"You did the right thing Garrus" Feral shrugged slightly as he sat on Garrus' bed in the gunnery bay, the Turian looked down into the floor. He'd been listening to Garrus retelling what had happened after Feral had left; the way Sidonis was acting, the way Shepard had stood between him and his rifle to save Sidonis from receiving the bullet with his name on it. "….I'm sorry for bailing on you but you didn't need me, you needed Shepard." turning his eyes slightly to the floor, he felt guilty about abandoning Garrus so suddenly but he knew he wasn't the right person to take him through this.

Garrus just grunted slightly and shook his head "Don't be, you were right in the end. Shepard was the right person….plus I'd have just shot through you, I know you can survive it." The Turian's mandibles flaring slightly as Feral just shook his head and laughed a little, the two chuckling a little in the small room before returning to an awkward quiet. Garrus standing up straight as he scratched at the scarred half of his face "I have a…slightly personal question so feel free to turn it down"

Feral raised an eyebrow at Garrus, trying to gauge his friend's body language before he sat up a little. Letting his feet rest on the floor rather than on the bed. "Ok….what is it?" He slowly replied, unsure if he was going to like what the question was. Knowing Garrus it was bound to be about Tali and him or something to do with Kasumi's love of their relationship.

"It's probably not what you're thinking it's just…something Shepard said down there got me thinking" Garrus shrugged and looked off towards the Thanix cannons and rubbing the side of his face before just blurting the question out "What's dying like?"

Feral just blinked at Garrus for a second before sitting back, his eyes still looking up at the Turian "This is because Shepard said Sidonis wasn't really living?" groaning when Garrus just nodded and gritting his teeth a little "Look first of all, all I know is what I've been through and I don't even know if I experience really counts as death or not but…." Feral rubbed his cheek a little as he collected his thoughts "Well you were going to shoot him in the head so…it's a pretty easy way to go. No pain, no realisation, no…nothing" The super soldier just shrugged and raised his hands in the air a little "and don't bother asking me about seeing a light or anything religious because I really don't know. I don't remember being dead just like I don't remember falling asleep and…I don't know." The super soldier slumping back against the wall as he just gave a hopeful look up at Garrus, silently wishing it was enough to satisfy his answer without really delving into it.

Garrus huffed slightly at the vague response, a small smile on his lips "So it really would've been the easy way out…well…at least this way he'll actually try and do something worthwhile with the rest of his life. Maybe he'll save some people or whatever. I don't care anymore….I'm still not convinced I did the right thing, but I know I didn't do the wrong thing" Garrus nodded a little before stepping over to his console "and uh….thanks for answering that. I know you generally get annoyed by the whole 'what can you survive questions'" His three fingered hands making quotation marks as Feral just smirked.

"Yeah well this time you had a reason for asking" he replied as he hopped up to his feet, Garrus moving back to his console meant that they were probably done for now. Placing a hand on the taller man's shoulder and giving it a gentle shake "You did the right thing Garrus and….just so you know. Dying is easy, sometimes it's more painful than other times and sure watching people die is hard. But actually dying?" Feral paused for a second as his eyes connected with Garrus' "It's the easiest thing in the world" Puffing out his cheek a little as he stepped towards the door and hit the switch to open it.

Garrus just snorted as he watched the super soldier leave "You really don't fear death do you?" the Turian watching the back of his head as he just stepped out of the door. His reply making the Turian pause before turning back to his monitor, he rarely ever heard Feral speak about what frightened him. He wasn't even sure if the human was being serious or trying to mess with his head a little, but he knew what he had heard.

"Nope, I just fear living."

- The Dakka System, Pragia –

The Kodiak shuttle was rocking gently as it passed through the atmosphere, the Cerberus pilot and VI were doing a good job compensating for the re-entry and the current conditions on the surface of the jungle world. Feral had been asked to come with him and Jack to visit the place she had been experimented on, the commander wasn't expecting trouble; he just wanted a little perspective in case Jack reacted badly to what she found down there. Feral sat facing the two other humans as Jack and Shepard talked amongst themselves. Looking down at the flora below, and adding it to the information EDI had scrounged up on the planet it was obvious why the base had been placed here. Ex-Batarian colony with carnivorous plants, no one would come here unless they had no choice or really didn't want to be found.

Eventually through the forest canopy, Feral could make out the shape of a building and as the Kodiak began to make its obligatory survey sweep Jack spotted it as well, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists "I forgot how much I hated this place, that damn landing pad was on the roof to stop the plants overgrowing it" her breath was slightly ragged as she controlled her rage, for the moment as she was interrupted by EDI.

"Shepard, I am detecting heat signatures everywhere except at your landing zone" the AIs voice briefly filled the crew compartment of the shuttle. As she had been relaying the information she had also sent it to their omni-tools, Feral being the only one to quickly open his and scan her data.

"Something's distorting EDI's sensors" following up on EDI's info as he closed his omni-tool and sat up to peer down at the landing pad, clicking his tongue slightly before following up "Well, what can you expect? This was a secret Cerberus facility. Most of them are undetectable unless you can actually see them…..and who'd find this here?" His rhetorical question answered by a blank stare from Jack as he turned to face the rest of the squad. "I'm amazed it's still standing to be frank"

Jack snorted at that "Well Cerberus builds these places to last….assholes" speaking the final word through her teeth as she started to breathe a little more heavily whilst staring at the floor "It was a mistake coming back here Shepard." Her sudden change of heart making Feral and Shepard exchange a quick glance before the commander turned back to her.

Placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing gently as he shook her out of it "Get a hold of yourself, we're here to help you get through this Jack." The woman just looking at them both as if to get confirmation from Shepard's claims, both men just responding with a steely glance and a small but firm nod.

Breathing out as she nodded back to them "Ok….ok I'm fine. Let's just get on the ground already" Her words followed by Feral banging on the Kodiak's cockpit door to signal the descent onto the landing zone. "The sooner this place is ashes the better." Sitting back into her seat as the Kodiak banked and started on it's descent to the landing pad. The squad gripping onto whatever they could as the weather made the landing a little bumpier than they were accustomed too.

The shuttle rocking as it came to a stationary hover over the landing pad, Shepard and Jack standing up as well as the door opened and the smell of rain filled the air. Groaning slightly before he jumped out and onto the pad, Shepard raised his weapon and gave the area a quick scan. There was no reason to expect anything, but no reason to be sloppy either. Jack and Feral weren't quite so rigorous in their disembarking, both ex-Cerberus experiments electing instead to just jump out and head towards to the door at the bottom of the walkway. Feral carrying the bomb that Jack was going to detonate on his back and making the large device look like it weighed nothing as usual. "Come on, let's get in there and blow this place up already Shepard!" Jack shouted back over the rain and occasional thunder as she and Feral walked off without him, "I wanna watch this place burn."

Shepard quickly double timed it to catch up with the two as they walked quickly down the ramp, catching up to them as they moved through the door and out of the rain. Shepard and Feral both taking a moment to shake any water they could off, Feral pulling the Quarian hood back down to drape over the back of his shoulders.

Jack, however, just walked slowly into the room and looked around it before speaking softly "I never saw this room" stepping towards the large window in the middle of the room, looking at the containers on the other side of the glass, her face slightly downcast "They brought new kids here in these containers, most of them were messed up and starving, but they survived…" sighing as she stepped away to look at one of the consoles "usually anyway." She shrugged as she started tapping at the dead terminal, seeing if there was any life in it.

Feral and Shepard had slowly walked into the centre of the room, both men just listening to Jack as she reminisced. "This is unbelievable" Shepard said quietly to Feral "Was it the same for you?" the question making Feral stop looking around the room and turn to the commander.

He stumbled over his words for a moment, looking to Jack as she'd given up on the console and come to join them "Yeah more or less…..this is so familiar and I've never been here before" he shook his head a little and growled through his teeth quietly "This whole place feels wrong." Jack and Shepard both nodding in agreement before the woman started to head through the door.

"All the more reason to turn this whole fucking place to rubble then" Jack half shouted as she hit the door panel, the group walking through the door and into a room which was showing signs of severe degradation. Plant life was starting to creep through the walls and ceiling, the only thing that caught their eye was the console at the bottom of the stairs. It was still working.

"The Illusive Man requested operation logs again, he's getting suspicious" the figure spoke out, the holographic image was fuzzy and kept cutting in and out but the voice was coming through loud and clear "When we get results he won't care what we did….but if he knew" the voice paused and the hologram held together long enough to show a man with a concerned look on his face "He won't find out." The man said before the terminal cut off.

Feral stepped up to the console to tap at it again, tilting his head slightly as the recording simply repeated itself before shaking it off. "Well….that's odd." Slowly letting the words leave his lips as Shepard and Jack stood to his side.

"It is a little strange, sounds like this facility went rogue" Shepard spoke out loud before Jack retorted back at him.

"It didn't say what they were hiding from The Illusive Man, I mean come on. You're telling me the experiments on him" Jack jabbing a thumb in Feral's direction quickly "were sanctioned but mine weren't? Why would you even think that?" Jack scowled at Shepard a little, as she squared off against the taller man.

Shepard put his hands up in defence as he spoke back to her calmly "I'm just saying what it sounded like Jack, and maybe it's because they were using children." His reasoning was that The Illusive Man, while extreme, would not condone the use of children in these experiments. That being said, he was also sure that given the fact that he had been given Jack's dossier. The voice on the recording was right, he probably didn't care seeing the result "and from what I've gathered the people experimented on in the super soldier project were adults, right Feral?" he looked past Jack at the result of that particular project, the red eyed man still staring at the console before his name was said aloud.

"Hmm?" Feral just responded before he finally processed what Shepard had said, "Oh right….yeah…we were all 'consenting adults'" he rolled his eyes as he let the words roll off his tongue dripping in sarcasm before sighing from Shepard's look "but…the Commander is probably right….not that it makes it any better."

"Tsk!" Jack grunted as she shoved her way past Feral "Whatever, I don't care what they were doing or what the Illusive Man did or didn't know. It doesn't change what they did to me, or him" Spinning on the spot as turned back to face them "Now if you two are finished trying to figure out what I already know, let's get the fuck on with this." Snarling at the men as they just nodded to each other and followed the woman through the door and into the large, flora riddled atrium.

The two hissing shut behind them as Jack stepped down the stairs, still breathing a little heavily from her last outburst as she started to talk again, her voice still a little sharp "I remember escaping into this room, first time I'd seen sunlight in weeks." Looking up at the cracked and broken glass roof before looking down at the ground and pointing at a spot on the floor "One guard, standing between me and freedom. He begged for his life." Neither Shepard nor Feral had to guess what happened next, the sadistic smile on her face said it all.

As Jack smiled at the room, clearly looking around and remembering all the guards she'd killed on her way out, Feral stepped past her and started walking slowly through the room. Shepard staying with Jack until he noticed Feral had suddenly taken a hold of his side-arm. "Jack" He whispered to the woman, directing her attention to Feral who was now stepping very carefully with his pistol raised into the distance. Both the biotic and soldier reached for their weapons and began to follow after him before stopping when three gunshots suddenly echoed through the room. The pair instantly breaking out into a sprint as they headed towards the gunfire.

Turning the corner with their weapons raised before lowering them again when they saw what had caused Feral to discharge his weapon; three Varren which were now all dead thanks to well-placed headshots. "I thought I heard something…just these three as far as I can tell though" Feral sighed out as he checked the creatures over, before looking around the room for a way they could've gotten in.

"Isn't it a little odd for Varren to be here?" Shepard spoke out as he walked towards the kneeling man, his rifle still placed loosely in his shoulder. Jack following suit with her shotgun hanging down by her side.

Standing up and wiping his fingers on his fatigues, Feral just shook his head "Well, this was an ex-Batarian colony world so it stands to reason some were left here when this place was abandoned" nudging one of the dead creatures with his foot "and they are tough bastards, maybe this place is just where they come for shelter"

The theory was sound, "Alright, but just in case there are more. Keep your weapons to hand, both of you" Shepard said sternly as both Jack and Feral nodded at the command. What Feral had said made sense, Varren were on countless planets around the galaxy in various climates and conditions. However, he was far from convinced this was just a random pack; and the looks on both Jack and Feral's faces said they were thinking the same thing. The three of them quickly checking their weapons and shields, or barriers in Jack's case, before Shepard looked ahead. "Is that an arena?"

Jack and Feral both turned in the direction he was looking, an assortment of small walls that were now scattered across the floor and over each other in a space in the centre of the room. "That's right." Jack nodded as she started to walk towards it, kneeling down to place a hand on one of the walls "Guards would stage fights here, pit me against the other kids." Smiling as she looked back at Feral and Shepard who both had disgusted looks on their faces. Jack shrugged and snorted "I loved it, only time I was ever out of my cell" raising an eyebrow at Feral as he just sighed and looked off to the side "Same for you huh?"

Feral just sighed and nodded "Yeah…only time I got out of my cell, other than my escape attempts, was to be experimented on or to fight….whatever they could find" His eyes looking over the walls strewn out across the floor "But nothing like this, this is Varren fights with biotic children….how many kids died here?"

Jack shrugged "I dunno, I was drugged up during the fights and if I hesitated they shocked me. When I attacked, the filled my system with narcotics." The woman sighing out as she smiled to herself "I still get a fuzzy feeling during a fight" smiling for a moment at the memory of what was obviously euphoric to her, "what did you get when you won?" ignoring the look on both Shepard and Feral's faces as they obviously detested what had gone on here. As for her? She'd survived, so it didn't matter what happened to the other kids.

Feral just growled out as he walked past her, "I got to live" the super soldier unable to look at the arena any longer. Even if this was a rogue cell of Cerberus, it was an environment that Cerberus had allowed to exist. The idea of guards betting on kids in a fight to the death, just reminded him of how inherently devoid of basic morals the group could be.

Shepard followed Feral as he stepped past Jack, the woman standing up and muttering something under her breath at the back of the super soldiers head "Come on, I'm sick of this place too." Tapping her shoulder as he walked past to indicate that he wanted her to follow on after him, the commander walked up to the door and reached for the switch before Feral grabbed his wrist and stopped him. "Feral?" Shepard looked at him, as the man slowly released his grip on the commander's forearm.

"I can smell blood." Feral said quietly as they all raised their weapons at the door. Shepard on one side, with Jack in the middle waiting for Feral to tap the holographic panel. As soon as he did, both Shepard and Jack burst through the door as it hissed open and moved through. Jack just aiming her shotgun forward as Shepard scanned the room quickly before hissing back the all clear. Jack just sighing as she mumbled something under her breath, stepping towards the console in the middle of the room. "I heard that Jack and I can still smell blood" Feral growled out as the woman rolled her head and shoulders as she jabbed at the blinking light on the console. Another hologram coming to life in a much more preserved state.

The orange holographic image of a panicking security guard beamed out of the console as the recording began to play, the first few words distorted before it began to pick up "-eltin Facility, the subjects are out of their cells! Their tearing the place apart!" The group of three crowding around as they watched the spooked man furiously typing away "Subject Zero is going to get loose, I need permission to terminate. I repeat, need permission to terminate!" The guard placing a finger to his ear as a slightly synthesised voice came through the recording, the message was clear; everyone but Jack was expendable. Something clearly Jack was disputing as the woman began to shake her head in disbelief before angrily hitting the off switch.

"That's not right, I broke out when my guards disappeared. I started that riot!" Jack was seething slightly, the conflicting memories were starting to find cracks in her version of calm.

Shepard just shrugged at her a little "Maybe there were things happening beyond what you saw. He only managed to get loose because I was attacking other facilities linked to the one he was housed in" Feral nodding in silent agreement with the commander before Jack just pushed her face up into Shepard's.

"The guards attacked me, the kids attacked me, the automated systems attacked me." Growling each word out slightly as she jabbed a finger into Shepard's chest plate "That doesn't leave much room for interpretation, and just because twinkle-toes needed help doesn't mean I did!" finishing her outburst as she shoulder barged her way past both Shepard and Feral and through the door behind them.

Blinking a little as he watched her go past before leaning towards Shepard and whispering "Twinkle-toes?" snickering a little as Shepard just rolled his eyes, the two men once again following Jack as she stormed off through the doors. The smell of blood finally filling the room even more potently as a couple of Varren lay gutted at the bottom of the stairs. "Told you I smelt blood" Feral quipped as he grinned at Jack who just stared back at him.

Rolling her eyes as she kicked at one of the dead animals "Yeah well laugh it up, this one was shot and stabbed and it's still fresh." The biotic charging up her barriers as she lifted her shotgun back up "This place is supposed to be fucking empty, so who shot it?"

"No idea" Shepard's voice rang out from behind them both "but at this point we have to assume they aren't friendly. No more chatting, we treat this as a mission from here on out" glaring at both Feral and Jack who just nodded, the super human finally unfolding his rifle and pushing the butt into his shoulder. "Feral, you're point and Jack you're in the middle." The biotic groaning as she stepped aside and let Feral pass her before she punched his shoulder, Shepard just assumed he made a face at her or whispered something in Khellish to annoy her, "Feral."

The Commander saying in his name in a slightly aggravated tone was enough to make the super soldier shake his shoulders and actually pay attention to what he was doing. Hugging the wall as he came to the corner before slowly moving around and keeping his weapon raised as they approached another door. Tapping the button with palm gently as the door slid open into a large opened out room again, crates scattered all over the place with some broken open and the contents strewn out over the floor. Feral looked back over his shoulder to make sure the other two were on his heels as he stepped through the door and started to move into the open area of the room. Diving forward as a hail of bullets flew in his general direction, groaning loudly to himself as he heard a screeching voice call out that humans were there, the only words he could bring to mind were simply 'fucking Vorcha.'

Shepard and Jack quickly entered the fray, the biotic unleashing a shockwave into the path of some of the advancing scavengers, Shepard's rifle putting down much more accurate, and useful, firepower as Feral pushed himself up onto his knees to fire his own bursts into the approaching vermin. The firefight was clearly in their favour, Feral and Shepard were both well trained and Jack's biotics were just far too much for the creatures to handle as she sent them flying or hurled them into walls. However the Vorcha had numbers, and apparently a Krogan. "Jack, take care of him!" Shepard shouted out as the much bigger threat entered the fight, he and Feral could keep the Vorcha at bay but if that Krogan got on top of them they could be over-run.

The words had barely left his lips when the reptile was surrounded in a deep blue aura, and hurled off his feet and up towards the ceiling. The force of the lift flinging him up before letting gravity do the rest, an unlucky Vorcha becoming an impromptu cushion when the full weight of the Krogan came crushing back down on top of it. The disorientated warrior trying to get back to his feet when a burst of well-placed rounds ruptured his helmet and put him out of the fight for good. "Jeez Jack you didn't have to hold back you know" Feral shouted across the room towards the Biotic, putting another round into the Krogans head to make absolutely sure "He was still alive when he landed" Laughing when the Biotic just flipped him off before twisting his head to see a Vorcha running up at him from behind, it's bravery rewarded by a swift elbow slamming back into its face and a sickening snap filling the room before it just crumpled to the floor. "Well….at least we know what we're up against now" Feral just shrugged as Shepard and Jack moved up through the now empty room, pushing his foot down on the Krogan's shoulder pad to show off the insignia upon it "We should expect more Krogan"

Both Shepard and Jack groaned, Blood Pack. That was all they needed today, blowing this place up was meant to be quick and easy and now they had to contend with a small force of Krogan, again, with Vorcha for back-up. "Alright Feral you're still on point and Jack I want you ready to reinforce him. You two worry about any Krogan, I'll keep the Vorcha off you. Got it?" Smiling a little at the grin on both of their faces "Ok good, now go" he quickly commanded, this was starting to take too long and if the remaining Blood Pack were given time to make defences they'd really be in for a fight.

The next few rooms where easy, nothing in their way as they made good pace through the facility. A few Vorcha here and there but nothing that Feral couldn't handle, especially when Jack lifted them up out of cover for him to shoot like they were target practice; Shepard swore sometimes Feral was actually taking his time and trying to place his shots on the flailing victims. They kept moving at a reasonably swift speed until them came across old holding cells, a good dozen of them built into the walls where barriers had clearly once cut them off from the outside world. All three of them taking their time as they walked past them, partly in case anything jumped out at them but also because of the slightly haunting image of the empty bunk beds in such a horrifying place. "I can't believe they kept children here" Feral finally filled the quiet as he kept walking on, no one else said anything as they just kept moving in an almost respectful silence.

Finally they passed all of the old cells and entered into what must have been a recreational room, there was plenty of space and a large tree growing up and over the raised walkway the trio found themselves on. The sounds of the footsteps clanging slightly on the old metal bridge before Jack suddenly spoke out, her tone quiet and dejected "That….that's a two way mirror?" She stepped towards it as they moved past, placing a hand on the mirror and trying to peer through "My cell is on the other side…I used to watch the other kids playing in here….I screamed at them for hours and they always ignored me." Sighing out as she let her hand slip down the mirror as she turned away "Guess now I know why" Shepard and Feral just held their tongues, they didn't know what to say or even if they should say anything, but they could both hear it in her voice. She was feeling guilty, she'd hated the other kids. Killed them when she fought in the arena and when she broke out. All those years they had shunned her, when the chances are most of them probably didn't even know she existed at all.

The squad moved on, Feral and Shepard trying to maintain some form as Jack hung back a little. The air around them all was sombre as revelation after revelation were revealed surrounding the circumstances of Jack's imprisonment and escape. Feral still leading the way as they entered the a room which almost mirrored the one they'd come in through, except instead of many containers there was space for one, and a medical chair in one corner with some equipment dotted around it. The Commander just tapped Feral on the shoulder and directed him towards the exit of the room, he was going to give Jack some time; but only if they had the exit covered.

As the super human jogged over to the door, kneeling down in front of it with his weapon half raised, Shepard turned to Jack who had walked up towards the medical chair. Looking over everything before she turned to the console. Slightly hesitating this time before she finally pushed the button, the recording taking a moment to load up and play "You ok Jack?" the woman just shrugging back at him as the hologram finally took the form of a man in a lab coat, and the recording began to play.

It was an update log, the scientist's voice was devoid of any emotion as he rattled of the results of the latest experiments and the deaths of several numbered subjects. Shepard counted the number in his head, and looking towards Feral he saw the man staring steely at the door but he knew he had heard it all too. At least three children were killed, and while he didn't state how many died in the second experiment. All those that had survived initially had been wiped out, and this scientist was acting as if they were testing on animals. Shepard was about to turn away when Jack made him look back.

"Bullshit" The word spat through the woman's lips as she turned away from the monitor to stare at the chair "They weren't experimenting on other children for my safety!" the words coming out slightly ragged as her breaths became sharper again, raising a hand to her eyes as she rubbed her temples. "I survived this place because I was tougher than the rest…..that's who I am Shepard." Turning back to face the Commander as she tried to maintain her outward appearance, the small twitches on her lips revealing that she was struggling to do so.

Shepard sighed as he took a breath, biting his lip as he was forming a sentence in his mind before a string of numbers made both he and Jack turn around "Zero, Five, One, Five." The words left Feral's lips as he just kept looking forward, "That was my number" his eyes flicking up towards the pair as he shrugged "We survived because we survived, no sense looking for more reason than that. You'll only drive yourself insane if you try to figure out why you and not someone else" his eyes once again turning to the door as he finished.

Shepard then turned to face Jack as she kept looking at the other experiment "I know it's not the same, and I'd never try to compare it to what either of you went through, but during the Skyllian Blitz I saw a lot of good friends die" He looked straight into Jack's eyes as she looked at him questioningly "and for a long time I tried to figure out why them and not me, but Feral is right. You can't do that to yourself. You move on, harder and tougher" breathing a small sigh of relief as Jack just nodded gently at him, their attention suddenly being redirected to the console as it once again kicked into life. A second recording suddenly being played out for them, the same man appeared but this time his voice and posture wasn't devoid of emotion.

"It's all falling to pieces. The subjects are rampaging and Zero is loose. We're shutting this facility down, this is a disaster!" His fingers rubbing at this temples before he went back to typing at the console, the man clearly trying to maintain some amount of his composure "We'll infiltrate and piggy back onto the Alliance's Ascension Programme, hopefully we'll be able to…." His face turning to the door before he put his hands up in front of him "Zero wait!" he screamed as the hologram was sent flying off to the side before it cut off.

Shepard couldn't help but smirk a little as he watched the despicable human being getting flung away by a younger Jack but his small joy in witnessing the end of the scientist was interrupted by Jack panicking a little, the woman growling as she grabbed him by the shoulder "Shepard they started up somewhere else! We need to..." her panic being stopped as the commander placed a hand on her shoulder and leant down a little.

"The Ascension programme is a school for biotic kids run by the Alliance, they don't torture and experiment on children there." Ignoring the small mumble in the corner, as Feral disputed the fact that school wasn't torture, as Jack just nodded quickly "You ok? This has been a lot to take in." squeezing his fingers gently on her shoulder as she looked back up at him.

"This…" she started before biting her lip and shaking her head "A lot of this isn't how I remembered it"

"A lot was going on, and you were just a kid Jack" Shepard tried to reassure her but the woman just pushed herself away.

Growling slightly as she spoke this time "No…no I was dumb. Now I always keep my eyes open and I always shoot first." Her stance and voice steeling again after her moment of panic and uncertainty "We're close to my cell now, the place I came from" Shepard frowned a little bit at that, she and Feral were so alike in so many aspects of their lives. Both she and Feral had been 'born' in a cage, and if she was this fragile. He quietly questioned her fragile he was as well.

"Alright" sighing loudly as he placed his rifle back into his shoulder and stepped over towards Feral, nodded at the crouching human. Who in turn, just rose to his feet and stepped forward. His fingers hovering over the panel as he glanced back, ensuring the other two were ready before he punched it and ran through. He didn't even have to scan the room, the three Krogan at the other end were more than obvious to him as soon as the doors hissed open. The largest one speaking to a person named Aresh about salvage.

Shepard stood and stared him down as Jack and Feral crouched behind some of the crates, checking their weapons quickly and whispering between themselves about how they were going to take out the annoying scavenger team. "What are you doing here?" Shepard called out to the Krogan leader, waving his hand to dismiss the bewildered looks on his squad's faces and diving for cover when the response came. Gunfire hitting the crates as Shepard silently ordered them to flank the Krogan, he could at least keep them busy by himself for now. Three Krogan plus a handful of Vorcha, this was going to be relatively straight forward.

"Well that was anti-climactic" Feral sighed to himself a little as he put a round into one of the groaning Krogan, the fight had literally only lasted a few minutes. The Vorcha had been easy pickings and the three Krogan had been so focused on Shepard firing concussive rounds and bursts of gun fire at them that they hadn't noticed both Jack and Feral suddenly hitting them from the side. The pair of them looking over as Shepard mopped up a couple of stray Vorcha and a shotgun discharged behind him, looking over his shoulder as Jack finished off the last Krogan as it floated in mid-air. "So….Aresh?"

Jack just nodded as she headed towards the door "Yup, only room let is my cell. Let's deal with him and set up the bomb" the biotic speaking aloud as she slammed her fist into the door panel and stormed through, the two men in tow as they followed in her wake. "I want to plant the bomb in there anyway, may as well be on top of his corpse" gritting her teeth as she hit the next door panel even harder and entered her old cell, looking around the room before she shouted "Get out here Aresh! I know you're here." Lifting her shotgun up as she aimed at the figure that popped up from behind the small desk in the room, the man standing in front of her as they stared each other down.

"What are you doing here Subject Zero? You're breaking into my home." Aresh stated as matter of fact, his voice slightly mono-tone. "So many years have passed and here I thought I was the only survivor." Stepping forward as he spoke before stopping and stepping back slightly as Jack raised her shotgun further, aiming straight at his head.

Jack sneered at the man, her finger starting to itch at the trigger "My name is Jack, how the hell do you know me?" Behind them Shepard quietly ordered Feral to lower his weapon and just observe, the commander slowly taking a step forward to stand at Jack's side.

Aresh scoffed a little "We all knew your face Jack, they inflicted such horrors on us to make sure you survived" Smiling a little at her as he stood at gun point "You were the question…and I'm still searching for the answer." Opening his arms a little as he looked around the room before once again locking his eyes onto her.

Shepard put a finger gently on the barrel of Jack's shotgun, lowering it a little "Looks like you weren't the only one drawn back to this place Jack" watching her face as he spoke, the woman didn't acknowledge him as she just kept looking at Aresh.

"I tried to forget this place but….it follows you, never lets you go. I hired those mercs and came here almost a solar year ago. We were rebuilding it piece by piece." His breath becoming a little ragged as he started to rub his hands together "I'm going to find out what they knew, how to unlock true biotic potential in humans" Aresh grinning as he faced down the three intruders "I'm going to restart this facility" turning on the spot as he looked out of the two way mirror and at the large tree in the courtyard, sighing softly "It will be beautiful."

Shepard took a small step back as all three of them stood there in slight shock, he was sure he heard Feral whisper 'Jesus' as Jack shook her head at Aresh "I wanted a hole in the ground Shepard, what he wants is insanity"

Shepard looked back at Jack, her shotgun was shaking slightly out of anger and her finger was getting very close to the trigger. He had to try and defuse this before Jack decided she'd heard enough, quickly checking over his right shoulder at Feral. He could see an equal look of disgust on the super soldier's face, the last thing he needed was both of them tearing the obviously traumatised biotic to pieces "You'd do this all over again? Wasn't this forced on you Aresh?"

Aresh nodded "Some were brought from poor families on Earth, some were kidnapped from colonies. Most of us got here the same way I did; Batarian pirates." Taking a pause between his sentences as he reached up to rub the back of his neck, his voice still flat but his body was showing the signs of the trauma he'd suffered "They did…such horrible things to us, they must have had good reasons for it."

"Are you nuts?!" Jack practically screamed at him, her lips twitching as she raised her shotgun back up and took a step closer to him "There's no reason good enough for what they did to us, and you lived it!"

Shepard once again spoke up, trying to take control of the situation and prevent Jack killing the man in a fit of rage "How did you escape Aresh? This place is practically a prison."

"One day we all attacked while we were being escorted to the labs, we would have all been put down but then" Aresh turned to face Jack again "Then Jack got loose." He looked down at the ground as he shuffled on the spot and chewed on his lip "I got knocked out….but when I came too everything was over. The guards were dead, the scientists were dead…..the kids were dead, and you were gone." His eyes shooting up as he mentioned the kids, Shepard inwardly cursed as Aresh gave Jack an accusing stare.

"I stopped it! All of it!" Jack shouted back, sighing as she looked to the ground and lowered her weapon briefly "….maybe the other kids did have it just as bad…." Raising her weapon again "but what you're trying to do is just messed up"

"Everything we went through must have been for a reason!" Aresh finally snapped a little, shouting back at Jack as she knocked him to his knees with a biotic blast from the sudden outburst. Her shotgun pointing at his head "….you're going to blow this place up anyway….just leave me here. This is where I belong." His head sinking as he lay on all fours in front of her, the biotic's shotgun shaking slightly as she aimed at his head.

Seething slightly as she stared down at him, she could see Shepard and Feral in her periphery but all she could focus on was Aresh. He wanted to start this place up again, he wanted to put more children through the hell they'd both survived. She couldn't fathom it, she didn't even want to begin understanding it. "Fuck this"

Shepard could only watch as he finger squeezed around the trigger raising his hand as he was about to say something but was beaten to it. "Don't kill him" it wasn't an order, it was barely even audible. Feral hadn't even looked up from the floor "Just…..there's no point in it." The super soldier sighed out as he brought a hand up to run over his face.

The biotic looked up at him, she could see his red eyes briefly flick up at her as he stood slightly behind Shepard with the bomb bag dangling by his side "He wants to start this place back up again Feral, he needs to die!"

"Kill what?" Feral scoffed slightly "Cerberus beat us to it, just like they killed whoever you were and whoever I was before they got to us." Shrugging as he turned to face Shepard, sighing out loudly again as he raised a hand at the commander "He's never going to start this place up again anyway, we're going to blow it to kingdom come regardless….." raising the bomb a little in his off hand

Shepard nodded at Feral, the soldier was clearly struggling with it all himself. Cerberus had tortured all three of them and they were all suffering with it. Jack and Aresh were both stuck in their pasts, whereas Feral had managed to move on slightly. "Jack…you need to move on. You can't let your past control you anymore."

Looking back at the two men, before glancing back down at Aresh as she processed their words trying to figure it all out in her head before finally realising what she had to do. "Fuck" letting out a simple curse as she shooed Aresh away, the man running between Feral and Shepard as fast as he could. "He's not worth chasing…..none of this is"

"You did the right thing Jack" Shepard smiled at her a little, watching the woman shake her head slightly as she mumbled that maybe he was right. The commander turning to Feral and giving him a small nod as well, mouthing thank you. He wasn't sure how much Jack actually listened, to either of them, but having someone else who went through it there probably helped.

Feral then knelt down and started to unpack the bomb before Jack spoke up, "hey…this room was my whole childhood. Mind giving me a few minutes?"

He just nodded "It'll take me a bit to set it all up anyway, but take your time Jack….it's not that bad of a room actually" the soldier just smiled and breathed out through his nose "I had maybe….an eighth of this and nothing but a bucket…..when they remembered to give me one" looking back up at the biotic as she just glared at him "….but then again you were a kid…sorry, take your time Jack" taking a deep breath as he shook his head and got to work on the bomb, letting Jack and Shepard have a look around her old room.

As he set up the bomb he barely heard anything the two talked about, mumbled words here and there and he was acutely aware of where they were in the room, but his was too deep in his own thoughts to really pay much more attention on anything but the bomb. How many more were there out there like him and Jack, like Aresh? How many human beings had Cerberus killed for some insane project to further the species as a whole? Before he knew it, the bomb was ready and they were back in the Kodiak. He barely said a word the whole time as they took off and finally watched that horrifying facility explode from the air, all the memories that haunted that building eradicated in a single huge fireball.

- The Normandy-

Silence, total and utter silence. It was something Feral had gotten used to over the years. Whether it was during the brief moments of respite under the hands of his Cerberus captures, the peace of the SR-1's engine room or the time he had spent alone whilst working for Anderson. He'd gotten used to it over the years, but this was different. Though quiet, his mind was usually buzzing, planning an escape attempt, working on the computer systems or just trying to keep himself entertained. However, for the first time in years, he found himself just staring blankly at the holographic display in his quarters on board the SR-2. He had run over the sights of that base in his head a thousand times. What Jack had been through, what Aresh had continued to go through. The similarities between it and the ones he'd been kept in. The cells that had housed children, he had been an adult by the time they'd got him but he couldn't even begin to imagine how it would've been if he'd only been 6 years old. He didn't want to imagine it. His deep red eyes were burning a hole into the display until finally the sound of the door opening shook him from his trance like state. Raising a hand to his eyes as the suddenly jolt back into reality reminded his body that he needed to blink, rubbing his fingers into his dry eyes as Tali stepped into the room and sat on the work bench in next to his console.

"Hey…" she spoke softly as she looked down at her partner, her tone filled with concern with; not only what had happened but how Feral looked. She hadn't seen him looking so vacant since the first Normandy after he had had a nightmare. "...are you ok Feral?" this time the young woman just watched as he leant forward, pulling his chair towards her, taking one of her hands gently and softly squeezing before he looked up into her eyes.

Smiling up at her, partially in an attempt to hide his true state at that moment but also because she was there for him now. A few days ago he'd have been on his own and he dared not think how that would've ended. Taking a deep breath as he sat up a little and nodded "Yeah I'm ok, not great but…I'm dealing. Seeing that place was like….it looked so much like the ones I was kept in" He let out a small sigh as the word passed his lips, It hadn't been exactly the same but the similarities were enough to trigger images of his own incarceration.

Tali sighed as she looked down at him, she wished he hadn't gone. She knew why he had, he and Shepard both believed that they could help Jack through her own trials but they had no idea what the place would do to him. "At least it's gone…right? The places they kept Jack, you. They're gone and you're both free" she spoke softly to him, slowly sliding herself into his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck to cradle his head into her shoulder. "…and Jack let that guy live, you wanted to help her so that's got to be an improvement right?"

Gritting his teeth slightly before breathing out deeply "Yeah…yeah you're right. If anything it proves there's hope for her." Speaking out gently as his arms wrapped around her waist and he relaxed into her, the sound of her heartbeat was more than audible to him even through her suit.

"Not just for her, you as well" She spoke softly as she gently stroked her fingers along the back of his head "I know your past still haunts you from time to time, even if you try to hide it from everyone." Stroking the backs of her fingers along her cheek and jawline softly, she could see his eyes just gently looking up at her as she looked down at him "You are a good person Feral, you just need to remember that more often"

Feral sighed out again and pushed himself into her a little tighter, "I know, and having you back helps so much" a small smile appearing on his lips as he pressed his own fingers into the hand on his cheek, kissing her palm gently before pushing her back to press his forehead against her visor. "Thank you, I needed that"

Sighing out softly as he pressed his forehead into her mask, Tali bit her lip gently as she nuzzled him back gently. She always loved it when he did that, every time he did she could see every detail of his eyes as he peered through the visor and into hers. Smiling playfully as she could finally start to see a more natural smile appearing on Feral's face "Well…I couldn't let you just sit there moping for hours on end" she teased lightly, hoping he was out of his own thoughts enough to retort.

"Moping?" Feral leant back a little, as an incredulous look spread over his face before he snorted and gritted his teeth "I was not moping." The slight growl in his throat was audible to Tali due to their close proximity but the small, turn up at the corner or his lips proved it was all for play "I thought you'd understand what moping was, seeing the way you sulked over your old shotgun"

Tali pushed him back into the chair as she placed her hands on his shoulders "I told you not to hit Geth with it! I loved that shotgun and you broke it over some Geth Juggernaut's head!" She glared down at him as she pinned him to the seat. The two staring daggers at each other before finally Feral snorted and just started to laugh, remembering the utterly ridiculous circumstances on a mission that led to him resorting to clubbing Geth to death with his girlfriend's shotgun. "H-hey…it's not that funny" Tali pouted as Feral just started to laugh harder before a smile started to force itself on her lips. The Quarian finally snickering before bursting out laughing as well, she had been so worried about him only moments ago and now he was acting like himself again. The silence that had filled the room only minutes ago, replaced by the sound of the couple laughing.

The laughter eventually dying down as the couple just say together, enjoying each other's company again after Feral's initial state following the mission. "It's good to see a smile on your lips again" Tali spoke softly as she sat in his lap, her arms placed on his shoulders gently.

"Oh Tali…" Feral sighed out playfully as he smiled up into her visor, watching the slightly lidded glowing orbs that shone through the visor "…you've always been very good at putting things on my lips" he purred out playfully up at her, snickering a little as she clearly gave him a look that was obvious even through her visor.

Sliding her hands off his shoulders as she reached up and flicked the seals that held her visor in place "Well I'd hate to ruin that streak" the words purred out of her lips as the synthesised voice became more natural through the slight hissing sound of the seals breaking. Taking the visor in one hand as she leant back forward, pressing her forehead into his gently as she just watched his face. One of the things she loved about Feral was his reaction to her face, each and every time he saw it he'd smile like it was the first time he'd ever seen her. It wasn't a grin, or a smirk, it was just this deep smile as he looked her. His deep red eyes softening and his entire body relaxing. It was a look she loved to see, and she enjoyed seeing it up until the moment she leant forward and pushed her lips into his and closed her eyes.

That is she would've enjoyed the moment if her omni-tool hadn't suddenly started beeping, both of them sighing out against the other's lips as they pushed their foreheads together. The beeping slowly getting more annoying before Feral just groaned "Always when we're in the middle of something huh?" The look of annoyance on his face just made Tali giggle a little, she hated having to stop but she loved knowing that Feral was enjoying it just as much as she was.

"Don't be like that" Tali sat up on his lap, holding her visor in her omni-tool hand as she opened it up "I'll answer it quickly and then we can pretend it never happened" she purred down at him, her boyfriend chuckling as she winked at him before turning her attention to the message she'd just received.

Feral just sighed and leant back in the chair, letting his head flop back over to stare up at the ceiling as he tapped his foot gently. Closing his eyes as he just enjoyed the fact he was spending time with her again so regularly after so long apart. He was just about to ask what the message was about when he heard her visor dropping onto the metal floor. His head shooting back up as he saw the look on her face. He mouth was wide open and he could see her eyes starting to well up as she stared at the message. "Tali what is it?"

He could only watch as she swallowed hard and shook her head a little before looking straight back at him, her breath shallow as she tried to find the words "I…The Migrant Fleet has accused me of treason." The tears starting to flow as she finished the sentence, her omni-tool shutting off and the small woman just buried her face into Feral's neck.

Author's Note: Dear Readers, first of all I would like to apologise for the absence. I realise it has been over a year now and I am sorry for the unexplained hiatus. Most of it was due to some circumstances in my life that I would rather not go into but it's mainly for some pretty simple reasons. I was almost done with this chapter a year ago, and then suddenly my laptop died. I lost everything, and if you know my work then you know my chapters are pretty big affairs. Usually ranging from between 7 to 10 thousand words so it was a serious loss. Secondly, my laptop died. Totally, I still haven't been able to recover anything from it since then and thirdly. I lost all motivation to write, and I would rather just not write than to write subpar, crappy shit for the purpose of appeasing people…not that I'm saying I'm not crappy, maybe you think I do write subpar crappy shit but that's neither here nor there so shush. Anyway, a year past. I got a job, eventually, and I finally brought a new laptop. Then a friend brought the Mass Effect Trilogy, and I started to play it alongside her. Suddenly I remembered what I loved about the game, about it's characters and everything it had to offer. I brought all the DLC for all 3 games (just so you know that's more than the trilogy itself costs at the moment) and I started playing again and all my motivation came back to me. I reread my first story and how far I had gotten in this one to regain my bearings and I set to work. I've had some major thoughts about where this is going to go and what sort of character development I want to set in motion, anyway suffice to say.

I am back, I can't promise the updates will come thick and fast. I can't promise that it will even be good, I am an amateur and I hope you recognise that when you review. Either way, I want to thank anyone who sees this update and starts to read again and I hope you enjoy what will come. Please review, I appreciate any and all thoughts on the story and I love to hear what you think. I hope you enjoy what I have planned.

~Muse~