A/N - I had hoped to turn this into a prequel miniseries, but reality sunk in, so I've transformed it into a oneshot of sorts. I also, kinda decided at the last minute to make Tessa a distant relative of the notorious Hocke who ruined Kasumi's life. Don't ask why (I've no answer).
Aria T'loak paced to and fro, the glow of Afterlife's dance lights orbing against her blue skin. Her eyes were continuously scanning the datapad she was flicking through. "Massani and Santiago...age 20 and 24, 80 kills apiece..busy boys.." Ari mused aloud.
"And here you are wasting our time with a goddamn history lesson." replied the gruff voice of Zaeed Massani. Zaeed the elder of the two, was lounging in Aria's booth, his mouse-brown hair slicked back, a cigarette hanging out of the side of his mouth. "As entertaining as it's been watching your bitties bounce up and down, I could watch that downstairs. Our time is valuable - so why don't you skip the act, and get to the part where you want us to work for you."
Aria ceased her pacing, glancing up from the datapad with a minor leer. Santiago looked as frightened as a vorcha around a dentist, but Massani was completely unfazed by her glower. Aria handed the datapad off to one of her lackies, and stood fully in front of the mercenary duo. "You two are no stranger to Noveria..." she began.
"Got that right." Zaeed put in.
Aria pursed her lips. "Yes, you visit there regularly Massani, always staying with a certain MIss Hocke.." she baited. As Aria predicted, Zaeed sat at attention, removing the cig from his mouth. "A most amateurish pattern. Easily corrected, if you formed your merc group and made Noveria your base of operations. Then you could disguise your infatuation as professionalism."
"Stow your professional advice. What've you done with 'er? Where's Tessa?" Zaeed growled.
"Where she's always been. Unharmed, unbothered. For now, anyway." Aria replied, with an impatient flutter of her lashes.
"What the hell do you want?" Zaeed demanded, getting to his feet.
A curt smile crossed Aria's lips. "A female salarian has been interfering with my business affairs. Her name is Avanok, she..."
"How many credits are we talking about?" Zaeed interrupted.
"Zaeed!" hissed Vido Santiago worriedly.
Despite his partner's outburst, Zaeed hadn't severed eye-contact with Aria. "I expect a great amount after threatening my gurl." he announced unwaveringly.
"A million to split." Aria said flatly.
"Two and a quarter, I get the quarter." Zaeed argued, with a sidelong glance at Vido.
"She means that much to you.." Aria mused with a sneering smile.
Zaeed ignored her remark, although his dark blue eyes had narrowed into a leer. "Do we have a deal or not?" he pressed.
"Fine. Considering the amount of mercs Avanok has, it'll be a miracle if you escape Noveria to collect your reward anyway." Aria's hand briefly enclosed around Massani's. "Now leave before I change my mind." she dismissed turning her back on him.
Vido hurriedly stood, but Zaeed held his ground a moment longer. "What about transportation expenses?" he asked.
Aria laughed dryly, but didn't so much as turn her head. "Don't push your luck Massani." she answered crisply.
"Funny, I was about to tell you the same goddamn thing. Nobody threatens Tessa, and if it anything were to happen to her, I know the first person to come to." Zaeed told her.
"Zaeed! Enough." Vido pled.
"And I'll tell ya something else Aria, I will take your advice, we'll start a merc group. ..call ourselves the Blue Suns, in honor of your fine asari ass." Zaeed responded, gazing haughtily at her lower region.
Aria glanced over her shoulder, and the two of them engaged in a silent stare-off that lasted seconds, but felt like hours to the cowardly Vido. At long last, Aria said. "You do that."
Tessa Hocke was 22, fair-skinned with long copper-red hair that fell past her shoulders. She was a part time engineer, part time arms dealer, specializing in assault rifles and military grade grenades. She was in the midst of closing a business negotiation when Zaeed and Vido entered her neck of the trade market. It had become a bit of a Tessa Hocke tradition to end a sale, by flaunting her custom-crafted grenades. "You're a biotic right?" she asked the volus squinting up at her.
"suaaacc..Of course I am...suaacc.." he replied, between breathes.
"Then how would you like it, if I added some Lift Grenades to your order for half price?" Tessa asked.
"Life grenades? suaaaccc There's no such thing. suaaacc.." the volus replied.
"Oh no?" Tessa hummed. Without another word, her hazel eyes honed in on her vistiors at last, and pressing the indent on the grenades' side, she lobbed it straight at Vido. Immediately he was knocked off his feet with a blast of blue energy that kept him airbourne, levitating him like a weightless ragdoll.
"Damn you Tess!" Vido cursed. "Why don't you ever use your droid?! That's why you bought the thing!"
"Wouldn't be as funny if it were a goddamn bot.." Zaeed answered with a hoarse chuckle, his gaze shifting to a smiling Tessa.
"..Suaacc..How much?" the volus customer asked.
"I typically ask 4 grand for the standard 12 pack, but since you're a first-time buyer, you'll get it for half." Tessa explained.
"..Suaaacc I'll pay full price if you double the order." the volus said.
By the time the volus had completed his order, Vido staggered to the ground, among the roaring laughter of Zaeed. The minute the volus had exited, Zaeed swaggered up to Tessa, hooked her ass in his palm, and pulled her against him, hungrily embracing her mouth with his.
"Take it business is going good then?" Zaeed greeted, as an afterthought.
"Always." Tessa replied, gently pushing him away. She activated her omni-tool, locking the door to her shop. "So, who's the target this time?"
"Some salarian dame named Avanok...heard of her?" Zaeed asked, resting his weight against her counter.
"Yeah kind of. She draws attention to herself more than most salarians. Avanok has a cozy nest of mercs at her base of operations - you're going to need a helluva lot of firepower to take her down." Tessa answered, crossing her arms.
"Luckily for us, I know the perfect babe to go to..." Zaeed smirked, lighting a cigarette.
"Oh 'perfect' huh?" Tessa teased, with a coy tilt of her head.
Rolling his shoulders, Zaeed exhaled after a long drag. "Don't get to see 'er much as I'd like but she's helluva beauty.." he confirmed.
Vido's patience had expired. "Will you two stop with the foreplay? Just give us the merchandise Tess."
Both Zaeed and Tessa gave Vido the same cold stare.
28 years later
After the fallout with Vido, Zaeed had purposely fallen out of contact with Tessa. He felt it was better for her to remember him as the dashing devil-may-care merc he had been, than the decaying damaged merc he had since become. Tessa had always been the stubborn sort though.
Shortly after final preparations were being made for voyage into the Omega 4 Relay, Zaeed received a message from Cerberus mentioning how a certain Ms. Hocke wished to speak to him. Zaeed begrudgingly responded to the message, and several minutes later, he found himself standing in the comm room.
The years had been kind to Tessa, her hair was still a shining copper-red, there were few lines streaking her face, except for the crinkles around her grey eyes.
"Knew The Illusive Man couldn't be that forgiving 'bout all the shit I've done, just wouldn't have thought you'd have anything to do with it." Zaeed greeted stoically.
Tessa's mouth upturned into a smile. "Hello to you too Zaeed., Yes, I did suggest that you'd be a better asset alive than dead, you're welcome by the way." she replied.
"Don't remember asking for your help."
"I thought Vido had killed you Zaeed, he told me so himself..when I found out otherwise, well..."
"You decided to rope me into a goddamn suicide mission?" Zaeed interrupted.
Tessa rolled her eyes. "You're not going to die." she stated.
"How the fuck do you know?" Zaeed argued shortly.
"Because you already survived death once..I'm sure you can manage a second time." Tessa replied.
"The hell you doing working for Cerberus anyway?" Zaeed asked.
"...I'm afraid that's classified.." Tessa answered.
"Ah I get it - you're one of the Illusive Man's lapdogs..."
"I've only made contact with him once, and it was nowhere near his lap."
"Right, right." Zaeed tutted in disbelief. "Your hips have widened from birthing someone's brat, may as well be his."
Tessa shook her head irritably, then something caught her attention out-of-sight. "Well, I'm glad to see you're still a gentleman." she sarcastically sniped. "I have to go now. Take care of yourself Zaeed."
Before Zaeed could think of a witty retort, the connection was lost. Zaeed sighed long and hard, running the back of his fingers across his stubbled cheek. "Helluva beauty." he muttered to himself, crushed beneath a wave of nostalgia.