BioWare owns the content they own. This is the first of two chapters based in Vex's past.

Edit: Fixed the dialogue.

Chapter Two: The Tenth Street Reds

Omega, 2183, August 13th 11:47AM

I woke up to the beeping of my omni tool. I opened my eyes slightly and stared daggers at the screen that appeared above my arm. Nulan was calling me, I groaned in resentment as I answered the call. "What do you want?"

"Were you asleep? It's almost noon."

I sighed and rolled onto my back. "I was up late on a job last night, took me days to find the guy."

"Have you seen the news yet?"

I sat up in bed and stretched before answering. "No, did something important happen?"

"Commander Riley Shepard died."

"No way." I instantly shot out of bed and ran over to my computer. I searched and searched, finding report after report confirming what he said. I zoned out as I read every report I could find.

"Vex?!" Nulan yelled, pulling me out of my head.

"I… I can't believe she's dead."

"Did you know her well?"

I turned my computer off and looked at Nulan on my omni tool. "Umm, I knew her for a while back on Earth, but we were never close; it's just weird that she's dead, and before me."

"Was she in that gang with you and your brother?"

I looked down as I fought back a few tears. "Yeah, yeah she was."

"Well, I have some stuff to do, call if you need anything, Vex," Nulan said before hanging up.

I sighed before I grabbed some fresh clothes and headed for the shower. There were some things I just didn't want to remember.

Earth, 2170, August 24th 7:13PM

I draped myself over the couch as I stared at the boring program playing on the TV. My brother came out of his room dressed in his usual attire of baggy clothing.

"Vex, where's the folks?" He asked as he walked into the kitchen.

I glanced over at my brother rummaging through the fridge through the kitchen door. "It's Friday night date night," I said nonchalantly as I stared back at the screen.

He then walked out of the kitchen with a bottle of soda in his hand and walked over to the door. "Cool, I'll be back later."

I instantly sat up. "Where are you going?"

He looked at me for a few seconds. "It's none of your business."

"Dad won't bail you out this time, Jay."

"I won't get caught." He opened the door and left the house. I opened the blinds slightly to see him walking towards a group of people. I sighed loudly before getting up and putting on a hoody, I wasn't about to let him get caught again.

Earth, 2170, August 24th 7:32PM

I followed them to some crappy shed across town. It was quite big for a shed, probably an old auto shop. They shut the door behind them, much to my protest, so I had to circle the building for another way in.

I spotted a window a few feet up, it was perfect, but I couldn't reach it. I began to look around for something to stand on, a crate, barrel, something. However, all I could find was some boxes; they were going to have to do though.

I pushed one of the boxes and it made a loud screeching noise. I froze and cursed under my breath. I could hear shouting then the door burst open on the other side of the shed.

"Hey kid, stop!" I looked across the yard and saw some guy headed towards me; my first instinct was to run, so I went with it.

I turned to start running, but I was met with a girl. She grabbed the collar of my hoody as the other person ran over to us. "It's a little girl," she said as she pulled down my hood.

"She's a spy Riles. We should take her into the shed; Finch will know what to do."

They started to take me towards the shed. I tried to struggle, but they were much older and stronger than me. "What's going to happen to me?" I questioned as I gave in and allowed myself to be taken.

"We're not going to do anything to you," the girl said in a surprisingly kind tone. Something about her made me believe her, I was sure I would be fine.

They took me into the shed, it was full of people and soon enough I caught sight of Jay talking to another person further back in the group.

"Jay!" I pleaded and hoped that he heard me, thankfully he did.

He gazed in our direction then came storming over instantly and grabbed me by my hoody. "Riley, let her go." She did so and he pulled me closer to him.

"And who is this, Jay?" The person my brother was talking to just seconds ago said as he slowly approached us.

"She's my sister. Leave her alone, Finch."

"That's no fun," he said as he shoved Jay a little, causing him to almost lose his balance.

"Knock it off, Finch," the girl said as she shoved Finch back.

He held his arms up in mock surrender. "I was only having fun Riley, chill out." He looked at Jay again and gestured towards me. "What's she doing here?"

"I don't know. She must have followed us."

"I came to make sure Jay was okay."

Finch stared at me with a blank expression. "Well, how cute, as you can see, he's fine. You wasted your time."

"Lay off," Jay said as he let go of me.

"Yeah, yeah, well now that she's here, she may as well hang out," Finch said before turning and heading off alone.

"I'll show her around, Jay," the girl said gesturing to me.

"Yeah sure, stay out of trouble though." He patted me on the back before going off on his own.

The girl turned to me and smiled. "So how old are you?"

"Eleven."

She looked surprised. "That's pretty young, what's your name?"

"Vex."

"Nice to meet you Vex, I'm Riley."

Earth, 2172, March 7th 7:53PM

"You know what to do, right Vex?" Riley asked as she made sure her mask was on properly.

"I know, I know. Distract the shopkeeper and get him away from the counter. After that I head a few blocks down for part two." I leaned back against the wall of the alleyway.

"That's right, and you Jay?"

Jay looked over at us and groaned from where he was standing a few feet away. "Yeah, I've done this before, Riles."

"Yeah, but it's her first time."

He sighed. "Hold him long enough for you to get the money and escape."

"We're all good then. You ready to become a full member, Vex?" Riley asked curiously.

"Of course I am. It's been almost two years."

"You were too young back then," Jay chimed in.

"Okay, let's go."

Riley started to head for the end of the alleyway then Jay walked over and grabbed her arm. "Nothing better happen to her."

"She has a safe job." Riley pulled her arm back. She gestured me to go first.

I left the alleyway and looked back to receive a thumbs up from Riley and a sour look from Jay. I took in a deep breath before leaving their view and walking into the shop I previously leaned on.

A bell chimed as I walked through the door. The shop was deserted apart from the shopkeeper who smiled at me from behind the counter. I waved at him and proceeded down an aisle. I waited a few minutes while browsing then purposely tripped.

I put on my best crying face and let the fake tears flow. The shopkeeper rushed over to assist me. "Little girl, are you okay?" He asked in his panic.

The bell chimed again, indicating that Jay and Riley had entered. Jay came around the corner into the aisle and drew a pistol. He pointed it to the back of the shopkeeper's head. I stared up at my brother, the sight of him with a gun seemed… frightening. "Scram kid," he told me, keeping in character. I got up and headed for the door, catching sight of Riley behind the counter as I exited.

I ran down the street for several blocks until I reached the agreed upon alleyway. Shortly after, I heard the pistol go off, then howls. I waited silently for a few seconds then heard footsteps rushing in my direction.

Riley came into view as she ran past the alleyway and threw the bag of money at me.

"Stop!" I heard the shopkeeper yell. I turned and ran, knowing the man would probably look down the alleyway for what Riley threw.

Earth, 2172, March 7th 8:16PM

I arrived at the shed with the money; I hadn't seen Jay or Riley at all on the way back. I entered the shed to see most of the gang sitting around silently. Finch and Riley talked amongst themselves in the far corner of the shed, but no sign of Jay.

Finch looked at me as I entered the room. "Vex, good job. You're… you're one of us now," he said with a sad, regretful tone. I could tell instantly that something was wrong.

"Come on, we need to talk," Riley said as she walked over and pushed me slightly towards the door, nudging me outside.

We walked around until we found some boxes to sit on. Riley sighed as she stared at her hands. I could tell she was thinking hard about something. "Is something wrong?"

She took a deep breath. "Do you ever think you could be more than this gang?"

I looked at her, puzzled. "I haven't really thought about it."

"I'm leaving next month; I'm going to enlist in the Alliance Military."

"Why are you telling me this?"

Tears started to form in her eyes. "I don't think you should stay with the Reds, Jay wouldn't have wanted it."

"Why are you talking… that way…?" It hit me. The gun shot, Jay not being there, the weird atmosphere in the shed, the way she was talking. "No…."

"I'm sorry, Vex… he's dead."

"No, you're lying, it isn't true." Tears started to escape my own eyes. Riley put a hand on my shoulder, but I pushed her away. I just wanted to be alone. I stood up and ran. I didn't care where I went, I just couldn't be there.

Earth, 2172, March 12th 10:21AM

I stood silently as they lowered the casket into the ground. My mother stood next to me, crying into my father's shoulder. I fought back any tear that wanted to escape my eyes; I had to be strong for Jay.

After the ceremony, most people had left, a few stayed behind to talk to my parents and offer condolences. I stood there, in front of the freshly sealed hole as I stared at the tombstone that now sat there.

"Always loved and forever missed – Jay Walker," I read out loud to myself. I looked up after a few minutes and saw Riley and a few other members staring at me from the other side of the park.

I thought back to what Riley told me. The shopkeeper managed to overpower Jay, it was an accident, but he shot him. I don't blame him though.

I took Riley's advice and declined Finch's offer, Jay wouldn't have wanted me to be a part of that. He was a good brother.

I looked away from the gang and back down at the tombstone. "I can't believe the last words you said to me were scram kid." I laughed a little to myself. I was going to miss him.

Omega, 2183, August 13th 12:03PM

I stepped out of the shower; my mind was still on Shepard. I owed her, if it wasn't for her I'd still be some low life gang member on Earth. Although I don't think she'd exactly agree with what I was doing now.

She was a hero; she stopped Saren and saved us. I sighed and started to dry my hair with a towel. Just like Jay, I was going to miss her too.

I know this chapter is really, really short. I'm releasing it early because I plan on releasing chapter three early too. This was basically just a quick mini backstory.