Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Mass Effect, or any other game, book, movie, etc in this fanfiction.
"Talking"
Thinking
"Alien Language" / Emphasized Word
Written Narration'

Chapter Three: Archangel: Part One

"I take it your little vendetta is on hold for the foreseeable future?" She asked calmly, cursing herself in her mind. She'd meant to reassure him she'd always be there, but it simply wasn't her. She heard him laugh brokenly at that and nod, pulling away from her, his eyes bloodshot but no new tears falling. He reeled his sadness in, there would be a time for that later, he wanted to enjoy his reunion with his Omega, now that the worst of it was over.

"Indefinitely I'd say…at least until I have more information…" He watched her as he spoke, a smile slowly forming on his face. It didn't quite reach his eyes, but it was nonetheless sincere. "Thank you, my love. For staying the same…it'd feel…faked, if you acted any differently." He caressed her cheek, which prompted her to lean into his hand, a smirk appearing on her face in reply to his words. "You know…I wanted to comfort you, wanted to make you feel safe…but it's still you who reassures me. How do you do that?"

"That's just who he is, Aria. You know that." Luna's voice made Aria jump slightly, turning to the screen that appeared on the far wall, close to the doors. "Miss Lovegood." She still didn't like sharing him, but then again, she got to have fun with the other women too, so there were some good things she could get out of it, mainly babysitters for her baby girl, the most precious thing in her life. She turned to Harry again, noticing he was removing his armor as he watched her.

"So…you're going to stop pretending to be two people, I take it?" Harry nodded as he finished stripping off his armor. "I don't plan to make any excursions anymore. Now it's pretty much a waiting game for me, see if any of my contacts can dig up anything useful about Cerberus and the project that took them from me" he saw the frown that marred her face and approached her, cupping her face with his hands, an action that turned her eyes back to him. "I need closure on this Aria…but you know I love you, and I'd die before I left you…" She snorted at that, knowing full well he was immortal, but taking his words for what they meant. He leaned in, giving her a quick kiss, and a second one, and a third…

"Harry…" she complained half-heartedly, but he paid it no mind, and pushed her to the couch she usually received petitioners on, smirking as he began to strip his clothing. "Harry, they're waiting." She tried, but he simply chuckled and shook his head, amused. "Let them wait. I've been away from you long enough, my Aria." And it had been true, he had planned their reunion for quite some time, now others could wait a few minutes….maybe a few hours.

When the office was once more cleared for others to enter, the Vorcha once more stepped into view, looking eagerly from Aria to a now helmetless Harry, who looked alarmingly like Alpha.

"Thank you for your patience." Aria spoke, her tone neutral, despite the smirk on the male's face "our discussion was longer than I anticipated." The Vorcha walked closer and inspected Harry's face, trying to find any indication that he had been dealt with. Aria chuckled at that, shaking her head. "Not everything is resolved with violence…besides we don't hit each other, do we husband, dear?

Harry wanted to laugh at the surprised face the Vorcha made while backpedalling from him. "No, we do not, my Omega." He turned his attention once more to the Vorcha, his look turning predatory. "Now, I think I heard you wrong…but you were saying that the Vorcha in Omega…my subordinates, are undermining my orders? Did I hear you right?" Harry didn't pay him much attention though, he knew the Vorcha were a chaotic species, he didn't exactly hold it against them, he was absent for several decades while searching for his family.

Instead he looked at his wife "I will meet with the Blood Pack tomorrow, Aria. I'll remind them where their loyalties were supposed to be." He said, walking to sit beside her, his attention on the guard who entered with along with the Blood Pack Vorcha, who seemed more than a little uncomfortable with being there at the moment.

"My lord, my lady…a John Shepard is here to see you." Harry froze at the name. Shepard, just like the military family that had adopted her children…he noticed at the edge of his vision the frown that came to Aria's face, and he forced himself to take a deep, calming breath before he turned to his wife once again.

"Aria…do you need me here for this meeting?" The question was simple but he knew she understood him enough to see past his pretended calmness. She shook her head curtly, the frown still on her face, and he answered with a grateful smile, before he walked over to her, placed a quick, but passionate nonetheless, kiss. He pulled away, but leaned in for another, chaste kiss and only then he left, as he had other business to tend to in Omega. He brushed the male Shepard as he passed the door, but he refused to meet the man's eyes.

Harry had decided to take a walk, but alas, Potter luck struck again, and he was bumped into by the person he wanted to see the least out of every possible living creature.

"Sorry, sir. My mind was elsewhere and…" John Shepard stopped speaking as he recognized Alpha from the files the Illusive Man had given him. There wasn't much on him, which was already something, given the Illusive Man had information on everyone he'd met so far, but his face was clearly that of Alpha, the other half of Omega.

"It's fine, kiddo." Harry said simply, he was about to continue walking, but the man stopped him with a question about Archangel being on Omega, and Harry sighed before turning his attention to Hermione's other kid. He was about to answer, rather rudely too, but something caught his attention, a certain symbol on the man's chest piece…Cerberus. John Shepard was a Cerberus lackey!?

Just as things around him were starting to go haywire due to his quickly diminishing control, Harry felt a hand slip into his, he felt himself pulled away from the Shepard boy, and a moment later he was looking once more into the eyes of Aria, his emerald green eyes slowly losing the ethereal glow they took whenever he used magic.

"He…he's with them…" He whispered, but now that his mind was clearer he continued the line of thought. "Does he even know…?" Aria shushed him, not with words, she knew better, but with a passionate kiss that left him dazed momentarily, present issue briefly forgotten as he reopened his eyes, a silly grin on his face.

A cough caught both their attentions and Harry turned, this time more in control of himself, to address the older of the Shepard twins.

"Yes, Mister Shepard, I know of Archangel. Nothing happens in Omega without our knowledge; But I believe it best if I let Aria explain everything?" He said evenly, not allowing his personal feelings on the organization this John had seemingly associated himself with get to him.

His eyes left John for a moment, and he turned his attention to Aria, who nodded. He knew that not only meant she should be the one talking, it also meant he wasn't really needed, and he knew why. They were in the middle of Afterlife, the heart of Omega, with their people all around them, and Aria herself wasn't exactly a pushover either.

So he left them to their discussion, and decided to investigate himself. Before leaving, Harry looked at his helmet, and decided not to wear it anymore, at least not in Omega. He was sure the Vorcha he met earlier had spread the word of Alpha and the mercenary Harry Potter being one and the same to anyone willing to listen.

As he left Aria's office, Harry heard someone announcing the hunt for Archangel, and recruiting anyone brave enough to face him. Harry, curious about Archangel being recruited by Cerberus of all things, decided to investigate. He approached the man, a Blue Suns mercenary, if the man's attire was anything to go by. The man stared impassively, and as he noticed he wasn't recognized, Harry simply smirked. All he took off was the helmet and already people didn't recognize Harry Potter, the merc who Aria would turn to whenever she needed something done, pronto. Funny thing too as the rest of the armor was still the same…oh well, maybe people were trying to imitate him?

"What is it?" The man growled rather rudely, but it didn't faze the immortal teenager, who simply shook his head and apologized.

"I'm told you're looking for help dealing with Archangel?" At the mention of Archangel the man's demeanor changed, not exactly for the better, but he wasn't dismissing him at first glance either, so maybe that was an improvement? Harry kept his attention on the man as he instructed who he should speak with and where; funnily enough the next person he should talk to in order to get recruited into fighting Archangel was literally beside the other man; he had to go down some steps to get to the door, but it wasn't far from the first man at all; and as he entered the new room, he was promptly judged decent; something that amused him to no end; and given instructions as to where he should go to next.

It was a rather amused Harry that left the inspection, still somewhat amazed at not being recognized at all by anyone around him. He noticed that John Shepard was walking toward a different direction, which meant he was going to start with the doctor instead of Archangel, and he was completely fine with that, maybe he could get to this Archangel person first and recruit the man himself.

A rather uneventful trip later; the contact he'd met for the ride simply told him to hop in and they were off; he was greeted by yet another inspection. Harry chuckled as the man told him he was acceptable, better than most freelancers they had been getting. Harry decided to try milking the man for some information if he was going to pull through with his little personal mission.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's the situation?" He asked, sounding as intrigued as he actually was about this mission.

"If I'm honest, it's a killing ground. The only way to Archangel is through a very exposed bridge, and he's got the superior position in the building at the end of the boulevard where he's holed up." The man was direct enough, given the circumstances, and Harry could appreciate that.

"Do you guys have any plans to take him down?" He asked, genuinely curious as to how they were going to deal with an enemy that seemed to have had the presence of mind to pick the best positioning in order to fight them on his own terms.

"He's getting tired, making mistakes, we'll have him soon enough. A small team is getting ready to infiltrate his position but we need a distraction, we need to draw Archangel's fire so they can move in."

"That's where we, the freelancers, come in, yes?" Harry asked, although he already knew the answer before even forming the question.

"Exactly. You're on the distraction team, you'll head over to the bridge and keep Archangel busy so the infiltration team can sneak in behind him."

That's fucking suicide Harry thought, but kept the comment to himself. There was no need to have the man thinking he wasn't up to the task.

"Head up the boulevard and go to the third barricade. Talk to sergeant Cathka. He'll tell you when to go in." The man finished, and was about to move on, but Harry didn't let him, as he was sure there were other ways into that particular building.

"So, the bridge is the only way into this hideout of Archangel's?" Harry asked, feigning curiosity.

"Exactly. Archangel collapsed all underground tunnels and sealed the doors to the lower levels. We've got teams digging but it's taking too damn long. If they can get the gunship flying again that'll help, but I'm hoping the infiltration team can finish the job and we can all just go home."

"Wait…you guys were using a gunship for one guy?" This time the curiosity was real, and he was genuinely perplexed over the possibilities, one person being able to take out a gunship alone, that took skill.

"Yeah, and Archangel shot it down. Didn't destroy it, but he knew just where to hit to disable it."

Harry was curious about a few more things, but a look at the merc let him know he was losing his patience. He decided to try his luck with one last question before he continued on his way.

"Where is the infiltration team now?" Harry asked, even though the man was already getting ready to welcome the next freelancer. The batarian stopped, looked at him for a moment as though deciding if it was worth the trouble, before with a resigned sigh, decided to answer him.

"Getting ready to begin moving, as soon as the distraction team assumes their position, they'll begin moving toward his hideout." Was his answer, to which Harry nodded and continued on his way. He could deduce the rest by himself, with everything they had spoken about, so instead of wasting both their time, he simply decided to continue on his way.

The young immortal walked around for a moment before he stopped, wondering if it wouldn't be better if he just skipped the introductions and went straight to Archangel by making himself invisible. The idea, although tempting, was ultimately shut down. Harry wanted to be seen, remembered, not just a tale anymore.

It had been fun not being recognized, but it stopped being fun pretty fast, and it was now annoying that people wouldn't remember him, Alpha, co-ruler of Omega and Aria's companion. So, with that in mind he continued walking around, trying to find the people in charge of this little strike force to take down Archangel.

He first came around the Eclipse station, where he could hear someone giving out orders and discussing tactics with the others, The room had few people in it, apparently a leader of some sort, some guards for the doors and some officers sitting with said leader.

"Excuse me, are you the leader of Eclipse?" Harry turned his attention to a salarian, wearing a modified version of the standard Eclipse armor with red skin and white tattoos on his face.

"Did you figure that out yourself? I'm Jaroth, and yes I run Omega's Eclipse." Harry nodded to himself, he was with the right person then. He got weekly reports from Aria about everything that was happening in Omega during his absence, but the rise to power of the merc companies still baffled him. They used to be his, the Omega variant of the Eclipse, Blue Suns and Blood Pack, but given the time he was away he couldn't blame them for grabbing for more power.

He knew the answer, or at least part of the answer before even asking, but he was grabbing for information he didn't already possess, so he asked. "Why are Eclipse in Omega in the first place?"

An annoyed sigh escaped Jaroth's lips, and the leader of Eclipse turned his attention fully to the newcomer. "Since you care so much…Eclipse owns pretty much twenty percent of Omega. Our transports and mechs keep the eezo running."

"Sounds like you have a very organized operation running here." Harry said, hoping it would keep Jaroth speaking.

"Eclipse runs like a well-oiled machine, but Omega is anything but organized these days…used to be this place ran smoothly, when Alpha was still around but word is he had a falling out with Aria and left decades ago, now Aria lets us do our own thing as long as we don't fuck with Aria."

Harry nodded, sounded like a very Aria thing to do. The salarian seemed to know of Alpha, but didn't recognize him. Harry didn't remember anyone with Jaroth's complexion either from the time he dealt with the mercs, so maybe Jaroth rose to power after he left?

"Now it's a constant battle for control, that's without Archangel butting his head where it doesn't belong." Jaroth continued before Harry really had the chance to form his next question, so he let the salarian speak, the man seemed to be on a roll.

"We didn't come to Omega to be constrained by laws and regulations. He'll regret ever coming to Omega, I can promise you that."

Harry picked up on the anger he felt from the leader of Eclipse, so he decided to change the focus of his inquiry to that, as he was genuinely interested as to why a job would be so personal for a mercenary.

"By the way you talk, this is personal for you…why?" Harry asked, crossing his armored arms and tilting his head to the side ever so slightly.

"He raided one of my transports last month, killed two of my best operatives, so yes it's damn personal." Jaroth spoke angrily, and Harry decided to change topics, to try and get the man to cool down a little.

"Can you tell me anything about Archangel?"

Jaroth stopped for a moment, looked at him and nodded. "Only that his life expectancy is shortening by the minute."

"Nothing else?" Harry tried; maybe he could get something useful out of Jaroth before he moved on to the next leader.

"Look around if you want information on him, it'll tell you all you need to know. He's smart, he's resourceful, and he's dangerous." Jaroth then sighed and leaned back on his chair. "Can I assist you any further?"

"No that's it, I need to get going, talk to Cathka."

His answer was a dismissive grunt and attention was once more on the leader who went back to giving instructions as though he hadn't even been interrupted.

Harry saw a datapad on the table at the far side of the room and curious, he decided to take a look.

"Tarak:

I've spoken to Garm, and he and his men are on board. Assuming this operation is successful, we can count on high morale and extensive buy-in from the men. From the losses we've already taken, possibility exists that we won't have the men needed to continue on to the next objective. It's clear, though, that none of our organizations would be ready to move on Aria without the assistance of the other two.

Jaroth"

A/N I'm back! Woot! I had to deal with some personal issues these last few months, but now I should be able to write again, at least a little more often. I should focus on one story at a time and although I'd love this one story to be Conqueror, it's going to be this one...Conqueror will still be updated but those are going to be slow, and other stories are put on hold until I figure out what to do about them. SOme I'll be rewritting, some I'll stop altogether...sorry to those who liked the stories that will be abandoned...

Next chapter should come around next week, and so on and so forth...I'll try posting one chapter a week for this story.

There is a lot I need to talk about but I won't take too much of your time this time around, I'll just let you (Hopefully) enjoy the read and continue writing the story.

Sorry for being away for so long and thank you for your patience.

See ya \o