Call me Maggie – Remastered

A Mass Effect Fanfiction

Felix Marlowe-Cain

AN: So, I'm replaying Mass Effect 1,2 & 3 while I work up the funding to get myself a copy of Andromeda. I fall in love with it all over again (especially with my favourite turian!) and decide to re-read through all my old fanfictions…. I cringe… a LOT! XD My writing style has changed (and improved) so much over the years that I'm honestly embarrassed by the state of all the old stories I have stored up on this dusty account. With that in mind, I'm pulling my favourite one out of the vault and giving her a serious renovation... so serious a renovation that it's almost a totally different story! Please feel free to let me know what you think, especially if you read and enjoyed the last one. I'd love to know how the two compare. :) Thanks muchly!

ONE

The thump of Afterlife's music rumbled comfortably through my bones as I watched tantalising dancers swing themselves around poles. Lifting a scarred hand, I put a smouldering cigarette to my lips. Lungs filled with warm smoke and a small, rare smile curled against the corner of my mouth. One man's trash is another man's treasure. Omega, home of the lawless and the damned… was my kind of haven. How long had I been here now? I'd lost count of the years. This place had infected me; it was wound deep in my chest, the stench now so recognisable it felt like home… It felt like freedom.

"Miss Maggie?"

I turned just my eyes towards the turian that had interrupted my momentary bliss. Average all round among his kind, I was sure. He was pale with lavender markings. "Who told you my name?"

The question threw him. Whatever conversation he'd planned out in his head, I wasn't following the guidelines. "Er… Grizz…?"

I cast a cursory glance towards where Aria's guard kept vigil and saw him give me a slight nod. Confirmed credits…? Fresh meat then. Looking back, I eyed the turian with a little more interest. He wasn't a lifer; the lines around his eyes betrayed how Omega wore him down in a way the natives could ignore. A slight scarring of his nostrils told a sorry tale of red sand and an addictive personality. My smile widened invitingly and I gestured towards the seat next to me in offering. Easy money.

"Thanks…" he babbled nervously as he sat. "I'm not great at stuff like this. I don't usually-"

I caught his eye, the seduction in my gaze strong enough to make him stumble over his words. "Your first time, Sweetie?" I winked at him. "Don't worry. I'll take good care of you."

He missed a breath and swallowed heavily. "Er…"

With one fluid movement, I leaned over to tap my ash into the scolded tray on the table and scooted across so that I was close enough to smell. Turian's loved the scent thing. They were almost as sensitive to pheromones as the elcor…Not that they cared to admit it. I ran a teasing touch along the edge of his fringe. "What do you want me to call you?"

He was already enthralled by the narrow curve of my waist and the prominence of my hips. One, bold hand was reaching, itching to touch, but not quite confident enough. A gentle brush of my fingers was all he needed to urge him the rest of the way and he took a greedy hold on my pale skin. He paused a moment to appreciate his prize then looked up, clearing his throat. "Sidonis…" he introduced. "I work for…" Fresh distraction interrupted him, his eyes wondering over the wild locks of hair brushing over my shoulders. Fascination. A human fetish? "I've never seen colour like that…" he murmured, almost to himself, reaching to tangle strands around his talons.

I hid my amusement behind a smooth smile and tossed back some of my shocking pink and red hair. So simple… I'd owe Grizz a drink for this one. "It's dyed, Sweetie." I touched the markings on his face pointedly. "Gives me personality, don't you think?"

"Definitely," he agreed amiably. "Very striking… Certainly memorable."

I leaned close to his neck, letting him feel my breath on his skin. "Why don't we go somewhere more private? I'll show you just how memorable I can be…"

He'd been dealt a bad hand. He'd made some bad choices. He was lost here like thousands of others who had come before him. Whatever his reasons, he had no power over his life any more… so I let him ride me at a punishing pace. I succumbed, head on the pillows, arse in the air, moaning like a wonton virgin as he gave me his best possible pounding. For a minute – and it really wasn't much more than that – he could control everything. He roared as a rush of the most delicious endorphins flooded his system… And just like that, he was mine. I'd given him something he hadn't felt in years. I heard it in the gasp of his breath and the barely contained mumble of turian curses.

He flopped down on the bed next to me, reaching as if he might want to hold me… But I was already getting up and straightening my clothes. Tutting irritably, I dropped all facades of interest and seduction now that the deed was done. "You ripped my shirt, you bastard. I'm charging you extra for that."

Sidonis sighed and rolled onto his back, his raptor-like head propped up comfortably on a mountain of cushions. "Shit… credits… right."

"You bet your scaly arse 'credits'." I balanced my hands on my hips. "Cough up."

"Yeah… look…" He pushed himself to sit up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. "About that…"

I narrowed my eyes at him, already envisioning a hundred ways to break Grizz's arms. "Don't you dare tell me you're broke!"

"No!" he shook his head wildly. "No, it's just… that money, what I have…" he scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Grizz said sometimes you spilled Blood Pack secrets for a few hundred… I was supposed to buy information on Garm from you but…" he glanced my way, admiring whatever beauty he found with a sheepish look. "I guess I got distracted by what else was on offer."

Information? He'd approached me as an informant? I rolled my eyes at myself. All the things I'd managed to read from him and I'd missed the most basic?! My lips pursed into a frown. Was I losing my touch?! My eyes flinched narrow with suspicion. "What does a guy like you want with information? You're no merc, you're certainly not with any gang…"

"I am with a gang!" he insisted. "I work for Archangel."

Wow… Just… Wow. I'd figured he was a little dim in the head but to outright admit he was working for Archangel in front of someone Aria's man had pointed him too…? I rubbed at my forehead, a headache starting to threaten. Was Archangel so desperate that he'd take on losers like this guy? Do-gooders never lasted long here, but this was poor pickings even by a vigilante's standards. Poor leadership too, if this distractible idiot was the guy he'd sent out on recon.

"I'm usually a hacker," Sidonis told me, pulling on his trousers and fastening them quickly. "But I can't get into the Blood Pack networks enough to find what the boss wants, so, I asked around… y'know, carefully. I wanna be useful…"

Understanding dawned with a cold smirk spreading about my lips. "Archangel doesn't even know you're here, does he? You're buying info to make up for your poor skills, hoping that he never finds out."

"My skills are fine! I just-"

"Bashed half your brain out on Red Sand?"

"Look," he cut over sharply. "I need to know a bit about Garm's schedule. The boss wants to try and find a time when he's a little less… guarded."

Now wasn't that interesting. Archangel thought he could take on Garm? Really? I'd question the guy's sanity but so far he'd aced every target he'd set himself. The thought circled in my mind, already twisting to something... beneficial.

"Do you… Do you think we could work out some kind of deal?"

Looking up, I found Sidonis gazing at me with a nervous, childish hope flickering in his eyes. Had he been a smarter man, the unbridled glee that unravelled upon my expression would have frightened him. "I think, turian, that it's your lucky day…"