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Garrus felt sick to his stomach for the first time in years, sitting on his bunk with his head in his hands, talons digging into the flesh around and under his crest as though to tear it out. In the back of his mind he just barely registered the faint sting of his claws scraping into his skin, cutting shallowly around his ridged crest. But his head throbbed for more reasons than that, though. Like how your own heartbeat could make an open wound scream, his head spun and throbbed with every moment, spinning to match the almost violent churning of his stomach.

A stomach he'd already emptied into his wastebin, else he'd have his head in the little metal thing even now.

"I didn't know, Penny." He finally murmured to the android sitting beside him. She hummed and, quietly but firmly, he went on, voice warbling involuntarily from high pitches to low. "If I'd known, I wouldn't have let Shepard… I wouldn't have been a part of that, Penny."

"I believe you." The android beside him smiled, her hands folded in her lap and her legs swinging back and forth under his cot. He was decently tall for a Turian and she was short for a Human, so that meant that what was for him a comfortable height for his cot left her feet dangling inches from the floor. "I would not have come to speak with you at all if I believed that you were a bad person, Friend Garrus. I know you would not have done what you did had you known."

"Thank you…" That she could say that without a hiccup told him she meant it, and as much faith as she was placing in him, he would place enough in her to believe what she said in the Med-Bay. "I just… Wish I'd known."

"Ignorance ain't innocence, Scales. You know that." Zaeed growled from his spot leaning against the locked door that led out, into the common area beyond. Garrus' flanges flicked in a silent threat but the man went on, unafraid of him, "You did what you did, and that's the end of it. Bitchin' about it won't change a damn thing now."

"You think I don't know that, Zaeed?" He snarled, flanges flicking as he rose and scowled at the mercenary. Storming across the room and pressing his face into Zaeed's he snarled, close enough that the man could probably smell his breakfast, "I did something awful because I didn't know any better... A-And I had orders to follow."

"Just following orders has always been a shitty excuse, Scales."

"Yeah, well, how was I supposed to know any better!?" Garrus growled, "I'm a Turian and I was a Turian with orders! I-I had to follow them!"

"Like I said before." Zaeed shrugged, smiling in his face, "Ignorance ain't innocence, Scales, and 'just following orders' is a bullshit line."

"Zaeed, I understand why you are upset, but that's enough." Penny interrupted, before Garrus could say anything. Firmly, more so than he had ever heard her, the little woman ordered, "We're going to stop this infighting. It is meaningless, and though I understand it is because we are all upset, Garrus isn't the one we are upset with. Else we wouldn't have come to talk to him."

"Indeed." Mordin finally spoke, laying a gentle hand on Garrus' shoulder to urge him back and away from the mercenary. Flanges flicking agitatedly, he turned to stalk away, past the doctor and to his desk "Here for allies, not enemies. Said both your pieces. Let it go."

"Fine." The mercenary sighed, "If you say so, Doc."

"Right, yeah. Let it go..." Garus sighed, took a deep breath, and forced himself to at least try to calm down. It didn't work, of course, but he had to try, and the trying at least gave him something to focus on long enough to compose himself. Leaning his knuckles on the cluttered work table he asked, "Penny, please, can she take it back?"

"Take it back…?"

"Aura." He growled, turning to give the little android a hard stare. She blinked, confused and thinking through what he'd said, "She gave me part of herself to… To give me Aura, but I didn't know that. I don't want it and I don't need it. Can she take it back?"

"Oh." The android blinked and then, after a second, actually laughed. A little giggle, rather, but a laugh nonetheless.

"I wasn't joking…"

"No, Friend Garrus, I-I know you weren't." She assured him, standing and bouncing around past her two friends to, to his surprise, give him a hug. He blinked, mandibles flicking unsurely, but she bounced back and away to stand between her two companions by the door. Smiling sadly, she explained, "You cannot ever give back what you took, Friend Garrus. Your soul has been unshackled, and Best Friend Pyrrha gave you a piece of hers to do it. Neither action can be undone, any more than you can undo the taking of a life."

"I see…" He sighed, turning to lean on his knuckles once more. Growling, he shook his head, "Damn it, I guess I should have expected that. But I guess that would have been too easy, anyway."

"It would, but sadly, it is impossible." Smiling wider Penny turned a look at Zaeed's crossed arms and then crossed her own in the same way. Though it lacked the same heat Zaeed's posture had, her smile quickly faded and robbed it of any warmth it might have offered the room.

Instead, it only made his chest ache and his flanges flick.

"We need to stay focused, and I need you to understand that while you can't take back what happened, Shepard is responsible for this. Not you." Penny's smile never wavered as she stared him down, adding after a moment, "That you come to understand this is imperative."

"Right…" He nodded, sighing and running his hands over his crest absently. "I'll try, just… Give me time and something to focus on."

"We will." The android smiled, "We are intending on putting this entire matter to rest, in fact. So you have plenty of time to process these things. And I am here for you."

"Good segue to our purpose here." Mordin took the opportunity to add, smiling pleasantly at the girl and explaining, "Planning confrontation. Or intervention. Both words work. But the squad and the mission can't go forward like this."

"Yeah." Garrus nodded, "I get that. So what, us four? I don't imagine Miranda is someone we want to try and get for this little endeavour."

"We're going to get New Friend Jack, too!" Penny smiled as she said it, but as she went on it soured, turning from genuine warmth to a forced, artificial thing. "She dislikes Cerberus and so the hope is that what they threatened to do to us will be enough to convince her."

"I threatened you, too…" He murmured, his voice warbling into its higher pitch once more before he could catch it.

"No, you did not." Penny smiled, dismissing his contrition easily and smiling for it. "Shepard did and Miranda did, but you just did what you were told. And besides, you are already quite apologetic. So even if you think you did, then I forgive you!"

"Right…" Well, he supposed there really was nothing else to do about it. If Penny wanted them to move on, and forgave him, then all he could do was wait and apologize to Pyrrha later. "Well, let's get it over with, I guess. I'm not crazy about talking to someone like Jack, but… Well, it's not my plan."

"Sensible." The doctor nodded, turning to his companions and smiling politely. "It is likely we have been noticed already, in any event. So we had best get underway before the Commander is notified and intervenes."

"She can't do much since we're not out to mutiny and take the ship or nothin'." Zaeed shrugged, explaining for Garrus sake. Or so he assumed, at least, from the way the man was looking at him. "But if we want a show of it, we need the whole squad. Makes the point harder to ignore."

"That's our plan." Penny nodded, smile vanishing as her voice became quiet and grave. "A show of unity, to make clear that we will not, as a group of friends, tolerate this mistreatment any more. With the five of us, she will be forced to understand that she cannot continue like this. And that she cannot threaten us in such a manner as she did. Not any of us."

"Yeah." Garrus nodded. "Not any of us."

"So then." Mordin prompted them, gesturing at the door with a wave of his hand. "Shall we go? Much to do. And it is doubtful Subject-" He blinked, "Jack. Jack is not a trusting person. Cooperation unlikely to come easily to her."

That absolutely no one had a counter to and so under the old Salarian's direction, they made their way out and to the elevator. Hopefully, Jack wouldn't be too hard to get on their side. But then, even if they couldn't, they still had everyone else. Shepard was a reasonable woman, as long as you approached her right. He'd known her for years, now, he understood her and she understood him.

She'd listen to him, at the very least, he was sure of it.

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"So you wanna get the Cerberus bitch and the Commander in a room and call 'em out with everyone there?" Jack asked, sat on a stack of crates in the middle of the Engineering deck's under-decking where she was staying. The rest of them were left standing at the other end, in the crossroad between the stairs with nowhere to sit. "And you're assuming I'll be in on it since it means stickin' it to the Bitch. That sound about right?"

"Yes, that sounds about right." Penny answered, the near-nude woman humming and taking a bite of the sandwich they'd brought her. Taking the opportunity to speak, she explained, hoping that she could preempt the resistance they all anticipated. "I will of course understand if you do not wish to help us, Friend Jack. We simply wished to try and convince you to help us. We would very much appreciate if-"

"Not your damn friend." The woman interrupted with a growl and her mouth full, entirely uncaring about basic manners. Father would have hated her... "And I'm not all that interested in any of your personal shit, Robot Girl."

"Oh…" Penny blinked, surprised by the woman's rebuke. "I did not mean to be a bother."

"Yeah,well, maybe think about that next time before you wake someone up to drop your baggage on them."

"Hey, don't be a bitch about it." Zaeed snapped, laying a hand on her shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze. She turned to look up at him but he only grimaced, avoiding her gaze and snapping, "Shit's hard enough on the little lady as it is. If you don't wanna help us out that's just goddamn fine, but you ain't got any reason to be a cunt to her."

"Going soft on the robot?" The woman laughed, eyeing him up and smiling viciously. "I mean, I dunno if she has the right parts, but if that's the shit you're into then-"

"Finish that god damn sentence and I'll rip your damn head off you skinny b-!" Zaeed snarled as he surged toward the woman. Penny's hands snapped out, grabbing his arm as it left her shoulder and pulling him back. Turning his glower on her he grumbled, "What? You can't think I'm gonna let that shit slide."

"Friend Jack simply has a sharp sense of humor, Friend Zaeed." She smiled, tugging him back to her side and giving him a meaningful little look, doing her best impression of Weiss' somehow playful yet simultaneously chiding tone. "She means no harm, she is simply being funny in her own coarse way. And it is a friend's responsibility to understand a friend's sense of humor and accept it."

"...The fuck?" Jack blinked, shaking her head slowly as if confused. "I-I'm not fucking joking-"

"Your jokes are very funny in your own way, friend Jack." Penny smiled, cocking her head to the side playfully, gently chiding her. "But please, try not to derail us. We are trying to have a conversation. Please try and stay on the same page as the rest of us."

"Just… You are fuckin' crazy, Polendina. Ain't nobody that's ever said that kind of shit to my face with a smile like that." Jack murmured slowly before laughing and shaking her head when Penny simply shrugged, the convict suddenly happier than Penny had seen her since they'd met. Shrugging, finally, Jack leaned back and sighed, "I like you, robot tits or not. You said that cerberus bitch threatened to turn you over to their 'scientists' for tests?"

"That was the implication, yes." She nodded, frowning thinly as she recalled it. "They mentioned investigation, interrogations and the like."

"Cerberus bastards put me in a lab, once." She growled, scratching at a place on the back of her neck and grimacing. As though she'd smelled something foul, or tasted something incredibly, painfully sour. Shaking her head and folding her arms, the woman sighed, "Fuck it. I'm in."

"Really…?"

"What?" She growled, "So surprised I'm willing to stick it to that Cerberus cunt, Bird Brain?"

"I mean, kind of, yeah." Garrus shrugged, hand snapping up to bat the can she threw at him out of the air. "Did you just throw a can at me…?"

"Yes, I did, now shut the fuck up before I throw a crate at your soul raping ass." Garrus hissed at that and Penny frowned, stepping forward and opening her mouth to defend her admittedly somewhat birdlike friend. But Jack saw it coming and waved her off, sighing boredly. "Whatever, it was just a damn joke, I guess. Anyway, I'm in on this little game so when are we playing?"

"Once we dock with the Citadel." Mordin explained simply, smiling calmly as he had been the entire time. "There, we can withdraw if need be. Into the Citadel. Safe enough, assuming the authorities don't detect that she is synthetic. Would be unfortunate, though. Collectors harming many, and stopping them will be difficult on our own."

"I've got some friends that would help us, if we asked 'em." Zaeed grunted, frowning after a moment and adding. "But, ah, I don't wanna talk about that here. You, that AI bitch might not have reasons to watch. But this psycho? She's new and fuckin' crazy, so we probably have a peanut gallery."

"Untrue." Mordin smiled, holding up a hand and letting them all see his palm. On it sat a little square, no wider or thicker than Penny's own little thumb. In its center, a little spot glowed a dim green. "This is a jammer. Designed it myself. Short range but very effective. Even STG operatives would have difficulties bypassing it. Cerberus listening devices and security… Lower than STG standard."

"Oh." Penny blinked, smiling widely. "That is very impressive, Friend Mordin! I did not know you had such a device on hand."

"Thank you." He smiled, turning to the others and going on, "Our movements will have been noticed. Nothing will be known about our intentions. So for now, we should adjourn. Wait until we reach the Citadel. Then, reconvene and confront the Commander. Penny, will you make sure Pyrrha is present?"

"I can, yes." It would be difficult, to be sure, with how sad she'd been. But it was possible at least, even if Penny had to trick her. On that note, she had an idea... "I suggest we agree to go to dinner together on the Citadel. Friend Mordin, Friend Garrus and I. That way, I can convince Best Friend Pyrrha that she is expected to attend and get her to come with me without it being a lie."

"Why's lying matter…?"

"Ah, well…" Garrus grimaced and looked to her for permission and then, when she nodded, explained for Jack. "She, uh, hiccups when she tries to lie. So she needs whatever she says to be true."

"That plan is acceptable." Mordin said, nodding when the others did. "So we adjourn for now. We will reconvene when we reach the Citadel. Until then, do nothing suspicious."

"Yeah, yeah, y'all got your plan." Jack sighed, yawning and turning a meaningful eye on her messy looking cot. "Now mind fuckin' off? I wanna get back to sleep, unless somethin' interesting is happening right now. Which it ain't."

Shrugging, Penny turned to leave, followed by her little cluster of somewhat new, and very protective friends. As the elevator closed she blinked and turned to Mordin, "Would you mind sweeping my quarters now then? I would enjoy being unwatched while I sleep."

"It would be a pleasure." Mordin smiled, "Need to retrieve a baggy first. Would like to return most expensive devices to Miranda. Only polite."

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"I would have preferred not to need to go out today, Penny." Pyrrha sighed as the Normandy shuddered gently all along its length, docking with the Citadel at long last. At Penny's pout, Pyrrha resisted the urge to smile, thinking of the same pout on a pale, silver-eyed girl from another life. "Garrus needs his training, as well. I would not see what I have given to him wasted."

"I know." Penny assured her, murmuring after a moment, "Even if you didn't wish to give it to him, it would be a shame to waste it…"

"What is done is done, Penny, and cannot be undone." Pyrrha sighed, turning a small smile on the little android that felt forced and thin even to Pyrrha herself. Penny's lips thinned and her brows came down and Pyrrha sighed, reaching for the easy change in subject before Penny could challenge her. "We have graver concerns than this right now, Penny. The Collectors, the Reapers, the gods…"

"We have a lot on our plates, on that we can agree." Penny agreed, taking a seat beside her on the little cot Pyrrha had pressed against the wall. Snatching up her hand and holding it in both of her own, the android smiled, "Only more reason to lean on your friends in these situations, though. Is it not?"

"I suppose…" And with that Penny had her well enough trapped, drawing a weary and more resigned sigh from Pyrrha for it. Smiling and standing, she caved, "Fine. I'm going to get a shower and get dressed then, I suppose."

"Alright!" Penny smiled, bouncing away excitedly, "I will tell everyone to get ready then!"

"Everyone?" Pyrrha blinked in confusion, rising to ask what she meant, "Who is 'everyone', though? I thought it was only going to be a few of-"

The heavy, armored door slamming shut behind Penny cut her off suitably and Pyrrha sighed, shaking her head and shrugging the matter off. Penny, as admittedly stubborn and earnest as she was being, didn't mean any harm. And even as frustrated as it had her, Pyrrha still knew that. But Penny wasn't one to purposefully cause trouble and, with as much as Pyrrha herself argued they should let it go and move on, it was past time she got out of the room and did that.

And a trip to the Citadel for a dinner and a walk, assuming the Commander permitted as much, sounded like a good enough start. After a nice, hot shower to take her mind off of everything, at least. As ineffective as they'd been so far, she could at least enjoy the privacy she was granted in the showers. Assuming she wasn't being monitored and recorded in there, too, that was…

"Don't think about it." She reminded herself as she stripped down and set the water to run and hear, "Bigger things to focus on."

Hair falling loose around her shoulders, she pulled on the old, somewhat weathered by now, hardsuit she and Legion had bought. Over time she'd adjusted to the way it hugged her and showed her off, though Dark Brother be praised it didn't do to her what Lawson's did, but even so she preferred to wear her gear over it. The weight was a familiar comfort, and the metal armor enabled her Semblance where the undersuit did not. An Aura and Semblance backed kick to the head could surprise even a Krogan, she'd learned.

And that was not something to be ignored, for obvious reasons.

Feeling cleaner, if not better all around, than she had for a long while, she put a smile on her face and stepped into the hall. "Oh," she blinked, smile polite but thinning, "hello, Zaeed. How are you today?"

"Pissed the hell off, kid, s'how I'm doin'." The armored and armed man growled, looking around the hallway warily, like he knew a fight was coming but not from where. "How you doin', though, Red? Feelin' alright?"

"Yes." She answered before the oddity of who was asking the question struck her and she frowned, cocking her head to the side. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't fuckin' know," the man shrugged, "just seemed the polite thing to say."

"Exactly." She cut him off, eyes narrowing with a kind of suspicion she never would have entertained back on Remnant. But dying had a way of changing you, she supposed for not the first time. "It is the polite thing to say, but you are Zaeed Massani. Why do you, Zaeed Massani, ask? Being polite isn't something you are known to put high on your list of things to do, to my mind."

"It was just a fuckin' question…"

"I suppose you have a point." She sighed, shaking her head and forcing that suspicion down. Quietly, she said, "I'm sorry, then, Zaeed. I shouldn't have assumed. I'm assuming you are waiting outside the women's restroom for a reason, though. Were you looking for me? Penny, maybe?"

"The first one 'cus the second one sent me to get you." Her brows narrowed but the man had already turned away, walking towards the elevator and grunting over his shoulder, "C'mon then, Red. Got shit to get to that needs gettin' to."

"What kind of-"

"The kind you'll get to in, like, five goddamn minutes if you just c'mon." Zaeed grunted, leaving little room for her to do anything but follow him to the elevator. Once she was inside and the doors slid close, the man punched the elevator button to send them down and sighed like a man with more than his share of weight on his shoulders.

"Are you… Okay, Zaeed?" The man gave her a look, his one properly there brow rising in a clear question, and she grimaced. "That sigh, I've… Heard it from people before." Pyrrha herself among them, too, when Ozpin's offer weighed down on her shoulders. "We may not be on anything more than diplomatic terms, but… Are you alright?"

"God, you're just… Just the exact kinda person I thought you were, aren't you?" She blinked and shook her head confoundedly, brows knitting down in confusion, but Zaeed was already laughing his own question off. "Nothin', Red. You'll figure it out here in a minute anyway, so just wait it out."

"I suppose…" That was a foreboding end to the conversation, to say the least, but the gentle shudder of the elevator coming to a stop cut off any more conversation.

The cargo bay was a place she'd been many times, for sparring, training and pre-mission preparations alike. Each time it was different, stocked properly for whatever purpose they needed it to fill. Today was no different, with stacks and stacks of empty steel crates waiting against the walls and crewmen walking down the line going over them. They were doing a last inventory check, she knew, before they began restocking aboard the Citadel. The white and black Kodiak dominated the left of the center of the bay, lifted up on metal brackets for servicing while fresh parts for repairs and updates were freely available and surrounded by tools.

Beside it, armored and armed as though about to climb onto the shuttle and shoot off for a mission, stood the ground team. Or, well, most of it, Lawson and Shepard both absent for reasons she wasn't sure of. Seeing them coming, Garrus turned to Penny and seemed to rush to speak to her, mandibles flicking frantically. Smiling, Penny gave the alien's forearm a pat and nodded, turning towards her.

Stranger and stranger, but still she smiled, waving as she reached them, "Hello again, how are-"

"I'm so sorry!" Garrus suddenly cut in, trying to move towards her but stopping when Penny grabbed his armored shoulder and tugged him back. Gesturing at the small woman, who was showing off far more strength than she should be given what a normal Human would be able to, he explained, "Penny told us everything, explained everything, Nikos. Aura, what it really, really means to do what you- I would never have let Shepard order that if I'd known."

"Good fuckin' job Scales." Zaeed sighed, tugging her along until she was standing in front

"Penny… Explained…" Blood running cold, she turned slowly to the android for answers. When Penny only smiled sheepishly, Pyrrha felt cool fear and shock fade, replaced by a wave of anger. "What did you tell them, Penny? What exactly did you explain?"

"What I am." Penny blinked, eyes widening in shock. Her anger must have shown through very clearly because Penny frowned, eyes flat and cautious. "And what Aura means. What was done to you came with understanding that, but I explained it, too. That was all, though, I didn't explain anything else."

"I-I see." She sighed, crossing an arm over her chest and leaning her other elbow on it, pinching her nose to try and get her calm back. Between the lines, she read, was that Penny had not told them about the gods. Still, "Why did you do this then, exactly?"

"To protect you, of course." Penny said as though it were obvious, smiling and turning to look at the group that she'd apparently assembled. "When they all understood what had happened, and what it meant, they were angry. And now we are going to confront the Commander together to make it very clear that her threats and behavior are unacceptable and will not be-"

"You're all going to do what?!" She shrieked, loud enough that the assembled group actually flinched for it.

"Why are you screaming?" A quiet, cool voice asked from behind her, Pyrrha spinning on a heel to meet the Commander's impassive face, her helmet tucked under an arm. Her panic had to be clear now, too, for the woman's eyes narrowed suspiciously, flicking from her to Penny and then to the rest of the group. "What is happening here, Nikos? What are you and Polendina doing?"

"W-We were going to go out to eat on the Citadel." Pyrrha offered anxiously.

"No you aren't, you're confined to the ship." The woman growled, rating her free hand on her sidearm at her waist meaningfully. "Or did you forget our conversation, Nikos? You're already on a short leash, you and Polendina both, but if you want it tighter-"

"Over my dead body." Garrus suddenly snarled, talons gripping her shoulder and pulling her back, behind the wall of armored bodies that formed in front of her. Snarling and towering over the surprised looking, smaller Human woman, the Turian snarled, "Bad enough you made me force myself on her, I won't let you threaten them anymore."

"What are you talking about?" Shepard asked, stepping back and away from the man. Garrus made to follow but Penny, between him and Mordin and in front of her, pulled him back into the line. Seeing the Turian's anger, her impassive face finally broke, the faintest hint of fear coloring it, "What has gotten into you, Garrus? Forced yourself on… I don't understand."

"Explained everything to us." Mordin offered, standing beside the armored Turian with his hands clasped behind his waist. "Touching souls is intimate. More intimate than sex. You forced her to do it. What better description is there other than forcing him on her?"

"I-I had to, to get proof that she wasn't a-"

"You made me rape her soul!" Garrus finally snarled, yanking free of Penny's grip and surging forward.

The Commander flinched, dropping her helmet and sliding instinctively into a defensive stance, but Garrus' hands closed around her forearms. Wrenching her up he turned, throwing her bodily against the Kodiak's side and then shoving Mordin and Zaeed aside as they tried to get between him and her. One hand closed around her throat and the other slammed against the Kodiak, the Turian snarling and hissing a threat as he pressed his face close to hers. Her knee slammed up and into his armored chest but he ignored it, glaring hate and pain at the woman.

"I'm a Spirits forgotten monster, Shepard!" He snarled in her face, grabbing her Carnifex when she brought it up to threaten him. Wrenching it up and into his throat, he slammed her back against the Kodiak again, "I dare you! What you made me do, might as well go out standing up for the woman I-"

"Enough of this!" Pyrrha snapped, surging forward and through the line of defenders. Surprised by her sudden rush, they didn't catch her and so she slammed into Garrus' side, slamming her palm all along his side and then flaring her Aura to hurl him away. He hit the ground a foot away and rolled to a knee, looking at her with wide eyes.

"That is enough, all of you." She snarled, Shepard behind her, leaning against the Kodiak and with Pyrrha standing in front of her protectively. Straightening, she turned a heated glare on each of them and spoke, clearly and loudly, "We have bigger problems than this, damn it! The Collectors are abducting thousands to cut apart and do Dark Brother only knows what else! I am not going to be the one that puts the mission to stop that in jeopardy!"

"But Friend Pyrrha, she-"

"I know what she did, Penny!" Pyrrha snapped, the girl blinking at the heat and reprisal in her voice. A pang of guilt hit Pyrrha for that but she pressed on in spite of it, "What she did was awful. But I would give far more of myself to protect innocent people and do what is right, and you know that for a fact, Penny. Better than anyone, you know what I will pay to do what is right."

"I-I do…" She nodded, frown hardening after a moment. "B-But I couldn't let this stand! The threats, the anxiety, and what if she forced you to do it again? Or me? This precedent could not be left to stand!"

"Then let it fall!" Pyrrha snarled, turning to the Commander and pointing a long finger in her surprised face, "What you did was awful, Shepard. You stole part of my soul for your damn paranoia. But that paranoia dies here. We are allies, and we will trust each other. No tight leashes, no threats, nothing."

"I can't guarantee that." Shepard countered quietly, "The Reapers can indoctrinate anyone. Without my paranoia, you could have destroyed the mission and-"

"If I wanted to destroy the mission I'd not have intervened." Pyrrha interrupted, the simple point shutting the woman up. Stepping back she offered her a hand up, off of the shuttle she was leaning against, and offered simply, "We're starting anew, right now. No paranoia, no threats, no shackles. You trust me and apologize, and we all move on together. As a unit, to face the Collectors and the Reapers. The real enemy."

"...Fine." She murmured, taking the hand and letting herself be pulled off the shuttle's hull. Giving Garrus a look over Pyrrha's shoulder the woman grimaced, "I'm not apologizing for testing you, though. I had to. But… I can apologize for being wrong, at least. You're right, if you were a Reaper agent, this would have accomplished your mission."

"That's fine enough, as long as you let it all go now." And though she sensed some heat from the woman, and from Garrus behind her, there was at least a tense peace. To that end she turned, looking at each of them, "This is my solution to my problem. I trust that you all can accept it? Good."

Turning to leave she paused and sighed, saying over her shoulder, "Thank you all for coming to my aid. Just, next time, speak to me first?"

At their various grunts of affirmation, Pyrrha took her leave, headed back to the elevator and then to the bathroom again. Her head was aching, now, and a hot shower would ease it. And, as a side benefit, meant that she wouldn't be there while everyone cooled down.

XxX-XxX-XxX

Quick clarification-

This problem is 'resting' not 'resolved'. It won't come up again for a while, but rest assured that the complexity at play here isn't just getting washed off the cutting board. They're all agreeing to set it aside for now to focus on the bigger, more evident threat. And each character's logic leads to this being the best conclusion. They wanted Penny and Pyrrha out from under the heel they were under, which they got. And Shepard has CONCRETE PROOF now, by stated logic there at the end, that Pyrrha isn't on the Collector's side.

Enough, at least, to ease off and extend some real trust.

And for those like Espacole who asked-

The difference between here and her meeting and giving Jaune Aura is two-fold. One, Pyrrha actively consented there where she did not here. Two, she anticipated half a decade of her life being spent with him. These differences are why the situations are different.

XxX-XxX-XxX

Reading Friend :

I do have a schedule, yes! Iit's on discord if you want to see it, but generally it's a rotation. Once you get the feel for it you'll know it.

Artekha :

I do too, which is why Rookie's version of Shepard is so much more natural for me. I wanted to do more than one Shepard, though, so it wasn't always the same character.

Australia Dealer :

This is a Renegade Shepard but there are some decisions I don't even consider Renegade in ME. Like leaving Zaeed pinned to die. THOSE I will say at the front I don't intend to do.

Mister Cuddlesworth :

Glad you're enjoying! And yeah, the theme of this short arc is 'ignorance causes as much harm as maliciousness'.

ArchAngel319 :

This is, or was - I do RRs before the chapter so the arc MAY be over already - a short arc. But one that I am using to pay off, and set up, a handful of things. Hope you enjoy!

Glrasshopper :

Penny, maker of friends, builder of armies and kicker of asses if you somehow manage to piss her off enough she wants to.

Tpoynt :

A lot to address there but Imma let the story do it, lol. Hope you continue enjoying!

Henri9897 :

While his Aura will matter, if he ever gets to 'takes a rocket to the face and lives' levels it won't be for a very, very long time after very, very extensive training. I can assure you of that.

Double 2 Cat :

Schrodinger's Penny Protecc Squad. No one quite knows what its truth is.

Angry Santo :

'Murderous tsundere grandpa' is now on my list of 'terms that I will never not use'. Thanks, lol.