DISCLAIMER: Same as before. M for Language / Violence.

Read and Review at your discretion. Suggestions will be appreciated. Flames will be ignored. I promise nothing.

02: MARINE

One hour later the door bell rang. Shepard sighed and finished shrugging on his black jacket with red racing stripes – completing his preferred civilian attire – and closed the closet door. With a groan, he used his cane to help him get to the door – apparently even he had a limit to his masochistic tendencies.

He opened the door to reveal a rather unremarkable man. He stood at maybe 5'6", had short cropped blonde hair and green eyes. His skin was two shades too light to be tan, and a shadow under his bottom lip showed where he had tried to grow a soul patch. Whatever shape his body was in was hidden underneath a red and white jumpsuit that looked like it belonged in a lab somewhere. He looked lean and solid enough.

Shepard raised an eyebrow. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'll tell you everything once I'm inside."

Shepard didn't like his tone, and thought of shutting the door on his face. Instead he said, "You better not be fucking with me, boy." before shuffling to the side and opening the door wider to grant entrance. The man strode in just as if he had not needed permission. Shaking his head, Shepard closed and locked the door, leading the man to the sitting room. Shepard eased himself down on a chair, taking care not to bend his leg the wrong way. The man opted to stand, pacing. He seemed to be gathering his thoughts, then he stopped and leaned against the closet door across from Shepard.

"Like I said, Coats didn't tell you everything."

Shepard couldn't hide his impatience. "No shit. And you are going to tell me everything?" He couldn't keep the unbelieving tone from his voice, implying he assumed this man would lie to him as well.

"I remember hearing about you on the Netfeeds. I read about your survival on Akuze. It's hard to live with seeing your entire unit whipped out. I can't imagine seeing it happen against thresher maws."

"I wasn't the sole survivor." Shepard pointed out.

"You mean Corporal Toombs?" The man ventured. "True he survived that night, but fifty marines didn't."

"What's your point?"

"It's the ability to rise above such psychologically traumatic experiences that people learn to emulate. Strive to copy." He sounded almost reverent.

"Who the hell are you?" Shepard said with a lot more venom than before.

"My name is Martin Shelby and ever since I joined the Alliance Marines, I wanted to be you."

Shepard yawned. "One Conrad Verner is enough for any man."

Martin didn't blink. "I am not another Conrad Verner."

"Really?" Shepard asked, unconvinced.

Martin sighed and fell back into his narrative. "I became increasingly fascinated with you and soon opted to join the N7 Program. I made it through to N6, but was told I just didn't have the marks to take on the N7 trials. It infuriated me, but I thought of what you would do and that's what I did. I did what I could with what I had."

Martin began to pace again, as if the telling made his blood surge, his muscles twitch. "When you disappeared, apparently dead, I didn't believe. I knew you couldn't be dead. Everyone thought I was crazy, until you returned. And you kept kicking ass, giving Brass the finger all the way. When the call came to fight the Reapers, I was there in a heart beat. I can't tell you how awful it was, but I managed to survive, and do quite a bit of damage. You would have been proud."

Shepard shifted and rubbed his knee as it began to ache. "I highly doubt it. I hard to please."

That did not seem to sit well with the younger man, because he stopped moving, his back to Shepard. Then he spoke again. "Some ops went good, but most went bad. I saw a lot of people die. After what seemed like years of hell, I was tapped for a top secret experiment. I didn't know what was going on until it was too late. They said it was the next step in the evolution of the N7 Program. They said my being denied the N7 tests made me perfect for their test. I didn't know what else to do; it was all to stop the Reapers, right?"

Shepard didn't reply.

"They called it the N8 Program, but it wasn't like the N7. It wasn't about conditioning yourself. Before I could escape, they had me as their own lab rat. The experiments were horrible. They did things to me, put things inside of me that made me burn. I began hoping that my skin would just melt away so I couldn't feel the pain anymore. In the end, they got what they wanted: An ultimate soldier. I'm faster, stronger, and more durable than anyone, anything. I know this because they forced me to fight everything. I killed three Krogans with my bare hands, without a single scar to show for it. They even dumped me on a planet thriving with thresher maws. They came back a week later and I was still alive. I had killed five of the damn things, and all they had given me was a damn Kessler V."

Shepard snorted. "I'm supposed to believe this?"

Martin suddenly smirked, full of smug pride. "I could give you a demonstration. A target practice, perhaps? I can hit the cap off a bottle at a hundred paces, and leave the bottle intact for your beer drinking pleasure." When Shepard didn't offer any sign of being impressed, he added. "Without a scope."

Shepard raised an eyebrow at that. "I got a better idea that shooting at perfectly good alcohol." Slowly, he made it to his feet. "Give me your best shot."

Martin frowned. "Beating a cripple is hardly a test of my skills."

Shepard growled at the remark. "If a little shit like you can take me, gimp leg or no gimp leg, then I'll turn in my N7 tags."

Martin moved fast, faster than Shepard had given him credit. A damn train slammed into his chest and he barreled over his chair and crashed atop the metal table in the center of the room. His flight had lasted a good ten feet. He found it hard catching his breath, and his hand went for his M-77 Paladin strapped to his hip. He had landed awkward, and couldn't get a grip. Martin Shelby was above him suddenly, a grin of achievement on his face.

"I wanted you to know the hell you put me through, Shepard." His voice had lost emotion. "I wanted you to know why I killed you." Suddenly Martin's hand was around Shepard's throat. Air was lost, but Martin wasn't stopping with suffocation, the pressure was building and Shepard knew his neck would be crushed.

A blur hit Martin in the back and the pressure disappeared from Shepard's throat. He gasped in air, his lungs feeling aflame. He turned to see the two men struggling with each other. They seemed to be evenly matched, countering each others moves like they knew each other. He supposed they would. The one in Shepard's old brown pants with orange vest managed to kick the one that had been trying to kill Shepard. Attempted-Murderer sailed past Shepard and crashed into the now open closet.

"Damn it." Shepard gasped. "I had everything perfect in there." He managed to get up, upholstering his pistol and took aim. The distance wasn't a problem for the precision scope. As the man pushed himself from the closet, Shepard set the crosshairs between his eyes and pulled the trigger. Blood splattered the wall and doorway – and by effect, his clothes, damn it – and the limp form of his would-be assassin crumpled to the floor.

"Guess even you ain't more durable than a hole in the head." Shepard spat, tasting blood.

The second man walked calmly over and examined the body, then without a seconds hesitation plunged his hand into the dead man's chest. He came up with what Shepard assumed to be the heart, only it looked…off.

"Do you believe me now?" Martin Shelby asked, his green eyes showing neither humor nor pleasure in the events that had transpired.

"What? Him being your clone?" Shepard shrugged. "How do I know you're not his evil twin?"

"This is serious, Shepard."

Shepard sighed and grunted as his knee screamed in protests of what had happened. "I guess I have no choice but to believe you for now."

"Yes, you must." Martin insisted. "If I had not arrived before him, if you had not hidden me in the closet, I would not have been able to save you."

"I had it under control." Shepard assured him.

Martin was silent for a moment. "You are a bigger asshole in person." He decided.

"Give me a week and a suicide mission or two, and I'll grow on you." Shepard stumbled to a seat and stretched his leg out again.

"So?" Martin demanded.

"So what?" Shepard didn't like the kid. Sure he'd saved his life, but his twin had tried to kill him. A man tended to not let something like that go.

"Will you help me take them down?" Martin sounded frustrated.

"Listen," Shepard explained, as if to a child. "I don't care."

"But he was sent to kill you." Martin echoed Shepard tone of voice.

"And he's dead. What do I need to do now? Hunt down fifty guys in lab coats who could only get their jollies from bastardizing the creation of life? I got better things to do."

"Like what?' Damn, but the kid was never going to let it go. "Like sit on your crippled ass and watch the world go by?"

"Yeah, I think I earned that." Shepard had had enough of this little fuck preaching to him. "I saved the goddamn galaxy! Three times! So I think I've earned the right to tell everyone to fuck off!"

Martin looked at him coldly for a moment. "You're right. You have earned it. But the Shepard I knew wouldn't have let that hold him down."

"The Shepard you knew?" Shepard repeated in astonishment. "Who the fuck are you?"

"I am every man and boy who heard your name and felt hope." Martin said simply, shaking his head. "It's not over, Shepard. Are you going to let this go without seeing it through?"

"What are you talking about, it's not over?"

Martin's reply came as a whisper. "Cerberus."

"What?" Shepard tried to jump out of his seat but his knee kicked him back on his ass with a grunt. "Cerberus is dead. I ended it. The Illusive Man is dead."

"It's not dead." Martin insisted. "They were in charge of the N8 Program. They were what created him." He gestured to the corpse with his likeness. "And if they did it to me, they aren't going to stop. They want you dead. What makes you think they'll stop with this one assassin?"

Shepard chewed on that a moment. The kid had a point. If Cerberus had somehow survived, if there had been an operation that the Illusive Man had kept completely off the books… It was a threat he couldn't ignore, could he? Had he sacrificed his life twice just to sit back and let those bastards take control of everything? He saw again the memory of Thane Krios being killed by Kai Leng. He saw the Illusive Man, indoctrinated by the Reapers, forcing Shepard to shot Anderson. Did he really take them down, just to let them rebuild? He looked down at his knee. What could he do in that condition? Did he even stand a chance at walking down the damn street, let alone bringing down a reborn Cerberus? Did it matter?

No. He couldn't just sit back, not anymore.

"What's the plan?" Shepard growled.

Martin smiled. "I knew you wouldn't back down."

"Not much I can do with this leg, but I can shoot, and I can order people around. So what's your first move?"

Martin rubbed his neck sheepishly. "I suppose I didn't really have one beyond recruiting you."

"That's a good start. Let's continue." Shepard stood and limped to his fallen cane.

"What do you mean? Recruiting?"

Shepard grunted. "The more feet we got on the ground, the better off we'll be. As of now, we only have three feet. I know a couple people who will be more than willing to join us."

"Some of your old crew will be welcome." Martin agreed.

Shepard picked up his phone; trying to remember the numbers he'd been given. "Yes, I know. But first, clean this mess up." He indicated the dead Martin Shelby. The living Martin Shelby sighed and got to work. Shepard left him to it, punching some numbers.

"Who the fuck is this, and how did you get this number?" A cold voice sliced through the receiver.

Shepard sustained a chuckle. "Why are you so cheerful, Jack? Someone let you blow them up recently?"

"Shepard?" The voice turned lukewarm. Damn, she must've been off her period or something. "Did you finally have them cut that leg of yours off?"

"Not yet. I still got two legs and even with the bad knee, I can kick your ass."

A snort from her side. "Not the leg I was talking about. It's not like you use it anyway."

Shepard couldn't help but smile. "Jack, conversing with you is like a pleasant day of trench warfare. God, but I've missed it."

"Don't go soft on me now, Shepard."

"I'm still two stones harder than you are, Jack." Shepard assured her.

"We'll see about that."

"Is that a proposition, Jack? Sounds like you're the one getting soft."

"Fuck you, Shepard." Jack sounded pleased with how the conversation had progressed. "So did you just call for phone sex, or is there something you want?"

"Apparently Cerberus is back in town, and I was wondering if you wanted to help me take them down."

"Shit!" Jack's voice became cold again. "Whatever the plan is, I want in, Shepard. You hear me?"

"Understood." Shepard agreed. "Do you have Zaeed's number?"

"I can do you one better." Jack informed. "He's here."

Shepard blinked a moment, taking in that news and the implications it brought. "Jack…" he hesitated. "I'm so happy for the two of you."

"Fuck you, Shepard." Jack hissed. "It's not like that at all. We're just business associates."

"Right." Shepard conceded, unconvinced. "So where are you two so we can pick you up?"

"We?" Jack seemed surprised. "Who's with you?"

"A new kid who came to me with the information. I'm still unsure whether to trust him or not."

"From what I remember the issues were always in trusting you." Jack said with a half laugh. "I think I like this kid already." She gave him the address and they hung up.

Shepard turned to find Martin staring at him as if he had saddened turned into an Asari. "What?"

"It sounds like you and Jack were…together?"

"Well, not really." Shepard explained. "Just a rough quickie in the engine room. No strings attached."

"I never thought you swung…" He coughed. "Never mind. Don't ask, don't tell."

Shepard was confused, until he began running the phone call through his head, ignoring Jack's side. "Wait a minute…" He couldn't help the laughter coming from his gut. "You think that Jack is a…and I'm a…" He couldn't finish it. The idea was so ridiculously funny in its ironic absurdity. "You don't understand. Jack is a w-" He stopped. A woman, Jack was not. "Jack's a l-" Nope, not a lady either. "You know what? I'll let you decide for yourself exactly what Jack is."

"So we're going to pick this Jack guy up, and then what?" He seemed to not want to look at Shepard directly.

"Well, Jack and Zaeed, actually. Apparently they're…business associates." Shepard found it was good to laugh. He hadn't laughed in…a lifetime.

"What use are only two men going to be?" Martin pressed, concerned.

Shepard just shook his head. "Kid, just drive and let me worry about the manpower."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: A bit of a mind bender at first, eh? Basically, Closet-Shelby (hehe) told Shepard all of that first stuff already, and then the second Shelby showed up. Yeah, Shepard wasn't really in the mood to hear it all again. I mean to showcase Martin Shelby's strength and abilities more in the future.

You know, I never really considered Jack and Zaeed to be a possible item until I typed those words. But I think I actually like it. I was considering a possible Jack/Shep ship to start, but I think I'm liking Jack/Zaeed better. They seem kind of perfect for each other. And what is romance without the possible danger of killing each other, eh Mr. and Mrs. Smith? I don't know, like I said before, these stories tend to write themselves. The "phone sex" between Jack and Shep are an example of this. :P

Needless to say, Shepard isn't going to be much use with that bum knee. What to do about that? I don't know. It was introduced because I felt he needed to have a rather severe injury after surviving the Crucible. An injury that showed he is just human. But it's definitely going to become a problem quickly. Notice his hesitance to get in on this? The hell, Shep?! Well, he's been a couch potato for too long. Damn complacency!

As for Martin Shelby, he's my afore mentioned ME3 Multiplayer Human Soldier. Who is he? Can he be trusted? Is he the EVIL Twin? If so, where's the goatee? Questions, questions!