"Commander Shepard? Can I have your autograph?"
She cringed. "Piss off, kid," she snapped. "I'm not your damned hero." She stormed past him without so much as a glance.
"The fuck was that all about?"
Gritting her teeth, she glared at the merc. "You got a problem, Massani?"
"I think you've got a problem. And if you're tearing kids new assholes, I'm kinda worried about what's in store for the likes of us."
She stopped short and turned to him. "Garrus, meet us back at the ship," she ordered, her eyes on Zaeed's scarred face.
She could hear the concern in Garrus' voice. "Shepard..."
"I wasn't asking." She saw him pass through her peripheral vision. "Maybe you should be worried, you son of a bitch," she growled. "When I close my eyes, I see those workers burning to death."
Zaeed crossed his arms over his chest. "Don't blame me for what happened on Zorya. You had a choice."
"Then why don't you help me out a little? Teach me how to stop giving a fuck, since you're so damned good at it."
"You think because I'm not pacing around the ship at night, that I don't care?"
Her cheeks reddened.
"People die, Shepard. Sure, maybe we could've saved some. But then Vido Santiago would still be carving a goddamn trail of bodies across the galaxy. Thanks to us, that's not going to happen."
"And it's that easy?" she muttered.
"Did someone tell you it was gonna be easy, sweetheart?" he said condescendingly.
She stared at him, unable to read those mismatched eyes.
"Guilt's about as useful as jacking off. You feel bad about those workers? They're dead, they don't care how you fucking feel." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "But that kid back there? He needed a hero, and you fucked that up for him because you don't feel like a goddamn hero? Sounds like bullshit to me."
Shepard rubbed her temple. "Yeah. Okay." She sighed, feeling a little sick, a little dizzy.
"That Alliance-issued moral compass of yours doesn't work out here," he said, his voice surprisingly gentle. "You'll figure it out."
Smiling crookedly, she nodded. "Thanks."
"Come on, Garrus is gonna send out a goddamn search party if we don't get back."
She opened her mouth, then closed it, swallowing hard.
He laughed. "Alright, Shepard. Let's go find the goddamn kid."