"It may not seem like it, but you did the right thing," Zaeed assured her. "Killing Vido solves a lot of problems, and not just my own."
Rowan sat down on a nearby box, looking down at the floor. "It doesn't feel like I did the right thing. When I was with the Alliance, I would have risked anything to save those innocent lives." They sat in silence for several moments before Shepard started musing out loud. "There was this one time where we cornered this terrorist and his entire group. They were holding this place hostage, and they had the room with the hostages rigged with explosives. I had two choices: Kill him and lose the innocents, or let him go and save them." She sighed. "I let the terrorist go. I figured that, since I was a Specter, I could make time to hunt him down later." She looked up at Zaeed. "I used to lay awake at night sometimes, wondering if he had hurt anyone else. If he did, it'd be on my head."
Zaeed pulled himself off of the wall to take several steps towards her, chuckling. "Finally, I get to hear a battle story from you, huh?" When it became obvious that she wasn't amused, he sighed. "Shepard, not every decision is black and white. Sometimes, people who don't deserve to die just goddamn have to, for the greater good. They're in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Rowan thought on that for a moment. "Do you think I made the wrong decision with that terrorist, then?"
"Yes," he said, without hesitation. "If those innocent people died, you'd know that they were that terrorist's last victims. You may have saved their lives, but you risked a hell of a lot of others."
"I don't know why I made that call, now that I think about it," she said aloud. "It just felt like the right thing to do in that moment."
"Like I said, not every decision is black and white." Zaeed moved in front of her, looking her straight in the eye. "You're not the first person to regret a decision they've made, Shepard, and you won't be the goddamn last." He looked at her oddly. "Out of curiosity, why did you decide to help me instead of saving those people?"
Rowan looked back at him. "You helped me after I ran into Kaidan on Horizon. I wanted to return the favor."
"What you did for me is way fucking more than what I did for you," he pointed out.
"It wasn't just that," she admitted. "After hearing what Vido did to you…I felt like you deserved your revenge. To be honest, I'd be lying if I said my fight against the collectors wasn't partially personal. They killed me, several members of my crew, and destroyed my ship, after all."
Zaeed laughed at that. "People need to learn that, when it comes to people like you and me, you better make damn sure you kill us the first time, or you'll regret it." He gave her a resolved look. "You helped me with my revenge, Shepard. I'm going to make damn sure I help you with yours."
She stood, smiling at him. "Thank you, Zaeed."
He replied by smirking back at her, which only made her smile widen.