Chapter 19: The Mutt, The Lab Rat, The Traitor

Jack spent several hours just holding and cuddling against Kal trying to comfort him. It wasn't right that Kal held onto the weight of all those deaths on his shoulders, in both cases it was the people who loved him that were really responsible. If Jack could take anything back, he would've changed what he did on Torfan, listened to Mandaria's warning, but he didn't. Instead, he killed his mother unintentionally to save Kal, and Kal took responsibility for that. He couldn't change what he or Erash did but, he could make sure Kal didn't have to feel responsible for anyone else's death ever again.

His omni tool beeped and he answered a call hearing EDI's synthetic voice, "Commander, we have arrived at Purgatory prison. Miranda is waiting for you at the docking port."

Jack grumbled quietly with a sigh, "Thanks EDI, tell her we're on our way in a minute."

Kal groaned with a stretch and sat up, "Well, looks like it's time to get back to work. Hopefully we don't get a lecture about the conversation with me and our wonderful new boss."

Jack smirked patting his shoulder, "It's not the first time I've taken heat from Miranda but, maybe next time just let me know your going to threaten our bosses daughter? We unfortunately still need him and his credits."

Kal picked up his pistol from the bedside table, "I know, but we can't trust them. Let's get this over with so we can actually go after the Collectors, shall we?"

Jack put his armor on just in case and looked at him, "How do I look? Ready for a fight or like the lazy guy I've been all day?"

Kal responded with a lighthearted tone, "Ugly now that I can really see you in those colors. I'll have to paint it before the next mission. We don't want the galaxy to think you drank the...Kool-Aid I think it was? The Bowmans said that a lot about celebrities."

The elevator sent them on a quick trip to the CIC where Miranda was waiting. She didn't seem upset at all but, Jack knew her well enough by now to know that her silence was an angry one. Miranda certainly didn't want The Illusive Man confronted like that, especially with something so personal as his daughter. He knew Miranda's own relationship with Cora had to be complicated since she destroyed one of Cora's bases to save him. It was almost as if the man enjoyed the two much younger women fighting back and forth for the right to be his heir.. The Illusive Man was letting them both run amuck and now it was coming back to haunt him. It wasn't Jack's fault that was causing pain for everyone involved with Cerberus.

Miranda kept a neutral tone as they approached, "I don't think the weapons are necessary Commander, The Illusive Man made this deal months ago."

Kal shrugged and Jack was surprised to see him put three more pistols in his boots, "I'm sure he thinks everything is fine and dandy, knowing the Blue Suns though, I think I'd feel safer with these."

Garrus was behind them wearing his old damaged armor and a rifle was strapped to his back, "Knowing the Blue Suns you'll be in a firefight in two seconds flat. You'll need someone to watch your asses."

Jack could tell Garrus used several stim packs to keep himself up right, "Garrus, I appreciate it but I need you here, make sure the drive core is ready for a quick get away."

Garrus was clearly about to respond when Kal gave him a subtle yet complicated hand gesture behind his back, it made Garrus just nod, "Right... I'll stay here and make sure the engineers didn't calibrate something wrong."

He was confused from the exchange when Miranda chimed in, "You taught him Quarian sign language, interesting but unecessary. I know neither of you trust me."

As the outer airlock door opened, Kal stood up straighter, "I'm surprised you recognized Kelr'ya, it usually only is functional for those of us with three fingers."

Jack gave him a curious look genuinely interested in this new tidbit about Quarian culture, "You never told me you knew sign, are a lot of Quarians deaf?"

Kal shook his head quickly, "No, at least not in the traditional Human sense. Our suits sometimes malfunction so it's important we have another form of communication. It's good for combat scenarios as well because you only need one hand and three fingers."

Just before the inner airlock opened Miranda continued, "It works well with those that have disabilities in any species as well. I'm learning it in my spare time..."

Jack put that in the back of his mind, if Miranda was using her spare time to learn a sign language only meant for dextro species and the disabled, Oriana must've meant more to her then he thought. He could use that card if he absolutely needed to, if Kal's life was at stake for example. Tali would surely at least be able to put a vid call through so Miranda could talk to her like she obviously wanted to. He had a feeling that for whatever reason, Miranda was willing to bend or even break a few Cerberus directives for Oriana's well being.

The entrance to Purgatory wasn't exactly as professional as Jack would've expected from a contractor to the Alliance. The 'guards' were wandering around like they were on holiday, no one seemed to be waiting for them either. He had to wonder if any of the Blue Suns even knew someone had docked to the prison. Furthermore, the room itself looked more like a bar, with gambling tables and alcohol dispensers, then it did the entrance to a prison. These Blue Suns mercenaries seemed overly confident none of the prisoners were going to break out, or that they were just incredibly stupid. Whichever answer was more accurate made the Alliance look like fools for hiring them.

He actually had to cough loudly before a merc got up and approached him, "Ah, welcome to the Purgatory, Shepard. Your package is being prepped, and you can claim it shortly. In the meantime, as this is a high-security vessel, you'll need to relinquish your weapons before we proceed and go through an identity scanner. Don't worry, your weapons will be returned to you on the way out. You must realize this is just a standard operating procedure."

Jack was about to agree when he realized a former member of Archangel's team was standing right next to him. Surely these idiots would want to take and kill Kal for all the trouble he caused to the Omega branch. How could he have been so stupid to not think this would be a problem? The obvious answer was that he had been just wrapped up in holding and comforting Kal to think about it. At the same time, Kal was probably still just getting used to him being alive and wanted to stick around him.

He shook his head and grabbed his exposed pistol, "I'm not in the habit of giving away my weapons to thugs like you, especially for a mere prisoner release."

The merc got in his face pulling out his own weapon, "Well then, maybe you should get in the habit of it or you can fuck off to wherever you came from."

Just when Jack was about ready to shoot, a new Turian voice emerged from beyond the checkpoint, "Everyone stand down, Commander Shepard, I'm Warden Kuril, and this is my ship. Despite my better judgment, we're bringing Jack out of cryo now. As soon as the funds clear, you can be on your way. If you'll follow me to Outprocessing for the pickup, Commander?"

Jack motioned for him to lead the way and they skipped the checkpoint, "I was under the impression this deal already went through, what's the hold up if you don't mind me asking?"

Kuril merely laughed and gave him a wide Turian smirk as they walked forward, "Honestly? I think our accountants were just surprised someone would pay that much to get Jack released."

Kal tilted his head to one side, "That bad huh? What he do?"

Before the Warden could answer, a voice from one of the cells called to them, "A genetic mutt, a lab rat, and a traitor walk into a prison... Would be a funny story if your lives weren't going to end so soon."

Jack felt his gut tie in knots recognizing that voice all too well from Luna base, so this was why he was here. Sure enough, looking toward the sound, Jack saw Kai Leng. The assassin went after him personally during the Luna base attack claiming his father was an alien. Lab rat was unfortunately Kal, his father experimented on the Quarian to improve his immune system for his entire childhood. That meant Miranda must've been the traitor, but why? Was he only angry that she was with them, or was she involved with him ending up in here? He would certainly keep it in the back of his mind, it could be further leverage against Miranda later.

The more pressing concern was just the simple fact he was here at all. The Illusive Man didn't work in coincidences meaning the fact Leng was here was important. Did he expect Jack to get Leng out as well? Could 'Jack' be a fake name specifically for Leng? Jack definitely didn't want to release a man that apparently still wanted him dead for whatever his supposed father's sins were. Did The Illusive Man really expect him to take down the Collectors while one of Cerberus' other agents wanted him dead?

Kuril snapped his fingers causing a sound proof biotic shield to deploy in front of each cell door, "Apologies Commander, it's just before med time so some of the inmates are more colorful then usual."

Interestingly, even Miranda sounded concerned, "How's security in this place? Have you had any breakouts lately?"

Kuril had a smug tone pointing to the biotic infused doors, "As you can see, we keep a tight control over the population. Each prisoner's cell is a self-contained, modular unit. I've blown a few out the airlocks as an example. And besides, even if one prisoner actually managed to get out, guard assigned escape pods are the only way off my little paradise, there's no way out and they know it. Nothing goes wrong here."

Kal had a sarcastic tone looking at Miranda, "Well, it's a relief no one ever visits the station to give them another escape route then..."

Kuril rubbed the back of his neck, "Yes well, your package will be at Outprocessing, just down the hall. It was a pleasure doing business with you Commander."

Jack approached the next door and gave Miranda a curious look now that they were mostly alone, "You didn't know he was here did you? He left that out of his report to you even?"

Miranda refused to look at him staring at the door infront of them, "It doesn't matter, let's just get Jack and go back to the Normandy. The Collectors aren't waiting around on us to finish up."

Despite what she said, it was clear that Leng's appearance had shaken Miranda to the point she was actually showing it. How close to The Illusive Man was Miranda really if he neglected to tell her something as important about their mission here? He refused to believe The Illusive Man slipped up and didn't know Leng was here. As they entered the next room, Jack was struggling to see what game The Illusive Man was playing at here, why pit your people against each other? Did he just enjoy watching his people squirm? His mind had to switch gears immediately when he realized this room wasn't an Outprocessing center, it was a holding cell.

Kuril's voice came from the intercom above them, "Drop your weapons and proceed into this open cell. You will not be harmed."

Jack took a deep annoyed breath while Kal put his rifle in the door to keep it open, "Maybe I can change your mind? Cerberus isn't the type of organization you want as an enemy, trust me I know. Why don't we just talk about this instead?"

Kuril's tone sounded impatient, "My apologies Commander, your more valuable to me as a prisoner than a customer. Send in a team to pacify them please."

EDI spoke through his squad's omni tool channel, "Shepard, the warden has locked down the area behind you. You must find another exit route."

Jack killed the first merc coming through the door with a single shot while Kal used his shotgun as a bat on the second. He didn't notice it when they first got ready but, Kal was armed to the teeth in weapons. Not only did he have more of them but, he was more brutal with them. He used the propped up body of a merc as cover to absorb fire while he shot over the bodies shoulders. Jack and Miranda only needed to pick off stragglers darting for cover while Kal took most of the attention. Garrus must've given him some Turian military training on Omega, even during the Blitz, Kal hadn't been this efficient.

Miranda shouted over the gunfire, "We know EDI, have any suggestions on how we could get back to the Normandy?"

EDI spoke as if they weren't fighting for their lives, "The simplest escape path will take you past the cryo controls. You can obtain Jack on your way out."

Jack shot at the legs of a mechanical drone so Kal could jump on top of it and slit a merc's throat with a knife he grabbed from another merc, "Thanks EDI but I don't think this other Jack is our concern right now."

Miranda had a scolding tone, "The Illusive Man spent hundreds of thousands of credits on Jack, we have to get him out or die trying."

Jack hated doing The Illusive Man's favors, "If we have an opportunity along the way to get him, fine, but I will not risk our lives for this!"

Miranda glared at him, "Just follow me, it can't be that far off. This station isn't like ours Shepard."

They followed Miranda reluctantly through multiple corridors filled with Blue Suns mercenaries. While Jack was able to shoot along the flanks and cover their rear, Miranda's biotics and Kal's brute force really helped in pushing forward. As they rounded yet another corner in what looked like an observation room for a cell block, a LOKI mech pounced on Kal going for his pistol. This version of the mech had to be trained in hand-to-hand combat because it slapped away the shotgun in his other hand and kicked Kal's knee out from under him. Jack easily shot the mech in the head before things could get messy.

He offered Kal his free hand to help him back up, "Easy there Blasto, I'm supposed to be the SPECTRE remember?"

Kal laughed at the joke and accepted the help, "Then you should try and keep up with me Arvitus... Blasto here needs a good partner, not one who can't keep up."

Miranda rolled her eyes and EDI spoke in the comm again, "Shepard, you have reached the cryo controls and Jack's pod. Unfortunately in order to release them while under lockdown, you will have to open every other cell in this facility. Do you still want to proceed?"

Jack approached the controls not knowing what he wanted to do when Kal grabbed his arm, "Are you sure you want to do this? It sounds like he could get out in the process and we both don't want that."

Miranda walked in front of him and took the controls, "We don't have a choice, The Illusive Man wants Jack. EDI, open the cryo pods and get the Normandy ready for a pick up."

Jack looked at her and then Kal, "Miranda wait here, we're going back to that cell to kill Leng before he gets off this station."

She was about to protest when all the cell doors opened all at once and they all saw her, Jack. He was stunned to see the Human girl surrounded by LOKI mechs couldn't be over the age of sixteen and was covered in tattoos. Why in galaxies name was The Illusive Man so interested in a teenage prisoner of the Blue Suns? It felt like this had indeed just been a ploy to get Leng released, until she started glowing blue. It was one of the brightest displays of biotic power Jack had ever seen, even the indoctrinated Saren didn't glow quite like that. Suddenly with a youthful shout, the girl exploded her biotic energy in a brilliant flash destroying all the mechs around her. Still screaming, the girl charged through the wall underneath them, disappearing from sight.

Jack let out a small whisper, "She's way too young to have that power."

Kal was merely staring at the destruction underneath them, "That was Jack? Keelah, not exactly what I was expecting."

Miranda muttered under her breath, "This girl is clearly powerful, but she lacks subtlety...just like her teacher." More loudly she asked, "EDI, by your estimate what kind of damage could Jack cause to this facility?"

EDI's flat voice didn't convey the serious nature of what could happen next, "Main drive failure. Auxiliary systems failure. Mass effect core systems failure. Structural integrity failure, just to name a few."

Miranda looked at both of them, "Your little grudge against Leng will have to wait. Right now we have to get Jack out before we explode..."