'cause everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody ever wants to die

by Abstract_Thoughts

Summary:

Shepard only just woke up from being dead, and they're already being ordered around.
They don't trust The Illusive Man as far as they can throw him (and that's pretty far, even without biotics), but he's their best chance at stopping the Collectors.
Their dossiers include two smugglers on Omega, Batwing and Silicon. They can only hope they'll cooperate.

At the same time, Danny Fenton has been on the run for years. Sam Manson and Tucker Foley struggle to deal with the politics of Omega while trying to find their friend. Their stupid, stubborn friend who refused to let them come with him when he left.

Notes:

started replaying me2 and was autistic about it <3 enjoy the result
also i yoinked some dialogue from game bc i could not think of a single reason aria would respond any differently
(also character designs now in the related works! can also just go through my profile idc whichever you prefer)

Chapter 1

Shepard leaned back in the chair they’d dropped themself in. They glanced up over the dossiers down the ship, at the main battery. They’d always been surprised by the sheer space in Alliance vessels (and as much as The Illusive Man probably loved claiming otherwise, the Normandy was designed by Alliance and Turian engineers), at least compared to the cramped, smog-choked alleys they’d grown up in in Toronto. Even after all this time, the difference was stark.

They were on their way to Omega- had the most people to grab, there. Zaeed Massani, Archangel and Mordin Solus. There was also the two smugglers, going by code names Batwing and Silicon. Shepard was most concerned about those two, by the dossiers, they’d told Cerberus to shove it in no uncertain terms. The Illusive Man “suggested” that Shepard try to talk them into it, however.

That son of a bitch was all flowery words, but Shepard knew what he meant. If they thought they’d have a better chance getting the Alliance brass to move fast enough, they’d be jumping ship.

But they wouldn’t. So they were stuck with this.

“Shepard,” the Commander looked up from the dossiers again, finding Miranda leaning against the table they’d seated themself at.

“Miranda,” they set the documents down, “What can I do for you?”

“You seemed so interested in talking before Freedom’s Progress,” she said, only a minor hint of bitterness there, which Shepard was taking as a win, for now, “I figured you’d want to, now,”

“I… Appreciate the attention to detail,” Shepard offered carefully, “My biggest question here is what your boss thinks I can do with these smugglers,”

Miranda scoffed, “Please. You talked those Quarians into sharing data,”

“Tali’s my friend, and she knows me, that’s different,”

“Not so much,” Miranda smiled a little, “You have that quality about you- people follow you, even into hell,”

“Don’t remind me…” the thought of what Liara had been up to the past two years was tearing a hole in Shepard’s chest. If they were lucky, they’d run into her along the way.

“Commander,” came Joker through the comms, “We’re approaching Omega,”

“Perfect timing,” Shepard grumbled, responding, “10-4, Joker, on my way,”

“Ooh, fancy words,”

“Joker,”

“What? You spend 2 years dead and suddenly I can’t tease you?”

Shepard grinned, “Absolutely not,”

“Yeah, yeah,” they could hear the grin in Joker’s voice, too, so considered that a win. They turned up to Miranda, “You coming?”

“I would love to,” she nodded, following Shepard as they stood and made their way to the elevator.

Things with Miranda were… Awkward, to say the least. She knew Shepard deeper than any other person out there, on a physical level, but they didn’t know each other as people. Not in the slightest. Shepard had hoped to get something personal out of her, but she was all business, so far, carefully crafted responses.

It was infuriating, if understandable.

Miranda started to tie her hair up as they stepped off the elevator and into the CIC, ducking into the armory to get prepped. Jacob was already there and prepared, Kasumi hovering ominously in the corner. Shepard tried very hard not to stare at her.

“So, what should we expect?” Shepard asked, starting to pull armour on, “Never really wandered around the Terminus Systems’ favourite hotspot, personally,”

“Watch your ass,” Kasumi said, adding with a chuckle, “And your credits,”

“I feel like that’s true wherever we go,”

“Different watching your ass- don’t look like a mark,”

Shepard snickered, “More than capable of that, don’t worry,”

“You’d better hope so,”

Shepard put their weapons in their holsters, tying their hair up. Miranda dragged her eyes up and down their body, and they resisted the urge to punch her, “I see you’re enjoying the retrofitted armour,”

They rolled their eyes, “So long as it’s functional, I don’t give a shit what it looks like,”

“Keep telling yourself that,”

Knowing better than to take the bait, Shepard turned, saying, “Let’s get moving,” Kasumi snickered, and as they crossed the CIC, Jacob moved into step beside Shepard.

“Don’t let Miranda get to you,” he said, and Shepard didn’t look at him,

“I’m not,”

“Respectfully? Yes you are- she means well, she’s just… Not the most personable,”

He could just say she was a bitch instead of dancing around it, but Shepard just shook their head, “I’ve got it handled, Jacob, but thank you for your concern,”

Joker spun in his chair as their little group made their way to his end of the ship. He gave a two-fingered salute, “Don’t get robbed,”

Shepard grinned, saluting back, “I’ll do my best,”

They stepped off the ship and into the docking bay, finding a very nervous looking Salarian standing in the hallway.

“Welcome to Omega!” they said, “You’re new here, aren’t you? I can always tell-”

A large and imposing Batarian practically materialized behind them, and the Salarian froze, “Fargut,” the Batarian growled.

The Salarian spun, their hands flailing about. Shepard tilted their head a bit at the display, “Moklan!” they said, “Hello! I was just-”

“Leave. Now,”

“O- of course, Moklan! Whatever she wants!” the Salarian scrambled off, the Batarian shaking their head.

“Blasted scavengers,” they spit just for emphasis, turning as close to a Batarian got to a blinding smile in Shepard’s direction, “Welcome to Omega, Shepard,”

“You know who I am?” they inquired, and the Batarian chuckled,

“Of course- we had you tagged the moment you entered the Terminus Systems. You’re not as subtle as you think,”

“Good to know,”

“Aria wants to know what brings a dead Spectre to Omega- I suggest you go to Afterlife now and present yourself,”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Shepard nodded. They knew this tone, the tone of people who would kill you without a second thought and leave your corpse to the vultures. Or, in this case, the Vorcha.

“Excellent- I’m glad we could come to an understanding. Get your ass up there,”

Shepard snorted, “Don’t get your balls in a twist, I’m going,” they shoved past the guy just for emphasis, Miranda coming up to match their pace,

“Are you sure that tone is smart?”

“Absolutely,” they assured her, “Better to let people like this know you’re not taking shit and also on their side than anything else,”

“Hm,” Miranda looked around as they stepped into the Market District, “Good god, what a pisshole. I’ve had to come here on business before. I always feel like I need a shower after- in addition to normal decontamination,”

“I know what you mean,” Jacob grumbled, pointedly stepping around a large puddle of what Shepard hoped was vomit, “This place smells awful,”

Kasumi just pulled a mask over her mouth and nose, chuckling.

They moved up the stairs towards Afterlife- which was very easy to find with the bright pink signage- and Shepard was already getting a headache from the music. God, they hated clubs. And deep, bassy music. It was just migraine material, so they grit their teeth to prepare for that.

“I’m guessing you’re worrying about the music,” Miranda offered, “I did my best to account for those migraines- but there’s only so much you can do. We have treatments in stock when we return to the Normandy,”

Shepard nodded, and EDI offered over the comms, “I will have someone get some beta blockers and paracetamol prepped, Commander,”

“Thank you, EDI,” Shepard said, honestly a little touched by the attempt to assist.

The migraines had never been anything they couldn’t work through, they’d practically lived with a stress migraine during the hunt for Saren, but it was still a barrier to their capabilities. Which was incredibly annoying.

They entered the club and got pointed the right way by several bouncers, finally finding the aforementioned Aria on a large sectional up the stairs.

“That’s close enough,” Aria said, but Shepard apparently took a step too far, because every guard in their vicinity raised a gun at their head. Kasumi, Jacob and Miranda raised theirs back, but in the back of Shepard’s head they were aware that wouldn’t do much.

Aria waved a hand around and the guns lowered, but the Batarian they’d met in the hallway still stood between her and Shepard.

“Hold still,” they said, and Shepard did anything but, taking a few steps forward to speak to Aria over the Batarian’s shoulder,

“I’m told you’re who to talk to if I need information,”

“They’re clean,” the Batarian said, finally stepping aside.

“Depends on the information,” Aria said, turning around and stepping to meet Shepard,

“You run Omega?”

Aria threw her head back and laughed, “Oh, darling, I am Omega! But you need more,” she started to pace, “Everyone always needs more- and they always come to me. To answer your question, though, I’m the boss, CEO, queen if you’re feeling dramatic. It doesn’t matter. Omega has no titled ruler and only one rule,”

She paused, and Shepard crossed their arms, shrugging, “And that rule is?”

Aria laughed again, “Simple- don’t fuck with Aria,”

“I like it. Easy to remember,”

“And if you forget, someone will remind you,”

“Understandable,” Shepard nodded.

“What can I do for you, then?”

“I’m looking for a few people- what do you know?”

“Who are you looking for?”

“Let’s start with Mordin Solus,”

“The Salarian doctor?” Aria snorted, “Last I heard, he was helping plague victims in the quarantine zone,” she grinned, “Always liked Mordin- just as likely to shoot you as he is heal you.. Ah, I suppose if you really need to find him, take a shuttle to the quarantine zone. If they let you in, of course,”

Good odds, that. Ugh, “And Archangel?”

A laugh from the crime lord, “What, you want him dead, too?”

“No- I’m building a team. We can use him,”

“ Fascinating ,” she shook her head, “You’ll make a lot of enemies like that- assuming you can get to him. I hear he’s a bit holed up right now,”

“Oh?”

“Mmhm- local merc groups actually teamed up to finish him off. They’ve got him cornered, but by the sound of it they’re having a hard time. You might be able to get him if you’re quick,”

Shepard leaned forward, “Saw some recruiters coming into the club- I assume that’s what they’re here for?”

“Bingo- that sounds like your in. Anything else?”

“Batwing and Silicon,”

“Oh, those two,” Aria shook her head again, a smile on her face, “I like them, be a pity to have them fuck off on whatever you’re up to, but I suppose this was never their favourite place,”

“Do you know where I can find them?”

“Doru District last I heard- it’s all the water filtration shit down there, they like losing people in the maze. Good luck with that,”

“Thank you for the information,” Shepard stood, and Aria laughed,

“Do with it what you will,”

“What a bitch,” Miranda grumbled as they made their way down the stairs. Shepard had half a mind to tell her they were similar, but for now, they said,

“Agreed- but we take our wins where we can get them. Let’s focus on Archangel first, he seems time sensitive,”

“Aye aye,”

 

It turned out, Archangel was actually an old friend of Shepard’s, Garrus Vakarian. Their touching reunion was slapped in the face a bit- quite literally, Garrus got half his face blown off. But all was well in a couple days and they were back to Omega. They decided to go after the smugglers, per Garrus’ intel that they’d been seen on the East end of the district about a day before he’d been shot.

“I can’t guarantee they’re still there,” he said, leaning against an elevator wall. He had a scarf tucked into his armour and pulled up over the bottom half of his face so he wouldn’t be recognized, “But we were on good terms last we spoke,”

“When was that?” Shepard asked, and Garrus wiggled his head around,

“Eh, a month or so, give or take,”

“Jesus,”

“A lead’s a lead,” Jacob offered, and Shepard agreed.

They stepped out into the Doru district, all the pipes glittering in the light of control panel holograms. There was some old analog tech here, too, pre-holographic buttons and simple touch screens, a fascinating patchwork of tech that would probably make Tali very excited.

They moved through the darkened streets, and Shepard jumped about three feet as they could’ve sworn they saw two glowing green eyes staring down at them. But there was no one up on the pipes when they shone a light.

“Only a little freaky,” Garrus grumbled, and Shepard looked over,

“You saw it too?”

“The eyes? Oh yeah,”

“I don’t know what it could have been,” Miranda mused, “But I saw them as well- we should keep moving,”

“Agreed,”

The place was, as Aria had warned, an absolute maze. They wandered around for about half an hour before they finally ran into someone. They were young, maybe 23, and feminine, with long black hair pulled back into a ponytail and sharp blue eyes. Freckles dotted their face, and when they grinned at the group, Shepard almost convinced themself they had fangs.

“Hey,” they said, “I take it you’re looking for Batwing and Silicon?”

“We are,” Shepard lowered their pistol, “I promise this isn’t on behalf of the Illusive Man,”

“I’ll say! I mean, a dead spectre on our doorstep! That’s crazy shit!” they held a hand out, “I’m Dani, by the way. With an I- I’ll take you to them,” Dani spun on their heel, calling, “She/Her, by the way!” over her shoulder, and leading onward around a corner. With no other option, Shepard motioned to follow her.

Dani lead them through a twisting maze that Shepard truly had no hope of understanding, and though they kept their pistol drawn just in case this was a trap, they weren’t sure how a young woman who was unarmed would do much harm, even if she was just leading them to people who were armed and dangerous.

Finally, they came up to a wall that seemed as nondescript as the others, but Dani knocked out a specific pattern on it, calling, “Hey, dingle dorks! It’s me! I have some guests!”

“What kind of guests?” came a voice, masculine, through the presumed door.

“Commander Shepard and their- uh-” she glanced nervously over her shoulder, “Friends? I think?”

“You think ,” the other voice repeated, and Dani slammed her hand against the door,

“Damn it, Tucker, just let me in!”

“Okay, okay! Geez,”

The wall split down the middle, the two halves sliding apart from each other. Dani strode inside with no issue, Shepard, Miranda, Kasumi, Jacob and Garrus following suit. Shepard glanced around, finding what appeared to be a normal living room, the crates of likely contraband strewed around aside. The doors slid shut behind them, and the figure at the desk across the room spun around.

He was a black man, mid 20s most likely. Thick black glasses sat on his nose, and his hair was loose curls around his head, he motioned around them, saying, “Welcome, Shepard and friends. Gotta admit- when we got that message about Cerberus sending you we thought it was horseshit. Not your cup of tea, but here we are,” judging by the voice, he was Tucker.

“Yeah, well,” Shepard grumbled, raking a hand through their hair, “Wasn’t my first choice. I take it you’re Silicon?”

Tucker grinned, “I am,”

“So she’s Batwing,” Shepard jutted a thumb towards Dani, who laughed.

“Uh- no,” Garrus pointed to the couch, where a young woman was digging through one of the crates, “That’s Batwing,”

“Hey, Garrus,” she said absently, scribbling a number down on a notepad. She was pale, with black hair cropped short on one side and bright purple cut at the chin on the other side. Her make up was dark, and she had piercings across her face. She didn’t seem too concerned with what was going on, “Nice of you to come by, Shepard, but we already told your boss to eat shit,”

“He’s not my boss ,” Shepard was surprised by the vitriol at the statement, “He’s just the best choice I have for getting shit done right now,”

“I get it, Sam,” Garrus said, stepping between Shepard and Batwing- Sam- “Not my first choice, either, but Shepard’s in control here. I’ve told you how much I trust them,”

Sam paused in her inventory to glare up at Garrus. Her eyes were lavender- contacts or genetic mods? “I don’t give a fuck how much you trust them, Garrus! If you want to wander into Cerberus’ clutches for no goddamn good reason, then that’s your problem, but nothing can be important enough for us to work with them!”

“There is a good reason!” Garrus insisted, “Collectors are kidnapping human colonies across the Terminus and no one is doing a goddamn thing about it!”

Sam’s hands froze, “... Collectors?” she set her pen down, and Tucker stood,

“They stick to themselves, why would they kidnap human colonies?”

“That’s the question we intend to answer,” Shepard said, “I get it- I don’t like working with these guys either. But the fact that they even suggested Garrus be part of the team is worth something. If we do things right, we can help people. Really help them,”

Sam looked back at her hands for a moment, then asked, “Aren’t you a Spectre? Why do you need our help?”

“The Council is just sitting on their dicks,” Garrus said, “As fucking usual- that, and Terminus is outside Council space. They won’t give Shepard any of their old resources, you and I both know that,”

“... Fair point,” she groaned, leaning back into the couch, “Fine! But all three of us come,”

“Perfectly reasonable,” Shepard assured her, “Welcome to the team, all of you,”

“Thanks...”

Chapter 2

Sam decided this was stupid. This was one of the stupidest things she’d ever done, and that was a pretty damn long list. It was the right thing, but it was stupid.

Well. Right in the macro sense of the word. Cerberus wasn’t a government, but that didn’t mean they weren’t a threat to Dani’s safety. Let alone Danny’s.

God, Danny. Stupid, stubborn, kind, heroic, genuine, wonderful Danny. It had been, what, 7 years? 7 years since she’d seen his face, since any of them had seen it. Heard his voice, held his hand. Thinking about it made her feel sick, and the day he left even more so. Jack and Maddie had tried so hard to distract the GIW, to turn their attention literally anywhere else.

But it hadn’t been enough.

Danny had ran, and as far as they knew, he was off-world. Terminus was most likely, but where was the question. It was a huge galaxy.

She wrapped her jacket tighter around her, trying not to gag at the overly-sanitized smell of the Normandy. It was too much like the Fenton’s lab. Like home.

Tucker elbowed her gently and she turned to him. They were standing around in what the helmsman and AI called the CIC, waiting for Garrus’ facial implants to be double checked before they went back down to Omega.

“You think Mordin’s gonna come?” Tucker asked, and Sam snorted,

“No- he’s running a clinic in a quarantine zone. I think it’s pretty damn presumptuous of the Illusive Man to even suggest it,”

“Yeah,” Tucker bounced up and down on his toes a little, and Sam grinned,

“Alright, alright, talk about the tech, I know it’s driving you insane,”

“ They have an AI , Sam! A full, real artificial intelligence! Do you know how crazy that is?”

“Not at all, tell me details,”

“So, basically, most programs you speak to are VIs- Virtual Intelligences. They have pre-programmed responses to pre-chosen questions. Think Avina on the Citadel,” Sam snickered at the memory of her mother causing a scene over Avina repeating an answer several times, “But AIs, like EDI, are full intelligences, capable of thinking and responding and even having opinions!” he threw his hands around, “EDI, you’re technologically amazing!”

“Thank you, Mr. Foley,” EDI said, and Tucker cackled,

“See! She can respond like that! That’s fuckin’ crazy! Also you’re welcome!”

Sam was laughing, too, now. Tucker just had a way of making her smile when everything seemed dark, again. He always had. It had taken her an embarrassingly long time to realize it, but god did she love him.

Shepard finally came back into the CIC, Garrus at their side.

Jayne Shepard was not what Sam had always expected of them. They didn’t quite look like the obnoxious Alliance promos, and not quite like the sombre remembrance tribute holos. Their fiery red hair was always tied back in a ponytail, their grey eyes glittering with the dark reds of recently installed implants. The scarring on the side of their face showed that, as well, the glowing under the faint splatter of freckles. They were quiet, too, outside of combat. Fully capable of being a commanding force, but choosing not to.

It was fucking weird, to say the least.

“Let’s get going,” they said, “ Miranda, Jacob and Kasumi are staying back. We’ll move faster as a smaller team, and I doubt Doctor Solus will wait for us,”

Sam doubted he would come in the first place, but whatever, “You got it,” she jerked her head for Tucker to follow.

“Dani’s in the port-side Observation deck, by the way,” Shepard said, “I just chatted with her, she wanted me to assure you guys that she’s alright,”

Sam nodded, and Tucker snickered, “She’s being a shithead, Commander. D’s perfectly capable of handling herself, she doesn’t need us covering for her,”

“You would be too, with her ‘father’,” Sam grumbled, and Shepard shot her a look. Whatever, not their business.

“ I’ve ran a search for ‘Archangel’ in local chat logs,” EDI said as they stepped off the vessel, “It appears the local merc groups believe him to be dead,”

Garrus nodded , “Works for me,” he pulled the scarf he had over his face down to around his neck now that he wasn’t worried about being recognized.

“It also appears,” EDI continued, the group stepping into the Market district, “that there are multiple quarantine warnings about the slums where Dr. Mordin Solus runs the clinic. Anticipate resistance at the transport station,”

“ Or,” Tucker offered, and Sam groaned, “we could take the easier way,”

Shepard frowned at him, “What’s the ‘easier way’?”

“The maintenance shafts!” at Shepard’s disapproving expression he continued, “Look, it’s not that bad! People have to get around the station somehow, and I know for a fact the Blue Suns haven’t blocked everything off yet- it’s not that simple,”

Shepard nodded as they thought for a moment, “Alright, worth a shot,”

“Hell yes!” Tucker shot a fist up as Sam groaned,

“I hate the tunnels! They smell awful!”

“They’re not much worse than up here,” Garrus offered, and Sam fixed him with a glare she hoped was miserable,

“There isn’t rotting garbage stored in the open up here,”

“Fair point,”

Shepard opened their mouth, presumably to protest, but Tucker was already leading the group through the Market district and around several corners, ducking through a door clearly marked “Maintenance Only”. The locks had long since been fried, and anyone who had to get around quickly knew that.

“If we get through alive, Aria still likes us!” Tucker declared with far too much pep for Sam right now, who was pulling a respirator off her waist. Shepard had handed them out to everyone who had volunteered to go into the quarantine zone.

“Good to know,” Shepard grumbled, taking a step back so they could jump over a particularly large garbage bag, “ I take it she and her people monitor these tunnels?”

Tucker laughed, “She and her people monitor Omega,”

“ Can’t shit without her knowing,” Sam assured Shepard, though their expression said they weren’t too assured.

That was another reason they’d picked Omega- if Danny ever got onto the station, they’d know. Though, at this point, he was probably avoiding it on purpose.

“ So,” Shepard said as they walked, “I read back through your records while waiting for Garrus. You two were born on Earth?”

“Amity Park, Michigan, born and raised,” Tucker said, and Sam nodded,

“I was born in New Jersey- but we moved to Amity around 6 ^th grade,”

“I’m from Toronto, myself,” Shepard said, “But you guys both graduated high school, Tucker, you were Valedictorian. You both got into prestigious universities- why’d you become smugglers of all things?”

The two of them clammed up. The real answer was Danny. To get a hold in the Terminus Systems. To find a way to support themselves away from Citadel space whenever they found him.

“Personal,” was all Tucker said, “But I’ll tell you this- it wasn’t our first choice,”

Sam just glared ahead. She was so not in the mood to spill her life story to some Alliance bootlicker, let alone Danny’s. Or his death.

“Can I ask who Dani is to you?”

“... Sister in law,” Tucker said, “Her brother’s our husband,”

Sam almost smacked him, “ Was our husband,” she corrected desperately, “Accident. No, I’m not telling you details,”

“My condolences,” Shepard said, and it sounded like they meant it.

“Yeah, whatever,”

Tucker just patted Sam’s shoulder. She shoved off the attempt at comfort, not in the mood, and stormed ahead to shove through the closest door marked Gozu.

“ Oh ,” she whispered, the all-too-familiar smell of burning corpses hitting her nose even through the respirator.

“They must be burning them to prevent spread,” Garrus observed, stepping through the maintenance door behind them. Apparently, he’d long since put his respirator on, “... Doubt that’s gonna work, though,”

“Hasn’t historically,” Shepard responded, pulling their pistol off their hip.

“ I’ve intercepted Blue Suns communications,” EDI said over the comms, “And it appears the district is in absolute chaos. I’ve plotted a course to Dr. Solus’ clinic, though I suggest you be very careful,”

“Will do, EDI,” Shepard said, “Thank you,”

“ You’re welcome, Commander,”

The trek to the clinic was firefight after firefight with Blue Suns, Blood Pack, and, eventually, Vorcha.

Great .

“What the fuck do the Vorcha want, here, anyway?” Sam demanded, toeing one of the corpses with her boot.

“No idea,” Shepard responded, “Whatever it is, it can’t be good,”

“At least we agree on something,”

The signs pointing to the clinic were glowing best they could in the dim light of the district, and Sam hovered a bit closer to Tucker as they moved through it. It wasn’t that she was worried she’d get sick, it was more that she was concerned for his sake. He shot her a look of thanks, that hospital phobia had never really gone away in adulthood.

“Professor Mordin Solus?” Shepard offered, and the Salarian turned towards the group, scanning them with his omni-tool.

“Hmm, don’t recognize you from area. Too well-armed to be refugees. No mercenary uniform. Quarantine still in effect,” he started pacing, “Here for something-” he frowned at Sam and Tucker, “No, no. Recognize you two. Samantha Manson, Tucker Foley. Why are you here?”

“Uh,” Sam and Tucker looked at each other, and Shepard said,

“We’re looking for you, Professor. We’re on a critical mission, we need your help,”

Mordin looked aghast, “Mission?” he repeated, “What mission? No, no, no, no- too busy. Clinic understaffed. Plague still spreading. Who sent you?”

“ Cerberus,” Garrus said, lacking tact.

“Cerberus?” Mordin repeated, “Thought they only worked with humans. Why request Salarian aid? And Turian, apparently, ”

“Collectors are abducting human colonies,” Sam said, “And no government is doing jack or dick about it, so we’re gonna fix it,”

“Collectors?” Mordin’s fingers started fretting at his lip, “Interesting. Plague hitting these slums is engineered. Collectors one of few groups with technology to design it- our goals may be similar,” he paced across the room, “But plague must be cured first! Already have cure synthesized, need to distribute it at environmental control centre. Vorcha guarding it. Need to kill them,”

“Well,” Tucker leaned on Sam’s shoulder, “ that we can do for you, doc,” he glanced at Shepard, “Uh, right, Commander?”

“Absolutely,” Shepard agreed, “We’ll get that done immediately,”

“Excellent,” Mordin handed the cure to Tucker, “Tucker most technologically skilled among you. Trust him the most. Others kill Vorcha while he distributes cure,”

Tucker gave Sam a shit-eating grin, and she smiled despite herself, patting his shoulder, “Yes, yes, praise ,”

“ From Mordin, too,” Garrus snickered, “Try not to explode, man,”

“I’ll do my best,” Tucker assured him, and Shepard turned back to the group,

“Let’s get moving,”

“Environmental controls are accessible through the clinic, conveniently,” EDI offered, “I’m sending you the route,”

“Thanks, EDI,” Shepard moved to do something, but there was a large ka-clunk and the lights shifted to emergency power.

“I take it this isn’t a surprise party,” Sam muttered, and Mordin was already on his omni-tool,

“Vorcha have shut down environmental systems, trying to kill everyone,” he said, “Need to get power on before district suffocates,”

“That would not be enjoyable,” Garrus said, and Shepard nodded,

“On it- let’s move out,”

“One more thing,” Mordin interrupted, “Daniel. One of my assistants. Went into Vorcha territory, looking for victims. Hasn’t come back,”

“We’ll keep an eye out,” Shepard assured him, and turned back to the group, “Alright- move out for real this time!”

“Aye aye, Mx. ,” Garrus gave an only semi-sarcastic salute and followed Shepard out of the clinic, Sam and Tucker at their heels.

“ Why do I get the feeling this is going to go to shit?” Sam wondered aloud, and Garrus snorted,

“Because you’re following Shepard- that’s how things tend to go with them,”

Shepard shook their head, “Focus, you two,”

“Yes, Mx.,” Sam responded, more habitually than meaning it.

They found Blood Pack troopers around the first corner, of course.

“Shit!” Sam shouted, a bullet slamming into her shoulder. Thankfully, the shields took most of the damage, but she still stumbled. She slid down into cover, Shepard sliding down at her side. She spent a second fiddling with the old wrist ray she kept on- mostly for aesthetics. It was quite stylish when in camouflage mode- and flicked the ray into position. Hell yeah.

She reloaded a thermal clip and leaned over the top of the seats. She shot one trooper straight in the face, blood spraying, and used the wrist ray to blast another, sending them stumbling back onto their ass.

She leaned back into cover and Shepard demanded, “The hell is that thing?”

“Fenton Wrist Ray!” Sam responded, leaning up to take out the trooper she knocked onto his ass, “It only works as a gun on ghosts- but it’s a good alternative to biotics on non-ectoplasmics!”

“I’ll take your word for it,”

Tucker sent a drone out somewhere on Sam’s left, by the sound of screaming Vorcha.

“Shit!” Garrus shouted, “Krogan!”

Sam peaked up, finding a Krogan was in fact tearing his way across the little waiting area they’d found themselves in.

Shit, indeed.

Tucker’s biotics flared, and Sam shouted as he skidded in in front of the Krogan, who at the very least seemed impressed by his boldness.

“Eh,” was all Tucker had to say, “I’ve fought bigger,” the Krogan screamed in rage, but Tucker sent his skull smashing against the wall behind them with a biotic punch, and Sam was reminded why she was in love with him.

“Hell yeah!” Sam called, “That was hot as hell!”

Tucker winked at her over his shoulder before he cloaked himself and vanished from sight.

They moved up and around the corner, where Vorcha and Krogan alike were tunnelling down the hall towards them. Always lovely.

With Garrus pointed at the end and Tucker flickering in and out of the fight to land hits, as well as Sam and Shepard’s assistance, they were pushing open a door to find Daniel in no time.

“ Please,” the human was saying, a Batarian holding him by the lapel of his uniform, “I’m telling you the truth! I work for Mordin at the clinic! I came here to help you!”

“We know you’re spreading the plague virus,” the Batarian growled, “We saw the vials in your bag!”

“No, listen! Those vials contain the cure!”

Shepard nodded to the group, and they ducked into the room, guns aimed at the Batarians, “Maybe we should cut off your fingers,” the one holding Daniel snarled, “That should loosen your-”

“Shit!” shouted one of the guarding Batarians, drawing and raising his gun, “Hostiles!”

“Don’t move!” the one who was holding Daniel shouted, shoving him down to the floor. They drew their pistol, aiming it at Daniel, “One move and I kill your friend!”

“ Hey,” Shepard said gently, “No one has to die, here. I get it, you’re scared. Of the Vorcha, the plague. But this man isn’t to blame- I mean, even if he was spreading the virus, why would he come into Vorcha territory to do it? They’re immune,”

“... They’re right,” the guard said, “ It doesn’t make any sense,”

“If we release the prisoner,” the one aiming at Daniel said carefully, “can we go?”

“Of course,” Shepard assured them, and the Batarians lowered their weapons.

“Then he can go,”

Shepard lowered their weapon, too, “We had a deal,” they stepped aside, letting the Batarians walk past them.

“Human nobility,” the one who’d held Daniel muttered as they passed, “I didn’t know such a thing existed,”

“ Was that wise?” Garrus asked, but Shepard just glared at him, which got his mandibles to click shut.

Hm. Maybe Shepard wasn’t so bad, for a bootlicker.

But a good person could never be a good soldier as high up the ranks as Shepard was. Sure, it wasn’t early 2000s America, but it was still shit. The Alliance was riddled with corruption, just because Shepard did the right thing didn’t mean they wouldn’t look the other way if they didn’t.

Sam crossed the room, helping Daniel to his feet, “Thank you,” he said, “I thought- I mean- I thought they were gonna kill me!” he looked over the group, “Did Mordin send you to find me?”

“ He did,” Sam assured him, “But he could really use your help- clinic’s understaffed with tons of patients,”

“Shit,” Daniel nodded, “You guys have the cure handled, then?”

“We do,” Tucker assured him, “Doc’s having us disperse it through the environmental systems,”

“Smart man,” Daniel smiled a little before standing up straight, “Thank you again, I’ll head back!”

“Be safe,” Shepard waved him off, then turned back to the group, “Move out,”

They moved through room after room, taking heavy fire and returning it as best they could, and followed the signage down to the environmental controls.

“ Okay,” Tucker said, “We’re getting close- I’ll insert the cure, just cover my ass, yeah? We’ll need to reactivate the fans, and I suggest we split in two and two for that,”

“Agreed,” Shepard nodded, “You and I, and Garrus and Sam?” they offered, and Tucker nodded, “Problems?”

“None here,” Garrus affirmed.

“Agreed,” Sam assured him, and Tucker grinned,

“Hell yeah! Let’s fix this-” the doors opened to the environmental controls, which were of course swarming with Vorcha, “Shit,”

The Vorcha at the front growled at them, “You no come here!” they shouted, “We shut down machines, break fans! Everyone choke and die! Then Collectors make us strong!”

“Lovely,” Sam muttered, “Look, man, the Collectors don’t really give a shit about your people! They’re not going to make you strong!”

The Vorcha hissed, “You no know that! You talk lots, human, should be choking and dying!”

The group dove to the sides as a missile was shot their way from the balconies.

“Nice going!” Tucker shouted, and Sam shouted back,

“Not like they were going to be big on talking anyway!”

“We can sort out blame later!” Shepard insisted, “Focus on staying alive and getting that cure in!”

Tucker shimmered from view, and Sam squeezed her eyes shut, leaning her head back against the wall. She’d never been particularly religious, to her mother and her rabbi’s chagrin, but she said a silent prayer that Tucker would come back to her. He was a reckless moron, but damn it, he was her reckless moron.

Her prayers, it turned out, were answered.

Shooting through the ceiling in a bright white blaze was Dani Phantom. She tossed an ectoblast into the crowd of Vorcha, throwing up a shield between the group and them. She tossed a grin over her shoulder, “Need a hand?”

“What the hell , Phantom!?” Sam demanded, ducking out of cover to shoot into the Vorcha. Shepard shoved past her, sliding into cover closer to the far wall, “What are you doing!?”

“Well, I can’t choke and die,” she threw another ectoblast, “So I figured I could help,”

“She’s a living- or, well, dead, I guess- weapon!” Garrus shouted, “Why wouldn’t we want her help?”

“Because she’s my dumbass sister-in-law who’s going to get herself killed,” probably wasn’t the best answer, so Sam settled for, “Ugh, fuck off!”

Garrus, pointedly, shot the head off a Vorcha on the other end of the room. He shrugged at Sam, who threw herself out of this cover and moved forward, following Shepard’s careful movements.

Dani was diving in and out of Vorcha, overshadowing one and shooting the other before doing the same to another. It was an effective tactic that was getting the Vorcha shooting each other even without her intervention, so Sam focused on the ones she was leaving, making use of the post-overshadow daze by knocking them on their asses with the wrist ray and blasting holes in their chest with her pistol.

Crude, but effective.

As the wave thinned, EDI spoke over the comms, “I’ve scanned the systems, Mr. Foley is in the middle of re-initializing. T he cure is inserted- but the fans need to be restarted. I suggest you split up as previously planned, the fan controls are on either side of the room you’re currently in,”

“Perfect,” Shepard responded, “Thanks- Tucker! How’s those systems coming along?”

“Almost there!” Tucker’s voice came over the comms, “Phantom, you go with Shepard instead, I’ll hold this position to make sure they don’t gunk up the system again,”

“You got it!” Dani assured him, diving to the left. Shepard followed suit, and Garrus picked off a few Vorcha on the right.

“Get to those controls!” he said, “I’ll cover your ass!”

“ Got it!” Sam split off from her cover, diving into another on the right side of the room. The Vorcha were practically crawling out of the walls, it didn’t matter how good of a shot Garrus was, he could only shoot so fast, “Damn it!” she hissed, elbowing a Vorcha in the face and shooting him in the chest as he got too close.

“Initialized!” came Tucker’s voice, once again over the comms, and Sam hissed again. She could do this.

She decided on the stupid and reckless option- shove her way through.

She raised the wrist ray, a shield throwing itself up in front of her, and she used it as a battering ram, shoving her way through the pack of Vorcha just enough to hit the button and start the fan. She dove into cover as soon as the fan kicked up, and she heard the sound of the other start around the same time. Dani dove through the wall, grabbing Sam and flying her back up to the central platform. She tossed an ectoblast over her shoulder into the pack, which appeared to be enough to get the survivors scattering.

She set Sam down, who leaned against one of the raised platforms in the centre room. She caught her breath, “Shit... We did it,”

“We did,” Shepard grinned. Their face was flush, and they were clearly exhausted, but grinning ear to ear, “Let’s get back to Mordin,”

 

Mordin was delighted to see them. He rambled, as he tended to, which ended in thanking Shepard for their assistance.

“It was a team effort,” Shepard assured him, “but you’re welcome,”

“Thank you from me, too,” Daniel said, “Those Batarians would’ve killed me... Probably,”

“ No problem,” Daniel wandered off, and Mordin grinned,

“Good kid. Bit naive. He’ll learn. Letting him take over the clinic. Should be able to handle it now that Vorcha are gone,”

“So is that an ‘I’m ready to help’?” Shepard asked.

“ Yes! Unexpected to be working with Cerberus. Many surprises,” he moved back to his computer terminal, “Just need to finish up here at the clinic. Won’t take long- meet you at your ship. Looking forward to it!”

“Excellent,” Shepard held out a hand for a handshake, which Mordin took and shook, “See you on the ship, then, Professor,”

“Yes. Will see you,”

They made their way out of the clinic, where Dani Phantom was still waiting for them. Shepard had to admit, she was surprised to see a human ghost this far out, let alone on Omega, but she’d helped them, that was for certain.

What she was doing this far out was a question for later.

“Hey,” she waved, “You guys ready to get the hell out of here?”

“Absolutely,” Garrus assured her, “You sure you can’t, like, fly us through the station?”

“I’d love to,” she shook her head, “but there’s a lot of anti-phasing tech in the walls. I only came through the ceiling in the control room because it was the only place not protected. I guess they forgot we can fly,”

“ Worked out for us,” Shepard assured her, “You’re more than welcome to come and help us against the Collectors, you know,”

Phantom shook her head, “Nah- I’m not stupid enough to work for Cerberus. Just because the big man’s letting you have non-humans on board doesn’t mean I’m comfortable with it. My brother and I have had enough human-centric organizations to last an afterlife,”

“Your brother’s also named Danny, isn’t he?” Shepard asked, and Phantom grinned,

“Yep! He stepped into the Living Realm first, did his whole hero thing... Sucks he can’t get around here much anymore. ‘Specially on Earth,”

The Ghost Investigation Ward had pretty infamously almost got their hands on him. The Special Ops unit had been acting mostly without orders for nearly 6 years when they announced they’d captured Phantom, but he’d escaped and disappeared. Whether it had been off-world or into the Ghost Zone no one really knew for sure, but whatever the case, Shepard could only hope he was safe.

“Yeah, I can’t imagine that,” Shepard agreed, “Well, the offer stands. The Illusive Man can go to hell if he has a problem with it,”

Phantom just laughed, “I like your boldness, Shepard. I suppose we dead people do have to stick together a bit,”

“I was only mostly dead,” Shepard corrected, and Phantom’s eyes glowed dangerously.

“That’s the worst kind of dead, Commander,” with that, she disappeared.

Notes:

i guess im yoinking dialogue from game now lsdkjflsdf we're off omega now in terms of the first set of dossiers though wee

Chapter 3

Dani sat cross-legged in the observation deck, watching the stars whir past. They were on their way to some sort of Blue Suns camp on Korlus, which was bound to be just awesome. She’d convinced Shepard to let her come down planetside, spinning a tale about how her parents had worked with Okeer and she might be able to assist with negotiation.

That was, of course, only half true.

Vlad had worked with Okeer.

Dani had only recently come out of her tank when the Krogan had video chatted Vlad, the two of them discussing cloning technology in depth. Dani had naively lept into the call, throwing her arms around Vlad’s neck and saying, “But we won’t need it anymore once you stabilize me, right, Daddy?”

“Of course, sugarplum,” Vlad had cooed. What had comforted her as a few days old made her stomach churn as about a decade.

She was hyperaware of the fact that the Illusive Man definitely had cameras all over this damn thing, and in everything Shepard owned, so she was keeping her ghostliness as limited as possible. It was annoying, but necessary. If anyone found out she’d lied to the GIW, everyone else’s stories would come apart.

That was probably why she’d ended up on this deck in the first place. God, she missed Danny.

She’d spotted him a few times over the years. He was less subtle than he thought, at least to her senses, and had clearly been checking up on the three of them. If Aria of all people hadn’t noticed, she had no doubt he’d gotten in and out of the Citadel to check on Jazz and Valerie, too.

Mom and Dad she doubted, but she didn’t doubt he’d try if they didn’t find him soon.

That had been half her reasoning to join in the first place. She’d meant it when she’d told Sam and Tucker that if they weren’t going with Shepard, she would, though truth be told she was glad it turned out this way.

The door opened behind her, and Dani turned around to look. Shepard was stepping in, absently fiddling at a datapad, chewing on a ration bar.

“You know,” Dani said, and Shepard looked up at her, “maybe we should stop by the Citadel and head in for real, you can’t live on those things,”

“They’re calories,” Shepard said, and Dani laughed,

“Maybe, but do they taste good?”

“... Not really,”

“Exactly! We should get some quality rations for folks, food is important,”

Shepard put their pad down on a couch, “That might not be such a bad idea- I need to head that way anyway, speak to the Council,”

“Oh yeah,” Dani grinned, “You were a Spectre, weren’t you?”

“Doubt I will be anymore, but yeah... First human spectre and all that,”

“Wicked,”

There was a beat of silence before Shepard said, “I read through the record on you I was given- you didn’t tell me you’re the Fenton’s younger daughter,”

Dani groaned, “Yeah that’s why! Because people are weird about it!”

“I’m just curious if your parents might be useful to us- they kind of specialize in finding the truth in small portions of data,”

Dani frowned, leaning back far enough to lie flat on the ground, staring up at Shepard, “I mean, it might be worth a shot. I don’t think we can exactly fly up to Earth right now, but we can probably call and ask what they know,”

“I’ll make a note of it, then,” Shepard picked the datapad up, presumably doing just that.

Dani bit her lip. This was risky. Very risky, “Did you see anything about my brother in that record?”

“Sam and Tucker told me he was dead, but I saw he disappeared a good few years ago,”

Dani mentally kicked those two, “Oh, yeah, they’re pretty sure he is by now, but I’m more asking what details you got?” she sat up, crawling up onto the couch opposite Shepard, “I just know a lot of it’s behind some pretty heavy clearance, and-”

“Just that he’s been missing since ‘78,” Shepard clarified, “Why, what’s up?”

“... I was just wondering, if we have the time, could we try to find him?”

Shepard leaned back a bit, “From what I read, the man’s a ghost, Dani. I’ll give it a shot, have Miranda shoot out some questions to her contacts, but I don’t know how well that’s gonna go,”

Dani nodded, “I know... It’s just...”

“Nah, I get it,” Shepard shook their head, “I had a brother, too. John. He got shot in a drive by when we were 17. Wasn’t even for him, moron just got the wrong house,” there was another beat of silence, “But I knew John was gone. I had that closure. If nothing else, we’ll find what’s left of him. I promise you I’ll do everything in my power for that,”

Dani laughed a little hysterically. She wiped her eyes as tears came, “You have no idea how long I’ve waited for someone to say that,” she sniffled, “Thank you, Shepard. Thank you,”

“Commander!” came Joker over the comms, “We’re in orbit over Korlus,”

“Roger, Joker. Miranda, Kasumi, you two and Dani will come with me,”

“Aye aye,” came Miranda, and Kasumi just hummed.

Dani lept to her feet, wiping her eyes, “Let’s go!”

 

They were immediately shot at upon exiting the transport, because what the fuck else were they expecting? Dani habitually launched herself up to avoid the gunfire, letting her biotics glow more in a show to keep people from suspecting anything than actually using them. She then realized what she’d done and dropped back down into cover beside Shepard. They shot her a look, but didn’t say anything until the mercs were dead.

“What’s up with the green biotics?”

“Ectocontamination,” Dani explained, “Living above an open portal will do that to you- fucks with the eezo in a few wonky ways, but it’s just discolouration and the fields are supercharged. It’s super helpful, actually,”

“Would’ve preferred to know that ahead of time,” Shepard grumbled, “But so long as you’ve got it under control,”

“I do, Mx.,”

“Good, let’s keep moving,”

“There is only one measure of success!” the voice blared, “Kill or be killed! Perfection is your goal!”

“Broadcasting orders over loudspeaker,” Miranda scoffed as Shepard checked around a corner and motioned them forward, “Charming,”

“Let’s focus on Okeer,” Shepard said, “We’ll help who we can if we come across them, but he’s our main objective,”

Dani was more hoping to destroy whatever horrible shit anyone who worked with Vlad was probably up to, but maybe he’d surprise her.

“Lookout post ahead,” Kasumi said, “and they’re ready for us,”

True to her word, as they came up a flight of stairs fire rained down. Dani tossed one of the mercs into the air with her biotics and Miranda shot them out of the air, “Nice one!” Dani called, and Miranda smirked, throwing a merc her way for Dani to shoot in a weird little ‘you too’.

Mercs dead and up the stairs, there was one wounded, crawling into a corner, “Shit, shit!” he shouted, and Dani’s hand habitually went to her Medigel, but Shepard held a hand out for her to pause as they stepped closer, “It won’t stop bleeding! I’m gonna- shit- fuck!” he started wheezing, and Dani forced her brain to regain composure. She could do this. She was Normal and Totally Human and Not Freaking Out.

(The LEDs in her armour and shields flickering said otherwise)

“Son of a bitch,” the merc said, pulling himself to his feet. Dani visibly relaxed, and Kasumi chuckled,

“It’s not even that bad,”

“He doesn’t need to know that,” Shepard mumbled, and Dani immediately felt stupid for freaking out.

She didn’t tend to hear people wheezing in pain that often, yeah? She was good at hiding her emotions, not so much at not feeling them.

“Knew it wasn’t berserkers,” the merc hissed, vitriol spitting from his tone, “You’re mercs, or Alliance! I’m not telling you shit!”

“ Would some Medigel change your mind?” Shepard asked, tilting their head at him, “I’ve got a nice application here, but if you’d rather I just kept moving...”

“ Son of a bitch!” the merc shouted, “Look- I don’t know anything! I just show up and shoot the overflow from the labs. That old krogan up there’s really been cleaning house,”

“Cleaning house?” Dani repeated, “Fuck are you talking about?”

“Jedore hired him to make her an army,” he explained, “But the krogan he creates are insane !”

“ Creates ?” Dani repeated, her blood turning to more ice than usual, “Shit, I knew this guy was bad news, but Shepard,” she grabbed their arm, “we can not work with this guy if he’s- he’s doing this !”

Shepard nodded, “I agree- but we should see what he’s up to first. We might be misinterpreting,”

“... I highly doubt that,”

“Uh, hey!” the merc waved a hand in Shepard’s face, “You promised me Medigel!”

“What happens to these krogan?” Dani demanded, and the merc scoffed,

“Live ammo training, it’s all crap!”

“... Jesus ,”

“I don’t get paid enough to bleed out, let alone for y-”

Outpost 4, came his comms, Jedore wants to move, we need coordinates on that krogan pack.

He paused, and Shepard leaped on the opportunity, “I want your friends gone,” they growled, raising their omni-tool for emphasis, “Understand?”

The merc wavered for only a moment, his eyes hovering on the very clear threat in front of his face, “Uh, patrol? The group... Dispersed. Lost sight five minutes ago,”

Dispersed? the person on his comms demanded, Jedore’ll be pissed. She wanted a show.

“You asked for a report, you got it! Dispersed!”

Understood. Returning to the lab.

“ There,” he said, “You see? I’m helping,”

Shepard applied the gel a bit haphazardly, “If you start limping now, you might find a shady spot before you bleed out,”

The merc stumbled off, flipping Shepard off as he went, and calling them a bitch for good measure.

“Ah, so good to meet the locals,” Kasumi said with a wicked grin, and Miranda just shook her head,

“What an ass,”

“ At least we agree on that,” Dani grumbled, kicking a stone in the merc’s general direction, “Can I request we kill as few of these- uh- created krogan as possible?”

“We don’t shoot first,” Shepard assured her, “We aren’t going to kill anyone without reason,”

Dani gave a breath out, “Alright. Good,”

“ Come on,” Shepard drew their shotgun, “our warlord is somewhere in those labs,”

“On your tail,” Dani assured them, and Miranda and Kasumi followed suit.

It was another few firefights before they met their first “created” Krogan. He was happy to fight the mercs alongside the squad, and moved right into Dani’s face as soon as the gunfire stopped.

“You... Are different,” he said, “Different then the other humans, more... Sharp. Tangy,”

“Thanks!” Dani laughed a little, genuinely meaning it, “Do you have a name?”

“Name?” he asked, “I do not know this. Seven night cycles, and I have felt only the need to kill,” he tilted his head, “But something in you makes me speak,”

“Is-” Miranda sounded flabbergasted, “Is he saying he’s a week old?”

“Is that so strange?” Dani asked, “He’s a clone,” she looked up at him and held her hand out, “My name is Dani. I’m human, and this is how we greet allies. It’s called a handshake,”

The krogan stared at her hand before holding his out, mirroring her action. She took his hand and shook it, and he hummed, “Strange,”

“Now we’re allies! And a name, by the way, is what you’re called. It’s sometimes given at birth, sometimes chosen throughout life. It’s personal, and is how people refer to you,”

“Hm,” he said, “Then my name is Violence,”

Dani grinned, letting her fangs show to him, “Wicked! I love it- it’s nice to meet you Violence. Can you tell us what Okeer is up to here?”

“Okeer... That is the creator. The one who made Glass Mother,”

“Yeah, I’d suspect so- do you know what he’s up to?”

“I do not.. But I do know how to get there,”

“Excellent,” Miranda perked up, and Shepard asked,

“Can you show us?”

“Yes, I can show you to Glass Mother. She is up, past the broken parts. Behind many of you fleshy things- I will show you,”

Violence crossed the little clearing they were in and very easily tore a piece of sheet metal off a wall, tossing it down with a rumbling thud to reveal a new path.

Kasumi grinned, “Not exactly subtle- but I like it,”

“You fleshy things are slow when big things are in your way,” Violence explained candidly, and Dani could agree with that. She supposed technically she wasn’t a fleshy thing. She was more of an ectoplasm-y flesh thing.

“You coming with us?” Shepard asked, and Violence said quicker than they could finish,

“No. I will fight if they come- but I feel it deep that I must wait. I kill, but only here. I am not perfect,”

And, wow, if that wasn’t a gut punch. For just a moment, just a breath, Dani was 14 again, staring up at Vlad who’s story started coming apart. Who was never going to stabilize her. Who only kept her around to use her. Who, once she wasn’t useful anymore, actively tried to recapture her and melt her down.

N ow now, my dear, if you continue to struggle, there'll be nothing left of you to dissect!

And then she was 26 again, her breath shuddering as Violence disappeared around the divide. What was she supposed to say? You don’t need to be perfect? You can be your own person? You are not your creator?

But she didn’t get the chance. He was gone, whatever he was saying lost to the thumping of her heart in her ears.

Shepard lead the group into the tunnel, where Miranda noted how narrow it was.

“Does it feel colder to you guys?” Kasumi asked, and Dani opened her mouth to respond, only to see her breath puff out in front of her.

Oh no.

Dani coughed just to hide the chilled air, but didn’t get the chance to spread her senses out, as two Blue Suns came around the corner, opening fire. Dani launched one into the air, Miranda shooting them down, while Kasumi punched one in the throat hard enough to drop them.

“Shit-” they barely got into cover as they came around the corner, some of the Krogan on their 12 o’clock and fucking pissed.

Dani dived out of the way of one that charged at them, catching herself half with her biotics, half with flight, as she was thrown off the edge of the ramshackle bridge they’d found themselves on, “Fuck!” she threw herself up into the air and tossed a warp down at the krogan storming Shepard, which left him stumbling. Shepard blasted a hole in his armour, and his stomach, and the krogan dropped like a sack of bricks.

Dani landed, finally drawing her shotgun and helping tear through the krogan and Blue Suns (though mostly krogan, and Dani felt sick about it). The half-walls the Suns had set up and ancient barrels and crates worked as cover, leading them up, up, up the tower and closer to the lab. The Blue Suns screamed at each other over communications, clearly not prepared for the storm that is Jayne Shepard.

They were finally back in the sunlight over a ravine, which the Suns shot at them across. Shepard swapped to their sniper, and Dani swapped to her pistol. Miranda was having no issue tossing the Suns around like ragdolls for Shepard to snipe out of the air, and Kasumi was laughing. At least someone was having fun.

They moved down the ravine, dropping more troopers in a room on their side, climbing higher and higher, until they found someone.

“Shepard! Don’t shoot, you know me!” the asari shouted, and Dani did as she was asked, though Miranda kept her weapon raised until Shepard motioned for them to lower them, “Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m glad it’s you shooting up this place,” at Shepard’s confused expression, she said, “Sorry- my name is Rana Thanoptis. You let me go when you destroyed Saren’s cloning facility on Virmire,”

“What?” Dani demanded, “So you’re just working for a somewhat less horrific cloning facility now?”

“Don’t worry!” Rana assured her, to no avail, “My work here is strictly beneficial,”

“Bullshit!”

“It’s not for the mercs! Jedore’s on a power trip- but Okeer’s trying to do something good, even if his methods are a little... Extreme,”

“Who cares what the fuck he’s doing!?” Dani’s fingers sparked with green energy, and Rana stepped back in fear, “He’s bringing living beings into the world to be used as fucking target practice because they’re not perfect for him! Why does his goal matter when what he’s doing is horrific!?”

Shepard held their arm out between the two, but set their gaze on Rana, “She’s got a point- this is making me think letting you go was a mistake,”

“Good thing I’m already leaving,” she stalked past the group, “I know how you operate,”

The door closed behind her, and Dani glowered at the console Rana had been working at. It’s display flickered and shuddered, and probably would’ve burst if Shepard’s hand hadn’t come down on Dani’s shoulder.

“Hey,” they said, “We’re gonna stop this,”

“I know,” Dani assured them, “If you wouldn’t, I’d do it myself,”

They pushed the next door open, finally finding Okeer. He didn’t look up from his console, “Here you are,” he said, “It’s about time! The batteries in these tanks will not wait while you play with those idiotic mercs!”

Dani debated blowing his head off right then and there, but Shepard spoke first,

“You must be Okeer- not particularly caged or grateful, hm?”

“You may claim to be here to help,” Okeer turned to them, “But the formerly deceased Shepard is not a sign of gentle change,” his gaze settled on Dani, and he tilted his head, “One of Masters’, if I recall? Surprised you’re still living,”

Dani scoffed, “Vlad’s a moron, I found my ways,”

“On that we agree,” he turned back to Shepard, “You seem surprised- all krogan should know of Shepard. I have no doubt Rana has already revisited your actions on Virmire,”

“Not my proudest moments...” Shepard mused, “But I didn’t exactly have room for finesse- if there was any other option, I’d have taken it,”

“Ah, but I approve!” the old krogan spread his hands, “Saren’s pale hoard were not true krogan, numbers alone are nothing. This is the mistake of an outsider, one that these mercenaries have also made,” he paced to the window, “I gave their leader my rejects-” Dani’s hand went to her pistol, “-for her ‘army’, but she grows impatient. It’s time for you to take me out of here,”

“Un-fucking-likely!” Dani shouted, and she’d tossed an ectoblast before anyone could stop her.

Okeer’s head smashed against the glass. The force would’ve killed another species, but he was krogan, a very old krogan, and he spun with a scream of rage. Dani dived away, turning her leg intangible as he aimed to grab it. She was back on her feet and firing, now, Shepard at her side.

They were at least attacking the krogan, but Dani was too angry to process thoughts other than protect life protect life protect life. Her Obsession was raging, her fist bursting to life in ectoplasmic energy. She lunged for the krogan, claws and fangs out, and slammed her fist straight through his chest. Orange splattered across the chest, shoulder and gauntlet of her armour, and she took several shuddering, painful breaths. She didn’t dare look at the others, knowing her eyes were glowing.

“Impressive,” Kasumi said,

“And reckless,” Shepard insisted, grabbing Dani’s shoulder and forcing her to face them. She searched their eyes for the reflection of the green and found nothing, so she relaxed quite a bit before Shepard continued, “I agree this shit needed to stop- but killing him outright? Just like that? Not on my ship. You listen, you talk, you don’t strike first unless absolutely necessary,”

“I didn’t need to hear him!” Dani insisted, “He was hurting people. He was bringing people into the world just to kill them. You know that’s more than enough,”

Shepard grabbed Dani’s blood-soaked arm, “Not for this,” they insisted, shoving it back at her, “Let’s deal with that merc captain and get the only krogan we have left onto the ship,”

“... Yes, Mx.,”

 

Audio Log:

Statement of Mayor Vladimir A. Masters

 

Agent K: This is Audio Log 2178-08-17-670 -1 on the case of Daniel James Fenton. Thank you for speaking with us, Mayor Masters.

Mayor Vladimir A. Masters: Oh, it’s no trouble, it’s only right that I explain.

K : How did you learn that Mr. Fenton was a ghost?

Masters : I’ve known for quite some time, in truth. The boy threatened me into silence.

K : What kind of threats?

Masters : Death, overshadowing and forced to do something damaging, and what have you.

K : That matches our psychological profile. Then tell me everything. And please, go into as much detail as possible.

Notes:

frothing at the mouth waiting to get to the dani/grunt dynamic