When the images of the other three councilors faded away, David Anderson sighed and shook his head, turning to see Ashley Williams scowling with fists clenched at her sides.

"Now I know how Shepard feels," she muttered, turning to limp toward the balcony and folding her arms. "Thousands missing, eyewitness accounts, my omni-tool data, and they still think that damn glowing Collector was just some genetic freak and not a Reaper puppet. God, didn't they listen to what it was saying? It talked just like Sovereign!" Whirling around, she glared at the inactive holographic projectors, and Anderson had the sense that she was resisting the urge to put a few rounds through the equipment.

"Maybe we shouldn't have bothered," Anderson reluctantly admitted, walking to a table and pulling out a chair. "Sit down, Lieutenant. The last thing you need is to trip and screw up your knee, too." He dropped into another seat and rubbed his weathered face with his palms, exhaling heavily while Ashley reluctantly limped over and sat.

"You know, I'll admit Shepard had a point about humanity needing to cooperate with the other species, but the Council's definition of 'cooperate' is 'do what we say and shut up'". Ashley glowered down at the table and slowly flexed her foot, ignoring the ache in the knitted bones above it.

"It could be worse."

"Yeah, Shepard could still be dead instead of out there in the Normandy's big brother hunting those bastards down," Ash muttered. "Are you sure the Alliance can't do anything, sir?"

Anderson exhaled a resigned sigh. "Hackett believes us, and he tried to get a couple of flotillas into the Terminus to serve as a quick reaction force, but Alliance command shot him down."

Ashley nodded dully and turned to stare out at the Presidium. It was the very picture of serenity and galactic progress, but she knew what dark secrets were concealed behind the veneer of civilization. "Figures, doesn't it, sir? First they don't believe us and an armada comes knocking on their door. Now there's another one knocking, but just because it's not their door, they won't grab their gun. But Cerberus did." She shook her head with a scowl. "I still can't believe it. Shepard working with Cerberus? Thank God Garrus, Joker, and Chakwas are with him." Her brown eyes unfocused while she stared off at the wall, frowning. "No offense, sir, but I kinda wish I'd just sent you my report and gone with them. Maybe I could shoot Collectors and stab Cerberus in the back."

"None taken, Lieutenant." Anderson stared at the wall with her in silence for a few minutes before his omni-tool beeped at him. Checking it, he sighed. Another damn meeting. At least he could give Williams some good news. "The Normandy docked this morning. You should go spend some time with old friends. Check the Conduit."

He had the satisfaction of seeing her mood brighten immediately and she rose to her feet, saluting. "Aye aye, sir."

Shepard sighed and rubbed his temples after receiving an abbreviated report from Samara. "Figures. It's a good thing there's no law enforcement on Omega or I'm sure we would have had to deal with them, too. What the hell did those three do?" He glanced over at Tali and wondered if there was a faint glimmer of amusement in the silver spots of light behind the purple glass that concealed her beautiful face.

"If what Jack says is true-"

"Screw you!" he heard the bald woman snarl in the background. This time, he was certain he heard Tali utter a muffled snicker. When he glared at her, she turned away and pretended to admire the krogan statue down the lake. That drew a quiet laugh from his mother, who in turn received a stare of her own. Those two women were going to be the death of him.

"-she disabled a drunken man who was antagonizing her and a melee broke out. There are no fatalities, and no injuries among any of us, but there is some minor damage to the club."

One good thing about this situation was that Samara and Thane were there to offset the volatile trio of Jack, Zaeed, and Grunt. He snorted at the thought. An assassin and a justicar... Hmm. An idea came to him.

"Samara, hold on. I'll get back to you in a minute."

"Understood."

He envied her calm while he fought his own frustration, jabbing away at his omni-tool's keyboard until he got to the database he was looking for. Entering his spectre authorization code, he began searching through it. Slowly.

"Keelah, I'd hoped you'd gotten better at using an omni-tool," Tali teased. "No wonder Garrus didn't let you install that thruster on our shuttle."

"Quiet, you." Shepard poked her side beneath her lowest rib, drawing a yelp from her lips while she jumped. He smirked victoriously. The discovery of that particular sensitive spot had been good for a moment's amusement until she had growled, flipped him onto his back, and pinned him down.

"That's no way to treat a lady, young man," his mother admonished sternly. He wasn't fooled, though. He heard the amusement in her voice, and it made him smile.

"You're right. I'll give you another backrub later, Tali." He didn't take his eyes off the data scrolling by but he sensed her tense and could feel his mother eying him. Probably with suspicion. Aha. He opened the C-Sec directory and tapped a name, waiting for the comm link to connect. A moment later a holographic screen popped up to reveal the grumpy face of Commander Bailey.

"What!? ...Oh, Shepard. I'll be damned. You need something?"

"Actually, yes. I've got a few crew members down at the Indigo Club in Shin Akiba that are under arrest for a bar fight."

Bailey sighed. "Damn it. Let me guess: you want me to tell my people to let them go?"

It had been a tempting idea. As a Spectre, he could tell even the Executor to let them go and it would be done. It would, however, likely reach the ears of the council, who had virtually banished him to the Terminus Systems. Better to play it safe. He shook his head. "Not quite. One of them is a justicar, and-"

"Damn, how'd you pull that off?"

"Long story. Your immediate superior is asari, right? Samara will attest that she broke up a simple bar fight without fatalities, I'll cover the damage to the bar, and in your report you can accept the word of the justicar and give your boss a good impression of your cultural sensitivity and all that."

Bailey stared at him through the viewscreen for a moment, brows raised thoughtfully before he shook his head. "It might work, but I hate playing politics."

Shepard shrugged. "Who knows, maybe your racial tolerance and respect for asari culture will get you a date."

Bailey smirked and folded his arms. "Funny, Shepard. Fine, tell your justicar to have the officer contact me. I'll get it sorted out. Bailey out."

When the screen vanished, Shepard smiled with satisfaction. That had been surprisingly easy. Turning, he saw his mother regarding him curiously, some of that familiar sparkle returned to her eyes. "What?"

Hannah smirked. "Oh, I'm just looking forward to grilling you on all the little mysteries I keep getting hints of."

"Plenty of them, that's for sure. Tali, why don't you tell my mother about Mordin?"

He slipped off the bench just in time to avoid a two-knuckled punch aimed at his ribs, laughing and reopening comms with Samara while silver eyes glared at him.

Two minutes later, Tali was fighting sudden panic while her boyfriend stormed off, muttering about nothing being easy and turian C-Sec officers with sticks and rulebooks lodged up their asses. She followed him with her eyes until he rounded a corner and out of sight, but then she became aware of another pair of eyes, focused on her. Turning her head slowly, she saw Hannah Shepard regarding her intently. She swallowed and clasped her hands on her lap.

"So..."

"I really should wait and drag the story out of my son, but I've moved past 'shocked' and 'weepy' and into 'impatient'. What happened to him?" Though Hannah's blue eyes had acquired a warmth that had been missing an hour before and her voice was soft, there was some familiar iron in her that made Tali wonder whether it was an inherited Shepard trait. And she found herself wondering if she had bitten off more than she could chew when she became the girlfriend of humanity's first spectre.

"Well, it's a long story and even I don't know all of it." Tali looked down at her lap and found her fingers were already writhing nervously. Damn it! Stop that! She quickly folded her arms, oblivious to the tapping of her foot until Hannah suddenly smiled softly.

"Sorry. Sometimes the mother and the captain sides both come out at once." Hannah relaxed back into the bench and took a calming breath before continuing. "I don't think I ever thanked you for that recording and the messages you sent me. I'm sorry."

Thankful for the delay in having to spill the details on Cerberus, the few weeks her son had been alive without contacting his mother, and the fact she was sleeping with him, Tali breathed a quiet sigh of relief. "It's okay. I wasn't sure... I thought maybe it would just open up old wounds, but..."

Hannah's face darkened. "Trust me, wounds like that don't close. But it helped. Thank you." Tali nodded and they sat in an awkward silence for a moment. "Okay, I'll try being patient, but at least tell me what he's been doing since he... woke up?"

Oh, keelah. Here we go. Tali summoned her courage and met Hannah's gaze. "Well, less than twelve hours after waking up he was on Freedom's Progress saving my life."

Cobalt eyes blinked and then narrowed. "He... woke up after two years and immediately went looking for you on a deserted colony?"

"No!" Tali blurted out, fighting the urge to start squirming. "He was investigating the disappearances and I was there to retrieve one of my people who was there on Pilgrimage, but..." Hannah was still staring and it was impossible to tell if it was interest, suspicion, or disbelief. Oh, keelah. Tali sighed. "Okay, so every story about your son is a long one. Let me start over."

He shouldn't have been surprised, really. It had only been two years since he had left C-Sec, and the Presidium had been his beat as a patrol officer before he'd advanced to detective. He hadn't dreaded meeting old colleagues, but did the first one to recognize him really have to be Brigitte Leclair?

"Garrus!" the voice repeated again. Beside him, Joker glanced back over his shoulder.

"Hey, Garrus, I don't know if you noticed, but there's an attractive woman calling your name. Wait, what am I saying? Of course you wouldn't notice. She doesn't have a barrel or accept heatsinks."

He opened his mouth to retort, but the woman called his name again, this time from only meters away. Biting back a sigh, Garrus stopped and turned to see the beaming brunette approaching. Why the human woman found him so fascinating was a mystery he'd never solved. "Hello, Brigitte. How have you been?"

If the willowy C-Sec officer was insulted that he'd taken so long to hear her, or clued in to the fact that Joker was giving her his best smile, she didn't show it. "I've been great! It's been so long since you left, I started wondering if I would ever see you again. What have you been doing? You never replied to any of my messages." The sad pout that replaced her winning smile made Joker's heart skip a beat, but Garrus just shifted awkwardly.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I kind of threw myself into another job."

Her pout vanished, replaced by shock as she reached up toward the bandage on the side of his face. "Mon dieu, Garrus! What happened to you?"

Joker sighed and shook his head, turning to limp off. Why the emotionally stunted dextro-DNA turian had gorgeous French women taking an interest in him, he'd never understand.

When Joker wandered off, Garrus nearly cursed at his back for leaving him alone with the excitable woman. "Oh, I got a little too close to a rocket. Long story. Weren't you transferred to Tayseri Ward?"

Brigitte withdrew her hand and shook her head. "They changed my reassignment to Zakera Ward after the attack. E-Crimes. I'm just on loan to the Presidium for a diplomatic conference."

The mention of E-Crimes drew Garrus' attention. "Really? Have you heard of a forger named 'Fade'?"

Tali's fidgeting would have been quite endearing if her flustered state hadn't left her continually backtracking and clarifying. Hannah had the feeling the story was somewhat edited, but the poor girl seemed far too sweet to be lying outright. From the awed way Tali described how her son had taken out two heavy mechs and helped her patch up the quarian wounded, curiosity began to set in. By the time the story reached the Migrant Fleet, Hannah was downright suspicious, but she was smiling.

"Wow. Is every day of his that... exciting?"

Tali's head tilted contemplatively before she shrugged. "Or close to it. Keelah, just a few days ago he and his squad fought an entire prison full of murderers and were on their way to stop the Collectors on Horizon just a few hours later. And then yesterday-"

"Wait." Something had been nagging her about the mention of Freedom's Progress, but it was Horizon that made it click. The former had gone silent weeks ago. "When were you on Freedom's Progress?" When she saw Tali stiffen Hannah knew she wasn't going to like the answer.

"Almost three weeks ago."

Hannah's jaw dropped, but an angry flush quickly colored her skin. "Three weeks!?" she exclaimed, rocketing to her feet. "He's been awake three weeks and didn't message me?! That miserable... I'm going to kill him! How the hell could he!" She turned her ire on Tali, glaring down at the uncomfortable quarian. "He may be a self-absorbed jackass but why didn't you or any of the others make him-"

Tali suddenly came to her feet, silver eyes narrowing behind purple glass. "Sit down and shut up and maybe I'll tell you!" Hannah blinked hard, stunned into silence. Being yelled at by a quarian quivering in anger instead of anxiety was unexpected, to say the least. "Good, you know how to shut up. Now sit down!" Hannah wasn't sure why, but she obeyed, and Tali's glare kept her in place. "First of all, Shepard woke up from being dead! Second, he had to deal with the fact that it was Cerberus who saved him, not the Alliance or the Council."

Cerberus...? What?

Her dismay must have been evident on her face, because Tali nodded firmly and kept on going. "That's right. The same people who killed Admiral Kahoku and your son's entire platoon were the ones who brought him back. How do you think he feels about that? Oh, and do you know how many times my heart felt like it was crushed all over again when I heard some false rumor on the news saying he was alive? Didn't you feel the same? Would you have believed it if he wasn't standing right in front of you? I wouldn't have!"

"I... no. But-"

Tali didn't relent. "But what? But he's still a self-absorbed jackass, even when he brought his friends to make sure you wouldn't have doubts that he is who he says he is?" Tali huffed. "He was so worried about you and it broke his heart to see you so sad before he walked over. He has a hundred things on his mind and millions of lives to worry about, but he made the time to come do this. I know you're overwhelmed, but don't you dare insult him again, you self-absorbed bosh'tet."

A dozen meters away, a shocked Jeff Moreau failed to notice that he'd dropped the bag of drinks, so stunned was he by the sight of a quarian shouting down an Alliance captain, and Commander Fucking Shepard's mother, at that. Who was currently slumped in her seat, head bowed while a tear trickled down her cheek.

God, remind me never to piss Tali off again.

When Tali sat back down and pulled a sniffling Hannah Shepard into a tight hug, though, he nearly laughed. Any woman who could handle a Shepard like that was a force to be reckoned with. He wondered if his commander knew what he was in for.

'Expect the unexpected' was a cliché, but certainly true enough. Shepard had a feeling Miranda enjoyed being the unexpected, and the wry smirk she shot at him from beside the nightclub entrance made it clear his surprise was evident on his face. "Miranda? What are you doing here?"

"EDI told me you were coming down here to clean up their mess, and you did tell me to keep track of them."

"Great job," he teased, earning a roll of pale blue eyes while they headed toward the doors. "Citadel fashions weren't as interesting as you'd hoped this year?"

"I draw the line at going lingerie shopping with a woman who checks me out when she thinks I'm not looking." She gave the commander a scathing look when he snickered.

"I'm not touching that one."

They put on their mission faces as they stepped into the club. The lights were on full and the music was barely audible. He caught sight of half his squad sitting on their asses upon the dance floor, separated from a group of bruised and grumbling clubgoers who shot them angry looks. As they approached, a turian C-Sec lieutenant stepped up and held up a hand.

"This is a crime scene. I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Shepard bit back a sigh.

"I'm the captain of the rabble on the dance floor. What kind of trouble did they get themselves into this time?"

Before the lieutenant could answer, Jack chose to exercise her bountiful tact. "Hey! Shepard! Get us the fuck out of here! That turian has a stick so far up his ass I'm surprised he's not chewing on it!"

He could see Miranda drop her face into her palm beside him while Grunt and Zaeed broke into raucous laughter, drawing the ire of the lieutenant. "Be quiet, human, or I'll throw you into-"

Jack scoffed, folding her arms. "What? Solitary? Psh. I spent a year as a popsicle, asshole. Do your worst."

While the turian's mandibles quivered furiously, Shepard stared up at the ceiling and sighed. Only Jack could drag him away from a reunion with his mother and make everything even worse in the span of half an hour.

"What the hell was that about?"

Joker nearly jumped out of his boots, whirling to see Ashley standing at his shoulder, dressed in a casual utility uniform and staring at the women on the bench. "Damn it, don't sneak up on people like that!"

"Nice to see you too, Joker." She smirked and folded her arms, inclining her head toward the bench. "You gonna answer my question? I'm guessing that's Tali, but who's the redhead? She looks familiar."

Attempting to slow his heart through force of will was getting him nowhere, so Joker gingerly bent to pick up the dropped bag of drinks, chuckling. "Tali just chewed out Shepard's mom. She's hardcore."

Ashley blinked and fixed him with an incredulous stare. "Shepard's mother? Damn. Why? And when did Tali get so gutsy?"

"Because she called her son a jackass for not telling her he was alive for almost three weeks. As for her guts, I think that happened a few nights ago." She fixed Joker with a puzzled stare but he decided to keep his mouth shut and shook his head. "Nevermind, I don't want to die. What are you-"

"Ashley?"

Tali's surprised call drew their attention and they turned to see her wide silver eyes staring their way while Captain Shepard wiped her own dry. Grinning, Ashley gave Joker a pat and headed toward the bench, waving at Tali before snapping to attention. "Hello, ma'am. Lieutenant-"

"-Ashley Williams, formerly of the Normandy. We've met... briefly." Though Hannah's eyes were red again, Joker didn't miss the little spark of amusement in them and he grinned at the furrowing of Ash's brow and the twitch of her lips.

"You do look familiar, ma'am, but I can't recall when-"

"Where's Shepard?"

Ashley started at the sound of the urgency in the flanging voice but retained her bearing, while Joker and Tali turned to see Garrus jogging up with dark eyes and clenched fists. "He went to go get Jack and the others out of trouble," Tali answered dryly. "I told him not to let those three-"

"Damn," Garrus muttered, turning and beginning to pace. Hannah waved a hand and Ashley relaxed, turning and smirking at her turian friend.

"Nice to see you, too, Garrus."

"What? Oh. Yeah." Garrus nodded and turned back to Tali. "When will he be back?"

Hannah sighed. "I see what you mean about every day being exciting, Tali."

"You have no idea," Tali muttered. "We don't know, Garrus. I'll send him a message."

Garrus shook his head. "No, don't interrupt him. It's all right, I can take care of it myself."

"Take care of what?" Ashley asked in exasperation. "What the hell have you all been up to in the last few days? Tali's back with the crew and chewing out Shepard's mo... er, the captain.. for some reason, Garrus looks like he's about to explode, Shepard's off bailing out some more of the crew... I mean, seriously, what's going on?"

At that moment, the itch that had been building in Tali's nose turned into a sneeze and Joker broke into a fit of what he would later deny were giggles. A minute later he wiped his eyes and saw Tali and Ashley glaring at him, Hannah alternating her curious gaze between him and Tali, and Garrus still pacing. "What?" Joker asked defensively, setting the bag of drinks on the bench. "What are you looking at me like that for?"

Garrus preempted the females' replies, shaking his head. "Look, just tell Shepard one of my old C-Sec colleagues told me where to find Fade. He'll know what I'm talking about." He took a long step toward the Presidium Spire and its transit terminal, but Tali's irritated voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Hold it, Vakarian! You're not going off to do something dangerous or stupid without backup. Get back here and tell us what's going on."

Garrus muttered a curse under his breath. Arguing with Tali when she had that particular tone of voice would probably get his visor and shield generator shorted out. Turning, he sighed and began explaining.

Ashley had felt the occasional pang of guilt about being in such infrequent contact with the others, but throwing herself into her duty had been her way of coping with losing what had been the best duty station and friends she'd ever had. Between OCS and ICT, she'd thought she had it rough, but hearing about Garrus' work on Omega and losing his entire squad hit home, bringing back unpleasant memories of Eden Prime and Virmire.

"There, you know what's going on. Like I said, tell Shepard where I've gone when he's through."

Garrus had always been uncomfortable around displays of sympathy, something she had in common with him, but he seemed unusually eager to be on his way. On impulse, Ashley grabbed the collar of his armor. "Hold it, Garrus. I'm coming with you." The surprised stare she received from dark green eyes almost made her laugh. "What? You don't think I'm going to let you walk into some criminal's den without backup, do you? Tali was right."

Mandibles twitched in irritation. "When did you and Tali become so damn bossy, anyways?"

A three-fingered hand grabbed the other side of his collar and he turned to see silver eyes behind a purple visor glaring at him, but Tali's voice was a fierce whisper. "Damn it, Garrus, you can't leave me here with Shepard's mother and Joker! That bosh'tet doesn't have a filter between his brain and his mouth!"

Ashley was puzzled, but Garrus looked on the verge of being convinced. Good enough for her. "Three is better than two. Come on, I need to grab my gear."

Sighing, Garrus nodded and extricated their hands from their grip on his armor. "Fine."

As they walked away, Ashley heard Joker's awkward voice behind them. "Uh... so, Captain, do you want some juice?" She snickered.

"Poor Joker. Tali, why were you yelling at her, anyways?"

"Um... it's a long story."

One of the perks of being assigned to the staff of humanity's councilor was a Presidium apartment with a great view, but they were there only long enough for Ashley to change into her armor and grab her weapons and another painkiller. Tali eyed her from the passenger seat of the skycar while she was flexing her ankle.

"Are you okay? I heard that... thing on Horizon broke your leg."

"Yeah, I'll be fine. It's mostly better, just aches some." Ashley shuddered slightly. "God, that thing was creepier than Sovereign. It took possession of one of the Collectors like Sovereign did with Saren's body and it was ranting on about Shepard being the harbinger for humanity's destiny or something like that."

Garrus had been silent in the driver's seat until that moment. "What do you think they want with him? To make him into another Saren or something?"

It was Tali's turn to shiver at the thought and she seemed to shrink in the passenger seat. "I don't know. Maybe they think anyone who can beat their puppets would make an ever better one. Keelah, that scares me. The Collectors already hunted him down once and..."

Ashley reached up and squeezed her shoulder. "Hey, don't worry so much. The new Normandy's even better than the first one, right?"

"Yeah, and you should see her new guns." Garrus' low voice practically purred. "They nearly vaporized a geth dropship even inside atmosphere. And the armor we plan to install is tougher than Wrex."

Ashley laughed alongside Tali's weak chuckle. "Nothing's tougher than Wrex, Garrus. Well, except maybe Shepard." She squeezed Tali's shoulder lightly. Her quarian friend's feelings for the Spectre had been a poorly kept secret among the females of the SR-1.

"Damn right. The Collectors already killed him once; there's no way they'll stop him this time."

Ashley grinned when Tali let out an honest laugh but became concerned when she sneezed again. "Are you sick, Tali?" The silver-eyed glare shot Garrus' way before the turian could say anything was puzzling. The mysteries kept deepening.

"Approaching level 26. The warehouse isn't far." Garrus brought the skycar in for a landing while Ashley eyed him suspiciously. Was he covering for her? Hmm.

Three minutes later they were in a warehouse watching a volus waddle out from behind a stack of crates. Really? This is Fade? 'Cue ball' or 'Rotundo' would fit better. The two krogan that accompanied him with rifles kept her amusement at bay. Right. Of course it wasn't going to be that easy.

"Are you Fade?" Garrus asked, the edge back in his voice.

"Yes." The volus sucked in a breath. "So... which one of you wants to disappear?" Another breath. Ashley hated talking to volus. Quarians didn't suck air as if they breathed through a straw; why couldn't the volus study their suits?

"I'd rather see you make someone reappear," Garrus retorted.

"Ah... that's... not the service we provide." The volus sounded nervous, and the krogan's hands twitched on their weapons. Crap.

When Garrus drew his pistol, Ashley yanked her rifle from her back and Tali pulled her shotgun. Shields were small comfort when two krogan had weapons aimed from only a few meters away, but they weren't exactly the first giant lizards to point guns at the trio. The krogan found that out the hard way when Fade ordered them to shoot. Two zaps from Garrus and Tali's omni-tools and a few shots later, and the volus' backup was on the ground groaning while their knees began the slow process of regenerating.

"Wait! Wait! I'm not Fade!"

Tali sighed and put away her shotgun. "I knew it. It's never that easy."

While Garrus knelt in front of the volus and interrogated him at gunpoint, Tali lost the battle to suppress a sneeze and muttered to herself while Ashley stretched out her aching foot. "Okay, I got stepped on by a reaper-possessed bug-man. What happened to you? Suit puncture?"

"No. Er, yes... well... no. It's..."

"A long story. Right." Ashley smirked and returned her attention to Garrus just in time to hear a familiar name. Harkin is Fade? "Harkin? That pig? He's Fade? Oh, now I'm looking forward to this." Harkin, the disgrace of a human C-Sec officer, was one punch she regretted never throwing. Of course, Shepard had bounced the man's head off the table in Chora's Den after the crude remark about her figure, but still.

Garrus nodded his agreement and after a final threat to the volus, they departed the warehouse. Once outside, he strode purposefully toward their skycar but Tali jogged up and put a hand on his arm. "Wait, Garrus! Didn't you hear him? Harkin's in with the Blue Suns."

"Tali, we've killed a hundred of them. I'm not worried."

Ashley imagined silver eyes were rolling behind the visor. "You're not C-Sec anymore and in case you hadn't noticed, we don't have a Spectre with us who practically gives us legal immunity to firefights on the Citadel."

The darkness of Garrus' eyes resembled black holes when he glared at Tali, pulling his arm free of her hand. "We'll be ridding them of a nuisance. Bailey will probably thank us. And if that doesn't work, Shepard can do his thing." Turning away from them, he opened the skycar and slid inside while Tali and Ashley traded worried looks. "If you're not inside in ten seconds, I'll handle this myself."

Ashley sighed and slid into the back seat. "Hell with it. I haven't shot anything in a while."

Tali hesitated for a second before jogging around to the passenger side and getting in.

Gods, no wonder Sparatus and I don't get along. Shepard ground his teeth and exhaled a slow breath, fighting the urge to punch the turian lieutenant on the sensitive mandible. There was something about turian bureaucracy that seriously tried his patience, even when he was the picture of civility to Tevos and Valern. It had taken five long minutes to get the stubborn lieutenant – who apparently abhorred the fact that he reported to a human – to call Bailey and report. To his credit, the C-Sec captain put on a good acting job, pretending as if Shepard hadn't spoken to him before and putting on a show of being thoughtful regarding the justicar issue. Finally, the lieutenant was countermanded, five of his crew were free to go, and the problem was resolved.

And then his omni-tool beeped at him. Samara gave him a curious look when he uttered a quiet growl in his throat and opened the link. "Yes?"

"Shepard, it's Tali." Right, he could have taken the time to check the caller before barking at his lover.

"Oh, hey, Tali. Is everything all right? Has my mother tried to pry stories out of you yet?"

"Um, sort of. She's with Joker. Look, Garrus found Fade and we're... on our way to the factory district to, uh, interrogate him. I think."

Sighing, he ran a hand back through his hair. One uninterrupted day of shore leave was, apparently, too much to ask. "What's going on? Garrus said he'd tell me if it was time sensitive."

"I don't know. I'm worried about him. He's... well, do you remember when we found that krogan scientist on Virmire?"

Uh oh. "Yes, I do," he replied cautiously.

"Well, then you remember when Wrex threw down his weapon and charged him in the middle of the fight and-"

"Got it." He glanced over at Samara and Thane, the very definition of calm, and then aside at Grunt, Jack, and Zaeed, who looked intrigued. "And he won't wait?"

"No," Tali replied sadly. "What do you want us to do? Stick with him?"

Shepard frowned. "Who's 'us'?"

"Oh. We ran into Ashley and she's with us. Sorry, I muted myself so Garrus can't overhear."

"Ashley, huh?" He rubbed the rough stubble on his jaw and stared up at Kithoi Ward for a moment before beckoning the squad and setting off toward a transit terminal. A determined Garrus, Tali, and Ashley was a team he'd put up against a squad of krogan."All right, look, it's your call. Try to stall him if you can. But if he won't listen and you think he's going to do something stupid and get you killed, and all else fails, knock him out or disable his weapons and shield generator. I'll handle the fallout."

The quiet in the skycar had been heavy, but the silence on the line after being told to attack Garrus if necessary was worse. Tali glanced aside at the turian, watching his dark eyes fixed intently on their destination, the tension in his jaw and hands. Still... "I don't think it'll go that far. He's just... single-minded, not crazy."

It was silent for another moment before he answered. "Okay. Be careful. I'm on my way."

The line clicked off and Tali sighed, trading a look with Ashley and shrugging helplessly. The sudden feeling of weightlessness in her stomach drew her attention and she turned to see the car descending to a landing spot in a loading bay... near a couple of figures in Blue Suns armor. She swore under her breath, not having expected to arrive so fast. Before she could unmute herself and reach out to stop Garrus, he was already springing out of the car and walking toward the troopers as a door opened. A balding man stepped out with a sneer on his lips, turning to one of the troopers and pointing a finger, but Garrus' approach drew his attention and his jaw fell open.

"...Garrus?"

When their friend reached for his rifle, Ashley and Tali both cursed and grabbed their weapons, diving behind cover while the Suns troopers opened fire. Garrus slid into cover just as his barriers shattered, yelling over the crate. "Run all you want, Harkin! I'll find you!" Tali usually liked the pleasant sound of his flanged voice, but at that moment it sounded chilling and menacing.

A second later, she and Ashley were firing around cover at the troopers too stupid to take cover while reloading, spraying the wall behind them with flecks of blood. Garrus vaulted his cover and stalked past the corpses to the door, keying it and leading them inside while Ash and Tali traded another concerned look. The warehouse was a gargantuan expanse of space and a virtual maze of crates with cranes rushing back and forth overhead. Hundreds of places for ambushers to hide, lots of time to set traps if Blue Suns troops delayed them, and judging by the sound of unfolding LOKI mechs, there was plenty of opposition.

"Never easy," Tali muttered while she followed Garrus into cover. Ashley poured fire into two mechs and blew a trooper off his feet with a concussive shot before tossing an incendiary grenade at a trio of barrels with warning logos prominently painted. The ensuing explosion sent a sparking mech flying over their heads and Tali found herself suddenly laughing. Garrus chuckled as well and Ashley gave them both an amused look while she took cover and reloaded.

"Wrex and Shepard have really rubbed off on you two, I see."

"Don't you remember that last geth base in the Armstrong cluster?" Tali asked as she hopped over her crate and looked around. "Remember when Shepard blasted a juggernaut with a carnage shot while Wrex hit it with a biotic throw and it went flying across the room and nearly crushed Kaidan?"

"Good times," Garrus admitted while Ashley snickered. "But yes, one of us really had an effect on her."

Bosh'tet! Tali gave his back a withering glare but felt a smirk tugging at her lips. His sense of humor was still present; that was good news, even if she'd make him pay for it later. He led them into a dense field of crates stacked at differing heights and Tali shook her head at the inefficiency of it all. Why weren't the crates all packed into containers and sorted? True, the Migrant Fleet's ships had crates all over the place, but they were neatly stacked along walls and labeled, inventoried, and cataloged. "Why does it seem like crates are taking over the galaxy?" she wondered aloud. "Is there some hidden purpose behind it all?"

Ashley snickered quietly behind her while she made her way carefully around a stack. "I don't know, Tali. Do you think the crates have a god of their own? A chaotic, mischievous god that tells them to cause trouble and provide convenient cover everywhere?"

"Let's save this discussion for later," Garrus growled. "Unless you want to get shot in the b-"

A burst of movement to the side drew the attention of the dextros, where a Blue Suns trooper had leaped over cover behind Ashley to get the muzzle of his rifle inside her shield perimeter. As soon as his weapon was within a few inches of her back, however, she spun and slammed it aside with her own before smashing him in the visor with the butt of her rifle and kicking his legs out from under him. When he hit the ground she put her muzzle to his helmet and fired. Rejoining them a moment later, she glanced sidelong at an impressed Garrus. "What were you saying?"

"Keelah," Tali muttered. "They teach you a lot at ICT, don't they?"

"Nah, I learned that from an asari commando on a joint training exercise. Come on, let's go." Though Ashley put her 'game face', as Kaidan had called it, back on, Tali could swear there was a hint of a proud grin on the human woman's lips.

The rest of their journey through the small maze of crates was uneventful, but when they stepped out of cover the panels on two storage containers slid open to reveal a half dozen LOKI mechs unfolding and taking aim. "Shit!" Ashley swore, diving forward behind a flatbed truck while Garrus threw himself backward over their previous cover and Tali leaped to the side, rolling behind more crates. "What is it with these damn mechs all over the place?"

"We've asked ourselves that same question," Garrus replied dryly before popping out cover and blasting the left side trio of mechs with an overload pulse. Tali stepped out of cover and opened fire on them with Ashley, taking a half dozen hits to her shields. She heard Ashley shout a warning but an energy drain pulse of her own recharged her shields and stunned the right side mechs. A tech mine from Garrus and a grenade from Ashley finished them all off.

"Nice to know we still play well together," Ashley said with a playful grin while she reloaded and followed Garrus toward a narrow path along the side of a deep storage pit. Their amusement faded at the weak smattering of cover and disappeared entirely when an overhead crane dropped a bulk white package down at the end of their path, one that made the floor tremble under their feet.

"Damn it, I hate these things!" Tali swore when the YMIR mech unfolded and spooled up its gun, spraying down their cover with hypersonic rounds. "Where's Shepard when you need him?" She half expected her boyfriend to slide into cover beside her just in the nick of time, a witty remark on his lips, but when Garrus just grunted and leaned out to unleash an electrical overload, she sighed. And sneezed. "Bosh'tet."

"You've gotten spoiled," Garrus called while he expended the clip of his Vindicator on the mech's tough shields. Ashley's disruptor ammo mod was more effective, but their foe had energy to spare.

"What, does Shepard have a superweapon against these things?" Ashley inquired while she reloaded and Tali drained shield energy from the advancing mech. They all ducked behind cover when the YMIR's missile launcher charged up.

"He is the superweapon against these things," Garrus chuckled darkly. "We'll tell you about it-"

The rest of his words were droned out by the explosion of the missile on their cover and the booming echo that bounced back and forth across the metal walls of the bay. Setting aside the banter, they leaned out and poured fire onto the mech until blue flashes were replaced with sparks flying from around the armored cranial unit. They ducked back to reload while the mech fired, Garrus and Ashley drawing their sniper rifles. They put two heavy rounds into the YMIR's optics when its firing ceased and five seconds later they were wincing while a heated blast of air swept overhead.

"Garrus, what is it with you and miniature nuclear explosions?"

Tali didn't get an answer, as Garrus was quick to vault their cover and keep moving. The explosion had left their path largely free of cover, crates and a pair of vehicles blasted over the edge of the walkway, leaving them vulnerable. Moving at a brisk jog Garrus and Ashley led the way, coming under fire when a pair of Blue Suns sergeants leaned out of cover. Using a reverse of her energy drain program, Tali fed them energy from her own shields from her safe position behind them while their accurate fire ripped through their enemies' barriers and shredded their armor and flesh. When they reached the end of the path Ashley shot a grin over her shoulder.

"Have I ever told you how awesome it is having you around?"

Tali felt her cheeks warming at the compliment and smiled. "You just did. Thanks."

Their path led them to a small control room that overlooked the last section of the factory, giving them a moment's respite from keeping an eye on dark corners and concealing crates. Ashley lowered the shield over a large window while Garrus pulled up data on a console, a growl quiet in his throat.

"That bastard has been using C-Sec funds and equipment to operate his dirty little business. He's going to pay for that."

Ashley shot him a worried look but Tali waved her off and laid a hand lightly on Garrus' arm. "Garrus, I've never seen you so angry. Even when you were hunting for information on Saren. What are you going to do when we catch up with Harkin?"

He fixed her with a cold stare from his dark green eyes. "Make him talk."

She didn't back down, staring right back at him. "And if he doesn't? What will you do to him?"

His expression softened a little. "He's a coward, Tali. He'll talk. Before I do any permanent damage, at least. Come on."

When he stepped past Ashley to the door, the two women just shared another helpless look and a sigh before following him out into a nightmare of a battlefield. Blue Suns troopers held good positions on raised cargo platforms, firing missiles and accurate rifle fire down into their cover. But Tali's pink combat drone silently crept its way up behind the rocket wielder and zapped her in the back with enough force to send her stumbling out of cover. Garrus' Mantis put an armor piercing round through her visor while Ashley kept the other pinned down long enough for the drone to leisurely float its way over. Unfortunately, it was riddled with bullets before it could fire, but Tali took the moment of distraction to sprint over to the platform while Garrus and Ashley kept the trooper behind cover. Twenty seconds and a trio of strong jumps later, Tali had scaled the supports of the platform and came up behind the Blue Sun just in time for him to turn and get a shotgun blast to the chest from point-blank range.

They repeated the tactic of distraction two more times until they reached the end of the multi-level maze below the main control room. Home free at last, Garrus led the way in long strides toward a final set of platforms. As he neared them, they suddenly moved and Harkin's voice came over the loudspeaker. "You should have stayed away, Garrus! Here, play with this!"

The two YMIRs that dropped from overhead were unfolded and firing while the three of them scrambled back up the platforms to throw themselves behind cover in a storm of orange streaks and flashing sparks.

He'd been in a hurry but not in a rush until EDI came on the line and told him that the bio readings from Tali and Garrus were indicative of combat. Thane, Grunt, and Zaeed were already well on their way back to the Normandy when they landed at the factory complex, spotting a pair of dead Blue Suns mercs on the ground. Swearing, Shepard led Samara, Miranda and Jack on a dash through the factory with nothing but a pistol in his hand and a lightweight jacket on his frame, but the trail of exploded mechs and dead mercs reassured him every step of the way. Until they reached the final bay and heard a storm of YMIR fire and exploding missiles while they jumped and dropped through platforms of varying elevations. When they leaped up onto one they found Garrus, Tali, and Ashley all huddled together for cover behind battered crates.

"Are you okay?" Shepard shouted from a crouch. Three pairs of eyes went wide and Tali suddenly burst from cover, tackling him and yelling at the others to drop.

"What the fuck are you-"

Jack was cut off by a blinding flash and a deafening roar that made them all curl up protectively and cover their ears while squeezing their eyes shut against the heat and light. Ten seconds later, when the platform stopped trembling violently, Shepard blinked his eyes open but saw nothing but darkness until he realized Tali's gloves were cupping his face protectively while she practically buried him with her body.

"You couldn't have been ten more seconds late?" Tali finally asked, rising off him and helping him to his feet while Samara did the same for Jack.

"You can add me to your 'rescued bosh'tets' list, I guess," he replied with a wry smile.

Ashley laughed, drawing their attention. "Good idea, Skipper. Nice job with the double hack, Tali. I've never seen two YMIRs trying to blow each other's heads off before."

Tali shrugged modestly but Shepard grinned. "Sounds like I missed all the fun."

"Not all of it. Harkin's up there, Shepard." Garrus' voice was cold but laced with anticipation. "Want to go say hello?"

"Harkin is 'Fade'?" He glanced at Ashley, who smirked and cracked her knuckles. "Yeah, let's go say hello."

Dismissing Miranda, Samara and Jack to go enjoy themselves non-violently, he followed Garrus and Ashley toward the final platforms, but Tali's hand on his arm gently slowed him and even through the visor he could see the apprehension in her eyes.

Though Harkin was scum and Ashley grinned wickedly when Garrus' armored knee caught the swine in the crotch, the sight of the man turning blue and gasping beneath a heavy boot was unnerving her. Not for Harkin's sake, but for the turian she'd come to call a friend. A hand on Garrus' shoulder only got irritably shoved aside, leaving her torn. She breathed a sigh of relief when Shepard and Tali came jogging in and the latter moved up to place a light hand on Garrus' shoulder.

"Come on, Garrus. He's not going anywhere."

Ashley's brows rose in surprise when the boot slipped off Harkin's neck and the man coughed for breath, skittering away to lean hard against the wall. Either Tali had the magic touch or it was a dextro thing. "Terminus really changed you, didn't it, Garrus?" Harkin croaked.

"No, but Sidonis... opened my eyes. Arrange a meeting."

They let the disgraced C-Sec officer find his own way to his feet and stumble to a terminal. The sight of Garrus pulling his pistol from his hip made Ashley want to sigh, but Shepard stepped in front of him and fixed him with a hard stare, freeing her up to keep an eye on Harkin. "Garrus, what's going on with you?"

"He's a criminal, Shepard. So was Doctor Saleon. Don't you remember?"

The mention of the psychotic salarian who had evaded Garrus in his C-Sec days put a frown on Shepard's face. He'd put a bullet in the fiend himself to spare Garrus the weight of the decision. "We found him on a ship in the middle of nowhere full of horrific experiments, he was armed, you made a positive ID, and we couldn't spare a room to lock him up in. C-Sec can be here for Harkin in minutes. Don't mistake a calculated judgment for thoughtless murder."

"Like that Cerberus scientist Toombs had at gunpoint?" Garrus retorted quietly. "You put a bullet in him, too. What was that, thoughtful murder?"

Tali gasped when Shepard's fist slammed into Garrus' jaw and sent the turian sprawling onto the floor.

Author's note:

Thanks for all the positive reviews on the last chapter and others. Sorry for taking three weeks on this one. Too many projects but I don't have Mordin's ability to multitask. Disappointing.

Pacing, as far as checking off missions on a list goes, has been slow for a while. That will change soon. Can't help from getting verbose when it comes to our core characters, though. (Hell, you should see the post-ME3 stuff I wrote last year that might be rewritten into a story here). Could be a flaw. Maybe. Not sure. Too many variables.

Lots of character analysis to follow. If you'd like to discuss it, please send me a PM. Would love insight.

Sometimes I wish I'd written an ME1 novelization first (well, I've started on one, but it's low priority). The end of this chapter is one of the reasons why. There's little back story into the reasons behind his decision-making for things like the Council and the killing of Drs. Wayne and Saleon without one.

If I was to measure my Shepard on the Paragon / Renegade scale, he'd be ~2/3 Paragon and ~1/3 Renegade. Though he believes in cooperation with the alien races, for example, saving the Council was not simply an idealistic decision for him. While Sovereign was the larger threat and the most logical decision would be to hold back the Alliance fleet, he recognized the goodwill the Alliance would earn by saving the asari flagship and the Council. (Of course, Tali's input helped nudge him. I envision her as sort of the backup conscience of Shepard's, taking over Kaidan's role as they got to know each other in ME1. We'll see what happens to that when Legion comes onto the scene...)

He'll kill monsters like Saleon for practical reasons, but also to spare Garrus from having it on his conscience. And yes, though he doesn't suffer from debilitating nightmares over Akuze (don't think a military organization would let someone so psychologically messed up command a ship), it's a sore spot, as Garrus has discovered. There are feelings of hypocrisy, even if he can articulate reasons why Harkin should be spared but Saleon and Doctor Wayne should not have been. More on that in the next chapter.

Tali taking Hannah's head off was fun to write, and I did so to display how strong her feelings and commitment run (and to show Hannah's fiery nature [especially after such an emotional day]... crazy redheads), but then I pondered it for a while. Though we don't see Tali losing her temper much in the games, other than choosing certain dialogue regarding Rannoch on the Alarei (am I missing others?), loyalty has always been one of her core traits and she's protective (as Mordin previously stated). Not quite sure if it fits, though. Analysis didn't lead to consensus. Input appreciated.

A question: do you think this story belongs under T or M? My mind, in general, belongs under the M category, as I'm an adult with shockingly pragmatic views on almost everything, but it seems like detailed sexual descriptions are the primary reason to label something M on this site. Originally posted it as M just because I figured my writing style was best suited for that rating, but I thought I'd ask.

Thanks for reading!