This is an alternate path for Zaeed (and, eventually, Kasumi) in a game that doesn't have any DLCs attached to it. Just because the DLCs aren't loaded doesn't mean the characters don't exist!

This is the first time in quite a while that I've tried my hand at prose, and this is my first fanfic. All constructive critiques are extremely welcome.

Thanks for reading! :D

Zaeed Massani, Kasumi Goto and the Mass Effect universe are ©BioWare

All original characters are ©WriterJack

The music in Afterlife pounded in Captain Liam Adler's temples like a jackhammer, making it difficult to sit in his secluded booth while he waited for the merc he hired to show up. He passed the time by clenching his teeth in irritation, trying to remember why he had agreed to meet the man in Afterlife – of all places, why the loudest and least private location on Omega?

Liam was not fond of crowds, as they often contained the most rude and inconsiderate citizens of any population. Like the obviously drunk human girl who was suddenly making herself comfortable next to him, for example.

"You're looking pretty lonely over here, handsome..." she slurred, her breath wreaking of bottom-shelf liquor. Liam winced, reminded of the kind of wretched hangover cheap liquor brought on and the kind of mistakes one made while under its influence. Disturbed by the smell, he opened his mouth to politely ask her to leave when a low, rough voice stopped him short.

"Beat it sweetheart, you're in the middle of a business meeting."

Both the captain and the nameless young lady turned their gazes to the large, armored fellow who was taking a seat at the booth's table across from Liam. Everything about the man was rugged, from his brutally scarred face to his well-worn armor. The visible parts of his skin were covered with tattoos, and his jaw looked like a solid slab of granite in the low light of the club.

Zaeed Massani.

The mercenary fixed his dual-colored gaze on the young woman sitting next to Liam, waiting for her to leave. Instead, her brow furrowed in a bleary, drunken anger.

"Back off, old man! M'tryin' to get laid here."

She barely got the sentence out of her mouth before she realized that the business ended of a pistol was mere inches from her face.

"I won't ask you again," Zaeed replied in a low growl, "Get the fuck out of here before I blow that pretty head off your shoulders."

The woman's eyes widened as she clawed her way out of the booth, unable to make her exit quickly enough. The mercenary holstered his weapon, and the two men immediately turned their attention to one another, the girl already forgotten.

"You're Massani, then," Liam stated simply, trying to maintain a casual tone while talking over bad techno rhythms.

"You're a sharp one. What's this all about, then?" Zaeed crossed his arms over his broad chest and kept his singular gaze locked on the younger man. Liam couldn't help but stare at the deep scars on his face, but he figured the man was used to it since he'd allegedly had them for so long.

"I was told you were the best, and I need the best with me in order to retrieve a package."

"You were told correctly. I'm also the most expensive."

Liam had been told that as well, although not specifically how expensive. The client he was working with offered a significant down payment and signed an agreement to partially cover any expenses associated with the package's retrieval, so he could only hope that he had enough to contract the mercenary's help.

"It's an infiltration job on Illium," the captain said as he slid a datapad across the table to Zaeed, "You'd be on a fire team while our security specialist secures the package," it sounded like a cake-walk when he put it so simply, "What kind of numbers are we looking at?"

Zaeed picked up the datapad and skimmed its text while Liam spoke. He didn't even need a moment to consider before he answered, "Four million. Up front."

Holy fuck. Liam kept his exterior composure calm and even, but the mere mention of that number made his heart pound wildly in his ears. His team would have nothing left of their down payment if he agreed to pay, so if the job failed for whatever reason, they'd be left high and dry with no way to pay for... anything. No food, no fuel, no wages.

On the other hand, Zaeed was the best. It wasn't just smoke being blown out of the collective asses of the citizens of Omega – quite of few of them had seen the man in action, and he was feared for a good reason. Having the best of the best would almost guarantee their success, which would make their initial loss a worthwhile investment.

"Plus room and board, I take it?" Liam questioned, already knowing the answer.

"Just the basic necessities, nothing fancy." Well, at least that was reasonable.

The captain repressed a sigh as he lifted his arm and activated his omnitool's banking software, making the appropriate transfers and feeling his heart fall into his stomach as the number of zeroes in his account diminished rapidly.

"Pleasure to have you aboard, Mister Massani."

"'Zaeed' will do. I'm ready to leave when you are."

With a brief nod, Liam silently rose from the booth to signal the end of their meeting and led the mercenary out of Afterlife, toward the nearest docking station. They boarded a mid-sized cargo carrier, obviously second-hand and re-purposed to accommodate a small crew, with a single word scrawled lazily on the body of the ship: Hazard.

The two men entered the airlock and waited while the decontamination protocols did their thing.

"We need to make a brief stop before we head to Illium," Liam's voice reverberated uncomfortably off the metal walls of the airlock, "We need to retrieve our security specialist."

Zaeed grunted a wordless acknowledgment of his statement just as the airlock doors hissed open.

"Bunks are down corridor C, just follow the blue stripe on the wall. Feel free to grab an empty one," the captain offered before pushing a thumb down on the nearest comm panel, "Jase, set a course for the Hades Nexus, Hoplos cluster, planet Trident. Let's go get our Skeleton Key."