Disclaimer: This story is written purely for entertainment, I own nothing and definitely am not getting any money for this!

Any references to games, movies, books owned by someone else are exactly that - owned by someone else, not me!

Authors Note - Thank you everyone for the reviews. One of the last I saw was a concern the story was going to run away from me with multi-crossovers. A legitimate concern, the intention is there will be any number of references / cameos that people may (or not) get, but any full crossover is actually planned.

Chapter 07 - Or Prey.

Dutch paused for a second as have registered what Anderson had said. Anna however was far quicker.

"No way! Anything I want? DUTCH! He stays with me, I stay with him, and we don't go back to no Alien Demon fucking killing machine!"

Her voice volume had steadily risen until the last was practically screamed at Anderson, pulling away from Dutch and standing at Anderson's desk, face pushed forward to his.

Like a puppet who's strings had been cut, she then collapsed back into her seat. "Wouldn't matter anyway. Fucker is probably long gone. One of the things I managed to decipher from the Mayan inscriptions, something everyone else thought was wrong, was 'Demon Summer'. And the locals would say on the hottest days 'The Demon hunts today'. I watch the news. I've seen the tropical storm moving into the area. Heat wave is gone. Too cool, too wet now. He won't be there".

Dutch watched Anna carefully as she spoken, listening and considering Anderson's suggestion.
"Maybe we could take a team back then. See if you can look at the ruins again, if the...if IT won't be there. And maybe find my team. Bring them back home."

Anna shrugged listlessly, the sudden surge of energy and emotion appeared to have exhausted her. "I really don't know Dutch. I'm too tired to think anymore, too scared. I want to go home. I want a shower." her voice dropped to a whisper again "I want you to come to bed and hold me until I sleep. Keep the monster away".

Anderson felt a wave of sadness, a feeling that he was intruding on something vastly private. He reached a decision - whatever happened, his division of Cerberus would be putting it's support behind the ones sitting in his office, regardless of what Jack said. Though knowing Jack (and Shepard), they would fully support keeping these two in a protective bubble.

"Anna, I want to apologise. I'm deeply sorry, I really didn't consider how you would feel at the thought of Dutch being moved from your side. Cerberus has facilities on site, in this building for people to stay over - visitors quarters, with shower facilities. They aren't the best, but they have warm water and reasonably soft beds. And we can organise clean clothing, for you both if needed. Just tell us what you need."

"What about Dutch? Don't you care what he needs?" was the waspish response.

Anderson nodded at Dutch. "I think Dutch will be happy with anything that makes you more comfortable at the moment" he said 'And if he focuses on helping you, maybe he won't focus on having lost his team. Guilt is going to kill him if it gets it's claws into him' he thought.

After a quiet discussion, the two agreed to use the quarters in the building. "Look" said Anderson, "I'm going to be calling Shepard and Harper, the other Cerberus heads. They'll be here later today at a guess, tomorrow we might need to meet again - but you will tell ME if you are ready for it."

"For now, go. Get clean, get some rest, hit the minibar. I'll call Sally, if you could just write down some sizes, she will arrange the necessary clothing for you, should be with you in an hour or two. Just let me call someone to escort you there."

After a quick call and instructions, a young lady appeared at the office to escort the exhausted couple to their temporary quarters. Nodding his thanks to her, Anderson moved to return the bottle of Vodka to the drawer, but instead poured himself a large measure, pleased that his hand was steady as it poured. He left the bottle on his desk - just in case.

Taking a large swallow, he savoured the burn which made him gasp. Then he picked up the phone again. "Sally. You give that couple whatever they need. If they want security, offer them a squad on constant alert. Full load-out. And put me in touch with Harper and Shepard. Tell them it's a Class One, and I need them onsite. ASAP."

Jack and Shepard were still at Cerberus R&D. Once the dog and pony show had been completed, Jack had requested a tour of some of the other areas that were being worked on.

"And this is where we are working on Genes. They are doing initial work on the identification of some of the triggers for Cancers. Specifically, lung cancer, brain cancer, bone cancer."

"Why those three?"

"The lung cancer is obvious, pollution from industry or smoking will impact millions of people over the next 30 years. Our goal is twofold, to be able to produce something that can be applied to individual cases, a cure. And something that can be distributed on a wide scale basis, a vaccination as such."

"And the others?"

"Resources. Along with heart disease, those two are resource intensive. Eliminating them from the health system will free up resources to focus on other areas".

"Very well. Nothing gets released for testing outside of R&D without my agreement. Coming up with a cure for cancer would make you a legend, or the most hated person on the planet if it fucks up. We need to be 100% on this. And I mean, 100%. Good work, next department?"

Shepard lead Jack back to the High Energy Experimental area. "You've seen the Laser and Graser tests already, next to them we have Esoteric Materials."

"Seriously you couldn't have come up with a better name than that?"

"Like what? Considering we are working on Unobtanium and Synthetic Antimatter"

"Give me a second...Anomalous Materials?"

Shepard paused. "You know, I did actually suggest that, but the team leader rejected it. Said it gave him a bad feeling. And with Quantum, well, better safe than sorry."

Harper grunted as they approached the Esoteric Material lab. "What's the team leaders name?"

"...Freeman".

"Shepard, I have to confess to being very uncomfortable after meeting that man"
"Was it the beard? I have to confess, I'm not a huge fan of his beard."
"More the pointed requests that we don't perform any work near his labs that might involve alternate realities or dimensional breaches. Do we have a security issue here?"

"...Dr Freeman comes highly recommended from MIT. He also comes with a nice number of Conspiracy theories, and his own collection of Tin Foil hats, if you get what I mean".

"Fine. He's crazy."

"Eccentric. Paranoid. And extremely good at this job."
"And he also has a reputation for being late, but I'm letting that slide for now. Next!"

"No. I don't care. Change the name of the project."
"Oh come on. I had to turn down SkyNet and HAL9000. What's wrong with WOPR?"
"Shepard, this is, admittedly theoretical, but still high profile work. A project name of WOPR will tell everyone who has seen the damned film EXACTLY what you are working on."
"Fine. How about EDI?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought. That one still smarts a bit, doesn't it?"

"Oh very well, keep it as WOPR. But the test machine gets a different name. Something Nice. Just in case. Don't want to run the risk it'll get pissed off just because you gave it a stupid name from Pop Culture."
"How about Subject Zero?"
"Shepard. If I could fire you right now, I would. NEXT."

"Excuse me Mr Harper, Mr Shepard, we had a call from Sally at Security. Anderson has reported a Class One, and needs you onsite at his location. ASAP. Should I alert the drivers?

Jack shook his head. "Just mine, Shepard and I will be taking the same car. I want to return here once we have finished handling whatever issue Anderson has found."

Shepard requested Reception to notify all team leaders he would be unavailable for an unknown duration, and to continue with planned testing until further notice. The two heads of Cerberus then quickly made their way to the main entrance, where their transport awaited.

The trip to Cerberus Security was made in virtual silence. As soon as a Class One was declared, all communication regarding the matter was to be held in a face to face environment only, on a secure site. In other words, one of the three main Cerberus sites, or curiously enough, Anderson's home.

No matter what anyone did (and Cerberus had tried themselves), Anderson's home remained totally secure from any attempts at bugging or remote listening.

Anderson was waiting at the main entrance as soon as they pulled up outside. "My office gentlemen, I think we have an investment opportunity" said Anderson with a full grin, sweeping his arm out gracefully to invite them inside.

'Damn, laying the bullshit on a bit thick there aren't we? Must be pretty bad' thought Shepard as he grinned back and clapped Anderson on the shoulder as they walked in. The trio were soon in Anderson's office.

Jack waved his hand at the Vodka and empty glasses. "That's not a good sign." then sniffed delicately at the air. "And what the hell is that smell? Have you got a dead cat in here somewhere?".

Anderson dropped into his chair. "You can either have the bottle of good stuff cracked open now, or after I tell you what this is about. I recommend now. It ain't a pretty story. And to be honest, this could make or break everything we are planning".

Shepard's jaw dropped open at that "I knew you wouldn't be calling a Class One for anything minor or stupid, but really? That bad, after what we have, you know. Seen. Done. I mean, seriously, you guys both DIED?"

Jack looked at Anderson and sat down in one of the chairs, and quickly stood up again, holding up his hand, looking at it. "Considering I have what looks like blood on my hands, literally, you can open the good stuff now".

It took nearly an hour for Anderson to bring them up to speed, and several glasses of the good stuff. Also known as Moonshine. Even the more alcohol resistant bodies of the trio would succumb to this particular brand of poison. Eventually.

And by then, Jack and Shepard were in agreement. They needed it.

"We did some pretty awful things in Cerberus. A lot of it thanks to the Reapers. Others, were purely from our human side I think. David Archer. Subject Zero. But this? I don't remember anything this bad. Maybe on Sanctuary, at the end, but no matter have much I hate it now, that was for the reason of saving the human race."

"The butchery you are talking about sounds like nothing more than a weasel in a hen house." Jack shook his head. "I have to assume it's an unknown race. With viable energy weapons. Cloaking abilities. And again, I am assuming, but an FTL drive."

Shepard nodded agreement "If the Relay was open, the astronomers would have picked it up. Spectography would have jumped back with a big chunk of *unknown element* which would have shaken the scientific community. Telescopes would be used to see the object - which is obviously artificial. So no, definitely no ME tech involved, unless there is another Relay that we never discovered. Extremely unlikely"

"Let's face it, whatever it is, it's a Safari hunter. Might even be an outlaw, equivalent of those rich bastards who arrange manhunts for fun. Hell, they might have Earth listed as a 'protected planet'. Or, we might have a big sign saying 'good fun, decent weather' pointing at us." added Anderson.

"Well, that heat wave has moved out from Central America. It's rolling towards winter up here. We won't be seeing the little shit again for a least a few months. I think we give Dutch and Anna some time to recover, and ask them to go back in. Whilst it's still cool down there" proposed Shepard "but this time, we put in several teams, and train them for what to expect, just in case and also instruct them to keep the locals at arms length. With extreme violence if needed".

"You know, I called Dutch here because I thought he would be the right person to start up the SA operations. We are going to need that early foothold for the Platinum, especially when things start going screwy in a couple of years. At the moment, we can build a stockpile of the stuff by doing sanction busting. We need connections and a security force in place before the current regime starts collapsing. And assuming the USSR is going to go the same way, we will need an equivalent operation in place to pick up key personnel and equipment".

"We can afford a few months Anderson. Depending on what happens with this, we may not even need that platinum. I am loath to use yet another advanced tech that wasn't developed here, but we may be able to reverse engineer items. And as long as it uses easily available materials - no Eezo for example - we can adapt it into our own arsenal".

"Okay, totally off the wall idea. What if we could talk alliance with these guys?"

"A surprising question Shepard, though I suppose it shouldn't be, considering you brought together pretty much every single race in the Galaxy before. I think we leave that one for now. This is too soon, too fresh. We don't know enough. They might be the advance wave of an invasion force for all we know." said Jack. He paused, deep in thought, then spoke again.

"What I do think is we head back to R&D. You find the right team to start looking up heat wave patterns for the US mainland and Mexico. See if we can predict where heatwaves are going to land, and then we can monitor the news for brutal murders, that sort of thing. I want to know if these things are playing in our backyard".

"And if they are?" asked Anderson.

"Then the hunters will have a taste of being the prey."