The interior of the Normandy buzzed with the subdued energy of diligent activity, murmurs and clinks of crew members going about their duties. It felt very different from the energy of the old Normandy. For one, the SR1 had been substantially more cramped, with twice the people in half the space - or so it seemed. But the important thing was the feeling. Everything aboard the SR1, with the possible exception of the more irreverent banter, felt purposeful. When the ship was abuzz with energy, the crew were all business. When it was time for fighting, a tense silence took her. Here, the talk was relaxed, and the topics often mundane, inconsequential even. Sure, everyone was there to do a job and they could do it well - if nothing else, the half dozen or so people from the old SR1 manning their stations ensured that. But it was clearly not a military outfit.

Maybe that's why Shepard was so damn crabby about it.

I was sitting at the mess hall, sitting alone at a table. I was only half there, really. My head wasn't in the game yet, and I felt tired, the kind of tired that rest didn't seem to fix. I realized I had been staring at the untouched plate of food I had to the side, one of Gardner's poorer efforts if the crew was to be believed. It wasn't why I hadn't touched it. Instead, I had one of my trusty and much reviled hard ration bars. Stupid as it sounds, I still had that nagging feeling at the back of my head about them. With things as they were, I thought letting fate have this one without further temptation would be prudent.

Perhaps this disarray was taking a toll on Shepard too. Probably wasn't helping. Her beef with me aside, talking with others I had gotten the picture that she seemed perpetually agitated, strung taut and about to snap. So maybe it was the lack of military discipline, on top of everything else. I guess that Cerberus wasn't quite fulfilling her expectations.

A yelp and clatter broke me out of my reverie, and I turned to see Talitha stumbling into the mess and nearly crashing on a table, while behind her, Rosie just laughed. She turned to me and gave me an upwards nod.

"Hey Roy!" she said, loud and boisterous as only she could be. "Shepard let you out of the dog house?"

"I think I was entitled to some yard time by now," I replied, getting an amused cackle from her.

Without missing a beat, she grabbed Talitha - who was, I noticed, still in her hardsuit - and dragged her over to where I was sitting. Talitha looked as if she wanted to vanish into the air, her eyes flickering everywhere but at me. When our eyes finally met, a near-silent "hi," escaped from her.

Before I could respond, Rosie looked at the ration bar in my hand and snorted. "Still munching on those bricks, Morgan? You know we have actual food here." Her eyes moved to my untouched plate. "Or, well, something resembling food." She leaned back, hollering towards the kitchen, "Oi, Gardner! What is this slop? We fighting Collectors or food poisoning?"

Gardner turned around, his face a mask of annoyance. "I'm a cook, not a miracle worker! They spent billions on this ship and couldn't spare a thought for a decent kitchen! A man can't even have a spice rack here!"

The tension in the mess was palpable as the sounds of clinking dishes and murmurs of conversation buzzed in the background. I found my gaze drifting back to Talitha, who was standing beside me awkwardly, seemingly about to say something. But then, the buzz was interrupted again by a newcomer to the kitchen. Jacob walked in with his characteristic swagger, easily the happiest man in the ship. As I remembered it, he had a real beef with the Alliance after Eden Prime, but wasn't as keen on the whole Cerberus thing. Not as keen as he seemed now, at least.

"Hey, Morgan!" he greeted loudly, interrupting whatever Talitha had been about to say.

He came to the table and sat down without a prompt - not that I minded, but it left Talitha in a very awkward position being the only one standing. Maybe the hardsuit wasn't the most comfortable thing, these chairs were really freaking uncomfortable.

"Hey man, good to see you," I replied.

"Yeah, good to see you out and about. Still on probation though," he added. "But nevermind that, how are you feeling?"

Jacob's concern felt genuine, which was a refreshing change of pace all things considered. "Alive," I said with a half-shrug, taking another bite of the ration bar. "So really, can't complain." My eyes darted towards Talitha momentarily, as she finally decided to sit down.

Jacob leaned forward, his voice urgent. "Listen, we need you on a mission. We're short-handed with just me and Jack, and it's not something we can put off."

I frowned. "Where's Shepard?" It was strange to think that she'd suddenly want me on a mission.

Jacob's face tightened, "In quarantine. Her, Miranda, and Zaeed got exposed to some biological agent during the last op. They're clear, but protocol is decon and all the other shit to make sure they're not carrying anything."

I stiffened, a myriad of possibilities running through my head. It lined up too well with a plot point I knew. "Vorcha?" I said.

"Err, no, some mercs as far as I know. Why?"

"Oh," I said. I was too tired to think of one of my technically-skirting-the-truth lies, so I just dropped it straight. "I thought I heard something just like that, vorcha dropping some bio agent in Omega."

"Maybe they tried and they got scooped," Jacob offered with a shrug. "Regardless, it won't affect humans," Jacob added, finally noting the tension his little announcement had prompted around us. "But the protocol is still there."

"Bio agent?" Rosie asked, skeptical. "What the hell were those three doing?"

Jacob ran a hand through his short cropped hair, looking grim. "Thought we had a lead on Archangel. Turned out to be a setup, led us straight to a biolab instead."

A sinking feeling in my gut, I played along. "Archangel?" My voice raised in faux surprise. Inside, my mind was racing. Archangel was still in Omega? I thought Gee had taken care of that. Well, he was alive at least, but his team? I remembered the little present Aria had sent me as payment for services rendered when all I wanted to do was warn him of a possible traitor. Aria had dropped Sidonis' head right at the doorstep of one of Cerberus' safehouses instead. Really, should've seen it coming.

"Yeah, some vigilante causing trouble on Omega," Jacob explained. "Been pissing off all the wrong people, including the Collectors it seems. Shepard thought we could use him."

The Collectors too? How?

I could feel myself tense up, but I masked my internal turmoil, responding with a measured nod. "Alright. I could use some air, even if it's just Omega's recycled brand."

"Wait, what?" Rosie interrupted. "What am I, chopped liver? My man here's half dead and you're taking him instead of a marine?"

"Former," Jacob said, more as a barb than as an excuse, if the smile trying to break through his face was any indication.

"I'm fine," I said.

"Fine? You just-"

"Rosie!" I snapped, to her surprise. I raised my hands, closing my eyes and took a deep breath. "I need to step out of this ship, even if it's just five minutes. And if I have to shoot someone to do it, I'd rather aim at the bad guys."

That was... more intense than I had planned, if I'm being honest. Rosie, of course, wasn't one to simply back down, but after giving me a look and a twisted grimace, she just gave a nod sigh and nodded.

"Fine, I'll just sit here and dream of some action. Of any kind, mind you," she said, adding a white flag disguised as a smile at the end.

I chuckled at that, and with a final bite of my ration bar, stood up to follow Jacob. My thoughts were preoccupied with the unnerving reality aligning with the in-game lore, which was entirely too strange. With all the shit that had gone down over the last couple of years, having Omega develop in the same way it did in-game was odd. Or maybe I was just overthinking things. Garrus went to Omega and made a name for himself, it really isn't that much of a stretch that it'd still play very similar. Just as I entered the lift, I heard Rosie's voice again, though I couldn't make any words until her very loud "girl, what the hell?"

What on Earth is going on with those two anyway?

Jacob and I made our way to the armory, where I could already hear the loud clangs and echoes of someone arming themselves. As we entered, I wasn't surprised to see Jack, pacing around, going through weapons with her characteristic disdain, her tattoos seemingly more vibrant in the metallic glow of the armory. She looked up as we entered, and for the shortest moment in history, I thought I saw the ghost of a smile trying to break through. It didn't last, though.

"Look who's back from time-out," she scoffed, not missing a beat. "Ready to play hero again, dumbass?"

"Always," I replied with a mock salute. She redoubled her scoff, and turned away, not sure if pissed or amused. It was always hard to gauge her mood, because perpetually pissed off was actually not enough. That was merely the all-encompassing background. As it was, and with the job ahead of us, I decided to leave the conversation where I thanked her for later, hopefully out of earshot from anyone else so we could actually have it. Well, except EDI, which was handy in case I got a biotic you're welcome for my efforts. EDI could call the ambulance.

I went over to the weapon racks, picking up two submachine guns, feeling their weight, testing their balances. Not my custom pair, but that's life. As far as I could tell all that was on offer were Shuriken and Locust ones. I decided for the Shuriken, making a mental note to give them a once over and customize them later. Meanwhile, Jack was strapping herself with a rather sizeable shotgun. A quick check on the manifest told me it was an Eviscerator, and it came with a warning not to take it off the ship in places where its construction was illegal. In Jack's hand, it looked like it was going to shoot one way and she was going to go flying the opposite. Of course, I knew Jack well enough not to say something like that out loud. Biotics are the great equalizer when it comes to Newton's laws. As I went through the guns, I lingered around the pistols, my hand hovering over them, but ultimately, decided against picking one up.

"Afraid you'll shoot your foot off?" Jack quipped, watching me.

"I'm more concerned about accidental discharges elsewhere," I retorted.

She rolled her eyes but then her gaze turned more serious. "I'm not dragging your ass here again, dumbass, you've been warned," she said, her voice rough, as if the concept of concern was foreign to her vocal cords. A noble effort, I'd say.

"I'll try my best. You know, dying is generally against my principles," I responded, locking eyes with her.

"Good," she mumbled, almost under her breath, quickly averting her gaze and busying herself with her gear.

I was busy strapping on the weaponry when my eyes landed on a Predator M hardsuit hanging in the corner. My heart gave a little jump, a feeling of warmth rushing through me. "Hey, is this for me?" I asked, a note of surprise and pleasure in my voice.

"It can be. If you're gonna play the part, might as well look the part," Jacob commented, a small smile playing on his lips. "I remembered you liked Turian armor, so here you go."

"Sweet," I murmured, zipping up the undersuit and quickly changing into the hardsuit. It wasn't the alien harness, but its hug against my body felt familiar enough. It felt like better times.

Still, I really wanted to get in touch with Gee and let him know I was OK. And then ask him for some of my gear. Plus, some ideas on how to get back to Tela without her ripping my head off. Then again, Tela had been rather civilized and friendly with me as of late.

Of course, for any of all that to happen, I needed an omni-tool and someone who knew how to set it up for me.

Sigh.

Jack watched me for a moment, her eyes betraying a flicker of something unspoken before she turned away. "Let's just get this over with," she growled, heading towards the exit, her strides brisk and determined.

"So what are we doing?" I asked Jacob as we followed Jack to the shuttle.

"Human trafficking, it seems," Jacob replied.

"We're doing human trafficking?!"

Jacob looked at me and laughed. "No, no, quite the opposite. Look."

With a gesture, he brought up his omni-tool and showed me a message. Anonymous, of course.

I've seen Shepard's supposed return, and your recent exploits, barely qualifying as success, make me question if she really is who she claims to be.

If you lot are serious about wanting to talk, prove it.

There's a band of traffickers moving living cargo through Omega. Location is attached.

Let's see you handle it. Do a cleaner job.

I read the note about three times, and each time it annoyed me more than the last. "How does he even know we're- Actually, were we looking for him?"

"We were," Jacob said. "I guess we weren't subtle enough."

It was at this time that EDI decided to chime in. "There was no indication that subtlety was required during my investigations," she said.

"All's well that ends well," Jacob said.

I just nodded. EDI had finally introduced herself to me, but had warned me that she was still restricted from deeper conversation until the say-so of Commander Shepard. So we didn't have a lot of conversation going. At this point, I just had to sit down with her and either figure out if we could work together, of if I had to get out of the ship.

Again.

Well, hopefully that would come soon. The buzz in my head got more intense the moment I started thinking about talking to Shepard, which was a timely reminder of the little surprise the damn AI had dropped inside my brain. If Chakwas was to be believed, it was just a neural inhibitor that didn't control my actions, merely blocked my speech center when stimulated by certain brain pathways. I sure as shit hoped so.

We boarded the shuttle and took off towards Omega. It had been a while, and while heading to Afterlife didn't sound like a terrible idea, I wasn't sure if I had the energy for it. The buzz of being headed into battle once more was helping me ignore how shit I had been feeling, and right now, I didn't want to break the spell. And blowing up a bunch of slavers of some description didn't sound all bad.

Author's Notes: And that's what happened last time. A trap? More like a misdirection, by everyone's favorite sniper.

So, the thing is, I believe that the reason why Garrus became a fan favorite is deeply tied to his characterization in Mass Effect 2. He was fine in ME1, nothing spectacular but just fine. However, I think he was very well written in ME2, where a lot of history was essentially omitted (we get glimpses and explanations, plus the loyalty quest of course), but was written WITH all that history in mind, and very well written I do believe. Ashley and Alenko, on the other hand, were the opposite with their appearance in Horizon, and further than that Ash was done dirty in ME3 (where I get where they were going, and it COULD have worked, but needed to be executed a LOT better than it was IMO). Tali was always great, and so was Wrex. But Garrus, IMO, was made in ME2. So to take that and change it, as I'm going to do (this shouldn't surprise you if you've read the in-between-games timeskips) is running the risk of ruining a deservedly fan-favorite character. Garrus will be different, and will undertake a different arc, all based on the little pebble that started the avalanche: Roy babbling about Sidonis back in the day.

Anyway! Plenty of feedback and welcoming messages, thanks so much! As I mentioned, I think keeping the chapters a bit shorter is going to help me avoid burnout, though the truth is that things are a lot better IRL for me so that's helping more than anything! But I really appreciate all the good wishes.

Incidentally! I've also started a little side story for a Baldur's Gate III fanfic: "Chronicles of Aereleth," which will cover events after the game. It'll come out less regularly than my ME fics, but I think it'll be a fun break. If you're remotely interested, please give it an eyeball and let me know what you think :) I have a few side projects in mind to keep me distracted, but I'll still mainly be writing these two ME fics. I really want to complete them (not merely "finish" them, I want to have the whole story down).

And as always, ff you like what you see, you can always throw a bit of support (which is GREATLY appreciated) my way at:

tinyurl (period) com (slash) y2q9cop6

Next time, more reunions, and we find out you-know-who still has you-know-what lodged you-know-where. Until then, ta-ta!