Chapter 1: Shattering Reality

"Are you freaking kidding me?" It took all I had not to slam the remote control of the PlayStation console into television screen in front of me. I knew the outburst would catch the attention of the gaggle of jocks in the other room huddled around the TV, but it slipped my mind.

"Hey, keep it down in there!" My brother yelled over the choir of grown men's grunts from the other room. "Some of us are trying to watch T.V." Their weekly event held at our two bedroom apartment came to a halt. The sister started to yell and pulled their attention from the giant lummox's who pummeled each other for million dollar paychecks.

"Shut your face, Brett!" I answered back to him before I tossed the remote on the bed beside me. No matter how many times I played Mass Effect 2, I continued to end up with a renegon Shepard and a dead Mordin Solis. I liked Garrus too much to wait until I collected the Salarian scientist from the wards, but it meant he died on every play through.

"Don't make me come in there!" Brett shouted at me once more. "Cause you know I will!"

"Do it then!" I rolled over on my bed to stare at the ceiling and brushed my fingers through my blonde hair. I knew damn well he wouldn't actually dare to pound on my door until I let him in, at least not with five other guys in the living room. Brett kept his male bonding out of my room, an agreement we came to years ago when I turned eighteen.

I heard a few snorts and jeers at Brett's expense, but sure enough, no beating on door to let him in. I sighed and flopped back over to see the credits scroll over the screen. I spent the better half of two weeks on the latest run through of the Mass Effect universe to get the same results as the million other times I played the game. What luck.

"Seriously. How does anyone get through this thing without getting pissed off?" I curled into a ball and growled before I crept to the edge of the bed to peer at the time. The clock on the nightstand told me the sun went down hours ago, and the air should be cool enough I didn't overheat on my daily run.

In two hours I needed to work on the N7 cosplay armor that littered my bedroom floor. I looked like the normal, bobble head blonde on the outside, but in one week Comic Con came to the city of Seatlle. I wanted the armor perfected before then in order to make a real debut.

I laced up my tennis shoes and pulled on some red running shorts. The only chance to go on my run at eleven at night meant Brett needed to be preoccupied enough with the boys he didn't care. The game only lasted so long.

"Bye!" I bolted out the door, grabbing my cell phone and earbuds in a tizzy before Brett could utter a word. Eleven pm didn't seem late to most, but he worried about the downtown streets of the city near the bay. Drunks and homeless seemed to pose a threat in his eyes, even if I never understood personally.

Since I could remember, Brett watched over me. Our parents lived on opposite sides of the country in order to ensure they never ran into one another. My brother and I lived with my Uncle in Texas until Brett turned eighteen and ventured out on his own. I lasted with my Uncle for eight months before Brett came back for me. It seemed the Ellison kids liked each other too much to live so far apart.

Brett whisked me away to the grand city of Seattle, which didn't end up so badly for me either. Weekends meant hunting or fishing, weekdays meant work and school. I had grown up in self-defense classes and track meets. The only time Brett allowed me to date came in the form of an internet relationship where we never stood a chance of meeting in real life.

As Brett put it, "You seem like a fully functional chick, cept' you have these tendencies I just can't figure." Translated, it meant I liked things outside of the conventional redneck realm my brother lived in. Books and gaming became hobbies as I finished school. Brett never grasped the ideas himself and decided to leave me to my own devices once I graduated.

I reached the convention center I stopped at stared at the letters on the side of the building. Soon enough people who really understood the core of my fascination with Mass Effect would flock to the city. I couldn't wait. I just needed a little more time to be my own version of Fem-Shep in the flesh.

As I popped my right earbud out, I heard the clamor of trashcans from the alley I just passed. The warnings Brett given me echoed in my head and I started to walk away. The occasional loud drunk I didn't have an issue dealing with, but at times they became more persistent than I could handle. In my hurry out the door I didn't bother to grab my pepper spray Brett begged me to strap on while I ran.

"Stop!" A gruff male voice called out behind me. I picked up the pace into a jog and followed the sidewalk around the corner. If I kept going the perp would fall behind and become distracted with something else. I just needed a little more distance. "Hey, I said stop!"

"No!" I called over my shoulder. I didn't need to look back to know the distance between us closed significantly over the last few seconds. If this drunk caught up to me so easily I needed to train harder. "Just… Go away!" I panted out between thuds on the concrete.

"Seriously?" My pursuer groaned and started into a full sprint.

I put everything I could into increasing my strides and speed. If Brett learned what happened the I told you so's would never stop.

I timed things so I ran across the street at a red light before traffic started again. Only a moron wouldn't know they could end up splattered on the street if they didn't stop. I turned to look back, just in time to see a taxi slam into the aforementioned moron.

"Shit!" I screamed as my hands went up in the air. Horns blared and people stopped to gawk at the scene right in front of them. "No." I just watched as someone got themselves killed chasing me. I started to shake from the adrenaline and felt myself start to amble forward in disbelief. I killed an idiot on a late night run.

A groan came from the front of the car, a sign of life. I hurried to see around the front fender of the taxi just in time to see someone sit up. The person wore the most elaborate suit of black and grey armor I could have imagined. In fact, it looked familiar. I felt a wave of relief wash over me. Maybe I hadn't gotten someone killed, just terribly maimed.

"Are you okay?" One of the gawkers tried to help the downed man back to his feet. He waved one hand at the person who talked to him and held his head with the other.

"Fine. I'll be fine." He looked up. "Ms. Ellison." The man grunted as he stepped to the side to catch his balance, apparently not fine from his head on collision. "A word."

"Um." I motioned to the dent in front of the car. "You don't seriously think we can talk after… and I don't know you… and you chased me…" I tried to think, but it seemed impossible with what happened.

"This will be dealt with." He grabbed my wrist and started off in the direction we ran from in the first place.

"Hey!" I smacked his hand and took a few steps back. "Don't touch me!" The peopled around us stared, and at least one guy seemed to have his feathers ruffled from the way the stranger grabbed on to me. "You just wait for the cops."

The guy didn't say another word to me while we waited for the cops to show up. He gave me a few sideways glances, and I swore at least one I caught him checking me out. I attributed it to the newly gained brain damage and kept my distance.

When the police arrived, they saw to it we stood far from one another as we recounted our story of why the entire ordeal occurred in the first place. The officer seemed to believe me after twenty minutes of answering questions, and gave me the chance to call Brett while they talked to other key witnesses.

I swore Brett didn't hear half of what I told him on the phone. I imagined he stopped listening to anything after the mention of words "man" and "accident". His drinking buddy who remained at the house took the call from him half way through my story to get my current location.

"Ms. Ellison?" The police officer who took my statement came back up to me as I ended the phone call. "This guy over here says he knows you."

"No, that's not possible." I shook my head. "I've never seen him before in my life. I wouldn't have ran from him like some creep if I did."

"That's not the story we're getting. Apparently he says you two have spent a lot of time together. If you don't mind, we'd like to bring you down to the station for a few more questions." He reached for my shoulder to point me towards his vehicle.

"Wait, I'm being arrested?" I gawked at him and shrugged my shoulder to remove his hand from my skin. How did things come to this? "I'm telling you, sir, I've never seen this man before in my life. I don't even know his name."

"Richard Jenkins." The officer waited to see if the name registered. "He says you're his wife."

"Ha!" I cried out and slapped my thigh. Maybe it came from the shock of the cop's attempt to take me downtown, or maybe the exhaustion set in. The one thing I knew for certain, this moron of a man could not be my husband. "No, I'm not married. Not even close." I regained my composure. "My brother will be here in just a moment to tell you the truth. I swear, sir, I'm not married."

"Regardless, I'm going to need you to come down to the station." He reached for my shoulder a second time to escort me to his police car. "Just come with me, and we can work this all out."

"But I didn't do anything!" I raised my voice, upset things escalated to this. "I don't know him, AND he's the one who chased after me!" I pointed my finger at the armor clad idiot across the street. "Take his happy ass to jail, and just let me go home!"

"Alex, just get in the car!" I turned to see Brett, who must have arrived when the officer pointed me in the direction of his vehicle. He stood with the rest of the witnesses on the street, blocked by the police officers from getting to me. "Just do what he says, and I'll get it all sorted at the jail."

"Jail?" I felt tears prick my eyes. "What the hell, Brett? Tell them I'm not married and to let me go!" I tried to pull away from the officer. "I'm not going to jail!"

"Ma'am, at this time it's just questioning. We are happy to add resisting arrest if you would prefer to fight." The officer tried to smile. I wanted to punch him right in the smug grin.