-Chapter 12-

Nothing's Free

Authors Note: Sorry for the long wait guys, school got in the way a lot of me finishing this one. That combined with the fact I wanted to make sure I was going in the right direction next took a while. I'm hoping to put out more chapters soon as well as increase the quality of them. I'm not sure I'm currently happy with how I'm doing things but I think I'll be able to fix them. See you guys next chapter!

"As you can see," Shepard said, gesturing towards the kitchen "This isn't the most impressive area on the ship." He settled himself against one of the counters, eyeing the sparse facilities.

Jared did the same, leaning instead against the counter island that marked the division between the kitchen and dining area. He tried to keep his mind off his body's need for sleep, with every movement he felt his eyelids droop more and more. Suddenly, the sleeper pods didn't seem so bad as he had previously imagined.

"Anyway, this is where you'll primarily do your work. If you need anything, my quarters are just beyond there." Shepard gestured toward the kitchen's back wall. "There should already be some provisions and cooking ware in some of the cabinets." He stood upright and began making his way out toward his cabin. "I look forward to seeing what you make tonight."

The words took a bit to register in Jared's mind, by the time he had processed them, Shepard was almost out of sight.

"Wait Shepard!" Jared called out toward him. "There were a few more things I wanted to talk to you about."

Shepard immediately made a militaristic about-face towards his direction and began to saunter over. While some of his movements were rigid, others were more relaxed and suggested a side of carefreeness that Jared was not aware of.

"Lay them on me." Shepard asked, finding his place against the counter once more.

Jared straightened himself out as he felt the fatigue in his body drag him down. "Regarding the cooking duties, is this really all I get to do? I know we talked about it before but are you sure I can't go with you?."

Shepard let out a sigh, a clear indication of the toll this line of conversation was having on him. "I told you before, I cannot allow you into the field without any combat experience, it would be suicide. And I refuse to watch another person under my command die due to lack of experience."

Jenkins, I can't believe I had forgotten about that.

"I have no clue what we'll be facing out there, with Saren working with the geth, anything is possible. I do not want to risk bringing you out there against those odds." Jared could see the compassion in Shepard's eyes as he spoke.

He thought it was unusual, Shepard had only known him for a short while and yet he seemed to care deeply about his well being. Although he was frustrated at not being able to come with him, he couldn't help but feel happy from his words.

"When the time is right, I will give you a communication device with an encoded frequency for just you and I, but until then, I need you to stay here and cook, my crew needs food after all." He crossed his arms, as if to say "This is the end of the conversation."

"But-"

Shepard quickly put a hand up to stop Jared talking. "I know sometimes you have to be in the area to complete a vision, but that's a risk I am willing to take."

While Shepard was talking, Jared knew he needed to choose his next words carefully. He knew Shepard, he knew what he respected, what he stood for, or at least he thought he did. There had been multiple times since he had arrived where Shepard had surprised him with traits he didn't recognize, ones that were never represented in the games.

They're real people now Jared, not just static video game characters.

Jared took a large breath and looked Shepard in the eyes, his gaze seemed to pierce through him and focus on his soul. "Those visions, the ones that require me to be with you, are my chance to actually do something, I can actually help with the knowledge they give me."

Shepard opened his mouth but Jared did not allow him the words to come out. "I don't remember anything of my past life, but, I can feel or tell that I was never given the chance to help or change anything."

Shepard's face grew more serious with each passing word as he intently focused on what came next.

"My life before, it felt mundane, it wasn't anything particularly exciting."Jared sharpened his own gaze onto Shepard. "But I play-" He stopped himself suddenly. " I knew some people that gave me excitement, courage, and the power to feel like I could change the world even if it really wasn't feasible."

The world around Jared had become dull, and colorless, slowly flowing about as he drowned out all of the noise. All he could hear was himself, and all he could see was Shepard, the man he admired more than anything in the world.

"Now these visions come along and it's given me a chance I can't afford to ignore."

The world slowly but surely formed around him as he finished speaking. He began to hear the slight thrum of the drive core reverberate through the halls, the murmuring of other crew members, and the sounds of doors swishing open somewhere on the ship. Shepards eyes were now shut as he stood silently, he was thinking about what though, Jared could not tell. The silence between the two persisted for a minute, Jared was unsure if he should stay there, or begin to figure out the cooking appliances from the future. After another minute of uncomfortable silence, he began to crouch down and open the cabinet connected to the island. As soon as he was near the ground, he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Shepard standing above him. Although the gesture was harmless, Jared could not help but feel intimidated by the display, while he generally thought of Shepard as a kind man, he could be intimidating when he needed to be, and the feeling of strength his hand emanated was not helping. He got up from his crouch and faced him, he didn't wear an expression Jared could read, which made the situation even more tense than before.

"Alright." Shepards words pierced the air. "I can't deny conviction like that."

Jared was hit with a wave of euphoria, the fatigue on his body was lifted, and he opened his arms and embraced Shepard.

After a second of hugging him, Jared quickly withdrew. "Sorry. Just glad you agreed and all." He added as he backed away from him. Shepard gave him a quizzical look, which turned to one of understanding before long.

I'm just glad I'll be able to help, there are so many horrible things I could prevent, so many people I could help, so many battles I could help in.

As the thought of combat crossed his mind, a chill ran down his spine. Although Shepard had reminded him of the dangers he would face, he only really felt worried for them now that the possibility of battle was real. He was completely aware of the horrors the crew of the Normandy had to experience, and now he would be a part of it, a hell of his own making. The chill from his spine slowly began to encompass his whole chest, he felt numb as he had trouble finding his own breath.

"But," Shepard added. "Not until you undergo some training."

Shepard began pacing about the kitchen as he was talking, as if he was explaining his plan not only to Jared, but to himself as well. "The way I see it, we have individuals on board that could be, more or less, described as experts within their field."

Jared watched Shepard pace back and forth, it was clear this was a core part of his thinking process and something he did quite often. "I usually limit my squad size to three individuals, including myself. This gives me a decent bit of firepower but while also allowing me to be flexible with approaches."

Shepard suddenly stopped in front of Jared, hands folded behind his back. "Which means there will always be some of these experts on board."

He unfolds his hands, extending his arms to gesture at the kitchen. "You won't always be cooking, so it's perfect!" A smile quickly appeared on his face, it was clear he enjoyed how everything was coming together.

After hearing Shepard talk, Jared began to find his composure along with his breath as the chill slowly receded back down his body. He was still terrified by the thought of being in an actual combat scenario, but knowing that it wouldn't be for a bit calmed him.

"Yeah." Jared said while clearing his throat. "That sounds fine I suppose, as long as I can go with you." He swallowed what little bravery he had. Jared thought of himself as a particularly brave person before. But this was back in his normal life, when his biggest concern was getting into an argument with someone on the street. Now, he would have to worry about not getting killed on a regular basis.

Shepard clapped his hands together, 'Well, I'm glad you get the picture. For now, go ask around, get to know the crew and find that group of individuals you think could help you. You'll be traveling with everyone here for a while so best to make some friends ." He gave Jared a short wave before departing. "Come see me later though! I do have something I need to check." As the voice faded in the distance, he heard the faint sound of a door sliding shut.

Jared stood there for several minutes, unsure of what to do. Since the start, he had had a clear goal that he was aiming for: Find Shepard. Now that he had found him, all he had done was give him an objective that had him at a loss. There were a thousand different approaches running through his mind, but none of them seemed completely correct to him, they all had him second guessing. He was quite sure of who he was talking about, but which one to approach, and even how he would approach them made him worry. These people were legendary heroes to him, a thought that had only become more cemented in his mind over the past couple hours, he couldn't simply go up to them and talk, could he?

Before he knew it, he was riding the elevator down to the cargo bay. A million thoughts were racing through his head at once as the elevator drifted down toward the bottom of the ship. He was still amazed he psyched himself into doing this, but he was not going to let his waning courage go to waste. He paced about the cabin as he thought of what to say.

Hey Garrus, I know you're a sharpshooter and all so I was wondering…

No that's awful, how would I know that I haven't seen him in combat.

Hi Garrus, I'm the new chef and everything and I wanted to make sure I was meeting your

dietary restrictions….

That's not terrible but how would I get on the topic of shooting?

The elevator lazily came to a stop as the door slid open revealing the ill-lit cargo bay. Stepping out of the cabin, Jared noticed that Garrus was now by the Mako, using a small monitoring station that was next to it. He was intently focused on the screen, flicking through different schematics and images trying to get a read on the Mako's design. As Jared got closer, he became more and more nervous as the courage quickly left his body, he felt he was disturbing him with his work and he didn't want one of his first impressions to be a rude one.

Before Jared knew it, he was standing behind him. The alien towered over Jared with an intimidating physical presence that made him even more difficult to approach. Jared stood there for several seconds, not sure what to do or say. Eventually, he decided to go with what felt natural to him. He took a deep breath and began to speak.

"Hello! Uh..Garrus right? I'm Jared, I thought it would be nice to get to know some of the crew around here." He tried to sound as chipper as possible while also attempting to hold back the fear he felt inside.

As soon as he finished, Garrus whipped around and fixed his gaze upon him, his blue, steely eyes peering with an unusual intensity. He seemed to be assessing him physically, whether by habit or choice, it was clear he had done this before. Jared felt himself begin to sweat as the eyes of the alien looked him up and down. Finally, Garrus began to ease up as he met Jared's eyes and began to lean against the monitoring stand behind him.

"Let me guess. No dextro-amino food stores?"

Great start Jared.