Note: Okay, I apologize for how long this took. I got seriously stuck in the middle of this chapter however thank you to LilyShepard and AlienSinger for poking me. The Relic is coming along swimmingly but lets get this show back on the road.

Thank you to the favorites and follows, as always feedback is appreciated. Thank your for reading.

Mass Effect
"Foreign Relations"

Chapter Seven: What About the Grey

Nov startled awake and groaned to the crick in his neck from the couch. Sidda had been encircled in his arms but now she was gone. How the hell did she get out without waking him? "Sid?" he asked in a dry voice, cleared his throat and tried again. "Sid?"

His shoulder ached, the doctors said he seamlessly healed but that was a lie. It functioned seamlessly but if he laid on it too long it became sore. He sat up and rubbed it in an attempt to loosen it up but still didn't see Sidda. She had fallen asleep on the couch with him some time last night. He noted that her boots were gone and the knife was gone too. Sidda had set it on the table and now it was gone.

Nov smiled to himself, he told her that it had always been hers. "She's mine." He smiled to himself and flopped back down on the couch but the opposite side.

The Rodam Expeditions owner, Etarn Tiron, was generally pleasant to her, once he figured out that she was Commander Shepard that is and he even gave her a deep discount. The Council may have screwed her but at least saving their sorry asses paid off a little. Tiron gave her a strange expression when he saw the Turian knife she was trying to figure out how to carry. Too big to carry up a gauntlet so she was looking for alternative places.

Sidda's comm chirped and she glanced down at the code. It was Nov's code and she smiled. "Miss me already?" she asked after tapping it quickly.

She heard Nov's chuckle. "I just have one question: how the hell did you sneak out?"

Sidda had a lot of practice with Victus. He held her just the way that Nov did, trapping her in a protective embrace. "You're not the first Turian I've slept with." She replied and heard him groan. The comment got her a strange look from Tiron but she ignored it with a slight smile.

Most would have sneered to the crass comment but Nov didn't take any offense. She was able to joke about but it didn't mean she was over Victus. "So you practiced first." He joked and she chuckled.

She played along loving Nov's sense of humor. "You discovered my master plan, Callus, congratulations." She giggled.

She could hear him chuckling on the other end. "Did you ship out yet?" he asked and Sidda chuckled.

Tiron handed her a boot sheath for the knife and she quietly thanked him. The Turian still had a strange expression on his face watching a human try settle the old Talon into the position of a boot knife. "That's two questions."

Nov laughed. "Do I need to hang up and call back?"

"No, but I believe you'd do that." She chuckled, enjoying the teasing. Again, Tiron gave her a strange look. Human and Turian couples weren't common but they'd become more of a sight over the past year or two and it was obvious she was talking to a Turian, probably the Turian who owned the knife.

"So, what, are you going to tell me when you're taking off or do I have to come down there and pester you."

"Couple hours." She replied with a smile and tested the knife in the sheath on her right leg. It felt loose, it'd probably fit better with her armor on. "But you can come down and pester anyway."

"Got any cute Asari onboard?"

Sidda adjusted the straps again but it was still a bit loose without the armor. "I got a Justicar you might like."

"No thanks." He said with a snort. "I do not mess with the Justicars. I'll drop by before you're ready to take off. Have some things to do beforehand."

"For your mystery job?"

Nov snorted with a smile, she hated no knowing what his new job was but she'd love it when she did find out. "I'll see you later, Sidda."

"Bye, Cal." She giggled. It did occur to her that she sounded like a little school girl with a crush but Nov tended to bring that out in her. "I'll take this one." She said to Tiron nodded. Human and Turian couples were…strange.

Sidda leaned on the railing as the Normandy prepared to depart; she wasn't looking forward to going back out with a crew that thought she hung one of theirs out to dry. Her merry band of misfits part two trickled by with bags and boxes of stuff.

Tali passed with a few bags from the shops she visited. The Citadel didn't have much in the way for Quarians but it had everything for Turians. She desperately needed dextro drinks, food, some anti-bacterial soaps, and a few other things that Cerberus didn't stock on a human ship. "Shepard." She greeted with her usual cheery tone.

Sidda fiddled with the knife, the old Talon had a perfect balance to it but it was too big to go where she usually carried a knife, in her gauntlet. For that reason she bought a sheath for her boot, she wasn't sure it if would work but she'd give it a whirl. "Hey," she greeted and noticed all the bags. "good shopping spree?"

Tali giggled. "The Normandy is a magnificent ship but it lacks something for the dextros." She said setting the bags down to talk to her friend. "That's a Turian knife isn't it?" she asked. "Tyr has a few like it...not quite like that one." Sidda passed it to the Quarian who handled it with care. "It's old."

"Cal's knife. Apparently it was his fathers."

"It's beautiful."

"He gave it to me as a birthday present while I was on the Lante. I gave it back. He tried to give it to me again…I gave it back again." She explained and Tali passed it back to her.

"But you have it now?" Tali said. "Does that mean you and Cal…"

"I'm giving it a try…things did not go well with Adrien."

"I heard. I'm sorry, Sidda." Sidda waived the apology off.

"Hey you." A Turian voice greeted and she looked over her shoulder to see Nov.

"Hi." She blushed and stood up straight.

"Tali," Nov greeted the little Quarian. "a pleasure as always."

"Captain Nov." She smiled and nodded to him. Nov had always flirted with her but after she and Cerrus became official Nov stopped. Nov may have been a pathological flirt but he wasn't stupid, he respected Cerrus and conducted himself with honor.

"Cal. Please." He replied with a slight drone in his voice. He'd only asked her to call him by his first name a hundred times.

"Right. Sorry." Tali nodded to him and collected up her bags. "It was good to see you again."

"Take a headcount for me, Tali." Sidda called after her and the Quarian shouted her back her reply.

Nov watched her go. He really did like Tali, Cerrus was a lucky man but Nov loved Sidda…plain and simple. "So where are you heading?" he asked returning his attention to Sidda.

The little human giggled in response. "Back to my kingdom of exile."

Nov stifled a laugh. "Stop pissing off the Council and you may get to play in more exotic places." He advised and Sidda snorted.

She shook her head. Nov had the innate ability to make her laugh no matter what. "It's a natural state, I can't help it."

A new sound whirred from the Normandy, preparing for departure. "Just watch your back out there, okay." Sidda smiled, still blushing and stood on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss. Nov purred his approval. "You smell like me." He commented quietly sounding proud and satisfied with that.

"Which means I need a shower." She quipped back.

"Ouch…" he hissed playfully as Sidda chuckled. "Why are you so mean to me?"

"What? Big handsome, strapping, Turian badass like you can handle it." She replied teasing him relentlessly.

"Hmmm." Nov purred again pulling her body to his with his right hand. "I like it when you're feisty." Teasing each other was like a breath of fresh air. Nov was a blast to tease and banter with and now with the obvious sexual tension it was even more fun. "Let me know when you get back."

Garrus hovered over the weapons bench with his visor in one hand and a soldering iron in the other. He wasn't fixing his visor or soldering anything to it he was actually in the middle of scouring a name off. A few days after he was plucked off Omega he honored those he lost by etching their names into his visor. Now he was removing Sidonis' with a growl.

The smell of coffee cut through the smell of the soldering and he turned his head to find it. It was Isla, he hadn't talked to her in a few days and felt both anger and shame for talking to her the way he did. "Coffee?" she asked and he nodded quietly. "Garrus, I should ha-…"

He put the soldering gun down and cut her off. "Isla…stop," he said firmly. "It's me who needs to apologize." He grabbed her hand to pull her closer to him. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that."

"I should have told you when we got off Omega," she said and Garrus squeezed her hand. "He really didn't have a choice, Garrus, they would have killed him if he didn't and from what I saw they tortured him bad."

Garrus stood and walked a few feet away. "That explains why he's vanished."

"He's scared," she said. "He knows that if you survived the attack you wouldn't stop until you find him. He's hiding, on the run, probably changed his name."

"Chellick will find him," he said softly. "Chellick can find anyone."

Sidda hadn't seen this much combat in years, not even on the Lante or chasing Saren across the galaxy. The Terminus was a mess, a hot bed of illegal activity with everything from criminals to mercenaries, sometimes in the same organization. Right now the Blood Pack was her current headache. System after system, planet after planet, Sidda and company shut down the Blood Pack and their shady activities. It wouldn't last forever but she at least knew that for a while she'd thinned the merc pack in the Terminus. With all the back to back work and no news from the Illusive Man about the Omega 4 Relay she'd figured her crew out.

Losing Jacob caused a little bit of a divide among the crew, most believed that it was an accident but not all believed that Sidda did everything she could to prevent it. Samara also caught a lot of the heat as well, she was the person who'd been paired with him and had allowed him to go back on his own. The Justicar accepted the responsibility for it and vowed to never let something like that happen again. Aside from a 'holier than thou' attitude Sidda didn't mind her. Samara did her job and did it well. She was a very good leader and even the Cerberus crew respected her.

Miranda was still a problem but had realized that Sidda didn't kill Jacob, it was still ice cold between them though and that wasn't going to change soon. Sidda already knew that she worked well with Garrus and Tali. Isla was very versatile as well and with her mercenary background, like Zaeed, she was a wealth of information. She was also a qualified pilot for the Kodiak. Certain teams were more effective than others, however. Sidda was able to work with everyone on board, even Miranda, and aside from Garrus and Tali she worked the best with Thane. The assassin rivaled Garrus with sharpshooting and he was a team player. Zaeed was another one she worked well with despite his attitude that could only be described as a 'jackass'. Grunt, Kasumi, and Isla were the second most devastating team she could put together. Samara, Jack, and Sidda were a biotic death squad…they walked into a Blood Pack stronghold and destroyed it and anyone that was there.

Sidda, Isla, and Kasumi had just returned along with Zaeed from the planet Daratar to collect a 'reward' from Aria. Aria did warn them that it was going to be a bit of a mess so Sidda went in force. It wasn't perfect and probably could have been prettier but they got a lot of weapons from the cache.

"Not that I didn't enjoy the awesome cache of illegal weapons we made off with but next time can we do without the army of YMIR mechs?" Kasumi asked as they deposited weapons into lockers. Isla had taken over manning the armory since Jacob's unfortunate demise.

"I'll be sure to mention that to Aria," Sidda replied dryly as she stowed her Mattock, Carnifex, and Arch Projector. "All go no quit for nearly a week straight…we've had to have made some kind of dent in the merc population out here."

"Don't bet on it," Zaeed said as he began to strip down the Incisor that jammed at the wrong time against the YMIR. The Mattock took care of it but the weapon just jammed. "This is the Terminus, Shepard."

"Joy," he replied ruefully.

"Sidda," Garrus' voice cut through the comm. "I need to talk to you as soon as possible."

"No rest for the wicked," she sighed. "On my way, Garrus. Isla, Zaeed, when y'all are done make sure the stuff in the cargo hold gets squared away. At the very least we walked away with lots of goodies…gonna have a hell of an arsenal by the time we're done."

Sidda was still in her armor when she headed for Garrus' haunt in the forward battery. At least he wasn't constantly tweaking the Mako but instead he'd calibrated the Normandy's weapons to within an inch of its life. She had a feeling that she'd appreciate that later. It did appear that he'd apologized to Isla. Sidda enjoyed watching them together. She'd never seen Garrus act the way he did when he was around her.

Garrus was pacing when she entered the battery. "Oh this does not look good. What happened?"

"Chellick found him, Sid. He found him," Garrus blurted but recanted his statement a second later. It felt good to just say that he'd been found even if it wasn't entirely accurate. "Or rather he found where he'd been, there's a forger on the Citadel named Fade good at making people disappear. If we get to him we can find Sidonis."

Sidda wasn't sure if she liked where Garrus' mind was. He wanted revenge, plain and simple, but that wasn't really Garrus. The past two years had changed him dramatically. "What do you plan on doing when you find him?"

"I'm going to kill him, Sidda," he snarled harshly and she could see the fire in his eyes. "He sold me out and ten people died because of it."

Sidda didn't think it was that simple and at the risk of him blowing a gasket again she reminded him of that. "Garrus, don't you think there might be more to what happened?"

Garrus growled in barely contained frustration. "Commander, you don't have to agree with me but I want your help."

Sidda didn't want to fight with him; he was as stubborn as they came and she raised her hands. "Alright, alright, alright…I'll be there…we'll go now."

"I swear I see more of you now than I did when you worked here," Chellick droned to Garrus seeing Garrus and Sidda make their way into his office.

Garrus wasn't in the mood for jokes, which was a red flag to Sidda and to Chellick. "Just tell me what you found."

Chellick's nod was sharp and he shuffled through the pads on his desk. "Forger named Fade…no one's quite sure who he is besides a pain in the ass. Captain Bailey's been having trouble finding him for almost a year now. Major thorn in the Network Division's side."

"But you found Sidonis?"

Chellick shrugged. "Some contacts said they saw a Turian matching your description of Sidonis trying to figure out how to disappear. Fade's name was mentioned. I've got an off duty Spectre looking into it, meet him in the warehouse district on 27."

Sidda cocked her head. "Off duty Spectre?"

"Yeah, he's new. People don't know him…never see him coming."

Sidda's brow furrowed a new Spectre or one that wasn't assigned to the Citadel. Before she could ask Garrus was already leaving.

They'd collected Isla on the way down and Garrus was a simmering silence that made both Sidda and Isla exchange looks. At least Sidda knew that she wasn't the only one worried about his behavior. This time Sidda didn't have a big ass Turian with an equally bad attitude to tackle him when he got out of hand.

"I've already wrecked one end of the Citadel… let's see if I can wreck the rest," Sidda muttered as they approached the warehouse that Garrus seemed to know. Chellick had mentioned a warehouse and Garrus went straight to it.

As they approached the warehouse they noticed a Turian waiting out front by some stacked crates. The Turian was familiar, very familiar. Nov leaned against the crate by the warehouse entrance. He was in full black armor and looked like he was ready for some action.

"Who's that?" Isla asked and Garrus grumbled.

Garrus' eyes narrowed. "What is he doing here?" Garrus asked and Sidda honestly didn't have a clue.

"You're asking me?" she replied. "I came with you. Cal, what are you doing here?"

Nov stood up straight. "Detective Chellick said you needed help."

Sidda and Garrus looked at each other then back to him. "Chellick said we were supposed to meet up-…"

"With the Spectre who was helping him," Nov finished. "Surprise, I'm the Spectre."

Sidda blinked several times. "You're a Spectre?" the shock in her voice was undeniable. This was the new job he had and didn't tell her. Him. Callus Nov, a fucking Spectre. "I don't fucking believe this." She wasn't upset he was a Spectre, not at all, Nov was the best Combat Engineer she'd ever seen and an extremely experienced operative.

Garrus was irritable and focused. "We don't need another body, Sid, we can handle it." Garrus said and Sidda huffed.

Sending Nov packing was a bad idea and she knew it. "Withholding employment information from me not withstanding he's the best Combat Engineer on the station." By her tone Nov knew that Sidda was going to chastise him for not telling her sooner later.

"And a Spectre in better standing than her," he put in.

Sidda had to agree with that, any Spectre was in better standing than her right now…working with a terrorist organization and all. "We could definitely use him."

Garrus nodded after a moment, Nov was highly experienced but he didn't know him as well as he knew Maridus. "Fine. Nov, Isla. Isla, Nov."

Isla looked the other Turian up and down. He was taller than Garrus, had amber eyes, skin that was a shade darker than Garrus', and striking bright red mask for markings. They regarded each other as Garrus moved to the door.

Nov saw Sidda's glare as she didn't say anything. "Sid, this was not how I intended for you to find out," he tried to explain and Sidda turned toward him.

She wasn't mad that he was a Spectre, she was actually quite proud. He didn't tell her and he obviously knew about it, that's what had her miffed. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because technically I'm still Captain Callus Nov, Turian Special Forces and I haven't officially been inducted yet."

Sidda made a face to his reasoning. "And for that you didn't say anything? Come on, Cal." She stopped him and turned to face him as Isla and Garrus continued walking.

"I wanted it to be a surprise, Sid. Why are you pissed? You think you're the only one who can be a Spectre?"

"Of course not and I'm not mad. I just have had plenty of 'surprises' tossed at me lately I don't really need another one. All you need to be is honest." Nov blinked, he couldn't figure out why she was mad at him.

"Can you two talk about this later?" Garrus cut it earning him a glare from Nov.

"I'm sorry, Sidda," Nov said and patted her shoulder moving down the hall towards the rest.

Sidda felt like a heel, she wasn't mad but that's what she sounded like.

They were met by two Krogan, mercenaries if there armor markings were anything to go by. Garrus examined the threat factor in the room, two Krogan were manageable for himself, Isla, Sidda, and Nov. "We're looking for Fade," Garrus announced.

The two Krogan were vigilant but looked to someone else, probably Fade, that Garrus couldn't see. What appeared was defiantly not what any of them had expected. A Volus strutted out like he owned the place.

Nov cocked his head. Salarian, Turian, Human, Asari, hell even a Krogan he would have expected but a Volus. "Well…that was…anticlimactic."

"You're Fade?" Isla asked as she and Garrus had the same feeling. She didn't believe it and neither did he.

"I understand you'd like to disappear?" the Volus stated and Garrus didn't care that the contact happened to be a Volus. If they couldn't point him to his quarry he didn't care.

"Actually, I'm more interested in you making someone reappear," Garrus growled and the Volus realized this wasn't just another client.

"That's not the service we provide," he replied and then panicked. "Wait. Who are you? Nevermind. Shoot them! Shoot them!" he shouted to the Krogan bodyguards. Contrary to popular belief, Krogan were not stupid and took stock of the situation. A Blue Suns merc, a Human in N7 armor, and two Turians from god knows where in top of the line armor. They weren't being paid enough for that.

"Why don't you guys go find somewhere else to skulk?" Garrus growled to the Krogan mercs. They left and Sidda drew her Carnifex aiming it at the Volus who ass was left hanging in the breeze with the departure of his guards.

"Now over to you," she began and the Volus folded.

"I'm not Fade…I work for him," he corrected quickly. Sidda and Garrus looked at each other and she could have sworn that the Turian was actually having fun right now.

The prefab foundry Garrus knew was a front for a lot of shady operations so when they began to encounter Blue Suns he wasn't exactly shocked. They shot their way inside and then encountered a steadily worsening amount of resistance.

In the distance past the crates, machinery, and bad guys they heard a distinctive sound. "YMIR mechs…really?" Nov questioned talking to Sidda.

"Apparently," she replied as they moved up further into the foundry.

"You don't want to be here you can wait outside," Garrus snapped in reply to Nov and the other Turian looked at him with a glare.

Nov tapped his Omni-tool setting it up for the type of combat he was calculating they would be in. "You're being an asshole," he bitched and Sidda grumbled.

"Guys, I'm not kidding, I'll turn this manhunt right around if you don't knock it off," she snapped as they scattered to meet the attack. "Now play nice."

Garrus understood completely the usefulness of Nov. Sidda was right to bring him along. Nov's technical ability alone rendered several mechs and enemy weapons useless giving the rest time to pick them off cleanly. The foundry was a pain in the ass, too many doors and corners and it was crawling with bad guys.

"LOKI Mechs, FENRIS Mechs, YIMR Mechs, and Blue Suns! Who the hell is this guy?" Nov shouted while furiously tapping on his omni-tool. The combination of mechs and mercs obliterated his shields to the point he needed to seek cover.

"Someone who is terrified of me," Garrus replied and was more than a little satisfied about that.

His omni-tool beeped at him. "Remind me never to piss you off, Vakarian."

"Do you ever shut up?" Isla snapped.

Sidda was growing irritated, Garrus was annoyed, Isla had a temper, and Nov was extremely good at pushing buttons. "Think you guys can shut up and actually hit something for a change?"

Nov snorted. "I don't think your girlfriend likes me, Vakarian."

"Can't imagine why," Garrus snarked as Sidda and Isla gave each other a look. If the Blue Suns didn't kill the Bickering Bickerson's one of them would and the expression they wore was the same.

The fact that Isla wore Blue Suns colors made for some fairly interesting encounters. At one point she had the Blue Suns shooting at each other and confused some of the mechs enough that they didn't target her since they thought she was a friendly. Sidda took back the pushing to get her new armor. The misdirection was extremely useful.

Watching Nov in action was like a guilty pleasure. It took her death and flat rejection by Victus to make her look at him in anyway other than a friend. Now, she wasn't sure if she could look at him as anything else. Was he her boyfriend now? Her lover? This wasn't the time to be having these thoughts but she was. Here, now, in a firefight she was contemplating her relationship with Callus Nov and why she hadn't contemplated it before.

"Hey!" Isla called snapping Sidda from an apparent daydream. She wasn't daydreaming she just wasn't listening after the Blue Suns sentinel fell. "You with us?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm here," Sidda griped. "Cal, get the door."

Nov was already in the process of hacking the terminal leaving Garrus and Isla pillaged to the office checkpoint. Ammo, money, components, interesting things they could grab on the way out were all there for the taking. The terminal beeped and the heavy door opened.

Isla wasn't sure what to make of the Turian who talked too much. It was clear that he and Sidda had a history, Garrus knew him and either his mood made him grumpy or he didn't like him, she wasn't sure which, but she had to admit he was good with Tech. "Damn, you're good."

Nov grinned. "I'm not good, I'm great. Isn't that right, Sid?"

He was full of himself, always had been. Garrus groaned, Isla rolled her eyes, and Sidda scoffed. "Mother of God."

They were getting closer, more mechs, more mercs, and more obstacles. Harkin was running for his life and throwing his entire arsenal at them. There were no more light troopers, everything they fought now were engineers, sentinels, centurions, vanguards, and mechs, heavy hitters no matter who you asked. Garrus never switched to his rifle. Each person he'd worked with some way or another. Sidda was a mid-range fighter, her biotics were an absolute equalizer and it was clear to see why she'd held Elysium all by her little old lonesome. Isla liked the short range but loved her proximity mines. Nov was the jack of all trades, while he preferred ranged combat he could step up and fight in the middle of it like a vanguard would. Garrus learned that when working with Sidda he was to stay back and pick them off from a distance. He never missed and no one ever got close to him.

"More mechs," Nov called as they jumped down off the platform that they now needed to jump back on.

Garrus grunted. "Just one YIMR. I'm not losing Harkin!" his focus was beginning to grate on Nov. Determined Turians were, in a word, irritating.

"Just one he says," Nov griped as he reloaded then heard a separate sound indicating there were more than one out there…hell, more than two. "Well, now there's three of them, are you happy now?"

Sidda shook her head and she and Isla ducked into cover. Minuscule cover, but when up against three YIMR Mechs, it was cover none the less. "I don't know which ones are worse the bad guys or them." Sidda muttered.

Isla switched from the shotgun to the Mattock and turned the armor piercing rounds on. "They are…we can't shoot them," Isla grumbled and Sidda chuckled.

"Stick to the high ground. Don't go had to hand with them," Garrus shouted as he climbed up the highest point.

"You guys just be ready to shoot," Nov called and scurried into cover tapping his omni-tool more. Sidda knew he was resetting one of his tech powers and could guess which one. Sabotage. "Sid, Isla, try to cluster them." The girls complied and gave them something to target.

The benefit of the raised maze Harkin created to escape Garrus' wrath was that it helped trap the giant mechs on lower ground. "Cal, be careful!" Sidda shouted seeing Nov step around and let the powerful sabotage fly. He managed to hit all three of them and the mechs stopped cold as their systems glitched.

Garrus didn't need the order, as soon as the sabotage spread from one to the next to the next he opened fire. His first shot took the head off of one as Isla fired into the one next to it. Sidda put rapid fire rounds into the third one and all three mechs exploded at once damaging Isla's tech shields and bringing them down along with Sidda's.

"Glad you brought me along now, Garrus?" Nov gloated. He saw blood coming from Sidda's cheek. Even in cover the exploding mechs sent damaging shrapnel everywhere.

Getting Harkin to talk was easy, there was nothing like a pissed off Turian to get someone to talk and Garrus was extremely pissed off. He didn't kill Harkin but he did beat him pretty severely to get him to talk. The only reason Harkin wasn't dead was because of Sidda. She stopped Garrus from killing him…it didn't seem like a moral victory. Harkin was dirty and a bastard.

No matter what anyone said Garrus was determined to kill Sidonis, Isla was trying to talk him out of it and Sidda was worried about her friend. Garrus was a hot head but for the most part he was a good man. Not a murderer.

Isla keyed her comm off as she walked with Nov and Sidda. "I'm not going to let him shoot him," she said primarily to Sidda. "Garrus is blinded by anger and revenge but I know that Lantar wouldn't have betrayed him unless he was under extreme duress."

"If we get in his way Garrus is liable to shoot us too," Sidda reasoned as the three of them made their way toward Orbital Lounge.

"There he is," Isla pointed. The Turian looked nervous, Nov decided that. If he wasn't there mark then that was one guilty Turian. "Lantar."

The Turian jumped to his feet and nearly panicked when he saw Isla in her Blue Sun's armor. "Spirits! No. No. No. I told you people all I know."

"Lantar, calm down," she said firmly and made sure she staying in front of him. He turned to walk away and she grabbed his arm. "Hey, I am the only thing standing between you and bullet in your head."

"What?" he questioned and it occurred to him that Isla was Garrus' Blue Suns insider. "Wait. If you're here…where's Garrus?"

"Who do you think's behind the bullet?"

To Sidda, if Sidonis had been human he probably would have gone white as a sheet, instead she heard him curse. "Fuck."

"Isla, get out of the way," Garrus ordered in their ear. She ignored it.

"Now's your chance to explain what happened, Lantar," she coaxed staying in her position to block Garrus' shot and opening the comm for Sidonis to hear as well. "I wasn't able to stop what happened to you. I wish I could have."

"They caught me…," Sidonis began. "I tried to resist. I didn't…I couldn't…they beat me, threatened me. I don't have much family but the ones that I do they found and threatened to kill."

"So he betrayed me instead," Garrus hissed in her hear. "Ask him about Afterlife. That Krogan would have beat him to death if I hadn't have stepped in. I don't care what he says, he screwed us. They all died because of him."

"Garrus, look at him," Nov put in after observing his behavior. "He's suffering enough as it is."

Sidonis looked at the other Turian with them. "He's right. I don't sleep, food has no taste. All I can think of is Omega. What I did…what I didn't have in me to resist. Garrus saved my life and I didn't have the strength to resist the Blue Suns. I am so sorry, Garrus."

"Sorry is not going to bring them all back," Garrus growled but deep down knew that Sidonis didn't willingly betray him. It didn't make it better knowing that someone he trusted broke under torture and gave him up but he understood that it wasn't something Sidonis did willingly. The fact that Isla still trusted him played a part in his reasoning. She understood better than most what Sidonis had probably gone through. "Get out of here," he said after a long minute of contemplation. "Don't ever let me see you again."

"Garrus," he began and paused trying to think of the right thing to say. "I swear. I'll do anything I can to make this right."

There a long silence on the comm. Garrus was probably still thinking about shooting him. "Nothing you do will make it right." Garrus' tone was final.

Garrus was not someone to bother at the moment, although he relented and showed Sidonis mercy he was still angry. He'd come very close to the edge he was actually thankful for Sidda, Nov, and Isla to pull him back from the edge. He wasn't a murderer but he nearly was then.

He stowed his gear and hid himself away from everyone. All he could hear was Sidonis' voice so he threw himself into work. Either on his sniper rifle or on the Normandy's weapons array.

"Garrus," Isla said but he knew who had come through the door.

"What?" he asked with a flat tone.

"Are we okay?" she asked bluntly. Isla was a 'to the point person' and he knew that.

"You should have told me," he accused and Isla shrugged. She wanted to tell him but it was hard to pick the right time when you were running and gunning for your life but she understood his meaning.

"I know. I'm sorry." When he didn't turn to face her she sighed and turned away.

"Isla, wait," he said sharply putting his tools down and quickly catching her arm. "Everything for me is black and white. Rules. Right and wrong. Punishment," he explained. "I don't know what to do with grey." He put his left hand on her cheek and met her eyes. "Thank you for being there. For stopping me."

He kissed her and all his other problems seemed to melt away. He really did love her and was thankful every day that he tangled with her in that warehouse.

Sidda propped her feet onto the coffee table in Nov's living room and sighed tiredly. She'd taken a shower, changed, and had Chakwas look at the cut on her face on the Normandy then made her way back to Nov's. She closed her eyes and relaxed into his couch.

"Beer?" Nov asked dangling the cold bottle in front of her over the back of the couch.

She smiled and opened her eyes to the sweating bottle he was holding in front of her. "Oh yes," she accepted.

He cracked the top off his own beer and sat down next to her. "Your crew always so needy?" he asked and she scoffed.

"Only when they need something," she muttered in reply making him laugh.

"How's your face?" he asked referring to the cut from mech debris.

Sidda shrugged as he tapped the control on the coffee table for the TV. "Just a scratch. What are you doing?"

"Bringing you up to speed on some of the vids you've missed," he said and she shook her head.

Joker had been trying to do that. "Just not the Hanar one."

"What, you don't want to watch Blasto the first Hanar Spectre?" he joked knowing full well she'd shoot the TV while watching that.

"My life is already a giant joke, I don't need to watch a Hanar give me a play by play," she replied taking a long swig of the beer. "I thought you were getting me dinner."

"It's on its way."

"What no cooking?"

"Are you gonna be this nitpicky about everything?" he asked and she chuckled. "Fleet and Flotilla?"

"God, no. Adrien made me watch that already. It was good but long." The door chimed indicating the food had arrived.

"You know, I really did want to surprise you with the whole Spectre thing. I wasn't trying to hide it from you," he explained on his return with the pizza for her and whatever else he ordered for himself.

"I know. I didn't mean to get all uppity with you about. You are the perfect choice for a Spectre, Cal, and I'm very proud of you." He nearly looked embarrassed as he sat down putting the food on the coffee table.

"Do you know who recommended it?" he asked and she shook her head.

"Nihlus."

Sidda paused and allowed a smile. Not only was Nihlus impressed by Sidda he was also impressed by Nov. "Good old, Nihlus."

Sometime during the movie Sidda lost all interest. She hadn't forgotten about her mid combat daydreaming about the Turian sitting quietly next to her. She sat up and straddle his lap much to his surprise. Sidda cupped his face with her hands and kissed him. Unlike Victus, the concept of kissing was not new to him. He'd learned to appreciate the soft, warm, wet lips so when Sidda gave him the very definition of a passionate kiss it wasn't a lost effort.

He felt her going for the fastener on his tunic and he ran his hands up her back getting a purr from her. She broke away from him with an irritated grumble to argue with his tunic's fastener and she heard a chuckle from him. This is what he'd wanted for years and his aggressive lover side took over. Hearing a growl from him the next thing she knew she was on her back. He kissed her neck knowing that it was a sensitive spot on Asari and apparently the same for a Human. She moaned under him as he drifted down to her clothes. Whereas, she was patient enough for his buttons and zippers he was not. As soon as the innocent clothing gave him a hint of resistance he gave it a yank. The black civilian attire didn't stand a chance against a sexually impatient Turian.

"I just bought that, Callus," she grouched hearing the fabric tear and he ran his tongue down the right side of her neck.

"I'll buy you more," he dismissed and gathered her up in one swift display of strength taking her to his bed.

Nov was pretty sure Sidda's screaming woke up the neighbors. He was actually surprised that no one called C-Sec thinking that he was killing Sidda. She was face down in the sheets and sleeping soundly. Her back and shoulders had several forming bruises both from his hands and his mouth. He felt a little guilty and responsible for that but he had always been a bit aggressive in bed. She was clearly marked for everyone to see with hickeys forming on her left jaw and left side of her neck not to mention the ones below the collar line.

Sidda woke up feeling better than she had in a while. Apparently sex was what was needed to clear her mind of all the crap going on. Between her apparent death, resurrection, shock of reality, and her personal life she needed a stress relief. Nov was a very good lover; by his reputation she expected nothing less. She stirred around in the bed but found that she was alone and Nov was nowhere to be found. She sat up and groaned, her whole body ached, in her mind she'd gone only a few months without sex but her 'new body' wasn't used to the size, strength, and Nov's apparently rambunctious behavior in bed. She could see forming bruises on her arms and further down on her hips and a red mark on her lower abdomen from one of his bites. She snorted at the rather overzealous behavior and had to wonder just how long he had been waiting for that. She stood and searched around for her clothes. Since Nov shredded her shirt she'd have to find a replacement but for now her bra and pants would suffice.

Nov saw the door to the bedroom open and stood up straight from the counter he was leaning. "Good morning," he greeted and looked back down at the news datapad he was reading.

"Cal," she replied with a sweet smile as she made her way over to him. Nov let out a growly purr as he looked her up and down, he loved the way she said his name. "That was fun," she said pleasantly and Nov tilted her head to right with his left hand.

"It shows," Satisfied with his handiwork.

Sidda narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Nov snorted. "You didn't notice?" he asked. "You are now unmistakably marked."

Sidda turned to the nearest reflective surface and saw the hickey on her jaw and the two on her neck. "Christ, Cal!" she exclaimed. "It's gonna take a ton of make up to cover all that up."

Nov shifted his weight from foot to foot, he didn't like that. He wanted people to know she was a Turian's mate. Mate may have been a little presumptuous but it was how he saw her. In his mind there was no other female, just her. "Please don't." he requested and she paused looking at him. Her expression told him that he needed to clarify a little. "You and Victus may have wanted to keep it under wraps but I don't."

Turians were territorial about their mates and she was certain that was how he looked at her. She moved between him and the counter rubbing her body onto his. "Okay," she accepted with a smile. Nov's eyes roved over her as he observed her breasts tucked away inside the bra.

"Sexy sight," he thought to himself and a low purr escaped from him.

"Are you always like that in bed?" she asked placing her hands on his waist and pulling him toward her forcing more contact.

If Sidda didn't know any better his body language said he was almost a little embarrassed. "More or less," he replied a little sheepish. "I'm sorry if I was too rough."

Sidda giggled. "No. I liked it." And started to slowly unfasten his clothing.

The mix of her scent covered with his was starting to overtake him. "I liked you," he said and Sidda opened his shirt allowing her to run her hands over his exposed skin.

"Hmm…which part?" she flirted and kissed his chest. Nov purred, surprised that she was ready for another round. He was convinced that sometime during one of their sexcapades he'd hurt her but apparently, she was tougher than even he thought.

"All of you," he purred and reached down to the back of her thighs lifting her up on to the countertop and parting her legs with his body. She scooted toward him enough make solid contact with his body and ran her right hand up his left mandible. He closed his eyes at her touch and took in her scent. He may not have said it but that was his mate's scent.

Note: All you Nov/Sidda fans may now implode.

Music I wrote that scene to: Put Your Lights On by Santana and Everlast and One Love by U2