Author's Note: This chapter is from Saren's perspective.

"Emma, wake up." Saren tried for the fourth time. She'd slept on his lap all night and he was only now starting to lose the feeling in his left leg. Luckily she moved this time, at least pretending that she was awake. He smiled and placed her on the couch so that she could keep sleeping. Meanwhile he stood up, not fond of having little to no feeling in his legs. But he'd slept through the night, which was one of the payoffs of letting her sleep in his lap as well.

"Why'd you put me down?" Emma muttered after a minute, her eyes opened and still red from her bout the night before. But at least she looked rested. They'd reached the Citadel sooner than expected, and things didn't look good, from what Saren had heard. He'd feed her information slowly until she was ready to take everything head on herself.

"My legs were falling asleep and I needed to get up." he turned and smiled at her, kneeling next to her. "I think you're going to want to shower, too. We got to the Citadel earlier than we thought."

"Early? How?"

"I guess we had more fuel than we thought." Saren shrugged, not entirely sure himself. But, they were here already so it didn't matter. He stood up again as she sat up, stretching herself.

"If I tell you I'll be down in ten minutes, do you think you could find me something to eat?" she asked with a yawn. He nodded and walked down, leaving her alone to shower, and prepare herself for what was to come. The elevator seemed like it had slowed down just a bit when he stepped out, but he could very well have been wrong at the judgement of time. He hadn't even begun walking towards the kitchen when he'd heard his omni-tool light up. Looking down at it he saw the message, surprised.

"Be ready to leave in a half hour."

He assumed she wasn't going to be having a full meal, but he did his best to grab something she could eat, stuffing a few bars into his pockets as he left to go to the shuttle bay with Garrus and James. They looked like they'd both just rolled out of bed. James particularly. But he could trust them to wake up and get the job done. When the doors opened to the shuttle bay, Emma was sitting and talking with Cortez about taking a shuttle down. He didn't seem too keen on the idea but she flashed a smile and he reluctantly agreed. She wasn't dressed in much when Saren saw her come over to him.

"Got something for me?" she asked with a cheery tone. He gave her a look then handed over what he'd grabbed for her.

"You seem to be in a very good mood. Did I miss something?" he pulled out his chestplate and looked over it, deciding he'd need a new one soon. He heard her crunch on the bar he'd handed over and she nudged him.

"Just glad you brought me something to eat." and then she lowered her tone, "I'm sorry I got so emotional last night, I'll make it up to you the next chance we get." That grabbed his attention. Had she wanted to do something last night? Maybe he wasn't picking up on her body language as well as he thought he was, because it seemed to him last night that talking was all she'd been interested in.

"Don't worry about it." he then forced himself to say just as she started walking away. She only hesitated as she turned to look at him, flashing another smile before walking to the opposite side of the room to her locker to grab her things. And only a matter of minutes later everyone was ready, and chewing on something for a meal before leaving. Garrus had a stash hidden in his locker, and he'd willingly shared with Saren, apparently having "too much for one turian".

He was first in the shuttle, only asking for minor things, such as where they'd be landing, and what the situation was like. They'd be heading for C-Sec, and they had no clue what they'd be walking in to. So Shepard kept to the windows and outside cameras for any idea. Once they were inside, she wasn't seeing anything.

"It looks empty. I've never seen it like this." she murmured to herself more than anything.

"This doesn't feel right." James spoke up, having heard, "I'm gonna try contacting someone at C-Sec again."

"Look at that, the boy's being useful." Garrus mused under his breath, getting a sharp elbow in his side from Emma.

"Focus. We don't know where the Council is and that's a problem." she paused, "Looks like we have Cerberus troops to deal with."

The shuttle slowed down and the doors opened, revealing the C-Sec station in an all-out firefight. Cerberus was winning, fast and hard.

"We're going in hot! Cortez, I want you to scout out around the area, tell me what you can see, and then head back to the Normandy!" Shepard shouted as all four jumped out. Saren got the first hit, slamming a Cerberus soldier into the wall opposite himself, and then got in a few shots before he took cover behind a vehicle. James went with Shepard to sweep the soldiers from the left flank, while Saren and Garrus took the right. The fight didn't last long once the four showed up, and Saren watched Shepard run to an officer against the wall - Commander Bailey. He was glad the man was still alive, because they'd have an easier time getting around now.

After walking around the halls of C-Sec headquarters for the better part of 20 minutes, the group walked through a door and onto one section of the Presidium. Just as they did when they first arrived, the group split up and took one level, alternating each time and not taking more than a few minutes to clear out an area, always certain to avoid the civilians still trying to hide. They reached the executors office and were looking around, when Shepard suddenly shot the glass and leaped down from above. Saren looked down and saw two familiar faces joined with hers. Valern, and the assassin. He had to jump down soon.

"Four against one. Game over." she growled, her shot at him going straight through the councilor.

"Now it's just interesting." the man sneered. Suddenly a drell appeared and in a flash the drell was fighting the assassin. He looked familiar but Saren couldn't place a name. But he watched amazed as the drell took the blade to his stomach, and the assassin vanished. Valern was safe.

"Thane!" she ran back to help him, giving him a dose of medi-gel before moving on. It was only when they reached the elevator access that it became really interesting. Saren never knew that there were so many elevators on the Citadel, much less that there were up to three in one shaft. And it was mildly entertaining to watch each elevator plummet beneath them as they shot off the power consoles. He looked over and Shepard seemed worried, just before jumping. She nearly slipped, but both he and Garrus caught an arm before she had any chance of falling off. He could tell why she was so worried, and it dawned on everyone else when the elevator stopped and everyone got out.

There was Kaidan, standing between her and Udina, who'd they'd found out was the inside man for Cerberus. And from what he'd heard, no one really liked the councilor. It was tense, and he was shocked when Emma stood down. It was unlike her in a situation like this, but he saw how she looked at Kaidan, and knew right then that she trusted him to do the right thing. Luckily the other man turned around, and went after Udina. It took a minute before the situation died down, and the C-Sec officers arrived, escorting the council safely back.

"Hey, I'll meet you guys in the cafe in a couple hours, okay?" Emma had turned to face them. "I'm going to talk with the councilors, and I don't know how long that will take-"

"Just go, it's fine." Saren leaned over to nuzzle her once, and then went back with the other two into the elevator. He heard nothing from what the other two were talking about, because he could still listen in on her conversation. Then it suddenly cut out and he smiled, knowing she'd figured out he was still listening. He'd walked back to the Normandy to put his armor back in his locker.

"Hey, tell Lola I'll be playing cards." James called out before he disappeared. He hadn't been expecting James to come along, anyway, but he nodded as the chestplate clanged back into the locker. He had a few hours to shop before Emma would show up, he thought. Garrus leaned up against the wall beside him, and he looked over.

"Do you need something?"

"You look like you could use some new armor."

"What a wonderful observation." Saren smirked, closing the locker. "Would you like to come with me?"

"Sure. I know a guy that might be willing to give you a discount, but it's up to you."

Saren smiled and walking with Garrus back towards the Presidium, surprised at how quickly everything was getting cleaned up. And it definitely didn't look as pristine, and soothing as it did before. But at least people seemed more aware of what was going on outside the Citadel, and things were also continuing as if nothing had happened. He fell back behind Garrus, letting him lead both to this guy who supposedly gave good discounts. And as Saren looked around, he noticed the armor was the same maker and style he had already, though some was updated. Giving in, Saren bought more than the chestplate, adding new gauntlets, gloves, and threw in a couple new earpieces. A gift to Garrus for bringing him here.

"You didn't have to." Garrus smirked, picking it up as they walked off.

"I noticed yours has been cutting out more than usual. And you've been a great friend to me." he placed his hand on Garrus' closest shoulder, and looked to his side, glad to see Garrus had returned a smile. They both walked over to wait in the cafe for Emma, sitting down at the nearest table they could find. Neither spoke until she showed up wearing her uniform, looking anything but happy.

Saren stood up to meet her first, seeing her eyes were red again. She told him quickly that she'd gone to visit Thane, and that she'd just lost a friend. But he pulled her over to talk with Garrus as well, both doing everything possible to cheer her up, or at least get her mind off it. She didn't look to be moving on for a while, and unfortunately Garrus seemed to have other plans and left. So Saren was left to comfort her, very aware that there were more than eyes watching both of them as they moved to the lower deck, standing by the railing.

"I don't care what they say about me, anymore. I'm sacrificing too much to care." Emma hung her head, after spotting a camera, still sniffling. Saren put his arm around her and pulled her into a hug, letting her hide her face in his neck. He glared into at least four different cameras, and specifically at ten people before she stepped back, patting his chest and then taking his hand as they walked off. He watched her shove off several interviewers on the way to the elevator.

"Could have taken a cab." Saren smiled once they were alone in the elevator. She rolled her eyes.

"They would have followed us. I want to go get a good drink, not over-priced crap." she then paused, "I didn't completely overlook James, did I?"

"He wasn't interested in meeting up."

"Of course not. Playing cards again?"

"What else would he be doing?"

"I don't know, getting another tattoo, maybe?" she chuckled and then leaned against him for the few moments the elevator was in motion. She only paused when the doors opened, but once they were inside the bar she clung to him again. Before he knew it she was pulling him to sit down with a drink in her hand, and she was forgetting all that had happened that day. Saren never liked dancing, but he certainly didn't mind watching. Particularly, he didn't mind watching his love dance without a care, regardless of how good or bad she was. She was there for nearly an hour before she came back exhausted, sitting on Saren's lap once again.

"Hello there, miss." he chuckled, holding her tightly where she was. She squirmed and he kept his hold on her that much firmer.

"Stop it!" she giggled, smacking his chest, hardly doing anything to cause damage. She stopped when he let his hold loosen, but she only leaned closer to him. He didn't need a keen nose to smell the alcohol on her breath. He was worried she wouldn't be able to walk very far. He put his arm around her shoulder.

"Do you feel tired, yet?" Saren had to ask. She shook her head but he smirked, seeing her start to nod. "Come on, Emma." he picked her up in his arms, and began to carry her out. They hadn't been in very long, but she'd had more than enough to drink as she slumped in his arms, eyes shut. He smiled, thinking of only one place close enough that they could rest in.