Jacob/Zaeed, "beneath the city"
Jacob and Zaeed made their way past a handful of Keepers on their way to do who knew what in the bowels of the Citadel. The sludge sucking at their ankles had the consistency of engine grease and the stench of shit and propane. Jacob couldn't begin to imagine what it was. Zaeed didn't seem to care.
"Fucking teamwork. That's what Shepard says to me. He wants to build a goddamn team so he sends me on this mission with you."
Zaeed hadn't shut up about Shepard assigning him to this mission since the moment they left. Jacob had put up with him for six hours. He'd almost f—Jacob shook his head. No. He wasn't going to stop to the mercenary's level. He'd almost had enough. Period.
Their mission was to lay surveillance sensors in the communications network hubs beneath the Citadel. Since the Keepers would remove them eventually, they had to put in new ones every 48 hours. So far, they'd found out that Cerberus planned to attack the Citadel, and they had spies in some of the city's infrastructure. How far the cancer went, they didn't know yet.
Jacob thought they were lost. But so far, Zaeed had found every one of the hubs they'd laid sensors on, by memory.
Zaeed continued, "Cerberus. Well funded. Well executed. Biotics up the ass. Do you even know what a real shithole looks like?"
"You mean this?"
Zaeed laughed. He actually laughed! Jacob was about to smile when Zaeed said, "If that's what passes for intelligence in your organization then we've got bigger problems than the goddamned Collectors. This place may smell like one, but there are far worse places in the galaxy to have to fight."
"I'm not Cerberus anymore. You know that."
"Whatever you say, Taylor. But if you pull a gun on me just know that you'll get ejected with the rest of the sludge."
"I didn't think paranoia was in your skill set, Massani."
Zaeed stopped. He didn't turn around. "Shepard trusts you. I trust you. I just don't like you. You know why that is?"
Jacob folded his arms. "Why don't you tell me?"
Zaeed chuckled. "It's because you think you've got it all wired. You think you see all the angles and you're badass enough to handle anything that comes at you." Zaeed turned. He pointed at the discolored flesh on his face. "Just like I did, before I took the bullet."
Jacob wasn't impressed. "It's not bragging if you can do it," he replied.
"It's bragging until you're coughing up your own blood."
"We're wasting time arguing in a sludge tunnel."
"It's not a waste of time if you goddamned listen."
"I'll take my lessons from Shepard."
Before he knew what was happening, Zaeed drew his pistol and pulled the trigger. It only clicked. Jacob's heart jumped into his throat. Zaeed's smile, already crooked, looked like a gargoyle in the barely-lit tunnel.
Jacob shoved him. "What the hell is that about? You think that was funny?"
Zaeed put away his gun. He said, "Shepard knows a thing or two about being betrayed. So do I. Your Cerberus friends are undermining us at every turn, and you haven't told us shit about what their plans are."
"I don't know what they are!"
"You know how they think, whether you'd like to admit or not." Jacob said nothing. Zaeed continued, "How did it feel, Taylor? Think about it. What are they planning?"
Jacob grit his teeth.
