"Jo, a word, please," Garrus said sternly while Jo was putting on her armour. She, Tali and Vega were preparing to go groundside after Kai Leng, who'd entered the Sanctuary just minutes before they arrived in the system. For some reason Garrus wasn't happy.
"Sure," she led him a little away from other people in the cargo bay. "What's on your mind?"
"Should I be offended that you never take me with you groundside anymore, Jo?" Her chosen brother asked with a little confusion and worry. Even though he trusted her reasons, she knew, he still wanted to know what they were.
"Garrus, did you know that back on Earth we still have royalty? Countries that go so far back in their tradition that even though those kings and queens don't rule anything, they're still important public figures?"
"Uhm... How is that relevant?"
"Well, royal titles are hereditary. And two siblings from the same royal family are never allowed to use the same ship. See, if the ship gets shot down by terrorists, the country can not afford to lose all heirs. Even if one dies, the other one has to live. Hence, they never travel together." Jo was smiling, knowing that the reasoning was odd but still the beginning of an understanding started to lighten up Garrus' face.
"Are you saying I'm your royal brother?" He teased her.
"You're even more important," Jo patted his shoulder. "We can't both of us get killed. If I die, you'll be the one to finish what I'm doing. There is no one in the galaxy that I'd wish more to have at my back groundside, but you're too precious right now to risk."
"What about... Tali?" He spoke up much quieter than before.
"Don't go breaking my heart now, Garrus," Jo became quite serious. "I know what you're thinking and feeling, but if I can't have you at my back, I need someone I trust as much as I trust you. I bite the bullet and put myself in danger all the time, Joker does too, when he lets me, so you and Tali will have to deal with the life we're living. Trust me, I wish more than anything that I didn't have to put people I love in danger."
He grabbed her arm before she could work herself into a fit, and squeezed hard:
"I understand. I just worry."
"I know, and I'm sorry. You know I'd die to save her for you, right?"
"Yes, I know you'd do that even though it would break Joker's heart. You're selfless like that. So I can afford some selflessness, too."
No more words were needed. There was no bullshit between the two of them. They understood each other perfectly.
The Sanctuary rattled all of their nerves. After watching the footage about the refugees being turned into husks Tali quickly took the opportunity to look away, tracking down Oriana's location. While she was busy, Vega came to stand close to Jo in front of the window. Husks jumped around behind it, screeching in their creepy way.
"As your instructor I'm supposed to teach you how to not care," Jo said very, very quietly to the younger man. "How to steel your nerves, how to not let something like this get to you. I'm supposed to teach you how to turn off your feelings in order to get the job done."
"But you can't?" He whispered back, and it was only half a question.
"I used to be very good at this," she lowered her eyes. "I could shut out all emotions and keep going. It's what made me such a great N7. Nothing rattled me. But the longer I do this, the harder it gets. I don't know what kind of a lesson you'll learn from what I'm saying, or if the ICA would even approve of me showing such weakness to a recruit, but..." She turned to look at Vega directly. A husk jumped right at the window and hung there, barely a meter away from them, staring with inhuman hate and hunger. Vega put a careful hand on Jo's shoulder:
"But right now you're not my instructor, but a fellow soldier who is as spooked by all this as a green boot camp recruit would be?"
"Yes. I don't have all the answers. And I most definitely can't tell you not to care, because I obviously do care."
"That's all right, Lola. I couldn't stop caring even if you told me to. What's happened here is too sick."
As they followed Oriana to the tower transmitting the jamming signal, they caught glimpses of what her father, Henry Lawson, had done. Jo's head spun when she saw him report to the Illusive Asshole, telling him that they'd learned to maintain control over husks in close proximity. She couldn't help thinking that this could be useful in a fight. What if the Asshole was right and they could find a way to extend this control to all Reapers? What if...
No, Jo shook herself. Husks and banshees were mindless by definition. Controlling them would be simple. The Reapers wouldn't be so easily thwarted.
When they did find Oriana, Kai Leng had already gone and Jo couldn't even tell the Normandy to watch out for him because their communications were down. She took her frustration out on Henry Lawson. Once she convinced him to let go of his daughter, she put a bullet to his head and suddenly all the problems between him and his children were over. Everything Miranda had told Jo about this man, everything Oriana had had to suffer - done and over with.
"You're Commander Shepard," Oriana said, stepping away from her father's dead body. She eyed Jo with a new kind of speculation. "You knew my sister."
"Yes, a little," Jo admitted.
"Could you tell me about her?"
Jo really didn't want to talk about Miranda, but she had no other choice here.
"Come on, kid, I'll give you a lift and we can talk on our way," she said. The Normandy didn't get guests often, and Miranda's sister was an unexpected guest at that, but Jo couldn't very well leave her on this planet.
Later that evening she offered Oriana to have a chat in the loft. Joker was plotting the course to the Citadel and the crew was busy.
"I can't believe that my sister had been right here, had walked these floors before she died," Oriana looked around wide-eyed. "What was she like? Tell me."
"First thing you have to understand is that Miranda was not a friend in any capacity to anyone on the crew. She was a hardcore Cerberus operative and refused to believe in their depravities, no matter how much proof I brought her, almost to the very end."
That hit Oriana hard.
"But... I must believe there was something good in her. She couldn't have been all like our father. She escaped him and took me away."
"Who am I to say you're wrong?" Jo shrugged, pulling her hamster out of his cage to feed him. "All I know is that she worked for Cerberus out of deepest conviction, and so did he."
Oriana fell silent, thinking. Jo had nothing against the kid, really, but she was not going to lie to her.
"At least she saved your life, Commander," the girl concluded, which made Jo instantly rigid.
"Oh, honey," she snapped. "Honey, she didn't save my life. She found my charred corpse and dug deep into it like a necromancer to bring me back from the dead." Jo then did what she wouldn't have done for anyone else. She took off her shirt and unzipped her pants to let them pool around her feet. Wearing only her underwear now, she turned around to show Oriana the glowing orange scars criss-crossing her entire body. "This is her work. This is not saving a life. This is sick, evil and perverted. I was happily dead until your sister ripped me out from my heaven. For some reason she and the Illusive Asshole were convinced I would be grateful to them for this. They couldn't have been more wrong."
Oriana bit on her lips from inside, her gaze taking in her sister's work.
"I didn't think... This is a lot to take in," she finally said.
Jo put her clothes back on.
"Look, kid, I'm not saying she's the villain and I'm the helpless victim. I'm just not exactly your sister's fan. Apart from what she did to me, the general consensus about her was 'pure cold-hearted bitch', an arrogant and frigid elitist to the tips of her fingernails. If it's any consolation to you, though, she really seemed to care about you. Even asked for my help when you got in danger last year."
"The commotion on Nos Astra," Oriana remembered. "I thought I saw her at the docks that day. Why didn't she come and talk to me?"
"Don't know, don't care."
"You're not a very good source of information, Commander," Oriana folded her arms on her chest accusingly.
"Never claimed I was. You came to me asking questions and I'm answering them truthfully. It's not my fault that your sister wasn't the hero you hoped she was."
"But she turned away from Cerberus!"
"At the very end, when refuting the evidence against them would have reflected extremely badly on her IQ."
"You don't believe it was a genuine change of heart?"
"Don't know, don't care."
"You are an infuriating woman, Shepard."
"Thank you."
Oriana groaned in frustration.
"How did Miranda die?" She asked eventually.
"Inside the Collector base. A building block fell on her."
"Was it at least quick?"
"It really wasn't."
"You saw it?"
"Yes, I stood there and watched," Jo said with a heavy glare. It took a few seconds for the realisation to sink in. Oriana's eyes widened, her heartbeat picked up and her breath stuck in her throat.
"You killed her..." She exhaled with rising terror.
"The building block killed her. I just chose not to try and save her. Which doesn't really make a lick of difference. Yes," Jo nodded and put her hamster into his cage again. "I suppose I killed her."
"You... I..."
"Oh, don't start about me killing your entire family. Your real family are the people Miranda left you with to grow up. She committed unspeakable crimes and so did your father. They died for what they did. If you decide you have some kind of beef with me for doing what I had to, you can get in line and maybe one day you'll get your turn. However, if you decide to reflect on your family and choose to do something about that foul reputation the name Lawson has gotten across the galaxy, you will realise that the stain is quite large. You have a chance to do things differently, kid. You started off really good when you went against your father, so I'm inclined to trust your judgement for now. If you continue on that path, you'll soon realise that I'm a much better friend to have than your sister could ever be."
Oriana had tears in her eyes when she shook her head and left the loft. There was a good chance that Jo had gotten herself a mortal enemy right there, but right now she didn't really care. Oriana was welcome to try for revenge, if they both survived the Reapers.
Nobody bothered the Normandy when they left Horizon and the horrors of the Sanctuary behind. Jo found out soon enough why. They got ambushed after their very first jump, a system already destroyed by the Reapers and now holding only a functioning relay. As soon as the ship dropped out of the blue blaze a mighty blast shook them. Jo, on her way from the Main Battery towards the med bay, had to grab onto the next bulkhead, as did everyone else around her.
"Status!" She yelled.
"Shields down to 60%!" Joker's tense voice sounded in the speakers. Without her having to tell him what to do he began the evasive manoeuvres. "It's Cerberus! Multiple fighters and three cruisers moving in. They're cutting us off from the relay!"
Jo trusted Joker to do his best. No matter how many ships moved in between him and his destination, he should be able to get past all of them. It wasn't only about flying the fastest ship in the galaxy - it was his skill.
Hence, when despite some fancy evasive manoeuvres the Normandy got hit several more times in short succession, Jo frowned in worry. She was still at the mess hall with Garrus, Chakwas, Vega and Liara. Tali cursed in the speakers:
"The shields are down to 3%, we can not take another hit!"
This had never happened before. Not like this. Joker was silent, but Jo knew his hands were a blur over his console. The ship certainly moved like it could dance between the missiles - and yet the Cerberus ships seemed to know exactly where he would be in the next moment. The Normandy shook once more and fire alarms blared.
"Hull breach," EDI announced. "Life support is not in danger at the moment, but we are losing air pressure in non-critical sectors."
A dark premonition gripped Jo's heart. How the fuck could Cerberus catch them so easily? An even darker idea formed in her mind.
"Joker!" She yelled and grabbed the mess hall table to keep from falling over. "Left hard roll and a spiral down!"
"What?" He yelled back.
"Five fighters behind us, following in formation," EDI reported.
"Joker, do as I say!" Jo shouted in earnest. "Left hard roll and a sharp spiral!"
The ship twisted around its own axis as Joker followed her order. People held on to whatever they could, trying not to yell in panic over the blaring fire alarm. Plates and pots from the kitchen flew across the whole room and Karin's supply cabinets lost their contents on top of Allers' head as the journalist tried to hide under one of the beds. Everything that wasn't bolted down now flew around like missiles.
"Loop, Radius 34," Jo ordered before Joker even finished executing the spin. The ship groaned at the strain. "Another loop in the same place, half the radius!"
"What the fuck are you doing?!" Joker yelled again, though he followed her commands. The Normandy moaned around them. Jo knew that her commands made little sense to a high class pilot like Joker. Manoeuvres with many hard spins and in such quick succession without rhyme or reason could snap a lesser ship in half.
"Saving our lives, damnit!" Jo gripped the table harder. It was difficult to stand. "EDI, report on the attackers!"
"One cruiser guarding the relay, two more moving to outflank us. The fighters broke formation after our second loop, but they're gaining on us again."
Jo closed her eyes. There was no holo table in the mess hall to look at the situation in real time. She would have to run it in her head based on EDI's reports and hope she didn't miss anything.
"Hammer head stall turn," she ordered but when the ship was at the peak of the turn, ready to plunge back down, she ordered again: "Barrel roll sharp right and come out in a loop again!"
"Jo, I have no idea what you think you're doing here," Joker gritted his teeth. "I'm the pilot and I know perfectly well how to perform evasive manoeuvres. What, I'm suddenly not good enough for you?"
Everyone in the mess hall watched Jo, waiting for her reply. Obviously, none had ever expected to see the day when Joker wouldn't be pilot enough for Jo.
"You'll thank me later, when we're out of this mess," Jo yelled to be heard over the fire alarm. "Double tail turn with a flip, then drop sharply under the cruisers. Garrus, Vega, to the cannons! Fire at will!"
"Jo, we really can't take another hit," Tali warned.
"I think another spin and roll like that, and the ship will break," Joker protested.
"That's the whole problem, my love," Jo sighed in relief when EDI turned off the alarm. In blessed silence, surrounded by pale faces, Jo sent Joker a smile over the nearest camera: "Right now you need to not think at all and let me think for you. Trust me, I actually know what I'm doing."
"Why the fuck?" He yelled again, barely missing two missiles from the cruisers.
"Because they know how you think. How else could they know so precisely what you would do in an ambush? They knew all your steps before you knew them. You need to let me do the thinking for once because they can't predict me."
"Their algorithms would be rendered useless if Jeff is not in command of the evasive manoeuvres," EDI sounded excited by the idea.
"I'm afraid it's more than algorithms," Jo said. "I could bet they created a VI to calculate and predict your reactions, Joker. All of this is just too precise for simple algorithms. They almost got us, damnit."
The next twenty five minutes were the most tense chunk of time this Normandy crew had lived through to date, together. No separated ground team this time. They were all locked in a burning ship with no shields, unable to engage the FTL because of the surrounding fighters and cruisers. At least Joker surrendered to Jo's command and executed her orders exactly. Most civilians on the ship - Allers, Oriana, Liara, even Traynor - hid wherever they could and tried their best not to lose their lunch, green-faced and scared. The techies worked like crazy to fix the hull breach and the engine. The rest of the crew tried to stop fires.
Garrus and Vega shot down a few fighters and when Jo realised there was a breach in Cerberus' formation, she gave the order she never thought she'd give.
"EDI, get us the fuck out of here!"
Unlike the last time such an order sounded on the Normandy there was no delay. The drive core lit up and the ship entered FTL speed.
However, it dropped out of it in less than a minute, the entire drive core shut off and the thrusters powered down.
"What happened?" Jo demanded.
"The fuel lines are compromised," Tali reported from Engineering. "The FTL won't work until we fix them."
"Can we do that here or do we need a dry dock?" Jo's heart sank.
"Not sure yet, I'll let you know."
Jo nodded and looked around. Rodney and Javik led two teams hunting down the last fires. Allers and Oriana climbed out from under the beds in the med bay, looking pale and shaken. Garrus and Vega reappeared and started lifting the heavy items thrown around in the explosions. The crew started fixing the ship immediately.
Now that Jo could actually move around without getting killed, she hurried toward the CIC. The navigators all looked pale, but they'd flown with Joker before and knew the meaning of the word 'tough'. Joker was out of his chair and walking towards her when she exited the elevator.
"What the fuck just happened?" He demanded of her.
"I don't know for sure, but I suspect that Cerberus took advantage of my trust in you. I never tell you how to fly and they observed that last year until we removed their spying devices. I suspect that they've created a VI, if not even another AI, which can analyse your flight patterns and predict your reactions in an ambush. That's why they got us so easily. They knew exactly what you'd do. The only way out of this was to get someone else do the thinking for you. It worked. See it as a compliment, my love," Jo reached out and rubbed his arm. "Imitation is the greatest form of flattery."
"Oh, is that why I get a Cerberus VI and you get Conrad Verner?" Joker jabbed at her, his nerves showing in the biting sarcasm.
"Indeed," Jo flashed him a grin. There was something incredibly sexy about taking over his domain for a change, though Jo didn't think he was feeling the same way about it.
"Commander, report," a navigator gave her a datapad. Jo pushed the information to the main holo table and the image of the ship replaced the galaxy map. Compromised areas flashed red. The crew assembled around to take a look. Tali spoke up through the intercom:
"We can fix the fuel lines for now, but we'll have to get a dry dock and replace them first thing. The rest of the damage isn't critical and the shields will recharge. I suggest we take it slow towards the next port if anything is available within the normal speed range. No matter what I do to those fuel lines, the drive core will be unstable until they're really fixed."
"Okay. EDI, where are we?"
"I took us in the direction of the closest solar system, but we dropped out of FTL before we reached it. Right now we're between systems. Good news is that Cerberus isn't following us."
"What dry dock options do we have?"
"If we follow the current course without FTL, it will take us sixteen days and the only dock in the region belongs to a medium-sized fuel station. If we turn around and return to the relay, we'll reach it in seven days and will have access to the relay network. From there we could eventually get to the Citadel and the best repair teams in the galaxy. Provided, Cerberus isn't waiting for us at the relay once more."
"All right," Jo nodded. "Tali, do whatever you can and let me know if FTL is at all possible without damaging the ship. Joker, turn us around and get us back to the relay. EDI, get me Nyreen Kandros on the QEC."
"Nyreen?" Garrus asked, a little confused.
"She can send us support, I know she has some ships nearby. Her pirates can deal with the Cerberus ambush before we even get there," Jo explained.
"It's good to have friends and favours," Garrus nodded.
"It sucks to be stuck on a ship for a week with absolutely nothing to do," Vega quipped.
"I'm sure you'll find yourself really occupied," Jo's evil grin was a promise.
That evening they had a confirmation from Nyreen about sending a small flotilla to deal with the Cerberus ambush. The team fixed the trashed living quarters and the techies repaired the fuel lines enough to hold until they got to the Citadel. For now and the next week or so they had nothing to do but wait.
Everyone was dirty and tired from the day's ordeal, but they still gathered in the mess hall to unwind. Jo's days of heavy lifting and dirty work were in the past. These days she let her crew handle all repairs. Her time was better spent preparing for the Reaper war. Still, she had to eat sometime, and she found everyone in good spirits.
"Shepard, can we have a word?" Kenneth approached her once she was finished with her food. Jo looked up at the young man and couldn't help but notice that he and Gabby didn't look like they'd just spent the day in the ducts, fixing fuel lines. They were clean, nicely dressed, and had their arms around each other in a gesture of pure devotion.
"Absolutely," Jo nodded. Both Ken and Gabby sat down with sly expressions on their faces. That got the attention of he rest of the crew. People started gathering around.
"So, you're the captain of this ship, right?" Ken smirked.
"Oh, you noticed!" Jo laughed and leaned into Joker, who sat at her other side.
"Well, among other things, of course, there is something a ship's captain has always been entitled to do. You know, for the people on board that ship," Gabby blushed. Honest to god, she blushed. Jo was intrigued, though at the moment she had no idea what the couple was talking about. She raised her eyebrows, urging them to continue.
"To marry people," Ken finally clarified. Everything froze in the room. On the entire ship. Jo's breath hitched in her throat. "Will you please use your authority as the Commander to marry me and Gabby?"
Everything was still for a long moment, even Joker's heart. He couldn't see Jo's face because she was leaning her back against his shoulder, but he could feel the tremble that rushed through her body.
"You humble me," she said quietly to Ken and Gabby. Her voice was almost a sob.
"So you'll do it?" Ken insisted. Jo untangled herself from Joker and leaned over to hug both young people:
"Of course, if you really want me to. It would be my deepest honour and the greatest pleasure to fulfil that particular duty as the Commander," she said and the room exploded in cheers. Joker let it all happen because he just felt numb, stunned. A wedding? Ken and Gabby were getting married? They'd known each other far longer than Joker knew his Jo, but they'd only been in a romantic relationship about as long as they. Then again, when Jo got herself locked up in Vancouver, Ken and Gabby had been both locked up and couldn't see each other at all for six months. Their relationship had been hit harder. It could have died away, but apparently they were stronger now than ever before. Marriage.
Marriage?
It took him a moment to realise that everyone was staring at him.
"What?"
"I asked you if you'd be my best man," Ken grinned at him.
"Me? Why?" He blurted out without thinking. Everyone laughed at that. Or was it at him?
"Because you're our Joker, man," Ken shook his head as if he was explaining the simplest thing to a three-year-old. "That's reason enough for me."
"Oh," Joker swallowed. He was used to gestures of affection from Jo, but it still shook him each time other crew members told him that they liked him. "Of course, I'll be your best man. Whatever you need me to do."
"Fantastic!" Gabby exclaimed and looked around. "Tali?" She found the young quarian in the crowd. "Would you be my maid of honour?"
"I'm not sure I know what that means," Tali looked around at all the happy and excited humans and concluded that it couldn't be a bad thing. "But I'll do whatever is expected of me with pleasure."
"Thank you!" Gabby left Ken's arms to embrace Tali. There was more cheering and more women encircled Gabby when she showed the ring Ken had given her. Apparently he'd gotten it on their last shore leave on the Citadel and proposed an hour ago.
"So, when do you want to have this wedding?" Jo asked once the excitement settled a little.
"Well," Gabby blushed again, exchanging glances with her fiancée.
"We were thinking... Right now?" Ken finished her sentence.
"That's really short notice," she said, though Joker noticed that she didn't say it was a bad idea.
"It's not like we're doing any repairs right now anyway, Commander," Ken said. "We fixed what we could and all we have to do now is wait until we arrive somewhere, anywhere. And we both have no news on our families, so pretty much everyone we wanted to invite is already on the ship. Plus, since we'll be stuck here for at least a week, we could have a bit of a honeymoon, with your permission, of course."
Joker grinned at that. Jo waved her hand dismissively:
"Bah, humbug. You'd get your honeymoon even if we were in the middle of a war zone. You two are worth it. But really? Right now? I'm all for it, but are you prepared? I mean, do you have something nice to wear, at least?"
"Don't you want to have your bachelor party first?" Vega cut in. "I have some nice tequila stashed away. You should celebrate your last day of freedom!"
That was when the unexpected happened, and it hit Joker straight in the gut. Ken's face grew very cold very quickly as he turned to the other young man:
"If there is anything to celebrate, then only the fact that it's the last day. If you think I'm giving up something involuntarily here, Mister Vega, you're horribly wrong. We all could have died today and we might still all die tomorrow. I know where I want to belong, even if these are my last days alive," he wrapped his arm possessively around Gabby's neck, almost strangling her in the process. Somehow she didn't seem to mind. Ken's vehemence sent shivers through Joker. The two techies had always been rather private about their affair and only came out publicly after Jo and Joker announced theirs, but it seemed that their feelings ran very deep. What shook Joker most, though, was the fact that he could understand Ken perfectly. Vega, being alone and lonesome, wouldn't understand what it meant to have someone at the time like this. To have someone to call your own. Your refuge, your safe haven, the person you'd most likely die with and for. Joker understood.
While Vega looked properly chastised and apologised, Joker opened his omnitool. He wanted do something for the happy couple just because he knew that if - ever - he and Jo... well... the whole ship would go out of their way to do something nice for them.
"Jo," he nudged his girl. "We'll be entering the solar system in four hours and in approximately seventeen hours we could land on a planet, if we take a slight detour. It's a garden planet with only an abandoned smuggler base. Nice beaches, warm ocean, the only hazard - monkeys."
"Would that be all right with you?" Jo asked Ken and Gabby. "We could organise a real party and raid my dresser to put together a nice outfit for the bride. And get all the bachelor parties out of our systems in the meantime."
"The kitchen isn't really stocked for parties," Ken observed.
"Bah, humbug. You know I always keep lots of the good stuff stashed away for a special occasion. This qualifies," Jo waved her hand again.
"I don't think that your outfit with the zipper qualifies as something nice to wear for the bride," Joker poked Jo from behind, reminding her of the black catsuit she'd worn once on a date with him, the one with the zipper down her crotch.
"Oh ye of little faith," Jo laughed. "I have other stuff, too. Stuff you haven't seen."
"I have some nice dresses, too," Allers cut in and the rest of the women started talking outfits. Somehow everyone agreed to the plan and Joker went to the cockpit to correct their course. Who would have thought this day would end like this? His head spun. A wedding. A marriage.
A marriage...
