Chapter 39: All good things must end

-Normandy, Commander Jane Shepard's Quarters

Commander Jane Shepard awoke, but she tried not to move. She was immediately aware of Liara wrapped around her, and she didn't want to disturb the young asari or break the contact. These moments were the only thing that she could hold onto and refer to when her world was crashing, and since lately it seemed like the world was crashing an awful lot, she needed all the stolen moments she could get.

This is strange. She's connected to me. I hope she didn't stumble across any of the memories I have locked away. I wonder how we linked up.

Jane suddenly felt guilty. She had been meaning to use every free second to practice what Sha'ira had taught her, but every time she turned around, something catastrophic was happening and she hadn't yet found the time. As much as she regretted missing out on her planned rendezvous with Liara at the safehouse, part of her was grateful that she had been kidnapped. She wasn't entirely sure whether she had practiced enough yet to hide the memories from the inquisitive young asari, and she had no idea how deep the link would go when they… well… she better not start thinking about that, especially since her best friend was only a deck away, at death's door.

I hope that Danger is ok. I should go check on her and see what's happening.

But, she didn't have to do that right this second. Right now, it was still early, and she had some time to lay with her love and enjoy the proximity. Liara was wrapped around her, gripping the commander's shirt as if she could keep the human from ever slipping away again.

Liara, I didn't mean to go away from you. I never want to be away from you. I want to be with you always. Don't you see that?

Maybe Liara did see that. Jane examined the link between the two of them, but there was only a faint trace of current going back and forth between them. She couldn't make out any distinct words or emotions, but that could be because the asari was asleep.

Deciding that it wasn't quite time to wake up yet, Jane closed her eyes, and drifted off once more, as the gentle breathing of the woman behind her lulled her to sleep.

-Nightmares

Platinum swords.

She stood and looked to either side of the road she was on, and saw nothing but platinum swords, driven into the ground.

Clearly, she was meant to take this path. It was almost over, and she was being welcomed home.

Quietly, she walked along the way indicated to her, and gazed at her surroundings. The sky was dark, with a dim orange glow in the distance where it met the silver mountains. The grass was golden, and it swayed softly in the crystalline breeze. She felt the air caress her black hair, and her grip tightened around the steel sword she carried.

Sword? Why was she carrying a sword? Strange.

One foot in front of the other, she walked the path as it winded upwards into the depths of the mountains and gave way to a staircase. It took her an eternity to ascend the glassy walkway, and she gripped the blade of the sword with her other hand, drawing blood, willing herself the strength to continue. As her hand bled out, she felt her body weakening, but her mind was overcoming the frailty of her flesh. Her mind was focusing all her energy onto a single point, ahead in the distance. She had waited her entire life to make this climb, and if she did not make it to the end this night, she never would.

She overcame each step individually, each solitary movement requiring such a control of will that she felt even the slightest distraction could cause her ruin. She gripped the sword more tightly, and ignored the blood that spilled out of her hand across the crystalline surface of the stairway. She thought about all that had happened before she reached this point, all of the lives lost and the souls she'd had to take. The pain seared her heart and weighed her down, but she pushed it forcefully out of her mind. That was not important now, and now was not the time to grieve or feel guilt. What was important now was one foot in front of the other. That was all that mattered. Each step might take an hour to complete, but each step brought her closer to her goal, and each step was necessary, for there was only one who could stand against the coming darkness.

After an age, she finally reached the top of the staircase, and slowly raised her shaky head to gaze upon the golden throne.

He sat there, watching and waiting, for her arrival. Many had attempted to climb the eternal staircase, but few had ever laid eyes on his seat of power. This child of his was different though. He had known it from the start, and he took actions to protect her and nurture her. This soul was special. While it had taken others many, many millennia to reach the top of the staircase, this soul had accomplished it in one.

She fell to her knees before him, but she did not loosen the grip on her steel sword. Instead, she appeared to tighten it, and he watched as her blood spilled over the reflective floor he had carved of souls. She didn't cry out.

She was magnificent. She was the very embodiment of everything he held dear. She was honorable, she was compassionate, and she defended her charges with the ferocity that was only found in the kings of old. And when the time came to make the hard choices, she chose correctly and overcame her own pain and guilt for the good of the universe. While the rest of her civilization had forgotten what it was to be one of his children, she had kept the spirit of his gifts inside of her.

She even took on the beauty of his form, her pale skin and chiseled jaw mirroring his own. Her black hair and eyes were a stark contrast to his platinum ones, but he enjoyed diversity and appreciated her magnificence as it was. He would change nothing about her, his Champion, his Chosen.

He stood, and his massive figure towered over her as he spread his wings and darkened the glass dais with the shadow of his form. She heard his booming voice in her head, welcoming her to the Platinum Halls, and as she looked down at her hands, she found that the sword had changed. It was no longer pale and rusted steel, barely adequate to slice a piece of soft fruit much less cleave a man's skull. It had changed into brilliant platinum, with golden trim and the mark of a snowy wing emblazoned on the hilt. She felt it fairly pulse with power, and as she loosened her grip on the blade, she felt the skin of her left arm tingle. Looking over, she saw the faint outline of what looked like a silver hand.

The sword was nearly identical to the ones she had seen lighting the pathway to her ascension, but it was somehow more detailed. Someone had taken great care in forging this weapon.

Her hand was healed, and as she gazed up at him, she felt a something pass through her head. The voice speaking in her mind was indistinct, but she got the feeling it was urging her to complete something. She had been selected for a number of tasks, but she felt certain that there was something very specific he wanted her to do, so that a companion of his could take some sort of action. It was unclear.

She lifted the sword above her head, and light shot out of the blade as she accepted his assignment, and accepted his gifts.

It seemed to her that he smiled gently down upon her, and then he lifted himself into the air and took flight, leaving her alone. She stood up and turned around, trying to follow him with her eyes, but he disappeared into the depths of space, leaving her to wonder whether he was ever really there at all.

She walked up to the throne, and laid the sword carefully before it. She sat on the glass floor of souls, and gazed at it for an eternity before she felt herself being shaken and pushed by an unseen force. Looking around her, she saw no threat, but the pushing and pulling continued. She grasped the sword and swung wildly at the air, trying to cut through whatever it was that was accosting her. She thought she heard something speaking her name, but her eyes had darkened and she couldn't hear it clearly.

"Jane… stop it… Jane…"

She stood and held the sword in front of her, looking side to side for the menace. Perhaps he had sent another test for her. Perhaps she was not yet done.

"What are you doing...? Jane… Stop it… There is nothing there…"

She swung wildly into the air, hoping beyond to hope to cut down her invisible enemy.

"No, stop it now! Jane, stop it!"

She shook her head and lowered the sword, holding her temple with her free hand. What was happening?

"JANE! It is ok! Stop it!"

Commander Jane Shepard opened her eyes and looked at the frightened asari gripping her arms. Liara had her pressed against the wall, and was using her biotics to hold the maddened woman in place. Jane had grabbed an electronic controller and was brandishing it as if it was a weapon, and Liara was trying to keep the human from hurting herself.

"Jane, it is ok, it is me. What is wrong?"

Jane dropped the controller, and slumped against the wall as Liara relaxed the biotic field surrounding her. "I don't know, Liara. I have no idea what just happened."

"Are you ok? Come over here and sit down." She led the commander back to the bed and gently encouraged the human to relax once again.

"It was just a bad dream, Liara. I'm sorry I scared you."

The asari looked at the agonized woman and wasn't convinced. "Jane… that was not just a bad dream."

"I'm fine, Liara. I'm just a little out of sorts with all this craziness going on. That's all."

"I could take a look at the memory and maybe help you to understand whatever it was…"

Jane closed her eyes and prayed for strength. This was the one downfall to being in love with a telepathic being: they always wanted to get inside your head. She turned to the asari and took her hands.

"Liara, this was just a bad dream. I've had it a couple times before, but this was the first time that I actually completed it. At least, I think I completed it... I just need some time to process the information. It will be fine. Really."

In truth, Jane didn't think any amount of processing would help her understand this information, but if it would calm Liara down enough to keep her from seeing how nuts her commander was becoming, then the little white lie was worth it. As it was the young scientist still wasn't convinced, but she recognized that she wasn't going to get anywhere with Jane on the subject… at least not for now.

"All right Jane. I will not push you on it, but I want you to know, that you can trust me too." She pulled the human down next to her and snuggled close. "You can trust me too, and I will always be here for you."

Commander Jane Shepard wrapped the asari in her arms, but didn't close her eyes. She couldn't sleep again now if she had wanted to, but luckily, it seemed the gods were to have mercy on her today.

"Commander?" Her pilot's voice invaded her thoughts over the comm.

"Go ahead, Joker."

"Got a call coming through for you from the Embassy. It seems important, and they want to talk to Danger as well."

"That might be a problem, Joker. Danger is in the med bay and there is no knowing whether she will make it through."

"Actually, Commander, I just saw her last night. She looked fine to me."

"You saw her last night? How?"

"She paraded through here half naked. I tried to get her to stay a while, but I don't think I'm her type. It's too bad. She's kinda hot, for a tall girl. You should have seen the look on Williams' face when Danger flashed her."

"She… what?" Jane looked at Liara, but the asari just shrugged. "Where is she now?"

"Hmm… looks like she's in the garages. She probably passed out in the Mako. What do you want me to do with the call?"

"Patch it through to the Comm room, but tell them I need a few minutes."

"You got it, Commander. Joker out."

Jane sat up again and put her head in her hands.

Does it ever end with Danger? I mean seriously, does it ever end? What could she possibly have been doing on the bridge, half naked?

"I have to go take care of this, Liara."

"I know, Jane. I will tidy up in here before I leave, and then return to my quarters. You can find me there if you need me."

"Thanks." Jane stood and raked her fingers through her hair a couple of times. She leaned over and kissed the asari on the forehead, and then headed out the door to go collect Danger.

-Normandy, Comm room

Jane and Danger entered the comm room, and the commander turned to her friend, worried.

"You sure you are up to this? I can tell them you are still in the medbay. You look like hell, Danger. You should have let the doctors finish patching you up. And you shouldn't be running through the ship naked…"

Danger waved her off. "I was naked for like three seconds, Jane, and even you would have laughed at the expression on her face. It was that epic. Besides, your doctor did a good enough job. Chakwas got the bones in my hand mostly back where they belong, and the rest will heal up soon enough. See, I'm almost back to my normal color." She showed her arms to her friend, and Jane thought she saw a slight blue hue, but Danger was right. You wouldn't really notice it unless you were looking for it. Her face, on the other hand… That was several shades of dreadful at the moment.

"The burns weren't nearly as serious as she was carrying on they were. I still want to know what the heck hit me, but whatever. I'll be fine, Jane. It's just a busted up face. Udina and Anderson see uglier than this every time they look in the mirror."

"I still think you should see Chakwas again before you leave. She's the best, you know. Take advantage of the medical care, on the Alliance. I saw what you looked like when we carried you out of there, and believe me, it was uglier than usual."

"I'm fine, Jane, but thanks for the thought and the compliment. She did enough, and I don't need her friend poking at me again, or that crazy asari wife of his. I always thought doctors were quacks, but those two take the cake. You should have heard them carrying about religion. I thought they were going to exorcise me or something."

The commander shrugged, rolled her eyes, and walked over to the console to open the com link. "Suit yourself, Danger. I'm sure you are exaggerating and it wasn't that bad. Let's see what the Alliance wants from us."

Captain Anderson came into view as the panel lit up and connected to the Embassy.

"Commander Shepard. It's good to see you."

"Thank you Captain. It's good to see you as well. What is it you wanted to talk to us about?"

Danger slumped in a chair; arms crossed, and stared at the wall. She had no idea what the Alliance wanted with her this time, but she was in no mood to play 'good little soldier' with Jane. Getting beaten, burned alive and nearly raped and exorcised by a pervy old couple could really put you in a bad mood.

"Operative Danger, it's good to see you too."

"Right. What do you want, Captain? Get it over with. As you can see, I'm not feeling particularly pretty today."

Captain Anderson took a breath and thought about how he was going to phrase his question. "Operative Danger, can you explain to me why you abandoned your post?"

Danger looked at the console screen in disbelief. "Abandoned my post? What post? What the hell are you talking about?"

Ambassador Udina, who had been sitting quietly in the background, got up and came to stand next to the captain. Shaking a finger at Danger, he nearly shouted, "You know very well what post you abandoned, and I have been hearing about it every single day you have been out gallivanting around the galaxy with the commander."

"Udina, I'll handle this." Captain Anderson raised a hand to calm the irate diplomat, and then addressed Danger once more. "Operative Danger, why did you abandon your post on Thessia?"

"That's what this is about? Are you serious? First of all," she said, pointing a finger at the console, "I did not abandon my post. I just took a vacation. Second, my post was already abandoned for me. Matriarch Terriana is well protected by her new commando."

"Operative Danger, the matriarch has informed us that you left the world and she has been without protection for three months. She is especially upset that you did not clear the absence with her, and assumed you abandoned your assignment. She has even tossed the word traitor around, though the ambassador was able to talk her out of going to the council with those accusations… for now."

Ambassador Udina interrupted him, "You are singlehandedly destroying all the work I have done to further our relations with the asari! I expect that you have a very good reason for your gross misconduct. "

"Udina, I'll handle this! Danger, what's going on?"

Danger leaned back in her chair, mouth agape. She had no idea what was going on. "Three months? I've been gone a week! Captain, I don't know what the hell she is talking about. When I left, she had a commando guarding her. I was out of the picture. I don't even know what to say to that. It was clear my job there was finished, so I left."

Jane eyed her friend worriedly, and addressed the captain. "Listen Captain, Danger came here to help me train the crew a bit. We picked her up on Thessia just last week. When she left, the matriarch had a bodyguard. I don't know what happened in between now and then, but Danger didn't leave her unprotected, and certainly not for that length of time."

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway. You aren't an official part of the Alliance, so even if we did find fault with what you did, there is little we can do to you." Captain Anderson held up a hand to forestall Danger's reply. "No, Danger, I am not angry. We had a feeling she was exaggerating a bit, so don't worry. Your record with the Alliance has been solid. However, the matriarch has been complaining daily for the last week, and we have a request to make of you. There's a way to fix all of this, and get us something we have wanted for a very long time."

I don't want to fucking hear it. Go jump in a lake. Three months? Maybe she doesn't know how to use an Omni-tool…

"What."

The captain nodded to Ambassador Udina, and the other human continued. "Operative Danger Vance, your presence has been requested on the planet Thessia. We are prepared to offer you a substantial sum, as well as a small ship, if you would accept this job."

"You have to be kidding me."

Jane watched her friend's face carefully. Danger was doing a pretty good job of hiding her emotions behind her black and blue mask, but Jane could tell that her mind was being ripped in a million different directions. She wondered what the mercenary was thinking, and for the first time kind of wished she had the mental powers the asari have. It would surely be interesting to see inside Danger's head right about now.

"Operative Danger, I am not." The man started pacing in a small pattern in front of the console. "Matriarch Terriana has agreed to move a small human colony into a planet currently on the outskirts of asari space. This is a huge opportunity for us, and I cannot tell you how important it will be to ally ourselves with the asari in the coming days. We need to build a partnership, and of all the races currently known, the asari are the most formidable and likely to help us advance our causes."

"I still think you have to be kidding me. I mean… You can't be serious. It's fucking ridiculous."

Jane kicked Danger hard in the shin.

"Ow Jane… Yea, sorry about that last bit, Ambassador. I've been under a bit of… stress… lately."

The man just shook it off. "It's fine, Operative. I understand. We are asking you, as an agent of the Alliance, to return to Thessia as Matriarch Terriana's bodyguard. As I have already stated, the Alliance is willing to compensate you handsomely."

Danger looked at Jane for support, but the commander just shrugged. Looking back at the console she asked, "Can I have a few minutes? Can you at least give me a few minutes here to think about it?"

Ambassador Udina nodded, and Captain Anderson turned off the comm link.

"Wow. That was…. Unexpected."

"Jane, don't be cute. What the hell is she thinking? I mean, do asari really have nothing better to do than to fucking politic and fuck with people all the time? This is ridiculous. Three months? Can she even tell time? Or was she exaggerating for dramatic effect?"

"Look on the bright side, it seems like she wants you back there."

"For fucking what? I don't believe for a second she doesn't have that commando anymore. She must just enjoy tormenting me."

"I don't know." Jane looked thoughtful. "This seems like an awful lot to go through just to cause one human pain. She's taking a big risk, letting us move a colony into their space. You must be important to her, for her to trade something that valuable just to get you back there."

"But Jane, this is so dumb! Of all the ways this could have possibly happened… You should have brought Liara in here. She might have had a clue what this is all about. All Terriana had to do was pick up a comm. Hell, all she had to do was turn on my terminal. It would have immediately contacted me…"

Jane just shook her head. "I doubt Liara would have a clue what is going on, Danger. I don't think anyone has any idea what is going on in that asari's head. So what are you going to do?"

Danger exhaled slowly and thought about it.

Good fucking question, Jane. What am I going to do? I was getting ready to go out to Omega and get my sin on… Why couldn't she have just… sent a message or something? Why involve the Alliance? This is going to be an even bigger disaster than before.

"I don't know Jane. How can I go back? What are my duties going to be if I do go back? Things will never be the same as before."

"You won't know that until you get there, but look at it this way. If you are right and she's just doing this for amusement, eventually she'll get bored. When she does, you'll at least have a ship and a bunch more money to impress the whores of Omega with. Seems like the Alliance is always throwing money at you. I still don't see what the big deal is, what with your bashed in face and your idiotic grin."

"Whatever, Jane. You know you want me." Danger buried her bruised and battered face in her hands.

"Who doesn't? You still should consider it. They are probably going to give you one of those tiny, fast ones the turians gave us that we never use. You know, those fighter class ships. You wouldn't have to coordinate with Ned anymore."

"I don't want any of that crap, Jane. They can't bribe me. If I wanted a ship, I'd have a ship." Danger sat back in the chair and looked at the ceiling.

Jane looked at her friend thoughtfully. "No, I don't suppose they can, Danger. But, you want to go back there, don't you? This may not make sense to us mere humans, but clearly Terriana noticed you were gone, and didn't like it. You should at least go back to find out why."

No, I should do what I told myself to do the first time, and hop the next transport to Omega. That's what I should do…That's definitely what I should do.

Danger nodded to Jane, and the commander flipped a switch to reopen the link to the human embassy. Shortly, the com flickered back on and Captain Anderson and Ambassador Udina came into sight.

"Have you made a decision?" the ambassador asked.

Danger stood and walked over to stand in front of the console. "I have, but I have a few conditions."

The ambassador's face darkened, but he nodded for her to continue.

"First, you can keep your money and your ship. I don't want them."

The two men looked at each other, slightly surprised, but the ambassador nodded. "Very well, Danger. I don't understand why, but if that's the way you want it then fine. The ship and credits will be available should you change your mind. What of your conditions?"

"I want a schedule. I want a specific contract, detailing my hours of operation, and all of my duties. I also want it to be for a specific period of time, say, three years. At the end of which, it can be renegotiated, but I would be under no obligation to do so. That is the only way I will return to Thessia. And," she added as an afterthought, "I need some new hair ties."

Captain Anderson hid a chuckle behind his hand, and Udina glared at him.

"I think I can work something out, Operative Danger," the ambassador replied. "Commander Shepard, I understand you have a mission to prepare for and you do not need to be here for the mundane details."

Jane saluted, and then grasped her friend on the shoulder. "Ambassador, Captain. I'll talk to you both later on, when I have something to report."

"I'll see you in a little bit, Jane. Thanks for everything." She stood and embraced her friend, and then sat down in a chair to discuss the details of her new contract with the human diplomat.

-Normandy, Commander Jane Shepard's quarters, sometime later

"So you are going back to Thessia then." Jane couldn't help but feel a little sad. She had really enjoyed the time with Danger and the crew, despite getting kidnapped and chained to a chair and slithering through greasy ventilation ducts. All things considered, it was a pretty good week.

"I guess I am, but not right away. I told them I needed another few days here."

"Punishing Terriana?"

"Maybe a little. I mean, I don't want to seem too eager, right? But there's something else, too. I need to give something to Tali, something important and special. I also figure I can help out with getting the ship prepped, and there are some other things I have for your Mako that I want to show Garrus how to use before I bail."

Jane eyed her friend suspiciously. "Tali, huh? I thought we talked about this?"

Danger stared blankly at Jane. "You know, you and Liara really need to just get on with it. I swear sex is the only thing on your mind these days. You really need to get laid, Jane."

Jane just scratched the back of her head, and then looked at her hand in horror. I'm picking up too many of her habits…

The mercenary leaned back in the chair she occupied and crossed her arms. "No, Jane, that's not what I am passing onto Tali. I was going through some of my datapads and I came across an old project I had been working on. It's in an archaic language, one that humans haven't used in a century. One day I was bored and looking up history and I thought it would be a good idea to play with it a little and see what I could do with it."

The mercenary leaned forward in her chair and looked unusually somber.

"This language was the most popular at the time when we were first getting into really building robotics. There were years of debates on the technology, how to use it, whether to use it, when to use it, and it just seemed to last forever and ever. No one could ever make a decision whether to move forward with governmental funding for development. So the only scientists who ever really made use of it were hobbyists, and even those folks never really tapped into the potential. Private companies played with it, but mostly just to create low level machines to repeat tedious tasks. They never really delved into seriously developing it."

"I don't understand what this has to do with Tali, or you needing more time with her."

"Well, the debate went on for so long that by the time they decided to move ahead, new languages had been developed and this one was just dismissed. Technology works like that, out with the old, in with the new. Well, I got hold of it and started building things, and I never really thought about it until looking at it a second time, after meeting Tali."

"Danger, you still aren't making any sense. What are you talking about?"

"Jane, believe me when I tell you, we were this close to being the quarians ourselves. Tali showed me some of the code they used when programming the geth and this language is eerily similar. If our bureaucrats hadn't spent all their time arguing the religious ramifications of advancing the technology, we might be on a migrant fleet too. There are bugs that were corrected in later developments of the language, and we never took the technology to the level the quarians did, luckily, but it's still scary to see how close we were to disaster. I want to show her this and teach her the language. It might give her some insight. It can't hurt, anyway. It should only take a couple days to teach it to her. She's a smart one."

Jane stared at Danger. "You really do care about her, don't you?"

"Well, I think I care about all your crew, Jane, not just Tali. I told you once I didn't think either of us were getting 'that' vibe, and I meant it, so quit bringing it up. Tali is great, and a year ago who knows, but I'm in… I have other obligations at the moment. I just want to help her out. The quarians are just so… they don't deserve what happened to them. They deserve to reclaim their planet and cast off those ridiculous suits. It's not fair."

"Right. I know what you mean." Jane sat there, thoughtful. It suddenly occurred to her that she knew very little about the mercenary's personal life, and it kind of bothered her. "Danger, have you ever been in love? You know, before Terriana?"

Danger looked at her friend and grinned. "Only with you, Janie. But you brokeded my heart!"

Shepard aimed a kick at her friend's shin, and Danger fell to the floor in laughter.

"Danger, you're such an ass. Be serious."

"Ha, Jane you are so predictable." Danger got back into her chair and leaned back. "You know… I don't think I have. That's probably why this was such a shock. None of it makes sense to me. I guess it just never really occurred to me as something I'd really want to do, until…"

Danger couldn't finish the sentence. She was still confused about what was going on with Terriana, and though the ache in her heart was starting to lessen, it was still there.

"Jane, I feel like I'm just walking straight back into the jaws of the lion. I'm purposely reopening old wounds, and I have absolutely no clue as to why. Something is calling me back there, though. I am supposed to be there. I don't know why, but I'm supposed to be there." She scratched at her back, which had suddenly developed a strange itch right at the base.

"Are you sure, Danger? You know I could probably get you assigned here as a mechanic. I'm sure that Adams would enjoy having another lady down in engineering with him. You don't have to go back, and you don't have to go to Omega."

"Jane, I appreciate the offer, but we both know that wouldn't work out. It would only be a matter of time before the Alliance tried to recruit me, and besides, I already agreed to this new arrangement. No, I have to go back to Thessia. You were right earlier. I have to know."

"So what did you put in the contract?"

"The usual. My salary, my hours, visits late at night in the garden are off limits, sex allowed only on Thursdays. Nothing special."

"You didn't seriously put that in there, did you?"

"No, but I did consider it. I changed it to Wednesday. That's a better day for me than Thursday, anyway. The Commando trains Thursday mornings and she is especially vicious come the evening, so sex with her that night for sure. I have to keep my Fridays and Saturdays open for random Justicars passing through. You know they like to occasionally stop by the planet to get their asses kissed by their adoring fans, and even they need some lovin every now and again. The rest of the days are for maidens. I don't want to give those up. I have to keep my priorities straight, after all."

"You're impossible."

"Yea, but could you imagine how awesome my life would be if she actually agreed to a contract like that? Talk about the career of a lifetime. I was tempted to put it in there just to see what she would do. Well, my contract is good enough, anyway. I guard her trips off world and any meetings she takes on Thessia, and pretty much the rest of my time is mine. I figure I'll build a couple new rovers while I'm there. It should work out well. I just need to lay the ground rules when I get back, but I'll have a sit down with Rolus and let him handle all that. I'm not going to just be at her beck and call this time around."

"Good. You deserve better than to get walked all over, and I don't think I ever told you that. You've been a good friend to me, and to Liara, and to my crew. You deserve the best, Darla, and I hope that before the end, she sees what a treasure you are."

"Wow Jane, where the hell did all that come from?"

"Let's just say that over the last few weeks I have learned that time can run out at any moment. I don't want to waste it anymore, leaving things unsaid."

"You're not going to like, take me in your arms and ravage me are you? Cause I'm saving myself for someone you know."

Jane kicked her friend in the shin again.

"Owwww, stop it Jane! That's it, I'm gonna tell Liara on you!"

"Ash was right. You are 12."

Danger grinned. "Yea, maybe. Listen I'm going to head down to the garages and get Tali started on this code. Thanks, for everything Jane."

"Anytime, Danger. Oh, one last thing. I better tell you before I forget. Your safe house was compromised. You need to get a new one. "

"What?"

"I don't know the details, but Liara said someone followed you to it."

"Great. Well, those aren't hard to replace. Hm… That actually reminds me… Jane, did you guys take out Red?"

Jane thought about it. They had killed a number of guards while rescuing Danger, but now that she thought about it, it wasn't nearly as hard as it should have been. None of the men they had killed looked like the pirate, either.

"I'm not sure, Danger. I don't think so."

Danger shook her head and cursed beneath her breath. "He's a coward. He would have jumped ship the second the alarm signaling intruders was sounded. Shit. That means he's still out there. Watch your back, Jane. I doubt he will take on the Alliance, but if I were you, I'd stay out of dark titty bars like the Den for a while."

"What are you going to do?"

"Well, there's not much I can do. I can't go tracking him down, not now. Maybe the matriarch will only keep me for a few years, and then I can go my own way and clean up this mess before retiring."

"Do you think he will come after you again?"

"He might, but not while I'm in asari space. He's not that stupid and seriously Jane, I might make jokes, but no one fucks with those Justicars. Bandits steer clear of asari territory, especially weak scum like Jacob Red. For now, I guess we can forget about him. Just stay on your toes."

"All right, Darla. If I hear anything I'll let you know. It was good seeing you again." The commander embraced her friend, and watched as Danger turned and walked out of the room.

It was good seeing you, Danger. And I'll always be here for you. Maybe after this mission I'll go deal with Red myself. The Justicars aren't the only ones who can fly about the galaxy righting wrongs, now that I'm a Spectre.

Commander Jane Shepard turned and sat at her console, glad that she finally had a chance to really tell the mercenary how much she appreciated her friendship. Now it was time to take care of another task she had been meaning to do.

She turned on the console and started putting together a report about Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams.