It was dark, I was getting pretty sick of the dark. I get mauled by Saren on Eden Prime – Dark, get blasted by the beacon on Eden Prime – Dark – Have to run and fight for my life in the lower wards of the Citadel – Dark, even when I was with Shepard on the Citadel I could feel the darkness, not knowing what I was or who I was it blinds you it encompasses everything you are every thought and action. I just want a light and the warmth that would bring, something to let me know that everything is going to be fine.

"Carolus, I know you must be tired but falling asleep in these chairs, now that's just inhuman." Alexandra's voice forced my eyes to snap open.

"Welcome back to your home away from the physical world." Aletta added as with a flick of her wrist send a glass of water sliding across the table I found myself at. I took a look around and found Alexandra sat on the chair next to me leaning her head in her hand as she looked at me. While Sovereign was at the other end head of the table resting his legs on the empty seat next to him while the other Shepard who at this point must be Aletta was sat drinking from her glass. Aletta had shoulder length dark blue hair while her green eyes felt like they were judging my every movement. Her face looked smooth no scars or remarkable features I could notice she was rather bland looking.

"Ugh thanks." I weakly replied as I took the glass and sculled its contents, but I didn't feel anything it was as if I was drinking air.

"It's so adorable how he doesn't realize that there isn't actually anything to drink you know cause of the whole this is just inside his head. I know we talked about getting rid of him but can we keep him I promise to take good care of him, take him for walks, feed him hell I will even clean up after him!" Alexandra exclaimed before I kicked the chair out from under her causing her to face plant the table with a satisfying thud.

"That's was strangely therapeutic." I smirked as she picked herself up off the floor, although I couldn't be sure I was certain I saw Sovereign let out a smile before quickly returning to his normal passive look.

"That kind of hurt you know." Alexandra muttered as sat mid-air while another chair appeared beneath her.

"As fun as it is watching you both fight like an old married couple scratch that an old abusive married couple, we should probably discuss what our next moves will be." Aletta interjected before I could take another shot at Alexandra.

"Wait what happened on the citadel? I got shot I remember quite clearly getting shot you know with the whole huge amounts of pain and blood thing, after a certain someone told me no one would be able to see me." I turned and shot the Shepard's a collective 'fuck you guys' look.

"I am more surprised that you are not screaming about how are you still alive or am I in a coma or any of that shit." I just ignored Alexandra and let Aletta continue.

"Well it seems the cloak isn't quite working at full capacity but rest assure the damage to our body is minor, caused a lot of bleeding but the shots have pasted through without causing major damage to the cybernetics."

"Well that's all well and good but what about the organic parts of me?" I retorted feeling Aletta's tone was to calm considering the past day's events.

"Oh right." Aletta replied before quickly looking through a data pad that had materialised in her hand. "Damage to the digestive track…...Manageable. Cybernetics are already repairing the damage; seems medical treatment is being applied currently."

"Remember Aletta dear there is more to life than your electronic toys." Sovereign added as he snapped his fingers and the table shrunk from a long table to a small square table the four of us could barely fit around.

"Geez a bit small don't ya think Sovereign." Alexandra muttered as she tried to squirm away from him and towards me.

"Nonsense its nice and cosy just like this." Aletta said as she put her data pads down for us all to look at. I found it a bit uncomfortable seeing as how the one who likes to hurt me was now even closer to me.

"Carolus has laid the basic ground work for a workable backstory, and if we play our cards right we should be able to talk our way onto the Normandy and with the repairs complete to our cybernetics." Sovereign was cut off as Aletta interjected.

"Well almost complete I still can't get the neural link to keep us all connected for any serious length of time at best we can operate at full capacity for ten minutes and that would put Carolus at risk, and I don't think I am going to be able to repair it without replacing parts of code and hardware wholesale, and finding those parts isn't exactly a trip to the local hardware store." The three Shepard's began talking about in what might as well have been Latin. The techno babble was far beyond anything I could have ever hoped to have understood and it must have shown on my face as they all suddenly stopped.

"Ugh perhaps we should have this conversation another time." Alexandra said. Aletta looked at me before silently nodding in response. I felt useless here I was getting involved in something I could never understand and having the people that do understand stop to take care of me.

"Don't stop on my account, it was a clearly important conversation just pretend I'm not here." The others just look at me and don't say anything. "Go on. Get on with it." I add as I wave them off.

"No you are a part of this Carolus we must work together if this is ever going to work. I think it's about time we give him the long version." Sovereign said he arose from his chair. "Alexandra." He nodded towards her and with that her eyes glowed blue and my body locked up.

"Sorry Carolus this is going to hurt much worse than getting shot." Aletta said as she placed her hand on my head images began pouring into my mind voices my voice and I couldn't place the others and then the pain came. The images began to burn the voices turned into screeching and I felt my mind giving out.

"Hold on Carolus we are giving you everything you need to know; it won't make sense right away but with time." Sovereign's voice was calm and once again darkness reigned as I blacked out.

Shepard

As she looked over at the unconscious body of Charles she felt uneasy the doctors had assured her that he was going to be fine, in fact they were quite shocked at the amount of tech in his body besides stopping the bleeding the removing one of the slugs that had got lodged in his abdomen the doctors felt they couldn't take any credit for his recovery. Anderson and Udina had been here earlier and asked for a rundown of the events that led to Tali's rescue and how Charles had seemingly been helping from the sidelines despite being hunted by every C-sec officer on the station after he killed those C-sec agents.

Anderson had been more understanding of the position of both C-sec and Charles while Udina was championing the tenacity and determination and what he called the 'self-sacrifice' of Charles while minimally acknowledging the loss of C-sec. She didn't really care for Udina's joy in being given more ammunition he could use against the council to champion humanity. Still here she was sitting in an under guard hospital room waiting for him to awake.

"You had better wake up soon, you owe me an answer." She muttered to herself as Kaidan entered the room.

"Commander, still no change?" He asked as he took a seat on the other side of the bed. With Charles being exonerated his cold attitude had started to fade around Charles.

"No he twitches from time to time but still hasn't woken up." She said looking over towards Charles hand as it came back to life opening and closing his fist.

"The doctors say he will be fine, he did take a nasty hit so the rest is probably what he needs, but Anderson wanted me to tell you the council wants to see you both once he awakes." Before Kaidan could say anymore Charles's body began to shake violently his back began arching as his arms went stiff at this side. She quickly pressed the emergency button and within seconds medical staff began pouring into the room.

"Quickly get his shoulders get me the muscle relaxant!" One of the doctors commanded as a nurse handed him a syringe. Charles body was now shaking violently his head was going left to right every joint in his body seemed to be to twisted in pain.

"Another shot now!" Another doctor shouted. Herself and Kaidan where no forced against the back wall of the room while the staff got to work the frantic work of the doctors around Charles.

"Alright we got it." One of the staff said as the sound of his thrashing stopped. "We should up his pain relief." The doctor added before the staff began trickling out of the room. It was another few minutes before the last doctor to leave gave her a gentle nod before leaving himself.

"That was intense if you want commander I will stay here while you get some rest, you've been here most of the night why don't you get some sleep?" Kaidan asked as she made her way back over to her chair.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll be alright. He bailed us out today, he may have done it in a rather roundabout way but we couldn't have exposed Saren without him." As she said it she felt a little bit vindicated for her failure to apprehend him when she was ordered to.

"Alright, I'm going with the gunnery chief back to the Normandy. If you need us just give us a call." And with that she was alone again with only the comatose Charles for company.

Carolus – Sometime Before Entering The 'Game'

"Alright team, we are now about to enter the target universe, our objectives are clear people embed ourselves in the Normandy crew, Cerberus and C-sec." I paused while giving my team one last look before we stepped through the gate.

The three of us had spent the last three years planning every detail we could think, perfected our physical and mental strength for what was bound to be the toughest times of our relatively short lives in this world of fiction we had found ourselves in.

"What lies ahead will not be easy but we will be up to the task. It may be a thankless job, what we do will may not be recorded our deeds forgotten in the sea of chaos that will crash around galaxy but our actions will save untold trillions. Good luck to each and every one of us for once we land on Eden Prime we will have no contact." I was never very good at speeches but I had to say something, I had spent the last few sleepless nights thinking of what to say but the day had finally come and through the gate for the second time we would go.

Carolus – Entering Eden Prime Atmosphere

"Carolus!" Catherine yelled as we were thrown side to side violently as the ship shock under the magnitude of fire it was taking and the evasive actions the pilot was putting it through.

"We have been compromised! Get to the escape pods!" Horatio bellowed as he rounded the corner and grabbed his kit.

"Carolus we have to go!" Catherine again yelled as she grabbed my shoulder.

"I am aware I just need some time to clean the computers, we can't leave any evidence of what we are here to do." My response was calm calculated we would evacuate as soon as the data was scrubbed. "Alright its clean it's time to…" I was cut short as the room was engulfed in flames. I threw up a barrier around us it shielded us from the fire but not the second volley of shots that tore through the hull of the ship and shattered my barrier. One moment Horatio was in front of me the next what was left of him was scattered across the room.

"Oh god Horatio!" Catherine fell to her knees as she picked up his helmet or what was left of it. "How could this happen? This doesn't make any sense."

"Catherine we have to go. The data is purged we need to leave or this was all for nothing!" I bellowed at her she needed to snap out of this. "CATHERINE!" Again I shouted at her but again she didn't respond she just continued talking to herself. I reached for her arm and dragged her along through the ship as it exploded all around us.

Another large explosion rocked the ship and I fell forwards onto the cold metal floor. I quickly picked myself up and continued to drag her through the ship, but something was different she felt lighter, I quickly checked over my shoulder and to my horror I found myself holding onto nothing but an arm and upper torso her face was frozen she was gone. I dropped her and turned towards the escape pod, it was just ahead I was almost there I had to make it.

I ran towards the escape pod I felt the floor giving away beneath me the walls were tearing apart I could use the flames of the outer hull of the ship as we approached planet side. The floor between me and escape pod fell away leaving me hanging on to the side as the forces of nature tried to drag me out into the open air. I had no options left I concentrated as hard as I could and threw up a barrier around me and prepared for impact with the ground.

Carolus – Hospital Room Present Day

My eyes slowly opened the lights above me forced me to raise my arm to shield my eyes. I let my eyes adjust before placing my arm back down onto my chest, I looked to my right and quickly noticed a figure sat in a chair their silver hair covering their face.

"Shepard?" I managed too weakly muttered. She didn't respond as I sat myself up it became quite apparent she had fallen asleep in the chair as I sat up my abdomen felt like someone was stabbing me, I looked down to see the large number of bandages wrapped around my torso area in general. As I looked at her I wondered how long she had been sat there watching over me. I let a smile spread across my face. As I flexed my arms and shoulders a bit the door to my room opened and an Asari I assumed was a nurse entered she was looking down at a data pad before she froze and dropped it upon seeing me sitting up on my bed.

"Hi there." I said waving at the shocked nurse she immediately ran out of the room shouting for a doctor. "Rude." I muttered as two C-sec agents ran into the room guns ready.

"Tsk so he's finally awake." The venom in the Turian's voice was evident, but I understood why they would feel resentment towards me, considering the fire fight I had in the lower wards. "Can't believe we got given this shitty detail of guarding this murderer." The other agent retorted.

"Come on guys I'm right here." I said while pouting, they just shot me a look before walking over and striking me across the face with the end of his rifle.

"That's the least you deserve." The agent hissed at me as a team of doctors rushed in.

"That's enough you can leave now." The doctor demanded as he looked over at my fresh gash on my head.

"We will just be outside doc." And with that the two agents left. As I looked over at the three doctors who were now at my bedside I noticed that despite an Asari shouting in the hallway and all this commotion Shepard was still asleep.

"So is anyone else surprised that she is still asleep?" I chuckled gesturing over to Shepard slumped in her chair. The doctors just looked at each other and their charts with confused looks on their faces while one of them patched up the gash on my head.

"He seems fine." One of the doctors spoke up. "But by all accounts, with the quantity of drugs we have pumped into him he should be out for the rest of the night or at the very least in a daze." The doctor who bandaged my head simply turned to his colleagues and shrugged.

"Carolus, your wounds would normally tie a person down for days maybe even weeks, your body's ability to heal is quite frankly unheard of in your species." The one Salarian doctor said. "We would like to keep you here at least for tonight, and given your condition we can release you in the morning."

"Fine by me." I said with a smile across my face. After a few more minutes and some quick checks, the doctors left me alone with Shepard again. "How in god's name is she still asleep?"

As I sat up on my bed I tried to contact the three Shepard's in my head, that dream I had before I woke up it felt too real to be just a dream while I am certain I had that little meeting with them what came after didn't feel quite right, like I was watching a movie, but despite my efforts to contact them no reply came.

"Well that's just great." I said to myself as I heard Shepard rustling in her chair as tired as she must be I was kind of hoping she would wake up some company that wasn't carrying needles or guns would be more than welcome hell even those would be more welcome than being alone with my memories of the past day, those I killed. I cut my thought process as I saw Shepard rub her eyes.

"Charles?" Shepard mumbled as she shook off her sleep. "You're awake I see." She said bringing her chair closer.

"I think that's what I should be saying to you sleeping beauty." I smirked as she brushed her hair into being less mess, before quickly delivering a punch to my face.

"What is it with people hitting me in the face?" I mumble as she shakes her wrist. "First the guard and now you, I am starting to think that people don't like me."

"No one calls me 'sleeping beauty' and consider yourself lucky I only hit you once after what you did today." She said letting a smile creep onto her face. "But despite yourself you did a good job today." Her face was a wreck I was tempted to suggest you go clean herself up but I figured I shouldn't risk poking the bear that punch hurt like hell.

"So I believe I owe you an answer." I said throwing myself back against the mattress.

"Well I was going to ask earlier but you happened to bleed out all over the council chamber. I thought it a bit rude to ask at that point." She said biting her lower lip she was clearly unsure how to word what she wanted to ask.

"Well I promised an answer don't hold back and let's do this." I said offering a thumbs up. She looked at me carefully before sighing.

"Did you know Saren and the Geth were going to hit Eden Prime?" That was not the question I thought she would ask, for a good few moments I just looked at her, she could have asked anything about me, I mean my answer would have been a lie anyway but why that?

"Well I must be honest that's not the question I thought you would ask. I thought you would try and make me spill some deep dark secret but yes I knew they were going to hit Eden Prime."

"Why didn't you warn the Alliance?" Shepard spoke up before I could continue. "We could have been prepared, we could have saved the civilians?!" Her voice reflected a hint of anger but she was clearly working hard to not tear me a new one.

"What would I have said Shepard? Attention Eden Prime and the Alliance flashlight robots that have not been seen outside the Perseus Veil in two hundred years? Oh and I am just a random mercenary so take my word for it okay?" My tone was less than gentle.

"You could have tried, but I understand why you didn't I don't agree with your decision but at least you were there to help." Shepard replied as she rubbed her temples.

"Look I am not a soldier I was just a mercenary before I ran into that first beacon and Saren. I will tell you the whole story sometime if you want to." I said turning away from Shepard. "How long?" I asked.

"How long till what?" Shepard asked clearly not getting where I was trying to take this conversation.

"How long until the council want to see us."

"How did you know the council wanted to see us?" She asked inquisitively.

"Considering they let you watch over me, and the C-sec guards posted outside this room tells me they don't just want to arrest me. Or have I completely misread the situation?" Fatigue was beginning to set in as I felt my eye lids get heavy.

"As soon as your discharged we will be summoned to discuss what has happened." She paused.

"And?" I probed clearly picking up on her holding back.

"They will then decide what is to be done with you." She finally added after fidgeting in her seat.

"Shepard. Can you stay with me the rest of the night?" I let a slight tone of desperation enter my voice and she must have picked up on it as her reply felt warm.

"Sure thing Charles."

Hey guys been a while but I am back now and should be uploading on a much quicker time frame. Exams are out of the way in less than a month so I will have all the free time I need to get this rolling again.

This chapter has added the first of Carolus's old memories I will adding more of these and in more detail as Carolus "recovers" so that is why the two I added in this chapter are short and lacking in the description department, as his memories return they will clear up and the truth behind his arrival in this world will become clear...eventually :P

Anyway I want to say thanks for the now over 50 followers I have and thank you for being patient with the updates, I have also been asked by a few people if their will be romance in Carolus's future and the answer is yes I have a few ideas for this but that is all I will say for now!

Castor out!