Hi my Readers!

This chapter containes both new and game stuff, but with a small twist. Quinn and Ashley doesn't really get along, yet they both hate politicians.

Fixed 2021

Hope you like it!

Escape the Fate

Chapter 5: Back on the Normandy

**John's POV

As the med-bay door shut behind him, John came to a stop just a few footsteps away from it. His hands grabbed a hold of his head and he inhaled sharply through the nose to the point where his lungs couldn't take anymore. Keeping it in, he counted to ten and his hands came to a stop at the base of the neck. His eyes looked up at the ceiling, but his brain did not register the sight. Instead, his mind was far too occupied of recalling the last time when he had ever been this frustrated with another person before. But no one came to mind. The air in his lungs was released slowly through his nose in hopes it would take away all the negativity he felt after the conversation he had just had with his sister. Unfortunately, it did not have the desired effect. The frustration lingered. The anger and resentment were still there. He could not understand her reasoning. Quinn had been there, witnessed what had happened on Eden Prime. The destruction, the death… How could she dismiss it so easily? People had died. More people will die!

How had he handled her in the past? Had she always been this difficult to reason with? This callous? Selfish? Resentful? Whatever she had against him could not be a sensible reason to not help stop Saren and the geth from killing innocent people. She had seen them work together… The vision she had described matched what he had gotten from that single image stuck in his head. Whatever Saren was up to was going to affect everyone in the whole galaxy. He knew it. She knew it, yet she heartlessly rejected stopping which undeniably will be everyone's demise. Could Quinn really have changed so much in 11 years? Maybe if he had gotten her off the streets sooner? Would things have turned out differently? That would be a question he would never get an answer to…

John could not say for certain whether everything Anderson had told him about this turian Spectre called Saren was true, but he trusted his captain. However, the Council would not be as easily convinced. Quinn's testimony may not be credible and would be worthless to the Council, yet she was the only witness who saw it all. The dockworker may uphold the testimony to some degree, yet the man had hidden behind crates most of the time. No matter how John felt about his sister, he knew they needed her no matter what the Council would find eligible or not. It took him every ounce of self-control to not walk back into that room and smack some sense into that high and mighty head of hers.

Only a few minutes with his sister and he had already had enough of her presence. Maybe they were better off having her sent to prison after all.

John turned on his heel and faced the door, determined to walk back in there and stop the Captain from making the deal with the pirate. But he stopped himself. He turned again and walked off only to turn back once again. This phasing continued for a few minutes as he battled with his thoughts and morals.

John was known for his patience, self-control, and composure out on missions. It was required – a must! People's lives depended on it! Yet when it came to his sister, he had none of that, never had. She knew exactly which buttons to press to have him lose it all or have him in the palm of her hand. She had mastered that technique before she could walk or even talk. She had grown to use it without even thinking about it. Of all the things that had changed about her, that had to be the one thing that stuck! Or maybe it was him? Maybe he was the one who hadn't changed.

He stared at the door troubled, and a loud sigh escaped him as he realized that if Anderson succeeded in persuading Quinn, then it would fall upon him to keep the peace between the two of them. But also, to keep the peace between his murderous pirate sister and the rest of the crew who would most likely rather see her locked up or dead after what she had done to two of their fellow crewmen than have her on the ship. He would understand if that were how they felt and would not condemn them if they voiced their concerns and complains. After all, she could turn on them at any given moment just as she had done to Gladstone and Avery.

Another loud sigh escaped him and suddenly, he felt tired. He knew this would be a fight from the start. Damn it. This would really put him on the test of self-control. It was already giving him a headache as he dreaded the outcome.

No matter how he felt about the situation it was already out of his control. Instead of dwelling on it right outside the door, he turned to the mass hall as he suddenly craved a steaming hot cup of coffee. Hopefully, it would help reduce the stress he was about to endure and take away the headache. Heading off to the small kitchen section, he spotted Williams, Alenko and Doctor Chakwas already sitting at the table, chatting. John tried to hide his frustration and put on a calm exterior as he walked off to grab himself a cup.

The three of them looked up as he neared, all with curious expressions and questioning minds, yet neither voiced them for the moment which he was thankful for. He did not know what to tell them.

"Hey, Commander," Alenko greeted, breaking the silence once John had reached the kitchen counter and grabbed the pot to pour himself the much-needed coffee.

John turned to the trio as the cup reached his lips and he took a sip. As soon as the warm and delicious liquid touched his tongue it indeed had the desired affect and it had him feel like himself again. He savored that feeling as long as possible, because he knew it would not hold for long.

Although as much as he wanted to fool the others, the good doctor saw through him straight away and fired off one of the first inevitable questions. "How did it go in there?" she asked gently.

Still as observant as ever, he thought as he took another sip and eyed the gentle smile the doctor had on her face. Feeling somewhat defeated, he walked over to the table and placed the mug down on the metal surface before sitting down on the chair next to Williams and opposite the doctor. John placed his elbows up on the table and leaned over with his hands founding his forehead immediately and his thumbs began to rub each side of the temple. "As expected," he admitted with another sigh. At least his peace lasted for a few seconds. "Although she told us about the vision the beacon had given her."

The doctor took a sip of her own coffee and nodded softly. "That is good news, at least."

Shifting in her seat, Williams said with relief in her tone; "The crew could use some good news after what happened to Jenkins. He seemed like a good man."

Succeeding in rubbing away some of the tension and the lingering headache, but not nearly enough for it to go away completely, John leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. "He was a valuable part of this crew."

Agreeing, Chakwas lowered her head in respect as she said; "He's going to be missed,"

Silence fell over the table. Each one of them turning to their own thoughts as for respect to their fellow fallen soldiers. Losing a fellow soldier was never easy and it wasn't something John took lightly. He may not have known Jenkins for long, but what he could tell from the young man was that he had had a determination and spirit which were rare. A fire he had not seen in many marines. He could've turned out to be one of the best. But because of the geth, Jenkin's hadn't even had the chance to see where his career could take him. Because of Saren, it had ended before it had barely begun. Jenkins had fallen in combat. Fallen in the name of Alliance and humanity. All they could do, was honor the man's sacrifice by stopping Saren.

People may say it's a soldiers' dream to die fighting. That it would be an honor to die for their planet and race, and for some it might be – but for John, it was not. Even if it was considered as an honor to die for your duties, your people, your family, and your home planet, he wanted to die as an old man surrounded by family. He was a soldier and would fight and honor the Alliance, even die for them if it came down to it. He would gladly sacrifice his life for the greater good, but he knew that life didn't end there. He wanted a chance to be a father, husband, and parent. A better one than his own had been. To prove that you could turn your life around to the better.

"Part of me feels guilty for what happened," Williams admitted as she broke the silence, her head low. "If Jenkins was still here – I might not be."

"Things went bad. Real bad," Alenko admitted and slowly shook his head as he thought about the tragic event. "I still can't believe we lost Jenkins."

Turning to the young female soldier, John stated reassuringly, hoping it would ease some of the survivors' guilt he knew she felt; "You're a good soldier, Williams. You belong on the Normandy."

The doubt in the Gunnery Chief's brown eyes did not disappear but a small smile pulled on her lips as his words was taken to heart. Nothing would fully take away the guilt she felt nor the pain of seeing her comrades, her friends massacred by those synthetic creations. The hatred for the geth was running deep and a part of her wanted revenge yet she knew that that would take her nowhere if she pursued it. Although it would not hurt to kill any geth that crossed her path, and she would not hesitate to take it.

"Thanks, Commander. That means a lot coming from you," she said with a bit lighter heart and he could swear that her cheeks had turned slightly pink before she bowed her head down and her loose hair got in the way before he could confirm it. "I've never met anyone who was awarded the Star of Terra."

"There's nothing special about me, Williams. Anyone would have done the same," John answered honestly.

The woman looked up, her eyes shining some. "Held off an entire enemy platoon? Alone?" Williams spoke with nothing but admiration. "With all due respect, Commander, I think you've got somebody watching over you."

He couldn't help but smile a little at her shyness, but he could also see the small panic from the woman who had just realized she had revealed her idolization of him in front of everybody. To soothe her nerves, he changed the subject and asked; "Things were pretty rough down there. Are you okay?"

The woman's shoulders slumped a little before she put her elbows up on the table before she clasped her hands together almost like she was praying. Her face was hidden from view as she let her grief and pain slip a little. No matter how strong she was as a soldier, Ashley was still human. But breaking in front of her superior was not an option and that little crack she had let slip was immediately fixed and she pushed it all down once more.

"I've seen friends die before," she said with a serious tone. "It comes with being a marine." Her tone got softer, revealing some of the guilt she would never really get rid of; "But to see my whole unit wiped out…" The lump in her throat got larger as soon as she mentioned her unit. "And you never get used to seeing dead civilians. But things would have been a lot worse if you hadn't shown up."

"Yeah. You never get used to seeing dead comrades," Kaidan agreed, his tone low, yet understanding. He too knew how it felt to lose people. Then he looked up with a more positive view as he felt that they were only focusing on the negativity of the mission. Granted, there was more negativity that outmatched the positivity. "At least we stopped Saren from wiping out the whole colony."

If the detonations had gone off, who knew what other terrible and devastating outcome it had become of Eden Prime. Not only that, but all evidence of the geths involvement would be gone and Saren could tell the Council whatever lie he wanted, and they would buy it without a doubt. Of course, that was still an option as the Spectre still had more credibility to the Council than a human whose race had not yet a strong place in the galactic politics. At least they were alive to fight it.

"We couldn't have done it without you, Williams," John said and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and squeezed it a little.

Williams dropped her hands a little and turned her face to him with a smile. "Thanks, Commander. I have to admit, I was a little worried about being assigned to the Normandy," she admitted, now with a bit lighter tone. "It's nice when someone makes you feel welcome."

Leaning back into his seat, John put his hands behind his head. "I think you're going to fit in here just fine." With that said, John knew he had left an opening for questions about the inevitable subject of their pirate guest.

And true to that, Alenko turned his eyes towards the med-bay door and asked the question which had been on all of their minds since John had stepped out of the door; "Speaking of fitting in, how's the situation with our gest?"

Inwardly John sighed deeply. No matter how much he wanted to, there was no escaping the inevitable. The crew had questions, and rightly so, but he had no idea what to tell them. Crossing his arms over his chest in a classic defensive manner, he felt like he was going to be interrogated about a past he had had no control over and now had caught up to him and slapped him in the face.

"Is it true the Captain is going to have her join the crew?" Williams asked just as curious, although the tone of her voice made him guess she wasn't too fond of the idea.

Still, John didn't know what to respond. Yes, it was true, but that didn't mean Quinn would actually agree. And if he told them, it was true; how would they take the news and react to the orders of working alongside a known killer? He did not blame them for refusing.

"I've heard that when she was with the Alliance, she took on the toughest missions and frequently sent her squad into fatal situations. Knowing they would all die. Like she was using them as cannon fodder before she went in and finished it herself," Alenko said.

"I've heard she had half a colony blown up when batarian slavers invaded it. Instead of trying to save the colonists being abducted, she decided they were just collateral damage and had to die to save the rest of the colony," Williams told them.

"There is a lot of tales and rumors going around about people, it does not mean they are all true," Doctor Chakwas reprimanded the two soldiers.

John had also heard a lot of rumors going around about Quinn Summers and her accomplishments. Most of the rumors were so bizarre they had sounded like they were taken straight out of a fictional novel. In some, she was a heroine who had been forced to kill her own squad to save a colony, in others, she was the villain who had enjoyed slaughtering the men and women in her squad if they disobeyed orders, so they had rather taken their chances with the enemy than their superior. Despite the Admirals efforts in keeping the knowledge of an Alliance soldier turned pirate warlord classified, the rumors had spread quickly, and Quinn Shepard had been infamous soon enough. The reason why she had turned pirate had been a fan favorite subject of speculations for months afterwards. Everyone had talked about it. The most common rumor had been that she had killed an Admiral in cold blood.

"I do not appreciate gossip on this ship," John said sharply. "I go on hard facts, not wild speculations."

"I'm sorry, Commander."

"It won't happen again."

The two spoke simultaneously and looked ashamed.

"But it is a fact she's a criminal," Williams said with disgust in her tone. "A killer."

"Her methods may have been harsh and questionable, but do not think she did not pay for them as well," Chakwas spoke up suddenly. Her sincere gaze fixing at each one of them at turn. When it stopped at John, she continued; "Underneath that harsh exterior – lies a young woman with a heavy weight upon her shoulders."

There was meaning behind those words and John knew his sister had not lived an easy life. Nevertheless, she had chosen to ignore the opportunity of a good life and gone back to the life of crime the two of them had been forced into as children. He had done whatever he could for her to bring her out of it. Tried to help her straighten up. He had managed to escape the slums, the crimes, and the gang violence they had been brought up in, yet she had chosen to go back to that life and excel in it. Of course, her life had been harsh – that was the life of a criminal! But to be fair, he did not know the real reason why she got dishonorable discharged from the marines. All he knew of it was it had been a serious offence and if she had not run away then she would have been charged and imprisoned.

"Anderson seems to think it's the best way to handle the situation," John finally answered their questions.

"What's your opinion, Commander?"

John looked up at the doctor who had a genuine expression behind the cup of coffee she held to her mouth.

Laying his arms down on the table, John thought about it carefully. His values and morals about letting a murderer walk free was screaming in protest. It had done so when the knowledge of letting the pirate warlord go free before Eden Prime and it would never change no matter who it was. But he also understood that arresting her would have dire consequences and the outcome of it would bring even more death.

"She's going to be a handful," he said with a heavy sigh before he took a sip from his mug.

"Do you know why she wants to kill you?" Alenko asked with a curious tone.

Williams turned sharply at the Staff Lieutenant and snapped; "You can't ask that!"

He shrugged his shoulder innocently at her before adding; "I was just curious why a sister wants her own brother dead."

"It's none of your business!"

The two of them continued to bicker about what was too private to discuss with their superior and what was not.

Truth be told, John wasn't quite sure himself about that question. When he had left Earth to enlist in the Alliance marines, it had been to give her a better life and away from the criminal life the two of them had been heading towards. He had only been 6 years old when their parents had died. Quinn had only been 1. Their parents had already been poor and living in the slums had not helped the siblings when they became orphans. So, they had been raised on the streets with the other orphans which had been neglected and forgotten by the system and they had to steal to survive. At the time, John had not thought much of it because it was the only way for them to survive. But the dream of traveling among the stars and see other planets had been there as long as he could remember and had been his driving force to get out. Quinn on the other hand had never had that. She remembered nothing about their parents, nor did she know how to form her own dreams and goals. All she knew was that life. And when Quinn had done her first serious crime at the age of 13 – John had finally had enough. At the age of 18, John enlisted and left her in the hands of a social worker, who had promised to find her a good foster home and to keep her off of the streets. Of course, Quinn had not seen it like that and had accused him of abandoning her. With the promise of returning once he had earned enough money to give her a real home, he had left her in the care of strangers.

As a new recruit, he had not been paid much and it had taken him longer than he had expected to earn the money needed. It had just been enough for him to pay his due to the foster family and food for himself to eat. John had tried to keep up the contact with his sister, both through calls and emails, but there was never a response from her. He had even tried to get in touch with the foster family and the social worker but in vain. As he was stuck in the outer space for weeks on end, there was never easy to follow up on the calls. About a year later, he had finally got in touch with the social worker and learned Quinn had burned down the foster family's house with some of the family members inside then had returned to the streets. That had been the last he had heard anything about her until she had been thrown out of the military years later.

He had heard the gossip and rumors surrounding the brutal soldier Quinn Summers, the butcher of Torfan and an N7 graduate like himself. But he had never imagined it was his younger sister with a false identity. Only when her true identity had been known to him, did he attempt to find out her service records and tried to learn as much as he could about her. But nearly all records had been classified by then and only specific Admirals had access to it. John never learned what allegations she had been charged and sentence with. The few facts he found out was that she had climbed the ranks to match his own in record time. Joined the N7 program only a year after himself. Often got in trouble and was reprimanded by her superiors, had the reputation of being difficult to work with, despite that she had ranked as a Commander. Those few missions she had taken on, was of those with the most difficult outcomes to begin with and had been performed with exceptional result.

John took the last sip of his coffee just as the door to the med-bay slid open and broke him from his thoughts. Even the argument between Williams and Alenko came to a stop and all eyes turned to the pair who stepped into the mass hall and came to a stop just outside the door. Anderson turned his back to the table as soon as he saw them all sitting there and spoke to Quinn. Her eyes lingered on the Captain for a few moments as she listened to what he said before her attention shifted to the table. Her gaze wandered to each of them before it came to a stop at John and locked her eyes on his. Even from this distance, John saw her eyes narrow, the brows drew together, and her body was tensing up like she was about to charge at him. Immediately, he sat up straight and his guard was up.

Anderson seemed to have noticed her attention had shifted from their conversation and he turned to look at what her attention was fixated on and then tried to get her attention back. Whatever the Captain told her next had her shift her eyes back to their conversation. Although, her expression remained the same and a minute later, her eyes were back on the table and had grown colder.

"Quinn!" Anderson barked.

Her eyes snapped back to him instantly, frustration evident on her face. From where John sat, he could see her left eye twitch and then narrow further as she took a forced deep breath. John knew that expression well and took a little comfort in now knowing that at least some things had not changed with her. Whatever she was being told – she was not happy about.

Eventually, she spoke through clenched teeth, displeasure in her tone and loud enough for them all to hear; "Fine. Whatever." But Anderson didn't seem satisfied with that answer and she turned to him fully. "Yes. I heard you the first five times! Geeze, I'm not an imbecile." She crossed her arms and turned slightly away from the Captain annoyed.

But the Captain lingered a little longer to make sure his point really had been acknowledged by the pirate before he turned away from her and walked over to the table where they all were about to greet him as a superior should be and was about to stand up with a salute. But the Captain waved them down before they got the chance, and they retook their seats. Anderson turned to John with a confirming nod, indicating that he had successfully persuade Quinn to assist.

"We should be getting close to the Citadel," Anderson announced before turning to John, "Head up the bridge and tell Joker to bring us in to dock. I'll contact the Ambassador and see if he can get us an audience with the Council. He'll want to see us as soon as we reach the Citadel."

"Yes, sir," John said before the Captain walked off to his private quarters.

John turned back to the table just as Chakwas stood up and excused herself before walking off towards the med-bay.

"Welcome to the crew," the good doctor greeted the pirate before walking through the door. A perplexed expression crossed the pirate's face at the niceness in the doctor's voice, which later turned sour at the meaning of the words.

The pirate walked over to the table and stopped just by the end of it. Her arms crossed over her chest, her hips popped, and she studied each and every one of them while speaking in a grim tone; "I may have agreed to help stop Saren, but that doesn't mean I will help you stay alive."

Crossing his arms over his own chest, John challenged her with his tone matching hers; "Should we expect a shot in the back?"

He watched her eyes narrow a little more but the little twitch in the left corner of her mouth told him she was not only considering it, but also picturing it. Already, this was turning unsettling.

"Depends on whether or not you step in the way of my gun," she answered almost invitingly as she eyed him. "I don't take responsibility for some pyjaks idiocy." She broke the eye contact with him to look over at Alenko and Williams to let them know she meant them as well.

"That goes both ways," Williams countered, not at all intimidated by the threat.

Quinn uncrossed her arms and put her hands on the table as she leaned over it to get closer to the female soldier who was sitting at the opposite side and asked with a condescending, yet a jeering tone; "You got a problem with me, Girly-Scout?"

Ashley stood up in an instant, almost tripping the chair over as she mimicked the pirate's stance to get into the other woman's face. "Yes, I have a problem with you. You compromised the mission. Nearly got us killed. If it weren't for you then the beacon wouldn't be destroyed," Ashley retorted back before sitting herself down. "At least you can thank us for saving your life and not put you in a cell and throw away the key."

"Now, now. We're all on the same team and should not argue," Alenko tried to ease the tension between the two women which was brewing.

But neither woman was listening to him and John prepared himself to step in.

"You want gratitude?" Quinn asked disgusted as she leaned in closer and spat Williams in the face; "Fuck. You."

Williams shot up from her chair, knocking it over this time with a loud bang and launched herself at the pirate. Having seen it coming, John shot out of his own chair at the same time to intervene. An arm shot out in front of the angry soldier, blocking her access to the pirate who on the other hand had straightened up and was leaning back in her stance with a smug and satisfied grin. This was exactly what she wanted.

"Enough!" John barked at them both. "Is this going to be a problem? You two working together?" He demanded grimly as he first turned the questions to the Gunnery Chief which answered reluctantly "No, sir," and then secondly towards the pirate who just stared at him like he was an idiot. When she didn't answer, he pressed further; "If you can't work with others, Quinn, then you're staying put on this ship. I won't have you compromise this mission."

The pirate's eyes darkened. "Put me on the side lines even once, John – and we're really going to have a problem," she stated gravely and the threat in her tone was evident. "There will be even fewer incompetent marines in the galaxy if you do." Quinn's gaze left his and turned to the woman behind him as she spoke the last part.

Ashley grew even more furious at the pirate. The meaning behind her words did not slip past her and the mockery of her dead comrades was infuriating. How this lowlife pirate scum knew Ashley had been station on Eden Prime during the massacre, she had no idea and frankly did not care at all. She was disgusted that someone who had been a soldier herself relished in her former comrades-in-arms' deaths and grief.

As soon as those words had left the pirate's mouth did Ashley respond by trying to push past her Commander, despite his order of standing down and get her hands on the scum. "Good people died today; you bitch!" she yelled.

Not at all fazed by the female soldier's outburst, Quinn continued with her mockery; "And more will. That's what you soldiers do – die."

That was the last straw. Williams pushed past John, throwing him down on the floor as she launched herself over the table. The pirate didn't have time to react before the female soldier grabbed the pirate at the neck and the two tumbled to the floor in a heap.

Once down on the floor, Ashley got on top of the pirate by straddling her and about to pull a punch with her fist into the pirate's face with as much force as she could put into it. Ashley Williams was a woman who would take no shit from anyone and would defend her fellow soldiers to the end, especially against this boneless piece of scum. She managed to get a punch into the side of the pirate´s jaw, but then she was hit in the side by an elbow and was thrown off of the pirate who climbed on top of Ashley straight away. But Ashley wouldn't give. As soon as the pirate got on top of her, she used her strength to push the pirate aside, then grabbed the collar of the pirate's shirt and lifted her up before punching her once more in the face, then slam her down on the floor. The pirate retaliated by placing her hands on each side of Ashley's head and pressed her thumbs to the eyes. Before any real damage could take place, Ashley let go of the collar and brushed the pirate off violently.

"You fucking bitch!"

"Pirate scum!"

"Stand down!" John called out before pushing himself off the floor and rubbed his head which had hit the wall behind him in the fall.

Both Alenko and himself tried to intervene but the tossing and turning made it hard. Neither of the men went without a punch or two in the process. So far, John had already gotten a kick to the shin, to the side of his stomach, and a punch to the shoulder and jaw.

"You're a poor excuse of a soldier!"

"Your punches are a joke!"

"That´s enough you two," John barked and took a few steps back to rub at the jaw which had taken a nasty punch.

Neither of the two seemed to hear him over the insults that was flying out of their mouths or they were too fired up to care. Nothing seemed to be too low to use, such as punches in private areas, kicks to vital organs, scratching at eyes and even pulling each other's hair. Which of the two women it was who started with the dirty tricks he could not say, but the two seemed to be just as equally crafty in coming up with new dirty tricks. Anything to win it seemed. However, Williams was both the taller and stronger built of the two and her punches left Quinn dazed a second longer than what her own punches had. That and her already weakened state had her bound for defeat from the start. As much as the pirate thought herself as superior it was nothing compared to the anger and loss the Gunnery Chief felt from the loss of her squad. And in the soldier's mind, John guessed it didn't matter that the right perpetrator was not in front of her as long as there was a perpetrator to take her rage out on.

With one more punch to the pirate´s jaw, it had her lose her momentum long enough for Ashley to take advantage of the situation and straddle the pirate and place her hands around the neck and squeezed it hard. The panic in the pirate eyes was quite satisfying to her guilty and grief-stricken anger that was fueling her actions. The pirate struggled underneath her, but Ashley put all her weight upon the smaller frame to keep it pinned down.

"Williams!" someone barked behind her, but Ashley was barley hearing it.

"You´re chocking her!" another one shouted and it was only when firm hands took a hold on her wrists that she realized what she was doing.

Panic filled John as he watched the life choke out of his sister. Gasping and fighting to get air into lungs, Quinn struggled with both arms and legs to get Williams off her, but to no avail. Williams had a firm grip and there was nothing which would budge her. John tried to peel off the strong grip the Gunnery Chief´s hand on Quinn´s throat, who was gasping for air and was now beginning to turn blue. Even Alenko had taken a hold on Williams arms to try and get her off the pirate.

It was only when John barked; "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, let go!" did they manage to break her free from the rage filled curtain she had in front of her eyes with only seconds away for Quinn to lose consciousness.

Suddenly, the dark force of Quinn´s biotic flared up violently before exploding, throwing not only Williams off her, but also had John and Alenko sent flying across the large mess hall by the strong force.

With his back thrown into the wall with the elevator behind it, John slumped to the floor as the air in his lungs was knocked out of him. There he lingered for a moment or so, trying to get his bearings back. He had not expected Quinn to have that kind of reserves at her disposal. She had just woken up from something close to a Prothean induced coma just a half hour ago. She barley had had the energy to even sit straight.

An increase spark of dark energy had him look up and saw the pirate rise to her feet, her whole form engulfed in biotic. Her attention was solely on the Gunnery Chief who was lying on her back close to his own personal locker. The look on Quinn's eyes was those of an enrage animal who was about to tear its pray apart. Closing the distance between her and Williams, she jumped on top of her and raised her fist up next to her head as she gathered the dark energy, preparing it for one fatal, crushing punch. In a hurry, John scrambled up to his feet to run up to the pair as fast as he could. He knew what was about to happen and the image of the dead soldiers on the Alliance freighter came to mind. If he didn't make it in time, then Williams would end up with a pulverized face beyond recognition.

"Quinn, don't!" John yelled as he realized he would never make it in time.

Williams seemed to have realized what situation she was in and tried to get the pirate off her. With the fist just inches away from her face, another dark energy surrounded the pirate's form, leaving her frozen.

Halfway to the pair, John stopped in his tracks with the look of surprise on his face. Williams seemed just as taken by the sudden change of event and just stared at the fist which would have killed her instantly. Then, the pirate was lifted off of her and into the air. Williams pushed herself up to look at the pirate who could not move, then Williams was about to jump the pirate for a second round.

But this time, John managed to get a grip on her arm and pulled her back as he grabbed the other one to subdue her. "That´s enough!" He barked. "Stand down, soldier!"

Finally, it seemed he got through to her and Williams stopped struggling, but her body remained tense and her attention was still on the pirate floating in the air.

Getting her body unfrozen, although still floating in in the air by the dark energy, Quinn turned to the other biotic standing just a few feet behind her, she spoke through clench teeth; "Let. Me. Go!"

"No," John spoke firmly which had the pirate's head snap back at him with her eyes staring daggers. "Not until you've calmed down and can act accordingly."

The blue and green eyes narrowed further in anger before she used her biotic to break free from her floating prison. Her feet caught her weight with a slight waver, revealing that their fight had weakened her state more than she wanted to let on. Yet she walked up to the female soldier, her face up close as she warned; "Touch me again and I will crush that ugly fucking head of yours, bitch!"

Pushing her own face closer, Williams countered. "I would like to see you try, wrench!"

Once more, the two tried to engage the fight as nether women had had enough. But John certainly had. He let go of Williams arms to quickly step in between the two before any more punches were thrown.

"I said enough!" He yelled at the two and pushed them away from each other with force.

The two women stumbled a few feet back, a bit taken by this action. Williams stood up a little straighter but also ashamed of her actions, while Quinn whipped away the blood from the reopened wound on her lower lip with the back of her hand.

"That bitch almost strangled me to death!"

"You spat on me!"

"Don't start again!" John barked, but they weren't listening.

"You deserved it, Soldier-scum! You´re a poor excuse of a soldier!"

"That's coming from someone who can't even pull a punch?! You're nothing without your biotics!"

Alenko had to grab Quinn to prevent her from attacking Williams again and John made sure Williams stayed put.

"I said, enough!" John turned to the pirate, knowing she would be the most difficult of the two to deal with. "Calm down, Quinn, or I – will – have you detained and send you off to C-Sec as soon as we reach the Citadel despite the deal made between you and the Captain!" Then he turned his attention to the woman behind him. "You're a soldier, Williams. Act like one or you can find another ship to serve on, because I will not have this kind of behavior on my ship!"

"You're right, sir. I'm so sorry, sir," Williams spoke ashamed and finally relaxed, her shoulders slumping.

"If you do that, then you have nothing against Saren," Quinn retorted back through gritted teeth. "You need me, John, whether you like it or not. I have the damned vision you think is so important. So, don't fuck with me!"

"You're not in charge here, Quinn. You can't make any demands. If I tell you something, you do it or you're out of here." There was no bullshit in his voice. He wanted to make sure she understood that she was not an asset to the team, but a tool. Yes, they needed her, but she needed them too to keep her out of prison. "If you want to be out on the field, then you need to make sure we can trust you and show some damn respect! Until then, you stay on this ship!"

The pirate stopped struggling against Alenko's grip as she listened to him with menacing eyes. Once he was done, she yanked herself free and got up in John's face. "Respect?" She asked, her tone venomously. "That is earned. Not give." She forcefully pointed a finger into his chest, digging it in deep every time she picked it on him. "If I want to be out on the field, I damn fucking will be. There's nothing you can do about it."

He took a firm grip on her finger and twisted it to the point of almost breaking it. "Don't test me, Quinn, you'll not like the results if you do," he threatened her with the same tone as her before he threw her finger away. "I don't care how you-lowlife-pirate-scums do on your ship – on this ship, we don't try to kill each other. I don't expect you to make friends – but you damn well will keep this crew safe and alive, or I will shoot you myself. Is that clear?"

Quinn's eyes were dark of hatred and homicidal thoughts.

"Is that clear?!" He repeated loudly.

"Safe and alive," she muttered under her breath harshly as she was starring daggers at him.

John turned to Williams who was still standing behind him; his expression still grim as he warned; "You two stay clear of each other. On missions, you work together. Is that clear?!" He turned his attention to Quinn who had put her gaze on the female soldier.

Their menacing stares might as well throw daggers at each other. To have the two of them together on a mission would be complicated, if not risky. He could already tell that neither would ever be able to trust the other and that could put everyone at risk. But John refused to let this go. Both women needed to understand that they were his subordinates now and they were going to act like it. Williams would come to her senses soon enough, but Quinn would not be as easily handled. She would be the one to put them at risk for sure, but he also would not want to risk her wrath by benching her. The threats she made should not be taken lightly.

"Crystal, sir," Williams spoke.

John pierced his eyes into his sister's, waiting for her to confirm. The cold gaze shifted to his before they returned to the female soldier. But finally, her left eye narrowed as it had done when Anderson spoke to her and John knew he had gotten his point crossed and she was surrendering. But of course, she had never been the one to let anyone else take the last word, or in this case – action. Without as much as a warning, Quinn plunged her elbow hard into Alenko's side, who had stood close to the pirate if the need of restraining her again would occur.

"Ouch!" Alenko grabbed his side and almost folded over.

"You bitch!" Williams took a step closer, ready to jump in, but John stood firm and didn't let her get passed.

"Stop!" John barked at the Gunnery Chief before turning to the pirate. "You, walk away!"

But before he could finish his sentence, Quinn had already turned to leave. "Whatever you say, brother dear," she said with a snide tone over her shoulder before walking off towards the elevator.

Williams relaxed a bit but kept her stare on the pirate as she spoke next; "With all due respect, sir, if you take her on a mission, I'm going to have a bit of a problem not shooting her, sir."

"Noted."

Before Quinn could disappeared around the corner, she called out; "That reminds me –" she turned around and laid her eyes on John, walking backwards. "– I want my guns back. All of them." Then she turned forward once more and barked; "Now, John!"

He watched her disappear before he let go of an exasperated sigh. Soon he heard the elevator buzz as it descended, taking the pirate down with it. Now this was exactly how he had expected things to go and already, he was both stressed out and exhausted by it. His hands went up to his head to rub the headache away, only that headache would not be gone until the pirate had left the Normandy for good. Why did this have to happen? Of all the people that existed in the whole damned universe, why did it have to be Quinn who was struck by the beacon?

Ashley returned to her seat, still furious, yet she tried to hide it and attempted to calm herself down by taking a deep breath and counting to ten. Only ten got to twenty, twenty got to thirty and it was there she realized that no matter how far she counted, nothing would be enough to vanquish the rage that had been brought from that arrogant, callous and bitch of a pirate. Usually, Ashley could handle being provoked and slam talked – she was a Williams after all. But somehow the damn pirate had managed to get under her skin way too easily. It was like the pirate could read which buttons would be the most damaging. And what infuriated her most, were that the pirate thrived at it. Something clearly wasn't right in that crazy woman's head. How she and the Commander could be siblings was beyond her. They were nothing alike and thank God for that!

Kaidan too had returned to his seat, still clutching his sore side. He had not expected someone who had just woken up from a 15-hour long sleep to have such strength and defiantly not after almost being choked to death. It was quite impressive how she had handled herself and her biotic. The woman was determined, straightforward and fearless. Although he didn't agree on her choice of attitude, but he guessed there was something more behind that facade than just anger and resentment. The woman was hurting, in pain and was lashing out at anyone so to not deal with the real issue. Instead of condemning her, they should offer her help and maybe then she would be able to open up and trust them.

"I need to go speak to Joker," John said, his fatigue sounding in his voice and walked off.

*Quinn's POV

"This is an outrage! The Council would step in if the geth attacked a turian colony!" The Ambassador shouted at the holograms of the three Council members who had just dismissed yet another human matter. Dealing with them was infuriating at daily basis, but this time he refused to let this go. If it had been a turian who had claimed this, then they would act on it with no questions asked and have their fleets already on standby.

This argument had been going on ever since Quinn had been forced to walk into the human Ambassador's office with Anderson, John, Pretty-Boy and Girly-Scout. It seemed it had been going on for quite some time, cause no matter what kind of arguments the Ambassador threw at the three alien Council members, they dismissed them immediately. It was obvious they refused to believe one of their Spectres were involved in what had occurred on Eden Prime. And trying to use racism wasn't going to have them change their minds, yet the Ambassador used it like an idiot. It was more like he wanted to stick it up in the Councilors asses than try to get justice for the people who died.

But the crucial part of it all was, they had no evidence. Only a vision. Their statements. And dead people.

Overall, the meeting had lost all interest before it had even begun. Nothing he said would change their minds and it seemed that Quinn was the only one thinking that the Council was the sane ones here. So instead, she kept her mind and fingers occupied on something else – the Ambassador's computer for example. Every distraction was crucial, or the grief and anger would try to choke the life out of her again and she couldn't have that. Although not good at decryption, she knew the basics around simple security systems and passwords.

"The turians don't found colonies on the border of the Terminus Systems, Ambassador," Valera, the salarian Councilor retorted back with arrogance in his tone.

Quinn could not help but to grimace at the sound of the amphibian Councilor´s voice. The man was of a race she wasn't very fond of. They think fast, talk fast, and move fast, which made them hard to keep up with sometimes as they quickly moved from one subject to the next. When they did talk in a normal rate, it seemed to annoy them, so their tone most often came out as condescending, arrogant or superior. It was a known fact that salarians thought of the other races as sluggish and dull, while they thought of themselves as smarter and more intelligent. What annoyed her the most about the race was that they tried to be cunning, letting on they knew more of the subject at hand when in fact they knew nothing. This particular salarian, was one of the worst and it didn't help that he was also a politician.

Feeling like she was being watched, Quinn turned to gaze over her shoulder to where the rest of the party stood with their backs to her, all except for one – John. Go figures. He had had her in his line of sight ever since they stepped off the ship. Almost like he thought that if he let her out of his sight, she was off killing people. He's been nothing but a nuisance.

"Quinn. Cut it out," John spoke through his teeth, but low enough to not get the other's attention.

Shrugging her shoulder innocently, she said; "Nah, don't want to," before turning back to the screen.

The asari Councilor, Tevos was quick to continue the dismissal of the Ambassador's argument. "Humanity was well aware of the risks when you went into the Traverse."

Most of the races considered the asari as the most beautiful and influential species in the galaxy. They were the first to discover the intergalactic space station they were currently on and founded the Council, which apparently gave the race unquestionable respect. However, Quinn did not share the fascination nor the understanding to why they deserved respect for something which happened long over 2000 years ago. She did not have anything against the race per say, like she did with the batarians for an example as most of them were douchebags from birth, the asari were just – weird. They looked human except for their blue to purple complexion and that tentacle thing on their heads that serves as hair or whatever. And what was the thing with all of them being women? How the hell did they propagate?

As her eyes was focused on the screen in front of her, she could still sense John's stare at her and hear him coming closer. A hand grabbed her arm and tried to pry it away from the keyboard. With her left hand, she slapped his away and continued to decrypt the computer. But of course, John wasn't giving up so easily and tried to force her away as discreetly as possible.

Getting from frustrated to angry, the Ambassador took a step closer to the life-sized holograms of the Council and demanded; "What about Saren? You can't just ignore a rouge Spectre. I demand action!"

"You don't get to make demands of the Council, Ambassador," Spartacus, the turian Councilor harshly cut him off.

Like most turians, he seemed to have a grudge against humans. The First Contact War may not have ended that long ago, but come one, get over it already! Even though the turians wasn't the only ones to blame for the continuing hostility between the two races, most of the humans acted the same way towards the avian race. Although things slowly began to change, there was still plenty of mistrust, criticism, and preconceived opinions. The turian race had always fascinated her for some reason. Their militaristic and disciplined culture had them brought up as exceptional soldiers and had a strong will to live. Which made them tough and hard to kill. That and their exoskeleton. Not to mention they listened to orders exceptional well. Of course, they could be stubborn, unreasonable, and stupid like any other species. This particular turian was one of them and his hatred for humans was glowing like a beacon.

Keeping her calm like a true compromiser during the whole meeting, Tevos brought an end to the conversation by saying, "Citadel Security is investigating your charges against Saren. We will discuss the C-Sec findings at the hearing. Not before."

The holograms of the Councilors disappeared as it was turned off from their end, leaving Ambassador Udina to stand put and shaking his head in frustration at the defeat. He hated not having more to say in galactic matters, but what angered him the most were that he could not help humanity when the Council only saw to their own species problems first and foremost.

Quinn couldn't decide who was the more stupid one; the Council for not seeing what a treacherous ass Saren truly was, –proof or no proof–, or the fools who thought the Council would lift a finger to help humans with nothing more than bad feelings and a bad nightmare as an evidence. This was meant for failure from the very start.

Johns' attention had been shifted to the end of the meeting and leaving Quinn enough time to decrypt the computer with perseverance. The screen opened up the latest content and revealed a message. As soon as it had popped up on the screen, John turned his attention back to her, but paused at trying to get her away from the computer when he saw the screen and the message.

"ALLIANCE PATROL REPORT

"Captain Hendrickson reported some unusual energy readings during a patrol of the Argos Rho cluster. She had particular concerns about the Hydra System but was recalled before her team could investigate further. No patrols are scheduled for that sector. Do we want to send in a recon team?"

Quinn couldn't help but snort loudly at the message. The Hydra System? It was a system with a bunch of uninhabitable planets. Of course, it had to be boring Alliance business. It was of no interest of hers what the Alliance was up to, at least not for the moment, but clearly the same could not be said about her brother. Turning her eyes on him, he seemed to read the content carefully a couple of times with great interest. Rolling her eyes, she turned away from him and looked over to the defeated looking Ambassador, who straightened his back before he turned to the people in his office who he seemed to have forgotten for a moment.

"Captain Anderson, I see you brought half your crew with you," the man's eyes wondered to each and every one of their faces. The frown on his face grew deeper. It was rather amusing to see him go from someone with no say at all till being the one whom was the superior in just a few seconds. His credibility was not high in her books. "And a known criminal…"

"Just the ground team from Eden Prime. In case you had any questions," Anderson responded and gestured with his hand to the squad behind him.

Once the Ambassador's eyes landed on her who still stood behind his desk, the man yelled at her; "What do you think you're doing to my computer?!" and did not seem to care that John stood right next to her, looking guilty.

An eye was cast to her brother who for once, was not going to tattle on her, but let her take the whole blame even if he read the message too. Typical. Crossing her arms, she looked back at the Ambassador and responded nonchalantly; "Oh, nothing. Just browsing."

"Quinn…" Anderson said with a disapproving sigh and his hand found his forehead as he shook his head.

"How dare you?! That is private and a serious offence!" The Ambassador stormed up to his desk, pushing her out of the way violently and began to close down the screen.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Put it on the pile, old man."

"Quinn!" John barked at her rudeness.

"What? You read it too," she said with a shrug and then crossed her arms under her breasts again. Her tone was indifferent as she continued; "Not that it was anything interesting on there anyway."

Clearly disappointed, Anderson turned to John. "Commander?"

Quinn turned her eyes to her brother with an amused expression. This would teach him that she wasn't taking other's blame. While John tried to come up with a good explanation.

"Well, I was trying to–"

As much as she liked to see John squirm, this was not as fun as she had first predicted because he wasn't actually squirming. Quickly growing impatient, she cut her brother off and turned to the Ambassador. "For fuck sakes. If you don't want anyone to hack into your shit, then upgrade your damn security. It's a joke. Anyone with the slightest hacking skill can get in."

She did not really see why the man got so upset. His software was shit, his password was even shittier and the damned information on there was fucking shit. Of course, if she had more time to dig in there, she would probably find a whole lot of useful stuff, but this had been just a damned patrol report. The man must know what he had left open on the screen and yet he was fussing over it. Geeze.

"I should have you arrested, you—" The Ambassador began with his threat, but Quinn was quick to cut him off with her own;

"Try it and you will have your brain smeared over that desk before you even have the chance to make the call."

The Ambassador shifted his gaze from her right blue to the left green eye and then back again as he did not know which of the two, he should focus on while trying to figure out if he should go through with his threat or not. She knew he saw her as a liability. A problem. The reason for the failures on Eden Prime. He would nothing more than be rid of her, permanently and it was eating at him for not being able to make that call. Knowing his type extremely well, she knew the Ambassador was just as power hungry as most criminals. The only difference was that he claimed to stand on the right side of the law. But Quinn knew better than to trust politicians.

The maliciousness in her tone shifted to a bored one as she asked; "Aren't we here for Saren?" and turned to Anderson. In the corner of her eye, she could clearly see the angry gaze of the Ambassador as he was staring daggers at her.

The man crossed his arms as he asked; "I have the mission reports. I assume they're accurate?" He also turned his head to Anderson. But his gaze soon searched for the rest of his guests.

Girly-Scout and Pretty-Boy stood in the background, clearly leaving the politics to the higher ranks just like any submissive soldiers. Neither had spoken, nor taken part in the discussion since they had stepped into the office. Instead, they leaned against the fence on the balcony overlooking the Presidium and taking in the scenery like it was the first time they had been to the space station. Why the two had wasted their time on being here, Quinn did not know. At least they had a choice which she had not. If she could've had her way, then she would've been at a bar right now and having a round of shots.

"They are," Anderson reassured the Ambassador as he stood a little bit straighter. "Sounds like you convinced the Council to give us an audience at least."

"They were not happy about it," he answered with his continued grumpy tone. This man mustn't get much sex, Quinn though. "Saren's their top agent. They don't like him being accused of treason."

"Of course not. Why would they when there's no evidence," Quinn shipped in sarcastically as to mock them. It earned her the scowling stares from the three higher ranks before they resumed to their conversation.

"Saren's a threat to every human colony out there. He needs to be stopped," John declared, and frustration was slipping into his tone. "The Council has to listen to us!"

"Then why don't we buy them expensive wine and chocolate – maybe even a foot rub–" Quinn continued to mock, but the sarcasm in her tone died as it grew serious to emphasize her thoughts of their stupidity; "–then they have to like us and can't say no."

John turned to her and growled over his shoulder; "You're not funny, Quinn!"

"Settle down, Commander," The Ambassador ordered. "You're already done more than enough to jeopardize your candidacy for the Spectres. The mission on Eden Prime was a chance to prove you could get the job done–" The man was talking like John had rejected the Spectre candidacy on purpose just to spite the man. Like it had all affected him personally. "Instead, Nihlus ended up dead and the beacon was destroyed!"

Quinn's eyes shot up at the man with the intention of beating the crap out of him for the cold and disrespectful mentioning of Nihlus' death.

Unknowingly coming to the man's rescue, Anderson defended the accusation; "That's Saren's fault, not his!"

"Then we better hope the C-Sec investigation turns up evidence to support our accusations. Otherwise, the Council might use this as an excuse to keep you out of the Spectres."

Finally having enough of this imbecile of an ambassador who only cared about himself and threw blame at others, Quinn forcefully pushed through John and Anderson to get up close to the man who she was ready to strangle and said; "I don't give a rat's ass if that fucking jerk becomes a Spectre or not! –" She pointed at John, almost hitting him by the gesture, but was too focused on the man in front of her to even notice it, then turned her finger to him. "–I'm not going to sit on my fucking ass just because the Council doesn't want to do anything. If they won't stop Saren, then I fucking will." With every intention, she bumped hard with her finger into the Ambassador's shoulder before she went for the door.

"Quinn!" Both Anderson and John called out to her, but she ignored them.

"Don't you dare go anywhere!" John ordered but she was too pissed off at the Ambassador to shift her anger to him and retort back.

Oh, how she hated politics, and not to mention politicians. All they did was argue, discuss, and talk, when in fact all they did was sit on their asses, promising shit and not keep it up! She could never understand why someone would like to be one. She was a woman of action. Debating about stuff that had to be done just took unnecessary amount of time when acting on it straight away solved the problem.

"She does remember that she will not under any circumstances be allowed to walk around on her own?" The Ambassador asked, his tone cold.

Yes. She did remember that she was still a prisoner with an invisible leash. She would always need an Alliance escort or a baby-sitter with her at all times and if she did not have one, the C-Sec officers was allowed to arrest her at sight with no questions asked and to use deadly force if necessary. Oh yes, she remembered. As soon as they had arrived on the Citadel, they had met up and spoken with the head of C-Sec and the turian had "nicely" declared the terms of her visit to the intergalactic space station. For about an hour she had stood there and been reprimanded of what she was allowed to do and more so what not to do. Eyes everywhere were watching her every move. Yes. She remembered.

"Come with me, Captain. I want to go over a few things before the hearing," she then heard the man declare with an angry voice. "Shepard – you and the others can meet us at the Citadel Tower in a few hours. Top level. I'll make sure you have clearance to get in."

Before she got out of the door, she heard the Girly-Scout state; "And that's why I hate politicians."

Maybe there was some brains in that female toy-soldier after all.

Thank you for reading!

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A little teaser before you go...

"You hurt?" John asked when he crouched down by her to change the clips in his pistol.

"No!" she roared as she leaned out of the corner to shoot at the last assassin who was taking cover behind the other corner.

"Good. Wouldn't want you sent to the hospital, it's rather expensive and I'm not paying." The teasing in his voice made her want to growl at him even more.