Chapter 36

Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or any of its characters. Those belong to Bioware and EA.

Thanks everyone!

I glanced over at Alicia as I read the readout on the terminal. She had passed out after we had left the bridge.

"Her readings are stable... though their or some oddities that have to be taken in account for her unique genetic makeup." Tella said turning towards me.

I noticed a cut on her head. "Are you ok?" I asked.

She nodded but stumbled a little as she moved towards the bed. "Tella come sit down." I said.

I led to the other bed in the room and made her sit down.

"I'm fine..." She grumbled.

I bandaged her head and she sighed "Thanks"

"No problem" I said smiling at her.

I started to move back towards Alicia but she grabbed my arm. I turned to her "What?"

She looked towards the floor "I know I should have gotten us away from that ship... I was careless and we nearly died." She said.

"It's ok... we survived... that's what matters" I said giving her a small smile. She nodded and slid off the table.

"I'm going to head back to the cockpit... you?" She asked.

I glanced at Alicia who was still sleeping "I think I'm going to head to my room to get some sleep. I feel really tired all of a sudden." I said yawning as I said the last part.

She nodded and I followed her out.

I passed by Faith who was busy painting on the wall of the hallway towards our quarters.

I smiled and hit the panel for my door.

I walked in and went to the bathroom. I turned on the water to wash my face and that's when it happen. Suddenly the water stopped.. I mean it literally stopped in mid flow and just hung there.

"You've really screwed things up you know that" A very angry voice said behind me. I spun and my eyes widened in surprise.

"Garrus?" I asked.

He looked seriously pissed.

"We need to talk Will and we need to talk NOW!" He said glaring at me.

I nodded and headed back into the room past him. He spun on me "Do you have any idea what you have done?" He asks.

I sighed as I sat down on the bed and crossed my arms "Actually no.. you've been rather vague in that department remember?" I said.

He stood there seething for a moment before visibly relaxing.

He made his way over to a chair and sat down. After a moment he looked up at me and spoke "There are some things that shouldn't have happened."

I raised an eyebrow "Like what?"

"Tella and Alicia.. they were not a part of the future that I originally came from." He said looking off to the side.

I suddenly became very interested "What do you mean?" I asked.

"As I explained before you would eventually fight the reapers side by side with Shepard in a quarian vessel. But now that's not the case... you allied yourself with the geth.. in the former time line Shepard did this two years from now." He said glancing at me.

I was stunned "Wait.. so you mean I've changed a lot?... what happened to your time line?" I asked.

He sighed "It's been altered... you still fight against the reapers but instead of one combined fleet like originally there are now two separate fleets... one commanded by Shepard... and the other by you"

Now that caught me by surprise "Commanded by me?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Tell me more" I said.

He shook his head "No.. You've already changed the time line enough. I don't want to risk you changing it anymore." He said getting up.

I growled in frustration "Fine. But answer me one last question before you go"

He looked at me for a moment before nodding.

"What did you mean Tella and Alicia were not part of the original time line?" I asked.

He seemed to stew his thoughts for a moment before he answered "I'm really not sure how to answer that. It's strange come to thank of it now. It's like they just suddenly appeared in it."

"Wait.. I melded with Liara and saw Tella in my vision.. surely she was in the original yes?" I asked.

He shook his head "Yes.. you did see her in the vision but she never appeared in this time.. I'm guessing in the original she died on her world."

I was taken aback "Seriously... what could have changed?" I asked.

"I honestly have no clue but be careful from now on." He said holding his arm up.

I was about to ask something else when he simply vanished.

~nice way to make an exit Garrus~

I sighed and stretched out on my bed. As I closed my eyes I couldn't help but think about what Garrus had said.

XXX

I woke up and realized that I was scrunched up against the wall. I pushed away from the wall and that's when I heard a groan. I froze. I turned my head and my eyes widened in surprise ~Alicia? What the hell is she doing here?~

I turned over facing her and that's when her eyes fluttered open.

I do a sharp intake of breath as that old familiar feeling returned as I stared into her eyes.

"Are you ok Will?" She asks her head turning slightly showing a curious look across her face.

I shake my head slightly "Yeah... just old memories."

I sit up in the bed and turn once again to face her "What are you doing in here? And come to think of it are you ok? You were knocked out the last time I saw you" I said.

She sat up and stretched yawning at the same time. That's when I noticed that she had no clothes on.

"What happened to the clothes we got for you?" I asked my eyes focused on the wall to the side.

She yawned as she spoke "There over in the chair and the tops are a little small... did the original Miranda really have this large of a bosom?" She asked looking down.

I groan inwardly and attempted to slide past her when the door opens and in walks Stacey.

"Hey bro I was jus..." She pauses as she see's us both.

"Stacey.. I can explain" I plead.

She shakes her head "It's cool bro.. but damn you work fast" She says throwing me a smirk.

"Stacey" I say once again and she laughs and turns to head out but than pauses.

"Oh yeah... Tella said we should be at purgatory within four hours so you might want to suit up" She says smiling as she heads out the door.

I sigh heavily as I turn back to Alicia but quickly avert my gaze again ~Damnit! If I weren't such a gentlemen I wouldn't be having this problem~

"Let's get dressed and head up" I say as I grab my clothes.

XXX

"So that's your plan?" Emily asks looking at me with an eyebrow raised.

"What?" I ask.

"You expect us to just walk into purgatory and expect them to just hand Jack over?" She asks.

I glanced around at everyone crowded around the table.

"Something like that... After all.. they'll believe were from Cerberus." I say smiling.

I get a lot of confused stares.

"Ok.. I got the idea from something Alicia said earlier about Miranda." I say but am quickly cut off as Emily speaks "When did she say this..." She asks giving Alicia a cold glance.

I sigh "That's not important. Now I've had legion hack their network thanks to some of the codes you provided Emily he found a back door into their system. Were going to make it look like were buying Jack for Cerberus." I say looking around with a smile on my face.

"Ok.. say legion hacked it and transferred the credits and all that still leaves out the fact that they'll know were not Cerberus just by looking at us." Tella says.

I smiled "I have that covered as well... Legion if you please" I said gesturing towards the Geth.

He hands me a box and I sit it on the table and open it. I hand Alicia a small case inside.

"What is it?" She asks.

I smile "It's your new Cerberus uniform." I smile even larger at their reactions.

A/N: Thank you everyone for your support. Hope to have next chapter up soon.