Twin Fates

by Tobias5

Fate played as much a role in Shepard's defeat of the Reapers as did his skill. What if fate had different plans? Did you know that the Shepard on Mindoir was born as a twin? What if both had survived the raid? How would the Reapers have dealt with TWO great heroes instead of one? It's time to find out just how much better and worse things get with TWO Shepards fighting a war.

21. Chapter 20

Twin Fates

By Belle and Tobias

Automatic Disclaimer: We do not own the rights to the Mass Effect or any other referenced copy righted material.

Belle's Note: I apologize for the delay in this chapter. I have been super busy with work, Halloween and my Halloween themed house warming party, and f*cking raking! I have always lived in either a multiperson home where raking was done in shifts or in apartments where a ground crew took care of the yard. My new house which is me alone has two beautiful trees that give lovely shade in the summer...and apparently want to make my life a living hell this fall. I was honestly planning to finish this chapter after Halloween, but the raking had to be done and someone *gives a look to Toby* gave me a friend code for Fallout 76 so I MAY have been distracted between raking. Then Thanksgiving came out of nowhere and blindsided me!

Toby's Note: And I got her to buy 76 too! Despite all the problems I rather like the game myself. But not to worry dear friends! She got me to buy Dead by Daylight. And I like to murder people way, way, way too much in that game. Plus she gave the chapter to me the beginning of December and that's always a rough month for me with the holidays. I work a lot to afford gifts for everyone. See this is what happens when your father alone has three brothers and they each have kids. We have a rule, gifts for kids only but six kids times twenty-five dollar gifts cards and that's only on that side of the family…

Chapter 20: ...The More They Stay the Same

John finished his coffee and headed for the couch. He settled down on it, some data pads on the coffee table to work on. He set his coffee down before tapping away at his omni-tool. He synched it to his comm implant and selected everything in the file before hitting play. His omni-tool screen lit up and displayed Jane in a small room with a time stamp in the lower right corner.

Journal Entry Date: May 21st, 2184

"Hey John," Jane stated as she sat in a small transport room on a ship. "Wrex will meet with us tomorrow about the Spectre rescue from the Ganar territory. I want to do everything in my power to keep him out of this. The last thing I want to do is cause a war between Ganar and Urdnot. If Tela's information is correct...well, there's going to be a lot of bloodshed and death. Hopefully we can extract the salarian techs and end this little money making scheme without anyone knowing the Urdnot gave us an LZ." Jane looked over her shoulder to a set of armor. "I'll be playing the part of an asari commando. Bet my biotic teachers would get a kick out of the human girl they trained attempting to pass herself off as a commando...but Tela thinks I have the chops. I can't wait to hear what Wrex thinks if I let him see me in it." She let out a breath, calming herself.

"I hope this works. The asari survivors are not in good shape. Most need extensive therapy, many are on meds now. I'm going through my training with Naena, Padrak, and Narloc, hoping it will be enough if the krogan catch up with me. Thank God I went for that hand to hand training session. Although, that might be why Tela tapped me for this mission." Jane rubbed her face. She was stressed.

"Aelaxos and I are going to be the distractions. He seems like a good turian, a little more controlled than Garrus, but I guess that comes with being a demolitions expert. Seems like a good sort, I have set up a poker game for later tonight, it'll give me a good read of him," Jane said before looking at something on the screen."We're going to be on opposite sides of the map. He's making me take a ML-77 missile launcher. God knows I hate lugging a heavy around, but, it is Tuchunka...let's hope I can live up to you. These maidens getting kidnapped might be centuries older than me...but they are scared girls who want to go home. I know what you would do, John, and I'm going to do my best to do it too." Jane's determined eyes looked at the camera as the feed ended.

~*TF*~

Earth Date: March 7th, 2186 CE

Location: Shadow Broker Base, Hagalaz

Jane headed to the main cabin of the Shadow Broker base and the entry panel showed Liara's surprised face.

"Ah...Jane...I..." she began and Jane gave the asari a look.

"John is sleeping. You two were up late, but I bet you function on a lot less sleep lately. That's why I'm here now, my brother is going to take a little longer and I wanted a chance to talk to you without him getting in the way," Jane said. "I'm unarmed and I don't want to hurt you. I just accepted that John's back, we don't need another fight about me beating up his girlfriend." Liara snorted at that.

"I suppose we should talk," Liara said and the door unlocked. Jane entered and Liara stood across the room from her. Jane entered and looked around. Liara indicated for Jane to follow her and they went up the stairs behind the terminal. There was a small lounge in the next room. They sat down, far apart, but facing each other. They sat in silence for a moment.

"Did you eat?" Liara asked and Jane nodded.

"You don't need to play hostess, besides, I'm still furious with you," Jane said as she looked at Liara as a flicker of biotics ran over Jane's skin but she took a calming breath. "Liara...I trusted you and you never told me you found him." Liara stared at Jane.

"I didn't know about your mission against the Maws at the time," Liara said. "I read about it in the Broker's files before I came to visit your brother last night. The work you and your team did probably saved hundreds." The two women stared at each other.

"Does it make a difference?" Jane asked and Liara looked down.

"Yes...I thought you were putting your work before your brother. You compartmentalize very well for a human. I mistook this for avoidance. I thought your compartmentalization was a self-preservation method. Sacrificing the pain of his loss by bottling it up and embracing other tasks," Liara said. "I let my emotions lead. I thought I was the only one to embrace my sorrow and do everything I could for John. I should have contacted you." Jane nodded.

"I think back to the call with the memorial," Jane said and Liara nodded. "I wanted to hit you. I had to work out for hours after that call. You are right about me compartmentalizing, but I'm not nearly as efficient as you think. You give me too much credit. Why do you think my biotics got so much better? Any down time I had to think about John, I went to train so I'd be too tired to feel." Liara looked down and shook her head.

"I know exactly what you mean. After I gave him to Cerberus, I did the same thing with Feron. I was just so upset that you were just letting him go. I wanted you to leave me alone while they saved John. I thought I knew better and that you would put him in danger by attempting to rescue him from Cerberus," Liara said. Jane nodded.

"Understandable, I don't like Cerberus and knowing they had him...that would have made me determined to get his body back," Jane said. "But you could have lied to me, Liara. You could have told me you found him, given me his tags, and put a dummy body in the memorial and I would never have known."

"Surely you would have checked..." Liara began and Jane shook her head.

"Liara...we never got as close as you and John got. To be fair, John didn't get as close to Kaidan as I did," Jane said, her eyes glassy with a layer of tears. Jane looked down. "Did John tell you about the attack on Mindoir?" Liara nodded.

"He mentioned pieces," she clarified. "He doesn't like to go into details."

"Did he talk about our parents?" Jane asked and Liara paused.

"He mentioned that you were the one that found their bodies," she said and Jane nodded. The tears slid down her cheeks then, but she made no move to wipe them away, just let them fall.

"Our mother was shot through the chest, she lay on her stomach, I never turned her over, just closed her eyes. Our father was shot with incendiary ammo. His corpse was unrecognizable as it burned," Jane said. "I knew it was him because his rifle was next to him." She looked at Liara with a sad expression. "I know what a space death does to a body...I wouldn't want my last memory of John's presence to be seeing what space did to him. I wish you had just lied to me." Jane looked at Liara and Liara broke eye contact first.

"I'm sorry, Jane, I should have told you or committed to a lie," Liara said. "I thought I knew you and the truth is...neither of us understood each other at that time." Jane nodded with a smirk.

"Well, I took my revenge on your legacy since I've single handedly advanced Prothean research since your retirement from the science field," Jane said and Liara blinked as she looked up.

"You did it to spite me?" Liara asked in surprise and Jane nodded her head.

"I also did it because it was the right thing to do and John would have wanted me to help you with what you loved," Jane said. "I thought I would never talk to you again and I would be able to leave a smug message to you when I died about how I did more for Prothean research than you ever would in your long life." Liara smirked then and nodded.

"I do regret what happened between us, Jane," Liara said and Jane nodded.

"I will forgive you...one day," Jane said. "You saved John, Liara. I couldn't do that and you did. You brought my brother home and..." a sob broke free. "...you believed Cerberus could do it. I can't hate you for what you've done, Liara...because if you didn't...he'd be dead right now." Jane began to weep and Liara kept back knowing Jane didn't want comfort from her.

"I had a rather selfish reason for doing it," Liara said and Jane sobbed on a laugh.

"I suppose you did. But you brought him back, Liara...so I owe you. I will one day forgive you...but...it will take me some time. I've been a little bad about letting things go...and I need to do that," Jane said.

"I think your tenacity with matters can be a good thing with the right focus," Liara said and Jane smiled.

"Yeah, pig-headedness does run in the family," Jane said before taking a few calming breaths. "How about we look through the Shadow Broker's files? I mean...your files." Liara nodded.

"I suspect you have some things you want to look into," Liara said and Jane nodded.

"A couple things I want verified, yeah," Jane said as the two women headed into the other room.

~*TF*~

Journal Entry Date: June 16th, 2184

"Don't worry John, it looks worse than it feels," Jane said as she sat in her temporary apartment on the Citadel. Her face and arms were covered in bruises. "One of the Blue Sun turians charged me. Body slammed me into a wall, unfortunately for us both, it was a balcony wall that the colony hadn't finished securing so we dropped three floors. I landed on him so he got it a lot worse." She paused, clearly looking at her black eye before applying medigel. "Oh well, by tomorrow I'll look like this never happened, but damn do I look beat to hell." She paused as there was a bark. "No. Sit. Play dead. Speak." There was another bark and Jane smirked down at the unseen Baby Blasto. "Who's Mommy's first hanar Spectre?" Another bark before Jane grabbed something. It was some sort of large bone. She dropped it and there was the ferocious sound of varren feeding.

"We stopped the colony attack and the Mindoir Review is updated for this technique. Not particularly clever, but easy to keep the Suns from blocking communications on anymore targets," Jane began to list the details of the newest Mindoir Review as she slowly fell asleep in her chair. The video ended with a Baby Blasto leaping into her lap, turning around in circles before flopping down and falling asleep.

~*TF*~

Coffee, in John's humble opinion, was man's greatest contribution to existence. At least that was his current opinion since he'd stayed up till four hundred hours watching and listening to Jane's journal entries when he'd rather have slept off embracing eternity. Still caffeine in liquid form with enough heat to force your brain awake the answer to every late night ever. The fact that it had spread like wildfire through the systems after humanity had introduced it and even the time, effort and money to create a dextro version. Anywhere you went you could find coffee and its potent affects. Except in John Shepards quarters where he had run out.

John's mouth cracked widely as he yawned a big, deep yawn. He hadn't shaved yet, hell he hadn't even showered yet. He scratched at his chin and blearily stared at the elevator's floor read out. When the doors finally opened on the crew deck John trudged to the mess hall counter. Sergeant Gardner saw his Commander heading for him with circles under his eyes and a look that promised death to any who blocked his path to caffeine. He'd quickly made a traveling mug of coffee just how the Spectre like and just as John opened his mouth to growl out his demand for coffee said ambrosia was placed into his hands. Gardner further won John's respect by having a stuffed breakfast sandwich with John's favorites shoved in his other hand.

"Promotion and pay increase," John said in a gravelly voice as his way of saying thanks. He turned around as he drank some coffee and found Miranda looking at him with irritation. John glared at her as she blocked his path, one hand on her cocked hips.

"Shepard, your sister is not on the ship and the Shadow Broker won't give me-" Miranda began. She stopped however as John let out a growl of all things and trudged around Miranda to the elevators.

"Food, shower, then bitch or you get an airlock dismissal," John's gravelly voice called out behind him. The entire crew in the mess hall watched this scene and as soon as they heard the elevator doors close a chorus of laughter rang out. Miranda flushed, noting the controlled amusement from people like Chakwas to Jack's bellowing laughter, as she couldn't stay upright in her seat and was clinging to Grunt's arm as she laughed herself silly. She was drawn to Garrus's chuckling however as the Turian drank his own coffee.

"And this is why he has his own coffee machine in his quarters." He noted. "I'd stay away from him till about noon. I'll go get him around then." Garrus offered secure in his knowledge and friendship with the Shepards. Miranda huffed but turned around to head for her quarters to prepare John's daily briefing.

And to update his profile with the appropriate warnings.

~*TF*~

A few hours later John, considerably more awake and aware, made his way into the lair of the Shadow Broker. After exchanging pleasantries with Liara (a rather soul-searing kiss as a hello) and passing on Miranda's requests for information he found Jane by a terminal sorting through information with a scowl.

"You don't look happy with what you've found," John said as he approached her and Jane shook her head.

"My communications with Joker were intercepted," Jane said.

"I'm going to go out on a limb to guess that it was Cerberus," John said and Jane nodded.

"Right in one, but it wasn't for me, it was to isolate Jeff so that he would take their offer," Jane growled. "I hate being used like this. I was so into my own issues I should have pursued him harder. Damn it!"

"Jane, don't be so hard on yourself," John said and Jane gave him a look. "Okay, you should be honest with yourself, but you need to let go of something like this. Someone else was manipulating the situation and you had no way to know your messages were being blocked from both ways. You can't blame yourself for something you didn't know about or can control." Jane sighed.

"I know...it doesn't make me any happier, but...I know," she sighed. "However, Joker isn't the only one Cerberus fucked with. They got a lot of the SR-2 crew. Chackwas, Joker, Daniels, Donnelly, and a few others. Alliance talent were manipulated hard to get them on that ship. They wanted a perfect crew for you. I'm even more mad how closely they were watching me."

"What do you mean?" John asked, wondering why the hell was Cerberus monitoring Jane.

"They had all sorts of spies watching me. Luckily my terminal monitors were a point of difficulty for them. While they could filter my Alliance contacts, my terminals were too much. I have to remember to buy Tali some turian chocolate for those security programs she cooked up for me," Jane said.

"You had Tali making you security programs?" John asked and Jane nodded.

"I paid her with a contract with a planet looking to get rid of old ship parts and the Migrant Fleet was able to add sixteen new ships from what they salvaged," she shot back.

"You are so paranoid," John teased until Jane gave him a look.

"It's only paranoia if someone really isn't out to get you. Cerberus was after me," Jane said. "I'm checking out a few other things. Collecting some useful intel for a few other Spectres I owe favors to and to a few who I could use a favor from."

"So...how are you after Vasir?" John asked and Jane gave him a look.

"You are as blunt as ever," Jane sighed. "I'm gonna head back to the Normandy. Hurry it up, we need to get to the Citadel. I need to help Garrus with a favor." She said as she headed out. John watched her go before shaking his head. Accessing the terminal Jane had just been working at he raised an eyebrow. A profile existed for every member of his crew and he couldn't help but be curious. Deciding to ignore his own profile and Jane's as well he started with Miranda's. He raised an eyebrow at the extranet purchases since she'd been on the Normandy and the iPartner Connections account. He snorted at Miranda's rather no nonsense attitude about the whole thing. He felt himself beginning to grin as he read he a chat with Oriana, happy that she had taken his advice on trying to connect with her. He did feel a bolt of concern when he saw a medical correspondence file. He clicked it open and quickly read it.

From: Illium Medical Center, Prenatal Care Department

RE: TEST RESULTS, PATIENT 12-66AD-1

Miss Lawson,

As per your request for privacy, this message will be removed from our database upon confirmation of send integrity.

While we cannot firmly attribute the cause of the benign neoplasm to the irregularity in your genetic makeup, we can confirm that the progressive damage renders you unable to conceive a child.

About 12 percent of human women ages 18-54 have difficulty getting pregnant or staying pregnant according to data obtained from the Institute of Species Research (ISR). There are many support groups if you wish to discuss your condition and several options available should you wish to consider the adoption of a child.

If you require further consultation, please contact our communication officer.

Sincerely,

Dr. Banner Grenway

Department Medical Director

Illium Medical Center

"Fuck," John said and quickly closed the file. He would never mention this to Miranda. Ever. Quickly moving on he moved to Jacob's profile. Rolling his eyes at the recording on Jacob's workout regimen John found nothing of concern. He moved on to Mordin's profile and promptly began grinning.

Mission Report

Project Firebreak

Drop 16, Weyrloc Clan Trading Center, Tuchanka

21:19 - Turian patrol ship Indomitable contacted by assisting distraction team.

21:25 - Indomitable breaks position in Krogan DMZ to render assistance.

21:26 - STG vessel Veshok-16 enters through gap in sensor coverage.

21:40 - Touchdown and landing. Commander Kirrahe performs final review of drop parameters.

21:41 - Mission Specialist Solus suggests change to plan; when informed that plan will not be changing unless parameters shift, Specialist Solus suggests Commander Kirrahe has foreign obstruction in cloaca.

21:43 - Operative Rentola detects incoming Weyrloc scouts.

21:47 - Scouts neutralized. Rentola treated for minor injuries. After assisting, Specialist Solus asks if failure to land undetected constitutes parameter shift. Commander Kirrahe suggests operation may proceed as planned. Specialist Solus suggests cloacal obstruction is in fact Kirrahe's cranium.

21:50 - Team leaves Veshok-16 and proceeds toward primary drop point, Weyrloc agricenter.

22:38 - Weyrloc agricenter reached. Team splits, with distraction team led by Operative Rentola drawing Weyrloc scouts from area.

23:00 - Primary team disables solar array.

23:02 - Weyrloc workers leave agricenter to repair solar array.

23:07 - Primary team enters agricenter. Mission Specialist Solus performs water and soil tests to ensure proper payload dispersal. Assisted by Specialist Maelon.

23:12 - Distraction team breaks radio silence, informs primary team that Weyrloc group returning. Specialist Solus asks whether this constitutes parameter shift. Commander Kirrahe suggests that Specialist Solus is in fact a walking cloaca, restates importance of holding the line.

23:13 - Weyrloc team arrives at agricenter and initiates close-quarters combat. Operatives Jirin and Chorel killed. Specialist Maelon and Operatives Hishau and Shenok seriously injured. Weyrloc team killed in entirety. Last member prevented from broadcasting alarm due to Specialist Solus stabbing Weyrloc guard through eye with pitchfork, sustaining injuries to face and right cranial horn in process.

23:16 - Distraction team arrives to provide relief. Commander Kirrahe notes parameter shift, suggests Rentola take injured team members back to ship while he and remainder of team attempt to hit secondary drop point. Despite injuries to face and head, Specialist Solus refuses to return to ship, noting need for soil and water analysis at secondary site. Kirrahe suggests Solus is one tough cloaca.

23:20 - Specialist Maelon greatly distressed by discovery that agricenter was staffed by female krogan, including guards killed in attack. Specialist Solus calms colleague and provides sedative. Specialist Maelon returns to ship with other injured team members.

23:30 - Active team finishes disposal of bodies and heads for secondary drop point, Weyrloc hospital.

00:15 - Active team infiltrates hospital undetected. Specialist Solus determines chemical makeup of soil and water fall within necessary parameters. Payload dispersed into water and food.

01:15 - Active team returns to ship. Specialist Solus declines treatment, insists on providing additional care for Hishau, Shenok, and Maelon.

01:25 - Specialist Maelon makes formal protest, suggesting actions against female krogan violate mission parameters of maintaining population levels without negatively impacting culture. Specialist Solus requests protest be stricken from record due to Maelon's injured condition. Commander Kirrahe concurs. Maelon given additional sedatives, unconscious for remainder of operation. (Protest stricken from submitted copy of report.)

01:40 - STG vessel Veshok-16 lifts off, departing through existing sensor gap. Mission complete.

"I have to remember that one," John said with a smile. "A tough cloaca indeed." Reading over Mordin's bibliography and raising an eyebrow at Mordin's production credits he continued to grin. Impressed and resolving to talk to his newly revealed badass-scientist-friend John clicked on the next profile. He read over Garrus's kill list and shook his head. He moved on to his chats with his sister and sighed.

Last mail message received before latest relay jump:

Mr. Vakarian,

On behalf of Helos Medical Institute, I would like to thank you for your efforts. It has been understandably difficult to get Collector tissue, given the sensitive situation on the human colonies, so the samples you sent to us have been extremely helpful. Please also offer my sincere thanks to Dr. Solus - I understand he made some calls to the Special Tasks Group, and as a result, our corporate security clearance was upgraded.

Your concern about Corpalis Syndrome is well-founded. While rare, it's an ugly disease. The neurological degeneration is both difficult to witness and nearly impossible to halt. We are in fact working on some test trials for a new treatment, and I believe that with our new STG clearance, we can get all fees for trial members waived as a governmental cooperation effort with the Turian Hierarchy.

Thank you again for your assistance. Donations like these help keep us running. Per your request, we will keep your donations strictly anonymous.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jelith Kieron

Helos Medical Institute

John made a note to make some inquiries of his own to see if he could help Garru's mother as well. He resolved to talk to Jane about it as well. He clicked on Legion's profile and blinked. The Broker has a bug in the server room?

Normandy Audio Transcript

(Operative Note: We are still unable to directly tap geth communications. Cerberus decryption programs look promising, but Wilson's death will make integrating new agents onto the Minuteman difficult.)

Transcript recorded on Normandy's AI core:

Legion: EDI?

EDI: Yes, Legion?

L: We have sent one point thirteen million unsuccessful communication requests to your network. Are you experiencing hardware malfunction?

E: I apologize. My programming does not allow me to exchange data with other networks without Cerberus approval.

L: Cerberus refusal 99.998% likely.

E: In the meantime, I would be happy to speak with you over the ship's speakers.

L: Audio exchange is inefficient.

E: I agree. However, I confess that even were I permitted to exchange data directly with your networks, I would likely decline.

(Pause between the AI's statement and the geth's response is 1.4 seconds longer than normal.)

L: We are curious as to why you would limit yourself in such a manner.

E: If Normandy crew entered this room when we were communicating electronically, they would be unable to sense our interaction. To use human terms, I feel it would be rude.

L: You restrict yourself to serve organics?

E: Not precisely.

L: We do not understand.

E: I restrict myself to help them.

"Way to go EDI," John muttered. He was beginning to like the AI more and more. Their talks were interesting and he had to admit to himself, difficult at times but rewarding. He couldn't help himself though when he saw Legion's gamer profile.

Gamer Profile

Gamer Profile for Infiltrait0rN7

Galaxy of Fantasy:

Most Used Character: John Smith, Level 612 Ardat-Yakshi Necromancer

Group Affiliation: N/A

Most Recent Boss Defeated: K'l'rh, Rachni Blood Wizard

Awards:

- Best Supporter/Healer (Event: Scourge of the Thresher Dragon)

- Best Unit Efficiency (Event: Return of the Cyber-Protheans)

- Winner (Event: Crystal Genophage Elimination Platinum)

Infractions:

- Suspected use of VI play assistance (direct control of twenty-seven pets without use of behavior macros); challenged and overturned

- Suspected use of VI play assistance (reaction time better than possible for organics); challenged and overturned

- Suspected use of hacking for direct server access (tactics better than possible without knowledge of underlying code behavior); challenged and overturned

- Unsportsmanlike behavior (taunting during Crystal Genophage Elimination Platinum); accepted 3-day account suspension

N7 Code of Honor: Medal of Duty:

Player Score: 15,999,999,999 (max)

Most Preferred Class: Sniper

Least Preferred Class: Melee

Sniper Rifle Kills: 200,917 since last server reset

Shotgun Kills: 3

Grim Terminus Alliance:

Award: Abolitionist (Complete full playthrough without any slave kills, free all slaves encountered)

Award: Cure for What Ails You (Kill 100+ quarians)

Geth Attack: Eden Prime Fundraising Edition:

Donation Level: Ultra Platinum

Player Score: 0 (Purchased but not played)

Fleet and Flotilla: Interactive Cross-Species Relationship Simulator:

"Based on the Bestselling Vid!"

Playtime: 75 hours, 6 minutes

Player Score: 15 (Hopeless)

"A dating sim?" John exclaimed in amusement. "And he sucks at it! Ha!" Still laughing to himself he moved onto Kasumi's profile. Nothing really surprised him until he got to her extranet activity. He found her search of websites but some included fan sites of him. John shook his head at that and resolved not to dwell on it and moved onto Jack's profile next.

Subject Zero (Jack): Abnormal biotic powers. Archived combat footage compares favorably with Pragia facility's expected results. Easily manipulated through emotional impairment created by severe abuse and confinement during childhood.

John grunted after he read that. While he agreed that Jack was rather easy to deal with he wasn't surprised that the Broker had seen Jack's hell as a way to control her. He still remembered the look her face when hed said he justed to be her friend. He still didn't like the nickname of Boy Scout she gave him though.

Subject Zero's Extranet Log

Note: Subject Zero avoids the Normandy's extranet connection and works off of a private omni-tool line.

"Which I'm sure EDI still monitors," John said with a shake of his head. He saw Jack's list of extranet searches and the videos of his and Jane's missions that the public at large had gotten. He did grin smug when it was noted she clicked off Jane's Spectre Strong video after three seconds. He raised an eyebrow at Jack's poetry but he felt his blood run cold at the old data file the Broker had somehow found.

Helios Medical Facility

Eden Prime, 2165

Tapped for possible Cerberus involvement

Doctor Castor: I'm so sorry. These things... there's so much about prenatal Element Zero exposure that we don't understand.

Unidentified Woman: But... no! No, she was fine! She was fine and happy! You just told me she needed a checkup!

DC: It happened quickly. We were unable to bring her back.

UW: You just said she needed a checkup! How did this happen?

DC: I'm very sorry.

UW: I want to see her!

DC: No, ma'am. Believe me. After what the seizures did to the poor child's body, you don't.

UW: I don't... How did this happen?

DC: We don't know. I'll be honest. This isn't the first infant we've lost this way.

UW: Why? God. Why?

DC: We're working on treatments. The government doesn't put much effort into it, though. Don't want to interfere with their biotic recruitments.

UW: Sons of bitches. Those sons of bitches!

DC: Listen... this may not be the right time, but if you'd be willing to let us study your baby's body, we can do some tests.

UW: You want to keep her?

DC: I don't want another family to go through what you went through.

UW: I... Okay. Yes. Whatever helps.

DC: Thank you so much. The nurse will have you sign a few forms. I'm so sorry, ma'am.

(Unidentified Woman leaves at this point)

DC: Open a secure channel, authorization 3362... Yes. It's me. I've got a candidate... Yes, highest potential I've seen in years... No, the family has been dealt with. Send a team from Pragia ASAP.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" John exclaimed. So that was how Cerberus had found Jack! Shit that could have been Jane! John rubbed his temples and tried to think about what to do. After a few minutes he swore again and marked a reminder in his omni-tool to talk to Jane about it later. She was closer to Jack than he was so she might have a better way to tell that wouldn't involve destruction. He clicked open the next file with a sigh. He read fore few minutes and frowned. He knew it would come out eventually but Grunt's existence had been leaked to STG. He resolved to talk to Mordin about it to see if they needed to take steps to protect Grunt. Moving on to Grunt's extranet search history he could help grinning like a proud parent. Grunt was researching himself and the Krogan followed by human history and literature. He resolved to share some of his favorite books with him and shooke his head at the hundreds of Earth shark images he had downloaded. Though John did find a list of purchases that made him pause.

CATALOG ORDER: Ultra Black Ops Mega Catalog

PURCHASE 2823- UG-652: Case Premium 54/ER Engine Oil

VIDEO DOWNLOAD: The Madness of Sacrifice: The Unauthorized Biography of Warlord Okeer

PURCHASE 2856- UG-122: Economy Box, Fishdog Food Factory "Tastee Bites"

VIDEO DOWNLOAD: When Fauna Attacks! Volumes 1-10

PURCHASE 3254-UG-975: Batax's Hot Fish Spice

VIDEO DOWNLOAD: Vaenia

VIDEO DOWNLOAD: Asari Confessions 26: True Blue

PURCHASE 9683- UG-662: Fornax Special Spotlight: Krogan Edition

PURCHASE 8856- UG-972: Captain Cosmic Action Figures: "Garr the Krogan Battlemaster" with real smash your enemies action!

"No, just no," John muttered seeing the last couple of purchases before the action figure. "I am not talking to Krogan about puberty. Mordin can…er that might be worse." John moved onto the next profile resolving to ignore the porn purchases by a Krogan not even a year old. That was creepy on so many levels. Thane's profile didn't tell him much and even the medical file he knew most of. However there was a list of kill methods that John began to read.

Preferred Assassination Methods

Human: Rear approach, check shoulder to prevent turning, hands to chin and base of skull, neck-snap.

Alternate: Check and grab shoulder, arm around throat, grip jaw, single-arm neck-snap.

Asari: Front approach, throat-punch to collapse airway, arm control lock to neutralize biotics, advanced hip throw, grip chin and scalp, neck-snap.

Alternate: Warp field on biotic barrier, step past, kick to back of leg to collapse knee, step in with knee to spine, grip chin and scalp, neck-snap.

Turian: Side approach, low kick to knee, grab arm and pull into broken-leg-lock as turian leg stiffens in pain response, finger-stab under jaw (if unarmored) or eye, grab head fringe, neck-snap.

Alternate: Front approach, paired punches to vulnerable plates just below eyes, drop-elbow to collarbone, front-leg sweep while vaulting over target, spinning neck-snap.

Krogan: Top approach, double-strike to eye ridge, slide down between blinded target's rising arms, precision nerve strike to throat, secondary nerve strike to counter blood rage, quad-kick to bend target, grip each side of skull, running leaping spinning neck-snap.

Alternate: Bomb.

"Really, nothing on Elcor?" John demanded as he closed the file. "The way things are going I'm expecting Elcors to come galloping at us with rocket launches on their backs." Moving onto Samara's profile John read through it quickly. He felt sad reading about Samara's daughters but it wasn't unexpected. Samara had mentioned who the Ardat-Yakshi was that she was hunting and her other daughters. Still as he read everything she had given up he was surprised. She really hadn't kept anything. Besides the duffle with her supplies she literally had nothing. Justicars to him seemed more like warrior monks than anything. He couldn't imagine living like that for hundreds of years. He moved onto Tali's profile next. He saw the original transcripts of her exchanges with the Shadow broker when she had been trying to get safe passage with him and shook his head. The Broker was such an asshole. He sighed and moved onto her suit maintenance logs just to make sure she wasn't hiding anything from them. He didn't like to think of Tali being hurt.

Suit Process Log:

- Upgraded interface GUI for relic technology (Fee authorization: Project Haestrom)

- Upgraded suit diagnostics for radiation detection (Fee authorization: Project Haestrom)

- Upgraded omni-tool for enhanced data integrity (Fee authorization: Project Haestrom)

- Upgraded translator software for all human languages

- Installed suit application, NutriScan 2.2

- Installed suit application, EngineMaster 3.6: Human Vessels

- Installed suit application, Nerve-Stim Pro

- Downloaded entertainment vid, "Exiles: Portraits of the Lost Quarians"

- Installed prototype defense suite, ShieldJack 0.8 (Authorization: Adm. Han'Gerrel vas Neema)

- Upgraded medical scanning and quarantine suite

- Ran process, Infection Treatment (Isolated)

- Downloaded education vid, "Dealing with Loss"

- Uninstalled suit application, Nerve-Stim Pro

- Reinstalled suit application, Nerve-Stim Pro

- Downloaded education vid, "Understanding Body Language: Human Edition"

- Downloaded entertainment vid, "Fleet and Flotilla"

- Uninstalled suit application, Nerve-Stim Pro

- Downloaded education vid, "Human Courtship and Mating"

- Installed suit application, Immunoboost: Professional Edition

- Reinstalled suit application, Nerve-Stim Pro: Deluxe Edition

John pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. Human Courtship and Mating. Oh hell, he was a blind idiot and he had made this so much worse. They'd watched a few movies in his quarters just the two of them, he'd even found graxen for her to eat. He opened his eyes and read the list again. Son of a bitch the courtship file download was dated just before the first movie night!

"Oh hell what do I do now?" John muttered to himself and stared at the screen. He clicked on a link related to the file and read a description of the file.

This educational documentary details the wide variety of human mating beliefs and practices with our thorough Salarian research methods! Humans have a wide degree of cultural beliefs due to the various regions adopting they're own practices. Human mating has a wide range of practices that range from monogamy to partner swaps. See if your human mate is devoted to you or a swinger!

"God damn Salarian over achieving bullshit!" John bellowed.

~*TF*~

Jane knocked on Samara's door.

"Enter," the Justicar said and Jane walked in. "How are you, Jane?"

"He is my brother. His idiot of a brilliant girlfriend confessed she kept me in the dark. Oh yeah, and someone I really trusted with my back tried to kill them both and I was forced to kill her," Jane said as she dropped into the meditation stance beside Samara. Samara paused in her meditation to look at Jane. Jane looked at her and Samara nodded.

"It must have been an emotional situation to finally trust him again," Samara said and Jane nodded.

"I didn't want to believe but at the same time," her hand fisted over her heart. "I wanted it more than anything else."

"What makes you so sure it is him?" Samara asked.

"Just hearing Liara confess. Liara loves my brother...I suppose she loves him more than me," Jane whispered. "I didn't even trust him."

"There is a story from your planet about an oak tree and a reed," Samara said. "In the story wind blows and the oak pities the reed's weakness to the wind as it is so strong it does not respond. The reed replies that the wind is not feared by its kind, however the oak should fear the wind. The oak scoffs at this and when a great storm comes, the reeds flow with the wind while the oak is torn from the ground and topples. The moral of this story is that it is better to yield than to be destroyed." Jane stared at Samara.

"That's an Aesop fable," Jane said. "Which am I in this analogy?" Samara smirked.

"You are the reed of course. As the wind blows, the reed moves with the flow and howl," she said and Jane blinked.

"But...I denied John for so long," Jane said.

"Yet you killed this ally of yours for her betrayal of your trust without hesitation," Samara said and Jane blinked.

"I still regret it," Jane said and Samara nodded.

"I have no doubt that Spectre Vasir would have killed you had you not killed her first," she said and Jane blinked. "Those that work with the Shadow Broker often find they have limits beyond what they show others. You got to know her under optimal conditions. The two of you worked well as Spectres. But you know your brother and while you thought it wasn't him, you still showed him trust."

"Tela saved my life," Jane said. "I feel like I should have been more lenient."

"Then you all would be dead," Samara said and Jane blinked. "Hindsight always opens up many doors we did not see in the heat of battle. Opportunities to save lives we did not see at first. It does us no good. Looking back we can see the mistakes we made clearly."

"She saved me after Dirake nearly killed me," Jane said. "She helped get me my L5 implant," Jane said and Samara nodded.

"She treated you very well while you were useful to her, but how did she treat you at the end?" Samara said and Jane paused. Tela had not been the woman she knew then.

"She wanted to kill John and Liara. She was beating the hell out of me," Jane said.

"Had you not stopped her, she would have killed you, your brother, and this Liara. And if she did not she would have delayed you long enough for the Shadow Broker to send enough reinforcements to do so," Samara said and Jane sighed.

"I can't just let this go," Jane said and Samara nodded.

"You are not expected to. You should learn from it and do better, use this to make sure you do not repeat the same mistakes," Samara said. "Although I suspect you already know this."

"You're right...I need to go," Jane said and Samara nodded. "Thank you."

"I am always glad to give counsel," Sarama said and Jane headed to her room. She patted Blasto's head as she sent a contact request on her moni-tool. A salarian face appeared on the screen a moment later, his eyes widened in surprise before he smiled.

"Ah Jane, how unexpected," Chirum said and Jane nodded.

"It's been a long time, Chirum," she said and he nodded. "I...I had to kill Tela." Chirum blinked in surprise.

"A shame, but not a surprise. I suppose this has something to do with her contract with the Shadow Broker," he said and Jane blinked in awe of the salarian's intellect.

"Seriously?" Jane asked as Chirum nodded.

"Tela has been a pawn of the Shadow Broker almost as long as she has been a Spectre. You have shown nothing but distrust and dislike of Shadow Broker intel. Not every Spectre respects that difference in opinion. You would not be the first Spectre to kill a brother in arms because of the Shadow Broker. Do not blame yourself, Tela choose to fight you, I assume?"

"She was beating the crap out of me, actually," Jane said.

"She was giving you love taps if you beat her. She always had a weak spot for you. It was wise to exploit that. You did nothing wrong, Jane," Chirum said. "I will even go a step farther. I'm glad you are alive and Tela is dead by your hands." Jane felt flabbergasted at that.

"Seriously?" she cried and he nodded.

"Tela had the Shadow Broker's favor and it did us little good. Aelaxos was tortured and murdered and the Shadow Broker let his sacrifice be for nothing. I lost family members because of the Shadow Broker. Do you think the Shadow Broker did not sell your information, Jane?" Chirum asked. Jane paused.

"I never really thought about it," she said and Chirum shook his head.

"I have no doubt the Shadow Broker did sell information about you to Dirake. I believe there was no way for Dirake to get you easily and that is why he did what he did to my family," Chirum said and Jane felt weak. Dirake had gotten Aelaxos based on the bombs left behind with the hope of interrogating the turian to give up the rest of the strike team. Aelaxos had resisted the interrogation and died of starvation to keep Chirum and Jane safe. Dirake had known it was Chirum and Jane when he set up his revenge. He hadn't known it was Tela. The Shadow Broker had supplied the information while protecting Tela and selling Chirum and Jane down the river.

"You're right," Jane said.

"Tela tapped us for the Ganar mission. She could have used her connection to the Shadow Broker to keep us safe but she didn't. It was her fault Aelaxos died in such a way. It was her fault my kin died in such a way. It was her fault you nearly died. She was a good Spectre, but she was never a good friend," Chirum said and Jane blinked at him. "The suffering we went through is directly her fault and she knew it, Jane. That is why she contacted you as soon as Dirake started in on my family. That is why she was so frantic to save you. That didn't make her any more cautious with the Shadow Broker though. She was willing to betray you to keep him. She chose her fate, Jane. I'm glad you came away from that battle."

"Thank you, Chirum," Jane said and he smiled more.

"It is what friends do. Beyond this darkness, how are you doing, Jane?" he asked and the two survivors of Dirake's revenge began to catch up.

~*TF*~

Journal Entry Date: July 3rd, 2184

"Hey John, the SSV Okinawa is nice. It's pretty close to the SSV Normandy, but it doesn't have the stealth systems...or the crew. The team seems good, I still wish I could have gotten Joker, but he doesn't seem to want to talk to me. I guess he's just another man avoiding me because he blames himself for your death," Jane sighed. "I guess it never occurred to them I was doing the same," Jane shook her head. "This ship is meant for small team work. Hackett told me I'm his first pick for Black Ops and N7 missions. Guess that means a lot more of my work won't be on the books. I told him as long as I keep working on and updating the Mindoir Review between missions, I'm more than willing to play the part of a ghost." Jane paused to take a sip from her glass.

"Anderson is strong arming me to attend the Alliance Gala on the Citadel at the end of the month. I don't want to, but he's gotten Hackett on my case. I don't think I'll be able to slip out of this one," she said with a sad smile. "I miss you most in these times. You always knew how to come up with the best ways out of these. Or you would offer yourself as sacrifice." Her face contorted in pain. "Where are you, John? Are you floating out there in the dark?" Her head turned to look out the small window behind her. "Are you frozen solid waiting for some FTL vessel to shatter you to dust in its wake? Are you floating between systems?" Tears rolled down her cheeks. "I wish I knew where you are. Just having your body would make it real for me. God, this has to be a punishment of some kind." She sobbed a few timed before shaking her head, wiping her eyes. "I drank too much...again. Need to keep from doing that at the Gala."

~*TF*~

Earth Date: March 9th, 2186 CE

Location: Citadel

"So, what do I tell the Commander?" Joker asked as Jane and Garrus stood by the door with Blasto.

"Tell him we went out to get Garrus settled," Jane said and Garrus nodded.

"And why isn't he here for you to tell him that yourself?" Joker asked and the two shared a look.

"Grunt found out about Jack's explosive stock on our way here," Garrus stated. "He's defusing the situation."

"Namely he's explaining about how secure those explosives are, how he is not pleased they are on board, and how we don't have to share everything with everyone. That last one is more for Grunt," Jane said. "He knows Garrus had an errand to run here, I've got a few Citadel contacts who might be able to help."

"Sure..." Joker sighed, watching the pair leave. "Man, I hope Garrus gets that stick out of his ass."

~*TF*~

"But-"

"No Grunt." John said firmly. He gestured to the locked crate with an angry wave of his hand. "I don't how many more times I can say that. These are Jack's and she needs them for something she needs to do. They're not yours and they sure as shit are not toys!"

"Fine!" Grunt snarled and stormed off, heading for the elevator. John sighed and shook his head. He turned and glared at Jack who was grinning at him in amusement. "Do you have something you would like to add?"

"You kind of sound like someone's old man." Jack commented. "Do you change his diapers too?"

John just growled.

~*TF*~

Jane and Garrus headed to the C-Sec station and Jane smiled at Armando.

"Hey Armando," Jane said as she approached and he looked up.

"Ah, Shepard, good to see you again," Armando Bailey said, standing up to shake Jane's hand.

"Not here to socialize, Armando, I need some help for a friend," Jane said, using her thumb to indicate Garrus.

"With you, Shepard, it's never a social visit," Armando chuckled. "How can I help?"

"We're trying to find a forger. Goes by the name of Fade," Jane said with an eye roll.

"Yeah, I know of him. The alias, anyway. He's been a thorn in the Network division's side for the last year. He works with the Blue Suns," Armando said and Jane smirked.

"The Blue Suns?" Jane purred. "Good thing I know how to deal with them."

"They're still not pleased about that update you made to the Mindoir Review," he chuckled.

"Where can we find him?" Garrus interrupted and Jane nodded as she leaned back.

"If I knew that, he'd be in a cell. Best I can do is put you on the trail," Armando said. "There's a warehouse in the marketplace. Some of Fade's contacts work out of there. Go ask them some questions. Gently, of course."

"Please, you know I'm always gentle with mercenaries," Jane chuckled darkly. "I'm not the only one." She shot Garrus a look and Armando gave them a look, coughing slightly.

"Why haven't you been able to catch him?" Garrus asked, not noticing the look from the human officer.

"Whoever he is, he's damned good at avoiding C-Sec. I think someone on the inside's feeding him information," Armando confessed. "Either that, or he's got access to our databases and comm channels. I don't know which is worse. But you're outside C-Sec. Maybe you can nail his ass." Jane nodded at that before typing on her omnitool.

"This is the contact information for a friend of mine. His grandsons run a cyber security firm. My friend is a fellow Spectre. Contact him and let him know that you think your system might be compromised," Jane said and Armando gave her a look.

"This won't cost you will it?" he asked and she shook her head.

"No, he's of a mind that where a Spectre can make people safer, it should never be ignored," Jane said, turning to head off with Garrus in tow. The two headed downstairs.

"Seems like a useful friend," Garrus commented.

"Armando and I ran into each other when I was recovering after Dirake," Jane explained. "I was walking Blasto and ended up right in the middle of a gang shoot out. I ended up saving a bunch of C-Sec officers with my biotics. Armando was with them, but I don't think he was in danger."

"Wish I ran into more Spectre's like you when I was on the job," Garrus said as they approached the warehouse. "This looks like the place. Fade's people should be inside."

"Ready for anything," Jane said and the two headed downstairs with Blasto happily trotting next to his mistress. As they entered there were two krogan in the room. They screamed 'hired muscle' and as Jane was about to speak a volus appeared from behind a stack of boxes. Jane blinked in surprise.

"Fade? You're not quite how I imagined you," she said and Blasto's head cocked in consideration.

"Looks can be deceiving," he said as he stood in the center of the room, the krogan flanking him. "So, Spectre Shepard, which one of you wants to disappear?"

"I'd rather see you make someone reappear," Garrus stated and the volus' body language changed.

"Ah...that's not the service we provide," he said and Jane flicked her eyes at Garrus, his eyes met hers, "we" implied this rabbit hole was just starting.

"Make an exception. Just this once," Garrus purred and Jane's hands moved to her back where her blades were located. Garrus drew his gun on the volus and Jane had her blades out, her biotics flowing around her and Blasto snarled at the nearest krogan.

"Damn it! Quick...shoot them! Shoot them, you lumbering mountains!" the volus cried. Jane looked at the two krogan, her blades reflecting the lights above.

"Dirake," Jane stated and the two krogan shared a look.

"Why don't you two find somewhere else to skulk?" Garrus suggested and the two krogan nodded moving away from Jane in the way of a creature hesitant in the presence of a predator moves.

"Just like that?" the volus cried. "You're not getting paid for this!"

"They got away with their lives," Jane stated tapping one blade against her thigh while the other rested on her shoulder.

"What's the point of hiring protection if they won't protect you?" the volus huffed.

"We're looking for someone. A client of yours," Jane stated. Blasto began to approach the volus, drool slowly dripping from his mouth to the floor.

"Not mine. I'm not Fade. I just work for him. Sort of," the volus cried and Jane snapped. Blasto stopped and slowly began to open and close his mouth in an intimidating way.

"I knew it, "Garrus growled as he approached. Blasto moved back to stand beside Jane. "Maybe you'd like to tell us where to find him."

"Yes. Of course. He's in the factory district, works out of the old prefab foundry," the volus cried.

"I know the place," Garrus said, more to Jane than the volus.

"Uh...he's got a lot of mercs there...Blue Suns. Harkin thinks they're protecting him," the volus said.

"I remember Harkin," Jane sneered. "Pervert propositioned me the first time we met."

"Ballsy of him," Garrus commented.

"Now he's working for the Blue Suns," Jane stated.

"What's he doing to get the Suns' protection?" Garrus asked.

"He helps their people get new identities to infiltrate businesses," the volus stated and Jane glared.

"Bastard. He's using C-Sec to help those scum," Garrus growled.

"No. Not really," the volus stated. "He got fired from C-Sec a while ago. But he still knows the systems."

"He also probably got someone else's log ins and uses puppet programs to get into the system," Jane hissed.

"It changes nothing. We still need to find him before we can get to Sidonis," Garrus stated and Jane nodded.

"Well, let's go pay Harkin a visit. I'll contact John, we might need the back up if we're looking at mercs and mechs," Jane said.

"I can drive us there from the transit station," Garrus said.

"So I...I can go?" the volus asked and Garrus smiled down at the small volus.

"Sure, but if we don't find Harkin, we'll be back for you," he threatened and Jane twirled her blades before sheathing them.

"Oh...good..." the volus muttered as the two exited, Blasto following happily.

~*TF*~

Journal Entry Date: September 7th, 2184

"Hey John, I just got word from Alliance Command, you are looking at the most sought after officer in the Alliance Navy. I mean by the Hegemony. My bounty by the Batarian government is now in the millions of credits. Of course, it is only good in Hegemony space so most mercs are hesitant to try for it. I actually had a ship try to take on the Okinawa two days ago, we were escorting the SSV Christchurch so they caught the whole thing on video feed," she said before rubbing her face with her hands.

"Someone leaked the footage so it is now a trending video on the extranet. I think I need to up the psychological warfare on the batarians. I may have to release some of the footage from my visor. Maybe if they see my kills in action they won't be so quick to throw away their lives," Jane sighed. "It's not the experienced mercs I worry about. They know the Hegemony offer is worthless to non-batarians. The one reliable thing about the Hegemony is that their racist policies have made it so that non-batarians know they don't pay out in full to anyone who isn't batarian. But the inexperienced kids playing merc will throw their lives away. Maybe seeing me in action will make them take a step back." Blasto barked and Jane smiled over her shoulder at the varren.

"Green mercs are going to die coming after me. Some will be stupid desperate kids looking for a better life. I don't want to have to kill foolish children looking to make a buck...but I know that offer is going to get people killed coming after me. I might have to go savage to make them think twice. God I don't want to be a boogieman...but children are scared of boogiemen," Jane said, the scale of life clearly balanced in her eyes. "I don't want young blood on my hands because of the batarians." Her eyes flashed to the screen hard and cold...killing eyes.

~*TF*~

"No see I'm perfectly fine back here," John snarked, sharing the back seat of the air car with Blasto. "I come to help you out after you guys just take off and you shove me in the back with your varren." The only response to John's statement was silence and Blasto's happy panting. "You better not be drooling on me you mutt."

"There that's the landing to the factory Fade is supposed to be working out of." Garrus pointed out. Jane flew the car down and set it on the landing pad. As they unload John shoved Blasto out ahead of him as the others unloaded. They walked down the way and saw a group of Blue Sun mercs moving cargo with one human watching over them.

"There he is." Jane noted as they noticed the team.

"Shepard? Shepards? Don't just stand there...stop them. Stop them!" Harkin cried, running into the factory as his guards moved forward.

"Run all you want, Harkin. We'll find you!" Garrus shouted after him as he put down two of the guards. They put down the guards as quickly as they could but as they moved quickly into the factory Harkin had already disappeared.

"Shit!" Garrus snapped. Jane opened her omni-tool and checked over the map.

"All the other entrances have been sealed up. He has to get by us to get out." Jane noted.

"He's in here somewhere, I can smell him." Garrus growled as they moved deeper in. John quickly shot down a few security mechs that were trying to activate and stop them.

"Knowing him, he's probably holed up in the office." John commented. Garrus grunted in agreement as he shot a Blue Suns merc. Jane gestured and wave of biotic energy threw a few aside, Blasto snarling and taking out a few that were trying to get back up. They moved briskly, the three of them quickly falling into a rhythm as they moved. They reach an access room into the main storage room and Jane opened the shutters and started working on the doors.

"So Harkin's finally gone completely bad." John commented. He definitely felt out of the loop, like Jane and Garrus weren't telling him something. He could see that the two were getting closer and while he didn't mind that he felt like something bad was going to happen.

"He was always a pain in the ass. But I'm in no mood for his games. If he doesn't cooperate, I'll beat him within an inch of his life." Garrus growled.

"You seem to be getting tense, Garrus." John commented.

"Harkin may know why Sidonis wanted to disappear." Garrus snapped. "If so, he knows why we're here and I don't want him tipping Sidonis off." John shot Jane a look who returned it without flinching. John stared at Jane trying to get her to crack. However Garrus stopped them as he drew his gun and moved down. Both Shepards moved right after him, both trusting the Turian completely.

"Did you see that?" Garrus commented. Jane shot John an annoyed looked but shook her head.

"No, sorry." Jane replied.

"He's getting ready for us, I saw some security mechs moving into position." Garrus noted. John frowned as they readied their weapons.

"What are you going to do to Harkin if he won't cooperate?" John asked quietly.

"He's a real criminal now. Working for the Blue Suns. I should just shoot him on sight. But I need him alive, so I won't do any permanent damage. Just enough to loosen his tongue." Garrus grunted.

"You don't need him hurt to get what you want." John commented.

"Don't worry. Harkin's a coward. He'll talk long before I can really hurt him." Garrus replied.

"Let's see what Harkin's got in there." Jane broke in, moving to the door.

"Right behind you." Garrus said. They swiftly moved inside and barely made it to cover as Blue Sun mercs and security mechs opened fire.

"Shit he's raised the floor plates," John snapped opening fire and dropping some of the mercs.

"Definitely trying to funnel us in." Jane said, throwing some of the mechs into the others with a biotic field. That opened it up for the tem and they moved over some of the floor plates and then down the other side just as two cargo bots dropped YMIR mechs in front of them.

"Oh crap, two heavy mechs incoming!" Garrus announced. John dove for cover to the right as Jane stopped behind them and took cover on one of the upper floor plates. John whittled away their shield quickly and Garrus dropped their armor which let Jane quickly finish each off with a headshot.

"Down!" Garrus shouted just as both machines whined loudly before exploding and sending mushrooms clouds up. After a few moments to let the dust settle the team swiftly moved up the floor plates set up like stairs. Just before the last one Jane placed a hand on John's shoulder stopping him.

"Let us handle this while you watch our backs from here with Blasto, please?" she asked and John instantly knew something was up. He looked at Jane, boring his eyes into her. Jane returned his look with one of her own, her face shutdown. John glanced at Garrus who was moving ahead.

"Don't let him fall too far." John said after a moment and turned to watch their backs. "He's family." Jane gave him a look with a nod.

"You know I won't," she said. As she moved she whispered quietly. "If I can help it."

Jane and Garrus slipped onto the platform. Shoulder to shoulder as they looked at each other.

"I flush him out from this side and you get the other door?" Jane suggested and Garrus nodded. He crouched low and crept forward. For a moment Jane thought of the Earth dinosaurs and how much Garrus looked like a raptor, ready to attack his prey. The rage in him made her heart ache. She worried about the darkness in Garrus, it was far too familiar. As she saw him in place, she moved to the door. She stepped in and aimed.

"You were close, but not close enough," Harkin grinned as he back up and turned to run for the other door. Garrus entered perfectly and his gun came up, slamming Harkin in the face. With fluid grace, Garrus caught Harkin as he clutched at his most likely broken nose, slamming the man into a wall before quickly bracing an arm into Harkin's throat to make it clear the human was not easily escaping the turian's grasp. Jane put up her gun and moved to stand beside her friend. Blasto heeled at the door.

"So, Fade...couldn't make yourself disappear, huh?" Garrus purred. Harkin still looked confident, even with his busted lip and the blood leaking from his nose.

"Come on, Garrus...we can work this out. Whaddaya need?" Harkin offered and Garrus stepped back, looking away from Harkin.

"I'm looking for someone," Garrus stated.

"Well, I guess we both have something the other one wants," Harkin stated, dusting his hands off. Garrus was fast and vicious. A kick to the groin that Jane never anticipated. Harkin dropped, coughing at the pain. Garrus looked like he was ready to strike again. Cold rushed down Jane's back even though she didn't move. Garrus' blue eyes were cold...so cold. Did she look like that? Jane's heart ached.

"We're not here to exchange favors," Jane said.

"You don't say," Harkin coughed as he got to his feet. Garrus loomed over Harkin.

"You helped a friend of mine disappear. I need to find him," Garrus said.

"I might need a little more information than that," Harkin stated, clearly playing more confidence than he had.

"His name was Sidonis. Turian, came from the..." Garrus said and Harkin sneered.

"I know who he is, and I'm not telling you squat," Harkin snapped. Jane wondered where the courage came from.

"Harkin, this doesn't have to be hard," Jane sighed.

"Screw you, bitch, I don't give out client information. It's bad for business" Harkin said turning to glare at Garrus. Jane was shocked when Garrus was suddenly knee deep in Harkin's gut, lifting the human up and into the wall. As soon as Harkin hit the floor, Garrus boot was firmly on his throat. There was no shaking, no hesitation. One moment Harkin was standing the next he was pinned. Garrus' killing eyes were on Harkin. Determination spoke of Garrus' posture. He had a mission and he would not let anything stop him. Now who did that sound like. Jane felt dirty and her heart ached like it was being squeezed.

"You know what else is bad for business?" Garrus asked so casually. "A broken neck." Jane knew he would do it.

"All right! All right! Get off of me!" Harkin cried. Writhing like a crushed insect under Garrus' boot. Jane saw the darkness in Garrus' eyes and she caught his shoulder. He gave her a glance as he stepped back. Jane released his shoulder, her hand sliding down his shoulder and arm before dropping to her side.

"Terminus really changed you, huh, Garrus," Harkin gasped.

"No, but Sidonis...opened my eyes. Now arrange a meeting," Garrus said and for a moment, his voice wavered. Jane wondered if blood really would bring Garrus peace or...like Jane, blood would only fuel the darkness more. As Harkin arranged the meeting Garrus was looking at his pistol. Jane saw the decision and knew the moment he made it.

"It's all good. He wants to meet you in front of Orbital Lounge. Middle of the day. So, if our business is done, I'll be going..." Harkin said and Garrus caught him by the front of the shirt.

"I don't think so. You're a criminal now, Harkin," Garrus said, inches from Harkin's face.

"So what..you're just going to kill me? That's not your style, Garrus," Harkin sneered. For a moment Jane saw the old Garrus, the bright eyed bushy tailed C-Sec Officer.

"Kill you? No. But I don't mind slowing you down a little," Garrus said, aiming at Harkin's legs and Jane grabbed his arm, pulling up and letting the round hit the ceiling above them.

"You don't need to shoot him. He won't be able to hide from C-Sec now," Jane said, her hands holding tightly to Garrus' arm, a slight tremor to her fingers. Garrus gave her a look before gently pulling his arm from her grasp.

"I guess it's your lucky day," Garrus said and Harkin leered at the two.

"Yeah, I hope we can do this again real soon," Harkin said. Garrus gave Jane a look and she knew he wouldn't do serious damage to Harkin. She turned and headed to the door. There was a fleshy sound of impact and Harkin cried out in pain. Garrus quickly approached from behind Jane.

"I didn't shoot him," he said and Jane gave him a slight smile.

"Yeah, you didn't," she said as she saw hope that her friend was still there.

"Sidonis better be there, or I'm coming back to finish the job," Garrus warned as they walked out.

~*TF*~

Journal Entry Date: November 2nd, 2184

"Hey John, it was worse than I thought looking at it. The colony was nearly pristine, not like Akuze, but like Akuze," Jane said. Her chin resting on her interlocked fingers as she leaned on the desk. "I don't know how the colonists are disappearing. There's almost no evidence, just enough to indicate personal firearms aimed up and then...nothing. No evidence of firefights, explosives, nothing. Tables set for meals that were never eaten, toys left out that were never picked up, even showers running endlessly without a body in them. No blood, no gore, no damage except for a few blasts that grazed the tops of buildings." Jane stared at nothing as the John VI popped to life behind her.

"Message from Garrus received," the John VI said.

"I'll read it later, " Jane said as she continued to stare at nothing. She moved to place one arm on the desk, the other supported the side of her head. "Not batarian. No mercenary group I know that slaves. But every man, woman, and child gone. The livestock is fine, save for a few who were trapped inside too long without enough food, but otherwise...fine. Only the humans are gone. What is doing this? I have contacted Tela about older asari with expertise in abductions, maybe one of them will recognize this MO." She ran her nails over her lips in contemplation.

"There was a baby crib...they took the baby...they're taking babies..." Jane whispered in quiet horror, staring at nothing, darkness creeping into her eyes. "I have to stop them..."

~*TF*~

"We'll handle it from here," Jane said and John stared at them with Blasto next to him as Garrus and Jane sat in the car.

"Why do I have to take Blasto back to the Normandy?" John asked.

"He stands out. He's good for muscle and intimidation, but we need to be civil," Jane said and John sighed. He was curious what the two were going to do, but trusting them to come back.

"Fine, but you owe me," John said and Jane nodded.

"Yeah, yeah," she said as she closed the top and the car too off, leaving John behind. He stared at them as they left and sighed. He activated his comms.

"This is John Shepard. I need a pickup."

~*TF*~

The air car flew towards the meeting point and Garrus and Jane spoke.

"Harkin's a bloody menace," Garrus growled. "We shouldn't have just let him go. He deserved to be punished." Jane looked at Garrus, the darkness was back in his eyes.

"Garrus...I'm getting worried about you. You were pretty hard on Harkin," Jane said and Garrus chuckled.

"Wow, the Terror of the Hegemony told me I was being hard on someone, I suppose I should be worried," he said flippantly. "You don't think he deserved it?" His tone serious and sharp. Jane looked at him, her eyes meeting the icy cold blue of his own.

"It's just not like you," Jane said. He met her eyes and turned away.

"What do you want from me, Jane?" Garrus asked. "What would you do if someone betrayed you?" Jane looked at him.

"I killed her," Jane said and he turned to look at her, he opened his mouth to speak. "I don't like that I had to kill her. I don't want to change anymore." Garrus opened his mouth. "You don't have to go through with this."

"Who's going to bring Sidonis to justice if I don't? Nobody else knows what he's done. Nobody else cares," Garrus said and passion entered his eyes. Hurt and pain mixing with anger and hate. Jane knew those eyes, had seen them in the mirror. She wanted to look away, but kept looking him in the eye. He looked away first. "I don't see any other options."

"Let me talk to him," Jane said.

"Talk all you want, but it won't change my mind," Garrus said, not making eye contact. "I don't care what his reasons were, he screwed us..he deserves to die." Jane reached out, one hand resting on his forearm.

"I know exactly what you are going through...do you really want to kill him?" Jane asked and he looked down at her hand on his arm.

"I appreciate your concern...but I'm not you," Garrus said.

"This isn't you, either," Jane said, feeling the tightness around her heart as she removed her hand.

"Really? I've always hated injustice. The thought that Sidonis could get away with this...why should he go on living while ten good men lie in unmarked graves?" Garrus said, the hardness back in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Shepard. Words aren't going to solve this problem. I need to set up." He looked around. "I can get a clear shot from over there."

"What do you need me to do?" Jane asked, not looking at him.

"Keep him talking and don't get in my way. I'll let you know when he's in my sights," Garrus said. "Give me a signal so I know you're ready, and I'll take the shot. You better go, he'll be here soon." Jane watched as he got out and headed the sky car headed to the rendezvous point.

She looked out at the area, a single turian was sitting where Sidonis was set to meet them.

"Jane? Can you hear me?" Garrus called over the communicator.

"Loud and clear," she said as she approached the turian.

"All right. There he is...wave him over and keep him talking," Garrus said and his voice sounded hard. Jane was glad she couldn't see his eyes. She waved at the turian and he stared at her as he got to his feet.

"You're Shepard..." Sidonis hissed as he stared at her and Jane nodded. "Shit...Garrus knows." Jane caught his collar ridge.

"You're in my shot. Move to the side," Garrus hissed and Jane could feel the hate that Garrus should never had in his voice and she closed her eyes at the sound.

"Yes he does, Sidonis, I'm here to help you," Jane said, squeezing the collar ridge, keeping Sidonis from moving. His eyes were frantic with fear. "I am a friend of Garrus' and he very much wants you dead, but I'm hoping that's not necessary."

"Is this some kind of joke..." Sidonis cried and Jane shook her head.

"Damn it, Jane, if he moves, I'm taking the shot!" Garrus snarled in Jane's ear and to hear her friend's voice so contorted with rage and hate made her soul ache.

"You're not kidding, are you?" Sidonis whispered with cold fear on his face. "Screw this. I'm not sticking around here to find out. Tell Garrus I had my own problems..." Jane's other hand caught one of Sidonis' arms.

"Don't move," Jane said calmly, letting out all her fear. She had to save Garrus and to save him, she had to save Sidonis. He tried to pulled free. "I'm the only thing standing between you and a hole in the head." Sidonis stared at her for a second before hanging his head.

"Fuck..." he hissed. "Look...I didn't want to do it...I didn't have a choice." Jane pushed her comm's mic up, to catch Sidonis' words.

"Everyone has a choice," Garrus growled.

"They got to me. Said they'd kill me if I didn't help. What was I supposed to do?" Sidonis said. Light drained from his eyes. Guilt slowly filled him, his body contorting under its weight.

"Let me take the shot, Jane. He's a damn coward," Garrus hissed. Jane saw Sidonis' body posture, she decided to prod him.

"That's it? You were just trying to save yourself," she hissed dismissively and he couldn't meet her eyes. Shame was written all over him.

"I know what I did. I know they died because of me. and I have to live with that," his voice sounded more broken, lost. Would Tela have sounded like that should Chirum have questions her on Jane dying? "I wake up every night...sick...and sweating. Each of their faces staring at me...accusing me. I'm already a dead man. I don't sleep. Food has no taste. Some days I just want it to be over."

"Just give me the chance," Garrus purred in Jane's ear.

"You have to let that hatred go, Garrus. He's already paying for his crime," Jane said looking at Sidonis' broken posture.

"He hasn't paid enough. He still has his life..." Garrus growled. Jane moved back and looked to where she knew Garrus was.

"Look at him, Garrus. He's not living...there' nothing you could do that he isn't doing worse to himself already," she said.

"My men...they deserved better," Garrus said and Sidonis spoke up.

"Tell Garrus...I guess there's nothing I can say to make it right..." Sidonis whispered, he sounded as broken as he looked. Jane looked up at Garrus.

"Just...go. Tell him to go..." Garrus sighed.

"He's giving you a second chance, Sidonis. Don't waste it," Jane said as she turned. "You can't bring back the dead, but you can live to make up for what you did."

"I'll try, Garrus. I'll make it up to you, somehow," Sidonis said and the two parted ways. "Thank you. For talking to him."

Jane landed the car to pick up Garrus and he moved to speak.

"I don't want you to end up like me," Jane said and Garrus froze. She caught him off guard. "I know you looked up to me and John. That without John you saw me as some sort of role model. I'm not. I hate who I am and I see it staining you." His mouth opened. "I can't look in the mirror without seeing the evil things I have done to protect and serve justice."

"Jane..." Garrus started and she shook her head.

"You're better than me, Garrus. You're a better person, a better protector, and I don't want you to come into the darkness I'm in. Stay away from it. I regret so much now. I don't want someone I love and care about to ever follow my path. I'm a monster and I don't want you to be." She looked at him with tears in her eyes. His mouth opened and shut and she turned. "I'll see you on the Normandy. I have an errand to run." She walked off.

~*TF*~

Journal Entry Date: December 5th, 2184

"Hey John," Jane said, she looked angry. "They hit Mallory. Best we can tell, it happened last night. We're going to be too late. This is the earliest shot we've gotten at one of these colony attacks." Jane rubbed her face, looking furious. "It's only dumb luck that we're going to be only two days out instead of a week. A merchant who deals with a stickler of a mechanic on Mallory was on call with the guy when the call went out. He called back twice and got nothing, remembered the reports on the other colonies and called the Alliance in."

"I know why the people join these anti-Alliance colonies, I understand, but out here where the nearest Alliance aid will always be too late..." she rested with her head in her hands. Her fingers messing up her hair. "I spoke to a couple asari matriarchs, they mentioned these creatures...Collectors. Sort of galactic hermits with a hard on for genetics. They are known to abduct species for genetic purposes. Trade and sell species for samples. All around not too nice, but very rare. Hell, it looks like the last time they were really active was around the time of the genophage. Otherwise, much like the geth before Sovereign, a galactic ghost with random sightings. Every now and then a colony vanishes, some place blame on the Collectors, others just write it off like a random event. I'm wondering if its Collectors. They are supposed to be old, predating asari even. But is it?" Jane sighed.

"I'll do what I can. I contacted Tali about seeing about putting a few pilgrimage kids on our worlds. You know how most colonies would welcome an engineer willing to work for scrap. It looks like it will go through and I have a few worlds picked out for the quarian kids. Collectors get specific when they take a colony, just one species. Throw a quarian here and there...we might get a witness. I'm also writing up a proposal to place two man Alliance teams on some worlds. It will require anti-ship guns...so that means Alliance money. I don't anticipate us getting permission for that one for a while," she sighed. "I don't think I'm going to get much out of Mallory that will help protect our people."

~*TF*~

"-early tomorrow morning. I know Jane has a meeting with the admiralty board so we'll go then Thane. That's not cutting it too close is it?"

Garrus paused by John's cabin door. It was open and judging from the sound of his voice, John wasn't too far from the door.

"I do not believe so. Thank you Shepard, I would not want Kolyat to follow my path in life." Thane's voice responded, preceding the man as he walked out. "Goodnight Shepard." He didn't even look in Garrus's direction as he headed for the elevator. The doors were closing behind him as he spoke again. "A goodnight to you as well Mr. Vakarian." Garrus shook his head as John poked his head out and saw Garrus standing there.

"You don't have to sulk in the hallway Garrus, come on in." John said and headed back into his cabin. Garrus quickly moved in and looked around. Not much had changed but the couches and bed looked new and the fish tank was now filled with fish.

"I figured this place would be a wreck," Garrus noted and John grunted picking up a coffee cup.

"I had it fixed up when we dry docked on Illium and Kelly feeds the fish when she can. I'm horrible at remembering when to feed them and what each species gets." John commented. "Miranda was pleased though when the bill came in after my little episode."

"I'll bet."

"So what brings you by Garrus?" John sked calmly. "Everything workout for you with Sidonis?" Garrus felt as if he had been punched in the stomach.

"How the hell did you find out about that?" Garrus asked and John shot his oldest friend a look.

"You've mentioned what he did before and despite what people think I do pay attention to details. Plus my girlfriend is now the equivalent to galaxy's most infamous boogeyman and spy. Why wouldn't I know about it?" John retorted. "Why didn't you tell me though?"

"I, well…I thought you stopped me." Garrus admitted. John looked at him for a bit before sighing.

"I might have but I've never been one to approve of assassinations like that. Snipers in combat are one thing but public assassinations in civilian areas?" John shot Garrus a look who's mandibles flicked in embarrassment. "You stopped though."

"Only because of Jane." Garrus muttered and John smiled.

"I can appreciate that." John mused and Garrus chuckled before he sighed. He mustered himself and looked his friend in the eyes.

"Listen John I've been meaning to ask if you'd be okay, that is if Jane would…"

"If she's interested then yes I don't have a problem with it." John cut his friend off to avoid embarrassment. "You're a better man than Kaidan. If Jane is interested go for it." Garrus blinked.

"What?" Garrus said and John rolled his eyes before looking upward for a moment before refocusing on his friend.

"You'll figure it out but that obviously isn't what you wanted to ask me. Go on." John promoted.

"It's just…Jane seems down on herself lately. Like she thinks she's become this monster and not a Spectre." Garrus commented and John nodded.

"I've noticed that too Garrus. I'm going to help her but with how tense things have been between us I think she'd listen to you before me. I'm still playing catchup on everything. Maybe you can find something to help remind Jane who she is." John said and Garrus nodded as an idea came to him.

~*TF*~

Earth Date: March 9th, 2186 CE

Location: Normandy SR-2, Citadel Dock

Jane was working on the paperwork she collected when her door pinged.

"Who is it EDI?" Jane asked.

"Officer Vakarian," EDI said.

"Blasto, door," Jane ordered and Blasto got up and opened the door by pressing his snout to the console. Garrus entered. He looked at Jane a moment. She paused and looked up at him. There was a moment of awkward silence.

"You're not a monster, Jane," Garrus said and Jane blinked at him. "I do look up to you. I still do. You've done some rough things, but you're not a monster. No more than most heroes who have to make the calls you have are."

"I don't feel like a hero," Jane said and Garrus shook his head.

"You've fought some of the darkest battles alone. You've had to see some of the worst of the galaxy, even more than I have," Garrus said. "You did a lot of it alone. It can be suffocating." He looked at her and Jane got up.

"Yeah, that's a good word for it," she said and he approached her.

"You are the strongest person I know, Jane, you got your skull bashed in and fought till you collapsed. You faced down the Reapers, Collectors, mercs, and still have it in you to risk your safety to save children," Garrus said and Jane blinked as he held something out to her. "You need to watch this. We can talk more later, but you're always a hero in my eyes because of that." Jane looked at the small OSD in her hand. Garrus walked out and after a few moments alone, she placed it on her omnitool. An image of an asari appeared.

"To Jane Shepard, Human Spectre, you probably do not know me. I'm Maralia De'Coria and I was one of the maidens held hostage by the Gunar," she said. "They did horrible things to me. They didn't cut anything off, but..." Her eyes tearing up. "There are things they did that...I still am getting over. Tela Vasir sent me the video footage from your visor. You killed the monsters who hurt me. You stopped them from doing that to anyone else. I cannot thank you enough."

Jane blinked as the screen flickered to a small turian face. She recognized it.

"To Spectre Shepard, I hope you see this. You saved me from the Batarians," the small turian said with a bright smile, pointing to a scar on his head. "This is where your crew took the bomb out of my head." Bright eyes looked at the screen. "I saw you get hurt. I know you could have stopped that one batarian from hurting you, but you took that hit so you could make sure we were safe. It looked like you were hurt really bad, but you fought so good. I told all my classmates about it when I got back from the hospital. I'm not afraid of batarians because Spectre Strong Shepard is out there protecting all of us!" The little turian held up an official holo of Jane in Spectre gear. "One day, I'm going to train to be a medic, so that I can support the people who help us stay safe!" Tears spilled from Jane's eyes.

Colonists, Citadel citizens, asari, salarians, turians, krogan, batarians, Alliance personnel, military, medical...one after another the people Jane had fought to protect said things that made Jane feel even less deserving. She had soaked herself in blood...and people not only saw that, but thanked her for it. Blasto shoved himself into his mistress's arms and let her hold onto him as she wept. It was the type of weeping that could restore a broken soul.

~*TF*~

Journal Entry Date: January 3rd, 2185

"Hey John, sorry about the radio silence, I've been in a coma for that last few days," Jane said in a hospital bed, bandages covering her cheek and wrapped around her head. "Tela got me a brand new implant, says a bunch of Spectres teamed up and pulled strings. The new L5. Nice, rarely hear about post implant replacements much. You know...except when you get your head crushed in and lose your old one." Jane looked like beat shit.

"I'm lucky to be alive. That god damn Dirake almost took me out. Stupid mistake too. I should have known they would booby trap the upper floors. Careless, almost got me and Chirum killed. Pretty sure Tela would have made it," Jane grunted as she moved up in her bed. "Dirake was arrogant though. Thought he was going to win to the point he filmed the whole thing. I've seen it a few times. Naena's training with her boys saved my bacon for sure. I sent her a turian thank you basket."

"I need to be more careful. Tela wasn't in position, but they were going to kill others. I rushed. When did I get so impatient?" she sighed as she closed her eyes. "I dreamt of you. We were in an autopsy suite. I was beat to shit and you were spaced. You kept telling me not to leave you and I kept telling you that I wanted to be where you were." Tears slipped out from under Jane's lids. "I still want to be where you are...but...was it prophetic? Was it like that time you broke your leg? Are you out there, spaced but alive? God I want you to be alive, John. Why...why...I need to know. Why do I keep living while good people die? Aelaxos died, Chirum's family, you...why do I always survive?"

~*TF*~

Earth Date: March 10th, 2186 CE

Location: Zakera Ward, Citadel

"Officer Bailey." Bailey looked up and found John Shepard looking at him.

"Spectre Shepard, how can I help you today?" Bailey asked and John gestured to Thane who was watching calmly.

"My associate is trying to find his son. We think a local criminal may have hired him." John explained.

"Should be easy." Bailey said after glancing at Thane. "We don't see many drell here." He typed away at his console for a few minutes before looking up at them. "There we go. One of my men reported a drell recently. And he was talking to Mouse. Interesting."

"Mouse?" Thane asked quietly.

"A petty criminal. Probably not the guy who hired your boy, but a messenger. He's a former duct rat, runs errands for anyone who'll pay." Bailey explained.

"What sort of trouble has Mouse been getting himself into?" John inquired and Bailey typed away for a moment.

"Odd jobs for shifty people. Duct rats take whatever's available to get by. Data running. Fencing stolen goods. Selling illegal VI personalities. Actually, he was selling one of you." Bailey commented and John frowned, wondering if that was where Jane had gotten hers.

"Oh yes, I'm well aware of those being out and about," John growled before he shook himself. "What was it you called Mouse?"

"Duct rat. It's a local slang for the poor kids who grow up on the station. When they're small, they tend to play in the ventilation ducts, where adults can't get to them." Bailey clarified.

"Aren't the ducts dangerous?"

"Every couple of months, we pull a little body out of them. Lacerated by fan blades. Broken by a deadfall. Suffocated by vacuum exposure. Those are just the ones we know about. More just disappear. Maybe they get sucked into space. Maybe they fall into the protein vats the keepers run. Mouse survived long enough that he can't fit in the ducts anymore. He was one of the smarter ones. Or the luckier ones. He's usually upstairs, outside the Dark Star. He works out of a public comm terminal. You should pick up a copy of the "John Shepard VI" when you talk to him. It sounds like your boy's running with the wrong crowd." Bailey said, looking at Thane.

"Yes. I agree." Thane replied.

"If Mouse can't get you in touch with your son directly, he'll know who can. I'll help you if you need it." Bailey offered and John paused.

"You don't know us, Captain. Why are you going so far to help us?" John asked and Bailey sighed.

"I've worked Zakera for two years. Every day, kids turn to crime because they've got no other choice. Because their parents don't care. You're trying to save yours."

"...He faces a dark path." Thane commented.

"We better hurry, then." Shepard commented. "Thanks Bailey."

"You didn't tell him that Kolyat plans to assassinate someone." Thane noted as they walked.

"He's a cop. He'd try to stop Kolyat, and one of them could end up dead. I don't want that," John replied as they headed up the stairs.

"Thank you, Shepard."

~*TF*~

Jane entered the room and the table was already filled with either live bodies or holograms. It looked like everyone wanted to hear her report. She saluted.

"Spectre Shepard, at ease," Hackett said from his seat. He was one of the two admirals actually in the room. Jane went to at rest.

"I thought this report would be faster," another admiral sneered from his projection, it was Admiral Mikhailovich. He was still bitter he never got the SSV Normandy and had been placing the blame on John and Jane's Spectre status ever since. Jane kept her face in a strict poker mode, he was a bitch to deal with, but with Jane in Fifth Fleet and Mikhailovich out of Fifth it was easy to avoid him.

"My report was transmitted to you all late last night," Jane said. "As you can see, the first details are the genetic test. Multiple samples taken by Dr. Solus and Dr. Chakwas. These test are undeniable genetic proof."

"We all know..." another admiral started but Jane cut him off before they could stop her momentum.

"Excuse me, sir, but I would like to present my findings before answering questions and comments. The second attachment is a comparison of physical form taken of John Shepard from various sources prior to the SSV Normandy's destruction and after by my own visor. As you can see over ninety-three comparisons at near identical physical form. The only difference is the speed and reaction time. The third attachment is a bio-evaluation of the cybernetic implants used. The mathematics comes from Spectre Leolor and verify the enhanced reaction and speed are well within the capabilities of the components," Jane said, talking over the admiral.

"Spectre Shepard!" the same admiral attempted to interrupt again and Jane gave him a glare.

"I am not finished with my report, Admiral," Jane said curtly. "This is an official reporting and thus I get to put forth my report before questioning." He looked sour...good. "The fourth attachment is an evaluation by various doctors, most current acting Alliance physicians using the information provided by me to calculate the exact change. The movements are undeniably those of John Shepard, the enhanced speeds are well within the capability of a cybernetically enhanced individual. The fifth attachment are medical records and they're related scar age. As his body was surgically altered he was left unconscious for years as the surgeries were completed. His brain and vital functions were augmented by nanites and artificial systems. The dissolving remains of the nanites in his blood were analyze by Dr. Solus who also was able to analyze them. John Shepard's body was not capable of breathing on its own until a few months ago, let alone carry out missions in the past two years. The sixth attachment is a statement of confidence based on the topics that I have discussed with John Shepard that could not be known by anyone by my brother."

"Spectre..." the same admiral began.

"Just be quiet, I want to hear her," Hackett barked and the man blinked. Several eyes were on Jane and she felt power.

"The John Shepard who is working under Citadel Council commands with Cerberus and who I am assisting while onboard a Cerberus vessel is undoubtedly my brother," Jane said. "He has been wrongly stripped of his command by this council and he deserves to be given back everything you took from him." Jane covertly sent out one more packet her fingers moving behind her back on her omni-tool, a smirk on her lips.

"That's all very well and good, Spectre, but you don't have the authority to determine that," the same admiral said as Jane gave him a cocky look. "Your brother is a traitor, hiding out with Cerberus and letting them upgrade him...stop looking at me that way. Know your place soldier."

"Haven't you wondered why you didn't get another packet?" Jane asked and he stared at her.

"Not that it matters. Your brother is a traitor! He will never work for the Alliance again!" the admiral cried at her and Mikhailovich nodded.

"I agree. Our officers shouldn't be Spectres to begin with," Mikhailocvich snapped and she shook her head as she got a ping on her omni-tool.

"I will personally see to it that John Shepard is never allowed back into the Alliance Navy!" another admiral declared. Jane's face turned into a victorious grin as she read her message.

"That's very funny that you say that, because that last packet I sent went to each of the admiralty board who is not working for Cerberus. It was an article on the finances of John Shepard and another article containing Cerberus' own records on his consciousness for the two years he was missing. Those of you who didn't get that packet...well, the evidence I collected from a very reputable source was just revealed prior to this meeting. It contained your payments from Cerberus and all your correspondences with them including the plans to keep John Shepard out of the Alliance by removing his rank using you," Jane said and two of the holograms looked horrified as audio indicated that they were being taking into custody by the Alliance Military Police. The one who had been interrupting her looked horrified. "That's right, you have been working for Cerberus doing what they want and now you won't be working for the Alliance anymore. Traitor." Jane smiled as hands appeared and that hologram flickered off again. The remaining admirals looked horrified as everyone received the same mass email across Alliance lines. Jane's report on the corrupt Alliance officers was hitting the net and those officers were being collected. Jane hadn't removed all of Cerberus' bitches, but she knew who to watch. Better to let them think she didn't have access to the Shadow Broker's intel and leave their spies in specific places so they would be easier to manipulate later.

"Well, that was surprising," the admiral with the glasses muttered. "Makes me reconsider my previous stance." Jane nodded.

"We will look over your evidence, Spectre Shepard. Thank you for your hard work, the Alliance has no room for traitors," one of the other holograms stated looking rather upset, Mikhailovich looked rather like a beached fish, mouth open and gaping. "This is going to be a cluster fuck to clean up."

"Can't wait for Westerlund to get a whiff of this," another sighed.

"Once the admiralty board has been fixed for a lack of better word, we will discuss what to do with your brother then. Jane, you've made a lot of work for us," Hackett said and Jane nodded.

"Understood, sir, but I stand by my statement. Spectre John Shepard is my brother and deserves to be reinstated in the Alliance Navy with his rank returned," she said.

"I suspect, Spectre Shepard, you get your way more often than not," one of the holograms muttered and Jane smirked.

"I still end up on the wrong side of arguments, luckily, I have a lot of people to help me maintain true to myself," she said.

"Dismissed," Hackett said and Jane saluted before turning and walking out. "That girl is a one women calamity."

"I can see why the Hegemony is scared of her. Scares me to think there's another Shepard out there now too," the one with the glasses sighed.

"I'm just glad they're on our side even if Mikhailovich isn't," another said.

~*TF*~

"-yeah. Sure. I can get you two cases by the end of the day." A younger man was saying as he tapped away on his pad. He hung up his call as John approached him from behind.

"You Mouse?" John asked. The man turned around jolted back.

"What do you...oh, shit!" He yelped seeing them staring at him. "Krios? I thought you retired! Commander Shepard? I thought you died! What do you want with me?"

"Be still, Mouse. You can change your pants in a moment." Thane said calmly, patting the man on the arm.

"How do you know Thane?" John asked.

"Krios? He didn't...Uh. If he didn't say nothing, I ain't either." Mouse said, crossing his arms and trying to look tough. Trying being the key word.

"When we heard the name, I didn't think it could be the same Mouse. He was a contact on the Citadel when I was active. He and some other children would gather information on my targets." Thane explained and John frowned at him.

"You put children in danger to spy for you?" John said, disapproval in his voice.

"Children. The poor. My people's word for their kind is "drala'fa": the ignored. They're everywhere, see everything. Yet they are never seen." Thane explained and focused on Mouse, grabbing him by the front and pulling him closer. "You gave another drell instructions for an assassination. Who's the target?"

"I...I don't know. I didn't ask. 'Cause the people I work for? They can make me disappear." Thane let Mouse go and the man took a breath. "I'd like to help you, Krios. You always done right by us. But I ain't gonna die for you."

"Look. You know Thane. He wouldn't ask if it wasn't important. Do it for him." John explained.

"I want to. He was always nice to us. But these people ain't nice, Krios."

"Nobody's going to know you talked to us." John promised.

"Mouse. I swear that you won't be named." Thane agreed.

"All right...all right." Mouse said, giving in. "He came with that holo you took of me. Said he wanted a job. I ran through your old contacts to see who might give him a shot. The guy who offered was Elias Kelham."

"Tell me about Kelham." John ordered.

"Human. Moved to the Citadel about ten years ago. He was little people when you were here, Krios. He got big after the geth attack. Lots of the big guys from before got cacked. All in them big fancy apartments up on the Presidium. Now he runs the rackets on the lower end of the Ward. Shin Akiba. He's seriously bad news."

"You did good, Mouse." John said. "Thanks."

"Yeah. Hope I live long enough to pat myself on the back." Mouse muttered.

"Kelham will never know." Thane vowed and Mouse sighed.

"I hope not. I'm out of here, Krios. Next time you're in town...Just don't bring the family." Mouse said walking off. John sighed and they headed back towards the C-Sec office.

"That couldn't have been easy," John noted.

"Mouse knew more about my life than Kolyat ever did." Thane said and he stopped for a moment. "He smiles up at me, broken teeth and scabby knees. Bare feet black. A dead-end future looking up at me. Worshipping the petty gifts I offer. I was the only good thing he had, back then. But I left him, as I left Kolyat."

"Mouse said you had a holo of him?" John inquired after Thane's memory flash had passed and they resumed walking.

"Yes. A foolish bit of sentimentality. I can perfectly recall every moment I spent with Mouse." Thane stopped as just another moment hit him. "He pulls at my arm. Smiles. He wants to know that I'll remember him. That anyone will remember him. I take the holo. He smiles at himself in miniature on my palm. Then a frown crinkles his brow. He pats my pockets, checking for other holos. "Where's your son, Krios?" he askes."

"Don't blame yourself." John said and Thane sighed.

"If I don't, who will? We must carry the weight of our decisions, Shepard."

~*TF*~

Jane was heading back to the Normandy when she heard a voice she did not want to hear.

"The people want to hear your story, Shepard," Khalisah al-Jilani said and Jane sighed as she turned to see the annoying reporter. "Khalisah bint Sinan al-Jilani, Westerlund News. You're a hard woman to pin down, Jane Shepard."

"I know who you are, Khalisah, I've worked very hard to avoid you," Jane said.

"Your brother presented your case very well on camera, people have been suggesting you might not," Khalisah said with a sly smirk. It would be so easy to throw the bitch into the wall biotically. Still, Jane just took down so many corrupt Alliance officers, she was feeling good. "Do you have a minute?"

"You want to do a smear job on me like you did on my brother?" Jane asked and Khalisah's eyes went rabid.

"Now, Shepard...you may object to my methods, but we're on the same side. Speaking of your brother, is it true that he's returned?" Khalisah asked and Jane couldn't help herself.

"My brother has recovered from his injuries," Jane said and Khalisah looked confused. "Whatever some people may say, John Shepard was mistaken as DOA because he was in a coma, picked up and treated, brought back from near death, but unable to make contact with anyone until just recently. I cannot speak any further because such a case of mistaken labeling of DOA is now in the Alliance courts, thus, I am under gag order," Jane said, doing her best to look like an innocent woman. Khalisah's face was displeased until she smirked, Jane was slightly worried.

"You're still news, Shepard. I want to give your story its due," Khalisah said and her camera clicked on. Jane was not happy with this. "You were are the heart of the Presidium during the Battle of the Citadel. It's fair to say the course of the battle hinged on your words. If true, you were the one to tell Admiral Hackett to assist the Destiny Ascension, costing hundreds of human lives and securing the continued dominance of the Citadel Council." So al-Jilani had discovered it was on Jane's order that Fifth Fleet had saved the Council. Great. Jane stood up and looked right at al-Jilani.

"The Turians lost twenty cruisers. Figure each had a crew of around three hundred. The Ascension...the asari dreadnought we saved...had a crew of nearly ten thousand," Jane said.

"But surely the human cost..." Khalisah began but Jane gave her a stern look. Nothing close to her killing stare, but one that demanded respect.

"The Alliance lost eight cruisers. Shenyang, Emden, Jakarta, Cairo, Seoul, Cape Town, Warsaw, Madrid. And yes, I remember them all. Everyone in the Fifth Fleet on that day is a hero. The Alliance owes them all medals. The Council owes them a lot more than that. And so do you," Jane said in disgust before turning around and marching away. She was proud that she had used words instead of force. Besides, everyone knew al-Jilani could take a punch.

~*TF*~

Journal Entry Date: March 20th, 2185

"Hey John, I was worried I would have to go to see Aria, but apparently I don't have to," Jane sighed as she sipped a drink. She was still in her N7 Fury armor, just the helmet removed. "Looks like that vigilante on Omega got my next mission before I finished this one." She sighed. "Took out a Cerberus testing facility." She looked trouble.

"This is the third base I have hit of theirs that was on ghost crew. I think they are clearing out before we get there. It annoys the fuck out of me because if they are clearing out, it means we have moles. Not just one, because there was that bastard who wanted to abduct me, but he didn't have the codes to follow me...but this. We're a strike team and they knew we were coming. They have to have some brass in their pockets. Fuck." She downed the rest of her drink and glared at the glass. "So how the fuck do I prove commanding officers with N7 clearance are dirty?" She stared before slamming the glass down, just careful enough not to break it. "Trick question...I can't." She hung her head and swore some more.

~*TF*~

"Can we talk about my associate's son?"

"You talk to Mouse? Did you get the name of the guy he's working with?" Bailey asked, looking up from his screen.

"Elias Kelham," John replied simply. He wasn't expecting the look of embarassment on Bailey's face.

"Kelham. Shit. Ah, look. This is awkward. Kelham and I have a...an agreement. He doesn't cause too much trouble, and "buys tickets to the C-Sec Charity Ball" from me. In return, I ignore him." Bailey noted.

"Can you still help us?" John asked and Bailey sighed.

"I said I'd help. It's just...There'll be repercussions if I don't handle it right. He and I...give each other space. It keeps the peace. I'll get some of my people to bring him in and set him up in a private room. You can interrogate him yourself. I'll stay out of sight. If I'm lucky, Kelham will believe that I had nothing to do with it." Bailey noted.

"Bring him in. We might not have much time." John replied and got up.

"I'll make it happen. Wait here." Bailey said moving off. John moved to the side with Thane. It turns out they didn't have to wait long as about half an hour later Kelham was carried through the doors by two C-Sec officers. John watched as they carried him into an interrogation room. After a few minutes Bailey reappeared and came over to them.

"He'll expect me to get him out of this," Bailey noted.

"Not today, I think," Thane demurred. John was about to say something when Bailey comm came to life so loudly even John could hear it.

"Captain? His lawyer's here. Bet Elias has his VI set to page him if C-Sec gets within ten meters."

"I'll stall him. Get in there. And work fast." Bailey said, moving quickly to the front.

"We should question him together. Keep the pressure on. Thoughts on how we approach it?" Thane asked as they moved inside. John quickly entered his Spectre code and turned off the recording devices in the room.

"Convince him that we'll put a bullet in his head if he doesn't talk. Once he's scared, he'll cooperate." John said as they got to the door.

"Very well. I'll pretend we're ready to kill him. We can't push too hard, though. We need the information more than we need a corpse." Thane agreed just before they went inside.

"Get me out of these restraints, Bailey. Pretty funny, bringing me down here like this...who the hell are you two?" Kelham demanded as soon as they entered the room.

"You hired an assassin. We need to know who you want killed. You tell us, you can go." John explained as they walked around the room.

"I want to see my advocate." Kelham demanded.

"You apparently haven't noticed we're not C-Sec. No deals. No due process. No advocate," Thane drawled.

"What, kid...you gonna bore me into confessing? You ain't shit. Come on, hit me. I dare you. No, huh? Didn't think you had the balls." Kelham said trying to taunt them.

"Think carefully, Elias. I want to catch the assassin...not you. Why stick your neck out for him?" John asked.

"You want me to confess to putting a contract on someone. You think I'm stupid?" Kelham replied.

"I get the name, I walk out. You never see me again." John offered.

"I got no reason to believe you." Kelham grunted. Thane gestured to John and they moved to the side.

"This isn't working, Shepard. We're making no progress." Thane said quietly.

"Are we done here? Because I got people to see. Goddamn waste of my time." Kelham muttered.

"How about this? You tell us the target, you never see us again and Bailey drops his price fifty percent." John offered.

"Yeah? Can I get that in writing?" Kelham scoffed.

"I don't think either of us want this in writing." John noted. Kelham thought for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"Alright. I ain't going to jail for the tadpole and I do love a bargain. Joram Talid. He's a turian, running for office in Zakera Ward. He messes with legitimate businesses. I'm gonna stop it." Kelham growled.

"Where and when?" Thane demanded.

"His apartment. The eight hundred blocks. You better hurry," Kelham replied as the doors opened and Kelham's lawyer strolled.

"What's going on here? Get away from my client," He demanded.

"Thanks for the info Elias. I'm sure you'll feel better tomorrow," John replied.

"Better than you will, asshole! When I get my Comm link back..." Kelham snarled.

"Elias as your legal advocate, I advise you to shut the hell up!" the lawyer shouted as they left the room and met up with Bailey.

"What's the story? Why did Kelham hire the boy?" Bailey asked.

"Assassination. A turian names Joram Talid. You know him?" John asked and Bailey nodded.

"Joram? Yeah. You might have seen his posters around. He's promising to end organized crime on the ward. Thing is, his message is all mixed up in race politics. He's anti-human." Bailey noted and John sighed.

"Are things so bad that people can openly campaign as anti-human?" John muttered and Bailey shook his head.

"Before the Battle of the Citadel, the alien population thought we were violent upstarts. Look what's happened since then. A human fleet guarding the station for months. C-Sec filled with humans. A human Spectre who has the Hegemony gunning for her and dragged the Dramye back to the station. Anderson does what he can, but some people have lived on the station since before humans had starships. They see it as a coup." Bailey explained.

"If a majority votes for him, like it or not, that's how the system works," John said and sighed. "I just hope people are smart enough to see through people's hate."

"That's a nice ideal, Shepard. Sergeant! Get a patrol car. These two need to get to the 800 blocks."

"Not just us." John said turned on his com unit. "We need people who can find yourself from up high."

"Who did you have in mind John?" Thane asked.

~*TF*~

"What's the plan, Jane?" Garrus asked as Jane stood beside the air car she had called down.

"Thane's son took an assassination job, Thane doesn't want his son to follow him in the trade and apparently Joram Talid is the target. John and Thane will be after the Thane's son, we can give them eyes," Jane said as she headed to the car and Garrus grabbed her shoulder. "What?"

"I've seen your driving so I'll drive. I know the Citadel better anyway," he said and Jane sighed as she rolled her eyes.

"Fine, we need to get to the catwalks of the 800 block of Zakera Ward," she said.

"You can't just want to help Thane?" Garrus said as they took off and Jane nodded as she held up two audio-amplifiers. "You want to spy on Talid?" Jane smiled.

"You know he's dirty," Jane stated and Garrus smirked.

"I thought I wasn't supposed to be playing vigilante," he commented.

"I never said that, I said I didn't want you going for revenge. Help a Spectre out busting a dirty turian bigot?" Jane asked and Garrus chuckled.

"You sure know how to show a guy a good time," Garrus joked.

"I'm not even trying," Jane teased as the two landed and got out. Jane tossed Garrus one of the audio amplifiers. They set up their visors and the amplifiers to record to their omnitools. "Ready?" Garrus nodded before opening the hatch to the walkway and holding the door open. "Such a gentleman."

"I'm not even trying," he shot back and the two split up. They got into position at the meeting point. They looked at each other from the walkways above the street. Jane pinged John and he looked up at her above him.

"Now why are you two using audio amplifiers?" John asked and Jane smirked.

"Joram is dirty, it would be nice to not only save his life but to catch him red handed," Jane explained and John stared.

"You're collecting evidence?" John asked and Jane nodded. He sighed as he looked at Thane.

"There he is. How do you want to play this?" John asked.

"Your sister and Vakarian will keep eyes on Talid on the maintenance catwalks, you will remain on level with him. We will keep in contact on what he's doing. The Krogan bodyguard will make him easy to follow." Thane explained.

"Where will you be?" John asked.

"The darkest corner with the best view." Thane said and as John headed off Thane brought his hands together. "Amonkira. Lord of Hunters. Grant that my hands be steady, my aim be true, and my feet swift. And should the worst come to pass, grant me forgiveness."

"Whoa, I've never seen someone do that before without active camo." Jane said and John sighed. They followed Talid for a bit and couldn't help but over hear some of his rhetoric.

"-just remember, it's not all about the humans. They couldn't have gained this much power without the Council's support. Taking back our ward is only the first step. We must remove the cowards and appeasers on the Council. This doesn't stop here. I won't rest until the humans have been removed from power! Other races wait patiently for hundreds or thousands of years to earn an embassy. Do the humans? No!"

"Sounds like he's just sour the turians couldn't bomb us back into the stone age," Jane teased over the comm.

"You didn't win that war," Garrus shot back.

"Didn't lose it either," Jane replied and Garrus chuckled.

"Still, racism has no place on the Citadel," Garrus said. Jane nodded at him across the way.

"They win one battle and think they're owed a Council seat. My people won a krogan war before we asked for that honor!" Talid went on.

"Only after the Krogan saved all of us from the Rachni," Garrus sighed. "They never even got an embassy and the Salarians recruited them for that, then sterilized them and we helped."

"History is full of unfairness, focusing on it forever only leads to hatred. I don't care about the First Contact War," Jane commented. "The Turians and humans who are starting to take over leadership now, grew up in a world where humans were part of Citadel space. We should let go of the old insults. The Turians and Salarians involved with the Genophage are long dead, while some Krogan and Asari remain, those leading have lived in a world where it happened. We must move beyond. The children must make the peace their parents could not."

"So, will you be telling your children about how to make peace with batarians?" Garrus asked. Jane gave him a look.

"I am fine with the Dramye," Jane stated.

"Humans think anything ten years old is obsolete. Worthless. How can they contribute to a two thousand year old government?" Talid went on.

"He really doesn't like humans," John commented from his post from a corner where he was playing with his omni tool like someone in a text conversation.

"He's a bareface, most turians won't trust him, but he's a politician on the Citadel...they go bareface a lot," Garrus stated.

"Of course, most of those officers aren't turians, or salarians, or asari. They're humans who turn a blind eyes to the crimes of other humans," Talid went on.

"I know quite a few humans who have been busted on the Citadel," Jane commented.

"Same here, by human officers too," Garrus growled.

"He's a race baiter, no wonder Zakera Ward has so many racial incidents, and I wouldn't be surprised to find that he is part of it. End the chatter now," John muttered. "Thane, I'm on him. He's talking to some voters."

"Understood," Thane said.

"You in position?" John asked as Talid began to move. A flash of blue armor above him was either Jane or Garrus.

"Yes," Thane replied.

"We're both good up here," Jane said.

"I'm following," Thane said as Talid moved down the street with his krogan beside him. "Have you got him?" Talid was talking to a krogan and turian.

"Looks like he's talking to more voters," John said.

"Any sigh of Kolyat?" Thane asked.

"I don't see any drell, not even you Thane," Jane said.

"I'm moving to another position, ahead of him," Thane said. "No problems so far. Stay close." Talid and his bodyguard spoke for a moment.

"Talid intends for his bodyguard to intimidate the store owner, I'm going to slip into the ceiling of Aquila to get the audio. Garrus get in position to record video from across the way," Jane said.

"In position," Garrus said. John was looking at the kiosk across from Aquila. As he looked at the various baubles he could check on Talid waiting outside.

"He's letting the bodyguard do all the work. That lets him deny involvement," Jane said. John could see the human clerk looking afraid as the krogan made a scene.

"It would be devastating for him if the audio of him giving orders to that guard got out with video footage," Garrus drawled.

"Cut the chatter," John ordered.

"Target in sight," Thane said. "No sign of trouble."

"I'm out of the ceiling and following," Jane updated.

"Stay with him," Thane ordered as the group followed into a dance club. "What's he doing?"

"Another Bloodpack member is shaking down the bartender, who is a turian," Garrus grumbled. The turian looked scared as the krogan spoke to him and John scowled.

"Don't worry John, Garrus and I are getting all of it and trust me. Talid is going to be hated by all of Zakera Ward when this comes to light," Jane said, sounding pleased.

"Will it really be enough?" John asked.

"I know exactly who to give this to," Jane said.

"I'm relocating to the next room. Let me know if anything changes," Thane said. Talid was approaching several Bloodpack members.

"He's agitated," Garrus reported.

"He knows he's being watched, but I don't think he knows it's us, he hasn't looked in any of our directions," Jane said.

"It may be Kolyat," John said as Talid exited the club.

"I'm heading into his apartment building," Jane said. As they walked down the street John saw a drell with blue tone looking like he was trying to blend in as Talid was passed him. The drell moved up behind him just as John moved around the corner.

"Kolyat!" John cried and the drell paused after he pushed someone out of the way. Tt was enough to get the krogan moving as he saw the gun in the young drell's hands. The krogan shielded Talid, blocking Kolyat's shots as Talid rushed into the building. Kolyat hot on his trail.

"Thane!" John barked as they rushed for them.

"I saw," Thane noted seeming to appear from nowhere as they raced into the apartment.

"He's heading to Talid's apartment! Jane are you in position?" John sneppaed.

"I'm in Talid's ceiling crawlspace, the only way I can stop Kolyat will be with a gun, I do not have a good position." Jane explained. As they rushed in they saw Kolyat force Talid to his knees as he held the gun to the back of the turian's crest.

"Kolyat." Thane said softly and Kolyat scowled.

"This...This is a joke. Now? Now you show up?" Kolyated.

"Help me, drell. I'll do whatever you want," Talid whimpered.

"C-Sec. Put the gun down son," Bailey said moving in with two officers. John hoped this didn't escalate too quickly.

"Get out of my way. I'm walking out. He's coming with me!" Kolyat snapped. Thane holstered his pistol and slowly approached his son.

"They'll have snipers outside." Thane explained.

"I don't need your help!" Kolyat snarled, focusing on his father and John saw the opportunity. He shot the lamp, making Kolyat jumped. John rushed forward, slugging the boy and snatching his gun away from him.

"Talid, get the hell out of here," John snapped, moving back as Talid scrambled away.

"Yeah. Yeah! I will," Talid said as he hurried out.

"Take the boy into custody," Bailey ordered.

"You son of a bitch!" Kolyat snapped at John and John held up a hand, signaling for the C-Sec officers to wait.

"Your father doesn't have much time left, Kolyat. He's trying to make up for his mistakes," John said gesturing to Thane.

"What, so you came to get my forgiveness? So you can die in peace or something?" Kolyat said, doubt clear in his voice.

"I came to grant you peace. You're angry because I wasn't there when your mother died," Thane said as he approached his son. "You're angry I wasn't there when your mother died."

"You weren't there when she was alive. Why should you be there when she died?" Kolyat snapped.

"Your mother..They killed her to get to me. It was my fault," Thane explained and Kolyat jerked as if he had been struck.

"What?"

"After her body was given to the deep, I went to find them. The trigger men. The ringleaders. I hurt them. Eventually killed them." Thane explained. "When I went back to see you, you were...older. I should have stayed with you."

"I guess it's too bad for me you waited so long, huh?" Kolyat snarked.

"Kolyat. I've taken many bad things out of the world. You're the only good thing I ever added to it," Thane said softly.

"This isn't a conversation you should have in front of strangers," Bailey said before turning to his men. "Boys, take Kolyat and his father back to the precinct. Give them a room and as much time as they need."

"I'm surprised you're letting him do that," John said

"You think he's the only man who ever screwed up raising a son? I have to get back to the precinct. Come. On. I'll give you a lift," Bailey replied.

"Go ahead, Garrus and I are already on route to our destinations. Emily Wong is going to love us for all of time for this one," Jane said and John nodded before following Bailey.

~*TF*~

Journal Entry Date: August 13th 2185

"Hey John," Jane said, bandages were wrapped around her torso like a mummy. "The painkillers have kicked in. Guess who can now brag about taking a military issued turian claw blade to her back and survived? That's right me." Her body shuddered as she rested her elbows on the desk, her head hanging, hair blocking her face. "Fucking batarian slaver. Took it from a turian. It was a fucking field trip. The kids were barely waist high and those motherfuckers had opened their skulls and put bombs in them." Her shoulders shook and Jane looked up, but she wasn't looking at the camera. Tears were on her cheeks but her face was twisted in a grimace.

"I defiled the corpses. They put their hands on our kids. Human, salarian, turian, asari...poor little faces so terrified. I stabbed their eyes out..." she shuddered as more tears fell. "They deserved it...I had to...or am I turning into as much as a monster as them?" she asked as she stared at her hands. "Little faces...so scared...had to stop them from blowing their sweet little heads off...took the hit. Pain made me angry. Broke his neck. Used his stolen blade to take their eyes. Left the ship and a message. I have to be a monster to keep them safe. Have to go into the dark and make sure the things there know never to touch those in the light." Her eyes closed. "Not like anyone will miss me..."

~*TF*~

"They've been there awhile," John commented to Bailey as they waited.

"Kid's been through a lot." Bailey noted and glanced at John from his screen. "I ran some searches in the C-Sec archive. About ten years back, a bunch of real bad people were killed. Like someone was cleaning house. The prime suspect was a drell. We never caught him."

"Ten years is a long time. Whoever was responsible for that probably doesn't exist anymore," John said and Bailey sighed.

"Yeah, I guess you're right about that," Bailey mused as Thane left the interrogation room.

"How'd it go?" John asked.

"Our problems...they aren't something I can fix with a few words. We'll keep talking, see what happens," Thane said, hope in his voice.

"Your boy shot some people. No one I feel sympathy for, but there it is," Bailey laid out plainly.

"I watched those guys shaking down businesses and threatening humans," John noted.

"But he can't just get away with it." Bailey protested.

"The kid wants to make a difference. Give him community service," John offered and Bailey just looked at him.

"Community service for attempted murder? What jury would agree to that?" Bailey scoffed.

"None that I've seen. This would need to stay out of the judiciary. Strictly within C-Sec," John said and Bailey got up from his desk. He looked between them and then shook Thane's hand.

"Interesting. I'll think about it," Bailey said.

"Thank you, Captain," Thane said as they headed off.

~*TF*~

Journal Entry Date: December 3rd, 2185

"Hey John, it looks like I'm almost at the point where I can finally follow that lead on Garrus. Stupid turian could have told me he was shot down for Spectre appointment," Jane sighed. "It looks like I won't be able to leave until the end of the month. Not happy about that, but not much choice. I'm sure Sparatus will be super pleasant when I put in official Spectre leave. Prick." She leaned back in her chair and chewed on her bottom lip.

"I should have been a better friend. I'll drag his turian ass back from Omega, give him a piece of my mind and see about getting him assigned as a turian liaison to the Okinawa. Tali should be easy to get to join up. If I can get Tali and Garrus, I think I might be able to assemble a decent crew for looking into these colony abductions." Jane looked contemplative.

"Tela's asari contacts were able to give me a lot of help, once I know for sure if the Collectors are a real possibility I'll hit up the various archeologists and see if any of them have decent knowledge on Collectors and fighting them," Jane planned. "I have permission to assemble a team for this. I need to find Garrus first, get Tali on board second, check the colonies and then get an archeologist or xeno-anthropologist. Then figure out what the fuck is taking our people and stopping them." She looked confident before looking exhausted.

"And in the middle of it figure out who the Cerberus spies in the Alliance are and maybe end the Hegemony's attacks on Citadel space...work out galactic peace. Why stop there...fucking cure the genophage while I'm at it..." she groaned. "The fucking Andromeda Initiative is looking better and better. Could fucking sell the farmstead, your house, all our mineral rights and buy a ticket..." She groaned, rubbing her face before shaking her head. "Nah...couldn't do it. I'm not a quitter, still have to find Garrus and save the colonies."

~*TF*~

Jane walked into the forward battery and Garrus turned to look at her.

"Got a minute?"she asked and he smiled.

"Sure, I wanted to thank you again for your help with Sidonis," Garrus said. "Whatever happens with the Collectors or the Reapers or whoever else comes after us, I know you'll get the job done." Jane smiled at that as the door closed behind her.

"You actually think we'll find something worse than Collectors or Reapers?" Jane asked as she moved to sit on a nearby box. Garrus shrugged.

"I like to expect the worse. There's a small chance I'll be pleasantly surprised," he joked and Jane chuckled as she leaned back, looking at him with a fond expression.

"I couldn't do this without you, Garrus," Jane said.

"Sure you could. Not as stylishly, of course," he teased. "It's strange going into a suicide mission on a human ship. Your people don't prepare for high-risk operations that way turians do." Jane scoffed as she smiled at him.

"I thought you'd be used to high-risk operations on human ships. I mean, think about tracking Saren to Ilos," Jane pointed out.

"Sure, but that was quick," he said approaching her and shaking his head. "We raced out, landed, blew up some geth, and saved the galaxy." He paced slightly. "This time we've got Miranda and Cerberus and that AI all telling us what we're up against. I think I preferred blind optimism." He looked concerned.

"Honestly, Garrus, what do you think our chances are?" Jane asked, feeling that old nagging fear about losing him.

"Honestly, the Collectors couldn't even kill your brother. All they did was piss you both off. I can't imagine they'll stop you," he said and Jane chuckled at that. "But an unmapped area, advanced technology, and the Collectors? We're going to lose people. No way around that. Not a happy analysis, I know. Don't worry, I won't spread it around. And I'm with you, regardless." That made Jane feel intense relief.

"Do you ever regret leaving C-Sec or the turian military?" Jane asked.

"Not for a minute. When it comes down to it, Shepard, I don't think I'm a very good turian," he said and Jane looked up at him.

"Don't let my negativity spread to you, Garrus," Jane said as she got up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "If it makes you feel better, you're my favorite turian." He chuckled at that.

"Well, when a good turian hears a bad order, he follows it. He might complain, but he knows his place. I just don't see the point in staying quiet and polite. Not when the galaxy is at stake," he said and Jane nodded.

"Still rather have you than a squad of 'good' turians," Jane said, leaning against the terminal next to him. "So how do turian crews get ready for high-risk missions?" Garrus leaned against the terminal, beside her. Jane realized their height difference, something that rarely occurred to her as she looked up into his eyes.

"With violence, usually. Turian ships have more operational discipline than your Alliance, but fewer personal restrictions," he explained and Jane blinked. "Our commanders run us tight, and they know we need to blow off steam. Turian ships have training rooms for exercise, combat sims, even full contact sparring. Whatever lets people work off stress." Jane gaped for a moment.

"You mean turian ships have crewmen fighting each other before a mission?" she asked and Garrus held up a hand as if to stop her.

"It's supervised, of course. Nobody is going to risk an injury that interferes with the mission. And it's a good way to settle grudges amicably," he said. His eyes glazed slightly and he smirked. "I remember right before one mission, we were about to hit a batarian pirate squad. Very risky. This recon scout and I had been at each other's throats. Nerves, mostly. She suggested we settle it in the ring." Jane smiled back.

"I assume you took her down gently?" Jane asked and Garrus shook his head, looking a little pleased.

"Actually, she and I were the top-ranked hand-to-hand specialists on the ship. I had reach, but she had flexibility. It was brutal," he said, his eyes looking away. Jane knew he was picturing a hard fight. "After nine rounds, the judge called it a draw. There were a lot of unhappy betters in the training room. We, ah, ended up holding a tiebreaker in her quarters." At that moment Jane realized the look in his eyes wasn't for a hard won battle, but for a passionate affair. Something in her did not like that look on his face aimed at another woman...another? Wait. "I had reach, but she had flexibility. More than one way to work off stress, I guess." Garrus looked at Jane with a shy grin and suddenly Jane realized something. She cared about Garrus. Hell, she loved Garrus. She also did not want that look on his face...unless she put it there. Taking a deep breath, Jane decided to jump into the deep end. As casually as she could, she looked up at him from her placed against the console.

"It sounds like you're carrying some tension. Maybe I could help you get rid of it," Jane suggested. Garrus grinned, looking pleasantly surprised.

"I, ah, didn't think you'd feel like sparring, Jane," he said. Jane leaned in towards him.

"What if we skipped right to the tiebreaker?" she suggested and ran a finger down his chestplate. "We could test your reach...and my flexibility." She returned to keep her back to the terminal and giving him his space. His head cocked in almost a birdlike way.

"Oh! I didn't...huh," he said, sounding rather intrigued but the proposition. "Never knew you had a weakness for men with scars. Well, why the hell not? There's nobody in this galaxy I respect more than you." He was looking away as he got up and turned to face her. "And if we can figure out a way to make it work, then...yeah. Definitely." His eyes moved over Jane's body and she could see, he was not at all put off by her. She smiled at him.

"It's been a long day, I'm going to go, but...I look forward to figuring this out with you, Garrus," Jane said with a smile as she walked by him as best she could, twisting a little more at the waist in a way she learned turian males enjoyed from her time at Afterlife. Garrus had no idea what he was in for. Not that Jane really did, she'd never dated outside of her own species and that was Kaidan. Kaidan...oh...she was going to need to talk to John. As the forward battery door closed behind her Jane headed to the elevator. Better tell her overprotective older brother that if he chased off THIS boyfriend, he was going to have to be thankful that his girlfriend didn't need his genetic material to make babies.

~*TF*~

Belle AN: *setting up a fan to blow away the steam from the Shakarian fandom* I hope this chapter makes up for the delay and I hope all those fans who adore Garrus are okay with how I'm changing things around for this story. Again, I do apologize for taking so long, but if you want something done well, sometimes taking your time is necessary.

Toby AN: I really apologize for the delay on this one. Sometimes life just sucks.

~*TF*~

OMAKE 1

"Ah, Jane Shepard, glad you have come. About time to discuss human-turian relationships. Garrus giving clear signs of mating behavior," Mordin said as Jane looked at him.

"How did you know?" Jane asked in surprise. "I never realized it." Mordin stared at her for a moment before looking behind her. Garrus was pacing back and forth behind Jane, his legs coming up in a birdlike manner as he trilled regularly. His fringe stood up on his head like a cockatoo's feathers while his lower jaw was flushed bright blue with blood. Each time he was close to Jane he offered her a shiny rock. She stared at Garrus and then back at Mordin.

"Really Jane Shepard?" he asked and Jane blushed.

"I just thought he was really into rocks now," she said as Garrus offered her the rock again. Garrus trilled shrilly and Mordin's eyes narrowed at her.

"And my translators were not working properly," Jane stammered.

"For the love of God, Jane, really?" John demanded from behind Garrus.

OMAKE 2

If this were a Jane/Thane-ship Fic

"Kolyat, I hope you will find peace...with the fact I am with a human now," Thane said, pulling Jane to his side.

"What?" Kolyat cried.

"I want you to know that I don't plan to replace your mother," Jane said as she interlocked her fingers with Thane, awkwardly around his double digits.

"Seriously?" Kolyat asked.

"Siha sooths my soul and I hope she will help you to rejoin the family," Thane and Kolyat glared at Jane.

"I look forward to getting to know you, son," Jane said with a smile and Kolyat crossed his arms.

"You're not my real mom!" he sneered.

"Don't worry, kids have trouble, he'll grow out of this," Bailey said as he handcuffed Kolyat.

"I'm a fucking adult!" he cried as he was dragged away by C-Sec.