Hello again! Phew! I wasn't sure I would get this one out when I originally thought! Found out that I had to move out of my current place sooner than expected. First I was told two days then they at least gave me four. Anyway... thanks again to everyone taking an interest in my story! I love hearing from you guys and I am so glad that you all seem to be liking where things are going! I apologize for the last update not having any separators, I'm sure it was very hard to follow because OF COURSE that was the chapter that had a million and one jumps in perspectives. Well, don't worry! I got this one correct.

Now, a little background, of course I will not go through all of the stuff that happens over the two years because then it will just take forever to get to the reuniting! I will only be doing quick insights and jumping a couple of months each time. I try to mention the approximate time but I had to make a few estimates. I am not aware of anything that does a breakdown of what was done for (Jane) Shepard so I made a few guesses. There isn't much, but I hope I got the story background matched up pretty well where need be... I ran out of data on my phone last month so I couldn't double check myself.

WELL! I have rambled enough, let's get on to the story! Thanks again!

Chapter 23

Jacob looked over at the man across from him, "Hey, John, something bothering you?" When they first met, Jacob had learned quickly that John did not want to be referred to as 'Shepard'. He was pretty quiet overall but who wouldn't be with their sister being reconstructed a few floors up?

"Fine… I'm, uh, I'll be fine," John answered while adjusting the scope on the gun in his hands.

"Come on, man. You can't fool me. Something you want to talk about?" Jacob watched quietly as John shook his head.

After a few minutes, John let out an aggravated sigh and said, "Have you seen her?"

Jacob didn't need to ask who John was referring to, "No, I haven't." He peeked up at John and cautiously began, "But, from what I hear, she got here in pretty bad shape. My advice to you is not to go looking for her. Wait until they come and get you."

"I have been here for almost six months and I haven't ever seen her. I am starting to wonder if they brought me here under false pretenses."

He understood John, he did, but from what he had heard, seeing her would ruin the man. "I know it is hard, but, you have to believe me. The Lazarus Cell of Cerberus may be cloaked in secrets, but it is to help protect everyone here. There are some things you just don't want to know."

"All the read-outs look good. The cybernetics are all attached and the surrounding tissue has accepted the implants," Wilson, the chief medical officer reported. "It even looks like there are the beginning stages of regrowth as well."

"Excellent," Miranda responded. Things were going well, almost too well; she didn't want to trust her luck. "What is the projected time for regrowth before we can reanimate?"

Wilson turned to the console and redid the calculations, it only took a few seconds before the information popped up on the screen, "It depends, judging by the acceptance of the cybernetics into her tissue and with no delays, possibly only a few months. But again, that all depends on her quality."

She could only nod. Things were going well and with any luck, they could shorten the project to less than three years. The Illusive Man would be happy to hear that, we all know that time is essential. Miranda looked over the corpse of the once great Commander Shepard. Everyone in the Lazarus Cell knew varying degrees of the details of the project but everyone at least knew that someone was being brought back to life (though some didn't even know how far gone the individual was); but, even those who knew all the details switched between speaking about Shepard in both past and present tense. It was strange, almost like people couldn't decide if they wanted to accept the idea that someone could be brought back from the dead.

"Lawson, it's Taylor," a voice came through the intercom.

Pressing the button, Miranda responded, "Go ahead, Taylor."

"Just wanted to give you a heads up, John is on his way to see you. Seems pretty determined to see his sister."

"Thanks for the warning," she replied. Looking over her shoulder, she said to Wilson, "I'll be back in a bit, just let me take care of this situation." She didn't bother waiting for his response and headed out the door. The other Shepard wouldn't be able to get into the operating room, but he did have clearance to reach the medical observation room; she would have to change that. Usually it required a code to access the monitor trained on their subject, but she couldn't be sure of his hacking abilities.

Miranda reached the room just as she saw John turn the corner and head towards her location. "John," she said, trying to act relaxed, "what brings you to this level of the building?"

"Looking for you, actually," he approached her and leaned against the wall as she blocked the panel to the room. "I want to see Jane."

"I am sorry, John, but that would not be wise."

"You know, I am getting really sick of hearing that phrase. I just want to be sure that I was not lead here under false pretenses."

Miranda held his gaze. She knew that he would not be able to accept his sister as she was now. The image of Shepard's fragmented body and burned features were still fresh in Lawson's mind. "I know you don't like hearing that, but there isn't another way. Give me a few more months and then I can let you see her, if you think you are ready."

John stared the woman down. "Then, I have a few questions that I need answered."

It was a tense moment between the two of them, but she had to give him a little charity or he might try something more drastic, "Alright, go ahead."

He took a step back, he hadn't actually thought she would agree to answer anything, "Um… okay… How did you find her?"

Miranda let out a quiet sigh of relief, the first question wasn't so bad, "An information broker found her location and helped us acquire her." She could hear herself talking more clinically, but it was a hard habit to break.

"What… what shape was she in?"

Lawson paused. How could she put this delicately? "It wasn't good. There is a lot of work to be done. She has already had several cybernetic implants and we have to wait for quite a bit of her to heal before we can even think about reanimating."

Her words clung to him as the meaning sunk in. "So… was she… she really died then? It's not like a coma or something like that?" As the words came out of his mouth, he already knew the answer.

"Yes, she died."

"Then… how can you bring her back? When someone dies, don't they lose everything? I mean, I know that lack of oxygen can destroy the brain, how will she even still be there when you wake her up?" The more John talked, the more it confused him and how he could even hope for his sister to be the real thing.

"With all of our research and technology, there is no reason why she shouldn't retain everything that she was. Our capabilities quite exceed what most believe is possible. That is the benefit of unlimited funding."

"Seems so," he mumbled. "So, Jane will be Jane. In every way."

"Yes," unless the Illusive Man approves my modification, she added in her mind. She gave a small smile, hoping it would soothe him and put an end to his questions.

John crossed his arms and kicked the heel of his boot across the floor in front of him, processing all of the information. "You mentioned confronting the Reapers. Is that right?" She nodded. "So, you need to put a team together for her." Miranda nodded again. "Who do you have in mind?"

"We have a few scouts out, but no one has really stood out and considering we are at least a few years from project completion, we are not making any concrete plans just yet."

"Why not put the old team back together? We were able to accomplish a lot if you remember."

"I am not sure that is such a good idea."

"How can you say that? You brought Joker, Karin and myself on because you want Jane to feel more comfortable."

"Yes, and all of you had your run-ins with Cerberus in the past. We thought about recruiting from what Jane would be familiar with, but it is not possible. The turian is unreachable; we have been trying to get a trace on him for the last few months and it is like he disappeared from the galaxy. All information points to him being deceased. There is no way to find the quarian because the Flotilla is a nomadic lifestyle and keeps their location beyond even our reach. We did manage the reach the asari but she would not return to service, though she has been helpful in other ways. The lieutenant would not even let me get a word out, called me 'devil-spawn'. Besides, if we take any more Alliance we might draw more attention than necessary."

"What about Wrex?"

Miranda laughed, "Yeah, like we were even able to get a step out of our ship on the krogan home planet."

"Good point…" John chuckled. "What if I went? If I did the recruitment? I remember how our team functioned and I know Jane best so I would be able to pick members who would be ideal for her."

She had to admit, it wasn't a bad idea. "I'll run it by the Illusive Man, see what he says. If approved, I'll have you start going through the dossiers awaiting approval and when the time gets closer we'll send you out to recruit them."

John didn't say anything. He nodded, made a wide turn and walked back down the hall.

He always looks so sad. Intimidating, a little scary, but sad, she thought as she looked across the room at her turian leader. She had only dealt with turians at the shop she worked at, but never worked alongside one of them. They were intriguing. He was intriguing. Fascinating. Captivating. She wanted to know more about him.

He covered the entire room in five easy steps and began to head down to the basement. After waiting a few seconds, she began to follow.

"Hey, where are you going?" Butler called out to her.

"Um… just going for a walk." She fluttered her hand for exaggeration and walked out the door. The turian's footsteps were quiet, much quieter than she would have thought possible if she hadn't been working with him for the past few months. After pausing for a minute at the bottom of the stairs, she continued to the basement.

"What can I help you with, Melanis?" Garrus greeted as soon as the door opened.

She jumped. She wasn't expecting him to hear her already and he still wasn't in sight. "How do you do that?" she called out with a small chuckle in her voice.

"Turians have better hearing. And you weren't being that quiet. You'll have to try harder next time."

"Who says I was trying?" she headed down the hallway and peeked down the first access tunnel, nothing.

"Your methods speak otherwise," his tone was dry but there was the slightest hint of humor.

Melanis could feel her face get hot and paused just before the second hallway, hoping her embarrassment would disappear. "Can't get anything past you," she joked as she peeked down the hallway and saw him standing at a panel. "Anything I can help with?"

"Just checking the failsafe, it won't be but a minute."

She stood against the wall, keeping her eyes away from him. How do you bring up a topic like this? It only took him a few seconds before he brought up his omni-tool, giving his work a scan and then finally closing the panel.

"So, to what do I owe this visit?" he asked.

"Well…" she pulled on the end of her ponytail and smoothed back the pieces that had fallen loose. "I kind of just wanted to talk."

"About what?" Garrus looked down at her. She was nice, almost too nice for this job but he had taken her in anyway. One thing he told himself when putting together his team was that he wouldn't discriminate anyone, so long as their skills and caliber of character were up to par. He didn't know too much about Melanis, just that her family had their fair share of run-ins with gangs, prompting her to join his crew. She wasn't the most well-versed with weapons, but she had a keen eye for details and was excellent at strategizing. She was about an average height of a human female with dark, straight fringe and rich brown eyes. They reminded him of the human delicacy Jane referred to as 'chocolate'. Turians had their own kind of chocolate but it didn't look the same.

"Whatever you like, actually. None of us really know much about you and I know it can be kind of lonely… Especially when you are still dealing with loss," she added tentatively. She could see what little relaxation in his stance turn hard and she almost regretted bringing it up. "You don't have to give details or names… I just know that, talking about losing my brother helped. I don't know if turians are the same, but maybe it could help."

He stared at her, weighing his options. First, he shook his head and took a few steps away from her, but something made him turn back. Maybe talking could help. She was right; he didn't have to give names. Rubbing the back of his neck, he studied her, unsure if it was a wise decision to talk. She was technically his subordinate and showing weakness could damage his leadership. No, he thought, Jane was willing to open up to us, even if it wasn't often. How many times had we shared stories of all varieties? "I gave up my entire life when I came out to Omega. I have done a lot to forget it."

"But it won't stay away, will it?"

"Heh, no. Memories have a bad habit of sticking with you." She only smiled as he spoke, giving him time to collect his thoughts and work out what he wanted to say in his own time. "But, I chose to leave that life without knowing what I would be doing. So, I don't really miss it. I feel like I am doing more good now than I did before I left."

"So, it's the people you miss."

"A few."

"But really just one," Melanis guessed. When he nodded in confirmation, she asked, "Who was she?"

Garrus smirked at her intuition. "She was an amazing woman. I was lucky to have the time I did with her… but I wasted it." Melanis's expression contorted into one of confusion and he began to pace as he spoke. "I love her but I never told her and now she is gone. Sometimes, I think she is going to come through the door, asking me to follow her into hell…" he laughed, "again."

His word choice wasn't missed on her. He had said that she died, but he said that he was still in love with her, not the he loved her. "If you don't mind me asking…" she whispered, "How did she die?"

"She died because of me. I wasn't there to protect her and I had made a promise before to her brother that I would watch over her. I selfishly pursued my own career while – " he paused, realizing he was about to say how she was killed. His crew didn't know who he really was, and he wanted to keep it that way, "while she was killed on the job."

"I'm so sorry," she said while touching his arm. "Does her brother blame you?"

"Thank you. And, no, he doesn't blame me at all. Blames himself more. Her brother was there when it happened."

She quietly watched as he started to pace again and Melanis put her arm back down to her side. "But you still blame yourself?" Archangel nodded. "I'm sorry. I don't know what it is like to lose someone you love – like that – but I doubt she would want you to blame yourself. Hell, if her brother doesn't even blame you and you made the 'promise' to him, then you just need to forgive yourself."

"I should… but I can't. I can't move on like it was just a small part in my life. Meeting her… changed my entire perspective on this galaxy."

"Sounds like a special kind of turian," Melanis smiled as she watched him and the small cracks in his stone façade that allowed the real emotion through. She was taken back when he laughed.

"She wasn't turian, actually. Human." He laughed again when he saw Melanis's jaw drop.

"I'm sorry," she stammered and struggled to hide her shock. "I just… I didn't realize… I thought it was just kind of… I don't know… taboo? Don't most frown on it?"

"Oh, yes," Garrus grinned. "I, of course, have nothing against humans, but I was just as surprised that I had fallen for her."

She smiled at him, he looked good when he relaxed. The more she got him talking, the more his shell peeled away and she got to see the softer side of the scary turian she had sometimes avoided. "When did you fall in love with her?" Melanis wanted to slap herself for what a romantic sap she was.

He stopped, debating when he actually did fall in love with Shepard. He realized that there never was a defining moment, "I don't know… I guess I just always did. I denied it for a long time but didn't really come to terms with it until the end of our service together began to draw closer." He smiled at a memory that popped in his head, "Hmm… I would almost say… if I had to pick a time when I should have known that I loved her, was when we were in our first firefight together. I was with her brother to help a civilian being harassed by a group of thugs and she came into the room and took almost no time to finish them off. She was precise, quick, calculating, fearless…"

Melanis watched his changing expressions and wanted to cry for him; he loved her so much.

Garrus shook his head, "I don't know. Sometimes it feels like she is still alive."

Thump, thump, smack. Thump, thump, smack. That sound was driving him crazy. "For the love of god! Would you stop?!" Joker snapped as he turned back to look at John.

Smack, the ball sounded as it landed in John's hand. He had found the ball a few days ago and had been using it as a stress relief, bouncing it off the floors and walls, trying to give himself something else to concentrate on. "Sorry," he put both hands on the ball and he tried to compress it.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Joker asked as he put the datapad down. "You have been off for quite a while and you haven't sat still since you came in here."

John looked down at his hands and saw that they were still fidgeting with the ball and he quickly dropped it in his lap and laced his fingers together. "Trying to get my mind off things. It's not working."

"Clearly. So, what's bothering you?"

He let out a sigh and put his hands behind his head, "Do you ever question if joining Cerberus was a good decision?"

"All the damn time," Joker laughed.

"So… you believe that they can bring Jane back?"

Leaning back in his chair, Joker looked at his friend with a hard stare, "Yes."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because I have to, it's my only redemption," he sighed and shook his head. "They are putting billions and billions of credits into this project. They have been rebuilding the Normandy, researching the Reapers, and bringing Shepard back. If we bring the team back together it would be like that day, almost a year ago, never happened."

John slowly nodded and hung his head, "You know it's not your fault, right?"

"Yeah, it is," Joker said simply. "I wouldn't leave the ship. The CO of a ship doesn't leave until everyone else is off and I chose not to leave because I foolishly thought I could save a ship that was already in pieces." He shook his head, "If I would have listened, things wouldn't be like this." He looked at John and spoke just before the other man could, "And don't try to put the blame on yourself. There was nothing you could have done to help or to save her. Remember, she beat the shit out of you to save your life."

"I still feel like-"

"Like you could have done more?" Joker finished for him. "No. There was nothing anyone could have done to save her, able-bodied or not. There was a giant beam between us. The only thing that would have saved her was me getting out of that chair. Trust me… I was there." He cleared his throat, fighting back the guilt that was starting to choke him.

John looked at his friend. He didn't want to believe Joker and didn't want him blaming himself… but how do you argue with that? "You know Jane wouldn't blame you."

"Hmph… I'll believe that when I hear it from her." They sat in silence for several minutes more before Joker spoke again. "Have they let you see her yet?"

"No… and Miranda had said to give her a few more months before I could. Well, guess what, it has been a few months since we had that conversation."

"So, that's why you have been on edge."

John nodded in answer.

"Go see her then."

"Miranda has been avoiding me."

"I wasn't talking about Miranda. I meant go see Jane."

"But I don't have access to that area. Only medical personnel does."

"Wow, John, you can really be dense sometimes," Joker laughed. "It's a good thing you know people who can help." He raised his eyebrow at his friend who still only gave him a blank look. "Damn, you are hopeless. Chakwas! You idiot!"

John planted a hand over his face, "How did I not think of her before?"

"Because you are an idiot," Joker turned back to his console and typed a message. Once he was finished, he turned back to John. "Okay, I told her to meet 'me' in the third floor break room in five minutes." He waited and then motioned to the door, "Go!"

"Thanks, man," John nodded to him and jumped up. He tried to look calm and collected as he walked down the hallway but it was a little hard. John never questioned why Joker would ask Chakwas to meet him but it wouldn't be surprising if someone was monitoring every message sent; more than likely paying a little closer attention to their communications.

He reached the breakroom and saw that Karin was already in there. She was sitting at a table, with a cup of coffee and a datapad; she was too good at playing calm. John made his way over to her and sat a seat away.

"Afternoon, John, I was wondering if it would really be Joker meeting me or you."

"What made you think that?"

"Well," she put down her datapad, "he said to meet him in five minutes and his message came from his console. Cerberus hasn't fixed his legs yet and even after they do, it would still take him more than that. So, what do you need?"

"I want to see her."

"I thought as much," she grinned. "I don't have full access to the operating room, but I can get you into the observation room."

"That's fine. Just so long as I can see her and know that she is real."

Karin hung her head, "I can assure you, it is really her."

Something about her tone disturbed him, but he couldn't think about that right now. "How do I get there?"

She finished her coffee and stood, "I'll get you there. Let's go."

John smiled at her and followed as she exited at a quick pace. He tried not to look at the cameras they passed; he could almost feel the eyes of the security team on them. They traveled in the elevator, holding their breath until they reached the right floor. There was a long hallway with only a few doors leading into what John assumed were labs before they came to the end of the corridor and Chakwas swiped her omni-tool over the panel. At the end of the second hallway, they turned left, two doors down a right, through the next hallway, then a right, and Karin finally swiped her omni-tool a final time and stood by the door. John looked at her but neither of them moved.

"This is the observation room. Are you sure you want to see her? No matter her condition."

"Yes." Chakwas nodded and went inside. John followed a few feet behind her. He looked across the room at a locked door then to his left and saw the glass separating him from the room below.

He slowly exhaled as he stepped closer and scanned the shiny operating room below. He saw a man off to the side typing at a console, but John couldn't see what was on the screens. His eyes fell on the woman lying on the table. Her hair was cut short, probably right at her chin, but it was the same blond that he knew. She was naked except for strategically placed sections of fabric to give the illusion of decency. There was a breathing tube down her throat and a few tubes connected to her. All over her body including her face were cuts, burns, and even gaping holes showing tissue, bone, and sometimes metal and wires. Though she was in terrible condition, it was Jane.

John stepped closer to the glass. He rested his arm against the barrier and leaned against it as he stared below. He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes, but he didn't stop them. My god… it is worse than I ever imagined. What had happened to my little sister? It's almost as if… as if they found her in pieces. He felt the warm trickle of a tear down his cheek but didn't bother to wipe it away.

He had been told that she had died and was found on Alchera, but he had always imagined her intact; a perfectly frozen specimen just waiting to be awakened. He hadn't been ready for this.

Karin watched the man and slowly stepped forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'll give you a moment," she waited for him to nod and then exited.

He leaned against the glass, wishing he could be down there with her. Even if he could just hold her hand, let her know that she wasn't alone in this strange place, maybe it would help both of them. It was disturbing to see her like this, but at least he was here. She was here. John looked closer and saw her breathing, she really was alive. His sigh came heavy but at least it was a sigh of relief and not stress.

There was no telling how long he was standing there, but after a while he heard heels behind him and saw obvious figure of Miranda out of the corner of his eye. John pushed himself away from the glass but never took his eyes off of Jane. He realized that his joints were stiff; he must have been standing there for quite a while. "Go ahead, say what you want. I am not sorry that I snuck in here."

"I figured you would have eventually figured out a way in here. I had the opportunity to bring you in here myself. I should have known you wouldn't want to wait any longer."

They stood in silence, observing the scene below.

"So, you got her while she was in pretty rough shape?" John asked cautiously. When Miranda didn't answer, he continued, "Must have been since she still looks like this after several months."

Miranda paused, "Yes. Right now is a very critical stage. For her cybernetics to fully take, we bring her back to life. The reanimation process is tricky, her organs could crash from the shock, the regeneration that is required is extensive, both internally and externally, but it is the safest way to heal her. Because of these reasons, we have at least one person in the room with her at all times."

"Is she awake? Can she feel anything?"

"Technically, no. She is not what we would call 'awake'… more like, barely alive. Shepard is being held in, more or less, a comatose state, but it is actually even lower than that. The part of her brain that is currently active is only enough to run her body. Again, this allows the cybernetics to take hold and not jar her enough to send her into shock. Once her body is closer to being healed, we will slowly begin to reactivate her brain. That will give it the chance to repair itself and adjust."

"How long?"

"It's hard to say, could be just inside a year, it could be up to two. It just depends on how much fight is in her."

Silence fell between them for several minutes before John cleared his throat, "Thank you. For… everything I suppose."

"Go ahead and hold onto that. It is still early to – " Miranda stopped as her associate looked up at her and pressed the call button.

"Lawson, we have an issue down here."

John looked at Miranda as she ran into the door he had noticed before and reappeared in the operating room below. The intercom wasn't active and it was killing him. Something was wrong. He searched the room for any indication of what was happening and noticed Miranda point at one of the screens. The two Cerberus operatives hustled around the room and John's eyes fell on Jane.

Her head moved.

No… I must have imagined it. He stared at his sister and saw the tiniest movement of her head as it rolled to the side. Then he noticed the biggest change; her eyes were open and aware. Miranda and the other man stood on either side of Jane who rolled her head slightly as if she were looking at the two of them. John slammed his fist into the glass, his fear for her rising in his chest. Miranda leaned over Jane just as her arm bent and reached up towards the dark haired woman. Lawson looked at the man and hurried to the other side of Jane, and now stood between John and Jane. He stared at his sister, his heart rate climbing, sweat beginning to bead on his forehead and he fought the feeling to rush to her side, to be a familiar face to her.

He stopped. Everything in him froze as his eyes locked with Jane's. She seemed to be looking right at him as if begging him to help, to explain what was happening. John hated himself for not being there and struggled to give an encouraging nod. Her eyes were still fixed on him as he saw a tear trickle down her cheek and disappear into a wide fissure along her cheek. The movement was slow but she blinked and turned to look at the other doctor. Miranda moved back over her, blocking John's view. By the time she moved, Jane's eyes were closed and her head upright again as if nothing had happened.

That's all it took. Less than a minute and he was filled with new hopes and fears.

Miranda looked up into the observation room and exhaled a short sigh, her eyes fixed on John.

There were voices, Jane could hear them, but she couldn't focus on them. Why did she hear voices? She struggled to move but her body felt like the Normandy itself was lying on her. No… not the Normandy, it doesn't exist anymore. Then, how do I exist? Did I survive? Where am I? Jane abandoned trying to get up and settled for just opening her eyes, but they felt like she had never used them before. Putting all of her strength into it, she finally cracked open one eye, then the other and saw bright lights above her. Maybe I did die. The longer she looked the more details came into view. There were beams, the shine of metal, pipes, machines… where the hell was she? A hospital?

She could hear movement around her and focused on finding the source and what the voices were saying. Ever so slightly, Jane began to roll her head and search with her eyes.

"There. On the monitor. Something's wrong."

It was a woman's voice, Jane was sure of that. But what is wrong? Are they talking about me?

A man's voice spoke up, "She's reacting to outside stimuli. Showing an awareness of her surroundings." There was a pause then he spoke up again, "Oh my god, Miranda. I think she's waking up."

Wait, why is that a bad thing? Jane questioned. She could feel her heart rate begin to rise and heard it echo on a nearby machine. The woman stepped into view and Jane followed her with her eyes. She wanted to ask her questions. Where was she? What was going on? What had happened? Who were they? There was more movement to her right and she rolled her head to the side to see the man. He only glanced at her before looking at the other woman.

"Dammit, Wilson. She's not ready yet! Give her the sedative!"

No, but what's going on? Jane tried to open her mouth only to find out that it was already open and something was shoved down her throat. Her heart began to race as panic set in. She looked up at the dark-haired woman, her eyes wide. Help me! She tried to yell. Get this thing out! Help! Her vision began to blur more as her heart rate spiked, becoming erratic. With everything she had, Jane reached up to grab the woman or to motion at the contraption, she wasn't quite sure what.

"Shepard, don't try to move." The woman grabbed her arm and put it back down. "Just be still. Try to stay calm."

Stay calm? Stay calm! Are you crazy?

The man spoke again, "Heart rate still climbing. Brain activity is off the charts." The woman began to move up and around the table and Jane struggled to keep her in view. "Stats pushing into the red zone. It's not working!"

He sounded panicked and it only indicated to Jane that she had the right to fight harder. She saw the two of them in view and the man quickly walked out of sight. Through her haze and confusion, Jane was sure that the woman was in charge, so Jane kept her eyes on the mystery woman. She blinked once as she stared at the woman's back and saw another figure in the background. He was above them, not in the same room. Jane struggled to focus on him and her eyes widened in surprise. It was John. He is okay? What is he doing here? Why isn't he helping me? John!

"Another dose. Now!" the woman ordered.

No… wait… John… help… please. Jane could feel liquid squeeze from her eyes and fall down the side of her face, but the path she thought it would take didn't happen and she felt it go beneath where her skin was supposed to be; for some reason, it didn't bother her.

"Heart rate dropping. Stats falling back into normal range. That was too close. We almost lost her."

The woman stood in front of Jane again, blocking her view of the one familiar thing she had seen. Jane could feel her eyes growing heavy again and her blood pumping a little slower.

"I told you your estimates were off. Run the numbers again," the woman ordered.

Jane fought to keep her eyes open, but she felt so calm. Her body seemed heavy again, her brain began the clear, the thoughts that once seemed important now long since forgotten. He head rolled upright again as she stared up at the ceiling. Slowly, she lost the war with her eyelids, giving in as sleep overcame her.