Sorry, sort of uneventful chapter tonight because I feel like I'm in some sort of slump. :\ I'm not really sure what it is. Errors from last chapter should be fixed and rating has been pushed up to M for obvious reasons. Does it really need to be M? I'm not entirely sure. Not sure if I should continue to write those sorts of scenes. Regardless of that, it will be elaborated on more in the next chapter! Any input would be appreciated. I hope I did a decent job on the last chapter...

xoxo

THR

Chapter 38

Your name was Kaidan Alenko and you were opening a package.

You stood in the armory area of the Normandy and your hands wrapped around one of the best pistols money could buy after discarding a secure box. The brand name of the firearm had been drilled into your mind throughout your galactic escapades. While walking throughout the Citadel, advertisements directed at you were blasted from terminals while you strode past them. Stores endorsed them until they were blue in the face. Even the Alliance was working with the company and making sure that every recruit was given a basic model pistol once they completed training.

The Ariake Technologies brand name meant a lot in the galaxy right now. The curves of a Raikou X pistol caressed your skin with the utmost amount of delicate care. You had been awaiting its arrival onto the SR-2 for a while now. Special ordering it had been a pain in the ass even with special Alliance privileges. Custom tactical grips, extended ammo capacity and a high caliber barrel didn't come cheap. You figured that it was time to pull a few strings and treat yourself to something nice. Even if it was just a fancy gun, you had a mission to complete. Having the correct weapons made things easier and it would be great to show it off to Shepard.

Since moving onboard the former Alliance marine's ship, you had been losing your morals slowly but surely. Succumbing to your CO's low blows and harsh feelings had turned you into a more hardened man. Although there hadn't been any more mass effect fueled brawls, the two of you exchanged spats that rivaled the Krogan's arguments. Petty insults could only go so far and it amazed you that things hadn't reached a physical level yet. You had stopped all sincerity towards the woman you had professed your love for long ago. Wanting things to work was no longer a desire in your mind. She didn't stop her mind games and you knew that Garrus was falling for them, too. What came off to others as a badass personality was different in your mind. Shepard was a pureblooded bitch who had nothing better to do than stoop to levels unknown. Saying that you had attempted to make amends was good enough for you. Actually continuing to try wasn't worth the aggravation.

It felt like you were threatening to leave the ship every day that you spent on it. Tactical planning and supply gathering was still in the works. You had the opportunity to have shore leave and just disappear, but for some reason you couldn't allow yourself to leave.

There was a job to get done and you weren't about to leave because of an annoying boss. Despite getting assigned the most annoying duties and never getting shore leave, you were going to stay no matter what.

Just for kicks, you pulled the trigger to your new gun and smiled at the clicking that echoed across the room. The device was ready for use, which brightened your day a bit.

That is, until another woman stepped into the room.

Her steps were light and almost silent, but you knew better than to ignore them. Your head rose out of habit to either greet or mentally strangle the visitor. The woman's choice of attire was poor compared to what you had seen before; a pair of butt ugly sweats and a muscle tank sporting the N7 logo wasn't something that fit protocol.

Her head turned to the worktable you were at. She paid you no attention and that was the way you liked it. You, on the other hand, couldn't help sneaking a glance at her ass like you always used to while aboard the SR-1.

Without a care in the world, she went to work on whatever the hell she was doing. In a similar manner to you, she picked up a heavily modded assault rifle and began toying with it. Her long fingers touched the trigger, her eyes giving it a look that she had once given you. To think that she had the same level of appreciation for her guns as she did her men felt kind of disgusting to you.

You bit your lip when your mind also began to think that it was a tiny bit sexy.

You snorted, sending her head straight up again and in your direction. She didn't look pleased by the minor interruption no matter how innocent it had been.

"Alenko," she muttered, her voice smooth. "What kind of gun is that?"

Her tone was rather kind, which had been a miracle given her facial expression. You placed the pistol on the table and away from your immediate grasp.

"Ariake pistol. Got a discount from the Alliance. Does it matter?"

Your curt response triggered something in Shepard that you seldom saw. She dropped what she was working on and took a step closer to you.

"Yeah, it does."

You raised an eyebrow, half expecting her to either lunge at you or just walk out. Instead, she paced back and forth before finally returning to her own workplace a minute later.

Her response didn't get any further due to an interruption from the Normandy's AI. You didn't know what to think of the machine, who had been dubbed with the feminine name of "EDI". From what you could tell, she exceeded the capabilities of even the Geth. A wicked sense of humor also accompanied her astonishing abilities. The way the remaining Normandy crew spoke to her made her appear to be a real person. Trusting her wasn't something you felt like doing until she proved herself. You hadn't been in serious combat situations yet, meaning that her duties were limited to flying the ship and giving messages to crew members.

"Shepard, Admiral Hackett is requesting to see you in the Communications Room. He said that the message is urgent and requires direct attention from you."

Almost as if she was a robot, Shepard did as she was told and retreated out of the room without saying another word to you.

Your name was Kaidan Alenko and you began to follow your ex as soon as she left the room.

Your name was Commander Liz Shepard and you hated what had just gone on.

To be frank, you lacked the energy to patronize Kaidan's choice of pistol. He didn't know the reasoning behind your hatred for Ariake. They developed damn good technology and you would use it in a second if you knew that your deadbeat parents weren't behind their operations. Professing your undying abhorrence for a successful company required a large allotment of time that you would rather put towards other things. Explaining your former life to Alenko wasn't something you wanted to do, either. EDI's message felt like a godsend. You were soon about to find out that dealing with Hackett would not be.

Instead of being patched through to the Illusive Man, the blue scanners slid up your body and you came face to face with one of the most prominent Alliance members to date. While he was dressed in full uniform, you were hardly the picture of reliability and honor.

He was distracted by your choice of attire for a moment but spend no time in getting on with the supposedly crucial information.

"Commander, we have some frightful news that needs to be jumped on as soon as possible. I'm afraid that Arrival has been compromised. Very compromised, as a matter of fact. I need you to get into action as soon as you possibly can."

You took a deep breath and gave the Admiral a small chuckle, as if to say "are you kidding?" with nothing but body language. You had been put up against tighter odds before. However, this didn't mean that your situation was anything less than extreme. This was a project that you didn't know much about. You still weren't entirely aware of what you were up against. Batarians and an Alliance scientist weren't details that you were able to go on. You needed concrete answers as to what the hell you were really doing.

Until someone in the Alliance provided that, you were staying grounded.

"You haven't exactly divulged much about the matter at hand." you said. You had to choose your words carefully. One wrong move could get you into deep shit.

"I need access to what this mission is really about. Send it to me or else I can't guarantee that I can get out of this alive."

Hackett brought his hand to his chin and looked at you in thought. There was no way that he couldn't agree with your opinion; after all, he had barely told you anything regarding your newest assignment.

"I'll forward a datapad to you with all of the information. I apologize if this isn't what you'd like, but the Alliance and the Council need you, Shepard. Hackett out."

Your name was Commander Liz Shepard and you now had a large setback on your hands.

Your name was Dr. Liara T'soni and you were the Shadow Broker.

As a powerful information broker under an anonymous identity, you bought and sold data and facts that were worth more than pure element zero itself. Your product was unique; it might not be a tangible good, but it had the power to start and end wars, careers and even lives. As a broker, you made sure that your merchandise went to the best place. In your case, it would be the most controversial and highest paying bidder.

Without giving out an identity, you had dealt with the likes of every major government in the galaxy. You had discussed personal matters with each member of the Citadel's Council. Your influence had even given you a cult following. Many people romanticized the Shadow Broker; its alluring identity gave people the freedom to imagine you in ways that you would never expect. You had received rumors that your position was the central character to a new vid series in Nos Astra. As illustrious as you felt at times, you were disconnected with what your former life used to be. Before becoming one of the most powerful people in the Milky Way, you spent time on the Normandy SR-1 and 2 and had the luxury of being able to call studying Protheans one of your countless diversions. The times that you had been a broker on Illium had been the most enjoyable part of your one hundred and ten years of existence. It was a halfway point in your life; you had the power of a broker and control over millions, but you maintained a solid identity and didn't spend your life yelling at a drone or slaving over a computer.

Since losing your arsenal of a ship and concluding your efforts to end the Reaper War, you settled down on Thessia and anonymously donated thousands of credits to the Asari government to rebuild. You shared an expansive apartment with your Drell coworker and set up an office that took up most of the abode's space. Computers ended up in the kitchen and the bedroom and it was hard to find a place that your occupation hadn't overwhelmed. However, once you realized that it had been a year since the end of the war, things started to turn in your life.

You began to distance yourself from your work more and more, leaving Glyph to do a majority of your more trivial tasks. Instead of tracking down a councilor's mistress or secretly analyzing ex-Cerberus operatives, you poured hours into checking up on one of your best friends: Commander Liz Shepard.

Her Alliance title had been stripped and she had been turned into a ruthless criminal, but this wasn't enough for you to stop believing in her. Your job gave you access to everything and you had everything tagged with her name placed into a personal folder on your omni-tool. Every time there was even an inkling of information on her, you were the first to know about it.

Feron joked with you and said that it was "high profile stalking", but you laughed it off each time he brought it up. Keeping tabs on someone you cared for wasn't what you would call stalker behavior. You were doing nothing more than keeping an eye out for her.

The information that you had uncovered about the woman who you used to serve under was shocking. The scandals with the Batarian Hegemony and the Council made you outraged and you wanted to go and pay them a visit when Shepard's return was in full swing. You had even gone so far as to watch every second of her meeting with the Citadel's supreme government, which pissed you off much more.

The only thing that was keeping you on Thessia was your work. You had relinquished some responsibilities as the Shadow Broker to Feron once you admitted that he needed to be more than an assistant to you. He gladly took some of the load off of your shoulders, but this wasn't enough for you to just pick up and leave the planet. Paying Shepard a visit required planning; purchasing a ship ticket and arranging all of your precious cargo was going to be hard. The days of the Normandy were long gone, which meant that packing all of your computers into a former Cerberus cheerleader's office was no longer an option.

You looked down at your omni-tool and pretended to favor it over the stunning view of Thessia that sprawled out in front of you. Despite your view being limited due to the hardware that covered most of your window space, you left one small area untouched for your viewing pleasure. You tried your best to enjoy it for a while. You had been working all day at trying to crack codes and expose secrets that weren't meant to come out. In your opinion, this constituted at least a minor break. You never really stopped working, though. It was a habit that just couldn't be broken.

While you looked out that window and imagined a more peaceful life, you blinked and were disturbed by the brief vibrations of your tool. This meant that there was a Shepard update.

You gave the tool a nonchalant glance at first until you were able to comprehend the magnitude of the information presented to you.

Your name was Dr. Liara T'soni and the Batarian Hegemony was exchanging information with the Turian councilor regarding Shepard's status. From what you could tell, this was the sort of information that was very capable of starting a war.

Perhaps it was time for an intervention.