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Espacole and Spork

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"So…" Kasumi started after a while of quiet flying, the air-car thrumming around them all gently. "Why am I here again?"

"To run the vid-scrubbers." Garrus grunted, tapping at the arm-rest with a claw and glaring into the dash while Jack steadily turned them around to circle the parking-decks Fade had pointed them towards. "We can't let this get tagged by C-Sec. Too much riding on it - can't risk it."

"Yeah, but…" Kasumi sighed, and he could see her cock her head in the back, letting the light show her chin just enough he could tell she was frowning. "Why am I here? Shep and her squeeze could do it just as well as me. This is basics."

"And I'm shit for stealth runs." Jack added quietly, "I prefer smash 'n grab."

"I just…" Garrus sighed and shook his head, his heart hammering away at his ribs like he'd just run a marathon. Under fire. He took a steadying breath and let it out to try and control it, but it barely worked - and his head was pounding, too. "Shepard and I aren't… Seeing eye to eye, lately. And I can't drop this on Tali out of the blue."

"But you can me?"

"You're a professional." He grunted, parroting the same words as she'd used when he asked her for her help in the first place. "You won't judge. Won't talk."

"Same reason I'm here, I guess." Jack grumbled, "Fuckin' typical…"

"Mhm." And he couldn't even manage to feel bad for it - whatever her reasons, Jack was a killer. A terrorist, even, in some circles, based on his research. His contacts on the Citadel made it very clear that she could be a problem. He let out a long breath, "After today, no one breathes a word about what happens here."

"I'm not a killer…"

"You've killed plenty."

"Not for pay!" Kasumi snapped, flinching when he rounded on her, talons digging into Jack's seat as he pulled himself around. Blinking, she said, "I fight. And yeah, sure, I'll shoot if push comes. But I don't walk into jobs getting paid to put a bullet in someone."

"Yet somehow, magically, you tend to put bullets in people!"

"Self defence-"

"What a load of shit!" Garrus snapped hotly, hand snapping up to point at her so fast it tore away chunks of the leather seat Jack was sitting in. "You don't get to put yourself into someone else's house, or vault, or whatever, and then call it self-defence when you kill their guards. You knew you might end up in a fight and went in with a gun for a reason rather than, say, a taser. Or darts."

"I…" Kasumi's bright eyes closed and he heard her sigh, "Fair enough, I guess. It's- This is different, though."

"Is it?" Garrus asked quietly, turning to stare forward again. "What would Hock say to that? Not much, I best, considering you left him to a pissed off Krogan after a revenge-heist."

"That's… Fair, too." Kasumi sighed again, voice wispy, "I guess I get your point."

"Bein' a real dick about it, though." Jack pointed out, "Paying out or not, you're asking for help. Could at least treat us alright."

They had him there, he supposed. He was acting out of character - out of his head. He could tell that much. He wasn't an idiot, and knew how to manage himself as well as any Turian expat left Palaven with. That was a large part of why they were all mandated into the military - it ground a more self-conscious and overly conscientious mindset into everyone that went through it. Which, ironically, made it easier to notice how artificial it all was.

But right now, it just made him feel even angrier.

"Park us up there." He grunted, pushing the feeling aside. Pointing at a shadowed landing overlooking the broader space, he said, "Maintenance parking - less chance of people being there. Shadows will keep glare down and good sight-lines. Kasumi, you head out to meet him-"

"Why me?"

"I'm already Wanted." Jack grunted, "I head out there, I'll be a suspect."

"So I'm supposed to run the vid-scrubber and lure out the target?"

"You saying you can't manage it, Sparkles?" Jack pressed, turning the air-car and angling down into one of the grungy, sheltered parking zones. Right beside a trundling little riding-floor cleaner that sat, grimy and poorly treated, against a wall.

"I can manage." She sighed, eyes flicking as she worked her tech - which he was pretty sure was built right into her eyes in what had to be an illegal design. "Just makes it a bit harder, that's all. At least the security is crap here…"

"So?"

"Why can't I just scrub Jack out of the vids?"

"Witnesses are everywhere." Jack grunted, gesturing at her tattooed body - what wasn't covered by the thin, fitted leather body-glove she'd bought recently at least - and adding. "I kind of stand out."

"Fair, I guess." Kasumi groaned, "Fine! Fine, just… Don't get any blood on me. Feel dirty enough doing this as it is."

"Let's get it done." Garrus growled, popping open the door and dragging himself out with a hand on the upper rim of the door and the other grabbing the old, weathered Manis model he'd bought just for this. Off-market, old enough to use internal heat dissipation rather than clips, and more than just 'hard' to trace back to him.

Standing, he paced over to a stack of old, dust-covered crates and knelt beside it, bracing the rifle on the crates and humming.

"Fine." Kasumi sighed, "Heading out…"

The thief shimmered as she stepped up onto the lip of the railing and flicked a hand, attaching a cable of Omni-Gel from a little nodule hidden to behind her wrist on the inside of the arm. When she dropped off, the cable stretched until it went taut, carrying her down smoothly. On the ground, she was still invisible - but before he could say anything, he saw a highlight of her body appear in his eye-visor, tracking her as she moved.

"How's the IFF marker?"

"Fine, Goto." He grunted, tracking her as she walked, "Line on you. Tracking. Find the target."

"On it…" She said as she paced up to a little line of kiosks and looked around. "Pinging him my coords now. Should come up to me without it, but I can decloak if needs be. Would have to find a good place to do it without being seen, but… Well, push comes to shove, it'll work."

"Mhm…" He grumbled.

It took a few minutes, almost long enough for him to order her to decloak so things would hurry along. But, finally, he saw Sidonis come over. And… Spirits, he looked awful.

He wasn't even in armor, he was wearing normal clothes. But they were ruffled, wrinkled and dirty in places. And he was obviously thinner, the clothes hanging off his frame more than they should have. Most Turians had about the same body size - height and weight varied, but shape and frame tended not to - so Turians only sold clothes in a few sizes. Outside special, fitted and hand-tailored outfits at least. So that they drooped at all was… It said a lot. His face was little better, paint chipped and absent in places and mandibles hanging limply.

"You look like crap." Kasumi said, voice crackling across their comms and making him flinch the same way Sidonis did, his head snapping around until he saw Kasumi's red-outlined hand reach up to touch him. "I'm cloaked. Stop freaking out."

"Yeah." He grumbled, turning to lean on the kiosk with a sigh. "Yeah. Sorry, uh…"

"No names." Kasumi murmured, standing at his side. She wasn't obstructing his shot, but as Garrus' finger ghosted over the trigger, a Krogan stepped between them and he scowled. "It's, uh, better that way. Makes it easier to-"

"Can we cut the games?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Fade passed the message along. Just a bot ago, through another contact." He sighed, "Garrus is here."

How had Harkin managed it? C-Sec was there in minutes - and Garrus had smashed the comm-console before they'd left. Garrus' scowl deepened and his mandibles flicked. Next time he'd do more than break his nose, the back-stabbing bastard. More importantly…

"Do not lose him, Goto!" He hissed, "We can't let him-"

"He's hissing in your ear right now isn't he?" Sidonis chuckled, voice low and tired. He saw Kasumi's nod and the poor excuse for a Turian sighed, "Well, tell him he can relax. I came knowing he'd be here, somewhere, so… I'm not going to run."

"Why not?" Kasumi asked, "He wants you dead."

"I know." Sidonis answered, "I know. But… I'm tired."

"He's tired?" Garrus snarled, "He's tired? My entire team is dead, but he's tired? Oh how sad for him!"

"What do you mean?" Kasumi asked, voice quiet and almost… Anxious and curious in equal measure. "You came here knowing he'd kill you for it?"

"I know he'd try, or want to, and…" Sidonis sighed and Garrus saw his body turn, looking around until he chuckled. "Let me guess - maintenance area? Up there? Good sightlines, only for maintenance staff so less witnesses, dark enough not to see well. Sounds right. Yeah?"

"Actually… Yeah. Right on the nose."

"Vid-srcubbers?"

"My job." Kasumi answered, "I'm good with them, so…"

"How are you handling the vid-scrub latency?" Sidonis asked, "We used this play a few times on Omega. Suns could spot it a mile away, though, because of latency around the target. Eventually made it useless to-"

"What is he doing?" Garrus snapped, turning to Jack who was pacing at his side. "He's… Talking about our security measures? Why? Reminiscing won't help him."

"The fuck?"

"Garrus wants to know why you're asking." Kasumi sighed, "And he says reminiscing won't help you."

"I'm helping him, not me." Sidonis sighed, "I didn't… I'm not scared, of this. I'm ready. I only turned to protect my girls."

"His girls…?" Garrus murmured, heart suddenly filling with ice. "He never had any girls. Everyone told us about their families so C-Sec or whoever could keep an eye on them."

"What girls?" Kasumi asked, carrying the question over for him. "You never mentioned them."

"Pair of Asari, on Omega." Sidonis explained, "Mercs, but… Not the bad type. Basic security, no drugging or slaving. Met them in Afterlife. I didn't mention it because… Well, I'm not great at trusting people. And they couldn't go into hiding anyways, they weren't willing to give up their lives. So I figured the less people that knew…"

"The better." Garrus sighed, and closed his eyes. He already knew the answer, and that he'd never get proof of it, but he asked anyways, "What happened?"

"Tili, the younger one…" Sidonis sighed and leaned forward, head in his hands - and perfect in his scopes when the Krogan trundled off, staring at his Omni-Tool and chatting away. "Krakus, from the Suns, she… She sent me her head. In a box. And Kiala's finger, too, with a vid of her. I didn't cooperate, he'd add her head to the pile… There wasn't anything I could do."

"And we're supposed to just… Take that?" Kasumi asked quietly, "Just let that be it?"

"I just want him to know." Sidonis choked out, "I just… It didn't even work! Krakus had already killed her! She told me! She handed Kiala around her crew and then- Then she spaced her! And sent me the recording of it all!"

"Krakus…" Garrus murmured, "Tell him she's on the list too, now. If she's real at all."

Kasumi did and Sidonis sighed a shuddering sigh. "Thanks… I just… I can't sleep, Commander. I keep seeing them. What Krakus' message said she did to them. I can't eat, it tastes like ash. And whenever I see an Asari, I just see Krakus. Do you know what that's like on the Citadel?"

"I can imagine." Kasumi murmured, laying a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "I'm sorry for what you've been through."

"Don't be." He murmured, "I deserve this. They didn't, but… But I do. So if Garrus wants me dead- If you want me dead, Commander, I won't argue."

"I…"

"Look at him, Garrus." Kasumi whispered into their comms, "He's the walking dead already. Isn't this enough?"

"No." Garrus snapped, voice hard and head aching tiredly. "He… Tell him he doesn't get to just die."

"I'll do you one better." Sidonis' Omni-Tool lit up on its own, apparently, and he flinched, raising it while Kasumi went on. "You're connected. Say what you want to him yourself, Vakarian."

"Fine." Garrus growled, "You don't get to take the easy way, Sidonis. You owe it to those girls," assuming they existed, but something in his voice said they did, "and our team to make this right."

"How?"

"You lured me away so the mercs could hit us-"

"I brought you to where Kiala was supposed to be." Sidonis cut him off, "Where we were supposed to do the pick-up."

"You weren't even there…"

"Krakus' man met me up the street. Just before our rendezvous." Sidonis explained, "I… Broke, when I saw the file. Killed him and just… Staggered away. Don't remember the rest of the night. But next day, when I went to base, I was stopped by the mercs."

"You have the vid-file?" Garrus asked, resolve hardening as the man grunted a 'yes'. "Send it to me. Prove what you say."

"He can't." Kasumi said, "Our line is encrypted - won't do ranged transmits. But… I can look at it on his."

"Fine." Garrus grunted, "So, Sidonis?"

"I do, yeah." He murmured, "I… Couldn't bring myself to- I don't get why I have it. It's wrong. I just- I don't know, here."

Minutes passed, before Kasumi finally spoke again, voice breathy and tight, "Vid's real. Fuck me, vid's real, Vakarian. They recorded the whole thing. Even her getting- All the way to her being vented. F-Fuck, this is gonna invade my dreams."

"Yeah," Sidonis murmured, "they tend to do that…"

His mandibles flicked in agitation, and he sat, quiet for a long time while his mind raced. His finger itched on the trigger - part of him screaming for Sidonis' blood in spite of everything. But, finally, he turned his aim, ready to fire and deal with his confliction later. When he was back home, and cold actually parse through the information. And look up Krasus, too - which shouldn't be hard, the name wasn't very Asari at all.

But, before he could speak, he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned, looking up at Jack's impassive face. Both brows raised, she said, "You don't wanna do this, Scales."

"What do you-"

"What would the girls think about this?" She pressed, making him flinch. "Me, I don't give a rat's ass. But when they find out, and they will find out, we both know that… Can you look them in the face and say you killed that poor fucking excuse for a man out there? Can you look at yourself and say it?"

"Why do you care?" He asked quietly, "You aren't the soft type, Jack."

"Nope." She sighed, "But… Well, the little ginger brat won't leave me alone. I don't wanna deal with the headache of her being pissy. Again."

They stared each other down for a while before he finally snarled and stood, yanking his shoulder out of the Biotic's grip. She was right, of course - the girls would never let this kind of thing go. And after everything, he couldn't bring himself to heap more onto them like that. And besides…

They would be right, his introspection skills told him as such. - Sidonis was a victim, not a victimizer. Krakus was the real target, as much as his gut roiled at vengeance denied.

Turning, he stomped over to the air-car and dropped into his seat, hurling the old rifle into the back with a quiet grunt. Leaning his head back against the headrest, he sighed, "Sidonis…"

"Vakarian?"

"You don't get the easy way out, Sidonis." He growled, hand curling and uncurling reflexively while he stared up at the roof of the air-car. "That's not something you're allowed. Not now, not ever. You need to make this right."

"How…?" Sidonis choked, "I can't even imagine how to start!"

"Get involved." He grunted, "You get out there and help people. Don't know how, don't care, but the rest of your life? You're a slave to the public good. And you keep working for it until you drop dead. Every day, from when you wake up to when you collapse from exhaustion. Maybe if you do… Then maybe, one day, you'll get to sleep again. Clear?"

"Y-Yeah…" He murmured, "Thank you. I-"

He cut the line, hurling the comm-piece away with a snarl while Jack watched. He shot her a look, head cocked in challenge, and she smiled and held her hands up in faux-surrender. So he turned away and closed his eyes. They stayed closed, too, until Kasumi came back, quiet as the grave, and Jack took them away from the landing-block. Even when he paid them, they didn't say anything.

Then again, he didn't feel like saying much either…

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Kinda miffed on this one - my original concept plan had Zaeed here, but I sent him to Tuchanka. So I rewrote the scene and lines as best as I could to accommodate the same overarching idea. Weaker with Jack, sure, but I couldn't do much, unfortunately.

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The Right Price :

Mostly answered in DMs, but in brief for others-

Pyrrha couldn't even look at Mordin after everything. To me, that was meant to communicate how upset she was. Also, her Overclock is exhausting. Using it drains her Aura RAPIDLY, enough to be dangerous in itself, and, further, she's just as prone as anyone to surprises. And no one else has this veneer of supposed safety. She can't do it willy nilly - and there are other sources of narrative tension besides a fight.

Mordin is motivated to kill him for the same reason he is canonically - the cruelty of his experiments and unwillingness to relent in them. This is his canonical thought process.

Fat Quacker :

Glad you enjoy it! Happy WIntery Days to you, too!

Kishino Kurobi :

Yeah, not doing that was kind of obviously bad, lol. In fairness, the blood would have been enough, probably. But I wanted it to be more clear, lol. I actually didn't know you COULD put teeth back in until I saw your Review and looked it up! So… Uh… I'll just say it was too broken and move on, lol.

As for Akouo, it was meant to reflect a sort of religious or cultural idea. She left it there because it 'died' there. Kind of flimsy, I admit, but I didn't have time there to get into a deep cultural explanation - and Pyrrha would NOT be in the mood anyways lol.

I don't like to directly address this stuff but - Kai Leng is off the table, lol. Even if the ME3 plot is different, and no indoctrination hits, he still just… Is awful, lol.

Also I love the 'Too old, too incompatible, or Miranda' line.

The questions regarding Penny are also… Intriguing, in their own psychological ways, but likely not something for THIS FIC. Lol. Maybe an eventual Penny centric one.

Captain Dick Scratcher :

As said above, I was making cultural implications regarding Akouo. Didn't have time or character based rationale to super elaborate. And yes I do have ideas for what she'll do without Akouo, but I will note that she DOES fight without it, usually using Milo two handed.

She's not invoking him - she's praying. Using her upgraded Semblance is just that - her upgraded Semblance. Its exhausting, and thus dangerous, which is the balance. Both times she's used it, her Aura has dropped and she's been in VERY real danger for it. That is just the norm. And she uses her Aura to augment her physical abilities - which is canon, too.

Flight would be neat tho…

What the DNA will be used for shall be revealed later… Much later… .