Author's note: I'm trying my best to get this done. There's probably only a few more chapters left. I'm trying to keep the storyline as true as I can with my own twists added in, but I haven't played the game in nearly 2 years, so I apologize if its a little off in the following chapters.

Chapter Fifteen

Ashlyn swore she could feel the heat of Garrus's eyes burning the back of her skull as she stood in the briefing room, but she dared not look his way. Shepard discussed the plan with the crew and she only attended so not to seem suspicious that she was somehow planning to get on the Cronos Station and hack their data files. She also didn't want to seem too upset that John did not allow her to go on the mission, so she stayed in the briefing room far enough in the back so that she seemed interested, but not upset. She also bore her armor, just in case Shepard changed his mind. Garrus was at the very back of the room brooding away as he leaned against the frame of the door.

"EDI," Shepard went on to give commands, "you have some knowledge on the Cerberus networks, so get prepped. Kaiden, I need a skilled biotic in there, so grab your gear."

EDI and Kaiden both left to prepare for their arrival. Shepard turned back to the rest of his squadmates. "You all stay with the ship and try to avoid any attention, Admiral Hackett's fleet will be taking the brunt of the outside fight."

Ashlyn watched Shepard step away from the terminal and waited for him to be out of sight. The rest of the crew disbursed or spoke amongst themselves, but Ashlyn had a plan and she had to act quick. She just had to grab her guns, and had to beat John to the shuttle bay. Her omni-tool pinged with a message that would give her the opportunity she needed.

Shepard: I know you're upset that you're not going, but would you like to meet me in my quarters before I go? I want to see you.

Her heart wrenched. This was her only chance to get into the shuttle bay undetected, but it meant hurting John… again. She couldn't even come up with a decent lie to tell him. The only thing she hoped for was that he would forgive her when she returned. She hoped he would understand why she broke his trust and disobeyed his command. She would have to explain that this was the only way she would find out what she was and why she was this way.

She decided not to respond to John as she rushed out of the room brushing past Garrus' stoic figure with indifference as she made her way to the elevator. She slipped into the elevator silently and alone, but as the doors were closing, Garrus slunk in as gracefully as his bulky armored self could.

"Where are you off to?" He asked, full of suspicion.

She sighed with aggravation as she averted her eyes away from the tall turian. "None of your business."

"That definitely means you're up to something."

She shot him a glare. "Don't worry about it. Why should you care anyway?"

He returned the glare, equal in intensity, as icy blue met wild green. "Alright, tell me what you're planning to do, because it's probably something stupid and reckless since you're hiding it from Shepard."

She balled her fists and felt the heat of her anger on her cheeks. She didn't want to tell him because she knew he would try and stop her, plus she still did not want to be near him after his rage-filled outburst in Shepard's quarters, but she couldn't have Shepard knowing either. She realized she would have to tell him and hoped that maybe he still had a glimmer of care for her enough to let her go. "I'm sneaking aboard the Kodiak. I'm going to get into Cronos and find out what happened to me."

He stared at her silently for a moment, his glare morphing into slight concern, and then spoke quietly. "Are you being serious? Do you have a death wish?"

The doors opened to the shuttle bay and Ashlyn moved towards the weapons locker without answering. She quickly investigated the bay. Cortez and Vega were probably still on the upper decks, but no doubt Cortez would be down soon.

"I can't let you do this." Garrus said to her, his voice low.

Ashlyn grabbed one of her pistols from the locker and pointed it directly at Garrus. His mandibles fluttered and he stood rigid with surprise. "Don't make me hurt you. You need to let me go. This is more than you can understand."

Garrus wanted to grab her, pull her away from the shuttle bay to make sure she couldn't go through with it, but then he saw the tears in her eyes. Her expression was no longer angry. It was sad and desperate. It was more than he was able to understand. She was a product of Cerberus with terrifyingly impressive abilities and an empty void in her head. All she wanted was answers and that was something neither him nor Shepard could give her.

His mandibles and jaw tightened with resolve. "Let me come with you."

"Don't be ridiculous." She replied, lowering her gun and rolling her eyes.

"If you want to commit suicide, go ahead, but if you want a chance to get the answers you need and live to tell about it, let me come. I won't tell Shepard."

Ashlyn clenched her jaw, wanting so badly for him to come and help, but wary of his recent reactions. "Why?"

"Don't question it, I'm going to help, so accept it or maybe I will tell Shepard."

His threat didn't sound earnest at all, but his eyes were hard with determination and though she was still pissed at him, like always, she found it hard to resist them. "Fine," she said with an exasperated tone, "but do not get in my way!"

Garrus simply nodded and grabbed his gun off of the weapons table. Suddenly, they heard the elevator arrive.

"Get down!" Ashlyn hissed as the doors opened. Garrus ducked behind the weapons table as Ashlyn pressed herself against a storage crate. As they both peered from their hiding spots, they recognized the person that came off the elevator. It was Cortez. He had speed in his step when he went to the Kodiak and opened a panel on the side. Garrus caught Ashlyn's attention and gestured for her to follow him. They stepped lightly as they used the storage crates for cover. When Cortez moved to the front of the spacecraft, doing his routine checks, they used the opportunity to sprint to it and Garrus opened the hatch to a storage compartment.

"Why not the cargo?" Ashlyn whispered.

"They might check there." He whispered back.

Shit, she thought, knowing he was right. Garrus squeezed in first with his back to the inside of the small space. The compartment was mainly used for spare weapons, armor or ammo. It was just over seven feet in height, about four feet deep and three feet wide.

"Helmet on," Garrus instructed. The compartment wasn't pressurized, so they had to depend on their suits to keep them pressurized until they landed.

Ashlyn followed suit and kept her back to him as she got in with a little more ease than the bulky turian and pulling the hatch shut. She used her omni-tool to lock it from the inside and she kept silent as she realized that at that moment, this was the first time she was this close to Garrus since their heated moment in her quarters. She kept her eyes trained on the dark hatch in front of her though and kept her thoughts on her goal.

Garrus on the other hand was struggling with the sensation of her closeness. He wasn't a very emotional creature, but he couldn't figure out if he was angry, happy, upset or lonely. Recently, he'd thought about his reaction to the whole situation with Ashlyn and knew his emotions got the best of him. He did miss her. He really did. He missed that smile he saw on the Citadel. He found it difficult not to wrap his arms around her in the little compartment. But she was with Shepard now. He fucked it up entirely. He was afraid, so very afraid that he was going to end up hurt and alone, and because of that fear he ruined not only his relationship with her, but his friendship with Shepard. For once, he just wanted something to go right.

Suddenly, her omni-tool pinged. Garrus couldn't help but read the message from over her shoulder.

Shepard: I guess you're not coming. I'm heading down to the shuttle bay now. I hope you're okay. I'm guessing you're still upset with me, but I hope we can talk about it when I return. I do really care about you. I hope you know that.

Ashlyn closed the message silently, but the painful twist remained in Garrus's gut. He briefly wondered how Ashlyn was able to get over her connection with him so quickly, but then figured it was his own actions that pushed her away into Shepard's arms. Why wouldn't she seek comfort and affection from Shepard, he was perfect for her.

In a matter of moments, the two heard voices enter the room. They could barely make them out.

Kaiden spoke first with the metallic sound of a gun on the gun table. "You okay, Shepard?"

"I'm fine." Shepard's words were hard and sharp. He wasn't fine. The words made Ashlyn swallow the lump in her throat.

"Should we put extra ammo in storage?" Kaiden asked, causing both Garrus and Ashlyn to tense.

EDI spoke next and rather quickly. "There's extra ammo under the seats in the cabin."

"Let's go," Shepard commanded.

The walls of the Kodiak banged and clanked as the three of them entered the cabin directly behind Garrus and Ashlyn. They could still hear voices, but they were too muffled within the pressurized cabin to understand. Then the engines roared to life, making all other sound nonexistent. They both jerked as the Kodiak began to move in reverse out of the shuttle bay. It stilled for a moment, then they were both slammed against the side wall when it took off towards its destination. They were both lucky they were wearing helmets. Instinctively, Garrus went to put his arm around Ashlyn, to brace her from the impact, but he quickly realized that wasn't his job anymore.

It was about twenty minutes before they heard the engines slow and simmer as they gradually entered the station.

"I'm sure Shepard and the others will be fighting as soon as they exit. It will probably be our chance to get out undetected," Garrus stated, "but we have to be quick."

Ashlyn nodded and when they both felt the Kodiak stop and the cabin door open on the other side, she unlocked the hatch and they both dove out, taking immediate cover behind stacks of large storage crates. They took off their helmets as gunshots rang in their ears and they moved silently towards the opposite end of the hangar from Shepard and the battle. Ashlyn took a side glance and saw them fighting large robotic suits and wanted desperately to assist.

Almost as if Garrus sensed her longing, he said quietly, "We can't."

They found a small space between a wall and some crates and they waited until the fighting was over. They both watched the three Normandy crew members gather resources when suddenly, EDI turned toward their direction. They both ducked down in a blink. Then Ashlyn received a silent message. Garrus looked at her questioningly as she opened the message. There were no words, it was a map and it was from EDI.

"Does she know?" Garrus whispered.

Ashlyn shrugged. "I'm guessing so. She seems to know everything. She's directed us to a back route to a data terminal. It doesn't lead anywhere else so it will probably mean fewer enemies. They'll all be focused on stopping John."

Garrus noticed that the others had moved from the hangar. "Let's move."

Following EDI's instruction, they took a small corridor off the hangar. Ashlyn was focused on following the map, it was Garrus who noticed the signs.

"We're in the barracks." He stated with concern.

"There shouldn't be many here." She replied.

Just as she said that, three Cerberus soldiers entered the hall from a door ahead. Ashlyn and Garrus reached for their guns as one of them shouted over a comm, "We've got enemies in the bar-" Ashlyn's bullet reached him first before he could finish. Garrus finished the other two.

"Shouldn't be many, huh?" Garrus said with a smirk.

Ashlyn rolled her eyes. "That's not many." She glanced at the map. "The room is a few feet ahead on the right."

When they reached the door, Ashlyn used her omni-tool to hack the lock. Inside, there was a desk and chair, a bed, and a door leading to what looked like a bathroom. The terminal was on the desk.

"This is an officer's quarters." Garrus pointed out as they both pulled off their helmets.

"Clever, EDI," Ashlyn said with a thankful smile, "I doubt we'd get caught in here."

"I'll lock the door just in case." Garrus said moving to the door.

Ashlyn approached the terminal and activated it. It required a password, but her mind was able to hack through it with ease. She dug around the system's drives, to no avail, and then realized it was silly to even check there.

"Any luck?" Garrus asked, watching intently as she stared into the screen with wide, glossed over eyes. She blinked at the sound of his voice and turned to him.

"Not yet, I checked the drives, but I doubt anything would be on an officer's terminal. It's probably hidden on the network somewhere, probably firewalled."

He raised a brow plate. "Can you access it?"

She turned back to the terminal. "It might take me a minute, I'm not sure what exactly I'm searching for, but I'm pretty good at this."

Her mind connected with the network and she traversed it using only thought. She found numerous files on countless experiments, drove through firewalls that tried to push her out and hacked any encrypted information. She tried searching her name, but nothing was found. She couldn't think of anything else to search for until she remembered the name Kai Leng spoke of… Rose. Searching for Rose caused an explosion of information and she pulled everything she could back to the screen.

Garrus had moved closer and saw that data files began appearing on the screen almost out of thin air. He couldn't believe that Ashlyn was using her mind to do it. She really was amazing.

When she blinked again, she sighed as if signaling that she had completed her search. It was a lot quicker than Garrus had imagined. They both stared at the list of reports, sound files, video files, data compilations, and much more. Ashlyn could feel her heart pounding as her hands began to tremble. Her entire history was here. Garrus was right. She was nothing but a Cerberus experiment. She had to look at something though, she couldn't drag Garrus through all this trouble without getting anything out of it.

"I'll start here," Ashlyn said as she pointed to the first sound file. "The ROSE program proposal." She activated it and a voice began speaking.

Reaper and Organic Synthesis Energy (R.O.S.E project)

A human child shall be chosen at birth and over the first years of his or her life, he or she will be implemented with Reaper technology taken from technological Reaper artifacts. The purpose of this would be to allow communication with a Reaper or possibly to gain an advantage to fight against the Reapers in an extreme case while keeping humanity's interests as priority. The child's brain will be synced with Reaper technology and should allow an extreme rate of learning and a larger capacity for learning as well. The child's body will also be joined with Reaper technology. He or she should be able to use parts of his or her body as a weapon and should exhibit superior strength, speed and agility. The child's emotions and memories should stay intact to better keep the essence of humanity within him or her, but he or she will be trained to keep any unwanted emotions or memories aside.

Ashlyn forced the lump down in her throat. She was just a Cerberus project. She clenched her jaw as she stopped the tears from cascading down her face.

Garrus saw that she was having trouble keeping her emotions in. He wanted to hug her, hell, even pat her shoulder or something, but he couldn't get his arm to move. He just continued to watch as she clicked on the next file. It was a vid.

A man was seen holding a baby swaddled in his arms. The man was tall with dark hair, a white coat and glasses. His green eyes stood out like two emeralds, just like the baby's.

"I am Doctor Jennings," the man said, "this is my daughter, Rose Ashlyn Jennings. She was named after the program she will be the first to partake in, the ROSE project. I was approached with this project when my daughter was born." Jennings' face wilted slightly. "Her mother died giving birth and it was soon discovered that Rose has an immune deficiency disorder that will cause her life to be very short. So she was the best candidate for the ROSE project. Not only will the Reaper technology give us a better understanding of them, but it will possibly keep Rose alive as well. It will make her stronger, smarter and live a full life. Because of the deficiency, her body should join with the Reaper technology instead of repelling it, which should make the joining easier on her. Once she reaches the age of one, the project will begin."

Ashlyn looked down to the floor for a moment, letting a single tear escape. "That was me," she said softly. "Jennings was my father. He's the one that made me into this thing."

"I… I'm sorry," Garrus said awkwardly as she moved on.

A baby was seen standing while holding onto a push toy that rattled and beeped every time she moved. She had a pacifier in her mouth and watched curiously as Jennings appeared on the screen. She smiled beneath her pacifier at him. "This is year one, month five and day one hundred and forty five of the ROSE project. As you can see, Rose is in wonderful health. Her lifespan was only meant to last a few months because of her deficiency, now she's stronger than ever and all we've done is enter Reaper energy into her bloodstream. Rose is walking and beginning to talk. She excels in everything she attempts to do." Jennings' smile beamed with pride. The baby still smiled, watching her father with an innocent admiration.

Ashlyn went to the next vid.

Rose was about two, sitting on the edge of a medical table holding a datapad in her small hands. Her eyes moved over the datapad and sparkled with joy. Her little pink cheeks were dappled with freckles. Jennings' voice was heard, but he was not seen. "Year two, month eleven and day three hundred and fifteen into the ROSE project. Rose's health is still in top shape. I have begun to notice accelerated strength within her. She was able to lift a chair slightly in attempt to reach a ball that rolled under it. I believe this is result of injecting small amounts of Reaper fibers into her muscle mass. She was in pain for a few months due to the procedure, but soon her body accepted them."

Rose looked up from her datapad. "Daddy, what's this?"

Jennings' form was seen just barely as he leaned over to look. "That's a tree, Rose."

"Can I see one?"

"You can see it there."

"No, in real life."

"One day," he promised and she smiled.

Ashlyn's mind wept over the blissful moment with Garrus and the tree at the Citadel. It wept because she realized her father never kept his promise. She moved to the next vid.

Rose was standing in front of the camera as if she had to. Jennings appeared and seemed very excited. "Okay, this is year seven, month one, day twenty of the ROSE project. Three months ago, I uploaded some Reaper processes into Rose's brain. I expected her to learn at a quicker rate because of this, but I did not expect this." Jennings held up a datapad with a vid of a woman dancing ballet. He held it up to Rose. "Do like she does."

Rose watched intently, her eyes grew large and she focused, unblinking, at the vid. Then she shook her head slightly, blinked and began to dance. Her small body moved just like the woman's. She went on her toes, twirled and moved as fluid as water.

"I would just like to add that Rose has never danced before in her life. Yet now, she's a professional ballerina." Jennings stated.

He gave her another vid, this one was of a man displaying martial arts. Again, Rose focused intently, then shook her head and did as the man did. Her tiny fists were quick and relentless, copying each move she saw.

"It seems," Jennings continued as he gestured for Rose to stop the display. She obeyed. "That Rose has developed a way of copying talents and performing them exactly as she sees them. This is incredible and will definitely be of use."

Rose stared into the camera blankly as it was turned off.

Ashlyn clenched her jaw and moved to another vid. Her gut wrenched as soon as the screen lit up.

A small child lay on the surgical bed. Mechanical arms reached into a gaping hole in the flesh on her back. Tufts of dark hair spilled across her face.

Jennings walked on screen. "So far, our first few surgeries have been a success. The first surgery caused an infection, but luckily it subsided. Today we are injecting Reaper fibers into her bones and more into her muscles, which should make her even stronger. This will be a continuous effort for the next few years so that Rose's body can process these changes without damage. She is already becoming a beacon of strength. I couldn't be more proud."

Ashlyn turned off the vid. She felt like throwing up. How could her father even bear to see her on that table like that? As much as she wanted to get the hell out of there forever, she had to continue.

A girl of about ten was sitting in a chair in front of a computer terminal. Her dark hair was to her shoulders as she smiled innocently at the camera. Jennings sat across from her. "We are on year ten, month two and day thirty-three within the ROSE project," Jennings said to the camera. "As you can see, Rose is doing perfectly fine and is in great health. Since the ROSE project began, the subject has had no teaching and no tutoring of any kind. She learns by copying and figures things out in seconds. Rose has incredible strength, can do anything after watching it once and is able to merge her mind with a computer's." Jennings turned the girl. "Alright Rose, can you tell me the answer to this problem?" He laid a datapad with a complicated math problem in front of her.

Rose looked at the datapad, then at Jennings. "I don't want to do this!" She shouted. "I want to read a book!"

Jennings glanced at the camera nervously. "Come now, Rose, let's show everyone your progress."

"No!" Rose yelled angrily.

"Do what you're told!"

"NO!" With her final loud protest, the little girl slammed her fist down on the computer terminal and it shattered.

Jennings and Rose looked equally surprised. When blood began dripping from Rose's hand, she began to cry. Jennings then turned the camera off.

Ashlyn switched to the next vid.

Jennings sat in front of the camera. He hesitated before speaking. His voice was worn. "I think I have made a mistake." He said slowly. "Rose… is beginning to lose herself. Now, Cerberus wants to take her away from me, telling me I am unable to control her emotions. I realize now what I have done to my little girl." His head lowered and his face could not be seen, but he still spoke. "Cerberus will turn her into a weapon. She's already developed an energy beam that activates when she's upset, who knows what else will become of her if they let her mind get lost in her powers." He lifted his head again, determination filled his green eyes. "I must take her away from here. I've heard of some rebels that plan to separate themselves from Cerberus. They have an unmarked ship that could take us away. I will try and right my wrongs. I will work on nullifying her abilities and keep her away from Cerberus at all costs. And I'll make sure I take this vid with me." The camera turned off.

The next vid had a file name Confiscated_Cerberus_Property. It made Ashlyn uneasy, but she went on.

"It's been five years since we separated from Cerberus." Jennings said with a sigh. His eyes bore purpled puffed skin underneath them, showing how tired he was. "Since then, I've been trying to nullify Rose's abilities permanently. I want to give her the chance to be a normal human girl, but my efforts are hitting brick walls. I can stop them to a point. I can make her forget she has them, but they will never go away. If she is near any Reaper technology it can kick start the abilities once more." He sighed again as he dragged his hands over his face. "I know she'll hate me for the rest of her life for doing this to her in the first place, but I had the best of intentions. I… I just couldn't bear to lose her."

"The Citadel," Ashlyn said in a whisper. "I remember when I first stepped foot on the Citadel, that's when my abilities woke. The first time I copied someone was in Purgatory. Then they strengthened from there."

Garrus stayed silent. He wanted to stay angry with her, but how could he? She wasn't his enemy. He loved her and not being with her caused a blurred mess of emotions. Now, he couldn't even comfort her in her time of need.

The next vid she went to said Rebel_Capture_Footage_Jennings.

"What have you done with the girl?" The Illusive Man's image shifted slightly as he took a drag from his cigarette.

"You'll never find her." Jennings laughed lightly. "I erased everything. It was like restoring factory settings. She won't remember anything, not even how to use her powers and I took out her tracker. You'll never find her… never." His voice started growing weak.

"Just because you erased some data doesn't mean it's no longer there. In time, she will restore everything we installed in her. Since taking all of that technology out would mean killing her, you wouldn't do it. You wouldn't kill your own daughter. So you just caused a temporary bump in the road. She's not even very necessary to my plan, but she would make it easier."

"I don't give a damn about your plan!" Jennings shouted. "You will no longer be allowed to hurt her! She is not your little puppet like Leng!"

The Illusive Man just smirked, nodded slightly to Kai Leng and in a blink, Kai Leng's blade was through Jennings' chest. The vid was terminated.

Ashlyn fell to her knees. She couldn't hold it back any more. She began sobbing. Her shoulders shuddered and her body shook as the tears poured down her face and onto the floor.

As stubborn as Garrus was and as much as he was hurting, he couldn't bear to see her like that. He crouched down next to her and gathered her in his arms. At first she struggled to get away from him, but then she collapsed like a doll in his embrace.

Ashlyn continued crying for a few minutes. Garrus silently comforted her. Once her crying simmered, he tried to lift the mood by saying, "This kind of reminds me of how we met… you in my arms."

She looked up at him and smiled softly, her emerald eyes glistening with tears and Garrus gritted his teeth. She wasn't his to hold. Not anymore.

To be continued...