Jason was once again in pitch black darkness. The weight of debris crushed against his chest. The return of light was like a sharp spear to his eyes. Even now, Jason knew he was dreaming.
Jason still couldn't do anything as he lay there, helpless, as Brian - dressed in batarian slaver armour - fired a single shot into his chest.
+
"No!"
As soon as Jason had shouted the word, the returning nightmare subsided. The echoing reverb of the gun faded into the soft hum and rhythmic beeping of medical equipment. Looking around himself, Jason saw that he was indeed in the medbay of the Kilimanjaro.
No longer in his environmental suit, a thin layer of sweat had coated the hospital gown Jason had been assigned to, despite a cool, artificial breeze wafting through the quarters. Muffled voices could be heard, coming from the other side of the closed medbay entrance.
Jason tensed slightly, hearing the concerned tone of his aunt's voice. She seemed to be in conversation with the Kilimanjaro's chief medic. The sinking feeling in his stomach returned, and the pit opened wider as the door opened.
"Ah, the trooper is awake!"
Jason managed a weak smile to hide his dread as Doctor Arnav Sharma was the first to address him. He was a head shorter than his aunt, but had no trouble in making himself known. Indian nationality was clear in his posture. Jason had always found the man to be one of the easier crew members of the Kilimanjaro to talk to.
"I don't exactly feel like one," Jason muttered, finding it hard to look his aunt in the eyes. "A-a trooper, that is."
"Well from what Sarah has told us," Hannah Shepard said with no hint of irritation in her voice. "You handled yourself quite well!"
"Aunt Hannah…?"
The woman nodded, glancing at the doctor.
"I'll leave you two to it," he smiled, flashing Jason a quick thumbs-up. As soon as the doctor had left, a heavy silence filled the room.
"Aunt Hannah," Jason said softly, feeling himself shake as much as his voice. "I… I didn't know, I didn't know what was going to happen…"
His protests faded into mindless ramble, only quietened by an embrace from his aunt. Hannah held her nephew in a knelt hug, holding Jason until his shaking subsided.
"It's okay, Jace," she smiled, briefly parting from the gesture. Hannah would gently tend to Jason's forehead, brushing matted hair from his eyes. "Sarah and Alan told me everything."
Jason felt himself grow weak, though something his aunt said caught his attention.
"Alan?" Dread began to weigh down on the young man.
"Don't worry," Hannah chuckled, noticing her nephew's worry. "I can understand why you'd want to hide the idea of joining the Alliance from me. But after hearing how you dealt with the mess on Nirvana. I'm so, so proud of you, Jason."
Unable to keep the emotional walls back, Jason let the tears flow. Moving back into the embrace, Hannah kept him close and comforted.
"And what's more," Hannah continued, her smile warmer than the brightest star in the Milky Way. "Is that I know your parents would be, too."
"I didn't…" Jason said, his voice cracking. "I didn't want to disappoint…"
"I know," Hannah assured him, bringing the young man back into the embrace as the emotional walls gave way. Jason fell apart as he leant into his aunt's safe, protective embrace.
+
A few hours later, Jason had recovered well enough to return to the rest of the ship. A large, black and purple mark had formed around his left eye. Exiting out from the medbay quarters, Jason found his cousin outside. Looking up from a hunched-over posture, Sarah looked like she had been crying.
"Jason!" She exclaimed, her voice full of relief as she stood up. "I'm so glad you're alright. I can't believe Brian would go and do such an idiotic thing. I swear, if I had an idea he'd do such a thing…"
"Sarah, it's okay," Jason smiled weakly, seeing his cousin's shoulders relax. The two shared a quick embrace, before starting a slow stroll side by side. "Arnav said I only suffered a mild concussion."
"Well, I suppose that's the bright side of things. What happened… back on Virmire, Jason - it scared me. I've never seen Brian act like that before. When you refused to shoot the batarian, he just went crazy. I'm sorry, I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive myself."
"But it wasn't your fault, Sarah," Jason insisted, trying not to play the grisly moment over and over again. "I… know you just wanted to help."
Sarah nodded, and the two continued to walk in a passing moment of silence, heading aimlessly down the corridors of the Kilimanjaro.
"I just… I miss them too, you know?" She sighed, her shoulders bumping against Jason's. "Your parents, I mean. I wonder that, I wanted you to shoot the batarian because I was too scared to get revenge for myself."
"Does aunt Hannah know?"
"Not yet," Sarah winced. "I don't know if I should tell her. Speaking of which, the cat's finally out of the bag, huh? Mom knows about your secret."
Jason faltered. He hadn't even been able to process the revelation, being too focused on what had happened planetside. Now that he thought about it, it was like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
"Yeah."
"You don't seem to have an opinion on that," Sarah observed.
"Well… I don't know if I should join the Alliance anymore, Sarah," Jason confessed, his tone glum. "I can't stop seeing the look of fear in that batarian's eye. Is that who I am? Who I have been? Someone so invested in their pursuit for justice, I don't notice who I trample on the way there."
"That wasn't you," Sarah postured. "That was Brian. And for what it's worth, I'm glad he's gone."
Jason glanced up at his cousin, seeing the genuinity in her eyes. The whole incident must have really shaken her up as much as it had for him.
"Where is he now?"
"Sent back to Arcturus Station via prison transport," Sarah said. "There's a whole investigation underway. It seems that the batarians are already asking questions. Mom is already planning a trip back to Earth to attend a hearing."
"Are we in trouble?"
"Mom hasn't said so."
The pair had reached it to one of the deck's elevators. The doors swung open, and Sarah and Jason stepped inside.
"Well, if it means anything," Jason said. "I can try and help you find your next boyfriend."
"I'm sure you have a good eye for that," Sarah teased. "Just make sure he's not someone prone to anger."
"So you're fine with the chronic nose-picker trait?" Laughter, both joyous and relieved, filled the elevator chamber as Nirvana seemed further and further away.
+
[INTERLUDE ONE]
A lone batarian fighter touched down on Nirvana's surface, just days after the Kilimanjaro had left the planet's orbit for Earth. The jet-black vessel was menacing in contrast to the white landscape, reminiscent of the force that raided the human colony on Mindoir a year prior.
Three batarians emerged from the fighter, the one in the middle clearly superior to his companions. The figurehead was known as Balak, a prominent face in his people's fight against the encroaching plague that was humanity.
"That's the factory," one of Balak's men grunted, pointing out towards the structure. "That's where the signal came from."
"Guard the ship," Balak ordered, turning briefly to his men. He gestured to the other guard. "You, come with me."
The journey through towards, and through the factory was quiet, but a small fire sparked alight within Balak as he saw the lifeless, frozen body of his kin.
"You're telling me humans did this?" Balak's companion snorted, eyeing the charred hole in the dead batarian's chest. "Weak, snivelling humans?"
"Shut up," Balak growled. He knelt down before the dead one, looking over the wound. He wasn't exactly spiritual, but he figured the fallen batarian deserved a moment of respect - despite not having known him personally. "Check the security footage. I want all batarians to know what humans are capable of. Then, we make our stand."
"Sir."
As the other batarian left, Balak's hatred intensified. Though the batarian before him had died a meaningless death, the revolutionary would make sure that the dead one's name would be held high in his quest for dominance.
At least now, he finally had proof.
+
[INTERLUDE TWO]
Brian Walton had a permanent scowl on his face. Led by two Alliance guards, the young man was being escorted to Arcturus Station's prison block. He still couldn't understand what had happened.
Brian remembered shooting the filthy alien, then beating up that whelp, Jason… No. It must have been Sarah. She did something to him, and now he was being labelled as some sort of criminal? By his own kind, no less!
"I'm going to kill that kid…" he muttered, still a touch drowsy from the effects of the stun blast. Jason had just brought upon a world of trouble.
"Shut up, scum," one of the guards barked. Brian's eyes shot daggers down at him. "You're not scaring anyone here."
Brian was about to utter a scowling remark, when he noticed the outfit of his guards. It wasn't the typical naval blue suit, or grey combat armour that Alliance personnel usually wore, but an advanced exo-suit of white and black markings. An orange diamond-shaped insignia had been branded on each right pouldron.
He wasn't with the Alliance.
"Who the hell are you people?"
A violent shove was his answer. In disarray, Brian tried to regather himself while his guards placed some sort of blindfold over his eyes. He was guided around a corner, where the room temperature lowered to a cool simmer.
Brian heard the electronic crackle of a hologram relaying the fizz of a cigarette. The guards stood close to him, keeping him restrained.
"Mr Walton," a voice addressed him. "You are a very… complicated, but intriguing individual."
"Is the blindfold necessary?" Brian huffed, attempting to yank his arms free from the guards. They resisted, but whoever was speaking must have signalled for them to back off. Or at least, a touch.
"For the moment, I'm afraid," the voice said. It was masculine, and spoken with posture - as if whoever it belonged to, knew every secret of the universe. "Not many people know of our presence here. We're lucky we got to you before the actual Alliance representatives did."
"Yeah?" Brian scoffed. "I'll ask again. Who the hell are you?"
There was a brief pause, an exhale from the hologram as the caller set their cigarette aside.
"My real name is none of your concern, Brian," the caller said. "But you may call me the Illusive Man. And you, Mr Walton, are in the audience of Cerberus."