Thanks so much for the favs, follows & reviews! You are all amazing!

A HUGE thank you to Jules Hawk for beta-reading this for me. She is a rock star, and I can't say enough how much I appreciate her advice and encouragement.

BioWare owns all. Well, except my OCs. I am 100% responsible for them all, for better or worse.


Carmine hadn't realized how hungry she was until she started digging into all of the food that Wrex had brought back. She ate a little of everything except for the waffles. Those she threw straight into the garbage. Wrex looked at her curiously, but thankfully, he didn't press the issue when she studiously ignored him.

She was afraid that it would make her seem weak if she admitted that they reminded her of Sunday mornings with her parents. When her mother would make waffles from scratch, and then she'd top them with fresh berries from the Shepard's gardens and cream from the Wade's dairy. They reminded her entirely too much of everything that she had lost. Both the things that had been forcefully taken from her, and the things that she had chosen to leave behind.

She already missed Ellis and Lee-more than she cared to admit. She found herself briefly wondering how they were doing, and could only hope that they were taking care of each other. Maybe after they finished whatever it was that they were doing today, she would ask Wrex about contacting them.

"You're being awfully quiet, Runt. Having second thoughts?"

"No. The opposite actually. Remembering why I'm doing this."

The krogan studied her in silence for a few minutes before he finally asked, "So what information do you have for me?"

"Okay. First off, they didn't seem all that interested in taking people alive. Which seems sort of odd if they were indeed slavers."

"Gor'nolak has a reputation for being especially brutal when it comes to humans. So that doesn't really surprise me. What else?"

Carmine made a face at him before saying, "Fine. The interesting part is who they did take alive. Especially when you consider the medical equipment."
"What do you mean?"

"Well, Dr. Wade is one of the people missing. And a lot of the research equipment stolen was hers, taken directly from her lab." She shrugged. "I can't tell you exactly what she was studying, but I'm sure it would be easy enough to find out. She is...was...my mom's best friend, so I know that she wrote some paper that was a big deal, and it had something to do with cloning and the nervous system."

Wrex looked thoughtful for a minute before he answered.

"That is interesting. And it might actually be helpful in tracking down Sorn. I told you he was a tech specialist. What I meant was that he is a tech procurement specialist. To be honest, I was a little worried we'd missed our chance on nabbing him. I figured Gor'nolak would be cutting him loose after this job was completed."

"And now?"

"And now we need to do a little research. If he took this doctor and her equipment, he must want them for something. Probably for whatever her paper is about. We find out what that is, all the equipment needed for that, and what they have and don't have. That's the key-what they don't have. That's how we'll find Sorn."

"Because he'll eventually have to find that equipment."

"Exactly. And we probably don't have much time. You ready?"

"Yeah."

"Good." Wrex hesitated for a second before continuing, "Runt, I'm not sure you understand the sort of world you're getting involved in. I'm going to have to get information from people, and there's usually two ways to do that: by bribing them or by threatening them. Sometimes both. The people we'll be dealing with won't be nearly as nice as I am. You need to be ready for anything."

Though she would have been lying if she said that she didn't feel a little fear at his warning, Carmine forced herself to meet his eyes and reply steadily, "I'm ready."

Wrex nodded. "Then let's get it done."


The first thing that Gor'nolak had asked Emily to do was compile a list of equipment they still required for the makeshift lab/medical center. She took stock of everything they had...acquired already, and made a list of things she would probably need in the future. It took her a couple of days, and she warned him that things might change once she actually started working. But that would be a ways down the road, once she had spent a good deal of time learning and had a better idea of what she was up against.

He had a batarian named Sorn, who Emily vaguely remembered from her first day on the ship, watching over her during the process. If Gor'nolak made her skin crawl, Sorn made it run screaming. The former was certainly evil but, from what she could tell, sane. Sorn was very obviously not. His mood had swung in several directions during the two days he'd spent glued to her side. He was dangerous and unpredictable. Emily was immensely relieved when she finally finished her list and he left to obtain the needed items.

As long as she wasn't on the extranet, Gor'nolak gave her a relative amount of freedom throughout his complex. There were guards posted in certain areas that indicated they were off limits. But she did have access to her lab, a kitchen that was actually stocked with recognizable human foods, and a small bedroom with a private bathroom attached. She also, of course, had access to Patok's room.

And her next step was getting to know her patient. She wanted to know the specifics of his particular injury, how and when it had occurred, and get a feel for his mental state. Not that she had much of a baseline to go off. She knew next to nothing about batarians. But she knew that a positive outlook was just as important to the healing process as anything she would be doing in her lab.

Emily had read a file that was left by the prior physician and, even with her basic understanding, she could tell from the report that he'd been a hack. If he had treated the injury correctly from the start, she wouldn't be needed now. But he hadn't, and he was now most likely dead, leaving Patok's fate resting firmly in her hands. Despite her still limited knowledge, she was fairly certain that she'd be able to give him at least some functionality back. She only hoped it would be enough.

Emily let herself into his room and made her way over to the side of his bed. He looked up at her and nodded slightly.

"Doctor...I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name earlier."

"Wade. Doctor Emily Wade. And you? Do you go by Patok, or is there another name you would prefer?"

She was surprised by the warm smile he gave her before replying, "Patok is fine."

Emily pulled a chair up next to the bed and sat down so that she was eye-level with him.

"Patok it is, then. I wonder if I might ask you some questions. About your injury, how it occurred and any treatments you've had before now."

"Certainly."

The civility with which he was treating her took her off guard. It wasn't something she'd expected. Although, to be honest, she really hadn't known what to expect. He hadn't spoken a word either of the two times she'd been in his room with his brother. But common courtesy was something that she hadn't encountered since being forcefully taken from her home.

He seemed to read her mind as he said, "You seem surprised by my demeanor, Dr. Wade. I assume that to mean that my brother has been up to his usual tricks. May I ask you a question first?"

"Sure. What would you like to know?"

"How has my brother gained your cooperation? You don't seem the type to be bought, so I assume he has some sort of leverage over you."

Patok seemed to be genuine in his inquiry. She found it curious that he really had no knowledge of what his brother had done to get her here.

"You could say that. He destroyed my entire colony, killing almost everyone, including my husband. But my son is still alive, and your brother has made it clear that he will not remain that way if I do not give you back the full use of your limbs."

"I see." Patok was quiet for a moment before he finally said, "Then I suppose it would be pointless for me to ask if you'd be willing to purposely fail."


Omega naturally provided plenty of shadows for Carmine to stick to as she followed Wrex to the meeting with his contact. The problem was that there were already other people hiding in them. It was a test of her sneaking ability to try and move through without anyone noticing her, and she was grateful when he finally stopped outside of a warehouse in the lower reaches.

He had a way in, but she'd need to find her own. She spent several minutes looking around until she saw an air vent that she thought she'd be able to squeeze into. Next to Ellis' lanky build and Lee's muscular physique, Carmine had always felt like a little kid with her own petite frame. Now, however, she could definitely see it's advantages. Carefully making her way into the vent, Carmine started crawling towards the blinking triangle on her omni-tool.

The omni-tool had been a gift from Wrex, who gave it to her and told her to get rid of her old one so that she couldn't be tracked. He'd programmed it to his omni-tool so she could track him and also synced it with his apartment's key code. When she'd looked at him in surprise he had shrugged and told her to consider it payment for helping him with his job. She'd hugged him gratefully, and he'd growled in response, but she now knew the truth: Wrex was big softie. Especially for a mercenary-and a krogan.

She followed his marker through the building until it finally stopped in a room towards the back. Making herself as comfortable as she could in the tight space, she settled in to listen to their conversation. She and Wrex had done a little research prior to this meeting, so they'd have a good idea of what kind of equipment Sorn would be looking for. The turian that Wrex was meeting with, Platius, was apparently the man to see about medical equipment. Sorn would most likely be going through him, and Wrex had wanted to get to him first.

Carmine had to admit that she was almost disappointed when their meeting concluded without incident. Platius apparently owed Wrex a favor and that, combined with a modest bribe, had him promising to send the krogan a message as soon as Sorn contacted him.

Her disappointment turned to panic a moment later when Platius called out to Wrex's retreating back, "Oh, Wrex? There appears to be someone crawling through my vents. One of yours?"

Fuck.


A/N: I know they aren't even in this chapter, but I commissioned the AMAZING starfleetspectre over on tumblr to do the scene between Ellis and Lee and the end of the last chapter. You should really check it out: becominglolalu dot tumblr dot com /post/99599138088/can-i-just-tell-you-all-how-much-i-love

(Remove the spaces and turn the 'dots' to actual dots, of course.) ;) I love it so much!