Author's note: This is what happens when you're listening to music in search for inspiration and you end up with the ME soundtrack... I don't know if some sort of crossover like this one has been done before but hey, I just adore these two games and I needed to take a break from all the angsty stuff from 'Somebody to Die For'. Long live the Mass Effect Wiki, my source of knowledge to comply with the ME universe. Anyway, I had a blast doing this, no matter how poorly written it is... For those of you who are familiar with both fandoms, I just hope you find this enjoyable enough.
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BLUE FIRE
Río de Janeiro, Earth
Vila Militar, Interplanetary Combatives Academy
Headquarters of the Interplanetary Combatives Training Program (N7)
January, 2208 CE (Common Era)
22 years after the end of the Reaper War
Max Caulfield stood in the middle of the dining hall in her Alliance recruit clothes, tray in her trembling hands. The contents of such tray were the usual rice and chicken and protein shakes the canteen offered each and every day to the N-School students. She wouldn't know that, of course, she had just arrived that same morning.
Max felt small and scared like she had never felt in her nineteen years of existence in the vast, great Milky Way. But she had been brought up by two powerful women that had inspired her to be bold and fearless, smart and confident. So, of course, she felt ridiculously weak for being scared. And she didn't fear the long, cruel training days, the grueling schedules or the physical and mental exhaustion.
She feared loneliness, for the first time in her life. She feared being forgotten, or the act of forgetting itself – this terrified her, specially.
She feared time and space. The seconds, the minutes, the light years that now separated her from the only place she considered home.
Her hands were shaking and the plates on the tray produced a repeated clang that, luckily, no one was noticing. The dining room was huge, crowded with dozens of recruits attacking their meals with a vengeance after hours of exhausting field training.
She searched with her gaze for an empty spot that would allow her to be with her own thoughts. It was not an easy task: groups of recruits were scattered throughout the tables, talking, laughing, telling stories about their day. She had no desire to introduce herself to any of those groups or be noticed at all. She began walking towards the end of the mess and, luckily, she found a small table with two empty chairs. She sat down.
She wasn't really hungry, though. Nausea and anxiety had made their home in the pit of her stomach. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This was not the time or place to begin crying like a little girl. She could hold back the tears, sure, but she knew she could never get used to the idea this was her life now.
She stared at her plate for long seconds and finally sighed heavily. She closed her eyes again and brought her hands to her temples. She really didn't want to be here. But she had no choice. Her mind was racing with thoughts. It was all too much. She was tempted, for a second, to use her power, her real power, and stop everything surrounding her so she could calm the voices in her head. Knowing this was wishful thinking, Max just pushed her tray forward, folded her arms on the table and rested her head there, not caring if anyone noticed.
Her own voice sounded like an echo inside her head...
"Jack, please... The Academy is my home. I don't want to leave."
Events of the past few days began to unravel in her mind, and Max finally gave up. She just surrendered to regret, guilt and the stabbing pain of reviving her own memories...
What had happened was bad, she knew. She had unleashed her powers in front of all the wrong people. But her instincts just kicked in when she felt the threat. Jack was in the line of fire, she needed to do something and the rest... was just history. Now the Council, the Alliance, the whole Galaxy might know she was not just any regular biotic.
She found herself standing in Jack's office while the woman who had been her mentor and protector since she was four years old paced nervously around the room, telling her something Max definitely did not want to hear. The girl could only beg.
"Please. I promise I will– I don't know how, but I will control myself. It was just an accident!"
Time had been kind to Jack. Sort of. Of course her training routine was still extreme. And by human standards, she was still young. She had quitted smoking and given up drinking long ago, after she had taken Max under her care. Her body retained her muscled lines and she still liked to show off her tattooed skin. New scars had been made across the years, too. Her hair showed some gray now and she wore it proudly on a pony tail while the sides of her head were shaven, the same hairstyle she wore at the end of the war. In her own words, it reminded her the fight was never over and she liked the 'full metal bitch look'.
"Don't you think I know, kiddo? Don't you think I see myself in you every time I look at your pretty fucking face?"
Max was used to Jack's aggressive way of talking, but the ex-convict had never ever used such ways with her. The girl was taken aback and just stared at the ground. Jack immediately noticed. She softened her tone and grabbed Max gently by the shoulders so the girl would look back at her again.
"I'm sorry, Max. I'm sorry. This is not your fault. I want to protect you. But I can't. Not anymore. With what's happened, now they know your power is like anything we've seen before. I've talk this through with Miri. She agrees. We can't protect you. But if you go there – it's the only way you can be trained under a fucking safe environment. It's the only way you will be safe."
Max shook her head from side to side, refusing to accept.
"If you become N7, they won't get to you", Jack continued, "and if they do, you'll be so fucking badass you will be able to kick their asses back to Hell!"
Max was on the verge of tears.
"Cerberus is just a myth now, Jack!"
Jack released her and paced around the room again.
"Don't you remember what I've been teaching you all?! You seem to forget far too easily what happened to your family..."
Max sighed deeply. Maybe this battle was already lost.
"We never found proof it was them! We just... we just don't know, Jack! And you and Miri... You're my family! And you're asking me to leave and I–"
Jack didn't let her finish as she grabbed her face between her hands, looking her right in the eye.
"Max, listen to me. They always find a way to come back! Sometimes they call themselves Binary Helix, sometimes they get their tentacles into the Council, sometimes it's old fucking Cerberus. They might change their name, they might stand in the shadows until they find an opportunity, they might wait for years, decades, even a century if that's what it takes, but those bastards always find a way to come back. And whatever happens, you're too precious. I... I wish I could be enough, Max. Shit! For fuck's sake, child, you know that they can't get their hands on you as they did with me! I won't allow that. Over my dead body!"
They both fell silent while looking into each other's eyes. Max's tears run freely down her cheeks now. Jack's were about to fall.
Jack released Max's face but instead of letting the teenage girl go, she pulled her close in a tight embrace.
"This is what needs to be done, kiddo," Jack whispered in Max's ear, "I just... I've taught you everything I know. I'm sorry. But we know people. You will be safe, you have my word."
"Jack..."
Jack breaks the embrace and tries to wipe away her tears with the back of her hand. She walks towards her desk, not looking at Max.
"Just drop it, Max. It's settled."
The teenage girl grabs the older woman's arm. Jack stands still, not looking at her, just waiting. The air is filled with tension and unspoken feelings.
"If you think... If you...", Max didn't seem to find the words. "I'll do it," she sighed, giving up, "I just wish I could see Miri before I go..."
The tears made Max choke. Jack turned to her. She said nothing. She just held the teenage girl in her arms, again. The powerful biotic formerly known as Subject Zero just let the girl cry. Then, she let herself cry, too.
"I'll do whatever you two tell me to do," Max spoke, between sobs, "I trust you both. I always have."
Jack, the ex-convict; Jack, the ruthless assassin; Jack, the badass teacher and the war hero, just spoke her mind:
"I love you so fucking much, kiddo. You know that, don't you?"
And Max, the student; Max, the prodigy; Max, the one who was about to leave the only place in the Galaxy she considered home, used that word she wished she could use more, not just when they were alone:
"I know. I love you too, Mom."
"Hey there, rookie. Mind if I sit here?"
Max was abruptly taken out of her reverie by a loud sound –a tray filled with food being carelessly thrown on her table– and a girl with hair dyed electric blue, navy cap in her head, dressed in a black tank top and military pants, Alliance style, jumping on the seat in front of her.
Max was so surprised she could only emit some kind of low growl. She wished she wasn't caught off guard by the sudden interruption so she could tell the girl to fuck off, but the cocky, smirking face she found in front of her seemed to be not easily intimidated.
"I'll take that lovely sound as an invitation." The blue-haired girl winked at her and smiled. Max found that so annoying. And kind of cute. But mostly annoying.
Max noticed the cap the girl was wearing read SR2. Max would have been kind of impressed in any other circumstances; vintage goods from the legendary Normandy spaceship were hard to find... But then again, maybe it was just a replica. It did look pretty worn-out though.
Max watched as the girl sat comfortably in her chair, launching herself towards a piece of chicken breast, not minding using a fork. She began separating flesh from bone and just put the pieces in her mouth with her own fingers. Max wondered why she didn't feel disgusted. At first, at least. She noticed the girl had a three-bullet necklace along her Alliance dog tags. Max remembered she was given clear instructions upon arrival that recruits could only wear the tags around their necks but... Maybe this girl was sort of a rebel, just because. She looked like she could be one or two years older than Max and she was undoubtably taller.
Max also noticed the girl had a beautiful, large tattoo that went through the length of her right arm. A skull, flowers, thorns, blue butterflies and something written along the big, red band that crossed it all. It looked like a phrase, but certainly it was not English.
"So... You're Caulfield, right? I heard you got transferred from New Grissom Academy. Man, that's such a cool place. You grew up there, too?", the blue-haired girl, who showed an unapologetic conceit, punk attitude, didn't stop from talking even when her mouth was full. Max just didn't know what to do. So she resolved that the only way out was maybe... answering?
"Oh... no... I uh..." Max began. Then, she heard Miranda's voice in her head. The last advice she had given her over a call, just before getting on the Alliance ship that would take her from the Academy to Earth: Don't tell too much about yourself, Max. Lie, if you have to. Build a coherent story around yourself and most of all, trust no one.
"I was born here," Max continued. "On Earth, I mean."
The blue-haired recruit looked at her as if waiting for more information. She just chewed on her chicken, looking at Max right in the eye, oddly cheerful. Just waiting. God, she's so... blunt, Max thought.
Max cleared her throat.
"Little town in Oregon, in the States... ah... uh... Arcadia Bay. I'm sure you've never heard of it."
The other girl shook her head as she grabbed a handful of rice and put it in her mouth.
"Mmm–afraid not. Born and raised in Thessia. Between Serrice and Armali, to be precise. We used to spend at least two or three months on Earth every year, though, but we always stayed in London or Vancouver."
Max was getting the feeling that her new peer was either very chatty or one of those people who just had so much energy that a 20-hour training schedule just wouldn't be enough for them to burn their stamina. Max was quite impressed by the Thessia part. She had studied Asari art at the Academy for so many years and the idea of growing up around all that beauty was so– let's say, alien, to her.
"Thessia," Max thought aloud, "wow."
The blue-haired girl stopped her dedicated chewing only to drink some weird-looking green juice.
"Never been to the Asari homeworld, rookie?", she asked between sips.
Max shook her head. Then, the blue-haired recruit showed a smile warmer than Haestrom's sun.
"It's the most beautiful planet on the whole wide Galaxy, I'm telling ya. Everyone should get a chance to see it at least once in a lifetime. I used to get so homesick at first, when I began the program but now... well," she paused for a moment, looking rather thoughtful, "we do what we gotta do, right?"
Max noticed the girl had almost finished her plate. And she thought Jack's varren ate fast.
"You miss home too, rookie?"
Home? What is home? The Academy was home, but she had given the impression that she had been raised in Arcadia Bay. So she should stick to the lie. Max had left town with her biological parents when she was three, before the incident. She didn't remember much about the place, just that it had a beautiful view of the sunset from a very old lighthouse, and that, she knew just because Miri and Jack had shown her some pictures and vids, so she could know where she came from. They made promises, from time to time, to take her there some day on an special occasion, to celebrate her birthday or something. But the promise was never fulfilled for security reasons. And now, it seemed more impossible than ever. Of course, the blue-haired stranger in front of her didn't need to know that.
"Yeah. The sunsets over the bay are so beautiful... Specially in winter." Max said, sounding awfully true to her own ears. Could she really miss something she never had?
The girl in front of her seemed to relate to her, and, to Max's surprise, she slowed the speed of her speech and sounded almost... caring.
"Here in Brazil they call it saudade – you know, missing home, missing someone... It's a special form of longing for them. So they have a word for it." The recruit paused for a second and Max wondered if that word could sum up what she was feeling, because she really didn't know what it was. The girl in front of her spoke again, even gentler. "Cheer up, rookie, if you do your work here, you will be able to come back home for Christmas break. And I will go back to Thessia to enjoy a few days of teasing my little sis. Only eleven months to go!"
She smiled warmly at Max and the young girl felt a little bad for lying, but then again, was there any other option? And she had just met this sassy girl. She could be anyone or anything, so she should be careful and not fall for that dazzling smile and the breathtaking good lo–
"YO SHEPARD!"
A muscled guy screamed from the other side of the mess. Literally. He was tattooed all over, a little bit short, and his arms looked like Mako wheels: big, round and uncontrollable.
The whole dining hall went silent for a moment. With good reason. He had screamed at the top of his lungs. Max was a little bit confused at first, she didn't know who the guy was calling to. Maybe it was just a joke, but still – that name, well, it was quite common, though the fever of naming children all over the Galaxy after The Shepard had cooled down a few years after the war... Then she noticed, looking around her very slowly, trying not to turn any attention towards her, that absolutely everyone was looking at the girl sitting right in front of her.
Girl whose back was to the muscled, annoying guy. Guy who was still screaming things like 'Hey, Shepard, hey you! I'm talking to you, dude!'
The blue-haired girl still made no attempt to turn her attention towards the guy.
Max watched, increasingly uncomfortable –and for a variety of reasons–, as the girl just sucked each and every one of her fingers, covered in grassy chicken sauce.
"Shepard, you ass! You deaf?! Are you trying to seduce the newbie already? Jeez, you only think with your crotch, woman! The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, huh? Your daddy–" he made the air quote gesture and used a mocking tone, "would be proud!"
Is this some kind of high school trope?, Max thought. He's the annoying nemesis and she's the popular girl? I know most soldier types are dumb, or at least that's what Jack always said about them, but this is too cliché.
The blue-haired girl finally deigned to answer. She just yelled at him, but didn't even bother to look his way.
"Shut up, Martínez, I'm just getting to know the new recruit a little bit. You know good leaders take the time to talk to their team, right? She's been assigned to me, you shithead!"
And with that, she just finished the disgustingly-looking green juice, all in one sip.
Muscle Guy was not pleased.
"Yeah, talk, right! If that's what you call what you do to them with your tongue... That hottie, Amber? She's still moping around over you, dude! And we all here have heard your talking!"
God, the air quote again. This guy's a dumbass, Max felt the urge to roll her eyes but since she was in the line of sight of Muscle Guy, she thought she better keep it neutral. Some of the recruits around Muscle Guy were laughing while he rambled on, but generally, everyone remained silent. Max thought for a brief moment that it was odd that no guard or officer had appeared to keep the peace. Maybe they do that intentionally? While recruit Martínez kept on yelling obscenities at her, the blue-haired girl wiped her mouth with a napkin, awfully careful and slow, contrasting with the not so gentle ways she had displayed before. Then, she held Max's gaze for a second. She moved a little forward on the table, her face closer to Max's, and she whispered something, only for Max to hear:
"Be right back."
Max felt unexpected butterflies dancing and screaming in an improvised mosh pit inside her stomach. She blushed and ducked her head.
"...I could understand about the others but dumpin' that one? C'mon! Those ti–!"
Martínez couldn't finish his sentence. A blue lightning crossed the mess hall in a nanosecond. It was what it looked like: a biotic Vanguard charge. In the blink of an eye, the blue-haired girl was grabbing Martínez by the neck. Her SR2 cap had fallen off her head. She hadn't collision against Muscle Guy, but that didn't prevent him from trembling.
"Just shut up, Martínez, or I will find a way to accidentally break your nose next time we meet on the Arena."
She said the words in a low whisper and her face was very, very close to his. No one but the two of them could hear what she was saying.
"Oh. And if I ever caught you talking about Amber like that again... I'll fed your balls to the favelas' dogs for dinner. I hear those guys are worst than varrens, my friend, that's hunger for ya."
She released him and just turned around. The so-called Shepard girl walked back to her seat taking her time, a contented smile in her face. Muscle Guy waved and hissed for everyone to mind their own business as he composed himself and went back to his group. The blue-haired recruit picked up her SR2 cap from the floor and finally joined Max back at the table. Everybody went back to what they were doing so the sound of tangled voices filled up the air again.
"Don't mind him. He's an asshole and he's pissed because he will never top my scores, but if you ever find yourself in battle without good cover, he's the asshole you need by your side throwing inferno grenades. He's not a bad kid, just hella undisciplined."
Max just nodded, her mouth slightly opened in honest awe.
A second passed.
Max was finding it hard to blink. And she knew she was staring.
Another second.
The blue-haired girl complained she had no green juice left.
Max did not say anything.
Another three seconds.
She knew she should stop it. The staring.
Five long seconds.
Silence.
Then again, she couldn't stop it.
Ten long seconds.
She had to know. Could it be...?
A sigh.
"What is it, rookie? You're looking at me like I'm insane in the brain."
A pause.
Max gulped nervously.
"He called you Shepard."
"Yep."
"Shepard as a first name? You know... It's quite popular, as a tribute to—"
"Nope."
Then, only silence.
The blue-haired girl crossed her arms over her chest, an unreadable look in her face. Max looked back at her, just curious. After a few seconds, the moment became visibly awkward for both of them. Max thought it was kind of a challenge to try and leave the cocky recruit speechless for a few seconds. She wanted to test how long she could last, so she just looked at her feet and waited. She could hear the other girl breathing exasperatedly. She was beginning to crack a smile when she heard a resigned whimper. Ah, victory!
"By the Goddess, you really are new!"
The older girl leaned on the table between them, scrutinizing Max with her bright blue eyes. The Asari expression was not lost to Max.
"It's strange that none of the other recruits came to you to help you join the gossip mayhem... Chase, for example, pretty mediocre Soldier if you ask me, she's full of shit and thinks that spreading lies behind my back hurts me in some way. What she doesn't seem to acknowledge is that I don't give a fuck."
Suddenly, Max felt a little bad, she had purposely tried to make the other girl nervous to no end, and she was obviously having a hard time about Max didn't know what, so she should put an end to it. She raised her hands, trying to show that whatever was going on, it was none of her business.
"I uh... I flew in this morning." Max explained, trying to sound casual. "Anyway, I'm not much for gossip–"
"The sooner you know, the better."
It was not a rude interruption, more like an anxious one. The Vanguard girl removed the SR2 cap from her head to nervously stroke her hair. Then she sighed in a 'let's-get-this-over-with' manner and she smiled forcedly at Max. She made an exaggerated reverence, cap in hand, and bowed her head. Max was able to see that her hair was dyed quite perfectly and the blue color was consistent all through her roots to her hair ends.
"Chloe Elizabeth T'Soni-Shepard, at your service, ma'am."
Max would have laughed if it wasn't for the dead serious look on the blue-haired girl's face. Girl who was looking at her. Very intently. Waiting for a reaction.
Oh my fuck. She's not joking. Fuck my fuck. Fuck. Fuckfuckfuck.
Max knew right away that the tables had been turned and the girl in front of her was really enjoying the moment. All her ill-at-ease display might as well had been a bluff.
Max could see the threat of a smirk appearing in Chloe's mouth.
Oh no, don't let her win. Keep it together, Maximus.
Max stared back, blinking nonchalantly.e
So... I can't pretend not to know what's going on. The whole galaxy knows the legendary Commander Jane Shepard married Doctor Liara T'Soni not long after the Reaper War was won. They've always been very private but they're the most famous couple in the Galaxy so everybody knows they have two daughters. One asari, one human. One of them is sitting in front of me. Wow. Not just wow. Fuck. Like– fucking wowser. Ok, you dumbass, say something.
"Wow that's... uh... Good for you."
Max would have kicked herself right there. She smiled sheepishly, hoping Chloe would be merciful.
And she was.
"Yeah, I know, amazeballs, right?" Chloe said with no hint of enthusiasm. Then, she suddenly went back to her overconfident self. "Well. If you feel the need to begin asking me all kind of creepy questions about my folks, please restrain yourself, soldier. There's more than enough porn about them in the Extranet. It used to upset me a little that half of the Galaxy practically worships them. And of course, to compensate for that, the other half just hates them. But I'm not ten anymore, so I'm totally over that. They're just people. Heroes, yes, but people. Dad leaves dirty laundry around all the time and she farts just like everyone else and Mom–"
Chloe stopped herself.
"No. Wait."
Max didn't know if she should be grossed out or just laugh. She was inclined to the latest, but Chloe seemed so lost in thought that she just really wanted to hear her final conclusion. The blue-haired girl had a frown in her face. She finally just shrugged.
"You know what? Mom's actually perfect." She said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Max lifted her eyebrows but didn't say a word.
"Never mind, you can call me Chloe. My Dad's shadow is cast upon me on every other aspect of my life, thank you very much. On the training field I have to be Shepard, but when we're not yelling at each other inside our helmets, I'd rather have people call me by my first name. Well, everyone but Martínez. And Prescott. And Chase. You know how it goes."
Chloe rested her cheek in her left hand and leaned on the table. She dedicated a mischievous smile at Max.
"So... questions?"
Max found it really hard not to smile back.
"I was just gonna say that my name is Max."
Chloe nodded.
"I already knew that, rookie."
"Then, could you please stop calling me that?"
"Ok, Caulfield, fair enough. Can I call you 'dude'?"
"Max, just Max. Please."
They remained silent for a few seconds. There was fewer people around them. Everybody was getting ready for the afternoon classes. None of them would dare to say it but they both felt the silence between them was beginning to feel comfortable. As if they had known each other for a long time. Strange, Max thought.
If she was really sincere with herself, Max would've asked a lot of questions. But maybe Chloe would've been surprised about their nature. The way the blue-haired girl talked about her home planet, her sister, her subtle pride of her parents... it was a beautiful mixture. Max wondered if that's why she dyed her hair blue, maybe that was some kind of tribute to her people. She even called the Commander her Dad, as per the ways of Asari culture, and Max couldn't help but find that extremely cute. She could tell Chloe had been brought up in a loving environment, and that no matter how rebel and defiant her attitude might be, she had been a happy kid. It just showed. Max had known love and safety with Jack and Miranda, but the memories of her biological parents had always been there, as a painful reminder of the tragedy that chased her. So, in a way, Max envied Chloe, and she was definitely intrigued by her. So yes, if she hadn't mind about giving the impression that she was a total weirdo, she would have asked all sort of things about Chloe T'Soni-Shepard.
And she knew that couldn't be good.
"I can come up with some good nicknames deriving from Max, ya know." Chloe broke the silence.
"Why would you do that?"
Chloe shrugged and pursed her lips.
"Everyone here gets a codename in the end, so you better choose yours before someone pins you with something you don't like."
Max took a deep breath and shook her head, then looked shyly at her hands resting on the table. She just hadn't anticipated that among her worries and fears about leaving home, she would find the task of choosing a nickname.
"What's yours? Your codename, I mean." Max asked, curious.
Chloe deliberately waited until Max raised her head again to look at her. She locked eyes with the younger girl, and then, she gave an answer with a dreamy, proud smile on her face.
"Blue." Chloe said in a hoarse whisper.
That left Max speechless. Why, she didn't know. She was suddenly very aware of her heartbeat pounding in her ears and something else pounding between her legs. The look Chloe was giving her... She looked away quickly as she felt heat invading her cheeks. She was painfully aware that she was blushing heavily. Whoa, Mad Max, what the...? Chill, you perv!
Chloe sighed happily and reclined in her seat, apparently oblivious to Max's reaction. Oh no, she's just giving me a way out. A girl like her does not simply not notice. What is wrong with me, for fuck's sake, I'm making a fool of myself...
"So... Caul... I mean, Max. What do you do?"
Max made a puzzled face. This line of dialogue was not helping her out of her embarrassment.
"Sorry?"
"You're on the N7 program now. You must be good at something." Chloe pointed out.
Finally, something she could work with. Max thought to herself that she better take advantage of the topic and stick to it.
"Oh. Well, I wish I could've been an Engineer," the younger girl began enthusiastically, "I just... I don't know. I love machines. I love inventing them, shaping them, giving some sort of life to them. Working with drones is super fun and I'm into programming, too. But anyway, I lack talent so in the end I couldn't apply for that Class..."
Chloe listened intently. She smiled warmly.
"Oh, but there's always the Sentinels, right?"
"No, I'm not a Sentinel either." Max responded with a soft smile.
Chloe shrugged sympathetically.
"Oh. Anyway, the way you light up about nerdy stuff? That's sweet. Recruit Graham is going to be all over you. He's a creep, though, he stalks girls and you might be his type, so be careful around him. Just personal advice."
Max was a little taken aback by the sudden piece of uncalled for information. Chloe tried to play it down as fast as she could.
"Not that I care if you hook up with him or anything but that would hint you lack good taste..." Chloe chuckled lightly. "My aunt Tali would love you, you remind me of her talking about gadgets. She's such a geek. Not that I'm calling you a geek... you know, not in a bad way. But you remind me of her. In a way. Sort of."
Max's jaw had dropped a few phrases ago.
"You mean... Tali'Zorah vas Normandy? The Quarian Councilor. She's your aunt." Max stated, awestruck.
"You a fan of hers? She's pretty awesome, yeah. But don't act like you don't know the recent History of the Milky Way, Sherlock. She's friends with my folks, you sure know that, they're war buddies."
Max was indeed a fan of Tali'Zorah. She had completely forgotten that she was part of the Normandy crew during the war, so of course it was just fitting Chloe would know her. In the Post-War Galaxy, she was a widely-known author (the first part of her memoirs, Child of Rannoch, was one of the best selling books of all time in the whole wide Galaxy) and one of the fundamental figures in the reconstruction of the Mass Relays. She was also the first Quarian Councilor at the Citadel, position she still held at the time. Max knew Miranda and Jack had worked with her, being part of the second Normandy crew, but they were so reticent to tell her stories about the war years that she just had to settle for what she could read in books like those of Tali's. Hell, they even never talked about Commander Shepard.
And now she was sitting here, a recruit at the N7 Academy, talking to none other than the Commander's daughter. Yep, life is... weird like that, Max thought.
Chloe kept rambling on.
"Tali's the best. She taught me to bypass my bedroom's lock when I was six so I could get up in the middle of the night to play Kepesh-Yakshi on Mom's computers. Of course Glyph would always tattle everything to her, the little bastard..."
"I'm an Adept." Max finally blurted out.
For some reason, that made Chloe instantly ecstatic.
"Oooh, biotics, now that's hella cool! Dude, you come from Grissom Academy! Of course you should kick some ass as an Adept! I'm a Vanguard, just like my Dad... So I work better if I got someone throwing singularities around me while I charge. Dude, we could be partners in fire... See, a biotic I had on my squad has switched sides recently so... You might come in handy when I pick my team for finals."
God, the way she talks... 'Hella cool?' I can't tell if she's a badass or a real dork. Not that I wouldn't know, considering my social skills are those of an Elcor with social anxiety disorder. The only real friend I had back at the Academy was Samuel and he was, well, let's say – as damaged as me. That biotic she mentioned... could it be that Amber girl Muscle Guy was taunting her about? Is Shepard– I mean, Chloe, some sort of womanizer? She's very full of herself, that shows. Maybe she takes advantage of her parents' fame for that– Ok, she's going to be my peer. Just– God. I need to stop it!
"Will I have a say in that?" Max said playfully, trying to shake her raging thoughts out of her mind.
Chloe shook her head, a smile never leaving her face.
"Well, you've already been assigned to my training squad, so... maybe not. Sorry. But hey, look at the bright side, at least you weren't assigned to Prescott. He's a total dick. His leading style is more like Führer style."
Chloe paused for a moment.
"At least I listen to my team... I... I try to bring up the best in everyone. That's how I was raised. Teamwork, always." She added, and Max thought she sounded absolutely honest. Even... worried? It only lasted those few seconds. The bravado was back in the next sentence. "That's how it's done, baby. Shepard style!"
Max just laughed in her face, not holding back this time. Chloe joined her with a light chuckle. She put her SR2 cap back in her head.
"So anyway, you come from Grissom and there's lots of badass teachers there", Chloe said, casually. "Jack, for example. She's principal now, right? Dad and her used to be close. But a few years after the war she just stopped calling. I don't know what happened between them."
Max's body automatically went still at the sound of Jack's name. Even if this was Commander Shepard's daughter, she shouldn't trust her. Or be naïve enough to think this girl would care about her if she were to know her story. If Chloe sensed Max's unease, she didn't show it, she just kept on talking.
"I barely remember her and Miranda. They used to come visit. Then, nothing. Last time I saw them I was... five, maybe? Whatever. Dad hasn't brought it up in all these years so... Don't think it was anything in particular. Old buddies simply stop calling sometimes, ya know."
She cut all ties with everyone she knew when she found me. Anyone but Miranda. So she could protect me better. The timeline of events seems to fit. God, Jack, how many things did you not tell me?
"She cool and badass like in the vids?" Chloe was filled with eagerness, again.
"What?" Max was millions of light years away, thinking about home.
Chloe insisted, gentler this time. Max thought her face looked younger when she displayed such softness.
"Jack. Is she... you know... that good? They say she was the most powerful human biotic of all time. They say she still is."
Max smiled widely. She couldn't help it. What was the harm in telling the truth, just for this time?
"Oh, trust me, the vids don't do her justice. They don't even come close."
Chloe banged the palm of her hand against the table.
"I knew it! Man... Wish I could see her in action some day. Awesome."
Max found the excitement to be a little bit too much but it was good to know she wasn't the only fangirl around.
Suddenly, something beeped. It was Chloe's omnitool. The blue-haired recruit quickly activated it and read through her messages. She quickly raised from her seat.
"I uh... I should go."
Max felt like she just had been roughly awaked by a splash of water to the face. She smiled weakly and tried to hide her unexpected disappointment.
"Oh, ok."
Chloe typed quickly in her omnitool. She was probably late to a class or a meeting or something. Max felt small and awkward, suddenly. Chloe looked back at her and opened her mouth to say something, then her omnitool beeped again, insistently.
"Fuck, shut up, dude!" She typed one final command and just closed the application.
She looked back at Max and sighed.
"Sorry, Max, I really have to go. Anyway, I only wanted to welcome you to the School. And I'm here if you need anything... We're going to spend a lot of time together and this program is a bitch so... Well. I think Marsh is your roommate, we all share here so... Find her when you can. Or she will find you, I don't know, the girl is sweet but weird as fuck."
Chloe began to walk away. Max just sat there, staring at her, saying nothing. Chloe waved her hand, her back to Max. She shout out final words for her to hear, just before disappearing behind the exit door.
"See you in the training field, Super Max. And remember to choose your codename quickly!"
Max sat there for a minute, two, three, maybe. She just stared at the door thinking about nothing in particular. There were only a dozen recruits around her now. The mess hall was almost silent. She closed her eyes, and she surprised herself when Chloe's blue hair materialized in her mind. And her blue eyes. And the memory of the warm tone of her voice reverberated through her senses.
"Man, this is bad." Max thought out loud, her eyes still closed.
Then, she heard a calmed female voice right behind her.
"That burning sensation you're feeling right now? It's not really because of her, you know. It's what the moth feels, just before it gets burned by the flame. But don't worry, you wouldn't be the first victim to her blue fire. And we all have been there... She does that."
Max turned around to discover a blonde girl smiling sweetly at her. Maybe it was the tone of her voice, or maybe her gentle features or her transparent, shy smile... The thing is Max should've felt offended. The intrusion should've creeped her out. She should've felt a little insulted, even. But she didn't. Max just accepted the strangeness of this day and surrendered to fate. She knew her new life was bound to surprise her continuously so she just might let it be.
The girl extended her hand to greet her, and Max just took it.
"Hi Max, I'm Kate. Kate Marsh. Welcome to N-School. Let's give you the tour, shall we?"
.
.
.
EPILOGUE
"About fucking time Your Majesty pays a visit to the dungeons."
"You know I have to be out there."
"I know. And I know you wouldn't have come if I hadn't beg you."
"Babe–"
"Miri. Don't."
Jack's office was dark, her face illuminated only by the light of her computer's screen as she was going through student's reports and files. She didn't bother to look at the door, where Miranda stood in her Alliance black and blue catsuit, her regular uniform for the past 20 years. The superior genetics of the former Cerberus operative guaranteed that she still looked like a thirty-something gorgeous woman, only a few lines had appeared in the corner of her eyes. Jack felt physical pain each time she looked at her; in her own words, she got even more damn beautiful with each passing year.
Miranda began to approach her and Jack tried to focus on her computer, but she knew hiding was helpless.
"She's nineteen now. She was going to leave the nest, sooner or later, you know that."
Jack didn't need anything else to let the rage out.
"Not like this, no, fuck no! She's not ready. She still has no idea of how powerful she really is."
Miranda's tone remained awfully calm as she approached Jack's desk, slowly.
"She's going to be ok, Jack. You taught her everything she knows. She will prevail."
"But how can I? Without her? My baby... My... ah, fuck!"
Miranda reached Jack's side, finally, as the biotic teacher kept her head down, between her hands, fighting back the pain. Miranda touched her back, gently.
"You can say it. You might have not given birth to her... But she's your daughter."
Jack sniffed and shook her head.
"Our daughter." She remarked.
Miranda nodded and kept stroking Jack's back.
"Our daughter. Although I played the clichéd role of absent parent far too well. She might always hold a grudge for that. And I wouldn't blame her."
Miranda showed a sad smile as Jack finally looked up at her.
"She knows... She's always known you were out there for her. So you could protect us." Jack whispered as if each word hurt.
"Yes." Miranda stretched her smile. "No one has mastered the art of telling bedtime stories through Quantum Entanglement Communicators as I have."
They both felt silent, lost in memories of the past. Miranda spoked again.
"She would get so angry if I overacted my Krogan impressions, remember? Ah, so intelligent, so kind-hearted, our little Mad Max."
They shared genuine smiles of pride and joy for a few seconds, but then Jack's smile evolved into bitter tears of regret.
"Fuck, Miri. Just... fuck..."
"Come here. Let me hold you."
Miranda put her arms around Jack, who just let herself be wrapped and sobbed softly.
"Ssshhh. It's ok now. She will be fine. She learned from the best." Miranda whispered soothing words as she rocked the teacher in her arms. She planted a kiss on the top of her head. Jack sighed deeply. Miranda knew that tonight she would be cranky; she always spent a day or two hating herself for showing weakness whenever she let her guard down. It was exhausting and useless, but after all those years Miranda knew better than trying to appease Jack's stubbornness.
Jack pulled away slowly. Her eyes were red and lost. She brought her hands up and pulled down Miranda's head for a wet, lingering kiss. Miranda just complied. She knew what was needed. She knew Jack wouldn't ask.
After a few minutes passed, Miranda broke the sequence of engrossing kisses, reluctantly. She kept her forehead pressed against Jack's.
"Maybe..." she began in a low whisper, "–we can call Shepard and Liara, let them know about the situation, if that will give you peace of mind."
Jack smiled bitterly, her eyes still closed.
"I think we should leave her out of this, don't you think? They might hate us after turning our backs on them for so many years..."
Miranda pulled away immediately. She raised her eyebrow and smiled down at Jack.
"Oh, you don't know, darling?"
Miranda's overconfident tone was the promise of privileged information.
"What now?" The teacher sighed.
Miranda opened her omnitool and typed something.
"Here. Take a look."
A vid appeared on the orange hologram of Miranda's omnitool. It was a feed of video from the CCTV at the N7 facilities. Jack recognized Max sitting nervously at a table, all alone in the mess hall. Then, a girl with blue hair approached her.
"Is that...?
"Mmm-hmm." Miranda nodded at Jack's unfinished question.
"Fuck me." Jack hissed.
The footage changed to the training field. A group of recruits dressed in basic armor, colored blue, were trying to hold back an attack from another group dressed in red. Max was one of the blues.
"Chloe Shepard has been in the N7 Program for six months now. Oddly enough, she's been randomly assigned as team leader to our Max." Miranda's voice sounded amused.
"Did you make that happen?" Jack raised her eyebrow at her.
"You do know I am a very resourceful woman." Miranda just smiled.
"And you really think it's a good idea?"
Jack looked worried. Miranda reassured her with a more serious tone.
"Well. I don't know. I thought if we ever needed Shepard's help, her daughter being close to Max could play to our benefit, yes."
In the vid, Max was throwing singularities around her very successfully. But then, one of the reds appeared on her side, trying to flank her with a biotic attack of his own.
Out of the blue –literally–, Chloe Shepard appeared to knock him off with a melee attack, omniblade in hand. Once the guy was stunned, Chloe made sure he was fine and then looked back at Max, smiling widely. She wasn't wearing a helmet. Instead, she wore some kind of blue war-paint that resembled Asari markings and the ceremonial plates that some Asari warriors wore on their foreheads.
"And they seem to be... bonding." Miranda remarked with a hint of wonder.
In the vid, Max smiled back at Chloe. And then, the feed was cut.
Jack gasped and shook her head.
"Shit. I hope the Queen of the Scout Girls and Doc Blue don't freak out on us."
"So you agree... that we should tell them?"
Jack nodded slowly.
"So... It's settled. We pay a visit to the T'Soni-Shepard household and explain ourselves, after all these years."
Jack didn't pay any attention to Miranda's resolution. She held her face in her hands. She tried to repress new tears.
"Shhh. Don't cry, my love. It's going to be ok."
Miranda removed Jack's hands to take her face between her hands, stroking gently the side of her cheeks. Jack sighed and looked back at her, eyes wide open.
"Miri?"
"Yes?"
"Just shut up and fuck me."
Miranda smiled, knowingly. She nodded her head gently.
Then she whispered something, just before claiming Jack's lips with her own.
"Your wish is my command, Mrs. Lawson."