Jack Interlude a bit of Leo's past.

Leo checked out in medical perfectly fine. However, his mental state was a little off. Mental energy ran rampant for the next few hours as he tried to forcefully break the seals placed by the A.I.

The memories were technically not him acting, but they kinda were. It was slightly annoying. The A.I. refused to release on the grounds it would damage what needed to be done by Leo. Which was against one of its Prime directives.

Leo was already thinking of a plan to do something about the A.I. Of the deletion variety.

Currently, he was reviewing his notes from the fight. Checking the data of the before and after for his body. The ship was still not leaving yet for some reason.

"Gotta ask Leo, have you been in love?" Jack asked from the med table. Nothing was wrong with her per se, but she just finished a quick check-up with Chakwas earlier. Now just lazing about wanting to pick apart Leo's brain a little after hearing about the firefight. He was after all her boss. "Well more of your first real one."

Leo paused a bit to circle his memories. After trying to break the one by the A.I. seal he was able to shuffle his memory with spirit energy like he use to do with tech back on his earth. One memory stuck out among others. Placing a tablet down, he turned to what he assumed was going to be a serious discussion.

"My first real one I can remember at this time, was very real. And helped shape me for some things actually. Her name was.. no. Not important. Long since dead." Leo rather not mention the name just out of habit. Despite being in an entirely new dimension, some things were hard to break. "I was on "assignment" in a place. Doing some medical work and struck a relationship up with a local."

"So the doctor thing is legit? Like legit legit?!" Jack asked shocked. She sat up on the bed. Glad it was just the two in the room. "Why strike up a relationship with a local?"

"To help with my cover and with my work." Leo said matter of factly. "A personal relationship helped endeared me to some locals. Plus.. personal companionship did help with stress."

"Ah sex." Jack was surprised when he shook no. "Wait you didn't bone?! That does not sound right."

"A means to an end Jennifer." Leo took a seat in an actual chair. The stools are ok, but he felt a little more comfortable and wanted to relax for some reason while reminiscing. "Feelings came later. Which helped me settle into the role more. Quite a long assignment that lasts more than anticipated. Helped with a later assignment for one as well."

"So how did this person die then?"

"I killed her." Leo blinked making eye contact. Jack's eyes were wide. "Oh! I should explain why yes?" The look she gave him was pretty expectant. "Well after the first assignment finished, the team pulled out. I stayed for obvious reasons and setting up something for later that bore fruit. With the "hospital" done with its work and the team clearing out, I made sure to fill the place with missionaries that cared and were vetted to do the actual work of a hospital."

"What did your team originally do there?"

"Rounding up drug traffickers and experimenting on them. Freeing sex slave workers and putting them to... well better work. Most child slaves are really hard to break free from their holds. Almost not worth the effort." It then dawned on Leo that he technically just stopped some smuggling of people. 'An odd thing really.'

"Tch!" Jack clicked her teeth.

"I said almost, Jennifer." Leo raised his hand up before she got rowdy. "With the means at our disposal at the time and our skillset, we lost more money than we predicted. No money, no treatment. No treatment, they rebound and effort was wasted. Took a lot of work to break them afterward."

"Break them how?"

"Some we.. well actually me specifically. I wiped their minds for the really damaged ones. Short term, it was an easy fix. Long term, the mental backlash would definitely come. But hopefully we.. well I would have a means by then. Or more money to put there to help. Ended up with a method to help somewhere in the in-between of the next assignment starting."

"And that was?"

"Genetic mapping to help eat away at the memories slowly. Painful for the first three months. But lingering effects were a lot more bearable." Leo watched as Jack shivered. "Basically a reset for them Jennifer. Teaching motor skills from the beginning was easy supringsly. Helped me stumble on a way to help with mental programming. Small scale. But worked wonders with already developing technologies at the time."

"How many were kids actually?"

"I think 167. No, Balree turned 18 during the extraction operation." Leo corrected himself pretty quickly. "About 23,453 adults. The village turned quite thriving afterward. An attraction for future traffickers that did not go well. Which was expected. This is where the funds' problem came in again. But the locals turned a little more self-sufficient combat-wise from the drills."

"No police?"

"Not that kind of country. Well in that region anyway. Lots of governments lacked the means. And the U.N. is not as effective as people thought. Not for that region. Which allowed us to do what we needed from the get go." Leo uncrossed his legs. Watching as everything sunk in for her a little. Hands on his knees, he leaned forward. "Cold turkey for the people affected with heavy drugs. Didn't give them choice obviously. Quite a few words were sent my way."

"Huh?!" Jack looked at his hard stare. Unapologetic and sure he was right. "You are a right bastard aren't you?" Leo gave a nod. "Ends justify the means?!" He gave another nod. "Bet they don't think so."

"Hmm, oh! A lot didn't at the time. I did receive a thank you when I returned later. Cover still in tact." Leo shrugged. "Only 3 had died while I was gone. And that was due to health complications before me. Before the "Cabal" got involved. I would do it again in a heartbeat now Jennifer. Certainly continued for decades afterward. Even with the others who thought it was hopeless."

"The Cabal.. right. The group you were part of that did some shady shit." Jack's hands gripped the bed a little. "How many people you experiment on? I want numbers."

"I have know idea really at this time. Enemies, terroists, criminals, are not people to me. NO rights to violate in my mind." Leo didn't move back. Despite the evident danger from Jack's biotics. "An innocent person... three. The treatment was not tested but they would die no matter what I did. IF I didn't try, they would die in hours. I did try, and it worked for like .. a few months. But funding, once more. Couldn't proceed further without it."

"And the three?"

"I killed them of course." Leo said simply. This shocked Jack out of her anger build up. "Better than the alternative. Muscle deterioration at a rapid pace. Blackouts and bouts of hysteria. Couldn't subject them to that."

"Why did "you" have to do it?"

"Well, one was actually my godson. The other two didn't have parents to look after them. O.D. from drugs bursting in their stomachs." Leo's head tilted to the side a little. Thinking he saw something move for a bit.

"Wait.. this was during the time in that country?"

"Yes. The reason I went back. Passing a cure and other things."

"Other things. Like diseases."

"Huh, nah. I didn't do work like that till later. Gave me a lot of money and increased my ranking in the Cabal. Which allowed me to do a lot more." Leo rolled his neck a little. "Learned a lot after that. Sometimes... people can not be saved no matter how hard you try and how bad you want to save them."

"SO failing turned you into an experimenting crazy dick with questionable morals?" Jack wanted to scoff, but something about Leo's disposition stopped her from doing so.

"Yup."

"Feel like there is more to it than that." Jack shook any pretenses off. Leo said nothing else for a bit. "Explain the death of the woman you won't name."

"Right." Leo blinked to refocus a little. Jack seemed really interested still in the conversation. "Well during the next assignment there, I invited her to my lab. She was a very naive woman. To caring at times, but worth it. SO I thought at least."

"Didn't bone so she was just to make you... more normal?" Jack didn't buy it. "You seem on the up and up on certain things, so that just does not fit. The mental shifting thing was that around at this time?"

"Yes. I already was developing the higher version of it at the time. Different mental state when I was in cover. Just one of many devices." Leo blinked as his spiritual energy picked something up. He let it be for now. "One of the devices I worked on was a Hydrofier. A small device put into a water source to help clean the water from bio-contaminants. Honestly didn't think she would do it. Naive on my part."

"What? Did she break it?" Leo shook no. "Not like she stole it." His face was pensive. "Holy shit... she stole it didn't she?!"

"Yes. And was going to give it to some really bad people." Leo's face turned into a frown at that. "I was ordered to deal with her."

"Wait your assignment was to do what exactly?"

"A lot of things. But the really bad people she was involved with at the time was the major one. Like I said before, the town turned into a target when it started to flourish. A Cartel was trying to set up shop there to fill a void of power but was failing miserably. Due to what the Cabal and myself had in place. But again, funding made things hard."

"How did they get to her?"

"I found after her death they promised a lot of money to her for the locals. Money to help pay for a lot of things in the town. Things that they needed. Passed themselves off as helpful individuals. And she fell for it." Leo's frown deepened. " The Hydrofier I was working on, another group was working on something like it to. Turns out it was really something special."

"Wait!? Did you not know that?"

"Nope. Something I was dabbling on. Something that popped into my head to help with things." Leo paused at that actually. Remembering who came up with the idea for something like that. "Actually.. not my idea fully at all. Another member of the Cabal planted the idea in my head. Asked me if something like that could be made to help with lakes and radiated water. Hmm... never really gave it much thought at the time."

"Did you finish it?"

"Yeah. Sold for a pretty penny. Made an improvement during the vir.." Leo stopped dry. Jack raised an eyebrow at him. "Made an improvement several years later." He corrected what he was going to say.

"Her death exactly.. how was it?" Jack brushed it off for now.

"Quick but painful." Leo's eyes turned cold. "She should have waited. Should have trusted that help was coming eventually. Or try harder to make things better. So many different things could have been done. Security was not that lax in my lab that she got far. Just outside the room when I was notified by another Cabal member about a payoff going down."

"So you stopped her there and did it."

"Nope." Leo straightened himself up as he spoke. Jack doing the same for some reason. "I followed her. Went to the contact zone with just a gun, a knife, and no back up. The group she was selling to didn't think much for security at the drop zone or the fact she got it so quickly. Just chalk it up to two youngsters in love trusting each other. Have know idea really. Didn't look into that part much."

"How many?"

"Just five people. Three shots from my gun took care of most of the work. One escaped temporarily. The fourth was taken out by just a bad accident. Tripped over a pipe and cracked his skull against a wall. Never forgot the look on her face. She looked ashamed, but that was not enough to stop me."

"Could have heard her out."

"Nope." Leo shook his head at that. "She already had sway with me. I was young and pretty dumb. If I allowed her to explain and hear her out I would falter. She "stole" from me. That was bad enough. To not ask me for help was another. But to sell to the Cabal's target, that was another matter. I put the gun away and walked up to her as calmly as I could."

"You said it was quick but painful." Jack felt a lurch in her stomach. "What was the quick part then? What was the painful part?"

"Hugging her and telling her I loved her maybe. That is what another member of the Cabal told me. Stabbing her in the heart and tearing outward with it. I thought at least." Leo caught Jack flinching. "Her blood hit my face pretty warm really. She didn't pull away. Well, couldn't with the grip I had. She begged for me to forgive her. Think she just wanted to hear the words actually. Left the knife there.."

"You are an ass..." Jack's face was pensive. "It didn't end there did it?"

"Nope. Grabbed her by the face and looked her dead in the eyes while doing it. With a quick twist, I snapped her neck. I was the last thing she saw and heard."

"Urp!" To the side of the two, a slight noise caught Jack's attention. Leo felt her presence a little earlier but said nothing. "I.. can not believe you did that." Kasumi dropped her cloak.

"I can." Leo blinked in her direction. "Rude to eavesdrop yah know." In the corner of his eye, he could tell Jack was slightly annoyed by the thief. "Things happen."

"How many of your lovers have you killed?" Jack turned back to Leo.

"On purpose with my bare hands, 3 should be. 6 died to my assignments." Leo hadn't thought about them much over the years. "And maybe ...."

*Chish!* The door opened as Morinth came in. Something about her drew Jacks' eyes. The sense of danger from another biotic maybe. A powerful one at that.

"Boss, care to take a walk with me?" Morinth asked.

"Sure. Where to?"

"I need to visit an old friend is all." Morinth smiled under her hood. Slight biotic energy flowing off her. "Unless you are to injured?" The last part she asked mockingly.

"Let's go." Leo grinned. Leaving after locking his terminal. "We can talk later Jennifer." Jack gave him a nod as she watched them leave. Then she turned to Kasumi. "Play nice you two."

Leo's words were mostly for Jack. Kasumi was busy coping with what she heard.

"Yah know, I was just finding something good about him and you messed it up." Jack said.

"Trying to see if he is worth working with?" Kasumi sipped some water. Jack just gave her a nod. "Then why sign the contract at all?"

"For my mom."