Prologue: Bait

"I got soul, but I'm not a soldier."

-The Killers, All These Things I've Done

There were many reasons as to why Jane Shepard never accompanied her brother when he went off to join the Alliance. The brutal training was one; the constant bureaucracy was another. There was one thing though that caused her to firmly deny ever joining the military organization, and that was what the most militaries brought: death. Pointless bloodshed that was to ultimately follow anything related to war. It was simple ; yet it was something her brother and her parents never completely understood. How could the daughter of two of the most successful military officers not follow the lead of the rest of her family?

Most had expectations of her becoming a promising warrior, but the redhead refused to succumb to their ideals. At an age to where she was certain of her own thoughts, military training was quickly dropped and replaced with fastidious studying. At the beginning of her rebellion, Jane's parents were resistant to the idea of their daughter becoming a helpless civilian. Over time though they came to realize Jane was resilient in her endeavours and eventually gave up on coaxing a military career out of her. John, her brother, never quite gave up on her. No, the boy was persistent in getting his sister to at least take up a job as a field medic if nothing else. It wouldn't be until ten odd years later that the dark-haired man finally dropped the subject altogether.

Though her family was reluctant of her leaving the military way of life that they all held dear, they grew to accept her decision. Jane, in an attempt of pacifying her worrisome kin, offered a compromise of at least continuing to hone the skills she had gained during her youth.

Now Jane hadn't particularly regretted her decision of not becoming a well-known soldier. Not until it was too late anyway.

The day had been relatively normal. Jane was tired, as per usual considering her job, and was currently reclining on couch inside her snug apartment in Vancouver. Her feet were propped on the small coffee table sitting in front of her couch; her hands folded behind her head. The red-haired woman gave a heavy and relieved sigh. She knew she should-be been off grading the papers of her high school students' essays, but she couldn't find it in herself to get off the couch and head to the data pads strewn on her counter.

Yes, the glorified daughter and sister of the Alliance's golden family was an ordinary History teacher at the local high school.

Jane was pleased with the career choice she had made, even if she knew she could have aimed for a higher paying job, considering the impressive grades she had made in school. She was content though. All the woman had wanted was a 'normal' life, not one full of going from space station to space station, or one in some far off and exotic colony. Jane had just wanted to find a nice little flat up in her parent's birth country and to settle down. She figured that even if she had aspired for some other glorified job though, she would not have been content. At least not in the sense she was now.

The woman was snapped out her pleasant haze by the sound of the communication device attached to her wrist beeping, alerting her that her brother was attempting to call her. Jane sighed and shifted until she was sitting up straight and tapped the watch like object, an annoyed expression plastered on her face.

"What is it John? I was finally just about to relax, so this better be important."

"Jane," His voice sounded strained yet relieved. She noted his breathing was also sped up more than what it normally would have been if he had been casually sitting at home.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her own voice growing somber at the tone her brother had used.

"Where are you right now?" He demanded, casting aside his sister's inquiry.

"In my apartment, why? What's going on, John?"

"You need to stay right where you are, you hear me? Do not leave under any circumstance. Someone's coming to get you out of there."

"What do you mean? What is go- John? John, are you there?" Jane scowled at the communication device. She tapped at an icon indicating that the call had abruptly lost connection. The redhead felt worry flutter in her stomach like a pack of rabid butterflies as she stood up from her couch and made her way to a large floor to ceiling window. The shudders that had been obscuring the sun's dying rays were pulled apart, revealing a scene that shocked her.

The city was in a full-blown panic. People were running and screaming loud enough that Jane could hear their frantic cries of panic from even her sound proof window that was four stories off the ground. The rabble was just one piece to the scene though. What also caught her attention was the multitude of ships poised around the tops of Vancouver. Guns were pointed toward the masses below, leading the woman to believe this was no benign invasion. And she was proven right when bullets were shot continually down at the civilians corralled down below. Screams of pain haunted Shepard's ears as she back away from the window horrified. Only one thought played in her mind as she scrambled to her room.

The turians were here.

The alien race that had warred with the human race for at least a good two years now. Most people were surprised when the bird like race had confronted with host intent when a group of cruisers that had exited one of the mass relays that had been recently discovered. Most were also caught off guard by the fighting that soon broke out. Jane had been one of those people. She dreaded that it would get worse; that her family would soon be dragged into the conflict. She was filled with an dread when her fears were dragged into reality. The dispute soon evolved into a full blown war. It was obvious the turians had not expected such resistance from what they had known to be a rather young and inexperienced space faring race. When the Alliance had continued to attack, the turians were caught off guard as good number of their troops had turned up critically injured and some even killed. That didn't mean they didn't retaliate the death of their comrades ten fold.

Jane had thought the alien species had not known of the Alliance's home planet, or of where one of their more populated headquarters was stationed. The invasion happening now told her that she had obviously thought wrong.

The woman quickly headed to her closet once she had entered her room. She yanked open the closet's door and then began to frantically search for the gun her brother had given to her as a housewarming gift. Jane then quickly searched for some heat sinks, giving a shaky breath of relief when she came across a full one. Her hands trembled as she struggled to place the ammo inside the gun. Once she was sure the weapon was off of safety, Jane stood on wobbling legs and walked to the opposite side of the room. Her back pressed firmly into the wall, praying the structure's cold surface would help her calm down and clear her head. As she forced herself to breathe in and out in a deep intervals, she continued to listen to the horrid symphony of gunshots and screams. Her mind was torn. The logical thing to do right would be to wait for the back up her brother had promised. Yet instincts screamed for the woman to get out of the building and find a place to bunker down and hide.

She didn't get a choice to act on either decision.

A banging sounded from downstairs along with loud voices and panicked yelling. Jane forced herself not to think of what was going on down there, and instead grasped the gun tighter in her shaking hands. She took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut briefly before opening them once more and made her way toward her bedroom door, making sure the wall was pressed reassuringly against her back. Rumbles of heavy steps reverberated around the building, signifying that someone was coming up the old-fashioned way: by the stairs. The pounding was much like a clock's ticking, a constant reminder of how much time Jane had until it ran out.

When she reached the junction between her door and hallway, she swiftly darted into the living room and then into the kitchen. The high walls of the kitchen gave her solice that if someone came bursting through the door guns blazing, she would have some protection. Of course, she still hoped and prayed that the uneasy feeling in her gut was wrong and the being running up the stairs would be an Alliance officer and not a turian. The chances of that were slowly dwindling though seeing as she highly doubted the atrocious cries of fear and pain echoing around her were the products of a potential saviour.

Her heartbeat sped up tenfold as she heard voices just outside her room. She tried to calm herself, she tried to remember the training she had all those years ago. It was to no avail though. Her increasing panic continued to slowly take over her mind, breathing, and heart.

She stayed crouched and watch as the flimsy door was hacked into and opened. She quickly moved to where the cabinets beside her became pressed to her back. Her hand flew to her mouth in an attempt at stifling the sound of her breathing. The figures at the door were definitely not human.

The turians at her door wore their full armor, including the helmet that hid their faces. One of the aliens made a motion that caused the two other turians beside it to head into the apartment. "Search the place. I don't want to miss anyone." The voice of the leader of the trio, due to the translator, had a weird tinge to it.

Jane resisted the urge to whimper as the two other aliens fanned out in the flat. They nosed through her belonging, overturned furniture, and broke a few vases in their quest for any sentient life. When they came closer to her hiding place, the redhead scooted as quietly as she could away from them. Her lip was caught by her teeth as she forced herself not to make any noises when one of the turians passed overhead.

They seemed to be almost done. That's what it appeared to be anyway until she scooted the wrong way and caused one of the buttons on her pants to scrape loudly against the tiled floor. Jane whispered a curse and froze.

One of the turians paused and swiftly turned around. His ominous gaze scanned the room as he made his way to the kitchen. Jane prepared herself for when the alien came around the corner, his rifle held loosely in his grasp.

That grip tightened though and his earlier relaxed posture become tense when he caught sight of the redhead scrambling up to her feet. Her own gun was pointed at the him, but Jane highly doubted the trained soldier was scared of her.

"Found one!" the turian alerted the others in his odd voice. The other two beings in the room appeared, their weapons already raised threateningly at the civilian.

"Huh, she looks familiar," One of the turians said as he inched closer.

"She does," another turian agreed, a perplexed tone coloring his voice.

The leader took a few steps forward, his gun pointed at where her heart would've been. "What is your name?"

Jane's eyes darted around the current situation, calculating her odds of getting out of here alive and not a prisoner. It wasn't looking good. She tightened her grip (if that was even possible) on her pistol and shakily retorted,"Why do you care?"

One of the aliens snorted. "Answer the damn question before you get killed."

Jane felt her mouth go dry at the very real idea of the soldiers just killing her with no remorse. She figured she shouldn't look this gift horse in the mouth and just answer to prolong whatever life she had,"Jane."

"Surname."

Jane hesitated. "Shepard."

That drew a reaction. The turians stiffened and all of them aimed their weapons at the civilian. Jane took a step back, her legs shaking beneath her.

"I knew she looked familiar."

"What do you want to do, captain?"

The two other turians looked over at the one in the middle, the captain. His helmet obscured his face, but Jane knew the expression hidden underneath was one of thoughtfulness. A few tense seconds passed before he answered. "Capture her. She might be of use as a hostage...get an upper hand against Shepard."

One of the other turians' head moved to Jane's form. He quickly went over to her and reached to grab her arm. Jane, not one to go down so easily, twisted away from the alien's appendage. Her body then ducked as the turian went for her again and quickly darted to the opening behind her that led to the living room. Her plight was swiftly stopped though when a gunshot was fired and a bullet barely grazed past her cheek. Jane's balance faltered when she felt a stinging sensation on her cheek. She hissed as she crashed into the wall and brought up her hand. Her fingers brushed past blood.

While she was distracted by her minor flesh wound, the turian from before lunged at Jane and tightly grabbed her arm. Jane yelped at the hard grip and futilely tried to pry her arm away from the three finger grasp. "Stop resisting," ordered her captor as he twirled her around, bending her arm behind her back while doing so. Jane growled at the rough treatment and tried to buck the male off of her. She was quickly stopped when she felt a hard hit to her neck. Her body fell limp and her mind escaped into oblivion.

I gotta plot bunny. It refused to be caged. Thus this was born.

Since this is obviously gonna be AU, there are not going to be any Reapers. Nope. Instead my main focus of this story will be the relationship between Fem!Shepard and Garrus. This isn't my main story, but at the moment, I have tons of ideas...I also plan on this being not too long, but we'll see how it works out.

Please feel free to help me find any mistakes in the story, I appreciate it ^^

Feedback helps me work faster C: