A/N: Translations in (-).

Low Life - X Ambassadors


Upon her return to the Normandy, Clarell threw herself wholly into contacting Nebula – or Triss, as she was apparently being called now. One of her Omega contacts had told her that Nebula – Triss – was in a bit of trouble.

That didn't really surprise Clarell. Neb-Triss specialized in gathering information, which might, occasionally, bring trouble her way. That was a good thing for Clarell. It would make Triss a little more difficult to get a hold of, but it wouldn't be impossible.

She was so close to finding Milara she could almost feel the inevitable confrontation on the horizon. She could almost taste the blood of vengeance on her tongue. If those uppity bastards hurt that girl, Clarell would bring the fury of the Lady Kal'vera, herself, down upon them.

Then, she would unleash her own fury on Milara for approaching those fucking Batarian pirates in the first place.

Huarol. (Auriel cuss word)

That would all happen later. For now, she was searching her network for known Batarian pirate activity within the last two galactic years. It would be difficult, considering the amount of criminal activity…

It wouldn't be impossible, though, so long as she dropped the proper names and dates.

She had lost track of time after boarding the Normandy. She couldn't be sure, but she guessed that close to two weeks had passed since the incident on the Citadel. It was beneficial that Auriels didn't need as much sleep as most other species. At any rate, she was sure to get at least an hour of sleep whenever she began to tire to ensure that her mind was rested enough to function at maximum capability…most of the time… She could already feel the lack of proper rest at the back of her mind. She needed to sleep more than an hour at a time and soon.

In all the time that she had been diligently searching for…Triss, Kasumi seemed to understand – at least somewhat – what she was going through and had avoided disturbing her.

She would be sure to thank Kasumi for her understanding as soon she managed contact with Nebula.

TRISS

Then, there was Thane.

She could tell he was worried about her after witnessing the event on the Citadel and seeing her retreat into her own world.

She hadn't spoken to him even once since the interrogation.

In all honesty, she was ashamed. She had acted in a way that was appalled and terrified her to her core. It had been a very long time since she had been so far out of her own control.

She'd always had issues with control. When she was younger, even the smallest issue could set her off. She had been hard to handle. As she matured, her control wasn't quite as easy to lose, though it was still a problem. It was always one of her greatest shames; the price she paid to be granted the honor of Clarell. All exceptionally prosperous Auriels had to pay for their prosperity somehow. It was what kept the hierarchy balanced. With Clarell, no matter how many years passed or how far she matured, she would always be quick to anger, and she had already suffered more than that. However, she hadn't lost control, like on the Citadel, in many years.

It was humiliating. One would think she'd be used to it by that point.

Thus, she may or may not be going out of her way to avoid Thane.

He already knew more about her than most of her contacts – which, honestly, wasn't all that much; she still hadn't told him about what happened with her daughter. He was always so in control of himself, and he had only been alive for a fraction of her own lifetime.

It was pure determination to contact Neb-Triss that kept her from banging her head against her omni-tool in embarrassment.

Nebu-Triss. TRISS.

Damn her fucking name-change to Ral'Myslath and back! (The Void/Black – Auriel fear the emptiness of space that lies between galaxies, believing it the ultimate punishment to be cast off into the darkness.)

Triss was always into everything. She knew what was going on all over Omega, though she wasn't originally from there.

She was born to an Auriel mother and a Turian father, around twenty-five years prior, on Palaven. However, before she had even learned basic communication, her father was transferred over to the Citadel to join C-Sec. They spent her childhood years there before, as most of her contacts' stories went, tragedy struck, and her father was killed on duty. Her mother, then, moved them both to Eralos and sent Triss to what the Auriels call Ral'Loweniel – The Academy. There, Triss got through half of her infiltration and combat training before she stowed away on a vessel to Omega where she used her semi-developed specialist skills for…other things.

That was all Clarell had learned in the time she'd known the other woman, other than the fact that she also did a lot of work for Aria T'Loak.

It didn't matter, really. Everyone had a story; some worse than others.

Clarell was more interested in getting the stubborn woman her calls. She had given up on actually calling her. Around, maybe, a week prior, she began trying to hack the Turian-hybrid's omni-tool.

With a few more data bypasses and the collapse of one major, annoying firewall, Clarell was in Triss's omni-tool and accessed the communicator.

"Girl, you are trying my patience. You will answer me in the next thirty seconds or, Relvana help me, I will come to Omega and get the answer from you in person. Trust me when I say, you do not want that," Clarell threatened, impatience and irritation saturating her tone.

Moments later, she heard an exasperated sigh, and a vid-compatible link popped up. Clarell approved it, and Nebula-Triss-Needs-To-Pick-A-Name's image came into view.

"Spirits, help me. What do you want, Clarell?" Triss's rasping Turian voice questioned with naught but exasperation.

Her voice wasn't the only Turian aspect that Triss received from her father. Unlike most Auriel-hybrids, Triss looked just as much, if not more, Turian as she did Auriel. Much of her bone structure was Auriel, and she possessed lips, unlike Turians. She also had her mother's bright red hair. However, beginning at the space just above her brow, a Turian-fringe formed and ended at the very top of her head. She had chitin plating to the sides of her jar that might have been mandibles, though they never moved. She also had a combination of Auriel teeth and Turian fangs. She had skin and chitin only in a lighter shade of red than Mordin Solus, with sporadic gold markings all over. Much of her body was formed like an Auriel – with breast-protrusions, a slim waist, and curved hindquarters – but she had chitin flare at the crest of her hips and a chitin neck cowl, though her neck cowl was much smaller than any other Turian's. She neither had five fingers to one hand like an Auriel nor three fingers like a Turian either. Instead she had four Auriel-like fingers with Turian-like talons. Her legs and feet were a cross, half-way between Turian and Auriel. However, she did possess leg spurs like other Turians, though, as in the case of her neck cowl, they were much smaller than a full-blooded Turian.

"Nebula, I have been trying to get in touch with you for ages, now. Why have you been ignoring me?" Clarell demanded.

"It's Triss – as I'm sure you've heard – and I've gotten into a bit of trouble – also something I'm sure you've heard. You know it's not exactly safe to talk to people when other people are out for my head. For all I know, you could've already been given a contract to take me out," Triss informed, suspicion coloring her tone ever-so-slightly.

"Triss, you know damn well that if one were to ever come my way, not only would I deny it, I would make it disappear to the best of my ability."

Triss sighed heavily, rolling her eyes, though Clarell knew she was grateful. "Yeah, whatever. What was it you needed me for?"

Clarell eyed Triss's image for a moment, seeing in the other woman's eyes the fear that she tried diligently to hide.

"Two things. First, I need information on a shipment of slaves that a group of batarian pirates sent through Omega within the last two years. Sellah mi'driel was among them, and I'm looking for her." (Auriel word with a meaning similar to English 'godchild' – specifically meaning 'My goddaughter' in this case)

"Ugh. Batarians. Bunch of bigotry-spouting bastards. Luckily, we don't see much of the slave-trading pirates very often. That makes it easier to track down which ones you're looking for. Give me a minute," Triss began moving, her image shifting as she searched her omni-tool.

Finally, after about thirty minutes of typing and many, many grumbled curses in both Turian and Auriel, Triss declared, "Ah. You're lucky Auriels and Auriel/Drell hybrids are so rarely seen on Omega, or I might've never found the girl. She passed through with three other people – one asari and two humans – around a year and a half ago. The two humans were sent to Khar'shan, while the asari disappeared and sellah si'driel was sent to Illium. More specifically she was, uh, drafted into the service of Nassana Dantius. As I'm sure you know, Dantius was taken out by assassins a couple months back. About a month before that, one of the Salarians that worked for her said that she gave the girl to a human named Warwick because she 'owed him some kind of debt,'" she pauses for a moment sifting through more information. "Not much else to discover with so little time. However, the guy whom Dantius gave the girl is seen in and around the Eternity bar in Nos Astra quite often…sometimes with an Auriel shadow."

Clarell took a moment to process the information.

She'd found her. After all this time, she'd found Milara.

Why didn't she think to come to Triss in the first place?

"Triss…I can't thank you enough for what you've done. You truly are wonderful."

"Yeah, whatever," the Turian hybrid grumbled, though Clarell could see a very Auriel red glow develop on the woman's cheeks. "You said you had two requests. What was the second one?"

"What? No price? I don't have to sell my soul to you for the information you provided?" Clarell questioned in mock surprise.

"Just get to it, Raevus," Triss growled.

With a small smile she replied, "The last couple of weeks, I believe it's been, I've spent trying to get in touch with you. I've heard and seen little of what's going on around the ship. However, I managed to catch the tail end of a conversation between the commanding officer of this vessel and his second. It would seem that we will be going to Omega to help the asari member of our band of misfits. Unless we've already been by in the time I was distracted, I'd say we're on our way now."

"The point?"

"When we get there, I want you to meet me at the docks. I'm taking you to the Citadel."

"Uh-huh. Yeah – Wait. What?!"

"I'm going to take you away from that place. It will only lead to your destruction. You can join C-Sec. They could use someone like you," Clarell declared.

"C-Sec?! Are you insane?! No! They'd never accept someone like me! Let alone the likely possibility that they would incarcerate me before I could get one talon on the Citadel!"

"N-Triss, trust me," Clarell implored. She knew better than to bring up the other woman's father.

After a few moments of silence and an intense death glare, Triss conceded with a grumble of, "The first Turian to call me 'bareface' is getting a mandible torn off."


She caught Shepard and Samara leaving the asari's room, just before they boarded the elevator

"Shepard, I understand that you're preparing to help Samara with her daughter, but I have a request." Pause. "Well, more like a plea. And it won't interfere with your current mission."

Samara continued onto the elevator with a brief nod of acknowledgement for Clarell.

"Well, I've been doing as much as I can for everyone else. Why kick you off of the love train?"

"…I'm sorry – the 'love' what?"

"Never mind. What is it you need, Clarell?"

"I appreciate your readiness to help. When we get to Omega, I was hoping you'd allow my friend passage on board the Normandy and a ride to the Citadel. She'll be safer there, and she, uh, wants to join C-Sec."

"Ah. Let me guess. You want me to put in a recommendation for your friend."

"Um…no. I can handle that. The only thing she needs is transportation from someone she can trust. However, I would like to use you for something else."

"Woah. You don't beat around the bush do you? Alright. Your room or mine? Probably mine since you're rooming with Kasumi…"

"What? Um…what? That's not what I-"

"I'm just kidding – sort of. What else can I help with?"

Clarell hesitated only a moment. "Shepard, my-"

She was interrupted by the sound of the elevator door opening.

They both watched as Thane exited, hands behind his back his as customary.

Thane's eyes immediately found Clarell before he stated, "I apologize. Have I interrupted?"

Clarell was silent for only a moment. She had hoped Thane would join her in the rescue of her ward, anyway. He would know everything sooner or later.

Still, she had hoped to do this with him a bit more privately, considering she hadn't exactly been forthcoming in conversations and explanations since the event.

"No. Actually, I was going to come find you later. It's good you're here now; saves me from having to explain this more times than is necessary," she assured, mumbling the last bit to herself.

Thane nodded in acquiescence and gestured for her to continue.

She turned her body to better fit both men into the conversation, though she kept her eyes on Shepard. He was the one that would need convincing, after all.

"As you know, I was on a job when you found me on Omega. However, it wasn't any kind of job like that which is normally given to me. It was – is – personal. Someone close to me was taken by batarian pirates – slavers – two years ago. I call her sellah mi'driel. I believe the closest translation would be 'my godchild' or 'my goddaughter'." Unable to stand still any longer, she started to pace. "After two years of desperate searching, my contacts have finally located her. She is on Illium; Nost Astra, to be more specific. Convenient, as I believe you occasionally have business there.

"Shepard, I know nothing of the situation that I will be going into. There's absolutely no telling how the tides may turn. With you there, my actions against my Milara's 'slave master' may be justified. Regardless of your ability to go with me, I will be departing for Illium as soon as my friend is settled on the Citadel." She stopped and strode up to Shepard, looking him directly in the eye. "Please, Shepard. Come with me. I don't care if I am killed or my name is squandered, I will ensure that Milara does not suffer the same fate as my daughter, but I would like your help in doing so."

Shepard maintained eye contact for awhile, a serious expression on his face.

Clarell knew that he had a great weight on his shoulders – she hated that she was adding to it – but this could wait no longer.

Finally, Shepard sighed and nodded, "I would never willingly condemn someone to slavery. I'll go with you to Illium. Is there anyone that you want to accompany us?"

Clarell smiled in relief then tentatively turned to Thane. "I was hoping you might be willing to join us."

"Of course," Thane agreed, immediately, with an easy, though small, smile.

"Well, I'm off to help Samara with a pesky Ardat-Yakshi. You're friend's welcome aboard so long as she doesn't cause any trouble," Shepard warned with a firm nod in Clarell's direction.

She gave a relieved smile and replied, "Thank you, Shepard."

Unfortunately, as soon as the elevator doors closed behind Shepard, Clarell became an invertebrate and couldn't bring herself to look anywhere but the floor.

Thane wasn't moving.

She wasn't moving.

It was all very, very…awkward.

Finally, Clarell managed to find what little backbone she had left and forced her gaze to meet Thane's…throat.

She cleared her throat and began, "ImsorryImanidiot."

Thane quirked a scaled brow, and Clarell could feel the glow develop in her cheeks.

She sighed in exasperation – she was generations older than him; she knew she was more eloquent than that – and forced her gaze even higher to meet his eyes.

She could see laughter there, though his face was entirely blank, and her expression of trepidation turned to one of frustration.

"Do not laugh at me, Krios," She warned, the glow of her cheeks growing darker. "I highly advise against it."

"I'm not laughing. I'm simply waiting for you to find the words seem to have lost somewhere on the floor," he replied smoothly, unable to hide the slight quirk of his lips.

She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly, counting to five and back to zero in her own language.

Opening her eyes to meet his now purely patient expression, she started again, "I wish to apologize – for what happened on the Citadel. It was a lapse in my control that absolutely should not have happened. I allowed vengeance to cloud my mind, and you witnessed a side of me that hasn't revealed itself in over fifty years. I hope you never see it again. I also hope that, should I lose myself again when rescuing Milara, you'll incapacitate me. She'll already be angry with me; I don't need her afraid of me as well."

Thane gazed intently at her as he replied with surety, "I'm sure you have nothing to worry about."

That was more an acceptance and 'let's move on' than she'd hoped for.

She smiled, feeling light enough to lay a hand on his arm in genuine appreciation, and walked passed him to the kitchen.

She was dying for a calming cup of tea.


Clarell messaged Triss, telling her to go to the docks and that she'd meet the hybrid there after borrowing a Kodiak for the trip down with the help of EDI.

Clarell only had to wait around five minutes for a tall, hooded – obviously Turian – woman to sidle up next to her.

If she hadn't already known it was Triss, Clarell would have immediately recognized it was her following the proclamation, "I'm here. Can we go now?"

Clarell smirked, rose from where she was leaning against a rail, and strolled leisurely over to the Normandy Kodiak.

"Did you have to get something so big and noticeable?" Triss grouched as she got in and closed the door.

"Did you have to do something so incredibly stupid to get yourself in trouble?" Clarell snarked in reply as she started the Kodiak, prepped for departure, and then piloted it back toward the Normandy.

"You don't even know what happened!" the hybrid exclaimed, entirely offended.

"Oh, I don't need to know what happened to guess that much," she mocked, though with a fond smile on her face.

"I hate you, Raevus."

"I missed you, too, Triss."


They passed Garrus on the Crew Deck as they made their way to Clarell's shared room.

What an…interesting encounter.

"Mmm, nice fringe," Garrus had purred the moment he spotted Triss.

Triss had looked him up and down one time before tutting in a mock-disappointed tone, "It's a shame your waist isn't exactly, uh, supportive. Hopefully you have the reach to make up for it."

"Oh, how you wound me. Watch out for this one, Clarell. She bites," Garrus had replied.

Clarell could only laugh lightly and carry on her way, dragging a reluctant Triss behind her.

As soon as the doors closed behind them, Triss pulled herself from Clarell's hold and declared, "Well, he was fairly attractive. How long is the trip to the Citadel supposed to be again…?"

Clarell's only response was to role her eyes in Kasumi's direction.

Triss would always do what Triss wanted…no matter what the doing would entail.


When Shepard and Samara returned, Clarell had just left the dining area – Zaeed and Triss were in the midst of seeing who had the best tolerance for alcohol – and was on her way to Life Support to talk with Thane.

She had seen the look in Samara's eyes as the asari woman had passed for her chosen room. She knew that look better than most.

"I take it, from the sounds coming from the mess hall, that your friend is making friends of her own?" Shepard inquired as he stopped next to Clarell.

"She can make friends with anyone when she wants to. She can be difficult to deal with and a bit brusque – I believe the word is – but she is very intelligent and loyal to anyone that can gain her trust. She's had a hard life, but she's strong. I think C-Sec will be good for her," Clarell informed. "Listen to me babble on like a halan'maela about her halan'driel." She laughed lightly. "To receive the best impression, one must experience something for oneself. Go. Introduce yourself to her. Don't let her attitude get to you but let her know that you are allowing her passage on this ship. Assert your authority but not your aggression, and she will show you her respect and not her ire." (grandmother...granddaughter)

"Should I be afraid?" Shepard questioned with a chuckle.

Clarell smiled and answered, "Not of physical confrontation. She'll know she can't take you in a fight, but she could ruin your life if she wanted to."

Shepard suddenly seemed apprehensive.

"What are you waiting for?" Clarell asked as she turned and resumed her walk to Life Support. "She doesn't actually bite, no matter what Garrus tells you."

"Uh…what?"


"Before I go, I've been wondering something. I know Nebula wasn't your real name, but you seemed to like it. Why change it?"

They were on the Citadel at the docks. The ride there hadn't taken that long, much to Clarell's disappointment. She had already put in a word with Captain Bailey and was assured that Triss would begin her training almost immediately.

"Because a bunch of idiots want to put a knife in Nebula's carapace," Triss answered sarcastically. However, she was unable to maintain her sarcastic façade and visibly deflated with a heavy sigh. "No, it's – it was the name my parents gave me – the name I was given at birth…by my father. I got sick of all the shit associated with Nebula and decided I wanted to try being 'Triss' again. For a while, at least."

"How's that working out for you?"

"Eh. Definitely hasn't changed much. I guess I've always been ' Triss.' It just took me a while to see it."

"…Wow, Triss. That was very poetic. I didn't realize you were so emotional."

"Shut up, asshole."

"Ah, poetry."

Triss chuckled then went silent as she seemed to consider something. She never liked to involve herself too emotionally in anyone or anything, but, if one were allowed close enough, they would see all of the tells that gave away her thoughts and feelings.

Clarell waited patiently. Triss would put voice to her thoughts when she was ready.

After a moment, she quietly, almost shyly, asked, "Will you come visit me on the Citadel when your big 'save the galaxy' mission is over?"

"If I retu-"

"When," the hybrid insisted.

Clarell couldn't help but smile as she answered, "When I return from the Omega 4 relay, I will be sure to come visit you and fuss over how well you're getting on in C-Sec."

Triss scoffed, unable to comfortably accept that she enjoyed it when Clarell fussed over her. "Don't you have a damsel in distress to save or something?"

"That I do, though I couldn't have done it without you."

The hybrid grunted primitively in reply.

"Thank you again, Nebula," Clarell declared with a smirk.

Triss's answering glare was murderous. "My name is Triss."


I apologize for how long it's taken me to get this out, but, sadly, I have to spend waaaaaaay too much time in real, adult life doing real, adult things… It sucks, but it's life.

As usual, review or message me with any questions you have.

I'm sure it's near impossible to hack an omni-tool over great distances, but I'm taking a creative detour and pretending it's possible if done by a professional…

As always, review if you want. I'd like to know what people think, and I'd appreciate it greatly.

-Hope