Disclaimer: Yeah, I only got what I make. I don't even need to write these since the website has it in the contract thingy that I don't own what I write about, you know.

Hopelessly Blue: Yeah, I see where you're coming from. I like them too, HB. And you're confused over Leader? Good, you're supposed to be. Still, she is hard to read, huh? Ah well, guess we'll find out later. And speaking of later, I may agree with you on the Raegas thing. I just hope we won't have to wait too long.

BAMS: I would like that too, buddy.

Kachie Takahashi: Cool, I'm glad you checked. And yeah, I'm pretty sure you won't find out who Leader really is until later. It's almost like I'm trollfacing everyone at this point…

Umbra8191: Thanks man. ;)

Mizul: Really? I agree; Leader is just so… well she's just so hard to figure out, right? Hm. Thanks though, Mizul. ;)

Liege Lord: I don't like waiting two years for something to happen, man. Yeah, I also hope we find out who Leader really is and find Raegas too- I don't like waiting on that either, but I agree with you. And yes, I also wonder just where and what stuff the others are getting into.

A/N: I have a poll on my profile now, you know. You might want to check it out if you really want any romance in this one.

"I'm looking for information on Mordin Solus. You know him?" Shepard asked, peering evenly at Aria T'Loak, the apparent 'Queen of Omega'. The asari smirked.

"I always liked Mordin; he's as likely to help you as he is to shoot you. If you really need to find him? Take a shuttle to the quarantined area. Can't promise they'll let you in though." Aria answered, obviously inwardly amused.

"Thanks. Know anything about Archangel?" the Commander inquired, choosing not to poke into Aria's personal life. It didn't really matter to her that she knew the scientist they were supposed to be picking up anyway.

"A lot of people are after him." She said.

"Who? What did he do?"

"Blood Pack, Blue Suns, Eclipse… the standard groups. He went a little too far this time; pissed them off enough to team up. You'll rock a lot of bots, teaming up with him you know." Aria answered back.

"I'll take my chances." Shepard stated, standing. "Maybe I'll be back later." She finished.

"Maybe I'll be here." the asari replied, smirking in that way once more. Shepard said nothing and walked off, heading back to Miranda and Zaeed.

…

"Welcome aboard, Mordin." Shepard tried a smile, shaking the salarian doctor's twitchy hand. The whole mission had been nothing but killing waves of vorcha with some Krogan mixed in. The Commander was reasonably exhausted, seemingly unused to moving about so much since lying on a table for seven months. Miranda still hadn't explained just how they got Shepard's body or how they revived her; and it was getting irritating fast.

"Working with Cerberus a surprise. Look forward to helping." Mordin quickly stuttered, giving an equally fake smile to Shepard.

"We'll see you on the Normandy." She stated, heading out of the room with Miranda and Zaeed in tow.

…

"Garrus! I didn't know it was you." Shepard grinned, finally happy to see a familiar face. She had a feeling in the back of her head that it was some kind of setup by the Illusive Man, but at the moment, she didn't care.

"Hey Shepard, it's… been a while." The weary-looking turian said, almost on a sigh.

"You okay?" she asked, knowing he had probably been trapped for a while.

"I'm really hungry, actually. Oh, and a bunch of mercs are after me." he answered, with a very turian smirk.

"What did you do to get yourself in this mess?" the commander asked, gesturing to the general facility. Garrus let out a tired chuckle, his mandibles clicking together in amusement.

"I had to work really hard on it. Still can't believe they teamed up just for me." Garrus replied, garnering a slight nostalgic smirk from Shepard.

"Just like the good old days…" she muttered. A flash of Raegas disappearing into that vortex burned the backs of her eyes as the turian vigilante let out a laugh.

"You got that right Shepard!" he laughed. Shepard looked to the ground, wishing to god she at least knew what happened to her closest friend and dearest love. Not knowing was half the reason she had no will to even get out of bed anymore.

"Garrus?" she asked, getting his attention with her somber tone. She looked back at her friend hesitantly, not wanting yet needing to ask the question stuck on her tongue. "Have you heard anything…?" she trailed off, letting the inquiry hang itself in the thick atmosphere of the room. Garrus looked down, closing his eyes as if recalling what happened.

"How did you get in here?" Garrus demanded, pointing his pistol toward the group of strangers in his hideout room. The leader, a human female in full armor, stepped forward.

"We walked through the door, Vakarian." She answered.

"How do you know my name?" he demanded once more, holding the trigger tighter.

"You just confirmed it for me. Why don't you put that down before you give Herga reason to eat you?" she said it more like a command than a request. It irritated Garrus; who was she to order him around?

"Gross." The giant behind her grumbled, arms crossed. That must've been Herga.

"Why should I? You could be spies for all I know!" Garrus almost shouted, causing the female to shake her head disapprovingly.

"She wasn't kidding when she said you were a drama queen…" she muttered, annoyed, before looking back to the turian. "Frankly, I don't care what you think we are or where we're from." She stated.

"Then why are you here?" Garrus asked, still forceful.

"To send along a message." She answered, pulling out a spherical device from somewhere on her belt. Garrus' grip on the pistol faltered, curious to see what it was.
"Give this to… well, you'll know when they get here." the smug smirk in her voice irritated him more, but Garrus quickly snatched the sphere from the human's hand anyway.

"You better tell me who you are." He said finally, after attaching the sphere to his own belt. He wasn't going to take any chances with these guys, especially since they were able to sneak up on him no problem.

"We're simply an interested party." One of the other fully suited females said, looking impatient.

"Interested in what?" he asked lowly.

"Many things- most of which you would not understand." The leader turned toward the door, blatantly turning her back on him. It was offending enough to get Garrus to growl slightly.

"Got somewhere to be?" he questioned, his mandibles clicking angrily.

"Yes, in fact. Of course, our agenda is in no part your business." The female half-turned to him, looking stiff. He could feel her pressing glare on him so clearly he could've sworn the gravity got heavier. "Put. The gun. Down, Vakarian." Her suddenly deadly voice sent a ringing in his ears, shaking up his mind and making his body go stiff. An unseen force almost seemed to push down on his arms, forcing the gun to point safely toward the floor. What the hell was she doing?

"Rae…gas?" he breathed, feeling the oxygen in his lungs go scarce. The force immediately let up on him, leaving Garrus to falter in his stance a bit.

"Raegas huh?" she wondered, before turning her back on him again. "You should know… she died in that vortex." She stated, even with the slightest hint of hesitation in her voice.

"How do you know about that?" Garrus had to know just what the hell that woman was and how she found out about so many things that were wiped from the records.

"Why don't you ask that former Normandy pilot? Joker was it?" she said, tapping her chin as the others melted into the shadows, vanishing before Garrus knew they'd moved.

"You hit more than me, didn't you!" the turian almost yelled, feeling all too vulnerable.

"Hit? No. Found? In a sense…" she said, heading toward the door, evidently feeling no need to hide in the shadows.

"Hey! I'm not finished with you!" Garrus shouted, going to raise his gun once more.

But it never did. He was in the air before he even knew what hit him. Once his mind caught up to the present, he realized the giant one, Herga, was holding him in the air- effortlessly, even! What were these people?

"Do not speak to my Battlemaster in such insulting ways, turian." He growled. Garrus could swear he was the largest and even tallest Krogan he'd ever laid eyes on, and it was intimidating.

"Herga." Was all the leader needed to say. The giant Krogan-beast dropped Garrus to the ground with a rumbling growl of annoyance. He stomped through the door then, leaving after the others. "Oh, and Vakarian? We were never here." was the last he heard before the shot of a concussive round hit him in the gut and everything went dark.

"Ah…" Garrus started, opening his eyes once more. "No, I haven't. But I did find this." He said, tossing the sphere to Shepard. She caught with ease and brought it close to her eyes for examination.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Don't know. But I do know it's for you." Garrus answered, sighing. He didn't like lying to his friend about something so important but it could until later. "Now, let's get to putting these mercs down." He smirked, trying to get back on topic. Shepard stared at the sphere in her palm for a few more seconds; even Garrus saw the small spark of hope in her eyes before she set it into her belt. The Commander drew her AR and smirked, no doubt ready to get it over with.

"Let's get back in time for dinner." She said, nodding to her companions.

A/N: Hm. Wonder what'll happen after this? And when will Raegas get here? I want her now! (Just sayin'…)