The Knife and the Turncoat

by Mr.Vaz

Tali is torn between her feelings for the commander and the gravity of a horrible mistake, while Miranda comes to terms with the organization that she's championed for years. Follow-up to Levi Matthews' "Finding a Way". M!Shepard/Tali ON HIATUS

12. -Is Blind

Note from the author:
*Looks over the edge of a cliff*
Oh, good- you guys are still hanging there. Let me just... *Tosses a rope down, waits for you to climb it*
Now I hope there's no hard feelings about-
*Gets socked in the face*
Right...
Here's the rest of the Garrus/Sidonis arc.

---

11: ...Is Blind

Shepard touched down in the back of a small alley, nestling the vehicle next to a parked kodiak shuttle. As he stepped out, Glass nodded to the Spectre. The pilot's hands were occupied by a large paint brush, which was spreading white paint over the bright orange Cerberus emblem. "They're down by the far end," the scarred man remarked. "Brought as much of the armory as we could. Miranda's just waiting on you."

John hurried past, not waiting for Thane as he made for where the alley intersected a larger walkway. The area was deserted for the moment, only occupied by his squad as they prepped their choice armaments. A group of weapons crates, several datapads, and a large desk were scattered through the space. Miranda stood by the table, for once wearing clothing that didn't betray her allegiance as she studied the datapad.

"What's the sitrep?" he demanded, moving towards her.

She held up a finger, speaking into her radio. "Hang on, he just arrived. Let me patch you in with the rest of the squad." The human woman activated her omni-tool, touching a few keys. "Alright, Kasumi. Tell him everything."

"About two hours ago, Garrus and Tali cornered Fade, the man Garrus believed would know Sidonis's location." Miranda offered the commander a seat, but he shook his head. He began to pace as Kasumi continued to speak over the radio. "He told me to stand lookout while they went into an office to get the info."

There was a break as the thief took a deep breath, as if she was reluctant to disclose the details of what happened next. She still soldiered on. "A group of mercs bunched up around the room. I tried to warn Garrus, but he was... too busy to listen."

"What do you mean?" Shepard asked.

"He cut me off, sounded like something had him angry. His comm went dead right before the mercs came in. I swapped to Tali's comm, but it went to static right after. Probably one of them using an overload at close range on her suit."

"At any rate, we're getting off-topic," Miranda cut in. "Stick with what's important."

"Right," Kasumi said, just before Shepard could loudly remind Miranda of the importance of the suit that kept Tali alive. "The mercs came out about two minutes after, a group of all the Big Three, plus a krogan in black. From the looks of it, Tali and Garrus had been knocked out with a sedative. I was able to shadow them, picked up on some of their chatter. The one in black's running the show, some kind of agent for the Shadow Broker. As for the others..." She trailed off.

The Spectre tensed, his stomach weighted with dread.

"They know that Garrus is Archangel."

John's fist became intimately familiar with the tabletop, leaving a large indentation as the biotic aura faded.

"I sent a message to Miranda and followed them. Eventually, they took them to this facility." Miranda tapped one of the datapads with a finger, bringing up a three-dimensional representation of the building.

"Kunyalt Storage," the operative informed. "Officially, it serves both commercial and private interests. Unofficially, C-Sec has suspected them of using the facility for numerous criminal activities. Over 500 individual units at this location, as well as round-the-clock surveillance, courtesy of the Eclipse."

"Except the Eclipse aren't the only ones here," Kasumi butted in. "Apparently, Garrus is a big enough prize for them to let the others have a significant presence too."

Shepard shook his head. "How significant? Is there an easy way in at ground level?"

"Negative. Six guards, minimum at every marked entrance. Always two of each merc group. Plus, there's not much room to maneuver on the lower levels- lots of narrow hallways. I had to sneak in through a commercial loading area, but their camera coverage isn't friendly if you don't have a tac-cloak."

"Fire escapes?"

"This is the Citadel, Shep. Atmo ends before the third story. Hang on- Looking at a map on a wall, here. There's an emergency exit on the southwest corner. Old-school swinging doors, by the looks of it. There's a chance it'll have fewer people watching, but no guarantees."

"Then that's our entrance," Shepard said. "Sounds good enough for a couple of people to slip in."

"But not a full squad." Miranda frowned as she looked at the diagram of the facility. "With the exception of the main entrance and elevators, none of the halls on the bottom two floors are more than three meters wide. Too large a group and you can all get taken out at once by one or two shooters."

"Which means being ambushed would be fatal." Shepard shook his head with dismay. Large squads will work against us, but there's no telling how many mercs there are. Dammit, if only they weren't cooperating, this would be so mu-

"Wait a minute," he said. "I think I have something."

Miranda looked up. "We're all ears, Shepard."

"Kasumi," he asked, "how friendly are the mercs with each other?"

A moment of silence preceded a laugh from the thief.

"One order of bedlam, coming right up."

---

"Let usss kill him. He killed brothers. Musst pay for Omega! For Garm!"

"Not until I've had my fun, Kreete. Can't have dinner without a show, now, can we?"

"Can we hurry it up, Jona? I say we wake his ass up now, regardless of what Karn-"

"He's the only reason we found Archangel, Darner. We'll wait until-"

"Stop your blabbering, I'm here."

"Finally."

"Kreete, if you'll do the honors. Not too deep, now."

"Yess, undersstand. No kill yet."

Garrus Vakarian's world erupted in a flash of pain as he was yanked into full consciousness. His unscarred cheekplate screamed as his eyes snapped open. A vorcha stood over him, its claws tinged with blue blood.

My blood.

"Him awake," the alien hissed. "Hurry with your fun."

"Wait outside, Kreete," a voice grumbled from out of sight. "We'll tell you when there's killing to do."

The vorcha snarled, but walked away, leaving the turian staring at a wall. He tried to move his arms and turn his head, but both were restrained by heavy metal rings built into the chair he sat in. His legs were also bound in place, unable to reach the floor. He could hear someone stomping toward him, and barely caught a look at a human male before a fist landed on the scarred side of his face.

"That's for Jentha, you bastard!"

"Vosque..." the deep voice warned.

"Don't worry, I'm not hitting him again... yet." The human backed off nonetheless, popping his knuckles for emphasis.

Garrus grunted, testing his multiple sets of vocal chords before speaking. "Lucky me. You didn't even mention Tarak."

The human made a lunge at him, but suddenly flew back, as if the hand of God had flicked him aside.

"Take a walk, Darner."

The man in Blue Suns armor huffed, brushing his shoulder as he peeled himself off the floor. "Fucking biotics. Tell me when you're done with this pile of crap. Maybe I'll be finished making my own by then."

"Maybe you will. But in the meantime-"

The room spun as the chair swiveled under Garrus. He found his eyes locking with those of the indigo-tattooed asari from the warehouse. The black-armored krogan stood in the background, a predatory grin on his face.

"-He's all ours." The asari turned back to the krogan. "Wake up our other guest, Karn. It's time the show got started."

At that point, he noticed there was another chair across the room. The krogan stomped over to it, the seat's occupant hidden and facing away from the turian. Tali? Spirits, don't tell me these monsters have her too...

Karn reached over the chair. Within moments, a shriek of pain rang through the room, nearly deafening the turian. Even then, it wasn't enough to mask a sickening crack of bone. The krogan tossed something to Jona. "Here's the finger you asked for."

Garrus's eyes widened. Spirits! They didn't just-

"You always knew what to get for a woman, Karn." Jona held the severed digit out in the light, tipped with a long talon and covered in blue blood. "The trigger-finger that killed Jaroth's brother will make a fine addition to my collection."

Jaroth? Memories just out of reach tugged at his mind. I know that name...

"Just kill me already, Karn!" a flanging voice yelled out. "We both know that's what you really want."

Garrus let out a growl of anger. I know that voice.

"Oh, it's not about what I want," the krogan chuckled. "The Shadow Broker wants to make an example of you... You're going to be the next Feron, the next cautionary tale that everyone hears rumors about."

"You think that torturing me-" The prisoner's speech was cut off by a bark of laughter from the armored reptile.

"Of course not. But I'm not going to be your executioner." Karn spun the other chair around, its occupant's eyes going wide as his eyes locked with Garrus's. The turian's growl increased in intensity as he recognized the other captive's clan paint. "He is."

"SIDONIS!" Garrus was dimly aware of the sound of rattling chains and loud expletives as he struggled with his bonds. Adrenaline surged through his veins, dimming his senses even further as he focused in on the other turian. He could see his former ally shrink into his chair, but didn't care whether it was in shock or fear. Neither did he bother to notice how the metal bonds were starting to bite into his arms and legs.

All he cared about was making him hurt.

---

"Hey, what was that for?"

"What?"

"You know what!"

Kasumi slunk away from the bickering mercs, grinning at her successes. You'd think one of the patrols would've been smart enough to catch on by now. She quickly moved up a stairwell, making sure to nudge another Suns merc as he passed by a vorcha. Batarian curses and low hisses began to build in volume as she continued.

Let's see... Miranda said it should be somewhere around- Here we are!

Despite her cloak, the thief ducked into a corner. She peeked out from behind a large potted plant, its frilled leaves masking her faint outline even further. A quartet of Eclipse mercs was there, guarding a set of double-doors. An overhead sign identified the room beyond: Security Control

Jackpot!

A blue suns patrol happened to be walking by. The second group's leader, a human, glared at the yellow-armored salarians distastefully as he passed by.

Oh, this is too good to pass up.

She dug through the plant's soil, easily finding a fingertip-sized stone. The thief tiptoed around the room, standing closer to the salarians as she watched the man. The human finally looked away, his head swiveling around just enough.

She threw the rock.

"What the fuck!"

The human raised a hand to the back of his cranium, his furious eyes passing over the room before he noticed the rock on the floor. He scooped up the piece of gravel, waving it around as he bellowed in anger. "Who did this?"

None of the Eclipse mercs spoke, despite the clear signs of bewilderment on some of their faces. Hands around the room gripped tighter to their weapons as the human led his men back. He raised his hand, pointing to the nearest of the salarians. "You, tell me who did this!"

"I-" the amphibian stammered. "I- I don't know-"

Before he could finish, the blue-armored merc had already socked him in the face, knocking the alien off his feet. As one, the other salarians lifted their weapons.

And that's the way the cookie crumbles.

The room erupted into shouts and gunfire, though none of it was directed at the thief in her hidden nook.

"Alert security!"

"I told Vosque it was too good to be true."

"Fire at will!"

"Screw you, frog-face!"

"Alert to all Eclipse: the Blue Suns have broken the truce. Suppress with extreme prejudice."

The door that the mercs were guarding flew open, an additional asari and salarian coming to back up the Eclipse forces. Kasumi quietly slipped through before it shut, barely catching a parting glimpse of a biotic showdown between the asari and a turian in Suns armor.

She drew her locust, sweeping the room for hostiles. Finding none, she took an empty seat at an important-looking terminal. The thief touched a control, activating a holoscreen.

Enter Password

Hmm...

She passed a hand on the underside of the table housing the security terminal. Sure enough, a loose item brushed against her fingertips. She ducked her head under the table, seeing a loose piece of tissue paper held in place with a spot of adhesive. The woman squinted her eyes, deciphering the poorly-written scrawl on the sheet.

New password: "Codeword: Dirtbag"

Kasumi shook her head as she typed in the passcode. Several other screens sprang to life, showing video feeds throughout the building. "Seriously, it's like these mercs are getting dumber by the day. You'd think they'd come up with something better than 'codeword dirtbag'."

A radio buzzed from the seat next to her. "Ow! The fricking mech just punched me!"

"Shut up, Grif. You shouldn't have been in its way."

"Oh yeah? Maybe you'd like to try it out sometime, Simmons."

"Keep your chatter off the emergency line!"

"Sorry, Sarge! Won't happen again."

"Kiss-ass..."

Kasumi stifled a chuckle as the line went dead. Definitely dumber. She focused back on the terminal, bringing up a log of all the storage spaces in the building. The woman filtered the list, limiting the search to free rooms and ones owned by mercs from a list Miranda had provided. She frowned at the number that remained.

It's still too many.

She lifted a hand to her ear, activating her comm.

---

"Nightingale to nest. Come in, nest"

Miranda rolled her eyes as she answered the call. "The line's already encrypted, Kasumi."

"And hacking through those is something I end up doing on the job nine times out of ten. I'd rather not chance giving them extra intel."

The Cerberus operative looked up in exasperation, catching a glance from Jacob. He shrugged, barely masking a grin that Miranda could only see hints of. Just humor her.

"Fine. What's your status, Nightingale?"

"The family feud's started, so Dog and Gecko are free to climb the tree. I also managed to get into their spider's lair. Transmitting data from their net now; it should help with finding our lost valuables."

Miranda opened the data packet from her omni-tool as she brought up the datapad with the facility map on it for reference. Thirty-four possible rooms across five floors... At least it's better than searching all five hundred. She updated her map with the targeted rooms. "Thanks, Nightingale. I'll send them in. Make your way up to the canopy and work your way down to the forest floor. Tell me every time you pass a yellow leaf."

"Will do. Over and out."

She switched comm channels, pegging Shepard and Thane. "Nest to Dog and Gecko. Come in, Dog"

"What?"

"Sorry," she backtracked. "Kasumi had me speaking in code. She got the mercs to turn on each other, so you're good to enter. I've also updated your maps with rooms of priority; we believe Tali and Garrus are being held in one or two of those. Update me when you clear one, it'll help once we have C-Sec on site."

"Got it."

"I recommend you split at the staircase after you breach and clear; you and Thane are going to have to cover a lot of ground in a short time period."

"How long until we get backup?"

She consulted her omni-tool. "They're still fifteen minutes out." The operative looked up at Jacob's group, who were all doing last-minute checks on their weapons. "Second squad is ready and waiting in the meantime."

"Copy. I'll tell you if we need them sooner. Over and out."

Miranda looked back to Jacob's squad. Grunt looked torn between excitement and disappointment at not drawing first blood from their enemies, but managed to stand still, his anxiety only evident from the impatient tapping of his foot as he stared at Zaeed. The former merc, on the other hand, appeared completely relaxed. He lied on his back on a closed supply crate, absentmindedly twirling a combat blade with one hand as he smoked a cigarette. Jacob, meanwhile, was conversing with Jack. The former Corsair was miming various gestures to the biotic powerhouse, explaining his own hand signals to her.

And from the look on her face, she was actually listening to him.

Miranda half-grinned, resisting the urge to pull a double-take at the surprising sight before turning back to the overlay of the base as the advance team began to drop status updates.

And it's all because of Shepard.

---

"Alert to all Eclipse: the Blue Suns have broken the truce. Suppress with extreme prejudice."

The announcement over the intercom broke through the turian's rage, distracting Garrus enough to pause in his vigorous attempts at escape. He realized he had completely forgotten about the room's other occupants, whose smiling faces quickly turned to frowns of displeasure.

"Idiot human," Karn groaned, marching to a doorway. "I'll deal with him and his dolts. Don't start without me."

As the krogan left, the two turians' eyes settled on the tattooed asari. "Oh, don't mind me," Jona said, her voice full of poisoned honey as she smiled devilishly. "Please continue, Archangel. I was loving the part about what you were going to do with his mandibles. I never considered using them as chopsticks, myself."

Garrus looked back at Sidonis, but didn't speak as their eyes locked once more. He turned away, his eyes settling for anywhere but the turian seated across from him.

"What's the matter, done venting already? How disappointing..."

The turian didn't give voice to the thoughts he had about how wrong she was. He was still angry. Spirits, he was enraged by the man more than he had been by anything else in his life.

But there was something else, he realized. This whole mess is my fault. Tali... maybe even Kasumi, too. Shepard probably has no idea where we are.

"This is the man who got all your best friends killed. How does that make you feel?"

My anger got us captured. Got us into this mess.

"Don't you want to make him pay? Make him feel everything that they did in their dying moments?"

I got us captured, or worse...

"Oh Archangel..."

I am NOT going to be her entertainment anymore.

The asari's face flushed with annoyance. "Fine! Be the mute pawn. You're nothing before the might of a queen and a rook. NOTHING! We'll just kill the both of you once we're done with those idiots outside." The woman glared at Garrus, her breath washing over his wounded cheekplate as he stared pointedly at the wall. She punched his face, making blue-tinged spittle fly over the arm of the chair, but still he said nothing. "I need to spill some blood," the asari hissed. "I'll be back for yours." She stomped away, opening the door to the sound of gunfire and frenzied shouts. Jona glowed blue as the door closed behind her. "Make peace with your damned spirits."

A deafening silence lingered in her wake. The turians' eyes met for a moment before turning away once more.

It's my fault I'm going to die... And the girls- He shook his head. I got them into this, all for this asshole.

Garrus thought of Shepard, not sure if he should laugh or not at the thought of how he left his friend. I was such a fool.

He allowed the grief to consume him for a few minutes, periodically broken by futile struggles with his restraints. Garrus noticed that Sidonis wasn't fighting his own, not even bothering to cover the gaping wound where his severed digit was. Another thought came to mind, pushing aside his despair.

Why did he do it?

It was a simple thought, but it snowballed from there. What was it that started this whole mess?

How did they get to him?

Why did he turn?

It wasn't like they were going anywhere soon.

"I'll tell you what," he voiced, straining to keep his voice from coming out in a roar once more, "since I'm feeling a little generous, I think I'd like to know why it happened." He faced the turian full-on, forcing his gaze to linger. "Why you lured me away and left the squad to die. Call it a last request if you want, but I want to know what turned my second-in-command against me."

The other turian looked at him, surprised. "You don't want to kill me?"

"This changes nothing, Sidonis. If they release me, I'm going to rip your damn throat out."

"I deserve as much," he breathed, his gaze falling again. He began to mumble, indecisive half-thoughts that were cut off before they could truly take shape.

"Tick-tock, Sidonis. I'd suggest you don't waste the breaths you can still take."

He sighed, and began to speak up. "I don't know the details, but Shepard defied the Shadow Broker-"

"When he didn't hand over Kahoku's data on Cerberus and gave it to the Alliance instead." Lantar looked at him curiously, as if he had revealed the meaning of life. "I know because I was there, Sidonis."

"Right." He nodded, then continued. "Shepard led a team that tracked down one of the most decorated Spectres, defeated him, and stopped an invasion that would have led to galactic extinction. And he defied the Shadow Broker. Spirits, I'd have been scared of him, too...

"But then Shepard died. The Broker had been putting things in motion, just in case Shepard decided to come for him, but all of it was put aside after the SR-1 was destroyed. He thought the threat was over."

Sidonis's voice faded once more, as if at a loss for how to continue. Garrus shut his eyes. If he doesn't hurry up and get to the heart of this, I might not wait for that damn krogan to get back. He gave another tug at the chain on one of his arms, but it gave no sign of yielding. Meanwhile, the room's other occupant had found his rhythm once more.

"Two years ago, the Broker was interested in reclaiming Shepard's body."

Garrus paused in his fruitless attempts at freedom. "Why?"

"He received an offer from the collectors." Vakarian gave a low growl, both at his bindings and at the mention of the slave race that had killed Shepard before. "He was unsuccessful."

So this is where that Lazarus Project Shepard mentioned comes in. "Because Cerberus interfered."

"No," Sidonis cut in. "It was because Liara T'soni interfered."

Garrus pulled a double-take. "Liara T'soni? Century-old Prothean researcher and quiet recluse?"

"I hardly believed it myself when I found out," the other turian replied a slight nod. "She gained sympathy from one of his operatives, and eventually stole Shepard's body from under the nose of the Shadow Broker's assassin."

"You mean 'one of his assassins'."

"When you have someone like Tazzik, you don't need anyone else." An ominous silence followed before he continued. "The operative was caught, but T'soni got away and gave Shepard's body to Cerberus. That's when he realized that the threat Shepard posed was far from over. He sent someone to sabotage Project Lazarus, but he also decided to keep an eye on T'soni."

Garrus was about to ask why, but stopped when he remembered the last time he saw the asari, livid and screaming at Tali. "She died as the Broker kidnapped her last friend and ally to make an example out of him!"

The asari's attitude, so focused on the Shadow Broker, suddenly began to make sense. "So he sent the Overseer."

Sidonis nodded, as if no longer surprised that Garrus would know more than he had expected. "Yes. But he didn't stop there."

So... we were all potential threats?

"Ashley Williams was relatively easy for him to tail. Because of her sense of duty to the Alliance, she wasn't likely to go AWOL and charge in after him. He decided not to risk the public spectacle of assassinating her, but he had more than enough spies in the Alliance to get her stuck in a dead-end posting."

"On Horizon."

"Yes," he acknowledged. "Urdnot Wrex was troublesome to follow, since he kept such a close eye on his followers. The Broker was never able to keep any spies among his own clan, but he was able to get a couple of sympathetic people from Gatatog. Wrex never left Tuchanka after he got there, though, so there wasn't any need to take him down."

The gears turned in Garrus's mind. "Because trying to unite the krogan clans keeps him from worrying about other things."

"Exactly. Tali'Zorah proved to be an interesting case, though."

"How so?"

"She was... well... untouchable."

Garrus shook his head in disbelief. "Even if I hadn't seen Liara on Illium, I might have still thought that she could have stood up to the Broker. Tali being impossible to reach is another story."

"Every agent he sent to tail her in the Migrant Fleet turned up dead or missing within a week of making contact. It was as if someone was actively seeking them out, some protector that didn't want the Broker to get his hands on her. Eventually, he had to abandon it altogether."

"Somehow, I still find that hard to believe."

"Quarians are hard for him to recruit. Too many focused on their 'good of the fleet' nonsense."

Knowing Tali, there may be some truth in that. Still... "That leaves just one person from Shepard's squad." Lantar fell silent, his head bowed in shame.

"I know this doesn't mean much, but I'm sorry Garrus."

---

Why are there always space goblins?

Shepard ducked behind a corner, tightening his grip on the SMG as gunfire whizzed down the hall. He waited for a lull in the fire, and retaliated with a Shockwave. The cascade of biotic explosions tore down the narrow space, smashing three of the aliens against walls and one against the ceiling.

He wasted no time before he dashed out of cover, executing each of them with a quick double-tap to the head before they could raise their weapons once more. John backtracked once they were dealt with.

125... 127... 131!

Even with his meager hacking skills, the low-security door proved no match for the Spectre's omni-tool. Within moments, it opened, allowing him to enter. Several stacks of boxes lined the walls, but a pair of chairs sat in the middle of the room. He quickly crossed the space to the nearest chair, spinning it around to find-

Clothes.

Both seats were occupied by piles of clothing and armor, much of it marred with the Blue Suns' logo. He raised a hand to his ear. "Room 131 is clear. Nobody's here."

"Understood. Next one's 148. Down the hall, make the first left. It'll be on the right."

"Copy." As he lowered his hand, he noticed that the sounds of gunfire from outside had died down.

In their place, he heard a series of growls.

Please don't let that be what I think it is.

He slowly pivoted, holding his breath.

Three varren slowly paced between him and the exit, trapping him in the storage unit. He carefully drew his shotgun, making the practiced movement as exaggerated as possible. They began to close in, making the barely-four-by-four (meter) space that wasn't taken up by boxes feel stiflingly small. Shepard drew on his biotic powers as he activated his katana.

Schick

They charged across what little space remained as the weapon readied. He fired a Warp with his off-hand, narrowly missing one as it dodged to the side with a snarl. The katana barked twice at a second, dropping it in a puddle of blood.

Unfortunately, Shepard didn't have a third hand.

The unmolested varren pounced, pinning him to the ground. The shotgun flew out of his hands, clattering against the wall. The animal's toothy maw snapped at his head, missing only because he leaned away just in time. He pushed his arm up against the beast's neck as it bit at him again, creating some space as he reached for his hip. The animal roared in anger, its paw managing to slash across his face.

He grunted, the sting of his fresh wound nearly making him drop the blur of teeth and claws. His free hand found the grip of a weapon, but it was pinned between his body and the floor. Shepard tried to roll his hips, but was forced to stop as the animal swatted at him again, narrowly missing his neck.

By then, the other varren had joined in. Its jaws wrapped around the torso of his body armor, teeth punching through the ceramic outer layer like it was made of cardboard. The animal tightened its grip, the plates starting to give way to the tremendous pressure as its ally continued to wrestle against the commander. He could feel the weight on his rapidly-compressing armor limiting his ability to breathe. John tugged at the grip of his pistol, but it remained, stuck. The varren that bit him suddenly yanked him, hard. One of the animal's teeth punched through the armor's underlayer, jamming into his stomach. He looked at it, watching as it gathered itself to thrash him again.

He rolled right as it tugged on him, and the pistol came free.

Shepard pressed the gun against the first varren's stomach, rapidly pulling the trigger. Blood fountained from his predator's bite as the rapid-fire weapon discharged again and again. The beast fell limp, and he pushed it off of him just in time to get jerked him once more. His body slammed against a wall, and he felt another tooth sink into his skin. He aimed at the animal's head, and pulled the trigger.

Beep-beep-beep

The varren tossed him against the wall again as he popped the spent heat sink from his gun. He mustered his biotic power as the beast prepared to seize once more, focusing it around his arm as the armor continued to constrict around his ribcage. A blue aura swirled around his fist, and he slammed it into the animal's face. Its grip immediately weakened, leaving deep gashes across Shepard's armor as the varren flew into the opposite wall. The Spectre stood as the animal rolled back onto its feet with a growl. He grabbed a fresh heat sink from his belt, popping it in as the animal began to charge.

He fired twice, and it slumped to the ground.

"Commander, status update."

John took a couple of deep breaths, then raised a hand to his comm. "Got held up by some guard varren. On my way to 148."

"Your vitals were spiking just a moment ago. I can send Thane your way if you need medical attention."

"Negative," he murmured, slathering medi-gel across his wounded face. "I'll be fine, Miranda. We can't waste time here." Not when Tali could be...

"Acknowledged. I'll tell you if the others hear anything."

"Thanks."

He rushed back out into the hall. Luckily, he didn't encounter any more (living) mercs as he traveled to unit 148. Eschewing a hack attempt altogether, he violently pulled the door open, the metal giving way to his cybernetics and biotics. The room beyond was darkened. He checked his corners, finding a light switch. He flicked at the interface.

A handful of lights flickered on from across the room. Rather than lighting the floorspace, however, they pointed at the engraved letters on a wall-mounted plaque.

My greatest kill

He held back a gasp as the lights intensified. Mounted on the wall was the head of an asari, her brow and cheekbones accented with red decorative plates. A silvery neckpiece masked where her neck met the wall. Her face was a patchwork of sewn-together flesh, the stitched-on skin covering several depressions in her skull. He was reminded of Frankenstein's monster as he stepped closer, horrified, but transfixed by the dead woman's blank stare. The lights brightened to reveal another plaque above her head.

Justicar Reyla

Without warning, more lights flicked on all around the room. Shelves throughout the room formed several aisles, all lined with fabrics in the Eclipse's yellow and black. On the shelves sat several displays. Sealed jars sat on some, severed body parts floating in the liquids within. Others had scraps of armor, damaged from some fight or other. Still others had limbs too large for the jars; arms, legs, and heads stuffed and displayed like museum pieces. A stuffed krogan stood in a far corner, its red armor full of orange-tinted bullet holes.

"Miranda," he asked, stepping further into the room, "who the hell rented this unit?"

"One moment." There was a momentary silence as he walked through the room, hypnotized by the well-preserved battlefield mementos. "Jona Sederis, founding member of the Eclipse. C-Sec's psych profile indicates advanced psycopathy and egomania; she sees herself as untouchable, lacks empathy of any sort, and enjoys seeing others in pain."

Something caught his eye, glint of purple glass. He rushed over to it. A display held a quarian's purple-tinted visor and a jar. A single finger, longer and thicker than a human's, but tinted a ghostly-pale blue, floated in the jar.

Please, don't be-

He spun the jar, a label coming into view: Sila'Ple vas Nedas, Exile

He breathed a sigh of relief as Miranda continued. "Rumors say she's the one who instituted their requirement that every member is only accepted after they commit a murder. They also-"

Shepard fell to one knee, his head feeling like it was going to split open. The sound of Miranda's voice began to fade as the world swirled around him.

Her eyes dart from the Eclipse's logo to the asari's eyes as the biotics fade. The indigo tattoos barely stand out from her midnight blue skin as Jona's face stretches in a twisted smile. "Kill!"

Commander John Shepard. Human Systems Alliance. First human Spectre.

The throbbing ceased, and he once again became aware of his surroundings. Miranda continued speaking in his ear, oblivious to his episode. "-ple murders over the past eleven decades, but they never found sufficient evidence to convict."

"I found her trophy room, Miranda."

The woman paused amidst her infodump. "Could you repeat that, Shepard?"

"She takes pieces of her victims, stores them here like museum displays." He saw a pair of empty jars, already labeled. Shepard stepped closer as he continued. "If C-Sec saw this room, they'd have more than enough evidence to convict." He raised one of the empty jars and read the name: Lantar Sidonis "Enough for multiple asari lifetimes, if not death." He raised the other and gasped at the name.

Archangel

"Quick! Search for any other units owned by her!"

"Shepard, I'm not foll-"

He yelled, not worrying about the mercs' gunfight outside. "She's got a place picked out for Garrus!"

Silence answered him. To her credit, Miranda's next reply was a direct answer to his question. "Two units. I sent Kasumi to number 478. The other is on the second floor. I already sent Thane to-"

"Where?"

"Unit 294. There's a closer staircase to your position. Take the first right, then a left at the end of the hall. Staircase will be on your right."

He was already moving before she finished giving the directions.

---

Two Eclipse mercs. Human, salarian. Four meters away, two apart. Unaware. Rush up behind salarian. Biotic Pull to momentarily disable human. Grasp salarian as he jumps back in surprise. Neck-snap. Biotic Throw to neutralize floating human.

Thane sprinted out from his cover, his light footsteps making nowhere near as much noise as the fully-armored people he targeted. He sent the human flying with his biotics as he closed on the salarian.

Instead of leaping back, the alien turned and faced him.

Tempest SMG, ready to fire. Dodge left, grasp wrist of firing arm. Watch for tech attacks from left hand.

The two wrestled for control of the weapon, the drell maintaining some control as he waited for an opening. The salarian's omni-tool began to glow with static charge. Thane poured some of his Biotic power into the grip, tightening his hand around the salarian's arm like a vice. A loud snap split the air, and the amphibian yelped, his overload attack discharging harmlessly into the ground. Thane heard a thump as the human landed. Not enough time.

The salarian lifted his head as he moved his free arm toward the weapon.

Jab to throat while unable to block.

The salarian coughed, his grip weakening as his free arm went from the weapon to his nearly-crushed windpipe. Thane pressed his advantage, shoving the muzzle of the gun against his stomach.

Sustained close-range burst to sever spine.

The merc collapsed with a strangled yelp, and the drell yanked the gun from his limp hands. He turned toward the human, silencing the second merc with a burst of fire before she could stand. Thane pointed the weapon back at the salarian, whose glassy eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. He dropped the gun, heading over to the unit that the two were guarding.

His comm buzzed just before he could start hacking the door. "Thane, urgent update."

"Yes, Miranda?"

"There's a room near you with a high chance of holding Garrus. Unit 294. It's-"

"Twenty meters straight ahead, left, ten meters, right, third unit on the right," he said, recalling the map he had seen before entering the building. Thane set off at a run.

"Correct. Be careful, the unit belongs to a suspected serial killer, an asari."

He rounded the first corner, drawing his own SMG. Up ahead, several Blue Suns mercs slammed into a wall from his right, victims of a powerful Throw field. "I will use caution."

He peeked around a corner. Up ahead was a single asari in Eclipse armor, a series of indigo tattoos on her forehead nearly blending in with her deep blue skin. For the moment, she was distracted, Pulling a group of vorcha into the air. The asari Threw the suspended Blood Pack troops, launching them away at alarming speeds as the biotic fields collided.

Dangerous biotic. Strike hard and fast. Close-range pistol shots to torso.

Fifteen meters.

Thane rushed out of cover, his footsteps making hardly a sound as he closed in on his target.

Ten.

She faced him, glowing blue and scowling. With a wave of the asari's hand, a cascade of explosions began to race toward him.

Detonate.

Thane tossed a Warp field at the ground in front of him, not daring to slow down. The Shockwave hit the affected area, causing a rush of air and a flash of blue as the fields collided each other. He gripped his pistol and continued his charge, barely slowed down by the gust of wind.

Five.

The asari dodged his first shot, sliding to the side in a blue blur. He pocketed his gun as she leapt into the air, her hand glowing blue as she prepared a biotic haymaker.

Roll left.

Her attack slammed into the ground where he had been, the metal floor crumpling and buckling where her fist landed. Thane closed in, intending to end the fight with a blow to her head. She blocked the shot, her fists glowing with power as she attempted to smash the drell.

Presure.

Thane weaved and dodged, hammering her with quick strikes in between her slower attacks. The asari yelled in anger, her own heavier attacks only catching air. Despite that, she was able to block a worrying amount of the drell's blows.

Space.

Thane drew back his left hand, preparing and launching a quick Throw. The asari was able to read his biotic telegraphing, throwing up a barrier in between them.

A flash of light. A wave of pressure. Ringing.

Recover.

The drell rolled back to his feet, several meters away from where they had been fighting. The asari climbed to her own feet a similar distance away, a trickle of dark blue visible along one side of her face. She began to glow as Thane drew his SMG, breaking into a run as she charged forward.

Bait.

Thane ran to meet her, his tempest firing a storm of poorly-aimed suppressive fire as they rushed toward each other. Only a scant few of the shots hit their mark, eliciting another yell as the asari's powerful barriers rippled from the impacts. Her arm began to glow blue as they closed in, winding back for a powerful blast. Thane's own arm began to glow as he kept to the middle of the hall.

Feint.

Thane leaped to his right at the last moment, swinging his left arm out low as the asari's own attack sailed over his shoulder. The woman's momentum turned against her, crushing her abdomen against the drell's forearm as he spun behind her. He reached around with his right arm, gripping the asari's chin.

"You-" she spat. "I'll kill you. Your family, your friends. You'll all be a part of my collec-"

Neck-snap.

He lowered her limp body to the ground, checking the surrounding area for more hostiles. When none came, he made his way to unit 294.

Crash

Thane's gun arm snapped up, pistol already drawn and pointed toward the intersection nearest the noise source. Without warning, a blue blur flew past his gun's sights, resolving into a red-and-gray-armored human, shotgun already leveled at him. The drell nearly pulled the trigger, but stopped as recognition kicked in. He holstered his weapon. "Shepard."

The Spectre released his own breath, lowering the shotgun. "Let's get this door open, Thane."

---

He was right; it didn't mean much at all.

"How long?"

Sidonis remained silent. Garrus, however, didn't intend to let him stay that way.

"How FUCKING long was it before he got to you, Sidonis? Did he tail you after a mission? Kidnap you and get you to spill everything? Threaten your family? Bribe you? Damn it, Sid. I could have helped you!"

The despondent turian across the room shook his head. "I worked with him for six years before he sent me after you. He didn't capture me, never tortured or broke me. No blackmail." The voice quivered, laced with sadness and guilt. "I acted on his behalf the entire time I've known you."

"So you never sold me out," Garrus said, his tone building in volume. "You were never a friend at all. You just let me take you in. You let me work with you- let me and my real allies live and think we were making a difference. And the whole time, you were plotting to kill us. Krul -FUCKING GRUNDAN KRUL- respected you. Sensat idolized you! Butler and Vortash covered your sorry ass more times than a salarian could count. Mel LOVED you, and you left her TO DIE! SPIRITS, I CONSIDERED YOU MY BROTHER AND YOU STILL-"

"IT WAS THE BEST I COULD DO!"

Garrus stopped, surprised by Lantar's sudden outburst. The other turian panted, but turned away once more. "It was all I could do to help you," he murmured, subdued.

"What do you mean, 'to help me'?" the flabbergasted turian asked.

"You... you were the only one I could save, Garrus..." Sidonis looked back at him, a fire kindling behind his own eyes. "My orders were strictly observation. 'Make sure Vakarian doesn't become a threat to the Broker or his interests.' Those were the exact words.

"At first, I reported exactly what I saw. 'Not interested in pursuing the Broker,' I said. 'Solely interested in extortion and the red sand trade,' I said. But then I saw the effects of what we were doing. The people of Omega started to hope, Garrus. Hope! In that cesspool of scum and wretches, we made the people begin to believe in what you were fighting for. I began to believe in what you were fighting for. Slowly, I began to see it wasn't as much of a lost cause as I'd thought it was."

Sidonis sighed. "The time I spent on your squad meant more to me than anything I'd ever done before, whether for the Heirarchy or the Broker. So... I tried to protect you in my reports- underplayed your influence. 'He's only worried about a serial killer.' 'He doesn't want to take out ALL of the mercs, only those who cause trouble.' 'His attack only slowed production; he didn't shut down the largest red sand producer in the Terminus.' 'No, sir. I DON'T think he'd leave Omega and go after you if he discovered your hand in everything that went on there.'" He shook his head. "It got harder and harder for me to keep him off of you as time went on, but he began to see the holes in my stories. After you got away from Garm's ambush, he lost his faith in my ability to see the mission through."

He looked at Garrus again, his mandibles hanging loose with sorrow. "He gave me an ultimatum. 'In two weeks, Archangel's squad will no longer be a threat. Do what you have to to avoid being caught with them. You will be reassessed in your debriefing afterward.' He was going to kill me and the squad, Garrus. There was no way around that."

"But you could have told me!" Garrus yelled. "We could have done something. The squad didn't have to die!"

"They had to, Garrus," Sidonis whispered. He locked eyes with the other turian, knowing that tears would have been streaming down his face if turians could cry. "It was better that way." The conviction in the statement sent a shiver down Garrus's spine.

"You don't know that," he countered. By the time the words had passed his maw, he was already doubting they were true. Even so, he continued to deny it. "There are things we could have planned for- ways we could have defended ourselves. They could have-"

"I do know, Garrus." Lantar's words stopped him dead in his tracks. "If the squad survived, you would have gone way beyond what Liara and Shepard had done. You would have become his number one target; the Broker would have sent everything at his disposal after us and our families."

"No..."

"What was Butler doing when he took that sniper shot to the head?"

Garrus's eyes widened. "How did you-"

"That bullet was meant for you, Garrus. The attack was supposed to start with a covert strike on the highest-ranked person in the building. The mercs would then storm the bridge and the tunnels during the confusion, take out as many as they could and then laying siege against any survivors. I say again: What was he doing?"

"He was... relaxing on the couch... About to have a smoke."

Sidonis nodded. "Would it have been better for his family to get dragged into it? For his wife and daughters to die for what he had gotten into? For him to live with the knowledge that he got them killed?"

It took less than a second for Garrus to find an answer. He would have been haunted by it. He'd become a shell of his former self. The thought of seeing the normally-cheery human waist-deep in despondence caused him to shiver. "No, but-"

"Would you have wanted Sensat to be forced into life as a fugitive? Spirits, that drell's had enough misery and hardship to last for both of our lifetimes, and she would never have been able to forget a single moment of it. Constantly fleeing and trying to stay ahead of the Broker would have destroyed her, Garrus. She was barely holding together as it was."

"But Mel was strong enough to-"

"Melanis..." Sidonis broke his gaze. "I've seen Tazzik's work before. Mel may have been the most talented infiltrator and close-combat specialist I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, but she wouldn't have stood a chance against him. He would have run circles around her, mocked her, toyed with her, embarrassed her." He closed his eyes. "Fighting him the way Mel preferred is its own form of torture. She was... special... And I failed to protect her from the Broker's wrath. I couldn't have made her suffer more than she had to. She didn't deserve to go out like that."

Sidonis fell silent, retreating into his own thoughts as the weight of his words sunk into Garrus's mind. He remembered the message he'd received when he awoke after the other turian had knocked him out, so many weeks ago.

Your people are going to die. If they haven't already, they will soon... I know it's hardly a consolation, but this was the lesser of the two evils. GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN!

"Spirits," he muttered, realizing the truth behind Sid's words. "But why did you save me? Why not Mel or Butler?"

"They wouldn't have gotten far. You were the best and brightest of us, Garrus. If any of us could have gotten away from there without being caught or killed, it was you. I wouldn't. I didn't." He bowed his head lower. "Mel had a chance, but unlike you, she would have had nowhere to go. Butler would have tried to save his family, and that would be the first place the Broker would go to set a trap. You were brilliant, Garrus, but your greatest strength was in leading the team. Without us..." He shook his head. "He wouldn't have considered you as much of a threat. I hoped you would rejoin to C-Sec, show the Broker that you were no longer a danger to him. Of course, nobody planned on you getting rescued by your recently-undead commander," he added with a light chuckle. "So I guess, in that way I succeeded, even if it only worked for a couple of months. Still, I wish I could have done more... for the others. I still see them- I see her every night. Always accusing me, damning me. Always demanding to know why they had to die. I should have been the one to run back, not you. I was too wea-"

Their heads snapped around, the door opening and flooding the room with light.

This is it... Spirits, I wish I could have apologized to-

"Garrus! Are you in there?"

"Shepard?"

To the turian's infinite delight, the familiar form of the human Spectre walked into his field of view. "Spirits, how'd you find me?"

Shepard stared momentarily, but shook himself. "Kasumi tailed them. She led us here."

Garrus's mandibles spread in a smile. At least she's okay. "Well it seems I owe her a drink. I'd help you get one, too but..." He yanked at his bindings, the metal chain rattling.

"Right," the commander said, leaning over to remove the restraints from Garrus's wrists. The turian could see Thane over the human's shoulder.

He nodded toward the human. "You'd almost think he didn't recognize me."

The drell blinked. "In his defense, I can understand why."

Garrus smirked. "Come on, they didn't beat me enough to top taking a rocket to the face."

The Spectre finished with his arms, leaning away. "Actually, it's something else."

"The visor?" he asked, leaning forward to work off his own leg restraints. "I didn't think that was the only thing you'd remember me by."

"Actually, it's the armor."

He looked up, confused.

"Indeed," Thane said. "I have never seen him without it either."

Garrus's eyes darted between the two. "Come on, you can't be serious!"

"Come to think of it," Sidonis added, "you never took it off on Omega either."

"Yeah, but that was Omega," Garrus said, getting to his (newly-freed) feet. "I'm sure I've took it off once or twice on the Normandy."

Shepard shook his head and handed Garrus a pistol, covered in green blood. "Never."

"Not on this Normandy," Thane added.

Garrus scratched his head, a memory coming to mind. "Come on, I'm sure there was this one time, a party or something. I remember I was wearing a suit. Liara, Ash, and Tali were there, and Wrex too. Pretty sure I saw your face there once or twice. Weird thing, though- it was the only time I've ever seen Liara and Ash wearing black at the same time."

"My funeral doesn't count, Garrus. I wasn't even there!"

The turian's mandibles flared, his jaw dropping.

"Ah..."

Thane gestured to Sidonis, speaking to diffuse the tense atmosphere. "Who is the other turian?"

Garrus's head swung toward the chained man, whose mild grin turned to droopy despondence.

He saved your life.

He killed my team.

The pistol in Garrus's hand began to rise, and Sidonis closed his eyes.

He led us into a trap.

Whose fault is it you fell for the trap?

The turian could tell that Shepard was saying something, trying to wrest the gun from his grip. The human backed off as he shook his head, and the seated turian spoke.

"Please make it quick."

It's his fault.

It's your fault.

Garrus closed his eyes.

He killed all of them.

Like how you killed Tali?

That... I don't know for sure.

And if you did?

He opened them.

He fired twice.

Sidonis opened his eyes, his breath hitching from surprise. "What-" He looked around, seeing not a bullet wound on his body.

His wrist restraints were destroyed.

The former spy slowly lifted his arms, as if shocked that they still existed. He patted himself down, but didn't hiss until he bumped the nub of his severed finger against one of his plates.

"Why?" he asked, realizing he was still intact.

Garrus directed his words at Shepard, instead of the other turian. "Sidonis trained to be ambidextrous, just in case he was wounded. He can help us find Tali."

He held out his scavenged pistol, allowing Lantar to pick it up with his good hand. The turian ejected the thermal clip, catching it with his poor hand with a wince and reloading it with the same heat sink. The two turians locked eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Sid. I'm sure."

The agent nodded, his face setting with determination.

"I won't let you down again, Garrus."

---

"We've found Garrus."

Miranda found herself grinning. At least we have some good news. "Understood, Shepard. Is he injured?"

"Negative. They stripped his armor, but we've recovered some weapons for him from the mercs. He's covering our tail at the moment." There was a pause before he continued. "Did Kasumi find Tali?"

Her grin fell. "It was full of deactivated mechs. No sign of her." Silence answered the woman. "But C-Sec's arrived. I've sent Jacob's team in. From what I've heard, the Blue Suns' presence has been virtually wiped out, and the Eclipse are in full retreat. If you bring Garrus downstairs, they can-"

"No. We don't have time for that. Just... Where's the next unit located?"

---

Jacob couldn't help but marvel at C-Sec's response team.

The officers had divided into groups of three, all leapfrogging each other as the teams opened and cleared the storage units in record time. Their cohesion was astounding, not a single officer standing idle for more than a moment. One would hack the door. The other two would have guns drawn as the door opened. As one of the two announced their presence, the third would sweep and clear the room. Meanwhile, the hacker would sprint on to the next unopened unit, already hacking it before the rest of the team caught up.

All in all, it was a remarkable display of team cohesion. He wouldn't have been surprised if the whole floor was cleared within the next five minutes.

Of course, he had his own surprising instance of team unity to worry about.

"Go!"

As one, he and Jack stormed their way up the stairs to the second floor. They kicked out the (already dented) door, sweeping their shotguns from side to side as they stepped out of the staircase.

"Clear."

Grunt and Zaeed followed them out, their guns at the ready. Jacob pumped his fist twice, and the other biotic nodded, moving off to the right with Zaeed. Grunt began to move off to his left, while he stared down the hallway straight in front of him. Three clicks toned on his comm, and he readied his shotgun.

"Move."

The four of them moved as one, striding down parallel hallways to the first path that crossed them. With another click of Jacob's mike, he burst around the corner. A pair of vorcha hissed at him, readying their weapons from just outside shotgun range as he heard the sound of assault rifle fire from behind him. The soldier ignored the gunshots, sending a Pull at one of the vorcha. Another biotic attack contacted his target from behind, causing a biotic detonation that knocked out the other Blood Pack trooper. Jacob spun around, catching sight of Zaeed reloading his assault rifle, another vorcha laying at his feet.

With a nod from Jacob, they moved again, finding the next lateral hallway devoid of hostiles. Before they could move to the third, they heard the sound of gunfire from up ahead. Jacob held up a hand, signaling them to freeze.

All eyes slid to him as they found cover. Jack cupped a hand to her ear, waving it slightly back and forth. What's the plan?

Jacob thought for a moment, considering his options. He held his gun up, making a fist with his free hand. He knocked his hands together twice, first wrist-to-wrist, then his knuckles from his free hand bumping the ones on the grip of his shotgun. Jack nodded, then moved over to Grunt's position. The Cerberus operative, meanwhile, ran over to Zaeed. Together, the two of them moved further along the hall that Zaeed had been moving down, the sounds of gunfire growing louder as they went. The man drew on his biotic powers, creating a stronger barrier around himself. They stopped at the nexus of hallways, and he clicked twice on his comm. Ready? Two bursts of static answered him.

He clicked it once more, and charged around the corner.

They emerged behind a pair of Blue Suns mercs, who were firing downrange at an alarming amount of vorcha. Jack and Grunt crashed into the vorcha from behind as he watched, their ranks torn apart by a combination of biotics and two hundred kilos of muscle and rock-hard scales. Jacob wasted no time dispatching one of the Suns, his shotgun barking with fury. He left the other one to Zaeed, hearing a yelp of surprise. The soldier switched to his pistol, keeping his shots slow and measured so as to avoid hitting Jack and the charging krogan. Within moments, the last Blood Pack merc fell. Jacob lowered his gun and turned to Zaeed, only to see the bounty hunter slam the last Suns merc against a wall.

"Tell me where he is, Vosque!"

The merc, who was bleeding profusely from one shoulder, let out a yelp of pain. "I don't know who you're-"

Zaeed slammed the man's wounded arm into the wall again, cutting him off. "Vido Santiago. Where the hell is he?"

"I don't know! Nobody knows nowadays. Went into hiding after something happened at a plant on Zorya. He doesn't tell anyone anything anymore, I swear!"

"Zaeed!" Jacob barked. "Put him down."

"Not likely." The man was growling now, his eyes not leaving the man pressed between himself and the cold steel of the wall. "I'm not wasting my best possible goddamn lead on this station when he might know-"

"I meant on the ground."

"Oh. Well why didn't you say so?" He tossed the man on the ground, drawing a pistol as the Sun splayed across the floor. "Would've saved me a lot of goddamn stress." He pressed a knee against the man's back, eliciting a hiss from the merc. "Me and Darner here can hear each other a lot better this way now, can't we?"

"We have a mission to complete, Zaeed."

"And I've got someone I need to find. Give me a few minutes, and I'll-"

"Zaeed. The mission comes first."

The former merc stared daggers at him, then at the whimpering form at his feet.

Zaeed stayed where he was, not moving for several seconds. Jacob tightened his grip on the pistol, noting the blade tucked into a wicked-looking scabbard on the bounty hunter's armor.

Damn it, this thing with Vido better not-

"Fine."

Jacob raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I said, 'Fine.'"Zaeed reached into a pocket on his belt, pulling out two sets of handcuffs. "Let me bag him for C-Sec. I'll have a lovely chat with him at the station later, after we're done with his goddamn mooks."

"That's... good." Jacob began to walk toward Jack, who looked similarly perplexed by the situation. "Sound off when you're ready."

"Will do."

Jacob stopped by his designated hallway, but was surprised when Jack stepped closer. "Funny, I had a feeling he'd just flip you off and shoot you."

He rubbed his shoulder, shuddering at the size of Zaeed's knife. "Yeah, you're not the only one. And not that I'm complaining, but I'm surprised you're even talking to me."

Jack snorted, her booming laughter setting Jacob on alert as it echoed through the hallways. Thankfully, nothing shot at them.

"Easy, Major Neutrality. It's because you're not Cerberus."

His jaw felt as if it had turned into rubber and solid concrete simultaneously, his mouth opening wide in shock. "What are you-"

"Save it," she cut in. "Let's just say I know a thing or two about when someone's really fighting for something, and when they just want to look like it. You-" She pointed a finger at him. "You're not doing any of this shit for Cerberus. You're really fighting for Shepard." She broke out into another snicker. "His cause at least. Doubt that quarian would like the competition, though I'd pay to see you two in a cage fight." She turned away, walking back to the other passageway. "Anyway, I can respect that. Even if it makes you one really fucking conflicted pussy."

Jacob's jaw worked open and closed several times, the man not sure what to say. Only after Zaeed had signaled his readiness did he manage to find any words.

"Thanks, I think."

---

Garrus pulsed the trigger on his scavenged avenger, sending several bursts of fire toward a Blood Pack trooper. The vorcha hissed as the rounds tore into him, eventually crumpling from the volume of fire. He swung his assault rifle toward another merc, only to see a blue explosion as Shepard Charged into it. Sidonis's pistol barked twice, silencing a third vorcha with a headshot.

"All clear," the Spectre called, dispatching the one he'd Charged with a blast from his katana.

The four of them made their way to a doorway, forming up along the wall. Shepard took point, going through to the staircase beyond.

"Garrus, I know this might be a bad time, but..."

"All clear."

Thane led the two turians through as Garrus turned to answer. "What is it, Sidonis?"

"I just wanted to know... How did Mel..."

Garrus turned to him as they passed a landing between floors. The look in the other turian's eyes was beyond tortured, full of sorrow.

I can give him that much.

"I read Vortash's last log," he said, continuing his climb. "Grenade went off behind her while she waited for her armor to recharge from using the cloak. Shrapnel wounds all along her back. A piece lodged itself in her brain stem. It... would have been instant."

"Thank you," the other turian mumbled. "At least she didn't suff-"

"Kreete! I said to get them under control, not start a goddamn war!"

The four of them stopped, Shepard having just opened the door to the third floor. "That's him," Garrus murmured. "The krogan that works for the Shadow Broker."

Sidonis hummed in agreement. "Karn. If anyone here knows what's happened to your quarian, it'll be him."

Shepard nodded, taking point as they walked out to the third floor. Garrus could see a large service elevator off to the right, as well as an opening to a much wider atrium across from it.

"Not my fault they doesssn't lisssen."

"Shut up! Go make yourself useful and check on her. I'd rather not have that turn to crap as well."

Garrus tilted his head to the right, an act mirrored by Thane. He's over there. Shepard nodded, and they crept up to the corner. The Spectre peeked around the lip of the wall, then held up a fist with three fingers.

Two.

One.

They burst around the corner, guns leveled at the krogan as a vorcha ran off. The merc reached the safety of a narrower side hallway as the krogan turned, the pitter-patter of its clawed feet echoing as he ran. Karn, meanwhile, locked eyes with Garrus, a growl echoing through the room.

"So Archangel escaped."

"Where is she?" Shepard demanded.

Karn lifted an arm, a rounded projectile launching straight toward Garrus.

Spirits, not ag-

Something shoved him, and his world erupted in a burst of heat and noise.

---

John tried to ignore seeing the explosion -particularly how blue it had been- as he fired his shotgun.

He's alright. I know he's going to be alright.

Karn roared as the first shots from Shepard's weapon hit, bringing his left arm over his face. A large red disk glowed to life from the krogan's omni-tool, absorbing and deflecting Shepard's subsequent shots. The omni-shield retracted, and the krogan pointed his arm at the Spectre.

Oh, no you don't.

He Charged toward the krogan, slamming into Karn just as another grenade fired from his wrist. The shot went wide, impacting the ceiling and raining dust over the area. Shepard fired his shotgun once. Twice.

Karn's fist slammed into him before he could fire a third time, sending him flying off into a wall. He lay there for a moment, dazed as the sound of gunfire continued.

Get up.

John shook his head, his vision clearing in time to see Thane being knocked aside in a manner not unlike what had happened to himself. He prepared for another Charge.

Karn saw him, activating his omni-shield just before Shepard to slammed into it. The red envelope of protective energy shattered from the impact, but the human's shotgun was left pointing at air.

Where did he-

He felt another punch connect from his right, nearly sending him flying once more.

Shepard regained his bearings, sending a Shockwave at the krogan. Karn activated his omni-shield, planting the device's edge in the ground and backing away. It continued to glow as it disconnected from his omni-tool, detonating as the biotic attack reached it. Meanwhile, the krogan had retreated to a safe distance, and was already targeting the drell once more.

So that's how he dodged me.

Karn fired another grenade at Thane, who dove to the side to avoid the attack. The weapon blew a hole in one of the walls, the sheet metal plating forming jagged edges. John tossed a Pull at one of the larger pieces, easily tearing it free from the wall. He looked over to where the krogan and drell were fighting, once more tangled in close range combat because of the krogan's shield.

Wait for it...

He mustered his biotic power as he waited, watching the two exchange blows. The drell managed to land several biotic-enhanced punches, but Karn absorbed them, regenerating almost as soon as he was wounded.

Wait for it...

The krogan roared, finally grasping hold of Thane and violently slinging him aside.

Shepard struck, tossing a Throw at the still-hovering piece of sheet metal. The biotic fields detonated with a mighty bang, sending the hunk of steel careening toward the krogan. Karn barely had time to turn around before it struck him.

The hulk of metal almost completely passed through the warrior, impaling him against the floor.

The two cautiously approached the pinned soldier, weapons drawn. To neither of their surprise, the hardy krogan was still breathing as they closed in.

"Tell me where she is."

Karn coughed repeatedly, his face grinning despite his wounds.

"Tell me where you have Tali!" John demanded again, his voice climbing in volume.

The krogan coughed louder, the smile even more evident. "You're... *cough* too late, Shepard."

Don't let him get to you. "Funny, that's what Saren thought. And unlike him, I doubt the Broker has a synthetic army to back him up."

Karn coughed again, a laugh breaking through his ravaged lungs. "This... isn't about armies, Shepard. This... is unlike any... fight you've ever been in. Information *cough* is his... deadliest weapon."

"I don't care whether he uses guns, germs, or people as weapons. I will find her."

"Someone will find her... but it won't... be you." He laughed even louder as a tone emanated from his omni-tool.

Shit.

John grabbed Thane and Charged. Before they'd gotten more than a meter away, the krogan's omni-tool exploded. Shepard lost control of the Charge in the wake of the explosion, sent flying through the air. All too quickly, the ground rushed up to meet him.

He and Thane landed in a crumpled heap of limbs, laying there a moment as they caught their breath. Eventually, the drell lifted his head.

"You used me as bait."

Shepard shrugged. "I needed a diversion."

Thane laughed as he extricated himself. "Indeed." The commander also climbed to his feet, a smile on his face. His spirits fell as his gaze traveled around the room, the destruction from the krogan's wrist-mounted grenade launcher clearly evident.

"Spirits!"

The two of them looked to the epicenter of a blue-tinted scorch mark. There on the floor sat a single turian, his eyes shut and his blue-tattooed face as scrunched as a turian's could be as he slowly tried to sit up.

"Garrus!"

The two of them rushed to his side. "Don't move, Garrus. You're safe for now."

"Remind me to stop having close encounters with flying explosives," the turian said with a nervous laugh as he looked up at them. His expression quickly dropped as he began to look around. "Where's Sid?"

John looked down, again noticing just how blue the floor around the explosion had become.

"He took the shot for you, Garrus," Thane replied. "He... wasn't wearing armor."

Very blue.

"Damn," the turian muttered. "But you took down both of them at least, right? Karn and that vorcha?"

Wait, Karn told the vorcha to check on "her"...

Shepard rushed off down the hallway that the vorcha had taken, ignoring Thane's protests to wait as he drew his pistol.

Why didn't I see that sooner?

He went past an intersection, seeing a single unit with its door open off to his left. He squeezed himself against the wall by the door frame, taking a deep breath.

Please let her be okay.

The Spectre turned the corner with his gun raised, getting a glimpse of what seemed to be a relatively-empty unit. A single vorcha was lying on the floor next to a table in the middle of the room.

A glimpse was all he saw, as a hand yanked him into the room from the other side of the door frame. His pistol was knocked out of his hands with a blow to his wrists. He reached for his SMG as the other gun clattered on the floor, trying to turn and get a look at his assailant. Before he could draw it, his wrist was snagged in a tight three-fingered grip. He turned his head to the side.

He found himself staring straight into the tip of a red-tinged knife.

"John?"

Wait... that voice...

"Tali?"

The dagger dropped, plummeting to the ground as his assailant released it. It sang with a single clear note as the blade clashed with the metal floor.

"JOHN!"

The Spectre was spun around as slim arms wrapped around his waist. The figure crashed into him, forcing the man back out into the hall. "Keelah, I was so worried about you."

John looked down, seeing a familiar purple cloth adorned with swirls and a pair of white stripes. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her rubberized suit, feeling, for once, as if the incident on the shuttle had turned out for the better. "Funny, I was going to say the same thing." Meanwhile, the quarian in his arms shook her head, and continued to speak.

"Not as much as I was. If you could've heard what that krogan said... I was starting to think the Bro-"

Her speech suddenly cut off as she tensed in his arms.

"Tali, what's wron-"

She violently pushed him aside as a single gunshot rang out. He hit the ground, the sound of SMG fire permeating the air. There was a thud and a clatter as something landed next to him. He rolled over, catching a glimpse of a salarian in yellow armor, gripping fiercely to a group of green-tinted holes in his armor. The SMG rattled again, and the alien stilled. John felt a tight grip clamp around his hand. Tali helped him back up to his feet, and he turned his eyes from the merc to the gloved hand that held so tightly to his.

"Sorry about that, John. He got a little too close for comfort." She handed back his SMG, which she'd apparently snatched from his waist before gunning down the merc.

"It's okay, Tali," he said, accepting the weapon. He put it on the magnetic strip on his back, and finally got a chance to look at the woman properly. "I appreci-"

Oh my God...

"John, are you alright?"

---

Why is he just standing there? Maybe this is some delayed human symptom of shock? I didn't shove him down THAT hard, did I?

Tali frowned, examining the human in front of her for any obvious signs of damage.

Or, rather, excessive damage.

The man's torso armor was a mess of crumpled, torn, and burned scrap metal. His other armor looked relatively intact, but the whole ensemble was coated in multiple layers of blood of varying colors.

An alarming amount of it was red.

"Keelah, John. I told you to stay safe." Her eyes darted back up to his face, where several bruises and a set of cuts marred his skin. "You look like you've been mauled by a varren."

"Three, actually," the human said. His gaze flicked repeatedly over her body, making her feel more than a little self-conscious. "But seriously, are you alright? Do you need medi-gel? Some antibiotics? Suit patches? Blood transfusions?"

Tali shook her head, double-checking the diagnostic light inside her visor in the time it took to move it left to right. "He missed. But nothing's broken or ruptured, if that's what you mean." He continued to look over her, the quarian noticing a slight shiver from the human. Something's still bothering him. "Why do you ask?" she added, her head tilting in confusion.

"Um, well... You're... covered..."

"Covered? In what?"

John looked slightly queasy as he gestured with his hand. The quarian looked down.

"Keelah, that's A LOT of blood."

From her neckline to her knees, her entire suit had been drenched with red. Some of it had already started to harden, forming rust-colored plates over the flexible portions of her sh'rayan.

"Oh hyel-" She cut herself off, clearing her throat. "It's not mine, really. It's... um... his." The quarian pointed back into the room she had been in. The single vorcha was still on the ground next to a table, a gigantic pool of red coating everything within two meters of it.

"I honestly didn't know vorcha could bleed that much," she explained. "I managed to cut what they had me bound with, but it was like my knife was barely doing anything to him."

"They let you have your knife?" the Spectre asked, surprise lacing his tone.

"Of course not, or at least I imagine they didn't think I'd get it." Tali noted that a large hole in the table's surface was still visible from where they stood, across the room. She grinned, remembering how she'd gotten out of her dire situation. "Let's just say, I had some good motivation."

"Motivation that can get you to free yourself from kidnappers, grab a weapon, and run out without even noticing you're... like that?" He appeared torn between admiration, relief, and mirth as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'd like to know how that came about. Sounds pretty handy."

"R-right," she murmured. Her cheeks began to burn as she turned toward his hand. She felt something stir within her; a part of her wanted to laugh and move closer to his hand and its extra digits. But something else made her shake her head.

"John... I need to apologize."

He raised an eyebrow. "What for?"

"I failed you. I promised I'd keep Garrus from going too far, but look where it's gotten us. Both of us kidnapped, me nearly used as bait for some plan of the Broker's. And by now, he's probably been killed by Sidonis or that krogan, Karn." She looked down, her red-tinted gloves hanging limp with disappointment. "I'm sorry, John. This is all my-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Tali."

The two of them turned around. Thane was slowly walking toward them, half-carrying an unarmored turian. She almost didn't recognize him, but there was no mistaking the voice and clan paint as he hopped forward, one leg held gingerly in the air and tied to a rod in a makeshift splint. "If anyone's to blame for this, it's me."

"Garrus," she gasped. "You're-"

"No pouncing quarian hugs, please. I'd rather not break my other leg." A mischievous glint in the turian's eye faded, leaving his expression somber. "Look, Tali. It's my fault for not listening to you and Kasumi. I was... too fixated on Sid to see the big picture. I sprung the Broker's trap, not you. None of this needed to happen, and Sidonis..." He bowed his head. "I'm... sorry. For all of this."

"Apology accepted, Gare."

Kasumi chose that moment to appear in their midst, popping into sight with a devilish grin. All four of them leaped into the air, with Garrus nearly falling over until Thane helped him back upright.

"Spirits, Kasumi," the turian muttered. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Good," the thief said to Garrus, fishing something out of one of her pockets. "Means you just might deserve to have this back." She held out her hand, a familiar-looking object sitting on her palm. A dark, curving band of metal sat in her palm, with a several of hooks and grips on one end. The other had a large bar pointing outward, a pair of smaller struts pointing out of it. The thief touched a hidden switch, and the spaces between the bars began to glow a light blue as a holographic interface flickered to life.

His visor!

The turian gingerly picked up the object, as if afraid it would snap in two from his touch. Thane helped him sit down on a nearby rock, then began to walk toward Tali. "How?" Garrus asked.

"They left through a back door. I scooped it up when I was tailing them, figured I'd save you having to get a new one."

Garrus thumbed off the display and flipped the visor in his hands. He ran his talon along several series of characters that Tali couldn't read, his digit resting at one group that appeared to have been scribbled over. Thane stepped closer to Tali, speaking in a hushed whisper.

"Shepard is lucky that the salarian missed," he said with a nod to the Eclipse merc's body. "It's a good thing his siha was there to protect him."

She gave him a cagey glance. "You still haven't told me what that means."

He didn't respond, only grinning as he sat down next to the wounded turian. "I still think I should get a replacement," Garrus murmured, oblivious to their exchange.

Tali stole a glance at Shepard, who had raised a finger to his ear. She couldn't help but smile as he spoke, asking for a medic to come for Garrus. Though his own armor was utterly demolished, she realized now that the vast majority of the red liquid on it had come from when she'd hugged him.

At least John's still in one piece.

"Why's that, Garrus?" She barely caught the sound of Kasumi's voice, let alone Garrus's answer.

"His name shouldn't be scratched out."

---

Mission report 015: Lazarus Cell

From: Operative Miranda Lawson

To: The Illusive Man

Illusive Man,

Shepard was successful in resolving Thane's concerns about his son. In the process, we discovered that there are significant anti-human powers in Citadel politics. We may have to support criminals like Elias Kelham in order to counter this bias, in addition to our pull within Terra Firma.

More concerning is a revelation from Garrus's attempts to track Lantar Sidonis, a former ally of his from his time as the Archangel. According to Garrus, his late comrade was an agent for the Shadow Broker. Archangel's dire situation on Omega was orchestrated by the Broker, who apparently had similar intentions for all of Shepard's former squad members. While Urdnot Wrex is the least likely to be successfully targeted, and Shepard is sure to alert his former squad members who are not on the SR2, the SR1's crew manifest included other survivors that could be used against Shepard. [Link: Dossier: Lieutenant Greg Adams] His former crew members' families may also be targeted. [Link: Dossier: Lieutenant Charles Pressly]

In addition, we discovered that the Broker was collaborating with the Collectors during the attempt to recover Shepard's body from Liara T'Soni two years ago. I recommend we allocate resources to locate the Broker immediately, as he poses a serious threat to this crew.

We were lucky to get out of the trap he laid for Garrus.

The Illusive man grumbled as he closed the message. He tapped his omni-tool, bringing up a contact. Within moments, a voice spoke from a speaker under his seat.

"Sir?"

"I want you to forward me everything we have on the Shadow Broker. Focus on narrowing down his possible haunts. Hiding places, caches, shell companies, accounts, the works. I want updates every eight hours."

"Understood, sir. Forwarding current intel now."

The call closed without another word, leaving the Illusive Man thankful that his agent hadn't protested. He perused the file on his inbox, a frown crossing his face at the meager amount of theories and possible targets in the text. We are attempting something that the Council has been unsuccessful at for decades, if not centuries. He bowed his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. Cerberus isn't omniscient... yet. We'll probably need assistance with this matter, but who-

The answer hit him like a dreadnought traveling at FTL.

"Liara..." His mind kicked into overdrive. She's helped us before. Who better to use than someone who's dedicated the past two years to the same task? Of course, the woman hadn't entirely trusted them back then; it had taken much needling just to get an initial response from her.

But for Shepard...

He nodded. The Spectre was their ace-in-the-hole. Even if Liara T'soni didn't trust Cerberus, she would still trust her former lover. I'll gather as much as I can, then give it to him to forward to her. She'll lead Shepard to the Broker without having to contact us, and we can send Shepard without her if we find a concrete lead before then. Either way, we'll have the jump on the Broker.

The Illusive Man quickly composed a memo for EDI, telling the AI to inform him of Shepard's next trip to Illium. He lit a cigarette as he minimized the many screens and readouts in front of him, trying to relax as he gazed at the filtered image of a dying star.

But something was still bothering him.

Try as he might, he couldn't shake his suspicions about a particular member of Shepard's squad. She could still be trusted to do her duty, for the time being. But between recent events and the issue with the Broker, something was setting off an alarm in his head.

And he felt that it wasn't just a paranoia-fueled fire drill.

Action needs to be taken, he thought as he opened another communication line. He began speaking as soon as the call connected.

"Leng, I want you to drop what you're doing. Head to Illium immediately."

"Sir?"

"The Shadow Broker has been targeting former members of Shepard's crew. I want you there in case things get out of hand."

Even over the audio-only link, the Illusive Man could sense the scowl on the assassin's face. "T'soni? I'm not going to protect some worthless piece of azure-"

"You won't have to," he cut in before Leng could continue his rant. "I have something else in mind." He brought up a file, forwarding it to his most-trusted servant. There was a pause as the man perused the message.

"Asset Echo?"

"Yes." There was another silence as the man on the other end read his directive more thoroughly. After about a minute, a single response came before the line was cut.

"Consider it done."

---

Note from the author:
*Nurses black eye* ...And that's why I split it into two chapters

p.s. Holy shiitake-kebabs, Batman!
Wasn't expecting this one to wind up being longer than the last, but there you go

p.p.s. Special thanks to Bofomania, for reminding me of why it's generally a better idea to wait until morning to proofread and post.
I threw in about 500 more words, and the chapter's definitely better for it.

p.p.p.s. Nicholas Glass was created by Levi Matthews for Finding a Way and is used by permission.