Garrus stood in the hangar, re-calibrating the Mako's weapons systems when he heard footsteps approach.

"Excuse me? Garrus?" Liara's voive sounded from behind him.

Garrus turned to face her. "Liara." He nodded. "What can I do for you?"

She fidgeted slightly. "I wanted to ask you about Shepard."

"Oh?" If Garrus had been human, he'd have raised an eyebrow. As it was, his mandibles simply twitched.

"Yes. Shepard is an…interesting woman."

Garrus' throat vibrated in a small chuckle. "And what did you want to ask about?"

"I would like to know more about her."

"Honestly Liara, I don't know much about her. Come to think of it," Another chuckle. "Shepard spends enough time talking with you after every mission."

Liara blushed. "That is different." She insisted. "It is usually to enquire about my condition after a meld, or a minor injury from a fight." She sighed, and when she spoke again, her voice was quiet. "We always talk about me. Even after Noveria, where she saw what my mother became." A shadow flickered across her face.

"And why," Garrus asked, changing the subject. "do you want to talk about her?"

"Because," Liara said. Her blush returned. "She is an interesting person. She is very driven, yet principled and compassionate. Since we met, she has shown nothing but kindness to me." Then she stopped and took a deep breath. "And I like her."

"I think she feels the same about you Liara, haven't you seen the way she looks at you?"

"I am…not proficient at reading body language."

It was true, and for this, Garrus was exceptionally grateful. If Liara knew anything of Turian body language, well…he doubted she'd still be talking to him. He got the impression that she didn't enjoy being laughed at.

At that moment, Joker saved Garrus from having to restrain his laughter, by informing him over the intercom that the Normandy was approaching Ontarom, and he should ready the Mako for deployment.

"Thank you Garrus." Liara said as she turned to leave, a bright smile present on her face. "That was most enlightening."

Shepard knelt in front of a security door, attempting to bypass the door's security systems. Kaidan stood next to her, waiting for the door to open. Garrus stood behind them both, covering the hallway to the rear, just in case they'd missed any mercenaries on the way in. Shepard held her omni-tool a few inches from her face. Her eyes darted across it as she shifted through lines of code. Her free hand began drumming on the case of omni-gell that was secured to her belt. Then the lock beeped, and the door slid open. Kaidan was the first one in. Shepard drew her pistol and followed suit. Garrus backed in behind them, sealing the door as he did so. There were two other occupant in the room. One wore a labcoat, one of the scientists that they'd been sent to save. Shepard still had misgivings about that. This scientist had apparently been part of a team that had been on Akuze during her mission there. When her company was slaughtered. He'd have a lot of questions to answer after the mission was over. The man across from the scientist looked like most of the mercenaries that Shepard and her team had encountered on their way in. Except, for some reason, he seemed familiar to Shepard. The merc's gun was up and pointed at his hostage, the scientist.

"Stay back." The mercenary spared a glance toward the newcomers. "I'm here for him. No one else has to die here."

Shepard stared at him. The man's lips were drawn into a tight line. His face was crisscrossed with innumerous scars. He sported the same sunken eyes and blank expression that Shepard had seen all too often in the mirror until recently. The man stared back at Shepard, and his eyes widened. He lacked the confident grin and the spark of enthusiasm he used to possess. Even so, Shepard knew him.

"He's crazy!" The scientist shouted, almost hysterically. "He's going to kill me, you have to stop him!"

Both Only Garrus and Kaidan paid him any mind.

"Shepard?" The merc whispered, his voice wavered.

"Toombs?" Shepard gasped. "But how? I saw you die."

Toombs nodded, shuddering slightly. "It burned, the venom. It ate right through my suit. Probably disabled the biomonitor." He was wracked by another tremor. His eyes glazed over as he continued on in a monotone. "You can't imagine the pain. It burned everything. Armor, flesh, nerves. In some places my suit was melted to my body. Still, I survived." He shivered again, and when he resumed speaking, his voice was raised. "But they found me." He waved his gun wildly, gesturing toward the scientist, who was now whimpering in fear. "Two years. Two years. They experimented on me, tortured me. They were so happy to realize that I'd survived. Now they had two experiments." Shepard raised a quizzical eyebrow. " Yes Shepard, they studied you too. It was all one big study. Killing the company, torturing me, and stalking you. It was all a game. An experiment for them. Cerberus." He spat out the chillingly familiar name.

'It's just like Edolus.' Shepard realized.

"I got out." Toombs said, his voice dropping back to a dull monotone. " Someone took down Cerberus' operations, and I was able to escape after the team experimenting on me went to ground. It didn't save them. I got most of them." Toombs Turned to the scientist. "Only one left."

The scientist turned from Toombs to Shepard, hoping against hope that she could save him. He cringed when he met Shepard's gaze. He saw the total, cold rage that filled her eyes, and the fury, distain, and contempt her stare projected at him. Toombs caught her eye. Shepard nodded once.

"Shepard." Kaidan took a step towards her, concerned.

Before he reached her, Garrus pulled him back. Kaidan turned around. Garrus simply shook his head, and left the room. After a glance back at Shepard, Kaidan did the same.

"You can't!" the scientist cried. His eyes flicked back and forth from Toombs to Shepard. "You can't" He whispered.

Toombs proved him wrong.

"It's over." Toombs muttered as the body hit the floor. "The screaming stopped." He turned to Shepard, who was surprised by the look of content on his face. "Now I can move on." He raised his pistol up to his temple.

Shepard moved forward and tried to grab the gun, but she was simply too far away.

"Thanks sarge." For a moment, she saw Toombs as he once was, the carefree look of confidence on his face. The permanent grin. The spark in his eyes. "Knew you cared."

Shepard's face was only a few feet away when he pulled the trigger.

Garrus and Kaidan stood leaning against the wall. It'd been an hour since they heard the second gunshot. An hour of silence. Joker had called in twice. They'd told him not to worry. If only they could listen to their own advice. Then the door opened and Shepard stepped out. Her eyes were not red or swollen. No tear marks scarred her face. She sported the same blank look that she hadn't worn since Therum. She walked straight past them, and radioed Joker for a pick up. They shared a glance before taking after her. It confirmed that they were both thinking the same thing. They'd both reached the same conclusion. All the vids and extranet reports said the same thing. That Shepard was the only one to make it out of the battle on Akuze. They were wrong. She hadn't made it out. She was still fighting it.