Note: And we're rolling right along. Thank you to the favorites and follows. I appreciate the feedback and constructive criticism.

More to come :) please enjoy Chapter Two: Archangel.

Mass Effect
"Foreign Relations"

Chapter Two: Archangel

Omega was a shithole. The outhouse of the galaxy. Garrus hated it, hated it to its core but he was there to make life better for the innocent people who actually lived there. He couldn't stand this place, there was no law, no order, Mercs played by their own made up rules and the only result was people getting hurt. People who were just trying to get by. For as long as he spent on Omega this was by far the worst it had ever been. He'd picked a fight with far too many of the wrong people and was now paying dearly for it.

When he left C-Sec he was met with mixed reviews. Some people expected him to do exactly what he did, march right into Pallin's office and quit, so when he did that people weren't exactly shocked. He hated the rules, he obeyed the law but it never sat well with him to let a suspect go that he knew without a doubt was guilty. On the other side, however, people like Chellick were actually surprised to see him quit. Sure he hated the broken justice system but whenever he helped someone who really needed it he was reminded just why he became a cop.

Omega was the crime capital of the galaxy and he wanted to do something that made a difference, his own way, without the brass breathing down his neck. He took a page out of Sidda's book and began recruiting…heavily. By the time he was finished he'd acquired quite an eclectic group of ex-military, law enforcement, and various other shady characters. His team was effective and they stirred up the biggest hornet's nest ever. They squashed small time dealers, protection rackets, gun runners and quickly graduated to the Blue Suns, Blood Pack, and Eclipse. Even bigger drug dealers, protection rackets, and gun runners. They even busted up an underage sex ring run by the Eclipse. Garrus and Sidonis had never been as brutal with their retribution as they were when they strung them up.

Then it all unraveled, like a single thread pulled on a flimsy scarf, it came apart at the seams and they all paid for it. Now Garrus had been treed in his hideout with only a very exposed bridge as his safety.

A group was making a push, the armor wasn't bad but they weren't the three main players gunning for his head. "I fucking hate Omega," Garrus grumbled loudly as he sighted down the Spectre Sniper Rifle. He was lucky he was proficient at sharpshooting; a lesser man would be dead. "I really fucking hate Omega," he repeated, only louder. After three well placed shots the group backed off, Archangel was all he was cracked up to be when it came to shooting. He even grounded a gunship with one shot like he was ordering lunch.

He heard a soft chuckle from Isla as she placed a bottle of water next to him. "Any change?"

Garrus sunk down into cover, taking his helmet off, and popped the top off the water. "Bolder but they're keeping their distance," he replied guzzling the water down in nearly one gulp. So far Isla Devereaux was his only ally; she was a Blue Suns Merc that ran the gauntlet of three different mercenary bands to get to him. He met her nearly a year ago when he was pestering the Blue Suns, he came face to face with her in a gun battle but she didn't shoot him, instead, she let him go. When it came to the Blue Suns she was his inside source. Isla was a Sentinel and a good one. She was from Fhel Prime, working with the Blue Suns to pay off her father's debt. "Downstairs?"

The black haired Sentinel shrugged as she stayed clear of the windows and sat down on the couch. "Still clear," she replied she had an accent that Humans called English; it was a beautiful voice to match the beautiful face. "Garrus, I think we need to make a run for it," she hardly ever called him Garrus, only in private did she do so, every other time it was always Archangel to protect his identity. It was months before she saw him without his helmet on.

Garrus shook his head. If there was simple way clear he'd have taken it by now. "We'd never make it, there's too many of them out there."

"And if we run out of clips up here?"

Garrus chuckled. "That's the beauty of this gun…no thermal clip," he said patting his Spectre Sniper Rifle set across his lap.

"You're a funny guy," she replied and noticed how exhausted he looked. He hadn't slept in days. He'd been up for, at the very least, two days…that's how long she'd been up here with him. She stayed in cover and sat down on his right. There was silence between them, they were both tired. "We're going to die here."

Garrus knew that. He figured that was at the end of this rainbow as soon as he walked in to a massacre of his team. He was quiet as the words just hung in the air. "I know," he said finally. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this."

Isla tipped her head back onto the stone with a small smile. "I ran to you remember," she said and took a deep breath. The simple act felt as relaxing as ever. "Ever since we were at arm's length pointing guns at each other. "

Garrus got her meaning, why else would she risk all three Merc bands to come and help him. He admitted there was a certain attraction to her but admitting it and starting something would show a weakness for someone to exploit. "You have lousy timing, Dev."

She giggled in reply as he looked over at her with a tired expression that mirrored her own. "Well, I figure we're all about to die so why not."

Garrus chuckled putting his helmet back on. Anonymity was his best friend, he could still move freely around Omega because he always wore his helmet. "Yeah…let's see what the kids are up to," he shifted his tired body around to peer over the wall and expected to see an army down below but there was nothing. He could see movement when he sighted down the scope but nothing in the way yet. "Looks like they're starting to move…they're up to something."

"Tarak and Jentha mentioned something about using freelance mercs to save their own ranks," Isla explained and Garrus grunted as he settled back into cover.

"Cannon fodder," he shortened. "That means there's a bigger plan ahead." He couldn't say he was thrilled about that idea.

"Mmmhmm," she muttered.

There was a moment as Isla remained as the spotter and Garrus checked his rifle and made sure there were clips for Isla next to her position. He didn't need any for his rifle but his pistol was another story, honestly at this point if he had the need to use it he'd already screwed up to the point that it didn't matter. The situation was drastic; he gave his rifle to Isla so she could use all the clips she needed.

"Archangel, they're moving," she alerted. "Here we go."

It wasn't an organized group. The Blue Suns may have been criminal organization now but they had started as private security or even private military. That was the hardest part of fighting them, they still operated that way. Instead of going after vicious thugs and criminals like the Blood Pack or dealers like the Eclipse the Blue Suns still had that military element that was harder to get around. "This must be the Freelancers." He sighted down the scope as the Vindicator Isla was using sounded off. He fired his first shot at a man in white armor, a round in the head, quick and painless. Then to the next, another human, he ended his life with a round through his right eye…the helmet did nothing to stop his powerfully modified weapon. The shots came quicker now. His precision was still as sharp as ever despite his exhaustion. Garrus had accepted the fact that this might be his last Harrah but he wasn't going down quietly, he was going to make them work for every last inch. He fell into the rhythm that had been drilled into him since boot camp. Aim. Exhale. Fire. Repeat. He had the timing for this rifle down to a science; he'd modified the cool down for maximum efficiency.

The next target stopped him cold. He looked away from the scope certain that he'd just seen a ghost. It couldn't possibly be her. He was so tired now he was seeing things. He looked again down the scope. "Can't be her," he thought to himself. Time seemed to stop as he found his target. The black armor with yellow stripes indicating an N7 Biotic specialist, the familiar visor, and the dark hair shorter than he remembered screamed at him. But it was mostly the way she carried herself, the confident moves of a seasoned combat veteran. She carried only a pistol but had an assault rifle on her back, exactly Sidda's preference in combat. "Sidda," he breathed in shock. It didn't make any logical sense, he saw the Normandy explode, knew she had been spaced. They never found her body even after an extensive SAR. But if that wasn't Sidda down there he would stand up and let the Mercs take all the time they wanted taking him out. Isla's weapon barked a few more times bringing him back to his senses.

"Dev, don't shoot the two humans in black and yellow and the Salarian with them," he called and looked switched to concussive rounds. 'Sidda' was hanging back, or seemed to be. He fired a shot into her shields and she started moving. If that was Sidda she'd bark at him for it later.

"What are you talking about?" he heard Isla ask.

"Just trust me. She's on our side," he replied and fired another shot into her barriers again. He watched as Sidda and her party actually opened fired on the Mercs in front of them. Garrus smiled behind his helmet, it was her. "We might just survive this after all."

'Sidda's' team vanished below them and he concentrated on the rest that were coming over the bridge. "Garrus?"

"I'll be fine. They're on our side."

Isla grumbled, she didn't take it at face value. Things unraveled when he walked into a trap that was taken on faith when she told him it was a bad idea. She wanted to shift her position to greet the guests but Garrus barked an order for her to stay. She growled and took her aggression out on the mercs down her scope. Clearing out the incoming Mercs was simple enough; they were amateurs and didn't stand a chance against Garrus' 15 years of military experience.

"One left," Isla muttered. The smart bastard was in cover behind a pillar and Garrus was like a predator ready to pounce. He didn't reply to her comment but his silent focus told her all she needed to know. Behind her she felt the presence of another and turned. There in the entrance were the three Garrus wouldn't let her shoot. Two Humans and a Salarian. No one shot but their weapons were trained on each other. Isla looked them up and down and cocked her head at the human man that was on the right, the scarred face and tattoos she knew. "Zaeed?"

The scarred and tattooed mercenary regarded her; they'd met years ago when she was a kid and her father was a trusted member of the Blue Suns. Zaeed started the Blue Suns with Vido, the evidence of the 'hostile takeover' visible on his face. "Dev," he replied simply. "The fuck are you doing up here?"

The woman didn't care about the answer and sidled to her right. Garm had mentioned that Archangel was a Turian so the lone Blue Suns Merc wasn't who she was looking for. "Are you Archangel?"

Isla kept her weapon trained on her, she knew Zaeed Massani, and to a point she trusted him. The Salarian was Mordin Solus, an odd place to find him but the woman she couldn't quite place. Garrus didn't answer; he was still hunting his prey but did hold up one figure then took his shot. He stood, shifted behind the wall to stay in cover and pulled his helmet off. Isla didn't like that. Garrus only took his helmet off around people he trusted to keep his Archangel persona alive.

"Sidda," he greeted, "welcome back from the dead."

"Garrus!" she exclaimed and holstered her pistol. Isla figured out her identity, she was Commander Shepard. Garrus knew her, she watched them clasp hands in friendship the way the Turians did. No wonder he told her not to shoot her but to Isla's knowledge Shepard was dead. "What the hell are you doing here!?" Sidda could never know how glad he was to see her, his friend…she was back. Somehow she was back. He felt a weight lift from his shoulders even though he knew this was far from over. "Never mind, I don't care…since when did you start calling yourself 'Archangel'?"

"Sid," he began sounding as tired as she'd ever heard, "it is a very long story. We'll swap stories over a drink or two, once we're out of this, what do you say?"

"Deal," she nodded, she was able to judge the situation and it was dire, from what she's heard Garrus had been up here for two days while they were all trying to kill him. She didn't know he had an ally through, a woman in Blue Suns armor. "Zaeed, Mordin, this is Garrus Vakarian…hands down the best sniper I've ever seen in my life."

Garrus nodded as the quick introductions went on. "Isla Devereaux."

"Blue Suns?" Sidda inquired.

"She's cool," Garrus nodded, he sounded so tired. She looked the dark haired woman up and down, the glow of the Tech Armor told her she was a sentinel. Tech Armor was a new development over the years and looked extremely useful. Some of the Mercs she fought in the Quarantine Zone had it and it was a bitch to get around.

"I think they figured out the incursion team failed," Zaeed commented as he peered out of cover to take a look.

"Let's see what they're up to," Garrus said getting back to business. He wanted to know so much more, how she survived, where she'd been this whole time, and a thousand other things but it could wait. He needed to survive this first.

"Plan was to send the incursion team over the bridge to try their luck…obviously they were really unlucky…and then attack with their full force. I couldn't get much more out of them other than that." Sidda explained as Garrus passed her the sniper rifle. "You still have her," she smiled and sighted down to look through the scope.

"Yep," he grunted. "Take a look. Lots of Mechs, my guess is Eclipse is on deck."

Sidda got a LOKI Mech in her sights and fired taking its head off in one clean shot. "Batter up."

"Here we go," Garrus agreed and took the rifle back. "Spread out."

"Zaeed. Mordin. Take the back." Sidda ordered as she readied a rifle Garrus had never seen before, a white weapon with a Cerberus emblem. It started to come together. Cerberus was involved. He put that to the back of his mind, he'd deal with it later.

"Fuck. A YIMR Mech," Isla cursed. "Archangel."

"I see it."

"I wouldn't worry too much about that," Sidda said as she felt Isla's eyes boring in on her. "I gave it a new trick. Save your ammo, use your abilities," she continued and didn't look away from the field. Isla didn't trust her. She was okay with that.

Watching the next few minutes was like watching a comedy show. A sick and twisted comedy show. When the hulking YIMR Mech stood up its friend or foe had been disabled by Mordin and it fired on the troops and Mech's it was meant to aid. Soft chuckles emanated from the three of them.

"This is the best thing I've seen in days," Isla muttered causing more of a chuckle from Garrus.

"It's the simple things in life you treasure," Garrus commented.

When they did start shooting the Mech had to go first, it took a couple minutes to bring it down but when it did it exploded sending shrapnel for meters. The second wave was tougher. Vanguards, Sentinel's, and Jaroth. Garrus wanted Jaroth, badly; drug dealer, slave trafficker, murderer, just to name a few. Most of the illegal goods on the Citadel came from that bastard. Man he wanted to kill him. His Tech Armor prevented a clean headshot but Isla helped considerably, between Sidda and Isla they brought the shield down and he capped off one shot. One perfect shot. Garrus smiled a sense of satisfaction when the Salarian fell.

"Oh that felt good," Garrus muttered.

"Tell me something, Vakarian, what did you do to piss all these assholes off?" Sidda asked, knowing Garrus he saw an injustice, walked into the middle of it, flipped them the bird and started a fight. She could see that for one band but three? That was excessive even for him.

"Sid…" Garrus began as he fired again.

"Yeah, I know…drinks later," she muttered in reply. An explosion went off somewhere else in the compound, big and it drew Garrus and Isla's focus. "What the hell was that?"

Isla cursed under her breath, just as things looked like they were turning around. "The tunnels, Garrus." Garrus also cursed, loudly.

"Garm said they had people tunneling in…didn't think it'd be so fast," Sidda grumbled and Garrus cursed again.

"We can't fight them on two fronts."

"I know that, Dev, thank you," Garrus snarled back.

Garrus was tired and frustrated and getting snappy. Sidda pushed away from her position, collected more clips and sighed. "Where's the basement?"

"West side under the stairs."

"Mordin, you stay. Zaeed, with me," she ordered, Isla was starting to trust her more. Sidda took the initiative but Isla cared for one thing right now; to protect Garrus for as long as she could.

"Zaeed, my mines are down there," Isla called, Garrus made a mental note to ask how she knew him. Zaeed Massani was legendary as a warlord, a bounty hunter, and an all-around shady character.

Zaeed grunted a response as they headed off down the steps, she was Sebastian's daughter…a good mercenary but gambled too much and it got him killed.

"Blood Pack, multiple Vorcha and Krogan. Vorcha regenerate, headshots best. Krogan, hard to kill, headshots also best, armor penetrating ammo best in both cases," Mordin said quickly.

"Strange place to find you, Doctor," Isla commented. "Thought you'd still be in the Quarantine Zone."

"Quarantine lifted. Shepard distributed cure to ventilation system. Recruited me for special project," Mordin replied and Garrus began shooting. The three of them worked well as a team. Isla blew up the flamethrowers and easily took out the wearer and whoever was next to them. Garrus handled the Krogan as quickly as he could. They were hard to bring down and he had the biggest rifle to do it.

Garrus growled. "Isla, cover the back, Krogan got through."

She shifted to the back and confronted the Krogan. He was huge, she hated fighting Krogan. If they got close enough…or angry enough…they charged. She tried to stay in cover to avoid the shotgun blasts and fire bursts from Garrus' modified Vindicator. He came up the steps like she wasn't even shooting at him. She hit him with a cryo power and then with Overload, that was combination that usually worked well. It staggered him and she fired another burst. Even with the armor piercing modification it was barely a dent. The Krogan crested the steps and she backed up, he charged with a roar and hit her hard enough to knock her off her feet. She hit the tech armor and it exploded with enough force to stagger the mountain of meat a few meters. She got to her feet and put the armor back up.

"Come on!" she roared. Isla didn't quit, she survived indentured service to the Blue Suns, survived living on Omega for most of her life. Had been brutalized, beaten, and raped by criminals and mercenaries alike. She could handle one Krogan that refused to die. She hit him with overload again and gave him another burst from the Vindicator. The beast charged through to storm but fell short as she finally succeeded in bringing him down.

"Effective," Mordin said simply. "Well done, Isla. More coming up the stairs." Isla reloaded and waited.

"Sidda, hurry the hell up. We can't hold them forever," Garrus said and quick as a cat Sidda replied.

"Yeah, well tell them that." She snapped back. "Working on the second."

"Second? Are you getting old or something?" Garrus replied with a slight smirk on his face that she could see but could hear.

"Hey, I'm working here, Archangel. Second ones down…leave me alone."

Garrus left Sidda alone as more Blood Pack came though than they could handle in one sitting. "Isla, heads up, you've got company."

Isla had a penchant for mines, a good proximity mine could do a wonder of good when you were outnumbered and she littered the stairway with them then took cover behind the pillar at the edge. A pack of Varren started up the steps and the proximity mines with off. It sounded like the end of the world. All that was left was smoke and bits of Varren. She ducked fire from a Human merc and stayed behind the pillar. She wasn't sure how many of the mines went off and her body flared biotics as she produced a throw knocking him off his feet. He disappeared behind a wall and she continued to pick away at the ones that got past Garrus and Mordin.

Garm appeared from nowhere and the big Krogan spied her then grinned. "Son of a bitch, that's Garm!" she cried. "He came up from one of the tunnels."

Garrus' stomach knotted. Garm wasn't fun to fight the first time and resulted in the longest fight of his entire life. "Isla, get back here. Shepard, hurry up damnit!"

Garm was the biggest Krogan Garrus had ever seen, he was a biotic, and regenerated faster than any other Krogan he'd ever seen. He'd gotten into a fight with him once and barely escaped. He was the one he wasn't looking forward to fighting. Sure he wanted the murdering, gun running, slave trafficking, dealer dead but so far hadn't figured out how to do that without an army.

The perfect storm collided at the rear door. The mines that Isla set did practically nothing to Garm and company but they were enough to take out the Varren. "Archangel," Garm said, "it's about time."

"Sidda, hurry up," Garrus said and shot at him. The fight commenced. Isla, Mordin, and Garrus concentrated on Garm, or as much as they could. The firestorm combined with tech and biotic powers was deafening. Isla took a hit to her armor and it exploded as it was designed to do when it was depleted but she managed to take out Garm's second in command. She was stunned, her face was bloody, Mordin pulled her to safety but that still left Garm. He didn't want to fight him up close so he kept his distance as much as he could.

Garrus had switched to an assault rifle and was throwing all he could at the big Krogan. The next thing he heard was the sound of a rifle he didn't recognize, it sounded like a cannon. Behind Garm he saw Sidda and as the Krogan stumbled and staggered Garrus made a note to find out just what the hell was that rifle. His attention returned from its momentary deviation and watched her drop a Singularity on him. The mass of dark energy slowed him. Garrus and Mordin opened fire then the room exploded in with blue brilliance and loud bang. Garrus knew that to be a biotic explosion. They all felt the blast and it rattled his teeth. All the same…Garm fell.

"Sidda…" Garrus began but somehow 'thank you' wasn't enough. "I owe you a whole bunch of drinks."

Sidda just smiled and nodded to him. "Boy, he was a big one," She commented looking at the enormous carcass of Garm.

She didn't know the half of it. "Are you alright?" he asked moving over to Isla. She was still dazed and her face was bloody. The Krogan punch her so hard her tech armor exploded. He knelt down in front of her and she nodded slowly.

"I'm alright," she nodded half-heartedly swatting his hand away.

"She'll be fine," Mordin said. "No permanent damage."

Zaeed and Sidda were searching bodies for guns, ammo, and anything else of use. "So that's Eclipse and Blood Pack," Sidda began as she reloaded her rifle. "Go for the trifecta or make a break for it?"

"Make a break for it," Isla voted and Garrus agreed.

"Agreed, we can fight our way clear of them," Garrus said. "Tarak's got the toughest group but we can handle him if we work together-…"

A loud heavy machine noise drew his focus. "Gunship!" Zaeed barked. "Fucking move!"

"How many times do I have to take that fucking thing out?" Garrus bitched.

"They fixed it but not completely…I gave it my best shot," Sidda replied as Blue Suns poured into the second level on the far side by the bunks.

Jentha and Isla squared off immediately. Isla never liked Jentha, she always sucked up to Tarek, did his bidding, gave Isla shit jobs even though she was Vido's little pet. Isla stepped toward her, knocked the weapon away and punched her in the face. She was better than Jentha and didn't need to use a weapon to kill her. The Blue Suns killed his entire team, tried to kill him, Garrus. Her Garrus. She warned Garrus not to go to that meeting and he barely made it out alive. Jentha fought back, broke her hold and put a little distance between them. She screamed as a jolt of electricity hit her, in a flash her shields were gone and she had barely a second to realize a gun was aimed at her head when Isla pulled the trigger.

Sidda found that she liked her new power. Reave was an ability that came with her new implant. It was like a high or a rush when she hit someone with it. Their life force padded her own; she tingled, and rode the high taken from the Turian Centurion. He hollered in agony before he dropped.

"Gunship!" Isla called. "Watch the Gunship!"

They dove into cover again as it fired again. Sidda was down by the couch as the Gunship tried to get a bead on Garrus safely in cover. Sidda pulled the grenade launcher from her back and primed it. She pushed out on her back aimed and fired. She hit the Gunship but didn't destroy it, just gave it something to think about. "Only you, Garrus," she barked as she took a quick stock of the situation. "Only fucking you would have a goddamn gunship gunning for your ass!"

Garrus growled. He wasn't proud of this situation but it was the situation. "How about you kick my ass later, Sid?"

She considered it. It was quiet; they didn't see anything and no one liked that. "I don't like this, Garrus, let's get the hell out of here?"

The gunship dropped into view as soon as Garrus came out of cover. "Archangel!" they heard Tarak's voice boom from the Gunship. Isla screaming Garrus' name was drowned out by the main gun of the gunship. Garrus was caught in the open. "This ends now!" Garrus dove for cover but didn't quite make it. Tarak fired a rocket and the rest of them saw was an explosion where Garrus had been.

"Garrus!" he was hurt, they could see it. She'd come this far she wasn't going to lose him now. Two years had passed and she'd lost enough. All this time she'd pestered Chellick to find him and he was where she was heading in the first place. It pissed her off; she was going to turn the Gunship into scrap metal. She readied the grenade launcher and flared blue as she channeled her rage into her biotic. The gunship bucked as a power warp hit it then she pelted it with rapid fire grenades. The menacing machine exploded as she launched all the grenades.

Isla and Mordin were already to Garrus, blood was everywhere but he gasped a breath. He was alive, at least there was that, but it was a horrific scene. He was badly injured but as badly as he was hurt he was reaching for his rifle and with the one eye that he could open he locked eyes with her.

"Oh don't you die on me now, Vakarian, hang in there. I got ya," she said moving the weapon into his reach. He clutched it tight.

Garrus was in a fog of pain and confusion. Sidda was there, Isla was there. The pain was unlike anything he'd ever felt and he blacked out.

Sidda trusted Chakwas, she was a great physician and with Mordin there Garrus couldn't be in better hands. After pacing for hours outside the medical bay she ventured to the comm room to brief Cerberus. The Illusive Man had also sent her two more dossiers, one for a Krogan Warlord and one for a prisoner. A prisoner…what a merry band of misfits.

She was half listening to Jacob go on and on about Mordin, the mission, trust, the new mercenary they picked up with Archangel.

"She's Blue Suns…we can't trust her," Those words made it to her ears and she cackled.

She shook her head, she really didn't like Jacob. "Funny words coming from you," she hissed and Jacob cocked his head at her.

"What is your problem, Commander?"

"You. Miranda. The Illusive Man," she replied. "You seem to forget that you're the terrorists. Blue Suns or not, if Garrus trusts her then I trust her. End of story."

"Commander, we're not the enemy, you need to trust us," he told her and Sidda shook her head.

"No I don't," she replied quickly and left the comm room.

Chakwas and Mordin kicked anyone who wasn't helping out of the Med Bay, Sidda paced in the Rec room for an hour or so before leaving but the Blue Suns merc that tagged along never left. Instead she sat down on the bench and fell asleep. Sidda considered waking her and tell her there were more comfortable places to sleep but she let her be. She looked just as exhausted as Garrus did.

"Hey, Doc, how is he?" she asked.

"Lucky." Chakwas said. "Not a direct impact, most of it is relegated to severe burns but he'll live."

"Can I see him?"

Chakwas nodded. "He's been asking for you actually."

Sidda expected to see Garrus lying down but he was actually up and looking at what was left of his armor. There was a hole in it showing just how close he came to death, the rocket hit him and punched clean through the right side of his armors collar. Sidda's whistle drew his attention. "Damn, you are one tough bastard."

Garrus grunted a response. He couldn't decide if he was tough or just really lucky. "No one will give me a mirror. How bad is it?" he asked and she snorted.

The right side of Garrus' face was burned and bandaged; all things considered it could have been worse. "Hell, Garrus, you were always ugly…doubt anyone will notice the difference," she teased with a grin.

Garrus laughed and immediately regretted it, laughing, smiling, or even just talking at all hurt. "Oh. Oh, damn. Don't make me laugh, my face is barely holding together as it is. I'm more concerned about you, though…Sid, please tell me we're not working with Cerberus."

He could never know how badly she wanted to tell him that but it wouldn't be the truth, far from it in fact. She'd told every one of her recruits so far the truth and Garrus was no different. "So how about that drink? I'll run the sale pitch by you." Garrus nodded and followed her toward the exit. "Who's uhh, who's your groupie?" Sidda asked as she saw Isla through the window outside stretched out on the bench by the table.

"Be nice. She'd my friend. I probably would have died a lot sooner without her," he told her and Sidda giggled, he knew that giggle. That was the same giggle she had when she thought she figured out his 'love life'. He avoided Isla as he followed Sidda, she needed to sleep and he wasn't about to disturb her.

One of the best things about his new Normandy was that it came with a fully stocked bar and for a human ship it had dextro drinks too. She poured two glasses of Turian Brandy and sat down with him. "I guess we both have some serious stories to tell."

"Vigilante sojourn. Returning from the dead. You win, you go first," Garrus replied taking a careful drink. "Why are we working for Cerberus?"

"They're the ones who brought me back," she said taking a sip of the brandy. Honey sweet and packed a punch, she missed it. "The Illusive Man funded a project to resurrect me. Very expensive but it worked. The Collectors are abducting whole human colonies, I visited one; Freedom's Progress. They're only after humans and I agree with The Illusive Man that the Reapers have got to be playing a part in this."

Garrus processed the explanation, he had been on the SAR to find Sidda but even in all the debris and being hounded by pirates they never found her body. "That explains why we never found your body. Question is how Cerberus got a hold of it…you…so fast."

She took another drink, she was weary and he could see it. "I don't know, Garrus, I'm almost afraid to ask," she sighed. "I don't trust anyone on this ship but Joker, Chakwas, and you…that's why I need you. I'm being used can feel it. The Collector threat is real but…there's something else."

"No one's getting to you this time, Sid, I promise you that," he told her and she gave him a smile. She instantly felt better, better than she had since she'd awoken to this strange new world.

"So there's my news…your turn." She said taking another drink.

"Did you talk to Victus?"

Sidda's expression narrowed, she'd been avoiding that topic, and she still wasn't sure what she was going to tell him. The letter was still on her terminal, pending. "I said your turn, Vakarian."

"Not so fast. Did you talk to Victus?" he asked again.

Sidda downed the rest of the brandy. She needed to pace herself with this stuff but the conversation took a turn and she reached for the bottle. Garrus moved it away and she glared. "What the hell am I gonna tell him?" she grumbled. " 'Hey, hi, I'm back from the dead?'"

Garrus poured her another drink as he nursed his own. "Might be just that simple, yes." She glared at him. "I told him that you were dead, trust me, he'll want to know you're not."

"Garrus, this mission could kill me, I'm not gonna tell him I'm back from the dead if I could be dead before he gets the damn letter." Garrus shrugged, she had a point with that but he vividly remembered Victus' reaction and how upside down that ship turned. Victus needed to know.

"You still need to tell him."

He was right she just wasn't looking forward to the awkward conversation. "Your turn, Archangel. Since when did you start calling yourself that?"

"I didn't. Some of the locals started calling me that after some of my good deeds."

From the Citadel to Omega, that was a hell of a culture shock. "How'd you wind up on Omega? Chellick said you quit."

Garrus shrugged, she read his body language and noticed that he didn't want to talk about this. "Omega seemed to be the best place to go for me to do some good. I recruited a good team, military, police, mercenaries we really started to make a difference."

"How'd you go from making a difference to cornered by three merc bands trying to kill you?" She asked and he drank faster.

"I screwed up." He thought but decided to avoid it all together. "I don't want to talk about that."

His tone she knew. It was the same one she'd heard when he spoke about Leena and what happened to her. Something terrible must have happened for him to land in a situation that went that far into FUBAR. "So what's with Blue Suns out there?"

Garrus didn't mind talking about her; Sidda would sniff it out anyway. "Isla," he corrected. "Outside my team she was the only ally I had."

Sidda could see that he liked her. "How'd you meet her?"

"She was guarding a warehouse with stolen guns smuggled out of C-Sec's inventory." He said and remembered it fondly. She never saw his face but she made an impression on him. She matched him hand to hand and by the time they were done they were pointing guns at each other. "We got into a fight; whoever trained her trained her well. It ended up in a draw; her pistol pointed at me my rifle pointed at her, neither one of us pulled the trigger. Sometime during the fight we tripped an alarm and she let me go. Covered for me, sent the Blue Suns in the opposite direction."

"You made a friend with someone on the other team on a job on their turf? Damn Garrus, you are charming."

Garrus chuckled regretting that again, his face throbbed. He took a bigger swig of Brandy. "She'd tip me off about gun deals, drugs, generally shady activity all over Omega. She even pulled me and Butler out of the fire once."

"How'd she wind up treed with you?"

Another memory he'd never forget, the terrifying sight of her racing across that bridge with her own men shooting at her. His skill had never been more focused; the Blue Suns and the Blood Pack were shooting at her. He took every one of them down to clear her path. Of course he chastised her for it later, stupid suicide run for a lost cause. "Raced across that bridge with everyone shooting at her about a day before you showed up."

Sidda's brow arched. "Now that's a good friend," she commented. "Turned on her own people in the middle of a siege."

Garrus grunted an agreement as he finished off his first glass. His mind drifted to what Isla said before Sidda showed up. They both had lousy timing, she waited until they were hours from death and he never said anything despite months of a slow burn. He was glad he didn't since it probably would have gotten her killed. The attraction was immediate, even in the warehouse when they met, she never saw his face for months then they got trapped in a closet for a few hours while hiding from a spontaneous Blue Suns command meeting. The intel that put them there was crap on all sides but Garrus walked away with a goldmine afterward. That was the first time Isla had seen his face and the attraction was spurred on.

The door opened and Isla stepped in drawing their attention. "You're up," she said to Garrus. "How are you doing?"

Garrus stood slowly with a pained grunt. "I'm alright."

"Garrus is so stubborn he's nearly impossible to kill." Sidda added with a chuckle and winked at Garrus with a smirk.

Garrus rolled his eyes as she left them to converse in private. Isla's mouth and nose was a colorful array of red, blue, and purple. "Are you alright?" he asked. He'd asked her that already after Garm was killed but he didn't like to see her hurt.

"Yeah," she blushed at his concerned tone. "I've been hit harder. You?"

Garrus doubted that, he saw her get punched in the face so hard her Tech Armor exploded. "My ears are still ringing," he shrugged.

Isla didn't touch the bandages on his face but could see the fresh burns. "Oh that looks like it hurts."

Garrus wasn't going to lie, he was big enough to admit that it stung like a bitch even through the medication he'd been given for it. "It does."

"I'm glad you're okay. When that rocket hit…it…it scared me to death," she said and hugged him tightly.

"I'm sorry I scared you."

Sure, their timing could have been better, but they weren't on Omega anymore.

Sidda glared at the open letter on the terminal, the cursor blinking expectantly for her to continue. Garrus was right. She hated it when he was right, he wasn't like some who held it over people when they were right but he was smug about it when it suited him. She leaned against the wall and cursed. Then cursed again. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to him or see him she just thought about how uncomfortable it was going to be and it scared her. Enough had happened already, news from Earth, her family, having Victus reject her was just going to be the icing on the cake. "Fuck it," she grumbled. Garrus was right; she owed it to him to tell him that she was alive. All she had to do was not get killed, again, before he read it. She hit send and it beeped: message sent.