Kasumi walked towards the elevator and tried not to think about all of the...'literature' which Mordin had pushed on her. The salarian had simply came up out to her of the blue and dumped it all into her omni-tool. He'd given her a wink and some tablets, saying something how they were for 'minimizing issues', whatever that meant.

After putting aside her initial confusion, she'd read through the files with an increasing sense of dread. Was this all going to end in a romantic encounter, or in something more like a battle to the death? She already knew about the thing with turian biting, but it looked as if turians also tended to get much more violent during the whole mating process. Hopefully Garrus would take her relative fragility into account. She told herself to stop being foolish. Garrus was nothing if not considerate. And maybe she was assuming too much. Maybe Garrus didn't want things to turn physical.

Another thing that didn't help her nervousness was that she felt almost naked walking through the ship. Kasumi was used to having the gentle pressure of a hood on her head. Now that she was without it, she constantly felt as if she was missing something. She was grateful for Kelly's last-minute primping to help get her hair in order. She squared her shoulders and walked out of the elevator and through the CIC. It seemed like conversations came to a stop as she passed, but that might have been her imagination.

Garrus waited at the main airlock. For once, he wasn't wearing anything flamboyant or colorful. The turian wore a simple but elegant black suit. In the cockpit, she could see Joker actually standing up out of his chair. The pilot didn't say anything to either of them, but the happy grin on his face spoke volumes.

"Madame," Garrus said as he presented his elbow. Kasumi took it and felt his hard armor plating under the suit's cloth. Her qualms increased even further. The alienness of him was suddenly very apparent. Was she insane to go through with this? Then she looked up at Garrus's face. He seemed all fangs and mandibles. But his deep blue eyes were warm and kind. She could swear that she also caught a hint of nervousness in there as well. She suddenly realized that Mordin must have given Garrus the same massive dump of reading material that he'd given her.

Kasumi smiled at him, and felt all of her edginess vanish. "Shall we?" she said.

----------------------------------------

Garrus thought it had been a lovely dinner. Their chosen restaurant catered to both dextro and levo cuisines, as well as a few select dishes which mixed the two types. 'Guaranteed to not cause a reaction,' they said. And so of course he and Kasumi just had to try a few of those dishes. The food was delicious and left a pleasant little tingle on his tongue, one that he hoped didn't signify something serious.

Their surroundings had been first-rate as well. The asari staff were ultra-competent, polite, and invisible unless needed. The lighting had been soft and somehow placed to perfectly complement the sparkle in Kasumi's eyes. They had spoken of past adventures and embarrassing-but-hilarious moments. The conversation flowed so easily that it shocked him

And now they strolled along the waterfront. Kasumi's elbow was interlocked with his. He was very conscious of her small warm hand resting on his upper arm. They came to a little jetty, and walked out on it. Behind them the skyscrapers of Nos Astra stretched up into the night and glittered like jeweled temples. It was one of the most beautiful sights he'd ever seen.

"Thank you, Garrus," said Kasumi. "Both for the dress, and the gun. Oh, and the dinner too."

"I have to confess, Jacob also had a hand in with the thin-gun. He made the grips for it." Garrus grinned at her. "But the dress was all me."

"Jacob is a good friend. And I can't imagine how much the gun must have cost you."

Garrus shrugged with his unoccupied shoulder. "Not as much as you'd think. It helps to have old friends who work for major weapons manufacturers. Technically it's a demo model."

"It's lovely. I sighted it in this morning, and it shoots like a dream."

"You're wearing it right now, aren't you?" asked Garrus.

"Of course. This thing's not leaving my side, ever. I'm even going to shower with it." She hugged his arm. "Please thank your friend for me. If Armax ever needs a celebrity endorsement, I'll gladly give it. That is, assuming they ever want one from a professional thief."

Garrus chuckled. "You never know." He placed his free hand on top of hers and was surprised yet again at how warm her skin was to the touch. She looked up at him, her eyes suddenly full of intent.

"How serious is all of this, Garrus? I have to confess, I've, um, read that turians are a lot more casual about sex than humans. We tend to be prudes compared to your species." She thought a bit. "Well, most humans are. I assure you that Kelly Chambers is very much an outlier. Not that I'm complaining, you know. I could be up for it if you just want to have a nice little fling with somebody more, um, exotic than what you're used to. But I thought there might be something more here and I just...I'm babbling now, I'm going to shut up."

Garrus gently unwound his arm from hers and turned to face her. He took both of her small, soft hands in his. "Turians are more casual about physical release, to be sure," he said. "But we take relationships very seriously. And the first step in beginning a turian relationship consists of an exchange of gifts."

Kasumi's face dropped in shock. "Garrus, you should have told me! I didn't get you anything!"

"Oh, but you have." He gently traced along the side of her face with one talon. "Kasumi, I was a mess when I came on board. The physical damage was bad enough, but I was also a mental wreck. I had just failed ten of the best people I'd ever known. They died because of me. Because I thought that I was hard enough to bring justice to a varren's nest like Omega.

"And Shepard did what he could to help me. You know him, always checking in on how you're doing. And just having him here with us and alive again does make me feel better. But you, Kasumi, you truly lift my spirits. If you weren't here, I'd have shut myself away in the forward battery to brood. Talking with you, flirting with you, makes me feel like my old self again. And I cannot tell you how much of a gift that is to me."

He took his finger away and looked down. "And, just so you know, I'm okay if you just want this to be a very good friendship. The physical considerations...I mean, I know I must look and feel so strange to you. I understand if you would be more attracted to somebody like Jacob. I know you like looking at him-" Garrus was silenced by the feel of Kasumi's warm hand on his mandible.

"Now it's your turn to shut up," said Kasumi. The sparkle was back in her eyes. She took one of his hands and gently placed it on the side of her face. His hand was huge compared to her head; his talons stretched from her scalp down to her jawline.

"You're a killer, Garrus," she said. "I've seen you make a precision shot at over one thousand meters in a high wind. I've seen you punch a charging vorcha hard enough to shatter its skull. And then there's your claws, your armoring...you are built to kill, from your training right down to your bones."

Kasumi nestled her face further into his palm. Garrus couldn't breathe. The feeling of her warm skin on his hand was intoxicating.

She smiled at him. "And yet, I know that right now I am safer than I have ever been in my life. You are the most loyal and true friend that anyone could ever ask for. I feel utterly at ease with you. I know you will have my back, always." She took his hand away from her face and placed a kiss in the center of his palm. "And I should tell you, Mr. Vakarian, that those two things put together are really damn sexy."

Ever so gently, Garrus leaned over and and pressed his forehead onto hers. She reciprocated the pressure, and smiled even wider. Then she moved forward and hugged him.

Garrus knew there was going to be pain and death in the future. There was the inevitable confrontation with Cerberus, as well as the Collector mission and the Reaper threat. All of it was bearing down on them like some great and terrible storm.

And so, here and now, he tried to remember everything he could about this moment. There was the glitter of the Nos Astra skyline in the distance. There was the solid, warm feeling of Kasumi's body against his. He could even feel her heartbeat against his chest. He could smell the lovely scent of her hair. His own heart beat fast, in counterpoint to hers.

He took it all in. This one moment, just one, where everything was simply right.

----------------------------------------

Zaeed wished he could have a cigar. It was such a nice accompaniment to what Donnelly would call a 'wee dram'. But Kasumi had told him in no uncertain terms that if he lit up anywhere near her stuff she would wreak a terrible vengeance. She had been very vague about what form said vengeance would take, and Zaeed was in no hurry to find out.

"It's awfully nice of Kasumi to let us use her place while she's out," said Kelly. Joker nodded absently as he stood behind the bar and prepared her a martini. His legs might not work right, but Zaeed saw that the pilot's hands were another story. They moved quick and sure as he mixed and measured.

"One dirty martini, extra dirty, extra olives," said Joker, and he slid the glass in front of Kelly. She gave him a dimpled smile and took a sip. Zaeed was keeping his drink simple; just a scotch with no ice.

The door hissed and Donnelly entered. His red hair stuck out at all angles, and his coveralls were rumpled and even ripped in a couple of places. But he sported a huge smile on his face. He raised his arms in a gesture of triumph. "The drive core is now completely back on line," he said. "There's just a few tweaks left, and then we're in business."

"Congrats, Chiefy," said Zaeed. "C'mon, what'll ya have?"

Donnelly ran his hands through his hair, trying in vain to get it looking reasonable. "Let's go with something older. Do you have the fixings for a sidecar?"

Joker looked behind the bar. "I could tell you, if I knew what the hell a sidecar was."

The engineer leaned against the bar. "Two parts cognac, one part orange liqueur, and some lemon juice. Shake it with ice, and serve straight up."

"Yeah, I can do that," said Joker. "Hang on." He began pouring and mixing.

"So the refit's all done?" said Kelly. She had a little smirk on her face for some reason. Zaeed wondered why.

Donnelly shrugged. "Pretty much. It's down to just letting the drive core run and doing tweaking as needed. And we'll need to do some practice shots with the new guns, to make sure the targeting is set up properly." He grinned. "Of course, that will have to wait until we're out of drydock."

"But keeping an eye on the drive core is something Tali could do, surely," replied Kelly. Her smirk was wider now.

Zaeed grinned as he sipped his scotch. He was pretty sure now what the yeoman was getting at.

Donnelly regarded Kelly with a suspicious eye. "Perhaps."

"And Tali got to go out the first day here, right?" asked Kelly.

Joker slid Donnelly's sidecar in front of him. The engineer took a sip. "Ah, very nice," he said.

"Don't ignore me, buddy," said Kelly.

Zaeed looked over at the door. Any minute now...

Right as he thought it, the door opened and in came Jack. She was dressed in shorts and a tee shirt with a slogan which invited the viewer to perform an improbable act. She also had that 'stompy' look on her face that the crew had quickly learned meant 'get out of her way, now'.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Assface? Is it really all done?" she asked.

Donnelly gave Kelly a sideways glance. She shrugged and smiled. He turned to face Jack. "Hey, sweetie. You want a drink?"

"Fuck your drink. Is it done?"

Donnelly tilted his head back as if deep in thought. "Well, we have a lot of tests to perform. There's all sorts of things that could go wrong-"

Jack stomped forward and pointed a finger in his face. "Do. Not. Fuck. With. Me. Is it done?"

"Sweetie, this is the ship's engine system we're talking about. We need to make sure it's working properly-"

"I shoulda squished your dumb ass when I first got on the ship, you fu-"

Jack was interrupted by a neatly-printed white card in her face. Donnelly had produced it with a little flourish out of one of his side coverall pockets. She snatched it out of his hand and read it while he smiled and sipped his cocktail.

Zaeed had seen Jack in a lot of different moods. Most of them involving anger, fury, or pleasure at another's misfortune. This was the first time he could remember seeing her light up with absolute, unabashed happiness. She looked up at Donnelly. "Hotel T'Loria? Tomorrow?" she asked. Zaeed could swear there was a little squeak in her voice.

Donnelly nodded, still smiling.

"Why didn't you say so, you stupid shit? I was gettin' ready to just go ahead and rape ya right here on the bar...oh, I see what you're up to. Give the button-pusher a little taste of her own medicine."

"Nah, nothing so nefarious," replied Donnelly. "You're just really cute when you're angry."

"I'll show you cute, doofus." Jack dropped the card and hugged Donnelly. He got his drink out of the way just in time, and managed to avoid spilling it all over her.

The door gave another hiss, and Shepard walked in. He looked at the two embracing. "Aww, that's adorable," he said.

"Fuck you, Boss," said Jack, her voice muffled by Donnelly's coverall.

"What'll you have, skipper?" asked Joker.

Shepard strolled over. "Hmm, what're you having, Marcus?"

"A sidecar."

"Wow, you're going old school. Yeah, give me one of those."

Zaeed leaned back. "I hope our two other lovebirds are doing okay," he said. He'd seen Kasumi as she had entered the elevator up to the CIC. He almost hadn't recognized her. She had transformed from a black phantom into a raven-haired vision in purple. That Garrus was one lucky sonofabitch.

"Oh, was that tonight?" asked Donnelly. "I've had my head up in a drive core for the last twenty-four hours."

"Yep, I saw them head out," said Joker. "Damn, I never thought I'd see Garrus so nervous. The guy usually has a stick up his ass."

Kelly smiled. "It was very lovely, and so romantic to see the two of them together."

"Hey, we're plenty romantic too," said Jack as she moved her head away from Donnelly's chest. "It's not a, whaddyacall, conventional type of romance, yeah." She smiled up at the engineer. "Oh, by the way, remember...you promised to do it. And you crossed your heart. Biiiig guy."

Zaeed thought he saw a faint flicker of unease on Donnelly's face. "Ah, of course, sweetie," said Donnelly.

Jack grinned wider, as if she was going to take a bite at his jugular. "You thought I was too drunk to remember, didn't ya?"

"That never crossed my mind, Jack," replied Donnelly.

Somehow everybody else at the bar knew not to ask. Even Kelly looked down and regarded her drink with newfound interest. "It has been five hours since they left," she said. "I hope they didn't run into trouble. What if they got mugged?"

Zaeed looked over at Shepard. They both burst out laughing. "I actually hope somebody tries," said Zaeed. "That would be the perfect capper for their evening."

"Yeah," replied Shepard. "Some drinks, a really nice dinner, a stroll through the city, and then busting some heads at the end of it. Sounds perfect." He picked up his drink. "But don't worry, they've been back for about a half hour. I asked EDI to notify me when they returned."

The others looked confused, except for Zaeed. The mercenary grinned as he realized what that meant.

"But we've been here at least an hour," said Kelly. "She didn't come in here...oh."

"Yeah," said Shepard, "for right now the forward battery is off limits, okay?"

----------------------------------------

Shepard checked for what felt like the thousandth time if he had everything he needed. This was going to be a bull-rush of a morning. He couldn't simply disappear, not even for a few hours. And for this procedure, he might be gone for days. The chain of command was fragile enough; if he left without clear instructions it would dissolve into disaster. He and Garrus had gone back and forth about various ploys they could try, and finally Shepard had put his foot down. Miranda was not an idiot. She would see through any cover story. So this was going to be done his way. Straight up, with no trickery.

He slung his bag over his shoulder and headed out of his cabin. Garrus was already waiting outside the door. Shepard nodded at his friend and they entered the elevator. Shepard could tell Garrus was tense. He saw the slight tilt of the turian's head, the lean in the hips. They were signals that probably nobody else could pick up on.

"I take it the date with Kasumi went well?" asked Shepard.

Some of the tension left Garrus. "Yes, it did. Very well. We're, um, we're going to make a go of it. A relationship, I mean."

Shepard smiled at the notion of his friend finally happy for once. Aloud he said, "Thanks, Garrus. For everything. You guys kept me from going insane."

Garrus looked at him and tilted his head. "And here I was thinking you were insane. You mean you're an example of normal human behavior?"

Shepard laughed. "Well, we've got yet one more nutso thing to go through with."

"After you, Commander."

The elevator door hissed open, and they both strode out. Chakwas and Mordin were there in the mess, each with travel bags at the ready. Shepard nodded at them both and all four headed for Miranda' office.

The Cerberus officer looked up from her desk in surprise as they entered. Shepard could see her eyes flicking over them all, taking in the travel bags and the sheer number of people. "Hello, everyone," she said, "is there some problem?"

Shepard set his bag down and stood in front of Miranda's desk.

"Dr. Chakwas and Dr. Solus have rented time on a nano-MRI unit. I'm going to have one last complete body scan performed, just to make sure you didn't put any surprises inside while you were rebuilding me."

Miranda leaned back. He could tell she wasn't entirely surprised by this; she must have been expecting something like this action for months now. "That is a very costly and complicated procedure, Shepard." said the XO. "I estimate it may take up to forty-eight hours to complete."

"Money not an issue," said Mordin. "Have some favors called in."

Miranda stood slowly, as if not wanting to appear to be a threat. "I see. And given the significant distrust that this action shows, I'm assuming you do not want me to be acting CO while you are indisposed?"

"Oddly enough, I'm still willing to give you the benefit of the doubt," replied Shepard. "You're an incredibly able woman, Miranda. You have proven that time and again on this mission. I don't trust your boss for an instant, but you just might be okay." Shepard folded his arms. "That is assuming," he continued, "that all of your protestations were true, and that there are no monitoring devices in me."

Miranda shrugged. "There aren't," she said. "I would have been very up front about it. Remember when we first talked, I told you that I would have installed some sort of governor chip in you-"

"What!" exclaimed Garrus. He took a half step forward.

Shepard held up a hand to forestall any heated exchange or worse. "Yes, you did, Miranda," he said. "And I accepted that. After all, you had no idea if I would even be able to retain my sanity given what had happened to me."

Miranda straightened. "Yes. And for the record, I was mistaken. Knowing then what I know now, I would never have contemplated such a course of action."

Shepard gave her a steady gaze. "All that said, I am giving you another chance to 'fess up, Miranda. I'll even give you an out. Is there any possible way The Illusive Man could have had something installed in me without your knowledge?"

Miranda stood like a statue, only her eyes moving as she looked at them all in turn. "There might have been a way...No, I stand by my management of your revival. I am ultimately responsible for everything that was done to you."

Shepard nodded. "Okay. So, for the record, are there any monitoring or control devices installed in me?"

"No."

Shepard gave a half-smile. "Well, I guess we'll see, won't we?" The Commander pointed his thumb at Garrus. "While I'm away, both you and Gunnery Officer Vakarian will be acting COs."

Miranda shook her head. "That can't work, Shepard. You can't have two people in the senior leader role-"

"XO Lawson," interrupted Shepard. "I am showing you a great deal of trust by leaving you at least nominally in charge. You would agree with this?"

After a brief pause, Miranda nodded.

"Very well, then," continued Shepard. "In terms of day to day operation, you will continue as acting CO until my return. However, Gunnery Officer Vakarian will have veto power for any actions of yours which he finds objectionable. He will be reasonable about this. Right, Garrus?"

"Yes," said Garrus, although he had his mandibles tucked in a turian frown.

Shepard cocked his head as he looked at Miranda. "XO Lawson. Are you willing to accept Gunnery Officer Vakarian's veto should he give it?"

"I will," said Miranda, "but Shepard, this is probably not the best time to do this. We still have the refit going on."

Shepard bent and picked up his bag. "The refit is nearly complete. All the contractors are paid and gone, and now it's down to the crew doing the final installs and checks. You should all be able to keep going on just fine until I get back." He slung his bag over his shoulder. "The true nature of my absence will be known only to the five of us. The crew is to be told that I am off assisting Dr. T'Soni."

Miranda rubbed her forehead. "Very well. It seems you are determined to do this. Please send reports back as much as possible. I am assuming that both Doctor Chakwas and Doctor Solus will be with you?"

Shepard nodded. "They will be in constant contact with Gunnery Officer Vakarian. And they expect to hear from him on a regular basis. Am I making myself clear?"

Miranda's lips tightened, but she nodded. Shepard waved the others towards the door, and they filed out. He was the last to leave, and he turned to look at Miranda again.

"This is your last chance to tell me anything, Miranda," he said.

The Cerberus officer stood with her arms by her sides as if at attention. She stared at Shepard with a stony face and said nothing. He nodded, and headed out the door.

----------------------------------------

"Kendra, you got a moment?"

Wilt Kendra took a few moments to finish inspecting his rifle. He stood and set it back in his locker. "Sure, boss." He turned to look at the two newcomers.

Harlon Quentin was a squat, barrel-chested man with gray hair. He was also the most senior Blue Suns member on Illium, and when he said 'jump' everyone, including Kendra, tried to touch the sky. He was accompanied by some little rat-faced bastard in a gray suit. The moment he set eyes on the guy, Kendra knew that Mr. Gray Suit was the type who would cut out his own grandmother's heart if it suited him.

Kendra had done independent mercenary work for a few years, and was very happy to see the back of that phase in his life. Being in the Blue Suns was so much better. The pay was more regular and the equipment was first-rate. One of the only drawbacks of the Blue Suns life was that he no longer had the opportunity to pick and choose clients.

"Kendra, this is Harper," said Quentin. "He's the Cerberus liaison for our latest contract." That contract had been big news among the rank-and-file mercenaries. It was some kind of operation in conjunction with Cerberus, and the terrorist group was throwing a shitload of money at the Blue Suns. Kendra didn't know the details of the job, but did know it had something to do with Shepard and the Normandy. He also knew was that Corbin's platoon was directly assigned to Cerberus. And Corbin was a prick, but he was an effective prick. If Quentin had Corbin working on it, it was serious business.

Kendra's own team had been tasked to stand by and 'provide distraction.' Apparently they were going to try to harass and distract any fire teams from the Normandy. Whatever Corbin was involved with, it was apparently going to really kick the hornets nest.

"It's a pleasure, sir," said Kendra. It never hurt to be nice, at least until it was time to not be nice. He shook hands with Harper, and felt surprising strength in the man's grip. Harper gave Kendra a smile that never reached his eyes. The Cerberus operative leaned casually against the locker bank and set down a satchel he was carrying.

"Your boss speaks highly of you," said Harper. "How good are you at last-minute operations?"

"Depends on the operation," said Kendra. "More intel and prep is always better, of course. But my boys are first rate. You want something smashed, we'll smash it for you ASAP."

The gray suited man shook his head. "Not a smash. This is a grab." He leaned over and pulled a holographic printout out of his satchel, then handed it over to Kendra.

Kendra felt a little surprise as he looked at it. "This looks like Shepard."

"It is Shepard," said Harper. "We want him captured. Not killed. And no major trauma, especially to the brain."

Kendra blew a breath out. "Well, that's going to make it interesting. We're going to need more people if we're going to storm the Normandy."

"That won't be necessary," said Harper. "He's going to be off of the ship and at a single location for a good stretch of time."

"This is important, Kendra," added Quentin. "Harper's organization is willing to double our contract fee if we can pull this off."

Kendra gave it a little thought. If he was able to double the money coming into the Illium chapter of the Blue Suns, Kendra would be up for a significant bonus. Money was always nice, but being alive to spend it was even nicer. "We can always try. But it still might be good to have more people. The word out there is that Shepard's even more of a hard case since he reappeared."

Harper waved a hand. "Shepard himself won't be a problem. He's going to be unconscious for at least twenty-four hours. That should be enough time to get your team together and make the snatch. We will have his location shortly."

Kendra felt a little relief at that. Outwardly, he kept his face stoic. "Yeah, that'll make things a lot easier. Who else is with him?"

Harper handed over two more files. "Two doctors. Doctor Chakwas and Doctor Solus. Chakwas is ex-Alliance. No real combat training, she's a medical officer. And Solus is a scientist. Ex-STG."

Quentin twitched up one eyebrow and glared at Harper. "You never mentioned STG," he said.

Harper gave a half-shrug. "It was many years ago. He's been mostly working as a doctor since then."

Kendra tapped the files on one leg as he thought through the options. "We should be able to pull this off, boss. If Shepard is down, that leaves only one real combatant. And Solus has been out of practice for a long time. If we hit 'em fast enough, he won't have time to react. It won't be easy, but we can get it done." He thought a little more. "Oh, how do you want us to handle the doctors? You want 'em dead, alive, or uninjured?"

"Uninjured will cost more, just so you know," interjected Quentin. "We incur more risk."

The man in the gray suit considered for a moment. "We really don't care. It would be nice if Chakwas isn't seriously hurt, but don't go out of your way to protect her. And Solus has accomplished what he was hired to do. If you need to put him down to get to Shepard, go ahead and do it."