Summary: Rhys wasn't heartless, he saw the good in Jack… and the evil in Pandora. With a (hopefully) reformed AI Jack in his head, he entered the Vault of the Traveler with Fiona. They didn't expect for it to transport them to another galaxy however. Separated from Fiona, Rhys and Jack meet our favorite newly-resurrected SPECTRE. This should be fun.

A/N: So, given as all the ME characters will be using their actual abilities, I realized that Rhys needs to have his abilities defined. So my question is should I use ME2's ability tree or should we use the more extensive Borderlands 2 skill tree? While the Borderlands 2 trees allowed for more potentially gamebreaking skills and more fun (which allowed enemies to be made much tougher in turn, making better challenges), they also were meant for characters that would make it level 72 and were as a result much more extensive, especially as leveling them up only took 1 point for each skill. Meanwhile, ME2 only went to level 30 and even though it gave 50-odd points, you needed much more to level up skills.

So the question is do I have Rhys follow Borderlands rules as that's where he came from or do I use ME rules since that's where he is. Since Tales From The Borderlands doesn't have a skill tree I also don't have any idea for Rhys and how to make skills. Currently, his "action skill" of sorts would be Jack taking over. If we went with that I could technically have maybe three trees, a Jack (giving Jack greater control or upgrading his cyber parts) tree, Marksman tree (better with guns and using his ECHO eye) and a Playboy (one that focuses on using wealth and charm) tree.

Anyways, just my musing and I don't have a solid idea. I eagerly await everyone's suggestions!

(This chapter is brought to you by me replaying ME2 and my muse being reignited for the series)

Chapter 3: Of Course Its A Friend

Shepard pulled out his shotgun as his team got their weapons ready. There were three freelancers outside the building, two shielded, one unshielded. Gathering his biotic energy, he Charged the unshielded one, elbow bashing into the freelancer. He leveled his shotgun at the off-balanced merc and pumped his head with lead.

The report of Miranda's heavy pistol and Zaeed's rifle sounded off as they focused on one of the shielded freelancers, whittling down the man's shields. "Firing Concussive Shot!" Yelled Zaeed as the shields flickered and died. The man was knocked over, giving Miranda ample opportunity to blast his head off.

"They're with Archangel!" Screamed the last freelancer as Rhys ran at him, his own shields absorbing the enemy fire as the man vaulted over a barrier, shotgun in his prosthetic arm. The freelancer panicked as Rhys got on top of him, viciously kicking the man's relatively unprotected leg. The merc cried out in pain before his head was blown off by the shotgun.

Shepard took note of the body count; three down, at least six more to go. He ran up to the door, Rhys taking shelter besides the other side of the door as Zaeed and Miranda watched their backs. He looked over at Rhys, still a bit taken back by the vicious look and feral grin on the man's face. "You're a close range fighter right? Flank them and get in close, we'll keep their attention on this entrance."

"Sure thing cupcake- one minute and they'll be meeting with the business end of my boomstick," Rhys said. Shepard nodded, a bit confused by the 'cupcake' comment, and gazed into the room, using his assault rifle to set off one of the bombs lying around.

"Go, go, go!" Shepard rushed forward past a fallen merc killed by the bomb- 5 left. He Crouched behind the couch, Zaeed hiding behind a pillar and Miranda joining him. Miranda fired an Overload at one of the shielded enemies, allowing Shepard to Pull him. Zaeed and Miranda began gunning him down as Shepard began working on the next one. 4 left.

A scream tore from the right as one of the mercs' chests was blown apart by Rhys's shotgun. The man rushed the last freelancer in the room, who Shepard kept down with supressive fire. Another shot later and there should be only 2 mercs left.

Throaty laughter was heard as a krogan worked its way to them, cocking its shotgun menacingly. "Fire!" Shepard shouted, Rhys ducking as the other three began showering the krogan. Under the sustained fire the krogan was felled, only able to get a few potshots off.

"Hey asshole, try to avoid blowing my head off, you got me?" Rhys yelled at them as he began ascending the stairs. Shepard sheepishly yelled out a hasty apology- he was unused to having three other members in his squad, usually it was just two. That was how N7 Commandos were trained anyways. Damn, being dead had made him rustier than he had thought if something this simple was throwing him off.

Miranda walked with Shepard as they began to ascend the stairs as well, keeping an eye out for any possible enemies approaching from behind, "I don't know how to feel about Rhys, Shepard, but I'm concerned. The man is terrifyingly effective for someone with no disciplined fighting style, or knowledge of how to fight. He's like a human krogan when it comes to fighting, complete with the battle-lust."

Zaeed snorted, "That's how you stay alive when you're on your own- you do whatever it takes." The mercenary said and Shepard couldn't help but agree with him; he did understand what Miranda's concern was however. Rhys was almost too good for the seemingly naïve CEO he usually was.

He mentioned this and Zaeed grunted, "This is Omega, and the Terminus systems- everyone has their secrets Shepard. The sooner you learn that, the faster you'll survive." They walked up as Rhys shot the last merc in the head.

"Well that wasn't too bad was it?" He said cheerfully, before turning to the console and getting the door open, "Let's meet us an Angel eh?"

Rhys shuddered a little as he was thrust back into control of his body. There was something amazing to not be in control of his body and see it move and flow like clockwork- well, if the clock had no damn idea what it was going to move to next. The only thought in Jack's mind when he was in charge was what was the quickest and most sadistic way to dispose of the enemy.

Having lived on Pandora for a little while, he understood where that desire came from. The faster you took down your foes, the more likely you were to survive on Pandora. The meaner you did it, the more people feared you and thus the less people you actually had to fight. Meaning that there were less chances of you dying.

Still, suddenly finding himself back in charge on the backend of an adrenaline rush was always a shocker of sorts. Suddenly finding all the flight or flight hormones invading your system, giving you an unbridled rush of a man trying to survive.

Rhys roused himself as they entered the room, Shepard calling out to the sniper who was at the window. The man raised a hand to gesture for quiet and they all slowed to a stop, holstering their guns. After a second the sniper fired, and a loud squelch of a headshot could be faintly heard. The man had a direct hit.

Archangel picked up his rifle as Shepard began to move towards him, sitting on a crate as he removed his helmet. To Rhys's surprise it was a turian- though he supposed the legs should've been a dead giveaway. The sniper responded with a fond but pained smile, "Shepard. I thought you were dead."

Shepard on the other hand was ecstatic, Rhys noticed with a small smile himself. Shepard was a good man who seemed to have a lot on his plate, so he was happy the man was being reunited with what appeared to be an old friend. Though he was curious about the story that would leave Shepard presumed dead, "Garrus! What are you doing here?"

The now-identified Garrus chuckled, a low throaty noise, "Oh you know, just keeping my skills sharp, doing just a little," He cracked his neck, "target practice." Rhys was silently relieved to see the man had a sense of humor. It was always a good sign- unless it was as… over the top as, say, Jack's was.

I resent that Pumpkin, Jack chuckled in the back of his head. Rhys rolled his eyes as Shepard asked how Garrus was doing, Come on, this guy is just so sad! Well I mean, I can respect that dry humor, but you know, that just ain't me, right cupcake? I ain't one for subtlety unless its absolutely necessary. Like right now, Jack said offhandedly. Which Rhys had to disagree with as Jack seemed to know shit all about being subtle. Miranda was giving him a LOT of suspicious glances.

Not that he minded her being interested of course; while he had a thing for Fiona's sister, well, he hadn't made a move as he was still worried about staying alive. Fiona would've skinned him alive if he had said anything, given how bad their relations were at many points throughout their whole advaenture. Of course she likely would've given her blessing by the end of the whole thing, but still… Jack was still pretty shy and socially awkward.

Now that he was in a whole new galaxy… well it was unlikely he'd see Sasha again to say the least. So, regretfully, he was already forcing himself to bury his thoughts of her and move on as it seemed unlikely they'd find an easy way back as this galaxy had never heard of vaults. He was suddenly glad he hadn't made a move if he was going to vanish like this. New galaxy though, so the silver lining was new opportunities- he wouldn't be paying any prostitutes a visit of course, as he was a hopeless romantic and needed a steady relationship… much like Jack was now that he thought about it.

So when he looked at Miranda, he allowed his mind to wander a bit. She wasn't anything like Sasha, who had a down-to-earth beauty. Miranda was other-worldly despite looking human. Whatever that quality that captured his imagination was subtle enough that it eluded him. Maybe it was the way she moved- the only real experience he had with soldiers were Bandits (who were insane), Jack (who was equally insane), and Vault Hunters (Who were basically lawless mercs). Miranda moved in a way that was free-flowing, not stiff. Despite that, it was all exact. Every movement ended exactly where she meant it to. Something about her just felt…. Different.

He tore his mind back to the conversation to hear Garrus's response, "Been better, but it sure is good to see a friendly face. Killing mercs is hard work. Especially on my own." The turian said with a grimace. The alien was obviously tired from all the fighting.

Shepard nodded, "Why are you out here on Omega anyways?" The Turian looked up with a sigh.

"Got tired of all the red-tape back in C-Sec. Figured I could do more good faster out here. I mean," the turian said as the rest of the squad's attention began to wane, "I didn't really have to look for criminal's out here. All I have to do is point my gun and shoot."

The commander chuckled but noticed the fact that they were having a personal talk during the middle of a siege. He coughed, "Yeah, real fast, how the hell did you manage to piss off every mercenary band in Omega?" It was a question honestly everyone was wondering.

Garrus laughed a throaty, hollow laugh, "It was hard, I really had to work at it," he said, glancing over his shoulder, "I'm surprised they all teamed up to kill me," He said, a note of honest surprise twinging the statement, "They must really hate me."

That made Rhys chuckle a bit, causing Garrus's eyes to flicker over the rest of the squad, "Care to introduce me before we fight to the death together?" Shepard nodded and began gesturing to each of his teammates.

"Miranda, liason between me and Cerberus," Shepard started, waving a hand at Miranda, which caused some sort of look to pass between Garrus and him, "They're the reason I'm alive Garrus. I'm working with them, and from what I hear, they're one of the few groups willing to pick up where we left off."

Okay, Rhys was really curious as to what the hell was going on. Shepard was definitely ex-military so what operation was he referring to- one that would include Garrus at that? The turian- alien as it was -was not military at the very least. Garrus gave off more the air of private security, too laid back. No wait, no no, not private, public sector. The man had referenced red tape, something usually only used in reference to government related work and killing mercs. If he had been a mercenary himself, Rhys doubted Garrus would be so distant when he referred to the foes keeping them detained in here.

Seems like this whole question of what the hell Mr Sheppy here is up to keeps popping up, Jack mumbled and stretched out his mental hologram on one of the couches Garrus had in his hideout, Let me look into this while you deal with all this talking. I get the feeling we'll find out eventually, but I like to get my info from as many people as possible. Jacks said as he began browsing a holographic datapad, though really he had no need to. Jack still felt human and liked to make his projections reflect that, despite being a carefully programmed AI- then again, that was rather the point of making an AI replacement of yourself wasn't it?

Shepard was moving on with introductions, "This is Zaeed Massani, bounty hunter and hired hand. Again, Cerberus founds helped secure his contract. That is Rhys," Shepard's hand was now gesturing to him, so he waved at the alien cheerfully , causing Garrus to give him the Turian equivalent of a raised eyebrow but returned the gesture with a friendly nod, "Rich CEO that got stabbed in the back and left here. He offered to help us out if we could help him get off world."

"An eclectic team- then again, I suppose I shouldn't haven't expected anything different from you eh Sheppard?" Garrus said as he got up again, "I assume you know how hard it'll be to escape. That bridge has saved me by funneling all these witless idiots into my scope but it'll do the same to us if we try to escape before weakening them."

Miranda seemed a bit miffed with that comment, "So we just sit here and wait for them to take us out?" Garrus laughed as he began setting up his sniper perch again.

"It's not all bad. This spot has held them off so far and with the five of us, we should be able to hold them off for a long time. I suggest we hold here, wait for them to slip, and then take our chances." Rhys gripped his gun a bit harder at that. He really was not a fan of this plan but there really didn't seem to be a better option.

Shepard nodded, "We'll work together. They won't be able to get past us." He said, agreeing with Garrus's logic.

The turian nodded with his own smirk and looked back down his scope, "Let's see what they're up to."

Shepard pulled out his gun as he joined Garrus, the two looking down their scopes together. Rhys twiddled his thumbs a bit until Jack hopped back in for a moment, So yeah, I'm totally not freaking out, nuh-uh, no sir. Jack was rambling; that was not a good sign. Right so, apparently there's a race of AI out there that trying to take over the galactic couch a couple years ago. Shepard led the charge to force them back, killing their leader. But, here's the thing pumpkin, that whole alien AI thing? Yeah, that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Rhys intended to ask what exactly Jack was saying when a gunshot went off form Shepard's sniper rifle, the man standing up with a satisfied smirk, "Well that's one less then." Rhys and the others glanced over the balcony and saw the light mechs and men preparing.

"They're going to attack in a second," Shepard said as Garrus nodded in agreement, putting his helmet back on. He turned to the others, "Alright, here's the plan; Miranda and Rhys, head to the stairs. Stick at the top, it'll give you cover and easy shots at anyone who is able to make it past us." He said, Rhys nodding in understanding. Shepard continued, "Zaeed, we'll stay in here, helping Garrus take them out before they reach the building."

"They're moving Shepard!" Garrus warned, aiming down his scope. Shepard and Zaeed hurried over to the window as Rhys cracked his neck as Jack took back over, turning to Miranda.

"How's about we have ourselves a little fun, eh pumpkin?"

The fight had gone well. It was almost unnecessary to have Miranda and Rhys at the stairs together- the combined firepower of Garrus, Shepard and Zaeed kept almost any of the mechs from reaching them. Rhys was nursing his ego after Jack had to some extent made a fool of himself to her. Okay, not really, but Rhys saw the looks she gave him when he was "unprofessional" when Jack took over.

"Well that wasn't too bad," He muttered as he took a second to settle down and checked his ammo. Luckily his infinity pistol would in essence never run out of bullets, his shotgun was another matter. He had used maybe 10 shots at most so that left him with over 200 shots left. Plenty of ammo, but he would run out at some point, and depending on how long it was until he got back to his universe- if he could -he'd have to rely on the guns of this world. Rhys was fairly sure the little red cartridges his companions picked up were magazines.

Heat sinks pumpkin, keeps their guns from overheating. Jack said, Not inefficient, well, these portable and interchangeable ones aren't. We could get shotgun shells made, they'd have be custom though. He mused. Rhys hummed in acknowledgment.

He whispered under his breath, knowing Jack would pick it up, "I'm assuming you've been working on securing me an identity when we haven't been fighting. How has that been going?"

Jack chuckled, Don't worry your pretty little head, I'm going to have everything all set up for you Cupcake. As well as a fairly decent bank account. Let's focus on these guys for now. He gently reminded Rhys and the man nodded, standing up as Shepard began talking about the enemy mercs bringing out the heavy mech.

Garrus tensed up as Shepard smirked, ready to see the mech fight for him instead of against him for once. "Don't worry Garrus, Rhys got this one on our side."

"Directive one: Protect Shepard! Directive two: Obey Rhys at all costs. Directive three: DANCE!" Shepard's smirk dropped as the thing began talking- why the hell was it so chipper?!

Rhys could hear Jack groan in his head, Never did get that damn dance protocol out of its head. Rhys could hear Jack hit some buttons and the mech shuddered, "Re-Booting sequence complete. Hello! I am your new steward bot! Designation: 1D10T-TRP, Reprogrammed mech, Class F-U. Ha ha ha!" Rhys and Jack were barely holding back their laughter- well Rhys was, Jack was rolling around cackling.

"FALL BEFORE YOUR ROBOT OVERLORD!" Idiot-Trap screamed out with its speakers, firing at the surrounding mercs that had just been standing around looking at it, incredibly confused.

Rhys noticed Shepard giving him a shocked look and Rhys sheepishly grinned, "I had an idiot r-er, VI I worked with back in the day. Just gave this mech his personality," He said lightly, making sure to not to let onto the idea of AI. This mech wasn't but he didn't want any suspicion poking up.

"Well," Shepard said slowly, as explosions came from outside.

"Step right up, to the Bulletnator 9000!" could be heard screamed loudily over the chaos.

"He's certainly effective despite the personality change," The leader of their group admitted as Idiot-Trap ripped through the mercs as Garrus helped pick some of them off.

Eventually, with a final cry, the mech let out a cry as it exploded, the mercs cheering as they finished off the incredibly annoying mech- only to be pelted by a flurry of bullets as Zaeed, Shepard and Garrus all unleashing their weapons on the men below.

Garrus paused, "Is that Jaroth?" Concentrated fire from Zaeed and Shepard basted him apart in a second, "….Well that WAS Jaroth," Garrus laughed as they cleaned up the last of the enemies. Alarms began going off almost immediately. He checked his omni-tool cursing, "They're breaching the lower level doors. Well they had to use their brains eventually," He muttered as Shepard and Miranda exchanged a look.

"We'll get those doors. Zaeed, stay here with Garrus, it'll be no good if they use this distraction to get past us," Shepard ordered as he got his weapons ready. Rhys checked his stuff over , figuring he was going to be sent out to attack the doors and secure them.

Garrus smiled gratefully at Shepard, "Thank you Shepard."

Shepard grinned back at the turian, "Always gotta make sure friends make it out alive eh?" He laughed before turning to Rhys and Miranda, "Rhys, Miranda, take the first corridor and door. Secure it. I'm heading on to the second one, and work on that one. Whoever finishes first will assist the other team. Let's move people!" He barked out as they ran, alarms blaring behind them.

"So, another vault." He muttered, looking at the entrance with a frown. He looked back at Zer0 with a raised eyebrow, "And you didn't tell anyone?" The commando sighed, rubbing his face in irritation. Most of the others were gone too, for various reasons, so they were the only two left right now on standby. Just his luck.

"What this was to be, Unsure if help was needed," Zer0 said in his usual way, spouting off another damned haiku, "Called in backup now." He said, moving towards the Vault cautiously.

Axton sighed but followed, checking his guns, "Hmph, well, guess I gotta ask- the young ladies over there alright?" Referring to the wannabe-'Vault Hunters' that were celebrating their victory. If he knew anything about Vaults though, they'd have to wait to celebrate.

Zer0 was silent as he had already moved on ahead, entering the Vault. Axton followed, astounded by what he saw. The last two had been prisons of a sort, or so they thought at the moment, so they had assumed all of them were but this…. This was far different. Maybe the eridians had left more around then just giant alien monstrosities for them to deal with.

"Any idea what exactly this does Zer0?" He asked cautiously, keeping his gun raised as he swept his vision over the chamber they were in , checking to make sure it wasn't in fact a eridian prison and this one's occupant wasn't just smarter than the rest of them. As usual, he got very little response from the enigmatic vault hunter that stood next to him. His eyes settled on the glowing stone-altar thing at the top of the stairs.

There was no sign of the other tow that had entered before them. Zer0 was climbing up towards the top of the stairs to examine the stone and Axton followed behind hesitantly. He didn't trust eridian vaults after the last two they'd (not themselves personally but vault hunters in general) had tried to kill them in decidedly…. Over-the-top ways.

He and Zer0 stared at the altar thing and Zer0 spoke up "I believe that we, must activate the altar, to move forward here." Axton wasn't happy with doing that but he was in the same boat as Zero. It seemed like there wasn't anything else to interact with in th e entirety of the vault and the only way to find out its secrets and find their two missing amateur vault hunters was to press onwards and activate the suspicious looking altar.

"Well, here goes nothing."

A/N: OKAY! So sorry we're still in the first mission, just everytime I went back over a draft of the chapter I kept expanding it and I hit 4k words and realized it'd probably be easier to simply break it up and have the aftermath in the next chapter. Axton and Zer0 will join our heroes in the series! Now, Zer0 and Fiona for now will not have major parts in the series. Zer0 by nature and Fiona by nature of where she ended up. However, I have decided that Rhys wont be joining Shepard as a) he has too much self-preservation to be on a suicide mission and b) Fiona is still out there and he needs to find her. It doesn't make sense to agree to a suicide mission.

That said, Axton likely will join Shepard. I'm leaning towards Shepard x Axton; I'd considered Shepard x garrus but I always played the two as bros and frankly, I find there arent enough of those types of relationships in video games (that are actually good imo). But Yes, there IS slash because my shep is gay. However, Rhys and Jack, though they certainly give off gay undertones, likely wont end up together and instead get together with some ME characters simply because that even if they do like each other, there's too much bad blood between the two. Trust me, you can have enough shit with a person for them to be unattractive romantically even if you become friends again (speaking with experience concerning one of my exes).

Anyways, hope you enjoyed and please review!