Garrus continued to stare open-mouthed at his father, his mind reeling as he contemplated everything that needed be said.

"Shepard," he muttered under his breath, finding it difficult to speak with his mouth dry and his stomach in his throat. "Go meet with Sparatus. I'll find you in a bit."

Shepard paused, reaching out to touch his arm in condolences but changing her mind at the last moment and turning to leave him.

As the door to the dining area closed behind Shepard, Raius looked up at the source of the noise and his eyes met with Garrus's, steely blue finding steely blue. He immediately excused himself from the group and approached Garrus, a weak smile growing on his face.

"Garrus, my son." His subvocals reflected happiness mixed with confusion. He gripped Garrus's forearms and their foreheads met. "It's a surprise to see you here."

"Same to you, dad. I thought you'd be home with mom."

Raius took a step back from Garrus, analyzing him momentarily, his eyes lingering on the scarred side of Garrus's face. "Solana is watching her while I attend to family duties. She misses you; I wish you would write to her."

Garrus growled faintly. "Duties which are more important than your wife's health?"

His father responded with a barking laugh. "You're criticizing me about caring for my loved ones when you abandoned us years ago? That's rich."

Garrus's anger nearly boiled over. He wasn't proud about putting aside his family for himself, but saving the galaxy had to take precedent. And with all the enemies he had developed over his two years on Omega, hiding his family's existence was the safest thing he could do for his parents and his sister.

"Regardless, Garrus, I'm glad to see that you're alive and that you've come to your senses. I admit I was concerned after our last phone call." His father paused, his gaze flitting around the room. "It's good to see you back on the Citadel where you belong instead of on that human ship with that human Commander, chasing children's old scary stories." Garrus didn't fail to notice the disgust in Raius's subvocals.

The turian who had opened the door for Garrus and Shepard walked past them with a tray laden with drinks in his hand, one of which Garrus grabbed and threw down his throat. "Actually, dad, I'm here with Commander Shepard."

Raius was silenced by that, and took a drink for himself. Garrus would never deny that he was a lucky turian - he was born into a wealthy and powerful family in the hierarchy, and both his parents cared for him. But as he grew older and began having career aspirations, his relationship with his father became gradually more strained. From his father picking all of his classes in school, to choosing his basic training regiment, to refusing his Spectre training, Garrus always felt that his father was choosing his life for him because it was the 'turian way'.

"When will you stop chasing those fantasies and start doing your duty, son? Your place is with the turians, protecting and helping the people."

"You think I'm not trying to protect and help the people now?" Garrus's voice was beginning to rise in frustration.

"You're trying to protect them from something that doesn't exist."

"Saren and the geth threat was real, father, and Commander Shepard lead her crew, including myself, to take him down! The Reapers are real too, I've seen the threat first hand, but everyone is so concerned with maintaining their blissfully ignorant world that they're ignoring what Commander Shepard is saying and risking their people because of it!"

Raius's brow furrowed and he placed his hand on Garrus's shoulder in an attempt to placate his son. "Garrus, what Saren said about the Reapers is a lie. I can understand a human like Shepard falling for his lies, but I'm disappointed in you, son. You're too strong for this."

Garrus pulled away sharply, his father's taloned hand falling meekly from his shoulder. "The threat is real, father, whether you want to believe it or not. Don't risk your family just to prove that it's right."

"I am not risking my family!"

The room fell silent at Raius's raised voice. The turian son and father faced each other, their faces nearly touching, both fuming in anger and frustration. Garrus felt a strong hand on his shoulder and a steady voice spoke in his ear, "Let's go, Officer Vakarian, don't want to cause any trouble now."

Garrus's face fell into agony and he gave his father one last fleeting look before turning away and following the steady voice out of the apartment. As soon as they began walking away, the background murmuring of the other party guests returned.

When they had stepped out, he saw it was Mr. Buxton, the barefaced turian who had answered the door, who had lead him out of it. "I can't let you back in, Officer Vakarian. Can't cause any trouble. Why don't you head back to your ship now." He turned away and headed back into the loft, picking up a drink tray near the door before closing it on Garrus.

Instead of heading back to the ship, he took a seat at a nearby bench to wait for Shepard, playing the scene from earlier over and over in his head while holding his carapace in his hands.

Garrus loved his mother. He loved his sister. But he would never love his father.

Crab, lobster, steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, broccoli, asparagus, pasta, salmon, chicken breast, turkey, fresh bread... and sushi.

Shepard glanced around the room to see that she was alone and dove to the levo table, taking a plate with one of everything. She closed her eyes, threw her head back and let out a quiet moan at the taste of sushi in her mouth for the first time in almost ten years.

The food was incredible, everything fresh and cooked by a real chef. She hadn't eaten that well in years and gorged herself, nonplussed about her unprofessional appearance.

"Commander Shepard, I see you found the levo buffet." She turned around to see Sparatus chuckling, an asari dressed in medical robes beside him.

She saluted him respectfully, and when she spoke her words were slightly muffled by mashed potatoes. "It's amazing, Councilor, thank you for your hospitality."

"Of course, Shepard, I'm glad you could make it. Have a seat." He sat at a nearby bar stool and indicated for her to have a seat next to him. "I'm glad we're getting the chance to talk. I'm speaking for the entire Council when I say how much I appreciate all the work you put in to take down Saren and the geth threat. You'll always have an honoured place among the Spectres. Do you mind if Dr. Altheira takes a blood sample?"

She swallowed a lump of rice down her throat. "I suppose not." Her response was rewarded with a wide grin from the Councilor. "So, you're ready to discuss the Collectors?"

"I'd like to start with discussing Cerberus." He opened a data pad and took a few brief notes while Shepard took another few bites of food. "I'm grateful, of course, that they brought you back, I'm just curious as to why. The regeneration seems extreme, but it also appears to be a massive scientific breakthrough."

Shepard let in a sharp intake of breath when the asari surprised her by jabbing a large needle into her arm and quickly drawing blood. "A warning would have been nice," she growled to the asari before turning back to the turian Councilor. "When my scientist discovered the cell, I believed that it would have been an absolute priority to have it reengineered for the other species and then mass produced. However, I've been informed that it was part of the implants which were developed for my recovery, and they can only be replicated with vast amounts of credits and only under reconstructive circumstances."

The Councilor took a moment to type on his data pad, a faint smile on his face. "You're quite loquacious, Commander, you should consider politics after your military career." He finished typing and looked at her over the data pad. "So, you're under the impression that you're the only one that has received this treatment?"

"That's correct. I believe that Cerberus wants me to stay alive to successfully take down the Collectors."

"I'm sure. Do you have any information on any of the scientists involved in the development?"

With a fork full of salmon only an inch from her mouth, Shepard paused and lowered it slowly back onto her plate. "Councilor, I think that we should spend some of our limited time discussing the Collector and Reaper threats."

He cocked his head gently to the side, a condescending smile on his face. "Now Shepard, we all know that the Reaper threat is a delusion created from the Prothean cipher on Eden Prime, it's not your fault-"

She stood up abruptly. "There is a respectable turian in the next room who saw Sovereign on Virmire just like I did!"

Sparatus stood up and towered over her. "A facility on Virmire which you chose to destroy."

"Saren was breeding krogan! Would you truly have expected me to keep the facility in tact?"

"We could have used the research, Shepard."

"Just like you're using the research that Cerberus created to bring me back?"

The two stared each other down, neither willing to be the first to look away.

"Councilor, sir?" Both of their gazes were drawn to Mr. Buxton, who stood at the doorway to the kitchen, his voice faint. "You're needed in the dining area."

"I trust you can find your way out, Shepard." His subvocals were dripping with malice.

Without another word Sparatus left Mr. Buxton and Shepard alone. Shepard took a moment to allow her breathing to slow down before turning to the turian. "Could you be so kind as to inform Officer Vakarian that we're leaving?"

"He's already left, ma'am."

Her brow furrowed. "Why?"

"He was in an argument, I requested for him to leave before it escalated."

Typical Shepard and Vakarian. You could dress them up and take them to parties, but they both just wanted to start fights.

"Thank you, Mr. Buxton. It was a pleasure meeting you today, please thank your host for his generous hospitality." She turned on her heel and left the kitchen and then the loft.

Garrus looked up when he saw the door to the loft open, and was surprised to see an angry looking Shepard emerge.

"That was quick," he said, standing up to walk over to her. "Sparatus didn't have much to say?"

"Nothing worthwhile," she said, rummaging in her handbag. "I should have known he only wanted me there to take a blood sample and find more about Cerberus bringing me back. At least I'm more prepared for people taking advantage of me from here on in." To his surprise, she pulled a napkin filled with sushi rolls out of her purse and popped one in her mouth. "How did things go with your dad?"

Garrus sighed. His usual reaction to a difficult situation was to brush it off with humour, but at this moment he wanted nothing more than to scream and break things. "I love my family, Shepard. But Spirits my father is a selfish bastard."

She gave his shoulder a quick squeeze. "Care to elaborate?"

"Some day, Shepard, but not today."

"I guess we're just not party people, Garrus." She looped their elbows together. "We're too good at causing trouble."

"Maybe trouble just finds us, Zoey."

Lost in their thoughts, the pair returned to the ship in silence.