That's an omni-chainsaw?! That doesn't look like one!

Recap: "The only thing I'll tell you..." Fred said before he used his tongue to pull a false tooth and chomped on it. "Is that humanity will have all the power... and the... Xeno-lovers... will...diiiiiieeeeee." Just like that, the spy Fred Stanley died with the use of a suicide pill. Shepard seeing this, dropped the foaming corpse unceremoniously. That was when his wounds started to plague him again. What Fred didn't bother telling him was that the toxin had another effect: It pretty much rendered Shepard's accelerated healing to a normal person's. Shepard turned back to the elevator and tried to walk towards it before falling down on his stomach. Knowing he needed to get to Chakwas, he tried crawling to it and only managed to get a few feet closer before his strength left him. The last thing he saw before passing out was the elevator's light turning green.

Now

After Shepard passed out, the doors to the elevator and engineering opened up making the squad race out of them, only to see Shepard lying face down, unconscious in a growing pool of his own blood.

"Shepard!" Tali said as she ran to the downed spectre. Kaidan moved to Shepard to apply some medi-gel to stabilize him while Garrus and Wrex moved to Fred's corpse. Wrex glared at the corpse, severely tempted to fire a round into the corpse at how the man acted.

"Did Shepard kill him?" Wrex asked seeing Garrus inspecting the corpse. The turian shook his head.

"No he didn't. This guy used a suicide pill which was hidden as a false tooth. The guy used cyanide, a dangerous substance to humans in particular." Garrus said. Wrex raised an eyebrow.

"Cyanide?" Wrex asked. Garrus nodded still looking at Fred's body.

"Yes it affects different races on different levels, all of them acidic. We learned about it when humans began to be a part of c-sec." He explained. Wrex hmphed at the explanation.

"What I want to know is how the hell was this guy able to harm Shepard like this?" Wrex said aloud.

"You know that's just what I was wondering too." Garrus said nodding his head. Both of them suddenly heard sniffles behind them. Looking around, they could see that Tali.

"What's wrong Zorah?" Wrex asked as the 2 moved to where she was.

"I-It's S-S-Shepard. H-H-He's not healing as fast as he should be!" Tali finally said, sobbing a little now. Wrex and Garrus' eyes widened at the statement. Everyone looked toward Kaidan who had turned Shepard on his back to apply medi-gel. It was working but the toxins were making it difficult. The sentinel looked towards his squadmates.

"Wrex, Garrus, I need you both to help me carry him. We need to get him to Chakwas quickly! I mean I'm good, but Chakwas is our best bet to get him safe." Kaidan said with Wrex and Garrus grabbing Shepard gingerly and moving him to the elevator. Kaidan and Tali entered the elevator right behind them and activated the elevator. The slow ride up was killing them as well as Shepard.

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen a human this pale." Tali said having not taken her eyes off Shepard. She was right he was pale. Not pale as a white sheet but enough to be worried about it. None of the men answered seeing as they've seen worse in the past but they didn't have to tell her that. She didn't deserve it. It was unsettling though to see Shepard this pale and weak. The elevator finally made it to the living area. Everyone immediately went to the med bay. As soon as they entered, Chakwas ushered them to one of the beds she prepared.

"Hurry, over here." Chakwas told them as she pointed to the bed in the middle of the 3. Liara and Ashley both were staring at Shepard who was laid onto the bed as easily as Wrex and Garrus could. Chakwas cleared the area around him and began to scan him for all injuries. After a few seconds she saw the results.

'What in God's name? His healing factor should have healed this by now! What's stopping it?' Chakwas thought as she looked at the results. From what she could see, Shepard was poisoned with some sort of toxin. She quickly ushered everyone except Ashley out, seeing as she couldn't really leave yet. As soon as they all left, she immediately took a blood sample from Shepard to immediately begin making an antidote.

Within Shepard's Inner World

Shepard had fallen into his inner world almost as soon as he passed out. He was back in the forest, clad in his Heavy Colossus Armor with all his Master HMW's. He looked around and noticed that the moon was now in a first quarter phase.

'Wow my powers have evolved if only a little bit. I wonder what's going to happen when the moon becomes full?' Shepard thought as he stared at it.

"You know I never would have thought 'he' would have sent a psychopathic xenophobe to spy on you son." Hannah Shepard's voice spoke from behind him. John's head snapped her direction to see his mother standing behind him, wearing a lab outfit with a matching coat.

"He?" John asked.

"Your 'biological father' so to speak." Hannah said with quotes on biological father. John wasn't even going to ask about that.

"So he's essentially the leader of what? A xenophobic human group?" John asked scratching his head in curiosity. Hannah looked to be mulling over her answer before responding.

"Somewhat. It attracts xenophobes but the main goal of his organization is the preservation of humanity... at any cost." Hannah said with seriousness. John eyes narrowed at that last part. At any cost huh? That's hardly ever good.

"Do you want to know what the organization is?" Hannah offered. John hesitated for a minute. Did he really want to know from his mom? After a minute he decided his answer.

"No. I'll figure it out on my own mom. I'd rather not find it out from you on the off chance I'm going to end up explaining it." John said. Hannah smiled at his answer.

"Never the easy way out with you is it?" She asked rhetorically. John smiled back at her.

"I learned it from you mom." He retorted. Hannah laughed at his little joke. John joined in with her laughter for a minute before turning serious to her.

"Mom what's with this Subject Alpha business?" John asked. Hannah stopped laughing at the question.

"The station you were created in was named Alpha Station and you were also the only subject there. The sole reason it was named that was because the project I worked on was Project Alpha. As for the Alpha part... well you already know about your genetic modifications." Hannah explained.

"And these guys are trying to reacquire me because?" John urged.

"Because when I defected for you, I deleted and destroyed all the data. Now I don't know if 'he' really did order a dead or alive capture. I believe that spy was too psychotic that he believed that you would be impossible for live capture. That and the fact that the spy was an intense xenophobe combined with the fact that you made it no secret about your beliefs of humanity and other aliens..." Hannah said before John finished for her.

"Made me look like I was better off dead in his eyes." John said. Hannah nodded. Then that meant his 'father' may want him more alive than dead, but based on the fact that his mother destroyed all of the data means that more than likely they want, no, need his DNA more than him. Hannah just stared at him with a worried look knowing he was beginning to figure things out. John saw her look and remembered something.

"That toxin Fred used on me, what was it?" John knew few people had the knowledge of medicine and poisons like his mother.

"I'm unsure. It was most likely an experimental poison of sorts since I haven't seen anything like it before. And from what the spy said, it was a lethal dose. Though I must say it works more for live capture than anything else, well except for healing negation." Hannah said absentmindedly.

"Healing negation?!" John nearly shouted out. If his healing was slowed down, then those wounds Fred had given him were going to be a serious problem. Hannah noticed her son's distress and decided to calm him down.

"Don't worry. Your friends got you to the Normandy's doctor in time. She's probably making an antidote as we speak." She reassured him. John let out a relived sigh that he was holding.

"Whew." John sighed out. Hannah then got a very evil smirk on her face.

"So Johnny... I noticed you're having some girl trouble." Hannah said in an equally evil tone. John Shepard shivered in fear for the first time in a long time.

At Cronos Station in the Horsehead Nebula

"Sir... Agent Stanley... is dead sir." A scientist informed the Illusive Man. The scientist was shaking in fear of his employer since it was about Subject Alpha. He didn't really know why the Illusive Man wanted Subject Alpha brought back alive since it would be so much simpler to bring back his corpse and clone him or use the DNA to make the perfect soldiers by possibly grafting it into their own genetic codes.

"I know." the Illusive Man said in a cold tone not unlike Shepard's as he smoked his cigar.

"Y-You knew, Sir?" The scientist asked in fear at the Illusive Man's tone. He knew when Illusive Man spoke with that frigid tone it hinted at his cold fury waiting to escape.

"Yes and if Shepard hadn't killed him I might have." Mister Illusive responded coldly.

"S-Sir?" The frightened scientist inquired.

"Agent Stanley may have been one of our better agents, but he was too impulsive, shortsighted. He believed that with his current skill set that he could take Shepard. For a minute he did. He managed to cut off all routes of entry and exits, even going so far as to use the experimental toxin that we manufactured. But he forgot one thing..." The Illusive Man said revealing that he knew exactly what went on to the scientist.

"And that was...?" The scientist asked.

"Shepard's intelligence." The Illusive Man clarified. The scientist awwed in understanding.

"Add in Agent Stanley's overconfidence when he decided to monologue which gave Shepard enough time to adapt to the toxin and it could only lead to his defeat." The Illusive Man remarked.

"Sir if I may interrupt, Subject Alpha didn't kill Agent Stanley. Agent Stanley killed himself. And also Shepard found out about him first." The scientist squeaked out.

"Hmmm, true enough. Don't send anymore agents to spy on Shepard. While reclaiming Subject Alpha is an objective we will need to accomplish in the future, he will personally be expecting more since he has already found 2 of our bugs and one of our agents. Did Agent Stanley have any immediate family?" The Illusive Man inquired.

"Umm no Sir." The scientist responded after checking Fred Stanley's files.

"Very well then. You may go." The Illusive Man ordered as the scientist exited the room. Knowing he was gone the Illusive Man pulled up 2 orange terminal screens. One held the file of a woman with blue eyes and red hair while the other one held a face everyone in the galaxy had seen. This man had been a main interest of the Illusive Man since he was still a newborn. The file was about John Shepard.

The Illusive Man had a feeling that Dr. Shepard was the one behind the destruction of Alpha Station 29 years ago so he kept agents out for any mention of her. He finally did hear something about her 18 years ago, but he was too late to send any operatives to retrieve her and her son. The slavers had beaten him to them. He had actually been angry when it all happened. Henry Lawson was still as arrogant as ever when he was given the data from Project Alpha. The fool had only skimmed over the data and took a mere basis from it before deleting it! Now what ever data they had to go on was gone because of him. The only thing salvageable was the subject who was born from it: Miranda Lawson and by extension her sister Oriana. Sadly however neither one of them were on Shepard's level of genetic modification. The Illusive Man was still irritated at the fact Henry only used his own DNA to create them, that prideful idiot! But he was getting off track now...

Taking a long drag from his cigar, enjoying the nicotine flavor he disposed of the bud left and exhaled the smoke as he lit another one. When he had found where both Shepard's had been living he immediately sent agents to retrieve them. Finally, Project Alpha would be able to resume. Finally, humanity would be perfected and take their rightful spot in the galaxy. But then the slavers got there and shattered any and all notion of that ambition. The Illusive Man saw the casualty and missing reports. Dr. Shepard had been on the casualty list, but her son John was not. So the Illusive Man played the waiting game for several years until the Ghost of the Terminus surfaced. He would have sent Cerberus agents to recruit the man, but he was obviously not concerned about humanity nor xenophobic enough to manipulate. He still kept eyes on the Ghost but wasn't interested until the report from Captain Anderson came in about Torfan. The Ghost was connected to Mindoir. The Illusive Man had quickly ordered his agents to compile any and all available data on both Ghost and Subject Alpha to see if they were the same person. That maybe there was still some hope of keeping humanity secure. He wasn't to sure until a few weeks ago... when humanities first spectre was chosen. He had immediately put eyes on Shepard to see when the best opportunity was to bring him in. He then clicked on John Shepard's file which pulled up multiple screens from when he was a kid to now when he was seen on Feros.

So it really was him. The Illusive Man had ordered that he brought in alive unless Shepard was too dangerous and so Agent Stanley took that as a go-ahead to kill him. Thinking back now, the Illusive Man should have sent one of his smarter agents but believed that because of Agent Stanley's training he was better equipped to capture Shepard. Instead he had sent a xenophobic psychopath to try and kill Shepard. The Illusive Man switched the screen to where Shepard was seen battling New Growth. He had to admit, Shepard turned out better than he thought. A shame that he wasn't as dedicated to humanity as he wished him to be. It would have made things easier.

'So you really have come into your own. Well that's not going to stop me from getting you back. I'm patient, but I don't have forever. I need someone to usher in a new age for humanity when I'm gone and who better to do that than you... son.' The Illusive Man thought as he continued to smoke his cigar while looking over Shepard's file.

Back in the Normandy's Med Bay

Shepard's eyes opened up as he looked at his surroundings. He knew he was in the med bay already, but he was curious as to who was in it. From what he could see Ashley was asleep as well as Chakwas. He quietly rose up and noticed the upper part of his fatigues were ripped up. Well no use crying over it now since Fred had basically shredded them with that omni-blade scissor slash. He took a closer look and noticed a very light x-shaped scar right in the middle of his chest.

'Damn, must have been deeper than I thought.' Shepard thought before looking at overhead display on his bed.

'I've been out for 2 days? That toxin was definitely something else. Wouldn't be surprised if all my genetics did was get an increased resistance to it.' Shepard continued to think as he got out of the bed and moved quietly to the exit. The doors opened easily as he continued walking. As he exited the med bay he saw that Tali and Liara were sleeping with their heads on the tables. He tipped toed to his room easily since he had become an expert of sorts when it came to stealth. When he entered his room he quickly scanned for anymore additional bugs but found none.

"Hmm whoever is spying on either doesn't have any other agents on board or has decided to wait for me to let my guard down. Maybe both.' Shepard thought as he looked around his room.

"You know, you had everyone worried. Even me." Isaac voiced his opinion out.

"Really now?" Shepard asked with a little amusement.

"Yes I was even considering revealing myself to them." Isaac said with a serious tone. Shepard's amusement vanished at the. Isaac and he had been best friends for years now and the one thing they always kept secret was Isaac's true identity. Not even Liselle knew about him.

"Look Isaac, your life is your's alone but as your friend I'd ask you not to reveal your existence unless you absolutely believe it's necessary." Shepard said.

"That situation came pretty close, luckily Chakwas figured out how to make an antidote before I could decide on anything." Isaac said. Shepard just smiled at him.

"What happened after I passed out?" Shepard asked curiously as he locked the door and began looking for a shirt to wear.

"After you went unconscious the others got to you and brought you to the med bay. As soon as you were lain onto the bed Chakwas ushered everyone out and immediately began to see what the problem was. That bastard Fred didn't tell you that the toxin also weakened your healing severely and even negated medi-gel to a degree. Chakwas took a blood sample and fashioned an antidote from it which did work but..." Isaac began to explain before trailing off.

"But what?" Shepard asked as he finally found a white t-shirt and put it on.

"Well the antidote and the toxin both took there toll on you and caused you to have a fever that kept you going in and out of cardiac arrest. Chakwas and Ashley were both worried constantly. Once you were stabilized everyone tried to visit you but Chakwas kept everyone out as she looked over your progress. That's pretty much it." Isaac finished. Well that explained a lot.

"Right then I see. Isaac listen, I appreciate..." Shepard began to say until he heard someone yelling.

"John Shepard, Ghost of the Terminus! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"That sounded like Chakwas." Both Shepard and Isaac said at the same time in fear and surprise respectively. That was when there was a series of huge bangs on his door. Shepard just stood there in fear, hoping she'd go away. Sadly the banging didn't cease it only got stronger.

"You know if you don't open it she'll break it down." Isaac said with mild amusement. He was always amused by how Chakwas could make Shepard cringe in fear.

"I don't doubt it." Shepard respond as he morbidly went to the door and unlocked it. Almost immediately the door opened and he came face to face with a visage of pure terror. It wasn't just Chakwas who was at the door, but also Liara and Tali. Chakwas wore a pissed off expression while Tali and Liara looked so mad that they had tears coming out of their eyes. Before he could say or do anything, Chakwas grabbed him by the ear and began to drag him to the med bay.

"You've got a lot of nerve just wandering out of my med bay after being unconscious for 2 days straight." Chakwas said as she continued to drag him by the ear.

"Ow, ow Chakwas I can explain OW!" Shepard complained.

"Shepard, you should not be out of bed. You've been sick for 2 days." Tali lightly scolded him.

"They're both right Shepard. For all we know the toxin could still be in your system. Especially since you nearly died a couple times." Liara said. The group entered the med bay to find Ash awake and glaring at Shepard.

"Uh Hey Ashley, how are you feeling?" Shepard asked awkwardly as Chakwas practically pushed him onto the bed beside her.

"I'm fine, You have however might not be." Ash retorted still glaring at him as he sat up on the bed.

"Take your shirt off. I need to see if your wounds have properly healed." Chakwas ordered. Shepard took his white t-shirt off revealing the x-shaped scar on his chest. He laid down as Chakwas began to use her medical equipment to scan him. As she did this the other women in the room couldn't help but admire Shepard's physique. Even though he didn't workout conventionally, he kept himself in shape by dodging and free running as well as fighting hand to hand. Also his genetics helped him take all kinds of nutrients from whatever he ate even though it was a relatively good diet. Hey he lived on Omega of all places and before that it was living with ruthless mercenary. Keeping himself decently fed was nothing short of miraculous. That being said, his physique wasn't bulky like the marines Ashley was used to seeing, not as skinny and nimble as quarian men like Tali grew up seeing sort to speak. He definitely wasn't like the asari Liara had grown accustomed to while growing up. (Jesus for some reason that felt wrong listing it like that.) Shepard was instead more compact and lean with a 6-pack going on 8-pack. In combination with his healing, Shepard was actually built for both speed and endurance. Even with all the firefights he had been in since his training with Zaeed, Shepard had never really gotten a scar before, but then again he had never let his opponent wound like Fred had.

The girls noticed that they had actually been staring at his broad chest and became embarrassed. Before either Shepard or Chakwas could notice their stares they quickly turned away with burning blushes.

'What the hell am I doing? He's been wounded!' Ashley thought as she tried to keep her blush down. It wasn't a strong argument seeing as Shepard was fully healed and she did like a man with scars. Her mind suddenly pictured her and Shepard in a military barracks making out behind the locker rooms. As they continued to make out, they started to undress each other as Ashley moaned at Shepard's light kisses on her bare neck. Things progressed from there. As Ashley's blush increased, Liara was having her own troubles.

'Goddess have mercy! I can't be ogling Shepard like he's a piece of meat while he's being... examined.' Liara thought before she began imagining herself 'examining' Shepard in Chakwas' place. As she dragged her hands slowly across his tone chest. Shepard gently gripped her hand and slowly pulled her to him. Liara noticed Shepard had laid his hand on her face and guided her in for a heated kiss as she laid with him on the bed. Liara face nearly went purple as her thoughts became more and more amorous.

Tali was dealing with her own thoughts as well. What she was picturing however was joining suits with Shepard. She found herself in a private bed chamber with Shepard. There were several massage oils and creams on a nearby nightstand with candles dotting the chamber as velvet curtains adorned it. She was slowly walking towards Shepard as the flickering candlelight made their shadows dance on the metallic walls. When they finally got within arms' reach, Shepard gently took her mask and dropped it onto to floor, knowing it would be fine. He then began to unbuckle her suit at a moderate pace before he finally had her undressed. He picked her up bridal style and carried her to the bed smoothly placed her on it stomach first. He got the massage oil out and began to massage her back with it. She sensually moaned from the heat of his touch as it began to spread all over her back. Shepard lowered his head to her ear and blew, hot breathe fluttering past her ear causing her to moan even louder. She couldn't take it anymore as she suddenly turned and grabbed him by the back of the head, pulling him into a heated kiss. That was as far she got before she noticed her mask had fogged up. She let out a depressing sigh believing that no matter how much she wished, Shepard would never look at her that. Even though he could see past her mask she knew it would be impossible to be with him. They were genetically incompatible and she could die by being together with him. (Okay that was the first time I ever wrote something like those. I hope it was ok.)

After a minute Chakwas stopped scanning him and noticed that the girls were in their own little worlds making her almost shake her head at them. Oh to be young again. She also noticed Tali's small depression making her frown. The young girl must be having a hard time, poor thing. Chakwas turned back to Shepard and saw him looking at them. So he's noticed too. She knew Shepard wasn't dense when it came to a girl's feelings even though he was dense about certain situations.

"Hmmm it appears you've made a full recovery Shepard. No toxins in your system and all the injuries you sustained have healed perfectly." Chakwas said to Shepard who looked at her.

"Thanks. Can I go now? We still need to help out Garrus and Wrex." Shepard said. Chakwas knew he wasn't the type to talk about his thoughts unless he wanted to. Nodding, she told him he could leave. Quickly putting his shirt back on, he walked out, but not before telling Liara and Tali to prepare for the mission coming up. Both girls nodded and walked to their quarters to change into their Colossus armors. Ashley heard this and got a depressed face since she couldn't go out on any missions until Chakwas cleared her. Even then she wouldn't be able to use her armor since it was destroyed. Chakwas noticed her state and decided to talk with her since it wasn't healthy to keep negative thoughts bottled up.

"What's wrong? Sad you can't go and fight with them?" Chakwas asked making Ashley look at her. She then looked down at her bed covers as she reflected on Chakwas' words.

"It's not just that. I hate feeling useless. Being in here recovering when I should be doing... I don't know, something." Ashley said annoyed at her situation. Chakwas smirked a little at Ashley's response.

"What's really getting on your nerves, Ashley?" Chakwas asked seeing there was more to it than what Shepard and the team would be doing. Ashley's frown increased as she thought back to that mission at the main geth base and later on when that Fred guy threatened everyone.

"I shouldn't have been taken down like that. Everyone else wasn't beaten like that. Not even Liara and Tali were hurt while I ended up here." Ashley said as she growled out the last part.

"You don't need to compare yourself to them. Besides Tali has tech expertise where she can hack a geth easily and Liara can stop a geth with her biotics while you need to stay in cover. I also know you can take much more damage than they could. Also from what they others told me, you fought a stronger one than the 2 of them did and you beat it." Chakwas said trying to ease her patients self-irritation. Ashley just snorted in response.

"And unlike them, you were poisoned which might have killed them outright, Tali especially. It takes a strong woman to fight that." Chakwas added. Ashley's frown lessened to a degree.

"It's not just that though. That... bastard who nearly killed Shepard threatened everyone here and I was actually afraid. I was helpless as I watched a madman threaten all of us and came very close to actually killing Shepard." Ashley said as her voice started to crack. The silence after was deafening for a minute before Chakwas responded.

"But the worst didn't happen. Your still alive and safe. Shepard and Kaidan saved you from those wounds and Shepard kept everyone safe by finding out about that psychopath. Granted I don't approve of his rash decision of immediately confronting him, but in the end I dare say that psycho would have succeeded if Shepard didn't go after him." Chakwas said. Ashley thought about what happened with the spy and then remembered what Chakwas said before that.

"What do you mean by Shepard and Kaidan? Last I knew Kaidan was the team's medic." Ashley asked. Chakwas smirked.

"When you were unconscious Shepard and Kaidan both treated you. You see, the bullets had gone completely through each lung, allowing blood to flow into your lungs. This caused you to nearly suffocate, but Shepard used his biotics to pull the blood out and away from your lungs. Sadly he had to rip open your armor and the shirt under it for Kaidan to apply the medi-gel." Chakwas said. Ashley smiled at how Shepard had come to her rescue before she remembered Chakwas' comment about Shepard ripping open her clothes.

'Wait a minute! H-H-He ripped open my clothes. H-H-He saw my chest!' Ashley thought frantically as she started to blush at her earlier thoughts when Shepard was present and wondered if he did something to her. Chakwas was now grinning at the soldier's predicament. It was fun watching all these young women stress over Shepard.

"Don't worry, Shepard was very professional about it." Chakwas reassured. Ashley's distress simmered down fast. Of course Shepard would be a gentleman about it, especially in that situation. Though a part of herself was wondering if he liked what he saw. A part of her which she beat down as fast as she could. Before anything else could be said Liara bounded out of the backroom, clad in her light Colossus armor and only having the Karpov pistol Shepard gave her. Ashley and Chakwas watched as she ran out to the CIC. Ashley sighed as she laid down to get more rest with Chakwas seeing her downtrodden expression. All she could do was shake her head.

With the squad.

As Shepard waited for the squad to assemble, he thought over what the situation. They found Saleon's, or should he say Heart's ship. From what Joker had told him the analysis of the ship it was close to his old ship, the Judgement. The MSV Fedele was a Kowloon class modular conveyor of human design. In addition to the standard cargo bay, the hull has several biological research modules attached. Makes sense seeing as how Heart was for lack of better word a maniacal geneticist. As the Normandy docked with the Fedele Joker decided to talk to Shepard.

"Shepard are you sure you should be up and out of bed?" Joker asked dragging Shepard out of his thoughts. The spectre turned to his pilot and smiled.

"I'm fine Joker. Chakwas saved me in time and I feel great." Shepard said.

"Well if your sure. By the way nice job taking out that colossal douche bag of a psychopath." Joker said with some fire. Shepard frowned at the thought of Fred. For the first time in years, someone had nearly killed him all by themselves. What was worse was the fact they knew about his genetics and had a way to counter them. Now he had a pile of questions and no shovel. What was this organization? How widespread were they? Did they have more people like Fred, people who were a combined class? That was a dangerous precedent. Shepard knew the only way someone could match him was by either a team of multiple people or... a multi-class person. Shepard thought over more things and believed it might be best to inform Anderson after completing a couple more missions. He noticed his squad was coming all clad in their Colossus armor. Shepard also noticed Garrus seemed to be excited.

'So he's excited about getting Saleon huh? Is it for better or worse?' Shepard thought as his eyes narrowed slightly at the turian with his arms crossed. Garrus noticed the stare too.

"Is their something wrong Shepard?" Garrus asked curiously. Everyone noticed Shepard's stare at the turian. The only one who had a pretty good idea was Wrex having seen the look on the turian before. He knew that was visage of a man ready to kill.

"We'll see." was all Shepard said as he turned to the airlock and began to switch over from ships. Everyone looked at him curiously before following him. Wrex knew what he meant by that though. There was someone on the ship that Garrus knew and was going to try to kill.

'Let's see what you will do Shepard.' The krogan thought as he brought up the rear.

Inside the Fedele

As the team entered, they noticed the silence. Shepard and Garrus were both more than a little anxious about since they half expected to hear screams of some sort, but no. All they heard was an eerie silence. The team slowly made their way to the main area before Shepard stopped them at the door.

"Wait a minute. I think I hear something." Shepard said before putting his ear to the door. Everyone stayed silent before Shepard began to hear the pitter patter of... bare feet? Shepard quickly used biotic pulse and began to map out the area out while finding out what they were dealing with. From what he could 'see' it was several humanoids but what threw him off was the fact their hands were different. He also felt that the room was filled with crates making it appear to be a maze of sorts or more like a cover area. He kept on feeling when he 'saw' what appeared to be a salarian. So Saleon is in the back. That meant whatever was roaming around between them and him was dangerous.

"I can sense there are around 6 creatures moving around in there. Garrus, Saleon is in the far back of the ship. We'll need to use close to mid range weapons. No use using a sniper rifle in here." Shepard said as he brought out his Master HMWSG. Everyone followed his example and brought their preferred close range weapon, or in Kaidan and Liara's cases their only ones. Garrus was growing eager as he took out his Breaker assault rifle. Shepard could feel the turian's growing anticipation at finally getting Saleon and it began to worry him a little. The door opened and the team stepped forward coming face to face with 2 crates stacked in front of them, the last line of cover. Shepard signaled that they split into 2 teams of 3. Once done, the 2 teams split and began attacking whatever was moving in the room. Shepard as well as everyone else was momentarily stunned at the creatures before them.

They were gray, bloated and their skin looked as if it were rotting away. Shepard was vaguely reminded of the Creepers back on Feros at how similar they were to each other. Unlike the creepers however these things didn't have plant-like flesh and the creepers didn't have veins showing on their body parts or any organs for that matter.

"It looks like Saleon has been doing more than cloning organs now." Garrus said before opening fire. Everyone else followed suit quickly after him. The creatures... the unfortunate test subjects... fell instantly. Shepard could tell that these weren't people anymore. Even though they looked vaguely human, which they might have been before, he knew that humans didn't have green blood or organic claws. Side effects of whatever that crazy ass salarian did to them. Shepard could feel rage starting to ignite in his heart at the atrocity. He looked around and could see that it was nearly taking over Garrus at this point. He noticed Tali was shaking at the sight of it with Kaidan trying to comfort the young girl. Shepard could see the way he was clenching his pistol meaning that he was dealing with some anger to at it too. He then looked to Wrex and saw that the krogan was keeping a stoic face, but if one looked at his eyes they could see some anger smoldering in them. Liara was in no better shape than Tali.

"G-Goddess. H-How could anyone do something like this?" She asked. Shepard calmed his rage and walked over to her and gave her a one arm hug. Feeling his embrace, she laid her head on his armored shoulder.

"People, bad people do these kinds of things because they feel that they can." Liara looked at him as he spoke. Everyone else heard him and looked to him as he spoke with his own stoic expression.

"They do these awful things because they care only for themselves. They believe that they can get away with it easily since no one can catch onto them. They don't feel any real remorse, any guilt. Only some form of messed up pleasure. But what they tend to forget is... that with good people like us around, their run can't last forever." Shepard said remembering his fight with the slavers. In a sense he can sympathize with Garrus, but because of this he knows the path Garrus is going to go down. Unlike Garrus however, his enemy made things personal right off the bat. Shepard knew that Garrus letting his emotions get the best of him over something like this was unnecessary.

"Come on let's go stop one of them today." Shepard said as he took his arm off Liara and approached the door to where he 'saw' Saleon. Garrus reigned in his rage for the moment and was immediately behind Shepard as he entered the corridor and made his way to the med bay. Everyone else was behind them with Liara and Tali both encourage by Shepard's words. Liara was staring at the back of the spectre though knowing what she was feeling wasn't a crush anymore.

'I guess I can't go back now.' The asari thought. As the door to the med bay opened, everyone saw a salarian. Shepard looked at him and immediately got a bad vibe.

'Yea this guy has crazy butcher written all over him.' Shepard thought.

"Thank you. Thank you for saving me from those things." Saleon said, playing innocent. Garrus and Shepard weren't buying it.

"Shepard that's him. That's Dr. Saleon." Garrus said in cold voice. Great now he was rubbing off on Garrus! As if Liara wasn't bad enough! Shepard watched Saleon's eyes widen before he shook his head.

"What? My name is Heart. Dr. Heart. Please, get me out of here." The salarian said as he looked at Garrus warily. Shepard could see the fear and recognition in the Saleon's eyes.

"Are you sure it's him?" Shepard asked watching Garrus now. It was fly or fall now with him.

"Positive." Garrus said nodding before looking to Saleon, glaring at him.

"There's no escape this time doctor. I'd harvest your organs first, but we don't have the time." Garrus said making everyone look at him slight shock.

"You're crazy. He's crazy. Please don't let him do this to me." Saleon pleaded looking at Shepard desperately.

"We'll take him in and drop his ass off with the military." Shepard said as put away his shotgun. Garrus looked at him in shock.

"B-But... we have him. We can't let him get away. Not again." Garrus said trying to convince Shepard. Shepard shook his head no.

"If he dies, we'll never know what he's been up to since he left, or how he did it. We'll take him in, interrogate him, and he'll serve his time." Shepard explained in tone that broke no argument.

"I've.." Garrus started to say before he calmed down. "Okay your right." Garrus looked at Saleon with a glare that would have made Wrex think twice.

"You're a very lucky salarian. You owe him your life." Garrus growled, more like hissed out. The salarian's features changed instantly from innocently afraid to annoying sarcasm.

"Oh thank you so very much!" The salarian said before he walked back toward his desk. Shepard knew what he was doing before anyone else did and brought up his omni-bow out much to his team's shock. Garrus watched as Shepard didn't fire immediately almost as if he was... waiting for something! Garrus looked to Saleon and saw that salarian appeared to be getting some files out of desk before pulling out a pistol on everyone. Without further adieu, Shepard fired several omni-arrows at the salarian before he could fire. After 5 hits the salarian looked down at his punctured chest, blood dripping out of his mouth before looking back up and falling on his back, dead.

"Just as I thought. Stupidly arrogant." Shepard said as he deactivated his omni-bow and walk towards the desk. After a few seconds Garrus broke the silence.

"And so he dies anyway. What was the point of that?!" Garrus demanded.

"You can't predict how people will act Garrus, but you can how you'll respond. In the end that's all that really matters." Shepard said as he looked over the medical room.

"Yeah your right. You know I don't think I've ever met anyone like you, Ghost." Garrus said thinking over Shepard's actions. Shepard obviously did things his way but he did several different things. Maybe the situation he's in and it's circumstances affect his decisions. Maybe... he should start doing that too.

"God I hope so. If there were 2 of me running around the galaxy would be in utter chaos." Shepard said looking at Saleon's equipment while everyone chuckled at his little joke. It was stained with the blood of many species. Pale blue, violet, orange... and more than a few dark red. Thankfully his work has ended now.

'I hope they now have some peace where ever they are now.' He silently thought before looking at his crew.

"Come on everyone let's get out of this place." Shepard said as he told everyone to leave to the Normandy now. Shepard walked after everyone, thinking of what to do when he needed to help Wrex. His thoughts drifted to the organization after him. He briefly wondered when they will make their next move before shrugging it off. Come what may, he'll be ready to meet the challenge head on... with his team by his side.

Okay here it is. Cerberus finally getting some show time. The girls starting to feel more amorous towards Shepard. And to top it off we got to see some small character development. I'd say that was decent enough. Tell me what you think good, bad. I going to need to know how I did on those scenes Ashley, Tali and Liara thinking about you know what.

The winner for the poll is Biotic Pulse. I'll use pulse for short hand purposes on some things too.