Disclaimer: I do not own the Elder Scrolls or Mass Effect.

Crimson Dragon II

"Talking"

"Thinking"

"You're fucking with me."

Jane smirked. "Trust me, Jack. I'm not." The others around the table, at least those who knew their lore, didn't believe her either. But she wasn't budging.

"You have got to be fucking with me."

"I'm not," she said again.

"You're seriously telling me, telling all of us, that the great Dragonborn, the Nord who killed Alduin, liked milk?"

She nodded. "Yep. He might enjoy some mead or ale from time to time, but his first choice was always milk."

"Milk," Grunt snorted. "Why would he drink something pathetic like that?" The young krogan hadn't said much during the dinner.

"Milk is good for you, Grunt," Jane told him. "Helps you get stronger bones."

"I'm krogan. My bones are the strongest there is."

"Quite true," Mordin agreed. "But not relevant to current discussion." He looked across the table at Jane. "Most curious about learning from living legend, Shepard. What was it like?"

Her smile was full of memories as she leaned back. "Not what you might think, Mordin. Master Bjorn was not a Nord's Nord; despite what the songs and tales would have you believe. He's frequently told me that he only got involved in the business with Alduin because he was visiting from the Imperial City and got caught in an ambush. According to him, his journey was more like him stumbling from one problem to the next, with the occasional crisis and dragon thrown in. More often than not, he just wanted to sleep in a bed."

Everyone on her team took a moment to understand what she had just said. Thane broke the silence first. "So, very much human then," he said.

She smirked. "His first battle cry was 'I was a drama student, damn it!'"

Tali and Garrus sniggered. They had heard that one before, along with several other stories about the man. "And what about his friends?" Garrus asked. "Your uncle-figures. Were they just as legendary as the Dragonborn?"

He was egging her on. She knew he was egging her on. But she answered all the same. "You mean Sheogorath and the Nerevarine? I wouldn't know. They seemed like men to me. If they came over, it was for the card game."

Miranda Lawson prided herself on being unflappable. Still, the concept that three legendary figures from Nirn would come together, just to play cards, was a little hard to grasp. "Surely they did something else," she said. "Discuss the state of the world or its problems?"

"The only time they talked about the world was to bitch about the taxes." Jane damn near laughed at Miranda's expression. "Yes, they still paid taxes. Or in Sheogorath's position, issued the taxes. They wasted a lot of time complaining about that."

The salarian amongst them nodded. "Makes sense. Living legend does not automatically dismiss them from taxes. Quite hypocritical if it was."

Jane nodded in agreement. She eyed Jack. "Would've thought you'd know about this, Jack. I know Master Bjorn griped about taxes plenty of times. You telling me Sheogorath didn't do the same?"

"How the fuck would I know?" she demanded.

"You are his daughter." That had been a shock to everyone onboard the Normandy. It had only been two weeks since Haskill suddenly appeared, looking for Sheogorath's daughter. Jane still didn't know what was more shocking, the fact that Sheogorath had a daughter or the second that Jack saw Haskill, she bolted back down to her space and did her best to barricade herself in (which didn't work).

"Adopted daughter," she retorted, stressing the first word. "And besides, it wasn't like I had any choice in the matter. He just decided to adopt me and took me to the Shivering Isles." Not that she didn't enjoy her time on the Isles. Truth be told, it was some of the best years of her life. But she snuck out so she could travel the galaxy and hadn't gone back since. Hence why she tried to hide when Haskill appeared. She had been half-afraid he was going to drag her back to the Isles. Instead, he just reminded her that her father's birthday would be soon, and he would like his daughter to be there.

Miranda shared a look with Juncan. Much like her, the Redguard still had a hard time believing Jack was the adopted daughter of the Deadric Prince of Madness. But Haskill's appearance, and the fact that Jack was actually respectful and polite to the man, made it all the more real. It also intrigued the Imperial woman. "So, have much did you see of Sheogorath, Commander?" she asked Jane.

"Not that much, actually," she admitted. "Sheogorath is his official position, and he often came over unofficially. So it was more like Luther, the Hero of Kvatch, came by." Jack nodded in agreement. "There was one time Sheogorath came, on my 16th birthday." Her face slipped into abject horror as she remembered that day. "The way he had it figured, I was the perfect age to finally have the Talk."

Grunt didn't know what that meant. The other humans winced and even the quarian looked uncomfortable. "What talk?" he asked.

No one didn't want to explain it to the krogan. He might've looked like an adult, but he was still young. Samara was the one who spoke. "I believe she means the talk about what happens between a man and a woman, Grunt."

"Okay." He still didn't know what the fuss was about.

Jane still looked miserable and horrified. It was a look Garrus hadn't really seen on her before. "I know the Talk can be horrible," he said. "But how much worse could it be?"

Her look announced he shouldn't have said that. "He had a presentation, with a slideshow, a couple of people to showcase the different moves and positions, and a Q&A portion at the end," she said in a near-dead voice. To this day, the Q&A was still the most horrible part.

"…Oh."

"Yeah. Master Bjorn returned just as Sheogorath figured I should learn the positions myself." Jack shared her wince.

"Wait, returned?" Tali repeated. "You mean this all happened when he wasn't there?"

Jane nodded. "Sheogorath didn't get his approval for the matter, so he threw the Prince off the mountain."

"Hmm, long walk down," Mordin remarked.

"No, Mordin. He literally threw Sheogorath off the mountain."

It took everyone a moment to fully understand what she was saying. Then the math started settling in. High Hrothgar rested near the top of the Throat of the World, which was the largest mountain on Nirn. If Jane's master had actually thrown someone off the mountain, they would've been dead long before they hit the ground.

That is, if it was a normal person.

Once again, they were reminded that Jane Shepard had grown up amongst legends.

"I take it that was the last time Sheogorath showed up?" Garrus asked.

"Yeah, but Luther came by the next day and apologized for what happened." That made it slightly better, but only slightly. "I prefer to remember the day as how much Master Bjorn cared for me."

"You were his student," Samara remarked. "It would be clear that he cared for you."

"Still does. But knowing it and seeing or even hearing about it is something else entirely."

Those words hinted at another story, one that got everyone's attention. "What was that something else?" Thane asked.

For a moment, she hesitated. Then, it came out. "I only know the first part because I was there. Anderson told me the second half." It was a quick explanation so she could get on with the story. "It was just after the Skyllian Blitz…"

Jane was sluggish as she awoke. Her eyes felt heavy, as if even opening them would be an accomplishment. Moving a limb was an impossibility. Her throat could've passed as a desert, it felt that dry. When she finally opened her eyes, the light was blinding. It took a couple more tries before she could see properly.

She was in a hospital room. The nurse came in, saw she was awake, and shot back outside. After that, it was a whirl of people standing beside her, checking things, making sure she was still conscious. Of course, she was conscious. Them yammering away in her ear did nothing to help her fall back asleep. At that point, she was just glad she was able to get some water. Never had the liquid tasted so grand.

By the time she was able to speak properly, Colonel Olur visited her. "Good to see you're still alive, Lieutenant," the orc told her. Even though he wore an Alliance uniform, it did nothing to show he had an orc's height and strength. It also did nothing to hide how tired he looked. Made sense, since he was head of Elysium's forces and had led the defense against the attack.

"Glad to be alive, Colonel," she told him.

He looked at her with odd eyes, as if he couldn't believe she was there. "Can you remember what happened?"

She nodded. "I do." What she had done was seared into her memory. The ground attack had been halted but the fleet in orbit could still bomb Elysium into nothing. More than that, they could still deploy fresh troops. Unless something was done, holding Elysium would mean nothing.

So, Jane did something.

She ordered the fleet to force the pirate ships to a single spot over the planet. And once they were in place, once she saw them all overhead, she reached down deep inside herself and uttered the only Thu'um she knew by heart.

By all accounts, it shouldn't have worked. Her Thu'um shouldn't have been able to reach the ships, much less penetrate the atmosphere. But if she had thought about that, considered the impossibilities, she knew it wouldn't have worked.

So she believed it did and therefore it had. The ships went dead, their eezo shut down. Those too close started to fall through the atmosphere, straight for the ground. Some tried to restart but she kept shouting, saying those Words, and that name, again and again, all to keep them in place.

Something else happened as she kept shouting. A sense of glee crept through her bones, a savage feeling that relished the destruction she was causing. It was odd but also satisfying. It might've been more, if she had paid attention. But she kept shouting the Thu'um, forcing the pirates to hang lifeless in space. It was the last thing she remembered.

Colonel Olur was silent as she recounted. But he wasn't stoic. His jaw was agape and the eyes, they kept staring. "Dovahkiin," he whispered when she was done.

Jane winced a little. "Yes." She hadn't told anyone that part when she joined the military. Now that she had revealed what she was, there was no way it was going to be kept under wraps. She knew it and Olur knew it. "How many people already know?"

"Pretty much the entire colony."

"And how long has it been?"

"Five days." For a moment, he paused. "Shepard, as soon as we figured out who you were, we made a call, back to Nirn."

She froze. "To…?" She couldn't even finish the question.

He did it for her. "To High Hrothgar."

Which meant they knew where she was. And someone would come. Or rather, he would come. Life flared back into her limbs as she tried to get out of the bed. "Colonel, I'm not here, okay?" she told him. "If anyone comes looking, I've been sent somewhere else. Tell them they missed me by a day or something. I just need the time to—"

The door opened just as her feet touched the ground and Master Bjorn walked in. Jane immediately froze at the sight of him. Master Bjorn might've had a Nord's height and blonde hair, but he didn't have the muscles or the beard. His was a slim body, agile and able to move quick. His hair was cut to a respectable length, never longer than his jawline, and lacked any sort of braiding. His clothes were dark and simple. He could've passed as someone who worked in a theatre's construction crew or simply an art lover.

But none of that meant anything to the set expression his mouth was in or how his storm-blue eyes were focused solely on her. "H-Hey, Master Bjorn!" she said, trying to be cheerful. It didn't work. He kept staring and she felt like an idiot for trying. "Look, I—"

"Milk." The word came out in a smooth baritone, yet she froze in place. The eyes never left her. "You said you were going into town in order to get milk."

"Well, that was the original idea," she admitted, fighting the urge not to look at her feet. "But…something else came up."

"And would that something be a handsome man in a uniform?"

"…Poster." Really, the whole thing had just happened. They had argued and she left in an irritated huff. When she reached the town, she saw a recruitment poster for the Alliance Military, right outside the office. The argument was still fresh in her mind. Sure, she had followed Master Bjorn around Skyrim, but she knew there was more to the world than traversing mountains and crawling through half-forgotten dungeons. She wanted to see more, yet Master Bjorn refused to let her out of her sight.

So, seeing that poster seemed a gift from the Divines. She went in, talked to the recruitment officer, and was on the bus to boot camp by the end of the day. The rest was history.

Master Bjorn came closer until he stood before her. His hand reached out and touched her chin, bringing her eyes to meet his eyes. "You used that Shout." It wasn't a question, only a statement.

"I did," she admitted. "But I didn't have a choice."

"She's right about that," Colonel Olur said, getting Master Bjorn's attention. "If it wasn't for her actions, we might not be here, my lord. Everyone on Elysium knows how she roared up at the heavens to hold the pirates in place. Some are already calling her the Crimson Dragon."

That was news to her. "What?"

Amusement crept across her master's face. "Really? You have your own title now, Jane. The others are going to love this." Her eyes snapped to him, but he was already looking at Olur. "Colonel, can I assume that Jane will be put on medical leave to recover from her injuries?"

"She was already on leave, but yes, I believe the higher-ups will want that." They wouldn't want their newest hero to die so quickly after the attack. The orc in him found it distasteful but it also made sense.

"Then make sure they have her sent back to Nirn. She'll recuperate at High Hrothgar." He glanced at his student. "Do you have any objections to that, Jane?"

"No." It was the only answer she could give.

"Good. I'll return there in due time. There is business that must be taken care of." He turned and started for the door.

"Uh, Master?" He paused and glanced back at her. Suddenly she felt like a little girl again. "How much trouble am I in?" she asked.

"That depends."

"On what?"

"Whether or not you bring the milk!" And with that dramatic declaration, he left. Jane couldn't help the smile crossing her face. That was just like her master.

Alliance Command had gathered on Septim's Rest, the space station that hung in orbit around Nirn. The Skyllian Blitz was fresh in their minds, and they wanted answers. They already had some and were figuring out what to do next.

Everything came to a halt when the doors opened and the Dragonborn walked in. No one said a word as Bjorn approached the table, looking at everyone. He needed no introduction. They just knew who he was.

Anderson stood the closest to the living legend. "Hello, my lord," he greeted the man. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see what is happening." The answer might've been polite, but it was also curt. Those eyes looked at everyone. "I assume this meeting is about the Blitz." He got nods as answers. "Do we know who is responsible for it?"

"Some of our investigations have led us to believe the pirate armada had been financed by private backers," Admiral Athis answered. Those eyes turned to him, and he felt his back straighten. "And that these backers are possibly batarians."

"It's not just a possibility," Rear-Admiral Ionfir said. The Redguard looked at everyone. "Evidence shows that it is definitely batarian backers. Which only means one thing: the Hegemony is involved."

The admirals shared looks with one another. The Batarian Hegemony had been an aggravating source of conflict for the Alliance. It made sense that they would be involved in the attack. But there was still a problem with the accusation. "Ionfir, there's no solid proof the Hegemony was involved," Admiral Bolwing said. "We would need that evidence before we could take it to the Council."

Admiral Hackett nodded in agreement. "All we have right now are the pirates that we've taken captive. We're still questioning them, and they might give information. But it will take time."

"Which is why we need to press on them, sir," Ionfir said. "If we take too long, all evidence of the Hegemony's involvement will be wiped, and we'll have nothing." There were plenty of people around in the meeting who agreed with him.

Others focused on the problem they had at the moment. "Right now, we need to focus on retaliatory strikes against the pirates," Rear-Admiral Scelian said. "We will have to—"

"You will do nothing."

The entire meeting froze at those words.

All eyes turned to the Dragonborn. "My lord, you're not serious," Admiral Hackett said.

"I am," he said, utterly resolute. "You will do nothing."

"We've already given a black eye," Admiral Athis protested. "We can't stop before we fight back."

It was a plea, but he ignored it. "You will do nothing."

Indignant fury poured through Ionfir. "We can't just stand here!" he protested, slamming his fist on the table. "We have the bastards! All we have to push! You can't just…" He trailed off as those storm-blue eyes found him. He couldn't explain it but the man standing there seemed more than he was, more than Ionfir's fury.

"You. Will do. Nothing," Bjorn said once more, ensuring they heard his words. Any and all protests died in their throats. "We will handle the matter."

They didn't know what he meant. Anderson looked at the man again. "What do you mean, my lord?" For the first time, he realized that a sword and an axe were belted to the man's waist.

Bjorn's eyes found him, and he realized how much fury was being restrained in them. "Twice, these batarians and their slaves have laid hands on my student. The first was forgiven because it revealed her and brought her to us. We do not forgive the second. There will not be a third."

A dreadful promise filled those words. They all heard it and saw the anger the legend was holding back. Admiral Hackett was the one who dared to ask the question they all had. "Does this mean you are going to war, my lord?"

"War implies both sides know what's coming and have a chance to respond. No, Hackett. We're going to show them why the Sons of Akatosh are respected, honored, and feared."

With he turned around and marched out of the room. The doors opened, where a tall man in a cloak was waiting. Anderson had seen that man before and understood.

The Dragonborn wasn't using the royal plural for a sense of dramatics.

He was being literal.

"I don't need to talk about what happened next, do I?" Jane asked her team.

No. No, she did not.

What happened next was seared into the galactic memory. After wiping out all the pirates and slavers even remotely involved with the Blitz, dragons suddenly appeared on every known Hegemony world and razed their cities to the ground. Khar'shan, the supposed crown jewel of the Hegemony, had been saved for last. By the time anyone could reach it, every city on its surface had wiped out, to the bedrock. Not only that, every single of evidence regarding the batarians caste system was destroyed, including their leaders.

It would be years before the batarians had a functional government, much less an economy, that allowed them to space-travel again. But once they did, it was a government that was strongly anti-slavery and willing to be a part of galactic society. No one had known who or what caused the destruction, although many had believed it was the Alliance. They had denied such accusations, pointing out that their fleets had never traveled to Hegemony space during that time.

Now Miranda knew why. It would also explain what else she had heard. Supposedly, after Khar'shan burned, the Citadel Council received an anonymous message simply stating, "You're welcome." Now she could guess who sent the note. But there was something else that had her puzzled.

As it turned out, she wasn't the only one. "Those attack all but crippled pirates across the galaxy, especially in the Terminus System," Samara remarked. "One would think that such business would involve the Pirate Queen. Yet she didn't make a move." She looked to Jane, expecting an answer. So did everyone.

Good thing she had the answer. "Luther went to Omega and gave Aria a message. It would be in her best interest if she didn't get involved, otherwise the Dark Brotherhood might be inclined to come after her. So she didn't do a thing."

"And that worked?" Grunt asked, completely baffled.

"It would," Thane said. "It's a known fact that Aria T'Loak is nervous when it comes to the Dark Brotherhood. From what I've heard, they managed to find where she lived, snuck through her security, found her bedroom, and left a note telling her they would be operating on Omega, all without being seen or killing her guards." He was always impressed the Dark Brotherhood had been able to pull that off. Aria was notorious in regard to her privacy.

Jack was still focused on the story itself, and the end result. "They really did that for you?" she asked Jane. "All the dragons fucked up the batarians, because you got hurt?" If she sounded a little jealous, that was her business.

"They did. I'm their mal briinah." She didn't realize she had slipped into Dovahzul until the others looked at her funny. "Little sister," she translated. "I might be exasperating and can certainly irritate them if I put my mind to it, but I treated them like family and I grew on them." It certainly helped the first time one of them tried talking down to her, her response had pretty much been "Yeah, well fuck you too!" Bjorn and Paarthurnax always got a laugh out of that story.

"So, any other questions?" she asked.

"Just one, for the moment," Garrus said. "How did you get the name of Shepard?" From what he understood about Nirnian culture, he would've thought his commander would have a more impressive (or grandiose) last name.

Jane did a rare thing before everyone: she blushed. "I had a crush on someone when I was fifteen and Rilos, the Nerevarine, found out about it," she said, looking down at the table. "That's all I'm going to say about it."

Of course, they were interested. "You don't mean…?"

She got his implications quick and turned horrified. "No! It wasn't him, Garrus. The man is practically my uncle!" They laughed at her reaction. She blushed again, even harder. "Different topic, please!"

In the days that came, Jane Shepard would remember that night, and other such nights, fondly. Even if her team did their best to find out embarrassing stories about her past.

End

Author's note: Thank you for all the reviews you've sent me.

Jack being Sheogorath's adopted just popped into my head when I was thinking about this story. It just made a sort of sense. The psychotic biotic being raised by the Deadric Prince of Madness? Sounds right to me. And he would be one of the few people that Jack is properly scared of. The only thing that would've terrified her more than Haskill showing up would've been Sheogorath. That would've landed somewhere between "Dad, stop being embarrassing!" and "Oh shit, he's gonna kill them all!"

I do think it would help the legends if they treated their titles as separate identities. After all, no one would expect the Dragonborn to like milk or be a lover of the arts. But Bjorn? He could do that. And it would certainly help Luther take a break. I'd be willing to bet running a proverbial madhouse where you're the head madman can get exhausting.

This whole chapter pretty much sprang up from Bjorn's "Sons of Akatosh" line. After all, what's scarier than a single dragon coming after you because he's hungry or wants a challenge? All of the dragons because they're pissed. As for how they got from planet to planet without ships? All I'm gonna say is that they've got their own magic.

I'll see you all next chapter!