Angels Losing Sleep

a/n:: And this is where things get turned on their asses... Rate and Review!

Shepard let out a soft peal of laughter, smacking Garrus playfully on the shoulder as they walked side by side.

"What? I think that is a very good question!"He protested with a sheepish sort of expression, "I mean, I sorta understand females having them, but what is the purpose of a male human's breasts? Do they produce milk?"

The woman felt on the verge of tears, a hand clasped over her mouth as she shook from laughter, shaking her head as though that would deter him from speaking anymore. It was a good question, really, now that she thought about it. It wasn't like they DID anything in particular. Calming enough to try and speak, the red eyed woman replied, "I haven't got a clue. Maybe evolution didn't want them to be jealous or something."

"Perhaps. But, don't those things get in the way? They look...cumbersome," He asked, motioning pointedly toward the commander's chest.

"As much as I delight in talking about my 'funbags' to a guy, I believe that it's my turn to ask a question," She responded dryly, causing a tint of blue to gloss over his features as he coughed to hide his embaressment.

"Right, of course, forgive me, I've just always wondered," He trailed off, looking anywhere but at the smirking woman who cocked an eyebrow at him, " Ask away."

"You've never seen a human woman naked, have you?" She probbed deviously, her eyes alit with a knowing sort of gleam. Oh she had felt his gaze on her that night when he'd been in her cabin, though she wasn't sure how much he'd actually seen. Garrus was trapped. He knew that telling her about seeing her would admit to him being a creep, but lying about it to her would be bad as well, if not worse. He struggled to find his voice, weighing the pros and cons of the situation.

"N-not the front of one, no," He admitted finally, refusing to look at her. He felt as though his face were going to explode from the heat gathering in it. Her smile turned preditory despite the faint blush that covered her cheeks.

"I know you saw me, Garrus," She all but purred out, the turian swallowing hard and doing his best to not fidget. She didn't sound particularly displeased by it and judging from the slight shift in her scent he dared to say she was...turned on by it?!

"Not nearly enough, to be honest," He half grumbled, turning the tables on the scarlet faced woman quickly. Garrus chuckled, his gaze moving to roll over her form in a hungry motion that had the human heating further.

"Your turn," She let out quickly to shift the attention elsewhere.

"Have you ever seen a Turian that way?" He asked curiously, tilting his head in a very bird like manner. She opened her mouth to answer only to be cut off by the urgent hiss of Urz, her Varren. Startled and instantly put on alert, the Specter turned to see the large beast rushing full tilt toward them. He slid to a stop in front of her, panting and hissing insistantly. His body shifted restlessly as he looked up at his mistress urgently.

"Urz, what's wrong, did something happen to the Normandy?" Shepard asked and the Varren answered affirmatively with a snarl before turning on his heels and rushing off the way he'd come from. Sparing a worried glance at Garrus, she took off after Urz, the turian right on her heels. The closer they came to Afterlife, the duo began to notice the sounds of gunfire. Shouting and a strange whirring filled the air, only to fall silent after moments. Panic surged through Shepard and bolstered with more adrenaline, the woman put on more speed until she matched strides with the Varren. That is until she was grabbed roughly from the side and yanked behind a corner and slammed against the wall with enough force to send the air from her lungs with a whoosh. Garrus slid to a stop, gun out in a blink as Urz spun, paws slipping on the metal floor as he rushed to help.

"Point that gun somewhere else before I shove it up your ass, Archangel," Was the rough response of Aria, earning a confused look from Garrus. She glared up at him from beneath the hood of a black cloak as she lowered Shepard to the ground. "Get back here before you draw their attention and keep that damn salamander quiet."

Garrus slipped behind the wall with her and the recovering Shepard, Urz growling softly as he pressed against his owner's side.

"Aria, you'd better have a damn good reason for almost dislocating my spine," Shepard warned darkly, fixing the asari with a glare of her own. The blue woman pressed a finger to her lips and motioned for them to follow her. Garrus cast the commander a look, suspicion marked clearly in his blue eyes. She nodded to him reassuringly and fell into step behind the asari. Moments later, they were joined by several others sporting black cloaks, guns clutched tightly in their hands. It was hard to tell what race they were under the thick, synthetic material and the trio could only wait for Aria to clue them in.

"Is the shuttle ready?" Aria demanded, motioning to another of her underlings to pass Shepard and Garrus cloaks of their own.

"It's set to go at anytime, but we'd better hurry, the damn things are spreading out from Afterlife now. It won't be long until they find the other hanger," Was the rough response of a familiar krogan battlemaster.

"Aria, what the hell is going on? Where is my crew?" Shepard demanded, losing her patience. The asari sighed in frustration and faced the human. Shepard was not pleased with the regret lingering in the other woman's gaze.

"They are gone. We're under attack and our weapons aren't doing shit to these things. We've bought some time to get you out of here, but you need to hurry."

"What do you mean gone?" Garrus snarled, barely restraining himself from rushing back toward the night club. Aria's face paled a few hues, gooseflesh crawling over Shepard at the sight of the usually unfazed woman's unrest. She'd never thought she'd see the day that Aria lost that confidant, "I-eat-punks-like-you-for-breakfast" attitude for anyone.

"They were...taken. I don't know what else to tell you about them. These aliens that we've never seen before busted in not long after you left and started shooting up the place. They started hunting out your crew, asking questions. They knew exactly who they were looking for down to the damn engineers. They were asking about you, wanting to know where you were. No one told them anything. They uses some sort of stun on the crew and took them. I got out before they started killing everyone else," She explained, deeply troubled. She hated the idea of being forced to run on her own damn rock.

"Then we need to go and get them back!" Shepard snarled out angrily, drawing her pistols. Aria placed a hand on the woman's wrist firmly.

"Whatever these things are, they can't be killed by our weapons, Shepard. There isn't anything that you can do for them now. Get your asses on the shuttle and get the hell out of here before I change my mind," The Asari commanded, drawing her own weapon. Shepard fixed her with a knowing look, worry flashing in the depths of her red eyes.

"Aria, come with us," She pleaded, knowing what the woman was about to do. The alien woman gave Shepard a small, rare smile, squeezing the human's wrist slightly before releasing her.

"I am not running away while these fools tear apart everything that I've created!" Aria snarled. She motioned to her men and two of them moved further down the hall, waiting for Garrus and Shepard. "Stay alive Shepard. Get out of here, find a way to kill these bastards, and put them in their place."

Without another word, she and her small army rushed toward Afterlife, the Krogan Patriarch clapping Shepard on the back before rushing to follow the asari into battle. Numb, feeling as though her whole world had crashed down around her, Shepard was barely aware of Garrus ushering her toward the hanger. She ran blindly, overwhelmed by the chaos that rampaged through the station. Screams and strange warbling sounds echoed through the shuddering passages as explosions errupted from the direction Aria had gone. Shepard felt her chest constrict painfully. Weren't they done fighting for now? The galaxy was supposed to stay saved for a while, wasn't it? A whoosh announced the opening of the hanger door.

"There you are, Miss Rize," Was the soft, drawl of a man's voice from behind them. The voice was unusual, deep, resonating with a terrible chill that not even a machine could pull off. They froze in their tracks, Shepard turning to face the man that strolled toward them casually. He was not what she had been expecting in the least. Tall, easily as tall as Garrus, with an appearance so humanoid that it was frightening, he looked hardly like a terrible alien come to capture and destroy her. He was dressed simply, an open white collared shirt and a pair of black leather pants that clung to his athletic form like a second skin. His face looked pleasant enough with its handsome, refined features, his full, generous mouth and angular jaw. The man's hair looked strikingly similar to her own, blood red and oddly layered with strands of black here and there. A set of black tattoos lined his cheeks. They were tribal, intricate and she had a strange feeling that she'd seen them before. His ears were pointed, much like the elves mentioned in human myth and they were pierced multiple times with glinting jems. But it was his eyes that made him seem unearthly. Cold, glistening, chrome, " I've been looking for you for quite some time, you know."

She had her gun leveled on him in a blink, eyes boring into him with a promise of violence. Whoever this guy was, he was about to say hello to thirty clips of incindiary ammo.

"I don't know who you are, but if you've done something to my crew, I swear that you'll pay," She snarled in warning. He chuckled lightly, placing his hands in his pockets as he cast her a serene look.

"Mmm, but you are a fiesty one, aren't you? Harbringer mentioned that. Don't fret, love, I'd never think of harming your precious crew. After all, they are part of what makes you so formidable. We need you all in one piece," He replied with a playful sort of grin despite the gun pointed at him. He seemed completely at ease, amused even, "Won't you be a good girl now and come along quietly? You as well, Mr. Vakarian?"

"Go to hell, pal," She deadpanned, pulling the trigger. The heat sink bullet traveled toward the grinning alien, Shepard feeling her stomach drop as the object passed through him as though he were a ghost. His laugh was...terrifying. Soft, derranged, and colder than anything she'd ever encountered before. He tilted his head to the side, eyes wild, feral, like some great predator about to strike a killing blow.

"Come now, Rize, didn't you heard your little alien friend? Your pathetic little toys won't do anything to me," He half scolded. Garrus snarled darkly, taken off guard by the fact that the man had seemingly become transparent.

"A hologram? Are you really in front of us, or are you just messing with us to stall for time?"The turian asked angrily, wanting nothing more than to wipe that stupid smirk from the guy's mouth. If anything, the man's smile grew, revealing strangly pointed teeth. He shifted his weight to rest a hand on his slim hips, head tilting in a rougish manner. Whomever this person was, he acted nothing like anything the Reapers had thrown at them before.

"If it will ease your mind, Turian, yes, I am a hologram, and no I am not really here," The man stated sarcastically, lifting his free hand in a delicate motion, fingers splaying out towards them, " And now, my love, You come with me,"

Shepard felt the fing hair on the back of her neck rise on end and on impulse, she flung herself to the ground just as without any real warning, the area where she'd been standing errupted into a feild of warbling energy that flashed in blasts of red. She rolled to her feet and grabbed Garrus by the arm, tugging on him to run toward the shuttle. Aria was right, she could not defeat someone with his kind of power right now. His laugh followed them and never in her life had she wanted to kill someone more. Garrus snarled darkly, hating the feeling of helplessness as he ran alongside his Commander. But, what else could he do? They rounded a corner, past a large container that held fuel and the Turian's brain worked quickly.

"Shepard! Barrier, now!" He yelled, spinning about and whipping his omi tool up. Seconds later, overload surged through the tanks, the familiar tingle of Shepard's powerful biotics encasing them as the tanks exploded. The angry shout of their attacker rose over the roar of fireand the screams of electronics. They ran, pushing their way inside of the still opening shuttle doors as quickly as they could. Garrus pressed the close button, watching the chaos vanish behind cold steel. Shepard was already fiddling with the controls by the time he joined her in the cramped console area. The Shuttle hummed and rattled, the docking devices releasing it witha loud clank, "Come on Shepard, get us out of here!" Garrus warned, looking out the observation window as the dangerous stranger emerged from the still burning wreckage. The anger and violence on the man's pretty face was startling. His hand shot up just as the boosters fired.

"I'm working on it! Hold on!" She yelled, punching it. The shuttle gave a great lurch, that strange red energy crackling along her hull just before the small ship surged forward into the blackness. Garrus held tight to one of the chairs to stablize himself as they made the jump to faster than light speed. This clunky little thing was no Normandy, that was for sure. "Damn it!"

"What is it?" Garrus asked in concern as Shepards fingertips danced over the glowing orange controls. SHe fell back into the chair behind her with a defeated expression.

"He fried our locational devices as well as most of our secondary systems," She sighed out in frustration, scrubbing her face with her palms. Sweat dotted her creased brow. Not to mention he has our entire crew, our ship, and Omega. Shepard didn't know who he was, but she was going to rip him to pieces the next time they met, "I have no idea where we are going to end up."

"Well...let's hope for something tropical," Garrus stated in an attempt at lightening the mood, despite the frown that tugged at his mandibals.

Angry, somewhat surprised eyes stared at the spot where Shepard's shuttle had vanished. He knew that he should not have been surprised at her escape. Everything about that woman was unpredictable. He took deep, slow breaths and a soft smile graced his strange features. Well, almost everything. She would come for her friends, that much he knew for a fact. So, they would wait for her. And she would come right into his arms, where she belonged.

-----

Jack was pissed. Well, what else was new? She found herself in a random room that was furnished like one of the modest dwellings on Omega. Her captors had modified the place into a prison, it seemed. She hated prisons. Immediately, she began looking for a means of escaping. Her eyes rolled over the cofortable looking couch, the home console, the vid screens and the plants that lined the room. Judging from the holos that coated the walls, this had been a family's home. She studied the images of the family together; humans, she noted. They looked happy. Her lips pursed into a slight frown at the tinge of longing in her chest. A little girl with long golden curls waved back at her from the shoulders of a tall handsome looking brunet man who had caught a large glob of strawberry icecream with his cheek. Jack bet that they weren't too happy now.

She then observed the door keeping her in. It hummed strangely and glowed with a red energy she'd never seen before. Testingly, she reached out to it with her biotics, the blue energy clashing violently with the red. A highpitched screech filled the room from the snaps of power and Jack backed away holding her ears. Anger fueled her and the stubborn woman let out a yell, throwing the full force of her power at the door that fought back just as strongly. Sweat gathered on her forehead as she ignored the burn of the heat the two colliding forces were generating. She felt dizzy from the shifting pressure, her body weaking as her biotics were sucked up hungrily by the red energy. With a frustrated cry, she dropped to her knees, her power flickering before retreating back inside of her.

"It won't work. I already tried it," Was Miranda's dull tone from the desk in the corner that Jack had missed. Great. "Get comfortable, I don't think that we are going anywhere for a while."

Jack wanted to curse, scream at the other woman, but strangely, her mind reminded her of the deal she'd made with Thane. She snorted softly and rose to her feet only to deposit herself on one of the couches with a huff. Whatever. Absently, she found herself wondering what had happened to the green skinned man.

"Thane and the others are safe for now, though I don't know what happened to Grunt and Mordin," Miranda answered without even having to be asked, earning a glare from the blad woman. Why did she have to be such a know it all? "You can talk to them using the console on the far wall there. I don't really understand what our captors are trying to prove by letting us communicate and keeping us comfortable."

"Where's Shepard?" Jack asked finally, earning a concerned expression from the other woman. Miranda's brows drew together in worry, eyes refusing to meet Jack's.

"I...I don't know. I hope that she escaped," The long haired female admitted, "Though wherever she is, Garrus must be with her."

Strangely enough, Jack found that thought to be reassuring. She was surprised to find that she had full confidance in Shepard getting them out. The convict never thought she'd see the day that she'd trust someone so completely. Numbly, the biotic rose and moved tot he small screen on the wall, pressing the lower button.

"Frog-man?" She asked curiously. A moment later, Thane's face appeared on the screen. He looked relieved.

"Good, you are awake. I was...worried," He commented. She scoffed at him, but couldn't help the soft smile that she couldn't fully hide from him.

"Bah! I don't need some green lizard worrying about me," She stated, earning a chuckle from the Drell, " Any idea on how to get us out?"

" I am working on it," Was his response before he vanished. Jack bit her lowerlip thoughtfully. Why had he cared about her waking up or not? A strange little flutter resounded from her chest. The ice was cracked.