The sounds of flesh hitting flesh echoed around the room, grunting and pained groaning as fists repeatedly slammed into his chest, ribs and face. Whenever they felt he'd had too much, Medi-Gel was applied, he was given a short break, then they went back to it. So far, his lip was busted, his eye had been blackened, bruises adorned him all over and there was no end in sight. Through it all, all he could do was breathe, gasp and grunt. They didn't want anything. No answers, no names, nothing. The culprit was Captain Kenton, Renald's brother. Both were captains in the Blue Suns and both had worked their way up together, since they were teens. It seemed that he didn't appreciate Isaac being there the day that Grath had capped his brother.

"Oho, finding you was much too easy," Captain Kenton fetched himself a rag, cleaning up his bruised, bloodied knuckles, "You think hiding your identity was gonna save your ass? I had people looking for you the second I got a report back." He walked up to Isaac, grabbing him by the back of his hair and forcing him to look up at him, "Grath might be untouchable thanks to Aria, but your ass doesn't belong to no one now, does it?"

Isaac spit blood into his eye, and was answered back with a backhand across his face. Kenton reeled in disgust washing out his eye in a nearby sink, "You're gonna be real fuckin' sorry. You might've not killed Renald, but this feels just as good. Freelancers like you don't know their place. You think you could fuck with the Blue Suns and walk away? You killed enough of my men in there to be marked an enemy. And look at me now, havin' you all to myself," He smirked, picking up a nearby knife and walking back over to Isaac, "What do you think we should take first? The fingers? The eyes? Or should I just start pullin' teeth?"

Isaac muttered and mumbled, as if to say something, but Renald couldn't hear him, "What the hell are you saying?"

"Your-.. Br-.. Grath-.. Rena-.." Isaac muttered, whispering under his breath. Kenton leaned in, putting his ear next to Isaac's mouth so he could hear him. Suddenly Isaac lurched at him, biting down on his ear and tearing off the lobe. Kenton screamed out and moved himself away, "Fuck's sake! Fine, teeth it is, you son of a bitch!" Throwing the bloodied rag at Isaac, he moved away, getting a Medi-Gel application and going for the exit, "When I get back, you're gonna be fucking sorry, you freelancing scum!" Leaving the room, the door shut and automatically locked to prevent Isaac from leaving if he somehow got out. Weak and beaten, his only energy was coming from the fact that Medi-Gel continuously kept being applied when he was on the verge of breaking. Spitting out blood onto the floor, he wondered how he got himself into this mess. In a haze, he looked up from the ground, staring off blurrily into the room before him. In his view, a familiar figure walked around him.

"Didn't I tell you, Isaac? Where you go, death goes. Where you go, trouble goes."

He recognized that voice. She was here, to speak to him. In his worst state, bloodied and beaten, captured and abused like a caged dog. He tried to break his chains, but there was no use, "... Why now, Ellie?" He muttered, "Don't-... Don't you know I'm coming for you?"

"How're you going to do that? You're going to die, Isaac." She stepped in front of him.. He could see her colors, her shape, but she was so vague. Like a muddied memory, "Haven't you gotten it through your thick skull? This was all for nothing."

"I'm getting sick of you telling me that-..." He groaned, trying to look up to see her face, "... You're-... You're not Ellie. She'd never talk to me like that. You're-... Something worse…" He mumbled, finally coming to the realization. In his dreams, in his mind, it wasn't Ellie. It never was. Opening his eyes fully, the face of his tormentor finally appeared. Isaac was looking at his mirror image - another him - looking down at him as he found him so pathetic.

"Congratulations. You figured out the obvious. What're you gonna call this a breakthrough?" Isaac sneered, chuckling to himself, "You're pathetic. You've always been pathetic. When you had Nicole, you tossed her away. And then tried to rescue her, like some big hero. She was dead. Crying out for you. And you abandoned her."

Isaac weakly shook his head, "N-.. No… No, that's-... I never would've done that—... How was I supposed to know about the Ishimura? About Aegis 7…? I spent enough time torturing myself about her-... It wasn't my fault."

"Are you really sure about that?" Isaac kneeled down, getting face to face with Isaac, "You have a habit of abandoning the people you love. After Nicole, when you were sure no one would want your ass again, Ellie found you. And when you felt sorry for yourself, you abandoned her. Just to go play the big hero again. And great - good for you. Now she's off somewhere, alone, without you. She's probably better off, isn't she?"

"You're wrong about that," Isaac coughed, struggling to maintain his uneven breathing, "Ellie's strong and capable, she never needed me. I was the son of a bitch who forced her off the planet to sacrifice myself. I did-..." He strained, fighting the urge to pass out, "I did what I did because I love her!"

Isaac stepped away from him, "Then do something about it already. If you're not the pathetic, sorry bastard you think you are, and Ellie's really waiting for you out there, then go get her. You told Aria, didn't you? Nothing ever stopped you before. Anything gets in your way, you tear it down. But what're you tearing down chained up like that? Nothing. You might as well give up."

Isaac wasn't sure what it was - but this argument with his doubt, it was getting his blood pumping. It was pissing him off - it was in his mind, this constant nagging feeling - about not being good enough, about being a failure, or a miserable person. But it was doubt that shadowed him and worsened his feelings, making him hate himself, making him question his motives and his actions. But he knew he was - and he knew the kind of man he was. He wasn't the kind of man to let Ellie be alone, he wasn't the kind of man to throw in the towel and call it quits. Any bastard that got in his way, whether it was himself, or some Blue Suns thug, or anyone - nobody would ever measure up to the monstrosities he'd faced in the past. Big, small, planet-sized, nothing had stopped Isaac Clarke on his journey yet. With every ounce of strength remaining, he began to pull and yank on his chains, attempting to break free of them using raw strength. He strained, shouted and felt his wrists bleed as they coiled and tightened around him. But it was in vain. Exhausting himself, Isaac stopped, going limp as the chains held him up, "... What're you gonna do, Isaac…?" He muttered out to himself, "... The hell are you gonna do now …?" As the chains jingled and clanged against one another, he saw himself as he was - trapped. And no amount of forward-thinking was going to save his skin. For the moment, it seemed he was trapped. Worse, at the mercy of some scumbag with vengeance on the mind. This wasn't the first, and he felt wouldn't be the last time this happened to him. It seemed to be a recurring thing for Isaac, to be caught, caged, abused and beaten. Over and over again - a vicious cycle of torment and violence.

The door opened yet again, Kenton strode into the room, bringing his men with him, "Cuff him and keep him restrained. Bag his head. He'll be moving with us," He ordered them, "Hurry it up! Archangel and his team are in the area, we are contacting reinforcements and moving to a more secure, defendable position."

"Sir, why don't we just kill the prisoner now? He's worthless to us. Deadweight." One of his underlings stopped before removing Isaac's chain, looking to Kenton.

The Blue Suns Captain scoffed in disgust, "Idiot - he's one of my brother's killers. And killed a portion of your fellow men. Shut up and do as I say. His suffering is far from over. I won't grant him the mercy of a bullet to the head. I won't even let him bleed out on the ground and leave him to rot. I have plans for him."

Kenton's sneering face was the last thing Isaac saw before the bag was draped over his head. Hoisted from the chains, they immediately slapped cuffs around his wrist, urging him to walk, holding him up by his arms as his staggering legs struggled to move. He felt sharp, jagged pains every time he took a step, any movement at all caused his ribs to ache, his legs to falter and the rest of him to want to collapse. If he resisted, they'd just beat him. He was in no shape to fight, and hadn't any idea where he was going. Cuffed and bagged, he'd have to just wait for an opportunity. Dragging him out of the room, Kenton and his men took him to a pad just outside the building where several Skycars were waiting for them. Isaac was about to be shoved into the back of one, when suddenly, he'd heard a gunshot. One of the men to his left dropped to the ground.

"He's here!" Kenton shouted, bullets firing off around Isaac, nearly deafening him as the Blue Suns returned fire to whoever had shot them. Falling onto his back, Isaac's bag slipped off just enough for him to be able to shake his head around, allowing him to see. They were on a street, two skycars in front of him, a dead man and four other Blue Suns gangsters taking cover and shooting back at a mere flash of a scope in the distance.

BANG.

And another body dropped, "Damn it, get him NOW!" Kenton barked, firing wildly in the general direction of their shooter. Preoccupied with their sniper problem, they didn't hear the steps of another assailant. Suddenly, bullets sprayed into their backsides, whizzing over Isaac, killing them all. Kenton was shot in the lower back, and shoulder, collapsing and turning to look at the surprise man who'd managed to down him, "... You–.. Fucking scum-..." He drew a pistol, but it was too late. The deadly, accurate and precise sniper from afar put Kenton down before he could do anything else.

A Turian walked up to Isaac, helmeted, so he couldn't see his face. A gun was pointed down at him, "Don't move." The Turian told him. He inspected the area, carefully looking around before lowering his gun, but not his guard, "Are there others? Any more gonna come crawling out of that building behind you?"

Isaac shook his head, finding it difficult to speak, but mostly hoping this was his opportunity to escape, and not just a rival gang coming to finish him off.

Another Turian approached, carrying a sniper rifle in his hands, also helmeted, "Good work, Sidonis. Bastards never saw you coming."

"Told you we'd be able to handle this ourselves. Small operations like this don't require more than two good men, Garrus." Sidonis put his weapon away, as did Garrus.

"I wouldn't be worried if the Blue Suns weren't hunting us down. Normally, I would consider it a challenge. But they're riled up. Doesn't help the other major gangs are starting to turn their noses up at us too. We've screwed with them enough to really start turning heads. The more of us working together, the better I feel our odds are on the streets." Garrus looked down at Isaac, "Dunno what the Blue Suns want with you. Let's give you a scan and see what's going on…" Garrus raised his Omni-Tool, an orange hue lighting up Isaac as he scanned him. But nothing came back, "Hmm… Curious. He doesn't have any ID on him. I'm not sure what to do with you. If you were just another gang rival, I'd just finish you off. Not a lot of good or even neutral people on Omega. So why don't you explain why I shouldn't shoot your head off?" Garrus pointed a pistol at Isaac.

"Wait, Garrus!" Sidonis stepped in front of him, "The man's been beaten. Severely. Look at him, he's no threat and no enemy of ours. Gangster or not, I don't know how I feel about shooting a man we know nothing about, cuffed and no way to defend himself. It's just not right."

Garrus shifted for a moment - as if that resonated with him somehow. Perhaps, reminded him of someone else, "You're right," Putting the pistol away, he knelt down and uncuffed Isaac, tossing the cuffs aside, "I don't know who you are, or if you're a criminal or just a victim. Your lack of identity makes you suspicious. I'll give you some Medi-Gel so you can be on your way and hopefully we won't cross paths again." Kneeling down, Garrus applied enough Medi-Gel for Isaac not to want to collapse anymore, but his body still needed to naturally heal.

"Wait-... You're Archangel, right?" Isaac asked, not yet getting up off of the ground.

Garrus raised a finger up to his mouth, as if to tell Isaac to hush, "Get yourself somewhere safe. And don't tell anyone about this." With that, Garrus took the keys to one of the skycars from Kenton's body, moving to the driver's side door.

"For your own sake," Sidonis warned him, then offered him a nod of dismissal. The two Turians got into the free skycar, flying off and leaving Isaac on the streets, next to the dead bodies of the Blue Suns members. From here, it was probably best to clear out before anyone saw him. Any more accusations, and some other men will come bursting into his room in the middle of the night. Quickly leaving, Isaac made it back to the motel from before, crashing into his room and collapsing, exhausted. An extra day was spent on Omega, mostly in recovery, eating whatever food was being sold at the vendors and taking it back to his room. Once he'd felt recovered enough to continue his travels, he made for the spaceport, hoping to catch a transport to Earth or anywhere near it as soon as possible. As he made it there, there were armed men completely cutting off access to it.

"Gonna have to stop you right there, human. No admittance into the spaceport - for anyone. The plague is deadly, spreading, and we already have a whole zone in quarantine. It's too dangerous to let anyone off Omega, especially humans." The Turian told him, motioning for Isaac to step away.

"Especially humans? Why? I heard that it's only infecting aliens, I'm not sick." Isaac protested.

"Humans can still carry the disease and spread it, they just aren't affected by it. No one's off this station until the plague has been completely isolated and neutralized. If this gets out, the whole Terminus Systems will be crawling with an unstoppable plague. I know humans rarely give a shit about anyone but other humans, but try to be a little empathetic, huh?" The Turian brushed him off, annoyed with his questions.

Isaac realized he wasn't going to get through to him. Turning away, he walked from the Turians' sight, wondering what he'd have to do now. But … Thinking about it, there was someone with enough pull on Omega to be able to help him get off the station, even with the lockdown. She might just be willing to help.

"You have a lot of gumption to come back here asking for favors when you've practically rejected my offer and have only ever done one thing for me. I'm not going to release my lockdown on Omega. I'll let that crazy Salarian figure it out before I let anybody off the station, Isaac. You're always welcome to try your skills against the guards, though. Can't stop you then." Aria leaned back in her seat, eyeing Isaac with disapproval, "I might even be reconsidering my offer. A day on Omega and you come to me looking like somebody beat the shit out of you. I thought you were tougher than that. Perhaps I misjudged you."

Isaac shook his head, dismissing the notion it was some kind of random mugging or assault, "I got like this thanks to you and that little job you sent me on. Those Blue Suns assholes really didn't take kindly to me being part of the two-man crew that got their men and one of their captain's brothers killed. I wasn't even their original target. They wanted Grath, but they didn't want to piss you off. Caught me while I was asleep, knocked me out and chained me up. How am I gonna 'badass' my way out of something like that?"

Aria raised a brow, now intrigued, "Sit."

Isaac frowned, sitting on the booth beside her, waiting to see what she had to say.

"The Blue Suns kidnap you, beat the living piss out of you, plan to kill you and suddenly - you walk back to me. So, if you didn't 'badass' your way out of it, what happened exactly?" She asked, crossing her legs as she waited for his response, narrowing her eyes onto him.

Isaac took a moment, curious what exactly her angle was here, "... Archangel." He didn't feel he had to elaborate further.

"Archangel," She repeated, "The Blue Suns really can't catch a break. With the quarantine situation, the gangs getting riled up and Archangel pissing in everyone's cereal, things are only getting more complicated here on Omega. I don't really care what Archangel does, but he's starting to make the gangs obnoxiously unruly and it's affecting my streets. I want order back. He can play vigilante all he wants. The Blue Suns, The Eclipse, The Blood Pack - I could do without every single one of them. And there are plenty of notable blights in their networks Archangel would have a field day gunning down if I gave him the locations. Go to Archangel, tell him I'd like to strike a bargain. He can continue playing the hero, I won't mind. But in return, he needs to benefit me. Tell him I have a proposition for him - if he really wants to help Omega, he'll meet with me and listen. That's as much information I'll provide without a sit down with him personally."

Isaac looked a bit puzzled, "Why me? Why don't you send someone like Grath to speak with him?"

"Grath's a part of my network, Isaac. If Archangel IDs him, he might just kill him. I don't know how foolish Archangel is to mess with me directly, but I'd rather send you. You - the man with no affiliation, no reputation, and no sides. You're just Isaac Clarke. You'll tell him I sent you but you don't officially work for me. You're just a man trying to leave Omega." She smirked, "So go to him. I'm sure you're resourceful enough to find him. Omega's a big place, but there are only so many hiding places."

Considering his options, it seemed he had no choice. Either wait this plague out, or find this Archangel guy and try to get him to sit with Aria. It was a guaranteed ride to Earth from there - but he would do it his way. There didn't need to be any more killing or fighting. Hopefully, anyway. Isaac had enough of violence to last a lifetime, "All right, fine," He agreed, but still felt somewhat hesitant on the inside. There was no telling what would happen, and Archangel, vigilante or not, was unpredictable to him so far, "I'll find him."

"Good boy, Isaac. Your reward will be waiting for you - if you succeed." Aria waved him off.

Grath placed a hand on Isaac's shoulder as he began to step down from Aria's booth, "How do you intend to find Archangel?"

Isaac shrugged, "Dunno. I've always been pretty good at improvising, so I guess I'll think of something."

"I'll do you one better, Isaac," Grath put an arm around Isaac's shoulders, guiding him away from the booth, towards the exit of the Afterlife, "You did good by me, so I'll help you out. Call it even. I've got enough contacts around Omega that if Archangel is sighted anywhere, I'll get word to you immediately. But - keep in mind - Archangel moves fast and doesn't linger around his handiwork. You're gonna have to move as fast - all I'll really be able to do is get you a general last-seen location, not a pinpoint onto his homebase. That's gonna have to be all you," As Grath and Isaac made it outside, he stopped. Grath's hands held his own waist, "What do you think?"

"It'll be a lot of help. Thanks, Grath." Isaac nodded his head, offering only a small smile in return. This job wasn't exactly exciting him.

"You know, humans like you, don't come by your type much. Humans can be so arrogant, crass. They look down at us batarians, along with the rest of Council Space. We make our way in this universe by playing the cards we were dealt. I don't know if I've misjudged humans, or maybe you really are a total stranger to this world. Either way," Grath held a hand out.

Isaac looked down at it - then moved his own hand up to meet it, firmly shaking it.

Grath didn't say much else in regards to that. Seemed he didn't want to lean too far into sentimentality, "Here's my information for contacting me through your Omni-Tool. I'll send you locations the moment Archangel's spotted. Like I said, be ready to move. And fast. Rent a skycar if you have to. You should have the money now." With that, Grath stepped away from Isaac, parting ways for the time being. Isaac watched him go, wondering about batarians and humans. Whatever this world was, it was unlike anything he knew of. Once more, this deeper understanding of this strange, new realm only furthered his anxiety about being in the wrong place, the wrong time. Out of his element, out of where he belonged. Worse, away and isolated from Ellie. The goal of reaching Earth, to find her, suddenly began to feel more and more hopeless - like a dream that would never come true. This fresh start was pointless if she wasn't in his life. If he made it there, what then? Back here?

Now wasn't the time for that kind of thinking.

Isaac spent the next eight hours holed up in his motel room, investigating the Extra Net, learning all he could about the galaxy around him. Citadel Space, the Alliance, the Terminus Systems, Saren, Geth, Quarians, Salarians, Turians, the First Contact War, the discovery of the relays, mass effect, the Krogan Rebellions, the Genophage - he had to force himself to stop reading the massive amounts of articles. Especially once he'd seen the current year - 2185. How could that be possible? Somehow, he was in the past too? Before he'd come here, the year was 2514. It all made his headspin and the overload of information felt like it would make him pop. How insane would they think he was? A man from the future, a different universe all-together where none of this existed? Thinking back, regarding his theory of Carver possibly having been transported with him, what if it was some kind of defensive mechanism of the Brother Moon? What if they never killed it? What if it took them somewhere completely different, so it could survive? What if out there, it was twisting minds, creating Markers, bringing the nightmares back?

Isaac walked over to his window, looking out to the wide city of Omega before him. Another Sprawl incident, waiting to happen. Clutching his chest, he felt as though his heart would crash and burn from the anxiousness this was giving him. Facing down other people? It was just that much less intense than having to fight monsters again. That alien attack on Freedom's Progress, could that have been relating to the Markers? To the Moon? … Or was he just being paranoid now? Thinking back, only one other person might have an idea of what had happened there.

Ringing her up, he felt a wave of relief wash over him as she'd picked up. She'd quell these worrisome thoughts with some sense.

"Ah, Isaac. It's good to talk to you again. I wasn't expecting your call, but I have a moment or two to talk.. How are you doing?" She asked,

"I'm fine, Tali. Thanks for asking. You're sounding a lot better yourself. Finally managed to recover?"

"Yes, looks like I'll be alright. I live to live upon the Migrant Fleet another day. Were you calling due to anything in particular, Isaac? Not that I mind social calls."

"Actually, I was meaning to ask you about something. So, back on Freedom's Progress, I know you guys got Veetor back to the Fleet and uh-.. I was wondering. DId he see anything about who'd attacked? What happened to everyone?"

"I didn't expect you to ask about the colony. But I suppose it's natural you'd be curious. Actually, Veetor did manage to show us footage he'd pieced together from different security feeds on the colony. He continued to call them 'monsters', over and over again. After I saw them, I saw why. Especially the eerie way they kidnapped everyone.

Isaac's heart sank upon hearing the word 'monsters', "... What kind of monsters?" Isaac asked, but he almost wished he hadn't. Did he really want to know? Wouldn't it be best to live in sweet ignorance?

"Well, not that I've ever seen one, but Shepard and his crew have theorized they're the Collectors. As to why they're kidnapping human colonists, no one knows. The Collectors are a secluded and isolated alien race that few have ever interacted with before. From what I've heard from Shepard, though, he believes that they may be working with the Reapers. Reapers are… What's the human expression? … The Reapers are canned worms, an entirely different topic for another day. If you ever have a chance to meet Shepard again, you should ask him."

Reapers. But not Markers? If there was a Marker here, or necromorphs, surely they'd know. Huh-... It got him thinking. If this universe was similar to his, but different enough, could it perhaps be reasonable to assume Reapers had something to do with Markers here? Actually, wasn't there a plague here on Omega that could perhaps be a symptom… No, no. Once again, it was just his paranoia, "Ah, yeah. Close enough on the can of worms thing. Thanks for telling me about what he saw. I guess it's just been on my mind."

"It's only natural. It must be traumatizing to be a survivor from such a nightmarish situation. I'm sorry you had to go through that, Isaac."

If only she knew.

"Not your fault, Tali. But thanks for your concern. It's appreciated."

"Of course, Isaac. Your location says you're calling from Omega. You haven't had a chance to leave yet? You're not in any kind of trouble are you?"

'No, no trouble. Just - there's a plague here. Doesn't affect humans. But we can carry it, apparently. Whole station is locked down until further notice. So, I'm actually stuck here until it gets fixed. Hopefully soon.: Getting a little cramped here in the motel room, but it wasn't as bad as a Quarian closet on your ship," He joked.

Tali chuckled in response, "Forgive me again for that, isaac. I did what little I could with minimal space, last minute and without proper clearance. Like I said, if you come back here again, you'll get a proper tour and stay. That, I promise." Suddenly, Tali looked away for a moment, then back to Isaac, "Sory, Isaac. Duty calls. Perhaps we can speak again later? Good luck on Omega. Stay safe,"

"Yeah, you too." With that, the call ended.

For the moment, he wouldn't know what to make of the Reaper, Marker, Collector situation. He did feel, however, just safe enough to brush it aside for the moment to focus on his current goal. Find Archangel, talk to him, explain what's happening, hope not to die. Just as he put his mind back onto it, he received a ping on his Omni-Tool.

KENZO DISTRICT COORDS ATTACHED - UNKNOWN SENDER.

It seemed it was time to go. Donning his armor, equipping his weapons, Isaac set off, following the map on his Tool to find the Kenzo District, and hopefully, Archangel himself. Taking Grath's advice, a skycar was rented. Though faster than the kind of ships he was used to flying, it was easy to get the hang of. Following the route, it only took him about ten minutes to arrive in the Kenzo district. The amount of time had made him slightly nervous, as he wondered how quickly Archangel would've moved on from now. And where would he look? The district, based on the map, didn't look particularly big. But still - he could've been anywhere. Parking the skycar, Isaac began to look around for any kind of gang activity. Firefights, explosions, Blue Suns or others that might be hanging around. He was looking for the kind of place or scene that a well-meaning vigilante like Archangel would be spotted in. But so far, nothing. In fact, it was kind of suspicious how vacant this district was. There were some suspicious individuals here and there, but then again, a suspicious looking person wasn't difficult to find on Omega. Entering an alleyway, where there was a group of shady looking armored batarians, Isaac caught them just as they were leaving. For the moment, it was completely empty. As Isaac turned to leave, debating in his mind whether he'd scour the rest of the Kenzo District, or go back to the motel to wait for another alert, a gun was shoved into his face.

"Is it coincidence or not that I happen to find you crawling around this place?" Archangel, or, Garrus darkly spoke, keeping the gun aimed right between Isaac's eyes, "Step back, hands up. You got some explaining to do."

Of course he didn't want to run into him again. Especially after being able to barely convince him he wasn't a threat to him or anyone on Omega on their last encounter. Keeping his hands raised in the air, Isaac quickly spoke up, "It isn't coincidence, I came looking for you. But I'm not after you. Not the way you think I would be."

"Then why are you here?" Garrus demanded an answer, Isaac could hear the patience slipping in his low growl of a voice.

"After you rescued me, Aria sent me to find you. I don't work for her, not really. But she's my way off this station and she wants to talk to you. That's it - I'm not tied to any gang, I'm not out to hurt you or anybody." At this point, Isaac could only hope Garrus' suspicions weren't getting in the way of his own truth.

"Hmm… All right, I'll bite. But just for a moment. You showing up here is the last thing I anticipated. Before we get into that, what the hell does Aria want with me? I kept out of her business, so why's she trying to talk to me? And if you don't work for her, why'd she send you?" Garrus lowered the gun from Isaac's head, but his guard wasn't let down just yet.

"Aria wants to discuss coexisting on Omega. Letting you do your thing, maybe even giving you notable targets. But only if it's beneficial to her–" Before Isaac could continue, Garrus interjected, interrupting the explanation.

"Let me stop you right there - there's not a single offer that Aria or any crooked person on this godforsaken station could offer me to get me to work with them. She might be Queen, and she might not be 'all-bad', but she's still a major underworld boss. I stay away from her because I prefer having the gangs after me than the entirety of Omega. As far as I'm concerned, we're already happily coexisting." Garrus paused, not sensing ill intent from Isaac, "... I don't think you work for her. And I don't think you're trouble. But it sure as shit is suspicious you turn up when you do."

Isaac raised a brow, considering what Garrus just told him, "... Sounds to me like you were expecting someone, just not me. What'd I stumble into?"/

"Blood Pack gun running. Got a tip that illegal weapons merchandise was being run through her, even the presence of one of their head honchos I could've taken out. Decided to scope it out, I move better on my own. Left my team behind so I could engage in a little… Target practice. But I've looked everywhere, and I'm not seeing any signs of any kind of gang activity. Not like Sidonis to send me on a wild goose chase, but here we are." By this point, Garrus put his weapon away, no longer expecting a shot in the back from Isaac.

Isaac sighed, conflicted with the possible outcome of this situation being just letting Garrus go and not getting Aria's help, "... Listen, Garrus. Aria just wants you to talk to her. She says she'd provide protection for a meeting. I need this - with the plague going on, I can't get off this station and I need to get to Earth. Just talk to her, meet her and –"

"It'd be incredibly foolish for me to walk into the Afterlife, even welcome by the big boss of Omega herself. Even if she could protect me, I don't want her protection. It's a matter of principle, Isaac. I don't work with scum. Only those who wish to take down scum." Garrus crossed his arms, "Sorry I couldn't be of help. But I got places to be. And you? Sit tight. Plague can't last forever." Just before Isaac could protest, a message on Garrus' Omni-Tool suddenly pinged him, "What's going on?" He asked, concern in his voice, listening to the distraught yelling coming from the other end, "... What!? Hang tight, I'm on my way!"

"Wait, what's going on?" Isaac stopped him.

"My team's under attack back at headquarters! Some organized strike by the gangs! I need to get back to –" Garrus was interrupted by a hail of bullets suddenly firing off into the alleyway they were in. Out on the streets, five skycars descended down, letting out dozens of Blue Suns gangsters, beginning to rush the entrance of the alleyway.

Isaac bolted back with Garrus, the two taking cover on the other side of the alley, looking out into the slowly incoming throng of Blue Suns gangsters, "What the hell is happening!?" Isaac shouted out.

"This whole damn thing's a setup! They're isolating me from my team and hitting us both while we're separated! Run, Isaac, this is my fight!" Garrus pulled out an explosive mine, flinging it into the Blue Suns crowd that was incoming. With the explosive setting off, three of the gangsters were blown away, taking just a few down in the sea of enemies attempting to swarm them.

Garrus was right. This was his fight. Better yet, he could kill Garrus now, get the Blue Suns off his back, and bring Garrus' corpse or head to Aria to be able to hitch a ride back to Earth. Drawing his plasma cutter, he readied it up. Garrus was none the-wiser, focused on taking shots at the enemies descending upon them. If he aimed, and fired, this whole mess could be over for him. And Omega would go back to the way it was, Isaac would head home and forget this ever happened. How far was he willing to go to quicken the road to Ellie, who could possibly be waiting for him back home?

Taking a deep breath, everything else became muffled… And then…

"Is that right to you, Isaac?" Ellie's sweet, reasonable voice echoed in his mind.

Leaning out around the alley, he fired off a stasis blast, slowing six enemies that were grouped together. Taking aim with his plasma cutter, he began to fire off rounds. The plasma cutter fire was capable of ripping right through their shields, requiring only a few shots to work its way through their armor, dismembering their legs, arms and heads. Garrus whipped his head to the left, watching as Isaac began to fire back at the crowd with him. There was a greater chance of survival now… Garrus doubled back, taking cover behind a dumpster for a better angle on the exit of the alley. Taking aim with his rifle, he fired off a few shots, bringing down some of the enemies with stasis still affecting them. Once the stasis wore off, the bodies all collapsed, coming apart as their limbs had been blown off. Taking cover once again, Isaac allowed his helmet to form around him, then moved out again to begin firing away at them.

A rocket blast was sent Garrus' way, exploding the dumpster, but leaving him unscathed. Pinned by rocket fire, Isaac noticed and grabbed some of the debris formed by the rubble of concrete and dumpster that had formed from the strikes. Primarily, large chuinks of rock and sheets of metal, firing off with his kinesis module to begin ripping through the enemies that were beginning to retreat.

"We gotta get back to my team!" Garrus shouted back at Isaac, "We need to get to them and help as soon as possible! My skycar's this way, we're gonna have to move fast! I'll cover you!" Garrus leaned out, firing at the retreating group, giving Isaac enough leeway to sprint from his point of cover, charging across the street and to the next building over. Once Garrus found him to be securely across, he began to run as well, sprinting with Isaac to the location of his parked skycar, "I think we could've taken them, but there's a more pressing issue at hand. I have no idea how many they might've sent to hit our HQ." Getting inside of the skycar, Isaac sat in the passenger seat while Garrus readied up the engines and they took to the sky, "What do you know about the tip? Anything?" Garrus growled at Isaac.

"They're my enemies too! I don't exactly have a good standing with them. Garrus, I could've killed you any second. Don't point the finger at me!" Isaac defiantly answered back, not wanting to arouse any further suspicion from Garrus.

"... You're right, you're right. I'm sorry - I just -..." Garrus slammed his hands against the wheel in a fit of rage, "... How could I be so stupid …? I walked into a damn trap. Something's not right here, Isaac. Not just the fake tip, I just-... Can't shake the feeling something even worse is going on.." Without asking anymore questions, Isaac allowed Garrus to focus, getting them across the districts on Omega back to the main hideout his team had been hiding in. Communications had completely ceased, no one was answering any of Garrus' comms. As their skycar stopped, the story was already beginning to unravel of what became of his team. Just outside, there were a couple skycars parked still, bearing the colors of the Blue Suns. Bulletholes on the exterior walls, bloodstains, and a dead man that Garrus immediately ran to.

"Damn it… I'm too late," Garrus knelt down at the corpse of the man he once knew, clutching his dead body, "... There might be more Blue Suns inside, maybe some waiting for me if they've heard word already that I managed to slip away." Taking in a deep breath, and letting out a slow, somber sigh, Garrus stood back up and looked to Isaac, "There might be survivors inside along with some Blue Suns bastards. If you really want to help, and do something that's right, you'll come with me and help me secure the building."

Isaac, once again, found himself at a crossroads. One path led back to Aria, explaining the situation, and not fulfilling her request, would more than likely be turned away and awaiting Omega's lockdown to be lifted. It would probably also secure Garrus' death, as it seemed the Blue Suns had completely decimated his team, targeted his hideout, and would be after him. Staying with Garrus was suicide. At the same time, however, it was probably the right thing to do. Based on what everyone's said about Garrus, even his name 'Archangel', he was probably the one good person on Omega with a gun that wasn't involved in crime or illegal work. He was attempting to do something good here, and he needed a hand. Plus, helping Garrus live might allow him to be more willing to sit down with Aria. If anyone could protect them both from the Blue Suns, it would be her. With that, a decision was made.

Isaac looked at Garrus…

End of Part 1 of 2.

(A/N: Hello, thank you for reading Chapter 3. I have decided to split Chapter 3 into two parts because it was taking me a while to write and I know some of you really didn't like being left on a cliffhanger. Tune in for part 2 sometime soon! I'll work on it as quickly as I can.)