A Mass Effect Adventure: The Story of Captain Jay C.

The New Benefactor and A Old Friend

Having gotten a new apartment for him and the crew of the Thermopylae to stay in on days off, Hayden had gotten new clothes and then invested into some of the galaxy's top companies. Sure, he would probably be set for a while, but he knew that it wouldn't be too long until he'd back to square one. He did spend a couple million credits on new state-of-the-art, bleeding edge upgrades for the ship. Newer equipment, better amenities and food, and other updated things.

"I knew that I liked you from the beginning," Kal'Hazt said.

"Didn't you say throw him out of the airlock when we first brought him onboard?" Aventus asked.

"I have no idea what it is that you are referring to in this allegation." Kal snorted. "I wouldn't say such things to our new friend and crewmember."

Aventus just rolled his birdlike eyes at Kal, due to his duplicitous nature that Kal was known for having at times. Hayden looked past this and saw the attempt at a compliment from Kal, to which he thanked him with a very short smile and head nod. Hayden had learned to deal with people that were like this new 'ally'. Hayden knew that he had to put an eye on Kal in the future. He was at best unsure about him and his motivation.

***

As a way to provide proof that he was an asset to the crew in more than one way, Hayden started to do combat sims in the Sunset strip. Not only was it a safer way of relearning and retraining what he'd known from his time in the pre-Alliance military of the US, but it also allowed him to learn to fight opponents that were able to use Biotics and Tech tools in combat. Hayden would later begin to use Tech himself to further improve his battlefield prowess.

After seeing all that he was capable of, Jay invited Hayden to join the crew officially. Jay had come to know that most of the bounty/targets that they ever had to take in; the majority of them were nothing but pushovers or Salarians, or both. Something was gnawing at Jay though. He'd begun to wonder if Hayden would be ready for this new growing threat. Hell, he was wondering if he was ready for it. There were no warnings the last time, and his nightmares had returned in full force. Never showing anything new, but he felt like it was probably a warning, albeit the only kind, that the universe was trying to tell him about something major coming.

The very atmosphere around them had put Jay's nerves on notice. He felt it in the air and even tasted something in everything that he had consumed in the last few days since returning to the Citadel, be it drink or food. The nightmares didn't make it any easier. The feeling of being watched put Jay on edge. Whenever someone approached him, even if he saw them walking up to him, it still startled him as if they'd caught him off guard.

The time that it took for most if not the whole crew to pick up on Jay's shot nerves, was exponentially shrinking by the day. Still, he was in such a haze, that most people couldn't get a straight answer. When someone would stop to ask him about how he is feeling, he'd either answer as if they asked him a different question, or ignore it altogether. Interestingly, it was Hayden that snapped him out of it long enough to get a somewhat response.

"Hey Captain. How's it going?" Hayden asked, the question only serving as a means to open him up to the bigger question.

"Oh hi Hayden. Almost didn't see you sneak up on me. What can I do for you?" Jay said from the side of his face.

"An answer to my first question, for starters." Hayden returned.

"Oh you know." Jay was being short, more than he'd ever been.

"No? Hence, my question." Hayden said around a smile, trying to make levity out of it.

"Right! Sorry." Jay answered with a far less than satisfactory response.

"Let's go." Hayden switched gears.

"Where?" Jay was suddenly very lost..

"You'll see." Hayden said, hopefully piquing Jay's curiosity at least a little bit.

***

Hayden knew that he had to get the captain out of the house and do something that was actually productive. Not the unproductive things that Jay was doing to look like he was doing something, all while deep in thought.

As the duo walked down some of the pathways of the Presidium, they came up to the newer statues that had been erected in the last 30+ years. The statues were of the Normandy crew with Admiral Shepard at the forefront, so the plaque on the base read. Hayden had heard little more than rumors from passersby, but they didn't say more than a few things that made 'The Shepard' sounded more like a figure akin to a demi-god. Hayden asked Jay what the statue was about and/or the figures that it was made up of.

"Who was 'The Shepard'? I've only heard a little from some random people and I wanted to clear it up if you could help me out." Hayden asked.

"You know that you could just look it up?" Jay retorted.

"Yes, but then how else was I supposed to get you to come anywhere outside the ship? The only time that you have left the ship in the last few weeks, since we came here, was when the apartment looked like a better alternative! It might have been a cheap tactic to get you outside, but I had to try something to help." Hayden was speaking with a familiar tone, but his face was another subject altogether. He looked at Jay with worry written all over his face.

"Well, I'm out here now..." Jay relented. With a final sigh of resignation, he began to explain who and what Shepard was and what he stands for now, for the whole galaxy. "Shepard was a person that commanded many things like respect and loyalty. From what I heard from first- and second-hand accounts, to know him was to follow him. Apparently, there was so much they could do, that even the once powerful nonhuman haters, Cerberus, not only put him back together, but also hired multiple people that weren't human. They are legends at least, but most believe Shepard to be a Demi-god, or something more than just a human. I'll just refer you to the extranet for their accomplishments and medals, etc."

"So what happened to Shepard? Does anyone know where they might be? What have they been doing this entire time?" Hayden asked, his question coming out like an automatic spray of words that shot out like bullets.

"Well, as most people know, their-" Jay began to answer at least the first question, but was interrupted by a familiar face walking up.

"Alex? You're up!" Jay said with a small amount of enthusiasm that was more than he had shown since returning with Al.

"Please, it's just Al." Al chuckled. "Very nice to see you again. I didn't honestly think that I was ever going to get free. Oh no! (To Hayden) I'm sorry. Where are my manners? My name is Alexander. You must be the person that came in and rescued my rescuer. What should I call you?" Al said, almost in the same rapid fire way that Hayden had just been bombarding Jay with, a few moments prior.

"So sorry, where are mine? My name is Hayden Mavericks. I-" Hayden said, but was slightly interrupted.

"Wait a minute! You don't mean like the already famous time-traveling tech business mogul? If that is true then I'm going to need you to sign me an autograph sometime. I remember reading about you when I was younger. I was kinda into those kinds of mysteries, the one about you was especially intriguing." Al said, speaking faster and faster, showing their inner fanboy.

"Yeah, I'll have to hook you up." Hayden said.

"Well, I'm sure that we'll have plenty of time. I just got cleared for space travel. The captain and I were talking about me tagging along as a civilian. I can't wait to see everybody else. It was nice meeting you, Hayden. See you soon." Al spoke and as soon as he was done with that business, he excused himself, turned heel, and walked back to where he had originally come from in the first place.

There was something in the way that he walked and talked that just seemed different, and yet, felt kind of familiar to Hayden. Inside, he felt like it was someone that he'd known for years. Then, the thought occurred to him that he reminded him of his old friend a little bit, but for everything that he reminded him about his friend. There were also plenty that were extremely different from Jim.

Jay noticed that it was now his newer friend and benefactor that was lost in thought and acting a little off. When asked, Hayden assured Jay that there was nothing wrong with him and that he was caught up in his own train of thought. With that, the two returned to the apartment.

***