Liara whisked the prothean away, mumbling something about putting him in a cargo bay and adjusting environmental controls.
Jade doffed her armor and set her weapons on the bench.
"Don't clean those Cortez," She threw over her shoulder as she headed to the elevator. "I'm just running to the Crew Deck for a second. I'll be right back to take care of them myself in a minute."
"You know you don't have to do that, right?" Came the reply. "That's part of what Vega and I are here for."
"Sure, for those other folks who have actual duties to get back to," Jade grinned. "It's either clean my own damn weapons in y'all's pleasant company or get back to the overwhelming amount of nothing I've got waiting for me."
Cortez chuckled. "Good point. I'll lay out the kits for you then."
"You're a prince man!" Jade shot him with double finger pistols and laughed as she entered the lift.
When she headed back after a quick rinse down and change of clothes, Jade found herself crammed into the elevator with several other, highly armed crewmembers.
"What's goin' on?" She asked the grim-faced men and women as she wedged herself into the available space. "Did I miss something?"
"No ma'am," one of the men replied. "We were ordered to the port cargo hold, something about First Contact Protocols."
Curious, Jade followed the security team as they exited. Through the open doors she could hear Liara's voice arguing with someone, presumably whoever ordered security. As she stepped through the door, warm, humid air, carrying just a hint of the sea with it pressed down on her from all sides. In front of her a figure was being held at gunpoint, on his knees. Jade was forcibly dragged more than a hundred years into the past. For a moment, it was like her translator had stopped working and all she heard was the lilt of Arabic. In the low, golden light, Jade saw Joe kneeling before his attackers as one of them leveled a rifle at his head, finger slowly tightening on the trigger until …
The impact of another body against hers brought her out of her flashback with a suddenness that was almost physically painful. For a brief, disorienting moment, Jade couldn't recall where she was or how she'd gotten there. Then the reality of the last few hours returned.
"What the fuck do you assholes think you're doing?" She roared in her best imitation of a parade ground drill sergeant, startling herself with just how rough her own voice sounded. "I'm fairly certain the commander wouldn't have brought him aboard if she thought he was a threat to us."
"Sorry, ma'am," the security chief replied. "The protocols are clear on this subject. We're following regulations, regardless of what either you or the Asari say."
"Really, yeah, I bet that's going to go over real well when Shepard gets down here." Her voice was still a little strained but she looked at Liara. "You send for the boss?"
The other woman gave her a strange look but held her peace. "Yes, just a moment before you came in. she should be here any-"
"What's going on here?" Shepard's calm voice carried only the faintest hint of irritation at being interrupted.
"Apparently these bozos think your newest crewmember is more of a threat than an asset." Jade said with all the venom she could muster.
"Ma'am, the protocols on first contact are clear," the chief said as he stepped to meet Shepard. "We're to assume hostility until proven otherwise. We had to dust off the regulations."
Jade's harsh laugh echoed through the room.
"Considering how easily this guy knocked us all on our asses the instant he opened his eyes, I'd hazard a guess that the only reason you're holding him at all is because he's allowing you to," Jade said.
And considering the look ol'boy there just gave all of us I'd say I hit the nail square on the head. The prothean was glaring at the room like he'd vent them all out the nearest airlock if he didn't think he needed their help. He is not pleased that he needs our help, that's for damn sure.
Shepard snorted at Jade's statement. "Harmon's right. I've never been knocked down that easily, let alone by someone straight out of stasis. You're all lucky he hasn't decided to be hostile. Stand down."
"I apologize for my crew, they can get a little … enthusiastic sometimes," Shepard approached the prothean. "I hope this isn't going to cause any problems."
"That depends on you," the prothean lunged forward to grasp Shepard's arms.
"Damnit! Hold position," Jade shouted when the security detail moved to take the alien down. "We don't know what will happen if we try to break them up!"
The security chief nodded and gestured for the team to follow Jade's warning but to remain cautious.
The pair broke apart and Shepard again gestured for the security team to lower their weapons.
"I will aid you, human," the prothean said as he stepped back, a modicum of respect in his eyes for Shepard. "I am called Javik."
"I'm glad I can count on you, Javik," Shepard said. "I was hoping you could help us with this war." Though Shepard and Javik were more relaxed than they had been moments ago, tensions were still high as they began talking about the Reapers and the galactic war.
Apparently this isn't the first time giant machines have waged war on the galaxy, Jade thought as she listened to the argument. She recognized the agony in his voice as he spoke of the ashes of trillions. She closed her eyes against the memories.
"Damnit Pierce! I can't just let it go! Can't you see that?" Jade ran her hands – hand – through her hair in frustration. "They took everything from me!"
"I know Harmon, but there's no way we can find out who the mole is at this point, it's been six months." Brian Pierce reached out to place a comforting hand on her shoulder. Jade jerked away, her grief still too raw to allow even the smallest touch. "We've got feelers out, but it'll take weeks, if not months for us to unearth them."
"You could let me see the communication logs," Jade said eyes bright with a manic energy that belied her physical state. "It's the least you could do."
Her voice climbed higher until it reached the breaking point. "Damnit! You owe me Pierce! They stole Joe! They took him away from me!"
"Why don't you take some time off," Pierce's voice was soothing. "Spend some time with Ana. You both need to deal with your grief. And you still need physical therapy before we can begin to fit you with prosthesis."
Jade gulped and tried to get her reactions back under control. "Fine," she finally ground out. "But tell me you'll send me those logs. You know I won't rest until I put a bullet in their heads, all of them."
"I'll see what I can do," Pierce said as he opened his office door for her. "Just promise me you'll get some rest."
Jade took a ragged breath. Liara was pressing the Prothean for information on his race and he was starting to look annoyed, or what Jade guessed was annoyed. Jade stepped forward and touched her elbow.
"Don't you think it's a little soon to bombard him with all this?" She asked once Liara looked at her. "He's been in stasis for fifty thousand years. Why don't you give him a bit to adjust? I'm sure he'll be more open to sharing information with you once he's had a chance to get his bearings."
She imagined she caught a flicker of what could be called relief and gratitude from the prothean. Liara and Shepard nodded at Jade's suggestion and Jade led Liara out of the room behind the security team, leaving the commander and Javik to talk.
Jade made her way back down to the hangar, cleaning her weapons would help her regain her bearings. Flashbacks were hard enough to deal with when you were in familiar surroundings, no matter how long she'd been on the Normandy, it still wasn't familiar enough.
Sometime later, as she was reassembling the last of her weapons joking and trading barbs with Cortez and Vega, Javik entered the hangar.
"You are not like the others," the prothean said with no preamble, approaching Jade as she sat at the weapons bench.
"I imagine not," she replied, carefully fitting the pieces of her Mattock back together. "Probably come across as even more 'primitive' than anyone else on the ship."
"Yes," Javik replied. "I would know why."
"Thought you weren't interested in getting to know us," Jade grunted, finishing her assembly and clicking through a function check. "Thought the only thing that mattered to you was defeating the Reapers."
The prothean growled in frustration and turned to leave the docking bay.
"Relax," Jade said as she stood and placed her weapon in the locker. "I'm only fuckin' with ya. Reality is, I was born over two hundred years ago and spent a lot of the last hundred and fifty or so in a cryogenic sleep. I know that's nothing on fifty-k in stasis but it's probably why I 'feel' different from the rest of the humans on the crew."
Javik looked back at the woman, assessing whether or not she was lying to him. Jade met his four-eyed stare steadily. She knew he would be able to sense the honesty in her words.
"Look, I may not know what it's like to be the last surviving member of your species but, well, humanity has changed so much in the last two centuries that I may as well be," Jade continued to hold Javik's gaze with her own, hoping that her intent was clear in spite of her clumsy words.
"You know nothing," he replied finally. But there was little of his usual venom in the words. He turned away again, softly repeating himself. "Nothing."
