Free fall drop down, whens it gonna stop?
Sun's gonna rise but for you there's no dawn
Run all you want but you'll be dyin' with your boots on

Chapter 24

To Worse

Shepard and the squad had been sitting in the abandoned base with the rest of the team for over half an hour. Garrus had been on edge since they arrived. It was the hideout from when he was Archangel.

Ash and Sirilia were on edge too, but none of it came close to how badly Garrus was pacing around. Shepard asked Ash and Sirilia to keep an eye on the perimeter.

He and Garrus meanwhile were in the old sleeping quarters, the same place where he took a rocket to his face and where his decent into revenge began. Shepard had barely managed to pull him out of it.

"Why are we here Shepard?" He finally asked. He hadn't said a word since he figured out where they were going.

Shepard however was focused on his arm, trying to make it serviceable again. He had replacement power cells and old fashioned hand tools to make the repairs. "Because it's one of the few areas I know on this can and it's defensible. I know you don't like it, but we need somewhere safe. I didn't know the area around the bunker and we almost paid for it with our lives. I won't make the same mistake again."

He closed the panel and tried moving his arm but nothing happened. Giving it a quick, firm smack he tried again but still nothing. "Could you hand me that power cell? The green glowy one."

The turian slammed the cell down on the table next to Shepard's arm.

"Can you trust me on something Garrus?"

"On what?"

"This place, there's no reason for you to hate it. I know you want to burn it down to the ground and never come back but it won't help."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because a day or so after I got you the wife of one of your men sent me a message. She said you blamed yourself for what happened, but she said he was proud of the work he did. You were giving them all hope, reclaiming it for the people who lived in this piss-soaked district and all the others."

"And I got them all killed."

"You still aren't getting it!" He tightened the clamps inside the arm down and tested its usability. Unfortunately, it still wasn't working; his wrist wouldn't bend, fingers wouldn't close. The oddest thing was, since the arm had been rendered a glorified paperweight, he could feel massive tingling all down his arm and into his hand and fingers. He didn't need to be a genius to know what it was. Phantom limb syndrome.

He reopened the arm, pulled the cell out and began making tweaks on the connections.

"We all die in the end Garrus. Here's the one lesson I've learned about death: it doesn't matter who you were. What only matters is what you leave behind."

"So my legacy is helping good people die horribly."

"You gave them hope that it might make things better. Your task force for the the Hierarchy, it wasn't much different. Working on guesswork plans against an enemy that had superior numbers and tech? You never quit."

He grunted some kind of response but Shepard could understand what he said.

"You did the right thing." He told him with a dead-set certainty. "And I'd be willing to bet, that your men would the same thing and that it was worth it."

He put one last tightening twist on the micro-screw before returning the power cell into its socket. Retesting his arm he had most of the dexterity back. The digits were a little stiff but it was certainly better than before. But then again almost anything would have been an improvement.

"Maybe," Garrus said. "But how can you be sure?"

"You just... have to have a little faith in yourself. More of that world of gray stuff."

"Never have been good with gray."

"Little confession just between us? Neither have I. But in our line of work you tend to find a way to get used to it."

"Shepard... I, thank you. You've always been there for me and I don't think I ever told you how much it meant to me."

"Of course." He said brushing it off as a casual thanks. "If you're up for it, I've got quite a favor I'd like to ask you for the wedding."

The rescue group had arrived at the Afterlife club which was had its usual long line of potential guests wanting to get in. The elcor bouncer side stepped into their way preventing them from entering.

"With tired annoyance. Get to the end of the line like the others. You will have to wait your turn."

"Get out of my way." Tali said. "I have business with Aria."

"I suggest you listen to her." James said. "She's not in a good mood right now."

"Dismissive. I do not care what mood your companion is in. With pride. No one gets past me unless I say so."

"We do not have time for this." Javik threw a lift field around the lumbering elcor lifting him into the air.

"Extremely terrified. This is unnatural. Put me down. Now. Attempting to regain composure. Who do you think you are?"

"Open. The door." Javik said. "Or I will throw you into traffic and let nature take its course."

"In shamed defeat. Okay. Okay. Just put me down. Realizing implications. Gently."

Tali and James headed in to Afterlife as Javik lowered the elcor back to the ground slowly, though not as slowly as the walking tank would have preferred.

"Angrily. If you do that again, I will have you killed. I know people."

Tali and James were stopped by one of Aria's guards at the base of her lofty perch.

"Sorry little one." The guard said to Tali. "Strippers already left twenty minutes ago."

James immediately threw his large fist into the turian sending him into the wall. "Go! I'll keep 'em off you." The turian's companions were already moving to support their wounded friend.

A batarian tried to get between Tali an Aria but a blow to his groin with her shotgun sent him tumbling down the stairs. She deployed Chitika who guarded the other side of the stairs while James knocked down one guard after the other.

Aria's biotics were flaring giving her already pissed off appearance an even more aggressive impression. "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

"Tell me where Markus is."

She slammed Tali against the opposing wall with a throw. Her shotgun fell away.

"I asked you a question bitch. What the fuck are you doing screwing up my club?"

The quarian remained quiet, a determined look in her eyes. What Aria couldn't see was Javik leaping up behind the self-proclaimed ruler.

Tali moved her head to the side as Javik slammed Aria's face into the wall. With her focus disrupted the field holding Tali against the wall collapsed returning her to the world of gravity. Javik threw Aria back knocking her against the stairs then biotically slammed her against the celling, floor and both support pillars by the stairs.

"You will answer our questions or I will remove your spine and strangle you with it." Javik said. He was holding her against the wall just as she had done to Tali a few moments ago.

Most of the Afterlife patrons had either run away screaming or been knocked out. The few who remained were cowering under whatever cover they could, mostly tables or behind the bar.

"You're Shepard's crew aren't you." Aria said as more fact than question. Few people would even think about trying to do something like this. Fewer still would try to go through with it. No one had tried since the early days of her rule after usurping Patriarch.

"Where is he?"

"Last I heard he was on E deck. Don't know where he is now since there haven't been any massive explosions. Try following that. Now get the hell out of my club." Javik released her though not as gently as he had done with the elcor.

The group left out the back as quietly as they could and sneaked out into the dingy Omega streets.

"So Aria hasn't bothered to keep tabs on Shepard for almost half the day?" James said as they ducked into a small alcove to speak privately. It was a hovel that reeked of urine and vomit. Tali was thankful for her suit's option to shut off the olfactory senses. "I don't like it. Doesn't fit with what I know of her. She has eyes and ears everywhere on this station."

"I remember Shepard talking about his mission with Aria; how he helped her take the station back. He said the bunker was all but impenetrable."

"So if something went wrong where would he go?"

"I believe I know." Javik said in a whisper. "Shepard holds a strong emotional connection to two places here. One linked to the salarian who cured the genophage, the other to the turi—to Vakarian. Both are unpleasant for him but he might use them for a temporary refuge."

"Which is it?"

"If I knew for sure I would tell you."

"Close like that only counts if you've got horseshoes or hand grenades Javik." James shot back. "EDI, can you get us any information on Shepard's previous missions here?"

"Processing now." The AI said over an encrypted communications line. "There are two locations that Shepard might use as Javik suggested. The first was a clinic run by Mordin in Gozu district. It is currently being run by Mordin's assistant Daniel. No last name on file. If any of them were injured it would be a likely location to go to."

"Okay, and the other?"

"The other is on the other side of the station in the Kima district. Shepard found Garrus under attack with the rest of the former vigilante squad killed. He, Jacob and Miranda held off three mercenary groups before performing an emergency medical evacuation after Garrus was injured by a missile nearly impacting Garrus."

"I remember Shepard talking about what happened. Garrus was still in bad shape when they found me. He was so focused on killing Sidonis. He was... it was like he was a different person."

"EDI, you said that Shepard and Garrus held off three whole gangs there?"

"That is correct."

"Then that's where he is. He'd pick somewhere dependable where he knew the terrain. He said it was rule number 18: when hunted try for home field advantage. EDI, find us the fastest route there."

"I would recommend travel by skycar or shuttle. Travel by foot would take more than forty minutes."

"Got it." He opened a line to Cortez. "Esteban, we're coming in. EDI will have coordinates. Shuttle still ready?"

The message was responded to with static. "Esteban? Esteban, can you hear me?"

Still nothing. "Cortez! Come in."

"James, I'm no longer reading lieutenant Cortez's subcutaneous ID tracker."

"Mierda!" He wanted to go back for Cortez, but he couldn't just abandon Shepard and Ash. But splitting up to go after both of them was just short of insane in this place.

"Shepard! We got incoming." Ashley yelled from the ground floor of their 'defended' position. She saw six mercs in yellow armor. "Looks like Eclipse."

One of them fired a sniper round hitting the wall a few centimeters from her head.

"And it looks like they're pissed."

"Let them get closer. We'll need whatever ordinance we can get from them."

"I'll try but-" Another round flew by her head. "But it looks like they're wanting to keep at range for now."

"Yeah I see 'em. Don't think my omni-tool can hit them at range. Not without a few more patches."

"I'll hold them off Shepard. Don't worry."

"This is Sirilia, move up and give you some assistance."

"No! If you leave they'll be able to flank us. I can do this. Just try and hold your position as long as you can!"

An SMG burst ricocheted off the wall behind her. 'Oh I hope I made the right call...'