Hello everyone!

I had some fears that this wouldn't be posted on time, but here is. Just to warn you that the update will be a bit sporadic. The whole thing isn't outline yet so, you may have to wait a while again. But I did want this up to set your minds at ease. Also, I don't want it to clash with Legacy of One.

Just so everyone knows, this is the Sequel to When it Rains in Omega- you'll need to read that first or else this story won't make sense to you. It's also still general, so you can read it as a non-romance fic. However, you can also read this as a pre-romance (and it is intended as a pre-romance, this time I am sure). This also a more mature story- and definitely won't have the same hearts and stars like the other story. Although, Millie and her humor makes things better.

Warning: Cussing, violence, blood, mentions of sexual activity, betrayal, no clear update schedule

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, the picture for this story, and the characters from the Mass Effect Universe (except for the occasional OC). No profit is being made from this fanfiction.

Many thanks to Elantil for beta-ing and encouraging me in all my writing endeavors.

Enjoy!

Prelude: Light the Lamps

An important guest was coming to Eden Blue today. But no one knew that yet.

Nalah Butler woke up with a start, thirty minutes before her alarm would go off. Rubbing her face with her hands, she began her day as she usual—poking her husband awake, taking her shower, then made breakfast for her family. Her son bounded down the stairs, rushing to put on his jacket. Her husband followed behind in a more sedate pace, hair combed twice but still sticking out in several places—armor half unlocked as he took a sip of his lukewarm coffee.

"Should I bother to ask what time you came in last night," She poured him a warmer cup when he finished his first one. He chewed on some bread, staring somewhere far away. "Or if you slept well?"

Fredric Butler looked at back her with hazy eyes—opening his mouth to reply, he turned to his son as Garret poured himself a cup of milk and, instead of speaking, he shook his head.

Nalah sighed. "You better go then. They're waiting for you."

Butler kissed his wife on the brow and hugged his son tightly before he left, fully armed and a messenger bag slung on his shoulder. Nalah cleared away the leftovers and the dirty dishes before the home tutor arrived for her son, a bright asari that Garret led upstairs with a smile.

When her workers came in, tying their aprons on and wiping the counters, she flipped the switch to signal that her café was now open and ready to take orders, even though she knew business would be slow again today, as it had been for two weeks now. She turned up the jazz music playing through the speakers and turned back to her counter.

Nalah Butler was tempted to close Eden Blue early—a handful of regulars trickled in but she could always wait out those few to finish, close for a couple of hours, and then reopen at around lunchtime when they came back.

When the place became empty as she predicted, she sent her workers to the kitchen, turning up the music even louder, she drew the red curtains close on the west side windows and sighed. A low saxophone made it's intro, melting the café into a dream.

Monteague, her husband's best friend, loved this song.

The bell on her door rang, Nalah had a hand over her sidearm until she noted it was woman with a duffel bag over her shoulder and dark hair with red highlights styled with a pixie cut.

"Welcome." Nalah smiled as she sped back behind the counter, the customer took her seat on one of the stools near the register. She blushed as the young woman smiled back, wide and full of straight white teeth behind pink lips. She was probably the prettiest thing Nalah had seen since Omega returned to becoming a complete warzone. The stranger's small face glowed with that unabashed smile. She had a pair of almond shaped blue-silver eyes that were framed by thick dark lashes and a small but sharp nose. Her armor was light, dark grey and streaks of red the shade of blood, framing a slender and lithe body. Two heavy pistols lay sleeping against her back, snug inside a pair of holsters.

"Something wrong?" The woman asked as she was removing her gloves. Her voice was sultry and deep. It caused Nalah's heart to race before she laughed.

"I'm sorry. I just—I was surprised for a moment there! Are you—sightseeing?" The younger woman blinked at her and Nalah laughed again. "That might not be the right word but you look—"

"Shiny and new?" She supplied, the corner of her lip lifted up in perfect symmetry with the playful sparkle of her eyes.

"Yes, precisely! Oh—how rude. I haven't gotten your order."

She shook her head, her smile still in place. "Of course. Just brewed coffee—black."

"Right away." She put the saucer and the mug down before pouring the coffee. The younger woman smiled as she said her thanks, took a sip and closed her eyes. "What brings a tourist like you to this part of the galaxy?"

"Ah, I'm with a friend. We're on a little vacation, so to speak." She smiled down as she swirled the contents of her drink. The steam wafted into the air and then dispersed—she sighed, enjoying the smell as well as the taste. "Then I thought—I may as well visit a few good friends. I haven't talked to any of them for over a year now. I felt a little guilty."

"Oh. This is awful timing though." Nalah frowned, pouring another cup—she waved her hand as the girl looked at her curiously. "On the house, no extra charge."

"Thanks." She chuckled. "I heard a few things on my way here but I didn't want to turn back. Maybe you can fill me in on more details, ma'am?"

Nalah put the pot down and leaned against the countertop. She held back the sigh that nearly escaped her. "It's been this way for nearly a year now—eight months to be more precise— I'm afraid. Right when we were on the verge of some true peace. You heard of Archangel, right?"

A nod. "Yeah."

"Well, about five years ago they were a group of 12 and now they're seven times that size and still growing. After teaming up with the Talons—you've heard of them?" Another nod. "Good. Well, they've been a driving force for change in Omega—they've conquered Blood Pack and Eclipse territory already and govern almost 40% of the turf here."

"I doubt the queen liked that." She took a sip when Nalah shook her head.

"Not at all. Fights were kept down but the tension was thick in the air. People were divided between the Convocation—yeah I know, the name is a bit of a laugh amongst the humans but it suited the Archangel and Talon alliance—and Aria's people. A little less than a year ago, Aria was finally going to co-operate and there was going to be some real change but—" Nalah bit her lip, almost drawing blood. Everything had changed then, exploded in their faces like smoke after a magic trick. Now, her husband had this dead look in his eyes—barely any appetite or sleep, maybe not even dreams. But who could blame him?

"What happened?" Her customer whispered.

"Archangel was betrayed by one of the original twelve—Lantar Sidonis. He'd been making deals with Blue Suns and then chose that moment, that fateful day when everything was going right for once—"

"So, T'Loak pounced on it?"

"Everyone in Omega, even the ordinary residents, know that only the strong survive here. Aria had all the eyes of Omega on her—the deal was supposed to go on live broadcast and there wasn't a single household that wasn't either watching the exchange or present at location. She turned around—made the Convocation look weak and then—" Nalah held back the sob. "My husband and I lost so many good friends that day." She let a single tear fall before she shook her head, one hand on her mouth. "I'm sorry. It's been—very hard since then."

The woman reached out, her hand was big and had such slender fingers. Nalah noted how thick and rough the calluses were on the surface of her skin before she felt the warmth underneath them. "Oh, Nalah—I'm so sorry."

Nalah froze. "How—How did you know my—" She returned the stranger's gentle touch with a vice grip, pulling herself up and closer to the woman. She stared into her eyes before her face wrinkled up and the tears fell. "Millie."

Shepard stood as Nalah went around the bar and gave her a hug, sobbing on the girl's shoulder. Millie's chuckle rumbled her frame as she returned the hug. "Hi, Nalah."

"God, you came back." Nalah wiped away the tears as she pulled away—studying Millie Shepard's face with new interest. "You've become so beautiful and—so mature."

The young woman sighed, cracking a smile. "Really? I was kind of getting tired of acting the part. Fuck," She stuck her tongue out and pushed the empty coffee cup with the flick of her finger. "Black coffee tastes like the rough side of an elcor's ass—not that I'd know what that really tasted like, but you get what I mean."

"Oh, Millie." Nalah laughed and cried all at once as she hugged her again. "You're such a lovable idiot. Where have you been? Why haven't you been mailing us? The boss—" She snapped up and pulled away again. "Oh god, the boss would want to see you! He's been acting like a lovesick girl since you stopped mailing so regularly and then with everything that's happened—"

Shepard put her hand up. "Now, isn't the time to meet Garrus but I will. Of course, I will." Resting her hands on Nalah's shoulder, she brought their faces closer. "But right now, I've only got bits and pieces of what's happening—tell me everything you know."

Five years was a damn long time. The galaxy was changing, humans were racing up the galactic ladder— they were everywhere now—Ilium, C-Sec, freaking Thessia. There were two human Spectres a Williams and a Leng or something. At the moment, Udina hadn't died yet so he was Councillor, but Shepard held on to her mother's pendant and asked whatever powers existed in the galaxy to just smite him.

Five years. Five names.

Krul. Monteague. Ripper. Vortash. Mierin.

Shepard smoked five cigarettes for each one of them. She'd been clean for six months but, damn she really needed it now—she had Nalah to thank for asking her workers if they had some they could spare. She leaned against the window of Eden Blue, the red curtain still drawn behind her. She could hear gunfire coming from the west side, not far from where she stood. A mix of stale air and sulfur had blended into the wind while she wasn't in Omega.

Frankly, she preferred the stench of vorcha shit. She hid the smell of change with the smell of menthol and smoke.

This was supposed to be a vacation. Jesus.

"Fuck, kid. I thought you were off that stuff." Jack, her instructor and friend, walked up beside her, a bag of groceries hanging against her grip and a Carnifex in the other hand. Her ponytail swishing from side to side even as her Mohawk stood perfectly still.

Jack wasn't as properly clothed as a biotic instructor should be—what with only a white top that covered her breasts but not the map of tattoos that covered every inch of her skin. She had a studded leather jacket on and a pair of baggy cargos but she was far from respectable. Then again, it had been worse years back when all that was covering her tits were her tattoos.

The important thing to know, however, was that Shepard loved her bitchy, biotic instructor.

Trailing behind Jack was her pet varren, Eezo and Shepard's Kendra, Count—more fur and less scales with three tails— who bounded up to her side, nuzzling his nose on her knee.

"Remember how Omega fell off the radar at the beginning of the year, G-standard?" She crushed the dying light of the final cigarette under her boot. She smiled down at Count and gave him a quick pet and he yipped—his fox face lifted, he moved behind her and weaved himself between and around her legs.

"Yeah. Council couldn't even get a proper story out of the locals because they were being such pussies. Then, before they could send our kind in, they decided to fall back until the air got better."

Shepard nodded. "Well, there was an uprising—a power vacuum, of sorts, when the Convocation—yeah, I know, the name makes me want to shoot myself too— and Aria were supposed to make nice." She closed her eyes. "Friends, people I knew, died."

"Fuck."

"Gets better." She threw Jack her last cigarette and her lighter. "They were betrayed by another friend. Lantar Sidonis. Gave them up to Aria T'Loak during the most crucial moment and they got trampled on. Until a couple of months ago, it was Martial Law—as much as it could be in a place without law, anyway."

Jack threw her the grocery bag before she lit a cigarette, hand over the fire as the wind got stronger, as did the sound of distant gunfire.

The lighter shut with a click and glinted against the street lights when Jack threw it back and Shepard caught it just as easy. "You know, the Alliance is probably gonna be looking for us now—going AWOL and all. We can't stay here for long."

Shepard rolled her eyes, leaning against the café and crossing her arms. Count sat obediently beside her. "It's not like they trust us to ever report for leave. They ought to know better."

Jack took one long drag and blew the smoke between them. Eezo moved in front of her and nudged Count with his nose before he sat too. "Which is why we don't have any hounds on our asses now, kiddo. But who knows how long they're gonna be patient."

"I know we only booked a room for a couple of days but—fuck, Jack, I can't just leave."

Jack finished the last of her cigarette. Smoke lifted and curled from the lips of her crooked smile "Well, we did raise hell for those four or five months, didn't we? What's another month, right?"

Shepard laughed. If her hands were free, she would have hugged Jack (whether or not her instructor would have hit her for it—the pain was worth it). "Let's drop this off and get some rest." She lifted the bag up to her wrist and led the way. "We have a lot of doorbells to ring."