MASS EFFECT WINTER EYES:

CHAPTER 22

Soft murmuring awakened Garrus from his sleep. His beady avian eyes groggily moved over to the sounds' origin; his mind still coming to a fully conscious state. Macha's eyes were closed and she seemed peaceful as she laid there on her back in the bed next to where he was. There appeared to be no change in her current status. He began to wonder if pure exhaustion was causing hallucinations. "Hope?" His thoughts tossed out the unspoken word. The room's small window to the right of the bed led straight into the station's atrium. Its artificial sunlight scheduled to come on every twelve hours to mirror Earth's rotation around its sun. The room was still dark allowing Garrus to guess it was still in the twilight hours. It felt like he had been asleep for days.

A quick movement back in Macha's direction stirred his attention once more. Looking back her way, he studied her form. Then he saw it! Her fingers! All on her right hand seemed to be moving slightly, then the left hand followed suit. She was coming to a more conscious state. Stirring, Macha murmured again, her eyes tightly shut as her body longed to be in stasis once again. Reaching to the room's monitor, he pressed the button to alert anyone who was in the nearby lab. "Macha is waking up!" Quickly removing his talon from the button, he dashed back to Macha's location and gingerly grasped her right hand, giving it a light squeeze. "I'm here, Shepard." He gently coaxed her to him.

Macha's hand responded with a tighter squeeze and then it recoiled quickly, feeling his touch. Her eyelids flickered open and her fake purple irises stared up at the ceiling as her sight focused in. Her body ached from lying in bed for the past several days, Macha groaned as she tried to wiggle her body around under the white sheet to work out the kinks. "Garrus?" She spoke his name. Her head turning to set her eyes squarely on him. "Where the hell am I?"

Turians were not known to cry, given the hard stature. However, Vakarian could feel the tears forming at the base of his eyes. His first reaction was to block them out from continuing, to prevent any sign of weakness. "I'll fill you in."

The door to the room slid open and in poured the remaining occupants of the station on her team including Kahlee Sanders and Dr. Archer. Their amazed, wide-eyed expressions stared at Macha in disbelief before breaking into celebratory hugs and high-fives. "Shepard!" Unable to contain herself, Liara T'Soni moved and held Shepard to her as tears streamed down her blue facial skin.

Caught off-guard by the sudden display of emotion, Macha winced and returned the hug back gingerly. "Liara, it's good to see you. I'm so glad that you made it." She slowly put herself in a sit-up position and let her eyes look around the room. "I thought you vacated the system after I initiated the catalyst. I was told the dark energy burst would destroy the relays. How did you make it back on Earth?"

Her question caught the entire team off kilter. Their puzzled expressions and silent physical exchanges made Macha cock an eyebrow at the quiet crew. "We did stop the Reapers, right?"

Dr. Archer approached her bed with a handheld slim flashlight. He clicked it on to check her pupil dilations. "Remarkable. The surgery was a success."

Swatting him away, Macha scowled. "What are you doing here, Dr. Archer? I know we rescued you when several Cerberus scientists disbanded, but I still do not trust you. Not after what you did to David."

"Shepard…do you have any idea of what happened after you spoke with the Catalyst?" Kaidan asked the question of the hour. He already had his own fear and the same was on everyone's minds. The procedure somehow demolished all memories collected since her recreation with Charon. A blessing, but then again, a problem for them and their current mission status. Would they have to earn Shepard's trust all over again? They would have the upper hand in her knowing that they are on the same side, but Macha was never the type to run in and ask questions later. She wanted the full detail disclosure on the front end. Did they have that kind of time?

Macha licked her lips as she realized how dry her mouth was. Talking was making her throat sore. "I need some water first." She scooted towards the left side of the bed, taking precaution with the tubes and cords still plugged in that were monitoring her vitals and providing nutrients in her dormant state.

Archer stepped closer to stop her. "Let me unplug you first, Shepard."

"I can get you some water," Garrus finally released her hand to fetch her requested item.

Macha watched Archer work away. "No. I need to walk. I can get it." She moved her hand around to note the partly opened back of her gown. "Everyone, look away."

Her predicament and statement aroused a soft chuckle of enjoyment from the team before they complied with the request. Garrus winked her way. "Come on, Shepard…do I need to?"

"No…" Macha smiled at him. "Help me walk, but keep your blue eyes ahead. Understood?" Her voice jokingly, yet stern.

"Yes, mam." He allowed her to sit up before helping her stand.

Wobbly, Macha felt herself leaning on the turian as she became more weight-bearing. Her leg muscles felt like they wouldn't move. Taking a step forward, Macha ignored the instability and made her way to the bathroom to get a cup of water from the sink. With each step, her dependence on Garrus became less. The room's sensor detected her presence and the lights came on revealing the small chamber that housed a standard toilet, a sink and mirror. The cups were located on the right of the sink near the faucet. Lifting her fingertips down, Macha selected one and then caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Gasping, she dropped the cup and stared at the stranger in front of her. "What the hell is this?" Her fingers shook as they tapped her face. The familiar red hair and green eyes were gone. Instead, she had purple eyes with pitch black hair that was cut much shorter. A tattoo was on her neck. Its imagery foreign to her. She looked over at her turian companion for explanation. "Did the damn catalyst do this to me?"

"I'm afraid not…" Garrus sighed hard as he looked on. He watched her trace the tattoo's outline.

"This isn't me…. some kind of merc tat?"

"No, Shepard. It's not…it's- "He stopped himself, trying to think of how to explain the last five plus years to her.

Spinning on her heel to confront him, Macha's eyes narrowed at him. "Garrus, quit dancing around this. Tell me what the hell is going on."

"Good news, Aria. Intel reports came in from the relay." Bray announced as he walked up the steps that evening to the platform where Aria was, entertaining a few mercs of the Eclipse group.

Seeing his approach, Aria motioned for her guests to quickly leave. She hated to play cordial to the mercenary groups on Omega, but they were useful and could come in handy if she ever needed to make a power play or show another group who truly was their leader. Every now and then, she would invite the leaders of the various groups to Omega for a few drinks and reinstatements of their pledges. Sometimes, the leaders would "ask" for negotiations on their fees to the Pirate Queen. Most times, the fees were negotiated to always her advantage. "What did they find out?"

Bray handed her the datapad for her own review. "As expected, the ship cannot be traced. The relay reports show at the proximate time of their departure, its trajectory was to the Petra Nebula, Vetus system."

"What's in that system?"

"Too many damn places they could have went. Sidon, Elysium, Grissom Academy. Mostly human places."

All three places were familiar to T'Loak. Reports were constantly captured on the extranet and archived. All three had been in the news before. Sidon held a research facility that was attacked by mercs nearly thirty years ago; the entire staff slaughtered with their bodies vaporized to prevent identification. Elysium was attacked by pirates during the Skyllian Blitz and Grissom Academy was attacked by Cerberus during the Reaper War. The task was figuring out where they went in the system. She couldn't risk sending her team to the wrong location. Despite the facility's attack, Sidon was reconstructed and fully staffed by the Alliance. As far as Aria knew, there was no Alliance interest in Shepard's old team despite the Spectre's involvement. Elysium was bigger since the Blitz and it would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack if they were well dug in. Grissom Academy was known to house biotic children for their learning and development of their abilities. Its leader was Kahlee Sanders. The name Sanders sparked her interest. She remembered the blonde woman years ago when she captured her and David Anderson while searching for Paul Grayson. David Anderson was an Admiral of the Alliance after their entanglement and went on to battle the Reapers on Earth prior to his death. Shepard and her team saved Grissom from Cerberus' attack so most likely she had been in contact with Kahlee Sanders at some point. If Shepard and her team were hiding away somewhere, Grissom was the best place to start looking. No one would assume that they would be at some biotic academy for children. A smile of satisfaction spread across her purple lips. She figured it out. "Bray, where do you think they went?" She tossed the general question out to only boost her accomplishment.

The batarian scratched his head as he pondered the question. "Elysium?" He replied with a shrug. "That port is damn big enough for them to hide."

Knowingly, Aria shook her head. "This is why I lead Omega. Knowledge is key, and I make a note to stay informed. The information could always play a part later. They went to Grissom. Their friend, Sanders, is there."

"That woman again?" Bray grumbled, remembering their past as well with Kahlee on Omega years ago.

"Pick a team of six others. Bring Shepard, kill the rest if you have to."

"I'm on it."

"Remember, you are dealing with biotics," She reminded him.

"They are only children." He scoffed.

"Just don't let children kick your ass, then."