Cursed

by Hookshot25

Clayton Carmine has only known hate and carnage for so many years. But once he survives the war he hoped to die in, things get strange. When people need help he isn’t one to shy away, and while helping Baird he gets sent to a place in dire need of a man like him. A man that can’t be claimed by death as easily as his kin.

14. Double Trouble

Author's Note:

Happy new year, Merry Christmas, happy/merry every other holiday you celebrate.

Howdy. It has been quite some time since I posted, within good reason.

To start off, around 5-6 months ago my father was diagnosed with kidney cancer, stage two. Now don't go feeling all sympathetic, the old man is doing just fine. But I was really lost during that time, and didn't feel much like writing. Only spending my free time to be around my father. For the rest of the day I was pretty much just an empty shell.

Of course I had a girlfriend to console me but she up and broke up with me a few days before my pop's surgery to remove his cancer-riddled kidney. Seemingly out of nowhere to top it off.

The combo of that crap has put this chapter in development hell. It has been a combination of my multiple different emotional states worked into one hell of a chapter. At least that's what I think. I really hope you enjoy, it means a lot that you might be coming back to this. But like I've said before, I aim to finish this motherfucking story.

Might be some hiccups along the way, of varying severity. But I'll always come back. I've been working on this one for ages it seems, and I'm incredibly proud to say I've finally finished it. Against everything that was going on in my life at that.

Oh and I'll still be periodically doing re-works of my earlier chapters. Just touching them up since my writing style has changed pretty drastically since then. And the grammar errors piss me off when I re-read them. Hell even with the editing I've done on this I'm sure there are a couple spelling/grammar things messed up. Unfortunately I'll just have to catch them after the fact. I've made you all wait long enough.

I hope you enjoy the chapter, and I'll be working my hardest to give you all quality writing. But as always, this cowboy has rambled on long enough. Like, follow, or none of that shit. You know how it is. Love y'all

Adios

---

After clearing the front gate of the slave camp from all the occupying Locust, Carmine stood over the body of the commanding grenadier. His breath was ragged and heavy. The grub was long since dead, and the oldest Carmine brother was simply taking a break from mutilating the corpse. Having used a knife to torture the beastly grub before it eventually succumb to the punishment and died.

While he was doing so, Sam watched with worried eyes from a distance. A few roaming squads of gears managed to hear the fighting and came to their aid, successfully swinging the battle in their favor. She sighs as Carmine gets back to it, this time deciding to use his remaining strength to try and tear the corpse's limbs off. His mental state was more stable than in the hours prior, but he wasn't doing well by any means.

Begrudgingly, Sgt. Henderson went to help clear the inside of the camp with the other squads that showed up. Each team had left a few gears behind to guard the entryway. This included Sam and Carmine.

"How long has he been at it?" A medic says as she walks up next to Sam. The Kaskuran woman recognizes the white armor immediately and turns to face her. The woman's extremely short, platinum blonde hair was caked in dirt, and her hazel eyes were locked onto the man in question.

"Nearly half an hour now. I'm just glad he let me wrap his wounds up while he was taking a break. Thanks for the supplies by the way. I'm Sam and the big one is Carmine, 7th Mangler Unit." Sam says with a small smile as she extends her hand to the woman next to her.

She takes Sam's hand and they shake, "Jen, I'm with Tango 4, though they ain't my original group. Most of my team landed in imulsion and the others got shot down by the grubs. Don't worry about the bandages. Seems the big man needed them more than I did. Never seen anyone so coherent after getting hooked, let alone fight the way he has."

Sam frowns, "Sorry to hear that mate. But yeah. Carmine's a warrior alright." She says proudly.

Jen snickers, "Warrior is putting it lightly there missy. How is he not worn out?" Her southern drawl slips more into her speech and Sam shares a snicker with her.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Sam says, the question making her wonder. How was it possible that he was able to stand? Let alone mangle a corpse or even fight the way he did.

As they chat it up, the teams that went to clear the camp come out with a small crowd of battered gears and civilians. Most likely ex-captives of the grubs.

Sam notices how Henderson splits off and goes to regroup with the squad. Sam pats the helpful medic on the shoulder and nods to her before heading over to the gathering of her team. The blonde tomboy sighs and makes her way over to the crowd to see if they needed medical assistance.

"Bryne, go grab Carmine. The big idiot is going to need to hear this." Henderson orders while helping pack up some of the supplies they set out at the makeshift outpost.

Sam does just that. By the time she gets over to the burly gear a sad smile comes to her face. When she managed to put some bandages on him, she had also slid on a spare short sleeved shirt and his helmet. She looks down and grimaces. The commanding grenadier was de-limbed and torn apart. It didn't even look like a Locust anymore, just a pile of meat, blood, and innards.

"Hey big guy. If you're finished up we've gotta catch a briefing from the sergeant." She says from behind him.

His helmet tilts back in her direction and he turns to fully face her. His entire front is covered in blood, and his hands are twitching at his sides. His boltok was holstered on his waist.

"Ok." He says completely void of emotion.

Sam frowns, "You doing ok Clayton?" She asks tentatively.

Carmine's fists tighten at his sides, "He's dead Sam. Do you really have to ask?"

Sam lowers her head a bit and adjusts her cap, "I'm sorry. Have you said your goodbyes to him yet?"

Carmine shakes his head no. Sam reaches over with her gloved hand and touches his right fist. She's pleasantly surprised as his hand uncurls to hold her hand tightly. She raises her head back up and the pair walk over to the covered up body of David Carmine. An immense pool of dried blood had stained the rocky ground under the blanket, staining the scratchy cloth as well.

Carmine drops to his knees with a loud thud, inadvertently pulling Sam down with him. She wraps her free arm around his shoulders, making sure to avoid his wounded back. She hears his breathing hitch a bit as he sniffles.

He reaches up with his left hand, the one with his brother's tags wrapped around it, and pulls off his helmet. Sam feels the corners of her eyes burn as she spots tears streaking down his dirty cheeks, "I'm so sorry little brother. I wasn't strong enough, wasn't fast enough. The Locust took you from me...but I killed you." He says quietly as he clenches his eyes shut tight. He silently cries, and Sam decides to lay her head on his shoulder. Surprising her yet again as he seems to pull her ever so closer.

A warm feeling pulses in her chest as he rests his cheek on her head. The two manage to sit in a comfortable silence for a bit before Clayton stands, wiping his face off and sliding his helmet back on.

"I know I can't manage to bring him with us. So let's get going." His voice is a bit raspy. He slides his brother's tags off his hand and into his pocket.

"It'll be alright Clay, I promise. We just have to get out of here." He looks at her, not believing that one bit. He nods anyway and she smiles sweetly at him. He grimaces as a voice echoes through his head. The same one from before. Much less angry, but more mocking.

'They took him from you. Sure you pulled the trigger but the grubs took him. His blood is on your hands because of them.' Clayton tries to ignore it, but couldn't argue against it. His already plentiful vendetta against the Locust grows by the second.

Sam takes a look back at the burly gear and sighs, he was stuck in place. She walks back over to him and runs a finger along the vents of his face plate, "Come on big guy. We've still got to get out of this hellhole." Clay shakes his head and nods. The two make their way back to their unit and Henderson immediately starts to quietly address them.

"Alright. So we're going to be clearing out and heading to the surface. New orders came in to regroup and head to the nearest exit. Apparently the grubs are hitting Jacinto harder, and the higher ups need every available team on standby."

Carmine looks over to the group of scared people, and beat up soldiers, "What about them?" He asks.

Henderson pauses, and the deafening silence could be heard for miles, "We are relatively close to a cave opening but the fact is that we won't have enough evac choppers to take everyone today. And these people won't be able to defend themselves without us."

Carmine is quick to interject, "So we stay and make sure they get the first, second, and third waves of ravens."

Sam smiles at him, glad the caring man she grew to care for wasn't gone after all. But in reality Clayton wanted more time fighting the grubs, and saving them would probably get him what he wanted. At least that's what the darkest depths wanted.

Henderson shakes his head and grasps the tape on his broken nose, "Command specified all able gears have to get back to Jacinto. The other units agreed with me that we'll just have to leave them here. They're just going to slow us down."

Carmine puts himself right in front of Henderson, "You're a fucking coward." His voice dripping with venom as he walks past him, pushing him with his shoulder to go and grab his armor and a lancer.

Henderson doesn't even look angry he simply turns and folds his arms, watching the Carmine brother grunt in pain as the armor fits snuggly over his wounded torso.

"Look I know we don't see eye to eye Carmine, and your brother just died. But I can't let this slide, I'll have no choice but to have you court-martialed. You've disobeyed too many direct orders." Henderson says as he rests his hand on the snub in its holster at his hip.

Clayton looks at him, "Do whatever the fuck you want. I'm not leaving them behind. I couldn't live with myself knowing they died scared down here. So how's about you fuck off. I have civilians to escort." He pushes past the sergeant again and heads toward the group of injured soldiers and frightened people.

Sam was right behind him as usual. A few gears from the other teams met up with them.

Jen being one of them, "I'm assuming y'all got sold that bullshit about leaving those burdens behind too huh?"

Carmine and Sam nod. Around four other gears show up soon after, if they get ambushed by grubs they'll most likely be fucked. But their morals won't let them abandon these people. Including Carmine, Sam, and Jen, there were seven other gears.

Jen slides her bright white helmet off and her short hair is sticking out in every different direction, "So what's the plan?" She asks as the other squads start to pack up and move out.

Carmine hums as he takes a second to think, "We have to follow the other units to the exit. Form a protective circle around the injured. I'll take care of the back." Sam smirks, enjoying how Carmine took charge.

"What?" He asks her. Noticing the look she was giving him.

"Oh nothing, Captain Carmine." He rolls his eyes at the tease but finds himself with a microscopic smile on his face as she lightly smacks the trench knife strapped to his chest armor.

"We're with you Carmine." Jen says with determination. Clay looks to the others and they nod to him.

"Alright then. Let's move out." Carmine barks out to them.

They follow Clayton's orders and form the circle. The burly gear addresses the crowd from the back, "Don't worry people! We're moving out, so stay in formation so we can protect you! It's going to take a bit but we're getting you out of here, safely!"

The group manages to follow the other units easily with the coordination of Clayton, Sam, Jen, and the other gears. Whenever someone slips up Carmine and the others make sure to help. Especially with some of the kids as they struggle to go up the final incline that leads out of the hollows.

It had been a long time since they saw any Locust. Practically the entire trip to the exit. Unfortunately for them the grubs had been waiting at the cave mouth.

"Hostiles at the exit! Everybody find cover!" One of the squad leaders alarms over the coms link. Sam spots a few Locust and unleashes some suppressing fire. Jen and the other gears manage to get the camp survivors into a decent position at the rear as Carmine makes his way up to the front.

"Go on you two, we'll be fine back here. Those bastards need your help more than we do." Jen motions to the front lines and Carmine eagerly nods.

Carmine and Sam meet up with the other units and start to return fire with the Locust. He manages to get a few headshots, splattering bits of drone brains onto the rocky ground. The sound of gunfire, screams, and bodies hitting the floor were making the burly man's head pulse in pain.

'They're weak. Go make them pay.' Carmine growls to himself and slaps at his helmet as the echoing voice in his head gets louder, the pain growing with it.

"Clay you alright? Ah fuck!" Sam painfully grunts as a bullet smashes into their rocky cover and splinters stone into her face while she reaches out to him. She retracts her hand fast to cover the bit of her nose that got sliced by a rock.

Carmine's knuckles turn white as they squeeze his lancer tighter, his eyes catch the bit of blood that drips off the tip of her nose. He pops up and fires, filling a couple drones with lead before seeing the small horde making their slow approach. His gun runs dry and he's forced back into cover.

"You good?" He asks Sam as he slides a new mag in.

She nods and readjusts her hat, "Good, an' ready to kill." She says with a crazed smirk, making his own smirk rise in return. There was a small bandage across the bit of her nose that got cut.

"FOR QUEEEN!" The rally cry of the Locust drums through the tunnel.

"Fuck! There's too many of them!" Clay overhears a gear yell out before being shot in the head, the blood pouring from the gaping exit wound in the back of his helmet.

Clayton continues to crouch in cover with Sam, frozen in place as his rage built higher and higher. Fighting internally against his instincts, which were screaming at him to jump the cover and get to killing. He hated being pinned down like this.

"Carmine, Sam! We've got trouble back here! Grubs are coming up from the tunnels!" Jen yells from over the tac com. Sam swaps to her longshot and peeks out, using the scope to scout a bit. Her chestnut colored orb widening at the sheer volume of locust in their way.

"Fuck, Clay. There's too many grubs, we have to try and punch a hole through their line and clear the way." Sam offers a plan. She sees him barely moving and grabs a hold of his armor.

"Clayton! Get your head out of your ass!" She yells at him.

He shakes his head, grabbing her hand in an unspoken apology. He nods in agreement, "Sorry. That sounds good to me. Let's do it."

She nods back and hands him two bolo grenades. She eyes him rather worried that he would have some kind of mental break again. She readies her own grenades as she radios to the others of their plan. Sam nods to him and the pair heave their grenades.

The iconic beeps go off soon after and deafening explosions ripple off the cave walls. The grenades work as intended. The incoming Locust were disoriented. The gears made a push toward the front with Carmine leading the charge, cutting and shooting through the grubs like a hot knife through butter.

All he could hear was the painful screeches of the grubs as he mowed through them one after another. What he didn't realize was that he was gradually abandoning the group at the back, as well as the civilians. And as Sam moves to go get them she notices he was nowhere to be found.

The heavy stomps of boomers and grinders could be heard approaching from her vantage point. Sam hastily presses two fingers to her ear, "Clayton we need you back here now!" She screams before raising her longshot and popping an approaching locust bolter. Hurrying herself down to join the other defending gears.

Carmine finishes digging his lancer into a drone's gut as he hears Sam call out to him. He looks back and his sadistic smile drops immediately, "Fuck!"

He presses his fingers to the side of his helmet, "I'm coming. Keep your heads down." He rushes toward the gunfire, worry filling his body up along with a growing exhaustion.

'Good work genius. Now you won't just have lost your brother, and all those people, but that cute Kaskuran too. Better hurry up. Tick tock.' Carmine's rage reaches its boiling point and he runs into straggling drones. He pushes through his growing exhaustion and slaughters a path through the grubs to get back to his makeshift team. Coating himself in even more blood and hunks of meat.

The small group was dug in pretty well. A large stone formation gave the camp survivors all the necessary cover they needed. The able gears were in cover behind a few stone slabs nearby. Carmine quickly rushes to cover next to Jen and Sam.

"Bout' time you showed up boss man. We're pinned down." Jen says sarcastically while blind firing her lancer.

"I-I'm sorry. Is anyone hurt?" Carmine asks, clearly breathing heavily now.

Jen shakes her head no, "Nah, we managed fine. But I'm hoping I'm going crazy, and those loud ass footsteps ain't gettin' closer."

Unfortunately she wasn't going crazy. Three boomers and grinders crest the hill and begin their approach. Carmine pops up and spots them as he guns down a small gang of slobbering wretches.

"Shit. We got fat grubs incoming!" He says, staying up a bit too long. A bullet tears through his left arm, just below his bullet belt tattoo and he grunts in pain. Jen is on him in an instant as he drops back into cover. His back was on fire, and while he hated to admit it he was getting extremely tired. From both the emotional and physical strain the day had taken on his body. He coughs roughly, his breath becoming wheezy as Jen scolds him.

"Lucky you Captain Dumbass. Bullet went right through." Carmine rolls his eyes as he lets the medic wrap his arm up tight.

"Damn your arms are nice." She says under her breath while finishing up. Her hand lingering ever so slightly on his bicep.

"What was that?" Clayton asks raspily, taking his arm back and reloading his lancer. The gun jams and he growls in anger, banging the charging handle repeatedly with his fist.

Jen was thankful she had her helmet on as the gear's hefty, blood-stained muscles worked to clear his gun, "Err-nothing. So what are we gonna do now? We don't have enough ammo to finish these fuckers off-" She gets cut off as a boomshot rocket flies over their heads and blows up behind them. The drones are getting cocky, moving up further than they should be.

"They'll zero in soon, Carmine. We've got to do something here mate." Sam says while popping yet another drone skull. He can hear them getting closer.

Carmine nods aggressively, "Yeah I fucking know. Give me a minute!" He yells at them both, finally clearing the jam and returning fire, mowing down a handful of the approaching grubs with deadly precision. The grinders force him to take cover. The chain guns almost completely tear through his rocky cover before they overheat.

As he gets himself into another piece of cover Carmine does the only thing he can think of, "To the units that made it out, this is Private Clayton Carmine! We're pinned down with wounded and civvies in the tunnel. Requesting immediate assistance!"

He's met with static and growls in frustration, banging the back of his helmet against his cover, "Fuck! Sam you got anymore grenades?" He asks, finally able to restore his breathing to normal.

Sam looks over and shakes her head no. Carmine's head drops and he sighs with a small smile on his face. Bullets are raining into and over their cover. A gear gets hit and as Jen rushes over she gets clipped as well. Her shoulder is grazed but she doesn't stop to help herself. Wrapping up the other gear to get him back into the fight sooner.

Clayton watches his fellow gears as they defend the helpless. They'll fight to the very end, and he feels honored to be a part of such a selfless group. To be honest he's exhausted, ready to die. Ready to kill as many grubs as he can.

'Hmm, I guess I won't be going back to see Benjamin after all. He's a strong kid. Finding out about David and I will only make him stronger.' Clay's thoughts are cut off as a grenade plinks its way onto the rocky ground next to the group of people they were trying to protect.

Without thinking he rushes over, grabs it, and tries to toss it back at the grubs, but he fumbles the 'nade due to his exhaustion. The grenade explodes a few feet in front of him and he's blown back from the force.

Everything goes blank for the elder Carmine brother. He can't hear past the fuzzy white noise and ringing. His eyes aren't working right either. The gashes on his back have opened up even worse, as well as his other wounds. He lay on his back, defeated.

He tries to get up, to fight, but not a muscle in his body responds.

"Carmine!" He hears his name barely above the ringing. Clayton strains to look over as the grubs have made their move. He watches as they walk into the crowd of people, planning to have their fun no doubt. The other gears aren't able to help as approaching Locust have taken advantage of the grenade and stormed ahead.

Sam is struggling against a wretch, Jen is being thrown around and beaten by an elite grenadier, and two of the other gears are being roasted by a few flame grenadiers. The remaining handful of gears are stuck in cover.

Clayton's teeth grind as he flips himself onto his stomach and lurches to his knees, the minimal movement burning a fiery trail through his body. He pulls his boltok out and shakily raises it, firing a shot into one of the flame grenadier's tanks. The grub screams as fire pours out, setting the flame grendadier next to it ablaze before they both explode.

Carmine plops back down to the ground as blood leaks from his mouth and out the bottom of his helmet, cuts from his torture opening on his lips. A drone catches sight and walks over to him, the sinister laugh was more than familiar to Clayton. He tries to scamble and get up before it reaches him but fails miserably.

It reaches a clawed hand over onto his face plate and drags its sharp nails across the vents, leaving four deep indents as he flips Clayton. The gear attempts to raise his boltok but the drone laughs again, kicking the gun from his hand and slamming a fist into the man's helmet, cracking a lens in the process.

"Puny ground walker." The grub says with a distorted laugh as Clayton accepts his fate. The drone snags his boltok and tries to shoot the gear. The gun clicks empty and the drone snarls as it reloads the heavy revolver.

Everything suddenly feels like it's going in slow motion for Carmine.

'You're just going to sit here and let this filth kill us huh? You're going to abandon Sam and the rest? You're going to let the grubs tear those people to bits!? What happened to wanting all of this pain? Wanting to slaughter the grubs? You're Pathetic.'

Carmine strains to answer this voice in his head, 'What can I do? I'm busted open, bleeding, most likely concussed. I'm probably going to die regardless if I make it out. We're all probably going to die for not leaving these people behind.'

The voice snickers, 'Hah, poor Clayton. I can give you the boost you need to finish these worthless fucking animals. But it'll come at a price.'

'What kind of price?'

'One you're not going to like.'

Carmine notices the drone is slowly loading the chamber of the boltok in its hand, 'Do it.' Clayton says quietly in his head.

His eyes flick over to see Jen slowly spitting out blood, her left eye is all swollen from the beating, a deep cut on her busted up bottom lip. He catches as Sam grits her teeth, trying to keep the wretch from digging into her arm. He looks to the last able gears as they attempt to fight off the boomers and grinders. Finally his eyes rest over on the people, and he fully realizes something.

He'd do anything to save them. He would kill every last grub in that tunnel with his bare hands to get them out, and get back to his younger brother.

'What was that? I couldn't hear you big man.' The voice taunts.

'I SAID DO IT!' He internally screams.

'As you wish. Don't worry, we won't let them down, heheh.' The voice's manic giggling disappears into the recesses of his mind. The world is suddenly thrown back into full swing and Clayton doesn't notice any difference in his situation. He's still in unbelievable pain, still bleeding, still unable to move.

"C-come on. I said do it you sick fuck." Carmine gurgles on his own blood before coughing, the crimson spilling down his chin and splashing onto the inside of his helmet. It dawns on him that the entire event that took place was most likely a hallucination. Delirium from all the trauma.

The drone looks confused for a moment before laughing again and flicking the now full chamber closed. The elder Carmine brother's eyes flicker as his light starts to fade. Darkness encroaches on his vision. He truly feels like he's about to die.

An ear piercing scream rips through his head and bounces across the walls along with all the gunfire. His eyes snap over to see a couple drones ripping into a man. The scream didn't come from him, but from his wife and daughter.

"Adam!"

"Daddy!"

The pair cry out, tears streaming down their faces as they squeeze each other tight. The man is held between two Locust, the drones tear hunks of his flesh from his leg and arm respectively with their razor sharp teeth. His struggling is pointless as the grubs have a tight hold of him.

A slew of other drones pick civilians and wounded gears from across the crowd and begin digging in as well. Nearly eight humans were being ripped apart. A few empty-handed grubs simply started executing others.

Carmine's blood boils over as steam began to rise from his dirty, blood-stained skin. He feels a raw surge of hate fill him in his entirety. His scorching back and accompanying wounds are a steady stream of fuel to keep the fires raging.

In a flash Clayton slides his trench knife from the sheath strapped to his chest and kicks the boltok up. The drone fires a round into the ceiling as Clayton easily gets himself up into a crouch and drives the blade into the grub's neck.

"Grahhhhhhh!" The gear roars out as he digs and cuts through the drone's throat, splattering blood onto his helmet. He pushes the grub and it drops the boltok, grabbing at it's split open neck. Carmine snatches up the boltok and pops the elite grenadier as it goes to hit Jen again. He then puts a round through the wretch as it slides past Sam's guard, almost able to rip into her flesh.

The women look to him as he grabs the drone to use as a meat shield, using his trench knife to keep the beast pinned to him as he buries it into the grub's gut.

He fires round after round at the Locust. He catches them off guard, and manages to effectively slaughter the lot of them. Particularly tearing off limbs so they suffered as they bled out and died amongst the corpses of the Serans they'd just been butchering.

The drone in his arms struggles as it has managed to stay conscious for the entire duration of the burly gear's killing spree. Clayton holsters his boltok and digs his hand into the gaping throat wound, laughing sadistically as it gurgles and growls at him. He grabs a hold of the grub's forked tongue and pulls it through the neck wound.

"What's the matter grub? Gear got your tongue?" He laughs harder as the beast chokes and dies soon after. He tosses it's body down and sheaths his trench knife.

Clayton regroups with the remaining gears who sit in cover, stunned at his ability to not only survive such a close explosion, but to also turn the tide on the enemy.

Clayton feels the weight of exhaustion take over his body, and practically collapses into cover next to Sam. His blood has sufficiently soaked through the bandages and into the back of his shirt. Even with all the gunfire Sam and Jen heard the squelch noise as he presses himself against the rock formation.

As they're about to ask him if he's alright their tac coms spark to life, "Private Carmine. We have snipers lined up, getting set to lay some suppressing fire down on the grubs. Not many of us came back for you guys. So it'll only give you a few minutes to get the civvies out."

Carmine presses a finger to the side of his helmet, "Affirmative...f-fire when ready." He says with a groan as he moves over and snags a dead gear's lancer.

Sam and Jen catch him as he almost plummets to the rocky ground. They get him sat against their cover and he clutches the gun to his middle.

"Woah, Clayton you can't fight mate. Look at the state of ya. You can barely breathe. You've already fended off the grubs, and saved our asses. You done more than enough. We'll be able to keep the bloody grubs off you and the civs." Sam suggests, Jen nodding along with her.

Clayton shakes his head, his skin steaming once again, 'They think we're weak.'

Carmine shook them off, "Get the survivors to safety, I'll be right behind you." He orders with renewed vigor.

The women pause to look at one another in shock. Carmine hears the longshots start to fire and the torrent of Locust gunfire cease.

"We don't have time. Move!" He coarsely barks out as he raises up and vaults their cover. This leaves them with no choice but to do as he says.

Carmine doesn't advance far, but his new position allows him to keep the waves of Locust in cover, "Come on you pussies! Come get me!" His raspy voice booms out to them.

The rest of his little makeshift team is able to start moving the ex-captives with success. Carmine spots a boomer trying to come out from behind its cover; the gear quickly draws his boltok, splitting the giant grub's head in two. He feels a primal joy in watching the two flaps of the boomer's head fold inward as the fat Locust crumbles to his knees and hits the floor.

"That's what I live for!" He exclaims.

"Clayton, we're almost out. The snipers are repositioning, get ready to make your push." Sam informs him through the coms.

Clay moves back to their initial holdout point and wanders over to the mangled bodies of some of the people. One of them was still alive, their breathing erratic as they bled profusely from the multiple bite wounds on their body. Clothes stained a sickly, dark red.

It was a man, the man he'd seen from before. Carmine recalls his name was Adam.

Clayton kneels and pulls his trench knife out. The man sees him and nods, a grateful look in his eyes while he groans and whimpers. His voice is unable to pierce the veil of immeasurable pain. Carmine doesn't hesitate to stick the blade between his eyes, deep into his brain. A mercy kill. One of two he's had to do today.

Clayton's eyes can't bear to look at the dead man. Instead they look around at the mess of the other poor souls he failed to save. He's seen innocent people die before. But never felt as responsible as he did in this moment. It was his job to keep them safe. And he got them killed.

Clay's helmet tilts down as shame pours into him. He hears the bellow of longshots and realizes it's time to move, or he'd be another corpse amongst countless others. The burly gear takes one last look at the mess of bodies and feels burning shame as it fills him in his entirety.

Nearly three quarters of the people he was supposed to help escape met their end. A part of him wishes he was counted among their number.

---

"Come on Carmine, you said you had experience leading a team." Shepard whines playfully and folds her arms. The pair were working out as usual, and she was spotting for the muscular gear as she always did. Well, Shepard used the term spotting loosely as she never had to help him with the crazy amount of weight and would instead take the opportunity to ogle his muscles. Especially the thick veins that ran along his arms and shoulders.

He wasn't wearing his helmet much anymore while they were exercising, much to the commander's approval. So the wrinkle in his forehead and uneasy look on his face proved to be confusing for her. She eyes him curiously, the gear never displayed any hint of not wanting to lead when he talked to her about it before. Most likely due to the fact that he didn't think she would ever ask him to lead a team.

"I just need you to take a team to grab one of the other dossier targets on Illium for me. It'll save us a lot of time and effort if we can get this done in one shot." Shepard argues, nibbling at her lip as the veins in his arms become more defined. The extreme weight still doing nothing to deter his normal expressiveness.

Carmine shakes his head lightly, his sweaty hair flopping about as he does, "Look I just can't. I know it would be convenient but you don't know how bad of an idea this is. I have experience sure, but it's not great experience." Clay says from below her. The uncertainty in his tone made it obvious he was not bothered by the weight, but rather the idea of leading again.

Shepard lets out an exaggerated sigh and as Carmine goes to lift the weight yet again she leans her forearms onto it, putting her full body weight down on the bar.

This gives Carmine a rather distracting view, her sports bra clinging to her impressive chest as it rests just above him. A small blush comes to his cheeks and he tries to avert his eyes. The added weight doing nearly nothing to faze his reps. The view of Shepard's finely toned abs however, were a tad bit distracting. Especially as a few beads of sweat glistened down the smaller woman's defined middle.

"Clay, I have to take Rasa and Miranda with me. After collecting the asari Justicar we're going after that escaped Cerberus experiment. Somehow Rasa has managed to track it to Illium." Carmine pauses mid rep as he looks back to her face and spots the exhausted look that rests there while she looks at the wall ahead.

'You know this is a bad idea Clayton. The people you lead die painful, horrible deaths.' His inner voice echoes through his skull. The last Carmine brother tries to ignore the negative force in his head and answers the clearly distraught red head with a sigh. Shepard looks down curiously as the gear racks the bar and sits up, throwing his leg over to face the leaning commander.

Her icy blue eyes look into his with a sort of pleading. His eyes narrow at her as she puts on a puppy dog look. The gear's lips tighten into a line before he sighs and hangs his head, "Fiiiiiine. But I get to pick my team." Carmine groans. That kind of look from her was a weakness of sorts for him.

Shepard pops up and fist pumps into the air, "Yes! Thank you Carm." She extends her hand and runs it through his sweat matted locks, ruffling them comfortably.

'Oh great. Now we're some lapdog.' Clayton's inner voice mocks him.

The gear sighs and his eyelids close slightly, ignoring the voice and enjoying the sensation, "Yeah yeah, don't lose your shirt over it." He finds he doesn't mind being patted like a dog by her.

'Maybe being her lapdog isn't so bad.'

As he picks his head up she pulls her hand back into fist bumping range. Carmine catches her adorable snicker and matching smile. The bits of her teeth that peeked from behind her full lips nearly mesmerized him. He gently shakes his head before smiling back and fist bumping the commander.

Shepard places her hands on her hips, "So, who are you bringing? I'll need to let them know ahead of the operation later today."

The gear rubs his stubbly chin and hums. Shepard could practically see the smoke coming out his ears as he thought. She loves when he doesn't have his helmet on. Hell she loved a lot of things about the ever expressive Clayton Carmine.

She freezes, 'Wait...love? LOVE!? No, it is waaaay too soon to think like that. We've only known each other for such a short time!' Shepard yelled out in her brain with a slight twitch to her left eye. Nibbling away anxiously at her lower lip. She internally combusted at the idea of her feelings having developed so strong.

"Shep?" Carmine says as he boops her forehead with his pointer finger, pulling her out of her small stupor. She blinks and looks up at him, now noticing that the gear was towering over her. The concerned look on his handsome face made her nerves calm and she lets out a small sigh.

"I'm sorry Clay, it's been kind of a bad stretch for me with Rasa breathing down my neck. I zoned out. Could you say that again for me?" The worry in his steel orbs made her heart thump faster. She wants to kiss him, every bit of her being was begging for her to go on her tippy toes, wrap her arms around his neck, and give in to her desires. Wanting nothing more than to feel his scarred lips move against hers.

He gazes suspiciously at her, knowing it dug a little deeper than that. But for her sake he left it alone, "It's all good Jane. All I said was that I wanted to bring Grunt and Tali with me."

Shepard smiles extremely wide as her name slides past his lips. She took a tempting step forward, nearly pressing her constrained bust into his middle. The look in her icy blues made the gear sweat a bit.

"Hmm that sounds good to me, big guy. I don't think I've ever heard you use my first name before." She says with a sultry bite to her lower lip. Enjoying the blush that creeps up onto his tan cheeks. The monster of a man averts his eyes nervously.

Scratching the back of his neck he says, "W-well, I usually just call you Shepard or Cherry. I thought maybe I'd give your first name a go. I can stick to the others if you'd like."

Shepard can't help but smile at how easy it was to tease the giant murder machine. She reaches a hand up and gently pets under his chin, "It's ok. I like it." She whispers seductively before walking over to her things. The bounce in her steps was evident, and hard to ignore as her shorts ride up to expose bits of her muscular thighs.

Carmine feels his mouth water but shakes his head and follows after her, eager to slip his helmet back on. Shepard knew Carmine couldn't resist looking at her ass, courtesy of Kasumi snitching on him. It made her feel incredibly attractive. Shepard enjoys knowing a man like Clayton could be so enamored with her. Not that she thought she was ugly by any standard, but it was oddly comforting to know Carmine noticed her feminine charms. Even with all he's been through.

She sighs disappointedly as he slides his helmet over his head, the lenses and other lights sparking to life as it fits perfectly into place. The gear awkwardly scratches the back of it before speaking, "So uhh, do you know when we'll be heading out?"

Shepard throws an extremely loose fitting black t-shirt over her head and nods to him, "I do, but I still haven't fully gotten over your little brawl at the Citadel. So I think you'll have to do me a favor first." She teases, smiling again as the gear grumbles and slumps his shoulders.

"Aww come on Jane, that was well over a week ago. Besides, I've been really helpful around here to make up for having to be bailed out." He pleads. His tone and repeated use of her first name makes the commander's stomach fill with butterflies.

"It was an extremely stressful bit of time for me. Gathering information, studying dossiers, and smoothing things over with Cerberus being just a handful of things I've been stuck with. I'm exhausted big guy. I'm not going to have you do anything crazy, I promise." Her work ethic was admirable. Especially to the burly gear, who smiles down at her.

'To be fair we did also kind of throw a wrench into her plans. You know, the ones she had with her mother. Least we can do is help her out with something.' Carmine hums in agreement with his thoughts, mildly surprised from the rather cooperative tone.

Clayton stands up straight and salutes the smaller woman, "Anything you want ma'am. I'll get it done." He says in a relatively serious tone, making Shepard brush a hand over her mouth to hide her snicker. He of course hears the sweet sound and smiles.

"At ease, Private. It's nothing major, my shoulders have been killing me lately and since you're so good with your hands I thought you would be perfect for getting the knots out." Carmine let himself fall back into a normal stance and hums approvingly. He cracks his knuckles and nods.

"I'll make sure you're loosened up Shepard, don't you worry." There was a thick layer of determination in his voice, he knew he could help her with this.

However the commander's mind went to another place entirely, especially as the bones of his hands cracked, and of course with his rather confident statement to loosen her up. She pushes those thoughts down as he motions for her to sit down. She smiles nervously as he rubs his strong hands together like some kind of scheming rogue, 'Maybe this wasn't such a great idea.' She thinks, swallowing a thick bit of saliva with an audible gulp.

Those thoughts are immediately pushed from her head the second he fits his large mitts onto her shoulders. His warmth spreads through her body, making her relax just from the minimal contact. Carmine was on autopilot of course, not allowing himself to savor the feeling of her skin through the thin, oddly familiar fabric of the shirt she wore. The second he heard the sound of her anxious gulp he put all the dirty thoughts out of his head. This was an effort to help her relax after all.

He presses his thumbs into the tight muscle of her shoulders and begins to apply pressure, making sure his touch wouldn't hurt her. As soon as his hands dug into her, Shepard felt an overwhelming sense of pleasure. A small moan escapes from her as Clayton continues his skillful motions.

Carmine of course blushes at the noise, but he shakes away his mild embarrassment. He has a job to do. No amount of embarrassment would allow him to falter, especially when it comes to helping out a friend like Shepard.

Carmine makes a curious noise as he continues to remove all the tension and stress from Shepard's shoulders. The commander's head lolls backward, and she makes an effort not to drool on herself. Her eyes were half-lidded as she stared up at the gear. Carmine is suddenly hit with a flicker of a memory.

'Oh yeah, Sam wanted one of these too. Well, she wanted a bit more than what Shepard asked for. We do still owe her that full body massage after all. Maybe we'll give it to her some day.'

"Probably not." Clay mutters.

Shepard's eyes open further, snapping out of the trance Clayton was putting her in, "You alright big guy?" She asks, catching his dip in tone.

She bites her tongue as the gear continues to swirl his thumbs into her shoulders, releasing another knot of stress and tension. The last thing she wanted was to moan up at him while trying to console him. The mix of pain and pleasure being rather hard to resist.

The gear smirks from behind his helmet and looks down at her, "Yeah, I'm good. Just thinking about home." He says with a bit of sadness.

Before she can respond to him the gear grips a hold of her and uses the added grip to dig down lower into her back. A smirk ghosts onto his face while she arches in response to his hands. Shepard hums blissfully and shuts her eyes, "I-I'm sorry. I understand it must be hard on you being so far away from your home and your people." She manages to say with impressive coherence.

Carmine's smirk drops as he lightly grunts and nods, focusing more on the task at hand. While finishing up he brushes some of her hair from her face, "Eh, I know they're safe. That's all that matters. Like I've said before, they're all probably doing fine without me." Carmine takes a step back and narrows his eyes as he notices the familiar cog emblem on her chest.

"Hey! You stole my shirt! I've been looking all over for that one." Carmine points accusingly at her. The shirt looks more like a short dress on her.

Shepard looks away while she rolls her very relaxed and soothed shoulders, "I have no clue what you're talking about big guy. But anyhow, you did a really good job. We'll be hitting the ship dock on Illium in a couple hours. Gives the both of us time to get cleaned up. We'll gather in the war room to discuss more after we're all clean."

Carmine sniffs at the air and notices his own scent is present on the shirt, 'She probably just took it by accident one day when we worked out together. Quit thinking so much about this. Maybe focus more on the fact that you did a good job massaging her, dumbass.' Clay sighs and nods, pride shooting through his chest at the half compliment his inner voice has made him aware of.

"Sounds good to me Jane. You can head up first since you interrupted me while I was benching. I still have curls to do as well." The gear says as he strips his damp tank top off and gets back over to the bench. Shepard stares at the glistening muscles with interest. A small hint of sadness hits her as she gets a fair look at his hook scars.

He still hasn't shared to anyone how he got them, or what happened in the hollows. If he has it his way, none of them will ever know the specifics of what he's been through, or more importantly what he's done.

"Alright, I'll be heading up then. Don't work yourself to death here. We've got things to do, Carmine." She says in a rather authoritative tone.

"Heh yeah, I got it mom." Carmine jokes with a small laugh.

Shepard rolls her eyes and snickers before a devious thought rolls through her head, 'Oh I'll be your mommy alright.' Followed by a hefty stare at the man's exposed chest as he gets back to benching, her eyes slowly traveling down to his crotch.

The building heat between her legs snaps her back into reality, and Shepard quickly gathers her things to head up and relieve the tension in her lower half during her shower, "You can come up whenever big guy. Take care." She waves goodbye hastily.

"I'll see you up there in a bit Jane." She smiles at the repeated use of her first name, finding it almost more alluring than the shoulder rub he just gave her.

As she leaves her thoughts are full of just how gentle, yet skilled his hands were while moving over her tense back. The years of war certainly did a number on his hands. It amazes her that he is capable of being so caring and gentle with all of them. It was almost as if he was always acutely aware of how easy it would be to accidentally hurt them. It was a small worry in her mind early on, having seen him literally tear beings in half with his bare hands.

But that worry has been expertly put six feet under.

As she slides into the elevator she can't help her blush as it rises to her face. The front of her underwear have grown increasingly soaked, "Jesus Clayton. You don't have any idea what you do to me." She breathes out, pressing her hands on her rosy cheeks. A loving smile was stuck to her lips. Hands trailing down to cup her confined breats, moaning softly as she teases herself. Her train of thought was running wild.

Back in the training room, the oldest Carmine brother finishes his set and racks the bar. He hastily moves onto curling, using lighter weights than he normally uses. Simply favoring more reps over the heavier weights.

As he's finishing his workout he takes a seat at the bench press. A very drunk Jack stumbles her way into the training room holding a bottle in her right hand. She eyes the topless gear like a hungry animal and doesn't respond to him as he waves.

"You alright Jack? Been drinking I see." The gear laughs as her lazy steps cause her to slightly trip over the sparring mat on the floor. Carmine smells the alcohol and shakes his head, laughing a bit more.

Jack stomps up to him and growls out, "What are you fucking laughing at pussy!?"

Carmine was confused, the pair of them usually teased each other with insults, but she seemed genuinely mad at him. This was further proven as she throws a biotic infused uppercut at him, smashing into his chin and knocking his helmet off. The gear responds immediately, reaching out to try and clamp her arms down in an effort to calm her.

Jack wasn't wearing much like usual so it was hard to get a hold of her without feeling weird. He manages to tackle and mount her, using his weight to keep her pinned to the sparring mat. She was surprisingly strong and gave him a little trouble as she struggled. No doubt due to her biotic enhancements.

"What the fuck is your problem Jack?" The gear yells in her face from on top of her. She refused to let go of the closed, half-empty bottle in her right hand. Jack doesn't speak as she continues to wriggle against Carmine's unbreakable grip.

She doesn't meet his eyes either, "Jack, come on. Quit being an asshole and talk to me." He pleads.

"Come a little closer and I will." She slurs with a drunken smirk. The gear rolls his eyes and dips his head down a bit more.

"Alright now will you-" She cuts him off with a kiss as she arches her back and cranes her neck up to meet his lips. She picked the perfect time, his lips pursing as he talked.

The gear froze completely as her surprisingly soft lips pressed harder against his scarred ones, begging to be kissed back. Sure Jack was drunk, but she had wanted to do that for a looooong time now. Watching Carmine be so smooth and suave with Tali on the Citadel got her a little jealous. Even though she had helped plan for that.

Of course she wanted Clayton to get some, but even now with her lips on his she realizes he just simply wasn't the kind of man to screw for the hell of it. A part of her was proud of his resolve.

As much as Jack hated to admit it, Shepard and the rest of the main crew were leaving an impression on her. Jack was starting to open up a bit. And her feelings for the large inter-dimensional traveler only grew as he shared his story in the club on the Citadel. She'd die before admitting she felt any sort of connection with another person. But she felt that Clayton understood her pain, and mental anguish. The kind that stays with you for the rest of your life.

In her own way she decided to see if this would help him. At least maybe give a distraction from the pain they both felt since neither Tali or Shepard would make a move on the man. Needing a bit of alcohol as a fallback in case Carmine asked her why she kissed him. Being drunk was usually a good excuse.

She lets her head flop back onto the mat and sighs dramatically, "If I wear a red wig or speak like the quarian will you at least kiss me back you big pyjak?" She groans.

This stirs Carmine from his frozen state and he shakes his head, a shocked expression carved into his features as a deep shade of red bleeds onto his cheeks, "N-no. Why did you do that?" He asks, stuttering over himself as his nervousness wracked through his body, the voice in his head was eerily quiet.

"Don't you want to feel good Carm? I've caught you looking enough times for you to try and deny liking my body. What's the problem here? Am I just not good enough for you? Who am I kidding, I'm not good enough for anyone. I'm the girl who people come to for a good, quick fuck and that's it." She says plainly, staring the gear right in his steel eyes.

Clayton doesn't answer, simply letting go, standing, and going back to grab his helmet. His posture was rigid and Jack notices the look on his face was blank, completely void of emotion. A full 180 from his previous behavior. She also caught a full view of his mangled back, her eyes widening slightly, not able to look away from the gruesome scars. He slides his damp tank top back on, breaking her out of her shock.

"Get up. Follow me." His helmet's filter lights flash as they match his words. Clayton's voice was monotone.

Jack didn't question him, realizing she may have fucked up royally. Or maybe that she was going to have the best sex of her life. He was being bossy after all. Maybe he just wanted to go back to his room and fuck the self deprecating tone right out of her.

She gets up and follows him. They take the elevator down to the bottom floor and make their way through the shuttle bay to his room.

As they go through his door he points to his couch and Jack rolls her eyes, "Use your words ya big pussy."

"Sit." The gear doesn't ask, he demands it. And for some reason Jack decides to obey. He had never spoken to her like this before. Sure he got mad on occasion, but that was due to Jack fucking with him. Nothing like this.

Clay grabs the chair from his workbench and places it in front of her as she plops down on his couch. He sits and takes his helmet off. Leaning forward on his forearms. His eyes are full of rage, not that his face gives any of it away, being as stoic as ever.

He lifts his hair and shows her the streaking bullet scar that went across the right side of his head. She looks relatively unimpressed on the outside, "What? Am I supposed to be surprised that the war veteran has a scar on his head? You have those gnarly ones on your back so-"

"Shut the fuck up and listen." He growls out at her, shutting the biotic up rather quickly. His bared teeth and furious eyes enough to make her realize how serious this was becoming.

He huffs like an angry bull before leaning in closer to her, "I don't ever want to hear you say shit like that again. Nobody on this ship sees you like that. Sure you're rough around the edges but so are the rest of us. If you can't look at the others and see that, then look at me."

Jack finds herself stunned for the first time in a long time. She doesn't say anything for a bit. Just sitting in silence with her thoughts, 'He seems like he actually cares about me...that can't be true. Nobody has ever given a fuck about me. This has to be some kind of tactic right? But what would it even be for? He doesn't want sex, and he has no motive...'

The gear sits back and lets his hair fall back into place, he was bit less tense than before, "I'm sick of you acting like you don't have people that think you matter. You're more than just some kind of sex puppet or weapon. If there's one thing I know about you Jack it's that I can't make you do anything. But I sure as shit am not going to let you do things like that again. You don't need to lower your standards for me. I know you act all tough and bitchy, but you're more than that and everyone knows it." He says honestly.

This catches Jack's attention, "Lower my standards? Look I know you don't think much of yourself but I'd be lucky to fu-I mean, lucky to have a sexy bastard like you."

He shakes his head, a sour look on his face, "You want to know how I got that scar?" He points to the side of his head, changing the subject.

Jack nods.

"I shot myself."

Jack sits stunned again for a minute. Carmine gets up and snags his boltok from his workbench. He takes his seat and discretely makes sure the gun is empty.

"After I found out I was the only Carmine left, I tried to put myself down. As far as I knew the grubs were dead, our last human stronghold was under sea level, and the war was over. I had nothing left. I was...I am nothing without something to kill and orders to follow." He grips the boltok tight and presses it to his temple.

"So one night, as we were getting ourselves established on an island, I sat in my tent and argued with myself about whether to do it or not. As you saw I chose to try." He snickers for a second and Jack stays silent. Eyes glued to the gun pressed to his head.

"But what I didn't plan for was my friend Sam barging in. She saw the boltok pressed to my head and rushed me. She managed to knock me back a bit but I still shot. She got the boltok out of my hand and just beat the shit out of me until I didn't let her anymore."

He presses the trigger and Jack's eyes widen, jumping up and reaching for it. The gun clicks empty and Carmine smiles at her. Just like anyone else on the ship would, she tried to stop him. Carmine proved that on the inside, she truly cared. Jack looked at him rather annoyed before sitting back down.

"When I rolled on top of her I yelled at her. Asking why she couldn't just let me put myself to sleep. But when I looked closer at her, she was crying. Tears just pouring from her eyes. I was one of the only people she had left in her life. She wanted to talk about her father, who I'd later learn didn't make it. And she wanted to check on me." He continued.

Jack finally speaks, "W-what does any of this have to do with me?"

Carmine's smile persists, "You reached for the gun, just like Sam did. Just like any of the others would. You're not a bad person Jack. You've just done bad things. Wether you want to admit it or not, I don't care."

She's silent again, but stands and walks to his door. She opens it, "I...I'm sorry for kissing you." She mutters with a small turn of her head in his direction.

Carmine stands and faces her, "Don't sweat it. It was a mistake. You're a little drunk."

'Hah! That is an understatement. Who would ever want to kiss me in the first place?' Carmine thinks with a small cynical smile.

Jack hesitates, "What happened afterwards...with that lady friend of yours?"

Clay snickers and folds his arms, "She stitched my head closed, we got drunk, and ended up falling asleep together. Probably the only sleep I've had in years that wasn't full of fucked up nightmares."

Jack nods, "Well, I appreciate you telling me all that Carm." She slurs, the alcohol in her blood hitting her a bit harder.

"It's not a big deal but, can we keep this between us Jack?" He nervously scratches the back of his neck and Jack hides a smile.

"Sure big guy. Sure."

Clayton stands and watches as Jack takes her leave. Carmine sighs contently, he hasn't told anyone that story before. But hopefully it helped Jack a bit. He didn't expect a thank you, or even what she ended up saying. It made him feel a bit happy knowing she was changing, just like him apparently.

'We're not changing. We are the same ruthless, worthless Clayton Carmine. Nothing can change what we've done, or the people we've hurt. The people we've killed and gotten killed. All this doesn't change the horrors we've seen. The fact that we keep seeing the grubs proves that.'

Carmine shakes his head and growls to himself, he hates being alone with his thoughts. What he hated more was whenever that voice chimed in to torment him. Especially when he couldn't find a way to disagree with it.

He slides his helmet on and shoots Shepard a message that he was heading up to shower. It had been about a half an hour since they split and the gear smirked as he remembered what he wanted to do for her. He snags some red paint that he used to re-decorate his armor as well as some clothes to change into.

"Hopefully she's out and about so this can be a surprise." He says with a nice turn of enthusiasm. Closing and locking his door behind him. He needed a bit of a boost with all this reflection going on. And doing something nice for Shepard could help.

---

Carmine knocked on the commander's door for the seventh time as he usually did, and as per usual he got no response. Shepard had outright stopped answering him, having stated that he needed to just get used to walking in whenever he wanted to.

The gear rolls his eyes and presses the green hologram, opening up her door. He was surprised to hear her water still running, "Huh, guess she's in a bit longer than usual. That works for me." He says quietly with a shrug and makes his way inside.

The gear smirks as her little stereo plays some music from her bedside table. It was one of the songs they'd frequently listen to together. He recognizes it immediately. A heavy metal song. The large man snickers as he recalls one of their many chill sessions.

The veteran gear places his fresh clothes down on the edge of her desk, as well as his helmet. Taking the red paint, he waltzes over to the armor storage a few feet next to her bed. Clay can't help but chuckle to himself as the orange hologram couldn't be any more obvious with the design of her chest piece rotating in mid air.

Carmine opens it up and snags her chest armor, quickly getting to work. He paints a perfect red omen, much like the white one in the center of his armor. With her breastplate it's more of an awkward fit, but he simply decides to paint it higher, closer to her collarbone. He pauses as his hand unconsciously grips one of the armor's breasts. It fills his hand surprisingly well. Clayton blushes and quickly places his hand somewhere else.

He smiles at his handiwork as he finishes and quickly places her armor back. He takes a second to look around at the comfy room. It was rather large. Her queen sized bed didn't even take up that much space.

There was a miniature bar next to a long couch, a holographic chess board was in the center of a coffee table just in front of the couch. Clay takes a seat and thumps his foot to the beat as he goes to touch one of the chess pieces.

"Oh god yes." Is very faintly heard over the bump of the music.

Carmine tilts his head, stands, and moves a bit closer to where he thinks it came from. However he gets way more than he bargained for.

"Fuck, just like that big guy. Right there." Shepard moans out from inside the bathroom.

Carmine's face lights up bright red as he puts two and two together. His jaw hangs open as he fights against the blood flow that rushes to his crotch. He shakes his head violently and snags his things, embarrassed to have walked in and overheard such a private moment. As he opens up her door to leave he can't help but hesitate.

Shepard's moans have grown in volume and intensity. The sweet sound berated his ears and Clayton stands unmoving as he grips his clothes pile tightly.

"That's my good boy." Another slew of errotic moans follow her tantalizing words.

He tries to fight his instincts but can't, and he tunes his hearing. Carmine hears every noise, each heavy breath, and every pump of her fingers as she goes to town on herself. The gear isn't helping his own case by any means as his underwear grows tight.

He manages to snap himself out of his trance and walks out. He's beyond red in the face, and looks down for an even more embarrassing view as his shame made itself present. He quickly lowers his pile of clothes to hide the extremely noticeable bulge running down his pant leg.

"I-I think I'll just shower l-later." He mumbles to himself as he strides back to the elevator.

He thinks about some of the things he heard her say. His eyes widened slightly as one of her nicknames for him had been moaned from her lips, "W-was she thinking about..." The extremely embarrassed man doesn't dare finish his sentence. He decides to take a lap around the ship to clear his mind.

By the time he gets back to her room he refuses to go in or even knock until he's sure she isn't doing, that, again. Once he's sure that she isn't in the shower anymore the burly man repeatedly knocks on the metal of her door until she responds.

"Hmph, come on in Carm." Shepard says rather defeatedly.

Carmine opens the door and is met with a scolding Shepard in her under armor. The rather tight fitting black jumpsuit clings to her form, and the collar hugs her neck snugly as usual. He also takes a mental note as her confined tits bounce a bit while she cocks her hip and crosses her arms under them. Clay's hands twitch and he finds himself thankful for his helmet's ability to cover up his reddening face.

She raises an eyebrow as the behemoth of a man stands and stares at her, "You going to come in and shower or what big guy?"

Her question pulls him out of his stupor and he nods a few times. She looks extremlty confused as he quickly walks in and heads straight to the bathroom. Not even stopping to have some small talk with her. Shepard blinks a bit as the bathroom door shuts.

"Huh...weird." She mutters, wondering why the gear was so hasty to be cleaned up. He almost always stayed to chat with her a bit, both before and after coming for a shower.

It seems as soon as she hears the water start, it stops. Clayton opens up the bathroom door and hums, a healthy glow to his skin. Shepard narrows her eyes, he has his helmet on. Shepard stops him before he can slink his way out of her room.

"Hey big guy, that specialized washroom is installed close to your room so you won't have to come up here to clean up anymore." Shepard says with a slight bit of disappointment in her tone. But she reckoned it was well past due. That and well, people were starting to ask questions.

He coughs, awkwardly holding his hand to the front of his helmet as though the bulky black head protection wasn't still on his dome. Shepard snickers at his behavior before approaching him, a predatory gleam coming to her eye as he steps backward to match her approach. He barely took the time to dry himself as the sleevless shirt he wears clings to his sculpted chest. Dark water stains are littered in patches across the white shirt.

His back hits the wall and he freezes as Shepard closes the distance. She puts herself right in front of him and reaches up. His hand tightens on his pile of dirty clothes but he allows her to reach.

She gets herself up on the tips of her toes to slide his helmet off before plopping back down to the ground, thankful for her boots which added a much needed inch to her height. She smiles at his nervous, handsome face, "Now, that's much better."

He blushes and looks away bashfully as she trots back over to her desk and takes a seat on it, her legs dangle as she isn't quite tall enough to reach the floor with how far onto her desk she sat, "What has you all nervous?" She asks while kicking her feet.

The gear shakes his head and scratches the back of his neck while moving closer, "Nothing much, just settling into the reality that I have to lead a team again." It isn't entirely a lie, but he doesn't dare speak the whole truth.

Shepard's smile dips a bit and her feet stop their rythmic kicking. She hops down and walks over to the gear. This time he doesn't retreat as she closes the distance, "Hey, you'll do just fine Clay. I know you will."

Their eyes lock and Carmine finds himself comforted by those words. He smirks, "Thanks Jane, that means a lot coming from you. Oh, before I get out of here I want to let you know that you should give your armor a little inspection. Now, can I have my helmet back?"

Shepard tilts her head curiously but her smile stays firm as a bit of excitement bleeds into his steel orbs. She holds the head armor firmly at her middle, "Sure, I'll put it back on you. Just lean down for me." She says with a devious glint in her iris.

The gear eyes her warily but shrugs. He leans down to her level and is frozen solid as Shepard's warm, soft lips press against the start of his self-inflicted bullet scar. She lingers a bit, thriving in the warmth of his tanned flesh. Shepard pulls back and gives his warm cheek a second kiss before sliding his helmet over his head. As he straightens back out, Shepard can't help but lick her lips.

He chuckles nervously before stuttering, "Uhh, I-I guess I'll be going n-now. See you soon Shepard." Clayton turns and makes his way out of her room.

She watches him leave with a smile and goes to check on her armor, 'I'll never get over how easy it is to tease him. Such a handsome devil.'

She goes over to the compartment behind the floating orange hologram of her chest piece and snags said bit of armor first. Her eyes widen. She sets the armor down as she sits on her bed, running her pointer and middle finger across the fair sized omen painted above her breast plate. She recognizes it immediately, being a match to the one on Carmine's own armor.

She smiles a genuine smile before looking back to her door, "So thoughtful. God, now I just want to kiss him. More so than usual." She says lovingly as her heart throbs and swoons over the kind gesture.

Her omni-tool beeps as Joker contacts the commander, "Hey Shep, we're about thirty minutes from planetside."

This snaps Jane from her little dream state. She opens her omni-tool and sifts through the crew list as she responds, "Thanks Joker."

She sighs heavily and starts to put on her armor. But before she gets it all on, she notifies those coming on the mission to head to the war room for a debriefing.

"Lets hope this goes well." Shepard says tiredly. No doubt referring to the animosity between both Carmine and Rasa.

---

"Say one more fucking thing about them, I dare you!" Clayton yells out as Tali stands in front of him, not allowing him to go confront Rasa. Who of course was being her rather smug self.

It was worse than Shepard expected. Having just entered the room to give the mission briefing.

"They've been at it for a bit Shepard. Honestly I'm surprised Carmine hasn't tried to kill that little skank by now." Grunt says as he greets her. Shepard simply sighs and grabs at the bridge of her nose while observing the scene.

Tali paces back in forth with him as steam rises from his exposed arms. She was obviously trying her best to calm him down. The quarian mechanic wouldn't be able to stop an angered, armored Carmine. If he wanted to strangle Rasa there isn't much anyone could do to stop him. Grunt would have his hands full.

"What? All I said was how curious it is that you'd rather be around undesirable filth than your own kind." Rasa says rather cockily. Miranda can't help but snicker to herself at the insult.

Shepard is quick to interject as Carmine grabs a hold of the boltok on his hip. She glares at them, "Quit your fighting! Hand off your weapon Carmine!" She points at him and hears his growl as he clenches the handle tight before reluctantly releasing it. A few pops and cracks sound off from his knuckles as he does so.

"Good, now I didn't get you all here so you could tear one another to pieces. As much as I imagine some of you would enjoy that." She glances at Grunt and Carmine. Her gaze lingering.

'He looks damn good in that armor.' Shepard thinks while admiring his custom paint job on the black armor. She shakes her head and gets back to the matter at hand.

"We have things to do, so squash this here and now. We don't need any distractions putting us at risk out there." Shepard can't help but smile as Carmine hangs his head and groans loudly.

"Ughhhhh. Fine." He says, still angry at the pompous Cerberus operative.

Rasa smiles and nods, "I can agree to that."

Shepard sighs and heads to the middle of the room to start her breakdown, "As you all may know we're heading to Illium for two more dossier targets. An asari Justicar, and a drell assassin. I'll be leading Miranda and Rasa to track down the Justicar known as Samara. Carmine, you'll be handling the assassin Thane Krios with Grunt and Tali. We'll have to visit an information broker planetside who can point us in the right direction. Understood?"

Everyone nods, and Shepard smirks, "Good, now let's get going."

As the group of six make their way to the elevator, Shepard brushes against Carmine's arm. He looks down curiously and she taps the omen on her armor, "Thanks for this big guy. So, do I pull off the look of a veteran gear?" She then pokes his white omen and gives him a small salute.

Carmine chuckles, "You'd be the smallest gear I've ever seen, but yeah. I think you'd manage just fine." She snickers along with him, internally beaming at his praise.

The group heads to the docking port and into the ship bay where the Normandy was resting. Shepard presses a finger to her ear as they leave the ship, "Heading out Joker. Make sure nobody steals her."

"Sure thing. Leaving the cripple to defend the multi-billion credit vessel is a great idea." Joker replies. Shepard rolls her eyes but smiles.

Carmine presses his pointer and middle finger to the side of his helmet, "You'll be fine Jeff. You've got our crew to help your brittle ass."

"How could I ever forget? Hah, good luck out there Carm." Joker says with a small chuckle.

'Yeah, I'll need it.' The gear thinks with a sigh.

---

It doesn't take them long to get where they need to go, but Carmine finds himself looking at the beauty that the planet offers. The orange hue of the mid day sun only adding to the bustling city's charms.

Clay wanders off as they enter the district and finds himself looking over the flying cars in the sky as they zip around massive skyscrapers. A light breeze acompanies this rather pleasant day, and Carmine shuts his eyes as he grabs a hold of a railing, inhaling the fresh air.

'This time won't be different. You're going to lose them. Don't let this place trick you, don't let these people trick you. They can burst from the ground at any second. The grubs are not dead.' The gear growls, his hands curling tighter around the rail.

Shepard and the others were stopped not far away, talking with an asari woman. Tali was shocked as the woman exposes that she was merely a vesel for the rachni queen that Shepard had let go years prior, and was offering thanks to the commander. Tali notices the large gear's absence and looks around, smiling as she spots him. The snippet of her purple garb that was tied to his arm flapped in the wind from its place attached to him.

She blushes and wanders over to him, smiling. Not many knew what that gift had meant in quarian culture. Tali was thankful for that, 'I love that he wear the mark of my affections every day. Wherever he goes.'

As she gets closer a frown finds her face. She spots his black gauntlets squeezing the rail. His spiked knuckles crack as he increases his grip and easily dents the metal railing. Tali hurries herself, 'He must be caught in some thoughts. I have to help him.'

As she hustles over she trips on the power cable of a vending kiosk and shuts her eyes at the inevitable collision. She lets out a small oof as she crashes into his side. She instinctively wraps her arms around his waist to keep upright. Carmine is snapped from his thoughts by the small quarian woman smashing into his hip. His eyes immediately widen and he grabs a hold of her.

"Holy shit Tali, are you alright? Is your suit breached?" He asks, concern dripping from his voice as he wraps his arms around her protectively, hands checking her suit for any compromises. Tali gasps as his warmth soaks into her, his hands poking and prodding their way down to her hips. A dark pink blush burns on her cheeks. She hesitantly looks up at him.

"Y-yeah I'm alright. Sorry for crashing into you like that. You can let me g-go now." She says extremely embarrassed. She loved his careful touches but was worried they'd draw attention.

"Sure, sorry." He apologizes with a nervous chuckle and scratch to the back of his helmet as he lets her stand on her own.

"If anyone should say sorry it is me. I barreled right into you." Tali says with a chuckle of her own and a fidget of her hands. He nods and goes back to looking over the city.

"So what are you looking at?" She asks as she steps up beside him at the railing.

The gear sighs contently as the breeze cools his exposed skin, "Eh, nothing much." He answers plainly.

Tali leans on the rail to get a better angle of his front, clearly not believing him, "Then what are you thinking about?"

The gear looks down at her and his armor rustles with his snickering. He bends and leans on the rail with her, getting a bit more on her level. Her pink orbs await his answer curiously.

"The cities back in my world. They looked as beautiful as this place before the war. Obviously without all those cars flying through the sky." The pair share a laugh.

"I bet they did Carmine." He enjoys as she says his name, her accent was adorable to him. Not that he would admit that openly.

The last Carmine brother takes a second to think before addressing his quarian friend, "Tali, I'll do everything in my power to keep you and Grunt safe today. I swear."

Tali looks up into his blank, glowing lenses and smiles, "Where did that come from big guy?"

He shrugs and stops leaning on the rail, she follows. Tali hums, "Well thank you, I know you'll do your best to lead us. Shepard told me you had complications in the past, but I have faith in you."

Her statement hits him like a grenadier's punch, "How can you trust me?"

She lowers her head a bit, not truly understanding how he could even ask such a question, "How can I not?" His eyes widen at her words.

Before the gear can answer her, Shepard finishes up talking to the rachni queen and calls out to them, "Come on you two! Explore later, we've got a job to do."

Clayton extends an arm out in front of them and slighlty bows, "Ladies first."

Tali rolls eyes playfully and chuckles, "What a gentleman."

The joyful noise makes Carmine smile uncontrollably as he follows her lightly swaying hips back to the group, only sneaking one simple glance to her butt while they walk. Shepard smiles as they rejoin her and she leads them to the information broker. Or at least the secretary of the broker.

The annoyed asari at the desk sighs and asks, "Name?"

Shepard quirks an eyebrow, "I was told the broker would be expecting me."

The asari rolls her eyes, "Yeah, no shit. Once again, I need a name."

Carmine narrows his gaze at the disrespectful tone of the blue woman and steps to the front, "Yeah I got a name for you. First name Hugh."

Shepard looks to him with curiosity, "Carm what are you-" He cuts her off with a hand on her shoudler.

"Just trust me here Jane." He says with confidence. She feels a small blush burn her cheeks as his heat soaks into her. She sighs, her eyelids drooping slightly. She nods and smiles at him.

The asari looks up expectantly at him as an impatient look finds her eyes, "Hugh what?

"Jass." He says while looking back to the secretary, fighting to hold in a laugh.

The asari quirks an eyebrow but shrugs and looks through the scheduling. Shepard face palms, not knowing how that worked. She gazes up at the big man through the gaps between her gloved fingers. Smile growing as he holds a fist in front of his helmet and coughs to hide his laugh.

"Real mature." Tali scoffs from behind them, poking the balistic weave on his lower back with a slender finger.

The gear looks back at her with a smile of his own, "Don't ruin this for me." Tali's pink orbs roll before narrowing happily.

As the asari at the desk is finishing her search she is contacted by the info broker directly. She presses a finger to her ear before pushing a few buttons at her terminal, "Yes right away miss T'Soni."

She then looks back to Shepard as the door unlocks, "You're free to go in Commander Shepard. Lucky day for you too Hugh Jass."

Jane's eyes widen slightly, 'Liara is the broker!?' She internally beams, having not seen her close friend since making sure she escaped the exploding Normandy.

Carmine tries to keep himself from laughing as they funnel into the office, "Heheh, yeah. My lucky day."

Tali snickers from behind Carmine. Shepard swats his middle and hides her smirk. Even Miranda is smiling a bit at the dumb practical joke. Rasa remains stone faced as always. Grunt looks on with a scratch to the side of his leathery head, completely confused.

"Have you faced an Asari commando unit before? Few humans have. I'll make it simple, either you pay me or I'll flay you alive with my mind." Shepard was shocked to hear the threat, especially since it came from one of the least bloodthirsty of her old crew.

"Oh I like her." She hears Carmine say. Liara turns and her eyes widen excitedly, a large smile finding her blue lips.

"Shepard! Nyxeris, hold my calls." Liara says as she approaches Shepard.

She walks up to the commander and spreads her arms enveloping Shepard in a hug. A hug that the red head happily returned. They release one another soon after but Liara can't keep the smile off her face.

"My sources said you were alive, but I never believed...It's very good to see you."

"It's great to see you too Liara. You have sources now?" Shepard asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Amongst other things yes. Sources, contacts, even a little hired muscle; l've been working as an information broker. It's paid the bills for the past two years since you, well..." She looks down for a moment as Jane's death flashes through her mind.

She gives her head a light shake, "But now you're back. And gunning for the Collectors with Cerberus at that."

Shepard was surprised how much she changed in two years on her own, but yet again she wasn't the first one to change. Garrus and Tali had their own obvious differences too, although similar to those two Jane saw the bits that stayed the same.

Liara's eyes wander to the group her beloved friend has with her. The asari's eyes widen as she spots Carmine's hulking form. She shakes away her bewilderment and finds the happy pink orbs of Tali.

"Tali? My, you've certianly grown." Liara says while examining the quarian woman a bit. A bright smile on her face.

Tali snickers, "I have. And have been staying away from prothean bubbles I see." Shepard laughs along with them as they catch up a bit.

"I can only imagine Garrus is with you as well. How is the Archangel doing?" Liara asks as she embraces Tali.

As they separate Shepard scratches the the side of her jaw and answers, "He's doing alright. Got a little banged up when I went to go grab him, but Garrus is still Garrus."

Grunt and Carmine share a sigh before locking eyes, "When do I get to kill something?" Grunt says with a shake of his head.

Carmine snickers, "I'm right with you there pal. Though it is nice to see them happy." The gear has easily overheard their entire conversation.

"I see you've found new company." Carmine's ears perk up as Liara mentions the rest of them directly.

Shepard nods, "Yep. I have a few Cerberus operatives with me but you might not know about Grunt or Carmine."

Liara throws a sly look at the commander, "You mean the genetically engineered super soldier Krogan, and the ruthless Grub Killer? May I remind you my whole life is information now Shepard."

Jane stands amazed at how well informed her old friend was, "It comes with the job I imagine."

Liara nods, "You haven't changed one bit Jane. Other than rising from the dead. Your choice of company is still rather interesting. The big one is human right?"

Shepard shrugs with a laugh, "What can I say? The wild ones flock to me. But yes haha, Carmine is indeed a human."

Liara locks eyes with Clayton's glowing blue lenses and hums curiously, "Hmm. If it is ok with you Jane, I'd like to join with his mind. To get to know him better. I know very little about him other than what my sources have told me. The stories I've heard have me mildly worried."

Shepard sighs, yep she still knows her old companion in and out, 'Ever the cautious one Liara. Although it is kinda worrisome knowing info about Carmine is floating around the galaxy.' She thinks with a small nod.

"Sure, as long as he's alright with it. Clay, come meet Liara. I don't think I've mentioned her much to you." Shepard says, motioning the big guy to come over to them.

He takes a few steps closer, his long legs putting him right in front of the three women. He extends a hand to Liara, "It's always a nice surprise meeting more of Shepard's old crew. I'm Clayton Carmine. You can just call me Carmine though." Liara shakes his massive outstretched hand and eyes him up. Not being able to help her gaze as it lingers on the thick veins in his muscular arms. He was surprisingly well mannered considering the information she had on him said otherwise.

She lets her eyes wander to the memorial for his brothers on his bicep before flicking back to his helmet's eyes, "It is nice to meet you Carmine. I'm Liara T'Soni. No offense, but I don't quite trust you fully with the reports I've gotten regarding your...methods. I also would like to know where you're from."

"Yeah I heard you two talking about that mind joining stuff. Regarding where I'm from, it's kind of a long story." The gear scratches the back of his helmet as their hands seperate.

Liara hums curiously, "I'd heard rumors your hearing was unparalleled, I suppose that is one curiosty put to rest. But I understand your skepticism. Mind joining is a simple, harmless process that will allow me to get a quick, yet thorough understanding of you. Shepard and the others mean a great deal to me, I'd just like assurance that they're going to be safe."

Shepard and Tali scoff, knowing well of the big man's dedication to keeping them safe. He'd never willingly hurt them. But on the other hand, they also understand Liara's thought process. The last Carmine brother did have a rather brutal way of dispatching his foes. He wouldn't hurt his crew, but he sure as shit enjoys hurting others.

The info broker's request didn't exactly sit well in Clayton's mind, 'What the hell does she mean join with my mind? I remember reading a bit about asari. I know they have mental abilities, but I didn't know they were that advanced. This probably isn't a good idea then.' The gear thinks with an uncertainty in his steel eyes.

Carmine scratches the back of his helmet again, "I'm not sure that's a good idea. I wouldn't want you to be digging too deep. There are things where I'm from that I would rather spare you from seeing."

Shepard and Tali share a look of understanding. His past was a blood soaked one, and not wanting Liara to have to witness that was more of the same that they've come to expect with Carmine. Their hearts pulse as each wish to help alleviate his pain. Both of them know it's not likely with how tight lipped he is about the details of his past.

Grunt on the other hand is smiling wide, a smile that makes Miranda and Rasa uneasy. The krogan was no doubt remembering the description of a Locust drone that Carmine gave him.

Liara smiles warmly at Clayton, "Of course I understand. I promise to not be invasive." Her tone is genuine, and as he looks in her deep blue eyes he can't see any hint of a lie.

The gear sighs and Shepard jumps in, stepping next to him and patting his thick bicep with an armored hand, "It's alright if you don't want to Carm. Nobody is pressuring you." He looks to her attentive icy blue orbs. The look of concern for his well being is carved into her cute, pale face. The bundle of hair that always hung in front of her eyes was begging to be tucked back. He restrains himself.

Tali steps to the other side of him and fidgets her hands while she looks into his lenses, "I agree. Do not do this to appease us. Only if you truly want to." Clay pats the nervous quarian on her head, loving every second that she looks up at him with those happy pink eyes. The light pink blush on her cheeks visible. A quiet, happy noise coming from Tali.

'Is that purring?' He thinks, internally shaking his head and dismissing it.

Shepard grumbles for a moment as she watches jealously, "Lucky." She mutters to herself. Blushing as the gear shifts his hand from Tali's head to hers. Patting her wild red mane down a bit, and sneakily sliding her stray bundle behind her ear.

The veteran gear can't help his scarred lips as they quirk upward, taking his hand back, 'They're too adorable sometimes. God I'm such a pussy.'

He focuses on Liara and shrugs, "Thanks you two. But I understand your view Liara, and I'd definitely be wary of me too if I was in your shoes. Alright, lets get this over with." He says jokingly.

The two women at his sides smile at him as they take their place back on either side of Liara. The asari in question finds herself smiling as well, her blue lips turn upward at his willingness to work with her.

"Very good Carmine. Can you perhaps kneel? I'm going to need ease of access to your head." The gear nods and takes a knee. Liara is stunned to see he is almost at eye level with her.

"I'll need you to remove your helmet now."

The gear complies again, but as he frees his raven-colored mess from the confines of his modified helmet, the asari finds herself completely starstruck by his handsome face, "By the goddess." She says, completely enamoured with his eyes and other sharp features.

Tali and Shepard smile at the massive man's bare face. Tali hums and nudges Shepard as she notices the frozen Liara next to her, "Is that how we look when Carmine takes his helmet off?"

Shepard begrudgingly nods, "Yep, pretty sure it is Tali."

Liara shakes her head as Carmine nervously clears his throat, a red tint on his cheeks from being ogled by the three ladies, "Can you hold my helmet Shep?"

Jane nods hastily and snatches his head protection, the smell of his recently showered hair clung to the inside and she feels a mild shiver run through her as it wafts up to her nose. Liara presses her hands on either side of the gear's face and gets a bit closer.

"I'm sorry. T-this is a bit of an intimate process." She stumbles a bit as his curious gray eyes watch her intensely. She begins by slowly pressing her forehead to his and closing her eyes.

The big man blushes but shrugs it off, "You're fine."

"What memories would you allow me to see?" Liara asks, focusing a bit better now that she only felt his rather hot skin against hers.

"Just my childhood . Everything else is a fucking mess. So avoid anything past it." Liara hums at his request.

"That works for me. You can figure out a lot from how someone is raised. Focus on your childhood Carmine. Be still, and fill your soul with the feelings of your youth."

Clayton shuts his eyes and does as he is told. As Liara links their minds she pulls her head from his, and her eyes open to reveal they've become completely black. She was inside his head.

"Embrace Eternity."

It's always dark when you first enter another person's mind. Liara had more than enough experience with the void. She smiles though. Walking deeper into the jet black emptiness as if she'd been simply taking a stroll down the street. As she shuts her eyes she takes a deep breath.

With her exhale she opens her eyes and is presented with a cozy little farm house. It seems to be early fall. The weather was beautiful. A calm breeze blows a handful of falling, multicolored leaves as they plumet to the ground. She looks out just past the barn and spots a large city in the distance. Liara smiles, it's a beautiful view. This was Clayton's planet, eerily similar to Earth but Liara knew it was different.

She then hears a ruckus as the front doors swing open. She smiles wider when four boys pile out the door. They're dressed modestly and look extremely familiar. The largest of them catches her eye and she realizes that it's Clayton. It was jarring to her, his face was untouched by any old wounds, and his gray orbs are so full of joy. Even while he wrangles his brothers. Nothing like the cold steel eyes she looked into moments before.

"Come on dorks. Ma and pop just need a quick picture. No rolling around in the grass yet you animals." The young Clayton says as he snags two of his brothers into headlocks on either side of him before letting them go. He smiles as they groan, fixing their hair for the photo.

The smallest brother laughs from behind the trio, "Ha! Clay's kicking your guy's asses!"

Clayton turns on a dime and smacks the smallest upside his head, "Watch the language squirt." Liara smiles warmly at the brotherly scolding as the little brother whines and rubs his head. They get themselves set up by a nearby apple tree, one that is overlooking the city.

Even as teenagers they're the size of her. But Liara doesn't focus much on the size difference with the environment distracting her. The world looks gorgeous. The grass so green, skies bluer than she'd ever seen, and air so fresh. Small memories flood into her head. A cube, a bright light, and darkness.

She hums, Clayton's inter-dimensional status being revealed through a memory pocket. The image of a peculiar metal cube, and the blue orb inside are shown to her. Heavier steps grab her attention.

Two adults make their way out of the house. A very large man, and presumably his wife. The pair smile and hug as they watch the boys, a camera dangling in the woman's hand. Her emerald eyes look up lovingly into her husband's gray orbs and she steps up on her tippy toes to reach him. They share a deep kiss, the woman fitting her free hand snuggly into the man's messy black locks.

As they seperate they can't help but chuckle at the silly boys. Clayton was doing his best to keep them clean, at the request of his parents, but they could tell it was a losing battle. Liara could see the love between them.

"After you my darlin'." The man mutters. Smiling wide as he follows his red headed wife down to them. Her floral dress blows in the breeze. His own jacket following suit as a gust of wind blows their way.

Liara sticks close to the pair and makes her way over with them. Although this is very nice, it wasn't exactly what she was looking for. The only useful information she grabbed was from a wandering memory pocket.

Liara rationalizes that digging a smidge deeper into his memories wouldn't hurt. Especially if there were more like this. She shuts her eyes for a moment and focuses her mental energy on sifting further into Clayton's mind. Using the pocket memory to create a doorway deeper into his subconscious.

The camera flashes and a collective sigh is released from the boys as Clayton's mother gives the eldest son a thumbs up. The three others scatter like wild animals and Calyton's mother hugs him, whispering something to him. He nods and heads toward the house.

"This isn't giving me much. I just have to go a bit further." Liara says as she focuses her power a bit, closing her eyes again. She opens the double doors she has created.

As she opens them and walks through she's surprised to see the same visage, but now the brothers are obviously much older. Liara smiles as Clayton was very easily found, having grown into a more familiar build even as a late teenager. They were in the same pose, Clayton and the larger of the two green eyed boys in the middle. The younger brothers on either side of the older ones.

As Liara approaches the posing young men and proud parents a gunshot rings out. She turns her head, wondering just where it came from. As she looks back the whole setting changes. The country air being replaced with a scent of death and dust. The cool breeze has become a sweltering heat as damaged and destroyed buildings litter either side of her. The grass becoming cracked pavement, covered in spent casings and dried blood.

The woman spots the four brothers. Clad in armor and helmets. She recalls the helmets as being the ones on Carmine's tattoo. Of course Clayton's own helmet looked very different as did the rest of him. He was in his rookie armor. But she correctly assumed he was the largest one.

Liara gasps as she spots the parents of the boys, completely turned to ash, bits of them breaking off as a light wind blows through the area. Deafening gunshots batter her eardrums.

Liara finds she is losing control of her grasp on his mind and falls to her knees. A sharp pain biting into her skull, forcing her eyes closed. As she opens them the scenery has changed again. She's back in the void, grunting and groaning as her head throbs.

"Hey, you alright miss? It isn't safe here." She hears a young Clayton and looks to her left, taking the hand the rookie gear extended to her.

The visage of Clayton yanks her into a lit area of the void before dissapearing. Current day Clayton is stuck to the ground on his knees. There are thick chains wrapped around his arms, torso, and neck. He is shirtless, and Liara gasps at the sight of his back. Its torn apart, hooks stuck among the horizontal wounds that go along the length of his entire back. Layers of split open flesh and flowing blood agape to the air.

"No...not this again. Please!" He begs. Liara finds herself truly scared. So much fear is evident in his gray eyes as she walks in front of him.

She follows his gaze hesitantly as the three helmeted men from his tattoo walk out from the shadows.

"It isn't safe here for the likes of you." Liara's head whips around but she can't find the source of the menacing voice. It sounded like Clayton, but he was beside her.

"P-please not again, not again!" The chained Clayton yells out. Getting Liara's attention back onto his brothers.

"Anthony Carmine. Benjamin Carmine. David Carmine. All lost to the Locust. Is that what you want to see? You saw the cube, how we got here. His childhood. What else do you want?" Clayton thrashes at his chains like an animal. In an instant the darkness reaches its claws out and grabs a hold of the three. They yell and call for their older brother as they're dragged into the darkness.

Liara is frozen as the oldest Carmine brother growls and tugs at his binds. A deep, inhuman chuckle echoes from the darkness in front of them. Followed by sounds of shuffling and groaning. The zombified corpses shamble into view. Anthony with the gaping hole in his head. Benjamin with his exposed chest cavity and his trailing intestines. David with his burns, fresh hooks hanging from the mangled flesh of his malnourished back.

Tears fall from Liara's eyes as Clayton goes limp. His efforts were fruitless. His dead brothers haunt him with their rotten visages. He makes no effort to escape as they come upon him, pulling their helmets from their heads and ripping their yellow teeth into his flesh. Liara watches in horror as they consume the oldest brother. Yet he makes not a single sound as they pull him apart.

A flash grenade plinks its way to her feet as Liara tries to take initiative, turning away and trying to make an escape from Clayton's mind.

Liara is blinded, deafened, and grabbed by someone. She tries to fight whatever has a hold of her but she can't. It has a painful hold of her arms. She slowly finds her senses and is met with a shadowy figure. Hot white fire spews from the shadow man's eye sockets.

"You don't belong here." He mutters to her. The shadow sounds exactly like Clayton.

Liara's eyes can't pivot away from the fires. This seems to be Clayton's subconscious, "What happened to your broth-"

The figure doesn't let her finish and tightens his grip. Liara groans from the painful grasp. The fiery-eyed figure leans in closer, "You want to see what I went through? The pain? The suffering?"

Liara shakes her head no, making the shadowy Clayton laugh, "Hah! What's the matter? I thought this is what you wanted. Was my childhood not enough to satiate you?"

They stare at one another for a few seconds before the shadow releases her. The figure snaps, and Liara blinks. The void morphs into a battleground. The Locust are advancing on a rookie Clayton Carmine and his squad in some kind of city. Liara watches in horror as a mauler tears a crying gear in half. Easily lifting the upper body by an arm and feasting on his insides as they spill from the torso.

Tremors wreak havoc on the street. A sea of drones pour from the massive emergence hole at the end of the block. The sound of all the gunfire is completely deafening. She locks eyes with a grenadier. The warped, sadistic laughter it produces burns through the noise and sears into her memory as she watches it fire into a group of civilians as they try to run away.

Tears begin streaming down her face. The white fires of the shadow's eyes flicker as they shift to a deep orange color.

The shadowy figure grabs her roughly by the tentacles on her head and points to the warzone, "This was one battle. One massacre. And he went through so many of these without me. He's worthy of control. Something the rest of my kind overlooked. Heh, it is why they are gone and we remain." Clayton's voice is no longer present, a monstrous, deep tone takes his place.

Liara manages to ask, "W-who are you?"

The figure's fiery gaze bores into her very soul. The shadows fade to reveal a gruesome sight. The fires dwindle and puff away, revealing the yellow glowing eyes within the horribly disfigured armor. Thick veins run across the lengths of the helmet.

The helmet's yellow veins pulse as if the metal was no longer just armor but the skin on a beast's head. It was a lambent Clayton Carmine. The bottom half of the monster's helmet cracks open, revealing a sickly yellow maw. The tough, stone-like skin cracking as the jaw extends, exposing sharp stone teeth.

The beast chuckles at her as more civilians and gears are ripped to bits by the Locust horde around them. She weeps more intensely as the innocent screams torment her. Each gunshot and roar making her flinch uncontrollably.

"We are the monster to the monsters." The being speaks in a distored mix of Clayton's voice and its own. Yellow eyes not blinking as it stares into her very soul.

"We have lost everything. The ones in our world have moved on from us. Even the ones in your world are fleeting. Shepard, Tali, the rest of the crew. You are all too weak to save forever. Sorrow. Rage. Emptiness. That is all that will remain when they perish. His only hope for years was death. But now our hope resides in these new faces." The beast's jaws linger closer to her as Clayton's voice fades completely. Only the monstrous tone of the lambent remains.

"He wishes to try. And I will obey. We are starting to enjoy it here, I must admit. The bonds he has made are of interest to me. But we know good things never last. We will fight until there is no enemy left to bleed dry in order to protect what is ours."

"And we think you have heard enough. Seen too much." It says with a snarl.

In an instant the creature lunges and rips into her neck.

Liara flings herself away from Carmine with an ear piercing shriek, tears threatening to pour from her eyes. The big man grabs his head with both hands and groans. The pain that shoots through him is unbearable.

Shepard and Tali console Liara. Everyone has a mix of confused and fearful looks on their faces as Liara speaks, "T-they came from the ground. T-t-the screams. A-all those people, lost. I'm s-so so sorry." She covers her eyes with her hands as her breathing grows rapid.

Shepard places Carmine's helmet on the desk and rubs her back. Liara clings to her and grabs her up in a hug. Shepard brings her up as she stands and sits Liara into a chair. Tali grabs a hold of the asari's hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze. Liara nods to her and looks at Carmine.

Jane follows her gaze to Carmine with a similar worry as his breathing grows uneven. The hands that grip his hair tighten and he starts to shake, "How much did you see?" He asks, head still pointed at the floor

Clayton growls at the lack of an answer and raises his head. He spots her form staring at him and his blood runs hot, "How much did you fucking see? Because I sure as shit saw a whole Fucking Lot!" He barks out, skin starting to heat up.

Shepard goes over to him and places a hand on his chest armor, "Carmine calm down. Getting angry won't help."

He stands and shrugs off the commander's hand, a wild look to his eye, "She fucking lied." He hisses through clenched teeth, inching a bit closer to Shepard as his breathing evens out. There was a distinct heaviness to his breath.

Shepard could tell he was one wrong word away from exploding as he towers over her. His hands crack as he clenches and unclenches them. She does her best to maintain eye contact but his steel orbs are zipping around, looking for sounds nobody else could hear.

Shepard reaches out to touch him again and he recoils from her, taking a hefty step away. Shepard looks as if she'd been slapped, but doesn't make another move as the gear locks eyes with her. He spots the hurt in her icy iris.

His blood cools a bit, his lower lip quivering slighlty as the deaths of his family, and the innocents he failed to save flow freely through his mind. The voice snickers in his ears, 'Heh, you're pathetic. These people will end up just like all the others. Just like your parents. Just like your brothers.' Clayton growls to himself.

'They're different. You know they are. So quit fucking with me!' Clayton bites back

'Different like Sam? You know she's probably got a throat full of Baird's dick right now. We cared for her and were punished for it.'

Clayton's thick arms have steam flowing from them freely now, 'Shepard and Tali are different! If they weren't you'd be telling me when they touch me. But you don't. Because you fucking like them just as much as I do!'

The voice falls silent, and the steam abruptly stops flowing as Carmine is hit with a realization, 'I...I do like them. A-and I'm sick of pretending I'm not into them, or that I shouldn't want them. I'm not worthy of them but I sure as shit won't let you steer me becuase you think so. Not anymore.'

The argument in Clayton's head falls silent as he notices Shepard take a small step toward him. A chuckle rings through his ears, 'Very well. I...respect that. I won't pester you about it anymore. But I also can't stop the memories. That's all you, Grub Killer.' Clayton's eyes widen slighlty. The voice's tone was almost happy, and suspiciously cooperative.

Shepard takes another step toward him and slowly takes off her glove. She moves to grab his hand. He allows it, although his eyes bounce from her hand to her eyes a few times in uncertainty. As soon as her small, pale fingers make contact with his fingerless gauntlet he twitches.

Shepard gently holds his hand as to not let him pull away, "It's ok big guy. I promise she didn't mean to do any of this."

Tali, who had successfully consoled Liara, decides to chime in, "You're safe Carmine." She says while placing a hand on his other forearm.

The simple words of the two women help to calm him, and he squeezes Shepard's hand back, grabbing a hold of Tali as well. He closes his steel eyes and takes a deep breath to reset himself.

As he opens his eyes they've turned silver, and he looks to his two female companions with a small smile, "Thank you. I...I'm good." Shepard and Tali share a smile at their combined effort and Tali wiggles from his grasp to grab his helmet.

She offers it to him and he lets go of Shepard's hand. He slides the bulky helmet over his messy hair and sighs in relief as the lights flicker on. Liara stands with the three and bows to him, "Once again I apologize Carmine."

He shakes his head as a sudden pain throbs at his temples, "Just don't ever do that again. Send Tali the info we need. I have to get some air. Grunt, come on." He says as he turns and heads out of the office to wait outside. Grunt trots behind him.

Liara nods, grateful to have avoided the Grub Killer's wrath. She presses a few buttons on her omni-tool and sends the details of the mission at hand to Tali. Shepard thanks her and the rest of the crew start to funnel out the door.

Rasa has watched the entire incident with great intruige, 'So the women can reel him in. Seems this monster has a weakness after all. Makes the rest of my plan much more fun.' She secretly notifies her contact as she finishes her thought.

Jane shoos the stragglers out of the room before eyeballing Liara, "What did you see in his head?"

Liara pauses to think before she answers, a raw chill running down her spine. "I...saw things I shouldn't have. I saw what he said I could. A sweet afternoon picture with his brothers and parents. I saw how he got here, the small cube that sent him to our dimension. I only meant to go a small bit further." Liara freezes up as she thinks to the terrible things she had seen.

Shepard takes a step closer, "What did you see Liara?" The commander presses more impatient than before.

Liara takes another few seconds, closing her eyes. She opens them and looks to Jane, tears in the corners of her eyes, "There were so many dead. Screaming. His brothers were walking corpses, consuming Carmine as he was chained to the floor. His fellow soldiers and innocent people were slaughtered by those massive, scaly, gray beasts. Shepard I-I don't know how he is able to be as he is. Those monsters he had to fight, they-"

Jane cuts her off, "That look in your eye, I've never seen it from you before. Pure fear."

Liara nods, not breaking eye contact, "There...there is something inside him. Something yellow and grotesque. It uses his voice and image as its own. I had met with his subconscious, and as much as I'd like to blame those repeated memories on the yellow beast, I cannot. Carmine won't move past what has happened. It is obvious he blames himself."

Shepard nods, relatively surprised that the imulsion symbiote wasn't responsible for the mental torture Carmine endured. The discovery only raises more questions.

"I...I had asked what the beast was. It told me that it was the monster to the monsters."

Jane's eyes widen only having heard that phrase from the man himself, but she nods. She takes a step toward her friend and places a hand on her shoulder, "Thank you. I can't imagine what you saw in there, but I am disappointed that you lied. Don't make that a habit." She squeezes a bit harder and smiles at her.

Liara nods. The pair getting one last hug before seperating.

"It was great seeing you Liara, I'll keep in touch. Oh, and I'd appreciate if everything that happened stays between us."

"I'd like that. Don't worry Jane, I can be discreet. Stay safe."

Shepard meets up with Carmine and Grunt. Tali had went and joined the pair as well. Preferring their company than that of Miranda and Rasa. Shepard and her trio stand across from them and she questions the gear, "You going to be alright Carm?"

Clayton nods, "Yeah, I'll be alright. Be safe Shepard, I expect to see you for training later."

His mildly cheerful tone makes her smile, "You'd better not get too shot up to train then." He tilts his head a bit before shrugging.

"Good point."

They share a chuckle, but Shepard looks to him seriously, "You better come back in one piece. I know you'll do just fine."

He nods to her with an uncontrollable smile. The groups seperate and Shepard turns her head to watch the gear, the krogan, and the quarian disappear down a set of stairs.

'You've got this Clayton. Do what you do best. Keep them safe, and kill some grubs.'

---

Clayton and his alien teammates meet up with Liara's contact. The directions fed by Liara lead to an asari standing next to a cherry red car. Her eyes never leave the giant gear as he approaches with his allies on either side of him. Its not like he isn't used to being gawked at, hell it happened plenty on the way over. But still, the attention wasn't very enjoyable for him.

"Hmm. She said you'd be big, but damn." The asari says with a small bite to her lower lip. Tali grumbles and glares from Carmine's right as she watches the blue woman check him out. Folding her arms over her chest as she glares harder, as if that would magically stop the asari from perving out.

Clayton adresses her, slipping into his leadership role rather effortlessly, "I'm assuming you're who we're looking for?"

The asari nods, "Liara put me in touch with Thane. He's after Nassana and I just so happen to have worked for her."

Clay hums, "You can take us to him then?"

She opens up her car's door and motions inside, "Sure thing, hop in."

The group get into the air soon after, Carmine moves a bit in the passenger seat. Both Tali and Grunt fit rather comfortably in the back seat. It seems the gear just wasn't built for riding shotgun. He was hunched a bit, knees crammed into the dash. His guns snagged onto bits of the car, getting him stuck for a moment. Clay tries his best to not ruin anything, its not his car after all.

"I'm Seryna by the way." The asari says as she sneaks a glance at the big man. Seryna smirks as he grumbles and finally settles himself uncomfortably.

"Carmine, he's Grunt, and she's Tali." Clay says as he points to each of them.

"So what do you need the drell for anyway?" Seryna asks curiously.

Clay's helmet tilts in her direction, a vein throbbing in his forehead near his raven crash scar. The pain in his brain hadn't quit pulsing since Liara's little excursion into his head, "I don't need him for anything. Commander Shepard does. We're just the pickup crew."

Seryna hums before furrowing her brow, "Wait Commander Shepard? That Alliance hero? First human spectre?"

Clayton feels a bit of pride at the praise she got. Shepard was known all across the galaxy for her good deeds. His heart pumps a bit faster as he recalls the shower incident earlier, a dark blush bleeding onto his neck, "Y-yeah, her." His nervous tone goes unnoticed thankfully.

It isn't long before two towers come into view, one of them was only half built. Seryna points up at them, one hand still gripping the wheel, "Well here we are. The Dantius Towers. Thane's target is held up in the penthouse. A real bitch named Nassana. Funnily enough I pointed Thane in the right direction not long before you three found me."

Carmine hums as he gets a good view of the towers, "Any extra intel you can give us before going in?" Carmine asks.

Seryna shoots the gear a sly smile, "Well since you're such a hunk I suppose I could give away some free info. Nassana's a real piece of work. A series of unscrupulous business habits got her the power and influence she craved. I admired her at one point, but she killed just about anyone who threatened her high class reputation. That's mostly why I got fired, I was sick of seeing people killed to uphold her reputation."

Tali is rather uncomfortable with how forward the asari has been toward Clayton. But as the extra intel flows through her mind she makes a curious noise. Carmine notices and tilts his head back to look at her. She chuckles nervously, knowing he heard, "I-I remember Nassana. Shepard had unknowingly helped her kill her sister. Nassana played us for fools to help preserve her status."

Clayton's fists clench in anger at Tali's words. Seryna looks shocked for a second, "No shit, that was you lot?"

Carmine does his best to calm himself and waves his hand dismissively, "We're getting off track. The towers, are there any crazy defenses?"

Seryna shakes her head, "No automated defenses, traps, or anything. But Nassana has most likely amassed a huge force of eclipse mercs to guard her. They won't want to disappoint her, they'll be heavily fortified. You'll have to fight your way up the first tower, cross the bridge, and get to the penthouse in the other tower to find her."

Carmine lets a sadistic smile play on the edge of his lips, "Good, I'm itching to kill something." Grunt says with a smile of his own.

"We may find Thane before then if he just got on this job. But if not we stick to the plan. Find Nassana, find Thane." Tali adds.

Clay nods, flexing his muscles in preparation. Every time the name Nassana rolls through his already straining mind he feels a biting rage, 'She had her own sister killed. Her own blood. That Nassana is nothing but a grub! You know what we do to grubs?'

"Kill them all." Clayton mutters through his clenched teeth. Tali is the only one who hears him, her eyes widening.

'Please be ok Clayton. Whatever Liara did seems to have left a lasting effect on him.' She thinks while staring at him.

Seryna zooms between buildings and cars to get to the bottom of the first tower, "Last bit of advice, focus on moving and you'll be fine. Don't let them pinch you in. Make sure that bitch gets what she deserves. Oh and when you get through this Carmine, hit me up for a drink sometime. My details should be with the info Liara sent." She winks at him and opens the doors for them.

They pile out of the car and Carmine immediately gets his lancer into his hungry hands. Only taking one off to wave as the doors close and Seryna speeds off. The sound of screaming reaches his ears before the trio can even settle and Clay points his lancer at the opening ahead of them.

Screaming, more noise to poison the big man's mind. His team looks to him for guidance and he shakes his head, pushing the thrashing pain aside to do his job, "I hear people, they'll be coming from the left. Keep your eyes peeled."

Grunt nods and trains his shotgun to the left side. Tali doing the same with her custom geth shotgun. In a flash, two salarians sprint out from behind the corner. They're being chased by two mechanical dogs. A handful of regular loki mechs cut the two fleeing workers down in a heap of gunfire. The mechs spot them immediately afterward and start to shoot at the three.

"Return fire!" Clay yells popping a few rounds into one of the metal hounds, ripping off its hind leg. The beast's mechanical whines are cut off by Carmine's boot as he advances and curb stomps the robotic dog.

Tali hacks one of the mechs remotely from her cover, making it turn on the others. It gets cut down rather speedily but the break in gunfire headed their way allows Carmine and Grunt to charge up closer and get dirty.

Clay revs his saw and grinds through the chassis of a mech like butter. The humanoid mech twitches a bit before the gear boots it in the chest, sending both halves flying. Grunt charges through the two mechs on his side, kicking them into the ground and blasting them with his shotgun as they try and recover.

"Hah, good form Grunt!" Clay yells out as he manhandles the last mech, swatting the avenger from it's hands and hip tossing it toward the krogan.

"Haha! Split it with me Carmine!" Grunt roars out as he grabs the mech's legs.

"Oh I like your thinking!" The veteran gear chants back as he grabs a firm hold of the mech's torso. Digging his bare fingertips into the metal surprisingly easy.

With a grunt of effort they tear it in half, splashing an the approaching Tali's feet in oil. She rolls her eyes at the sadistic antics of her two companions, "Are you two done?" She asks, trying to mask her smile with an annoyed tone.

Carmine shrugs, Grunt triumphantly holds up a pair of legs while laughing maniacally. Tali sighs, facepalming the front of her visor.

Clay immediately gets back into leader mode, "Everyone good?"

Tali and Grunt nod to him, reloading their weapons as Clayton smiles, "Good. We've got some ground to cover. So lets get to it."

The two aliens follow his orders immediately, trailing behind the rage-filled gear like pups. Carmine stops next to the pair of salarians and his eyes narrow. One was still breathing, having dragged itself toward a wall to lean against. A dark stain of red bled through his white shirt.

Clay crouches down in front of him, resting his lancer flat on his thighs, "Why were those robot grubs after you?"

The salarian chokes on a bit of saliva, spitting it from his mouth. It was a struggle to answer the scary human in front of him, "W-we're workers. Doing construction on the tower. Apparently Nassana has an assassin out for her so she sent the mechs to hunt us. T-The ones who escaped all the eclipse m-mercs that is."

The worker groans and grabs at the bullet wound on his stomach, curling slightly as hot flashes of pain burn through him. Clay growls low, "So not only is she held up here, she ordered your deaths too? This bitch had better pray I don't get to her first." A small puff of steam pops out from his helmet as he huffs like a bull.

The salarian doesn't respond right away, groaning louder and muttering, "I-I need help. Hhhhnnnnnnng. Please."

Tali lays a hand on Clayton's shoulder and he looks up to her, "We need to help this man. He won't make it without medical attention." Grunt scoffs at her words, having his own gripes with salarians as a whole. Genophage and all that mess.

That is something Clayton truly liked about the quarian. She's a good person but doesn't mind getting dirty. The shotgun blast he took to the face and subsequent apology told him as much when they met, but it was always nice to see her good nature flow freely. Carmine nods, "Go on then, apply some medi-gel for the poor bastard."

Tali smiles warmly and crouches down to do so. The salarian feels the effects almost instantly and sighs in relief, "T-thank you all. If you can, please help the rest of my friends. The eclipse didn't kill everyone immediately. There may be a chance they're still alive."

He struggles to get up as both Tali and Carmine stand. Clay lets his lancer dangle in his right hand as he reaches out to the salarian. He takes the massive outstretched hand and is easily hoisted to his feet, "If you go back the way I came you'll find more eclipse, but I imagine that won't be a problem for you. I can never thank you enough."

Carmine feels uneasy, he didn't really do anything for the praise as he watches the salarian limp his way to safety. Tali taps his thick bicep and smiles up at him, "Good work. See, you're fitting into the roll effortlessly. But I expected nothing less big guy."

His heart pushes the pain in his head away for a moment, pride filling his chest with his next full breath. Tali's lavender scent wafting to him. He pats her on the head instinctively, and the quarian practically purs at him as his hand comes down to cup under her chin.

The rhythmic, gentle purring sound she was making forces his lips to turn upward, "Thanks Tali."

She looks up, eyes narrowing happily. She loved when he said her name. Tali didn't even realize that she was purring, simply too focused on the warmth of his fingers as they press into her. She is greatly disappointed at his lack of warmth as he takes his hand back.

The veteran gear swaps his lancer for his gnasher and tilts his helmet in the direction they need to go. Before he can say anything Grunt laughs from behind them, "Haha! Don't get carried away Carmine, Tali might just pounce on you. There are people that need killing. You'll have time for your mate later."

Carmine and Tali shoot away from each other, fiery blushes on their faces, "W-What the hell are you talking about Grunt?" Carmine questions with a stutter.

Grunt hums and raises an eyebrow in question, "Is she not your mate? The only time a quarian woman makes that sound is when she's with her mate. I imagine you have others though. Who wouldn't want to carry the seed of a unstoppable warrior like yourse-"

Carmine clamps a hand over his mouth before he can continue, 'We aren't even sure about having one partner. Let alone multiple. I'll be the first to admit we've never really been the greedy type. Nor the sexually active type. Although that has been getting a bit harder. Well a part of us has been getting particularly hard to ignore. Wait, is what he said about Tali right? That she sees us like her-'

"Alright! Enough chit chat. Lets get moving!" Carmine says loud enough to cut off his internal dialogue. Grunt snickers as the veteran gear lets go of him and follows behind with Tali as she fidgets her fingers hastily. Pulling her gifted carnifex out soon after as the sound of a gunshot echoes through the corridor.

The trio creep their way toward it. Clayton is sure to keep his companions behind him as he clears the corner and motions to follow. He can hear the mercs, they're joking around about how many of the salarians they killed. He bares his teeth but reels himself in, taking cover before they can spot him.

Tali and Grunt follow suit, "I count six hostiles Carmine. Whats the plan?" Tali whispers to him.

"We butcher them." The venomous words spill from between his baring teeth before he can even think of a strategy.

He looks to the quarian, whose eyes have widened in shock at the big man's tone. With his fierce gaze on her, she shrinks for a moment.

"Use your tech skills to support us. Don't get into direct combat unless you're sure you can keep the distance, thats an order Tali." She sighs in relief. He wasn't fully over the edge. Although a part of her was annoyed that he was making her keep back.

She nods though, and his eyes train on Grunt as he is practically foaming at the mouth. The shotgun in his grip is shaking from the excitement. Carmine's lips turn upward as he grabs the krogan by the shoulder and smacks their heads together.

"Let's go spill some blood!" Clayton barks out as Grunt happily vaults their cover with him.

"Oh boy." Tali says as she activates her attack drone to follow and help them. The floating pink orb buzzes as it tries its best to keep behind the wall of muscle.

The mercs overhear Carmine and point their guns in the direction of his booming voice. However nothing could have prepared them for the two rampaging behemoths. Carmine fires a few shells from the hip as he sprints at them.

Grunt doesn't bother shooting, lunging and tackling the nearest eclipse vanguard. Carmine's buckshot had torn through three merc's barriers, and armor like a hot knife through butter. The smell of fresh blood onto the battlefield, and the screams of pain only work to fuel his rage.

"Oh fuck yes! Been itching for a bloodbath, grubs!" The gear yells as he quickly spots and bears down on a lone merc, frozen in fear as they instinctively point an avenger at him. The remaining mercs are trying to gun down Grunt as he swings the vanguard he tackled around like a toy. The asari's head stuck in his mouth as Grunt thrashes around like a pissed off gator.

Clay grabs the barrel and presses it under his chin, "Go on, pull the trigger pussy." He growls out.

When the merc doesn't pull the trigger Carmine shoves him back a step and hastily swaps guns, revving his lancer and digging into the man's stomach. The shriek of pain that came from the man echoes across the room.

The veteran gear easily lifts him, "Chunks all around!" He yells out, coating his skin and armor in a thick sheen of crimson before tossing the split open corpse aside.

Tali watches in awe as the two continue to spill insides and tear limbs from bodies. Reinforcements flow into the room and try to surround them, bad mistake. Tali decides to offer some firing support, peppering a few mercs with shots from her carnifex. Her pink orbs latch onto one in particular, and she is oddly excited as the corrosive mod melts through their helmet and dissolves their flesh. They try and scream but all that comes out is gurgling as the woman chokes on her own melting teeth.

"Oh fuck." Tali mutters, taking a look at the gifted firearm in awe.

By the end of the slaughter even Tali has been caught by a spurt of blood, the crimson staining a bit of purple cloth on her thigh. She knew Carmine was brutal but didn't realize just how gruesome his kills could be.

Granted they were bad people who hurt and killed innocent civilians. Even Tali had partaken in the massacre after all. So she shakes away her doubts, 'Carmine would only ever do this to his enemies. And they would only be his enemy with good reason. Plus this carnifex is super cool, it would be a shame not to use it on these scum.'

Grunt waddles over to the bloody gear. He himself is equally blood soaked with an empty shotgun and a different severed head his mouth. Carmine turns, pointing the smoking lancer's barrel in Grunt's face before immediately realizing who it was, and lowers the gun. Clayton chuckles as Grunt spits the mangled head out, his bloody teeth gleaming from the blue lights of Carmine's armor as he smiles.

The big man reloads in record time and pats Grunt on the shoulder, "I could have used you on the front lines back in the day. You would've been a handful for the Locust."

Grunt beams at the praise and stands a bit taller, "Your kills reek of hatred. But I expect that from you Carmine. The brutality of a krogan in the body of a man."

Clay laughs at the goofy smile Grunt has and swaps to his gnasher to reload it. However before he could slip a shell into the shotgun he gets nudged by something, "Woah. What the?" He turns and looks down curiously at the floating pink sphere. He reaches out to poke it, having not learned a thing about strange orbs.

It zaps his finger and he shakes the electricity from his hand, growling as he pulls back and grips his gnasher's curved handle. As he goes to demolish the thing Tali jumps in front of it with her hands up, "Wait! That is my attack drone Chatika. Please don't scrap her, she is very useful during combat."

Carmine lowered his gun as soon as Tali jumped in front of him. He hums, "Chatika huh?" The drone beeps at him, as if to acknowledge his question and he snickers.

"Alright cool. Just let me know if you've got any other little friends I should know about. Oh and don't shoot me on accident with that acid gun. Yeah I saw you melt those grubs. You're not a bad shot." He says with a smile, the expression short lived as a wave of pain tears through his head again. Although he doesn't show it, swapping back to his lancer to squeeze the grips for comfort.

Tali feels beyond elated at his compliment but calms herself and gives him a small salute, "Yes sir. Thank you sir." She teases.

He nods, not willing to open his mouth as a groan would surely spill from his lips. His vision was starting to fade a bit, he could see a familiar darkness creep into his peripherals. Shaking his head he takes the lead and gets the group moving. At least his companions were in high spirits.

'Kill the grubs, pain goes away. Seems simple enough. Just have to focus on keeping them safe too. I'll suffer the rest of the mission if I have to. I'll make sure they're safe.' Clay thinks with a small grunt. Although it was blatantly obvious his two companions could hold their own.

As they walk through a large, empty doorway the familiar stench of death fills his nose. He turns to his left and a good sized pile of bodies comes into view.

Clayton's blood runs hot at the sight of the handful of humans mixed in with the rest. There were salarians lined up against the wall too. Dried blood was splattered on the wall behind them, gruesome exits wounds marring the backs of their skulls.

"They're no better than the grubs." Clayton spits as his hands tighten on his rifle.

Tali lowers her hooded head, "They executed these poor people. Those eclipse are nothing more than animals." Her voice drips with a venom Clayton had not heard from her before. He found it enticing, especially with his own mind so full of hate. His eyes were locked onto the cold human corpses, but he found himself nagging to look at her.

Tali found all her sympathy disappearing for the eclipse mercs as her eyes tear themselves away from all the innocent corpses. In her mind the eclipse deserved every bit of pain the three of them could dish out.

A muffled shush gets overheard by the veteran gear, who spins around and points his lancer toward a locked door in the corner, behind a few bits of shelving. Tali watches the locked storage room intensely, drawing her geth shotgun. Her adrenaline pumping as Clayton slowly advances.

Carmine keeps his barrel trained on the enterance, "Tali, hack this door. Grunt, watch out for any grubs." He orders.

They do as they're told. And as the door whooshes open, Clayton is mildly surprised to see who is inside.

"P-Please don't shoot!" A salarian pleads. It was a group of workers, and they all held their hands up in surrender as the towering onyx clad Carmine holds them at gunpoint for just a second too long.

He shakes his head noticeably before lowering his rifle, "The mercs rounded you bunch up. Why didn't they take you out like the others?"

A worker with a yellow uniform steps forward, "Wait you're not eclipse. Are you here to save us then?"

Clayton sighs, "Wasn't my main goal but yeah, you're free to go. Come on out and tell us what happened."

He steps to the side and motions to his team as the three workers step out into the open. Grunt growls at them, fear coming to them in droves as the bloodstained teeth of the krogan are bared at them. Clayton clicks his tongue at him and shakes his head as to say, "Cut the shit." And the young krogan begrudgingly obeys the wordless command.

"Maybe you bunch can help me out. I'm looking for someone. Have any of you seen someone out of the ordinary, like a drell maybe?" Carmine asks as he lets his lancer drop to his side in his right hand.

The worker in yellow nods, "Yes actually. I didn't get a good look but he was the one who pushed us into that room and sealed us in. Not the mercs. If not for him we would've ended up like the rest no doubt."

Tali hums curiously, "Seems like our assassin has a heart of gold."

A salarian in a black uniform snickers, "An assassin? He's probably here for Nassana. People like her always have this kind of thing coming."

Carmine nods, "Couldn't agree more. I need to get to her penthouse. Any suggestions?"

The one in black nods, "The cargo elevator is the fastest way up. The coldest too. I hate working up there."

The one in yellow chimes in, "Just be careful, some of the walls aren't in up there, and some of the panels on the bridge connecting the two towers are missing. And let me tell you, it is a loooong way down."

Clayton motions to the direction of the service entrance, "That'll be your safest way out. Don't mind all the dead eclipse. Before you go though are there more workers in the tower or just you lot on this floor?"

The salarians all seem to sigh with an obvious sadness, "I believe we're the last ones alive on this floor. There is always a chance others are hiding higher up. Some got out before the dogs were set on us. We can't thank you enough sir. I can speak for us all when I say that." The one in yellow finishes, and they all give Clay a small bow of appreciation.

As they hustle off Carmine hums, he hopes they make it out. Grunt looks over his shotgun and chuckles, "Where to now Carmine?"

Clay tilts his helmet-covered head to the side and sighs, "Were you not listening to any of that?"

It's Tali's turn to sigh, she almost always hung off every word Clayton said. It was hard to believe Grunt wasn't paying attention as well, seeing as the krogan nearly idolized the Grub Killer.

Grunt shakes his head no, "I couldn't care less about what a salarian has to say."

Carmine looks like he wants to retort but stops himself from asking as his head suddenly feels like someone cracked him good with a baseball bat. Tali notices him stumble slightly, pressing his back against the wall for a second before pushing off. She follows closely as he waves to his companions to follow.

There are a few bits of cover in the room that houses the elevator they're after. The elevator in question makes a bing noise, and the three ready their weapons.

"The elevator is on it's way down Carmine. No doubt with company." Tali informs him.

"You two take the cover on either side, I'll greet our guests at the door." Clayton says with a wide smile. Tali is about to question him as he walks right up to the elevator door and holsters his rifle. Something was wrong with him, and Tali didn't know how much longer she'd allow him to try hide it. The man doing a piss poor job as his hands shake at his sides.

It isn't like she gets a chance to say anything though as the doors open up and the veteran gear immediately disappears into the elevator. Gunshots, screams, and the sounds of tearing flesh come from the opening. Tali and Grunt share a look. Hers, one of worry. His, one of excitement.

Their attention turns to a krogan bounty hunter that gets tossed into the open. Carmine comes walking out of the elevator with his chest, hands, and forearms coated in blood. The laugh that spills from him makes Tali shudder. Her body unable to help itself from reacting to the man.

The krogan lets out a roar and throws a haymaker at Carmine. He slips the punch and counters with a right hook, the dulled spikes on his new gauntlets connect with the side of the krogan's face. The sheer force rips open the skin on the side of his face and sends the krogan to the floor, blood spilling from the fresh wound and his mouth.

Before the krogan can try and get himself up, the gear grabs him and hoists him up off the ground to meet his helmet's eyes with seemingly no effort. Small traces of steam waft off his crimson-coated skin.

"W-What are you, beast?" The krogan chokes out, blood dripping steadily from his busted lips as well as the deep cut on his cheek. The smell of blood on his leathery skin, and the question makes Carmine's left eye twitch uncontrollably.

The gear audible growls and pulls his helmet back before smashing into the krogan's head with a savage headbutt. As he opens his eyes and pulls his head back the snarling face of grenadier replaces the krogan. The wail of pain it lets out bounces off rocky walls. He's back in the hollow.

A sickly look of pure joy plasters itself onto Clayton's face as the grub struggles in his grasp. He bashes his helmet into the grub's face and revels as it earns another pained groan from the Locust. He was back in his element. Slaying real grubs. His eyes quickly dart around, and for once he doesn't even care about being back. All he knows is the pain the grubs have given him. What they've done to his family, his friends.

"I missed that sound so fucking much! Beg grub! BEG!" Clayton screams as he keeps going, each headbutt growing in power until bits of bone, hunks of skin, and blood coat the man's black helmet. Almost nothing is left of the grenadier he was just looking at. Just a mangled up mess of meat where a head should be.

He drops the grenadier and looks out into the darkness, "Who else wants some, huh!?" Pain wracks his head and his eyes shut tight. Grabbing at his helmet and hunching over a bit.

He opens his eyes, and his breathing halts as the grenadier's body fades back into the krogan. The swallowing darkness of the hollow receding back into the depths of his mind. He can't drag his eyes away from the blood that stains his hands as they genlty shake in front of him.

Clayton tries his best to get himself under control as his eyes flick over to his companions. He has to stay strong for them, 'Fucking grubs won't ever be out of my head. They're not gone. They can't be.' He shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath. Trying to stave off the hatred and panic.

"I'll make sure every one of you is dead before I walk away. There will always be worthless grubs that need killing." His voice is raspy from all the yelling and mental exhaustion as he straightens himself back out. His hands drop to his sides, still shaking.

Tali doesn't want to admit how much she enjoys watching Carmine protect th team and dominate their enemies. But she was not a fan of his obvious mental degradation. She makes her way over to him, Grunt still being in a state of euphoria from the impressive kill.

She presses her hand over his shaking, blood-coated, left palm. She wills away the spicy thoughts as his heat soaks through her gloved hand, "Carmine, you aren't okay. I've seen and heard of what happens when you experience your past. Are you alright?"

His helmet's lenses are locked onto her pink eyes, "I...I don't know." He says barely above a whisper.

Her eyes widen, Clayton sounded like he was one bad step away from collapsing, "What happened when Liara went into your head?"

Carmine hangs his head in shame, not able to keep his problems from worrying the small quarian woman, "I-I shouldn't say. We have a job to do still and-"

Tali reaches up with her other hand and cups his chin, blushing as his warmth spreads through her arms. His breath catches in his throat as she carefully strokes his tanned skin.

"We have time. You need to let me help you Clayton. This is non-negotiable. You saw those Locust again didn't you?" She says in a matter-of-fact tone.

A weak smile creeps onto his lips as his helmet tilts to get a better look at her. His name sounded adorable with her accent. She quickly goes wide eyed and releases him, waving her hands in front of her, "I-I'm sorry I know you don't like when people use your first name."

He snickers at her, "I don't mind you saying it, you can call me Clay. Liara...she dug a little too deep. Made me see shit I only see when I have those attacks or dream. All the horrific things the Locust did back in my world mixed with my fucked up nightmares."

Tali feels her heart pounding as he approves of the use of his first name. Her mood quickly souring as he continued, "But honestly Tali, I'm okay now. I promise. This usually doesn't happen more than once. I really appreciate you looking out for me though."

He pats her head after wiping off his hand and the quarian woman sighs comfortably as his warmth seeps into her short, white hair. She nods to him as he retracts his hand, "Well, let us get this done quickly then. You need some rest. And as for the approval for your name, I prefer Clayton. Clay doesn't quite sound right to me."

He feels heat prick at his cheeks at her use of his first name.

Grunt finally snaps out of his stunned state and rushes over to them, letting out a triumphant shout.

"What a kill! Please Carmine, teach me how to fight like you. Like a gear." He pleads.

Clayton snickers and shakes his head as he bring his massive hands up to wipe off the viscera, "You won't take no for an answer will you?"

Grunt hastily shakes his head no. Tali and Clayton share a small laugh at the krogan's desire for the gear's teaching. He was just glad he wasn't seeing any more Locust. Of course Tali certainly helped in that effort.

"Don't worry Grunt. Our big softy of a leader could never say no to you." Tali teases as she rests her shotgun on a cocked hip while looking up at Carmine.

The giant man rolls his eyes, the smile persistent on his lips as they all get into the elevator. There were two dead eclipse engineers that Clayton quickly drags out with Grunt's help. Each body was torn apart and was missing at least one limb each.

As they ride up the big man sighs, "I hate that you're right Tali. Grunt, we'll get some execution training done with the next full engagement. I'll teach you gear fundamentals too, as well as back on the Normandy."

Grunt fist pumps and smiles wider than either Tali or Carmine had ever seen from him before. Tali looks at the leftover stains of blood on the gear's extremely defined arms and almost on cue he looks over to her.

Her pink eyes narrow happily, "Big softy." She mutters.

"You're a real smartass sometimes Tali." He mutters back.

She presses a hand to her chest in mock offense, "Oh my, how will I ever recover from such an insult?"

Like always, a smile tugs onto his scarred lips. Before he can even process what is happening he scoffs, "Too damn cute."

The tips of his ears burn as his inner thought was allowed to slip past his lips. Tali also has a dark purple blush, not daring to ask if that really was what he said. She could see the red tint on the back of his neck, and it wasn't blood.

'D-D-Did he really just call me...cute?! Keelah, you're going to be the death of me Clayton.' In her head she was giddy that he saw her that way. On the outside she was a statue much like the gear himself. Grunt eyes the pair curiously.

Both were grateful as the elevator reaches the top floor. An eclipse merc was standing in front of a window overlooking the bridge that connects the two towers. Blissfully ignorant of the three that were silently approaching him. Weapons drawn.

"I've got reports from a few of my guys that there might be an assassin roaming around. Could be the one causing the commotion near the service entrance. Not like we can know for sure. The fucker cut the camera feeds."

Clayton's ears perk up and he slides his boltok into his holster, motioning the others to lower their guns, 'Good thinking, if this Bosh'tet can give up any info to make our job easier then let him.' Tali thinks. The merc continues to jabber a bit more.

"Nah I sent kilo down to assist if anything went bad. Actually I also just had one of those bounty hunters go with Jenkins and Marty to see what's up since they haven't checked in with me yet. But those krogan we got are all tough bastards. Shouldn't be an issue." Clayton bites his lip to hold a snicker, the merc had no clue what's become of his team.

'God, quit playing with this idiot. You already made a fool of us in the elevator. Just get the info and kill this worthless grub already.' Clayton can't argue with that logic and decides to make himself known.

He clears his throat and whips out his boltok, pointing it at the lone eclipse mercenary. He spins, the yellow eyes of his helmet meeting with Clayton's blue ones, "Howdy."

"Oh fuck..." The man raises his hands up immediately. The sheer scale of Carmine makes him physically shrink a bit.

"How many mercs are out on that bridge?" Clayton asks, taking a dangerous step toward the lone mercenary. In turn the merc steps backward, knocking into the window. He had nowhere to go.

"I-I have more than enough guys to take you and your team. You lay a finger on me and I set off a distress signal. Let me go and I'll gladly give you what you want." The man tries to bargain.

Clayton grinds his teeth in anger, "What kind of soldier sells his allies out?" He pushes the barrel of his boltok into the front of the merc's helmet.

"H-hold on a second! I'm j-just a disgruntled employee. I-I just follow orders and don't ask questions." He tries to talk his way out of the inevitable Carmine explosion.

Surprisingly Clayton looks to his companions for a second opinion, "Oh yeah? Thats all? What do you two think I should do with this worthless grub?" He jabs the barrel into the helmet roughly, cracking the window and eliciting a groan of pain from the man.

Grunt chuckles, "Do you have to ask Carmine?"

Tali would spit at the merc's feet if she could, "This liar doesn't deserve mercy."

Carmine hums, surprised that Tali shares Grunt and his feelings. He holsters his boltok. Both his companions looking to him with confusion written all over their faces. The merc takes a sigh of relief.

"You're not going to kill me?" He asks. Causing the giant, armored man in front of him to laugh. Before the merc can even blink Carmine has his hand wrapped firmly around the man's throat.

With little effort Clayton smashes out the window the man was pinned against with the man's own body. Clay dangles him over a missing panel of the bridge. The mercenary would not be surviving the fall.

"Oh I'm going to kill you." Clayton growls out at him.

He kicks his feet and struggles against the large man's grasp, "A-Alpha team! We have targets at the front of the-Aaaaaaaaghhhhhh."

Clayton lets go of the merc and chuckles as he hits his head off a pannel of the bridge, cracking open his helmet and splattering blood onto it. A trail of thick red follows the man's corpse as it plumets to the streets below.

Clay scratches the back of his helmet, "Oh shit. Hope that doesn't hit someone."

Tali shrugs as she steps up next to him, "I'm sure it'll be fine."

Grunt bumps his elbow, "We have to get across. More eclipse to butcher." His tone is eerily joyful. One that would make most other people shiver. But not the bruly gear beside him.

The trio makes their way over to a set of stairs leading down to a sealed door. No doubt it was the entry to the bridge, and in turn a step closer to their assassin. For Clayton it meant one step closer to getting back to the ship. He wasn't in the mood to see any more Locust today.

'You want to hear those sickly sounds again. I know you do. Let it out. Rip into the next set of mercs like they're drones you backed into a corner.' The voice prods Clayton's aching brain. The gear sighs from the mental exhaustion and runs a hand over his faceplate. Tracing the filter with his thumb for a moment.

"You two ready?" The veteran gear asks his alien companions.

They both nod, Grunt with an eagerness he could relate to. If the mercs were mobilizing just beyond the door, there would no doubt be a hefty fight on their hands.

With a burst of pain in the last Carmine brother's skull, he smirks and taps the green hologram on the door, "Good. Stay close, follow the golden rule, and don't fall off the bridge."

Tali quirks an eyebrow, "The golden rule? Isn't that a classic human saying? Do unto others as you would have done unto you. Right?"

The sinister chuckle that the big man gives her makes the quarian a bit nervous, "You're half right Tali. Golden rule of the gears is take cover or die. First lesson for you trainees."

Before Tali could get a chance to say anything the door flies open and she is forced to abide by Carmine's golden rule. There are a sizable amount of mercs firing on them. Forcing the trio into cover behind some construction materials.

"See you two are naturals, hah!" Carmine laughs as he blind fires his lancer. A round rips into a woman's stomach, the gaping hole that splits her left side open spews blood heavily. The sticky crimson is accompanied by torn bits of intestines. She shrieks in pain as she struggles to keep her innards inside.

'One.'

He pokes his helmet out of cover for a second to check as the gunfire ceases momentarily. There are twelve more mercenaries in between them and the other tower. Tali and Grunt follow Clayton's lead and lay down a bit of suppressing fire.

"Stay here. I'll pave the way." Carmine orders as he slides out from cover and roadie runs his way into more cover further up. He gets the angle on two mercs who hadn't been expecting the big man to charge them.

He smiles sadistically as he raises his lancer and squeezes the trigger, unleashing a swarm of rounds that blend the pair. The first one was lucky, having the left side of their head completely blown apart before getting his arm shot off. The second caught a flurry of shots to the chest.

Clayton chuckles as the second one tears off their helmet, blood pouring from the older man's mouth. His hands shake as they raise up and press into the golf ball sized holes that litter his chest. Carmine doesn't waste anymore time watching as the other eclipse have started shooting again. Forcing his friends into cover.

He pops off an accurate round that sends what's left of the older man's head off the bridge.

'That makes three.'

Clayton growls as a bullet grazes off his knee, his shield absorbs the blow. The gear gets a truly awful idea, but one that will satiate his desire to spill the blood of the grubs firing on him, "Heh, time to test this new shield out."

He swaps to his gnasher and dives out of cover, sprinting into the hail of bullets. Tali and Grunt watch as Carmine runs head first into the gunfire. Tali's eyes widen in fear, "Carmine!" His name falls on deaf ears as bullets quickly widdle his shield down to nothing.

She attempts to send Chatika out but the pink ball fizzles out, "Bosh'tet. I forgot to adjust the power consumption of those upgrades." She says with a frustrated sigh.

The familiar sting of a round tearing the skin of Carmine's arm makes his rage boil. And unfortunately for the mercs he has gotten within range, coming upon another three with steam pouring from his skin in droves.

He levers the powerful shotgun, pumping the remaining four shells into them. There aren't any vocal cords left to scream as he paints them onto the half-wall of cover. A heavy gust of wind splashes him with the leftover red mist that puffs into the air.

'That's Six!'

A few powerful shotgun blasts knocks the gear off balance though, and a krogan bounty hunter quickly runs over and rams into him, nearly sending the gear careening off the bridge.

Tali's heart sinks, forcing her into action. She motions to Grunt and the pair raise up, firing down range to distract the mercs from Clayton for a moment.

The gear plants his feet and quickly spins, front kicking the krogan in the stomach before flipping his gnasher up to swing like a bat. He cracks the krogan in the face before catching a sniper shot to his helmet. The round grazes off the side and Clayton is quick to get into cover, leaping over the pile of gore he created a moment ago.

Tali and Grunt move up to him while dodging gunfire and the quarian mechanic slaps his bloody bicep, "Bosh'tet! You almost fell off the bridge! We take these mercs out together, you hear me? To-geth-er." She jabs the old dent in his helmet a few times with a slender finger as she emphasizes the word.

He chuckles and looks down to his grazed shoulder, the idiots shot all of their rounds into his armor. Only managing a few drops of his blood to be spilled. Hell the wound was already closing on it's own. He looks up at Tali and nods to her, "Fair enough, just needed to get that out of my system."

A few bullets being fired next to them snatches their attention.

"Haha! The sniper falls!" Grunt cheers as he tucks himself back into cover. The mattock rifle he had was clutched close to his chest.

'Seven.' The voice whispers in Carmine's ear.

Clay shakes his head, he slips his last two shells into his gnasher before swapping to his boltok, 'Goddamnit I forgot to grab more shells.'

"Alright, how many are out there Grunt?" Clayton asks.

The young krogan fires a few rounds over their cover, mimicking Carmine's blind firing, "That decorated bounty hunter is grouped with the rest near the entrance to the second tower. I'd say there are five left." Grunt says as he tucks back into cover, a volley of gunfire following him.

Clay nods his head to confirm, "Alright, pick your shots. Tali you stay-"

He pauses, her glare burning a hole through his blue lenses, "I can be helpful in a firefight Carmine. I will not be staying behind, as much as your worry flatters me." He sighs, only wanting her to stay safe.

'Look she was getting into messes with the others long before we got here. She can handle herself. She wouldn't still be alive if she coudln't. Tali helped take down that Saren grub too. Remember? Tali'Zorah is one tough lady.' Carmine can't help but agree with his thoughts.

He points at her, "Fine, but if your shields go down I want you in cover. Got it?"

She snickers at him, "As long as you follow your own rules Carmine."

He rolls his eyes, "Smartass. When they break to reload we rush them."

His companions nods, and as soon as the gunfire ceases they all find their way out of cover and begin relentlessly advancing on the remaining mercs. Tali takes the left, pulling her shotgun out and blasting a merc in the chest, the force of the plasma shots blowing the man off the bridge.

His screams echo as he plummets to the street. The merc that rises in the other's place is easily decapitated with a shot from Clayton's boltok, an unoccupied hand reaches up to try and grab at what was no longer there. The neck stump squirts a fountain of blood as the body wobbles before crumbling a second later. Tali looks to her right and smiles at the big man as he holds up the smoking revolver. The smoke quickly being snatched up and blown away in the wind.

'Alright I'm done counting. I missed a fuck ton from when we got here earlier anyway.' The voice jokes.

Grunt easily dispatches the two on his side on the right. The trio meet up by the door. Clayton scratches the back of his helmet, "Where the hell is that bounty hunter?"

Tali motions to the door, "Most likely amassing the rest of the eclipse forces inside. He must have slipped inside while we were all in cover."

Carmine shrugs, "Oh well. Guess we have more grubs to kill." His tone drenched in mock disappointment.

Tali rolls her amused pink orbs, and Grunt chuckles menacingly. Carmine motions to the red hologram on the door and Tali quickly obliges him, hacking away with her technical prowess.

The gear slips his lancer back into his hungry hands and clears the entrance to the second tower as the door opens up. He motions for them to file in. The door shuts behind them and Carmine immediately notices how eerily quiet it is.

He sniffs at the air, wrinkling his nose at the range of smells. It wasn't just a few grubs lurking in the shadows of the large room. It was a lot.

"That bounty hunter warned them. I smell a fuck ton of mercs up ahead. An ambush for sure." Carmine says as he turns to them.

"Then we deal with them." Grunt suggests. Tali nodding along with him. He looks at the pair proudly. With a firm nod the three slowly advance into the large arena. Flood lights blind them momentarily, Carmine being the only one undisturbed by the flash.

He trains his gun on the wall of nearly twenty mercs that pop up from cover in front of them. The krogan from the bridge walks out from behind a box and laughs them, immediately taking notice of the custom paint job on Carmine's armor.

"The Grub Killer. I've heard tale of your slaughter from the other mercenary groups. He is just as menacing as the stories tell." Another krogan say in a hushed tone.

"You fight with resolve, but this is your end. Don't worry. We won't kill you quarian. You're much more valuable alive." The suggestive tone the lead krogan uses makes Tali's face contort with disgust.

Carmine is deathly silent as he keeps his lancer raised.

"Quarian slaves go for top dollar. Their sweat is quite the preformence enhancer. And since you're such a competent warrior, it is only fair I let the woman of your group live." Clayton's blood boils over. His eyes widening. His jaw is shut so tight he feel one of his molar's crack from the pressure.

"Get to cover as soon as possible." Clayton speaks low and quiet so only his team can hear him.

His ears go deaf, a thick ringing stuck in his head. His head twitches to the side as the noise drowns out his companions words. They were obviously not happy with the order. In the state he was in though, he couldn't care less. The whole culmination of all the events of the day shattering his resolve. The need to feel blood splash on his skin overwhelming him. Slaver's blood in particular.

'Fucking slavery didn't just stop with the grubs. I'm going to rip them to fucking pieces!' Clayton thinks as he takes a step forward, lowering his rifle and rasing his left hand. He points at the lead krogan.

'There you go Grub Killer. Do what we do best.' The voice eggs him on.

"I'm going to pull you apart. One little bit at a time you worthless. Fucking. GRUB!" Carmine roars as he raises his lancer and immediately gets to work, unleashing a hail of lead onto them.

Grunt and Tali dive backward into cover as Carmine takes the full force of the mercs head on. Bullets rain down onto him as he kills one after another. Popping a few of the cockier mercs open like gory water balloons before his shield can no longer take the punishment.

He doesn't give two shits. No one would be enslaved on his watch. Especially not Tali, 'None of them walk away. NONE!' His lancer clicks empty as bullets continue to smash into his armor. The protective material working just as well as his old gear, and keeps his vitals protected. Bits of his unarmored legs and arms get grazed in the frenzy but he doesn't care.

"YEEEEEEEEAH!" The veteran gear screams out as he slams a new mag into his lancer at a blistering speed, shredding through another group of mercs. Tali and Grunt do their best to return fire as well. But with Carmine on a rampage they can't exactly do much. Gunfire flying around the room in a chaotic nature.

"What the fuck is that guy made of?" A sniper says in pure disbelief after she pops a shredder round into Clayton's middle, the balistic weave doing wonders to stop it. It sure does hurt a fuck ton though. Every bullet that strikes him hurts. All the pain is overflowing the cup of Clayton's rage. Every drop of his own crimson spilled was a pint of the enemy's blood splashed onto the ground.

"Just keep firing! You two come with me. We isolate his team and finish him." The krogan leader orders. Dipping into the shadows with his squad of fellow krogan and hustling out of combat.

It gets to the point where the remaining mercs have to take cover to avoid the raging man's wrath, "Where you goin' grubs? The party is out here you slaving cunts!" He practically dives over their cover, impaling a merc on his lancer. The man is stuck to the ground as Clayton straddles another, driving his thumbs into the eyes of the asari below him.

The man wails in pain as the lancer's sharp blades rupture his organs. His sorrowful moans pale in comparison to the bloodcurdling shriek of the asari though. Clayton smiles wide as he inches his thumbs deeper and deeper into her skull. Her hands clawing at him to no avail. Nails breaking and tearing off as they try to pry into his chest armor.

A sniper pops him in the side of the head, snapping his helmet-covered head to the side. Clayton quickly snaps the asari's neck, wrenching his bloody blue hands out of her eye sockets with a stomach churning squish.

Carmine chuckles menacingly as he draws his boltok and tears a hole the size of his fist through the sniper's neck. The woman is thrown back from the force, hitting the ground with a heavy thud as her body quickly forms a pool under her.

The man pinned by his lancer whimpers and groans as Carmine stands, "Quick whining bitch!" Carmine growls out as he grasps his treasured rifle by the stock and curb stomps the man, tearing the gun from his stomach at the same time. Bit of entrails are stuck to the saw and Clayton shakes them off his gun, grinding his boot into the mess of brain and skull.

He wasn't being hit by rounds anymore, the handful of mercs left drop their guns and come out in front of him. Their begging falls on his deaf ears. One word breaks through the ringing, "Surrender." His helmet tilting to the side for a moment.

He can't help the manic laugh that spills from his lips, grabbing at his stomach as his laughter grows harder.

"Hahaaa! Y-you, hehehe. You think you're going to give up?" His laughter slows until he's finished. Grabbing his lancer back in two hungry, bloody gauntlets. Blue and red drip from him steadily.

He cranes his neck, a sickening crackle releasing from it, "No grub walks away from me." He opens fire, shredding them to bits, even after the lot of them fall. He empties his magazine into them. Finger stuck to the trigger as the gun clicks.

Silence overtakes the large room. Bodies, and spent casings from Carmine's lancer litter the floor. Rivers of blood seeping into the grooves of the metal flooring. A light fog ghosting over the large room from the spent gunpowder of Carmine's weaponry.

'Just how it's supposed to be. A monster to the monsters.' Carmine's own voice echoes past the ringing as he thinks. Breathing heavily, lancer dropping to his right hand at his side as he groans. His head throbs along with the inevitable bruise forming on his abdomen from that shredder round.

Tali and Grunt hold their fire and walk out into the open to go see about Carmine. As they do, the three sneaky krogan pounce on them. The lead krogan grabs Tali by the back of her head and throws her backward onto the ground. She grunts in pain as the krogan smiles and looms over her.

Grunt goes to help but gets yoinked by the other two. Who begin to fire on him, blasting him with their shotguns. Grunt puts up a valiant effort, knocking their guns from their grasp and tackling one down, slamming a heavy fist down into their face.

As Grunt goes to throw another bomb of a punch the other krogan puts a predator to the back of his leathery head, "Nice try whelp."

The krogan on the ground gets up and wipes the blood from his lips before punching Grunt in the face, hard. Grunt recoils into the other krogan, who pushes him forward roughly. Right into the fist headed toward his stomach.

They pin Grunt on his knees, the unruly, young krogan growls at they grab his arms. He struggles as they hold him firm, "Carm-mfmm!" Grunt tries to yell to the gear before having a hand clamped over his mouth from the krogan who is still disarmed.

Carmine's ears perk up, and his heart sinks to his stomach, frantically looking and not finding the krogan bounty hunters among his slaughtered victims, "No..."

He doesn't bother reloading, swapping to his gnasher and leaping over some turned over crates. Rushing as fast as he could back to the last spot he saw his team. His rage courses through his blood as he comes upon the krogan holding his team hostage. The lead krogan from the bridge holds Tali roughly as a human shield, one hand looped under her arm and grapsing the bottom of her visor.

His eyes flick to Grunt who looks up with a smile, "You've done it now-" Grunt gets cut off as the barrel of a shotgun gets pushed into his face. The two krogan now standing armed on either side of him.

Carmine takes an angered step forward only for the krogan holding Tali to click his tongue. He jabs the quarian in her side with a pistol and runs the hand that was on her visor to her breasts, squeezing one uncomfortably hard. Clayton practically foams at the mouth when Tali whimpers in pain.

He freezes, 'I did it again. Gone off to slaughter and left the people I care about defenseless. I couldn't keep my word to Shepard. I betrayed their trust.' Clayton says in his head.

"I'll kill you, and then the whelp. Maybe I'll keep this little piece of ass for myself." The krogan laughs as he fondles Tali a bit more enthusiastically. She couldn't be any more uncomfortable with how rough the asshole is being with her.

The gear moves closer and the krogan all jab their weapons into their captives, "Disarm yourself. Take the helmet off, I know I can't put a bullet through it. Take your barrier out too." The lead krogan orders.

Clayton takes his helemt off in a swift motion, dropping it with a loud bang as it hits the floor. He slides a hand under the back of his armor and pulls out the kinetic barrier device, dropping it next to his helmet. He strategically lays his tally-marked gnasher in front of him.

Tali's eyes are full of tears and fear as she struggles against the krogan's assault on her body. If he was any rougher her suit might tear. That was the least of her worries though, as she spots the angered face of her squad leader.

"Clayton don't! Aghh!" Tali's pained yelp echoes through the gear's head.

The krogan grips her harder, "Quiet, meat."

Clayton's pearly whites are bared, steam puffing from between the gaps in his teeth as he breathes heavily. Glaring daggers into the krogan. She calms herself as much as she can, putting her faith in the man. She'd never seen him so pissed off, the mucles in his sharp jaw working overtime as they clench tighter.

His steel eyes can see her fear plain as day. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

'They won't end up like the others Clayton. Kill these pricks.' The voice consoles him. Giving him a surprise spark of confidence.

The feral look on his scarred face shifts to a calm, collected one. Clayton's hair is matted with sweat, strands of the inky locks sticking to his head. He looks to Grunt, and then to his shotgun. The young krogan winks at him, and Clay conspicuously presses two fingers against his leg where his hand rested. Grunt nods subtly.

Carmine turns his eyes back to Tali and takes a step closer to them, hooking his foot under his shotgun in the process. The krogan pulls his pistol up to point at him and grabs a handful of Tali's suit, "One more step and you get to watch her die."

He was still pretty far away. If he was going to act it would have to be done quick and accurate. No room for error. He huffs like a bull, steam puffing from his nostrils. He looks deep into Tali's eyes and smiles, "Do you still trust me Tali'Zorah?"

Tali nods to him, her heart pulsing as he says her name. He sighs and chuckles. He looks exhausted, dark bags under his eyes, sweating heavily, covered in blood. But still, he doesn't waver from her eyes for even a moment.

She blinks, and as she open her eyes Carmine draws his boltok and fires from the hip like a cowboy. Snapping a round through the krogan's pistol, into his hand. The force sends him reeling to the ground and Tali is quick to distance herself from the fallen krogan. His forearm is completely torn off from the powerful boltok round. Tali is amazed at his accuracy.

Clayton kicks his gnasher up to Grunt as the other two krogan go to fire on the gear. Grunt catches the firearm and fires point blank into the one on his left, shredding the entire top half of the krogan into red mist. He racks the shotgun and does the same with the other, blowing off his legs.

"Curb stomp him Grunt." The gear orders.

The young krogan obeys, kicking the legless krogan over and perfectly replicating the gear's curb stomp. Splattering brains and blood all over the floor under his foot. Grunt was beyond elated to have not only curb stomped an enemy, but to have used Carmine's prized shotgun as well.

The krogan that held Tali holds his bloody stump and groans in pain on the floor. Tali goes to thank Carmine but his calm face distorts into a rage-filled one as he stalks over to the krogan. He mounts the grub and grabs the front of his armor.

"Remember what I said to you?" The krogan's eyes widen in fear.

Clayton shoves him down and grabs a hold of his other arm, grunting with effort while making sure to slowly tear the limb off. The krogan howls in pain. The noise is cut off by a spiked fist crashing into the front of his face, bouncing his head off the floor. Clayton moves to his legs and grabs a hold on one in each hand.

Clay crunches his boot into the krogan's crotch and with a roar of anger, pulls his legs off. Carmine doesn't give him a break, the enemy on the ground beneath him shifting back and forth between a Locust sniper and the lead krogan as Carmine digs a hand into his throat. Clayton rips the grub's neck open before moving to his body.

"Fucking animal!" Carmine says with an animalistic growl of his own as he snatches his knife and slices open the krogan's gut. Sheathing his knife, he digs his hand inside the krogan and violently disembowels him. Blood splashes across the man's face as the krogan spits at him.

His signature sadistic smile plasters on his face as he grabs a hold of the barely live torso. He spots a glass window nearby and chucks the grub through it. A meaty thud following after a few seconds.

Tali watches as his chest heaves unevenly. A wild look to his visible steel eye as he stands. He looks over to her and the rage fades quickly, instantly being replaced with shame. He avoids her eyes as he goes to say something. Tali rapidly approaches him. The veteran gear not expecting as she rockets into his middle.

Her lavender scent flows up naturally to his blood-covered face. It takes him a few seconds to respond, and he slowly clasps the back of her head in a shaky hand. He leans down a bit as he tucks her into him, "I'm so sorry. I-I couldn't control myself. I-I almost lost y-you a-a-and Grunt." Tali's heart thumps at his distraught words.

Her body was full of his warmth, her arms wrap around his waist the best they can and she nudges her head under his chin as he leans further into her. She purs lightly as he squeezes her tighter in his furnace-like embrace.

She pulls back and presses her hands against his chest, "I understand Clayton. You saved us. It's ok." She runs a hand up and cups his bloody cheek, he shuts one eye and leans into her hand. His other eye brightens into a shimmering silver and he lifts a hand to genlty wipe blood from the krogan off of her. Tali cannot help as her purring grows in volume. His touch burning her skin so deliciously.

They seperate after a few seconds and Carmine gets his gear back in order. Sliding his helemt back onto his head, 'You almost got them killed. Finish the job. Get out of here.' Clayton sneers, disappointed in himself. His senses were getting weaker as the pain in his head grew stronger.

As they make their way past the victims of Carmine's massacre Tali comes upon another locked door. Clayton and Grunt are headed further down but she calls out to them.

"There might be more workers in here." Clayton nods to her.

He stands in front of her, Grunt to his right. The door opens not too long after and the gear is met with the barrel of a gun. Not an unfamiliar sight considering the day's events.

"D-don't come any closer. I-I-I'll shoot!" The visibly fearful salarian says as the pistol shakes in his grip.

Clayton groans, a lightning bolt of pain striking his brain, "I don't have time for your bullshit. You guys the rest of the workers here? We saved a few of your pals back in the first tower. So I suggest you quit waving that gun at my friends."

He goes to step forward but Tali rests a hand on his bicep. He looks back and sighs as the salarian overloads from the fear and feints. Another salarian catches him and cries out. Carmine holsters his rifle and kneels next to them, taking note of the headless corpse of an eclipse merc to his right.

The salarian gains consciousness and struggles to get upright.

"Please brother. You're exhausted. It's clear these three aren't here to hurt us."

Carmine freezes, "Brother?"

The salarian holding his weak brother nods, "Yes he's my brother. We've been working here for a few weeks. I'm sorry he pointed that pistol at you. That eclipse was pushing us in here just before his head exploded. Then that assassin out for Nassana's head locked us in here. Saved our lives."

Clayton looks up at Tali, "Fits his M.O. Carmine." She says to the burly man.

Carmine helps the brothers stand and hands the more able one the pistol that had clattered to the floor when one fell unconscious, "Thank you sir. If you're looking for Nassana the elevator to the penthouse is just down the hall, but you should be careful..."

They walk out and the mass grave from Carmine's massacre is visible, "Actually I guess you don't need to be careful. Nassana will only have a few guards up there. But if you three did this...well I'm sure you'll be fine. Thank you again." Carmine waves to them as the salarians take their leave.

"It's good to see family taking care of each other." Clayton mutters, wishing the brothers a silent good luck. A pang of nostalgia hitting him from all the times he picked his brothers up when they got knocked down. He was always their rock. Another pulse of pain spikes his head.

Tali bumps his hip with hers, nullifying the headache a bit with her smooth accent, "Family is important. We made sure the workers could get out with no problems. Now, let us go recruit ourselves an assassin."

Grunt snickers at her optimistic attitude and nods, "Let's just hope that sneaky bastard didn't kill Nassana already. Asari like her need a good killing." He says.

They make their way to the elevator and up to the penthouse. Carmine slides his boltok into his hand and cracks his neck. The door slides open and four eclipse guards aim at them. A fancily dressed asari stands in the middle of their defensive formation.

"Great. Just great. You eclipse are useless. Your worthless asses couldn't stop three assassins!" She barks at them.

Carmine grits his teeth and takes a step forward. They all look jumpy, which is fair. They've never seen anyone as terrifying as a bloodstained Clayton Carmine before.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, cunt. We aren't the assassins. He is still rooting around here somewhere. But I'll be honest, I'm pretty glad he isn't here." He takes another step and a guard fires a warning shot.

"Stay the fuck back!"

Clayton chuckles at the smaller man, "You work for someone who would throw you at a guy like me. She isn't going to even blink when I rip your arms off little man." The aura of Carmine's rage was surrounding him, steam flowing from his muscles steadily.

The man looks like he was ready to piss himself. Maybe he already did. Carmine couldn't tell worth shit, his senses were still all fucked up.

"Enough. You aren't an assassin, good. What's your price then? A man like you, who can tear through a whole company of mercs, is valuable to me. Especially now. I've heard stories from the merc companies about the Grub Killer. You don't disappoint." Nassana speaks up, trying to bribe the gear.

Tali and Grunt had their weapons raised on either side of him. Tali couldn't hold her tongue any longer. The smug look on Nassana's face enraged her completely, "Unlike your lackeys. We aren't for sale. Especially not the Grub Killer. Oh and all the stories you've heard don't even scratch the surface."

Carmine smiles wide as Tali refers to him by his nickname, 'God she is the best.' He thinks.

Nassana points at Tali, "Wait. I fucking know you. You ran with Shepard. Yeah! You helped me deal with my sister."

Tali makes an audible noise of disgust at the asari's choice of words. Clayton doing the same with a grunt, knuckles crunching as his right hand grips his boltok tight. Grunt snickers, noticing the gear was getting very close to an explosion of rage.

A noise in the vents above them gets the attention of a guard who alerts Nassana, "Ma'am! There's someone up there!"

They turn to him just to see Thane drop behind him and snap his neck. Carmine takes that as his cue and pops two of the other guard's skull like watermelons. Thane finishes off the last guard as Clayton grabs a hold of Nassana by the throat, lifting her up to meet his helmet's eyes.

"You had your own sibling killed. I should skin you alive. But lucky you...I don't have the time." Clayton blows a giant hole through her chest, reveling in the pained gasps she lets out. A fresh coat of blood sprays onto Carmine's chest armor

Blue blood spills from her lips as his grip tightens. He growls low, "Shut the fuck up and die." He rasps before heaving and throwing her down onto her desk.

He takes a few breaths and turns to see Thane praying. The gear scoffs, "Don't waste your breath on these fucking grubs."

"They are not for them. The prayers are for me. You are Clayton Carmine, better known as the Grub Killer. You're a formidable foe. What might you need from me?" The thick vibration in his deep, monotone voice rumble the gear's bones. Besides the green skin and black eyes, Carmine thinks Thane is rather humanoid.

"I'm with commander Shepard and her crew. I believe Cerberus has a contract with you. I was sent to retrieve you." The veteran gear responds.

Thane hums before finishing his prayer and turning to the burly giant, "I see. For your assistance on my mission here I offer my thanks. As for the commander, I will do her job free of charge."

Carmine scratches the back of his helmet, "Uhh, yeah. Thanks. Do you need any help getting to the Normandy or?" Clay lets the question hang in the air.

Before Thane can answer his omni-tool beeps, and he checks it. He hums, "The police are here, no doubt to investigate the falling corpses from your escapades on the bridge. I will be at the Normandy's docking bay."

Carmine groans, "Fuuuuuuck."

"They'll be up here any minute." Grunt says as he holsters his shotgun.

Carmine thinks quick, "I can buy you guys some time to get out of here. I'll message Seryna and get a ride out of here. Meet you at the Normandy's dock."

Tali protests immediately by grabbing a hold of his forearm as he goes to walk past her, "Clayton you are not well! I cannot let you go put yourself at risk again."

The gear leans down and cups the side of her visor, gently thumbing the edge, "I'll be okay. I promise Tali. I just have to make sure you're both safe."

The quarian tightens her grip on his arm, her tone wavering a bit, "But who will keep you safe..." Her eyes look away from him due to her anxiety.

He smiles, sliding his helmet off for a moment and laying his forehead on the top of her visor. Tali's cheeks burn hot as her pink orbs flick back to stare into his, "Thoughts of my friends are all I need to keep safe. I'd hate get you all mad at me if I died." He jokes, getting a chuckle from her.

Her hand moves to his cheek and she wipes a bit of drying blood from his skin, "I'll be furious...now go before I change my mind." They seperate and he nods to her with a trademark Carmine smile, white teeth flashing at her. The doors to the elevator close, and Tali is left with a deep worry in the pit of her stomach.

---

Seryna had come to pick the burly gear up after he distracted the police. He made sure they never saw him, only firing off his boltok a few times to pull their attention away from his team. Unfortunately they did see the cherry red car fleeing from the scene. The following hours had been a full on police chase, with Seryna able to outmaneuver them.

She pulls back into where they had originally met and the two get out, surprisingly enough they hadn't spoken a word to one another since the moment Carmine jumped into her car.

The gear runs a weary hand over the front of his helmet, "Thank you. You didn't have to do that for me, but you did."

Seryna looks to the exhausted, bloody giant and smirks, "Hmm I'm thinking you owe me one. But you are very welcome. You got rid of Nassana after all."

The gear chuckles tiredly, "That I did. What can I do to pay my debt? I'm not one to owe favors." The gear says as they make their way down the street together. Carmine had slowly started making his way in the direction of Liara's office.

She looks up at him slyly, "You could come have a drink with me. I'll call us even. My favorite joint is coming up."

He looks down at her skeptically, but his weary muscles and dry throat don't argue, "Sure. I can work with that."

The pair walk into the nearby club and are immediately met with a gunshot. Clay grabs his boltok but Seryna stops him and ushers him to hide behind a wall leading into the main bar area.

"Just give me everything you have old man. I won't ask again. This is the third week in a row your boss has been late." Clay peeks his helmet out and spots an asari pointing a pistol at an oddly familiar bartender.

The older black man holds his hands up high, "I'm sorry but you drained us dry already. One of you came in earlier to collect and I gave them what I could." He tries to plead his case. She blasts a bottle next to his head, making him flinch.

Carmine's hand clenches into a fist, "Fucking Christ. This place is a real breeding ground for assholes." Seryna hums in agreement with the big guy.

The asari uses her biotic power to pull the bartender closer and jam the warm barrel into his face, "I don't give a fuck. I was told to come collect and I plan on doing so. Or showing proof of your lack of cooperation." She spits out.

"Fuck that's an asari commando." Seryna mutters.

Seryna shakes her head at him as Clayton looks down to her. But he can't help himself, "I know that guy. He's just doing his job. Sorry, we'll have that drink some other time. You should bounce, you don't need the heat. Especially after outrunning the cops." Clayton twirls his boltok and Seryna simply sighs.

"Fine. But you still owe me. Don't mess the place up too bad. If you know Mike you know he likes his place tidy. Oh and make sure he doesn't catch a stray." Clay nods to her and she sneaks her way out of the bar.

Carmine takes a breath and walks out, "Hey bitch!" He doesn't let her head even fully turn to him as he unleashes a devastating round.

Her blue blood squirts from her neck stump with each beat of her heart as her body crumbles to the ground. The bartender, Mike, hits the bar and breathes deep. Having been released abruptly from the biotic hold he was in.

His eyes snap over to his savior and he smiles a knowing smile. Not bothering to spare another glance at the headless body in the middle of the floor, "Well well well, look who it is. Mister Carmine. I can't thank you enough for that. A local gang has been sending asari commandos to press us for months now."

"Don't mention it Mike. How come you're always running into me?" The gear asks as he takes a seat at the bar, sliding his helmet off and placing it on the counter.

"Just coincidence I suppose. I saw you had taken my advice to heart on the Citadel though. Dancing it up with that nice quarian girl. How is she by the way? I was getting off shift when all that commotion happened." The bartender answers him. Pouring the gear a drink and sliding him the glass.

Carmine takes it with a slight raise and a nod, "Tali's doing good. I'm not too sure it is coincidence. You following me or something?" The gear jokes as he sips the fine whiskey. The liquid burning its way down his throat comfortably. Slighlty easing the throb in his skull.

He catches as the older man smirks, "This place is pretty popular for renting out some of our more talented barkeeps. I just so happen to be out at jobs where you're also at. It is just a coincidence, son. How about the commander. Is she doing alright?"

The gear nods again and downs his drink, Mike refills it immediately, "Yeah Jane is alright. Sorry about the mess." The gear looks back and notices someone dragging the body away. He didn't even hear them, let alone notice Mike call for anyone to get the body out of there.

'Yep, a whole day of killing and having manic episodes does that to us. You know that.' The voice whispers to him. The gear grits his teeth as he downs another gulp of his drink.

"Don't sweat it. Oh and the drinks are on the house too. Least we can do for you, seeing as you kept these leaches off our back." Mike says as he extends his hand to the massive man.

Clay's sweat-matted locks flop about as he chuckles and shakes his head. He takes the man's hand and shakes, "I'll have to warn you. I can drink quite a bit, and it's been a hell of a day."

The older black gentleman smiles at him warmly, "Let's test that out big guy." He says as he pours yet another full glass for the veteran gear.

---

Shepard sighs, the middle and pointer finger of her right hand pinching the bridge of her nose, "What the fuck do you mean you don't know where he is?" She asks Tali at the docking bay. She had already sent for people to set Thane up with his room in the medical wing. Grunt had also departed, trusting that Carmine would return healthy.

Tali tilts her head. The venom in Shepard's voice was almost unrecognizable, "I meant what I said. He left to distract the authorities. Carmine said he'd make it back to us in one piece."

Shepard shakes her head, "Jesus Tali. Well I for one am not in the mood to go out looking for him. Maybe we should just leave him."

Tali's eyes widen, "What?"

Shepard turns away from her, beckoning for Miranda and Rasa to follow, "Who am I kidding? That murder machine is too valuable to toss away."

Tali was certain the woman who stood in front of her wasn't her best friend. Sure she looked exactly like Shepard, down to the length of her hair, and the omen Carmine had painted on her armor. But something was obviously wrong. Tali reaches out and snags Jane by the shoulder.

"Shepard, is everything alright?" Before she could answer Rasa steps between them and gently removes Tali's hand.

"The commander is fine. Run along back to the ship while we fetch the brute." Rasa says.

Tali catches sight of the uncertain look in Shepard's visible eye as she turns her head halfway to gaze back at them. Tali takes a few steps back, looking to Miranda.

Oddly enough Miranda has a rather investigative look to her. As if she was catching onto the same things Tali was. Tali doesn't argue though, it could have just been a rough mission for the spectre.

"Alright, alright. Well, when you find him just be careful. He wasn't doing very well. He had a few episodes during his time leading us. Nothing too severe, but I have no doubt he'll be easy to agrivate." Tali explains as she turns and heads back to the ship.

Shepard nods to her before heading out. She quickly gets in contact with EDI, "Ping Carmine's armor for me. I could've sworn I had Garrus toss a tracker in his chest piece."

"Very well commander. Updating coordinates." EDI answers.

Rasa snickers as they tread back into the crowded area, "I suppose turians are good for something." Shepard hums.

Miranda looks to Shepard with an extremely suspicious look. Not even two hours ago Shepard was chastising Rasa for her opinions on the justicar they were recruiting. Something was wrong. Something Miranda couldn't quite put her finger on.

The trio follow the signal from Carmine's armor and arrive at a bar. They are greeted by a krogan bouncer, "Sorry ladies, bar is closed for cleaning. Shouldn't be more than a half an hour until we re-open."

Shepard narrows her eyes at him, "Seen a big guy in black armor, crazy looking guns on his back?"

The krogan snickers, "I see all sorts of things. How much is it worth to you?"

Like lightning Shepard presses the barrel of her carnifex to his chin, "It's worth about one bullet. So how about you wave the fee and tell me what I want to know." Her words are drenched with a dominant aura.

The krogan holds up his hands and motions inside as he steps out of their way, "H-He's just inside chatting it up with Mike. I'll warn you though. He's covered in dry blood, and is pretty liquored up."

Shepard smirks, "Hmm, makes this a whole lot easier." She mutters, looking to Rasa who mirrors her smirk.

With what was said and done Miranda's suspicions have peaked. She cautiously follows her fellow Cerberus operative and the commander inside.

For a club it was pretty well lit. Shepard heard the big guy's laughter before she saw him. As she rounds a corner he is almost impossible to miss. Messy head of black hair leaned on the bar counter, the hand not wrapped around a glass of whiskey slaps at his thigh as his laughter wanes.

He sits himself upright, a small smile still on his face. Shepard finds herself staring as if it were the first time she'd ever seen him, "Holy shit." She whispers. Her eyes dragging along his sharp features.

However, Mike spots her and her companions before she can make herself known, "Ah! There's the commander. Sorry if I kept him too long miss Shepard."

Carmine's head drunkenly sways to look at her, an unintentional flirtatious smirk finding his lips as her mildly shocked, icy blue eyes look him up and down, "Ah its no big deal. Come here and have a seat Cherry. Perfect timing, I have a story to tell you."

Shepard finds herself at a loss of words and does what he asks, motioning for Miranda and Rasa to stand guard. She takes the stool next to his and watches as he swishes the whiskey around in his glass, "I ever tell you about the first time I had to lead a team?"

Shepard gains her nerve and shakes her head, "No, but to be honest I don't really care. We need to go."

Carmine looks to her, his mood souring as her rough tone hit his ears. He slaps his drink down without spilling it and narrows his steel eyes at her, "Well too fucking bad. You need to hear this." He slurs out.

Shepard rolls her eyes and shakes her head, "What we need is for you to stop jeopardizing the mission at hand by drinking yourself drunk at some random bar."

Carmine tilts his head, it was almost like the Shepard he knew was nonexistent, the alcohol in his blood making him feel comfortable enough to openly try and reach out to tuck back the stray bundle of hair that hung in front of her face. She freezes, he must have washed his gauntlets off as they were surprisingly blood-free compared to the rest of him.

She allows the thick, warm digits to brush her hair back, "I'm sorry, I just needed a drink. I fucked up Jane. Almost got Tali and Grunt killed. I..." He doesn't finish, her icy blues gazing up at him.

The warmth of his hand assisted in clouding her mind as he cups the side of her face, "You're beautiful." He mutters. The nagging pain that was tormenting him was practically fully gone now. The alcohol soothing his mind.

'So this is what it really feels like, he's so...warm.' Shepard thinks.

A light red tint comes to her face and she looks away shyly. He pulls his hand back and nervously laughs as he grabs his drink, sipping it. They both stare at the bar counter, blushes teasing their cheeks. Carmine feels rather awkward. Once again, Shepard acted rather unusually. Like it was the first time he'd brushed her hair back.

Shepard sighs, "What was it you were trying to tell me before?"

He looks to her with a small smile, "I...I led a small team to help extract a group of wounded civilians and soldiers we found in a slave camp. The camp my brother David was held in. I couldn't have lived with myself if I didn't try and save the rest. Even though I couldn't save him." He takes another sip as Shepard's eyes widen. He almost never talked specifics about the war. Let alone his family.

"I was reckless. Anger was the only thing I had left in the tank. Got carried away and damn near abandoned my team. Tried tossing a grenade back over cover but it made an opening, and they...the grubs ripped into those fucking people as they always did."

"I got caught up in the hate again. Those fucking mercs killed a bunch of people for no reason. Just like the grubs did. I was almost happy to see the Locust in some of their scared faces when I was losing my shit." He drinks the remains of his glass and pushes the empty thing forward.

Shepard quirks an eyebrow, "Why are you telling me this now of all times?"

Carmine snickers to himself and stands, "I don't know. I had a bit too much to drink and thought you'd like to know why I didn't want to lead a team. The real reason. Not just some vague answer I always give. Those two look agitated. We s-should probably get back to the ship." Carmine slurs the last of his words and stumbles a bit as he steps away from his seat. He vaguely motions to the two impatient Cerberus operatives at the far end of the room, by the door.

Shepard hums, contemplating her next move as she stands, "We have to make a detour on the way. That alright with you?"

Clay smiles warmly at her as he snags his helmet, preffering to carry it instead of cover his face, "Yeah, I think I'll manage, Cherry." His smooth tone makes the commander go red in the face as she turns away from him.

'He's so nice. I-I don't think I can do this to him. Rasa is almost sure to try and fuck me over. But him...he'd die for me. I can't let her kill him.'

Shepard's thoughts race as Carmine follows them out of the bar. She doesn't bother looking back as she speaks, "I already told Carmine, but there is something I have to do first before we head back to the ship."

Miranda can't hold her suspicious thoughts in, "What exactly do we have to do? It seems by the dirty state of the brute that it's not just us who are bit run down after today's activities."

Shepard turns to look at her, "And since when did you start caring about him, huh? Just follow your orders Miranda, quit making this more trouble than it's worth."

Miranda goes to argue but doesn't get the chance as the commander has already turned and started off. She looks over to Rasa who smiles smugly and walks off with Shepard.

She looks up at the giant, blood-stained man beside her and her eyes meet his steel ones, "Something isn't right. You can feel it too?" He slurs to her in a hushed tone as they start off to catch up to the other two.

Miranda can't believe she actually agrees with the drunk man, "Yes. Shepard doesn't seem like herself. I know everything about the commander's behavior patterns from my time working on project Lazarus. She's a glorified paragon of humanity. But as of the past few hours she has been easy to anger, and has avoided peaceful resolutions to conflict. Shepard has no recorded history of being so blatantly...renegade."

It was as Clayton feared. Something happened to her, 'I have to keep my eyes peeled. My money is on that bitch Rasa.'

"Wouldn't mind spilling one more grub's blood today honestly." He accidentally says, and Miranda gives the man a nervous look before focusing back ahead.

Carmine shakes his head as Miranda and him finally catch up to the others. Numerous people stare at the drunken gear's bloody visage as he towers above his companions from the rear. They walk along the streets for a bit, crossing through a marketplace before turning down a wide alleyway. Shepard suddenly stops, raising a hand. Miranda slides her pistol into her hands as Carmine instinctively places his hand near the handle of his boltok. His helmet now gripped tightly.

"This feels suspiciously like an-" Carmine doesn't get to finish as he looks over and spots a red dot on Miranda's forehead.

"Miranda!" He shoves her into a wall, the savage sniper shot rips through his shield easily and into his forearm, splashing the Cerberus operative in his blood. He draws his boltok but has two guns pointed right at his exposed head. His helmet loudly crashes to the ground, the hand that held it being the one now occupied with his revolver.

"Carmine, you..." Miranda can't believe he saved her life. He took a bullet for her. Someone she deemed so incomprehensibly barbaric to even care about collateral damage. She shakes off her shock and aims her weapon at the pair in front of them.

Shepard has a stone-cold gaze to her eyes as she steadily points her carnifex at the gear. Rasa smiles smugly to the commander's right, "Should have known alcohol would've only dulled your enhanced senses, not your reflexes. Oh well. Makes all of this so much more fun." Rasa says like a braggart.

Carmine's steel eyes are wide. Staring into Shepard's icey blue glare, "J-Jane? What the fuck is going on?" He stutters, boltok following Rasa as she takes a few steps. Mind not believing what his eyes could clearly see.

A few asari commandos clad in yellow approach from behind her and surround the gear and Miranda. Shepard barks out orders, "Hold the big one. He's resistant to biotics but not immune." Her eye twitches, mind not entirely comfortable for what was about to happen. A part of her cared so strongly for him.

Carmine feels his whole body freeze up as an invisible force pulls to keep his muscles in place. Two asari commandos focus on keeping him stuck. The other two walk over to Miranda and disarm her. One delivering a savage punch to her stomach to drop her to her knees.

Carmine growls as her pained gasps for air reach his ears. He can't even speak from all the pressure. The pair of asari that hold him are extremely powerful, and there are too many things going through his booze riddled brain to focus on busting free.

Rasa waltzes over to him and encircles him as she walks, "This was just too easy. The Illusive man was right to have planted me with you lot. Although I have to applaud the acting of the ruthless commander Shepard. Or as you knew her Miranda, the backup."

Miranda looks up with wide eyes, "The escaped experiment...it was her."

Her face morphs to fit a look of absolute devastation, "The Illusive man sent you two to replace us. To get a Shepard in control that was more cooperative with Cerberus and it's goals. Even if she was a clone..."

Carmine's blood burns, the alcohol boiling in his veins as his rage spikes. He is struck with a violent realization, 'That means...no. NO, NO, NO! She isn't dead, she can't be!'

'She is. I hate to admit it pal but if the woman with her face is as capable as our Cherry is, the odds aren't looking good.' The voice is loud in his ears.

His hands twitch, the boltok in his suspended clutch shaking as his anger grows. The asari double down and he groans in pain as the pressure tighten his armor to his body. Squeezing the air from his lungs, slowly suffocating him.

Rasa laughs as she runs a hand along his left bicep, "Poor Clayton. First you get sent here, away from your friends. I'd say family too but I know there's nothing left of them." She digs a finger into the gaping bullet wound on his arm, reveling in his pained growls. Shepard frowns as Rasa toys with him.

"But I suppose this is par for the course. Don't worry we'll finish your mission. But afterward we'll wipe that group of filthy aliens you call a crew off the Normandy for good." Rasa continues to taunt as she stops in front of him, sliding his knife from the sheathe on his bicep, catching sight of Tali's cloth attached to it.

"Hmm, I suppose the only bright side for you would be that you won't be alive to see another one of your close friends die." She shoves the blade up at an angle into his balistic weave. The blade easily slices through the material and digs diagonally up into his stomach.

The biotics aren't able to hold him as he yells, head twitching backward as the threat flows through his brain. His outburst wasn't from the pain.

'They killed her. They're threatening to kill the others. Our friends. We couldn't save Cherry. But we can save them. Let us show this cunt what real pain is.' The voice chuckles as the burly gear slowly tilts his head down to stare into her eyes. A fiery hatred burning just past the hair that hangs over his eyes.

Steam rises from his skin as his hand grips his boltok more steadily, his left hand rising inch by inch. Rasa stares in disbelief and drives the knife in his stomach deeper. Dragging the sharp blade down a bit to widen his wound.

The asari commandos holding him with their biotics are sweating profusely, arms shaking as they struggle to maintain their hold. Which of course is becoming harder as every second passes. The renegade Shepard can't help but smirk at the wild beast of a man.

In a flash he yells out again and breaks out of the biotic hold, "GRAHHH!"

He grabs Rasa by the throat and heaves her to the side. She smashes into the wall close to Miranda and falls to a knee as she reaches back and feels the open gash on the back of her head, "Don't just gawk. Kill him!"

Carmine doesn't advance, only lowering himself into a defensive stance. He growls like a rapid wolf, teeth bared, practically foaming at the mouth as he wrenches the blade from his own stomach, splashing his blood onto the ground, "YOU WANT ME?! HERE-I-AM!"

He is not a drunken fool any longer. The imense heat burning inside him had flushed the copious amount of booze clear out of his system. Every sense perfectly tuned to accomplish one thing.

Retribution.

As one asari goes to shoot, Carmine flicks his wrist and sends his knife into her skull with such feral hatred that the force pins her to the wall that Rasa had been tossed into. Her eyes roll into the back of her skull as her body twitches, rifle firing blindly into the ground as her muscles squeeze the trigger uncontrollably. The other asari immediately fires upon him. Bad move.

White flames flicker on his skin for a mere moment as he easily fires and kills the last armed asari. Her neck stump spraying fresh blood onto Miranda, who crawls backward to avoid the falling body. She is still mildly in shock that the Illusive man would betray not only Shepard, but Miranda herself. Someone who the Illusive man had called the perfect human. An invaluable Cerberus asset. But perhaps those were just lies.

Miranda is lucky Carmine took the their attention as she sits and watches with her horrified look of realization plastered across her face.

Carmine slides his boltok into his holster and gestures with his hands for the asari to come and get him. They charge him at the same time and he meets them in the middle. Eating a biotic infused hook. He trades with a devastating liver shot to the one on his right, his hand going right through her. He grunts and shoves the uninjured commando backward. He flicks his tongue around in his mouth for a moment before spitting a mouthful of blood, saliva, and a molar out onto the ground.

The final commando is frozen in fear as his steel eyes burn a hole into her head. He sloshes his hand out of the gaping hole he put in the other one. His hand comes up to catch the asari before she falls. Her cries of pain are muffled from behind his large hand as it covers her entire face. He growls, crushing the alien woman's head in his hand. Nails come up to drag over his forearm as her body tries to release the pressure on her brain.

By now Rasa has regained her footing and with a lot of effort, manages to pull his knife from the skull and wall it was buried in. She sneaks up on him as he approaches the final commando and leaps on his back. She goes to stab into his neck but he quickly raises his left hand, the blade stabbing right through, scratching his neck a bit.

Carmine easily shakes her off and Rasa rolls as she hits the ground, grabbing her pistol and firing at his back as he rips the knife from his hand, slashing the last asari commando's throat in the process. Rasa runs out of ammo as Clayton slowly turns to look at her. The gurgling commando slowly crumbles to the ground behind him, a blue river flowing from in between her hands as she fails to staunch the bleeding.

The renegade Shepard had lowered her gun as he was dispatching the commandos. Watching with great interest.

'This is it. Now or never. Clayton can help me be free from under Cerberus. It'll take some convincing but I can sway him. He'll just have to get used to how I do things is all.' Shepard thinks.

Rasa bares her teeth in a rage of her own, "What the bloody hell are you doing!? Help me kill him!"

She laughs at the Cerberus operative, "If you and the Illusive man were willing to fuck Miranda, and the other me over. Then hey, a man like Carmine is the only one I can trust."

Rasa reloads but as she raises her gun Shepard blasts the pistol from her hand with keen precision. Rasa glares daggers at Shepard. That glare is short lived though as a force of nature tackles her to the ground, pinning her easily.

'Huh, I guess she has more of our Shepard in her than we thought.'

"Hold this." He growls out, dismissing the voice and jamming the large blade through the soft tissue of her shoulder into the ground below. Now quite literally pinning her in place. His ears go deaf, but he can see her lips moving. He smiles sadistically.

'I could go for some broken bones. How about you big guy?'

The renegade Shepard bites her lip due to his dominance, being rather enticed by the entire display of rage, "Man, I really wished I could've given you a ride before I had to disappear. I understand why the other me was so horny for you."

However she could never have accounted for the armored hands that wrap around her waist and connect at her front, "What the fu-" Shepard doesn't get a chance to react as she is suplexed into the ground. A fireball climbs on top of her, clad in a matching set of armor.

"Too bad you're going to die soon." A very angry Jane says, sporting a bruise on her temple from where she was hit and knocked out. She throws a few punches into her renegade self's face.

The renegade Jane wrestles with her for moment and kicks the paragon off of her, "How the fuck did you know where to find us?"

Paragon Shepard taps her temple, "That memory transmitter works both ways. All it took was a quick hack, dumbass. Hard to believe you're supoosed to be me." She taunts.

Renegade Shepard growls and stands, the two circle each other, trading blows. Carmine slowly tortures Rasa a couple feet in front of them. Her screams fall on deaf ears as Miranda is completely stricken with shock again watching the two Shepard's fight.

Clayton smiles wider. Having broken every bone in Rasa's arms and hands respectively, "Y-You have no idea wh-what you're doi-hng." Carmine grabs a hold of her jaw.

"Open up." His bloody hands pry open her mouth and he fits three thick, blue fingers into her mouth. She tries biting down but by the time she clamps onto his skin he yanks down. Clayton tears her jaw open, splitting the skin on the sides of her mouth. The open wound squirts fresh crimson as Rasa chokes and gurgles on her blood. Tongue flailing as he lower jaw hangs slacked.

"This is what a back-stabbing grub like you deserves. Now fucking die!" He screams, grabbing a hold of her face in one hand and slamming it down. Her head shatters into a messy pile of brain, bone, and hair. Breathing heavily, he stands, tears pricking at his eyes. Rasa's blood splattered across his face.

'This doesn't bring her back. It never brings anyone back. But at least this bitch can't hurt anyone we care about anymore.'

The tears fade away before they build up. His ears prick, the sound of a fight hitting his ears as the ringing dies out. Two of the same voice filling his head. Two Shepards. He spins around faster than a bullet and the pair hold their armor's collars, free fist reared back to swing at their counterpart.

They both turn to look at him.

"Hey Clayton." They say at the same time. Nervous smiles on their faces.

They push away from one another and he pulls his boltok out as one steps toward him out of instinct. The pair have numerous cuts and swelling on them. There would be no way to distinguish them, even the omen he painted on Shepard's armor looks exact on both. Not that he could even bring himself to shoot one of them.

"W-Which one of you is my Shepard?" He asks, the voice is lost for words. Just glad he wasn't the one who had to figure this mess out.

Heat rises to both of their faces at his phrasing. The pair stutter a bit as they respond.

"Well I-I wouldn't say I'm yours, b-but you know me Clayton. I can assure you I'm the real Shepard."

"S-She's clearly lying. That is exactly what a clone would say to save her own skin. I know I'm your Cherry, Clayton."

"Hey that's cheating!"

"No it's not!"

The pair bicker like twin sisters and Carmine doesn't know if this is a dream or a nightmare. Miranda comes up next to him and he looks down at her, scratching the side of his head with his boltok.

"You alright?" He asks while his free hand holds the deep diagonal cut on his stomach. Blood slowly flowing and seeping into the fabric. The bullet, and knife holes on that same appendage are dripping blood onto the ground.

Miranda nods, "Yes, thank you. You seem to be a bit banged up though. Here, let me help." He is surprised as she slathers his wounds with medi-gel. But before he can ask her anything he hears Miranda sigh.

"With both of them so beat up there is no way to know who is who. Just grab them and let's go. We have a lot to figure out. I don't know if you'll believe me, but I had nothing to do with this whole clone replacement business." Carmine nods. With his wounds closed and a relatively clear mind, he holsters his boltok and leans down. His bloody hand grabs a hold of his helmet and clips it to his belt.

"Figured as much. That bitch wouldn't have tried to kill you too if you were in on it. From what I know you're an invaluable asset to Cerberus. So if they're willing to get rid of you, this must have been some secret coup type shit." Miranda sighs in relief at his words.

'Jesus Christ. This day officially goes in the book as the weirdest one we've experienced Clay my boy.' The voice chuckles a bit after he finishes. Carmine's fiery, sorrowful rage subsides quickly. In its place is an indescribable joy as he watches the women argue. Regardless of who was who. His Cherry was still alive and kicking. And even the other one seemed to help him with Rasa. Showed clear hesitation. Even liked being touched by him back at the bar.

A wide smile creeps up onto his lips as he approaches the Shepards, "Alright ladies, up you go." They stop to look at him with confusion in their icy blue eyes.

'Oh boy, now there is two of them.' The voice groans, teasing the oldest Carmine brother.

Before they can do anything he snatches them by the waist and bends over, easily hoisting the pair onto his shoulders.

"C-Carmine I can walk on my own. You don't have to manhandle me." One stutters out as her face flushes as red as her hair.

"Mmm, I don't mind at all big guy. Been a real hell of a day." The other says, enjoying the feeling of his hand gripping her thigh to keep her stable.

"For your sakes, both of you should shut the hell up. I'm happy to see that you're safe Cherry. As for the other Shepard I'm a little pissed at you but I'm glad you chose the right side in the end. I'm leaving it at that. Understand?" His bossy attitude heats up the insides of the pair.

"Yes sir." They both say with a mock salute.

He snickers, "I hope Chakwas and Mordin can figure this out. You two are carbon copies. Cute ones at that." He mutters the last bit. One of them manages to hear though and gloats to the other.

"Hah, Carmine called me cute."

"We looks exactly the same idiot."

The two begin to bicker again as he carries them like sacks of potatoes throughout the streets. He sighs, but his smile stays right on his face.

'You know what? Not the worst outing. Even with seeing the Locust. I got to drink, kill some grubs, got my job done, protected my friends, and finally got rid of that snake Rasa. I knew making Cerberus my enemy was the way to go. Now that Illusive dumbass will have to deal with two angry Shepards. Assuming that the clone is against Cerberus and wants to stick around.'

They begin to throw punches at one another and he groans, 'If these two don't fucking kill each other first.' He grips them harder and the pair stop immediately.

The pressure and warmth of his hand so far up on their thighs makes the pair groan huskily, "Settle down you two." He gets a mild flashback of doing something similar to his brothers, dragging them by their shirt collars. He smiles warmly, knowing that he wouldn't be able to stop the squabling.

'I bet you three are laughing your asses off right about now, heh. Hope you boys have been enjoying the show.' He smiles at his thought and keeps his brisk pace from behind Miranda. They were almost back to the Normandy.

"Time to face the music you two." He snickers as they whip their heads to the side to try and look at him.

'One of them is a clone, but shit. It is one to one. Kind of hot if you think about it...' He blushes and shakes that thought free from his head. The feeling of their soft thighs on his fingers lingering in his mind. He physically shakes his head from side to side for a second to free the pervy thoughts away.

It of course doesn't work.