"If you release her from cryo, it will open all the cells on the entire station."
"We've got no choice, Garrus. I didn't get attacked and nearly imprisoned just to turn back at the thought of conflict."
"Just letting you know what you're getting us into." He always was the thought on the tip of my tongue.
"Not that I'd protest to leaving a criminal where it belongs." Of course Miranda needed to be the one with the lack of optimism.
"Thanks, Operative Lawson, but I think I know what I'm getting myself into."
"You think." Alarms blared through the room and the blood from the man we just killed pooled around my booted feet. Now or never, I guess.
One fast hack and a sweep of my omni-tool sent the room beyond the glass into the throes of an event that left me amazed. A cylinder rose from the ground spewing carbonized air as it surfaced. The vapor dispersed leaving my team and I staring at… well, I don't know. Not what I expected, certainly. It, she, was dormant. At least for the moment we first saw her. From her torso up her skin was littered in tattoos. I'd never seen anything like it. It was almost as though her entire life's story was told in the paleness of her flesh. Kind of… poetic. But the beautiful artwork concealed deep, horrendous scars carved systematically across her body. A tragic twist to what was surely a vast tale of excitement and heartbreak.
Her breasts were held only by leather straps that unbelievably covered them rather adequately. Her tattoos coating her skin kept her appearance from feeling awkward to see, however. Yet, amongst all the oddities of this woman, what stole my breath was her face. Her head was shaved; an artful line of bizarre designs etched around her scalp, and left nothing of her features hidden. She was young, younger than me, and her face certainly showed it. She had hints of eyeliner and thick, red lips with a tiny streak of stray lipstick coming off the right of her upper lip. She looked calm, peaceful, coming out of was must have been a lengthy period of cryogenic hibernation. That didn't last long.
The instant her eyes flashed open, those beautiful auburn eyes, her faced roared into anger. She yelled, tearing the restraints from her body with primal ferocity. YMIR mechs just down the ramp from her position primed weapons and targeted her. I panicked. There was nothing I could do, not from here, so I stared down painfully as the scene unfolded in slow motion with my hands planted against the pane. I had never seen this woman before in my life. Subject Zero? But now I was prepared to jump through this bullet-proof, reinforced glass to save her.
I was surprised further, however, when she leapt from her place and charged the mechs with her fist aflame in the signature sapphire light of biotics. I didn't see her strike, but the flame and debris eschewed from beneath the deck told me her attack had been successful and devastating. The next few seconds resulted in heightened alarms and a sudden shudder that rang throughout the entire ship. She was good. She was powerful. She was gorgeous.
I wanted her.
Following in her wake was like walking through the remnants of a crashed freighter. Bodies, equipment, and containment cells were tossed about and laying around like she had strolled through on a battleship. We picked off the remnants of the Blue Suns security force all the while admiring Subject Zero's handiwork. Or, at least, I was.
I spent as much time gazing in awe as I did firing my weapon. The thermal rounds piercing the skulls of my opponents came as an afterthought as my mind sought after this crazed biotic. I usually mourned the loss of every soul I removed from this life, but these ones didn't affect me. They didn't affect me.
The warden's demise signaled the end of the facility and the remaining Blue Suns knew it. They fled with their guns between their legs and we got back to the Normandy with no resistance. We found our convict yelling at something outside, likely the Normandy, as a Blue Suns soldier approached from her right. Without thinking, I removed my Predator from its holster and fired off a quick round that removed the man from the world. He'd go down in history as the man I saved Subject Zero from. She turned to me with one of the most frightened faces I had ever seen. It vanished as soon as I saw it, but it was there. It belied everything the events here had told me about her. I was speechless.
"What the hell do you want?" her voice was tough, like it'd been dragged through a blender and the most heart-wrenching moments in history. I wanted to touch her, to tell her she was safe. Why would I want to do that?
"I-," my voice was hoarse. I coughed and cleared my throat before starting over. "I came to get you, um, out of here." That didn't sound too convincing.
"Shit. You sound like a pussy." Oh my god. She totally said bad words right there. No one says bad words to me. I didn't know what to say. She had me there. "I'm not going anywhere with you. You're Cerberus." Oh, so she was looking at the Normandy. I hoped she wasn't serious about not going with me. I wasn't sure my heart could handle it.
"Look," I did my best to bring up the most commanding voice I could. "I need your help," with more than fighting Collectors.
"You show up in a Cerberus frigate to take me away somewhere. You think I'm stupid?" There was so much disdain in her voice. What had she done to Cerberus? What had Cerberus done to her? I chose to go with logic for this part.
"The ship's going critical and this is the closest and easiest way off of it. The only thing I need from you is your help." Most of that was the truth.
"We don't have time for this, Shepard. Just knock her out and we'll deal with this on the Normandy." I stared at Garrus aghast. Hurt this beautiful being? Was he mad?
"I'd like to see you try." That statement sounded weak, almost like she didn't mean it. She sounded lost and my friend just threatened her. I wanted to hold and tell her I was there.
"We'll do no such thing."
"Good move." Now her voice was back. She was safe once more. "Look, if you want me to come with you, make it worth my while." She sounded as though she needed more than she was letting on.
"Say the word and I'll give you whatever you need." Say drop and I'm on my knees.
"Don't make promises you can't keep." Old wounds surfaced on her lips and I knew she was hurting. I'd do anything at that point to keep that from happening to her ever again. "I bet your ship's got lots of Cerberus databases. I want to take a look at those files; see what Cerberus has got on me. You want me on your team? Let me go through those databases." I hoped whatever she planned on finding in those files wouldn't hurt her any further.
"Done. As soon as you're on board, you'll have full clearance to all our files." I didn't have the authority to do that, but it felt like I was under a trance. I needed to make this woman happy or else… my mind couldn't simulate that possibility.
"Shepard, you're not authorized to do that!" Her words mimicked my thoughts and it couldn't have made me happier.
"Oh, it upsets the cheerleader. Even better." I sensed joy in that statement. I'd do anything to hear it again.
She walked up to me and pointed her tattooed finger straight at my chest. "You better be straight-up with me." My lungs had vacated so I settled for a nod in response. She looked away her eyes leaving my face. My heart sunk. I hadn't even noticed it had risen. "So what are we waiting around here for?" I was about ready to pop out the confetti and throw a party. This gorgeous thing had agreed to come on my ship in exchange for a few files on an organization I didn't even care for? I didn't even practice a religion and I had been blessed. An angel stood before me and she was going to be on board my ship in a matter of moments. My bliss only permitted a few words in response.
"Move out." Pitiful. The least I could have said was 'I love you.'
This was most definitely the start of something neither of us could have ever predicted in our wildest dreams. And that alone filled me with dread.