16 year old Jane was eating dinner with her parents. They were all talking about their day when they heard gunshots and screaming.

"What is that, dad?" Jane asked as her father looked out the window. He didn't say a word and ran to a cabinet, taking out the pistol he kept for protection.

"Dad, what's-" She started but he just grabbed her arm and ushered her to the kitchen pantry.

"Get in and take this." He told her, handing over his pistol. "Don't come out until I tell you it's safe."

"But dad-"

"Just do as I say. Please Janey." He interrupted her.

"Okay." She replied. She was scared and confused.

"We love you." Her mother said kissing her forehead then shutting the door.

"I love you, too." She whispered softly, not sure if they heard.

All of the sudden, the front door banged open. Through the crack, she could see a batarian holding a rifle towards her parents who both stood there with their hands up.

"Please. We don't have much but take whatever you want." She heard her father pleading. The batarian didn't say anything. He just shot him. Jane covered her mouth and shut her eyes. She heard her mother scream then another shot then silence as the batarian left. Jane sat there with her eyes closed, hugging the pistol for what seemed like forever. She finally got the courage to get up. She slowly opened the door and looked around. There she saw her parents laying on the ground, motionless. She ran over to them and kneeled. Tears flowed down her cheeks, then she heard noises from outside. She stood up and grabbed a photo she and her parents took a few days before. She wasn't sure why but she knew she couldn't leave it behind. She then ran out the door.

Next, she was much older and in her alliance uniform. She was riding in a vehicle on Akuze. Her squad was responding to a distress beacon. She was bullshitting with her comrade, Toombs. He was telling her how he couldn't wait for shore leave. He said he was going to visit his family and asked what her plans were.

"Some combat training." She replied.

"Seriously? That's all you ever do, Shepard." He laughed. "You know what? Come with me to visit my family."

"I couldn't do that." She shook her head.

"No. You're my friend and I'm inviting you, so you better come." He said.

"Fine. I'll think about-" She started but then they heard a deafening roar and before Jane knew what was happening, she was laying on the ground next to the vehicle which was burning. She looked up and saw a thresher maw attacking. Looking around, she saw most of her squad dead. Some from the crash, others from venom. She could hear Toombs screaming.

Jane suddenly jolted awake. She was all of sudden in her bed on the Normandy again. Damn dreams, she thought. She noticed her data pad was blinking. She picked it up to see a secured message from the admiral she met on the citadel. It said he found out a group called Cerberus had set up his squad and he was going after them but they were after him as well. It contained the coordinates for a scientific base of theirs. Another message was from Admiral Hackett saying the admiral she had been in contact with had gone missing. Dammit, she thought. She jumped out of bed and found herself going straight to the cargo bay.

When she got there, she saw that Garrus was up. Still, she asked if she woke him and he said she didn't. He then asked if something was wrong. She stumbled over her words a bit then admitted that she needed help from him. She asked if he remembered when she told him about what happened on Akuze and when they found that other squad killed by a thresher. He said he did. She then told him about the message from the admiral and that he was missing. He then inquired about the fact that Toombs had said the same group was responsible for what happened to their squad. She admitted to him that she didn't think it was a coincidence. He then asked her how she was feeling about finding out about Toombs being alive. She then instinctively clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white. She said she felt angry and guilty.

"I just can't believe those bastards could do that to people. And for what? Science and experiments? It's disgusting. I should've helped Toombs. I shouldn't have assumed he was dead." She told him. She could hear the anger in her own voice.

"Hey, you couldn't have known. And from what I hear you were lucky to make it out yourself." He told her. It sounded like he was trying to be reassuring.

"I know you're right." She said after a moment of silence. She did barely make it out alive and she had the scars, physically and emotionally, to prove it. "I just can't stand leaving anyone behind." The dreams she had just minutes before were still vivid in her mind. "Like I said, he gave me the navpoint. Do you think we could go there? I have a bad feeling about all of this."

"Of course. Why don't you go get dressed and I'll wake up Wrex and we can go immediately." He told her with no hesitation.

That's when she looked down and realized she had come straight down there without even changing out of her pajamas. She felt her face flush with embarrassment and hoped he didn't notice. She thanked him and went to go get dressed.

They had arrived to the planet. Jane immediately drove to the navpoint the facility was located at. She saw the turret guns on the building and her bad feelings got worse. She took them out and jumped out of the mako and ran for the building. Inside they came across some rachni. She didn't even think twice about why they were there, just shot them down. She wasn't going to let anything get in her way. She reached the last room and took out the Cerberus agents there. She looked around and saw the admiral wasn't there. She picked up a data pad that showed there were two more facilities in the area. Her anger was building up even more. She ran back out towards the mako without even saying a word to the others.

She was driving to the next facility when Wrex spoke up inquiring about what was going on and was about to make a pyjack joke when she told him to shut it. He started saying something again then she yelled at him to shut up. She knew he didn't know exactly what was going on and that she'd probably have to apologize later but at the moment, she was angry and worried about the admiral. He was quiet the rest of the drive. They reached the second facility and again she quickly took out the turrets and guards then quickly ran inside. They ran into thorian thralls this time around. She quickly shot them down but one managed to spit acid on her arm.

"Ugh. Dammit!" She gasped while holding her arm. It stings but nothing like thresher acid, she thought. She became even more enraged with that thought and continued on. She heard Garrus say something about medigel but she ignored him and pressed on. Again, she reached the last room and took out the remaining Cerberus agents. She looked around frantically but the admiral wasn't there either. She yelled out her frustration and raced back to the mako. Garrus had again tried to tell her something but she just kept running.

On the way to the third facility, Garrus told her that they needed to tend to her wound but she told him there was no time before he could even finish speaking. She knew he was trying to help her but all she could think about was finding the admiral. She wasn't about to let Cerberus kill another alliance officer. She pulled a full stop in front of the facility. She jumped out and took out the guards. Her arm hurt like hell but she gritted her teeth through the pain until the guards were all down. She then ran inside as fast as she could. Inside were even more guards, she wasn't sure if she could even lift her gun through the pain but she somehow managed and Garrus and Wrex took out any she missed. She saw the admiral's body inside a force field with rachni surrounding it. She quickly shot the console and took out the rachni. She then dropped her gun and ran to the admiral's body. She quickly kneeled and took out her omnitool, searching desperately for life signs.

"No! Dammit. Come on, admiral. I took out those bastards. Maybe some medigel will-" She said, her voice shaking. Then Garrus walked up and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Jane. He's gone." He told her. She could hear the sympathy and worry in his voice but she couldn't bring herself to respond. He then told her that he needed to tend to her wound. She told him she was fine even though the pain was getting worse. He calmly said she wasn't then his voice got firmer and he told her she was going to get herself killed. She could hear the worry in his voice. She finally spoke up and quietly said she got the navpoint for the main facility. She could barely talk without her voice trembling. He told her they'd go but she had to let them help her. Wrex spoke up saying they were her friends. She was glad to hear that but she was still too angry to say anything other than to agree and go. She took one last look at the admiral and noticed it was full of needle marks and no claw or bite wounds.

"Those bastards are going to pay." She said to herself before leaving with the boys.

They arrived on the planet where the navpoint led. She drove in silence and the others were quiet too. They reached the facility and Jane made sure they didn't leave until every last guard was gone. She was still angry but she made sure to stay focused, as she didn't want to worry Garrus anymore.

Back on the Normandy, she briefed admiral Hackett on what went down. He thanked her for taking care of it and told her to take care of herself. She agreed and ended the call. She then made her way down to the cargo bay. She really needed to talk to Garrus after what happened.

"I- I wanted to thank you for your help. And the medigel." She told him. "I might not have made it out of there if it wasn't for you."

"It's no problem. I'm sure you would've done the same for me." He replied.

"Yeah. When I stopped Toombs from shooting that scientist.. well, finding out how and why my squad really died. I just felt rage. I wanted to shoot that scientist myself. I probably would have but I saw how traumatized Toombs was and I knew he needed to get real help. So I stuck with my morals and let the scientist testify against Cerberus. I really hope that was all that was left of them but somehow I doubt it." She told him.

"Hey, if we run into anymore of those bastards, we'll take them down." He said, smiling. "How's your arm?"

"Better, thanks." She said and then hugged him. She wasn't sure if it was the way he smiled or what he did for her but she couldn't hold herself back. She just clung to him and held back tears. After a moment, she felt him hug her back and the embrace made her smile. She felt safe like that. She didn't want to let go but she came to her senses and pulled away.

"Well, I- I better get some sleep before the next location. I'll see you soon." She smiled.

"Yeah, uh. Sleep good, Jane." He replied. She thought he looked a little confused.

She made her way to the elevator and took one last glance at Garrus before pressing the button. What am I thinking? That was inappropriate but I liked it, she thought. She made her way back to her room and grabbed the photo of her family that was sitting next to the gun her father had given her.

"I miss you guys." She said quietly to herself while hugging the picture and fell asleep. This time she dreamt of the good times they had together.