Message on Angel's Wings

Kaidan rubbed a hand down his haggard face, feeling the five o'clock shadow growing in. He quietly debated on shaving or grabbing another bottle of bourbon. He turned to look at the picture on his desk of Emily. It was taken during their shore leave to Elysium she was sitting under the umbrella staring up at him with her big brown eyes.

'Gods I miss you...' he thought to himself as he caressed her face.

Her dress was dirty and torn in places. Dirt smudged her small face and her thumb was sucked raw from hunger and hiding the pain. She pushed open the door and stuck her head into the room.

'Mommy?' she asked the prone woman on the bed. Not getting an answer, she took another step into the room.

'Yes sweetheart?' the woman said while rolling over to look at the little girl under a thatch of tangled dark hair.

'Mommy I'm hungry...there isn't anymore food.' The little girl said solemnly. Eyes to large and full of hidden wisdom making her look older than her six years old.

'Take the chit from my purse and go get yourself something to eat, and bring me back something too okay?' the woman groaned out as she placed a hand over her head.

'Hand me that needle to before you go. Momma needs to fly again.' she asked as she stretched out her hand for the needle.

The child picked it up and held it out to her mother.

'Here Mommy...' she said sadly as she tried to blink back tears. She hated it when her mommy went 'flying'. She's not the same person when she goes.

She took a step back and turned around, walking out the door. She came back twenty minutes later, a bag of fast food in one hand and a tray with two chocolate chip milk shakes in the other. She liked acting like a 'grown up' even though she had to lie to the pretty lady behind the counter and say her mommy was in the car. She only hoped the lady wouldn't check to make sure.

'Mommy! Look I got chocolate chip milk shakes! Your favorite!" She exclaimed joyfully, with a slight bounce in her step which caused her hair to bounce around her shoulders.

The woman in the bed did not move. Just stared blankly into the ceiling, vomit slowly creeping out of her mouth as she spasmed in her overdose.

'Mommy? Moooooommmy!' the child screamed as blue lightning crackled around her small body. Energy pulsed around her causing the objects in the room to fly and crash into the walls.

'Mommy get up please please get up!' the child begged tears coursing down her cheeks. Getting no response, she collapsed to the ground screaming and crying till sleep claimed her.

Garrus leaned heavily against the wall and watched the transport ships come and go. The message he had received earlier told him to meet someone at the docks. And of course the message wasn't signed so he had no idea who actually sent it.

'Spirits what am I doing here...' he thought to himself as he drummed his blunted talons on the wall behind him.

A boy with red hair and green eyes stood in front of him, head tilted to the side with a half smile on their face.

"Garrus? Garrus Vakarian?" The boy asked.

Garrus turned and looked at the child, and realized his mistake. It was Clara, with shorn hair but the same bright green eyes and freckles decorating her cheek and nose. He quirked a brow plate and studied the girl's transformation.

"Getting ready for boot camp?" Garrus drawled as he stood up fully and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Something like that." She answered serenely.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small box.

"Before I go...I figured...well you two were close and she considered you her best friend aside from me...So I..." She paused to let out a soft sigh and wipe the tears slowly building on the corner of her eyes.

"So...I figured I should...I should give you this." She said handing him the box and putting her hands back in her pocket.

Garrus looked at Clara and then back to the box. Using a talon, he cut the string holding it closed and opened the box to see a single dog tag resting on bright green cushion.

He narrowed his eyes slightly as he palmed the dog tag and ran his thumb over the raised name on it.

Shepard, Emily R.

5923-AC-2826

AB Negative

N7-Spectre

"See? I have the other one." Clara said, her hand reaching into her shirt and pulling the chain out to rest on her chest.

"Why give it to me? She was with Kaidan." Garrus said while he continued to run his thumb across the raised letters.

Clara tilted her head again, that small smile on her lips danced across her face.

"Because you love her." She said softly, her green eyes stared deep into his blue eyes.

'Goddess forgive me!' Liara thought as she watched the Cerberus agents take away the container that contained Emily's remains. Tears streaked down her pale blue face as she bit her lip.

'Emily...I'm doing this for you. The galaxy is not ready to lose you just yet...I'm not ready to lose you just yet...' She thought to herself as she made her way to Illium to begin the hunt for her friend that helped her recover Emily's body from the Shadow Broker.

'She's waking up! She's becoming aware of her surroundings!' a man's voice yelled from above her head.

'Sedate her again god damnit!' A woman's voice yelled back.

'We can't! It might kill her!' the man responded anger spotting his voice.

'Just fucking do it. And run the numbers again!' the woman's voice was equally angry but still calm.

'Go back to sleep Shepard.' the woman said as she peered down at Emily.

Darkness crept into her vision as she faded back into sleep.

Garrus was angry, his job at C-Sec was full of red tape. He watched the Eclipse Merc just walk away scott free.

'Fuck this...I'm sorry Emily, I really am a bad turian.' He thought to himself as he packed his guns and his armor and booked the first transport to Omega, a cesspool full of bad guys and no red tape.

Kaidan looked at the datapads littered across his desk and let out a groan. He rubbed his face and looked outside the window. He turned his eyes back on the datapads scattered on his desk and noticed one that looked off. Picking it up, he flicked it on and stared in shock at the image that seemed to float from the pad. A woman, that looked a lot like Emily laying on a hospital bed. He watched as the image shifted to a close up of the woman's face showing her high cheekbones under a line of scars along the cheek showing a glowing light of cybernetics.

'No...no this can't be true...You're suppose to be dead!' He mentally screamed while he kept his face impassive as he noticed the Cerberus logo at the bottom of the screen.