FLYNN WATCHED THE ASARI as she moved through the cargo storage area of the Phoenix' hanger. She had one eye from the looks of things, a hard-looking female rather deliberate in motion. Suspended in a repair gantry the Red Mane hung two metres off the deck. Next to it hung the Virago. He could see small automated spider-like repair 'bots climbing all over it and alternately cursed that the repairs would impede him and somewhat pleased to see something actually being done to return his ship to trim. Flynn's head still ached and his body sore and twinging painfully more than he'd like, but he'd made it this far on his own.

The AI announced some meeting at 18:00 but he ignored it. He couldn't care less what happened on this ship.

Flynn quietly made to enter the hanger, but the asari saw him and came directly to him. Up close, the asari looked even more severe.

"Excuse me, sir," she said, not impolitely. "During this inventory cycle the hanger is off-limits."

"Really?" Flynn replied, looking her up and down. "Not while me property's hangin' there, it hain't."

He made to step around her, but she firmly stepped into his way. Flynn halted.

"I'm afraid it is, sir. Commander's orders."

"Tha' so? And what're ye gon'ta do if I choose to ignore them orders?"

"Remove you." She cocked her head slightly. "Sir."

"Bullocks! As long as my property hangs there, I'll go where I bloody well like." He took another step and the asari stopped him with a finger to his chest. Flynn cast a baleful eye down at it.

"My orders are clear. You are not entering this hanger."

"An' who th' fook are you ta tell me nay?"

"I am Saajila Niran Hijalli. I blew a Reaper Brute apart with a single Charge."

Flynn gave her a look of doubt and a scoffing 'pfft'. At any other time, he would have been impressed with both her credentials and directness, but he wasn't exactly in his best temper. He raised both hands and flexed the fingers before her.

"Biotics. I broke th' neck of a krogan wit' me bare hands. Ye think a little slip o' a gurl like ye is gonna stop me?"

"I was a Death Mistress of The Thessian Extreme Front." She smiled a hard smile. "So, yes."

Flynn narrowed his eyes and gave her his best snarl. He stepped back and sent her a dismissive wave.

"Feckin' asari. Allays so damn superior, but ne'er nuthin' more'n pets o' the Prot'eans, it turns owt."

Saajila's face darkened at the slur, her short fuse never far from being lit at the best of times.

"I beg your pardon?" she tried, low and dangerous.

"Ye heard me. We all saw th' feeds. Stealin,' lyin' an' hidin'. Th' bes' little actors in th' Galaxy."

Saajila ground her teeth and took a step back of her own, her amps flaring.

"If you weren't the Commander's guest…."

"I'm her guest, am I? Well, isn't tha' a kick inna head? A 'guest' no allowed near his own property!"

"You are not entering this hanger!"

"Ye little bitch, yer gonna hav' ta kill me to stop me, cos' I'm goin'." Flynn took a hard step with fists bunched and Saajila responded with a flare of her biotics, perfectly willing to put Flynn down, her anger near red-hot. That the man was still heavily bandaged and obviously not at his best did not deter her. He could have it any way he liked out of simple respect for his guts.

"Say now! What's all this?" sounded from behind them, Winston Black stepping suddenly between the two. Behind him, Kassidi waited. Flynn immediately stepped back with a small smile on his face, his whole manner instantly calm and conversational.

"Ah, Duke – jus' in toime. I'm tryin' to check on me ship and this… won't let me do it."

Black looked to Saajila who simply reiterated that she was under orders.

"There you go." Black waved at the ceiling to indicate it was out of their hands.

"No, there I don' go! She thinks I'm a 'guest'? Guess Miri didn't tell nobody I was unner contract an' c'n go where I fookin' well like!"

"What?" came from both human and asari at the same time. Saajila took a step forward.

"You could have just said that when you arrived!" she hissed at him. Flynn crossed his arms and gave her an insolent smile.

"Why? Then ye could'nae showed off."

Black tried a conciliatory gesture to the infuriated asari.

"I apologize on behalf of my friend – he's injured and still on heavy medication." Flynn glared at the man as he said it. "I assure you he would not normally be this way."

"I don't care. No one not crew is allowed in the hanger during inventory." Saajila ground out, biotic flare dying away. "Commander's orders!"

"Perfectly understandable. I appreciate your patience." He looked askance at Flynn. "We were just leaving at any rate." Black indicated the door. "Weren't we?" he added with some force. Flynn simply eyed Saajila a moment longer, his smile almost contemptuous.

"Foine." He walked with Black to the door then halted and turned back to Saajila just as it closed. "But I'll be back."

Black turned to Kassidi.

"I'll see you at the meeting, all right?"

"Of course," she replied, dubious and hesitating.

"He'll get to ye, Sweetheart. Now piss off!"

Kassidi backed away, offended at the tone. Black sent her a look of 'I'll handle it,' and she retreated back up the corridor. It was not how he might have wanted to send Kassidi on her way, but any port in a storm, as they said…

Flynn chuckled to himself as Black eyed him with incredulity.

"You are in fine form, Dullahan. You usually aren't this boorish until midday."

Flynn waved it away.

"Whatever. Fooking asari need to be taken down a peg 'r' two. So do th' bloody quarians."

"You usually need a pint or two to be this cynical."

"Ye hain't cynical enuf, Duke. If yer smart, ye'll be comin' wit' me."

Black crossed his arms and leaned against the wall in the corridor. His face was skeptical.

"And where might you be going?"

"Th' fook outta here, first chance."

Black shook his head as Flynn aped him across the corridor.

"I accepted a contract, Dullahan. I can't just up and leave."

"Who sez ye can't? Or hav' ye already sampled th' amenities hereabouts?"

Black thrust a finger at Flynn in reproach.

"That's beneath you, Dullahan."

Flynn's smile was a knowing one.

"I'll take tha' as a 'yes', then. You don' waste time, tha's fer damn sure."

"That is hardly my reason for staying."

"Aw, roight. It's a def'nit bonus, innit?" He scratched his chin, looking thoughtful. "Ah… ye got tha' little quar'in taggin' along… Bit of a minder, is she? Ye got more'n one contract unner ye belt? Well, gud fer ye, lad, but I'm nae damn fool."

"What's happening is a clear and present danger, Flynn."

It was Flynn's turn to look skeptical.

"Ye actually believe whatever shite she handed ye to getcha ta sign on?"

"Is there a reason I shouldn't? Is there a reason you shouldn't? Councillor Hackett and New Chamberlain's demise seemed evidence enough."

Flynn pushed himself off the wall, started limping up the corridor. Black followed after a moment of contemplation.

"Don' be fooled by th' looks an' th' legend an' those stupid vids, me lad." Flynn scoffed, his tone derisive. "The Divine Ms. Lawson an' her fookin' 'word'. Me arse. Yer contract will las' precisely as long as she thinks she needs ye."

"And then…?"

"An' then you best hav' money on hand… or you'll be fooked an' she'll conveniently nae remember ye e'en existed."

Asha'Rhaal passed them in the corridor and nodded to both as she went by. Both men stopped to nod back and then proceeded on.

"That seems highly unlikely."

"Ye c'n believe it."

"You sound as if you speak from experience."

"Enough. Enough ta know better."

"My friend, unfortunately, your vague word is not enough for me to simply abandon a contract."

"'Abandon'… there's a gud word."

Black pulled Flynn up short.

"Dullahan… I know we've not seen each other for a while, but this… this is not like you. If you want me to take you at your word… I need more. What has that woman done?"

Flynn leaned into him, thrust a finger at the scar on his jaw.

"This fer one. Oh, nawt direc'ly! But as surely as she were there she done it!"

"What? Were you enemies at one point? What the hell is at the root of all …this?"

"Her word… an' wha' it costs."

Black led Flynn to a small observation lounge. Instead of a large window, it had a huge holodisplay, which lit when the men entered. Flynn sat on one of the couches with a grunt and Black sat opposite him.

"Now then. Tell me this tale of woe."

"Ye sound like yer nawt e'en gonna try ta believe me."

Black held up a hand. "I will consider seriously everything you choose to tell me."

Flynn stared past him at the asari ships silently gliding past. After a minute or so, he began.

"I was feelin' pretty fooked after Torfan, so I went home. Last damn thin' ye should do, no matter wha' th' brain squeezers tell ye." He leaned forward, contemplated the bandage wrapped around his right hand, squeezed it just to feel the pain. The black spinal column tattoo on his wrist rippled as he did. "Everybody wanted ta hear it and I did'nae wanna tell it, so I left. Y'know how ye said 'we were heroes once'? So we were, then th' Reapers come an' make a million heroes an 'our every 'our. Does nae mean so much awash inna sea of 'em."

"That doesn't diminish our own accomplishments."

"Ye remember Jolly Finn and his bunch?"

"More his wife than him running that lot, if I remember correctly."

"Aye. Jolly Finn, Lenny the Screw, Rolf Sinnsyk, Sherrie Pierce, Jamie Peel, Turk Mishimoto, Emma Red, Yankee Pete and Freddie Tiller. Roight reg'lar shower o' bastards. We was all contracted by Nellie Coppers ta bust some Cer'brus hole on Sjanus. Some intel broker tryin' ta score."

Black had been nodding along with the roll call of names.

"You had a good crew. Some of those people were heroes in their own rights. Coppers was responsible for Brigid, no?"

"The same. She got smart an' retired. By the end o' it, I shot that gobshite Finn and Miri killed the rest."

Black blinked at the matter-of-factness of it.

"I see."

"We'll see if'n ye see." A sniff. "Me arse… it were brilliant. I take tha' shite base, she takes it back, kills all me crew. Heroes all, yeah?" Contemptuous. "I kill alla her lads an' then th' feckin' Blood Pack rolls up on us whiles we were arguing abou' when we were gonna kill each other. I said 'feck it' an' told her ta keep it. I were done."

"It came down to just you two?"

"Yup. I was priming me ship when she come stormin' in… " Flynn's eyes seemed to lose focus and Black knew he was back in that hanger. "Like a …white streak o' fire, boy, the bes'-lookin' fury an' murder wrapped skintight in hate I'd e'er seen." The smile as he said it was warm and genuine, but quickly faded. There was real depth of emotion there for her Black could see, especially if Flynn waxed poetic about her. "Anyway. She offered me a princely sum ta help her – after blamin' me fer pretty much everythin' leadin' up ta our present predicament. I let tha' pretty face an' body sway me, loike some stunned-arse first-timer." He shook his head. "I unnerstand why she wore them skinjobs now. Ta mush up th' brains of fookin' arseholes like me."

"That makes sense." Black replied and Flynn glared. "From a purely psychological standpoint, of course."

"Well it works," Flynn told him, dry as a bone. "Ta make a long story short, we killed off them Packers and tha' was tha'." Flynn laughed then, but there was no humour in it. "Tha' was tha'. So I figger wha' th' hell, I had nuthin' ta lose."

Black laughed in spite of himself.

"You didn't."

"I did. Asked her ta go ta Illium wit' me."

"I imagine her outrage was considerable."

Flynn gave him a sour look at the assumption, regardless of how accurate it might have been.

"Ye ever hear th' phrase 'Yer beautiful when yer angry?' Brother, they was talkin' abou' her."

"If you say."

"She went, if'n ye c'n believe tha'. After it all died down, she looked me straight in th' eye an' said she'd go. It were th' best week of me life, I'll tell ye honestly, in spite of ever'thin'. I'll say tha' as all the bare an' plain truth. It were the best week of me whole pointless, miserable life." Flynn sighed and dropped his head to gaze at the floor. "Ne'er saw it comin'."

Black stayed silent, watching the pain surge through his old friend's eyes.

"Anyway." Flynn said after a considerable silence. "No lie, it was great. I thought I'd hit th' jackpot, boy… I'd ne'er been so insane fer a woman in me life so quick. I spent every cred I had left to wine an' dine 'er. Did'nae care. I was havin' a grand time an' so was she. So she said." Flynn's eyes went dark then, hard and cold. "I know wha' it was now, tho', e'en tho' I did'nae then. Why she'd agree so quick …wit' a guy like me…"

"Why?" Black asked quietly.

Flynn looked back up, at his friend, face blank and eyes dull. "It took me a while – ye know how dull-witted I can be – but nuthin' else makes sense. It all fit wit' how it ended." Black simply looked the question at him again.

"Revenge." A self-deprecating smile then. "I woke up tha' last mornin' an' she were gone. Just gone. No note, no message, nuthin'. Managed ta see her step onna Cer'brus shuttle wit' owt a backward look." Flynn's hands curled into fists so hard his knuckles cracked. "I would'a done anythin' fer her, Duke. Anythin'. I would'a joined feckin' Cer'brus jus' ta be near her." He snarled, anger flaring. "Now I jus' kill 'em."

"How is her leaving you 'revenge'?"

"Tha' face. Tha' body, those brains. I killed her whole crew meself. I made her look bad, Duke. One man took owt her whole crew. Tha' does' nae e'er look good on any report. One of her first real missions fer Cer'brus an' I made her look bad. Real bad."

"She was willing to go that far for something as petty as revenge? I mean, I assume you two…"

"Women ha' done worse cheerfully fer less. I may not be th' gold standard fer women ye are, but I hain't a dawg neither." Flynn jacked himself to his feet and limped to the holodisplay, agitation subdued but present. "Meant nuthin' ta her. Nuthin'. I see tha' now." Flynn said with finality, growled under his breath. "You remember she were gonna pay me?"

"Yes…"

"She did nae."

Black stood, slowly joined Flynn at the 'window'.

"Ahhh."

"Aye. Convenient, was'n it?" Flynn's voice rose in intensity as resentment powered through it. "Left me wit' nawt a single cred. Not one feckin' one! Asari impounded me ship an' I went to local runaround fer some humiliatin' arrears on the hotel bill, amongst others. What I had ta do to get off'a tha' rock…!" Flynn rubbed his jaw as he spoke.

"Dullahan… it's been years since then. People change. Miranda has doubtless changed."

"Really. 'Some things don't need ta change'." He echoed, disdain thick in his voice. "Ye were there, ye heard 'er on New Chamberl'in. No' a word of it. Loike it ne'er happened. No' a single regret. I could'a taken 'er telling me it ha' been a mistake. I could'a taken a note tellin' me to just feck off. But I got nuthin'! No' then, no' now. 'She'll pay me'. The fook!" Flynn huffed an angry breath and turned from the display to fix his friend with a stern look. "I'm takin' advantage o' 'er 'hospitality' an' then I'm fookin' gone. I hain't seen a cred nor am likely ta… an' I won' be suckered to be puttin' me neck onna line twice fer nuthin' in one life. I know ye won't be followin' me as ye got it pretty gud a'ready an' I don' blame ye fer tha'. Ye stay an' enjoy it. When ye work ye way upta her, ye tell her I sent ye wit' me blessin's!"

Flynn turned and made to leave, but Black stopped him with a snarl of his own.

"That's too far, Flynn!"

"What's a' matter, boy? Hit a little too close ta home?"

Black bit back a response, tried to remember where he was and just how good Flynn was at getting under people's skin and that he wasn't as immune as he'd thought.

"You need to think this through." Black's voice was flat and angry. "Consider this – if it were 'revenge', how does walking away now settle anything? You gain nothing."

"I keep wha's left of me self-respect!" He waved Black away. "This time I'm th' one who leaves!"

"Will she notice?" Black stopped him with that. Flynn was deliberately ignoring certain facts, of that he was certain. Sometimes however, the best way to enlighten someone was to simply humour them. "Why recruit you at all?"

Flynn sent him a suspicious look over his shoulder.

"Yer a fookin' sly one, aren't ye?"

Black shrugged, unapologetic.

"Well? Spit it owt, then, fer feck's sake!"

Winston crossed his arms, regarded Flynn with a look of pity.

"If – if she has such …contempt for you yet, if it is as you say, then doubtless she expects you to leave. What satisfaction does she get if you go?"

"Exactly tha'! None!"

Black cast his eyes heavenward in frustration.

"She's vindicated, you thick idiot! What satisfaction do you get on leaving then?"

"Fer feck's sake!"

"Precisely." Black rolled his eyes with a mock sigh. "Frankly, she doesn't think you'll cut it. Her whole attitude was that your presence is against her better judgment."

"Aye… She said tha'."

"Yes, but why? Is she afraid of something? Ask yourself why before you start leaping about like an aflame vorcha."

Flynn pursed his lips, thoughtful. Black wasn't finished, however.

"That's the important bit, Flynn. Ms. Lawson doesn't really want you here. Is it because of that revenge you speak of? That would seem logical in that case. But… Hackett recommended you. She never had good things to say about the Alliance. Would she do it for Hackett? It would have been just as easy to say she couldn't find you. No… she must have something else in mind."

Flynn was remembering the incident in the medbay. If she had actually wanted him gone…

"If it were me…" Black continued. "I'd play her little game to defeat her with it. Maybe that's your best counter."

"Play along." Black could see Flynn considering it. "Let 'er 'ang 'erself."

"That is one way of looking at it, yes." Black replied dryly. At any other time, Flynn wouldn't have been quite this easy, but you worked with what you had.

"Well, then. Tha's a diff'rent story, innit it? I musta hit me head harder n' I thought. I'm jus' nawt thinkin' this stuff through."

"You need to heal, Dullahan." Black told him in a conciliatory tone. "Even you aren't indestructible."

"Yer roight there." Flynn smiled. "Yer a clever sunuvabitch."

"Thank you."

"It's nawt a compliment." The smile vanished.

Black was taken aback a moment and then that moment passed.

"I'll see ye at tha' meetin'." Flynn said and then he stomped off as best he could. "Thanks fer the ear."

"Any time." Black felt rather inexplicably tired just then.

"An' th' discretion, Duke. Yeah?"

"Naturally."

Flynn disappeared through the door and Black turned back to the holodisplay. His leg ached. On the plus side, it appeared that the Phoenix was at last moving. They were ahead of schedule, but he suspected the Shadow Broker may have had a hand in it. He thought back to Flynn's jab about 'working his way' through the Phoenix' crew and frowned, found himself taken aback that the thought had actually crossed his mind – although not particularly seriously - and wondered if Flynn really thought him capable. It was a new idea that Flynn was jealous of him, something he'd never considered before. Trust between them had been strained, but that had more to do with time and distance than actual personality. Black sighed and shook his head. What had Ilola said? Something about 'hating being in the middle of someone else's something'?

The day was coming, he vowed, when he was really going to learn to mind his own damn business.