"No, this one's mine." Michael glared across the table.
"How do you figure?" Grunt glared back. "I've got the chief."
"That's a king." Michael shook his head.
"But you've only got low ones." Grunt pointed.
"Yes, but I have two twos." Michael spread them.
"No way two peons take out a chief." Grunt made a growling sound.
"Flanking maneuvers." Michael set down the cards.
"Last time someone tried outflanking you, you just went invisible and they shot each other." Grunt narrowed his eyes.
"Yes, but that was real life." Michael took a deep breath. "This is poker."
"Those twos don't even match. They are different colors." Grunt frowned at the cards.
He made a frustrated noise, then looked up. "Do you all mind?"
"No, no, we're good." Garrus shrugged from where he was leaning on the wall.
"Just getting a snack." Jacob said from where he was watching. He accepted a handful from the bag of popcorn Kasumi offered him. Thane held out his hand, and Kasumi passed the popcorn over. Wait, where did she get popcorn?
"Fascinating interspecies educational opportunity."
"What did he call this variety again?" Tali folded her arms.
"Texas Hold'em," Zaeed answered.
"And the twos are of different clans than your others." Grunt held up his other card. "The chief has his warlord."
"That's a jack, Grunt."
"Then I definitely win." Grunt started raking the markers toward him.
"He's got a point." Jack grinned.
Michael sighed.
#
"I needed to wipe that place off the map. You took me there to do it, and I owe you." Jack lay back down on the cot. "You don't know what it's like, Shepard. To have garbage like that following you. It marks you in ways you..." She swallowed. "You don't expect."
Michael sat down on the stairs. He was quiet for a moment, then shrugged. "One of the first things you learn is what time the kitchens close. You want to get to the dumpster when they are throwing out the leftovers, but before they are emptying the trash. There are always one or two places where they've got someone on staff whose been there, and leaves the food out instead of dumping it. Those places get staked out pretty fast, then the cops get wind and know if they keep an eye they can pick people up." He stared at the wall. "Sometimes you can make an arrangement. Pick up the leftovers in a nice box, but there's always a price attached."
For a moment, she was quiet. Then she nodded. "So you pay it, and tell yourself it doesn't matter anyway.
"Cause at least you've got five pounds of leftover burgers to get the taste out of your mouth." Michael nodded. "I've made a lot of hard choices, Jack. Like what to let go."
"Hard to walk away from it. You'd think it would get easier now that the place is a crater, but what else do I know?"
"There was only one other survivor from that place, and you killed him."
"It's the same thing as blowing the place up. Now I'm the only one who remembers what happened there." She closed her eyes. "It want it gone. I want it all gone. It's only in my head and when I die, it dies."
"The first person in the world..." Michael shrugged. "Whose opinion ever really mattered told me something once." He took a deep breath. "If you're the last one standing, you get to piss on their graves."
Jack's eyes opened. Then she actually laughed. "That's good." She nodded. "Should make that the ship motto."
"Feel any different now?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
"I know that place is gone. But I still kind of want to kill every person I see. No offense."
"Well, the same guy told me that the universe was a lot better off with me pointed firmly at the enemy. Guess that goes for you as well." Michael stood up. "Still not sure how the fuck he got my head on straight or even if he did, but I'll help you if you let me."
"Don't get all therapist on me, Shepard. You're not the couch type." She sat up. "I hate that stuff anyway. Bullshit prison psych."
"You ever do the thing with the 'what does this whatever look like to you'?"
"Your brains, splattered on the wall." Jack looked up at him.
"The sidewalk, after I toss you off the roof." Michael nodded.
"Soft billowy clouds." She spread her hands.
"Sheep in a meadow." Michael shook his head.
"A fucking inkblot." They said the words in unison.
"What the fuck answers were they even looking for, anyway?" Jack raised an eyebrow.
"Damned if I know. Never managed to come up with anything that got me out of trouble." Michael shrugged.
Jack smirked, then she looked up at him again, actually meeting his eyes. "You did me a favor, and that's enough. More than I expected. I'll keep it together."
#
"Shepard. I'm glad you came by." Garrus walked toward him the moment he entered the main battery.
"You've got enough guns, Garrus. I'm not getting you the new grenade launcher until I get one first." Michael shook his head.
"That's..." Garrus clicked his mandibles. "Actually not what I was going to ask."
"Wow." Michael frowned. "This must be serious."
"I've got something." Garrus nodded. "I may need you help." He folded his arms. "You remember Sidonis? The one who betrayed my team? I've found a lead on him." He walked over to where Michael was standing. "There's a specialist on the Citadel; name's Fade. He's an expert at helping people disappear. Sidonis was seen with him."
"We'll head out as soon as we are done refueling." Michael nodded. "And disappear this 'Sidonis' properly." He raised an eyebrow. "How did he betray your team?"
"He tipped off the mercs. Told them where our base was." Garrus started pacing. "He drew me out with a false job, then let the mercs hit my team. My men weren't prepared. They tried to hold them off..." Garrus clicked his mandibles. "By the time I got back, there were only two survivors. They didn't last long. All ten of them, dead. Because of him."
"What are your plans?" Michael narrowed his eyes. "Grenade down the throat?"
"You humans have a saying: 'an eye for an eye.' A life for a life." Garrus nodded. "He owes me ten lives, and I plan to collect."
"Where do we find Fade?"
"I've arranged a meeting. We'll meet him in a warehouse near the Neon Markets, down on Zakera Ward." Garrus started back toward the battery. "Thanks, Shepard. I appreciate you taking the time to help me."
#
He stopped at the entrance to the observation deck. Then he took a couple of deep breaths before entering. "Miss Samara." Michael nodded to her.
"You may simply call me Samara." She let the biotic light in her hands vanish.
"Right." He frowned. Why had he come down here? "I was just making sure you're settling in alright and I see you are so I'll just..."
"I make you nervous." She rose and turned to face him.
"Little, yeah." He shook his head, then shrugged. "Old instincts."
"You have a history of criminal behavior." She raised an eyebrow.
Michael looked at her for a moment. "Yes, I do. And it isn't entirely relegated to history." He folded his arms. "That whole needing to kill me thing after you are released from your oath..." He narrowed his eyes. "Kind of like some clarification."
"I am not certain what clarification is required." She arched an eyebrow.
"The kind that would stop me from putting a round through your head two and a half seconds before you are released from your oath, just to be on the safe side." Michael shook his head. "Because frankly, the idea of you gunning for me is a bit unnerving."
"While I am a member of your crew, I will follow your orders. If I disapprove of an order, I will inform you." She nodded. "If you persist, there may be consequences down the line."
"Fair enough." He squared his shoulders. "Keep in mind the rest of the crew also follows my orders. You don't like what I ask them to do, you bring it up to me. My orders, my consequences. We clear?"
"Yes." Samara inclined her head.
"Good." He started to turn around.
"You are an interesting puzzle, Shepard."
"What's puzzling about it?" He turned back toward her.
"Based on my observations thus far, you do not even care for certain of your crewmates." She tilted her head at him.
"They are still my crew, and this is still my ship." Michael narrowed his eyes. "So unless I toss them off, they are my problem." He shrugged. "And since if I do toss them off, it will likely be out an airlock, they are still not your problem."
"Understood, Shepard." She nodded before resuming her meditative position.
He watched for a moment, then frowned. "How does that even work, anyway? You just stare off into the void and what?"
"Contemplate."
"Contemplate what?"
"Existence."
"Right." Michael nodded. "I will leave you to it."
#
"This looks like the place. The forger's thugs should be inside." Garrus pointed.
"What were we doing the last time we were down here?" Tali tilted her head. "Remember how they were shooting at us?"
"Tali..." Shepard shrugged. "You are really going to have to narrow it down."
"No, I think she's talking about the time with the grenades." Garrus clicked his mandibles.
"Yeah, you're gonna need to narrow it down further." Shepard shook his head.
Garrus turned toward him. "You know, where they shot the lock you were trying to hack and you weren't carrying any light ordinance..."
"Oh, where Tali rigged the flashbang for the thing." Shepard nodded.
"You know..." Garrus gave Tali a proud look. "C-Sec completely redid the security on the locking mechanisms after that one."
She bounced a little. "Really?"
"Apparently one Quarian and a flash bang being able to get into a secure warehouse during a lockdown really annoyed them." Garrus chuckled. "Anderson approved the funding for them to redo all the locks due to a 'newly discovered security flaw'."
"Twenty credits says she can rig a flash-bang to fry the new ones too."
"Like I would ever bet against Tali's ability to make something go boom." Garrus clicked his mandibles.
"Awww." Tali shook her head at them.
#
A couple krogan stepped up, trying to look intimidating. Michael was fine with that, he'd brought his own. Grunt looked eager to get the fighting part started. And then a volus walked toward them. Fortunately, just one. Hopefully Jack wouldn't start juggling. "Fade? You're not quite how I imagined you."
"Looks can be deceiving," the volus said. Yeah, and this was looking more and more like a front. "So..." The volus gestured. "Which one of you wants to disappear?"
Garrus took a step forward. "I'd rather see you make someone reappear."
"Ah..." The volus shook... how do you tell a male volus from a female volus? Are there male and female volus's? Volii? "That's not the service we provide."
"Make an exception." Garrus waved a hand. "Just this once." He drew his sidearm and aimed it at the volus. Ah, Garrus.
"Damn it. Quick..." The volus gestured at the krogan. "Shoot them. Shoot them, you lumbering mountains."
Michael and Garrus fired simultaneously. The krogan dropped. Grunt made a disappointed sound. Michael shrugged. "Too slow."
"Why do I even bother?" The volus shrugged.
"We need to find a client of yours. I suggest you cooperate." Michael narrowed his eyes.
"Wait..." The volus held up a hand. "I'm not the one you want to talk to. I'm not Fade."
"I..." Michael rolled his eyes. "Am shocked."
Garrus clicked his mandibles and leaned down to stare at the volus. "Well then maybe you'd like to tell us where to find him."
"Yes. Of course. He's in the factory district, works out of the old prefab foundry."
"I know the place." Garrus rose.
"Uh..." The volus paced a little. "He's got a lot of mercs there..." It shifted its weight from foot to foot. "Blue Suns. Harkin thinks they're protecting him."
Wait a minute, he knew that name. Michael turned toward Garrus. "How the hell did Harkin end up being the Fade?"
"Well..." The volus answered. "He got fired from C-Sec a while back. He used his knowledge of C-Sec and their systems to help a few people disappear. Then he made himself disappear, and Fade was born. So to speak."
"Interesting. But it changes nothing. We still need to find him before we can get to Sidonis." Garrus shrugged.
Michael checked his ammo. "I'm looking forward to seeing Harkin again."
"I'm sure he'll be excited to see both of us." Garrus nodded. "We'll need to go to the transit station. I can get us to him from there."
"So I..." The volus sounded hopeful. "I can go?"
"Sure." Garrus nodded to it. "But if we don't find Harkin, we'll be back for you."
"Oh. Good."
#
"If I'd been aiming for the geth rocket launcher, I'd have hit the geth rocket launcher." Michael glared at Garrus.
"Look, it's alright to acknowledge that I made the shot and you didn't." Garrus clicked his mandibles. "I mean, you're a good shot for a human and all..."
"You going there, Vakarian?" Michael raised an eyebrow.
"I'm just saying, it's impressive your species can use a gun at all with those weird hands of yours."
"Weird hands?" Michael blinked.
"He's got a point, Shepard." Tali nodded. "How do you keep all those extra fingers from getting in the way?"
Michael looked down at his hands, then back up at Garrus. "The additional digits improve stability, which is why I can stay on target instead of having my second shot veer left."
"My shots to do not veer left." Garrus shook his head.
"EDI?"
"Statistical analysis reveals a leftward drift upon subsequent fire 87.352% of the time."
"Ha."
"Of course your ship is going to take your side."
"I think the fact that she can pinpoint it to that degree of accuracy says something about how you two need to get lives." Jack rolled her eyes as she got out of the car.
"There he is." Michael nodded.
Harkin stared in their direction. "Shepard?"
"Don't just stand there..." Harkin started gesturing at the nearby men in Blue Sun armor. "Stop them. Stop them."
"Run all you want, Harkin." Garrus started shooting. "We'll find you."
#
"You still planning to kill Sidonis when we find him?" Michael raised an eyebrow at Garrus.
"That's the plan." Garrus nodded. "Unlike everyone he betrayed, he'll be spared the agony of a slow death. It's more than he deserves, but as long as he's dead, I'll be satisfied."
"I've got no problem with that." Michael checked his sight.
"Somehow, I didn't think you would." Garrus clicked his mandibles.
"We won't catch him waiting here." Michael headed for the door.
#
EDI's voice came over their radios. "Shepard, I have patched into the warehouse scanners. The crates in the transport carriers overhead are rigged to explode when dropped."
"Fighting mechs with moving floors, crates of various heights, and explosive items being transported overhead?" Garrus glanced at Michael.
"I know." Michael nodded. "And it's not even my birthday."
Jack flung a crate into two mechs. "Keep up, losers."
"My drone is making you both look bad." He couldn't see through the helmet, but he was pretty sure Tali was smirking.
"You know, as much fun as it would be to shoot all the mechs..." Michael tilted his head.
"Why spoil their fun?" Garrus chuckled. "Fifty on Tali."
"As much as it pains me to take that bet..." Michael sighed. "I think I am going to have to back Jack this round."
"Your loss."
"I don't know about Jack..." Michael watched a group of mechs explode. "But we've been a really bad influence on Tali."
"Heavy mechs." Garrus pointed. "Three."
"Alright." Michael shrugged. "Let's go provide them with some cover fire."
#
Michael and Jack moved in to one door, while Tali and Garrus headed toward the other.
"You were close, but not close enough." Harkin backed away from Michael just in time to find himself face to face with Garrus. Garrus hit him in the face with a rifle butt and then tossed him into the wall.
"So, Fade..." Garrus pinned him with an elbow to the throat. "Couldn't make yourself disappear, huh?"
"Come on, Garrus-" Harkin sounded smug. "We can work this out. Whaddaya need?"
Garrus dropped him, then walked a couple paces away before looking back at him. "I'm looking for someone."
"Well, I guess we both have something the other one wants." Harkin smirked. Which turned out to be a really bad idea. Garrus responded by bringing a knee into Harkin's groin.
Michael just shook his head. "That had to hurt. Maybe you should just tell us what we want to know."
"Maybe. I still haven't heard what you want." Harkin stood up.
"You helped a friend of mine disappear. I need to find him."
"I might need a little more information than that."
"His name was Sidonis. Turian, came from the -"
"I know who he is, and I'm not telling you squat."
"Is this information really worth all the trouble?" Michael shrugged. This was fun. He didn't get to play good cop very often.
"I don't give out client information. It's bad for business."
Garrus knocked Harkin into the wall again, sending him to the ground. "You know what else is bad for business?" Garrus put his foot on Harkin's throat. "A broken neck."
"All right. All right. Get off me," Harkin said. Michael tapped Garrus's shoulder, and Garrus took a step back. Harkin got to his knees, then looked up. "Terminus really changed you, huh, Garrus?"
'No, but Sidonis..." Garrus shrugged. "Opened my eyes. Now arrange a meeting."
Harkin did, quickly enough, then looked back toward them. "It's all good. He wants to meet you in front of Orbital Lounge. Middle of the day." Harkin shifted a little. "So, if our business is done, I'll be going..."
"I don't think so." Garrus caught him by the shirt front. "You're a criminal now, Harkin."
"So what..." Harkin coughed. "You're just going to kill me? That's not your style, Garrus."
For a moment, Garrus just stared at him. Then he shrugged again. "Kill you? No. But I don't mind slowing you down a little." He put a round in Harkin's knee. "Maybe give C-Sec a blood trail to follow."
"Bastard." Harkin glared.
"You're getting off easy, Harkin." Michael turned and followed Garrus out of the room.
"What'd I ever do to you?" Harkin whined.
"Sidonis better be there, or I'm coming back to finish the job." Garrus didn't bother to look back.
#
"I think I handled that wrong." Michael frowned.
"What?" Jack raised an eyebrow.
"Would a 'good cop' have stopped Garrus from shooting Harkin?"
"How the fuck would I know?" Jack scoffed.
"Good point." He glanced at her. "Go with Tali and head back to the Normandy. Garrus and I will finish up here."
#
Garrus set the skycar down. "Harkin's a blood menace." He glanced at Michael. "We shouldn't have just let him go. He deserved to be punished."
"Don't waste your time on him. Let C-Sec deal with him now."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right."
"And you did shoot him a little."
"True." Garrus clicked his mandibles. "Thanks for helping me with this, Shepard."
"I'd do the same if I were you." He nodded.
"I learned from the best." Garrus started looking around. "I need to set up. I can get a clear shot from over there."
Michael looked over the terrain. "You just want me to get him in position?"
"Basically. Keep him talking for a minute. When I've got him in my sights I'll let you know." Garrus took a deep breath. "Give me a signal so I know you're ready, and I'll take the shot. You better go, he'll be here soon."
"Don't forget rule one."
#
"Shepard, can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear." Michael scanned the area. He noted a nervous turian on a bench.
"All right. There he is..." Garrus's voice confirmed the ident. "Wave him over and keep him talking."
Michael gestured to Sidonis, who immediately walked to him. "Let's get this over with."
"You're in my shot." Garrus's voice came over the radio. "Move to the side."
The idea that Garrus's gun was aimed at the back of his head was not a pleasant one. "This won't take long at all." Michael nodded to Sidonis before taking a step to the right.
"You one of Harkin's men?" Sidonis tilted his head. "I don't remember seeing you before."
"That's it. Just keep him talking a few more seconds."
"I was told Harkin was one of the best. This better not happen again." Sidonis folded his arms.
"Oh, it won't." Michael took one more half step to the right. "Don't worry."
"What?" Sidonis's eyes widened. "Oh, shit..." And then there was a hole in Sidonis's head.
"Betrayal repaid, Sidonis." Garrus's voice was calm.
#
"That was easy enough." Garrus walked over to the car.
"Nice shot." Michael nodded. "Centered perfectly."
Garrus clicked his mandibles. "Thank you."
"All good?"
"Yeah." Garrus nodded. "It's over. I can move on."
"Glad to hear it."
"Thanks for helping me, Shepard." Garrus shrugged. "Let's get moving. I need to get away from this place."
"Right with you."
#
"Why does that surprise you, Alenko?" Hackett looked amused.
"Well, it's may have been a prison but it was also a ship." Kaidan shrugged. "Now, if you'd told me he'd stolen it, that would be one thing. But blowing it up?"
"He apparently broke someone out. Still getting the intel on that someone." Hackett folded his arms. "I'm concerned."
"About what in particular, sir?"
"The last time that boy assembled his own team the lot of you stole the Citadel."
Kaidan immediately began shaking his head. "We gave it back."
"I've got a mission for you." Hackett handed him a datapad.