Hello again! I tried to get this one out sooner, and actually would have if I hadn't been snowed in on my days off! Of course, then I started working on it more and decided to change and add some new things. I hope you guys like what I did!

One other thing VERY IMPORTANT THING! Good, now that I have your attention, I would like to offer this to my fans. With the anniversary of the posting date for Familial Ties coming up, June 28th, I would like to give you guys a chance to request stories. I was thinking that you guys give me a few prompts that you would like to see and I will write up a short story to your suggestions! You are more than welcome to suggest more than one, but please rank them in the order that you would like to see them. I will try to get through as many as I can, but of course I will still be focusing on Familial Ties so, depending on the activity, I may not be able to get to all of them. Now, these suggestions can be any pairing, genre, and rating you like. So, I know that I put a lot of Shepard(F)xGarrus (and working on Shepard(M)xTali) but you are more than welcome to suggest others! These stories do NOT need to fit into the regular Mass Effect universe or into my version of it (but if you like them to, just say so). Just PM me your request and any details you have in mind! There are 4 months until the anniversary but PLEASE do not wait until the last minute to get your submission in! I hope you guys like this idea! (I thought it was pretty great. :P )

Anyway, let's get on with the story! Thank you to everyone reading/following/favoriting and reviewing! Thanks again to Way of the Sheikah, MichaelBerretta and Jawaswag Jenkins for being there to let me bounce ideas off of you!

Chapter 24

He strolled down the hallways, his fingers running along the smooth surface of the wall. Kai Leng loved that he had access to any area he liked; being a kiss ass had its perks. And being the only one who knew Shepard personally and having been with Cerberus helps, he smirked. Waving his omni-tool over the panel, he strolled into the 'highly-restricted' room. Laughable.

It was the middle of the night and some third-rate medical officer was filling in for a few hours while Miranda and Wilson were away. The man turned around and looked Kai Leng up and down. "You are relieved," Leng said coolly.

"But… it is my shift and Lawson will kill me if I leave my post. I'll just stay here until she gets in, shouldn't be much longer now."

"Are you deaf or just stupid? I said you are relieved. Now get out."

"Sir, I am sorry but I don't think – " he quickly stopped as the tip of a sword touched the base of his throat.

"Do I need to repeat myself? If I weren't approved to be in here, I wouldn't have access to this room."

"Y-Yes, sir," the man stuttered and quickly backed away from the blade to hustle out of the room.

Just after the door shut, Leng lowered his sword and let out a small chuckle. "Ah, we always did have a way with words, didn't we, love?" he smirked and walked over to the table with Shepard. He glanced over the consoles but didn't bother with reading anything. "Of course," he continued, "you continued to charm your way into people's minds and hearts, and I prefer to intimidate. How long has it been since we last saw each other? Several years, at least, well…" he chuckled, "add a year and a half to mine I suppose."

He strolled around the table, his eyes never leaving her. He could hear her breathing and the heart monitor beeping steadily in the background. There were still several spots where she hadn't healed and he was sure there was more beneath the skin. "They certainly did a number on you, didn't they? Now do you see that it isn't really worth risking your life for another's? No… I don't suppose you do. You gave up your life and yet you still get it back. Don't get me wrong… I don't think it is a waste bringing you back. Hearing that you had been ripped to pieces by falling through the atmosphere was a sad day for me. But, now look at you." He stopped at her feet and removed his gloves. Ever so lightly, he placed his fingertips on her skin at her ankle. "It is almost like nothing ever happened to you. Maybe in another several months there won't even be the scars," he began to walk up the side of the table, his fingers pressing into her skin and making a trail along her side. His hand avoided any open areas on her and he began speaking again, "Then again, I never was opposed to scars. I was always fond of the one on your left hip. How did you get that again? Oh yes, I gave it to you," he sneered. He paused at her hip and pulled the sheet back half an inch, "But, alas, it seems that they took that from you too. They certainly are giving you a clean slate, aren't they?" His fingers touched her skin again and he made his way up to her arm, then shoulder, neck, and finally to her hair. He stroked the yellow strands almost lovingly, "It's a shame they cut your hair. I always liked it longer. So different from all the other women in the service. Plus," he leaned down and whispered in her ear, "it was always nice to have something to hold on to, and we both know you liked it. Who knows, maybe if you make the right choices in your allegiance, we might be able to revisit those old times. And don't worry, I won't let Miranda do what she has planned. I've already spoken to the Illusive Man and I have thoroughly convinced him not to tamper with your mind. You deserve to be completely yourself." He pressed his lips to her temple and straightened, looking down at her. "Then again, I know you," he stood to the side of her table and laid his hand over her neck, "And I know what you will probably choose. Especially since we have your past here. Even I doubt the Illusive Man will be able to envelope you in his vision." He closed his hand over her throat and began to squeeze, "Perhaps it would be simpler just to end it now." Leng could hear her heart monitor begin to beep faster the tighter he squeezed. Suddenly, he released her, "But that would not be an honorable death. If you are to die, it will be in the right way. And, if things do go south… perhaps it will even be at the end of my blade."

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Miranda shouted from across the room and stormed over to him. She shoved him away and checked over her patient.

"Just saying hello to an old friend," he grinned and turned on his heel, humming as he walked out of the room.

"Oh my god! Did you see their faces? We have them running so scared!" Monteague yelled between laughter.

"I have to give it to you, Archangel. Only you could bring this mismatched group together to accomplish tasks like this," Ripper nodded.

Garrus grinned at his squad. It felt good to be looked up to, to be in charge, to feel responsible. The task wasn't without its worrying, but he felt right (most days). "Thanks, Ripper. That means a lot. Thank you, all of you."

Sidonis laughed and smacked the other turian on the back, "Don't go soft on us now. We still need you to be pumping their heads full of bullets at a safe distance. I prefer to keep my plating intact."

"I don't think he is getting soft," Butler leaned back in his chair, "He just finally took that stick out of his ass."

"Butler!" Mierin scolded the human, "That is terribly rude and an illogical analogy."

"No, it's fine," Garrus laughed, "I used to know someone who always said that I had a stick up my ass." He shook his head, "If he could see me now… he would probably die of shock."

"Hell, I think if we all went back in time and told our former selves about you now, none of us would believe it!"

"Spirits, I wouldn't believe it," Garrus added.

Sidonis leaned back and checked the time on the wall, "Ugh… I better get back to the 'real' world. Have to keep up appearances."

A few others checked the time as well and grumbled in agreement. None of them liked living two lives, but they knew it was what helped to keep them safe. As they all shuffled around and mumbled their goodbyes, Garrus got up and made his way into the office, unaware of the presence still at the table.

He sat at the desk and pulled up some of the intel they had managed to grab from their most recent raid on the Blue Sun base. Gangs were starting to team up, watching each other's backs, which only meant Garrus had to be extra careful with his crew. All that it would take is one slip-up and someone, or everyone, would get hurt.

From the looks of this information, it seems that there will be a meeting of the top three members of each group. Pretty heavy handed there… We can't let all of the groups unite. We are a strong team, but we don't stand a chance against all the gangs of Omega. I wouldn't be surprised if Aria stepped in soon.

Garrus snapped his head up as he heard footsteps on the outside of the door. He stared at the barrier until it opened to reveal the person on the other side, "Melanis? I thought you left with everyone else."

"No… not yet. I was, um, wondering if you needed some help."

"Sure, just going over what we uncovered at the base."

She took a second to scan over the material, "We need to break this up. Any ideas?"

"I just started going over it myself. All that I can figure is that going after them head on is out of the question. My best guess is that the north side of the building will be heavily guarded. That is the most vulnerable entrance so that may alleviate some pressure on the south side where we could get in a good shot." When she was quiet for a while, he could tell she was coming up with another plan, "What are you thinking?" he said with a grin.

"What if we pitted them against each other? The Blue Suns are starting to share their weapons with the Eclipse, and we just stole a bunch of their weapons. What if we snuck in a shipment of faulty ones? I am sure Ripper could rig something up. The Blood Pack is on edge with both groups anyway, already grumpy about having to team up. If we're lucky, some of us could infiltrate the Blue Sun group heading to the compound and take out some of the Blood Pack."

"That could work," Garrus nodded. "But we don't want to strengthen ties between the Blood Pack and Eclipse. And I don't like relying on luck for anything, especially not when I will have someone sidling up with the enemy."

"The time still hasn't been set for the meeting yet. That would mean that we still have at least a few months before anything goes down."

"Yes," Garrus agreed, "I would like to get a little more intel before we go ahead with that plan much more. But, thanks, if things go right we could seriously damage any ties between the groups."

Melanis smiled at him as he turned back to his console. She leaned against the adjacent table watching the side of his face. "Can I ask you something, Archangel?"

"I won't promise an answer, but sure you can ask."

"Well, we all live double lives for our protection. Why don't you?"

Garrus stopped what he was doing and leaned against the table with her. "This is my life now. I tried to pretend living before and it didn't stick."

"But you are the one who told us that a real life is safer. So why don't you follow your own advice?" She waited for an answer but there was only silence. As time crept by she began to realize what he was saying in the quiet, "You don't care if you stick out. You aren't bothered by death." It wasn't a question.

"What I had to live for was taken away. So, in the meantime I am going to kill as many mercs as I can. You're right, I am not bothered by death. Because that means that I would be with her again, in whatever afterlife there is."

"But you're not really living. Don't you think you should have something to live for?"

He shrugged, unsure what to say. "I suppose… but I don't really think like that anymore it seems."

She watched him staring at the floor; he seemed so empty. No, I shouldn't. But I really want to… Taking a deep breath, Melanis lurched forward, standing up on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. She could feel him freeze under her touch and for a split second she regretted it. He turned his head to look at her, his eyes a little wider than normal and she closed the distance to touch her lips to his mouthplates. For once her mind was clear and when she felt his hand touch her arm she almost sighed at the touch.

But then he pushed her away.

"I – I'm sorry. Turians don't do that, do they? Kiss, I mean…" she relaxed onto her feet once more and smiled up at him until she saw his flat expression.

"Melanis… I'm sorry but I can't."

"But… I thought that you had said that you had been interested in a human before. Did I do something wrong? I'm sorry that I don't know all the cultural tendencies."

"No, it's not that. I just… I am still in love with Jane."

It hurt more than she thought. He was still in love with a woman who died almost a year and a half ago. How long did it take for turians to get over someone? "Not to be crass, but she died. I don't know how female turians are, but humans tend to be more forgiving. Most want their partners to move on and be happy again. I bet she would want that for you."

Garrus nodded, "She would… but I can't. Love isn't the same for turians as it is for humans. I won't let this affect our professional relationship, but I can't be that for you."

She stood beside him with her mouth slightly agape in shock. "I'm sorry…" she whispered and left the room.

"I can't believe that I am going to miss its first flight," John shook his head as he leaned against the railing. He looked over at the man to his left, Joker was grinning like an idiot. John could tell that the pilot was in love all over again with the new Normandy. "When does she go out again?"

"Another week or two. They are still installing the VI… supposed to be some super high-tech top of the line one. But it's Cerberus, so I am not surprised," Joker held onto the railing and leaned back admiring the ship before him. "So you really can't postpone getting shipped out. It would be nice to have you there for the first flight."

"I wish but no. Some of the dossiers they have are time sensitive. Since we are recruiting the best in the universe a lot of them are in some precarious situations. Others are just hard to keep track of."

"So what are you? Their babysitter?"

John laughed, "Please don't put it that way. It is more of a scout and a recruiter combined. I find them and observe them for a time then approach them if I think they are 'worthy' enough for our crew. And if they happen to be in a little bit of a predicament then, yeah, I will step in to help."

"But, you will be joining us, right?"

"Of course! They just want me to get the team in order so that we are all ready by the time Jane wakes up."

Joker nodded and after a short time asked the question that he rarely addressed, "How is she doing? I haven't really had the courage to go see her."

John looked at the factory floor below. "She is alright. Looking a lot better than when I first saw her. Miranda won't give me a time for when Jane will wake up. I can tell Lawson is worried that it will be close to another year and we need Jane sooner. A colony disappeared. Everyone just… gone."

"Weird. It's gotta be Reapers, right?"

"Must be." John looked down at the time on his omni-tool, "Well, it is getting closer for me. You look good man. Those legs suit you."

"Heh, thanks. I'll see you around."

John nodded to his friend and gave a short wave before heading to the docking bay for his first assignment.

Joker stared at his beauty before him. The Normandy was back. She was really back. And, to top it off, he could finally stand on his own legs (more or less). He cautiously leaned on the railing, still not quite used to not needing the support of crutches when standing. Just as his legs were beginning to hurt, he heard someone call out his name.

"Flight Lieutenant Moreau!"

He looked in the direction of the sound and saw one of the engineers responsible for designing the Normandy. "Mason, what can I do for you?"

"We are still working on installing the intelligence program but we were wondering if you would like to take a full tour of the SR-2."

"Would I?" Joker said excitedly, completely forgetting about the ache in his legs. "Just point the way. I have really only seen the cockpit and the CIC, it will be nice to finally see the rest of the ship."

"Well, we all hope you like the rest of the rest of the ship as much as you liked what you have seen. We made a few design changes but tried to keep things close to the original. Some of the rigidness of the turian design was altered to better match the human innovation."

They moved through the ship starting down in engineering and working their way up. Thankfully, Mason moved slower to accommodate Joker's limit even with his new legs. For the most part, Joker just followed along, taking in everything that was said and observing quietly. By the time they were finishing up with the lounge, Mason finally took notice.

"Is there something wrong? You have been pretty quiet."

"No, it all looks great. Well… I just worry about the amount of windows on this ship."

"Trust me they are all structurally sound. With our technology they are not a liability and there is even the option to bring down metal barriers in a firefight. There is nothing to worry about."

"It's not that…" Joker said a little quietly. "You know… um… let's just move on."

"Alright… Well, since you have already seen the CIC we will continue on to the Captain's Cabin." They stepped into the elevator and Mason began again, "I think the Commander will really like it. We tried to make it an efficient use of space and section off a work area and an area she could relax in."

The elevator door opened and Joker nodded at the room. The space was pretty much finished except for the empty tanks to his left. Joker followed Mason into the room and inspected the work area and noticed the bathroom attached to the side. He placed his hand on the wall and carefully navigated down the steps. "Giving her the opportunity to entertain up here?" Joker chuckled.

Mason followed Joker's hand movement and smiled at the couch, "We thought that the Commander deserved to be comfortable and have a choice of working at a desk or down here. But, yes, just in case she did want to have someone visit, or have a conversation with someone. The Commander deserves a place to relax."

Joker nodded and walked around the room and looked up at the ceiling and stopped. His mouth gaped open slightly. "Why the hell is that there?"

The man looked up to where Joker was looking, "Oh, the window. Nice touch don't you think? Kate thought it would be cool to wake up and see the stars, or even a planet."

"You don't get it. None of you even thought about what Shepard would think of that?" the man gave Joker a blank look which only made him become more upset. "She was spaced. And you want her to wake up to the sight of the galaxy above her? Do you realize how upsetting or even terrifying that might be to her?"

"Well… I will admit that we didn't think of that but she's the Commander," Mason smiled, "I don't think she is scared of anything, right?"

Joker stared at the man who seemed genuine in what he said. "Just remember she is still human… You shouldn't have that window up there."

"Thank you for seeing me, Alenko," Anderson smiled and shook the young man's hand. "I hear that congratulations are in order. Heard that you made Staff Commander."

"Yes, sir, Councilor Anderson," Kaidan nodded, "Thank you, sir."

"No need to be so formal, son. I do apologize to call on you during your short leave but I just wanted to check on how you are doing."

"I'm… okay," Kaidan pause for a split second too long before answering.

Anderson nodded with a small grin, "I know that is not how you really feel. I also know that it is rough losing someone, especially your commanding officer."

Kaidan rubbed his eyes and looked away from the Councilor. "It has been almost two years and I still feel like I should have done more. Should I have gone after Joker? Should I have followed her and helped her?"

"There is nothing you could have done, Alenko. Shepard had made up her mind and did what she thought was right. You helped save a lot of lives that day and she wanted you to live as well."

"I just… I don't feel like I was the soldier I should have been for her."

"I understand, son," Anderson said with a somber tone. "But we need you for a different mission today."

Right, Kaidan thought, back to the point… I shouldn't let the Councilor see me like this. "Yes, sir."

"There are reports of ships and now a colony going missing. We need to put an end to it."

"Absolutely, sir. Do we have any idea who may be behind it?"

"There are a few speculations, but no bandwagons I enjoy jumping on. The most popular opinion is Cerberus."

Kaidan shook his head. He remembered all of the terrible things he had seen and heard of Cerberus doing while he was under Shepard's command. "When do I leave, sir?"

"We still have some AA cannons that are in production. Until they are complete, you will be stationed on the Citadel. Once they are ready for shipment, you will be in charge of getting them to the selected colony and getting them set up correctly."

"Sir, yes, sir!" Kaidan saluted.

"One more thing before you leave," Anderson said. He waited until he was sure that he had all of the young man's attention because this rumor bothered him more than anyone; he hoped that it wouldn't spread. "Just don't believe everything you hear."

Alenko studied the Councilor, trying to figure out what the man was hinting at. Until he could figure it out, Kaidan pushed it to the back of his mind, "Will do, sir."

"Dismissed."

"Thank you, sir," Kaidan saluted and exited the room. Before he had even gotten ten feet down the hallway his omni-tool pinged. Looking down at the message, he sighed and shook his head. Of course his friends would be annoying the shit out of him today; convinced that he was going to bail on his date tonight. I still can't believe they talked me into this… How am I supposed to focus on someone else when I feel like this? They were meeting for a few drinks, something low key; that was his request.

He arrived at the bar and scanned the seats to see if she was there. He hadn't really been paying attention when his friends described her, but he knew that she had auburn hair. He took a seat in the middle after not seeing her and ordered a whiskey.

"I was told that I would be meeting an Alliance soldier. Thanks for wearing your uniform and making it easy for me to find you," a woman's voice lightly chimed to his left.

Kaidan turned and stood up. She had short auburn hair, cutting off at her chin, her hazel eyes were kind and bright, she had a small frame but was of average build. She was very pretty, he should feel lucky to be out with her. But… he didn't really care. "Hi, I'm Kaidan, it's nice to meet you."

"Jenn," she smiled, "nice to meet you, too."

"Can I get you a drink?" the bartender asked once they took their seats.

"Um… something kind of fruity and light?"

Kaidan looked down at his drink and couldn't help the thought that crossed his mind, Shepard wouldn't have ordered a weak drink. Ugh! Stop it! You should be focusing on the woman in front of you. "So, Jenn, I hear that you are a doctor?"

"Yes, I am, I work here on the Citadel in Huerta Memorial. I specialize in humans, asari and getting to be more knowledgeable in drell. Though, I would like to expand to other species, but it is very difficult."

"I can imagine," Kaidan nodded. "There are so many species and many so unlike ourselves. What species do you hope to become proficient in?"

"Well, krogan aren't looked at very often, neither are quarian… but I would be happy to just reach turian."

Turian… Kaidan bit back a grumble. He shouldn't still be bitter, but he was. He had never been a speciest but he had started to develop a bit of a hatred for one turian in particular. "Well, I wish you luck with that. I am sure if you put your mind to it, you can get whatever you want."

"Thank you," she blushed. "It is rare for humans to have more than two focuses. It is usually only asari who manage to complete their certification for working on several species. So, what about you, Kaidan? What do you do?"

"I am in the Alliance, of course," he grinned, "I actually just got promoted to Staff Commander."

"Wow, that sounds impressive. Is it hard to reach that level?"

"It does take a lot of commitment, also has to do with being under the right command."

"That's right, you served under Commander Shepard, right?" Jenn said with excitement in her voice. "Oh, gosh, how uncouth of me… I am sure it is painful to think about. I am so sorry."

"It's alright… it was a long time ago," he forced himself to say. "It was an amazing experience. I was very lucky to serve with her." Kaidan looked around and took a sip from his drink, "So, where are you from?"

"I am actually Earth-born but my mother was a doctor and my father and engineer. We moved around a good amount, and ended up on the Citadel when I was ten. What about you?"

"Earth-born as well, actually. Joined the Alliance soon after I was able."

"So you have seen a lot of the galaxy?"

"Yes, both the good and bad parts of it."

"Wow, I can't even imagine."

She was sweet. Everything that he should want.

Sidonis sat at the table watching the exchange of his teammates. They were going over the plan to infiltrate the meeting between the three gangs on Omega that would take place in a month's time. It wasn't much leeway for them but he could feel that this group could get it done. As each person began to go their own way, he reached out and grabbed the hand of the small human, "Melanis, can I speak with you a moment?"

"Um…" she looked over at Archangel as he continued to work over the table. She had to speak to him, to apologize, anything. "Sure, really quick." They moved to the other side of the room and she spoke again in a whisper, hoping the other turian wouldn't hear them. "What is it, Sid?"

"Uh, well, I was wondering if you were free this evening…" his mandibles quivered with nervous energy as he struggled to stay confident.

"Oh," his request took her by surprise and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. They had never met up outside of this building, "What did you have in mind?"

"Dinner, perhaps, I know of a good place that serves both levo and dextro."

"Oh, um…" she peeked over at Archangel. She had been willing to give the other turian a chance, why not this one? "Sure. I would like that. But, uh, give me one minute. I need to talk to Archangel about something. Meet you downstairs?"

"Alright," he smiled at her.

She waited until she couldn't hear Sidonis's footsteps anymore before approaching the only other person in the room. "Hey, Archangel… I just want to apologize for what happened after the last meeting. I don't really know what came over me or what I was expecting…"

"It is okay. I know I can be a little hard to read. There has really only been one person who knew how to deal with me. I told you it won't affect us professionally."

"Yes, and I appreciate that. I just want to say I'm sorry, again."

"Thank you," he nodded. He waited for her to walk away a few steps before speaking again, "Good luck on your date tonight."

She stopped and looked at him over her shoulder, "Was that a chuckle I heard?"

He grinned and turned away, walking back to his quarters.

John drummed on the console, waiting for the information to come through. He had gone through so many candidates he felt like he was going cross-eyed from the orange glow of the datapads. A few individuals had stuck out to him and he had managed to evaluate the drell and asari first hand. Those two on his list he was sure he wanted and he had called other Cerberus operatives to keep tabs on those individuals. The salarian doctor and the turian vigilante were on a bad side of the galaxy and John wasn't going to keep his fingers crossed that they would be around by the time Jane woke up. If they did happen to make it to that point, only then would he go and evaluate them; though, they did both seem promising. John had managed to observe the mercenary but was weary of approving him due to his unsavory background.

The console began to beep with an incoming call. John opened the window to see Miranda's face there. "Evening, Miranda, and to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"The Illusive Man wanted me to check up on you. I guess you haven't been killed yet."

"Aww, I'm so glad that you have been worried for my safety, sweetheart." He watched the corner of her lip curl up in distaste though she tried her best to hide it. John felt more comfortable messing with her now that he was away and that the Illusive Man seemed to enjoy having him on payroll.

"Do you have any more approvals?"

"Most of the recent ones I have checked out are coming back with a resounding 'no'. I am not too sure about this mercenary you guys want. He seems a little unstable and more than likely a very high price."

"Let us worry about the price. Do you think he would fit?"

"Overall? Yeah, I do. I know Jane could keep him under control."

"What about the thief?"

"Well, you know, it would help if I actually had something more than a name to go by. I feel like I am just following false leads and looking for face in a crowd of billions. I think the few times I have gotten close, I have just ended up getting followed myself."

"If anyone actually knew what she looked like, you would have that information. Have you managed to get in contact with the krogan?"

"Oh yeah, good find there," John said sarcastically, "I haven't been able to meet with him, kind of what you call secluded. You sure know how to pick 'em, don't you? Okeer seems a little… rough around the edges."

"As opposed to any other krogan?" Miranda retorted.

"Oh my… Was that a joke? Did you really tell a joke? I am so proud of you!" he had to hold back a chuckle as Miranda rolled her eyes at him and threatened to choke him with her mind. "You might want to work on hiding your emotions. Don't want to mess up that pretty face, do you?"

"John…" she said warningly.

"Alright, alright. He is an interesting krogan. It's different that he relies on science and technology. Though, I am a little nervous about his whole 'breeding a krogan army' thing. Sounds a little too much like Saren. Not to mention he is working with the Blue Suns right now."

"Well, if you manage to recruit that vigilante on Omega, I doubt you will have a problem getting to the krogan."

"Yeah… if that guy even makes it out alive."

"I am sending over a batch of new dossiers. Have a look through them and let us know what you think. Otherwise, I would suggest making more contacts and trying to protect our other investments. Finding good help is hard enough, the next task is keeping them all alive."

Garrus sighed into his pillow, his subharmonics singing and his mouth moving along with the words. Almost two years and his pain still hadn't faded. Why must he live like this? The final song came to a close and Garrus started the message again, unwilling to stop for the night. His pain had been eating at him for the last few days despite his best effort to ignore it. Today, he had finally given in.

About halfway through the message, he heard footsteps approaching. He stopped the message and turned his translator back on. His hand rested on the pistol attached to his leg and his fingers clenched around the handle just as the door opened.

"Sidonis, what are you doing here?" Garrus released his weapon.

"Sorry to bother you, I just didn't want to wait until the next meeting. I just want to thank you. If you hadn't encouraged me, I don't think I would have asked Melanis out."

"Ah, so it went well?" he grinned at his friend.

"Yeah, it did," the other turian chuckled. "I admit that I never thought I would be one for a human."

"They are closer to us than you think."

"That is probably truer than I realize. I am just not sure how things progress from here. I don't know human culture."

"Just ask her. It may be endearing that you are willing to take the time to find out," Garrus encouraged.

"I think you are right," Sidonis grinned. He shook his head, "You were with a human once, weren't you?"

Although it wasn't exactly the way Sidonis meant it, Garrus nodded.

"She's the voice I heard singing too, isn't it?"

"I am not sure I like letting you know my personal life," Garrus feigned a chuckle.

"I'm sorry for your loss. I don't know what it is like to lose a mate or even a potential mate. And I haven't known turians who have gone through that. So, I'm sorry."

"Thank you, Sidonis, but you don't have to be sorry for me. Good luck."

"Thanks," he smiled. "Sorry to have bothered you."

"Not a problem," Garrus called out just as the door shut behind Sidonis.

Sidonis left with a silly grin on his face, unable to block out the thoughts of his date from the night before. There was more potential than he thought possible with this human and he was excited to see where it could lead. He felt kind of silly acting like a teenager with his first crush. As soon as he got home, he would ask her out again.

Just as he typed in the code for his apartment, he felt another body slam into his as his door opened. Sidonis reached behind himself as he stumbled into his room, grasping at anything he could get his talons around. His claws scraped against armor as the arms around his neck tightened, cutting off his air supply. Finally, he managed to hook two talons into a small gap in the armor and flip the body over his head. The vorcha slammed into the ground and spun to his feet, hissing at Sidonis.

He gave a quick scan of his enemy and saw the armor it was wearing… red. Another half second and he saw the identifying marks of a Blood Pack member. The vorcha lunged at him again and Sidonis ducked out of the way, bringing his arm down across the man's neck. He struggled to remember the weak spots found on vorchas and slammed his foot into its side, right were a crucial bundle of nerves were found. His attacker screamed in pain and Sidonis moved for the gun strapped on his leg just as he felt a sharp pain in his neck.

He stumbled to the side, his feet no longer feeling as if they touched the ground. Sidonis struggled to bring his arm up as the room spun and he fell backwards into a wall. Gravity seemed to be increasing on him but he managed to slap his hand to his neck and felt the slight prick of metal against his palm. Fighting to wrap his fingers around it, he finally managed to pull it away and brought it in front of his face. After what seemed like an eternity of studying the small device, he recognized it as a dart. He looked up and three figures stood before him.

Members of the Blue Suns, Blood Pack, and Eclipse.