Because there's not nearly enough Javik fanfiction! It will be slow romance wise since it starts in the second game but eventually it'll get there. Rated M for violence, Andrea's and Jack's potty mouth, and, one day, smut.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Mass Effect series.

Wallet: Check.

Phone: Check.

Charger: Check.

Toothbrush and toothpaste: Check.

Extra clothes: Check.

I went over the last of my checklist for the ninth time. I knew everything was there but I couldn't help but feel nervous. The crackling of electricity filled the air as the gears of my machine whirled. I rubbed my tongue across my teeth, feeling the grittiness of the plaque. I realized that I hadn't bathed in days; my need to finish this project overcame all other necessities in time for my presentation.

"Okay, first things first. I need to shower and eat. If my calculations are correct this should send me to the other side of the orphanage. Then I'll take it to my professors, get a patent, and get out of this hell hole." I was aware that I was muttering to myself but I didn't stop. The people who thought it was creepy had long stopped bothering me. They said that their breath was wasted on trying to stop me from acting crazy.

"I'll show them crazy." It wasn't my fault that it helped me keep all these thoughts in order. I grabbed some clothes, hoping they were clean, then darted into the bathroom for a quick shower. While the water heated up I darted out of the bathroom to grab a cereal bar or 'emergency food rations', as I liked to call them. I swallowed the last bit as I stepped into the water. I wanted to get this over as quickly as possible so that I could try the device so I brushed my teeth in the shower and roughly combed through my wet curls. I knew they were just going to frizz out once they dried anyways so what was the point in actually trying? The thought of shaving off the other half passed through my head, and not for the first time. As the last of the suds ran off my body I shut the water off, dried off, and dressed.

"On the bright side, the rocks that I put in stopped coming out all hot and covered in black stuff." A worn t-shirt went over my head and I grabbed a clean towel. Always bring a towel with you, as the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy would say. I grabbed it to shove it into the backpack and walked back into my 'workshop' as the younger kids called it. Speaking of younger kids…

"Hey! Get away from that!" I stormed towards some of the younger guttersnipes that were currently playing with monitor and keyboard of my machine.

"Awww, we just wanted to play some games. What is this junk anyways?" The brat thought that pushing his lower lip would make me think he was too cute to kick him out of my room but I had sixteen years of experience with bullshit.

" Here, play with this." I handed them an old phone that I kept around for shits and giggles. It had a few games on it like Solitaire and Bejeweled.

"Now. Get. Out." The words were seething enough to get them out but not threatening enough for them to tattle on me. They grabbed the phone and ran giggle out the door. And now to see if they fucked anything up. I went to the monitor, checking the binary codes that were on the screen.

The awful thing about being tired is it's hard to catch mistakes.

I placed my left hand through the portal to test the waters, so to speak. I figured if I were to lose a hand I could go on without my weaker hand. It tingled more than anything else and when I pulled it back it came back not inside out, so that was a plus.

"Test one of a live human subject," I spoke into a small recorder. When I got to the other side I would record the results.

"Well, here goes nothing." I grabbed my backpack filled with random things just in case I got sent to the other side of the world, shoved the towel in there, and slung it over my back. I went over my checklist for the tenth time before deciding to grab my notebook with all the schematics on my machine and shoved them into the bag. I took a deep breath and step through.

And HOLY HELL did it hurt.

It felt like my skin was on fire. In the left side of my mind, a little voice said 'recording 113, first test of live human subjects. Test subject reacted in pain after going through the portal.' I let my head rest on the cold metal floor I had ungracefully fallen on and clenched my jaw to avoid screaming until the pain finally subsided. My ears were ringing and I realized that my eyes were closed. Something wet ran down my neck. I tried opening my eyes but it felt like they had gotten sunburnt. I faintly heard a robotic voice in the distance saying something along of the lines of 'There's an intruder in the cargo bay'.

"How could there be an intruder? We don't even have a cargo bay?" I was about to chuckle at my own pain driven delirium until I realized that even my mouth felt like it had been burnt. I began coughing instead.

"Commander, I believe you should take her to the medical bay." There was that voice again. It reminded me of Siri on the IPhone I worked my butt off to buy. I groaned in pain as I was lifted up.

"I believe you're correct EDI. Well, at least she's alive. I have a lot of questions for the person that just appeared in my ship." I was scooped up and each time the person carrying me took a step it felt like someone had slapped me. I somehow managed not to cry out.

'Test 114: Subject is responding to outside stimuli. No brain damage is suspected.' I berated the left side of my brain until it shut the fuck up.

"Lay her down gently, Commander. She has serious burns on her eyes and in her mouth. Probably had slight asphyxiation and might have a broken rib. She should be okay with the Omni-gel but it'll take a while." The new voice was older, almost like how I imagined a grandmother sounding. I was lowered onto something soft, most likely a medical cot if I understood the situation correctly. An orange light reached past my eyelids then disappeared. It was harsh but my eyes and throat felt like they weren't on fire, so I couldn't complain too much. I felt weightless for a moment and I realized that I had passed out at some point. I wearily opened them, expecting the pain to return. I was pleasantly surprised when it didn't and allowed my eyes to fully open.

My surrounds looked less like what could be found in a hospital and more like what would be found on a ship. Did someone say something about a ship right? Or did I imagine that? The orange light that I had seen behind my eyelids was some form of arm device attached to an older woman. Where the light touched there was instant relief from the pain. I watched without moving as the skin that was burnt went back to its original state, possibly even healthier.

"My dear, are you able to speak? You were out for about an hour. Disorientation is to be expected." She had apparently noticed that I was watching her. My mouth still felt like it had a film in it but it would be manageable. I had barely responded to her question when a new person appeared in front of me.

"What's your name and how did you get on my ship?" It was a question but the tone left no room for not answering.

"Andrea. And I don't know how I got aboard you ship ma'am. I was testing my machine in my room in Idaho… Then I was here. Can I have some water please?" Her gaze made me want to be on the best behavior. The lady raised one red eyebrow; it made the scars on her face twist in a grotesque manner.

"Idaho? Do you really think I would buy that story?" She crossed her arms as I sat up. The older lady handed me a cup and I downed the content. So long as it cleared my throat I didn't care what it was.

"Commander, her vitals suggest she is telling the truth." The Siri voice came from no visible location.

"Thanks, EDI. What was this machine you were talking about?" Her arms were still crossed but her face seemed to be a bit more at ease. I began to push myself into a sitting position. The pain was still slightly there, almost like when you pull a scab off before its completely healed; everything was tender. My side felt like there was a cramp in it and I was sure it was bruised but it wasn't anything I couldn't work through. The doctor lady told me to take it easy and I smiled at her concern.

"Um… Did I have a bag with me?" This "Shepard" lady motioned for the bag and what I had originally assumed was just a weird looking statue moved and made a few noises that sounded like chirps and trills and overlapping tones. The bag was placed next to me but everything suddenly felt fuzzy. It was probably a good thing I was sitting already because I would have fainted.

"Ma'am… Where am I? You said it was a ship right? So the Atlantic? Pacific? " My voice sounded high pitch and shaky even in my own ears so I couldn't imagine how it sounded in someone else's view. Her eyebrow rose again.

"You're on the SSV Normandy SR-2. We're currently docked at the Citadel."

"And… where is the Citadel? And what does SSV mean? I've heard of USS but never SSV." The thing chirped a few times but I ignored it. I wasn't sure if the stress or the lack of actual sleep or the fact that I hadn't really eaten in a few days was making me see things so the thought was if I pretended it wasn't there it would go away. That didn't seem to be working, though.

"You honestly don't know where the Citadel is? And don't know what SSV means? Where are you from?" I wasn't the savviest when it came to knowing pop culture but I was decent at geography and a place called the Citadel would have definitely stuck in my brain. And WHAT WAS THAT THING HANGING AROUND US!? I took a few deep breaths to calm myself. There was bound to be a logical explanation. Plus he didn't seem aggressive so there was no reason to fly off the pan.

"I told you, I'm from Idaho." I dug through my bag and pulled out my wallet to show my state ID. Her face scrunched up in confusion.

"This is from 2016."

"Yeah? Did I fall into a coma or is everyone on boats insane?" I realized I was being snippy a bit too late when a brown-haired woman wearing a white catsuit cast me an icy look. She could give me all the mean looks she wanted. I wasn't the one with a camel toe. It was almost hard not to look at it. It just protruded like it was saying 'Hi there, I'm Miss Camel Toe, it's nice to meet you!'

"It's 2185. You're several million light years away from earth. And you're saying that the reason that this is true is because of a machine you built? EDI, get Mordin. I'm sure he'll love this. Miranda, run a background check on her. I want to know what's going on here."

"You have a camel toe." Apparently while my brain was off to lunch my body decided to fulfill its need to point dumb shit out. My mouth snapped shut as the last words passed through it. I coughed awkwardly as she turned on a heel and walked out of the room in a 'better than thou' manner that a lot of my schoolmates had. Well. That could have definitely gone better.

I decided to rummage through my bag before my mouth said something stupid again. I eventually found a small binder filled to the rim with varies notes. Some were on actual notepaper, some written in crayon on construction paper. My face felt hot as I looked at the poorly drawn doodles I had meant to erase before anyone saw them. I flipped through the pages until I found a large piece of canvas that had a rough sketch of my device. I hopped off the bed shakily and began to unfold the drawing until it was laid out across the bed. I was looking at what I considered my baby when I heard fast moving gibberish. The words moved so fast together that it almost sounded like a bubbling creek.

I had a feeling that if I looked up I would probably see something I wasn't quite ready to deal with. After a vote of ninety-nine brain stems to one the course of action has been decided to look up. Brown eyes met with large black one. He was a lot less scary looking than the other one. Kinda looked like a frog.

"Andre, did you hear Mordin?" Did she understand them? I don't know how she would be able to. Though they seemed to understand us fine. Maybe some kind of translator?

"Ma'am, do you have a translator? It seems like the only logical explanation to how you're able to understand them. It just sounds like chirps from the big one and gibberish from him." The avian looking alien made more chirping and a noise that sounded vaguely like a chuckle and the red-haired woman smiled at him before turning to the human doctor. I really need to get all of their names. I think the skinny alien's name is Mordin. And the scary lady is Shepard? Though I guess scary isn't the right word… Intimidating maybe? Take chargey? There had to be a word for that. My brain went on another break apparently because the next thing I knew my wrist was grabbed and something was slid over my hand. It tightened until it was snug and I felt a sharp prick in my vein. Then my head was tilted and something was stuck deep in my ear. I heard a click deep in my head and the warble of the smaller alien's voice suddenly made sense. It was like when I started taking my calculus class in college and for first few days was confusing and then one day it just clicked into place.

"Ah. Device must be working. Omni-tool. Very useful. Can be used as translator as well as flashlight, a camera, repairing ite-"

"Mordin, you're rambling." So his name was definitely Mordin. I went over all the things I knew at the present moment. Skinny dude's name was Mordin. Red headed chick was probably named Shepard. Her last name perhaps? And she was the commander of this ship. Which was a space ship? My brain was still having a hard time with that curveball. There were nonhumans on board. They seemed nice enough, though. Catsuit camel toe woman was Miranda, I think. The big guy's name hadn't been said that I know of. And neither had the doctor that had fixed me with whatever magic medicine they had in the future. I looked around the room at all the faces, trying to come to terms with the new type of faces. After thinking everything over I decided that they weren't the strangest things to happen to me today. Having my eyeballs burnt and being shot over a hundred years of the future topped the list. EDI was some kind of computerized assistant?

"You know, you're very lucky. If the Normandy hadn't been in the exact position that it was you would have either fallen to your death or spliced between the hull." Well, that was a comforting thought. Old lady needed to work on her bedside manners.

"Commander, I've pulled up her files. Either she has a very good cover story or she's telling the truth. Andrea Doe. No family. Lived in an orphanage since she was one. Disappeared a few days before she turned eighteen. Get this; She was working on her Master's Degree. Apparently she was some kind of 'genius'" I cringed at the word. I had never liked it when people used it to describe me since it made other kids my age either resentful or too scared to talk to me. "She was labeled as a runaway. They think the stress of college at her young age made her leave everything, included her half broken machine, behind." I noted that Miss Camel Toe had a really weird accent… I really needed to stop calling her that in my head. It was rude. Her name was Miranda and her fashion choices were her own. Though I did notice that it was less noticeable now. Guess she fixed it.

"Wait. What do you mean by 'half broken'? It was in working condition when I left!"

"They said they thought you had a mental breakdown and destroyed it." My brain processed the information. Transporting me must have overloaded the core. I made a mental note to jot that down on my notes.

"Well, care to explain what exactly this machine is?" The commander's blue eyes fell back on me and I felt a bit of nausea. I had always thought I would be prepared to exactly explain what it was but now that I had to I was stumbling over the words.

"Ah, w-well, you see. It's s-supposed to just be a t-transporter. Make it easier to travel goods and people. Cut down on cost and such." As I pointed out the design and explained it I began to find my words again. The speech I had been memorizing for the past few years came back to me and soon it was like I was just rehearsing in front of a mirror again.

"Mordin… Is this even possible?" The scaly guy and the commander turn to the frog-like guy. It was a lot easier to tell he was male now that his voice was translated into English. I would have to figure out how this translator worked later.

"Hmm. With enough skill and luck. Yes. Possible." I also wanted to figure out what this 'Omni-tool' thing was. From the few things Mordin had said it seemed like it was pretty useful. I concentrated at the weird bracelet like device on my wrist and an orange screen abruptly popped up. Did it respond to mental stimuli? Or was this just some weird fluke? I need to play around with this… I realized that I was ignoring them again and refocused on the group that was now looking over my blueprints. As soon as I looked away from the orange screen it disappeared.

"And you built this at, what, sixteen?" The commander's eyes were on me again.

"Actually, seventeen, though I have been working on it since I was eleven. It's one of the many reasons I never got adopted. That and I lot of the projects I worked on before exploded… Or caught fire… Or caught fire and then exploded. It's hard to work with only junkyard parts. Though my airsoft gun mods were always on point." I shrugged at my past mistakes. At least this one was kinda a success.

"On point?"

"Yeah, you know. On point. Like, they were perfect."

"We definitely don't use that anymore. We might have to make a list of sayings that aren't used. So what do you think you can add to this crew? You're technically an illegal right now. And we have no room for unproductive civilians." Her face had stopped looking less anger and more professional. Was she offering me a job?

"Uh… I can build stuff? I learn really fast, that should count for something right?" I grabbed a worn notebook from my bag and began flipping through the pages until I found designs for gun modifications. Sure they were for fake guns but I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to translate them to work for real guns.

"This is the military right? So I'm sure I can figure out a way to make your guns more efficient." I muttered 'maybe' at the end of that on accident.

"You have two weeks. That's how long it will take to get to our next destination then back to the Citadel. If you can't find something useful to do on the ship then I'm dropping you off next time we get to the Citadel. Well, now that this is sorted out, I have to make sure our other arrival hasn't smuggled anything else on board" She made an exasperated sigh and I watched as she walked out of the room. I turned to look at the big naked bird looking one. That is probably a rude way of describing him. Names, Andrea. You have to ask for names. Small talk… You were basically trained for this at the orphanage.

"Uh, hey, what's your name? Oh, dude, what happened to your face?" Well, at least it was a good attempt to be courteous. Suddenly Matron Elizabeth's voice popped into my head saying 'you need to be more ladylike!' I ignored it and observed more of his face. Half of it was covered in scabs and patches. It was pretty gross looking. The longer I looked the more I saw to the injury. Burns, lacerations, the works. It must've been a pretty strong hit.

"It's a… hah… Long story. Name's Archangel."

"That… Is the coolest name I've ever heard! Is it like a codename? Do I get a codename? Can it be Blue Lightning? Or, better yet, Black Panther!" A small chuckle from him and I realized that I was being teased. I did the most dramatic frown I could pull off. It just made him laugh more until he grimaced. Apparently it was a pretty fresh wound.

"So what's your real name? And, not to be rude I literally cannot figure out a polite way to say this, what are you two? Cause I think the only thing keeping me from flipping my shit is that you haven't tried killing me."

"Yeah, we got tired of killing off your kind. The real name is Garrus Vakarian. And you apparently have a lot of history to catch up with." I couldn't tell if he was kidding or not about the killing. I had a feeling that he wasn't. But he was right… I had missed a lot in the almost one hundred and seventy years I had been 'gone'. It hit me then; I had been gone for almost two centuries. Everyone I knew was dead. Everything I knew was the past. Aliens were real. Space travel was an actual thing. My lungs felt unbearably tight and blackness crept into the corners of my vision.

I hit the floor like a bag of rocks.