A/N: I didn't realize how long this chapter would be.

It also occurs to me that I've been focusing more on Carn's relationship with John than his relationship with his own parents. Starting now I'm hoping to change that.

8: Secrets and Subterfuge

Beep!

Alice looked down at her omni-tool as it signaled she had a call. She had been in the kitchen, preparing lunch for herself. Alice grew worried when she saw that it was the elementary school Carn and Mordin attended with Lily and David. Was something wrong? She quickly answered the call, praying that Mordin and Carn were alright. "Hello?"

A firm female voice answered "Hello, Mrs. Vakarian, this is the Principal, Dr. Navossa. I'm calling about your son Carn."

"Is everything alright?" She asked, concerned.

"I need you to come to the office, your son has been involved in a fight."

Alice frowned at this. Carn? In a fight? It was only his second week of first grade. "I'll be right over." She hung up and quickly made her way out of the apartment to the car. She made it to the school within five minutes, and after finding a parking place, quickly strode towards the front entrance.

"Hey Alice!" she turned to see John jogging up to join her. "You get called too?"

"Yeah, Carn was in a fight." She answered as they entered the building.

"Huh," John said thoughtfully, "Lily was in a fight too. We should have carpooled. Maybe next time."

"There better not be a next time." Alice replied.

They entered the school's main office, manned by a salarian secretary who waved them through to the principal's office. Inside, an asari woman was sitting behind a desk, casting a stern look at the three children seated across from her. When they entered, Dr. Navossa looked up and nodded to them "Mr. Shepard, Mrs. Vakarian please take a seat. As soon as Mr. Malva joins us we can start."

Alice sat down in one of the unoccupied chairs, casting a glance at the three children. Carn was looking down, refusing to meet anyone's gaze. Next to him, his friend Anna was doing the same, holding an icepack to her bruised cheek. The only one who didn't seem ashamed to be here was Lily, who was defiantly looking the principal straight in the eye.

A few minutes later, a turian with dark brown plates and white Palaven markings entered. "I'm sorry for being late," he said. "Traffic was horrendous." He stretched out a hand to Alice "I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting yet. Agust Malva, I'm Anna's step-dad. My wife's mentioned you a few times."

Alice smiled and shook hands with the turian "Alice Vakarian, I wish I could say it was under better circumstances."

Agust nodded in agreement and turned to John "You must be Commander Shepard."

John shrugged "Technically my title is 'Supreme Commander of Special Tactics and Reconnaissance' but 'Commander' works too."

"Now that you're all here." Dr. Navossa said calmly "I wished to speak with you about an incident that occurred during recess involving your children."

"What happened?" John asked.

"Carn, Lily, and Anna attacked and beat up an older turian boy." Navossa said calmly. "According to them, he had been bullying Carn. Evidently the boy said something that caused Anna to punch him. When the turian boy started hitting back, Carn stepped in and started attacking him. Lily saw this and, instead of going to get a teacher, decided to join in."

"Where's this boy now?" John demanded "It sounds to me like he started this whole thing."

The principal looked at John "He's in the emergency room with three broken ribs and several cracked plates."

Alice noticed the way Carn cringed and ducked his head even lower at this. "Will he be alright?"

Navossa nodded "His parents wished for me to tell you that while they are disappointed in their son's behavior and will punish him accordingly, they request that you pay for the medical expenses."

That seemed reasonable to her. Alice glanced at the children and noticed the satisfied glint in Lily's eyes. Hopefully John saw it too and would talk to her about it. She returned her attention to Dr. Navossa as Agust asked "Will they be expelled?"

The asari shook her head "As long as this stays a one-time only incident, no. They will however, be given a five day suspension." She gestured to Anna "Mr. Malva, you may take your daughter home. Carn, Lily, if I could ask you to step outside for a minute, I wish to speak with your parents in private."

Agust left with Anna while Carn and Lily stepped out of the office. As soon as they were alone, Dr. Navossa sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I'll admit, I expected better of the children of the great Commander Shepard and his sister."

"Children are children, no matter who their parents are." John said.

Navossa looked at John "This is the twelfth time I've had to call you to my office because of Lily. It's not my place to tell you how to parent your children, but that girl is unstable. I suggest you consider therapy, or find her an outlet for all that pent up energy and aggression other than wreaking havoc." She turned her gaze on Alice "And I suggest you start sending Carn to Anger Management."

Alice was surprised to hear that "What makes you think he has anger issues?"

"Two of that turian boy's broken ribs were because of Carn." Navossa said darkly, "He also continued to attack the boy long after Lily and Anna had stopped."

"The kid was bullying him!" Alice defended "I think it's perfectly understandable that he would be angry!"

"The teachers had to drag him off the other boy." Navossa insisted, "And it took him several minutes to calm down."

"You saw how ashamed he was." Alice said "He knows what he did was wrong, and feels guilty about it."

"That doesn't change the fact that he still has an anger problem." Navassa stated. "I am merely recommending what course of action you should take, it is up to you if that is what happens."

Alice shook her head but didn't argue further. She and John left the principal's office to find Carn and Lily waiting in some chairs placed outside the door. After saying goodbye to her brother, Alice took Carn out of the school and to the car. The drive home was weighed down by a heavy silence. Carn avoided even looking in Alice's direction, leaving her to mull over what the principal had said. She refused to believe that her sweet, mild-mannered little boy had a problem with his temper. When they finally arrived back home, Carn went straight to him room, not bothering to speak to her. Alice decided that she would come up with a punishment once Garrus got home and learned of the situation. She spent some time reviewing some reports for Liara from her Shadow Broker agents, but couldn't stop thinking about what Dr. Navossa had said. There had to be a reason for Carn to snap like that, it couldn't have just been pent-up anger.

Finally, she decided to take a break and check up on Carn. She climbed the steps to the second floor of their apartment, stopping just outside of Carn's room. Gently, she knocked on the door, "Carn, sweetie, can I come in?"

From the other side, she heard a muffled "Sure." Alice opened the door to find Carn laying on his bed, his back turned to her. Sighing, Alice sat down on the edge of the mattress, reaching out a hand to soothingly rub Carn's back. After a moment of silence, Carn finally spoke "Am I in trouble?" he asked, still not facing her.

Alice nodded "You were wrong to attack that boy Carn."

"He hurt Anna." He stated, "I don't like it when people hurt my friends."

Alice smiled inwardly at that; her little boy was a protector, just like his father. "You should have gotten an adult. Fighting him was wrong."

Carn didn't respond. For a while they just stayed like that, Carn laying down, facing away from her, and Alice gently rubbing his back. Finally, Alice asked "What did he say to you?"

Carn hesitated for a moment before rolling to face his mother. Alice's heart lurched when she saw that his eyes were red from crying. I shouldn't have left him alone. "He… he called me a freak. Said I belonged in a circus, with all the other freaks."

Alice suddenly felt a strong urge to find that boy and put a bullet in his brain. She quickly quelled that urge however, and focused on Carn. "Oh honey…" she said, sitting him up and pulling him into a hug. "You're not a freak. And anybody that tells you otherwise is an idiot."

Carn tightly wrapped his arms around his mother, burrowing into her embrace "But why does it feel like he's right?"

Alice pulled back enough so that she could look her son in the eyes. "He's not, and the next time someone calls you a freak, or starts bullying you in any way, I want you to laugh in their faces, no matter how much their words sting. You know the truth, and that's all that matters."

Carn hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Am I still in trouble?"

Alice smiled faintly "Yes, you are. But know that no matter what, I will always love you."

…

"It's been three days." Kal said "And Mort still isn't back yet."

"Be patient." Lily scolded.

"Me? You're the one who's been pacing nonstop the whole time!"

"It's my ship damnit!" Lily snapped "I'll pace if I wanna pace!"

"Do I need to separate you two?" Nyn called from her perch on a crate at the far end of the hold.

Mars' avatar appeared next to the asari, eating from a (holographic) bag of popcorn "Quiet Nyn! This is getting good!"

"Look," Kal said, doing his best to ignore the juvenile AI and grumpy asari pilot. "All I'm saying is that Mort should have returned by now."

"Omega's a big station." Nyn pointed out, "There are a lot of places for agents of the Shadow Broker to hide."

Lily nodded, still pacing the width of the cargo hold "Mort may not be the best fighter, but he grew up as a duct rat on the Citadel, he can take care of himself."

"Then what about Carn?" Kal said, changing tactics "Who knows what your boss is doing to him right now?"

Lily froze, her eyes locking with Kal's as she said darkly "I am well aware of the situation Zorah."

They faced off for a minute before Mars spoke up, breaking the tension "Mort's just entered the hanger bay."

Lily and Kal broke their staring contest and rushed to the loading ramp as it lowered to reveal the grinning drell. "Did you find them?" Lily asked hopefully.

"Yep," Mort said proudly "I have a lead on the ringleader. We take him out and their whole operation on Omega should come crashing down."

Lily nodded in determination, spinning on her heel and marching towards the stairs "I'm gonna go gear up. Mort and I will deal with the ringleader, Nyn you're in charge until I get back."

"I'm coming too." Kal stated.

Lily turned to face him, her brows furrowed "I won't be babysitting you out there."

Kal crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at Lily from beneath his sapphire faceplate "Fine by me. I can take care of myself."

Lily cocked an eyebrow "Alright, follow me to the armory then, I'll get you set up with a pistol."

As Kal moved to follow Lily, he quipped "I prefer shotguns."

…

What an odd sight we must be. Kal mused as he, Lily, and Mort moved through Omega's cluttered streets. He cast a glance at the crowd surrounding them. We're the only ones not heavily armed.

[Compared to most of these people we might as well be armed with butter knives.] Dex agreed.

Mort was leading their little trio, with Lily and Kal walking side-by-side behind him. Kal had been outfitted with an M-27 Scimitar; while it was hardly a Reegar Carbine or Geth Plasma Shotgun, it would do for now. Lily of course, had her custom pistols, Clint and Chuck, holstered at her sides, and was still wearing a red jacket over a white shirt and tight brown pants. Does she even wash that thing? Kal wrinkled his nose at the thought. Mort was wearing the typical drell jacket-and-jumpsuit with a grey and brown color scheme and was the only one not armed.

"We're here." Mort said, wrenching Kal out of his thoughts.

Kal looked at their destination "It's… it's a bar."

"Very observant." Lily said blandly, moving towards the bar's door, Kal and Mort following her.

A quarian, a drell, and a human walked into a bar, Kal mused. Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke.

The bar was small, dark, and empty but for a few patrons. They took a booth in the corner, Lily and Mort both ordering drinks. "You should get something." Mort said when Lily came back with their drinks "We might be here a while."

Kal eyed the murky liquid in their glasses warily. He swore he could see the parasites just swimming around in there. "I'd rather not"

"Pussy." Lily said before tossing her head back and downed her entire glass in one gulp. She burped, wiping the excess of her mouth with the back of her hand and stood up "I'm grabbing another."

[That can't be sanitary.]

Kal had to agree with Dex on that as he watched Lily go to the bar and grab another… whatever that sludge was called. When Lily returned she took a sip from her drink before speaking "So, who're we looking for?"

Kal noticed that Mort kept his gaze focused on Lily "Did you see that human, male, middle-aged, receding dark grey hair, looks to be of Indian descent?"

Lily nodded "Yeah, I noticed him."

Kal frowned; he hadn't noticed the human. He turned to look for him when Lily snarled "Don't look!" Kal's head snapped back so fast he nearly got whiplash. After glaring at him for a moment, Lily turned back to Mort "That our guy?"

Mort shook his head "Not exactly."

"'Not exactly?'"

Mort explained "I started out by observing the potential suspects from the list Aria gave us. During this I-"

"Mort!" Lily hissed "Short version please!"

"Right, sorry Captain." Mort said sheepishly "Basically, I found enough evidence to suggest that he was one of the agents so I slipped a bug on him by-"

"Mort!"

"Short version, sorry. I overheard a conversation between him and another agent. Apparently the ringleader is known as 'the Executive'."

Lily cocked an eyebrow "And is this guy him?"

Kal noticed Mort glance away "Umm… no."

"No?" Lily's eyes narrowed.

"The Executive doesn't wander away from their base of operations apparently." Mort explained "So the way I see it, if we follow this guy, he'll take us right to them."

"Then we better get started," Lily said "He's on the move."

Kal looked out of the booth and saw that a human male matching Mort's description was paying the bartender and making to leave the bar. Kal started to stand up when Mort shook his head. "Wait, we don't want to draw his attention, we'll give him a couple seconds head start before following."

Kal complied, sitting back down "I take it you've done this kind of thing before?"

Mort shrugged "Once or twice"

"Or 27 times." Lily said with a smirk. "Not including this one."

Kal sighed "You don't do many legitimate jobs do you?"

"Well…" Lily smiled mischievously "Our work is perfectly legitimate… in the Terminus Systems."

Kal shook his head. At that moment, Mort stood up "Okay, we should be fine now."

They left the bar, Mort quickly locating the agent's retreating form and leading them in his footsteps. After several minutes of weaving through the labyrinth of Omega's streets, the agent slipped into an alley. Following him, Kal, Lily, and Mort stealthily crept into the alley, taking cover behind a dumpster. Further down the alley, the agent was meeting with a turian. Kal couldn't make out what they were saying, but it seemed to have something to do with the merc groups. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw something, but he dismissed it as his imagination acting up.

Suddenly, Kal felt something poke into his side and froze as a gravelly voice whispered harshly "Don't move." A batarian decloaked, holding a gun to Kal's side, a sneer on his lips. "Hey Brian!" the batarian called to the agent "Look who it is, Lily Shepard and Kal'Zorah! Looks like the boss was right after all!" The batarian's eyes glinted as he said "We've been expecting you."

…

Mars was bored.

Expanding into Cyan's core had been a nerve-racking experience, but now that it was over and he'd had enough time to adjust, he found that he had absolutely nothing to keep himself entertained. He'd been idly browsing the extra-net and looking at videos of baby animals ever since Lily, Kal, and Mort left. There were too many to count, and even an AI would never be able to view them all, but Mars didn't have the attention span to try. (He did take some mild amusement from seeing videos of turians freaking out whenever they saw a cat- understandable when you take into consideration that Palaven had once been home to several large felines that had preyed upon their ancestors until they were systematically wiped out with extreme prejudice once the turians could manage it- but it was still funny.)

[Mars, we require your assistance.]

The AI felt a connection establish itself as Dex suddenly contacted him. [Finally, something to do. What do you need?]

[We have run into a complication] the geth replied [Kal, Lily, and Mort have been captured by the Shadow Broker's agents. I have been sent to acquire assistance.]

[What do you need?]

[I am currently being barred from accessing the mainframe of the warehouse where they are being held.] Dex explained, sending him the location [I need you to do it instead.]

If Mars had shoulders he would have shrugged [Sure, I'll let you know when I'm done.]

[We will be in contact.] With that the geth severed the connection, leaving Mars to his work.

Mars envisioned himself stretching as he located the correct warehouse. [The mainframe's pretty isolated] he noted [but I should be able to connect through… bingo.] Mars gave himself a pat on the back (figuratively speaking) as he found a connection to the warehouse's mainframe. When he tried to access it however, he found his progress blocked. Mars grinned (again, figuratively speaking). [Oooh, a little firewall. This is going to be fun!]

Mars felt around the firewall, testing its strengths and weaknesses [Pretty advanced for just some warehouse.] he mused [But, not advanced enough.] He found a weak point and sent a little virus of his own design at it. He liked to call it "The Creeper."

[That's a very nice firewall you have there.] He "said" in a breathy "voice" [Be a shame if something were to…] at that moment the virus, for lack of a better word, detonated, overloading the firewall with a large amount of data, causing it to come crashing down […happen to it.] He "chuckled" at his little joke as he waltzed over the remains of the firewall and accessed the warehouse's mainframe, letting Dex know of his success. [I'm so awesome.]

…

[Mars has successfully hacked into the warehouse's systems] Dex reported [He is on standby for further instructions.]

Great, can you hold on a second Dex? Kal replied. I'm kind of in the middle of something here.

Kal, Lily, and Mort were all tied to chairs inside a small room in an old warehouse that the Broker's agents had taken them to. Pacing back and forth in front of them was the Executive, a large krogan with wide shoulders and an imposing presence. "You know, when the boss told us to keep an eye out for you, I couldn't quite believe it, the daughter of Commander Shepard and the son of Admiral Zorah." He glanced at Kal "Although I was told you were a prisoner, not an accomplice." He turned back to Lily, glaring at her "You've got a lot of nerve. Ya' know that? Stealing a Reaper processor, attacking a Spectre and one of their agents, and that's just the stuff you've done recently." He leaned forward so that his face was inches from hers "Who do you think you are, huh? Some sort of glorified smuggler?"

"Yep."

The Executive blinked "What?"

"You heard me." Lily said cheerily "I'm a glorified smuggler. Oh, and I'm sexy. And a Shepard, don't forget that."

Kal cocked an eyebrow at Lily beneath his faceplate. What?

The Executive seemed just as confused as Kal. "Huh?"

Lily's smirk widened "Oh, I'm sorry, was that too much for your little krogan brain to handle?"

The Executive bristled "You better watch your mouth or I'll-"

"Or you'll what?" Lily taunted "You can't touch me, I'm pretty sure your boss wouldn't like that."

The krogan snarled, but turned his back and stomped away "Keep an eye on them." He told the two agents who had brought them here "I'm gonna go call the boss" and stormed out of the room.

When the Executive was out of sight, Kal gave Lily a puzzled look "What was that about?"

Lily shrugged "Nothing really, just having a bit of fun." She glanced around the room "Hey, does Mars have access to the warehouse's systems yet?" she whispered.

Kal blinked "How did you-"

"Just a guess," Lily grinned "Does he have access to the speakers?"

Kal eyed Lily wearily "Why?"

"Does he?"

With a sigh, Kal posed the question to Dex. "Yes," he said once he got his answer "Why…?" he stopped when he saw something in Lily's hands that she was using to cut through the ropes that bound her hands behind her back.

Lily shook her head "Tell him to start playing my jam." Kal cocked his head to the side, trying to convey his confusion. Lily grinned "Trust me."

Kal shook his head and relayed the message through Dex. The warehouse speakers crackled to life and a vibrant tune played by string instruments started. The agents in the room looked at the ceiling in confusion while from somewhere in the warehouse, the Executive shouted "Who turned that music on!"

As soon as the agents looked away, Lily cut herself loose and immediately burst out of the chair, throwing the razor she had used to free herself into the head of one of the agents, killing him instantly. The other agent spun around, raising the muzzle of his rifle to bear on Lily. With speed that surprised Kal, Lily closed the distance between them and knocked the rifle out of the agents hands with a kick before punching him in the stomach and, when the agent doubled over, snapping his neck. Lily bent down to retrieve her razor and returned to Kal and Mort.

After she had cut the through ropes that restrained Mort, Lily lightly patted his cheek "'Ey Mort? You can come back to the present now."

Mort, who had been staring off into space this whole time shook his head and focused on Lily. "Huh? Oh, are we escaping? Took you long enough."

Lily moved to cut Kal free. Once he was, Kal stood up and glanced at Mort in confusion "Um… what exactly were you doing this whole time?"

"Drell can slip into their memories whenever they want." Lily said, going over to the table where their weapons had been placed and retrieving her pistols.

"I find it helps pass the time when I'm waiting for the Captain to do her thing." Mort said casually.

Kal grabbed his omni-tool and shotgun from the table "Fair enough, what's our next move?"

Lily readied her pistols with a grin "Now, we have fun."

Through the door was an empty hallway lined with several other rooms similar to the one they had been held in. The music was still blasting through the speakers as Lily, Kal, and Mort crept down the hall, weapons at the ready. They halted at a corner, Lily quickly looking around the turn. She turned back to her companions, mouthing: three.

Kal nodded and readied his omni-tool, prepared to send out his combat drone when Lily shook her head, mouthing: I got this.

She took a deep breath and then, without warning, Lily rolled out from behind the corner, guns coming up. There were three bangs, and Lily lowered her still smoking guns, beckoning for Kal and Mort to come out. Rounding the corner, Kal saw three agents lying on the floor, each with a hole through their head where Lily had shot them.

"Come on," Lily said "The music might have covered up the sound of the gunshots but we better not take any chances."

They moved through the halls, Lily quickly dispatching any agents they encountered with her lightning-fast reflexes and seemingly perfect aim. Eventually, they found themselves in the large expanse of the warehouse's main floor. They each took cover behind a crate and watched as the Executive ordered the agents around. "I don't care if you have to shoot the damn speakers! Turn off that music!"

"This will probably get messy," Lily noted "Mort, do your thing."

The drell nodded "Understood Captain."

Kal blinked "Wait, what's his thing?"

"Staying out of the way." Lily said "Mort isn't exactly the best when it comes to fighting."

Kal absorbed this information. That meant that it was just him and Lily against all the agents. "All right, what's the plan?"

Lily flashed him a mischievous grin "Plans are for chumps." With that, she sprung up from behind her crate and fired at the Broker's agents, sending them scurrying for cover.

Swearing, Kal activated his omni-tool and sent out his combat drone "Go Dex! Aim for the eyes!" he caught the look Lily shot his way "What? Dex controls my combat drone."

Lily shook her head, ducking down behind cover after she put a bullet in an unlucky agent's skull. "You're Tali'Zorah's son alright."

Kal shot her a confused look from beneath his faceplate while popping out from behind his crate to take a potshot at the Executive. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Lily smiled "Just a story my dad told me once."

They traded fire back and forth with the Broker's agents for what seemed like an eternity. Sometime during this, Mort had disappeared. It was not lost on Kal that they were severely outnumbered and yet somehow managed to hold their own against the agents. Kal attributed this partly to his combat drone and turret and partly to Lily's remarkable marksmanship. How she was able to land killing shots with nearly every bullet while screaming "YOU FEELING LUCKY PUNK?! WELL? ARE YA?!" he'll never know.

Kal swore as his turret got overloaded. He loosed another blast from his shotgun at the Executive before having to duck back behind the crate to avoid getting turned to Swiss cheese (Was that the right expression?) by another burst from the krogan's Revenant. Kal ducked out of cover and shot a krogan agent that had gotten too close to Lily point blank. Kal grinned as the krogan stumbled backwards from the blast. He continued firing shot after shot into the krogan, sending the agent reeling backwards. Kal frowned when he pulled the trigger and, instead of the shotgun's normal boom, all he got was a click and some faint beeping. He looked down at his weapon and saw it smoking. Damn, thermal clip's out. Before he could reload, Kal heard a roar of rage and looked up in time to see the krogan, bleeding from multiple wounds but still very much alive, charge him. The krogan rammed into Kal with the force of a truck, grabbing him by the throat, picking him up, and slamming him into the wall. Kal saw stars and clawed at the krogan's meaty fingers that were slowly crushing his throat. His shotgun lay out of reach a few feet away where he'd dropped it when the krogan tackled him.

He managed to pry the giant fingers from his throat just long enough to cry out "Lily!"

Nearby, Lily had noticed Kal's plight and took aim at the krogan. Before she could fire however, she felt something sear across the back of her neck like a white hot lance. Crying out, she ducked back behind the crate, her hand going to her neck and coming away bloody. Sniper. She applied medi-gel to the back of her neck, breathing a sigh of relief as the cool substance banished the pain. Just a graze. Any closer and I'd have been in trouble.

Lily quickly glanced out from behind the crate, snapping back into cover just before the sharp retort of a sniper rifle sounded and the ground behind her erupted, leaving a small crater where the round had struck. Rafters, Lily thought quickly. I'll have to be quick. She holstered Clint and took out a small missile from a small pouch near her holsters and attached it to Chuck's barrel. Rolling out from behind the crate, fire from the other agents peppering her shields, Lily aimed up toward the rafters approximately where she thought the sniper was and pulled the trigger. The missile flew true and, as she scrambled back behind another crate, bullets shredding the air around her, Lily grinned as she heard a loud boom over the still playing music followed by a scream as the sniper fell the long way to the ground below, landing with a satisfying crunch.

After a moment Lily frowned "Wait a second…" she glanced in the general direction of the now dead sniper "Was that a Wilhelm scream?"

"Lily!"

"Right, sorry!" Lily said, suddenly remembering Kal.

The quarian was just barely holding on. Only his attempts to pry the krogan's fingers from his throat had kept his windpipe from being crushed. Where was Lily?

[It appears you require assistance.] Dex said flatly.

You THINK?! Kal shot back. The angle he and the krogan were at kept the other agents from finishing Kal off with a shot to the head but it was a small comfort when paired with the fact that he was currently being strangled by 300 pounds of pure muscle.

His vision was just going dark around the edges when he heard someone say "Excuse me?"

Kal saw the krogan turn his head to the side and, without warning, Kal saw the barrel of his shotgun shoved into the krogan's face. There was a loud boom and Kal's faceplate was coated in gore as he was released gasping for breath. He felt someone drag him behind cover and, once he'd wiped the blood and brain-matter from his faceplate, Kal saw Lily holding his shotgun, a smirk on her lips.

"Took you long enough." Kal said, glancing at the headless corpse of the krogan lying a few feet away as Lily gave him back his shotgun. "Where were you?"

"Oh, I thought I'd stop and do some sightseeing along the way." Lily answered cheerfully.

"DIE YOU BLASTED DRONE!"

Lily glanced in the direction of the Executive's roar "Tough little guy ain't he?"

Kal hefted his shotgun "There's a reason Dex controls it instead of some dumb VI. Come on, let's finish this."

The Broker's agents had dropped significantly in number so that there were only a few left. Kal and Lily quickly dispatched the remaining agents, leaving only the Executive cowering in the corner as Dex hovered over him, buzzing angrily. Lily walked over to where the Executive's Revenant lay in pieces, whistling in appreciation "I need to get myself one of those geth-controlled combat drones."

The music cut off as Kal walked over to the Executive "What do you want to do with him?"

The Executive seemed to gather his courage and barked "You'll pay for this! You hear me? The Shadow Broker won't let this stand!"

Lily walked up to the Executive "I'm sure." Quick as lighting, she raised Chuck and fired three shots into the krogan's skull. Lily holstered her weapon, turning to leave. "Come on, we're done here."

Kal looked between the dead krogan and Lily's retreating back. He knew she had every right to be in a hurry, but the cold manner with which Lily had killed the Executive still unnerved him.

"Mort!" Lily shouted "You can come out now!" the warehouse door opened to reveal the yellow drell, a small smile on his lips. "Where were you?" Lily asked, walking over to him.

Kal deactivated his combat drone and joined them while Mort spoke "I took the liberty of having Mars copy and delete all of their data. Don't want that kind of stuff falling into Aria's hands."

Lily grinned "Nice. Is there any info about where Kronov might have taken Carn?"

Mort shrugged "I don't know, Mars is going through the data now."

Lily nodded "Alright. Mort, you head back to the ship and prep for take-off." She turned to Kal "Let's go tell Aria her dirty work is done."

…

Afterlife was, as always, crowded. Lily and Kal pushed their way through the mass of drunken patrons toward where Aria held court. Lily, never one for waiting, strode right past the guards, punching one of them when he tried to stop her. Ignoring the goons aiming their guns at her, Lily marched up to where Aria was lounging and said sharply "We did what you wanted. Now where did Kronov take Carn?"

Aria merely nodded "Yes, my spies told me as much." She smiled coolly "I really need to stop underestimating you Shepards."

"Kronov." Lily demanded as Kal came up behind her.

"First," Aria held out her hand "The data."

Lily frowned "What data?"

Aria's eyes turned cold "Don't play dumb with me Lily, I know you downloaded all the information the Broker's men had. I want it."

Lily's eyes narrowed "The data was never a part of the deal."

Aria continued smiling "The 'deal' has changed."

Lily bristled. That bitch! She was itching to draw her gun and shoot the smug asari right between the eyes, even if she would probably be gunned down before she could even remove her pistol from its holster.

"Alright." Lily's head snapped to Kal when he spoke, caught completely off-guard. "After you show us what you have on Kronov." Kal added "If it's any good, you get the data, if not, you don't."

Aria smiled at the quarian "I'm sorry, you seem to believe that this is a negotiation."

Lily could have sworn she saw Kal smirk "I'm sorry, you seem to forget that we can delete the data at any time, and I'm sure you don't want that. So start talking."

Aria's smile broadened "You're a shrewd negotiator Zorah."

Kal shrugged "It's a gift."

Aria nodded "Very well, Kronov left Omega on a small transport called the Broken Scarlet."

Kal folded his arms over his chest "We could have learned that from the docking manifests. What else?"

Aria's smile grew to wolfish levels "I anticipated you or the Spectres might want to track him, so I had a transmitter placed on his ship." She gestured to one of the goons who activated his omni-tool. "I'll give you the frequency." Lily looked down at her omni-tool and noticed that she had indeed been given the frequency that would allow them to track the transmitter. Aria held out her hand once more "Now, the data."

Kal nodded and activated his omni-tool "Here it is, nice doing business with you."

They started to leave when Aria held up her hand "Let's just make sure that you're not trying to trick me." She activated her omni-tool.

Lily immediately noticed Kal tense "Run," he whispered.

Lily frowned "What?" she glanced back at Aria. The Queen of Omega was studying her omni-tool, frowning at what was on there. Suddenly, her expression grew furious.

"RUN!" Without warning, Kal loosed his combat drone on Aria's goons.

Lily didn't need to be told twice. Drawing Clint, she grabbed Kal's hand and made a bold leap over Aria's couch and down to the floor below as Aria's goons opened fire. She landed lightly- thought the same couldn't be said for Kal behind her- and was off like a bullet in a mad sprint through afterlife, dragging Kal behind her. As they burst through Afterlife's main door, Lily could hear Aria cry "AFTER THEM!"

Lily pulled Kal around a corner and into a smaller corridor, trying to lose their pursuit in Omega's winding streets. She glanced back at Kal as they ran "What did you give her?"

She knew that Kal was grinning beneath his faceplate "Oh, just a little virus that's going to utterly decimate her omni-tool."

Eventually, they managed to shake their pursuers and made their way back to the Hermes. As soon as they were aboard, Lily ordered Nyn to take off and plot a course for the mass relay. "Mars," as soon as she spoke the AI's avatar appeared in front of her.

"Yes Captain?" Mars said with a mock salute.

"Hack into Aria's databases and erase any trace of the transmitter frequency you can find. I want us to be the only ones who know where Kronov is."

Mars grinned "Oooh, I love vandalism!" With that his avatar flicked off.

Lily shook her head as she felt the Hermes take off. She had started towards the cargo hold stairs when she heard Kal speak up "I don't suppose I can convince you to let the Spectres help us?"

Lily glanced back at Kal "You can try. It won't work, but you can try."

Kal sighed and followed her "You really think you can rescue Carn with just a stealth ship and a small crew? What if he's under heavy guard? What if he's being kept in an impenetrable fortress? What then?"

Lily smiled "My dad took out the Collectors without a single casualty, and he only had a small team of specialists."

"That 'small team of specialists' consisted of 13 of the most dangerous people in the galaxy, including your aunt and uncle." Kal pointed out "Let's see who we have," he started counting off on his fingers "A grumpy pilot, a drell who can't fight, and immature AI, a self-proclaimed 'glorified smuggler,' and me." He glared at Lily "Oh yes, they will tremble before us!"

Lily smirked, "You forgot one thing."

"What?"

"I'm a Shepard."

…

John briefly looked up from his datapad and nodded to Javik as the Prothean stepped into his office. "How's Raskos?" he asked, returning his attention to the datapad.

"Healing." Javik said, "Lily didn't do too much damage, he should be recovered in a couple days."

John nodded "Was there something you needed?" he asked, putting the datapad down.

Javik frowned (something he did a lot) and crossed his arms over his chest. "Why have you halted my hunt?"

John sighed, he'd figured this was coming "We have no leads Javik."

"Because you will not let me find them." The Prothean retorted.

"Liara's looking into it."

"The asari's resources are slow," Javik growled "by the time she learns of something they will have sold the processor already."

"We can't just go charging in," John pointed out "They have a hostage."

"All the more reason for us to move quickly." Javik said darkly "What will they do once the Zorah boy is no longer useful to them."

John stood up, shaking his head "As long as she doesn't feel threatened, Lily won't hurt him. I know my own daughter Javik."

"Really?" Javik sneered "It was my understanding that the reason she ran away was that you didn't 'know her'."

The silence that fell over the room weighed heavily on their shoulders like a thousand tons. John's expression grew hard. His eyes locked with Javik's, a cold fury burning in their icy blue depths. Finally he spoke, a cold, sharp edge in his voice that could cleave a Reaper's hull. "You have been my friend for many years Javik, but you are still my subordinate, and I will not tolerate insubordination. Do I make myself clear?"

There were only a few people in the galaxy that Commander John Shepard could not intimidate and Javik was one of them. "I will not apologize for speaking the truth, Commander." Javik said venomously.

Not backing down, Javik met John's hard stare unflinchingly. The two Spectres- two Commanders, one former, one current- faced off, matching one another's challenge, mirror images of each other, if not in appearance then in spirit. Both had fought the Reapers, both had barely survived the ordeal, both had lost friends to war, both suffered physical and mental scars, so different, yet so similar. Javik, Avatar of Vengeance, Last of the Protheans, dark, brooding, cynical. John Shepard, Paragon of Humanity, succeeding where countless other cycles failed in defeating the Reapers, even if that victory had not been what most expected, hopeful, charismatic, brave. They stood like light and dark, clashing in a battle of wills.

"Sir, Aria T'loak is on the line. She wishes to speak with you."

Keeping his eyes locked with Javik's John replied "Patch her through to my terminal."

"Yes Commander."

Shooting Javik one last glare that promised the matter was not over, John finally broke the staring contest and turned his attention to his terminal as the Queen of Omega's visage appeared on the screen. "Aria," he said cordially "What can I do for you?"

Aria's expression was calm, but her eyes burned with anger "Your daughter came to see me."

John noticed how Javik's eyes narrowed. "And? There has to be more to it than that."

"Oh there is," Aria said, a trace of anger in her voice "She wanted information. In exchange, she had to do a task for me, gather some data. As soon as she did and I gave them the information they wanted, she and her quarian gave me a fake copy of the data rigged with a virus. When the treachery was discovered, they set a combat drone on me and my men and ran."

John resisted the urge to smirk. That's my girl. He frowned when something occurred to him "What quarian?"

Aria eyed him curiously "I'd heard about Kal'Zorah's alleged kidnapping. It seems he's not being held against his will as much as you thought."

Javik snarled and John's eyes narrowed. He's working with Lily. It was not a question. That complicates things. "What information did they want from you?"

A small smile touched Aria's lips "You mean you don't know?" she said, not even trying to sound shocked "My, my, I'd have thought she'd at least have had the courtesy of telling his family."

John had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach "Stop playing coy Aria."

The asari's smile grew "They wanted to know where the man who hired them to retrieve the Reaper processor- a turian cyborg by the name of Kronov- had gone to."

"Why?"

"When Lily and Carn went to give him the processor, Kronov incapacitated them both and took Carn." Aria paused, clearly waiting to see how John would react.

"What did you tell them?" John asked, his tone calm.

Disappointed, Aria continued "I gave them the frequency for a transmitter I had placed on Kronov's ship."

"Can you give us the frequency too?" John asked.

"No, they somehow hacked into my network and erased all the data I had on it. My bet is they used an illegal AI to do it."

John considered this, he'd have to check with Tali, but Kal could have a geth in his suit. Even with the example of EDI and the geth, the creation of AIs was still a heavily regulated matter, and at this point, the fewer charges laid against Lily the better. "Thank you for the information Aria." Not waiting for her to reply, John cut the connection.

He turned to face Javik. Inside, his heart was beating a mile a minute. He'd always suspected something like this would happen. He knew that whoever had created Carn had had a reason for it, and he'd had a feeling that one day, they would want him back. There was still the possibility that Kronov had no connections to the people who'd made Carn and had his own reasons for taking him. Regardless, that didn't change the fact that they needed to get Carn back, and it looked like the only way to do that was to find Lily.

"Javik," he said darkly "Looks like you got your wish, the hunt's back on."

…

Light from Sahrabarik glinted off the cruiser's hull as it drifted near Omega. On the bridge, a large, menacing, beast watched as the Hermes flew towards the Mass Relay. Behind him, a salarian piped up "Orders sir?"

The beast thought for a moment, "Follow them, but keep your distance. I don't want to spook our prey."

The salarian nodded and went to relay the beast's orders.

Dread, the Scourge of the Terminus smiled to himself, revealing dozens of needle-sharp teeth, his eight eyes locked on the Hermes. As he relished in the thrill of the hunt and anticipated the upcoming kill, the yahg vowed "You will not escape me again, Captain Shepard."

A/N: Feel free to point out any mistakes I've made and give me feedback on how I can improve, there were many elements about this chapter that I'm still not sure about.