"You made me go all the way to Omega so you could drag me around half the galaxy in a fucking shuttle with a fucking igeth/i?" Operations Chief Ashley Williams was not happy. Not in the least.

Garrus tapped his talons on the console, looking almost pleased with her annoyance. "Your vocabulary has improved, Chief."

"I'll fucking shoot you."

"I'd expect nothing less."

She had been trapped in the shuttle for the last four hours with the turian in the pilot seat. In the back, with a wall between them (not thick enough, Ashley thought darkly), was a powered down geth. That Garrus insisted was part of Shepard's team, so she couldn't shot it until all lights stopped blinking. Along with a rather boobie-tastic asari justicar, and she thought she understood what that meant. ("Samara, she won't actually kill Legion; she's crew, she understands," Garrus had to keep explaining. Samara had still watched her coolly before settling in the back of the shuttle with the geth.)

"Are we there yet?"

"Almost," Garrus answered her.

"You said that an hour ago."

Garrus just grinned at her, his one working mandible flickering against his cheek. She wanted to ask him about the large missing portion of his face, but some people didn't like to talk about their scars. May be when they were on the ground where he couldn't space her for asking about a touchy subject.

"Why didn't Shepard meet me?" she asked instead. Shepard had included Ashley in her mass communication to every alien government and Council ambassador with her report on the destruction of the Collectors. No sanitized information for her. Included at the bottom of the missive was a short note, 'Alive. Not Cerberus. Contact me.' It had taken almost two weeks before Shepard got back to her: met Garrus on Omega. The computer hadn't been able to trace where the message had originated, only that the voice and facial structure had been Shepard.

"Same reason she rerouted all her messages through six different relays. We don't want anyone knowing where she is right now." He looked at Ashley out of the corner of his eye and then back to the console. "She wanted to come out herself. We convinced her not to."

"'We'?" Ashely poured her aggression into the single word.

"Tali, myself. Miranda, Jacob. Thane. You'll meet him. He's with Shepard."

"How come-"

"You'll see. Hang on!" Garrus took hold of the controls again and steered the shuttle toward an angry looking little red planet, swirling with thick cloud cover. There was a massive defensive array in orbit. The guns turned toward the shuttle as it flew closer and targeted. Garrus opened communications. "Shuttle to Pirate King, coming in."

"Pirate King," a very deep and alien male voice countered. "Pass phrase?"

Garrus made a face down at the planet. Grudgingly, he quoted, "Shepard had a little varren, its scales as white as snow. And everywhere that Shepard went, Urz was sure to go."

"Accepted." The vid screen lit up, and Ashley could now see a drell blinking at her with both sets of eyelids. She had never actually seen a drell before. "Good to see you again, Garrus. It will be a pleasure to meet you, Operations Chief Williams." He even freaking bowed to her! Through a vid screen! The screen switched off, and Garrus began their descent into atmo.

"Hey back there!" Garrus banged on the cockpit wall. "ETA, ten minutes!" Looking ever so pleased with himself, Garrus told her, "Almost there, Chief."

Ashley kicked him.

They came in low over a deep red desert. The whole sky was a blend of pinks and purples, becoming almost velvet on the horizon where the sun was just starting to set. The desert gave away to sharp cut mountains, and Garrus flicked the controls, taking the shuttle down into a long, winding stretch of canyon. Nestled deep in a twisting maze of rock, and almost impossible to see from the air, was a complex of peach colored buildings set into the canyon wall. Garrus set them down roughly on the make shift landing pad, a distance from any of the buildings. Ashley kicked him again.

"Hey, hey! I bruise easily! What was that for?" he rubbed at his shin as he popped the main hatch of the shuttle and offered a hand to Samara.

"Learn to fly, you horny bastard!"

Legion blinked to life and uncoiled himself. "'Horny'," it repeated. "Most often used as a human slang word meaning desiring of sexual intercourse."

Garrus gaped a the geth. "What is Mordin giving you to read?"

Samara gave Ashley a long look after she gracefully climbed out. "...You are not what I expected for such an intimate friend of Shepard's." Ashley was not entirely sure if that was a compliment or a rebuke, but she didn't have time to ask. Samara turned and addressed Legion, "Stop teasing Garrus. Please forgive him. Mordin is a horrible influence."

Ashley took in her surroundings. It was a massive complex. It was also gorgeous. The main building was four stories, almost all windows, tinted against any view inside. There were several balconies and the main door was surrounded by landscaped terrace covered in rich, multicolored tile with a huge firepit as its focal point. Scattered away from the main building were several outbuildings, she could only assume the power and water centers.

"Urz!" she heard from inside the main building, and out came a purple striped varren followed closely by a very tan red head and a drell.

Ashley didn't recognize her commander at first. It was a shock: she had never seen Shepard outside of armor or combat fatigues. The barefoot woman waving at them had long, loose hair, a loose top that showed off some of her well-muscled stomach, and low slung pants. The drell with her was shirtless, barefoot, and looking at Shepard; Ash finally got what Garrus had meant when he said this Thane was "with" the Commander.

"Fucking hell!" Ashley let out at her epiphany.

Shepard laughed. "Good to see you, too, Chief!"

I hope this made sense for all that is suddenly en midas ra. It makes more sense, trust me!

I know, I know. Long time no see! I had a bit of writer's block and a disappearing beta. Which, if you want to see more fic, I would LOVE to find a new beta in the fandom! Please feel free PM me if you're interested! More coming soon! :D I am doing more edits as I type.

Thank you every one for all your reviews, comments, favorites, and everything! It means the world to me.