Editorial Note: In this personnel report, Shepard examines his long-standing relationship with Garrus Vakarian, how he had grown since they had last served together and how he still needed a voice of reason during a rather personal mission.

Personnel Report—Garrus Vakarian

I can't tell you how much of a relief it was to see Garrus again. He was the first of the old squad to join the team. The first familiar face. The first guy I could rely on without any doubt of his loyalty or question as to his competence.

As we fought our way out of—or into—disaster after disaster, it became clear that he had picked up a lot over the last few years. I remembered back on Virmire when Kaidan went with Captain Kirrahe and I needed a replacement. I'd chosen Garrus to fill his shoes, mostly because he'd done a decent job before. But now? Comparing his performance back then to the way he led Team Two now was like comparing a newbie on his first day in Basic to a graduate from N7 special ops. He had a near-photographic situational awareness of the battlefield and used that to adjust the team's tactics to spectacular effect. I lost track of the number of times that he'd made a recommendation or gave an order to the squad without clearing it with me first—and his judgement was bang-on every single time. Heck, he could even do that while scoring headshots—which is really impressive when you consider how narrow your awareness becomes when you're squinting through a sniper scope. (1)

Then again, Garrus had taken it hard when Ashley died. We all had, of course, but Garrus had blamed himself even more since Ash was under his command at the time. He also must've taken it hard when I died if he decided to revert to his 'screw-stupid-bureaucracy' mode and sally forth to kill mercs on Omega. And if I had any doubts about whether he felt guilty over the decimation of his entire team, they were obliterated when I received the following e-mail shortly after rescuing Garrus:

From: Nalah Butler

Commander Shepard,

My husband was one of the men serving on Garrus' team. I don't know how much Garrus talked to you about what happened. I don't know the specifics myself, only that my husband died in a trap set by those bastard gangs. I know Garrus blames himself; he took every shot fired at his squad as a failure on his part, and it was clear when he sent me the message about my husband that he thinks it was his fault.

My husband would never have wanted that. He was proud of the work he did on Garrus' squad. He was taking back Omega from the gangs. He died fighting with honour. I miss him. God, I'd give anything to get him back. But whatever happened there wasn't Garrus' fault.

You're his commander now. Please, if you can, help him stop blaming himself. And please don't tell that I sent you this. Thank you.

-Nalah Butler

So I guess I wasn't too surprised when Garrus sent word that he wanted to talk to me as soon as possible. I guess I also wasn't too surprised when I had to wait a couple minutes before he was free, as he was occupied with yet another calibration.

"Shepard. I'm glad you came by," he said tersely. "I've got something. I may need your help. You remember Sidonis?"

Yeah, I remembered. He was the only other member of Garrus's vigilante squad who'd survived; apparently because he ratted them out to the gangs they were trying to fight. Garrus hadn't exactly said what would happen if he ever found him, but he'd hinted it wouldn't be getting together to knock back a couple of beers. "Yeah," I said slowly. "What about him?"

"I've found a lead on him. There's a specialist on the Citadel called Fade. He's an expert at helping people disappear. Sidonis was seen with him."

"You never exactly specified how Sidonis betrayed you guys."

Garrus clenched his fists. "He tipped off the mercs. Told them where our base was. He drew me out with a false job, then let the mercs hit my team. My men weren't prepared. They tried to hold them off... by the time I got back, there were only two survivors. They didn't last long. All ten of them, dead. Because of him."

I had a feeling where this was going, but I wanted to hear it from him. "What are you planning on doing when you find him?"

"You humans have a saying: 'an eye for an eye.' A life for a life."

Uh, oh.

"He owes me ten lives. I plan to collect."

"You sure that's how you want to play it?" I frowned.

"I'm sure. I don't need you to agree with me, but I'd like your help."

My first instinct was to say no and try to reason with him. The glint in his eyes told me reason had left the building a long time ago. And my gut was telling me that if I refused, he'd decide to take an unscheduled trip to the Citadel. Alone. And then Jacob would be stuck leading Team Two.

"Where do we find Fade?" I finally asked.

"I've arranged a meeting," Garrus replied. "We'll meet him in a warehouse near the Neon Markets, down on Zakera Ward."

He'd evidently decided that our conversation was over, because he went back to his calibrations. As he turned away, I got a good look at his visor. Eleven names were etched into the ceramic. One of them was erased with sharp, jagged lines.

Hoo boy. This was gonna be interesting.

It occurred to me that C-Sec might have some knowledge of this 'Fade,' something that EDI's perusal of their crime reports confirmed, so I decided to talk to the guy in charge of that particular bailiwick.

"Shepard," Bailey greeted me. "How can I help—oh hell, it's you."

It took me a second to realize he wasn't talking to me. I followed his gaze. "Something you want to tell me, Garrus?"

"I may not have left C-Sec on the best of terms," Garrus said delicately.

Bailey was a little more blunt. "You finished your last assignment by shooting up half a building."

"Isn't that an improvement?" Garrus asked. "Usually I burn them down."

"Garrus!"

"I have this problem with buildings. You know that."

I knew there was a reason I liked Garrus. "What exactly happened?" I asked.

"I busted a red sand smuggling operation that was using an antique shop as a front. Damn thing provided half of the red sand on the Citadel," Garrus explained before turning his attention to Bailey. "Which someone should know. You certainly weren't complaining when I handed in my report."

"That was before C-Sec was inundated by lawsuits from the antique shop," Bailey sighed, rolling his eyes. "You wouldn't believe how loudly civilians can complain of having post-traumatic stress disorder. Still, you're right. I shouldn't complain. You became more of a headache once you went freelance."

"Easier to burn down buildings when you don't have to follow regulations," Garrus shrugged.

Bailey glared at him. "You know, we threw a party when you disappeared."

"Don't worry," I reassured him. "We won't be here too long. I hope. The sooner you help us out, the sooner we'll be on our way."

"And then you can have another party," Garrus added cheekily.

"We're looking for Fade," I finished hastily.

Bailey's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, I know of him—the alias, anyway. He's been a thorn in the Network division's side for the last year. Works with the Blue Suns."

Blue Suns? Here? TPTB wouldn't be pleased with that. I could imagine their reaction when they received the news. Probably something like: "Blue Suns? The private security contractors allegedly involved in racketeering and other illegal activities? Eh, we have dismissed those claims."

"Where can we find him?" Garrus asked.

"If I knew that, he'd be in a cell," Bailey replied. "Best I can do is put you on the trail. There's a warehouse in the marketplace. Some of Fade's contacts work out of there."

"Neon Markets." Garrus didn't so much say that as much as he stated it.

"Yeah, that's the one," Bailey nodded. "Go ask them some questions." His lips jerked sardonically as he added "Gently, of course."

"Don't I always?" Garrus asked.

Bailey burst out into laughter. I waited until he settled down and wiped the tears from his eyes before asking my next question: "Why haven't you been able to catch him?"

"Whoever he is, he's damned good at avoiding C-Sec. I think someone on the inside's feeding him information. Either that, or he's got access to our databases and comm channels." He shook his head and sighed. "I don't know which is worse.

"But you're outside C-Sec. Maybe you can nail his ass."

With that cheerful thought in mind, we sauntered on over to the warehouse. A pair of krogan were leaning against a stack of barrels inside, trying to look casual and failing miserably. We hadn't been in there for a minute before a volus waddled out. The krogan formed up behind him. I looked down on him sceptically. "Fade?" The volus nodded. "You aren't what I expected," I observed.

"*hiss* Looks can be deceiving. *hiss* So... *hiss* which one of you wants to disappear? *hiss*"

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

'Fade' was a bit taken aback by that request. "*hiss* Ah... *hiss* that's not the service we provide. *hiss*"

"Make an exception." To my surprise—and dismay—Garrus pulled out his assault rifle. "Just this once."

"*hiss* Damn it," 'Fade' cursed. "Quick... *hiss* shoot them! Shoot them, you lumbering mountains! *hiss*"

Belatedly, the krogan realized they were receiving an order and pulled out their own weapons. By then, my squad was already aiming at them. "Why don't you two find somewhere else to skulk?" Garrus suggested.

The krogan assessed the odds, looked at each other, holstered their weapons and walked away. 'Fade' watched them leave, sputtering in disbelief. "*hiss* Just like that? *hiss* You're not getting paid for this! *hiss*" he threatened. Seeing that the krogan weren't coming back, his shoulders slumping. "*hiss* What's the point of hiring protection if they won't protect you? *hiss*" he asked morosely.

"We're looking for someone," I said. "A client of yours."

"*hiss* Not mine," he hastily corrected. "I'm not Fade. *hiss* I just work for him. Sort of. *hiss*"

"I knew it," I shook my head. (2)

Garrus walked over to him slowly and knelt in front of him, staring him in the eye. "Well then maybe you'd like to tell us where to find him."

"*hiss* Y-Yes," the volus stammered. "Of course. *hiss* He's in the factory district. *hiss* Works out of the old prefab foundry."

"I know the place," Garrus told me.

"*hiss* Uh... he's got a lot of mercs there. *hiss* Blue Suns. *hiss* Harkin thinks they're protecting him. *hiss*"

"Requesting data on subject Harkin, Shepard-Commander," Legion piped up.

"Former C-Sec officer; got fired shortly before I started hunting Saren for beating up suspects in custody, taking bribes and abusing drugs and alcohol." I turned to Garrus. "How the hell do you think Harkin wound up as Fade? Too lazy to get another legit job?"

"*hiss* He used his knowledge of C-Sec and their systems to help a few people disappear *hiss*," the volus offered helpfully. *hiss* After he found out how lucrative that service was, he made himself disappear and Fade was born. *hiss* So to speak. *hiss*"

"Interesting," Garrus said. "But it changes nothing. We still need to find him before we can get to Sidonis."

"Well then, let's go pay Harkin a little visit," I grinned.

"We'll need to double back to the transit station," Garrus advised. "I can get us to him from there."

The volus shuffled nervously. "*hiss* So I, uh... *hiss* I can go?"

"Sure," Garrus said a little too cheerfully. "But if we don't find him, we'll be back for you." He popped a fresh clip into his assault rifle and eyed the volus.

"*hiss* Oh. Good. *hiss*" the volus replied dully before waddling off.

Garrus still remembered his way around the Citadel. He guided us through shortcuts and side tunnels that most of the traffic didn't use, probably because they didn't know they existed. As a result, we got there in ten minutes flat.

Then our luck ran out as we stumbled around a corner and almost bumped into a pair of Blue Sun guards, who were chatting with Harkin. He squinted at us for a second before his eyes widened. "Shepard?" he gasped.

"Howdy," I replied.

Then Harkin realized who was standing next to me. "Oh shit, it's you!"

That was the second time someone responded to Garrus in that manner. I shot him an amused look. "Again, Garrus? I'm sensing a theme here. Just how many people have you pissed off?"

"I lost track," Garrus shrugged.

While Garrus and I were chatting, Harkin was shoving the Blue Sun guards forwards. "Don't just stand there!" he snapped. "Stop them. Stop them!"

As they charged forward, Harkin lived down to his reputation and ran like hell. To my alarm, Garrus lunged forward. I tackled him before he could do something stupid. "Run all you want, Harkin," he howled, bucking underneath me like a goddamn bronco. "We'll find you!"

"Miranda! Jacob!" I shouted. To my relief, they didn't need any further instructions. They assumed command without a beat and directed the squad's response while I kept Garrus pinned down. The fight was over within a minute.

"Scout up ahead with the rest of the squad," I ordered. "We'll catch up." Again, I was relieved that that was all I had to say. I waited until they were gone before helping Garrus up. I didn't let him go, though. This new side he was showing was more than a little disturbing.

"This isn't happening again," I told him. I cut him off with a gesture when he opened his mouth. "I don't want to hear it. You either get it under control and act like a team leader, or we're leaving right now."

"You wouldn't do that," Garrus pointed out. "Leave, I mean."

"Maybe not," I shrugged. "But I would leave you behind."

Garrus looked at me for a long moment. "Fine. Just as long as we get Harkin."

"Deal," I said, letting go of him. "I guess I'm not surprised that he's gone completely bad."

"He always was a pain in the ass," Garrus replied. "But I'm in no mood for his games. We'll hunt him down and get him to talk. If he doesn't cooperate, I'll beat him within an inch of his life."

"Garrus—"

"I'll behave, Shepard," Garrus interrupted me. "I want Sidonis dead, but I won't jeopardize another squad to do so."

I wasn't so sure about that, but Garrus seemed to have settled down—either that, or had decided to channel his desire for vengeance—so we rejoined the squad. They had started to scout around the foundry, which was cluttered with stacks and stacks of crates. Miranda wordlessly handed over a med-kit and a small stack of credits. I later found out that the latter had been lying in a trash can, of all places.

Just as I was stashing the credits, the door to a nearby shipping container retracted. The Blue Sun who'd opened it was eliminated quickly enough, but not before he tapped a command into his omni-tool. Just what that command was supposed to do was made quite clear when the pair of mechs booted up and got to their feet. Luckily, this wasn't our first time facing mechs. They'd scarcely raised their weapons when we blasted their armour plating to scraps and overloaded their circuits. A couple shots later and it was game over.

Unfortunately, there were several more mechs right around the corner. Aiming my omni-tool at the nearest pair, I picked one at random and melted its armour with a plasma blast. I was just about to raise my sniper rifle when Legion piped up. "Remote connection established," they announced. "Transmitting IFF shutdown subroutines."

Orange lightning writhed and crackled around the mech I'd attacked. The next thing I knew, it was turning its gun to fire at its former companion. The mech turned around and fired back. Then the hacked mech emitted an electrical pulse that knocked the other mech back a step. Then the other mech took a step forward and spat out a pulse of its own. They went back and forth for a minute before the hacked mech shook off whatever viruses or subroutines Legion had sent over. By then, both were so heavily damaged; it almost seemed like overkill to finish them off with concussive rounds.

Tali glared at Legion—well, I think she glared through her helmet—turned towards the next batch of mechs and whispered something to nodded and lobbed an inferno grenade, which exploded right on top of them. Then Tali aimed her omni-tool at the mech in the middle and hacked the sucker. The surrounding mechs must've realized that that mech wasn't on the same team anymore, because they suddenly turned around and opened fire. Probably not the brightest move, since the middle mech promptly exploded, knocking all of them to the ground. Kinda easy to deal with them after that.

"Blue Suns dead ahead," Jacob barked out, just before a pair of gunshots ricocheted off a nearby barrel.

I took a moment to look at the mechs, then turned my eye to Legion and Tali. I wasn't sure if they were using the most effective weapons in their arsenal, showing off their mad hacking skills or trying to compete with each other. Whatever the reason, I might as well make use of it. "Legion, Tali; take turns hacking the mechs and keeping them occupied with each other. Everyone else focus on the Blue Suns first." Since all good commanders lead by example, I cloaked, leaned out and fired a sniper round right through the shields and helmet of a hapless Blue Suns.

With eleven guns against two, it didn't take long before the Blue Suns were riddled with holes. Probably a good thing—I hadn't realized it at the time, but I may have underestimated the mechs.

You see, individually, a LOKI mech isn't much of a threat. Weak armour, minimal protective chassis, armed with nothing but a pistol and possessing absolutely no self-preservation skills whatsoever. They just plodded forward, chirping inane little programmed phrases and shooting away. Not to mention that they could be hacked. Problem was, no one in their right mind would just use one or two mechs. Nosirree, they'd deploy them in waves of twos and threes, relentlessly marching forward. Almost like husks—not as scary, but still potentially lethal. Plus, if you weren't careful, they'd blithely march around any cover you were hiding behind, flank you and turn your body into Swiss cheese. So it was a good thing we finished the Blue Suns when we did. Then we could unleash silicon hell on the mechs.

Once I was certain that the area was clear of bad guys, I started to search for loot. While I hacked open a safe, lifted some more medi-gel and bypassed a lock to access a removable and expensive circuit board, the rest of the squad was doing some preliminary scouting of the next room in the foundry.

"It's about time," Garrus hissed when I caught up with them. "Harkin's in here somewhere. I can smell him."

Gee, you'd think the scum of the galaxy could spare a minute to shower every once in a while. Out loud, I said "Team One, move out. Team Two, find cover and watch our six."

As if on cue, five Blue Suns came around the corner. They moved like a patrol that was investigating a disturbance. Well, they did until a trio of EMPs and a blinding storm of plasma and biotics hammered into them. Three of them went down immediately. Zaeed took another one out with a concussive round. The last one ducked behind a crate, frantically hollering for backup.

A bunch of overhead cranes began moving almost immediately. Two of them dropped off a pair of LOKI mechs each. Another one dropped a large shipping container, which opened to reveal several LOKI mechs. Big surprise, I know.

"Team Two: focus on the mechs coming out of the shipping container," Garrus ordered over the squad comm frequency.

Good call, I decided. They had a better angle. And if they could keep them occupied, Team One could focus on the others. "Team One, attack your designated targets," I said, using my HUD to designate targets. "Weapons free, people."

Miranda, Samara and Thane stripped the armour off their assigned mechs like a grunt opening rations. One of them quickly went berserk on its comrades, courtesy of Legion and their hacking skills. We took advantage of the distraction to pick off mechs one by one.

By that point, Team Two had eliminated their mechs as well. They hadn't escaped unscathed, as I noted several of them were in the middle of regenerating their shields. But we'd defeated the latest batch of—no, that wasn't quite true. There was still one more Blue Sun, determined to huddle behind a crate. I motioned for the squad to slowly advance, hoping to flank him and put him out of his misery. Unfortunately, someone got bored with that plan about halfway through.

"TITS!"

The merc popped up and looked around like a groundhog. We blew him away before he had a chance to check his shadow. Then we turned and looked at Jack.

"What?" she demanded. "I was getting bored. And it worked, didn't it? You got a fucking problem with that?"

"I don't," Garrus murmured. "It's a little unorthodox, but I can't argue with the results."

"Damn straight," Jack declared.

"Excuse me."

Jack whirled around, a belligerent "What?" clearly forming on her lips. Then her lips curled into a feral grin as she saw the source of the rather polite question: another pair of LOKI mechs. The trio of Blue Sun mercs behind them halted, looked at each other in dismay and cursed. One even did a face palm.

Can't blame them. We scattered for cover before they'd gotten off more than a couple shots. Legion promptly hacked one of the mechs as soon as I'd melted its armour. "I was going to get that one," Tali protested before switching targets to the other mech, whose armour had been rendered useless by Mordin. The two mechs wheeled around and opened fire on the Blue Suns, just as a well-placed EMP from Garrus shorted out their shields. Between our guns and those of our temporary allies, the mercs didn't last long.

Looking ahead, I saw another wave of Blue Suns getting set up. "Grunt," I said. He looked over at me and I told him what I wanted him to do. A feral grin spread over his face. With a mighty roar, he surged forward, trampling over the mechs before they rebooted their IFF protocols. That charge took him into the next room, where the Blue Suns weren't ready to meet any hostiles. With several startled shouts, they scrambled for cover, reacting to his presence instead of proactively engaging themselves. That gave us the advantage, which we seized without hesitation. Flashes of sparks lit up as random Blue Suns suddenly found themselves without shields. If they were lucky, they were soon shot or lit up. If they were unlucky, they soared up into the air, arms flailing madly.

I was getting a bit satisfied with how well things were going, so I guess it's my fault that a set of passing cranes moved by overhead, dropping off several LOKI mechs to crash the party. "Zaeed!" I yelled.

"On it!" he shouted out, tossing another inferno grenade. It exploded at the feet of two of the mechs. Apparently, that provided enough of a window for Legion and Tali to hack them. I decided to snipe a hapless merc instead of pointing out that they were doing a pretty good job of teaming up. The last thing I wanted was for Tali to come to her senses.

Legion saw what I was doing, as they pulled out their own sniper rifle. A Widow like mine—guess synthetic arms could withstand the recoil as well. They quickly demonstrated that their crack shooting on the derelict Reaper wasn't an accident, taking two of the floating mercs out in a heartbeat. The rest of them were hit with biotic blasts or concussive rounds a second later, sending them hurtling into the walls with bone-crushing force. Then we could concentrate our fire on the mechs, all of whom were heavily damaged by that point. Needless to say, it didn't take long for us to mop up.

Once the last mech collapsed, we had a chance to assess our surroundings. It didn't take long to realize that this room was a dead-end. So either Harkin had pulled a Houdini or there was some kind of hidden door or something. Which meant we had to take a closer look. "Found it!" Miranda said after a minute.

"Me too!" I called back.

"You found another bridge control?"

"Bridge control?"

"What were you talking about?"

"I found some power cells. And medi-gel. And iridium. And a laptop that's just begging to be hacked."

Everyone looked at me while I scooped up the goodies. I don't know why. I really don't. Once I indicated I was done, Miranda activated the bridge controls. The wall in front of us flipped down and extended, forming a bridge to another crate-filled room.

"We're getting close," Garrus said as we crossed the bridge.

Two Blue Suns popped out of cover and opened fire. "Time to die," one of them yelled. Yes, he really did say that. I looked at Garrus. "'Getting close,' huh? I never would've figured that out. You must've been a detective or something."

"Funny," Garrus replied, sending an EMP at the nearest merc. Following suit, I set that guy on fire. Kasumi and Mordin did the same thing. Eventually, the mercs stopped twitching.

Then we waited. I glimpsed a Blue Sun skulking around after a minute and fired my sniper rifle. He collapsed like a puppet that'd had his strings cut.

Then we waited. Two more mercs came. Two more mercs went down.

Then we waited. Three more mercs came. One of them was a bigwig, judging from the armour plating he was packing along with a very robust shield package.

"You know," Miranda frowned as she zapped one of them, "they aren't being very aggressive."

"We have been blowing through them like they weren't even there," I pointed out slowly. "On the other hand, their tactics aren't typical of someone trying to engage the enemy. It's more like they're...

"Trying to lure us into a trap," we finished at the same time.

We looked at each other for a moment. "You're going to spring the trap, aren't you?" she sighed.

"Yep," I confirmed, silencing the last vestige of my common sense before it could scream at me. "Preferably after we take out as many mercs as possible."

"Thank goodness for small miracles," she muttered.

With that course of action figured out, we turned our attention back to the battlefield. The two junior mercs had been taken out, leaving the bigwig hiding behind a crate. Clearly he didn't relish the odds.

He couldn't resist the bait I provided when I stood up, however. No doubt he was hoping to get off a shot and drop back down behind his cover before we could respond. Unfortunately for him, we were faster. Three EMPs made short work of his shields and a barrage of plasma and biotics melted his armour useless.

The Blue Sun bigwig got a few reinforcements in the form of another pair of mercs. I sniped one of them, but the other one made it to the crate and ducked down before anyone else could finish him off. "Cover fire," I hissed. While the squad obliged, I sent another ball of plasma arcing through the air. It flew over the crate, dropped down and set both of the mercs on fire. They popped up, flailing like mad, before succumbing to the flames.

Then we waited. Nobody came, so I moved forward to scoop up a few thermal clips. "Heavy mech overhead," Garrus yelled as I restocked.

I looked up. Sure enough, an overhead crane was dropping off a large mech. It booted up, rose out of the fetal position and turned towards me. I promptly turned around and made a dignified tactical retreat. Some might say I sprinted back towards the squad screaming like a little girl. But trust me, it was a dignified tactical retreat.

As I retreated, I heard multiple snaps and cracks as EMPs detonated around the YMIR mech, plus a lot of gunfire. Anything to damage its shields, because it sure didn't scare it off. I dove over a crate and into cover just before a stream of bullets spat out. Using my HUD, I pulled up my hardsuit's sensor readouts on the mech. Its shields had been seriously depleted. Interesting.

Taking a chance, I cloaked, stood up and peered through the scope on my sniper rifle. It was moving its head a bit, so I had to adjust my aim before firing. To my delight, that shot shut down its shields and made a nice dent in its armour. Ducking back down, I saw Thane, Mordin and Zaeed send all sorts of plasma and biotic goodness flying its way. Tali did her part to distract the big lug with Chikitta. The suicidal drone only lasted a moment before the YMIR blew it to pieces with a rocket. Not a smart move, since it bought us enough time to punch a hole right through the dent in its armour.

Legion considered the situation, tapped their omni-tool and generated a combat drone of their own to distract the YMIR. I decided not to ask whether they had given it a name as well, opting to order another barrage of EMPs instead. Three blue fields exploded over it, followed shortly by a pair of concussive rounds. I delivered the coup d'etat with my trusty sniper rifle. One thing I'll have to give to mechs—their habit of exploding makes headshots that much more satisfying.

We searched through the room, but there were no more bad guys—organic or synthetic—in sight. Nor were there any in the adjoining office. So we were free to swipe medi-gel, take apart random circuit boards for credits, liberate power cells, crack open a safe and grab some schematics for a sniper rifle upgrade. That last bit of loot made me and Garrus very happy indeed.

There was even found a blank ID lying around. I quickly snatched it up—never know when an alternate identity might be needed.

When I'd finished stuffing the ID in my pockets, I found out that Garrus had retracted the metal sheet covering the office window and was staring intently through it. I gave him a minute to try and melt the glass with his eyes before opening my mouth. "Much tension I sense in you, young Padawan." (3)

"Harkin may know why Sidonis wanted to disappear," Garrus replied tersely. "If so, he knows why we're here and I don't want him tipping Sidonis off."

Maybe. Or maybe he didn't know the specifics. Maybe he just knew that he didn't want to get beaten up or shot. I was about to say that when I glimpsed some movement. I immediately sidestepped away from the window and against the wall, pulling out my sniper rifle in one smooth motion. Garrus ducked underneath the window and grabbed his own sniper rifle. Everyone else followed our lead a moment later.

"Did you see something?" Garrus asked.

"I saw something," I shrugged.

"He's getting ready for us," Garrus growled.

"Probably," I admitted. "Doesn't mean you have to 'beat him within an inch of his life,' though."

"He's a real criminal now," Garrus reminded me. "Working for the Blue Suns. I should just shoot him on sight. But... I need him alive, so I won't do any permanent damage. Just enough to loosen his tongue."

"You don't need him hurt to get what you want," I reminded him. Someone had to. I thought Joker had been joking all those months ago when he said that Garrus seemed to have taken that stick out of his ass and was now beating people to death with it. Now I wasn't so sure. Seemed to me like he was reverting to the Garrus I'd glimpsed two years ago. The one thirsting for revenge.

"Don't worry," Garrus reassured me. "Harkin's a coward. Always has been. He'll talk long before I can really hurt him."

I'd find that more reassuring if there wasn't one other issue on my mind. "You still planning to kill Sidonis when we find him?"

"That's the plan," he replied coolly. "It'll be quick and painless. Unlike everyone he betrayed, he'll be spared the agony of a slow death. It's more than he deserves, but as long as he's dead, I'll be satisfied."

"Garrus," I said slowly, "do you really think killing Sidonis will make things right?"

"I know you don't like this, Shepard," Garrus acknowledged, "but I have to do this."

"Is there's no other way?" I pressed.

"Maybe. But this is personal. I'll pull the trigger and I'll live with the consequences. All I'm asking is that you help me find him."

Oh yeah. Definitely reverting. But there wasn't a lot more that I could think of to say at this point. "What do you think Harkin's got waiting for us in there?" I asked instead.

"Not sure," Garrus frowned. "Looks like another industrial complex. Lots of heavy machinery. Could be anything. Something's in there... probably more Blue Suns."

"If we're lucky, that's all that's in there," I said.

Garrus snorted. "Since when were we ever lucky? All I know is Harkin's trapped himself in a corner. He must have something in store for us."

"Then let's go find out," I said.

"Right behind you," Garrus nodded.

"Shepard, I have patched into the warehouse scanners," EDI reported as we entered the room and found cover. "Some of the crates in the transport containers overhead are rigged to explode when dropped."

"Good to know," I replied, tracking the path of the crates and comparing it to the locations of the mercs and LOKI mechs that were streaming into the room. Lifting my sniper rifle, I dislodged one of the crates. It fell on the mercs and promptly exploded. Legion copied me, but the crate they had selected was empty. It just landed on the mechs, knocked them over and fell apart. Zaeed had a bit more luck with the crate he picked, as the resulting explosion destroyed most of the prone mechs. Only one of them stood up. Unfortunately, it was promptly joined by another three LOKI mechs.

"Legion, Tali; you're up," I said. "Everyone else keep an eye out for any more mercs or mechs."

There was only one more merc as it turned out. Garrus patiently waited him out, double-tapping shots from his assault rifle whenever he had a clear line of sight. The mechs took turns firing shots or electrical pulses at each other, thanks to a constant stream of hacks from Legion and Tali. Seeing how much havoc they were causing, I turned to Tali.

"Don't suppose you could copy some of those hacking protocols to my omni-tool," I requested.

"Sure," Tali nodded. She tapped her omni-tool and sent over a program.

**Insufficient storage capacity. Please make additional space available or insert another hard drive.**

Tali tilted her head curiously, tapped her omni-tool again and sent another program.

**Insufficient storage capacity. Please make additional space available or insert another hard drive.**

She looked at me, shook her head and muttered something that I didn't make out, tapped her omni-tool again and sent another program.

**Insufficient storage capacity. Please make additional space available or insert another hard drive.**

Oh for crying out loud.

We did this a few more times before we finally succeeded. Granted, it was only a basic synthetic hacking protocol, but it was better than nothing. (4) Eager to hack a synthetic for the first time in years, I raised my omni-tool and transmitted the protocol at the latest trio of LOKI mechs.

One of them stopped, quivered and turned its gun on its comrades. They promptly spat out an electrical pulse at the hacked mech, who reciprocated almost immediately. The pulses knocked them all over. Two of them got up, only to be knocked back down when the prone mech exploded. A second later, another explosion rang out. The last mech stumbled to its feet... only to collapse when Miranda hit it with an EMP.

We did the same thing with the next five or six LOKI mechs, making short work of them. Though it probably helped when a rocket flew out of nowhere and accidentally blew them all to smithereens. Tracking the path of the rocket—and the curses—back to its source, I found a Blue Sun hiding around, cloaked and blew her head off.

"Wow, that's a shocker," Kasumi said.

It took me a split second to realize she wasn't talking about the merc. I followed her gaze and saw another trio of LOKI mechs coming towards us via the overhead cranes. Garrus growled as they were dropped off. "Harkin's gonna regret this."

The mechs were quickly eliminated as well, but not before they tried a more circuitous approach behind several crates that blocked our line of sight. Either they were learning or... I quickly scooted forward and looked ahead.

Sure enough, there was another Blue Sun. One of the senior mercs, judging from his shields and armour. Probably giving remote commands to any mechs who were dropped off.

Crouching down behind a conveniently located crate, I transmitted the telemetry to the squad. Using my sensors to guide their attacks, they launched several EMPs, followed by a lot of plasma and a smattering of biotics. Someone yanked him skyward once his shields and armour were stripped away. We saw him rise, arms waving madly, before a concussive round sent him soaring through the air and out of sight.

"I'm gonna cloak and look around," I told the squad. "Stay frosty."

I came back a few minutes later. "We'll have to go up and over a couple platforms up ahead, then up several more platforms to a corner office on the upper levels at the far end. No bad guys that I could see, but my guess is that probably be deployed once we're on the move."

"Anything else?" Garrus pressed.

"I found a datapad lying around and swiped the credits from the account it contained."

Garrus shook his head. "Let's get going."

It went pretty well at first. Plenty of thermal clips lying around to replenish our stocks. No bad guys getting the drop on us. Quite peaceful, actually.

So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when the back of my neck started tingling. Looking around, I saw another pair of overhead cranes moving towards us. There was something odd about their contents. They didn't look like crates. Or LOKI mechs.

"Aw, crap," Garrus groaned.

Hey, that was my line!

"Oh, joy," Miranda deadpanned. "More heavy mechs."

Aw, crap indeed.

"I'm not running from you, Shepard!" Harkin yelled out over the loudspeaker as we scampered for cover.

"Everyone focus on this mech," I yelled, selecting it with my HUD. "Weapons free!"

A barrage of EMPs and gunfire exploded over the mech. It didn't take long before its shields were toast. Unfortunately, that success came at a price—an explosion from one of the rockets lifted Tali off her feet and sent her flying over some crates. Jack tried to check up on her, only to come under heavy fire herself. She only managed to fire off a few shots in defiance before collapsing to the ground, hand pressed tightly to her side.

Biting back a curse, I fired off a plasma blast at a plate of armour protecting the YMIR's neck. Zaeed and Thane quickly followed, with Miranda right on their heels. Mordin sent a plasma burst of his own once he checked up on Jack—or, more accurately, was waved off with a blistering string of profanity—which bored a nice neat hole through the heavy mech. "Legion," I hollered. "Hit it!"

Legion promptly hacked the mech. It turned on the other YMIR and opened fire.

About ten seconds later, 'our' mech exploded. The remaining mech, still with its chassis, armour plating and most of its shields intact, turned towards us and opened fire.

"So much for that," I sighed.

"Same plan as before," Jacob suggested.

"With fewer casualties," I nodded.

Miranda, Garrus and Kasumi immediately fired off their EMPs. We ducked and waited as the YMIR returned fire. Then there was a pause—which meant the big lug was loading up a rocket. By then, the three of them were ready with another EMP, so they launched them before the YMIR could fire the rocket. Glancing at my HUD, I was relieved to see those EMPs blew out its shield generator, with the bonus of damaging its armour. That would make things a bit easier.

It took several more tense minutes, which seemed like hours, but we finally dealt enough damage to the last YMIR. "Alert," it blurted out just before exploding. We all ducked, not wanting anything to do with an explosion that rivalled a tactical nuke. Once the heat and glare died down, we ran over to Jack and Tali. Thankfully, they were both all right, although Jack was sporting several burns and Tali had a noticeable limp.

While Garrus gave some medi-gel to Tali—who did not offer any loud or profane objections—I activated my cloak and looked around. Two LOKI mechs outside the upper level office I'd spotted earlier, guarding one very nervous Harkin. I doubled back to report my findings and issue my orders.

Team One blew through the LOKI mechs within a minute and stormed the office. Harkin quickly backed up, slapping a console as he passed it. A set of kinetic barriers hummed to life, bisecting the office and blocking our path.

"You were close," Harkin sneered, turning towards the door at the other end of the office, "but not close eno—"

Garrus chose that moment to step through the door. He drove the butt of his assault rifle into Harkin's nose—which he didn't appreciate, judging from the cry that escaped his lips. Completely unsympathetic to his plight, Garrus grabbed Harkin by the collar, dragged him back into the office and slammed him against the wall.

"So, Fade..." Garrus hissed. "Couldn't make yourself disappear, huh?"

"Come on, Garrus, we can work this out," Harkin smiled nervously. "Whaddya need?"

Garrus let him go and backed off a step. "I'm looking for someone."

Harkin stretched some muscles in his neck and gave him a satisfied smirk. "Well, I guess we both have something the other one wants."

Garrus surged back towards him and lifted his assault rifle. Harkin instinctively covered his nose. He should have covered his family jewels.

As Harkin collapsed to his knees, the rest of Team Two shuffled in. Mordin walked over to the console and deactivated the barrier. "We're not here to ask favours, Harkin," I said helpfully.

Harkin stumbled back to his feet. "You don't say," he wheezed.

"You helped a friend of mine disappear," Garrus told him. "I need to find him."

"I might need a little more information than that," Harkin replied sarcastically.

"His name was Sidonis. Turian, came from the—"

Apparently that was enough information. "I know who he is and I'm not telling you squat," Harkin snapped.

"Harkin, this doesn't have to be hard," I piped up.

"Screw you. I don't give out client information. It's bad for business."

Well wonders never cease. Harkin had a sense of professional ethics.

Garrus kneed him in the gut. "You know what else is bad for business?" he said as Harkin dropped to the ground again. "A broken neck." To emphasize his point, Garrus placed a boot firmly on Harkin's neck.

Harkin's eyes widened. "All right! All right! Get off me!" he cried out.

Garrus didn't show any signs of letting up though. I had to actually tap him on the shoulder before he remembered to lift his foot. Harkin stayed on the ground, panting away. "Terminus really changed you, huh, Garrus?" he said once he'd caught his breath.

"No, but Sidonis... opened my eyes. Now arrange a meeting."

Harkin got to his feet. He looked at a nearby comm terminal and hesitated, but quickly scampered over when Garrus made an impatient gesture. We waited while Harkin set up the comm link.

"Fade?"

Garrus tensed up immediately when the voice came over the speakers.

"Yeah, it's me," Harkin confirmed. "There's a chance your identity may be compromised."

"What the... you said I was safe!"

The back of my neck started tingling again. Probably because Garrus had 'borrowed' Jack's pistol and was checking its thermal clip.

"That's why I'm calling," Harkin said soothingly. "I'm sending an agent to discuss the details. He'll meet you at the Orbital Lounge. Noon okay with you?"

"Yeah, yeah. That's fine. Tell him he'd better be on time."

"Don't worry," Harkin reassured him. "He'll be there." After turning off the terminal, he turned and glared at us. "Got that?"

"Got it," I confirmed.

"Good. So, if our business is done, I'll be going—"

Garrus reached out and grabbed Harkin by the collar again. "I don't think so," he snarled, pulling the ex-cop towards him. "You're a criminal now, Harkin."

"So what... you're just gonna kill me?" Harkin sputtered. "That's not your style, Garrus."

...

Garrus let him sweat for a few seconds. "Kill you?" he said at last. "No." He aimed his pistol at Harkin's leg. "But I don't mind slowing you down a little—"

"Garrus," I snapped, grabbing his arm and pulling it up. It wouldn't be the first time I'd prevented a squad mate from shooting someone. It was the first time that that squad mate was already pulling the trigger though. Garrus would have actually shot him if I hadn't intervened. This wasn't good.

"You don't need to shoot him," I told him. "He won't be able to hide from C-Sec now."

He yanked his arm out of my grip and stared at Harkin. "I guess it's your lucky day," he finally said, returning the pistol to Jack.

"Yeah," Harkin wiped some sweat off his brow. "I hope we can do this again real soon."

Garrus started to turn away, then whipped back and gave him a head-butt. Harkin collapsed to the ground for the third time, hands covering his nose in a vain attempt to stem the tide of blood. "I didn't shoot him," Garrus said.

"I didn't say anything." I replied. I used my omni-tool to send a message to Bailey, telling him where he could finally find the elusive Fade. Zaeed tied the cop-turned-criminal up with some restraints he happened to have—tricks of the bounty hunting trade, I guess. "Come on, let's move," I ordered.

"Sidonis better be there," Garrus said as we left the office. "Or I'm coming back to finish the job."

The squad split up into teams to cover the exits of the Orbital Lounge while I went with Garrus. Officially, it was because somebody had to drive him to a place where he could shoot Sidonis. Unofficially, it was because I wanted to have one last chat with him.

"Harkin's a bloody menace," Garrus hissed as I landed the skycar at a docking port one floor above the Lounge. "We shouldn't have just let him go."

"We didn't," I reminded him. "I called it in, remember? He's C-Sec's problem now."

"He deserves to be punished," Garrus insisted.

I eyed him uneasily. "I'm getting a little worried about you, Garrus," I said. "You were pretty hard on Harkin. I mean, I know what you said, but I didn't think you'd actually do it"

Garrus looked out the window. "What do you want from me, Shepard?" he asked after a moment. "What would you do if somebody betrayed you?"

A certain soft-spoken, sanctimonious asshole came to mind. I thought about what I'd do if I ever ran into Kaidan again. "I'm not sure," I admitted. Hard choice between punching his lights out and shining a strobe light in his eyes until he got another migraine. "But I wouldn't let it change me like that."

"I would've said the same thing before it happened to me," Garrus replied.

"It's not too late," I offered. "You don't have to go through with this."

"Who's going to bring Sidonis to justice if I don't?" Garrus asked bitterly. "Nobody else knows what he's done. Nobody else cares. I don't see any other options."

"This is vengeance you're talking about here. If you want justice, let me talk to him," I suggested.

Garrus's eyes narrowed. "Talk all you want, but it won't change my mind. I don't care what his reasons were, he screwed us... he deserves to die."

"Yes, he screwed you over," I conceded. "He screwed a lot of guys over. He deserves to be punished. But does he deserve to die? There are other ways to punish him, you know."

"No punishment could make up for all the lives he's ruined," Garrus growled. "How many families did he tear apart with his betrayal? How many mercs were left free to prey on the weak and helpless?"

"How many families did he help before he betrayed you?" I rebutted. "How many lives did he save?"

"Are you trying to justify what he did?" Garrus snapped.

"I'm trying to say that it might not be as simple as you think," I replied. "Look, I know what it's like to have people under your command die. People who looked up to you. People who depended on you. I know it hurts. But it doesn't mean you have to play judge, jury and executioner."

"I appreciate your concern, but I'm not you," Garrus replied quickly.

I looked at him with more than a little worry. "This isn't you either," I told him at last.

"Really?" Garrus challenged. "I've always hated injustice. The thought that Sidonis could get away with this..." He broke off, laughing almost hysterically to himself before continuing. "Why should he go on living while ten good men lie in unmarked graves?"

He took a breath to calm himself. "I'm sorry, Shepard. Words aren't going to solve this problem."

Well, crap. Guess my silver tongue got a bit rusty.

"I need to set up," Garrus said, looking around. He pointed a talon at a section of railing next to a support column. "I can get a clear shot from there."

He was right. Judging by the angle, he had a clear line of sight to a target that would be only thirty or forty metres away, with no wind to deflect his shot. "What do you need me to do?" I sighed.

Garrus kept it simple. "Keep him talking and don't get in my way. I'll let you know when he's in my sights."

I looked at him for a moment, then turned away. Undeterred by my uneasiness, Garrus continued. "Give me a signal so I know you're ready and I'll take the shot."

I just sat there.

"You'd better go. He'll be here soon."

I slowly got out of the skycar and headed down a nearby set of stairs to the Orbital Lounge. "Shepard?" I heard Garrus call out over the comm. "Do you read me?"

"Loud and clear," I replied, looking around. There were a smattering of humans... and one turian.

"All right," Garrus said. "That's him sitting down on the bench. Wave him over and keep him talking."

I did as Garrus requested and watched as Sidonis got up and walked over. He seemed to be walking slowly, but he didn't have a limp or injury that I could tell. As he got closer, I got a good look in his eyes. They seemed... blank. Bleak. Empty.

Interesting.

"Let's get this over with," he said dully.

"You're in my shot," Garrus told me. "Move to the side."

I took a deep breath as an idea came to me. A stupid one—really, really stupid. So stupid, in fact, that it just might work. "Listen, Sidonis," I said. "I'm here to help you."

A flash of alarm flashed across Sidonis's face, the first sign of life I'd seen so far. "Don't ever say that name aloud," he hissed, looking around nervously. "Didn't Fade give you my alias?"

"Fade's out of the picture," I replied. "Listen, I'm a friend of Garrus. He wants you dead, but I'm hoping that's not necessary."

"Garrus?" Sidonis gasped. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"Damn it, Shepard," Garrus cursed me. "If he moves, I'm taking the shot!"

That was the stupid part. If I zigged when I should have zagged, Garrus might think he had a chance to take Sidonis out. And if he wasn't quick enough, it could be my head that intercepted the bullet instead.

Somehow, what I was thinking translated itself to my face, because Sidonis suddenly grew pale. I had no idea turians could do that until now. "You're not kidding, are you?" he whispered. "Screw this, I'm not sticking around here to find out. Tell Garrus I had my own problems—"

I reached out and grabbed his arm as he started to walk away. "Don't move."

"Get off me!" he cried, shaking me off.

"I'm the only thing standing between you and a hole in the head."

Sidonis's head drooped. "Fuck."

"So what happened?" I asked him.

"Look... I didn't want to do it... I didn't have a choice."

Oh yeah. Great start.

"Everyone has a choice," Garrus growled over the comm.

"They got to me," Sidonis continued. "Said they'd kill me if I didn't help. What was I supposed to do?"

"Let me take the shot, Shepard," Garrus urged. "He's a damn coward."

"You tell me," I demanded, ignoring Garrus. "What could you have done? Because from what little you've told me, it sounds like you took the easy way out."

"Yeah, I did. You know why? Because I was a goddamn coward who just wanted to save his own pathetic..." Sidonis broke off and walked over to a nearby row of chairs. I barely reacted in time to move in front of him again before Garrus pulled the trigger. Sidonis leaned against the back of the chairs and looked at the floor.

"I know what I did. I could've talked to Garrus. We could've figured something out. But I took the easy way out and stabbed my buddies in the back. They all died because of me and now I have to live with it. Every night, I wake up... sick... and sweating. Each of their faces staring at me... accusing me... Every day I walk around and think that everyone I'm passing has a face belonging to one of the ten people I betrayed.

"I'm already a dead man. I can't get more than an hour's sleep. Food has no taste. Some days... I just want it to be over."

"Just give me the chance."

"Let it go, Garrus," I said out loud. "Listen to him. He's already paying for his crime."

"He hasn't paid enough. He still has his life!"

"Does he?" I asked. "Look at him, Garrus. He's not alive... there's nothing left to kill."

"My men... they deserved better than..." Maybe it was my imagination, but it sounded like Garrus was starting to waver.

"Tell Garrus..." Sidonis started before breaking off. His shoulders sagged. "I guess there's nothing I can say to make it right..."

...

...

...

"Just... go," Garrus said at last. "Tell him to go."

"He's giving you a second chance, Sidonis," I told him. "Don't waste it."

Sidonis looked at me sharply, then straightened up and nodded. "I'll try, Garrus," he said out loud, raising his voice so it could be picked up by the comm. "I'll make it up to you. I swear, by the spirits, I'll make it up to you. Somehow.

"Thank you," he murmured. "For talking to him."

Garrus was waiting for me by the skycar when I returned. He had collapsed his sniper rifle, but hadn't holstered it yet. Instead, he was holding it in his hands and staring at it.

"I know it didn't go the way you planned," I said after a moment, "but I think it's for the best."

"I'm not so sure..." Garrus whispered.

"Give it time."

"Yeah," Garrus shrugged. "Maybe that'll be enough." He took another look at his sniper rifle before slotting it into place on his back. "I just... I want to know I did the right thing. Not just for me—for my men. They deserve to be avenged."

"I know," I nodded. "That's how you got this far. But then..."

"But then I let him go," Garrus finished. "I know. I wanted to shoot him. He was the bad guy, after all. I actually had a clear shot at one point, you know, despite your efforts. But when Sidonis was in my sights... I just couldn't do it. I couldn't pull the trigger."

"The lines between good and bad get awfully fuzzy when we're looking at people we know," I commiserated.

"Yeah," Garrus agreed. "I could tell there was still good in him. Otherwise, he never would have felt so guilty. It was so much simpler when I thought he was bad to the core, though. Guess it's easier to see the galaxy in black and white. Grey... I don't know what to do with grey."

"Sometimes you gotta go with your instincts," I suggested.

He looked at me wryly. "My instincts are what got me into this mess."

"Oh," I winced. "Right. Look, don't be too hard on yourself, okay? That's what really got you into this mess."

"Thanks, Shepard," Garrus nodded. "For everything."

"You're welcome."

"Let's get going," Garrus said, heading for the skycar. "I need some distance from this place."

"I hear that."

We got into the car and flew off. As we zipped through the traffic, I loaded up an audio file into the car's systems and hit the play button.

"I can't see where you're comin' from,
But I know just what you're runnin' from.
And what matters ain't the who's baddest but the
Ones who stop you falling from your ladder.

"When you feel like you're feeling now
And doin' things just to please your crowd.
When I love you like the way I love you
And I suffer but I ain't gonna cut you 'cuz

"This ain't no place for no hero.
This ain't no place for no better man.
This ain't no place for no hero
To call home." (5)

Garrus later sent me a message asking to see me whenever I had a moment. I hurried on over to see how he was doing. And to see if he was actually there—if not, he might have decided to go all 'eye for an eye' again. Thankfully he was in the Main Battery room, running yet another round of calibrations—seriously, how many of those things can you possibly do?

"Garrus?" I said. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "I wanted to thank you again for your help with Sidonis. Whatever happens with the Collectors or the Reapers or whoever else comes after us, I know you'll get the job done."

I raised an eyebrow at that last one. "You actually think we'll find something worse than Collectors or Reapers?"

"I like to expect the worst," he shrugged. "There's a small chance I'll be pleasantly surprised."

Well, I was pleasantly surprised to hear the tone of his voice. Goodbye rage and anger; hello, calm and collected. "I couldn't do this without you, Garrus," I said honestly.

"Sure you could. Not as stylishly, of course."

And the snarky humour was back, too. Better and better.

"Ah, so that's why I keep you around," I smirked. "I knew there was a reason I headhunted you from C-Sec."

"If I remember correctly, you did no such thing," Garrus replied. "I asked to leave C-Sec and come with you."

"True," I conceded. "Do you ever regret leaving the turian military? Or C-Sec? Sounds like some people appreciated all your hard work, even if you caused a lot of grief along the way."

"Not for a minute," Garrus shook his head. "When it comes down to it, Shepard, I don't think I'm a very good turian. When a good turian hears a bad order, he follows it. He might complain, but he knows his place. I just don't see the point in staying quiet and polite. Not when the galaxy is at stake. Heavy stuff, I know, but that's the way I see it."

"Can't argue with that," I replied. "But enough doom and gloom. Interested in something a bit happier?"

"What do you have in mind?"

In response, I showed Garrus an e-mail I'd gotten a week or so after recruiting him:

From: Dr. Chloe Michel

Dear Commander Shepard,

I was relieved to hear you were alive. I was devastated to hear of the destruction of the Normandy, and those people who didn't make it off in time. After you went missing and were presumed dead, I feared I'd never see you or Garrus ever again. You and he did so much to help clean up the Wards when you were hunting for Saren. The galaxy needs more people like you, and I'm glad that you're still here to protect those of us who've grown to depend upon both of you.

Is Garrus with you again, by any chance? After being so happy to hear about your survival, I wondered if perhaps he might have ended up with you. I left a few messages on his public accounts, but you know how he is about checking his mail, and I don't think the comm address I had for him works anymore, because he hasn't returned any calls. Always so busy on his grand crusades, his great passions, that he focuses on them to the exclusion of anything or anyone else.

Anyway, if you know where he might be, I would really love to hear from him. Or both of you could come by next time you're near the Citadel.

Thanks!

-Dr. Chloe Michel

"You up for another visit to the Citadel?" I asked.

"I suppose I can skip the next calibration," Garrus sighed.

"Really?" I gasped. "You feeling all right?"

"Very funny," Garrus muttered sourly.

"Maybe you should let Dr. Chakwas check you out. She is certified in cross-species medicine, after all."

"Don't quit your day job, Shepard."

Dr. Michel was delighted to hear from me and quickly agreed to meet Garrus, Tali and I at the Dark Star Lounge after her clinic closed.

"According to C-Sec reports," EDI later told us, "Harkin was taken into custody and charges are pending."

"That's the least that bastard deserves," Garrus grumbled.

"Somehow, I don't think Harkin's gonna get off that easy," I offered.

"I hope so," Garrus growled.

Tali and I exchanged a glance as we went up the stairs to Level 28, where the Dark Star Lounge was located. Thankfully, Garrus quickly shook off the remnants of the vengeance that had been gnawing away at him for who knows how long.

"Hey Tali," he said casually, "you ever miss those talks we had on the elevators?"

"No," Tali replied, a bit more curtly than I would have expected. Then again, none of us really enjoyed our time on the elevator. Especially when the entire seven-man squad was crammed in.

"Come on," Garrus coaxed, "remember how we'd all ask you about life on the Flotilla? It was an opportunity to share!"

"This conversation is over," Tali told him.

Garrus didn't take the hint. Apparently, he'd decided to trade one suicidal obsession for another. "Tell me again about your immune system."

Bad move, considering how he'd spent one elevator ride pestering Tali on that very subject. "I have a shotgun," Tali reminded him sweetly.

Garrus took a step away from her. "Uh... maybe we'll talk later."

Tali and I smirked. Well, I did. I could never tell with her.

Garrus didn't say another word until we entered the Dark Star Lounge. It didn't take long before we saw Dr. Michel, who waved us over. "Commander, Garrus; it's good to see you again," she greeted us warmly. She eyed Tali curiously. "Didn't I treat you a while ago?"

"I'm impressed," Tali told her. "Most humans don't remember quarians. My name is Tali. Tali'Zorah vas Neema. You treated me when I was injured two years ago and—"

"And helped you get in touch with the Shadow Broker," Dr. Michel finished. "Of course. You had me worried there—I'd never treated a quarian before and I knew how weak your immune systems were. I was afraid you'd catch an infection."

"So was I," Tali nodded. "But I was lucky—I didn't get a fever or anything."

"I'm glad to hear that," Dr. Michel said. "Please, sit down."

We all grabbed a seat. Dr. Michel gasped a second later. "Garrus! What happened to you?"

I guess she couldn't see Garrus's scars from her earlier angle. He opened his mouth to explain. "Well, you see—"

"He wouldn't listen," I interrupted.

Everyone turned towards me with looks ranging from confusion (Garrus) to curiosity (Dr. Michel) to who-knows-what (Tali).

"He wanted to see what it was like to shave," I explained, straight face firmly in place. "I offered to show him. Even bought a spare razor from a kiosk on Illium—geez, that cost an arm and a leg. But he declined. Insisted that the extranet was just fine, thank you very much. Swore that he'd found a site that had never let him down."

At this point, Garrus was starting to sputter. Tali was positively quivering in her effort to keep her laughter contained.

"Next thing we know; he's stumbling into the infirmary, blood's pouring down his face. Must've lost a fair bit of blood, since he was totally light-headed and mumbling about how 'they' lied, whoever 'they' were. Kept mumbling about launching a formal investigation or inquiry or something. Probably didn't help that he tried shaving with a thresher maw fang. I knew Zaeed was a bad influence on him, what with all those tall tales he kept telling..."

Tali couldn't keep it in any longer. It started with a bit of shaking and chortling, then burst out into a loud peal of laughter. I caved about a nanosecond later, followed a minute later by Dr. Michel.

And then, Garrus joined us. Laughing until he had to clutch his stomach. Laughing until tears streamed down his face.

Laughing, no doubt, for the first time in over two years.

(1): Given Mr. Vakarian's demonstrated skill with the sniper rifle, which equalled Shepard's prowess, and Shepard's oft-mentioned fondness for that weapon, that is high praise indeed.

(2): No doubt by the way Shepard insisted on quoting his supposed alias.

(3): A title from the fictional Star Wars universe given to Jedi apprentices. Shepard is clearly not using this term literally, as neither he nor Garrus displayed any biotic talents that might have been similar to the psychic phenomenon in Star Wars known as the Force. It is worth noting, however, that this is perhaps the most explicit admission and indication of the mentor-trainee relationship between Shepard and Garrus.

(4): Shepard neglects to mention that his omni-tool was filled with various programs and files, including scanning software, plasma generation and regulation programmes, numerous subroutines to bypass electronic locks and audio files spanning the last two centuries.

(5): 'Short Change Hero,' released by The Heavy in 2009.