Chapter 1

It was quiet. And dark. The tinkling of the manacles on Shepard's left wrist the only sound as she wrung her hands in agitation sitting on the edge of the stiff cot that was on the opposite wall of the door she was facing. She was in a maximum security prison, the only person on her side of it. She was scared, she could admit that to herself. She wasn't the hard ass everyone thought she was. She cried herself to sleep at night, on occasion; she had laughing fits, though those were far and few between these last few years. And, she loved, passionately. It's what made her tick, everyone on her crew, family. She loved them and trusted them, no question.

Turning herself in was the hardest and easiest thing she could do. She was the reason 300,000 Batarians were dead, no matter that it was to provide time for every galactic species to prepare more for the Reaper invasion. Manacles clanking, she put her head in her hands, 300,000, and all for nothing. No one was preparing for anything, she thought bitterly. She was in fact waiting to be transferred to another holding facility to await a trial that could take months. She got up to pace, no longer able to sit still. Why was she still manacled, she thought, what the hell could she do from in this cell? She wasn't even a biotic. It was almost comical in a way, her reputation definitely preceded her.

She sat back down, and leaned back against the cold hard wall, why wasn't Anderson here yet? A chill ran through her. He'd told her he'd come get her out of solitary as soon as possible. It'd only been a day or so, but being alone with her thoughts for so long, still shackled, and in a very dark room was driving her insane. Well, there was some light, just a very long distance down the hall so practically none reached inside her cell. She looked at her wrist, she couldn't see it but she knew it would be red from the manacle rubbing it, she'd eventually have a bruise.

In the distance she heard a heavy door creak and then slam, and again, several more times, until a blinding light from the hallway came through the bars on her door. Relief flooded through her, they were finally going to move her. She put her right forearm up to shield her eyes so she could see who was there.

"Shepard." She heard in that familiar baritone voice.

"Anderson?" She asked not allowing her relief to reflect in her voice.

"We finally got past all the bullshit red tape." Her eyes adjusted and she could finally see him, he was wearing his military dress uniform. He turned to the serious looking mountain of a man standing next to him and angrily commanded, "Take that off her."

The man filled out his uniform with solid muscle, a few scars and an intriguing tattoo peeping out on his neck through his collar. He leaned down and reached out for her hand and she recoiled back, she was wary of everyone at this point. He froze, just looking into her eyes, waiting.

"It's ok Shepard," Anderson said, "This is Lt. James Vega, he's with me. I'll explain on the way, but let him take that ridiculous shackle off so we can leave this prison."

Implicitly trusting Anderson she nodded but realized he couldn't see her so said "ok" and held her hand up so the Lt. could unshackle her. He was surprisingly gentle, his left hand held her wrist and the manacle so it wouldn't move in a feather light grip that had her pulse jumping. He smoothly turned the key to unlock it and waited for her to take her wrist out, which she did so and rubbed it gently. He dropped the manacle unceremoniously to the floor and held out his hand yet again, this time she took it and he helped her to her feet.

There wasn't much room and she was just inches away from him. For half a second they looked at each other, sizing each other up, hoping her inappropriate thoughts didn't show in her eyes. After a moment he gestured for her to precede him out the door. All business for now then, she supposed, whatever kind of soldier he was he must be a damn good one.

When they finally got outside and to transport, she turned to Anderson and said "Thank you, I didn't know hell actually existed."

Anderson let out a grunt of dissatisfaction. "Don't thank me, you had to spend more than an hour in there."

They all got into the shuttle and she waited for him to maneuver the transport into the air before speaking again. "Well, it could have been worse, it could have been a week." She gave a paltry half smile, she had a problem with always trying to make people feel better. She could always see the other side of an argument and could always manage to see the good in someone, no matter what they did there was always a reason. Even now, just being out of there lifted her spirits and she felt more herself.

Anderson gave her an incredulous look, smiled, shook his head. "I'm glad that place didn't change you, we have better accommodations for you in Vancouver on Earth."

She felt her stomach drop. She knew she was going to another holding location but for a brief second was able to forget, Anderson's presence was always comforting. In some ways she felt closer to him than her own father. To lighten the mood she said "As long as I don't have to wear my iron bracelet, it doesn't really go with my outfit." Anderson laughed. "So, what's with the LT. in the back seat?" She asked truly curious as to why he was with Anderson.

"Lt. Vega will be your bodyguard and your prison guard while you're on Earth. He's the best Marine I have, besides you. Since you have no biotic ability and you can't get your hands on a weapon, he will be your weapon and your shield if necessary."

That made her nervous. "The death threats are that bad?"

"No." Anderson laid a reassuring hand platonically on her knee, "Just a precaution." He gave her a stern look as they docked with the transport ship that would take them through the relay to her new home.