A/N 20 April 2012: Thanks to GoogleFloobs for thetaing! Again, this story is currently under revision, so please excuse any inconsistencies. A full plan of my revisions is avail in Chp. 59, an Update.

Disclaimer: Mass Effect is copyright of Bioware. Ci-Ci is mine.

I welcome constructive and/or encouraging reviews/critiques. Please leave feedback!

Thank you for reading. Enjoy!

4 May 2183—Council Chambers, Council Tower, Presidium, the Citadel, Widow Cluster, Serpent Nebula

Corinthia swallowed hard. Facing down the Council alone was much more intimidating than she thought it was be. Then again, she didn't have a pissed off Shepard at her side to keep them in check, or something like that.

Anderson put his hand on her shoulder. "You did good, kid."

She smiled uneasily. "Yeah, sure."

Udina snorted. "Yes, well, let's see —"

"Lieutenant Commander Corinthia will be joining us alone," Valern said from behind them, making Corinthia jump — after all, who expects a Councilor to just ghost up behind them?

"As you wish, Councilor," Corinthia answered. She repressed the desire to stick her tongue out at Udina — and it was a very, very, very strong desire, at that — and followed the Salarian Councilor into a back room.

Like the Council Chambers, it was decorated in taupe, purple, and orange. Corinthia didn't understand the color combination; it made her feel sleepy and slightly nauseated. Even the dark green of the foliage from the potted plants just made her cringe. She needed bright colors or combinations or red and black. But not neutrals, or anything trying to be neutral... No. Just no.

"You took a great risk, speaking against your own ambassador," Sparatus began, his tone a mixture of smugness and bemusement.

Corinthia shrugged. "He's supposed to represent humanity. Me? I'm Alliance, but there's an entire galaxy, isn't there?" Before anyone could answer, she took out the data disc with the Prothean data. "So, yeah, here's this... stuff. It's all... garbled. I mean, I didn't look at it much other than the download, but it practically fried my hardsuit computer and omni-tool and everything, not to mention that it's hard to read Prothean — I mean, can anyone, really, with all of its... uh... I don't know."

Tevos took the disc and examined it. "Have you retained a copy for yourself."

"No, ma'am," Corinthia answered, grinning.

Valern stroked his chin. "Your testimony stated that you saw Nihlus murdered."

"Yeah..." She reddened a little.

"Are you positive it was Saren?"

"Nihlus acknowledged him by that name, let down his guard, and... well, I mean, there was one dead turian and one live one. I thought Saren looked familiar, but by the time he'd killed Nihlus, he was already attacking me and I had to run."

"We have already discussed this," Tevos muttered sternly.

Sparatus held up a hand. "Corinthia has too much inter-species experience for us to discredit her story immediately."

Tevos gestured to Corinthia's injuries. "And how can a soldier with a head injury provide adequate evidence?"

"What evidence did Saren provide to prove his innocence?" Corinthia interrupted before she knew what she was doing. "His good word? What else has he been up to? Don't you track your Spectres? I bet he's been in non-Council space quite a bit lately, probably sneaking into the Perseus Veil a couple times, too."

Sparatus remained silent. Valern advanced on Corinthia. "How would you know about that?"

"Uh... It was a guess," she answered honestly. "An educated one, from what I saw. The real question is... I mean, was he in contact with Collectors? I think the geth wouldn't just come out and attack Eden Prime without some kind of programming modification. Wait, maybe that's wrong, but why wouldn't they have come out sooner? None of this makes sense. We were just supposed to pick up the beacon, but find that it's under attack. If it was just the geth, then why do they even need it? Protheans were organic. The geth are synthetic. They don't need the stuff that Prothean technology provides because their programming is — Well, I can't really vouch for that because the geth erased their memory cores before I could get anything from them, not to mention that the quarians are pretty closed-lipped about it and, even if I did find anything, it was lost when I recovered that data." She gestured to the disk, realizing too late that her talking was probably not a good thing.

Sparatus chuckled. "I see why Anderson described her as the brains behind Shepard's muscle."

"I'm the what? Seriously? That's not true. He's plenty smart, but he's a soldier first and I'm... Uh... Getting myself into trouble, I think."

Tevos frowned. "This would have been better presented in a report, Lieutenant Commander."

"Agreed, but after I woke up and the Doc ran her tests, Shepard was there to drag me off the Normandy and to this session. My report also wouldn't have my theories about what was behind Eden Prime. But... may I ask something?"

"If you must."

Corinthia toyed with her fingers. "Do you even partially believe us and it's just that there isn't enough evidence?"

No one answered. Corinthia nodded. "Yeah, that's what I thought... You, uh, don't need anything else from me, do you?"

"No," Tevos replied. "Dismissed, Lieutenant Commander."

Corinthia left.

Valern tapped his chin. "She has a point, even if it was inarticulately stated."

"We cannot act on two soldiers' word," Tevos snorted.

"But this is still humanity's issue," Sparatus finished. "Other than Nihlus and some video evidence of the geth, we had no evidence of any other species' involvement."

Valern shook his head. "What if the dig site had been elsewhere? In one of our colonies?"

"There is too much circumstantial evidence in this matter," Tevos snapped. "If they return with more evidence, we will review the case then."

"Agreed," Sparatus added.

Valern nodded. "As you wish. Now, to other business."

Despite their dismissal, a strange thought briefly entered their minds: what if they were wrong?

Market Wards, the Citadel

"So, Commander, come to the Citadel much?"

Shepard glanced at Williams, barely having heard her question. "What?"

"Have you been here before?"

"Once, about eighteen months ago." Shepard had used the Citadel as a jumping point when he went after a few Cerberus agents for Corinthia. "Didn't leave the docking area."

"Oh..."

Alenko nodded. That mission had been the first he'd worked with the Commander. It had been nothing short of brutal. Shepard seemed to have some kind of vendetta against the scientists they were ordered to recover. Of course, there had been twenty-five soldiers for every scientist they found, not to mention countless test subjects in various critical states of health. Needless to say, no one with the Cerberus insignia was alive at the end, but their data — research into some kind of mind control — was recovered by the Alliance. Even if it had been the goal of the mission, Alenko hadn't particularly enjoyed all the bloodshed. He'd even been brave enough to confront the Commander about it, but Shepard had just shrugged and answered, "You wouldn't understand, Alenko. Some people are just better off dead."

Alenko hadn't even wanted to understand that statement, but he did now. Some part of him, deep down, was itching to kill Saren. The turian had murdered Nihlus (who hadn't been around long enough for Alenko to like or dislike), shot Ci-Ci in the head, and brought the geth to Eden Prime. It was an act of war, but the Council was too stubborn to see it.

Williams looked out at the Citadel arm. It spread on and on, building after building receding from skyscraper to looking like a computer grid. "Were you shipping out?"

"Obviously," Shepard muttered. Where the hell is Ci-Ci? It's been three hours.

"Mission? Leave?"

"What do you think, Chief?"

"Mission?"

Shepard rolled his eyes, not surprised that she lost everyone in her squad. "No, I was going to get a box of kittens for Admiral Hackett. His ship needed a morale boost and I'm the go-to guy for that."

Alenko snickered. "Yeah, I can see the recruiting posters now: 'Join the Alliance. We've got guns, ships, adventure, and kittens.' Big picture of you with one on your shoulder."

Even Shepard had to smirk. "Ci-Ci would have a heart-attack."

"Or the holo would have her jumping in and stealing the cat from you."

"Followed by a stupid chase..."

"And the Alliance interrupting with regs about how you guys aren't supposed to be friends."

"Fuck regs. I'd have her in a biotic field before they'd have to go that far."

"You know that'd just make her happier. She's been dying for you to throw her around a little. I did it to Jenkins once. Kid was ecstatic."

Williams kept opening her mouth to get into the conversation, but Shepard and Alenko were clearly friends (which, actually, wasn't true at all) and she didn't know what to say. Shepard intimidated her. She liked it — him — maybe. She couldn't be sure; she just met the guy.

"Point." Shepard rubbed his eyes. "You gonna do it to her?"

"Me? Nah. She's a friend, sure, but I'm not going to get her started down that road. She wouldn't stop until she found a way to give herself biotics using her omni-tool."

Shepard shivered. "Imagine if she was a biotic."

"Yeah, we'd all be dead, along with a few planets and probably most of the galaxy."

"She's managed to keep her destructive tendencies in check."

"She's only a few pokes away from evil, from what I can tell. Have you heard her laugh when she gets a head shot? Wait, of course you have."

Shepard nodded. That maniacal laugh of hers had never ceased to amaze and amuse him.

"Is it true that you've served every mission since the Skyllian Blitz with her?" Williams blurted.

"Weren't you just listening?" Shepard answered irately. "No, it's not. We both went to N7 at different times, she had different training things to do, and every so often the STG would use her for something."

"The salarians? Why would those amphibians want to use her?"

"Xenophobic, Chief?"

"Had family in the First Contact War. The turians and Williams aren't exactly friends."

"The galaxy isn't humanity's playground. We owe a lot to every species here."

"That doesn't make sense, coming from you."

Shepard narrowed his eyes. "What makes you say that?"

"I looked at your file. You've got a record that's... ridiculous, but your MO fits with not liking other species."

Shepard raised an eyebrow. "What's your point?"

"I'm just saying that it's... surprising."

"Get used to it, Williams. I'm not my goddamn file." He waved a hand dismissively and slouched off.

Alenko shook his head. "Huh."

"What did I do?" Williams asked, confused.

"Not sure. He's probably worked up over Ci-Ci."

"Why? She's alive."

"Yeah, but she isn't here."

"What's with them, anyway?"

"Don't ask me. I'm having enough trouble trying to figure out if I like the guy or not."

"Didn't know you leaned that way, Lieutenant," Ashley snickered.

"I don't," Alenko replied. "I mean, I guess I could see that."

"Oh, come on, admit it! The man's sexy."

"I think this conversation's more of a reflection on your feelings, Chief."

"The guy saved my life," Williams replied bluntly, not adding any more than that.

"And doesn't care that he did. I've worked with him a few times before, but this is the first time I've been on a ship with the guy. He never talked to anyone on missions except to give orders, even to Ci-Ci."

"Her I don't get."

"Ci-Ci?"

"Yeah. She's... Crazy. Weird. I don't like her."

"You haven't talked to her for very long, then. Everyone likes her."

"Maybe I'll be different," Williams muttered.

"Maybe you won't."

"Shouldn't we be following him?" Williams asked quickly.

"Why? If he needs us, he'll radio. Besides, it's not like we're going to get into a fight."

"You can say that, but I've got a feeling that he attracts trouble."

"If you mean that he keeps charging in after Ci-Ci, then, yeah."

"Again, what is it with them?"

"Figure it out for yourself, chief. I'm just glad Shepard didn't throttle me for joking about him with a kitten."

Williams snorted. "Well, I'm going after him."

"Yeah, okay. I'll be here." Alenko waved her off, eyes roving over the Market Ward.

Williams caught up with Shepard. He hadn't gone far, having chosen to sit on a bench and undo the top of his dress uniform. "Mind if I join you, Commander?"

"Whatever," he answered lowly, not particularly wanting the company.

Williams took a seat. "I never thanked you for saving me on Eden Prime."

Shepard didn't answer.

"Everything happened so quickly... I'm just glad you showed up when you did, skipper." She moved a little closer to him.

Shepard glanced at Williams. If he didn't know any better, she might have been trying to hit on him. If it had been Corinthia, she would've just been saying 'thanks' and moving on to something else. Shepard hadn't deal with a 'normal' woman in a long time — it was either the kinds of slut he met at bars or Corinthia.

"Fishing for sympathy, Chief?" he growled.

"No. I'm just saying thanks, sir," Williams answered quickly.

"Whatever," Shepard muttered wearily.

"Uh... Sir?"

Shepard glared at her. "Is there something else you wanted?"

"I... No, sir, there isn't." Williams got to her feet. She'd kinda hoped that Shepard might be more sociable, but he was making it more than obvious he didn't want her around.

Shepard's omni-tool beeped, which could only mean that Corinthia was attempting to contact him. He opened it. "What?" he asked irately.

"Finished!" she answered cheerfully.

"You get the Council on your side?"

"Nope."

"Fuck..."

"Anderson gave me some leads, though."

"He sent them to me, too. Haven't looked at them, though."

"Well, we can do that together, then, can't we?"

"Whatever. Anything else?"

"I found this REALLY cool upgrade for —"

"Ci-Ci, I don't care. We're in the Market Ward, by —"

"Flux, I know."

"That's... creepy."

"I can see you."

"You didn't hack my omni-tool, did you?"

"I'm in a taxi! It's landing now. Eesh, Shep, I'm not that bad."

"I'd argue that."

She snorted. "Whatever. I'll be there in two shakes of a lamb's tail."

Shepard closed his omni-tool and scanned the area for the taxi stand. One of the doors opened and Corinthia clambered out, tripping on the way and squawking in surprise. After paying the driver, she waved at Shepard and practically skipped over to him.

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen anyone skip in that uniform," Alenko mused, gesturing to her dress blues.

"Someone has to do it first," Corinthia answered. "Besides, it beats marching any day." She looked Shepard up and down. "You look... annoyed."

"Just figure that out?" he replied irately.

"It's the uniform, isn't it? Alright, let's get you into armor or something before you burst a blood vessel. I can see one throbbing at your temple."

"Ci-Ci..."

She was already behind him, pushing him towards C-Sec and the elevators to the Normandy.

Williams smirked and looked at Alenko. "Nothing going between them, eh?"

"That's what they say," the Lieutenant answered with a shrug. He didn't want to go down that road (again). He already had a bad feeling that he was going to be thrust into the middle of things, anyway.

Williams rolled her eyes. Though uncertain about how she felt about Shepard, since he brushed her off so coldly just before, she couldn't stand tension, especially romantic tension. How hard was it for people to just kiss and get it over with? Admittedly, Shepard had gone from being blindly determined to save her to severely annoyed that she'd gotten herself hurt to practically pissed at whatever she'd just done with the Council.

Shepard stepped to one side so that Corinthia wouldn't be pushing him any longer. She lost her balance and lurched forward. Much to her (and his) surprise, his arms encircled her waist and caught her. He righted her a couple heartbeats later than he should have, for acting on instinct.

"Thanks," she murmured, blushing furiously. "I've been super klutzy lately. I don't know why."

"Just don't trip during a mission. That would be bad," he muttered.

"You're in a foul mood."

"The Council just told us to go fuck ourselves. Of course I'm pissed," he replied lowly, looking around for prying eyes. They'd just walked into C-Sec. Shepard could feel the incompetence oozing out of every panel. He almost gagged at it. Worse, he had a bad feeling that he was going to be under surveillance to make sure that he wouldn't keep going after Saren. Not that a couple C-Sec grunts could stop him.

"Need to shoot something?" she offered helpfully. "I know a couple of places, with targets or the real thing. I'm pretty sure we could find a fight."

Shepard shook his head. "I need to sleep."

"You mean you haven't?"

"Not since Eden Prime."

"Wow... Why?"

"I had to write a damn report, that fucking nightmare, you were hurt... As if I would've had time."

Her lips twitched into a soft smile for a brief moment before she raised one arm into the air. "Alright! It's nap time. Off to the Normandy with you. I'll get a start on Anderson's leads, alright? Get the grunt work done."

Shepard nodded gratefully and put his hand on her shoulder. "Thanks, Cassie."

"It's what I'm here for: keep your annoyance level down, moderate conversations, et cetera. Now, shoo! I'll keep Williams and Alenko with me, if you want."

"Whatever."

They all stepped into the elevators. Shepard looked around at them in confusion.

"Armor," Corinthia mouthed.

Shepard cocked his head to one side, not understanding.

"I'm not going to kick butts in this," Corinthia said, gesturing to her uniform.

Shepard rubbed his eyes. For once, he was glad that he wasn't going to have to deal with her for a few hours. He had a feeling that he'd go insane in an hour. He hadn't yet, but he was due for some kind of mental snap.

5 May 2183 — C-Sec Offices, the Citadel

Garrus shook his head wearily. This hunt for Saren was going to be the death of him. It wasn't that the Spectre wasn't guilty; every single sense Garrus had in his body was telling him that Saren was, but it was rather that Garrus couldn't prove it without breaking nearly a hundred laws. If only there was some way...

"You look like you've been banging your head against a wall for six hours," Corinthia said.

Garrus looked up. "Armor? That's a new one on you," he murmured.

"New? This is how I always am." She took a seat across from him. "So, any luck?"

"A little. Got a lead down in the Market Ward, but I don't think that anything will come of it. Just a frightened doctor who might have heard something about someone connected to Saren."

"You're getting desperate."

"Yeah, well, I don't go hacking Citadel records to find what I need." Garrus gave her a serious look. Even though the turian had a reputation for being a bit of a vigilante, he didn't break the law. If he did, how could he claim to uphold it?

"Well, there isn't anything there."

"You've looked?"

"Naturally."

"What am I going to do with you, Ci-Ci?"

"I dunno. Help me?"

Garrus crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "C-Sec would throw a fit. You Alliance types aren't the most welcome around here."

"Like I care. You want to get Saren as badly as I do, don't you?"

"Pretty damn badly," Garrus corrected.

"So help me. Please."

"What about your commander?"

Corinthia waved a hand in dismissal. "He's crashing. I mean, he's sleeping. Been through a couple rough patches in the last seventy-two hours, you know? Anyway, I'm in charge right now, so whaddya say?"

Garrus got to his feet and reached for his sniper rifle. "I know I'm going to regret this."

"No, you won't. Promise."

"That isn't reassuring."

Corinthia grinned. "Seriously, Garrus, I'm not always bouncing off the ceilings."

"I'm surprised your salarian buddies haven't done tests on you to see how you defy gravity like that."

She laughed. "They did try. It failed miserably. Apparently my gravitational pull alters depending on my mood."

Garrus shook his head. "You've lost me there, Ci-Ci."

They stepped into the hallway, where Alenko and Williams were waiting.

"So?" Williams asked irately.

Corinthia clapped Garrus on the shoulder. "He's coming along."

Alenko held out his hand. "Good to have you with us, Officer Vakarian."

"Likewise. And just call me Garrus," Garrus answered, shaking hands. He held his out to Williams, but she snorted and turned her back to him. "What's with her?" Garrus murmured.

"Apparently she doesn't like turians," Alenko answered.

"Well, I'm a bad example of a turian, so hopefully she'll get over it."

"And hopefully Shepard will be alright with it." Alenko gave Corinthia a pointed look.

Corinthia smiled knowingly. For a moment, she not only looked her age, but also like she deserved her rank. "I'm good with a sniper rifle, but Garrus makes me look like an amateur."

"You can use a sniper rifle?" Garrus asked, surprised. "This is going to be more interesting than I thought. Then again, you've survived in the military this long. I thought it was because you rigged your reports."

Corinthia shrugged, going back to her immature self. "Eh, well, you'll never actually know what I actually did."

"Yeah, you're too careful for that. But you still admit to it." Garrus gave her a condescending look.

"Hey, at least I don't profit from it," Corinthia retorted, poking a finger into the turian's chest. "And it's not like I'm the only one good at it. There's the Shadow Broker, isn't there?"

"Don't remind me," Garrus muttered. "Now, are we going to go find that evidence against Saren or what?"

6 May 2183 — SSV Normandy

Shepard started awake. He never, ever dreamed, but that damned beacon had pushed so many images into his head that he couldn't get rid of them. Shepard had never felt fear (aside from when Corinthia had been shot in the head), but this vision sent chills up his spine whenever he thought about it.

He clambered out of his sleeping pod and took a few deep breaths, but his heart was still racing. The easiest way for him to forget himself was just to go do something. Hopefully Corinthia had made some headway into getting evidence against Saren, although he didn't care if she had or not.

He opened his omni-tool to check his messages. Sure enough, Corinthia had left him a note:

Chora's Den. Bring a gun. Coordinates included. — Ci-Ci

It was only timed from a few minutes before, so Shepard moved quickly. Well, as quickly as his pounding head would let him.

Just as he walked out of the Normandy's airlock, his omni-tool beeped again.

Nevermind. — Ci-Ci

He opened his radio to her. "What the hell?" he demanded.

She giggled. "Sorry, Shep. It wasn't anything, really. I didn't even need a gun. Just thought I might need backup, but... Yeah, I didn't, not really. There wasn't even a fight. BUT I've got everything you need to know. I think. Maybe. Garrus is helping, though. Thought you should know."

"Garrus? The turian?"

"Yeah. I decided to get his help on this. I'm not a cop. Look, are you coming or not?"

"I'm geared up, so why the hell not?" He wasn't about to tell her about his dream, even if she would want to know and would probably help him deal with it. "Where are you?"

"Headed back to C-Sec to get chewed out. That's what Garrus thinks, at least. Anyway, I'll see you soon, okay, Shep?"

"Yeah, got it."

Shepard closed his omni-tool and took a deep breath. In all the years he'd worked with Corinthia, she'd never gone ahead and done his job for him. Or, at least, whatever she'd just done. Then again, with the beacon echoing through his mind, he was grateful that she'd gone ahead and made his job easier.

C-Sec was five times more tense than it was when he'd left it. Shouts boomed through the hallways.

"I'm not leaving until I have Fist's head," someone growled, his voice too deep to be human.

"Do you want us to arrest you?" a C-Sec officer said, trying not to sound like he was pissing his pants.

The deep voice rumbled in laughter. "I want you to try!"

"Stand down, boys," Corinthia said cheerfully. "Do you really want to get into a fight with a krogan?"

Krogan were a species of warriors known to be brutally strong, vicious, and nearly impossible to kill. They had armored skin, a mountainous figure, and extraneous organs in case one was destroyed, shot, or stopped working. They looked something between a turtle and a dinosaur, with their heads sitting about two feet beneath a large, shell-like hump. Their mouths extended almost all the way around their face and were filled with sharp teeth.

Shepard moved towards the commotion. As he predicted, Corinthia was standing between a large, red-armored krogan and two human C-Sec officers. She looked tired, but she was staring down the C-Sec officers with more authority than he'd ever seen. Alenko, Williams, and Garrus leaned in the hallway, trying not to laugh. The krogan and humans glared at her angrily.

"Stay out of this, human," the krogan grunted, "unless you want to die, too."

"Listen, buddy, Fist can die and not many people will care, but murdering two C-Sec officers is going to get you stuck on a prison ship headed for the Terminus Systems before you can give a defense," Corinthia answered coolly. She grinned at Shepard. "Besides, I don't think that you're alone in your chase for Fist."

Shepard nodded. "So this is what you were up to, Ci-Ci?"

She shrugged. "Something like that." She turned to the C-Sec officers. "We're Alliance. We've got this."

"Fine, but any blood's on your hands," one officer muttered before taking his partner and leaving.

Corinthia turned to Shepard. "You are going after Fist, right?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Who the fuck is Fist?"

"Oh, right. I never told you any of that, now did I? But, uh, do you want me to explain now or later?"

"Later. I've still got a headache." Shepard turned to the krogan. "Commander Shepard, Alliance military."

The krogan nodded. "Urdnot Wrex. I've heard of you. What you did on Torfan…" His long, crooked mouth cracked into a sadistic smile. "Brilliant. You've got guts, Shepard, I'll give you that."

"So who the hell is Fist?"

"Someone with a price on his head."

"He's got information that we need, though," Garrus interrupted.

"And who are you?" Wrex hissed, rounding the turian.

"Garrus Vakarian," Garrus replied, not backing down or looking intimidated in the least.

"Hmph. Turians. I've killed more than my fair share of your kind."

"That so?" Garrus answered coolly. "Funny. I never would've guessed it, looking at you."

Corinthia stepped between them. "Alright, boys, this macho junk can wait, I think. Besides, I'm pretty positive that I could kick both of your asses in the right situation."

Wrex laughed heartily. "That'd I'd pay to see!"

"Don't get her wrong, she just might," Garrus murmured. "She's pretty damn tricky when she wants to be."

Shepard pulled Corinthia away before she really did get into a fight. "Leave the men to this," he whispered in her ear.

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious? That's your answer to all this?"

Shepard smirked. "It's a macho competition. You're tough, kid, but that's not the word I'd pick for you. Now, will someone tell me what the hell is going on?"

Corinthia opened her mouth, but Alenko put his hand over it. "And if you explain, we'll be here for three hours," he warned.

Shepard nodded gratefully. "And I'll have another migraine. Go ahead, Alenko."

"Basically, we did a lot of running around and found out that Fist is a Shadow Broker agent who has a quarian with information about Saren."

Corinthia frowned, pouting. "You're no fun, Kaidan."

Shepard looked between Garrus and Wrex. "Are you two going to have problems?"

"So long as the turian stays out of my way and I get to kill Fist, no," Wrex answered.

"I've dealt with krogan before, Shepard, it won't be a problem," Garrus added. "But it might be too much to ask for us to shake hands and make up."

Williams snorted derisively and didn't bother hiding her look of disgust.

Shepard glanced around. Having six people on a squad seemed excessive, but four he could deal with. Besides, Williams was looking grouchy. "Williams, get back to the Normandy. Alenko, you too. You've both done enough for now."

Alenko saluted. "Aye, aye, sir."

Williams saluted as well, though not as smartly, and trudged off after him.

Corinthia yawned loudly. "So I'm still up?" she asked.

"Yeah," Shepard answered. "I might end up killing Fist too soon otherwise."

"Hate to say that you have a point, but you do."

Shepard rubbed his neck. Everything was changing more quickly than he liked. They were shipping out on the Normandy less than a week ago, and already he was allying with turians, krogan, and probably a quarian. The Alliance would throw a fit, but Shepard had a bad feeling he was going to need a better team than himself and Corinthia teamed up with a few other bodies. Then again, Corinthia could convince the Alliance of anything, which was good because Shepard was pretty sure he was going to like Wrex and Garrus.

"Where is Fist?" Shepard demanded of Corinthia.

"Chora's Den," she answered.

"Isn't that where you asked me to go before?"

She blushed. "Yeah. For something else, though."

"Damn it. Have you just been wasting time?"

Corinthia laughed. "Nope. I made about five thousand credits, learned some stuff about the Keepers, and saved a couple people's butts, so I haven't been wasting time. Got hit on, too. Urgh. Not cool."

Shepard blinked. "You... what? Who the fuck would do that?"

"Harkin. Asshole. He's the one that put me on to Fist and all that stuff."

Garrus nodded. "He used to be C-Sec. A bastard if ever I met one. Drunk on the job, all that kind of thing."

"Remind me to punch him if I see him," Shepard growled.

"Why?" Corinthia asked, curious. "He wasn't that bad. Smelly, and Chora's Den was just awkward to be in with all the strippers, but he's just an idiot."

"All the more reason to hit him," Shepard finished. In actuality, he was angry that someone else would dare hit on Corinthia. She was his — Wait, she wasn't. What the hell was he thinking? This damned obsession of his was going to get him killed if he didn't keep it in check.

"What do you want with Fist?" he asked Wrex.

"His head," the krogan replied cruelly.

"I can't let you do that."

"Do you really think you can stop me?"

"I need him alive."

"What for? To find that damned quarian?"

"Apparently."

"Why?"

Shepard glanced at Corinthia. He hated being in the dark, but he could see Corinthia getting ready to give him a report on everything that had happened. "That's my business."

Wrex shrugged. "Then we don't have any business."

Corinthia stepped in. "We're looking for evidence against Saren Arterius. He murdered a Spectre, almost killed me, annihilated a defenseless colony, and destroyed a Prothean artifact. I understand that you probably don't care, but it's a big deal for Shep and me. So, how about this: we get what we need from Fist and then you can kill him."

Wrex stared her down. "You've got a lot of nerve." He smiled crookedly. "I like that."

She winked. "Part of the job."

"So you're smart. Good. I think I'll help you, Shepard, so long as your bring her along." Wrex gestured to Corinthia.

Shepard shook the krogan's hand. "Welcome aboard, Wrex. Ready to kick some ass?"

"Hell, yeah." Wrex took out his shotgun.

Garrus rubbed his eyes. "Maybe I'll be better off in C-Sec..."

Corinthia snickered. "C'mon, Gary, you know that you won't. Besides, we don't have red tape."

"Point," Garrus murmured. "Guess it's you and me keeping those two in check, huh?"

"Nah. We'll just compare kill tallies."

"What're the stakes?"

"Uhm, I don't know. Why don't you think of them?"

"Fine. A bottle of the best stuff you can find that we can both drink."

"I don't really drink, but you're on." She shook Garrus's hand.

"Ci-Ci! No trouble back there!" Shepard snapped.

"Sorry, Shep," she answered bashfully.

Garrus sighed. "It's going to be a long mission, isn't it?"

Fist's Private Offices, Chora's Den, Market Ward, the Citadel, Serpent Nebula

Fist cowered in the remains of his office, staring down the barrel of Wrex's shotgun. The broken Shadow Broker agent swallowed hard. Of all the ways he'd imagined he would die, he never thought that it would be at the hands of a krogan, a turian, a Valkyrie, and the Devil himself.

Shepard grabbed Fist by the throat and shoved him against the wall. "You have information on Saren. I want it."

Fist gulped. He had shifty eyes, spiked blonde hair, and a general weasely look about him. He tried to look tough. "You aren't getting anything from me."

Corinthia took out her pistol. She didn't like Shepard's tactics, but Fist was about ready to piss himself and a little more scaring wasn't going to hurt. "Is that so? I can be pretty persuasive."

"Well, get rid of that armor and we might have a deal."

Shepard tightened his grip and almost broke Fist's neck. The man sputtered and gasped. Garrus leaned against the wall, his assault rifle out and casually pointed at Fist.

Wrex leaned in. "You'd better start talking, human," he whispered, "or else your death isn't going to be quick."

Fist's face was turning purple. He clawed at Shepard's hand in a vain attempt to escape. Corinthia subtly touched the back of Shepard's neck, just over his tattoo. It was her signal that he was going too far.

He relaxed his grip a little and put his nose to Fist's. "I'm going to start with your feet and then move to your knees. Your fingers are going to be next, then your elbows, and shoulders. I'll cut off your ears and nose. I'll stop when you start talking."

Fist gulped. Shepard hadn't been specific about what he was going to do, but Fist could imagine. He looked at Corinthia. "Please… Don't let him…"

She crossed her arms. "Then talk."

"There was a quarian… a girl. She's got the information you need."

"There are a lot of quarians here," Garrus growled.

"I don't know her name, she wouldn't give it," Fist said quickly. "I sent her to the Shadow Broker. She would only deal with him herself."

Corinthia narrowed her eyes. "And you sent her right into a trap, didn't you?"

"I had orders! Please, don't let him kill me…"

"Where?" Shepard demanded.

"In the passages, between here and the markets. You may be too late."

Shepard dropped Fist. "I'm letting you keep your life."

Wrex raised his shotgun. "But I'm not."

Corinthia pulled Fist out of Wrex's line of fire. "Let him live. He won't ever work again. That's worse than death. Besides, it's not worth killing a coward."

Wrex glared at Corinthia. "What about my money?"

"I'll deal with that."

Wrex holstered his weapon. "Fine, but you owe me."

Fist hugged Corinthia's knees. "Thank you!"

Shepard pulled him off. "Touch her again and I will kill you, so slowly and painfully that you'll regret being born. Got that?"

Fist nodded and retreated.

Shepard and Wrex went to the door. "Looks like they got reinforcements," Wrex muttered.

Shepard nodded. "Ci-Ci, let's go."

"Hang on!" she answered. She went through Fist's desk, opening her omni-tool. "Just gimme a sec."

Garrus shook his head. "We don't have time for this! That quarian may already be dead."

"Hold them off," Shepard ordered. "Ci-Ci, you'd better make this fast."

The krogan grinned. "Good. More for me."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm working on it," she answered irately, deftly hacking into his computer.

"CASSIE!"

"Fine! I'm done!"

Market Ward Passage, the Citadel, Serpent Nebula

Tali'Zorah nar Rayya stood in the dingy corridor nervously. As a quarian, she was looked down upon. Her people were thought to be weak, like their nearly paralyzed immune systems, since they had to wear an envirosuit at all times or suffer severe allergic reactions and infections. Despite all this, she was a master technician and could patch or fix anything.

She had a recording of Saren, speaking to an unknown woman, regarding the attack on Eden Prime. She'd somehow managed to recover it from a geth body before the memory core wiped itself. The information had to be worth something to a secret-dealer like the Shadow Broker. Tali was only interested in the money so that she could complete her Pilgrimage (the endeavor every quarian undertook to find something—anything—useful for their fleet of ships, the Flotilla, that had become their home ever since the geth had taken over their home world).

A turian and two salarian mercenaries flanked her. Tali didn't trust them. "What's taking so long?" she asked, her accent similar to that of a Russian from Earth. "Where's the Shadow Broker? Where's Fist?"

The turian stroked her cheek — or the part of her helmet that equated to the same thing. "He'll be here soon, don't worry."

Tali slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me. The deal's off."

The turian took out his gun. "I don't think so."

Tali thought quickly. She dropped a flash grenade and ran. Before she knew what else had happened, the salarians and the turian were on the ground, bullet holes in their helmets. Tali looked around, confused.

Corinthia looked up from her sniper rifle. "Okay, people are dead."

Shepard stepped towards Tali. "Are you the one with information on Saren?"

Tali nodded fearfully, eyeing Wrex and Garrus.

Corinthia joined Shepard. "Shep, you may want to smile," she whispered.

He glared at her. Corinthia rolled her eyes and smiled kindly. "I'm Ci-Ci. These three badasses are Shepard, Wrex, and Garrus. Fist is… well, indisposed."

"I'm Tali'Zorah nar Rayya," Tali answered. "Fist set me up."

Corinthia nodded. "Yep, and now he can't do it again."

Shepard holstered his weapon and let Corinthia do the talking. When he was angry, he tended to be heartless, cruel, and demanding. Corinthia could smile her way into anyone's heart, and therefore the better negotiator for this situation. Well, almost any situation that didn't already involve guns.

Tali sighed, relieved. "Thanks. You said something about Saren?"

Shepard nodded.

Tali took out her omni-tool. "This is what I was going to the Shadow Broker about. I stumbled across this message while examining geth remains." She started it.

"Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit," Saren's voice echoed.

"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers," a woman said.

Corinthia narrowed her eyes. "This can't be good…"

Tali shrugged. "I wish I could have gotten more, but the geth's memory banks were wiped clean. They're designed to self-destruct. I was lucky to have gotten this much."

"Yeah, definitely. I couldn't get a good scan of the geth at all, let alone this. Good job, Tali'Zorah."

"Just call me Tali."

Shepard crossed his arms. "So now we have evidence. We can go see Udina."

Corinthia shuddered. "I'm not looking forward to that. The man hates me."

"Your own damn fault."

"I know, but still..."

"Then I'll deal with him and you can go pout on the Normandy."

"Like hell I am! I'm up for the Spectres, too, you know."

"I'll have to write a report on this, find an excuse for why we sacked Fist's place," Garrus mused. "Don't worry, though, I won't get you into trouble. If you need me, I'll be in C-Sec, doing paperwork…" He groaned.

"Like hell I'm going before the Council," Wrex muttered. "I'll be keeping an eye on the turian if you need me, Shepard."

Tali looked at Corinthia. "And what about me?"

"Give me that recording and go with Garrus. We'll call you when we need you," Shepard answered.

Tali looked uncertainly at Corinthia, who nodded and grinned. "Garrus will watch over you, don't worry. He's not a real turian."

"Hey, I resent that," Garrus protested. "Come on, Tali."

"I'm not staying here, either," Wrex growled. "I've got to explain why Fist isn't dead."

Corinthia blushed a little. "Sorry."

"No you're not," the krogan replied darkly.

Tali nodded. "Thanks again." She did as Shepard asked and left with Garrus and Wrex.

Corinthia sighed. "So, where to now, oh, fearless leader?"

Shepard shrugged. "Not here."

"I know just the place."

She led him to a scenic overlook. Tall windows provided a view of the rest of the Ward. Buildings hundreds of stories tall faded into grid-like patterns. The Serpent Nebula shone pink, orange, and purple around the distant stars.

She leaned on the balcony, hoping that she could relax, but she couldn't. She didn't have very many good memories of the Citadel, and this view reminded her of the worst of them all. Shepard stood next to her, more tense than usual, and didn't seem to be enjoying it.

"You okay?" she asked softly.

"We should be going after Saren, not… dawdling," he answered gruffly.

She squeezed his hand. "We're stuck in politics right now. It's going to take time. At least we'll get him cut from the Spectres, right?"

Shepard nodded, not really listening. He was imagining what would happen if Saren wasn't disbarred; it didn't look good. Shepard would probably be reassigned, and then what?

"Thanks, John," Corinthia said suddenly. "You know you didn't have to do that."

"Do what?"

"Well, you know… defend me to Fist." She stared at her hands. "I'm not used to it. All the soldiers usually mess with me like that, just because I'm a girl. You never have. It's… nice. Sweet, which doesn't seem like you at all—not that I don't like it, or you, because I do… I mean… I would, even if you weren't because you're amazing as you are already… I'm just digging myself a grave, aren't I?" She blushed and looked away. "But… Thanks."

Shepard's heart raced. This was the first time she'd hinted at caring about him, at least that he'd noticed. But he wasn't going to read anything into it. He couldn't afford to. They had to get Saren first and she'd still be there whenever that was done, just like she always was. Maybe by then he would have his own feelings figured out.

For the moment, though, he knew that he wanted to be close to her, regardless of what she thought about him, would mean to her, or would mean to him.

He put his arm around her shoulders. "I'm here for you. You know that, right?"

"I know." She smiled. "I'll help you out, too, if you need it."

"You already have. Just do me a favor."

"What?"

He took a deep breath. "Don't stop keeping me in check. I would've killed Fist if you hadn't intervened."

"Haven't I been already?" She winked. "The moment you toe the moral line, I shall come forth as your conscience."

"Just don't get too distracted."

"No promise there. Hey, look, a chicken!" She fell silent and turned back to the scene. Shepard didn't have to see her to know that her smile was gone and that she was, in fact, thinking about something without being ready to make light of it. So, he didn't drop his arm from her shoulders.

"I was born here," she started softly after a moment. "I was here when I found out Mom was killed. I mean, I actually found out later, really, but this was where Dad found out, I guess you could say, and I should've figured it out. He and I were visiting schools. We were supposed to meet her here, but instead two men in dress blues came up and handed my dad a datapad. I didn't know what it meant and Dad didn't say anything. He just went silent and dragged me to a transport." She stared at the ground, other images came creeping in, none of them good. "He never said a word to me, didn't answer my questions. Made me put on all black one day and go to Arlington. Then I saw the casket with her name on the plate. I thought it was a mistake, but it wasn't. I got away from Dad for long enough to open it and see... her..." Corinthia took a deep breath, cringing at the memory. "I still have nightmares about what had happened to her."

Shepard had never really heard her talk about her mother, other than that she was killed in action. He knew about the incident on the SSV Geneva, but only because it had been used as an example during his N7 training. Well, that and he'd hunted down the Cerberus agents that were linked to the attack. The Alliance still wasn't happy about it, although they'd pushed up his promotion schedule a little bit afterwards.

He squeezed Corinthia's shoulder. It was really the only thing he could do. He'd never lost anything he cared about — although he'd just come close, but that wasn't the same — and Corinthia was never like this. He wanted her to smile again because she was making him feel guilty for not being able to save her mother, even though he'd been stuck in the Reds and was just learning to shoot a gun.

"Cassie, you don't have to tell me this," he murmured.

She shook her head. The story was coming out, now, and she couldn't stop it. "Dad never said a word, wouldn't look at me, wouldn't let me cry, wouldn't hug me, wouldn't do anything. Marines dragged me away from the funeral I was screaming so loudly and put me in a car. I pounded the glass, but no one let me out. I was on a ship within half an hour of the funeral ending and headed back here for school." She took a shuddering breath. "This place has a lot of the wrong kinds of memories."

He pulled her into a hug, not really knowing what else to do. He was terrible at comforting people, especially in words. She was great at it. Even though he'd seen her emotionally fragile before, it always seemed strange and just… wrong when she broke down like this. Nothing about her seemed strong or brave, but she was, probably more so than anyone he knew. For a brief moment, he thought about kissing her, but the thought left as quickly as it came. She didn't need that, nor did he. She just needed someone to be there. It was only fair, since she was always there for him. He didn't cry or break down, but she'd still been there through everything.

"Shep?" Corinthia asked.

"Yes?"

"You should be sweet like this more often." She briefly leaned her head on his chest. "But you don't have to stop being badass. That's nice, too." She smiled. He could feel her heart racing, or was it his own? She didn't give him time to find out. "Ooh, is that the new omni-tool upgrade? I'll be right back." She darted off to examine the stall.

Yep, it had been his heart. Forcing that down was going to be much more difficult, but he'd manage. He caught her before she got too far.

"No, you don't need any new toys," he told her darkly.

"But it's got the new interface that—"

He clamped a hand over her mouth. "No, Ci-Ci. If you want it that badly, build your own."

She licked his palm, making him move his hand so that she could say, "But mine'll be bogged down with translating the beacon. I'll need another one."

He wiped his hand on her armor. "No."

"Then can I use yours?"

"No," Shepard answered sternly. "No. The last time you linked our tools you started that Hammer Dance business and messed it up so badly I couldn't use it for three months!"

"I changed the interface to make it more efficient! That's not messing it up at all."

"You could've told me," he muttered darkly. "The answer is, 'no.' God, why are you such a child?"

"Because I'm not an adult?" she answered. She was twenty-three and a half and didn't consider anyone adult until they were thirty. Shepard, on the other hand, had just turned twenty-nine and firmly believed that he had been adult since he'd turned fifteen.

"You are one and you know it, so stop acting like you aren't," he growled. "You were almost crying three minutes ago."

Corinthia stopped struggling. "It won't help if I tell you that it's my defense mechanism, will it?"

"No, it won't, because I already knew it."

"Okay, okay, I won't get a new omni-tool." She glowered like a child deprived of candy.

Shepard always felt a little guilty when he made her pout, even when he had good reason to. "Do you have anything else to do while we're here?"

She brightened. "Oh, yeah! I can hack Udina's computer while we're talking to him and make it play this terrible song from the 1980s by this guy named Rick Astley…"

"Great. Now I'll have to get enough into his good graces for the both of us."