"Have I told you how much I hate this part?" Kaya asked rhetorically, tapping her foot rapidly on the copilot's chair.

"About five hundred times, yeah," Jeff said, pulling up some data feeds on his console.

They were up in orbit around the Earth, while Shepard's team got ready to strike against Cerberus thousands of miles below.

"It's almost enough motivation for me to continue my combat training." She heard Jeff take in a sharp breath of air next to her and hastily added, "Almost. Relax, love, I'm not ever planning on going out with Shepard's squad again. I don't have a death wish. Anymore."

He gave her a gave her a pointed look and she said, "I believe you once told me that 'angry jokes are always helpful.'"

He grumbled out something inaudible about picking such a pain in the ass with a perfect memory for a girlfriend, which made her smile. Interesting how he was pointedly avoiding the "love" bit, though.

Down on the ground, Shepard was moving with Garrus and Liara up the stairs of an office building. Kaidan, James, and Jack had landed on the roof. Kasumi and Tali were handling the security system. Shepard made a hand signal – hold up – and carefully opened the door on the sixth level.

"Whoa," Kaya said, lurching forward. Her head was spinning, both literally and metaphorically.

Jeff shot her a worried look as she tried to figure out what the hell had just happened, and then she was dragged under again.

The hallway was empty, all bright lights and potted plants. There was a glass sculpture hugging the curved wall between the two offices. They headed to the left. Kensington and Sons. The receptionist's desk was vacant, even though it was four p.m. on a Thursday.

"Shepard, I don't wanna worry you on your little mission, but something's wrong with Kaya," Joker said.

Not in the cockpit. Over Shepard's comm. Kaya knew that was wrong. He had been right there. Next to her. But she found herself unable to come back to the ship.

"Wrong as in her eyes are rolled back in her head," Joker said, voice strangled.

"Get Dr. Chakwas. Maybe it's something they're doing to her from down here," Shepard said, trying to stay calm, knowing that was unlikely. Damn it. She needed Joker ready for an evac, on his A-game.

Kaya couldn't tell them what was wrong.

Shepard tried the door. Locked.

"Kasumi, we've reached the perimeter," Shepard said over the comm. "Your turn."

A small light on the latch turned green a couple seconds later. They slipped in quietly. Team Hammerhead should be making their way into maintenance shaft now. She could practically hear Kaidan and James complaining about it. Shepard, Garrus, and Liara quietly moved through the office in a standard sweep formation. The cubicles beyond the receptionist's desk were all empty of whatever interns and lower staff should have been there.

At least they seemed to have the right place. The question was: how well was this trap set? How easily could it be sprung?

"Movement down the hall," Garrus said quietly, looking through his visor.

They started walking briskly that way, guns sweeping the room, when the sound of an arc pistol charging up behind them caused Shepard to stop like she had stepped on a land mine.

Pretty easily sprung, then.

"I have no interest in killing you, Captain Shepard. Or your … interesting … crew," a familiar, silky female voice said. Shepard turned around slowly to face her, and she was left seething at the sight of one Maya Brooks.

How the hell did Miranda not catch that one?

"You just have something I want," Brooks continued.

Red scope lights danced across Liara and Garrus. The cubicles weren't empty, just filled with Cerberus agents whose cloaking could apparently outsmart Alliance-issue tech.

"Told you we should have shot her," Garrus said, voice vibrating angrily.

Shepard had to admit, she was regretting her little act of mercy.

"I seem to remember begging for your life, Brooks," Shepard said. "Shame you had to go and waste that."

How had they not heard about her breaking out? Shouldn't someone had told her? She would have totally assumed that Brooks was involved in a scheme like this, if she had known she was out of lockup. It was right up her alley: trying to use a broken, twisted person as a weapon.

One of the scope lights on Liara's back went out. Brooks didn't appear to notice. Maybe she couldn't see the lasers from her vantage point. Or maybe she was just too busy smirking at Shepard.

"Oh, I am very far from wasting it," Brooks said, all silky-smooth confidence and false honey. "You have no idea what you're sitting on, Shepard. No idea what kind of power."

"I know exactly what I'm sitting on," Shepard said. "And that's why you're not getting anywhere near her."

"Order the Normandy to land," Brooks said, and one of the lights on the back of Garrus's neck disappeared. "And I'll let your husband live."

Joker was yelling obscenities in her ear.

"Yeah, I don't think my pilot would follow that order, even if I was inclined to give it."

"Oh?" Brooks said with a raised eyebrow. "A little office romance? A much better choice for him than that damned AI."

"She'll never work for you," Shepard said, watching another light go out.

Come on, Kasumi, pick up the pace.

"Maybe not at first. But I think she'll find me very persuasive," Brooks said, looking at her nails in a very off-hand way.

It's not real, a voice said. Shepard wasn't sure who. She's acting like she thinks she's won. But she knows the battle's not over yet. She's got something else up her sleeve for emergencies. Be careful. Keep her monologuing.

Another light went out. Two more to go.

"Lay a hand on her, and you'll find I wasn't joking about spacing your head out the airlock," Shepard said.

"I wasn't planning on it. Now, a knife on the other hand. Well, I don't make any promises." One more. Come on Kasumi. "And I don't think you'll be anywhere near an airlock. Kidnapping a highly valuable Alliance asset? Something tells me the brass doesn't look too highly on something like that."

Shit, shit, shit. Get out of there, Shepard. That's the card up her sleeve.

Kaya? What the damn hell?

"We'll see about that," Kaidan said, placing a gun to the back of Brooks's head. This was Spectre Alenko. Cold, calm fury hiding behind dark eyes. Total control.

Shepard was highly tempted to give a kill order, but she doubted Brooks was the one in charge.

Kaya, think you can handle interrogating her?

Oh hell yes.

Good. She nodded at Kaidan, who promptly knocked Brooks out with a very hard whack to the back of the head.

I think I may be waiting a while for the opportunity, though. Damn, Alenko.

Shepard smiled before telling her team, "Search the perimeter. Tali, get up here. And Joker, get us an evac, now. Before the Alliance shows up."