Krul continued observing Jane as best he could. Ever since he learned of her background, she'd been avoiding him like a whipped dog. And despite the fact that he was no longer confined to a wheel-chair, the girl was damn good at eluding him. Still, the peculiarity in her powers warranted investigation. Unstable or improperly trained biotics were dangerous – to themselves and everyone around them. Garrus, of course, dismissed his concerns. Citing whatever crap that salarian told him during her inhibitor chip removal as his supposition. His commander was many things – a brilliant tactician, a formidable and terrifying opponent, one of the best shots he'd ever seen, but a gods-be-damned kid when it came to life experience. To make matters even worse, he'd developed something of a soft spot for her, clouding his judgment further. He could say it until he was blue in the face, but it fell on deaf ears – coddling one's men, or in this case woman, was a damn good way to get 'em killed.

Although, by the end of their disagreement, he had to admit it was possible that his concerns were unwarranted. A commando once told him that explaining biotics to someone who had never experienced them was like describing color to a person who'd been born blind. There was a reason he had an entire division dedicated to nurturing the talent, complete with professional instructors at the helm. His involvement had been minimal at best.

While he wasn't biotic himself, and couldn't possibly hope to identify the issue, if there even was one, he had worked extensively with Datmar survivors in the past. And they never assaulted his senses like this. Whenever she was charging up, not only could he feel it in the air but within himself. It was almost as if she were too strong – yet the power that was unleashed didn't add up. After a few rather ambitious raids on the Blood Pack's weapon shipments, his apprehension only increased. Garrus couldn't see past her effectiveness. She got the job done, displaying an incredible proficiency for biotics. And he had no point of reference. Still his hunch wouldn't settle down, which he took as sure sign that he was onto something.

If they performed back to back jobs, her powers regained some of the lethal precision he initially expected. Yet whenever she returned to duty after a few days of down-time, the dripping and weakened abilities did as well. It was the inconsistencies that drove him to scrutinize. Then there was the other day, when he could've sworn he saw biotic bleed off while she bowed away on the violin. Bits of glowing, radiant blue sparkled and drifted all around her. It was a pretty sight, if a bit unnerving. Yet he'd been exhausted at the time, and ever since his foray into a pile of red-sand, his eyes had a tendency to play tricks on him whenever he was overly tired. So, he couldn't be certain. But he was getting to the bottom of it today, come hell or high water. For better or worse, he crept into the kitchen while she was preoccupied with that game, snagged a pan, and slammed it against the counter-top.

She spun wildly. And before she fully turned to face him he saw it – bits of blue burst around her, a thousand glittering stars dissipating almost instantaneously. Merely a fraction of a second passed before the reaction was gone, but it was there. With a solid night's rest under his belt, he was certain of what he saw. "What the hell?! Are you insane? Yeah. Sneak up on a trained killer and scare the living shit outta them. That'll go well."

"Had to do something to catch your attention." Krul claimed, his palms spread before him, eyes wide, the picture of innocence. "You've been avoiding me!"

Jane crossed her arms. "Uh huh."

"I couldn't resist, you're such a rare sight these days. Been hiding in your room again, nice to see you out."

"Made a deal with Garrus… But that's beside the point. You don't do anything without reason, so spill it old man."

"I think something's wrong with your biotics and," Krul sighed and rubbed the back of his head, "I kinda just proved it."

"Oh I know." Her voice was nonchalant. "I figure it's some sort of after effect of the chip. They'll grow stronger with practice and time to heal. At least it's way better than it was with the inhibitor."

"You realize that when you spun around just now, biotics were bursting off you like fleas off a mongrel?"

Jane shifted a bit, the anxiety was clear, he caught her off guard with that revelation.

"I take it that means you also haven't noticed the bleed off?"

"I've been… a little preoccupied." Her voice was soft, almost a whisper.

"We need to tell Garrus. He hasn't been listening to me, but after what just happened…"

Jane practically jumped out of her skin. "He'll boot me off the team!"

"He needs to know." Krul stated firmly. "But I tell ya what, you head over to the salarian tomorrow and I'll hold off until he runs his tests."

She reluctantly agreed and, for a wonder, didn't retreat to her room per usual. Krul went about making a sandwich before joining her on the sofa, her eyes were distant, lost in thought.

"Alright," He spoke between mouthfuls, "what's eatin' ya kid?"

Jane hesitated, fiddling with her thumbs.

"Better out than in."

The voice that answered was small and tenuous. "Do you ever think about going back to Kar'Shan?"

"All the time."

"You know what I miss?"

"You're fucking with me. You miss Kar'Shan?"

"Yeah. I know I'm crazy. No need to rub it in." She rolled her eyes. "The wilds were so vibrant. The stars and the crisp, clear air… The beautiful sound of rain… it was so real. Omega lacks the same vigor."

"Mmmm." He clutched at the sofa-pillow like a dying man grasping a raft.

"I miss listening to the boken at night. They sang, you know? They sang to the stars. And sometimes I'd stand on the roof under the moon, just me and Sciffy. We'd sing like crazy people into the darkness. And maybe I am nuts, but sometimes, I swear their song changed – as if they were singing back."

"Music is a universal language. The boken are one of the most intelligent species in Kar'Shan's animal kingdom. They were singing back."

A few minutes passed before Jane broke the silence. "I searched for you, ya know. Well, not you specifically, but the Resistance."

"No kidding?"

"Yeah. My search lead me to an old Resistance base. There were a few dozen houses, but you had to know where to look it was so overgrown. At first, I thought the jungle was just trying to reclaim what belonged to it. But… Some of that ivy didn't seem natural. And every home's entrance was perfectly placed just beneath a small hill or chiseled into a cliff formation."

"In the Totin Mountains…."

"Sounds familiar but it's not like anyone gave me a map. My biggest clue were the writings you left behind."

"The largest house in the lot, it had an old wood burning stove in the center room. We had to blast a small hole in the rock for the chimney and mold perfectly so it looked like nothing more than a tree trunk. I figured, after a few hundred feet in height, they wouldn't smell the smoke at night. And uh… uh.. oh what was it? A loft, yeah it wasn't a full floor. We only partially finished it when we had to run."

"It had some old carvings." Jane started excitedly. "Osapris loves Dagan on the..."

"Bottom step" Krul finished. "Those damn kids carved it in. I remember that day. My gods, you were there?"

"That place saved our lives more times than I could count. If a patrol stumbled on our hideout, they'd usually pass us over, oblivious to what was right under their feet. I always marveled how you built the houses into the rock."

"A lot of men and chisels."

"And the ivy?"

"We had a botanist, believe it or not. She reckoned that crossing some off world species with the native plants made the ropes grow thicker, made the homes harder to see. By the four, that was so long ago. There were only a few hundred of us then, still scattered. I was just trying to spread… I guess you'd call it 'my message.'"

"Words of wisdom. Words of what could be."

Four astonished eyes turned toward her, it was a look of quiet desperation. "You… read some?"

They were quiet for awhile. The air was still, almost gentle. When Jane's voice cut through the ambiance, it had a tenure to it that seemed to belong. "Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind. (1) One of my favorite quotes of yours. I kept it with me during some of the worst times in my life. I just closed my eyes and escaped, to other worlds. Better worlds."

"Whatever they made you do, you know I don't hold you responsible right?"

She turned away.

"Listen kid, the Hegemony has a way of brainwashing people, reducing them to their most base instincts then exploiting it."

"You think I give a damn?!" The atmosphere changed in an instant, an unseen tension rose from her. And when she spoke, her voice was low and harsh, almost batarian, it was an odd sound in her human throat. "I couldn't care less about what I did. It was to survive. Kill or be killed, I learned that damn young. And your men were always shooting at me. Bunch of assholes. I only care that there was one less soldier between Balya and death." She licked her lips, eyes like icicles. "Why the ever loving FUCK are you here?"

"Watch your tone. Just because their deaths are my..."

"Yeah. Your responsibility. You think I don't know that? Balya was sixteen when she joined your cause. And you got her killed, for what? Nothing? You just gave up! What about all those people who died for you!? I thought you were… I thought you were gonna go back, after that whole casino raid. But you're hiding like a fucking roth-dashi. Weak and pathetic." Blue dripped from her, drops of incandescent rain.

"Settle down," he grated, "you're glowing."

She reigned it in immediately, blue dying on the uptake. But the plum-colored skin around her eyes caught his attention. "You're not sleeping are you?"

A shrug.

"You'll also be mentioning that to the salarian."

The glare she gave him was downright menacing.

"Jane," he chuckled, "your powers are terrifying, but they're on the fritz and seem to be getting worse. You at half-measure is not that threatening in the face of my tech attacks. And failing that, I could just sit on you… all tiny like. What would you even do? Honestly, if I didn't know better, I'd think you never slayed anything tougher than a glass of warm milk."

She stuck her tongue out at him while doing her absolute best not to laugh.

"Tell ya what. I have a nip of shard wine I'll split with you. It'll give you a decent night's rest and I need a drink or two in me before I broach this subject."

When he returned, bearing an over-sized bottle, Krul settled in the sofa-chair, pulling the coffee table over to prop up his feet. After taking several, deep swigs he offered it to Jane only to snatch it back at the last minute. Eyes set, face grim, he met her stare. "Don't ever question my loyalty to my people again."

Jane nodded, knowing she trespassed on what could only be described as sacred ground, before gulping down a few mouthfuls.

"I'm old," Grundan started, "old enough to know when I'm more useful in death than I am in life."

"That's not..."

He held up a finger. "I'm not finished. Hell, I barely even started, so shut your trap. Even if I could break through the Hegemony's safeguards, which is highly unlikely, the Resistance would only be hampered by my presence. My second in command survived. And I trained him for decades. Decades of not only fighting by my side but of education in cultures, writing, philosophy, politics. You name it, he's studied it. He not only knows how to win a war but how to build a society from the ground up. How to start and maintain a flourishing economy. Right now, the Resistance isn't dead. Maybe it'll take a few decades for them to recoup their strength but it wasn't all for nothing. Still, there's no way for me to return without revealing their location, which I might add, even I don't know. I have… a one time way of contacting them. And that's it. I won't waste it on some futile rescue of an old poet whose best years are long past. What little time I have left… wouldn't be served well that way. Better to disrupt all these black market goods flooding batarian space. Slowly choke the Hegemony out. The Resistance is used to fighting with technical handicaps, the Hegemony… not so much. I'm sorry… I truly am sorry about your friend. Even moreso given that I don't remember her. It had been years since I had anything to do with the biotics division. The war was – is – massive."

That arduous conversation was a reminder of his own shortcomings. When she begged him for information regarding a batarian girl, Balya Raf'daba, he assumed she had been a weaker child, forced to work in a brothel for a pittance, only to discover her emerging powers in late adolescence. Little did he know she was referring to her cellmate in Datmar. And in hindsight, he felt like a fool.

Jane wavered a bit next to him. The kid acted tough but turned out to be a total light weight. Already her eyes were drooping a bit. "How… how old are you?"

"That's a secret."

"Let's see, sixty years of raids." She knocked back a finger. "Yet, the teachings predate that by decades, maybe more, according to … crap I don't remember where I heard that. But I know I did. So, are you just the army general dude? Or did you really write all that? Y'know, there are legends that you didn't found the Resistance, that the original leader died and you're just a warlord."

A sly smile spread across his face, revealing thousands of needle-sharp teeth. "Good. Keep 'em guessing."

"C'mon." Jane pouted, expression as innocent as a babe's. "You're not gonna tell me? After all we've been through? You don't trust me?"

"You… are way too good at that. But if you promise not to spread it around…"

"Cross my heart and hope to die."

"Oh fine. You're never gonna believe me anyway… but I'm two-hundred and forty-seven. And before you ask how that's possible, I had a surgery go terribly wrong a couple hundred years back. The doc was a bit of a mad-scientist." He snorted. "Reminds me of that Mordin fellow actually. Anyhow, long story short, he tried splicing a few genes with krogan DNA in an effort to save my sorry ass. It worked and I seem to have a longer than average lifespan as a side-effect. Although, a couple decades back the regen died down significantly. I know my days are numbered."

"You… you're the oldest batarian ever. You realize that?!"

"Don't go callin' up the Galactic Book of Records now. Like I said, it's our little secret. Alright?"

Then Jane did something so typically Jane, it reminded him why he was trying to help her in the first place. The adorable little killer held out her hand and pinky-swore to never breathe a word to another living soul.

A few hours later...

"What you's thinkin' they running sand through the mines now too?"

"Probably." Garrus and Ripper rounded the corner. The past week had been unbelievably productive. As it turned out, Ripper had been sitting on a goldmine of information and hadn't even realized it. At least he was able to assure the man his friend hadn't died for nothing. With the information on the chip Dustin recovered, they had inside data on the Blue Sun's people and drug smuggling schemes, dead drop locations, and even a few encrypted radio transmissions. Once Krul cracked it, they'd be sitting pretty.

He should've recognized that something was amiss by the way their front door bent inwards; after all, several inches of reinforced steel doesn't deform like elastic, and on any other day he would have. Today, however, he was practically buzzing with anticipation. So, when he broached the threshold and came face to face with a living area suspended in mid-air along with a slumbering Jane floating far above, he was caught completely unawares. Blue engulfed the entire area. From the entrance to the furthermost edges of the groundfloor, everything, including Jane, was adrift in a sea of glimmering blue. Trying to walk forward was akin to pushing through viscous gelatin and they strained to gain a foothold, only to slide backwards.

At his side, Ripper was screeching something incomprehensible. Sounds were muffled. But if he could hazard a guess, he was almost certain it was something along the lines of 'what the ever loving shit is this?'

He pressed forward, one foot in front of the other, using every edge of the terrain to his advantage. Gripping onto coat-hooks, pillars, anything that'd increase his maneuverability, he inched towards the living area. If Jane were any closer to the ceiling, her head would be thumping against it, which might not be the worst thing considering it'd wake her up and put an end to this madness.

Not knowing what else to do, afraid that he'd be pushed back outside the envelop of calm he managed to penetrate, Garrus stood atop the coffee table and attempted to shake her awake, only to receive a taste of raw, unadulterated power. Her eyes flew open, unseeing and wild, as biotics burst from her, throttling him backwards. As he was soaring over the base's threshold, he felt a moment of recognition, or at least the abrupt sensation that came with a sudden curb in biotics. And there was no doubt in his mind, that had she not regained control, things would have ended very differently.

Lying side by side with Ripper on the hard concrete, Garrus turned towards him. "You good?"

Ripper sat up and rolled his shoulders. "Yeah.. hoooly sheet what was that?"

"Jane…"

"Gots that part."

There was a stifled sob from the living area and a distinct thump of a body hitting a stone floor. "Check on the others."

There was no need however. Weaver and Sensat, hearing the commotion, had raced up from the basement and stood wide-eyed, gazing at the destruction. The only other person on base was Krul, and the moment Garrus set foot inside, he could hear the crotchety old bastard hollering. Everyone on-site was whole and accounted for.

Jane, on the other hand, wasn't so fortunate. She was breathing in short, ragged gasps and her leg was completely mangled. He could see a jagged bone protruding from her thigh, right above the knee and by the odd angle she was lying, combined with the labored breathing, her leg wasn't the only thing broken. "Shit shit shit. Call Mordin."

However, there wasn't much the salarian could do from a distance and, seeing the glazed look in Jane's eyes, he was concerned another episode would hit at any moment. They quickly loaded her onto a stretcher and headed to the Gozu district.

Mordin and a rather harried-looking Nalah greeted them. At the sight of Jane's broken body, the woman practically rushed him, demanding answers – for which he had none. They quickly explained what they saw, not that they understood any of it, and stared dumbfounded as the various assistants ferried her off.

"Whats the holy sheeet just happened?" Ripper turned, bewildered.

"Unstable biotics," Krul began, "Are a danger to themselves and everyone around them. Aside from that, I have no idea but you just got a taste of what she's capable of, even if it ain't quite right."

"You's don't say!"

Mordin, who was listening to their conversation over the radio popped in. "Needs proper training. Have seen similar injuries in poorly schooled asari."

"I need to call Anderson." Garrus interjected. "They have biotic training programs maybe…"

"The Alliance? You're gonna send her into the penaska den?" Krul snarled.

"You got a better idea?"

"Fine but I'm in the room when you talk to this Anderson fellow."

Two hours later and Garrus had finally managed to get ahold of Jane's silent benefactor. His companion however, was not amused at learning his true identity.

Krul stared slack jawed at the projection before rounding on Garrus. "Why you little… Councilor Anderson. That's the guy you've been yammering on about?!"

"Well, yeah."

"That's all you've got to say after dropping a nuke on my skull? I should take you over my knee boy. Don't care if you're my commander, you gotta warn a man before he meets one of the most powerful dickwads – sorry councilor – in the galaxy. I woulda shined my head or something."

"Krul, he's an old friend… just tell him your concerns."

Anderson, clearly doing his best to remain straight-faced during the by-play, covered a fit of laughter with a cough.

Krul returned to the call. "I woulda dressed for the occasion if I had a warning, but don't expect me to salute you or nothin'."

"I wouldn't dream of asking such a thing."

For a wonder, Krul patiently listened as Anderson explained what the Ascension Project was – a biotic school for humanity's youth, ages fourteen to twenty four. Run by his long-time friend, Kahlee Sanders, a woman who served as both a devoted teacher to her students and a protector. It was an academic institution designed for special cases like Jane. While she was on the cusp of aging out of the program, if she required more time, Kahlee would be certain she received it. Anderson assured them he'd conjure up a counterfeit identity for Jane, complete with fake biometric credentials. She still couldn't set foot on the citadel, but in a controlled space like the Ascension Project, she'd be fine. All-in-all, it seemed like a done deal. Even Krul had to admit that whatever was happening with Jane was beyond their ability to help, after all none of the men were biotics.

When Garrus returned to the Gozu district to check on Jane's progress and break the news, his only concern was her response. Unbeknownst to any of them, it was the last they'd hear from Anderson or Kahlee for months. They'd simply vanish, along with the hopes for Jane's future.

Citations:

1) Virginia Woolf

In this fic, the average batarian lifespan is 185 years old, with the longest batarian life being recorded as 211 years at the time of death.