Something Old

After a couple hours of drifting through space, The Bismarck finally reached its location, the old facility that housed the Biotic Cult headed by the then mentally unstable Major Kyle which lightened the mood on the bridge considerably. Adam had began to get restless and antsy considering that he knew if they were spotted by the Normandy, there would be no chance of escape considering the Normandy's massive drive core.

"Transmission coming, should I patch it through?"

"Of course you should, don't be stupid." Adam told the pilot who winced at his response and patched the transmission through.

"Bismarck, please begin docking sequence." the voice commanded before ending the transmission.

"You know what to do," Adam told the pilot and everyone within earshot as he walked off.

"Geez, why does he spend so damn much time with her?"

"Dunno, but I can say that when I first saw her I was shocked."

"Yeah, I hear ya. I never would've expected her to be as big as she is."

As they spoke, the pilot who was also second-in-command turned to them after setting docking parameters. "My guess is that she got relaxed on that ship with Shepard and stopped worrying about staying in top physical shape, you know?"

"I don't know… she did have a reputation of being a hard-ass." one of them responded.

"Yeah, she also used to be a Gunnery Chief on Eden Prime, too." the other added.

"Well, whatever the issue is, she's really plumped up." the pilot noted before turning back to the controls.

Meanwhile, Adam had made his way into Ashley's room and was giving her a new outfit to wear. It looked just like the attire she had on, except it was black with white trim and was two sizes larger.

"I kinda figured you were getting tired of having your gut visible, so here you go." he told her before tossing the outfit onto the bed next to her.

"Tch, you just want me in those so I don't look bad for your grand return." she countered, a smirk on her face. "You know what, I think I like what I'm wearing."

Feeling that she was beginning to turn a corner on him, Adam's smug look vanished and was replaced by a much more stern look.

"Either you put that on, or I'll allow a few crew members to become better acquainted with your bulbous gut." he tells her in a lower tone.

"You wouldn't dare hurt your prized possession…" she told him, calling his bluff.

"Whether we carry you in unconscious, or you walk in. I don't care and it doesn't matter. Just know that whether you like it or not, you're putting that on. Now, I'll be back in fifteen minutes…" he instructed before leaving the room.

Deep down, she didn't want to do what he wanted. But on the flip side, she had a feeling that he meant what he said and she couldn't take the risk…

"Shepard… Where are you?…"

"Ok, it's been three months since Chief Williams was taken aboard the Bismarck… Why in the hell have we not been able to find one damn lead?" Shepard spoke into the COMM channel.

"Things like this happen a lot, John." the voice answered.

"I know, I just never expected it to happen aboard the Normandy…"

"It happened aboard a couple of the ships I've been aboard. Things like this take time to solve, you just have to do what it takes to reach your destination and not let anything stop you on the way." the soft, female voice instructed.

"You make it sound so easy…"

"Well, there are two reasons for that."

"Those being?"

"I'm your mother, and I know you." she replied with a slight laugh, "I have to be going now, I'm pretty sure that you do too."

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks." he told her, "Take care of yourself"

"I will, and you do the same." she told him before the speaker went quiet and the transmission ended.

Shepard sat down and took in a deep breath before sighing, "I wish I had just one lead… That's all I'd need to find that son of a bitch…"

"If things were that easy, I doubt they'd be as fun." Wrex commented as he made his way in.

"You always did have a strange view on 'fun'" Shepard replied as he sat up and turned to the Krogan who sat in a chair across the room.

"You call it strange, I call it ordinary."

"I think all Krogan's probably share that opinion."

"I doubt it, too many of them are too stupid to have opinions on things. Without a leader, they're all just a bunch of war-hungry crazies yelling at each other until the first shot's fired."

"Maybe that's where you should come in, be a leader for your people."

"That's a conversation for another time, Shepard."

"If you say so, Wrex."

"Commander, we have a transmission coming through from the Citadel." Joker cut in across the speaker.

"Anderson again?"

"Actually… It's an agent for the Shadow Broker, he said you know him."

"Barla Von… What could he want?" Shepard wondered aloud. "Patch it through."

"Commander Shepard… I heard from my sources that you're in quite a bind."

"That doesn't really surprise me considering what you do for a living, now what are you contacting me for?"

"Well… If you know what I do for a living… Then you should have an idea."

"You have information regarding the Bismarck and it's whereabouts?" Shepard asked, as he stood up from his seat.

"Yes, as a matter of fact… I do."

"Wait…" Shepard began before folding his arms, "What's the catch?"

"There is no catch, you see… the person at the helm of that ship, Adam Levine is in a similar situation that Saren was in… He went back on an agreement with the Shadow Broker, and now there's a contract out to kill him."

"And the Shadow Broker wants me to get rid of him, right?"

"The Shadow Broker doesn't care… who kills him… as long as he's rendered out of the picture." the volus responded between deep breaths.

"So basically, if I kill him, it takes care of his problems and my problems."

"Like… What's the phrase you humans use?" Garrus spoke up as he entered the room, "Killing two birds with one bone?"

"Stone, Garrus… Stone" Joker corrected over the speaker.

"Fine, it's not like we'll be going out of our way for this." Shepard told Barla Von which got a nod from the volus.

"Very good… happy hunting Commander Shepard. There were reports of seeing a large ship heading towards the planet… That housed the Biotics convent you broke up months ago."

"…That place?"

"I see you remember it… Then my work is done, until our paths cross again." The volus commented before the comm went dead.

"Well, now that we know where to go. I say let's go crack heads…" Wrex suggested with a wry grin.

"I don't normally agree with him, but I do now." Garrus added in to which everyone else in the room and listening in agreed.

"Well, since I know Joker's eavesdropping again…"

"Oh, c'mon commander… I bet you can't even spell eavesdropping." Joker challenged over the speakers.

"Sure, B-I-O-T-I-C…"

"You're so mean to me." he replied sarcastically.

Meanwhile, in the old Biotic haven. Ashley was laying on her back in her bed, staring at the ceiling and wondering when Shepard was coming.

It had been three months since all of this had started, and even though she tried to convince herself otherwise. Her hopes of being rescued were beginning to diminish.

"Maybe this is the horrible thing that's going to ruin my standing in the Alliance… Just like the what happened with my grandpa…" she thought to herself.

While everything around her would seem to be dire, there was one bright spot in the base.

A woman named Mya.

She was the attendant that Adam had instructed to handle Ashley when they first arrived. While Adam seemed to not care either way about Ashley's well-being, most of the time it seemed like Mya went out of her way to keep her as comfortable as possible considering the circumstances.

Even though she didn't like relying on her captors, Ashley was really beginning to warm up to her. And as far as anyone else knew, Mya was taking really good care of their prized captive considering that she looked to have gained roughly thirty pounds in the three months they had been stationed there and it showed. Her outfit was straining to stay on her as her belly was once again peeking out between her shirt and pants by a couple inches. As close as Mya seemed to be with her, Ashley didn't dare divulge that she was pregnant.

"Ashley? Are you awake?" A voice called out from beyond the door.

Ash shifted to her side to look at the door and sighed deeply, "Yeah, I'm awake Mya."

Soon the door opened up and in stepped Mya. Her body was rather petite and her slim face was showered in golden, curled locks of hair that fell to just beyond her shoulders as her hazel eyes beamed. "Here's your lunch."

"You know, if I keep eating like this. I doubt I'll be able to fit through those doors when the alliance comes to find me." she told her before reaching for the glass of water.

Even though they didn't hate each other personally, Mya hated it when Ash talked about the alliance coming to save her. After all, she still worked for Adam. And when the alliance or Shepard were brought up, Mya tended to dismiss the whole thing.

"I doubt that's the case, now eat up."

"That's all I've been doing for the past three months, Mya…"

"Well then there shouldn't be any problems, hm?" she chuckled before going to sit down in the chair next to the bed.

Before she could though, the door opened up and Adam stepped in slowly.

"Commander!" Mya jerked up and saluted before standing at attention, "I wasn't expecting you to be here!"

"Calm down, I'm just here to have a little visit with our little… well… not so little anymore…" he commented with a smirk.

"Screw off…" Ashley replied before sitting upright in the bed, "What do you want?"

Before saying anything else, he motioned for Mya to leave, which she did. He then sat down in the chair Mya was going to sit in and smiled.

"The Alliance called off the search for you." he told her.

"W-what?" she replied, completely blind-sided by this revelation. "That's a lie!"

"Oh no, really, they did. Council member Anderson said so himself, called it a sad, sad day."

"You…. You're lying…" she told him, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

She had always prided herself on being mentally strong… But this was different, everyone she had held close was gone… and now had apparently given up on finding her.

"S-Shepard…"

"Yes, he was there too." Adam told her before standing up and folding his arms. "Anderson's little yes-man was standing right next to him, putting on his best little 'soldier-boy' routine."

She had stopped paying attention as she now sat on the bed with her head down, tears staining the sheets.

"Face it, you're forgotten. Nobody cares anymore, I can do whatever I want with you now."

"That meaning?" she asked, slightly worried about what he might mean.

"You'll see..."