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After three more days of rest and a lot of persuasion, Kate had convinced Dr. Chakwas she was fit for light duty, which in Kate's mind included finding and eliminating Sidonis. And charming Bailey into letting her into the same room as Harkin had been surprisingly easy. The captain had allowed Garrus and Kate to talk to Harkin about setting up a meeting with Sidonis. They hadn't told either man why they wanted to see the hunted turian, though Harkin must have known it was a set-up.

"Yeah, it's me," Harkin said into the communicator. "Look, there's a chance your identity has been compromised. I'm sending one of my agents to correct the situation. The usual place. Uh-huh. Trust me, you'll know her when you see her. She's a hot little redhead with a limp," he added, turning to leer at Kate.

She clinched her fists but remained calm. She felt Garrus tense up behind her and heard his warning growl.

"Later," she hissed. "One jackass at a time."

The call was disconnected and Harkin turned to the pair. "OK, it's set. He'll meet you at mid-day in front of Orbital Lounge."

As she walked past him, Kate suddenly reached out and slapped him. "Not so tough without your bodyguards are you, sweetheart?" she taunted, throwing his exact words back in his face.

He lunged at her with a snarl and Bailey rolled his eyes at Kate as two C-Sec officers hauled Harkin back into his cell. "Look, I know what he did to you, but was that really necessary, Shepard?"

"Made me feel a lot better and he deserves worse, so yeah, it really was," she answered coldly.

"I'm surprised Massani agreed to stay on the ship," Garrus said as he and Kate took a shuttle to the meeting place two hours later.

Kate scoffed. "He didn't. All I asked him to do was promise that he wouldn't do anything to Harkin until Sidonis was dead. Just in case something went wrong and we had to talk to the little bastard again."

"Smart."

The shuttle landed on the catwalks above the Presidium and they climbed out.

"Alright, so how's this going to work?" Kate asked. "I know what I have to do, but where will you be? It's always nice to know where the man with the gun is, even if he's a friend."

Garrus looked around a moment and then pointed. "I'll be setup over there. That should give me the shot I need. You ready?"

"Hell yes," Kate said with a nod. "Let's do this."

When she reached the main floor of the Presidium, she looked through the crowds for any sign of Sidonis. She saw a lone turian sitting in front of the lounge. "Is that him on the bench?" she asked Garrus over the comm.

She could hear the tension in his voice when he answered. "Yeah, that's him. Wave him over. Keep him talking until I have the shot lined up."

"Got it."

She caught Sidonis' eye and waved him over.

"Huh. He wasn't kidding," the turian said by way of introduction.

"What are you talking about?" Kate asked, her voice deceptively calm.

He took a step towards her. "Harkin. He said you were hot and he was right. I don't usually go for humans, but I'd definitely make an exception for you."

Kate mentally rolled her eyes. "Thanks a lot, Harkin. Sticking me with the creeps again," she muttered.

"Nice touch," Garrus said. Kate could practically hear his smirk through the communicator.

"So what the hell happened? I'm not paying good money for screw-ups like this," Sidonis said, his demeanor changing instantly from lecherous to pissed off.

"You want to know what happened, you'd have to ask Harkin," Kate said with a shrug.

"This better not happen again."

"I've got the shot, Kate. As I just got you back in one piece and I'd like to keep you that way, I'd suggest you duck," Garrus hissed in her ear.

"Don't worry," Kate said to Sidonis in a saccharine voice, nodding almost imperceptibly so Garrus would know she'd heard him. "I guarantee this is a once in a lifetime mistake. For you."

She ducked down, pretending to retie the laces on one of her boots. Two seconds later, Sidonis fell to the ground dead with a bullet between his eyes.

"Betrayal repaid, Sidonis," Garrus said darkly.

A beep on his omni-tool caused Zaeed to stop pacing. He smirked at the unsigned three-word message: Tag, you're it.

"Alright Harkin, time to pay the piper, you psycho sonofabitch," he muttered to himself as he walked to C-Sec. He hadn't yet figured out how he was going to get into the holding cells, but when he got to Bailey's desk, the captain had all the answers.

"I already know why you're here, Massani," he said quietly. "Whatever you're going to do, just... try not to make a mess back there."

Zaeed raised an eyebrow. "How-"

Bailey held up a hand. "Vakarian told me what happened to Shepard when he brought Harkin in a week ago. Honestly, I was surprised the sonofabitch has lasted this long, or even made it here in one piece to begin with. But I'll assume after the meeting he had with Shepard and Vakarian this morning that Harkin has now outlived his usefulness."

"Damn right he has," Zaeed said darkly. "I won't be long."

Harkin scowled when he saw Zaeed outside his cell. "Fuck. I can't get a moment's peace from you people."

The door slid open, Zaeed stepped inside and Harkin backed up against the wall. "What the fuck is this?" He looked towards the camera embedded in the wall. "Bailey? Did you let this asshole in here?"

Zaeed knew Bailey couldn't hear or see him as he'd gotten Kasumi to turn the cameras off in the cell block. That way, the captain could claim ignorance of anything that happened if anyone investigated Harkin's death. With Harkin's reputation, it was unlikely anyone would care, but best to play it safe.

"You're done, Harkin," the mercenary growled as he walked towards him.

"And you're going to do what exactly?" Harkin asked, his voice cracking slightly.

Zaeed said nothing as he reached out and snapped the man's neck. The body had barely hit the floor before Zaeed was gone from the room and the cameras were turned back on.

From: Steven Hackett
To: Kate Shepard
Subject: Citadel
Anderson wants to know what part of "keep to the Terminus Systems" you didn't understand. I asked him why he didn't just talk to you; he wouldn't give me a straight answer. So, is there some reason you're no longer speaking to each other?
Dad

From: Kate Shepard
To: Steven Hackett
Subject: Long Story
I may have told Anderson to go to hell, for the same reason I punched Kaidan. Anderson was a tad more subtle and "diplomatic" about it, but the message was the same. As for why we're on the Citadel, I had a couple of jobs to do here, favors for my crew. One for Garrus turned... bad. That's why we've been here so long.
But we're heading to Bekenstein in the morning, then we'll get back out to the wilds where we're "supposed to be." Fucking Council.
Katie