I love Jayden from Heavy Rain, and I was sad I wouldn't get to see him anymore when the game ended. I also thought he could have used a much stronger/interesting female lead to play against...and I love Mass Effect. That said...here's my mini-pairing-crossover ;) I realize the plots and settings are very different, but I promise this will make as much sense as reasonably possible. Enjoy!
March 6, 2170 – 15 days since the raiding of Mindoir.
Kassandra Shepard didn't know how tightly she had been grasping at the sleeves of her shirt until she felt the fabric give way, tearing beneath her nails. She didn't worry too much about ruining the garment; it didn't mean anything to her, just something they had given her to replace the tattered clothes she'd been found in. Her surroundings seemed terribly harsh, her senses on fire and overly sensitive to everything. She winced when someone passed by her too closely, hugging her knees as she sat on the uncomfortable leather office couch. There was an Alliance soldier to her right, thankfully giving her the space she silently demanded. He was her escort to this place – she wasn't sure exactly where. She had just let herself be led there, her mind unclear and garbled. All she knew was it was cold and smelled like a medical ward.
She clamped her hands over her ears and rocked a little in her seat, certain she had heard the screams again. Screams of her family. Her eyes clenched shut and she gnawed on her tongue painfully hard. Every now and again she heard her name spoken by the strangers around her. She didn't like how it sounded when they said it.
A man that smelled potently of coffee moved too close to her and she shied away, hiding her faced against her knees. Her escort said something that she didn't quite hear, muffled by the over-large shirt rumpled against her ears. Something about her not being something but having been beaten pretty badly.
"Miss?" a voice near to her spoke. Cautiously, she raised her eyes over her knees to see a man peering back at her. He was crouched down and it put him a little below her eye level. He looked strange and she eventually realized it was his clothes that made him look unusual. He was dressed in a very old fashioned manner, a plain grey suit with a mossy green tie and white shirt half hidden under a black overcoat. It was something she had only seen the older generations wear, or in old mystery movies. He could hardly be called old, fresh faced and looking like he'd just left the Academy. When he caught her eyes, his mouth quirked with the beginnings of a smile that never quite showed.
"I must return to my post. I assume you have everything under control?" the second man interrupted. The one in front of Shepard didn't lose eye contact with her as he lifted a hand to dismiss the officer.
"Yea, we're fine." The uniformed man nodded and exited, much to Shepard's relief. The Alliance had saved her from the raiders, but she still felt uncomfortable being around the soldiers. They had weapons and were therefore more powerful than she was. She had considered stealing a gun when was on the frigate that spirited her away from Mindoir but had never worked up the courage. She wasn't certain what she would have done if she had gotten a hold of one. "My name is Norman Jayden, I work for the Alliance Investigations Sector. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"
Shepard continued to stare at him, wordless. What did he want to ask her? Why had they brought her here? She just wanted to go home except there was nothing left to go back to. He continued to wait patiently for some of response she didn't feel like giving. Finally, she forced herself to look away from studying the lazy blue of his eyes. Jayden turned his gaze away as well and hoisted himself up to stand straight.
"I'm part of the team that's trying to find the bastards that hurt you," he said, sauntering slowly towards the other side of the room. It was then that Shepard noticed they were the only two there since the officer had left. Her fingers clenched at her knees a little and she watched him closely. "With some help from you we might be able to catch them this time."
"...This...time?" Shepard's voice felt foreign in her own throat. Jayden turned to look at her again.
"Yea. We've been chasing this particular gang for a long time. They've been attracted to human colonies a lot lately." Shepard felt something inside her boil with rage, but the fear still settled deep in her stomach, smothering it. When she had been saved she had naively believed that the Alliance soldiers had killed the raiders that murdered everyone she held dear. If what Jayden said was true, they were still out there – murdering others.
"What are you going to do?" she was surprised at how demanding her voice sounded now.
"It depends on how much information we can find. Our best chance to catch them is right after an attack. That's where you come in. Anythin' you might know can help me. Any details."
"I...uhm..," Shepard withdrew again, ducking her head. She didn't want to go back there – to remember. She wasn't even sure she could recall their faces, her mind rebelling against her and clouding the memories. Jayden watched her struggle within herself and let out a small breath. She wasn't ready. Something in his gut told him that she could be very valuable in cracking this case, but if he pushed her she would be no good to anyone. He had seen many like her, unfortunately. He felt for the frail looking sixteen year old curled up before him. All you ever wanted to do was cradle them and tell them it was all going to be alright, but at this point they were beyond all that. They would scream and kick and hide in a corner, barely hanging onto the last threads of their own sanity. He imagined the world had suddenly turned very dark around her, and there was nothing in the world to change that but her own strength of will.
But there was something about her, despite how she looked now, that made him believe she would be one of the few who would survive and become stronger for it. The fact that she was talking straight at all was a good sign instead of falling into the typical senseless rambling. He could see there was a glimmer of primal instinct behind the distrust in her eyes that promised a future for her.
She shivered.
There was little Jayden could provide her here. The office was sparse and not equipped with niceties. He shrugged the coat off his shoulders and moved towards her, stopping about three feet away.
"I'm gonna take a step towards you, okay?" Slowly, he moved forward, knowing the girl was instinctively watching him like a hawk. In hopes to allay her fears, he turned around to show her he wasn't armed. "Okay?" No response. "One more..." He tried another step and cringed inwardly as she shrunk back a little. "I just wanna give you this jacket. It's probably a lot warmer than what they gave ya." Edging forward, he held out the jacket to her. Shepard's eyes finally dared to look away from him and to the jacket. When she began to unwind her limbs from one another, he knew he had made some sort of progress. Trembling, her hand reached out and grasped the jacket, which he released instantly into her grip. She pulled it around her without hesitation, stuffing her arms into the sleeves and huddled in it. Still a little too big, Jayden mused when her hands all but disappeared in the cuffs.
Shepard was grateful as the chill started to melt away from her shoulders. An echo of Jayden's warmth was still inside, the smell of coffee lingering in the threads. She inhaled the scent a little without really thinking about it. It was familiar and reminded her of home. For a second, she almost relaxed enough to doze off. Jayden's voice pulled her back to consciousness.
"I'm, ah... Haven't had my lunch break – course, I guess it would be dinner by now," he rambled, glancing at the clock over the door. "Was thinkin' I might get some Italian. There's this great place just down the road."
Shepard listened to him talk. She supposed he was making up for all the talking she wasn't doing. She had to admit once he mentioned food she actually thought it sounded rather good, though she didn't admit so aloud. Her stomach betrayed her instead and gave an embarrassingly loud growl.
"Heh," Jayden said, pausing the one-sided conversation. "Guess that settles it." He moved towards the desk at the other end of the room and picked up a datapad. He sifted through a digital menu once he found the listing for the restaurant. "It's kinda a hard decision with these guys. They're culinary geniuses, I tell ya. I never know whether to get a deep dish or the pasta. Always gotta get the garlic bread, though."
"Deep dish," Shepard spoke up. Jayden's fingers hovered over the pad as he glanced up at her. She hid a little inside the collar of his jacket. "It... It's against the rules not to order deep dishes at Faustino's..." She knew the restaurant he was talking about; not terribly unusual – it was pretty popular among Earth dwellers and Colonists alike. Jayden noted how distant she sounded while she spoke of it, no doubt pulling from a memory somewhere.
"Deep dish it is, then," he complied.
"My name is Shepard." Now, that was unexpected. She was offering up information – a good sign. It took a moment before she met his eyes again with her own. Jayden already knew her name from the case file, but he knew if she provided it herself that it meant he was getting somewhere. Even though she'd only identified herself by her surname, it meant she was testing the waters with him. Now if only she hadn't just dozed off. It wasn't like he could blame her, though. Chances are she hadn't been able to properly sleep the last few days. Either she was too exhausted to fight it anymore or she had finally relaxed enough to let go – maybe a little of both. Jayden put the order through to the restaurant. He would save her dinner until she awoke. It wasn't his place to steal this moment of peace from her.
It was a long night, but probably one of the more enjoyable all-nighters he'd had in awhile. He usually ate on the go in his car and rarely ate with anyone else. He welcomed the company and the idea of sharing one of his favorite meals. Shepard woke shortly after their dinner arrived, stirred by the smell of freshly cooked food. They both sat on the floor and Jayden was glad to see that she let him sit across from her without concern. She took what she was offered eagerly and dramatically failed when she tried to eat neatly. She apologized a little meekly when sauce drizzled onto his jacket, still enveloping her small frame. No sooner had she said this did a blob of sauce splatter over his neat white shirt from his own meal. For a second, Jayden was certain she almost laughed at him, a small, breathy chuckle hidden behind a sleeve. Even if he couldn't see her mouth, her eyes still betrayed the smile. It was then he knew she was going to be okay.
Silently, between talk of simpler things, he promised her he would catch the murderers that had wronged her.