Location: Ops Hangar—Deck one SSV Dublin grounded by Firebase Dagger—Ontarom.
Operations Chief Hunter paced like a ferret, hovering near the specialists and double checking their charts. Rank and file worked side-by-side as they analyzed every bit of new weapon data. They stared in awe of the theoretical outputs the rifle would produce, if they could get it to work. The weapon system was revolutionary.
Liam wanted to hurry the kids along, but something in Vega's anticipatory gaze and the Captain's calm demeanor told him to wait. Why spoil the surprise now?
Sargent Colvin gave Hunter a thumbs up. He patted her shoulder and strode towards his waiting audience. Casey and Glen traded yawns at their workbench, exhausted from a night watch. Liam chose to stand with Ellie, Vega and the Captain. Preston stayed at his spot beside Hunter, arms crossed and glare set to kill as he tapped his foot like a jackhammer.
"Cut it out," Dana ordered, shooting an annoyed look towards her Staff Commander.
Preston quickly obliged before Hunter hefted the prototype rifle and addressed the senior officers. "This may look like an ordinary Avenger," he boasted, before tracing a hollow portion on the weapon's body, "but it's missing a heat sink."
Everyone held a collective breath of frustration and curiosity, but it was the captain's tense aura that kept the questions at bay. Liam watched her from the corner of his eye, noting how she barely made eye contact with Preston today and how the older man seemed more pissed off than usual.
Hunter looked around, seemingly disappointed by the lack of enthusiasm.
"That's it?" Ellie blurted, leaning an elbow against the worktable Vega hopped to sit on.
"Well ... ," Hunter scratched the back of his neck and looked to them sheepishly. The whole crew gave out an exhausted sigh. It was way too early for this shit.
Liam rolled his eyes and stepped forward, deciding to help the kid out before he lost them completely. "The heat sink is missing but the scan shows this locking mechanism here," he instructed, tracing a finger along the avenger that Hunter held. "is a heat sink latch."
"There's just one problem," Hunter jumped in, finally realizing where he lost them, "there's no such thing as detachable heat sinks. If we gutted one from another avenger, it would be burning hot. We need heat sinks that are cool in their natural state and can be ejected after firing."
Everyone looked thoughtful for a moment. Happy that they were all on the same page again, Liam stepped back and let Hunter have the show.
"Hold up," Glen questioned, "you saying it's possible?"
"Yes ... just not exactly workable at the moment," Hunter confirmed, before looking to the Captain. The kid resembled a puppy dog, hoping to see his master's approval. Yet Flores remained stone calm without a single hint of what was going on in her head.
"So we won't be firing them anytime soon?" Casey asked, a hint of disappointment threading into her voice as she watched the weapon eagerly.
Hunter shook his head in answer.
Vega fidgeted, rolling his head and shoulders to loosen the tension. Liam sensed that same excitement coming from him. "Look, we can make something that'll work. Just give me a few days and I can have that baby firing steady," Vega offered.
"No." All eyes fell to the captain as she spoke with careful certainty. "We don't need to play guessing games. The Cerberus agent we picked up will know how this works."
"How do we know she won't try and sabotage the damn thing if we put in her hands?" Preston stated, running a hand over his coarse stubble.
"You think she's gonna try and bust out of here all by her lonesome?" Ellie quipped before the Captain could reply, looking at Preston like a cat who's found her favorite toy. "Give it a rest, Preston. At most she'll try to negotiate an early release by aiding us."
"You clearly never had to protect your own work, Donnelly," Preston shot back, as Casey and Glen jumped in with the more immediate matters of what to do with it now.
With so many opinions flying around, it was hard to agree to anything. But Liam knew that no matter what, the Captain was right. They couldn't sit on their thumbs and poke at the problem. If this gun worked, then war would take on another dimension. He just wasn't sure if it was the best way to go.
"That's enough," Dana called, drawing everyone back to order. "Shepard, we're going to pay our prisoner a visit."
Liam nodded only to have Preston step forward. "Do you really think that's a good idea?"
"It's worth a shot. Stay here and wait for Hackett in case he arrives early." She turned to her chief and motioned to the rifle in his hands. "Hunter, pack that thing up with all of its original blue prints. If she's going to tell us anything, she needs to feel in control. The rest of you, get back to your stations. Dismissed."
The crew disbanded and bunched around Hunter, wanting to get a good look at the prototype. Preston and Flores made their way back to the elevators. Liam was about to follow suit when Ellie slid a hand along his shoulder, down his arm and tugged.
"I think you might want to give them some time," Ellie muttered, shooting a glance to Preston and the Captain as they spoke in hushed tones.
"What's going on?" he questioned, as she led him off to the side and away from the crew.
"The Captain hasn't been doing too well," she whispered softly.
"What?" He felt pressure in his chest, but didn't bother trying to understand it. Nothing good came from being paralyzed with feelings. "What's wrong?"
Ellie held up a hand. "The docs cleared her. But ever since Anhur, well ... she's had some painful headaches. Not exactly life threatening, but they're accompanied by nosebleeds. Chakwas wants to send her off world to get a further diagnosis but she's refusing."
He wondered how she was privy to so much information, but stopped guessing when he saw the flicker of fear in her eyes. For the past couple of months Ellie had been nothing but easy going, first with a wise crack and smile, always in the loop with whatever was going on in the ship. Her word was golden as far as scuttlebutt went. So if she was scared, she had a reason to be.
"I know this is her ship, but she can't just brush Chakwas off," Liam tried to assure. "Even generals are mandated to obey doctor orders."
"You're not hearing me!" Ellie argued, yanking him towards the now empty lift bay. "There's nothing wrong, at least nothing that Chakwas found. Without solid proof of an illness she can't force the captain to go anywhere."
Ellie tapped the button to call the elevator. As he watched the numbers descend, it finally hit him. Liam chuckled. "You want me to convince her to go."
Ellie beamed, but her expressing fell when he crossed his arms in defence. "This is for her own good."
"I think that's up to her," Liam said, walking ahead when the elevator doors opened. His calm demeanor didn't falter, but the thumping of his heart told a different story. Yet as much as he wanted to talk some sense into Dana the last thing he needed was to have Ellie as a partner in crime. Dana struck him as someone who would burn all bridges if pushed into a corner.
"You're the one that's been spending more time with her." A hint of an accusation sounded in her voice, but it was overshadowed with worry by the time the doors closed. "Look, I've served with her for a long time. She can be stubborn but that's why we all trust Preston to push back when he needs to. Now she's ignoring even him!"
"Which should tell you something," Liam replied, trying to look anywhere but her face. "Just give her some breathing room."
Ellie stopped and stared at him, eyes narrowed, mouth agape, as if he were a recently enslaved human. "Wait ... am I out of the loop here?"
"Ellie..." he groaned, wishing the stupid lift would hurry up already.
"Are you two..."
"No," he replied, glad when the lift came to a stop at the labs on deck two. "Look, I'll talk to her, just promise not to nag her about it."
"But—"
"Promise me, Ellie," Liam chided, over his shoulder as the doors opened.
"My lips are sealed." She made a zipper swipe across her mouth. "I just hope you know what you're doing."
Deck two wasn't large enough for all the egg heads clogging the hallways, talking animatedly about the newest acquisition. News of the Avenger with a removable heat sink spread like wild fire. But while everyone was focused on the tech, Liam had eyes on its creator. The mysterious Selina York who was still locked up and under interrogation from the biggest asshole this side of the galaxy. Her invention was a game changer. Re-loadable clips meant greater combat efficiency and no latency between skirmishes. However, all signs pointed to Cerberus being the architects of this weapon and so far, nothing good came from the name.
Squeezing past a rowdy bunch, Liam pulled the intel Fiona managed to gather, or lack of it. The classified documents were blacked out by the paragraph and yielded no answers to Cerberus' activities. His sister promised to keep chipping at the red tape, but at this point he was wondering if it were all a big waste of time. A group like Cerberus wouldn't keep records or explanations of their tech, they just did as they saw fit and that made them dangerous. Even in captivity.
A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. The painstaking task of deciphering Elena's research logs took a back seat as his visitor entered.
"You have some timing, you know that?" Liam taunted, glancing over to her.
The young tech looked to him with a sheepish smile before realizing he was joking. "Sir, I thought you might want to speak with our latest guest."
"What makes you say that?" Liam replied, typing in his login before swiveling his chair to face the Comm Specialist.
"The Noverian Intelligence Badge for one," Traynor said, raising her omni-tool to his level. A projection of a professional businesswoman hovered over her arm. A professional woman stared back at him. Gelled back hair, eyes a shade of midnight black that would rival Hunter's, her face showed the perfect blend of apathetic amusement.
"Commander Shepard," the woman spoke, eyeing him from head to toe like a rival poker player does his competition. "You're a hard man to get a hold of." She held up her badge proud and clear. The silver chevrons enclosing the seal of Noverian Intelligence flared bright in the projection.
Noverian Intelligence was one of the most respected corporate law enforcement agencies in the galaxy. But rumors of their operators' self-serving motivations didn't do the bureau any justice. He had an entire contact-list of buddies that were burned by Noverian Intelligence operatives when the going got tough. He heard enough stories and knew to steer clear of them unless the sky was falling. Liam crossed his arms. There were much more important things to do than talk with bureaucrats.
"Mrs. Parasini," he read the distinctly Indian surname off her silver shield, "I'm a busy man."
"And I'm a busy woman," Gianna retorted. "I'd speak with your captain, but you're the one who got a front-row seat to a biotic light show. I thought you might want to share the results with an interested party."
This piqued his curiosity. But everything Noveria was interested in usually had a money motive or an investment opportunity factored in. They couldn't have heard about the weapon yet, could they? "What's the interest?"
"My employers want to know what happened to their employees, mainly one named Caplus Stark." She flicked her omni-tool and the projection showed up on Traynors. The gruesome picture dropped his heart like a lead weight.
Caplus Stark had been missing for almost a month now. No one had heard from him or his family ever since the incident with the asari. The young kid in the picture was an unrecognizable mess now, only identifiable by his uniform. His eyes were devoid of life, looking up into the camera blankely from beneath a frozen pool of blood at the back of his head. Brain matter spilled from the top of his skull, suggesting a violent death by blunt force trauma.
The stream of recollection was so strong that Traynor had to clear her throat to get his attention. "Um ... Commander?"
Liam's eyes whipped to his Comm. Specialist then back to the curious ones of Parasini. The woman looked predatory as she studied him, collecting information but offering nothing in return. She wore the mask of indifference so well that Liam almost believed it, had it not been for the slight waver in her brows.
"What about his parents?" Liam asked, finding his voice again and proud to hear that it sounded stronger than he felt.
"Honestly I don't know what to tell them." Parasini shook her head. "That's why I'm hoping you'll help me figure this out," she said, allowing her voice to soften by an octa. "Let me come aboard and we'll find the bastards who did this."
o~O~o
Location: R&D medical facility—Cerberus Frigate 'Albatross'.
Miranda's heels slapped against glossed steel as she ran, red warning lights illuminated each step. The med bay was swarmed with techs in white lab coats, all running in the opposite direction. It was easy to dodge the panicked masses, but much harder to swallow her disgust at their show of weakness. Each and every one of them were trained to military standards. They had no excuse for running the other way, but at the same time she couldn't exactly blame them. Not if what Dmitri and Svetlana said was true.
The doors to the medical operations theatre had their blinking locked lights on. Miranda didn't think twice as she balled a fist of biotic energy and let a powerful burst of warp shoot ahead of her. The kinetic energy blew the doors off their rails and confirmed her worst case scenario.
Dmitri and Svetlana vigorously fired at the reinforced viewing glass. Behind it, Banes took no notice of his colleagues since all his focus was directed at the shackled Cerberus soldier before him. Miranda skid to a halt and shot wave after wave of energy towards the glass, knowing it was futile but unable to believe the work being conducted before her.
Banes looked up, eyes black with vainly tendrils, smile red with the blood of the living soldier before him. The man's scalp was peeled back, exposing his brain to Banes.
"Miranda!" Banes called through the viewing lounge speakers. "Glad you could join me."
"We need to do something!" Sveta yelled at her, as Dima started pounding the butt of his empty rifle against the glass. It would be of no use. The material was reinforced so that an operation could proceed in the event of a nuclear attack. They would need more than guns to get through and stop Banes, yet they had nothing of that caliber at their disposal now.
"Where is the Lieutenant-General?" Miranda asked.
"Banes locked him away in the CIC," Dima hollered over each thrust. "I don't think he wanted anyone coming to the rescue."
Miranda swallowed hard, watching as Banes dug into the soldier's skull with a scalpel and yanked a piece of brain matter. The captive howled in pain but Banes only cackled in response.
The entire viewing room was just a glorified theater, no special weapons, no equipment, no fail safe. It was a major oversight but one that she couldn't ponder at the moment as her instinct kicked in. She scanned the floors, the seat panels, everything for a saving grace.
"Use your biotics!" Sveta demanded.
Miranda didn't like demands, especially not from those beneath her. But there was no time to reprimand the operative so she shot her a scathing glare instead.
Svetlana reared back and continued trying to break the glass with her own empty rifle.
"It's of no use," Miranda shouted over the VI's warning. "Just find a way for me to communicate with Banes. That's all that matters now."
Skilled with working under pressure, the two operatives found the microphone in a heartbeat. Miranda snagged it and spoke to Banes. "What are you doing?"
"You'll see, Lawson," Banes said, wiping blood from his chin. "I'm being generous."
"You're going to kill him," Miranda stated, hoping the clipped tone would knock the scientist into reality. But Banes wasn't part of the scientific community that cowered before her on Ontarom. He simply carried on as if she weren't there. "We had an agreement that you weren't to experiment on our personnel."
Banes skillfully dislodged another precise bloody circle of the man's brain matter. This time the soldier stopped screaming and flat-lined. The monitors squealed and the subject went limp from blood loss. Her mind couldn't begin processing how someone could be capable of such ruthlessness, but her eyes remained captivated by the shiny black object no larger than a pair of dice that Banes held between forceps. Its glistening exterior caught the red lights, amplifying their waves into angry seas of vengence. She had never seen it in his possession before, or anywhere else for that matter.
"Why him, Alexei?" She asked, hoping the use of his real name would trigger something in him. Or at least piss him off enough to give them time to get in.
Banes stopped, the black object hovering between the dead patient's exposed brain. The man who was becoming less of one each day, locked eyes with hers, grinning. "Why not?"
He had her there. She didn't know jack about the soldier who just lost his life, he was already far too gone to save and beyond her reach. What she fought for now was some justification, if only for the two operatives they still had to work with once he stepped out of that lab. The Illusive Man made it quite clear that it was her job to keep Banes in line. Turning the whole ship against him was not going to help that, so asking him questions to clarify his intent was the safest alternative.
Yet here he was trying to choke his own gift horse with ridiculous answers.
"There had to be a reason," Miranda prompted, hoping her intent was clear. Banes was no idiot, surely he could grasp the gravity of his own situation.
But the madman ignored her and proceeded to drop the cube into the subject. Within seconds his hands moved with the afterimages of biotics, as Banes quickly sowed the skullcap with a precision that machines would envy.
Miranda watched in horror as Banes drew closer. His white muscle shirt, stained with blotches of the other man's blood. It stuck to his chest like a wet towel. For a moment she was thankful for the extraordinarily strong glass, at least it kept the stench of death away.
Dima and Sveta bristled with anger, but were wise enough to stow it as Banes neared. He placed a bloody hand print on the viewing window and gazed at her triumphantly.
The moment shattered when the glass burst under his touch. There was no sign of biotics, no flash of blue, it was as if the material simply gave up and yielded to his will. Something Miranda refused to do, even as her colleagues cautiously stepped back.
"He's just the beginning, Miranda," Banes said, the frost of his breath brushed against her cheek. "Rise!"
She stood confused, wondering if he dared to give her an order. That's when movement from behind Banes caught her ears. The soldier, whom the machines recently pronounced dead, broke his shackles and made an incomprehensible sound, somewhere between a wail and roar.
Miranda watched in awe from over Banes' shoulder, as the figure surveyed his surroundings. For a moment the human within seemed confused, frightened even. But that passed as the screeching continued and the soldier dug his nails into the soft flesh near his stitches. Seemingly realizing his predicament, the man leapt to his feet.
That's when Miranda saw its eyes. Black like the midnight oil, the advanced stages of corruption spread from the head downwards, carried forward by veins. It happened so fast that she had to blink in order to convince herself it wasn't some parlor trick.
What was once a man, swung its arm back. Within a moment, a mid-sized ball of dark energy built up in his palm. The creature roared and swung it towards them with all its might. Miranda dove for cover, Carnifax Hand Cannon clearing her holster.
Sveta and Dima landed nearby. But it was Banes who only threw up a dark shield. The blue light shattered on the energy's surface and evaporated like a cheap drink.
Miranda saw her opening and shot an overload spike towards the monitors near the creature. The screens burst into flame, but barely grazed the mutating soldier. Banes smiled, outstretched his hand and crushed the air.
The creature grasped his throat, before sinking to his knees and exploding into a bloody mess.
One of the operatives must have deactivated the alarm, since the sound of panic disappeared and the red strobe lights stopped spinning. When the smoke cleared she looked from the dead soldier, now missing a head, back to Banes. Her top scientist's eyes returned to their normal blues, the dark tendrils that only moments ago enslaved his corneas retreated to just beyond his eyelids as if nothing happened.
"What do you think?" Banes asked, grinning from ear to ear with glee as if he just showed her a new car.
Miranda holstered her pistol and the three of them rose from cover. "You'll have to do better than a dead man, Banes," she spoke, watching the rivulets of blood flow from the stump of the neck and drip to the floor.
A million thoughts swam through her mind, but she pushed them all back in favor of observable data. The soldier's body was obscured by his tactical gear. But she could see the entirety of his neck, darkened by corrupted veins. Bits of brain matter strewn about ranged from charcoal black to healthy pink, but it was difficult to tell if the color were the result of Bane's experiment or the explosion.
"On the contrary, my dear Lawson, bringing the dead back to life is just one application. There's so much more I can do with this." He stepped away and nudged the bloody stump that remained of his dead experiment. "I need the rest of my research."
o~O~o
Location: Interrogation room 1—Firebase Dagger underground detention center—Ontarom.
"So Cerberus wakes up one day and decides to build a rifle without a heatsink?" Liam asked, leaning back in his bolted steel chair.
Across from him, Selina York huffed and ran a hand through her pixie cut as she sank forward on an elbow. "Yes, that's exactly what happened," she replied sarcastically. But her hands betrayed her as she languidly slid a finger along the stock.
At least unlike with Brock, she seemed more relaxed with him. Liam couldn't figure out what to do with that. She needed to fear him if he were to get any information out of her, but at the same time he couldn't bring himself to be an asshole. The girl looked exhausted, dark sleep deprived circles lined her eyes and her hair stuck out in places where she thread her fingers through it. The rifle and research strewn before her had a calming effect. Yet it was her general lack of resistance that concerned him. It was almost as if she were happy to be here. Happy to be caught and possibly court-martialed in a few hours.
"I'm trying to help, Ms. York," Liam stated, feeling the familiar prickling sensation at his shoulders. Someone was watching them through the one-way mirror. In the past few days Dana had observed all the interrogations but refused to enter herself. Now he could feel her unease with each second he spent getting nowhere. "Why don't you start at the beginning and tell me about the project's purpose."
"To build weapons without heat sinks. End of story, detective," York plopped her head on outstretched arms and sighed. Her hand clutched the rifle's grip, but released it just as quickly. "When are you going to hand me over to the important people? And will it be Hackett or Kahoku that reads me my rights?"
Her knowledge of special asset detention procedures basically confirmed her Cerberus credentials. But where once she wore the blues strong and proud, Liam couldn't figure out why she would ever run off with a splinter group. Nothing in York's record suggested unhappiness, but that record hadn't been updated in years thanks to Cerberus' defection.
"What about your team?" Liam pressed, watching as she began to stroke the prototype rifle, almost lovingly. "I know you didn't defect on your own,"
York chortled, propping her chin atop her arms on the table. "You can't defect from a splinter group that had already defected by stealth."
"What do you mean?" Liam crossed his arms, but kept his back in contact with the chair in a futile attempt to appear casual.
"I spent days explaining it to that other asshole," Selina said, "Cerberus ain't what it used to be ever since they left the Alliance." She shrugged as her eyes got that far away look again. "I got out."
"And what about your team?" the coldness of the metal contrasted greatly between the scorching heat at the back of his neck. Something told him to hurry it up, but couldn't be sure of what else Dana was trying to communicate from behind the glass. "You know that Jeremy is dead. Help us make sure that doesn't happen to the rest. Tell me where Elena would go?"
"I don't know." York shook her head. All earlier defiance disappeared as the she visibly deflated. He couldn't blame her. Being on the run for so long only to learn that your friend was dead didn't make things easier. But they weren't here to cover sympathy. They needed answers and she wasn't providing many.
The door burst open, startling both occupants as Dana stormed in. The Captain held murder in her eye as she bee-lined for York. "I'm sick of your shit! Tell me where she is or you'll be talking through a feeding tube!" Dana shouted, as she waved her pistol.
York squeezed her eyes shut and cowered before the captain. But it was Liam who reacted and grasped her wrist before she could level it at their prisoner. "Hey!"
"Let go of me, Shepard!" Flores commanded, struggling against her subordinate as he ushered her out the door.
When the steel locked behind them, he did as she asked but not before wrenching the weapon from her hand. Dana heaved in rage. He felt his own shallow breaths match the rise and fall of her chest as the adrenaline wore off.
"What the hell was that?" he asked between breaths.
Dana straightened up and motioned for her pistol back. The corners of her lips quirked upwards as she glanced between him and the petrified Selina York now alone in the other room. "We have another five hours before Hackett lands. Keep her like this for two and we'll see if she wants to play nice."
"We agreed on good cop, bad cop," Liam replied, checking her weapon only to breathe a sigh of relief when the chamber came up empty. "I think you scared the bejesus out of her." He gave a dry laugh and passed the weapon back. "Out of me too."
"She was prepared for that routine after Brock's blundering. So I thought I'd mix it up a little," Dana explained, sliding the gun back into its charging holster at her hip. "You're okay?"
"Yeah..." He said, from his bent over position, unable to believe he just fell for that. But then again she had a way of surprising him nowadays and if he was honest with himself, he was growing to like it. But the blood running from her nose made him frown. "Did I hurt you?"
She touched her fingers to flow and narrowed her eyes before digging for a tissue and dabbing at her nose.
"I'm fine," she replied calmly, drawing the paper away. "Atmospheric conditions get dry this time of year. I'm told it has something to do with the lack of snow."
But Liam wasn't buying that as he studied her carefully, remembering what Ellie said. Ever since that mission he kept a close eye on her, but the technicians found nothing but water residue in the recovered syringe. And the captain showed no signs of illness, at least none that she was willing to share. The nosebleeds however were becoming more frequent. "You've talked to Chakwas, ma'am?"
"Let me worry about her." Her glare told him to drop it as she stepped around him. With one last look to their terrified prisoner who was on the brink of tears, Dana turned back to him. "Fear is a great motivator." Then he could've sworn she checked him out as eyes of appraisal raked his body. "You're starting to handle yours well. You don't freeze up anymore and your bio-suit readouts are not as alarming." She began to walk, but shot him a smile over her shoulder. "Keep up the good work, Shepard."
"Will do, Captain," he replied, unable to stop the growing feeling in his heart as he fell in-step. The warmth of her body in his arms wasn't leaving him anytime soon.
"Where are we with the Stark kid?" She asked, as the continued down the desolate halls of the detention facility.
"I wanted to talk to you about that," Liam said, feeling his palms heat up. "The Noverian Intelligence agent wants to see the bodies."
Dana stopped and he nearly left her behind. For months now the team had been identifying bodies of the victims, the process was so long that Endeavour colony was starting to protest against them. Any more delays and they might have more than peaceful protests to worry about. "She has to be shitting me?"
"I know what you're probably thinking, ma'am," Liam pacified, "but I don't think she wants to draw this out anymore than it already has been."
"Brock is getting slaughtered in PR for each day that we delay," she stated, eyes alight in frustration. He knew it was less about Brock and more about giving those folks closure, but she was too guarded to say it out loud.
"Is that a bad thing?" He asked, putting his life on the line with a smile.
Her eyes widened incredulously, before the small hint of amusement transformed into a laugh. She stepped away and regained composure. But the lighthearted sparkle didn't leave her eye as she tried not to laugh. "What does she want?"
"The same thing we do," Liam said, resting his hands on his hips, "she wants to find the guys who did this to Stark."
"That has nothing to do with the people caught in your skirmish with Cerberus," She replied, crossing her arms.
"She's more interested in the body bags we brought from the asari situation," he said, knowing it made no difference since the military coroners, as part of Alliance policy, wouldn't release any bodies to the public if an investigation was on-going. "I don't think she has any interest in the apartment victims."
Dana rubbed her eyes and sighed. "I hate outdated protocols."
He had the overwhelming urge to feel her forehead, remembering how Mikey used to rub his eyes whenever he had a headache.
"Don't we all," he replied in a low voice, hoping not to cause her any further pain. "I can work with her, Captain. I know the bureau isn't popular, but she seems different."
"They all seem different until you find out they're the same." She met his eyes and must have seen something she liked because the smile re-appeared. "Alright. When we're done with York you have free reign to help Parasini with the investigation. I'll work with Brock to try and get the other bodies home."
Her quick change of heart would have been suspicious under any other circumstances, but he wasn't about to question dumb luck. Something about her radiance coaxed him into being thankful and just accepting this gift. "I'll go tell Parasini the good news. Thank you ... Dana."
Even though he asked her to call him Liam many times, she never took him up on his offer. While he grew to accept that, he never missed the chance to indulge on the permission she gave him to use her first name. It sounded great on his tongue and he felt like a little school boy with a crush again.
"Good. Get too it, Shepard," she said matter-of-factly, bumping his shoulder lightly as she passed, "just be careful around Noverian Intelligence."
"Always," he called after her, grinning as she walked away.