Sorry for the delay, got a little distracted. Stupid elves. This chapter rated for moderate violence, possibly some trigger content. Thank you for continuing to follow, alert, favourite and review. Thanks also to my betas Midsummer and Ryftling - your patience is legendary.

Jack

Fuck, yeah.

Jack went up on her toes, stretching languorously as little rills of pleasure flowed down her spine. Through half lidded eyes she watched as her latest combatant was dragged from the arena, his body tracking a wide swathe of crimson into the dirt floor.

Not as strong as you thought, huh? Got good odds on you too. She patted a pocket, feeling for her betting slips and hummed in delight as another wave of warmth flooded her. Money, drugs and violence, could get used to this. Sex is missing but I'm pretty sure that can be arranged. She rolled her shoulders and eyed the crowd hungrily. They're getting off on this as much as I am.

Prickles travelled her body followed by a chill of sweat and she fingered her implant involuntarily, suppressing a shiver. The short-lived high which followed a kill was wearing off leaving her suddenly twitchy and irritable.

"Who's next?"

Shepard picked her way down towards the arena keeping a careful eye on the crowd. No-one seemed to pay her any attention, their focus was the gesticulating figure pacing the makeshift ring. One or two looked up briefly as she passed, eyes moving over her armour. One batarian pulled at her arm, grinning.

"Will you fight her? I no see her lose yet. Two human womans I like."

"Get that off me before I break it off. Right now." The batarian raised his hands appeasingly. "I want to talk to her. Know how I can get in?"

"Talk krogan." He gestured towards a makeshift gate set into one of the arena walls. "Fight."

Wonderful.

The krogan gatekeeper, predictably hefting an enormous gun, looked her up and down as she approached before grunting approvingly. "Nice armour. She'll blast it into pretty pieces for you. If you're lucky."

"Not here to fight, just want to talk to her."

"She ain't interested in talking. You want to see her you sign up." He jerked his head towards a small knot of people. "Get in line."

"Shep! The hell you doing here?"

Shepard peered around the krogan to see Jack's face grinning at her from between the bars of the gate.

"I, uh…"

"Come to help me out here? Up for a little violence?" She shoved the krogan. "Let her in, jackass, she's a friend of mine."

Grumbling, the krogan unbarred the gate and stood aside to let Shepard pass. She moved into the arena, shielding her eyes from the too bright lights. Once inside the noise from the crowd was almost overwhelming, their faces impossible to pick out against the glare. Jack clapped her on the back, hard.

"Finally came down to see me, huh? Never thought you'd leave that damn ship of yours, I gotta say. You like my little set-up here? It's sweet." She turned in a circle slowly, arms outstretched. "All of this for me. So, how you been? Still saving the fucking galaxy?"

Shepard hesitated. Telling her this isn't real won't make a lot of difference here. Go with it, find an opening. "Same old, same old. You been down here long, Jack? I forget."

Jack shrugged. "Long enough. Last saw you when…" she paused, a flicker of uncertainty crossing her face. "Hell, who cares?"

"You ladies done catching up?" The krogan rattled the gate impatiently. "We got people waiting out here."

Jack shot Shepard a sly look. "Let's have some fun. It'll be just like old times, Shep." She went to the gate and eyed the waiting fighters. Shepard glanced over her shoulder at them appraisingly. A mismatched bunch of people, mostly human, a few turians, one krogan. They had armour, some held firearms but she could see no heavy weapons. Most of them looked like mercenaries, battle-hardened and wary. She could feel them silently assessing her in turn.

"Which ones do you want?" Rumbled the krogan.

Jack smiled.

"All of them."

Shepard and Jack stood at the opposite side of the arena. Jack bounced on her toes, shaking out her hands whilst Shepard watched their combatants file in with increasing dismay.

"You sure about this, Jack? This is eight against two and there's no cover here." And neither of us have a damn gun.

"No problem." She smirked and threw her a wink. "It's you and me, Shep. I got the four on the left, you got the rest. We are going to clean up."

The gate slammed shut and the sudden roar from the crowd was deafening. Dimly she saw Jack circle to her left, biotics flaring. I hope Samara and Miranda are still keeping their end up otherwise the bridge is going to fry. One of the turians started towards her, pistol raised. She threw up a barrier and charged him. A concussive shot slammed into her shoulder, turning her slightly but then she was on him, grabbing the end of his firearm, forcing it up and under his chin and firing. She smiled grimly. And now I have a gun. She heard Jack whoop behind her.

"Nice moves!"

She heard the tell-tale whump off a biotic shockwave and suddenly two bodies flew across her field of vision, tumbling to lie still at the edges of the arena. She felt warmth spatter her face. Putting a glove up she wiped off a mixture of colours, spitting and grimacing slightly. Why do I never remember to keep my mouth shut when Jack's around?

"Hell, yeah! You're getting behind, Commander! Three down, five to go." Shepard laughed in spite of herself and rolled, avoiding a barrage of weapons fire, before coming up onto one knee and firing at the nearest shooter.

"One less to worry about" she said drily, earning herself another whoop from Jack. There was a sudden flare from her right and she felt herself lifted into the air. She had enough time to think oh crap beforethe air left her lungs suddenly as she was slammed into the dirt floor with a force that would have crushed one less cybernetically gifted. Even so she lay still, unable to move for a few seconds, watching as the ceiling lights wheeled around her field of vision. She pushed herself up and gritted her teeth against the grind of ribs down one side. Her gun arm was suddenly too painful to lift and muzzily she saw the remaining turian turn towards her and raise his pistol.

Dying inside someone's head is not what I'd choose for a do-over she thought ruefully and closed her eyes.

A small, strong hand gripped her under one arm and yanked her upright sending sparks of pain through her body. She hissed an expletive and staggered, trying to keep her balance.

"Quitting on me already?" Opening her eyes she saw what was left of the turian crumpled in a too small heap in front of her. Jack shook her, grinning broadly. "Get with it, Shep. Still got the big guy left to do."

"Mind the goods. I'm feeling delicate." She flexed her arm slightly and groaned, several ribs broken. "Got any medi-gel on you?"

"Gel's for pussies."

Only the krogan remained. Hell, there is no "only" when it comes to krogans she thought. "Thanks for the rescue, Jack. Nice job on the rest of them."

"You owe me big."

The krogan was huge, angry and no match for a hopped up biotic and a moderately injured Spectre but he got a few good charges in, leaving them both sprawled in the dirt wheezing with relieved laughter, Jack's especially tinged with hysteria.

"C'mon, Shep. Tell me you haven't missed that."

"I haven't missed that." Shepard felt the back of her head gingerly and pulled herself to her feet, the pain in her ribs receding to a dull ache.

"Liar." Jack grinned broadly and then her smile faded as she focused on something over Shepard's shoulder. "What the fuck is this?"

Shepard turned and stared in confusion as six children, no older than 10 or 12 filed tentatively into the arena. "Uh, Jack…?" Jack's mouth twisted briefly, her eyes intense on the little group.

"Jack, these are children. They're defenceless. You can't fight them."

Jack shot her a look. "Defenceless, huh?" She picked up Shepard's pistol and fired at the nearest one.

"Wait – "

The child was suddenly surrounded by a shifting blue barrier. Jack laughed bitterly.

"They're biotics, Shepard. Same as the little fuckers I grew up with on that Cerberus base. You think they gave a shit about defenceless back then? No-one was defenceless." She tossed down the pistol and looked at the now silent crowd. "Hey. You think I won't hurt children? Fucking think again!"

She cracked her knuckles and eyed Shepard. "If you don't have the balls for this…"

"Wait." Said Shepard again, mind racing. Find the angle. Work the angle. "Why don't we make this a little more interesting?"

"How?" asked Jack suspiciously.

Shepard turned towards the waiting children. "Which one of you is the strongest?"

There was a pause and then a thin, blond girl tentatively raised a hand. "Show me." Shepard pointed at one of the boys standing near her. "On him."

The girl concentrated, blue energy gathering around one fist and then lashed out to send the boy sprawling in the dirt with a cry. "What the fuck, Shep?" called Jack. "I'm doing this with or without you, quit playing around."

"I said wait." She turned to the others. "You lot. If you can beat her I'll be on your team." She pointed a thumb back over her shoulder. "Against the angry tattooed lady with a helluva lot of biotic power over there." She gritted her teeth and shoved the girl hard onto the arena floor. "Look at her. She's nothing. You can take her."

The children milled uncertainly, Shepard risked a glance over her shoulder and saw Jack glaring at her with narrowed eyes.

"Come on." Said Shepard, raising her voice. "She's strong but she's nothing special. Can't even stay on her feet." She forced a laugh and a few of the children joined in. "Take her out."

There was a flare of barriers as the children moved forward towards the girl who sprang to her feet, eyes wide. Shepard moved back towards Jack who was watching, a tinge of anger in her expression. "Remind you of your schooldays, Jack?"

"Yeah, so? Strongest wins. We'll see if she's a winner."

Shepard shifted uncomfortably. "Seems a little unfair, four against one. Should we help her out?"

"No."

Watching them, the girl clearly had the most ability but at first was outnumbered, knocked to the ground repeatedly by biotic blasts. Shepard forced herself to laugh again, loudly, and saw the muscles in Jack's jaw clench tightly. Now we're getting somewhere. "Special my ass." She said flatly, folding her arms. Jack gave her a sidelong glance before returning her attention to the fight. A sudden blast opened a gash in the girl's forehead and she screamed defiantly unleashing a shockwave which threw all but one of her combatants to the sides of the arena. The remaining boy looked around her at his fallen comrades and began to retreat slowly, fear evident on his face.

"Finish him off!" yelled Jack, nodding in satisfaction as he was thrown against the gate by a final flare of energy. "That's my girl. No mercy."

Shepard strode towards the panting girl, clapping slowly. "That was quite a display out there. You're pretty good." A slow smile spread over the girl's face as she looked up at her. "Best I've seen in a while. Stick with me, we'll be quite a team. I'll take you out of here, I got a ship. We just got to get through this lady first."

Eyes shining, the girl nodded. Shepard nodded towards Jack. "Two of us against you, Jacqueline. We'll take you out!" Jack shrugged at her, a brief expression of puzzlement crossing her features.

"Yeah!" shouted the girl. Shepard rounded on her immediately and back-handed her across the face, hard. "Did I tell you you could speak, kid? If I wanted you for your conversation I wouldn't have bothered watching you fight. I want you for your ability, nothing else." She turned away feeling nauseous. "Useless bitch. You see that Jack?" she continued, laughing in the direction of the tattooed woman. "Her face. She thought I was actually interested in her as a person." She turned back to the girl and prodded her sharply with the toe of a boot. "You're a biotic. A strong one. You're fucked up though. As long as you can fight you're useful to me. Beyond that, you're nothing."

The girl gazed up at her, stricken. "Get up." Shepard hauled her to her feet. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jack take a few unwilling steps forward. "Get up, freak." The girl struggled to her feet, biting her lip in an attempt not to cry.

"Maybe I don't want you anyway." Shepard said coldly. "Look at you. Crying. You're weak." She glanced at Jack and saw her eyes moving back and forth between the two of them. She back-handed the girl again and dragged her to her feet. "Where are all your specialabilities now, huh? Fucking useless." She moved to stand beside Jack and drew her pistol, aiming it at the sobbing girl. "Shall we put her out of her misery?"

"Stop it." Said Jack softly.

"You going soft on me?" Shepard strode back to the girl and whipped the butt of the pistol across her face. "She was so eager to come with me. Weren't you, sweetheart?" She pulled her up by a handful of hair. "So sweet and trusting and so pathetic. Maybe we can find someone else to take you on, use you how they see fit. What do you think, Jack. We can get a decent price for – "

"Get the fuck off her!" Jack moved so quickly she was almost a blur. Her boot knife flashed into her hand and Shepard felt the weight of the girl disappear as she was cut free from her grasp. Jack backed up, shoving the girl behind her. "Eat this, bitch." Shepard got her hands up in time but as the shockwave hit her at close range and at full blast. Make a crazy biotic really mad. Great idea Shepard. Ah hell, this is really gonna hurt. She gritted her teeth against a scream as she felt armour melt and bones shatter before static and blackness filled her head.

Flashes of movement, lights, voices. And pain. She attempted to open her eyes to find them too swollen to see much beyond a white ceiling. The skin on her face was raw and stinging and it was hard to breathe. She gasped in pain as a stray tear burned its way down her cheek and groaned at the stab of pain the sudden breath caused.

"She's awake," muttered a voice from her peripheral vision.

"Rest, Commander. Your injuries are considerable." Chakwas.

"Hey, Shep." A blurry face moved over her field of vision. "You pulled my ass out - the cheerleader got me up to speed." There was a pause and the voice grew softer. "Shit, look at you." The face moved away. "I'll be here when you wake up."

Shepard closed her eyes and drifted.

She woke again an indeterminate amount of time later and took an experimental breath which was sore rather than agonising. She opened her eyes a crack and then fully, blinking at the med bay lights. Turning her head she saw Jack slouched in a chair, elbows on her knees. "Wakey, wakey, Shep" she grinned. "Sleeping fucking Beauty."

"Beauty my ass. How long have I been out?"

"Day, give or take."

"Where are the others?"

"Quarters, bridge, mess, hell if I know." She stretched and stood. "You're fine. I'm gone."

"Jack…" called Shepard after her.

"Yeah?"

"I had to do that to get you out of there."

Jack's eyes were shadowed. "I know. Must've been hard. It's not who you are. But you get it done. You got my back, Shep. Won't forget it."

Shepard made her way slowly up to her quarters after a brief but intense altercation with Dr Chakwas over her leaving the med bay so soon. Even a newly conscious Joker had tried to struggle up and put a hand out to restrain her. In the end she had simply pulled rank and left, citing time constraints and mission parameters, words she was only half listening to anyway.

You get it done. Yeah, I get it done. Any means necessary.

She rubbed her face, the thin girl's eyes dancing before her. She hadn't been real but the memory stayed with her. A reminder of what she was capable of to get the job done. What aren't you capable of?

There was a soft knock at the door. "Enter."

Miranda stepped in, datapad in hand. Shepard nodded and retrieved a uniform from the storage cabinet. "What's up, Miranda?" She started pulling at her med bay gown and winced as her arms refused to go any higher than chest height.

"Need a little help, Commander?"

Shepard eyed her and then nodded sharply. Miranda pulled the gown gently over her head and paused, brows lowered in concern. Vivid blue black splotches criss-crossed Shepard's chest and arms, areas of skin were healing but still red raw in places. "You should have stayed in the med bay, Commander. This is…not good."

Shepard carefully slid into her uniform. "Noted. Ow. What did you want?" She watched Miranda's eyes flick from her ravaged chest up to her face.

"EDI's noticed some fluctuations within the VI's data patterns. She's still trying to work through all the data but it seems the fluctuations have been getting worse with each crew member you've managed to pull out."

"And?"

"We're not sure yet. Might be starting to power down a bit, might be something else, a defensive mechanism of some sort. Thought I'd give you the heads up."

"Appreciated. Walk with me."

"Wait. You're not going back in so soon are you?"

"You say that like I have a choice. And before you say anything else, I really don't."

Shepard strode onto the bridge, Miranda in tow. Her crew lay silent on the floor and she knelt briefly, checking Garrus' dressings. He seemed to be healing up quickly. She turned her head at a faint cough and realised it had come from Thane. His skin was cool, his pulse steady as she put a hand on him until his breathing evened out once more.

"Welcome back, Commander."

"Thanks, EDI. Who's next?" She suppressed a shiver as Jack's voice echoed distantly in her head. I'll take you all on.

"All of them appear equally stable, Shepard." Shepard glanced over at Miranda. "Keep an eye on that data, Miranda. Help EDI however you can."

"Will do, Commander."

Shepard lay herself down on the deck with a groan and reached for the cable. "Why do I always forget to bring a bedroll? Roll some virtual dice, EDI. Pick someone for me. Maybe going in blind will give me an edge."

"Be careful, Shepard." Said Miranda.

"See you on the other side."

She opened her eyes and found herself sitting on what looked like a hospital gurney in a dim corridor. There were ivs in her arm and she was back in that damn gown again. There was a strong smell of antiseptic and a fainter one of decay, a nauseating smell of mould. She sniffed experimentally and immediately started to cough, caustic air burning her lungs. A faint metallic clatter came from further down the corridor and she peered in the direction of the noise. No movement, nothing. Wiping her eyes she took a breath and then ripped the lines out, staunching the sudden flow of blood with the edge of the gown.

I hate hospitals.

The floor was cold and the air seemed thin, she was out of breath after a few steps. She heard the noise again and paused. There was movement behind a vent grill to her right and she turned quickly. She caught a flash of bright, black eyes regarding her silently before they were gone, faint noises now overhead gradually fading.

Thane.

Shepard stood for a moment, eyeing the vents and then began to follow them.

TBC