A/N: Again my apologies for how long this took. College is really getting in the way :S Feel free to review, good or bad. It keeps me motivated when I see a new review, that and it makes me smile. Unless it's a bad one...then I just rock back and forth in a corner. "Last time I heard that joke I laughed so hard I nearly fell off my dinosaur!" If you know where that's from then...good for you :D

I do not own Bioware and i do not own Kill Bill. *Sad face*

"According to Aria this is the place," Shepard acknowledged exchanging uneasy glances with Joker.

The apartment blocks were a complete dump, however the group were thankful that they didn't have to suffer with an elevator ride or drag themselves up flights of stairs.

Shepard took a deep breath and belled on the door numbered three.

Silence introduced itself instead of Zaeed.

Shepard repeated her actions again, stepping back to examine the door unhappy about receiving no greeting.

"Jacob I don't suppose you could hack this could you?"

Jacob gave a hearty laugh before stepping forward presenting his omni-tool. In under one minute Jacob had hacked the door successfully causing the seals to release in a unhealthy manner.

"After you." He grinned and gestured with his arm for Shepard and company to enter the abandoned apartment.

Shepard shook her head at Jacob's cockiness before rallying forward.

Zaeed's apartment was dark and messy to say the least. He had metal crates stored in the corner of the room while an ashtray stood out on the coffee table saturated in cigars and ash.

From what she could see his whole place was dimly lit, probably to not attract unwanted attention. There was also a musky distinctive smell in the air, one that caused Shepard to be alert as it got stronger.

Shepard waited in the living room for a while listening out for any noises or movement that suggested Massani was on the premises. Joker and Kasumi followed her example, moving into Zaeed's place swiftly and on high alert.

A creaking noise was just about audible in the next room, droning out and suddenly coming to a halt. Shepard silently signalled Jacob to take point near the damaged door where the sound was coming from.

To Jacob's surprise a pistol laid conveniently on the floor where he stood. It wasn't the best hand cannon in the universe but it was still a weapon.

He slowly picked it up staring at Shepard to be sure he wasn't out of line. Technically she wasn't his commander anymore and yet he still looked for her approval.

Edged on by the repetitive creaking Jacob flung himself into what seemed like Zaeed's bedroom pinning his aim on the source of the sound.

"Hands where I can see them Mas-"

Before Jacob could choke out his sentence his body was flung across the room by a sharp sensation stabbing his shoulder. He didn't even get a good look at who had shot him, from the edges of his sight everything was beginning to blur.

"Jacob!" Kasumi screamed instinctively running over to his injured body.

It was clear to the thief that he had been shot in the shoulder and was bleeding heavily. To Kasumi's surprise it actually looked like there was a bullet wedged in his shoulder. People rarely used bullets anymore sticking to heat sinks in order to preserve ammo and reload faster.

Feeling a presence behind her Kasumi turned around as fast as she could to see a pistol aimed at her face.

Holding the weapon shakily was a young girl with bright pink hair.

Shepard remained behind the door frame after she failed at holding Kasumi back.

Joker was on the opposite side with sweat dripping down his face unsure of what to do.

Pleased that this girl had no idea Shepard was accompanying Kasumi and Jacob in the apartment, Shepard quietly began to creep up behind her much to Jokers dismay.

"Who the fuck are you?" the girl voiced aggressively, tightening her grip on the gun.

Kasumi was too worried about Jacob to deal with the young girl's mood swings right now. However out of the corner of her eye she could see Shepard rapidly coming up behind the pink haired temptress.

"Someone you shouldn't mess with," Kasumi hissed applying pressure to Jacob's wound.

"Is that so?" the girl smiled deviantly.

Without hesitation she pulled the trigger only to be suddenly pinned to the floor by a quick-thinking Shepard.

The bullet miraculously just about missed the thief to her relief. What distressed Kasumi the most was how the girl was so intent on murdering Jacob and herself.

Joker limped inside the room as fast as he could when he heard the shot go off.

Plodding through the doorway he could see Kasumi with Jacob on the floor and weirdly enough Shepard and the pink haired girl battling it out.

Shepard silently thanked all the sparring matches she had with Garrus that had improved her hand to hand combat as she laid into the young girl.

However the pink temptress was fast and being skinny meant it was hard for Shepard to get a decent grip on her.

Once pinned Shepard held the girl's arms firmly down.

"For fuck's sake will you just give up?" Shepard gritted through her teeth.

"Fuck you!" the girl shot back, thrusting her stomach upwards to try and topple Shepard off her.

Feeling the commander's grip loosen only slightly the girl used all her strength to smash her fist across Shepard's face. A cracking noise resonated within the room, leaving a timid Joker feel rather sick.

Pleased with her efforts the girl shoved Shepard off of her in a rushed movement, stampeding towards her pistol which nestled on the cold hard floor.

Shepard was fast at following the girl's movements only to be presented with the pistol at her temple.

The girl gave a devilish grin as she stared into Shepard's eyes.

The commander wasn't too happy about meeting her end to a skinny afterlife stripper, but she was more pissed off that Kasumi, Jacob and Joker wasn't helping.

Jacob was in a heavy amount of pain so all he really could do was sit there and watch her execution.

However Kasumi just clinged onto the soldier, not even making eye contact with Shepard but looking past her in the distance.

And as for Joker for all the good he was doing…

Out of nowhere Joker came up behind the girl stealthy as ever, seeing as she didn't know there was a fourth person within the apartment.

Holding Zaeed's massive ashtray within his hands, Joker raised his arms smashing it over the young girl's head. The pistol loosely exited the girl's grip as she descended towards the floor.

"Smoking kills!" Joker smirked looking down at the pink haired girls limp body.

Shepard couldn't help but laugh at how perfect Joker's mini rescue was, the timing, the effort, the words…

"Trust you to do something like that." Shepard smiled before being helped up by a struggling Joker.

"Hey it's not everyday I get to look epic and sexy, I saw an opportunity and I took it," Joker explained pleased with his efforts.

Shepard grasped the pistol within the palm of her hand analysing it. Inscribed on the side it read 'Massani'.

"Look's like this is one of his guns," Shepard spoke mainly to herself.

Jacob tried to pull himself into a straight sitting position with Kasumi's help from across the room.

"Massani's a bastard, but he sure knows how to make a good weapon," winced Jacob as Kasumi tried to clean up his wound.

"A compliment Jacob? Are you sure that bullet didn't hit your brain?" Shepard joked causing Kasumi to shake her head in disbelief.

Shepard rubbed her arm that the girl scratched at in a frenzy. Dirty brawler.

Beside the commander Joker rubbed his neck and knelt beside the girl who now laid unconscious on the floor.

"She will wake up right?" Joker fussed lifting the girl's limp arm up then letting it drop back down on the marble surface in a humorous fashion.

"She better." Shepard cracked her knuckles. "I have a few questions I want answered."

"Like?"

"Like where the fuck is Massani?" she growled stomping towards the girl's sweaty body. "Let's see if we can wake her."

Kasumi had Jacob in her arms as she helped him limp towards a bed in the center of the room. It looked clean enough under the ruffled sheets which added to her tiny amount of optimism.

Reaching the mattress Jacob tried to lay on his back, gently edged on by an attentive Kasumi.

Noticing the display from across the room Shepard left the girl with Joker on the floor powering over to Jacob to lend a hand.

"How is he doing?" she whispered.

"So far so good," Kasumi replied sitting next to him. "However he won't let me take the bullet out."

"Damn right I won't!" Jacob said in a strangled voice and began to wriggle uncomfortably on the bed.

Shepard sighed and towered over him.

"Jacob?" she hissed grabbing his face in her hands. "We need to take it out, please don't make this more difficult," Shepard pleaded.

Overcome by pain Jacob groaned through his white gritted teeth and gave a forced nod.

"That's what I like to see," Shepard soothed. "Kasumi tie the sheets around his wrists, make sure you do them tight."

Shepard trusted Jacob not to lash out on her while she did this, however when your in pain a new side of you takes over. She needed to be sure that he wouldn't be making any sudden movements…for her throat.

Kasumi went to work, apologising a number of times as she tightened the sheets uncomfortably around his ankles and wrists. Jacob didn't put up much of a fight, he knew it was for his benefit. But it took so much strength just to lay there and let the thief restrain him when he knew the consequences of his actions.

Climbing further onto the bed Shepard straddled Jacob awkwardly as they locked eyes with one another.

The situation made Shepard want to laugh. Here Jacob was in intense pain and yet his brain still conjured up dirty thoughts. Miraculous.

Trying to avoid Jacob's stare, Shepard examined his wound causing Jacob to wince and jerk his body upwards.

Squeezing him in between her thighs Shepard managed not to topple off. She had to keep telling herself he didn't do that on purpose, well not in the way she was thinking.

Kasumi had caught their little display much to her annoyance. She took a deep breath and continued searching for something that could be used to pick the bullet out. Every so often mumbling a few Japanese curse words.

As frustrated as she was with Shepard all over Jacob in that way, Kasumi managed to hold her tongue and hand the commander a pair of tweezers.

Shepard tilted her body towards Jacob slowly, hesitating near his wound.

"Jacob you might want to bite down on something," Shepard suggested apologetically.

Without putting up a fight Jacob allowed Kasumi to wedge some of the sheets between his teeth. He bit down as hard as he could and told himself repeatedly not to loosen his grip not matter how much he wanted to scream out in pain.

Shepard held the tweezers in her hand and received a reassuring nod from Jacob. Here goes nothing she thought.

Jacob gave a muffled groan as the tweezers plunged into his wound unmercifully.

Shepard lost count of how many times she was apologising as she let her hand force the tweezers deeper.

Marvelling at the scene before him Joker felt something he had never felt before. In retrospect it felt like pity. Pity that Jacob had to go through all this, even though the pilot thought he deserved it a little bit.

"For the love of God, just fucking take it out!" roared Jacob at the peak of his sanity. The bullet was buried deep in his shoulder refusing to come out all the while the tweezers were unwillingly scraping his every nerve.

Okay maybe he didn't deserve it that much, Joker thought wildly to himself.

"Kasumi help me out here!" Shepard voiced aggressively. She could feel the bullet loosening between Jacob's flesh slightly which caused heavy amounts of blood to randomly spurt out. Hopefully he wasn't loosing too much.

Kasumi obeyed grabbing the sheets yet again and forcing them into Jacob's mouth. His cries were deafening, every ounce of pain was resonated within the apartment and probably the apartment block.

Shepard swiftly shoved the tweezers deeper into the wound, shocked that she actually caught the bullet. Holding the tweezers in place Shepard grabbed Jacob's slick with sweat face with her free hand.

"Jacob I need you to bite down hard okay? I'm going to pull it out on three!" she warned waiting for Jacob to nod in defeat between heaving breaths.

Joker remained doing as he was told, watching over the bony unconscious girl on the floor. Yet he couldn't tear his eyes away from all the commotion going on next to him. He braced himself instinctively as Shepard placed both hands on the tweezers jammed into Jacob's shoulder.

"One."

Kasumi locked her hand in Jacob's fist, her mind not thinking of the pain of his grip.

"Two."

Jacob threw his head back not sure that he wanted to watch the display in front of him.

"Three!"