MASS EFFECT: WINTER EYES

CHAPTER 15: Gozu

It didn't take much for Raven to discreetly leave the Blue Suns mercs at the docks. Another shipment flagged their attention and while they were busy talking to the deliverer, she used her tactical cloak to sneak away. Rushing through the winding streets, she allowed herself to uncloak when she reached a more secluded area of the station. The mercs' tale of Archangel on Omega years ago described his hideout to be at a warehouse on the Gozu district. Not familiar with the station at all, she had to rely heavily on the schematics of the station's layout from her omni tool. She couldn't risk asking locals. There were too many eyes and ears on the station and right now, she believed no one was onto her presence. She planned to keep it that way. Eying her tool to memorize the quickest route, she closed it down and took off; ignoring the looks of a few citizens that were walking the streets. Most of them appeared to be poor. A few humans had pink discoloration of their eyes pegging them to be dusters.

Not wanting to linger too long, she quickened her steps and reached back to discard the hair extension that she used for her mission on the New Citadel. The color was still the same purple tone and she still donned the same merc getup that she changed into once she left the New Citadel.

A few more blocks led her to the bridge that connected to the warehouse. Stopping at the bridge's entrance, Raven allowed her fingertips to brush up against the station's wall. Her eyes looked around at her surroundings. A sense of déjà vu was hitting her mind. What did it mean? "Archangel!" She could hear her own voice in her head calling out to an unknown person. She whirled around on her heel to see if anyone was behind her, but there was no one. "Fuck…okay. What the hell is going on?" Raven shook her head to clear her thoughts. Eying a salarian standing on the other side of the bridge, watching her carefully, she approached him. She wasn't going to brandish her weapon unless she needed to. The less attention to her location, the better.

The salarian appeared to be alone. He was dark green in skin color and missing a right arm. Her approach spooked him, and he stumbled to retrieve his pistol from his belt with his left hand. "Hold it!"

Stopping a few feet away, Raven held up her hands to show him no aggression. "Relax. I'm not here to hurt you if you cooperate."

"I-I have the Blue Suns' protection…t-they will know if you steal anything from my shipping center." His hand trembled as he held the weapon at her unsteadily.

She picked up on the many crates behind him that filled the warehouse at various points. With the Suns' involvement, there were many things that could be stored in the crates: black-market weapons, armor, rounds or even red sand. "I don't care about what you have. I just want to look around the warehouse."

He shook his head feverishly. "No way. You'll come back and get it. Now, go away!"

Rolling her eyes in frustration, Raven was in on him within seconds. She could easily kill him, but she curled her fingers into a fist and contacted the center of his face. The impact made him stumble backwards, before falling over onto his back. Clutching the small nostril on his face, the salarian cried out as his hand now had blood on it. "You broke my nose!" He screamed, his voice muffled by his hand that was also covering his mouth.

Raven gave a non-caring shrug. "You did it to yourself." She crouched down to get to his level and retrieved her M-6. Holding it up to allow him to see it, she smiled at him. "Don't make me use this, okay?"

The salarian angrily swatted her away with his hand. "Just go. Leave me alone! Do what you want. Just please don't take anything." He squirmed on the floor away from her, still nursing his face.

Tossing him a medigel pack from her sack, she stood back up. "I'll be quick. Take care of yourself." Stepping a few feet inside, she could hear distant gunfire in her mind and the sound of the rounds ricocheted off metal. Pivoting once more on her heel, she turned to look back in the direction she came in confusion. Becoming now aggravated with the phantom noises, she proceeded ahead.

Bray stopped a few streets back from the club and turned to look at Liara who also stopped to see what was going on. "My shift is up. Go on to the club. Aria will let you back in." He reached into his pocket to pull out a cigarette. Lighting up, he offered her one.

Politely declining with her hand, Liara looked towards the direction of Afterlife. "I'm glad I don't need a personal escort."

"Aria doesn't pay me enough to work over." Bray grunted as he ushered her along. He remained in his position and took a few puffs of the cigarette. His dark four eyes watching the asari move ahead. Once she cleared the corner, Bray snubbed out the cigarette with his boot and tapped his ear comm. "Aria?"

"Yes. What is it, Bray?"

"That turian, Garrus Vakarian, broke away. He was heading towards the Gozu district after Sh'sk lost Shepard."

Silence filled the comm for several seconds before the ruler of Omega responded, "I knew it. They are hiding information from me. Where are you now?"

"About three blocks from where the turian went. I sent that asari back towards the club. Thought you want me to tail him."

"You know what to do." The comm went dead again.

A burly bright yellow krogan with a brown head crest stood outside the ship's entrance as Kaidan Alenko stepped out. Accompanying the krogan was a batarian that had a deep facial wound that was poorly sutured. "That's far enough, Spectre," The krogan barked as he kept his shotgun pointed in his general direction.

Alenko stopped and held up his hands slightly. "Easy. I'm on official business from the Council."

"That doesn't mean shit to Aria," The batarian spat coldly. "We're checking your ship out."

"Be my guest." Kaidan stepped aside to allow them entry. After all, he had nothing to hide and he had to remain on Aria's good side if he was going to find out what happened to his friends who arrived on Omega prior to him.

"You, human, stand outside." The krogan barked at Miranda who was standing up from the ramp, still inside the ship.

"Tell your flunky to move, human." The batarian growled back to Kaidan.

"Flunky?!" Miranda growled at them.

"Easy, Miranda. Just let them check the ship out." Kaidan replied soothingly as he gently motioned her to comply with their strict demand.

Huffing, Lawson moved to the back of the ship where Kaidan was. Her heels clicking along the metal floor. The batarian stood nearby while the krogan moved deeper inside the vessel to make sure it was to his satisfaction. "Let's just get this over with." Miranda muttered under her breath.

"Hey! What are you doing in here?" The krogan's voice could be heard down the hallway.

Kaidan gave Miranda a worried look before he stepped forward to see what the commotion was. The batarian roughly blocked him with his gun and shook his head. "I'll handle it, human."

The krogan appeared moments later, pushing Tali along. "Found this quarian snooping around back there."

"Bosh'tet!" Tali hissed through her helmet.

The batarian glanced back at Kaidan in confusion. "This quarian yours?"

Picking up on that the henchmen had no idea who Tali was and that they had no idea who really Kaidan was other than a Spectre, Kaidan seized this opportunity to get at least one of them past the guards. "No. How did she get on here?!" He raised his voice with concern. "Did you purposefully put this quarian on my Spectre ship?!

Tali stumbled for her words and Kaidan could almost see the look of complete shock masked by her helmet. He just hoped that she would pick up on where he was going with this and play along. "I was hoping this ship would have something good to salvage!" She protested.

"Damn thief again," The batarian groaned in frustration and motioned with his head to the ramp.

The krogan roughly pushed Tali forward to exit the ship. "Get out of here, scum."

"Come back and I'll remove your helmet and make you breathe the good Omega air," The batarian tossed back threateningly.

Trying to pretend to be forced as much as possible, Tali protested, but allowed herself to be placed outside before the ramp closed, locking the other occupants inside. Giggling to herself from the amusement, she walked ahead to leave the area. "That Kaidan…I just hope I know where I'm going. Keelah…I have no idea."

Rounding the corner, Garrus came to the bridge that connected to his old hideout. He stepped back into the shadows when his avian eyes caught a glimpse of Raven standing near the overlook that was ahead. Luckily, she didn't see him. Thankful that Aria didn't bother to secure their weapons this time, he extended his Incisor rifle. The newly purchased rifle was not the same compared to the old model he carried for many years. He took out many geth, husks, rachni and whatever he fought on Feros against the Thorian. All fights brought back great memories and painful ones. Suppressing the urge to continue down memory lane, he lifted the rifle and used the scope to zero in on Raven's location. She was standing at the ledge now, deep in her own thoughts. Her mind oblivious to his location. His muscle memory had him placing his finger instinctively at the trigger, but he quickly removed it. He didn't want it to end this way. He needed to get through to her. "I have you in my sights, Shepard." He called to her from his location. It wouldn't matter if he gave it away. He had her pegged and hopefully, she wouldn't call his bluff. "I just want to talk."

Alarmed from hearing his voice, Raven quickly followed his voice to see a flash as the lighting bounced off the sniper rifle. Her body tensed up and her hand quickly moved towards her sidearm. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," Garrus said to her, making her hand freeze in place. "My finger is on the trigger and I'm a sureshot."

"Damnit…" Raven said through clenched teeth. How could she drop her guard so carelessly like that?

"I know you're still in there, Shepard." The turian continued from his spot. "I don't know what Charon did to you, but I'm a friend." Garrus felt beads of sweat form on his forehead as he held his breath. He could see her facial expression giving away her intention. Was she going to run? "Don't do it…. don't do it…" he huffed under his breath. Would she even risk it? Seconds later, her tactical cloak activated, and he lost sight of her! "Damnit!" Yet again, he forgot about her capability. Collapsing his rifle quickly, he put it back into its storing spot and took off in a sprint towards the warehouse. He knew all the odds and ends of the location. There was a way out through the basement. He just prayed that she wouldn't realize it. A one-arm salarian with a fractured nose saw him racing in his general direction, screamed and took off away from the warehouse. As soon as Vakarian was inside, he ducked as a round pinged the doorway. Retrieving his own pistol, he twitched his mandible as he eyed his surroundings. She was on the upper level and had the advantage. If she moved to a better spot, he would be fully exposed. He had to move or at least keep her pinned. Rising, he aimed the pistol and shot a few inches away from her location for a miss. As intended, this made her drop back down to take cover. Taking a moment to catch his breath, Garrus looked around for another location to move. "This takes me back," He muttered in between breaths. Deciding to downplay the seriousness of the situation, he smiled grimly up where Raven was. "Are we reversing roles this time, Shepard?" There was no response. No sound at all. Listening carefully, Garrus debated if he should lift up or move. Why was there no sound? What was she doing? Realizing what she had planned, he holstered his pistol within seconds of Shepard uncloaking in front of him. She was charging at him with her omni blade extended. Sidestepping to avoid, Garrus jumped out of his cover to take her on directly. "I don't want to hurt you, Macha!"

Raven growled as she stood there with her omni blade at her side. Her eyes narrowing at him. "What kind of game are you playing, turian? Why are you following me? Who sent you?"

"No one sent me."

"Then stop interfering or I will kill you."

"No, you won't do it, Macha."

"Why the hell are you calling me that? That's not my name."

"Damnit, Shepard. I know that's you in there."

"You don't know me."

"Yes, I do."

"What makes you certain?"

"Because I- "His voice elevated as the tension and frustration boiled inside him. He took a breath to slow him down. His fists bawled tightly at his sides. "Because I love you." His voice shook as emotions rocked him strongly like another rocket to the face.

Raven's purple eyes became wide as she stepped back from him. Suddenly, a sharp pain struck her head carrying a new intensity level unlike she ever endured before. Screaming out, she clenched her eyes tightly shut and dropped her weapon as both hands went to her temples to try to suppress the pain. In the darkness of her mind, an image of her and Garrus kissing in what looked like the quarters of a ship illuminated the void. The kiss was filled with desire and passion. Shaking her head to clear her mind, she tried to regain her composure and finally realized that she dropped her weapon. Moving to grab it, fighting off the pain, her effort was in vain as Garrus quickly kicked it further from her grasp. "Shepard? Are you still in there? Fight whatever they have to control you!"

"They are not controlling me!" She winced through the pain, breathing deeply, feeling the intensity slowly decreasing.

"Are you a clone?" Garrus tossed out. "Spirits, am I chasing another one?"

"What the hell are you talking about? You are not making sense, turian! I'm not a damn clone!"

Seeing her struggling, Garrus inched closer, ignoring the possibility of her stabbing him with her blade. "I'm not just a turian…" He churred softly in his throat to her. "I'm your badass turian boyfriend, Shepard. I told you that I would never let you slip away and I'm not going to let it happen now." He gingerly reached out with his talons to softly stroke the skin of her cheek. "I thought you were dead…." His words trailed off.

Suddenly, a click of an assault rifle from behind, made them both pause in their exchange to turn to see Bray standing there with a look of displeasure on his batarian face. "Well, well. Look what I found," He chuckled.