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XxX-XxX-XxX

So most of you wanted me to skip Purgatory since nothing would change through the mission, and it would be a filler chapter. Noted and doing so. To note again, though, NOTHING is different in this version of Jack's recruitment.

XxX-XxX-XxX

Touring the alien-made starship was almost as interesting as she'd hoped it would be, even with the Blue Suns soldiers interrupting her the way they kept doing, as short-lived as their interruptions always were. The way that foreign compartments had been added, presumably over the course of its however many years of service, was truly fascinating, too. Different kinds of bulkheads, a litany of various kinds of compartments and cargo crates retrofitted to house prisoners at varying security levels, and massive open areas for work that had been refitted from older purposes she couldn't begin to even guess at.

Even now they were in a wide, tall room with whose original purpose she couldn't guess but looked to have been turned into some kind of training field. Crates set end to end made a hallway that circled the room's edge, with railing and pylons atop it and a massive, raised section in the corner. This let down into the little training area, presumably so the guards could drill while stationed here, and held a powerful shield generator. Presumably, the shield would protect onlookers while those below trained, though Penny failed to understand why they would need that without Aura and the safety it offered which allowed the use of live ammunition.

Still, it was a fascinating design to look at, if a bit archaic by Atlesian standards.

"Polendina!" The commander's shout drew her attention off of the room around aher and down, to the woman kneeling beside her behind the old, clearly well-used barricade. "Why are you standing up?! You're going to get shot!"

"My Aura is at nineteen percent, Ma'am." She smiled, turning her gaze on the warden and his two guards, currently hiding behind their own armored railings. The shield circling the room had proven impervious to their own weapons, forcing a standoff in their enemy's favor. "Their rifles inflict between point zero two percent of my Aura and point five, and thus they cannot break my Aura. If they lower their shield, they cannot withstand my blasts."

"You should just surrender, Commander Shepard." Kuril commented, apparently able to hear them over the crackle of the energy barrier. The room was, after all, silent besides it now that they'd stopped trying to break through the shields. "I've learned how true your reputation is now, Commander. Stand down and I will let you leave. I'll even give you Jack, no charge."

"Go to hell ya goddamn traitor!" Zaeed snapped from his barricade across the way, spraying fire across the section of shield that covered where they'd last seen Kuril. Shepard ordered him back down and he obeyed, snapping back a mad, "Fool me once you son-of-a-whore! Fool me once!"

"Calm down, Zaeed." The man snarled, waving her off, but settled in on a knee while Shepard spoke. To the Turian and Human both she spoke, using her comms and sounding tinny even in Penny's ear for it, though the woman was beside her. Close enough Penny could hear her voice twice, the second time on a short delay. "Both of you prep an Overload charge and aim for the right pylon. High yield, I don't care if it drains your Omni, these sorts of shields always crack under that kind of heat. Penny, when they go off, concentrate as much of a pulse as you're capable of on it, too. You should be able to pierce and bring it down even if the ship is powering it."

"My most powerful blast will reduce my Aura to three percent, Commander." She informed her, smile shrinking somewhat with the news. "This will leave me vulnerable for the duration of the mission."

"We'll cover you." The woman assured her, "Just do as you are ordered, Polendina."

"Very well, Ma'am." She smiled, rolling her own shoulders and flicking her arms out to either side. Three little blasters spun to life over her shoulders and head and she smiled, "I am ready, Commander."

"Get down as soon as you are empty, Polendina. Open up on three, Zaeed, Garrus." She ordered, turning and rising, bracing her rifle as much on her shoulder as the cover. Taking a breath, the woman drummed the side of her weapon twice and grunted, "Three!"

Two large electrical explosions ripped across the shielded pylon-generator the Commander had indicated. The shield crackled and flashed around the room and, as Penny closed her fist, she could see tiny gaps sparking all along the shield's surface. Understanding the system's weakness, now, she smiled.

Rather than pour on fire she rotated short pulses that slammed into a small surface area of the shield, playing on her knowledge of hard light dust barriers and the similarities between them and kinetics. The rapid, short-lived bursts meant that the system could neither adjust to maintaining a power balance on defence, or to resting. At the same time she flicked her hand up and to the side, the two remaining blades spinning up in a weak, but usable, blaster that she fired randomly around the room, sparking along the barrier.

The lights flickered and, seeing the power surge they were causing, the computer's automated system shut the barrier down to save the ship. Without the barrier, her remaining burst bored into the pylon itself, destroying it while the Commander poured fire onto the other one. Both sparking and useless, Penny slid to her knees behind the barrier, sucking in breath while the two men moved forward to flank the surprised Blue Suns. Shepard stayed with her as she had the entire mission, kneeling beside her and kindly watching over her.

"You good?" The woman asked, watching her try to catch her breath. "Never seen you so tired."

"I am at two percent Aura, Ma'am." She smiled, listening to the sounds of the men fighting where she couldn't see. "I will be well. Food, water, a shower perhaps, and some rest will all see me right as, well, my right hand."

"Well, at least we're done here, so you'll be fine." Shepard laughed as the fighting died down and Garrus called the all-clear, the entire ship shuddering with the ferocity of Jack's flight and fight through the station. Offering her a hand, the Commander watched her swords slide back into her pack and pulled her upright, "Let's go get our new recruit, Polendina."

"A new friend, maybe?" She asked tiredly, the Commander chuckling under her breath and nodding. "Good," she smiled, "new friends are always grand. Even when you are tired, they make the day all the brighter."

"Yeah, well…" Shepard shrugged, turning away from her and headed up the ramp towards the door behind where the warden had faced justice. Over her shoulder, she ordered, "Let's just get out of here before anyone else starts shooting at us, Polendina."

Smiling and forcing herself to straighten, she followed behind her.

XxX-XxX-XxX

"You're fuckin' crazy if you think I'm gettin' on a Cerberus shuttle, Bitch." Subject Zero, or 'Jack' as she had repeatedly been referred to as, was not happy. No, in fact she was rather livide, and had smeared two trapped mercenaries across the back of the docking zone for it. Crackling blue, she rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck, "Different uniforms, though, so you get thirty seconds."

"To…?"

"To explain why I shouldn't paint the walls with you, too." The woman laughed, waving a hand at the rather macabre but very fresh coat that she'd done the wall up in. "'Cus from where I'm sitting, you're between me and a way out."

"And that way out is what, exactly, Jack?" Shepard asked, laughing to herself while her men flanked out to either side of her and Penny, vulnerable as she was, hid behind her armored form. "What, are you going to take a Kodiak shuttle all the way to… Wherever you intend on actually going? Is that your plan?"

"Done it before." She shrugged, "Why would now be any different?"

"A lot of reasons, actually." Almost to back up her answer, the Normandy shot by, peppering a distant Suns corvette no doubt intending on destroying her shuttle when it left. The mass accelerator rounds carved through its barriers and armor, cracking both, and it limped away trailing smoke and fire. "Case in point. Or did you miss the battle going on around the station at the moment? Blue Suns' ships shooting at mine, the Normandy shooting them down, and prisoners in stolen ships shooting at both."

"Just means no one will notice me." The mad Biotic smiled, "Which works just fine for me. Still waitin' on reasons not to smear the wall with you."

"Hold that thought." If the other woman wanted to play… Shepard smiled, raising her arm and flicking her Omni-Tool on, using it to contact the Normandy directly. "Joker, if the shuttle leaves without me on it, assign it priority and eliminate it at all costs."

"Uh, alright, I guess, Commander?" The man's confused and distracted voice answered, crackling in the still air around them. "I mean, I figured that was already the plan what with the, you know, prison of psychopaths stealing anything that can float right now. Thanks for that, by the way."

"You're welcome."

"Yeah, yeah, real funny- Wait, do you have me on speaker right now?" She didn't answer and heard the man sigh and then swear, "God damn it I hate when you put me on speaker. You know my voice sounds awful on speaker, Commander!"

"I think you sound just wonderful, friend Joker!" Penny smiled, stepping around her and leaning over to talk into the Omni-Tool. "Do not be shy about your voice! I promise that it does not sound as-"

"Penny…" Shepard sighed, shaking her head and shutting down the communication line now that her threat was made. Turning back, she found Jack to be practically luminescent now and stuck an elbow out, using it to urge Penny back around and behind her. "So there's at least the one reason not to 'smear the wall with me'. I've got three," she spared Penny behind her a look, "well, three and a quarter more reasons not to try it, too. So why not try talking before smearing?"

"Why?"

"I dunno, just an idea she had, I guess." Garrus grunted from beside her, looking over his rifle absently in a quiet but very clear kind of threat. Not even looking up, he added coyly, "Maybe you should try it, see how it goes. Who knows? Never know, it might be fun."

"Better 'n gettin' spaced at least." Shepard stiffened at that reminder but Zaeed either didn't notice or didn't care, waving a hand at the battle outside. "You're not gettin' past that noise intact without help or gettin' sent on a very goddamn cold walk. We got the help, and you have what we need."

"The fuck do I have that you need, old man?" The woman asked, sounding more hostile but letting her Biotics fade regardless. Curling her hands into flists she gave the Cerberus insignia emblazoned on the shuttle a look and snarled, snapping back around back to them, "I'm not goin' back without a damn good offer. So you better have somethin' good."

"How about unfettered access to Cerberus' data files through our systems?" The woman had a hate for Cerberus a planet wide and a black hole deep, and for all the woman's threatening, almost feral posturing, Shepard's words made her pause. Made her consider, in exactly the way Shepard had expected she would do, based on Cerberus' dossier. "I'm on a special mission with Cerberus, not for them. I don't owe them a damn thing, and I know you hate them. So money, safe passage, my personal assurances of safety, and every dirty secret you can dig up on the bastards."

"I want your clearance."

"Do you one better." Shepard countered, smiling. Now the fish, or maybe shark was better in this instance, was on the hook, she just needed to reel it in. "I'll give you clearance from someone who works directly with the owner of Cerberus itself."

"You've got someone that works with him…?"

"Better than that, I have met the man." She smiled, slowly reeling the woman in, "He's called the Illusive Man, apparently. Black hair, cybernetic eyes, wears a black suit and drinks something probably alcoholic with two cubes of ice in it. I bet you didn't even know what he looked like, did you?"

"No one does, really…"

"Then I'm already proving my worth." Shepard nodded, "So, do we have a deal, then, Jack?"

"You give me the files as soon as we board." Shepard nodded and, finally, the woman let her Biotics fade away. Cursing, she crossed her arms and grimaced, "What are we waiting for, then? Let's get the fuck out of here before the station falls apart. Maybe we can pop a few rounds into it before we leave? Fuckers deserve it."

"Seconded."

"Thirded."

"But would that not destroy the- Oh, I understand that is the point." Penny nodded, drawing sighs from the other two and making even Shepard groan. Smiling, the woman laughed and bounced by, towards the Biotic woman. Smiling, she offered a hand, "I am Penny Polendina, new friend Jack! It is a pleasure to meet you!"

"...The fuck?"

Whatever the cause, Jack didn't rip anyone apart while Penny yammered away at her, just sitting wide-eyed and confused at her energy while she went on and on about the Normandy. And space. And Turians. Then space again, because Penny seemed to really like space and finally sweets and how she couldn't wait to have pancakes with Jack. The woman seemed unable to really process what was happening but Penny didn't care or, more likely, didn't notice, simply talking enough to fill in for the both of them while they boarded the shuttle and waiting for Joker's word to try and dock back with the ship.

That took fifteen minutes, unfortunately, but they were on their way eventually so it didn't really matter.

"Miranda, when we arrive you're to give your access to the Normandy's stored Cerberus files to Subject Zero." Shepard warned as they made their way over, using a private channel the two had long since had set up for their personal use. "Not up for debate either, so don't try. I want you monitoring and shadow curating what she's looking through. See if you can't give her something she can use that won't hurt our operations."

"...Aye, Commander." The woman ground out, displeasure clear even across the line. "I'll set everything up as ordered, Ma'am."

"Thank you, Miranda." And surprisingly, she meant that, too. She'd expected a lot more fight from the woman but then she supposed Miranda was pragmatic enough to know when not to press against the grain. Moving on to the next duty of the day she reported, quietly eyeing the suspect as she did, "Polendina's Aura is down. Now is the time, if we're ever looking for one."

"Nikos is still confined to the Med-Bay, Ma'am, as you ordered." Miranda reported after a short, brief moment, "Shall I meet you there?"

"Yes." She answered, thinking swiftly and adding, "Keep security away from the Med-Bay, though. The last thing we want is Nikos getting antsy if we're right and using whatever her ability really is, Semblance or Reaper tech either way, inside our ship."

"And us being there is meant to help how…?"

"If they make a move, you slam Nikos down with every ounce of Biotic power you have in that tight little body of yours. I don't give a damn if you pass out after, you crush her. I can handle Polendina myself." She could handle Polendina, as low as her Aura was after their mission and their last assault on Kuril. A happy coincidence she'd seen and taken eagerly. "I can deal with her. Can you handle Nikos?"

"I should be able to, yes." Miranda answered, "Though I doubt the Med-Bay will enjoy it…"

"We can deal with that later, Miranda." 'If the worst comes to pass' she left unsaid, genuinely hoping they were wrong about everything. And that, confronted and trapped as they planned them to be, they would be able to explain everything. Nikos was devastating enough to be irreplaceable and Polendina was the same, but also… Penny, and irreplaceable in a wholly different way. Still, though... "For now, standby and be ready at the Med-Bay as ordered. I'll get Polendina there along with Vakarian."

"Vakarian…?"

"He backed up that they knew a Geth." She answered simply, "He might be able to offer more answers. And if a fight starts, he'll have our back."

"You trust him that much?"

"I do." And, she hoped, after today she'd be able to trust two more people.

XxX-XxX-XxX

"I have told you already that I feel fine, Miss Lawson. Surely my ankle is more than healed enough by now for simple excercises." Pyrrha sighed, shaking her head and laying back in the now incredibly uncomfortable medical bed. Days and days she'd been confined to it, the doctor and commander worried about her ankle, and it had made her stiff. "I just want to do some stretches and weight training in the cargo bay, blast it all."

And irritable.

Stiff and irritable.

"The doctor's orders were clear, Nikos Bed rest until she or the Commander clear you to be mobile." The woman answered simply, leaning against the wall by the door with her arms folded under her chest. The left, on top of the right, glowed orange while text scrawled by, the woman working even now. "You've not been cleared and as such are under observation standards and confined to the bed."

"For an ankle injury…?"

"Ours is not to question why, Nikos." The woman smiled and gave her a look, eyes hard and smile frankly too stiff to be of comfort. Her voice came off as much the same, too, though Pyrrha held her tongue on that as she went on, "Just relax. Frankly, I'm jealous you don't have to be up and at a station, slaving away."

"I'd be happy to help with whatever-"

"We can discuss it later." The woman cut her off, looking back to whatever she was busying herself with and shrugging dismissively. Distracted with whatever she was doing, the other woman continued, "If it makes you feel any better, the Commander intends to put your friend in for some studies and rest, too."

"I see..." They'd run bloodwork and scans all over her while they monitored her recovery, light and simplistic as it had been. While Pyrrha could get through them without worry, the same couldn't be said of Penny, and she felt worry knot in her gut for it. "What kinds of tests will be run on her, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Curiosity, mainly." She lied, "And Penny can be… Anxious, with doctors. A quirk of hers but if I know what to expect-"

"She'll be put through whatever the Commander requires, Nikos. No more, no less." Miranda interrupted quietly, eyes narrowing and shoulders straightening almost imperceptibly. Then her lips quirked and she shrugged, the odd tenseness gone as swiftly and as mysteriously as it had come on. "Don't worry about it too much, Nikos. I've a feeling that when she gets here the Commander will dismiss you."

Why didn't that make Pyrrha feel better, though?

Regardless, that seemed to be the end of things unless Pyrrha felt like flaunting her orders, which didn't appeal to say the least. So instead she laid back in the uncomfortable bed, closed her eyes, and waited as patiently as she was able to. She wouldn't be made to wait for long, at least, looking up as the door hissed open and Shepard entered, Garrus and Penny in two just behind and to either side of her.

"Have a seat, Penny." The Commander grunted, gesturing at Chakwas' chair beside Pyrrha instead of the more appropriate bed on Pyrrha's other side. Looking at her, the armored and armed Commander nodded and asked, quietly, "How are you feeling, Nikos? Well-rested, I hope, after all this time."

"I… Am well, yes." She answered, watching Miranda reach to a little switch by the door and flick it, polarizing the separating window without a word. Idly, and anxiously, she noted that Miranda, too, was armed. Quietly, she asked, "How, um, how did your mission go, then? I trust all went well?"

"It went fine enough. Jack is settling in under the engineering deck right now while we route to the Citadel for a few things Mordin needs to finalize his work." Shepard nodded, turning to Garrus and nodding silently towards the far door. Beyond which, Pyrrha wasn't sure what was there. He cocked his head but she only turned away and so, shrugging, he went to lean against the door. "We're actually here to talk about you two, though. Not the mission."

"What about…?"

"A lot of things." Shepard answered quietly, "Starting with what Penny is."

"What I am…?" Penny murmured, eyes flicking to Pyrrha's for a second before looking back to the Commander's impassive, armored mask. "I-I don't think I understand, Ma'am. "

"Neither do I…"

"Or me, if we're pointing out who's out of the loop around here." Garrus added quietly from the door, Shepard's head snapping to meet his gaze. The alien only shrugged, though, adding quietly. "Yeah, sure, got it. Being quiet now."

"We've explained Auras, Semblances and everything else to you, Commander." Pyrrha murmured, sitting up but not attempting to leave the bed. Even the simple movement of sitting up, though, had the two women's hands hovering over their sidearms on their hips. Her eyes narrowed on them but she stilled, looking to the two women slowly, "I've not been confined to the Med-Bay for observation, have I?"

"That was part of it. We didn't lie about the data collection." Miranda answered after a look and nod from the Commander, "Collecting data on you has many uses, though. For instance, Nikos, your Aura takes twenty one hours and fifteen minutes to fully recharge from zero. And anatomically, you are nearly identical to standard Human, though with denser bones, muscles and more tendons at the joints. All by small factors, but factors which exist."

"Those don't matter, though, compared to what started our investigation." Shepard cut in, giving Garrus a look and explaining presumably for his sake as much as theirs, "Passive scans of Penny, taken at the airlock as part of Cerberus' anti infiltration protocols, showed extensive cybernetics throughout her body."

"Cybernetics…" The Turian murmured, turning to the two of them and stiffening as he realized what they must have been getting at. "You two are friends with a Geth, and she's been cybernetically enhanced."

"Is that bad…?" Penny murmured, giving Pyrrha a fearful look.

"We have reason to believe that you both are indoctrinated agents, in league with the Reapers via the Geth." Shepard said by way of answer, noting when Pyrrha stiffened. She, at least, knew who the Reapers were and what they represented. And even Penny, for as little as Pyrrha had gone into them, knew enough to be afraid of the allegation. "We examined Nikos to determine if she was similarly enhanced or not, and kept you separated to examine your behavior to see if you acted like indoctrinated subjects do. You don't, though."

"Which is the only reason we're talking instead of shooting you, by the by." Miranda added threateningly. Even Garrus, who she trusted more than most to do what was right, had a hand on his hip, resting on his sidearm. "So, explain, and this time don't lie."

"W-We didn't." Pyrrha argued quickly, giving Penny a look and licking her lips while her mind raced. "P-Penny isn't a Reaper- I mean, it is true we are friends with Geth, a-and that she has cybernetic components, but we aren't… The Geth aren't… I don't-"

"I am not a normal Human girl, as much as I look like one." Penny murmured when Pyrrha couldn't think but to stammer, looking between each of the three of them with panicked eyes. She never had been good at confrontations, after all. "I am an artificial being, designed and built by my father to look and be Human in everything but flesh and blood. All else we told you we told you true. Even my energy blasters rely on the same energy my Aura draws from, though it is not technically a Semblance."

"And we're supposed to trust your word on that?"

"When I lie, I hiccup." She answered, "Try it."

"You'd just make yourself hiccup to sell the idea." Shepard grunted, dismissing it entirely and sighing. Looking between the two she explained, simply, "You have two options. Prove that you aren't using Reaper technology to do these things you do, or you will be disarmed, incarcerated, and remanded to Cerberus custody."

"Where you will be interrogated and dealt with as possible Reaper collaborators." The woman murmured coolly, the threat behind her words more than obvious even to Pyrrha. She'd been on the ExtraNet, she knew what kind of group Cerberus was and what they were known to do.

"I-I see…" Their lives were on the line, then, and Pyrrha sighed for it and her lack of options. "If I can convince you that Aura is natural, and not technological...?"

"Then I would have an explanation for some of what we have unearthed regarding you." Shepard answered, "But there is more we don't understand. This 'war in heaven' you spoke about in your quarters, for example."

"You were spying on us…?"

"Cerberus monitors every deck of the ship." Miranda answered, "That you didn't sweep for and disable such devices allowed us to hear what was said. And it doesn't help you to protest it, either."

"That I… Would keep private, Commander." Pyrrha murmured, Penny nodding with the words for obvious reasons. The nature of the Gods and their deaths and resurrections would not easily be believed, and could not easily be proven. "It is nothing untowards, however, and besides that, if I prove that an Aura is natural then I will have addressed the first of your concerns."

"You will also have to explain your relation to the Geth, and agree to be submitted to monitoring." She nodded and Shepard sighed, "Fine, then. Start with the Geth you know and your relation to it."

"It is a friend, and it's name is Legion." She answered simply, looking at Garrus and adding with a small nod, "He can back me up on that. And that Legion means no one any harm. He simply wants to learn about you, Commander, and, er, 'organic societies'. So that the Collective can understand, predict and work with us when the Reapers come."

"The Geth worked with the Reapers." Shepard pointed out, "Why would they oppose them now?"

"Some Geth worked with the Reapers, but not all are on their side." Garrus, of all people, explained. "He, it I mean, wanted information to find you so that it could make contact and while we talked, it explained that to me. Perhaps help, if you were alive. It left Omega on a favor to Aria, actually. A trade, for information on where to start looking for you when it got back."

"Diplomacy isn't normal for the Geth, but a division would explain why Cerberus' analysis showed that the Geth that worked with Saren were so much weaker and less numerous than estimates assert the Geth should be minimally." Miranda added, pursing her lips as she ran through the idea and turned to the Commander. "It… Makes sense, Commander. And answers some long-standing questions."

"That it does." Shepard nodded, looking between her and the Turian. "Do you think that it is really looking to make friends with us?"

"I… Don't really know." He shrugged, "But that's already a step up from knowing they're on our enemies, either. It wasn't hostile on Omega, though, and that's kind of important. If it's looking for you we'll find him soon enough anyway, though, and we can just… See how that goes."

"If she can prove Aura is natural then…" Miranda shrugged, "If Aura can be proven to be natural, and we know Nikos has no cybernetics in her, then the Geth situation is all my suspicions have to stand on. And that is your call."

"...If you can prove your assertions about Aura, then we'll set this aside for now." Shepard said after a long, quiet moment to consider it all. "You aren't in the clear, and you will be monitored and barred from leaving the Normandy until we know for sure one way or another what is happening here. Now, prove that Aura isn't technological in any way."

"Very well, then." The deal was decent enough, she supposed. She didn't want to leave the Normandy anyway, not while there was still good to be done. Still, though… Pyrrha sighed and grimaced, turning to Garrus on the other end of the room. "I will need Garrus' help, though, if he is willing."

"Willing to…?" Garrus murmured, taking a half-step towards her bed and hesitating.

"I'm going to awaken his Aura." She explained to the room at large, Penny's eyes softening sadly with the answer. "Penny is almost certainly too exhausted to, and I have no choice in the matter. But of everyone aboard, I trust and respect Garrus alone enough to… To do this with someone because it is demanded of me."

"Uh…"

"Do it, then." Shepard ordered, sighing and adding quietly, after a breath, "And… And if it works, I'll apologize for making you do it. But I saw your reaction, you know why we are doing this."

"Hm." Pyrrha didn't answer, frankly angrier than she had been in a while, but the woman had a point. Turning in her bed she stood, legs aching and stiff from being in bed so often and for so long. Now, she knew that they had been wary of her fighting back here…

"I need to touch you." She explained to the Turian, standing in the loose white clothes she'd been given to wear. Nodding, the alien moved to her and stopped, standing awkwardly and looking at the wall embarrassedly. "You'll feel a… Rush, of sorts, and then your Aura will be active. You will need to be trained to use it, but the rush is unmistakable. And the glow."

"Glow…?"

"You'll see." She murmured, laying a hand on his armored breast and sighing. Taking a breath and flaring her Arua, she closed her eyes and leaned her head against his armored chest, speaking loudly and clearly, "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."

XxX-XxX-XxX

A heartbeat passed after she finished before anything happened, but when it did, Jane could not mistake it. No one could. A glow, bright and luminescent, overtook the woman and seemed to flow into the Turian. There it swirled, around his chest where she touched him, before a new glow bloomed into existence. This one was grey, and bloomed out from her hands until it had wreathed the suddenly very stiff Turian in its presence. Then, as swiftly as it had come, it faded and the woman sagged against Garrus.

"W-Whoa!" The Turian grunted, hands wrapping around her bicep as he steadied her and then staggered himself, shaking his head as the Huntress collected herself. Sitting on the other bed he reached up to yank his helmet off, blinking and shaking his head. "That's… A weird feeling."

"Garrus…?"

"Head rush, Commander." He grumbled, giving her a look and a nod before turning his gaze on his hands, fingers curling and uncurling slowly. "She was right, though. I can… I can feel it."

"He doesn't have a lot, but…" Pyrrha sighed, head in her hands, "Gods, it always exhausts me for a moment, doing that. I'd thought it due to how much Jaune had, but… Perhaps I am just unsuited for this."

"Jaune…?"

"Her old partner, from back… Back home, before we left." Penny answered, moving to the bed to rub little circles in Pyrrha's back. Turning to Shepard the girl, or machine or whatever she was, actually looked angry. Lips draw down, eyes hard and hands curled into a fist on the bed beside her, she asked, "May we be alone now, or do you have more to press us for? Will you demand she hand each of you her soul as well, as you did with Friend Garrus?"

"No." Shepard answered, shaking her head, "I won't."

"Then if all is settled, leave us be, Shepard." Not 'commander' or 'friend', Shepard noted with a little frown. Just her name, with none of the friendliness she always offered. "All is settled, yes?"

"For now…" Penny nodded and turned, scooting closer so that she could hug her friend. Pyrrha only smiled, shaking off what she'd been forced to do but clearly feeling worse than drained over being pushed into it. Turning, Shepard gave Miranda a look and nodded towards the door, "Vakarian, come on, we need to debrief anyway. Let's give them some space."

"Yes, Ma'am…" He nodded, standing and murmuring, "See you later, Penny. Pyrrha."

"I will teach you to use your Aura tomorrow, Friend Garrus." Penny answered as Shepard stepped through the door.

Sometimes, she hated this job, but there was no one else as willing and capable as her to face the Reapers. So she had no choice, even if she felt bad for it. As Garrus stepped through the door and it hissed closed for the last time that mattered to them, she mused, 'At least we seem to have been wrong, though.'

Silver linings in every cloud, after all.

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So dear god I had a LOT to juggle between why they were suspected,how to address those suspicions without COMPLETELY outing everything, it was difficult to keep track and run it all AND keep the characters consistent and convey the emotions and tensions. Hope you enjoyed it, there are humps I see even now that I dislike but can't change much, have a good one.

XxX-XxX-XxX

Black Magic 99 :

Penny prefers not to kill if she can avoid it and, in this instance, SHE could avoid killing anyone. She's strong enough to safely disarm her enemies if she chooses to, and she has a character that would WANT TO, so she does.

Blaiseingfire :

Nothing changes. To my memory, Jack is why much of the ship devolves as it does, even after you release the cell block proper. Ripping up the decking and hallways would probably see many prisoners released.

Aurora Halsey :

Kind of, but there is no intriguing way to WRITE THAT. We know how Penny behaves, thinks and operates, and Pyr and Co would only be observing that. I would simply be retreading the chapter with that as a sort of… Background thing we know is happening.

Frosty Chops :

Penny is great, yeah. Her optimism and Pyrrha's kindness, I find, are an interesting contrast to the Mass Effect world.

The Last Battalion :

Indeed!

Steelrain :

I have a couple I am considering, but don't know how I would even begin to utilize them. Or get them there.

Dr Killinger :

He's one of several people I am considering using at some future point. There's several options, Roman among them, but as said earlier I don't know how I would get them in or how I'd use them.

Glrasshopper :

I view Penny a bit differently to others, a lot of the times. She's optimistic and kind but, to me, not that innocent per se. A beacon of optimism and sweetness but, I mean, she's a military android. I would imagine she understands that in combat sometimes you kill, even if she doesn't enjoy it.

Jahoan :

Indeed, kinda how I am approaching all of this, yeah. I made the choice to add her prior to Volume 7 so I'm stuck now anyway. *shrugs*