A/N: So the first contact war! I just though it's would be a nice change for readers. And beside the events of Mass Effect: Evolution are somehow vital for the plot.

I really appreciate constructive criticism if you feel like writing it! :)

"So what's your name?" The woman named Eva asks me while I'm enjoying a piggyback ride on the big guy's back. When she saw the condition of my feet she insisted that they should take me back to the base ASAP. So we hid inside the half destroyed bar while she cleaned and bandaged my feet and shot me up with Demerol - which felt gooooood - while Jack called for a mako pick up. Eva said I needed medi-gel and proper medical attention before it got infected. And even though Ben insisted she was overreacting, here we are. Rushing back to the mako.

"What? You mean you haven't gone through my stuff yet?" I ask her jokingly pointing my head to my purse that she's carrying. It wasn't one of my best ideas to let her carry my purse but in my defense I was mildly wacked on Demerol at the time ... Actually I think I still am.

"Of course not! I actually believe in personal privacy unlike some people here who shall not be named." She answers shooting a glare at Jack. I wonder what that's all about as he squirms under her gaze uncomfortably. Then he turns to me.

"Well unless you want us to call you 'kid' for the rest of the trip you need to give us a name." Wow it's still so weird to have a conversation with younger version of The Illusive Man. He doesn't seem as much of an asshole as he was in Mass Effect 2. And aside referring to me as "kid" all the time, I have to say he actually seems pretty nice.

"Pantea." I answer shortly. No point in lying really.

"Alright, Pantea, care to tell us what you were doing wandering in the turian occupied territory?" He asks me with a rather accusatory tone. Hmmm on second thought he doesn't seem all that nice.

"I was trying to get back home." I give an honest answer. I'm not very good at lying. Actually I down right suck at it. I get nervous, I sweat and I can't keep eye contact. Besides which, I think Jack Harper is the kind of person who can tell if someone's lying to him and I really don't want to give him any more reasons to get suspicious of me.

"And where would that be?" Oh that could be a problem. With all the crap going around in the Middle East, there is no way of saying if my home town is still in its place or if it has been blown sky-high. Fortunately before I give anything away Eva comes to the rescue.

"Would you stop with the interrogation Jack? She's been through enough for one day." she says with a tone of impatience. Jack frowns for a bit but he stops with questions.

"You're being naïve Eva. We can't just bring everyone we find out here right back to the base. What if she's a spy or-" I was almost starting to forget I was riding on another person's back until the big guy decided to talk. Can't say I'm quite happy with his decision.

But before he can say anything else Eva cuts him of. "Oh Shut up Ben! Just look at her. She clearly isn't a turian and in Shanxi that's a good enough reason to trust anybody."

"Yeah shut up Ben!" I repeat cheerfully smacking his head with my hand.

"You realise I can throw you down whenever I want, right?" Ben growls at me. I give out a nervous laugh.

"Heh. I love you Ben!" Eva and Jack both chuckle at this. Nothing from Ben though. I'm wondering if he has a sense of humour at all.

"Hey I didn't expect you to call me back so soon! Wait, who's the chick?" I hear a new voice. It's a young guy in Alliance armour coming out of one of the still standing buildings. I can see the mako parked in the street behind the building now.
Unexpectedly Ben decides to answer him, "Just some girl I picked up at a bar."

Hey he does have a sense of humour!

To my surprise the trip back to base was in complete silence. No more questions. No nothing. Eva wanted to change my bandages but with the way mako was moving it was near damn impossible. Man I really hate this thing.

After maybe twenty minutes we reached our destination. Shanxi command compound. Jack and Ben leave with the Alliance guy, something about reporting to 'the man'. I guess they meant General Williams. Poor guy, this whole thing will destroy his career and he has no idea about it. And the worst part is he actually did the right thing. Or will do the right thing. Gah! It's confusing.

Eva stays back to make sure I get medical attention. Fortunately, according to the doctor none of the cuts were too deep. He just applied some medi-gel and changed my bandages. I should tell you this medi-gel stuff is just … Wow. The pain is almost gone and I can pretty much walk on my own now. The doctor just said I shouldn't move around for the rest of the day and then he sent me on my way. He had more urgent patients to attend to. Like the guy who was missing his lower half. Really didn't need to see that.

After that Eva took me to the shack she shared with Ben and Jack. It was bigger than others and unlike the rest, which were a combination of white and orange; it was completely black with tinted windows. She opened the door with her key card and led me inside. The lights automatically came on revealing a large space with a big table that was barely visible under the pile of weapons and tech parts and two bunk beds at the other end. But most importantly there's a shower.

"You can take that one." Eva says pointing to the lower bed on the left. "Of course after you take a shower and change your clothes."

"Is it normal for you guys to share your place with everyone you find out there?" I didn't know I was going to ask it until the moment I did. Eva looks surprised for a second but then she smiles at me.

Couldn't you just shut up and go take a shower? You smell like sewage and gas stations and bird poop.

"Well we haven't found anyone for a while now. All civilians were evacuated two weeks ago. Anyone who stayed behind … " She doesn't finish that sentence. She doesn't need to. I didn't think the first contact war was this bad. To attack the defenceless civilians … "We can't spare any ship now so you have to wait for a while. The next off-world shuttle will be here in about a week. Then you can go back home if you want."

Home. Now, after things have cooled down, I'm realising what my situation really means.

"I can't go back home." I can hear my voice shaking a little.

Shit! Don't tell me you're gonna cry now. You know how annoying that is?

"Why?" Eva asks with a hint of worry in her voice.

"I just ... can't," I answer trying to hold back my tears.

Will I ever see them again, my little sister, my big brother, my uncle, Mina, Darius, Sanaz, everyone from school? Hell I'm even missing my father right now.
Eva notices that's probably all the answers she's going to get from me for now so she just circles her arm around my shoulder. "Alright honey. Don't worry. Let's change you into new clothes for now. A warm shower makes everything better. You'll see." She gives me her best reassuring smile.

Somehow I really, really doubt that!

I can't say the hot shower made everything better, but at least now I don't have brain goo in my hair. It took about half an hour for Eva to find the right clothes for me. Mostly because I'm a bit tiny and the military stuff here is made for the incredible hulk. Finally she found me a white tank top and a pair of brown baggy pants Topped off with black iron plated combat boots to change into.

After a short while Eva left to find the others but before she left she asked me not to leave and not to touch anything. No objection here. I don't feel like snooping around now anyway. So I decide to use their absence and go through my own stuff again.

Most of it is pretty useless right now. I pick up my sunglasses, mirror and lighter from my wallet; and then suddenly something accusers to me. Didn't my brother always keep his game walkthroughs on his iPod touch? I pick it up and insert his usual password. I can't help but smile while typing it in.

'Dasnazanolagh' (Donttouchitjackass.)

It takes a few minutes but I finally find it. Mass Effect 1 and 2 complete walkthrough with character bios and everything he even have some of the Mass Effect comics on it. Wow. I wonder how much Shadow Broker would pay for this. This is probably the single most valuable object in to whole galaxy right now.

The selfless and stupid part of me is insisting on destroying it as soon as possible. In the wrong hands this thing could be more dangerous than the Reapers themselves. But the calculative part of me knows that if I'm going to survive in this universe I'll probably need every bit of information I can find.

My train of thought stops when the door opens with a swoosh and Eva and Ben walk in. I put the iPod in my pocket before anyone notices it. Jack comes in last and he seems really pissed about something.

"They're talking about surrendering. Surrendering! The war hasn't even started yet for shit's sake." Jack growls at Ben before lighting a cigarette for himself.

"What can we do? We can call ourselves whatever we want. But here, to Alliance, we're only guns for hire." Ben shoots back to him a bit frustrated. I guess they've been at it for a while.

"We can start with getting results Hislop. The old man needs a real win real fast. Or soon, we won't have choice but to pull off-world" he says blowing out the smoke with content sigh. I just sit there trying to become as invisible as possible like a child watching her parents fight.

"Enough you two, there is nothing we can do anything about it for now. Better get some rest before our next assignment." Eva scolds them before turning to me.

"You better go to sleep too. It's been a long day." She gives me a quick smile.

A few second later both Eva and Ben go and crash on their beds, but Jack stays back and lights another cigarette while eyeing me with suspicious curiosity. After a very long awkward silence he finally decides to talk. "Eva told me something."

Uh-oh!

"What did you mean when you told her you can't go home? What's the problem?" this time Eva isn't here to save my ass and I think that's precisely why he chose this time to question me.

I know you suck at lying but you're pretty good at changing the subject.

"What I meant was … Well ... What if I didn't want to go?" I ask cautiously.

"What do you mean?" Jack asks frowning a bit.

"I mean what if I wanted to stay here? Help you guys fight the aliens." I say trying very hard not to glance away from his eyes.

"You mean you want to join Alliance military?"

"No. You guys. You're not a part of Alliance that much I can tell."

"Why would you want that?" the suspicion in his voice has turned into simple curiosity now.

"Right now, I need something to make sense of my life. I don't know how to explain it but I feel helping you is it." And it's the truth. I don't know if I can go back home any time soon. Maybe one day I'll find out what brought me here and why and hopefully I will find a way to return home. But for now I feel sticking with Jack Harper is my best bet.

I think he can sense the truth in my words, well the half-truth really. He nods in understanding. "I understand how you feel."

He glances at our two sleeping companions. "Both Eva and Ben lost someone to this war. That's why they decided to sign on with me. They felt it's the only way to make their death count for something." Jack stubs out his cigarette in the ashtray on the table and turns to me. "We will talk more about it tomorrow. For now you better listen to Eva and get some sleep." He says before he stands up and leaves the shack.

Yeah. I think after a day like this I really need the rest, but first things first. I grab my purse and one of the key cards and go outside. I have lots of twenty first century stuff to get rid of. And call me paranoid, but I really don't think the future Illusive Man is above going through my stuff when I'm sleep.