A/N: I own nothing except the laptop I wrote this story on.

It had been several days since Miranda met Oriana. It was a busy couple of days, to be honest. With the arrival of Tali, the Normandy had been working overtime in order to install these state-of-the-art shield boosters. Normally, I would have thought such a project to be a bit of a boondoggle. But according to Garrus, Sis was adamant about installing them for a reason: the Collectors had ripped through the original Normandy's defenses like a hot knife through butter.

So perhaps it made sense that Sis wanted to minimize the likelihood of her dying for a second time.

I spent my spare time, much like I had been ever since I'd gotten on the Normandy all those weeks ago, getting back into shape. I was always pretty lucky when it came to exercise: I didn't lose a lot of muscle over the years of my self-imposed exile…but did gain a little bit of a gut. I wasn't fat by any definition, but I used to be a lot more toned than what I looked like when Janey first found me in Omega.

But thanks to constantly throwing people around in the gym as well as a constant presence in Sis' missions was causing me to be a little less embarrassed when I stared at myself in the mirror. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that I was starting to look like what I looked like all those years before: big and bulky, and able to go toe-to-toe with one of those N7 assholes that Sis always complained would hit on her during training.

I was starting to look like I did before Torfan.

I guess part of my willingness to work myself to a frenetic pace was both a means of getting in shape as well as a form of running away from the problems. I knew that I was gonna have to face them at some point. But…that could wait. Right now there were more pressing problems.

Like getting this stubborn son of a bitch to tap out.

I have to give Jacob Taylor credit: he's a bit of a dullard, but considering the vast multitude of dysfunctionality that has infested the Normandy, his level-headedness is a nice reprieve from everything else. He's good to chat with about random bullshit that has nothing to do with the mission at its core. If anything, he's the only one on the ship (with the exception of Sis) that consistently keeps up with baseball scores back on earth, and enjoys teasing me about being a fan of such a shitty team. (That lucky bastard gets to root for the Cubs, who took something like ten World Series in a row from the 2160s into the 2170s)

He's also a bitch to fight.

Grappling isn't a recommended course of action, because I think Taylor trained in some sadistic form of catch wrestling that teaches its students to move in not quite the way you think they will, which automatically throws you for a loop. And he's fast, so you can't really chase him around. Just have to wait for him to make a mistake.

That doesn't happen often.

I shoot for the legs, intending to take him down right onto the canvas mat. We hit the canvas hard enough to shake the ring, but I don't have any time to celebrate because I realize that the bastard got a guillotine chokehold in on me while we were going down. Stupid. Should have led less with the head.

My head is swimming and I know that I'm fading fast. I plant my feet underneath me, and slowly try to lift him up to a standing position. I must look red as a tomato. I flail my arm up and around the back of his neck, and at the same time I grab around his thigh. With the last of my conscious effort, I pop my hips back and throw him over my shoulder. We both hit the canvas with a BANG, but it jarred Taylor enough that he loosened the hold, and I scuttle out away from him. I'm seeing stars and I can hear my pulse slamming against my temple: that's how close the bastard was to choking me out. I roll over and lay on my back, trying to get my breath.

That's when Taylor lunges for me, looking to get full mount control.

But I was waiting for him to do that. I grab one of his arms and yank it towards my opposite hip. At the same time I wrap my leg around his head, and clamp down on my shin with my other leg. I got him locked in the best triangle choke I've thrown in ages. He turns purple, and then taps out. So I let him go.

There's a smattering of applause from some of the crewmen that were watching, and we both help each other to our feet. Jacob just smirks and shakes his head.

"Damn. I gotta stop falling for that." He mutters. I shrug.

"You almost had me this time." I said. "A little tighter on the choke and I'd be snoring." Jacob just rolls his eyes.

"You don't need to pretend, John. You were a trainer for the academy once upon a time, you know."

"Yeah." I said. I scrunch my face in thought. "Did I ever get around to teaching you? My memory isn't always the best with every student I beat up."

Jacob laughes.

"No, I just missed you. And then I joined the Corsairs. We had our own little differences in training from the regular Alliance grunts. In fact, I think the Corsairs borrowed a bit from the COBRA unit."

My smile fades. He recognizes that he might have touched a nerve.

"Shit. I didn't mean to-"

"No, you're fine." I said. "It's just…" I sigh. "I gotta get changed. You just reminded me that I need to meet up with Samara."

Jacob nods, and we do a little fist-bump handshake sequence that guys do. As we leave the ring, I could have sworn I saw what looked like Kasumi hiding in the rafters, staring after Jacob with a dreamy look in her eyes. But then we made eye contact, and she seemed to melt away.

…

Truthfully, I was starting to worry about Samara. Our last few sessions were going alright, but even I could tell that she was distracted about something. And considering how cryptic and quiet she is to begin with, that's really saying something. I figured that she trusted me enough – though god only knew why – to the point that if I asked her what was wrong, maybe she'd tell me. She wouldn't kill me on sight, at least.

But when I open the door to her observatory, I see that she is not alone. Thane is already there. And so is Sis.

They all turn to see me.

"Oh, hello Jonathan." Samara said. "I forgot that our scheduled session was coming up."

"We'll only be a few minutes, Bro." Sis said.

That set off my bullshit detector on so many levels. First of all, Samara never forgets fucking anything. I saw the way her eyes shifted. And whenever Sis says that something will only take a few minutes, then it's going to take a few days. And Thane looks uncomfortable too. This is all kinds of wrong.

And I hate being lied to.

"Bullshit." I said. "What's going on?"

There is a silence. And then Sis speaks.

"John, this doesn't concern you." She said.

"Don't you John me, Sis." I growl. "If there's something the matter, I want to help. If nothing else for the fact that it will let me get this goddamn meditation out of the way."

There's another silence.

"Perhaps he can help." Samara said.

"Are you sure?" Sis asked. "You said that you wanted to keep this private."

"I did. But I trust Jonathan." Samara said. "He is not someone to gossip for the sake of gossip."

Sis sighed and nodded.

"Alright, John. Close the door and we'll talk."

I do as she asks, and then turn to face the rest of the group.

Samara looks at me, and she seems very sad about something.

"I was just telling your sister and Thane here, right before you walked in, that I have a personal matter that must be attended to." She said. She turned around and faced the infinite expanse of space in front of us. "When we met on Illium, I told you all about a very dangerous person I was pursuing. Using the information that Jane attained, I have located her."

Thane's eyes widened slightly.

"Are you certain?" He asked. Samara nodded.

"She has been going by the name 'Morinth.'" Samara said. "I would like to apprehend her before she disappears again."

"How important is bringing in one criminal?" I asked. Samara turns to face me.

"Killing her has been my focus for 400 years, Jonathan." She said. "It is the most important thing in my life and the reason I became a Justicar."

"Didn't you say that you would pick up her trail after the mission, though?" Jane asked.

"I know where she is. Right now." Samara said. "In a month, she may be gone. Perhaps even in a week. This is the best opportunity I've ever had."

"You said that you tracked her down." Thane said. "Where is she now?"

"Omega." Samara said.

Of fucking course.

"She is in a nightclub called 'Afterlife.'" Samara said. "It seems as though it is a perfect place for her to hunt."

"There is a certain degree of poetic cruelty that she be in such an obvious choice of hunting ground." Thane said.

Both Jane and I look at each other. Clearly Thane and Samara are friends, and know a lot more than we do. It's starting to bother us. So Jane pipes up.

"Tell us about her." She said.

"She is an Ardat-Yakshi." Samara said.

"I'm not familiar with that phrase. And, um, I know a little bit of Asari." Sis said, scratching the back of her head awkwardly. There's a little bit of a blush on her cheeks, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes. Of course Sis' idea of impressing her beau would be to learn a little bit of the language. She might try to come across as a super badass, but Sis is a regular softie.

"It is a term from a long-dead Asari dialect." Thane said. "It means 'demon of the night winds.'"

"How do you know?" I asked.

"I came to trust Thane during our short time working together." Samara said. "I told him of my mission in life, and he made a promise that he would always look for signs or clues that the one I hunt is nearby." She paused. "It was ultimately thanks to him that I knew to look for Morinth on Illium." She then turned to look at the two of us. "But to call her by the translated phrase is to grant her a form of romanticism, giving in to mythology. She is simply a very dangerous woman who kills without mercy."

"So does being an Ardat-Yakshi make her a special kind of murderer?" Sis asked.

"Morinth suffers from a rare genetic disorder." Samara said, now once again looking out to the stars. "When she mates with you, there is no gentle melding of nervous systems." She does not mince her words. "She overpowers yours, burns it out, and hemorrhages your brain. You end up a mindless shell, and soon after you are dead."

I notice that Sis has gone white as a sheet.

"And she can't abstain?" I asked, mostly to kee the flow of information going and to give Sis time to get over the shell-shock of what was clearly not how her encounters with Liara had gone.

"Each encounter gives her strength." Samara said. "The effect is narcotic; the more she does it, the more she needs to do it. She will never stop. She can't." Samara honest-to-god narrowed her eyes in cold fury at that last bit.

"You'd think that something like this would be mentioned in Asari literature or art." I said, frowning. "After all, humans have no trouble referencing murderers. Jack the Ripper is still getting some mileage these days, despite the fact that it's been over three hundred years since the murders he may or may not have committed. And he only killed about five people. If this Morinth has been doing this for hundreds of years, then she has to have a body count close to Pol Pot or Stalin."

"When we were…primitive, there was much fascination with Ardat-Yakshi." Samara said. "Some cultures worshipped them as gods of destruction. Now the Asari have a place in the galaxy, and they don't wish this defect to be widely known."

I scowl.

"That reeks of cultural elitism, Samara, and you know it." I said. "The Turians have never hidden the fact that they believe in war, and are willing to accept the horrors that come with it. The Salarians live up to the fact that they only have a short lifespan. The Krogan are stigmatized with the Genophage. And us humans?" I let out a low whistle. "It seems like all of our dirty laundry is public knowledge. Racism, religious warfare, genocides, phobias towards sexuality and gender identity…and yet throughout all of it the Asari have somehow remained above the fray." I narrow my eyes. "I knew that was too good to be true."

"John!" Sis said, snapping out of her horror trance. "That was uncalled for!"

"He…has a point." Samara said finally. "I may be Asari, but the life I live has essentially divorced me from society at large. I can see the hypocrisy rooted in Thessia. I suppose that is why I never felt an urge to enter Asari politics even before I became a Justicar." She then turned to look at us. "But this is not a wide-spread epidemic. As far as I know, only three exist today. Two chose a life of seclusion. The other ran."

"Morinth." Sis said. Samara nodded.

"She ran," Samara said. "And I am sworn to kill her."

"Is it so bad to yearn for freedom, if the only option is to be cooped up in a cage for the rest of your life?" I asked.

"When she ran, she proved her addiction." Samara said. "She was not taking some great moral stand – she simply wants to keep killing. I have followed a trail of countless bodies to serve as the evidence. She is a tragic figure, perhaps, but not a sympathetic one."

I realize that I have perhaps overstepped my bounds, and I fall silent. Sis decides to cover the rest of the bases.

"So you hunt down these Asari that have a genetic disorder?" Sis asked. "I might not have worded it as…bluntly as Bro might have, but I see his point: to us, it sounds a little bit like back on earth, where the subject of your sexuality could lead to a lifetime of ostracization, terror, and even killing."

"The condition manifests with maturity." Samara said. "When one is diagnosed, she is offered the chance to live in seclusion and comfort. If she refuses, it shows her addiction to the ecstasy she gets from killing her mates. There is no redemption for such a person."

"Their only choices are prison or death?" Sis and I ask at the same time. I feel a sort of protective urge towards my sister. Janey's sexuality never bothered me (if anything, it served as a great deal of humor that we could both talk about crazy exes…and know exactly what the other was going through), and it never bothered Mom or Dad. But listening to the clinical way that Samara describes this "condition" and the punitive measures taken to cull it, and it's no surprise that we're a little bit repulsed by what we're hearing.

"It is an addictive condition." Samara said. "Remember how adaptive the Asari are. If Morinth does not want to be cured, then she won't be." She then turns to look at the two of us. "Do not confuse my clinical nature or the condition of the Ardat-Yakshi as a greater metaphor for how we view relationships. For centuries until first contact with other species, Asari were mating with one another. We have no problem with how you were born, or to whom you are drawn to as a potential partner. What we do have a problem with are people like Morinth, who are in possession of an incredibly dangerous defect and instead of taking steps to combat it for their own good and for the greater good…choose instead to engage in hedonistic, selfish pleasure. To compare Morinth's condition to your sexuality, Commander Shepard, is to compare apples with dining room tables: there is no comparison."

It takes Janey a split second, and then she turns bright red and starts blushing.

"What? But I never-how did-"

Samara smiles slightly.

"Over four hundred years of detective work, remember?"

"Okay, let's move on." I said, trying to save Jane some dignity at the rather casual way Samara has figured her out. "Isn't Morinth, in theory, just dangerous to everyone that she mates with?"

"Each time that she kills, she becomes stronger, smarter and faster. And she's been doing this for 400 years." Samara said. "She confuses her victims and twists their feelings. They will do anything for her favor, even if it means their assured death."

Sis has recovered, and she steels her expression.

"We need to stop her."

Samara closes her eyes and smiles slightly. But it is not a happy smile. It is more of a sad smile.

"Thank you Commander." Samara said. "There are no words to express what this means to me."

We start to walk away, and then Samara speaks again.

"There is something more."

There always is.

"What is it?" Sis asked. Samara does not turn around to face us.

"This creature…this monster…she is my daughter."

Sis walks back up to Samara, and gives her a big bear hug. Samara seems somehat surprised at the gesture, but gingerly returns it. Sis breaks the hug, and I see a twinkle of a tear in her eye.

"I am so sorry, Samara." She said. "You said the condition is genetic. How many children do you have?"

"Three." Samara said. "And there are three Ardat-Yakshi in existence today. It is as it sounds. Morinth was always the wild one – she was always happy and free. But selfish."

"I have encountered a few kills over my time that can only be attributed to an Ardat-Yakshi, though to an untrained eye they look like a brain hemorrhage victim." Suddenly, Thane's pupils dilate, and he's speaking to no one in particular.

"The door is open, though the lock was not broken. The owner of the apartment clearly was expecting company. There are scattered rose petals on the ground, and a trace of lavender incense wafts through the air. Her body is on the bed in the upstairs bedroom, where the lavender and the petals are at a critical mass. She is unclothed and spread eagle, looking up to the ceiling. But her skin is paper-white, and her eyes are glazed and unseeing. Blood leaks out of every orifice, and the look on her face is that of someone who has only just too late realized the horror she has given herself to. But by then it is too late. I say a prayer to Kalahira that this woman suffer no more, and I search the room for evidence. There is none."

He blinks, and snaps out of it.

The first time that I witnessed Thane do one of his memory-lapse things, it was really fucking creepy. The way his eyes got black like an Asari about to embrace eternity, and the flowing and un-stumbling manner in which he enunciated every word. Now I'm just used to it.

"It is a terrible fate to be killed by an Ardat-Yakshi." Thane said quietly. "I have killed many people in my life, but I can take a small comfort in knowing that I always did so in a manner that produced the least suffering. Mostly."

"My daughter's condition is my fault." Samara said. "And my redemption lies in killing her." Samara said. She looked at us. "Do not pity me. Simply understand my situation."

"How did all of this happen?" Sis asked.

"I spent my youth on the move." Samara said. "I adventured, killed people, mated with them, or just danced the night away." She is pacing now. "I learned so much, experienced so much. And then my Matron days came. I could finally sit back, bask, and enjoy my family. But it was all taken away from me."

There is a great sorrow in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Samara." I said. Sis and Thane are respectfully silent. Samara continued.

"I sat in a med lab while a near-sighted doctor droned at me. And I learned that nothing was as I thought it would be." She looked at the stars. "I gave up all that I possessed. I own nothing. Claim nothing. All my knowledge will die with me…Now my purpose is to destroy my own children."

It is moments like these where I really doubt the existence of a higher power if someone has been led to believe that their purpose in life is to destroy their own flesh and blood.

Samama looks pained.

"I say too much." She finally said. "Help me find my long-lost daughter…and kill her."

Sis lets out a deep breath. And then she turns to the rest of us.

"This is the sort of thing that requires a low-key approach. Don't spread it around the Normandy. EDI, that means you."

"Affirmative, Commander. I shall not tell anyone."

That's somewhat creepy that the thing was listening to the entire goddamn thing.

"I shall be held to a code of silence." Thane said. "I have helped Samara in certain manners when it came to hunting her daughter. I should like to see this through to the end."

"I'll go too, because otherwise I'll burst wondering what happened." I said.

Samara gave a sad smile.

"Your kindness is more than I ever could have asked for. Other than the few times I have interacted with Thane, I have shouldered this burden alone." She said. "Come. We must set a course for Omega, then."

…

"The daily death count in Omega is too high for me to pinpoint am Ardat-Yakshi's location." EDI's voice chimes in our ears as we set foot back on that wretched hive that I'd spent the last few years of my life. The Normandy was docked at a private station, and was far away from any scavengers.

"Well, I could have told you that." I said.

"However, given the reputation of Ardat-Yakshi among the Asari, Aria T'Loak may have tracked her movements."

I freeze a little bit. I look over at Sis, Thane and Samara. They seem unperturbed by the fact that we might have to talk to the ruler of Omega. Sis looks over at me, seemingly reading my thoughts.

"How do you think we found out about Mordin or Garrus?" Sis asked. "Aria was willing to talk to me. Here's to hoping that she's willing to talk to us again." She sighed. "Though that does mean that we have to go back into Afterlife. Not exactly my type of fun."

I just stare at her. She shrugs.

"What? I can't be a hedonist, I have a reputation to keep up."

I just roll my eyes.

Getting into Afterlife was easy. The Elcor bouncer took one look at us and spoke.

"With resigned recognition: Oh, it is you Shepard. I imagine you wish to speak with Aria."

"That's right." Sis said to the massive creature. "So could you page her?"

"Indifferently: Very well. She is where you expect."

Man, it is amazing that Elcor have been able to last as long as they have in the galactic world with that tell of theirs. I bet they're shit at poker.

Afterlife is loud, full of flashing lights, and a whole lot of sweat and perhaps other bodily fluids. The bartenders are trying to keep up with the neverending stream of young and excited partygoers, human and Asari and otherwise, and I see the dancers gyrating on poles high above us. The music is loud and sounds like a child banging on pots and pans in the kitchen. I wish I could play my iDroid headphone jack, but I know that I need to be on my best behavior. It isn't every day that you get to meet the queen of Omega, after all.

We're let up a stairwell to what looks like a private ounge that perfectly overlooks the entire nightclub. There are some armed guards in the lounge, and one of them steps forward with a biometric scanner.

"Hold still to be scanned." He grunts. Samara, Thane and Sis are indifferent. But when the Batarian gets to me…

I grab his arm and twist it painfully behind his back in a hammerlock.

"Try it and you'll be scanning the inside of your colon." I growl.

There's laughter. A figure in the shadows sits on the couch in front of us.

"I'd almost pay to see that." But then the pleasant lilt to the voice fades into ruthlessness. "But that's not an option. You want an audience with me? You get scanned like everyone else."

And so I let the bastard do his job, and I find myself gazing upon the queen of Omega herself.

Aria T'Loak somehow managed to radiate power, control, devil-may-care indifference, cold calculation, sex appeal, and danger all in one package. She's sitting on her couch, with one leg crossed over the other. She stares at Sis and the others, and then speaks.

"Well, Commander, you've certainly changed up your posse." She said. Her voice is like poisoned honey, sweet and yet dangerous all the same. "Now you're holding court with Thane Krios and an Asari Justicar. The last time you were here, you had Zaeed fucking Massani and some stripper dressed like a Cerberus operative. My, how things change."

The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them.

"Don't talk about Miranda like that."

The lounge goes silent. The guards turn towards me with dumbstruck looks on their faces, as though they can't believe I'm that stupid. Aria looks at me with an amused smirk.

"And you've dragged in Doc Halladay, drug addict junkie from the projects." She said. "You're definitely trading up from a little one-room apartment in Omega, wouldn't you say?"

But then her eyes narrow, and she looks at me intently. And then she look at Sis. And then back to me. Her eyes widen slightly, and she looks honestly surprised.

"Well, I'll be damned." She said softly. "I'm seeing double."

"What are you talking about, Ma'am?" The Batarian guard asks. Aria chuckles.

"I thought I was getting a meeting with Shepard, that badass bitch from Elysium." Aria said. "I didn't think that I'd be meeting the Butcher of Torfan too."

The Batarian looks horrified. And then enraged.

"Die, scum!" He roars, lunging at me with a knife.

I side-step his charge, grab his arm, and then break it at the elbow. I flip him head over heels so that he is flat on his back, and I break the arm again at another angle. The other guards flinch at the sounds of his howling. Aria just tsks.

"You had that coming, Grann." She said. "A Batarian picking a fight with the Butcher? You're lucky he didn't just shoot you." She gestures to one of the other guards. "Get this whelp out of here, and set his arm."

Grann is led whimpering out of the room. Aria looks back at us.

"Your reputation precedes you, John." She said. "I guess I should have known it was you before, but all that shaggy hair and beard did wonders for a disguise." She gestures for my face. "I bet my dancers here would swoon if they knew what you looked like under all that fur."

"How did you know he was my brother?" Sis asked. Aria laughs.

"Please! I know everything and everyone that slums around in my station, Shepard." She gestures for Sis to have a seat on the couch. "And I keep tabs on everyone. Your brother here adhered to the One Rule of Omega. So he was never a concern."

"That rule being?" Thane asked. Aria didn't even bother looking at the Drell.

"Don't. Fuck. With Aria."

"I would have guessed." Thane muttered to himself. Aria rested her hands in her lap, and stared at Sis.

"I'm guessing that this meeting wasn't about reuniting family." Aria deadpanned. "You clearly need information. I'm certain that I have it. What do you need?" She asked.

"An Asari fugitive is hiding out here." Sis said. "She's an Ardat-Yakshi. We need to find her."

To our surprise, Aria goes rigid and a sneer curls on her lip.

"I knew it." She hissed. "Nothing leaves a body quite so…empty…as an Ardat-Yakshi does."

"You haven't taken steps to kill her?" Samara asked, somewhat flabbergasted despite her reserved nature.

"Why would I? She hasn't tried to seduce me." Aria said. An utterly selfish motive, but then again Aria didn't get to be in charge of this station by being a girl scout.

But then Aria does something that I don't think anyone has ever seen her do before. She gets hesitant.

"Her last victim was a young girl. Pretty thing." Aria begins. "Lived in the tenements near here."

No.

She turns slightly so that she is making eye contact with me. She looks me in the eye and I see the one thing that I never wanted to see.

"I think you might have known her, Joh-"

I don't hear the rest of her words, because I take off running. I hear Sis shout my name, but it doesn't register. I clothesline the guard out of the way, and sprint down the stairs. I crash into dancers, bouncers, and attendants as I barrel through the doorway of Omega. Some drunken party-goer tries to grab me to get me to apologize to his bros. I break his arm at the collarbone, and throw him into the wall.

I burst through the door, out into the open of the street.

No. No, she's got it all wrong.

I race through the streets, retracing my steps that I'd made so many times in the years before. A pair of human muggers try to jump me in an alley. I shatter one's jaw, with a punch, and then break the other one's leg, and I keep moving.

It's a mistake. It can't be true.

And there I am, in that street that has no name. I whirl around, my eyes wide and the tears starting to stream down my face. My body has figured it out, but if I don't believe it then it doesn't have to be true. I can change the reality simply by denying its existence. I just have to will it to be. I can.

Who am I kidding.

I see the congregation leaving the church, that tiny little building that I used to look down upon in the past and yet now see it as a beautiful and tragic little building, trying to survive against the encroaching madness and horror of this pointless galaxy and its rotten existence. They're all dressed in black.

No.

I see Father Hidalgo leading them out of the church, a solemn expression on his face. A lone tear in his eyes.

No…

And then I see her. She's in the center of it all, surrounded by those of us that stayed, those of us that loved her. Those that didn't jump on some ship to a suicidal mission and leave this all behind. Diana is dressed in black, and she is keeping a brave face.

And then she turns, and we make eye contact.

I stagger towards her, like a drunk. The thoughts are racing through my head. This cannot be real. It is a cruel joke. It is all a lie. I will wake up and this will all be a dream, a terrible night fever induced by too much alcohol and too many drugs. She will tell me that it's all a mistake, and that I had a simple nightmare.

I get within arm's reach of her, and her brave façade finally breaks.

"Oh, DOC!" She wails, throwing her arms around me and sobbing.

There is no point.

It's all a cosmic joke.

I want to vomit. To rage. To beg. To crawl.

But all I can do is hold Diana in my arms, and give her what little comfort I can. The others surround us and try to make us feel warm, but there is no point.

Nef is dead.

Another innocent soul I couldn't save.

A/N: After a break, I have returned! After the reconciliation of Miranda with her sister Oriana, I have gone for the next loyalty mission as voted by the fans. This is probably going to be the second-darkest loyalty mission in terms of digging deep into John's psyche. For those of you that were astute, you will remember that Nef, the girl killed by Morinth in ME2, was a friend of John Shepard's during his self-imposed exile on Omega. I decided to expand upon her character a little bit, but I did so with a sense of regret because I knew that she was canonically doomed. He came to see her as a little sister, someone that he could look out for as a sort of redemption.

And now she's gone. Killed by Morinth for no other reason than because she could.

And in doing so, as we all know, Morinth has signed her own death warrant.

See you next time.