chapter 22

Given the fact that most of his memories were simple programmed reactions to his current situation did nothing to calm him down as he carefully watched the technician apply several diodes to his head and chest. Granted it was kind of creepy the way twenty people wanted him dressed in what amounted to compression shorts, a few monitoring bracelets and five hundred strands of wire in a plain white room while they all watched on the other side of a window.

There was sort of a Saw/Cabin in the Woods vibe about the whole thing as they asked him to perform simple tasks, launch biotic attacks at simulated dummies that could register the amount of force generated in each one of his attacks, as well as enough equipment in the whole room to detect the minuscule levels of dark energy readings. If that wasn't creepy enough, then having a man who clearly loved the sound of his own voice narrate every single thing was enough to make anyone lose it and reach for the nearest implement to start gutting innocent people and scientists alike.

However, just because his reactions were hardwired didn't mean he was about to start dicing up the staff onboard the station, though Jason did notice that they had left several dozen trays of surgical equipment laying around that could be useful should such a scenario occur.

Having spotted six known Cerberus operatives among the crowd of Alliance personal did nothing to reassure him that he was safe for the time being, not that he would ever get abducted in the middle of an Alliance research station with a team of bona fide bad asses less than fifteen minutes away, not to mention a familiar Admiral was overlooking the entire thing from his perch high up on the wall in his own booth. Not that Jason was supposed to know he was even there, but it had taken him all of five minutes to hack into a secure com link with his security detail while he had been getting changed.

"Now Jason," it took every single ounce of willpower to avoid rolling his eyes as said man who could talk a monk into committing homicidal mayhem, "we would like for you to maintain a barrier for as long as you can once you feel up to it so that we can establish a baseline reading due to the fact that you maxed out all of our sensors earlier."

For an answer Jason dropped into a typical lotus position and expanded his barrier to create his own personal bubble that not only stunned the watching technicians, but also created a soundproofed environment for Jason to actually relax.

Though relax was a bit of a stretch, even while maintaining a biotic barrier of unheard of proportions for a human that is, Jason still found the time to hack into multiple surveillance channels and top secret files without leaving a trace.

Time to see what everyone else was up too.

Jackson was two levels down kicking the shit out of half a dozen Alliance trainers to measure his unarmed combat abilities after he just completed a record setting marathon run, Jason felt for the poor sap his twin sucker punched before he changed the channel to see how the others were doing.

Both John and Jane were actually in attendance with Admiral Hackett overseeing everything going on as well, Jason perked up at the mention of "possible hostile Batarians" before he changed the channel again to find the others.

Wrex, Garrus and Williams were sitting in the station's only bar that sponsored levo and dextro based drinks waiting for the word to move out while it appeared that Alenko was getting attacked by several women armed with nail files and bottles of skin lotion.

That fucker was even getting a damn massage, Jason made a mental note to pay the man back for that as he found the last member of the team on the station.

Liara had opted to remained onboard the Normandy to study her complied research notes and new Prothean artifacts because she was technically the only real civilian they had, so Jason ran a simple diagnostic over the Normandy before forging the authorization for several choice materials found inside of a random storage hanger to be delivered to the Normandy ASAP.

He finally tracked Tali down to another section of the station where she seemed to running laps around the entire contingent of technicians while Jason mentally debated if he should trick a known Cerberus agent in the room with her to an isolated airlock and spaced the asshole after he watched and listened to the man insult her. Granted she had decided to introduce the man to an improved Chatika vas Paus, more importantly a new electro shock feature to the gonads while everyone in the room sweat dropped at the largely humorous sight of the man getting zapped in the balls.

Jason mentally cheered her on and made a note to never piss Tali off, though he was willing to bet that if she had her shotgun instead of leaving it on the Normandy, said man would be missing his kneecaps right about now as he refused to feel even the slightest pity for the man as he deactivated his omni-tool and began meditating.

XXX

"I have to say Commander you've collected quite the interesting team," Admiral Hackett said as he poured all three of them a drink and handed both glasses over, "though I'd venture a guess you'll be needing their talents soon enough."

"We needed the best sir," Jane answered while her husband pounded the whiskey in one shot, "how are the designs our specialist built?"

"Specialist?" Admiral Hackett chuckled, "I'd swear the man was a savant from the way my chief of development talks about the revolutionary designs your man was able to build, without a dedicated lab or limitless resources on hand."

"Sure is handy to have around in a fight as well," John answered as placed his now empty glass down.

"His brother on the other hand accidently put nine of the best Alliance combat instructors in medical," Jane had the good grace to look surprised at this news while John grunted, "during their warm-up sparring match this morning and made our best efforts look like a joke."

"Has anything come up in the investigation?" Jane asked.

"Most of it is tangible evidence at best, nothing solid, but the evidence your team was able to pull from that facility was enough to shed some light on more than a few questionable reports we've been facing in the last few years," Hackett seemed to age another decade right in front of them, "I've also read the reports and I have to admit it sickens me that man would go so far for something so radical."

"We'll find them," John replied, "and make them pay."

"See to it then."

XXX

"I vote the next time someone offers us up for an afternoon in a medical lab to be lab rats we should inflict as much bodily harm on them as possible beforehand." Jason growled as he stared down the assembled members of the ground team, who were currently gathered in a cantina not far from the Normandy docking bay.

Jackson for once seemed to be in total agreement with the idea, "I second that notion."

Liara was the first to notice them, though if Jason had to venture a guess it was that she was so sensitive to dark energy that made her snap her head up and watch them enter the cantina, and from the way her eyes practically bulged out of her head, he was willing to bet that she knew exactly what kind of mood he was in.

Jane was the second to notice them walk inside as she nudged her husband to discreetly point that fact out as they reached the table.

"Well, how did it go?" Alenko made the mistake of speaking first as everyone eyed the poor bastard and slid slightly farther away from him as Jackson plunked down into a chair and snagged a bottle of beer that he chugged as Jason opted to slump into his chair without changing his facial expression.

"Eh," Jackson made the side to side motion with his free hand before glancing over at Jason, "more or less what was expected."

Nobody said anything as Jason turned in his seat slightly so he could slip a hand into his jacket and stare at the door.

"Are you two alright?" Jane asked in a serious tone.

Jackson shuddered at the memory of the medical exam before leveling an annoyed look back at her, "Next time Boss Lady, we're probably going to hijack the ship and disappear."

"Did they treat you properly?" It seemed that Jane was getting all mother hen on them once she realized exactly how uncomfortable they had been with the exam.

"About as well as one could expect," Jackson sneered as he reached for another beer, "brought up a lot of memories though, not one of them pleasant."

"How are you two handling it?" John asked in a level tone that demanded a straight answer, "Anything we should be worried about?"

Jason chose that moment to growl softly at the next random person who walked through the door and paid them no mind at all, tensing up slightly while the soft click of a weapon safety being turned off could easily be heard by anyone who knew what it was.

"Hasn't killed anyone yet so you can calm down," Jackson answered as every single person at the table tensed up, "just don't make any sudden movements, he'll be fine in about an hour or as soon as we leave."

"Must have been worse than we thought," Ashley nervously glanced from Jason to Jackson, "what did they do to you?"

"It was the same," Jason knew that his uber creepy monotone made anyone listening to him twitch at the sound of his voice, "white and blue blurring together, cold hands, pain, sharp tools, all the same, lost in past, can't escape."

For a moment nobody even twitched as Jackson took another drink and dramatically looked around the table.

"Does that answer your question?"

Garrus was the first to reach towards his belt, "Maybe we should leave?"

"Shadows best place for now," Jason continued on his rant while Jackson pounded another beer, "hide, escape, where they can't find us, we must get out."

Everyone watched in stunned silence as Jackson reached over and gently cuffed his twin upside the head, Jason snapping his head around so fast that it made everyone at the table twitch, "Deep breaths bro, we'll be out of here soon."

"Saw excitement in their eyes," Jason tilted his head and decided to move in for the kill, "surprised by results of tests, they ran more to prove it wasn't chance, exactly the same."

"That's our cue to leave in case you were wondering," Jackson said as he got to his feet and began dragging Jason towards the door, "I'll get him back to the Normandy before he loses his shit Bossman."

"No," everyone turned to watch Jason draw his pistol next to his leg because had spotted a familiar face heading towards their table, "medical technician from earlier wearing blue."

"Shit," Jackson summed up eloquently before he pulled Jason towards the bathroom, "stall that guy before he reaches us and I'll get Jason calmed down."

Once they reached the bathroom, Jason tucked his pistol away and walked towards the nearest air conditioning grate and took it off while Jackson stayed near the door, smothering his laughter at the memory of everyone's face.

"Did you see the looks they had when you started going all out?" Jackson chuckled as he took the heavy grate easily with one hand while Jason climbed up and crawled in, "Meet you back on the ship?"

"Yup," Jason replied as Jackson replaced the grate, "mostly so I can avoid the drooling scientists and borderline fan club I've managed to impress earlier, not doubt they are crawling all over the station by now looking for us."

"More you than me bro," Jackson said as he stepped away from the grate, "though I'll have the excuse of punching them if they get too close."

Jackson waited for a minute before he realized that he was alone, "Damn it, how long should I wait?"

XXX

"They've been in there for an awfully long time," Jane glanced at her omni-tool again, "think he'll be alright?"

"They'll be fine once we get out of here," John said as he scowled at the small crowd of doctors and assorted Alliance researchers massing at the entrance of the cantina, "though how we'll get them through that without bloodshed is going to be difficult."

"Should we shoot them Commander?" Ashley asked rhetorically, looking in the direction of the mob, "Because I didn't bring my crowd control gear with me."

"Negative," Jane shot back as she watched Wrex and Garrus nod their heads in approval with the idea while John had that look she knew meant he was entertaining the notion in his head, "last thing we need is to massacre a bunch of Alliance on their own station just because two of our crew got a little jumpy around crowds."

"That would be just one Boss Lady," Jackson smirked as everyone jumped, "I got no problem unless one of them corners me and starts asking questions."

"Wear a proximity alarm for Spirits sake," Garrus scolded him before noticing something vital, "uh where is Jason?"

"He went ahead without us," Jackson raised his hands to calm everyone down, "relax he is already close enough to the Normandy to slip on undetected and he has a plan to get us out of here."

"We didn't see him leave," Jane thought about her choice of words, "did we?"

A chorus of negative replies answered her before Jackson motioned for them to settle down, "He is in the vents or he has been for some time already, anyway in about a minute our omni-tools are about to light with a visible message alarm that will work like a charm, so just act surprised and go with it."

"He better not be triggering a station wide evacuation alert," John shifted ever so slightly in his seat before giving Jackson a sideways glance, "he isn't right?"

"Naw, it'll be just us," Jackson tossed back another beer he stole from Alenko, "just make it look official and run for the door."

Forty-seven seconds later, a sudden omni alert notice went up on everybody's omni-tool, making loud alarms as well as flashing "Priority Level Alert" in the wearer's native language as everyone performed an epic rendition of the firehouse scramble.

(If you don't know what a firehouse scramble is, then you obviously never watched the classics growing up as a child and should be properly educated before being released back into society.)

Though with John leading the pack, "Spectre business now move it!" and everyone making a mad dash towards the exit, John slipped behind Wrex as he tossed a credit chit towards the bartender on their way out as the mob simply got out of the way as they all reached the elevator and piled in.

Once the doors slid shut, John rounded on Jackson, "That actually worked, remind me to ask him for that program once we get back to the ship."

"You got it Bossman."

"How is he going to get back onto the ship when he is in the ventilation ducts?" Jane asked as the elevator slowly began its ascent towards the hangar bay housing the Normandy.

"It's better if you don't ask," Jackson shrugged as the doors opened, "but let's get out of here before….aw fuck."

"What?"

No one needed to answer as they noticed a familiar figure standing in front of the Normandy airlock, in fact it was that creepy doctor from the Citadel, having just arrived on a transport from the looks of it as his piggy eyes lit up with glee at the sight of his target.

Jason. Who had a look on his face that everyone (including Garrus) knew easily spelled trouble for the poor man as Jane thought about saying a prayer for the poor man.

"I was excited to catch you before your ship left, I have to ask did you perform medical evaluations and aptitude testing already or can may I escort you to the lab for a complete analysis." Said poor bastard was droning on in a tone that was clearly stalker attitude as the look in his eyes manifested into something disturbing as the man giggled, actually giggled in excitement before making the fatal mistake of reaching for Jason, who had been wisely backpedaling the whole time until he was backed into the airlock door visibly shrinking from the man with a wild look in his eyes and a shaking hand pulling a gun before a miracle occurred.

"Excuse me!"

Cue epic entrance of one Quarian engineer stage left that dashed past the creepy doctor at top speed, bowling the man over, zipping through opening airlock doors and snatching Jason on her way past.

"We have to hurry! A priority alert has come from Shepard." Everyone watching took a huge sigh of relief as Jason stowed both a pistol and a knife that John hadn't seen the man carry off the ship as the doctor simply stood there dumbfounded as the airlock door sealed.

"Double time," Jane snapped as she sprinted towards the airlock, everyone hot on her heels, "Joker get this ship prepped and ready for takeoff right now!"

"Already done Commander, got the message that we need to skedaddle though I have no idea where we are going yet."

"Get us out of here and then you'll know where we are going," Jane answered as she skidded to a halt in front of the airlock, "is the crew accounted for?"

"All aboard except for the rest of the team, Jason and Tali just ran past, are they dating?"

"Not the time Joker," John cut in, "heat up the engines because we are leaving this station hot."

"It's my dream come true to break every single docking and transit regulation in the book Shepard, but you never answered my earlier question."

"Will there be time for a medical review?" Jackson simply turned and decked the poor man across the face hard enough to send said man flying into the opposite wall unconscious in one smooth motion before turning back to the airlock.

"What? I seriously don't like that guy." Jackson defended himself as the airlock door opened to allow them entry into the decontamination chamber.

"Joker we're onboard, punch it." John ordered as they felt the ship begin to move.

"Hang onto something everyone because I've always wanted to do this particular maneuver since flight school, however I'll go on record to admit that this will be close."

"Close to what?" Alenko asked as he latched onto a handlebar on the wall.

"Knowing Joker as well as I do, he probably either means to shalom his way between a pair of much larger ships at reckless speeds or dodge an oncoming dreadnaught before veering away at the last second," John deadpanned as he scowled at the door, "this thing really needs to hurry up."