The next morning Solana sat in the passenger seat of the car beside her father. The girls had decided that if their father choose to shoot Garrus for some reason- or vice versa; that Shepard would be the one in charge of Garrus and Solana her father. Shepard sat in the middle of the backseat between Garrus and their luggage- the trunk latch had been conveniently broken this morning. She didn't really complain about the lack of safety belt… it wasn't like Castis was a terrible driver or something to actually worry about. He drove incredibly slow… probably because he still acted like a cop.

Shepard took Garrus' hand out of sight of Castis. Nothing about this seemed to be resolved this morning either. Garrus had come home late, packed up his own things like she had, and gotten into bed beside her. Neither of them talked, and both stuck in their own little worlds. Midway through the night, Garrus had pulled her close to him. She wasn't sure if it was out of sleep or an actual need for the space between them to be closed. She didn't refuse in either case, and tucked her head underneath his chin.

Shepard tried to drown herself in her thoughts, trying to not focus on the fact that she'd probably permanently torn this family apart simply because she was human. So many were still angry about the war- and that was almost thirty years ago at this point. Would they ever make it past that? And she had no idea how to change Castis' mind about her- She swallowed at that thought, and Castis glanced in the rearview mirror. Right into her eyes. They stared a second too long before he looked away.

Solana glanced at the dashboard, she'd been in a staring contest with the rocky plains out the window so far. "Pull over, dad."

Castis squinted his eyes at the dash, and Shepard wondered for a moment how good the Turian's vision truly was. Bugs were hitting the windshield and evaporating to almost dust moments later. Her head turned to look out over the hills of silver trees and a few patches of purple in the West she hadn't known the origin of when arriving here. Castis did pull off not too long after that. The vehicle was making a high pitched noise as it slowly started to shut down.

"Electrical?" He mumbled to himself, getting out to open up a side compartment on the back. Garrus followed Solana and the redhead didn't take long after them. There was absolutely no way she was staying behind in a vehicle in this temperature. Shepard picked her way over a few feet, seeing the very distinct edge of a cliff a few yards away. She thought it would be better to stay out of the way for now. If they needed her, she was sure she'd hear a grunt that been her name over the last week.

Solana tapped a gauge in the corner, "You just replaced the battery in this thing, right?"

Shepard looked away from what they were doing to look out over the… -Palavin almost looked like more wasteland than anything else. But desert rock would be a nice way of putting it.

"I did. Garrus check the back of the starter-…"

She was going to miss this place in a way. It had a certain undeniable beauty to it. Things could survive here- thrive even in the right conditions. Garrus had stooped low to look underneath the back of the vehicle, Solana moving to follow him under.

"Get clear-" A strangled yell sent her whipping around- she was hit so hard it took her breath away. The three Turians had almost five seconds before the vehicle launched itself into the air- the force making them all airborne for a few moments. Shepard couldn't control her slide and then she ran out of ground completely. For a second her entire stomach dropped before the rest of her did and she was falling. The edge of the cliff flew past her and she scrambled to grip against the drop off. The sharp edges of the quarry cutting into her arms and legs. Fabric brushed her fingertips and she snatched at it, gripping it hard enough to stop her fall almost completely. It nearly tore her shoulder from it's socket, but she swung slowly as she gasped for breath. A climbing rope buried in the rock cracks being her only saving grace.

Solana? -Castis? Garrus-! Shepard climbed, trying to find spaces for her hands to fit in the side of the rock now she could stop herself from falling if the rope snapped. It had been bleached by the sun- who knew if it would last. And she used half of it to tug herself up.

It didn't last long at all. When the rope's hook dislodged from the top, she still managed to hold herself there as it flopped painfully over her shoulder. She wanted to go rock-climbing but this hadn't been what she had in mind. Shepard tied the rope end around her belt so it wouldn't trip her, and the rest of it left to dangle over the drop- which was certainly more than she could risk. A warm rush of air hit her and she hugged the rough surface, pulling herself up on a ledge big enough for her to catch her breath on. The vehicle came crashing down to the bottom bellow her, sending up a cloud of fire and smoke. What the ever loving fuck just happened?

Her mind cruelly told her there were no bodies mingled with the metal, which meant they waited for her at the top. It took her longer than she wanted to climb too, free climbing wasn't exactly her strong suit and she almost proved it several times. A brief struggle to pull herself over the edge when she rolled to the ground. She calmed her breathing, keeping close to cover. Voices. And not of the Vakarians.

She peeked from behind a large stone jutting out of the ground near the cliff's edge. A group of Turians were there, with a few Vorcha. Her breath was stolen from her as she counted the numbers in her head, and then to what they were surrounding. They had arrived here while she had been busy climbing back up. Shepard came closer for a better look- maybe even a chance to get a weapon. What she had on her for protection sat at the bottom of the drop. Garrus lay sprawled on the ground, a small blue bloom on the ground. Solana was tied and gagged not a few feet from him, kicking at the two vorcha who tried to keep her still on the ground.

A hand came around her mouth and Castis hissed in her ear. "Easy." He was fast… and quiet. He let go of her immediately after it and Shepard didn't care what happened the night before, her eyes checked for injuries. Shepard could see him doing the same thing and turned her head back to his children surrounded by Vorcha and Turians. His clothing was burnt in spots and blue smears lined his sleeves. Nothing that he wouldn't recover from as far as she knew.

She moved to another rock against Castis' warning, he was having a hard time fitting behind the rock she had been behind before. There between the crack of the two she crouched behind, she could see a straight shot to Garrus laying in a heap. She could see the chest rising and falling, but he didn't stir as a boot kicked him over. Shepard's eyes went upward to the face it belonged to. A tall Turian with reddish brown skin with black markings took out a long blade from a side holster. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here." The curved knife hooked the inside of Garrus' jaw, turning it roughly in the opposite direction to get a look at his scarred face. "Archangel… Now here I thought someone told me you were dead. They didn't even scar you well enough." The Turian said in a deeply dissatisfied tone. Then he cocked his head to the side, "But oh Solana~ Baby, no wonder you such a giant pain in the ass… Your brother is Archangel." There was no answer as the man let the knife slide out of Garrus' jaw without leaving any mark. Shepard let out a slow breath, Castis was a foot from her again- eyes narrowed on the leader of this group.

"I can't wait to tell the boys this." His voice was a hiss as he loomed over Solana. Shepard stiffened so hard her back popped as she watched him step closer. Castis was staring out over the rock, his hands clawing along the ground for some sort of weapon. A sharp piece of glass, a rock- he'd use his hands to strangle this one if he had to.

"And if I remember correctly… Archangel's bounty still isn't claimed. First I set my boss up a line out of this planet with your security clearance. Then I hand your brother over to get paid. I wonder if they'll let me have a part of him to hang up on the wall. If it makes you feel any better. I'd prefer anything of yours." He grabbed Solana by the mouth with a purr, she let him bring her closer to him and headbutted him right in the nose. He snarled at her but it turned into a low chuckle, his long tongue came out to lick the blood coming down from his nose. "Feisty… Load 'em up."

He turned to a vorcha, "Did I stutter?" It made a guttural bark at the others and the Turian dropped Solana from his grip on her. "Find the other two and shoot them. I want an update on the house- burn it if you can't get the woman under control." They moved quickly around him, throwing Garrus like a ragdoll into the back of a vehicle and Solana kicking and screaming with him.

Shepard stared at the retreating vehicle, turning her attention to the immediate threat. Back home Vetra was in even worse danger than they were. The Turian left behind a detail of eight, five turians and three vorcha. She had had worse odds but then again she had a lot more back up too. Her blood was boiling again, coming alive in her veins. She needed a weapon.

Castis clicked his teeth at her, to get her attention. Shepard shot a glare back at him, a silent passing of, "What?!" His head angled and shifted to her left, seeing two vorcha stepped toward them to check the skid marks she had left behind on the ground. The hot sun's providing them shadows and a repugnant smell to work with. Shepard took a deep breath as they came closer, holding it. Clinking of cartridges and beads on the vorcha's armor making noise to mask her shifting into position.

The first vorcha stepped up to the other side of the rock and she struck before he could fully walk around. She moved quickly, sweeping the legs out from underneath him, removing the gun from the alien's hand mid-fall. The vorcha twisted stab her with a knife and met a shot between the eyes. She'd ask questions later. The first one was always easy when you surprised them; it always got much worse after that.

Castis had done about the same as she had, only grabbing the second vorcha and quickly snapping it's neck. A weapon was in his hand and he fired on the group of turians. Shepard moved upward when he went down. His movements were familiar to her and the rush long missed. This was her first fight since London… and it thrilled her. There was shouting now, movement and spray and pray gunfire. Shepard almost smiled, coming up to cause her own damage. As Garrus had once said, it wasn't wise to go against her.

They often ended up dead.

xXx

"We need to tell the police. We can get help getting them back." Shepard glanced at him, fiddling with the navigation system in the vehicle that had been left behind for their would be killers. They had collected as much ammo as possible, but it still wasn't enough to take on anyone in a real fight. The group hadn't exactly aimed and had expended a god awful amount of their supply. She was glad she didn't have to argue with Castis about going after them. "Did you get anything off them to make a call?" The redhead knew she hadn't. Castis shook his head, glancing at her. "No."

"Should we go back for Vetra?" Castis took a moment to answer, "We can't take on another group on our own. We'll end up getting everyone killed. Besides, she knows how to hold the line." His tone was stiff, like that was exactly what he didn't want to answer her with. Shepard nodded once; she knew the logic of it, but wasn't entirely sure she would have done it herself.

"We don't' know where they took Solana and Garrus…."

Shepard clicked a few buttons, "I'm working on that part. If I can get this working I can see where they last were…" She muttered.

Castis snorted in disbelief, "Where did you learn that from?"

"Your son." She clipped back, shooting him a look. "I bet you think the police are even going to let us borrow some of their ammo too. Let's hope you still have a few friends in high places."

A few more buttons were pressed and Castis growled, changing the subject, "How long is that going to take?"

"Well Castis, it's not like they have 'secret kidnapper base' bookmarked in their favorites." She brought up a little display of the last location check-ins for the vehicle. "They've been to this spot the most, if we're lucky that's where they are going to take Garrus and Solana." Shepard put it up on the dash board now he could see their route. "I hope you're right about Vetra."

Castis drove a little faster, breaking the speed limit. "I am."