A/N: Hey guys, here's another chapter for you! Not much to say really. On another note, I saw The Edge of Tomorrow with Tom Cruise who is, in my opinion, one of the best actors to have ever been on the big screen. Even if you don't like the guy off camera, he is up there on the list of greatest actors. The movie was pretty great, probably one of my favorite movies that came out this year next to Spiderman.

Chapter 12
-This, This Is The Worst That Could Happen-

I give Lorin the dirtiest look I can muster as the drunken kid and his friends scream and parade about like fools. Eventually they manage to find their way back into the apartment. Lorin continues to avoid looking at me as I stare at him. I see movement out of the corner of my eye and I turn to see a well-dressed older man walk up to the two of us, my helmet scanning him for weapons as I look at him.

"Hello." He greets as my HUD clears him with a soft beep, this might take a bit to get used to. "I am Mr. Jones, I apologize for my sons behavior."

"It's ok Mr. Jones." I sigh as I shoot another glare at Lorin.

"No, it's not ok." he shakes his head in disappointment. "My son has got used to the soft living I have provided for him, I have spoiled him. But he is still my son, and I still love him, hence why you are here."

"When do you want him back?" Lorin asks, cutting to the chase.

"Six in the morning should be fine." The man nods.

"If I may ask sir." I say, a hint of suspicion hanging off my voice. "Why do you need us to watch your son? Is there something we should be expecting?"

I see Lorin flick me an odd look as if to say who cares while the old man sighs.

"I have acquired my wealth through means I'm not proud of, I came here to escape the terminus system but I fear we have been targeted by old associates." He tells me. "Something I'm taking care of, but it will take time."

"Didn't need your life story…" Lorin mutters, causing the old man to glare at him. "Who's after you?"

"Do not worry about my problems."

"Says the guy who just told us about your problems." Lorin muttered loud enough for the man to hear. "I just need a name."

"Ja'Gresh." The man says, hesitating to tell Lorin the name.

"Will you be ok here?" I ask, trying to draw his focus away from Lorin who is giving me another who cares look.

"I'll be fine." He waves off. "I just need you to watch my son."

"Yes sir." I nod. Lorin doesn't say anything as he walks into the house to get the kid.

I stand there awkwardly as I wait for Lorin to get the man's son, I hear drunken yelling burst out from the house and glass breaking before Lorin joins in the yelling match. The old man looks disappointed as his son staggers out of the house with his friends, Lorin shaking his head as he follows them out.

"Omigod there's anotha one!" a girl screeches as she stumbles towards me. She's dressed incredibly slutty, her dress was basically a strip of leather covering her boobs and another covering her ass, the two connected by another strip of leather winding around her body like a spiral staircase. Her makeup was so thick it looked like someone did it as a joke and her hooker boots stopped at her thigh.

"Bro!" Another voice speaks up. "No way bro! Bro check out this body-bro!" he slurs as he points at me.

I turn to my new annoyance to see a guy dressed in a bright red suit with a matching fedora tilted down his forehead at a 45 degree angle, if I had to guess. When he walked he rotated his shoulders like an elliptical machine with each step. He sets the bar for douchbags everywhere.

Then the son runs past everyone, yelling with his arms outstretched. This of course, causes slutty and d-bag to do the same, screaming and running around for no apparent reason. They eventually scream their way to a rapid transit terminal and start yelling and pointing at it. Lorin walks over to me and we start to walk off after them.

"This is it." I say to him without making eye contact.

"What are you fucking talking about?" he huffs.

"The worst that could happen." I state as we enter the skycar, which already reeks of liquor. "This is it."

"Naa." He shakes his head. "The night is still young Mav, give it time, this is probably going to get a lot worse."

"That's comforting."

We end up arriving a few blocks from Chora's Den, and only after seven drunken sing-alongs and two puke related accidents. Our intoxicated clients got us a few dirty looks, hell who am I kidding, all we got were dirty looks. Luckily nobody caused trouble. Although one batarian made me nervous after my HUD pinged him as armed with a weapon, even though it ranked it as a pistol it still put me on edge.

"-Hey, can you believe these assholes?-" Lorin's voice cracks through my helmet, surprising me enough to jump. A small icon pops up on the top right of my HUD and I try to activate it, but it says I need to sync through my Omni-tool. After a few seconds of that, I manage to make a private communication with Lorin.

"Yeah." I say back through the mic. "They're all a bunch of assholes, then there's you." I say, watching Lorin as he walks in front of the son and his friends.

"-Ha, yeah I… what do you mean, then there's me?-"

"You." I sneer in a low voice. "You broke into my friend's apartment, almost waking her up. You woke me up, jamming your E.T finger into my eye. You take me out late at night, when I have to work tomorrow. You give me a job, protecting this asshole, slut-girl and d-bag."

"-Hey bosh'tet, a couple things.-" Lorin says, now looking at me and pointing past the drunks."-One, I didn't break in, I just… borrowed entrance. Two, what is E.T? Three, you hate your job and this is way more interesting then sleeping. Four, don't make fun of slut-girl, I like slut-girl. She's hot. Five, I…-"

"What?" I cough into the mic. "Nonono, go back to four! Did you say slut-girl is hot? Look at her!" I shout in disbelief, pointing to the girl who still hasn't mastered the art of walking.

"-Did you see that dress? Of course I looked at her!-" Lorin motions to her, her hips swaying ridiculously wide as she staggers about, trying to look "sexy". I watch as she leans over and start yelling gibberish, something about drinking I think. Then her face tightens and she heaves over, when she leans up her cheeks are filled with what I can only assume is vomit. "-She's so cute!-"

I raise my brow at him but my attention is drawn back to the idiots walking a few feet in front of me. The son and d-bag has started a slurred chant, methodically saying "Chug!" faster and faster until she swallows the bile in her mouth and sticks out her tongue causing the other two to cheer.

"Yeah, she's fuckin adorable." I snort as we all round the corner, the neon asari glowing in the distance.

We are about to enter the bar when we are stopped by a krogan bouncer who asked us to leave our weapons with him. Lorin shows him our contacting licenses and the bouncer lets us in, though not with a smile.

Chora's Den is absolutely packed, people shoulder to shoulder. There are tons of dancers on the stages and liquor on the tables. The music shakes my insides, like a fighter jet flying overhead. The music sounds like a fast paced dubstep disco. It's actually not half bad, although it's a little loud for my liking and I love listening to my music loud. We immediately pack the three Stooges close together and start pushing our way through the crowd.

Lucky for us, the three drunkateers managed to get us a booth. They all pile in around the dancer and order a slew of drinks as Lorin and I post ourselves at either end of the booth. I quickly become annoyed of the "omigods" and "bros" erupting from the booth and start scanning people in the crowd with my HUD. Every single bouncer is packing some sort of heat and a few civilians have pistols on them, one guy even had a grenade but as long as he stays on the other side of the club I don't care.

The HUD keeps track of each person with a weapon, a small yellow dot highlighting them. I start going through the manual for the HUD and find that it doesn't include radar, they subbed it out for the specific person tracking program. Not a bad trade if you ask me, I would rather have specific people marked constantly. I can't see behind me though, it only highlights people who are in my field of vision.

I realize I might not be home when Aila wakes up, so I start to write her a message. I tell her about Lorin's job and say I should be back before morning, hitting note and not message so I don't wake her. Just as the silent note sends I cringe as a shrill sound attacks my ears.

"Omigod! Let's do shots!" I here slutty yell behind me, followed by a parade of "bros" and "dudes". God I can't stand these people.

"-I like these guys.-" Lorin chimes in my ear. "-They may be a bunch of annoying assholes, but they know how to party.-"

"Are you serious?" I say in a condescending tone. "Don't get me wrong, I like a drink now and then but these people are idiots."

"- Yeah. -" He sighs, shooting a quick glance in the booth. "-They are.-"

"BRO! SHOTS BRO!" d-bag shouts as the half-naked bartender brings a tray full of shots to the booth.

"Nyaah shots bro!" I mimic in a low obnoxious voice. "Fuckin idiot."

"-You really don't like these guys do you?-"

"No." I deadpan. "I don't, their existence irks me."

"-I don't like the other two, but I like Lana.-" he nods, looking back at the group before returning to the crowd watching.

"Lana? How do you know her name?"

"- The VIP was screaming it when we first got there, don't you pay attention?-"

"Oh yeah. Hey speaking of Lana, you said she was hot. What's up with that man?" I ask. "You into humans?"

"-Look-" Lorin says quietly. "-You're a nice guy but…-"

"Shut the fuck up Lorin!" I laugh. "You know what I mean, you're quarian and she's human. Isn't that frowned upon by the fleet?"

"-Who cares if she's human?-" he asks. "-Her hips could be a bit wider I guess, but I'm not a picky man like you, which by the way, I don't think you can afford to be picky.-"

"Asshole." I smile. "How can you like her though, personality I get, you two are perfect for each other, but she's just… dirty." I shudder.

"-I have a shining personality I'll have you know, and Lana's a classy girl.-"

As if on cue, Lorin and I both turn to look into the booth just in time to see Lana try to drink a shot. She misses and pours the drink down her neck and cleavage and without missing a beat, pushes up her boobs and dives in face first after the liquor, causing the other two idiots to cheer.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure she just stepped out of Buckingham Palace for a quiet eve." I say sarcastically.

"-I don't know what a Buckingham Palace is, but I do know your being a smartass.-" he says, pointing at me sharply.

I come to a realization, more of a theory really, but nonetheless I think I'm right and that makes me smile.

"Is it…" I cock my head at Lorin as he stares at me. "Is it because she's dirty? Is that a quarian fetish or something?"

My smile grows as I see Lorin's eyes widen before shooting in the opposite direction and down to the floor.

"-No!-" he blurts out quickly, correcting his stance and straightening up. "-That's stupid, what would make you think that?-" he stutters. This is the first time I've seen Lorin get truly agitated, it couldn't be funnier.

"Holy shit it is!" I say excitedly. "It makes sense! You guy are always in those suits and in clean rooms, it make sense that a dirty girl like our Lana here gets you going!" I snicker, Lorin shifting uncomfortably on the spot. I lean forward and draw his attention and whisper to him. "It's the ultimate quarian taboo, isn't it?"

"-Shut up!-" he snaps. "-That's none of your business!-" he huffs, clearly flustered.

"It's ok man!" I laugh as I shake my head. "Everyone's got quirks, no matter who you are." I console.

"-Shut. Up.-" he seethes.

"Wow, never thought I'd see you get so worked up." I nod as I go back to scanning the crowd.

"-You'd get worked up too if I bugged you about your fetishes.-" he pouts. There's a pause before he speaks again. "-What's your fetish?-"

"I'm not telling you." I snort.

"-Why not?-"

"Because I'm not an idiot." I snarl, stressing idiot as I stare at him.

"-You know what?-" he sighs. "-I uhh, I don't like you.-" he says casually with a half shrug.

The rest of our time at Chora's Den was relatively uneventful so to speak. Ivan came up and told us off about touching the dancers, I don't think he recognized me in my armor though. Apparently they started doing body shots off the dancer at our booth, but wanted to keep going after there were no more shots. I told Ivan there wouldn't be any more problems and he left with a stern warning, I think the only reason he didn't throw us out is because there were others who needed to be kicked out first.

We left Chora's at about one in the morning, it took Lorin and I ten minutes to push through the crowd of people and get the VIP and his friends out of the Den. Once we were out on the street we moved a lot quicker, the mention of another club called Enter was mentioned and we headed off at the speed of stagger.

One block away from the club I noticed a change, I don't know exactly when it happened but the change was clear. I noticed Lorin walking differently, before he swayed around with a cat-like arrogance, his head casually swiveling around looking for trouble. Now though, he walked with professionalism in mind, which is odd from the quarian merc. He griped his weapon tightly as he marched forward, his head swiveling almost robotically as he scanned for danger.

It makes me nervous.

"Hey." I say through our private channel. "You ok?"

He looks around again before answering me. "-No, we are being followed.-" I'm about to turn around when Lorin speaks up again. "-Don't look. There're three of them right now, they're all wearing matching black suits that look padded, probably armor underneath.-"

"How do you know they are following us?"

"-Motion tracker. I didn't think anything when I saw the first one start following us, by the third one I started to doubt they were just out for a stroll.-"

"What do we do?"

"-We get to the club, they won't try anything there.-" he says as we round a corner. "-The guy in black on our right, the one leaning outside the café. Check him for weapons.-"

I look to our right and find the man Lorin's talking about, the guys posted himself against a wall right next to the door of the café. I look at him for a bit until my HUD starts to scan the guy, after about five seconds it beeps twice, indicating a weapon has been identified and marks the man with a yellow icon.

"He's got a pistol, you were right." I say as I look away from the goon, just before he drifts out of my peripheral vision I see him push off the wall to follow us.

"-Of course I was right.-" he scoffs. "-That scanner's pretty useful, worth the extra money.-"

"How much extra did I pay for it?" I ask, now wondering how I could go through 50,000 for just armor and weapons.

"-A lot, it just got out of the prototype stage.-" he says as we approach the clubs entrance. "-The new tech is always the most expensive.-"

"How much was it? You paid for it, do you have the receipt?" I ask as the three drunken idiots line up and Lorin and I put them between the wall of the club and us. Lorin brings up his Omni-tool and starts sifting through it, quickly finding the receipt.

"-The armor and weapons were priced reasonably enough, but you got fucked on the helmet.-" he tells me as he closes his Omni-tool. "-No way I would've paid 20,000 creds for a helmet.-"

Normally I would be mad, furious even, but I'm not. I don't owe anybody anything for the armor and now I'm ready for Shepard, whenever he or she decides to show up. Saleon should be massaging me any day now and then all my problems will be over, then I can start making a difference.

"That's because you're cheap." I respond. "So far it was worth it, so what do I care?"

"-Whatever you say Mav.-" Lorin shrugs as we walk into the club, the techno assaulting us the moment the door opens.

This club looks almost exactly the same as Chora's Den, dancers all over the stages and people everywhere. The techno here is a bit darker, which fits the seedier club better than the music in Chora's would've. It takes us a few minutes to be seated at a booth because Lorin decided to argue with the bouncer about the weapons we brought, but he gets its sorted eventually.

I start to methodically scan people in the crowd while Lorin and I shoot the shit, making fun of each other constantly. When we aren't poking fun at each other we are making fun of the people in the club, namely the dancers. They aren't the most beautiful creatures in the universe, the human girls anyway. The asari girls are pretty good looking, though now that I think about it I've never seen an ugly asari. I wonder if there are traits in asari that make them not good looking, even if there are any I probably wouldn't care anyway.

The human girls are… seasoned, and not in age. They tried to fix this by having them naked but it made it worse if anything, something's are better left to the imagination, and others are best not imagined at all. The asari are naked too though, so I take the good with the bad, mostly because I have no choice.

They are making it harder to scan people though, I mean, I'm not not going to look, at my core I'm just a caveman like every other male. Hardwired for food, water, sleep, and sex. Don't get me wrong, I feel like an ass for staring, the gentleman in me feels bad for objectifying women. But the caveman thanks the gods my visor's tinted.

Lorin's Omni-tool pings, drawing my attention from the stage. I watch as he glances at it before it fades away.

"-Time to get these guys home and get paid.-" he sighs, looking at the drunken fools.

"How are we going to do it? Just shuffle them out and toss them in a skycar?" I ask.

"-We also have the goons outside to deal with, it can't be any harder than trying to get these guys to leave this club. -" Lorin says as he taps the VIP on the shoulder. "Time to go!" he shouts over the music.

Surprisingly, the three idiots stand up and start to follow Lorin, who is now parting the drunks like Moses parted the red sea. I follow them closely, drawing my Lancer as we leave the club while Lorin draws his own rifle. Lorin's rifle seems more advanced than mine, I don't remember all of the names of the rifle types but I know it looks like the Vindicator so it's up there.

When we turn around the next corner, four men dressed in black are all standing around a few hundred feet ahead of us. There are two per side, clearly ready for an ambush or roadblock of some sort. I tense up when we see them while Lorin readies himself, his experience clearly dwarfing mine.

"-Don't fire until it happens.-" he says through my helmet.

"When what happens?" I ask, not sure what he's talking about.

"-You'll know.-" Lorin says quietly, failing to make me feel better about the situation.

"Great." I mutter, more to myself then Lorin. As we near I start to scan them one by one, each one pinging as they're marked with a yellow dot. "They all have guns." I state as we walk towards them.

"-No shit.-" he snaps. "-What do they have?-"

"All pistols." I reply, not bothering to engage Lorin's jab.

Once we get twenty feet away from the goons, they all spread out across the street and stop us when we try to pass. I pull the three drunks back behind me and stand next to Lorin. The tension in the air is incredibly thick, each one of us knowing what's about to happen, just waiting for someone to make the first move.

"Here he is." Lorin says, thumbing back at the VIP. The goons look just as confused as I am, what the hell is Lorin talking about?

"What?" the closest goon asks.

"You didn't think Ja'Gresh would trust you amateurs to get this done did you?" Lorin chuckles. "You're just the pickup, we're the insurance."

The goons look among themselves, not sure what to do, just like me. Is Lorin playing them, or is he stabbing Mr. Jones in the back? What the hell is this asshole getting me into?

"Alright, give him here." The goon says as he points at the VIP. Lorin doesn't hesitate to push him over to them, what the fuck is he doing? Once the goons have him they start to relax, mimicking the now casual stance Lorin has gone back to. "We'll contact Ja'Gresh and let him know everything went smoothly."

"Oh, hold on." Lorin says as he raises his finger to get them to pause, rifling through his pouches as they wait. "Here, he wanted to talk to you now."

He finally pulls something out of one of his pouches and I cock my head when my HUD starts scanning it. Lorin places the thing in the goons hand just as my HUD identifies the object with a small text box.

Weapon Identified: Explosive Ordinance, Low Yield
Class: Flashbang

"-Cover your eyes.-"

I barely manage to bury my head into the inside of my elbow as the flashbang goes off, scorching the goons hand while blinding the rest. I hear several shots go off before I can look up and raise my weapon. I see the two goons on the right buckle as the bullets smash through their kneecaps, bringing them down hard. My rifle shifts to the goon with the burnt hand, trying to fight the pain as he grasps at his eyes.

My finger slides from the safety and lingers on the trigger as I aim for his head, but I can't find the heart to end his life. Despite killing five people already, I can't kill this man. The other times were different, I was forced into those situations, running on adrenaline. This time it's all me, I have a clear head and have a choice. So I make a choice. My weapon droops and I fire a small burst, the recoil pushing against my shoulder as the bullets sink into the man's leg.

He starts to go into shock, his body unable to manage the pain from his hand, eyes, and leg. I look away from him to see Lorin fighting the last goon, who surprisingly had enough sense to cover his eyes. I see the goons hand swing wide behind Lorin, causing his rifle to clatter across the floor. I watch the rifle come to a stop and look back to Lorin, ready to help, but Lorin's doing just fine without me.

Lorin blocks another blow with his left forearm and roughly grabs the goons shoulder, with a quick tug he slams his knee into the goons stomach. As the goon doubles over Lorin keeps his grip on his shoulder and props his arm against his own, locking it in place. I watch Lorin lean over the goons back, slowing as his shoulder resists before a loud pop fills the air.

Lorin casually drops the man and walks over to his rifle and scoops it of the ground, leaving the goon grasping at his dislocated shoulder. He walks back to me as he slings his rifle over his shoulder.

"Help me get their ammo blocks." He says as he nods his head back to the defeated goons.

"Why?" I ask as I walk up to the first one.

"So they won't shoot at us when we leave." He says, stopping to give me an annoyed look. "Don't you know anything?"

"No I mean why would we bother with taking them out." I state as I lean down and grip the man's pistol in my hand, a warp immediately clinging to the gun as it eats away at the metal. I drop it on the ground, letting the warp do its thing and I walk to the next guy. "Don't you know anything?" I mimic.

"Yeah well, I don't have biotics." He replies in a sneer, reaching for another pistol on the ground. I quickly flick a throw at the weapon, lobbing it towards me just before Lorin grabs it. He turns his head with an annoyed huff as I catch the gun and melt it with a warp.

"I feel sorry for you." I smirk as I let the ruined pistol clatter to the ground.

"Ass." Lorin mutters before looking around. "Speaking of asses."

I follow his gaze to see the VIP rolling around on the ground, covering his eyes as he moans. I smile at that as I turn to find the other two idiots. The ass in the red suit has the face you get when you look at your phone in the middle of the night, stumbling about with his hands out saying "Broooooooooooooo…"

Our classy Lana is passed out on the floor, I guess she passed out before the flashbang because she is out cold. I look back to see Lorin, an idiot on each arm, walking towards a rapid transit terminal. My eyes dart back to Lana before shouting back to Lorin.

"Hey! What do I do with her?"

"Grab her!" he shouts back. "My hands are full!"

"You left her for me on purpose!" I yell as I shuffle towards the unconscious drunk.

"Use you biotics!" He jeers. "Ass!"

"Goddamn asshole." I mutter to myself as I try to figure out how to pick up Lana. I decide on a fireman carry and I reach down and lower her mass before draping her over my shoulder with one arm, making me look stronger then I actually am. By the time I catch up a skycar is already landing, Lorin lining up the VIP and SquintyMagee so he can easily push them into the skycar.

"Nice date." He laughs as he sees me carrying the unconscious woman over my shoulder. "You're such a gentleman."

"Shut up." I snap, as Lorin piles the drunks into the two front seats of the car. Lorin scuttles to the far rear seat and I sling her in between the seats and sit in the last seat. "Why didn't you tell me what you were doing?" I say, suddenly remembering his little flashbang stunt from earlier.

"I was kicking ass." He says, nodding victoriously. "Learned that trick back on Omega."

"You almost blinded me you asshole!" I shout.

"Yeah I know." He nods. "You were two quick though." He says with a hint of regret, like he wanted to blind me.

I'm about to call Lorin a piece of shit when I notice Lana stir. She turns her head to me and I see her start to heave, I quickly press two fingers on her chin and divert the vomit fountain away from me, right onto Lorin. The puke sprays from her mouth thorian creeper style all over his side and leg.

"AUUGGH!" he yells in disgust as I try to contain my laughter. "WHAT THE FUCK!" I start laughing hysterically as Lorin frantically tries to wipe the puke off of himself, he gives up on shaking the puke off his hands and starts wiping it on Lana's leg. "Fucking bosh'tet! What the fuck! Why did you do that?"

"Oh man!" I snicker. "I guess I'm just too quick eh?"

"Bosh'tet!" he curses again as he wipes more puke onto Lana.

"What, she not dirty enough for you?" I ask, returning into another fit of laughter.

"Shut up!" Lorin yells, angered by my comment and the vomit. I continue to laugh as the skycar makes its way back to Mr. Jones house.

We drop of the VIP at his house and we take the car back to Aila's house, Lorin not talking to me the whole way there and leaving without a goodbye. He'll get over it. I grab my armor and weapon cases and head up the elevator.

As the door opens I walk into the apartment and set my things down next to the coat rack. I check my Omni-tool to see it's almost seven in the morning, Aila's bed is empty so I assume she is somewhere in here. I turn as the door to the bathroom slides open and Aila comes out wearing a towel, she hastily prances to one of her drawers, trying not to drip water all over the floor. She grabs some clothes and turns around but stops when I catch her eye.

I cock my head when I notice she looks terrified, frozen in fear like a deer caught in the headlights. I wonder what's wrong with her until I see myself in the reflection off the TV, still wearing my merc armor and weapons.

Before I can say anything she makes a mad dash for the bathroom, closing the door behind her. I sigh as I walk over to the door, hearing her breathing heavily as I get closer. My Omni-tool pings as I scoop up her clothes from the floor and I smirk when I see it's from Aila, apparently some thug has broken into her apartment and she wants to know where I am.

I lean on the door and wrap my knuckles on the door, deciding not to yell Heeeeeeere's Johnny! and opening the door.

"Hey Aila." I call through the door. There's a long pause before she answers.

"James?" she calls back quietly.

I turn my eyes away and open the door, holding out her clothes while I smirk behind my helmet. "You dropped your clothes."

I'm surprised when I feel something impact the side of my head. I turn my head back to see an angry Aila, holding up her towel with one hand and using her free hand to lash out at me.

"Don't… you…. ever… do… that… again!" She yells, hitting me after each word. I can't help but giggle as a retreat, Aila chasing after me. "Do you think that's funny? I almost had a heart attack!" she yells as she stomps back into the bathroom after snatching up her clothes.

I try to quell my laughter as I take off my helmet and place it on the table. I unsecure my chest piece and place it gently next to my helmet before taking of the under-vest that has all of the pouches on it. I drape it over a chair and am now down to my plate boots, combat pants, and gloves.

My Omni-tool pings as I pull the gloves off my hands which are still covered in the under suit. As I check my Omni-tool I see it's exactly seven in the morning when the message arrived. I open it up and read it to myself.

Mr. Matticks

It's ready.

Dr. Saleon

I stare at the message for a few moments, amazed at how two words can change my entire mood. Those two little words are about to change not only my life, but my friends lives as well. I hear the bathroom door open behind me as I continue to stare at the message.

"And another thing!" Aila yells as she stomps her way back to me. "Why didn't you…" her voice trails off as I turn to look at her, my body language alone causing her to stop in her tracks. "What's wrong?" she asks in a concerned tone.

"Call the guys." I say as I start to pull my gloves back on and flex my hands. "It's time."

R/R

tylerbamafan34: What do you mean by character bashing? My characters, other authors characters, characters in other medias? Or something else? I actually just watched the 3rd Transformers movie the other day, it was alright. The first Transformers was pretty good, the second was atrocious, and the new one with Markey Mark looks good. I take it you're a fan of Transformers?

CrimsonKnight117: I don't think TIM would care a whole lot, I doubt he has family he needs to protect and if he did, he could stop pretty much anybody from hurting them. Yup, Mavs all suited up and combat ready, or at least he looks combat ready. Do you think the other races have a form of jinxing, or is it specific to humans? I always wonder about little things like that. Once again, thank you for the review sir!

V-rcingetorix: God no! Haha, I have to make three stories first before I can Lucus it! And that's an interesting idea, the Novaria thing, I like it but I already have a plan set to meet Shepard which cannot change much. You'll see why when it happens! I think 5k is pretty decent too, I set it as a rough goal but never really let it limit me, it's just where I end up when I'm done a chapter. I tried having a cushion but I couldn't help but put it out so I could hear what people think, I get just as excited by hearing from the readers as I do when just writing the story! I will try sir, thank you for the review!

.77: Thanks man! Here are your shenanigans, as promised!

Kaiya Smith: No, I have another plan for meeting Shepard, although another interesting idea! Yeah, I plan to have a lot of friction between Mav and Garrus because who doesn't love conflict. Na, karmas for people who like to complain about their problems instead of fixing them, and Fallout of course! Cerberus was bad enough with the intel they had, the idea of having them being able to accurately predict the future is scary. And don't worry, I've fixed the Lancer/Avenger thing. You can sleep now!

ultimate idiot: No, I live in the country so I see enough old hillbillies.

masterdude94: Thanks! I don't think Mavs worried about attaining new debt, he's already in the red after all. I planned on the whole 50k armor being explained in this chapter a bit, if my numbers are off just chalk it up to space taxes!

general-joseph-dickson: Good guess, but no, not this time.

XRaiderV1: Haha, I think Lorin got what he deserved!

Spiritstrike: Yup! In my mind its similar to the Cerberus Ajax armor in the ME3 dlc, it was by far my favorite armor. I never used the shotguns either, not until I started using the vanguard class. The shotgun is the vanguards bible, especially when your primary ranged weapon is your charge! Nope, just a throw away OC, but once again I am surprised at the interesting ideas people are having, guarding Harkin would have been interesting! Spiritstrike, Cerberus is humanity, trust them, let them in, believe in them and they will believe in you! Come to the dark side, we have Martin Sheen! And thanks, always good to hear from ya!

Orchidellia: I've never heard of those, I'll check em out though! I like Lorin too, he's pretty fun to write so he's here to stay!

noone297: Nope, but that'd be a cool idea. Especially if he had to guard him when Shepard and Wrex showed up!