Shepard dearly missed Joker and his weird AI fantasies. It had been weeks since she had needed his services and for this mission, the Network had contracted with a different ship and crew. The stealthy frigate, whose name she had already forgotten but probably had something to do with human-related history, was running smoothly. A nameless VI was updating operative Lawson on their ETA to Ilium, and the taciturn pilot kept scrupulously to himself. Jack was in her quarters, and Zaeed was attending to his riffle's needs religiously, an oil-stained cloth in hand. The Illusive Man had chosen people he knew she was comfortable with. Apart from operative Lawson, whom she disliked but had no quarrel with, Jack and Zaeed were the best she could have hoped for.

However, anxiety clenched her stomach. She had a very bad feeling about this mission. It wasn't the explicit threat of her employer that bothered her but the very high probability of encountering Krios again. She didn't know why his omnitool beeped during their… almost assignation. Maybe he had been assigned with the same mission. The boundaries between friend and foe were more blurred than ever, and she had no idea what kept drawing them together so strongly. She didn't believe in fate or karma, but if it existed it had a wicked sense of humor. He had told her to kill him. She was determined to do so, or she tried to persuade herself. She absently stroke the pommel of Eris, as she often did when she sought confidence. The intricate carvings were beginning to fade from years of repeating the same gesture.

"Arriving at Illium," the robotic, disembodied VI announced. How she missed EDI's sexy voice.

Jack burst out of her quarters in direction of the shuttle. "I'm so ready for this!"

Zaeed laughed and followed her while Lawson geared up.

In the shuttle, Jack joked, "Aren't you gonna make a motivational speech, Commander?"

Shepard cringed at the word. Zaeed was snickering softly, and Lawson just looked at her datapad carelessly.

"Kill everyone that gets in our way," Shepard said neutrally.

Zaeed's snigger turn into a frank laugh that filled the vehicle and Jack joined in. Shepard smiled, but she wasn't really in the mood. She reviewed the mission parameters in her head.

Asari. Nyxeris T'Rashi, alias the Observer. Currently confined in a high-security tower. Seemingly betrayed by Liara T'Soni, another information broker who had probably tipped off Azure Edge.

Despite the cheerful atmosphere of the shuttle, Shepard had never felt this much tension before a mission.

When they disembarked in front of the huge illuminated tower, they were greeted by batarians in armor. The ugliest one stepped forward, rifle on her face and barked, "Code?"

Shepard repressed the feeling of disgust she always had toward the four-eyed creatures.

"Three two zero nine."

The batarian looked at the others, nodded and let them pass.


Through the glass of the window, the orange and pink lights of sunset illuminated Nyxeris as she paced restlessly in the room.

"We need to go NOW!" she shouted.

Shepard ignored her. She was searching for vents, liabilities, anything Azure Edge could use to get to them. She had sent Jack and Zaeed to secure the perimeter and was waiting for their reports before taking Nyxeris to the shuttle. Lawson was watching the control screen for security flaws, strange loops, anything.

"Still nothing," Lawson said.

"Good. Massani, Jack?" Shepard asked into her earpiece.

"Clear," Massani's deep voice answered.

"Nothing here," Jack added.

"Okay, let's go, Observer. Lawson, you're in the back, I lead. Zaeed, Jack, I wanted updates every 60 seconds on your position and status. Keep your eyes open, we meet downstairs."

"You're good at this, ice queen," Jack teased. "Still clear."

"Move," Shepard ordered, and the panicked asari obeyed. The door of the elevator hissed and they got in. No word was uttered. Things were going too well. She had a bad feeling about this. The elevator was incredibly slow, which added greatly to her paranoia.

"Massani, update."

No answer.

"Jack?"

Again, nothing. Her finger twitched toward the trigger as she instantly went to high alert.

There was some radio static but nothing intelligible. She swore under her breath while Miranda quickly drummed her fingers on her omnitool.

"Someone's jamming the signal. They're here."

Nyxeris' breathing got very loud.

"We can make it to the shuttle. Once we're there, you take the Observer to the ship, Lawson, I'll deal with the rest."

"Are you crazy? I have a fucking target painted on my face, and we just go out there?" Nyxeris blurted out.

"Maybe I should take you back up there where you can just just wait for them to pick you up. You'd like that? We don't have a choice. You move or you get to redecorate the walls of an interrogation room with your blood." Shepard replied coldly.

The asari shivered and fell back to silence.

The elevator finally came to a halt.

"Be ready," Shepard warned, taking out her Stinger.

The door hissed open. The batarians were dead. Corpses everywhere. There was no sound and no one to be seen.

"Watch out for snipers. The target won't get shot, they want her alive, but not us. Look out for that spot over there," she gestured to a high, broken window on the opposite building. It looked empty, but Shepard knew a sniper spot when she saw one. If there was ever a time to be paranoid, this was it.

The small group ran to the shuttle. When they were in the middle of the small yard, there was an explosion.

The shuttle burst into pieces, and Shepard shoved Nyxeris to the ground to avoid being struck.

Shit.

"PROTECT THE OBSERVER!" Shepard shouted to Lawson, who was still shaken.

There were gunshots. Shepard recognized the sound of Zaeed's rifle and soon saw him emerge from the rear of the building.

"Get to cover!" Jack screamed from the other side as a grenade fell next to the little biotic. It exploded as she jumped behind a crate, her biotic shield down.

Shepard quickly grabbed Nyxeris' arm and got her behind what was left of the shuttle door as Zaeed reached them.

Three shadows emerged from where Jack and Zaeed had fled.

Not three. Four.

Shepard spotted the distinct shimmer of a cloak not far from the enemy group. There was a reddish salarian with only one horn, raising an M9 Tempest at them, a quarian with a combat drone… and of course, the last one just had to be Thane Krios. She cursed as she stared at the deadly assassin.

This was bad.

"There's a cloaked enemy on your left, Miranda. You take them," Shepard ordered. "Zaeed, you still got ammo?"

"Yes."

"You take the salarian. Jack, you alive?" she shouted to the crate behind which the biotic had disappeared.

"And kickin'. Bring it on."

"Take the quarian, be careful of the drone. Whatever happens, no one gets near the Observer."

Shepard unsheathed Eris. All her fears had come true. It was time to kill or be killed.

"Let's dance."

She rushed directly at Krios while the rest of her team started their own duals. Biotics immediately bloomed in his hands, and he dodged her first attack with agility and grace. She heard Jack scream her rage at her opponent in the distance and Jessie firing in the hands of Zaeed. Miranda made no noise yet. She was searching for the cloaked enemy.

Shepard dodged a blow and heard biotics crackle near her ear. Krios was ruthless. It wasn't a dance anymore. One of them was going to die. His predatory look was back, but there was nothing gentle in it this time. Eris was striking everywhere at once, not leaving any second wasted, yet never touching him. He dodged everything. The fight seemed to go on for hours, both of them caught in focus and anticipation. She couldn't fail. The mere thought of failure gave her even more energy as she desperately tried to land her attacks. But he was lithe and lightning fast.

After a while, Jack screamed louder than usual. It distracted Shepard. She immediately took a devastating blow to the cheek. The strength of Krios' biotics sent her flying on the ground a few meters away. The world spun around her. She quickly got back on her feet and spit out the blood from her mouth, the metallic taste of it on her tongue.

She swore under her breath. Eris was still in her hand, hungry for a taste of Krios' blood. Her team was still fighting around her. Zaeed had taken a bullet to the shoulder but was still on his feet. Nyxeris was crouched behind the blown-off door, safe. Before Shepard could check on the others, Krios closed on her. She dodged his blow, but she was still disoriented. She quickly jumped back, but his second strike hit her solidly in the chest. She fell again, her stunned lungs struggling to breathe. She couldn't recover quickly enough. He was on her, his hands on her throat squeezing hard, no mercy in his eyes. Her vision started to blur as she desperately tried to breathe.

Suddenly, he began coughing. His palms twitched against her neck as he tried to stay in control, but the fit was too strong. In a last adrenaline rush, she managed to raise Eris high enough to inflict a deep cut on his forearm. He hissed and let go, still trying to contain his coughing fit. She evaded his deadly embrace to quickly get behind him and lay Eris against his throat.

Don't hesitate.

Now!

Her hands were shaking. His coughing fit was calming slowly, and time to act was running out. A million thoughts coiled painfully in her head while her hand refused to move. Why?

"Do it," he said in a faint labored voice.

"I can't…"

Around them, the fight went on. Zaeed had managed to corner the salarian but was having a hard time breaking through his armor. Jack was unconscious on the floor, and the quarian was running toward Miranda, who was now fighting a very agile, hooded human.

"Do it," he repeated harshly.

Her hand twitched again, but Eris refused to obey.

"I CAN'T!"

Her voice broke. The moment seemed to linger. She couldn't just hold the blade to his throat and do nothing. But she was frozen.

"Then come with me."

He raised his palm to the hand holding Eris and slowly removed it. Shepard didn't resist. She stood where she was, lost. She couldn't go back. The Illusive Man would have her killed. She couldn't possibly go with Krios. He was the enemy. But she couldn't get the job done. He stood up, still unsteady but determined, and locked his eyes on hers. All the animosity was gone.

"Come with me."

"I can't…"

It seemed those were the two only words left in her world.

"You don't have a choice," he said gently.

Before she noticed they were even there, tears fell from her eyes, hot and salty on her bloodied face. She looked back. Zaeed was badly hurt, panting on the floor. The salarian was about to land the final blow. Miranda and Jack were unconscious. The hooded human had a gun on Nyxeris' face.

If she left, Jack would hate her for it. No more sparring matches. No more small talk with Massani. No more Jessie stories. But if she stayed… The mission was a failure. It would be suicide. Changing sides had no guarantee. Changing sides meant all the money in Citadel space would be put in contracts for her head. She had no choice, he had said it.

"Don't kill them," she surrendered.

"Mordin, knock him out but don't kill him," Krios ordered on his comm. "Let's go."


The enemy ship was small and looked old. Shepard was locked up in somebody's quarters, sitting at a table and looking at the stars drifting past the ship's porthole without seeing them. They had let her keep her weapons, since she had no reason to kill them now. She was turning Eris in her hand endlessly, feeling like the blade had betrayed her. She wanted to punch the walls until she made a breach and was blown out into space, but she just sat where she was, empty. She ignored the pain in her jaw and chest. This fight had been hard on her.

The door hissed as someone entered the room. She didn't move, she didn't care.

"Hi, I'm Kasumi Goto. I brought you medigel," she said in a light voice that had a hint of mischievousness running through her words.

Shepard stayed silent. The visitor entered her line of sight and took the chair to sit beside her. It was the hooded woman.

"I get that you don't want to talk, but would you let me take care of your injuries?"

She waited a bit, then took the silence for a yes and started applying medigel to Shepard's cheek and jaw. Her touch was light and gentle, but Shepard hissed at the pain. She couldn't see the woman's eyes, but her expression was soft.

"I'm sorry. Thane said you might be hurt on the chest. Can I have a look? I'm not Mordin, but he's busy interrogating the target right now."

"I'm fine, thanks." Shepard's voice was harsh, a bit broken.

"You sure? Okay. You can come with me to the mess if you'd like. There's no use keeping you locked up. I'm sure you must have questions."

She stood up, left the medigel on the table and walked out, leaving the door unlocked as promised.


After a few hours, Shepard went to the mess, tired of living with her gloomy thoughts. The quarian girl was carefully manipulating some kind of unknown device, and gave her a shy nod."I'm Tali," she said. From her voice, Shepard could deduce she was young.

There was a muffled cry. Shepard turned around and realized it came from a nearby room.

"Mordin is a former Special Task Forces operative," Tali explained. "He has… interrogation skills." She shuddered.

Shepard didn't really care. Now that her mission had failed, what happened to the asari was clearly out of her hands.

"I need an extranet access. You blocked my omnitool," she said to Kasumi who was leaning up against the wall near the cockpit.

"Why?" Krios asked, entering the room behind her and making her jump. She couldn't help but notice the bandage on his right forearm.

"By now, the Network will have put a contract on my head. I want to see how much I'm worth."

"One million credits," he answered casually, making himself some tea.

She opened her mouth but nothing came out.

"Impressive," Kasumi stated.

"You checked?" Shepard asked in disbelief.

"I did," the drell answered, sipping his beverage. "Aria will offer protection."

"I don't need protection," she snarled.

No one answered, but the silence was eloquent.


Author's note: Thanks to Askeebe (Moments in between, Never let me go etc..) for English proof and beta reading.