Shadows towered over her.

"Excellent timing, good to have you here." Mordin's voice rang in her ear.

The trees grew larger and thinner, almost breaking in the process. She stepped on some dark, fallen leaves that crackled under her feet. Her body felt heavy, her brain struggling. She was cold and alone, as she took a deep breath, her voice broke. Her steps became faster as she turned in the direction of Mordin's voice. But there was no one there.

Just shadows, ashes and darkness. The leaves started feeling like fluid under her, and her feet got stuck to the ground, making every step harder and harder.

"Frailty of life. Size of universe."

She fell. She squeezed the ground between her fingers, ash in her hands. She heard the monsters. She heard Sovereign. The scream of a reaper, a horrible echo. Her heart broke, her breath stopped. The noise in her head tore her apart, and Mordin's singing sounded, flooding the forest, the air. She wanted to hear it. To get rid of the noise, and focus on the clear sound of his voice, but it faded away. She lost it.

"Someone else might have gotten it wrong."

She jumped up on her bed.

She just sit there, her face empty of emotion, devoid of light.

Why him?

She couldn't keep it together, she was so angry and sad, her limbs barely moved. Mordin was her friend. The crazy scientist, "the doctor who killed millions" has sacrificed himself to save the krogan. To right his wrong, to heal the damage.

He deserved to live, but he had to die.

All because of the reapers.

She jumped up, throwing her pillow away, and rushed through her cabin, a tear streaming down her face. She wiped it away and grabbed some clothes to wear. Without hesitation she stormed to the elevator and drove it down to the shuttle bay.

That's where the punching bags and the exercise equipment was kept in a small room. She banged the door, not even looking or thinking someone might be in there.

When she arrived she found a turian in the room, his fist just leaving the punching bag after a well executed hit. It was Saren.

His plates were smooth, it was visible that he was well-rested, the fight on Tuchanka probably had a good effect on him. It had a good effect on her too, that was not the problem - it was that shortly after the fight, Mordin died.

And she felt and looked awful.

Her eyes were baggy and dark from terror, her skin was a lot paler than usual and she had an aura that could not be missed by anyone. It was an aura of danger and grief.

"Fight me!" was all she managed to say. It was all she could do.

"Come." he accepted, reaching his hands out, his dark voice rang in the air. Inviting her.

And Shepard moved. She was onto Saren in a swift second, and started to attack him with whatever she had. The sheer force of anger she felt translated into fast, desperate swings with brute force. She did not care, she went for everything she reached: his chest, his shoulders, even his head. She did not hold back for a second, she was releasing all her being into these strikes, letting it all out.

She was so strong, Saren was taken aback by her moves. He was just a punching bag in these short moments, as her desperation peaked. She didn't seem to tire, so eventually he decided to take this further. He was no good of a punching bag - also did not quite like it -, he wanted to make her work.

He hit back, and she blocked his every move. She was fierce enough on Tuchanka, but she was now on another level. He did not know that Mordin's death was such a struggle for her, but he also did not know that she was this strong. Her strikes were beautiful, precise, full of passion.

"Come on!" he growled, headbutting her when she made a small mistake of not covering her face properly. She fell back but stood up and charged at him, returning the headbutt. It must have been painful - his skeleton was metal after all - but she did not even wince. They continued to exchange blows, until they were both tired and their moves became slower. She was dizzy.

"He was that close?" the question came suddenly from Saren, the surprise was apparent on Jane's face.

"He was my friend" she snarled, panting. She landed a punch that got blocked by his arm.

"All of them counted on this risk, you should not be surprised! Nor should you care about them." he scolded her coldly while catching her arm and twisting it, so she now had her back to him.

"I am not surprised" she hissed, baring her teeth, trying to free herself "I just had enough of this fucking shit!" she started to get furious, still wiggling in his arms, not even commenting Saren' statement on caring about the squadmates.

"Then get your shit together!" he called with a thunderous tone, and released her violently, pushing her. She turned around, but he was on her now and pressed her to the wall. He wrapped his giant arms around her small frame, squeezing her arms to her side so she could not move. "Use this anger!" he snarled into her face, only inches away "Make them pay for every friend, every life they take away!"

She looked deep into his eyes, drinking his words. Her wrath came to an apex seeing the fire in his eyes.

"Attack them where they can't prepare, bleed them out, and let them rot in the hell they created for us!" His words echoed in her mind, boiling her blood, making her fingers itch.

She suddenly raised her legs, and kicked him in the stomach, making him release her. As he tumbled backwards, she kicked again with full force into his chest. Sound of pain escaped his throat as he fell backwards. She jumped on him, pinning his shoulders with her legs to the ground. Now she was on top of him, leaning into his face:

"We'll tear them to a million pieces.." she groaned, excitement in her voice. Her heart was racing, but her grief turned into something else now. She suddenly felt better. The force in his voice moved something in her that she felt such a long time ago… power.

But as she fell into her thoughts, Saren grabbed her waist and pushed her to the ground. He rolled over her and pinned her down, making her unable to move. Her breath stuck in her lungs, and he leaned in closer.

"Good." he whispered, not breaking their eye contact "I need a drink."

And with that, he released her and stood up. He shook his arm to release the tension in it, and made his way to the door. When he realized Jane wasn't right behind him, he turned back slightly.

"Are you coming, or do you want to keep the punching bags company?" he teased, clearly expecting her to tag along.

Defeat appeared on Jane's face, who was still on the floor, weirded out by the sudden lack of contact. She stood up. She should toast to Mordin.

They drank their first glass in complete silence.

They settled in the starboard observation, sitting in the dim light of the bar. What a weird feeling it was for once mortal enemies to sit together and share drinks. It wasn't like how friends would do it: relaxed and cheerful, but rather it was strange a bit, unfamiliar.

"What's that?" Saren asked in that usual cold tone of his, pointing at her amber coloured drink.

"Whiskey" she answered, immediately continuing "It's a very common drink on Earth, it's my favourite" she was looking at the glass like it contained life. Trying to bury her real thoughts.

"Is it any good?" he asked with doubt in his eyes. Jane knew, he obviously meant the strength. It made sense for a turian like him.

"It's in the middle" her voice rang in the emptiness of the room "This is not a drink to just chug down."

"Well, this horosk is certainly one to chug down!" he announced, and quaffed the shot in a second. He didn't even feel the alcohol in it.

"You just love that stuff, don't you?" she teased "It's the same stuff from last night." It was still weird seeing the world's most dangerous turian drink aimlessly, just out of relaxation. What a weird world they lived in…

"Not bad." was all he said.

A long minute of silence settled on them, as they did not have much to say. Jane was again deep in her thoughts. He looked at her face, the face that was strong, but also pale now. Her lips parted as her thoughts raced, her red hair falling in her eyes. She moved her head in an unconscious move and her locks fell back in order somehow, which fascinated Saren. He never observed humans this close, as he always despised them, but as her hair moved, he somehow forgot about that.

Despite the silence, the alien ship, the unwanted crew in his way, despite her being here and being human, he was weirdly relaxed in her presence.

"You know, I was also reconstructed..just like you." her voice was now soft, still husky as always, but quiet, smooth. His mandibles moved a bit in surprise.

"I am aware you got spaced." he nodded.

She turned to him. "But being rebuilt by Cerberus is not exactly public record." she turned her attention back to her glass.

"Do you have cybernetics?" he asked, his tone as cold as usual. They seemed to have a conversation at this point.

"I do. A LOT." she emphasized the word like it had bothered her. Her face turned darker, and she looked at him. It was a strange look, one of… self doubt. "They said I was... meat and tubes, when I was found."

He was not sure why she brought this topic up so suddenly, but it was a sign of trust. She would not be discussing this with everyone, he was sure of that. Who would understand, what it was like? To hear the ticking, to see the metal.

He looked at his hands. Bones of metal.

He would understand.

"Do you ever wonder.." the words just slipped out of his mouth, forgetting himself for a moment "...if you're real?"

She laughed a little. It was a laugh of defeat.

"I do" she admitted "I'm afraid I'm only as real as you."

That's right. How real was he?

Everything that happened before he was brought back seemed so distant now, like those events had been in another life. Because it was the other life, that was wasted, thrown away and taken by Sovereign. Shepard was the only one who had tried to fight for him. The only person in the universe, who spared even a second of thought to consider him.

And the reapers have taken her life too.

It seemed like they were both just ghosts.

Jane saw his face changing from emotionless and relaxed to tense. His mandibles pushed to the side of his jaw, his eyes got filled with wrath, and a strange sense of dread emanated from him. She recognized this face, it was the one she saw when he.. pulled the trigger two years ago.

When he woke from his thoughts and noticed her watching him, he grabbed the bottle and poured another shot. He put all of his concentration into this simple move, trying not to waste the drink by breaking it into a thousand pieces. Because he wanted to do that. He wanted to shout, he wanted all of the reapers dead, he wanted to kill. He became so angry, simply by thinking of the monsters.

Amidst his efforts to not break the bottle, he managed to break the glass he was pouring into. And when he felt something on his hand holding the glass, he froze.

Her palm lightly touched the back of his hand, her silverish eyes looking right through him.

"It's okay" she murmured, her warm hands creating a strange sensation in him. "Let me clean that up." She stood up and went behind the bar to look for a cloth to clean up the spill and the broken glass with. She found it under the counter, and started to work. Her hands idly moved around the surface of the bar, gathering the liquid and the shards, and Saren helped her by lifting the bottle up.

"I'd rather my blood is spilt... but not the horosk" he growled in regret.

Jane laughed a little. A true turian, she thought. She encountered lots from his species on her journeys, and turians generally took pride in how much they could drink: she wasn't sure if that was because of their culture, or because their rivalry with the krogan, but it seemed this was true for Saren as well. However when she looked at him, he could see the annoyance in his eyes. She should not have laughed.

"Are you entertained?" he teased.

"Very much so" she admitted, not even holding back her smile. She couldn't help herself, it was a bit comical how the giant turian defended that bottle of horosk. Like it had contained the only thing that could kill the reapers. But it was just booze.

"Well then, you should poor me some more, while I'm still friendly." he said, completely serious.

She just laughed away, grabbing the bottle out of his hand, and getting a new glass.

"You're not even friendly now!" she chuckled, forgetting Mordin for a moment. She was not intimidated by Saren the slightest.

He killed for less before… but somehow the teasing didn't bother him so much right now. Her smile was relaxing to look at.

"What do you think of our new guest?" That was the million credit question, and Joker threw it at Garrus the moment he stepped in the cockpit.

"How did you know it was me?" Garrus stepped next to him.

"You might have supreme hearing, but I hear you enter this cockpit everyday… I know your walk already."

"Fair enough" he admitted, casually putting his elbow on the pilot seat, looking out the observation windows. But suddenly Joker's chair started to turn and he had to step back to not lose his balance. The pilot was now facing him.

"You haven't answered my question."

Garrus rolled his eyes. "What do you think? I absolutely adore Saren, the worst turian of the entire galaxy!" He consciously overreacted the sarcasm, crossing his arms and firing looks of disgust.

"Yeaah" Joker nodded, turning back to the nav panel "While you're hating on him, Saren and Shepard are sharing drinks at the bar as we speak."

Garrus went numb, his mandibles clicked in surprise. If turians could go pale, he would have gone white already. He immediately stepped to the console like someone was shooting at his feet. "Show me!" he demanded. Joker brought up the comms muting his own side.

"You just love that stuff, don't you?"

Garrus' face went dark, his talons clenched into fists. Joker didn't say a thing, just watched him in amusement.

"It's the same stuff from last night."

"Not bad."

"They don't seem to me they're going to kill each other soon" Joker pointed out. The look on Garrus' face was priceless.. He was so visibly upset there was almost two of him. He was her best friend, he should be with her at these times, not Saren, her mortal enemy...

They drank again and continued their chat. The alcohol dissolved the nerves a bit, allowing them to have a proper conversation for the first time. Jane shared their story with Cerberus, the Collectors, going on a suicide mission, and Saren listened. She told the tale like it was an action movie or a great adventure: storying about Garrus taking a rocket to the face, recruiting a crazy biotic bitch named Jack, befriending a geth called Legion - who she seemed to really like -, and finding a Saren-statue while helping out Kasumi.

"Jane, wait" he stopped her "A Saren-statue?"

She just lost it and broke out laughing. At the time of seeing that statue it wasn't funny at all, but now that she was seeing his face: it was worth it through and through.

"Yeah, well… the criminal underworld of the Galaxy seems to look up to you." she commented.

"I should pay them a visit, see if I can live up to their expectations."

"And they would all end up disappointed.. and dead" she tilted her head, smiling, imagining him getting rid of the scumbags. Saren did some things in his spectre years, sure, but building a following of petty criminals flocking after him was not one of them, she was certain of that. It was beneath him.

"You already know me better than those rats." he nodded and chuged another shot of horosk. He started to feel the effect of the alcohol, which was not a surprise, considering they have been sitting here for about an hour already, and he lost count how many he drank. He did not plan on getting drunk at all, so he put down his glass and decided not to touch it again.

Jane was in a similar state, she looked at her whiskey with sparkling eyes, a bit unfocused, but relaxed.

"You should be dead already" she said while pointing at his drink. "This is horosk. Garrus told me this stuff can kill, and you had your fair share already.. Wait, does this affect you at all, with all the reaper tech in you?"

"I can assure you it does." he murmured "But also, I'm Saren fucking Arterius."

That did it. Her eyes lit right up and a smile spread across her face. Her hair seemed so red right now, it could put any red light to shame. It was fascinating all of a sudden.

Then her omnitool chirped.

"Ah, now what?" she pulled up the console and examined the message. She stood up suddenly "Ok, I need to go." His eyes followed her as she was leaving, but he did not speak a thing. She stopped at the opening of the door, and looked back.

She looked at him, sitting there, the purple light of the bar enveloping his plates.

"Thank you." she said softly, and left the observation room.

He turned back to put the booze away, and then decided to head out for a shower.

What a good shower it was. His mind was perfectly clear again, he didn't feel tipsy anymore. It was a good thing, considering he wanted to find the AI of the ship - he wanted to gather some info on the Normandy to see if there is anything that he has in his data banks that could be beneficial in some combat situations, especially for reapers. He didn't have any data saved from when he worked with Sovereign, but there were some algorithms he was familiar with, and some that he saved from the Derelict reaper. EDI would appreciate them, and it can also get them out of some real trouble, if the need arise.

He rounded the corner at the elevator, when he almost bumped into resistance. It was the other turian, Garrus. He could hear his steps a mile away.

"What?" Saren asked in more than a rude manner, stopping before they could run into each other. Garrus' eyes were on fire, and he took a step closer, a bit too close for comfort. It was a sign of aggression, that Saren did not appreciate.

"What did you do to her?" he asked immediately with a cold, cruel tone in his voice.

"That is none of your business" Saren replied, already baring his teeth "And you would do well not to accuse and disrupt me or the commander might lose his beloved sniper one night.."

"You insufferable-" Garrus started, but Saren stopped him, putting his hand between them, pushing him away by his chest.

"You are insufferable" he snapped back "Get your ugly face off of me!" he pushed him.

Garrus did not return the push, he knew it was what Saren wanted.

"You won't get away with it if you hurt her" his voice was almost just growling now, the tension rising between the two turians. "I'll make sure to break you in half if that happens!"

"Whatever" he spat, turning away and just leaving Garrus there "Kid."

Garrus wanted to kill him.

So badly.