Chapter 37
Harry was thankful that his captors seemed to be rather dense. He'd never been very talented at pretending to be asleep, well at least in front of Hermione. She'd always figured it out, and would either poke him until he gave up, or she would leave him be when it was clear he needed to be left alone. The man dragging him down the halls of what Harry assumed to be a Cerberus capital ship, was not so observant.
He struggled not to laugh when they patted him down, Harry was unusually ticklish, and it would take an enormous effort to avoid giving himself away. Finally they lay him on a rather uncomfortable table and left the room. Harry reached out with his senses, he could hear several people down the hall arguing about something, though he could not determine what. There were several strange sounding machines in the room with him, and he could feel the table underneath him vibrating along with the deck plates as the ship traveled through a relay.
"You're sure he's unconscious? This man is extremely dangerous." A familiar voice asked. Harry couldn't quite place it in his mind, but he definitely recognized the voice.
"Three of us stunned him, mate. He's out for the count." Another man said with a thick cockney accent. Harry stifled the wince when he heard the air being knocked out of the cockney man who let out a strangled gasp as the other man attacked him.
"I am not your 'mate' you idiot, never speak to me again with such familiarity." The man growled. Harry tried to figure it out but he simply couldn't put it together. He was tempted to open his eyes, but he couldn't afford to.
"Y-yes sir. I'm sorry sir." The cockney man said after being allowed to fall to the ground in a heap.
"Get out of here." The other man said. Cockney said nothing but did as he was told, leaving Harry alone in the room with him. Harry could feel himself being restrained, and smirked internally as he noticed that no effort had been made to suppress his magic. While the universe knew he was able to wield wandless magic, they didn't tend to understand the depth of his talent. To a normal magical, a lumos was a nearly impossible task without a wand. Harry on the other hand, had honed his skill for more than two centuries.
Just as the agent was about to leave, Harry heard the chirp of his omnitool going off.
"Yes, sir?" The agent said.
"Did you secure the package?" The man on the other end, who Harry had no problem identifying as Jack Harper.
"Affirmative sir." The agent said.
"And the wand?" Harper said.
"In secure storage. I've ordered it to remain untouched until we arrive at Cronos Station." The agent said. Harry filed that name away for future use and continued to listen.
"Excellent work, Leng. Make haste, I have another task for you to start on as soon as possible. We've got her stabilized, however since Miranda decided to turn traitor, we're in need of a new biotechnology specialist." Harper said.
"Understood, I'll be ready to go immediately after we arrive." Leng said.
"I expected nothing less. Harper out." Harper said.
Harry's mind was spinning. He had a decision to make, and he needed to make it quick. Death had told him to allow things to proceed, but she was careful to let him know that he was allowed to interfere. Killing Leng would derail Cerberus' attempts to bring her back, which was definitely not what he was looking to do. Then it came to him, a brief memory of his fifth year. He allowed himself to grin as the plan came together in his head.
"Hrrmrh-erruh" Harry muttered.
"Shit..." Leng said, as he brought up his omnitool.
"Aooah uurah" Harry mumbled.
"What's he saying?" Leng asked himself.
"Alohamora." Harry said, opening his eyes and leaping at Leng as his restraints opened and fell to the ground. He silently took him down and stunned him before closing the door and sealing it magically. He smirked and withdrew a flask from his pocket, one of the seven or eight flasks of dreamless sleep he'd prepared for his little crusade, and forced the content down Leng's throat. Once he was satisfied, Harry connected his omnitool to the Ship's systems and did an internal sensor sweep. There were currently eighteen heat signatures on board, including himself and Kai Leng, but he wasn't worried about the other Cerberus agents, what did give him pause was the fighter escort he'd detected before they boarded his shuttle.
"Where are you hiding... there you are!" Harry said as he brought up a map of the sector of space they were in and noticed that the fighter escort was flying close to the cruiser, which meant the shuttle was most likely in the docking bay. He unsealed the door and opened it, before waving his wand at Kai Leng, whose unconscious body sat up and faced the open door.
"Come here! He's waking up!" Harry said, through Kai Leng as he operated the unconscious man like a puppet.
"Yes, sir!" The Cockney man from before said, jogging back into the room. He froze when he saw Harry Potter, with the Elder Wand in his hand grinning at him. Harry released control over Kai Leng, allowing him to collapse backwards, banging the back of his head against the floor.
"Wanna hear something funny?" Harry asked. The Cerberus agent gaped at him, completely at a loss on what to do about the situation he found himself in.
"Yes..." He finally said, his brain working on autopilot.
"Imperio!" Harry said. The man went rigid and stared at him with glassed over eyes.
"I don't think we need a fighter escort any more, do you?" Harry asked.
"Y-yeah... sssseeems a b-bit muuuuch..." The agent said before turning and staggering out of the room. Harry grinned and took off his left shoe, shaking it until a tiny object fell out and onto the ground. He unsheathed the Elder Wand and pointed, expanding it to full size. He forced himself to restrain the gleeful cackle as he opened the object, a multi-compartment trunk and dove into his potions stash, immediately finding what he was looking for. He canceled the stasis charm on it and plucked a few hairs off Kai Leng's head.
"Let's hope this is less disgusting than Goyle's" Harry said, downing the foul concoction.
.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
"Come in, Dave." Hackett said, inviting Anderson to step into his office. Anderson walked through, looking surprised.
"What's got you spooked?" Hackett asked.
"We could use a bit more privacy, Admiral." Anderson said. Hackett was surprised, but acquiesced, producing his wand and sealing the door.
"Admiral, I can't stress how important it is that this doesn't get out... Jane is alive." Anderson said.
"What?!" Hackett exclaimed. Anderson nodded.
"I just received this about half an hour ago." Anderson said, forwarding a message to Hackett's omnitool.
Dave, first off I'm sorry about disappearing on you. I know I'm not the only one who was upset about the news, I should have been there for you. My time has been productive, however. I've learned quite a bit about the Collectors. They do indeed use the Omega-4 Relay, which leads to an area close to the Galactic Core, it's so volatile that a specific IFF signal is required to survive the trip, otherwise the relay will send you hurtling towards a dying star or black hole. They have a base there, though I have no idea what they're doing just yet.
Dave, I've got something to say that I'm sure you're going to have trouble believing. Janey is alive! I have no idea how she survived, but I got myself "Captured" by Cerberus and am now with her. She's a mess, Dave but she's alive, and they're pulling out all the stops to bring her back. I'm going to let them.
I managed to incapacitate your old friend Kai Leng, and am assuming his identity through blatant misuse of polyjuice and have spent the last week gathering intel, which I'm including with this missive. I'm going to keep at it for now, until Janey is stable, then she and I are out of here. Let our friends know, but nobody else. The longer I keep this up the more dirt I'll get on Cerberus.
Also, I know you're going to doubt the authenticity of this message, and for that I am ashamed of you. Honestly I expected more out of the man who almost gave Janey a younger brother.
-Harry
Hackett quirked an eyebrow after reading it and Anderson chuckled.
"Hannah and I had a one night stand when Jane was at N7 school that resulted in a pregnancy scare. Harry is the only one aside from she and I that know that. Well, now you too." Anderson said with a grin.
"This is big, Anderson. Not only is he in a position to stop the collectors, but Cerberus too. We've been hunting those bastards for decades." Hackett observed. Anderson nodded.
"What do you need from me?" Hackett continued.
"Support for his team. We need to covertly contact Ashley Williams, Kaidan Alenko, Liara T'soni, Urdnot Wrex and Tali'Zorah Nar Rayya." Anderson said.
"I believe it's Tali'Zorah Vas Neema now." Hackett said, scratching his chin. Anderson raised an eyebrow.
"After Harry made his diplomatic overtures towards the Quarians, I've been in contact with Rael'Zorah, he proposed an exchange of knowledge with the Alliance, and the Prime Minister is in the process of hashing out an agreement with parliament. Anderson, I want you to get with Alenko and Williams and send them to Omega, have them hook up with Vakarian. I'll go to Tuchanka to talk to Wrex. T'Soni is on Illium, I'll call her on the way. When Harry and Shepard get back I want them all out there taking the fight to the Collectors." Hackett said.
"What about a ship, sir?" Anderson asked. Hackett smirked and brought up an image on his omnitool of a new frigate that looked to be about halfway completed.
"After the Normandy's success, three other hulls have been laid, two in the Sol system and one, this one, in the shipyards in orbit around Palven. This one is the closest to being finished, and Primarch Fedorian was more than happy to offer it as a replacement." Hackett said.
"Interesting. What did they want in exchange? "Anderson asked.
"As you know The Alliance are not signatories of the treaty of Farixen, which would have been a barrier between us and a seat on the council. The Prime Minister agreed that perhaps that is not a road we wish to go down, as such we are not in any hurry to sign it. Knowing that, don't be surprised if humanity is 'gifted' several Turian dreadnoughts, crewed by Turian soldiers, flying Alliance colors but operating exclusively in Turian space." Hackett said with a smirk.
"So..." Anderson said
"They're giving us a frigate in exchange for the right to use our flag, basically." Hackett said. Anderson laughed.
"Harry would be proud of you, sir." Anderson said. Hackett grinned.
.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
Harry loomed over what could be charitably described as the remnants of the love of his life. He had allowed the polyjuice to wear out so that he could visit her. It was dangerous, but he refused to be in her presence wearing the face of a traitor. He longed to take her hand, but it was still badly damaged, the bones being held together with a system of titanium rods.
"Oh Janey.. I wish there was something I could do." Harry said. He squeezed his eyes shut, unable to stop the tears from welling up. He was so lost in his misery, he didn't notice the flash behind him.
"I've seen so many of my friends suffer and die, but this is easily the worst... I love you Janey, and I think you know that." Harry said. The weight dragging him down lifted slightly as a barely audible musical sound drifted into the room.
"I'm close to finding a way to hit the Collectors where they live. Captain Kirrahee from STG forwarded me a report they received that suggests a dead reaper is adrift in space in the Thorne system. Once you're back on your feet we can go see If there is an IFF transponder we can use." Harry said. The music got slightly louder, and while it was driving his grief away, it was also getting on his nerves.
"I need you to pull through Jane. I can't do this.. any of this without you." Harry said. The music got louder and Harry felt a weight settle on his shoulder.
"Goddamnit Fawkes, now's not the time." Harry said. Looking up at the Phoenix who was perched on his shoulder, giving him an odd look.
"Look at her! Look at what those assholes did to her!" Harry said, gesturing at Shepard. Harry was surprised when Fawkes rolled his eyes.
"Oh I'm sorry something as trivial as the woman I love being on death's door isn't enough to catch your interest. Why don't you go find something constructive to do? You're a phoenix for God's sake, why don't you... wait." Harry said. Fawkes smacked him on the back of his head with his wing and flew over, perching on the railing next to Shepard's hospital bed, leaned his head down and started to cry.
AN: I decided to make it so that Humanity didn't sign the treaty of farixen. My thought process is that when the First Contact War ended, both sides held quite a bit of respect and admiration for one another, and the Turians never pushed for them to sign it as a condition of the peace between them. This is one of my many, many, many deviations from canon, and if you don't like it you're more than welcome to suck it.