"Fuck!" Shepard cursed, firing her fist into elevator console. Before the doors could close, Saren jumped in, and grabbed her by the shoulder, turning them as they went, so he could face her, keeping her still by the her arms.
"What are you doing?" Jane shouted. The door closed and the elevator started to rise with them in it.
"Jane, the cannons" he called hastily "I don't know how many there are, but if you fire the cannon now, it will draw in more reapers."
"How do you know that?" she asked, as the ship took another turn, the force kicking them off of their feet. Saren slapped his hand to the wall to adapt, and grabbed her waist instinctively, to avoid her falling too. As they found their balance, he started explaining rapidly:
"The reapers use quantum entanglement to communicate, at least Sovereign had done so" he said, his face only inches away from hers "They exchange data at a rate we can't adapt to - the more you resist, the more likely they'll call others here too, and we're not supposed to be in this system at all!" his voice was rough and resonant. She could feel the rumbling in his chest as he spoke, since he was still holding her.
"Let me go!" she said, slapping his hands off of her. The elevator doors opened, and they found themselves in the CIC. She went through the bridge like lightning, sliding into the cockpit and grabbing Joker's chair.
"Status report!"
"One reaper ship caught sight of us" explained Joker "Now on escape trajectory." said Joker, looking up for just a second, but enough to spot Saren entering the cockpit as well. "WHAT THE-"
"Keep this pace, Joker!" Shepard ordered, ignoring the obvious surprise on the pilot's face. "And forget the cannons, we need to escape as fast as possible!"
"Aye-Aye" he acknowledged, a strange look on his face. He knew about Saren already, but he wasn't expecting the guest so soon within his territory…
"It's Harbinger" came from behind Shepard's back. Saren was looking at the floor, his eyes fixated on his on foot, like he was in the middle of something. What was happening here? Was he sensing the reapers now? He could communicate with them? Why didn't he say so? Also, why the hell did he touch her in the elevator? "Jane, switch to stealth mode, it'll lose sight of us." he said.
"Do it Joker" she said with confidence, not a moment of hesitation.
After a few short minutes, they were out of the hot zone.
"I think we're good" sighed Joker.
"Great work" the commander tapped his chair "Keep this up and let me know an hour before we reach the relay."
"Will do!" he said, still conscious about the turian behind him. He looked at EDI, who stayed silent for now - probably for a good reason. Then, Joker heard a noise and had to turn around again. All he could see was a swift movement, as Shepard slammed Saren to the side of the cockpit, the metal almost crying out behind his back. The turian let out a surprised "umpf" sound, not expecting the sudden attack.
Silence filled the whole bridge, and Jane felt it, everyone was looking at them.
"What the hell was that?" Her hands were so tiny compared to Saren's, but her deft fingers held him firmly pressed to the wall. "I am the commanding officer here, and I would very much like to have your head right now for your move in the elevator!" she threatened violently.
Saren grabbed her wrists and just like how she pushed him to the wall, he pushed her away with one sudden movement.
"And I should tear you apart for attacking me like this" he said, his voice thick with anger and surprise, loudly ringing through the whole bridge. His teeth were almost showing, his talons clenched into fists.
"Spare me your threats" she snapped back, not showing any sign of fear.
"RAAAWRR" hissed Joker in a high pitched voice, like a cat, turning around with his chair, already amused by the sight. Saren spared only a fragment of the moment to look at the pilot:
What is wrong with this man, he thought.
"How did you know it was Harbinger" she asked with a tone so unsettling, it did not even sound like a question, but more like a demand.
"I have their technology in me" he explained, still showing his teeth "What did you expect?"
Shepard stepped closer, their gazes met.
Garrus just arrived on the bridge, when he spotted both of them, standing in front of each other like they were going to start a fight right then and there. They looked almost like a painting to him: a giant, pale monster and a small, fiery demon just a moment before jumping at each other's throats.
Instead, Jane leaned in closer, and in front of the the crew, she only said:
"More respect to the spectre who saved your sorry ass from indoctrination" and without waiting for a reply, she stormed off. At the elevator, she stepped onto the CIC, and looked at the whole crew:
"I expect you all not to wreak havoc on each other" her eyes sparked like firecrackers "Saren remains here until our situation is resolved, as the war effort will need him. If anyone has any problems, you can talk to me, but I expect you to work together. Everything we know depends on this." and with that, she turned around and drove the elevator up.
Saren immediately followed Shepard, and as the elevator returned, he disappeared too.
The baffled silence the crew was left in, was broken by Joker, who pointed at the floor where Shepard just stormed off from the bridge "Oh no" he sighed.
A trail of fresh, crimson blood led from the cockpit down to the elevator.
To say Saren's blood was boiling was an understatement. He still couldn't even believe how angry this little woman made him. Her composure and temperament was something that resembled turian women… He never expected to be pushed to a wall just in the heat of the moment, and never by a human.
Her wrath was so intense, he could swear he smelled her blood… at this point he was on this ship for a bit more than an hour, and he was already baffled by her persona. He regretted thinking he didn't hate her.
The elevator door swooshed open, and he saw the commander's door was just about to close. He took a long, precise step and jerked his foot into the door, and the sensor opened it back up. He stepped into her cabin.
"Jane" he called her name coldly, angrily, not stopping as he made his way to her.
She was standing near her bed, just turning to see what happened as he entered. She saw the turian, and immediately moved her hand to her side, taking a defensive position with the other.
"Hey, this is-"
"Shut up" he snapped, grabbing her by the shoulders. He did not lift her up, or shake her body, but his grip was strong enough to startle her. He showed all his wrath: "I am not some slave of yours to push around as you please. And the next time you dare attack me, you can be damn sure I will put you down!" his pale plates and the look in his eyes portrayed an almost demonic picture. At this point if Shepard had any doubts about him being the real Saren: they were all gone now. This was Saren: the violent, cold, proud spectre, who would bear no one ordering him around.
But all it did was light up a fire in Jane.
"We can play this threat game as long as you like, I'm all up for it… But if you come into my quarters without an invite…" she hissed, but her voice became weaker with every word, and Saren saw her lose the colour from her face "You will be…"
A look of genuine surprise appeared on the turian's face, as he saw her pupils dilate, and her eyes closing. She became so pale so suddenly, she almost looked white. Her legs gave in, her hands let go of his shoulders; the commander started collapsing right under his hands.
He didn't let her go, and instinctively, his left hand moved to the small of her back, the other catching her shoulders. Her head fell into the crook of his shoulder as he caught her, slowly, safely lowering themselves onto the ground. Her legs hit the floor, and he found himself sitting on the ground with a passed out Jane in his arms.
For a moment, he forgot to react.
The sweet cherry scent of her blood and skin covered him, and her red hair fell onto his chest plate, tickling his skin.
"Jane, get it together!" he whispered, as he examined her with his eyes, trying to find the source of the problem. It didn't take long: her jumper was covered in blood on her left side, from a recent wound. Happened probably at the same time as the wound on her head.
"Argh" he growled, trying to remember the name of the VI of the ship - he knew Shepard called it before, but the name was just not coming into his mind. E… ED… "EDI!"
"Dr. Chakwas is already on her way" chirped EDI.
"I told her to stay put!" came the doctor, just opening the door and rushing in. She kneeled down as well and took the commander from Saren.
"What is wrong with her?" he asked, not knowing the severity of her injuries.
"Nothing you should be worried about" she spat "Now leave us, she will be fine… "
And with that, he was basically thrown out.
Clean. Pristine. Fragile.
He heard the glass. It made a sound that was harsh, high pitched, fast. It had cracked to a million pieces. As it fell, it mirrored, and its fragileness fell to fluidity, tainted with darkness. Black, blue space opened around him, as he felt like he was trapped. His own blood in his heart strangled him, his mind turning against him, multiplying the pain, and a volatile feeling of suffering surged through his metal spine. A finger. A sharp claw, oozing shadows in the distance.
He woke up.
Saren sat on his bed in his bunk, dumbfounded, none of his limbs moving. He tried to forget. He closed his eyes, but all he could see was Sovereign. His head ached from the memories, the feeling of being trapped still present in his mind. He crawled out of the bed and left for the giant observation window in the middle of the room.
Stars…
He needed a drink.
The bar was right there, and he went for it. He didn't even have to dig deep, he found a treasure that was already opened: horosk. It was an extremely hard turian drink, and it looked like Garrus has already popped it open.
Impressive. Most who drink it pass out in a minute, the unlucky ones can even fall into a coma. He had to have one.
A little excitement rushed over him at the feeling of danger. He drank a shot and grabbed the bottle, keeping it at hand. A pleasant numbness and the salty flavours of the drink touched him, just enough to ease the dream he had woken from. Aimlessly, he turned to the door and left the room.
He was at the memorial wall.
Some name cards were left there, high above, around the Alliance symbol. He had looked at the names, but most of them didn't ring a bell, only one, specifically: Ashley Williams.
She was the one on Virmire, he remembered. Saren was well versed on Shepard's crew at the time, just for the sake of intel, but none of those names were on here except for that woman.
He had no time to check up on names anymore after Sovereign implanted him. Did she die on Virmire? Or later, possibly during the geth attack?
Jane had a loyal crew. She was out because of the blood loss for around a day, and then she returned to her duties. As it turned out, her side gave her some run for her money with the wound being a bit too deep, but no permanent harm. He was reminded suddenly how she stood his strength, even so close to passing out… But now she was back in the game: she had visited everyone on every deck of the ship, talking about meaningless things, and the crew seemed to love that. Even with the pressure of the reaper threat, they almost seemed content in their occupation.
But they weren't so content with him running around, big surprise.
Everywhere he went, he got looks of suspicion, disgust and fear. He liked the fear, it was what he was used to. What he was not used to was spending his time on someone else's ship and follow someone else's orders. But it was something that had to be done: he needed Jane to be able win this war, it just wasn't possible without her. So for now, he had to endure, but he was also sure that as soon as he had the opportunity, he will leave this filthy ship behind.
His chain of thought was interrupted by a small noise, someone rummaging in the mess hall. He left the memorial wall he was standing in front of, and came around the elevator.
It was Jane.
She was just in a top, and a small short. She was standing at the counter, dropping a little spoon in her coffee to stir it up. She looked a lot healthier, her wounds were barely visible now. She healed a bit too quickly for a regular human.
"Coffee in the middle of the night. Can't sleep?" he asked.
Jane froze for a moment, not even looking in his direction. The hesitation was brief, barely noticable. He didn't know of it, but a chill went down Shepard's neck when she heard his voice suddenly from the dark.
"I see you're not doing so well yourself" she replied, conspicuously looking at the bottle in his left hand. Before he could open his mouth though, she replied to his question "Stealth operation schematics don't do themself unfortunately." and she dropped a small datapad onto the counter, obviously the mentioned schematics.
They were en route to Tuchanka at this point: in fact, only a couple hours before reaching destination. She must have been checking everything before the operation.
"What's the plan?" he asked.
"Well, we go to the Shroud, finish synthesizing the cure." she explained, looking at the schematics, dissatisfaction on her face "We then distribute it and come back. The only problem is that-"
"It's too simple." Saren finished her sentence.
"Right.." she sighed "That is why I hate operations like this. They only stand on one leg. If your cover gets blown, the whole thing goes down the shitter."
He was looking at her, almost baffled.
"I mean" she continued in order to make a proper point "You plan a stealth op and it crumbles so easily - a few errors and you find yourself in a full assault. Narrow plans like this are unreliable, because they're hard to reshape and adapt to unforeseen circumstances."
He agreed, and he did not expect Jane to be that frontal when it came to battles, she clearly disliked nuanced tactics. She seemed not so hateable again, and by that he was confused.
"I also prefer direct combat" he shared "As you might have guessed."
A small, confident smile appeared on her face. He wasn't sure why he got that smile and he did not return it.
"Well, you might have to learn to compromise this time...Considering you're coming with us." she smiled.
"Am I?" he asked, almost in a teasing way, crossing his arms.
She took a step towards him.
"Help me against the reapers, and I'll give you as much action as you can possibly bear."
Their eyes met again, and there was a moment of silence.
There wasn't anything that Saren wanted more than the blood of the reapers.
His mandibles were tight on his face, his eyes bearming. There was no need for a reply from him, Shepard saw through him like glass, because she felt the same.
This silence marked their alliance.