I do not own Mass Effect 2. I am not affiliated with Bioware. If I were either of these things I would be writing Mass Effect 3 and not this. But I am not Writing Mass Effect 3, therefore I do not own Mass Effect or Bioware.

These are just some random stories I came up with. They have a general thread, and jump viewpoints, but for the most part there is no real story in the works. that is reserved for two others I am working on. The Novelization - ME2-Revelations of Genesis - is going to be slower than the others because it is harder to write for something where I already know the end. But it will get there. The other isn't up yet, but that is going to be a post-ME2 adventure with Samuel Shepard, my Paragon.

Now, Archives is an open ended adventure and I would be happy to take requests for stories. Just keep is reasonable. Nothing like Shepard/Sovereign for example. Come on... you know someone's thought that.

Now, Read and Review if you please.

Trust is Glass

Zaeed Massani turned away from the club door and looked at Shepard.

"You promise you will not interfere this time?"

"You have my word, Zaeed," Shepard said, his face grim. "As long as you keep to your agreement. No civilians are hurt. Vido is yours, but we do this right. Anger clouds judgment. Keep a cool head."

"Yeah, yeah," Zaeed said, waving Shepard off.

A hand rested on his shoulder. "Zaeed." Shepard's voice was cold and firm. "You break your end and I take you out myself. Got it?"

"Good luck with that Shepard."

"I don't need luck, Massani."

Zaeed studied Shepard's face for a moment. The guy was serious. The mercenary recognized that look. The set to the jaw, the hardening of the eyes. The cold blue felt like absolute zero already burning into his back. Now –– with danger or battle imminent –– they were colder.

Though what was colder than absolute zero, Zaeed didn't know. He did know that, despite the talk, they were at the least on par with each other.

Zaeed didn't want to have to kill Shepard. And if he didn't, Shepard would keep his word and blast him away.

"Alright, Shepard. You got no worries. I'll keep it clean. At least the parts where his brains don't explode."

"All I can ask for, Zaeed." And like that Shepard was calm again. Prepared and on the lookout for an attack, but not the executioner Zaeed had seen on the battlefield.

The mercenary turned back to the door to Omega's club, Afterlife, and entered.

Vido was in here. Somewhere in this cesspool squatted that lowlife bug, and he, Zaeed Massani, would find him and repay his old partner. Vido had shot Zaeed in the head and now Zaeed was returning the loan of a bullet.

The club's red hue and few lights made it hard to see. The asari dancers and patrons gyrated on the dance floors and pedestals. The heavy bass nearly deafened him. But all this was background, a setting for Vido's demise.

"Aria won't get in my way, will she?" Zaeed asked Shepard, scanning the bar for the scumbag.

"Talked her out of it, yeah. Her guys will keep clear of us, as long as we leave Afterlife in workable condition. And if we don't shoot anyone but Vido and company," Shepard said, looking around.

Zaeed had to say that Shepard had done his best to rectify the injustice he had dealt Zaeed on Zorya. Letting Vido get away so they could play hero and save a few stinking workers.

Shepard had finished off his mission –– getting the Collector base and blowing it sky high –– and had surprised Zaeed with a tip from Aria that Vido had shown up on Omega. Shepard had docked the Normandy on a lower level, keeping their presence to a minimum. He'd dressed up in a varren leather jacket and combat boots –– looking like a male version of the psycho-bitch Jack –– and barely looked like Shepard. Zaeed hadn't done as much to keep a low profile, but then again, Vido would realize what was going on once Zaeed shot him in the face.

"There," Shepard said, gesturing to a secluded corner of Afterlife. "That's your man."

Zaeed looked over and his eyes narrowed, focusing on the greasy bastard. The tanned skin, the slick beard, the black hair… all of it was about to be exploded.

Zaeed liked that picture.

"Zaeed."

"What, Sheaprd?" Zaeed snarled, annoyed that his quarry was so close and Shepard was delaying him.

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

"What?"

Shepard nodded at the pistol in Zaeed's hand. "You want to kill him. But is that it? What happens afterward? Will this satisfy you?"

"You don't think he needs to die?" Zaeed was outraged.

"I never said that." Shepard looked over at Vido, oblivious to the death that lurked across the room. "I just… I remember when I had to sacrifice Kaiden to save the rest of my crew. I blamed Saren. I wanted to kill him so much. I wanted him to die. Painfully. But when I got there, I knew he was just a puppet. He wasn't worth it. A single bullet was it. All his bravado, all his bluster, all his powers and experience and it still came down to one bullet in the head."

"And you tell me that didn't satisfy you, Shepard?"

"No. I didn't pull the trigger." Shepard looked out of the corner of his eye, spearing Zaeed. "He did."

"What?"

"I convinced him to kill himself, to redeem himself for his misdeeds. For his weakness to give into the Reapers. He did it."

"That's not the same thing, Shepard," Zaeed grunted.

"No?" Shepard faced Zaeed. The merc found that he couldn't move, to tear his gaze away from Shepard. "I got my revenge. But it's still there. That hatred for Saren. Sometimes I wake up and I wonder what would be happening right now if Saren had been a little stronger. If he had denied the Reapers. If he had helped us to defeat Sovereign. I would never have been messed up in all this. I wouldn't have died, I would still be in the Alliance, I would never heard of Saren, or the Geth. Kaiden would be alive."

"So? What does this have to do with me?"

"Will killing Vido really put your soul at ease?"

"Soul?!" Zaeed laughed. "Don't tell me you're religious, Shepard."

"I've seen too much to think that there is nothing more than us, Zaeed."

"You are an idiot, Shepard."

"Conscious then. Will killing Vido really help you feel less guilt?"

"Guilt!"

"Yes, Zaeed. Guilt. I understand revenge, but your pursuit of him is not that of solely revenge. That is far to base for you. You're a smart man, Zaeed. Revenge is for petty thugs and crime lords who think that power is measured by money. You want Vido to pay. But don't lie to me. Don't lie to yourself."

"I'm not talking philosophy with you, Shepard. There is no God and I'm going to kill Vido. End of discussion."

"I never said there was a God, Zaeed," Shepard said, smiling. "I just said it was stupid to think that there isn't anything greater than us. The Reapers are clues of that. Do not underestimate your enemy." The Commander waved in Vido's direction. "You want to take your petty revenge, do it. But don't lie to yourself and think its some grand justice. Until you have a reason to kill, Zaeed, you will be nothing but a common merc. A man I can kill in my sleep."

"Don't get any ideas, Shepard. You wouldn't––"

"Zaeed, I've killed Krogan Battlemasters, Thresher Maws, Specters, committed near-genocide and helped bring a species back from the dead. I've killed an infant Reaper and you think a little merc is going to stand a chance?" Shepard leaned in, his voice low and steady, the void back in his eyes. "You think I fear you, Massani? You are a gunshot away from being dead, and I could have killed you like that. I saved your life on Zorya. I trusted you would be an asset to the team. I thought I could trust you with a mission to save the galaxy. Is money your only motivation? That's pretty sad."

"So what? I don't need any hero-cause to feel good about myself."

"Everyone has a reason, Massani. Even the coldest of men."

"So what about you, Shepard? What's your motivation? You're a poster-boy. A damn good soldier, but nothing but an Alliance boy scout. Helping every random alien who looks at you funny. What does that do? Why do you do it?"

"I have someone to look out for."

"Like who?"

Shepard leaned back. "Someone I care for. At first I did this to save as many as I could. It was my duty, my orders. But then I found her. And I knew that my orders came second to making this galaxy a safer place for her, for her family to grow up in, for families like hers to grow. I don't fight for money, for power, for the warm feeling from helping a random stranger or because of my orders. I do it for those lives out there. Those lives who don't need to pick up a rifle everyday, for those people who can live freely and safely because I am out here taking care of them before they even know that they are in trouble. That is my reason, Massani. Think about it." Shepard handed Zaeed his Carnifex hand cannon. "Take your shot, Massani. For all the good it will do you."

Shepard nodded to the bartender and raised a glass of neon blue alcohol to Zaeed.

Zaeed looked down at the heavy pistol and then at Vido.

He raised the pistol and took aim.

What's your reason?

"Damn you, Shepard," Zaeed muttered. He'd ruined it. Whenever Zaeed sighted down the pistol all he could see was Shepard's face, those words. Was his reason merely that? Revenge? Yes, of course it was. Vido had shot him in the face, taken his merc company away from him. The scumbag had turned his own men on him, and Shepard dared to say that wasn't enough to shoot the man in the face?

Zaeed squared his jaw and pulled the trigger.

Zaeed had to admit he enjoyed the ensuing firefight. Not that it lasted long. Shepard had an extra pistol on him and as Zaeed had taken his shot –– splitting Vido's head open like a melon –– Shepard had downed two of the bodyguards before they knew what had happened.

The firefight actually started because one of Afterlife's patrons thought the shot was fired at him and promptly over-reacted. He turned and shot a krogan who was talking to Patriarch. The two krogan quickly drew weapons and returned fire. An asari got caught between the two and unleashed a singularity on a suspicious looking group of salarians.

Zaeed had never seen such chaos. At least in a club. He'd seen plenty of it in bars.

He and Shepard quickly fled the scene –– not because they were outnumbered, Zaeed thought; they'd taken down an entire Collector base with just thirteen people –– and headed back to the Normandy. They left because they were finished. He had his revenge and now… what?

Zaeed slowed his walk and stopped slightly confused. Shepard carried on a step or two and then turned.

"Something wrong, Zaeed?"

Zaeed glared at Shepard. "None of your business."

Shepard shrugged. "See you back on the Normandy?"

"Yeah…"

Shepard turned back to walking, disappearing in the crowd even as they parted for him. Zaeed watched after him for a moment. Did he know?

Zaeed shook his head and leaned against a wall. How had he known? Now that he had killed Vido, what did he have? He could go back to being a bounty hunter. The pay was good and he saw action every week. But he had taken on bounty hunting to fund his search for Vido. Working with Shepard had taken off the pressure of spending credits. He could search for Vido and not worry about saving for his next meal.

Zaeed snarled at a passing asari, making her scramble away form him.

Shepard had ruined it. Zaeed should be feeling great. He'd killed his enemy. The reason for his exile from his Blue Suns. Hell, if Vido somehow survived that shot, Zaeed would consider it even and would stop hunting the bastard.

That wasn't likely though. People don't survive bullets that open their skulls like that. Shepard's pistol was a good make.

Zaeed studied it. It looked like any other Carnifex pistol Zaeed had seen. The only difference was the custom paint –– black with a red cowling.

Studying the pistol, Zaeed found a small inscription on the side of the red cowling, something he hadn't noticed until just then.

Blow one away for me, Skipper.

Skipper? Who had called Shepard that?

Was it that girl he'd talked about? But how would she have found him such a good pistol? Was she military?

Zaeed tossed the thought aside. It wasn't important.

But it came back. Every time, like a bad penny. Each time Zaeed pressed past the idea of Shepard and some Alliance girl it came back.

Why?

"Shepard," EDI commented from the corner of his room, her calm feminine voice gently rousing him from his nap.

"Yeah, EDI?" Shepard sat up, stretching.

"Zaeed Massani is waiting outside you quarters with a pistol. I assumed you would wish to know about the attempt on your life."

"It's not like you jump to conclusions, EDI," Shepard said getting up and making his way to the door.

"It is Zaeed Massani. I would call it logical conclusion."

Shepard grinned and opened the door. "Thank you, EDI"

"Shepard," EDI said, her hologram flickering out of existence from the alcove.

Shepard turned to Zaeed as the door opened. "You want to see me?"

"Justice."

"Huh?"

Zaeed tossed Shepard the pistol. "If you'll have me, I'm going to work for ya Shepard. But you'll want me on your side when it comes down to killing him. And this is a job, not a contract. I'll not be switching sides should it come to payment."

"Killing who?" Shepard asked, the pistol held carefully in his hands.

Zaeed just nodded at the pistol. "Don't spread it around, got it? It'll ruin my image."

With that, Zaeed Massani entered the elevator and closed the door on Shepard's confused expression.

Shepard turned back into his room and looked down at the pistol. There was an ammo block stuck to the side with a mild adhesive. Shepard pried it lose.

Carved into the tungsten steel were the words, Illusive Man.

Shepard smiled and placed the ammo block on his desk.

"I think I got to him Ash," he said to the picture on the desk. "You'd like him. He's like a mild version of Wrex."