"Not much of a plan, Garrus." Shepard remarked, her face partially hidden behind stray strands of hair as she examined the screen of her omni-tool. "But still, I like it." The turian adjusted his weight from one foot to the other, the approval in her tone easing the knot of tense muscles just beneath his carapace.

"Well, you're the one who said plans never seem to really work out in our line of work. Figured we might as well try and keep this one as uncomplicated as possible, just in case." He leaned forward slightly to see the screen from over her shoulder, breathing in the subtle scent that surrounded her as he got closer. Despite himself, he found his gaze lingering on the glowing strands of hair for a moment; they almost seemed to shine in the dim, shifting Omega light, reflecting the muted copper colors back in a myriad of new ones. It really was rather remarkable, the sheen that most human hair had. How does Shepard keep hers so polished? He'd heard once, back in his C-Sec days, that humans had a special sort of soap just for their hair, separate from the kind they used to wash their bodies. Was that really true? He'd have to look that up when they got back to the Normandy.

"Looks like we're almost there," Shepard said, shifting his attention back to the omni-tool. They were only a couple of blocks away from the warehouse now. She traced a small line on the map nearby their current position. "This alley's close enough that we should have enough time if we move fast."

"Works for me." He commented, straightening up as she closed the glowing interface.

"You ready?" Shepard asked softly, cracking her knuckles.

"Always." he replied, anticipation narrowing his eyes slightly. His talons twitched, longing for his Mantis.

They turned the corner.

Shepard disappeared.

Not completely, of course. The telltale flicker of her Tactical Cloak as she activated it was gone in less than a blink, but even the best tech upgrades couldn't make her completely invisible. Not that that kept Shepard from trying, though. In the few seconds it took for her cloak to activate fully she'd already slipped away from him and blended into the crowd seamlessly. In fact, he admitted silently, if it weren't for his visor's biofeedback monitors Garrus himself would have lost track of her just as easily as any other civilian on the street had.

Just as easily, for example, as a certain salarian stalker would.

"See him?" Garrus muttered as he continued walking down the street. The amount of people on it had thinned out considerably as they'd gotten further into the warehouse district, but it was still as busy as one might expect from a place as crowded as Omega. Still, at least he could walk without having to stop every few feet as a larger group blocked the way.

"Not yet," Shepard's voice crackled in his ear. He kept one eye on his visor's monitor, watching as she paused just beside the corner they'd come from. "Guess he was further back than- got him."

Another heart rate appeared close to Shepard's as it approached the corner. Garrus sped up, closing the distance between him and the alley. It was located a little less than halfway down the block, a narrow corridor between two rusted storage houses that was just wide enough to fit a pair of krogan standing side by side. Garrus' mandibles twitched as his visor picked up the readings of another life form coming from inside it. He wasn't surprised; after all, finding an empty alley on Omega was about as likely to happen as finding a live Prothean buried away in cyro on a backwater colony somewhere.

Behind him, the salarian finally rounded the corner. Garrus slowed slightly, giving his follower a chance to spot him, and continued on. He kept close to a group of vorcha and watched his monitor as he waited. Sure enough, the salarian's heart rate, already high, began to increase a moment later as he realized he couldn't get a visual on one of his targets. It continued to climb as he sped up, likely assuming Shepard was hidden from sight by Garrus and the group of vorcha. Garrus waited, his breath slowing as adrenaline began to flow through him. Almost there, he thought as the salarian neared the alley.

Garrus slowed, watching as the salarian's heart raced.

"Here we go, Shepard." the turian muttered, and then turned around.

The salarian almost jumped at Garrus' sudden movement. His heart rate, however, actually did; the readings in Garrus' monitor spiked as the salarian panicked at the threat of discovery. He looked around, his head snapping viciously in different directions before settling on the nearby alleyway, and then powerwalked into the dank space as casually as one might any shop on the Citadel.

A moment later, Garrus mandibles flared into a smile as a high-pitched squeal crackled into his ear.

Shepard slammed the salarian against the wall, her Cloak flickering out as she did so. He turned his face to the side to keep it from being bashed into the hard metal, and his visible eye opened wide with shock. He opened his mouth to cry out, and Shepard casually pulled upward on one of his arms. His squeaked in pain as his arm was bent into the unnatural position behind his back.

"Looking for someone?" Shepard asked as she relieved the pressure on his arm slightly. Then, before he could reply, she turned towards the vorcha huddled further down in the alley and added, "Mind giving us a minute?"

The vorcha hissed, but otherwise seemed unsurprised by the sudden assault before him. He stood up, muttering something indistinguishable – Shepard thought she caught the words 'filty' and 'human' several times, but couldn't be sure – and then walked away, disappearing into the busy street just to their right.

"W-wait, what? You can't just leave me here!" the salarian cried after it, and Shepard turned back to him.

"Tell me why you're following us and I might let you live." she said, her tone flat.

"I-I I'm not," he stuttered, fright tripping the words as they came out. "I-Who are you? Let me-" he cut off with a gasp as she once again twisted his arm upwards.

"Tell me why you're following us." Shepard repeated.

The salarian whimpered, his body going limp in Shepard's arms. "I can't believe this is happening," he rambled, "I told him I wasn't cut out for this. 'Only tech' I said, 'No field work'. Would have joined the STG if I wanted to-"

Shepard tightened her grip on his arm slightly. "Told who?"

"I-I don't know his name! None of us do!" the salarian cried. "He goes by the alias Ghost, makes all of us call him that. Says real names are too dangerous."

Shepard tilted her head to look at Garrus as he joined them in the alley. "What is it with you people and the 'codenames' on this place?" she asked with a sigh.

The turian shrugged. "Never heard of him before. Must be new."

She turned back to her stalker. "Tell me everything you know about this 'Ghost'."

"He's human, ex-Alliance. Started up personal merc group awhile back, recruited me for tech only. Promised I wouldn't have to do field work, stay in the back, away from the bullets and pai-" The salarian breathed in sharply as Shepard gently pulled up on his arms. "Takes odd jobs, protection and such."

"And why did he have you follow us?"

"Not following 'us', following you. Said you were a ghost, just like him. Commander Shepard, the dead spectre that took down Saren. I said he was crazy, but he wouldn't listen. Said we could ransom you, that they were people who'd pay a lot of money for you. Said I had to keep track of you while he got plans ready. Told him that wasn't tech, not appropriately trained in tracking. He said no choice."

"What did he mean, plans?"

"Don't know, went separate ways. Was supposed to follow until he contacted me. Probably ambush, but can't be sure."

"Has he contacted you since Marsh's?"

The salarian twitched, obviously surprised. "N-no, that was last time."

She paused, thinking. "Where can I find him?"

"Don't know. Merc band only arrived here yesterday. No base of operations, thus no viable location for supposed whereabouts."

"Think harder." Shepard tugged on his arm.

"I swear, that's all I know!" the salarian said, his one visible eye blinking furiously.

He twitched beneath her hold, his body shaking with each breath. Shepard flexed her grip on his arms, feeling the ripples of tension that shot through him at her slight movement. She waited.

"S-spent time at Afterlife, maybe there. Otherwise, no idea. Don't know anything else, have to believe me!"

"I do." she said and the salarian sagged visibly, relief sweating out of him.

Shepard smashed his head into the wall and let him drop to the ground, unconscious.

"Harsh." Garrus commented from behind her, where he was leaning idly against the wall.

"Maybe." Shepard admitted, looking down at the salarians prone body. "He'll wake up with a headache and sore shoulders, but at least he'll wake up."

"Why not just kill him? He's a merc, Shepard. Scum like all the rest of them." Garrus said, his tone low. Shepard glanced over at him, noting the way his eyes narrowed as he stared at the body. The look on his face was one she'd never seen back when they'd first met; back when he'd just been Officer Vakarian, the C-Sec employee frustrated almost to his breaking point by all the rules and regulations he believed did nothing but help the criminals get away.

He had anger in his eyes back then, she thought as she watched him, but never this level of burning hatred, whatever he said. No, this was the face of 'Archangel' that she saw now, the turian Garrus had become in order to survive. This was the side of him that had always been there, the one that thought only of justice and vengeance, brought out in full strength now that he was back in the place it had first been born in.

I never should have brought him, Shepard thought again.

"He's harmless, Garrus. Just an idiot who made some mistakes and got in over his head. He doesn't deserve to die for that." she said, holding the turian's gaze with her own as she added, slightly softer, "We all make mistakes."

He looked away, giving her one of his shrugs.

"It's your call, Shepard."

Silence crowded the alleyway. Shepard scratched her cheek and looked down at the salarian. She bent over him as she examined his head wound, double-checking to make sure she hadn't gotten too carried away. She heard Garrus shift behind her, but didn't turn around. He coughed lightly a moment later, the sound harsh and sharp in the otherwise quiet alley.

"So, how do you want to handle this 'Ghost' anyway?" he asked a few moments later, his tone back to its normal octave. "I think I remember Joker mentioning something about human holy men usually being called in on cases like this."

Shepard's lip curled as she wondered what horror vid he'd watched that had given him that idea. "I don't think an exorcist would help us all that much here." She paused, staring at the salarian's uncounscious face. Somehow, she'd forgotten how dangerous Omega could be, even for a Spectre like her. They were ridiculously outnumbered, thousands against just their two. Coming here without any back up aside from Garrus had been reckless, especially since the two of them combined apparently had enough enemies out there that even shopping put them at risk. Garrus and her might be the best, but Shepard had no illusions about how this would end if she pushed their luck and wasted time hunting down a single merc group among the hundreds that called Omega home. She couldn't afford to accidentally die here because one merc was out to get rich quick, not when she still had too much to do.

Not when the Collectors were still out there.

She exhaled as she made her decision, turning back to Garrus with an arched brow. "Honestly, there's not enough time in a good day to track down all the people who want me dead, and we're already running late as it is. I'll have EDI or Miranda look into this guy when we get back to the Normandy. Maybe they'll be able to dig something up on him. For now, let's just go get those parts and get out off this hellhole."

Garrus straightened up and gestured for her to lead the way. "Couldn't have said it better myself."