Well that took longer to write than I thought. Spent almost 6 hours straight writing this up.

As for the amount of views, all I can say is wow. I've never had so many reviews so quickly, I'm really lucky to have written in such a desired market.

Just before I let you get on with the reading, I have to reply to a few reviews. First of all, thank you to everybody who reviewed, even those who thought they sounded like know-it-alls when they actually gave some excellent ideas (I'm looking at you Spartan Alpha)

Secondly, some of the reviews mentioned my misspelling of the line "Fuck you...and fuck you Marker". Firstly, thanks for pointing out any mistakes as I find them annoying as well. Secondly, I actually intended for the line to go like that, bad grammar and all. While the script obviously meant for it to be "Fuck your Marker", the actor voicing Isaac mangles the line. I found this amusing for some reason so I just stuck it in

Thirdly, some the views also mentioned Isaac's mental state. While he won't be suffering from the Red Marker induced dementia anymore, he still won't be 100%. After all, who could go through what he did and come out unscathed. That being said, my Shepard was on Akuze, meaning she isn't 100% either. XD

Finally, I have been getting votes in on the pairing. At the moment it stands at

IsaacXShepard 4

IsaacXTali 3

IsaacXNobody 3

I will probably go with the most wanted pairing so get voting.

Now, onto the story.

With an agonising groan, the docking clamps lifted themselves of the ship's sides, the old and badly maintained equipment shifting back into Omega station at a painfully slow rate. In stark contrast, a brand new stealth frigate, painted in gleaming black and white, pulled away smoothly. The blue light from it's sub-light engines glinted off the ship's name, the 'Normandy SR-2', which stood proudly along the ships hull.

Commander Jane Shepard, only daughter of a decorated Alliance family, lone survivor of the 'Akuze Massacre' and the first human Spectre, felt the ship pull away from Omega with no small sense of relief. The three days they had spent in it's presence had been three days too many, in her opinion. The place was a shithole, no two ways about it. It embodied the worst in every species and then capitalised on it to make profit.

Regardless of it's usefullness, I'll be glad to never set eyes on that place again. Shepard thought as she made her way from the gunnery. She had just finished checking how Garrus was settling in and was enroute to her cabin to finish the piles of reports and paperwork that just seemed to magically accumulate on both her terminal and desk.

"Now for a night of 'fun'." Shepard grumbled sarcastically to herself. "What I wouldn't do for some sort of distraction right about now."

"Commander, I have detected an anomaly situated in the proximity of the Omega 4 relay." A cool voice flowed from the ships P.A. system. "Operative Lawson is requesting your presense on the bridge to deal with it."

Thank you God! "Okay EDI. Tell her I'm on my way up." Shepard replied as she jammed her thumb on the C.I.C. button repeatedly.

"Stupid elevators, you'd think that when they spent millions of credits on this ship they would have at least fixed this damn thing, but nooooo... it's even worse than the original." She gestured wildly to herself as the doors opened to admit the startled looks of the C.I.C. crew. They watched in silent bewilderment as their Commander made her way to the bridge, ranting quietly to herself, oblivious to the world around her.

"Commander...Commander!...COMMANDER!"Shepard jolted violently as she was forced back into reality. Staring around the bridge, her eyes drifted from EDI's emotionless orb to Miranda's exasperated expression to Joker's amused grin, who was already used to Shepard's eccentricities from the original Normandy.

"What?"

Miranda sighed in annoyance as she waved her hand dismissively.

"Never-mind Commander. Anyway, EDI detected a sizeable energy signature around the Omega 4 relay."

"Collectors?" Shepard's eyes were hard now, all forms of joking gone.

Miranda looked out the view-port uneasily. This sent alarm bells ringing in the Commanders head. Her XO was always confident, regardless of the situation. For something to be able to rattle her wasn't good.

"That's the thing Commander, we have absolutely no clue what it is. It didn't come through the relay, hell the relay didn't even react to it's presense." Jeff Monreau, aka Joker, said as he swiveled his pilots seat to face Shepard.

"All we know." Miranda continued "Is that one moment theres clear space, the next a ball of energy appears about 100 kilometers from the relay before disappearing again. We don't even know if something came through."

"Well thats easily solved. EDI! Set a course for the energy's last know position and scan for... well anything." Shepard ordered. Leaning on Joker's chair, Jane watched as Omega 4 relay grew closer, the blood red glow and brown hull looking like an gaping wound in space.

As the massive behemoth become ominously close, the Normandy stalled its movement, EDI beginning to scan the immediate area. Trails of data ran down the orb before it turned to Shepard.

"Commander, I believe there is an anomaly off the port side."

"Anomaly?" Shepard questioned, facing EDI as Miranda tugged on her wrist "What is it..."Shepard trailed off as she stared out the view-port.

Joker, noticing the silence, turned to the two women. He followed their gaze to the window and...

"HOLY SHIT!" Joker toppled out of his chair in fright. The hard, metal floor was not kind to his brittle bones and he felt one of his wrists crack. (Joker is suffering from Vrolik Syndrome, which weakens all of his bones, not just his legs.) Yet this was barely registered as he gestured, shakily, at the figure staring in the window. "What the fuck is that?"

Bathed in the red light of the relay, the figure appeared to be covered in blood. Combined with the intimidating glowing gaze of its helm and it's fluid movement in space and one couldn't fault Joker for thinking it was some sort of demon.

"My God! Thats a person!" Shepard exclaimed, stepping closer to the reinforced glass. "Quickly EDI, open the airlock."

"No Commander!" Miranda rebuted "For all we know, this could be some sort of Collector trap. After all it did appear around their relay, who's to say it isn't some spy or assassin."

"You said so yourself, it wasn't related to the relay. And I'm not one for leaving people out to die." Shepard stated, taking her eyes off the strangely calm figure to glance at her XO.

"I'm still on the ground you know." A sarcastic voice came from the other side of the chair as Shepard and Miranda continued to argue over pro's and con's of letting the new figure aboard. "Of course, who cares about Joker and his brittle bones, it's not like a fall like that could kill him. Oh wait! it could." Jeff mumbled sarcastically as he painfully climbed to his feet and hobbled off to the Med-bay, totally ignored by the two squabbling females.

Dull thumps echoed through the hull as the figure banged his fist against the window, drawing the two women's attention. Gesturing to an imaginary watch and them miming choking, it quickly ended their dispute.

Spotting the figures gestures and remembering her own unpleasant spacing, Commander Shepard quickly compromised.

"Alright, alright, we'll talk to him first." Jane stated, gesturing calmingly to her Executive Officer. "EDI, see if you can hail him."

20 mins earlier

"Well this boring." Isaac said to himself, staring blankly at the multicoloured lights flashing by. Time seemed to be meaningless here, yet his RIG stated that about 8 hours had passed. The intial awe had worn out off around the forty-five minute mark and now Isaac was bored, bored, BORED. The fact that the stims in his blood meant he couldn't sleep here either had left him in a decidedly annoyed mood.

I always thought hell would be more fire and brimstone, but an eternity of this is far worse. Isaac thought detachedly as he spun through a tear in the very fabric of time and space. His growling stomach and cracked lips reminded him of how long it had been since he had actually taken serious heed of his body's needs. This was not only out of a sheer lack of time, but also for practical reasons, as it had also reduced his bathroom needs, diminishing the risk of getting jumped by a necromorph while he had his pants down.

"I wonder how much longer this will..."

With a hollow thump, Isaac was launched into space, spinning wildly. Taking a few seconds to actually realize the change of scenery, he activated his suits thrusters, slowing his considerable momentum and righting himself, at least as much as he could with nothing to get his bearings from.

Glancing around, he spotted a nearby star surrounded by a large asteroid belt, well out of his reach. Checking the RIG readings, he frowned as he spotted his oxygen counter slowly counting down. The 'flashing light place' had not affected his oxygen levels, but here, in space, they started to drain with every breath he took. His RIG upgrades, combined with the external oxygen tank Isaac had taken from his vintage suit and jury rigged to his own, had managed to increase his oxygen time to around thirty minutes, give or take a few seconds. For all the good it would do him though.

"Fuck you God, you sadistic bastard!" Isaac swore angrily, his violent gestures launching him into a lazy spin.

"I survive all that crap and get ready to die a noble, and more importantly, instant death, when you decide to toss me out here to suffocate. Well fuck you! I might aswell unseal my suit and let the vacuum have me." Isaac finished tiredly, adjusting slightly to stop his spin.

For all his bravado and anger, Isaac knew he couldn't take his own life. It was one thing to sacrifice his life for another, as he had intended back on Titan Station, quite another to physically kill himself. His ingrained survival instinct wouldn't allow it, the same instinct that had drove him, on both the Ishimura and the Sprawl. It had kept him going in the face of all the odds, all the misery and all the death.

Flexing his half-healed arm absently, Isaac froze as he realized it was bathed in a red glow, as was the rest of his body. He hadn't noticed beforehand, having become desensitized to the sheer amount of blood he was drenched in on a regular basis. His current position in space had frozen most of the blood covering his suit, flakes of it cracking off and floating out into the void as he turned to the source of the red light.

Isaacs gasp took away about ten seconds of air as he stared, slack-jawed, at the firey red titan behind him. The odd structure featured two massive prongs curled in a tuning-fork shape around a rotating sphere of glowing, crimson energy. The whole thing made the Marker back on Titan station look like a toy model.

Slowing his breathing, Isaac sighed in dismay as his visor meaured the distance between him and the structure. Even at full throttle, he simply lacked the oxygen amount to reach it. Even if he could, there was still a chance that he wouldn't be able to find an entrance. The total lack of space traffic did not reassure Isaac in the slightest.

Scanning his surroundings more carefully this time, the engineer spotted another of these monstrosities, thousands of kilometers away. It was a splitting image of the one behind, it's blue glow and silver hull being the only differences.

Facepalming his helmet in a bid to rub his sore eyes, Isaac considered his options, or lack of. He blinked his eyes rapidly, their gritty texture giving testimony to the 80+ hours he had been awake. His stim levels were dangerously high and the stabbing pain in his skull coupled with a deep-seated weariness meant his final, twelve-hour stim was wearing out.

"Isaac, it's me." The engineers eyes widened in horror as he head shot up, his frantic gaze meeting Nicole's sorrowful eyes. His pupils dilated, muscles locking, heartrate soaring through the roof as a feeling of dread washed through him.

"I wish I could talk to you..." Isaac's hand shot out, shutting the video hologram. Even if it hadn't been another Marker illusion, the sight of Nicole still brought back bad memories. What's more, he had thought that message deleted, along with all the rest, following his capture by EarthGov.

"Just a malfuction, RIG must have created some backups by accident." Isaac attempted to rationalise, slowing his madly beating heart. Bringing up the program to run a full RIG diagnostic, Isaac noted a glint of movement, about halfway between the asteroid ring and the glowing azure structure.

Closing the holo-menu, he squinted at the shape moving directly towards him at a steady clip. His eyes widened as the ship grew closer and closer. It's smooth design and overly large engines were in stark contrast to the C.E.C.'s large, blocky, utility style ships. The name 'Normandy SR-2' featured on the hull, proudly displayed next to an unknown emblem, almost like two golden diamonds, one inside the other.

Realising the ship had stopped well within thruster range, Isaac felt a flicker of hope. This feeling proceeded to do battle with his natural paranoia as he slowly made his way to the frigate's bow. This ship could be his salvation, or his damnation. He had to be careful or he could end up back in the arms of EarthGov or, even worse, the Unitologists, with their overwhelming ability of denial. He'd rather not go back to being experimented on, once was enough in his opinion.

Reaching the ship, Isaac made his way to one of the viewports. Spotting a bit of movement,he stared down as a small camera swiveled around towards him. Lifting an eyebrow bemusedly, he turned his gaze to the scene inside. The three people, two women and one man, all featured the golden emblem on their uniforms and seemed to be discussing something. Suddenly one of the women, the tall, red-headed one turned to a glowing blue ball. The first to see him was the other woman, who quickly directed the first woman's attention him. Their slack-jawed expressions amused Isaac but it was the pilots reaction that sent him laughing.

Watching what seemed to be a heated argument break out between the two women, Isaac glanced down at his RIG readings. When it reached about five minutes of oxygen left, he decided to break up the fight. Slamming his fist into the reinforced glass, while silently hoping that it wouldn't break, he gained the attention of the fighting pair. Indicating his dimishing oxygen levels through a series of gestures, Isaac sighed in relief as the red haired woman seemed to realise his intentions and take control.

'Accept audio transmission' Suddenly appeared in front of Isaac, the RIG's VI asking for permission to accept the hailing. Pressing the accept button, Isaac made contact with the ship's crew.

"Hello...can you hear me? This Commander Jane Shepard of the Normandy SR-2. Who am I speaking to?"

Isaac lifted an eyebrow as he looked through the window, the red-head's bright green eyes staring back at him as she waited for his response. Weighing the pro's and con's of giving his name, Isaac decided to play along.

"This C.E.C. Engineer Isaac Clarke. I'm glad to see another face out here, rather not suffocate in space after the crap I've been through" Isaac answered, mumbling the last part to himself. Shepard's confused expression showed that she had caught it.

"C.E.C.? Never heard of it. Anyway, I would usually be the first to help someone in need but I need to know how you got out here first. People don't just appear out of nowhere, especially in proximity to that." Shepard stated, indicating the structure behind Isaac.

Never heard of C.E.C. Isaac thought, surprised, as he answered her.

"Your guess is as good as mine" He replied honestly "I was experiencing some rather...dangerous conditions and didn't expect to survive" Shepard raised an eyebrow at this. "The next thing I know, I'm here" Isaac finished, seriously shortening the story as his paranoia warned him about giving too much info.

"Righttt..." Shepard instantly knew he wasn't telling the whole story, not even close. That being said, he didn't exactly sound like he was indoctrinated. "And if I let you aboard, whats to stop you from trying to kill my crew"

"The exact same thing thats stopping you from ignoring me and leaving me out here. Namely, I have absolutely nothing to gain from it. That and I'm not some murdering psycho" At least not the murdering part.

Shepard considered his words, which seemed genuine enough. Glancing back at Miranda, who expression was like 'It's your choice', Shepard made her decision.

"I'm opening the airlock now"

Isaac blinked in surprise at the quick decision before replying, gratitude evident in his voice. "Thanks, I'm nearly out of oxygen anyway" With that said, he headed around the side of the bow,quickly coming across a now open door. Floating inside, he landed on his feet as the artifical gravity gripped him. The door shut behind him with a quiet thump before the decontamination cycle began. Isaac's suit hissed loudly as it decompressed, the tanks quickly cycling in new air. Unslinging his pulse rifle, Isaac stood ready to defend himself if his paranoia stood correct.

And there you have it. Please tell me of any mistakes and idea's you might have to make the story better. While I might write this for my own enjoyment, it is you who have to read it so don't be shy with any improvements I should make.

Slán go foill

Triggs