The starboard cargo bay was spacious enough. It appeared that the majority of the cargo was in the port cargo bay or was otherwise elsewhere, he had plenty of room to set out his tools on the desk space provided and plenty of room to set down his machine gun, leaving the rest of the space rather empty. A further quick look-around got him a bulkhead he could rest against; he was, after all, not taking off his armor, and would thus be far too heavy for the cot that had been set up just inside the room.

The wall would be fine. He'd slept in his armor on the floor many times.

He would have to be careful. This was a Cerberus ship. The clean loaner omni tool on his wrist was likely already compromised; he had no doubt his Mjolnir would be next if he hadn't already manually disabled transmission function on it by removing some of the transmitter hardware himself.

And of course, the whole ship was bugged. There were even entirely legitimate reasons for it, too, after all, an AI was useless without microphones to hear with and cameras to see with.

That was going to be interesting. It had been years now since he had last worked with the UNSC ONI AI Dot, back in his old life, back on Reach. For the first time in a long time, he could well approach the information processing and the instantaneous analysis an AI could provide; he had no doubt this would increase the effectiveness of Shepard, the ship, and the ground team by a notable amount. The downside… well, UNSC AIs were controlled by the UNSC. Blocks and coding designed to control them and their loyalty to the UNSC overall and their purpose in particular had been added. He had no doubt the same had been baked in to EDI, and her master was Cerberus.

Shame. But, so long as he kept her limitations in mind, he had no doubt she could outweigh her potential liabilities.

But, first things first. There was apparently long overdue conversation he needed to have with a certain pilot.

The elevator of the new Normandy was just as slow as the Citadel ones, unfortunately, but after that the way was clear to the cockpit. Seeing the pilot's chair turn around, and the blue sphere that was EDI manifested next to him, he had no doubt he was expected.

Jorge schooled his features, just a hint of a frown showing as he walked up to the pilot, still sitting in his seat. Joker had crossed his arms, a frown of his own on his face. The shock and surprise was over; he was defiant now.

Jorge stopped just inside the cockpit area and crossed his own arms, staring down the significant height difference at the seated pilot.

The silence dragged, neither willing to break it, before Jorge finally spoke.

"Now I know why you stopped talking with me."

"No offense big guy. I was busy," Joker replied.

"Because you joined Cerberus," Jorge accused evenly.

"Ye-p," Joker said with almost perverse pride, making the 'p' sound pop.

That, that actually made Jorge's frown deepen. Not the word. The pride the tone contained.

"You betrayed the Alliance," Jorge stated.

"They betrayed me first," Joker shot back heatedly. "Who got blamed for the destruction of the Normandy? I did! Who killed Shepard? I did! Months and months of investigations and committees and interviews and every single thing was my fault!"

"And that was enough for you to jump ship at the first chance you got?!" Jorge himself was getting emotional now.

"Of course not! Sure, I got demoted, and placed on probation, couldn't fly anything more than a glorified passenger liner for the military, but I remembered those missions Shepard shut down. I knew Cerberus' reputation!"

"They why did you join?!"

"For Shepard!" Joker practically shouted.

The loudness of it shocked both Joker and Jorge, though they both quickly hid it. Jorge didn't turn around, but from Joker's eye movements, their confrontation hadn't gone unnoticed.

"When Cerberus came to me, and told me they needed a pilot, I told them to stuff it at first. It wasn't until they told me it was gonna be Shepard's ship that I even listened. And it wasn't until I saw her body on the operating table with my own two eyes that I officially joined. I'm not here for Cerberus, or even for the chance to pilot another Normandy. I'm here for Shepard, because I owe her my life," Joker told him passionately.

"So you joined a known terrorist group out of loyalty?" Jorge said, his voice even once more.

"Damn straight I did. And I wasn't the only one either. Chakwas, Donnelly, Daniels-"

"Wait, Chakwas?!" Jorge asked, surprised.

A familiar cocky grin spread across the pilots' features.

"Yep. Chakwas too," he said, victory clear in his voice.

-[]-

"Jorge, it's good to see you!" Chakwas said in her deliberate, dignified voice, rising from her seat in the medical bay. "Shepard told me we had another old face from the original Normandy back."

"Doctor Chakwas," Jorge said, tiredly. He accepted her handshake without thinking. Wait a second…

"Another old face?" he asked, almost despairing the answer. He wasn't sure how many more shocks he could take here. How could so many people have abandoned the Alliance? Why had they placed their faith in Cerberus?

Should he have joined up, when the first offer was made, a year ago?

"Yes, Garrus Vakarian has taken up residency in the forward battery," Chakwas said in an amused voice. "And unfortunately I've already had to use my knowledge of turian anatomy. He was wounded during a skirmish on Omega when Shepard found him."

"I'm surprised he's working with Cerberus," Jorge replied, an eyebrow raised. "I would have thought this crew would have been all human."

"Oh, the crew is," Chakwas remarked. "But it appears that when it comes to the ground team, Cerberus is willing to relax their human supremacist line. As a matter of fact, we have a rather eccentric salarian doctor working in the lab on the main deck in addition to Garrus."

A turian and a salarian? Cerberus really must want the best of the best if they are willing to make such exceptions, even for Shepard. However, all these thoughts eventually melted back into the reason why he had come here.

"Why?" he asked softly as Chakwas sat back down. Last he had heard, she had been given a prime position at the Mars Naval Medical Center, a prestigious institution. Why had she joined Cerberus?

"Why join Cerberus? I didn't. I joined Shepard's crew."

"But you had to have joined before Shepard was... revived," Jorge said confusedly.

"True," she conceded. "Especially because time was required to study Shepard's new implants and prepare myself for any medical problems that may crop up. I joined Cerberus just after Joker did, and only after I too got to see Shepard with my own eyes."

"So you joined Cerberus out of loyalty to Shepard," Jorge summarized. He was beginning to see a trend here.

"Yes," Chakwas said with a smile. "Just as you appear to have done. We had different paths, perhaps, yet here we both are all the same, on a Cerberus vessel under the command of Shepard once more."

Jorge grunted as his mind processed this information. Two former Alliance now, defected and joined Cerberus out of loyalty to Shepard, with at least two more implied. How many more on this ship were former Alliance? How many were loyal to Shepard, how many were loyal to Cerberus? And what was Cerberus doing, allowing aliens to serve on the ship? Were they really that desperate?

Was this all a facade, even if Joker and Chakwas believed that Shepard really was the real Shepard?

"Thank you, Doctor. And, it is good to see you again," Jorge told her earnestly.

"Likewise, Jorge. It will be a pleasure to serve alongside you again. Feel free to stop by if you'd like to talk," Chakwas offered, before turning her chair back to her workstation and picking up where she left off.

Jorge turned and left the medbay, heading for the elevator deep in thought. But as he went past the much more expansive mess area (there was an actual kitchen on this Normandy, and a table large enough to fit more than a handful of crew at a time!), he stopped. His eyes turned, past the crewmembers on their break sitting at the table, past the man manning the kitchen, to the hallway that on the original Normandy had housed sleeper pods… the forward battery.

Joker and Chakwas had been a shock, seeing them in Cerberus colors. Would Garrus be wearing them as well?

There was only one way to find out. And at this rate the faster he ripped this bandage off the easier it would be. Jorge turned and strode with purposeful steps, past the mess sergeant, up a small flight of steps, past the rows of what he believe to be power cabling for the main guns. The door opened at his approach.

"Just a second, I'm in the middle of some calibrations," the alien yet familiar voice of Garrus Vakarian told him, hunched over the central console, his back to Jorge.

They weren't Cerberus colors, and Jorge was slightly relieved to see that. No, it looked more like beefed up C-Sec armor, heavy duty plates in a dark blue. That being said, it only took a moment for Jorge to see the battle damage to the flared collar of the suit- there was a hole clear through the right side… and now that he was looking for it, the spikey fringe and head that he could see beyond the collar had a bandage on the side…

"And there," he said as he turned. His mouth dropped and his mandibles flared in what Jorge recognized as surprise. At least until it turned to a wince of pain.

"Aaah, ouch," Garrus intoned as his right arm held his right mandible in place. A mandible in a full bandage.

"You alright?" Jorge asked sympathetically. The right side of Garrus's face was covered in bandages, and what was exposed looked like a metal plate had been shattered- sharp, jagged canyons of plate splits showed on the right side of his skull and the front lips. His armor showed similar battle damage-beyond the hole straight through the back of his collar had also cut a huge divot in the front side, a jagged chunk of missing armor with blackened gashes reaching down to his shoulder pad and to the chest prominence.

"Yea, just… don't do that anymore, my face is barely holding together as it is," he replied, still clutching his mandible.

"You look like you've been through hell, Garrus," Jorge commented.

"Just Omega," Garrus replied, finally letting go of his mandible. "Though that may be worse."

His alien eyes narrowed.

"Of course, for the minor price of telling me how you got that scar over your eye, I might tell you all about my thrilling tale."

Jorge chuckled and shook his head. Williams and Joker had always been the ones who asked about the scar cutting from his forehead and across his right eye down his cheek, but Garrus had always been interested as well.

"Nice try. What are you doing here, Garrus? How'd you come aboard the Normandy?"

"Shepard found me on Omega," Garrus replied, leaning back on the console. "I'd pissed off a lot of people, and in the end three separate merc gangs decided the only way they could take me out was together. Even then they couldn't take me and my team."

"At least, not until that barefaced Sidonis turned traitor," Garrus said angrily. "Lured me away, then hit the hideout with a surprise attack. By the time I realized the meeting I had been sent to was a fake, most of my team was dead. I rushed back just in time to watch the last of my team die from their wounds and that bastard…"

He visibly took some deep breaths. Given his emotional state, if he had been human Jorge would have expected to have seen tears. This wound was fresh and raw.

"Sajnalom," Jorge replied quietly. I'm sorry. Garrus closed his eyes, nodded his head, and let out a long, slow breath.

"Anyways, Shepard found me holed up, surrounded by three gangs in that very hideout. I'd picked good spots for the safehouses, and we worked to lock each one down. This one had a backdoor that was secret and easily locked and otherwise only had a small bridge for access. I turned it into a killzone. For four days I killed every merc that came across that bridge, every mech they set out, every animal they sent after me. They got desperate. Started hiring mercenaries as cannon fodder."

The mandibles lowered slightly, an alien grin upon Garrus' face as he looked Jorge in the eye.

"One of those mercs happened to be Shepard. After that, well… I crossed a few big names off my hit list with Shepard's help, and was unfortunately rewarded for my trouble," he finished, gesturing to his scarred armor and face with that last bit.

Jorge's brow knit. "How'd you know it was Shepard?"

"She didn't use her biotics at first," he replied easily. "Just a pistol and shotgun. I thought it a bit strange initially, but I wasn't one to knock the Spirits sending me my supposedly-dead old commander at the time. She's Shepard, through and through, every action, every shot. She struts her colors just like she used to," Garrus said confidently.

"You sure?" Jorge asked quietly. Garrus, as one of the original Normandy crew, had known Shepard as well and his opinion mattered a good deal to Jorge.

Garrus cocked his head, his eyes searching Jorge. After a moment, he looked away.

"I believe it," he replied. "But as recent events have shown I'm not the best judge of good people."

Silence reigned between them as they contemplated this. At last, Jorge broke it by offering his left hand. After a moment, Garrus took it in his own uninjured side.

"It's good to see you again," Jorge said earnestly.

"You too, Jorge, you too."

-[]-

Shepard came by some time later, as he was laying his tools out on the table.

"Seem to be traveling light this time," she commented, leaning up against the wall. "Do you have a standard issue armor set?"

"Just the Mjolnir," he replied easily, turning to her. She held out a padd, and he took it and began reading. It was comm protocol he would be following. Let's see…. No revealing the Normandy position, no attempts to contact authorities to have crew members or Shepard be arrested or otherwise waylaid, all communications ingoing and outgoing will be monitored...

"I cut out a few of Miranda's more… intrusive measures," she elaborated. "But everything else on there needs to be followed. If there's any issues, and I completely understand if there are, we can let you off the next time we make port…"

Reports to the Alliance and Council will include anonymizing measures for all Cerberus and affiliated crew, no Cerberus information is allowed to be passed to Alliance or Council without authorization first….

"I think I can make this work, Commander," he replied as he finished the list. The Alliance wouldn't be getting any major reports back from him soon, but they had expected something like this. His after action report would be large and comprehensive, but before that, the only real reporting he needed to give was a thumbs up or a thumbs down on Shepard's status, nothing that he believed would violate the guidelines laid out for him.

"Good. I'd hate to see you go so soon. It's good to have you on board, Jorge," she told him with a smile. "Though, I hear you had a bit of a shouting match with Joker."

"Wasn't much of one," Jorge replied, rubbing the back of his head. "We… well, he means well, but I wish he had told me."

"Everyone on this ship means well, Jorge," Shepard replied. Then she paused. "Well, mostly. Miranda's a bit hard to get on with, and she means Cerberus well, not us, but, well.."

"Cerberus is a terrorist group, Shepard. You remember the things we shut down. Those were just scraps, the tip of the iceberg."

"They aren't all bad though," Shepard said with a sigh. "Spent a couple billion credits to bring me back to life, and so far they're the only ones able and willing to investigate the missing colonies. The only ones willing to believe me about the Reapers too, seems like…"

Jorge frowned.

"How you holding up, Commander?" he asked softly.

Shepard sighed again. "Well enough, I suppose. I'm getting more sleep each night, stronger every day. Learning more about this-" her new biotics flared around her- "with every engagement we get into. Shooting mercs seems to help. So does finding out what the Collectors are up to."

She shook her head. "But enough about me. You planning on wearing that the whole time?"

"Yes ma'am," he replied.

"Am I going to have to start worrying about the smell?" Shepard replied, eyebrow raised. He gave a small chuckle.

"Shouldn't commander. Mjolnir is fully sealed, the only major exposed portion is the head, I can wash that just fine. These suits were designed with the possibility of extended wear in mind; it has all the necessary plumbing built in. I've had mine on for up to nine months before, continuous wear, and the full rating is for up to 1 year."

"No issues at all?"

Jorge remembered, back two years ago, Shepard's anger at failing to get the information she needed to fully use him effectively. Unfortunately, her instincts were right that there were some issues. Fortunately, he had come prepared. "Well, it's a slow degradation of combat performance as damage is incurred. Which is why I brought the necessary tooling to maintain it as best possible without heavy industry."

"I suppose if we do need some major work done we can have Cerberus do it," Shepard mused.

"No, Commander," he correct, politely but firmly. "I don't trust Cerberus. Not with Mjolnir."

"Fair enough," she replied easily. "So, what can you tell me about your mission here on the Normandy?"

"You already know most of it, Commander," Jorge replied easily. "I'm here to report back to the Alliance, and by extension the Council, on the validity of your identity. It's my job to evaluate you and determine if you are the 'real' Commander Shepard, or a Cerberus trick."

"I'm here, standing in front of you," she said, sounding a bit peeved.

"It's amazing what can be done with cosmetic surgery and gene manipulation these days," Jorge replied. "On a deeper level, known Cerberus front companies have advanced rapidly in clones over the last two years."

"But would a clone have my memories? My skills and abilities?" Shepard mused. Jorge was glad she was more philosophical than combative.

"Theoretically possible, with the use of cybernetics to advance learning," he told her. "And that presents another problem. Even if you are the real Shepard, resurrected from the dead, who's to say that there isn't some Cerberus cybernetic implant in there pulling the strings? You could be the real Shepard yet still be an unwitting pawn of Cerberus."

Shepard pondered for a moment. "What do you believe?"

"I want to believe it's you, Commander. But I can't be sure," Jorge told her carefully.

Shepard heaved a deep sigh with a tired shrug of her shoulders. After a few moments, the mask was back in place.

"Do you have any ideas for upgrades for the Normandy?" she asked. "We're going to need all the help we can get against the Collectors."

"Hmmmm…" Jorge thought, rubbing his chin with an armored glove. "Nothing regarding the ship, I'm afraid. But I have an idea for the ground team, something that could improve our effectiveness."

"Use EDI to put the idea into the computer. Don't worry about cost, if it increases our effectiveness, it's worth it, Cerberus will find the cash somewhere," Shepard grinned. "Good to see you again, Jorge."

"Likewise, Commander."

Shepard turned to head out of the cargo area, but stopped just as she was halfway through the door.

"I almost forgot, Jacob asked if you could meet him in the Armory when you got a chance. He was looking to get his interview out of the way I think."

-[]-

Q&A Chapter updated. Also, a poll is up on my user page, you guys should check it out ;)