"Can't believe I'm stuck with you." Michael muttered, then heard the sound of a fight, a sound he knew well from his life on Omega. "Dude, wanna watch the fight?"
"No. I have to find the Illusive Man." Shepard said, and pushed through the circle of watchers. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice.
"Shepard!" Haku said, right before being cut off.
A few moments earlier, the turian had pinned Haku to the ground, her stomach on the floor, when she had seen Shepard's shoes. At that point, the determination that had been inside of her and got her through many, many occasions, such as when she was failing High School, fought the Reapers, and was enslaved rose to the surface. Using what was left of her energy, she shouted "Shepard!"
Shepard immediately burst through the crowd much like a beast.
"You don't want any of this, human." The krogan said.
"Shut up, you damn reptile." Shepard said, purposely angering the krogan. The krogan charged at Shepard and, using the same tactic he had when sparring with Grunt, Shepard jumped to the side much like a human would have several hundred years in the past to dodge a bull. Shepard had dodged so that he could tackle the turian, and the alien and the Commander smashed to the ground, Shepard on top.
"What the hell?" The turian asked when, suddenly, a flurry of punches knocked him unconscious. These punches busted Shepard's knuckles open, not that he noticed. Shepard jumped up, and the krogan immediately hit him in the face. Shepard went with the punch as he had been taught, minimizing damage to a busted lip with no broken bones.
Shepard kicked in the fork of the krogan's legs, immobilizing the krogan for a few moments until the adrenaline took whatever pain the krogan felt away. When the krogan was on the ground Shepard took a knife out and held it over a spot Zaeed had taught him years ago.
"You get up," Shepard said, "the crest comes off. Then I pull your brains out with my bare hands."
"Do you know what clan I'm in?" The krogan asked. "Urdnot. We'll kill you."
"I'm Commander Shepard. I know Wrex. He wouldn't let a weakling like you in his clan." Shepard said, immediately perceiving the lie.
After a few tense moments, the krogan said "I won't move, human."
"Smart." Shepard said, and stood, limping over to the turian. He straddled the turian and took a gun out. "See this? This is a hand cannon, and is capable of ending your life right now. But the gun isn't what you should worry about. It's the man with the finger on the trigger. That man is me. You shouldn't worry, though. Think good thoughts. Why? Because those happy thoughts will be your last thoughts before your die. Of course, most humans would let you go. But I'm not most humans."
Shepard put the gun up to the turian's neck when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Shep...Don't." Haku said, having crawled over to where the Commander was.
Shepard looked over her, and turned back to the turian.
"If not for this human, you'd be dead right now. You attacked Haku, a human who was enslaved by batarians. She had malnutrition, and can still barely stand. Why did you attack her?" Shepard asked.
"She bumped into me." The turian said, his mouth's movements restrained by the barrel of the gun.
"A woman who can barely stand bumped into you?" Shepard chuckled darkly, sending shivers down the horrified, yet entranced crowd. "Does that make the turians look good? Or does it make them look like no-good scum?"
"No-goo...No-good...The second one." The turian said, feeling sick. This was due, however, to his own rash actions, not the fact his life was in more danger than ever before. He was convinced that he was scum, not humans.
"Right." Shepard said, and stood. "You owe your life to this girl. Say thank you."
"Thank you." The turian said.
Shepard helped Haku to her feet. "Good. Don't forget that." Shepard said, and got into the ship. Once the group of three left for Horizon, Shepard took a medical kit out and began to look Haku over.
"I'm fine." Haku said. "They actually sucked at fighting. I mean, the krogan didn't even do anything yet."
Shepard nodded, and began to apply medi-gel onto his wounds. Then, he took several pills.
"You need pills for a busted lip?" Haku asked.
"For my stomach." Shepard said. "My intestines were severely damaged by Reaper debris."
"Lucky to be alive?"
"I don't consider myself lucky."
"Why not?"
"You can't tell?" Michael asked. "Shepard's just a giant ball of anger and depression that got human-shaped."
"No wonder Aria left you with me." Shepard said, taking his jacket and shirt off and checking over his scar, making sure he wasn't bleeding. Haku blushed when she saw his well-toned upper-body, but neither Michael nor Shepard noticed.
"Ouch. I really liked it by Aria's side. She was hot." Michael said.
"I'll be sure to inform her."
"No, don't! I was kidding! We're all friends here, right?"
Haku felt the heat leave her cheeks, and decided it was now safe to join in the conversation.
"So, where are we going?" Haku asked.
"Horizon. Aria said the Illusive Man had a station in the planet's orbit." Shepard said, looking over Haku's face. He noticed the adorable freckles on her nose, and how clear her hazel eyes were now that she wasn't knocking at death's door.
"Did I just think of Haku as 'adorable'?" Shepard wondered.
"Can we stop by the Citadel?" Haku asked.
"No. No stops until we reach that space station." Shepard said. "The longer we wait the higher the chance the Illusive Man leaves."
"Why?" Haku asked.
"I believe Aria will contact the Illusive Man and inform him we are coming for him. He will clear out, but will back up all of the experiments he has within the station. If we get there before he packs up all of the experiments, at the very least there will be some Cerberus workers who know he's there." Shepard said.
"I didn't think that far ahead." Michael admitted.
"Of course you didn't, Mike." Haku said. "You're not exactly the brightest star in the galaxy."
While Michael and Haku shot insults back and forth, Shepard flashed back to an argument with Miranda, when she had used that exact same line. There had been a smashed lamp, and Shepard had been standing like a stone statue in a cemetery, saying nothing, as Miranda packed her bag, shouting insults.
Shepard clenched his fists too hard, and the nails cut through his palms.
"Uh, Shep?" Haku asked, holding Shepard's closed hand. "You're bleeding."
Shepard opened his fist and saw the four lines of blood. "Hm."
"Are you okay?" Haku asked.
"I think it's been established Shepard's not okay." Michael said.