Disclaimer: Bioware owns Mass Effect and its characters. All I own is the OC's and the changes in the plot

POV Garvil

I'm not sure how long I was in the briefing room before Jentha entered. I was still letting all the pent up emotion out when I felt myself being dragged to my feet.

I wasn't sure what was happening for a moment until I felt my cheek burn. It took me a few seconds to realize that she had slapped me.

"Hey, numbskull. You going to hold yourself together?"

I fell down onto the floor both from emotion and the force of the slap. Jentha sighed in exasperation and leaned against the wall nearest to me. She rolled her eyes when I got myself up to my feet again.

"I thought you were better than this. Son of the most influential man on Earth? You're a weakling."

I scowled at her as I brushed the tears from my eyes. "What do you know? You're just a mercenary under the Alliance's flag."

Jentha raised an eyebrow. "You have no idea, do you?" She said unconcerned, getting out a cigarette from her hip pouch. She lit it and stuck it in her mouth before continuing. "You're the most powerful human biotic and given the best training, yet you consistantly fuck up on missions. Why should anyone give a shit about you?"

I grabbed her by the front of her jumpsuit and slammed her into the wall. I didn't care anymore. "You son of a bitch. You don't know anything about honor, about loss. All you give a shit about is the mission and the fastest possible way to get it done. I've seen your report on Torfan. Your commanding officer resigned after what you did. You're an abomination to humanity, and the reason no one trusts us on the galactic stage." I glared into her face, her bored gaze only feeding my fury.

"Marcus, stand down!" Shepard's angered voice rang through the room. I turned to the door to see him standing in the door, giving me an enraged look. Liara stood behind him, her eyes wide with shock. I let go of Jentha's jumpsuit and sat down. I didn't even glance at her, but I saw her smirk against my head.

Shepard walked up to me. "Explain yourself." His voice was calm, but his posture betrayed a high level of annoyance.

I sighed, hands still shaking with anger. "I learn that my mother is dead and that my father kept me out of the loop on purpose, and she comes in here and says there's no reason for me to be here. Ironic considering no one likes that vorcha here." I put sarcasm into my voice as I jabbed the last sentence towards Jentha. She rolled her eyes at me and took another drag from her cigarette.

Liara gasped. "Your own father would keep your mother's death from you?" Her voice sounded indignant.

I nodded bitterly. "She died over three weeks ago, and I didn't find out until Joker told me."

Shepard rubbed his temples and sighed. "Marcus, go see Selwyn and Chakwas." He turned to Jentha with anger back in his face. "I've heard from just about everyone on the ship about your bullshit, Jentha. Cut the shit out before I throw you out for disrupting the mission."

She snorted in response. She really does have no shame, I thought in disbelief. I didn't even know someone like that could exist.

I stood and started walking to the briefing room door. I stumbled against the doorway when I reached it, but felt myself being supported from the side. I turned and saw Liara frowning at me in worry. I shook my head and focused on walking, letting the rage filter out of me.

Selwyn stood up and helped me to the nearest bed. Liara stood watching for a minute as Selwyn began to run the first set of tests. Afterwards, she simply walked into her office in the back of the medical bay. I sighed as my head began to pound. I had gone through way too much in one day.

POV Shepard

I shook my head as I left the briefing room. Tali had told me about what happened when Marcus had to choose between Ashley and Kaidan. I had heard the transmissions, as they had been broadcasted through the public channel across the entire team and Kirrahe, but I hadn't known at the time what had truly happened.

"Ashley came over the transmitter first, saying the bomb was under attack. Kaidan came over the transmitter next saying he was going to be overrun soon. They both said to save the other, and Marcus snapped for a second. His eyes showed nothing but pain as he fell to his hands and knees. I didn't know what to do, but he only stayed like that for a few seconds. He looked up with determination, as if he knew exactly what he was going to do, but it changed into regret as he ran towards where the AA Tower Kaidan was stuck in. I think he was reliving the same thing as on Therum, Shepard. I'm worried."

And now to know that he's essentially lost both his parents as well. No wonder he snapped at Jentha's demeanor, she was far out of line as well.

Both of them will stay grounded on the ship for a while, I reasoned. Both of them need some time to think.

I slowly walked down the stairs and grabbed a quick drink powder packet. I added it to the small bottle of purified water attached to it and swished a mouthful through my mouth. We're getting so close, I thought, but this only gets harder.

I looked up when I saw none other but Wrex standing in front of the stairs that led to the CIC. I stood up, taking another deep drought of the bottle. It was already almost gone.

"Hey Wrex, what's up?"

He looked distracted, but his voice had conviction. "I found him, Shepard. Tonn Actus' primary base is in the Argus Rho cluster, Phoenix system, planet Tantau. If my armor isn't in that base, then it doesn't exist."

I nodded. "I'll tell Joker to set a course. We'll get that armor, Wrex. Don't worry."

He grunted his appreciation. "Thanks Shepard. You've done more to help me than anyone."

I waved it off. "I see to my crew, Wrex. You should know this by now."

He nodded slightly before turning and walking back up the stairs. I stretched and dumped the rest of the drink into my mouth. I put the bottle into the disposal and watched it being atomized. I had a lot on my mind, and the crew was simply being more and more restless. Jentha, despite being a real damn good soldier, was starting to be a major pain to have on the ship.

I walked to my quarters and sat down at my desk, filing out my weekly report for the Alliance. These things usually took two hours to fill out completely, and I nearly finished when I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in."

I turned and saw that it was Liara. She looked down at the ground as she walked up to me, and I stood up to meet her. Smiling into her shy face, I asked, "Everything all right, Liara?"

She smiled back, but it disappeared when she began talking. "I've always wondered what melding would be like, but..." She sighed. "I don't think we can be thinking about this while we're on the mission, Shepard. Saren's our number one priority, and this could get in the way."

My heart throbbed at her words, but my face didn't show it. I couldn't hide the sadness from my voice, however. "I understand, Liara. Once Saren's stopped, we can talk about us again." I took the last step between us and put my arms around her. Liara's arms felt good around me, but I knew it would be the last time before Saren was stopped. My heart filled with sadness when she left my embrace.

"I'm sorry, Shepard." She gave me one sad look, then walked out of the room slowly. I could only stare after her until the door closed, and continued for a few more seconds. I loved the asari, and I knew she felt the same way back. It stung to hear her say no, even if it was only a break.

I sat back in my chair, unable to concentrate on the report.

I stood in the enginnering bay two days later, in front of the mako. Wrex and Kaidan were going with me to Tantau, and I was giving the briefing. The plan was to destroy the outside defenses with the Mako, then infiltrate the inside and confront Tonn Actus directly. Wrex gave his grumbling laugh, expressing his excitement of this plan.

I rolled my eyes and climbed into the Mako's driver seat. Wrex took the gunner's spot as usual, leaving Kaidan with one of the passenger seats.

We sat for a few minutes before being dropped off on the gray planet. We drove for a f ew minutes in silence, the excitement coming off of Wrex practically being the only thing one could smell in the cramped setting.

I shook my head and sighed deeply, watching as the facility came into view. Wrex sniped a turian pirate before they even realized we were there, and the other one fell jus as easily.

We exited the Mako in front of the facility, ready to meet any opposition inside. The pirates began to filter through to the entrance where we entered, but they weren't strong enough to handle our onslaught. It was rather sad, actually, seeing a line of troops get mowed down as they fell, exposing the man behind him.

Wrex stomped into the room angrily. Growling loudly, he screamed "Tonn Actus!". He berserked through the room, knocking over various boxes in persuit of his target. We found a door through the mess of boxes, which Actus was inside. The turian brought up his shotgun in fear, obviously not knowing that an angry krogan would be knocking down his door and slaughtering all of his men.

Wrex walked up and punched Actus in the chest, causing him to slam into the wall. The pirate grunted as the air got pushed out of his lungs. Wrex put one foot on top of his chest.

"You have something I want. Something that's dear to me."

Actus gulped, but didn't say anything.

"I am Wrex of clan Urdnot. You have my family's armor."

Actus shook his head hurriedly, which caused Wrex to press down, making the turian's eyes bulge and the remaining air to choke out of his mouth.

Wrex snarled "Wrong answer," raising his shotgun to aim it at Actus' face. The latter couldn't do anything as the shot rang out. I turned away at the resulting sight. I was disgusted at Wrex's choice to use explosive rounds, causing bits of pink to dot the room around the rest of his body.

Kaidan grunted in disgust. "Did you seriously have to do that, Wrex?"

Wrex growled in anger. "Search this place. It has to be here somewhere." With that, he went to the most elaborate looking box in the room, straining to get the door open. It finally cracked open from the stress, revealing one of the most ridiculous looking pieces of armor I had ever seen. He laughed as he grabbed the set. "It's absolute garbage in a fight, but it's good to have it back regardless."

He spat on Actus' mess of a head before walking back to the door we entered from. "We've got what we came for. Let's go."

I glanced at Kaidan, who simply shrugged and shook his head at me in response. I facepalmed and followed, ready to get far away from this.

I stepped out of the Mako and stretched. There was no stretching room in there and my limbs were feeling sore. I didn't get a chance to rest, however, as Garrus walked up to me with conviction in his face.

"Commander, I've found him. Dr. Saleon."

I nodded, walking with Garrus to the elevator. "Where is he?"

"Herschel System, Kepler Verge," he replied in excitement.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You're obviously happy to find him."

He nodded in response. "I've been searching for him for years, Shepard. I've been waiting for this the entire time. I'll be able to finally finish what I've begun."

I sighed, rubbing my temples. "Garrus, calm down. You're becoming obsessed with this."

His manibles twitched as he gave me a surprised look. "Commander?"

I folded my arms. "We're going to the Kepler Verge next, but I need you to promise me something Garrus." He nodded hesitantly, as if he wasn't sure he was going to like it. "This is still my operation. Stand down until he's hostile. If he surrenders peacefully, we'll take him peacefully." He nodded, giving a sigh in the process.

I sighed in exasperation. "Garrus, you know better than this. If you blind yourself with revenge, you'll be no better than Saren."

He gave me a strange look. "We'll see Commander. I'll stay focused, I promise."

The elevator opened and he stepped out, walking towards one of the stairs. I walked out and said to him, "Think about it Garrus." With that, I turned away and walked up the galaxy map ramp to set our next course.

We docked with the MSV Fedele the next day. Garrus and Tali were with me at the airlock, weapons ready and prepared to go through the ship. The airlock opened and Joker gave us the go ahead. After a quick pressure change, we began walking through the ship. The first major room we entered had several mutated humans, humans that looked like they were a mixture between starved, burned, and zombified.

The 'humans' saw us and screeched loudly, making me flinch as my ears rang. I threw a grenade into the middle of them and detonated it, instantly killing two of them and killing another on impact with the nearest wall. Garrus sniped the head clean off a fourth, while Tali's combat drone paralyzed the rest with its electric attack. We entered the room and killed the remaining hostiles, looking around the room. I suspected that the door on the far end led to the bridge, so I led the squad to the door. Staying alert, I opened the door to find a three way intersection. The one straight ahead had the bridge, both the pilot and the co-pilot appeared to be dead. I raised my eyebrow at Tali and Garrus, but didn't say anything.

One side room appeared to be a morgue, with various tables topped with covered figures. I sighed sadly and looked at Garrus. He was staring at the bodies with increasing rage. Without any hesitation, I forcibly turned him around and pushed him out of the room. I walked past him, but Garrus stopped me before I opened the door.

"Shepard, I saw Dr. Saleon's lab the first time. There was a room that looked exactly like that. This guy is a menace to the galaxy; we can't let him live."

I shook my head. "Garrus, remember what I said." He looked to the ground and nodded. After a second, I turned back to the door and opened it.

A salarian raised his head from a desk he had been hiding behind, then sighed. "Thank god. I've been needing-" He noticed Garrus at that point, his large eyes somehow growing larger.

Garrus took a step past me. "Dr. Saleon."

Saleon composed himself quickly after his slip. "No, there's no Dr. Saleon here. I'm Dr. Heart, medical professor of this ship."

Garrus snorted. "Don't bullshit me. You've been growing organs again." He grabbed the doctor's medical suit by the neck and lifted him up a couple inches off the ground. "The jig is up. Either you come peacefully, or I can put you out of your misery right here."

The salarian scowled and reached for his gun. He didn't even get close before slumping over as a gunshot rang through the room. Garrus had his pistol pressed against the doctor's stomach, blood beginning to leak out of the sides. Garrus stood for a moment before throwing the body to the wall behind the desk. After looking at the dead salarian for a second, he turned back to me.

"Thank you, Shepard. For everything. I understand what you mean now about being blinded by revenge. I'm ready to do what I must for the mission."

I smiled and put my hand on his shoulder. "Good to hear, Garrus. Let's leave this ship, we've got to continue on our mission."

The turian nodded curtly and followed me out of the room, only stopping to take one last look at the one man who managed to escape his grasp.

POV Garvil

A day after Dr. Saleon's death, I sat with Kaidan at the mess hall table. We had been talking about our training, combat experience, the like. I was still guilty over having to leave Ashley behind on Virmire as well as losing both of my parents, but time had healed part of the pain. Kaidan was the most relatable person on the ship, being a fellow human biotic with complications related to it. I went numb occasionally for a few seconds, but I was used to it for the most part. My last three fingers on my left hand and various toes were permanently numb, and I had been told there was no way to regain feeling in them.

I flexed my hand and sighed sadly.

"How you holding up, Marcus? Losing your mom and disowning your dad has to be tough," Kaidan told me, noticing my distant expression.

I nodded unhelpingly. "I'll get through it. It's funny, Kaidan. When I was a kid, I've only ever wanted to be in the military." I stared at the wall above and to the right of Kaidan, lost in my thoughts. "When I was told I was going to be trained to be a biotic, I wasn't sure what to think. I was going to be in the military, but I was afraid to leave as well. I had a solid future where I was, and I had no guarantee of ever getting anywhere when I left. It took a few years of training before I was able to graduate." Kaidan raised his eyebrows. Obviously this was a surprise to him.

"Wait, you said it took you several years?" I nodded. Kaidan leaned back and put his hand on his head in disbelief. Shaking his head, he added with "Usually it only takes a year. The longest I've known anyone being in biotics training was a few months shy of two."

I shrugged. "I didn't notice people leaving, since I wasn't paying attention to them. I was an adult, which made me different in their eyes."

Kaidan leaned forward on his elbows. "You were an adult when you were trained? That would explain part of it."

I raised an eyebrow. "Biotics are strange when applied to humans," Kaidan started, shaking his head in confusion. "It's something that is more easily trained the younger you are, but the strength makes it even more difficult. If it took you more than two years..."

I rolled my eyes. "The academy wasn't even sure I should have had an implant installed. Eventually they decided on the new L4 class implants, the ones that are safer but less powerful." I slammed my fist into the desk, making Kaidan jump. "Fat load of shit that turned out to be. Now I'm stuck with permanent nerve damage that punishes me when I use my power."

He nodded and put his hand on my outstretched first. "If there's anything that can be done to help with that, I'm sure someone will find it. Until then, try not to do too much damage to yourself. Despite what you may think, people here respect you. Hell, I don't think I've ever seen you and Tali in the same room without her staring at you when you weren't looking."

"So you know," I stated in a monotone voice. Kaidan grinned.

"Garrus knows too. He's the one who initially pointed it out to me. Marcus, I'm not surprised either. I know what happened on Therum, and she does too. Quarians aren't exactly well respected by the other races, so I don't think she's used to anyone willing to harm themselves for her sake."

I stood up. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. I'm going to go sleep."

Kaidan nodded and stood up as well. "She's fragile, Marcus. Don't hurt her."

I waved him off and walked to the sleeper pods. I was starting to get a headache about what we had discussed, and all I wanted right now was to sleep it off.

A/N: I'm getting close to the end of the Mass Effect 1 section of this. I'm planning on chapter 14 being the final segment of it: Noveria, the Citadel, and Ilos/Battle of the Citadel. I've been wanting to go ahead to the second game in the series since I began, since it sounds like the most fun part to write about.

EDIT: Fixed a couple things.