The technology in this place is fascinating. It can be very difficult when dealing with creating programs or algorithms and really complicated things, but it's also surprisingly simple when it comes to modifying preexisting equipment.

With a few mods I ordered from a few 'reliable' sources, I increased the firing power of the Gorgon, decreased the cool-down time and it now shot electrically charged rounds that I modified myself to detonate when the target is afflicted by Overload.

With how much I've learned using the Gorgon, I decided to keep it. It was powerful, accurate, and reliable most of all. I used a program in my omni-tool to paint it dark purple and black and named it 'Medusa', because I'm a sentimental bastard like that.

I also ordered two pistols. A Karpov IX and a Harpy VII nicknamed by yours truly as 'Bagger' and 'Tagger' respectively. Bagger is modified with Tungsten rounds to punch through armor, along with a mod that increases firing power by sacrificing cool down time, along with an Incendiary mod to light people on fire. It is made to kill, no two ways about it.

Tagger is also modified, but with subduing targets in mind rather than outright murdering the shit out of them. It has an accuracy mod, along with a module that effectively turns the bullets into Tazer rounds that can tear through shields. The best part is the mod I made myself. If a target escapes me after being tagged by Tagger, the in-built sensors will keep track of him or her and lead me right to them, and I can take them down when they think they're safe.

I hadn't found I shotgun I really like, but I'll keep searching. If I can get my hands on a Claymore and modify it, I think that would be my best bet.

I also couldn't find the right sniper rifle. The Raptor was still in the prototyping stage at this point in time, so I bought an Equalizer VII and got down and dirty with that bad boy. I've learned over the time I've been spending with Tela that I am not a sniper. Long-range combat does not appeal to the killer in me. Sitting back, lining up a shot and then capping one enemy before moving on, waiting and lining up a shot is not my style. Fuck that, I am not nearly that goddamn patient.

So, I decided to go my own way. In the games I've played back before I got shot and even now, I've found great success as a Combat Sniper, as I like to call it. Instead of hanging back for long-range, a Combat Sniper is mid-range.

To that effect, I shaved down the barrel, removing a good amount of weight and range. I took the scope off entirely and replaced it with a simple red-dot sight. With the weight of the barrel and scope gone, I attached mod to increase the cool-down, which would allow me to fire more rounds than one or two before having cycle the heat sink, along with another mod that did the same, giving my rifle a lot more shots. It's now more like a carbine than a sniper rifle, and that's what I was aiming for. It's not as powerful as it used to be, but that was perfectly fine with me.

My little spending spree left me with very little cash left over. Thankfully, it was bolstered by the bounty I got off of the Eclipse leader, though it wasn't very much. I also got their armor and weapons after they were stripped of illegal modifications, so I sold those as well. The armor wasn't very useful, and the leader was the only one whose armor was some sort of protective, and it wasn't very strong either. I melted down the other armor into omni-gel and tried to shore up the protective properties, but I haven't been very successful. I'll just have to buy a better set at some point when I've got more cash.

That wasn't all I've been doing. Not even close.

Tela kicked my training up to eleven. I barely got any sleep these past three months. Every hour of every day was spent sparring with the Spectre, working out, practicing my biotics or shooting and dodging. Whatever free time I had is used to sleep or learning how to use the tech.

I also did research on bounty hunters, and well…I didn't like what I found. Bounty hunters are considered as mercenaries who would turn on other mercenaries for money, and weren't very well trusted, especially by the militaries of the galaxy. So, someone like Shepard (who I couldn't find out about on the extranet, to my chagrin) would rather shoot a bounty hunter than ask him to help.

So, shit. There goes that idea. But while I was pondering how to be badass while still being someone Shepard would grab for her team, I came up with an awesome idea.

I will have two identities. After all, who would connect Saul, mild-mannered but dangerous Private Investigator with Soleneus, ruthless Bounty Hunter?

Saul would operate in Council space, while Soleneus would operate in the Terminus systems, which would keep the identities apart from one another.

I still hadn't figured out what my last name would be. Going to let my mind fester on that for a bit…

I don't know what it is about this day, but it seems…final, like something is about to come to a very solid and official end.

I don't like it.

But I really don't have time to think.

Tela's standing a few feet away, in her fighting stance, wearing her typical attire of a sports-bra and a pair shorts.

I'm standing a few feet away from her in my fighting stance, which is a lot less graceful than hers and more along the lines of pugilism and karate than anything.

We're both tense, ready for action.

On some silent signal, we charge. Every attack that I block or turn away is turned around and made into another attack, and every move that I make is dodged with grace and flexibility.

Our arms become tangled, and it turns into a contest of strength. I'm trying to push her over and she's doing the same, our sweat mingling as we struggle to knock the other over.

One of her legs kicks out the back of my knee, and I tumble onto my back. There's triumph on her face, but she doesn't see my legs coming up. My feet are pressed against her stomach as my back hits the mat, and I push up as I roll, throwing her across the room with a surprised yell escaping from her lips.

She hits the ground and rolls to her knees, already facing me as I jump forward, one leg outstretched and aimed for her face.

Tela, using her hax-flexibility, net backwards, nearly pressing her back against the floor, avoiding me entirely.

I landed, and she was already there, her arms under my shoulders, knee pressed against my back. I find myself leaving the ground and hitting the mat in a submission hold.

Before she can even say anything, and I know she would, I reached up and wrapped my hands around the back of her neck and pulled her forward.

Tela goes over my head and looses her breath as I roll over on top of her, my knee pushing against her stomach. She bucks, throwing me to the left while she tries to sit up, but my right arm is around her shoulders. I pull her top half over my side, leaving her legs sticking up into the air, with her arms trapped together by our bodies, her face inches away from mine.

"I win." I say, breathlessly.

Tela struggles for a couple of seconds, and then goes limp and nod with a sigh. "Yeah, you win." She concedes.

"OH YEAH!" I threw my arms up in the touchdown pose. "Score! I finally beat you like I said I would! Whoo!"

Tela shakes her head with a small smile at my antics. "Only took you what, seven months?"

"Hey!" My finger is pointing straight at her face. "You're a Spectre, and I'm just a guy. Just a guy that beat you, finally, but still, regular (somewhat) human being. So bite me."

Her teeth would have snapped down on my finger had I not jerked away. "So, you're into biting huh? I never would have guessed."

Yeah, because the obvious bite mark on my neck came from an animal attack.

…that fits, now that I think about it.

"You don't know what I'm into, Tela." It comes out dryer than I expected or intended, but if she notices she doesn't show it.

"Come on, let's go watch the sunset." I follow her out onto the back porch, where the sun is sinking behind the hills, the last fingers of light poking me in the eyeballs.

As the sun goes down, the feeling of impending doom starts to intensify, but I can't figure out why.

Tela looks to me, her mouth opening to speak, when her omni-tool chimes. "I-I'm going to take this." She stumbles over her words uncharacteristically and hops up, nearly running around the house. I wonder what she wanted to say.

She comes back nearly twenty minutes later, when the sun is good and gone for the night. It may just be the moonlight, but Tela seems pale to me. "Goodnight," She mutters shortly, disappearing back into the house without another word.

I go in, take a shower and hop into bed, but Tela's attitude is rankling me something fierce. I've seen her get frustrated before, particularly when she taught me how to make a Biotic Barrier. But this shortness and anger is…alien. Foreign.

I'm nearly asleep now. It's pitch black in my room, and I can feel sleep start to creep up on me when the door opens.

There's only one other person in this house. I try to ask her what's wrong, but her finger keeps my lips closed.

She doesn't say anything. She pushes me back onto the bed, her lips caging mine, and all I can do is feel.

…

The morning sun tries to wake me up gently, stroking me face and warming my body, but quickly decides that it isn't worth it and pokes me right in the eyeballs.

There's no one else in my room this morning, but there's still evidence of our late night activities. I can still taste her in my mouth, but there's no here.

The house seems colder than I remember, and I after I shower, I can only find traveling clothes. All the rest of my stuff is gone.

So is Tela's. Besides my rumpled bed and the water on the ground in the bathroom, there's no evidence that anyone has lived her. The fridge is empty, so are the cupboards and there's no furniture.

Outside, the sky car has my bags, two duffles, one filled with my weapons and armor, and the other with a change of clothes and a note.

Zakera Ward, 9312, 9000 Block, Citadel.

I'm sorry.

Don't try to find me.

And that's it. The door to the house locks behind me.

I don't know what's going on, but the answers to my questions are at the Citadel.

…

The sky-car hums as I land it outside of one of the space ports on Bekenstein. I grab my bags, slinging one over my shoulder and carrying the other.

As I approach the station, a blue Salarian with a datapad and an officious air meets me. "Are you Saul?" He asks, not even bothering to be polite.

At my nod, he taps his datapad and sends something to my omni-tool. "You have thirty minutes until your shuttle is impounded and you will be fined. Your fees have already been paid. Good day."

I barely notice as he leaves. Shuttle? Since when did I have a shuttle? And more to the point, who paid the fees for me?

Following the directions on my omni-tool, I find my shuttle in waiting for me, engines running and everything. It's not very big, only about ten meters long, with a few small cannons for defense.

The inside is small, but roomy and comfortable. There's a bed, a desk, a bathroom and a kitchen, separated from the cockpit by a door.

I shuck my bags on the bed and sit down in the pilot's chair, the holo-panels opening up and ready to be directed.

My fingers deftly skip across the controls, and I can feel the ship rise into the air. With another quick series of taps, I'm moving up, shooting through the atmosphere and into the blackness of space.

I set the VI to steer me to the Citadel and start scanning the readouts and systems. The ship is small, but with a powerful engine and a nice array of weapons that would be frankly useless against bigger ships, but good to keep me somewhat safe.

All the systems are green, and there's nothing to do, so I open Galaxy of Fantasy on the desk and start playing my Krogan Black Paladin to get my mind off things.

…

I dock at the Citadel, after being contacted by control, the Turian on the other end informing me that my reserved dock was waiting for me.

Once again, someone has gotten me something that I knew I would eventually need.

I grab my bags, attach Tagger to a magnetic holster on left hip, and set off for the 9000 blocks in a sky car.

It doesn't take me long to get to the blocks, and I walk the distance, scanning the addresses for 9312, finally finding it squeezed between an antique shop and a Japanese-Asari restaurant.

The door is small and simple, but the words on it make me pause, and I finally know just who it is that's arranged all of this for me.

Saul Dewitt

Private Investigator

And Co.

Tela.

The door slides open, and I see a desk with a chair, and a set of stairs leading up. I set the duffle bags down and slump down in the chair. The computer starts, and the screen pops up without my activation.

Welcome to the Citadel, Mr. Dewitt. I hope you become a productive member of the Citadel Private Security Forces.

-Councilor Tevos.

Citadel Private Security Forces? I guess that means I'm not a part of C-Sec, just an affiliate. That'll be good to draw in clients.

Soft steps sound from behind me, and I spin around in my chair, Tagger primed and ready, pointed straight between the eyes of…

"Dr. Nelon?"

The red Salarian smiles slightly. "Good to see you again, Saul."

What the hell? How did he get here?

"Why are you here, doc? How did you get here?" I ask.

He shrugs lightly. "Spectre Vasir sent me a message, asking me to come to the Citadel and join you in your Private Investigations. Said something about 'needing a doctor'. Nasurn boring, came here to alleviate boredom. Always wanted to be a detective. Noire films, very interesting, fun to do." He taps his chin in thought. "Also enjoyed Sherlock Holmes. 'Elementary, my dear Watson!', though not a real quote, still fun. Looking forward to working with you."

My pistol is holstered as I step up and shake his hand firmly. "I don't really know what's going on, doc, but you're welcome here. Thanks for sending me those programs. I've gotten quite proficient with them."

Nelon nods in respect. "Good. Was hoping for that outcome."

The door slides open, drawing our attention to woman stepping through. "E-excuse me, Mr. Dewitt?" She has short blonde hair and is wearing a purple dress that, while fitting for the time, is still kind of old looking. It hugs the young lady quite nicely, though. "I'm Mary, Mary Hudson. I own the restaurant next door, Cultured Cuisines…and I was wondering if you would take my case?"

The good doctor and I trade glances. "I guess we got to start somewhere." I say, and Nelon nods.

"How can we help you, Mary, was it? What seems to be the problem?" I gesture for her to take a seat in front of my desk as I settle across from her, Nelon standing by the side.

"W-well, I order a lot of fish for my dishes. Asari and Japanese food use a lot of fish, you see, and…anyway, my orders keep disappearing." She wrings her hands nervously, the poor girl looking like she'll burst into tears at any minute. "I keep finding empty tanks that my fish were supposed to come in, but no fish! If I can't get any fish, I can't serve my customers, and if I can't serve my customers, I'll go out of business!" Mary buries her face in her hands and sobs.

I step around my desk and lay a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry, Mary. We'll take the case."

She looks up at me, her big brown eyes glittering with tears. "You will? Thank you so much!"

Mary jumps up and crushes me into a hug. Christ, this girl is a lot stronger than she looks!

Nelon is amused, I can see it in his eyes.

While this isn't what I imagined I would be doing while I wait for Shepard, it's still something to do. I'll still be helping people like I want to, and eventually, bigger cases will show up. I still have to find Tela and see what's going on with her, but for now, it's nice and simple.

And sometimes, that's all you need.

…

A/N: Bam! Who saw that coming, huh? Twist.

To dispel some questions, Sol will still be a Bounty Hunter. He'll be both a PI and a BH, but keep the identities separate.

Thanks to all who've reviewed, you guys rock.

Read, Review, and Enjoy.

Stay Awesome.

~Soleneus

P.S.: I'm aware of the references I've made, so there's no need to point them out unless they're amusing.

Stay Awesome Some More.

~still Soleneus