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Surprisingly, the nightmare did not begin with Vega’s surprise and unexpected arrival just as Jayce turned away from staring out at … what? A potential future? Wishful thinking? A temptation leading away from the real job at hand? Vega’s urgent insistence that she had to appear before the Defense Committee, while unusual was not the stuff bad dreams were made of. No, that was the stuff of frustration, irritation and anger. Idiocy at its finest, as her brother used to say. Not nightmares.
Being confronted by Anderson - the first time since her tribunal that she’d seen him - wasn’t a nightmare either. There was actually a kind of reassurance to be found, if she could push away (which she had, finally at long last) that lingering sense of betrayal from before. He’d been her friend for much longer. Her mentor. A forthright and honest man, one she could admire. If anything, running into him in the halls of Vancouver HQ on the way to see the Defense Committee had been a blessing. At least he felt comfortable enough to give her a briefing, of sorts. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to know. To KNOW.
Coming upon Kaidan just outside the doors to the conference room most definitely did not conjure up images of frightening beasts, of violent and half formed things that fought with the strength of dozens of men all in one. No, his very presence was calming. Soothing. Remember. He seemed almost surprised to see her, so she played along. It was easy enough. The atmosphere around them was electrically charged with distraction anyway. No one else would guess, would they? Major? He would tease her later for the level of surprise in her tone, she guessed. But no one caught on.
Even her presence before the Committee wasn’t the stuff of nightmares, though Jayce wasn’t surprised to see who the representatives were. Mentally eye rolling - did they really have to have HIM here? she wondered. He’d been the most vocal opposition to her return to duty since her arrival on Earth. However, when he asked, she chose the high road. Upfront, brutal honesty. His reaction, and the rest of the Committee’s, was predictable. Surprise. Disbelief. Jayce caught the change in Anderson, though. A quick glance at him before she started in on the Committee had her smiling secretly. He might not be speaking, but his body language shouted, “I TOLD you she was right!” And he had. Right from the beginning. Jayce knew she would have to apologize later for having lost sight of the bigger picture. She owed that much to the man.
But it was then that the nightmare truly began, and everything else flew from her mind as it took over, sunk its greedy claws in and took over control. Berlin. Tokyo. Melbourne and Paris. New York and Rio. LONDON. Arcturus didn’t answer. Contact with Luna base was gone. As the feeds came in, as Jayce stood there, identifying the locations as they popped onto the larger screen, she felt cold dread seeping deep into her bones. Time had run out ….
Shouts, screams, breaking glass … all of that and more were enough to give emphatic authority to her command to run. As Alliance trained soldiers and officers, they should have responded. As humans who had never come across such beings or been faced with inevitable extinction, who hadn’t fully understood the threat they faced, they froze. Caught in time and place.
It was the last mistake they would make.
Then the fleeing began. But how do you outrun a nightmare??? Side by side with Anderson, Jayce scrambled her way across the rooftops of Vancouver after him, searching for a place to rendezvous. Hoping that they could at least make another day. Waiting for those who always had her back and knew when to pull her from the fires of hell to keep on fighting the good fight ….
“Cerberus? What are they doing here on Mars?”
“Good question.” What she would give to have the answers to everything … or just one thing right here and now.
“You mean, you don’t know?”
That … was unexpected. “I’m not with them anymore, Kaidan, if that’s what you’re asking.” For the first time since Horizon: doubt. Why?
“It wasn’t, but you gotta admit it’s pretty … convenient.”
It became all too clear from the beginning that Cerberus had come with the intent to take what they wanted. Sheer numbers, ferocity with which they fought, the complete disregard they’d had for the Alliance forces they’d executed … But as confusion nearly overwhelmed Jayce as she, James and Kaidan made their way towards the entrance to the facility, it wasn’t so much the presence of Cerberus behind it but something else entirely. Why the doubts? Why now? He knew her better than that. Didn’t he? He knew she’d never really been with Cerberus. So why now was he acting as if she had been? As if she was responsible for their presence now? It made no sense!
There were more ahead of them, of course. Where there was one to be found, there would, no doubt, be a hundred more. Despite the distractions still chewing away inside her head (because once she her brain had something that didn’t make sense, it just had to chew away at it, searching for a solution; one that made some sort of sense because everything always had one), they made quick work of the troops stationed outside the doors. They might be Cerberus, but she and her team were better.
Even as they fought their way through the facility, catching up with Liara and sending James back to keep an eye on the exits, Jayce’s brain continued to gnaw at it like a dog worrying a favored bone. Something wasn’t right. It didn’t make any logical sense. She was going to find an answer, dammit!
Her eyes fell upon him, his back to her for the moment, as she glanced over briefly while explaining to Liara her method for carrying on when it seemed there was no way to continue. Jayce had known this day was coming. The Reapers. Cerberus - well, that was to be expected too, she supposed, particularly given the nature of her departure some six months before. But this thing with Kaidan? That was just … wrong. Gut instinct was screaming at her. It didn’t mesh - the nightmare was what was outside - the Reapers - and inside - Cerberus - not so much who was at her six. Wasn’t it?
It was as they approached the archives, while fighting their way in, that Jayce got her first hint that maybe, just maybe, she was right and something more was at play. She and Kaidan were behind a stack of crates, ducking out of cover to take potshots at any Cerberus trooper making their way at them and Liara was on the far side, tucked down in a recessed area doing the same. They were making slow but steady progress when yet another wave of troops, this time many hiding behind shields, came at them. Reaching for another ammo clip, Jayce switched over to her pistol, scooted over to the right and peered around the corner from her crouched position.
“I might be able to grab their shields and pull,” Kaidan told her as he stood above her, echoing her actions but from a standing position. The telltale blue aura began to flare up around his arm.
Jayce ducked around just far enough to line up her shot …. She heard Kaidan’s gasp as the soldier dropped instantly, his shield clattering to the ground beside him. “No thanks,” she murmured, a satisfied grin settling on her lips. “I got this.”
“What did you …?”
“Mail slot,” she told him, taking aim on another. This time she did damage, saw the trooper stumble backwards, but he did not fall. Damn. Lining up a second shot, she waited until he steadied himself and his shield before taking a second shot. “‘Scoped and dropped,’ as Garrus says,” she chirruped with wry humor.
“Nice,” Kaidan murmured. As Jayce pulled back to reload her weapon, he peered around the edge and took a shot of his own. The cry of alarm that followed was enough to indicate his success. “I guess there is some odd sense of satisfaction taking them down this way,” he admitted a moment later.
Jayce’s eyes darted up to meet his briefly and in them, she knew he could see the confusion. The pain. “Kaidan …?”
But Kaidan had ducked around the edge to take another shot. “Damn,” he muttered when he pulled back. “Winged him.”
Jayce peered around, noted that the trooper was steadying himself. A moment later, she took the shot. Their last target fell heavily to the ground; dead weight.
“You always were a better shot,” Kaidan murmured near her ear as she rose to her feet.
Jayce turned slightly, her eyes meeting his. “In some ways,” she agreed softly. “But then, painful shots take all sorts of forms. Don’t you agree?”
Kaidan could not miss the pain that laced her words and reaching out, he grasped her arm before she could turn away from him. He hesitated a moment, warring with himself between the security of the mission and the truth. Rules and regulations battled the knowledge that she was the only person whom he could trust absolutely. In this or anything, really. Two pairs of eyes searched deeply before he finally reached a decision. “Back on the ship, when this is all over. I’ll tell you what I can then. Okay?”
Jayce swallowed tightly, ignoring the ball of hurt that continued to grow in the pit of her belly despite his promise. She was just so tired of it all. So angry and exhausted from being surrounded by people who did not trust her - friend or foe alike. All she could do was give him a hesitant nod in response, and hope that his explanation would be good enough.
Kaidan lifted his hand to catch her chin and tilt it upwards. “Remember what I told you our last visit?”
Jayce’s breath drew in sharply as the words came surging back. Next time we meet, you’ll notice a distinct change. Again, she nodded. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of blue and white indicating that Liara was rapidly approaching. They were running out of time. “Yes.”
He smiled down at her as he released her. “Trust me.”
He turned and walked away before she could respond, presumably to scout the area while leaving her to deal with Liara.
The Archive should have been the easy part, if there was such a thing, but it too proved to be just as tricky as the navigation of the rest of the facility. Between the Illusive Man and his unwelcome ‘arrival,’ and his accomplice attempting to steal the information that Jayce, Kaidan and Liara were after, Jayce forgot about her discussion with Kaidan … until the instant the synthetic dropped to the ground, completely unresponsive, and Jayce’s eyes fell upon Kaidan’s near lifeless form. Oh God, no! She swallowed back other silent, screaming cries and rushed to his side. Hurriedly searching him for the extent of his injuries while James retrieved the synthetic and assisted Liara aboard the Normandy, Jayce managed as carefully as possible to get Kaidan onto her shoulders before she followed. “Don’t be thinking this gets you off the hook, Major,” she murmured so only he could hear her, if indeed he could. “Now that the Reapers are here, don’t be expecting I’ll be facing this nightmare alone! Besides,” she added with a soft grunt as she forced one foot in front of the other, “you owe me an explanation … and I intend to collect!”
“Shepard, Reapers incoming. We need to get out of here!” Joker announced over the comm link.
Jayce hurried her steps as much as she could. As Joker took off, before the hatch could fully close, she stared out for a long moment staring at the Mars horizon and the arrival of the Reapers. “Get us out of here, Joker,” she ordered as she turned away and followed James and Liara to the elevator. Med bay first. “Get us to the Citadel.”
“Aye aye, Commander.”
As nightmares went, Jayce knew it was only the beginning ….