chapter 3

Captain Anderson took the sight of both of his protégés unconscious, a wounded Turain Spectre, one Corporal Richard Jenkins in a body bag and three extra people onboard his ship all in stride as he ushered they to the med bay to deposit both of the Commanders under the care of one Dr. Karin Chakwas before he ordered the three newcomers up to the Com Room for a debriefing.

Jackson was the first to make a comment as he took in the view of the large room with a long whistle, "Nice ship pal, how far you going?"

"The Citadel for a mission critical debriefing," Jason had to resist the urge to squirm under the look David Anderson was giving them, Ashley was hopelessly fidgeting, "which leaves me at a crossroads as to what to do with you three."

"Oh, you can drop me and that other one who looks like me off at the next hospitable planet, preferably with a bar and a beach," Jackson paused before giving Ashley a long slow look from head to toe before turning back to Captain Anderson, "second thought, you can keep the one who looks like me and drop me off with Miss Universe over here instead."

SMACK!

Having just delivered a potent gibsmack to the back of his head, Jason sighed as Captain Anderson arched an eyebrow, Ashley had turned to look up at Jackson with a scowl on her face as her stance indicated that she was mildly upset before returning to her original position of parade rest.

"Sorry about that sir," Jason figured that throwing an honorific in wouldn't give a worse impression than what Jackson was giving, "seems that Eden Prime wasn't the perfect place for a new start that we had originally thought."

Anderson nodded his head, "Tell me what happened."

From there, the fabricated cover story of what happened since Sovereign had arrived, witnessing Saren attack Nihlus, running into both Shepard's, the bombs and the beacon in order came out in a pretty flawless manner, Jason had decided to keep the video file of Saren committing the deed a secret for now because his omni-tool was a mess from an sabotage attack. Jackson had chimed in with a few words here and there, Ashley providing enough background information and validating a few points as well.

Captain Anderson simply stood there listening and taking it all in, asking the occasional question every now and then before he nodded his head and turned to Ashley.

"With our ground team cut short we can use your skill and expertise Chief," he waved a hand to silence her complaints before he continued, "your testimony in what happened will also be invaluable once we arrive, please check with our MO before you get settled in."

She saluted smartly before performing an about face and marched out as Jason got a sudden sinking feeling as Captain Anderson turned to face the pair of them with an unreadable look on his face.

"Tell me gentlemen," his voice carried quite well even though he was speaking in soft tones, "I have a critically wounded Spectre in my medical bay next to the best soldiers Humanity has ever seen before unconscious after being dragged into an energy field by a millennia old Prothean beacon, so the question remains, what do I do with the two of you?"

"Uh, well you see," Jackson shrugged, "we had no plans other than starting over and then this happened."

"Starting over? Have something to hide about your pasts?" The question made the realization on how serious the situation was sink in as Jason stepped forward.

"Our business is our own, it has nothing to do with what happened, because if it did trust me, I would have brought a much bigger gun if it involved the Geth and a Turain Spectre," Jason answered as he held eye contact with Captain Anderson, "we aided in their mission and brought them back alive, any questions?"

Captain Anderson merely blinked before glancing between the two of them, "No, that will be all for now, please check with our Medical Officer on Deck Two."

Jackson gave a two fingered salute as Jason simply nodded and walked to the door as they walked into the CIC, glancing at the galaxy map before taking the stairs down one level too Deck Two where they found themselves in front of the medical bay door.

"Think we should go in and see the good doctor?" Jackson asked, the mental feedback from the false memories associated with anything remotely related to medical facilities evident as Jason simply shook his head and stalked over to the mess kitchen.

Line Break

"Hey, Prince Charming and Sleeping Beauty are now awake," Jackson laughed as he waved the two dazed looking individuals over to the table as he reached over and punched in the commands for the auto-chef to whip something up, "have to warn you though, the food sucks balls though."

Jason shrugged as he continued to eat the gray paste in front of him, he had no choice in order to replenish the energy used up by his biotics he would have to eat this foul crap as both weary Commanders dropped into a set of chairs.

"Coffee," the groan came from John as he cradled his head in both hands gingerly, "chow, in that order."

"You got it Bossman," Jackson said as he bounded over to the auto-chef and plucked up a set of trays and slid them across the table before grabbing a pair of mugs and watching the black sludge ooze into them, "I have to warn you, it is terrible."

Jane simply grabbed her mug and downed it one long pull before setting it back down on the table in front of her, "Years of practice."

Jason shrugged as he continued to idly tinker with the assorted mass of Geth parts in front of him to pass the time, he had fixed his omni-tool already and reviewed the video file to make certain that it was intact, but he had kept it to himself. With a valuable piece of evidence intact, he knew that it would be a gamble if the information Tali would have didn't pan out, as a last resort instead of exhibit A.

Most of the Geth parts had proven to be useless, but he had siphoned some useful bits of data, along with the recorded information on that Geth weapon he had used before it blew up while he was still holding it, but he filed away some of the more prevalent data for later as he examined what was left of his armor, not to mention Jackson's as well. They were completely and utterly shredded with no chance of repairing, it would cost far less time, money and materials to simply scrap what was left and purchase new sets of armor. Then again Jason knew for a fact that if they managed to land a place on the crew, getting new things would be a real breeze as they traveled around the galaxy in search of Saren.

"How you two feeling?" Jason asked as he watched a liquid gallon of coffee disappear between the two while Jackson kept sending refills their way.

"Rough, worst headache ever." John muttered as he shoveled food into his mouth as fast as he could as his wife nodded her head in agreement.

Jason heard someone walking towards them and he spotted the profile of Dr. Karin Chakwas out of the corner of his eye as she approached the table and scowled down at who he assumed was him and Jackson.

"I hear that you two were also part of the ground team?" Her tone revealed that she wasn't having any argument.

"More like dragged into a fight for our rugged good looks, charming personalities and naïve ways," Jackson cheerfully replied before he took notice of her as his eyes narrowed, "are you a doctor by chance?"

"That is correct, Dr. Chakwas of this ship and I heard that you two were injured," she keyed in her omni-tool, "off to the medical bay for tests you two, last thing I need is stubbornness from anyone else."

Part of their elaborate cover story was to act in a specific way around what amounted to the escaped lab rat cliché, this they had agreed on as Jackson dropped the smile on his face and turned slowly to face Jason, dramatically drawing it out.

"Jason," everyone else in the mess turned to watch the scene, "calm down little brother, just put the knife down."

Jason was sitting rigid in his seat, a small technician utility cutter clutched in one hand while his other hand rested on his thigh next to his pistol, everyone noticing the abrupt change in his behavior as everyone went dead silent, a sneeze down in the cargo bay could be heard from here.

"No, no, no, no, no," he muttered as he felt his biotics flare up erratically, thanks to the amazing detail in creating his psych, he could trigger a panic attack without losing control as Dr. Chakwas slowly backed away, "no more tests, no more, no more."

"Easy little brother," Jackson said as he slowly inched his way towards him, hands out where they could easily be seen, "there are no more tests anymore, just put the knife down alright."

John and Jane had scooted back in their seats, fully intent on either jumping out of the way or attacking him as he woodenly turned to face his approaching twin, "No more tests?"

"No more buddy," Jackson smiled as he gently pulled the cutter out of his hand, sending a wary glance at Dr. Chakwas and the others, "no one here is going to hurt you, okay?"

Jason didn't respond as he got up and walked over to the elevator and hit the console command to summon the elevator, "I need to be alone now."

Once the doors slid shut, he let out a sigh and cocked his head to the side before something dawned on him.

The elevators really were slow as expected.

Line Break

"Alright, want to tell me what that was about?" Jackson had to avoid the grimace as he found himself faced with the wrath of Commander John and Jane Shepard, Dr. Chakwas, Lt. Alenko and Ashley Williams.

Inwardly cursing his twin who was no doubt cackling madly in the cargo hold or something as he scratched the back of his head and slouched on the edge of the table.

"Bad experiences leave all kinds of scars," he sighed as the others watched his every move, "even the kinds you can't see."

"Is he mentally stable?" Captain Anderson appeared from thin air like a ghost as Jackson turned to face him, having heard him with his sensitive hearing, but acting surprised nonetheless before he scowled at the older man.

"Watch it pal that is my brother you are talking about." He growled before Dr. Chakwas stepped forward with a concerned expression on her face.

"I can see evidence of medical scars on you and your brother, nothing to do with medical recovery procedures," that took the wind out of everyone's sails as Jackson schooled his features to reveal nothing, "are both of you biotic?"

He crossed his arms and shook his head, "Naw, just Jason, you have to understand he is slightly uncomfortable around doctors and such, I'm not as bad, but whatever you do, don't sneak up on either one of us with a syringe, definitely not Jason, it'll be the last thing you do."

"What kind of fear of needles drives a fully grown man that crazy?" Ashley Williams butted her head in as Jackson gave her a mild look of amusement.

"The kind where your worst nightmare imaginable happens every single day." Jackson uncrossed his armed and shrugged off his shirt, balling it up and tossing it into his chair.

Several gasps of shock reached his ears as he stepped closer to Dr. Chakwas as he spread his arms away from his body, "Take the scan, it'll be easier than explaining."

Dr. Chakwas gave him a questioning look before looking at Captain Anderson for permission as she received her confirmation as she raised her omni-tool and scanned him from head to toe.

The stunned look on her face was enough to curb the passive-aggressive looks on everyone's face as she did a wonderful impression of a fish, glancing back and forth between him and her omni-tool, muttering things under her breath that everyone could hear, "can't be right," "that isn't possible," "insane."

This continued several times before she pulled a small scalpel out of a coat pocket and approached him cautiously, "Any qualms with donating a little blood?"

Jackson took it from her and shook his head, "Not at all doc."

With that he made a deep cut across the palm of his left hand, easily drawing blood as it began dripping on the floor, earning confused and startled looks from those present before he lifted the injured side of his hand out where it could be seen.

"Not at all." He knew the looks of shock, disbelief and awe on the faces in front of him as he knew the damaged flesh was knitting itself back closed right in front of them as he wiped his bloody hand on a napkin while returning the scalpel to her.

"I see," Dr. Chakwas answered as she examined his hand, taking a few blood samples, checking the results and pinching the bridge of her nose, "someone else scan him and inform me of what you find."

Alenko was the one to react first as he waved his hand over Jackson and promptly stared dumbfounded at the results before his very eyes, "How?"

"Would someone clue us in here?" Jane asked as she walked over to where Dr. Chakwas was attempting to facepalm and sound exasperated at the same time.

"Before you stands the pinnacle of human evolution with cutting edge medical technology, genetic modifications and biological upgrades that make every single person on this ship inferior to him in every way." Dr. Chakwas looked up as she continued her monologue, "The evidence proves that he is what Alliance R&D would dream about in a soldier, it doesn't surprise me that he and his brother, who I am beginning to see a disturbing pattern with now that I think about it, why they never needed proper medical attention to begin with because they simply don't need it."

Jackson simply reached over and pulled a chair over for her to sit down in, which she gratefully accepted as Captain Anderson walked over and ran a scan with his omni-tool, pretty much everyone else did.

"How is this possible son?" He sounded wary, "Are you and your brother some Alliance Special Operations we stumbled across?"

"Let me finish David," heads turned to face the good doctor again as she let out a long sigh, "it would take well over a decade for even half of these improvements to take effect on a living subject, genetic modification takes a long time to even take effect after the body adapts to it successfully, what you are looking at isn't something cooked up in a medical facility somewhere with the resources of the Alliance."

John let out a long whistle once he got the results to his omni-tool, "Knew there was something about these two, but damn," he looked over at Jackson with a look of grudging respect, "Hell of a thing to volunteer for son, I have to buy you a drink someday."

Jackson visibly cringed as he donned his shirt, "Never had the honor of volunteering."

Stunned silence reigned as Dr. Chakwas nodded her head, "Exactly and if my readings are correct, before you stands a heavily developed ten year old human male."

Ashley Williams made a sound best not described in public, "I think your scanner took a dive then doc, you never can trust Alliance med tech to get anything right."

"It's true," Alenko said as he furiously typed away at his own omni-tool, "I've got the same readings, he really is no more than ten years old, which means he never volunteered for this program, he…..was…"

"Grown from a test tube as a freak of nature for the sake of quenching one man's instantiable curiosity after being cloned from perfected genetic material?" Jackson reeled off as he leaned back into his earlier posture, "If you guessed correctly, take the two hundred dollars and pass go."

"That can't be possible," Jane muttered as she turned to face Captain Anderson, "there is no way the Alliance would ever do something like this!"

"Whoever said it was the Alliance?" Jackson laughed as he shrugged his shoulders at the looks he was getting, "We still don't have a clue who they were to be honest, private human interest group of some kind, but we kind of blew that place to kingdom come."

"That means you and your brother," the color abruptly drained from the good doctor's face, "oh my, that means…"

"If Juggernaut over here is the epitome of soldiering perfection, then Jason is something else entirely with his biotics," Jane Shepard shuddered as she traded looks with her husband, "this is not what I woke up to after that mind trip from the beacon."

"Shit," Ashley summed up eloquently as she shifted her weight on the balls of her feet before giving Jackson a look, "so we got an amped up super soldier and his overpowered biotic double running around as the offshoot of some sick experiment?"

Jackson simply nodded as Captain Anderson stepped forward with a hand outstretched, "We'll find the people responsible for this and we'll make them pay."

"Not these people Cap," he sighed, "these are the kind of people who are very well connected with the kind of fuck you power that can make you disappear from existence, no questions asked, in fact we would like it very much if no one knew about us."

John Shepard gave him a brief look, "You managed to save our asses, so you have my silence."

Jane nodded in consent with her husband, "Mine as well."

Ashley Williams gave him a short nod, "Of course, no offense I hope?"

Jackson shook his head, "None taken, but you might want to watch it around Jason, he can be kind of sensitive about that kind of stuff."

Alenko simply gave him a somber look, "How powerful is your brother?"

It was too easy to look downright terrified as he swallowed audibly for his audience to hear, "Very, never under any circumstance piss him off, I am begging you at least give me enough time to vacate the planet before you do."

"That bad?" Dr. Chakwas asked as she typed on her omni-tool.

Time to move in for the kill, "Once he broke out of his bonds, he destroyed the facility we were at, wiping out every single guard, scientist and person before collapsing half of a mountain on top of it using only his biotics without an amp."

Jaws were leaving dents in the floor as a general, "Wwwwwhhhhhhaaaaatttt?" could be heard, but he was on a roll.

"Then there was the time he kicked a Thresher Maw's ass about a year back, bare handed mind you because it scarred the living shit out him, also melted his very first omni-tool come to think of it, but you'll be fine if you don't aggravate him, attempt to subdue him, drug him or incapacitate him in any way or form you'll be fine," Jackson scratched the underside of his chin as well before he nodded to himself, "but he is amazing with tech as well as anything that goes boom, so a plus I think?"

Captain Anderson sighed as he reached over and snagged a cup of coffee, grimacing at the taste as he pounded the whole thing in one pull, "This is going to be a real headache explaining to the brass."

"Well shit," Alenko sighed before he suddenly went rigid, "where did your brother go anyway?"

"Eh, someplace quiet no doubt, he doesn't like cramped places very much, so no doubt he'll in the cargo bay," he gave a worried look over to Captain Anderson, "there is one on this ship right?"

"Of course, deck four, right outside the elevator," Captain Anderson suddenly looked apprehensive, "why?"

"Nothing, as long as nobody bothers him, he'll be fine, just needs to sort things out himself," Jackson smiled as he wandered back over to the auto-chef, "anyone else hungry, because I am starving over here."

"Joker," Captain Anderson said in a loud tone of voice, "send a notification to all section heads via private messaging to avoid irritating our latest addition to the crew, who is somewhere down in the Cargo Bay."

"Aye, aye Captain, sending a ship wide message to avoid messing with the overpowered freak of nature so as to avoid dying painful deaths, got it." The voice cut out after that as Jackson raised an eyebrow at the ceiling.

"Hey Joker is it, you do know there is more than one colossal freak of nature on board right?" He chuckled darkly after hearing the sounds of the ship intercom being hastily turned off.

The looks he was receiving clearly stated that he couldn't harm the pilot as he raised a hand for peace, "Relax, just messing with him is all."

John let out a laugh, "On top of everything else, the Council is gonna love hearing this."

Jackson smiled as he placed another tray down in front of him, "So what happened with the beacon anyway, you both got knocked on your asses."

Line Break

If there was one thing Jason discovered about the Normandy, it was the fact that there was more than two areas of the ship accessible via the elevator, between the mess deck/medical bay was a crew quarters deck filled with more sleeper pods, public restrooms, recreation facility and all of the life pods. He wandered around for a minute before he went on his merry way to the cargo/engineering deck where things made far more sense, surprised when there wasn't the familiar hulking M-35 Mako dominating the far corner of the cargo bay.

A short circuit of engineering and the rest of the cargo bay completed his tour before he found a quiet corner to have to himself for now.

Mission success, both of the Commanders got the beacon full blast, Nihlus was still alive and right about now he had Jackson upstairs revealing a small portion of their "past" so to speak that would make it much more easier to integrate into the crew of the Normandy as he started rooting around at the Requisitions Officer terminal to see what they had for gear. After about half an hour, it turned out to be jack shit, nothing even worth the credits, so he refrained from buying anything as he wandered down into Engineering to have a quick look around without disturbing the crew.

Granted by the time they noticed he was even there, it was after he made his presence known seconds before he left, having spotted a message sent from a familiar pilot to Adams' omni-tool as he marched over to the elevator and hit the button.

Much to his surprise he found John Shepard standing in the lift with a relaxed posture as he waved him forward, "Come on in, we're heading up to the briefing room for an all hands debrief."

Jason nodded as he glanced to his left once the door slid shut and the elevator began moving slowly, "How's the head?"

"Eh, hurts like the morning after my wedding night but I'll live," John shook his head, "got a really weird dream though, hopefully it isn't permanent."

"Dream?" Jason was making idle conversation to pass the time and to sound interested as the doors finally opened as they headed to the stairs.

"Yeah, doesn't make sense either, but thanks for dragging our asses back to the ship by the way." John chuckled as they began climbing the stairs, passing a random crewmember who saluted and went on his way.

The briefing room was filled with members of the ill-fated ground team, minus Jenkins and Nihlus of course, but it included Jackson, Ashley and Jason while Captain Anderson was standing in the middle of the room at parade rest, his natural go to posture it seemed as Jason took a seat next to his brother.

"This original goal of this mission was to test the stealth systems of the Normandy while gathering a Prothean beacon from Eden Prime without raising any concern," he paused for effect before continuing, "it turns out that Saren Arterius working in what appears to be command of the Geth, which have never been seen outside the Veil in three hundred years, along with a highly advanced starship several times larger than anything ever on record doing things that are impossible mind you and the agenda seemed that he wanted to destroy the beacon and the surrounding colony rather than take it for himself."

"Which was insane," Jane said as eyes turned towards her, "he could have easily taken the damn thing and been long gone before we ever arrived at the spaceport."

"Correct," Anderson said as he began pacing back and forth, "which leaves the question why he left it behind and why he attempted to murder an old friend of his in cold blood."

"Turain turned his back to someone he trusted," Jason spoke up as everyone started giving him looks, "or so he thought, any word on his condition?"

"Dr. Chakwas says he'll pull through, requiring months of therapy, corrective surgery and recovery due to the fact he was shot point blank in the back of the head," Anderson replied as he stopped pacing and turned to face the twins, "which leaves us with you two."

A glance at Jackson confirmed that they knew, enough for now, as Jason looked back up at Anderson without so much as batting an eye, "Yes?"

He took a deep breath before continuing, "Your brother told us about your past, mind boggling in some aspects, but," he sighed while breaking his stance and looked up, "the evidence proves otherwise that there are some truth to what he had to say and for that, you two have been placed in classified clandestine cover as auxiliary combat team additions along with Chief Williams to avoid any suspicion, there are going to be very few people outside this room that know about your real past."

Jackson coughed into his hand, "Bro, we like really need this, it's a fresh start and we'll be working on a super top secret ship to boot where they can't find us."

"Those bastards had some pretty deep pockets Jackson," Jason shot back, "they can pay off just about damn near anyone they wanted too, odds are they even got people in high places."

"It beats running around Omega to avoid getting captured." Jason sighed as he pretended to acknowledge his twin's logic as he turned back to the issue at hand.

"You want something," Jason stated as he looked at Anderson with a level glare, "what is it."

"Jackson willingly volunteered a medical scan, along with a few blood samples to donate to the Alliance R&D," Anderson paused for effect, "I think it would be in your best interest to undergo the same medical testing as your brother, mostly to help with convincing the brass to provide the two of you with proper backgrounds and such."

Jason lit up with a biotic flare, a move that caused several people to flinch, sans Jackson and surprisingly Anderson for that matter as he stood up to his full height and stalked closer until he was less than a foot away from the older man, eye to eye.

A brief glance around the room showed a handful of tense individuals, clutched sidearms, faint biotic aura emanating from two people watching on, the telltale grip on a combat knife and everyone was waiting in baited breath as he turned back to face Anderson. This fell well inside the parameters of the plan they had cooked up, in fact it was even better as he crossed his arms and put on a scrutinizing expression, one he'd normally reserve for used car dealership salesmen and drunk morons as he spoke.

"I have a few rules…"