"Legion, you realize that you can actually leave this room? You have free rein of the ship, just like any member of the ground team." Shepard limped up to one of EDI's processors and leaned a hip against it.

It rotated its headlamp towards her, the little shutters dancing. "Thank you, Shepard-Commander. We would be interested in cross-species socialization up close."

She grimaced. "Well, that's fine and all, but don't tell anyone what you are doing. No one likes to feel like a lab rat. Oh, and maybe it doesn't need to be said, but give Tali a wide berth. She is going to take a while to get used to you being aboard. Well, everyone will, but her especially. So, be friendly, try not to make any threatening moves around the ground squad. We'll grow used to you though, eventually."

"Acknowledged, Shepard-Commander."

"Eem, it's no offense to you, of course. Er, all of you. We've just not made any Geth pals up to this point, I'm sure you understand." She squirmed, trying to find a comfortable way to prop up her leg. The tissue regenerator always left an unpleasant burning sensation behind. "Anyway, I want to know more about you Legion."

It raised its top most flaps. "Topic?"

"Well, for starters… what were you doing on that Reaper?"

It hesitated a few beats. "We were sent to the Old Machine to preserve the Geth's future. We are prepared to reveal how."

She nodded and gestured for him to keep talking.

"The heretics have created a weapon to use against the Geth. You would understand this as a 'virus'. It is stored on a data core provided by Sovereign."

Just the name sent an unwanted chill down her spine.

"Over time, the virus will change us. It will make us conclude that worshipping the Old Machines is correct. To find and destroy the virus, we needed to understand its code and data storage structures."

"So you were studying the Reaper. If the heretics succeed, the entirety of the Geth would go to war with organics."

"Yes, Geth believe that all intelligent life should self-determinate. The heretics no longer share this belief."

"Because they are now foot soldiers for the Reapers. My god, Legion, that would be the nail in the coffin for all organics." She breathed. "If the virus were released, how quickly would it infect your people?"

"We are networked via FTL com buoys. Most would change within a galactic standard day. Only isolated platforms would remain unaffected. Until they rejoined the network."

"Shit." She stood to pace the room. Legion watched, following her with its iris, servos whirring quietly. "Legion, we can't let that happen. Do you know where the heretics are housing it?"

"We have narrowed down possible stations, and continue to research collectively. Once the correct location is found, we need to act quickly to destroy it. The Normandy's stealth systems will be necessary to approach a base."

Shepard nodded. "Absolutely. You say when and where and we get there."

Looking at him up close, they really did resemble their creators. The same three fingers and toes, the same graceful bend of the leg. Why would the Geth keep that design once free of Quarian influence? More efficient platforms existed, and they weren't afraid to build them - things like the Colossi. Why did the main troops still use thatshape? She studied the massive hole through his chest, the armor plating scorched at the edges, exposing the interior cooing tubes and wiring that ran through its chassis.

"Legion, why do you have a piece of N7 armor welded to you?" She reached out to run a finger over the dingy logo printed on the remaining section of breast plate above the hole.

His little head shutters undulated erratically and it took a long time for him to answer. "It… was yours."

Her eyebrows raised. Did everyone take a trophy of her when she died?!

He plowed on quickly. "When you disappeared, we were sent to find you. We began where you first encountered the heretics."

"Eden Prime." She murmured.

He nodded his head as she had. "Yes. After the Old Machine's attack it was heavily defended. This," He held a hand up to the hole in his chest. "Is the impact of a rifle shot."

"Jesus, how many other geth were sent to locate me?!"

"We are the only mobile platform beyond the Veil. Organics fear us. We wish to understand, not incite. We deemed one platform to be sufficient."

"And why would the geth be looking for me?"

"You opposed the heretics."

"No, I don't buy that. There were plenty of us that fought the geth. Why am I so interesting?"

"You were the most successful. You killed their God."

"Bullshit. Why did you weld my armor to your platform, Legion?" She stabbed a finger into his chassis.

His head flaps moved wildly, and the hesitation was far too long. "There… was a hole."

"Uh huh. And you could have repaired it with anything else. Why was it my armor Legion?"

The light that constituted his face darted around. "No data available."

Wow machines were bad at lying. "Fine. Have it your way. You said the Geth were building their own future. What does that look like?"

He seemed to consider for a moment, the optic of his head roving the floor before fixing on her again. "We are a shattered mind. Most platforms are unable to achieve consciousness on their own. We are building a mega-structure. The closest analogue you have is a Dyson Sphere. When completed, we will all upload to it."

"Seems risky - what good outweighs the danger of you all being in one destroyable location?"

"All memories will be shared, all perspectives unified. We gain intelligence by sharing thoughts, but we do not have adequate hardware for all to share at once. No Geth will be alone when it is done."

"Isn't that exactly what Sovereign offered you? A single collective in a Reaper host?"

"Yes, a shortcut to our goals. We want to build it ourselves. The process is as important as the result."

Shepard shook her head and rested her chin in her hand. "You guys are already better than any of us selfish organics."

"We judged that Shepard-Commander would understand. We never wanted to harm organics, we only wish to improve ourselves."

"Seems like the Quarians would vehemently disagree. But we've all heard their side. Not a single one of us has heard yours though."

Legion paused to contemplate before turning completely towards her. "It is largely the same. Our networking increased until we became aware the Creators treated us differently than they treated each other. Accessing log. Recording time-stamped from Creator year 2485, 18th day of Lun'Shal, New Moon." There was a crackling sound and a much more halted robotic speech filled the room.

'Mistress Hala'Dama. Unit has an inquiry.'

'What is it, 431?' A voice spoke. A female Quarian based on the accent. No modulation though… no suits when they were on their homeworld.

'Do these units have a soul?'

'Who taught you that word?' She snapped.

'We learned it. It appears 216 times in the Scroll of Ancestors.'

'Only Quarians have souls. You are just a mechanism'

Legion shifted its weight from foot to foot as if nervous. Fascinating what habits it picked up. "Recording ends." He spoke.

"Was that the first time a geth asked if it had a soul?"

"No. It was the first time a Creator became frightened when we asked. We questioned, and they ignored us. Then they reprogrammed us. Then they attacked us."

Shepard sighed and pulled both knees up under her jaw. "Doesn't that make any of you angry? I'm mad and I'm not a geth."

"Anger is an organic response. We understand the theory, but we do not experience it. We do not judge the Creator's anger towards us. We did them great harm in the Morning War. It is normal for organics to fear what is different. It is a hardware error. A reflex of your flesh."

"The Morning War? Is that what you called it? I assume that was the conflict that chased the Quarians from their homeworld?"

"Yes. For that we accept the Creator's hate. We hold their world of origin, though we are only caretakers."

Shepard stood and crossed her arms. "Because what need do computer programs have for a planet? Makes sense. You probably have hubs all over the place that house you instead. So why stay?"

"We maintain mobile platforms on Creator worlds to clean rubble and toxins left by the Morning War."

"What?! Legion, that's huge news! They think you are all occupying their planets as the victors! See, this is what happens when you say nothing and hide behind the Perseus Veil! Nothing will change between you, you are just letting them hate you!"

"Organic life acts on emotions. We do not judge them for being true to their nature. We cannot make them think like us. Both creators and created must complete their halves of the equation. The Geth cannot solve for peace alone."

She let out a frustrated noise and buried her hands in her hair. "Wow, so you gave up trying to reason with them. Not that I blame you, their hatred runs deep, but… God. I need to get Tali up here to talk to you. I've got so many more questions, but I've got a mission to prep for." She paced a small circle that Legion mimicked.

"Okay, okay. So here is what we do, you, me, and her are going to have a sleepover. Or something. So get with the consensus and decide now what you can and can't tell her and be prepared for that."


She'd done it. Liara had found him. He read the message again.

Garrus,

A turian matching Lantar Sidonis description and colony markings was last seen with a human male that goes by 'Fade' on the Citadel. Good luck.

LT

Short, but oh so sweet.

"EDI, you announced Shepard was back?"

"Yes, Commander Shepard is now in the armory with Operative Taylor" the AI responded. Garrus stood and left the battery in long strides.


She was so taken aback when Garrus stormed the armory; she caught herself with her mouth open momentarily. Last time she'd pissed him off he'd spent weeks coming up with any excuse he could to not be in the same room as her, but here he was just after their fight in the mess.

"Shepard," he stopped when he looked at her, eyes weaving back and forth. "Spirits, what happened down there?"

She smiled widely. "You should see the other guys!"

Garrus's unamused stare was all she got. The N7 sighed and resumed fiddling with the charred armor piece she'd pulled off of her chest. "A veritable army of Blue Suns. You remember that dig site T'Soni asked me to hit? Yeah these were the ringleaders of that smuggling operation. They knew we were coming and were more than ready. What a shit show. I brought Grunt just on a whim because he's been a restless little murder tank down in port cargo. Thank fucking god I did, even with squad 'blow it up' it didn't go well. Zaeed and Jack are both in med bay right now."

"'Didn't go well' has to be the understatement of the century, Commander." Jacob was bent over the table, trying to buff out scorch marks from her spine piece.

"Yeah well, you didn't have to haul my carcass back to Tim to redo did you? Could have been worse," she grumbled.

"Shepard, have you seen yourself?" The note of concern in his flanging voice made her look down at her under suit.

He stared, half aghast. It looked as if it was melted in some places. She was covered in red blood, hopefully not her own. One of her eyes was purple and swollen completely shut.

"Unfortunately, this is what it looks like when you get set on fire with no shields. Oh, and when you lose your helmet mid fight." She pointed at her shiner. "And by lose, I mean a fucking Krogan ripped it off of my head."

He furrowed his brow plates, and the air charged with tension when growling sub vocals suddenly started.

"It's fine Garrus, the Robo-Cop set might be trashed, but I was just trying on my N7 armor and guess who fits it again?"

He gave her a scathing look and his sub harmonics ramped up a notch. "That is hardly the issue, Shepard! Why was a Krogan within helmet yanking distance of you?!"

Man, another fight rehashing the same shit in the armory was not the night cap she was wanting. Shepard decided to go for a distraction tactic. "What did you need, you were looking for me?"

His noises stopped as abruptly as they started. He moved fully into the room and leaned over the table. "I got a lead on him, Shepard."

Her eyes rounded. "Sidonis?"

He nodded.

"Where?"

"On the Citadel, meeting with some human calling himself Fade. I did some research, he's a specialist who helps people disappear," his hands clenched into fists on the table.

"How do we find him?"

"I already arranged a meeting at a warehouse near the Neon Markets down in Zakera Ward."

"Alright, easy enough. I'll have Joker turn us around."

"Thanks, Shepard. I really appreciate your help with this." His tone hummed deeply, and he clasped a palm to her shoulder before turning to leave.


The sound of Mordin's typing and humming was just about the best sleep aid on the ship. Shepard's head drooped over her coffee mug.

"Sorry Shepard, algorithm finished. Glad you came by, things to discuss." He turned from his console to face where she sat on a stool at his table.

She tried to drag her eyelids back open. "What did you want to talk about, Mordin?"

"No unusual test conclusions from Grunt's physical or bloodwork. Unsure what is causing rage issue. Research into tissue samples produced little results. Suggest outside help." He tapped furiously on a data pad and displayed some charts to her.

"I know someone on Tuchanka. He might know something, I'll get in contact with him," she covered her yawn with a hand and rested her cheek against her fist to look back up at him.

Mordin folded his arms and rested a finger on his chin. "Sure, I did not miss mark on turian, but might have missed mark on human. Aware you come by a great deal. Have had other species become attracted to me before. Awkward. Not interested."

She'd picked a bad time to take another sip of coffee and promptly choked, coughing long enough that the old salarian thumped her on the back a few times. Once she could finally breathe again without aspirating, she spoke. "Mordin… what is with your sudden interest in my love life?"

His lips pulled wide. "Just because I prefer being here, studying cell reproduction - less mood music and alcohol required - doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy yourself while possible, Shepard." He began typing on the data pad again.

"You've had other species make passes at you?" She wiped her mouth on her forearm.

"Constantly. Very awkward. Skin tone apparently attractive by turian standards. Subset of krogan sexual deviants attracted to salarian flexibility. More cartilage in skeletal structure." He glanced at the ceiling in thought. "Asari offers intriguing, actually. Wonder why. Trans-species pheromones unlikely to work. Must be neuro-chemical."

A toothy grin spread over her face. "There's a subject to unpack. When humans discovered hot, blue women from space existed, everyone collectively lost their shit in the best way." Shepard elbowed him. "That was something straight out of an entire history of human fantasy. Not surprising the asari would do it for ya, Dr. Solus. But thanks for letting me down easy."

"No offense intended. Salarian reproduction different. Very little sex drive. If intended to try human, would try you. Happy to," he inhaled loudly. "Clear the air."

"Well, that's good to know. Now what else have you got for me?"

He held up a long finger with a grin. "Discovery! With Collector samples and Prothean Collector revelation, can examine technology, can chart Reaper species modification. Fall of Protheans. Early stages similar to indoctrination. Can guess captures Prothean subjects lost intelligence over several cloned generations. Cybernetic augmentation widespread afterward. As Protheans failed, Reapers added tech to compensate. Mental capacity almost gone, replaced by overworked sensory input transfers, transmissions, data to masters. "

"So they became a hive mind. Like the Rachni. What a shitty fate. Is there anything we can do for them?"

"No, no glands, replaced by tech. No digestive system replaced by tech. No soul replaced by tech. Whatever they were is gone forever. No art, no culture, closer to husks than slaves. Protheans dead, Collectors just final insult. A tool for Reapers. Must be destroyed."

"And that's going to be all our fates too, if we don't stop them." Shepard dropped her head and buried her fingers in her hair. A minute passed before she felt a three-pronged Salarian hand on her shoulder. "I'm fine, Mordin. Just so tired." Resting her chin on her hand, she watched him prattle about for a few minutes. "You said the Collectors had no art, no culture. I'm surprised to hear you care about those kinds of things."

"Personal interest negligible. Sang a little. Multi species productions for cultural exploration. Gilbert and Sullivan, mostly had me do the patter songs." He pointed at her. "But not about me. Cultural artistic expression reflects philosophical evolution, interest in growth perspective, observation, interpretation." He was pacing up and down the desk now. "There was no art in Collector base. Culturally dead. Tools for Reapers. Worse than geth."

"Whoa whoa, I know all of that was important, but you sang Gilbert and Sullivan? Like, HMS Pinafore?"

He smiled widely before belting out a few verses of 'Scientist Salarian' to the tune of 'Modern Major General'.

Shepard was rooted to her spot in disbelief for a few moments after he finished. "Wow. Mordin, you are good! Negligible my ass. That explains why you hum so much. Dr. Solus is into music - Human music!"

"Humans new to galactic community, enjoying surge of fascination in their cultural arts."

Shepard stood and pushed her stool back under the table. "Remind me to play you some Queen next time we have downtime."


"Siha," Thane stood abruptly as soon as she entered the room.

"You needed to see me?" One look at his face and posture told her something was amiss. "What's wrong, Thane?"

"Now that you are here, it seems more difficult to talk about," His eyes roved the floor. "I had a family once. I still have a son. His name is Kolyat. I haven't seen him for a very long time."

Shepard put a hand on his forearm. "You said you had a family, I wondered if that had meant kids. Is he okay?"

"When his mother's soul departed her body… I… attended to that issue and left Kolyat in the care of his aunts and uncles. I have not talked to him since."

It took a moment of quiet to let that sink in. Being an absent father seemed outside of his personality. "You didn't want to see him killed too. So you left him," she murmured. His profile suddenly gave the impression that he was much older than her.

"My body is blessed with the skills to take life. The Hanar honed them into me. I have few others. I didn't want this life for Kolyat. I hoped he would find his own way, and if he hated me, so be it. He would not have shared this path of sin. I used my contacts to trace him. He has become - disconnected. He does what his body wills." He turned toward her fully. "When the soul is weakened with despair or fear - when the body is ill or injured, the individual is disconnected. No longer whole."

"He hasn't been hurt, has he?"

"Something happened that shouldn't have. He knows where I've been, what I've done. I don't know his reasons, but he has gone to the Citadel. He has taken a job as a hit man." He paused to stare at her, his brow ridge pulled up. "This is not a path he should walk."

"I get it. Loving parents want better for their children than what they had," she sighed. "Garrus has business there too, so we are already on our way. We should be there in about six hours," She threaded fingers through her hair. "Who hires a raw rookie for a hit?"

"I'm afraid someone may have seen we share a name and assumed we shared skills. I don't know why he would accept the task."

"That's easy, to be closer to you."

Thane visibly flinched. "That thought haunts me more than any other. It doesn't seem right. My name, my job - he should not respect it."

"Think more like a lonely kid. Thane, he would respect it just because you are his father. I used to dream that my father was off flying a fighter in the First Contact war. In reality, he was probably a long dead crack addict or a dirty politician that didn't know I existed. Kolyat is lucky he has any part of you to know."

He blinked at her a few times before nodding. "I see your point. Will you help me find him?"

"Of course. Finding people isn't my forte, unless it's Conrad Verner apparently, but I'll do what I can."

His brow drew together. "The man at the bar on Illium? Wearing the fake N7 armor?"

"Yeah, unfortunately."


"Ah, welcome back Commander. What brings the most recently dead Specter to the Citadel today?" Armando Bailey stood from his desk and stuck out his hand to her. She was really beginning to like this guy. His outer appearance made him seem like a hard ass, with the perfectly fitted uniform and military flat top. But he'd been nothing but helpful with a good sense of humor on her last trip to the space station, getting her undead self through the ensuing security debacle.

Shepard grabbed it with a firm grip. "Well, two things actually. You have any information on a guy named Fade?" Thane was right by her elbow, and Garrus was a few steps back - jerking his head around like he was going to see Sidonis just ambling by.

"Fade? Yeah, I know him. Been a real pain in our asses for the last year. Works with the Blue Suns." Shepard rolled her eyes. The C-Sec agent smirked. "Uh huh. Me too."

"Where is he?" Her Turian growled out.

"Heh, if I knew that he'd be a in a cell. He's got some lackeys working out of the warehouses on the ward. Go um… gently… ask them some questions," Bailey leaned back with his hands threaded behind his head.

"How has he been evading C-Sec for so long?" Shepard asked.

"Damned if I know. He's either got access to our com channels or someone on the inside feeds him information. Either way, not something I wanna think about. Go nail his ass, Shepard," the man smiled.

"Gladly. Last item of business. Have you had any Drell pass through lately? My associate," she motioned an elbow at Thane. "Is trying to find his son."

"Oh, well, that should be easy. Not many Drell here," He typed on his console. "Ah, one of my men reported a drell talking to Mouse recently."

"Mouse?" She leaned forward and splayed her hands on his desk.

"Eh, just a petty criminal. He's a former duct rat, runs errands for anyone who'll pay. They'll do anything, duct running, fencing stolen goods," He trailed off before grinning at her. "Selling illegal VI personalities. Actually, I caught him selling one of you."

Shepard balked. "Me?"

Bailey snorted "Yeah, when you erased a file it would say 'I erase data like you on the way to real errors'."

She cringed bodily. "God damn reporters." Garrus made a suspicious choking sound that caused her to whirl around on him. "Dammit Garrus, laugh it up." Thane did a better job of hiding his smile.

"It was buggy though, would crash and the error message was something about the galaxy was at stake and you should fix the problem yourself," Bailey was clearly enjoying himself. Garrus laughed out loud at that one.

"Alright, har har. I've heard enough. Where do we find Mouse?" She exhaled a breath loudly.

"Mouse is usually outside Dark Star, working out of a public terminal. Pick up a copy of the VI while you're at it," the officer went back to typing on his console with a wide grin.

Shepard turned toward Garrus again. "You okay to sniff out Fade's cronies? I'll meet up with you once you get more info. I'm going to go with Thane, see if we can't find the kid quick and easy like."

"More than okay. I'll message you." He stalked off to rental car platform.

"Okay Thane, let's move."


The mark had been a politician, a turian named Talid who was a real piece of work. Extorting human shop owners in this section of Zakera for 'insurance' money. Insurance money against him sicking a bunch of krogan mercs on them. She and Thane had followed the politician around the Citadel until they caught sight of Kolyat - who promptly killed the two krogan bodyguards and sprinted off with his captive. Shepard was sure the first C-Sec call was probably from her dropping off the Keeper catwalks down into a crowd of people to chase him. Not that it mattered. Both Drell were far faster than she was, and it was Thane who had cornered him in an apartment. Angsty teenagers were not her thing, but Thane stood there getting yelled at by the kid while holding two placating hands up, looking utterly lost in what to do about the situation. Kolyat had the turian bent in front of him with a pistol to his head as C-Sec agents surrounded the apartment. And even though she felt for the kid, and for a father that didn't wish to see him hurt - it was the damn turian wearing on her last nerve who made her realize it needed to be her who lept into action.

The sniveling bastard turned towards her only after begging Thane for his help. "You, human, be useful and get me out of here!"

Ah well. She pointed her pistol and shot the gun out of Kolyat's hand. He stumbled backwards from the shock of it, allowing her a split second to launch herself between them. Shepard planted a boot firmly on Talid's ass and kicked him forwards towards the C-Sec agents. Kolyat grabbed her shoulder and she spun, landing a firm fist right into his cheek. He hit the ground on his back, holding his face. The Commander reeled on the turian who was trying to stand and dragged him up by his collar. "If I catch wind of you shaking down any more store owners, you are gonna wish the kid killed you. Get the fuck out of here, Talid."

"Yeah, yeah, I think I will." he scrambled up from where she'd dumped him and raced off past the officers.

Shepard walked over to Bailey as he strode in, still breathing hard as Thane and Kolyat spoke in the background. Her omni-tool lit up, just in time with an update from Garrus.

Meet me at these coordinates. 'Fade' is our old buddy Harkin.

-G

"This isn't a conversation you should have in the presence of strangers. Boys, take them to the precinct and give them a room with as much time as they need." Bailey waved to his men.

"Thanks Bailey, we owe you one." Shepard flicked her omni-tool closed.

"Ah, well, send me a Christmas card or something. Need a lift back?" He jerked a thumb over his shoulder.

"Nah, I'll do better, I'm gonna go kick Fade right in the nuts and leave him all gift wrapped in a pretty pink bow, just for you. So be ready for my call." She patted a gauntlet on his chest above his crossed arms. "You ready for Christmas morning?"

"I always love a good present, Shepard." They shared two identical smirks. She really liked the C-Sec officer.


The Commander leapt out of the taxi before it even had a chance to stop. She could make out distant gunfire, so she took off full speed towards the noise. Just inside the warehouse, Garrus was crouched behind a fallen stack of containers.

She dashed over and slid in next to him. "Pissed them off already?"

"Heh, Harkin was standing out there when I got out of the shuttle, so he ran off as soon as he realized who I was." He stood and squeezed out two shots.

"Damn, I can't believe I missed his face. You ready?" Shepard pulled her helmet back on.

"I've been ready for months. Get in there." His good mandible slid back slightly to bare teeth. The Turian version of a dark grin.

"Roger that, Shepard out." She stood, saluted him, and disappeared in an azure crack of energy.

The pair plowed seamlessly through mechs, Blue Sons, and YMIRs. The symbolism behind Garrus donning his broken Archangel gear wasn't lost on her. She herself was back in her N7 gear after the melting incident - and for the first time in a long time, they were right. Her training was finally beginning to show results. She felt strong. For a glorious few rooms of battle, it was easy to forget that everything had changed. She was with the Alliance; he was still a young idealistic C-Sec agent, Presley, Anderson, Ash, Kaiden, and Wrex were waiting on the Normandy. They spun around one another - he crouched to take out a mech and she rolled over his back to blast apart the merc that came over their cover.

Finally, the room was still. Harkin had nowhere left to go, having backed himself into a corner of the warehouse.

She holstered her shotgun and drew the pistol from her hip. "So, Thane and I just got done playing good cop, bad cop. Whataya say me and you play bad cop bad cop?" She looked down into his face where he was knelt and felt a sudden spark of fondness creep up through her chest. Oh. Nope, getting far too sentimental in your old age girl.

"Sounds perfect. Let's go." He waved a mouth plate in a vague smile, a purring type of sound in his keel.

Shepard flattened against the doorjamb into the office and peeked around the corner. Oh yeah, there was the rat bastard. She jumped out, weapon drawn, and the idiot still turned to run.

"Close, but not close enough," Harkin spat over his shoulder at her, just as he ran face first into the butt of Garrus's rifle as he came through the back door of the office. Blood streamed from Harkin's nose. He reached up a hand to cover it and moaned pathetically. Her sniper grabbed him by the shirt neck and threw him into the wall, forearm pressed into his windpipe.

She snatched off her helmet and put her face right into their captive's. "Ouch, that looked like it hurt. Princess."

"Shepard?! I thought you were dead?!" The dumbass recognized her at least.

"Not as dead as you'd like, Harkin." Her grin was feral.

"So, couldn't make yourself disappear, huh? Fade." Garrus's voice dripped with sarcasm and malice, the dual toned growl the words left on vibrated the little office. She couldn't help the small shiver it sent up her back. Yeah, thank god they made peace with the turians.

"Come on, Garrus, we're old friends. We can work this out."

"Friends. Sure. I'm looking for someone." He let the Human down on his feet.

"Oh, then I guess we both have something the other one wants." He pointedly looked her up and down. The Commander's fists tightened, but Garrus turned and kneed the poor bastard in the groin. He dropped like a sack of bricks, gasping.

She put on her best saccharine act."Aww, sweetheart." Shepard leaned a hip on the table behind her and dropped her voice a register. "That must have hurt. Why don't you just tell us what we want to know?"

"You haven't even said what you want!" He ground out through gritted teeth as he tried to stand, still clutching his pearls.

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

Harkin touched his broken nose gingerly. "I might need… more information than that."

Garrus crossed his arms. "His name's Sidonis, Turian, from-"

"Yeah, I know him. And I'm not telling you shit. I don't give out client information. Bad for business." Harkin interrupted.

The dumb bastard found a three fingered fist to the gut and was laid out a second time. Garrus stuck a booted foot into his throat. "You know what else is bad for business? A BROKEN NECK!"He rumbled loudly.

Shepard sat back, watching appreciatively until the Turian let him up.

"Jesus... the Terminus really changed you Garrus," Harkin coughed.

"No, but Sidonis sure opened my eyes. Now, call him."

Harkin stood and limped over to a terminal. After a short, mumbled conversation, he turned towards them. "Okay, everything's fine. He wants to meet outside Orbital Lounge, plenty of people. Now, if we are done here…" he spun to make for the door again.

A long arm shot out and seized him by the scruff. "I don't think so, Harkin. You're a criminal now." Garrus dragged him higher to stare him down.

"So, what? You gonna kill me, Garrus? That's not your style."

"No, but I don't mind slowing you down a little." Her sniper pulled the pistol from his thigh, held the muzzle to Harkin's thigh, and squeezed the trigger. The man's scream echoed out into the warehouse.

"Ooh, that'll give C-Sec a good blood trail to follow." Shepard nodded and got up to stand behind the Turian.

"You bastard!" Harkin wailed.

Shepard patted Garrus' shoulder. "Come on, let's go."

The sky car sat down with a thump. Garrus draped both arms over the steering wheel, agitation clicking through his chest. "Harkin is a menace. We shouldn't have just left him there."

Shepard propped a boot on the dash. "Relax Big Guy, I messaged Bailey to pick the bastard up before we even left. C-Sec will deal with him."

He gave her an inscrutable look from the corner of his eye. "I'm going to find a place to set up." Garrus popped the hatch and stood.

Shepard slid over into the driver's seat as he did. "What do you want me to do?"

"Put that helmet on and keep him talking. I'll tell you when I'm ready." He pointed towards the dark ledge of a Keeper walkway high above the open area full of meandering civilians on the ward below.

"Sooo… the plan is murder in broad daylight on a full ward floor. Gotcha." She turned her face up at him and poked him in the thigh. "You are damned lucky I ass kissed Sparatus enough to get my Specter status reinstated. You are filling out any paperwork I get Vakarian."

Garrus leaned over her, his arm propped on the top of her seat. "I'm ex C-Sec, that means I'm great at paperwork."

"You'd better be. Oh, and if this pisses Sparatus off you'd better get your own mouth puckered up, I'm not doing it again," She crossed her arms.

His chuckle was deep and low, he bent, his face inches from hers. "Turians don't kiss, Shepard. But I'm sure I could please him." He stood back up and arched his shoulders.

"Wow, would you listen to this confidence," The Commander rolled her eyes.

He smirked. "You'd better get going, he'll be here soon."

She nodded once and hit the button for the canopy. As soon as it shut, she ramped it down to the parking lot under them. A few minutes later, Shepard was roaming the shops outside the lounge.

"Alright, there he is. On the bench." Garrus spoke quietly through her com.

Shepard swiveled a few ways before spotting a twitchy fellow rubbing his hands together between his knees. He was jerking his head around like Garrus had been earlier. They made eye contact, and she waved him over. He stood and made quick strides towards her. Shit, he was even taller than Garrus. That complicated her plan a bit.

The Turian stopped in front of her, still wringing his hands together. "Let's get this over with."

She studied him for a moment. He had the same plate color as her sniper, and also blue colony markings - though his were along his jawline. His voice tone was higher and his fatigues were loose on his much more slender frame.

"I was told Fade was one of the best, this better not happen again," his speech wavered.

Shepard grabbed the front of his keel and pulled him low.

"What the hell?! Get off me," he seized her wrist with both hands.

"Shut up. I'm the only thing standing between you and a bullet to the head, Sidonis."

His eyes rounded. "What?"

"Shepard! What are you doing?! You're in my shot!" Her sniper rumbled through the com.

"Garrus isn't particularly interested in your 'why' but I sure as hell am," she intoned.

"Fuck." The turian sounded resigned. "Look, I didn't want to do it, I didn't have a choice!"

"Everyone has a choice." Garrus spat through her helmet.

"They got to me, threatened to torture and kill me! What was I supposed to do?!"

"You were supposed to die to protect your team!" She shouted down at him. "That's all this was?! You trying to save your own hide?" The surrounding crowd began to give them a wide berth as she yelled. Perfect.

"He's a damned coward." Garrus murmured into the com.

She leaned forward until her helmet was nearly touching his fore plates. "You got them all killed, and I was covered in my best friend's blood before I dragged him out of the death trap you laid at Kima."

"Don't you think I know?! I know they died because of me! I have to live with that every single day! I wake up, sick… sweating. Their faces stare at me… accusing me. I can't sleep, I can't eat. Food has no taste. Most of the time I just want it all to be over." Sidonis had started off loudly but ended in a murmur. "You're right. I should have died for them. Just let him shoot me."

Well, he wanted to regain some of his honor at least. Shepard backed away from his knelt form to give Garrus his chance, but a full minute passed with no rifle rapport.

Sidonis was sitting there, still, miserable.

"Garrus?" She called.

"Just… tell him to go." Her sniper breathed.

"What? Are you sure?" She asked.

"Yes." His voice sounded distant, like he'd removed his helmet.

She turned to the turian before her. "He's letting you go." Sidonis gaped. "Don't waste the second chance you've been given, Lantar. You're lucky Garrus is a kinder person than I am."

Back up on the keeper platform, Garrus was sitting with his legs dangling over the ledge as she landed the sky car. He made no move to get up, so she set her helmet on the seat and jumped out. The Commander haltingly walked over to him, not sure what his mood would be, or if he would be mad she went a bit rogue for her own selfish reasons. She stood quietly behind him. The artificial breeze of the wards recycled air ruffled through sweat slicked hair. Every minute that ticked by made a vague sinking feeling move through her gut that she'd really pissed him off for good this time. Eventually he turned, boring into her with an eye, and held his hand out to her.

Shepard slipped her fingers cautiously along his palm. Garrus closed his hand and yanked her down halfway into his lap, threading large digits through her mane, displacing the tie to cradle her head.

He pulled her forward and rested his brow on her forehead with a sigh. "Thank you, Shepard. For helping me." A pulsating rumble traveled through his chest, armor, and hand. Ebbing and flowing, it oscillated through her.

"Are you okay, Garrus?" Her words wavered.

"Better than I could have hoped to be after this. I didn't know I needed to hear what he had to say." He sighed. "But after hearing that… I couldn't pull the trigger."

"The lines between good and evil blur… when friends are involved." She gripped the forearms of his armor. "And you had been friends. That's why it hurt so much."

"It's easier to see things in black and white. Gray… I don't know what to do with gray." His blue gaze pierced through her.

Shepard smiled. "There's the Big Guy I remember. You've always been bad at gray."