"My parents. And these are my aunt and uncle." I turned to the final pages, these ones done in full color.

He stared, eyes roaming the images. "You're very talented." A pause, not long enough for me to say anything, though. "So, you don't sketch anymore? Since you were introduced to cameras?"

"I still draw. Just, not as frequently. I only do it when something is very precious to me. Otherwise, I snap a picture."

A knock on my door.

"Come in." I called out.

Alenko walked in, stopping short at the sight of Garrus. Men. I rolled my eyes.

"I had an issue last night, and he helped me. Very unavoidable to keep hiding things."

"What, are you a werewolf, too? On top of everything else?" He was being sarcastic, but I didn't readily argue. "You're kidding me."

"Honestly, a bit curious why your mind immediately jumped to that conclusion, but yeah."

"In one of the sketches, in the background, was a wolf-like creature standing on its hindlegs."

"Oh, right. That would be the one dedicated to the Companions. My bad. Slipped my mind completely." I smiled sheepishly. "Anyway, I missed a dose of my wolfsbane, because my days have been all mixed up, so I wolfed-out last night. Liara was there, too, but she had places to be, so she couldn't stay for the whole thing."

"It only lasts a few hours?"

"Unless you eat people flesh, to prolong it, yeah. I don't do that. If I need, or want, it to last long, I pray to Hircine."

"That's one of the... gods you prayed to on Virmire."

"Yeah." I put the sketchbook away. "Hircine is one of my patrons. He gives me strength, and I definitely need that." I paused, turning back to him. "What did you need, anyway?"

"Oh. Right. There's a guy in the lower wards, by the stairs between markets. Just going on and on to anyone passing by about how he's your biggest fan."

"Huh. Weird. I've definitely gotta see this."

"I'm not missing this interaction." The turian chimed in.

Kaidan looked like he wanted to say something, but was refraining.

"Care to lead the way, Kaidan?" I motioned for him to lead on.

...

I watched the man from across the room. He really was talking to every passerby. About me. Singing my praises.

The worse part of the whole thing? I totally recognized him. We'd met on one of my freelance jobs. I'd saved him from being killed, having been caught in the crossfire between rival gangs. I'd been on Earth, protection detail, and we'd happened across the scene. The guy I was working for wanted me to get civilians out of harm's way. Offered more money, so I saved him.

Conrad Verner.

I approached him. His eyes widened at the sight of me.

"Is that really... wow! It's you!" I thought he was going to faint. "Remember me?"

"Of course, Conrad." How could I forget? Every Christmas, on my public account, I got an email from him. Pictures of him and his wife, paragraphs upon paragraphs that detailed his year, and how he was so thankful that I'd saved him.

"They say you killed more than a hundred geth on Eden Prime."

I gave him a small smile, holding up my hands. "I did what I could. Though I was mostly trying to save the colonists."

"Always helping others. A true Paragon of selflessness."

Huh. I'd never experienced this before.

"Speaking of- There are rumors on the extranet that you've been made the first human Spectre! That's incredible!"

"I just hope I can make everyone proud."

"The vids are all talking about 'Shepard, fighting for all of us back home.' Everyone is cheering for you." The... vids? Oh, man. Someone was going to pay for not letting me know about these. "They're also saying you aren't taking crap from anybody! You're showing them what humans can do."

I- Okay. How did this slip by all of my contacts? I was busy doing mission after mission. Turning into a werewolf unexpectedly. Explaining to people that I wasn't actually human. You know. Just girly things.

"Since you're here, could I maybe get an autograph?" What a segue.

"Sure, why not?" I was still reeling over the fact that people already had vids up of me. Where did they get the footage from? How old was it? If it was new, I'd have to carefully keep an eye out.

He held out a piece of paper and a pen, which was adorably old-school. I signed with a flourish, handing it back.

"Thank you so much. I..." Hesitation. I motioned for him to continue. "Would you also take a picture with me? The last thing, I promise."

A second passed, where I peered into the future and saw nothing bad coming from the picture, so I nodded.

"I don't see why not."

We posed, him instructing me to hold up my pistol.

"Thanks again, Shepard. Next time you're on Earth, I'd love to buy you a drink." A huge smile. "I'll let you get back to work."

And off he went.

Before either of them could say anything, I held up a hand, sending out messages to everyone who was supposed to be watching the extranet for things like this.

"Okay." I said, turning to them. "I'm done. You guys looked like you wanted to say something?"

Kaidan spoke first. "Who was that guy?"

"Conrad Verner. I saved his life, a few years ago, back on Earth. He'd wandered into the middle of a gunfight, and I was given orders to save him." He raised an eyebrow at that. "I was doing a job, protection detail, at the time. The guy was really big on helping people, so he had the other bodyguards get him to safety and sent me to get innocents out of the crossfire. And every year, around Christmas, I get an email from Conrad. About how his life is going, and what's happened in the last year."

"Huh." A second of thought, coming up with another question. "You sure giving him your autograph, and taking a picture with him, was a good idea?"

"I didn't see any reason not to." A play on words.

Garrus hadn't said a word yet and was just staring at me. Intently.

"Can I help you?" I asked, tilting my head.

He blinked. "Sorry. I was just... I wasn't sure, before, if I'd imagined it or not." He stopped there.

"Imagined what?" I prompted.

"Your eyes, they turn silver sometimes."

"Oh, that." I waved for them to follow me.

I led them to a quiet little restaurant, choosing a booth in the far back, and tapped my order into the data pad at the table. Waited for them to do the same.

I kept my voice low. "Okay. So, I have visions. Not like what the Prothean beacon gave me. That more falls into the category of a message in a bottle, than an actual vision. These let me see through time. Past, present, future. Past and present are easier on me, because those decisions are set in stone. The future is a little harder to nail down, the farther you go. With Wrex, I was looking into the present, with the krogan Saren was breeding, but then a vision from three years into the future forced itself on me. The choices leading up to it solidified enough for me to see it. His determination, keeping the information for myself to potentially give to a scientist later on, my promise to make it happen. Little things like that add up, make a possibility for the future."

"Back with Wrex?" Kaidan asked, confused.

"Oh. Wrex was going to shoot me, if I didn't see what was happening with the krogan on Saren's side. And then, I had a surprise vision of someone curing the genophage three years from now."

"For some reason, this is harder to believe than anything else you've said."

I laughed at the turian's words. "That's saying a lot, considering I talked about telepathy."

"I'm sorry?" Kaidan's eyes widened.

"Right. So, my family and I communicate via telepathy. I showed you the sketches. You could see there's no tech there, back home. So, there's no telephones and such. We just use telepathy when we want to talk."

I motioned for them to hold on as the waitress came out, guiding our food toward our table. After it was set before us and the woman was out of earshot, I spoke again.

"Sorry. Anyway. Any other comments?"

"How much more do we know over each other?" Alenko sounded... Why would he be jealous, though? Was he feeling left out? I almost laughed again at the thought.

"Let me think. You both know I'm an assassin, though Kaidan doesn't know I started training at six, first kill at twelve. There's also the fact I'm a trained thief in the Thieves Guild. Um. You both know I fake being Biotic. Also about my country." I paused. "I told you," Pointing toward Kaidan. "about my little town Riften." Turning my attention to Garrus. "That's where the Thieves Guild is located, also. My aunt is the High Queen of my country. She happens to be a Snow Elf. Helped find pockets of them throughout the land, proving they hadn't completely died off. How we're related is a... tricky situation, and that's best left until Liara's present, so I don't have to repeat myself too many times." A look over at the other man. "You asked what I was, the other day, but wanted to think on what I'd already told you. I'm not human. Far from it, actually. My grandmother is a fragment of a goddess. Altea. Which you heard me praying to on Virmire. Technically, we'd be something like Celestial, if I had to put a label on it. Uh..." I frowned, tapping my chin. Food pretty much forgotten, by all of us. "My family and I communicate via telepathy when we need to reach each other. Any distance. Across any dimensions." An apologetic smile directed toward Garrus. "Yeah, like I said, we're not from the Milky Way. But, I left out that we're what's known as World Walkers. The innate ability to travel across time and space, through dimensions. That kind of thing. I'll just tell Liara later about that. Hm. For becoming a werewolf, you drink a werewolf's blood. Doesn't make you a vampire. You have to either be bitten by one or drink their blood. Uh. What else?" My head was so empty at this point. "Oh, and I don't kill for any reason other than I have to or I was paid to. But I also have a brain and can think for myself. There've been hits I've received that I ended up killing the one who took them out. Lemme see... Can't have kids without a ritual, because of what we are, though we do take the genes of the other person involved. Like the Asari, only they do nothing for the child, unlike for them. And no, I won't tell you what that ritual is, it's a secret for family only. Give you the same line I gave those two- You'd have to marry into the family, to learn it." A pause. "I think that's all. Now, you're caught up with each- Oh! My planet's name is Nirn. Now, you're on the same level."

"Your blood." Garrus reminded me helpfully.

"Oh, that's right. We can manipulate our blood, to be any race or species we've come into physical contact with. I donate regularly, through the black market, because otherwise I'd get asked how I come into possession of so much alien blood. Well, and human, too, I guess, but that's less alarming than a human having bags of alien blood." I glanced at him. "Anything else?"

"I think that's it."

I waited for them to work through what I'd dumped on them, finally eating. They followed suit, Kaidan seemingly in a daze. Garrus looked to be more thoughtful than anything.

About half an hour went by, where we finished our food, before either of them spoke again.

"Is there anything else?" Kaidan asked warily.

"I mean, there's always more. But some things I'm not comfortable sharing yet. I'm sorry." An apologetic smile.

"No, you're okay." He rushed to say. "I was just wondering if we'd have more sit-downs like this in the near future."

"Ohh. I shouldn't think so. Not unless I need you to know something just before something happens." I held up a hand at a sudden thought. "Glowing emerald eyes? I'm tapping into my wolf side and using the totem I'm aligned with. It lets me see auras through walls, so I can know where living creatures are."

"That's... pretty cool."

"Would be very helpful in a covert operation."

"Yeah, it is. I've used it countless times. I-" A ping interrupted me. I looked down at my omni-tool, frowning. "Kahoku wants to talk to me again."

"Something wrong?" Garrus asked.

Both of them had their heads tilted in curiosity.

"Kind of. He said he wants to meet me onboard the Normandy. A private conversation between just the two of us." I typed out a response, before standing. A muttered, "I have to go" as I walked out of the restaurant.

...

"Here. We can talk in my private quarters." I led him to my room, gesturing for him to take a seat in the little sitting area by the door.

"I found out who set that trap for my men." He started when I was sitting, as well. "The ones killed by the thresher maw. It was a group called Cerberus," Fuuuuuucking hell. What? "An Alliance black ops organization. Top secret, highest-level security clearance. They vanished a few months ago. Dropped right off the grid. Nobody knew where they went or what they were up to." Aside from killing people and experimenting on people? Well, I guess the law-abiding wouldn't know. Only the criminal types. "They've gone completely rogue, Shepard. They're conducting illegal genetic experiments, trying to create some kind of super soldier. I don't have any proof, but I found the coordinates for one of their research worlds." He tapped something out on his omni-tool. "I'm uploading them to you right now." He met my eye, desperate. "They're completely out of control. Somebody needs to stop them. I've done my part. Now, it's up to you... This is..." A desperate glint entered his eyes. "This is probably the last you'll hear from me. Cerberus is after me now. I need to disappear before they find me."

I nodded, understanding. "Leave it to me."

I saw him off, biting my lip. Taking a moment to push aside my worry for him, I went back onto the ship and input the coordinates he'd given me.