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Beta: None.
"Goddamn Council. Goddamn Anderson!" Zaeed growled as he trailed after Shepard, who stormed past the cockpit on her way to the elevator.
"What happened?" Joker asked.
Zaeed leaned up against the wall. "Picked up that Kasumi woman and then we went to meet the Council. They all but outright branded Kate a traitor for working with Cerberus. Anderson jumped to her defense but once they were alone, he might as well have done the same thing. But everything's all better because they reinstated her SpecTRe status," he added sarcastically.
"Shit," Joker said after a moment. "And here I thought Anderson was going to be on our side."
"He's no longer the military man Kate hero-worshiped back in her early days as a Marine. He's a fucking politician now. And he's still got that slimy Udina around too. That bastard walked in the door and I don't know who was more pissed, Udina or Kate. I think we're just lucky she's not locked up in C-Sec right now for ambassadorial homicide."
"So, where is Kasumi?" Joker asked, wanting to steer the conversation in a different direction as soon as possible.
Zaeed shrugged. "She could be standing right here beside me for all I know. She's a master at all that cloak-and-dagger shit."
"Oh good. Nothing I like more than having a woman sneak up on me. Bad enough that Kate does it all the fucking time. Now there's two of them? I'll never get another moment of peace."
"Just once, I'd like to get someone on this mission without having to make a run for my life in a hail of bullets," Kate said as the Normandy raced away from Purgatory. "And a little less betrayal would be nice too."
"Betrayal?" Joker asked.
"Fucking warden of the prison decided that instead of selling Jack to Cerberus, he was going to capture me and sell me to the highest bidder."
"Shit. Obviously things didn't work in his favor."
"No. Had to fight through both prisoners and guards, but we finally cornered the bastard. And got Jack out. That one's gonna be a handful. I thought I hated Cerberus, but Christ, I might as well want to marry the Illusive Man compared to how much Jack hates them."
"That is not an image I ever needed, Kate," Joker said with a grimace.
She chuckled. "Sorry. But at least now I'll have someone else to bitch to about Miranda. Those two together spells copious amounts of trouble."
"The next person who calls the tank-bred a 'baby' krogan gets to live with him for a week," Kate said hoarsely, massaging her throat.
"What the hell happened to you?" Garrus asked.
"I let him out of the tank."
"And?" Zaeed prompted.
"There may have been a tense moment or two while he tried to figure out who he was before he tried to kill me. But I talked him down. He's just as strong as Wrex, without the self-control."
Garrus let out a bark of laughter. "Wrex? Self-control? Do you not remember Virmire?"
"Wrex is still alive, isn't he? Because he had the sense to listen to me and the self-control not to pull the trigger."
"Anyway, where are we headed next?" Zaeed asked, stopping Garrus before he could say anything else.
"Horizon. The Illusive Man thinks that's where the Collectors will hit next. Oh and apparently Kaidan is there," she added with a grin.
Garrus and Zaeed looked at each other and rolled their eyes.