Tali, Market District, Lower Wards, Citadel

"It's nice to see you again, Tali," Captain Shepard...no...Mrs...no….Hannah? It felt off to refer to John's mother by her given name like that, but with two 'Captain Shepards' it got difficult to keep them straight sometimes. Well...not for her, but trying to talk about them to other people got confusing, quickly. "Tali?"

"Ah! Sorry!" Tali waved her hands close to her chest as she snapped back to reality. "Sorry! My mind wandered a bit."

"Oh?" Hannah's eyebrow raised as she smirked slightly. Ancestors, she looked just like John when she did that...and Jane.

"Yeah…"Tali's hands kneeded as she swallowed. "I was just thinking how it can be difficult when talking about you and Jane…."

"Ah! Right! Both of us are captains after all," Hannah laughed. It was a mild, reserved laugh. Far more feminine than Jane's...what did John describe it as? A Guffaw? And John's was warm, open and free. "Don't worry about it, dear. You just call me Hannah."

"What? I couldn't!" Tali blinked as she stepped back slightly. There was no way she could refer to the captain of a dreadnought by her given name!

Hannah sighed and frowned, her brow coming together in a rather disapproving look. It was the kind of look that made Tali want to shrink and scurry away. It was a look gained from raising John and Jane.

"Umm...alright….Hannah….." Tali's voice was just over a whisper as she looked at her toes.

"Perfect!" Hannah's voice was loud and full of cheer as she stepped beside the quarian and slapped her arm around Tali's shoulders. "Now, tell me why you are down here, in the underbelly?"

"Shopping, is all. Being who I am, I don't get much of a chance to look at shop's much higher, much less go into them," Tali blinked again as she saw a much darker frown cross Hannah's face. It was a damn good thing it wasn't aimed at her, otherwise she might have wet her suit.

"Fucking…." Hannah's voice dropped to a growl as she squeezed Tali closer. "Sorry you have to deal with that. It's a load of bull shit that you don't deserve."

Tali laughed lightly as she shook her head. "You react just like John does. It's fine. I'm used to it. Doesn't even bother me."

"That's worse," Hannah grimaced. "You shouldn't get used to that kind of treatment."

Stepping away from the human, Tali shrugged. "Maybe not, but it's still a thing that exists. Honestly, I'm impressed by how little I get harassed about carrying this shotgun." Her hand patted the gun at the small of her back.

"Ladies!" a rough voice called over the din of the market. "You are in luck tonight!"

Hannah's head snapped around to look at the speaker, quickly followed by a grunt of disgust. "Seriously?" she muttered under her breath.

The speaker of the small group of thuggish men was a human, maybe in his early thirties. He seemed to be fighting a losing battle against hair loss as his oily brown hair was swept up and over the top of his head. His eyes were dark, lacking in as much intelligence as his mouth did teeth.

His crew wasn't any better. Two more humans, a turian who looked like he had scale itch and a salarian with one of his large dark eyes crusted over with...something...green.

"Goddess, you have got to be some of the ugliest motherfuckers I have ever seen," Hannah's jaw actually hung open a bit as she looked from one walking mess to the next.

The turian, itchy, as Tali had decided to call him, scratched at one of his head plats and spit to the side. "Hey! That isn't nice. We just wanna show you ladies a good time!"

Toothy, the leader, reached out and groped at Hannah's arm, jerking her to him…. Well...more that was his probable goal. It was unlikely that he actively wanted to pull himself off balance and toward her.

"Don't make this hard, we just wanna play some," Toothy smirked sourly. If nothing else, Tali was a little impressed with how quickly he recovered. Hannah was a strong woman, after all.

"Yeah," Moron, one of the other humans, a short overly pudgy man slurped through his fat lips. His eyes were small and beady as he eyed Hannah's chest.

That was something Tali needed to remember to ask her about. She had been doing her research into ways she and John could be together, and one of the things that stood out was the human male's interest with large breasts. She could see the appeal, in theory. They were, after all, important erogenous zones, even for quarians, if not nearly so as in humans. And her's were...modest, at best, compared to a human.

Then the sticky hand of the salarian, Drippy, pawed at her groin, shocking her out of her little reverie. In fact, the sheer audacity of the action made her jump back with a small squeal of surprise, slapping the hand away.

"Aww...don't be like that!" Toothy grinned for another second before pulling a knife from his grease stained jacket, he smile fading away to something more threatening. "How about you two just step into that alley right there and we can have our fun. Don't struggle, we won't hurt you. Much."

"Yeah!" Moron laughed a kind of sloppy gurgle that made Tali's toes want to curl in disgust.

Hannah glanced back at Tali, a look of shocked insult on her face.

"Don't you scream," Itchy pressed forward, drawing a small, poorly kept pistol from his own coat. An action that Drippy and Moron copied.

With an annoyed sigh, Hannah's hands blurred into her own long coat, reappearing with her own two pistols, the barrels pointed at Drippy and Itchy's heads.

The look on the faces of the group was amazing. In fact, if they weren't so hideous, Tali would have taken an image.

Toothy, though shocked for a moment, let a small, wicked smile cross his cracked lips. "Aww, you have some little guns. Hate to point out, but we have three more than you do."

"Yeah!" Moron gurgle/laughed again as Toothy and...other guy. The other small human looked so average that Tali couldn't even think up a good nickname for the guy. But they pulled guns of their own.

"Now we're gonna hafta hurt you when we do ya," Toothy chuckled darkly, his tongue slipping out of his mouth for a moment.

"Enough," Tali sighed deeply as her shotgun came up, unfolding in her hands. The heavy barrel slipped under Hannah's right arm as she charged a round, the tell tale whine building. "How about you give us everything you have, and we don't kill you in the street?"

Miranda, Upper Wards Shipping District

"I'm going to set up on that cross bridge, " Garrus gestured to one of the maintenance platforms that the Keepers used to get around. "Can you move through the area and see if you can get eyes on him?"

"Of course," Miranda nodded. This...wasn't right. She should say something. Do something. Shepard would know what to say…

"Just give me the vector and step aside, I'll take care of the rest," Garrus wasn't looking at her. He was staring up at the place he wanted to shoot from. There was something dark in him. In his words, his actions, his movement. It was like the man she had come to...care, about was slipping away.

"Are you sure you want to kill him immediately?" Miranda ask quietly. "You don't want to question him or something?"

"Why would I care about what the traitor would have to say?" Garrus demanded harshly, finally turning burning eyes to her. "I just want to get this done and close it."

Closing her eyes for a moment, Miranda hung her head. She wasn't Shepard. She didn't have his flair for words and speeches. Hell, she generally lead via fear and bullying. But she had to do something.

"Alright, Garrus," she said at last, looking up at him with a small smile. "I'll find him for you. We can get this done. Maybe we can….."

He wasn't listening. As soon as she said she would do his bidding, he looked back at the perch he intended to use.

It hurt her. More than she thought was possible. She...cared for him. No...not cared. She couldn't keep running, or hiding from it. If she was going to save him, she had to admit it. That she loved him.

"Go on," she laughed, slapping his shoulder and half startling him. "You get to your point and I'll find our target."

"Our target?" Garrus looked down at her, his mandibles tight in a frown. "Miranda, this is my demon. I don't like involving you as far as I already am."

"Then you shouldn't have made me like you," she shrugged with a small laugh as she turned away. She didn't look back. She didn't want to see his expression right then. She had just admitted more than she meant to. What if he looked at her with disgust or something? Damn it...this must be what Tali felt like. Now I wish I hadn't given her so much shit.

John, Middle Wards, Market District

"Is...is that guy shaking down human shopkeepers?" John frowned from his vantage point. He had spent the past twenty minutes following Joram Talid and his krogan hirlings. The turian was walking through the area, stopping to talk to random people about the evils of humanity, as well as how he would single handedly drive the 'ape corruption' from the Citadel. He also made the occasional stop at human run businesses. Only one of the shops refused him money and it was fairly well smashed by the krogan.

"Of course he is," Kasumi's voice came back grim. She was down following Talid on the near rooftops, her tactical cloak letting her stay close. "Like all politicians, he is corrupt. A bit more obvious than most, though. He won't get far, even if he manages to win this election."

John grunted as he moved ahead, getting a bit of a lead on Talid. "I'm not seeing any sign of Kolyat."

"Neither am I," Kasumi sighed. "But I also lost Thane. The only drell I see is a female that is working at the perfume shop. Nice place, by the way. They have a nice sakura soap."

"I'll keep that in mind," John snickered as Talid stepped through to the next section of walkway. "I'm seeing a shotgun and heavy pistol on each krogan."

"Me too," Kasumi agreed. "Don't think Talid is packing. Doesn't strike me as the type. I- Shit...Gotta go dark for a minute."

"Well, that's fantastic," John sighed. "He's passing through the club. Thane, can you see him?"

"Confirmed," the assassin spoke for the first time since he separated from the group. "He appears to be moving to the back room. That is where I would strike if I were on this job."

"Fun. Okay, I'll try to get ahead. Maybe I can make it to the room before Talid," John grunted, pushing off the platform and moving to a Keeper path. He dodged one of the little green bugs as it came out of the little hole that led to wherever Keepers went. He was used to the things ignoring everybody, it was their way, after all. This one, however, paused to watch him go by.

"That's probably worrisome," he muttered.

Kasumi

"Hey….what are you doing up here?" a whiny nasal voice called from behind her.

Shit…

Turning, Kasumi looked at the young human man...boy? Hell, it could be a girl. They looked to be in their late teens, maybe twenty, tops. They were wearing a stained white apron covered in various greasy stains and spatters. Probably worked at the noodle stand she stood on.

"You're not supposed to be up here," the...person, said again.

"You're probably not either," Kasumi smirked. She noticed the pack of cigarettes in the person's hand and gave them a nod. "Those things will kill you."

"Pff, now you sound like my mother," the person sniffed as they tapped out one of the sticks. "What are you doing here? Gonna rob somebody?"

"Hardly. If I was going to rob somebody you never would have seen me," Kasumi laughed, turning now to regard the kid. That was what they were, really. She crossed her arms and leaned her hip against the edge of the sign she had been behind. "You work here?"

"Yeah," they nodded, lighting up and taking a long drag. "If you aren't robbing somebody, what are you doing?"

"Tracking somebody. Somebody wants Talid very dead."

"Huh….guy's an asshole," the kid snorted. "You helping them or him?"

"The triggerman is a kid being set up," Kasumi shrugged. "Looking out for him."

The kid frowned slightly as they puffed again. "That kid you're talking about….he wouldn't happen to be drell, would he?"

Kasumi's eyes narrowed as she nodded slightly. "Yeah...how did you know?"

With a shrug, the kid took another drag and let it out. "There was a young drell that came through about half an hour ago. Wanted to know Talid's rounds. Gave me fifty credits so I told him."

"What? Where did he go?" Kasumi stepped forward, looking toward the direction Talid had gone.

"What's it worth to you?" the kid gave an arrogant smirk. "I mean-"

Kasumi didn't give the little ass the time to finish his sentence. Her form flashed in a blur before she seemed to teleport next to the kid. Her left hand flashed out as she grabbed the kid's neck. A quick twist slammed the kid against the door they had come out of as she slowly lifted them off the ground, her face set in a snarl.

"How about I don't kill you?" Kasumi's voice was low...dark. She was a small woman, but she had her tricks. While working with Shepard, she hadn't been idle. She had her ways own of surviving. "I'm trying to stop a murder for a friend, but I don't know you, so I don't care about you."

The kid's eye widened as the cigarette fell from their mouth. Both their hands pulled futilly at Kasumi's wrist. "Alright...I…'ll..talk….Drak...Club…..by now…"

Kasumi released her grip even as she disappeared from view. "I recommend not smoking. It'll kill you." Her twinkling laugh faded into the night.

Garrus

He ran his thumb over the marks carved into the stock of his rifle. His failures. Each one was a life that ended because he failed. Blood that was on his hands. His people. He was no leader. He was no Shepard.

"I have eyes," Miranda said quietly.

Slowly he lifted his eyes. Scanning over the crowd, Miranda was easy to spot. Her white bodysuit stood out, after all. Or maybe it was the waist….Hell...could be her ass. He was coming around to the human's way of thinking there.

"Not the time…" he growled to himself, giving his head a shake.

"What? Complication?" Miranda snapped back, a note tension in her voice. Garrus could see her stiffen, her head turned slowly, taking in her surroundings.

"No, nothing," Garrus silently cursed himself. "I meant he isn't getting away again."

"I...oh my god...Garrus…." Miranda seemed frozen. Her body stood stiffly as she stared at whatever was before her. Sidonis, he assumed.

"What?" Garrus snapped, coming up to his knee. He dropped the barrel of his rifle onto the railing and scanned through the scope."Is he armed?"

"No...Garrus...I don't think he was a traitor…" Miranda's voice had taken on a soft note that he seldom heard. Only when they were alone.

Garrus felt a surge of anger, his vision tinting red for a moment. How DARE she?! What did she know!? She didn't see the bodies of his people, cut to pieces. She hadn't seen the accusing stares in the sightless eyes. She didn't hear the voices at night, demanding to know why he got to survive. Why did they get killed and not him?

"Garrus," Miranda's voice cut through the haze, snapping him back to reality. It was strong, sure. It...cared about him. "Garrus, look at him."

With a small snarl Garrus lifted the rifle, the scope scanning up, seeking what Miranda was facing. He looked at….a turian. He...might have looked like Sidonis. Once.

The turian was male, Garrus was fairly sure. But his crest had all be broken off roughly. One had been peeled partially away from the skull and left to scar at an odd angle. Half the facial plates had been pulled from his face, most of the ones left showed cracks. The left mandible was missing, while the right hung at an odd angle, twitching every now and again. His body shook as he ran his hands over his upper arms. The left hand was missing the middle finger.

"Sidonis," he heard Miranda say, as she walked up to the turian. He watched as the figure jumped, flinching back, his eyes wild. Or...eye. One eye was a sightless hole in the skull.

"Who...who are you?" Sidonis whispered gravelly, as if his voice couldn't raise any higher. "Where's Fade?"

"Not here," Miranda's arms crossed as she stood in Garrus's crosshair. "Fade has been eliminated."

"Spirits…" Sidonis cowered further, his head whipped back and forth as if he was searching for a place to bolt.

"Don't. Move," Miranda demanded. "I'm the only thing between you and a bullet."

"Dammit, Miranda!" Garrus snarled. "Get out of the way! I have a shot! I can't let him go to ground again!"

"Is...is it Garrus?" Sidonis whispered. "Is it over? Will he put me to sleep?"

"Yes," Miranda nodded. "I want to know what happened. Tell me."

"What happened?" Sidonis let out a quiet, horrible chuckle. "What happened? They caught me. Blue Suns, Eclipse, Blood Pack. They took their turns. I...I tried to hold out. I really did...I think they liked that."

"They did this to you?" Miranda's head tilted slightly.

"I didn't fall down a fucking well," Sidonis started to laugh again, but it quickly devolved into sobs. "I didn't want to. It hurt so much. Even when I told them what they wanted, they just...kept going. They didn't even ask more questions. They were just trying to find new ways to make me scream. Heh...they didn't even do anything to my voice. I did this to myself, screaming. Pathetic isn't it?"

'How did you survive?" Miranda continued.

"Survive?" Sidonis snapped, anger in his voice. "I didn't survive! They killed them all. They showed me vids. They showed me what they did and laughed when I cried. Then they just left. I can still hear the laughing….." Sidonis struck the side of his head twice, as if he were trying to knock free the laughter only he could hear.

"You are here," Miranda said quietly.

Sidonis was quiet for a moment, his eye staring off into space. His head suddenly snapped around as he looked at Miranda fully for the first time. "It was the blood," his voice became some sort of sing-song. "My own blood had soaked into the ropes. Made them slick. I ripped the scales off my hand. It helped.' Sidonis held up his right hand, as he said, it was a mass of scar tissue. "Tell...tell Garrus I'm sorry. I tried. I tried. Let...let me die. Please. I can't sleep. I can't eat. I...I just want it to be over."

"Well?" Miranda turned to look directly at Garrus. Her dark eyes meeting his through the sniper scope.

Garrus sat. He watched the woman he...he loved. She stood watching him from an impossible distance. She stood in front of the last member of his team. The one that had betrayed them all. The one...the one Garrus failed the most.

With a roar, Garrus spun. He gripped his rifle by the barrel, smashing it on the heavy steel walkway. He smashed it again, and again. The barrel bent in, the stock cracked. The grip broke off as the weapon as he threw it clattering across the floor. He collapsed, his chest heaving, the low keening coming from his throat.

"Take this," he heard Miranda say over the comm. "This is an address of some people that can help you."

"Why...why are you doing this?" Sidonis asked quietly.

"To save somebody I love."

Thane

"Kolyat!" Shepard called out as he shoved past the crowd, his pistol drawn.

The young drell, surprised, showed his lack of experience by turning to face the voice, his eyes wide.

Unfortunately, the krogan, Talid's bodyguards, were experienced mercenaries. Their guns snapped up as they shoved Talid, screaming, behind them, backing into the club's back room.

Kolyat cursed as he turned back to his target, his light pistol came up as he snapped off a pair of shots. He may have been an ameture, but he showed his father's talent. Both shots of the gun that shouldn't even have been able to dent the krogan's head plate instead took him in the eye, dropping him.

The standing krogan made a dark face, backing further. He left out a shot of his own pistol, cursing as Kolyat slid smoothly to one side. Another shot and Kolyat ducked. A third and Kolyat spun behind a pillar.

Spinning out, Kolyat stormed forward and fired two more shots, one took the krogan's gun, sending it sparking to the floor, the other took out the krogan's knee. His feet, empowered with a low biotic field, struck the krogan, driving it to the floor as Kolyat faced Talid directly.

"Kolyat! Stop!" Shepard yelled again as he cleared the crowd. Kolyat wasn't surprised this time, however. The young drell's hand flashed out, grabbing Talid and pulling him between himself and Shepard.

"Kolyat," Thane spoke as he stepped in behind Shepard. He reached out, slapping the door's control panel, dropping it closed behind himself and Shepard. "Kolyat. Release the man. This is not the life for you."

"You…" Kolyat's eyes went wide as he saw Thane. Then the eyes hardened. "You! Now you show up?! Now?!"

"Kolyat, let the man go," Shepard said. His voice was quiet, but hard. "Thane brought me here. He didn't want you to be a killer."

"I don't care what he wants!" Koyat growled, shoving the gun against Talid's head. "He left me alone! My mother was killed! Murdered! And he left me!"

"I am here now," Thane said quietly. "I...failed both of you. I lost myself when your mother was killed. I...hunted the people responsible. I should have stayed with you."

"And now you are here? This is when you decide to come back?" Kolyat snorted with disgust. "I figured you would show up if I started this. Didn't think it would be so fast. Maybe I'll see who is better!"

"You've been set up, Kolyat," Shepard said, his voice like ice. The Spectre's gun didn't waiver in the slightest. "The people that hired you planned on your failure."

"I don't care!" Kolyat yelled, grinding his barrel hard enough in Talid's temple that the turian cried out. "This...this is all I have…."

"It isn't Kolyat," Thane bowed his head. "If it will set you free, take your pain, put into your gun. Then give it to me. I will take it with me to Kalihira's shores. Let me take your hate away, Kolyat."

Kolyat's eyes widened as his teeth ground in his mouth. With a snarling curse, he threw Talid to the side, his pistole snapping forward, to Thane. He stepped forward until the barrel was mere centimeters from Thane's forehead.

From the side, Thane saw Shepard lower his weapon. He stood back, waiting. He trusted Thane. He knew this was not a place for him to interfere. He was a great man. He would be able to help Kolyat.

Slowly, Thane closed his eyes.

He was struck. A fist struck his chest. Then another. A gun clattered to the floor as Kolyat struck his father again, and again. "You son of a bitch!" Kolyat cried, rolled through his voice. He cried out as his chest heaved. He collapsed to his knees. Thane's arms took in his son.

AN: So...yeah. Garrus's mission in the game left a bad taste in my mouth. Sidonis wasn't Judas, he didn't sell the team out for 20 pieces of silver. They bloody tortured the guy. So, these are a little dark.