A/N: Tenth Street Reds will have a pairing eventually; currently I'm up for any pairing at this point so this one you can choose, if you don't it's slated for Liara/femShep. People do seem to like femShep/Miranda pairing, but this currently takes place in Mass Effect, before Shepard and Miranda meet. So if this is any good and if I feel like doing a sequel then I could always switch the pairing. Now for the warning, I got the idea for this fic while watching Now and Then, Here and There, a brilliant anime that I was watching. Half of you will probably Google that anime title and read a synopsis; the rest of you won't care. I don't really suggest that anyone go watch it because it has some pretty deep topics and it's incredibly dark and twisted and the content is adult, not for kiddies. That being said, I will be tackling a multitude of issues in this because quite frankly I can. Half of you probably won't like the content which is fine I'm not doing this to please anyone just to see if I could pull this off. This is the story of Earthborn Shepard's childhood and adolescent years before she escaped her life and joined the Alliance. This story will contain everything from drug use, to child soldiers, it will tackle real issues that we have in today's society but the media shies away from. Why? Because I can. If you want a happy story filled with unicorns and rainbows, this isn't the story for you and I please suggest that you read something else. Bad things will happen to my characters and since this is a childhood story you know what's going to happen, you just don't know how I'm going to get there.
Disclaimer: Bioware owns the Mass Effect, the little spawn that is Artemis Shepard and all other characters and situations are mine alone
"They told me it was you, but I didn't believe it. Shepard grew up and turned into a soldier."
She cocked her head looking at him, studying him carefully, he seemed familiar. "Have we met?" she asked.
"Name's Finch. You probably don't remember me, but we ran together in the Tenth Street Reds." He shifted giving her an almost accusatory glare. "Maybe you don't remember it yourself, running in a gang. None of the vids mention it when they're talking about you"
She looked at him, "So I ran with the Reds. That's behind me now." It was a lie, she still had the brand to prove it. They served as a reminder of who she had been and how far she had come. She had been a soldier back then and she was a soldier now. It what was what she had grown up doing. It was the only thing she knew.
"We're not trying to cause you trouble, Shepard. We just want a favor, for old times' sake." She stared at him, after what she had done, they had turned to her for help. "One of the Reds, Curt Weisman, got picked up by Turians. We'd like you to talk to the Turian guard in the bar and get Curt out."
She looked at him, debating inwardly to help him or not. No that chapter of her life was over. "My gang days are over, Finch. Get out of my way."
Finch smirked, as if he knew what she would do, as if he knew that she wouldn't be able to refuse him. "Suit yourself, Shepard. If you change your mind, he's over in Chora's Den. Take care of this and you'll never see me again. And Shepard...you might not run with the Reds anymore, but you really don't want us as your enemies."
She hated threats, and she would have killed him however he had was gun before she could have drawn her gun. She turned to Liara and Ashley, "Let's go," she said entering the club.
"What was that about?" Ashley asked.
"The ghosts of a past life," She replied, still lost in thought, still debating whether or not to help him. She only had two real options; she could help Finch and hope that they kept their end of the bargain that they stayed away from her. Or she could send the message clearly that she wanted nothing to do with them, and hope that they wouldn't retaliate; they had always been a rather petty group. "Come on let's go see this guard," she finally stated heading into Chora's Den.
Ashley opened her mouth to say something, possibly to inform her how this was probably not the best of ideas, but once she had gotten a proper look at her Commander's face, and she simply nodded. "Of course Commander," she finally said shutting her mouth.
She led them into Chora's Den, scanning the crowds until she saw a Turian in a guard outfit and walked over to him. He looked over at her, noticing that she was coming towards him. "Can I help you?"
"You've got a prisoner named Curt Weisman. I'd like that Prisoner freed." Her tone was polite, she needed this, the last thing she wanted was the Tenth Street Reds on her tail, Saren was enough of a headache without having her old gang on her ass.
"I'd like a lot of things, human. Desire forms the foundation of organized society. That said, the xenophobe will remain in Turian custody. This is not negotiable."
She frowned, "Why are you calling him a xenophobe?" she asked, this changed things. She couldn't let him go, she would have to take the lumps to go with it.
"The human acknowledged his affiliation with several anti-alien organizations. His crime specifically targeted Turians as a species. It was a hate crime, and it will be treated as such at his sentencing."
She nodded, "Thanks for the information. One of Weisman's friends was less than honest with me."
"I understand. Weisman was too well supplied to be acting alone," The Turian informed her. "Thank you for the information. We'll increase the guard on his cell."
She nodded, she would be forced to deal with the Reds by herself. She turned ready to head to the bar, when she saw Finch and mentally groaned, "Speak of the devil."
"I knew you'd rat us out, Shepard! Now it's payback time! When we're through telling our story, the aliens will all know what the first human Spectre really is." Finch said pointing at her.
She frowned, and pulled out her side arm, pointing it at him, "No they won't." She pulled the trigger shooting him in the face. She wiped his blood away from her face and looked at the body on the floor. She glanced up, as paranoid as it sounded they were probably watching. She hoped that this particular act of violence had sent them the message she had wanted to convey. They should know what she would do to protect herself. They, after all, had created her.
"Impressive." She turned to the Turian Guard, "Perhaps the first human Spectre will not be a disappointment after all." She turned her head back to the body. "Goodbye, Spectre."
She nodded, as she watched Finch's blood pool around him, hopefully this would be the final chapter with the Reds.
"Are you okay Skipper?"
Shepard looked up at Ashley and Liara, before turning to the body again, "Yes I think I will be." She looked up, "Who needs a drink?" she asked her tone surprisingly light as she walked to an empty booth.
"We're still on duty Commander!" Ashley protested.
Shepard looked at her, "I'm paying," she offered motioning for someone to get them drinks her eyes once again travelling to the body on the ground.
Ashley seemed to accept this answer, and both she and Liara took a seat in front of Shepard whose eyes shifted to them and she let out a rare smile, it was forced of course but it was nice to see her attempting to make the effort.
There was an uncomfortable silence as their drinks were served and they sipped at their drinks. "Your files were considerably sparse when it came to your childhood," Liara said attempting to break the silence.
Ashley winced and looked at her commanding officer who seemed engrossed in her drink. She was about to say something when Shepard finally looked up.
Shepard looked at them, "My childhood?" she echoed.
"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to Skipper if it's personal," Ashley immediately interceded.
"Personal? It's not personal. It's just...history," Shepard replied. "There are many beginnings, but I guess I'll start from the very beginning. From what I gather my mother, my real mother was a crack-whore who's probably dead. No one knows who my father was..."
Hannah Shepard pointed to a picture of a child, "What about her?" she asked looking at the picture. She had gone through at least twenty pictures of children and each of them had been smiling, or at least doing something. But the child in this picture wasn't there was no smile, and she wasn't playing just sitting down staring into the camera. Her eyes were a pale bluish grey, and her auburn hair was tied into a loose pony-tail. It wasn't as if the child looked upset, or if there was a vacant look on her face. No it was as if the child were deep in thought, studying her surroundings or more specifically the person who had taken the picture. The result had been it was as if the child were staring right at the person who was viewing the picture, with an intense gaze.
The social worker looked at the picture that they were talking about and shivered slightly. He had been there when they had pulled the child out of the crack den, which had been a year ago. Never had he seen a child so severely malnourished, she had been several pounds underweight and considering that she had only been two at the time, well that had been the age given to one of the clear-headed druggies had given to the police officer. "Her name is Artemis; well that's what they called her, Artie for short. We found her in a crack den during a raid."
According to the reports she had been sitting in a pile of her own filth surrounded by garbage and porno magazines. Her body was covered in bug bites, rashes, and several small thin cuts which were probably from razor blades. She had been eating a discarded pizza chewing on the stale crusts, her small hands gripping the stale bread tightly. A female officer who had been there had immediately begun to fuss about the child, who simply ignored her until she attempted to take away the old crusts which she had been chewing on. It was only then the child showed some cognition and wailed fighting the woman until fresh food was brought to her.
The one thing that he had noticed was that despite the severe malnutrition the child was incredibly alert, and she was capable of answering simple questions. It wasn't until they finally interviewed the child were they able to finally able to make sure that her cognitive abilities were perfectly fine, she was just a quiet child, preferring to watch others than to actually take part. When they had finally brought her to the home after she had been checked out by a multitude of doctors, and it was clear that the child did not appreciate being prodded and poked by the pediatrician. She had watched the children play for hours before she had joined in. It wasn't soon after that she had begun to display rudimentary leadership skills when the urge struck her. Her quietness was soon chalked up to her either being shy or simply being too lazy to speak until it was absolutely necessary.
Hannah looked at the photo again holding her husband's hand, "And her parents?"
"From what we can gather her mother is dead, and no one knew who her father was. Artie has got no one. She's a good kid, quiet, observant, a bit lazy except when she's hungry. That's the only time she becomes lively, it was probably because they didn't feed her and she was left to her own devices. She was mainly left to fend for herself."
Hannah Shepard looked at child who would soon become her daughter, "Can we see her?" she asked.
The social worker nodded eagerly, most other perspective parents had been put off by Artemis's intense gaze and her lack of a friendly smile. "Of course you can she's probably playing with the other children, or watching the other children playing. Like I said she's a really good kid, intelligent. Might be a politician later, I've seen her stop fights between the other children and the other children seem too respect her enough to give her space, and to not bother her." The social worker buzzed really laying it on thick as they entered a large room with quite a few children, whose ages ranged from two to seven playing.
One child stood out from the rest of the children sitting on a big couch simply watching the other children play. Her pale grey eyes suddenly shifted from watching a younger boy place the toy blocks in his mouth, to focusing on the new entrants in the room. She stared at them with her rather intense gaze catching Hannah's eyes. The older woman held Artemis's gaze for a few moments before the child broke the gaze when another child, who had been running tripped on a misplaced block, his eyes welling up with tears.
Artemis finally slid off the couch and wandered over to the older boy, staring at him for a second before offering her hand, "Okay?" she asked gently patting him on the head, as if it were the most normal thing to do. She took a seat beside him, "Play?" she asked again reaching out and grabbing a discarded toy race car. The older boy immediately took the shiny toy from her, began to play with it. Artemis watched him for a second before returning her gaze to Hannah Shepard.
"She's got a kind heart," Hannah's husband commented looking at Artemis.
Hannah Shepard looked at the child, who held her gaze rarely blinking until the older boy who she had given the toy car to nudge her foot with the car. The child turned to the boy.
"You've got to play with me," he demanded.
Artemis pulled herself into a standing position, "No," came her simple reply as she finally as she once again turned to Hannah Shepard and began to walk towards her. It was clear that Artemis's curiosity had been peaked.
Hannah turned to the social worker, "Is she okay, mentally. I haven't heard her speak more than one word at a time."
The social worker nodded, "She's a quiet child," he repeated as Artemis finally made it to Hannah Shepard's leg and looked up at her.
There were a few short seconds and Artemis finally raised her hands, "Up," she commanded as if this was regular for her.
Hannah was almost taken aback by the force of the command and frowned slightly, "You have to say please."
The child continued to look up at her, a small flash of confusion crossing her small features. "Why?" she asked.
Hannah blinked, "It's polite, and it's good to be polite," she informed the child.
Artemis was quiet for a moment dropping her arms for a second; it was as if she was thinking about what the woman had said before raising her arms again "Up. Please."
Hannah smiled and bent down to pick up the odd child, "My name is Mrs. Shepard," she said introducing herself to the young child.
Artemis peered into Hannah Shepard's eyes, "Shepard?" She echoed, and Hannah nodded. Again the child was quiet as if she were thinking quite seriously about it.
"Say hello Artie," the social worker egged her on and he was met with Artemis's intense gaze for a split second before the child returned to inspecting the Shepard's'.
"My name is Artemis," she informed Hannah after a short moment and looked at the man standing beside her before looking back at who would soon be her mother. "Are you going to be my mommy and daddy? "She asked in a serious tone.
Hannah looked at her husband who nodded, "Would you like for us to be your mommy and daddy?"
The child stopped again as if she were thinking deeply about it, "Do you have cookies?" Artemis asked still incredibly serious.
"Yes we have cookies," and a rare smile appeared on Artemis's face, causing Hannah to smile as well. There was nothing more infectious than a child's smile, and Artemis's was big. The smile only lasted for a few seconds before the serious look returned to her face.
"What's your name?" she asked turning to the man.
Hannah's husband smiled, "Mr. Shepard."
Artemis looked back at Hannah and then at the man who would be her father, "Will name be Shepard?" she asked and both adults nodded. "Shepard," she repeated. She did it again trying it out a few times.
Hannah looked at her, "So do you want us to be your mommy and daddy?" She repeated again.
"Shepard," she echoed again as if lost in her own thoughts. "Okay."
The social worker blinked, "Artie are you sure?" he asked her and the child turned to him.
"My name is Shepard?" Artemis informed him before turning to Hannah Shepard, "Down please?" she asked.
Hannah placed her down on the ground and Artemis waddled back to her couch pulling herself onto it and sitting down going back to watching the other children.
The social worker gave a nervous chuckle, "That's Artie." He hoped that they would take her.
Artemis eyes suddenly flashed onto him, "Shepard," she repeated correcting him. She liked that name better than Artie.
Hanna h suddenly laughed amused by the child's antics, the child was certainly not like most three year olds she had certainly met. But she was the one. "That's her," she said turning to her husband who nodded a smile on his face.
"I was adopted by the Shepard's I took their name, and for three years my life was normal. I was happy. They were perfect parents. They weren't wealthy but I never went hungry. I never had to fight for my food, had they survived a drive by shooting well...that would just be speculation." It was another rare smile, this time real. She had been genuinely happy with the Shepards, of course she based this loosely on what she could remember of those times. She looked at the blue drink in front of her. "When I was six my parents died. They were killed in some gang fight. I was an orphan again. I was an odd child back then, combined with the fact that most people who adopt want babies or toddlers I wasn't going to get adopted. I got sent to foster care again. This one was probably owned by someone who worked in the Reds. The children there were older, no babies. No toddlers. I think the ages ranged from five and up. They did come and check us but I'm sure they paid those social workers off. All I know is that no one came to adopt me. And so after a few weeks in my foster home I was given my initiation into the Reds."
"Initiation?" Liara repeated.
"I was six or seven when I was given a choice, be a...street walker or become a foot soldier." Artemis Shepard replied. "No it wasn't a choice, not really..."
Johnny looked at the six year old girl in front of him, her blood soaked hands tightly gripping the jagged piece of concrete she had picked up off the ground as she stared at him. Even though one of her eyes was swollen shut, her gaze was still intense and unsettling. The room which had been filled with screaming and chanting children was now deathly quiet with only the sounds of her fallen opponents whimpering in the background. His eyes swept over her fallen opponent, looking at the blood pool around his shattered kneecap.
"Shit." Johnny eyes flicked over to his friend Craven, "She would probably bring in more money as a whore, and she's got the perfect pretty face for one. She has all the features they love. We could make a fortune on her."
Johnny shook his head, "You simply want to punish her because you lost a few credits betting on the boy."
Craven gave him a dirty look shaking his head as he took a drag of his cigarette, "You've got to be kidding me, we'd make a fortune on her, and if you remember you lost more than a few credits on her. She'd make a good bitch, give her a bit of red sand and she'd be docile enough for whatever those perverts want to do too her. The sand might even make her act normal, damn brat gives me the creeps. I don't want her running with me. People will remember her."
Johnny looked at the Artemis, "No she earned her place just like you did and just like I did. Besides," Johnny nodded at the whimpering kid, "that one is going to cost us a fortune."
"We could make up the bill in one night by offering her services to the highest bidder. You know they pay top dollar for virgins, and she's the right age as well."
"She passed her Initiation."
"Barely," Craven countered pointing to the boy in front of him, "Look at him apart from what's left of his knee she hadn't touched him. The boy could have been some excellent muscle still can. She got lucky and you know very well in our line of work luck isn't worth shit. She'll only slow you down. She won't last very long, and she won't amount to shit. If it makes you feel any better she'll probably enjoy it. Girl looks like she'll grow up to be a whore, could possibly a high class one."
Johnny turned to Artemis again, he had never seen a child fight so hard, most of them would fall down and cry. Occasionally they would get a couple of children who would fight. Most of them grew up into common thugs; very few of them lived past their fifteenth birthday. "Give her the brand and then give her to Fox."
Craven sneered, "You're signing the brat's death warrant."
Johnny shrugged, "If you're right Fox will send her back within a few days, she doesn't like dead weight. If that happens you can sell her to the highest bidder, and keep my share."
A cruel smile appeared on Craven's face, "Deal."
Johnny rolled his eyes, "Go clean up the mess," he ordered nodding in the direction of the bleeding boy and walked over to Artemis grabbing her wrist, forcing her to drop the rock, and raising it up. "Winner." It was a simple statement but the rest of the children who had been watching began to chant and cheer as they stomped their feet and screamed for her.
Artemis looked up at him, "I don't want to be one of them."
Johnny looked down at her, "One of who?"
Artemis paused as if she were thinking about it for a second trying to remember the word she had heard before, "A streetwalker. I don't want to be like that boy I saw last night. He screamed so loudly, I could hear it even though I covered my ears. The bigger man was behind him and he was moving his hips and sweating and the boy kept on screaming until it stopped."
Johnny frowned, "Where were you?" Artemis looked at Johnny for a moment before her eyes drifted to Craven who was dragging the injured boy away roughly by the arm. Johnny followed her gaze, wincing. "He locked you in the closet and made you watch." He found it disconcerting that Craven had taken such an interest in this child. He had been the one to pick who would be fighting, it suddenly made sense why
"I don't want to be one of them a who—whore, his whore." she repeated the words which she had heard Craven use the other night, the words strange on her tongue. "I don't want to be a street walker, so I hurt him. I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize, you did what you had to do to survive, that's all that matter in this god damn galaxy surviving," Johnny said his voice rough. "Do you hear me don't apologize for surviving for doing what you have to get by, it's a sign of weakness. Weakness isn't tolerated in the Reds. If you're weak you end up like that boy do you understand?"
Artemis looked at him again quiet for a second before nodding; she didn't want to become that boy.
Johnny looked at the girl in front of him, there was something different about her, and she was certainly smarter than most others her age. She could go far with the Reds as long as she proved useful. He bent down till he was eye level with Artemis looking at her not surprised that she met his gaze. "You want to be strong?"
"Strong?" Artemis echoed a confused look on her face.
"That boy, he was weak, if he was strong he wouldn't be where he is now. Do you want to be strong?" he asked her again.
Artemis answer was quick. "Yes."
Johnny nodded, "I know, I'm going to send you to Fox. She'll make you strong if you listen to her, and then Craven won't be able to make you into that boy. Do whatever it takes to make Fox happy. "
Artemis looked at the man, "Keep Fox happy," she repeated.
Artemis finished her tale and looked at her empty glass, she had always liked Johnny, those words had probably saved her life. "I maimed another child so my body wouldn't be sold into prostitution. That was my choice, fight to win, prove my worth or be treated like cattle." She finally looked up at the other two women. Ashley looked a little green while Liara simply stared at her with an unreadable expression hidden in her eyes.
"He forced you to watch?" Ashley finally asked. "You were six."
Artemis shrugged; she had closed her eyes after the boy had begun to scream in agony. Craven had probably done her favor, a rather scarring favor but she would have done anything to not be in that position. To not be that nameless boy who was raped several times that night by several different men. She wondered what ever happened to him. "The Reds had many rings; they were big on trafficking, children, and people. They smuggled illegal weapons. Gambling was a big thing, they were also the biggest dealers of Red Sand on Earth. I think it's how they got their name. Apparently they have turned into a human supremacist group since I've been gone." She said changing the subject.
"And what about this Fox?" Liara asked.
Artemis stared at her empty glass, her grey eyes stormy with emotion, before getting up abruptly, "Maybe some other time, we're still on duty after all. Maybe another time."