This is the sequel to Child, Interrupted; So if you haven't read that, I suggest you go there first.

"We need to get out of here! The station is crawling with Cerberus!" Cass exclaimed, the girl was a site to see; her newly cut, shoulder length hair was matted with blood, as well as the left side of her face was stained a deep red. The red and black light armor was no longer shining, but scuffed and covered in marks from stray bullets and fighting. There were dark circle visible under her light blue eyes, eyes that glistened with rage and panic.

"You don't think I know that!" Aria cried in frustration, the Asari looking much less worse for wear than the seventeen year old.

"If Cerberus gets their hands on either of us, do you think they'd let us live? Cause they fucking won't. And this Petrov will want to play with us before he ships us off to the illusive bastard."

"Fuck!" Aria relented, bringing up her omni tool to send the command. "It's over; we're retreating. Abandon Omega if you want to live."

"Okay," Cass sighed, part of her relieved, "Let's get to the shuttle. Hopefully we can get to the citadel without dying."

"How did we not see this coming?" Aria scowled staring down at the floor from her seat in the ship; looking up at her young companion she frowned further. "You look like shit."

"Well, if I wasn't busy defending your ass, then I probably wouldn't be bleeding to death right now." Cass sneered.

"That can't all be your blood; you'd be on the floor if it was." Aria rolled her eyes.

Cass shifted her arms across her chest; "Well, next time I gut someone with my blade, I'll try not to sever a major artery."

"Clean up before we get to the citadel." The Asari instructed, "I hardly want to be the one to explain your current state of dress."

"No shit, Sherlock."

Aria's lips pursed, not many people were allowed to talk to her like that, but this kid had spirit and was a major asset in more ways than one.

"I'm gonna go find a first aid kit, I'm pretty sure 50% of my body is medigel and I'm pretty sure if I use anymore I'll overdose." Cass stated, wiping more blood out of her eyes.

Aria didn't respond, but just let her head fall into her hands. This day was bullshit.

Cass grimaced as she removed some of her armor to get at some of her more serious wounds; she luckily found a first aid kit in the small crevice they were using for storage in their tiny shuttle like ship. She couldn't believe that they had lost Omega to Cerberus; it hurt in way, the few days after her mother had left her with Liara she returned to Omega, her home in a way, and now it was gone; lost to Cerberus, and it fucking sucked. She should have seen this coming, they should have seen this coming; of course Cerberus would be making moves against everyone now, especially with the threat of Reapers on the horizon. Sure, no one had attacked yet, but it was only a matter of time, Cass knew that much even if the rest of the galaxy didn't.

Especially since she had actually kept in contact with Liara this time around, her mother, however, was a different story. The commander had returned a few days after the "suicide" mission; and had actually gone on to do another favor for General Hackett; or at least that's what Liara told her. Again, her mother had saved the galaxy, or perhaps, just delayed the reaper attack but at the cost of an entire Batarian system; and after that, she got word that the woman had returned to the Alliance and has basically been in holding since she turned over the Normandy to them. The crew had scattered, all going they're own way; leaving the ship in the hands of the Alliance.

Liara had, fortunately enough for Cass, been unable to reach Shepard in "lockup," meaning her mother likely had no idea where she was nor able to contact her. The girl wanted very little to do with her mother, and her time on Omega playing guard to Aria took her mind off of all the anger she has toward the woman. The constant back and forth and in and out of her life was something Cass doubted she could stand any longer. If her mother wanted to continue to play the sacrificial lamb and feel bad about leaving her behind every time that was her problem; Cass wasn't going to put up with being left behind anymore, even if it was selfish.

But, to survive on your own, well, in Cass' mind, selfishness was necessary; because if she can't count on the only family she's ever had, then who can you count on? So, she had to become colder and stronger, she had to let go; which is what she had done for the past 4 months.

She was alone, and even if it didn't always feel good, Cass knew it was for the best.

"We're docking, kid." A rough looking Batarian entered the small space on the deck where Cass was lying on a spare cargo trunk. "You alright?"

"Yeah, Narl. I'm fine." Cass replied nonchalantly, even though it was clear she was in quite a bit of pain.

"Sure." Narl looked unconvinced. "Aria says we may have to split up and head for the wards; it may be difficult to get through customs, um, with our track records."

"I'll be fine. Tell her to message me when she needs me, I'll probably head over to Huerta Memorial to get patched up."

"Got it."

"Okay, good luck, Narl." Cass half-smiled at him.

Sitting up, the teen gathered her bloodied armor and changed back into it before limping out the door toward the docks.

"Cassandra Shepard." Cass replied once more. "Do you need me to fucking spell it for you?"

The customs officer winced at the use of profanity; but then did her best to maintain a stiff smile. "No, I've got it now. Thank you."

"Good. Now can I go?" Cass rolled her eyes. They had already scanned her, why was this taking so long?

"Okay, I'm going to need you to go wait over there and then someone will speak with you momentarily." The woman explained, gesturing.

"Why?" Cass questioned, frustration rising.

"Just some… uh… formalities…"

"You're lying."

"No, sweetie, I just-"

"Cut the bullshit. Do you want to tell me what's going on or-"

"Cassandra Shepard." A armed C-sec officer crossed the threshold, stepping behind the angry girl; His weapon sheathed at his side, along with a Turian partner at his heels.

Cass groaned, her hands curled into fists as she whipped around to face the person who called her name. "WHAT?"

"You need to come with us." The officer stated seriously, his lips thinning into a stern line.

"Now why do I need to do that?"

"There's no time for questions right now." The Turian stepped forward wrapping a hand around the girl's upper arm, pulling her in the direction away from customs to the C-sec offices.

"The fuck?" Cass exclaimed, trying to tear her arm from the tightening grip. "You can't just take me without letting me know what's going on! I have rights!"

The officer didn't dignify her with a response, but merely pulled her into a room, a one way glass on the far wall with a cold metal table and two chairs on each side. Once inside the room, the Turian forced her into a seat before leaving the room with his human partner. Cass watched as the door's light went from green to red, effectively locking her in.

Cass huffed in frustration; couldn't they have at least taken her to the goddamn hospital first?

It had been a few hours since they had locked the teen up in this interrogation room. She was starting to grow stiir crazy, especially since it reminded her of the time that she had spent as the Broker's prisoner. She had no idea what she was doing here; it's not like she had done anything illegal, well, nothing illegal on the citadel that is.

The girl inhaled sharply as the doors finally glided open; her eyes widening as two Alliance officers entered.

"Cassandra Shepard, you need to come with us." The darker of the two males spoke, his brown eyes stern at he stared the girl down.

"To where? And Why?"

"We're taking you back to Earth; we were not told any details other than to pick you up from C-sec." The same man replied.

"And if I refuse?"

"You have no choice. You're a minor and a child of an Alliance solider; you have to come with us."

"No fucking way." Cass' lips turned upward into a feral sneer.

The officer's dark eyes squinted underneath his furrowing brows. "We can get you medical attention if you come with."

The teen frowned, her eyes narrowing… she is in a shit ton of pain, but Aria will be pissed if she disappears, but then again, it's not like these men are going to not follow orders.

"Fucking fine." Cass relented, slamming her hands down on the metal table as she stood; smirking as she watched the silent officer flinch at the sound. "Okay, boys, let's get this show on the road. Morphine here I come."

The teen spent the majority of her trip back to earth asleep, they hadn't actually stitched her up since they basically used a shuttle to transport them back, but they did give her painkillers and some more medigel. It wasn't quite the "medical attention," she desired, but it would do.

As the ship docked, the same two officers escorted her pass the docking bay and further into the building.

"So, where are we anyways?" Cass asked, following the more talkative soldier.

"Alliance headquarters."

Cass visibly paled. Of course. How could she be so stupid? Alliance officers coming to get her, taking her to Alliance headquarters… only one person could really be behind this, one person who is respected and able to get favors from within… One person who would go to these lengths to find her…

Hands curling into white-knuckled fists, the girl continued to walk as the soldier placed a guiding hand on her shoulder. The girl barely registered where they were, as they went through numerous checkpoints and finally stopped a few minutes later in front a white metal door; the teen let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Here we are." The soldier stated; knocking on the metal.

As the door glided open, the girl's fists tightened allowing her nails to puncture the skin, the blood slippery in her palms as she came face to face with her mother; a wave of white, hot rage washing over her.

"Cass." Shepard smiled at the girl, but her expression changed at the sight; her child was clearly injured, and very visibly angry. If looks could kill, she would surely be blown across the room into little bloody pieces.

"The fuck gets you off by having your pets drag me here!?" Cass yelled, bringing up her hands to forcibly shove her mother; the woman recoiled.

Both of the alliance officers instinctively went to their guns, noticing this, the teen whipped around to face them. "What? Are you going to shoot me? Go right ahead, it's probably ten-fucking-thousand times better than being around her!"

Shepard recoiled once more, this time in shock of her daughter's words; she had expected anger and frustration but this amount of rage, well, it was unsettling to see her little girl so swallowed in anger. Shaking off the feeling, Shepard put a hand up, waving away the men; she would have to thank them later for this as well as Anderson for putting a red flag on her file. Stopping the girl's verbal assault on the two men, Shepard forcibly grabbed the girl's upper arm and pulled her into her apartment-esque room and shut the door.

Cass turned to face her mother. "What do you fucking want from me?"

"Cassandra!" Shepard's voice rose. "You do not get to speak to me like this, I am your mother-"

"Fat lot of good that has done me."

"Excuse me?"

"Right, Excuse you! Excuse you for being a pain in my ass and kidnapping me for the second fucking time! I have other shit to do and I have been shot at and gotten my ass kicked and then dragged back here! I need a fucking break!"

Shepard blinked. "How did you get hurt?

"Cerberus took Omega." Cass' knuckles growing white. "The just blindsided us, we never saw it coming; so many got killed."

"Damn it. I'm sorry. I'm sure that was hard for you." Shepard sympathized, moving to pull the girl into a hug, but Cass forcibly shoved her away once more.

"Stop! I don't want anything to do with you."

"Cass, please-"

"You have no right to keep me here."

"You're a minor and my daughter, I have every right." Shepard stated, her own frustration growing.

Cass' eyes grew dark. "Is this what you want? To keep me here and play house with you? I'm not going to spend the rest of my life locked up by the Alliance for my mother's mistakes; it's not going to happen."

"I don't really think you have a choice, Cassandra." Shepard's voice lowered.

"Well, I don't really think you want to play this game with me." Cass growled, shoving passed her mother and thundering out of the room; leaving Shepard frozen in her tracks.

AN: This is the sequel to Child Interrupted, so if you haven't read that yet, I would suggest you go there.

I am so excited for this story! I have a lot of ideas and am eager to hear yours as well! If there's anything you want to see, drop it in the review box or PM me. Please review! Thanks!