Ch. 27

The asari tried not to be disappointed in the cleaning ladies. But being disappointed over fingerprints on display cases or an uneven bed skirt distracted her from other things.

Honestly, Liara T'Soni was still trying to digest the information she'd gotten from a Cerberus informant. She ended the call and told Nyxeris she was taking the rest of the day off. She'd somehow managed to take a nap back at her apartment, but now woke late into the night, tangled in expensive sheets, particles of dreams still swirling in her head.

Liara propped a pillow up behind her and scooped up a datapad. She scrolled through her messages several times. Information was addictive. She was supposed to be relaxing. It wouldn't be long before a familiar face would be showing up at her office. That was something she needed to mentally and emotionally prepare herself for. But she went right back to work instead.

There was a sudden chirp from her omni-tool, and she glanced at the display. Her brows pulled together. Archangel. Why was he calling her at this hour? She grimaced, linked the omni-tool to the datapad for video, and accepted the call. "You know that off-hours calls cost double, Archangel."

She could see the turian sitting in the dark. His helmet was on, as usual, but something was wrong. He sat hunched, defeated, with his head in his hand. Her gaze flitted over him, then searched for details in the background, finding nothing but blackness.

"Liara."

The asari looked back at him. That was the second time he called her by her first name. This time his voice was raw. "What happened?"

"I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do."

Something was very wrong, and Liara felt a strange sudden empathy for the man. "Tell me what happened."

Archangel sucked in a breath as he leaned back in his chair and motioned helplessly with his hands, "They're dead. Everyone is dead. I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

His team. What was he up to now, twelve? By the Goddess. Liara blinked a few times, "Archangel. Oh Archangel, I am so sorry…"

"Do I… do I call the morgue?"

She nodded slowly, tapping one of the keys on the datapad. "You could… they have their hands full, however. There seems to be some sort of illness going on there, lots of people dying." She paused. She shouldn't have said that. Liara cleared her throat, "What do you think your men would want you to do?"

"I don't know. I don't know. There's a big patch of dirt out back here, I could bury them…" His hands slipped under the helmet, rubbing his face. "I have to… notify the families, don't I?"

"I can help you with that."

Archangel let out a humorless chuckle, "Standard rates apply?"

"Free of charge."

"So you do still have a heart. Good to know."

Still? Liara's brows quirked. Who was this man?

Archangel sighed, dropping his hands to the keys, typing out the names. "Weaver… has an ex-wife and daughter on the Citadel, I think. Vortash and Erash have another sister, I don't know where."

"I will take care of it."

"Nalah… shit." He shook his head. "Butler. I'll talk to her."

"As you wish." She tilted her head a little, "Is this what you called for?"

She watched him drag a bottle into view, unscrewing the cap, "I called because... I don't know what to do." He lifted the bottle, then seemed to remember he still had the helmet on and put it back down.

Her mouth formed a thin line, "You strike back."

"Obviously."

"Take what time you need to mourn, but you strike back, Archangel."

He laughed again, a sad, empty sound. "You got anything that would help me out with that?"

Liara paused, squinting thoughtfully at a framed set of dog tags on her bedside table. "I have a friend who might be headed your way soon. A friend that can help."

Archangel shook his head, "I'm not recruiting anymore, this is it."

"I'm only saying you should keep an eye out."

He sighed, looking over his shoulder. "They're going to come for me now that I'm alone. I have a box of medi-gel, a box of thermal clips, and a box of stims. Going to make my last stand here. Take as many out with me as I can."

"Archangel… Don't talk like that."

"This is my bank account information," his fingers ran over the keys, and Liara watched a window pop up to an anonymous Illium account. "Whatever families you find, split it up. The nine percent that's mine goes to this charity here, can you do that for me?" She watched the words "Helos Medical Institute" appear on her screen.

Liara frowned, shaking her head, "What about your family, Archangel?" Who are you?

The turian hung his head, silent. Finally, he stood and murmured, "They don't need to know. I have to go."

"Archangel," Liara leaned forward, hands gripping the edges of the screen.

The man paused. He sat down again. "Can you do me one more thing?"

"Of course."

"I…" He grimaced, shaking his head, and then tried again. "I can't locate one of my men. Sidonis. Lantar Sidonis."

Liara's head shook a little, but she opened a new window and searched for the name, "I'm not sure I understand."

"He called me away for the slaughter, then never showed up. He's probably dead, but…" He rubbed the back of his neck, "I need to know. Anything in the past… shit. Six hours."

Liara nodded in understanding. Her own immediate thought was not that someone might have found the body, or that someone was bragging over the extranet about the kill, but that Archangel had been betrayed. She'd clearly been working for the Shadow Broker for too long if that was the first thing that came to her mind. It took a moment to search through the records and information. She started with shuttles leaving Omega. Her fingers froze over the keys when she found the name, trying very hard to keep her face a mask.

"What is it?" his voice was already full of dread, as if he wished he didn't ask.

"He left." She looked back at him, voice apologetic. "He left Omega. Five hours ago."

Archangel was still and silent for a long time. He finally asked in a low voice, "Where did he go?"

"He bought a ticket for Invictus, but the cruiser has several stops before its final destination. He could be anywhere. I'll need to do more digging."

Archangel looked away, and Liara could see his fist tightening around the bottle. "You know what?" he said at last, getting to his feet. "Forget everything I said. I'm not dying here. You find him, you tell me where he is when you do, and I'm going to kill him."

"I'll… try."

There was a sudden gunshot in the dark, and Archangel turned to look over his shoulder. "It's starting," he said in a low hard voice.

"Archangel," Liara said, but the screen went black. She fell back onto her comfortable pillows with a frown. She turned off the datapad and flung it onto her desk across the room.

Now she definitely wouldn't be getting any sleep.