Well well well. In case you haven't seen it, someone was angry with me for writing about gun control in the last chapter. I find that hilarious, of all the things to get angry about... . This isn't Texas in space, sorry. Never was, never will be.

Anyway, let's have some sex, shall we?

Shepard's omni-tool buzzed to wake her and it startled Garrus awake. At some point in the night he must have drifted off again. He felt Shepard stir behind him, wrapping herself tighter in her blanket after turning off the alarm. He turned over to face her and combed through her hair with his talons.

Shepard purred and pressed against his touch. "That feels good," she murmured into her blanket. She stretched her neck and Garrus admired that beautiful curve.

He leaned over to nuzzle into that curve, taking in her scent. She sighed happily, leaning her head to the side to give him access to that area above her collarbone that he loved so much. He lightly licked along that elegant slope of soft skin, reveling in her shudder and quiet moan.

"Do you think we have time...?" he asked, keeping his nose pressed into her neck.

Shepard stretched and twisted her body until she faced him. She kissed along his mandible and let her tongue play around the tip. "I hope so," she whispered, pressing her hips against his. Her hands found his waist, playing over the sensitive skin there and she kept kissing his face and neck.

Garrus groaned, desire making his head swim. He sat up to lean against the wall and she followed him and straddled him. Her knees pressed into his sensitive sides and he could feel her wetness on his softening plates. She was only wearing a shirt and it scrunched up around her waist.

Their intimacy was well practiced by now, their movements in harmony. Where his body was angular and hard, her body was soft and flexible. Where he held her tight, she molded against him. Just from the way she angled her hips he knew what she intended and he didn't need to look down to know how she offered herself so that she could take him inside.

Her moans and gasps sounded like erotic subharmonics and he answered in his own. He tipped her over, trying to set a faster pace. He didn't mean to rush towards their release but the need was so urgent, so overwhelming. She clung to him, just as needy and desperate as him, gasping and chanting incoherent words. He knew by the way she held onto him and undulated her hips that she was rubbing her most sensitive parts on his genital plates and he held on with all his will to wait – wait for her, to feel her and he almost couldn't do it – the flow – the dance so wild and rushing and then he felt her clench and she moaned and he finally let go, tumbling over the crest of his release with her, his forehead pressed to hers and her name in his breath.

They rolled to the side and Garrus had to catch Jane by her shoulders to stop her from falling out of the bed. She laughed and kissed the softer skin under his eye. "Thank you, my savior."

"Thanks for the sex or the catch?"

Jane laughed and pressed another kiss under his eyes. "Both, my Angel, both." She sprinkled tiny kisses along the blue marks on his face. Garrus wondered where her sudden fascination with his markings came from but a chime from her omni-tool interrupted them.

Shepard sat up and laid her head to the side like she always did when she listened to the audio over her communicator implant. It seemed to be a recording because she didn't answer in any way. She jumped out of bed while listening and ran towards the bathroom. Her omni-tool flared up as she typed in commands, which severely hindered her efforts at brushing her teeth.

Garrus joined her in the bathroom to use his own cleaning utensils. She looked up to him, white foam around her lips and her toothbrush buzzing in her hand and said, "That was a relayed recording from Captain Martel via the last comm buoy they passed. According to their calculations, they'll be here in 3 hours so we better get this show on the road."

Her toothbrush was flinging tiny specks of white foam around. Garrus snickered and wiped some toothpaste away that was sliding down her breast. "Maybe you should concentrate on doing one thing at the time, Sunshine."

Shepard spit foam into the sink and sneered at him, "Oh stop it, you sound just like aunt Marianne, she used to say that all the time."

"She must be a very patient woman," Garrus said. He ducked to narrowly avoid a sponge being thrown at him.

Shepard finished cleaning her teeth and washed herself. As she used a towel to wipe the moisture off her water-repellent skin, she stared thoughtfully at the wall. "You know, she really was very patient, aunt Marianne," she said after a while. "I never really thanked her for it."

Garrus swallowed as a stab of pain in his gizzard reminded him of his own break-up with his family. In a way, Shepard and him were now much alike, they both had broken with their roots and past to live as far away as possible from their families.

"Maybe, after all of this is over, we could visit her, you know, just to talk," Garrus said.

Shepard looked at him and he couldn't decipher the expression on her face before she said, "You think we..." she stopped herself and a forced looking smile appeared on her face. "Yes, why not, we could do that." She turned and left the bathroom to dress herself.

Garrus watched her dumbfounded and replayed what she had said in his mind. She had looked upset, hopeless.

And then it hit him.

She thinks she will not survive. She thinks she will die fighting Saren on Ilos.

He hurried after her. "Wait!"

She was already at the door, practically fleeing from him. He held out his hand and waited till she took it and let herself pulled back towards him.

"What?" she asked.

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't go into this to die."

She stared at him for a moment and her eyes darkened in anger. "No! I don't... , no. We can't have this conversation, not us! No."

"Don't cut me out like this," Garrus blurted out, harsher than he intended. "This is about us, you can't deny me a conversation about it."

"Deny you a conversation?" Shepard asked, her voice pitched high in confusion.

"Am I your mate or not? We are together in more than just..." he looked over to the bed and his anger evaported. He reminded himself that he was probably missing some human facial cues and the whole range of subharmonics a turian would add. "Do humans not talk to each other about their worries?"

She took a deep breath and her face softened. Her hand, raised as if she wanted to punch him, lowered slowly. "Of course we do, it's just not easy..." She put her hand on his cheek. "I guess I'm not a good example when it comes to talking about things. This is what I do, what we do. We both know what it means to be a soldier and there is no promise, no guarantee –"

"I know," Garrus interrupted her.

"And I dragged you into this," she whispered.

"You think I would have been safer at C-Sec?"

"No, I would worry about you just the same," she sighed.

"Jane." He held out his hand and she took it, her thumb stroking over the back of his hand. "We always knew this, we always knew how dangerous our lives are. All I'm asking is that you don't go into this to throw your life away."

She pulled herself closer and rested her head against his collar. "And I ask you for the same."

"I promise."

She looked up to him. "I will be careful if you remember to duck."

Garrus stretched his neck. "Hey I'm a big guy, I can't hide like you pyjacks.

"Who are you calling a pyjack?"

Garrus laughed, a rumble in his gizzard telling of his relief that the tension between them was gone. "I would never. I heard Wrex say it."

"Yeah, right." She smiled to him and picked up her jacket. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, let me just put on my boots," Garrus said and sat down on the desk chair.

Shepard watched as he slipped into the boots, smiling at him. There was something in the way she looked that made him want to continue their conversation but now was just not the right time.

They hurried to the secret medical facility and Shepard immediately engaged Dr. Chakwas and Pauline in a conversation. Tali was sitting on a gurney, typing on her omni-tool and Garrus went over to her.

"Did Pauline make an implant for you?" he asked her.

Tali looked up and laid her head to the side. "As Pauline said, my whole suit is basically a neural implant with all the connections we have. Getting the reaper block enhancement integrated was the easiest thing she's done, she said."

"And does it work?"

"I think so yes," Tali said and put a recording on her omni-tool. It showed the caged husk, rushing towards the glimmering mass effect containment field. Right in front of the camera, held by Tali he realized, the husk suddenly stopped and its distorted face looked confused. It was only a moment before the humanoid monster regained whatever remained of its senses and ran straight into the barrier but it had definitely reacted to the reaper block.

"Are you ready to receive your implant now?" Dr. Chakwas said to him. Shepard gave him an encouraging smile.

Garrus hummed positively and walked over to the chair they had used for Nihlus' implantation yesterday. Shepard came to his side and took his hand.

She leaned down to whisper in his ear, "Are you nervous?"

"Yes," he said, suppressing the jittery rumble of his subharmonics. He trusted Dr. Chakwas but he still was a bit anxious about the whole concept of neural implants under his fringe.

Nihlus strolled in, a bright headscarf in daring blue and purple draped over his fringe. "Ah, I see you're getting ready to join my exclusive club."

Keggs pushed past him and gave a nod to the other people in the room. "Not that exclusive," he murmured, poking a bandage on the side of his head with a talon. Apparently Garrus was the last turian in their group to receive the implant.

Pauline packed a technical looking box with hand drawn red hearts on it and closed it with a snap. "I'm heading to the Normandy to install the enhancements on the human crew."

"How many of the crew have agreed to receive them?" Shepard asked.

Pauline smiled at her, "All of them."

"Do they even know what it means to stay on the Normandy for what we're planning?" Shepard said, looking around as if she asked for confirmation.

"Yes they do, what did you expect?"

Nihlus shook his head, "Why are you even surprised? This is your crew."

Shepard sighed, a soft blush spreading on her cheeks. "Well, I guess the cat is out of the bag now. Let's just hope this all works. Paulline, when you're done can you please visit Ashley in the hospital and install the reaper block on her implant too?"

"Sure," Pauline said and left with a smile.

Dr. Chakwas turned her attention to Garrus. "I need to put you under anesthetics to connect the implant, alright?"

"Just a minute please, doctor," Garrus said and caught Shepard's look. She leaned over and Dr. Chakwas stepped away to give them some privacy.

"Don't worry, it will be done in no time – "

"I know," Garrus interrupted, "I just wanted to... when we are through with all of this and are on the way to Ilos..."

"When we successfully turned to a life of crime," Shepard continued with a smile.

"Yes, when all that is done, we'll have a bit of downtime until we reach Ilos and I would like to have dinner with you then, just you and me."

"Like a romantic date?" Shepard asked with her eyes drawn wide.

Garrus nodded, "Yes, I think it has a special name, I've read about it... candlelight?"

"A candlelight dinner!" Shepard smiled at him, bright and beautiful. "You're such a romantic, it's unbelievable."

"I don't quite understand what open flames have to do with the romantic setting though," he admitted.

"No candles on Palaven?"

Garrus shook his head. "It's doesn't get dark for a long time on Palaven anyway and the fires of our ancestors were torches or jars with Sinu-fat and scales from Brin."

"I'm pretty sure that's how candles have started on Earth, with whale fat and stuff like that." She took his hand and her thumb stroked over it. "I think we can manage without open flames."

"Good," Garrus said and laid his head back. Dr. Chakwas came back and placed a mask over his face. He kept looking at Shepard until his eyes fell closed.

"Wake up, Garrus," a soft voice said close to his ear just a moment later. "Come one, it wasn't that much anesthetic."

He opened his eyes to see Shepard smiling at him and for a moment he wasn't sure if he was dreaming.

"Is it done?"

"Yes, all done, can you feel something?"

Garrus tried to focus on any new sensations in his head but he didn't know what to feel for. "How would I... What am I supposed to feel?"

Shepard looked thoughtful, like she was looking into her own head. "I don't know how to describe it but there is something... I can feel that my implant is connected."

Garrus closed his eyes and poked his mind in any way he knew. Something was there, something felt different but he couldn't say what. He hummed, testing if the new thing reacted to his subharmonics and he heard Shepard giggle. He opened his eyes to see her muffling the sound of her laughter with her hand.

She leaned forward and whispered into his ear, "I'm glad your sexy hum still works alright."

Garrus grabbed her shoulder and pulled her towards him, pressing his forehead against hers. Immediately the tension fell from his shoulders. The softness of her skin, her warmth, the way her scent mixed with his marking scent – it felt like home.

Dr. Chakwas clearing her throat behind them made them break apart after endless seconds. "I would just like to say that the procedure went well and that you are fit for duty but I need to be informed if you feel anything strange."

"Yes, doctor," Garrus said with a quiet hum for Shepard.

"Dr. Chakwas?" a familiar voice called from the entrance to the laboratory. Liara stood there, wringing her hands.

The doctor gestured towards her to come to her desk. "I have your enhancement module here, it will slot right into your biotic amp."

Garrus noticed that Shepard stared at Liara just like him. There was something strange about her, she looked unfamiliar. Her face seemed to be much rounder, her fringe strangely soft.

"Liara?" Shepard called to her and stepped closer to her. "Did you change something... something about you?"

"What are you talking about?" Liara asked, looking down on her clothes.

"Nevermind," Shepard said. "I'll see you later. Garrus?" She turned to him and he jumped out of the chair to follow her as she sped out of the laboratory. They were silent until they were outside of the building. Shepard grabbed his arm and pulled him over to a corner under some trees at the lake.

"Did you see it too? How different she looked?" Shepard said to him, her eyes wide.

"Yes! She looked... " he stopped and looked at the many asari he could see from their corner. "They all look different!" Every asari in their vicinity looked softer, rounder.

Shepard turned around to follow his line of sight. "You are right! They look more... scaly."

Garrus shook his head. "Their skin always had scales but now they look rounder and more rubbery."

"Rubbery?" Shepard turned to him. "Is it possible that asari have always looked differently to you than to me?"

Garrus thought about that for a moment, remembering some conversations he had had in his time at C-Sec. "You know, a salarian colleague once told me that asari looked like salarians to him. Frank thought that was really weird."

"It is." Shepard leaned on the balustrade to the lake, looking at the water. "Did asari brainwash everyone to look attractive to them?"

"And now with the reaper block it doesn't work anymore?"

"That's the only thing that changed for both of us. But why does blocking the reaper frequency result in this?"

"What is the connection?" Garrus asked, checking off his mental checklist like he used to do at C-Sec. "It can't be anything new, our society has been in contact with the asari for about 800 years and I never heard of a record of them looking differently. They have always been considered attractive. Although..."

"What?"

"There is this phenomenon that asari look differently in pictures sometimes, it's one of those things that everyone kind of takes as given, you know?"

"Like how everyone always looks terrible on their IDs?" Shepard asked.

"That's a universal thing?"

"Apparently," Shepard said with a shrug and looked around again. "I guess we just have to get used to it, it's not like they look hideous now. But I really would like to know why blocking a reaper brainwave pattern has an effect on how we perceive asari." Her omni-tool chimed just as she was typing in notes. "Shit, fuck," she spit out.

"What is it?" Garrus strained his neck to see what had made her upset.

"The asari councilor wants to speak to us, of all people. Our distraction will be here soon, we don't have time for a lengthy meeting with the Council."

"Does it say Council meeting or is it just her?"

Shepard checked the message again. "Huh, it's only her it seems. I wonder what that means? I think..." she rapidly scrolled through the contacts on her omni-tool, "I think we need reaper-blocking support for that." She laid a finger on her subdermal comm-speaker behind her ear and waited for an answer.

"Doctor," she said, obviously talking to Dr. Chakwas, "has Dania Va'sida of ANIS received her reaper block already? Thank you." She initiated another call. "Dania, can you meet us right now at the Citadel Tower? We need to talk to Councilor Tevos and I'd like you to be there with us." She nodded, despite the fact that the asari could not see her. "She'll be right there, let's hurry. Captain Martel will come through the relay in less than an hour, I want to be on the Normandy then, ready to go."

They hurried over the bridge towards the Tower, but not too fast to raise suspicion. Dania was waiting for them at the elevator's doors and stepped inside when they opened, keeping them open for them. The doors closed behind them as they slipped in and Shepard started to say hello to Dania but the words seemed to be stuck in her throat.

She stared at the asari, looking at her like she saw her for the first time. And Garrus did the same, he couldn't help himself. It was the same as it had been with Liara, a subtle but glaring difference, impossible to pinpoint to a specific thing. She looked rounder and softer but not as much as Liara, her face still had a strong chin and jawbone.

"What?" Dania asked annoyed.

"Holy shit, you look amazing!" Shepard blurted out.

"I've worn this before," she said and looked down on her armored dress suit. Dania's fringe quivered in suppressed anger and wrinkles appeared on her forehead, making the scales under her dramatic red markings glitter in the light.

"No, it's... with the reaper block, all asari suddenly look differently," Shepard said, "and with you... damn. Amazing."

Garrus almost felt jealous at the way she looked at Dania but he had to agree – Dania looked incredible. Her skin seemed to be of a even darker purple than before and the red markings accentuated the edges of her face. She looked like a fierce goddess.

"We look differently since you had the reaper block installed? How is that possible?" Dania searched their faces. "You still look the same to me."

"We know that the reaper block has a short range, the husks and the Keepers react to it when they get close. Something in that range influences our perception," Shepard said. "It seems to be only about our perception of you."

Dania scanned him and Shepard with her omni-tool and Garrus recognized the peaks of the reaper-block in the readout. "You know, I've had some strange reaction this morning at the coffee place. When I came close to asari, they got this weird look on their faces. I thought..., I mean, I felt a bit strange this morning and I thought it showed on my face or something but... ." She looked at the readout on her omni-tool and frowned. "I'm going to talk to someone I know about this, see what they make of it."

"Just keep it on a low burn," Shepard said, "we don't want to raise suspicion."

"Understood."

The elevator slowed down on the office level and they turned towards the councilor offices. There were more guards than ever, at least two in front of every door and four more patrolling the hallway; most of them turian and a few asari. Shepard kept her head down, walking without looking at anyone and Garrus and Dania mimicked her, staying single file behind her.

The door to Tevos' office was guarded by two tall and impressively looking asari. These looked much stronger and more physical than other asari he had seen before. With his new impressions of asari, Garrus started to notice things about them that he had not been aware of.

The guards stepped in their way like human medieval guards did in the old vids that Shepard liked to watch. All that was missing was the crossing of their long sticks in front of them.

Shepard looked at her omni-tool. "Commander Shepard and advisers. The Councilor is expecting us."

For a moment nothing happened. The asari guards stared at them, expressions flitting over their faces in rapid succession. It was like they were stuck in a programming loop.

Dania leaned forward and whispered, "That's exactly how the people in the coffee shop looked at me this morning."

Shepard nodded. "Must be the block," she said under her breath. "I kind of wish we had a way of turning it off, this is getting a bit obvious." She looked up and made her voice loud and deep. "Can we pass? We are expected and would prefer to not let Councilor Tevos wait."

One of the guards looked like he woke up from a dream and initiated a call, announcing their presence. After a short nod, the guards stepped aside and let them in.

The front room where they had met the receptionist the last time was dim and empty. The door to the main office stood open and the adjacent room seemed to be equally dark. Shepard stepped in, her hand hovering over her sidearm. Dania and Garrus followed her, equally ready to pull their guns if needed.

Movement and a sigh alerted them and the room became a bit brighter by the biotic glow from Dania. A soft voice spoke up, "Come in. Commander Shepard, Opione Vakarian and Agent Va'sida how good of you to come."

The voice belonged to a shadowy figure who stood up and walked over to the desk. A few omni-pads illuminated the desk but the rest of the room remained dark. Garrus could now recognize the councilor but he wondered how much Shepard could see in this darkness.

"Councilor?" Shepard asked, "can we turn up the light in here? I can't see a thing."

"Apologies, I sometimes forget that humans can't see in the dark." The windows turned brighter and the light from the Citadel illuminated the room. Councilor Tevos sat down behind her massive desk and folded her hands in front of her. "Have a seat Commander Shepard."

"I prefer to stand, councilor, I have another appointment to keep so I hope you don't mind that we keep this meeting short." Shepard stood with her back straight, her hands clasped behind her back. She appeared to be at rest but to Garrus could see the tension in her neck. She was a predator, relaxed but waiting to strike.

A disturbing laugh came from Councilor Tevos. "Do you really think you will get through with this, Commander?"

Shepard did not let any emotion show on her face and took a step closer. "I'm sorry?"

The councilor stood up and stepped around her desk. "Whatever you're planning, it will fail. No ship will take you off this station and without the Normandy you can't... can't... ," she stumbled, holding onto the desk to not fall. "You can't take... the ship, you can't..." She took another stumbling step and Dania rushed to her side to prevent her fall. The councilor stared at her with the same looping expressions of fear, confusion and curiosity flicking over her face as the guards had shown. Her voice, strong and confident before, changed to a high pitched whisper. "What is happening?"

A sound that seemed to vibrate in the back of his mind, drew Garrus' attention away from the councilor and to a small black object on the desk. If it had not been for the noise, he wouldn't even have noticed it. It was shaped vaguely rectangular, about the size of his palm and seemed to be a fragment of a bigger object. It lay still on a silver plate but at the same time it looked like it was moving, vibrating just at the edge of his perception.

"What is that?" Garrus asked and stepped closer to the desk.

Shepard came to his side and glared at the object. "I don't know but it's giving me a headache."

"Me too," Dania said and took the thing and threw it into the farthest corner of the room.

Tevos gasped but did not try to stop her.

"How do you feel?" Dania asked the councilor, leading her to a chair near the windows and helped her sit down.

"I feel like... like there was something I should remember, something I should do." Faint blue waves of biotics ran up her arms and flickered out over her shoulders. "I feel better but I don't remember feeling bad before..."

"That object," Shepard asked, gesturing in the general direction of it's whereabouts. "How did it get here?"

Tevos looked like it was painful for her to talk about this. "I can't tell you that but..." She looked up to Shepard. "Commander, if you intend to take the Normandy to Ilos, you will fail before you reach the Widow-Relay. The docking locks will send out a warning when they get released and that warning goes straight to all councilors."

Shepard's controlled facade fell away. "Councilor, we have to stop Saren on Ilos," she pleaded. "This is not about politics, not about humanity playing with the big kids. I have seen what the Reapers will do, you saw it too! We have to stop this before it even starts." She stepped closer and took Tevos' hand. "We have to take the Normandy to Ilos, right now."

Tevos' eyes softened and she nodded. "I know. I can issue a release command but the councilors will get an automatic warning when I do, just like when the docking clamps release."

"Can you distract the councilors Sparatus and Valern so that they don't notice the messages right away?"

A smile spread on her face. "A meditation would be good in these stressful times I think."

Shepard grinned and exchanged a look with Dania. "Thank you Councilor, Agent Va'sida will stay with you to help you."

Tevos stood up and interlinked her arm in Dania's. "I wonder why I feel so tired... I would like an explanation one day why I felt so strange when you came in." Her fringe tentacles shivered, the scales glittering in the light from the Citadel. "I'm calling Sparatus and Valern now but I can't call Ambassador Udina to a meditation. It would be highly suspicious."

"I take care of Udina. Thank you Councilor and please be careful." Shepard shook Tevos' hand and smiled warmly at her.

The Councilor bowed her head. She typed a message on her omni-tool and slowly walked on Dania's arm towards the door. They followed her and before they entered the hallway, Tevos stopped and turned around.

"I can't trust anybody, can I?"

Garrus shook his head. "I'm afraid not, councilor."

Tevos sighed. "When this is over, I expect a thorough explanation for all of this."

"I promise," Shepard said.

"Very well, I have to get to the garden. You better hurry, I can't keep them for too long." Tevos made a short bow and then hurried to another elevator with Dania.

Shepard ran towards the elevator that would take them back down to the main level, urgently typing on her omni-tool. She looked up to Garrus for a moment. "Call Leran, we don't need him at flight control if the Council issues the command but we need him at the docking clamps so that they don't sound an alarm."

"On it," Garrus said. They reached the elevator and stepped in. Shepard was impatiently tapping her foot, waiting for a call to connect. Her finger kept flicking against her subdermal comm unit behind her ear.

"Come one, come on... Anderson! Finally!" she called out. "Captain, you have to distract Udina, right now. The release of the Normandy will issue a warning message and Udina should not see it." She waited for a moment. "Thank you Sir, you too." The call had ended and she turned to Garrus.

He had typed the message to Leran, and the turian had already answered that he was on the way to the docks. Shepard's omni-tool pinged with a message and she cursed when she looked at it.

"The Fedele will be here soon, we are running out of time." The elevator finally stopped and they ran as fast as they could over to the elevator that would take them to the docks. Shepard called Joker on the Normandy while they ran in zigzag through the crowds.

"Joker, everybody needs to be on board this minute, make sure we have our supplies and call everyone back. We are leaving now!"

Garrus grabbed her arm to pull her to his side before she ran into an elcor. "Are we good, do we have everything?"

"Joker said the only problem is the fuel but he has an idea about that."

"I hope so, that would be an embarrassing adventure if we ended up stranded somewhere in the Kepler Verge because we ran out of fuel." He jumped into the dock elevator and started a little C-Sec program from his omni-tool to give them priority. Hopefully the elevator would move a little faster now.

Shepard laughed out. "Some pirates we are."

At the dock, Leran hung neck deep in a control system and grinned over his shoulder. "I got it, I have to hold this insulator here but I think this will stop the alarm from the docking clamps."

"Good work Leran and please be careful," Shepard said before running into the Normandy. Garrus gave a short turian salute to Leran and followed her. As soon as the decontamination cycle released them they stormed towards the cockpit. Joker and Kaidan were in full start preparation, their hands flying over the interfaces in front of them. A big red indicator glowed on one side, showing the status of the docking clamps.

"Everybody accounted for?" asked Shepard.

"Everybody and even more," Joker said and at the same time a familiar voice behind them made them turn around.

Nihlus grinned at them, wearing his black and red armor and a red patch on his disfigured fringe. "We were just waiting for you."

"What are you doing here? You can't..." Shepard started but Nihlus interrupted her.

"Saren was my teacher, my mentor and my friend and he shot me in the head when my back was turned. He's going to have to face me and nothing you say will keep me off this mission," he said, his voice rumbling with bitter and angry subharmonics.

The inside of the cockpit lit up with the light of the relay and they all turned to look at it.

Shepard sighed. "Well, you're not leaving now, that's for sure, cause there's our distraction," she said, pointing at a ship that came tumbling out of the mass effect stream with a trail of smoke behind it.

All eyes stared at the indicator for the docking clamps, glowing red.

"Come on, Tevos, don't leave us hanging," Shepard mumbled.

Outside, the C-Sec Gate-and-Perimeter-Control started with three shuttles and steered towards the smoking Fedele.

The indicator still glowed red.

Big thanks to divadevi8808 for beta reading!