Location: Carte Blanche hotel—New Thebes, Capitol Colony of planet Anhur.
The tiny cleaning robot sailed out the sixth story window. Elena closed her fist and the robot was crushed to smithereens in mid-air. Its pieces fell to the sand and were nibbled by the ocean.
With that behind them Elena slung the bag over her shoulder and slammed the door shut behind them. After Mark's unabridged explanation of just how far up shit creek they've sailed, she knew it was time to put this place in their rear-view mirror.
As they walked down the hallways she could feel him sneaking glances her way, trying to read her mood. They hadn't spoken since she threw a fit and nearly killed him earlier. "Elena..."
"Save it." She stood with her back to him and mashed the elevator button. It was hard to be like that, but she knew one look of hurt from his blue eyes would win her losing simply wasn't an option right now. So she took a deep breath and did what she did best in a shitty situation: pretending she was Dana. Just thinking about her sister's calm demeanor sent a ripple of hope to her overtaxed mind. Elena smiled faintly at the mental image of her sibling, the textbook example of 'cool under fire'. Why couldn't she be here with me just this once?
The elevator pinged on arrival and broke her train of thought. She strode inside, still very aware of Mark's sluggish movement behind her. The poor guy was still in agony. Medi-gel was fantastic when it came to sealing wounds but it was a poor substitute for a needed rest.
Elena tried to squash her growing concern and stay focused. They watched the descending numbers on the holo-screen in silence. "You're overreacting," Mark said softly.
That took her over the edge. "The fucking hammerhead, Mark? Are you insane? Do you know what they could do to us with a fleet of those?" Elena snapped, searching him for any sign that this was all a joke.
"I said I tried. I didn't actually go through with it, hence why they jumped me." Mark explained for the tenth time, setting his own solid gaze on hers. But it softened instantly. "Don't do this, El. Not now," Mark pleaded as he reached for her.
Elena dodged his touch as if avoiding an asteroid. A part of her wanted to forget this, climb back into bed and have some incredible make-up sex. But the officer in her was raging, blaming herself for such a stupid oversight. A mistake that could have cost everyone everything. This betrayal cut deep and for the first time in her Cerberus career she was forced to listen to the roar of blame her conscience sent her way. Pack your bags Elena, you're going on a guilt trip!
Cooling the swirl of biotics surrounding her, Elena dug for her Evelyn Creed credentials and walked out as soon as the doors opened. The plan was to duck the drones and leave via tram when night fell, but now only one thing mattered and that was getting to Selina before the batarians made anymore offers to her operatives.
"Elena can we at least talk about this?" Mark asked, trying to plead with her as he kept pace. "I'm not going to watch you blame yourself."
Elena stared up at him as if he grew a third head. "I blame you for this mess," Elena said, not believing a word of it and feeling something in her heart break at the wounded look he gave her. "And you put Selina in harm's way...I—I just can't believe you."
"Selina decided on her own terms," he explained, but she heard the bitter undercurrent of anger in his voice. She just wasn't sure if it was self directed or not. Yet once again there was no time to sit down and figure it out. With any luck they would nab Selina before the scheduled meet two weeks from now on one of the most festive days of the year. This was supposed to be the time for a slam dunk, not an emergency rescue mission for fuck's sakes. Their personal shit would have to wait.
Stopping in the middle of the greeting area, Elena took a deep breath. Don't do anything stupid, just think like Dana. Think like Dana.
"We don't have time for this," she declared, raising a hand to stop his stream of questions. "You need to get your contact on the line to cook up some new credentials. We head for Earth soon as we find Selina." Feeling confident with her orders Elena sidestepped him and headed for the bored looking batarian at reception.
The batarian female asked some questions about her stay here, the usual crap of how they can improve and what the reason is for an early checkout. Elena answered everything on autopilot as she filled out the necessary paperwork, all the while keeping an eye on Mark as he made the call.
Her senses were on high alert. She trusted Mark but something at the back of her head reminded her of Dana's words, "Don't fuck it up, sis". Yeah, as if it were that simple to just play straight laced all the time and avoid the emotional minefield of a relationship.
Keeping up appearances,she smiled and joked with the batarian woman before leaving the desk. It was better not to seem rushed or anxious, just another tourist here on a visit.
As she made her way back to Mark, a group of travelers flooded through the front doors. One human couple had their hands full with two squirming babies. Their other little girl ran circles around both exhausted they headed for the reception, the little girl bounced her ball and naturally missed the catch. It rolled to a stop at Mark's feet.
Back in simpler times, which was crazy because there were no simple times at Cerberus, Elena wondered if Mark ever wanted kids. A part of her thought so, but it was a deal breaker and the thought of him rejecting the idea always held her back from asking.
Finishing his call, Mark scooped the ball. But instead of tossing it to the kid and leaving her be, he smiled and crouched low offering it back to the child.
"Hi sweetheart, is this yours?" The little girl nodded with a cautious smile but approached him nonetheless. She took it from his hands and skipped back to her oblivious parents. Mark only smiled after her before turning to Elena with a curious look. "What's up?"
She shook her head and tried to swallow a warm smile of her own. He was a bastard who didn't deserve one of those right now, but a sweet bastard nonetheless. "Nothing. We need to get going."
"Right." They walked past the young family. Elena ignored the fluttery warm feeling in her gut and forced herself to pay attention to his intel instead. "Gus is meeting us at his workshop. He's an old buddy of..."
Elena looked at him when he stopped talking only to find his small appreciative smile and that damn sexy twinkle in his eye. "Your buddy?" She asked.
"No, Jeremy's actually," Mark replied as he opened the door. A gust of cool night air carrying a mix of tropical scents engulfed them. "Things got hairy on that mission in Athens. Gus pulled our asses from the fire."
She felt his protective gaze on her again as they strolled to the tram platform, blending in with the locals. It's like he only had eyes for her, but as much as she liked that, she was also starting to find it annoying. "You're staring," she pointed out. She meant it sternly but it came out playfully. What the hell is wrong with me today?
"Am I?" Mark replied in a light tone that died when the tram came to a screeching halt before them. "This is us." Mark flicked his omni-tool closed and followed her as they boarded with everyone else. Hugging her jacket tighter around herself Elena mentally prepared herself in jumping head first into an abyss that wasn't going to turn into a golden fountain anytime soon.
o~O~o
Location: Slums district warehouse/storage space—Endeavor colony, Ontarom.
Morning usually came with sun, at least that's how Jeremy was used to it. But pitch black at 0900 was Ontarom's way of doing things and last time he checked the guy upstairs didn't take requests.
Jeremy stepped through the warehouse threshold, leaving the rusted steel door open just a crack to keep an eye on the receding storm. No shuttle was going off-world in this shitstorm so there was nothing left to do but hunker down.
It didn't help that the minor injuries from the impact still stung like a motherfucker all night long. As if that weren't enough, a small flood beneath the rotted wood kept him busy with the task of bailing the excess water. Thankfully his hard night's work meant all of the equipment was dry along with the useless junk people stored here. But that also meant he was a full day behind Elena's schedule and that was going to piss her off. But the delay wasn't a total waste of time. Thankfully Gus managed to send him some bedtime reading, a complete dossier on Shepard with the classified bits and all. Now he had a better idea of who the Alliance sent after him and it wasn't pretty. The famed and disgraced hero of Elysium. Jeremy whistled as he re-read the illicitly declassified parts. So much blood on one man's hands…
Alliance investigators had no solid proof. However, that didn't stop top brass from hanging the guy out to dry on X-19. Heck it didn't take a genius to see that Cerberus would've been in his future, Shepard made the right call that day even if half the world would never know of it and the other half saw him as some monster.
Squatting by his pack, Jeremy yanked a pre-pasted toothbrush and stuck it in his mouth. The minty flavor calmed him as he brushed along the enamel and thought. Shepard's presence on Ontarom complicated things. If they were sending disgraced heroes after them then chances were that the Alliance had initiated clean sweep. They obviously wanted things to go quietly off the books. If they thought there was a chance of capturing any of them alive an entire unit of N7's would've been dispatched in Shepard's place, but that would mean accountability and sadly that wasn't going to happen here. No, the Alliance wasn't going to admit they lost an entire black ops branch let alone the best pieces of research to come from it.
The cold chain link of a storage cage met his back when he sank down to the sodden ground. He didn't care anymore. If the Alliance wanted them dead, was there even a point of trying to appeal to them on Earth? Hell maybe it was smarter to just keep the research for himself and out of military hands altogether... but what good is a gun you don't fire?
He shook those intrusive thoughts away. Elena believed that this was the right thing to do and her entire career was built on making tough calls. If she was crazy enough to think this would work then he was sure as fuck loyal enough to believe in her. They were good as dead either way anyways, so what the hell?
A draft came through the doors and Jeremy shivered. His shirt was still damp with the efforts of last night and his rugged work pants were less brown and muddier than he remembered. Police would probably be all over this place once that Stark kid woke up and told them about the cop in the warehouse. But he was ready to go. Now if only those damn storm clouds would clear up, life would be a picnic. No regs, no 6am wake-up call just freedom to do his experiments as he pleased. Or in his case, almost being a fucking experiment.
Banes you stupid fuck. Jeremy shuddered when he remembered the first time Banes walked into his lab and not only took command but ordered him to step in as project phoenix's first test subject.
The experimental L4 biotic implants burned in the base of his skull at the memory. He was no biotic but it was the safest place for the only prototype of his prized research.
Taking a healthy swig of Scotch from his flask, Jeremy sloshed. The taste of mint turned bitter in his mouth and it wasn't long before the mess was a brown puddle on the floor. It seeped into the rotting wood and gave off a strong minty scent.
Jeremy stood and chucked the toothbrush and flask back into his pack before activating his omni-tool. The security cam decryptions were at 97%. In a matter of moments he would know the identity of whoever tripped Elena's alarm.
Making his way to Major's storage room, he returned to his handi-work. The chair he managed to liberate last night was now bolted to the ground with the nastiest electrodes running through it, capable of delivering five thousand kilo-joules straight to the spine. Interrogation would be so easy. Now, the hard part of finding some dumb Cerberus fuck to try it on.
Last night's logs showed familiar faces. Mrs. Ortega, the old land lady, was the last registered occupant to enter the building. Everyone else was accounted for earlier and there was no sign of...Jeremy squinted at the un-authorized access warning flickering on the list of visitors. Tapping forward he was met with a blank projection that read 'data deleted'.
Entering the normal workarounds to bypass the filters returned no results. Whoever this guy was, he was skilled enough to not only block his identity but wipe all building surveillance cams from picking him up.
Cycling from the building surveillance to his own peephole camera installed in Elena's desk drawer he got his man. Jeremy smiled, gotcha you bastard! The image quality wasn't the best but nothing an hour of image processing wouldn't fix. Unless...
Jeremy ran a back-hack, hoping to pick some trace of the specific program used to wipe the cameras. The type of tech in an attack could tell someone a lot about the person using it. If they were basic bits of code then it was some amateur on patrol, but anything encrypted was military special forces. Jeremy's eyes grew as he analyzed the wiping program. This was military alright...that code...can it be? It was no mistake. The codes that fried his cameras had the exact signature of the ones taught back at Cerberus. Shit.
He tried to back out and clear his tracks but the digital homing virus pinged his omni-tool. In a last ditch attempt Jeremy fired back with a tech worm before all the data on his omni-tool blanked as it shut down. Shit, shit, shit!
Running back to his pack, Jeremy began shoving what little of his possessions he had into his pack. There was no way of telling if his worm would slow the signal. But regardless, he needed to move now if he wanted the upper hand by the time Cerberus arrived to investigate.
Fully loaded, he hoisted the bag on one shoulder before the chair caught his eye. Dismantle or leave it? Decisions, decisions...
His heart pumped ice when he felt the unmistakable jab of a barrel meet the base of his skull. The cold steel rested dead center over where the world's only L4 implant was buried.
"Nice and slow, my booze-hound friend," the unmistakable voice behind him spoke. The pack was torn from Jeremy's shoulder with such force that he stumbled back only to get a swift kick in the thigh. "Keep those hands up and turn around."
Jeremy did as instructed only to find himself face-to-face with the last man he wanted to see and two others.
Armistan Banes gave a wide feral grin from behind his assault rifle. His good suit was missing sleeves, they looked to be savagely torn off to showcase his arms. The unnatural blue glow pulsed over his forearms, giving Jeremy twenty guesses as to who replaced him as a test subject.
"Banes, you son of a bitch," Jeremy said with a grin while keeping his hands raised. "Still think you're gonna turn biotic?"
The man let out a deranged laugh. His two subordinates didn't move as they kept their weapons on Jeremy. He couldn't see their faces behind their tinted helmets, but the new Cerberus orange and white colors told him all he needed to know.
"Dima, radio in for—" a Russian woman's voice was cut short when Banes buried a warning shot near her foot.
"What the hell!" the other demanded, sounding like a man, another Russian. But he was so disciplined that his weapon never wavered from Jeremy.
"I'm in charge," Banes announced, dead serious as he looked between them. "We don't radio for a pick-up until I say so." Armistan Banes stepped forward, one foot after the other as he slowly made his way closer. "Jeremy and I need time to catch up." Banes inched forward until Jeremy could smell the stench of his breath, and grinned. "What do you say, partner?"
Banes slammed the butt of his assault rifle into Jeremy's face with incredible speed. Tangy metallic copper was all Jeremy could taste before the darkness took him.
o~O~o
Location: SSV Dublin Mess Hall, Deck Four—Ontarom
The smell of bacon, eggs and hash browns were a welcome wake-up call. Especially after last night's party. Liam slid his tray down the line, piling his plate with the goodness of morning breakfast as the serving crew made even more suggestions.
"I don't care what it's called, just lump it all together." Glen grumbled up ahead of him to some young server who was trying to unload some nutritious looking greens. "Whatever's necessary to make this ringing in my head stop."
"How are you feeling Glen?" Liam asked when the server handed him a second plate full of breakfast patties and eggs.
"Been better. My head's poundin'." Glen rubbed his temple gently before training a cautious eye on his own tray. "You eating for two?"
Liam shook his head and looked around for his friend. "I'm saving some grub for Vega. Haven't seen him yet and breakfast is almost over."
"Probably still hung over." Glen poured thick black coffee from the kettle into a standard mug. "You saw his dance moves last night, people only move like that when they're well sauced."
The dancing was intense last night, it was so good that Vega went viral on the extranet. Liam laughed at the vid he saw this morning and guessed Glen was probably right. "Maybe, but it'll take a lot more than booze to take him out completely."
Glen laughed then cringed at the motion. "Whatever you say, Shep."
Shepard and Gordon sat down to a chorus of tired grunts of acknowledgment. The crew was in various stages of devouring their breakfast or drowning head first in it. Hunter was the only one finished, he also looked more alert than anyone else. Liam couldn't remember where the young chief was during the party but guessed he was smart enough to stay away from the good stuff.
"Long night?" Liam asked, taking the first bite of scrambled eggs. They were exquisite.
"You can say that again," Ellie tray was almost empty and she sipped from a mug. "Some of us had to spend the night at the infirmary with Mr. Vanguard over here. How're you feeling Glen?"
"Just telling Shep that it ain't so bad this morning. Thanks for staying with me by the way," Glen added with a sheepish smile.
Ellie waved it away. "What are friends for?"
"I'll tell you what they're not for, challenging each other to a dance party that's what," Blitz said as she speared a breakfast patty. "It was intense. How could Vega go that long?"
"Oh I saw. You kicked ass if you ask me," Glen replied, reaching over to high five Blitz. "My wife agrees."
That got Shepard's attention as he turned a curious eye to Glen. "You're married?"
"Yeah," the Vanguard boasted proudly, lifting his left hand. "Fifteen years and I'm still the luckiest son of a bitch this side of the galaxy."
"He got three tough kids out of her too," Hunter said, raising his glass in a toast. "The last time I played chess against Thadius he nearly mopped the floor with me. Getting better."
"My oldest," Glen added for Liam's benefit. He then flicked on his omni-tool and showed him a photo. The tall boy in the middle shared Glen's eyes, he guessed that was Thadius. Beside him were two twin girls, they couldn't be more than Mikey's age. "There's Nisa and Destiny, both daddy's girls. And right in the middle is the love of my life Vanessa."
"You have a beautiful family," Liam said, studying the picture and feeling that much closer to the whole team. But the moment was broken when a whistle sounded over his shoulder.
"Now there's a hottie," Vega exclaimed and got a look of warning from Glen. "What?"
"I think she's taken," Liam added as Vega came around to his seat. Liam passed him a plate of eggs and sausage patties.
"Thanks, Loco. I love eggs!" James dug in and the table grew silent as Glen resumed his meal with a smile on his face.
"So Shepard, I hope I'm not prying but they dug into you pretty hard last night about...Sasha." Ellie began and he felt the table grow uncomfortable.
"Yeah, my ex-wife." He shook his head, not really wanting to go there. What could he say? If Sasha was happy then who was he to make a big stink about it? "What she does is her business. I just don't want my kid getting hounded by reporters." Their beaming smiles at the word kid had him flicking out his omni-tool as well.
Ellie and Blitz snatched his arm and fawned over his little guy. Vega smiled between mouthfuls while Hunter raised his mug in toast.
"He's got your eyes," Ellie said, glancing between him and Mikey's excited expression as he hefted the dodgeball champions cup.
"Really? I think he takes after Sasha." Liam replied casually. Even mom agreed to that when she held the little bundle in her hands for the first time. He never forgot how happy she was that day.
"Well he has her jet black hair," Blitz chimed in, "But other than that..."
"No," She stood and brought his arm closer to his face as the crew looked for the comparison. "He definitely has your lovely green eyes. See?"
"She's right, loco. The little guy takes after his old man," Vega exclaimed, taking another bite of his eggs.
Liam feigned hurt. "Ouch. Old man?"
Ellie rolled her eyes and flicked the side of Vega's head. Everyone laughed including their favorite arms master.
Liam relaxed as Blitz leaned over her empty tray. "I heard Michael's team is entering the junior galactic dodgeball competition. I think that's on the citadel this year. Are you going to watch him?"
"Of course! And if he survives that, he wants to enter the derby too," Liam explained, remembering the latest update email from his son. It was really a good time to be twelve.
"Well I sure hope shore leave is on the Citadel this year," Glen rumbled hopefully, "my boy is doing the inter-galactic derby this year. My girls are hoping to qualify for junior aquatics. Also want to be there for the New Year celebration they have planned."
"We're deciding sometime this week, right?" Hunter asked.
"I sure hope so, we're overdue for a proper leave," Blitz replied.
"Any excuse to actually fly us somewhere works for me. I hate being grounded!" Ellie exclaimed, gathering her tray.
"Well it has its upsides," Vega said with a big toothy grin. "Better weapon delivery for one thing. Guess what I have for you, Shepard?"
"Let me think real h—" Liam didn't get to finish that thought when his omni-tool zapped to life. The alarm set his heart into over drive and one look at the statistics showed why. The alarm in Elena's apartment had been tripped.
Shepard bolted ignoring all the concerned looks and inquiries he ran for the elevators.
o~O~o
Location: Storage block for slums complex B—Ontarom.
"Strip…building. N—…lea—g…re…search."
Jeremy was hearing words but they didn't make sense. His throat burned hot with dryness as his neck trembled under the sway of his groggy head.
"It looks like our friend is waking up. Keep searching and don't contact me until you find it," that same crude voice said, followed by some static and commotion.
It sounded like he was a few feet away, but with the ringing in his ears Jeremy couldn't tell.
He tried to look up but cringed in pain as his neck protested. Jeremy's eyes were useless against the harsh light of the storage room cooking him from above. He began to worry, if they were still in the storage room that meant it wasn't all a dream.
Heavy boots sounded close, circling behind him like a predator. Jeremy tried to move, but his arms were still wrenched back behind the metal chair. Shit I'm in the chair! Everything made sense again, the memory loss, the crispy burning feeling tingling all over his skin. The stupid fuck wants to cook me in my own chair!
"Isn't it funny how the devices we create can help us destroy ourselves," Banes' voice sounded so close that Jeremy could feel his ears ringing. Jeremy opened his mouth to retort but his throat was so dry from the torture that he couldn't utter a syllable. "If only you could see yourself. Weak, pathetic." Banes' laugh rumbled next to his ear. "Alone."
Great. Instead of just killing him, the fucker had to taunt. Jeremy tried to move his feet but found them bound as well. He would have laughed at the irony if it didn't hurt so much. All this time spent torturing others and here he was, ready to die by his own creation. This stupid chair!
"It didn't have to come to this," Banes said, but the glee in his voice said otherwise. This bastard was happy to kill anyone for fun. "You could've told me what I wanted to know."
Fighting the pain, Jeremy managed to lift his head and focus his eyes. A cool ooze trickled down his neck, he didn't have to smell the copper to know it was blood. There wasn't much time and he knew another couple of joules would do the trick and end this. So how do I piss the fucker off enough to do the trick?
Banes came into view and Jeremy fought the urge to vomit. This Armistan Banes was not the same brooding golden boy he remembered. He was a true monster now. His lean arms were a canvas for thick black unnatural veins. Fuck, they even glow! Jeremy observed a faint blue hue surrounding the man. His experiments showed that there was only one way to create biotics and that was exposure at birth...had Banes found another?
Jeremy choked down enough moisture to form raspy words. "What the hell did you do to yourself?"
"You like it?" Banes rubbed his arms lightly, marveling at the faint glow. "I didn't realize how much fun it would be to wield such power. Simply amazing, my dear friend."
Those weren't true biotics, there was no way they could be. Eighty-three failed experiments and eighty-three dead bodies proved that much; you can't induce biotics in adults. Yet as much as Jeremy wanted to believe his test subjects didn't die in vain, he couldn't ignore what was right in front of him.
Sensing the attention, Banes flexed and conjured a sphere of dark energy in his palm. Before Jeremy could marvel at the sight, he squealed in pain when Banes slammed it into his gut.
"Hmmm, think I overdid it again," Banes said, keeping his biotically infused fist in place. As if controlled by his thoughts, the blue energy intensified and Jeremy cried out under the pressure nearly blacking out. "No, no, no, Roberts. You don't get to fall asleep on me."
Jeremy's back arched as 2000 kilo-joules caroused through his body. He couldn't move or breathe as black and blue stars clouded his vision. When the electricity stopped, he slumped forward. Cooked, but not ready to clock out just yet.
As Jeremy felt his muscles tingle with the after effects of electrocution, his thoughts returned to the Major. She was right to get the hell out of here and he suddenly felt very stupid for trying to stay behind and prove her wrong. Hell Cerberus went over to the dark side long before they ever decided to defect. They all knew it and if they're like him then he wished them the easy death they all deserved. He could tell that the crazy scientist was getting frustrated, all he had to do was keep him on the edge and this would all be over. Valhalla here I come!
Mustering a laugh, Jeremy looked up and locked eyes with the impatient idiot in front of him. If this is what the next generation called genius then so help them god. "You call those biotics?"
"Flattery won't end you, Roberts," Banes replied as he took his fist away and stepped back to survey his handiwork. "I want my data back. You'll give it to me. Then I'll kill you."
"Yeah, cause' maybe then you'll get some real biotics," Jeremy said, coughing as his throat burned in agony. Surprisingly the golden boy was smart enough not to lose his shit. Jeremy would have to try harder to kill himself.
Banes dragged a chair over and straddled it, resting both elbows on its back. "Twenty years with the Alliance, fifteen of those with Cerberus and you stayed exactly where you were." Banes grinned. "I thought you'd be smarter.
Jeremy smiled. So did I.
Alcohol was his only vice, but it was enough to fuck him over from the start. Too bad it didn't take all his brain cells, then maybe he'd be sipping mojitos on a beach somewhere, enjoying the section 8 discharge.
But what the heck did this kid know?
"You know it'll kill you, right?" Jeremy said, turning serious. "Biotics don't work like this. I have eighty-three experiments to back that up."
"Concerned?" Banes drew back in mild surprise before letting out a cackle. "I'm touched!"
"I can see it in your veins, kid. They're black for crying out loud! Your body can't sustain that much dark energy. What do you think will happen when they clog up completely?" If he was going to die, then maybe caring for this idiot was his one good deed. Maybe it was enough to get to heaven and avoid whatever hell was surely waiting for him.
Something snapped. Banes sat very still and for the first time Jeremy could feel the feral cold of his glare, those steel grey eyes were already dead. Not even that mop of blonde hair could hide the hatred from his expression. That crooked smile looked so familiar but the grogginess clouded Jeremy's mind. Trapping the memory those eyes urged him to remember.
Banes' arms glowed blue as beads of sweat poured from his forehead and trickled over his wide smile. "I love how much you care, Roberts." Banes reached out and Jeremy felt the heavy hand weighing on his forehead. Biotics ready to drop a brick-ton of power. "But let me tell you a story, just so you understand why. You said eighty-three experiments but you know there were one hundred in total."
Jeremy felt his eyes widen. There were three people in the world who knew about the 17 others, him, the Major and The Illusive Man. There was no way any of them...realization hit Jeremy as he studied the cold grey eyes of his executioner.
No...not you.
"Seventeen teenagers were divided into a control group and a test group," Banes said happily, "they were all too stupid to know the gift they would receive so they begged for their lives. Little idiots."
Jeremy froze, mouth wide as he stared at what he thought was long lost and forgotten.
~O~
The kids cried, clawed at the ceiling and pounded on the glass doors. Their sounds drifted into the observatory making it impossible to concentrate.
"Shut the little idiots up," Jeremy said with a heavy heart as he took a swig from his flask. Eighty-three surgical failures and now they were resorting to making biotics the old fashioned way.
The technician hung his head low and released the knock-out gas that would put the kids to sleep. Hell they were the lucky ones. They were just a control group, they didn't have to see what was in the chamber next to them.
"Sir, what should we do with them?"
They were useless. The age group was wrong so there was no need to put them through any tests. "Leave them for now. Let em' sleep, tomorrow they're out of here."
Corking his flask Jeremy stormed out of the lab.
~O~
"Those kids were stupid to revolt. They should have waited to be tested like the others, waited to acquire biotics. The powers of the gods." Banes said with devoted fierceness.
The enigma that was Armistan Banes put itself together in Jeremy's head so fast that he nearly wanted to cry. This kid was a success after all. "Jesus..." Jeremy muttered quietly as he stared into the face of evil he helped create.
Banes leaned in close. "Not quite." Jeremy felt the heat of dark energy at the top of his skull. He tried to wriggle free but the scalding pressure intensified, melting the hair follicles as it seared into this skin. Jeremy began to see spots and screamed when he felt the entire top half of his skull collapse. "You robbed me of the chance to become a god when you lumped me with sixteen little idiots." Banes taunted in a low voice.
It felt like fire was coming down in bricks from Banes' palm. Jeremy yelled himself hoarse, feeling the tension in his vocal chords snap and the taste of blood bubbling in his mouth.
"Alexei..." Jeremy managed to gurgle before the whole world went away and the pain finally stopped.
A/N:
I'm so sorry for the long delay. With life throwing everything and the kitchen sink at me it was tough to get my head above water, but it's up now and I'm ready to get back to regular updates. I just want to thank my beta for being ever so patient with everything that's been going on and my friend Aeternix for willing to lend a hand when I needed it most. And of course thank you to all of you who are still with me and leaving such wonderful reviews. I can't wait to hear what you think of Jeremy's death in this chapter. I hate killing characters but such is the cost of war, even a shadow war like this one.