AN: Thanks to everyone who has favourited, followed and double thanks to everyone who has reviewed.

Special thanks goes to my beta Spyke1985! Seriously, you're awesome!

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Seven – Girls Night

"That was the last bag." Sarah announced as she slumped down onto the sofa in the living room of the small apartment that she now shared with Tia. She would have been lying if she said that she wasn't worried about the move. If Tia figured out what she was, she couldn't fathom the depths of shit she would be in. But this was all part of her effort to be normal. She wasn't even sure what normal was but she was sure as hell determined to find it.

She was pulled from her thoughts as her statement was greeted by a cheer from both Tiala and Lia.

"Thanks again for helping me move." She told the quarian who shrugged.

"I would just like to make one thing perfectly clear." She said as she sat down opposite Sarah.

"Yeah?"

"I'm only here because you're bribing me with alcohol and curry." She told them, getting a laugh from the other two girls as she opened a bottle of dextro beer.

"I still can't believe you managed to find a place that sells dextro vindaloo." Tiala said to Sarah as she sat down next to her. Sarah just shrugged in response as she began to dish out the food, wishing that she could eat some of the dextro dishes but not wanting to chance it in front of Tia.

"You'd be surprised at the lengths Sarah will go to when she's craving a certain kind of food." Lia said as she started to eat.

"I guess I'm just surprised by the effort she went to simply so that you weren't left out." Tiala reasoned and Sarah frowned.

"Surprised? Wow Tia, way to make me sound like a first-class bitch." She joked before frowning. "I haven't really been that bad, have I?"

"Nah, you just took a while to warm up." Tia told her. "Put it this way, if I thought you were a bitch I wouldn't have asked you to move in. It's just a little odd. As if you're in reverse. Normally people are super nice when you first meet them and then they get meaner the longer you know them as they stop caring so much about making a good impression. But you didn't care what we thought of you when we first met you and, as time goes on, you get nicer." Sarah just shrugged at that.

"What can I say? Apparently I'm unpredictable." She joked and Tiala smirked.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, you're still a sarcastic hot-head with no respect for the rules and a complete inability to think before you act-"

"Didn't this start off as a compliment?" Sarah interrupted sarcastically as she folded her arms but Tia kept going.

"-and you still have your moments. I mean, I am never asking you to comfort anyone ever again. This morning was a disaster." The asari said and Sarah shifted uncomfortably.

"I did warn you." She reminded her but Lia waved her hand dismissively.

"That's just Sarah." She told Tiala, shrugging. "She has an uncanny knack for knowing exactly what's bothering someone but she doesn't have the first clue what to actually do with the information."

"That was a long time ago." Sarah told Lia, suddenly feeling not so hungry. Tia shook her head.

"No, that was exactly the problem. You figured out exactly what had happened to that woman. You just blurted it out rather bluntly." She told Sarah who frowned a little.

"Did I? Huh, I guess I did..."

"Has she always been like this?" Tiala asked Lia and the quarian nodded.

"Alarmingly astute about some things and completely oblivious to others? Yeah, pretty much. I'd say you get used to it, but you really don't." She reasoned, shrugging.

"I'm not that bad." Sarah said, rolling her eyes, and Lia smiled.

"Yeah, you are. You're stubborn and headstrong and you're terribly blunt." Sarah just smirked at that.

"Those aren't necessarily bad things." She reasoned jokingly, earning her a smile from her two friends.

"So, where are you actually staying?" Tiala asked Lia who shrugged.

"The embassy. I, erm... I wanted to rough it, you know, like my mom did..."

"Because that worked out so well for her." Sarah interrupted, sarcastically.

"Well, yeah, it did." Lia said honestly and Tiala frowned.

"Wait, what happened to your mom?" She asked and Sarah and Lia gave each other a significant look.

"She was attacked while on her pilgrimage." Lia finally said. "That was when she met Auntie Ja- Sarah's parents. I wanted the same kind of legendary pilgrimage so I refused to take too much money with me. Which means that I can't afford to stay anywhere but the embassy. They have a whole set up for kids on their pilgrimage. It's just a little cramped, plus Tal and Mordin aren't staying with me and so, since Harmony doesn't have to sleep, I end up on my own."

"Why don't you stay here with us?" Tia offered and Sarah frowned a little.

"Now who's the one being overly nice?" She asked and Tia shrugged.

"Well, why not? Alexa was never really around when she lived here and I don't really have many friends outside of Philip. Having other girls around is a novelty." She admitted and Sarah let her sub-harmonics trill with question, although she knew that neither of the other two could hear.

"You don't have any sisters?" She asked and Tia shook her head.

"I was an only child and I grew up with my dad so I've never really been close with girls before." She told them and Lia smiled.

"Sarah is barely a 'girl'." She joked, in an attempt to lighten the mood, and Sarah threw a poppadom at her head in response. "You know what I mean. When was the last time you wore a dress?"

"I... Own dresses... I think." Sarah replied, causing Lia to shake her head, smiling. "So, are you staying with us or not?"

"Might as well. I'm only here for a week and I wouldn't want to waste any opportunities to poke fun at Sarah. So, as long as it's okay with you guys, then I'd be more than happy to stay."

"You'll be on the couch." Tia warned and she nodded.

"That's fine. It'll be like that time I stayed with you and Hil, Sarah. Remember?" Lia asked and Sarah nodded.

"Yeah, that was fun." She said and Tia gave them a questioning look, which Lia answered.

"It was right before Ang- Other Sarah showed up. Mordin had been being a typical teenage krogan and his parents had decided to kick him off-world and let Sarah's parents deal with him for a while. They reckoned that the excitement of space travel might calm him for a while." She explained and Sarah snorted.

"Not that it worked. I ended up sparring with him every day to keep him happy. I didn't understand why Uncle James couldn't do it; he's pretty much a krogan himself." Sarah reasoned and Lia raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh please, he wouldn't settle for anything less than a She-"

"Anyway…" Sarah interrupted before her friend gave away her identity. "We landed on Rannoch not long after and Lia and her brother insisted that if Mordin could come with us then so could they."

"You know why Rael insisted, don't you?" Lia asked and Sarah shrugged.

"He's a boy and we had a big spaceship. Does there need to be another reason?" She asked and Lia narrowed her eyes.

"Wow, you really are that dense, aren't you? He was crushing on you." Lia told her and Sarah snorted.

"No, he wasn't." She said and Lia shook her head.

"He was. Trust me. He wouldn't shut up about you. And then when you came back a few months later…" Sarah sighed, nodding. When she had come back, she had been Angel. And, while she didn't want a relationship, she didn't mind the idea of blowing off steam with a friend.

"So, is this why you haven't realized?" Tia asked and Sarah frowned.

"Realized what?"

"All of the guys lining up to date you." Tia said and Sarah blushed a little, shaking her head.

"That's not… I mean, no they don't. I mean… Lia, you know that I'm not even…" She trailed off, unable to say what was bothering her. But Lia knew. Sarah was a mutant. A freak of nature. No one else saw her that way, and neither did she, most of the time. But occasionally, she would realize just how different she was and it would mess with her confidence. Lia suspected that having to hide her identity for months was screwing up her self-image.

"Sarah, you know that guys don't care. You've got tits and an ass. You're good." She said, slightly jokingly. Sarah gave her a weak smile.

"Doesn't matter anyway. I wouldn't want to risk another Rael incident and I don't want a real relationship." She said and Lia groaned.

"Keelah, not this again! I thought this was an Ang- an Other Sarah thing. It's not even that you don't believe that love exists, it's that you think it's too dangerous to risk!" She said, clearly exasperated.

"I refuse to have my priorities messed up by a hormonal imbalance." She told them, folding her arms.

"So, it wouldn't matter who liked you?" Tia asked and Sarah shook her head.

"Nope."

"What about Tal? He's nice and he clearly likes you." Lia said and Sarah shook her head again.

"Not interested." She said and Tia narrowed her eyes a little.

"What about Philip? He seems interested." She said and Sarah held up her hands, shaking her head.

"Oh no, I may not be sensitive to this shit but I know when to stay out of someone else's territory." She said, causing Tia to frown.

"Wait, whose territory?" She asked and Sarah frowned.

"Yours, you bosh'tet. Even I can see that." Lia interjected and Tiala shook her head.

"I'm not… I mean… We're not together." Tia said and Sarah smiled.

"Only because you're both too stubborn." She said and Tiala's expression became a little distant as she shook her head.

"No, that ship sailed long ago. Trust me, I don't want to be with Philip and he got over me a while ago." Tia said and Sarah shrugged.

"Answer is still no." She stated and Tia smirked a little.

"What if I told you that Tiberius likes you?" She asked and Sarah shrugged.

"He doesn't."

"But what if he did?" She asked and Sarah shook her head.

"Doesn't matter. He doesn't like me and even if he did, I wouldn't want to risk our friendship." She said and Lia narrowed her eyes.

"That's not a no." She pointed out and Sarah groaned.

"Do you need me to say it more clearly? N-O." She said, rolling her eyes.

"I think you're protesting too much." Lia teased and Sarah threw her a death glare.

"I think you're right." Tia agreed and Sarah groaned with frustration.

"If I go out with Tal, will it shut you two up?" She asked and the other two women looked at each other before nodding, grins across both their faces.

"Yes." They said in unison, causing Sarah to roll her eyes.

"Spirits, I've created a monster." She joked before her omni-tool beeped. "Shit, I've gotta go."

"Meeting Tiberius?" Tia asked, her voice full of suggestion that made Sarah roll her eyes.

"Not that it's any of your business but yes. We finally have enough intel to take to the Executor." She replied and Tia shook her head.

"I would say 'have fun' but it sounds like you're just going to be talking about work. Like usual." She said and Sarah frowned.

"That's not… I mean it's not all… We talk about other things…" She said and Tia laughed a little.

"Workaholics. The both of you. Well, if you're leaving then I'm borrowing your friend. I haven't had someone to go shopping with in ages." Tiala said and Lia perked up in response.

"Oh, I haven't had a chance to check out the shops yet!" The quarian squeaked excitedly and Tia grinned.

"See? That's the proper response to shopping." She told Sarah, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Have fun."

Sarah waited impatiently for Tiberius, going over the last pieces of intel. There was… something. Something she wasn't remembering, or piecing together. And it was bugging the hell out of her. She continued to go over the data in front of her, well aware that she was missing something obvious, and started to hum as she worked. The humming quickly evolved into singing as she quickly moved between data-pads, looking for the missing link.

"There's a harvest each Saturday night,
At the bars filled with perfume and hitching a ride,
A place you can stand for one night and get gone,
It's clear this conversation ain't doing a thing,
Cause these boys only listen to me when I sing,
And I don't feel like singing tonight,
All the same songs.

Here in these deep city lights,
Girl could get lost tonight,
I'm finding every reason to be gone,
Nothing here to hold on to,
Could I hold you?

The situation's always the same,
You got your wolves in their clothes whispering Hollywood's name,
Stealing gold from the silver they see,
But it's not me…"

"You know, you're a decent singer." Sarah jumped at that, spinning around to see that the voice had come from Tiberius as he moved towards her.

"Dammit, Red. Don't scare me like that." She told him and he laughed a little, a sound that was all too rare in her opinion.

"Seriously? This from the queen of sneaking." She smiled at that, shrugging.

"What can I say? I'm a ninja." She told him, before narrowing her eyes. "Don't tell anyone. About the singing thing. It's embarrassing."

"I won't. You should know by now, Blue. Your secrets are safe with me." He told her and she smiled again.

"I know. Thanks."

"So, what are you looking for?" He asked and she frowned.

"It's… there's something here. Something that should be obvious and I'm not seeing it." She admitted and he shrugged.

"So, sleep on it. But, for now, I think we have enough for the Executor." He told her and she nodded.

"I agree." She told him before hopping off of the ledge and down into the street below, cushioning her fall with her biotics.

"You know, there are stairs." He yelled down to her and she shrugged before he moved down to join her. "I thought your biotics still weren't working. How did you know they would activate?" He asked and she shrugged.

"I didn't." She said, her cavalier attitude towards her own well-being catching him off guard.

"What do you mean you 'didn't'? You leapt down three stories without knowing whether or not your biotics would kick in? Do you have a death wish?" He demanded and she shook her head, surprised by his outburst.

"No, I… I figured that I could trigger them with a big enough adrenaline jolt." She reasoned and he glared at her.

"And if it hadn't worked?" He asked and she shrugged, not meeting his gaze.

"I would have been able to break my fall on the wall but… I probably would have broken something on the way down." She admitted.

"And that doesn't bother you?" He asked and she shrugged.

"I… You know that I'm not great at thinking before I act." She reasoned, causing him to groan.

"It's just… It's not like you're not intelligent. You just have no common sense." He told her and she shrugged again.

"I know. Stuff that seems common sense to me isn't to everyone else and stuff that other people think is common sense is completely alien to me." She admitted, her sub-harmonics trilling with uncertainty. "That's why I'm glad you're here. You've got enough common sense for both of us." She told him, the joking tone absent from her voice.

"Just… Don't put yourself in danger, An- Sarah." He almost froze on the spot. Had he almost called her- No. That wasn't possible.

"Did you just almost call me Angel?" She asked and he nodded as his mouth went dry. Right, Angel. That makes sense.

"Sorry. I guess I wasn't really thinking." He said and she shrugged.

"No, it's fine. Just weird. I haven't been called Angel in months. Speaking of Angel, I wanted to thank you." She said and he let his sub-harmonics trill with question.

"You seem to spend most of the time we're together either thanking me or apologising to me." He pointed out and she tried not to blush at the comment.

"Well, I have a lot to thank you for. And... A lot to be sorry for." She defended. "Anyway, I wanted to thank you for… Not treating me differently. I figure most people would just bombard me with questions about what it was like growing up and stuff…" She reasoned and he shrugged.

"I figured that if you wanted to talk about it, you would." He told her and she nodded.

"Yeah. To be honest, I'm a little homesick. It's nice here but… I don't know. I guess it was never where I pictured myself, you know?" She asked.

"Yeah. I guess this was never your thing growing up." He observed and she laughed a little, shaking her head.

"That obvious, huh?" She joked before sighing. "To be honest, I was always better with books than guns. And I was better with guns than people so go figure."

"You thinking about leaving?" He asked, not quite believing how opposed to the idea he was.

"I don't know." She told him honestly. "I'm… I've made friends here. And that's a reason to stay. But at some point I'm going to leave. This isn't where I'm meant to be, I'm sure of it."

"If you leave, I'll miss you." He told her before he could stop himself. She was surprised by how much the comment touched her heart. Had Tiala and Lia's teasing not been completely baseless? No. It had to be. But, maybe they were right about one thing. Going out with Tal might actually be a good idea.

"I'd miss you too. I'd miss all of you guys. Don't worry, I don't plan on leaving soon." She told him as they approached the C-Sec HQ.

"You sure she's in her office?" Tiberius asked and Sarah nodded.

"Yeah, Aunt Sol always works late. Well, I guess 'late' is relative here but, still." She said as they entered the building.

"I guess all time is relative." He reasoned and she grinned.

"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so." She quoted and he shook his head at her as she heading into the Executor's office. She was always surprised by the lack of doors on the Citadel. She was used to living on a ship where there were doors everywhere in order to contain any shipboard fire. Apparently there were no such concerns on the Citadel. At least, not on the Presidium.

"Sarah. Tiberius. Need me for something?" She asked as Sarah handed her the data-pads.

"You know that restricted medical tech that we've been tracking?" Sarah asked.

"Yes. Do you have a location?" She asked and Sarah shook her head.

"Several. We also know what the tech is." Sarah said, indicating to a data-pad. "I recognized some of the parts we recovered. We have some of this tech on the Normandy." Her aunt's gaze quickly moved to Tiberius and Sarah shrugged. "Oh, Red figured out my identity a while back."

"Sarah…" Her aunt started and Sarah just shrugged.

"What? You know I'm crap at keeping secrets." She reasoned and her aunt narrowed her eyes at the turian next to her, causing Sarah to let out an uncharacteristic growl.

"I trust him, Aunt Sol." She told the older woman who finally nodded.

"Alright, so this tech…" She moved her gaze back to the data-pad and her skin rapidly paled beneath her plates. "I'm pulling you two off this." She said quickly.

"What?!" Sarah exclaimed as Tiberius frowned.

"This tech is restricted for a reason. Sarah, trust me when I say that you don't want to be anywhere near this. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to make some calls." The Executor said as she left the two confused officers in her office.

"And this is why you don't work with family." Sarah said, her sub-harmonics growling with frustration.

"You think she pulled you off to keep you out of danger?" He asked her and she snorted.

"She practically said so… So, what now?" She asked and he shrugged.

"We pick a different assignment." He told her before leaving and she once again cursed his perfect poker face. She was half tempted to follow him but decided against it. Whatever was going on with her feelings towards her friend, she thought that distance was probably the best move.

Tiala and Lia returned to the apartment to find Sarah sprinting on the treadmill. Tia moved to check her stats on the little screen in front of her.

"Impressive." She said before Lia shook her head.

"Keelah, what happened?" She asked and Sarah slowed her speed a little.

"Nothing. I just… The Executor took us off the case and… Nothing." There was no way that she was telling the other two about her weird reactions to Tiberius. She would never hear the end of it.

"Doesn't sound like 'nothing'." Tia observed but Sarah shook her head as she shut down the treadmill.

"Seriously, I don't want to talk about it. Damn, I think my shower stuff is still in my bags…" She said.

"I'll get it." Tiala offered as Lia moved towards her friend.

"She did it because of who you are, didn't she?" Lia asked, her tone too low for Tiala to hear.

"Yeah, I think she did." She admitted and Lia frowned.

"You could just tell your parents." She reasoned and Sarah laughed a little at that.

"If I had to guess, I'd say that it was on my parents orders. I just… I feel bad for Red. This was his investigation and then he gets pulled off because of me. He probably hates me right now."

"That's not true." Lia objected but Sarah shook her head.

"Doesn't matter anyway." She said as Tia brought her bag of toiletries.

"Thanks Tia." She said as she rummaged through the bag, pulling out several items at once.

"Hey, what's this?" Tia asked as she picked up a vial of deep blue paint. Sarah immediately froze where she was. "Is this your colony paint?" She asked and Sarah nodded, weakly.

"Yeah." She said, hoping that the asari wouldn't put two and two together.

"Cool." She said before putting it back down. Lia couldn't help but laugh a little at that, and Sarah elbowed her in the rib.

"What? I thought you said that she was your smart friend." She hissed back and Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Just give her a few moments." She groaned back.

"Wait a minute…" Tia said, causing Sarah to sigh.

"There we go." She said as the asari frowned at her.

"This is the exact shade of Executor Vakarian's markings." She observed and Sarah nodded.

"Bingo." She said causing the asari to splutter a little.

"Wait, you're Angel?" She asked and Lia grinned.

"Honestly, I thought they would figure it out sooner. You're not known for being good at keeping secrets." Lia observed and Sarah shrugged.

"Red figured it out a while ago." She informed them and Tia shook her head in disbelief.

"You just like being impossible, don't you?" She asked Sarah who simply shrugged.

"I guess. Can I trust you to not tell anyone else?" She asked and the asari nodded.

"Of course."

"Even Philip?"

"It's your secret. I'll keep it for you, you have my word." She said and Sarah nodded, thankfully.

"Thank you, Tia. Obviously, this isn't something I want people to find out about." She said and the asari nodded.

"I understand. Although, you know that Philip would understand too, right?" She asked and Sarah sighed.

"Yeah but… I just don't want more people to know than absolutely necessary." She admitted and Tia nodded.

"I get that. So… That story you guys were telling me before, about your parents meeting…"

"My mom was being chased by Saren's agents…" Lia started and Sarah couldn't help but smile. What did it matter if she kept herself distanced from Tiberius? As he himself had said, she was no longer such a loner.