Shepard stared into her coffee mug for a while before finally replying.

"So, he lied."

"It would seem that way, Shepard." Garrus said, taking the data pad from her hands. She trusted Garrus already, but he presented her with irrefutable evidence. Krios lied to her and she believed him. He did contact Garrus, but never told him who he was or where she was. Clever bastard even made it untraceable.

"Damn it! I knew I shouldn't have trusted him." she said, her fist hitting the table.

"You had no way of knowing."

"All the same, I shouldn't have trusted so easily."

He reached over the table and placed his hand over hers.

"I'm just glad you're alive, Shepard." he smiled in his turian way.

"Yeah. Let's not do that again."

"Agreed."

That night, when she was alone in her quarters, she thought of Nohalah. The image of the wide eyed girl passed through her mind. Shepard shook her head to get rid of it. It was starting to bother her how much the girl had grown on her. Maybe it was the stupid nickname. Why did she have to give her one, anyway?

"Commander, you have two new messages waiting at your private terminal." EDI's voice piped up through the intercom. Probably Grunt, Shepard thought. Who else would be trying to reach her? Or know how?

"Thanks' EDI, I'll check them later." she replied. Her eyes were heavy and her head still hurt a little after being smashed into a wall. She was just tired all around. Luckily, her wound had healed enough not to rupture during the earlier skirmish.

"One is labeled as important." EDI persisted. At the moment, nothing was more important to Shepard than sleep. But she dragged herself out of bed and walked over to the terminal. Yawning, she switched on the screen and opened her inbox. As EDI had said, she had two new messages, one labeled IMPORTANT. Both were from unknown senders. She opened the non urgent one. Through blurry and tired eye sight, she managed to read it.

Don't think you can get away with this, Shepard. Can't kill me that easily.

See you around the galaxy!

Jack

Well, it had to be expected. The woman was a fucking tank. Shepard chuckled to herself, remembering their first meeting. Jack had literally tore a hole right through a YMIR mech without so much as a blink. She was a powerhouse of biotic strength. Closing Jack's message, Shepard opened the second one.

Need to discuss something very important with you.

Meet me at Flux tomorrow noon.

There was no name attached to the message.

"EDI, can you trace this?" she asked the AI.

"One moment, Commander."

After a few beeps and whirrs, EDI came with a reply.

"The message originates from the Citadel. But that is all I can tell you."

"Thanks, EDI."

It was likely Kaidan. They haven't seen each other since their run in at Horizon and Shepard took great care that it stayed that way. But she supposed it was probably time that she met up with him and set things straight if needed be.

"Tell Joker to set course for the Citadel."

"Yes, Commander."

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Shepard?" Garrus voiced behind her. She turned around to see him facing her, leaning against the door frame.

"Garrus! I didn't hear you come in."

"Probably because you're tired. I can see it in your eyes. Who was the message from?"

Shepard yawned.

"Oh, Kaidan. Wants to talk, or something. I don't know." she mumbled, stretching. "Join me in bed?"

"Sure."

Shepard walked back over to the bed, vaguely aware of Garrus behind her, stripped herself down to her underwear and bra, and collapsed. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out.

When she woke up, Garrus was still next to her, asleep, his arm draped over her waist. She moved it as gently as she could without waking him. After a quick shower, she went down to the third level to grab something to eat before going down to the shuttle bay. Going down alone was not the best idea considering what happened on earth, but Shepard figured Flux was probably much safer than the bar from yesterday. Plus, if anyone started a fight, C-Sec would be on their asses in no time.

"Joker," she said over the intercom, "I'm taking the shuttle down. Stay in orbit but out of detection range. No need to let every one know we're here."

"Aye aye, Captain."

Shepard hopped in the shuttle and took off.

Getting through C-Sec security was not a problem as she had forged a new ID while living on Omega. Not being noticed was slightly more difficult. It has been over a year since she was last here. But saving a galaxy from a certain doom, well, her image was everywhere. She was certainly less red eyed now and she had gotten a haircut recently, but that didn't stop a salarian from asking her if she was Commander Shepard. To which she had to insist that she was not and that he was definitely mistaken. She didn't know whether he believed her or not.

Getting to Flux wasn't that difficult, however. It was packed inside when she got there. People on the dance floor, people at the Quasar stations, people at the bar. It was loud, too. The music mixed with the chattering, making for a very good atmosphere to stay undetected. Shepard found an empty seat with a view of the door and sat down. She was early so she ordered a drink to pass the time. Everything was just as she remembered it. The music was terrible and the alcohol cheap. But it was better than Chora's Den. She took another swig, looking around. Everyone was so blissfully unaware. The Reapers were coming and no one seemed to have a care in the world. Not that she cared herself. Shepard had given up being the hero. She had saved the galaxy. Twice. All she got in return was everyone denying the threat and calling her crazy. She had seen the vids on the extranet of her making ridiculously wild assumptions while flailing her arms around. They amused her to a degree, but they also irritated her. A lot. Being a hero sucked so she quit. Someone else can save the galaxy this time. She was in no mood.

The beats resonated in her head making her foot involuntarily tap along with them. It was all very lulling and Shepard felt herself nodding off. As a result, she didn't notice someone joining her at her table.

"I'm glad you came." said a voice.

A/N: This is a short one. Didn't want to pack too much into it. Also, I have noticed that people have been skipping over chapter 6 and chapter 8. As a writer, I have to wonder why. Are they too long? Should I keep my chapters shorter? Is it the content? Let me know! I care!