A/N: So sorry for the long wait. I can't say it won't happen again but at least the next 2 chapters should follow shortly.
A huge thank you to Salmon Center for helping me with the story.
And as always let me know what you think!
Chapter 4
Shepard
She quickly crossed the empty apartment, and once in the hall she headed towards the staircase without a second look at the other rooms.
She didn't need to waste anymore of her precious time: She already knew the apartment's blueprints and where to find Archangel judging by his line of fire.
She heard gunfire as she climbed up the first step. Apparently Taylor and Lawson were still in the middle of fire fight.
She smirked internally.
She had blown their cover and they were probably stuck in the middle of the bridge, unable to decide if they could trust Archangel to not wipe them out while they tried to retreat from the mercs.
Exactly where I need them to be, she thought and glanced up at the second floor. Everything was going according to plan.
She shut off her team comm link.
It wasn't as though she expected them to try and ask for help. They had been around her for long enough to know that it wasn't an option. Never had been an option.
If you remain back, you stay back. She mused
Every soldier knew the rule. Her soldiers knew that she was deadly serious about that point. The details of what happened in Virmire were on her dossier to dispel any doubt.
She didn't make exceptions.
Even if it had been a thorough fuck up to lose both Alenko and Williams in the same mission.
Williams had probably been the best soldier she had ever had in her team. Except for that damn mouth of hers, Shepard almost regretted her loss.
Alenko on the other hand had never been better or worse, comparatively- just average.
A good fuck maybe, but not that good as a soldier.
Still, better than my current team. She snorted.
All in all, she was sure that they were going to survive being trapped in the bridge without a commanding officer somehow.
And if not, too bad. Better to know if they couldn't keep up with her now rather than later.
She rounded the corner calmly, letting the noise of her steps betray her presence.
She didn't want him to think that she was trying to assassinate him, especially if he was a trigger happy son of a bitch.
For the same reason, she didn't want him to be too alarmed by her presence. Her gun hung casually at her side. But the tendons of her finger were flexed and ready around the trigger.
He was on the balcony, aware of her presence by the side glance he gave her but he didn't bother to turn around.
Rookie mistake. No, worse. Not all the rookies were idiotic enough to expose their blind spot to her.
"Archangel," she spoke loud and clear.
He raised a hand, a signal for her to wait as the bridge was still in his scope. A couple of seconds later he squeezed the trigger.
She exploited the time to study his stance. Hard to judge from his alien body and the heavy blue armour but she could tell that he was tired.
And tense. Too tense.
The sniper in him was still managing to keep it together but she was able to see the cracks.
He was already fucked.
And he knew it.
Don't you asshole? A feral smile curled her lips.
He moved away from the window, unfastening the seal of his helmet and dropping it on a crate near the wall. The sight of his avian features erased her amusement.
She hated when she had to talk to one of them. The shift of their mandibles was unbearable to her. The way they exposed the side of their jaws when they spoke was simply appalling. It was much easier to look at them when they were still. And silent.
And dead.
She could stay around one of them long enough to slit a knife through their throat but talking to them? Just the idea of talking to the turian councillor on the old Normandy's holographic projector was unnerving enough to make her skip her reports most of the time.
The presence of that turian Spectre on the first Normandy was a complete nightmare for her, mostly because she knew that he could sense her disgust.
Not really the best way to handle her evaluation. She had barely managed to mask her delight when Nihlus was killed by Saren.
She eyed Archangel, trying to keep her focus only on his eyes.
He sat down, leaning back in a slouched position and seemed suddenly surprised.
"Shepard!" She glared at him. "Commander Shepard," he corrected himself, a different kind of tension in his body as he suddenly felt the urge to stand in front of her.
He seemed unsure for a moment but remained seated, a leg resting on one of the crates and his rifle facing down.
"I thought you were dead." He stated.
He seemed to know her. She didn't know who the fuck he was though.
She sighed. Better be direct since she couldn't tell one turian from another.
"Am I supposed to know you?" She tilted her head in annoyance.
He locked his piercing eyes on her.
"Garrus Vakarian, C-Sec." He paused uneasy "Well, ex C-Sec officer," he added bitterly.
He seemed a little offended by her blank expression. Which was amusing.
"I was the officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation into Saren" He explained.
She was honestly surprised now. She recalled a young, annoying turian arguing with his superior at the Citadel Tower, albeit, she couldn't recall what he looked like.
It's a small galaxy.
"I also asked you the permission to join your team in the hunt for Saren," He added with a hint of spite in his strange voice.
A request that she had promptly refused. She remembered. And for good reason considering his pitiful career.
From C-Sec to Omega? She sneered. To your credit asshole, when you screw up you fall to the bottom.
She couldn't remember what excuse she made to get rid of him the first time, but her opinion about turians remained the same, even after her death. It was ironic to think that she had been sent to actually recruit him.
Like hell, she thought. It's far more likely that I'll become a stripper on Omega than let one of your kind stay on my ship.
The noise of a muffled bang interrupted their conversation. The ground jolted under their feet. The explosion was promptly followed by an alarm coming from the lower part of the building.
His head snapped to his omni-tool. His eyes narrowed at the orange screen.
She exploited the distraction to steal a glance at his sniping position, taking note of the number of ammo left and the second rifle on the ground.
"Damn it. They've breached the lower level."
She forced herself to look at him, suppressing the urge to express her amusement through her red eyes.
Well, actually they were a little early on the time table, but she was not complaining at all about the timing.
"They had to use their brains eventually," he scoffed. His breath quickening the pace.
"You'd better get down there. I'llkeep the bridge clear."
She decided to let go of the fact that he had ordered her to do something. Then again, she had already decided to head down.
Besides...
"I'm on it," she replied.
…No sense arguing with a dead man.