Written 03/29/11

Disclaimer: I disclaim but for fear.

Author's note: Did I say the last chapter got away from me? I was obviously lying. This chapter got away from me, ran amok even. It was difficult to write, but very necessary, I hope it turned out alright. Thank you very much to thiefkingbakura1, Titus Tatius, OceanSyren, PikaShep and morbus-rus. Your words are inspirational and brought me much joy, this chapter is for you.

Great things spring from causalities.

-Disraeli

Afterlife

After Mordin helped me deliver the remains of my former identity to their fiery doom, during which I am quite certain he attempted to peek at my Ids, we were summarily interrupted. Not that I held it against the salarian that seemed to have been shot, stabbed and partially seared.

"Needed now. Try not to get into trouble," Dr. Solus ordered me. Then he bustled off with the blue quarian asking her, "Vitals? Nature of attack? Known medical history? Quickly Tara!" The quarian, who it seemed was named Tara, answered him urgently and they rushed off dramatically. I doubted she was upset with him coming in on his day off anymore.

For a moment I lingered in the hallway. I was not really sure what to do with myself. I walked out into the waiting room, but retreated quickly after half-a-dozen faces of every species swung my way. It was a little disconcerting. I returned to where I had left my things, the storage shed that was sometimes a shooting gallery, and went through my bag. I had what was left of my laptop, a mostly empty water bottle, pencil case with various things inside and a notebook. I took a moment and flipped through the notebook, making sure there was nothing about Mass Effect written in the margins. I found a half-hearted attempt at drawing Garrus, but it resembled... well nothing really. Drawing had never been my strong suit.

I put my things back and sat down. I turned my omni-tool on and started playing around with the settings. Unsurprisingly, it was not long before I was exploring the extranet. Of course my first search was for Shepard. It was quite the fruitful search. There were several articles describing her heroics during the Skyllian Blitz, and a few dozen pictures of her receiving her medal. She looked almost exactly like my first paragon Shepard. Pale, cropped blond hair, long nose with cat shaped eyes, but the eye colour was off. I had played through with two paragon Shepards, one for Garrus and one for Thane. Garrus's Shepard, the blond, had deep blue eyes, Thane's strikingly green. This Shepard's eyes were green. That was interesting.

A little more digging showed that she had grown up following her parents around on space ships. She had enlisted when she was eighteen and even before her acts of heroism her record had been full of commendations. There was nothing that described her abilities beyond that, just a mention of her exceptional leadership skills. There were also a few Batarian articles, that my omni-tool translated, which villianized her thoroughly. Apparently there had never been an attack on Elysium and the various pirates were actually merchants, trying to sell their cargo. They had supposedly been attacked and forced to defend themselves. One article was demanding Shepard be tried for war crimes.

I saved some of the data to look at later, which took me a little while to figure out how to do, and started poking around the extranet. It was not long before I found myself on an antiques site, InterGalactic Antiques, looking at season one through ten of Firefly. It had not gotten cancelled in this universe. I nearly had a religious episode I was so excited. I dimmed when I read the price for the remastered vids, about a thousand credits a season. Well, I had better things to do anyways.

I finally stopped wasting time at that point and checked the price for my laptop. With the hard-drive it would have been worth around ten thousand credits, depending on the buyer. Without, only two thousand. Maybe I could have thought that through better. A magnet could have worked and not cost me eight thousand credits. The price of symbolism.

But the extranet is a wonderful thing. My hard-drive may have met a toasty end in the incinerator, but the rest of my laptop was intact. And according to InterGalactic Antiques, worth enough credits to make it worth my while. Not that they had an office on Omega, but the market was full of opportunities for a smooth talking, fresh faced youth such as myself. Theoretically.

I ripped a page out of my notebook and wrote a note for Mordin.

Dr. Solus,

Don't worry, I'll be back soon. Need to start making my fortune! I promise to stay out of trouble. I took the pistol, but I'll try not to need it. I'll come back to the clinic when I sell my "antique" laptop... Or in a few hours if I don't.

See you soon,

Kelly

I had to scratch out my last name. Some habits die hard I suppose. I took the gun and the holster Mordin had given me before we were interrupted. I arranged the holster behind me, on my waist, and practiced drawing the pistol a few times. It curled into itself in the holster, and pulling it out caused it to unfurl, with a speed that was less then instantaneous. I was, by far, not the fastest gun in the West. But discretion can be the greater part of valour. I took the lining out of my winter coat and pulled it on. It was a little warm, the coat was leather and it ended just above my knees, but it covered the gun. I twisted around vainly, trying to see if the gun showed through my jacket. I was unable to see a lump, but was unsure. I shrugged to myself, a gun would not be out of place on Omega, not worth worrying about. And the leather coat was a very plain design, I blended in a little more wearing it, then in just my shirt and jeans.

I grabbed the laptop and walked out of the storage room. The back alley between the building and the clinic was empty, except for a few more storage containers, these much less pristine than those inside. This time I walked past the clinic's back door, walking to the end of the alley that led out into the street. I took a step out and I looked left. I looked right. I made a face.

"Brilliant plan. Absolutely brilliant Kelly," I muttered sarcastically, "Exactly where am I gonna find somewhere to sell this?" I sighed deeply and turned left on a whim, nearly running over an asari. I was not at my best that day. We both stopped just short of each other. She was blue, with white markings speckling her face. A hand taller than me, she was lithe and small boned.

"Sorry! I'm so sorry I didn't see you. I'm just not paying attention today," I said hopping back.

The asari laughed, and held her arms up, "It's okay, no harm done," The translator blinked on my omni-tool, translating her words for me, tickling in my ears. She went to keep walking, with a chuckle, and then a sudden urge struck me.

"Hey! Um, sorry," she looked back at me, less amused, "Do you know how I get to Harrot's Emporium?"

The asari had never heard of Harrot or his emporium, and mercantile elcors usually do stick out in a crowd. She did however direct me to the commercial strip. Right down the way from Afterlife, where she was coincidently heading for work. She was a dancer who worked there. She took pity on the poor lost human and walked with me. She was very friendly.

"So I'm guessing you're new to Omega, right?" she asked, flicking a blue hand down to the left, directing me away from an intersection.

"Uh, yeah. Just got off Earth actually, wanted to see the galaxy. I've heard good things about Omega," I paused, "Well not good things actually, but I've heard about it."

She laughed, a tinkley feminine sound. I asked, "Are you from Omega?" I wrinkled my brow, "Is anyone from Omega actually?" I wondered.

"No, I don't think anyone has daughters on Omega. Well anyone with a choice," she smiled, "I'm from the Citadel, but I've lived on Omega for the past fifty years." My translator converted her measurement of time, the words sounding slightly mechanical in my ears. The omni-tool was not top of the line.

I blinked for a moment, but then remembered how lengthy asari life spans were as she led me up some stairs, "Right. Guess you know all about Omega then."

"As much as anyone."

I smiled, "Nah, I'm sure you're the resident expert. You've taken it upon yourself to be my guide after all. How could you be anything less," I joked.

She smiled at me again, but with a different look in her eyes, something I was unable to place, "My name's Maru," she told me, and raised a brow in question.

"Kelly, my name's Kelly. It's wonderful to meet such a nice girl like you, in a place like this," I smiled. Something felt off, and I tried to subtly look around, without being rude, because, you know, Canadian. Everything seemed vaguely familiar, and she did not seem to be leading me into a trap. But I have been wrong before.

"You should come to Afterlife some time. There's nowhere else like it in the whole galaxy," she told me, still smiling. She gently tugged my arm towards a door. The automatic woosh had not lost its novelty for me yet.

"I'm sure Maru, but don't you need to be on some kind of list or something to get in?" she had let her hand linger on my elbow for a moment before turning into a crowd. I followed her closely, not wanting to lose her.

"Great thing about having a guide who works at Afterlife, she has connections. If you come by later, tell the bouncer your name, and that you're a friend of Maru's. That'll get you in," she promised, teasingly. Then she waved a hand in front of us and announced, "And here we are."

The massive screen with the techno dancing asari, is much more impressive in person, if I may say so. There was a long, multi-species line outside the doors, lots of flashing lights and the booming sound of the barely suppressed screaming techno music. And we were on the other side of the plaza, it promised to be much louder inside. Maru pointed down the hall from where we were, "There's a bunch of shops down that way. I'm sure someone will be selling whatever you're looking for."

"Actually looking to sell. I don't have work yet, so I need to pay for food somehow," I told her with sigh. Then I smiled, "Thanks again. You're my own personal hero right now. I would have been completely lost without you."

She smirked, "Especially since when you ran into me, you were headed in the opposite direction," her eyes flicked to the club and then back to me. She leaned forward and put a hand on my arm, "You'll come to Afterlife later right? Promise you'll come."

I started for a second, surprised, then smiled and nodded, "Of course. Least I can do, after your heroic efforts at saving me from myself."

She smiled that smile again, and stepped back from me, towards the club. "Good. I'll be waiting for you Kelly." She turned and started walking towards the club. I watched her go, head tilted a little in confusion. I had the feeling something just happened I did not entirely understand. She looked back when she reached the entrance stairs, she saw me standing there and smiled again. Then she positively hopped up the stairs and got the attention of the batarian bouncer. She gestured and pointed at me, the batarian glared and I gave a hesitant wave, feeling like a moron. Maru went past him and walked through the doors, turning around once more, mouthing something that may have been 'don't forget.' The batarian turned back to the people in line, ignoring me.

I stood there for a moment, then shook my head, "Moving on then," I whispered to myself. Laptop in hand I marched determinedly down towards the commercial sector. I smiled softly in recognition, and relief, at the architecture. I was much more familiar with this part of Omega, though it was not quite what had been in the game, it was close.

Taking care not to run into anyone else this time, I walked through another door and down a set of stairs, passing a few turians dressed in blue sun armour. They were decidedly less friendly looking than Maru had been. I schooled my face into blankness, with a little bit of contempt. Perfect look for surviving high school, not bad for dealing with Omega's citizens either. The hall to get to the shopping district was longer than in the game, but the district itself was much larger too. There were dozens of stores, booths and tables, with someone shouting for people to buy their merchandise, because it was clearly superior to the competitions' merchandise.

There was no trace of Harrot's Emporium, so that nixed that plan. I walked down into the crowd and tried getting a good look at some of the booths lining one wall. There was not much of any indication of where I should start. It was difficult to see through the crowd, and I stepped back trying to get a better look.

"Hey! Careful," a hand grabbed my arm, keeping me from stepping backwards. I tore out of the grip, spinning around. One of my hands belatedly went to my pistol, but before I even touched it, I saw what had happened. A salarian shopkeeper was set up right behind me, he had no table or booth, so he had laid his merchandise out on an old blanket on the floor. It was an assortment of bits and pieces of tech, that looked a lot like scrap metal to me. Scrap metal that I had been about to step on, trying to get a better look at the crowd.

"Sorry I didn't see you," he did have a sign propped up against the wall. It read, Taelo's Buy and Sell, "You a buyer?"

He was white with blue blotches and lighter blue stripes covering his visible skin. Taller than Mordin, he was just as lanky, but his scales were more prominent, more ridged. He still looked offended but offered, "I'm a buyer and a seller. Mostly for tech, but if you've got something interesting, I'm open to suggestions."

I quirked an eyebrow at him, amused. He was acting like I had almost stepped on him personally. I hefted my laptop in front of me, "Is this interesting enough for you?"

There was instant recognition and shock on his face, and he reached for the laptop eagerly. I handed it to him a little reluctantly. I was really pushing my luck, trusting so many people on Omega. He examined it earnestly, opening and shutting it a few times, "This is ancient! Humans haven't used these in almost two hundred years. This is from before the Relay 314 Incident!" he glanced at me, and did a double take. He visibly forced himself to calm down and handed the laptop back to me, with visibly suppressed reluctance, "Missing data storage unit though. Not worth even half as much as a fully intact unit." He narrowed his eyes at me for a moment, calculating. He looked me over, a short human female, broad shoulders but a soft, smiling, open face. He smiled charmingly, "I can offer two hundred credits. I promise that will be the best offer you'll get today."

I swallowed a frown, and smiled back at the slimy snake oil selling salarian. With a barely restrained challenge in my voice I said, "Really? And here I thought this was worth about, ten times that amount. But if you're sure that's the best I'll get for it, maybe I'll try someone else, just in case," he reacted so quickly, there was no need to even pretend I would walk away.

"Did I say two hundred credits? I meant to say six hundred credits. You can't expect to get its full worth on Omega you know," he shrugged, "And that really is the best offer you'll get. No one else is going to recognize what that is you know." He looked at me calculatingly, it was my turn to make the next move.

He had just tripled his asking price, I could smell the blood in the water. I flashed a smile, all my teeth showing for a second, and said, "But I'd bet you know someone who does know what this is, right? You could easily sell this for two thousand credits, to the right buyer. You're right, I probably won't find a similar offer here, but," I drew out the 'but,' enjoying the look of alarm on the salarian's face, "I could always wait until I leave Omega," I bluffed. Then with a feigned look of consternation, "But it does get tiresome, carrying this old thing around. And I'd hate to end up breaking it before getting rid of it. I'll let you take it off my hands for fifteen hundred credits."

"Eight hundred."

"Twelve."

"One thousand?"

"Eleven hundred."

Taelo, sighed deeply. He ran a hand over his face, the picture of an ever suffering shop keeper. "Deal," he said reluctantly. I fished my chit out my pocket and held it out in one hand, my laptop in the other. He reached out with his chit and transferred the credits, then gingerly took the laptop from me. His look of despair had quickly dissolved, and he actually hugged the laptop to his chest, adoringly. I think I may have been able to hold out for more credits.

"Taelo!" a voice roared out from behind me. I spun around, stuffing my chit into my pocket. A dark green batarian was storming towards us, gun held at his side. He was wearing no armour, but dark clothing, the fine quality out of place in the crowd. He quickly passed me, closely enough so that I could see numerous scars on the back of his head, like something had raked the crown of his head with sharp claws.

"Taelo!" he shouted again and grabbed the salarian by the front of his shirt. He jerked the taller man down, to glare into his face. "Where's my money Taelo?" he asked darkly. When Taelo failed to answer quickly enough, the batarian shook the salarian and pushed him to the ground. Taelo fell over his merchandise, still cradling my laptop against his chest.

"Taelo you thrice-blinded piece of shit! You said you'd have my money days ago!" the batarian cursed at Taelo and swung his gun arm at him.

"Hey! Hold on there!" I said stunned. The batarian looked at me and sneered.

"Human, unless you've got the steju's money, you had better get lost." I blinked and my translator program whispered in my ear. Steju, a small amphibian. Native to Khar'shan, known for eating refuse of other animals. Common batarian slur for salarians.

I winced in disgust and quickly retaliated, "How much does he owe you?" I stood my ground, beating down the urge to run, carefully looking at neither Taelo nor the gun.

"Three thousand credits," he spat.

Taelo found his voice, "Ther-there's no reason to get excited," he stammered. He carefully slid the laptop behind him and stood up. "I just got a new opportunity! Big pay out, I just need a little more time," Taelo flinched back as the batarian pressed the muzzle of his gun against Taelo's throat.

"Wait! He's telling the truth," I said earnestly. The batarian looked back at me, clearly not happy that I had remained. "Listen, I just sold him some merchandise. When he finds a buyer, he'll have your money, right Taelo?" I took a small step towards Taelo. I tried to fix a smile on my face, but I was sweating. My gun virtually itched on my back.

"Huh? Yeah. Yeah right!" Taelo leaned back carefully from the gun at his throat, cringing under the batarian's glare. "I just need a little more time, and you'll get every credit."

"Or I could just take the merchandise and blow this spineless piece of shit away," the batarian suggested darkly.

"Not a good idea," I said quickly, "Think of the aggravation. To get your money back you'd have to track down a buyer yourself! You might even take a loss if you don't find the right buyer. Let Taelo do the work for you," I appealed to him carefully. Taelo looked to be about as dangerous as a bowl of jelly. My defence of him was purely instinctual, it never occurred to me to walk away.

The batarian pulled back from Taelo a little, wavering, but still angry. He challenged me, "If I do not kill him, all of my clients will try to take advantage. What would you propose I do, human?"

"And what if you frighten all your clients away? Show a little mercy. Taelo will never tell anyone," I promised, and Taelo nodded emphatically. "Taelo here is completely terrified of you, your reputation is safe and you'll get your money. Isn't that fair?" I asked using my most convincing, 'I'm reasonable, you're reasonable, let's all be reasonable' voice.

The batarian was still turning the proposition over in his mind. I held my breath and bit my tongue, tensely waiting for him to decide. If I pushed too hard he would refuse out of hand, but if I failed to convince him, he could shoot me too. Taelo glanced quickly at me then back to the batarian. He was surprised I had not made myself scarce as soon as the confrontation had begun. He was not aware that I had been making a habit of demonstrating a less than effective self-preservation instinct all day.

The batarian grimaced, but put his gun up. The moment I saw the murderous intent leave him, I veritably shuddered in relief. Taelo seemed to shrink into himself, collapsing as the tension left him. But the batarian was still angry, "Tomorrow Taelo. No more chances," then he turned his head at me and said, "You need to learn to mind your own business human." He looked like he wanted to say something else, but a sudden roar had rung out across the crowd.

The three of us whipped around towards the disturbance. The plaza had gone silent, and parted quickly, pulling back from the source of the animalistic anger. The krogan glared and the crowd quickly moved from his line of sight, no one wanted to be on the receiving end of his malevolent gaze. A gaze that was pointedly fixed on me.

It was the krogan who Mordin had shot. The one that had tried to mug me. The one who was currently adorned with two holes on either side of his head, less prominent and bloody then when last I had seen him last. The one who had started charging towards me, redoubling the efforts of the newly buzzing, and now screaming crowd to move out of his way.

"Aw shit," I cursed, "Gotta go now," I quickly told Taelo and the batarian. I barely glanced at their expressions of curiosity and shock, I was too busy spinning around back towards the way I had come, running for dear life.

Incoming krogan, I thought weakly to myself as I darted into the crowd. The krogan had been quite a distance from me before, but was quickly covering the ground between us. I shot frantic glances over my shoulder, watching him toss aside anyone who failed to evacuate his path before he encountered them. He must have thought I was the one who had shot him. I was the last person he had seen before losing consciousness, but really, overreact much?

I grabbed a banister and spun myself towards the passage that led to Afterlife's plaza. I launched myself down the path, cursing. There was no one else in the passage and no cover to hide behind. My jacket flared behind me, and my heart thundered in my throat. I jerked my head around looking for the krogan, still running. He was not in the passage. I pushed myself to the edge of the passage, hammering through the holograph on the door, attempting to coerce it into opening faster. I stumbled through the opening, startling an asari on the other side. I spared her a glance and dove for the side of the door. I hid at the side of the passage exit, and doubled over trying to breathe. I was not a runner, and my stomach and legs had already started burning with the sudden exertion of my flight. The pain was tempered by the adrenaline though, it was a heady feeling, but my mind felt sharp and quick. Also, terrified.

Swallowing the bile in my throat, I stuck my head back into the passage, looking for my pursuer. The passage was empty. I sighed and almost fell forward in relief. I must have closed my eyes for a moment in my relief. My spectacularly short lived relief. I opened my eyes and nearly jumped out of my skin. The krogan had appeared in the passage, and he was still charging after me.

My mistaken moment of relief had already cut into my head start. I leaped away from the door into the plaza. My blood thundered in my ears as I looked desperately for somewhere to hide, or for the way I had come from earlier. The thickness of the crowd swallowed me, concealing me, but it also concealed most of the plaza. Well, except for one part.

My muscles screamed at me, as I rushed the stairs for Afterlife. I pushed a few humans and salarians aside, and they cursed at my back. Taking the steps two at time, I made a beeline for the batarian bouncer. I grabbed his arm to get his attention, not relinquishing my grip when he immediately pulled away in disgust and anger. I dug my fingers into the muscles of his arm, pulling him toward me.

"Hey! I'm Maru's friend from before. I really need to go in and see her. You remember me from before right?" I asked breathily, urgent and forceful. I prayed in my mind to whoever might be listening.

"Yeah fine. Go in. Just get off of me! Maru's set starts in fifteen." He pulled away more forcefully, but I had already let go, bounding to the door, ignoring the curses of the line occupants. It glided open and the music hit me like a fist to the stomach. The music was so loud and violent it was decibels within the range of becoming tangible. I stole through the music, forcefully enduring the blasts.

Reaching the other end of the lobby, I stepped through the door into the club. If I had been less distracted, I would have been dismayed by the increase in the music's volume. I was preoccupied with scanning the club for somewhere to hide. The club which was as per course, was much larger than the game had shown. There was a small group of humans on the second level, crowded around the bar. I picked out the stairs and headed towards them, quickly but not running. I was vainly trying to control my gasps for breath, walking purposefully and ignoring any inquisitive looks my way.

I darted up the stairs and weaved around a group of dancers. I stopped short of the bar and the group of humans, taking a moment to devise a plan. I reached a hand up to my hair and pulled my hair tie off. Walking more calmly, feigning confidence, I shook out my long, curly, and now dark with sweat, hair, and approached the bar. I went to the end of the bar, peripheral to the main body of the group of humans. I stood next to two human men, who were in deep discussion with each other. The men failed to notice me, but the salarian bartender slid down the length of the bar towards me.

"Welcome to Afterlife! Do you desire a beverage?" the salarian asked jovially.

"Um..." I hesitated, "Do you have anything sweet, but non-alcoholic? I need to hydrate after all that dancing," I smiled, attempting to be charming. I was really dying of thirst, and having a drink in hand would help me blend into the crowd if the krogan managed to follow.

"One moment please," the salarian turned around and opened a door under the counter. He reached in searchingly, and after a few moments pulled out a clear bottle with a bright blue liquid inside. "Divine Aqua, asari athletic drink. Sweet, hydrating, and humans don't experience any intoxication from ingestion. Chit please?"

I placed my chit in his outstretched palm and claimed the drink. The top of the bottle hinged off at the press of my thumb, with a click, and I sniffed the drink. It smelled like ripe peaches. The salarian pressed my chit into a slot in the terminal behind the counter. He passed it back to me after a moment, the chit had lit up and then gone dark again. I read the counter on the chit before pushing it back into my pocket. It read eleven thousand and ninety two credits. The drink had cost eight credits.

The salarian moved on down the bar, out of reach when it occurred to me to ask where to find Maru. Instead I regarded the drink warily for a moment, but my thirst won out over my cautiousness. I tipped the bottle back and took a long satisfying drink, it was heavenly. I almost downed half the bottle in my first quaff, the run from the krogan had dried me out.

Thinking of the reason for my thirst, I turned my back to the bar, leaning against it, still trying to maintain my veneer of casualness. I could see the main entrance clearly from my perch, and most of the main floor of the club. I was on the second elevation of the club, the first level was covered with dancing people, and a central stage. Asari were dancing on the stage, and in the crowd. There were also smaller stages peppered throughout the crowd, similarly adorned. Along the walls, which were the ends of the elevation I was standing on, there were some tables, some of which also had dancers on them. The rest of the club seemed to be a series of elevations along the perimeter of the dance pit, populated with bars and private booths and tables. I was on the first elevation, but there appeared to be two more above me. The stairs to go up a level were next to where I had come up, forming the typical zigzag stair archetype, but in a very fancy modern techno way.

I leaned back against the bar, tipping my head back. Across the bar I could see Aria's private box with its blacked out windows. It loomed across the back wall, flanked by two stair cases and matching guards. The windows flashed reflections of the techno lights that danced across the club, highlighting a few more dancers on balcony that edged around the dark windows. I caught myself staring at one the dancers and looked away. Their movements were very... rhythmic.

I banished these thoughts with curses as I turned back to the lobby door. The krogan had made it past the bouncer. He stood in the middle of the doorway and turned his head, scanning the crowd of dancers from side to side. I shrunk back and turned my back to the door. A small crazy voice in my head sang, if I can't see you, you can't see me. Of course that was the perfect time for me to notice the conversation next to me was quickly growing in intensity, and the voices increasingly hostile and loud.

"Listen Pierre, just listen okay! I'm your best friend and-" the blonde was pleading with the other man, a dark brunette. Both were tall, but the blonde had the lean muscles of a runner, while the darker man was ripcord thin, angular, and seemingly quite angry.

"Ma soeur? My sister David?" his words came out dark and heavily accented in French, "How could you think that I could accept thiz? My bon ami would not ask thiz!"

The blonde leaned towards him, a soft friendly face, "I only ask because you're my best friend man. I'm really serious about her man, I think I love her."

That was definitely not the right thing to say, the darker man pulled back from the confessor, his face was twisted in agonized shock. One of his hands reached towards a sidearm strapped to his leg.

I glanced back towards my krogan and the then the stairs. There was no way I could make it the stairs without him taking notice, and if these two broke out into a fight, the krogan would notice for certain. Taking another quick gulp of my drink I acted, rashly that is.

"Oh hey! Excuse me!" I flung myself between the two men, startling them. I smiled brightly at the two of them, leaning against the bar between them. Clutching my drink in one hand, and the edge of the bar in the other, I feigned a loss of balance.

"Sorry boys! I was about to go back to the party, but I don't think my feet are ready yet," I giggled. I twisted towards the dark angry man, trying to distract him. I gave him an obvious look from head to toe, and a slightly different smile, "Or maybe my feet had a different party in my mind," I said, trying not to wince at how horrific I sounded.

The darker man looked down a sharp nose at me, clearly not amused, "We were in the middle of a conversation Mademoiselle," he spoke sharply to me, the last word clearly malicious.

I smiled obliviously up at him, trying to keep his attention, "I heard! Your best friend and your sister! C'est magnifique non? What could be better?" I leaned towards him conspiratorially, trying not to take it personally when he leaned away, "I mean if he's your best friend then he's a better choice than... Well for instance, your worst enemy! Or even just a good friend! It could be much worse, oui?"

The tall man blinked at me owlishly, I glanced quickly to the front of the room, the krogan was still standing there, but he was looking at the other side of the club intently. I refocused on Pierre, desperately praying the krogan would fail to notice this little melodrama.

Quick to accept an advocate when presented, the blonde leaned over me, bracing a hand on my shoulder. A quick glance skyward confirmed that he was wearing one of the most doleful puppy dog eyes expressions I had ever seen. He pleaded, "Exactly Pierre! You know me! I would never do anything to hurt you or Anna! I've known you both since before we ever came to Omega. I've always looked out for her, and she looked out for me. You've always taken care of us man, and I would never ever take advantage of Anna! You know that."

Pierre's eyes snapped up from me towards David's, glaring hotly for a moment. But the glare faded as he sighed morosely, "If you harm her David I will murder you."

David smiled brightly, "Thank you Pierre! I told Annabelle you'd approve," Pierre's glare argued otherwise, but David continued mischievously, "And you should be rewarded for your understanding."

Then with a little push on David's behalf I found myself pressed against Pierre. Surprised, and frankly shocked, I had to grab Pierre's shirt to keep from falling, and he reflexively caught me. I caught my balance and pulled back, quickly glancing around. David was quickly retreating towards the stairs, a large smile on his face. The krogan had also begun moving, but not towards my side of the room, and not up a tier. He was shuffling along the side of the dance floor, still peering into the crowd.

Pierre had not relinquished his hold on me entirely yet, his hands were still lightly perched on my arms. "Forgive me ma Cherie," he said, now with a small dark smile of his own, "I was distressed for my sister, but that does not excuse my rudeness. Allow me to purchase you a drink?"

I backed up and waved my bottle at him, trying to smile disarmingly. I carefully confessed, "Oh I already have a drink, don't worry about me." The danger had passed for now, but the krogan could turn this way in his search any moment now, he would certainly notice if I made a scene.

Pierre's smile deepened at my new found reluctance, and he chuckled, "Well then you must finish this one with me and allow me to purchase your next one."

I froze for a moment, desperately searching my mind for a way out. Then I broke into an easy smile. "Sure! That sounds great!" I acquiesced, "This day is going to much better than it started," I admitted with another giggle. I concealed a cringe at the action.

"Don't tell me a belle fille such as yourself has had a bad day?" he asked charmingly, "Beautiful women should not have a care in the galaxy."

I was torn for a second. I really needed to flee the premises, but I was always weak when called beautiful. But my less than active self-preservation instinct finally moved its arse off the couch and smothered the desire to give into his advances.

I struck a plaintive pose and woefully told him my tale. With a light girlish voice, I feigned a bubbly airhead persona, "Well the day is just going so well now," I said with a significant glance at Pierre, "But it started out much worse. I found out my boyfriend was running around behind my back with an asari whore! So I dumped him, told him I never wanted to see him again. I threw him and his stuff out of the apartment. But he wouldn't go away, so I snuck out the back, but he's been chasing me ever since! I came in to the club to hide, but I think he's out on the dance floor looking for me. It's not my fault he got shot in the face!"

Pierre's face as he listened to me had run a gauntlet of emotions. At first sympathetic and consoling, then enraged at my fictional boyfriend's infidelity, and when I said I threw him out, satisfaction. But when I confessed to being chased, it had turned to indignant fury, but then faltered when I mentioned the shot to the face.

"Ma Cherie, you are a very brave woman, but how did your traitorous lover come to think you shot him in the face?" he asked confused, but still tinged with indignation.

I smothered a dark anticipatory grin. It would just be a few more pushes to get him to do what I wanted. Instead I pouted at him, "I was there when it happened! But I didn't do it! It's not like it hurt him anyhow..." I trailed petulantly.

His face was twisted in confusion then, "But how was he not harmed by a shot to the face?"

"Huh? Oh, he's a krogan, they're tough like that. I don't know why he's so upset about it. I mean he gets shot all the time! And it's not like he doesn't shoot a lot of people himself either. I don't get what the big deal is anyway," I pouted at Pierre.

Pierre however had backed away entirely, eyes wide, a mix of horror and terror on his face. He jerked his head from side to side, then twisted around violently, searching for a krogan on the dance floor.

Thankfully for Pierre's poor heart, the krogan was no longer in sight. This did little to abate his alarm though. He turned back to me and said, the fear thickening his accent, "I'm afraid as lovely as it was meeting you, I have something to speak with David about, that I completely forgot about! Adieu!" His farewell was quick and he spun away, hurrying towards the stairs. I smothered a grin as he broke into a run when he spotted a random krogan break through the crowd. A few moments later he was through the door of the lobby, gone from my sight. I did laugh then, the look on his face had been delicious. I felt terrible for being so mean, but it was hilarious!

Then from behind me a woman's voice came, "Well, aren't you unusual? I was sure that was going to end in blood and body parts."