Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs.

A/N: Here's chapter three! Things may be a little slow now, but I'll have it up to action soon!

Distractions

"Ava, wake up!" Corey's hushed whisper was a little panicked, but urgent at the same time. I opened my eyes and yawned quietly.

"What?" I asked, looking up at him.

"I want to talk to you." he answered, kneeling by my bed. I just stared at him blankly for a moment before looking at the holographic clock on the desk. It was 5:30!

"Why now?" I hissed. I didn't like getting up in the morning or even waking up. It was probably because I was an insomniac, so sleep was a precious thing to me.

"Because I can't sleep anymore and you're the only one who doesn't yell at me." he tried to reason. I slowly sat up and stretched.

"Whatever. Come on." I said, leading the way out of the room. We went to the mess hall and I made a cup of coffee before sitting down. I gave Corey a cup then took a sip myself.

"What's wrong?" I asked, watching his thoughtful expression.

"Well, I-" he cut himself off, running a hand through his short hair.

"What?" I asked again, getting a little impatient.

"What are we supposed to do here? I mean, sure, help Shepard, but after that, then what?" he questioned, looking at me.

"After, as in after the Reapers are dealt with?" I inquired.

"Yeah. With our lifespan, how are we supposed to settle down and find a mate? We'd just outlive them." he added, sounding upset. I patted his hand to comfort him.

"We'll deal with that once the time comes." I answered gently, getting him sigh.

"That' also if we even survive this…" he muttered.

"I thought I was the pessimist!" I chuckled, him soon joining me. I had to agree with him though. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to live after the end. There would be so much pain and sorrow mixed in with our victory. But then, that was even if we won in the first place.

"I don't know, I just… all of us want to find someone, you know?" he wondered, looking at me, almost desperately.

"Yeah, I know." I said, getting up.

"Let's go back to bed. I feel a little better now." he said. At that, we made our way back to our room.

…

I got up from bed again only five minutes after going back. What also sucked about being an insomniac was that once I woke up, there was no going back to sleep. That coffee probably didn't help, either. I left the room silently and made my way to the CIC upstairs.

I stood over the map of the galaxy and looked through the various systems and planets, trying to remember each of the side missions. I needed to think, but just lying in bed wasn't going to help me at all. At least when I concentrated on something I could ponder. There wasn't much I could do in the first place, but after finding out that I wasn't even Human got my perspective to alter a little. Whatever was going on, I'd have to figure out how to deal with it.

Shepard had said we were already headed to the Citadel. It was exciting and frightening at the same time, actually. What if people got wind of my brothers and I? What would they want to do with us? It wouldn't be the first time I'd get kidnapped. It was a long story, but basically, I had psychotic perverts for neighbors.

"Assholes…" I muttered, thinking back to the ridiculous event. I tried not to because it made me think of my friends. I'd never see them again. It was odd how so many people, including me, wanted to go to the ME universe. But once we get here, the reality of it slaps you in the face. Though, it was cool. And I had my brothers with me too. It would have to be enough. It was my job to look after the buggers in the first place, but even more so now.

I ran all of the SI stories I'd read through my mind. Some of them were ridiculous, or funny, or just depressing. But, all in all, I loved each one. I wrote my own back on Earth too, but I never would have come up with this storyline.

At least it's not a repeat. I thought to myself, smirking a tad. I looked at the clock on the map and noticed I'd been sitting there for an hour. No one was awake yet, but it was probably going to change soon. I switched the map back to it's default position of the galaxy and left. I didn't really know where I was going, but it was better than standing around. After a minute or so, I found myself back at our room.

"Wake up you guys, it's time to reset your body clocks, 'cause this is our new wake up time." I called, going to each one and getting them up. It was funny how all of my brothers preferred to sleep in just their boxers, too. I felt like I was in some locker room or something.

"Now?" Victor mumbled, burying himself under the covers. I went up to him, pulled back the covers and tickled him in the sides. He started laughing and struggled against my grasp. That got the rest of the boys up and dressing, that was for sure.

"Yes, now." I smiled, leaving him out of breath. He threw his pillow at me in a bout of revenge, but I was able to dodge it, leaving it to fly onward. Unfortunately, it kept going, smacking Jake in the face. We all tried to contain our snickers, but at the pillow fell from his face and we saw his pissed off expression, I couldn't help but laugh with everyone else.

"Seriously?" he asked, getting us to laugh harder. My abdomen started to hurt with the strain, but it was too funny! Suddenly, Jake stepped forward, grabbed me and threw me over his shoulder. His own laughter joined all of ours now, enjoying having me struggle. He then proceeded to parade around the room, saying he's brought down the tyrant! They all laughed as I finally grabbed Jake's waist and pulled, sending both of us to the ground.

"Tyrant, who?" I said triumphantly, standing up. Now that we were all awake, I left them to finish getting dressed and went to the mess hall again. There really wasn't much to do on the ship, now that I thought about it. It was a little more spacious than it was in the game, but other than a few other rooms, it wasn't all that different.

"Ava!" I turned at my name and saw Shepard rushing up to me. So, it looks like I'll have to get use to that. No doubt everyone was going to get wind of it and start calling me Ava. I wasn't sure if I was happy or not, but it at least gave me a familiar felling. Like entering you house after a long day at work or something.

"Yes Commander?" I asked, noticing her expression of concern. I was hoping she'd forget about the day before…

"Just call me Shepard, okay? I'm not big on formalities." she said, catching up to me.

"Okay. What do you need, Shepard?" I asked. The both of us went to the mess hall and grabbed some food.

"Well, I…" she started. We sat down at a table and started to eat. At first, it looked like she was going to say something, then thought better of it. I was almost praying she wouldn't say anything about my tears. I hadn't even realized, until she wiped them away. I had never shown weakness to anyone but my brothers before, and even that was rare.

"Hm?" I mumbled, taking a bit of food.

"Thanks for helping me last night. I hadn't slept in a few days." she finally said. She started to eat too and people started to come and get breakfast. My brothers came in too and got food.

"Anytime, Shepard." I smiled, relaxing a little. Good thing she didn't say anything about that.

"Do me a favor?" she asked. I looked at her questioningly, letting her continue. "Don't tell anyone." she finished, grinning.

"Our secret." I answered. She seemed to settle down a little at that. I was just thinking how awesome Paragon Shepard was when my brothers came over and sat at our table.

"I wanna know a secret." Jake said, grinning mischievously. I nudged him in the side and shook my head.

"Then it wouldn't be a secret, huh?" I said, returning to my food. He huffed, but said nothing and dug in along with everyone else. I could see why Shepard wanted to keep her fatigue from everyone, but then, I wouldn't be able to cover her forever. She probably wasn't going to put up too much of a barrier from me, seeing as how I've already seen her weakness. Either way, I just hoped she wouldn't pass out on the battlefield because of it.

"After breakfast, we're meeting in the briefing room." Shepard announced. I finished my food quickly and stood with Gregori. We always were the fast eaters in the family. Shepard finished soon after and the three of us went ahead to the briefing room.

It wasn't long before everyone started to arrive. The three of us had just been talking about random things and making jabs at each other for fun. Shepard was really cool in real life. I felt like she was a sister already. Once everyone was assembled, I saw the whole ground team and the rest of my brothers. It was a tad cramped, but no one was complaining. Well, that was probably just because my family and I decided to stand in between the chairs of the ground team. Shepard had me stand beside her so I could explain everything to everyone at once.

"Alright, let's start." I said. Once I had everyone's attention, I went on to explain what had transpired since my awakening. It wasn't much of a surprise that the ground team was shocked at some of the information. Liara and Shepard would jump in with a comment every once in a while, making it easier for me to describe things. After about a half an hour, I had everything down.

"How old are your people?" Tali asked.

"We don't know. The history goes back as far as you can imagine, really." Corey answered, scratching his chin.

"What was your species like?" Garrus questioned.

"We were like… Asari and…" Gregori started, furrowing his brows in thought.

"And Krogan…" Victor finished, rubbing his head.

"With a dash of… Salarian." Corey added, raising an eyebrow. It was an odd combination, but it fit together well. That was usually why we had two faces, actually. It would depend on our mood.

"Why that combo?" Garrus asked, looking confused.

"Well, our people loved to fight, but we rarely killed one another. We sorted disputes with logic, but if the situation was extremely personal, we would settle them with a battle. Though, even if that was the case, we had natural violent tendencies." Jake managed, trying to fight the headache.

"And so we would learn to control that violence through something like meditation." Corey said.

"As for the Salarian part, we were what you call brainiacs. Obviously, we aren't as hyper as they are." I finished. The headache was coming back, but I was able to get the explanation over with. It was evident we shouldn't think on it too hard, but I was curious about the Reagas'Kar.

"What specialties did your people have naturally?" Kaidan asked.

"Um… I'm not sure…" I said, holding my head. This was getting bad, fast. I tried to pretend I was okay, but I just ended up leaning against Shepard's shoulder slightly. Luckily, she was the only one who noticed and she didn't say anything quite yet.

"Then what were you?" Ashley asked.

"Like what our jobs were?" I inquired, getting a nod in return.

"We… were…" I started, trying to remember.

"Athrak…" Victor continued, gritting his teeth subtly.

"Drayergar…" Jake finished, gripping the railing behind him tightly.

"What's an Athrak'Drayergar?" Liara inquired, eying us intently.

"I don't quite remember…" Corey mumbled, rubbing the back of his head and stopping the recalling. I noticed the others gave in too, but I continued. I wanted to know. I had to know what we were. Why we were the only ones left. I could feel it in the back of my mind.

"Ava…?" Shepard asked. I hadn't noticed I was leaning on her so much. My headache became much more than a full blown migraine and I tried to calm it down.

"I'm fine." I said, pulling back and gripping the railing behind me for support. I stopped thinking, trying to get it to calm down. After all, I could think more about it later.

"You should go see the Doctor." I waved my hand in a dismissive gesture, putting on a smirk.

"Really, it's nothing. Anyway, we need to focus on the plan." I said, leaning on the railing and crossing my arms. There was a small silence as I toughed it out. The pain was starting to recede, but it was making me a little dizzy.

"Well, we're going to dock with the Citadel in a few minutes or so. Everyone, get yourselves ready. I'll be taking the new arrivals with me to see the Council. Dismissed." Shepard ordered. It took me a minute to figure out she meant me and my brothers when she said new arrivals.

"Come on sis, we need to get our armor on." Gregori said, taking my wrist and leading me back to our room. I had a feeling Shepard would bring it up later, but I just needed to concentrate on staying upright for now. It wouldn't do me any good to worry over what would happen.

…

After we helped each other in donning our armor, I finally got a good look at it. It wasn't of any design I recognized, and it looked like the helmets were retractable. The paint was garnet red and the trim was white. I couldn't help but admire the work on the Reagas'Kar. It made me wonder how far along they were with their tech and what happened to them. There weren't any previous ruins that held anything about them, save for where Shepard and them found us.

"Sis?" Victor came up and looked askance at me.

"Just thinking. Come on, we've docked already." we all went to the airlock and met up with the rest of the team.

"Let's go." Shepard said, leading us out of the ship.

…

After we finally calmed down from being on the Citadel for the first time in actuality, Shepard took us to the tower. The rest of the ground team had split up and gone to do whatever. Once we finally got to the top floor, she took us to the bridge at the back where she became a Spectre in the first place. The councilor were already there, and , for the first time I was glad not to be Human. That meant we weren't under Udina's thumb. Meaning he wasn't there.

"You were right in saying they look very similar to Humans, Commander." Retoma said, staring at us very closely.

"Their eyes are very prominent too. Tell me, are those eyes of yours natural?" Velarn asked. I noticed he wasn't in his regular grouch mode today. Maybe that had to do with the fact that we weren't Human. And the fact that we were new aliens… man, that just sounds so weird!

"Yes, Councilor." I answered, keeping a neutral tone. I wasn't going to be the subservient one here. Even if we were the last of our kind, I wanted to make a good impression. It may make thing easier later on.

"We understand you are all more than a century old. Who is the leader of your group?" Velarn continued, curiosity slipping into his tone. Without saying anything, my brothers pushed me forward. Apparently, they didn't want to deal with the Councilors. It also made sense since I was the only one who slaved over my 360 for months on end, finding every choice and repercussion.

"What is your name miss?" Tevos inquired. Their being nice was starting to weird me out. I was used to them hating our guts.

"Avaera." I said simply.

"Do you have a last name…?" Retoma asked, sounding a little hesitant.

"Zytiro." I was able to come up with the last name quickly enough, but I had a feeling my brothers would annoy me over it. At least it went well with our names.

"Very well. We have called this meeting here today to discuss the meeting of a new species." Tevos announced. She certainly looked like a nice person, but she was definitely a politician first. At least she tried to explain why they were assholes in the second game…

"Yes, how are we to know your are truly not Humans? You look the same to me…" Velarn's comment just pissed me off. I don't know why I was so angry, but I felt it immediately come to the surface. I barely even registered the shocked expressions on the Councilor's faces, I was too angry. Sure, we looked the same, but I fucking knew I was a damned alien! Who was he to question it?

I felt Shepard take my wrist, catching my attention. I looked down at myself and noticed shining purple electricity ark around my body. I could feel it course through me and energize my muscles. It must've been triggered by my anger. I took a breath and calmed down, feeling the power recede and relax.

"Thanks." I whispered. She nodded in return and I looked up at the Councilors. They looked like their parents were just killed in front of them or something. I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying something snarky.

"I am sorry if I have frightened you, Councilors. I simply showed one of the reasons we are not Human." I said, struggling to keep from laughing at them. They calmed down after a moment and cleared their throats.

"I must apologize Ms. Zytiro." Velarn said, bowing his head slightly. Well, that's new…

"I understand your initial skeptically. There's no need to apologize." I answered evenly. Well, I preferred an apology, but it was best to be gracious. I could almost feel Shepard puffing up behind me. It was no doubt annoying her that they were actually being nice to me when they practically slapped her in the face each time they talked to her. I was a little annoyed for her.

"Are you the last of your kind?" Retoma asked, a little attentively. I wasn't exactly happy about being the last.

"As far as I know, yes." I said, sighing slightly. There was a small silence.

"Shepard's report spoke of your visions. Can you explain?" Tevos questioned.

"It's another ability of our people, Councilor Tevos." her eyes widened, but she said nothing as I continued, "We see future events through someone else's eyes. Though, it is not one set timeline. We see various realities and outcomes of countless choices that were made. Each is very different from the last." I explained, hoping they'd get it. Obviously, I was mostly lying, but they didn't need to know all of the confusing details.

"I see. That is most intriguing." Retoma added, rubbing his chin. I was starting to get annoyed. I just wanted to leave already.

"I must ask, why do you feel so inclined to assist Shepard in her struggle?" Tevos asked. I felt anger and hate as I thought of the Reapers. There was no doubt in my mind that my people were killed by them, but…

"Because my people were destroyed by the Reapers." I stated grimly, feeling the energy stir inside of me. They said nothing as I turned and left. I knew it was rude, but I didn't want to accidentally hurt anyone. I heard them call the meeting to a close, saying we would resume at a later date.

I rushed to the elevator and pressed the button to go down. I didn't want anyone with me right now. I didn't want comfort or pity. Pity made me angry.

…

"Where the hell did she go?" Shepard mumbled to herself as they walked along the Presidium. It had been about an hour since Avaera disappeared, and it was worrying to Shepard that they had yet to find her.

"She wouldn't go far." Corey said, furrowing his brow in thought.

"Yeah, she's still on the Presidium, definitely." Gregori added, smiling a little.

"Why did she leave like that?" Shepard asked, scanning the area. It had confused her when she did that. And even before she left, she somehow had visible electricity all around her. It was scary, yet beautiful. Shepard had felt as if Avaera was starting to lose control, so she took a chance and gripped her wrist. As if the flow sensed her, it moved as her hand got near, then coursed over her own hand. It didn't hurt, either, it just felt like a spike of energy went through her.

"You heard what she said…" Jake mumbled. "She's also a little complicated." he elaborated.

"I'd guess she left so she wouldn't hurt anyone." Gregori ventured, sighing. It made sense to Shepard, but still…

"Yeah, she's really protective of people. She's often put herself in harm's way to shield others." Victor stated, sounding worried.

"I think I might know where she went…" Corey said, looking hopeful. Shepard just hoped he was right.

A/N: I know, you guys want more action, right? Don't worry, it's coming soon;)