"Just like the old days, buddy! Ha!" Wrex barked as he smacked Garrus on the back hard enough to make him stumble.

"Just like the old days, Wrex," Garrus agreed, quietly walking forward toward the corner Shepard had just slipped around. It hadn't taken him long to come to trust her implicitly, but the way he felt now was an eerie reminder of those first times of working with the unknown, unproven, brash human—unsure of how good she might be, how she would react when things got rough…and he'd been out of his element then, too, just like he was now.

Sometimes he couldn't tell if Wrex was just yanking his chain with the big dumb krogan act. He had given Shepard a shotgun, true enough, but in doing so he'd also managed to get her to give up her makeshift knife, and bandaged the hand that judging from the state of her arm and her pants had started bleeding quite profusely. Garrus reflected that he'd always liked that particular shade of red until he'd met Shepard and the other humans, as he quietly dictated a message to Miranda to make sure there was a doc available to take a look at the hand when they got the woman reeled back. Her "Duh?", might have made him grin under any other circumstances. Of course she'd already done that. Fortunately Shepard had seemed otherwise fine when he had finally caught up to the pair after a quick stop at the armory. Wrex, actually, appeared worse off—Garrus suspected that his doctors probably hadn't officially cleared him out of bed rest quite yet, so labored was his gait. The bandaging over one eye seemed even more debilitating, causing the krogan to have to swing his head around to be able to see on both sides.

Regardless of his infirmities, though, he'd swayed Shepard to allow him to accompany her. She'd been receptive to Garrus' assistance, too, when he'd shown up with a pistol he'd requisitioned from the armory—along with a helmet for her. It didn't quite fit and it was even looser without anything to attach to at the neck, but the woman seemed happy enough with it. It was scary, actually, how small the signs of less-than perfect clarity were. He couldn't blame Wrex for at least briefly thinking that she was acting perfectly normally—for an invasion, anyway. Thankfully that threat wasn't real…he didn't mind admitting that the latest news about the situation on the Citadel had been a great relief…although he was a bit concerned about the reports of unrest. Keeping the immense, extremely densely populated Ward-cities under control had taken the round-the-clock efforts of two hundred thousand C-Sec officers even at the best of times… Victus may have thought the worst was over, but Garrus wasn't quite so sure. Still…that was a known, manageable threat, unlike the initial fears of Reaper re-activation or worse. They could handle it somehow once Shepard was cared for.

Garrus had swung by the armory to grab the weapon and the helm so that he and Wrex could hopefully steer Shepard somewhere away from other people with her mind off her lack of equipment, but in reconsidering the matter, he was starting to think it might not be a terrible idea to lure the woman back there after all. The armory had guns, obviously enough, but it was also armored itself. If they got Shepard there under the guise of getting her some proper armor, he might be able to rig it—or have Miranda rig it—so that they couldn't get back out. He wasn't thrilled about the prospect of being in an enclosed space with a Shepard who might decide that they were her enemies for having locked her up, but with Wrex, he was pretty sure they would be able to handle it between the two of them. And, besides, if it looked like they either couldn't get the area locked down or that it was too dangerous to keep it that way, getting Shepard suited up would gain them at least a quarter hour of time spent…that shouldn't leave long until Liara made her way back.

Wrex beckoned him over impatiently, having overtaken him on the way to the hallway corner never being one for the subtle approach, figuratively or literally. Garrus rounded the corner to see Shepard crouched down at the next intersection and peering back at the two of them. He sped up just a little to get past Wrex. Turning around to walk backwards a few steps as he did, he tried to wordlessly indicate to the krogan that he had a plan and to follow along. Wrex merely stared at him impassively, though whether because he didn't understand or because he did and didn't want to give it away, Garrus couldn't say. He'd learned to read Grunt pretty well, but despite differing from other krogan in many respects, the boy wasn't particularly subtle…and unfortunately that experience didn't help him at all with Wrex.

The plan was worth a shot, anyway. There was no telling how long Shepard would be happy going around hallways without finding anything…and Garrus wasn't at all sure that the absence of enemies would be enough to pacify her.

"Shepard," he called out in a hushed voice, turning around just as the woman was about to slip into the next hallway.


Etrak swore quietly as he peeked over the top of the dune. Agot stopped in place, quiet as he could, until the elder male looked down toward him and irritably jerked his head to call him over. Agot started crawling up the dune again, imagining himself a sand lizard writhing its way across the burning sand. He bet sand lizards didn't get stupid sand inside their armors, though.

"What took you so long?" Etrak barked when he finally made it up to the top, eyes squeezed almost shut to protect them against the incessant blast of the fine sand blown into their faces by an unrelenting, southwesterly storm wind.

Agot peered at him, thankful for the goggle-like eye visors Urdnot Bakara had given him when the sand storm started, but careful not to make a big deal out of them to avoid angering the elder. "I wasn't sure what you were cursing about."

"Cursing about your slow ass is what I was cursing about," Etrak spat out along with a mouthful of sand. "And that," he continued, poking his finger slightly to the left of where they were facing. "Don't let them see you."

As he craned to look over the dune, Agot saw them too: sheltered at the bottom of another dune, three heavily armored vehicles were parked and around them were standing a good dozen salarians and some twenty armored shapes that he thought must have been the humans that the seer had spoken to him about. Or not the humans she'd spoken of, but the bad ones that were humans too. So Etrak had been right about the barely visible tracks in the sand…the enemy had been near. The wind carried bits of conversation over the sands and into Agot's ears as he increased his aural pick-up volume to make out what they were saying.

"…There's definitely a stronghold there," one of the salarians said, waving his arm in the direction of where the clans had indeed hunkered down in the old ruins.

"Weather like this, we could easily strike them now!" the foremost human shouted back. It might have been a female, but Agot found it very hard to tell.

"You know the orders," one of the other salarians interjected.

"We can't even transmit to orbit in this shit!" the human countered, raising both arms as if to encompass the storm around them.

"So we set a buoy!" the first salarian yelled back. "Marked just the same. Besides, we found it."

"No, I think a bunch of krogan ambushed you, and we had to finish them off," the human said almost quietly enough for Agot to not hear it…and then purple flashed around one of the armored shapes just before a wave of biotic energy caused the salarians to stumble back, a few of them even falling down. In that instant, the other humans had their weapons out and opened fire.

The fight was short and uneven, only a few of the salarians managing to fire back at the humans. As Agot watched on, aghast, the salarians were downed to the last one, and two or three of the humans got hit by the return fire. As soon as the weapons quieted, the remaining humans started dragging the corpses in different directions, away from the sheltered spot. Agot briefly wondered how they were moving in such concert without any orders until he realized that they must have been using their comm channels.

Cursing again, Etrak pulled Agot downwards and yanked him right up to his face. "Get back to the camp and tell them to prepare!" he shouted, already pushing Agot further down the dune. "Start transmitting to them on the short-range as soon as you can, and hide once you get a hold of them!"

"Aren't you coming?" Agot hissed back as he slid downwards, feeling a little pride that the male had given him an important task—and had assumed that he knew the way back. He did, but not everyone would have.

"I've got to see if I can slow them down…those tanks won't take long to get there," Etrak growled back in response, turning to crawl along the side of the dune that would take him to the humans' flank.

Agot nodded at the older male's back and started running toward the ruins.


{Maybe you should verify that the shuttle is actually carrying them, Dr. T'Soni,} Steve's voice sounded just as Liara had turned to explain the situation to her father.

{What do you mean?} Liara asked, standing up and grasping a railing in the ceiling, unable to just sit down in place. She smiled politely at the few volus sharing the space.

The pilot was silent for a moment. {I can't get any kind of a flight plan…that's not so surprising in itself, but the vector is definitely marking them as heading for the asari fleets,} he finally said.

{I will try to contact them. Give me a moment,} Liara said as she first turned uselessly back toward her father, and then back, settling for pacing the small passenger compartment as she wound her way through the asari command hierarchy listing to try to locate connection details for Onais.

"What's up, babe?" Aethyta asked from her seat behind her.

"I am trying to get a hold of Matriarch Onais," Liara said, turning toward her father. "She is the—"

"Runs security for the Ascension. Yeah, I know Onna," Aethyta interrupted with a nod. "I'll get her online…what do you want her for?" she asked, before realizing it herself. "Ah, she's arranging the pick-up for your friends?"

"Yes, precisely," Liara confirmed. "I must…must verify some details."

Her father looked at her curiously, but pulled up her omni "Relax, kid…have a seat. I got this. What details?"

"I wish to make sure that both…Ada Jean and Jack are on board, and to ascertain their destination," Liara replied, shaking her head as her father patted the seat next to hers. She had suffered so much excitement today that she could not simply sit quietly until this situation was resolved. "The shuttle looks like it is going to the asari fleet, not the humans," she added, noting her father's ever more inquisitive look.

"Hrm, give me a moment, then," Aethyta harrumphed just before she held up a finger and tilted her head slightly, indicating that she'd established a connection. "Onais? Aethyta. Listen, you've got a couple of my daughter's friends being picked up?" she spoke quietly into her comms while Liara toggled on the permission for Aethyta to patch a connection into her comms if the need arose.

She had just taken two steps toward her father to be closer to the conversation—as though that would help in some way—when her own channel sounded a new connection. {Yes?}

{Liara?} Kasumi's voice was quiet in the other end. {This is…Ada Jean,} she continued, sounding almost like she was crying. {We got picked up, but…}

{But what?} Liara asked, her heart sinking, clutching her free arm to her chest.

{Jack's been shot,} Kasumi said with a sniffle. {They're telling me we're going to have her checked up,} she continued even as Liara sat heavily down on the floor, startling her father up from her seat. {…But it looks really bad, Li. I don't know if she's gonna make it,} she said, bursting into a quiet sob.

Will it ever end, Goddess?

Liara did not even notice the second opened connection until she suddenly heard an unfamiliar voice in her ear, and echoed through Kasumi's connection. {Hey…hey…there now…} an asari said, muffling Kasumi's crying.

Aethyta crouched down next to Liara, strong hand gently stroking her shoulder as she sought out her daughter's eyes. "I've got the shuttle on the line now, I patched them to you," she said uncertainly. "Is that… Is it bad?"

Liara merely nodded with a sniff, furiously wiping at her eyes as she struggled for breath, jaw clenched so hard that it hurt. {I…I am sorry,} she forced herself say, {who is this?}

The asari on the other end hushed Kasumi tenderly before answering. {This is Huntress Vehea…Hilla, if it please you, Dr. T'Soni} she amended softly. {Ada Jean has no significant injuries, but the other woman has suffered a large-caliber wound to her lower torso. Possibly from an anti-materiel weapon. She's more or less stable right now and we've mostly stopped the bleeding,} she hastened to add, {but unfortunately Ada Jean is correct that her condition is very serious. We're taking her to the Gray Dawn, it's the closest ship with a human-specialized doctor.}

{What happened?} Liara blurted out, knowing the uselessness of the question even as she asked it.

{I'm not quite sure, Doctor,} Hilla replied, indulging Liara's foolishness, {the extraction was hot—that is to say, there was significant combat,} she clarified, {it seems that our barriers and shields were not able to shelter her against that firepower all the way back to the shuttle. We're all safely on the shuttle now, though.}

{…But, but…what about her own barriers?} Liara asked, knowing she was just trying to somehow convince herself that nothing bad could have happened, that it was not true. {I have seen her just ignore vast amounts of fire before! Surely she would—}

{I'm not sure how well you're aware of the situation, Doctor,} Hilla said hesitantly, {but she was unconscious by the time we got to the evac zone. Best we can tell, she was suffering from biotic shock. A mild one, but she had fainted,} she added to assuage Liara.

{Very well,} Liara said, trying to ignore the further bad news—a biotic shock would surely harm her recovery—and trying to keep her voice even and stop herself from trembling, her father's touch managing to help her a little. {You will take her to…the Gray Dawn?}

{Yes, Doctor,} Hilla confirmed. {ETA about six and a half minutes. They've been alerted and are ready for her—}

{Is there anything that I can do? I have some—} Liara blurted out, catching herself wishing that she would not have to divert from going to Shepard…because she would not. She knew she should want to go to Jack's side instead, and she was only avoiding it by telling herself that she could not truly help her, that she was not a medical doctor, and—

{No, I'm afraid not,} Hilla said gently, {but be assured, she'll get the best possible care. Actually, I think the best thing you could do is to stay on the line for Ada Jean,} she continued, sounding a little uncertain. {Seeing something like this happen to your partner is always very hard, and I'm sure a friend could—}

{Oh, she is not her—} Liara started, before discarding the correction as irrelevant. {Yes, I will absolutely stay here. I only need a moment…I must inform some other friends of the situation. I will be right back, if that is alright?}

{Of course, Dr. T'Soni,} Hilla replied with relief in her voice. She must have been very concerned about trying to console Kasumi. {I am here with her for now,} she added before Liara set the channel aside.

{James?} Liara asked quietly when she reactivated the channel to the other shuttle, fiercely hoping that—

{He's not on here, Dr. T'Soni,} Steve said to her great relief. {I'll conn—}

{No, no,} Liara hastened to interrupt the man, and tried to steel herself. {Steve, that shuttle is the correct one, and it is heading for the asari fleet. The Grey Dawn, to be specific…I am forwarding the details to you so that you can follow it. It is a hospital ship. Jack…Jack has been grievously injured,} she said, her voice catching despite her hardest effort.


"Too bad they don't have turian armors here, Garrus," Shepard said, dropping the pieces she'd assembled from the shelves on the floor in front of herself.

"Yeah," Garrus agreed. "I should be fine with the shield generator, though—" he started, quickly twisting around as he realized that the woman had just unceremoniously dropped her pants and was pulling off her shirt in order to change into an undersuit. Even though Shepard had always been unconcerned about the matter, he was a bit uncomfortable with it because…because he felt like he should be. He did find most human females pleasing to the eye, after all…their faces resembled that of the turian female with their dominant cheeks more, their even more distinctive lips…not to mention the waist, even the thinnest of which were stocky and robust beyond his wildest dreams and still paired with wide, distinctive hips that gave an overall desirable, familiar, eye-pleasing shape. And unlike the asari, who were almost all very soft and supple, many human females—especially Shepard—had a very defined musculature like any turian female did. There were the soft bits too, of course, especially on someone like Miranda, but it was only in a few places. Plus the hair was interesting, and—

Oookay, Vakarian, what the hell? This is not the time…

"Yes, shield generator. Shields…should be good," he said lamely, back still turned, eyes tightly on the lock of the armory door. It was still locked, and Shepard still hadn't noticed.

"The hell you standing over there for?" she demanded after a moment's silence, broken only by Wrex clattering around the gun shelves. "Gimme a hand with these. We gotta move!"

Garrus turned around, hoping to find and finding Shepard in the undersuit, attaching her leg pieces. Garrus strode over to her and, as slowly as he dared, started helping with the assembly of the suit, lifting the pieces to the right spot so that they could attach themselves to the understructure and the rest of the armor. After a few minutes and only a few impatient orders to hurry the fuck up, she finally lifted the helmet up and latched it on.

"C'mon, Wrex, let's move," she called out to the krogan, and walked over to the doorway while Wrex lumbered over from the far end of the gallery, throwing Garrus an inquisitive look.

He could only respond with a shrug. Miranda's last missive had said that Liara was close despite some other situation she didn't go into detail about, and that she'd managed to come to an agreement about a plan B with the resident psychiatrists. As far as he understood, it basically just involved amounts of sedative they had to be careful not to accidentally stick into Wrex.

"No!" Shepard shouted suddenly, startling Garrus. "They've locked us in here! I can't get this open, and nobody's answering on the intercom!"

Gritting his teeth, Garrus took a few steps closer, just about to try to come up with some kind of a pacifying statement when the woman flung herself at the door, managing to actually dent her armor in the process. "Shepard—" he started as she took a step back and slammed back into the obstacle.

A third time she didn't have the opportunity for. Wrex grabbed her by the shoulder almost as soon as she was back up, to keep her from trying again, but Shepard just shrugged off his grip and twisted around, screaming at them incoherently. Garrus almost managed to stop him from trying to grab her in time, then, but as soon as Shepard saw the krogan going for her again, she swatted his hand off with a vicious crack as their forearms collided. Wrex barely had time for an angry snort before the woman rushed forward, crashing into the krogan shoulder first and sending him stumbling back a few steps before falling down on his back.

The twin feral snarls from either side of him as he desperately tried to avoid the enraged krogan—and equally enraged Shepard—rushing into a fight was something that Garrus never wanted to hear again. "Shepard! There must be a second way out of here, you can find it!"


It had seemed like a good idea, sending Shepard on a hunt for a second way out of the room. Compared to full-on brawl between the two, anyway… He wasn't sure if he'd really expected Shepard to actually follow his suggestion, but she had, forgetting Wrex like turning off a switch. What he definitely hadn't expected was being in a hushed conversation trying to cool Wrex down in one corner of the room and hearing a triumphant yelp followed by a clattering sound and, just as he and Wrex made it past the first gun shelves, the sight of Shepard's legs disappearing into a vent shaft.

Wrex's roar of frustration almost drowned out the sound of the door opening behind them.