Disclaimer: I do not own ME.

When she arrived at the place, it was already bustling with people. As far as she could see, all of the tables were already occupied, so there was little chance the queue at the entrance would move anytime soon. She sighed, even unhappier than before.

She twirled slowly, looking around the wards, hoping to spot a familiar face of the pilot. She felt like a fish out of water in clothes she knew didn't fit as much as she would like, and feeling like she didn't belong here. Her hand kept going to the empty place by her thigh nonetheless, seeking solace that wasn't there.

How messed up was that?

She cursed herself for her own obsession with weapons, and turned back to face the sushi bar. Liara's fashionable enviro-suit didn't have pockets so she didn't know what to do with her hands.

Luckily, she didn't have to awkwardly fiddle with them fro too long. She heard her name ring above the omnipresent cacophony of voices and traffic. "Commander Shepard! Commander Shepard!" A heavy accent laced the words and she quickly found their source.

One of the bar's employees, the maitre d' Maya guessed, waved at her. Once he had her attention, he motioned for her to approach him.

She tensed while people in the queue started looking around. Her name was suddenly all around her, flames of whispers getting under her skin, making her sweat and her heart beat faster. Some had already noticed her and pointed her out to their friends.

Calmly, as to not appear like she was running away from all those voices, she stepped out of the queue and walked alongside it, one step at a time, her eyes fixed on the man and his ridiculous tiny moustache.

How come when she had stood face to face with a reaper back on Tuchanka, she wasn't as scared as she was now?

The moustache she had focused on moved as the man's mouth curved into a smile when she approached him "Commander, your table is ready," he told her, motioning deeper into the establishment. Another waiter suddenly appeared by their side.

"My table?" Maya asked, baffled. Had Joker made the reservation under her name? Oh...that made sense actually. Her name could ring a lot of bells these days.

As the new waiter led her deeper into the bar, her hand moved next to her thigh and fingers tried to curl around a grip. Shit, she swore inwardly, forcing her hand to flatten against her leg instead, making it appear like she was simply wiping her palm. People were looking.

Ignore them, she told herself. It was becoming increasingly more difficult as more and more heads followed her and the waiter through the bar. She had never had such attention before so why now? Was it her involvement in the coup? Or the ANN report of their efforts back on Tuchanka?

The memory of Diana's face brought a small smug smile to May's lips. Yeah, it definitely had to be Tuchanka.

Or maybe it had always been like that and she had simply failed to notice before, Maya mused next.

And then she caught motion in front of them and her face brightened up. Joker was waving at her from the very back of the bar. She sighed with relief when she joined him at the table. "Good spot. The fewer people around the better."

"Yeah, good choice," the pilot nodded, smiling. "And the place," he gestured around. "They take things serious. I mean the French guy at the door?" he laughed, pointing a finger over his shoulder. "And you only had to save the galaxy twice to get a table here. And did you see the line outside?"

"I did," Maya smiled and leaned closer. "And I could skip it. I felt...well...awesome, but somehow wrong. I can't get used to the whole...I don't know how to call it. It's like suddenly we're important," she shrugged, her words slower and slower as she caught a sight of a woman wearing an Alliance uniform at the entrance. She jumped up, waving her arm and simultaneously tried to get past the French guy, as Joker had called him.

"We are important," Joker nodded, reaching for a glass of transparent liquid, no colour to it. "I'm the best pilot in the universe and a rockstar now. You – the first human Spectre and all the other things you've accomplished," he purred, taking a sip as he closed his eyes.

Maya sighed, tearing her eyes off the woman. "Can we talk about something else?"

"Sure," Joker nodded, gulping another mouthful of his drink. "You were on the Normandy. How is it going?"

Maya shrugged. "Honestly? Beats me. People looked busy. I don't really understand what's going on there. But EDI looks fine. I haven't heard her complain so far so I guess nothing out of ordinary?" Leaning a little closer to Joker, she took hold of her own glass. It was nice of Joker to order a drink for her as well. "What is a standard maintenance of such a ship anyway?"

"An oil change?" Joker shrugged. "Space tire rotation."

She laughed gently. "Tires? The Normandy has no tires."

Joker snorted. "And how can you know? Have you ever crawled through the maintenance shafts? Because I have."

"And have you seen any tires?"

"Nope," Joker shook his head, making Maya chuckle. He liked her happy like this. "They used to change tires on the Mako though."

"We don't have a Mako. We have the Kodiak and the Hammerhead. But gosh, I miss the Mako," she smiled into her glass. The liquid burnt down her throat and took her mind away from things she didn't want to think about. The conversation helped, too. "It's not the right feeling when you're not afraid of toppling over because you hit the wrong jet at the wrong time."

"How Tali used to complain about it," Joker laughed and finished the rest of his drink. "She hated the Mako."

"She was terrified, yeah," Maya chuckled at the memory. "And she had no reason. Ashley was a very decent driver. Didn't do any of those stupid things we used to do back during our training. I remember getting stuck turned upside down and we didn't know how to get it back on the wheels. We thought we were in some very big trouble."

"So what did you do?"

"Well, the trainer told us that we had all night to figure it out. It took us about two hours, several people emptying their stomach, lot of swear words and a few new scratches on the Mako's plating, but we did it. Not I. All I managed was to lift one side. And then I discovered how to rotate it around its axi. Really fast though. It was actually fun. At first. There's only so much blood you can take in your head before you want to scream yourself hoarse. Hey, you're out of your drink. What do you want next?"

Joker smiled. "Whatever as long as it has an umbrella."

She smirked. "Joker, you should know better than to be this vague with me."

"It's my way of saying: surprise me. Although I'm slowly changing my mind when you grin like that," he laughed and made circular motions with his finger, aiming at her face. "And maybe I better slow down. From your email I figured you have something important you want to talk about."

Maya leaned away from him. "My email?" she asked. "I'm not sure I get what you mean. I'm here, because I got your message."

"But I didn't send anything," Joker shook his head, now looking even more confused than Maya was feeling. "Guys were planning to go to the Armax and I was happy when you texted, because it allowed me not to go with them. They'd kick my ass in there, you know. But what I mean is – you can ask them. We even thought it was just a joke at first. I mean...you don't even eat fish," Joker pointed at the nearby bar.

A shiver of dread ran down her spine. "That's weird," Maya whispered, looking around. There was the Alliance soldier, still making ruckus. She had somehow gotten past the French guy and was on her way to their table. She collided into a man carrying a bottle, and dropped her datapad.

"Excuse me. Alliance business. Commander! This is urgent!" she continued, the datapad back in her hands.

"I wonder how she knew you'd be here," Joker said dryly.

The dark skinned woman stopped at their table. She was a little out of breath when she started speaking. "Commander Shepard. I'm staff analyst Maya Brooks. Alliance. Excuse me," she broke off, performing and awkward salute.

Maya didn't return it. She wasn't wearing a uniform so there was no need to reply in kind. She just stared at the woman.

"Alliance intelligence," Brooks continued quickly. "There are people trying to kill you," she finished, managed to slow down to a normal pace of speech and gave Maya a wide-eyed look.

Shepard exchanged a look with Joker, uncertain if she should start laughing or take this seriously or...was there a third option?

Joker was the first to react. "Yeah, I think she's aware of that."

"I got a very good idea who it is, too," Maya replied slowly.

"No," Brooks slouched a little, looking a little disheartened. "I don't mean Cerberus or the Reapers. I mean other people. New people. It's...there..." she stuttered, then sighed and straightened her back. And started over. "Someone is hacking your account, comm channels, personal accounts...they're targeting you specifically."

Joker frowned and looked at Maya, quickly connecting the dots between what the weirdo was saying and their current situation.

And Maya...Maya looked like something dawned on her as well. Her mind took her back a few days to a Spectre base here on the Citadel. The mysterious woman who'd managed to break in. "Right," she mumbled, looking away from the young soldier. "That's...actually...yeah. But what do they want?" she asked, more to herself rather than the rest of her company.

"The intel isn't definitive yet," Brooks replied nonetheless, and continued on about some botched mission with a gas giant.

"Wait, wait a moment," Maya stopped her, holding up a hand. "Take a breath."

She did, then nodded.

"Okay, Brooks, and now just start-"

A shot rang through the bar and sudden quiet ensued. A group of armed and armoured people walked into the bar like they owned the place, fanning out as if they were searching for something. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," one of the thugs started saying, pausing on the other side of the bar. "Tonight's performance is brought to you by a Random Acts of Violence."

And then the firing started.

Maya instinctively slid from her seat and took Joker with her as she crouched on the ground. She looked between the table legs to see the goons shooting everywhere around them – luckily not into people – and flipping over tables and chairs. The bar filled with screams.

Following their example, Maya moved to topple their table as well, using it as a cover. Her hand automatically went to her back, finding nothing. "Shit!" she swore when she realize she had no weapon.

The man in the middle was still talking. His words were stolen by the gunfire and panicking people all around them, but Maya did catch her own name in the speech.

"Brooks!" Shepard hissed and caught the sight of the woman already hidden behind a cover. "Stay there," she told the soldier when she caught her eye, then looked at Joker next to her. "Joker," she started, but then caught him swearing in pain. "Sorry," she whined, giving him an apologetic grimace. "Did I break anything?"

"I found one!" A voice called unnervingly close.

"Hey!" Brooks yelled next as she was pulled from her cover despite trying to struggle.

Maya swore under her breath. "That's what happens when you let a clerk out in the field. Joker, get the crew!" she ordered.

"They'll see me!" he protested.

"I'll distract them. And hopefully save Brooks," Maya added and spawned a drone. And then she rose from behind her cover, hands up in the air.

"They'll kill you!" Joker protested even more fiercly, grabbing her elbow.

"I have an enviro-suit with a kinetic barrier. I have my biotics and my drone. I'll be fine. You – go!" With that said, she rose to her feet, hands up in the air.

"I don't like this," he hissed right back, but started moving.

"Awwww, and what a fine establishment this used to be," Maya whined as she walked forward and away from the table. She was glad she couldn't see the glow of her drone from the corner of her eye; that meant, with luck, neither could they.

The goons paused in their search and mindless firing, training all of their rifles on her.

"I'm afraid I won't be giving the Random Acts of Violence a positive review, oh no. You see, I got all that," she wriggled her fingers to show around, "all the time when I work. When I feel like unwinding, I like things...more quite and intimate," she kept on droning, searching for the thug with Brooks, but couldn't spot her anywhere. But she did notice there were still too many innocent people trapped behind their own tables and chairs. Damned, she needed to keep that in mind and make sure they weren't caught in a cross fire.

"What I'm trying to say," she continued, moving forward slowly, "is whatever beef you have with me, why don't we take this somewhere a little more private and deal with things there. Just and me. No need to bring everyone into it."

She knew this was not going to work, she just needed to buy as much time as she could. Joker needed to slip away safely.

The man who'd spoken before turned to face her. He'd let his rifle rest against his shoulder casually. "Shepard...so nice of you to make my job a little easier."

She laughed. "I aim to please?"

He chuckled as well. "Yeah. Kill her."

The biotic barrier was up within an instant, but a bullet still made it through. Blue kinetic barrier from Liara's latest asari fashion rippled like a water surface, ricocheting it away. Maya dived behind the bar and gave her drone a command. More shooting echoed around the bar, mixed with screams of the guy in charge as the drone flanked them.

Using the distraction, Maya jumped to her feet and raced to the one closest to her. Using her omnitool to create the omniblade, she cut through the armour with ease, and wrestled the rifle from his hands. "Brooks! Stay down!"

"Staying down!" her voice, panicked and a little hoarse, replied. Relief flooded Shepard as she took out another of the armed mercenaries.

Her omnitool blinked, letting her know the drone was about to explode. "Oh god, not here! Shit, shit, shit, didn't think this through," Maya swore as she tried to despawn it, but it was too late. "Everyone, get cover!" she yelled on top of her lungs, knowing she'd be warning the bad guys as well.

Explosion followed right at the end of her words, the warm air rushing around her, tossing her hair. She trusted her barrier, both of them, and rose from her cover before all of the debris managed to fall down. She saw a few mercenaries had been thrown away, now lying in unmoving heaps wherever they fell, and she quickly shot down another that was still standing.

And then she spotted Brooks. She lay on the dirty floor, hands covering her head.

Maya ran to her quickly, checking for any remaining threat, but seeing none. She caught the woman's elbow, pulling her arm away. "Brooks, are you hurt?" she asked, helping her to her feet.

Brooks shook her head and opened her mouth to speak. She gasped instead and pushed Shepard forcefully just as a shot rang through the bar. Brook screamed and fell to the floor.

"What the-!" Maya looked around quickly. She spotted a last dark figure, aiming at her, and she fumbled for the rifle she'd dropped when Brooks had shoved her. More shots echoed around the bar and Maya instinctively crawled back, away from them. Then she heard the first crack beneath her, then another. Before she managed to react, the glass under her gave way.

Her mouth filled with water as she tried to scream. When she hit the bottom of the fish tank, it broke under her as well, and she was falling.

...

She woke to a dull headache throbbing at the back of her head. She blinked into the darkness above her, distant lights mere smudges somewhere out there and it took her a moment to register the giant hole in the glass roof above her. She groaned as she tried to sit up, weary and aching, and then panicked.

She couldn't sit up.

She couldn't move anything from her waist down.

She curled, trying to reach her legs, then tensed and groaned as sharp pain stabbed up and down her spine. It made her arch her back, jerking her arms spasmodically as she gritted her teeth.

It subsided, leaving her breathless and panting, cowered in cold sweat. She remained as she was, too weak to move, too afraid to find out what else didn't work, and only turned her head as if to hide it from anyone who might see her as hot tears started trickling down her cheeks.

Her sobs were cut off abruptly as another seizure took her, bending her fingers forcefully, stealing her breath. Dark spots started dancing at her vision and she closed her eyes tightly, and all she could think about was the crumbling pain.

...

She woke up slowly, groggily, hear head still hurt and she felt confused. She moved, rolled over to her stomach and tried to push herself up. She lay in a puddle water and heap of glass shards. Her face, neck and hands, all of her unprotected skin, stung like crazy. There were numerous cuts and abrasions on her hands that had already stopped bleeding.

"Oh, Liara..." she whimpered at the sight of the enviro-suit. While it had protected her during the fault, the scratches wouldn't go way just like that. She reached to run her fingers down her thigh that had all of its colour scraped off. "That's some fashion. Stopped bullets and glass shards," she added and hissed when she touched a tender spot under the armour.

It was then that her slow brain caught up. She froze. Chills ran down her spine. The very spine that had been broken a while ago.

"Wha...?" she breathed, pressing down on the thigh again to feel the pain. "How is that...?"

Or maybe her memories were wrong. Or it hadn't really been broken spine that had prevented her from moving earlier.

First things first. Where am I?

She looked around. And was none the wiser. A corridor. Dimply lit. Water. Shards. Nothing more.

Okay, let's get out of here, she decided and slowly, wobbly, rose to her feet. She kept one hand on the wall next to her as she set out.

She activated her omnitool. "Joker?" she asked. "Please, Joker, do you read me?"

"Zoe? Yes! Zoe!" came in a hurried answer.

Maya closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath. The relief when he'd come in was immense.

"Where are you? Are you okay? We've tried to call you but you didn't respond. We feared the worst!"

"I'm fine. I think," she mused, thinking back to those strange memories. "I don't know where I am. Doesn't look like I'm supposed to be here. Like one of those Keeper tunnels, you know. Can you track my signal?"

"Working on it already. What happened? The sushi bar's closed now and the floor of one section is gone. People said you fell through."

"I did. Can't remember the fall itself, just the moment I sunk in the tank. My head hurts like hell. Can you get here soon?" she allowed herself a little whining. "How's Brooks?" she asked next to hide her weakness. "How are you?"

"Brooks? Yeah, she's...better than you. Got shot, but she's okay," he hurried to say. "I'm fine. I've alarmed the rest of the gang. Also C-Sec. They have locked down the entire area where they think you are."

"Great. So I'll be stuck behind a locked door."

"You'll be waiting patiently to be rescued, okay? No funny business, you."

"Okay," she mumbled as she emerged from the tunnel. "I'll just try to find my way to the closest locked door to wait to be rescued. Joker? Thank you."

"No big deal, Zoe. We'll be with you soon."

Thank you for reading!