Jane awoke from a deep slumber, feeling as though she was overrun by a bulldozer and the asshole driver of said bulldozer decided to put in reverse and run her over again several times. Her back hurt, her legs felt as if she ran a marathon. This was the worst feeling ever.

The steady beat of the monitor next to her followed her heart beat. She glanced at her hand and noticed the IV stuck in her hand. Scowling, she removed the IV and the monitor beeped louder, alarming everyone close. Only then did she notice two voices speaking, but they hushed when they hurried towards Jane's bed. Chakwas appeared first, but the other figure remained hidden.

Chakwas, like a mother to the crew, stuck the IV back in Shepard's hand, to which she responded with a loud, irritated, "Ow!"

Chakwas remained cool when she reprimanded, "You brought this to yourself," before she inspected the monitor. "The stats look good, Commander. Looks like you'll heal in no time."

"Where's Miranda?" asked Shepard anxiously, desperately hoping she'd found a way to the Citadel. When Miranda stepped out of the shadows seconds later, Jane realized Chakwas had talked to her earlier. "Have you found a way we can reach the Citadel?"

Miranda opened her mouth to answer but then another person barged into the med-bay.

"Took you long enough to wake up."

Jane blinked several times hoping her vision would stop deceiving her. When the dark blue asari stopped by the edge of the bed however, she realized she saw in perfect clarity.

"Aria?"

Miranda, glaring at the asari pirate's profile, grumbled, "Visitor's are not allowed."

Aria ignored her and kept her focus on Jane as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Heard you got shot," she goaded with a smile.

But Shepard knew how to counter and grinned even wider, "Nothing I can't survive. What are you doing here?!"

"Your friend came in contact with my agents," she gestured towards Miranda with her thumb, "and after she 'politely' explained why she's contacting us, I decided to give you a ride."

Jane's brows furrowed as she looked at Miranda for clarification, "Politely?"

Miranda shrugged, not regretting with how she acted, and when she admitted, "I yelled a little," Aria snorted.

"More like threatened to pulverize Omega if I don't help," she corrected, earning a scowl from Miranda. "But I don't care what she said. I have a personal score to settle with the one you're after."

"The Illusive Man?" wondered Jane, intrigued by the thought that TIM actually dared to step on Aria's toes.

Aria crossed her arms and her expression furrowed. "Not quite. There is an assassin sent out after your brother, and that assassin has pissed me off more times than I can count. And since you need transport-"

Shepard didn't need to hear the end of whatever Aria wanted to say. "Let's go," interrupted Jane before she pushed the sheet that covered her aside, ready to get up.

"And where do you think you're going?" Chakwas pushed the Commander back into the bed, stubbornly ignoring the angry look Jane gave her.

"You just heard what she said. I need to go." Again she wanted to stand up, but the Doctor held a hand to Shepard's chest.

"This wound is a serious one, Commander. It did not heal properly, and if I let you go now it will open again and stubborn as you are, you will probably bleed out."

Chakwas was concerned, like a mother over her child and Jane appreciated her worry more than she would ever know, but there were things to be done which were more important than her recovery.

Shepard kept her eyes locked on the Doctor's, hoping she could convince her without having to use force as she explained, "Chakwas, I appreciate your worry for me, but I don't have much time. My brother is in danger. I need to keep him safe and at the moment, I don't give a fuck about my wound."

"Shepard -"

Without acknowledging the Doctor, Shepard got off the bed in a pair of trousers and a shirt. She and Aria made their way towards the briefing room, where the rest of her crew awaited her. As soon as the two entered her crew bombarded her with questions about her health.

Aria groaned, the impatience slowly getting the better of her. "It's just a wound, for fucks sake. She'll survive," she barked when Shepard became unable to voice a single word.

Shepard sent her an angry look for silencing her crew before she directed her question to the AI. "EDI, what are we having?"

A projection of the Citadel appeared above the table as EDI informed, "My scans show multiple Cerberus ships around the Citadels orbit. Many ships have already docked the Citadels docking bays and their forces are fighting their way through the Wards. The Alliance and C-Sec are putting up a fight, but Cerberus clearly outnumber them."

Shepard swallowed the lump choking her, EDI's words replaying in her mind not making her feel any better. Though she managed to hide the angst engulfing her and put up a tough facade in front of everyone.

"Did you manage to contact Commander Alenko?" the question was directed at EDI and Jane became aware of the tension settling in the room at the mention of his name.

EDI's reply was unaffected by the tension, however, "No, I have not managed to contact his frequency. Something is blocking me out."

"It's Aida, no doubt," inserted Aria, to which she earned all their attention, especially Shepard's.

Jane's brows furrowed together in suspicion of the name. "Aida?"

Aria's expression turned deadly after she repeated the name. "That is the one after your brother, and the one I am after." Summoning her omni-tool, she punched in a few buttons and a picture appeared instead of the Citadel's projection. Jane's eyes ran across the petite, yet deadly face of Aida as Aria spoke, "Aida Leng. Probably the most deadliest person in the entire galaxy. She's wielding biotics even asari matriarchs dream off, and it's all because a fucking prototype implant of Cerberus."

Jane unglued her eyes from the picture and looked at Aria, who was glaring at Aida's picture. "What kind of implant?" asked Jane, wanting to know all the facts before they landed on the Citadel.

Aria was quick to answer her question. "The LX-9. It is said that the implant magnifies human biotics up to ten times their original strength. Asari black ops squads have tried to destroy every single one of these implants, but they couldn't find them."

"So Aida's strong?" summarized Jane, only to hear Aria's delighted chuckle.

"Strong? No, I am strong. Aida is a fucking killing machine."

Jane stared at the picture of the human that was after Chris and couldn't believe her ears. Aria wanted to make her believe that someone so small could be that deadly? "How do we stop someone so mighty?" asked Jane, curious to hear whether Aria had a plan.

"Shoot her enough times and she'll die, just like everyone else," Aria stated coldly, but Jane didn't sympathize with their enemy. Everyone who dared harm the people she loved would face the most painful death.

"I know her," Miranda stated all of a sudden, earning everyone's attention.

Jane turned fully to face her, eager to hear all the Cerberus Operative had to say. "Did you work with her?"

Miranda shook her head, "No, but the Illusive Man always called for her whenever a mission required a... delicate touch."

Aria snorted, Shepard shot her an angry look as the asari pirate seemed bitterly amused by Miranda's choice of words.

"Delicate…" mumbled Aria loud enough for everyone, "You mean destructive, insane and totally out of control."

"Precisely," agreed Miranda. "Aida won't stop at nothing to finish what she came for, Commander. I'm even hundred percent sure she cut Commander Alenko's communications so he can't call for help."

"She will turn the Citadel into a mass grave if we don't stop her," admitted Jacob wearily, looking as worried as he sounded.

"My God…" whispered Jane as the calamity of the situation hit her. Only now did she realize what the big deal with Aida was. "I need to get to the Citadel fast."

"And that's why I am here," stated Aria confidently, "My ship will take us to the Citadel while my engineers repair the Normandy."

Shepard swallowed as she thought; this had to cost something. "And how much will your help cost me?"

Aria chuckled, "Just allow me to tear her cybernetic heart out and shred it to pieces, and we are even."

Shepard nodded in agreement, despite her wish of doing so to Aida herself. "We have a deal." She then turned to her crew, "Everyone, get everything you need. We'll meet at Aria's ship once you're done."

Everyone agreed until they left one by one, off to gather their gear. Aria waited for everyone to leave before she turned to the Commander, her features narrowed.

"I'll head to my ship and make the final preparations. You try not to take up too much time gearing up."

"I'll be over in a sec." The two left the briefing room, Aria headed for her ship while Jane headed to her quarters.

Once alone, Jane could feel the weight of the situation press down on her, choking her and draining what little cool she had left. But she wasn't alone for long, thankfully.

EDI spoke from the elevator speakers, "I will coordinate Aria's engineer's to repair the Normandy as fast as possible. Then we will also set course towards the Citadel."

"Any idea how long it will take to repair the ship?" asked Jane as she stared at the dark blue elevator wall.

"It shouldn't take longer than three hours."

Jane finished with a satisfied, "Good," before she stepped into the loft, immediately heading for her gear. She focused entirely on putting on her armor as quickly as possible, not forgetting the Sentry Interface at the end before she picked her weapons.

Half an hour later she was finished with gearing up and she headed towards the elevator. Pushing the button for the CIC, Jane was once again alone with her thoughts and everything that could go wrong with the mission played in her mind's eye. The images tortured her soul, made her heart racing with fear and adrenaline. Her body temperature increased under her armor, making it unbearably hot in the suddenly too tiny elevator space.

Kaidan's and Chris's faces appeared in her mind as she steadied herself against the elevator wall, wondering what in the name of God it took so long to reach the CIC. She couldn't fail. Their lives depended on her and she needed to do everything to save them. But what if Aida already finished her job? There was no way for her to find out other than to get to the Citadel and see for herself. She only hoped she wouldn't find them in a pile of dead people.

Suddenly the dizziness was replaced by pure rage. Jane would kill Aida, would tear her to pieces if she only so much as yelled at Chris or Kaidan. Her fate was already sealed; Aida would die today, Jane would make sure of it.

Finally the elevator doors opened and Jane stormed towards Aria's ship, headstrong and angry. But just as she was about to step into the airlock, a voice called out for her and she stopped.

"Siha."

She turned around, the drell standing in the hallway with his gear ready. Thanks to the red shades he wore she couldn't see his eyes and she thanked the heavens for that. His eyes always unsettled her for an unknown reason.

But Jane cursed his timing; she was always itchy around him and his appearance only served to fuel her stress levels.

"Make it quick, we don't have much time," she said harshly, hoping to end the repartee as quickly as possible.

Krios stepped closer until he stood in front of her. She shifted from foot to foot, trying to block the nervousness that emerged whenever he was around. She didn't like feeling nervous; it made her hand twitch for the gun on her waist.

"I know," he said apologetically, "But there is something I need to tell you."

She looked at his nose, trying to busy herself with the shape of it rather than the fact he was looking her straight in the eye.

"I am worried for you, siha."

His admission left her speechless. There was nothing she could do other than stare at him. Though angry, she couldn't find her voice and reprimand him for his stupidity; he made her speechless and nervous, and she didn't like any of those things because it made her feel weak.

His voice dropped when he added, "These are dark times and you should not face them alone," and Jane wished the ground would open up and swallow her.

The sincerity behind his words proved no cruel intention, yet the thought of him thinking about her at all disturbed her. However, hearing something as sympathetic as this at times like these warmed her heart, even though it came from someone she couldn't imagine spending her free time with.

Somehow, the anxiety dissipated. She lowered her gaze a little, knowing she needed to hurry but not finding the will to move. An incredible amount of sadness rested heavily on her shoulders. Her body hurt from the earlier battle in the Collector homeworld, yet there was no time for rest because the Illusive Man didn't waste even a second to show how serious he was about forcing her to stay with Cerberus.

But she needed to stay strong and she needed to hurry. Chris's life depended on her and every second she wasted gave Aida more time to strike. The thought gave her strength and it nudged the sadness that had dwelled within her away.

Determination fueled her and she looked him straight in the eye before she stated, "I need to save my brothers life. Everything else is irrelevant."

She could feel him gauging her from underneath the shades as though he saw her for the first time. Shepard bit the inside of her lip as she fought to crumble before him; she couldn't afford to show weakness now.

"You are not irrelevant."

His words stabbed her gut and took her completely by surprise, but it only served to deepen the pit of sorrow. Her vision became blurry as she swallowed the lump, grateful that the Sentry Interface hid her eyes at least a little. She wanted to ask him, `Then why do I feel irrelevant?' but decided it was not the time for such a conversation. Maybe when everything calmed down a little she could have a really deep conversation with him?

When she took a calming breath it was to state, "Maybe. But right now, I don't have time to think about that," shoving the earlier thoughts into the back of her mind.

She watched him for a few more seconds before she turned and left for Aria's ship, feeling as though her heart would explode. A lone tear escaped but she caught it with her knuckle before anyone could notice it.

When she reached Aria's command center, all her friends stepped away to grant her a path towards the asari pirate.

In truth, they were all unsettled by the shining red eyes and scars that adorned Jane's face, but none of them dared to approach her on that matter. They knew what was on the line, they were all exhausted from the Suicide Mission, but they had to force themselves for just another fight. They owed it to their Commander after all.

####

"ETA 20 minutes."

Aria's pilot informed, fueling the adrenaline and tension amongst the crew. Jane didn't say a word since they'd left the Normandy to Aria's engineers, but the tension rolled off of her in waves. Rarely did she stop pacing the line, only to put her hands on her hips, stare at the Citadel holo-map centered in the control room for a minute before she started pacing again. It was driving everyone mad but none had the guts to say anything.

Aria threatened Jane to break her legs if she didn't stop pacing but Jane coldly ignored her threat. The ship went through the last relay and as soon as they flew into Citadel space their focus was directed at the front in shock.

"Cerberus sure means business," stated Aria and Jane felt a cold shiver run down her back.

There were at least dozens, maybe even hundreds of Cerberus ships flying around the Citadels orbit, fighting the Alliance forces and Destiny Ascension. Jane hurried up to the pilot and placed her hands on his seat, never tearing her eyes from the battle in front of them.

"Can you outmaneuver them?"

The pilot nodded and went to work. He activated the invisibility cloak while they carefully approached the Citadel.

The light purple mist surrounding the Citadel once calmed Jane, but now it hurled her into a whirlwind of anxiety. Somewhere down there, in the massive space station, were Kaidan and her brother. It made her feel sick at that thought and she swallowed as cold sweat formed on her forehead.

She instructed the pilot to fly to Zakera Wards, knowing it was the last location of Chris. They would move on from there and search every inch of the Citadel if need be.

Jane faced Legion, having to rely on the geth because EDI wasn't with them. "Legion, can you pinpoint Commander Alenko's ID?"

The red light on its 'face' turned white as it went to fulfill the Commander's order. "Scanning…" the geth became silent for several seconds, then glowed a deep shade of red before it stated, "Scan failed. Unable to point Commander Alenko's location."

"Dammit!" cursed Shepard, desperately wanting to punch something.

"We better split up," stated Miranda, "That way Aida won't be able to attack us all at the same time."

"Sounds good to me," agreed Garrus, "I suggest we split into three teams."

Jane then turned to face them all, "Alright. Everyone, choose your pick. I'm heading down there alone."

"You can't," Miranda quickly inserted, "Aida will no doubt head after you first. You need someone to go with you to at least have a little chance against her."

"I'm going with the Commander."

Everyone's eyes turned to Aria as she announced she would be the one heading with Shepard. "Then I'll be certain that bitch is going after us."

Jane glanced at Aria, the asari pirate nodded at her knowingly before Shepard faced her crew again. "Okay people, I know you're all exhausted from the Omega relay, but I need your help to save my little brother from the Illusive Man's claws. Once we deal with this, we're going on a real long shore leave.

"We don't know what we'll face so be prepared and fight with everything you've got. We're done with Cerberus, so let's show them that we mean business."

Everyone nodded, taking out their weapons and flaring in the blue biotic light. The pilot then announced they had entered the Citadel without problems, and in their view came the Zakera Wards.

Shepard looked to Aria and asked, "Shall we?"

To which the pirate only grunted her approval. Jane and Aria made her way towards the airlock as the pilot slowly descended the ship. The airlock swished open seconds later and the two jumped out. Jane's Sentry Interface came to life as soon as their feet touched the ground.

Nothing but chaos and destruction surrounded them. There was no sign of Cerberus forces close by, so they took a second to inspect the surroundings. Dead bodies were strewn across the Ward, fire burned where once stood several souvenir shops.

Jane had no time to reminisce about how the Zakera Wards looked before; Aria stepped forward and followed the way.

"You know where we are heading?" asked Shepard as the pirate seemed confident in her path.

Aria kept her attention forward as she explained, "No, but we follow the path of destruction. This is Aida's doing, no doubt."

That piqued Jane's curiosity and she decided it was time to find out a little more as to how Aria knows Aida. "How do you know so much about her?"

"I don't 'know' her. She ruined several operations of mine which I tried to establish in Citadel space. I gathered my knowledge of her on the way, so to speak. I didn't study her, if that's what you're asking."

"Clearly you're more than just angry at her."

Aria came to a halt and turned to face her, her expression colder than usual. "I'm trying to catch that bitch for years. She always slips through my fingers, but that won't happen again. Today is the day that Aida Leng dies."

"If we find her."

Aria smiled devilishly before she started walking again. "If we don't find her, she will find us. And that is okay with me."

Jane felt quite the opposite; she wanted to be the one finding the Cerberus assassin. She didn't want to become the prey, but ultimately it wouldn't matter. Finding Aida meant Kaidan and Chris were nearby and that was all that mattered to Jane.

####

After what felt like an endless journey through death and destruction, Shepard slowly felt the teeth of agony gnaw at her. They'd searched most of the Zakera Wards and only met Cerberus soldiers along the way. There was no sign of Aida, despite them following the path of destruction.

Any hope of finding them slowly started to ebb. Even though she refused to believe it, but the thought of them lying somewhere in a pile of dead Cerberus soldiers made her insides burn as if she drank the most acidic poison.

The only good news she'd received was that the Normandy was on its way towards the Citadel. Jane hoped as soon as EDI was within range she could scan the Citadel for Kaidan's or Chris's ID.

In the near distance, Jane spotted soldier's dressed in blue approaching their perimeter. Narrowing her eyes, she tried to recognize the attire and hope began to glimmer again as she noticed the familiar blue uniform.

Motioning for Aria to follow, they moved towards them quickly. Among the group of Alliance soldier's, she also noticed Bailey briefing the soldiers.

"Bailey!" Jane called out when he was within hearing distance.

The officer turned to face her and relief softened his rough features. "Commander Shepard. About time you showed up."

She shook the older mans hand before she reacted to what he'd said. "What's the situation?"

Bailey's features narrowed, "Cerberus forces are pouring down like shit. The Council's safe, at least. Though with their number increasing and ours decreasing, I don't want to think about what it will end like."

"So we're outnumbered?"

Bailey snorted and shook his head. "The real problem is they took us by surprise and we didn't have time to prepare properly."

"Anderson knew."

Bailey narrowed his eyes at her, looking and sounding bitter when he revealed, "Too bad he didn't tell anyone Cerberus was going to knock on our doors."

Jane swallowed, something didn't quite add up. "He'd said he would deploy more Alliance soldiers on the Citadel, increase their numbers and send in more weapons.

"That's about all he did," muttered Bailey, "But we can discuss this another time. Right now we have a lunatic roaming the Citadel's Ward's."

"We are after her as well."

"Good," Bailey nodded before he ordered the soldiers to move. "Alright ladies and gentlemen, we move to Commander Alenko's last known location. He'd said he'd be around there."

Jane's eyes widened as Bailey's words reached her ears, her heart thundering against her eardrums. The soldier's moved along, so did Bailey until Jane grabbed his wrist and pulled him to a stop.

"Wait," she was breathless, as though her thundering heart didn't allow her to breathe, "Alenko contacted you?"

Bailey nodded, "He's used one of Cerberus's radio's because his was corrupt. He said he was OK, and your brother too."

Jane released the other man's wrist, shaking and sweat forming on her forehead as she nodded in understanding. So Kaidan and Chris were alive. She felt an immense weight lift from her shoulders. Knowing she still had a chance to save them gave her the will to kill everyone who dared oppose her. Nothing would slow her down, not even Aida herself.