This is a bonus chapter because, after going through all the ideas for a chapter 3, I have found that it would not be in my power to make something worthy. Not yet at least. I had this planned before chapter 2 was even an idea. It does reveal who Shepard's mother is, some of you have been begging for that. To be honest, I had so many woman to choose from I thought it was better just to leave it anonymous. Some people even made requests. Some fan favourites like Cortana and Kelly, some unknowns like Hannah Shepard or Parisa. I decided to use one that, I think, will be cool with most people, mostly because she's part unknown and part fan favourite.

Enjoy, I hope you like it. :)


Bonus chapter.

John followed the officer down the hallway to the holding cells wondering what the hell he had gotten himself into. Things had finally calmed down dramatically and he had actually thought that things would get better. To think that he had the audacity to hope for such a thing, it was a crime.

The officer stopped in front of a glass holding cell and gestured inside. "Here she is, sir." The officer said with a gesture of his hand.

John turned to look inside the cell and, true to form, there she sat. His 16 year old daughter. Isabelle. Piercings and barely dressed clothing. John hid his sigh well.

She was sitting on a bench chewing, rather obnoxiously in his opinion, on some chewing gum and staring at him with those piercing green eyes that belonged to her mother. Her stare was bored and uninterested.

She rose from her chair when she saw caught sight of him and walked over to the cell door. "Sup." She greeted, folding her arms across her chest and cocking her hip out to one side.

"Isabelle, what were you thinking?" John asked, before he could say another word she interrupted.

"What the hell do you care?" She retorted looking at him as though he was an idiot. She turned her gaze to the officer. "Boss man, let a girl out, I got places to be." She chewed on her gum a bit more.

The officer's eyes turned to glance at John then back to her. "It's not that simple, Miss Mendez." He told her.

"Isabelle, you broke into a military facility and stole firearms." John reminded her. He took a breath to continue but she interrupted him again.

"So?" She shot back as though it was nothing. "You're the commander of the facility, tell them to let me out. You've done it before."

Yes he had, he silently admitted but this wasn't the same. Those other times she was just caught in an unauthorised area, this time she had actually made it to the gate with military grade weapons and explosives. It was not the same, not to him, not after the amount of times he warned her.

He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off before a whisper left his mouth.

"Can we talk about this at home?" She said flippantly turning her gaze to her nails, each one a different colour from the last and a small extension on it.

He stared at her wondering what in the hell he meant to do. When a daughter decides to join a gang, what are the parents suppose to do? When a daughter went out of her way to cause trouble, what was the best possible punishment? When a daughter purposefully disobeys out of spite, what was a man suppose to do?

What would his wife have done? What would any sane human being do?

Odds are if she were still alive then it wouldn't have happened in the first place. So, on this day, he made a decision that no man should.

"No." He said seriously.

He saw her body slowly tense as her eyes rose to his.

"What..." She began.

"No." He told her.

A moment ticked past before she plastered a confident smile on her face and let out a scoff as though she had the entire situation figured. "I'm a minor, you can't keep me here." She taunted.

His expression didn't change. "If you think that, then you haven't been paying attention in class." He told her. She was indeed a minor, but that hardly meant you were exempt from the law.

A few long moments ticked by before, slowly, her confidence and arrogance faded from her face. "Dad, this isn't funny." She told him, her chewing gum all but forgotten.

"I'm not laughing." He said calmly. "Given the circumstances I will be able to organise a court date later this month, but that's all." He said.

Then he saw it. The panic that slowly filled her eyes as she began to understand what was happening. That was good, he needed her to understand that his position did not mean she could do as she pleased; he needed her to understand that there were things that she could not get away with. He needed her to understand that he was not happy.

"What..." She practically whimpered the word in a whisper. John began to turn away and she quickly hit the glass of her cell with her palm. "Dad?!"

"I'm sorry, Isabelle. I'm not helping you this time." He said and began walking away with the officer at his side.

"Wait! DAD!" She shouted slamming her fist against her glass cage. "Dad, I'm sorry! Please!"

John used every ounce of his will power not to react to her pleas. He couldn't. She had to understand and he didn't know what else to do to help.

"Dad! I'm sorry!" She repeated, louder. "Let me out, PLEASE! DAD!" She shouted. He heard the tears in her voice but did not turn to confirm it and left the holding area.

As soon as he was out he turned to the officer. "Keep her in that cell, bring her some prison fatigues." He told him. "Let her get cleaned up."

The officer nodded. "We'll keep her safe till you pick her up."

John walked out of the police station, trying his utmost to keep his heart and breathing in check.


4 days later, John was walking down that same hallway to that same holding cell holding new clothes in his arms for her. Something a bit more conservative than a short skirt and a tube top that was six sizes too small. A simple pair of jeans, a light blue t-shirt, a grey hoodie and some sneakers.

"She hasn't stopped crying since you left." The officer told John.

John said nothing, already hearing her soft whimpers from almost 30 feet away. It was all he could hear. He came to a stop in front of the cell.

She was still there, wearing orange prison fatigues that were 1 size too big for her, huddled in a corner crying with her head on her knees. John's heart broke at the sight eliciting only a quite sigh from him. He nodded to the officer and the man unlocked the cell door. She didn't react to the sound.

"Isabelle." John called into the cell from the door.

Her head shot up at the sound of his voice. Her bloodshot eyes were wide. A solid line of tears slid down her face.

"Come on, it's time to go home." He told her.

He saw the gears in her head turn for a moment as she tried to understand the situation. Silently she stood up from the ground and walked over to him, keeping her eyes trained on the ground.

He held her clothes to her as she exited the cell. "Get dressed and clean your face." He told her.

She took the clothes without a word and walked to the bathroom. She walked out a few moments later, head still concentrating on the ground and her arms wrapped protectively around herself. John expected her to question where her purse or other clothes had gone but she remained quiet.

He only gave her a glance before heading for the exit, nodding to any officers he walked past. She followed slightly behind, not bothering to keep pace with his long strides.

In the parking lot, John opened the passenger door for her and waited. She stopped a few feet from him shifting and looking uncomfortable. John had a good idea that it wasn't because of her clothes.

"Dad, you wouldn't have really left me there, right?" She asked.

John took a deep breath before slamming the car door closed and walking up to her. She took a single stumbling step backwards, shrinking slightly, looking less like a sixteen year old and more like a six year old. "Listen to me very closely; I'm done taking shit from you."

Her glistening eyes rose to meet his hard ones.

"I've been lenient thus far but enough is enough. You step out of line one more time and I won't be saving you again." He said down to her. "Do you understand?" He asked.

Her head bobbed up and down quickly.

"No more skipping school, no more talking back, no more interrupting people. None of this..." He thumbed the seven studs in her ear, and flicked the one on above her eye. "From this point on you will act like a proper young woman, you will not complain or whine when I give you an order." He said. "Do I make myself clear?"

She nodded frantically again.

He stared at her for a moment longer. "Now get in the car, you have school tomorrow." He turned back to the car and opened the passenger door for her again.

This time she said nothing and got into the car.

The drive home was spent in perfect silence. Isabelle slowly began removing her piercings while keeping her eyes staring out of the window taking in the sights. Nothing particularly interesting caught her eye until they stopped at a traffic light. She saw a poster of a man in green armour and a golden visor on his helmet. She recognised it well, the posters were all over the place but for the first time she read what stood beneath the image.

'Join the Alliance Navy. Don't just make a difference, be the difference!'

Even after the car began moving again, Isabelle was still staring at the poster.


2 years later

Isabelle stood at attention by her bunk not daring herself to move as the drill instructor walked passed. Just her luck that said drill instructor stopped right in front of her. The instructor was one of the larger women Isabelle had seen, almost a full head taller than she was with arms that put her own to shame. The standard brown hair and brown eyes looked eerily similar to her dad but, then again, most military personnel looked like him.

"I'd recognise that face and red hair anywhere." The instructor said out loud. "You're Mendez's kid aren't you?" She asked.

"Yes, Ma'am!" Isabelle sounded off.

"Shit you sound just like your mother." The instructor said giving Isabelle an up and down glance. "If you're half the woman she was you will make this unit the greatest there ever was."

"Thank you, Ma'am!" Isabelle said.

"I expect great things from you Mendez, don't you dare let me down or I'm sending your cute little ass back to daddy in pieces." The instructor. "Do you understand!"

"Yes, ma'am!" She said.

The instructor continued walking through the bunks shouting at new recruits.

7 hours later

"Mendez, you useless waste of space, your father would be ashamed to see you like that."

The next day.

"Mendez, what would your father think if he saw that bunk in such a sorry state?"

Later that day.

"Mendez, you punch like a girl, clearly you skipped out on your father's combat genes."

The day after.

"Mendez, what the hell are you shooting at, your father would have sniped that target at twice this range."

"Mendez... your father..."

"Mendez... your father..."

"Mendez... your father......"

"Mendez... your father..."

Two months later.

"Mendez..." The drill instructor shouted walking towards Isabelle.

Isabelle spun around before another word could be uttered. "If you say one more thing about my father, I'll fucking kill you!" She shouted before she realised what she had said and had her hand clamped around her mouth, her own eyes wider than dinner plates.

The entire barracks became silent as everyone stopped moving and stared at Isabelle with wide eyes. The drill instructor had her eyes narrowed.

"Mendez, get your ass outside, I'll deal with you in a moment!" The instructor ordered. Isabelle followed the order without question and made for the door with quick deliberate steps. The instructor turned to the rest of the trainees. "What are the rest of you looking at?" She snapped and they all jumped back into action.

Isabelle was quiet as she was approached by the instructor. She braced herself for a reprimand or a solid beating but it never came. Instead, the instructor pulled out a packet of cigarettes, lit one up and began smoking.

"Guess you and John never got along too well." The instructor said conversationally.

Isabelle raised her eyes to meet the instructor's. "Ma'am?" She asked.

"Drop the "Ma'am" shit for now. We're alone, no need to be formal." The instructor said dabbing some ash off of her cigarette.

"Wait... you're not angry?" Isabelle asked, daring herself to relax slightly.

"Oh no, I'm fucking pissed." The instructor said with a perfectly serious face but it softened a moment later as she put the cigarette in her mouth and let it burn calmly. "but out of everybody in galaxy I think I know how feel better than anyone else."

There was a beat of silence. "So you had an asshole for a dad as well?" Isabelle asked.

The instructor let out a scoff of laughter. "Hell no, my dad loved me, took me to the circus every Saturday and church every Sunday. I know how you feel because I used to date your dad before he got with your mom."

Isabelle blinked a few times. "Oh." She said intelligently, unsure of how to respond. "I'm sorry, I never caught your name." She apologised.

"I never gave it." The instructor said before holding out a hand for a handshake. "Petty officer second class, Kelly Shaddock."

Isabelle accepted the handshake, almost cringing at the solidness of this woman's hands. "You and my dad huh?" She prodded.

"Dated for two years before we broke up. Fuck I miss that bastard." Kelly said almost wistfully.

"You knew my mom too?" Isabelle asked.

Kelly nodded solemnly. "Petty officer second class, Linda Pravdin. I knew her, she was my sister in everything except blood." Kelly gave a long look at Isabelle. "I swear you look just like her." She shook her head quickly. "I know what you think of your dad. I know cause that's what everyone thinks of him unless they actually took the time to talk to him."

Isabelle remained silent.

"You think he's an asshole who doesn't care about anything." Kelly began, giving Isabelle a hard look. "but I swear if you ever say that to my face, I don't care if you're John's girl or that you look like my best friend, I will knock your fucking teeth out." She said before taking a deep drag of her cigarette.

Isabelle lowered her head.

"John's a good man and a better friend. Linda loved him." There was a pause. "He loved her." There was a different tone in that last sentence but Kelly continued before Isabelle had too much time to think about it. "And he loves you too."

"Well, he has a funny way of showing it." Isabelle sneered to one side.

A wistful smile grew on Kelly's face. "Yeah, he does." Kelly admitted. "His plan for our first date was to go for a 12k walk." Kelly kept smiling. The smile faded quickly and her face became serious again. "He never told me he loved me, hell if he ever told Linda I would be surprised. Plain and simple, the word is not in his vocabulary, don't expect to hear it too often or at all."

"I don't." Isabelle said.

Kelly ignored the interruption. "But just because he doesn't say it, doesn't mean he hates you. I learned the hard way, Linda too. Your dad doesn't have a soft side, and if he does, we've never seen it. He is who he is and that's that. He's a hard man, filled with cement and steel and held together with plastic explosives. Nothing more."

Isabelle raised a brow. "and you loved him."

"I still do." Kelly said without hesitation. "Because, despite everything that his is, there are two things that make him better than any man, woman or child I have ever met."

"Which is?" Isabelle asked sceptically.

"He is trustworthy and dependable." Kelly said. "Anything ever goes wrong, you can bet your ass and life savings that he will do everything he can to make it right even if it means his head on a plate."

"I never really got that impression from him." Isabelle murmured.

"Name one time that he didn't." Kelly challenged confidently, her cigarette resting on her bottom lip and her hands on her hips.

"I got arrested and he left me in prison to teach me a lesson." Isabelle said.

"He told me about that one." Kelly admitted with a nod of her head. "Stealing military grade weapons is a federal offence that could lead to treason if you're not careful." She warned. "Now my question is, how many times before that did he... overlook... your little crime spree."

That shut up Isabelle rather quickly.

"I think I've made my point." Kelly said, nodding smugly to herself.

"Fair enough." Isabelle murmured.

"Now let's talk about your little outburst in the barracks." Kelly said dropping her cigarette bud on the ground and killing it with her boot. "I'll just come out and say it, you're fucked for the rest of your military career."

"Wait, for one outburst?!" Isabelle interrupted.

"John mentioned you liked interrupting people." Kelly mused out loud. "Do it again and teach you how to sympathise with men and their nutsacks." She said calmly.

Isabelle's mouth snapped shut, more out of confusion than actual fear of the threat.

"And that's not what I meant." Kelly said. "Look at your uniform, what is the one thing that identifies it as yours?" She asked.

Isabelle looked down at her uniform and spotted her badge that had her last name on it. "My name?" She guessed curiously.

Kelly nodded. "Problem is, that's not your name, that's John's. A name means a lot in the military and John's built a hell of a name." She told her. "He casts a pretty huge shadow and a lot more people fall into it than you think but in the middle of that shadow is you." Kelly said poking Isabelle in her chest.

Isabelle remained quiet.

"I'm not going to apologise for it and I'm going to keep comparing you to him. You want me to stop, you build a bigger and better name for yourself and you make sure people remember it. Threatening to kill me, on the other hand, won't get you anything more than an ass-kicking, served to you by yours truly!" Kelly said with eyes that Isabelle swore belonged to her father. "I've kicked John's ass several times over and I'll do the same to you." Kelly warned holding a finger in Isabelle's face. "You get me?"

"Yes Ma'am." She said out of reflex.

"Now that we have that sorted, let's get your punishment started with a nice brisk 20 kilometre jog towards that mountain over there." Kelly said pointing to the distance at a rather large mountain where the sun was setting. "Come find me afterwards for the rest of it. Take more than half an hour and I'll make sure you'll do it again throughout the whole night." Kelly finished and began walking away.

Isabelle's eyes went wide as she looked at the mountain in the distance. 10 kilometres there and back was no easy task. The road was rough and had a lot of turns; add to that, most of it was uphill and it was becoming dark.

"I wouldn't even be able to do that in one hour!" Isabelle protested.

Kelly paused to look over her shoulder and gave a sly smile. "Your father did it in 27 minutes." She said before going on her way.

Isabelle blinked at her before looking at the imposing mountain in the distance, the setting sun casting a shadow of it on the ground not 10 metres from her. Kelly was right, her father did cast a big shadow.

Taking a breath she began running, into the shadow and towards the landmark. All she could think about was her name and that maybe it was about time she had her own name to help her cast her own shadow.


There's the bonus chapter. Hope you liked it and that you're not too upset about who Shepard's mom turned out to be. It was not an easy decision and, if people hadn't been so adamant about it, I would have left it anonymous. In the future I may yet post a chapter 3 for mass effect 3 but as of now this story is complete.

And for everyone who want the chief to meet Shepard's love interest. Let it be known from this point on that ever since I played through mass effect one and two, as both genders, I always romanced Liara. This story is no different. I will not bend, I will not break. Jane shepard/Isabelle Sierra Shepard is into the hot Asari doctor and not the scarred Turian sniper or the black guy from Mass Effect 2 or that biotic guy with the headaches. Suck it! Xp

Feel free to leave a comment on what you thought, or leave an emoji of your feelings on the chapter. I love emoji. :D No flames, pls.