An author note to the readers:

Alright! So this was possibly one of the hardest chapters I've ever written. I tried to fix as many errors as I can (with a good deal of help from other people), so I hope the narrative flows a little bit better in this chapter.

Also, there is a particular song that strongly influenced me while I was writing this chapter. It has no lyrics, but music can sometimes speak more words than a singer. If you want to enhance the mood and atmosphere of this chapter, I strongly suggest that you listen to this song called "Heritage" by a band named "Opeth" on youtube. In fact, I think I'm kind of considering it to be the theme for "Mr. De Luca". A new character that you will be introduced in this chapter. At least in my head. Everything is based on your perspective (pun intended).

So with that all said, I give you this monster of a chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 9- Heritage

"You sure we got the right guys?"

The booming voice blares through his ears as if it were the sound of a reaper horn. A trickle of sweat and blood from his brow fell into his eyes, and it gave the most excruciating string he's felt in a very long time. He tried to get up but he soon realized the extent of the situation he was currently in. There were four armed gunmen. Two of them were currently wielding submachine guns while the other two held crowbars, that appeared to have been used against something recently. Both him and Garrus had their hands handcuffed behind their backs, and were strapped to the chairs they are sitting on. Neil's vision was about to fade to black until he felt the stinging chill of ice cold water thrown onto his face. His gasp echoed throughout whatever parking structure they were currently held in.

One of the gunmen walked over to him with a slimy smile and ripped off one of his face bandages. His pained yelp amused their attackers, whoever they were. "Well would you look at that. We got beauty and the beast here waking up." The man that was closest started making gestures to Neil and Garrus. Their vicious laughs rang throughout the building, which he assumed was abandoned.

He felt like he is in vertigo as his vision began to fade in and out. A huge rush of adrenaline coursed through him, almost like when he was racing Garrus in that Mako. Though what happened between the end of that race and where they are now seemed like a complete daze to him. Neil glanced at Garrus and his pupils widened. The look that was painted all over his face seemed eerily similar to when Shepard had just rescued him from Omega. One side of his face was bloodied, and his glare was glued onto the assailants. Garrus looked like a hawk ready to swoop down on its prey. Their assailants however, seemed as though they didn't have any boundaries.

"Damn. So you're telling me that this bloke right here is the Archangel? I thought the big three took this asshole down."

"They were about to, but fucking Romeo over here pulled his ass out of the fire."

Neil could tell that these people were from the United North American States. They were probably from the east coast of the continent.

"Heh. They don't look that scary up close. More like a bunch of B-grade scumbags pretending to be desperados."

"And they say that these two dumbasses were responsible for saving the galaxy three times? Just because they shot up a few geth here and few reapers there? Well newsflash buddy, so where about a billion other fucking people in this damned galaxy. How come they don't get a spot in the limelight huh?"

"Shut. The hell. Up." Garrus's deep growl took everyone back for a moment, including Shepard. His voice sounded less turian and more like a rage induced beast.

"Or what, turian?" One of the ragged clothed humans said mockingly.

Garrus was silent for several moments while he slowly raised his head toward the human. It felt surreal to watch him like that. The deathly gaze that he's presented to them reminded him a lot of the close encounter with Saren on Virmire.

"It's unfortunate that you all decided not to wear masks or helmets today." The way Garrus spoke with cool and calm ease initiated a shiver up Neil's spine. The gunmen looked at each other curiously before Garrus interrupted their train of thought.

"I remember faces very well. I also don't tend to forget and forgive easily as well. It's something I developed over the years."

"And this matters how?" One of the gunmen said clumsily.

Garrus responded with a deep chuckle the resonated throughout whatever structure they were held captive in.

"You all made two very big mistakes. For one, you attacked me and my close friend here." He paused to clear his throat and then continued. "That is…something I won't easily forgive."

The ragged humans were not intimidated by this. Instead they started chuckling and exchanging amused grins to each other.

"Your second mistake." He continued. "May be the biggest and most fatal of the two. You have all provided me your physical features and your voices. That is something I won't easily forget. So once I am set free from this poorly designed trap and you all start to run, and you will run. I will hunt all of you down, one by one. Will I end up killing you? Oh, well that depends. Maybe if you get me in a good mood, I'll decide to break your legs instead." Their assailants wanted Archangel, and it seemed that Garrus was taking the pleasure to provide.

One of the humans grew a stupid grin on his face and decided to clap.

"Man, look at this guy. Quite a movie star you turned out to be huh?" His henchman decided to laugh along with him.

"He's all talk and no action. He ain't scary. Truth is, he's nothing. Isn't that right turian?" The human dipped his in front of Garrus's head, and was tapping his submachine gun on top of his fringe in a mocking fashion.

"Hey, did you hear that Archangel? Let me say it again to get it through that thick ugly skull of yours. You are nothing but garbage without that shiny rifle of yours-"

He was cut off after Garrus delivered a strong head-butt to the assailant's nose. The man fell back onto the ground and clutched his broken nose. A river blood began to flow freely over his palm and made a small pool on the ground.

" You motherfucking spic!" One of his accomplices pulled out his submachine gun and pointed it to Garrus's head. Just when it seemed like he was about to execute him there was another voice coming from a different man that echoed throughout the parking structure.

"Enough!"

All four gunmen stopped what they were doing and glanced behind them. There stood a much older looking man. His facial features looked as worn out as the leather coat he was currently wearing.

"You two. You two killed my boy."

"I'll race you back to the camp, Shepard."

Neil glanced back at him and rolled his eyes.

"I think you got me in enough trouble as is, Vakarian. Also I'd rather not give Tali one too many heart attacks today."

"Me? So I got you in trouble now huh? All you could of said was "no"."

"Mako drag racing through the empty streets of London with a close friend? How could anyone pass up that opportunity?"

"Didn't you tell me at one point that my ego was the size of the Normandy? Hell Neil, your ego is the size of the damned black hole in the middle of the galaxy. It was too easy."

"Still worth it though. Hey, you said you've never really had experience driving a Mako. How did you pull off that stunt back there?"

"Well, Neil. I was reading and watching instruction maunals in case you really screwed up, so then I'd get to drive you and Tali back safely. Always had your back from the beginning and whatnot."

"Thank you for the kind sentiment, Garrus." Neil responded sarcastically.

"Your welcome." Garrus responded with the same mocking tone.

"Alright, let's get you back to Tali before she starts sending us angry calls again." He couldn't help but chuckle at the end of that statement.

As Neil got into the Mako and watched Garrus speed off in front of him. Suddenly his omni-tool got another resounding ping.

"Has she missed me that much? We haven't been gone for more than thirty minutes now."

When he looked down at his omni-tool he noticed the sender was anonymous, and it was untraceable.

"Quite an impressive show you put out there today Shepard. The galaxy's biggest hero trying to shed light unto the darkness. Then he races off into the sunset with his friend through London. I couldn't help but applaud you myself."

"What?" This message took him off guard. His eyes furrowed as he read the message several times over.

"Shepard, what's going on back there? Thought you were right behind me."

"I got a message from a secret admirer."

"Say what now?"

"Someone is watching us Garrus. Keep your eyes sharp."

"Alright, I'll wait here for you. Hurry up- wait a minute." His voice suddenly became static and then there was silence.

"Garrus? What happened?" Neil felt his muscles tense. Something was definitely wrong here. He cursed himself for not bringing his sidearm with him.

"You better come over here fast. I just stumbled upon two people in ragged clothes asking me for help. Looks like another small pocket of survivors."

Neil activated the Mako's engine and went full speed towards where Garrus went. "I'm on my way. Garrus, keep an eye out for anyone that might be stalking us."

"And who might that be exactly?"

"I can only guess." Neil responded calm but tensely.

As he approached Garrus's Mako his omni-tool was pinged with another message.

"But being called a "hero" or a "villain" is subjective, isn't it?"

He ignored the message and approached Garrus and the two other humans. Those two looked genuinely scared and desperate.

"My goodness, bless both of you. We were running out of food and medical supplies. There was no way we could have survived out here."

"It's alright sir. The camp isn't that far away from here. We'll call in an evac squad for you and your people." Garrus's smooth talk seemed to do the trick, as the men seemed to have calmed down.

"Thank you so much kind sir. You and your friend just saved a lot of people today. There are about twenty more of us holed up in that store over there." The ragged clothed man pointed at a building that appeared to have taken heavy damage during the invasion.

"Please, we'd greatly appreciate it if you helped some of us out before you call in the evac."

Garrus glanced back at Neil and shrugged.

"Might as well, I guess?"

Neil frowned back at him. Something about this didn't feel right.

"Garrus, you have a pistol with you just in case?"

He tried checking his sides for anything but then slowly shook his head.

"Damn it, must of left mine back at the camp."

"Alright, let's see what these people want and then we call in the evac as soon as possible. We don't need to be out here longer than necessary."

As the group neared the building one of the men broke the silence.

"Hey, just curious. You two happen to be Commander Shepard and Garrus Vakarian?"

Neil and Garrus exchanged concerned glances with each other. His omni-tool was then pinged with another message.

"I'd run if I were you."

"Garrus."

The ragged men in front of them quickly spun around with their submachine guns aimed at them. The last thing he remembered until everything went black were their laughter and Garrus plunging to the floor after getting hit with a crowbar.

"You killed my son."

"Don't worry Mr. De Luca, we got them pretty good for ya."

"Shut up." The old man with the cane said sharply as he slowly wobbled closer towards Neil and Garrus. He didn't look enraged or grieved. Instead he looked passive, expressing absolutely no emotion.

"You two killed my boy. My only son."

"Sir we never murder people in cold blood."

"SHUT UP AND LISTEN, TURIAN!" Mr. De Luca shouted at him with a deep and raspy type growl. Even Garrus was slightly taken off guard by the outburst.

The old man stared at the ground in front of him with a frown, giving no one in the vicinity eye contact while he spoke.

"He was all I had left." De Luca was as still as a statue for several minutes before continuing.

"Heroes are not supposed to…shoot someone who was running away twice in the back, Archangel."

"How do you know-" De Luca cut him off.

"Why shouldn't I know about the ones responsible for my son's death? The life I helped build? MY OWN BLOOD?" His body was practically shaking with anger and he was beginning to become more frantic by the minute.

"And you!" He did a quick jab at Neil's stomach with his cane. He let out a gasp as De Luca pulled his hair back.

"The "hero of the citadel", pulled his ass out of the pit of hell he was being sent to. You not only let him free, but you two happen to be best buds huh? My boy's blood is on your hands too!"

"I've only shot at people who attacked me sir." Garrus tried to talk reason to the man, but he didn't take any of it.

"He did it out of desperation you fucking digusting spic! You did something stupid and you had a high bounty on your head. His wife was dying, and he didn't have any money to pay for the expenses. I never knew where he was until it was too late."

De Luca started sniffling and almost crumbling over. One of his henchman tried to help him up but he was knocked back. "Get off me damn it!"

He glared back at Neil and Garrus, and this time Neil spoke back in a raspy voice.

"I am truly sorry for your loss sir. But like Garrus said, we only kill people who are trying to kill us or harm other people."

"Bullshit. My son at the end didn't want to shoot at any of you. They told me that he dropped his gun on that bridge and he ran. This son of a bitch that you call a friend shot him twice in the back with no remorse."

"Sir there was about a thousand pissed off mercenaries that all had their sights on me. It's really hard to tell which ones were harmless when it seemed like everyone wanted my head on a stake. Look mister, I am sorry that your son got caught in the cross-fires. But he could have done several other safer jobs than a gun-for-hire in order to support his wife. He knew what he was getting himself into. "

After Garrus's retort, De Luca went completely hysterical and swung his cane at Garrus's skull several times.

"SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP! SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" Each time he yelled he would swing his cane at Garrus, not caring where it struck. Neil winced as he witnessed his best friend get beaten to a pulp from an old, grieve stricken man that had vengeance on his mind. After his last and powerful swing his cane snapped in half, and Garrus let out a pained yell. Neil didn't get hit by the cane, but he still felt as much pain in his soul as Garrus felt pain on his body.

"Unstrap them." De Luca's armed thugs looked at him in confusion.

"I SAID DO IT!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.

Once the men scrambled around to release the handcuffs and the straps, both Neil and Garrus plummeted to the floor head first. As they were getting up De Luca pushed both pieces of his broken cane in between them and forced the two to wield them as weapons.

"YOU BOTH KILLED MY SON, FIGHT EACH OTHER UNTIL ONE OF YOU DIES!"

De Luca finally started to crumble over in his tears, and the leader of the armed thugs supported him.

"You three trap them in a triangle. None of them escapes, you got that?" All three of the thugs followed his orders obediently, formed a triangle around Garrus and Shepard with their guns and crowbars drawn.

"Come on boss, he said the shuttle will be here in a few." De Luca didn't respond since he was two busy succumbing to his grief. Shepard watched the man limp off the scene and then glanced back at Garrus. Both of them looked at each other sorrowfully. After all the hell they've been through, and after thinking that they have lives to look forward to, they were being forced to submit and bludgeon each other until one of them kicks the bucket.

Garrus dropped his weapon and gazed at Neil.

"I can't do that to her. I'm sorry." He's never heard Garrus's voice break under his emotions before, but it felt absolutely devastating to listen to.

"Build a house for her, and build the life that you've been fighting for. After that, I'll be waiting for both of you at the bar."

"Yeah, listen to the turian scum bag. Kill him Shepard!" One of the gunmen began cheering.

Neil stared back at Garrus for several moments. He's already sacrificed to much, just to be alive. He could barely stand to look at himself in the mirror since he knew that he sacrificed the geth and his pilot's lover, and then have the audacity to pursue his selfish, love-stricken desires. If he were to murder Garrus now, he would never live with himself. In the end, everyone would lose. He sunk his head down and shook his head.

"No."

"If you don't stab him then we'll fill ya both with thermals!"

"Go to hell."

"What the fuck did ya say to me!" The one that was yelling forced Neil to his knees and put his weapon on the back of his head. He was about to execute him until several shots rang out in the room.

Tali, Vega, and Ashley stood at the top of the adjacent staircase, all aiming their sights at the thugs.

"Drop your weapons and take a step away from them, and we won't shoot!" He was quite surprised that Ashley had come along. Now that she was a council spectre, she was free to do whatever she wants. Not that he thought that she wouldn't save him if she had the chance, but rather that he thought that she would be on the citadel trying to coordinate rescue missions.

"You drop the gun bitch! And these guys won't be food for the street rats!"

"I suggest you listen to the lady asshole. You are now pointing guns at two council spectres, and the Alliance is getting this place surrounded. Drop your weapons before this gets nasty." Vega responded back.

"Shepard is a fucking dead man, you hear that? He's dead and we need the money!" When the man was about to put his weapon back to Neil's skull and execute him, Tali's shotgun rang out and took out his legs. His friends looked at him in horror as he was screaming under excruciating pain. After exchanging silent glances with each other they dropped their weapons and surrendered.

Vega and Ashley quickly moved in to apprehend them. Soon the room was flooded with Alliance marines and they took both of them away with their assault rifles drawn on them. Tali on the other hand stood over the man she just shot and aimed her shotgun at him.

"Tell me who hired you."

"Please, please don't shoot! Just some guy named De Luca. Put a 50k credit ransom on each of their heads I swear!"

"We're only worth that much to you?" Garrus scoffed and shook his head.

Tali ignored Garrus and continued her interrogation. "Why did he put a ransom on their heads?"

"Because some guy tipped him off about how his son died, and pinned it on Archangel and Shepard. Said he had evidence and that he can help-AAAGH!" The man started to scream when Tali applied pressure on his bullet wounds with her foot.

"Who is this person?"

"If I had to guess Tali, it's Caleb." Neil responded in a raspy voice.

"Was the man that tipped De Luca off Caleb Ronan?" Ashley decided to join in on the interrogation.

"I don't know man! Just some guy who called himself a realist, he didn't give out his name please I swear!"

They all exchanged glances with each other and nodded in acknowledgement. Vega then got himself involved in the interrogation.

"Sounds like Caleb. Where is this "De Luca" pendejo now? Spit it out asshole!"

"He's getting himself on a shuttle just behind the building here. I'm not sure where he's going man, he said he'll pay us all after the job is done!"

Ashley patted Tali's shoulder in attempt to stop her from inflicting more pain.

"Come on, let's go. He's not worth it." She said to her sympathetically.

Tali ignored Ashley and stomped the man's stomach. While he was gasping she dipped her helmet lower to the ground. Her glowing eyes were narrowed as she spoke in a volatile and threatening tone.

"If you even dare go near Garrus and my Shepard after this, I won't hesitate to put every single thermal round from my shotgun into your body. Do you understand?"

"Yes, please! I won't even think about messing around with you crazy bastards I swear!"

"Good."

She knocked out the man with a curb stomp and helped Neil get up on his feet.

"Come on, we need to go after that man before he gets away."

"Don't need to tell me twice, love."

When they arrived at Mr. De Luca's shuttle it seemed like they were to late. His shuttle was already in the air and ready to speed away. However Liara sprang into action and used her powerful biotics to slam the ship back onto the ground, and successfully disabling it. Soon the scene was crawling with armed soldiers subduing both De Luca and the lone henchman that was supporting him. One of the soldiers dragged out the shuttle pilot and discovered that he was wearing a Cerberus insignia.

"Anyone else here that beeping noise?" Vega asked.

"I'll go take a look." Ashley began to move in to investigate, but Liara lightly tapped on her shoulder.

"I'll come with you. Just in case."

"I appreciate the back up."

As the two moved in to investigate the Cerberus shuttle, Neil was pinged with another message.

"Neil, who's sending you messages?" Tali asked curiously as she huddled close to him to read his omni-tool.

"In honor of your romantic relationship, I shall spark a fire to symbolize the burning love you have for each other!"

Neil read the message twice out loud, and then his pupils widened when he finally understood the implication.

"Hey skipper, you there? We found some small handheld device. It's blinking red. Orders-"

"Ashley, get Liara out of there right now! That is a bomb that you are holding!" He frantically yelled over the comms and then at everyone else within the vicinity.

"Take cover! There is a bomb in the shuttle!" The device was now beeping rapidly, and the Alliance squad was scrambling around trying to get as far away from the shuttle as possible. Though to his dismay, he didn't see Ashley or Liara among them.

"Get down!" Vega yelled out to everyone. Acting out of pure instinct, Neil tackles Tali to the ground and uses his body as a human shield for her. An intense heat wave was dispersed from the explosion that ate away at parts of his clothing. It eerily reminded him of the explosion on the crucible. The only difference was that if he died here, at least he would fulfill his promise of being with her until the very end.

To him, once the shuttle exploded, time seemed to gradually slow to a halt. Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes turned into hours. To him it lasted an eternity, and all he could do is clutch onto her as tight as he can muster while staring into those wonderful luminous eyes. He couldn't help but hold on as he feels an external force try to pry him away from her.

"Shepard!" He hears a voice call out for him, but he is too dazed to know who or what is calling out to him. These hectic events were happening so fast that he just can't keep up with his life anymore.

Once he was up on his feet, his vision began fading to black until he was violently shook back into reality. When he had the strength to open his eyes again he was looking into the eyes of a turian. He had his talons gripped onto his shoulders and tried desperately to get Neil conscious again.

"Come on Shepard now isn't the time to go daydreaming. Wake up!" Garrus shook Neil again, and he was about to fall limp onto the ground. Garrus helped Neil get back on his feet and used an arm to wrap around his shoulder as support. His legs felt incredibly weak and he felt as if he was going to buckle over. To his surprise and relief, it was Tali that kept him from falling this time.

"I'm with you, Neil." She spoke softly.

"Where… is Liara and Ashley?" His voice was completely gone, and a horrible croaking noise replaced it.

"Holy shit." Vega pointed towards the epicenter of the explosion with an bewildered expression. Liara held a protective biotic shield that engulfed her and Ashley. After a few moments her shield dispersed and she fell to her knees, exhausting her powers. "Well, I guess it was right for me to not volunteer to back her up afterall, huh?"

Neil let out a deep sigh of relief, but then he perked his head up.

"Where is De Luca?"

"Our boys caught the bastard commander. Passed out after the explosion." Vega gestured his weapon towards the soldiers carrying the old man into their shuttle.

"Good, we need him alive so can get more intel on Caleb's whereabouts. Or possibly what Cerberus is planning." Neil began coughing in pain as he inhaled smoke from the burning Cerberus shuttle.

"Alright Shepard, take it easy." Garrus gestured Tali to help Shepard move away from the scene, and soon Ashley and Liara caught up with them.

"Another day, another explosion. Huh loco?"

"Yeah. Could become the galaxy's best action movie star at this rate." Ashley decided to jump aboard the joke bandwagon, and Neil couldn't help but grin as people were trying to make light of the situation. Caleb tried to bring him down to his level today, but it didn't work. To him that's all that matters.

"So I'm guessing you won't let us do Mako races anytime soon then, Tali?"

"You are a moronic bosh'tet and we are going to have a talk about this once Neil gets some rest."

Garrus exhaled loudly and shook his head.

"Looking forward to it."

I'd just like to give a shout out to the people the beta-read this chapter. You know who you are. ;)