AN:- The most interesting thing about writing this is choosing what order to do things in. Even more than ME2 there is no set order.

Chapter Twelve: Grissom Academy

She surprised herself by managing a full five hours of uninterrupted sleep, which felt like slipping into a coma after the stress of the last few days. After tossing and turning another hour in her quarters she resigned herself to getting up. Another side effect of Miranda's implants was that she could function for weeks on an hour of sleep a night. That didn't mean she liked doing it.

A shower woke her up, cleaning her teeth did a surprising amount of good. A fresh uniform and she felt like a new woman, heading out into the Normandy almost with a spring in her step. The way ahead looked dark, yes, but she had a crew of friends who were willing to walk through fire for her. Maybe Jack would even be up for joining them again. That would bring just the right amount of chaos back into their lives.

Grissom Academy was located in the Petra Nebula, a good week's travel even at full speed. There wasn't a great deal else to except for travelling either, and Shepard didn't want to waste a second getting to them. Joker alternated between crashing in his bunk during transit and hauling himself to the bridge for the tricky relay transitions. Shepard joined him in these weird patterns, since if nothing else it kept her occupied. When she wasn't able to sleep she read the incoming reports.

Williams was awake, good news part one. Williams was messaging her, good news part two. Udina wanted to make her a Spectre. Well, Shepard counted that as good news part three, even though Ashley was conflicted about it. She considered sending a message to Ashley offering advice, but instead sent back only a short note.

On mission, but will return to the Citadel as soon as we are able.

That at least covered the basics. She thought about adding anything personal, but whatever she thought of would have only sounded trite.

She had about a dozen requests for aid from various quarters. Hackett had relayed her some coordinates, as had a number of diplomats who had evidently learned that the Normandy was out and about. She filed them all, trying to label them by urgency. The last one was the most intriguing to her. Aria T'Loak wanted to meet with her in Purgatory on the Citadel. She marked that one with an urgent memo, to remind herself as soon as possible.

As they drew closer she occupied her mind with the information about Grissom Academy. It looked like a fairly standard Alliance facility, though there was a lot more thought given over to comfort, and obviously teaching. She couldn't help but notice a lot of choke points and cover. If the Alliance troops stationed there had been smart they would have been able to hold back the Cerberus troops very well. Or it could easily have turned the other way.

The message Traynor had decoded had indicated that the 'turian' cruiser was on route, not already at the Academy. Depending on where Cerberus had launched from that gave them some time. Joker was pushing the Normandy to her new limits, which were formidable. Their speed had been more than doubled when not in FTL flight, and Adams had relayed that he was doing everything he could to make that even better.

As they sped through the Annos Basin, the final system before the Academy, she and Joker were in the cockpit together. EDI was away testing out her new body's combat capabilities in a sparring match with Vega. Shepard hoped he was going easy.

"Hey Captain?"

He broke her out of her study of the floor plan of the Academy. "Yes Joker?

"I have a request, if you can."

"Anything for you Joker, you know that."

"Anything you can find out about Tiptree. You have access to more information than just the standard Alliance channels."

Shepard was about to ask why, but then she remembered his family. "Of course Joker. I'll let you know if I see anything come up."

"Thanks." He went quiet, checking their trajectory, then spoke again. "How's Ash- Lieutenant Williams doing?"

"It's alright to ask about her Joker. She's awake. She's healing. She's been offered a position as a Spectre."

"Huh. That's good for her. She'll be good at that."

"I think so too. She's not so sure. I'm going to be convincing her next time we're on the Citadel."

"Do you think she's going to be coming back to the Normandy?"

"Honestly I don't think so Joker. Too much water under too many bridges. But I do think she's on our side. And I don't think she hates us."

Joker nodded. "I can live with that."

"You should talk to her."

"I don't even know what I'd say. Sorry for the last three years?"

Shepard shrugged. "It's a start."

/|\

Grissom Academy was shaped like a crucifix, with a sphere at the centre of the junction. There was only one main docking port, and even as they entered the system Shepard could see on the viewscreens that it had already been boarded by a Cerberus ship.

"And there's the folks who answered the distress call," Joker said, magnifying the view. "Cerberus cruiser. And I'm picking up mines on the scanner. We're not getting the Normandy through the minefield, and I don't fancy a one on one with a cruiser." He glanced back to where Shepard stood. "They must want this place bad."

"Receiving incoming transmission," EDI said.

"Let's hear it."

A woman's voice came over the comm. Calm and collected. "SSV Normandy, this is Kahlee Sanders, Director of Grissom Academy, we need immediate assistance. Cerberus is attacking the facility. They're after my students."

"This is Captain Shepard. We're blocked on a direct approach."

"I know. They've taken control of our docking bays."

"Any alternatives?"

"There's an auxiliary cargo port I could probably open."

Clearly Kahlee knew what she was doing. "Alright. We'll come in by shuttle and get your students out of there." She closed the comm line and leaned over the pilot's seat. "Still have that cruiser to get rid of. Can you give me a diversion Joker?"

Joker laced his fingers and stretched them out. "Boy can I!"

Shepard grinned, looking over to EDI. "Make sure he doesn't prang her."

"Prang?"

Shepard shook her head. "Never mind." It was even funnier now that EDI had a body. Where before only her voice had conveyed her confusion now she was fully able to raise her eyebrow and look bewildered.

She walked back down the gangway, activating her comm link. "Garrus, Liara, you ready?"

"We'll meet you by the shuttle."

On the elevator ride down Shepard took the final chance to tighten her armour straps and check the seal on her helmet. When she stepped out into the cargo bay she was surprised to find that she didn't have any advice to give. For the first time in a long time she was heading out on a mission with two people she could trust entirely, not only to not stab her in the back, but to know their roles, to anticipate her needs and orders before she even gave them.

The realisation made her smile as she approached Garrus and Liara, who were chatting about something as she walked up. That was another nice change of pace, no more stony silences before missions. Cortez was already in the shuttle, running through pre-flight checks.

"Let's go get those students," was all Shepard said as they bundled into the back.

As they peeled out Shepard watched the Normandy on the viewscreen, tracking its progress as it went into a corkscrew spiral that had to be setting the inertials to their maximum. As they passed the Cerberus cruiser, giving a wide enough berth to avoid the mines, the gun emplacements lit up, painting the cruiser's barriers. It split away from the Academy immediately, turning to follow the Normandy.

She could tell that Joker was reigning himself in, keeping his speed to the sweet spot where the cruiser might think it had a chance to get them in range, but always dancing on the edge of the locking sensors. She brought up a digital readout of the distances and shook her head. He was literally within a metre of the targeting sensors locking on, and managing to hold that position. He really was an artist.

The shuttle weaved in between the mines easily. They had been designed for tracking big ships, not shuttles. Cortez took no chances though. She liked that about him. Grissom Academy loomed up ahead and they took a looping path to bring them around to the cargo entrance Sanders had mentioned. As they neared it Shepard stepped into the cockpit.

"Keep the shuttle in position, we'll be back."

"Aye aye Captain."

Garrus went first, assault rifle ready. Liara took the flanking position, sweeping her submachine gun around the bay. Shepard jumped out last, her pistol in hand. She had no doubt that there would be close quarter fighting inside.

Straight out of the cargo bay they came into a narrow hallway, plenty of cover points that bore the burns and score marks of weapons fire. Clearly the defenders had made some sort of stand here, and been driven back, but there weren't any bodies, or even any blood stains. She could only hope that meant all the students were still alive and well.

"Captain, I'm locked in a server room near your position. Cerberus troops are trying to get in."

There was a door at the end of the corridor. Through it Shepard could hear the distorted voice of a Cerberus commando. "Get ready, I've almost got the door."

She turned to Garrus but he was already in position, his sniper rifle out and ready. Should have guessed. Liara was on her other side, heavy pistol now in hand. Shepard switched to her sniper rifle and triggered the door, getting down on one knee and sighting as soon as the lock had cycled open.

There were three commandos, clustered around a door. Two of them were heaving at both sides of it while the third stood guard with an assault rifle. The three shots were almost simultaneous and all three troops jerked to the side, their helmets shattering as the heavy slugs tore through their skulls and dropped them to the deck.

They sprinted up to the door, which had been pried partway open. As Garrus and LIara searched the bodies of the Cerberus troops Shepard called through the gap. "Sanders we're clear, it's me."

The door hissed and opened the rest of the way, letting them in. It closed behind them and locked. A woman rose up from behind a desk, armed with a rifle. She was about Anderson's age, with graceful crow's feet and laugh lines prominent on her face. She had dark blonde hair, which was matted with sweat and grime. Her eyes were striking, a shade of pale blue that caught Shepard's gaze and held it squarely. She marched to a computer terminal, dropping the rifle down onto the desk next to it.

"Thank you captain. Admiral Anderson always said you were the best." Did he now. "And with Cerberus coming for my students, I need the best."

Shepard came to stand next to her, watching as she flicked through security cameras. Only a few were functional, and none of them showed Cerberus troops or students.

"How many of you are there?" Shepard, asked, looking around the room. There was a dead soldier in one corner, his armour bearing a dozen bullet holes.

"Fewer than twenty." Shepard quickly ran the numbers. The shuttle would carry that many, but it would be tight. "Most were sent home when word of the Reaper invasion spread. But a few volunteered to stay. Some are prototyping tech for the Alliance. Others are biotics." That explained Cerberus' interest at least. This wasn't just a school for the gifted, it was practically a training camp. "They've been training for military operations, working together as biotic artillery."

All of her reports had listed the students as teenagers. The thought of them being prepared for war didn't sit well. "A few months knocking over practice dummies can't prepare your students for war."

"Agreed, but the Alliance needs every resource it can get. And our students are unique… resources." It looked like Sanders wasn't any happier with the term. "They wanted to help, how could we say no with the entire galaxy falling apart?" She shook her head and turned back to the computer. "I've been trying to get communications working."

As she typed Shepard remembered her mentioning Anderson. She hadn't been aware the admiral spoke about her to many other people. "You mentioned Admiral Anderson?"

"Yes. We met, God, what's it been? Twenty years ago, when he was a Spectre candidate." Now that was interesting. "I was there when Saren betrayed him. David saved my life that day. He's a good man."

There was definitely more to their relationship than Sanders had said. The concern in her voice was obvious. "He was on Earth when the Reapers hit. Stayed behind when I got offworld."

"I hadn't heard, we've been cut off from most news. He's alive?"

"Alive and fighting." God I hope so. Hackett's report hadn't made any mention of Anderson specifically when recounting the fight on Earth. "He's currently leading the resistance movement."

"Good. If we get out of here..." Her smile was sad. "Well just tell him to stay alive."

At that moment the comm link opened back up again and a panicked male voice came through. "This is Froeberg! There are students trapped in Orion Hall! Cerberus has us boxed in! They're closing fast!"

"Damn it!"

Shepard glanced back to see Garrus and Liara already at the door, weapons ready. She drew her pistol.

"Orion Hall?"

"Back out the door and down the hallway. I can get the doors open."

"I'll bring them back here and we'll make a run for the shuttle."

"Thank you Captain. I'll stay put. With luck I can regain control of some of our systems."

Shepard nodded and led the way back out into the hall, heading through the next set of doors and into another corridor. There was a glass wall at the other end, and as they neared it a pair of Cerberus commandos walked by, dragging a student who kicked and screamed at them. Shepard sprinted to the glass, slamming the butt of her pistol against it.

The glass didn't give at all, and the commandos made no sign they even noticed her presence. A third man, wearing leadership insignia, followed the two, and he looked to her. Garrus and Liara joined her in beating on the glass as the commando walked over and stared at them, his inhuman eyes burning. Shepard stepped back and levelled her pistol at the window. She emptied the clip but the glass stayed solid, and the student had already been dragged away. As she watched the unit leader turned and walked slowly out of sight.

"Damn!" She shouted. "Come on!"

They followed the only available route, which lead into another corridor. As they double timed down the hall the facility's communication system opened and a deep voice started to speak.

"Attention all students, Cerberus has taken control of this station. Resist, and we can't guarantee your safety."

"Do you think that's going to convince anyone?"

"Let's not find out."

They came out into a wide open meeting area, where ahead Shepard could see a student enclosed within a biotic bubble. Two Cerberus troops stood outside the bubble, staring at him. Shepard dropped one while Garrus took the other and they hurried over to the student, who dropped the barrier, looking pale and exhausted from the effort. Liara caught him as he dropped to one knee.

"There may be more nearby," Shepard told him. "Play dead until it's safe then get to Kahlee Sanders at security."

"Ok." He let himself be lowered down to the floor, seeming grateful just for the chance to lie down. "But my sister Seanne is out here somewhere too."

"Don't worry, we'll get her out safe."

The meeting area was right next to the classrooms, and the glass on the floor suggested that Cerberus had smashed their way through. It also gave them a faster way to get through to the classrooms. They vaulted over the low wall and hurried through, noting where the students had set up barricades to keep Cerberus out. Whatever training they had had, she hoped it was serving them well.

As they ran through a second classroom the door ahead opened and a young woman raced out, carrying a pistol. Shepard was about to call out when gunfire sounded and the student jerked and dropped, blood spraying from her torso. Another three man team of Cerberus troops came into the room and Shepard opened up without hesitation, scoring two headshots before they had even registered she was there. The third went down to a burst of fire from Liara.

They stood for a moment over the body of the student, Liara kneeling to confirm she was dead. As they stood there the comm opened again and the Cerberus operative started listing students by name, calling for them to surrender so they could return home alive.

"No more," Shepard said grimly. "This is the last one they get."

"Yes ma'am." Garrus' voice was flat and cold.

Out of the classrooms was another meeting area for the students, along with more bodies. Two Alliance soldiers dead by the benches, and a student a few feet away from them. Shepard snatched up one of the soldier's rifles and passed it to Garrus. "Should give you a bit more punch."

They moved forwards, hearing a whimper from around a corner. A student was there, backed into a corner and holding a pistol on them. She was clutching her stomach, and blood was pouring between her fingers.

"We're not gonna hurt you," Shepard said. "We're with the Alliance."

The student lowered the gun, sobbing slightly, and sank down to the floor. Liara rushed forwards to apply medi-gel, and after a moment her breath steadied.

"Seanne?" Shepard asked.

"How do you know my name?"

"I saved your brother, he's with Kahlee Sanders in security." She didn't look good, but Shepard didn't know if they could spare the time to escort her. "Can you make it to her?"

"Yeah." She stood, still favouring her stomach but gripping the pistol tight. "I'll make it."

Shepard believed her. She had the fire in her eyes that she would need to survive.

Sanders came back over the comm unit just as she was debating waiting until Seanne set off. "Captain, I just got an emergency message from the students in Orion Hall. One of our instructors is with them, but they can't hold out much longer."

"Understood. Seanne we have to move; will you be alright?"

She nodded. "Get going."

"What do you think?" Garrus murmured as they trotted away. "Command material?"

"Certainly had that familiar stubborn bite to it," Liara whispered back.

"I can hear you," Shepard said.

Orion Hall was right through the next door, and as they stepped through they heard a familiar voice.

"Eat this!"

Two soldiers went flying past their view, smashing into the wall hard enough to shatter their armour and the bodies within. The biotic flare flickered around them a few seconds longer, then dropped them to the floor.

Shepard led the way through the door and grinned at the woman standing in the centre of the room, pulsing blue and with fire round her arms. "Hey Jack."

"Shepard." She didn't even sound surprised.

Before they could say anything more a door on the far side of the hall opened and an ATLAS Mech stepped through, flanked by Cerberus soldiers. The mech turned right to the students and fired a rocket. Jack was already in motion, propelling herself through the air on a biotic shove beneath her boots. She landed almost in sync with the rocket, bringing up a biotic shield that kept the students safe. Shepard expected her to turn and attack but instead she grabbed the students and started to haul them to cover.

"Everyone get down, this thing's outta your league." She looked back over her shoulder and met Shepard's eyes. "Shepard keep it off us!"

Aye aye ma'am.

Garrus and Liara had already opened fire, their shots forcing the two operatives back into cover. The mech didn't even notice the bullets, pressing on into the room. Shepard swung her rifle round and loaded a round, setting the rifle to AP mode. Before it could even sight on her she fired, the bullet cracking through the glass and punching clear through the pilot's head. The mech slumped and toppled forwards, firing a rocket as it landed and blasting itself open.

The two operatives were sticking behind their cover, but a single singularity from Liara ripped them both out, leaving them open for Garrus and Shepard to put down.

Shepard looked around for Jack, finding her on the level above, surrounded by students. She was grinning.

"Kahlee said she was putting out an SOS. I had no idea the Queen of the Girl Scouts would show up." She turned to her students and her tone changed to something almost drill-sergeant. "Alright, amp check! Prangley, those fields were weak, Cerberus isn't going to lie down out of pity like that girl you took to prom. Grab juice and an energy bar, we move in five."

Now that was interesting. This was not the angry young woman Shepard had met a year ago, it definitely wasn't the uncertain person that had been dropped off at the Grissom Academy six months before. And the students clearly respected her. They weren't grousing or goofing off. They followed her orders. Jack gripped the edge of the balcony and vaulted down in front of Shepard.

Striding over she had a big grin on her face. "How many times did I tell you not to trust Cerberus?"

"I thought I made my position clear when I told TIM where he could shove his Collector Ship."

She chuckled. "Yeah, that was good times. Fuckin' asshat."

"As charming as ever." Garrus had come over to join them.

"Good to see you again Garrus. Face still looks like shit. Okay, right now, all I care about is getting my guys out of here."

Shepard raised an eyebrow at her. "Your guys?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"I can't think of anybody who could care about them more."

"Well." Jack shook off the sentimentality. "I had some free time while you were off playing hero. Alliance brass knew I helped you. When my rehab was done they offered me this, and apparently the students responded well to my teaching style."

Apparently the students had heard that, from up above she heard one of them laugh. "The psychotic biotic!"

"I will destroy you!"

Shepard expected Jack to snap at the girl, or to blow her top completely. But instead she just grinned and shouted back over her shoulder. "Drink your juice Rodriguez. You couldn't destroy wet tissue paper."

"Cortez to extraction team, the Cerberus cruiser is coming back."

Never a spare moment. She patched Jack into their squad comms. "How long have we got?"

"Two minutes tops Captain. After that there's no way we'll get past them."

Jack frowned at her, mouthing 'captain?' Shepard waved her off.

"Get out of here and back to Normandy. We'll find another way off the station."

"Roger that, good luck ma'am."

She switched straight to the other channel. "Shepard to Sanders, the students are safe, but the shuttle's a no go."

"Understood, I might know another way off the station, but I need station wide camera access. Can you disable the Cerberus security override? It's routed through Orion Hall, so it should be nearby."

"Always gotta be something," Jack muttered as they split up to look for the laptop. Thankfully Cerberus hadn't been too concerned with hiding their operations, so they were quickly able to find the hack and shut it down.

"Sanders, you should have access now."

"Got it, the fastest way is through the Atrium, but Cerberus has sealed the doors. You'll need to disable the magnetic locks, the overrides should be directly above the door."

She headed up to where the students were gathered, all drinking high energy juice packs and eating energy bars. They stared at her as she headed over to the main console terminal and straight away she heard the whispers start.

"I didn't know Jack worked with Commander Shepard."

"Maybe we're gonna get out of here after all."

"Were you scared Prangley? Don't worry, I'll protect you."

From below she heard Jack again. "Keep it in your pants Rodriguez."

She gave a quick glance back to see Rodriguez had gone bright red. With a grin she typed the final commands into the computer and unlocked the doors.

"Got it." She opened the comms. "You should be able to force the door open now."

"I'll get ahead of you, and get a shuttle ready to fly."

Shepard turned to the students and waved to get their attention. "All right everyone. We're going to be heading through the Atrium. Get downstairs and form up with Jack."

They moved off with remarkable military formality. Clearly they had been trained by Alliance drill instructors as well as biotic trainers. She hated that they looked so military, dressed in Alliance fatigues and moving as a unit. She doubted any of them was older than seventeen.

They joined up below and Shepard went to open the door to the Atrium. "Everyone be ready," she said as they forced the door open. "We'll go in first and draw their fire."

"We'll shadow you from the second level and hit those fu-" Jack clapped a hand over her mouth and lowered it slowly. "Those guys from above."

"Gives them some cover too," Garrus muttered.

Shepard agreed. "Just time your shots," she shouted back to the students. "And stay safe."

The door cycled open and Jack marched back, barking at the students. "Alright, I didn't bust my ass training you so you could die now. Keep low, pick your targets."

Any further instructions were cut off as all of the students omni-tools blinked open and the voice of the Cerberus commando came over it. "Students of Grissom Academy, the station is sealed. The Alliance cannot help you. All they can do is get you killed. Surrender peacefully and you won't be harmed."

"Asshole," Jack growled.

"Damnit, they're messaging everyone." Sanders was back on the line. "Students, switch your omni tools to privacy mode so they can't track you."

"What if." Rodriguez sounded terrified. "What if they're not lying?"

Shepard couldn't blame her. But none of them had the first-hand experience of Cerberus experiments that she did. "You've already held your own against Cerberus," she said, coming back to talk to them directly. "You've been trained for this by the best."

Jack nodded. "Come on Rodriguez, they're only asking nicely because you scared 'em in that last fight. So take your balls outta your purse and kick some ass."

At once the smile came back to the girl's face and she nodded. "Yes ma'am."

"Let's go." As Shepard turned to rejoin her team she nodded to Jack., She knew what she was doing, and she was damn good at it apparently.

AN:- As always the travel times are a bit of an iffy thing in Mass Effect. It seems to me as though travel does take time, even in FTL flight, but they never address how long exactly it takes. So basically travel takes as long as I want it to and as long as is plot appropriate.

In my ME1 fic Ashley and Joker were in a relationship. I make references to it in the ME2 novel as well.

This is also another aspect of the game I will not be writing exactly. In the game (Spoilers) Joker's sister is killed, and you get to hear the story retold from the asari commando who killed her (the PTSD commando on the Citadel). This has to me always been the single most tragic, needless and horrific story in the game, and it's just too dark for me. To me that story doesn't belong in a Mass Effect game. It's so tragic and useless that it feels like some sort of grimdark Game of Thrones or Dark Souls sort of thing and that just doesn't gel with the Mass Effect experience for me. Even when confronting a galaxy wide extinction, to me Mass Effect has always retained that note of hope throughout (see also, why I hate the endings) Joker's sister is such a tone shift for me that I'm just not bothering with it. It's too dark and too cruel.

More stuff regarding Cerberus. In the game as mentioned they still have seemingly limitless resources, more in fact that the Alliance themselves can muster, and this is after a significant investment to bring Shepard back from the dead. They have cruisers and fighters and squadrons galore, because obviously from a gameplay standpoint there needs to be a supply of endless bad guys it is totally okay to murder. But it doesn't gel storywise. So in my book Cerberus is does to a smaller fleet and a few fire teams. They rely on mining the station, not deploying fighters, they rely on a small strike team being able to grab the kids, not an army.

I changed Jack's intro slightly. It would have made no sense for her to thump Shepard like she does in the game. My Shepard made absolutely certain where Cerberus stood and Jack from my stories knew that as well. Obviously ME3 had to be written to allow for people who literally just saved Jack but other than that didn't talk to her that much. In my stories they had a closer relationship.