When the crew was few drinks in, Garrus dismissed himself, Shepard following a few moments after. She brought Grunt along just in case they needed a heavy hitter, and she knew he couldn't care less what was happening as long as he could kill things. They met outside the warehouse to meet Fade, and she had to suppress a laugh when she saw a volus. There was no way that was him. And she was right.

"Oh…Good." He slowly walked away, knowing his life was in the balance.

"We should have guessed that sleezeball was in on this." Harkin was on her shit list, ever since he ran his scummy little eyes on her and propositioned her. She'd wanted to punch his lights out.

"Why didn't we kill the volus?" Grunt seemed almost disappointed.

"Shepard thinks they are cute." Garrus said distantly before turning to leave the room. She saw the change, and it worried her.

"C'mon Grunt, we need to stick close." She said quietly.

"Harkin! Old buddy! Great to see you." She said with mock sincerity shortly after the shuttle landed.

"S-shepard? He stuttered.

"Oh good, you do remember." She cracked her knuckles, "You and I need to have a little chat."

He sicked his mercenaries on them and took off running deeper into the warehouse.

"Run all you want, Harkin. We'll find you." Garrus shouted after him, his tone low and menacing. She could tell he was starting to slip into that darkness, he was so close to his goal.

"Well, I guess it was only a matter of time before he snapped." She stood beside him at the window overlooking the factory.

"He was always a pain in the ass," Garrus snapped, "But I am in no mood for his games. If he doesn't cooperate I'll beat him within an inch of his life."

He was growling, every muscle was tense as he bared his teeth at the invisible foe hiding before them. She put a hand on his shoulder and he shrugged it off, it hurt more than she was expecting.

"Talk to me, Garrus."

"If he knows why we are here, I don't want him tipping Sidonis off, that bastard can't get away again."

He scanned the room and ducked into cover, she saw the movement to and did the same. She knew it was probably better not to ask, but she needed to know.

"What are you going to do when we find Harkin?"

"I should shoot him on site, but I need him alive, so…enough to loosen his tongue."

"Garrus…"

"Don't worry, he's a coward. He'll talk long before I can do any permanent damage." He snarled, "And as soon as I find Sidonis I'll put a bullet through his head and end this. It will be quick and painless, unlike the lives he took."

"Do you really think that will set things right?"

"I know you don't like it, Shepard, but I have to do this."

She was still worried, but dropped it for now. He said he knew the consequences and that he could live with them, but she didn't want him to have to. She'd killed so many before, so many that could be justified as innocent, they walked her nightmares every night. She hated the thought that he would have that same guilt hovering over him.

They fought their way through the mechs and finally got to Harkin. Garrus slammed him into the wall and tried to bargain, Garrus just kept hitting him when he didn't cooperate.

She sighed, "Harkin, this doesn't have to be hard. You never used to stick your scrawny little neck out for anyone before, why risk your life by doing it now?"

"Screw you. I wont tell you where he went, its bad for business."

He barely uttered the words and Garrus had him pinned to the floor under his boot, pressing down on his wind pipe.

"I'd be more careful with what I say, Harkin. Now, are you going to give me the information I want, or should I break your neck?"

Garrus was right, after slamming him into the wall and then into the ground, Harkins tongue loosened. She had to pull him off before he strangled the man under his boot. He set up the appointment and she was barely able to pull Garrus' gun away in time to keep from shooting Harkin. As soon as she turned away, he slammed his hard plates directly into Harkin's forehead, rendering him unconscious on the floor. She looked over her shoulder at him.

"I didn't shoot him."

"He had that coming."

The shuttle landed just before the Orbital Lounge, she locked the doors.

"I'm getting worried about you, Garrus, you were a bit hard on Harkin. Not that he didn't deserve it." He looked at her, "Its just not like you, don't let this change you."

"What do you want me to say Shepard?" He turned away from her, "What would you do if someone betrayed you?" He regretted his choice of words, in his anger he'd forgotten Balak.

"I didn't let it change me. Just keep your priorities in line and don't forget who you are." She unlocked the doors, she was staring straight ahead when he turned to look at her. "And remember you promised to trust me."

What the hell was she doing? Why wouldn't she just let him shoot Sidonis in the head and be done with it? His mandibles clicked in agitation as he stared down the scope at the back of her head. She knew he wouldn't take the shot with her in the way, she was forcing him to listen to Sidonis' side of the story. He didn't want to, he didn't want to hear what excuses that slippery bastard came up with. But then he heard it, the same thing that had been haunting him was haunting Sidonis. The faces of his fallen squad mates, their families faces twisted in anguish. He lowered his head.

"Tell him he can go." He ground his teeth and winced inwardly, "Just…tell him to get out of here."

Sidonis turned to Shepard, "Thank you…for talking to him."

He turned to leave and Shepard grabbed him by the shirt front and forced him to look her in the eyes.

"He might be done with you, but I'm not." She flicked off the com so she wouldn't be interrupted, her tone dropped dangerously. "I swear Sidonis if I wasn't concerned for Garrus I would put a bullet in your head right now, are we clear?" He stared at her wide eyed, "I couldn't give a fuck if you lived or died right now so don't go thanking me so quickly. If I thought it would truly let his mind be at peace your brains would be splattered against the wall." He tried to pull away and she forced him to his knees in front of her with a hand on his shoulder and a fist in his gut. "Did you even think? Or did you just tuck your tail between your legs and piss yourself, hoping they'd let you go? People like you make me sick. Your life is worthless, the people around you is what makes it all worthwhile." She let him up and he froze in front of her, hand over his stomach. "Think about the consequences. If it's your life or theirs, you'd better be in the grave." She waved him away, "Now go, slink back to your little hole you crawled out of, I'd better never hear your name again."

He nodded and thanked her once more before taking off away. She flicked her com back on to catch Garrus calling her.

"Shepard!"

"Yes, dear?" She tried to make herself sound collected, when she was truly enraged.

"What the hell was that?" He growled.

"No one hurts one of mine. Period." She growled back. She drove the car up to him to pick him up, forcing him to talk about it now rather than later, better to set the lines straight before anything became set in stone.

"Its so much easier to see the world in black and white…Gray…I don't know what to do with Gray." He shook his head and rubbed his forehead with his palm.

"Trust your instincts and do what feels right."

"My instincts got me into this mess in the first place."

She smiled at him and put a hand on his shoulder. Grunt wasn't paying any attention so she leaned up and brushed a kiss on his mandible. "Don't be so hard on yourself."

He took her hand in his, "Thanks, Shepard. For everything."

"Hey Garrus, I got you a new toy." She handed him a box with a large bow on it. He was about to head back to the bar with the rest of the crew, she was going to head off alone with Thane, something about his son. He eyed the box suspiciously. "Oh don't look at me like that, just open it."

Inside was a new visor. She urged him to try it on. It felt weird to see everything in red. She held up her hands and took it from him, putting it on herself. It looked ridiculous on her, a few sizes too big, the mouth piece far from her actual mouth, he couldn't help but smile. The screen switched to blue.

"There ya go. The guy at the store showed me a few things about it, but I don't remember much more than that since its all written in Turian." She laughed, it cut short by a firm kiss from Garrus.

She blinked and pulled away, no one was watching but she was still embarrassed.

"Thank you." He grinned at her flushed face, he felt…lighter. He took his old visor and was about to throw it away when she grabbed it from him.

"Just because you are moving on doesn't mean you forget. I'll hold onto it, ok?" He nodded. Her smile fell, he followed her gaze to one particularly sleazy reporter.

"Commander Shepard!"

"Ah, Al-Jilani. I'm surprised you still have a job." She smirked.

"My source was credible, however I'm forced to revoke my opinion. Nathan didn't appreciate the context of the documentary either."

Shepard jolted and rushed towards Al-Jilani, pinning her to the wall, "You met Nathan?"

"Yes, he is the one who gave me the footage, he even pieced it together."

"Where is he, tell me now." Garrus saw a fire in her eyes, a frantic state bordering on fear.

"I don't know, we only contacted by email, now let me go."

Garrus touched her shoulder and she seemed to snap back to reality, she let Al-Jilani go reluctantly.

"How about a trade? An interview for the address?" She nodded, sent the address to Shepard then turned on the camera.

Shepard navigated it with surprising grace, 'bull rushing' Al-Jilani while citing all the names of the Alliance's lost cruisers. It still weighed heavily on her. Thane approached them and stated with urgency that after speaking with Bailey he learned Kolyat was hired to assassinate someone and they need to act now before he followed in Thane's footsteps. She clenched her teeth and let out a long breath, forcing herself to calm down before facing the two.

"Alright, I'll see you later, Garrus." She gave him a soft smile before walking off with Thane. He stared after her, what in the Spirits name was that?

Garrus sat with the group and tried to enjoy himself with the drinks but he couldn't focus. Thane had returned a while ago and Shepard was nowhere to be found. Surely she wouldn't miss drinks with everyone? He finished off his beer and dismissed himself, prying a drunk Joker off his shoulder before leaving. He didn't have to go far. She stood outside of the bar, leaning against a railing that overlooked the presidium.

He touched the small of her back to get her attention before leaning beside her.

"What are you doing out here? The party is inside, and if you aren't there to regulate their drinks you are going to have one hell of a tab." He grinned, she looked subdued.

"I was sending an email." She said gently, then a sly grin came to her face, "And it's not my tab." She looked over her shoulder at him, "Tonight's drinks are brought to you by Cerberus."

He laughed, "I don't think the Illusive man will appreciate it."

"What's he going to do? Fire me?" She scoffed, "This is for the Collector base trick."

"Then come on in and have some drinks with us, lets run up one hell of a tab." She gave him a soft smile, "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, I think. I want to wait a bit and see if I get a reply, I'll be in soon, you go have fun." She looked out over the lake of the presidium.

He turned her to face him, "Shepard, your omni-tool will let you know when you get a reply. You never get the chance to relax like this, who knows when we will get to again. Come enjoy yourself."

She was quiet for a moment, then nodded, "Just give me a few more minutes, I'll come inside, I promise."

What in the world was she thinking?

She looked around the bar at her crew, at the other patrons, and had to shake her head. Joker was 'getting his game on' as he called it with a rather effeminate looking man. She snapped a picture, he embarrassed her by bringing back that damn article, now she had a little something of her own to share. She saw Garrus sitting at the bar with Grunt, Zaeed and Tali, making avid hand gestures. He saw her and waved her over.

"Shepard, you have to agree with me. They are saying shotguns trump snipers." He handed her a vodka cranberry as he pleaded his case but she didn't really hear it. He'd ordered her favorite drink and didn't even think twice. She was surprised how much that meant to her, it was like there was no question in his mind that she would keep her word and come inside, that it was just…expected.

She'd changed out of her armor, and since they were going out drinking it only seemed appropriate to wear civilian clothes. Unfortunately she had very few civilian clothes on hand. She'd settled on the boots from her trip with Samara, a pair of leggings she lounged in, and a baggy light blue tank top and a large studded belt she bought on the way over. She was much more comfortable in this than a dress but the way Garrus was eyeing her she may as well have been nude.

"I have to stay neutral in this fight, sorry guys." The group groaned and demanded an explanation. "Well, on Garrus and Zaeed's side: Kill them before they know you're there, take out multiple hostiles before they get close enough to see you, let alone shoot at you. On Grunt and Tali's side, it's fun to charge around and take them out, much more personal, and they fly back. I'm going to stick with a healthy mix of both. Kill as many as I can at range, then take out the ones that slip the net."

They pondered for a moment then cheered. They were all getting pretty tipsy. She smiled and went to make her rounds, checking on the crew. She grinned at Joker, he wasn't gay so she wouldn't let him go home with the guy, but it was kind of fun to watch him humiliate himself. She turned and saw Samara sitting with Thane in a booth, they looked very somber. She asked how they were and apparently they were discussing their children. They assured her they were quite content with the conversation and were both having fun, she conceded and continued scanning the room.

She stopped by a few of the other crew members and was chatting with Kelly when a large hand wrapped around her waist and pulled her away from the crowd and onto the dance floor. He spun her around to face him.

"Now I'm sure you've had too much to drink." She laughed as Garrus pulled her against him, her face flushed slightly, "You and I both know I can't dance."

"Maybe that's because you never drink enough to relax." He eyed her half full glass. "Or at all, apparently. Drinks here aren't cheap, you'd better finish it…or don't… save it and toss it in the Illusive man's face."

She laughed but tried to pull away from him, but he kept his hand pressed to her lower back, pressing her against him.

"Garrus, everyone's staring."

"Never pegged you for the shy type." He grumbled in her ear, it sent a familiar chill down her spine.

"Damn it, Garrus." She half laughed, he started walking her backwards. "What are you doing?"

"Something that I hope won't blow up in my face."

They stopped beside the stage where a band was playing and he smiled at her.

"I've been thinking about this for a while and…you never sing. In that terrible video, your voice was so happy, so calming." He shook his head, "Maybe it's crazy but… Would you sing for us?"

"Us?" She looked behind him, her crew was craning their necks to see her, to see her answer. She let out a long sigh and stared at the microphone he'd pressed her hand. "Garrus…I…I can't."

She handed it back to him as gently as she could and gave him a sad smile before rushing out the door. He wasn't far behind her.

"Shepard, wait!" He caught her and turned her to face him. She took several deep breaths. "A simple 'No' or 'Not right now' would have sufficed."

She let out a long sigh and turned her head. He took her chin in his hand and turned her to face him.

"One of these days you're going to tell me what happened that made you this upset." Her eyes flicked up to his, "One of these days, not tonight. Tonight you are going to go back in there, with me, and get shitfaced with your crew."

"Garrus we have work to do."

"Not when our pilot is so hammered he's hitting on a man." He grinned, "I didn't notice until you took the picture. We aren't flying anywhere, anytime soon. The way I see it, no one needs this, no one deserves this, as much as you."

"Well, shit Garrus, you're getting all sentimental on me." She laughed softly and shook her head. "Fine. But I'm going to need something stronger."

"I'll get right on that, commander."