Shepard huffed as she sat in her cabin, her brow pinched together between her index finger and thumb as she went over the events of the past 24 hours.
Not seconds after coming back from the dead, she was under attack. After that, the so-called leader of Cerberus, the pro human activist group that was kicked out from the government, needed her help to investigate missing colonies. The colony was like a ghost town, it gave her the creeps, but running into Tali was a pleasant turn of the day.
Shepard opened her eyes and stared down at the data pads sprawled out across her table, picking one up from the group and peered at it. Supposedly these dossiers would help her collect the people she needed to take down their new enemy. The Collectors.
Shepard sighed heavily and tossed the data pad back onto the table and leaned forwards, resting her elbows against the table and groaned as she crushed the heel of her hands against her eyes, rubbing roughly.
"Commander."
Her head tilted slightly, the mechanical voice of the ships new AI echoing through her cabin.
"Yes, EDI?"
Shepard dropped her hands as she looked over her shoulder, the little blue orb in the corner of her room flickering.
" has requested that I inform you: We are ten minutes away from our destination of Omega."
Shepard groaned and stood, rubbing the back of her neck and closed her eyes, spinning on her heels and walking across the room.
"Thank you, EDI. Please inform Miranda and Jacob to meet me at the air lock. I want to move quickly."
"Very well, Commander."
Shepard looked out the corner of her eyes as the blue Orb flickered and vanished, sighing as she leaned against the fish tank on the other side of the room. She shut her eyes tightly again, placing a hand on her throat, the feeling of her air way closing causing her to pause and try taking a deep breath. Opening her eyes again, she scowled at the phantom pain and walked towards the elevator and took it down to the main deck, grabbing her gear on the way, and meeting Miranda and Jacob at the air lock.
"There are three possible recruits from the dossiers here on Omega, Shepard. Which one do you want to go after first?"
Shepard opened her mouth to speak but then lifted a brow as a salarian came running up to them, he looked jumpy, not right, and Shepard felt her body tense up.
"Welcome to Omega! You're new here, aren't you! I can always tell!"
She took it back, the salarian was just silly and funny to watch. Her eyes flicking to the side as a batarian soon came up behind him and scowled, waving him off and he scurried off in a hurry.
"Blasted scavengers. Welcome to Omega, Shepard."
Her brow lifted as she shifted her weight, her hands landing on her hips.
"You know who I am?"
The batarian scoffed before speaking.
"Of course. We had you tagged the moment you entered the Terminus systems. You're not as subtle as you think."
Shepard rolled her eyes at the batarian, her arms folding across her chest.
"Aria wants to know what a dead spectre is doing on Omega. I suggest you go to Afterlife and present yourself."
Shepard pinched her brow between her index finger and thumb, shaking her head.
"Cut the shit… I'm not here to cause problems for Omega."
The batarian laughed.
"Things explode around you, Shepard. You can't blame Aria for keeping an eye on you. Afterlife. Now."
Shepard rolled her eyes once again as she watched the batarian turn and leave, looking over her shoulder and smirked at Miranda.
"He was rather charming, wasn't he?"
Shepard grinned broadly as Miranda scoffed in disapproval while Jacob smirked.
"You're no fun."
Shepard chuckled as she moved further into the hall, pausing as they reached the end and enjoyed the show of an old merc beating on a batarian. Shepard sent Miranda back to the ship once they arranged for Zaeed to join them then headed to Afterlife. Shepard didn't like Aria, the Asari had one hell of a god complex that Shepard wanted to be as far away from as possible, but she needed information on the people from the dossiers, so she put up with her for a while longer.
"Why do I feel like I need a nice scalding shower after talking with her?"
Zaeed snickered.
"You will need a shower after getting off Omega. This place has so many bugs they'd crawl right under your skin."
Shepard shuttered as she paused in front of the recruiting area for going after Archangel, looking at Zaeed.
"Now that is a mental image I could have gone without. Thank you for that."
Shepard shook her head and grinned as she stepped into the make shift office, her brow lifting as there was yet another batarian who eyed her up before speaking.
"Well, aren't you sweet. You're in the wrong place, honey. Stripers quarters are that way."
Shepard's brow lifted as she smiled sweetly. A beautiful hue of blue danced across her armor and skin as she reached for her hip and pulled the pistol from its holster, her hand tilting as she examined it, the blue of her biotics still dancing over her body.
"Show me yours, big guy. I bet mines bigger."
She winked playfully at him as he pulled the neck piece of his armor and coughed, looking back down at his console.
"Impressive. So, you're here to fight then."
Shepard scoffed and holstered her pistol, folding her arms over her chest.
"Sure, if this is the place to go after Archangel."
The batarian nodded, glancing up from his console for a second to look Shepard over.
"This is the place. Standard fee is 500 credits each. You get paid when the job is done. If you die, your friends don't collect your share."
Shepard's brow lifted high as he spoke as if he had said it a thousand times. Which he probably has, if what her information says about Archangel was true.
"You will need your own weapons and armor… Looks like you've got that covered. And no, this does not make you a member of the Blue Suns, Eclipse, or the blood pack. You are a freelancer. Period. Any questions?"
Shepard laughed silently at his little speech, shaking her head.
"Just tell me where to go."
The batarian nodded some, pointing back out the door behind her.
"A shuttle to take the next group will be leaving in two hours. You can find the driver outside in the lot."
Shepard spun on her heels quickly, her brow lifting again as the doors opened and a kid not more then twenty years walked past her.
"Hey! This where I sign up?"
Shepard tilted her head slightly, glancing down at his weapon.
"How old are you? You look a little young to be freelancing as a merc."
He spun around angerly.
"I'm old enough! I grew up on Omega. I know how to use a gun."
Shepard rolled her eyes as she watched the kid, glancing back at the amused look on the batarians face.
"So does Archangel."
She looked over at Jacob as he spoke.
"I can handle myself! Besides, I just spend 50 credits on this pistol, and I wanna use it!"
Shepard pinched the bridge of her nose between her index finger and thumb as the kid pulled out the crappy pistol and quickly snatched it from his hands, looking it over before slapping the side of it hard enough to make something snap and sizzle before handing it back to the kid.
"Get your money back. Trust me. You'll thank me later."
Shepard patted his shoulder as she stood there pouting over the pistol as she spun around and left, checking her omni-tool.
"Two hours, huh? Think we have time to look for that salarian doctor before heading out?"
She looked back at Jacob and he checked his omni-tool and the layout of Omega.
"It might be tight, but I think it's do-able."
Shepard laughed, grinning as she tucked loosened strands of her hair behind her ear.
"Come on, Jacob. You're with Commander Shepard. Everything we do will be "tight."
Shepard laughed as Jacob groaned, following behind her as she began a jog out of Afterlife and down into the lower markets. They had a small stall in entering the residential area due to the plague, but Shepard not only pulled the rocket launcher off her back to make her point, but also convinced the guard that she could help the situation.
Shepard didn't like batarians, not after what happened to her colony, but leaving the sick batarian as he was just rubbed her the wrong way, so she gave him some medi-gel before going on her way. Shepard folded her arms across her chest as she watched Zaeed 'round a corner and quickly duck back in, grinning as the old man cursed colourfully as bullets bounced off the wall. He looked up at her, his brow lifting.
"What?"
She shook her head, closing her eyes and chuckling.
"Nothing, gramps. I just thought you would be more… what's the word?"
She tapped her lower lip for a second before looking back at him.
"Physical rather than verbal."
Shepard burst out laughing as Jacob choked on his biotics, sending a lift over his shoulder and into containers on the wrong end of the room, and held her sides as Zaeed blushed bright pink and swore even more before ducking back out into the fire and emptying his clip into everything that moved.
Shepard waited a moment before peeking her head out when the firing stopped, smirking as she peeled herself from the wall and skipped over to Zaeed and leaned on his shoulder.
"Nice shootin', rex."
She smirked at him and patted his shoulder before walking a head of him, stepping over the bodies of the Blue Sun mercs that now littered the path. Of course the rest of their way to the clinic, they were under fire, and of course once they actually got there they still had to do something else before the doctor would join them.
"Is there seriously nothing in this galaxy that isn't as simple as walking up to someone and going "Hey! I need your help with this, wanna come along?". "Oh but of course! I would love you join you!" And we all just skip our way back to the ship?"
Shepard changed the pitch of her voice with each sentence, throwing her hands up in the air as Jacob snorted and grinned at her bitching.
"Oh shush, pretty boy."
Jacob grinned even more and held up his hands, making a face of "I didn't do it" as he followed behind his commander. It took them an hour to get to the vents, and another half hour to get the things turned back on while they were being shot at. Shepard checked her omni-tool as they walked back into the Doctors office, glancing up to see the assistant walking around and helping out where he could while the doctor was babbling to fast for her to catch up.
"Working with Cerberus. Should be interesting."
Shepard chuckled softly.
"Oh indeed, but listen doc. We need to be some where, so… Do you have all your arrangements done here?"
He looked around for a moment before nodding.
"Can send emails once aboard ship. Can head out now."
Shepard nodded once before turning around, looking towards Jacob.
"I want you to head back. I will take Zaeed and Mordin with me for this one."
Jacob was about to protest, but then simply nodded as he headed off ahead of the group. Shepard glancing back to see Mordin checking his omni-tool before focusing on leaving.
Shepard sat in the back of the cab as mercs of all kinds sat squished together in the small car, she rubbed her forehead with her middle finger as she peeked past her eye lashes and stared at Mordin sitting across from her. Her head tilted slightly as she stared at the older looking salarian, her head leaning against her hand as she leaned against the window.
"Staring is commonly rude, in human society. Can I help you, Shepard?"
She smiled slightly, shaking her head.
"Not at all, Mordin. You just remind me of someone."
The salarian tilted his head as Shepard turned to look out the window just in time to have them land and they all climbed out. Shepard and her team hanging back as they watched everyone else charge off, her arms folding over her chest.
"Should move quickly, Archangel might not have much longer."
Shepard smirked as she looked over at Mordin, nodding slightly as she took her time walking through the halls. Turning a corner and coming out one door, she paused in her step as she leaned back, a side door opening, and peered at the mech at the end of the hall. She whistled sharply to catch her team's attention and they paused in their steps as Shepard ducked into the room quickly and walked to the mech terminal.
"Uh, you know what you are doin'. Right?"
Shepard rolled her eyes hearing Zaeed's uncertainty, smirking as she hacked into the terminal and began to over right the friendlies.
"I'm sure they wont mind if I up our chances, do you?"
As she confirmed the changes, they left quickly. Shepard almost stepping into the path of a krogan that was way to big for her comfort as they moved to the main area. She took a peek up at the defence position that Archangel had been set up in, her head dipping out of cover for a second and her shields fired up as a shot ricochet off of her and hit another merc in the leg. She blinked and stared at the merc crying in pain before looking up at the spot again, her eyes narrowing before she quickly moved across the gap and towards the gun ship.
Shepard snuck around the mercs that stood in front of the ship, making a face as they stared at her as she ducked under and past one of the wings. When she reached around the rear, she tilted her head at the batarian working on the gun ship.
"You Cathka?"
The batarian slowly stood up and looked at Shepard, lighting a cigarette and blowing the smoke in her face.
"Sargent Cathka."
Shepard choked as she breathed in the smoke, waving her hand around to try and help the smoke vanish faster.
"You must be the group Salkie mentioned. You're just in time."
Shepard's brow lifted as Cathka eyed her up, his eyes lingering on the markings decorating her face.
"Salkie?"
He shook his head.
"You met him when you were dropped off. He radioed to say you were coming. You three kind of stand out from most of the other freelancers. Anyway…"
Shepard's brow lifted again as he spoke, rolling her eyes as she folded her arms over her chest and stared at him.
"The infiltration team is about to give the signal. Archangel wont' know what hit him."
Shepard followed Cathka as he walked over to the terminal that had diagnostics of the gunship, resting her weight on one leg as her hip jutted out.
"Got any questions? This may be your last chance."
Shepard shook her head slightly, glancing to the side.
"Are you going to give us cover with that thing?"
Cathka snorted out a laugh, shaking his head.
"Tarak is the only one who flies her. Besides, she's not quite ready. That bastard Archangel gave her a beating the last time she was out there. A few more tweaks, she'll be good as new."
Shepard made a soft humming sound as she stared at the gunship, tilting her head to the side as she glanced back at Cathka.
"Are you leading the assault?"
Shepard scowled as more smoke flew up in her face and she quickly waved her hand around to get rid of it as Cathka laughed.
"Tarak doesn't pay me to fight. I just plan the attacks and fix the damn gunship. You freelancers get the privilege of—"
They both looked over at the terminal as the screen changed, the infiltration reporting in no doubt. Shepard peeked closer, nodding to herself. This was about to get fun.
"Check. Bravo team- Go, go, go!"
Shepard looked over past the gunship and watched as a group of freelancers pulled out their weapons and checked them over before running towards the barricade they had set up between them and Archangel.
"Archangel's got quiet a surprise waiting for him. But that means no more waiting for me."
Shepard looked back at Cathka as he spoke, her gaze narrowing on him as he walked over to the gunship.
"Gotta get her to a hundered percent before Tarak decides he needs her again."
Shepard glanced down at the omni-tool Cathka had been using, her brow lifting slightly as she glanced back over at him. She took a couple steps over to him, placing a hand on her hip as he turned to look at her.
"You're working too hard…"
His brow knitted together for a second before he started to scream in pain as Shepard jammed the omni-tool into his lower back and turned it on, electrocuting him. She felt a little bad for doing it, but she needed any advantage she could get in this fight.
"Ready Commander?"
She smirked at Zaeed as she drew her pistol and climbed up onto the ledge of the barricade.
"When am I not?"
She laughed as Zaeed scoffed and her team jumped over the barricade. Before her feet could touch the ground, Shepard's biotics came to life as she threw her hand out and tossed one of the freelances over the edge, his screams drowning out.
"She's with Archangel!"
Shepard grinned as she aimed her pistol and fired off a couple rounds as freelancers closest to her and her team spun around to fire on her. Mordin and Zaeed taking cover on either side of her as she stood in the middle and emptied her thermal clip. Two freelancers now sprawled out dead as she started a strong walk towards the building. She spun in her step as she entered and aimed her pistol across the room, firing her pistol and throwing a lift off to the right as a couple more freelancers got caught up in the biotic field and she grinned as Mordin and Zaeed came in close behind her and finished them off as she scaled the steps to the upper level quickly.
She took the steps two by two, her biotics flaring as she threw a singularity at the two mercs at the door trying to pry it open, their screams dying in their throats as Shepard unloaded her clip into them. On her reload, she looked over at her team and made a face.
"Is it just me, or do their shields suck? Like… a lot?"
Zaeed scoffed.
"It's like shooting at swiss cheese."
Shepard laughed and shook her head as she walked to the door, quickly entering and closing it behind them as they held their guns up at the ready just in case. Shepard peered over her pistol at the person in question, her brow lifting as she stared at the blue armor he wore.
"Archangel?"
She lowered her pistol as she spoke, and he held up his hand, one finger higher then the others before taking aim with again. Shepard waited patiently, glancing back at her team as she rubbed the back of her neck. A shot firing made her look back to see Archangel standing from his kneeling position and walk over to the crates that were off to the side and lazily sat on top of them. He rubbed the visor of his helmet before taking it off and Shepard choked on her breath as she stared at the all to familiar face.
"Shepard... I thought you were dead."
Shepard unintentionally dropped her pistol as she stared at Garrus and slowly walked over to him. The large turian stared down at her as she now stood in front of him, her lips quivering ever so slightly as she reached up and touched either side of his face with her hands and he closed his eyes as he hummed at her touch.
"Garrus."
He opened his eyes and stared back down at her as she choked out a laugh and smiled up at him. His mandibles flared under her hands as he smiled down at her and reached up, curling the loose strands of her hair in his fingers.
"You shot me, you know."
He laughed at her comment, shaking his head.
"Sorry, Shepard, but when you see your old Commander suddenly walking about, well, you begin to question some things."
Shepard laughed bleakly and shook her head as he jumped down from his perch on the crates, his arms wrapping around her as he pulled her close to him and nuzzled into her hair.
"For what it's worth, I'm glad to see you."
Shepard laughed again, this time for real as she looked up at him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tightly. A cough from behind them making them finally release one another and Shepard smiled embarrassed as she took her offered pistol from Mordin.
"Well, how about we get you out of here, big guy?"
Garrus grinned down at Shepard's words, nodding.
"Just like old times, Shepard."
Shepard laughed as they walked to the ledge to scope things out, grumbling at the shit plan that was laid out in front of them. It didn't take long for things to go south and Shepard had to leave Garrus after watching the mech destroy it's own men, but she left Zaeed with him, as she went to the lower levels to deal with the infiltration team. It took longer then she wanted when she finally got back to Garrus in the upper level and dealing with the larger then life krogan didn't make her fel warm and fuzzy when she entered the room he was held up in to see the krogan trying to pelt Garrus with too many shotgun rounds.
It took some time, and almost all her ammo when the krogan finally fell. She quickly checked on Garrus before and explosion came from the lower level again and Shepard sighed in annoyance as she left with her team and held position at the top of the steps. She growled as she could hear the gunship flying around and left Zaeed and Mordin to handle the steps as she ran to the room to check where it was.
As Shepard entered the room, she was knocked a step back from the backwind of an explosion in the room, her eyes growing wide as she watched Garrus roll from one side of the room to the other and didn't move. Her heart dropped to her feet as she looked over at the gunship, her team coming up from behind her.
"Mordin… Please tell me you are as good as I think you are."
The salarian stared at Shepard for a moment before nodding.
"Better than."
She looked over her shoulder as she grabbed Zaeed by the shoulder and shoved him forwards to take cover behind something.
"Then keep Garrus alive till we can get him to the Normandy."
Mordin looked over at Garrus and nodded slightly before looking back at Shepard.
"Will do what I can."
Shepard bit her lip as Mordin ran across the room and began to tend to Garrus, growling as she took cover with Zaeed and they both opened fire on the gunship. Zaeed cursed as the gunship dipped down out of sight and the far side of the room filled with mercs, Shepard joining the colourful language as she threw a singularity into the mess to catch a few of them and aimed careful for headshots. Her emerald eyes narrowing as the gunship came back.
"Zaeed. Do me a favor."
She looked over at the old man, grinning.
"Film this. Cause this will be good."
Zaeed looked confused to a moment until Shepard jumped out of cover as her biotics came to life in a barrier, her arms held up in a protective manner for her head as she sprinted across the room. As she reached the window, Shepard jumped up onto the ledge and used her biotics to give her body an extra push off from it as she jumped, her body glowing brilliantly as she landed heavily on the glass of the gunship. She peered inside for a second before smirking and took her pistol and unloaded it into the glass, the bullets waring down the gunships shields and armor and by the time the thermal clip popped, Shepard simply holstered it and slammed a biotically charged fist through the glass.
Zaeed sat up just enough to be able to hit the record button on his omni-tool, cursing as he watched Shepard punch through the glass of the cockpit and haul the Blue Suns merc from the piolets seat and throw him across the gap, his screamed echoing and dying out as Shepard jumped back into the room, panting, and ran over to Moridn and Garrus. She checked them both over, frowning deeply as it looked like Garrus wasn't breath and was about to take a step back but jolted up right as Garrus gasped for air.
"Garrus!"
She was at his side again, taking his hand in hers as she held it tightly and leaned forwards, so he could see her.
"Focus on me! Look at me!"
He gasped for air, his eyes fluttering open and closed as he stared at Shepard as she yelled at her team to get their asses in gear as she called the Normandy. He watched as she looked back down at him, was she crying? No. His Shepard doesn't cry. He watched her until he couldn't anymore, and his mind blacked out.
Shepard pulled absent-mindedly at her lower lip as she stared at the meeting table in the comm room, her emerald gaze fixated on the wood surface as Jacob spoke to her.
"Commander, we've done what we could for Garrus, but he took a bad hit."
Shepard scowled as she looked up and stared at Jacob.
"The docs corrected with surgical procedures and some cybernetics. Best we can tell, he'll have full functionality, but…"
Shepard didn't want to listen to Jacob anymore, her eyes shut as her throat began to feel like it was closing up on itself.
"Shepard."
Her eyes shooting open as she heard the door open.
"Touch son of a bitch… Didn't think he'd be up yet."
Shepard smiled as Garrus walked into the room, cupping her hands over her mouth for a moment before laughing as Garrus spoke.
"No one would give me a mirror. How bad is it?'
Shepard smiled more at him.
"You were always ugly Garrus. Slap some face paint on there and you can't tell the difference."
Garrus' mandibles flared as he laughed but stopped as he cupped a hand over his bandage and shook his head.
"Oh ow. Don't make me laugh. Damn it. My face is barely holding together as is. Some women find facial scars attractive, mind you most of those women are krogan."
Shepard chuckled lightly, glancing over at Jacob as he saluted her and left the room before she looked back over at Garrus. He too watched the man leave, his look turning more serious.
"Frankly, I'm more worried about you. Cerberus, Shepard? You remember those sick experiments they were doing."
She nodded slightly, shutting her eyes as she rubbed her hands over her arms as she opened her eyes to look back at the table.
"I do. I suppose I could count myself among those now, can't I?"
She looked back at Garrus, smiling sadly. He shook his head sternly as he walked over to her, placing his hands on top of hers and held them tightly.
"Don't you dare."
Shepard smiled up at him.
"I'm glad you're here, Garrus. I need someone I can trust by my side with this."
Garrus hummed softly as he nodded, resting the side of his mandible on the side of her head.
"I read the reports before coming… You do realize this means I would be walking into hell with you, right?"
Shepard laughed as she nodded, peeking up at him.
"Ah hell. Why not. Just like old times, Elizabeth."
Shepard felt her eyes grow wide as Garrus said her name and he smiled down at her. She couldn't help it as her eyes filled with tears and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her to her tippy toes and held her close as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held onto him for dear life. He nuzzled his face into her hair, it was in a messy low-down bun and perfect for him to nuzzle against as he took in her scent. She smelt like cinnamon.