Slight AU: Shep & Zaeed knew each other long before even the events of ME1; and one other point that will come up later :)
Many many thanks to the wondrous pixelatrix. This really wouldn't have been published without your help and encouragement!
Beta: None. Let me know if you are interested.
Disclaimer: Mass Effect and all characters within belong to Bioware.
Zaeed Massani sat in a shadowy corner booth in Afterlife, drowning in a bottle of whiskey. Cerberus' Illusive Man had contacted him a few days ago about joining a mission he was putting together. A goddamn suicide mission from the sounds of it. Zaeed might have laughed in his face and told him to go to hell, except for the exceptionally generous signing bonus, as well as a promise of help in getting revenge against Vido Santiago, Zaeed's traitorous former partner.
Zaeed had asked who was leading the mission and the Illusive Man had refused to say, only that he was confident they would work well together. The mercenary had scoffed at the man's smug attitude, as he knew he didn't play well with others, but had agreed to meet the mission leader.
He was suddenly startled from his reverie by the irritating realization that someone was watching him from just beyond his line of sight.
"State your business or fuck off," he growled, not bothering to look up.
A familiar female voice purred, "Well, well. Someone's having a bad day."
Zaeed finally looked up and nearly choked on his whiskey. "Bloody hell."
Standing in front of him was the one person he never expected to see again: Commander Kate Shepard. The Alliance had declared her killed in action more than two years ago, and yet here she was, as real as ever. Or was she?
Kate smirked. "What's the matter, Massani? You look like you've seen a ghost."
The mercenary glared at her. "The hell are you playin' at, waltzing in here after two bloody long years like nothing happened? How do I even know you're, well, you?"
She scowled. "We've known each other for fifteen years and you want proof that I'm real."
"Something like that," he muttered.
"Fucking skeptical bastard," she grumbled. "Fine. What will make you believe I'm me?"
Zaeed looked at her face for a moment, studying her. He glanced down and saw the tattoo over her heart, and he knew what he had to ask. She had many other tattoos, but that one had been her first, just after they met. He knew memories could be replicated but the feelings behind the memories couldn't.
"How did we meet?" he asked quietly, never taking his eyes off of her.
Her reaction was immediate. She shuddered and rubbed her fingers over the spot where she should have had electrical-burn scars on her wrists as she started to speak. "I was sixteen and..."
Zaeed grabbed her hand and pulled her down to sit on his lap. "Stop," he said gently as he wrapped his arms around her. "I don't need to hear it. If you weren't you, you wouldn't have reacted that way when I asked the question."
"That was a mean trick," Kate murmured as she punched him in the chest.
He chuckled. "Your point? Since when have I been nice, kitten?"
"Fair enough. I trust you've figured out I'm the captain of this doomed expedition?"
"Either that or you'd gone insane. I know you'd never set foot on Omega again without a damn good reason."
She shuddered again. "The Illusive Man said there's some salarian scientist that's crucial to our success. Aria said he has a clinic in the slums. Helping plague victims."
"Mordin?" Zaeed asked. "If that's who he means, he'll definitely get the job done. He's one tough sonofabitch."
"Yeah, Mordin Solus. You know him?"
"I've heard of him. His clinic is in the middle of gang territory so getting to him will be dangerous."
Kate shrugged. "Danger's my middle name."
Zaeed laughed. "It certainly should be, with all the trouble you go looking for all the time."
She grinned wickedly. "I'm itching for a good firefight. Fighting mechs just isn't all that satisfying. Anyway, there's also some other guy the Illusive Man wants me to pick up, goes by the name Archangel."
Zaeed swore under his breath. "You have a fucking death wish, Jessie?"
Kate looked surprised for a moment. "How long has it been since you called me that?"
He shook his head. "I dunno. At least ten years probably." Shepard was the original (her never-used first name was Jessica), but these days, Jessie usually only referred to his beloved assault rifle. "It's Omega. Brings back all the bad memories of what happened back then."
Kate nodded in agreement as she held up the half-empty bottle of whiskey. "Well, then let's go and erase those memories; make better ones. You in?"
Zaeed grinned. "Wouldn't miss it for world, kitten."