The roof was wide, rickety, unstable, and mercifully unoccupied. Though he never thought it would happen, Garrus was simply tired of being shot at by that point, and was more than ready to be back aboard the Normandy with enough space to himself to decide whether to thank Sidonis or actually shoot him this time.

He privately longed for the days when everything was black and white and the decision was easy. He really didn't have a reason to be anything but grateful for the assist, but at the same time...there were two things in his life he'd never fully gotten over. Shepard's death, and Sidonis' betrayal. One of those had been solved for the foreseeable future. The other was presently gnawing at him.

Bob was the last one up, closing the hatch behind him as a shuttle came to a half a few meters from where they were standing.

"Will we all fit?" Kasumi asked. "I remember these things being cramped with just three."

"We'd better damn well fit." Garrus muttered. "I didn't come all this way to be defeated by a hard limit on total square meters."

"Should we carpet bomb the place?" Solana asked. "I don't like the thought of those mercs following us into space."

Sidonis and Garrus both began to speak at the same time, and the former relented immediately. Garrus took up the stage without wasting time missing a beat. "We've done enough damage, here. And the last place you want attention drawn to yourself is Omega. I learned that the hard way."

The Normandy's main frequency crackled to life on Garrus' comm unit as they stepped into the shuttle. "-just saying, it's not the exact type, but it fits." Joker was saying.

Shepard's response was that of someone trying and failing to be patient. "I'm not telling them to 'get to the chopper', whatever that means."

"You're saying it wrong, it's-"

"Please tell me you're all aboard." Shepard said.

The last one in, Garrus shut the door and hammered on the barrier between the pilot's section and the seats. "We're aboard. All..." He did a quick head count. "Six of us."

"Six?"

"Well, more like five plus one." Garrus corrected. "Tell you later. Are we being followed?"

"Clear skies." Vaya said tersely from the other end. "For now. But with that ruckus, don't plan on our situation to hold."

The ride was bumpy, and everyone kept stepping on Garrus' feet (not that he could feel it through the metal boots, but it was the principle of the thing), but eventually they docked in the Normandy's shuttle bay with minimal issues.

Tali and Kerrin were waiting for them, both on standby for repairs, though of different kinds. The salarian doctor was quick to engage medical scans over, around, and through Solana, and Garrus noted an urgency in his manner that didn't quite make sense. He looked as though she might drop dead at any moment. The thought worried him; did the doctor know something he didn't?

"Is...everything all right?" He asked.

"Fine, fine." Kerrin's tone was rushed, and he stopped to close his eyes and take a breath. When he spoke again, he was much more calm. "Yes. All systems are functioning normally." His omni-tool moved over Bob, and several warning lights flashed simultaneously.

"You are undergoing cardiac arrest, Mr. Crazz." He noted calmly.

Bob nodded. "I know."

They stared at each other for a moment, then Kerrin moved on.

"That's it?" Renar asked testily. Whether it was out of concern of because he was next in line was unclear.

"I won't even pretend to understand how dramatically his implants have altered his physiology." Kerrin shook his head. "Rest assured that if he collapses suddenly I will do...something."

The elevator doors slid open and Shepard rolled out, followed by Lokkan and Vaya, which Garrus privately felt overloaded the Normandy's 'number of turians in any given room' quotient. He also had no idea why they'd shown up, aside from that exact purpose.

If it was at all possible, Shepard looked even worse than when Garrus had seen her only an hour ago. Every visible inch of her that wasn't peeling off looked raw, and Chakwas had gone the full mile and connected a commlink to a breathing apparatus, which was stuck in place. Her wheelchair was equipped with oxygen tanks and several IV drips, a mix of antibiotics and anesthetics.

"I guess this means everything went according to plan?" She asked.

Garrus looked behind him and, sure enough, Sidonis, Kasumi, and Solana were all staring at her. She looked confused, but when it dawned on her, she grimaced. "Oh, right, I'm dead."

"You look like it, too." Sidonis said. He took off his helmet and was all grimaces underneath, though of concern rather than distaste. "The fuck happened?"

"Reapers." Shepard waves a hand dismissively. "It's not important right now."

"Shep, you probably meant for that to be reassuring, but trust me, it wasn't." Kasumi shook her head. "Have you-"

"Drop it." Shepard said wearily. "Sidonis, what are you doing here?"

Sidonis looked uncomfortable, as though he had been hoping this topic wouldn't come up. "I've been on your tracks ever since you came back to the Citadel. I'd been tracking Gadschalk for a year, and he was after you for some reason. One of his associates even tried jumping him," He motioned at Renar, "Outside the C-Sec headquarters."

"Jelanis..." Renar murmured. "The sniper. That was you?"

Sidonis nodded. "I didn't have the chance until you showed up. Not that I needed an excuse to put one in that cop-killing piece of shit, but it was either you do it and get put up, or I do it and let Gadschalk's coverup army fix it for me."

"And how did you make the leap from tracking Gadschalk to working for him, I wonder?" Bob mused.

"There wasn't a leap. He..." Sidonis exhaled before continuing. "He came to me. First time, I told him where he could shove it, but I looked up what bits and pieces of his record were just floating around. Piece of fucking work. Any way to put a dent in him could be worth it."

"Why would he come to...?" Garrus began to ask, then it hit him. Of course. Gadschalk would know all about how he nearly put Archangel in the ground. If only by being spineless, but still a better asset than a liability on his crew. He still had his helmet on, but he locked eyes with Sidonis all the same. "There's more to this. Why did you really say yes?"

Apparently Shepard knew something he didn't, because he could tell she was trying to tell him off, but he didn't hear her.

"I figured...it was a quick shot to the void." Deafening silence. Sidonis broke it by sighing. "Better go out doing the opposite of what I lived for, right?"

The part of Garrus that had packed up ten body bags was screaming at him to draw his pistol. The thankfully dominant other part was telling the first to shut up, and vehemently. He noted multiple gazes were drawn to his hands, which were clenched. Slowly, he loosened his grip. "Let me be clear." He said slowly, trying his hardest to keep his voice level. "This excuses nothing."

Their eyes met again, and the other turian didn't have to say anything. His expression said that he knew well enough.

Garrus tentatively reached out his left hand and brushed a single talon over Sidonis' chestpiece, moving it in a deliberate pattern. Years ago, his team on Omega had used small inscriptions based on turian calligraphy to relay messages. They were only visible under certain conditions, and generally were nonsense words that only had meaning to those in the know.

It was only after he finished the motion that Garrus realized he had used the one for 'teammate recovered; no longer M.I.A.'.

"But thank you for protecting my family."

For an instant, he almost thought he felt some kind of emotion. Then the moment passed as suddenly as the call came in over a nearby Terminal.

"Shepard." EDI said. "There is a message for you from Omega. Afterlife, to be specific."

"Uh-oh." Kasumi said. "I think we may have made the queen angry."

"Patch it through, EDI." Shepard said, sounding weary but resigned.

"Who is the ranking officer of this vessel?" Yes, that was indeed a very familiar - and irritated - asari voice.

"That would be me, Aria." Shepard said.

"Shepard." Aria sounded calculating, now. "If you keep coming back from the dead, I might just have to authorize a gambling racket centered around your time of resurrection."

"I've heard all the jokes." Shepard assured her. "Is this about the factory or Gadschalk?"

"Both." For some reason, the question seemed to amuse her. "He's leaping down my throat for help assassinating you. Apparently your first mate pissed in his coffee." Her mood seemed to improve significantly after she was able to put a play on the term 'first mate'.

"And?" Shepard asked casually.

"And I told him that I'd do it on my own time." Aria responded with equal lack of gravitas. "Despite how often you get yourself killed, you're still more valuable alive. So be on the lookout for mercenaries hounding your trail - he sounded like he was on the warpath."

"And the catch is..."

"No catch." Aria said bluntly. "The asshole has been getting too uppity lately. It's a shame. He'd have promise if he learned that the galaxy doesn't revolve around him. You're paying for the property damage, though."

Garrus figured it would be useless to argue, and apparently Shepard had the same line of thought. "You have a job."

"I have a job." Aria confirmed. "A fairly lucrative outpost went silent yesterday. You love this kind of thing, so I decided it would be more efficient to let you play hero. Just don't nuke the place."

Garrus heard Shepard mutter something like 'it was one time' before responding. "That sounds fair. I might be busy, though."

"Right. There's most likely some sort of galaxy-threatening conflict that you need to resolve, as usual. Just keep it out of my backyard."

"One more question..." Shepard paused. "If you were waiting on me to search the outpost, does that mean you already knew I was alive?"

Garrus swore that the sound of Aria's eyes rolling was audible over the connection. "Enjoy yourself, Shepard."

Click.

"We're going to do what she wants, aren't we?" Tali asked dryly. "What is it about T'Loak that her wetwork turns into our baggage so often?"

"We don't have any fresh leads, and I'll take my chances that whatever is trying to take over her installations is a lot worse than she is." Shepard said.

"I think we...huh." Cortez had stepped out of the shuttle, and stood blinking. "The bay's gotten crowded. Did they dent the hull more than I estimated?"

"No, everyone's just standing around, gawking." Garrus said. "Doctor, can you get Solana to the med bay? Full analysis. I'll feel better about something more lengthy than a ten-second scan."

She didn't look overly pleased, but his sister didn't voice any objections, either. The pair of them, plus Lokkan, Vaya, Bob and Renar (the last four presumably assuming themselves dismissed) clambered into the elevator, leaving those still in the bay with a good deal more breathing room. Kasumi took the opportunity to catch up with Shepard, leaving Garrus, Tali and Sidonis to stand in an awkward semicircle some distance away.

"Didn't we try to kill you once?" Tali asked slowly.

Sidonis scratched underneath his fringe, avoiding eye contact. "Yeah, a few years ago."

"And did it work?"

His eyes didn't move from one spot on the floor that he had arbitrarily chosen to focus on, but they faded somewhat, glassing over. The answer in question was simple, and might have been a response to any number of unspoken questions, but Garrus privately believed that it was a confirmation of the most obvious one.

"Yes."

XXX

Shepard's proclamation at the briefing was met with mixed results. The more paranoid or gloomy members of her squad universally grimaced or tensed, seemingly bracing themselves for the worst. Others, like Liara, simply seemed interested in what would unfold. Garrus, Sidonis, and Lokkan, meanwhile, barely seemed to be paying attention, lost in their own thoughts as they were. And yet some more, like Deshayla, appeared both annoyed and confused as to why such a thing was even necessary.

All in all, the phrase 'We're going to split up' had about the same effect she thought it would.

"I want an information grid covered by anyone not on a rotation." She continued. "I'll be on Palaven with Dr. Solus, Renar, Corporal Vaya, Lokkan, Garrus, Solana and Sidonis. We need to establish how much of an intel breach, if any, is operating there. Solana was picked off of one of the most heavily-guarded Council planets in the galaxy, and that's not something you can do without contacts. We'll get an audience with Primarch Victus and discuss our options.

Liara, I need you on the ship. Use as many of your contacts as you think you need to - I want everything on Gadschalk and his operations. If he moves his base, I want to know to where and from where. If he sends out mercenaries, I want their company, their number, their paycheck. If he has a meeting, I want the planet, the serial numbers on his datapad, and the links to his extranet tabs. Everything.

Kaidan, you'll have the deck. Everyone else is on ground rotation - enter Aria's outpost, find the cause of the communications failure, eliminate it if need be, and get out."

"I can't go on a mission right now." Tali said. "Whatever Amber Wave did to Jeddah's circuitry is having worse effects than we thought we were dealing with. It's going to take us at least a few days."

Shepard nodded. "Understood. That leaves Davisson, EDI, Deshayla, Kasumi, and Crazz with boots on the ground. Concerns?"

"Why is Dr. Solus going with you to Palaven?" Deshayla asked.

"I need a medical professional on site with me at all times at this point." Shepard had to grit her teeth before moving on. "Doctors Chakwas and Solus have agreed that the latter has more experience with field operation. If I'd be spending most of my time in a hospital, the positions would be reversed."

"Why are so many specialists going to Palaven aside from a reunion?" Sidonis asked. "It sounds like the outpost could end up being more trouble."

Shepard's attempt at a smile was too tinged with a sudden bout of pain to be mistaken for anything other than a grimace. "We know Gadschalk has, something close to free reign on Palaven, even with security. We'll need the group to deal with incursions. So many prime targets in one place should keep his eyes off of the Normandy for the duration of our respective missions, unless I'm absurdly off-base as to how much he wants Crazz."

"After today, I'm certain to be little more than a fly in the ointment in comparison to the Vakarian clan." Bob noted, eliciting a small murmur along the lines of 'that's what it was' from Garrus.

"Tali, can you work on a second project while you're here?" Garrus asked.

"I can try." Tali said. "What is it?"

There was a pause while Garrus transferred a few small file caches between his omni-tool and hers. "I locked down Gadschalk's transmitter while he was talking to us through that hologram. There's a chance we can use it as part of a tracking algorithm, or at least check if he uses that signal cluster, locally."

"When did you have time for that?" Renar asked.

"That was half the point." Garrus said. "I set up my helmet's vocal transmitter to produce feedback when I spoke, which blocked some of his countermeasures. He shouldn't have any idea we have this." He glanced around. "Or did you think I was shouting something as stupid as 'I've seen your face' just because I like being dramatic?"


[Author's Note: We're splitting the group again. And just like last time, nobody's going to have a good time. Well, except Kaidan. Picture him in the lounge sipping beer while firefights are happening groundside like I do.]