"We have contacted all remaining members of the team," Legion informed Zhar, Grunt and Garrus as the turian set the C-Sec skycar down at a parking bay. "They will meet us at apartment number six-nine in the Presidium Commons."
"Thanks Legion," Zhar stepped out of the skycar and went to call Tali, but his omnitool was already buzzing. An unknown caller was attempting to contact him. He shrugged and answered it.
"Lieutenant Zhar'Nara vas Doranz?" A stern voice asked.
"Yes, who is this?" Zhar followed Garrus up the steps to his apartment.
"My name is Admiral David Anderson, Alliance Navy. Commander Shepard asked me to contact you."
"You're with Shepard?" Zhar stopped halfway up the stairs.
"Yes. The Normandy and its crew are being escorted back to Earth by the SSV Moscow tomorrow," Anderson replied. "Shepard mentioned he'd like to see you all one last time. We're trying to keep this low-key, so it'll have to be short."
"Understood, where are you docked?"
"G36, we leave at midday," Anderson terminated the connection.
Zhar followed Garrus into his apartment, which had been cleaned since Jack and Miranda's fight. Mordin was busy in the kitchen, apparently dissecting an orange and Jacob was doing sit-ups for no particular reason. Zhar hadn't really spoken to Jacob during his time on the Normandy, he'd always seemed so uptight and formal whenever he tried.
Zhar sank into the sofa, which Samara had kindly reset in the middle of the lounge for Garrus, and waited for the rest of the team. Garrus looked pointedly at him.
"What?" Zhar asked the turian.
"Shepard," he replied. "Where is he?"
"I'll explain it when everyone gets here," Zhar yawned. "He's safe, don't worry."
"Did you expect anything else?" Kasumi appeared on the sofa next to Zhar.
"Keelah, you scared me half to death!"
"Sorry Zhar," Kasumi smiled at him and stretched out her legs, settling down to wait for the other team to arrive back from the casino.
Grunt wandered into the kitchen with Mordin and began opening cupboards at random. Legion stood awkwardly in the corner of the room, its head swivelling to track a conversation every so often. Around ten minutes later, Tali, Samara, Jack and Miranda came in. Miranda's flowing red dress was torn to pieces, and from the smug look on Jack's face Zhar knew exactly who had done it.
"Okay people, we've found Shepard," Zhar stood up and addressed the room. Everyone turned to face him, stopping what they were doing. All except for Grunt, who simply carried on eating. "He's leaving with Admiral Anderson at midday tomorrow, so it might be an idea to get some shut-eye soon. It's been a long day."
The team settled down wherever they could, conversing in hushed voices between themselves. Zhar pushed a couple of cushions up against a wall and sat down next to Tali with a sigh of relief, only just realising he'd been on his feet all day. He looked over at Garrus, who was sitting quietly on his own in a corner.
"Garrus, you've been with Shepard the longest," he said to the turian. "What's been your favourite moment?"
"Aside from destroying a Reaper and the Collectors in incredible style?" Garrus thought for a moment, he noticed everyone around him had gone quiet and were listening. "I suppose it was when we took down this salarian doctor - Saleon, he'd escaped from C-Sec because of some hostages. I wanted to shoot him down, those hostages were dead anyway. As soon as he got out of Citadel space he'd be harvesting their organs."
"Regardless of the eventual consequences, it is not acceptable to take the lives of innocents," Samara said from the corner opposite Garrus.
"Yeah, well anyway," the turian carried on, still not meeting Samara's eyes. "I tracked him down when we were hunting Saren. Nearly shot his head off the minute I saw him."
"Why didn't you?" Zhar asked, thinking of the rage that had taken over him when he had executed James Rosencratz, the man who had murdered his entire team a year ago. He remembered the satisfaction of slitting his throat.
"Shepard stopped me," Garrus shrugged. "He tried to run, we killed him anyway, but that wasn't the point. It's keeping in control, restraining yourself. Not cutting through the red tape because it's faster."
"Given his crimes, I would have dealt with him the moment I saw him," Samara chipped in.
"Sounds like Zhar and Rosencratz," Miranda muttered. She was spread across the sofa, having chivvied Kasumi off it. "Only with a bit less blood."
"I heard you fucked up Shepard after that," Jack laughed at the quarian. "Has anyone else really wanted to do that at some point? Or is that just me?"
"Oh God yes," Miranda pushed herself up on one elbow. "So many times."
"Usually it's just when he's dancing," Garrus smiled.
"It is certainly…" Samara spoke carefully, considering each word before she said it.
"Unique?" Thane suggested.
"Not the word I'd have used," Garrus muttered, and Grunt let out a bark of laughter. One by one, the team began to drop off to sleep.
"Mmm, sleepy time," Miranda pulled a cushion over her head. "Talk in the morning."
"Cheerleader has a point," Jack mumbled, pushing her cushion into a more comfortable position, then eyed Zhar across the room. "No fucking tonight, if you think you can manage it."
"Really Jack?" Zhar looked at Tali, whose head had fallen onto his shoulder some time ago. "I think we're passed that stage anyway."
"Don't talk like you're not thinking about it."
"Does that mean you're thinking about Miranda?" Zhar asked, a smile tugging at his lips.
"A one-time thing," Jack shrugged. "Not even the most annoying person I've woken up next to."
"I thought you were going to kill her when I first saw you two waking up."
"Kill her? Na, I'll leave that to Cerberus," she looked at Miranda. "I guess she's not that bad. I mean, she's still a bitch, but she's a bitch I can call a friend. She's my bitch."
"You're a strange one Jack," he laughed.
"You're quite the fucking mystery yourself," Jack raised an eyebrow. "I saw you around, never got to speaking to you."
"What can I say, I'm a mysterious person."
"Yeah, sure," her eyes became stern. "Everyone's the same on the inside though."
"What do you mean?" Zhar asked. Tali shifted and her head slid down to his chest.
"At the end of the day, everyone wants something," Jack's voice grew hard and cold. "Most of the time they just want to fuck."
"I used to think like that," Zhar put an arm around Tali to stop her slipping further down his chest. "I used to hate everyone. Everything. It's easy to shut people out isn't it?"
"Oh shit, you're going to give me the talk aren't you?" Jack groaned. "Fine, let's hear it."
"Only if you really want to," Zhar gave a weak smile. "Eventually you just have to stop running. At some point you have to just say enough."
"Hey I –" Jack began. Grunt gave a loud snore and she lowered her voice. "I don't run from my fights."
"Who said I was talking about fights? Fights are easy. Just point and shoot. He dies, you die, it doesn't change your general outlook on life," Zhar cocked his head, thinking about it. "Unless you die I suppose. That might put a spanner in the works."
"Then what are you talking about?" Jack asked, folding her arms with a slight smile on her lips.
"I'm talking about when you need to settle down," Zhar looked down at Tali, who sleepily wrapped an arm around his chest. "What do you plan to do after this?"
"I don't know," Jack shrugged. "Can't exactly sit around doing nothing with the Reapers coming and Cerberus on my ass, can I?"
"Ever thought about teaching?"
"Teaching?" Jack snorted. "What good would I be at teaching?"
"Listen, I spent two years of my life under a drill sergeant who couldn't get me to shoot straight if he held the gun himself. In the end it wasn't some officer I had no real respect for that taught me how to shoot properly," Zhar thought back to those countless hours on the range, pumping round after round into the targets. "It was my best friend. He showed me how to do it and here I am: the best sniper in the Revenants. Kids need someone that they can connect with if they want to make real progress."
"Shit, I never thought about it that way," Jack chewed at a nail for a while, then looked back up at Zhar. "I got a message from Alliance Command. Seems Shepard's given them a few details on who we all are. They want me to train biotics. 'Gifted students' they called them. I was going to turn them down…"
"Take the job," Zhar said firmly. "Trust me, you'll do great."
"What makes you say that? This is the first time you've ever spoken to me. What do you know?"
"I've studied the Alliance training methods. They're too… orthodox. In the Revenants we'd throw a squad onto a geth ship just to see if they could survive. The men are chosen at random, the officers volunteer. We call it The Gauntlet," Zhar thought about it for a moment. The darkness closing in on him. The blood pounding in his ears. The nervous twitching of his finger on the trigger each time he rounded a corner. "I think I set a record. Ten times. Only six deaths."
"Impressive. What happens if they don't survive?"
"Then we blow the ship up and the families are informed they can have another child," Zhar shrugged. "They all know the risks of joining our unit. We don't keep any secrets about our training."
"And what does any of that have to do with me teaching?"
"You're unorthodox," Jack began chewing her nail again, her eyes looking at her boots. "And because you're not a real Alliance officer, they're going to listen to you."
"So you think I should do it?"
"Wasn't that obvious?" Zhar settled down and sighed. "Anyway, I need to get to sleep."
"Yeah," Jack still looked troubled. "And Zhar?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks. Not many people would put that kind of faith in me."
"Yeah well," Zhar mused on this. "I never had much faith in myself for a long time. I know what it's like."
"Lighten up for fuck's sake."