Shepard's Apartment

Silversun Strip

Twenty Minutes Later…

With Shepard, Brooks and Liara headed off for the casino, the remaining members of Normandy's crew find themselves in a massive apartment. Each of them have either formed small groups or are exploring the new, shiny environment. James is in the kitchen poking around in the cabinets, Tali is at the large windows watching the SkyCars whizz past, Joker and EDI are seated on one of the couches, the former quite upset about the happenings at the sushi restaurant, and Abby and Ash stand before a large fireplace.

"Now, I've had people sent to kill me before," The younger Williams begins. "But never an entire PMC group. You guys ever dealt with anything like this before?"

"No." Her Marine sister replies with an air of disbelief. "Never. Since the beginning, the Skipper has been trying to truly make the galaxy a better place. I couldn't even begin to explain why someone would want to do this."

"It does explain why that Brooks chick is here, though." Abby points out. "Shepard is a powerful person. Trusted Navy Commander, Council Spectre, Captain of the Normandy... Imagine what someone could do with that power."

"If I was in charge of the Normandy." Ashley muses. "I would pick an uncharted spot on the Galaxy Map and just...disappear."

"Despite how bad the galaxy needs us, I don't blame you." The Assassin agrees with a nod.

A comfortable silence falls over the two once again. Out of curiosity, Abby reaches out towards the flames in the fireplace, pleasantly surprised to find that while the fire itself is not real, it does radiate a comforting heat.

"So…" The young Assassin pries. "Under-Cover ops. Ever do any of those?"

Ash thinks for a moment. "Well...there was one time on Noveria where Shepard tricked this guy from Binary Helix into letting her wiretap him." Abby nods along, pulling her hands away from the 'fire'. "Then a little later, we helped this Parasini lady, who by the way actually was undercover, to arrest the Salarian boss of the port. Anoleis, I think his name was. Some corrupt bureaucrat." The Marine shrugs. "Small time compared to the stuff you've done, I'd imagine."

Abby muses modestly. "Mostly posing as a high ranking officer in the Alliance, Cerberus, a mercenary band, or some other company to either kill someone, plant something, or make something disappear. Taking side work for credits. Hell, once somebody from a construction company hired me to kill the boss of a rival contractor. Talk about a labor dispute, huh?"

Ashley eyes her sister cautiously. "Who did you have to kill while you posed as someone from the Alliance?" She asked, worried about the possible answers.

"Nobody you know." Abby says dismissively.

"Is that so?"

The Assassin glances up for a moment. "You're probably better off not knowing."

Ash gives off a judgmental glare. "Hey, it's not like I've committed treason or anything." Abby says, attempting to defend herself from her (sometimes) overbearing big sister. "I probably prevented it, if anything, and saved plenty of lives in the process."

The Marine grunts, not completely convinced. She looks away from her sister and finds herself gazing out the large window beside her. C-Sec has roped off the area surrounding the partially destroyed Ryuusei Sushi Bar. Tali watches the same scene with a glum look behind her mask. She'd told Shepard about one day wanting to go there, which the Commander had dismissed as a joke.

"Don't judge me, Ash." The Assassin's sudden voice startles the L.C. for a moment. "What? I wasn't."

"Yes you are. It's part of my job. It doesn't mean I always enjoy it."

"So the ends justify the means?" Ashley asks.

"Not always." Abby says after a moment's consideration. "I've done things I'm not proud of, killed some people who might not have deserved it, but it's not like there's anything I can do about it now."

"Sure there is." The Marine insists. "This fight we're in now, it's one to be proud of."

Abby looks up. "Redemption? Who says I want that?"

"From where I'm standing, it sounds like you do. And you can right now. Look at it this way: The Skipper's identity, her very life is at stake right now." She looks down for a moment. "Then again, when isn't it? But all kidding aside, she's going to need your help, and doing that, I think, will help you."

The Assassin simply hums noncommittally. "Redemption?" She nearly says aloud. "That's so overdone. Even by previous Assassins. Either that or vengeance. Then again, I suppose that second one could be what I'm after. Arcturus Station, Cerberus selling out to the Reapers." The pair look back to the apartment entrance as Commander Shepard, Doctor T'Soni, and Analyst Brooks return.

"For now, all of that would have to wait."

EDI is the first to approach the trio. Shepard passes something to her, exchanging a few words, before they split. The tired looking Commander slips off the heels she was wearing and sits down on one of the couches, wiggling her toes with a relieved expression.

"Note to self: Never wear heels again." Jane says mostly to herself.

"How'd it go, Skipper?" Ashley asks.

"Good and bad." Shepard says after a moment's thought. "The bad is that Khan was dead before we got to him. The good...is that we managed to pull some intel out of his computer, as well as had a brief conversation with whoever hired the mercs."

The Commander lifts one foot up and rests it on her knee, rubbing the ball of her foot with her thumb.

"Unfortunately." She continues. "We don't know who it was. Their voice was distorted. EDI is digging through what we found. Hopefully she'll find something."

"Who would go to all this trouble just to get to you?" Abby asks. "Who would have the tech, the money, even the resources? Most of your serious enemies are already dead, Shepard."

"Commander!" Brooks calls from across the room. "I think we have something!"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Jane says as she stands, heading in Brooks' direction.

"They're using a voice disguiser." Garrus muses as the three reach the table. "Those things are a pain in the ass to get around." Abby finds a spot at his side and looks over the data Brooks is digging through.

"Whoever it is…" She says. "They bought alot of weapons."

"Indeed." Brooks pipes up. "Like, look at this. Mechs?! Who would need a mech for a job like this?"

"Well, the boss lady is kinda hard to kill." Garrus says cheekily.

"How many times do I have to say it, Vakarian?" Shepard retorts with mock annoyance. "Stop calling me 'Boss Lady'."

"Yeah. I'm the only one who gets to give out nicknames." James pipes up.

"You're asking for it too, James."

Suddenly, Liara's VI Glyph makes a loud beeping sound, centering itself in the middle of the table.

"It appears this drone is preparing to rebel." Javik says. The Assassin had almost forgotten he was here, despite being quite the elephant in the room.

"I have detected the Commander's Spectre access codes in use at the Citadel Archives." Glyph explains.

"The Archives are going into lockdown." Brooks observes. "Whoever is trying to steal your identity, slash kill you, must be there right now."

"Hmm, the Archives." Garrus muses. "Always wanted to go there. I was never high enough on the C-Sec food chain to get in."

"What do we know about the place?" Shepard asks the group.

"Some of the most sensitive historical information and most closely guarded Council secrets." Liara explains. "Probably the most secure place on the entire station."

"I concur." Abby agrees. At everyone's questioning glances she continues. "Had to break in once to get some dirt on this Salarian Ambassador lady. That was not a fun day for me."

Ashley raises a brow at her sister from across the table, as does Specialist Traynor.

"Then what's the security like?" Urdnot Wrex asks. "If you got in, I'm sure we could."

"By now, it's likely been updated." The Assassin says, shaking her head. "Considering that, despite the difficulty, I was successful. We don't have to bypass it anyway. Shepard is our ticket in."

The Commander herself nods in agreement, turning away from the table. "That's it then. Everybody gear up, and lets- " She stops suddenly, and everyone looks to see a squat Volus holding a flat, square box.

"Uhh...who invited the Volus?" Jane asks.

"Oh. That's mine." James says. "Pizza. I got the munchies."

The Volus looks down at the order ticket, then up to Shepard.

"*Wheeze* Double pepperoni." He says.

"The Archives are huge." Brooks observes, looking back to the holographic map. "We'll have quite a bit of ground to cover. A shame you can't bring everyone."

"Who says we can't?" Ashley points out, popping her knuckles.

"I agree." Shepard says. "All hands on deck for this one."

"Alright, but, who gets to kick in the door with you?" James asks.

Everyone awkwardly exchanges glances for a moment.

"Ahem." Wrex aggressively clears his throat, to which Tali and Garrus respond in kind. The Volus delivery man does so as well, catching everyone off guard.

"Who's going to pay the bill?"

The Commander rolls her eyes, looking back at her crew.

"Abby, Ash, you're with me. Everyone else, form into two fire teams." She makes for the stairs to change into her combat armor.

"And somebody pay the Volus before the pizza gets cold."

A/N Hi everyone I'm back from the dead!

A huge sorry is in order for this taking so long. As an 'essential worker' I've been working almost constantly (82 hours last week! On NIGHT SHIFT!) So my life consists of wake up, go to work, come home, shower, go to sleep, repeat. Every spare hour or so I spend trying to write at least something, and all of that has finally resulted in something worthy of publishing. The 12 hour nights may be coming to an end soon, so I'll have a bit more time to write. (Yay)

Hope everyone is doing well in self quarantine. Or if you're working, I hope things are going well there too. I have no idea when something else will get published, so please bear with me!

I've gotten a few follows and favorites over the last month or so, so welcome to all the new readers!

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!