Chapter 3
"It wasn't your fault, Shepard" Jacob Taylor walked through the doors to find the Commander sitting on the table of the conference room, kicking her legs in and out. Her eyes were trained on the floor and she had the most impressive scowl on "You stopped that merc from finishing the repairs on that Gunship" Jacob could still remember the scream from the batarian as the Commander shoved the electrical tool in the back of his hardsuit. The scream had made him flinch.
"They still got the bloody thing in the air"
"If you hadn't done anything it would have been a much tougher battle"
"Taylor" the woman gave him a cold glare that was only enhanced by her cybernetic blue eyes that flashed red for a brief second "Don't try to make me feel better"
"He's not dead, Shepard" and just then the doors swooshed open behind him. The tall turian casually strolled in and past the Cerberus operative, more or less ignoring the man's presence "Speak of the devil. You are one tough son of a bitch. I'll catch you later, Shepard" Jacob gave a salute to the Commander and he gave a short nod to the turian before leaving.
Garrus walked up to the Commander. Her face had brightened upon seeing him. He had noticed the death glare she had given the dark skin man before she had turned to him "Nobody would give me a mirror, how bad is it?"
"Hell Garrus, you were always ugly" Shepard chuckled as she jumped off the table. Relief washed over her as she gazed at her old friend. She didn't know what she'd do if he hadn't made it, he was practically family "Just slap some face paint on and you'll be good as new"
Garrus gave a chuckle and clutched the side of his face, groaning in pain "Uh, don't make me laugh. My face is barely holding together as it is" it was meant as a joke but he clamped his mandibles shut as he saw the upset look that ghosted the woman's face as she stared at his scar "Jean, Chakwas and Lawson told me everything. The collectors are working for the Reapers right?" she nodded "But... Cerberus? You remember all those sick experiments? What about Admiral Kahoku..."
The team broke into the base and distantly heard voices up ahead. They ran through the door and opened fire on the Cerberus agents. They weren't expecting an attack and thus were easily picked off. Williams ran to the console and shut off the barrier. As soon as it lowered acidic spit was aimed toward Garrus and Shepard. It looked like rachni, an extinct species. Once they were dead the three found an Alliance Admiral's body. Shepard turned the body onto its back. It was Admiral Kahoku. He had warned the team that Cerberus might come for him. He wasn't just paranoid it seemed. It looked like he was injected with something. The man didn't even get the chance to fight back.
"…and Toombs..."
"Shepard? Is that really you? I thought I was the only survivor" the man's hand shook, the barrel pointed at a scientist's head. He looked as though he had seen a ghost "The Thresher Maws didn't get you? This entire time you've been alive" the man's hand stopped shaking as he tightened his grip. It looked as though he'd hardened his resolve.
"Toombs, I need you to calm down" Shepard put her hands out hoping to show that she wasn't a threat. The man stood his ground, but the gun lowered just a tad "You're shooting people"
"You don't understand" the man shook his head "This man works for Cerberus! They all did! They sent those monsters after us, got our squad killed! We were an experiment! They found me, barely breathing and continued with those experiments! This? This is justice"
Shepard frowned "If this is true then he has to face the Alliance, they'll bring justice"
"What!" the man on the floor screamed "You're not going to believe him are you? He's crazy!"
"I know him" was all she said as she took another step forward.
"You're right, Shepard" Bang! "But if Cerberus knew their agent was in custody they'd get an inside man to bail him out" the man handed her the gun as he walked over the fresh corpse. He leaned over her until their foreheads touched "At least they didn't get you… at least you're still sane. Never trust a three headed dog" he kissed her forehead right before the Alliance arrived to arrest him.
Garrus gently wiped the blood from Shepard's nose "Jean?" he whispered.
She blinked rapidly, trying to keep the tears from cascading down but she couldn't stop one from sliding down her cheek. She had just received a message from Toombs, calling her a traitor or that she was brainwashed like others. He swore that if they met he would rip her from their evil claws, cleansing her mind. Even kill her if he had to. These memories were going to drive her mad at this rate. She wiped the remaining blood on her long blue sleeve, making a mental note to wash it later. Shepard calmly explained that no one but Cerberus cared about the missing colonists and that the Reapers were real. Garrus listened intently, not dismissing her claims.
"I'm glad you're here. If I'm going head first into Hell I'm glad you'll have my six"
"You do realize this plan means I'll be walking into Hell too right?" he gave a small chuckle "Hah, just like old times. Well I'm ready when you need me"
"Good, cause we still have to do a little shopping and go get the good doctor"
"With the plague that infects turians? Why don't you ever take me somewhere nice?"
"Hey, I'm buying lunch on the Citadel afterwards, remember? It ain't cheap eating there" she slapped his back as she headed for the door "Damn turian beats me by one head" she muttered once the doors closed.
Once again she missed the worried look that followed her out the door "I'll always have your six, Jean. Promise" Garrus whispered into the empty room, his emotions conflicted with the reappearance of his old Commander. He shook his head to clear. The Commander already had a mission lined up and he needed to be focused if he was going to keep that promise. He headed after her to the armory to gear up.
Finding the doctor seemed like a piece of cake since they were only fighting more krogans, mercs, and hey guess what? More vorcha! They just popped out of nowhere. It also didn't help that not long after entering the quarantine zone Garrus had started coughing making the Commander doubt her decision to bring him. He had insisted a little cough wouldn't stop him so they kept going. Everyone that decided not to shoot them practically fled at the name Mordin Solus though. They called him crazy, afraid he'd shoot them. As bullets continued flying Shepard's hatred for Omega only grew. Fights at every corner, horrible smells, and nasty attitudes from the residences weren't not exactly good qualities. This place was a shit hole and she couldn't wait to leave. She just needed the doctor first, assuming he would even agree to help. If he was like everyone else on the station she didn't know any way to get him off Omega short a gun to his head but that wasn't the best way to ask for help.
They reached their destination in record time. The salarian scientist injected Garrus at first sight with a cure while rambling on about the correct dosage before turning his attention to Shepard. He questioned who she was but it turned out he was questioning himself because every question he asked he answered himself not even letting the Commander open her mouth. Aria was right. Once he started talking he did not stop. She wondered if he had an off button but guessed that since he wasn't synthetic the answer would be "no." Shepard had to intervene just so he'd stop guessing the five hundred possibilities as to why she was there. He didn't seem too worried about Cerberus and agreed to help only after the cure was placed in the ventilation system and his assistant was found. This would have proved easier than the last mission if the mercs didn't have rocket launchers! Too many times Shepard had to resort to her camouflage to move from cover and shoot. How much ammo could they carry anyway? That stuff wasn't light.
Once the cure was placed and the air ducts were reactivated the group left back for the Normandy to wait for the Professor. Shepard gave him the short version of their suicide mission after interjecting another assault of questions before letting the Professor have a field day in the tech lab.
Two down, Shepard thought as she took the elevator to her cabin. The room was large, a comfortable bed for two, a private shower, a couch, display case, and a fish tank. Why on Earth would Cerberus give her a fish tank? It didn't even have any fish! The entire place just looked like a waste of money but she did concede that it was a nice change of pace. The Illusive man probably thought he could woo her with shiny objects but she wasn't going to let material objects affect her opinion of that vile man. Still, the place felt weird. Maybe she just needed time to adjust, she hadn't actually been in here that much since she first came aboard.
Jeanette plopped down on the edge of the bed and peeled off her sneakers and the blood covered sleeve. They wouldn't arrive at the Citadel for a few hours and she needed some sleep. The Illusive Man's reports could wait and if Ms. Lawson had a problem with it she could stuff them up her backside. She scooted up on the bed and relaxed against the soft pillows. Her eyes drifted shut and she rolled onto her side. She spent the next half hour trying to fall asleep, tossing and turning, only to find the quiet bliss of sleep wouldn't come. Something was off. The bed was too soft. After years of sleeping on cots or the stiff mattress that superior officers sometimes got she wasn't use to the soft and lush bed. She hadn't slept in a bed this nice since... well she couldn't remember when she ever slept on a nice bed. Even the one in her old apartment wasn't this squishy. She would need to get a stiffer mattress later.
She sat up and glanced around the room. She thought about sleeping on the couch but it was made of leather and the warmth of her room would only leave her waking up with a sweaty back that stuck to the material. She turned around to find a sort of raised platform, maybe you could call it an alcove, behind the bed. It reached from one end of the room to the other and was void of clutter. It also looked plenty wide enough for a person to lay up on it. She leapt from the bed, yanked the blanket off and laid it on the alcove as padding. She tossed a pillow up there as well before curling up on the hard surface. She instantly fell asleep.
"Shepard? What are you doing up?" the quarian was surprised to see the human Commander up and about. The Normandy had a built in lights-out system that turned off any bright lights past eleven and most of the crew would be asleep. The ship, however, was mostly lit with dull blue lights so she didn't really see a reason for lights-out.
"You can just call me Jean, Tali. I won't bite… much" the woman smirked as she pried a small chuckle from the young woman "After our last conversation I got the feeling you might be up tonight. Appears my suspicions were correct"
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry"
"You're a part of my crew and I look out for my crew. Besides, I couldn't get much sleep either. So what are you up to?"
"Oh uh, it's nothing. Just something silly"
"Really?" the Commander tried to look at what the woman was doing but the quarian had hidden it behind her back "Because that looks like something"
The quarian sighed before pulling her hand from behind her back. She opened her hand to reveal a small metal ball with tiny purple lights "I was just trying to make a combat drone. I've seen them in the markets at the Citadel, even saw the inner workings of one. I just wanted to see if I could make my own"
"That sounds cool" the quarian was surprised by the sincere tone and watched as the Commander plopped down on the floor next to her in engineering "How's it coming?"
"Slowly. I've been using spare parts and scraps we've come across on missions but my real problem is the power supply" Tali handed the small ball to the Commander. Shepard twisted the thing in her hand as the gazed the metal workings "It only lasts for three seconds before turning off. For it to be effective I need it to last longer than that. The little bosh'tet rejects half the power cells I give it"
"Bosh'tet?"
"Oh, um… I think the closest translation in your language is bastard"
Shepard nodded, still twisting the ball a few times before handing the technology back "Good to know. Don't worry too much about the drone. I'm sure a smart girl like you can figure it out"
"I…" the quarian paused at the compliment before the white orbs in her faceplate lit up in a smile "Thank you… Jean"
"So what are you going to name it?"
"Name it?"
"Yeah. You built it yourself so I think it's worthy of a name. That's what my brother did. He made these little wheeled robots and had them roam the house. Named every one of them. He gave them strange names if you ask me. He called one of his robots Mr. Charger. He had it chase our pets around the house. He named another Bubblegum because as soon as it started up it had rolled right over a piece of chewed bubblegum on the road and got stuck"
The quarian shook her head and giggled "Your brother sounds silly"
"He was a dork, but he was my dork of a brother"
Tali rolled the small ball in her hands "Chiktikka vas Paus. That's what I'll call her"
Jeanette's eyes drifted open and a hand slowly found its way to her face. She sighed in relief when she found no blood.
"Shepard" the small platform by the door lit up and the blue holo of the AI appeared.
Jeanette gave a snort as she heard the AI call her. It was probably waiting for the exact moment she awoke to bother her. She still didn't like the AI aboard her ship. It wasn't just the geth and the rogue VI from Luna Base that made her wary of AIs but the rogue AI on the Citadel that tried to blow up the Presidium. That was not fun. Jeanette stretched from her makeshift bed before replying "Yes, EDI?"
"We will be arriving at the Citadel in twenty minutes"
Jeanette wondered how much she had slept because even with the Mass Relays it still took time to get from one system to the next "Thank you"
"Also, Ms. Lawson has requested that she join you when you visit the Council"
Shepard frowned. There was no way she was taking the Cerberus operative with her. There was already a good chance the Council wouldn't even meet their own Spectre because of her forced relation with the pro-human group, especially since they were far more radical than Terra Firma. Cerberus was even considered an enemy of the Council. Shepard would be surprised if she wasn't arrested as soon as she docked on the station. If she wasn't arrested the Council would only throw more accusations at her with a Cerberus agent on her heels. If they were going to get any help they had to play nice "Tell her request denied. Inform Garrus and Professor Solus that we're going on a field trip"
"Yes, Commander" and the blue orb dissipated.
Shepard could already imagine the sour look on Miranda's face. It almost made her want to laugh.
After grabbing a fruit from the mess hall, or she hoped it was a fruit, she left for the armory. She still couldn't understand why the armory was on the CIC. It was far more practical that her gear be in the hangar when she took off on ground missions but Cerberus just had to flip her ship upside down. When she entered Jacob seemed surprised to see her as she grabbed her armor. She might just be dropping by for a meeting, shopping, and lunch but nothing went according to plan. You want a picnic? You get a Thresher Maw instead of ants. That was just Shepard's past experiences and she wasn't going anywhere unprepared. Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.
There was one thing she did like about Cerberus, not that she'd ever admit liking anything about them. She liked the customized armor. Before, she just grabbed the most effective armor for her and her squad. She always giggled when she saw either Garrus or Kaidan wearing the pink phoenix armor. They weren't as amused. It would have been funnier on Wrex but he refused to where it, forgoing the better armor in favor of his quad as he liked to say. Now she could have excellent armor in blue camouflage. She might be a soldier, but that didn't mean she didn't like looking fashionable when shooting mercs' heads off... not that most women would call blue camouflage armor fashionable.
She heard the clanking of heels on metal as the doors swooshed open, the sound annoying her. She didn't even turn around, already knowing who was standing right behind her. No force on Earth could make Jeanette change her mind about letting the Cerberus bitch join her on the Citadel. She was staying and Shepard wasn't going to argue. Ignoring the woman didn't seem to help however. The brunette had stopped behind but after a few seconds of being ignored she had started tapping her foot impatiently. Shepard had a feeling it was going to be a long day.
