Time for another update...YAY. some of you have been asking if any of the crew figure the secret out. So just for you wonderful peeps, cause you asked so nicely. I hope you like it.. again I thank you for your patience and wonderful reviews :D

Chapter 7: Memories


The dark haired woman was familiar. He had seen her before. However the look on her face seemed concerned. It took a moment to realise that the eye he was looking through was not his own. The woman sat on the chair nearby and squeezed his hand gently, no not his hand. The hand she was holding was human, and feminine.

"I have something I need to tell you."

"What is it, Miranda?"

The voice that had left his lips was all too familiar. But she was dead, gone. Why would he even be sensing her memories? He stepped out from behind her eyes and walked until he was facing her. Javik could not believe what he saw. She was badly burned. Her right side was clearly going to scar; and her face...

The damage was horrific. The right side was burned and cut almost beyond recognition. A skin graft had been placed over where the right eye should have been. Clearly it was gone and beyond repair. But the left side of her face...

It was her. He could barely believe it

"The Council didn't want me to tell you. They wanted me to just end it without you knowing. But you are my friend, you've been through so much. It just wouldn't be fair."

"Just tell me, Miranda. It can't be that bad."

Miranda smiled softly.

"You're pregnant, Shepard. You're going to be a mother."

Shepard put her good hand over her mouth in disbelief. The beeping of the machines surrounding her filling the silence.

"The Council wanted me to abort it. But that wouldn't be fair. You have a right to know and decide for yourself."

"Pregnant?"

Miranda chuckled at her friend's disbelief.

"It seems you and Major Alenko were closer than you admitted."

Shepard shook her head vigorously.

"Miranda I can't be pregnant."

"Jane, you are. I've tested you three times. Your hormone levels clearly indicate it."

"Miranda, if I am pregnant then it won't be Kaiden's. I mean we ended when you rebuilt me. He was the last human I... I mean there was only one guy after Kaiden, it's not even possible."

"I remember you clearly having a fling with Garrus Vakarian."

"IT WASN'T A FLING! I LOVE HIM!"

She did not mean to shout. Miranda was her friend. She was the only one she had in this place. But to reduce the meaning of what she and her boyfriend shared felt like a knife in her side.

"Jane, are you telling me that Garrus is the father?"

"Miri, is it even possible?"

Miranda shrugged.

"Garrus is the only lover I've had since Cerberus. If I am then it could only be his. Our biology is incompatible, this shouldn;t even have happened."

"I take it that you don't want it." Miranda stated sadly.

"If it's all I have of his then I'm keeping it. Screw the Council. It's my baby."

She put her hand on her stomach. She smiled to herself lovingly, yet sadly.

"Our baby" She whispered.


Another memory quickly replaced the previous one. He could see a very pregnant Shepard on her bed, clearly in discomfort. Her breathing was ragged, was surrounded by surgeons. Miranda at her side holding her hand.

"Jane, the baby can't come naturally. The crest won't pass through your cervix. You need a Cesarian section."

Shepard nodded weakly in agreement. She didn't care how her baby came into the world. All she cared about was that the child survived. She needed it to. Garrus was gone from her life now. The Council had forbidden contact. It had taken a lot of persuading for them to keep her child. They were furious with Miranda for revealing the pregnancy. But eventually they gave in. Hackett had taken her side and convinced them that the baby would give her reason to stay.

As her lower body went numb, she realised how grateful she was to the human councillor and Miranda. This child was the only connection she had left to its father. She needed that connection. She missed him. Suddenly, her train of thought was disrupted by an unusual tugging sensation and then followed the strangest sound. As her baby wailed, she could clearly hear the baby had inherited it's father's dual chords. Miranda handed over the infant and smiled lovingly.

"Congratulations, Shepard. You have a daughter."

Shepard grinned admiringly at her baby girl. The Turian crest was evident, as were the talons and carapace. Her skin was also Turian although the rest of the baby's features were very human. But she had HIS eyes. The same shape and the same beautiful, piercing blue. As Shepard allowed her baby girl to latch onto her breast, she chuckled inwardly.

"So you are what a Turian Human baby looks like."


Javik took a while to catch his breath. The memories were so vivid. He had gazed at the masked woman nervously shaking Garrus' hand and wanted to know more. He did not trust people who hid behind masks. The fact that she had also been smuggled on board and hidden in the Cargo deck did not ease his suspicions. So he decided to do what he did best. Doing so he had uncovered something that would greatly impact the Normandy and its crew.

She was among them, breathing the very same air. She had returned to them. He did not understand the secrecy.

She had emained silent whilst being introduced to her lover. She had fidgeted nervously and uncomfortably, almost as if she did not belong here amongst her friends. But this is exactly where she belonged. Even he knew that.

Making his way down to the cargo area with such determination, he ignored the greetings of the crew. He was on a mission. When he reached the deck he buzzed the intercom impatiently.

Miranda answered.

"What do you want?" She asked, briskly."

"I want to speak with the Commander, or should I announce her presence to the crew?"

"Shit.." came the reply.

Miranda stepped out of the room with a strange machine in her hand.

"You need to be clean. Hold still." She commanded as she shone a mysterious blue light all over him. Then she indicated for him to follow.

Even though he knew, he did not expect the same woman to be standing in front of him. Her remaining eye flashed with recognition and a sorrow filled smile.

"It's been too long Javik."

"Indeed it has, Commander."

She shuffled nervously as she sat on her bunk.

"You read my memories."

"Yes. You really concieved with the Turian."

Shepard snorted in amusement.

"Yeah, who knew that could happen?"

"You do not plan on telling him he is a father."

That was a statement. Shepard knew that he was not asking. She took a deep breath.

"I want to tell him. But I can't"

Javik closed his eyes. He needed to understand the secrecy. He needed to know why she was hiding in the cargo deck. Concenrating, he found what he was looking for.


"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY DAUGHTER?"

Shepard was beside herself. The Council had gone too far this time.

Tevos glared at her, the Asari's eyes full of contempt.

"You broke the rules Shepard. You needed to be punished."

"What did I do that was so wrong?"

Sparatus joined in.

"We discovered you trying to communicate over the extranet. Our rules are clear. You being here is top secret. Nobody can know you survived."

Shepard was furious.

"He has a right to know he has a daughter."

The Council turned from her and began whispering amongst themselves. eventually they turned to face her.

"The child will be returned to you next week. When we are sure you have learned your lesson." Tevos sneered "If you disregard our rules again, Davina will be perminantly removed. There are many researhers out there that will happily explore her genetics. Is that understood, Commander?"

Shepard glared at the original three members of the Council. So this is what it had come to. She was a prisoner, forbidden from contact with the outside. Unable to tell the father of her child that he had a daughter. Fear filled her. This is what they were prepared to do to keep her in her place. to threaten the wellbeing of her innocent baby. She couldn't allow them to harm her. Not her precious Turian-Human miracle.

"Understood." she mumbled

Javik looked at the commander once he had again pulled himself out of her memory.

"They would punish you with the child."

She nodded.

"They know I'd do anything for her. They used my daughter to keep me in line."

"The child is missing, Our mission is to find her?"

"My girl is all I have left Javik. Everyone here has moved on with their lives. I accept that. But Davina is all I have to remind me of what I had with her father. I love my daughter, I have broken the rules to find her."

"The Council do not know that you are here?"

"I'm pretty sure they do now."

"Excuse me," Miranda interrupted "Jane needs her medication and rest."

"Of course." Javik quickly turned to leave. Suddenly, he stopped himself halfway through the door and turned back to Shepard.

"You are wrong Commander, your friends have not moved on."

She looked at him, tears starting to form in her eye.

"Your grieving lover still calls out for you in his sleep. He will never move on "

He allowed the door to close as he left.