Twin Fates

by Tobias5

Fate played as much a role in Shepard's defeat of the Reapers as did his skill. What if fate had different plans? Did you know that the Shepard on Mindoir was born as a twin? What if both had survived the raid? How would the Reapers have dealt with TWO great heroes instead of one? It's time to find out just how much better and worse things get with TWO Shepards fighting a war.

14. Chapter 13

Twin Fates

By Belle and Tobias

Automatic Disclaimer: We do not own the rights to the Mass Effect or any other referenced copy righted material.

Toby's Note: So here comes the first major shift away from canon. I want to thank you guys who have read with us from the start. I know it must have been aggravating to reread what was essentially a novelization of ME1 with only minor changes. In my defense, I felt the same way some times but changes steam roll. As the old saying goes, rolling a snowball down a hill can build into an avalanche given enough time. Or something close to that. You get the point.

Belle's Note: Toby does not speak for me. I thought by adding two Shepards we were breaking precedents left and right. While the first game was followed strictly, it was the need for the Shepards to be known as twins, given as we all only knew them as a single entity before. However, I'm hoping you are enjoying the difference between ME1 and ME2 already and it will only grow because now the galaxy has had a Spectre Shepard on the Council's side for two years while another was on ice...well he wasn't really dead...but almost dead. Now is when we see the real butterfly effect take place.

Chapter 13: Can I Trust The Person You Are Now?

Earth Date: January 18th, 2186 CE

Location: Normandy SR2, Currently docked to the Citadel

Jane stared out the window of the starboard observation deck window, she was dressed in all black. She wore a tee shirt with the N7 logo on the right breast and the stripe with black N7 training pants. She wouldn't wear a uniform on the Normandy this time, but she was going to be comfortable. The scene of the Citadel was clear, so was the obvious Cerberus spy in the room.

"EDI," Jane said, the AI was dangerous, but Joker seemed okay with it...not that Jane had a chance to talk to Joker. She had hidden with Dr. Chakwas and Garrus till they got to the Citadel. She would need to ask Joker why he had never returned her calls about rejoining the Alliance...another time, now to deal with the AI spy.

"Yes, C..." EDI began and Jane held up her hand, stopping EDI.

"I am not here as an Alliance Officer, EDI, I am here as a Council Spectre. Please address me as Spectre Shepard while I am on the ship. Commander Shepard is your commander," Jane said.

"You are used to working with you brother as equals," EDI stated and Jane wondered about the program. She wished she had Tali.

"I haven't worked with my brother in over two years. I am also not a member of Cerberus," Jane said. "EDI...I was curious. What are the most secure channels on this ship? I need to know how to contact the Council should my...should Commander Shepard need Council aid." EDI flickered and for a moment, Jane wondered if that was supposed to be an expression. Weird.

"I can communicate anything you need, Spectre Shepard," EDI said and Jane shook her head.

"Not for Council protocol. Look up the third Phalanx Amendment," Jane said. That particular piece of ingenious and current situational useful Turian paranoia protocol required a terminal without any computer intelligence programs connected to it.

"For those security measures you would need a terminal connected to the communication channel that I would not be able to access," EDI said.

"Is that even possible on the Normandy?" Jane asked.

"Completely. Officer Lawson's quarters has the only terminal capable of this," EDI said. Jane fought a smile.

"Is that so?" Jane asked. "Only one terminal on this ship?"

"Officer Lawson is highly trusted within Cerberus, she was hand selected for her job," EDI said.

"Thank you, EDI," Jane said as she picked up her two bags. "Come, Blasto." The varren looked at her from the sofa. He hopped off and quickly came to her side as she exited the starboard observation deck. Miranda had obviously left her door unlocked and Jane fought a dangerous smile as she walked right in. She dropped her bags and crossed her arms over her chest. Miranda blinked in indignation before narrowing her eyes.

"Shepard," she said coolly. "How may I...help you?" Clearly John had told Miranda to play nice. Jane could use that to get what she needed.

"That's Spectre Shepard to you, Operative Lawson," Jane replied as she began to move around Miranda's desk. The Cerberus agent was as smart as expected. She got up immediately, not wanting to be sitting as Jane approached.

"What do you want, Shepard?" Miranda said, she was holding herself with tight control.

"I want a lot of things, Lawson," Jane said as she looked around the room. Blasto saw the opportunity and began exploring the bedroom area of the room.

"Get that varren out of here!" Miranda growled and Jane turned to her and let her eyes turn cold.

"No...this is going to be my room. That would...help me...immensely," Jane stated and Miranda looked at her. "Don't try me again, Cerberus agent, I nearly took that drop ship with you on it out of the sky." Miranda's eyes went wide. "That's right, I was there and I so very nearly had you. I don't like losing terrorist scum like you."

"You don't know me, Spectre Shepard," Miranda growled and Jane gave her a look.

"Do you know how many files we got from your operatives? Do you know how many files we took from your terminals before your fail safes activated? I suspect I could pay the Shadow Broker good money to get all the information and I wonder which projects my dear...brother...wouldn't be pleased to see your name attached to," Jane said. Miranda was backtracking away from Jane as she approached and Jane fought a smirk as she herded Miranda right where she wanted her. Miranda was no saint, but being busy with John meant that Miranda couldn't have been involved with the worst cases in the last couple years, but it would be a cold day in Hell before Jane trusted the woman. "I want this room and Blasto is already attached. Don't worry, I'll pack for you." Jane got right into Miranda's face and Miranda stepped back, right out the open door. Jane closed the door and quickly threw a stasis on the door, holding it shut. She went around the room, grabbing belongings until the stasis fell.

"Shepard! How dare-" Miranda couldn't get more out because Jane shoved an armful of belongings into her arms and used a light push to her shoulders to knock Miranda back a few steps before Jane did the same, closing the door and using a stasis. This time Miranda was to the side as Jane began tossing items out of the room. "This is childish!" Miranda attempted to enter and Blasto was ready, growing and snarling. Miranda would not step foot into the room and Jane kept throwing things out of the room.

"This is ridiculous!" Miranda cried and marched off. Jane smirked and in four quick back and forth passes of the room, removed all of Miranda's personal items, depositing them in the hall.

"Spectre Shepard, what did you hope to achieve with that?" EDI asked as Jane looked around. She squatted down next to her first duffle and began pulling out a mixture of clothes and weapons.

"You and Miranda are smart, EDI, you'll figure it out," Jane said. "You sooner than Lawson."

~*TF*~

"Mordin is currently engrossed with analyzing the data we got from Veetor," John mused, scrolling over his data pad. "So I think we can count him out on any missions for now. Miranda indicated the funds are still in the process of being transferred to the Purgatory so we can't pick up Jack yet."

"I'm still not comfortable with us literally buying a criminal out of one of the most secure prisons in the galaxy," Garrus noted, reading his own data pad, "Jack's rap sheet is thirty teraquads. It'd take me a decade to read it all."

"Actually Mr. Vakarian it would approximately take you thirteen years, seven months, two day and six hours, with appropriate time needed for sleep, food, and recreational activities to avoid stress," EDI chimed in helpfully from her holographic avatar. John laughed under his breath as Garrus grumbled.

"Thank you, EDI, but Garrus was just using the time reference to point out how many crimes Jack has committed to enforce the point that us picking up Jack was a bad idea," Jacob explained.

"Ah, thank you Mr. Taylor. Perhaps it was good then that I did not offer to have Professor Solus install an implant into Mr. Vakarian's frontal lobes so that I may download the information directly into his brain." EDI replied. It got deathly quietly in the conference room as the three men exchanged worried looks. "That was a joke."

John couldn't contain his laughter this time as EDI's last minute addition broke the awkward silence. Garrus gave him a nasty look before shaking his head. Jacob was just staring at EDI's hologram with wide eyes.

"You can make those?" he exclaimed.

"Moving on!" Garrus cut in before EDI spoke up. "I'd suggest we'd recruit Dr. Okeer. He's supposed to have contacted the Collectors to obtain some of their tech. Despite being a doctor he's a well-known warlord as well. Frankly I think we're going to need Krogan muscle on this mission."

"Makes sense to me," John said, still smiling from earlier. "Jacob would you tell Joker to set course for Korlus?"

"On it, Shepard," Jacob replied, heading out of the room. After he left, John tossed his data pad on the desk and rubbed the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes. Despite knowing how Jane felt about him right now, he still missed her input. Discussing the mission choices with Garrus and Jacob helped but it wasn't the same.

"Still feeling okay, John?" Garrus inquired and John opened his eyes and lowered his hand to glance at Garrus who was looking at him in concern.

"I'm okay considering that Cerberus saving my life has so far cost me the Alliance career I worked so hard for, the trust and love of the only family I have left, and I still can't contact Liara." John grumbled. If he didn't need them so badly for the sake of the mission, he'd have already arrested Jacob and Miranda and dumped them at the Council's feet with not even a by your leave. Worse was that Liara wasn't returning any of his calls and messages. She was supposed working from Illium but every time he called her secretary said she was off planet and she had no idea where.

Suffice it to say he was feeling a bit bitter and frustrated.

"Well at least the Alliance brass agreed to have your civilian status restored," Garrus offered and John snorted.

"Yeah, for all the good it does me. The joint account transferred to Jane when my death was legally declared so the only funds I have access to are my private account," John muttered.

"You could ask her," Garrus suggested and John gave him a look.

"I'm not even going to try to talk to her while she's using that varren as a living shield," John snarked. "I'm her brother and she acts like I'm just this…thing, wearing his face."

"It'll take time, John," Garrus said softly, "when you died Jane just withdrew into herself. She had some sort of fight with Liara and after that she just pulled further and further away from us. Several months back she got hurt badly on a mission. I was the only one who knew and that's just because I had called in a favor with the Salarian that organized Spectre records and statuses for the Council. It's the only reason I knew she'd been hurt."

"You mean from when she fought Dirake," John stated flatly. Garrus's mandibles twitched in what John had come to realize was the Turian equivalent of an awkward expression.

"You heard about that?"

"I saw it." John grunted. He knew that would haunt him. Jane's face blown apart, the back of her head caved in right at her implant, blood covering her face and armor. And he hadn't been there to stop it.

"She has an Asari friend in the Spectres. I never got her name but she and a bunch of the other Spectres chipped in to get Jane back to full strength. She even has an L5 implant if what my contact at the hospital says is true." Garrus revealed and John shot the Turian a grateful look.

"Thank you for taking care of her."

"After everything we've been through it was nothing," Garrus waved off and John grinned.

"It's good to know I can count you buddy," John said.

"Well there is something I'd like to ask if you'd be okay with. I'd like to-" Garrus was cut off as the conference room doors snapped open. Miranda stormed in, biotic energy crackling along her skin and clothing. John had never seen the Cerberus doctor so angry before.

"Shepard you need to have a word with your sister," Miranda said, practically hissing the word. "She's thrown me out of my quarters and tossed my things out after me! Who knows what that filthy Varren of hers is doing to my mattress! Do you know what I paid for that bed?"

"Oh God," John groaned, closing his eyes to rub at his temples for a moment. Garrus's laughter wasn't helping either. "Why don't you have EDI override the door lock and sort this out yourselves?"

"I did!" Miranda shouted, or screeched an immature part of John's brain piped up that he immediately squashed. "That damn mutt of hers took a lunge at me!"

"Yeah Blasto does that," Garrus offered drawing Miranda's furious look to him. The poor Turian winced and tried to blend into the wall behind him.

"Look I'll talk to her but I highly doubt I'll get Jane to budge. I'm not her favorite person right now. If I can't get your bed and desk, I'll make Jane pay for replacements to be delivered to the starboard observation deck. You can set up in there like Kasumi did on the other side. You'll even have a view of the stars." John offered. Miranda seemed to consider for a moment.

"Fine but I want my computer back at the least. Even if you get the bed back I won't sleep on a bed a Varren has laid on. I want a new bed too!" Miranda demanded and John nodded with a sigh.

"I'll be back." He said as he left the room.

"Watch out for Blasto's leg! He marks things!" Garrus called out after him.

~*TF*~

Jane had tossed her clothing into the 'bedroom' section of the room and was looking through her Spectre gear when the door opened. That would need to change, Jane needed to know that her room was secure.

"Mind explaining to me why you kicked the executive officer of this ship out of her quarters and took them for your own?" John demanded as he strolled into the room. His gaze shifted to just behind Jane to the bed where Jane's varren was sprawled on the bed, making dog-like sounds as he shuffled on his back across the bed. John sighed. "And how you're going to pay for a new bed and desk for her?"

"Let me fill you in on something...John...I have personally been involved in assaults on Cerberus bases, I cannot tell you how many because all were N7 missions and you no longer have the authority to look that up. I'm sure EDI will be more than willing to let you know any possible attacks that I might have played a part in as far as Cerberus is concerned. I know Cerberus better than you and I don't want a room where anyone can enter. This room gives me the advantage because Blasto can guard the door," Jane said as she crossed her arms under her breasts. "You are Cerberus' very expensive investment, but I'm not. Unless Garrus decides he wants us to bunk up for safety, I'm taking this room. Miranda can have her bed and desk back. Blasto is clean. I'm sure as hell not buying that xenophobe bitch a bed."

"Which you could have easily done if you'd bunked in the starboard observation room." John snapped back at her. He shot her a look but Jane kept her face shut down, she was locking her thoughts back with the best poker face he had ever seen. "Tell me the real reason. And as an aside, do you honestly think I'm going to convince that woman to sleep in a bed that a varren has been rolling around in? You took this room without a damn word to anyone, not to me, not to anyone. You literally threw her out with her things. You're going to pay for a new bed at the least while the crew relocates her desk and computer. Lastly you're going to apologize!"

"Do you know Miranda, John?" Jane asked, her eyes going into their cold, killing stare. "I do. I've seen the work she deals in. I'm actually glad they put her on your project because if she had..." Jane stopped herself. "It doesn't matter. I'm not buying her a bed. That bed is fine. Blasto gets a bath after every mission. I don't want him getting scale rash. Besides, that xenophobe deserves worse."

"The work she's dealt in for the past two years has been me." John said. "I had a long talk with Miranda on the way here since you refused to speak with me. I got to know her. She may work for Cerberus but she saved my life. Now get out, go apologize and pay for the replacement. This my ship and I'm ordering you out of this room."

Jane stared at John and didn't move. She knew Miranda was on John's project, she wasn't talking about the last two years, but John could play it that way if he wanted.

"What do you know about Miranda Lawson?" Jane asked after a moment. "Because I bet I know a lot more than you. I won't apologize to her. I won't be buying replacement anything. Also, you don't have rank on me. The Council suggested I work with you. I don't have to. I can leave and start investigating colonies. I know of four high risk colonies I could camp at. I'll sit and wait for the Collectors by myself since the Alliance sent me to do that solo anyway." The real John would never let Jane risk her life by sitting on a colony where she could be taken as well.

"Why in the hell would you do that?" John replied. "We're going straight for the source and you'd rather sit on a colony and let people die elsewhere just because you won't apologize to one of the people who saved my life?" Jane stayed still and he waved a hand at her. "You know what, don't bother. You've made up your mind about these people just because Cerberus employs them. Well they're still people, Jane, and I'd bet a lot of them have been lied to, just like they lied about Akuze. I'll buy the damn bed from my old funds." John turned to go. "You need to stop being such a bitch and realize that this ship may have been created by Cerberus, I may have been saved by Cerberus but this mission isn't just a Cerberus mission. It's about saving innocent people. Not slaughtering them and letting them go adrift like you did Joker." Jane's vision turned red for a moment, only John would be as stupid as this. He thought she was ignoring the colonist, did he have any idea how many of those colonies she evaluated herself? How many notifications of lost colonists she delivered? If he weren't John, she was going to beat him to death, but...if he honestly didn't know...he might be John.

A stasis field sprung up around John, holding him in place. The desk was biotically shoved past him out of the room followed by the bed with the computer on top. Jane walked up to John and got in his face.

"You were in a coma for over two years, you have no idea what happened. Maybe you should do a little research without the Cerberus filters in place," Jane growled. "EDI, why don't you tell John about the Cerberus filters." Jane dropped the stasis and stood in John's path.

"Spectre John Shepard is already aware of the Cerberus filters," EDI stated as John glared at his sister. "I believe his information comes from council records and public news articles he transferred into his quarter's computer terminal."

"You know you act like you know everything Jane, but you're still the same little arrogant brat that I grew up with!" John shouted at her. Both Shepards ignored the fact that this argument was now taking place in the hallway of the crew deck. "Do you honestly think I'd trust every bit of information given to me from Cerberus as if was word from on high? I spent hours combing through records and news articles on you and even then, I know I don't know everything. And some of things I did find out about made my stomach drop! How do you think I felt when Joker told me you abandoned him after the Alliance turned their back on him? Why would you do that!"

"I don't know everything. I never said I did. But I know you don't. You never asked me about Joker. You talked about Joker but not with me. You know nothing about the last two years of my life except what you have seen on the extranet," Jane hissed as she walked into the room. "I know that every last person on this ship is being used by the Illusive Man, including me. You should spend some time pumping EDI about what Cerberus tried to do to me while sweet Miranda was saving you." She went into her room.

As the doors closed behind Jane, John couldn't help it.

"FUCK!" he bellowed, smacking the monitor off the desk with a viscous backhand as he stormed by, sending the screen flying to smash into the closed doors. He stormed to the elevator, frustrated with his sister's inability to openly listen to anything he said. She'd taken every word he'd said and twisted it. He knew she'd been through hell but she refused to open up to him about it, believing every word he'd said was actually Cerberus's words. He stewed, the argument replaying itself over in his head. He could have handled that entire conversation better that was for damn sure.

~*TF*~

Jane took out a device from her duffle and smiled. This little baby was a gift from some Spectre friends. It would sniff out all of EDI's eyes in the room. Maybe a few of the Shadow Broker's too, but Jane wouldn't hold her breath on the Shadow Broker's.

"I know you didn't tell the whole truth, EDI," Jane said and the AI was silent, was that an admission of guilt? Fucking AIs and logic. "The news articles I was looking at, the Council files I reviewed, and my own personal emails in that starboard observation deck, all of them showed something off. A filter is in place, altering things. I don't know to what purpose, but you are making me think that I'm being given a very bad reputation among the crew of the Normandy." Jane set up the device. It sent out lasers and quickly targeted several areas of the room. Jane began to mark them with a pen.

"What are you doing, Spectre Shepard?" EDI asked.

"That terminal allowed me to see the articles without whatever weird filter you guys put on this ship. You didn't lie that this terminal was the correct one for my needs. But I know you just lied to him," Jane said. EDI had lied to him...did that mean it was John? Or was the actor so good she was being fooled? She wanted it to be John, oh God she wanted it to be John. Cerberus would need to lie to John or was it all a show for Jane's benefit. Damn it, she wanted it to be John, but the galaxy needed her to be smart about it.

"That does not explain what you are doing Spectre Shepard," EDI said and Jane smiled, it was not a nice smile.

"I think you know exactly what I am doing EDI," Jane said as she finished and turned off the device, closing it up and putting it back in her bag. "What do you think I am doing?"

"You have targeted all of my cameras in this room," EDI said and Jane chuckled.

"Oh, I think that's a lie too. But yeah, I'm going to blind you," Jane said as she looked at EDI. One threat down, she would need to talk to Joker soon too. That line John made about her abandoning Joker. Jane had tried to contact Joker after she was given the SSV Okinawa, he had left her hanging...hadn't he? Something was up and Jane didn't like it. She needed some one on one time with the smart ass pilot. She pulled a second device from her bag and approached the first mark on the wall. The small robot began to locate and extract that camera from the wall. Within a few moments the camera dropped from the device into Jane's hand. She studied the camera.

"This does not help with team unity," EDI stated and Jane nodded.

"I think there are more filters on this ship than John knows about and I think you have been programmed to keep it that way," Jane said and EDI flickered. "So I am going to remove your cameras and your mics and your little projector."

"To what end, Spectre Shepard?" EDI asked.

"I suspect you are invested in the success of this mission. I need to trust you, EDI, if this mission is to succeed you need me because that John needs me. So you need John, John needs me, and I need you," Jane stated. Hopefully EDI's logic processors would help this process. EDI flickered.

"I see, you aim to test my trustworthiness by keeping me out of your room. The more consideration I give you the more you will believe that Commander Shepard is who we say he is," EDI stated and Jane nodded. Jane was lying on that end, EDI could tell her it was John all day, but Jane needed to know on her own, not because a Cerberus created AI told her. "It will not be that easy, but I understand the concept of trust. What can I do to get you to trust me, Spectre Shepard?"

"Give me control of the locks on this door and trust me that I will not do anything to harm this ship, but I need to have the cameras and microphones out of this room. Your display is also going to need to be augmented," Jane began.

~*TF*~

Earth Date: January 23th, 2186 CE

Location: In route to Korlus, Three Hours Out

For the past five days there had been a tense atmosphere on the ship. Word had rapidly spread through the ship about the fight and as a result the Cerberus crew was on edge every time Jane walked into a room. Kelly Chambers had actually tried to talk to Jane Shepard. Jane had not been open, but Kelly had been rather excited about the idea of becoming "friends" with the Spectre, but otherwise Jane had let Kelly speak and said precious little. Most of the crew admitted watching the exchange had been awkward, many had been worried Jane might strike the overly friendly therapist but Jane had let her speak before moving on.

John Shepard, however, had been making a point to get to know his new crew. He'd been going out of his way to speak with each of them and even help them out. He'd even won some of their admiration when he'd personally bought a wide variety of human supplies before they left and even helped carry the new bed for their XO's quarters into the her new room. The old bed had been left outside of her old quarters where it had disappeared shortly after. Most assumed Jane took it back but John didn't know for sure as shortly after EDI had report that her visual monitoring and audio devices in the room had all been destroyed except for the holographic terminal Jane had altered with, of all things, a physical on/off switch.

After that they had set off to meet with Okeer and the crew fell into their trained roles, a routine like on most ships settling in. The only break was when one of the specialists or officers would enter the room. Jane Shepard was as her title sounded, a specter, while John rarely saw her, she was a regular at meal times and her PT time. While she spent large amounts of time with both Garrus and Dr. Chakwas, she did seem to be making the rounds with the Cerberus crew. While no one came out to say they liked her, they were losing some of their initial concern about the Council Spectre. Although most would report that their conversations with her sometimes felt like interrogations. Gabby commented it was like an antisocial child trying to get to know the other kids in class.

John himself walked the ship, speaking to crewmen and even pinching in as needed. There was a photo currently circulating amongst the crew of John Shepard. It had come about when Gardner had requested the Spectre's help in the kitchen. The photo wasn't of when John had been asked but half an hour later when John's cooking attempts had incinerated a dextro-meal for Garrus covering the poor Spectre's face with a burst of soot. Needless to say the mess hall had erupted in laughter at John's sheepish, soot covered face and an enterprising crewman had snapped a picture with his omni-tool.

Now, however they were only a few hours from entering orbit around Korlus and John had been called to the cockpit from his private terminal where he was sorting through numerous e-mails and supply lists from the Illusive Man. He hardly knew why they had so many rare weapons except for the fact they could. Shaking his head as he came into the cockpit area where Joker was frowning at something on his front screen and Miranda was studying her own data pad.

"What's up Joker?" John asked as he came up to the pilot.

"Do you remember that sensor echo we pick up two days ago, Shepard?" Joker reminded him and John nodded. It had been a routine end of the day briefing and Joker had flagged the anomaly.

"It's there again, Shepard." Joker pointed to the holo-screen in front of him. "It's about an hour behind us and this time it's steady. I think it's been following us since we hit the second relay in our course."

"What the hell is it?" John grumbled, studying the screen over Joker's shoulder. They couldn't even get a solid reading of its shape. Just a steady energy signature and vague navigation course. Which was always following the SR2.

"Unknown, Commander. However I do have something interesting of note," EDI spoke up from the left and John turned to look at her hologram. "I have been cataloging the various Spectre records and news articles you have brought on board. The anomaly has shown up on the last four missions that your sister has taken. Every time she used the SSV Okinawa as transport, they noted the anomaly. They classified it as background noise since they would have had to travel back three hours to see what it was. The energy signature is a match."

"So they would have classified the anomaly as part of the spacial wake and moved on, not even bothering Jane with it," John noted. "And since we're not an Alliance vessel it's gotten closer and we get a better readings to know it is following us."

"More than likely it's following your sister," Miranda noted, studying the additional readings. "For a few months now, looks like."

"But why is it following her?" John countered. "And why does it feel less threatened by us rather than an Alliance ship?"

"I don't know, sir, but it'll arrived at Korlus roughly an hour into the mission," Miranda noted and John groaned. This was not what he needed right now.

"Alright, we'll proceed like normal but Joker you call us on the surface if anything happens. You stay in active scan as well till the ground team returns to the Normandy." John ordered and Joker nodded.

"Have you decided who you're going to take, John?" Miranda inquired and John sighed.

"Yeah and neither of you are going to like it. Especially when I remind Jane that Garrus is going to be following my orders and not hers."

~*TF*~

Jane was cleaning her gun in the armory when John entered.

"We are ready to leave for Korlus' surface," he said and Jane and Garrus shared a nod before they both cleaned up what they were doing. Garrus was out the door and as Jane moved to follow John moved in the way. Blasto growled and Jane snapped, pointing down and the varren heeled at her side.

"You have something to say?" Jane asked and John gave her a look. It was his business face. On the SR-1 Jane would have asked when he sat on the stick up his ass, but it wasn't the SR-1 and Jane wasn't going to joke until she knew the truth about the man in front of her.

"This is my team," he said and Jane stared at him. Ah, John was playing top dog.

"The Normandy and her crew are yours to command," Jane said and he blinked at her. "I'm a fellow Spectre, we are working together to save lives. I will help you, but you watch who you order. I'm not under Cerberus authority, I'm under the Council's Spectre Shepard." John stared at her as she walked around him and he stared at her back as she stopped. "Hurry up, we have a krogan to recruit to this apparent suicide mission."

~*TF*~

Earth Date: January 20th, 2186 CE

Location: Korlus, Planet side

The mission had just barely started and it already went to hell in a hand basket. They'd just stepped out of the shuttle and gun fire was erupting down the way. He heard a woman shouting orders, probably to the Blue Suns Mercs, and those very same mercs were fighting dozens of Krogan. John resisted the urge to rubs his temples again as another headache settled itself in.

"Once, just once mind you," John said to Garrus as he gestured before him at the bodies of the mercs that had already attacked them and been dealt with. "I want a mission to go smoothly. We fly in, walk up to the guys we're supposed to meet, have a pleasant conversation, and walk away with a win. But no, now we have to fight our way across a giant ball of rusted metal!"

"A little frustrated, John?" Miranda asked, amused.

"Wouldn't you be after the week I've had?" John retorted. Garrus laughed as he re-holstered his sniper rifle.

"I stopped a rocket with my face in the same week. I win."

"Can we focus, please?" Jane stated coolly and John rolled his eyes.

"I think we can assume Okeer isn't here by choice," John noted, leading the others past some of the twisted metal, which had been dragged to form corridors. "It looks like they've formed some sort of training course using the wreckage."

"I really want to shoot each of these loudspeakers," Garrus grumbled as they moved up a small incline.

"Let's ask him if there's an off switch," Jane noted, gesturing towards a human in Blue Sun armor, probably one of the men that had attacked them earlier.

"…won't stop bleeding…I'm gonna…son of a bitch!" the wounded merc groaned, getting to his feet.

"Actually, it doesn't appear to be fatal," Miranda noted to John. Jane grunted at that.

"He doesn't need to know that," she said, strolling towards the man.

"I knew it wasn't berserkers. Not at range. You're mercs. Or Alliance," he grunted and then he got a good look at Jane. "Aw hell, you're that crazy Spectre bitch! Don't eat me!"

"What did you do to the Blue Suns to get that reputation?" John demanded and Jane rolled her eyes.

"I may have let Blasto nibble on the occasional prisoner to get them to talk," Jane allowed and John sighed in exasperation.

"See this is why I made you leave him behind," John grunted.

"While they debate whether or not to feed you to a Varren, anything you could tell us would help out a lot," Garrus told the wounded merc.

"Aw hell. Look, I don't know anything. I just shoot the overflow from the labs. The old Krogan up there, he's really been cleaning house lately." The merc explained. "Jedore hired him to make her an army of Krogan but all of the Krogan he makes are insane so we use them for live ammo training. It's all bullshit! I don't get paid to bleed out!" Just then the merc's radio beeped and rang out drawing everyone's attention.

"Outpost Four? Jedore wants us to move. We need coordinates on the Krogan pack." The merc turned from his radio and looked at them worried. Jane kept her killing eyes on him but John moved towards the man, looking grim.

"I want your friends, gone. Understand?" John said forcefully and softly. The man winced but clicked his radio on.

"Uh, patrol? The last group…dispersed. Lost sight five minutes ago." The man told them. John nodded, satisfied.

"Dispersed? Jedore will be pissed. She wanted a show."

"You wanted an update you got one! Dispersed!" The merc said, a little snippy. John stepped back, satisfied his point got across.

"Understood. Returning to the labs."

"If you start limping now, you might find a shady spot before you bleed out, kid," Jane said, turning and heading down the way, the others following.

"Shit. Shit!"

~*TF*~

As they walked Jane took in the course. It was a killing field, the Blue Suns were no match for the krogan, but the krogan didn't seem organized. They fought strangely, they weren't out for the win, just the slaughter, but not the usual blood rage slaughter, more just a killing for the sake of killing slaughter. It was off.

Blue Suns popped up behind barriers like demented jack in the boxes and Jane put up a barrier before she ran. They stared in shock for a moment, firing slightly less as Jane jumped over the first barrier, pulling the two up. As Jane landed she drew her pistol and put a round in their heads before leaping down from the walkway to the bottom. Two more Suns popped up and Jane heard shots from behind her as her barrier dropped. A third merc was on the walkway where she killed the other two. She threw a singularity between the two on the walkway above. They floated like dummies before she sent a warp, exploding the singularity and throwing the two mercs into the walls with enough force to break them good enough to keep them out of the fight.

"Jane!" John cried but she was continuing forward as two more mercs popped up. The one on the left was suddenly sporting a hole in the front of his armor as Jane used a slam on the other one. He started to get up and she put a round into his head. She turned the corner at a full sprint. She saw more Suns and glared as she tossed herself with a throw. She spun over the first barrier and as she landed on her stomach she drew her rifle. She used a throw to push another barrier forward. The mercs followed the barrier so Jane popped up. She got one with a temple shot. The second was a forehead over the left eye. She caught more cover in the corner of her eye to the left. She dropped again as more shots came from behind her. "God damn it, Jane!"

She leapt over the cover and pulled another barrier as she ran. Shots followed her and she heard the mercs cry. She looked in time to see the rocket launcher and she dropped into a skid that would have made a baseball player proud. An explosion hit the ground behind her and dirt showered her. She popped up. A pull yanked the rocket launching merc towards Jane. She pulled up her pistol and put a round into him while the group behind her took the other two. Jane ran forward. She saw the back of a krogan, he was firing up at two mercs and Jane put another singularity between the two. The krogan looked back at her before shooting a rocket at the mercs. They shuddered and Jane threw another warp. The two were done. Jane kept her pistol drawn but lowered it. The krogan turned to her and slowly approached. The others came around the corner and paused.

"Jane..." John warned but she raised a hand as the krogan sniffed her.

"You...are different. New. You don't smell like this world. Seven night cycles, and I have felt only the need to kill. But you...something makes me speak," the krogan said and Jane stared at him.

"He's a week old?" Miranda muttered.

"They must breed them full size, ready to kill. Not much improvement over regular mercs if they need training," John muttered to Miranda. Jane looked at the krogan who studied her before looking at John.

"Bred...to kill. No. I kill because my blood and bone tell me to. But it's not why I was flushed from glass mother," the krogan said and Jane felt sympathy for the creatures now. They were bred and made, but not raised or given purpose. How shallow life must be, especially for a krogan, when nothing had attachment. "Survival is what I hear in my head. Against the enemy that threatens all my kind. But I failed even before waking." The genophage. Okeer was here trying to overcome the genophage and he was using the Blue Suns to help fund his research. The Suns would be angry when they realized what Okeer had done. Of course, they might not be alive if the krogan were still this capable as failures to Okeer. "That is what the voice in the water said. That is why I wait here." Jane felt a stab of sympathy for this krogan. He couldn't defeat the genophage so Okeer didn't need him.

"You're supposed to be a part of a mercenary army. Do you remember Jedore?" Jane asked and the krogan stared at her again. He seemed thoughtful.

"I know that name. It causes anger. But also laughter. It is not a name that will be sung when we march. I don't know what that means, but I have heard it many times," the krogan said and Jane began to hate Okeer. He created these creatures and when they failed to do what he wanted, he left them to die. Bastard. He would not find the krogan very receptive to these tank bred.

"How can you speak if you're only a week old?" Garrus asked.

"There was a scratching sound in my head, and it became the voice. It taught things I would need: walking, talking, hitting, shooting. Then the voice said I was not perfect and the teaching stopped. And now I am here," the krogan said. Jane would make a point to get Okeer alone to speak to him about his creations. It might require bloodshed, Okeer only needed one heart to help beat the Collectors.

"So he raised you until you no longer fit his parameters, then he rejected you," Jane growled. "Was it Okeer's voice? Did he speak to you while you were in your tank?"

"I heard the voice. Not like now, with ears. Inside. I called it "father." It liked that. But it was disappointed. I am not what it needs me to be," the krogan said and Jane wondered if this one was smarter than the others. Were all of Okeer's krogan actually intelligent? Smart krogan lived long. He wasn't without worth.

"You are only a failure to the voice," Jane said. "You just didn't escape the effects of the genophage."

"Escape? Escape was never whispered. Survive. Resist. Ignore," the krogan said.

"How did you fail?" John asked and Jane almost thought it was like the old days. She shoved that thought away.

"I don't know. It was decided before I left tank mother. I was not perfect," the krogan said.

"It could be that the krogan weren't mentally stable," Miranda stated, looking at another krogan's corpse.

"I don't know of that. But I am not perfect," he said.

"We destroyed Saren's cure. How does Okeer expect these krogan to ignore the genophage if not by curing it?" John muttered. A good question.

"Can you show us the laboratory? We need to speak with Okeer," Jane said and the krogan looked at her.

"The...glass mother. She is up. Past the broken parts. Behind many of you fleshy things. I will show you," the krogan said. He walked towards one of the walls, smacking his hands dry and stretching his neck. The krogan grabbed the massive piece of metal and lifted. Jane appreciated the effort that went into lifting the massive piece out of the way. "You fleshy things are slow when big things are in your way."

"You could have run or tried to fight your way back to the labs. Why stay here?" Jane asked.

"I am waiting. The voice told me. If they come, I fight. But I will not run. And I will not follow. I am not perfect, but I have purpose. I must wait until called. Released," the krogan said as he walked away. Jane looked after him for a moment as he pulled out his shotgun. John stood behind her and she turned quickly. He gave her a look.

"You don't run ahead," he said and Jane gave him a look and he shook his head. "I'm not giving an order, your style was never to rush ahead. Even when I charged inI was never more than ten feet from the team with no enemies between us. You left use behind and put whole squads between us."

"I'm a Spectre, most of the time I do work for the Council, I work alone or in a small team," Jane said and he gave her a hard look, he was trying to think how to word it. Maybe it was John...maybe it was a fake trying to figure out what to say.

"I'm a Spectre too. I need you with my team," he said and Jane stared. "I know what you can do...for the most part, Jane, I need your skills with me. I need you. We all do." She stared at that. He needed her with the group. He was appealing to her sense of duty as a Spectre and more importantly, he wasn't ordering her around.

"Fine...but hurry up. We want to make it to Okeer before the Blue Suns," Jane said. "Lead the way." John blinked before he took point. Jane waited to walk near Garrus a few feet behind the other two.

"So...what do you think?" he asked, where they were far enough behind that they wouldn't hear them talk.

"I will keep my thoughts to myself for a while longer, Mr. Vakarian," Jane said and Garrus nodded.

~*TF*~

"I don't like this." John mused, looking out the doorway. Their route to Okeer took them on a walkway literally over a large gap between ship wrecks, with almost a half mile drop to the ground. This walkway was against the length of one hull wreck and across the gap was another walkway across that mirrored it. Both walkways had waist high barriers to keep people from falling off the edge. The other door they needed to get to was two hundred yards down the way.

"I don't either, this doesn't feel right," Garrus muttered as Jane ignored both men, boldly striding down the walkway to the door. "It's been too quiet for too long."

"Do you think we can find another way around then?" Miranda asked, glaring at Jane's back as the female Shepard stopped and looked coldly back to them.

"We all know this is the fastest way and that it is probably a trap but we don't have a choice. Are you coming or not?" Jane said flatly, and John sighed. He followed behind his sister, shaking his head. Maybe after this mission he'd just drop Miranda and Jane onto an empty planet and come back for the survivor after a few days. Miranda had found fault with Jane's presence on the Normandy since the room incident and John could see she was just making a list of problems with Jane for the post mission debriefing.

John's train of thought was cut off as gunfire erupted around them. He ducked down behind the barrier, getting a glimpse of a few dozen Blue Sun mercs across the gap on the opposite walkway. He ducked down in time just as a rocket zipped over his head, impacting the wall behind them. His shields began to beep in his ear, the warning tone indicating that they were below twenty-five percent charge.

"Damn it I hate it when I'm right," John snarled to Garrus who grunted in agreement as he slammed into the barrier on John's right side. John looked past the Turian to see his sister ducked low by the barrier as she hustled to the door they needed to go through. She tapped on the console before shaking her head as she looked back to the group.

"It's locked. I need a few minutes to punch in an override program," Jane called out. She dove back from the door to the barrier as several shots impacted around the door. "That is if I can avoid getting shot."

"Barrier on me," John ordered Miranda, who nodded and placed a hand on his arm, a biotic barrier springing to life around them both. John looked over the walkway barrier. His eyes swept back and forth, taking it in as bullets slammed into the barrier weakening it quickly. He dropped back down just before the barrier fell. He scowled to himself as he whipped out his assault rifle.

"I counted thirty, spread out in about five groups of six, a few feet apart from each other." John said as he switched settings to better penetrate shields. "They must have someone with half a brain over there because they're taking turns. I saw half of them reloading while the other half shot."

"Best thing is to pop and shoot, John," Garrus mused. "Jane can shield herself and Miranda can shield me. We can whittle them down till it's safer for you to prop-up with your rifle and shoot."

"Actually, if John can spare the rounds, he could slide down halfway and fire blindly over the barrier at them." Jane suggested. "It'd distract them and give us better-" Jane was cut off by a loud crack onto of the wall above them. John looked up, recognizing the sound. It was a heavy sniper rifle, probably a Widow, meant for penetrating shields and armor in one shot. The shots started sounding out in a steady pattern. If any of the team had been able to time the shots, they would have precisely matched the exact minimum time it took to physical shoot, reload and shoot again for a single shot Widow. John looked up and could vaguely make out the barrel of a sniper rifle leaning over the wall above them, five stories up. Whoever it was, they were picking off Blue Suns with every shot. John peaked over again and noticed the mercs were all trying to hit the new sniper, but no one was getting close. The sniper was even shooting rockets that the Blue Suns aimed at him!

"Go!" Jane barked, popping up to open fire. John setup on the barrier, adding his firepower to their new ally's as did the others. The Blue Suns were in a panic, not sure who to shoot. John saw one with captain marks on his uniform trying to reorganize the mercs but their new friend took the Blue Sun captain's head off with another precisely aimed shot. The gunfight didn't last too long after that, as the few remaining mercs broke formation and fled out their own doors. After they had cleared out, John and the others stood and holstered their guns. As Jane went to the door to open it, John held up his right hand and waved up at their new friend.

"I don't know if you can hear me, but thank you!" John shouted up at them. The gun barrel pulled back and John saw someone moving above them.

"What's he doing?" Miranda wondered. John shrugged watching the figure move before he stepped off the edge.

"Spirits above!" Garrus cried, everyone watching their new friend plummet to what they thought was his certain death. As he fell and they got a clearer look at him John felt his blood run cold.

"Oh, you have to be kidding me," Jane said in disbelief as he impacted with the walkway with a loud, metallic clang.

"Jane-Spectre, John-Spectre," the Geth replied, looking at them curiously.

~*TF*~

Jane stared at the geth unit in complete shock. Its optics moved from Jane to John, the panels around the optics opening and shifting as if it was deciding on an expression. Jane felt a headache coming. That is until she saw pieces of familiar armor patching up the various areas of damage on the geth and large hole in its torso. Jane's rifle was out, but not aimed at it. Yet.

"We mean you no harm, Jane-Spectre," the geth said and Jane nearly jumped as it looked at her. It was odd to have a Geth unit so close and non-hostile...for now. "We have been trying to find an appropriate time and location to make contact with you for the past two hundred, sixty-three days."

"What?" Jane asked as she stared at the geth. Two hundred, sixty-three days a geth had been trying to make contact with her...she blinked. The sensor echo the Okinawa had picked up a couple times. Jane had the ship inspected while on a Spectre mission the second time Green reported the echo. No errors had shown up so they'd logged it as common special wake.

"You've been following her, haven't you?" Miranda stated with an air of superiority. "The sensor echo that we've been tracking, that was you wasn't it?"

"Yes. After retracing the Shepard-Spectre units' original mission we tried to find a moment that making contact with Jane-Spectre would not result in our termination."

"Smart," Garrus chuckled. "She does take out geth pretty fast."

"Jane-Spectre has a confirmed geth termination time of five point zero three seconds," the geth said and Jane stared at it longer.

"Why are you wearing my old armor?" John asked, curiosity in his voice. "And why were you trying to contact my sister?"

"We were injured on Eden Prime. Repairs were needed."

"Why were you trying to contact me?" Jane asked and the geth's panels moved again. Thinking maybe?

"You are Jane-Spectre, Alliance, Human. Spared the rachni. Fought heretics. Fought the Old Machine. Survived."

"Old Machine? Do you mean the Reapers?" John asked and Jane's mind when into laser focus. This geth was now worth keeping alive, well, as close as it was currently to alive.

"Reaper. A superstitious title that originated with the Protheans. We call those entities the Old Machines," the geth said.

"What about him?" Jane asked, flickering her eyes at John. The geth turned its optics towards him.

"John-Spectre, no longer Alliance, Human. Was not marked responsible for Rachni mercy. Killed heretics. Was killed by Old Machines," the geth said and Jane blinked at that. John was killed...by Reapers.

"How did you know all that?" Jane asked.

"We access the extranet. Gather files. We watch you," it said.

"Watch me or organics?" Jane asked.

"Yes," it said and Jane wondered if some ancient quarian had programmed the geth to be funny.

"Which is it?" John asked.

"Both," the geth said.

"What do you mean heretics?" Garrus interjected.

"Geth build our own future. The heretics ask the Old Machines to give them the future. They are no longer part of us. We were studying the Old Machines hardware to protect our future," the geth said and Jane felt the world shift for a moment. There were different groups of geth. There were different fucking groups of geth. Some geth were worshiping the Reaper tech on Ferros. Heretics. This geth was proof that the Reapers were real and the geth were actually in division about it. Holy shit.

"Are the Reapers a threat to you too?" John asked.

"Yes," the geth said.

"Why would they attack other machines?" Jane pondered, more to herself than actually asking but the geth answered her anyway.

"We are different from them. Outside their plans," the geth said. "We seek to build our own future."

"What future are the geth building?" Miranda sneered and Jane shot her an unfriendly look. It was returned. Miranda was a Cerberus bitch...but she wasn't a coward. Jane could almost respect her...almost.

"Ours," the geth said. Apparently a quarian programmed sass into the geth.

"Will anyone else be affected by what you will be doing?" Jane asked.

"If they involve themselves, they will," it said. Oh, that wasn't cryptic.

"So, you aren't aligned with the Reapers?" Jane asked.

"We oppose the heretics. We oppose the Old Machines," the geth said, taking a step towards Jane. The others tensed and Jane took a step towards the geth. "Jane-Spectre and John-Specter oppose the Old Machines. Jane-Spectre and John-Spectre oppose the heretics. Jane-Spectre has shown compassion to species that are not human. That are not Council. That have been enemies."

"What do you mean?" John asked.

"Jane-Spectre saved the Dramye. Jane-Spectre brought the Dramye to the Council. Jane-Spectre saved the Rachni," the geth said and Jane realized what it meant by approaching her. She had been willing to risk her career to spare and save the Rachni. A choice that could still bite her in the ass. She helped the Dramye rejoin the Citadel embassies as a separate group from the Hegemony. This geth approached her because she might do what she was doing now and listen to him. Damn...AIs were scary. "Cooperation furthers mutual goals."

"Are you asking to join us?" John asked and Jane kept her face closed. This geth could be an invaluable piece of evidence for finally getting the Council to do something about the Reapers.

"Yes," the geth said simply and John considered it. The Geth had factions and Saren had convinced a rogue Geth faction to attack humanity. This Geth on the other hand was basically an ambassador to the peaceful Geth faction. He wanted to help them and already had. Miranda clearly wanted to hand him over to the Illusive Man and Garrus was smiling that damn smile of his. The one he gave when he knew exactly what was going to happen and was just waiting for them to realize it. Jane's face was in that damned blank expression that didn't let him know what she was thinking. John sighed and came to a decision. He stuck his hand out to the Geth, who shook it.

"Glad to have you on the team. So, what do we call you?"

"Geth."

"No what do we call the individual in front of us?" John clarified. The Geth stared at him for a moment, its head panels shifting.

"We are all Geth. This platform currently has one thousand, one hundred eighty-three programs active within it."

"And lo when Jesus met the man, possessed by demons who, when asked what their name is, responded My name is Legion, for we are many." Jane murmured. John blinked and shot her a look. Jane flushed for a moment before her cold mask slipped back into place.

"Colony settler's condensed Christian Bible, the Gospel of Mark, chapter five, verse nine. We acknowledge this as an appropriate metaphor. We are Legion, a terminal of the Geth. We will integrate into the Shepard collective."

"We're hardly a collective," Jane muttered as she looked towards the stairs. John began to lead the way.

~*TF*~

The group entered a lab with a dead krogan on a slab. Jane glared at the body, another poor tank bred, created and abandoned to death. Okeer was not going to be a welcomed addition to the team in her mind. Miranda gave Jane a glare. Okeer would be competing with Miranda for person most likely to be thrown out an airlock in the future.

"Shepard don't shoot, you know me," a voice called and Jane looked to see an asari step out from behind a desk. Déjà vu overcame Jane for a moment before cold calculations began in her mind. "I shut down the security cams as soon as I saw it was you. Never thought I'd say it but I'm glad it's you shooting up the place. Sorry. Rana Thanoptis. You let me go when you destroyed Saren's lab on Virmire. Had to outrun the nuke in a utility pod but it's still a second chance."

"I remember that," John said, giving Jane a look. Jane glared at Rana who simply smiled. There was something about that smile that Jane didn't like.

"Yeah, I'm not proud of what went on there. But I'm using what we learned for the greater good. Not for the mercs. Jedore's on a standard power trip. But Okeer is trying to do something good. Even if his methods are a little extreme," Rana said, looking over at a human corpse. Jane looked at the corpse too. It was a burned skeleton. Rana had not impressed Jane. Okeer had not impressed Jane. It felt wrong. Rana felt wrong. "Everyone deserves a second chance, right? And sometimes giving one pays off. I take care of my debts."

"What is Okeer trying to do?" Garrus asked. "

"It's complicated," Rana said and Jane felt her bullshit meter go off. It was clear as day. "Jedore wants a private army but Okeer mostly ignores her. He's running the project for his own reasons. I created a mental imprint routine to educate his tank bred. Most don't get through it. He dumps them for some reason. He wants to help his people. But he's not looking for a genophage cure. And he's not going for numbers. That's all I know." Jane pulled her pistol and put a round into Rana's head. The asari never saw it coming and fell to the floor. Jane holstered her weapon and she wasn't shocked when John grabbed her by the shoulders and got into her face.

"You shot her, Jane! In cold fucking blood! She told us what she knew and you shot her in the face with your pistol!" he snarled into her face and Jane pushed his hands away from her shoulders with the backs of her wrists.

"I did. I also gave her a chance back on Virmire to straighten up her life. Instead she is working under a merc group to program tank bred krogans," Jane said, looking at the krogan corpse on the table. "They are being left to die with her help. She got her second chance. I'm not in the business of giving thirds." She stated and looked him in the eye. They stared at each other for a moment.

"We need to keep moving if we want to reach Okeer before this Jedore does," Garrus stated with a hand on John's shoulder. Garrus gave Jane a nod before he helped escort John away. Jane made sure to give Miranda a look before heading out.

~*TF*~

As the doors slid open John took a deep breath to control his temper. Something was wrong with Jane. Fundamentally wrong. Her first instinct was to kill not take them prisoner. Had him being gone for two years really affected her that much? As John pondered what to do about his sister a deep, gravelly voice called out to them.

"Here you are! I've watched your progress." John followed the voice and saw a Krogan in aged, scuffed up armor working at a console next to a cloning tank with a Krogan inside. "It's about time. The batteries on these tank will not wait while you play with these idiotic mercs."

"Okeer I assume?" John noted, not the least put off by the man's attitude. "You don't seem like a prisoner, or grateful we're here."

"You may claim to be here to help, but the formerly deceased Shepard arriving with his sister, the Terror of the Hegemony, is not a sign of gentle change." Okeer growled.

"And apparently that nickname is here to stay," Jane muttered, displeased.

"And you're surprised by this?" Okeer wondered aloud, turning to face them. "All Krogan know you two. The human female who has so willingly integrated herself into our people and the man who has had several Krogan children named for him to honor his death. And of course, I'm sure Rana has already revisited your actions on Virmire."

"And now you think we're here to do the same to you then?" John asked. Okeer laughed at that and waved a hand at them.

"Ah but I approve. Saren's pale horde were not true krogan. Numbers alone are nothing. The mistake of an outsider, one that these mercenaries have also made." Okeer walked to the large window in the lab and John followed. Her heard Jane curse behind him and John sucked in a breath at the sight. Dozens of cloning tanks, each holding a fully grown Krogan in armor. "I gave their leader my rejects for her army. But she grows impatient at her own incompetence. She is unable to control them and believes her own weakness to be some fault of mine. It is time for you take me out of here."

"Personal issues do not affect mission parameters," Legion spoke up behind them. "Mission goal is to obtain information on the Collectors."

"Ah yes, I see. Collector attacks have increased." Okeer mused, turning to face them again. "A human concern. My requests were focused elsewhere. The Collectors did indeed give me tech for some of my rejects. I acquired the knowledge to create a pure soldier. With that, I will inflict upon the genophage the greatest insult an enemy can suffer. To be ignored. Unfortunately, I used it all in my prototype. This Krogan. Perfect, pure."

"Your methods are extreme but you do know how to deconstruct a threat," John said. "Will you help us?"

Okeer was quiet for a few minutes.

"Yes, I will go with you but my prototype is not negotiable. It is the key to my legacy. I will need passage for me and it."

As John nodded in agreement and was about to speak, the loudspeakers crackled loudly before Jedore's voice rang out in the room and everywhere else they were installed in the complex.

"Attention! I've traced the Krogan release. Okeer, of course." Okeer stomped back to the window and John looked out as well. They saw a woman walking along the tanks below. From the way Okeer growled at the sight of her, John knew that had to be Jedore. "I'm calling blank slate on this project. Gas these commandoes and start over from Okeer's data. Flush the tanks!"

Vents began to pour gas into the room and the filtration system atop of the protype's tank began to vent as well.

"She's that weak-willed? She'll kill my legacy with a damned valve!" Okeer snarled. "Shepard? You want information on the Collectors? Stop her. She'll try to access contaminants in the storage bay."

"You could just start over, like she plans to. What's the big deal?" Jane asked, her tone betraying a dislike of the krogan doctor.

"This tank is pure. It involved much trial as data. Starting over will not duplicate it. It must survive. Jedore will be with the reject tanks. Kill her. I will…stay, and do what must be done." John frowned at that and turned to Legion.

"Can you help him?" John asked. Legion looked at him, its head plates shifting.

"Yes, John-Spectre," Legion replied. "We are capable of accessing terminals and computer systems faster than most organics by a factor of three."

"Then help him and we'll deal with Jedore." John ordered, before turning for the door at the opposite end. He sprinted for it. Pulling his rifle out as he did. He was vaguely aware of Jane, Garrus, and Miranda following him. He headed out the door and ran down the stairs for the door to the tank storage room. He heard her screaming at her men as they ran through.

"Oh this woman just needs to go away," Miranda muttered as they opened fire. Jedore dove to cover and shortly after all of the tanks opened, releasing all of the Krogan inside. As if that wasn't bad enough John saw a YMIR mech unfold from a corner and begin opening fire.

"Why does everyone try to kill us?" Garrus demanded as they all took cover. "Why doesn't anyone ever run away?"

"Garrus, a lift," Jane called and Garrus turned and went to a knee.

"I'm not a springboard, Shepard," he stated as Jane ran at him, using his knee and shoulder to throw herself up. She caught one of the support beams above and tucked herself into the machinery for moving the tanks. She pulled her sniper and got into position.

"This whole Cerberus mission has been a bit of a challenge," Jane stated. "Mostly because of John."

"How is it my fault?" John demanded, opening fire from behind one of the tanks and shooting a Krogan in the knees as it charged up the ramps towards them. "I've been unconscious for two years!"

"Half of these mercenaries are terrified of her," Miranda called out, catching another Krogan in a biotic field and throwing it into the YMIR mech, sending it back a few feet before it smashed the Krogan to the ground and stomped on it. "She has a very widely known reputation for wiping out bases and people. Of course they'd want revenge. Taking her with us will cause more harm than good."

"Oh...I have been known to miss a mercenary or terrorist every now and then...you would know about that," Jane retorted.

"Less cat-fight, more gun fire!" Garrus called out, shooting another Blue Suns merc. Then ducked a rocket shot from the YMIR mech.

"If you two keep this up, I'm going to handcuff you together!" John shouted, holstering his assault rifle when he ran out of rounds. He yanked out his shot gun and jammed the barrel into the face of a charging Krogan, taking their head clean off as he pulled the trigger. "It's not like we're fighting for our lives!"

"We are not having a cat fight," Miranda snapped at Garrus.

"Go ahead," Jane called down to John. "It wouldn't be much of a fight."

"I'd like to see you try," Miranda sneered before orange blood splattered against her face. The krogan that had been coming up behind her dropped from the shot through its eyes.

"Try to pay attention to the fight, XO Lawson," Jane chided as she slapped in a new clip.

"And you as well Spectre," Miranda retorted in a cold tone as she wiped the blood off her face with the back of her hand. Her eyes promised revenge.

"There!" John shouted, seeing a gap on the right, just below the observation window. "Garrus cover me!"

"I've got you, John!" Garrus called. John broke cover, running down the ramp and making for the opposite side. She shot by the YMIR mech, just as it turned towards him. Just before it could aim, Garrus took its head off with a clean shot. John kept running, ignoring the beeping behind him. He turned and ran straight at Jedore who was finally all alone. Her attention was focused solely on Jane and Miranda who were opening fire on her. Just as the explosion from the YMIR mech was dying down she heard John storming at her from the left and turned to him, her eyes wide. She raised her gun to fire but John didn't even slow down. He tackled the woman, crashing them both into the crate behind her. They went tumbling over, slamming into the ground in the middle of the room. John slid away from her and got to his feet, but she was raising her gun at him. The woman was grinning triumphantly at him.

"I got you now you son of a-" Jedore was cut off as Jane's sniper round caught her in the temple. The Blue Suns' leader fell to a crumpled heap.

"I can't believe that worked," Garrus mused and John shot the others a grin. Miranda was smiling at him with proud look and Jane was giving John a look. While her face was blank, her eyes held stress around the edges. She had been worried. Jane wondered absently if he had felt that way when she raced ahead of the group. She couldn't let herself believe it was him though. It couldn't be John...but it could be if he did stupid shit like that. Of course...she had taken up doing stupid shit herself. She dropped from the ceiling and Garrus gave her a head nod.

"John-Spectre. Okeer-Warlord has vented all toxins into our room to save Krogan-Prototype. Please make haste. We have vented the toxins but Okeer-Warlord will soon expire." Legion called to inform them over the comms. John swore and again stormed for the lab. As they hurried into the room they found Okeer laying on the ground by the prototype tank. Legion stood by, staring at the warlord with all his head panels extended.

"Okeer-Warlord as only minutes left. The aforementioned toxins were designed to overload Krogan nervous systems," Legion informed them as John knelt by the warlord. Before he could even speak to Okeer the man's hands shot out and gripped John's upper arms.

"You gave me time, Shepard. If I knew what the Collectors wanted with humans I would tell you," Okeer rasped. "But everything is in my prototype. My legacy is pure." Okeer drew in a raspy breath, his arms going weak and his hands fell away. "This…one soldier…this grunt…perfect." John watched the warlord slump back. "Let…it…walk…pure…perfect." Okeer let out one last raspy breath and became still. John sighed and reached out, closing the man's eyes before he stood.

"A man that fanatical about his race died for this one Krogan," Miranda mused.

"Makes you wonder just what he created, doesn't it Jane?" Garrus said to Jane. She stood at the base of the tank and made a hum. John eyed the tank for a moment before coming to a decision. He clicked on his comms to the Normandy.

"Normandy? Okeer is a no-go. But we have a package that needs retrieval. And he's a big one."

~*TF*~

"Bringing the krogan for study makes sense, but I have concerns about waking it," Miranda said as the group met in the conference room. Jane rested against a wall while Mordin examined Garrus' facial patches.

"Yeah, you've said that a few times now," Jacob sighed in a tone that told Jane Jacob had worked with Miranda before. How close were those two?

"A normal krogan is dangerous. This one was created and likely educated by a madman," she said, giving John a look.

"There's no way he's getting out unless one of us lets him out," John said.

"Or unless Okeer installed some sort of failsafe. Or a malfunction causes the tank to shut down," Miranda complained. "I also think we need to discuss the unique piece of salvage we recovered."

"Legion is not salvage," Jane stated from her position on the wall.

"It is sweet that you've named it, but we need better equipment to fight the Reapers. An intact geth would be invaluable to Cerberus' cyber-weapons division," Miranda stated and Jane felt the urge to punch the woman in the face. No way was she wasting an opportunity to gain proof to shove down the Council's throats about the Reapers to Cerberus.

"We'll have to disagree on that, ma'am," Jacob said and Jane blinked. "I saw enough of these things on Eden Prime. Space it."

"Cerberus has a long-standing cash bounty for an intact geth. I assure you, the reward is significant," Miranda said to John and Jane looked at him.

"Legion wants cooperation between organics, us, and the geth," Jane reminded them. John mulled it over before looking up and he met Jane's eyes.

"Legion helped us, he followed orders, and he's staying. EDI will set up the appropriate safe guards and firewalls concerning Legion's access to the ship," John said. Jane looked away as she considered the implications Legion brought for the Council and the Reapers...and a possible peace accord between the quarians and the geth that did not worship the Old Machines. She was getting a head of herself, but if they could work together on this...maybe...Jane shook her head. Sufficient upon the day are the evils there within. Of course John had other ideas.

"I'm going to wake our new friend in the tank," John said as a holo of the tank floated in the center of table as he left the room. Jane sighed and followed him.

~*TF*~

"You're not doing this alone," Jane said as she crossed her arms under her breasts and leaned against the window. John paused, only one digit away from entering the release code.

"Better I do it myself rather than risk any of the crew," John countered, turning to his sister who rolled her eyes.

"And I have been dealing with the krogan for years now. He might actually list to me." Jane replied and John gave her a look.

"If a new born Krogan cares about that." John snarked, keying in the last number and unlocking the pod. He stepped back as the tank drained before opening the doors. The Krogan fell to his hands and knees, letting out deep coughs, retching up the fluid in his lungs. John let the Krogan get to his feet and stepped forward. After a moment the Krogan narrowed his eyes at John before letting out a roar. He charged at John, slamming into him and then slamming him into the containers along the wall opposite the window. John lost track of Jane as the Krogan pinned him there with one arm. John grabbed the arm with his left hand and snatched his sidearm from his thigh and aimed it at the Krogan's middle.

"Human. Male." The Krogan growled. John paused, easing his finger off the trigger. "Before you die, I need a name."

"I'm John Shepard of the Normandy," John replied. The Krogan shook his head.

"Not your name. Mine. I am trained. I know things, but the tank…Okeer couldn't implant connection. His words are hollow." The Krogan mused. John was a bit surprised at that. "Warlord, legacy, grunt…grunt. "Grunt" was among the last. It has no meaning. It'll do. I am Grunt. If you are worthy of your command, prove your strength and try to destroy me."

"He is worthy," Jane said from behind Grunt. From the way his eyes moved, John suspected that he couldn't see Jane.

"Easy Jane, I've got this." John replied, never taking his eyes off Grunt. John heard nothing but when Grunt's eyes focused back on him it told him that Jane had backed off. He directed his next question to Grunt. "Why do you want me to kill you?"

"Want? I do what I am meant to, fight and reveal the strongest. Nothing in the tank ever asked what I want. I feel nothing for Okeer's clan or his enemies. That imprint failed. He has failed. Without a reason that's mine, one fight is as good as any other. Might as well start with you." Grunt growled.

"I have a good ship and a strong crew. You'd make it stronger. Join us and I'll help you find a reason," John offered. Grunt appeared to mull this over.

"If you're weak and choose weak enemies, I'll have to kill you." Grunt countered and John almost laughed at that.

"Our enemies are worthy. No doubt about that," John replied. Grunt let out a humph.

"That's…acceptable. I'll fight for you," Grunt said.

"I'm glad you saw reason," John said and poked Grunt slightly with the barrel of his pistol. Grunt let out a startled sound and looked down.

"Ha! Offer one hand but arm the other. Wise, Shepard. If I find a clan, if I find what I-I want, I will be honored to eventually pit them against you," Grunt replied nodding his head to John before stomping away. As Grunt moved away, Jane was revealed by the window, she was standing with her arms behind her back.

"What did you have in your hands when you stood in my blind spot?" Grunt barked at her and Jane pulled her hands forward to reveal the blades she had used to kill Dirake or two just like them. "Do you know how to use them?"

"Your dome would rot where it fell," Jane replied and Grunt laughed.

"This one is strong, I would like to fight her," he said to John.

"Anytime in PT," Jane stated as she turned and headed for the door. John didn't see the sheaths for the knives.

"Alright Grunt, let's get you setup down here," John began. "What do you need?"

~*TF*~

"Knock knock," Garrus said at Jane's door and she blinked as she opened it. He looked at her. "Need to talk?"

"Isn't that usually the Commander's job?" Jane asked and Garrus gave her a look.

"I like what you've done with the place," he said as he looked over Jane's room. Weapons were hanging from the walls, a single computer was on the floor. A utility hammock was hanging with the aid of specialty magnets. Blasto was chewing on a massive bone. "Really minimalist. I like it."

"Funny turian," Jane said as she returned to a spot on the floor and began to look something up on the computer. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Oh, nothing much. Wanted to see what you were using for your rifle. How the cooking has been. What made you run off and leave the rest of the team behind. Nothing important," Garrus said and Jane blinked before rolling her eyes up to the standing turian. His mandibles moved in a grin. Jane sighed. "Ow my face. Oh it hurts so bad!" Garrus said jokingly.

"Watch it, Vakarian," Jane scolded, a grin tugging at her lips. She sighed. "I'm sorry I ran off."

"What was that? I didn't quite hear?" he said and Jane gave him a look.

"I'm looking at the good ear...for now," she said and he chuckled. "I do owe you an explanation." She leaned back and looked at Garrus a moment. "Over the last year, I've really stopped being a team player. I know that. I owe it to you to try to be better."

"Not just me," Garrus said and Jane gave him a look.

"I can't believe it is him yet, Garrus," Jane said and the turian looked at her.

"Do you really still doubt it?" he asked.

"Yes...but I want to believe," Jane said and Garrus looked at her.

"How much will he have to do to earn your loyalty?" Garrus asked and Jane shook her head.

"I don't know...I just know...I will work on being a better team player for you, Garrus," Jane said and Garrus grinned.

"I always knew you had a soft spot for me, Shepard. You human women always have a weakness for dashing turian men," he teased and Jane chuckled.

"It's called anaphylactic shock and turians get it too," Jane said. "But don't bother trying to use that on me. I'm dextro-immune so you're the one who needs to watch out for me."

"Damn double edged swords," Garrus chuckled.

"We okay?" Jane asked and Garrus nodded.

"We're good," Garrus said. "No more running off without me. Miranda scares me." He exited the room and Jane shook her head. She quietly thanked whatever gods, human, turian, asari, krogan, whatever, that had kept Garrus alive.

~*TF*~

Toby Note: That's right, Legion is here folks! Since one Shepard was alive he was trying to contact her. Which means he took the first available opportunity for contact. Told you, shift from canon was gonna start slow and gain speed. Well the snowball was just pushed down the hill.

Belle Note: I am a HUGE Bioware Store fan and whenever I have a few extra bucks, they end up there. I also, loathe the colonist outfit because it looks dull. I always hate how Bioware has all these amazing casual outfits, but never lets you put them on your character. In game I usually put my Shepard in the Science Uniform or the dress Kasumi gives you (yes, there is just something hilarious about the conversations with Garrus in that outfit), so I decided to give my Shepard a different casual outfit. This outfit is based on products you can actually buy from the Bioware Store.

Jane's shirt = womens / t-shirts / ladies - n7 - armour - stripe - black - tee

Jane's pants = ladies - n7 - athletic - pants

OMAKE 1:

"So...you done with that tank?" Jane asked and John blinked.

"Yeah, what did you want it for?" he asked as Jane began to drag it away with biotics.

"Don't worry about it.

One Eternity Later

"Remarkable. Had no idea you were a DNA engineer as well," Mordin commented as he stared at the contents of the tank.

"Just a hobby," Jane stated as she smiled in maternal pride.

"Shepard...when we spent the night...I was curious why you wanted me to put the condom in an empty trash instead of flushing it," Garrus commented. "I didn't realize you were serious about the turian-human hybrid."

"So...I'm gonna be an uncle?" John asked, feeling officially creeped out by the whole situation.

"What's growing out of its head?" Joker asked.

"Oh, I dropped one of my blades in there. I figured, now it has a weapon all the time...like a murderous unicorn," Jane commented.

"Yay! Grunt has a little brother!" Grunt cried and Jane smiled.

"You'll be the best big brother, yes you will, who's my sweet Grunt boy?" Jane asked and Grunt smiled and kicked at the ground before pointing at himself.

"Well, this is a whole new level of fucked up," Joker muttered as he hobbled away.

"Kaidan will not take this well," John sighed as he looked at his monstrous nephew.

This omake is inspire by this piece of fanart: ArtofDawn on DeviantArt - Mutant - Babies - Garrus - 1 & 2

It has made me laugh more times than I care to admit.

OMAKE 2:

"So what else can your frame do Legion?" John asked curiously. The aforementioned Geth was busy conducting maintenance on a knee joint. He didn't even both looking at John as he answered.

"We can function in zero gravity, in vacuums or poisonous environments depending on the hazards for a limited time of two point seven hours, download sixty-two teraquads of data a minute, scan data signals, and-" Legion seemed to pause, before his head petals extended to max. He looked up. "John-Spectre, would you also please inform Kelly Chambers-Yeoman that we in no way are planning a hostile takeover of the Normandy. She is currently writing a fearful e-mail to an old college acquaintance. She is worried about a low budget film she participated in college coming true due our presence on the ship. We have subsequently downloaded and viewed the film in the past four point six seconds. It does not accurately portray our intentions towards organics. Geth are not currently equipped to oscillate nor vibrate. We also do not have the means to use the females of any species nor Asari to created Geth with their bodies."

John stared at the Geth as it resumed making repairs to its damaged knee, his mind was trying to process several things. That Legion read their e-mails as they wrote them (he so had to make rules against that), Geth were customizable and Kelly had apparently-

"EDI please tell me that movie isn't what I think it is."

"The movie Legion mentioned is a low grade amateur pornography called Geth Breeding Factory. Records indicate Miss. Chambers only appears in this single adult film and that she was homeless for a month before the filming of this movie due to her college roomate's theft of her checking account. Would you like to view this movie, Shepard?"

"No, no I think not." John replied, determined not to give into that temptation just yet. He'd run across several porn parodies of his and Jane's adventures as he'd looked on the extranet for records of what his baby sister had been up to for the past two years. He'd resolved never to watch anything of that nature about him or his crew, especially if said crew actually participated in making them. Ever. John paused. "And make sure Joker doesn't find out about it either."

"Legion obtained the movie from Mr. Moreau's personal files. Shall I purge the file from his database?"

John pinched the bridge of his nose as he shut his eyes and sighed.

~*TF*~

OMAKE 3

John looking in Jane's room.

"Wait...a hammock?" he said and Jane glared.

"Get out of my room," she warned.

"I thought you took Miranda's bed," John said.

"Hell no, I don't want to catch Cerberus herpes," Jane sneered. "Now get out of my room."

"Fine!" John huffed as he turned around. As the door closed John wondered. "What did happen to Miranda's bed?"

In the forward battery.

"This is like sleeping on a cloud," Garrus sighed from the mattress folded in a U-shape in the walkway along the plasma cannons.

~*TF*~

OMAKE 4

Toby: Cause some one actually asked for this! I may actually make this a thing. And now the continuing adventures of Vegeta-John!

"If a new born Krogan cares about that." John snarked, keying in the last number and unlocking the pod. He stepped back as the tank drained before opening the doors. The Krogan fell to his hands and knees, letting out deep coughs, retching up the fluid in his lungs. John let the Krogan get to his feet and stepped forward. After a moment the Krogan narrowed his eyes at John before letting out a roar. He charged at John, slamming into him and then slamming him into the containers along the wall opposite the window. John lost track of Jane as the Krogan pinned him there with one arm.

"Human. Male." The Krogan growled. John paused, easing his finger off the trigger. "Before you die, I need a name."

"I'm John Shepard of the Normandy," John replied and then he head butted the Krogan. The Krogan reared back and roared head butting John in retaliation. John's head rocked back and then he slowly brought it back with a maniacal grin.

"Thank you sir, may I have another." He drawled.

"What the hell happened to you? You weren't able to do that before!" Jane demanded from behind them.

"Well it looks like you have some reading to do," John drawled tossing the Official Shepard Rebuilt handbook to Jane. The Krogan looked amused at this byplay as Jane grumbled and flipped through the book.

"Okay let's see…" Jane mumbled, "cybnertic upgrades…heavy bone weave is 50% less melee damage…heavy muscle weave is 25% more melee damage…heavy skin weave is 10% more health…"

"…well…" the Krogan drawled. "I'm right fucked aren't I?"

"Right in the down under," John snarked before kicking the Krogan right in the testicles, making him let out a bellow and drop John to clutch at himself. He heard a scrapping of metal and looked up to see John hefting a large wrench. "Clever girl."

The wrench impacted the Krogan's crest with a loud crunch.