247AN: 2020. Well. Surprise. I am still here. I am completing this story because if I do anything with 2020, it has to be this. I am working on rewriting the chapters, slowly replacing them with the modified versions. One of the reasons I had stopped writing this was because I had been unhappy with the content. I want to try and fix it and should really have taken this year to do so. But, a pandemic wasn't as conducive to writing a novel as I thought. I stopped and started many times. For those who have come back, thank you. For those who are new - you'll see more updates shortly.
All Creatures Great and Small
Chapter 01: Peace.
The Justicar Samara stared at the Weeping Trees as they swayed in a soft breeze, their white, nearly transparent leaves stirring like snow as they first moved, then fell off of the branches altogether. She stared at the garden before her and tried to find peace within herself but couldn't. She had not been able to do so in many weeks and it was beginning to bother her.
I should be content, I have done what I needed to do, she though quietly as she shivered in the cold breeze, the wind promising an early autumn chill. The season was turning and she could not remember when the last time was that she had seen snow. Or stayed in once place long enough to enjoy it.
That could end now, I could choose to stay here and find peace...
She snorted at herself and dropped her gaze to the long sleeves of her dark red formal robe. She would not be able to remain in one place for long. Over four hundred years of travelling had conditioned her not to find peace in a location, but in herself. She thought about what peace would mean to her and unbidden thoughts of Commander Jane Shepard came to mind. In her memory, she could still feel the imprint of the woman's body against hers and of her thoughts, the commander's precious golden thoughts blooming in her mind. And, she could not deny the love that she felt from the woman...
No.
She pushed her thoughts away from the imprint and looked up to see a younger asari come towards her, her features serene but cautious. She was one of only two new recruits that the Justicars had had in the past fifty years. Very few were willing to take up the Order's oaths in these times where seeing the gray in the world had become so important. It used to trouble Samara but of late she found that she wasn't sure how she felt about it.
Perhaps it's better if we just fade, she thought. Let us remain legends. And let people forget to what measures wehad to go to uphold justice. Of course, when the Reapers come, then even those legends will die...
The recruit stopped in front of her and bowed slowly.
"Justicar," she said with a touch of awe and respect. "The Conclave will see you now."
Samara inclined her head slightly and looked up, beyond the Weeping Trees to where a massive glass like temple stretched up before her. Uncharacteristically, she felt a moment's trepidation but she quickly pushed it away.
I have nothing to fear, they will hear me.
"The first thing we'll do is see to his physical wounds," the woman was saying, her voice calm as they walked through the facility gardens. "They had done some radical procedures on him in order to integrate him with the VI system. When those are healed, we'll attempt to see what we can salvage of his mind."
Jane raised an eyebrow and glanced at the older woman with her. She judged First Lieutenant Kahlee Sanders to be about ten years older than herself, though it was hard to tell as the blonde woman carried her years very well. She had been surprised to find her at Grissom Academy where they took the autistic and badly injured David Archer after rescuing him from a Cerberus facility. She had heard about Kahlee Sanders and the work she had done with synthetic intelligence but finding her in an academy for mostly biotics was... out of place. She wasn't sure what to think about the woman, respecting her reputation but also feeling a little uncomfortable by the Alliance colours she still wore with pride. Jane had chosen not to wear any kind of uniform for the trip because she had cut her ties with Cerberus and wasn't sure where she stood with the Alliance. Instead she had settled for simple black civilian clothes but in the presence of this woman it made her feel naked.
How far I have fallen...
"Our VI is in the process of uploading all of the data that we have to your systems," Jane replied. "Including how we took him off of the machine. My people tried to do as little damage as they could but none of us had ever seen anything like this."
Kahlee sighed softly and shrugged. "This is not beyond Cerberus," she spoke quietly, keeping her voice purposefully low. "I won't put anything past them anymore." Her pale blue, nearly white eyes turned briefly in the direction of their other companion but then she smiled. "VI?" Sanders gave Shepard an amused look. "If you say so."
Jane didn't rise to the bait, knowing that if anybody could spot their ship integrated AI it was Sanders. EDI's protection lay in the fact that they could hide what she was. If word were to come out that she was an AI and, what's more, an unshackled one -Jane would have more than just the Reapers to worry about. Instead, she looked at the person Kahlee had glanced at.
Jack walked some distance from them, her hands in her pocket and looking every bit like a sulky teenager with her short stature. Where Jane wore civilian clothes, Jack wore, as usual, almost nothing. They had become quite used to the biotic's choice in clothing but she had drawn more than a few eyes from the Academy personnel and students alike. She had requested to come down with Jane and the only reason the commander had agreed to it was because it was the first few words that Jack had spoken to her in almost a month. She had been a part of the team that Jane used to battle the rogue VI that had trapped David's mind and the commander wondered whether it was the direct strike against Cerberus that had brought more life to the ex-convict.
Jack had been... quiet ever since they left Hagalaz and Jane was angry with herself for only picking up on it about two weeks ago. She had been so caught up with her own personal problems and thoughts that she had paid very little attention to those of her crew that were left. The Normandy had become increasingly empty. Mordin was on Omega with Abby, Thane seemed to have disappeared into a black hole along with Legion and Kasumi. Mess Sergeant Rupert Gardner had disappeared when they did a routine stop in Illium and Grunt had been called in by Wrexa week ago before they picked up the distress signal. The Normandy's technical crew had also thinned out considerably though Jane could hardly blame any of them for leaving. They hadn't really signed up for this waiting game and a lot of them were still loyal to Cerberus regardless of their devotion to Jane. The Commander hated to see them go but knew in her heart that it was perhaps for the best as she didn't think that Cerberus would be kind to those who turned their backs on them.
She had had this discussion with Kelly Chambers who was being ridiculously naive about the whole matter.
Miranda Lawson wasn't and Jane could tell that going to Aite and destroying Project Overlord had shaken her because it was the first direct strike that her second-in-command had made against the Illusive Man. There was no turning back to him now, Jane was sure of it. They had gone directly against his wishes by bringing David here.
Jane sighed and found herself touching her brow before she could stop herself. Sanders picked up on the gesture immediately and stopped walking, giving her a curious look.
"Headache, Commander?" she queried, her pale eyes studying Jane's features.
Shepard smiled at her calmly and shook her head. "Just tired," she said. "It was a long trip." Her gaze touched the stripes on Sanders' uniform again.
Kahlee smiled at her and she could see that the woman had picked up on the lie. None the less she shrugged and turned to Jack who had now stopped to glare at something across the courtyard gardens. Jane first glanced at the biotic then at what she was studying. There was a group of students across the yard in a fenced off area. She could tell immediately that they were working with biotics as one of them raised up a shield to cover a small area. An older man was standing across the yard, large metal debris lying beside him. The glare on Jack's features was turning darker and, glancing at Sanders in apology, Jane carefully moved in beside her.
In Jack's current mood, she didn't trust the biotic to act civilised. It had taken a lot of persuasion from Jane's side not to have her tear Dr. Gavin Archer, David's brother and a leading Cerberus scientist, to shreds. She had not taken well to the knowledge that the man had personally led the research that nearly turned his brother into a living computer. Her intended violence hadn't shocked Jane but it was the fact that she had struggled talking the biotic down that worried her. Ever since Hagalaz, ever since Abby left, Jack's head had gone to a darker place to which she didn't allow anybody to follow her.
Jane had asked EDI whether anything had happened between the two of them, but the AI had been frustratingly secretive about it, saying that people deserved their privacy and, if it didn't directly affect the safety of the crew, Jane had no call to use her surveillance as a spying method. Shepard had then tried to ask Jack about it but the biotic's response had been less than kind and somehow, she couldn't make herself ask Abby – though she knew the vet might be more open to explaining Jack's strange behaviour if she knew the cause of it. She had received one or two letters from the welsh woman, essentially telling her that she was doing alright. Mordin's communication was more detailed but he focused mainly Abby's health. Salarians attached precious little weight to the emotions of other species as it was believed that they felt they didn't process them fast enough. His mail was informative but Jane had found herself simply scanning through it before passing it onto Miranda and Dr. Chakwas who could pull more information out of it.
She had surprised herself by missing Abby's presence and wondered whether that was simply Jack's problem as well. The biotic had grown very attached to her and from their previous talks Jane knew that Jack never quite knew how to deal with that.
She heard Jack snort as Kahlee Sanders moved in next to them. The petite woman waved a tattooed hand in the direction of the biotics and looked past Jane at Kahlee.
"Don't know what the fuck you're teaching them," she said off handily, speaking for the first time. "But that fucking shield's no good. Hit it hard twice and it'll pop like a fucking balloon."
Sanders raised an eyebrow but if Jack's colourful language bothered her, she didn't show it. Jane wanted to reprimand the younger woman, but knew to do so in company would be suicide.
"Are you a biotic?" Kahlee Sanders asked with interest, her voice pleasant and curious.
Jack sniffed angrily and shoved her hands back into her pockets. Jane noticed for the first time that her hair was longer than usual and wondered whether she had either neglected to shave or was actually planning on growing them some.
"I dabble," Jack said simply but didn't care to elaborate.
The bright amusement in Sanders' eyes told Jane that she knew exactly who Jack was, but wasn't about to show it. The blonde woman turned away from Jack and looked towards the students, watching as the instructor picked up one of the metal containers and threw it at them. It bounced off, but the students took clear strain.
"How are your shields?" Kahlee's tone never changed and she didn't turn to see Jack's shrug.
"Passable."
Jane's mind turned to their assault on the Collector base when she had send Jack along with the surviving Normandy crew in order to protect them from the seeker swarms as they made their way back to the Normandy. From what Samara had explained to her, it had taken more than a fair share of power to uphold such a large shield but Dr. Chakwas had said that Jack hardly showed any strain.
The ex-convict's powers were unsurpassed by any of her human counterparts.
Kahlee smiled at Jack's response and looked at her with curiosity. "Care to show them?" she said, nodding her head in the direction of the students. "They're always up for learning new methods and I even think that Joe could do with more technique."
The suggestion clearly made Jack uncomfortable who sniffed again and rubbed her hand over her head though there was something in her eyes, something... eager.
"I ain't a good teacher," she pointed out but there was also a level of uncertainty in her voice that struck Jane as interesting. If she didn't know Jack any better, she'd almost have guessed that the biotic wanted to go over to the students.
The amusement in Kahlee's eyes was back and she turned away from Jack, perhaps instinctively knowing that if the ex-convict thought that she was either amused with her or humouring her then there would be hell to pay.
"I'm not asking you to teach Jack," Sanders said, using her name for the first time. "I'm just asking whether you would like to show them."
The biotic grumbled under her breath and for the first time glanced at Jane. It was a brief look, but Shepard immediately saw her uncertainty and her need for approval. The commander inclined her head ever so slightly, realising anew how important it was for this new Jack to have her support. The thought was encouraging and Jane hoped that this trip would be all the biotic needed to get out of her temper tantrum.
Grumbling, not looking as if she was going to enjoy it in the least, Jack stepped over the neat little hedge that was supposed to keep people off of the grass and on the pathway and stomped over to the group, not giving Sanders a second glance. The First Lieutenant moved closer to Jane and smiled slightly, motioning to Jack's retreating back.
"So, would telling her to keep off of the grass have any effect?" The woman asked, the amusement still clear in her voice.
Jane returned the smile and shook her head. "Unfortunately not," she said. "With Jack... She'll do things her way regardless of what you tell her."
Sanders grinned. "I bet she'll do what you tell her," she pointed out, watching Jane's response as the commander shrugged.
"I'll never tell her to stay off of the grass," Shepard pointed out. "With Jack you... Have to know when to push. When to sit back. I don't fight with her or try not to anyway. She's like a teenager in that sense. Sometimes, she knows what's right and what's wrong but she'll manipulate a situation to see how far she can push you." Jane trailed off, wondering suddenly why she was sharing this with Sanders.
The older woman smiled but then, as she watched Jack join the group and speak a few quick words with the instructor, her face grew more sombre.
"She's Subject Zero, isn't she?" Sanders queried. "She's that biotic that Cerberus..." She trailed off and Jane simply nodded. The silence between them grew heavier.
"Commander," Kahlee broke it finally. "You're not still in league with Cerberus, are you? David Anderson has told me great things about you and..." She grew silent, watching Jane who felt very awkward in her civilian clothes suddenly.
"No," Shepard replied, keeping her voice steady. "I'm not. I cut my ties with them, as have my crew." I hope.
Sanders studied her for a moment, then turned back to look at Jack who had pushed the students away and was now standing alone, her body language focused and her gaze intent on the instructor. He was looking at Sanders across the distance and waited for the blonde's brief nod before he turned his attention back to Jack.
"So what are you?" Sanders asked, her eyes focused on Jack. "You're not flying under the Alliance."
Jane sighed and watched how Jack's body began to glow as she threw up a shield. She couldn't see the difference between what Jack had done and the students but then, she wasn't a biotic. "I'm independent at the moment," she said. "The Alliance hasn't recalled me for duty. I think they're a bit unsure of what to do given the circumstances of my relief from duty. I'm just an... inconvenient truth."
Sanders barked a laugh, surprising her. "Jane, you're the woman who not only defeated the first Reaper to come into the galaxy in over thirty thousand years but you've travelled through the Omega-4-Relay and you've come back from the dead. You're not an inconvenient truth; you're an awkward fact that they have no idea how to deal with."
Jane murmured something but didn't want to commit an opinion. The truth was that she was angry with how the Alliance had been treating her. Even David Anderson, although he supported her, gave her a minimal amount of guidance and her other superiors ignored her outright.
Just like the Council...
And Samara.
She blinked and wondered where that thought came from. Checking herself, she refused her mind access to any of her memories relating to the Justicar and watched as Jack easily deflected two blows from the instructor. The students were talking amongst themselves but Jack ignored them, her face eager as she looked at the instructor.
"Come on!" she yelled. "Is that all you've got? Fucking pansy, what the fuck are you teaching here? Cooking?"
The instructor looked a bit taken aback by her and the students laughed nervously at her choice of words and language. Again the man looked at Kahlee who made a 'go ahead' gesture with her hand. The man stepped away from the metal and this time, his body visibly glowed with biotics. The eagerness in Jack's face was unmistakable as she dropped her shoulders slightly and waited for whatever he was planning on throwing at her. She had dropped her shield but her body glowed with biotics. Jane considered shouting a warning at her not to do anything stupid but realised that the time for that had already passed.
As she watched, the man formed some sort of attack in his hands and threw it at Jack who hurled up her shields in the time it took Jane to blink, successfully deflecting the attack. A split second later, she threw her own attack at the man who barely had enough time to gather up his own shields.
From beside Shepard, Kahlee Sanders cursed in a way she would not have allowed her students to.
"God, she's fast. That's..."
Jack threw out another attack before the instructor could do anything but strengthen his shield.
"Fast," Shepard finished the sentence for the stunned First Lieutenant. "I know."
Kahlee turned to give her a look of pure disbelief. "Do you know how she does it? I've never seen such a thing. Commmander that's... Fast."
Jane sighed softly but made sure to keep her voice neutral. "We were attacked by a very powerful asari a few weeks ago," she said, keeping her voice low as she thought of Lenelle and the damage the alien had done. "She could divide her biotic flows and launch two attacks at the same time. As far as I understand, which isn't a lot I confess, I'm not a biotic, it's not common."
Kahlee was still gaping at her and then at Jack who had not let up on her attack. The instructor was barely standing and the students were gaping at the biotic with expressions of shock.
"It's not," Kahlee said. "I've never heard of such a thing. Biotics need... a cool down period. The bigger the attack, the more time they need to draw on their biotics again. To launch two attacks... She's a wonder Commander. Did she get the idea from the asari?"
Jane nodded. "While defending one of my crew members, Jack was attacked by this asari," she pointed out. "Ever since that day, she's been practicing this technique. She hasn't fully succeeded yet but other biotics on my team say that it's only a matter of time. Jack's very determined." The sentence barely left her mouth before she heard the instructor yell suddenly and fly backwards as one of Jack's attacks finally shattered his shield, the impact of it knocking him off of his feet.
He lay on the ground panting but before Jane or Kahlee could run forward he held up his hand to show that he was alright. The two women settled back and looked at Jack who had massive 'eat shit' grin on her face as she turned to the students.
"That's how you do a fucking shield," she said, her voice carrying to the two women. She sounded excited and very pleased with herself. "And that's how you fucking pulverise it. When you attack, your opponent's not going to give you time to get your breath back. Fighting's not for pussies. You get in and finish the job as quickly as possible. If you have to throw up a shield to stop an attack, you fucking take a gun and fire on the mother fucker when he stops to take a breath. You get that?"
The students nodded and immediately started bombarding her with questions but the sudden attention proved to be too much for Jack and she waved them off.
"Back off Kindergarten," she snapped and started making her way to back to Jane and Sanders. "This was fucking show, not tell." The kids had the sense to back off but continued staring at the ex-convict until she reached Sanders and Shepard. It was only then that one of the classmates thought to go and pick up their fallen instructor who had not bothered getting to his feet yet.
Jack glared at Kahlee as she rejoined them on the path, the elation from the fight gone as she challenged the woman to say anything. When Sanders did nothing but smile at her, Jack shifted awkwardly and looked at Jane.
"Are we done here?"
Jane wanted to say yes but looked at Kahlee who was still looking at Jack in wonder. The commander could tell that the woman was seriously impressed with what Jack had done and perhaps, just perhaps, a little horrified. Jack had been made and moulded to fight and you didn't have to be an expert or even a biotic to realise that her little power display was the least of what she could do.
"Commander, why don't you and your crew stay here for the night?" Kahlee offered. "There are still some Alliance-related matters that I would like to discuss with you. And you might want to hang on to see how David is doing."
Jane could see the horror on Jack's face as she glanced back at the students, probably thinking that they'd be able to bother her now but she appreciated the offer and the Normandy needed to be restocked-though she didn't necessarily want Kahlee to come anywhere near the ship or its mainframe.
"I'll discuss it with my second-in-command," Jane said secretly smiling at the horror on Jack's face.
"But I don't see a problem with it."
The letter read:
Dear Jack,
I hope this finds you well. Things are going better here, I finally have permission to move into my new clinic so we'll start moving the new equipment over within the next week or two. I've seen one or two patients at Mordin's place, but I've found myself treating more aliens than animals. Under his supervision of course. I'm still learning how to work with all the machines, I'm a technological Neanderthal.
I've been thinking of you often and hope that...
Dr. Abigail Gable stopped writing and sighed, looking at what she had written and then deleting it as she had done with all of the previous letters. She didn't think that Jack would read anything she sent her and doubted whether anything that she could say would make things better between the two of them. The problem was, she suspected that Jack didn't know how to forgive and in a sense, Abby didn't really understand what she should ask forgiveness for.
She grimaced and stood up, moving away from her terminal and drinking the last of her tea. It was good British stock which Asura had managed to buy for her from Harold's the week before. She suspected that the asari had gotten tired of hearing her complain and had put in a special order.
Thinking about Asura made Abby smile even as her stomach twisted with anticipation. The asari was coming in with Mordin, having organised transport for the spare equipment that he had at his clinic. She had finished cleaning her two room clinic and decided to kill the time by trying for the umpteenth time to make contact with Jack again.
As before, she failed horribly.
It wasn't that she was out of contact with the Normandy crew. Kelly sent her regular messages and they would chat online occasionally when the opportunity presented itself. Dr. Chakwas send her a letter once a week like clockwork and even Jane had send one or two in reply to those that she had send.
But Jack... Well. Jack remained distant.
Abby sighed softly and checked the time, taking note of the date as well. It was hard to imagine how quickly time had gone by since they left the Shadow Broker's base. She had been in Omega for almost a month now, getting paperwork sorted and her knowledge up to date. She also needed her status as a medical professional instated. Mordin had insisted on that. Should the need ever occur, she would be able to practice anywhere else if that was in place.
Being certified wasn't necessarily difficult. She only had to write an exam to assess her proficiency at treating animals - both domestic and other. What made it challenging was how little time she had to learn. Abby felt as if she was back in veterinary school, only instead of having a few years to pick up everything, she now had three months. Mordin was confident she would be ready before she travelled to the Citadel for the exam. His teaching challenged her in a way she hadn't been since university and she had to admit that it was... satisfying.
Though it didn't give her a lot of time to think about anything else.
Especially not his other tests.
Abby sighed and glanced at her hand, then, on impulse, brought her forefinger up to touch her nose while she shifted her weight to stand on one leg. She could hold this position for more than a minute and it pleased her. Feeling unendingly grateful Abby realised once again how fortunate she was. And, how incredibly lucky. Two months ago, she had decided to end her own life in the world she had thought was real. Regardless of what had happened to her there, she had found herself pulled into this universe where her whole perception of what was real and what wasn't was turned on its head. A part of her knew that she had to think about it and that she had to consider the fact that she might truly have gone mad in her own reality, her mind destroyed by very disease that also destroyed her balance here.
She didn't care of course. The fact that she had decided to end her life had made her say good bye to it. This was all new, all different. She used her skills from her previous life to build a new one. And yes, it was strange. Although she had been familiar with the Mass Effect Universe she had had to adjust to a whole new world. When she arrived here she didn't know how credit transfers worked or even which deodorants she liked to use. Shopping was the most daunting thing that she had ever faced and she sometimes got the impression that Omega was like one massive version of Camben Town. Yet, despite the fact that she missed her English countryside, the station had endeared itself to her. She liked the rhythm of it and the people. The human families that tried to make a living there reminded her of those from her childhood, the gypsies of the galaxy that didn't fit in anywhere else. Human were by far in the minority and the sentiment towards them wasn't always very pleasant.
But, Abby had also come to realise that people, humans and aliens alike, respected any professional who attempted to bring change to the asteroid. Mordin was held in very high esteem and he used that to ensure that people understood that she was under his protection. He and Asura kept reminding her that at some point the mercenary gangs were going to start pressing her for protection money and that if ever that happened, she should just notify either of them immediately. Asura hung around her as often as she could but also tried to give her as much space as she needed. Abby was still sleeping in Asura's room though they were by no means sleeping together yet.
Their relationship was... Awkward to say the least and Abby didn't want to think about it too much. At this stage, she was just willing to accept that they still had a long way to go and that rushing anything would bring them nowhere.
Thinking about Asura, Abby found herself blushing and remembered exactly why her balance was so good today. They might not be trying to rush things but the hard truth of their current lifestyle was that they needed to be close in order to survive. Asura's hunger for melding was barely sated by the bi-weekly meldings that they had. Yet, she carried herself with an iron self-control that was almost painful to watch. She was the one who tried to push for as long a period as possible between their melding because Abby knew that deep down, the asari was terrified that she would kill her.
And Abby was terrified that that fear would eventually push Asura to abandon her completely.
It was perhaps the reason why she still slept in the Ardat Yakshi's room, because she wanted to have every opportunity that she could to hold onto her even if it was only physically.
Sighing, feeling confused and miserable suddenly, Abby glanced at her omnitool for new messages only to hear the door open in the other room. She moved out immediately and smiled when she saw Mordin direct a series of mechs that were carrying heavy boxes. The salarian's instructions were quick and efficient and soon all the boxes were stacked, ready to be unpacked. Abby helped as best as she could but soon decided that it was better just to stay out of their way. She was surprised when Mordin started to direct the mechs to unpack everything as well and stepped in again, running her omnitool over the boxes to check their inventory.
"I thought we were only doing this tomorrow," she pointed out, not bothering to greet the salarian as he didn't seem to put much value into it. Or rather, he always had more important things to say to her and simple hello was a waste of time if he didn't have any.
"Change of plan," Mordin chirped happily, making her smile and remember anew why she had liked him. "Has Asura messaged you?"
Abby blinked surprised and shook her head, checking her omnitool to make sure.
"No," she said and felt her heart clench. Asura had gone on an independent job to the other side of Omega. She hadn't said who had given it to her but Abby suspected that it had been Aria T'loak herself. "Did something happen?" As dependent as Abby was on Mordin and Asura for protection, Asura was dependent on Aria. Asura had never shared with Abby the exact nature of her deal with Aria but Abby suspected that it would involve quite a lot travelling across the asteroid. It didn't sit well with her, but she knew that she was more than partly to blame for this side of their predicament.
"Yes!" The salarian said happily as he turned an excited look on her. He seemed oblivious to her train of thought and motioned to the equipment that the mechs were starting to take out of the containers.
"She's found you a patient!"
To Be Continued...