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.

15. Chapter 14

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.

Belle's Note: This chapter is dedicated to Jack and Kasumi. Jack is one of the companions I hated when I first recruited her. I was totally disappointed because I thought it sucked that I was stuck with Miranda AND Jack. Then I got to know Jack. Jack is by far one of my favorites, while she cannot compare to Garrus and Tali who are the best companions a girl could ask for, Jack has her own charm. I love redemption stories and helping Jack regain her humanity is one of my favorite parts of Mass Effect. I adore her in ME3 and I was super depressed about not being able to have Jack join the Normandy again. Kasumi is also one of the characters I adore. She is sassy, light hearted, and just funny. I loved Kasumi from the moment I met her on the Citadel and then her story broke my heart. Kasumi embodies bittersweet love, the truth of her and Keiji make it so I can never ask her to do what I know would be safest for her. I love both of these characters because they were so masterfully crafted. Kasumi makes you think her world is all right and fine, while Jack makes you think that she doesn't fucking need you. I also did additional research on both the characters so facts mentioned in this chapter are completely based on their cannon.

Toby's Note: *cues applause track at the end and watches Belle take a bow after her heart felt thoughts*

Chapter 14: But You're Still With Me in My Dreams

Earth Date: January 22th, 2186 CE

Location: Normandy SR2, In Transit to Osun

There was a knock at the door and Jane paused. She flipped on EDI's switch.

"Yes, Spectre Shepard?" EDI asked. The AI had learned Jane would turn to her for questions when she turned on the holographic interface in her room.

"Who is at my door?" Jane asked.

"It is Vakarian," EDI said.

"Thank you, EDI," Jane said. "Door, Blasto." The varren happily went to the door and pressed his muzzle against the panel. "Best command I invested in training you on."

"You couldn't be bothered to get up?" Garrus asked and Jane ignored him.

"I'm getting intel on the Purgatory from one of Chirum Leolor's contacts," Jane said and Garrus raised his eyebrows.

"Do you need privacy?" he asked and Jane gave him a look.

"I wouldn't have let you in if I didn't think it would be fine," Jane said.

"Who's that?" the turian on screen asked.

"Turian on the mission with me. Garrus Vakarian, former C-Sec," Jane said, leaving off the vigilante title.

"Castis' boy?" the turian asked and Garrus rolled his eyes as he moved to squat next to where Jane was sitting on the floor.

"Yes," Garrus said before his eyes widened. "Primarch Fedorian, sir!" Jane fought a smirk.

"No need for the formalities, this is an unofficial call anyway," Fedorian said.

"Thank you for speaking with me again," Jane said and Fedorian shook his head.

"The Hierarchy owes you personally after that incident in Mactare," Fedorian said.

"The Hierarchy owes me nothing, the humans and the turians are the two most similar council races when it comes to those situations. Your people would have done the same," Jane said and the Primarch shook his head.

"However, you did it alone," he said. "Enough pleasantries. You want to know about Purgatory and I will tell you all I know."

"I'm sure you already know that it calls itself a maximum security prison, but it is hardly so official," he said with a sneer. "It is a mercenary run slave ship slash torture chamber."

"The Blue Suns own it," Jane said and Fedorian nodded.

"Oh they own it, but they managed to turn what should have been a Spectre task force target into a publicity dream," he huffed.

"What does that mean?" Garrus asked.

"Officially the Purgatory serves as a prison for criminals so heinous and evil that no government wants to deal with them. So they charge the governments a standard protection fee to keep the criminals on board," Jane said.

"It is extortion. If the governments don't pay, the criminals are released in major metropolitan areas...often armed and armored," Fedorian growled and Garrus looked pissed. "The current warden is a turian bareface by the name of Tatasciore Kuril." Garrus looked more pissed.

"Depending how you look at it, the good or bad news is, the Hierarchy rarely pays for prisoners, but some of the turian colonies will," Jane said.

"The main systems stand by the refusal to deal with terrorists, but the colonies cannot afford some of the true scum of our race to be loose on their planets," Fedorian sighed. "Kuril is one of the most worthless and selfish turians I have ever spoken to. He has attempted seventeen times to extort from the Hierarchy since I have been in office. We have given him nothing and taken out the Blue Sun squads delivering the criminal to our worlds each time...thanks to Spectres like your friend, Shepard." Jane shook her head.

"I didn't intend to take out any of the Purgatory thugs," she said and he chuckled.

"Still, the reports we have gotten from spies, defectors, and survivors have all been vile. Massive abuse of prisoners by guards and one another. Female prisoners are always raped, many to death," Fedorian said and Jane worried about Jack. The biotic was a female and had been on the Purgatory for over a year now. A powerful biotic with a history of sexual abuse could not be good. "The guards don't do much to break up fights, if anything, they often encourage it, except for prisoners who are worth money."

"That's the slave aspect," Garrus growled and the Primarch nodded.

"Many prisoners are sold, often to wealthy people who want to get revenge for crimes committed. Sometimes families will ban together and pool money to get that revenge. Other times, the prisoners piss off the guards and are sold to the Batarians. It is ugly, I have petitioned Sparatus four times to have a Spectre task force dedicated to ending Purgatory," Fedorian sighed.

"You would think Sparatus would be for that," Jane muttered.

"He is, but Valern and Tevos vote the idea down, too much interference," he sighed.

"See about talking to both Sparatus and Anderson," Jane said. "The population on Purgatory is becoming human heavy, Anderson may help sway the vote."

"You're not supposed to talk politics, Spectre," Fedorian said.

"This is just a friendly conversation between acquaintances," Jane replied and the Primarch nodded.

"If you get a chance, blow that disgrace up," he said and Jane smirked.

"If they give me a reason, I'll make a flash of light in the darkness of space when I leave," she said.

"Good soldier," Fedorian said before the comm cut.

"The Shadow Broker would kill for that video," Garrus stated.

"I mean it, Garrus, if that Kuril gives me a reason, I will destroy that ship as we leave," Jane growled and Garrus nodded.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked.

"This Jack we are picking up. She's a female. They have a 100% sexual assault rate on the Purgatory. I have no doubt she's been raped by now," Jane said and Garrus looked uncomfortable. "We need to inform John about this. Jack might be a bit unstable."

"An unstable biotic on a ship...I'd say it was scary but I've flown with you for a while," Garrus said and Jane gave him a look.

"I don't particularly care for your attitude change after taking that rocket to the face," Jane said.

"You just don't like that your biotics don't scare me anymore," Garrus said, offering a hand. Jane took it and he helped her from the floor.

"Jack's might," Jane said.

"Jack's better than you?" Garrus asked.

"Every survivor of Jack's biotics has said she is the most powerful human biotic they have ever met," Jane said as they headed out.

"Have they met you?" Garrus asked and Jane smiled.

"Flattery will get you nowhere," Jane replied.

"I'm just saying, you do have a fancy new L5 implant. Does Jack have one of those?" Garrus asked as they headed up to find John.

~*TF*~

"Our collective has intercepted a message from the Dholen System. It has drawn our attention as that system is under control of the Heretic Collective. The message is badly degraded and encrypted with two cyphers. Due to its location and fragmentation our collective has designated it as background priority." Legion informed John as the Spectre read the data pad Legion had brought him. That brought his attention back to the Geth.

"Well why do-" John was cut off as the door to his quarters chimed, indicating someone wanted entry. "EDI open the doors please." The door lock shifted to green moments before the doors to his quarters opened, letting Jane and Garrus walk in. "I'll be with you two in a minute. Now tell me why you're bringing a fragmented message Legion if your own people have dismissed it as unimportant."

"Correction, we have labeled it as a background priority. However, it may be a higher priority to John-Spectre due to one of the few words intact and not encrypted being John-Spectre's name." Legion stated.

"What's this about?" Jane asked, shooting them a look that told John she clearly wanted to know about this. John sighed, exasperated. Great, he had to handle this carefully or Jane was going to think he was hiding something from her.

"Legion just brought me a degraded and encrypted message his people received from the Dholen System. Apparently it's controlled by the Heretic Geth and what they have been able to unencrypt mentions me by name." John explained offering her the data pad. Jane blinked and took the data pad from her brother.

"I heard that last part." Jane stated and John rolled his eyes. "Why haven't you already broken the encryption and restored what you can?"

"Our collective has this scheduled for decryption late next month with routine messages. We routinely receive eight trillion teraquads of data monthly from all of our sensors and monitoring programs. Items such as this are labeled low priority." Legion explained. John couldn't help but grin a bit at this. It sounded to him as if Legion was bit defensive.

"Eight trillion teraquads?" Garrus exclaimed, surprised. "Where do you get it all from?"

"Approximately six trillion teraquads are received from the extranet when we download it." Legion explained. All of the organics seemed to blink and looked at Legion in unison.

"You download the entire extranet? Monthly?" Jane said in a mix of shock and awe. The Geth said nothing for a moment, only the panels on his head shifting a bit.

"Yes." Legion said simply. John snickered while Jane rolled her eyes.

"This explains so much." Jane muttered and Garrus just laughed.

"Just give it to EDI for now, Legion," John replied as Jane tossed the data pad onto the coffee table in the middle of the room. "She'll do what she can with it during slow times."

"I have already downloaded the aforementioned message John," EDI spoke up from her hologram. "The cyphers appear to be new creations. I will dedicate a subroutine to run at all times to try and complete a codex to crack the cypher. This will take some time unless you wish me to dedicate myself to it completely?"

"No that's alright." John replied before focusing on the sole Geth platform in the room. "Anything else?"

"Not at this time, John-Spectre. Unless our presence is needed we shall retire to the server room to begin a routine maintenance cycle," Legion replied, his head panels shifting a bit. John shot a look at Jane who just shook her head.

"Thanks Legion, we'll talk later." John stated and the Geth nodded his head before swiftly turning and walking out. As the doors closed behind the platform John waved a hand at the desk next to the couch where a coffee machine rested. "Coffee? I've got a dozen or so dextro instant cups too."

"Didn't there used to be a computer there?" Jane asked in curiosity as Garrus went to make himself a cup.

"Already have one up there by the bathroom entrance. What do I need a second one ten feet away for?" John replied and Jane shrugged.

"So, John, we came to talk to you about Jack," Garrus replied. John moved to sit on the couch and Jane took the seat on the other leg of the couch. John said nothing but took his own coffee from the table to take a sip.

"We have concerns with a biotic of her caliber and history being turned loose on the ship," Jane explained. "She has a history of extreme violence and with the conditions on Purgatory she's more than likely going to be on a hair trigger."

"I'm not too worried about what she can do on the ship," John commented drawing a frown from Jane at his nonchalance about it. "From the dossier besides the violence and biotic power she's shown intelligence. She's no hacker but I'm sure she realizes how bad it would be for her to rip things off the ship she's on."

"John she's a powerful, psychologically damaged and unstable biotic," Garrus retorted, "We need to make sure she can't do any lasting damage until we find out just how emotional she is."

"And the dossier doesn't tell us that," John said, picking up a separate data pad on the desk as he set his coffee down. "Nowhere in here does it give us a completely psychological work up. All of this is second hand information. What she's done and how she acted. All of it shows me a person who has been running and fighting all her life. Now we're going to pick up a harden criminal who has most likely been beaten, raped and God only knows what else."

"You know about Purgatory?" Jane asked, her voice spoke of approval. John grinned smugly at her.

"I can still read. When I learned about where we were picking up Jack I did some research. Around those filters you were harping about before Korlus." John added that last bit as Jane's face closed up, she was hiding her thoughts now. "Give me a little credit Jane. I may have had new eyes implanted but I still know a snow job when I see one. Of course, Cerberus would censor the data I get. Why wouldn't they, they want to keep their pet Shepard on a leash. Thanks for telling EDI you were removing the cameras and mics from your room. One less room I had to have Mordin remove them from."

Jane stared and simply crossed her arms before shooting Garrus a dirty look when he let out a bark of laughter.

"I haven't seen you pout since the SR1," the Turian commented. Jane glared at him.

"I'm not pouting," she said.

~*TF*~

Earth Date: January 23rd, 2186 CE

Location: Purgatory, Osun

"Excuse me but what is going on?" John commented as he approached the airlock behind Joker. He found his sister with Garrus and Jacob armed to the teeth. While he wasn't surprised with their weapons he was surprised that the damn varren of hers was panting by her side. It was also wearing tactical vest with packs near its haunch. Jane was crouched in front of the alien mutt, tightening the harness and checking it over. She looked up at John with an exasperated expression.

"What does it look like? I'm getting Blasto ready." She stated and John sighed.

"Jane this is literally a purchasing mission. You're not bringing a varren onboard with space version of canine body armor." John stated. "I want this go smoothly, not make them think we're going to take the station by force."

"Sure." Jane said, and snapped her fingers at Blasto. The varren became still, watching his mistress intently as John blinked in surprise. "Bed Blasto." The varren huffed, in annoyance and in a tone very similar to Jane's own huff of annoyance John thought, and turned around before padding off to head for Jane's quarters. Jane herself turned and headed for the airlock of the Normandy finished docking.

"I can't believe she agreed," John muttered to Garrus as they followed, with Jacob bringing up the rear.

"Wait five minutes, she'll make you regret that decision."

"Doesn't she always?"

~*TF*~

The group boarded the Purgatory, walking down the main entrance the group could see a group of three Blue Suns waiting for them. John led the group with Garrus just behind him; Jane to his right and Jacob taking up the rear.

"Welcome to the Purgatory, Shepards," the turian guard to the front said. "Your package is being prepped, and you can claim it shortly. As this is a high-security vessel, you'll need to relinquish your weapons before we proceed." Garrus hid a chuckle behind a cough and John ignored it.

"We can't do that," he said and for a moment the team prepped for the reaction from the guards. Instead a barefaced turian appeared from the ship. Jane recognized him from the files that she had acquired from the Spectre records. Kuril...the "warden."

"Everyone stand down. Commander, I'm Warden Kuril, and this is my ship. Your weapons will be returned on the way out. You must realize this is just a standard procedure," he said and Jacob flicked his eyes to John.

"It's my standard procedure to keep my gun," John stated calmly. Kuril looked past John at Jane.

"Spectre Shepard has a bad reputation with mercenary groups," Kuril stated.

"To be fair, she's not the only one," Garrus commented with a straight face. Jane fought a smirk.

"I left my varren behind as a sign of good faith," she commented. John restrained a snort at that as Kuril stared at her for a moment.

"Let them proceed. Our facility is more than secure enough to handle four armed guests," Kuril said as he looked over the four. He looked suspicious, but nothing they couldn't handle. "We're bringing Jack out of cryo. As soon as the funds clear, you can be on your way. If you'll follow me to Outprocessing for the pickup, Commander."

"Let's go," John said as they entered the Purgatory. The hallway allowed them to see the interior of the ship. It was clear it was an animal transport ship that was retrofitted to make it into a prison. Kuril looked proud as he turned to look over the area below.

"Cellblock Two. As you can see, we keep tight control over the population. Each prisoner's cell is a self-contained, modular unit. I've blown a few out the airlocks as an example," Kuril stated, his eyes moved to meet John's and then Jane's. It was clear he saw the two of them as the greater threat than Garrus or Jacob. Jane felt pity for the spaced convicts for a second but then remembered some of the crimes she had seen on prisoners the Specters had confirmed were on Purgatory. They were the scum of the galaxy and spacing was probably more merciful compared to some of their crimes. "The ship is made up of 30 cell blocks identical to this one. We house thousands of criminals. We can put the whole place in lockdown on a moment's notice. Nothing goes wrong here."

"Bold claims," Jane stated, she wondered just how strong the Blue Suns' security actually was on Purgatory.

"We know the caliber of criminals we hold and we know the importance of proper security measures," he said. Jane simply looked out over the cell block and wondered how great a loss blowing up the Purgatory would be.

"Can you give me your opinion on Jack?" John asked pulling Kuril's attention from Jane.

"Cerberus hasn't told you?" he asked.

"I know about what she's done, but you've met her. What's your take on her?" John asked and Kuril actually looked concerned. Kuril didn't think much of John and Jane, but feared Jack...curious.

"Jack is the meanest handful of violence and hate I've ever encountered," Kuril said and Jane blinked. She had seen the quality of prisoner on the Purgatory...that's was quite the accomplishment. "Dangerous, crazy, and very powerful. You'll see soon enough."

"How did you end up running this ship?" John asked, a good question that Jane wanted answered.

"I was in law enforcement on Palaven, and got sick of seeing criminals escape out into the galaxy to carry on with their crimes," Kuril said. Jane elbowed Garrus in the side and he snorted and looked away. She wondered why Kuril didn't wear the Palaven marks, choosing instead to be barefaced. Turians didn't trust a turian who didn't wear their colony markings...Kuril should have matched Garrus but instead wore no marks. "Bounty hunters aren't dependable. Eventually I hit upon this idea. Keep the criminals in space and the galaxy is a safer place."

"You do this because you think it's necessary?" John asked, the doubt heavy in his voice.

"Every day I see the worst sapient life has to offer. Governments are soft, unwilling to make the hard choices. Someone had to stand up and make the galaxy safe," Kuril said and Jane elbowed Garrus again.

"Sorry, Shepard, didn't hear you, don't know what you're talking about," he stated as he moved closer to John. Jane was tempted to chase him and remind him about going vigilante like Kuril had, but she suspected her turian friend had gotten the point.

"Maintaining a population this size in space can't be cheap," Jacob commented.

"We can cut corners that governments can't. And each prisoner brings in a fee from his homeworld. These individuals are violent, and their home planets pay well to keep them here," Kuril said and John managed to keep from narrowing his eyes at that. The extortion end of Purgatory that Garrus and Jane had mentioned.

"What happens if the homeworld doesn't want to pay?" John asked.

"We explain that we can't maintain the prisoner without their help so we'll be forced to release him back onto his homeworld. At an unspecified place and time...as well you know," Kuril stated looking at Jane.

"Actually, that incident was an accident. I had no idea that that particular group was on a release mission. I do apologize," Jane said with her most innocent expression. "I was dealing with a different mission and to be fair...your men fired on me first." His eyes narrowed at her.

"You don't have to agree with my methods, but don't question my motives. These are despicable people and I'm keeping them locked up," Kuril stated and Jane nodded.

"I've seen some of the suspects the Spectres believe are on this vessel. I won't say I'm not happy they aren't in the general public," Jane stated.

"Knowing your methods, they should be happy that they're locked up while you are here," Kuril sneered.

"True," Jane said.

"Have there been escape attempts?" Garrus asked, attempting to change the subject.

"We're in space...they have nowhere to go, and they know it. But still, we exercise extreme caution. These are dangerous individuals," Kuril said as they walked. The group could see two prisoners about to fight when a guard used a field generator to capture and separate the two. "We have many ways to control the population."

"Effective," John commented dryly. Kuril nodded in agreement and stopped as they reached an intersection.

"I'm going to confirm that the funds from Cerberus cleared. Outprocessing is straight down this hallway. Just keep going past the interrogation rooms and the supermax wing. I'll catch up with you later...Shepards." Kuril commented, and headed down the other hallway. John frowned as Jane came up beside him.

"Something wrong?" she asked and John turned to her.

"The credits should have already cleared a few days ago. I doubt the Illusive Man would delay a payment for something like this," John commented. Jane inclined her head in agreement and indicated that John began to lead them down the hall. Soon they were passing what looked like interrogation cells and one was occupied with a couple of turians were beating a prisoner while another watched from outside the cell. Garrus slowed down to watch for a moment.

"You don't even get good information that way...after a point, victims admit to anything to make the pain stop." Garrus commented. John grunted in agreement as Jacob made a sound of disgust.

"Is there something I can do for you?" The guard watching asked them.

"There's no excuse for beating a prisoner who can't fight back." John commented. The guard just stared at him.

"This is a massage compared to what his victims went through." The guard replied.

"This degrades you as much as him." John countered and the guard shrugged.

"We have orders."

"So you're not important enough to make your own decisions?" John retorted.

"I admit...I sometimes get tired of this. Does this really get us anything useful?" The guard mused and John saw his opening.

"Stop this. For your own sake." John prompted and the guard sighed.

"Yeah. You're right." The guard replied before turning in his comms. "Call it off. At least for now." John smiled smugly and continued down the hall. The group was quiet as they continued before shortly passing another occupied cell.

"Hey! Hey guys, over here. Let me ask you something. If you're buying prisoners, can you buy me?" the man with 780 on his jumpsuit begged. John opened to his mouth to reply but Jane leaned over to whisper to him.

"Be careful. That's Billy Lowenthal, known serial killer with a history of carving his name into his victims." She hissed. John stopped, considering.

"Sorry not gonna do it. We're here for Jack." John replied. The man let out a panicked squeak as John led them away.

"Jack? Forget what I said. I don't want to go nowhere with you!" he called after them. John shook his head as they passed the last prisoner.

"I hear the screaming in my head. It's nice. Yeah…." The prisoner crooned.

"If these are the ones who aren't in super max, I'm worried about what Jack is going to be like," Jacob commented as they entered the outprocessing room.

"Outprocessing is through the door on the far side of the room." A technician said, not even looking up from his terminal. John led the group towards the back. So far everything was going well, in fact this might just be the first mission to not…have…any…

John stopped just in front of the door the tech had motioned them too and sighed. The room was empty. There were desk, chairs and equipment stations and none of them were occupied except one lone tech on the opposite side of the room. Jane came up beside John and raised an eyebrow at him. He gestured in front of him with a few hand signal his thoughts. Jane rolled her eyes at him. Definitely Jane speak for "Obviously." John grumbled as she smacked the door switch and made the doors snap open to reveal an empty cell. Garrus made a disgruntled sound in the back of his throat as Kuril's voice came out over the room's speakers.

"My apologies, Shepards. You're more valuable as prisoners than as customers. Drop your weapons and proceed into this open cell. You will not be harmed." Kuril ordered.

"How much could we possibly be worth to you?" John demanded. "Hell hardly anyone knows about me!"

"Ah but your sister's worth is well known. The Hegemony has a massive bounty offered for her...it triples if she is brought to them alive." Kuril drawled. John shot Jane a look who shrugged.

"So it's her fault he double crossed us?" Jacob asked and Garrus shot the Cerberus officer a glare.

"I thought it was a flat rate." Garrus snapped, not looking away from Jacob who flinched when he noticed.

"It was...until I blew up four more slave ships on the boundary of Hegemony space before taking my vacation." Jane commented and John ignored her.

"Maybe I can change your mind, Kuril," John offered.

"Unlikely, there are a lot of zeros at the end of the Hegemony's offer on me." Jane said.

"That's not helping"

"Activate systems!" Kuril barked.

"I think that's a no, John," Garrus commented just as a wave of mercs and fenris mechs stormed through the doors.

~*TF*~

After they fought their way through the mercs and into the control room, Jacob sealed the doors behind them and the group quickly did a weapons check.

"So, four slave ships?" Garrus asked after a moment.

"Yep," Jane replied as she approached the console.

"If we hack that control, every door on the cellblock opens," Jacob stated as he approached and the group looked at each other.

"It's the only way to get Jack out of cryo," Garrus stated.

"To be fair...the prisoners will help to keep the guards busy," Jane stated and gave John a look. He nodded at her.

"Do it. Be ready. I doubt the prisoners will be discriminating against who they go after," John said. Jane used her omnitool to override the console. The group watched at the window as the cryo chamber was brought up. The woman was half naked and Jane shook her head. John made a surprised sound in his throat.

"Not what you were picturing, John?" Jacob asked, amused at the look on John's face.

"I expected more criminal-Jane and not so much bald, tattooed and nearly topless." John commented as Jack began to come too. Jane shot John a glare at the comment.

"That's Jack?" Garrus asked.

"Yeah," Jane said as Jack fully woke up and pulled free from her constraints. "Shit, there are three mechs down there."

"She's toast," Garrus stated before Jack roared and glowed blue. Jane was impressed as Jack rushed the mechs and there was a massive explosion beneath them.

"We need to get down there!" John cried and the group headed for the door. They rushed down the ramps. The ship's computer began putting out the warning as alarms went off.

"Sounds like heavy fighting," Jacob muttered as the sound of explosions continued. The door opened and everyone paused. The three mechs were in pieces and there was a large hole in the wall.

"Damn," Garrus muttered.

"She's good," Jane said with quiet respect, taking in the room and eyeing the hole torn through the wall on the far side of the room.

"Shit. She needs to be careful or she's going to go through an exterior wall," John said and the group quickly went through the hole.

"All guards: restore order! Lethal force authorized! But don't kill Jack! Techs: lockdown! Lockdown!" Kuril's voice called over the loudspeaker.

"Call me crazy, but I don't think lockdown is going to stop Jack," Garrus muttered.

"Sectors Seven, Nine, and Eleven have lost life support. No survivors," the ship's computer reported.

"We need to be prepared for potential spacing," Jane said to John and he nodded.

"Helmets and breathers on, just in case," John said as he removed his helmet from his belt and expanded it. He wasn't getting spaced twice. The group fastened their helmets on and entered a cell block in time to see the cell moving arm collapse.

"This girl is powerful, but she lacks subtlety," Garrus noted.

"Yeah, Archangel was far subtler than this," Jane commented as they began to pass through the room. They reached a bridge and could see a couple Blue Suns and a mech attempting to control prisoners...armed prisoners.

"All prisoners: return to your cells immediately or I'll open every airlock on this ship!" Kuril cried over the loudspeaker.

"I don't think that's going to motivate them to go back," Jacob commented. It was easy to take out the Suns but the mech was less fun.

"Why can't you take out the mech like Jack did?" Garrus asked as Jane ducked for cover.

"I told you she was stronger," Jane said. She saw a form in a prison uniform looking at them from an upper walkway. She took a shot. It ricocheted on the handrail. Bad angle. It didn't matter the form was gone.

"Have you ever really tried?" Garrus asked.

"Not today, Garrus," John chided. He popped up and fired a heavy blast at the mech, causing it to explode. Everyone took a breath before they headed for the door out of this cell block.

"Shepard, the warden has locked down the area behind you. You must find another exit route," EDI reported over the comms to John as they approached a door.

"Warning: power plant damage has led to overload. Core system failures imminent," the ship's computer reported.

"Well, several people don't have to worry about this place anymore," Garrus said as they approached a body. It was riddled with stab wounds.

"This guard got swarmed by prisoners with improvised weapons. He never had a chance," John noted solemnly as he knelt by the body to close its eyes.

"Shows you what kind of people these prisoners are. I don't agree with everything they do here, but it's in the galaxy's best interest," Garrus commented and the two Shepards paused to stare at the turian. "What? That guard kept maniacs away from innocent people."

"They were planning on selling us," John replied as he stood.

"We need to keep going," Jane said, opening the door.

"Lockdown in Blocks Four, Seven, and Eight!" Kuril cried.

"Isn't Block Seven one of the ones that lost life support?" Jacob asked.

"Sector Seven lost life support, sectors might not be blocks," Jane suggested as they entered another cell block.

~*TF*~

As soon as they entered the next cell block a group of Blue Suns opened fire on them from the walkway to the left and overhead. Jane quickly fired off a biotic pull at the struts and with a grunt yanked them out. John shook his head as the mercs screamed and fell to their deaths.

"It's like none of these mercs have tactical knowledge. I guess they didn't need it much being prison guards," John commented. Jacob started to reply when machine gun fire forced the group to dive away. A YMIR mech came stomping towards them. Jane saw John and Jacob were in cover on the opposite side of the main area. A glance to her left saw Garrus beside her. She turned back and whistled loudly. John looked at her and saw the hand signs she flashed him. He nodded and signaled back his acceptance before turning to Jacob and saying something. They let the mech stomp past them as waited. Jane took a breath and then popped up to open fire, Garrus right with her. The mech stopped for a moment before targeting them. As it did John and Jacob opened fire from their cover. The mech seemed to hesitate, its programming trying to determine the larger threat. It was still processing as they blasted it to pieces, sending it crashing to the ground in a smoking pile of circuits.

"These things seem dumber than when I first encountered them," John said as they regrouped.

"Once you figure out their limitations they don't pose much of threat," Jane commented as they approached the exit of this cellblock. They fanned out as Jane worked at the console to override the door lock. No one noticed the human prisoner armed with a shiv hiding amongst a pile of prisoner bodies until the doors opened. He let out a scream and charged the door, straight for Jane. Jane whirled around, her biotics crackling. Just before she could react, John grabbed the prisoner in a choked hold, with one arm and grabbed the back of his head with his other hand.

"Drop the knife, kid," John snarled. Jane was breathing heavily, surprised she'd almost been jumped. Garrus came over, growling at the kid and as Jane got a better look, it was indeed a human boy, no older than twenty, she figured.

"Fuck you man, I ain't going back." He spat, struggling in John's grip. John's arm around his throat tightened a bit making him choke.

"Just knock the little bastard out, Commander," Jacob stated from behind Jane. John appeared to consider it but Jane saw the kid's eyes widen. She was about to warn John when the kid jabbed up behind him at John's face with the shiv. The shiv screeched against John's helmet and Jane realized if he hadn't been wearing it, he'd have lost his left eye. John jerked at the impact and snarled. Before Jane could say anything his hand on the back of the kid's head shot to his chin and with a vicious wrench, the kid's neck was broken. Jane watched coldly as the kid fell to the ground, lifeless.

"Stupid kid," John grumbled, his eyes sad. "I would have just choked him out but…" John trailed off and shook his head.

"Come on, I think we're close to Kuril," Jane said, leading the team into the next room. As they moved into the room they saw Kuril in the back corner, mowing down prisoners with his assault rifle. When he saw them enter the room, he opened fire on them, forcing them to cover.

"You two were valuable! I could've sold you and lived like a king. But you're too much trouble alive. At least I can recapture Jack and your sister's body will still catch a fine price with the Hegemony! You, John, I'm sure someone will pay for what's left of you!" Kuril snarled.

"I feel like Jack did more damage than we did really." Jane muttered.

"Not happening!" John shouted out at Kuril. "You're a two-bit slave trader and I don't have time for it!"

"I do the hard things civil governments are unwilling to! This is for the good of the galaxy!" Kuril barked.

"That sounds familiar." Jane said, giving Garrus a pointed look.

"We don't have time for this discussion." Garrus said, ignoring the obvious comparison.

~*TF*~

"Jacob and Garrus take the left flank. Jane, cover me as we go right," John ordered and the team nodded. Biotic blue surrounded John as he changed right, the biotic shield covering both Shepards. Jane stayed center, pulling her sniper and aiming at the Blue Suns to the right. She was in cover so Kuril couldn't get her. She popped out a few times to give him shots at her before returning to cover.

Jacob and Garrus took the left side of the cell Block. Jacob using his biotics to make openings for Garrus to snipe as they inched forward.

John felt the world slow before him as he began to make use of his implants. Jane's shots would make the Suns retreat, just in time for John to catch them in his kill zone. His hands moved, dropping clips, slamming new ones into place, so fast John wasn't even aware he had done anything until the gun began to fire again.

"Damn you, Shepards!" Kuril cried. Jane had already destroyed the field generator below, Garrus and Jacob took out the one to the left. John took great satisfaction to taking out the one to the right. "I was protecting so many innocents!"

"Don't act so noble," John growled as he began firing.

"You were not worth this," Kuril hissed before his head exploded in a cloud of blue spray.

"You weren't worth the ammo," Jane stated as she walked up behind John. "We need to go." She put a hand to her communicator. "EDI, is Purgatory going to blow?"

"The power core is beyond repair, it will go into meltdown within two hours," EDI replied.

"Oh, good, I don't have to blow it up," Jane muttered as she looked at John and indicated he lead the way.

~*TF*~

The team approached the airlock they entered...where Jack currently was. They slipped in as Jack began to scream, staring at the Normandy as she did so. She wasn't paying attention as a batarian Blue Sun was rushing her. John took him out with a single shot, making Jack whirl around.

"What the hell do you want?" Jack snarled.

"You're in a bad situation, and I'm going to get you out of here," John said and Jane nearly smacked her faceplate. Jack wasn't a woman to be rescued. This was not going to endear the woman to them.

"Shit, you sound like a pussy," Jack said while pacing like a caged tiger. For someone who was victimized before and probably here, she was wasn't afraid. Jane respected that. "I'm not going anywhere with you. You're Cerberus." Okay, now Jane outright liked her. Another anti-Cerberus teammate would not hurt.

"Why does it matter if I'm with Cerberus?" John asked.

"They've been on my ass for years. Anytime I get free, they put a huge bounty on me. That's why Warden Kuril figured he'd struck gold when he caught me," Jack said.

"You've destroyed Cerberus property and killed Cerberus people. That's why I thought they put the bounty on you," Jane replied.

"Bullshit," Jack sneered and Jane smirked.

"If that's not true, too bad, I've destroyed Cerberus property and killed Cerberus people too, I thought we might become friends," Jane stated sarcastically and Jack gave her a look.

"You show up in a Cerberus frigate to take me away somewhere. You think I'm stupid?" Jack said and Jane shrugged.

"This ship is going down in flames. We can get you to safety, and we're asking for your help," John said.

"We're Spectres. Cerberus hired him to lead on their...mission. The Council paired us up on this case so I'm catching a ride, but I don't trust Cerberus either," Jane said. "I have seen what Cerberus does. I'm using them to get what I want...what do you want Jack?" Jack raised an eyebrow at that.

"What are you offering?" Jack asked, Jane looked at John. She got Jack willing to negotiate, it was his party now.

"Join my team and I'll do what I can for you," John said as he approached Jack.

"Don't make promises you can't keep," Jack warned. "I bet your ship's got lots of Cerberus databases. I want to look at those files. See what Cerberus has got on me. You want me on your team, let me go through those databases."

"I'll give you full access," John said.

"Shepard, you're not authorized to do that," Jacob protested. John shot Jacob a look who scowled but remained quiet.

"You better be straight up with me," Jack said to John, drawing his attention back to her.

"I am," John said.

"So why the hell are we standing here?" Jack asked.

"Let's go," John said leading the way to the airlock.

~*TF*~

"Where's the quietest place away from people?" Jack asked Jane as they walked into the ship. Jane blinked before thinking as Joker pulled them away from the exploding prison station.

"Do you care if it is meant to be inhabited?" Jane asked and Jack shook her head. "Follow me."

"You fought Cerberus?" Jack asked and Jane nodded as she led the way.

"They tried to abduct me a couple times. Never found out why. The agents always erased their orders," Jane said.

"Yeah, they do that," Jack said. Miranda got off the elevator and stared at the two women.

"Made a new friend, Shepard?" Miranda asked and Jane smiled.

"Got a problem with it, Cheerleader?" Jack asked and Miranda blinked in shock.

"I have," Jane stated as the two got on the elevator. Jane pressed the button and they headed down to engineering.

"Post mission debrief in fifteen minutes," Miranda said just as the doors closed. Jack shot Jane a questioning look. Jane rolled her eyes, shrugging off Miranda.

"There's an access hub under the main engineering deck. It's mostly access to various systems. Don't scare Gabby or Ken, they're not bad people, but Cerberus has made sure to give them it's best, lying face," Jane said.

"What do you know about Cerberus?" Jack asked and Jane sighed as she crossed her arms.

"I know about genetic testing, biological warfare...some of their eugenics projects," Jane said. "I also know about a couple cases of spying and I have evidence against them for the Quarians and a sabotage plan that went through."

"You came willingly?" Jack asked and Jane looked down.

"I am part of a two-man Spectre team as ordered by the Council. I'm here because of that," Jane lied and Jack looked at her. "That's my story, anything else is classified by Alliance protocol." Jack stared at her.

"Biotic?" Jack asked and Jane nodded. "Bet I can beat you."

"Teach me how to tear through a YMIR mech like you did and I'll let you beat me every day of the week," Jane said and Jack smirked.

"Let me beat you?" she asked and the doors opened.

~*TF*~

John was waiting by the far wall with Miranda, Jacob and Garrus as Jane led Jack into the conference room. Jane raised an eyebrow at John as Miranda came striding towards them as they stopped by the table. John shrugged as Miranda stopped. She looked the former prisoner over with a stern, disapproving look.

"Welcome to the Normandy, Jack. I'm Miranda, John Shepard's second in command." Miranda began. Jane snorted at that as she moved to stand next to Garrus and the engineered woman shot Jane a nasty look before turning back to Jack. "On this ship, we follow orders." At this Garrus coughed to cover up a snicker.

"Tell the Cerberus cheerleader to back off, Johnny-boy." Jack snarled, looking past Miranda at John. "I'm here because of our deal."

"Miranda will let you into the system. Let me know what you find." John said.

"Hear that precious?" Jack said a falsely-sweet tone. "We're going to be friends. You, me and every embarrassing secret. I'll be reading down in the hold, near the bottom. Your sister found me a cozy little place, right next to the engine." Jack turned and strolled out of the room. "Keep your people off me. Better that way."

Miranda shot John an exasperated look and shook her head, before leaving the room. Jacob sighed and followed her as well. Jane shot John a look.

"Miranda is your second in command?" she asked in an obviously fake questioning tone. John rolled his eyes.

"I've been calling her my XO since you came aboard and now you finally noticed? Or cared enough to remember? Anyways I'm not surprised the Illusive Man did that, he did bank roll this project. Besides I think that may change before everything is said and done," John noted. Jane seemed surprised to hear him say that and Garrus chuckled.

"Any thoughts on that, John?" he asked. John nodded and focused on the Turian in the room.

"Actually yes I have. I don't suppose-"

"Sorry to cut this short," Kasumi said, her cloak deactivating as she appeared right in John's line of vision, making him jump and Jane reach for her pistol. "But something has come up Shepards."

"Holy shit don't do that, Kasumi!" John exclaimed. "Knock or something! I thought I told you not to do that after last time!"

"Last time?" Jane inquired, trying to get her racing heart under control, she had nearly shot a teammate unintentionally.

"Sorry He-Shep, I was just doing some recon when you walked in," the thief said cheekily.

"In my bathroom?" John demanded. Jane and Garrus exchanged a look.

"Welllllll…you do have a better shower than the crew quarters." Kasumi said, grinning at him. "Nice tush too. I'd give it a nine out of ten."

"Kasumi the point?" Jane interrupted, not wanting to know about her brother's anything in the stats department.

"Right well remember that thing I need help with?" Kasumi said. Jane nodded as John grumbled under his breath. "It's going down in four days and we'll just barely make it as it is. Soooooo, we gotta go. And I need ya both."

"Oh God this is going to suck isn't it?" John grumbled.

~*TF*~

Earth Date: January 25th, 2186 CE

Location: Normandy SR2, In Transit to Bekenstein

"Have you done this before She-Shep?" Kasumi asked as she applied the artificial tattoo to Jane's face.

"I've been known to do undercover for the Council," Jane said and Kasumi's eyes glittered.

"Oooh," she purred and Jane fought a smile. It was hard not to like the enigmatic thief.

"Sorry, black ops, cannot talk about it," Jane said and Kasumi grinned.

"I bet with a little liquor we can get that tongue wagging," she said.

"So who is this person you are making me up to look like?" Jane asked.

"Omega dancer who made a splash and ran off," Kasumi said and Jane wondered as the tattoo was applied.

"What was her name?" Jane asked, noticing a bottle of black hair dye on the table.

"Elaina Berger, all the space gossip has it that she ran off with one of her turian mercenary clients," Kasumi said and Jane nearly burst out laughing. Of course, Kasumi had probably run a facial recognition program to see if Jane looked like anyone and gotten images from Afterlife's publicity page.

"So you want to set it up that I am this Elaina woman and she ran away with...the person you are making John into?" Jane asked and Kasumi nodded.

"Not too shabby a job either. I took a few of your photographs and altered them to make them more romantic and accurate for appearances," Kasumi said and Jane realized something.

"I hope you appreciate how weird it is that you are essentially turning us into romantic partners when we are twins," Jane stated and Kasumi blinked.

"Twins who are romantic partners...now where have I read that storyline before..." Kasumi hummed before snapping her fingers. "One of my first heists was the original manuscripts for a series of books from Earth. A Song of Fire and Ice I think. I read them all. Pretty good, the last book was probably the best."

"Still weird, Kasumi," Jane said and the thief waved a hand dismissively.

"Don't worry, we won't be staying for the orgy anyway," she said and Jane stared at her. "Just joking, She-Shep." Jane relaxed. "I would never miss an orgy."

"Not funny," Jane replied.

~*TF*~

"Why is it that women always do the makeup thing together when they can?" John muttered as he checked out the datapad specs for the high end hover car Kasumi had somehow acquired for this mission. He felt out of place in the suit Kasumi had given him and insisted he try on. He was waiting for Jane and Kasumi in the mess hall and Garrus was there getting something to eat.

"I don't know but it's something that crosses species lines too." Garrus commented. "Solana did the same thing when she and bunch of her friends came to our house one day and she went over to their homes."

"How is she doing by the way?" John asked, curious and wanting to catch up. Garrus coughed awkwardly.

"Actually I haven't spoken to them in like six months. I got so wrapped up in Omega and my team, I kind of…forgot." Garrus said, looking awkward. John sighed and shook his head.

"Call them after we leave, Garrus." John ordered. Garrus laughed at that.

"If it was that simple John I'd have done it already. I'm still not sure what to say to my father after Omega. I know he'll ask when he sees my face."

John sighed but didn't know what to say either. He was thankful when the elevator doors opened and in strolled Kasumi in her armor and…John's eyes widened as he realized the woman with Kasumi was Jane. Jane was in a nice black dress…that matched her now jet black hair hanging around her shoulders. It was styled and framed her face along with tattoo which looked like ivy covering half her face. The color of her skin was darker and as they got closer he saw she had brown contacts in.

"Whoa, who's that with Kasumi?" Garrus muttered. John shot the turian a look.

"Seriously?" John demanded. Garrus didn't hear John as he focused on the ladies approaching.

"Hello gentlemen, may I introduce Elaina Berger, former talent from Omega's one and only Afterlife," Kasumi stated and Jane twirled some of her new hair around a finger.

"Pleasure to meet you," Jane said in a voice that sounded different to John. It was similar to Aria's tone and certainly didn't sound like Jane.

"Wait…the one that ran off with the turian mercenary?" Garrus asked and Jane batted her eyelashes as she looked Garrus up and down in a predatory way John had never seen her do before. Garrus' mandibles twitched and he swallowed slightly.

"What can I say?" Jane purred. "I like them tall with a nice fringe. Yours is pretty impressive there, is it true what they say?" Garrus blinked.

"About?" he asked as he leaned forward. Jane got too close for John's liking.

"About the longer the fringe, the longer you spend in bed?" Jane asked and Garrus laughed nervously before rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well, that's um…you've heard about that?" he asked and Jane smirked as she moved back.

"After all these years, you think I didn't know, Garrus?" she said in her normal voice and Garrus' jaw dropped.

"Shepard?" he asked and Jane put on a sultry smirk.

"Good to know you have a soft spot for human women. Has anyone ever told you, you're a bad turian?" Jane teased and Garrus blinked.

"I…I need to go…calibrations…" he muttered.

"I think with these looks we will be ready to go Sheps," Kasumi said as Garrus wandered from the mess hall in a daze. John realized he might need to talk to his friend. He seemed conflicted about his sister. Something John needed to straighten out.

"One thing first, Kasumi," Jane replied. "Mr. Moreau has to answer a few questions…"

"Oh God." John moaned. "I'll check out the car. I don't want to see this."

~*TF*~

"So, Mr. Moreau, I finally caught you all by your lonesome," Jane purred with her Omega accent as she leaned in the doorway with her makeover. Joker turned to face her and his eyes moved down and then back up.

"Whoa...um...do I know you?" he asked and Jane wondered if this was a joke. Could Joker really not recognize her? Maybe Garrus wasn't pulling her leg in the mess. She put the dancer's sway into her walk as she approached his chair.

"Sure you do...you liked how I gave you orders," She placed a hand on his chair over his shoulder and slowly brought her face down to his. Joker's eyes dipped down to her cleavage. The next line was given in her normal voice. "Then you ran off and I couldn't find you. Time to tell me why you didn't respond to my messages and why John thinks I abandoned you, Jeff."

"Fucking shit, Shepard!" Joker cried and his eyes ripped up from her breasts to her face. "The fuck!" Jane leaned back and crossed her arms under her breasts. Jeff's eyes started wandering back down to the pick-a-boo panel in her shirt and he quickly locked eyes with her. "You...goddamn, that's not fair."

"You'd be surprised how useful that act is for getting answers," Jane said as she walked back to the door. She zipped the jacket she had on up over the peek-a-boo panel. "So...time for a talk, Joker."

"Shit...Shepard...try running that by me again?" he asked and Jane smiled slightly as she shook her head.

"John mentioned to me a while back that you said I abandoned you. I was confused because, you never answered any of my messages to you," Jane said. Joker stared at her. "I swear to God Joker, right after I got command of the SSV Okinawa I put in a request to have you as my pilot." He stared at her harder.

"You're serious?" he asked and Jane pulled up her mail folder on her omnitool.

"June twenty-fifth, eighty four," Jane said as she showed him her omnitool. Joker looked at the two message files. The first was the official response to confirm that Jane was accepting the role of commanding officer of the SSV Okinawa, the second was her request to have Jeff Moreau as her pilot. He stared at the messages before playing on her omnitool for a second.

"These are legit," he said and looked at her.

"EDI can you confirm these messages?" Jane asked and EDI flickered.

"Both messages are legitimate and their time stamps are accurate," she said and Joker blinked. He went into Jane's inbox, he flicked through the messages until her got to a couple different dates in eighty-four. He did the same in the trash. He attempted a message retrieval and found nothing.

"I tried writing you several times when the Alliance grounded me, you...you never got any of my messages," Joker said, he stared up at Jane. She placed a hand on Joker's shoulder.

"Someone is messing with us. They targeted you and they targeted me," Jane said, her eyes flickering to EDI's display. Joker's eyes narrowed. "However, we have met up again and when you get tired of the comfy private sector, I still want you as my pilot on the Okinawa," Jane said.

"I thought you weren't the type to snake talent," Joker stated, his eyes serious.

"I don't snake soldiers off of other Alliance crews. But this is a Cerberus crew and when we save the galaxy a second time...I'm drafting you, Flight Lieutenant," Jane stated and Joker blinked.

"Sure you don't want to seize command of this ship for the Alliance?" he asked.

"This ship is Cerberus property," EDI broke in. "Officially registered to John Shepard."

"That's right," Jane said as she stood up. "We good, Jeff?" He nodded.

"Sure thing, Shepard, I have a lot to think about knowing that you thought I ghosted on you," Jeff said and Jane smiled.

"To be honest, I thought you were mad at me," she said and he stared at her in shock.

"I'm the one who got..." he didn't expect her to put a hand over his mouth.

"Joker, it was never your fault. I would have done the same damn thing if I had been on the Normandy that day. You did not cause nor were you a reason for what happened that day. If I ever find the ones that were, I have a whole lot of new ways to kill a person to show them," Jane said as she got up. "We're good, Joker, now stop pretending that if you hold still I can't see you when I get on and off the SR2."

"Yes, ma'am," Joker said and Jane honestly smiled.

"I'm not the one in charge on this ship," she said and Joker grinned at her.

"You could easily command me if you wear that outfit like you were before," he said with a wink. Jane laughed and nodded.

"With great bosom comes great responsibility," Jane said.

"I could help you hold those if your back gets tired," Joker said and Jane gave him a look. "Too far?"

"Too far," Jane said as she headed out. She highly suspected that Cerberus was the one to divide her and Joker. Clearly they wanted him for the SR2, but was that the only reason?

~*TF*~

Earth Date: January 26th, 2186 CE

Location: En Route to Donovan Hock's home, Bekenstein

John was driving the car while Jane sat in the passenger seat, Kasumi was in the back looking pleased with herself. The two did make a dashing pair, it still made both Shepards just a little uncomfortable to be playing a romantic couple.

"You clean up well, Mr. Solomon Gunn and you really do look stunning, Miss Elaina Berger," Kasumi said with glee. "Hock won't know what hit him."

"So, we're Solomon Gunn and Elaina Berger as our cover," John said.

"You run a small but talented band of mercs out in the Terminus Systems. Precisely the type of person Hock respects," Kasumi said as she pulled up digital files that showed off a whole history for Solomon Gunn. "I took the liberty of giving you a reputation. Papers, witnesses, article in Badass Weekly." The articles changed to the ones for Elaina Berger, Jane recognized a few as reviews for Afterlife. She was both embarrassed and sort of proud of the five stars. "Elaina was easier. Well known dancer who made a scene at Afterlife for a couple months. Rising up the dancing world. She vanished the same night as a mercenary client of hers." Jane couldn't remember that. "A sordid romance between a human dancer and a turian mercenary, a bunch of gossip columns ran with the story for weeks." Jane nearly laughed. Kavic Velius was the turian Spectre on the Omega Team. He had been a regular client for all the Spectre dancers. Her picture as Elaina came up and John blinked.

"No wonder you chose that background," John muttered. "She looks a lot like Jane. I would have mistaken her for Jane."

"Creepy," Jane managed to sound serious when she wanted to laugh. "Anything we should know?"

"Just don't start talking business with him, and you'll be fine," Kasumi said.

"What kind of a man is Hock?" John asked.

"Hock's a weapons dealer and smuggler. He killed my partner and stole his graybox. Other than that, he's not so bad. Rich, charismatic, willing to crack open a man's skull to get at the neural implants inside," Kasumi said and for a moment Jane saw something in Kasumi's face. Keiji was important...more than the casual teammate.

"I take it we are wearing these getups for a reason," John said.

"You'd look really out of place at a society party in armor, don't you think," Kasumi said. "You both look great. You should wear this stuff more often."

"I would think an Omega dancer wouldn't be invited to a society party," Jane said.

"Actually there are four others on the list," Kasumi said and Jane worried. "Two are now wives to other attendees and two were hired for the party as escorts for the same man."

"What are the details for this job?" Jane asked.

"You both have been waiting patiently. Our friend Hock is throwing a party for his closest friends. A couple dozen of the worst liars, cheaters, and mass murderers you'll ever want to meet, all bringing gifts as tribute to the man himself," Kasumi said. Images of guests, the home, and many other details played across the hub. "Our tribute is a lovely statue of your old friend Saren, rendered with loving detail and filled to the brim with our weapons and armor. You can keep your pistols, as long as they're concealed. They won't hassle you over a sidearm."

"Once inside, we'll make our way to Hock's vault door, somewhere in the back of the ballroom. Then we case the security and start peeling away the layers. The statue should be there waiting for you to crack it open and arm up. Then we just waltz into the vault and take back Keiji's graybox. And I'll finally get a chance to say goodbye," Kasumi said and Jane nodded.

"You've worked really hard on this. Keiji must have meant a lot to you," Jane said. John gave her a look, Jane nearly blushed. She knew she could be a bitch, but she still had a heart.

"Was I that obvious. Keiji's graybox holds a lot of priceless, personal memories. It's all that remains of who he was," Kasumi said. "But the secret he discovered is dangerous. I wouldn't bring you both here if it wasn't."

"What's in the graybox that makes it so dangerous?" John asked.

"The graybox holds Keiji's memories. Everything from all the codes and plans he stole to ...all the time we spent together. Wrapped up in those memories is the secret he stole. Keiji never told me what it was, but the information got him killed," Kasumi said and Jane reached back and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We're almost there," she said, looking at John.

"This ought to be interesting," he said, giving Kasumi a kind look.

"That's what I'm going for," Kasumi said with a grin.

~*TF*~

"This is our stop. After you, Mr. Gunn, Ms. Berger. I'll stay out of sight and stick with you the best I can." Kasumi said as the doors began to open. John stopped her from getting out as they did.

"Cloak, now." John ordered. "It's better if you're not seen at all."

"I love it when you get all ordery He-Shep," Kasumi quipped before cloaking. John shook his head as Jane chuckled. John sighed and closed the doors after a moment of fishing around in the car and handing Jane a purse. He held his arm out to her, and when she slipped her arm into his, he led the way to the entrance. He eyed the statue of Saren impassively but Jane kept a happy, vapid expression on her face.

"Just one moment, sir. There seems to be an issue with the statue." A merc in black armor said, checking his omni-tool scan. John felt Jane's hand tighten on his arm and turned to the man approaching them. He fit Kasumi's description perfectly. This was Donovan Hock.

"Is there a problem here?" Hock demanded.

"No, Mr. Hock. Just doing a scan." The guard replied. Hock eyed the statue for a moment and extended a hand to John.

"I don't believe we've met. Donovan Hock." Hock introduced himself. John shook his hand, doing his best to smile as he did so.

"I've heard a lot about you. Name's Solomon Gunn. This is my companion, Elaina Berger." John said, gesturing to Jane after he finished shaking Hock's hand.

"And I have heard a lot about you. Both of you." Hock mused, glancing at John before focusing his eyes on Jane. "You've been very busy lately, if the extranet is to be believed Mr. Gunn. And you, my dear, were supposed to have vanished over a year ago."

"Some of us get out of the limelight so that we can share it with the one we love." Jane simpered and John barely kept himself from rolling his eyes.

"Sir, the scanners aren't picking anything up." The guard said as he finished his scan.

"Hmm, I don't think our guests would come all the way here from Ilium just to cause trouble. Do you? You may pass through, Mr. Gunn, Ms. Berger, with my apologies."

"No problem. You're the host." John said happily as Hock turned to go back inside.

"Enjoy the party. " He called out behind him.

"Time to mingle Sheps. We'll keep radio contact in case something goes wrong." Kasumi told them over the comms. John sighed but resolved himself before leading his sister into the lion's den.

~*TF*~

"Very nice. There's more here than I expected." Kasumi mused a few minutes later at the vault entrance they found laughingly easy. "Give me a moment Sheps." John grunted as Kasumi scanned the vault to figure out exactly what they needed to get inside. He couldn't help his eyes drifting over to the Saren statue.

"His name was added to the memorial of Spectres. I made sure of it." Jane said, coming up from behind John. He glanced at her. "I may have fought him and hated him, but he was still a Spectre, even if Sovereign got him at the end."

"I'm surprised you did that for Saren." John commented. Jane scoffed before moving away.

"It was the last thing my brother requested of the Council, I was damn sure to see it through." Jane snarked and John winced. He'd actually forgotten for a moment that Jane thought he was an imposter.

"Password protected voice lock. Kinetic barrier. DNA scanner - looks like an EX-700 series. Everything a vault needs to be impenetrable." Kasumi called over to them, turning to face the Shepards as she read her omnitool.

"This going to be a problem?" John wondered.

"Please. Remember who you're talking to." Kasumi said, smugly. "We'll need to get a voice sample for the voice lock. I recommend Ms. Berger chat up Hock for that. We'll have to find a password, too. DNA? Child's play. We should find plenty of DNA samples in Hock's private quarters. And the barrier? Cut the power. Never fails...if we can find it. Keiji could get through a system like this in his sleep. And I'm better. Let's get to it."

"The security room will probably have the password." John mused as they left the vault room entrance.

"You two can cut the power and get the password while I'll chat up Hock for the voice sample." Jane said, strolling away.

"You may need to be a distraction while we raid Hock's rooms, probably an additional security force behind the scenes." Kasumi noted over the comms. "John you're close to the panel right now. I can guide you through it."

"Fire away Kasumi."

"Did I ever mention I love it when you get all leader-y He-Shep?" Kasumi quipped. "Okay, here's step one…"

~*TF*~

Jane pulled her persona from Omega around her and began to walk towards Donovan Hock with the grace her training had given her.

"All you need to do is keep him talking long enough for me to get a voiceprint," Kasumi said over Jane's ear piece. Hock looked at her and she smiled at him with her best dancer's sultry look.

"Ah, Ms Berger, where has your escort gone?" Hock asked and Jane looked over her shoulder.

"Oh, Sol? He's admiring your artwork. Art just isn't my thing really," Jane said and Hock looked at her.

"Some people just don't understand it," Hock said in a superior tone and Jane laughed.

"Oh I understand it, but why make it, when you could be it," Jane purred as her biotics flickered over her skin like light through water. Hock's eyes followed the show and several of the guests were impressed.

"You really are Elaina Berger," Hock chuckled and Jane blinked as her biotics continued to flicker.

"You doubted it?" she asked and he nodded.

"I thought you were someone else, but you are the dancer from Omega," he said and Jane smiled as she slowly let the biotics filter away down her body, like she was stepping out of water.

"Have you seen me dance before?" she asked and he shook his head.

"No, I saw the video Afterlife produced of talented dancers. You were one of them," Hock said, his eyes played over Jane's body, not unlike Joker's, but far more malicious.

"I'm sure all of us would love to hear the truth about your disappearance," a salarian purred and Jane smiled flirtatiously.

"I would hate to bore my host, especially when he seems more concerned about security," Jane said and Hock shook his head.

"I'm sure with your relationship with Mr. Gunn you know how it is in our line of work, we attract a certain element. Few understand the pain we take to keep the barbarians at bay," Hock said offering his arm and Jane took it as he turned to walk the room, gesturing with his hand holding his drink. "People these days want comfort, entertainment, love. They don't see that the galaxy is fragile. They only have to worry about simple luxuries. Why? Because people like me...like Mr. Gunn...are doing the terrible things that keep the galaxy spinning. This party is for us. The cleaners. The support structure for the galaxy's gleeful delusions of peace. May there always be a market for the things we do." He took Jane's hand and kissed the back. She smiled at him.

"I said get him talking, and you got him talking," Kasumi chuckled. "We got enough of a voice sample. Keep him distracted, me and your bro are almost inside the security room."

"Go ahead, Ms. Berger, tell us your tale," Hock said and Jane smiled flirtatiously.

~*TF*~

"Let me unlock that security room door for you. There we go. Ready when you are." Kasumi said as she decloaked right next to John. John didn't even have time to roll his eyes as the doors swung open.

"Hey, you can't be back here." A guard shouted, surprised.

"Take-" the other guard was cutoff as John put a round through his throat with his silenced pistol and Kasumi quickly took out hers.

"Nice shot, He-Shep," Kasumi mused, strolling in. John smirked at her.

"I'm just glad I insisted on silenced pistols," John noted, holstering his side arm. "What idiot would go on a stealth missions without one?"

"Hmm. I have a few ideas about that." Kasumi drawled, "Anyway, see what you can find." John began going through datapads, looking around. He vaguely heard Jane's banter with the party guests and Hock as he did. He found what they were looking for in the fifth data pad.

"Ah ha!" John exclaimed.

"Got something?" Kasumi inquired and John nodded, handing her the pad.

"The password is Peruggia." John noted, smugly.

"Huh. That's the name of the man who stole the Mona Lisa. Nice. I tapped their communications. I think we can get past the private-room guard. Tell him Chief Roe sent you." Kasumi explained before activating her cloak.

~*TF*~

"Sorry, Mr. Hock's private rooms are off-limits without security clearance." The guard growled as John approached.

"But I have clearance to go in." John exclaimed, pretending to be surprised. The guard shared that look.

"On whose authority?" he asked suspiciously.

"I have authorization from Chief Roe." John said smugly.

"Okay, one second." The guard replied, before turning on his comms. "Chief Roe? Samuels. Have you given access authorization to Mr. Hock's private rooms?"

"They have access, Samuels." John heard Kasumi growl, making him smile. "Now stop bothering me!"

"Got it. Sorry to bother you, ma'am. Okay, you're cleared to go in. Enjoy the party."

"Thank you," John replied, moving past the man. He just hoped they could find the DNA samples Kasumi needed.

~*TF*~

"Goddess, you were dating Archangel?" the asari said and Jane shook her head.

"He wasn't Archangel then, just Longinus, a burned out law enforcer. He would come and spend time watching me dance when he got leave. Sweet guy, funny too, but then he got the idea to do what he did," Jane said and she shook her head. "I told him it was stupid, I mean, it was a suicide mission on Omega. I gave up dancing to try and get him to give it up. I even left Omega. It worked for a while, we played house in the Terminus, you know how it goes. People will pay good money for trustworthy security."

"So you left him when he headed back to Omega?" the salarian asked and Jane nodded.

"He got hit by a Blood Pack squad, lost most of his team. Sent him over the edge. I knew that way of life was going to get him killed. I didn't have it in me to go back to Omega, but it didn't matter. I was looking for work and then Sol showed up. He had seen me dance on Omega. He knew who I was and he told me Longinus was a fool for choosing revenge over me. Who needs a knight in shining armor when you have a man willing to kill for you, am I right?" Jane said flippantly and several of the women giggled while the men chuckled.

"Women like you are rare, Ms. Berger," Hock said in a purring tone and Jane smiled at him as she saw John.

"Sorry, Mr. Hock, but I already have the man I want doing my killing for me," she said. "Excuse me." Jane walked over to John and took his arm. It was weird to press her body against him, but they needed to look legit.

"Time to crack that vault," Kasumi whispered in their ears and they moved to corner.

"Not too fast," Jane said as she pulled John into a corner, making it look like he pushed her against the wall.

"I don't like this," John said, looking uncomfortable.

"I know you don't like an audience," Jane purred. "Did you have fun?"

"We got what we needed," Kasumi whispered.

"Rather boring," John replied.

"No one will see us on the steps," Jane said.

"Good show, Ms. Berger, Hock is looking away now," Kasumi said and John nodded. The group went down the stairs as soon as they were out of sight, Jane pulled away from John.

"How often have you done something like this?" John asked as Kasumi de-cloaked and moved to the door.

"Black ops, cannot tell you," Jane said as they entered the vault.

"That got it. The barrier's down," Kasumi said as she approached the voice panel and John began placing the DNA sample into the scanner. The systems turned green and welcomed Mr. Hock. The elevator doors opened and Jane wondered if it wasn't just a little too easy.

"I'll check for security cams. Go ahead and get dressed," Kasumi said. John pressed a panel on the podium. A panel opened and two trays with armor came out and went to either side. One was Jane's and the other was John's. A third tray came out and stayed in the middle with their weapons. Jane began putting on her lower armor under the dress, she ignored John at first. He removed his suit top and the dress shirt, with only the undershirt Jane could see the scars.

The pattern of scarring was horrific. Here and there was the glow of a cybernetic implant beneath the flesh. A strange ridge in the flesh here and there. It confused Jane at first until she realized. Fissures. They were fissures where gas within the body had ripped out of blood vessels and flesh into the vacuum of space. Jane turned away. John had been spaced. She had never seen him without a uniform on before...but John had been spaced. Jane continued putting on her armor.

The thought repeated in her head again and again. My brother was spaced. This John was spaced. Those weren't faked. Those were real. It's John. She froze, no, she had to be certain...but...she closed her eyes and took a breath as she removed the dress. She was armored to the waist.

"Was that from Dirake?" John asked and Jane blinked as she got out of her thoughts. He had put his lower armor on over his dress pants. She looked over her shoulder to see him pointed at a scar on her back. It was a slice that went from the bottom of her left shoulder blade under her bra to her lower right ribs.

"No," Jane said as she turned her thoughts from the hope that John was her John to the dark memory of that scar.

"Black ops?" John asked and she shook her head.

"Batarian slaver," Jane said. "Got into a bad situation where I had to either take a hit or risk a batarian setting off the kill command for the implants. Took the hit."

"I hope you killed him," John said and Jane gave him a look.

"That was the mission where they started calling me the Terror of the Hegemony," Jane said.

"What happened?" John asked.

"You want to hear my side?" Jane asked and John nodded. "After we get back to the Normandy."

The elevator went down.

~*TF*~

"So this is Hock's vault. Very nice. This scanner will hone in on the graybox. It's not far." Kasumi said, activating a device on her omnitool that began to ring out with the most annoying beeping. As Kasumi led them to the graybox John couldn't stop staring at Lady Liberty's head. He'd read enough about the theft but still to see it like that…

"I'm making a note to send a little letter to a few of my Spectre friends who I know would like to see some of this art returned to the museums they belong in." Jane commented to John who grunted in approval. His attention was brought back to Kasumi who squealed in joy. John hurried over to her.

"That's a Kassa Locust. No, THE Kassa Locust! The gun that killed two Presidents. Gorgeous. It even comes with a perfect copy, too. I'm sure Hock won't mind if we borrow these." Kasumi gushed, looking to John with hope. John just chuckled and waved it away. Kasumi let out a happy cry and scooped them up, jostling something else on the table.

"What's this?" John asked, picking up a combat knife on the same table the Locusts had been on as Kasumi armed herself with the replica and let the original stick to her back with her armor's magnetic clamps. He unsheathed it and the area around them filled with the sound of a faint hum, barely a whisper loud. Jane smiled, her eyes practically glowing.

"That is a Progressive blade. Its laser sharpened down and mass effect fields make the blade vibrate. It's supposed to cut through shields, armor and even most barriers like butter." Jane said, eying the blade hungrily. "They cost about a million apiece. So I ca-"

"Mine." John said, cutting her off and quickly sheathing the blade before strapping it to his armor. He purposely ignored the look Jane was shooting him as Kasumi moved a bit further down the table.

"Oh my god. There it is!" Kasumi cried picking up the graybox.

"Don't bother, Ms. Goto. It's codelocked." Hock's voice boomed throughout the room. John jerked up and stared in disbelief as a huge hologram of Hock's head. "I had a feeling that you were involved. I knew if you were, you'd get through."

"You know me. I don't like to disappoint." Kasumi retorted, slipping the graybox into a pouch on her back.

"I need what's in your graybox, Kasumi. You know I'm willing to kill you for it. I'll admit your skills are impressive. You got into my vault like I'd left it open. But you're still going to die, screaming, just like your old friend." Hock snapped.

"Let's see you try. This is where your special skills come into play, Shepards." Kasumi called as mercs swarmed into the room

"The hologram was a bit much, don't you think?" John noted as he took cover. "Think you could seduce him Jane and get him to call off the guards?"

"Shut up and shoot!" Jane replied.

~*TF*~

It was one continuous fight. From the trophy room down the exitway, they were hounded by mercs and mechs. A team had finally been able to stop them in their tracks with a YMIR mech. The YMIR fired at the team and Jane put up a barrier, keeping the team safe.

"Good catch!" Kasumi cried before cloaking and Jane dove behind a vehicle as John blew the mech's head up. The group was in cover as the mech exploded. Jane pulled her sniper and began clearing the way up a head.

"Cover me!" John cried.

"If I don't kill them all before you get your ass down there," Jane called after him. Another head went up in a bloody cloud.

The team moved from room to room, blowing up walls when the need existed.

"How big is this man's basement?" John groaned as they killed the last mercenary in the room.

"He is a major arms dealer...so God knows," Jane huffed as she quickly reloaded her sniper.

"We should be close," Kasumi said, just as they exited onto a transport dock.

"Wow, he stores and ships from home...convenient," Kasumi stated as they exited slowly. It was empty.

"Too easy," Jane said as the hum of an engine approached and a gunship appeared with Hock in the pilot's seat.

"Incoming! Get down!" John cried and the three ducked behind crates. "Where's Garrus when you need him?" Jane looked over the crate and avoided the fire.

"Better choice to leave him behind. Last time we faced a gunship he succeeding in catching a rocket with his face. I'd rather not repeat that," Jane stated, putting up a barrier.

"Good point," John called back.

"You could have done this the easy way, Goto. Allow me to show you the hard way," Hock shouted. Platforms began to come up with mercenaries on them.

~*TF*~

"I got Hock!" John cried out, opening fire on the gunship, making him veer away.

"We'll take the troops," Jane stated as she pulled the sniper and began taking out the foot soldiers.

"Oh, I'm in the way. Got it," Kasumi quipped before going cloaked. Jane focused on shooting, every now and then throwing a merc off the platform with a well aimed throw. As she ducked for cover to reload she heard a blood curdling scream from her right. She glanced that way and saw a merc had jumped the barrier John was behind but he had stabbed the merc in the chest with his new knife. The merc was withering in the ground by John's feet as John popped up to blast another with his shotgun. Jane then felt her blood run cold as John…reacted like John did. She saw him drop his shotgun into his free hand and yanked his assault rifle free with his right hand. As he aimed and fired with his right hand his left snapped his shotgun to his back.

No one else did that. Jane had teased him about it in N-school. He'd blushed and took the ribbing from her and their team in good stride but he kept doing it. No one else could even imitate it. It was such a nuanced, unique…oh God, oh God, oh God. The scars, the way he talked, the way he moved…John?

"Kasumi!" John called in surprise, reaching down to yank his blade free before vaulting over his cover and charging down the way. Jane snapped out of her thoughts and shook her head. She turned and focused down the field. Kasumi had decloaked to take down a merc but the merc's partner had anticipated it and hit Kasumi. The plucky thief was staggered and her shields, already weaker than a straight up fighter, were going fast. John ran up, spraying a merc with his assault rifle, sending him to the ground. John got to Kasumi just as her shields fell, wrapping her in his arms, and covering her as the bullets hit him instead. His shields took the impact as he dragged her to the ground. Jane aimed and took out the last merc, turning his head into mist.

"Thanks John," Kasumi said, gasping for breath. John just shot her a cocky grin as he leaned against the barrier. He moved to peek over and see what the situation was when he realized Kasumi hadn't moved away from him.

"Ah, Kasumi, I need a little space here." He said, looking at the thief in amusement. He actually saw her blush under her hood and she moved away, before cloaking.

"But you're all big and cuddly!" Kasumi quipped as she moved away. "Like a big, deadly gun wielding teddy bear!" John just shook his head and looked over the barrier. Just in time as the gunship came roaring back from under the platform.

~*TF*~

"What did you tell your friend, Kasumi? That you're doing this for love?" Hock shouted, opening firing again. Teams of dead mercs lay on the platform as the ship hovered above them.

"Even if you escape, I'll scour the galaxy for you!" Hock cried and Jane felt pretty sick of him.

"If I can get to the ship, I can take down the shields!" Kasumi cried.

"Ever been tossed up by a biotic?" Jane asked and Kasumi grinned.

"No, but I like how you think," she said as another group appeared.

"Careful, men. I want to keep her pretty face intact," Hock chuckled.

"I got them, focus on Hock!" John shouted, moving past them women and taking cover just in front of the mercs. He opened fired a moment later stopping the mercs from getting close.

"Which one do you think he was talking about," Kasumi asked.

"Probably you," Jane suggested.

"I need a clear path to the gunship, Shepards," Kasumi cried.

"On it," John roared as he riddled a charging merc with bullets. Jane got into a stable position and cupped her hands.

"I'm ready!" Jane cried as Kasumi ran at her.

"Got a clear shot!" she said and Jane set her hands like a normal foot up. Timing was key as Kasumi's body was over Jane's hands, she threw the thief into the air. The ship moved right where they needed it and Kasumi landed like an acrobat. Her omnitool flared and it almost looked like she gave a head nod at Hock before leaping away. Jane was impressed as Kasumi landed in a straddle position. "Shields are down! Let's tear that thing apart." John and Jane shared a look before Jane threw a warp at the ship.

"Do what you like to this gunship. I have a squadron of them," Hock cried and Jane smirked as John began firing his heavy weapon. Jane threw warp after warp before drawing her pistol and firing on the mercs.

"He is asking for it," John cried.

"Too late to get out of this alive, Kasumi," Hock cried as he brought his flaming ship back up. Jane took cover and threw another warp at Hock. As his ship exploded she felt satisfied.

"Looks like he was right about that," Kasumi quipped and Jane nodded. The Cerberus shuttle from the Normandy came in for a landing.

"Only twenty minutes later than necessary," Jane sighed as she put her weapons away.

"On the plus side...Hock is dead," Kasumi added and John nodded.

~*TF*~

The three were in the back of the shuttle. John was at the controls for monitoring Kasumi. Jane took the graybox and Kasumi pulled up her VR interface. Jane inserted the graybox. On the screen the image of a Japanese man appeared. Keiji.

"Kasumi. If you are seeing this, it's because I'm dead. The information we found is all here. It's big, Kasumi. If the Council ever got wind of this...the Alliance could be implicated," Keiji said.

"I feel guilty," John said as they watched and Jane gave him a look.

"We are part of the Council now, we need to know too," Jane said.

"Kasumi, I...I encrypted the information to keep it safe. And I uploaded the encryption key to your graybox, so no one could get the whole package. But if I'm dead, and if anyone knows about this...then I've made you a target, my love. I'm so, so sorry," Keiji said and Jane felt sorrow. They truly loved one another. Keiji died and in trying to protect the Alliance, he risked the person he cared the most about.

"Keiji," Kasumi whispered in a tone that Jane felt the pain in. A memory of Kasumi and Keiji was playing. Jane turned away.

"I thought we need to know," John said.

"Know...I don't think we need to watch," Jane said and he nodded as he looked away from the screen as well.

"I know you, Kasumi. You'll want to keep these memories forever. But you don't need some neural implant to know I'll always be with you," Keiji said and Jane knew where he would go next. "Please, Kasumi. Destroy these files. There's nothing more I can do to protect you."

"I...I can't do that! This is all that's left!" Kasumi cried and Jane closed her eyes at the anguish in Kasumi's voice.

"Goodbye, Kasumi. I love you," Keiji said. They were all silent for a moment before Kasumi's VR interface dropped.

"Is there any way we can just destroy the information?" John asked. Good, both of them wanted to let Kasumi keep Keiji's memories.

"No. Keiji's a master at encrypting files. He laced the information into his memories. You can't get one without experiencing the other," Kasumi said before looking at Jane. Jane shook her head and smiled.

"You could place an Udell self-destruct program into your graybox," Jane said and Kasumi blinked.

"You know about that?" she asked and Jane shook her head.

"I looked up grayboxes when we first met. I know that some of the most serious users automatically put it in there, but it is considered overkill," Jane said.

"What's an Udell self-destruct program?" John asked.

"Insurance," Kasumi said before looking at Keiji's graybox. "It is a program that monitors my life signs. If my heart stops for over a specified amount of time, it wipes my graybox clean."

"That sort of destroys the purpose of a graybox for some of the users, so it's not a standard program in the graybox," Jane said.

"That's not a bad idea," John said.

"It's a double edged sword," Jane said.

"If I set the time too short, if my heart is restarted, I'll essentially have no memory and be as blank as a new born baby," Kasumi explained. "If I set the time too long, I could be put on life support and my files could be accessed."

"If that graybox is that important to you, keep it," John said. "Just make sure you're ready to live with the consequences."

"I am. I'll stay off the grid. No one will know I exist. Maybe I will install an Udell," Kasumi said and Jane nodded as she placed the graybox gently into Kasumi's hands.

"This is yours," Jane said as they began docking with the Normandy.

~*TF*~

"Letter to the specified Spectres has been sent and received," Hick-John said from his VI console. Jane was finishing cleaning her weapons when her door chimed.

"Thank you, Hick-John. Blasto, door," Jane ordered and Hick-John flickered off. The door opened and John entered. Jane looked at him from the floor.

"You said you would talk about what happened with the Batarian slaver," he said and Jane indicated the floor. He sat down across from her and she looked out the window.

"I assume you looked it up," Jane said and he shook his head.

"You did a lot of missions, some of them overlapped. I didn't notice the one that was marked 'the time Jane became the Terror of the Hegemony,'" John said. Jane nodded.

"An elementary school on the Citadel got permission to do a month long tour of a colony. Thirty students, five asari, seven salarians, nine humans, and nine turians ranging from eight to ten...or the asari and salarian equivalents. Two adults for each race. On the way back they got hit," Jane said as she stared out the window.

"Shit," John growled at the thought of children in Batarian hands.

"Both turian chaperones died first with one asari, killed in the taking of the ship. The other asari and one human were killed during the implant surgeries," Jane said. "I made it to the ship as it was getting close to Batarian space. The Okinawa used tethers and I slid down one to get to the ship. It was easy to slip in with a few programs Spectres use for overriding doors. Batarian codes are notoriously easy for those programs. Got on. Got to the bridge. I executed the pilots and left a drone which slowly changed the ship's trajectory. I was picking off the crew when I got to the hold." Jane's face was gone to the cold, killing gaze. Her eyes were glistening with tears. She glanced at John. His face was blank, taking it all in. But Jane saw something in them. Something she had hoped to see.

"I opened the door and I saw them. Caged by species. Their little heads shaved and bandaged. The salarians were shaking like puppies. I killed the processor. It was too quick for what he had done to them. I used another drone to free them and get them to the shuttle. They barely fit. I was getting ready to blow the wall when two batarians appeared. One ran for the implant override while the other ran at me. I had two choices, engage or beat that son of a bitch to the override panel," Jane said. "I went for the panel of course. I wasn't going to let them blow the heads off of those children. I would be dead before I let that happen. I made it and transferred a code Tali made me to keep those bastards from using that panel ever again. I managed to throw the one into the wall hard enough to keep him down, but the second pulled a turian talon, apparently stolen from one of the chaperones to slice. If he had stabbed I wouldn't be here. But bastard wanted to take me alive. One of the salarians had opened the shuttle and shot the bastard. I opened the hold doors and they took off. The Okinawa got them and while I finished clearing the ship, the medical crew on the Okinawa began the implant removal surgeries."

"Why did you get called the Terror of the Hegemony after that?" John asked and Jane turned dead eyes to him.

"Because I did it. I went through and gouged out the eyes of every Batarian on that ship," Jane said. The first tear rolled down her cheek. "I did it to the corpses. They were all dead before I...desecrated the bodies. I deserve that scar, I deserve more."

"Jane..." John began and Jane shook her head.

"I need some alone time," Jane said and as she turned away, John could see the shimmer of more tears. "GO!" John chose to leave...for now.

~*TF*~

Belle Note: So...I totally didn't know that if you look at that datapad on the veranda of Donovan Hock's mansion and then go back into the security room, you can just go into his bedroom. I have played this game probably a dozen times and...I never knew. How many other things have I missed?

Toby Note: See now I did the opposite. I knew you could sneak over by window but I never did. Really shows you how different our play styles are.

OMAKE 1

"Great, Shepard, now we have two of them!" Miranda growled at John and he blinked.

"What do you mean?" John asked and Miranda pointed at Jane and Jack who were tossing Grunt back and forth in the cargo hold with their biotics.

"It's fine, he likes it," John said as Grunt grinned.

"Hey, Cheerleader, catch!" Jack cried and Grunt went flying at Miranda. John watched as the two rolled across the floor.

"Oooh, that had to hurt," John winced as Jane and Jack went by holding hands.

"Let me tell you about my best friend!" they sang.

OMAKE 2

"What the hell do you want?" Jack snarled.

"You're in a bad situation, and I'm going to get you out of here," John said and Jane nearly smacked her faceplate. Jack wasn't a woman to be rescued. This was not going to endear the woman to them.

"Shit, you sound like a pussy," Jack said. Jane winced as John scowled. Just then a crew came storming out of the Normandy airlock led by Legion.

"John-Spectre we are here to assist you in retrieving the Incarcerated-Biotic!" Legion called out but John ignored him, focusing on Jack.

"Okay you listen to me you little bitch-" Jane involuntary shrieked as Jack biotically shoved John through a wall.

"By the spirits!"

"Holy shit!"

"I've wanted to do that for days…"

"John-Spectre, are you functional?" Legion called out to John. It was silent for a moment before John's dazed voiced echoed out to them from the hole.

"Did anyone get the number of that bitch?" He called.

"Zero." Jack snapped to him, smugly.

"Thank-you."

"Can you get out of there, John?" Jacob called.

"Eat a dick!"

"Oh okay, he's fine," Jane said, grinning smugly at Jacob.

OMAKE 3

"So we'll take care of the power and you get the voice sample," Kasumi said and Jane nodded.

"Can do," Jane said.

Shortly later.

"Damn, we couldn't get into Hock's room to get a DNA sample," John sighed as the three met up.

"Oh, I got that already," Jane said.

"Really?" John asked before looking horrified. "Jane, tell me you didn't!"

"Didn't what?" Jane said as she held up a bloody rag.

"Oh..I thought...never mind," John sighed.

"I was trying to get a semen sample but I accidentally head butted him when I was coming up to breathe and he got a nosebleed. Put him out of the mood, but I got blood which is better anyway," Jane said.

"Ewwwww," John groaned.