Jack watched from her escape pod as what looked like half of Arcturus station crowded into the hallway outside the hangar. Her biotics flared, giving fair warning: that was why none of the pansies had come into the hangar yet. Flaring biotics were an unknown.

They'd better be scared. Their being scared made her feel stronger, more in control.

A door opened, and one soldier eased in warily, said something to someone in the hall behind him, shook his head resignedly, and continued edging into the room.

"Excuse me? You're making the security guys nervous."

This surprised her a little. It sounded…geeky. Of course she was making them nervous! She was an out of control biotic, an all-powerful bitch…

…only part of her registered that this was only temporary. The scared little girl rattling around inside her was a decidedly strong presence.

"Do you mind? Can we talk?"

"There's nothing to talk about! I want out of here, soldier-boy, and you'd better make it happen!"

"That's not the way this is going to work," the easy tone of uncomfortable placation. He eased forward, taking on details past blue uniform and dark hair.

She didn't want him close. His placating tone made her mad. "Make it work!" Deep down, she knew this was not going to work…but she didn't know what else to do. She'd run away from a crazy soldier into a nest of soldiers…and even Jack had a sense of when she was at a supreme disadvantage.

"Look," his voice firmed up, taking on mild irritation, "it's not going to work, because half the security force is down here. I'm the one you want to talk to, trust—"

Jack stood up, climbed out of the pod so she could perch on the hull—it had landed sideways, left her feeling like a rabbit in a hole. The word 'trust' was the wrong one to use. She sent off a warning shockwave, then gaped as the man moved quickly, diverting it with his own biotics. He shook out his hand, as if the deflection had stung.

The next thing he knew, Jack had him under a barrage—she thought she heard him tell someone, probably through his radio, that he had this under control.

It certainly looked that way. He might have dropped to one knee, bent his head, but that simply made the amount of space he had to protect smaller. 'Turtling up' in a very literal way. From what she could see, he could stay turtled up like that as long as she chose to pound on him. She might be powerful, he might feel it, but she didn't have infinite reserves, and he wasn't expending as much energy as she was.

Finally, she stopped the barrage, sweating and beginning to feel dizzy. "I'm not going back there!" she shouted, somewhat irrationally, pointing behind her.

"No one's going anywhere, yet. You triggered a security lockdown."

Good. Good…that was….good.

Wasn't it?

"Can we talk now?" he raised his head cautiously, checking to see if she was going to start throwing biotic energy at her. "Sooner we get this sorted out, the sooner we can get you seen to: you're looking a little overdrawn."

"Mind your own damn business!" Something about his attitude, his words, grated against her, chafed against her mindset.

"I was, but then an apparently raging biotic showed up in an escape pod off a passing ship and I got tagged to help deal with it." No amusement, in face he sounded grimly irritated again.

Negotiators didn't get irritated. This was…weird. Uncertain? Irritable? They'd probably tapped him because he was a biotic and could withstand another biotic's barrage. It made her feel a little small to come up against someone she hadn't been able to pummel. Then again, she didn't have the element of surprise, either.

"You're no negotiator."

"No, I'm not. Just the poor sap who got tagged with it."

Jack climbed out of the pod, still braced for action. Slowly, the soldier stood up, his barrier dying down to the merest hint of color around him. "Why aren't they in here?" She jerked her chin at the observation windows.

The soldier didn't look back. "Bad idea for them to come in. Distressed biotics make people nervous."

Distressed? Who did he think she was? She jumped down off the pod, irritation and confusion jostling her in equal measure.

"And security guys don't like being nervous. Even the best make mistakes…and I think all concerned would like to avoid those."

"…what do you want?" she asked suspiciously. He was close enough that she could make out features. He had the classical look of a 'nice guy' and she immediately distrusted him. Even if he was a biotic. Even if he was being smart about this whole thing. The longer she stayed calm, the more she realized that she was in a more uncomfortable position than she was on Rogers' boat…

…no, that wasn't true. Wasn't it?

Her head hurt. She couldn't move forward, she couldn't move back…

"Hey, you crashed into us: why? Victoria didn't register any emergency alerts."

Under the steady brown gaze, Jack's aggression wavered. She swallowed hard, glancing away. He was too calm about all this. "She was going to ship me back: I'm not going anywhere near those brain butchers…" She suddenly realized she'd said more than she meant to. Her biotics flared. She did not like the look that came into his eyes at the words 'brain butchers.' It wasn't a calculating look: it was the look of someone who had a fairly accurate guess about what she really meant. "I don't have to talk about this to you! You can't understand so don't try! I want out of here, right now!"

The words had too much of the scared little girl, and she knew it. Her choices were limited: play their games or let them shoot her. Neither option was very palatable.

"Oh," he said quietly, "I think I can."