding their ground with their pistol in hand; according to the manual that one would be the squad leader. The one who would have to decide whether or not to use lethal force should it appear that Shepard might escape. Shepard felt he had two options, turn and flee then hope he could out-run two fit and probably enraged marines whilst he was still unbalanced from the stun grenade, provided they didn't just shoot him in the back. Or fight and with one hand try to capture the closest then use him as a hostage till Shepard reached the shuttle. A sane, ignored, part of his mind provided a third option. But the snatch squad had obviously managed to coerce Liara and Feron, somehow, into not warning the commander of his assailants' presence and for that Shepard had no intention of letting them win.

Shepard charged forward, brushing aside a half-hearted jab from the baton, and received a punishing left hook to his face instead which staggered him. The baton was swung again this time hitting Shepard's side, but the marine was too close now and the blow would only leave a bruise. Shepard's left arm shot out, grabbed the marine's baton wielding arm by the wrist twisted it into a lock and stepped in closer. His opponent tried to free his arm only to be surprised when the motion assist motors in his armour proved insufficient against Shepard's strength; a hurried rabbit-punch to the commander's kidney was foiled by an elbow strike from Shepard's injured arm. For a second the two combatants stood motionless as they strained against one another, then the marine's helmeted face snapped forward and the commander's vision dissolved, his eyes swiftly filling with tears as the marine's armoured head-butt smashed his nose. But it wasn't enough with a final surge Shepard unbalanced his opponent and threw him to the ground. It was then the commander realised his hearing had returned as the marine let out a howl of pain as Shepard's joint lock caused the ligaments and tendons of the marine's shoulder to rip and tear apart as he fell. Shepard released his grip, with extensive surgery and intense physical therapy the marine should regain the use of his ruined arm, but for now he was out of the fight and essentially dead weight.

The other two marines hadn't moved one was still slumped on the ground whilst the second aimed their gun at the commander from a safe distance. As angry as Shepard was he realised it was too far for him storm across without taking fire, and as well-tailored as Kasumi's present was it still wouldn't stop mass accelerator rounds. He raised his hands, wincing at the pain, and slowly stepped back, if he could just make it to the corner of the container on his right.

The marine stepped lightly after Shepard, maintaining the same distance whilst the pistol never wavered. "Don't," the marine warned.

Shepard swallowed, "You're not going to shoot me," he needed maybe a dozen more steps. "Your orders are to take me in alive," ten more steps, "otherwise your two friends wouldn't have been as nice." The gun dropped down, and Shepard lowered his arms, "Tell the others to let Liara and her friend go," he was at the corner.

Shepard's feet left the ground as the pull from a biotic singularity lifted him up into the air and away from the shelter offered by the shipping container, before it slammed him back down against the floor. As Shepard stirred the biotic repeated the sequence, then again. The commander's vision was tunnelling as he tried to pull himself along the deck. He had no plan or weapons and no allies to call upon, he had no destination, it was a pointless act of defiance and it was all he had left. Motion claimed his attention and he saw her, the white lab coat and that memorised blue face. A face with a grim look of anger, despite the streaming tears, as she held her arm stretched out in front of her in an oh-so familiar gesture that he had seen countless number of times. But which had never once been directed at him.

The final marine knelt next to Shepard and snapped the cuff of a restraint around his good wrist. Shepard didn't struggle as they drew it to the small of his back then, as gently as they could, moved his injured arm as well before placing the second cuff around his broken wrist. The marine lingered for a second then told him, "Sorry Skipper."

It was too much Shepard let his eyes close.