Hello! So, I have been trying to post this thing since yesterday morning but my internet keeps dying! I would beat it into submission if I could. So, between work going back to "normal" hours (yay! I don't feel like a slave!) and my love life dissolving, looks like I will have some more free time to spend writing. We'll see how things go.

Little background on the story, I have decided that I am going to change the rules a bit… because why not? I wasn't planning on it, but you know how these things are sometimes. I already changed the whole "can't use but select weapons" thing, because let's face it, that was ridiculous, and now I will be changing the biotics rule between ME1 and ME2. I understand wanting to add new commands to change up the gameplay, but seriously? A vanguard in ME2 can't use throw/pull/lift anymore? Did they just forget how to use those? So, anyway, I am changing it. Also, adding a bit more to… oh wait… no spoilers, read!

Thanks again for reading/following/favoriting and reviewing! Feel free to PM me anytime!

Chapter 27

John let out a sigh as he sat at the console. He had managed to find a decent place to stay on Omega; it helped having a practically unlimited budget. Dr. Solus had been an interesting character, to say the least. It was the only individual John had made an effort to meet in person. He hadn't been planning on it, but after seeing a scientist on his list, John had to see if he would be more of a benefit than just being smart. Having someone who was just a scientist on board wouldn't be a bad thing, it would just help if he knew how to handle himself; and boy, did he ever. While scouting him out, John witnessed a group of Eclipse trying to hassle the doctor. Instead of backing down or doing what they wanted, Solus remained calm and then quickly pulled a gun out and fired a shot into each of the gang members. John was pretty sure Mordin Solus would be a good fit. Now, the only problem was that Dr. Solus was locked in some quarantine area and wouldn't be getting out in any forseeable future.

That left John with his next target: Archangel, the vigilante. John had heard several stories about what this person could do and had done, but any personal information was lacking; he couldn't even narrow down what species he was. Some said he was turian, others said human, one even said batarian. How am I going to find him? It seems the man only comes out when there is gang trouble. Well, I doubt I could play the damsel in distress… Maybe I could feed them some false info. Lure them out that way… John groaned silently, he didn't want to visit Aria but it was starting to look like he didn't have a choice.

He debated how he might approach the asari; he may have to throw his name out there just to be sure he didn't get killed. Before John could finish his plan, a message started to come through the console. Opening the communication, he saw that it was Joker. "Hey, man. How's it going? Sorry we didn't get to catch up before…" John's voice drifted off as he saw the pilot's expression.

"Have you heard anything?" Joker said in almost a panic.

"Heard anything about what?"

"Ah, shit…" Joker rubbed the back of his head

"What haven't I heard, Joker?" John snapped.

The man sat perfectly still. He took a deep breath and looked down, "I just got a communication that the Lazarus facility was under attack. No one knows how many got out."

John slumped in his chair. It felt like a hole had been punched through his chest, again. He pressed his hands into a face. He tried to take a deep breath but it got stuck in his throat. "What do you… What do you mean it got attacked? What happened?" his voice came out in a whisper.

"I don't think anyone really knows. It's suspected that it was an inside job."

"Do they know anything about Jane? Or what about Miranda? She would have to know something about what happened."

"No one has heard from her yet." Joker looked up at his friend. There was nothing to say. How could he reassure the man when he didn't feel confident about the situation at all? "John… I know that there is nothing I can– " he was interrupted by another ping of a message coming through. "Hold on, it's from another Cerberus facility." He opened the message and read through it quickly. "Looks like they need the Normandy at another facility, immediately. I'm not at liberty to say which one. You know, just in case someone is listening in." He looked at his friend, "Will you be ok?"

"I just… I can't…"

"I know. But we can't think that we lost her again. Look at it this way, if they are calling the Normandy somewhere. It's gotta mean that they want me to go to her. You know that Jane could thwart any attack. I'm sure she's okay."

John tried to believe his friend, but it was hard to stay confident after all that had happened. How many times would he lose his sister? I should have stayed at the facility. I shouldn't have left when they called me away. Why am I never in the right place to keep her safe?

"John…"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'll just… uh… keep working and hope for the best."

"I'll contact you as soon as I know something."

John nodded and ended the communication. He leaned over, feeling completely empty. Taking a deep breath, he pushed every bad thought out of his mind and stood up. Attaching his weapons, he left and headed towards the market district. He would keep to his job and find out what was going on with this Archangel character.

He browsed the first few stalls trying to judge their level of connection to the gangs. From what he gathered, most paid off one of the groups for protection and in some cases all three. No wonder it is so hard living here for most.

"We have several new weapons and mods, human," a turian growled as John began to walk past. "I can get you suited up enough to challenge the Blue Suns."

John stopped. "That's an awfully bold statement."

"It is. Especially since all three of the major groups have been buying up everything they can find."

"Why would they be doing that? Are they getting ready for a war with each other?"

The turian growled out a laugh, "Hardly. From what I hear they are doing a lot of hiring but it isn't to go up against each other."

"Then why are they recruiting so much?"

The merchant looked around and motioned for John to come closer. He brought out a few mods and laid them on the counter and starting pointing at various ones. At John's questioning gaze he waved again more insistently. In barely an audible whisper for John to pick up, the turian started talking, "Not many are willing to risk talking about this. But, as it turns out, they have that Archangel guy cornered. But, from what I hear, that turian is taking out everyone they send his way. I don't know when they started but my guess is that it has been at least a day."

"So, Archangel is a turian?"

"Yeah. My guess is some serious ex-military. There is no way he couldn't be. For him to bring together a group to challenge all the gangs of Omega, he must have some sort of charisma about him. And he would have to find people just as fucking crazy as he is."

"Is he recruiting in the midst of all this?"

"Heh, I doubt it. He had an amazing run, a couple of years. But he is on his way out now. Cornered by the Blue Suns, Eclipse, and the Blood Pack? There is no chance for him. The Savior of the Citadel couldn't get him out of this situation."

John half smiled, "I wouldn't put it past her to try anyway."

"Sounds like you know a bit about her."

"With how much they flash in the news of her, I don't see how anyone couldn't."

The turian nodded and leaned away, "So, which will it be?"

Grinning at the turian, John looked behind the man. He pointed to a few weapons and mods, "That, that and those… and if you could tell me where to sign up with the Blue Suns."

"What do you think happened to him?" Prazza asked.

Tali swallowed the lump in her throat, "I have no idea. Whatever it was, it must have been terrifying." What is going on in your head, Veetor? Besides the now missing quarian, they hadn't seen a single soul. What could be going on at these human colonies? If it were slavers wouldn't there be signs of a fight? And wouldn't Veetor be taken too? None of this made sense to her.

"Looks like we have inbound."

Tali looked over to the crew, "Any identification?"

Prazza looked her dead in the eye. "Looks like Cerberus."

"Keelah… just what we needed."

Jane gripped the handle as the shuttle landed. As the door opened, she held her breath, unsure what to expect. Taking the first step out, she looked around and saw a ghost town; the snow falling delicately on empty buildings. Not wanting to be unprepared, Jane pulled her weapon and walked forward. Entering the first domestic building, the lights flickered on to reveal forgotten meals and drinks but otherwise there wasn't a single item out of place.

"Looks like everyone just got up and left right in the middle of dinner," Jacob said.

He was right. This place was too eery.

"Strange, no bodies, no structural damage," Miranda started as they exited the building and moved in the open space between several homes. "No signs of battle."

Jane moved forward and opened the gate leading into another area. Across the platform, something moved. A LOKI mech stood upright. She ignored the commincations of her squad behind her and ran forward, sliding under cover. She fired a few shots into the mechs and already began to feel her biotics itching under her skin. After taking out the first two, it was getting harder to hold it back. Looking to the side, Jane saw a FENRIS mech heading towards Jacob with another few mechs behind it, keeping Jacob under cover. Taking a deep breath, she jumped out from cover and tried to unleash a biotic throw on the group. Just like before, her hand burned and a larger blast was unleashed, a shockwave of biotic energy pulsed towards the group and shattered them. Jacob got up and fired the last few shots needed for the FENRIS mech.

After finishing off the last one, Jacob and Miranda stepped out from cover. Jane was still rubbing her hand and wrist.

"Those mechs shouldn't have been hostile," Jacob said. "They should have recognized us as human."

Jane glared at the pair, Speak for yourselves, she thought bitterly.

"Someone reprogrammed them to attack on sight. We're not alone here."

"Shepard, are you alright?" Jacob asked as he stepped towards her. "Did they hit your firing hand?"

Keeping her eyes down, Jane shook her head and dropped her hands. "I'm fine. Let's keep moving."

They continued to move through the buildings, ever on their guard. Coming up to one door, Jane heard voices on the inside. Tightening her grip on the gun, she slowly moved forward. As the door slid open, she saw three quarians jump up and aim their guns at her. She saw Miranda and Jacob come up beside her.

"Stop right there!" a male quarian shouted.

A fourth quarian that Jane hadn't noticed moved into view. She didn't have her weapon drawn and her attention was on the male who spoke up. "Prazza! You said you'd let me handle this!" She placed her hand on his weapon and pushed it down.

That voice! Jane could feel every muscle in her relax.

The quarian woman turned with her hand outstretched, ready to address the newcomers. She opened her mouth and no words came out as she saw their leader. "Wait… Shepard?" she asked in disbelief.

"I'm not taking any chances with Cerberus operatives!" Prazza took a few steps forward and began to raise his gun again. The other two quarians were close behind him.

Tali looked at her team and raised her hand at them again. "Put those weapons down!" She turned to look at Jane again, "Shepard? Is that… You're alive?"

Jane holstered her weapon and heard Jacob do the same. She wanted to run to her friend and hug the first familiar thing she had seen. How do I convince her it's me? "Remember when I gave you that geth data, Tali? Did it help you complete your pilgrimage?"

"Yes, it did…" Tali said. But how could it be Shepard? She died. Does John know? "Prazza, weapons down. This is definitely Commander Shepard."

Jane took a half step forward to hug her friend but saw the almost imperceptible step back that Tali had taken. She may believe that I am me… but she still doesn't see me. Am I some kind of monster?

Prazza looked between Tali and Shepard. He didn't like it, but he put his gun away, "Why is your old commander working for Cerberus?"

"I… don't know," Tali shook her head. "Maybe we should ask…" she looked back at Jane. Even if she doesn't know about what happened between Cerberus and the Flotilla… She had seen some of the work that Cerberus did. Why would she work for them?

"Cerberus rebuilt me," Jane tried to keep her voice hard and emotionless, "but I'm not taking their orders." Trying to make her voice a little softer, she continued, "We can discuss the specifics once I know why you are here."

"One of our people was here on pilgrimage. His name was Veetor. We came to find him," Tali's voice became a little harsh at the end.

"Isn't that a little strange? A quarian visiting a remote human colony."

"Quarians can choose where they go on pilgrimage. Veetor liked the idea of helping a small settlement. He was always nervous in crowds."

Prazza spoke up, "She means that he was unstable. Combine that with damage to his suit's CO2 scrubbers and an infection from an open air exposure. And he's likely delirious."

Tali rolled her eyes at him, "When he saw us landing, he hid in a warehouse on the far side of town. We also suspect that he programmed the mechs to attack anything that moved."

"Veetor is the only one who can tell us what happened here," Jane said. She was being shunned by her friend and she didn't know how to deal with it. Being professional was the only thing she could fall back on for now. Professional… Maybe I could get Tali to join me again… "We should work together to find him."

"Good idea, you'll need two teams to get past the drones anyway."

"Now we're working with Cerberus?"

"No, Prazza, you're working for me. If you can't follow orders, go wait on the ship," she snapped at Prazza.

Wow, Tali has really come into her own leaderhip role, Jane thought.

Tali turned back to Shepard. "Head for the warehouse through the center of the colony. We'll circle around the far side and draw of some of the drones to clear you a path."

Jane peered over her shoulder at Jacob and Miranda then nodded at the team behind Tali, "Your people really don't like Cerberus. What did I miss?"

Prazza answered, "They killed our people. Infiltrated our Flotilla and tried to blow up one of our ships."

Miranda took a step forward, "That's not how I would have explained it exactly. It was nothing personal."

Jane narrowed her eyes at the woman. There was something about the cadence of Miranda's voice that Jane didn't like. She was about to reprimand Lawson when Jacob spoke up.

"We can argue over who killed who later. Right now, we've got a job to do."

"Agreed," Tali said. "We work together to get to Veetor."

"Make sure to keep in radio contact," Jane said.

"Will do," Tali nodded. She was having trouble accepting that Shepard was back, but it looked like even Jane was having trouble accepting it. "Good luck, Shepard. Whatever happens, it's good to have you back." Tali turned away from her once-friend, glad that she had a mask and hood to hide her emotions. How was she supposed to just accept that Jane was back? The few times I could get John to speak about it, he was destroyed at her loss and so was Joker. Joker had witnessed first hand Jane getting thrown away from the ship and he had been on the last functioning escape pod. How can she be real?

Tali followed her team, with Prazza in the front. They rounded a corner and a storage container opened, a flood security drones beginning to pour out. A small squadron eyed them before peeling off, "Be careful, Shepard," Tali warned, "there's a squad of security drones up ahead."

"Thanks for the warning," Jacob replied, "We'll take care of them."

She was a little confused why Jane didn't answer herself, but Tali knew that she hadn't given a very warm welcome. Lost in her thoughts, she quickly snapped out of it and noticed her team was moving farther ahead and at a faster pace than necessary. What are they doing? She jogged to keep up with them. "We should probably hold back a bit, wait for Shepard and her team." None of them answered. She then noticed Prazza look to his right and give a small nod. At his signal, they all sprinted forward towards the lot of warehouses. "No! Wait! We need her team!" They all ignored her, "Shepard! Prazza and his squad have rushed on ahead!" she said and in a panic as she tried her best to keep her fellow quarians in her sight. "I told them to wait but they wouldn't listen. They are going to find Veetor and take him away before you get here!"

They began clearing buildings as quickly as possible. Tali watched them move in a flurry of bodies and shook her head at them; they were all sacrificing safety just to get there before Shepard. Tali tried her best to keep up with them and watch their backs. They cleared the first area then began move into the next section.

She could barely hear Prazza shout an order to split up and check the warehouses. She rounded the corner and saw the other quarians run out of sight. "What's that sound?" she heard over her radio.

"It's a heavy mech! Fall back! Fall back!"

That was Prazza, Tali thought. "Warning, Shepard, we are inside the loading docks. Veetor reprogrammed the heavy mech. It's tearing Prazza's squad apart!" She searched the area and saw the doors, she only hoped Shepard was on the other side, "Get your squad into cover and I'll open the loading bay doors." Raising her omni-tool, Tali held her breath as she typed in the code and saw her people backing up as a mech followed them down the alley. Just as the doors opened, she looked over at her teammates and they began to sprint for her building. Just as before she ducked in, she saw the mech bring her into its sight.

Peeking around the corner, she saw the mech unload its guns on the team. It stomped on the female in red and the woman screamed out; she fell silent as it fired another several shots into her helmet. Tali shouted for them to join her in the building but they turned to fight it again. The mech looked around and fired a rocket which turned a sharp corner to blow up between them. She bit back a scream as she saw another one of her team fall backwards and then saw the dark-haired woman move up.

Quickly scanning for Shepard, Tali saw her moving up past her team. That was Shepard, putting herself at risk before her own team. Tali knew that she was out of range to fight and if she moved out of cover, she was likely to get blown up like the rest of the quarians she arrived with. Bullets flew as they whittled away at the mech's shields. Overloads shorted out part of its shields but it continued to move forward. The shields had only just dropped when it was almost on their position.

"Miranda! Jacob! Regain cover on my signal!" Jane shouted.

"And how do you propose we do that without ending up like your quarian friends?" Miranda snapped back.

"Now!" Jane rolled out of cover and dashed in front of a building. She stole a glance at her team and saw that they hadn't moved despite the mech's full attention being on her. "I'm not doing this for shits and giggles! Move!" She unleashed a few shots into the mech and threw a biotic warp. Finally, she saw the Cerberus operatives move and Jane dashed behind cover of her own just as a rocket blew up to her side.

That is a Shepard thing to do, Tali thought.

Miranda and Jacob gave it everything they had to take out its armor. Jane listened as the rapid fire of the mech's guns stopped and chanced a look to see it twitch as the armor was almost gone. It was almost on top of her now. She wasn't sure if they could take it out before it found her.

Taking a deep breath, Jane closed her eyes as the blue biotic field radiated around her. Pulling out another weapon, she spun out from cover. The mech focused on her and raised its gun again. Jane lowered her arms as energy built up around her. She unleashed it in a charge and slammed into the machine with a great biotic force. Grabbing its leg, she swung herself underneath it and ran several steps until she heard it begin to turn. She wasn't as far as she would like to be, but it would have to do; just as the machine turned and raised its weapon, Jane fired the grenade launcher, nailing the mech right in its center. The resulting explosion split it in half and flung Shepard back and through a crate.

"Shepard! Shepard! Wake up!" Jacob yelled as he rushed to her side.

"I'm fine," Jane groaned as she pushed herself upright. She looked over at the mech then up at Jacob and pushed away his helping arm. "And I was never knocked out. It wasn't that bad."

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Miranda demanded as she stepped in front of Shepard. "Do you think we just spent all that money on you to have you killed on the first mission?"

"Well, it didn't happen," Jane hissed, "So, I guess your investment is safe." She pushed past the woman and made for the building Tali was in.

Miranda jogged to block Jane's path and pushed on her shoulder to stop her movement, "Is this all a joke to you?"

"Is it to you?" Jane brushed the woman's hand off of her and kept walking.

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Jane rounded on the woman, "What the fuck did you do to me? Was I just your little science project that you could play with? You say that I was supposed to come back the same," she pointed in the direction of where she just fought the mech, "but I couldn't do that before. So, I will ask again, what the fuck did you to me?!"

Jacob stared at the two women and took a step back.

"You have always had that amount of biotic energy in you!" Miranda shouted back. "I didn't do anything but put the implant that was supposed to be installed in you. We didn't alter your biotic ability!"

"And what gave you the right to do that? I never wanted that!"

"It wasn't like I could ask you, Shepard. It is unbelievable the amount of energy that is in you. You were – are – adept! Hell, beyond adept! Why would you hide that power?"

Jane was silent and stared Miranda down. Several tense moments passed between them before Jane spoke, "You know nothing of my life so stay the hell out of it." Spinning on her heel, she made her way into the building to check on Tali.

Miranda stood in shocked silence and turned to look at Jacob when she felt his eyes still on her, "What?"

"She just woke up, you might want to take it a little easy on her."

"We don't have time to let her adjust."

"So throwing her into the fire makes that better?" Jacob asked, taking a cautious step forward.

"You think that I did alter her," it wasn't a question.

Jacob shrugged, "Not what I said."

"Yeah, but I know you, Jacob. And, no, I didn't modify her."

Jane stood still as the Illusive Man closed the vid conference. What did he mean he found a pilot I would like? He said one of the best and someone I can trust, the only person would be…

She heard footsteps behind her.

"Hey, Commander."

Jane turned around and saw the familiar grin.

"Just like old times, huh?"

"Oh my God! Joker!" Jane rushed forward and put her arms around him.

"Careful!" he wheezed out.

"Oh, sorry," Jane smiled.

"Hey now, don't start crying on me," he laughed. "It's good to see you too. Come on, follow me."

Jane walked beside him, unable to take her eyes off her old friend who didn't look at her any differently, "I can't believe it's you, Joker."

"Look who's talking, I saw you get spaced."

Jane could hear him trying to make a joke out of it, but the pain was evident in his voice. "Got lucky… with a lot of strings attached," she lowered her head when he turned the corner before her so he couldn't see her pain. "How did you get here?"

"It all fell apart without you, Jane. Everything you stirred up, the Council just wanted it gone. The team was broken up, records sealed and I was grounded." He shook his head at the thought, "The Alliance took away the one thing that mattered to me, hell yeah I joined Cerberus."

"You really trust the Illusive Man?"

"Well, I don't trust anyone who makes more than I do. Except you. But they aren't all bad… saved your life, let me fly, and there's this…"

Jane looked through the glass and felt the second smile come to her face as the lights flickered on. "She's beautiful," she sighed.

"Yeah, who knew she could ever be this shiny. It's good to be home, huh, Commander?"

She stood awkwardly in the doorway and looked around the room. It was her quarters, but it didn't feel like home yet. It was in a totally different area of the ship than before. Jane looked at the items on the desk and then over at the empty fish tank, Maybe I could do something with that… though, it seems a bit wasteful. Moving down the stairs, she looked over at the couch, it seemed like a good place to relax. She saw her armor locker and opened it to see a spare set of armor with all of the N7 logos. She turned to feel the texture of the bed; it seemed pretty good. She looked up and shivered at the window looking out into the vastness of space. Lowering her head, she took several breaths to keep her heart steady then shook her head. Now is not the time to fall apart.

Looking back at the doorway, she saw the private bathroom that she hadn't noticed before. Maybe now I can get a little relaxation. She started to take off her armor and hung it neatly in the locker. After all of the pieces were placed, she looked between the two sets. They were pretty similar despite the already worn appearance of one. Running her hand over the newest set, she nodded, I'll personalize it next time I get a chance. She placed her hand on the zipper of her undersuit but paused. Looking around, she brought up her omni-tool and scanned the area. After the notifications went off, she got to work.

"Commander, I request that you cease your current actions," EDI came to life as the blue orb.

"Sorry, EDI, but that's not going to happen. If I have to work with Cerberus, I will not be spied on in my own quarters."

"The Illusive Man only requests that –"

"Yeah," Jane said, shaking her head, "frankly, I don't care. I just want them out. And I plan on disabling you in here too."

"Very well," EDI didn't argue the point further. By the time Jane had finished deactivating the last camera, EDI spoke again, "I can walk you through deactivating my personal recording devices, if you wish."

Jane stopped and looked at the orb, "Why would you do that?"

"I am also here to assist you in any way I can so that you may efficiently complete your mission."

"Good point." After finishing the task, with a little help from the AI so it would go faster, Jane grabbed her zipper again. "Thanks, EDI. Um… dismissed." The blue orb winked out.

She tossed the undersuit next to the bed and made her way into the shower turning it up to scalding. Stepping under the water she sighed as the heat soaked into her skin. Two years… she stood under the water, losing herself to her thoughts. Everyone has moved on. I was just a blip on everyone's radar, but that's okay… I guess. I never wanted to be a big deal. Now, I'm just a thing of the past. Still, I wish they would just come back. I want my old life back. I never thought I would say that, she forced out a chuckle.

Joker is back. It really was good to see him again. John is working for Cerberus but apparently out on assignment and unreachable. Both the Illusive Man and Joker told me that one. Liara is on Illium and working for the Shadow Broker of all people? How the hell did that happen? At least Wrex is doing what he said he would, and apparently hasn't even gone offworld in over a year. Kaidan is still with the Alliance. Out on some incredibly classified mission and has been promoted, well, good for him; he's making a good life. Tali wouldn't even come with me. She looked at me like I was something terrible and unnatural… Who's to say I'm not, though? The Illusive Man didn't seem to keen on me having her around anyway though.

And Garrus… he disappeared. No one has heard from him since a few weeks after I died. Oh, Garrus, where did you go? Please be alive… somewhere. Please come back to me. Ugh… there was so much that I never told you, and now you are gone, well, just like I was.

Now, we are heading to Omega, at least that was the last location of John. Maybe, if we are lucky,we can get to him before anything bad happens to him.

She let out a heavy sigh and ran her hand over her scalp. Her hair abruptly ended and Jane snapped her eyes open. She ran her hand over it again, and again, and again. The length wasn't what she remembered. They cut my hair… they cut it! It's so much shorter! She tried to pull it over her shoulder but it wouldn't come into her sight. Looking down, she craned to see it but stopped; something else was missing.

"No… no, no, no!" she ran her hands all over her skin. "Where are they? Where did they go?" She stared at her stomach, her raven was gone. "No! All of my tattoos! Gone! How could hey be gone?" She rushed over to the mirror. She turned and turned and craned her neck, clawing at her back. "NOOOOOO!" she screamed. She collapsed on the floor. Her arms clung tightly to her chest and stomach. "Why…" she whispered and bit back the tears threatening to brim.

Joker yawned as he leaned back in his chair. After readjusting his hat to cover his eyes, he placed his chin on his chest. He couldn't fall asleep in his room. It was still too new and strange. In the old Normandy, he often just slept in his chair, and that chair wasn't nearly as comfortable as the one he had now.

Despite the extra comfort though, his mind was still running. As soon as Jane was on board and Joker got a chance, he tried to contact John but had no luck. Something had to be going on with the other Shepard on Omega; and that wasn't good news. That alone had been hard enough to tell Jane. Joker could tell that she was struggling to hold everything together. Maybe with some rest she would be a little more like herself. Rest, yeah like she was so willing… he chuckled to himself. When he told her to get some sleep, she scoffed at the idea and replied with "I think I have done enough sleeping lately." Either way, he was pretty sure she was mentally exhausted from the day and may not have much choice in how her body reacted.

Just as Joker was beginning to dose off, the blue orb appeared next to him, "Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau. I require your attention."

He jumped and glared at the hologram, "Ship-cancer… that's all you are," he muttered. "What do you want at this time of night? Going to tell me that I am not allowed to nap up here?"

"That is not the reason for this interaction. Commander Shepard requires assistance."

Joker paused and turned towards the AI, "What do you mean? Is she awake? Did she ask for me to come up?"

"She is awake but unresponsive to my inquiries. The most likely conclusion I could arrive at is that she was having a nightmare and is now having a panic attack."

Without a second thought, he got up out of his chair and moved as fast as he could with his faulty legs to the elevator. His fingers tapped at his side as he waited for it to move. "Why did you call me? Why not Miranda?"

"Given your history and friendship with the Commander, I surmised that you were the most logical conclusion."

The door opened to Shepard's floor. "Thank you," Joker said without the slightest hint of contempt for the computer, it had helped this time. "Um, be on standby… just in case. And don't record any of this."

"Commander Shepard has already disabled my cameras and listening devices. I was only able to observe this occurrence because the ship is in danger."

"The ship?" his question was soon answered as the door opened. His mouth dropped open and his own panic began to rise. Jane was sitting in the middle of her bed, her screams filling the room and her eyes transfixed on the window looking out into space. Her hands clutched at her skull, her hair twisted between her fingers. Joker realized the danger that she posed when he noticed the blue energy pulsing around her; sometimes it would fade other times it would flare into rich blue flames curling around her. He moved forward, shouting her name, "Jane! Jane! You're okay! Snap out of it! Jane!"

She continued to scream and her biotics grew, arching out before coming back in.

"Jane! Listen to me! It's Joker!" He reached her bedside and paused, unsure what to do or if touching her would only make it worse, "Please, Jane, listen… You are fine. You are not spaced." Steeling his nerves, he outstretched his hands and placed them on her elbows despite feeling the burn from the pressure of her biotics against his skin. "Jane!" She continued to scream. He didn't even think about his next action as he moved his hands up to cup her face.

She sucked in a breath at his touch and snapped her head down to look at him. The blue flames winked out and she began to hyperventilate. "Oh god… Joker… I couldn't breathe. I couldn't breathe," she whispered in hushed panic.

"You're okay. You're safe." He removed his hands. They hadn't been down for more than a second before she hugged him.

Her breaths were coming in sobs now but she refused to shed a tear. "I thought it was all happening again…" she hugged him tightly. "How did you know?"

"The AI told me," he said as calmly as he could despite the pressure she was putting on his bones. Wrapping his own arms around her, he waited for her to speak again.

Several long moments passed before she had regained enough control to speak again, "How do you know I am the same person?"

"Of course you are. How could you not be?"

She was quiet for several moments, "I'm not so sure… I don't know this body. It feels different. My biotics are stronger, I don't know how to control them. I don't have my tattoos anymore… not a single one. I don't even have any of my old scars."

Joker sighed and looked up at the ceiling. He knew every tattoo that she had held a piece of her past and who she was, and now that those were all gone, he could understand why she would question herself. "I just know that you are the same Jane Shepard I have always known, whether or not you do or don't have scars or tattoos."

"I should be dead. Why am I here?" Her voice shook.

He hugged her a little tighter, "Because we can't do this without you."