Ryan was lost within a split-second in time, before he could even steal himself to turn to face the man they were all around him.
"Sorry about-" he started.
"What in the hell do you think you're doing?!" the one with the liquid on the back of his head bawled.
"It was an accident!"
"There's a reason that we're the only ones at the bar at the moment."
"Because it's late afternoon?"
"No! We're Alliance – people give us respect, those old enough to know anyway. But perhaps your parents didn't teach you anything about that."
Armed with the unshackled social graces of a few drinks, Ryan didn't think before reacting in anger and thrusting out his arm. The three men who previously cornered him against the bar suddenly slid back a short distance on the soles of their feet as they stood.
"What?! You're a biotic? You don't look old enough to drive a skycar!" the main aggressor said as he clenched his fists. They all gave each other swift looks before slowly advancing upon Ryan once more.
"Biotic or not, you aren't going to be able to outdo three of the Alliance's finest."
Ryan bolstered up his stance and only now facing men at every direction did he realise the predicament he was in. There was nothing that could be done at this point, however, so he prepared to concentrate all of his energy into something more substantial than a little biotic push. As they loomed at a slow but steady pace towards him he simply waited what seemed a long time for one of them to make the first sudden movement. But the movement that eventually came was from a forth figure.
"Alright, what's happening here?" Came a voice spoken in a weary sigh from the unmistakable voice of Jack.
And there she stood to the left of Ryan, the "uniform" which adorned unnecessary missing pieces of material, revealing a plethora of patterns tattooed to her skin underneath, her hair an abrupt line scaling vertically up her scalp and behind her head. It was Jack alright, Ryan thought to himself, almost forgetting the situation he found himself in for a moment.
"J-Jack?! This kid's drink somehow ended up on my head!" bellowed the main man, pointing accusingly in Ryan's direction.
"It was unfortunate – a sneeze at the wrong moment" as the words came out of Ryan's mouth Jack turned to look at him and their eyes met for the first time.
"Well, no use crying over spilled… Brandy, right?" Jack said turning back to the Alliance man.
"We need to tech him a lesson!" one of the Alliance sidekicks chimed in from the side.
"Three soldiers versus one kid? Not really a fair fight. Or are you really that upset over a sneeze? I would hate to see how you deal with stuff in actual combat", Jack's words pounded on the man as he appeared to shrink at everyone.
"This isn't your business, get out of the way or…" the man exploded into anger once more, then realising that there was no way he could possibly finish that sentence begun an awkward silence.
One side of Jack's lips curled up in a rather sinister version of a smirk and she slowly walked up to the man and focused laser-like eyes onto his.
"Or you'll what? I'd like to hear it."
There was no sound in response.
"Of course, that's what I thought. Now get out of here or I will destroy you!" without unlocking her eyes from the man, his two friends slowly reversed down the corridor to the entrance, the third man seemed to almost be pulled magnetically along after them.
This was the time, as if some omnipotent force was controlling the galaxy – he had been forced into this situation.
"Urm, thank you" Ryan said to the back of Jack's head. She turned from watching the men disappear out of the entrance and gave him a stony stare.
"You don't even look old enough to be in here. But I don't give a shit" she began making her way back to her table.
"Wait!" Ryan seemed to utter without thinking. Jack turned back one more to face him, her face stonier still. "I need to talk you." Jack's face did not move. "About your biotic academy here on the Citadel – the Ascension Project Academy."
Jack's face was still hard and frozen for a few more seconds.
"What, you? Ha, I don't think so." She continued her journey back to her table.
I've gone this far, I'm going to have to go all the way with this, Ryan thought to himself in a somewhat "potential last words" train of thought and began carefully shadowing her steps. Her frown suggested that she was not impressed when she saw the young man following her.
"You picked a weird place to enrol; I don't usually pick-up cadets from bars. So you'd better get out of here before I'm done asking you to."
"But… I am a biotic. You saw me using my biotic abilities."
"Yeah, so? I don't just have people in the academy because they're biotic, you have to actually have some ability, some potential. You think that just because you can push a couple of guys a few feet that you're good enough? Maybe I ought to have let those guys wail on you a little longer." Once again she began walking back to her table.
"You're a Cerberus biotic, right." All doubt had now evaporated from Ryan's voice.
Jack ceased all movement and froze where she should. Every pore on Ryan's skin seemed to fortify as he stared at the back of her head in what appeared to him to be like being stuck in a painting.
"What did you say?" Jack finally twisted her head ever so slightly towards him. The silent tension extended for a few moments more until Jack had turned to Ryan and began marching back towards him. "Listen you little dipshit, I don't know what your game is – if you're out to make a name for yourself being killed by a seriously pissed-off biotic but whatever it is I'd happily to end you right here!"
"I am too. I was raised by Cerberus in one of their labs and they gave me biotic implants and that's how I have my abilities. I heard that the same thing happened to you and that's why I think I'd be perfect for your biotic academy."
There was silence thereafter.
"You want to join the Ascension Project Academy? Fine. But you'd be damned if you think you'd actually survive – that's if what you've told me is even true. Now if that's everything then I really suggest that you get out of here."
Ryan took this piece of advice and headed for the exit.
Samantha arrived at the apartment that was to be her new home in space. It had the strictly functional décor typical to Citadel architecture; dull chrome and smooth glass making up the environment around her. To anyone else this may seem alien, but she felt that returning to the Alliance again was her true home. Samantha found her way to the bathroom for her first call of duty in her new home with but one small object in her hand out of the mounds of unpacked footlockers, she placed the object on a shelf followed by a near bottomless sigh leaving her lungs.
"An unused toothbrush as an ornament. I'd probably seem quite insane if you didn't know the amount of crazy things that I've seen." It was the Cision Pro Mark 4 that Commander Shepard had bought her to replace the one he had broken getting into the Normandy, she could never bring herself to use it and kept it as a memento to the late Commander.
She was beginning to think that maybe everything was coming full circle when the mechanics of the front door snapped her out of the moment and a woman met her gaze as she stepped out of the bathroom. An oval face with large brown eyes and short sandy hair immediately faced Samantha where she stood.
"Jane" she said moving forwards to embrace the other.
"It's good to see you. How are you settling in?" responded back a distinctly American accent. Jane and Samantha had been together since the final Reaper attack on London 5 years ago.
"Barely – I just got here a few minutes ago. How are things up here in the Alliance top brass?"
"Busy. But I'm guessing you already knew that. It's like were managing a whole galaxy or something" Jane replied, her lips slowly beginning to resemble a smile.
"You know, I haven't had a chance to look around the apartment properly yet – you could help me explore" Samantha said in her most devilish tone of voice as the two of them locked arms in the midst of the empty space and kissed.
The Citadel's artificial sun had dimmed to half-light and the holographic sky had turned a dull orange as night fast approached the station. Ryan had left Purgatory and was making his way through the thinning crowds of people to the new apartment and was back at the Presidium Commons he first arrived at earlier in the day. The future is set he thought to himself, considering all the potential possibilities and monumental challenges that now faced him in every aspect in his life – and not just the idea of having to face Jack again. He knew that good would come out of it in the end and that if nothing else his biotic abilities had to be harnessed and honed for the sake of his own safety.
Ryan arrived at a path splitting 4 ways and was forced to stop and think where he was going rather than get lost in his own idle thoughts. He was following the navigational route displayed to him by his Omni-Tool, which was smoothly and directly leading him through the area, he would check it periodically to gauge his location. He looked down to check it this time and in the milliseconds it took his eyes to focus on the display his attention was immediately dragged to a flash of light from beyond, his ears were then rocked by a massive noise and he felt something like a gust against his skin and hair which seemed to go through him and affect his inner organs too. An explosion had hit the Citadel.