Location: Serpent Nebula, Widow System, Citadel, Presidium, Apollo Café

I sat at the table with a cup of coffee holding my omni-tool, trying to look as busy as possible so no one would bother me. I was only on the presidium because people know how much I hate this place, and I'm hoping that this is the last place on earth anyone would try to find me at.

I personally ensured that Talitha was in the best psych facility the Alliance had to offer, I made a promise to her that I'd talk to her at least once a month to see how she's doing. I wasn't going to let her go through this alone.

After that I visited the REDS. Jaden was away on business so I spent a lot of time catching up with Tyrell and Aldis. Tyrell was up to the usual gang shit, but Aldis was a legitimate businessman now and he had a small security firm on the Citadel. It was in charge of security for multiple small shops, all the security guards were the REDS in their early 20s that he wanted to keep off of the streets. He kept them straight for the most part, I just want to see how long that lasts.

My visit also highlighted just how much the REDS have changed since I joined the Alliance. In my day, the REDS didn't like aliens but not to the degree of the new blood now. Jaden, Tyrell, Aldis, Tony and the OG's didn't even care about aliens so long as they stayed out of their way; but the new blood was sickened by the fact that I was working with Turians, Asari, Krogan and Quarians. They've expanded from earth, with the help of some anonymous pro-human benefactor that they refuse to tell me about because of my ties to the Council. From what Aldis told me, they're bad news, worse than the Blue Suns. I just hope that Jaden knows what he's doing.

As for my crew, after we had resupplied the ship and made sure we had every requisition order come through I let them have their shore leave. I had to avoid Rylee even though she wanted me to talk to Hannah. I made myself as scarce as possible to everyone, even after I got back aboard so we could head to the Citadel. I only spoke to those who weren't present during the encounter with Talitha.

I couldn't handle the thought of people knowing what happened to me, so I just don't let myself get around them. To their credit, none of them tried to find me to talk about it and they respected my privacy. Rylee was probably going to be completely different.

I've also been chasing leads to see what Saren has been up to. I convinced Admiral Hackett to lead a series of attacks in the Veil. I'm hoping to overextend the geth's reach so they have fewer forces to lend Saren. With luck it'll slow him down long enough for the Council to get the information I need to find the Conduit.

"Did you really think you could hide from me forever?" I heard a woman ask.

"Not forever, just long enough to…" I was stumped for a snarky comment so I just sighed. "What do you want Shepard?" I responded, I looked up from my omni-tool and saw that she had brought Liara and Kaidan with her.

"We've been worried about you Nate."

"I'm not talking about slavery Rylee. I'm not ready for that, not with you."

"That's fair" she responded, much to my surprise. "But I do think you need to at least speak to the others."

"I've thought about it, but every time I'm about to… I just..."

"I get it, you didn't want anyone finding out, but just know that I'm always here for you," she assured, whilst putting her hand over mine.

I grunted in acknowledgement before waving for her to go away.

"I have some business to take care of with Kaidan at the hospital anyway, bye Nate," she chirped before kissing me on the cheek.

Whereas Kaidan and Rylee left, Liara stayed behind and actually took a seat in front of me. She sat with her feet facing one another, elbow on the table, palms on her cheeks and eyes looking at me expectantly.

"Is something wrong, Liara?"

"I'm hungry and we are in a café."

"Rylee put you up to this didn't she?"

"No."

I smirked at the asari, it feels right having her here with me. She has a calming effect on me "Fine, order and put it on my tab."

She ordered some weird asari food, before looking toward the 'road'. Multiple shuttles and cars flew buy and she smiled. She looked so peaceful right now. It only just dawned on me that she was hunting her own mother.

I never met my parents so I can't really relate to what she's feeling right now. Maybe talking about it would make her feel better. Telling her about Talitha was sort of… stress relieving, if it wasn't for Liara I probably would have waited for her to kill herself, and I'm ashamed of that.

"Thank you, Liara."

She met my eyes and furrowed her brow. "What for, Commander?"

"Convincing me to go and speak to Talitha, I owe you my piece of mind and my gratitude."

"No thanks are needed Commander," she replied with a smile. One of the waitresses set a tray with glasses full of water. Liara picked one up and began drinking from it.

"I realised something during my time alone and with the REDS," I declared, getting her full attention. "Talking about this whole mess with you. It's been cathartic. I feel better than I did before, especially the way you handled it. I'm not ready to tell the story to others, but I'm willing to talk to you."

"Oh-"

"You already know most of it anyway, so it's easier to talk to you about it…"

"No-no I understand. I was just caught by surprise. I never expected you to ask, but I would be more than happy to assist in any way that I can Commander,"

"I'm not going to start right now… It'll happen in either of our quarters. I don't want this happening anywhere where someone can overhear."

"If that's what you want Anderson," she shrugged. The food had just arrived and she continued drinking her water.

I wasn't entirely sure what this feeling was, but I wanted to tease her. "You know that a man buying a woman food is a precursor to sex for humans."

She began coughing her water out and beating her chest. Liara's cheeks grew bluer, whilst at the same time her eyes got bigger and bigger. "I've read about that… but- I thought… I-I um… Commander…"

"It's a sacred custom that's upheld by all human adults... did you think it excluded aliens."

"Um..."

"Why do you think men are always coming up to women and offering to by them drinks?"

"I never thought... is there any other way of repaying the debt... I could pay for the food," she quasi-pleaded.

I opted to give her a quizzical look to see what she would say. "I have never err..." she remained silent for the another minute and I realised she was stumped.

The longer she spent trying to think of a response, the greater my need to laugh. She just looks so... I can't even think of the proper word to describe it... maybe sweet.

"Relax Liara, I'm just messing with you," I chuckled. I could tell that doing this was going to be fun from now on. "But please, feel free to pay for your food."

"Oh- you were joking? Of course how could I be so dense? You must think I am a complete and utter fool. Now you know why I prefer to be out in the field with data books and computers. I always end up saying something embarrassing around other people," she explained.

"That wasn't too embarrassing Liara."

"Just for your joke, you can go ahead and pick up the cheque,"

"You'd better not bankrupt me Liara. If you do then how will I pay Joker back,"

"You will find a way I'm sure. But that's not my problem, what is my problem is my sudden appetite," she teased.

I groaned and let my head gently hit the table.

We remained in a comfortable silence eating our lunch, the Normandy was still docked but we were going to leave soon and head for the Hades Gamma cluster. Hackett messaged me about an assignment he needed done in the Hades Gamma cluster. It needed to be done fairly soon too so I had to leave within the next hour.

Before I left I wanted to ask Liara one more question.

"What do you think of my leadership Liara? I've been asking the crew, and the general consensus is that I've been a passable leader thus far. I just want to know where I stand with everyone."

"Remember when we were on Feros Commander. When you instructed the crew to remove the Normandy's resources to help Zhu's Hope. I remember that when we arrived they didn't have any hope and they had all resigned themselves to death. Fai Dan wasn't much of a leader and he didn't seem to connect with everyone. However, after you spoke to each colonist and slowly restored Zhu's Hope, they all started to believe that you could save them, and that gave them the strength to keep fighting."

"Nice story but does it have a point," I urged impatiently

A small vein popped out of her forehead but she continued none the less. "What I'm saying Anderson if you could get the people of Zhu's Hope to have faith in you then you can convince the rest of the crew to believe in you as well. From my understanding the only times you've fought alongside this crew was in Chora's Den, Therum, Feros and Luna. It's going to take more than that to get everyone on your side; I believe that as long as you keep proving you can get the job done, then the more faith we'll have in you."

I took a moment to take everything she said in. It was true that the crew hadn't been together for very long. And that it was going to take more than 4 missions to gain everyone's trust. As well as the fact avoiding everyone wasn't going to make things better. David never showed the crew any sign of weakness, that helped build the legend that he was invincible.

"Again, thanks Liara."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

I headed towards the engineering deck so I could do my daily work out in the Cargo Bay. Wrex and Ashley were eating in the mess, which probably meant that there was only one person in the Cargo Bay.

"Hey Commander," the ships Turian greeted.

"Hey Garrus, I was just gonna start my workout."

I set my equipment down by the ground and started stretching. I noticed that Garrus wasn't really doing anything right now. I guess he's finally finished calibrating the MAKO.

"You wanna spar Vakarian. Should be better than staring at the walls," I suggested. "Don't worry, I won't use my biotics."

"Fine by me Commander. Just don't be too upset when I beat you," he smirked.

"A little too early for trash talk don't you think Garrus. Besides, I could never lose to someone like you," I taunted.

"You mean a Turian?" he answered sarcastically.

"No… I meant a cop… wait a minute Garrus, has the crew been racist toward you?"

"You mean besides from you," he answered, but I didn't let him see that it fazed me. "Not directly, but you start to pick up on things when you spend enough time with the people."

He threw the first punch, which I managed to block and return one of my own that connected with his abdomen. It sent him back a little and left his chest wide open, which allowed me to boot him in the torso, thus pushing him against the wall.

"Humans and Turians have a history Garrus. A lot of the people here lost people in the First Contact War. You're probably the first Turian they've ever been in actual contact with," I attempted to defend my crew.

Garrus again made the first move with another punch to my face. I easily blocked it but I failed to see his knee that he rammed into my sternum.

I fell to the floor gasping for air. His Turian skin made that a lot more painful than it should have been. If I could use my biotics, I would sweep his legs but unfortunately I can't use them right now.

In sporting fashion, he allowed me back to my feet. This time I went on the offensive and kicked Garrus' calf. His bony exterior worked to his advantage this time, since that blow did more damage to me than him.

He took advantage of this momentary lapse in movement and he connected with a kick of his own on my calf. It caused me to fall to my knee.

"I get that you're trying to stand by your crew Commander. But there's something you seem to be forgetting. I'm your crew too!" Garrus declared.

He looked me dead in the eye when he said that. He said it with great conviction and passion, the kind of intensity I had when I was on Elysium with Rylee.

Everyone of this ship was on board for the same reason. To stop Saren from destroying the galaxy and or to get revenge for Eden Prime. But then there was Garrus.

He was probably the most committed to this mission, even more so than me on some occasions. He was doing this for the Turian people. He was truly ashamed of Saren and he wanted to do his part to make things right. He showed more dedication than most and for that he is just as much a part of the crew as anyone on this ship.

"Yeah you are Garrus," I wheezed, whilst getting back to my feet. "You've proven that over and over and it should never be in doubt that you're a part of this crew. I'll make sure the crew knows this," I promised.

We continued sparring for another five minutes, with neither of us getting any distinct control. Garrus' reach was far better than mine but I was more agile, so we fought to a draw.

"Why did you join C-Sec, Garrus?"

"Hmm, that's a good question. There were several reasons I guess."

"Like what?"

"Probably the same as most officers. I wanted to fight injustice, to help people. My father probably had something to do with it too. He was C-Sec, one of the best. I grew up hearing about his accomplishments, or seeing his picture on the vids after a big arrest. He's taking my resignation pretty hard."

"But you think he'd be impressed that you were going after Saren?"

"My father is a C-Sec man to the bone. Do things right or don't do them at all he says. He thinks I'm too rash, too impatient. He's worried I'll become like Saren. He actually talked me out of becoming a SPECTRE when I was younger for the same reasons."

"You' were asked to be a SPECTRE"

"Well I was asked to be a SPECTRE candidate. Me and about 1000 other Turian military recruits. I could have received special training, but my father didn't like it. He despises the SPECTRE's. He hates the idea of someone having unlimited power, with no accountability. He wouldn't like you Commander. No offense."

"I've never gotten along with police anyway. All that honour and regulations crap means shit in a gang war. REDS taught me that the hard way."

"Exactly, Saren isn't going to play by our rules. If you want to nail Saren, you need to send someone who isn't held back by policy and procedure"

"You're right about that. But I'd be careful saying that around Rylee. She's more idealistic than me and she has more morals too. She'll challenge you and I'll bet you every credit in my account she wins," I chuckled.

"She's very spirited isn't she, and so is Ashley. Are all human women like that Commander?" he inquired.

"I don't think so. But I haven't met one who wasn't like that," I answered.