Chapter 19
"Hello Mr. Shepard" a man said.
He was 5'10, black hair, brown eyes, with a neatly trimmed goatee, wearing a blue suit, he pushed a button that muted sound in the room so no one could hear what he was saying.
"I'm prosecutor William Santos and I'm here to personally make sure you fry. You will not have an easy death Mr. Shepard no, this will be painful, you will feel this until your last breath. And when you take that last breath just know this could have been avoided if you would have just stayed away" Santos said staring Joseph Shepard directly in the eyes.
"What the fuck are you talking about, stay away from what" Joe said looking at Santos.
"My family, everything was fine you could have stayed in prison, she was over you, then that damn meddlesome hero brother of yours had to start digging around. Bringing up old memories and feelings inside of her and the only way to get my wife back is to ensure your death" Santos told Joe.
"Your family, are you talking about Ana, Ana hates me you stupid son of a bitch, I just wanted to see my daughter" Joe said anger building by the moment.
"She's not your daughter she's mine, I take care of her, I chase the monster's away at night, that is my family and you will not take it away from me, you dumb meat headed criminal bastard" Santos said fury building.
"Listen to me and listen good, there is nothing between me and Ana anymore, I don't want her she don't want me, but Jessica is a different story. I am her father, her real father it wasn't my choice to not be in her life but I will not have it stolen from me again by a cheap fill in wearing an ugly suit" Joe said anger straining his voice.
"How dare you, you damn imbecile, you are nothing. A waste of time space and matter, your death will be a gift to society Mr. Shepard and I will be the delivery man of that great gift" Santos spat at him.
"You won't be delivering shit bitch, my brother's gonna empty his assault rifle into you, I'm sure you've heard of Commander John Shepard" Joseph said calmly.
"Yes I know of Commander Shepard, I'm not particularly afraid of the paragon hero who owes us his life" Santos slipped out.
"Us...are you Cerberus Willy" Joe said as Santos shifted uncomfortably "Ahhh yeah you are huh Willy, Illusive Man know about this little setup Willy" Joe said smiling at William's annoyance to his new nickname.
"Stop calling me that you fuck" Santos said enraged turning to Joseph.
No Willy, I'm having fun now, so answer my question does Timmy boy know about this" Joe said.
"No he doesn't, and it doesn't matter, the only thing that matters is that you are going to die here today, and there is nothing anyone can do about it" William said turning to walk away.
"Well since those didn't scare you maybe this one will, let me ask you a question Silly Willy, do you know who Miranda Lawson is" Joe asked smirking hiding his nervousness playing the last card he had.
William stopped abruptly at the mention of Miranda
"Yes Mr. Shepard I know of Operative Lawson" William said trying to hide his fear. Miranda was well known amongst Cerberus staff as being quick on a trigger and ruthlessly efficient.
"What if I told you that she was gonna kill the shit out of you when she gets here, you may be able to fool these dumbass c-sec cops and that retarded council, but you know and I both know that Miranda's just not that dumb" Joe said confidently.
"Unfortunately for you Operative Lawson is on an important assignment at the moment, so the chances of that happening would be slim to none and even if she was, her time wouldn't be wasted on the likes of you" Santos said cooly.
"Well unfortunately for you, I have a girlfriend and that beautiful deadly girlfriend just so happens to be Operative Miranda Fucking Lawson, and if I were you I would start shitting my pants now, your a dead man, give my regards to Miranda's bullet" Joe said sitting back in his chair.
Santos left the room abruptly scanning the area for Miranda, calming down believing Joe was just messing with his head. He headed back to his office to prepare for his trial, not noticing Miranda and John walking into c-sec.
"John you gotta get to Ana's house my daughter's in danger, the fucking prosecutor is Cerberus, he set me up" Joe spoke erratically to his brother.
"Relax Joseph we know, Garrus, Jack and Ashley are on their way to her home to get your daughter to safety" Miranda told him sitting down.
"Are you ok" Joe spoke softly to Miranda.
"I'm fine Joseph we're going to get you out of here" she said holding his hands.
"Mom's coming" he said looking at John.
"It'll be nice to see Han-" he turned mid sentence to see his mother walk through the door
She stared at John tears forming in her eyes.
"Johnathan" she croaked, reaching out to grab his face.
"Hi mom" he said pulling her into an embrace.
"Is it really you, are you really my baby" she said looking in his eyes crying.
"Yes mom it's really me, I'm here, I'm alive" he said holding her tight.
"Joseph" she said looking around John to see her oldest son sitting at the table.
"Hi mommy" Joe said looking at his mother giving her a smile.
She walked over hugging him kissing his face, as he began to blush looking at Miranda, who was smiling at him.
"Alright mom, your embarrassing me now" Joe said looking down as Hannah turned to Miranda.
"Hi, I'm Hannah Shepard" she said reaching her hand out to Miranda.
"Pleasure to meet you. Miranda Lawson" she replied shaking Hannah's hand.
"John, whose this beauty" Hannah asked looking at John.
"Joseph's girlfriend" John said grinning.
"Nice job son "Hannah said complimenting Joe's taste, making Miranda blush as well.
"Are you ok Joey, I wish I was seeing you two on better circumstances" she looked at Joe and began to cry wrapping her arms around him.
"It's ok mom, I'll be fine ok" he said looking into her eyes as she kissed his forehead.
"I missed you" she said holding onto him.
"I missed you too mom, everything's alright ok" he said relaxing her as she held onto him.
"It'll be ok mom" John said to Hannah, walking over to wipe her tears.
"The councils ready to begin Shepard" Bailey said walking into the room, uncuffing Joe from the table standing him up.
"Looks like it's time to go" Joe said walking with Bailey "John remember the last words I said to you when I first got arrested" he asked his brother.
"Yeah, you said be a man" John answered looking his brother in the eyes.
"Take care of her Johnny" he said looking at Miranda.
Joe's POV
In the council's chambers, Santos argued the case adamantly. Joe stood there saying nothing as he listened to Santos tell lies about him.
"Dr. Shepard do you have anything to say in your defense" Councillor Tevos asked as Santos looked at Tevos confused by her addressing of Joseph.
"Besides the fact that this man is a liar and this entire case is a sham, no your honors" Joe said showing nothing.
"Defense has no evidence all speculation and rumor, no proof just like his traitor brother" Santos said.
"Watch your mouth you piece of Cerberus trash, don't you ever disrespect my brother" Joe yelled .
"Stay yourself Dr. Shepard" Councillor Sparatus interjected "council is ready to render judgement".
"Dr. Joseph Michael Shepard Jr., you have been found guilty of all charges and are sentenced to death by neural shock" Tevos said as the guards began to hook Joe up to the neural shock machine.
You could hear Hannah Shepard screaming and crying in the back of the chamber as Joseph Shepard Sr. held her close.
"Any last words Joey boy" Santos said smirking at Joe.
"Yeah... Hi Miranda" Joe said as they flipped the switch and he began to receive the neural shock.
John's POV
John Shepard stood on the roof of the council chambers with Grunt , Thane, Miranda, and Samara. Looking down watching the Cerberus agent argue against his brother.
"Kasumi is everything a go" he said into the radio.
"Hacking in now Shepard" Kasumi said quickly stroking the keys "Tali, your all set" she said before high tailing it back to the Normandy.
"Got it Kasumi" Tali said as she began hacking the controls.
"Tali you have to do it now" John said getting nervous watching them hook his brother up.
"Just a second Shepard" Tali said typing away furiously.
"Tali we need to move now, they are going to kill him " Miranda said looking at the turian guard's hand hover over the switch. "I'm going down" Miranda said as she dropped into the chamber pointing her gun at the fear stricken William Santos, pulling the trigger before the entire room went dark.
John, Grunt, Thane, and Samara dropped down and began neutralizing the guards.
"Grunt, get him out of that thing" John yelled securing the perimeter of the room.
"Got it Shepard" Grunt said ripping his battle master out of the machine throwing the shaking Joe Shepard over his shoulder.
"Let's move, Joker prep the Normandy for take off we're leaving" John said exiting the room.
"Aye aye commander, Ashley, Garrus, and Jack just got back on board with the kid and her mom, the mother doesn't look too good Shepard, she's with Chakwas now" Joker said.
"Damnt, have Chakwas get ready for Joseph we couldn't shut down the power fast enough before the shock kicked in, send Mordin down there with her" Shepard said running back to the docking bay.
The Normandy pulled out of the citadel quickly as they got the power back on and began to close the arms. Grunt carried Joe down to the infirmary, still shaking from the effects.
"Mordin help me" Miranda said sanitizing her hands walking over to Joe as Mordin stopped her.
"Doctor Lawson, given close personal relationship to patient, suggest you should sit this one out" Mordin said looking at Miranda before walking back to Joe.
"Joey" Ana croaked grabbing his hand from the bed next to him "I'm so sorry Jo-Jo" she said crying and coughing.
"What happened to her" Miranda asked as Chakwas and Mordin stabilized Joe.
"You should ask Garrus or Ashley, they carried her here like this, the short answer is she got shot, I need you to leave Miranda" Chakwas said as respectful as possible.
"Do not let him die Karin, I will hold you and her responsible if he does" Miranda said glaring at Ana, holding the hand of the man who now belonged to her.
"Garrus what happened" Miranda asked walking into the cafeteria of the crew deck as everyone sat around waiting for news.
"I don't know Miranda by the time we got to the apartment we heard a gunshot when we stormed in the mother was already down and the bastard was going for the kid, we took him down and got a holo of his corpse" Garrus said showing Miranda the picture.
"I know him he's Cerberus, Alexander Storms I think his name was" Miranda said in shock looking at the holo." What does this mean" she asked a million answers running through her head.
"It means your boss set this whole thing up cheerleader, no witnesses left alive, starting with the bullet you put into the scum bag prosecutor's neck" Jack said getting up pissed at what just happened.
"No your wrong, he wouldn't do that" Miranda said defensively.
"Why not Miranda" John said finally speaking "He knows about you and Joseph, Santos was just a convenient pawn to carry out the task, he's afraid Joseph is clouding your judgement and he needed him out of the way" John said angrily.
"Where's Joseph's daughter" she asked looking around holding the teddy bear she pryed out of Joe's hand.
"She's in the starboard deck with Grunt" John said passively before everybody just realized what he said running for the starboard observation room. They found Grunt sitting on the floor with his legs crossed talking with Jessica calmly. All in shock of how Grunt was behaving with the child, Samara supplied an answer .
"He must sense that she is Shepard's child, krogan protect all members of their krannt, he will not leave her side until Shepard is well" she said smoothly. Miranda made a note to stay away from Grunt or he may out her secret, but Garrus beat him to the punch.
"So Lawson, is Grunt gonna start guarding you too, since he watches Shepard's kids when he's incapacitated" he said unaware of the glare Miranda was giving him.
"What " everybody said as Miranda walked out of the room furiously.
"I thought you all knew, oh spirits help me" Garrus said running off to the gun battery to hide from Miranda.
Walking back into the medbay finding Ana still holding the unconscious Joe's hand.
"Get off of him" Miranda said coldly "you did this".
"Who are you" Ana asked.
"It's none of your concern, just know that if you do not release his hand now I will forcibly remove it" Miranda said walking over.
"Don't you see that I'm dying, you will not take this away from me, I loved him more than life itself" Ana replied defiantly.
"If you really loved him you would never have left him, no matter what" Miranda said still glaring at her.
"You know nothing of our relationship, so don't you dare to assume anything about me or Joseph" Ana said getting angry with Miranda.
"I know more than you think, and I know that if you knew him as well as you claim to, then you'd still be together and your daughter would know who her father is" Miranda spat at her.
"Uhhnnn, I no wanna wear a tie Miri" Joe muttered in his sleep interrupting the altercation as Miranda smiled at him.
"So your the Miri he's been dreaming about for the past ten minutes" Ana said bitterly,
"Yes, I love him, and I won't abandon him like you did" Miranda said rubbing Joe's head like she always did watching him noticeably relax under her touch.
"I remember the first time he told me he loved me, I was so scared I didn't even say it back. He kept saying it everyday we were together until I finally told him I loved him too, the night he made love to me for the first time, I was so scared, now I've really lost him" Ana said reminiscing.
"What's the point of telling me this" Miranda said losing patience listening to the woman's memories of her Joseph.
"No reason, make sure Joseph takes care of my baby...please" the woman said choking up looking Miranda directly in the eyes.
"Joseph's a protector, I wouldn't be able to stop him from it, your daughter will be fine you have my word" Miranda said looking back at the woman drift off into sleep. She walked over to check her pulse even attempting to revive her but she was already gone.
Miranda stepped out and informed John of Ana's passing. He and Miranda then headed back to the starboard lounge to break the news to Jessica.
"Grunt could you excuse us for a second" John asked as Grunt got up stepping out of the room for the two people closest to Joseph. Had anyone else asked they would have been told no and probably shot in an instant.
"Hi Jessica, you remember me" John asked sitting down next to the little girl.
"Yes sir, your name is Commander John Shepard saver of the citadel and your a friend of my mom's...where is my mommy" she asked John as he looked down.
"Do you know what happened to your mom" John asked looking down at the girl.
"A bad man shot her, we thought he was a good guy, a friend of my mommy's husband William, but he shot my mom, is she ok" Jessica said waiting for John to answer her question.
"Jessica I'm sorry, your mommy is gone" John said as gently as he could as the little girl began bawling into his chest as he held her. She looked up and saw Miranda standing at the door holding her teddy bear.
"Where did you get that" she asked sniffling.
"Your dad gave it to me to give to you" Miranda said softly in a voice even she didn't know she had.
"Where's my dad, is he here" she said nervously walking over to Miranda expectantly.
"Yes but... he got hurt so he's in the medical office getting better" Miranda said as the young girl went sprinting out of the room for the medbay running inside as John and Miranda gave chase.
They entered the room finding her hiding behind Joseph as Chakwas and Ashley stood by the door. They had removed Ana's body just in time so the girl wouldn't see it.
"Daddy I'm scared please wake up" she said shaking her fathers body but he was still out cold.
"Calm down sweety, we're not gonna hurt you" Ashley said getting a little closer.
"No go away I want my daddy, daddy please get up I need you" she said crying continuing to shake her father as he began stirring.
"Commander he needs to rest" Chakwas said becoming worried.
"Jessica, your dads name is Joseph Shepard, I'm John Shepard, your dad is my brother, I'm not gonna hurt you, but we have to let your dad rest or he won't get better ok" John said to the girl as she gripped her fathers hand not letting go as he gently held onto hers looking over at her as she looked into his eyes.
"Come here sweetheart" he whispered as she obeyed coming closer so he could whisper into her ear. He finished closing his eyes falling back to sleep as she released his hand walking over to Miranda grabbing hers looking up at her.
"Daddy said you'll protect me until he gets better" Jessica said tears running down her eyes still looking at Miranda.
"With my life, we all will even when he gets better ok" Miranda said reassuringly grabbing a tissue leaning down to clean the girls face.
"Well we know where she's sleeping" Ashley joked at the situation as John was slightly offended at his brother's choice of protector for his child.
"Miranda, you have this under control?" John asked.
"Yes Commander" she answered as they all left the room to let Joseph rest.