Characters: Shepard & Kar'resh
Word Count: 481
Rating: T
Author's Note: If your reading this chapter then it would stand to reason that you've already read chapter seven, but on the off chance that you haven't I would advise that you do so before reading this chapter. While it is not necessary to understand this chapter, they are kinda connected, so I think it adds to it, but that's just me *shrugs* Still for the 100 Themes Challenge on dA.

Two tickets to that thing you love goes to:

-RayneEthelWulf: I'm always happy to spam with updates lol. It would seem as if everyone agrees with you about the Mordin chapter. That Salarian is ace. Thanks for the review!
-Janizary: Ahh, thanks for all the reviews! Oh God, Volus doing Snow White... it would take. For. Ever.
-Fatalicious: I've said it before, but I'll go ahead and say it again, thanks for all of the reviews and for pointing stuff out! You help keep my drabbles logical lol.
-maximuso: A Mordin-speak review, I love it. And thank you! Complemnts such as those warm a writer's heart. I'm glad that you enjoyed the chapters and I hope they continue to amuse.

You fave/alert? You get one ticket to a thing you don't necessarily love, but don't hate. Now, onwards!

19. Gray

"What would you do if somebody betrayed you?"

Garrus' words seemed to echo through her skull as she pressed her foot down harder still on the Batarian's head. It turned out that Captain Vorhess, one of the two men who helped hijack this freighter, was none other than Kar'resh. She had to resist the urge to spit as just the thought of his name left a foul taste in her mouth. While this 'man' had no loyalties to her and thus could never truly betray her, he did snatch her family, friends, and a whole life from under her.

She heard bullets wiz past her head, felt the slight pings as the projectiles broke though her shields and peppered her armor, but she didn't care. She'd dreamed of this day for years now, of what she would do if she'd ever got her hands on Kar'resh. Sometimes it would be swift, she'd just put a bullet through his brain and be done with it. Other times she did it slow, embedding her combat knife deep in his stomach, letting him feel his insides tear as she twisted the blade before leaving him there to bleed out. Hell, after she found out she was a biotic she'd even entertained the idea of crushing him like a soda can with a mass effect field.

But now that she had him here at her mercy all of the thoughts that once played out so vividly in her mind's eye were now dulled with age. The thoughts that use to consume and define her no longer held any appeal for her because she was no longer that person. That bitter, angry, and ultimately scared little girl was gone, replaced with a now fully grown woman with a rage that burned so fiercely in her heart that it was almost frightening. And with revenge just within her grasp...

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "But I do know that I wouldn't let it change me."

Her own words came back to her then. She hadn't let Garrus take the shot for that very reason. They were killers, she had no qualms about that fact, but they were not murders. If she would've let him killed Sidonis that day he would've crossed that line and she was sure that he would no longer be the man he once was. But this- this was different. Wasn't it?

I'm just doing my job. This has everything to do with the mission and nothing to do with revenge, right?

She still wasn't sure of the answer when she put two rounds into the Batarian's midsection with her shotgun.

"Gray," he said, "I don't know what to do with gray."

And as she stood there watching Kar'resh's blood pool out around her booted feet she had to admit, if only to herself, that neither did she.

A/N: A bit late, I know. Terribly sorry, work and school, yadda-yadda-yadda. This chapter was inspired by the N7 mission MSV Strontium Mule. When I saw that Batarian I was all "Kar'resh, so we meet again." lol. Also, over the next few days I'm finally going to go in and edit all of these chapters. Nothing major, just grammar/spelling junk. Don't know if FF sends out alerts for updating chapters, but if they do, feel free to ignore them.
Also! If you've never gotten this branch of N7 missions it's started when you find the anomaly on Joab, the third planet in the Enoch system which is in the Rosetta Nebula which is unlocked after you complete Jacob's loyalty mission. Yeah, that's a lot I know lol. Thank goodness for the ME wiki, I wouldn't have remember any of that without it.