Shepard - now

The smoke made it hard too see. Either one of the shots had missed its target or the Blue Suns were now trying something different after noticing their standard procedure of "just shoot until they drop" wouldn't work. It was a good thing she'd just recently modded her M-92 Mantis to be able to manage in situations like this. It made killing treacherous bastards a lot easier.

"Joker is never going to believe it this isn't our fault," Garrus muttered between shots, having found his rhythm in an easy balance to hers. Even after two years they were almost instantly back in sync, working together like a well oiled machine. She'd heard Jacob mutter something along those lines but hadn't really been paying attention. Instead she concentrated on minimizing a new wave of mercs blocking their way.

"Technically it is our fault," Jacob weighed in, biotically pulling one of the turian guards off his feet to shoot them a second later. "If we hadn't refused capture this wouldn't have happened."

"And we would've been sold into slavery."

"I didn't say it hadn't any catch."

The Mantis flashed empty, making Shepard curse under her breath. She signaled Garrus to cover her before activating her Tactical Cloak and switching to the Carnifex. The smoke was slowly ceasing, making it easier for her to see while still obscuring the telltale shimmer of her cloak. The last guard was hiding behind a door frame, making it hard to get a clear shot from their position. While Garrus and Jacob were distracting him, Shepard managed to sneak up on the other side of the frame. As soon as she heard the revealing beep signaling he'd have to change the thermal clip she moved around the wall separating them. Before he could even think about reaching in his belt to do so, Shepard grabbed his helmet to hold his head still and pierce his throat with her omni-blade just one blink of an eye later. He went down as soon as she let go.

"Clear."

She could hear Jacob muttering "damn" before the body even hit the ground. It was the first mission she'd picked the Cerberus Operative for since their first meeting on the Lazarus Research Station. Despite the treacherous emblem on his armor he seemed like a decent man. A routine pickup seemed like the best way to get to know him a bit more. Especially since she had Garrus protecting her six. Too bad the routine part of the mission pretty much had gone to hell when they'd set foot on Purgatory.

"She always like this?"

"She only uses the omni-blade when she's out of thermal clips or in a really bad mood. So … yeah."

Shepard ignored her squad mates discussing her field tactics and moods for now. Instead she deactivated her cloak again, eyes already on the map on her omni-tool. Even with the ambush they still had a package to pick up. Cerberus or not, she wasn't leaving anything of value behind so that vulture of a warden could get his talons on it. Especially since some comments Kuril had made hinted that it could be sentient cargo. Considering where they were and who requested said cargo in the first place, the bad feeling she'd had from the start got worse by the minute.

"Cryo chamber is not too far away. We should be able to get there in three."

"Handy. They were probably planning to put you in stasis too, Shepard."

"Don't think I'm the only one they want, 'Archangel'."

Back flat against the wall, Shepard peered around the corner before signaling the path was clear. She doubted it would be this way for long. Maybe she should plan for alternative routes off the station, especially if they were about to pick up something, or someone, to bring back to the Normandy.

"Are you sure you still want to pick up that package for Cerberus?"

"Mission objective hasn't changed, Garrus."

"Yeah, but the circumstances did."

"When do they not?"

"Point taken."

It took them less than the anticipated three minutes to get to the control room for the cryochamber and only one more bullet between the eyes of a technician in their way. He'd been able to request backup so she guessed their initial exit route would soon be swarmed.

"Jacob, door."

"Aye, Commander."

With Garrus in tow she stepped to the control panel in front of a big glass window overseeing the cryochamber. Her fingers flew over the display, searching for a way around the security block while she was trying to make sense of the information the terminal presented. The technician had managed to shut down most of the programs and scramble the files, leaving her with very little to go on. All that was left were some medical details that told her too little but just enough. Her jaw clenched when she realized she'd been right with her first assessment. The package not only was a sentient being, it was human and as far as the readings went, they were alive. She'd have to have a long talk with the Illusive Man and his idea of mission details as soon as she was back on the Normandy.

The mandibles of her squadmate twitched after looking at the screen. He wasn't a technician but he realized what she was about to do when she opened the hacking program on her omni-tool.

"Shepard, if you hack that control, every door on this cellblock opens."

"Sounds like a perfect distraction. Be ready."

Garrus made the turian equivalent of a resigned sigh, something she was pretty sure he'd picked up from Kaidan whenever she did something truly batshit crazy but he had already made peace with that particular trait of her and instead of trying to talk her out of it, he just prepared for the worst. The thought made her lips twitch and her heart clench just a bit but she pushed it aside. She'd have enough time to deal with that particular ache later when they weren't being shot at or waiting to be shot at again.

As soon as her omni-tool signaled the hack was complete, a big mechanical arm in the cryochamber began moving as well as some mechs forming an armored wall between the stasis pod and the exit.

"What is in that thing that makes them need three mechs for security?" Garrus asked quietly. A question that had crossed her mind too.

"Not what, who." Shepard pressed a final button. "And we are going to find out in a minute."

The mechanical arm moved its claws to the ground to pull up the stasis pod their new guest of honor was currently in. All the while the mechs in the room turned in the same direction, powering up their weapons automatically. Oxygen was streaming from the pod into the chamber, creating a ghostly look, crawling over the ground like fine mist. The big machine pulled out what Shepard had thought a stasis pod but turned out to be a stretcher with a human man cuffed to it by his arms and neck. The bond over his throat kept his head up, making it easy to see his face, even if his features were almost hidden behind dirt, stubble and a final layer of thin frost. Unruly hair hung in his eyes but it made no difference. Even before Shepard's brain was able to put all the pieces together, her heart had already stopped beating for a few seconds that lasted a few lifetimes.

She heard Garrus whisper "spirits" but wasn't able to register anything but her own shock, her brain persuaded that her eyes were betraying them. It refused to acknowledge that what she saw was actually true. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be him.

As if being able to sense her thoughts, the way he always seemed to, the eyes of the man before her flew open, directly staring back at her and destroying every doubt in the progress. Not even the cold smoke of the cryochamber was able to dim the fire in the amber that were boring into her eyes now. And for the first time in a very long time Commander Shepard lost control when one single world fell from her lips: "Kaidan."