His legs were in pain. They were heavy, too heavy to move. His mind was too slow. Damn, he hated the cold, and now it got him for good. He had never wished himself back to Omega before, but compared to the damned snow and the storm, the memories were speaking of a paradise of lights and heat wavering through the pipelines and the streets. Mojo tried to move his arms, and felt his fingers twitch. There was warmth around him, and he wanted to get a hold of it before it slipped away. There also were voices. And the pain still wasn't gone from the side of his body.

"He's waking up. Mojo, can you hear me?"

He opened his eyes. A face was taking shape above him. A dark face, white, braided hair falling over the slim shoulder, and large, dark eyes that stared down at him.

"Yeah..." His vision grew stronger, the features of the face were taking shape. This was one of the doctors on board of the Hamburg. What was his name again, Wilson? Mojo remembered him, from the medical exam after he came on board. The dark eyes and dark complexion had reminded Mojo of his friend.

"Do you know where you are?"

"Not Noveria, or Omega. The ship?" He blinked when a bright light shone into his eyes.

"Good. Do you know your name?"

"That's none of your damn business." Finally, his arm followed his order. He brushed the doctor's hand away, but when he tried to sit up, the stinging pain kept him down.

"You guys can stop worrying. He's already back to his old self." The doctor turned around, waving for the others to come closer. Mojo groaned. Another one of those friendly chats was the last thing he was interested in now.

"His body temperature is back to normal." The doctor picked up a data pad, checking his notes, or updating them. "There was a scratch on his shoulder from a bullet. That was what damaged his armor and let the cold in. Not pretty, but no lasting damage done."

"Yeah, the cold is really a problem for turians, right?"

Spirits, that human! He should have known that he'd regret running back into the foyer to get this idiot out of there, while directing Cerberus' bullets to himself. Ungrateful idiot.

"After so many hours on Noveria, a damaged suit would have been a problem for everyone." So Meyrani was here as well, always ready to defend the honor of all turians that had ever breathed. "It took you some time to warm up as well, without malfunctioning protection," she continued berating Arek.

"Come on, Rani, can't you just admit for once that you guys don't deal well with cold weather?"

"No."

Bless the kid. Young as she was, and of course full with that pretentious pride for the turian race, at least she didn't let this little idiot get the better of her. If he didn't pay attention, he might actually start to like her. The chuckle died in his dry throat and turned into a cough. Damn, that shit hurts!

"Don't worry, lay still another hour, and the worst will be over." The doctor put a calming hand on his chest, stopping him from jerking up. Mojo lifted his head – some of the sick bay's machines had been shoved over his torso. So that was where the warmth was coming from. He was suspicious of strange devices he couldn't manipulate himself, and he wasn't comfortable with being forced to trust them, but he had to admit that he felt a lot better than when he had in the shuttle.

"You stubborn fool!" The asari had stepped beside him and glared down at him. "Almost frozen to death, cracked ribs, you might have told Arek that you were in trouble, you know? Or us once we were safe."

"Because of a chill and a few bruises?" He sneered in disgust. Cracked ribs though? So that had been responsible for the stinging. He hadn't thought anything of it as it stopped after a while, when he had begun to freeze to death. Yes, it was making sense in hindsight. Still, this was nothing to complain about. "Do I look like a whiny human?"

"Nope, but like an idiot who gave us a good scare when you passed out cold!" Amalthea snapped back, the darker tone of her voice hinting at her rising temper.

"No pun intended?" Arek chuckled behind her.

"Absolutely intended. Either way." Her expression softened. "Glad you're back with us. You did a good job, and thanks to you, we've got some sweet intel, and our biotic back in one piece." She turned back to Arek and put her arm around his shoulder, pulling him forward. "He told us that Cerberus would have killed him if you hadn't helped him out."

"And I told him already that I did so because I needed his skills to escape myself. Saving him was... a side effect."

"Sure." Her grin was unnerving, but the look of discomfort in Arek's face was comforting. The last thing he needed was them getting any ideas about finally taming him or making him a valuable member of their buddy club. However, it was good to hear that their troubles hadn't been in vain, and he preferred seeing that human alive over living with the choice of letting him be killed when it had been so easy to get both of them out of there.

"Give him a rest. You can exchange pleasantries later. I'll release him in an hour or two." The doctor shooed them away from the bed and dimmed the light above him. Mojo closed his eyes. The brightness had been tiring, and he still was sleepy. One or two hours of undisturbed sleep didn't sound bad, although he'd rather return to his own bed. But if he weighed in that the doc would make sure nobody bothered him, well, things could be worse.

"Mojo?"

"Turner." And – things got worse. This guy really was a pest, did he have to die to be left alone, or would this idiot find a way to travel into the realm of the death, if it was only to bother him? He thought he heard a distant voice laughing. He's growing on you, admit it. No, he wasn't! Shut up, Ibrahim, you're an idiot, his mind scolded his memory. To hell with the doctor, why did he have to remind him so much of his friend?

"I want to apologize. I'm sorry."

"What are you talking about?" He opened his eyes, looking up at the pale face. The fine muscles under his face plates twitched. Human males looked funny when they didn't shave. With the red stubble, Turner looked even whiter than he already was. The dark circles under his eyes were another contrast. This guy needed sleep. Arek should take a nap instead of tearing on his nerves.

"Your ribs, it's my fault they're broken."

"Bullshit." Don't get any dumb ideas, human. Don't you have enough things to brag about already?

"No bullshit. Doc said they broke from blunt force taken to the chest, like, something heavy that tackled you, or, well, fell on top of you." Arek didn't have to specify what he was meaning. There had been only one impact to his body that was heavy enough to deal enough damage to break a bone or two, thanks to an bad angle.

"Must have been Cerberus." Just go. Go away. I don't want to talk with you.

"Or a human adept whose pathetic biotic field burst a tad too soon. And who survived the crash with nothing but a few bruises because you broke his fall."

"You're ridiculous." What did he have to do to make him stop? He didn't want to hear more of this, or be turned into something in the human's eyes he wasn't, and that he didn't want to be.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry, I'm not trying to get a nice word out of you. Just wanted to let you know I'm sorry. And thank you." Finally, Arek turned around and walked away. The door to the sick bay closed, and Mojo was alone with the dim lights and the mellow humming of the machines around him. He closed his eyes again and waited for sleep to take over before the doctor or anyone else with questions returned.

And he is growing on you after all. I know you, Mojo.

And I said he's not. I just can't stand watching others die when only a little effort would save them.

And yet, you-

Spirits, shut up already. I don't need a ghost of the past picking on me. And once and for all, this asshole is not growing on me, he still stands for everything I despise, in case you have forgotten.

Although... there were things Turner had said, and had done, that didn't add up. Mojo had to admit before that he had misunderstood Arek's motivation, back on Omega.

Mojo sighed. He wanted to turn around. The pillows they used for male turian patients weren't comfortable. He wished he could change the position of his head, but every inched he moved was punished by the pain coming from his ribcage. Stupid human jerk, if Turner had left him behind as he had told him he wouldn't feel more than a slight sting, thanks to the numbness from the cold. Also, he would be dead, shot, or killed by his own ribs piercing through his organs.

Fuck all this. Suddenly, one or two hours sounded like a long time.

"Ah, there you are! Didn't you get the call?" Meyrani caught up with him while he was on his way back to his quarter. Doctor Wilson had woken him up four hours after Mojo had finally fallen asleep.

"The bones are back in their place, and the breaks fixed. But take it easy, it will take two days until its fully hardened. No running, no fighting, no whatever caused it in the first place, understood? And keep yourself warm. You got some first and second degree frostbite on our feet, legs and shoulder. At any signs of infection or loss of feeling you'll come back here at once!"

With that warning Mojo had been shooed out of the medical bay. Most of the pain was gone, unless he twisted his torso too quickly or moved too fast. He had regained full control over his legs, but the tingling in his feet and calves wouldn't go away, no matter how much he stretched or wiggled his toes. Well, even if it went against his principles, he'd for once not challenge the doctor's orders. Besides, he was still sleepy. A good meal wouldn't be the worst, and then, more sleep. First, however, he was looking forward to exchange the torn suit he had been wearing beneath his armor and the gown from the medical bay for comfortable pants and a sweater. He considered keeping the socks though. If anyone had asked him what the biggest achievement of humanity was, he'd have answered woolen socks.

"Nice dress, it flatters your hips." Meyrani chuckled, pulling at the white sleeve. "Sorry, one of us should have thought of bringing some of your clothes."

"I'm sure you were busy crawling through Cereberus' filthy secrets." They walked along the corridor together to their shared room. Mojo ignored the grins from the crew members they encountered. He didn't need to be a genius to guess what sight he offered, and that their opinion of him only added to the amusement. He wasn't angry about it, he'd have a good laugh as well if he was in their place, and one of all these idiots were walking through the ship in black tights, red socks and a white shirt that ended several inches above his knees.

"Found anything?" he asked when they stepped into the elevator.

"A few things, all interesting, but not all of them are related to our case. Well..." She flinched, twisting her fingers as she searched for the right words.

"Just spit it out. All this was for nothing, right?" He pointed at his outfit, still deciding if he wanted to laugh or to growl.

"Not at all. It's just not our case anymore, I'm afraid." She stared at the ceiling, sighing.

"What does that mean?" He already guessed the answer, there weren't many explanations for what could have happened since they had left Noveria.

"We got caught. Captain Crusher became suspicious," she confirmed his assumption. "The length of the mission, Cerberus running wild on Noveria, Arek turned into a shadow of himself because of exhaustion, your injuries... all that didn't match with his idea of a stealth mission. That we messed with the com channels didn't help either. Amalthea thought it was wiser to let the dog out of the box, as the humans say."

"Sure it's dogs?" A human had been his best friends over years, that had given Mojo his share of human idioms. There were too many for him to remember them all correctly.

"Don't know, isn't it always something about dogs with humans?"

"True. And what now?" he urged her on to continue the story.

"Now?" The elevator opened and they stepped outside, making room for two members from the navigator team. "Now Crusher is furious. He's been grilling Thea and Arek over the last hour. I joined them once the doc let me go, and was told to get you. If you replace 'told' with 'he shouted loud enough that I suspected you'd heard him yourself' you'll get the idea."

"Wonderful." To have the case, as Meyrani called it, taken away from him bothered him more than an angered captain. Especially human captains were nothing he feared. Some were good with words, like that Admiral Hackett, some were just loud. None of them were dangerous. He hadn't seen much of the captain since he had been on the ship, so it would be interesting to see what kind of preacher Crusher was.

Also, the prospect of an dishonorable discharge didn't scare him. If he was kicked out of the Alliance he'd return to his life as a freelancer, maybe back on Omega, or on another planet.

If that happened, fine, then he'd find a way to get his hand on Murakos by his own. However, he could imagine that Turner and the others felt differently about the matter.

"And yet you're chatting with the enemy instead of facing the consequences of our doings asap. Is one angry superior enough to shatter your bravery?" he couldn't resist teasing.

"First off, Mojo, you're a nuisance, not an enemy. You've proven that on Noveria for good, if you like it or not. And secondly, do you really want to face the Captain – and Arek – in this get-up?" She laughed as the door to their quarter slid open. "Get in and hurry, I'll wait here."

"Afraid you might like too much what you see?"

"Oh, yes. Turian jerk covered in frostbites, always a turn-on."