[Book Three] Chapter 31: Shore leave

Chapter 31: Shore leave

 
Jane had thought about it hard but in the end gave up and simply said ‘Fuck it’. The explanation to the crew and that she put on her reports were the actual facts. She took no complaints, answered no questions and washed her hands of this problem. Most of the men on the ship looked at Rick with a new found respect while the women looked at him with envy and at EDI with jealousy. It was nothing new for the AI as she was already used to them being envious of her body’s appearance. Ashley, when she heard the tale, had a laughing fit that no one had been able to stop. Tali lamented in her corner the fact that she was stuck in her enviro-suit. She has been owed sex for nearly a year and it was driving her crazy.

When the ship arrived at the Citadel, Rick went his own way to get the materials that Kasumi had sent him and had them delivered to the Normandy. Once there he went to the wards to find any new tech that he found interesting or any new equipment that he could use to build things while they were traveling until he got bored. Passing by a Sky car lot in Taxi as he was going to another part of the wards he asked to be dropped off immediately. Paying the driver that landed on the landing pad of the shop called Cision Motors. He had not driven in a while and renting a sky car instead of paying for a Taxi seemed like a good idea. When he got inside the shop he saw a volus hurrying inside his office as two mercenaries in armor from head to toe and heavily armed shooting at the small alien. When they saw Rick, they saw a new target to shoot at and aimed their guns. Unfortunately for them this new target was no defenseless volus. A biotic charge to one of them with a fist to the gut cut the mercenary in his action. Wasting no time Rick went behind him putting his soon to be victim between himself and the other Mercenary. A neck was broken and the now dead merc’s gun ended in Rick’s hand. Three shots later and the second merc was dead.

“C-sec must really be understaffed if mercs can…”
“Rick?!”

Turning around he saw Jane entering the Skycar lot by a side door, gun in hand that he had never seen.

“What are you doing here?” the man asked.
“Long story. Is there a way out of here?”
“Yeah, the landing pad over there.” he said pointing to the entrance he had come in and that was now locked. “Is he serious?”
“Who?”
“The volus! I saved his ass and he locked everything up! People, I swear!” he ranted as he walked towards the door.
“Well perfect. Brooks? I arrived at the skycar lot not far from the restaurant, I need an evac.” Jane said to her com. “How long?... No, that’s alright, we’ll manage.”
“Who are you talking to?” Rick asked as he began to hack the opening of the landing pad.
“Brooks.”
“That doesn’t help one bit.”
“She’s a Staff analyst of the Alliance. Came to warn me that some bad guys were after me.”
“That’s nothing new. Doesn’t explain how you got here.”
“I received an invitation from Joker to go grab a bite at a sushi restaurant.”
“Which one?”
“The Ryuusei, why?”
“Curious. Then what happened?”
“Turned out Joker received the same invitation but from me.”
“Oh, so he was used as bait. With his condition he wouldn’t have been able to put up a fight.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought when after Brooks invited herself at our table, those guys came gun blazing searching for me. I got most of them with my biotics but…”
“But?”
“They shot the glass floor at my feet and I fell down through the aquarium.”
“...”
“...”
“You fell down through an aquarium?”
“Yes, I know! And I don’t want to talk about it.”
“You’re going to have to. Once in a safe place I want you to tell me everything again but in detail. We need to know who they are.” he said, looking up at the c-sec shuttle that landed on the pad. Walking to it, the vehicle door suddenly opened, revealing a turret pointed at them with one of the unknown mercs behind it. By reflex, Rick put a strong barrier, protecting him and Jane and stopping any bullets coming their way.
He was thinking on how to deal with the situation when something big and heavy crashed on the top of the shuttle, half crushing it. When the ‘thing’ got on the ground both humans saw that it was a friend of theirs.

“Wrex?” Jane inquired dumbfounded. “What are you doing here?”
“Butting heads with the council for new planets for my people.”
“Did you… Did you get bored and jump out the window because you heard gunfire?” Rick asked, incredulously .
“Yeah.”
“...”
“...”
“...”

The krogan’s answer set Rick into a laughing fit at the absurdity of the situation.

“And you, what are you doing here?”
“I was having dinner with Joker when those guys attacked me. I got around the wards and got here.”
“After going through a fish tank.” her brother added, still laughing.
“A fish tank? Only you Shepard, only you.”
“That wasn’t my fault!”
“Protest all you want, it only happens to you.” denied Rick, getting his laughter under control.

Their discussion got cut short as a new group of mercs made their entrance from the roof of the shop. Between Jane, Wrex and Rick they didn’t last long but it didn’t matter one bit as a new wave replaced them. Then another and another. More and more mercs were coming in and they were soon overwhelmed. Thankfully Joker showed up with another c-sec shuttle and everyone got in. Not dilly dallying, they quickly left the combat zone.

“What now?” Wrex asked.
“Now, we’re going back to my apartment and plan.”
“You have an apartment on the citadel? Since when?” inquired Rick, surprised.
“It’s Anderson’s but he gifted it to me.”

The trip didn’t take long, after fifteen minutes with a Joker going as fast as he could they were at their destination. The apartment was big, in Rick’s opinion. Bigger than the house he had built on Eden Prime. Three bedrooms, Two showers and a hot bath that could allow for half a dozen people. Two bar counters with two different types of lounge and a gigantic kitchen. The most unbelievable thing was the presence of a piano near a big window that was as long as the length of the apartment. Jane went to the bar first and served herself a stiff drink. Wrex was full of questions and Brooks, the alliance officer that had warned Jane, was panicking and babbling. When the redhead was about to call Bailey, the woman dissuaded her quoting that would make the man and everyone else in the know a target for those mercenaries. While Rick looked at Brooks silently, Jane agreed and instead called in all members of the Normandy ground team, Steve included. He quipped about making councilor Shepard involved and Jane nastily glared at him.

When the crew arrived, Liara and Glyph began to search for information from the gun Jane had picked up from one of the mercenaries while the rest of the team waited, exploring the apartment or talking to each other. Rick picked Jane aside arguing that she needed to tend her wounds. Thanks to Miranda giving her her cybernetics, Jane was way tougher than she already was before her death, so she only had bruises but instead of protesting she let herself be dragged away not wanting to miss on being pampered by her baby brother. She was severely disappointed when it turned out to be an interrogation.

“Alright, talk.”
“I already told you.” she replied with a frown.
“No. You told me what happened, not how it happened.”
“Does it matter?”
“I wouldn’t be asking if that wasn’t the case.”
“...” Letting out a long sigh, Jane began to speak. “I was lucky when I fell, several lights slowed down my fall and I landed on a small open balcony. There was a ladder that led me to two others and I went through an open window finding myself in a freezer room. Got out of it and made my way from rooftop to rooftop until I had no choice but to get back down on the ground. The area was swarmed with those mercs…”
“They were already there?”
“Yes, patrolling. At first I used the gun to pick up any one of them that was alone and went undetected thanks to its silencer. One of the bodies was found and they began to actively search for me. I used my biotics to take care of them when I was out of ammo. From there, Brooks directed me to the landing pad we met as an escape route. So I made my way across the many stalls and shops. They were all empty. The streets too. It was only me and the mercs.” At that part, she paused, giving Rick time to think.
“Hmm. Continue.”
“At one point I arrived at a bridge. It was locked because the area has been put on lockdown. Brooks advised me that I could use my spectre’s authorization to override the lock. It worked but an alarm was set off and all those assholes knew my position. I either shot them dead or threw them above the rail with my biotics, then I reached the landing pad and you.”
“...”
“Is that enough? Did you find something that could help? I tried to remember as clearly as…”
“It’s enough. This is fine.” he replied, stopping her line of questions.
“What did you learn?”
“Plenty.”
“I need more than that.”
“No. It’s better if you don’t know for now. Even better, why not try to solve the mystery yourself?”

Jane looked at him, in silence for a moment wanting to object but finally agreed with a nod of her head. When he went to leave the bathroom she blocked the door with her body.

“You brought me here under the pretext of tending to my wounds. It wouldn’t bode well if I go back without proof of any treatment.” she said with a smile.
“You’re right.”
“Wow, I didn’t think you’d agree like that.”
“And you’re complaining despite having your way…”
“I’m not! Now pamper me!”

____________________________________________________

Liara had done her job well. She had traced Shepar’s gun’s origin to a man named Elijah Khan, a known smuggler dealing mainly with weapons. The young asari got a recorded call between Khan and a person using a voice modulator. It became quickly evident that Khan was not happy with his merchandise making the evening news as the whole incident had been reported. From this call the team learned that the mysterious person was at the head of CAT6 and that it was an organization regrouping Alliance Dishonorably discharged. CAT6 being the abbreviation of Category 6, a status put on soldiers that was unfit to be in the military anymore.
The plan was to reach Khan and get information on this elusive leader, thankfully the man was using his own casino to host a charity event in favor of war refugees. The event was heavily guarded, so no guns or brazen assault. Infiltration with a very small team was the key. It was an event for the rich, so any member of the team that would go there would have to dress nice but more importantly would have been able to enjoy the luxury of the festivities. Everyone wanted in on the operation except Rick who couldn’t care less. Perhaps this is why Jane picked him.

“Not on your life.”
“You’re the most attentive of us, you see everything.”
“No. I can’t get in anyway with my helmet.”
“Then just remove it.” James said before realizing why Rick was wearing the helmet in the first place. “Right… sorry.”
“You can put a mask on. It’s not uncommon for rich people to stay anonymous at these kinds of events.”
“Thanks, Liara! We just have to find you a mask.”
“And a suit!” Ashley chimed in with a grin.
“FINE! But If I’m doing this, I’m picking everyone’s clothes and jewelry.”
“““““““...””””””””
“What?”
“Since when do you care about your appearance, let alone others?” Ashley asked.
“If I’m doing something, I’m doing it right and to the best of my capabilities. The most important thing will be to mingle, can’t do that if you just look pretty but your clothes are second hand.”
“... That makes sense.” Tali acknowledged.
“Fess up your BHW ladies.”
“I-I’m good! I-I already.. Have a dress that I have never had the occasion to wear.. So…”  stuttered Brooks.
“Fine, just the jewelry then.”

After that everyone went to their own occupations. The charity event was beginning in twelve hours, that was more than enough time to relax or prepare themselves. One hour before the start of the operation everyone got back to the apartment.

“Skipper! There was a delivery for you, so I picked it up on the way.”
“Thanks Ash!” Jane shouted from the shower in her bedroom. “Do you know what it is? Because I didn’t order anything! Is there a name on the package or something?”
“It’s from a shop called ‘Through the Ages’! “
“It must be from Rick then.” Jane replied, turning off the shower.
“You know what it is?”
“Probably a dress, ‘Through the Ages’ is that Antiquity shop he brought me to. You know, the one where I bought my boots.”
“Well, there's only one way to find out.”
“Yes.”
Jane got out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around herself. She went to Ashley and took the package from her hands then turned around to open it on her bed. Inside was a pair of black high heels and a folded black dress. Picking up the cloth she unfurled it and held it at arms length to have a better look. Both women were stunned at how beautiful the dress was.

“Damn! You’re going to look like a million credits.”
“...”
“Skipper?” Ashley called out to the redhead.
“That’s… That’s not a dress, Ash. That’s… I don’t know but no dress I ever wore looked anything like that.”
“It’s from an antique shop so it must be old fashioned. They had some nice taste back in the day, not gonna lie…”
“I’ll look like a clown in this. What was he thinking?” she whispered the last part to herself.
“Nonsense, you’ll rock it.”
“I…”
“Tut-tut. I’m calling in the girls, they will tell you the same thing. Now, dress up.” Ashley ordered and exited the room.

Jane kept looking at the dress, then laid it on the bed and went to put on some panties she had brought from the Normandy. Half an hour later. Jane was the last one to go down the stairs to the first floor. Everyone looked at her silence.

“Keelah’.”
“I knew it, I looked ridiculous!” Jane said, blushing out of embarrassment.
“You do not!” Ashley protested.
”Jane, you're gorgeous.”
“What they said.” agreed James, his eyes riveted on his superior, just like anyone else in the living room.
“I-I feel, underdressed.” squeaked Brooks.

Jane’s dress was stunning. It was a bustier, showing off her shoulders and a very generous cleavage as her breasts were pushed up to the max. The entirety of the torso part was almost skin tight and just below her hips the dress was like a curtain reaching the ground, being open and way shorter on one side, revealing the entirety of her left leg side and all of it when she put it forward. The very top of the bustier was laced and so were the black gloves she was wearing which reached the middle of her upper arms. The final touch were the four inches high heels that complimented her dress well.

She went with a ponytail with a fringe and a bang on each side of her head. The makeup was very light as usual. What was new were the middle sized silver cross earrings, dangling from each earlobe. A pair of accessories that Ashley noticed and commented on.

“Where did you get those?”
“They were in a small box in the package.”

Any further discussion was stopped when everyone heard the entrance door open and turned around. Rick was getting in, holding a bag in one hand and a small box in the other.

“You’re not ready yet?” inquired EDI.
“Perfection is not rushed. Give me fifteen minutes tops.” he replied as he went upstairs.

He took a quick shower, dried his hair and his body, then dressed up in the black suit that he had bought. He replaced the original cuffs by the silver ones he bought, put on an already made bow tie just under his collar then his new leather shoes. The kind men wore for rich and luxurious parties. The final touch was a black masquerade mask that covered his eyes, a bit of his forehead and then stopped at the tip of his nose. Once ready, he climbed down the stairs and while the reaction was not as unanimous as Jane’s, the effect was undeniable.

“Is my suit malfunctioning or is it suddenly really hot?” Tali said absentmindedly.
“Oh, it’s hot alright. Skipper, do you have to take him with you?”
“Yes.”
“I admit, you clean up more than well.”
“Thank you, Steve. Now the last touch.” Rick said, presenting the box he came with earlier. “I couldn’t find any expensive and pretty jewelry at a good price…”
“Expensive at a good price?”
“Yes, Joker, expensive and at a good price. Despite what people say, credit is not the only money in the galaxy. Favors works too, among others. Anyway, here's what I got.”

He removed the lid from the wooden box and picked up a huge silver cross on a necklace. It was obvious for who it was for and he tossed it to Jane, who caught it with one hand. It was not a simple cross like her earrings. It had beautiful motifs carved onto it.

“It’s beautiful.”
“Pure silver, made by yours truly. As for Brooks…”
“I-I already have a necklace!”
“It doesn’t go with your dress which is… acceptable by the way.” he replied as he rummaged through the box. He stopped when he stumbled onto the piece of jewelry that he believed would suit the woman best. Picking it up with one hand, he let his thumbs roam slowly and gently on the orange oval gem in the middle of a white collar. To everyone present it was clear that he was reminiscing of something and that, with the care he was treating the collar, it held great sentimental value. Letting out a resolute sigh, Rick turned to Brooks

“This… belonged to my wife. My first anniversary present to her. Do not damage it. Do not lose it.” he said threateningly.
“I can’t wear that! That’s too precious.” protested the woman.
“Put it on. Now.” he said with both authority and finality.

Brooks didn’t need to be told twice and took the collar from his extended hand. Looking at it, she had to admit that it was a very beautiful piece of jewelry. What surprised her the most was the thickness of the cloth. It  was thicker than usual.

“I know, it was to keep her throat warm in winter.”
“I didn’t say anything!”
“You didn’t need to.” he replied as he closed the box and left the room.
“I’ll take good care of it! I promise.” shouted the woman, putting the collar on, missing the dubious look on Ashley’s face behind her.

When Rick came back everyone went over the plan one last time. When it was time to leave, Jane who was now wearing the cross which disappeared partly in her cleavage, took his arm in hers and led the way.

“I didn’t know you knew how to make jewelry.”
“I do not. I just know how to make this.”
“How come?”
“I was bored and looking for a new hobby on the extranet. Found a video on metallurgy. Since Christmas was coming soon, I designed the cross, then began to learn how to make things with metal until I was good enough to make it. Believe me, it was a pain in the ass.”

The conversation stopped there, which was fine with Jane. She enjoyed the situation she was in. Looking like the most beautiful woman around at the arm of the most handsome man. She wished it wasn’t for a mission but for a real date. Knowing that this moment would end soon she did her very best to carve it into her memory.

____________________________________________________

They had been at the charity for two hours now and both siblings were so done. The only thing they wanted was to leave this place. Most of the people were pretentious, arrogant or pedantic. One took the gold more than any other. A young woman, whose IQ was lower than the ambient temperature of the room. She thought that ‘masochist’ was one of the twelve zodiac signs and she boasted of a business diploma she got by doing a self-course online by grading herself. It was made that way so students could learn to be responsible. When Rick found her father on the second floor drinking himself to death with Ryncol, he almost joined the man but was stopped by Jane.
That was not the worst, many women flirted more or less openly with Rick who turned them all down flat out. Unfortunately, some of them thought he was playing hard to get and saw it as a challenge. For her part, Jane had the eye of every man in the casino and some women too. It turned out that Rick’s choice of dress for her was right on the spot as people talking to her were distracted, most notably the security staff by either her legs or very pronounced cleavage.
With the four biggest distractions ever in the same place, Brooks bypassed the cameras and other sensors to reach Khan. When Jane and Rick joined her a few minutes later, the man had been shot dead. Rick immediately went for the man’s terminal, he didn’t need it anymore after all, but everything had been wiped out. Jane had a stroke of genius and activated the comms which to everyone’s surprise hasn’t been wiped at all. Calling the last caller back she ended up talking with the CAT6 leader who promised to take everything that Jane was and own before cutting the communication. With a dead body in their hands the team discreetly left the casino with the wiped terminal’s drives in their pocket, hoping that Rick or EDI could analyze them.

Back at Jane’s apartment, she shared with everyone what happened. EDI took the drives and began to work on them being assisted by Brooks as Rick felt completely drained and went to rest upstairs.

“Rough evening, huh?” he heard as he felt his sister sit down on the bed next to him.
“Never. Again.”
“I promise.” she said, then began to ruffle his hair gently. “I admit, I didn’t enjoy it either. Not even for a second. Those people are so fake.”
“And dumb! Gosh they were so dumb! That girl should not be allowed to reproduce.” he exclaimed, making Jane laugh. “Either she got her intelligence, or lack thereof, from her mother or that man wasn’t her father!”
“Maybe. It doesn’t really matter anyway. We probably won’t ever see her again.”
“True.”
“...”
“...”
“Thank you for the dress. And the shoes… Aaaand the earrings”
“...”
“I’ll wear it all again next time we go on a date?”
“Next time?”
“Hmhmm. Next time.”
“... I’m too tired to argue.”
“Good. Because once we’re done with those guys I want first dibs on your agenda.”
“Too late.”
“Already?!”
“Well, there is EDI first… Should have been her day today then tomorrow was supposed to be Ash. the day after, Liara, her mom and her father…”
“Oh. Things will be awkward.”
“Probably. Then there is Tali after Liara.”
“You know… Now that I think about it. You’re having sex with every female on the ground team.”
“Not you.”
“For now.”
“You keep dreaming.”
“Nu-huh.” she said and leaned down to kiss him softly on the lips. “Doesn’t matter if it’s tomorrow or in a hundred years. It will happen.”
“... Honestly, I don’t understand you. Why keep trying…”
“Because I love you.” she interjected immediately.
“...When you’d never be the only one?”
“Oh, that’s what you meant. Well…” She stopped there, taking a moment to think of her answer. “I guess… because it’s… because I don’t really have a choice. I fell in love twice and both times it was you. It doesn’t give me much hope regarding finding someone else. Not like I want to, mind you. There is also the fact that you are the best lay I ever had. And despite wanting you all to myself… I feel a bit guilty at the idea. But I also hope that they will move on. Tali is the one that probably will. EDI… Still can’t believe you’re sleeping with EDI…” she muttered. “EDI is curious and may explore other avenues. Liara because she’d still be young when you’ll be old so the possibility to find someone else is there. Ashley… to be honest I don’t see her moving on. Thankfully, she’s the one I’m most okay with… I guess with sharing you.”
“What about Miranda?”
“What  about her?”
“She will be staying because she not only doesn’t have a better option but she doesn’t have others options.”
“Someday I’ll learn what your relationship is between the two of you.”
“It would be from her. It’s… not her problem because nothing’s wrong but… It’s up to her to share.”


Jane understood and said nothing in return. She just kept on caressing his head until EDI was done with her work and called out everyone. None of the siblings knew how long they had stayed like that but they didn’t care. With a groan Rick got up and went downstairs with Jane to hear what the AI had to say.

“What did you find?” the redhead asked.
“Not much.”
“A big purchase of weapons, armors, mechs has been done recently. And from what Glyph said, your Spectre authorization has been used a few minutes ago.” added EDI to Brooks short answer.
“Where?”
“The Citadel archives.”
“The archives? What do they want there? What’s even in there?”
“Everything. Every record of history, public or not, is there. That’s also where all the data on people is. Providing the governments share those information with the others which they do since they’re public records.” answered Rick, making Jane think for a moment.
“You know what? It doesn’t matter. We go there and stop those guys.” Jane replied and she went upstairs to change into her armor.

She wanted to ask more questions but she was pretty sure Rick knew the answers. If he didn’t say anything then that was on purpose. He clearly didn’t want the information he had, to be known. That was the second time he was withholding things from her about those guys and she wondered why as if knowing would be bad. Not just her, but everyone. She found it strange, especially when everyone here has proven themselves to be more than trustworthy in his eyes with the exception of…

‘Brooks. Is it because he doesn’t know her or because he suspects her? No if it was the former then he would have told me when we were in private. The latter would explain why I should not know. If she’s in on it then she’s a really good actress and may pick on any changes in my behavior and we may lose our advantage as Rick is probably setting a trap. Yes, that’s definitely his style, letting people think they’re outsmarting us when he’s outsmarting them. Now the question is… How did he arrive at this conclusion?’

Once ready she came back down and so everyone was ready too.

“So, Lola… Who’s going with you?”
“Everyone. We’re all going.”
“““““““Really?!””””””””
“You saw what they bought, it’s way too much for a single team to handle. With how many we are, we can make three teams and they won’t know what’s coming for them.”
“This is gonna be fun.” Wrex said with a sadistic grin.

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