This AU one-shot has been bouncing around in my head for a while and I thought I'd give it a shot.

Let me know what you think!

Drala-fa

2172

26 year old Thane Krios hated Earth. Or, to be precise, this part of Earth. It was a god forsaken place. White flakes, called snow as far as he knew, fell around him and a strong, icy wind whipped them into his face. Despite the thick coat and having the hood of said coat pulled up, he was still cold into his very core. Memories of his bed at home, next to Irikah's warm body drifted into his mind, but he shook them away. He was working, he could think about his family later.

Along with the hatred of this particular weather, Thane disliked humans. Well, he had rarely converse with one, but he disliked when his target was a human. The memory of his first kill would resurface, making bile rise up in his throat. The warm, sticky blood, the smell of iron, the whimpers from his target before his soul was taken to the sea...

Once more, Thane shook his head. What was with him tonight? He seemed unable to focus on the task at hand. A sigh escaped him in the form of a cloud that rose towards the sky. His boots made an unpleasant splashing sound as he walked through the sludge towards his destination.

His target was a truly despicable man. He ran one of the more popular night clubs in this city and utilised this as his brothel, torture chamber and drug smuggling headquarters. The contract had been put in place after Thane was contacted by the contractor, who's daughter had been lured in by the target with a promise of money and drugs, but instead she had been passed between the men in the club, eventually to be murdered.

Thane did his best to not think about the reasons why he was sent after his targets. An assassin couldn't just pick and choose between his contracts. Especially not when there was a family back on Kahje that needed to be supported.

After what felt like years of wandering in this cold hell, he was beginning to approach his destination. He had started out in a nice part of town, but was now in the exact opposite of that. Burnt cars lined the streets, along with litter. In alleys, dumpsters were overflowing with garbage and it filled his nose with an unpleasant smell. The few people that had made their way outside, despite the weather, weren't the kind of people you'd invite to your house for dinner. As Thane passed one, he almost gagged at the smell of old alcohol, urine and sweat.

This was what his was looking for. Drala-fa, the ignored. To catch a drug smuggler and dealer, speak with his customers.

There was certainly no lack of people that could know where his target might be and how his schedule looked. But he couldn't just grab any old addict. He needed someone that could be easily bribed and seemed somewhat discreet.

His eye caught a red logo, that stood out among the greys, blacks and browns. It was a large, red R along with the number 10. A light seemed to go off in his head. Of course! The Tenth Street Reds. He had heard about this gang, his target had recently made an attempt to raid their headquarters, since they were disrupting his business. As far as Thane knew, it was a gang that mainly consisted of teenagers as well as a few over twenty. They were the perfect Drala-fa for the job.

Peeking into the alleyway that the logo had been close by, he noticed a thin figure leaned against a dumpster in the back. He was fortunate that there was a street light just besides the figure, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to see anything. He preferred to do his wet-work at night, when there were fewer witnesses around, but thanks to his limited dark vision, it was a bit difficult at times.

Stepping into the alley, he kept his eyes fixed on the figure. This was a member of a gang. It was quite likely that they were armed. But disarming a teenager wouldn't be an issue for him.

As he approached, he noticed that it was a girl that stood leaned against the wall. She was a skinny thing, with long, black hair that was soaked from the falling snow. Though he was bad at determining the age of other species, he guessed she was around eighteen. Her clothes were tattered, too big for her and did certainly not provide adequate protection against the weather. In her right hand, there was a half-smoked cigarette. Judging from the smell, it was not tobacco.

When she heard his boots approach, she looked up. Her pupils seemed to be impossibly small and he ran through the possibilities in his head. Not a stimulant, that would result in large pupils. Hallex was out of the question. An opiate? Good. That was the kind of drugs his target was dealing.

"The fuck are you?" Her voice was sharp and bounced against the stone walls.

The joint fell to the ground and hissed silently as it was extinguished by the slush. Her right hand was now free and it immediately went to her coat pocket, gripping something inside of it. As soon as she did this, Thane came to a halt.

"I am simply looking for information." He kept his eyes fixed on her.

"If you wanna hit, talk to Luke." She leaned against the wall again, but didn't take her hand out of her pocket. "I don't deal the shit, I just smoke it."

"If I wanted drugs, I'd be more than capable of obtaining it on my own." He kept his voice sharp. Diplomacy wasn't going to cut it here. "And I wouldn't travel to Earth just to get a high."

"Yeah?" She finally pulled her hand out of her pocket and a butterfly knife came with it. "Why you here, then?"

The inappropriate grammar made one of Thane's eyes twitch a bit, but he kept himself from mentioning it. Pissing off a high teenager with a knife wouldn't be an intelligent idea. He was smarter than that.

"Do you know who this is?" He pulled out a picture of his target on his omni-tool and showed it to her.

He watched her reaction and one of his eyebrows raised slightly as he saw the look on her face darken. It seemed like he had found the perfect Drala-fa. Someone who had a history with this man, and it wasn't a pleasant history, judging from the look on her face. With flared nostrils, she leaned back against the wall.

"What's it to you?"

"I need to find him." Thane pulled out a credit chit from his coat pocket. "And I'm willing to pay."

Before he could react, her hand had shot out and grabbed the chit. She showed it into her pocket and flashed him a quick, mischievous grin before her stoic face returned.

"Yeah, I know him. He's a fucking pain in the arse."

"Where can I find him?"

She pursed her lips together and raised an eyebrow, nodding towards his pocket. He had expected this, which was why he had brought several credit chits. Information could easily be bought and it seemed that this girl was no exception.

"His club is a few blocks from here. It's open from 9PM to 7AM." The girl had relaxed now that she knew he didn't mean any harm. The knife had gone back in her pocket and out came a cigarett. "You gonna kill him?"

Well, she was smarter than she looked. Or perhaps she had dealt with the likes of him before. It didn't matter. She wasn't going to run to the police and he was pretty certain she wasn't going to run to his target's associate to tip him off.

"Yes." Thane said simply.

To his surprise, she pulled out another cigarette and offered it to him. That was unexpected. It was a gesture of kindness, albeit a strange one. He shook his head and she put it back in her pocket.

"He spends his days alone. So I'd take him out in the morning, when he leaves. No one will notice until he doesn't show up at the club in the evening."

This girl wasn't what Thane had expected. He wasn't sure what it was about her that surprised her, but she did. He suspected that the rough exterior was simply a mask to help her fit in with the gang. There was potential beneath the scars, the torn clothes and the drugs. However, he knew that she'd likely never get further than the back streets of this city. But he couldn't linger on it. He had gotten what he came for and it was time to move on.

"Thank you for your assistance." He bowed his head a bit before turning around.

"Hey!"

The sharp shout made him look back. She jogged up to him, the boots that were too large for her sending the dirty half-melted snow flying around her ankles.

"Make it hurt." She growled. "When you kill him, I mean. Let the fucker suffer."

For a moment, Thane was willing to assure her that he wouldn't make his death easy, but he stopped himself. No, he was here to do a job, not to abide to an addicted girl's wishes. So, he just gave her a long look before leaving the alley.

Shepard sat on a bench outside a disgusting little cafe, with a warm takeaway cup of tea between her frozen hands. Her stomach was full from a large sandwich she had bought just a few minutes earlier and a half-eaten cinnamon bun lay in her lap. It had been such a long time since she'd been able to feast like this.

It was three days since she had met the assassin and she was still living of off the credits he had given her for her information. She had been more than willing to help him, even if he hadn't offered her credits. But, she knew that he would be willing to pay. She had been approached other times, but it had often been by law enforcement.

Her limbs felt heavy, but not from drugs this time. No, she was just simply tired and content. Apart from the chilling cold, of course. She had stayed away from HQ for the last few days. Though the Reds were her family, she didn't trust any of them. If they knew she had money, they'd ask where she got it from, why she didn't share, yadda yadda yadda. It was just easier to disappear for a few days, even though it meant being cold. And no one was going to ask where she'd been when she came back. It wasn't exactly rare that people just went away for a few days.

"Well, well, well..." A deep, hard voice pulled Shepard out of her thoughts and her eyes shot up.

Four men stood in front of her, all of them about twice her size. Her eyes drifted from between the four of them and then down to the logo on the chests of their coats. Fuck. She thought as she recognised the logo. She silently cursed the assassin. This was all his fault.

"Looks like the little Red that got our boss killed."

Her hand went to her pocket, towards her trusty knife, but before she could grab it a large hand grabbed the front of her coat. She was pulled up from the bench and hung helplessly in the air for a while. Though she was quite tall, she wasn't strong. Fighting had never been her thing.

All thoughts were chased from her mind as she slammed into the concrete beneath her. The air went out of her and a nasty crack came from her side. Pain shot through her body and she groaned, momentarily forgetting what had just happened. But the boot that hit her in the stomach instantly reminded her.

The kick was hard enough to force the contents of her stomach back up and she threw up. One of the men made a noise of disgust and picked her up by the scruff of her neck before slamming her into the ground once more. This time, pain exploded from her eyebrow and she felt something warm begin to run down her face.

She was going to die, she was certain of it. She was going to die there, in the snow outside a cafe that any normal being would run away from. She was going to die and no one would remember her. There wasn't even going to be a funeral. Why would they have a funeral for a junkie from a gang? Did she even exist in the government's eyes? All of this went through Shepard's mind as kicks and punches rained down on her.

Suddenly, a loud noise penetrated the night. A gun shot. One of the men collapsed next to her with a hole right between his eyes. A few moments later, the other three joined him. The head of one of them had been turned 180 degrees and he was staring up at the night sky while his chest was pressed against the snow covered ground.

Shepard didn't dare to move. She was drinking in the air in short, pained gasps. She could taste blood in her mouth and felt it run down her face as well. Every single inch of her hurt.

"Can you hear me?" A husky voice said and the streetlight was blocked as a figure crouched down in front of her.

The assassin. He had saved her. Why?

"Let me help you." Carefully, he helped her sit up.

Once she sat up, she had to stop for a moment. Her head was spinning and every breath in made pain shoot through her injured body. It was torture. One part of her wondered if it had been better if they just had killed her.

"I have taken into a hotel not far from here. I can tend to your wounds there."

Shepard's eyes narrowed. She wasn't quick to trust and had spent too much time on the streets to know that if a man offered to help her, it was usually in exchange for sex. And she sure as hell wasn't going to sleep with this alien.

"It is my fault this happened to you and I simply wish to help you." He seemed to have read her mind. "No strings attached."

Her resolve faltered as her stomach clenched and she threw up again. The assassin rubbed her back as she did and held back her hair.

"Okay." Her voice was weak.

They didn't say anything else as he helped her onto her feet and guided her through the nearly empty streets towards the hotel he had gotten a room in. It was a pretty nice hotel, especially considering where in the city it was located.

The room itself was quite nice. It was small and dark, but clean and warm. There was a small vidscreen, a sofa and a bed. But the assassin didn't let her examine the room for long. He led her into the bathroom and made her sit down on the closed toilet.

Still silent, he started tending to her wounds. First he took a look at the ones that were in her face. Her nose had stopped bleeding, but her split eyebrow was still bleeding. Gently, he cleaned the blood away with damp towel before applying some foul smelling gel to the wounds. The pain subsided nearly immediately.

"If you wish to take a shower before I examine you further, go ahead." He gestured towards the shower. "I'll leave for a few moments, I have to run a few errands. If you wish to leave while I'm away, I'll understand. But I would prefer it if you stayed until I can make sure you're in no danger."

Shepard just nodded quietly. She was still in shock from what had happened earlier and a shower sounded like a great idea. A quiet little voice in her head asked how long it had been before she had a proper shower.

"Thank you." She whispered and looked down at her soaked clothes.

"Think nothing of it."

After flashing her a last kind smile, the assassin disappeared from the room. Shepard waited until the door to the room closed before she removed her clothes. It was first now that she realised how cold she was. A shiver ran through her as she looked down at her body. Dark bruises were beginning to form and she hoped that she wouldn't need to go to a hospital.

She decided to worry about that later and stepped into the shower. Warm water started falling from the shower head and onto her frozen body. An involuntary moan of happiness came from her and she closed her eyes.

It wasn't until the water went cold that she stepped out. Instead of smelling of sweat, alcohol and weed, she smelled of citrus and eucalyptus. She grabbed one of the large, fluffy dressing gowns and pulled it on before stepping out. She glanced at the pile of clothes on the floor and wrinkled her nose. The thought of pulling on the smelly garments when she was clean was disgusting.

Sighing, she made her way back into the main room. While she waited for the assassin to return, she flopped onto the comfortable bed and just stared up at the ceiling. Before she knew it, she was fast asleep.

When Shepard woke up, she was still alone in the room, but she was wrapped in a duvet that smelled faintly of roses or something. Looking around, trying to spot the assassin, her eyes instead fell on a pile of clothes on the sofa. A note and a large credit chit lay on top of them.

Stretching out and grimacing at the pain, Shepard got up. She padded across the small room and grabbed the note.

Miss;

It started and it made her chuckle, despite the pain in her ribs. No one had ever called her 'miss' before.

I apologise for leaving before you awoke and I apologise for the trouble I put you in.

The clothes are yours to take. I was unsure of your size, but I hope they fit.

The credit chit is also yours. There's enough money in there for a few days of food and some more clothing. It should be enough to help you start a new life.

I beg of you to not squander this. The path of darkness isn't one you should walk. You are destined for greater things.

The room has been rented for another week, so you're in no rush to leave.

I wish you the best for the future.

Well, that was unexpected. Shepard looked down at the pile of clothes again. The credit chit was stuffed full. Damn, she could get high so many times from this. She shook her head at the thought. No, she wouldn't do that. He had given her an out. She wasn't going to fuck this up.

Her gaze drifted to the window and she looked out at the street below. A advertisement caught her eye. There was a picture of a man with a slash across his face and a cap with the Alliance logo on it. Join the Alliance today! It said under the man's piercing blue eyes.

"That's it." Shepard said to the empty room. "I'm going to join the military. Might as well get paid for killing people."

2185

Shepard stood outside the door to Life Support and chewed on her thumb nail. What if he didn't remember? What if she made a fool of herself? What if he regretted helping her? The endless what ifs swirled around in her head.

When he had dropped down from that vent, her jaw had nearly dropped. She never thought she'd see him again. It hadn't even occurred to her that it could be him when she read the dossier. Of course, there hadn't been a lot in there for her to read. It had been rather empty, compared to the other dossiers. He, however, didn't seem to recognise her. She couldn't really blame him. At thirty, she looked quite different from how she looked when she was eighteen.

Seeing him again, the man that had changed her life, it made her more emotional than she thought it would. She managed to keep it under control, though. She hadn't gotten this far in life by letting her emotions get the better of her.

"Goddammit." She muttered to herself. She couldn't just stand there like a creep. It was better to just get this over it.

Sighing, she pressed her palm against the door and it slid open. Swallowing down a nervous lump that had formed in her throat, she stepped inside and chewed on the inside of her cheek. He sat with his back towards the door, looking at the drive core. As he heard her steps approach, he turned his head a bit.

"Do you need something?" His voice was low and gravelly.

"Have a few minutes to talk?" Shepard said, once more chewing on her thumbnail.

"Certainly." He turned to look at her. "We haven't had a chance since I joined."

Well, so far so good. Shepard cleared her throat and walked up to the window that looked out over the drive core. She rubbed her hand over her neck as she worked up the courage to ask him.

"Look, I don't know if you remember..." She turned around and leaned against the window. "But we-"

"Drell have perfect memories, Shepard." He cut her off, his deep, dark eyes staring into hers. "I do remember."

"Oh." She had no idea what to say now. "Good... I think."

His face softened a bit and he gestured towards the chair on the opposite of the table. Without thinking twice about it, Shepard took a seat and placed her hands in her lap. This was slightly awkward. She hated her past and it annoyed her that someone on the ship knew about it.

"I am glad to see that you took my advice to heart."

"Yeah, well, it was that or die of an overdose at twenty or something." Once more, she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Your secret is safe with me, Commander." He said as if he had read her mind. "As far as I understand it, few know about your history and it is not my place to reveal this. However, if you feel the need to speak about it, I will be here."

"Thank you." Shepard said before standing up again. "And, not just for not telling anyone, but for everything. You saved me Thane, in more ways than one."

He bowed his head at her.

"It was my pleasure, Shepard. As I said, you were destined for something greater."