"Commander Alenko, I'm appointing you this woman's liaison for the time being. Find her a safe niche, there should be staffroom or something close by. If she needs anything, you can delegate to my man Javier over there," he pointed to one of the assembly in the hallway.
Alenko hoped Sheffler wasn't so distracted that he didn't tell 'Javier' he was now a gofer. There were too many faces to pick out one among them.
The girl was on the defensive again as Sheffler strode out, but she was starting to come apart, Alenko noticed when he turned back to her, his expression mildly apologetic. It showed in her expression. Somehow, he'd reached her, on some level she was listening to his words, giving them due consideration.
"What's your name?" It was the best, most normal, question he could come up with.
For a moment he thought she was going to open another barrage on him, jump off the deep end, attack like any cornered creature. She did not, however, nor did she answer until the doors hissed closed and Sheffler—who clearly puzzled her—was out of sight. "…Jack."
It must, he decided, be short of 'Jacqueline'. "I'm Kaidan. And I really do want to help you."
"And what's the pricetag on—"
"With everything going on right now? Strictly speaking, I don't think anyone needs you to do much of anything."
"I thought I killed him," Jack said slowly.
Alenko wasn't sure who she meant, unless it was the d'Angelo Browne from the comm system. Someone had finally killed the message, but he hadn't noticed when, exactly. "Apparently not." The words jumped out too fast, but didn't seem to work counter to him.
"Bastard played me!" The words came out in a rage, then it was gone again. "…tried to save me…"
"Then let me do what he could only try to do: there's a safe place for biotics, and if anyone got one whiff of Cerberus there, the whole galaxy would come down on them." Alenko said slowly.
"You're lying."
"Grissom Academy: people don't like it when kids get messed with, and that station is full of little geniuses and biotics. Our kind of people." It was probably where they would send her…though she'd probably be sequestered somewhere safe and quiet. He'd make it his official recommendation—if she was dangerous, her current mindset was not doing anyone any favors. Too much was happening too quickly; it was all over her face.
"I am nothing like you!" Jack snarled, getting worked up again.
"You sure?" He acted on instinct, as though feeling his way by touch through a dark room. He dropped his barrier, then walked calmly over to her. "You're a take-action kind of girl, and I've had my barrier down for more than ten seconds. Take-action girls don't give a guy ten seconds to get near them if they really mean to turn him into a pretzel."
"You calling my bluff?"
"Yes. Are you going to call mine?" He stopped, dry mouthed, but so certain, so painfully certain he had the right idea.
"If you screw me…" She pointed, warningly, at him.
"All I'm going to do is walk you to the nearest staff room, like Sheffler said. And I'll stay with you if anyone wants to talk to you. You don't have to do anything you don't want to. Well, for the time being."
Jack curled her lip. "You talk like a boy scout."
Alenko laughed, unexpectedly, then, when Jack's sneer deepened, "One of those 'take-action' girls used to call me that. Never did know if it was an insult or not." He was fairly sure that Jack meant it as an insult while Shepard meant it as a compliment.
Most of the time.
"Tch. Just start walking," Jack snarled, "it's cold in here." She hopped down from her perch, approached him cautiously.
Alenko did not say a word, but only then realized that her brilliant shirt was not actually a shirt. She was wearing ink and—he realized—only her heavy-duty cargo pants. She must have left the ship in a real hurry.
"So who was she? This tough bitch friend of yours?" Jack demanded unexpectedly, as Alenko gave an order to clear the hall before trying to walk Jack through it. He didn't like to think of her being in that press of people…it was just a bad idea.
Alenko immediately decided not to use Shepard's surname; it would sound melodramatic, like name dropping…as if this girl would care. "Her name's…Jalissa." The name felt weird on his tongue, as it always did. Then, on inspiration, "I'm, uh, kind of in the dog house with her right now, so if you have any advice…?" He didn't want it, didn't need it, but she seemed happier when there was chatter around her.
Jack eyed him closely, clearly unsure of this was a joke, or some attempt to…she didn't know, but suspicion was all over her face. It was odd how expressive her face was, for someone who seemed so mistrustful. Finally she twitched her shoulders, crossed her arms, though more out of attitude than a desire to cover up. "Tch. With an ass like that? You'll be out in a week. Less if you weren't such a boy scout."
He didn't quite know what to say to this. It was not an answer he expected. "Thanks."
Jack shrugged as if to say 'if you don't want an answer, don't ask'. But something at the corner of her mouth tugged, as though she was proud of the reaction she got. Amused by it, even, which caused the other corner of her mouth to rise a fraction of an inch.
Well, let her have her amusement at his expense, Alenko thought philosophically. If anyone needed a scrap of amusement, this girl certainly did.
And she was right: don't ask questions one doesn't really want answered. Especially if the question has the potential for being a joke.