A/N: I wrote this for myself but decided to publish it here in case someone likes it. Please R&R!

Disclaimer: Bioware owns all

Chapter 1

The sirens are screaming and the fires are howling,
way down in the valley tonight.
There's a man in the shadows with a gun in his eye,
and a blade shining oh so bright.
There's evil in the air and there's thunder in sky,
and A killer's on the bloodshot streets.
Oh and down in the tunnel where the deadly are rising,
Oh I swear I saw a young boy down in the gutter,
He was starting to foam in the heat.

Meat Loaf - "Bat Out Of Hell"

She was walking seemingly carefree through the streets, like she was out taking a stroll in the nice weather, but it was all a facade. She was actually tense as a bowstring and watched out for anything and anyone. She was good at gathering information on the other gangs and she usually enjoyed it, the feeling of being in control and knowing things she wasn't supposed to. But today she was far out of the Reds territory and it made her jumpy, just wanting to get back to the neighbourhood as quickly as possible but not wanting to draw attention to herself by walking too fast.

The streets were always more empty this time of day and just as she felt thankful for it she saw the living proof of the downside. At least she thought he was alive, thought she could see his chest moving. She hesitated at the corner of the alley and ran her hand through her long mane of red hair before she strode down the length of it to the body lying at the end. As she drew closer she could tell two things: he was definitely breathing and he did not belong here. How he'd ended up here she didn't know but he was wearing way too nice clothes to have anything to do in this part of town. He was bleeding from the nose and one of his eyes looked swollen but she couldn't see any other wounds or blood on him. He looked to be a few years older then herself, maybe 19 or 20 with thick black hair and a handsome face under all the blood. She shot a quick look out to the main street but saw no one. She sat down beside him and carefully touched the guy's arm.

"Hey, wake up"

He stirred and she put one arm across his chest and the other on his brow as he started to regain conciousness to hold him down and stop any excessive movements. She didn't know what had happened to him but if he'd been bounced around bad he could have a fracture in his spine. His eyes squinted and she made sure to put her face above his so he could see her without moving.

"Take it easy. Don't move, alright?"

His eyes focused on hers, a kind of amber brown under thick black eyebrows, and from the movement in them she could tell that he was already trying to get a hold of the situation.

"You look like you've been beat up. Can you feel you legs and arms? Can you move them?"

Out of the corner of her eye she could see his fingers moving and he managed a nod, despite her hand on his head. She moved back but kept one hand on his chest to keep him from getting up.

"Don't get up too fast, you've probably got a concussion"

"Yeah"

His voice was raspy and rough and he licked his lips while he moved his head to the sides to try and locate where he was. She took that opportunity to glance back towards the entrance of the alley again but it was still clear.

"Where am I?"

"Downtown Vancouver. The part of town someone like you never goes to"

She gave him a crooked smile and he managed a faint one back.

"I can see why"

She chuckled, at least he still had his wits.

"How's the head?"

"Pounding. But no nausea"

"You remember what happened?"

He nodded at first but stopped and squeezed his eyes shot. The hand that went to his head indicated the head hurt more then he was trying to let on. She realised she still had her hand on his chest and moved it so he could sit up if he wanted to.

"Was passing through when a couple of guys showed up and pushed me into the alley. Said they wanted my omni tool and my wallet and I gave it to them but they beat me up anyway"

He made a move to sit up and she helped him get back a couple of inches so he could lean against the wall.

"Don't suppose you wanna tell me why you were passing through in the first place?"

His eyes narrowed and he didn't look like he wanted to tell her anything at all and she sighed.

"Didn't think so"

She cast another glance towards the larger street and decided she rather not stay here longer then she needed to.

"Look, you wanna call someone from my 'tool or something? Cause I rather not stay here and you don't look like you can get home on your own"

"Yeah. Thanks"

She took it off and handed it to him while keeping watch on the mouth of the alley. She wasn't normally this jumpy but something in her gut said she was gonna pay for doing a good deed. He made a quick call to someone who said they'd come and pick him up and he sent the coordinates. She bit the inside of her cheek to refrain from telling him that staying in this place was like inviting trouble for dinner, and contented with holding a quiet debate inside her head. Stay or bale? She decided to stay. Maybe a stupid decision but she could run fast if it came to that, and this guy looked really vulnerable sitting there. He was holding his head in his hands and seemed to be in some pain.

"Hey, you alright?"

She realised what a stupid question it was as soon as the words were out of her mouth. The guy had just been beat up and robbed, of course he wasn't alright. He nodded though, still with his head in his hands.

"Just a headache. Thanks for helping me by the way"

Polite even when beat up.

"No problem"

Well, that remained to be seen. The silence stretched on but she didn't feel like making small talk, and considering the headache he seemed to have she was probably doing him a favour. Within 10 minutes they could hear the engine of a car approaching and when it came into view and stopped right before the alley she quickly sucked in a breath. This was no good. The car was really fancy, she was willing to bet all she owned that a car like that hadn't been seen in this part of town for a long time.

She glanced at the guy in front of her and at his nod she stood up and hauled him to his feet. He was heavier then she expected and swayed ominously, so she loped one arm around his waist and put one of his arms over her shoulder to keep him steady. Two people jumped out of the car and made their way towards them. The first one to reach them was a woman, probably the mother, and she threw her arms around him without even a glance for the girl holding him up. The man behind her seemed to have his emotions more under control and managed a smile at his son's saviour. And there was no doubt that this was the father, the resemblance was striking, from the black hair to the build and brown eyes.

He relieved her of the guy while the mother was mumbling assurances to her son non stop and the three of them started moving back towards the car in one unorganised heap. She followed more slowly but wished that they'd hurry up, but of course they didn't see the problem in riding their 500 000 credit car right in here and draw attention to them all. It took both parents to get their son into the backseat and as the mother climbed in next to him the father turned towards the one who'd helped his son and held out his hand.

"Thank you for helping Kaidan. I'm in your debt"

She took his hand after a split second hesitation but before she could answer she heard catcalling and a chorus of 'Damn!' that made her close her eyes in resignation. This was gonna be trouble.

"That's some car!"

She opened her eyes and squeezed the man's hand to get his attention that had been focused on the oncoming group.

"You should go. Really. Like, now"

He didn't need to be told twice and got into the car without another word.

"Hey Red, you know these rich guys?"

She didn't know if the nickname was due to the colour of her hair or the gang she ran with but she fervently prayed for the first one. She tried to melt away in the background as the car started backing out and turning around the corner to face the right way, but the crowd wasn't about to let them slip away that easily. Not that they were actually going to do some damage, just seeing if they could scare the fancy people who unknowingly drove into their midst, but of course the guys in the car didn't know that. She could tell what was about to happen before it did but there was no way to stop it. At least no smart way. The crowd surrounded the car and started banging on the hood, and as long as the parents and their son stayed inside the car they would be fine, but the father in the front seat had his lips pursed together in a tight line and she knew there was only a moment before he stepped out. And a 500 000 credit car was well worth beating three people to get, especially since one of them was a woman that didn't look like she'd been in a fight her entire life and a boy who was already pretty beat up.

It was not a sound decision, she knew that. And she was usually smart.

"Hey! Leave them alone"

It felt like time had slowed down and she could see in slow motion the shocked expressions on the faces of the people in the car and the incredulous look of the crowd as they all turned their attention to her.

"What did you just say?"

She recognized the leader, Danny, as he stepped towards her. He ran the Crows who usually stayed out of the Reds way, but she'd heard some crazy stuff about him. The sort of stuff that made her wish she was anywhere but here. No telling if there was any truth to them, but there was no turning back now either way.

"I told you to fucking leave them alone. You think you gonna steal a car like that and the cops won't find it? How stupid are you?"

Danny's eyes narrowed and he knew she was right, but it didn't mean he had to like it. Especially not being told by a girl who also insulted him. He made a movement with his hand and they all stepped away from the car to move towards her. Shit. She looked over at the car and they were clear but they still hadn't moved, what the fuck were they thinking? The man in the front seat was staring at her and didn't seem to know if he should drive away or try to help her. Idiot, she didn't risk her life just so they could all go down.

She was paying attention to the wrong thing and was brought back by the fist that collided with her face and made her stumble backwards, but she at least managed to stay on her feet. Instinct had her bring up her arm to ward off the next blow that were aimed at her head and she ducked below the outstretched arm to try and slip away. She heard the car door open and whirled around even as Danny was approaching again.

"No! Just go!"

She waved her arms at the man who was halfway out of the car.

"Fucking drive!"

She hoped he was getting back in because she was done paying attention to them. She stepped aside to avoid another blow and drove her fist hard into the side of her attacker and was rewarded by a grunt of pain. She knew she couldn't beat them all, hell, she didn't even think she could beat this guy, and knew she had to run. At least she was familiar enough with the neighbourhood to know where the shortcuts were and she was smaller and faster then all of the others. She jumped back and started running towards the other end of the street where there was a high fence she could climb. She knew she was good at climbing and once she was over that fence it was gonna take them some time to reach her. She jumped up and caught hold with both hands and feet and vaulted over the fence before any of the others had been able to lay hands on her. She heard the car drive away and felt a wave of relief wash over her, she hadn't done it all in vain. She started running and didn't stop until she was several blocks away and her lungs were aching.

Standing there with her hands on her thighs the pain in her chest started to abide and her attention was caught by a black wallet close to the wall. After a few more seconds of breathing she picked it up to find it was empty, but there was still and ID and a card with the address scrambled across it. She stared at the picture on the ID. You've gotta be kidding me. It was the guy from the alley. What were the odds that she'd find this? Maybe she should return it, the address was there after all. Now that she'd found it, it felt like she had to. She looked at the name. Alright Kaidan Alenko, I'll return your wallet to you. She should be able to do one good deed without it coming back to bite her in the ass.