Location: Rosetta Nebula / Enoch System / Joab / Archeological Dig Site

"Take it easy, old man," Shepard warned. He kept his HMWA up and ready, but exercised strict trigger discipline. Any shot would bring more trouble than it would solve right now.

"Take it easy? Take it easy? I'm having the goddamned time of my life! Who wouldn't want to juggle a few primed grenades for fun, eh?" the merc snarled back. He was holding his pouch of grenades, with one active and armed. He said it was set to explode immediately if he let it go, making it a crude dead man's switch. If he dropped it, instant boom with no delay at all.

Considering that he and Shepard's team were trapped inside a deep, dark cavern, having any sort of explosives going off would definitely be a bad thing.

Although, if Jack's enraged expression and the threatening waves of dark energy rolling off her body were anything to go by, she might not care.

"You sick, old fuck. I should turn you into a bloody smear on the wall," she growled menacingly.

"I was after the bounty. You were worth enough cred to hunt down. Nothing personal," the merc said with glare out his only working eye. The other was milky white, surrounded by a mess of scar tissue. It was obvious he'd seen a lot of action, so he wasn't bothered by the guns or threats from Shepard's squad. If anything, he looked calm and focused, completely at ease.

More than likely, he's not bluffing, then. Just our luck.

"Look, it's obvious you've been around the galaxy more than a few times, old timer, but you're looking a bit too seasoned. Maybe you should consider retirement. You're not gonna get there by blowing yourself to kingdom come," Shepard reasoned.

At his attempt to deescalate the situation, the merc just laughed. "Boy, do you have any idea what my retirement plans are?"

Shepard said nothing, but he did tense up even more. He had a bad feeling that he wasn't going to like the answer.

It was apparent the merc didn't expect a response, but he kept talking anyway. "Thought about Elysium, but batarians and me? We don't get along, and having those bastards all over the Verge would just piss me off; kinda like having some goddamn dog shitting on my lawn. Illium's too easy to disappear, one way or another and whether you like it or not, and corporate 'security' is nothing but a pain in the arse. Nothing but trouble, that one. Earth's still too bloody crowded, and Eden Prime's too goddamn boring."

This guy likes to hear himself talk.

"Now I'm just thinking of getting a ship full of explosives and crashing it into Omega. Easiest goddamn retirement plan I've thought up so far," he growled out.

"And people think I'm fucking crazy," Jack spat out. Despite her words, she was still looking like she wanted to tear into the old merc regardless of the danger he presented currently.

The merc merely grinned at her before tilting his head thoughtfully. "Hmmm… might have to consider Bekenstein, though. Decent weather, good food, and mostly human. Might even pick up an odd contract or two if I get bored enough. Have to look it up if I survive this."

There were reports of Blue Suns activity in the vicinity, but what had truly caught Shepard's attention and had drawn him to Joab was the mention of a Prothean dig site. He suggested checking it out since it was a Prothean beacon that led to the warning of the existence of the Reapers, so it stood to reason that another Prothean artifact might yield even more information.

Since Miranda, Jack, Garrus, Tali, Jacob, Legion, and Kasumi had no other leads or better ideas, the Normandy's course was set.

Of course, a simple investigation or the expected firefight went pear-shaped when the squad touched planet-side and found many dead Blue Suns mercs. More than likely, it was courtesy of the man now threatening to blow them up or bury them alive.

"Who are you?" Shepard asked.

"Piss off, boy. I staked this claim well before you. How about you tell me who you are and what the hell are you doing here?" the merc snapped back.

"Shepard."

Seeing the old merc tense up, the Spectre began to believe that he should've lied about his identity instead.

"Shepard, eh? As in Commander Shepard? I hear mercs like me don't last long against you," the old man coolly said.

"Only if they make the mistake of pissing me off," Shepard replied grimly.

"So am I pissing you off, then?" the merc said with a sardonic grin. "You know, I also heard that you were disintegrated with your ship."

"Who are you?" Shepard repeated more forcefully.

"Zaeed Massani."

"And what are you doing here?" Shepard asked.

"Hunting."

"It better not be me again," Jack threatened.

"You were a job, girl. This one is for me and me alone. Personal, you might say," Zaeed said without ever taking his eye away from Shepard.

"Unless you have a hobby in archeology, we're not here to get in your way of whatever or whoever you're after," Shepard said coolly. "We're here for the Prothean artifact, that's it."

"And why should I believe you?" Zaeed said suspiciously.

"You don't. But if you wanna keep doing whatever 'personal business' you want to do, then this standoff isn't helping."

"What I want is Vido Santiago. Mounted on a pike on my goddamn lawn if I can," Zaeed snarled.

"Vido Santiago… as in the leader of the Blue Suns?" Garrus asked carefully.

"Leader after he staged his little coup against me 20 years ago. He and I, we got something of a past."

"Wait, you founded the Blue Suns?" Shepard asked.

"Not exactly common knowledge. Vido wiped me from the records!" Zaeed growled. "All that bastard did was run the books. I was the one that led the men."

"So what happened?" Garrus asked. He was as tense as ever, ready to gun down Zaeed if needed, but he appeared interested in what the old merc had to say.

Zaeed's lips curled into a scowl. "Vido wanted to hire batarians. 'Cheaper labor', he said. 'Goddamn terrorists,' I said."

"20 years is a long time to hold a grudge, don't you think?" Shepard asked.

He knew it was the wrong thing to say the moment Zaeed's face changed from angry to apocalyptic.

"A grudge?!" Uncaring about the weapons pointed in his direction, Zaeed stalked up to Shepard until the barrel of his HMWA was pressed firmly into the mercenary's chest. "Vido turned my men against me! He paid six of them to restrain me while he put a gun to my head and pulled the fucking trigger!"

Shepard stared into the older man's one working eye unflinchingly, though he now understood the significance of the blind left eye and mess of scars around it.

"For 20 years, I've seen that bastard every time I closed my eyes. Every time I've sighted down a target. Every time I heard a gunshot," he barked. He took one step back and spat on the ground between them. "Don't you call that a goddamn grudge."

Shepard nodded his head towards the blind eye. "You survived a gunshot to the head?"

At his question, he grinned sardonically. "A stubborn enough person can survive just about anything… and rage is a hell of an anesthetic. Just ask your little biotic pit bull there," he replied and jerked his thumb at Jack.

The woman in question growled at him in response.

"Look, you want revenge, fine. Like I said, you can go if you go peacefully. We're just here for the artifact," Shepard said.

"I'm not lowering this grenade just 'cause you say so, boy."

"Then don't. One of my people escorts you out. The rest of us will stay here," Shepard said. "Fair warning, I got a warship in orbit above us. If you do something stupid, you won't leave this planet alive. Do we have a deal?"

Zaeed glared, but eventually nodded.

"Garrus."

The turian nodded and gestured with his Revenant LMG for Zaeed keep moving. The barrel remained pointed at the merc's torso. "Keep your hands where I can see them."

"Yeah, yeah," the old man muttered. He slowly walked past Shepard and his team. Everyone was keeping their eyes peeled for any duplicity, but all fears were unfounded when Zaeed and Garrus rounded and corner and out of sight.

"Well… that was more exciting that I thought it would be," Miranda commented.

Shepard scoffed. "I think I would've preferred the Blue Suns instead," he replied. He pointed at Kasumi and then pointed at the corner Garrus and Zaeed had turned.

The thief understood his tacit command.

Shepard turned around and walked into the next room. Inside was a Prothean pyramid of some sort. He took one glance at his team assembled behind him before reaching out and touching it.

The sensations he felt next were eerily similar, yet different from his experiences with the Prothean beacon. He took a deep breath and allowed the visions to wash over him.

~o~O~o~

Shepard opened eyes and took a couple of steps away from the ancient artifact.

"Are you okay?" Tali asked.

He silently nodded at her. He took a deep breath before taking off his helmet to rub his eyes.

"Did you learn anything?" Miranda asked.

Shepard shook his head, both to answer her and to get rid of his disorientation. "No… not as much as I would've liked anyway. This thing gave me the same vision as the beacons on Eden Prime and Virmire, but it had more information, though. There was a warning about the Reapers and what they were doing. I saw some Protheans becoming Collectors. The early stages anyway. This is something I would've liked to have known two years ago."

"Are you sure you're all right?" Tali asked again.

"It wasn't as bad as the other beacons… it felt different anyway," he answered. He turned to her and tilted his head. "Something I should know?"

"You were staring at that artifact for five minutes. No movement, no response to outside stimuli. At all," Miranda elaborated. "We were a little concerned and we didn't know if interrupting your… trance, for lack of a better term, was a good idea."

"I'm fine. Just have to get my bearings back," he assured. He tapped into his radio. "EDI? Call Councilor Anderson. Tell him I have a Prothean artifact that needs a pickup. The area is secure, but don't count on it staying that way."

"Understood, Shepard. Forwarding your message to—"

EDI abruptly stopped her report, which caused Shepard to frown. He had never heard the AI stop mid-sentence before unless something important had just come to her attention. However, after a few seconds, EDI still hadn't spoken. "EDI," he prompted.

"My apologies, Shepard. I have forwarded your message to Admiral Anderson," she responded.

Jacob, Miranda, Tali, and Shepard all shared varying looks of surprise at Anderson's new title. Legion obviously didn't react at all. "Admiral?" Shepard repeated.

"I updated my databanks and accessed the extranet for preliminary news. Apparently, Admiral Anderson has stepped down from his previous position and resumed his duties for the Alliance military. News reports are of the opinion that in his two years as Councilor, Admiral Anderson as made great strides to support humanity's place in the galaxy and has created several beneficial political agreements between the Alliance and the rest of the Council species. Though his political term was brief, it was largely a success. For his service to humanity, the Alliance promoted him to the rank of Admiral."

"Who's the new human Councilor?" Shepard asked, though he had a sinking feeling who it would be.

He had to suppress his groan when EDI said, "Councilor Udina has been appointed the position."

Jacob snorted. "I'm surprised you're still a Spectre, Shepard."

Shepard nodded. "That makes two of us."

"Would you like me to forward your findings to Councilor Udina?" EDI asked.

"No. Let Anderson handle that if he wants. Just inform him about this place and that it needs to be secured ASAP. Drop my name and he'll know what to do," Shepard asked.

"I wonder why he would step down," Tali wondered aloud.

"I'm curious about that as well," Miranda admitted.

"I can find out if you wish," EDI said.

"Do it, EDI, but debrief us on the Normandy. For now, I think we're done here," Shepard said. He changed channels. "Garrus, everything okay over there?"

~o~O~o~

"So you get to be my goddamned babysitter, eh?"

Garrus growled, but said nothing.

The merc shrugged and they both walked in silence for a few minutes. Eventually, Zaeed spoke again. "Not bad, boy. You're keeping your eye on the target."

"I saw what you did to get in here. I'm not about to underestimate you," Garrus retorted.

"Oh, yeah? And what do you think I did?" Zaeed challenged.

Garrus narrowed his eyes. He, Jacob, Miranda, Tali, and Shepard had managed to piece together everything that happened, though he was proud to say that he deduced it in chronological order from the moment Zaeed started his attack. The others provided technical advice or an extra set of experienced eyes, which helped fill in the gaps.

"You landed a throwaway shuttle at the pad via remote control. Practically dared the mercs to take a look. Flipped a switch, blew them up, then you popped out from their flank; probably from the bushes or the cliff-side rocks, and took out the rest of the guards at the entrance. They probably radioed in about the shuttle before they died, maybe even reported you shooting them all down. Or a squad heard the explosions. You rigged a trip mine at the door, waited for the reinforcements, blew them up, too, and then ran in before anyone inside knew they were dead. Flashbanged the next patrol you came across, shot them all dead, too, before setting up some IEDs when another patrol came to investigate the noise, and killed them all," Garrus listed off before staring down the old man in his one good eye. "Am I close?"

Zaeed frowned before grinning and nodded. "Not bad, boy."

"By the way, keep both hands where I can see them. Don't think I don't see you trying to sneak your right hand to your sidearm by distracting me," Garrus warned.

Zaeed mockingly raised his hands in surrender, though the effect was lost since his left hand still clutched his grenade. "Alright, boy. You're good, I'll give you that."

Again, they trekked in silence for a minute or two. However, Garrus was the one to break it this time. "You any closer to killing Vido?"

"Getting there. I have an idea where he might be in a month or so," Zaeed answered with a grunt. "Fucking prick won't escape me for long."

"I was kinda hoping he'd be on Omega a while ago," Garrus muttered.

"He was supposed to be," said the old merc. "Then he changed his goddamn mind at the last second. Turned chicken shit when he heard reports of a merc group slaughtering his men there."

"I heard that, too," Garrus carefully replied.

Zaeed chuckled. "Archangel, they called the leader. Precision fighter, that one. Him and a small group took on all three major merc bands on Omega… and was winning."

"Yeah."

"I heard that the Archangel was a helluva shot, too," Zaeed added.

"You don't say."

"And he was a turian." This time, Zaeed stopped moving and turned around to face Garrus directly.

Garrus responded by raising his Revenant warningly.

"I was there, boy. On Omega," Zaeed revealed.

"Lots of people were there. Including a lot of turians. Now keep moving," Garrus growled.

The human grinned at him. "Relax, boy. I was rooting for you. All I have to say is: Nice piece of goddamn work."

"Don't know what you're talking about," Garrus lied.

"Sure," Zaeed replied with a snort. He turned and kept walking, but continued to talk. "There was a bunch of bets running around about you."

Garrus held his silence.

Not that it deterred the old man from speaking, though. "Vido had no plans to be at Omega. I was there collecting a cheap bounty, but hey, easy job, easy creds. When his operations was getting fucked, he was going to personally be on Omega and unfuck it. Thought I had my chance. Wasn't your fault that he turned coward and ran. You and your crew were just too good."

Garrus' mandibles twitched irritably and he dropped all pretenses. "How'd you know it was me?"

"You don't live as long as I do in this business without getting a gut feeling about a threat when you get it. You don't always know why, but you don't question it," Zaeed answered. "And there's something about you… too much of a goddamn coincidence. Don't matter, since I got no beef with you or your people. I just want Vido… in pieces if I can manage it."

"Impressive," Garrus muttered.

"Besides, I made plenty of cred betting on you. If I lost, then I might consider trying to kill you," Zaeed added with a laugh.

"What'd you bet on?"

"How long you'd survive on your own with all three merc groups bearing down on you after your people died. I gave you a week," he answered before grinning again. "You didn't disappoint. Good show."

"Not dead or alive?" Garrus asked.

"Too much trouble. Too many unknowns. If you had brains, you'd fake your death… which is what you goddamn did, eh? Or if you got lucky, you'd escape. Alive and dead are too much of a goddamn headache to bet on. No proper way to confirm," Zaeed said before barking out another laugh. "Well, not unless I was on the job."

They finally reached the outside entrance.

Zaeed faced him, but he took the time to deactivate his grenade and put it away. His weapons remained collapsed on their respective harnesses. "You still in the mercenary business?"

"Not at the moment, no," Garrus answered.

"You still in the habit of wrecking Blue Suns operations, then?"

"When the opportunity presents itself," he answered, uncertain where the old merc was going with his questions.

Zaeed nodded. "I'll have a bead on Vido soon. Might need an extra gun. You're good, boy. That means you probably won't slow me down. If you're interested, gimme a call."

Garrus noted that Zaeed wasn't transmitting any way to contact him, though.

"See you around." With his piece said, Zaeed turned around and walked off.

When Garrus lost sight of him, he frowned and shook his head. "That was… interesting."

"I'll say," Kasumi answered and appeared at his side when her cloak faded away. "I think he has a man-crush on you."

He chuckled at her. "Yeah… I kinda like him, too."

"Well, I don't blame you. That rough, super tough kind of guy… you think he's part turian?" she teased.

"Garrus, everything okay over there?"

"Yeah, Kasumi and I are fine. Zaeed left without making any more trouble," he answered.

"We're finished here, too. Call Hawthorne and arrange a pickup. We're leaving," Shepard said.

"Did you learn anything interesting?" Kasumi asked.

Shepard sighed. "Not as much as I would've liked."

~o~O~o~

Author's Notes:

Yes, I'm planning to include Zaeed in ME3. Sadly however, I'm still not putting Zaeed in the squad. I just thought he'd be a good way to start of the fic considering the location and the fact that Vido's name is mentioned in this particular side mission. I do like him, but I couldn't really get a great reason to include him. This just won't be the last time we hear his name.

On a more serious note, I want to dedicate this chapter to Robin Sachs, Zaeed's voice actor. He died February 1, 2013. May he rest in peace.