Author's Note - All characters belong to Bioware. I just like taking them out to play every now and then.
This story is dedicated to Kendrene, my beta, my soulmate. Her presence in my life inspires every story.

Zero Plus One

A child's screams from behind a door, metal tearing , orders cut short by explosions, blasts going off all around her. Confusion, mayhem. Shepard's eyes flew open, breath coming in short gasps. But the semi silence surrounded her, the steady hum of the Normandy a calming mantra soothing away the nightmare. Clarity returned as the soft glow of the tank illuminated her quarters.

The commander slid out of bed, bare feet silent as she padded over to watch the graceful motion of the fish. Seeing their simple patterns of movement always reassured her. Somewhere in this universe there was peace.

The mission on Pragia had bothered her more than she realized. Liberating a convict had seemed an easy task, getting to know that convict had proved the much greater challenge. Seeing the lengths that Cerberus would go to gain a potential advantage had sickened her, made her question her association with them. But stopping the Collectors… A purpose such as that made for strange allies.

Knowing that sleep wouldn't come again, the spectre dressed quietly and checked her personal terminal. Sometimes it seemed like an endless path of following leads, mission after mission, traversing the galaxy, righting wrongs that others had perpetrated. But then a smile touched her face. It was what she lived for.

Leaving her quarters, she entered the elevator. As the doors slid shut, she admired the lines of the ship, the 3D design spinning in her mind. While she had loved the original Normandy, she had to admit that Cerberus had outdone themselves in building this one. Engineering deck reached, the doors slid open before she even had finished her thoughts. It was amazing, elevator rides had always seemed so long….

Through another door and down the stairs to the deepest part of the deck. Shepard hadn't intended on coming here, but here she was.

"Hey," a voice echoed, "What's happening?"

"Hey Jack," the commander replied, almost a bit too fast. "Just checking on how you're doing."

"Better now that hellhole is just particles in space."

"Not sleeping?" Shepard asked, noticing the dark circles under the biotic's eyes.

"I could ask you the same," came the sharp retort.

"Thinking about that place, I can't imagine a child growing up there."

"Well if you came to offer your sympathies, fuck off Commander, I made it just fine."

Shepard noticed that Jack wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Are you done, Shepard? Maybe some of us want to try to get some sleep before you throw us into the next fire."

The spectre reluctantly turned to leave. There seemed to be so much to say, but the words would not come. She may have gained the biotic's loyalty, but trust and respect were another matter. That's OK, she thought to herself. She always lived for the challenge.

"Later, Jack," the commander said as she made her way to the stair.

"Yeah, whatever," Jack growled but her eyes followed the spectre up and out of the area, wondering.

Seeing Pragia reminded her of so many things, none of them good. Childhood memories shouldn't be this painful, right? She asked herself for the hundredth time. Well, she'd showed them. Now as soon as she was done with this, she'd finally be free. Was that what she wanted? Jack stared at the pipes overhead. The questions were always there, the answers were another story. Sleep would not return this night.

"Anomaly detected," EDI intoned as the probe hit the surface of the planet.

An unexpected hit, as they were only scanning for the raw minerals needed to further upgrade the Normandy. Probably mercenaries or worse yet, more Geth, always more questions than answers.

"Lots of static down there, Commander," Joker warned, "no good cross chatter there."

"Monitoring of channels is not part of your defined responsibility, Mr. Moreau," the AI chided the pilot who rolled his eyes at the interruption.

"Somebody's gotta keep 'em honest," he muttered under his breath. Who's idea was this AI anyway? He thought to himself again, sighing. The things a pilot had to put up with!

"Jack, Miranda," Shepard announced as she strode off to the shuttle buckling her armor into place on the way. It still seemed so different to her, this crew she was pulling together. Her first crew had come to her out of loyalty, this one out of obligation. But loyalty was there to be had, she just had to work harder at it with this bunch.

Sometimes she wondered why she chose this pair. The animosity barely stayed below the surface. Well, at least this way she could keep an eye on them both. The two of them were so talented, but refused to give an inch. Mentally shaking her head, she began to anticipate what they would find when they touched down. The pair were already at the shuttle when she arrived.

"Just love what you've done with your hair," Miranda taunted.

"Yeah, well, didn't have my Daddy around to design it special," Jack responded with an acid tone.

Shepard shook her head, trying to remember a better reason she picked this pair.

"Enough already," the commander snapped, ignoring the glares, " take it out on the hostiles."

Damn, she thought, imaging them both PMSing? She'd have holes in the ship breaking that one up.

The shuttle touched down on a mountainous planet. Sharp angles, long climbing paths and edges that dropped off into deadfalls. Great to defend at the top, not so good if you needed to get there.

Aside from their bickering, this team knew how to do their job, relentless in pursuit, lethal in execution. The pilot dropped them off on a small, flat outcrop. The best site the shuttle pilot could find barely had room to jump clear.

Shepard shook her head as the biotic went charging up the path as soon as her feet hit solid ground. So much for a strategic approach. She jogged after Jack, somewhat more cautious as she followed.

"Damn! " Miranda muttered as her companions disappeared around a corner.

She wasn't far behind on their trail as the quiet shattered with the blasts of explosions. As the Cerberus officer reached the clearing, she saw Jack and Shepard squatting over an inert form. The break in the trail was littered with bodies, one glance at them sent chills up her spine. Not the squeamish type at all, but something about husks revolted her. Human bodies remade into horrors.

"But this one is different, look at the head." Shepard motioned Miranda over to join them.

"Nice of you to show up," Jack snickered.

"Well, who ran off?" Miranda countered.

"Enough again," Shepard barked. "Next time, I call for replacements. Concentrate, you two."

Meek would never describe these women, but chided, they lowered their eyes to the corpse at their feet.

"Color is different, eyes not as burned out," Miranda listed her observances.

"Dies just the same, let's get on with it already." Jack was already up, eyes scanning the path, looking for the next threat.

"Did they behave differently, commander?" Miranda asked, puzzled as well by this variation. Could the geth be upgrading their fodder? That didn't bode well.

"They didn't rush as directly and it was almost like they had shields." The spectre looked thoughtful. "Could they have been biotics before, well, getting spiked?" Miranda asked.

Shepard just shrugged her shoulders, standing up as her omni tool completed the scan.

"Well at least this will give Mordin something else to play with, he…" The commander's sentence was cut short as the sounds of gunfire echoed from above.

Shepard was in motion, rifle drawn, in the blink of an eye with Miranda in step.

As they reached the next plateau, the spectre motioned Miranda to the right, where jagged boulders provided a modicum of cover. She took the outer route, glancing at the sheer drop to her left that allowed no room for error.

Geth troopers had the upper path, raining fire on Jack, their attention completely on the biotic.

They were not prepared for the barrage of overload tearing into them from the right. That distraction gave Jack the opportunity to dash out, gun blasting in time with her biotic outburst. Shepard picked off the remaining geth and paused to catch her breath moving away from the cliff face.

"How about waiting for us, next time?" The commander growled at Jack. "Trying to get us killed?"

"Nah," came the snide retort , "not both of you."

It took them longer to survey the area, machinery, roughly cabled together crowding the clearing.

All three were scanning for data as a slight stirring caught the commander's attention. Time seemed to slow in her mind as she processed the ripple in the air ahead of her. Before she could call out, the telltale flicker of a geth hunter's shields materialized just feet away from Jack. The biotic's head came up, eyes widening just as the concussion blast knocked her over the edge. Within that instant, the spectre's reflexes came to life, headshot downing the hunter as she grabbed at a cable and dove over the side.

Jack fought the momentary panic as the ground fell away. A second later, she felt her harness snatched and a barrier snapped into place around her. Just in time as the freefall brought her into contact with the cliff face. Then suddenly, the headlong rush ended with a jolt and she felt her body suspended in space. Glancing up, Jack saw the commander hanging over the side, biotics straining as she held on to the ex-convict's minimal clothing . Realization at what Shepard was doing flooded her senses and she added her biotic power to the spectre's. Jack began to pull at the cable, drawing them upward and maintaining the barrier. They continued to rise, faster as the biotic poured more power into the pull and were propelled up and over the side. They landed in a crumpled pile a safe distance away from the edge. She glanced in wonder at Shepard, amazed at how she had used her biotics. Her look turned to concern as she noticed that the commander wasn't getting up.

Miranda's eyes mirrored her own as she rushed over, already calling Joker. For once, she had no remark for the Cerberus officer.