Fifty words for 'murder'

And I'm every one of them

Panic! at the Disco– "Victorious"

Chapter 11- Points of Contention

I took the seat across from her, setting the datapad on the floor beside me as I did so. She crossed, then uncrossed her arms nervously, finally rushing to speak before she lost the nerve.

"Look, Garrus. I know the mission didn't go the way you planned. But I think it was for the best."

"I'm not so sure, to be honest," I said truthfully, tilting my head somewhat as I fully considered where my thoughts now lay in regards to the whole situation.

"Give it time."

"Yeah. Maybe that'll be enough. I want to know I did the right thing. Not just for me. For my team. They deserved to be avenged. But when he was in my sights… I just couldn't do it."

"The lines between good and evil blur when we're looking at people we know." She seemed as if she were speaking from experience, and for the first time, it actually occurred to me that her action in Chora's Den two years before may not have been the easy kill it had appeared. Maybe it had been a bigger internal struggle than I had believed, and that wasn't something I had ever fully considered before. I know I would have had no trouble ending that man's life.

"It's so much easier to see the world in black and white. Gray… I don't know what to do with gray."

"You'll learn, Garrus. Gray is where I operate most of my life. It's not such a bad place to be, if you give it a chance. Just go with your instincts."

"My instincts are what got me into this mess," I said, but the bitterness I had felt since the Citadel was gone from the words.

"Don't be too hard on yourself." She drew her knees up into the chair, resting her chin lightly on them as she thought about what she was going to say next. "You were hurting, and confused, and didn't stop to get all the information. It happens to even the most logical and level-headed of us, especially when it comes to the people we care about." She grinned, "And say what you want, but when it comes to those you care about, Garrus, you're more protective than a momma bear with her cubs."

Ignoring the fact that I had no idea what a bear was, since context clues were more than enough to give me a fair guess, I said, "If you say so, Teandra."

"I'll make a deal with you, Garrus. Give it some more time, and Sidonis a chance to try to make amends. If, after this mission is over, he still needs shooting… I'll help you track him down again. Does that suit?"

I started, looking at her for a second in complete disbelief. "What in the hell? Why?"

"I was never set against his demise, Garrus. He was a traitor, by his own admission. I was set against you changing to bring about that demise. I didn't like what I saw; you're not usually that brutal."

"Contrary to popular belief, I'm not some cuddly stuffed animal, Shepard. I'm a turian and a warrior, neither of which is conducive to fluffiness." The fact that I had been just as brutal a cop as she seemed to think I wasn't was not lost on me, but that was then, and this was now. If nothing else, her presence in my life had tempered that angry edge.

For the most part.

"I get that. But there's a difference between servicing the targets in your scope and killing someone simply to enjoy the scent of their blood as he strikes the ground…" Her eyes glazed over for a minute, her gaze drifting off into space as she lost herself in whatever memory gripped her.

"Shepard?" I waved a hand in front of her face, drawing her attention away from her nightmare. "You worry me when you talk like that. I know you don't believe me, but that's not who you are anymore."

"Well, then you understand what I went through on that mission, don't you? You can't ever become me, and when you start acting like it, I regret even considering letting you close."

"I'm a big boy, little Spectre. I've already said I can handle more than you think…"

"And yet, I'm a lot more experienced than even you know in the subtle arts of murder and persuasion."

"I've had my share of their acquaintance, as well. Would you like to hear how those gang leaders went down?" I wasn't sure I really wanted to tell her, but she needed to hear it. Needed to know what she was getting herself into if she and I were to seriously consider the path we had been trying to put ourselves on. It was all and good to follow our hormones to wherever they may lead, but at some point we were both going to have to stop and think about everything that had been keeping us apart in the first place, and decide how to overcome those obstacles. Things like politics were easily dismissed, considering the attitude we'd both tended towards since our reunion, but things like personal trauma and secret pasts were not so easy to ignore. If we were ever going to get over this, going to consider ourselves anything more than what we currently were, it was going to have to be dealt with eventually.

"Actually, yes. I would like to hear some of your story. I'm sorry I was such an arrogant ass before, spending more time lecturing than listening."

"You're my commander. Lecturing is your job."

"I meant as your friend. I'm still that, aren't I?" I almost wanted to laugh, so much did she sound like a worried youngling as she spoke. But the real fear in her eyes stilled that urge, and I struggled to find the right words to put her at ease.

"By the Spirits, Shepard, I'm not going to abandon you over an argument. I might be pissed, but that doesn't mean I don't give a damn, or that our friendship has to suffer. We'll always be that, no matter what. I'm not sure either of us could abandon the other now no matter what happens, anyway."

She smiled, the expression again almost childlike in spite of the heaviness of the discussion, chin still propped on her knees. "Okay, so tell me about Garm, for starters. How did you take him out?"

I laughed, wondering if she really wanted to hear about that particular hit. Finally, I sighed, and started talking.

"He had a tendency to celebrate a successful mission, with, shall we say, adult extracurriculars. I took advantage of his distraction."

She stopped, nose crinkling in thought as she tried to decipher my vague phrasing, before finally looking back at me and grinning even more widely than before. "You," she pointed at me accusingly, "are an asshole. Did you at least let him finish?"

"No. And strangely enough, that was my exact thought at the time..."

As I finished the tale, and several others of my exploits in her absence, I felt a weight lift from my soul, as if I were purging the darkness that had gripped me so incessantly on that horrid rock. By the time I was done, we were friends once more.

"It's rather simple, really."

The scarred merc wasn't buying it. "Let me see if I 'ave this right: You want me to throw this little thing," he held up the squishy, blue sphere to his eye level, "against the wall, and bounce it over there. Then, one of 'em other fuckers is supposed to bounce it back? You're bloody jokin', right?"

The krogan at his left seemed to agree with him. "Shepard, this is the stupidest game I've ever heard of."

"You guys are being a bunch of babies," Jacob piped up from behind the group. "Hand ball is a great game!"

"You mean wall ball."

"No, I said it how I meant to say it: Hand ball." The Commander looked as if she were about to debate the point further, but the dark-skinned man quickly explained himself. "My dad's family is from Baltimore, and in Baltimore, it's called 'hand ball'. I'm guessing the geographic vernacular from your hometown labels it 'wall ball.'"

"Got it in one. You Yankees never could call anything by its proper name."

"Yankee?" Jacob moved around the others so that he was standing a few feet from the redhead. "Oh, hell no. It's on now, scalawag."

"Scalawag? There's old-school, and then there's ancient, Taylor. I think you need to get with the times."

He crossed his arms over his chest, grinning all the while. "You're giving me shit for outdated references? I've heard your playlist, Commander; calling it 'ancient' would be polite."

"Oye! You two biddies done? If we're gonna be forced to do this, I'd like to get it the hell over with!" Zaeed tossed the ball at Taylor, who caught it without even looking.

"I still think this is a stupid game. Why are we doing this again?" If I didn't know any better, I would have said Grunt was pouting.

Well, not to his face. I do understand the concept of self-preservation.

Teandra smiled. "It's supposed to help further build squad cohesion by using teamwork outside of a combat setting." Then, her smile turned impish. "And because I'm the Commander, which means what I say goes."

"A good game of Warrior accomplishes the same thing," I pointed out.

"I said, 'non-combat setting,' Vakarian. Not to mention I am so sick of that game I could spit rivets."

The requisitions officer chimed in again to add, "I think you're Southern is showing, Commander."

She glared at Jacob as she said, "I'm so going to kick your ass for that, Taylor."

Before the conversation could derail further (again), I cut in, "So, that gets the separation of teams started. Taylor, stand over there, if you would." I pointed to the left side of the make-shift "court," which consisted of the starboard side of the main vehicle bay, and two specially-calibrated kinetic barriers to create a three-sided playing area. Normally, according to Teandra, wall ball (or hand ball, depending on your preference) was played with either one wall or four, and either one-on-one, or in teams of two to five.

The fact that we were playing with only three-fourths of a court should have been my first clue that something was going to go wrong.

"I still say this game is pointless, Shepard. The tank didn't say anything about games helping to prepare for battle."

"You're just scared we're going to kick you in all four of the daddy bags, aren't ya, you overgrown guard dog?" The brown-haired man was hopping from one foot to the other and flailing his arms about in some sort of awkward warm-up exercise. Or, so I assumed. He could have been having a stroke, and I probably wouldn't have known the difference.

Nearby, his female counterpart was sitting on the floor, performing some sort of leg stretch. "Ken, can we NOT antagonize the giant brick wall we're about to be playing against?"

"I was just 'avin a bit o' fun with him, Gabby. No need to take it so seriously."

"Well, someone has to," Gabby shot back. "I'd like you to keep all your limbs."

"Aw, Gabs, I dinna know ya cared so much."

"Hey, you can't do your job if you lose a hand. That means more work for me."

"Yeah, I bet it's his 'hand' she's worried about him losing," commented Hawthorne, which earned him a high-five from Matthews.

"No, Donnelly would be more worried about losing a hand than Daniels; he'd have to break in the other one for date night, otherwise."

"Oooh, good one, Sarah." The red-headed engineer grinned at Goldstien, who gave her a thumbs-up in return.

"Any time, Gabby."

I felt more than saw Teandra lean towards me as she said, "Good god, and they all say we're bad."

"In what way? The smartass comments, or the 'partners without actually sleeping together' thing?"

"Both, though, in this group, I'm not sure whom would be sleeping with whom, anyway. And I'm not sure I'd want to know, either."

I snorted again, still somewhat amused by Shepard's second round team choices, especially her choice to put us on opposite sides to avoid what the others considered an 'unfair advantage.'

"You mean Ken and Gabby get to stay on the same team, but you and I don't?" I complained good naturedly, "That's not exactly fair."

"We gave you one round, and you wiped the floor with us," Jacob shot back. "It's like you each knew where the other one was without even looking. Telepathy is cheating."

"Hey Garrus, since when did turians become telepathic?" Teandra commented with a laugh, "I thought that was an asari thing."

"Didn't I tell you I'm one-fourth asari, on my mother's side? My mistake."

We shared a look, Shepard grinning, then she turned back to Kelly with a smirk. A half second later, she tossed the ball over her shoulder without looking, right into my open palm.

"Fine, you win. But no one gets to complain when Vakarian and I get competitive."

It was amazing, but the looks shared around that room were amusing to decipher. You could tell which of the crew had been to our morning matches, because no amount of professionalism could hide how we got when things were 'competitive.' Even Kelly seemed amused.

"We'll take our chances," came the chorused reply, though I wasn't actually sure who responded.

"Okay then. Vakarian, who do you want?"

"I'll take Jacob. He's got an arm on him, to say the least."

"Then I get Jack."

The distribution of teams continued in that way, ending with us all lined up across from each other, and the competition began anew.

"Your serve, Grunt."

The adolescent krogan picked up the regulation blue ball and looked at it thoughtfully for a moment. Then, he assumed the stance Jacob and Teandra had taught him at the very beginning of this exercise and drew his arm back.

"I am KROGAN!"

He threw the ball with all of his considerable strength, and it landed square in the middle of the center wall. The angle with which it bounced to the floor, coupled with the speed with which it was moving, however, sent the ball ricocheting wildly against the right-hand wall, and up to the ceiling of the vehicle bay. Every tech in the room was following the cerulean blur as it bounced, unchecked, and it wasn't long before Shepard, being technically adept herself, had run the numbers and figured out the most likely outcome.

She gasped audibly, yelling "Hit the deck!" Most of us dropped, used to the fact that when Shepard yells for you to get down, you do it or risk losing a body part. Either to her for disobeying the order, or to a wayward projectile. In this case, it was the latter.

Initially, I thought she was over-reacting. I wasn't questioning her calculations, but, come on, it was a small, squishy ball, for Spirits' sake. How much damage could it possibly do?

The answer came in the form of a startled shout, followed by a metalic thud. "By the fucking bloody hordes of Torfan!"

Apparently, a lot, I thought sardonically, rolling my eyes as I regained my feet. The merc's muffled cursing continued as he held the side of his head. All eyes were on Zaeed, which is why no one noticed that the ball was still moving, though at a slower speed, until Tali shouted, "Keel'ah!"

Teandra, Jacob, Miranda, and myself all turned toward the sound, just in time to see the ball stop in midair, surrounded by a sphere of indigo-blue. Tali was kneeling on the floor, not having made it all the way up from where she'd sprawled to follow Shepard's command.

"Worry not, Tali'Zorah. I would not let you come to harm." The Justicar, whom had been sitting on the sidelines, meditating, was not as oblivious to what was going on around her as she appeared. Her eyes were still closed, her expression serene, yet she'd managed to use her biotics to keep that rubber projectile from smacking the quarian straight in the faceplate.

And, I swear to you, the matriarch hadn't even moved an millimeter.

"You crazy goddamn asari! Why didn't you do that ten bloody seconds ago?" Massani now had a nurse, in the form of the yeoman. She was busy checking his head over, with what seemed to be a certain amount of medical familiarity, but Zaeed was scowling at Samara with contempt.

"That's a good question, actually," Teandra said, though she seemed much more amused than upset, if the grin that was playing at the corner of her lips was any indication.

"There were lessons that the man needed to learn. Lessons that, as far as I can see, our young quarian learned long ago, and lives by to this day."

If anything, Shepard's grin got wider. "Care to share?"

"The first is, the chain of command exists for a reason. Or, to put it more bluntly, 'The Commander gave an order, and you ignored it. Accept the consequences.' This time, it is a headache; next time, it could be much, much worse.

"Secondly, if I do not know I can rely on him to keep me safe in battle, why should I expend the energy necessary to protect him? It would be better spent on one who will, as you say, 'Have my back.'" She opened her eyes, finally, and looked at Tali. "This one knows that going alone often works both ways."

"You bloody bitch..." he started towards her, right hand still on his head, only to be stopped by Kelly's hand on his arm.

"Let's go, Zaeed. We need to get you to Chakwas. You might have a concussion." The grizzled veteran would usually have scoffed at this, but Kelly was playing on every old soldiers weakness: Pretty, attentive females. Once again, it struck me that this girl was much more clever than most of the crew gave her credit for. Especially as Zaeed turned with a muttered, "Not worth my fuckin' time, anyway," as he followed Kelly to the elevator.

"Another point for us. Guess all the conditioning in the world can't beat genetic perfection."

"Look here, Princess. I've been listening to your crap long enough today. Back the hell off."

"Jack…" I heard Shepard start to say, only to have the biotic round on her.

"What, Mrs. High-and-Mighty? You got something to add?"

"What, did you take an extra dose of your PMS pill today, Jack-Jack?"

"No bitch, I'm going on a 'slap the shit out of stupid people' spree. And since it sounds like you woke up without your common sense this morning, you should probably stay the hell away from me. Now, can I get back to kicking the Snow-Queen's ass?"

There was in collective intake of breath around the room, quiet falling as everyone watched for Teandra's reaction. She hesitated a second, head tilted with an empty expression, before finally cracking a dangerous smile as she said, "I don't think so. But she's my crew member, so you're welcome to fight me. You wanna challenge me, Zero?"

"Yeah. That sounds like the perfect afternoon to me, Shepard: Kicking your reconstructed ass."

If the reference to her resurrection caused her any discomfort, Teandra didn't let it show.

"Shepard," Miranda said, "I don't think…"

"Quiet Miranda. If you and Jack get into it, the hull might not survive the reprisal. Otherwise, I'd let you two have at it and clear the air." She turned back to Jack, continuing in a voice somewhere between amused and angry, "Alright, name the time and place."

"How 'bout right here, right now?"

I watched as Shepard's stance changed, her body tensing as if worried the unstable girl would attack her without preamble. "Weapon?" she asked.

The tattooed woman gave a maniacal grin, spitting back with malicious glee, "Biotics only."

There were a series of gasps around the room, and those who were unaware of our Commander's lack of biotic power were soon filled in by their neighbors as to exactly how underhanded Jack's move really was.

There were only a few that seemed completely unconcerned by the trick, one of which was Shepard.

"Fine, but I get thirty minutes to prepare."

Jack scoffed, "Why, you got a stash of red sand somewhere you think will save you?"

"Not quite. Thirty minutes. Mordin, come with me, please." The irony of the matter being that the scientist was one of the others that seemed unconcerned. She stopped, looking around the room as she barked a few more last minute instructions, "Kasumi: You're going to be the referee, so be prepared. You only intervene if one of us admits defeat, and not before. Got it?" The thief nodded, albeit slowly, which seemed to satisfy the redhead, as she moved on to the Justicar. "Samara, you're going to have to put up a biotic barrier to keep us from ripping the hull to shreds. Ask Krios or Lawson for help if need be. Every little bit may count."

"As you wish, Shepard." Oddly, every single person she'd just spoken to, except for Kasumi, was being extremely nonchalant about this entire situation. It was almost as if...

They know something the rest of us don't… dammit, I HATE being left in the dark!

The Commander shot me a look on the way out the door as I moved to follow, passing Chambers on her way back in from dropping Zaeed in the medbay. The look was one that clearly said, "Stay here. Keep them from killing each other." I nodded my assent, as uncertain as it was. We had an audience, and I wasn't stupid enough to say anything in front of so many.

Later, after it was all said and done, though? Yeah, we were going to have a little chat.

A strange conversation came to my attention as I waited impatiently for Teandra to return. Two crew-mates were discussing who to put their money on in this fight. They weren't the only ones, either; to pass the time, no less than half the crew was placing their bets with Matthews, who'd become the impromptu bookie for this charade.

"Hey Flip, you bet on Shepard, and I'll bet on Jack," Navigator Connors, in an excited voice, said from somewhere to my right. He sounded as if he felt he'd had the best idea ever in the history of ideas.

"What? Why?" Flip's, or rather, Engineer Gregson's response was much less enthusiastic.

"So, whoever wins, we still have money! Then, we split it."

"But... wouldn't that bring us back to our original amount?"

Connors seemed to think about this for a minute, considering, before finally replying, "...maybe."

Flip shook his head, saying, "And you wonder why your mother nicknamed you Weirdo."

I snorted, thinking, Forget Flip and Weirdo. More like Donut and Caboose.

"Hey, Weirdo is a way better name than Flip!"

For fear that yet another conversation in the cargo bay would end in a brawl, I cut in with the first thing I could think of to get their attention: "Why do they call you Flip, anyway?"

Connors smirked. "Yeah, Gregson. Why don't you show everyone why they call you that."

"That's not fair. No one ever asks you to demonstrate why they call you 'Weirdo.'"

Ken, having gotten his second wind after the earlier round of embarrassment, added, "Yeah, but does that really need demonstratin'?"

In unison, Sarah, Gabby, and Kelly all declared, "No."

The blonde man sputtered, "Hey! We're supposed to be talking about Flip, remember?"

Gregson sighed. "Have I mentioned how much I hate you?"

"Not today. Now, get to it. You know you want to!"

Shooting his friend a glare that could melt through the Hammerhead, the engineer walked several steps away to an area not crowded with people. Taking a deep breath, he bent his knees, and put his arms out in front of him, parallel with the floor. Then, without warning, he sprang into a standing back flip, landing squarely on his feet once he was right side up again.

A hush fell over the crowd in our immediate vicinity as Gregson walked back towards us. He simply looked at the navigator with a sour expression on his face, and said, "There. Happy now?"

To be quite honest, I was rather impressed with this, how did Joker put it? Right, 'stupid human trick.' And may it be noted that I found that to be a misnomer, as this certainly wasn't stupid. If turians could do things like that, there were a multitude of practical applications to be had. Unfortunately, turians just didn't move that way, and I'd never seen any humans do such a thing before, either.

I'd had a sparring partner or two that came close to that level of flexibility, but not quite.

"Dude! That was totally awesome!" Crewman Hadley, apparently, shared my sentiment.

"Yeah, its his only 'impress the girls' move." Connors looked smug, though I really couldn't understand why.

"At least I have a move, Weirdo. Your only superpower is making people feel awkward."

Goldstien, Hadley, Hawthorne, Matthews, Donnelly and Daniels all burst into laughter at the same time, which resulted in a triumphant grin from Flip, and dejected grumbling from Weirdo.

Thirty minutes, almost to the second, later, the sparring ring was packed by almost every member of the crew who wasn't working on anything mission critical. The wall-ball session had been a pretty big affair for everyone, but this was even better as far as they were concerned.

"Hey Vakarian," I heard Joker say over my comm, "Just thought I'd let you know I've got EDI recording the little girl fight. For posterity, of course." I just shook my head, wondering what Teandra had up her sleeve all over again.

Jack had been pacing the ring like a caged varren, tossing a ball of biotic energy back and forth from hand to hand with no sign of her abilities weakening, as was usual with any other biotic. I don't care what she has planned, without some sort of martial skill to back her, I'm not seeing how she can survive this fight, much less win against Jack. And yet the thought felt traitorous, the idea that she could take out Saren but would lose to some girl with an 'I'm a badass' complex completely ridiculous.

Then again, Jack didn't seem like to type to be talked into suicide, either.

Finally, Teandra entered the room once again, having not even bothered to change out of her sparring outfit from the wall-ball match.

You're not even going to put on armor? Yeah, we're definitely going to chat after this. Outside of that, though, the only difference I could see was a slight pinching of her face at the bridge of her nose, as if she had the beginnings of a headache…

My omnitool pinged just as the doors closed, a very brief message from Shepard.

Hey, didn't want you to worry too much. Cerberus gave me an L-4 implant in the upgrades, and I've been waiting for a reason to use it. Now's as good as ever, I guess, and hopefully I can teach that girl a lesson in reading your enemy, as well. Here's to hoping my training on speed that Finch beat into me holds out until I get my one chance to use it. It's all I'll get, 'cause I don't have the biotic stamina for much more than a sucker punch.

Little Spectre.

P.S. By the way, I'm probably going to need help getting to my room, so don't make any plans for later… *snort*

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her flippant words, my fears only slightly assuaged. This is still completely crazy… Jack is way too powerful for this kind of pissing match.

She waved off the salarian who'd followed in on her heels, muttering something even I couldn't catch over the din. He nodded, smiling, and she glanced at me long enough to see my nod, letting her know I'd received her message. Then, she looked back to her opponent.

"All prettied up, Commander?" Jack asked, but Shepard only nodded, completely focused on the upcoming confrontation.

The fact Teandra wasn't dishing out any trash talk really wasn't helping my blood pressure any.

She looked like she did before any major battle, like she knew if she didn't give it her all, someone would get hurt. Maybe I'm not giving her enough credit, I thought, only to have that idea trail off as Jack gave a scream, sending a shockwave at Shepard as she started to take a runner's stance. Her face pinched in surprise, and she dodged just in time, only to have Jack fire a pull attack at her directly on the heels of the first. I would have sworn it hit her, and yet the silver of her top moved to the left, just outside of the field of the blue wave.

You know, it's one thing to experience that unreal speed when I'm fighting against her, with my own speed to counter it. But from the outside, as an observer? It is just amazing to see her move like that.

Jack wasn't as awed as I was, though. "Stand still, you little bitch. You think I'm going to tire out? I can do this all day."

"So can I, but that's not the idea," Shepard retorted, eyes narrowed as she smiled slightly, "The point is to teach you a lesson about combat."

Jack, annoyed by the conversation, rolled left and fired another shockwave, again only missing Teandra by inches as she jumped out of the way. It was at that moment, in a hand-to-hand fight, that she would have attacked the biotic. You could almost see her schooling the instinct to do so, instead choosing to continue her rolling dodge until it put her back onto her feet, "What makes you so sure you have this in the bag?"

"Shut up, bitch," she retorted, fire in her eyes as her power rebuilt. "I'm more powerful than you, so the win isn't in question."

"You may be right, but then again…" the redhead dropped to the ground, hair flying, and rolled out of range with the next blast, "you underestimate people if they don't appear to be a threat. It'll get you killed."

If nothing else, the fact that Jack hadn't managed to land a blow yet was playing in the Commander's favor, but it wouldn't win her the match. Jack was going to have to concede, and no amount of talking was going to cut it.

The redhead regained her feet, but not quick enough, and this time the tail end of the next shockwave caught her, causing her to grunt in pain. If we'd been in any other setting, she probably would have screamed, but she wouldn't allow herself that weakness with this battle for pride going on.

"It won't get me killed today, bitch." Instead of moving in for the 'killing' tag, Jack held back, gloating over the slowly standing form of the Commander.

"I never said so…" Teandra panted, favoring her left arm a bit, "but it will get you hurt, Jack."

"I'm not afraid of pain," the biotic snarled, hitting her enemy with another blast. This time, it struck the other woman full force, throwing her backwards into the kinetic barrier our other biotics were keeping up.

She slumped down at the edge, breathing heavy again as she once more slowly got to her feet. "Nor am I, Zero. Pain is an old friend of mine, so I can take anything you can dish out."

"Wanna bet?" The contempt in Jack's voice was palpable, and clearly visible as she slammed Shepard into the wall once more. Anyone else, by now, would have been in traction, and I could only blame the skin weaves and cybernetic enhancements our employers had given her for her still conscious state.

This time, as she tried to stand, her left leg wouldn't hold her weight, and it was all I could do not to enter the ring and come to her rescue. This was madness, but I had to believe that she had a plan. Had to, or I'd lose it. Miranda, however, seemed to think the same thing, because she started to step forward, only to have Teandra shoot her a glare.

"I haven't called the match yet, Lawson. I'm still in this." The pain in her voice said otherwise, but Jack seemed to agree.

"That's right, Princess," Jack adding, shooting Miranda a glare of her own, "I'm not done kicking your precious Commander's ass yet."

As the biotic flicked her gaze to Miranda, in the millisecond that she took her eyes from the woman in front of her, that is when Shepard took her cue.

With a guttural scream, she lifted her hand, striking the woman in front of her with a wave of blue that rivaled Jack's own. The tattooed woman was lifted up into the air, striking the top of the biotic containment field, then slammed down full force into the ground at Shepard's feet, screaming in rage and pain. That one blast of energy seemed to wipe the redhead out completely. She slumped to the ground next to the quickly-recovering biotic, the latter's gaze holding nothing but hate as she stood once again.

"That was a mistake, bitch."

"Yeah, I have a history of those," Shepard laughed through her agony, "but I got my point across."

"Your point?" The biotic was holding dark energy in her hands again, hand held back as if she needed no provocation to release it on the slumped form of the Commander.

"Yes, my point. You looked away, underestimated me because you assumed you knew my abilities…"

"Do I look like I give a FUCK about your lessons?" The ball grew, pulsing, and for a moment it looked as if she would kill the woman at her feet. Not that this notion stopped Teandra.

Such things rarely did.

"Nope, but here's the other half of my point: You never continue a battle against a stronger opponent. So... you win."

"That's the match, people!" Miranda cried in a rush, as if determined to end the carnage before Shepard changed her mind.

The movement from the crowd was instantaneous, cheering and muttered oaths as the betters reconciled themselves to the outcome. Jack's arm fell to her side, the anger falling from her face to be replaced by confusion as she stared at Teandra, my approach behind her going unnoticed.

"I win? What? That's not the fucking battle I wanted; it's not a real win if you quit!"

"Yeah, well, I'm not one of your childhood opponents, Jack-Jack. I don't have any drugs in my system, a problem that will be rectified as soon as Chakwas sees my newest round of injuries." I helped her to her feet, shuddering as I felt Jack bleed off the biotic energy she'd been holding at the ready.

"You decide you want to talk some more, Jack, come find me." Shepard was leaning heavily on my arm as we moved towards the elevator. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go find another woman who's probably going to want to kick my ass."

We made our way to the elevator, leaving Jack to a crowd of cheering fans as we did so. Several of the crew made as if to join us, only to back away from the closing doors at my glare.

"It's okay, Garrus. I'm fine."

"No you're not, you idiot. You've got a sprained ankle and a dislocated shoulder, if your movements are any indication."

"Easy fixes…"

"That's not the point. She could have killed you!"

"But she didn't, did she?"

"Teandra, did you take a lesson or two from that volus? Because claiming to be a biotic god doesn't make you one."

She laughed at that, the movement causing her breath to hitch. "I got my point across, and kept Miranda's head attached to her shoulders."

"I'd rather see her go down than see you get hurt like this."

"Why Garrus, I didn't know you cared so much." Her tone was flippant, and I glared down at her where she was propped on my arm.

"Teandra, I'm not kidding. I do a pretty damn good job of letting you take care of yourself, in spite of some very protective instincts, but you can't keep testing their limits like this."

"Protective instincts?" Her eyes were wary as she voiced the question, causing me to smile.

"Nothing too serious, little Spectre. Remember this morning when you were talking about me being as ferocious as a mother, what did you say? Bear?" She nodded, "Well, that tendency is a way of building clan loyalty. When a person who is considered part of the clan is in danger, it causes those who feel kinship to that individual to rush to their defense…"

"Like wolves again. That's kind of funny. So if Jack had been giving Tali crap instead of Miranda…"

"I'd have seen your defense as a natural reaction, and probably wouldn't have felt so protective, though I'd have also probably been inclined to challenge that girl, myself."

"Glad to know we're on the same page with my 'XO' at least," she laughed, then groaned as she held a hand to her side. The elevator pinged at the same time, and I shook my head as she started trying to walk out under her own power.

"I don't think so. I'm adding cracked rib to that collection of injuries." I scooped her up, causing her to yelp.

"That hurts, dumbass! Now put me down!" That yelp had sounded more like indignation than pain, so I ignored her and kept walking.

"Garrus, I said put me down."

"Or what?"

She didn't seem to have an answer to that, and by the time she seemed ready to speak, we were already in the medbay. I deposited her lightly onto the nearest bed, the same I had occupied so soon after I had come aboard, receiving an amused nod from Chakwas as I did so.

"I had a warning you would be heading my way. I was not expecting such a regal entrance, however."

"What can I say, doc? You know me: I like to show up with style, and hot, turian boy-toys are all the rage this year."

I crossed my arms, raising an eye ridge at her, and she repeated her laugh/groan combination. "Sorry, Garrus. Guess in your case it would be man-toy."

"Wow, you're not even on pain meds yet, Shep." There was another yelp, and Chakwas stepped away from her still-seated patient, empty syringe in hand.

"She is now, and if this is the mood she's currently displaying, perhaps you should consider exiting until she is more lucid."

"Wow… I'm definitely fine now," Shepard said, laying back, and I couldn't resist getting in a barb as the sedative kicked in.

"Yeah, well, I know what F.I.N.E. stands for now, so I can agree with that statement." I turned to the doc, "You're the medical expert, but I'm pretty sure she's got at least one bruised or cracked rib, a sprained ankle, and damage to her bad shoulder."

My omnitool pinged, catching my attention where it had wandered back to the redhead. I glanced down at the blue light, however, starting at the name on the heading.

"I need to take this," I said to Chakwas, eyes flicking to the quickly-slackening features of the Commander. "Will you let me know if there is any change in her condition?"

"Of course, Officer Vakarian," she said with a precise nod, already bustling about her charge.

I gave her a mock salute, which earned me a chuckle, and stopped only long enough to touch a finger to Teandra forehead as I headed for the exit. "See you when you wake up, little Spectre."

"G'night, afeni," she yawned, eyes closing, and I started to see myself out, only to be caught by Chakwas.

"What was that she just called you?"

I turned toward the ship's physician, musing, "You know, I'm not sure what it means, actually. Never thought to ask her."

I continued out the door, only to hear EDI say over my earpiece, "Afeni. A word from the human dialect of Swahili, native to Earth's East Africa. Roughly translated, it means 'dear one.'"

"Thank you, NnB." I murmured absently, somewhat taken aback by her words. Then again, perhaps it was that name, those words, that gave me the strength to return my sister's call once I reached the forward batteries.