"Gentlemen," I said, nodding in at the two men before me as I stepped out from the shadows and into the flickering light of the street lamp. "I thought we agreed that there would be no weapons this time."

My eyes flicked to the blond, lanky man who looked totally out of place in the abandoned street. Even in the dim lighting it was easy to tell that he wasn't supposed to be here.

"Nervous fidgeting indicates he's never done anything like this before, but he's not in shock; he's worked with the gangs for some time now, then. Slight hunch in his back and marks from an omnitool on his arm indicate a tech expert, not a thug. They wouldn't have sent someone like that to deal with someone like me without a very good reason." I searched through my few memories of him before I found what I was looking for. "Constantly fidgeting with the ring on his finger indicates his spouse, possibly other family, is being threatened. But why would they do that to one of their own? Unless, of course, he made the wrong person angry and got sent on a suicide mission for it." I held back a sigh. In my line of work I saw the worst that humanity had to offer, and this was pretty high up on that list.

His companion was another story entirely. "Build suggests heavy training while his stance indicates years spent in the army. Slight bulge from his interior jacket pocket could be a variety of things, but considering the situation and the way his hand twitches towards it indicates a pistol; most likely Raikou. Brought along as a bodyguard, but body language shows no interest in keeping his client safe. Yet he's completely immersed in the situation."

"Yes, well," the hacker coughed, bringing me out of my thoughts. "There's been a slight change of plans."

I raised an eyebrow. "That's unfortunate. You know how Dez hates people who mess with his work. You sure I can't get you to reconsider?"

"The only person that's going to reconsider is you," he said confidently, full of false bravado in front of his companion. "We're not here about the drugs. Mr. Werod has come to realize just how valuable you could be as an ally, and he wants to offer you a job with him where you would be making more money than you know what to do with. In addition, he promises to treat you as an equal, which is quite an improvement from how Dez treats you if the rumors we've all heard are correct.

"And if I say no?" I asked, ignoring the jibe as I waited for the inevitable answer.

"You die," the bodyguard growled, making the other one jump. "Either you work for Mr. Werod or you work for nobody."

"Typical." I sighed, realizing this would be all too easy as I turned to the hacker. "You do realize, I hope, that your buddy over here is just going to kill you as soon as I refuse? We'll both die, and he'll collect all the reward from your boss. And, without your position keeping your family safe, who knows what'll happen to them?" I added nonchalantly, gesturing to his ring.

The lanky one looked at the larger man, horrified.

"You can't trust her," the body guard hissed, eyes narrowing. "Mr. Werod warned you about the mind games she plays. She gets inside your head and turns everything you think against you."

I glanced over at the hacker before turning back with a smirk. "Neither one of us is buying it, dumbass. Give it up."

I whipped out my weapon as soon I saw the bodyguard's eyes tense and light up in bloodlust, pointing it at his head and pulling the trigger just as he turned pulled his own gun on the small man, who stood frozen in place with eyes comically wide as his former companion stood for a moment more, swaying slightly before falling to the ground, blood pooling around the wound.

I lowered my weapon and breathed out slowly before grabbing the body and dragging it out of the light. No use in spending too much time trying to hide it: the police's scanners would find the body when the next rotation went through these parts (in nineteen hours, if I was correct), and I had no time to make it undetectable; even in this part of town gunshots were reported, the only difference being that the police took longer to respond. Only after I had dragged it beneath the trash compactors did I turn to the horrified man.

"I feel for you, buddy. I really do," I told him as I wiped the blood off of my hands and onto my pants. "You screwed up, and the only way to make up for it was with an impossible task that everyone knew was going to get you killed. But you still did it to keep that family of yours safe, huh?"

"I've got a beautiful husband and a little girl who needs me to protect her now more than ever," he whispered. "I never meant to get in this deep. I never meant for this to happen. I just wanted..."

"Well, whatever you've done in the past, you just got yourself a place with me if you want it," I shrugged. "The world needs more guys like you to stay alive. Less muscle, more moral compass. I can have you moved into a new apartment out of Werod's territory before the cops even find the body."

The man froze, staring at me for a moment before raising his eyebrows. "You're serious?" He asked in delight before a shadow crossed his face and he let out a low laugh. "No, it's never that easy. What's the catch?"

"I wish I could say there wasn't one, but this time, there is," I admitted. "Help me out now and I swear I can get you the money to make it out of the city and start over, not to mention give you good connections. Not shady thugs who want you to hack some bank accounts for them, but reliable businesses where you can get a steady job. You'll never have to fear for your family again, I swear."

"You've got my attention," he said slowly after a moment. "What is it that you need me to do?"

"Exchanging names would be a good start. It's a bit weird not knowing what to call you."

The man hesitated for a moment. "...it's Johnny."

A smile stretched across my lips. "Pleasure to meet you, Johnny. Most of the people around here call me Jay, but I don't like the name; it doesn't fit."

"So... what do you want me to call you, then?" Johnny asked in confusion.

"Shepard has a nice ring to it," I grinned.

Two Weeks Later:

"Shit. Shit. Shit," I cursed as I ran around a corner. As soon as I was out of sight I stopped, bending over with my hands on my knees and gasping for breath.

"If you're smart," said a voice beside me, making me freeze, "you'll turn around right now with your hands on your head. Of course, you're Jay; you're more than just smart."

"Scintillating," I replied with a sigh as I did as I was asked, my eyes scanning over the man standing before me.

My eyes flickered over his well-kept alliance uniform and distinct military stance. "Youngest of three from a middle class family. Medals suggest he served in the first combat war and was able to prove himself with keen strategies rather than raw force. Learned these strategies at N7 (age suggests he was one of the first there). A divorce, not recent, led to a brief bout of alcoholism; met another woman, but isn't still with her." In the next moment I flickered over his facial features. "Failed to meet requirements for something; remains disappointed." I stared even harder at his every microexpression, shifting my thesis in less than half of a second based on the new data. "Met the requirements and was betrayed; considering his military history and substantial decoration, most likely nominated as first human spectre. As for the betrayer…" My mind whirled through the list of all known spectres, eliminating those that didn't match the profile I had built. "For the first human spectre's mission, they would've sent the best. Solution: Saren."

The entire process took less than five seconds and I then glanced at the gun still pointed straight at my head.

"How much did they tell you about me?" I asked, curious.

"Enough to know that this gun is staying on you the entire time," he replied evenly, and I grinned. I could see why the Alliance liked him so much; he was smarter than most of the soldiers they got.

"You know my name but I don't know yours. May we rectify that?"

The soldier pressed his lips together tightly before answering. "Anderson."

"Pleasure to meet you, Anderson," I smiled. "I would ask you what you were planning on doing with that gun, but we both know the answer to that. If you were here to kill me you would've done it already it, and they wouldn't send one of their top soldiers to make an arrest. You're here to make a deal. The Alliances wants me as their newest asset."

Anderson's eyes narrowed in suspicion and I rolled my own; if he thought me figuring out that sort of information was impressive, he was in for quite a surprise.

"That guess would be correct," he replied slowly.

I pursed my lips. "It's not a guess; it's a deduction based on evident fact. But before you say anything else that will screw this up for me, I agree."

Blinking, his gun lowered a few inches. "Wait," he said, eyebrows rising, "You're agreeing to join the Alliance...just like that? I don't buy it."

I shrugged. "You shouldn't; nothing in life is ever that easy. I'm going to need 300,000 credits."

"300,000 credits?" He repeated, disbelieving.

"Listen, if you want me to be working at full capacity there are some loose ends that I need to take care of; only this amount is going to cut it. Think of it as an investment; you pay this now, I'll end up paying that back five times over within the course of the first year. Course, if you don't like it, don't take the deal; I'll end up in jail and you'll end up empty handed and a lot of people will end up dead somewhere in the mix."

Anderson looked me over for a moment before sighing. "You'll get your money."

I grinned. "Good to hear. But there's still one more term; you can give me whatever jobs or missions you want, but I don't want any special title or office or whatever you guys have. No one knows about what I can do except for the people who have to. " I paused, lowering my hand and offering it in the space between us. "Do we have a deal?"

His eyes swept over me, looking for signs of deception and finding none. He put the gun back in his holster and shook my hand.

"It's a deal," he replied.

"Fantastic," I smiled. "Now, do you happen to have a couple of credits on you?"

I slid the credits into the payphone and dialed a number, tapping my foot impatiently as I waited for the other end to pick up.

"Kenny's pizza, what can I do you for?" A nervous male voice said from the other end of the phone.

"Johnny, it's Shepard," I said.

"Thank god," he rushed, breathing out a sigh of relief. "I was starting to worry that something went wrong."

"No, everything went brilliantly, I assured him. "Have you secured this line yet?"

"Feel free to enjoy the benefits of this conversation not being in the government's databases."

"Fantastic," I breathed. "Everything went off without a hitch thanks to you; Dez and his buddies got captured by the police and your anonymous tip to the Alliance before this all went down made sure that they were ready and waiting for me. I didn't expect them to send who they did, but it's all fine now."

"I still don't understand why you wanted to get taken in by the Alliance," Johnny scoffed, "but I'm glad I could help."

"And that's why you're the best," I grinned. "I'll be able to get that money funneled over to your account by the end of today, and then you'll be able to take your family somewhere safe. I've sent you a list of possible coordinates, and I've considered everything: education system, neighborhood safety, available jobs; the whole ball park."

"You went house-shopping for me?" He laughed, disbelieving.

I shrugged nonchalantly. "Hey, it's the least I could do for my favorite partner in crime."

Jonathan sighed. "Goddammit, Shepard. Earth is going to be a lot worse off without you here."

"Maybe I can make up for it when I save the entire galaxy," I smirked.

"Yeah, you wish," he scoffed. "I'm just hoping you don't get yourself killed."

"That goes for you as well, Johnny." I grinned. "Take care of that family of yours while I'm gone."

"Will do," he said softly. "Good luck, Shepard."

"You too," I replied before hanging up the phone.

I glanced back at Anderson, who was waiting next to a shuttle across the street. My eyes fell down to my empty hands; every other soldier would have some souvenir from home. The thought almost discouraged me for a moment before I rationalized the feeling; this place was never my home. There was nothing I wanted to remember. I straightened my shoulders and headed across the street without a backwards glance.