Chapter 8

We need to talk.

I'm not going anywhere, might as well find out what he brought me here for, the chief figured.

"So talk."

Léon nodded. "The man we found on Binthu is, as you already know, James Fale. He was married to a girl named Elia. She was hired by Cerberus to study the effects of toxins from various poisonous creatures, like the Rachni, and try to create countermeasures, antidotes, armor upgrades and the like, for use for soldiers battling on the field. James was an Alliance soldier who was honorably discharged. Upon their employment, Cerberus erased all record of their existence. "

"Not all." Ash said knowingly, "You just have to know where to look."

Léon paused. "Am I telling you things you already know?"

"I know James and Elia were married, I've seen the wedding photos."

"Right. When Elia was hired out, James was hired as a guard in the same place. I guess they didn't want to be separated since they were newlyweds. Then you and Shepard showed up and blew the place to hell. Elia and James hid in a panic room."

"I didn't see a panic room, and I was there twice."

"No, it was very well concealed. I probably would have missed it too if I hadn't been told where to find it."

"Who told you?"

"Not important."

"I think it's pretty damn important." she said with a hint of annoyance.

"Noted." He continued "While you dealt with the Batarians, I went to find the panic room. There wasn't much inside, but there was a computer, so I copied as much as I could from the hard drive. There wasn't much of interest on it, except the within the inbox. Several messages from Elia, no outgoings. They started a year ago and were sent for a couple of months and then stopped, but the newest one is only a day old. She asks about the distress beacon, she was worried, I've got no idea how she knows. "

"She was emailing her husband?"

"Yes, but I don't think he got them. Seems that she and James were separated and she has been unable to talk. I don't understand why she would send it to Binthu, but it doesn't matter."

"What makes you think he didn't get them?"

"No responses in the outbox, and that room was unbelievably dusty, looks like it hadn't been touched for years. I figure he tried to sneak past the barbarians and got caught. But the emails are what we need. It's a load of files from Cerberus. They aren't foolproof. People are always the weak link and Cerberus is no exception. Anyway, there's a lot in the messages, but two interesting things stick out. A lot of money, and I'm talking hell of a lot, billions of creds poured into one project. The Lazarus project. Looks like a close friend or relative of Elias was working there. Not sure what it's for and unfortunately we don't have a location."

"That's not a lot of help"

"No, it's not. But her last message looked rushed, she asked about the distress beacon and she put some coordinates. I think that's where Elia is. I think the emails are evidence and she needs help. Maybe she has more information; maybe she's still inside a Cerberus facility."

"So you want my help to go get her back?"

"That and to learn anything we can. I know my skills and my limits. I can't do this alone."

"Why only me? Why am I special? What's the problem with telling the Alliance?"

"I'm searching for evidence on a theory that the Alliance has been infiltrated by Cerberus. The evidence Elia sent shows communication between someone in the Alliance and the illusive man which supports my case."

"You don't know who?"

"No, we just have the area it was sent from and it's only one side. The illusive man was more careful, we didn't get his side. It might be more than one. That's why I can't trust anyone. I'm taking a risk by trusting you. Let's call it instinct. You were part of the team that took down Saren and you've taken down Cerberus bases before. If the wrong person finds out, they can warn Cerberus and we lose any lead we might have."

"You can trust Captain Anderson. He's a good man."

"I believe you, I've read his files. But he is on the council. Could he keep this secret? "

"I think so."

"I need more than that."

"Besides, once I have the coordinates for that base, what's stopping me going it alone? I don't trust you either. What are you hiding?"

"I still have all the evidence against them and there was one more piece of information you will want. But you're not getting it until we are done."

"You could just be making that up. How do I know you have anything of value at all?"

"You don't. But can you take the risk? You have my word; you'll want to hear what I have to say."

Ash glared at him. "How did you get hold of this information? Who told you?"

"I can't tell you, it's not important anyway."

"If I do this, I need to know. That's my condition. You want my help, I need that name."

Léon considered his options. He knew how stubborn she could be. But she wasn't going to like it.

"The Illusive man" he said cautiously.

"What? You're Cerberus?" She was disgusted. She hated Cerberus, they were terrorists. And now it seemed they were everywhere. Even Shepard was with them now and it was breaking her heart. As much as she was trying to keep it together, she knew she must seem quite morose to others.

"Not exactly. I was investigating Cerberus. The Illusive man is the one who put me with the Alliance. He must have pulled strings to get me in, which adds to my theory of Cerberus agents in the Alliance."

"Son of a bitch. Why?"

"As a spy or a tool. To do things like he asked of me on Binthu."

Ash knew this chain of thought would just lead to further unproductive anger and tried to get back on track. "You said those email started a year ago. Why didn't he send someone at the time? Why wait?"

"My guess is he didn't know about them. The latest email that Elia sent was the only one he talked about and he didn't know what was on it. He wanted me to make a copy and destroy the original. I haven't given it to him. He's pretty angry." Léon gave a small smirk; the Illusive man wasn't his favorite person.

"Good. But all we really have to go on is a set of coordinates. And we don't know where they go."

"I know, it's not much. But they were sent recently and the Illusive man doesn't know about them yet. I hope. There's a chance here and we need to take it."

Suddenly the door to the room shot open and before he knew what was happening, a fist smashed Léon in the face and he was down on the ground with a gun pressed against his head.

"Sir, wait!" Ashley said rather calmly, trying to stand but finding herself still chained to the pipe.

"You got the keys for those?" He growled at as he pressed the gun a little harder.

Léon awkwardly reached in his pocked at produced the keys. Anderson took them and tossed them to Ash who unlocked her cuffs single handed. She got up and stretched.

"Are you okay?" Anderson asked with genuine concern.

"Aye, sir. Sir, there some things you need to know about." She said

"No!" cried Léon "We have to –"

"We can trust him." Ash interrupted with a raised voice. "And I sure as hell won't be sneaking around behind the Alliances back, even if what you say is true." She turned to Anderson. "Sir, we need to talk."

I've gotten a few comments here and there but no real constructive critics, so I'd really appriciate some, especially as this is my first story.

Ash is supposed to be like she was on Horizon, emotional about Cerberus, but otherwise professional and to the point, lacking some of her usual humor because she is depressed about Shepards death and his return with Cerberus.

How are the original characters, like James and Léon?

Does the story make any sense? I may have over complicated things for myself with the idea, seeing as it's my first story. I'm trying to make it gradually unfold, like a detective story would.

Anyway, thanks for reading!