This is an AU story in which there are two Shepard. For the most part this will be from the Male Shep perspective with a Liara love interest.
Femshep/Varkarian will also be included.
If you like Mass Effect and you like AU stories this is for you. The story will start very similar then start to drastically branch out from there.
As of now I already have ten chapters going through editing for this story that I needed to get out of my system so we will have to see how fast they go up.
Please enjoy and review
Everything has to start somewhere
The air was thick with the smell of smoke and ash, the colony was dying, or rather someone was murdering it. Gun fire was marked by the bullet holes in the side of the prefab modular homes the colonist had brought with them. When they had first come to this planet following the promise of minerals in such abundance that they would all be rich none of them had considering this outcome. Above the colony the sun was bright, but it was not hopeful for the little collection of buildings. Squads of men could be heard going building to building kicking doors in, shooting, and dragging people out into the street. They were quick; they knew what they were coming for, the colonies themselves.
Their home was a small one room module model with a kitchen and a bed, the bare necessities for being out on the frontier like this, but it had been home for the two of them for so long. Darkness covered the room because the window's shade was drawn to a close to hide those prying eyes from looking directly inside. Mother wanted him to hide, to hide in the crawlspace under the module, but he didn't want to, she was going to fight, he wanted to help. A short argument followed and in the end he relented and did as he was told promising not to come out until he heard a human voice from outside their home calling to him.
"Matt you have to promise to be quiet."
Under the floor he heard them kick the door in, heard them fight with his mother shots ringing out, and there under the panels that kept him hidden he felt her body hit the floor. She was dead and he was left alone in the dark, alone waiting for them to discover his hole.
Eden Prime was supposed to be one of those colonies that humanity could point to and go, "Yeah we did that," but today it was anything other than something to be proud of. Their three man team had not been on the ground ten minutes and they had already lost a man. Jenkins, Matt had not really had a chance to get to know the soldier yet and he cursed the fact that he was never going to get that chance now. As they rounded a corner some drone just opened fire on them out of nowhere, they were not supposed to be hostile to humans. A load of crock he thought. Probably would have taken down Jane as well, but thankfully with a combined effort of the two of them diving for cover at the same time and his extension of a biotic barrier they had dodged that fate.
After that they lingered nearby the fallen marine and Jane said that they would have to come back for him, no one gets left behind, it was the least they could do.
Now when they rounded corners they were coming around them guns drawn, Jane with her assault rifle and Matt with his pistol leveled cautiously. Moving forward they heard what sounded like gunfire so they glanced at one another then double timed it towards the crack of a rifle; it could have been survivors of that Marine unit that called them back on the Normandy. Couldn't really call it a unit though because only one Marine came dashing out of cover in their direction firing madly back towards where she had come. What was she looking at? Matt ducked in behind some cover peeking his head around while Jane tried to wave down the soldier unsuccessfully.
"Shit Jane we got Geth!" Matt shouted leaving his cover long enough to hurl one of his grenades from his pack, not taking any chances right off the bat against these things. From what he read they went down fairly easy, but they were deadly accurate, made sense to him with them being machines and all.
On the other side of the small path where Jane had taken cover to try and get the soldiers attention his sister hesitated until after Matt had tossed the grenade, then crouched, turned from her cover and fired long enough to stall the three units into eating the grenade that had been thrown.
The Geth went down with a pleasing crackle of their units shorting out from the forced of the explosion and all looked clear, even with that though it took another moment or two before the pair left their cover and headed over to where the fleeing soldier was picking herself up off the dirt. She was a lieutenant, you could tell by the bars on her shoulder, and she looked like she had been through hell with scrapes and burns here and there, but there didn't seem to be anything of real consequence out of place.
"Lieutenant what happened here?" Jane asked motioning back the way she had come scrambling chased by the Geth, "Where is the rest of the unit that was with you?"
Beside her Matt just kept his mouth shut eyes darting at every sound around them high on the adrenaline of seeing his first Geth, he watched out for them while his sister asked the questions, but he didn't jerk around when he heard something as to not alarm them.
The soldier raised a hand up to her helmets faceplate and sighed, seemingly relieved to see some support, "The rest of my unit was wiped out by the Geth, that big ship came out of nowhere, dropped right out of the sky then they came rolling out of it shooting up the place."
Matt felt his sister's ice blue eyes on his back while he was checking back the way they came, they were both thinking it, but they had not said it yet. Why were the Geth here now? They hadn't been seen outside their own space in over a hundred years.
Instead of mentioning that pointless fact right now though, history could be questioned later Jane asked the important question, "We are here to retrieve some sort of Prothean beacon the colonist discovered. Supposed to be somewhere around here do you know where it is?"
The lieutenant didn't hesitated this time, her senses were starting to get back to her now answering quickly on order, "Just up ahead in the main complex is where they had it last, not sure if it's still there now though, the place was swarming with those things the last time I saw it." She sounded out of breath and exhausted, but she gave Jane as crisp a salute she could muster and asked sternly, "Lieutenant Ashley Williams, permission to come along and kick some Geth ass ma'am?"
Jane smiled behind her faceplate and checked the heat sink on her gun before nodding, "You are drafted Lieutenant, but don't start calling me ma'am," she said rolling her shoulders to get a bit of the tense battle stress the armor was causing on her back out, "That there is Matt and I am Jane Shepard. Fall in the back and watch our six."
Eyes never leaving the area behind them Matt just nodded and motioned over to Ashley in acknowledgement until they started moving and she fell in behind him. Then and only when she was glancing behind them as they moved did he open his mouth and greet her extending his free hand that was not on his pistol to the new squadmate.
"Pleasure to meet you Williams," he said under his breath so to not distract his sister upfront that was now moving swiftly into the main compound leading the way. "Glad to see someone made it out of here alive," Matt mentioned remembering that mission on Akuze with his sister where they had lost the rest of their whole squad. So he was glad to at least of found someone.
"Likewise L.T.," she said quickly while trying to keep up with the swift pace of the N7 soldiers.
Jane and Matt both wore the regulation N7 armor they had received at the end of their training. It was an honor to wear the emblem on one's chest, the highest honor outside of a certain metal no one really wanted to get because it always meant you had gone through some shit. Jane's was black with a red stripe down the right arm to the gauntlet of her hand, while Matt's was black with a blue stripe in the same fashion, only he carried nothing but the pistol while his sister had a full complement. Instantly Ashley knew what it meant Matt was, a biotic, probably a strong one if that was all he carried with him.
When they got to the site where the artifact had been discovered it had been moved, of course, but at least they got to take out a few more pesky Geth, Ashley had been especially happy about that. The three of them figured that they must have moved the artifact further into the city; somewhere they could get a shuttle or ship in to pick the thing up perhaps so they continued on. Matt's stomach wished they had turned around there though. A little bit further in past piles of burning debris they found these poles with spikes on the end of them, but worst of all these strange humanoid things were stuck to the top of them. Matt had gone to say something, but just as he did they lowered to the ground and Jane called for them to open fire. It was not a fair fight; the three figures went down easily. Further in they encountered more messed up modular buildings and burning wreckage. What they were not finding very much of were bodies and it worried him, that is until Ash informed him that many of the colonist had made a run for it with only a few holdout staying behind.
While they walked through the ruined colony Matt could feel Jane glancing over her shoulder at him from her point position more than enough times then it took to make sure that they were keeping up. His sister was worried about him, she knew his past, but he was holding it together fine, at least he thought he was, trying to ignore the trembling feeling in his right hand that was wrapped around his sidearm.
A few lucky to be alive colonist pointed them in the direction of the port tram station and they made their way quickly there after telling them to stay inside where they had been hiding, that it would be safe. Hiding where it would be safe Matt thought to himself, yeah that always turned out great.
"I got a Turian here!" Ashley called from up on the tram deck while the other two were finishing off a couple more of those 'Husks' that looked like they might have been people, no one wanted to think about that right now though.
Without a word the other two dashed up the steps and took a look at the fallen Turian, there was no mistake it was the Specter that had come with them on this shake down run, hell of a test to put a new crew through if a Specter was even turning up dead. Swallowing Matt shifted his eyes to the perimeter while Jane crouched down and looked the alien over.
"His name was Nihlis, a Specter, came with us to the planet," she said reaching out to check his Omnitool for any data on who might have caused this. She didn't find anything though, as expected he had died too swiftly to record anything with it. That happens when you take a shot to the back of the head.
Ashley looked grim and hoisted her rifle a bit higher, "Who could have gotten the drop on a Specter ma-…I mean Jane."
Those little slip ups cost her a glare from behind his sisters helmet and a small smile to crack across Matt's lips, had she done it on purpose? Probably not, but they had needed that mistake to break the mood settling in on them
Again they had found a fallen comrade in Nihlis and again they had to move on, they would come back for him his sister said again, they would come back for everyone including Ash's unit. No one got left behind. Up ahead there was some resistance on the tram, but with a combination of well-placed bullets and biotic power the three of them made it to the controls and started the thing up. Ash pushed in the needed code in and the tram rumbled to life and shot out across the tracks towards the port. They could take a breath if only for a moment. Near the railing on the far side Matt looked out across the burning colony resembling that time so many years ago and he tried to push it from his mind.
"You good Matt?" Jane asked the concern hardly concealed in her voice. They were N7 they were supposed to be the best of the best, she didn't want to cut him down in front of this new lieutenant, but keeping her squad running was a higher priority than his feelings.
Turning back around Matt stowed his pistol and shot a look in the direction of his sister, "All good Red, just thinking about what this place would have been like to visit is all." Reaching into the small medical pack he had strapped to one of his thighs he pulled out a medi-gel container while they had a minute and motioned to Ash, "Come over here you have a nasty cut on your arm let me close it up while we have a sec."
The three of them fell into a comfortable silence while the traveled on the tram after that, the issue resolved Jane only had to worry about why these Geth were attacking the colony and why they wanted this artifact.
When the tram finally started to pull into the far station they instantly came under fire. Matt threw up a barrier bubble to cover that first burst of fire waiting until their guns over heated, then they ran for cover. Unfortunately that cover just happened to be beside an active bomb that looked like it was strong enough to wipe out half the colony. Jane didn't know squat about tech so the quick choice was made for Matt to hunker over the thing and work about shutting it off while under fire.
"Fuck," he cursed a bullet snapping at the platform just beside his feet while he tried to disarm the bomb, "You could at least try firing in their direction guys!" he shouted over his shoulder while tearing out the needed circuit board. "There I got it," he said scooting back under the cover of the wall they were all hiding behind trying to catch his breath and calm his hands.
Jane poked her head around the corner of the cover and noticed there were groups of Geth clustered around objects on the far side of the terminal. There were more bombs. Inwardly she curse herself just like her brother had just done far louder and ducked back in where she could talk to them.
"Bad news," she started.
"Don't say there are more Geth coming in," Ash stated.
"Or more bombs," Matt added helpfully while pulling out his holstered pistol.
Jane just laughed and nodded in response checking her gun to make sure it was not going to lock up on her a few seconds after they broke cover, "You got it, more Geth for Ashley, and more tech for you to smash Matt. I know how you love doing that."
It might have sounded almost pleasant with the way she had worded it, but the constant rattle of gunfire against their cover kind of killed that feeling pretty fast. Perfect Matt thought checking his gun in much the same was his sister had and holding up three fingers with his free hand a moment later.
The three of them looked at one another to make sure they were all ready, waited for a lull in the fire that finally came, and then broke cover right away.
"Three!" they all shouted skipping the countdown and running off in different directions.
At first the Geth were caught by surprise and they didn't know where to shoot right away, that cost them at least four units cut down by the expert squad, but that still left nearly ten standing for them to deal with before they could get their hands on those explosives. Like they had done a hundred times before the brother and sister pair fought in tandem, lift an enemy there, shoot one out of the air there. They hardly slowed down as they descended on the group of Geth trying to fend them off, Williams in the back trying to keep up between firing bursts of her assault rifle to try and cover them. Now across the bridge between the platforms Jane took some cover while Matt hit a unit with a biotic throw that sent it hard enough into the wall to dislodge its extremities. Behind them Ash slid into cover and the three of them fell silent waiting for the telltale sound of those metal feet approaching. They couldn't wait long though because of the explosives ticking away a few meters from the three of them so in the end Matt broke cover and started to work on the bombs while the other two kept their eyes peeled.
"Same as the others," he said to himself thankfully and worked quickly with his knife to work the first plate free on the bomb so that he could rip the required circuit board out.
"Think we got all of them?" Williams asked her eyes strained with how determined she was attempting to scan the area around them.
Jane just pated Ash on the shoulder and the two of them moved to the last bomb in the port so that they could cover Matt. In all that time no more units showed up so that must have been all they had brought with them. Or so Jane had figured that there were no more around at least. Continuing on they headed down a ramp to the port area and that's when they found it, the artifact they had been sent in for. It was crackling with an energy that did not look particularly good so they kept their distance, at least at first.
Matt pulled away and lifted a hand up so that he could hail the Normandy, "Normandy this is ground team, we have the artifact need pic-."
He stopped mid-sentence when out of the corner of his eyes he saw his sister walking up to the device in some sort of daze, she didn't seem to be walking normally at least. Quickly he dropped his hand and brushed Ash aside who had yet to notice what was happening. Gripping the back of his sisters armor he tried to yank her back, but couldn't. Matt's eyes widened in shock, he was not the biggest guy in the military, but he should have been able to at least drag his sister around with his own strength. Today for some reason he was going to need a lot more, that device he guessed. Gritting his teeth he forced his will into the biotic amps installed into his body after it became known he had the skill as a child and he forced the power into his arm that was trying to pull back Jane. Almost instantly like a rubber band snapping she came loose from what was holding her and was flung, stumbling back into the arms of a waiting Lieutenant Williams.
If only that had been it though, the device seemingly upset it had lost its prize took hold of his form with some unseen forced and lifted him from his feet. Matt struggled against the hold he felt and even tried to use a biotic jump to get away, but his body just flared that bright blue color then faded as he was subdued. It was then that he felt a presence like something was crawling into his mind and he was thrown into a momentary darkness quickly replaced with a series of quick sights, sounds, and smells that he couldn't help to keep up with. It felt like someone else's memories, he had experience with that, but this time everything was broken, fragmented, like something was terribly wrong with the person that was sharing them with him. Just as quickly as they flashed they stopped and the artifact released him. Vaguely he could hear the Prothean relic overload and blow up beside him followed the feel of someone yanking on his light armor and shouting into his ear. The voice was faint and garbled though so he couldn't make out what was being said, but he was sure that it had to be his sister. Matt couldn't answer though overcome with the process he had just gone through and he passed out in her arms.
Matt had woken up with one hell of a hangover in the med bay after that and everyone was there waiting to fire questions off at him. What happened? Why did he jump in and pull her out?! Was he ok? Every question had its own connotation and the Marine had tried to take them all in stride while nursing what had to of been one of his worse headaches to date. After the doctor had given him something to help relieve the pain Captain Anderson asked that she clear the room and told him that they had carried him back to the ship after he passed out. That's when he found out that they had a face to go behind the attack, Saren, a council Specter. When they sent units out to retrieve the bodies of the fallen they had come across a dock worker that had seen the Turian shoot his friend, or at least they had looked friendly before that he had said. What was a council Specter doing behind this attack?
Jane asked if it was possible the council was behind the whole thing, but Anderson quickly dismissed that idea, he knew Saren, knew what he was really like. It was far more likely sadly though that he was actually behind the attack on his own. Saren hated humans. Matt was fine with that, after today he wanted to rip the ol bird limb from limb so if he hated humans that was fine with him. That's when they asked him about the beacon, something he had been dreading actually talking about. He told them about the way it seemed to grab Jane, how he had thrown her out of the way to try and help her, only to be pulled in himself. Told them about how after being lifted up the device had forced its way into his mind and thrust images before his eyes. No that had not been the right word to use, memories he had said, but Anderson looked doubtful.
His sister was not having any of that though; she said that if that's what he saw that's what had happened, Matt doesn't lie. Thankful for that Matt had just shot his sister a smile and they listened as Anderson said that they would have to return to the Citadel and inform the council of what had happened, of what Saren had done to Eden Prime. The biotic Vanguard had joked and asked if he really thought telling them he had a dream was going to change anything. The captain looked uneasy himself at that prospect, but he said they would need to hear everything. If anything they needed their support to go after Saren.
So they went to the Citadel the centerpiece of Citadel space where all the races came together to attempt to get along, he always said though it hardly ever ended up that way. The first time he had come there was when he was just a kid; no more than fourteen and the place had seemed so grand with the flashing lights, and the bustling people everywhere. Matt had never seen so many people in one place and it had left him in awe. Grown with years under his belt now though the place just left him feeling uncomfortable and cramped without room to move around because of just how many people there were. Leave him on a rock of a planet with no one around for shore leave, that's all he ever wanted. It wasn't all bad though, it was the only place where you could find human novels from Earth imported out to council space, on paper that was. Matt liked classic SciFy oddly enough if you went by his day job, but it helped him unwind.
Something he was going to desperately need to do once they got back to the ship after the beating they took from the council. Like always humans came to them with a problem and the three represented races brushed them aside, of which humans were not a part of, they were to rash they always said. The council had said they lacked the evidence to bring in Saren on charges and Jane had yelled at them for the way the Turian councilor had mocked Matt's "Visions" he said with finger air quotes.
Afterward Jane wanted to follow up on a lead with a Turian named Garrus that had been looking into the Saren case on the C-sec end that had turned up blank, Matt just wanted to find a place to get a drink. It had been one of those days, no scratch that, weeks. His sister seemed to understand and she told him to take himself to get something, not to drink himself under the table however if they needed him, and they would track down this lead.
That's how the Biotic Marine ended up in a place called….something Den…he didn't really take the time to glance at the sign on his way in, a helpful keeper he had asked about a drink had just silently pointed. Gah those things were strange. The place was dimly lit, had patrons spaced about at tables and at the bar, and entertainment in the form of dancers plying their trade. Matt however just sat on a stool near the bar and nursed his whiskey teasing a bit of ice between sips. It was not exactly his sort of place, there were far more aliens than humans about, but of the humans he did see he saw that some of them were off duty C-sec. The owner probably had them on retainer or something to make sure that he was never bothered when he made his more shady moves.
Matt didn't care about that though and just glanced at his Omni once more between drinks to make sure that he had not missed a page from his sister.
Behind him near the back door that led to the room that said Management over it a small argument had started. The sound caught his attention as well as the attention of a few of the other patrons in the joint. There was a very large Krogan talking down to a very small Quarian, or at least proportionally to the picture he was looking at, but she was having none of it brushing his hand away as quick as it came.
"Tell the Broker that he had better come alone or the deal is off!" She stated confidently and for a second it looked like the Krogan was just going to bite her head off, but the large fellow must have been instructed differently so he drew back and tapped a few times on his Omnitool then said something to the alien.
It must have been what she wanted to hear to because she turned on her heel and made for the exit. The Quarian had to come past where he was sitting perched at the bar with his drink and Matt just flashed a quick smile. Quarians were alright by him, they always got a bad rap in the news about being criminals and squatters, truthfully the ones he had met were some of the best tech minds he had ever met. She must have noticed his acknowledgement because she tilted her head just slightly in his direction right before passing him to head out the door.
Matt just turned back to the bar and listened to the Turian bartender attempted something that might be considered small talk while he enjoyed his drink.
An hour or so later his Omni tool started to make a terribly annoying sound, made more so by the fact that he knew it meant his little break was over. Like he was told he had only had one drink then some sort of Asari non-alcoholic fruit punch for the rest of his stay, not too sure if he liked it or not really. When he brought up the notification it informed him that there was an individual nearby that had information on Saren that would incriminate him in the eyes of the council. Quickly he paid his tab with a little extra for the patient tender for letting him sit so long drinking only juice and tapped his Omni to bring up the map while he made his way out of the bar. The note had said that there could be someone coming after the information and for him to be careful, they had doubled back to the ship at some point to pick up their armor, Matt was just in a pair of jeans and his N7 hoodie without a weapon other than his amps shackled to his nerves.
Reading the map carefully he noted the dot that showed where his sister was at, was currently moving to the destination, then where the meet up point was. Blinking he looked up off down the direction of the alley that was on the map. It was right here? Shit. Matt started off at a sort of jog in that direction keeping an eye out of a C-sec officer that might be of some help if there was indeed trouble. Of course they were never there when it came to helping you. They never were it seemed.
When he reached the door that had the meeting place marked on the map Matt hesitated eyeing the marker that was moving towards him, but it was still a minute or two out. Wait or go? Slamming his hand against the panel to open the door the brown haired soldier, just past length of regulation, stepped into the alley, or rather stumbled.
"Hey….yoooou!" he shouted attempting to slur his speech as best he could while stumbling down the stairs using one of the people passing there for momentary support to do so.
It was the Quarian from before! Quickly he pushed that from his mind and tried not to give away his surprise. This wouldn't work if they made him. Two Salarian mercs and a Turian from the looks of it, all for one little Quarian girl, distasteful.
Angrily the Turian tried to get between him and the girl, "Hey buddy move along, sleep of that drink somewhere else."
Behind him under that visor recognition flashed across the Quarian's face, it was the man from the bar. What was he doing here? This was bad, no one was supposed to interrupt the meeting, first the Broker seemed to of double crossed her and now she was being stalked by a human with an enviro suit fetish.
Grumbling Matt stumbled closer to them and put a hand on the Turian's shoulder whispering drunkenly into his ear, "He…hey….hey…this one promised me a," he coughed loudly on the man's shoulder causing him to break contact and step away from the both of them, "a dance." Matt finished as if that was at all helpful to their current situation.
With the draw of a sidearm the Turian signaled that he had enough of the drunk saying gravely, "Move along…"
The threat was real and Matt felt that, but he also heard the sound of the alley door opening behind him. Though he couldn't turn he had a feeling that it was his sister and Ashley coming through that door. Well it had better be because he was about to have to make a move or end up filled with holes. Normally he might have been able to pull some sort of biotic trick out of his ass to take down the three, but with the Quarian to keep safe he only really had one option.
"HEY!" he nearly shouted reaching out for the suit of the Quarian seeming to ignore the pistol leveled towards him, "How about that dance?" He said grinning devilishly that at least he didn't have to fake, that was his usual excited smile.
Recoiling away from his hand she continued to try and get a hold of the situation, "I think you are mista-"
Matt lunged and took a firm grip of the girls left forearm, "Oh no, you promised!" the soldier tightened his grip just slightly as she instinctually tried to pull right away, "You and I are going to get down." This time he spoke perfectly clear causing the Quarian to tilt her head in confusion. He wasn't drunk? Behind him the distinct sound of an assault rifle being brought to bear caught his attention and Matt shouted, "DOWN!"
With a yelp from her he yanked the both of them down into a crouch just as the gunfire started all around them. Matt took a grazing shot to the side of his abdomen before he could use his free hand to project a small dome over the two of them. Bullets were absorbed by the field fruitless in their attempts to get to their target, but Matt winced with each impact because of the slice in his side. The fight ended, the three men were lying on their individual faces, and he was able to drop the barrier.
Falling back onto his ass he swore again, something Jane had been trying to whip out of him ever since they were kids, but dammit he had been shot and he was pretty sure it had come from their side.
The group that had come to save the two of them came running down the stairs and surrounded the both of them. Looking up Matt held his side and blinked surprised when he saw his sister with Ashley as well as a Krogan and a Turian in tow. The Turian was probably Garrus, but he was not sure about the Krogan, he did look mildly familiar from somewhere.
"Which one of your jerks shot me?!" he asked sarcastically while motioning to the grazed bullet wound in his side that probably came from them.
They all looked at one another and it was Ashley that looked the guiltiest for the act, but it was Jane that spoke for her reaching down to help him up with medi-gel already in hand.
"Crossfire from one of those Salarians, you are getting slow brother," she said as evenly as she could while trying not to laugh at the fact that he had actually taken a shot from one of their own people. Helpfully she did however at least apply some medi-gel that helped with the pain, "There we go. Just one more scar for the collection Matt." Stepping back after making sure he could stand on his own she motioned to the new comers, "This is Garrus as I am sure you have guessed," the Turian with blue facial markings and an imposing looking rifle nodded his way, "And this is Wrex. He helped us track down the info."
Wrex took a long lingering look over the human, where had he seen him before?
"Ah, you were that human with the fruity drink back in Cora's Den earlier weren't you?" he asked with a hearty laugh, "No wonder you took a shot from your own people."
Matt shot a look at Jane and Ashley, but they were already laughing, "I will have you know that I was on duty, I couldn't have too many of my usual fair."
While he was getting patched up and defending his manhood the Quarian had just stood there quietly watching the exchange not sure when they were going to get around to speaking to her. She was not sure who they were, but they had just stormed in and saved her so they at least deserved her thanks.
"Um…," the vocal processor on the front of her helmet lit with her words, "Excuse me?"
That quiet voice cut through Matt trying to explain why you can't drink heavily on duty to a Krogan and caught all their attention.
The Quarian nervously messed with the glove of her right hand while watching their reactions, "Thank You for saving me, but…what why are you doing here?"
Stepping out of the group Jane set a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder and smiled warmly in a friendly way, "It was our pleasure," she said while glancing back at her brother that was milking a SCRAPE on his side then looked back, "Some more than others I would guess. My name is Jane Shepard, that's my brother Matt and Ashley Williams back there," mentioning everyone in turn. Jane hoped she had overheard the other two's names because she skipped them and got right to the point, "We got information that you had something on Saren and the attack on Eden Prime, but that you were going to be double crossed. We need that data."
She seemed to relax somewhat when Jane set that hand on her shoulder, visibly relaxing her form at just the touch, "I think I have what you need. Giving it to you is the least I could do, you did save me after all." Hesitating she looked over all of them one at a time letting her gaze fall back to the woman that was addressing her, "My name is Tali."
Jane just smiled and gave the girl's suit a little squeeze then started to urge her to the exit, they needed to get this in front of the council right away. They all headed for the door, up the stairs and out, leaving only Garrus to pause looking back. The alleyway was far bloodier then it was before they came into it, a mess.
"I should….call someone about this," the Turian C-sec officer intoned already dreading the headache of paperwork this was going to bring his desk.