2
Illium
It had been almost a month since they first received this 'mission'. The Illusive Man was no help. He provided no new information about the facility or what was being done there. Even Liara couldn't find anything else except what she had first given Shepard. She didn't want to move any farther with this until she had more info.
Jack seemed to withdraw into herself more and more. She was still her bright and cheery self but for the most part, she grew quieter.
Then there was Miranda. Shepard couldn't really figure her out. The operative was paranoid, more so then usual. Every message she sent her was always encrypted. Shepard tried to ask why but all Miranda offered was a shake of her head and a whispered, 'not here.'
She knew Miranda had something. She also knew that the Illusive Man had equipped the ship with hidden cameras. Speaking privately on the Normandy was now off limits because of that. Shepard just needed to find the right time to speak with the operative.
Shepard felt as though she were stuck in mud. She couldn't move forward and she couldn't move back. She needed to make a decision soon but she hated going in blind. But she had no choice – it was in her blood to help.
The Normandy was scheduled to make a stop at Illium. Shepard knew that was her chance to speak with Miranda.
Picking her team, Shepard led them to the old office Liara once used. Jack grumbled as Miranda purposely ignored the angry biotic.
"Is it secure?" Miranda asked. She cocked her hip to the side and crossed her arms over her chest. Shepard waited for the doors to close before nodding.
"Liara made sure of it. So, what's with all the secrecy?" Shepard leaned against Liara's old desk while Jack paced behind Miranda.
Miranda didn't waste any time. She handed Shepard a data pad. She waited until the commander read everything. She watched as the other woman came to the same realization.
"Shepard-"
"I thought you told me it was too insignificant," Shepard said calmly…too calmly. Jack stopped her pacing as she crossed her arms over her chest and gave the cheerleader a smirk.
"I did…that's what my investigation led me to believe. Shepard…I swear I had no idea."
"Ok…what the fuck are you two bitchin about?" Jack asked, finally giving up on trying to figure out what was going on. Neither woman answered. Jack just threw her arms up and continued pacing around.
Shepard pushed herself away from the desk, intending to leave but Miranda grabbed her arm before she could pass.
"Wait…there's more…"
Shepard yanked her arm out of Miranda's grasp as Jack snickered.
The operative sighed.
"Shepard…I realize my judgment regarding my employer has been…greatly misplaced."
"Well look at that…cheerleader's using that fucking perfect brain of hers for once. Took fucking long enough," Jack said cynically. Shepard just gave her a look and Jack quieted down.
Miranda ignored the taunt and continued speaking.
"I did some digging. With the help of…the new Shadow Broker, I was able to find a few more interesting pieces."
Miranda explained that she requested help from the Shadow Broker in finding where the funds and equipment were being sent from. Liara was able to find a dummy account…an account that Miranda knows well.
"The Illusive Man is funding this…'project'. For what purpose…I'm not sure. Once I had you stable and alive, he was supposed to destroy all data about the Lazarus project. He gave me his word that he did-"
"And you fuckin believed him?" Jack spat. Miranda kept her cool by not answering but instead pleaded with Shepard to understand.
"I thought you said you didn't know a thing-"
"I said I didn't know about the theft. I knew about another group overseeing…spare parts. In case we had use of it. But I gave my authorization to destroy all data and other equipment. The Illusive Man must have orchestrated that break in at the labs…damn it!" Miranda realized that she had been played all along.
She turned away as the realization hit her. She had been lied to by someone she trusted. Again.
"Miranda, there's no way you could have known abo-"
"He handpicked me for the Lazarus project! Of course I should have known! Christ, Shepard! My sister…he knew about my sister when he recruited me. Knew all about my father! Maybe even planned for him to find her! How could I have been so naive! "
"More like gullible," Jack muttered under her breath. Shepard gave her a sharp look that silenced her quickly.
Shepard held her hands up as she slowly approached Miranda.
"You trusted him. You wanted to believe he wasn't like your father. Don't blame yourself for that," Shepard said softly. Jack wanted to gag but something about the way Shepard spoke…her words…they were really getting to her.
" Fuck. Are we done yet?" Jack grunted, shaking that weird feeling off. She wasn't used to those feelings. And she hated them.
Shepard would have said something but Miranda beat her to it.
"She's right. The ship isn't safe to talk freely about this. We need to formulate a plan now before we head back. I can contact Liara and give her all the info I know about the Lazarus Project and other things. Hopefully she can find any other useful information. I'm sorry Shepard."
Jack shook her head and grumbled to herself as she headed for the door.
"This is getting a little to…soft for me. I'm fucking leaving."
"Jack wait," Miranda called out. Jack didn't turn around but waited.
"I'm…I'm sorry…," Miranda said softly.
Jack wanted to be angry, wanted to turn around and warp cheerleader's ass to pieces. Instead she bit her tongue and stormed out. She wasn't gonna cry in front of that bitch. Shepard watched her go. She knew the biotic wanted to hold onto all that anger – it's sustained her all her life. Without it, all Jack would have is her pain.
Inhaling, Shepard turned around to find Miranda typing up a message to the Shadow Broker.
"Well…let's get this plan going."
...
Normandy
It had been several hours since Jack returned alone. She was in her usual spot – below engineering – pacing up and down like a caged animal.
She was fuming…or at least trying to be pissed. She wanted anger. She wanted to smash something…hit something. But instead, she was feeling pain. And a lot of it.
"Fuck…Shepard. This is all your fault," Jack mumbled to herself. All these damn feelings were messing with her head. If she had never met Shepard, she would never have to deal with this…but then again she wouldn't have trusted anyone if not for Shepard…
"Fuck!" Jack kicked the foot of her cot. Damn you Shepard.
...
Illium
Miranda glanced over at Shepard. The commander gave her a quick nod then returned her gaze back towards the traffic in front of her.
They both agreed that they'd complete this mission the Illusive Man wanted them to do. But they also agreed to withhold whatever information they'd find down there and send it to Liara.
Liara, for her part, was already using her various contacts to find any information that would help them. She said she'd contact them within a few days. So all they had to do was wait.
"So…," Shepard started. The silence in the skycar was almost deafening. She needed something to occupy her mind, besides this whole mess.
Miranda stole a quick glance at her Commander and sighed. She was never one for idle chit chat. She found it useless but seeing the nervous ball of energy sitting next to her, Miranda thought it would be good to learn a new 'skill'.
"Yes Shepard?"
"Heard from your sister lately?" Shepard could see the ghost of a smile on Miranda's face at the mention of the younger woman.
"Yes. She and her family are doing well." Miranda paused for a moment. "Shepard, I want to thank you again for what you did for my sister and her family."
Shepard smiled for the first time that morning.
"You can stop thanking me Miranda. And I'm glad she's doing alright," Shepard finished with a soft smile.
The two fell silent once more.
"What are we going to do Shepard? The possibility of a clone-"
"We'll deal with that if necessary. But I can't let that facility be left standing, Miranda."
The operative nodded.
"I'm truly sorry Shepard…I put my trust in a man that had been lying to me this whole time. I can't believe how foolish I've been," Miranda said softly.
Shepard sighed.
"You can't blame yourself Miranda. People like him don't care about those that he uses. It's like a game to him. We're nothing more than pawns."
Shepard glanced at Miranda when she didn't say anything.
"It's ok to let your guard down, Miranda. Not everyone is like him…or your father."
Miranda remained silent. Logically, Shepard was right. But it didn't hurt any less.
Normandy
"You sure you want to do this Jack?" Shepard asked. She had been watching the young biotic closely as they had gathered more Intel the last few weeks.
To an untrained eye Jack was her usual self. But to Shepard, Jack was…more on edge than any other day. It was as if Shepard walked in on a caged animal.
"Phfff…fuck yes! How many times do I gotta tell ya?" Jack replied, almost biting Shepard's head off.
"Ok, ok…" Shepard said as she threw her hands up, signaling she was backing off.
"Shepard. Jack. Are you both ready?" Miranda said by way of greeting. Shepard could see the ex con's face before she answered.
"What is she doing here?" Jack spat almost stomping her foot like a child. Miranda just rolled her eyes as Shepard got in between the two before anything could happen.
"Yeah, we're all good."
All three took their seats as their pilot commandeered the shuttle. No one spoke on the way down. Miranda was looking through her omni-tool at schematics that Liara had somehow found and sent to her via an encrypted email. Jack was staring out the window. Shepard had to suppress a sigh as she watched these two.
"Commander, we're nearing the LZ. The closest I can get you is about 100 clicks away. Their sensors would have picked us up," the pilot said over the com.
Shepard put her helmet on as she made sure her team was ready.
"Thanks. Stay outta sight until we contact you for a pick up."
"Roger that ma'am."
Jack checked her heat sink as did Miranda. The trio waited for the doors to open before Shepard stepped out first.
Shepard looked over to Jack. The young woman just nodded and hopped out.
"Find whatever useful information we can. Then we blow this place up."
"Fuck yeah!"
"Affirmative."
"Lets go!"
The loud wailing of the alarm was what woke Conner up. What's going on? She thought as she sat up and threw her legs over the bed.
She quickly went to the two way mirror and began pounding on it.
"HEY!" There was no response. Conner hit the glass even harder. Just then the sliding door opened. Dr. Leslie ran in and grabbed her wrist.
"What's going on?" Conner let herself get dragged out of her room. She stopped suddenly as she looked around the hall. She was never let out of her little room for the last few years and the sudden change was a bit disorienting.
"We don't have time! Please! We need to go!" Dr. Leslie said as she tugged on Conner's arm. Not knowing what else to do, Conner obediently followed.
"Wait! What about Annie? We can't leave her!"
The pair heard gunshots in the background. Conner flinched not really understanding what was going on. Dr. Leslie just sighed in frustration and pulled the young woman forward.
"Let's go Conner! NOW!"
Conner yanked her arm back and almost stumbled. She realized she had nothing on her feet.
"I'm not leaving her!" Conner demanded.
Dr. Leslie had just about enough. The Illusive Man had abandoned her and those that had worked on this 'project'. She was desperate. If she were caught, she would most likely be killed.
Without realizing what she was doing, Dr. Leslie lifted her hand and swung. The cracking sound was defining compared to the sound of the alarm.
Conner stood there, stunned. She lifted a hand gently to her cheek and carefully touched it. Dr. Leslie breathed in deeply.
"I'm leaving. With or without you. That's your choice." Without another word, Dr. Leslie turned and quickly made her way out of the hall leaving Conner alone.
It took several seconds for Conner to register what happened. She swallowed; she had no idea where she was let alone where Annie was. Conner clamped down her fear and slowly made her way down the halls. She winced a few times as she stepped over broken glass and other debris. There were dead soldiers lying on the ground every few meters.
"ANNIE!" Conner covered yelled out. She coughed as smoke filled her lungs. The smell of burning flesh was almost too much; Conner had to cover her nose and mouth.
Turning a corner, Conner finally found what appeared to be a room like hers. Except there was a large window instead of walls. She found the lifeless body of her friend lying on the ground. Conner tried the door, but it was no use.
"ANNIE!" She pounded on the glass as hard as she could. Her friend remained unmoving. She continued to pound on the windows, ram her shoulders into them; anything to break the damn glass.
The sound of heavy armor stopped Conner cold. She slowly turned around. Before her were three very well armed soldiers. All three of them had their guns aimed at her.
Slowly putting her hands up, Conner sunk to her knees.
"What's your name?" Asked the woman in the middle. She had short scruffy hair. It was brown like hers and she had the same green eyes. To her left was a barely clothed baled woman with tattoos covering her entire body. The woman to her right wore a skin tight outfit and had bluest pair of eyes.
"Hey kid! What the hell is your name?" The bald woman asked. She stepped forward, her gun still pointed at Conner. The young woman flinched and tried to make herself smaller.
"Jack! She's terrified," the woman with short hair said. Conner watched as 'Jack' growled but backed off. The woman with short hair holstered her gun and knelt before the scared woman.
"Hey…we're not gonna hurt you," the woman asked softly. Conner looked up at all three of them. She had no idea who these people were but she found she trusted this woman for some strange reason.
Conner swallowed before answering.
"Conner…my…my name is Conner," she stuttered. The woman smiled and gently placed gloved hand on Conner's shoulder.
"We're gonna get you outta here, ok?"
"Shepard, we need to find that office. We need to leave her here-"
"We're not leaving without her Miranda," Shepard said as she turned to glare at the woman. Conner didn't care about what they were doing here. She just needed to get to her friend Annie.
"Annie…you need to get Annie," Conner pleaded. She pointed to the girl on the floor in the other room. All three women looked inside.
"Fuck...she looks-"
"Jack," Miranda said sharply. She motioned to Conner with her a slight tilt of her head.
"Fuck," Jack muttered under her breath. Shepard helped Conner to her feet and motioned for her to stand back.
Shepard lifted her gun, Jack and Miranda following suit, and proceed to shoot the glass. Conner quickly covered her ears and tried not to flinch too much. The glass didn't break, but it was shattered.
Jack threw an arm back as a blue ball of light formed in her hand. Then whipping her arm forward, the blue ball was flung towards the glass. Glass flew in to the room.
"HEY! WAIT!" Jack called out as Conner ran past her. All three woman watched as Conner ran over the glass shards as if it were nothing.
"ANNIE!" Falling to her knees, Conner gently grabbed hold of her friends shoulder and turned her over. Gasping, Conner almost fell over. Annie's face was…distorted. As if someone manipulated it to form a new face.
Conner felt a pair of strong hands grab her upper arms. She was lifted to her feet. She watched as Shepard felt for a pulse. There was a slight pause as Shepard looked up at her.
"I'm sorry Conn-"
"NO!" She shoved Shepard out of the way and shook Annie. "Wake up! Please!" Conner began to weep as her friend remained motionless. "Please wake up…please," Conner begged softly.
The three women looked away for a moment. Jack recovered quickly and turned to glare at Miranda.
"What the fuck is this place!"
Miranda could see Jack's anger vibrate off of her. The Cerberus agent held her hands up.
"I don't know Jack. I swear to you, I don't know," Miranda replied softly. She was in the dark as much as the rest of them.
"Enough! We need to find whatever information this place had. But I can't leave her here," Shepard said frustrated.
Jack looked back at the young woman. She sighed heavily.
"I'll stay."
Both women looked at Jack in surprise.
"Look…just go. I wouldn't know what information to look for if it kicked me in the ass. I can handle this." Jack felt heat rise to her cheeks. Shepard looked at her for a second more before nodding.
"We'll be as fast as we can. We'll back track to get the both of you," Shepard stated as she checked her heat sink.
"Yeah, yeah. Just hurry up."
And with that, Jack slowly made her way through the broken glass and towards the girl.
"Will she be alright?" Miranda asked quietly. Shepard watched as concern etched itself over Miranda's face. The Commander knew what Miranda was referring to. Being back in a place similar to the one that stole you're childhood wasn't easy.
"I hope so," Shepard replied. Looking back at Miranda, Shepard motioned for them to head out.
Jack sat for a few minutes next to Conner. The young woman hadn't stopped mumbling and Jack had no idea how to help.
"Hey…," Jack started awkwardly. "Everything's gonna be ok…"
"I don't understand," came a muffled reply.
"Huh? Look…we're gonna get you outta here. Everything's gonna be-"
"Why'd they hurt her?" Conner looked at Jack with such sad eyes; the ex con had to look away for a moment. Jack didn't know how to answer. This was Shepard's territory.
"She didn't do anything wrong…and they hurt her," Conner continued. She wiped her eyes as fresh tears threatened to fall.
Jack had no idea what to say. "Fu-shit…Cerberus. It's what they do. They fucking destroy everything they fucking touch. What is she to you," Jack asked.
Conner turned to look at her.
"She's my friend," and with that new tears fell. Jack fell silent not knowing what to say.
"Hey…you ok?" Jack asked when she couldn't handle the quiet any longer. Conner looked up, confused.
"Your feet. They ok?" Jack motioned to the glass around her and Conner put two and two together.
"Oh." The young girl maneuvered herself so she was carefully sitting on the ground. She inspected both her feet. Sure enough, she had cuts and scrapes from the glass she had stepped on.
Conner winced a little as she started to pick at a few of the bigger pieces.
"Hey! Don't do that!" Jack said as she swatted away Conner's hands. The other woman just looked up confused. Jack sighed and got to her knees and came close. She gently held Conner's foot as she carefully picked at the glass.
"When we get back to the Normandy, the doc will look at this. But for now, some medi-gel should do the trick until then," Jack said gently. She applied the gel to both feet just as Shepard and Miranda came back.
Both women looked up as the entered.
"What took you so fucking long?" Jack glared.
Shepard ignored her and motioned for the two of them to move out.
"We got everything. Let's go. "
Jack and Shepard helped Conner up. They were about to leave the room when Conner stopped them.
"What about Annie?"
"Look kid, I'm sorry. She's gone. You can't do anything for her," Jack replied.
"But-"
"I'm blowing the fucking place up! With or without you. Got it?"
Conner's eyes widened.
"Why?"
"Fuckin Christ…because it's Cerberus! They fuck with people. And this place…it fucked with Annie! You can stay and be dead with her. Or you can come with us. Your choice."
Without waiting for a reply, Jack turned around and left the group. Miranda gave Shepard a look before following Jack out. Shepard didn't say anything. She quickly scanned the room and found a tattered bed sheet. She quickly grabbed it and gently wrapped Annie in it before carrying her out.
"Come on," she said quietly. The pair carefully made their way out of the ruined building. Conner winced then blinked rapidly as the sun hit her eyes. She lifted her hand to block out the bright light.
"This way!" she heard Shepard next to her. The pair jogged their way over to a shuttle that was getting ready to take off. Conner swallowed nervously. She had never been out of her room since she had awoken.
She quickly found a seat as the shuttle jerked forward before ascending to the skies. She grabbed the arm rests as it continued rising. Jack smirked a little as she watched the display before her.
Shepard placed Annie's lifeless body onto the shuttle floor and quickly strapped herself in. She reached over and snapped the safety harness on Conner's seat.
"That'll keep you from flying around," Shepard said with a small grin. Conner could only nod. She held on tight as the shuttle when higher. Jack continued to watch her.
Just then Shepard gave solid knock to the door next to her and the shuttle moved faster. She turned to Jack and gave a brief nod.
Jack smirked and pulled out the detonator. She waited for a second then pressed the button. A split second later, there was a large explosion and the tiny shuttle rocked for a moment. Conner held tighter on to the arm rests as the shuttle continued to soar.
Jack glanced over to her and smirked and Conner felt her cheeks burn.