Good idea to read "In Another String Universe" before this. Hope ya'll like it.

Yes, Shepard died a month after the Citadel.

Two years after the Battle of the Citadel

Klencory...

Council Spectre Dr. Beatrice Alenko stared at the datapad in front of her re-reading the intel that had come in from one of her many sources. After the death of her fellow human Spectre she had done all she could find out where the Reapers had come from and if their use of Saren and his geth were a one time deal. So far the data was telling her that the Collectors were becoming involved with the Reapers.

The colonies were outside council space, humans dissatisfied with the Alliance. It happened every time there was a major freeing of space.

One of her sources, a bio-tech named Wilson working for project labeled "Lazarus" had confirmed to her a year and a half ago that Liara had given Shepard's body to Cerberus to rebuild. It was hell keeping that secret away from Kaidan and the crew that had once made up the team from the Normandy. Did the program director of the Lazarus Project know of Wilson's spying? She highly doubted it but now that Shepard well enough for her plan to go forward he needed to be away from Cerberus' control.

Wilson would have no more contact with her after he was done hacking the mechs that protected the station Shepard was on. The attacks were getting closer together and she couldn't do it on her own. Shepard was needed to go on another front. If the Illusive Man held true to his normal behavioral patterns he would try to gain Shepard's loyalty. Joker was already inside Cerberus ready for his call to action as was Chakwas. Those two crew members were the only ones in the Alliance that Kaidan influenced to join Cerberus. Until she had confirmation that Shepard was going towards one of his team members from one of her moles she was stuck waiting.

The door to her office opened and one of her assistants, a young asari named Gioda, came in with a datapad. This was a part of her daily routine here on Klencory. Every day after the last excavation shift for the day was done a report was given to her to comb over the day's find. Gioda, and her twin Marisku, were irreplaceable as her assistants.

"Dr. Alenko?" Gioda smiled at the woman. "I have the latest findings for the second tier analysis."

"Excellent."

Gioda handed her the datapad and took her usual seat in the plush chair across from her desk. Bea looked over the bullet point list from the linguistics team. Since the unsealing of the Klencory Tower the amount of information that came to light was amazing. She compared it to Pompeii in the complexity of the discoveries. There were no bodies frozen in ash but the amount of items was amazing.

The nearest habitable planet from Klencory, Ontarum, held the sprawling facility that housed the team members that were on leave and their families if they chose to stay nearby. The Council had extended the rights to the two planets to Kumun Shol by way of Bea's Spectre status for their research. They would not interfere in their jobs but they would expect to be notified if there was something they could use against their far off threat.

"Karaoke night is this week," Gioda broke the silence that hung in the air. "Will you be joining us?"

Bea looked up from her report and thought for a moment. "I do have that day off, don't I?" she smiled. "You just want me to get drunk and sing horrible songs from Earth's twentieth century."

"You singing 'Killer Queen' was pretty-"

"Terrible?" she finished her assistant's sentence. Her personal terminal beeped at in incoming burst and she palmed it. The orange text appeared and she smirked at the tiny message. "I'm afraid that I won't be able to make it this time."

She handed Gioda the datapad from linguistics.

The young asari eyed the terminal and nodded. "You've been Called? I'll contact Captain Hemmins to prepare The Raven."

"Thank you."

Gioda stood and left the office leaving Bea to prep for her departure. With a practiced ease Bea closed every program running on her terminal and locked her office behind her. The route to her quarters was short and she changed from her uniform to the plain clothes she wore outside of the complex and the station. Grabbing the small silver hard case she kept most of her Spectre gear in she enabled her apartment's defenses and started for the docking bay where her ship was being held.

A gruff looking man, the ship's captain met her at the docks. He smirked as the sight of the hard case. "Secret Agent time again?"

"Research and recon with a dash of rescue." she replied cheerfully. They let the airlock seal behind them and he turned towards the bridge.

"It's a recipe for action." he replied with a grin. "Where to?"

"Omega."

"You pick the loveliest places."

Bea shrugged. "When we exit FTL set up a call to the Kilimanjaro."

"Aye, aye."

"It's been two years." Kaidan's voice registered the obvious shock that the news of his once dead commander waking from the grave would instill. "And he's working with Cerberus! Bea are you sure?"

Bea nodded. "Yes, Council intel was clear on that, Kaidan. The Illusive Man always has an angle. He's trying to draw someone or something out I just don't know what. I'm heading Omega to find out what I can and help an old friend of yours."

Kaidan frowned. "Who?"

"Garrus' vigilante justice is catching up to him. I'm going to pull him out of the fire before he gets himself killed." Bea answered and looked off screen for a moment.

"You're docking at Omega now, aren't you." Kaidan's frowned turned to a bemused smile. "You wouldn't be telling me this unless you were already too far away for me to tell you to turn around."

"You know me too well, darling." she replied sweetly. "I'll contact you when I'm done here."

"You better." he smirked. "I love you."

"I love you too." she deactivated the comm and spun her chair around to get ready for docking.

The ship she was on, The Raven, was a small asari frigate that looked slightly beat on was actually surprisingly fast and sturdy compared to her, newer, larger counterparts. If the pirates of the Terminus systems wished to try and take her they were quickly brought to task.

"Will you be wearing your usual armor?" Hemmins, the ship's captain, asked as she made her way to her cabin. He had served with her for over a year and was getting to know her strategies as best as he could.

"No, I don't wish to be recognized," she replied and stopped in front of her cabin. "I won't be gone longer than a day."

"Aye ma'am, Good hunting." he saluted her and made his way back to the bridge.

"Thanks Captain." she replied and stepped into her room.

If there was one thing the denizens of Omega understood: If someone wore armor that was more than what you made in four years you leave them alone. Her armor was a part of that rule especially with helmet. She knew better than to show her face in the back water hive. Instead she wore menacing black armor whose plating was trimmed in electric red. In this armor she was a mercenary, bounty hunter but she left the aggression barely checked. If anyone stared at her too much they would barely see the break in her role.

Hemmins knew to have the ship docked close to Afterlife, a club on Omega where most of her intel came from. She left them with vague instructions and made her way from the dock and through the crowd. The bouncers at the door let her pass and she studied the thrumming, smoky room for any clue that would take her to her target. On the left side of the room, near the back, was a batarian, standing as if on guard in front of a private room. She headed over to the batarian.

"Heard you're hiring," she replied curtly.

The batarian studied her for a moment and nodded. "Hm. Go inside." he gestured to the descending stairs that led into the private room.

She walked down and the doors opened to show her the darkened room with a batarian, in Blue Sun armor, in front of a console. He grinned at her as she came towards him.

"Aren't you sweet?" he replied. "Sorry honey the stripper auditions are in the next room.

She glared at him through the darkened view of her visor. "Cute." she unholstered her pistol and studied it lazily. "Mine's bigger, tough guy."

He flicked his gaze up and down her, studying her gear and weapons. "The fee is 500 credits once the job is done. You are responsible for for purchasing your own armor and weapon, not that you need to. No this does not make you an Eclipse, Blue Sun or Blood Pack. You are a freelancer. Period."

"Fine. Where do I need to go?" she asked curtly.

"Head outside to the transportation depot near the club. One of our boys will take you there."

"Fine." she replied and headed out of the private room.

The patrons of the Afterlife gave her a wide berth as she stalked through the club and into the long entrance way. Walking towards her, flanked by two humans with Cerberus insignias sewn onto their clothing was Commander Shepard. She didn't know whether to call out to greet him or ignore him all together. The Cerberus agents with him eyed her, determining whether the strange woman in black armor was a threat. She slipped passed the trio smoothly, neither giving way nor taking a direct approach.

Omega was in its constant state of bustle when she exited onto the nightclub's front steps. Quickly she jogged down the steps and turned passed the line of would-be club goers towards the depot where another batarian in Blue Sun armor waited.

"I'm on the mission." she replied tersely.

"I hope you're ready. Archangel's been annihilating you freelancers."

"Lets go."

"Get in." the driver thumped the car he was leaning against.

As they made their way through the winding spires and low buildings of Omega Bea took the time to think of contingency plans and exit strategies to get Garrus out alive. She probed the driver for information about what they were up against and what kind of equipment was involved. He answered quickly with few words but their meaning was clear: We expect you to not survive for very long.

The car landed in a tiny square with one end blocked off by a barricade. A Blue Sun merc was waiting for them.

"Finally, they send someone who looks like they can actually fight," he replied as she climbed out of the car. "Did they tell you what you're up against?"

"The recruiter was a little vague."

"They wouldn't get many hires if they knew the truth. Archangel's holed up in a building at the end of the boulevard over there. He's got a superior position and the only way over is an exposed bridge. It's a killing ground. But he's getting tired, making mistakes. We'll have him soon enough."

"You have a plan?"

"A small team is waiting to infiltrate his hideout. We just need to draw his fire so that we can have them move in."

Realization dawned on her. "That's where the freelancers come in."

"Exactly, you'll be on a distraction team. He directly over the bridge to keep him busy while the infiltration team sneaks up behind him."

"So we'll be cannon fodder. Suicide."

"Yes, but you look like you can handle it. Head up the boulevard and get to the third barricade. Talk to Sergeant Cathka. He'll tell you when to head in."

"Right." she replied with a nod and walked away from him. The only way through the boulevard was a building off to the left.

The first room held the yellow and black uniformed, Eclipse mercs. The Eclipse loved their tech and more than likely there would be mechs waiting to be used. It was easy to turn mechs on their owners and that would be an asset. She dawdled through the room as one salarian explained some of their plan to the rest of the mercs. They paid no attention to her. She was a freelancer and the batarian that greeted did say that freelancers were not living long.

In the adjacent room sat the deactivated mechs and she quickly hacked into their systems to turn them. They would attack whoever activated them or attacked them. Her helmet hid her grin and she darted across the main drag where peopled were getting shot and then back over again when she saw the gunship. A trio of mercs were standing in front of it, waiting for their turn.

"Where's Sergeant Cathka?" she asked gruffly and the merc closest to her jerked his thumb back to indicate the sparks of heated metal behind the gunship.

She brushed passed them and ducked under a wing to see a batarian in Blue sun armor. He straightened as came over and tapped his visor twice to lighten the tint. He studied her loadout.

"You must be the one Salkie mentioned."

"You waiting for me?" she asked.

"The infiltration team is about to give the signal. Archangel won't know what hit him." he replied smugly as he put down the portable welder he was using on the gunship. He replaced the welder with a cigarette and lit it. "Got any questions? This may be your last chance."

"What's the gunship for? Just in case the infiltration team fails?" she nodded her head over to the ship on question.

"Tarak flies it. Archangel beat her up but I'll have her up and running in no time."

The console behind him beeped. "Target in sight. Infiltration team is ready."

Cathka leaned closer and pressed the mic's button. "Check. Bravo team – go, go, go!"

On the other side of the gunship she heard the thudding of booted feet and gunfire as the other freelancers jumped the last barricade on to the bridge. Cathka looked over at her with a grin.

"Archangel's got quite a surprise coming for him." he put down his cigarette and turned away. "But that means no more waiting for me. I've got bigger problems."

He tapped his visor to darken the tint and Bea noticed that he forgot the welder on the station. The gunship needed to be neutralized or else she had Garrus were going to be slaughtered if she used the heavy weapon on her back for something else and there were only two shots in it. Quickly she picked up the welder and aimed it at the thin area of his armor. The electricity coursed through his body and his vocal chords let out a drawn out yell. It was easy to slip out of the makeshift hangar without being seen.

She jumped the final barricade and unholstered her pistol and fired two rounds into the freelancer in front of her. He dropped to the ground as she aimed at another and fired a round into the back of his helmet. Their bodies were easy to move around and she slid behind a column to take down the members of the infiltration team and freelancers that were on the ground floor. A member of the infiltration team stood to see where his distractions were and caught a shot in the head. What she didn't see was the last freelancer hiding behind a bookshelf until he made a dash for the safety of the stairs.

"Fuck." she hissed and leaped over the half wall to take aim at him.

"She's with Archangel!" someone shouted and a shot went off.

The tiny pellet grazed her shielding as she sped after the merc. The freelancer turned to take cover and she shot him on the shoulder and as he spun from the force she hit him in the upper back and the inside of his thigh. He crashed to the floor alerting the last member of the infiltration. Like the other member she killed his forehead caught a bullet and he slumped against the locked door.

She came over to the door and slammed her fist against it. "Garrus! Let me in!" she shouted.

The holo-lock turned from red to green and it slid open. Bea looked over the side of the landings railing to see if she had been followed and stepped into the room when she saw it was clear. The turian in the blue and black armor across the room for her signaled her to hold whatever she was about to do or say to him. He took aim at some one on the bridge and she heard the harsh escaping of air as the merc died.

She grinned at him and holstered her weapon. "What the hell did you do, Garrus? Seduce their wives? Steal their girlfriends?"

"Something like that."

It was a light-hearted tease that usually worked in tense environments and hopefully it would work here. The turian climbed down from his make shift platform and took off his helmet. From where he was sitting he was protected from shots and he took advantage of it.

"Heard you were in a spot of trouble." she said. "Thought you might need some help. How did you get every major mercenary organization mad at you. I can't even do that."

"I really had to work hard at it. They must really hate me if they're working together." he replied with a hint of smirk.

"At least you picked a good sniper's nest." she came closer. "I overheard the Eclipse leader explaining the plan if the infiltration and freelancers failed. They'll be next."

"Jaroth."

"They have mechs but I managed to hack their IFF protocols. As long as we are up here they'll go after the mercs. I have no idea what the other two will do but they'll try and get in a back way or through the windows."

"I suggest we hold this position, wait for a crack in their defenses and take our chances." he replied. "It's not a perfect plan, but its a plan."

It was a plan that would work if they had more people and they didn't.

"Hemmins." she called over the comm.

"Ma'am?"

"My friend and I are in a bit of a situation. I need to be ready for a drop in pick up on my coordinates. A lot of hostiles including a gunship."

"Aye ma'am. Ready and waiting."

"Hopefully the Blue Suns' gunship won't be completely repaired by that time or we are dead." she smirked pulling off her repeating sniper rifle from her back. "Now lets spill some merc blood."

"I like the way you think." he replied with the turian equivalent of a smirk and took his position. "Looks like they figured out their infiltration team failed."

Bea looked through the scope of her sniper rifle at the Loki mechs coming towards them. She aimed her sights on the one closest to them and fired. It's head exploded on impact.

"The Lokis weren't affected by the hack, damnit." she hissed and fired again.

"Don't worry they're the easy part."Garrus reassured her as he brought down a mech.

They traded sniping for a while with Bea pulling off more shots with her faster repeater than his strong single shot. Kaidan had tried to teach her patience with snipers but found that his wife didn't like wasting time reloading and could get more kills with a faster rifle. There were a few times when Bea had to slide away to find more thermal clips.

"You're kicking ass, Spectre. They barely touched us."

"Lets hope it stays that way."

"You're going to have to go down and seal the shutters." Garrus said as the heavy mech was lowered. "The door leading to the basement is under the stairs."

"If I leave it'll be the end of you and that's not happening."she growled.

I'll be alright just give me your sniper rifle." he replied.

For a moment she almost argued against it but then her shoulders relaxed slightly and she tossed him her rifle. She turned and started for the door but stopped short and turned back to him.

"I'll close as many shutters as I can before they get close enough but if you feel overwhelmed tell me so I can call my crew. I mean it."

"Of course... Spectre." he replied and took his place overlooking the bridge.

Bea ran as quickly as she could in armor down the stairs and to the door. She had to slow down to catch her breath on the landing overlooking the first shutter. She grunted at the short distance and her fatigued body. The armor was great for protection but a bitch when it came to speed. From the far end of the corridor leading to the shutter she spied movement and ripped her assault rifle from its holster next to where her sniper rifle had been.

She fired a concussive shot and sprinted for the door. The speck fell back a few paces and as she neared the shutter she saw that it was a vorcha. Her fist smacked against the shutter's release and she crouched to reduce her size. Assault rifle ammo whizzed passed her and she returned fire aiming for the beings head. Vorcha had great regeneration speed and the only way to put them down was a head shot.

The hub in her helmet counted down the end of the closure sequence and she prayed that it was short enough to let her step away and head to the next shutter. Two more vorcha were heading her way when the shutter slammed shut and she immediately spun around and heading to the shutter signal to her left.

"Good job, Spectre!" Garrus called over her comm. "Just two more shutters and you're done."

Most of the Blood Pack were still running for the shutters as she slapped the release controls and fired a few rounds from her assault rifle into their groups. At the moment she wished for a biotic who could clear them out without expending her thermal clips.

"Get up here, Spectre!" Garrus shouted. "They're coming in through the back!"

"On my way!" she hissed and ran for as long as she could up the numerous stairs and hurdles to reach the ground floor.

Her chest was heaving as she climbed the last bit of stairs to the basement door. The sounds of assault rifles and a sniper rifle boomed through the metal door and she took a deep breath to steady herself. If she was getting up close and personal a shot gun would be ideal. It didn't hold a lot of ammo but the spread of pellets could incapacitate a lot of them before they reached Garrus.

She slipped around the back of the stairs and fired as the group of vorcha and a Krogan who looked way to familiar. The vorcha fell but quickly got back up and the the Krogan headed up the stairs. She ducked behind a couch before the vorcha could fire and her and switched the ammo mod to a flammable shot the would stop the vorchas' natural ability to regenerate.

"Garm's got me pinned!" Garrus shouted through her comm. "I need you up here!"

"Uno momento." she sang and pulled off a couple of shots before ducking down again.

"I'll kill you Archangel!" a krogan's voice yelled and then he roared.

"Fuck." she hissed in annoyance as the vorcha fired into the couch she was hiding behind.

She roared and stood, emptying her what was left of her thermals capacity into the few vorcha that was left. They skin burned as the pellets made contact and burst into flames. She let them burn as she raced up the stairs popping thermal clips as she went. The Krogan was charging at Garrus over and over not giving him a chance to gain a footing and fire. She flanked to his left and then slammed into him, causing him to lose balance and bumping against the railing. She brought up her shot gun and fired at close range, watching her ammo burn into his armor. Garrus popped a couple shots into the Krogan's massive head and Bea slammed into him again. He tipped over the side and with a shout he fell and landed on the hard floor beneath them.

Bea turned to Garrus. "You okay?

The turian nodded. "Garm was one mean son-of-a-bitch."

"That takes care of the Blood Pack so that only leaves the Blue Suns." she replied and palmed her comm. "Hemmins come and get us for pick up."

"Aye, ma'am."

A spot of light blasted through the openings were they had sniped the Eclipsed and as Bea turned to see what it was she ducked behind an end table. Garrus was not as fast as she was and when he turned to see the gunship it fired at him.

"Archangel!" a batarian's voice shouted over the ship's loudspeaker. "You think you can screw with the Blue Suns?"

Garrus crawled over to the closest spot of cover. He slowly looked over the cover as the gunship lowered to aim its grenade launcher.

"That must be Tarak!" Bea shouted as the grenade fired into the room. She reached behind her with her right hand and switched her shot gun with the wicked looking heavy weapon held to the middle of her back. It matched her armor and the singularity it unleashed could take down a gunship. She had done that before.

"This ends now!"

"Stay down!" she shouted and stood as the smoke cleared. The weapon took a few minutes to warm up and the ship was already gone by the time she fired it. "Fuck this shit!"

She followed the sound of the ship's engine to the window on the end of the floor and squeezed the trigger. The singularity took exactly five seconds to burst from her weapon and it hit the ship dead center. The black and gold energy enveloped the ship and as it contracted the hull and wings compressed into each other. There was a moment of silence and she ducked back down as a wave of energy crashed through the room.

With the loud boom of the rapid expansion of energy from the ship's destruction they didn't hear the thudding of booted feet coming through the ground floor until Bea hear the shouting of a voice she had heard on over two years. She slipped over to Garrus and nudged him.

"Don't let them see me." she hissed and jumped over the couch. "Go!"

She didn't know if the turian would do as she asked and hid behind one of the bunks on the inside wall.

"Garrus!" Shepard's voice sounded relieved and happy at the unexpected reunion.

"You look good Shepard, for being dead." Garrus replied. "I've had a rough day, lets get out of here."

"Alright." Shepard didn't sound convinced but the hiss and beep of a closing door signaled that they had left.

Bea let out whatever breath she had been holding and slumped against the wall. Saving Garrus had nearly cost her but knowing that he was with Shepard gave her hope. If Shepard had Garrus around then maybe he wouldn't be blind-sided by Cerberus propaganda.

"ETA three minutes ma'am." The Raven's engineer, Davids, replied over her comm.

"Roger that, Davids." she replied and let her body sag against the wall to let the adrenaline leave her system.