Guess who's back! I read back my previous chapters and found so many hilarious gems. Also, quite a few errors. I'm glad I know how to use tense correctly these days. Also, also, I forgot we have to go get Grunt before we can go to Horizon.

"Its Zaeed Massani," said Miranda, her voice dismissive, like she was reading another statistic or just recounting another number fallen through the cracks. "He's dead."

"Damn." Shepard crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. "Do we know what happened?"

I froze, my blood running cold as ice gripped my heart. Zaeed was... dead? Nothing killed that guy. I know he didn't join us like he was supposed to when we docked on Omega, but I just assumed his recruitment was flexible. Was it because I was in his room at the time?

Miranda was explaining something about an agent finding his body dumped in a lower level of the Omega station.

"How?" I interrupted.

Miranda glanced my way, irritated at my inattention. "As I said; unknown."

"Unknown?"

"There were no signs of injury or external causes," Miranda explained. "No sign of specific organ failure either. It's like he just... stopped living."

"Stopped living…?" I echoed softly. Eerie.

"That sounds suspicious," Shepard said.

"Indeed." Miranda said with a nod. "His body was found in the room he was renting when he didn't check out on time. All of his equipment was still there and there were no signs of a struggle." Miranda stopped and shook her head.

"And we are learning this now because?"

"When he failed to reach the rendezvous we assumed he had been delayed."

"Now we know why," Shepard replied. "Is there a replacement dossier..?"

Had my taking his room removed his necessity to the storyline and killed him? The law of energy conservation maybe? An alchemical exchange? No, that was dumb... but still plausible!

The sound of the marketplace dimmed and bubbled in my ears. What the hell was going on?

Shepard and Miranda were still talking, but I couldn't hear them. My hands fell loose at my sides and my vision narrowed and blurred. If Zaeed was gone, then what else had changed? I suppose he's DLC so his necessity to the story isn't massive, but the fact that my being on the Normandy had removed him was immensely troubling. What else was changing just because I was here?

Through the echoing blur of my surroundings, I dimly felt a weight settle on my shoulder and a voice call my name.

It was Shepard. She was in front of me, hand on my shoulder and concern edging her voice. "-organ. Jaime?" She was saying. "What's wrong?"

My eyes slowly focussed on the intense green of hers, grounding my mind in those emerald pools and bringing my world back to sharp clarity.

I blinked and swallowed, my tongue thick in my mouth. I searched her face for a sign that this wasn't happening, but came up empty.

"I have a terrible feeling," I said, my voice low, barely audible over the sound of the market. "That this is all my fault."

"Your fault?"

I opened my mouth but made no sound, shaking my head.

Shepard searched my face a few seconds more before stepping back and raising a hand to her ear. "Garrus, report back to the Normandy as soon as possible."

She barely waited for a response before leading me and Miranda back to the Docking Bay.

Decontamination seemed faster this time and, before I could blink, I was ushered into the conference room and being glared at by the Commander and her second. Shepard had that classic, arms crossed pose while Miranda mimicked her. I flexed my fingers and picked at my jeans. My palms were damp. They were waiting for me to speak but I had nothing to say. At least, nothing they would accept.

Shepard broke the silence with a sigh. "You said Zaeed was your fault," she said slowly. She spoke slowly like she was trying to get the truth from a five year old. "What did you mean?"

I glanced between the pair and tried to find the right words. "I'm not sure," I said honestly. "I just… have a bad feeling."

"A bad feeling?" Miranda said, unamused. "You had quite the reaction for a simple bad feeling."

I rubbed my palms on my legs. "In what I saw, when I encountered my beacon like you, Shepard, Zaeed was there until the end."

"But he's dead," Shepard said.

"Yes," I said softly. I frowned and wrung my hands, "Everything else has been accurate so far. Everything except…" I stopped.

"Except what?"

"Except me," I said finally. I looked up at their faces. "I was never in any vision. My being here is changing things."

"Changing how?"

I said nothing. Memories of Mass Effect 2 and 3 swirled through my head: all the deaths and hardships she would have to face.

"You think," Shepard said slowly, "you being here killed Zaeed?"

I nodded.

Miranda scoffed. "That's ridiculous." The XO uncrossed her arms and made to leave the conference room. "I'll be in my office if you need me." She passed me by and the doors swung open and shut as she left.

Miranda gone, I waited for Shepard's verdict. The commander uncrossed her own arms with a sigh.

"You think I'm crazy, don't you?" I asked.

"I don't know what to think, Morgan." She looked at me, her face unreadable. "But I do know you know more than you let on, and you want to help. That's good enough for now."

Relief flooded my system and I relaxed a little.

"However," Shepard spoke again putting my catharsis on hold, "that in no way means I trust you."

My face fell again.

"Shepard," EDI called over the comms, breaking the moment. "The Illusive Man would like to speak with you in the conference room."

Shepard huffed a sigh and looked at the central table. "You're dismissed," she said to me.

I nodded and gave my best salute just like Jacob had taught me. Shepard's lip quirked so it must have been awful, but it made me smile a little to leave with some small moment of levity. I turned and left Shepard to her call.

I hovered by the doors of the conference room for a minute before I started to feel awkward. I briefly considered going into the labs and seeing if Mordin was there, but decided I wasn't feeling up to fast talking and space science jargon.

Instead I exited through the armoury, gave a nod to Jacob, into the CIC and made my way up to the cockpit.

Joker swiveled in his chair when I approached. He must have sensors or eyes in the back of his cap.

"Ah, the stowaway," he said cautiously. "Should I call for help now or after you've killed me and taken over the ship?"

"I'm not going to kill you," I said back. "And I can't even pilot a shuttle, let alone the Normandy."

Joker scoffed and swiveled back to the controls. "This is the most advanced ship in the galaxy. Piloting it is beyond almost everyone," he bragged and I rolled my eyes. "Wait," he said and swiveled back, "not even a shuttle? What planet did you come from?"

"Earth."

"They have shuttles on Earth," Jeff said looking a touch sarcastic. "What, not old enough for a license?"

"I have my license!" I said. "Just not for shuttles..."

"What else is there?" he asked. "Tractors?"

"I've never driven a tractor," I flatlined.

"Shame. I had an excellent line for that."

I chuckled. "Of course you did."

I stepped a little closer to peer at a monitor, but EDI's voice piped up and I pulled short. "Please step back, Jaime. You do not have the necessary clearance to access that."

I stepped back and clasped my hands purposefully behind my back. "Not touching. Just looking," I said with a sheepish smile.

"I should hope so!" Joker called from the pilot's chair. "Can't fly a shuttle…" he mumbled in disbelief. "So it's Morgan, huh?" Joker asked after a moment.

"Jaime, actually," I replied. I keep forgetting these people don't know me despite how much I know about them. "Were we not introduced last time I was up here?"

"Not really. There was a big mission going and all. Name swaps kinda got lost in the chaos," He swiveled to look at a monitor and adjust something in a menu. "So, is Jaime your first or last name?" He asked.

"First name," I clarified. "Jaime Morgan."

"Both of those are first and last names," he said. "Way to go, your parents."

"Whatever, Jeff," I shot back with a smirk. "That short for anything? Jeffrey, Jefford, Jeffers?"

"Oof," Joker held up his hands. "Alright, I won't call out your name if you don't call me Jeff, or Jeffers."

I smiled. "Deal."

Heavy boots clanked on the walkway behind. "Joker, plot a course to Korlus," Shepard commanded as she stepped into the cockpit.

"Aye aye," came the pilot's response, his hands already flying across his screens.

"What about Zaeed?" I asked.

"We'll look into it if we have the time," Shepard said. "Until then, we keep moving."

I nodded and stopped as a reminder pinged on my omnitool. "Ah, I'm due down in the mess. Catch you later."

"Morgan," Shepard called after me. I turned back, my head cocked in question. "Got anything on this next one?" she asked.

I cracked a smile. "How do you feel about deadly neurotoxin?"

"Is that something I should worry about on Korlus?"

"Okeer's a mad scientist with some crazy experiments," I said with a shrug. "Take your breather helmet."

She quirked a brow. "That's it?"

"They're Krogan." I said with a shrug. "Have fun fighting for fighting's sake?"

Shepard gave a breathy chuckle and leant against the wall to watch the stars go by through the glass. "I should bring Jack then…"

I made it two steps before a thought struck.

"Oh, and Shepard," I called, turning back to her. "As soon as you're off world again, have Joker set a course for Horizon in the Terminus Systems."

Shepard kicked of the wall and turned to me fully, questions making her frown. "Why?"

I should have stopped talking and just left it at that, but for some reason I kept going. "It's the next Collector target. It-"

Shepard cut me off with a raised hand. Her voice was menacing in its even calm. "Why didn't you saying anything earlier?"

"There would have been no point," I said quickly. It was setting in that I'd made a mistake bringing this up. What happened to that non-interference policy from Chapter 1, Jaime? "Mordin wouldn't have been ready and you wouldn't have had a team ready."

"But I'm missing Zaeed either way."

"Zaeed doesn't matter," I brushed aside thoughts of the old mercenary and pushed on. "If you'd gone earlier you would have been paralysed by Collector bugs like everyone else and the Collectors would know something was up."

I could feel eyes on the back of my head as a few Ensigns on the bridge began to tune into our conversation. Shepard could see it too and she stopped before she said anything else that might attract more unwanted attention. I could practically see the wheels turning in her mind as she decided what to do.

"Then we had better make this quick," she said eventually. Again, I was relieved she was of the more paragon disposition. "You hear that, Joker?" Shepard said to the pilot. "As soon as we are back on board, plot a course for Horizon."

"Aye aye, Commander," Joker responded.

My omnitool pinged again and I jumped a little. "Ah, I'll be in the mess if you need me." I turned to leave but stopped. Turning back, I waited and watched the Commander expectantly.

She seemed surprised, but nodded. "Dismissed, Morgan."

"Thanks, Commander," I said and jogged over to the elevator. Kelly Chambers smiled as I went by and I made a mental note to talk to her at some point. Horizon was coming and I needed to think hard about how to prepare the Shepard for it and maybe, just maybe, we could make some changes for the better.

CSSisSaved: As always, thank you for the review! You make my heart smile :)

Toothless is best: Solus is such a popular name is the Bioware world… also, bloopers forever!

Thug rose: Thank you for the review and the encouragement! I'm excited to see where this goes too.

Fan-two: I guess the point is that it's less of a loss to Shepard and more of a loss to Jaime.

Saria Skye: Your reviews give me life! I defs think Joker and Jaime could be friends but maybe not romantic partners. She might have a bit of trouble with how crude he can be, but she's most definitely a bit of a nerd :)

Schmokeydabear: 3

RebelHeart94: I think Jaime and Jack's friendship will take a looooong time. As for Liara… now that's an interesting idea so long as Shepard doesn't get there first ;P

Wisekill1: Thanks for the review! And yeah, if we were all honest with ourselves, all self-insert characters would just be in a constant state of freaking out.

Bloopers:

Joker: Can't fly a shuttle?

Jaime: I can drive a manual car.

Joker: Like, a hover car?

Jaime: ...no...