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ME2: Resurrection of the Lost Race
Chapter 28: On the Outside Looking In

"Good Morning, Commander." I heard Samara say as I grabbed a cup of coffee. "How did your mission fair on Bekenstien?"

"Good. Well…" I turned to her. "It could have been better; could have been a lot worse too." I half laughed.

"In our line of work, nothing goes according to plan."

I let out an accidental snort. "You're telling me. Please, sit." I said as we both walked over to a table. "If you don't mind me asking, what is the relationship between you and Zaeed? You two seem to be quite close."

"We are friends. I enjoy his company."

"Just friends?" I smirked.

"Just friends." Samara nodded. "There can be nothing more."

I frowned. "What? Why?"

"I serve a code stronger and deeper than any feelings, Shepard. If we survive our mission, my oath to you ends. I will be bound by the Code again. That makes a relationship impossible."

"I understand that you've kept tight control for a long time. But... doesn't everyone need love? Not that I'm saying you and Zaeed are in love. But-"

"Shepard," Samara raised her hand. "I have the strength to withstand my own drives."

"I know, but the galaxy won't end if you find a little bit of happiness."

"That's just it. I am happy. I am enjoying the company of the people here on the Normandy, including Mr. Massani."

I let out a sigh and took a sip of my coffee. "Maybe one day, things will be different."

"Perhaps." Samara took a sip of the tea she had been nursing. "How is Kasumi?"

"I haven't checked in on her this morning, but I think she will be okay."

"Zaeed told me what had happened. I was hoping she would like my company."

"I am sure she would appreciate it, Samara. Thank you."

After I finished my coffee with the beautiful Justicar, I decided to do my morning rounds before heading to the Citadel to spend the remainder of the day with Dad. My first stop was to check in on Kasumi.

The door light to the lounge was green, which indicated that she was awake. I knocked on the door and then carefully walked in. She was lying on the couch with a book in her hand.

"Hey," I said softly as I approached her.

"Hey Shep," she said sadly.

"How are you feeling?"

"Wanting to disappear forever."

I sat down on the edge of the couch and placed my hand on her back. "I'm sorry, but this will get better."

"How can it? It feels like my heart has been ripped out of my chest and crushed into a million pieces."

"I know."

Kasumi looked up at me as tears swelled in her eyes. "I miss him."

"I know," was the only thing I could say as I ran my hand through her hair.

Kasumi sat up and wiped the single tear that fell from her cheek. "This was the last thing he gave me." She handed me the book.

The Velveteen Rabbit.

"This must be very special to you."

"I've never read it." Kasumi admitted. "I wanted Keiji to read it with me, but- we never got the chance to do it."

"I've never read it either." I then handed the book back to her. "Say, why don't we make a night for this?"

"What?"

"Invite who you want and we will meet here to read it. That book symbolizes Keiji's love for you. And what better way to make a special memory than to share that with your friends? It will be a memory no one can steal from you."

Kasumi let out a sobbing laugh. "I love that idea."

"Alright then," I said with a cheerful tone as I patted her knee. "Just let me know when you want to do it."

Kasumi ran her hand over the cover of the book. "Thanks, Shep."

"Anytime."

After checking in with Miranda and Dr. Chakwas, I made my way to the Main Battery to see the love of my life. When I walked in, I noticed that he was at the weapons station calibrating his assault rifle.

"Good morning," I said with a smile as I walked over to him.

He looked at me and then looked away without saying a word.

"You're mad at me." I sighed.

"You're damn right I'm mad at you." He growled as he slammed his fist on the weapons table. "You never listen to me. How am I supposed to keep you safe if I'm not there?! Damn it, Kate! You left me behind... again!"

"We've been through this! If those mercs recognized you, it would have-"

"You already gave me that lame excuse. I don't need to hear it again!"

I looked at Garrus for a moment and then let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, Garbear. If I had known there would have been trouble at Hock's mansion, I would have brought you. But you have to understand that you can't be with me every mission I'm on. You're going to have to trust the rest of the crew to have my back as well as yours."

Garrus stayed silent for a moment before he looked at me. "I trusted Sidonis and Kaidan. Look how that ended."

I grabbed his hand. "I know it's hard. Trust is something that has to be earned. But the crew can't earn your trust if you can never give them the chance." I then ran my hand over his cheek. "Zaeed and Kasumi watched my back as I watched theirs."

"I know." Garrus let out a sigh. "I'm just used to seeing things differently. I grew up with a father that demanded so much. He was always telling you it's either this way or that way. It's so much easier to see the world in black and white, Kate. Gray... I don't know what to do with gray."

"You can start by trusting those around you." I wrapped my arms around him.

Garrus placed his cheek on top of my head. "I'm just so damn worried you're going to die on me again."

"Never." I smiled. "There's no Shepard without Vakarian."

After we broke our embrace, Garrus ran his hand through my hair. "Speaking of trust, I want to thank you again for helping me with Sidonis. It probably wasn't easy for you to see me like that."

"I would do anything for you, you know that."

"I want to show you something." Garrus walked over to his cot and pulled out a small long box. "I was waiting to show this to you before I put it on."

I raised a brow as he brought the box over to the weapons station and set it down.

"Garrus, that's amazing." I smiled as he pulled out a beautiful visor. "Is it to replace your old one?"

"Yes," He flipped the visor over so I could see the side of it. "What do you think?" I let out a tiny gasp as I saw carved names into the piece. 'Kate, Tali, Wrex, Liara, Solana, Lilihierax, Ashley'. Ashley's name had a tiny cross by her name, indicating that she was deceased.

"Garrus." I was speechless.

"It's a reminder of why I'm out here fighting. Not only to save this galaxy from psychopath bug robots, but to fight for everyone I care about."

"Why do you have Ash's name on here?"

"It's a reminder of her sacrifice; so that I can continue to fight in her name."

"It's beautiful." I smiled.

"There is plenty of room to add more names, but for now these seven are the most important to me." Garrus took his old visor off and placed it in the box. Then he clicked on the new one. "How do I look?"

"Sexy as ever," I smiled as the blue display lit up.

Garrus ran his hand across my cheek, sending shivers down my back. "Whatever happens with the Collectors or the Reapers or whoever else comes after us, I know we'll stop them and that we'll get the job done, no matter the cost."

"Whoever else? You actually think we'll find something worse than Collectors or Reapers?"

Garrus shrugged. "I like to expect the worse. There's a small chance I'll be pleasantly surprised."

"Uh huh." I said with a smirk. "But I'm glad you're here. I don't think I could have done all this without you."

"Sure you could. Not as stylishly, of course. But, seriously..." He grabbed my hand. "There's nobody in this galaxy I respect more than you. I'm proud of you, Kate. You have sacrificed so much to keep everyone happy, including me."

I smiled as he brought me in for a hug. I had to admit, it was nice to feel his embrace. Damn, I love this Turian.

Once I said goodbye to Garrus, I made my way to Engineering. I didn't see Tali, so I just waved to Gabby and Ken and then made my way down to the sub-deck to see Jack.

"Good morning," I said with a smirk. "How's my pirate?"

"Shepard, glad you came down!" Jack jumped up from her cot. "I need to talk to you."

"I'm all ears."

"You know I have a history with Cerberus. Do you know how far back it goes?" Jack asked as she sat down on the right side staircase.

"I'm guessing you were young."

"Your pal, the Illusive Man? Never seen him before, but Cerberus raised me. First thing I remember is my cell door in a Cerberus base. They did experiments. Drugged me. Tortured me. Whatever chance I had to be normal, they stole it by trying to turn me into some super-biotic. The doctors, the other kids... Every one of them hated me. They let me suffer."

I could see the emotion on Jack's face. "What did they hope to gain by torturing a little girl?"

"It was something about pain breaking down mental barriers, and how it might clear the way for a more biotic power. I'm sure there was a payoff due at some point, but I wasn't going to see it. I was wired up in a cell."

I sat down next to Jack. "So they tortured you just to see if they could make a strong biotic? That's it?" I shook my head. "Why am I not surprised?"

"All I know is, a little girl crying in a cell, begging for the pain to stop..."

"And one day it did." I said softly. "How did you get out of there?"

"There was some kind of emergency and I made a break for it. The other kids came out of their cells and attacked me. So did the guards." Jack leaned forward. "I just killed everything in my way and ran. I guess my biotics had developed faster than they thought. Once I escaped the facility, I managed to get a shuttle off the ground. Drifted until pirates picked me up. The crew used me, then sold me." Jack stood up from the steps. "That's my uplifting escape story."

I stood as well. "So there were other kids in the base?"

"Yeah, but I didn't know much about them. I was kept separate. They hated me, just like everyone else there. I'm just not sure why."

"Trying not to defend them, but are you sure it was Cerberus? I came across a few facilities that were run by ExoGeni. Although, I don't think they would kidnap kids for their experiments."

"I was a kid, but I wasn't dumb. I know how to listen. It was Cerberus. Don't care how far down the chain it was. Those bastards thought they were so clever. Turns out, mess with someone's head long enough and you can turn a scared kid into an all-powerful bitch." Jack snorted. "Fucking idiots."

"Alright, Jack. I'll go see if I can get some answers from TIM for you. Although, I wouldn't get your hopes up."

"Your right, he'll just deny everything. That's not what I'm after anyways." Jack said as she walked over to her cot and picked up a data pad.

"Oh?"

"I found the coordinates in your files. I want to go the Teltin facility on Pragia, where they tortured and drugged me. I want to go to the center of my place, my cell. I want to deploy a big fucking bomb, and watch from orbit when it goes!"

I raised my hands. "I understand your hatred for Cerberus, Jack. Really, I do. But attacking our allies is going to derail our mission. We need all the help we can get if we're going to defeat the Collectors. This wouldn't be a smart move to make."

"Relax, Shepard. The files say it was shut down after my escape. It's been abandoned for years. I don't think they're going to care if I blow up a garbage dump."

I thought for a moment and then nodded. "Alright, Jack. Let's go blow up a Cerberus facility."

Jack smirked. "Now you're talking."

"We'll leave tomorrow as soon as R&R is over."

"Thanks, Shepard. I owe you one." Jack said as she sat down on her cot.

"Since this is your mission, is there anyone in particular you would like to come with us?" I asked.

"Does it look like I fucking care who comes? I just want-" She paused. "Actually let's bring the cheerleader."

"You want Miranda to come with us?"

"That bitch needs to see firsthand what Cerberus did to me."

"Alright, I'll see if she wants to come. I'll talk to you later."

"Yep."

I walked up the stairs and out of Engineering. I then made my way to the cargo bay to check in on Grunt.

When I entered, I noticed he was sitting on a bench with his eyes closed.

"Grunt?"

His eyes opened and he turned to look at me. "Shepard."

"What are you doing?"

"I am channeling my feelings."

"Channeling your feelings?"

"The asari onboard has taught me the way to control myself when I am on Normandy. You know, so that I don't... destroy things."

"Is it working?"

"Sometimes." He stood up from the bench and walked over to me. "Thank you, Shepard. Because of you, I have a clan." He then laughed. "Urdnot Grunt. I like it. Makes me want to fight, not just able to." Grunt began to pace. "Wrex should have killed Uvenk. When he took the quarian, I wanted to disembowel him! To tear out his spine like a trophy!"

I crossed my arms. "Grunt, are you telling me that you have feelings for Tali?"

"What?" Grunt grave me an odd look. "She is part of my krantt. No one messes with my krantt!"

My smile turned big. "I'm glad to hear that."

"Now that I have a place as a krogan, and not just a tank bred, I like it. Our enemies are in trouble, Shepard. And we better not run out of targets."

I laughed. "There's no danger of that. They're practically lining up."

"Ha!" Grunt slammed his fists together. "Everyone gets a turn. Wouldn't want it any other way."

I patted my baby krogan on his lower arm before making my way out of the cargobay. Zaeed's door was red, indicating he was still asleep so I made my way down to the shuttle bay. I noticed Tali right away working on the mech we had picked up on Taitus. Also, Legion was with her.

"Good Morning you two," I said as I approached them.

"Shepard Commander, good morning." Legion said. "We are helping Creator Tali'Zorah on her mech project."

"I see," I smiled. "Did you find anything useful at the scrap yard?"

"Yes," Tali said. "Hopefully I can get this thing somewhat operational here in the next week."

Just then a tennis ball with a lace of slime rolled passed me and hit Legion's foot. Legion picked up the ball and threw it. I watched as Urz chased after it, chewed on it for a moment, then brought it back to Legion.

"I see Urz is making some new friends."

"I don't know why, but Urz is fascinated with Legion." Tali said with a happy tone. "Which is good for me, because I wouldn't get any work done."

"Well keep up the good work, Tali. I'll talk to you later. You too, Legion."

"Enjoy your day, Shepard Commander." Legion said as he threw the ball again.

I spent the remaining morning and afternoon on the Citadel with Dad. We knew full well that if TIM succeeded on finding a way through the Omega 4 relay, I may not be coming back.

I entered my cabin at 1700 and threw my N7 hoodie on my couch. Then I sat down at my desk and started to read my unread messages.

From: Executor Chellick

Commander, I didn't want to bring this up last night, due to the fact I don't believe in work talk when we're all on R&R.

I was visited by a salarian and an asari a few days ago. They had asked to join C-Sec. The salarian told me that you had sent him here from Illium. His tech skills are quite impressive, and I'm sure as hell won't deny an asari who wants to join the cause.

I just thought you would like to know that they both will start C-Sec training within the month. Thank you for allowing them to have a second chance. Joining Eclipse would have been such a waste.

Good luck, Commander.
And as always, watch Garrus's back. He seems to get shot at more these days. But then again, he's getting old.

~Chellick

I was happy the salarian and asari made the right choice. Chellick was right. Being a part of Eclipse probably would have been a waste of their talent.

From: Alexander Timothy Mills
Cadet -First Class- Vancouver, Earth

Hello, Commander!

I just wanted to drop you a line and tell you that I'm doing great. I'll start training here in Vancouver in a week. I took this test and it seems like my best skills are in mechanics and enginnering. Of course, I'm not surprised since I worked in the mining facility on Zorya my whole life.

I have my Normandy pin on my cadet suit and I think about you guys every day. Even a few cadets have asked about the Normandy and the great Commander Shepard. Don't worry, I made you look good.

Be safe out there, and once you get done kicking the Collectors in the butt, maybe I can take you out for a drink. Oh, and tell Old Man and Garrus I said hello.

All the best,
Alex

I smiled as I forward the message to Zaeed and Garrus. After spending a few minutes writing Alex back, I read my next message.

From: Shaman Urdnot

Damn it, I hate writing these damn things.

Commander, it is my place as Shaman to tell you that you are now part of Grunt's krannt. You are his leader, so keep him alive. Krogan have always valued survival over tradition. If we are going to survive as a people, we need your vat-grown Grunt. Okeer was a madman, but he was a madman with a plan, and that's more than most have on this ball of rock.

So bring him back from your damn mission.

With that being said, it is an honor to know you, Commander.
Don't get killed out there...

~Shaman of Clan Urdnot

From: Consort Sha'ira

Commander,

I thought that my gift of words had been incorrect, an embarrassing notion, but my contacts tell me you yet live. I am pleased to hear that your journey continues, though I sense that you head toward an even deeper darkness. When you fought Saren, only your resolve was tested, but now I fear you cannot rely only on your own strength. Take whatever steps you must to ensure that those battling at your side fight with clear minds and glad hearts. Especially the one who has been at your side since the beginning.

Be well,
Consort Sha'ira

I leaned back against my chair and closed my eyes. I remembered what Sha'ira told me.

"But there is someone who wants to share those burdens with you, even if he doesn't know it yet. The one who will always be at your side, no matter what obstacles block your path.

I let out a snort. Even Sha'ira knew that Garrus and I were meant to be together.

Pragia:
Orbital Distance: 1.3 AU
Orbital Period: 1.5 Earth Years
Keplerian Ratio: 0.976
Radius: 5,137 km
Day Length: 29.6 Earth Hours
Atm. Pressure: 0.84 atm
Surface Temp: 54 C
Surface Gravity: 0.08 g
Mass: 0.56 Earth Masses
Planet Type: Garden
Satellites: N/A

The jungle-planet Pragia is overrun by choking hypergrowth caused by industrially mutated plant species. This, combined with its relative isolation and lack of population, has made Pragia an occasional base of operations for drug runners, weapons smugglers, pirates, mercenaries, terrorists, and intelligence agents seeking secrecy. Sustained habitation on Pragia is extremely difficult; mutant and even poisonous plant life can overgrow colonies in days instead of years.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" I asked Donnelly as I watched a few of the engineers load up the large bomb.

"Of course it will work, I designed it."

"That doesn't make me feel any better." I frowned.

"It will work, Commander." Daniels smiled as she walked up to me.

"Yeah, but does it have to be so... big?" I gulped. "Reminds me of the bomb we exploded on Virmire."

"Jack said she wanted a 'big fucking bomb', who am I to disagree with her?" Donnelly shrugged.

"Tali," I called over my quarian. As she stood next to me, I grabbed her arm and whispered. "Please make me feel better and tell me this damn thing is safe."

"It's safe." Tali reassured. "The only way it can be detonated is by the detonation control button.

"And where is that?"

"I've given it to Jack."

I went pale. "Tali, I don't think-"

"Tee hee," Tali giggled. "Just kidding." She then handed me the device.

"Shepard Commander," Legion said as he approached me. "We expect a 95.153% chance of survival on your mission. To reach 96.998%, we recommend you bring Urz."

Tali squeed. "That's a great idea, Legion. Shepard, you should bring Urz. He hasn't been off this ship since Tuchanka."

I let out a sigh.

"Commander," Borris called from the Kodiak. "The bomb is loaded and secured. We're ready for departure."

The Kodiak bounced left and right as we entered Pragia's atmosphere.

"I forgot how much I hate this place." Jack complained. "The landing pad has to be on the roof, or the vegetation would overgrow it in a few hours."

"Commander," Borris called from the shuttle. "I am picking up thermal signatures everywhere, except for the landing zone."

"Odd." I lifted a brow. "Something must be distorting the sensors."

"This was a secret Cerberus facility," Miranda pointed out.

"Yeah," Jack said as she patted Urz on the head. "They build their equipment to last. Assholes."

"It's probably nothing, Borris. Land the shuttle at the coordinates." I ordered.

"Aye, Commander."

Jack bit her lip. "Maybe it was a mistake coming here."

"No way in hell," I looked at her. "We are going to blow this place to hell. Right?"

Jack let out a sigh. "Right. Okay. Let's do this."

Borris landed the shuttle a minute later. When the Kodiak doors opened, I sheltered my eyes as a flash of lighting lit the sky.

"Lovely weather." I said.

"It rains here all the time," Jack said as she walked off the Kodiak.

"Borris, stay here with the bomb until I give the signal that the facility is clear."

"Aye, Commander."

Rain bounced off my armor as we made our way down a few staircases and finally into the abandoned building.

"You never would have guessed this was a Cerberus facility," I said as I looked at the large tree sprouting from inside the room.

"The Cerberus emblem." Miranda said as she walked over to a large container.

"Yeah, I think they brought new kids in those things. They were messed up and starving, but alive. Usually." Jack said in a low tone. "Although, I don't remember this room."

I watched as Miranda ran her hand over a control switch on one of the containers and it hissed open. It was empty, but it was obvious that it was made to ship live cargo. Perhaps Jack was right.

Rain trickled from the ceiling as we made our way down a large ramp where more vegetation had grown. Urz sniffed his way down to a container and then growled at it.

"What is it, Boy?" I asked as I opened the container.

I let out a gasp as a pile of small bones laid in the back of the storage container. I was guessing the remains was a child no less than the age of four.

"Damn it." I sighed.

"Shepard, I found something." Miranda said. "Some kind of audio recording."

"Play it." I ordered.

"The Illusive Man requested operation logs again. He's getting suspicious."

"When we get results, he won't care what we did. But if he knew..."

"He won't find out."

"Contact the batarains and have them send us another dozen."

"Sounds like this facility went rogue." Miranda said.

"Hah. You would like to think that, wouldn't you, Cheerleader?" Jack snorted.

"Shepard, we should find out what happened here and what they were hiding from the Illusive Man."

"No," Jack growled. "I didn't come here for an investigation. I came here to plant a fucking bomb in my cell and watch this place burn."

"And we will," I looked at Miranda. "This is Jack's mission, we're not going to interfere."

"Shepard..."

"If we find out anything else on our way to Jack's cell, then we can download it. But this place gets blown up."

Miranda let out a groaning sigh as we continued our way into the facility.

"I remember escaping to this room," Jack said as we entered a dark room. "There was fighting here. I remember sunlight though the cracks in the ceiling. It was a hot day, right after a powerful rainstorm."

"You remember fighting?" I asked.

"Yeah. Only a half-dead guard between me and my freedom. He was begging for his life." Jack smirked. "I killed him."

"Of course you did." I sighed.

Just then Urz began to growl, his teeth showing as hair on his back began to rise. Then, he took off.

"Urz! Urz!" I yelled as I rushed after him. I quickly stopped as I saw a pack of varren surrounding him.

"Take them out." I yelled at Miranda and Jack. It wasn't long before the pack of varren fell dead to the floor and Urz came running up to Jack panting happily.

"Keep an eye out for more varren," I warned as we continued to make our way through the room.

"Hmmm, I remember this." Jack said as she pointed to a large worn out white circle on the floor. "The ring."

"The ring?" I lifted a brow.

"They used to stage fights here. Pit me against the other kids." Jack said as she knelt down and ran her hand over the washed out white line. "I loved it. Only time I ever enjoyed being out my cell."

"What were they studying?" I asked mostly to myself.

"Maybe that's how they got their kicks." Jack said as she stood.

"That or some sort of biotic testing." Miranda chimed in.

"I never understood anything that happened here." Jack commented.

"How often did they do this?" I asked.

"I don't remember really. I was in that damn cell for my whole life. Sometimes they took me out and made me fight. Filled me with drugs, other stuff. Time gets funny in a cell, Shepard."

"Did the other children die in these fights?" Miranda asked.

"I was a kid, filled with drugs. I got shocked when I hesitated. Narcotics filled my veins when I attacked." Jack's tone was disturbing.

"I take that as a yes then." Miranda said.

"So these bastards actually rewarded you when you attacked? That's sick."

"I still get warm feelings when I fight." Jack smirked.

I shook my head as I clicked my pistol. "Come on, let's get going. The sooner this place blows up, the better I'll feel."

We made our way into a long hallway that was somewhat flooded from the constant rain. It wasn't until we got to the end of the passageway when I saw a security console blinking the colors of red and green.

"An active console," I said as I placed my pistol in my holster. "Let's see if we can get access." It only took me a few minutes before a holographic image of a security officer appeared in front of me.

"Security Officer Zemkl, Teltin Facility. The subjects are out of their cells. They're tearing the place up!" I could hear screaming and explosions in the background of the recording. "Subject Zero is going to get loose. I need permission to terminate. I repeat, permission to terminate!"

"Permission denied. All subjects besides Zero are expendable. Keep her alive. That's an order!"

"Understood, Sir. I'll begin the-" Jack walked over to the console and pushed the button to shut off the recording.

"This isn't right." Jack said as she turned to me. "I broke out when my guards disappeared. I was the one that started the riot."

"Maybe there was something you didn't see, Jack." I looked at the console. "I highly doubt this footage was messed with."

"The other kids attacked me. The guards attacked me. The automated systems attacked me." Jack growled as she took a step closer to me. "That doesn't leave lots of room for interpretation."

"But you were just a child, Jack. In your eyes, it would seem that everyone was attacking you." Miranda stated.

"I didn't ask for your opinion, Cheerleader!"

"Jack," I raised my hands. "Calm down. Obviously there was something more going on than you thought. Maybe we should take Miranda's idea and search for some more clues."

Jack began to pace and then fisted her hand. "Fine, fine! I just want to get the hell out of this place."

Jack walked into another room as I turned to Miranda.

"Download anything and everything that you can get a hold of on this facility. I want to know what the hell happened here."

"Aye, Commander."

"Shepard," Jack called out as I walked through a door and into a long staircase hallway. "This place is supposed to be empty."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The two varren over in that corner. Bullet wounds, fresh kills."

I grabbed my pistol. "Stay sharp."

We carefully made our way down the staircase and into a large room that looked like some sort of dining area. Urz sniffed his way past me then began to growl and yip.

"There, by the window!" Miranda pointed. "Vorcha."

"And a fucking krogan to the left!" Jack yelled as she took cover.

"Blood pack. What the hell are they doing here?"

"Doesn't matter!" Jack yelled as she stood up. "No one is getting in my way."

Jack released a biotic shockwave, causing the vorcha to dodge out of the way.

"Kill them!" The krogan yelled.

I watched Urz attack a vorcha as Miranda used her overload to cause another vorcha, who had a flamethrower, to exploded.

"I will destroy you!" Jack cried out as she picked up another vorcha with her biotics and threw him through a window.

It wasn't long before all the vorcha and the singleton krogan were defeated.

"Shepard to Borris, keep the Kodiak under lock and key. We have a squadron of Bloodpack mercs running around here."

"Aye, Commander. Should I call for backup?"

"No, I think we'll be fine. Just stay put until you hear from me. Shepard out." I bent down to see if Urz was injured. "Any ideas on why the Bloodpack is here?"

"Perhaps a hideout?" Miranda suggested. "Perfect place for slave trading or red sand dealings."

"Or they're after some sort of equipment." I added.

"Yes," Miranda nodded. "A lot of children died here. Even then, they were part of the experiment at this facility. Perhaps the Bloodpack is trying to get their hands on some sort of technology that was used here."

"Who fucking cares!" Jack growled as she made her way to the far door. "I just want to blow up this place."

"No argument here." I said with a nod as we made our way into a long hallway.

"Aaaaggh!" Yelled a vorcha as we entered a long hallway. "Kill them all!"

"Up there on that balcony." Jack pointed.

"There's only two," Miranda said. "I'll take care of them."

Miranda used her biotics to lift the vorcha up and then slam them into each other and then into opposite ends of the building walls.

"Good job." I nodded as I looked at Urz who was sniffing his way into a small room.

I looked down the hallway and noticed there were five rooms on each side. I walked into one and saw that there were two sets of bunkbeds, a toilet, a sink, and a small toybox.

"My god," Miranda gasped as she stood next to me. "This is where they kept the children? This room is smaller than a normal size bathroom!"

"What's wrong, Cheerleader? Can't stomach the fact that your precious Cerberus could do this?"

"There is no way the Illusive Man would ever have accepted this."

"Fuck, you really are blind, aren't you?" Jack snarled. "This is a Cerberus facility, Sweet cheeks! Your Illusive Man knew about this just as much as he knew about Shepard and trying to kill her on Akuze."

Miranda ran her hand through her hair and then quickly turned around as we heard snarling noises.

"Varren." I said just as Urz ran out of a room.

They were easy to take out, since there was only three of them. I patted Urz on the head, and then looked at Jack and Miranda. "Come on, let's go."

Jack walked through the door as I turned to see Miranda staring into one of the small rooms.

"Miranda." I said softly.

She looked at me for a moment before letting out a sigh.

"This... is a two way mirror?" I heard Jack say as Miranda and I entered the room she was in.

The room we were in had two floors. We were on the top floor that over looked some sort of indoor playground with swings, picnic tables, and a jungle gym.

Jack looked at me. "My cell is on the other side. I could... I could see all the other kids out here, playing."

"But they never saw you?"

"I thought they did. I remember screaming at them for hours, but they always ignored me."

I wiped the dark smudge off the window, and saw my reflection. "What was the point of isolating you?" I turned to Jack.

"To see how powerful she can become." Miranda said. "Anger can lead to an outbreak. Imagine what force would be unleashed if that person was a powerful biotic."

"So they were poking the bear?" I lifted a brow.

Miranda nodded.

"It feels so strange to be back here." Jack said as she looked at the playground below. "I feel like... I'm pissed off. I'm a dangerous bitch. But then I'm a little girl again." I knew how she felt, but I wasn't going to say anything. "Shit, this is so complicated. Let's go plant that fucking bomb and get the hell out of here."

"Wow," I let out a gasp as we entered a room. "This is quite different from the other places we have seen."

"I must have come through here when I broke out, but I don't remember it." Jack admitted.

"Shepard," Miranda said as she walked over to table that had old scattered papers on it. "This is where they did experiments on Jack."

"How do you know?"

"A wild guess." Miranda shrugged.

I turned to look at Jack who was running her hand over a chair that was in the middle of the room.

"I remember." Jack looked at me. "This is where they tortured me. Where they put drugs in me." She paused. "This is a bad place."

"I think I found something." Miranda said at a nearby console. "It's a video recording."

"Play it." Jack ordered as she walked over to the console.

"Entry 1054, Teltin facility. The latest iteration on PergNim went poorly. Subjects One, Four, and Six died. No biotic change among the survivors. We lowered core temperatures of surviving subjects, but no biotic ally beneficial reactions occurred. As a side effect, all subjects died. So we'll not try that on Zero. I hope our supply of biotic-potential subjects holds up. We are going through them fast."

Jack began to pace as she ran her hand over her bald head. "This is bullshit! They weren't experimenting on the other children for my safety!"

"Don't blame yourself, Jack. You can't help what they did to others."

"You don't get it, Shepard!" Jack yelled as she turned to me. "I survived this place because I was tougher than the rest. That's who I am!"

"There's another audio recording." Miranda said as she played it.

"Damn it. It's all fallen to pieces. The subjects are rampaging, and Zero is loose. We're shutting Teltin down. What a disaster! We'll infiltrate and piggyback on the Alliance's Ascension Program. Hopefully that will hide our-. What was that? Wait, Zero... don't-"

Jack's eyes grew big as she turned to me. "Shepard, they started somewhere else. We have to stop them!"

"It's okay," I said softly. "Ascension is an Alliance Program at Grissom Academy. It's a school for biotic kids. They don't torture children there. The kids are safe."

Jack stayed silent for a moment. "A lot of this... isn't the way I remember it."

"You were a kid back then, Jack. There was a lot going on."

"Maybe." Jack then shook her head. "We're getting close to my cell. Let's go plant that fucking bomb."

We made our way into another large room, which was filled with cargo containers and medical supplies. Urz growled as a large krogan appeared from behind a box, along with two other krogan. I then looked to my left and then to my right as vorcha appeared hissing and laughing.

"Hey Aresh, it's Kureck. Yeah, the intruders are here. You want them dead, we have to talk creds. You promised us lots of salvage, but this place is a waste." He paused. "Fine, we'll put 'em down. Then I'm coming in there and we're going to talk salvage." After the krogan stopped talking to his boss on the other side of his comm line, he looked at me. "Drop your weapons and surrender."

"What are you doing here?"

"Profit. Drop your weapons, I won't warn you again."

"Fuck this shit." Jack yelled as she used a biotic shockwave, tossing two vorcha to the side.

"Kill them!" The krogan leader yelled.

It honestly didn't take long before the Bloodpack was defeated.

"Is it just me, or have they gotten softer?" I asked as Urz sat on one of the dead vorcha's face.

"It seems this group wasn't as well trained as the rest of the normal Bloodpack." Miranda pointed out.

"Well, whoever this Aresh is, he's in the only room left... my old cell. I want to plant the bomb there, anyway. Might as well do it on his corpse." Jack growled as we headed for the door.

"Perhaps instead of shooting him first, we can see why he's here?" I suggested.

"I don't care why he's here, Shepard. I only care about seeing this place exploding from orbit." Jack said as we entered through a doorway.

Urz began to growl as the doors to Jack's old cell opened.

"Come on out." I ordered. "We know you're in there."

There was a moment of silence before a man slowly peeked up from behind a desk. Jack looked at him for a moment before shaking her head.

"Who are you, why are you here?"

"My name is Aresh, and you're breaking into my home."

"You're home?" Jack asked with a growl.

"Yes, Subject Zero." Aresh said as he turned to her.

Jack aimed her pistol at the man. "My name is Jack. How the hell do you know me?"

Aresh snorted. "We all knew your face, Jack. They inflicted horrors on us so their experiments wouldn't kill you."

"Bullshit!" Jack growled.

"You were the question, and I'm still looking for the answer." Aresh said.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"I hired a group of Bloodpack mercs and came back here almost a solar year ago. We're rebuilding it, piece by piece. I'm going to find out what Cerberus knew; how to unlock biotic potential in humans. I'm restarting the Teltin facility." Aresh turned around, facing the large window that looked out into the playground. "It will be beautiful."

Jack looked at me. "I wanted a hole in the ground, and he's trying to justify what happened by using it!"

"Aresh, you do realize you'd be doing the same thing to the new kids?" I stated. "You know this isn't right."

"You're right; some of us were bought from poor families on Earth or kidnapped from colonies. Most ended up here the way I did: batarian pirates. They did such horrible things to us."

"So why do you want to do this to other kids?" I asked.

"Because Cerberus must have had good reasons."

"There's no reason good enough!" Jack yelled.

"Jack's right, there is no reason to harm children for sick projects. This facility was wrong for what they have done." I commented.

"I'll make it better, just wait and see." Aresh said.

"How did you even survive?" Jack spat. "This place was like a prison."

"We mutinied. As soon as we were all in the lab to do experiments, we attacked. They would have put us down, but Jack somehow got loose. I lost consciousness when something hit me in the head. When I came to, it was over. The guards, the scientists, and the kids were dead. I tried to see if I could find your body, Jack. I then noticed one of the escaped shuttles was gone, and I assumed you escaped. After spending three weeks here, I managed to get another shuttle off the ground and made my way to Omega."

"This is just all messed up!" Jack yelled. "Maybe the other kids had it bad, but you can't restart this place, Aresh. It's wrong!"

"Everything we went through must have been worth something!" Aresh shouted. "And I will find that something!"

"No you won't." Miranda said as she took a step forward. "Jack's right, this place needs to be destroyed."

"Agreed, but where does that leave Aresh?" I turned to Jack. "What do we do with another you?"

"Easy," Jack said as she pointed a gun at him. "We kill him."

"Killing him will change nothing, Jack. He's trapped in the past just like you."

"But he wants to restart this place. He has to be stopped!" Jack yelled at me.

"He's crazy, and he's never going to restart this facility. You have to let this go."

"Shepard..." Jack's voice was low.

"Your past doesn't have to control you." I said.

"Fuck!" Jack growled as she lowered her gun. "Fine, Aresh. Get out of here. But if I ever see you again..." Jack didn't need to finish her sentence.

"And you better hurry too; we plan on blowing up this place in about five minutes." I warned.

"You will regret this!" Aresh yelled as he ran through the door.

"Shepard, we should have brought him with us. He is too dangerous to be let loose."

"He will harm no one but himself, Miranda." I then looked at Jack. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I just-" Jack let out a sigh. "Fuck."

"I'll be outside with Urz." Miranda said, leaving Jack and myself alone.

"This room was my whole childhood." Jack ran her hand over the window. "Nothing's changed... but it's all different."

"Will you give me a tour before we blow this place up?"

Jack let out a sigh and then pointed at the window. "I thought that playground out there was the rest of the world. I'd pound and yell for hours trying to get the other kids attention. Never did any good. They ignored me."

"They didn't know you were there."

"No." Jack said sadly and then she walked over to a desk that had a fallen lamp, some papers, and a couple of old crayons on it.

"I used this table for everything. It was like my best friend. I'd crawl under it to cry. It was the only thing that shielded me from this fucked up world. Pathetic."

"Not pathetic." I said softly. "Just a scared little girl who was going through hell. I would have done the same thing."

We walked over to her bed that was unmade, the pillow resting on the floor. She picked up the pillow and hugged it tightly. "Sometimes I dream that I'm back in this bed being tortured. I used to tie the sheets around my wrists and try to rip them off. I remember lying here, hugging this pillow for hours. They wouldn't let me have any toys like the rest of the kids. I wanna stop coming back here."

Jack threw the pillow on the bed and then made her way out of the room. Just as I was about to radio Borris that the cost was clear, Jack walked up to a wall and ran her hand over it.

"Huh. See this scarring on the wall here? That's where I killed my first man. One of the guards tried to stop me." Jack turned and looked at me. "Instead, I stopped him." She then let out a sigh. "Okay, no more wallowing. Let's blow this place to hell."

I nodded as I radioed Borris.

"Borris, the coast is clear. There is a large window on the east side of the facility that's broken. Bring the shuttle over there and we'll get this bomb planted.

"Aye, Commander."

It took Borris roughly fifteen minutes to make his way through the vegetation and to the broken window that was next to Jack's cell.

"Commander, I suggest we hurry." Borris yelled as the doors to the Kodiak opened. "The storm is getting a lot more intense."

"Acknowledged." I yelled.

It took us about ten minutes to set up the bomb. I then handed Jack the detonation device once we were in our seats. Jack flicked the top cover of the switch about three times, her legs bouncing as the Kodiak began to fly above the vegetation of Pragia. Jack then looked at me as she placed her thumb on the red trigger. I nodded and then pounded on the bulkhead of the cockpit, telling Borris that we were ready.

Then my biotic bitch pushed the button.

"Shepard!" Tali yelled as I stepped off the Kodiak. "I need to talk to you, it's important!"

I could hear the distraught tone in Tali's voice, and she was fidgeting with her hands.

"Alright, Tali. Calm down," I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let me get out of my armor and then we can-"

Tali wrapped her arms around me and she began to cry.

"I'll be in my office." Miranda said as she made her way to the elevator.

Jack just shrugged as she grabbed Urz by the collar and followed Miranda into the elevator.

"Alright," I patted Tali on the back with my hand and then took a step back, my hands never leaving her forearms. "What's going on?"

"I... I received a message from the Migrant Fleet when you were on Pragia. The Admiralty Board has accused me of-" Tali gulped. "Treason."

"What?" I let out a gasp.

"I'm scared, Shepard." Tali cried. "I don't even know what I did wrong."

"This is insane," I brought Tali over to a container and made her sit. "Nobody who knows you could believe you'd betray your people."

Tali sniffed. "They don't lay charges like this unless the evidence seems absolute."

"Do you think it's because you're here on Normandy working with Cerberus?" I asked.

"But I am not working with Cerberus, Shepard. I'm working with you. Plus, you got that letter from my father saying I was on leave to serve on Normandy again."

"Hmmm," this was somewhat mind-blowing.

"Hey Shep, there you are." Kasumi said as she stepped out of the elevator. "I've come to see if-" Kasumi stopped as she saw Tali. "What's wrong?"

It wasn't my place to tell Kasumi, so I turned to Tali.

"Kasumi, I-" I could hear the sadness in her voice. "The Migrant Fleet has accused me of treason."

"What?" Kasumi gasped as she sat down next to Tali and grabbed her hand. "You would never do such a thing!"

"What happens when a quarian is accused of treason?" I asked, grabbing Tali's other hand.

It took a moment for Tali to reply. "There's a hearing, with members of the Admiralty Board acting as judges." Then Tali let out a gasping sob. "My father. He'll have to recuse himself from judgment. Oh how disappointed he must be right now. I... I can't even imagine."

"Hey, don't think that he's disappointed until we know the facts." I said.

"If only you knew him." Tali said softly. "The worst part, Shepard, is that the punishment for treason is exile. If they convict me, I can never go back to the Migrant Fleet."

"This is such bullshit." I growled.

"And they didn't tell you what they are accusing you of?" Kasumi asked.

"None. The specifics of charges like this are rarely discussed to open channels. I won't know any more until I get to the flotilla." Tali said sadly

"And if this exile does happen, they'll just abandon you on some remote planet? What about exile quarians who have children?"

"Well, if it's deemed only a tragic mistake in judgement, the guilty party might receive a small ship and supplies. And, an exile can still have children, and those children are welcomed back to the Fleet." Tali let out a sigh. "Not that it really matters. Either way, if I'm convicted, I'll never see the Migrant Fleet again."

"We're not going to let that happen." I scolded my quarian. "Hell, you've been here the whole time. Obviously these dumbass admirals, no offence to your father, don't know what they're talking about!"

"Thanks, Shepard. I appreciate your faith in me."

"So how does this trial work? How soon do we need to get you there?" I asked.

"They'll wait a reasonable period of time for me to come and defend myself. Eventually, if I don't show up, they'll try me in absentia. As for how it works... it's less formal than something you'd see on the Citadel. We're family. This is just the worst kind of family meeting."

"Alright, send Joker the coordinates to the fleet. Let's go prove your innocence." I said with a nod.

"Really? Thank you, Shepard."

"Shep," Kasumi looked at me. "I was thinking we should have the reading tonight."

"Excellent, what time?" I asked.

"2100 hours?"

"I'll be there."

Kasumi looked at Tali. "You want to come help me with selecting some refreshments and snacks for tonight?"

"I would like that." Tali smiled. "Thank you, Kasumi."

"Hey, that's what friends do." Kasumi stood up and pulled Tali onto her feet. "See you later, Shep."

"See you later."

Once Tali and Kasumi disappeared inside the elevator, Joker called me from my OT comm.

"Commander, sorry to bother you, but you need to get to Miranda's office ASAP. She and Jack are in the middle of a... disagreement. Can you please head it off before they tear out a bulkhead?" Joker asked over the comm.

I let out a sigh. "I'll deal with it."

"Take pictures."

As I approached Miranda's office, I saw Garrus standing just outside.

"How bad is it?" I asked as he took a step back from the door.

"Bad. Are you sure you want to go in there?"

"If I don't, we might not have a ship to get us through the Omega 4 relay."

"Mmm," Garrus twitched his mandibles. "I can have EDI gas the room. You know, knock them out."

"Yeah, and have the wrath of Miranda on my ass for the rest of our delightful cruise? No thanks." I took a deep breath. "Wish me luck."

"I think you're going to need more than luck with those two." Garrus said the doors to Miranda's office opened.

"Touch me and I will smear the walls with you, bitch!" Jack yelled as a chair went flying across the room, hitting the bulkhead next to Miranda.

"Enough!" I yelled. "What the hell is going on?! Stand down, both of you!"

"The cheerleader won't admit what Cerberus did to me was wrong!" Jack yelled as she turned to me.

"It wasn't Cerberus. Not really." Miranda growled. "As I have said before, they were a rogue group. But clearly, you were a mistake."

"Fuck you!" Jack pointed to Miranda. "You saw what they did to me!" Jack then snorted. "Maybe it didn't get through your fucking head. Maybe I should just show you!" Jack's biotics lit up.

I let out a curse. This was uglier than I had thought. "Damn it you two!" I finally said. "This is what the Collectors want! I understand you don't like each other, but-"

"That's an understatement." Miranda snorted.

I turned to my XO. "Miranda, as my first officer, I expect more from you. You don't go picking fights with the members of this crew. I want you to leave Jack alone. Do I make myself clear?"

Miranda's eyes widened. "What?"

"Hah!" Jack said as she folded her arms.

"She can't be trusted, Shepard. She's unstable. She's going to jeopardize the mission."

"She'll be just fine. However, I think you need to check on your own attitude. You saw what went down on Pragia. At least have a little bit of sympathy for the children who died at the hands of Cerberus."

"Yeah!" Jack said.

"Jack... leave." I warned.

Jack just smirked as she left the room. Once the door shut, I turned to see Miranda glaring at me. I sat down in the chair across from her and let out a sigh.

"Are we good?"

She continued to give me the dirty look. "Not even remotely."

"Do you really think I wanted to take Jack's side in this? We need her. And we need her happy." Miranda continued to glare at me. "Are you seriously that butt hurt?" Miranda said nothing. "Look, you know damn well Jack needs special attention. Especially, since she just came back from a horrible past experience." I leaned in my chair. "I can at least reason with you... right?"

Miranda sighed. "I guess you're right. You did what you had to do."

"We all have to be onboard if we're going to make our mission possible."

Miranda nodded. "You're right, I am sorry." She paused as she placed her hands on her desk. "It's just hard to believe that Cerberus was a part in killing all those kids. I mean, I do believe those bastards running the facility were somewhat rogue, but still... it... damn, Shepard. It was Cerberus."

"Are you going to ask TIM about what happened?"

"I don't know. Operatives don't get the details on the other projects of Cerberus." Miranda pulled out a data chit from her pocket. "And I don't think I downloaded enough data at the facility to know what really happened there."

"Well if you find something, let me know." I nodded.

"I will. And Shepard? I should have known you were focused on the mission. Every time I think I've got you figured out... you do something to surprise me. You were right to take Jack's side. We need her happy."

"Hell, I'm still doing stuff that surprises even me." I laughed as I got up from the chair. "Just do me a favor and stay away from Jack until things cool down."

"I will." Miranda nodded. "Thanks again, Shepard."

"Anytime." I smiled as I left Miranda's office and headed for my cabin. I desperately needed a shower... and possibly a drink.

But the little Rabbit sat quite still for a moment and never moved.
For when he saw all the wild rabbits dancing around him he suddenly
remembered about his hind legs, and he didn't want them to see that he
was made all in one piece. He did not know that when the Fairy kissed
him that last time she had changed him altogether. And he might have
sat there a long time, too shy to move, if just then something hadn't
tickled his nose, and before he thought what he was doing he lifted
his hind toe to scratch it.

And he found that he actually had hind legs! Instead of dingy
velveteen he had brown fur, soft and shiny, his ears twitched by
themselves, and his whiskers were so long that they brushed the grass.
He gave one leap and the joy of using those hind legs was so great
that he went springing about the turf on them, jumping sideways and
whirling round as the others did, and he grew so excited that when at
last he did stop to look for the Fairy she had gone.

He was a Real Rabbit at last, at home with the other rabbits.

At Last! At Last!

Autumn passed and Winter, and in the Spring, when the days grew warm
and sunny, the Boy went out to play in the wood behind the house. And
while he was playing, two rabbits crept out from the bracken and
peeped at him. One of them was brown all over, but the other had
strange markings under his fur, as though long ago he had been
spotted, and the spots still showed through. And about his little soft
nose and his round black eyes there was something familiar, so that
the Boy thought to himself:

"Why, he looks just like my old Bunny that was lost when I had scarlet
fever!"

But he never knew that it really was his own Bunny, come back to look
at the child who had first helped him to be Real.

I closed the book and smiled. "The End." I then turned to Kasumi who was sitting next to me on the couch. "Thank you, Kas. This was an amazing story."

"It really was." Tali sniffled.

"Thank you for sharing this precious moment with us, Kasumi Goto." Samara bowed her head. "It was an honor to be here."

"Thank you all for coming." Kasumi smiled as I handed her the book. "Shep was right. This has made a happy memory."

"Shepard Commander," Legion's voice caused me to turn my head to him. "In the book it quoted 'Real isn't how you are made. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real.' Is this true for the geth? Are we... real?"

"Of course you're real."

"And once we are real, we cannot become unreal?" Legion asked.

"Legion," I said as I leaned forward. "Why are you curious about being real?"

Legion lowered his head, his upper head panels flicking back and forth. Then, he looked at me, his 'light' zooming in and out.

"Shepard Commander, does this unit have a soul?"

Description
ME2: Resurrection of the Lost Race
Chapter 28: On the Outside Looking In

"Good Morning, Commander." I heard Samara say as I grabbed a cup of coffee. "How did your mission fair on Bekenstien?"

"Good. Well…" I turned to her. "It could have been better; could have been a lot worse too." I half laughed.

"In our line of work, nothing goes according to plan."

I let out an accidental snort. "You're telling me. Please, sit." I said as we both walked over to a table. "If you don't mind me asking, what is the relationship between you and Zaeed? You two seem to be quite close."

"We are friends. I enjoy his company."

"Just friends?" I smirked.

"Just friends." Samara nodded. "There can be nothing more."

I frowned. "What? Why?"

"I serve a code stronger and deeper than any feelings, Shepard. If we survive our mission, my oath to you ends. I will be bound by the Code again. That makes a relationship impossible."

"I understand that you've kept tight control for a long time. But... doesn't everyone need love? Not that I'm saying you and Zaeed are in love. But-"

"Shepard," Samara raised her hand. "I have the strength to withstand my own drives."

"I know, but the galaxy won't end if you find a little bit of happiness."

"That's just it. I am happy. I am enjoying the company of the people here on the Normandy, including Mr. Massani."

I let out a sigh and took a sip of my coffee. "Maybe one day, things will be different."

"Perhaps." Samara took a sip of the tea she had been nursing. "How is Kasumi?"

"I haven't checked in on her this morning, but I think she will be okay."

"Zaeed told me what had happened. I was hoping she would like my company."

"I am sure she would appreciate it, Samara. Thank you."

After I finished my coffee with the beautiful Justicar, I decided to do my morning rounds before heading to the Citadel to spend the remainder of the day with Dad. My first stop was to check in on Kasumi.

The door light to the lounge was green, which indicated that she was awake. I knocked on the door and then carefully walked in. She was lying on the couch with a book in her hand.

"Hey," I said softly as I approached her.

"Hey Shep," she said sadly.

"How are you feeling?"

"Wanting to disappear forever."

I sat down on the edge of the couch and placed my hand on her back. "I'm sorry, but this will get better."

"How can it? It feels like my heart has been ripped out of my chest and crushed into a million pieces."

"I know."

Kasumi looked up at me as tears swelled in her eyes. "I miss him."

"I know," was the only thing I could say as I ran my hand through her hair.

Kasumi sat up and wiped the single tear that fell from her cheek. "This was the last thing he gave me." She handed me the book.

The Velveteen Rabbit.

"This must be very special to you."

"I've never read it." Kasumi admitted. "I wanted Keiji to read it with me, but- we never got the chance to do it."

"I've never read it either." I then handed the book back to her. "Say, why don't we make a night for this?"

"What?"

"Invite who you want and we will meet here to read it. That book symbolizes Keiji's love for you. And what better way to make a special memory than to share that with your friends? It will be a memory no one can steal from you."

Kasumi let out a sobbing laugh. "I love that idea."

"Alright then," I said with a cheerful tone as I patted her knee. "Just let me know when you want to do it."

Kasumi ran her hand over the cover of the book. "Thanks, Shep."

"Anytime."

After checking in with Miranda and Dr. Chakwas, I made my way to the Main Battery to see the love of my life. When I walked in, I noticed that he was at the weapons station calibrating his assault rifle.

"Good morning," I said with a smile as I walked over to him.

He looked at me and then looked away without saying a word.

"You're mad at me." I sighed.

"You're damn right I'm mad at you." He growled as he slammed his fist on the weapons table. "You never listen to me. How am I supposed to keep you safe if I'm not there?! Damn it, Kate! You left me behind... again!"

"We've been through this! If those mercs recognized you, it would have-"

"You already gave me that lame excuse. I don't need to hear it again!"

I looked at Garrus for a moment and then let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, Garbear. If I had known there would have been trouble at Hock's mansion, I would have brought you. But you have to understand that you can't be with me every mission I'm on. You're going to have to trust the rest of the crew to have my back as well as yours."

Garrus stayed silent for a moment before he looked at me. "I trusted Sidonis and Kaidan. Look how that ended."

I grabbed his hand. "I know it's hard. Trust is something that has to be earned. But the crew can't earn your trust if you can never give them the chance." I then ran my hand over his cheek. "Zaeed and Kasumi watched my back as I watched theirs."

"I know." Garrus let out a sigh. "I'm just used to seeing things differently. I grew up with a father that demanded so much. He was always telling you it's either this way or that way. It's so much easier to see the world in black and white, Kate. Gray... I don't know what to do with gray."

"You can start by trusting those around you." I wrapped my arms around him.

Garrus placed his cheek on top of my head. "I'm just so damn worried you're going to die on me again."

"Never." I smiled. "There's no Shepard without Vakarian."

After we broke our embrace, Garrus ran his hand through my hair. "Speaking of trust, I want to thank you again for helping me with Sidonis. It probably wasn't easy for you to see me like that."

"I would do anything for you, you know that."

"I want to show you something." Garrus walked over to his cot and pulled out a small long box. "I was waiting to show this to you before I put it on."

I raised a brow as he brought the box over to the weapons station and set it down.

"Garrus, that's amazing." I smiled as he pulled out a beautiful visor. "Is it to replace your old one?"

"Yes," He flipped the visor over so I could see the side of it. "What do you think?" I let out a tiny gasp as I saw carved names into the piece. 'Kate, Tali, Wrex, Liara, Solana, Lilihierax, Ashley'. Ashley's name had a tiny cross by her name, indicating that she was deceased.

"Garrus." I was speechless.

"It's a reminder of why I'm out here fighting. Not only to save this galaxy from psychopath bug robots, but to fight for everyone I care about."

"Why do you have Ash's name on here?"

"It's a reminder of her sacrifice; so that I can continue to fight in her name."

"It's beautiful." I smiled.

"There is plenty of room to add more names, but for now these seven are the most important to me." Garrus took his old visor off and placed it in the box. Then he clicked on the new one. "How do I look?"

"Sexy as ever," I smiled as the blue display lit up.

Garrus ran his hand across my cheek, sending shivers down my back. "Whatever happens with the Collectors or the Reapers or whoever else comes after us, I know we'll stop them and that we'll get the job done, no matter the cost."

"Whoever else? You actually think we'll find something worse than Collectors or Reapers?"

Garrus shrugged. "I like to expect the worse. There's a small chance I'll be pleasantly surprised."

"Uh huh." I said with a smirk. "But I'm glad you're here. I don't think I could have done all this without you."

"Sure you could. Not as stylishly, of course. But, seriously..." He grabbed my hand. "There's nobody in this galaxy I respect more than you. I'm proud of you, Kate. You have sacrificed so much to keep everyone happy, including me."

I smiled as he brought me in for a hug. I had to admit, it was nice to feel his embrace. Damn, I love this Turian.

Once I said goodbye to Garrus, I made my way to Engineering. I didn't see Tali, so I just waved to Gabby and Ken and then made my way down to the sub-deck to see Jack.

"Good morning," I said with a smirk. "How's my pirate?"

"Shepard, glad you came down!" Jack jumped up from her cot. "I need to talk to you."

"I'm all ears."

"You know I have a history with Cerberus. Do you know how far back it goes?" Jack asked as she sat down on the right side staircase.

"I'm guessing you were young."

"Your pal, the Illusive Man? Never seen him before, but Cerberus raised me. First thing I remember is my cell door in a Cerberus base. They did experiments. Drugged me. Tortured me. Whatever chance I had to be normal, they stole it by trying to turn me into some super-biotic. The doctors, the other kids... Every one of them hated me. They let me suffer."

I could see the emotion on Jack's face. "What did they hope to gain by torturing a little girl?"

"It was something about pain breaking down mental barriers, and how it might clear the way for a more biotic power. I'm sure there was a payoff due at some point, but I wasn't going to see it. I was wired up in a cell."

I sat down next to Jack. "So they tortured you just to see if they could make a strong biotic? That's it?" I shook my head. "Why am I not surprised?"

"All I know is, a little girl crying in a cell, begging for the pain to stop..."

"And one day it did." I said softly. "How did you get out of there?"

"There was some kind of emergency and I made a break for it. The other kids came out of their cells and attacked me. So did the guards." Jack leaned forward. "I just killed everything in my way and ran. I guess my biotics had developed faster than they thought. Once I escaped the facility, I managed to get a shuttle off the ground. Drifted until pirates picked me up. The crew used me, then sold me." Jack stood up from the steps. "That's my uplifting escape story."

I stood as well. "So there were other kids in the base?"

"Yeah, but I didn't know much about them. I was kept separate. They hated me, just like everyone else there. I'm just not sure why."

"Trying not to defend them, but are you sure it was Cerberus? I came across a few facilities that were run by ExoGeni. Although, I don't think they would kidnap kids for their experiments."

"I was a kid, but I wasn't dumb. I know how to listen. It was Cerberus. Don't care how far down the chain it was. Those bastards thought they were so clever. Turns out, mess with someone's head long enough and you can turn a scared kid into an all-powerful bitch." Jack snorted. "Fucking idiots."

"Alright, Jack. I'll go see if I can get some answers from TIM for you. Although, I wouldn't get your hopes up."

"Your right, he'll just deny everything. That's not what I'm after anyways." Jack said as she walked over to her cot and picked up a data pad.

"Oh?"

"I found the coordinates in your files. I want to go the Teltin facility on Pragia, where they tortured and drugged me. I want to go to the center of my place, my cell. I want to deploy a big fucking bomb, and watch from orbit when it goes!"

I raised my hands. "I understand your hatred for Cerberus, Jack. Really, I do. But attacking our allies is going to derail our mission. We need all the help we can get if we're going to defeat the Collectors. This wouldn't be a smart move to make."

"Relax, Shepard. The files say it was shut down after my escape. It's been abandoned for years. I don't think they're going to care if I blow up a garbage dump."

I thought for a moment and then nodded. "Alright, Jack. Let's go blow up a Cerberus facility."

Jack smirked. "Now you're talking."

"We'll leave tomorrow as soon as R&R is over."

"Thanks, Shepard. I owe you one." Jack said as she sat down on her cot.

"Since this is your mission, is there anyone in particular you would like to come with us?" I asked.

"Does it look like I fucking care who comes? I just want-" She paused. "Actually let's bring the cheerleader."

"You want Miranda to come with us?"

"That bitch needs to see firsthand what Cerberus did to me."

"Alright, I'll see if she wants to come. I'll talk to you later."

"Yep."

I walked up the stairs and out of Engineering. I then made my way to the cargo bay to check in on Grunt.

When I entered, I noticed he was sitting on a bench with his eyes closed.

"Grunt?"

His eyes opened and he turned to look at me. "Shepard."

"What are you doing?"

"I am channeling my feelings."

"Channeling your feelings?"

"The asari onboard has taught me the way to control myself when I am on Normandy. You know, so that I don't... destroy things."

"Is it working?"

"Sometimes." He stood up from the bench and walked over to me. "Thank you, Shepard. Because of you, I have a clan." He then laughed. "Urdnot Grunt. I like it. Makes me want to fight, not just able to." Grunt began to pace. "Wrex should have killed Uvenk. When he took the quarian, I wanted to disembowel him! To tear out his spine like a trophy!"

I crossed my arms. "Grunt, are you telling me that you have feelings for Tali?"

"What?" Grunt grave me an odd look. "She is part of my krantt. No one messes with my krantt!"

My smile turned big. "I'm glad to hear that."

"Now that I have a place as a krogan, and not just a tank bred, I like it. Our enemies are in trouble, Shepard. And we better not run out of targets."

I laughed. "There's no danger of that. They're practically lining up."

"Ha!" Grunt slammed his fists together. "Everyone gets a turn. Wouldn't want it any other way."

I patted my baby krogan on his lower arm before making my way out of the cargobay. Zaeed's door was red, indicating he was still asleep so I made my way down to the shuttle bay. I noticed Tali right away working on the mech we had picked up on Taitus. Also, Legion was with her.

"Good Morning you two," I said as I approached them.

"Shepard Commander, good morning." Legion said. "We are helping Creator Tali'Zorah on her mech project."

"I see," I smiled. "Did you find anything useful at the scrap yard?"

"Yes," Tali said. "Hopefully I can get this thing somewhat operational here in the next week."

Just then a tennis ball with a lace of slime rolled passed me and hit Legion's foot. Legion picked up the ball and threw it. I watched as Urz chased after it, chewed on it for a moment, then brought it back to Legion.

"I see Urz is making some new friends."

"I don't know why, but Urz is fascinated with Legion." Tali said with a happy tone. "Which is good for me, because I wouldn't get any work done."

"Well keep up the good work, Tali. I'll talk to you later. You too, Legion."

"Enjoy your day, Shepard Commander." Legion said as he threw the ball again.

I spent the remaining morning and afternoon on the Citadel with Dad. We knew full well that if TIM succeeded on finding a way through the Omega 4 relay, I may not be coming back.

I entered my cabin at 1700 and threw my N7 hoodie on my couch. Then I sat down at my desk and started to read my unread messages.

From: Executor Chellick

Commander, I didn't want to bring this up last night, due to the fact I don't believe in work talk when we're all on R&R.

I was visited by a salarian and an asari a few days ago. They had asked to join C-Sec. The salarian told me that you had sent him here from Illium. His tech skills are quite impressive, and I'm sure as hell won't deny an asari who wants to join the cause.

I just thought you would like to know that they both will start C-Sec training within the month. Thank you for allowing them to have a second chance. Joining Eclipse would have been such a waste.

Good luck, Commander.
And as always, watch Garrus's back. He seems to get shot at more these days. But then again, he's getting old.

~Chellick

I was happy the salarian and asari made the right choice. Chellick was right. Being a part of Eclipse probably would have been a waste of their talent.

From: Alexander Timothy Mills
Cadet -First Class- Vancouver, Earth

Hello, Commander!

I just wanted to drop you a line and tell you that I'm doing great. I'll start training here in Vancouver in a week. I took this test and it seems like my best skills are in mechanics and enginnering. Of course, I'm not surprised since I worked in the mining facility on Zorya my whole life.

I have my Normandy pin on my cadet suit and I think about you guys every day. Even a few cadets have asked about the Normandy and the great Commander Shepard. Don't worry, I made you look good.

Be safe out there, and once you get done kicking the Collectors in the butt, maybe I can take you out for a drink. Oh, and tell Old Man and Garrus I said hello.

All the best,
Alex

I smiled as I forward the message to Zaeed and Garrus. After spending a few minutes writing Alex back, I read my next message.

From: Shaman Urdnot

Damn it, I hate writing these damn things.

Commander, it is my place as Shaman to tell you that you are now part of Grunt's krannt. You are his leader, so keep him alive. Krogan have always valued survival over tradition. If we are going to survive as a people, we need your vat-grown Grunt. Okeer was a madman, but he was a madman with a plan, and that's more than most have on this ball of rock.

So bring him back from your damn mission.

With that being said, it is an honor to know you, Commander.
Don't get killed out there...

~Shaman of Clan Urdnot

From: Consort Sha'ira

Commander,

I thought that my gift of words had been incorrect, an embarrassing notion, but my contacts tell me you yet live. I am pleased to hear that your journey continues, though I sense that you head toward an even deeper darkness. When you fought Saren, only your resolve was tested, but now I fear you cannot rely only on your own strength. Take whatever steps you must to ensure that those battling at your side fight with clear minds and glad hearts. Especially the one who has been at your side since the beginning.

Be well,
Consort Sha'ira

I leaned back against my chair and closed my eyes. I remembered what Sha'ira told me.

"But there is someone who wants to share those burdens with you, even if he doesn't know it yet. The one who will always be at your side, no matter what obstacles block your path.

I let out a snort. Even Sha'ira knew that Garrus and I were meant to be together.

Pragia:
Orbital Distance: 1.3 AU
Orbital Period: 1.5 Earth Years
Keplerian Ratio: 0.976
Radius: 5,137 km
Day Length: 29.6 Earth Hours
Atm. Pressure: 0.84 atm
Surface Temp: 54 C
Surface Gravity: 0.08 g
Mass: 0.56 Earth Masses
Planet Type: Garden
Satellites: N/A

The jungle-planet Pragia is overrun by choking hypergrowth caused by industrially mutated plant species. This, combined with its relative isolation and lack of population, has made Pragia an occasional base of operations for drug runners, weapons smugglers, pirates, mercenaries, terrorists, and intelligence agents seeking secrecy. Sustained habitation on Pragia is extremely difficult; mutant and even poisonous plant life can overgrow colonies in days instead of years.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" I asked Donnelly as I watched a few of the engineers load up the large bomb.

"Of course it will work, I designed it."

"That doesn't make me feel any better." I frowned.

"It will work, Commander." Daniels smiled as she walked up to me.

"Yeah, but does it have to be so... big?" I gulped. "Reminds me of the bomb we exploded on Virmire."

"Jack said she wanted a 'big fucking bomb', who am I to disagree with her?" Donnelly shrugged.

"Tali," I called over my quarian. As she stood next to me, I grabbed her arm and whispered. "Please make me feel better and tell me this damn thing is safe."

"It's safe." Tali reassured. "The only way it can be detonated is by the detonation control button.

"And where is that?"

"I've given it to Jack."

I went pale. "Tali, I don't think-"

"Tee hee," Tali giggled. "Just kidding." She then handed me the device.

"Shepard Commander," Legion said as he approached me. "We expect a 95.153% chance of survival on your mission. To reach 96.998%, we recommend you bring Urz."

Tali squeed. "That's a great idea, Legion. Shepard, you should bring Urz. He hasn't been off this ship since Tuchanka."

I let out a sigh.

"Commander," Borris called from the Kodiak. "The bomb is loaded and secured. We're ready for departure."

The Kodiak bounced left and right as we entered Pragia's atmosphere.

"I forgot how much I hate this place." Jack complained. "The landing pad has to be on the roof, or the vegetation would overgrow it in a few hours."

"Commander," Borris called from the shuttle. "I am picking up thermal signatures everywhere, except for the landing zone."

"Odd." I lifted a brow. "Something must be distorting the sensors."

"This was a secret Cerberus facility," Miranda pointed out.

"Yeah," Jack said as she patted Urz on the head. "They build their equipment to last. Assholes."

"It's probably nothing, Borris. Land the shuttle at the coordinates." I ordered.

"Aye, Commander."

Jack bit her lip. "Maybe it was a mistake coming here."

"No way in hell," I looked at her. "We are going to blow this place to hell. Right?"

Jack let out a sigh. "Right. Okay. Let's do this."

Borris landed the shuttle a minute later. When the Kodiak doors opened, I sheltered my eyes as a flash of lighting lit the sky.

"Lovely weather." I said.

"It rains here all the time," Jack said as she walked off the Kodiak.

"Borris, stay here with the bomb until I give the signal that the facility is clear."

"Aye, Commander."

Rain bounced off my armor as we made our way down a few staircases and finally into the abandoned building.

"You never would have guessed this was a Cerberus facility," I said as I looked at the large tree sprouting from inside the room.

"The Cerberus emblem." Miranda said as she walked over to a large container.

"Yeah, I think they brought new kids in those things. They were messed up and starving, but alive. Usually." Jack said in a low tone. "Although, I don't remember this room."

I watched as Miranda ran her hand over a control switch on one of the containers and it hissed open. It was empty, but it was obvious that it was made to ship live cargo. Perhaps Jack was right.

Rain trickled from the ceiling as we made our way down a large ramp where more vegetation had grown. Urz sniffed his way down to a container and then growled at it.

"What is it, Boy?" I asked as I opened the container.

I let out a gasp as a pile of small bones laid in the back of the storage container. I was guessing the remains was a child no less than the age of four.

"Damn it." I sighed.

"Shepard, I found something." Miranda said. "Some kind of audio recording."

"Play it." I ordered.

"The Illusive Man requested operation logs again. He's getting suspicious."

"When we get results, he won't care what we did. But if he knew..."

"He won't find out."

"Contact the batarains and have them send us another dozen."

"Sounds like this facility went rogue." Miranda said.

"Hah. You would like to think that, wouldn't you, Cheerleader?" Jack snorted.

"Shepard, we should find out what happened here and what they were hiding from the Illusive Man."

"No," Jack growled. "I didn't come here for an investigation. I came here to plant a fucking bomb in my cell and watch this place burn."

"And we will," I looked at Miranda. "This is Jack's mission, we're not going to interfere."

"Shepard..."

"If we find out anything else on our way to Jack's cell, then we can download it. But this place gets blown up."

Miranda let out a groaning sigh as we continued our way into the facility.

"I remember escaping to this room," Jack said as we entered a dark room. "There was fighting here. I remember sunlight though the cracks in the ceiling. It was a hot day, right after a powerful rainstorm."

"You remember fighting?" I asked.

"Yeah. Only a half-dead guard between me and my freedom. He was begging for his life." Jack smirked. "I killed him."

"Of course you did." I sighed.

Just then Urz began to growl, his teeth showing as hair on his back began to rise. Then, he took off.

"Urz! Urz!" I yelled as I rushed after him. I quickly stopped as I saw a pack of varren surrounding him.

"Take them out." I yelled at Miranda and Jack. It wasn't long before the pack of varren fell dead to the floor and Urz came running up to Jack panting happily.

"Keep an eye out for more varren," I warned as we continued to make our way through the room.

"Hmmm, I remember this." Jack said as she pointed to a large worn out white circle on the floor. "The ring."

"The ring?" I lifted a brow.

"They used to stage fights here. Pit me against the other kids." Jack said as she knelt down and ran her hand over the washed out white line. "I loved it. Only time I ever enjoyed being out my cell."

"What were they studying?" I asked mostly to myself.

"Maybe that's how they got their kicks." Jack said as she stood.

"That or some sort of biotic testing." Miranda chimed in.

"I never understood anything that happened here." Jack commented.

"How often did they do this?" I asked.

"I don't remember really. I was in that damn cell for my whole life. Sometimes they took me out and made me fight. Filled me with drugs, other stuff. Time gets funny in a cell, Shepard."

"Did the other children die in these fights?" Miranda asked.

"I was a kid, filled with drugs. I got shocked when I hesitated. Narcotics filled my veins when I attacked." Jack's tone was disturbing.

"I take that as a yes then." Miranda said.

"So these bastards actually rewarded you when you attacked? That's sick."

"I still get warm feelings when I fight." Jack smirked.

I shook my head as I clicked my pistol. "Come on, let's get going. The sooner this place blows up, the better I'll feel."

We made our way into a long hallway that was somewhat flooded from the constant rain. It wasn't until we got to the end of the passageway when I saw a security console blinking the colors of red and green.

"An active console," I said as I placed my pistol in my holster. "Let's see if we can get access." It only took me a few minutes before a holographic image of a security officer appeared in front of me.

"Security Officer Zemkl, Teltin Facility. The subjects are out of their cells. They're tearing the place up!" I could hear screaming and explosions in the background of the recording. "Subject Zero is going to get loose. I need permission to terminate. I repeat, permission to terminate!"

"Permission denied. All subjects besides Zero are expendable. Keep her alive. That's an order!"

"Understood, Sir. I'll begin the-" Jack walked over to the console and pushed the button to shut off the recording.

"This isn't right." Jack said as she turned to me. "I broke out when my guards disappeared. I was the one that started the riot."

"Maybe there was something you didn't see, Jack." I looked at the console. "I highly doubt this footage was messed with."

"The other kids attacked me. The guards attacked me. The automated systems attacked me." Jack growled as she took a step closer to me. "That doesn't leave lots of room for interpretation."

"But you were just a child, Jack. In your eyes, it would seem that everyone was attacking you." Miranda stated.

"I didn't ask for your opinion, Cheerleader!"

"Jack," I raised my hands. "Calm down. Obviously there was something more going on than you thought. Maybe we should take Miranda's idea and search for some more clues."

Jack began to pace and then fisted her hand. "Fine, fine! I just want to get the hell out of this place."

Jack walked into another room as I turned to Miranda.

"Download anything and everything that you can get a hold of on this facility. I want to know what the hell happened here."

"Aye, Commander."

"Shepard," Jack called out as I walked through a door and into a long staircase hallway. "This place is supposed to be empty."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The two varren over in that corner. Bullet wounds, fresh kills."

I grabbed my pistol. "Stay sharp."

We carefully made our way down the staircase and into a large room that looked like some sort of dining area. Urz sniffed his way past me then began to growl and yip.

"There, by the window!" Miranda pointed. "Vorcha."

"And a fucking krogan to the left!" Jack yelled as she took cover.

"Blood pack. What the hell are they doing here?"

"Doesn't matter!" Jack yelled as she stood up. "No one is getting in my way."

Jack released a biotic shockwave, causing the vorcha to dodge out of the way.

"Kill them!" The krogan yelled.

I watched Urz attack a vorcha as Miranda used her overload to cause another vorcha, who had a flamethrower, to exploded.

"I will destroy you!" Jack cried out as she picked up another vorcha with her biotics and threw him through a window.

It wasn't long before all the vorcha and the singleton krogan were defeated.

"Shepard to Borris, keep the Kodiak under lock and key. We have a squadron of Bloodpack mercs running around here."

"Aye, Commander. Should I call for backup?"

"No, I think we'll be fine. Just stay put until you hear from me. Shepard out." I bent down to see if Urz was injured. "Any ideas on why the Bloodpack is here?"

"Perhaps a hideout?" Miranda suggested. "Perfect place for slave trading or red sand dealings."

"Or they're after some sort of equipment." I added.

"Yes," Miranda nodded. "A lot of children died here. Even then, they were part of the experiment at this facility. Perhaps the Bloodpack is trying to get their hands on some sort of technology that was used here."

"Who fucking cares!" Jack growled as she made her way to the far door. "I just want to blow up this place."

"No argument here." I said with a nod as we made our way into a long hallway.

"Aaaaggh!" Yelled a vorcha as we entered a long hallway. "Kill them all!"

"Up there on that balcony." Jack pointed.

"There's only two," Miranda said. "I'll take care of them."

Miranda used her biotics to lift the vorcha up and then slam them into each other and then into opposite ends of the building walls.

"Good job." I nodded as I looked at Urz who was sniffing his way into a small room.

I looked down the hallway and noticed there were five rooms on each side. I walked into one and saw that there were two sets of bunkbeds, a toilet, a sink, and a small toybox.

"My god," Miranda gasped as she stood next to me. "This is where they kept the children? This room is smaller than a normal size bathroom!"

"What's wrong, Cheerleader? Can't stomach the fact that your precious Cerberus could do this?"

"There is no way the Illusive Man would ever have accepted this."

"Fuck, you really are blind, aren't you?" Jack snarled. "This is a Cerberus facility, Sweet cheeks! Your Illusive Man knew about this just as much as he knew about Shepard and trying to kill her on Akuze."

Miranda ran her hand through her hair and then quickly turned around as we heard snarling noises.

"Varren." I said just as Urz ran out of a room.

They were easy to take out, since there was only three of them. I patted Urz on the head, and then looked at Jack and Miranda. "Come on, let's go."

Jack walked through the door as I turned to see Miranda staring into one of the small rooms.

"Miranda." I said softly.

She looked at me for a moment before letting out a sigh.

"This... is a two way mirror?" I heard Jack say as Miranda and I entered the room she was in.

The room we were in had two floors. We were on the top floor that over looked some sort of indoor playground with swings, picnic tables, and a jungle gym.

Jack looked at me. "My cell is on the other side. I could... I could see all the other kids out here, playing."

"But they never saw you?"

"I thought they did. I remember screaming at them for hours, but they always ignored me."

I wiped the dark smudge off the window, and saw my reflection. "What was the point of isolating you?" I turned to Jack.

"To see how powerful she can become." Miranda said. "Anger can lead to an outbreak. Imagine what force would be unleashed if that person was a powerful biotic."

"So they were poking the bear?" I lifted a brow.

Miranda nodded.

"It feels so strange to be back here." Jack said as she looked at the playground below. "I feel like... I'm pissed off. I'm a dangerous bitch. But then I'm a little girl again." I knew how she felt, but I wasn't going to say anything. "Shit, this is so complicated. Let's go plant that fucking bomb and get the hell out of here."

"Wow," I let out a gasp as we entered a room. "This is quite different from the other places we have seen."

"I must have come through here when I broke out, but I don't remember it." Jack admitted.

"Shepard," Miranda said as she walked over to table that had old scattered papers on it. "This is where they did experiments on Jack."

"How do you know?"

"A wild guess." Miranda shrugged.

I turned to look at Jack who was running her hand over a chair that was in the middle of the room.

"I remember." Jack looked at me. "This is where they tortured me. Where they put drugs in me." She paused. "This is a bad place."

"I think I found something." Miranda said at a nearby console. "It's a video recording."

"Play it." Jack ordered as she walked over to the console.

"Entry 1054, Teltin facility. The latest iteration on PergNim went poorly. Subjects One, Four, and Six died. No biotic change among the survivors. We lowered core temperatures of surviving subjects, but no biotic ally beneficial reactions occurred. As a side effect, all subjects died. So we'll not try that on Zero. I hope our supply of biotic-potential subjects holds up. We are going through them fast."

Jack began to pace as she ran her hand over her bald head. "This is bullshit! They weren't experimenting on the other children for my safety!"

"Don't blame yourself, Jack. You can't help what they did to others."

"You don't get it, Shepard!" Jack yelled as she turned to me. "I survived this place because I was tougher than the rest. That's who I am!"

"There's another audio recording." Miranda said as she played it.

"Damn it. It's all fallen to pieces. The subjects are rampaging, and Zero is loose. We're shutting Teltin down. What a disaster! We'll infiltrate and piggyback on the Alliance's Ascension Program. Hopefully that will hide our-. What was that? Wait, Zero... don't-"

Jack's eyes grew big as she turned to me. "Shepard, they started somewhere else. We have to stop them!"

"It's okay," I said softly. "Ascension is an Alliance Program at Grissom Academy. It's a school for biotic kids. They don't torture children there. The kids are safe."

Jack stayed silent for a moment. "A lot of this... isn't the way I remember it."

"You were a kid back then, Jack. There was a lot going on."

"Maybe." Jack then shook her head. "We're getting close to my cell. Let's go plant that fucking bomb."

We made our way into another large room, which was filled with cargo containers and medical supplies. Urz growled as a large krogan appeared from behind a box, along with two other krogan. I then looked to my left and then to my right as vorcha appeared hissing and laughing.

"Hey Aresh, it's Kureck. Yeah, the intruders are here. You want them dead, we have to talk creds. You promised us lots of salvage, but this place is a waste." He paused. "Fine, we'll put 'em down. Then I'm coming in there and we're going to talk salvage." After the krogan stopped talking to his boss on the other side of his comm line, he looked at me. "Drop your weapons and surrender."

"What are you doing here?"

"Profit. Drop your weapons, I won't warn you again."

"Fuck this shit." Jack yelled as she used a biotic shockwave, tossing two vorcha to the side.

"Kill them!" The krogan leader yelled.

It honestly didn't take long before the Bloodpack was defeated.

"Is it just me, or have they gotten softer?" I asked as Urz sat on one of the dead vorcha's face.

"It seems this group wasn't as well trained as the rest of the normal Bloodpack." Miranda pointed out.

"Well, whoever this Aresh is, he's in the only room left... my old cell. I want to plant the bomb there, anyway. Might as well do it on his corpse." Jack growled as we headed for the door.

"Perhaps instead of shooting him first, we can see why he's here?" I suggested.

"I don't care why he's here, Shepard. I only care about seeing this place exploding from orbit." Jack said as we entered through a doorway.

Urz began to growl as the doors to Jack's old cell opened.

"Come on out." I ordered. "We know you're in there."

There was a moment of silence before a man slowly peeked up from behind a desk. Jack looked at him for a moment before shaking her head.

"Who are you, why are you here?"

"My name is Aresh, and you're breaking into my home."

"You're home?" Jack asked with a growl.

"Yes, Subject Zero." Aresh said as he turned to her.

Jack aimed her pistol at the man. "My name is Jack. How the hell do you know me?"

Aresh snorted. "We all knew your face, Jack. They inflicted horrors on us so their experiments wouldn't kill you."

"Bullshit!" Jack growled.

"You were the question, and I'm still looking for the answer." Aresh said.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"I hired a group of Bloodpack mercs and came back here almost a solar year ago. We're rebuilding it, piece by piece. I'm going to find out what Cerberus knew; how to unlock biotic potential in humans. I'm restarting the Teltin facility." Aresh turned around, facing the large window that looked out into the playground. "It will be beautiful."

Jack looked at me. "I wanted a hole in the ground, and he's trying to justify what happened by using it!"

"Aresh, you do realize you'd be doing the same thing to the new kids?" I stated. "You know this isn't right."

"You're right; some of us were bought from poor families on Earth or kidnapped from colonies. Most ended up here the way I did: batarian pirates. They did such horrible things to us."

"So why do you want to do this to other kids?" I asked.

"Because Cerberus must have had good reasons."

"There's no reason good enough!" Jack yelled.

"Jack's right, there is no reason to harm children for sick projects. This facility was wrong for what they have done." I commented.

"I'll make it better, just wait and see." Aresh said.

"How did you even survive?" Jack spat. "This place was like a prison."

"We mutinied. As soon as we were all in the lab to do experiments, we attacked. They would have put us down, but Jack somehow got loose. I lost consciousness when something hit me in the head. When I came to, it was over. The guards, the scientists, and the kids were dead. I tried to see if I could find your body, Jack. I then noticed one of the escaped shuttles was gone, and I assumed you escaped. After spending three weeks here, I managed to get another shuttle off the ground and made my way to Omega."

"This is just all messed up!" Jack yelled. "Maybe the other kids had it bad, but you can't restart this place, Aresh. It's wrong!"

"Everything we went through must have been worth something!" Aresh shouted. "And I will find that something!"

"No you won't." Miranda said as she took a step forward. "Jack's right, this place needs to be destroyed."

"Agreed, but where does that leave Aresh?" I turned to Jack. "What do we do with another you?"

"Easy," Jack said as she pointed a gun at him. "We kill him."

"Killing him will change nothing, Jack. He's trapped in the past just like you."

"But he wants to restart this place. He has to be stopped!" Jack yelled at me.

"He's crazy, and he's never going to restart this facility. You have to let this go."

"Shepard..." Jack's voice was low.

"Your past doesn't have to control you." I said.

"Fuck!" Jack growled as she lowered her gun. "Fine, Aresh. Get out of here. But if I ever see you again..." Jack didn't need to finish her sentence.

"And you better hurry too; we plan on blowing up this place in about five minutes." I warned.

"You will regret this!" Aresh yelled as he ran through the door.

"Shepard, we should have brought him with us. He is too dangerous to be let loose."

"He will harm no one but himself, Miranda." I then looked at Jack. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I just-" Jack let out a sigh. "Fuck."

"I'll be outside with Urz." Miranda said, leaving Jack and myself alone.

"This room was my whole childhood." Jack ran her hand over the window. "Nothing's changed... but it's all different."

"Will you give me a tour before we blow this place up?"

Jack let out a sigh and then pointed at the window. "I thought that playground out there was the rest of the world. I'd pound and yell for hours trying to get the other kids attention. Never did any good. They ignored me."

"They didn't know you were there."

"No." Jack said sadly and then she walked over to a desk that had a fallen lamp, some papers, and a couple of old crayons on it.

"I used this table for everything. It was like my best friend. I'd crawl under it to cry. It was the only thing that shielded me from this fucked up world. Pathetic."

"Not pathetic." I said softly. "Just a scared little girl who was going through hell. I would have done the same thing."

We walked over to her bed that was unmade, the pillow resting on the floor. She picked up the pillow and hugged it tightly. "Sometimes I dream that I'm back in this bed being tortured. I used to tie the sheets around my wrists and try to rip them off. I remember lying here, hugging this pillow for hours. They wouldn't let me have any toys like the rest of the kids. I wanna stop coming back here."

Jack threw the pillow on the bed and then made her way out of the room. Just as I was about to radio Borris that the cost was clear, Jack walked up to a wall and ran her hand over it.

"Huh. See this scarring on the wall here? That's where I killed my first man. One of the guards tried to stop me." Jack turned and looked at me. "Instead, I stopped him." She then let out a sigh. "Okay, no more wallowing. Let's blow this place to hell."

I nodded as I radioed Borris.

"Borris, the coast is clear. There is a large window on the east side of the facility that's broken. Bring the shuttle over there and we'll get this bomb planted.

"Aye, Commander."

It took Borris roughly fifteen minutes to make his way through the vegetation and to the broken window that was next to Jack's cell.

"Commander, I suggest we hurry." Borris yelled as the doors to the Kodiak opened. "The storm is getting a lot more intense."

"Acknowledged." I yelled.

It took us about ten minutes to set up the bomb. I then handed Jack the detonation device once we were in our seats. Jack flicked the top cover of the switch about three times, her legs bouncing as the Kodiak began to fly above the vegetation of Pragia. Jack then looked at me as she placed her thumb on the red trigger. I nodded and then pounded on the bulkhead of the cockpit, telling Borris that we were ready.

Then my biotic bitch pushed the button.

"Shepard!" Tali yelled as I stepped off the Kodiak. "I need to talk to you, it's important!"

I could hear the distraught tone in Tali's voice, and she was fidgeting with her hands.

"Alright, Tali. Calm down," I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let me get out of my armor and then we can-"

Tali wrapped her arms around me and she began to cry.

"I'll be in my office." Miranda said as she made her way to the elevator.

Jack just shrugged as she grabbed Urz by the collar and followed Miranda into the elevator.

"Alright," I patted Tali on the back with my hand and then took a step back, my hands never leaving her forearms. "What's going on?"

"I... I received a message from the Migrant Fleet when you were on Pragia. The Admiralty Board has accused me of-" Tali gulped. "Treason."

"What?" I let out a gasp.

"I'm scared, Shepard." Tali cried. "I don't even know what I did wrong."

"This is insane," I brought Tali over to a container and made her sit. "Nobody who knows you could believe you'd betray your people."

Tali sniffed. "They don't lay charges like this unless the evidence seems absolute."

"Do you think it's because you're here on Normandy working with Cerberus?" I asked.

"But I am not working with Cerberus, Shepard. I'm working with you. Plus, you got that letter from my father saying I was on leave to serve on Normandy again."

"Hmmm," this was somewhat mind-blowing.

"Hey Shep, there you are." Kasumi said as she stepped out of the elevator. "I've come to see if-" Kasumi stopped as she saw Tali. "What's wrong?"

It wasn't my place to tell Kasumi, so I turned to Tali.

"Kasumi, I-" I could hear the sadness in her voice. "The Migrant Fleet has accused me of treason."

"What?" Kasumi gasped as she sat down next to Tali and grabbed her hand. "You would never do such a thing!"

"What happens when a quarian is accused of treason?" I asked, grabbing Tali's other hand.

It took a moment for Tali to reply. "There's a hearing, with members of the Admiralty Board acting as judges." Then Tali let out a gasping sob. "My father. He'll have to recuse himself from judgment. Oh how disappointed he must be right now. I... I can't even imagine."

"Hey, don't think that he's disappointed until we know the facts." I said.

"If only you knew him." Tali said softly. "The worst part, Shepard, is that the punishment for treason is exile. If they convict me, I can never go back to the Migrant Fleet."

"This is such bullshit." I growled.

"And they didn't tell you what they are accusing you of?" Kasumi asked.

"None. The specifics of charges like this are rarely discussed to open channels. I won't know any more until I get to the flotilla." Tali said sadly

"And if this exile does happen, they'll just abandon you on some remote planet? What about exile quarians who have children?"

"Well, if it's deemed only a tragic mistake in judgement, the guilty party might receive a small ship and supplies. And, an exile can still have children, and those children are welcomed back to the Fleet." Tali let out a sigh. "Not that it really matters. Either way, if I'm convicted, I'll never see the Migrant Fleet again."

"We're not going to let that happen." I scolded my quarian. "Hell, you've been here the whole time. Obviously these dumbass admirals, no offence to your father, don't know what they're talking about!"

"Thanks, Shepard. I appreciate your faith in me."

"So how does this trial work? How soon do we need to get you there?" I asked.

"They'll wait a reasonable period of time for me to come and defend myself. Eventually, if I don't show up, they'll try me in absentia. As for how it works... it's less formal than something you'd see on the Citadel. We're family. This is just the worst kind of family meeting."

"Alright, send Joker the coordinates to the fleet. Let's go prove your innocence." I said with a nod.

"Really? Thank you, Shepard."

"Shep," Kasumi looked at me. "I was thinking we should have the reading tonight."

"Excellent, what time?" I asked.

"2100 hours?"

"I'll be there."

Kasumi looked at Tali. "You want to come help me with selecting some refreshments and snacks for tonight?"

"I would like that." Tali smiled. "Thank you, Kasumi."

"Hey, that's what friends do." Kasumi stood up and pulled Tali onto her feet. "See you later, Shep."

"See you later."

Once Tali and Kasumi disappeared inside the elevator, Joker called me from my OT comm.

"Commander, sorry to bother you, but you need to get to Miranda's office ASAP. She and Jack are in the middle of a... disagreement. Can you please head it off before they tear out a bulkhead?" Joker asked over the comm.

I let out a sigh. "I'll deal with it."

"Take pictures."

As I approached Miranda's office, I saw Garrus standing just outside.

"How bad is it?" I asked as he took a step back from the door.

"Bad. Are you sure you want to go in there?"

"If I don't, we might not have a ship to get us through the Omega 4 relay."

"Mmm," Garrus twitched his mandibles. "I can have EDI gas the room. You know, knock them out."

"Yeah, and have the wrath of Miranda on my ass for the rest of our delightful cruise? No thanks." I took a deep breath. "Wish me luck."

"I think you're going to need more than luck with those two." Garrus said the doors to Miranda's office opened.

"Touch me and I will smear the walls with you, bitch!" Jack yelled as a chair went flying across the room, hitting the bulkhead next to Miranda.

"Enough!" I yelled. "What the hell is going on?! Stand down, both of you!"

"The cheerleader won't admit what Cerberus did to me was wrong!" Jack yelled as she turned to me.

"It wasn't Cerberus. Not really." Miranda growled. "As I have said before, they were a rogue group. But clearly, you were a mistake."

"Fuck you!" Jack pointed to Miranda. "You saw what they did to me!" Jack then snorted. "Maybe it didn't get through your fucking head. Maybe I should just show you!" Jack's biotics lit up.

I let out a curse. This was uglier than I had thought. "Damn it you two!" I finally said. "This is what the Collectors want! I understand you don't like each other, but-"

"That's an understatement." Miranda snorted.

I turned to my XO. "Miranda, as my first officer, I expect more from you. You don't go picking fights with the members of this crew. I want you to leave Jack alone. Do I make myself clear?"

Miranda's eyes widened. "What?"

"Hah!" Jack said as she folded her arms.

"She can't be trusted, Shepard. She's unstable. She's going to jeopardize the mission."

"She'll be just fine. However, I think you need to check on your own attitude. You saw what went down on Pragia. At least have a little bit of sympathy for the children who died at the hands of Cerberus."

"Yeah!" Jack said.

"Jack... leave." I warned.

Jack just smirked as she left the room. Once the door shut, I turned to see Miranda glaring at me. I sat down in the chair across from her and let out a sigh.

"Are we good?"

She continued to give me the dirty look. "Not even remotely."

"Do you really think I wanted to take Jack's side in this? We need her. And we need her happy." Miranda continued to glare at me. "Are you seriously that butt hurt?" Miranda said nothing. "Look, you know damn well Jack needs special attention. Especially, since she just came back from a horrible past experience." I leaned in my chair. "I can at least reason with you... right?"

Miranda sighed. "I guess you're right. You did what you had to do."

"We all have to be onboard if we're going to make our mission possible."

Miranda nodded. "You're right, I am sorry." She paused as she placed her hands on her desk. "It's just hard to believe that Cerberus was a part in killing all those kids. I mean, I do believe those bastards running the facility were somewhat rogue, but still... it... damn, Shepard. It was Cerberus."

"Are you going to ask TIM about what happened?"

"I don't know. Operatives don't get the details on the other projects of Cerberus." Miranda pulled out a data chit from her pocket. "And I don't think I downloaded enough data at the facility to know what really happened there."

"Well if you find something, let me know." I nodded.

"I will. And Shepard? I should have known you were focused on the mission. Every time I think I've got you figured out... you do something to surprise me. You were right to take Jack's side. We need her happy."

"Hell, I'm still doing stuff that surprises even me." I laughed as I got up from the chair. "Just do me a favor and stay away from Jack until things cool down."

"I will." Miranda nodded. "Thanks again, Shepard."

"Anytime." I smiled as I left Miranda's office and headed for my cabin. I desperately needed a shower... and possibly a drink.

But the little Rabbit sat quite still for a moment and never moved.
For when he saw all the wild rabbits dancing around him he suddenly
remembered about his hind legs, and he didn't want them to see that he
was made all in one piece. He did not know that when the Fairy kissed
him that last time she had changed him altogether. And he might have
sat there a long time, too shy to move, if just then something hadn't
tickled his nose, and before he thought what he was doing he lifted
his hind toe to scratch it.

And he found that he actually had hind legs! Instead of dingy
velveteen he had brown fur, soft and shiny, his ears twitched by
themselves, and his whiskers were so long that they brushed the grass.
He gave one leap and the joy of using those hind legs was so great
that he went springing about the turf on them, jumping sideways and
whirling round as the others did, and he grew so excited that when at
last he did stop to look for the Fairy she had gone.

He was a Real Rabbit at last, at home with the other rabbits.

At Last! At Last!

Autumn passed and Winter, and in the Spring, when the days grew warm
and sunny, the Boy went out to play in the wood behind the house. And
while he was playing, two rabbits crept out from the bracken and
peeped at him. One of them was brown all over, but the other had
strange markings under his fur, as though long ago he had been
spotted, and the spots still showed through. And about his little soft
nose and his round black eyes there was something familiar, so that
the Boy thought to himself:

"Why, he looks just like my old Bunny that was lost when I had scarlet
fever!"

But he never knew that it really was his own Bunny, come back to look
at the child who had first helped him to be Real.

I closed the book and smiled. "The End." I then turned to Kasumi who was sitting next to me on the couch. "Thank you, Kas. This was an amazing story."

"It really was." Tali sniffled.

"Thank you for sharing this precious moment with us, Kasumi Goto." Samara bowed her head. "It was an honor to be here."

"Thank you all for coming." Kasumi smiled as I handed her the book. "Shep was right. This has made a happy memory."

"Shepard Commander," Legion's voice caused me to turn my head to him. "In the book it quoted 'Real isn't how you are made. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real.' Is this true for the geth? Are we... real?"

"Of course you're real."

"And once we are real, we cannot become unreal?" Legion asked.

"Legion," I said as I leaned forward. "Why are you curious about being real?"

Legion lowered his head, his upper head panels flicking back and forth. Then, he looked at me, his 'light' zooming in and out.

"Shepard Commander, does this unit have a soul?"