Preface: I wanted to write a story about Garrus' first mission as a Spectre for the Citadel Council whilst trying to keep some elements of the game included into this original story. Everything from Mass Effect is copyright Bioware and some of the characters are my own.

Chapter One

It was the soft hum of the drive core that had woken him from his sleep. His brow furrowed questionably above his closed eyes as he tried to piece together his surroundings through sound alone. He was on a ship, he was aware of that much.

But what ship? And whom did it belong to?

Before he could continue to question himself further, he rose awkwardly onto his side before propping himself up onto one elbow. His eyes slowly flickered open as he began wincing painfully into the darkness.

He was on a ship all right but the interior that enclosed him didn't seem to be that spacious at all. Turning his head slightly he was able to catch sight of the flickering orange console screens in the cockpit. Two pilot seats sat in front of them but they seemed to be unoccupied. This gave him the strongest indication that he was aboard a fighter class vessel, but could it possibly be interceptor class perhaps? He groaned softly as he rubbed the top of his head, refusing to think about the ships details any further for the time being.

None of this made any sense to him, there were only fractures of what had happened previously on Amaranthine. The crime syndicate there were much more cautious and uncooperative than they had been since Commander Shepard had dealt with them and he blamed Shepard entirely for allowing them to continue their illegal businesses rather than taking them in or convincing them to disband. But he supposed that he would never get the information he needed from Helena Blake if Shepard has chosen the alternative options in regards of what to ultimately do with them. His mentor had taught him not to jump the gun too soon and to evaluate every situation to gain advantage over his enemies. He finally concluded that he couldn't exactly hold a grudge towards the Commander's actions as in the end, the Commander had been right about everything.

The indicators on the consoles blinked their amber glare into his eyes and snapped him out of his momentary thoughts. The ship was on autopilot, which probably meant the ship was on course to some system while running on its FTL thrusters.

He swung himself around to plant his feet firmly on the ground beneath the cot. He was tender and sore; whatever happened back on Amaranthine was obviously the source of his discomfort.

"I see you've come around." Said a voice from beyond his line of vision.

It came from his right side, from what he could tell was a makeshift mess hall. It was too dim to see any real detail but he was able to make out a figure shutting down a computer console and shifting their full attention onto him from behind a small table.

"Where…"

"You're on the Cobra MKIII interceptor." The voice cut his question off quickly but not curtly enough to arouse any caution from him. The voice was undeniably female, yet she was not talking to him in Trade Standard Galactic but in turian .

He looked down instinctively at his omni-tool but it was so badly crushed by whatever impact had struck him down on the Planet, that it was hard to make out the chosen turian dialect she spoke in. It was easier to understand than any other language though and he was almost relieved to hear that she could speak in a tongue that wasn't so foreign to him. He felt almost ashamed at the fact that he wasn't very fluent in Standard Galactic and this realization made him clear his throat a little.

"That explosion knocked you right off your feet, turian." She continued with a slightly amused tone.

"If I hadn't of been there after the impact, you may not of regained consciousness at all."

Garrus said nothing. Recollections of broken memories were beginning to piece back together, but they were flooding back too fast and too soon.

Finally he spoke out, not to the figure shrouded in darkness but at himself, a despairing realization of his dawning mistakes.

"He got away…"

"Yes… but I know where he's heading out to." Her words were too cool, too reassuring and he suddenly felt threatened.

"How do you know? My missions are…"

Again, she cut him off before he had a chance to finish.

"…Top secret, whatever. I don't care about your mission. Your mission interferes with mine."

The figure rose from her seat, Garrus could make out parts of her attire that were almost as black as the darkness that surrounded her. Only the orange pulses of light from the cockpit's consoles made it possible for him to see the lithe figure moving towards him.

"We're both after the same guy," She continued before stopping just before his feet. "Our goals differ however."

She was quite tall and slender but she lacked the build of someone who had served in the military. The lack of spikes behind her head gave more than enough indication that she was not turian or even asari. She was human.

He looked up at her with a frown of annoyance.

"I'll be taking him back in a body bag" Garrus protested, "There is absolutely no way I can keep him alive after interrogation. Do you know how many times he's escaped while being placed in custody? I can't let you interfere with Citadel council business."

"If I don't take him back alive, my contract is over…" She folded her arms beneath her chest "And most likely that bounty will be placed on my head if I break the contract."

Garrus grit his teeth "That's not my problem."

"Hey, I just saved your ass out there, you didn't ask me to but I couldn't just leave you out there if you were still breathing."

Garrus let out an exasperated sigh as the stranger continued.

"I'll let you off at Omega, we'll go our own separate ways…"

"…I can't let you jeopardize the mission" It was Garrus' turn to cut her off.

There was silence for a few moments and Garrus could feel the tension in the air, it was thick enough to cut through with a knife. Finally the stranger backed away from his feet with a few steps to lean against the side of the table. During the silence, Garrus knew that he could take over the small vessel effortlessly if he wanted to. No one would miss a bounty hunter at all and the stranger knew this. Yet he felt that his honour was being compromised here, she did rescue him after all.

"How much is the contract worth?"

"About 20,000 credits." The human shrugged indifferently.

"Let me complete my mission and I'll double that amount."

She shook her head quickly, "That doesn't cover the cost of my life if I fail to bring him back alive."

Garrus had just about enough of sitting down and he rose slowly to his feet. Grunting in effort as he steadied himself against a locker beside the cot.

"I'll figure something out…"

The figure nodded once in acknowledgment then tilted her head to one side in mild curiosity.

"I'm sure you're hungry… we'll continue this conversation over dinner."

Garrus shrugged loosely and reluctantly allowed her to guide him over to the table.