A/N: This chapter was the one I wrote first and it's really cheesy, and I'm sorry about that. I have no excuse other then I kind of like it that way :P Please R&R! And thanks to those of you that already did :)
Chapter 2
I'm gonna hit the highway like a battering ram,
on a silver black phantom bike.
When the metal is hot and the engine is hungry,
and we're all about to see the light.
Nothing ever grows in this rotting old hole.
Everything is stunted and lost.
And nothing really rocks
And nothing really rolls
And nothing's ever worth the cost
Meat Loaf - "Bat Out Of Hell"
She took off her sunglasses and paused at the door, before she pushed the button and heard the doorbell chime from inside the house. She looked up at the building and it was huge, she was certain her own apartment could fit in the entry hall and she shared that with Joker.
"Just a second!"
The door opened and the woman from the alley, Mrs Alenko she guessed, was looking at her with mingled fear and surprise. Before the woman started panicking she quickly held out the wallet.
"I found this, guess it belongs to your son"
Mrs Alenko took it from her out of reflex and moved her lips but no words came out. Just as she was about to turn around and leave, the father and another man appeared behind the stunned woman. The father's eyes widened in recognition and she quickly repeated her reason for being there.
"I found the wallet, just thought I'd return it"
Too late she realised that they would of course assume she had stolen it to begin with and she felt a twinge of fear in her stomach, but carefully made sure her face didn't show anything. If she showed any fear she would be lost. When it came to street kids like her, standard procedure was usually guilty until proven innocent, and she didn't relish the thought of being chased through an unknown neighbourhood. The man beside the father was dark skinned and of average height. He had a posture that immediately made her think of the military officers she had seen that time when she was hiding out at the space port, and he was looking at her as though he found her very interesting. She couldn't help but think of herself as a deer caught in the headlights. Mr Alenko spoke first.
"How nice of you to return it. Do you want to come in? This is the girl who helped Kaidan" He added the last part to the dark skinned man who was still studying her intently.
If I enter that house, I'm fucked.
"No, thanks, gotta get back" She gestured vaguely towards her motorcycle parked at the end of their driveway.
"Actually we've got some questions for you that we'd like answered" The other man said and the tone of his voice told her it wasn't a request. But there was no way in hell she was going into that house.
"You KGB?" She said with a smirk and leaned on the doorpost to perfect the careless facade.
"Worse. Alliance"
So she'd been right about the military thing. Damn.
"So this is what you get for trying to do a good deed" She pushed off the doorpost but also knew they wouldn't let her go that easy.
"Relax, we just wanna talk. The porch on the side of the house?"
She looked him in the eyes for a few seconds but he seemed like a straight up guy so she slowly nodded. Not that she had any choice. She could run, sure, but he could probably outrun her seeing as he was way more fit and had longer legs. And she'd have to leave her bike.
She walked around to the other side of the house and stepped up on the porch as the three adults walked out on with the younger guy, Kaidan, trailing behind them. All four of them sat down in the couch at one end of the table and she naturally sat down in a chair on the other side, careful to appear fearless and completely in control. Kaidan was looking at her with barely contained curiosity and she gave him a small smile before turning her attention back to the military guy.
"I'm David Anderson, friend of the family. I heard what you did today, helping Kaidan"
He hadn't phrased it as a question and she didn't answer, just kept looking at him with slightly raised eyebrows and the small smirk in the corner of her mouth. When it was obvious she wasn't going to say something he tried again.
"It was very nice of you to bring the wallet all the way here"
"Kind of regretting it right now"
That made him smile and she took it as a small victory. Just had to think carefully before she said anything. Not that she had done anything that would normally catch the Alliance's attention but you could never be too careful, and if the rest of the Reds thought she'd become a snitch she'd be in trouble.
"No good deed goes unpunished. What is your name?"
"I have many names"
"The name your were born with"
"Can't remember that far back"
He frowned and she thought she might have gone a bit too far. She did want to humour him, after all, without telling him anything that mattered.
"The people at the orphanage called me Jane Doe"
He continued to look at her intently as if he expected her to keep talking but she wasn't about to fall for that. Oldest trick in the book. His eyes did seem to bore right through her though.
"When did you first come to the orphanage?"
"When I was four"
"Then I think you do remember the name you were born with"
He was sly, the old man, and she let her smirk grow wider.
"Maybe. But if I didn't tell anyone at the orphanage, why the hell would I tell you?"
She thought she could see a small smile playing around his mouth but she couldn't be sure.
"What do they call you on the street?"
"Shep. Or Copper" She made a gesture towards her red hair and grinned.
"How original"
She shrugged.
"It's a simple crowd"
She let her eyes sweep over the rest of the people in front of her. The mother seemed clearly uncomfortable with the whole turnout and the guy she'd helped, Kaidan, was still staring at her. The father was watching her with a small smile but didn't look like he was about to intervene. He had some of the same air of command as the Alliance guy, but much more subdued.
"Is it your bike?"
Alliance guy nodded his head in the direction of the driveway.
"Yeah"
"You old enough to ride that?"
She laughed. Hadn't meant to, it was just above funny that he'd be concerned with that detail of all things.
"How old would you prefer me to be?"
He watched her silently for a few seconds but seemed to come to the conclusion that it wasn't important enough to keep pushing it. She was starting to wonder where he was going with all this though. He hadn't accused her of stealing the wallet, but in all honesty, if she had, she'd be more then stupid to go to the house and draw more attention to herself. Although some people might get a kick out of getting away with that. Some people who wished to spend their life in jail, that is. She was not one of them.
"How did you get it?"
"Hard work"
His raised his eyebrows as if he found that hard to believe. She had worked hard to get it, maybe not honest work, but still.
"What kind of work?"
"This and that. Maybe not entirely legal"
"Stealing? Drugs?"
She shrugged but said nothing else. She wasn't stupid enough to confess to something like that, or she'd be in jail before she could blink. He studied her in silence for a while and then turned his head to look at the motorcycle. She really hoped he wasn't thinking of trying to impound it or anything, she loved that bike.
"You're not thinking about stealing my ride are you?"
"It's a nice bike, but no"
"Figured. Alliance guys are not supposed to do that"
"Although stealing from a thief seems like a victimless crime"
She could clearly see the smile in the corners of his mouth this time and decided he was just trying to rattle her. He obviously didn't believe she'd come by the bike by honest means, which was kind of true, but he didn't seem interested enough for her to worry about it.
"Funny, that sort of thinking is how I got it in the first place"
He laughed at that and even the other man, Alenko Senior, chuckled. The ice seemed to be breaking a bit after that and both men seemed a little less intimidating. She didn't look to make the frowns return and decided to give them some of what they were after.
"Look, you wanna hear my side of the story or something? That why you insisted on this 'friendly' chat?"
Both men nodded and she let out a dejected sigh.
"I had been in another part of town and was on the way back when I saw him lying in the alley" She jerked her head in Kaidan's direction but kept her eyes on the Alliance guy. "I could see him breathing and he had the nice clothes and all so I figured he'd been jumped or something. He was still out cold but woke up pretty quick when I spoke to him. Made sure he could feel his toes and fingers and all that shit and then I helped him sit up. Nothing seemed to be broken but he was still pretty out of it and I couldn't carry him so I let him use my 'tool to call someone to pick him up. Stayed with him until his folks showed up in the nice car that of course drew the attention of everyone in vicinity. I guess you heard what happened then. I told them to drive, got the fuckers off me and did what you military guys call a 'tactical retreat' - jumped the fence and ran like hell"
The two men and Kaidan all chuckled at that and she started to feel a bit more relaxed. She might just come out of this without having to play tag with the trained soldier.
"I saw the wallet on the ground a couple of blocks away and picked it up. Still had the ID and an address. I recognized him and brought it here, and before you get any ideas – no, I didn't take anything from it"
She locked eyes with Kaidan when she said the last part and hoped he believed her. She'd only tried to help him after all, but the intense look in his eyes as they stared back at her was warm and he looked thankful. He did have very nice eyes, she'd recognized that the moment he opened them in the alley. They made him look friendly and, well, nice. What a guy like him had been doing around that part of Vancouver was beyond her.
The Alliance guy brought her back to reality.
"Did you get injured?"
She shrugged and touched her bruised forehead lightly.
"Just some bruises, nothing serious"
"You sure? We could take you to the hospital" And pay for it. He didn't say it out loud but it was in the subtext. A nice offer but not necessary.
"I'm good"
They all sat quiet and stared at each other for a few more seconds before she cleared her throat.
"Is that all? 'Cause I should get back"
"Yeah of course. Didn't mean to keep you"
She smirked at that with raised eyebrows.
"I'm sure" She turned towards Kaidan. "I'm glad to see you're alright"
He looked back at her with the same intense gaze he'd studied her with the whole time and smiled.
"Thank you, it was really nice of you to help. And to return my wallet"
She nodded towards him and put her sunglasses back on, more because the feeling of security that came with hiding her eyes then anything to do with visibility as it was almost sunset.
"Anytime"
She wasn't sure if she meant in though, helping him seemed to get her into even more trouble then usual. It was just one of those things you're supposed to say.
They all followed her back around the house towards her bike and just when they reached it, the Alliance guy put his hand on her arm and held out a card with the other.
"Give me a call if you need anything. The Alliance would love to have you when you come of age"
She took the card and put it in her jacket, knowing she'd probably never use it.
"And here I thought you were trying to do me in for something, not recruiting"
He shrugged and smiled as he backed away from the bike.
"The one doesn't have to rule out the other"
She straddled the motorcycle and turned the kill switch on, but just before she started the bike she hesitated.
"Hey" The Alliance guy looked up at her and their eyes locked. "It's Athena. Athena Shepard"
Before he could answer she pushed the button and the bike roared to life. She looked over at Kaidan and he opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but then he closed it again and the moment was gone. Before she could do something she'd regret, like asking if he wanted to hang out, she turned the bike around and manoeuvred it out of the driveway. She drove way over the speed limit the whole way back, both feeling like she'd dodged a bullet and that she'd left something important behind.
