Jupiter Brains All Over The Wall

new chapter

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The intense pounding on her forehead was the first thing Layla felt when she floated back into consciousness. The sight of a glossy ceiling reflecting the nighttime lights of a faraway metropolis made her groan when she opened her eyes. After the initial pain of her head throbbing anger at her own stupidity and that of Shepard's stubbornness filled her. A blue hand came into view and brushed her hair out off of her forehead.

"Take deep breathes," a soft, wise voice slithered into her ears. It was a voice she hoped not to hear in a long time. "Commander Shepard and Kasumi used a little more sedative than they should have."

"Morinth?" Layla asked hopefully and her breath hitched. 

The alien sighed and she knew it was an asari by the hands. "She's gone. Fled when Donovan Hock was killed."

Layla couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. If she had been conscious she would have made Morinth flee the estate, Donovan be damned, if Shepard hadn't listened to her. A tear escaped her eye and the alien that was the progenitor of her absent companion brushed it off her temple. The act was too motherly and it made Layla angry. How could this woman act so kindly to her yet hunt a daughter that had no say in how she was made? The sedative was still in her system, she felt the sluggishness, so she could not attack this woman. 

"Get away from me." Layla hissed . She hoped that her dismissal would signal the woman's farewell.

"I know what it is like to lose-"

"Shut the frak up," Layla groaned and sat up." Just tell me where the exit is so I don't have to see you or Shepard again."

"You are not fit to leave bed yet but the door is open whenever you wish to leave." Samara replied calmly. 

Layla made sure to see that she was fully clothed and pushed her bottom off the mattress. Her legs were slightly weak and wobbly from the sedative and her bare feet gave her better purchase on the high pile carpet. In the reflection of the floor to ceiling windows she saw Samara stand with her, ready to catch her if she stumbled. Layla straightened to her full height and came around the bed, challenge glimmered in her eyes.

"You do not carry an omni-tool," Samara observed offering Layla her shoes. "How will you get a hold of anybody?"

Layla took the shoes and sneered. "You're thinking inside the box. You should pray that you don't become trapped in it and die."

She left the asari in the room and quickly made her way down the hall to the sign that indicated the location of the nearest elevators. No one was in sight to see her walking barefoot or her disheveled hair. For anybody that did they might just think that she was a trophy girl leaving the room of an on the side fling or her rich older sugar daddy. The elevator's VI told her that she was on the 35th floor and the car started it's descent to the lobby. 

For anybody who didn't know what she was her being without an omni-tool would seem strange. But being a machine gave her a couple of advantages. Her omni-tool was implanted into her forearm and pressing an almost non-existent bump on her left arm activated it. The familiar yellow-orange glow came into view and she dialed Kenn up. The Quarian's faceplate came into view.

"Layla?" he questioned. "What's the matter?"

"Hock is dead, I was a drugged and Morinth has disappeared."

"What? How?"

"Shepard, though I'm sure he wasn't after us."

"Where are you?"

"I'm in a hotel of some sort. Morinth's mother was there when I woke up which means that Shepard is skulking around here somewhere." she bit her lip and tapped her fingers on the railing of the elevator.

"Have you heard from C-Sec or the Council?"

"Only from the Council. Anderson wishes for you to speak to the rest of the Council in a private session. I'll make arrangements for you to get off world and ping you with the itinerary."

Layla nodded. "Thank you, Kenn. Notify me when you hear from Morinth too. Okay?

"I will."Kenn disappeared from view and Layla slumped against the wall. 

Her eyes stayed on the floor indicator, watching the numbers tick down towards the ground floor. Her stomach tightened with the knowledge that she had somehow failed Morinth in not stopping Shepard. The elevator stopped at the tenth floor and the doors slid open to the figure of a bearded reddish hair man. He was dressed casually with a billed navy blue cap covering his head. He walked into the elevator with a considerable limp and stood at the far end of the elevator. The doors slid close again as he pushed the ground floor button. The car shuttered slightly but it was enough for the man to loose his balance slightly. He caught himself just as he was about to fall completely and when his body was at the farthest angle something in a leathery fabric brushed against her arm.

She had not been alone when she had called Kenn, Shepard had someone follow her. Anger made her fist fly out and connected with the invisible being. The air crackled and tinged blue for a split second and then there was three people in the elevator. It was shorter woman dressed in a black cat-suit and hood. The force of Layla's punch caused the woman to bend over and Layla landed another punch to the woman's head. The woman dropped to the floor and didn't move. The man just stared wide-eyed at
Layla.

"Are you okay?" she asked him and the man nodded shakily. 

Layla knelt down next to the woman and moved to flip the woman over. The man shuffled forward to see who the woman was and his shadow fell over her. Carefully she slipped her arms under the woman and rolled her over. She felt for a pulse and slipped under the hood to prod for any bumps that might be forming on the woman's head. There was a small one by her ear.

"She was probably hired to kill you. You should have killed her."

"I am not a murderer." Layla answered softly and stood. "If she was here to kill me she would have done so by now and you would have never had known about it."

The elevator slowed to a stop at the lobby and the doors opened to reveal a lobby larger than that of the hotel on the Citadel. Windows stretched four stories high to let in sunlight and tiny diamonds of rainbows from floating crystal chandeliers studded the room in random patches. Layla blinked to adjust her vision and left the woman and man in the elevator. No one paid her any mind and if they had she would have seen it. From her cursory glances she didn't see any body in armor but that didn't mean that they weren't there. Her omni-tool pinged and a small holographic screen popped open to show her the arrangements that Kenn had made for her.

A hand grabbed her bicep and jarred her away from her omni-tool. Layla looked back in annoyance and glared at the man in armor who held her. Behind him stood the dark skinned man from Omega and a black haired woman in a skin tight suit. "What do you want, Shepard?"

"We need to talk." he replied.

Layla scoffed at the statement and shrugged his hand off of her arm. "No, we don't."

"Yes, we do." Shepard said and tried to grab a hold of her arm.

Layla spun around and pushed him away from her. "You have nothing that I want to hear, Shepard. Now, leave me alone. I have a flight to catch and an appointment with the Council to get to."

She hoped that the invocation of the human's bosses would shut the man down. 

The trio frowned. "You've seen the Council?"

Layla sighed and rolled her eyes. "Go away, Shepard." she spun around and made her way to the valet and the cab that was waiting for her. 

Shepard slid in beside her just as the doors were closing and Layla growled. "What the hell? Why do you keep butting into my affairs?"

"Because you did it first." Shepard answered with a frown. "You beat me to the Collector ship and to the Omega 4 relay and to the Collector base."

"I didn't know you were after it, Shepard. I'm not from here and I don't keep up with you. You are not the center of the fraking universe." she replied as the aircar took off.

"Look, I'm sorry about Kasumi drugging you and when I saw that she did I made sure that some of my team got into Hock's estate to get you out just in case something happened. I wasn't looking for you and I know you tried to dissuade us from hitting the vault during the day. Let me take you back to the Citadel on the Normandy as a way to apologize."

"You're not one of my favorite people right now Shepard and you can frak your apology." Layla snapped. "What do you want? Why are you bugging me?"

Shepard ran his gloved fingers through his hair. "My boss is putting pressure on me because I couldn't get the job done and he invested billions of credits to bring me back from the dead and to build my ship. He's not angry that the Collectors were destroyed but he doesn't know who you are or how you got your ship and crew and that has him frightened. The Illusive Man is supposed to know everything and you are an empty spot on his dossier."

"So he wants you to infiltrate and see what I'm about? See if you can't sway me to join Cerberus? I've already gave some of the data from the Collector base to the Council to show them what they were doing and some of the data exchanges from the Reapers to their pets. As for joining a group like Cerberus? No, that I will not due. That organization has a rotten core whatever the intentions may be."

"If you're concerned with the Reapers as a whole then you should join me." Shepard replied. 

"And do what? I'm not the only one involved in my operation. I have Morinth, whose mother is on your wants to kill her, and a quarian on his Pilgrimage who has already been attacked once because of me. You're knocking at the wrong door."

"You're throwing in a lot with a group of people with didn't listen to me about the Reapers or the Collectors." Shepard snapped.

"You didn't give them enough evidence. They have too much on their plate to worry about a nebulous threat that they have never heard about until a couple of years ago. Now they have some evidence and I'm going to try and convince them about it and if they are convinced? What are they supposed to do? When is the threat going to be real? How long until the Reapers attack? Do you ask a galaxy to become vigilant for so long a time that they grow weary of it and rebel against it?"

Shepard's face grew introspective at the questions that Layla tallied off. He had no idea how to answer the questions she threw at him. His thoughts were just on stopping the Collectors and her questions were answered in silence. Layla stared at him as the aircar landed at the dock with the Normandy.

"So are you going to give me a ride to the Citadel or were you just blowing smoke?" 

Shepard smiled and opened the door to the car. He helped her out of the car just as two more cars landed. The limping man exited with Kasumi and Samara behind him. Shepard grinned and came over to the man. Layla stared up at the sleek Normandy and then over to the group as the approached.

"Layla Sextus, meet Lt. Jeff Moreau though we just call him "Joker". He's the Helmsman of the Normandy."

Layla gave him a small smile and Joker grinned back. "It is good to meet you, Joker."

"Yeah, well you too."he turned to Shepard. "I'll get the ship."
Joker limped off leaving Layla and Shepard with some of his crew. The black haired woman and the man from Omega came over to them. 

"What now, Shepard?" the black haired woman asked. 

Layla crossed her arms over her chest and gave Shepard an expectant look. "We're going to the Citadel, Miss Sextus has an appointment with the Council and they might listen to her."

"As long as they listen then I'm happy." the darker man replied and turned to Layla. "We weren't properly introduced on Omega. Jacob Taylor." he offered his hand and Layla took it with a soft shake. he turned back to Shepard. "I'll see you aboard, Commander."

Samara and Kasumi followed after Jacob leaving Shepard with the black haired woman and Layla.

"Miranda Lawson," the woman greeted but didn't offer Layla her hand. "I'm second in command aboard the Normandy."

Layla smiled brightly. "Nice to meet you. It's a beautiful ship."

"Miranda would be happy to give you a tour." said Shepard and gestured for them to board the ship.

Layla followed Shepard with Miranda coming up behind them.