This is just an idea I've had for a while and my mind just ran away with it; I actually posted a prompt on the kinkmeme hoping someone else would fill it, but to no avail, so I decided to write this story myself. It's a slightly AU version of the Omega DLC for Mass Effect 3 – warning: this story does contain spoilers for Omega DLC and Mass Effect 3. Rematch will focus on our favorite female turian who used to be a recon scout, our favorite awkwardly adorable male turian, and a jealous human commander. There will definitely be some smut at the end and some violence at the beginning; therefore, this story is rated M for mature content, violence, and language.

Sereneffect is fantastic! I would never have started either of my stories without her help and I definitely never would have published them. She deserves a huge thank you for encouraging me and editing my stories! Also, I want to thank everyone for reading! I'd love to know what you think, whether it's good or bad or anything in the middle! As usual, Bioware owns Mass Effect.

The only benefit of fighting Adjutants was their speed. While it didn't really make up for all the other horrors the Cerberus creations could inflict on a person, it was a nice change, fighting a mutated husk that moved at a snail's pace. Humans, turians, krogan… they all moved fast. And then the Reaper's mutations of those races… human husks, turian marauders, krogan brutes... worst were the asari banshees. They all had speed as their advantage; all of them moved fast, often fast enough that cover was essentially useless. Adjutants… they moved slowly. As long as you kept a decent distance between yourself and them – they had a nasty jump that could quickly overpower a person – you could take your time gunning them down. Pistols worked fine, even sniper rifles worked well. Hand-to-hand – her specialty – was definitely out of the question considering anything closer range than a pistol was a guaranteed death sentence. And not a pleasant one: Adjutants had some sort of mutation that allowed them to "infect" their victims with something akin to a virus, turning their victims into the same, mindless, husk shells. But as long as you kept yourself at a good distance, you could take them down with a fair amount of ease – assuming that a group of them didn't flank you. Which was the situation Nyreen Kandros found herself in on the stairs of Afterlife.

The doors of Afterlife had shut and locked, leaving dozens of people – civilians and the guards of Afterlife – trapped on the outside of the club; they were all rapidly scrambling backwards, trying to put as much space between themselves and the mutated Cerberus creations. Nyreen hadn't thought, she'd simply acted. She had leapt off the catwalk that ran around the top of Omega's central "city" – if you can call it that – landing a dozen or so yards away from the rapidly growing group of mutants. She counted twelve of them. Jamming a fresh thermal clip into her pistol, she rushed over towards the entrance of the nightclub and aimed a few shots into the fluid-filled sac on the back of one of the Adjutants, successfully gaining the creature's attention. A batarian guard, who had been struggling to fend off the beast, took that opportunity to reload his pistol and apply some medi-gel to a laceration on his arm, before turning his gun on a Cerberus trooper that was gaining ground. The distracted Adjutant turned towards Nyreen and started lumbering over, shooting off biotic blasts, which, thankfully, weren't too hard to dodge. Bolstering her barrier slightly, Nyreen shot off a few more rounds, successfully taking the creature down. It wasn't normally that easy; the batarian must have gotten a few good shots on the thing.

One down, eleven to go…

A movement to her right caught her attention; Jane Shepard and Aria T'Loak rushed in through the doors, gunning down Cerberus troops and Adjutants alike. But before either of them had time to find any sort of cover, a Cerberus sniper took aim at Shepard, hitting her in the shoulder; she stumbled backwards briefly as her shields went down, leaving her open to further attacks. Nyreen rapidly turned towards where the shot had originated from, letting off a biotic blast, sending the sniper sprawling backwards; she took the opportunity to aim her pistol at the soldier's head, burying two bullets between his eyes. As she watched the man fall to the ground, a horrible screech sounded to her left, making her jump; an Adjutant had snuck up on her while she was focused on the human commander and the Cerberus sniper. She brought her arms around, throwing out another biotic pulse that propelled the Adjutant backwards at the same time a sniper round from Shepard's Mantis tore through the beast's head, spattering blue blood on the stairs. The creature crumpled and Nyreen took the moment to pump a couple more rounds through the area where she assumed the monstrosity's brain would be, just for good measure; these things had an unnatural amount of health beneath their biotic barriers and this was no time to assume the best. She nodded her head in thanks towards Shepard, who returned the gesture with a nod of her own; Nyreen turned her attention to another one of the creatures who was hulking over towards two batarian guards at the door, one of whom was frantically trying to stop the blood gushing from his arm while simultaneously shooting at the Adjutant.

That was one of the reasons she preferred to work alone; she could focus solely on the mission and civilians, without having to worry about her squad's safety. Her reconnaissance work with the turian Cabals had proven time and time again that solo work was just generally safer and more efficient; you didn't have to rely on anyone else and you didn't have to worry about the lives of any of your squad mates. Working solo just negated dozens of potential problems, like misunderstanding between commander and subordinate, plan miscommunications, and general disagreements; there were just too many variables. Nyreen had never particularly worked well in groups. Even back in the turian military, she always had a tendency to get irritated with the rest of the crew; more than once she'd taken her anger out on fellow crew members in the ring. Luckily for her, commanding officers in the turian military understood the benefits of sparring. Working alone… negated all these issues. She didn't blame Jane Shepard for getting shot by the Cerberus sniper, but she did slightly resent the need to take her focus off the immediate threat, taking the time to make sure the Commander wasn't seriously injured. It was a necessary choice, but a choice that took her focus off the primary mission: the civilians currently cornered by the mutants.

The two batarian guards were driving round after round into the head of one of the creatures, trying in vain to put some space between the civilians and the approaching Adjutant. Two more of the beasts were stalking over towards the guards; they would soon be over run. She turned briefly to try to locate Shepard and Aria; she wouldn't be able to take on three of these creatures by herself. She found them by the entrance to the elevator shaft, taking down two more of the monstrosities; they were working well together. Aria didn't usually take orders too well, but she seemed to yield to Jane Shepard a bit. In all honesty, it was probably just one of her methods to accomplish her own goals; Aria wasn't one to simply defer to another's methods. The asari was currently throwing reaves out at the encroaching mutants while Shepard peppered them with gunfire. Nyreen turned her attention back to the two batarians. Four more Adjutants were closing in, bringing the total up to seven surrounding the two batarian guards, who were currently the only line of defense between the mutants and the unarmed civilians gathered around the locked doors of Afterlife. There wasn't time.

She ran forward, snatching up a strip of grenades from a fallen Cerberus trooper, and brought her pistol up, unloading a few rounds into the circle of Adjutants. They all turned, starting towards her; they seemed to have some penchant for fighting those that proved to be more of a threat. She backed away, ejecting one empty thermal clip and slamming home another; she was just trying to get them away from the doors, away from all the unarmed, innocent men and women. Nyreen glanced back towards the elevator shaft and her eyes briefly met Shepard's. Steeling her resolve, she positioned one taloned finger over the pin of one of the grenades, slowly shaking her head towards the human Commander. Shepard froze momentarily, understanding flickering across her face, before she bolted out of cover and started charging toward the turian woman, aiming shots at anyone who came across her path, simply trying to push them back enough so that she could reach Nyreen.

"Aria!" Shepard shouted frantically. This wasn't the plan! she thought desperately.

Aria's eyes shot over to Shepard who had rushed out of cover and started off across the way, her absence gone completely unnoticed by the asari; she followed the commander's trajectory with her eyes, which ultimately landed on Nyreen. The Talon leader bent down, bracing herself on one knee, holding a band of grenades; Aria watched in horror as the turian biotic threw up a shield, encompassing herself and all the Adjutants near her. She was going to sacrifice herself. For a few batarians and humans. I knew her soft heart would get her in trouble. Aria desperately tried to move past the encroaching mutants but they had her pinned; she could barely pop her head out from behind the wall before she was hit with either gunfire or a blast from an Adjutant. Ducking back behind the low wall once again, she hissed, silently praying to the Goddess that Shepard would reach Nyreen in time. A biotic pulse from one of the Adjutants hit right above her head, shattering some of the rock and forcing her to dive down, trying to put a little more space between her and the creatures. Cerberus troops were making their way towards her as well, her previously held position failing rapidly after Shepard's sudden departure.

Nyreen's gaze switched between Aria and Shepard, both of whom were taking heavy fire. She didn't like being unable to help her squad out – as much as she resented the need to focus on them, she did care. But the civilians demanded her attention; they had no chance of survival without her help. She hadn't planned on going out this way… The same thought that was coursing through Shepard and Aria's head, pushed to the forefront of her own mind. This wasn't the plan; this wasn't supposed to happen like this…

Shepard staggered slightly as a round from a Cerberus troop grazed her shoulder but she pushed forward towards the turian biotic. Just a few more feet… she chanted in her head. She couldn't let Nyreen go out like this. This wasn't in the plan. Shepard liked Nyreen; she was… brutal in a militaristic way, but still held on to her morality. Soldiers like her were hard to come by. She knew the risks of war and knew that sacrifices were necessary, more often than not. However, she held a similar belief that Shepard herself held: save as many as possible and always put yourself in the path of a bullet meant for a squad mate or civilian. That was the job of a commanding officer. That was what was expected of all soldiers. However, as Shepard herself had found out one too many times, when death was staring someone in the face, a shocking majority of people found themselves succumbing to fear and doing whatever was necessary to save their own lives. Nyreen wasn't like that. Shepard respected that immensely. She admired that. However, in her current position, Shepard found Nyreen's sense of morality to be… slightly irritating. There had to have been another way. She could have drawn them away with fire and they could have taken them down one by one; she could have simply thrown the grenades and told the men, women, batarians, and whoever else was huddled by the door to run. There had to have been another way, other than her sacrificing her own life. Not when so many were counting on her… The way she got others to rally to her was impressive. She cared. And not about her power or her leadership. She truly cared about the people of Omega. This station needed someone like her: someone to keep Aria in check.

She watched as Nyreen's barrier descended the whole way, sealing itself against the ground; it would keep the blast safely enclosed while also intensifying the explosion. There was no way anyone inside that barrier would survive, Nyreen included. Shepard sprinted the last few yards, pushing her already exhausted legs past the breaking point, and reached out. She watched in horror as Nyreen pulled the pin with her other hand, frantically motioning for Shepard to move back. Shepard shook her head though, and tried to break through Nyreen's barrier to drag the woman out; it wouldn't budge. She aimed her pistol and shot two rounds into the barrier. Nothing. Seconds seemed to pass in slow motion. She stared at Nyreen, trying to silently implore her to find some other way. Luck, for once, seemed to be on her side as her frantic movements on the outside of the barrier distracted the Adjutants momentarily. They all turned to glance at Shepard, ignoring the turian holding the grenades and Shepard took the moment to meet Nyreen's gaze once again. One final, silent plea.

Aria needs you. The people of Omega need you.

All of a millisecond passed, before Nyreen made the conscious decision. She let her barrier fall, dropping the strip of grenades on the ground in the center of the Adjutants, and bolted out of the circle. She ran backwards, crashing against the doors of Afterlife. She twisted, before she even regained her balance, and threw up another barrier; this one was weaker than the last since she was on the outside of it but, hopefully, it would do the job. It wouldn't be a complete enclosure, but maybe she could wrap it around so it would be strong enough to contain the majority of the blast – or at least, maybe she could prevent the blast from blowing backwards towards the civilians. Moments passed before everything erupted in a flash of blue and orange. Surprisingly, her barrier held. For the most part. The blast blew out the back slightly, spilling from the weaker side of the barrier, sending Shepard sprawling backwards, the back of the woman's head slamming into a low wall. A harsh groan sounded over the comm as Shepard reached up, holding the back of her head while stars burst in front of her eyes. Nyreen glanced quickly around the area, confirming that no one had died from the impact. In fact, it seemed that the only injured party was the commander. No civilian casualties… At least that part of the plan worked. The other part… Well, five of the seven Adjutants were just piles of burnt, mutilated flesh, slowly disintegrating into ash; however, the other two started lumbering towards the civilians again. Bits of their external armor had been blown off and one was missing one of the sacs on the back of its head. Nyreen scrambled back, trying to locate her pistol as Shepard started frantically shooting the two creatures from the other side, her gun shaking slightly in her hand; the commander was trying to hit their sacs, their joints, or anything that might immobilize them momentarily, allowing Nyreen to put a little more space between herself and the creatures. If one were to jump right now… A chill shot through Shepard at the thought. Nyreen seemed to have the same idea, as she quickly propelled a pulse towards them, pushing them back momentarily.

"Nyreen, I could use a little help!"

Nyreen's head snapped towards the voice. Aria was pinned by Cerberus troops, taking heavy fire, while the last Adjutant slowly made its way over to her. Spirits, this is why I work alone!

"Go, I got these two!" Shepard yelled, seemingly reading Nyreen's mind as she reloaded her pistol and charged forward into the fray. It was phenomenal how much strength and will the small, delicate, fleshy human possessed. If she didn't care so much about casualties – even if for the greater good – she'd probably make a good turian.

Nyreen pushed herself up off the ground and bolted across the way, sliding into cover behind another low wall. She retrieved the assault rifle from her back and aimed it at the Adjutant, maintaining a steady stream of fire on the creature's back. It toppled over finally, her incendiary rounds burning through its tough outer hide. Once she confirmed that the Adjutant was indeed dead, she turned her attention to the remaining Cerberus troops, taking them out quickly. She would take a Cerberus takeover any day, rather than taking on Adjutants up close again. The twisted tentacles that sprouted from where their mouths should be in combination with their perverse mechanical joints made them more gruesome than fearsome; they were definitely not something she wanted any more experience dealing with. When the last of the Cerberus troops fell, Nyreen jerked her head back to where Shepard had been; relief washed over her when she saw the Commander reaching a hand down to help an injured batarian up from the floor. No more Adjutants in the area. Thank the Spirits.

She released a heavy sigh, dragging a taloned hand down her face. Fighting is supposed to help relieve stress, not add to it, she thought miserably. She would have to find someone to blow off some steam with after this was all over. Maybe… she'd bring it up with Aria… Then again, that would probably add more tension than it would relieve. More likely, she'd just grab one of Aria's faithful turian guards to spend some quality time with, in the back of the VIP section. That's what she needed: a quick, rough, angry tussle with a turian. Didn't Shepard mention something about having a turian on board the Normandy…?

She shook her head, derailing her thoughts as she tried to brush off the grime on her armor a bit. She grabbed a spare thermal clip from where it had fallen on the ground – they would probably need as many as they could get a hold of – and then walked over to the stairs and grabbed her discarded pistol. She strode over to where Shepard was and bent down, offering some medi-gel to an injured human who gratefully accepted it. The civilians were starting to gather together by the stairs, probably assuming that it was the safest area for the time being since there was an Alliance Commander, an ex-turian military Cabal scout, and a… pissed off asari princess who came to reclaim her throne. Nyreen was reaching over to help another man to his feet when Aria came striding over, clapping her on the back. That was the closest thing to a sentimental "I'm glad you didn't die" as she would likely get from the asari. Aria didn't even pause after patting Nyreen on the back; instead she just strode forward, calmly but furiously, overriding the lock on the doors of the club. They opened slowly, jerking now and then from the damage the place had already sustained. Aria turned, looking back at Shepard and Nyreen, and gave them a sharp jerk of her head, motioning towards the bowels of Afterlife where General Oleg Petrovsky was currently safely tucked away. He was hiding out, while the rest of his troops did his dirty work. Hiding out in Aria's palace. Nyreen was sure that wouldn't last long. He had failed to follow the one rule of Omega: Don't fuck with Aria.

What did you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts, whether they are good or bad!

For those of you that are wondering, I'm still working on my other story, Fathers and Daughters! I've been battling a case of writer's block for the next chapter, but writing Rematch has given me some inspiration so hopefully I'll be able to conquer it and get the next chapter finished!