They were docked at Omega in the morning when Jo had two cups of really bad coffee, swore to herself to get better food as soon as possible, and went to the comm room.

"EDI, contact the Asshole and tell him that if he wishes to speak to me, I have two and a half minutes for him now."

She waited, curious about what he would say. It was clearer than daylight that he'd contacted them so late last night to make her get up from bed, drag herself to the comm room and listen to him just to make her understand that he was the boss. This was a battle of wills but he clearly had no idea who he was dealing with. She was the original badass. She needed to make sure he understood that he wasn't the boss of her.

"Shepard," his visage appeared in the holo circle. "I hear you've already gone rogue?"

"You said it yourself: we can part ways if I don't like what you have to say. I didn't like what you said, so we parted ways. Thanks for the ship, though. She'll be a real beauty when I'm done with her."

He took a drag from his cigarette and slowly released the smoke. Jo admired his game face. He reminded her of Hackett, though he wasn't quite as good. He did let his annoyance slip by taking his time with the smoke. He was not pleased with her. He had probably calculated a lot of outcomes of her resurrection and her slipping through his fingers was one of the less desirable ones. She could see his next step already. Salvage whatever was left by trying diplomacy and guilt when brute force had failed. He didn't disappoint:

"You're forgetting that the Reapers are still out there and that humans are disappearing. Are you really going to abandon this fight? Let humanity go down just because you needed to throw a tantrum?"

"Aww," she smiled. "Are your feelings hurt that I didn't declare my undying love for Cerberus out of pure gratitude for saving my life? You need to put your personal feelings aside."

The last phrase hung between them like a dead, decomposing cow. He'd given her that phrase when they met earlier, he'd sounded so self-righteous saying it, enjoying himself beyond belief to be reprimanding Commander Shepard. Those same words coming back from her were a declaration of war. Even the Asshole wasn't stupid enough to miss it.

"So, you're not going to help those colonies, I take it?" He changed tactics.

"Oh, I'll help them. On my terms, not yours."

"But I can help you, Shepard. It's all I offered from the very beginning. I can get you supplies, funds, people, resources, information."

"I don't need anything from you above what I've already taken. If you really wish to contribute to this conflict, you may get me useful information, but that will be the extent of our relationship." Jo still needed him hooked, needed him to stay with her, if she wanted to catch and kill him one day. And yes, she needed information that she couldn't get by herself.

"As you wish, Shepard," he said with a smug grin. Yeah, his game face wasn't quite so good. He saw this as a victory.

"As you were, Asshole."

"What?!"

"Oh, come on, how do you expect me to take you seriously if you keep calling yourself the Illusive Man? It gives me the giggles every time. And trust me, Commander Shepard with giggles is the last person you want protecting this galaxy. So, I calls 'em like I sees 'em, Asshole. EDI, disconnect."

"Yes, Commander."

Jo gave EDI permission to talk to her whenever she wanted to and the AI started chatting in her ear the moment she and Jacob stepped onto the station. Jo had never been to Omega before. Granted, EDI provided some useful intel. Bad thing was that her chatter replaced Joker's chatter from the old times – the times that had only been three days ago for her, but two years for the rest of the world. Joker remained silent in her earpiece. She missed him terribly, but she took solace in knowing that he was monitoring the mission feed just as always.

Zaeed's appearance right at the dock made Jo's search for a second team member easy. She waited until he killed his prisoner, then warned him right away that she wasn't working with Cerberus and couldn't pay him anything out of her own pocket, but she was fine with him taking what money Cerberus had promised him, as long as he stayed loyal to her during their mission. In turn he asked her if she'd help him with Vido Santiago and promised his help when she said she'd do it. She was actually surprised how easy she got a new team member, despite being apart form Cerberus.

Then there was Aria. Oh, she was quite something. Queen? As much a queen as Miranda was cute. Jo hated Aria on sight, but it was a different kind of hate. Aria was competition. Jo was the original badass, and the asari bitch thought something similar about herself. For now Jo let it go, but she knew: one day there would be a death match between them, as the galaxy wasn't big enough for them both. Joker would love to take pictures.

They found Mordin easily enough and persuaded him just as easily to join them. Jo's confidence in her people skill was returning. After she'd been seeing insects and microbes instead of people for a while after waking up and later on caught herself moments before she'd rip someone's throat out for no reason, she didn't think she was still any good at persuading and leading. Apparently talent never died.

When Mordin was settled in, they went to get Archangel. Jo electrocuted Cathka without a moment's pause before heading towards the bridge. Her guts were churning like there was something interesting waiting for her ahead. She didn't fail to notice how a bullet grazed her shields. One single bullet on the shields. Whoever he was, he wasn't trying to kill her. Instead he dropped everyone else around them. He was incredibly good, but the slow rhythm of his sniper rifle's song revealed to her that he was really, really tired already. Jo walked into the den, never thinking about her companions anymore. If they wanted to live, they would have to keep up with her. Then she saw him. A tall turian with a sniper rifle. Her stomach flipped. He held up a hand signalling her to wait a moment and she knew. She knew.

"Garrus," she sighed, when he took off his helmet. The full force of his presence hit her like a charging krogan. Her turian brother. Her soul mate. The one man she loved above and beyond all conditions, who'd give her anything, like she'd give him anything. It felt like her soul had been scattered in small pieces when she'd died, coming back in parts with each old friend she was meeting now, but Garrus wasn't keeping a small part of her. He was keeping a huge one. His new name, Archangel, was more than fitting. He was her perfect warrior angel, always watching out for her, always taking care of her. If she ever had a personal hero, Garrus was it. She crossed the distance and hugged him tightly, leaning her forehead against his. "Garrus, it's you."

"Shepard, I thought you were dead," he said. All those lessons he used to give her on turian expressions came rushing back. In human terms, he was close to tears, as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. Their armour was in the way, but neither cared. "It's really you. I thought I was hallucinating there for a while."

Jo could not deny that she'd prefer Joker to be the one to catch her now that she was falling into an abyss, but Garrus was the one who didn't hesitate a second, he was there for her unconditionally. Perhaps it was easier for him – he wasn't in love with her. They stood there, hugging, for a few very long moments. Being there for each other in the moment of deepest despair. Catching each other. Helping each other. The whole galaxy could throw punches at the two of them, but they would always stand strong, stand fast, stand together. At this minute there was no greater treasure to her than his life and she swore to destroy the whole of Omega if need be to get him to safety from this god-forsaken house filled with body bags.

Garrus let go of her and gave her a long look.

"Forgive me, but you look like hell."

"And don't I know it…" They talked for a while, exchanging news, and Jo marvelled at her clear mind and lightness of heart in his presence. The agony receded a little to give way to the love Jo felt for this guy. But the mercs weren't sleeping and soon enough they had to fight again. And when she thought it was almost over, suddenly everything went to hell. Garrus took a rocket in his face. The sight of his body on the floor turned her back to an angel of death on a moment's notice. She didn't bother with cover, just roared her fury and emptied all her arsenal into the fucking gunship. It went down in a satisfying explosion, but Jo's mind was concentrated on saving Garrus' life for a long while after that. She carried him to a cab. Either he was lighter than two years ago, or her Cerberus implants really kicked ass. The crew scattered through the CIC when Jo carried him inside the ship, his blood streaming down her body onto the pristine floor. She must have been wearing a death mask. An hour later she stood like a marble statue next to the med bay door, waiting for the surgery to end. As long as it was going on, he was still alive, right?

"Commander?" Someone tugged her at her shoulder plating. She was still in her armour, covered in blood. "Commander, you're bleeding."

Jo turned around. It was Ken. He and Gabby came up here to see what the commotion was all about. When Jo realised what he was saying, she looked down at herself. Indeed, her left arm was bleeding heavily. With the same absent expression she took the armour pieces off her arm and looked at the wound. The bullet still sat deep in her bicep. Jo saw that Ken still wore his tool belt, and pointed at his pliers:

"Give me that."

"Commander, it's oily and dirty!"

She grabbed the tool from him and dug its tip into her flesh. Several loud hisses sounded across the mess hall. Everyone who was there wrinkled their noses. Jo felt none of it. She felt nothing at all except worry about Garrus. A minute later she gave the pliers and the bullet to Ken and forgot about his presence again. Everyone was walking quietly and carefully around her. The way she and Garrus met on Omega escaped nobody, either from the feed on Joker's console or from Jacob's and Zaeed's words, and the whole crew knew that they were close from old times. Nobody wanted to feel her wrath in case he died. They probably also couldn't believe in such a close relationship between a human and a turian.

And then he was out of it. Jo almost cried when she saw him again. Almost. She was too tired and spent for tears.

"Frankly, I'm more worried about you than me, Jo," he said quietly, coming close to her and looking her deep in the eyes. "I've heard bad things about Cerberus."

"Yeah, from me."

"Even more so in the last few years."

"That's why I'm glad to have you with me. I can't trust any of these guys, especially since I commandeered the ship last night, forbade them all contact with their Illusive Asshole leader, forcefully locked the bitch in her room and renounced all ties to Cerberus. I might find a bullet in my back any time here. I need at least someone on my side when I'm going into hell."

"You realise that it means me going into hell, too, right?" He teased.

"As long as we're together, Garrus, it'll be fine."

"Just like old times."

Jo gave Joker instructions to set course for the Citadel and asked Garrus to meet her in her cabin. She could see that he was still sore from his injuries by the way he carried himself.

"I'm so sorry I can't offer you any food or drink," she said. "Cerberus didn't order any dextro supplies."

"It's all right, Jo, I can wait for a few hours until we get to the Citadel," he accepted her invitation and sat next to her on the couch.

"I'm so glad you're here."

"Right back at you," he gently patted her bandaged arm.

"Tell me everything."

So, he started talking. About his Spectre training on the Citadel right after Sovereign's attack. About how he'd wished he went with her when the Normandy undocked that day, how he'd cursed himself afterwards for not having felt in his gizzard that he'd never see the ship again. He told her about the message that reached him during training, how he stood at the docks, waiting for the Alliance ship with the survivors to arrive, how his heart broke when Chakwas told him. He told her about the following investigation, which the Council was more than happy to end with a simple verdict: geth attack. He told her how furious, disillusioned he was then, how nothing made sense anymore, how he tried to tell them about the Reapers, but nobody would listen to him and threatened to terminate his Spectre training if he didn't shut up. That was when he parted ways with the Council and went to the Terminus Systems. He had no use for them anymore. He told her about long days and even longer nights watching news vids that mentioned her name less and less. How final it had seemed when they announced building a Shepard memorial on Akuze and using her own money for the Shepard scholarship on Earth. Then he told her the last chapter of his tale, starring Sidonis, merc leaders, body bags, bridge, and a little human blond girl in his scope.

Eventually they both fell silent for several long minutes. Jo looked at her oldest friend and shifted a little closer to him on the couch.

"You've changed," she said quietly. "A lot. You can't even look at me, but not because you don't want to see me, but because you don't want me to see you. The last two days in that house changed you, Garrus, I can feel it. You're raw inside and it would be cruel of me to poke you any further. But I need you to know that when you're ready to tell me everything, I'll be here, I'll listen and I'll never judge."

He finally turned his head and looked her in the eye. She'd never know what he was looking for in her face, and if he'd found it. He got up quickly and turned towards the door. Then he reached into his pocket and tossed a little device at her.

"Do me a favour, don't turn it on until I'm gone," he said and headed for the exit. Jo looked at a small audio recorder in her hand. He could have sent her an audio file via his omnitool, but he was perfectly aware that all electronic communications on the ship were monitored and reported to Cerberus. Whatever was on that recorder, it was for her ears only. Or no ears at all.

Her own hell forgotten for the time being, she tucked the device away and waited for an hour until all the techies would leave for dinner, then headed to the engine room. There, with the drive core pulsing and flashing right above her head, she held the recorder to her ear and pushed the button.

"Just when I think they've run out of bodies to throw at me, the reinforcements arrive," Garrus' voice spoke through sounds of battle. "This looks like the end of the run. Garrus Vakarian's last stand." Jo swallowed hard. He'd recorded this in that house, probably minutes before she arrived. "If this is the end, then this recording you're now hearing is my final reckoning. I'm setting things straight. Because when Omega gangs tell this story, it will all be lies, propaganda they use against anyone who dares stand up against their lawlessness. I can't let that happen. Everything I've done here – everything I've stood for – began long before I came to this damn station. It all started in a hospital room."

Jo listened to the recording for a long time. His words about his father, his work and trouble at C-Sec, his own tired amusement at the tantrums he'd thrown back then. Resignation in his tone that came with a horrific, bitter realisation that his father was right about so many things he hadn't wanted to believe, and that he'd never get a chance to set things straight with him. He knew he was going to die there eventually, regretting that the truth had come so late to him. He'd been focused on details instead of seeing the bigger picture.

At some point Jo had a feeling he'd forgotten that he was recording himself. The call to his father was right there, probably unintended. Jo heard the other turian's voice for the first time. She wondered if she'd ever meet him in person.

In the end, when the recording ended with Garrus telling his father that the odds just got a lot better and she realised he was talking about her, Jo swallowed a big lump in her throat. Her little brother had grown up in the last two days alone. To admit that one's parents were right all along was a sure sign of that. He learned the devastation of betrayal, the bitter taste of truth, he'd been crushed and broken and Jo arrived at the last minute to pick up the pieces. He was no longer the same wide-eyed young man who asked for her advice two years ago. He knew now what she'd known for years. The pain of crushed dreams, the injustice, the helplessness and the bitterness that came with the realisation that he couldn't change the whole world to his liking. This new Garrus was her true equal now. And as he was her soul's keeper, she was his. Jo knew that no matter how much she was hurting, she would be there for him while he was dealing with his pain. That was why they were soul mates. She'd give him anything he needed, if he asked for it or not, without wanting anything in return. As he was stepping into this new world of adulthood, she would show him he wasn't alone and not everything was lost. They would always have each other.

Jo crushed the recorder in her hand and tossed the parts into the incinerator on her way back to her room. Nobody else ever needed to hear this. She would keep his open heart for him in her mind, word for word.

They arrived on the Citadel and got swept by a wave of activity. She spoke to Kasumi, made the same deal with her as with Zaeed, had Bailey fix her MIA problem, went to see Anderson and had a chance to speak to the Council. She'd spent a minute collecting her thoughts before that meeting. There was no way in the world she would show any of them her weakness, the pain clawing at the walls in her mind. She had it firmly under control, now that Garrus was back with her, and she could talk to the Council like she was just a regular person. There was no reason to cut ties with them. She remained polite and they reinstated her as a Spectre. Keeping to the Terminus Systems – was that a form of banishment? They had to realise, of course, that she would always do what she wanted and needed to do, no matter where they wanted her to stay. But she agreed. Being her own boss was good, but she was not dead set on being a rogue lawless captain lost somewhere between pirates, mercs and backwater planets. If there was one authority she was fine with having above her, it was the Council. Jo remembered that she served the people, and even though she had little faith in the Alliance anymore, she still believed in the Council Space. Being a Spectre again, even if only nominally, would keep her on the right track.

After the Council disappeared and Udina left, Jo and Anderson leaned together on the railing of the balcony. She asked him about his new position as the human Councillor, about how life was treating him, and finally about her former crew mates.

"I can't tell you that, Shepard, even though the Council reinstated you as a Spectre, and even after Admiral Hackett reinstates you in the Alliance, it's still classified information."

"Whoa," she held up a hand. "Nobody asked anyone to reinstate me in the Alliance."

This got his full attention.

"Why, Shepard, you don't want to return to Alliance? You have your whole career before you. Or have you really turned to Cerberus?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Anderson," she laughed. "I can't return, nor do I want to."

"Why?"

"I died. My Alliance career was in another lifetime. Even being a Spectre now is just a crutch to open me some doors. We both know that the galaxy is in big danger. What does it matter if I wear dog tags, if I'm the one to save all of it?"

"So you're just quitting?"

"Come on, Anderson, you know Hackett and I have been butting heads for years. You must have realised that my faith in the Alliance isn't what it used to be. It's time for me to do things my own way."

"Being an Alliance officer opens even more doors for you, you know it."

"I'm not returning, no matter what."

"Why?"

He looked at her intensely because he knew that her troubles with the brass were not all there was to her refusal. He knew her well. Jo slowly took the earpiece out of her ear and disconnected it.

"Because I'm in love with my pilot," she said. Anderson looked at the device in her hands, then back at her face.

"Joker?"

"Mhm."

He chuckled. Jo could see in his face that he reverted back a few years, to the one week in his life that he'd been the first Normandy's Captain, Joker his pilot, and she his XO. They had been sort of his children back then. Even now he cared for them all as deeply.

"The most unlikely combination," he said, and Jo cooled down a notch. If he thought Joker was not the right person for her, then he didn't know her quite so well. "So, are you lovers already?"

"No, he doesn't even know yet. But in foresight I can't return to the Alliance and make him face the frat regs for no reason."

"Frat regs are there for a reason, Shepard. It doesn't really matter if you're Alliance or not. You are his commanding officer, an informal relationship might cause trouble."

"Like what? I might tell him something he's not supposed to know? It's a little late for that. He's always on the other end of this," she pointed at the comm.

"And what about the day when you get in mortal danger? What if he risks the ship and everyone on her to save you?"

"Like the day we defeated Saren and Sovereign? Like the day he pulled my ass out of a volcano? Like the day he dropped me in a mako onto a 20 meter patch? Like the day the ship was attacked and he saved most of the crew by sacrificing himself?"

"Shepard, I can't believe I'm really telling you all this. You should know better, damn, you do know better. I always wondered how you're the only soldier who wouldn't mess with the fraternisation rules. Everybody else always does, but not you. And now you're standing here, telling me wise tales about how they don't apply to you?"

"Nothing really applies to me anymore. I'm a dead woman walking. I'm living a second chance I was not supposed to have, and I see in front of me a chance to be happier than I've ever been in my original lifetime. Are you seriously standing here and telling me that I have to follow some stupid rules, when the galaxy is about to go under? You know, I have more important things to worry about than regs. When the Reapers knock on my door, I don't plan to be the one regretting that I followed some idiotic regs when I could have lived my last days happily. I plan to live this gift of a second life like I was too scared to live my first. And as far as I'm concerned, my ties to the Alliance are all in that past life. You and Hackett have to make it official. If you want my resignation, I'll send you one."

"Well, if you're not an Alliance officer, then there is no way I could tell you where Alenko is."

"Hm, Joker versus Alenko. Done deal."

Anderson shook his head in disappointment. She knew that as an old soldier he would disapprove of her decisions. But at the end of the day he was not her father, nor did she need one right now. She had been looking after herself and other people for many years now, making her own decisions. She knew what she felt was right, and no amount of disapproval from this man mattered.

She put the earpiece back into her ear and turned it on.

"See you around, Anderson," she said and left.

She hadn't given anyone shore leave. The Normandy was docked with all the crew on board. Zaeed and Garrus were accompanying her to the Citadel, but after the visit to the Presidium Zaeed said he had some business to attend to. She had nothing else planned, so she let him go and gave him her omnitool bracelet and her earpiece.

"Take that with you, please," she said to him. The elder man didn't ask why. He was smart enough to see the situation clearly, even though he'd been with her for only a day. The whole ship was created to spy on her and she needed some privacy. He took her hardware and left.

"Join me for a drink?" Jo asked Garrus. They went to the Dark Star Lounge and sat down in a quiet corner. "I listened to your recording."

"I figured."

"I destroyed it afterwards, just so you don't wonder what happened to it."

"Good."

"Garrus, you have nothing to be ashamed of."

"I should have seen it coming, Jo. You heard it. I should have seen it when my team started thinking about life after the fighting. It was my first warning sign. Instead I pushed them harder. I lost all my team except Sidonis on Omega. One day I'll find him and correct that."

"Or not."

"What do you mean?"

"It's not my right to tell you to forgive. Spirits know I'm killing people I don't like left and right. But when you do find him, please, come to me? We'll deal with it together. I know this is very personal to you and the way you deal with it will define you forever."

He looked at his drink in silence.

"The thing about betrayal is that you never see it coming," she continued. "Enemies are easy. Take Saren: he couldn't possibly betray me because he was my enemy and was honest in it by fighting me. Betrayal is by definition not something you expect. We've all had to deal with it at some point. We all lost someone to it."

"I lost ten people under my command, Jo. They were my friends. How can I go on?"

"I can't believe you just said that to me, Garrus," she shook her head earnestly. He looked at her with surprise, then rubbed his forehead awkwardly:

"Akuze. Sorry, I didn't think of that. You lost fifty people because the Alliance betrayed you."

"Forty nine people, but yes, you see now that I know how you feel."

"And you came back stronger than before."

"And so will you."

"How do you know?"

"Because I believe in you. Because you're my best friend and I don't call unworthy people my friends."

"Can you honestly sit there and tell me that it's going to be all right?" He sounded incredulous. Jo nodded with all the conviction of N7 Lieutenant Commander Spectre Johanna Shepard:

"It's all going to be fine, Garrus."

One didn't have to be a turian expert to see the depth of emotion in his eyes.

"Did you tell your father that you're alive?" Jo asked.

"No, not yet."

"Do it today, or I will. Should we head to Palaven?"

"No, Jo, it's all right. I'll talk to him some other time."

"That's up to you. I have no idea how to deal with parents, I'm no help there. By the way, as I was running around Omega, I cracked every safe I could and took all the money I could. I took some from your apartment. Give me your contacts and I'll send it back to you."

"Thank you, Jo, for everything. You're the greatest friend anyone could ever have."

"Just wait until I load my problems on you."

"Apropos. It's your turn now. Tell me everything."

"I died, Garrus. With all the consequences."

"How was it?"

"Dying – beautiful. Coming back not so much."

"Hm. You're not telling me everything, Jo. But I'll be here when you're ready."

"Cerberus needs to die for what they did."

"Couldn't agree more."

"I have to organise a lot of things today, Garrus. Go back to the ship and make yourself familiar with it. Guess who's my new XO?"

"I'll start a sweep across the ship, then. I already found seven hidden cameras and nine listening devices around the Main Battery and the dorm."

She nodded. He went back to the ship, still favouring one side of his body, while she remained to wait for Zaeed and do some of her own business.