"So," Jack said as he sat down across from Garrus and Mordin in the mess hall, "How's the gossip?"
Garrus hadn't seen Jack without that gas mask properly before, and he was surprised by how young he looked.
"How old are you?" he asked.
"23," Jack said. "Going on 24."
"Human lies often. Believe age to actually be 15." Mordin said. "In terms of maturity."
"I'm 17, at least," Jack said. "Although did get that concussion when I was 16, so..."
Garrus had watched that cold Cerberus lady fling a chair at a Krogan mercenary that had come into the back of the apartment he'd holed up in, and then, when the merc was distracted, Jack emptied his double-barreled shotgun into the Krogan's face. The slugs broke the merc's shields, and stumbled him back; Jack took the time to load two pitch black shells into his shotgun and empty those into the merc's face, again, this time setting the poor thing on fire. The merc seemed to scream for hours.
"Do I want to know how you got a concussion?" Garrus asked.
"Someone was bullying my best friend," Jack said. "He made some smart comment and well - I never liked the guy anyways."
"I'm guessing he gave as good as he got," Garrus said. Now that he looked at him, Jack did look fairly punchable.
"He got his two friends to jump on me when he started losing," Jack said. "I should've expected it, honestly. Wasn't the first time they'd done that."
"The first time?" Garrus asked.
Jack said, "I was 14. Going around the lower levels of the - I guess you'd actually call it a basement, really, and they jumped me. Beat me up pretty bad."
"Considering countenance, not surprised at violence in young life," Mordin said. "Seems par for course."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Jack smiled. "Anyways, after I got the other two guys off of me for a second, I pulled out my switchblade."
"Again, par for course." Mordin said.
"Butch had one, too," Jack said.
"Butch?" Garrus asked slowly. "Isn't that a job?"
"Oh, no, his actually name was... something. Or maybe it wasn't?" Jack's went quiet then shook his head. "Either way, the name was stupid, and he was too chicken to actually fight me. The teacher got involved and you know how it goes. Get called into the Overseer's office, shake hands, yada yada."
"Overseer?" Mordin asked. "Thought human secondary-education leaders were generally called principals."
"Oh," Jack said. "Yeah, that's what I meant. The principal. Either way, after that they kept us separate. Didn't matter much."
"Where did you say you came from?" Garrus asked.
"Washington DC," Jack said. "That's where I was born, anyway. My family... moved when I was young."
"Lived in rough side of town?" Mordin asked.
Jack's eyes were duller as he said, "Yeah."
The other tables in the Normandy's cafeteria area were filled with the rank-and-file Cerberus crew. Garrus looked around and saw one of them whisper into another's ear. The second Cerberus stiff smacked the other one on the back of the head.
"Kenneth!" she hissed.
"What? It's true!"
"Right in front of him?" the second stiff asked. "Really?"
Garrus looked back to Jack. He'd heard the rumor, of course: that Jack had pulled a gun on the ship's XO, Miranda, in her own office. Garrus knew a bad person when he saw one, and every one of his instincts was sounding as Jack sat across from him, but he had personally watched Miranda save Jack when one of the Blue Suns mercs got the better of him. He had seen Jack sit across from Miranda at breakfast, making smalltalk.
"Am I really that ugly?" Jack asked, a little sharply. "Or do I just have pudding in my teeth?"
"No, sorry," Garrus said. "What were you saying, Dr. Solus?"
"Don't believe I was saying anything," the good doctor said. "Do believe that you were staring at Jack. Concerned over rumors, yes? Understandable. But issue between him and Miranda appears to be resolved."
"I did shove a gun in her face." Jack said, matter of fact. "But that's over, like Mordin said."
"Might I ask why?" Garrus asked slowly.
"I caught Cerberus assholes going through my stuff," Jack said. "On her orders. She's stopped doing that, by the way, so I've kind of saved you from being spied on."
"That was Shepard," Mordin said pointedly.
"Potato tomato," Jack shrugged.
"That's some human slang, right? Or are potatoes grenades for you too?" Garrus asked.
"Potatoes? Come on, man. Don't be stupid." Jack said. "Besides, I prefer baked beans. Mix them with some Cram, scrounge up some ketchup, have a party."
"Cram. Unfamiliar with term. Another food item?" Mordin asked.
"U-uhm," Jack stuttered. "That's just what I call, uh, meatloaf. So, yeah, I guess."
"We had meatloaf once," Garrus said, "On the original Normandy. Shepard didn't call it Cram."
Jack had recovered himself, and he sniffed. "Then clearly, you aren't hanging out with the right people."
"Uh-huh."
"How're things going with those seeker bugs?" Jack asked Mordin somewhat forcefully.
"Swarms continue to be problematic," Mordin said. "Seem to inject paralytic into victims. Can't properly test without human subjects, ethics of testing dubious. Doubt commander would approve. Not certain myself would entirely approve. Still, hypothesis was proven: swarms come first, then Collecters take victims. Swarms render victims helpless, freeze resistance. Very effective."
"You can test on me," Jack said.
"Oh, no," Mordin said. "Cannot. Would need forms. Would need waivers. Besides, would still need control group."
"Then I'll ask Miranda," Jack said. "We can draw up some forms. If those swarms can just-" Jack snapped his fingers, "-then we're pretty screwed anyways, right? I mean, unless we're fighting in space suits."
"I'm sorry, I must have missed something," Garrus said. "Shepard didn't mention any 'swarms'."
"Maybe you don't have enough clearance," Jack said.
"Right," Garrus frowned at him.
"I've looked you up," Jack said. "Ex-cop who abandons regulations to save the universe with a legally omnipotent special ops spook. An ex-cop who nearly fired on a ship full of hostages."
"What?"
"An ex-cop who went on to try and play hero," Jack continued. "And failed miserably. If Shepard doesn't trust you with everything, I don't blame her. Don't get pissy about it."
Garrus glared at Jack. "You have no idea what you're talking about."
"Don't I?" Jack asked. "Golly, thanks for telling me. I was just mouthing off for the fun of it."
Mordin held up his hands. "Perhaps should change topics. Have theory about why Collecters hired Blood Pack-"
"You're dangerous," Jack said. "Too high on your own ego to see where you're actually going."
Garrus rolled his eyes. "If you're trying to bait me into something, kid, it isn't working."
"Someone doesn't do what you did for the fun of it," Jack said. "No. You stopped that Saren guy or whatever and lost direction. And the first thing you did? Start killing people."
"Criminals," Garrus said. "Red sand dealers and smugglers. Blue Suns. Omega's dying thanks to them."
"They're still people," Jack said. "You killed a lot of them. You may not be a threat, but you need to get it out of your head that you're a hero. All you've been for the past two years is a finger on a trigger."
"And you are?" Garrus asked.
"Honest," Jack said.
"Sure," Garrus said. "Sure."
What time Garrus had found to rest in that apartment - although "rest" probably isn't the right word for it - he had typed message after message into his omni tool. To his mother; to his sister; to Shepard; to Wrex; to Ashley; even one to his father. He had thought to himself so many times that the first chance he got, he would call Solana. Tell her he was alright. Then call his mother, tell her he was alright; then Wrex, then Ashley, and finally, a short voicemail for his father. I'm okay, he would tell them. I'm okay. A little worse for wear, but okay.
He'd been lying to himself.
He had no idea how to explain what he'd done. Not in a way that wasn't incriminating, nor in a way that he knew would make any of them happy. Not that he was unhappy with himself, of course. No, he was wonderful. Great. He had escaped those mercs and gotten a heck of a party story out of it. More, he reminded himself, chicks dig scars.
But that - that kid. That kid had gotten in his head.
Some of his crew expressed doubts at times, that was true. Some nights, Garrus had them; most of his nights in that damned apartment Garrus had them. Once, he and Sidonis had a knock-down, drag-out fight over it, and the turian had said a lot of what that kid had. Coming from slime like Sidonis was one thing, but Jack was one of the few crew members actually part of ground team. How had he even known about Saleon to begin with? Who the hell did he think he was? Who the hell was he in the first place?
Garrus could have gone to Shepard, but that would look unprofessional, and he didn't need Shepard's help corralling some teenager. But who to call, then?
It took Garrus several minutes, but eventually, he made himself a compromise. And it really had been too long.
Garrus sat down at his desk, turned his fancy computer on, and called Tali. There was ringing, and ringing, and then she came onto screen.
"Garrus?"
"Hey," Garrus smiled tiredly. "How's the fleet?"
"I didn't expect - it's been so long, I mean - why did you take so long to call me? Where the hell have you been?"
"I got, uh, held up." Garrus said. "And I'm with Shepard at the moment."
"Shepard? She's still working with Cerberus?" Tali asked.
"How did you know?" Garrus asked, surprised.
"I was leading a mission to rescue a Quarian on pilgrimage," Tali said. "I didn't believe it when I saw her. I mean... you know..."
"Yeah," Garrus said, his throat drier. "Me too."
"Where have you been?" Tali asked.
"I... made a series of very bad decisions," Garrus said. "Shepard helped pull me out of the hole I may or may not have dug for myself."
"That sounds about right," Tali said with a laugh. "Although why she's working with Cerberus... especially with that psycho bosh'tet in a gas mask..."
"You mean Jack?" Garrus asked. "How do you know him?"
"That colony mission," Tali said. "He held me at gunpoint for almost thirty minutes. He murdered a member of my team."
"I'm sorry, Tali," Garrus said.
"You know what? I almost had him."
"Hey," Garrus said. "I'm sure you did your best."
"No, Garrus, there's more. My aunt passed me some files a few days ago. Most of it is classified, but this bosh'tet isn't some regular Cerberus mercenary."
"I've definitely seen that," Garrus agreed.
"There was a Cerberus operative being held hostage on Mindoir by Batarian slavers. They were trying to ransom her. Jack rescued her, and he left behind evidence, and... what he did wasn't pretty."
"How bad?" Garrus asked.
"Almost all of the slavers were dead. Some of them were barely recognizable. Stab wounds, missing limbs, even an atomic shadow on one of the walls."
"Atomic shadows?" Garrus asked.
"A nuclear explosion's heat bleaches the areas it affects. If someone is caught in the way, well, they might get incinerated, but the area they covered isn't bleached. All that's left is, well, a shadow."
"So you're saying...?"
"Yes. We have no idea how he did it, but he somehow let off a controlled nuclear explosion. I've sent Shepard what I can reveal, and I'll send you some as well. Be careful around him. Flotilla Intelligence hasn't found anything about his background, either. He might as well have not existed until six months ago. We have no idea who we're dealing with."
"Understood, Tali," Garrus said. "Thank you."
"Any time," Tali said, then Garrus ended the call.
Oh, this was not good.
Garrus sought out Shepard when everyone was in the mess hall eating. This time Jack was with Shepard, as was Miranda and the other guy, Jacob. All four of them looked up when he approached. Shepard smiled; Jacob gave him a nod; Miranda didn't look impressed; and Jack... Jack was grinning.
"Nice to see you're up and running," Shepard said.
"Hey Scarface," Jack said.
Shepard cocked an eyebrow at Jack.
"It's a great movie," Jack said. "Especially for the 1930s. Pre-code and everything."
"Uh-huh," Garrus said. "Shepard, can I have a word?"
"Of course," Shepard said. Garrus lead her around the corner, out of earshot of the others. It took Shepard all of five seconds to suss out what he was concerned about, of course; Garrus supposed that his face was still his face, scars and all.
"What did Jack say?" Shepard asked.
"A lot," Garrus said. "But that's not my issue. I can handle some asshole kid."
"He's your crewmate," Shepard said.
"He's a punk," Garrus said. "But again, that's fine. I can work with that. But Shepard, what do you know about him? Really know about him?"
"Tali sent you her files, didn't she?" Shepard said.
"I-"
"Jack is a character," Shepard said. "I'll grant that. But he helped save you, Garrus."
"And you trust him?" Garrus asked.
"Yes," Shepard said.
"Do you know anything about him?" Garrus asked.
"Garrus," Shepard said, deadpan. "Come on."
"What? Oh, spirits, no!" Garrus said. "No. But Tali told me that even the Flotilla's intelligence can't find anything on him."
"You are aware of the other merc on this ship, right?" Shepard challenged.
"Massani is a known quantity," Garrus said. "He has a rap sheet, but at least he shows up when I look up his name. This 'Jack' guy - he could be anybody."
"You're right," Shepard said. Garrus blinked. Shepard held up a finger even as he grew crooked grin. "Don't. But you're right, Garrus." Shepard sighed. "I know there's something wrong with him. but I also know that he isn't Cerberus, either. They held him captive for almost a month before he signed his contract."
"What?"
"I know," Shepard said. "It's all weird. And we're going to figure out what his deal is, but right now, he's one of the only crewmates here that I know isn't Cerberus."
"How can you be sure?" Garrus asked.
"He didn't point that gun in Miranda's face for shits and giggles," Shepard said. "And he's a bad liar. He isn't Cerberus, trust me."
Garrus sighed. "I..."
"Like I said, we're going to figure him out," Shepard said. "But he's staying part of the crew. In fact, both of you are coming with me for our next assignment."
"What's that?" Garrus asked.
"Haestrom," Shepard said. "It's about time we got Tali back."
Garrus blinked, then he smiled. "I think I can make do with that."
"Good," Shepard said. "Now I'm going back to my table. You can come or not."
"I think I'd rather sit with Mordin, if that's okay," Garrus said.
"I understand," Shepard said. "We leave in a few days."
"Aye, aye, Commander."
As Garrus sat down across from Mordin, he ran a hand down his face. At least, hopefully, Tali woud be back soon.