"How are you, Garrus?" Liara looked almost alarmingly mature and commanding in her now familiar Shadow Broker persona. It was almost as if she and Garrus had swapped personality traits over the last few years, with the turian showcasing far more timid nervousness than Liara did these days.

Garrus shrugged, he was putting up a decent front, but Shepard could see the cracks, and by the softening of Liara's face, so could she.

Not pressing the issue, Liara continued. "One of my agents has been successful in making contact with the...ah, current 'archangel'. He has tentatively agreed to meet with you, Shepard."

"Just me?" It seemed too easy. Why would a vigilante who survived by keeping himself hidden just agree to a meeting with someone he he had never met...

"I chose to keep Garrus' name out of the negotiations, as well as the fact that he was alive." Liara's hands twitched, as if she wanted to reach out of the holographic monitor and somehow soften her words. "It seemed prudent...being as I have not, as of yet, received any information explaining his father's involvement with the Blue Suns, or for his post on Purgatory."

"There could be a reason, a good one," Shepard interjected. It was more for Garrus' benefit than Liara's, as she and Shepard had already discussed about every possible reason Garrus' father would have had for being aboard, and leaving, the prison ship his son had been held on. "Some kind of undercover operation, intel gathering or rescue mission?"

"Perhaps." Liara looked uncomfortable as she spoke. "I did find some details about his posting on Purgatory." Liara shuffled some data pads off-screen, tapping at random keys in an obvious attempt to stall.

"Just tell me. Please, Liara." Garrus voice was bleak, hollow and resigned. Standing in a military 'at ease' stance, Garrus looked like he was using the rigidity to keep himself on his feet, his jaw set in a face that was determinedly blank. Shepard could see the muscles shift and relax rhythmically in his arms, and new his hands would be bruised and cut where he was clenching his talons against his palms.

"Each Blue Suns member is issued an ID chit...for a mercenary group they are remarkably organized." Liara sounded unduly admiring, and Shepard raised an eyebrow in silent entreaty for her to continue without lauding the multitude skills of the lawless organization.

"Each checkpoint in a facility like Purgatory requires an ID chit scan, this information is logged and stored in the main security terminal. During the time Aisus Vakarian was in the facility he did not, according to his ID chit, access prisoner logs or files. He did not enter any of the holding areas, the solitary confinement cell block, or any of the rooms designated for...ah..interrogation. Nine days before Shepard docked at Purgatory, he volunteered for transfer and left on troop transport vessel S-172."

Shepard felt a slow rage ignite, and the raw marks of her reconstruction felt sore and inflamed, she could only imagine how the stark lines must look against the rest of her skin. If Vakarian senior didn't have a damned good reason for his actions, or a lack thereof, Shepard was going to be sorely tempted to put a bullet between his eyes and tell Garrus he'd fallen into an eezo mine.

"There was only one real anomaly in his activity." The smooth cerulean skin of Liara's forehead creased as she continued. "Right before he transferred, he accessed an area of Purgatory I can't explain...there are no security feeds from that level, but it's listed as..."

"Level 19." Garrus sounded choked, as he turned his head away from Shepard. "He was on level 19?"

"According to the ID scans, yes. But I don't understand, that section is simply listed as 'waste disposal'...and according to my data, airlock unit four was accessed by his chit for thirty-seven minutes. Garrus, do you have any idea why he..."

"No." Garrus made a motion that was half shrug, half shudder, and when Shepard reached out in concern he flinched away. "There's nothing there. He must have gotten...lost. It...it's not important"

Shepard folded her arms, the conversation had taken an unexpected turn and it was glaringly obvious that Garrus was both lying about and avoiding the issue. "It seems a little unlikely that he got lost in an airlock for over half an hour. And why that particular unit, I mean is he being picky...I kinda thought if you'd seen one airlock you'd seen them all."

"That unit is listed as in 'maintenance mode' and earmarked as..." Liara scanned through a 3-D blueprint.

"Biowaste and body disposal," Garrus interrupted. He seemed to hunch in on himself, shivering starting to wrack his body even though the room was almost uncomfortably warm. Turning away abruptly he muttered a terse thank-you to Liara, and was out the door before Shepard could even start to intercept him.

"Shepard...what?" The concern and dread in Liara's voice summed up Shepard's feelings perfectly.

"I honestly have no idea." Shepard could almost taste the fear in her mouth. It was like waiting for a storm to hit, feeling the electrical tang to the air as you watched the gathering clouds. "And I'm not sure I want to," she admitted as Liara nodded in agreement and a schematic of Purgatory rotated lazily onscreen.

The rest of the conversation was fortunately mundane. Liara's Shadow Broker operative had managed to set up a meeting for Shepard in the abandoned framework of an old, derelict pharmaceutical warehouse. Located in a rare gang-neutral zone, and close to a series of old vent shafts that led deep into the eezo mines, it was a strategic choice for a meeting. The industrial building itself provided excellent cover, and the vent shafts themselves could act as an impromptu escape route or a surveillance post. Shepard would have liked to have time to scout out the area, but with the meet scheduled in a couple of hours, she couldn't spare the time for reconnaissance.

"Thank you for this Liara, "Shepard forced a tired smile onto her face that did little more than tug at the scars. "Thank you for everything."

"It is my pleasure, Shepard. Only..." Liara's eyes were serious as she looked at her commander, "be careful, and take care of Garrus...something about this doesn't feel right."

"None of this has felt right in a very long time. What about this rubs you the wrong way?"

"It seems too simple." Liara managed to restrain a smile at the concept of being 'rubbed the wrong way'. "I had expected arranging this meeting to take weeks, but all my agent had to do was drop your name and you have a meeting in less than a day..."

"It could be due to the rising gang unrest?" Shepard speculated. "With Aria herself on the brink of getting involved, Garrus' father may have recognized my name and realized I might be his best bet for getting off station."

"That is possible." Liara didn't sound convinced. "But still...be careful. Both of you."

Shepard gave the asari a semi-sarcastic salute as the comm unit powered down. Standing in the blue-lit gloom of her quarters, Shepard breathed in the silence and quiet, the low hum of the ship, the almost imperceptible vibration of the idling engines. The moment of peace eased her ragged nerves, and huffing a sigh, Shepard grabbed the first section of her armor off its rack.

As Shepard exited the elevator, still shrugging her shoulders to settle the top half of her hardsuit, she discovered that, to her surprise, Garrus hadn't retreated to the solitude of the main battery. Rounding the corner of the crew deck, Shepard found him sitting at a table with a half-drunk mug of some kind of steaming liquid in front of him, turning his visor over in his hands, tracing the engraved names with his fingers.

"You ready for this?" Shepard slid into a seat beside Garrus, her armored shoulder clicking against his companionably.

"As I'm ever going to be." With deft fluidity, Garrus fitted the visor frame back over his face, holding it in place until the dermal clamp engaged with a slight click. His eyes were fixed and over-bright, and Shepard wondered what kind of stimulant was in the stuff he was drinking...nobody should be that alert with as little sleep as he got lately.

Unconsciously, Shepard reached out to touch the scraped and scarred sweep of navy under Garrus' right eye, making him blink at her in confusion, even as he tilted his cheek to rest against her hand. He hadn't volunteered anything that would explain his reaction to Liara's intelligence reports, and Shepard was torn on whether or not she wanted an explanation.

"Are you going to tell me what..."

"No!" The abruptness of the denial surprised even Garrus. As he jerked away from the comfort of Shepard's touch, she could see the customary flicker of fear in his eyes for denying her. "Just leave it, Shepard please...please, don't..."

"Ok. Fair enough." Shepard backed off immediately; as much as she wanted to root out the reasons for Garrus' reaction about Purgatory's level 19, it wasn't worth pushing him for it. "I'm sorry for being nosy...I just...I worry about you sometimes."

That got little more than a mandible twitch, and the slight, half smile that Shepard loved. Garrus did relax a little when Shepard abandoned her questions, and with a sigh, she abandoned that particular conversation, turning instead to the realities of what faced them on Omega.

Shepard laid out the location of the meeting Liara had arranged, unsurprised when Garrus recognized it. The cut and run tactics he and his squad had used ensured that he was familiar with most, if not all, of the secret and hidden ways around the lawless station.

The command deck was mostly empty, only a few technicians were at their stations, looking up curiously as Shepard and Garrus paced by. Yeoman Chambers gave them both a cheerful grin as they passed, obviously curious, but not enough to interfere. Joker was dozing in his chair, hat pulled low, and body curved into it's perpetual slump; the repair and retrofit charts for his beloved ship sat frozen on the main display.

Shepard didn't expect to see anyone else, and was understandably nonplussed to find Miranda leaning against the inside wall of the airlock, one elegant leg crossed over the other at the ankle.

"Miranda." Shepard said flatly. She had warmed somewhat to the Cerberus operative during the mission to rescue her sister, but she hadn't wanted her involved in this.

"Shepard, Garrus." Miranda was equally deadpan, and Shepard wondered inanely if this was the beginning of another 'Wrex/Shepard' conversation.

"Ms. Lawson, are you coming with us?"Garrus looked baffled, cocking his head questioningly at Shepard.

"If you'll have me," Miranda was clearly on her best diplomatic behavior. "This station in a cesspool, I thought you could use some extra backup. After all, I do owe you," she added with a smile.

The reasoning was sound, but Shepard almost had to resist her first petty instinct to send Miranda back on board and ask Tali or Grunt to gear up instead. There were times that Miranda's ability to serenely preempt Shepard's thoughts was grating, even when she was right...and that was unfortunately often.

"Fine with me." Shepard shrugged, raising an eyebrow at Garrus in a silent question, but he seemed unbothered by Miranda's self-invite to the mission. "But this meeting starts with me, I need you both to stay back until I figure out what's going on. I'll keep the comms on; if this goes bad, I'm going to you both."

Shepard didn't wait for any verbal answers. Garrus was a solid, familiar, presence just behind her, and Miranda stepped out in time with them both; their acquiescence was in their movements, their lack of hesitation even as the airlock doors slid open and the sights, sounds, and smells of Omega broke over them in a wave of chaos.

This chapter was late!late!late! (I wish I didn't have to work, would much rather stay home and write!) Next installment should arrive a lot faster...and things actually happen in it, rather than everyone talking about things happening. =P (but I do promise this was relevant)

Thanks always to those people who have stuck with this despite my psycho schedule! :)