Aria T'Loak wasn't happy.
She had just been recrowned as Queen of Omega, yet here she was, sitting on a less-than-comfy couch (that wasn't hers) in a less-than-interesting club (that wasn't hers) in the most stuck-up region of the galaxy (and therefore obviously wasn't hers).
Her daily entertainment - the C-Sec drones - had already come and gone, courtesy of Tevos (again). Shepard hadn't come for one of those chats since they'd taken back Omega. She still couldn't tell what the Commander got out of their conversations. Was Shepard lonely, needing someone to talk to? Was he making a pass? Was he spying?
It might be that he was actually interested in a simple friendship, but Aria had been around long enough to know that such things were...unlikely. Though, when it came to Shepard, everything about him was unlikely.
Her best option when it came to the human was to be as mysterious as possible, but if she was honest with herself (she never was), talking to Shepard would be far more interesting than anything in Purgatory right now.
A lazy look around the venue told her that no-one was worth her time. Not even one. Not that anyone was brave enough to come to her, mind you. Her perusal was just to see if it was worth moving from her position. It wasn't.
But then something caught her eye.
A krogan had entered.
Aria had a wealth of experience regarding the big lizards. Time, money, pain, pleasure, warfare – all of these she knew from the krogan almost as well as she knew them from the asari.
She could, therefore, tell a lot about a krogan from first glance. You had to look beyond the hulking mass of terror that most people saw to see what a krogan was really made of. And this one seemed interesting.
He (of course it was a he, even in her long life Aria had barely ever seen a female krogan) was old. But unlike Patriarch, he was self-assured. He was the alpha male, absolutely in charge. But he also seemed wise. Battle hardened, but not itching for a fight. Absolutely proud, but also softer at the edges than most of his species.
As he began walking up the stairs, she noticed that he wasn't alone. There were other krogan behind him – not directly, but just close enough to make sure he wasn't on his own should something happen. Looking closer, he seemed to be a Battlemaster. The kind of krogan that could single handedly tear his enemy apart, no matter the numbers. But he didn't look like a gang leader. There was something almost refined about him. Almost, because she had never, ever met a refined krogan, other than that one that worked for...Hax? The one on Illi-
Aria was ripped from her stray thoughts when he looked straight at her.
She could only see red.
Red eyes, red plates, red armour, red explosions, red blood. Red, red, red.
How hadn't she noticed? She had to look away – be as nonchalant and apathetic as possible.
…
Too late. He was striding towards her in a way that screamed found you ha ha ha. Was he smirking?
Memories that made her feel old began creeping in from the deepest corners of her mind, memories she thought she had long ago let go of. Fighting their way through a cargo hold; planning an attack on a military base; relaxing together after another successful mission...all unwanted memories of a life that was no longer hers.
But her subconscious mind was telling her that no, these were still her memories, still her life, and she could never, ever escape it. Worse, she felt powerless to stop the flood.
Thankfully, back in the real world, Bray had the balls to stop him. "What is your business with Aria?"
The krogan just stared at him, but Bray stared right back. He had balls. She was fleetingly glad she had made a good choice and would up his pay later.
Eventually, the krogan answed the question. "I am Urdnot Wrex, the head of Clan Urdnot and leader of the krogan." She knew all that, but hearing those words from the mouth of someone she had long thought dead somehow made it real. Wrex, the one she had sparred with, and battled against, and befriended and perhaps sort of even loved was still alive. And he'd joined Shepard. And Shepard had saved his species from extinction. And he was now the leader of a united Krogan, because of course he was.
Next time she saw Shepard, she was going to be even less talkative than usual.
Well, no use hiding now. She was Aria T'Loak! She could and would fight this situation head on!
"Let him through." She commanded.
Bray looked back at her quizzically, but stepped aside, allowing Wrex to amble to the couch. He didn't sit down, instead taking in the sight of her, confirming that she was who he thought she was, and she was right there, in front of him, hundreds of years since they last met.
Aria didn't look at him. If she spared him even a glance, Aria feared that her centuries of hard work in creating and becoming the Aria T'Loak would all come crashing down. Aleena was meant to be long, long gone, and in a place like this she could not afford to be anything other than the Queen of Omega, Shepard's love and friendship bonanza be damned.
"Meet me at docking bay 16 in four hours. No bodyguards."
To his credit, Wrex tried to conceal his amusement.
"Fine."
He wandered off. She had time to collect herself.
"I thought you said no bodyguards."
Aria turned to face him from her chair. Yes, she had her own personal chair in a docking bay. Normally, it served to put her in control of the situation, much as she used her couches. Of course, Wrex wouldn't have cared about such things centuries ago, let alone now, but it gave Aria a sense of calm, at least enough to look him in the eye for the first time in lifetimes.
Were they always that red?
Not taking her eyes off Wrex, Aria told her two guards to leave. One of them began to protest, but she waved it off. "I'll be fine on my own." A long silence stretched on after they left, one waiting for the other to make the first move.
Minutes, hours, days, weeks – or at least what felt like them – stretched by.
Then Wrex snorted.
"What's so funny?" Aria demanded.
Wrex didn't answer at first, content with staring at her with a twinkle in his eye. But then he spoke.
"My name is Urdnot Wrex, and I am the leader of Clan Urdnot and of the krogan people. So, who are you?"
Okay, she wasn't expecting that one. Apparently age and politics had turned Wrex into a crafty type. Aria opened her mouth to answer, but then closed it again with a sudden realisation. Who, exactly, was she?
Aria wasn't sure she really knew the answer to that question. She wasn't Aleena. Aleena was born a mercenary and died a mercenary. She didn't even have a last name.
Aria T'Loak did have a last name, but it wasn't the one she was born with. Having a fake identity was part of living on Omega. Having a full name allowed her to gain a reputation. Having a reputation like hers meant that you only needed to say 'Aria' and everyone would know who you meant.
So was she just Aria?
"Pyjak got your tongue, your, uh, majesty?"
She hadn't actually been listening, so she just stayed silent, waiting for Wrex to say something she could work with.
"C'mon, even the Rachni can answer that one, and they've been extinct for most of our lives." Still not enough.
"At least their queen talked."
"Shut it, Wrex." There it was!
"Oh, she speaks!"
Aria turned her head elsewhere, feigning disinterest. "I spoke earlier."
"You call that speaking?"
"Whatever. I have no need to talk with you." Dimly, she recalled a human saying about big lies being easier to swallow than small ones.
"Wow, you're worse at lying than you used to be." It was a stupid saying anyway. Shepard probably told her it.
"Do I know you?"
Wrex sighed, something she didn't even know krogan could do. Probably picked it up from Shepard. "C'mon Aria. Aleena. I'm not gonna try and kill you here. A lot's changed since...back then."
"...Aleena's a nice name. What's that got to do with me?"
Wrex narrowed his eyes and starting walking back and forth. "Well, once upon a time, I was a mercenary. Pretty good at it too, even compared to other krogan. After a while, I met this asari mercenary called Aleena who was almost as good as me, and we became friends. Then I got a contract to kill her, and we fought a battle to the death, though it turned out that neither of us could kill the other, and she disappeared. Poof. Gone without a trace."
"That's too bad."
"She left a message for me though." Did she? Aria couldn't remember what she'd said.
"That's nice."
"Want to know it was?"
"No. You can leave now, maybe you'll have better luck time."
Wrex chuckled again.
"What?"
"That's what your message was back then too. Better luck next tiiime! Far as I can see, that next time is right now, Aleena." Wrex bared his teeth in a grin for good measure.
Well, being Aria hadn't worked either. Last choice: honesty.
"...it's been a long time, Wrex."
"Sure has. I've been pretty busy since you died. Killed a lot of people. Krogan too."
"I hear you."
"Then I met this punk called Shepard and I thought it would be better to lead the krogan, restore the population and stop fighting stupid battles without any purpose."
"Well aren't you just a big softie. Hope you're not trying to convince me to do the same with my people."
"I know what Omega is like," Wrex chortled.
"Good."
"And in case you were wondering, I claimed your bounty when you died. I'm not here to collect it."
"Even better. For what it's worth, your people have always been more honourable than mine."
Wrex let out another grin.
"That's true. I've always been more honourable than you. Just as well, too, otherwise you would've been space dust a long, long time ago."
Aria snorted. "If you say so."
Silence came back between them, but now that her identity was out in the open, she was now curious as to why he'd bother coming at all. Although there was one thing males of all species had in common, and she knew for a fact that Wrex was no diff-
"Don't even think about it. Even if I wanted to, Eve would kill me anyway."
"I thought we asari were the mind readers."
"I know you well enough to figure out what you're thinking without those creepy powers you've got. I wouldn't come all the way here for that."
"Thanks for the compliment. Why are you here?"
"To be honest, I'm not too sure. I just felt this kind of need – not like that, don't give me that look – to...close off the loose ends in my past, I guess. Must've been something I picked up from Shepard." Wrex rubbed the back of his neck, then realised what he was doing and dropped his hand. "Like that."
"There's been about ten different things happen in this conversation that smell like Shepard. He's too powerful."
"You were always the more cynical of the two of us. Shepard's too...good to misuse that power. It's not like he forces his strength on us. We just kind of let of him do it. He's got his own weird gravitational pull. Ugh, now I sound like one of the Tali or Garrus. Or maybe Liara..."
Silence came upon them once more, but this time, it was like an old friend.
"So you travelled across the galaxy to find a former mercenary that you hadn't seen for hundreds of years because some human made you nostalgic?"
"Seems like it."
"Hmm."
"Plus, I hear there's a battle arcade on the Citadel now."
"I know."
"Top scorer?"
"Of course."
"How about we go see if this old softie can give you a run for your money. Like old times?"
"...You're on."
Wrex came out of the arena looking both amused and puzzled as he walked towards Aria, who just looked smug.
"I have no idea how you got a score that high." Wrex said. "I don't even know if Shepard could match that."
Aria turned around with a short, genuine laugh. Somehow, she doubted anything could ever stop Shepard from being the best at everything (apart from his ridiculous dancing). but she could savour this while it lasted.
Figuring she should probably get back to 'her' couch and resume being The Queen, Aria began walking off, but not without tossing Wrex a farewell over her shoulder.
"Better luck next time."