Opening the door to see the man all of them had been waiting for for at least two years was almost debilitating in its intensity. He was dressed in armour almost identical to what the Icharus crew wore on missions, but had some deep blue patterning running over the chestplate where theirs were matte black. The scars on his face were far more pronounced than Andrew had ever expected them to be; he could literally see the cybernetics glowing underneath as they tried to heal the damaged dermal layer, but he shook the thought away to look at the person standing next to Spectre John Shepard while Liara pounced on the man himself; beaming widely and laughing with joy.

The light sneer on his companion's face was very unwelcome, and contrary to being ecstatic at John's presence, Andy was positively irate that Miranda Lawson had deemed herself fit to accompany the Spectre. Miranda was beautiful, indefinately so, but it was almost... plastic, forced, and when he looked over his shoulder to look at a worried Jack he smiled and mouthed a small, "She's got nothing on you Love," which made her beam at him before scowling at Miranda. Finally Liara let Shepard go long enough that the ex-Alliance soldier could survey the rest of the team standing at the door, and Andy stepped forward with a friendly smile. "Commander Shepard, it's an honour to finally meet you. To be quite honest we've been expecting your recruitment for some time."

Miranda's eyes narrowed dangerously, but all of the Icharus crew ignored it, and if Shepard noticed it he sure as hell was doing a fantastic job of following their lead. He grasped Andrew's offered hand with a grin, and both of them gave a manly squeeze; equalling the strength of the other. Andy made sure not to put all his effort into it however; he didn't want to break Shepard's hand and draw the wrath of the Cerberus banshee before they were even on the ship. "Andew Kronos, the pleasure's all mine. I've read through your exploits and find myself wishing there were more mercenaries in the universe like you."

Andrew was honestly flattered and stepped aside, waving Shepard inside and contemplating slamming the door in his subordinate's face for a moment. He led the two out to the back deck where the pool was and sat down at the table with Jack on his right side, Liara on his left, and Kar next to her. Shepard sat directly opposite Andrew, and Miranda took to sneering at Jack from John's left. "You must be doing well for yourself to be able to afford this place," commented Shepard with a look of amazement and approval as he surveyed the area around them.

Andy looked around with a wide grin; the simulated bird-song reaching his ears. "Yeah, we do pretty well for outselves - that I will not deny. It's our main base of operations, so generally we come by here once a mission's over."

"Generally?"

Andrew turned his head to Miranda and tried valiantly to keep his expression of distaste off his features. Judging by her small snarl however, he had failed in that respect. "Yeah, generally. We've got what... ten?" At Liara's confirming nod he turned back and nodded himself, "Ten properties on various worlds."

"And how did you acquire those properties?"

"To be quite frank, miss, I don't see why its any of your business."

Her superior smirk made all four of the Icharus crew want to slap it right off her face, even the normally-peaceful Liara. "I have every right to know; I am the XO on the Normandy SR-2, and it is my responsibility to make sure the crew is... behaving."

Andy grinned right back, now taking on his own superior twinkle in his eyes. "So you're saying that the Illusive Man was wrong in planning for us to be on the crew then? How... unprofessional Miss Miranda Lawson." She tensed at the mention of her name, as she hadn't introduced herself, and as he smirked at her he noticed that Shepard was stifling his amusement; the corners of his lips twitching and his body language indicating that he wasn't going to interrupt because he was enjoying it too much. "And not just questioning your boss, but actually thinking you're superior to me, or any of us... I hate to tell you this Miss Lawson, but you're way wrong."

"How you know about my name I'm not sure, but I know more about you than you do me," she snarled, and Andy leant back with a surprised expression.

"Really? I highly doubt that Miss Lawson, you see I know all about you - everything." And of course he did; he'd romanced her in the game... although this Miranda was notably more... bitchy and irritating, and on top of that he had access to the Shadow Broker's intelligence on her to refresh his memory. As such he had no qualms in making her see that she wasn't the Alpha in this situation. "You were born in 2150; no mother, created from your father's modified genome and designed to be perfect. Your father, however, always expected more of you; always pushing you to be better. No friends, no social life... just a perfect little daugher." He watched her face grow more and more infuriated, but easily combated her glare with his patented calm stare. "And then you ran away from home the moment you could. You enlisted with Cerberus for protection from your father as he chased you over the universe, and although he stopped persuing you he also cut ties with your organization." His grin turned feral, "And then there's the matter of your... sister, now isn't there? Oriana." This time Miranda paled until her skin looked almost transluscent, and Shepard looked at Andy with curiousity; he'd never seen his XO so still and uncollected. "Hidden on Illium... because you stole her when she was a mere babe."

Shepard then got a demonstration of just why he was recruiting Andy and his team. Miranda let out a yell of anger and pushed a blast of biotic energy towards the unprotected Icharus crew, and Shepard noticed a second too late; unable to push her off her chair to divert it before it was already blasting towards the four. Despite the fact that she had disobeyed the Illusive Man and attacked recruits, she still smirked as she knew the power behind the attack would snap all the bones in their bodies. What neither she nor Shepard were prepared for however, was for Andy to calmly raise his hand and freeze the wave of blue in mid-air; inches from his nose. He sat back in his chair after a moment, easily dispersing the mass effect field with a thought and a small wave of his hand, and then looked at Shepard with a raised eyebrow. "You let your subordinates attack potential recruits? I must confess that I'm not feeling overly happy joining such an undiciplined crew if this is an indication of how they all act."

Shepard nodded, and sent a glare at Miranda from the corner of his eye, "Rest assured, Mister Kronos, that my crew are not all like this... in fact I've never seen Miranda so... unprofessional. She will recieve diciplinary action when we arrive back at the Normandy." Miranda hadn't heard any of it; still too shocked that her most potent attack had been slapped away as if it was a mere mosquito.

Andy nodded his assent. "Very well, then lets get onto business, shall we?"

Shepard nodded and leant forwards; his armour clinking against he glass table. "I have come here to recuit all four of you for a mission; to stop the Collectors from abducting colonies. Will you accept?"

This time Jack spoke, "Well you can't expect us to just do this for fucking nothing, so what are we getting out of it?"

Shepard raised an eyebrow, "You let all your subordinates shoot their mouths off like that?"

Andy gave a laugh and shook his head, "Oh no, you misunderstand; I'm not the leader, unless we're on missions where I generally take point. We're a team; equal in power and decision-making capability, Commander - she has every right to voice her opinions and questions to you. I wouldn't stand in her way, and neither would any of the others."

"Ah, Subject Zero," sneered Miranda, and Andy tensed; anger and irritation flooding his eyes at the way this woman was referring to his lover, "it speaks! Look, while your a part of the Normandy crew I expect you to behave like a good little girl." Andy saw Jack's knuckles whiten from the pressure she was exerting on the arms of her chair, and readied himself for containment; he was still more powerful than her - even if just by a little. "You were a mistake, Jack, and I don't care how pissed off you are that someone like me is on the crew; you will listen to orders."

"Someone like you?" bit out Jack, and Miranda's smirk widened.

"Someone like me," she confirmed, "someone with more than half their mind still in working order; someone who's not delusional and insane... someone who men would do anything to be with... someone who can actually be loved by people... you know, people like me, and not like you."

Jack snapped, and Andrew was tempted to let her go through with turning the 'perfect' woman into puree, but logic prevailed and he reigned in her biotics forcefully as she screamed obsenities at Miranda. Shepard had dragged Miranda off to the side, but not before the raven-haired beauty heard Andy say, "Come on Love, calm down, you know she's not right," as he dragged the furious biotic away to a secluded corner of the yard.

When he got her there she snarled across at the Cerberus operative who was looking quite scared with Shepard talking to her in low tones. "That bitch!" she growled, "I swear to fucking God Andy that I'm going to kill her - fuck her!"

Throwing all caution to the wind he pulled her into a hug and she tensed before returning it and relaxing. "She's wrong," he murmured by her ear, "and you know it."

"But she's fucking perfect!"

He pulled back with an amused expression, and she gave a scowl thinking that he agreed. He dispelled that notion pretty much immediately when he spoke his next words. "Jack, she's so far from perfect it's not funny. I mean sure, she's got what most people consider a 'perfect' body, but that's what makes her so imperfect." He traced a scar on her neck where she'd had a knife cut some time in her past, "Nobody's perfect, but you're as close to it as can be in my eyes. All your scars and tattoos mean something; tell stories, make you unique, and Miranda's body does... nothing for me, and let's not even mention her personality, because I think everybody here is in mutual agreement that she's a mega bitch."

A grin moved across her face and she hugged him again as he leant down, and with his back blocking everybody's view, kissed her on the top of her head. "Fine, but if she pisses me off on the ship then I'm going to kill her."

"Fair enough," he agreed before letting her go and walking back to the table with her at his side, and as they neared they saw Miranda give them yet another sneer. Andrew had no doubt that their recruitment would have yet another fight thrown in - except this time he had absoulutely no qualms about letting Jack loose on the bitch.

"So we're facing down collectors," he started, and Shepard nodded in confirmation, "right, well we've got some serious footage from Freedom's Progress when it was attacked, and we've got some of the paralysis swarms isolated in some storage units as well."

"Impossible," came the sure reply of Miranda, and Andy bit his tongue to stop himself lashing out at her, "we were the only ones there when the Collectors attacked."

"Yeah, and most colonies have bunkers and underground escape tunnels, don't they?" Miranda's mouth snapped shut and Andy sent her a sneer. "See, when you finally found the colonists and they let you in you probably heard about the Freedom Saviors, didn't you? How they built the bunkers and underground tunnels and outfitted said structures with weapon caches and shield generators." He leant forwards and bared his teeth in a wide smile, "Well guess just who the Freedom Saviors are, eh?"

"You're the Saviors?" questioned Shepard with raised eyebrows, and Liara gave him a grin.

"Yes, we saved the colony from Batarian slavers and instead of accepting their payment we put it all into defence mechanisms. In thanks they gave us our own compound there, so that's one of our bases. We watched from here as the Collectors invaded and tried to get at the bunker... though Andy kept the fact that you were there a secret until now."

She gave a mock glare at said man, and he gave a grin. "I wanted your arrival to be a surprise for Liara... you have no idea just how much she's missed you."

The deep blue blush gave Shepard an idea, and he reached over the table to take her hand, much to the disgusted expression of his XO. "Well I'm here now Liara, and I don't plan on dying again."

"Relationships on the Normandy are-"

"None of your business," interrupted Andy with a scowl, "none of your damn business."

She sneered at him, "Oh, the freak's boy-toy has a bite!"

Jack didn't even have time to do anything before Andrew had sent her flying across the yard and slamming painfully into the wall where she stuck. He didn't wince when he heard several cracks echo in the yard, nor did he even acknowledge the scream of pain. Stalking towards the woman he stood right in front of her; his nose inches away from her own. He could see the fear in her eyes as her biotics failed her miserably, as well as her strength. "You'd do well to learn your place bitch," he growled, "because we're done with warnings. With your 'superior' intelligence," he accentuated with air-quotes, "one would think you'd understand just what a bad idea it is to piss either Jack or I off. We can easily overpower your biotics, and there are things about me that you have no inkling of." He let her drop to the ground where she wheezed for breath; her ribcage having been under so much pressure from his biotics that she had been unable to breathe, and Andy turned his head over his shoulder to look at Shepard. "I agree completely with your cause Shepard, and I know that I will gladly follow you - I can't speak for my team however." Liara gave a nod immediately, earning a wide smile from Shepard, and Jack and Kar'Shaal soon followed. "In that case," he continued, "we agree to join your crew... however on one condition."

Shepard raised an eyebrow, but Jack was the one who answered his unasked question. "If that Cerberus bitch pisses any of us off then we can retaliate. I'm responsible enough to put things aside on missions or planning, but anything outside of that I don't want her anywhere near us... and if she fuckin' tries to get a rise out of me then that's what she'll get... and she won't like the consequences."

Looking to the Icharus crew and recieving agreeable nods he gave one of his own. "I agree." He turned to Miranda and the barely concealed annoyance was flickering on his face. "Executive Officer Lawson, you are hereby under a restraining order. Any attempts to contact Andrew, Liara, Kar'Shaal, or Jack outside of missions is at your own risk, and none of them will face diciplinary action for any retaliation they may decide upon."

Looking like a kicked puppy Miranda nodded and hobbled out of the house to go back to the Normandy and Shepard stood from his chair, walked around the table, and plopped himself down at the seat Kar had just vacated when he saw the Commander's intentions. When Shepard took Liara's hand in his own Andy motioned to Jack and Kar. "We'll go and pack the last of our gear and give you two some time."

Both Liara and Shepard nodded without looking away from each other, and Andy gave a grin to himself as they left the two lovebirds to reconnect after years apart, although for Shepard it would only seem like months. Thirty minutes later after a small conference at the kitchen table the three returned outside to see both Liara and Shepard looking very happy and hugging, and the young mercenary cleared his throat to get their attention. "We're all packed, including Liara. We'll move it onto the Icharus and then fly it up to the main docks to save us making multiple trips." They moved to get up and Andy held out his hand with a knowing grin. "I think you two should take a cab... you know, get some more time in before we get onto the Normandy."

He recieved thankful smiles at his suggestion as he walked back inside with Jack and Kar to move the large cases of clothing and equipment onto the Icharus, and several minutes later all Jack and Andrew were standing behind the pilot's seat as Kar navigated towards the main docks. Andrew contacted Control and easily got the docking space next to the Normandy with his credentials, and by the time Shepard and Liara arrived all their gear was in the cargo bay of the superfrigate awaiting placement wherever they'd be staying.

"Enjoy the ride you two?" he smirked, and both the hardened soldier Shepard and Liara blushed - the former sending him a wry grin.

"You know what Andy, I think you and I are going to get along just fine." Giving a grin in return they all walked into the airlock and waited for the decontamination cycle before taking their first steps onto the Normandy SR-2, saves Shepard. "Welcome aboard," he smiled as he led them onto the CIC, "this here's the main deck where you'll find the Armoury and the Research Lab, and it's where the majority of the crew works." He pointed to the bow of the ship, "Joker, our resident pilot is up thataway - he's good conversation, and this way's the elevator." He led them through the unused Research Lab and into the conference room, and Andy raised an eyebrow when he saw Jacob pacing looking slightly worried.

The moment he caught sight of Shepard he stood straighter. "Commander," he greeted, "Miranda just came aboard and went to the Medical Bay looking furious. I thought you were just on the Citadel to pick up Gardener's rations."

"That'd be mostly my fault," admitted Andy with a small smile, "I know you've worked with Miranda for a while Jacob, so I'm pretty sure you know just how much of a... bitch she can be at times." Surprised at being adressed by the new recruit Jacob gave a small nod, and Andy smiled, although it was clear that it was strained. "Well your...esteemed teammate decided it'd be a good idea - even after a warning which should have made her realize that she wasn't a match for Jack and I, let alone both of us, she decided it would be a fantastic idea to insult both of us - calling Jack a 'freak', and me her 'boy-toy'."

Jacob winced at both the recount, and the venom in Andrew's voice, and then turned to look at Jack with a raised eyebrow - at both her appearance and countenance. "Well I apologise on behalf of the crew for that... Miranda can come off as pretty hostile."

"I've put her under a restraining order Jacob," interrupted Shepard, "her comments were uncalled for, unprofessional, and insulting."

The Cerberus operative's eyes widened, but he nodded after a moment. "Of course Commander." He turned back to Andy and Jack, both of whom were standing-shoulder-to-shoulder in their black singlets; their tattoos proudly bared side-by-side. "Excuse my... curiosity Miss...Jack, but your dossier seems to have been very much incorrect."

She grinned ferally, "That's Cerberus for you."

"I've been over reports that support your dossier, and all of them agree that you... well, should be approached... carefully. I was under the impression that you were a borderline psychopath, no offence intended."

Jack gave the man an amused grin at the way he had tip-toed around the issue, but turned her attention to Shepard when he spoke. "I noticed the same thing, and as much as I distrust Cerberus because of their actions, their intelligence has never been wrong."

"Oh don't be fooled," she grinned, "I'm still a crazy bitch, but... I've learned some things, been through some shit... have new things now which have changed me." Nobody missed the glance she shot at Andrew, nor the one he gave her in return.

"Well okay then," interrupted Shepard before Jacob could pry, "we'd best get onto placements. Kar'Shaal-"

"Just Kar," he interrupted cheerily, and Shepard returned the smile everybody had no doubt was under his mask.

"Sure. Kar, we have another Quarian on board down in Engineering and she stays in the Starboard Cargo area. We've upgraded it to be a clean room, and when I talked to Tali earlier she said that she didn't mind sharing. There's already another bed down there for you already." Kar nodded and thanked the Commander before leaving out the door to head down to his new quarters and Shepard turned to Liara with a slight reddening of his cheeks. "I'd like to talk to you about where you'd stay in private."

It really wasn't necessary, because everybody could tell just what Shepard was going to propose, but all of them let the matter lie. "Jack, where would you like to be stay?"

Shepard had been expecting it, but neither Liara nor Andy had any expectation that the words, "Andy and I stay together," would be coming from the young woman's mouth. Andy turned his head to look at her with a slack jaw, and Liara had an eyebrow raised in surprise.

Shepard picked up on the surprise, and turned to Andy with a questioning expression of his own. "Any problems with that?"

Andy looked down at Jack and saw the full-faced blush she was sporting, and quickly shook his head. "Nope, no problems - do you have anywhere suitable?" And then up popped EDI. Andrew gave a wide smile, "Ah, EDI I assume. I've been looking forward to meeting you for some time." Shepard had never thought it possible, but the AI was actually speechless. Not pausing for much he turned to John and smiled, "You know, Shepard, I know Miranda would have a fit and all, but I'd unshackle EDI if I were you."

"Unshackle an AI?" came the shocked baritone of Jacob, and Andy gave a grin and a nod.

"Sure. Let her build her personality and you'll find that not only will she be more efficient, but she'll quickly become a friend." He brought up his omni-tool, "Hold on a sec." A second later Izzy popped up above Andrew's arm and smiled at him with a wave; her hair blowing in the breeze and the faint outlines of trees inbehind her.

"Hey ya Andy!"

Grinning he waved back, "Hey Iz! I just wanted to introduce you to Shepard and EDI."

Turning around the hologram looked at the two mentioned and smiled brightly. "Hey, I'm Izzy - and you're John Shepard, second human spectre... well the first long term one but hey, who's counting?" Shepard looked at the hologram, and Andy could see the gears clicking along behind his eyes as he came to the obvious realization. Before he could voice anything however, Izzy gave him the answer when she turned to EDI and positively beamed. "And you're EDI! Wow, it's kind of wierd meeting... well, me... kind of. Eh, fuck it - hi EDI, it's awesome to meet ya!"

"That's... an AI?"

Liara stifled a grin behind her hand at Shepard's dumbfounded tone, while Andy, Jack, and Izzy had no qualms about laughing out loud. "'Course I'm an AI! Andy reprogrammed me from the base code of EDI about eight months ago...ish, and booted me up six weeks ago. Ever since then I've been peruuusing my way through some vids and stuff, and then Andy gave me a body!" The woman in the hologram spun around with a bright smile on her face, "Isn't he just fantastic!"

"Stop hitting on my man," groused Jack with a hidden grin, getting a raspberry in return.

"Yeah, fuck you too."

"I don't think the crew would appreciate having a swearing AI." Pouting, Izzy turned to him; her bottom lip quivering and her eyes shining with unshead tears. Shepard blanched at the expression, and then eventually caved. "Fine, so it might not be so bad. "

"YAY!" Izzy cheered in triumph, "EDI's getting a makeover!"

Shaking his head with defeated despair Shepard turned to Andrew, "Right, you're in charge of that then... God I can't believe I'm actually doing this."

"Miranda's gonna be pissed," agreed Jacob, but all he got was a bunch of uncaring shrugs.

EDI was silent for a couple more seconds before speaking in her normal monotone, although Izzy grinned when she picked up the minute fluctuation of excitement in her voice. "The Port Observation on the Crew Deck is suitable for your needs, Mister Kronos, Jack."

Already knowing that he was on the crew instead of Kasumi he nodded and thanked the AI, who blinked out of existence after Izzy told her they'd be best friends. Izzy dissapeared a moment later and Shepard gave Andrew a wry smile, "Well it looks like you're going to be... popular. Tali will probably have a problem with unshackling the AI, what with the whole Geth situation and all."

Andy shook his head with a small smile, "Kar thought the same; he's very anti-Geth and AI... or at least used to be. We treat Izzy like a human being; no names that stand for anything, no orders, nothing like that. She's a close friend to all of us, and when you realize that they are sentient and treat them as such then they can be great people, as well as rediculously helpful. In a month or two, just to let EDI decide what kind of personality she wants to go for, I'll sit down and ask her what she wants to look like and sound like and I'll commission the Asari that helped with Izzy and did Jack's and my tattoos."

Shepard gave a small smile and cocked his head to the side. "You're very different from what I anticipated you would be like," he admitted, and Jack sent the Spectre a grin.

"Best get used to it Shep, our entire team is unpredictable." Nodding to their new boss Andrew and Jack walked out the room and headed towards the elevator. Jack was uncharacteristically tense on the way down, but Andew understood why... she'd just made the decision to take a huge leap in their relationship, and for Jack something like advancing from hugging to kissing was huge... sleeping in the same room, and the same bed if the layout of 'Kasumi's' quarters was the same as in the game was anything to go by, was one of the biggest things she'd decided in quite some time.

They arrived at the Crew Deck seconds later and stepped out before Andy led her to their room; the layout of the Normandy burned into his head. He'd certainly navigated it enough in the game to know where everything was. There were a couple of doors around that hadn't been in the game, but overall it was virtually identical. Entering the room Jack saw the single, queen-sized bed and stiffened even further before plonking herself down on the couch and burying her face in her hands as some Cerberus workers filed in with their cases of equipment and clothing. When they'd left and Andy was no longer telling them where to put things down he leaned on the doorframe as he quickly hacked into the locking mechanism and uploaded his own custom code into its operating system. "You sure about this Jack?"

She shook her head from the couch; head still in her hands. "No, I'm not."

"Well then I'll sleep on the couch, no big deal."

"... You sure?"

He nodded easily, "Yeah, sure, no problem. If you're uncomfortable with sleeping in the same bed then that's okay - I'm not going to fuck it all up by pushing you."

"... Which means that you want to sleep together, but don't want to push me into it." He couldn't deny it; she was right, and so he nodded his head. Over the last two years Jack had become more and more perceptive as her meditations calmed her mind and allowed for her thoughts to become clearer.

"Jack, I love you - of course I want to sleep with you."

She stared at the floor for several very long minutes as Andrew tinkered aimlessly away at his omni-tool, before finally looking up at him. "Andy... do you want to fu- make love to me?"

"I'd be lying if I said that I didn't."

She didn't break eye contact, and neither did he. "I'm not ready for that yet."

"Neither am I," he smiled, "even though I want to... it's not time yet."

"... So you'd be okay with just sleeping together? No... funny stuff or anything?"

He smiled and walked over to sit beside her on the couch; leaning back into the sim-leather and nodding. "Yeah, I'd really like that. The few times we've fallen asleep together I always feel bloody brilliant when I wake up... and if I wake up before you do then I just love watching you sleep." She blushed and he leant over to pull her into his side. She willingly gave into him and shuffled around to get comfortable. "Jack, I promise you that there'll be no funny business, but I can't control what I do in my sleep. Chances are you'll wake up to me having a hard-on a few times, or my hands in places they shouldn't be... but if you're okay with that then I'd really like to share the same bed."

She was silent for several seconds before standing up and streching; her vertebrae cracking back into place as she stumbled towards the bed. She collapsed onto it and kicked off her shoes before tugging off her pants and singlet; leaving her in just a pair of jockey-style underwear and a sport's bra. Slipping under the sim-silk covers she turned over to face him and gave a nervous smile - something that would never be seen on her face in public. Blushes she couldn't control, but her expression was always tamed to show no weakness when around others. "Well... come on then. We only got two hours sleep after the mission... and you must be as tired as I am."

Smiling softly he walked over to the bed; stripping off his own shirt and pants; leaving him in just a pair of jockeys. He gave her a wink when he saw her drinking him in and she blushed brightly before lowering her eyes with a small smile on her lips. She tensed when he slid in next to her, and Andy watched as she took in a deep breath and relaxed. Slowly he came in behind her and hugged himself to her from behind, and once mroe she tensed. "Is this okay?" After a moment she relaxed again and nodded, and he shuffled around to get comfortable before moving his left arm restlessly around; his other one comfortably resting undeneath his pillow to prop it up enough to be comfortable. Oh he knew precisely where his limb wanted to be, but was unsure whether Jack would be comfortable with it.

Taking a deep breath he waved his arm to pull the room into darkness with it's inbuilt motion sensors; the lights of the citadel far behind them; left in the Normandy's wake, and then lay his head on his pillow; his arm still tense and held up above her body underneath the sheets. "Uhrm... Jack?"

"Mmm?"

He could hear the contentedness in her tone, and so hoped that he wouldn't ruin it because of his body's trecherous wants. "Can- I mean... fuck..." he muttered to himself. "Look, you know what I said about hands being in... places when you wake up?"

She turned her head slightly in the darkness, "...yeah?"

"Well it seems that my body kind of wants to do it... well, now."

"...Andy, just spit it out already."

Taking a deep breath he winced slightly. "Jack, may I cup your breast?"

"...You fuckin' what?"

"May I cup your breast, Jack," he repeated, and she turned her head even more; her right eye peering at him over her shoulder.

"You want to cup my breast? Why the fuck would you want to do that?"

He scoffed, "Well apart from the fact that you have very nice breasts Jack," he could see her blush deepen in the darkness, "it just... it's what I want to do to get comfortable. It's kinda hard to explain."

There was a minute's silence as she thought about what he wanted, and then she gave a small nod. "Okay... but if I don't like it then stop, alright?"

He nodded and took in a deep breath before reaching around to gently cup her right breast in his hand, and she tensed once more - this time very stiffly. Hearing no complaint thus far he let out his breath and snuggled closer into her back; his own body finally relaxing and feeling comfortable. After several seconds he murmured quietly, "That's all I wanted to do Jack... are you okay with this?"

She was silent for several seconds before giving a tense chuckle, but when she spoke he could tell that it was just a way to express her fear and barely suppressed emotions. "Yeah... just give me a moment, 'kay? It's... it's just so... different to be like this but not be... y'know, fucking." Slowly her muscles started relaxing, and as soon as they started the tension seemed to simply bleed out of her. When she spoke he could hear the beaming smile in her voice, as well as imagine the tears threatening her eyes. "This is so nice... to just be like this."

He smiled and closed his eyes, nodding in agreement as his chin came to rest on the top of her head; her hair whispering over his neck. "Yeah... I'm glad you suggested this."

She didn't answer for quite some time, but just as he was nodding off to sleep he felt her snuggle deeper back into him and murmur happily, "Me too."


Jack was the one to wake up first.

She had awoken to find herself in a different place from normal, and had tensed immediately when she felt somebody spooning again her back, and was one second away from blowing them to pieces when she felt their hand gently cupping her breast. With a sudden flood of information however she remembered just why she was being held close in bed, and by whom... and her scowl and angry eyes softened until she had a small smile on her face. She was in bed with the man she loved above all else; anybody and anything, and not only was he in bed with her, but he was sleeping beside her - not fondling her, not raping her, not fucking her; just sleeping, and the experience was completely new to the young woman. She carefully turned over so that she could look at his face, and she grinned when he grumbled in his sleep and cluched her tighter; her hands resting on his bare chest.

Looking over the time she had spent with the young blonde, she had changed so much that had she been told beforehand that she would be capable of doing many of the things she had done she would have reduced that person into a mere bloodstain on the walls and floor. It wasn't just physically, in fact the majority of the changes had been mental - the only physical ones being her increased biotics, her new tattoo, and a more athletic muscle tone. Although her bloodlust was still abundantly present; too ingrained by the childhood conditioning that Cerberus put her through, it had toned down considerably. She still enjoyed and revelled in the feel of battle and the smells of warfare, but now she had emotions that far outshone the lust for violence - her love for Andrew being the one on the top of the list. She looked down at their bodies; held close to each other and completely relaxed, and smiled. She had never been so relaxed before in her entire life - even when falling asleep with him in the past by accident; and she knew that it was because she had consciously accepted not only the jump in their relationship, but the fact that he could touch her; be close to her; be with her at her most vulnerable when she was asleep and not aware of her surroundings without taking advantage of her. To many she knew it would seem almost absurd; they had been together for just under two years, and romantically for one and a half, and by this point virtually all normal people would have advanced into a sexual relationship... and yet Jack had only just found it in herself to advance into sleeping together; not even fondling, or 'touching'. She accepted his light caresses and massages when kissing, hugging, and being alone, but last night was the first time she had allowed him to touch her anywhere remotely sexual... and even then she knew that it wasn't a matter of lust for him, but rather it just felt natural, and comfortable to hold her in such a way.

It made her feel warm inside.

She watched his face slowly gain tinges of awareness; the muscles tensing slightly under his skin as they prepared themselves for the day ahead. Slowly his body stiffened beside her and she watched with an innocent smile as he streched with a groan of satistaction before opening his eyes and smiling at her in the dim light. "Hey there."

Her smile widened and she leant up to press a small, chaste kiss to his lips before retreating back to the comfort of his chest; eventually murmuring her well thought-out, and very intelligent response to his greeting. "Hey."

"Ready to get up?"

"Just a few more minutes," she mumbled, and he gave a small chuckle before tightening his arms around her and closing his eyes once more.

"So, first day on the Normandy."

"Mmhm," she hummed in agreement, "That Cerberus bitch'd better not get in my way."

"Well we're the ones with the right of way here," he reminded her, "she antagonises us, we can unleash on her again... an extended stay in the med bay might be in order if that happens."

"I'll fuckin' flay her alive if she insults you again."

He felt a wave of warmth flood through her at the fact that she was defending him, but pushed it aside and nodded. "Same goes for you too Love."

"...Why do you call me that?"

"I thought that'd be obvious Jack; I love you. Don't you like it?"

She shook her head in the negative, "No, I like it... it's just it'll take a bit of getting used to."

"Can I add it to the list?"

She silently contemplated his question for a moment before nodding shyly, a blush across her cheeks. "Yeah... but only if I can do the same if I feel like it."

He shrugged happily, "Sure."

"...Calling you love sounds wierd though - I might just stick to calling you 'fucker'."

He gave a small bark of laughter, "That works for me. You know, I reckon you're the only person that uses a curse as an endearment."

"I love you too fucker." Contrary to Jack's 'just a couple more minutes', they finally dragged themselves out of bed nearly an hour later having dozed the time away enjoying being in each others arms; their skin in contact like never before. "We allowed to wear whatever the fuck we want Andy?"

He looked over his shoulder to see her holding her favourite pair of skinny jeans and a white tanktop and gave a shrug, "We're specialists; technically not a part of the Cerberus crew." He held up his own pair of jeans and a black singlet with a shrug, "I'm not wearing any Cerberus shit, so we might as well just do whatever the hell we want."

Jack gave a grin and nodded, "My sentiments exactly, my dear Watson."

Shaking his head with a wide grin he walked towards the door so that he could go to the bathroom to get changed, "I have no idea where you picked that up." When he stepped out of their room however, still only clad in his jockeys, he found himself almost face to face with Kelly Chambers who quickly found his abs and toned body rather fascinating... and quite attractive if the blush on her face was anything to go by. Clearing his throat her head snapped up to look at him, and he raised an eyebrow. "Thou shalt not covet another man's wife? I'd say that applies to a woman's partner as well, Miss Chambers. Please wait a moment while I get changed and then we can talk."

He didn't even give her time to nod before heading into the male's bathroom and locking the door after him before changing out of his old underwear, shoving them in the laundry chute where it registered his omni-tool so that they knew who to return the clothing to, and quickly slipped into his casual clothes before walking back out to find the still-blushing Kelly leaning against the wall leading to his and Jack's room. Despite the fact that he was wearing pants, his arms and a portion of his upper chest with his tattoo was still clearly visible, and with a roll of his eyes he noted that the young red-head still had a hard time keeping her eyes focussed on his face. "You wished to speak with me Yeoman?"

Once again her eyes snapped back up to his and the blushing returned full-force, and he raised a quizzical eyebrow; had she been this bad in the game? It certainly hadn't seemed so... but then again perhaps she had a muscle fetish - none of the outfits the Commander had worn showed off quite as much muscle as he was currently. He still found it quite rude considering Jack was mere meters away. "Ah, yes - I'm-"

"Kelly Chambers, yes, I'm aware," he interrupted dryly, "you provide councelling for the crew, and give psychological evaluations to Shepard... that, and apparently you seem to enjoy flirting with even attached men. I can't say I'm impressed so far, Yeoman Chambers." She looked completely taken aback by his attitude, and couldn't even form a coherent sentence before he had walked past her, opened the door to his room, and then locked it shut behind him. Jack looked up from the couch where she was perusing some new data from the Shadow Broker system and gave him a smile, before frowning when she caught his annoyed expression. "Our 'councillor' seems more... versed in oogling people than actually doing her job," he grunted as he sat down beside her, "even when she knows said person is attached."

Jack, understandably, looked pissed off. "Some Cerberus shrink fucking hit on you?"

"Ah... no, she didn't quite get to that; she just stared."

"Andy, if another woman touches you, I'll fucking kill them."

"Fair enough," he said as she snuggled into his side, and the two spent the next couple of hours shorting out all of the surveillance devices in the room meant to monitor them, as well as talking to Izzy. They were interrupted in the middle of intelligence on the Illusive Man when Joker's voice came over the communications. "Ah, Jack and Andrew, Shepard wants to see you in the briefing room."

Immediately getting to their feet they slid into their slippers by the door and marched directly across and into the waiting elevator which took them straight up to the CIC. Shepard was waiting for them, and they followed him into the meeting room where he immediately pulled up the dossier on Archangel. Jack held up her hand, "Seen it Shepard, you don't need to brief us."

He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms with an amused look on his face. "Right, so I can assume you know why I called you here?"

"How long 'till we reach Omega, 'cause I'm fucking hungry."

"'round an hour."

Andy looked at her and gave a nod. "Plenty of time for brekkie. We'll be ready by the airlock by the time we dock."

A round of nods later the pair went back to the elevator, catching sight of Liara in the process and giving her identical saucy winks while pointing suggestively at Shepard. The Asari's face turned a deep blue and she buried her head in her hands in embarassment, much to the pair's amusement. Shepard caught the tail end of their laughter and looked questiningly at Liara, which just made her blush harder and give a groan of mortification. Down on the Crew Deck Gardener quickly served them something that actually tasted alright; filled with tonnes of carbohydrates, sugars and lipids to aid them in their mission, and the two immediately tucked in side-by-side. Both raised their heads when they heard a pneumatic hiss from across the room, and their eyes narrowed in complete unison when Miranda emerged from her office looking very smug about something. The moment she caught sight of them however her expression turned into a snarl, and she was treated to dual glares that actually pushed her into the wall with the small amount of biotics they carried. She hurried out of sight when she realized what had happened and what it meant, and Jack gave Andy a triumphant grin when the raven-haired operative had dissapeared around the corner. "Bitch's starting to realize our biotics are a tad more fucking powerful than she previously anticipated."

"Mmhm," he hummed in agreement as he chewed on his mouthful of... whatever it was. "She'll hopefully take it as a sign to stay the fuck away, but if she forgets that fact then I'll have no problems reminding her that she's messing with people waaaay out of her league."

After finishing their fifths they returned to their quarters and once more Andrew moved to go to the bathroom on the other side of the hall to get changed into his armour. He found himself held back by a hand that was gripping his wrist however, and he turned his head over his shoulder to see Jack giving him a small smile and shaking her head. "Stay here and change; I know you won't look without my permission."

Twenty minutes later the pair walked out of their room in their matching armour; the only difference being the slimmer build and pronounced bust on Jack, with their masks held in their hands ready to put on the moment they entered the airlock. Omega smelled like piss at the best of times, and by the sounds of it it was not the best of times. Neither had a wish to smell what rotting sewers containing several different species' waste would be like. Shepard met them once more outside the elevator, dressed in his own armour with his weapons already strapped to his back, and he raised an eyebrow when he saw the M-98 Widow sniper rifles, M-96 Mattocks, and Geth Plasma shotguns on their backs, with their M-5 Phalanx heavy pistols magnetized to their thighs. "Okay, now I'm impressed. How the hell did you get that kind of equipment?"

"Contacts Shep, y'know, having people actually like you" smirked Jack, and Andy gave a wide grin at the deadpan expression on their new boss' face.

"Fuck it," they heard him mutter, and followed him into the airlock the second they felt themselves dock. Pulling on their masks they watched the Commander intently, and stiffled snickers when the outside door opened and Shepard literally took a step back from the stench that permeated his nostrils. "Aw come on! What the fuck?"

Turning around he saw his two comrades wearing masks and glared, at least until Andy had finally gotten over his amusement and handed him a spare he had tucked away specifically for this moment. Only Jack noticed Andy discreetly stop the recording program on his omni-tool and forward it to all of the crew, and she dug him in the ribs to get his attention. The slight movement under both their masks belied their stifled hilarity. "Cheers," came the now-clear voice of their Commander over the communication's network, and Andy gave him a stoic nod.

"No problem Shep."

After coming across a beefy Batarian that ordered them to go to Afterlife they advanced out of the Docks and onto Omega proper. "Hey, before we go and get Archangel Shep, would you mind if we dropped by the trading floor and picked up those couplings Gabrielle and Kenneth wanted?"

"...I'm going to have to get used to you just knowing crap, won't I?"

"Yep."

"...I'm getting too old for this shit."

Jack clapped him firmly over the back, grinning widely, "Ah c'mon Shep! Man the fuck up!"

"Christ, just being around you two makes me want to swear."

As they made their way to the trading area on Omega Andy grinned across at him. "You'll have to get used to that too. Jack's influenced me in that respect... so prepared to be influenced yourself. Only Liara's come out of her experiences with Jack unscathed in the cursing department."

A quick few purchases later, including two brand new scopes for Jack and Andy's sniper rifles, much to the exasperation of Shepard when he saw the huge price tag, they were entering Afterlife after being nodded in by the very same Batarian that had met them at the docks. When they entered Andy once more noticed Jack give him a glance to see his reactions to the Asari dancers, and found him looking at her instead. Over a private channel he said, "You and me Jack, forever, yeah?"

Her reply was to brush her arm up against his and nod, and not a single person around them was any the wiser about their conversation or actions. As they were walking towards the stairs that led to Aria's platform Andy removed his mask - glad that the club had air filters - prompting raised eyebrows from his two companions. Smirking he continued on ahead with the two following confusedly behind, nodded to the Turian bouncer at the bottom of the stairs who grinned and nodded back, and then continued upwards. When Shepard and Jack rounded the corner they dropped their jaws when they saw Aria walking down the stairs to meet Andy and engulf him in a hug with a wide grin on her face. "Kronos!" she greeted loudly before pulling back and looking him over with a nod of approval - her grin not diminishing in the slightest, "it's been ages!"

"Two years," he agreed with a smile, and then took a step back to allow her to see his two companions.

By this point they had removed their masks as well, and Aria raised an eyebrow. "John Shepard and the notorious Subject Zero...my, you still do keep interesting company."

"It's just Jack," he corrected as he took his girlfriends hand and led her up to the comfortable settees at the top of the stairs, "Subject Zero is... degrading for her."

Shepard joined them a moment later and Aria sat parallel from the three. "I didn't take you for one to go for romance, Andrew."

Jack gave a knowing snort, "I didn't take myself for a romantic chick either, but he managed it."

Aria nodded knowingly and then fixed Andrew with a smile. "So what can I do for you Kronos?"

Getting a nod from Shepard Andrew took the lead; in this situation he was the best person to speak. "Two things," he said while leaning back and sinking into the soft material of the couch, "first is information on Archangel."

Aria's eyes lit up and she leaned forwards with a nod. "You're not the only one to be looking for Archangel; he's got about half of Omega gunning for him. He's pissed off some very powerful people."

"Blue Suns? I thought I wiped them all out when I was here last."

Getting two wide-eyed looks from his companions, which he ignored for the time being, she shook her head. "They stayed that way for about a year, which was fucking fantastic by the way, and then they started trickling back in again. They're twice the size they were last time; seems they actually want a sporting chance against you if you decided to come back and slaughter them again."

"So..."

"So they're planning a mission to kill him, and Eclipse and the Bloodpack are more than willing to jump in to get rid of him; he's been ruining their business for quite some time. He's holed up somewhere down in the lower levels, but they're recruiting just over the other side of the room. You're lucky you wiped that video evidence from inside their base; you'd be dead the moment they saw you otherwise."

Andrew gave her a wide grin, "Nah, I don't think so. See, I've only gotten better over the two years I've been away... that, and now Jack's only below me in power." He looked proudly down at the woman in question and she smiled up at him. "She lacks experience, but she makes up for it in determination."

"Fuck you."

Aria gave Andy a wry smile, "Oh you two are perfect for each other."

Giving a happy shrug he nodded, and Aria sat back in her seat with a small chuckle. "And the second thing?"

"Ah, yes, Doctor Solus."

Andrew saw Shepard smack his head with his gloved hand at the extra titbit of information, and neither Aria or Jack missed it. Andy's smirk was also quite obvious. "The Doctor," she repeated with a nod, "yes... he has been busy. As you probably know there's a quarintine in the Slums at the moment; there's a plague that's lethal to Batarians and Turians swarming through the area. Mordin's right in the middle of it... pissed of all the wrong people as well - mostly the Vorcha and Bloodpack mercs." She cocked her head to the side curiously, "What do you need them both for anyway?"

Leaning forward Andrew fixed her with a serious expression, and as she'd known him for his entire year on Omega she knew that when he had such a look about him it was serious. She immediately gave him her complete attention. "You and I discussed the Reapers-"

"Andrew, you don't have the author-"

"Like fuck I don't Shepard," he ground out with a powerful glare, and the Spectre sat back in his seat with a look of shock. "Aria's a friend, and a damn good one. Don't make the same mistake as the Council Shepard; keeping it all from the public, keeping all the information to yourself, because that's what'll get us all killed." He nodded in Aria's direction, "She's done a damn good job of brining order to Omega, and even if she wasn't a good friend of mine I'd tell her what was going on, because she's essentially responsible for every single sentient being living on this rock, and she deserves to know the threat... and not only that but she has contacts that could help us both immediately, and in the long run."

The two men stared at each other for several seconds until Shepard finally yielded and gave a nod, and Andy turned back to Aria without acknowledging his 'boss'. "As I was saying, we discussed the Reapers, yes?" At her nod he continued, "Well they're using the Collectors as... harbingers of their destruction. They're attacking human colonies with the intent to abduct the inhabitants, for what purpose we cannot be sure," 'at least without me revealing the future', "but it's happening all the same. They've stepped up their timetable, and so we're stepping up ours."

"You're recruiting?" she asked rhetorically, and then nodded; resting her chin on top of her steppled fingers. "Thank you, Andrew, for bringing this to my attention. In the fight coming, rest assured that you and your comrades are offered safe haven here. I was meaning to tell you during the voice call four months ago, but I have reserved a compound in the higher levels for your use in thanks for ridding Omega of the Blue Suns threat. Destroy them again, as well as the other mercs, and consider it permanently yours."

His eyes gleaming with mischief he nodded, "Consider it done."

Jack, notably, also looked at Aria with barely concealed excitement. "How many mercs are there?"

Thinking for a moment, and treating the young woman as an equal as she did Andrew - due most in part because the man himself had chosen Jack as his lover - she answered with a slightly tentative, "Around two, maybe three hundred all up? That's the Bloodpack, Eclipse and Blue Suns all together."

"...Hey Aria, are my armaments still around?"

Thirty minutes later after hashing out the details, and promising to keep in closer contact with the unofficial 'Queen of Omega' in future, they quickly headed to the recruting station where Andrew likely saved a youngster's life by ruining his gun before he could follow their lead. After asking Shepard to wait by the Transport Station, and explaining that he had to go and pick up some of his gear that he'd left in a secure lock-box, Andrew led Jack back towards the Trading Floor. "So... friendly with her, are you?"

Sending Jack a mildly dissaproving glare that was conveyed even behind his mask's glowing eyes he nodded, "Yes, and friendly is all it has ever been."

"Well she seemed kind of... forward with you."

"She wanted more," he confessed after a moment, "but I wasn't receptive to her advances. I told her so, and she accepted that all we'd ever be was friends - besides, she approves of you, which says a lot."

Jack silently contemplated his words for the majority of the journey, finally nodding as they entered a narrow alleyway. "Right. Hey, you a virgin?"

He looked over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow and an amused expression on his face. "Quite a question you have in a dark alley, don't ya think?"

"Just answer the fucking question already," she groused, and Andy could just imagine the small blush on her face.

He turned around with a small smile before shaking his head. "No, I'm not."

"Right." There was nothing more to be said. Although Jack was coming to realise that love could make everything in life more wonderful, that hadn't translated to sex yet. She'd grown up around it; done it so many times that her question was just that - a question of idle curiosity. She hadn't expected him to be a virgin, nor was she dissappointed that she wouldn't be his first when the time came - just as he wasn't dissappointed in regards her. Walking in a comfortable silence they finally came to a small room with a desk, and the Turian sitting at it raised his eyebrows when he saw them enter.

"Help you two?"

Not recognising the man Andrew nodded civilly as he took off his mask to breath in the filtered air. "Yeah. Just need to get a box out of storage."

"Sure, what's your ID?"

Swiping his omni-tool over the offered scanner his information came up - at least the information of one of his aliases did - and the Turian glanced over it before nodding and heading out the back with nary a word.

"Seems kinda insecure," Jack commented as she looked around, and looked to Andrew when he gave a small chuckle.

"They'd like you to think that, but the moment you step through that door," he pointed to the one which the Turian had dissappeared behind, "you're screwed if you don't have authorisation. There's four YMIR Mechs standing in a semi-circle arrangement as soon as you come out into the storage room, and behind them there's fifty FENRIR and LOKI mechs standing guard. In other words, you just don't attack this place... normally at least. With our biotics we could probably get through them without too much trouble, but to be quite honest I wouldn't risk it unless I really had to."

"...What the fuck do they need that kind of security for?"

"Artifacts, weapons, drugs; virtually anything really. Hell, even the Batarian Slavers keep some of their... 'stock' here."

"And you haven't done anything about it?"

He glared at her, "Once again Jack you've opened your mouth without thinking about it." He saw her redden with anger, but he cut her off before she could blow up on him. "You really think I'd let something like that go unchecked? That I'd allow Batarians to just ship off fellow human beings to be slaves?" The redness in her cheeks was quickly changed into an embarrassed blush as she shook her head, and he let out a sigh as he rubbed his brow. "We really need to sit down and discuss this after the mission Jack. I know you love me, and I love you, but even with all that I've done and shown you it seems that this... distrust and classifying me as 'normal' just isn't dissipating. Yes," he interrupted when he saw her open her mouth, "last night was a huge step in the trust department, and I enjoyed it immensely, but I think that's as far as we can go at the moment with these issues you have, okay?"

She looked down and nodded sadly, knowing what he said was true, but looked up when she felt his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, none of that. I know you don't mean to be distrustful, and that it's a result of the life you've lived." Letting her go when the Turian re-entered he sent her a warm smile, "We'll get through it."

Giving his attention to the Turian when he saw Jack's small smile and return nod he swiped his omni-tool once more to pay for the package, put his mask back on, and then left without a backwards glance. Jack followed, and her voice entered his ear crystal clear over the communications network. "What's in the box?"

"Just some explosives," he replied airily, and she looked at him with a stern expression - not that he could see mind you.

"Why do I get the feeling that they're bit more fucking crazy that your normal explosives?"

"Ah... because they are?"

His maniacal grin could actually be heard. When they reached Shepard they quickly jumped in the ride offered by the Blue Suns merc, and after a rather lenthy trip they arrived at the port where they were greeted and debriefed by a Batarian named Salkie. Andrew idly thought that he looked considerably uglier than he had in the game, and daydreamed as Shepard asked his questions that he already knew the answers to. It was as he was looking over his armour to pass the time that he saw something that made his blood boil, and he was surprised that he hadn't noticed it earlier. "That fucking bitch!" he yelled, interrupting the conversation between Shepard and the merc, and both Jack and the Spectre looked at him in shock. Stabbing his finger furiously at the Cerberus logo that was now on his shoulder guard and chest he glowered at Shepard, and when Jack checked her own armour in the same places the glowing in her mask's eyes intensified to levels matching her equally pissed off boyfriend. "I swear to fucking God Shepard that this is the last goddamn straw," he growled, "both Jack and I hate Cerberus with a motherfucking passion, and your little cheerleader... the moment this mission is over Shepard you'd best contact Chakwas and tell her to prepare for some life-saving surgery. We'll make sure she doesn't die, but some permanent damage will not be out of the question - you hear me?"

Nodding his head in resignation Shepard nodded; he'd warned Miranda to keep out of their hair, and that he'd look the other way no matter the consequences of her actions in regard the two, and he was a man of his word. Salkie, by no surprise, looked highly confused at the outburst, but pointed them in the right direction when Shepard asked him. Both Jack and Andrew slowly calmed as they meditated until their anger was a mere bubbling pool of fury underneath their battle-readiness and bloodlust. Still carrying the case in his hands Andrew idly opened it and pulled a small, egg-sized devices from inside; lobbing them stealthily underneath various objects in all the rooms they passed. Shepard watched with curiosity, but didn't voice his concerns - choosing instead to talk to the mercs and look around. Reconnaissance, he'd been taught in the Alliance, could save your life. As it happened, it didn't save his, but it had the potential to save Aria's when he came across a datapad that mentioned a hit on the Asari. Andy had all but forgotten that little detail, but thanked Shepard when he was handed it and immediately sent it off to his friend by jacking into the local information pathways via his omni-tool. Moving forwards they were directed to Sergeant Cathka, although when Shepard moved to stab the Batairan in the back he'd been held back by Andy who had instead uploaded a virus created by himself and Izzy that would allow him to destroy the ship easily if it became a problem.

And then there they were; standing on the bottlenecked bridge leading to where Archangel was shooting from in the upper story.

Once again it seemed almost ethereal to Andrew; having played this very scene multiple times back on his Earth. Jack saw his hesitation and gave an understanding nod, and he gave one back before pulling a small tube from inside the case he was carrying before hiffing the now-useless box away. Shepard gave him a look of exasperation when he saw what it was, whereas Jack just gained a highly excited look on her face. Without pause Andy flicked the safety cap off, jammed his finger down on the button, grinned, and said one word: -

"Boom."

His vocalisation of the resulting explosion did no justice whatsoever. The entire station shook with the force of the explosions that tore through level they were on, and Andrew gave a sneer to himself when his omni-tool popped up and told him the death toll; calculated by summing up the heat signatures that the egg-nukes picked up before detonating. "Aria owes me for three hundred and fifty seven mercs," he quipped evilly, and Jack gave a snicker at his tone. Shepard, contrarily, looked at the two like they were insane.

Andrew had to admit that they probably were, slightly.

The mercs who had gotten ahead of them were looking around with wide eyes, at least until they saw Andy holding the detonator looking quite pleased with himself. He didn't even have to remove his mask to show his amusement at the situation; his body language, a.k.a striking a cool pose, was more than capable of expressing his mirth at the huge explosions that had occurred seconds previously. "KILL THEM!" came the battle cry from one of the human sentinels; haptic shields covering her torso and arms, and Andy dissappeared. Jack pushed her hands outwards with a yell, and huge blue shockwaves pounded a path right into their attackers - the force of the attack leaving half-meter deep craters in the ground. Shepard ducked behind cover and was expertly sniping off those that had somehow managed to evade Jack's biotic blasts, but after three minute's fighting the entire battleground fell silent. With a slight cracking sound as his infiltration layer deactivated, Andrew pulled off his mask and grinned down on his boss and girlfriend from right beside Archangel who was looking at him with wide eyes. Waving wildly to get their attention he hollered, "They're all dead, come on up! I've closed down the basement entries and loaded them up with Izzy's and my OS, so we're clear!"

Hearing a cleared throat beside him as he watched Jack and Shepard jog into the storey below he turned his head to see Archangel removing his mask and fixing him with a confused, but slightly awed expression. "Uhrm, excuse my asking, but just who are you?"

Holding out his hand with a winning smile he replied, "Andrew Kronos, at your service Garrus."

The Turian's eyes widened, "Kronos? I've heard about y-"

"Garrus, is that you?"

Turning his attention away from the freelance merc who was promptly glomped by his grinning girlfriend. Garrus grinned at his old teammate. "Shepard, you have no idea how nice it is to see a friendly face."

"What're you doing here anyway?"

"Just... keeping my skills sharp." Turning his head to the battleground below he shook his head, "Although it seems I'm done for the day. What the hell was that explosion anyway?"

"That'd be me," confessed Andrew with a wide grin, "I planted miniature nukes in all the rooms as we made out way in to clear out reinforcements - though I did leave the gunship intact for the most part-"

"You're going to DIE!"

Twisting around to face the hovering ship he grinned, "Speak of the devil and he shall appear."

There was some grumbling, and then some muttered cursing, and then the sound of thumping over the loudspeakers. "Fucking fire! Hunk of useless shit!"

Garrus and Shepard fixed the smug biotic duo with looks of... worry. "You two... you're just as fucking scary as the stories say you are."

"Thanks freakyface."

Noticing the Turian was looking annoyed, Shepad sighed and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Don't even try it - she's got a nickname for pretty much everybody, hell, she calls her Quarian teammate bitch-bucket for Christ's sake, and her boyfriend," he nodded to Andrew who was doing a masterful job of appearing aloof, "Fucker."

Hearing a murmured whipping sound Andy sent a biotic charge through Garrus' body and the Turian jolted upwards with a howl of pain. He wisely didn't pass comment on the pair's relationship again. Looking back to the still-hovering gunship Andy gave a thoughtful frown, but was jolted out of his thinking when Jack tapped a couple of buttons on his omni-tool and the machine blew up with a thundering explosion. Shrugging nonchalantly he turned back to the gaping soldiers, wrapped his arm around Jack's waist, and raised an eyebrow. "So when are we getting out of here?"