I thought about leaving without saying goodbye; just wandering off to the citadel with Sid and just facing the music when I got back. Hell, maybe I needed a break from Archangel and his gang to get my head screwed on straight.

I was seriously gonna do it… until Archangel himself put other ideas in my head.

He and Monty got back from their little ambush and he called me into his room… something he'd always avoided doing before, content it seemed to let me run the show. I should have known his patience would give out eventually.

I hadn't helped things. I blamed myself.

In the months since our first… mind blowing encounter… we just hadn't been able to keep our hands… claws… whatever… off each other. I'd avoid him, he'd find me or I'd need him. Unable to resist my desires, I'd slip out of my bed in the dorm and sneak over to his room to see if he was still awake. If he was I rocked his world… if he wasn't… well I'd slip into bed next to him and let him wrap his arms around me, just so I could sleep next to his scent and the warm feel of his leathery skin.

I shouldn't have been surprised when he began to ask for my company. Hell… why should it just be on my say so?

I slipped into his room to find him stowing away his armour and rifles… including that nice special edition one I'd managed to get through my contacts with Aria. I smiled at remembering his surprise… and ultimate joy when he found someone had left him a present. He still didn't know it was me of course.

He turned to me when I came in and smiled in his turian way. "Hey." was his simple greeting.

"Hey." I replied taking a few steps into his room.

He moved to his desk and picked up a bottle of something alcohol filled. "You wanna drink? I managed to um… confiscate this one from Monty…"

I chuckled a little and folded my arms over my chest as I approached the desk. "You trying to seduce me Archangel?"

He put the bottle back on the desk, his eyes fixed on it. "A little… is it working?"

I unfolded my arms and moved my hand to rest on his face, my thumb tracing his colony marks. "Looks like it." I murmured, gently guiding his face forwards so his forehead touched mine. "Stressful day?" I asked him.

"The shipments were more guarded than I'd expected… I… wasn't sure we were gonna get out of that one."

I drew my body flush against his and gently ran my tongue and teeth along the delicate skin of his neck and jaw. He growled a little and his hands came to tighten around my waist.

"Maggie wait…" He said suddenly, though his voice seemed a little strained.

I drew back enough to look at him.

"I don't want you to think that I'm only here because I've had a rough day. I don't think of you like that I…"

I put my hand over his mouth, silencing him. "I get it." I didn't want him to carry on that sentence… I didn't want him to speak what was unspoken between us. I wasn't ready to face that yet. Hell, I could barely face him as it was. I liked the silence in our… relationship. It made it easier for me to accept him. I leaned up, standing on my tiptoes to brush kisses along his mandibles. He growled my name and finally his talons moved, now expertly seeking to undress me.

My top and trousers came away easy, pooling at my feet. My underwear was harder for him to dispatch, mainly because I was busy trying to even the playing field a little.

I was satisfied when the under armour he'd been wearing was finally laid on the desk and he was bared before me, satisfied enough to let him finish undressing me and toss my underwear to the floor with the rest of my clothing.

He tried to kiss me… difficult for a species without lips but I appreciated the gesture nonetheless and wrapped my tongue around his. His hands roamed my body, finding all the places I was sensitive and making me gasp against him. In return I ran my nails along his fringe and down the back of his neck before moving my free hand to grip at his soft, leathery waist. Avian though they maybe, he felt distinctly reptilian here, the leather skin mistakable for scales and the warm thrumming of strong muscles beneath reminding me of lizards and snakes. I loved the way he felt, such an exotic mixture of textures and shapes coupled with an extreme amount of sheer power. Such a sharp, beautiful contrast to soft human skin. Human skin that he seemed to relish in, his talons grazing down my spine and running over my breasts.

Deciding suddenly that he was bored of the gentle foreplay, he gripped my upper arms and swung me round to throw me to his bed. I bounced a couple of times, smiling as I stilled and looked up at him. He grabbed my ankle, running his hand up my leg and pulling it around his waist as he advanced on me, leaning down to run his tongue between and over my breasts, teasing each one until he was finally eye level with me, his parted plates pressed roughly against my hips. His hands slid between us and pulled my legs apart so he could get closer to my core, one of his nimble talons finding just the right spot to run teasing circles as he thrust forwards, groaning when he came into contact with my entrance.

He toyed with me till I was arching underneath him, trying desperately to get closer, get him to move a bit faster, then his hands gripped my thighs, just under my arse, holding me spread as he thrust into me in one swift movement. I made a yelping noise at his sudden intrusion… he'd always been so careful before, he caught me off guard. More so when he began to thrust heavily into me. It was both pleasurable and painful… my favourite combination. My moans turned to growls that matched his and my fingernails dug into the back of his neck. He was pushing my legs further apart and up at an odd, slightly uncomfortable, yet fantastically arousing angle, the position forcing me to give up total control to him and… gods… to trust him.

He was breathing hard against my neck, his thrusting became more erratic, the rhythm and depth disrupted in his desperation… he came growling into my shoulder and pushing against me with hard, uneven strokes.

He took just a moment to recover before his hands were on me again. Gently, he urged me to turn onto my stomach so he could press his teeth into the back of my neck while running his talons over my back… a more turian mating dance, but one that I loved. I arched into him, my hips bucking backwards into his groin as his talons set my skin on fire. As my arse rubbed him back to attention, he deepened his bite, breaking the skin and drawing blood with a savage growl. I couldn't stop my own returning growl and it seemed to spark something in him. His talons gripped my hips roughly and with a quick maneuver, he'd thrust into me… hard.

I bit down on the pillows as he began a punishing rhythm, going so far as to release his hold on my neck so he could straighten up and pound me that little bit harder, his talons on my hips pulling me backwards with every forwards thrust. Gods it was beautiful. I cried out and screamed his name… I begged him like a common whore and like a gentlemen he obliged, thrusting into me harder and faster like I asked.

I tried to raise myself up onto my hands, but one of his hands replaced his teeth on the back of my neck, holding me in a vice like grip and keeping my head pinned to the bed as he pulled my hips up higher, never once breaking his rhythm. I squirmed, trying to maneuver my hand south to touch myself, desperate for release.

"Don't!" He barked.

I froze, following his command instinctively. "Please!" I begged. "Garrus please."

He shook his head. "Not yet." He pulled out of me again and I moaned with displeasure at his absence. He pushed me back onto my back and grabbing my ankles, he pulled me to him, fixing my legs over his shoulders and leaning over me. He thrust back in and I moaned and tried to meet his thrusts, hard as it was in this position. His face was barely an inch from mine and he nibbled at my neck and collarbone. The advantage of this position was those magic lower plates he had, rubbed me in just the right place. In less than thirty seconds I was gasping and writhing on the precipice.

"Please!" I gasped a final time, not wanting to disobey him.

He let my legs fall to grip his waist and pressed his forehead against mine, his eyes locking with mine. "Now…" He whispered. "Come now Maggie."

For the first time in my life… I did as I was told. I screamed out his name so loud I was sure the entire neighborhood would hear me as fire engulfed both our bodies and I arched into his touch… into his last couple of thrusts before he followed me over the edge… our eyes still locked… our heads still touching.

Morning was actually slightly awkward. Not in my waking up with Garrus wrapped around me… I'd done that before. But in facing his gang at breakfast.

It seemed odd to me, but apparently none of them had cottoned on with any certainty that he and I had slept together… until my screaming the night before. Melenis just smiled a lot and when I questioned her said she'd simply thought we were getting on… that after the effort I put into avoiding Sidonis, she was sure it was all turians I didn't find attractive and had told the others as much. Ultimately though she said she was 'pleased for us'.

The others just gave me odd looks ranging from admiring, envious and cocky to irritated, distrusting and downright livid on Sidonis. His sour mood wasn't helped by Krul's harsh mocking that Archangel had won his woman for being a stronger male.

I tried to ignore the foul looks Sidonis was giving me, even when he approached me in the kitchen on the pretense of getting another drink.

"You said you weren't sleeping together." He mumbled under his breath so the others couldn't hear.

"When you asked… we weren't. Things changed."

"How long?" He asked glaring at his turian equivalent of tea.

"Excuse me?"

"How long have you been fucking!?"

"None of your business!" I snapped back.

"Does he have to pay you too? Doesn't seem his style."

"Fuck off Sidonis this is none of your business." I warned, turning to move away.

He grabbed my upper arm to stop me from going anywhere. "So you won't fuck me without pay but you'll do my boss?! Why? Doesn't seem your style to me! Is someone paying you to get close to him?"

I wrenched my arm from his grip. "Who I choose to get close to is none of your goddamn business!"

"Maggie!" He wasn't letting this go. I grabbed his drink and slammed it into the counter before grabbing the front of his cowl and pulling him down so I could glare at him with all the venom I could muster.

"You really wanna know the truth Sid… why him and not you? He's got a brain and a spine… he treats me like an equal, sees me as an equal and he never ever questions what I choose to tell him and what I choose to keep secret. That's why Sid! He's twice the turian you are and that's why he's in charge and your just a little lackey following him around and hoping that I might love you instead of him! Well bad luck buddy!"

"You love him?" I hadn't realized what exactly it was that I'd said until he asked me that… his face cold and impassive, his eyes darker and more closed off than I'd ever seen in him. It was almost frightening.

I pushed against his cowl violently. "If I did… it wouldn't be your business."

"You do… don't you. You love him."

"Shut up!"

"What… can't even admit it to yourself but you can use it against me?! Who's the coward now?"

"You have no idea what you're dealing with Sid." I snarled.

"No… I think for the first time I do see you clearly. You are so fucked up… you're not even worth trying to put back together! I thought you were strong… but you're not… your scared!"

My fist flew at his face before I knew I'd moved. I got him across the jaw. "Go to the citadel by yourself… I hope you rot there."

I shoved passed him and out the main doors, determined to get as far away from him as possible.

I didn't go back all day. I was angry at Sid for his words, for his nerve… but I was also angry with Archangel… with Garrus, for making me love him. I did. I couldn't pretend any different anymore and it was tearing through me like a rabid beast, poisoning me. Or maybe that was the alcohol, I'd heard one of the Omega barmen liked to poison humans. I was beyond caring.

I tipped back the last of my drink and ordered another, the batarian staring at me like I'd sprouted two heads. So he was poisoning me. I drew out my pistol and shot him square in the chest.

"No tips for you buddy." I said to myself as I slammed my gun on the bar and waved another bartender over.

The salarian looked over the corpse with absolute terror… but served me my drink anyway. Clever man.

"Wow… you must be having a shit of a day." A handsome turian sidled up next to me.

"Not interested fuck off." I downed my new drink and waved for another.

"Come on…" he protested. "There's better ways to work off stress than alcohol." He ran his hand over my hair, brushing it over my shoulder so he could move closer to my neck… it was a turian thing. I thought maybe it was the alcohol… or the poison, but he froze for a second when he saw my neck. I took the opportunity, grabbing his arm and slamming him down against the bar. "I said 'Not interested… fuck off'. You got a problem with your audio receptors!?"

"I'm sorry!" He protested, squirming under my grasp. "I didn't see your mark… your taken I get it."

I raised my eyebrows, but kept him in place. "What the fuck are you blabbering about!?"

"Your mark… it's turian right?" He seemed confused. "On the back of your neck. You've been bitten. It's how we mark our territory."

A wave of rage washed over me and I slammed his head against the bar, knocking him out cold and letting him slump to the ground.

"Maggie…" Grizz came up behind me, his gun drawn as always. "Aria says to drink without killing the other patrons, or fuck off."

"Aria can go fuck herself. Her booze is hardly worth paying for." I downed my last drink and glared at him as I slid off my stool and stormed towards the lower exit.

I got into the back allies in time to empty my stomach into the gutter. Yeah, I'd definitely been poisoned. I retched till there was nothing left to throw up then tried to stand to make my way home. My vision was blurred and I felt a fever coming over me. Shit. I blacked out.

When I woke I regretted it. I moaned into the pillows under my face and felt sick all over again.

"Into the bucket please." a plastic container was pushed into my hands and I vomited a mixture of clear fluid and blood into it. "Here, I got this from that salarian doctor down in the residential wing." A couple of pills were offered to me in a turian hand.

I sniffed a little. It was the wrong smell… it wasn't Garrus… or Sid… or any turian I knew intimately.

"What are you after?" I croaked out.

"Nothing."

"Bullshit. Everyone wants something."

"I work for Aria. I think she'd be pissed if you died on her."

I pulled my head away from my bucket and looked up at the turian standing over the bed. I recognized him.

"Gavorn right?"

He nodded. "You want these or what?" He waved the pills under my nose again. I took them.

"Thanks." I knew of Gavorn. He had a reputation of being good at his job… but if he wasn't so good with his gun he'd have been one of those 'good people' that Omega swallowed. How he ended up in this shithole I have no idea, he seemed a perfect turian Captain from what I'd heard, but I figured his lack of paint might have had something to do with it.

Very carefully I sat up and took the pills with the glass of water he offered. "I suppose you want me to fuck you or something now." I grumbled.

He laughed. "Hell no. First, you're really not my type… you know… being female and everything. Second… you're marked and I'd be an idiot to get my scent on a marked woman."

I glared up at him. "Won't your scent already be on me? Since I'm in your bed?"

He shook his head. "Not strong enough."

"Whatever. Well, what do you want then?"

"Not interested in repayment. I already told you that."

"I still don't believe you."

He smiled a little and sat on the end of the bed. "You work for Archangel right?"

"Thought you said I worked for Aria." I offered, raising an eyebrow.

He laughed again. "Yeah, but Archangel is where your loyalty lies." He raised his hands defensively as I opened my mouth to say something vicious. "I'm not criticizing. My other half is in his gang."

"Why aren't you then?"

"I'm more useful out here. I think Aria might just have me killed if she thought I was loyal to archangel. She's getting wary of him y'know."

"Who's your other half?" I asked, curious.

Gavorn smiled and leaned on his knee's "Human kid. Monty."

I snorted. "Figures." I glanced up at the clock on the beside table and swore. "Is that clock right!?"

He nodded. "Yeah. You've been out for a while."

I pushed the sheets off and got out of bed. "Well… thanks. I owe you one I guess."

He nodded once and watched me pull my boots on. "You're welcome. Tell Monty I'll see him tomorrow… if he's not busy."

I nodded and with a final thanks, made my departure. It was nearly eleven thirty in the evening and I was sure Archangel would start to wonder where I'd gotten too. Besides… I had a bone to pick with him.