Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shepard always hated having meetings with politicians but Ambassador Donnel Udina was definitely the worst of them. From her experience with him every action he did was for himself, that it benefited others was just a happy coincidence.So as she stood in the elevator on its way up from the docking bay she couldn’t help the permanent scowl that had disfigured her features ever since she got the email on her omni-tool.

The elevator stops and the doors open to a view of the Presidium. Artificial light poured in from above through the trees that were planted around, everything was pristine on the Presidium. Usually the sight of the Presidium put a smile on her face but today was the exception as she made her way towards the embassies.

Releasing a sigh she turns left off the main street and into the embassies. An asari maiden sits at a desk in the back talking to a turian with a smile on her face as she points to her right and nods at something he says. Shepard keeps walking not really paying attention as the turian gives the asari receptionist his thanks then turns and leaves.

“Hello and welcome to the Embassies. Is there something I can help you with?” she asks, her voice is happy and light. “No I’m fine, thank you though.” Shepard says giving the asari a slight smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “Of course.” she says with another smile.

Shepard just nods, smiles and takes a right turn from the desk and up the stairs, taking them two at a time and passing by a volus in the hallway then turns into Udina’s office and is surprised when she sees a familiar face. “Anderson? I didn’t realise you were on the citadel.” she says walking quickly to stand in front of him then salutes the Captain.

“At ease, Commander. I came because the ambassador informed me of a situation we’ve been tracking on Horizon.” he says raising his hand making Shepard relax then raise an eyebrow. “Is that the reason you called for me, Ambassador?” She asks turning her attention to Udina.

“Yes, Commander Shepard. Our co-species colony with the turians is having… problems. Anderson can fill you in more on that.” he says and Shepard turns her attention back to the Captain.” As you know Horizon is an experimental colony that was proposed by the Human and Turian governments to help ease the tensions between our two species. After the relay incident things have been less than friendly. Our two governments are hoping this colony will be a start.

“But it seems that someone has other ideas because there have been murders. So far a total of six civilians have been murdered, three of each species. It is as if someone is trying to start another war between humans and turians.” Captain Anderson says grabbing a datapad and handing it to Shepard before continuing.

“That datapad is the full case file with all the evidence collected. I wanted you to take care of this Shepard, we need this colony with the turians to go well. The Turian Hierarchy has also sent an officer to investigate so you’ll be working with him. We thought you’d be the best soldier for the job considering you’ve worked with turians before.” Anderson says making Shepard wince at the memory.

Early in her career Shepard had fought in the Skyllian Blitz and was rewarded the Star of Terra because of this she was chosen to work with a turian named Nihlus Kryik. Another ploy to get the human and turians to work together more. It had gone well enough, Nihlus was a captain in the turian fleet and they did miscellaneous assignments and for the two years they were partnered together they came to be good friends. Shepard shakes herself mentally, pulling herself from the memories of the past and into the present. “I see. Will I be able to bring a team?” she asks.

Anderson nods then says, “Yes of course. I’m sure Lieutenant Alenko and Chief Williams will be happy to assist.” Shepard simply nods, her mind still thinking about Nihlus. “Is that all sir? If so I’d like to get ready and depart as soon as possible.” she asks.

“You’re dismissed Commander and good luck. I hope you can find the person responsible.” Anderson says patting her on the shoulder, making her smile. She gives him another salute before turning on her heels and leaving.

She pulls up her omni-tool once the door closes and she sends a quick message to Kaidan and Ashley to meet her at the docking bay. Ashley is the first to respond.

From: Ashley
To: Shepard
I’ve always wanted to go to Horizon. This will be fun.

Shepard pulls up her omni-tool with a smirk as she reads the message when she gets another ping and it’s Kaidan this time.

From: Kaidan
To: Shepard
Who is this turian we are supposed to be meeting?

“Oh excuse me.” Shepard says to an angry looking salarian as she accidentally bumps into him trying to move into the elevator while reading her omni-tool. “Watch where you’re going, human.” he says moving past her out of the way and she gets into the elevator, pushes the button for the docking bay then types a reply.

To: Kaidan
From: Shepard
His name is Garrus Vakarian. He’s pretty big in the turian navy apparently. But I guess we will find that out.

Closing her omni-tool she lowers her arm and brings up the datapad to start reading through it. Just like Anderson had said three civilians from each species had been killed. The killer was not picky, his or her victims seemed more of convenience than actually planned.

But they were definitely trying to send a message. All of the bodies were moved from where they were killed into a more travelled area so they would be found rather than just left to go undiscovered. A frown creases Shepard’s brow as she continues to read then huffs and saves the rest of it for later as the elevator doors open.

She steps out and walks over to Ashley and Kaidan who are already waiting for her. “Guess it’s good everything is still on the Normandy.” Ashley says as Shepard stops to stand beside her. She nods then says, “Well we should head out. The sooner we get there the sooner these murders will be stopped.” With a nod her two companions turn and board the ship.

Chapter Text

Horizon was called a colony but it more closely resembled a very large city. In the beginning of the colony it was just that, a small collection of a few buildings populated by turians and humans who kept mostly to themselves. The colony was made only five years after the Relay incident in 2162 so the tensions were cooling, they weren’t overly hostile but there was still distrust. It took another year for the distrust to dissipate and soon the colonists started working together to build the amazing city it was today twenty years after the colony’s first inhabitants landed.

“Commander, we’re making our downward descent to the LZ. ETA about two minutes.” Joker says. “Alright thanks Joker.” Shepard acknowledges then stands up from her desk and turns around to smile at her hamster. “I’ll make sure to feed you everyday, Hammy.” she says as the hamster walks to the front of his tank and places his tiny paw on the glass. Shepard lifts a finger and puts it on the glass as well making Hammy squeak happily before retreating back into his small hut.

Chuckling she turns away and walks to the door where her duffel bag and rifle case are sitting and picks them up then leaves her cabin, locking the door behind her. She walks into the elevator then pushes the button for the cargo bay and the doors close as it starts moving. It stops on the crew deck, doors opening as Ashley walks in carrying her things. “Hey Ash.” Shepard says giving her a smile.

“Hey Skipper. This place is kind of amazing. I’ve never seen a colony so big before.” Ash says and Shepard nods as the doors open and they walk into the cargo bay to meet up with Kaidan already waiting by the doors. They get jostled slightly as the Normandy lands and the bay door opens letting the ramp lower to the ground.

They walk out and are greeted by the various dock workers as they inspect the ship. A tall turian towering above the humans walks up, his icy blue eyes piercing through Shepards as he looks at her. He looks her over and flicks his mandibles in what Shepard thinks is curiosity once he sees her rifle case. She inclines her head slightly towards him flashing a smile and he returns the greeting.

“You must be Garrus Vakarian. I’m Commander Shepard of the Alliance Navy. This is Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko and Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams.” She says. Shepard couldn’t help but stare at him, his silver plates and cobalt clan markings that went from one side of his head, across his nose to the other side and partially down his mandibles were striking. “Yes I’m Garrus. You and your team have been put up in a hotel for the duration of this investigation.” he says and Shepard has to forcefully suppress a shiver at his voice and she mentally curses at herself.

“Were there any new developments since I got the mission file?” Shepard asks trying to get Garrus to talk about anything to hear his voice. Garrus simply shakes his head then says, “No. The killer hasn’t killed again yet and we have no new leads as of right now. But we can discuss the case more in detail once you and your team have had a chance to put your things away.” Another shiver threatens to rattle her and Shepard just nods not trusting her voice at the moment.

The hotel she was put in was exceptional. It had an amazing view of the city from a large picture window that spanned the entire length of the room so Shepard could watch the world pass by. After putting everything in her room Shepard met up with Ashley and Kaidan then took a skycab to the local police station where they were told to meet for a briefing. The police station was a tame thing compared to other ones she’d seen but still bigger than just a simple building with a few desks and cells.

Shepard sat in a conference room along with Ashley and Kaidan sitting to the right of her, chatting idly while they waited. The door opens and Garrus strides in with another turian that Shepard instantly recognizes. “Chellick?” She says standing up and walking over to the tan coloured turian with his white clan marks that ran along his mandibles and down his chin.

“Shepard? I didn’t know they were sending you.” he says flicking his mandibles out in a smile as he holds his hand out and shakes hers. “You two know each other?” Garrus asks Chellick who nods after releasing her hand and turning to face the other turian. “Yes we met almost a year ago.” he says simply without further explanation.

Garrus raises his browplate in confusion but doesn’t press the matter and Garrus clears his throat making Shepard look at him then asks, “I assume you and your team have read through the case files?” sounding skeptical.

Shepard frowns slightly at Garrus while Chellick and him walk to the opposite side of the conference table and sit down. “Yes, we read through it while on the way here.” Shepard says crossing her arms across her chest.

“Chellick is the captain of this police station and has been investigating this case since the beginning.” Garrus says making Shepard turn to look at him with a smirk on her face. “Captain Chellick eh? Pretty impressive from the last time I saw you.” she says making him chuckle and shrug his shoulders.

A knock on the conference room window pulls everyone's attention to the door. Chellick waves a hand and the officer walks in, seeming to be winded while he breathes deeply. “Captain there has been a development. A witness saw a man dragging a body behind the library ten minutes ago.” he says still trying to control his breathing.

“Ten minutes ago? Why wasn’t I told of this sooner! Let’s go! Now!” Chellick shouts getting up quickly and everyone else follows him out of the room. “Well the man was stopped by the library curator and he dashed into the library and has held it hostage.” the officer says as they walk through the station.

“Since Commander Shepard is here she can just take him out with her sniper rifle and no one else has to get hurt.” the officer says turning to look at her with clear admiration in his eyes and Shepard smiles at him but it soon vanishes when a derisive chuckle comes from Garrus.

Shepard just bites her tongue to refrain from saying anything she’ll regret as she looks over to Chellick who gives her an apologetic look. She frowns and is going to decline when Ashley, apparently not able to keep quiet while Garrus laughs, speaks up.

“What’s so funny?” she asks glaring at him and making Garrus look down at Ashley in return. “Commander Shepard is the best sniper in the Alliance Navy.” Ashley says still glaring up at Garrus angrily.

“That remains to be seen.” he says simply and grosses his arms across his chest as he looks down at Ashley. Before something happens between the two of them Shepard steps in between the two, holding her hands up in surrender. “Guys there is no need to argue. It’s Captain Chellicks call.” Shepard says making Ashley huff.

“Then we should get there. Your hotel is on the way so you can get your gear.” Chellick says patting Garrus on the shoulder making him turn and leave. Chellick pulls up his omni-tool and starts typing something. “This is the location of the library. Sorry about Garrus, Shepard.” he says and she just waves her hand. “Don’t worry about it, Chellick. It’s fine.” she says and her omni-tool pings.

“That stupid turian doesn’t know what he’s talking about Shepard.” Ash says still complaining about Garrus. Shepard sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose as the skycab stops and the door opens. Shepard steps out, followed by Kaidan and Ashley. “Just let it go, Ash. It doesn’t matter.” Shepard says exasperated.

Shepard waves to Chellick who stands beside a police cruiser. “Garrus is already in position up there." he says pointing to a building on the south facing side of the library as they walk towards a building on the west side of the library.

“Where is the subject located?” Shepard asks rolling her shoulders in preparation for shooting. “This guy isn’t very smart. It’s like he wants to be killed. He’s walking in front of the window, not trying to hide at all.” he says as they stand outside the building.

“You can set up on the roof of this building. Garrus has been informed that you are to take the shot. Just don’t kill him, we need to question him.” Chellick says and Shepard turns to leave but he stops her, “Oh before I forget here is Garrus’ comm link.” he says lifting his arm and giving her the information and she nods her thanks then walks through the doors and makes her way to the elevator.

The elevator opens to the roof and she walks to the side facing the library and kneels on the ground, removing her rifle from her back and looks through the scope to see the subject pacing erratically in the library. He flings his hands wildly as if talking to someone and she tries to read his lips but he doesn’t turn to get a close enough look.

“I’m in position but he seems… I don’t know, confused? Why isn’t he hiding he’s just out in the opening.” she asks Chellick and Garrus over comms. “It doesn’t really matter just take the shot, human.” Garrus says sounding aggravated. Shepard grinds her teeth in anger as she continues watching him pace then he slaps himself in the cheek and points at a lamp. “There is clearly something wrong.” she says getting an angry sigh from Garrus.

“We will question him once we get him back to the police station.” Chellick says and Garrus adds, “Which we can do once you take the shot. Unless you can’t make the shot. Too much of a hassle to hit a moving target?”

Shepard could feel her blood starting to boil from his constant nagging. “If we shoot him he could just cause more injury to himself or the hostages. We are here to prevent that from happening not instigate it.” she says and another angry huff comes from him before he says, “If you aren’t going to take the shot I will.” and a few seconds later a shot rings out. Shepard looks through her scope to see the subject fall while he clutches his right shoulder. She growls, pulls her eye from the scope and holsters her rifle before making her way down from the roof. She walks into the elevator and slams the button for the ground floor then crosses her arms angrily across her chest as she lifts her gaze to the floor numbers as they tick down too slowly for her liking.

Once down on the ground floor she storms out of the building to see Garrus chatting with Chellick, his back facing her, while the subject is being loaded into an ambulance to be taken back to the police station. As she walks towards the two turians she kicks a small rock with her boot then bends down and picks it up, rolling it in between her thumb and index finger.

She looks at Garrus’ back, pulls back her arm and throws the pebble at him, hitting him in the back of the head making him lift his arm to touch where the pebble hit him and he turns around slowly.

“Did you throw a rock at me?” Garrus asks confused as Shepard walks up to stand in front of him. “I did.” she says glaring up at him. His brow plates coming together as he frowns down at her.

Before he can say anything Shepard just raises a hand, silencing him, as she turns to Chellick. “Your police station has a training area, yes? With an arena for hand to hand combat?” she asks making Chellick just nod, clearly confused and she turns back to Garrus.

“Since you think yourself superior we will settle this the only way we can. I expect you to be at the police station in thirty minutes.” Shepard says and turns on her heels before he can say anything and calls a skycab.

“Shepard are you sure this is a good idea?” Kaidan nervously asks while Ashley is clearly excited about this as she bounces on the balls of her feet beside the ring. She just nods then turns to see the door open and Garrus walks in full of confidence, followed by Chellick and few other police officers. “I used to spar with a turian all the time, Kaidan. I’ll be fine.” Shepard says with intense focus as she watches Garrus stand next to the ring.

Shepard and Garrus step into the ring and Chellick stands between them. “Don’t hit to kill.” he says and Shepard just waves a hand then Garrus says with a grin, arrogance dripping from his voice, “Don’t worry this won’t last long.” Shepard tilts her head back and returns Garrus’ grin with her own as she cracks her knuckles. “You’re right. It won’t.” she says getting a frown to cross Garrus’ features.

Chellick steps out of the ring and says, “You may start.” Shepard and Garrus start circling each other in the ring. She watches him intently as he walks around the ring, feeling like she is being stalked by a predator. They keep this strange game of cat and mouse up for five minutes before Shepard notices his left foot take a bigger step than normal and he lunges towards her, she easily dodges him and smacks his arm away. “You’ll have to do better than that.” she whispers so only he can hear making him growl in annoyance and they continue dancing around the ring.

Hours pass and the ring is now surrounded with officers while they watch the sparring match. Shepard rests her hands on her knees taking deep breaths through her mouth because her nose is clearly broken as blood pours onto the ground from it and down her face from a scratch on her left cheek and her right cheekbone is bruised.

Garrus is in a similar state from his opposite position from Shepard and he keeps his eyes locked with hers. One of his mandibles is clearly dislocated as it hangs from a strange angle and his index finger on his left hand is bent outward.

“Alright I’m calling this a draw.” Chellick says making the crowd erupt in groans and boos. “Get back to work.” Chellick shouts dispersing the crowd leaving Garrus and Shepard still glaring at each other. So intent on not leaving, Shepard doesn’t notice Kaidan walk up beside her until he puts a hand on her shoulder, making her jump at the unexpected contact.

“Come on Commander, let’s get you to a medic before we go back to the hotel.” he says. Shepard just nods, still not taking her eyes off Garrus as he keeps his eyes on her in turn. “Let’s go.” she says with a final sigh and turns away from Garrus and walks out of the training room, leaving him alone.

As they walk through the police station a few officers, mostly humans with only two turians, walk up to congratulate her. She thanks them but mentally she curses. That stupid sparring match didn’t accomplish anything. She thinks then inhales deeply once outside and thanks the cold night breeze for soothing her bruised face.

Chapter Text

Kaidan had insisted on going to a clinic for her injuries and would not relent no matter how much Shepard had protested. She didn’t say it but she was grateful, she hadn’t realised that she had broken three ribs on her right side and her right cheekbone that she thought was just a bad bruise was actually fractured.

Now she was back at her hotel room, sitting on the couch in shorts and a tank-top with her right foot resting on the small coffee table in front of her. She flips through the channels on the extranet, not really paying attention as the memory of the sparring match is still fresh in her mind.

A knock at the door forces a sigh out of her as she stands up and makes her way over to the door. Standing in front of the door then opening it, expecting to find Ash or Kaidan standing there she is surprised to see Chellick in front of her.

“Chellick, what are you doing here?” she asks crossing her arms across her chest as she looks him up and down. His mandibles flex slightly at her attitude. “I just came to check on you, Shepard.” he says making her sigh as her arms drop to her sides. “I’m sorry, Chellick.” Shepard says as she pinches the bridge of her nose then wincing as it is still slightly painful.

“Hello. It’s good to see you.” Shepard says giving him a slight smile making him chuckle. “Hello, Shepard. It’s good to see you as well.” he says and she beckons him inside, moving aside as he walks in then shutting the door behind him. “So you’re a captain now? I’m proud of you that’s really great Chellick.” she says walking lazily over to the mini fridge, opening it and squatting in front of it.

“Want anything?” she asks looking at him over the door as he sits down on the couch. “I’ll take a beer if you have any dextro stuff in there.” he says and she taps her index finger against her chin as she looks through the fridge. “Aha. It was behind the peanuts.” she says grabbing two beers, standing and closing the fridge with her foot before walking over to plop herself down beside him.

She sighs loudly and takes a long drink from her beer after opening it and flicking the bottle cap onto the table before looking over at Chellick. “How have you been, Chellick?” she asks and he just shrugs his shoulders while drinking from his beer. “I’ve been good, thanks. How about yourself? I know you took Nihlus’ death pretty hard.” he says and Shepard rubs her face, suddenly tired.

“I’m fine.” she says softly, averting her gaze from him to look into her beer. Chellick sighs and she feels him grab her arm, squeezing it tightly for reassurance. “You know you don’t have to pretend around me, Jane.” he says.

She starts slightly at the use of her first name, most people call her either Commander or Shepard or both, never her first name. She turns to look at him and he gives her a weak smile as he looks over her face trying to discern what is wrong. She just sighs and places her hand over his. “Thank you, Decian.” she whispers making his subvocals purr.

Shepard removes her hand from his to take another drink. “So what is Vakarians problem?” she asks avoiding the previous line of conversations and making Chellick snort and shrug as he takes a drink. “He’s really egotistical, Chellick. Is he a kid that just thinks he is hot shit or what?” She adds

“He just… he’s kind of wary towards humans I guess.” Chellick says making her raise an eyebrow and look at him. “Wary? What he displayed today was not wariness, it was straight hatred. What did humans do to him?” she inquires as she sinks further into the couch to put her feet up on the table.

“I think he had an uncle or something that fought in the Relay incident who told him stories of what happened during the war.” he says shifting his weight and changing position to a more comfortable one, adding his feet to Shepards on the table.

“That was nearly twenty-five years ago, Chellick. He’s just being stubborn at this point. I mean come on Anderson told me stories of his time in the Relay incident and well…” she says motioning with her hand between the two of them and it makes him laugh quietly.

“And we’ve done more than just sit on a couch and drink beer.” he adds making her chuckle and rub her eyes. “Well I think I should go home. Thank you for the beer, Shepard and I’m sure you’d like to get some sleep.” he says standing up after finishing his drink and placing the empty bottle on the coffee table.

Shepard stands behind him, placing her bottle next to his as she walks him to the door of her room. “Thank you for coming her, Decian. I really appreciate it. I… I’ve missed you.” she says quietly, leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed over her chest.

Chellick lifts his hand and gently brushes his knuckle against her cheek softly making her smile. “I’ve missed you too, Jane. We should spend more time together.” he says, she nods then he turns and leaves. Shepard watches him walk down the hall and into the elevator, waving at her before entering and leaving Shepard with a smile on her face.

Chapter Text

The one benefit of being in a hotel was the room service and having freshly made breakfast delivered. On the Normandy, breakfast was usually just a granola bar that disintegrated in her hand before she was able to even get it in her mouth. So as she sat at a table eating pancakes with fresh strawberries and blueberries on them Shepard was in heaven.

A knock on the door makes her sigh around a mouth full of pancakes, she stands after swallowing and walking to the door, opening it. “Good morning, Commander.” Kaidan says with Ashley waving beside him. She moves to the side and they enter as Shepard walks back to her partially eaten pancakes.

“So what is the plan for today, skipper?” Ashley asks sitting down opposite of Shepard as she pops a blueberry into her mouth. “Well you two don’t really have to do much but I have to go down to the police station and sit in while the witness from yesterday is questioned.” She says leaning back in her chair.

Ashley stands up, stealing a strawberry from her plate and eating it making Shepard frown at her and getting a smirk from Ashley in return. “We are going to head out then. We will try to bring you back something as a souvenir.” She says as they walk out of her room and Shepard hears her say, “We should probably get something for Joker as well huh?” before the door closes.

Shepard stands up and stretches before walking over to the bed where she set out her armour before breakfast arrived. She picks up her black chestguard with the white N7 logo shining on the right side of it, her thumb brushes against it before she flips it over and puts it on along with the rest of her armour.

She takes a quick glance at the clock then sighs before holstering her pistol on her hip and her rifle on her back. A ping from her omni-tool pulls her attention, bringing up her arm she sees a message from Chellick saying that they are ready to start the interrogation and are just waiting for her to be there. She types a quick reply then makes her way out of the hotel.

Shepard walks into the police station and is stopped by a female turian sitting at the reception desk. Her deep burgundy plates were a stark contrast with her bright white clan marks that streaked across her eyes and down her mandibles. “You’re Commander Shepard yes?” she asks and Shepard nods.

“I’ve heard much about you from the human officers ever since you came to Horizon.” she says looking Shepard up and down before resting her eyes on her face. “Well I’m sorry I’ve annoyed you.” Shepard says smirking making the turian chuckle and wave a dismissing hand.

“It’s nice seeing them so happy about something. Ever since the murders have started they have been low on morale to be honest.” She says then adds, “You are for the humans as Praetor Vakarian is for turians. So I’m sure we are annoying them just as much.” her mandibles flare as she smiles then motions for Shepard to go ahead.

“They are waiting for you in interrogation room A just follow the signs.” she says and Shepard givers her her thanks then moves past her and further into the station. She passes by a couple of officers escorting a prisoner to a cell who stumbles over himself and walks at a forty-five degree angle, looking like he’s battling against hurricane force winds.

Chellick stands outside the interrogation room as Shepard stops in front of him. “Sorry I came as quickly as I could.” she says and he just waves his hand before he says, “Garrus is already in the observation room and now that you are here we are ready to start.” He motions for her to follow as he leads her into the observation room.

Garrus stands like a statue on the far side of the room nearest to the wall while he looks through the double sided mirror to stare at the suspect. Shepard stands a few feet away from him and crosses her arms over her chest while she watches the suspect fridget and twitch in his seat. Chellick walks out of the room and leaves them alone, soon reappearing in the interrogation room and sitting opposite the suspect.

“Did you kill that man?” he asks and the suspect just shakes his head violently making his whole body shake.“Then why did you drag a body behind the library?” Chellick says and Shepard leans closer to the window. “He told me if I did what he asked that he’d make the voices stop.” he says then starts chewing on the skin around his thumb like a dog trying to scratch an itch. “Who is he?” Chellick asks.

The suspect just violently shakes his head again, slamming his hands on the table and smearing saliva on the metal surface. “No no no no. I wasn’t supposed to say his name.” he whispers bringing an index finger up to his mouth then makes a shushing noise and looks around erratically trying to find something that isn’t there.

Chellick and the suspect start a game of back and forth with Chellick asking him who this mystery man's name is and the suspect trying to shush him. Shepard keeps watching intently but feels like she is being watched and turns to look over at Garrus who is still watching the interrogation.

Her eyes narrows before she turns back to the interrogation to see Chellick rubbing his browplate, clearly exasperated. The feeling of being watched again returns again after a few moments and she frowns. “Stop looking at me, Vakarian.” she says without turning to look at him.

She can hear him shuffle around and clear his throat before he says, “I wasn’t looking at you.” making Shepards frown deepen. “Lying won’t help you.” she says turning to look at him while he looks at her. His mandible that was dislocated has been bandaged and sits securely against his face, preventing it from moving too much but the other one fluttered slightly.

She turns back to the interrogation as the noise of a chair moving pulls her attention as Chellick stands then says, “Take him back to his cell.” frustrated. Two officers come into the interrogation room and the female officer holds out her hand before saying, “It’s time to go home.” the suspect just nods, takes her hand and starts walking out of the room, still chewing on his thumb and looking around.

Chellick walks into the observation room shortly after and sighs loudly. “Well that was less than helpful.” he says and curses under his breath. “Not necessarily. We now know that he didn’t kill that person. He was just moving the body by order of someone. But why? What does that accomplish by using mentally ill people. How exactly was he going to ‘make the voices stop’” Shepard says lifting her hands and making quotations in the air.

“This mystery person clearly is using mentally ill people because they are easily forgotten. Not many people care about them, unfortunately.” Garrus says and Shepard nods in agreement. “We need to start asking around in the less reputable places.” Shepard says and Chellick brings up his omni-tool.

“That would be the Shalta district. Used to be the factory district before the businesses moved them to bigger buildings. Now the buildings are home to drug dealers and smugglers.” Chellick sneers with a disgusted look on his face. “If anyone knows something about this it would be there. So I suggest you two start there.” he says.

Shepard nods but Garrus moves closer to him and says, “What do you mean you two?” Chellick looks at him, motioning between him and Shepard making Garrus look at her. He opens and closes his mouth a few times before closing it and turning back to Chellick. “Wouldn’t it be faster if we split up to ask questions?” he asks.

“Faster? Yes. Safer? No.” Chellick says as he continues looking at his omni-tool. “I’m sending you two the location of Shalta district. You can go there whenever you are ready, but sooner is better.” he says and Shepard and Garrus’ omni-tools ping in unison. “We will leave now then. I want answers.” Shepard says and goes to leave but turns around at the door to look at Garrus. “Are you coming?” she asks and he just nods and hurries to follow her out of the observation room.

Chapter Text

Shepard steps out of the skycar and her nose wrinkles at the smell around her. She almost covers her nose with her hand but restrains herself. “This place is filthy.” Garrus says as if reading her thoughts and she just grunts in agreement. She looks around the dirty streets filled with dirty people shuffling around then points in the direction of what looks to be a bar.

“That is where we will get answers.” she says and starts walking towards it only to stop when Garrus doesn’t move. “There a problem?” she asks him turning around and putting a hand on her hip. “I still think we should split up.” he says quietly sounding like a scolded child and she raises her eyebrow.

“You should think something else. Let’s go.” she says without further argument, turns around and starts walking. She’s happy when she hears Garrus’ heavy footsteps beside her as they make their way towards the bar. As they walk everyone within a twenty foot radius of them either scuttle away like scared animals or look at them like they want to eat them but soon they make it to the bar and enter.

Shepard has to forcefully resist the urge to gag as she steps into a miasma of smoke, sweat and just general body odor that hangs in the air of the bar. “This place smells even worse than outside. Didn’t think that was possible.” Garrus says quietly to himself making Shepard chuckle then motions for him to follow her to the bar at the back.

A bare-faced turian with brown plates stands behind the bar, lazily playing a strategy game on his omni-tool. He sighs loudly before he speaks, “What do you want?” he says without looking up. “I want information.” Shepard says leaning against the bar and looking at him. At that comment he lifts his eyes to look at source.

“And what kind of information do you want, human?” he asks already sounding bored with the conversation. “You’ve heard about the murders, yes? Any information you have about them I want it. I’ll buy it.” she says and his eyes light up before he puts on a face of indifference again. “How many credits we talking exactly?” he asks rubbing his thumb and forefinger together.

“How about this, we start at twenty thousand and I add twenty thousand every time you give me something useful.” Shepard says lifting her arm and transferring the credits to the turian who opens his omni-tool and his eyes light up again.

“I can work with that. Alright this is what I know. There is this factory on the very edge of Shalta district, a shit hole if you ask me but there is this salarian doctor that works out of there. They say he’s crazy, has mechs that guard his place ya know. But they only ever shoot people they know are bad like mercs and drug dealers and the sort.” He says and shrugs his shoulders then looks at Shepard expectantly.

She transfers another twenty thousand credits to him and his mandibles flare out widely as he smiles. “Anything else you can tell us about this salarian?” Garrus asks and the bartender glares at him as if he’s bothering him then returns his attention back to Shepard. “I had a friend that got shot a few months back, thought he was gonna die but that salarian patched him up no problem. Said it was free. Free!” he exclaims flinging his arms into the air for added effect.

“Anything else?” she asks as he holds his hands up in the air, thinking. He shakes his head, finally lowering his arms and says, “Not that I can think of.” she transfers him forty thousand credits before patting the bar. “Thanks for the information. You have a good day.” she says then turns and leaves with Garrus following behind her.

Once outside she brings up her omni-tool and calls Chellick. “Do you know anything about a salarian doctor working in an abandoned factory in the edges of Shalta district?” Shepard asks as soon as Chellicks face comes into view. “I haven’t heard much to be honest. All I know is that he runs a clinic for free but only to civilians that aren’t criminals. He actually patched up one of my officers after a bust went awry. Other than that I know nothing else, why?” Chellick asks then turns away from his omni-tool and talks to someone.

“Garrus and I are going to investigate a possible lead and will update you with any information we find out.” Shepard says and Chellick nods at her then says, “I’ll give you the location of his clinic and Shepard? Be careful, please.” he says making Shepard laugh quietly. “When am I not careful, Chellick?” she says and he sighs. “Shall I name the times?” he says and she holds up her hand, shaking her head.

He chuckles then closes the call and Shepard lowers her arm.”How do you know Chellick?” he asks making Shepard look up at him. “I met him five years ago and that is all you need to know.” she says then lifts up her arm again to check the location of the clinic before bringing up a map of Shalta district. “We need to go this way.” she says and starts walking.

“Well that’s not cryptic at all.” Garrus says taking two strides and catching up with her. Shepard snorts. “Not entirely willing to share my life story with someone who dislikes my race.” she snaps but sighs then adds, “I’m sorry that was rude of me. I just... do not wish to speak of it.” Garrus just nods and they turn right down a side street.

Further down the street a group of thugs surround a turian mother with her child in her arms. She is shaking and clutching her child tightly to her chest while the men move closer to her. Shepard growls and starts walking towards the group. “Hey! Leave her alone.” she shouts making the men turn towards her.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” one of them asks as she comes to stand a few feet in front of them with Garrus beside her. Shepard frowns and moves closer to the group, poking the man who just talked in the chest before saying, “Who the fuck do you think you are?” he raises his hand and goes to slap her but she grabs his wrist before his hand makes contact and squeezes it tightly making him cry out.

“If you value your lives. You’ll leave but I doubt you do considering what you’re doing.” Garrus says as Shepard tightens her hold on the man's wrist making him cry in pain again and sink further to the ground. “Alright alright we’ll leave.” the man on the ground cries through clenched teeth and Shepard releases his wrist which he grabs and presses it to his gut, stands and quickly walks away from Shepard.

“Are you okay?” Shepard says keeping her distance but looking at the woman who breathes a sigh of relief. She nods and pulls her son away slightly to look at his face and coo quietly at him. “Yes we are fine. Thank you so much. They were trying to get credits that we don’t have.” she says, her voice still shaking slightly and her son mumbles happily while he plays with her shirt.

“You should head home before more filth comes out of their hiding places.” Garrus says and the turian just nods then moves past them. Her son looks over her shoulder, his mandibles fluttering as he giggles at them and Shepard waves at him, smiling. The turian and her child turn the corner and are gone out of sight. “We should continue moving. This place is clearly unsavoury.” Garrus says and Shepard sighs, turns and continues walking towards their destination.

They walk the rest of the way in silence but soon their objective comes into focus. Shepard sees a large factory standing amidst crumbling buildings that looks oddly intact. Two LOKI mechs stand outside as guards with FENRIS mechs by their side. The LOKI mechs have their heads on a swivel looking for anything or anyone that might cause trouble.

“They only attack criminals. We shouldn’t have a problem.” Garrus says as they keep walking towards the clinic. Shepard nods and soon the mechs fix their gazes on them as they walk closer. The two of them walk past the mechs, only taking their eyes off the duo when they are behind their backs.

Once inside the doors, the only thing Shepard could smell was alcohol and cleaning products. It smells like a hospital which was surprising considering where they were and what it smells like outside, it was almost overwhelming. Shepard looks around and sees everything inside the abandoned building looks brand new, pristine and white.

A cheery looking woman sits behind a desk looking at a screen then upon noticing the two of them she flashes a smile. “Hello, how may I may help you?” she asks. “We are looking for a salarian doctor we were told was here.” Shepard asks as she walks up to the desk. The woman behind the desk narrows her gaze at her but before she can say anything someone from the other side of the room speaks.

“Ahh Commander Shepard, Praetor Vakarian. Have been expecting you. Heard you came to investigate murders. Will help if I can.” the salarian says making Shepard and Garrus turns to look at him. One of the horns on his head was missing and he had more wrinkles than Shepard has ever seen on another salarian before. “And what is your name exactly? Since you seem to know who we are.” Garrus asks. The doctor chuckles then says, “Apologies. Name is Mordin Solus. Pleasure to meet you.”

Chapter Text

Shepard leans against a counter while Garrus stands near the door and Mordin works in front of her. “What do you know about the murders, Mordin?” Shepard asks while he holds up a vial of something to his face, his eyes narrowing before he puts it back into the holder and types something on his omni-tool.

“Not much. Wish knew more. Frustrating not knowing all the facts. But also exciting.” Mordin speaks quickly, looking through a microscope then lifts a finger and adds, “Know that killer uses mentally ill patients as cannon fodder. Regrettable. Unnecessary waste of life.” He pauses in his work to sigh then continues working. "How do you know the killer uses mentally ill patients?" Shepard asks crossing her arms across her chest before shifting weight to her right foot.

"Had patient come in with venereal disease. Well was forced by friend. Did not come in themselves. Week later saw patient on news. Said they killed turian." Mordin says as he types on his omni-tool. "And you're sure they didn't kill the turian?" Garrus asks and he shakes his head. "Impossible. Patient was barely able to lift arm. Came in for venereal disease but was also suffering from severe malnutrition." He says.

"And you're sure they were mentally ill?" Shepard asks and he nods. "Not psychiatrist but know enough. Patient was showing signs of PTSD and hallucinations. Think they were soldier at some point." he says making Shepard sigh and rub her forehead. Mordin continues working by picking up a beaker with a green liquid and picks up the vial he had before and adds it to the beaker, swirls it around then makes a surprised noise when the liquid turns from green to orange.

“I thought you were a doctor.” Garrus says still standing by the door. Mordin chuckles. “Many things. Doctor, geneticist, singer. Was part of STG for some time. A person is not always restricted to their title.” He says making Shepard raise her eyebrows in surprise. “STG? What are you doing on Horizon?” She asks.

“Helping.” he says simply, sounding like it was obvious and says nothing else on the matter. “Alright. How are you going to help with this investigation?” Shepard says, pushing off the counter and walking to stand beside him. “Anyway I can. Could lend you mechs?” he says and Shepard just shakes her hands in front of her. “No thanks. Those tin cans are too loud.” she says and Mordin nods.

Mordin brings up his arm and types something into his omni-tool then Shepard’s pings. “Comm link information. Call anytime you need.” he says. “Doctor Solus, a patient is requesting to see you immediately.” a voice says and Mordin nods then tells her to send them in. “Must see patient. Will see you another time.”

Shepard nods then leaves with Garrus in tow and soon they are out of the clinic and back on the streets on Shalta district. “Well that was kind of a waste of time.” Garrus says as they move away from the clinic. “At least we made a friend?” Shepard says lifting her hands up as she shrugs.

Garrus just snorts as he shakes his head then looks around. “Well now where do we go? What do we do now? We need a lead, anything. But we have nothing.” He says sounding more aggravated as he talking. Shepard just tuts at him then brings up her omni-tool and pulls up the picture of the suspect. “We have him.” She says pointing to the picture. “Let’s go back to talk to my friend shall we?” she says with a smirk then starts walking back to the bar.

They walk into the bar and to the back where the bartender sits on his high chair, still playing his game. He notices footsteps and looks up and says as his eyes brighten, “Hey! My favourite human. What can I do for you?” Shepard sits down on a bar stool, brings up the picture again and shows him. “Have you seen him before? Do you know who he is?” she asks as he studies the picture.

“Yeah I’ve seen him a couple times. Mumbles a lot, chews on his thumbs right?” he asks looking up at Shepard and she nods. “Hmmm I think his name was Nathan Coombs.” he says leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest. “Anything else you can tell me like maybe where he lived?” Shepard asks.

The bartender scratches his head while he thinks then says, “There is an apartment building a few blocks from here where the homeless people squat in. Could ask around there but I’m not promising anything they don’t trust people.” Shepard closes the picture then transfers the turian another twenty thousand credits. “Thanks for the information.” she says before slipping off the stool and walking out.

Garrus’ omni-tool pings once they step outside and he lifts his arm, opens the message and becomes frantic, quickly typing a reply. “I have to go.” he says quickly calling for a skycab and he starts walking away. “What do you mean? We have to investigate this.” Shepard says grabbing his arm and stopping him. She notices that he can’t stand still and he continuously shifts weight from one foot to the other.

“I know. I’m sorry but I just… I have to go. We can continue tomorrow.” he says and wriggles out of her grip then starts sprinting towards the exit of Shalta district, leaving Shepard with a confused look on her face and her arm still outstretched.

Chapter Text

Shepard sits in the skycab on her way back to the hotel, her arms crossed over her chest, quietly mumbling under her breath. Why did he leave so suddenly? What is more important than a murderer on the loose? She thinks to herself as she looks outside and watches the buildings pass by.

The skycab comes to a slow stop outside the hotel and Shepard sighs deeply as the door opens and she climbs out. The doors to the hotel open and she strides in and starts making her way towards the elevator but is stopped by someone saying, “You look like a storm cloud.” Shepard stops in her track and turns to see Chellick sitting in the lobby reading a datapad.

“What are you doing here?” She asks pushing the call button for the elevator as he stands up, puts his datapad away and walks over to stand beside her. “Was waiting for you.” he says then asks, “So what is wrong with you?” She sighs and the elevator doors open allowing them to walk inside. Shepard pushes the button for her floor then leans against the back wall. “We’ll talk in my room.” she says.

A quick elevator ride up and then the elevator slows to a stop, the doors open and they walk out and walk to Shepard’s room. She unlocks the door and walks in with Chellick in tow. “So what is the problem?” he asks as Shepard takes off her wrist guards, throwing them onto the bed. “Garrus and I were investigating and we had just got a new lead and were going to go look into it but he got a message on his omni-tool, became frantic and just bugged out. It was as if his fight or flight response was triggered and he just needed to flee.” She says sounding aggravated, unholsters her rifle and puts it in its case then pulls off her chest plate and puts it on the bed.

“Did he tell you why he needed to go?” Chellick asks over his shoulder as he sits on the couch. “No he just said that he had to leave and gave me no information on the matter.” she growls unholstering her pistol and puts it on the bed along with the rest of her armour. Shepard sighs and grabs her clothes before going to the bathroom and changing out of her undersuit and into her tank top and shorts.

She walks back out, gathers all her armour up and puts it away before walking over to the couch and taking a seat next to Chellick and starts flipping through the channels on the television. “Well I’m sure he had a reason, Shepard. What did you figure out anyway? Did you figure out anything with that salarian doctor?” he asks clearly trying to get Shepard’s mind off of that topic.

Shepard lays down on the couch, away from Chellick, propping her head up with her hand as she continues flipping through the channels trying to find something to watch. “Well, the salarian was a dead end. But he did offer his assistance. What that entails I’m not entirely sure yet but hey we have it.” she says, sighing then turning off the television.“Why is there never anything on the T.V.” she says.

Chellick shifts his weight then rests his arm on Shepards thigh, trailing his thumb along her leg. She lifts an eyebrow and looks over at him to see him looking at her. He trails a talon along her leg lightly making her shiver.

Chellick keeps trailing his talon along her leg making Shepard bite her bottom lip. In a smooth motion Shepard sits up then straddles him and he looks up at her while his hands reach around to grab her ass, squeezing it. Shepard lifts a hand and strokes the back of his head just under his fringe making his mandibles flutter and a rumble emanate from his throat.

Shepard smirks and Chellick slides a hand up her shirt to pull her closer as his tongue snakes out to lick her neck. Shepard tilts her head slightly to allow him more access and a breathy sigh is released from her lips.

Chellick starts licking up her neck and along her jawline when a noise from the door makes them groan in unison. He slides his hand out of her shirt and she stands up then walks towards the door and pushes a button making the door slide open. A model ship is thrust into her view before she can see who it is.

She takes the model turian frigate from the mystery person and lowers it to see Ashley’s face, bright red and smiling. “I know how much you like those tiny ships so I bought it for you. I told you I’d get you a souvenir.” She says lifting a hand to prop herself up against the door frame. “Thanks, Ash.” Shepard says chuckling then looks past her.

“Where’s Kaidan?” Shepard asks as she walks back into her room, Ashley following behind her swaying from side to side. “He’s back in his room. That big baby said he was tired and went to sleep.” she says slurring her words then looks over to see Chellick sitting awkwardly on the couch and waves at him. Shepard places her new model ship on the bedside table before turning to see Ashley laying face down on her bed, legs dangling off, snoring.

Chellick stands up and clears his throat quietly as he makes his way over to the door. “I’m going to head home, Shepard.” he says. “I’m sorry, Chellick.” she offers him a weak smile and he just dismisses her with a wave of his hand. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not going anywhere.” he says then opens the door and leaves. Shepard turns to look at Ashley as a trail of drool starts coming out of her mouth making Shepard sigh then say to herself, “Looks like I’m sleeping on the couch tonight.”

Chapter Text

A loud groan along with sheets rustling then a thud echoes through the hotel, “Fucking shit.” Shepard hears Ashley exclaim as she stands up, tripping over the bed sheets wrapped around her feet and cursing again before making her way over to the couch and sitting beside Shepard with a loud sigh. Shepard looks over to see Ashley rubbing her temples, her eyes closed.

“Did you have fun last night?” Shepard says slightly louder than normal making Ashley wince and lean away from her. “Oh my god, Commander shush.” she says barely above a whisper then adds with a smile, “But yes I had fun.” A knock at the door makes Ashley groan again and Shepard chuckle as she stands up and walks over, taking the tray of food then back inside.

“You should thank me. I got you fruit, coffee and water.” Shepard says, placing the tray in front of Ashley. “Enjoy Ash. Gotta go down to the police station.” She says before getting her armour on and leaving Ashley to her own devices which mostly entailed groaning.

Once down in the lobby Shepard walks outside then steps into her skycab and it takes off on the way towards the police station. She readjusts her wrist guards before looking outside as the cab stops in front of the police station and she gets out to see Garrus leaning against the wall of the police station typing on his omni-tool.

“Hey. You ready?” she says making him lift his gaze to look at her. He nods, Shepard turns and gets back into the skycab. Garrus pushes off the wall then gets into the cab beside her, opens his omni-tool again and continues typing. “So today we go to the apartment and see what information we can get?” Garrus asks without looking at her.

“Yes that is the plan. Hopefully they won’t be too unwilling to help us… or withhold information from us.” She says crossing her arms across her chest. Garrus sighs beside her and she hears him shuffling in his seat. “Look I… I’m sorry about yesterday. It was a family emergency.” He says sounding sadder than she imagined and she turns too look at him.

He was looking down at his hands, his omni-tool closed and his eyes are so sad it hurts Shepard just looking at him. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” Shepard says softly making him look over at her. “Thank you, Shepard.” he says and the skycab comes to a stop a block away from the apartment.

They step out then start assessing the area in front of the apartment. Shepard raises an eyebrow then asks, “Are there guards in front of the apartment?” Garrus stands beside her and sighs. “Why are there guards outside? I thought the bartender told you that it was just a place for homeless people to squat?” He says.

“It appears his information is slightly outdated. Perhaps a drug den or club? Look.” she says pointing to a couple walking up towards the guard, exchange words with the one on the left then enters the apartment. “Let's go. If it's a club we ask around. If it's the other... well we cross that bridge once we get there.” Shepard says.

“I’m okay with that plan.” Garrus says simply and they start making their way towards the apartment. As they move closer she can hear faint music coming from the inside of the apartment. Shepard stops in front of the guard that she didn’t realize was a batarian who holds up a hand, stopping them from moving. “What do you two want?” he asks. Shepard has to clench her fists tightly to prevent punching him.

It’s been a while since Mindoir but Shepard still couldn’t stand batarians but she was trying to move past it. It’s hard when they kill your entire family along with all the friends you’ve ever known. Shepard shakes herself then releases a breath before saying, “Why else would we come to this place?” The batarian narrows his eyes, all four of them, before his partner says, “They have a point, Retok.”

Retok makes an annoyed noise then thrusts his thumb towards the door and says, “Fine go in. Just don’t make any trouble.” Shepard and Garrus make their way past the guards and through the doors. The once quiet music is now obscenely loud as they make their way through the club. “Go talk to some of the dancers around here and get them to talk. I’ll go talk to the bartender.” Shepard says then starts making her way towards the bar.

Garrus grabs her shoulder and clears his throat then says, “Could I go talk to the bartender instead?” Shepard turns around and raises an eyebrow as she looks at him, confused. “Alright.” Shepard says drawing the word out but turns on her heels and makes her way over to a table. A few moments later an asari saunters over in nothing but a g-string.

“What’ll it be gorgeous?” she says practically moaning out the words while she puts a hand on the table and leans forward. If Shepard wasn’t working or wary of getting some kind of disease she would have loved to take the dancer up on her offer but for now she just settled with a question. “I need information.” she says.

The asari purses her lips as she looks at her then straightens her back and puts a hand on her hip. “I don’t give anything away for free, including information.” she says. “How much?” Shepard says, simply lifting up her arm and opening her omni-tool, waiting. “Five hundred credits per question.” she says making Shepard nod and transfer her the credits before pointing to the seat opposite her.

She sits down, crossing a leg over the other before motioning for Shepard to ask her question. “What do you know about the murders?” Shepard asks and the asari’s eyes fly open then she looks around. She leans closer to Shepard before saying, “I’ve heard people talk about him. They say he was a General in the turian navy.”

Shepard leans forward and rests her arms on the table then knits her fingers together. “He’s a turian?” she asks and the asari nods and looks around again. “Do you know anything else?” Shepard asks her and she shakes her head making Shepard sigh then transfer her another five hundred credits before standing up. “Thank you for your help.” she says and makes her way over to Garrus while he sits on a stool.

“I’ll take a beer.” she says once she’s within earshot of the bartender. “Learn anything?” Garrus asks as Shepard sits down on the stool beside him. “He’s a turian. A general at that.” she says sigh then grabbing the bottle of beer in front of her then takes a drink. “What about you?” she asks looking over to him.

“The only thing I learned is that the bartender has a thing for turians. He finds me very attractive.” Garrus says sounding exhausted and Shepard suddenly bursts into laughter. “And you thought the dancers were going to give you a problem.” she says out of breath and she holds her stomach. Garrus sighs deeply as he hangs his head.

Shepard wipes the corners of her eyes then takes another drink of her beer. “I’m not going to live this down.” he says groaning and rubbing his forehead.

Chapter Text

“You can look into the turian navy records right?” Shepard says still sitting in the club. “Yeah I will be able to look in them but what are we looking for other than a general.” He asks and she taps her chin. “Well anyone that recently left or was discharged? How many generals leave the navy every day?” she says before drinking from her beer.

“Guess you have a point.” Garrus mumbles. Shepard leans her elbow on the bar counter, turning to look at Garrus while she props her head up using her hand. “May I ask you a question?” she says making Garrus lift his brow plates in concern and turn to look at her. “Sure?” he says drawing the word out, confused.

“When we first met. You were very… not hostile but confrontational. What made you become less jerkish?” she asks and it makes him fiddle with the glass in front of him. “The sparring match made me realize you were a force to be reckoned with. Simply put I respect you.” he says and Shepard snorts then stands up after paying for their drinks. “I knew you liked me.” She says slapping him in the shoulder and making him lurch forward slightly then adds, “Come on we should go tell this stuff to Chellick.” Garrus nods, stands up and follows her out of the club.

“I’ll call us a skycab.” Garrus says, bringing up his omni-tool and they make their way back towards the exit of Shalta district. “Commander. Captain Anderson wants a status update.” Joker says over the comm. “Alright, thanks Joker. I’ll send Anderson a report right now.” she replies. Opening her omni-tool she starts typing up the report to send to Anderson.

“I’ve heard of Captain Anderson. He fought in the Relay war.” Garrus says as they keep walking and Shepard nods. They pass by a group of people then stop and wait for the skycab. “My uncle told me stories of the war.” Garrus adds and Shepard nods again. “I know Chellick told me.” she says.

“You asked Chellick about me?” he asks sounding curious making Shepard snort then say, “Yeah I wanted to know why you were being such an ass.” Garrus sputters at that and exclaims, “I was not being an ass.” Shepard looks at him, making a skeptical noise and shrugging her shoulders. “Yeah you kind of were but don’t worry big guy you’re not an ass anymore.” she says making Garrus huff and cross his arms over his chest.

Shepard laughs and stands up as the skycab lands near them and walks over then gets in and Garrus gets in beside her. Shepards omni-tool pings and she opens it to see Anderson’s face. “The murderer is a turian general? Are you sure this information is correct, Shepard?” he says sounding concerned.

She nods then says, “Yes, Garrus and I are going back to the police station to fill in the Captain to see if any turian generals have come to Horizon then Garrus will start looking up the most recent generals that have left or been discharged if the Captain can’t find anything.” Anderson nods at everything she says then looks to the right of her. “Hello Praetor Vakarian.” he says and Shepard turns to see Garrus leaning closer to her to see the omni-tool.

Being this close Shepard could smell the subtle scent of Garrus’ cologne. He smelled spicy and slightly of sandalwood but probably was something native to Palaven, the turian home-world. Damn it he smells good. She thinks then she snaps back to reality, turning her head back to her omni-tool when he says, “It’s nice to meet you as well Captain. My uncle told me many things about you.” Anderson chuckles at that. “It was nice meeting you. Thank you for the report Shepard, keep up the good work.” He says and Shepard just nods and closes her omni-tool.

The rest of the ride is in silence as the skycab makes its way to the police station. It lands outside the entrance, they step out and walk into the station then make their way towards Chellick’s office. The door opens and they walk in while Chellick types on his terminal. He lifts his head and looks at Shepard, mandibles flaring out slightly when he sees her. “Find out anything?” he says and she nods as they sit down.

“A bartender in Shalta district finds Garrus attractive.” she says with a smirk on her face and looks over at Garrus who groans. A laugh bubbles up from Chellick's throat then he says, “Garrus gets all the ladies.” Shepard’s smirk widens and she turns back to Chellick. “Even the men can’t resist him.” she says and Chellick laughs louder making Garrus groan louder then mumble, “I knew I’d never live this down.”

“Alright but in all seriousness we found out that the murderer was a general in the turian navy. You have any turian generals come to Horizon recently that you know of?” Shepard asks and Chellick quickly looks something up on his terminal then shakes his head. “None that have been recorded. He must have come in under the radar via smuggler ships.” he says.

“I can look through the turian naval database. So in theory we should have the information by tomorrow. Depending on if the information we need is recorded.” Garrus says and Shepard leans back in her chair. “Fantastic, we should be able to resolve this quickly.” Chellick says.

“Hopefully. I haven’t eaten all day so I need to go back to my hotel and order food.” Shepard says, standing and pats Garrus on the shoulder before adding, “Let me know if you find out anything. You have my comm link.” Garrus nods, stands and leaves Chellick and Shepard alone.

Shepard walks closer to Chellick’s desk, places her hands on it and leans forward. Chellick’s mandibles flare again as he watches her intently. “I think we should continue what we started last night. Wouldn’t you agree?” she says softly and smiles as she receives a soft growl from Chellick.

“I would agree.” he says standing up, walking around his desk and engaging the lock to his office door and activating the blinds on his window. Shepard starts taking her armour off and putting in on the couch in his office. Chellick comes up behind her and wraps his left arm around her stomach while his right hand slips between her legs and starts rubbing her pussy through her undersuit making her release a moan.

She can feel his hot breath on the back of her neck before his tongue slides along her neck. He applies slightly more pressure and Shepard releases another moan. “You know I always hated teasing, Chellick.” she groans as she wiggles her hips trying to get more pressure on her clit.

Chellick chuckles behind her then says, “And you know I’ve always enjoyed it.” Shepard grumbles slightly then gasps as he presses his finger tip directly against her clit. He pushes her forward making her walk then stops once her thighs hit his desk and pulls her undersuit off and throws it aside before turning her around and pushing her back so she’s laying on the right side of his desk beside his terminal.

He moves to stand between her legs and she notices that his legs and pelvis are already free of his armour and his cock is already out of its sheath. Shepard always loved the way turian cocks looked since she first the saw one. Dark blue with ridges along the underside of it and a tapered head.

He grabs her hips and pulls her closer to the edge before pushing her legs open wider, he wraps his hand around his cock then presses the tip of his cock against her opening making her squirm.

He looks up at her then starts entering her agonizingly slowly making her whimper and move her hips. Each ridge elicits a moan from Shepard and makes her shiver. He pushes all the way inside her making Shepard arch her back. “Mmm fuck.” She breathes. He leans forward resting his hands on either side of her head while he looks down at her. “Have I mentioned that I've missed you?” he says softly, making her chuckle and gently slap his chest.

Chellick pulls back and starts thrusting slowly into her but stops for a moment to straighten up, grab onto her thighs and he thrusts harder making her lift her arms above her head and grab onto the edge of the desk as she moans. A growl emits from within his chest as he keeps thrusting, picking up speed and with each thrust she lurches upward on the desk.

Chellick tightens his grip on her thighs drawing blood where his talons dig into her skin. She can feel the clenching low in her stomach and her legs shaking as she gets closer to orgasm and her moans come out between gasps. It had clearly been a while since she had had sex if she was already close to climax. Shepard reaches down and starts rubbing her clit in circles, throwing her over the edge.

She squeezes the edge of the desk tightly making her knuckles turn white as her toes clench. She releases a loud moan and closes her thighs around her hand as she cums. Chellick keeps thrusting but slams into her, groans and unloads into her, releasing a low growl ending in a moan.

Chellick slouches forward, resting his forehead in between her breasts as he breathes deeply. Shepard lets go of the desk and brings her hand up to stroke the hide under his fringe softly making him purr. “Now I’m even more hungrier than I was.” Shepard says barely above a whisper and Chellick laughs quietly against her chest.

Chapter Text

After they cleaned up and put their armour back on they sat on the couch for a while just being in each other’s company in peaceful silence. Shepard goes to stand, saying, “I should get back to my hotel.” but Chellick stops her by clearing his throat.

“Shepard can I ask you something?” he asks making her sit back down and look over at him. “Sure what is it?” she smiles at him reassuringly. He looks down at his hands while they fidget and his mandibles are pressed tightly to his face in fear? Concern? Shepard always had trouble deciphering what turian mandibles meant.

“Chellick what’s wrong?” Shepard moves closer to him, placing her hand over his, stopping the erratic movements of his hands. “I’m fine. It’s just a topic you don’t like talking about.” he says finally lifting his head to look at her. She removes her hand from his to rub her forehead, sighing. “We don’t need to talk about this, Chellick.” she stands up from the couch and moves a few feet away.

“Nihlus only died seven months ago. You need to talk about it, you can’t just hold everything inside like you always do.” she hears him stand up from the couch and come to stand behind her.

He grabs her shoulder, turning her slowly so she is looking at him. “I’m fine, Chellick. Really.” she offers him a weak smile and he frowns at her. “You don’t always have to be Commander Shepard where nothing ever bothers you. You’re allowed to feel things, Jane.” his voice is soft as he rubs his thumb against her cheek.

Shepard frowns at that, angry at him. Who was he to say what she could and could not do with her emotions? Why was he trying to get her to talk about things she wasn’t ready to talk about just yet? She clenches her jaw and pushes him away from her. “I said I’m fine so leave me alone.” she shouts then moves past him and goes to open the door and growls.

She brings up her omni-tool and starts hacking the door. Chellick starts walking up behind her sighing, “Shepard just let me unlock the door.” he sounds exasperated but she lowers her arm, the lock turning from red to green and she turns to glare at him, making him stop in his tracks.

“We haven’t talked in six months. So don’t think you know what’s best for me or how I should grieve.” she continues to stare at him, narrowing her eyes at him as he opens his mouth to say something but decides against it and his shoulders slump slightly.

Shepard turns, a flurry of red hair following her head then she stomps out of his office and out of the police station in a storm cloud. Once outside she starts walking, not really paying attention to where she is going. “I need a drink.” sighing, she brings up her omni-tool and calls a skycab to take her back to her hotel.

Shepard laughs loudly, slapping her knee while she watches a T.V. show. Multiple bottles of beer and a bottle of vodka lay on the coffee table, empty, while she holds a half empty bottle of red wine between her thighs, the only kind of alcohol that wasn’t dextro left in the mini fridge.

A ping from her omni-tool stops her mirth and she wipes the corner of her eyes, sighing. Chellick had messaged her almost twenty times since she left his office. She ignored them all but she was becoming increasingly aggravated with him.

Without really reading it or looking at who sent it she opens the message and angrily types a reply, hits send then closes her omni-tool to continue watching her show. Another ping makes her growl and opening her omni-tool display to read the message.

From: Garrus
To: Shepard

Uhh you may want to read who this is.

Blinking in surprise while also trying to somehow sober herself up slightly she swallows a few times before typing a reply.

To: Garrus
From: Shepard

wow. well thats not embarrassing at all. I’m very drunk.

From: Garrus
To: Shepard

It’s no big deal. So did you read my previous message?

She reopens the first message he sent her and actually reads it.

From: Garrus
To: Shepard

I think I may have found someone that fits our criteria.

Along with the message is a dossier of a turian general named Tibemus Terrinus. Highly decorated and fought in the relay war. Retired from the navy a year and a half ago.

To: Garrus
From: Shepard

could be him. does anyone know where he is now?

From: Garrus
To: Shepard

The turian hierarchy tracks it’s veterans in case of war. The report says he moved to Horizon less than eight months ago.

To: Garrus
From: Shepard

so we just need to figure out where he is. but we can do that tomorrow because i need sleep.

From: Garrus
To: Shepard

Alright. Get some sleep and I’ll meet you at the police station tomorrow morning.

Shepard reads the message but doesn’t reply, closing her omni-tool she lays down on the couch and soon falls asleep.

Chapter Text

Shepard was dreading having to see Chellick as the skycab descended towards the police station and she groans as she sees him standing beside Garrus while they talk about something. She steps out halfway, her left foot still in the skycar and she waves at Garrus to bring him over. Both of them walk over and Chellick stands in front of her then says softly, “Could we talk alone?” he looks down at her while she narrows her eyes up at him.

“No. Come on Garrus.” Shepard slides back into the skycar and closes the door making Garrus get in on the other side. She brings up the dossier again and scans it while Garrus gets into the skycar and it takes off to their destination. “Do you know anything about this turian that the dossier doesn’t mention?” Shepard glaces over at Garrus.

“I knew him. He was a friend of my uncle’s during the war. They served in the same platoon and I met him a couple of times. It’s hard for me to think about him doing something like this to be honest.” Garrus says then shrugs and adds quietly, “Not that that is pertinent information to the investigation.” Shepard keeps her gaze on Garrus for a few seconds, sees him sigh and his mandibles droop slightly.

“Well maybe you’ll be able to reason with him if he is the one behind this?” she turns back to her omni-tool again as she continues to look through the dossier. Garrus just grunts beside her and the skycar continues taking them to Shalta district and they settle into a comfortable silence.

“You know I’ve realized something, Shepard. I don’t really know much about you.” Garrus says suddenly after five minutes of silence making Shepard jump slightly and turn to look at him.

“Not much to tell honestly. I’m just a soldier like everyone else.” she says shrugging her shoulders.

“I highly doubt that. Not many humans can best a turian in hand to hand combat.” he points out making her chuckle and hold her hands up in surrender.

“Well technically it was a draw? So I didn’t actually beat you.” she says with a slight upturn at the corner of her mouth and Garrus chuckles quietly. “Looks like we’re almost there. Guess we should go see your bartender buddy first and see if he knows anything.” Garrus says sitting up a little as the skycar lands outside of Shalta district and they get out then head towards the bar.

Once they step into the bar Shepard makes her way to the back, with Garrus trailing behind her, where the bartender puts a bottle of beer on the counter in front of a turian then quickly pulls his hand away like he just fed a feral dog. He moves away from the turian slightly and wrings his hands before looking away from the turian to see Shepard.

He motions with his head to the end of the counter and Shepard makes her way over there then leans forward on the counter. “Is there something wrong?” Shepard asks, her voice soft while she keeps the mysterious turian in her peripheral sight. The bartender leans closer then says, “He’s part of the Blue Suns.” and his eyes dart back and forth between Shepard and the turian.

Garrus starts laughing loudly at that making Shepard turn to look at him. She’d never seen him give more than a chuckle at anything. It was nice to see him laugh with abandon and it brought a smile to her face before turning back to the bartender. “That’s why you’re afraid? A two-bit mercenary has you frightened?” Garrus asks finally able to calm down his laughter.

The bartender opens his mouth to speak when the door opens and in walks a krogan. All of the patrons including Garrus and Shepard turn to look at him as he scans the crowd. Once he spots the mercenary from the Blue Suns he moves forward. “Finally I found your sorry ass. It was very rude of you to make me come into this shit hole bar to collect you.” The krogan says angrily as he stares down at the turian.

“What are you talking about, krogan?” the mercenary says standing up from his bar stool and trying to stand up to the krogan but he still towers over him. The krogan growls and pushes his face closer to the turians. “Next time you try to cheat the Shadow Broker. Do a better job at covering your tracks.” the krogan pokes the turian in the keel bone to emphasize his point.

The turian just stares at him for a second then pushes past him and tries running towards the door making the Krogan laugh, turn around and pull out the shotgun attached to his lower back then fires a concussive round at the turian. The shot hits him directly in the back making him lurch forward, forces all the air out of his lungs then he falls to the floor. “I love it when they run…” he mumbles to himself clearly having a good time as he holsters his shotgun then walks over, grabs the dazed turian’s ankle and starts dragging him out of the bar.

Shepard watches him drag the turian out of the bar who is now struggling and a laugh bubbles up and out of her throat. “Well that was fun.” Garrus says from beside her while he continues to stare at the door as she wipes the corners of her eyes then a realisation hits her. She slaps a hand against Garrus’ chest making him turn to look at her and open his mouth to say something. “We need to find that Krogan.”

Shepard sprints out of the bar without any warning leaving Garrus calling after her as he runs after her. Once outside she turns her head every which way trying to spot the krogan that is nowhere in sight. “How could he move that fast?” she mumbles to herself when Garrus finally comes outside to stand beside her.

“Shepard, what do you mean we have to find the krogan?” Garrus watches Shepard look around trying to find the krogan. “You’d think trying to spot a two thousand pound krogan would be easy.” Shepard curses under her breath then Garrus grabs her arm and turns her to look at him. “Shepard.” He simply says making her sigh. “The krogan works for the Shadow Broker, Garrus. They will know something about this. They know everything if it’s worth knowing and this case is worth knowing.” she says then continues looking around.

“Could have just said that instead of being so cryptic.” Garrus says sounding exasperated.

“When have I ever said anything plainly?” Shepard offers with a raised eyebrow still searching the area for the Krogan as they walk through Shalta district. Garrus holds up a finger and opens his mouth to protest but just shrugs and grunts in agreement, mumbling “True” under his breath.

They turn down a side alley then come to a stop halfway down it. “Damn it! We lost him, how could we lose a krogan?” Shepard curses more and kicks an empty can further down the alley then puts her hands on her hips and letting her head hang down. “Who are you two and why are you following me?” the krogan threatens from behind them. Shepard can feel the barrel of a gun pressed to the back of her head and she glances over at Garrus who is in a similar situation.

“Look we just want to talk to you. We overheard in the bar that you work for the Shadow Broker and we need information.” Shepard offers, raising her hands up. The krogan considers them for a moment then grunts and lowers his weapons allowing Shepard and Garrus to turn around. “Name’s Urdnot Wrex. Follow me.” Wrex turns around and walks back down the alley.

Chapter Text

They followed Wrex down alleyways and through abandoned, broken factories until they came to the very edge of the Shalta district. Shepard recognizes where they are and she turns her head to the left, barely able to make out Mordin’s office. Wrex stops in front of a building then looks down at Shepard and points at her, “Don’t do anything stupid.” making Garrus snort beside her. Wrex, still staring at Shepard, slaps the wall behind him.

A crackle comes from somewhere and Shepard hears a woman’s voice say, “What do you want, Wrex?” she sounds slightly agitated but more distracted than anything. “Let me go you giant idiot!” the turian slung over Wrex’s shoulder shouts as he struggles. “Stop complaining or I’ll feed you to my varren.” Wrex growls then replies to the intercom. “I’m here to turn in the turian.” then turns and looks at Shepard and Garrus and adds, “And also people are here for information.”

There is silence for a few beats then the woman over the intercom sighs and says, “Fine I’m opening the door.” the intercom cuts out and a door Shepard only now realises is a door slides open, Wrex walks inside with Shepard and Garrus following behind him. He leads them through hallways and stops at a door with a glow coming from it.

Wrex opens the door and walks into the brightly glowing room. Shepard follows and looks around to see hundreds of computer screens attached to the wall and a small blue asari sitting at a desk staring at another screen in front of her while she types away. “It took you long enough Wrex I was starting to wonder if you were actually going to get the mark this time.” the asari says.

“It wasn’t my fault this little spiky bastard had me chase him all around Horizon.” Wrex says throwing the turian onto the ground then adding, “And he made me carry his ass because he tried running away and tripped, twisting his fragile ankle in the process.” he growls while looking down at him. The asari chuckles then stands up from her desk and walks over to the turian, squatting down in front of him. “Where is it?” she asks the mercenary as he lifts himself up a little to look at her.

“I don’t have it with me. I left it back at my apartment.” he says making the asari scowl and purse her lips. Her eyes flick up towards Wrex and she asks, “Did you frisk him?” making Wrex scoff then say, “Do I look stupid? Of course I did. He had nothing on him that’s why I brought him back with me.” She sighs and stands up.

Garrus leans over to Shepard, “Shepard this isn’t a good idea.” he says it quiet enough so only she can hear him. She keeps her eyes trained forward not really listening to what Wrex and the Shadow Broker are saying, “I know it isn’t but we can’t just keep running around in a circle trying to look for clues that may not be there. We need a stronger lead, Garrus.” she replies and Garrus just sighs then nods his approval. “Just take him to a room while I find someone to go get it.” the asari says then turns to look at Shepard and Garrus who just watch Wrex mumble as he picks up the struggling turian again and carry him further into the building.

“Now,” she starts, turning around and walking back over to her desk and sitting down, “what can I do for you two?” her voice now pleasant. “We need information.” Shepard says taking a step forward. The Shadow Broker snorts, flicking her eyes towards Shepard for a moment before returning them to the screen. “That’s fairly obvious. If you needed a cup of sugar I’d say you came to the wrong place. The question that I need answered is what information do you require?”

“You must have heard about the recent murders around Horizon. What do you know about them?” Shepard crosses her arms across her chest. “I have heard about them and I have information that you would find helpful.” Shepard waits for the asari to continue her sentence but when she doesn’t Shepard sighs, moving closer and slapping a hand onto her desk making the asari stop what she is doing and deliberately turning her head to look at the hand now on her desk.

“We need that information.” Garrus says from over Shepard’s shoulder. “That’s very nice. But what I need is payment. Since you are such nice people cost is five million credits.” she lifts her gaze from Shepard’s hand to look into her eyes before returning to her screen, her fingers once again moving wildly across the keyboard. “You’re joking right? We don’t have that many credits.” Shepard growls as a smirk spreads across the asari’s face.

“Shame. You can leave now.”

“How about a deal?” Shepard says leaning against the desk, making the asari turn her attention to her once again. “What’s the deal?” she pauses in the middle of typing and threads her fingers together while she looks at Shepard. “You need someone to go get whatever it is you need from that merc’s apartment and I-”

“We.” Garrus states from behind her making her turn around and regard him for a moment. “We?” she asks tilting her head slightly and he nods at her. “Yes. I’m coming with you, Shepard” warmth blossoms in her chest as she smiles and she turns back around to the Shadow Broker to continue, “We can get it for you. We get it for you, you consider us paid up and you give us the information. Deal?” Shepard holds her hand out towards the asari while she taps a finger against her chin, looking at the outstretched hand in front of her. A few minutes pass before the asari finally reaches out and shakes Shepard’s hand. “You have a deal, human.”

Chapter Text

“That’s the building.” Garrus says leaning around the corner of a building a couple blocks from the merc’s apartment. Shepard leans around Garrus to look at the building and frowns. “He apparently forgot to mention that his apartment is also a Blue Suns hide out.” a growl slips out of her throat then she leans back and starts stretching.

“What floor did he say his apartment was on?” Shepard asks rolling her shoulders then raising her arms over her head, holding her right wrist in her left hand and arching her back slightly while she stretches. “Top floor third door on the left. Let’s just hope there aren’t many mercs in there.” Garrus turns around to look down at her and Shepard smirks, “That wouldn’t be any fun.” she smacks his chest with the back of her hand and moves past him. “Come on, big guy. Let’s go.”

They start making their way towards the apartment building where two mercs are standing outside talking to each other. Shepard rushes the one with his back facing her and wraps her arm around his neck, choking him while simultaneously kicking the guy in front of her in the stomach while he fumbles, trying to grab his weapon.

The merc in her arm goes limp after a few minutes and she drops him to the ground. The one she kicked managed to recover quicker than she thought he would after getting booted in the stomach and is trying to bring up his omni-tool. Before she can do anything a pistol is pressed against his temple and she sees Garrus looming over him. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” the merc slowly raises his hands above his head.

“Good boy. Now if you don’t want to join your buddy I’d suggest you leave. But don’t tell anyone.” Shepard puts a finger over her mouth in a shushing motion as the merc frowns at her. They make their way into the building and to the elevator. “I’m kind of surprised no other mercs are on the ground floor.” Garrus observes as he pushes a button to take them to the top floor of the building.

“I’m fairly certain they didn’t expect anyone to actually storm this place.” Shepard says pulling her pistol out and preparing for the inevitable battle. The elevator dings and the doors open to reveal the top floor. Shepard leans out to look down the hall and she sees nothing. She scrunches her forehead in confusion then steps out into the empty hallway. “What is going on? They only had those two idiots guarding the front door and that was it?” She says then motions for Garrus to follow her as she makes her way towards the third door on the left.

“The merc didn’t give us a code for his door did he?” Shepard asks looking over at Garrus who shakes his head. She sighs, holstering her pistol and opens her omni-tool to start hacking the door when a noise behind her pulls her attention. The sound of boots scraping against the ground behind her and armour shifting. “You heard it too didn’t you.” Garrus whispers arming himself and bracing himself against the wall, Shepard closes her omni-tool, standing as she does so and grabs her pistol from her hip and training it at the door.

Shepard holds up her left hand, counts down from five then Garrus slaps the door, opening it and Shepard shoots the merc standing dumb-founded in front of the door in the head. Garrus moves in after she fires and kills the next merc with Shepard following behind him as they make their way through the apartment.

They go through the apartment neutralizing the rest of the mercenaries with little trouble. Garrus leans against the wall while Shepard hacks the mercs door. “You should call Chellick and tell him about the dead mercenaries.” a frown forming on her brow as she looks at the display on her omni-tool.

“That’s probably a good idea.” Garrus says bringing up his omni-tool. “Chellick, we killed about a dozen mercs in a building in Shalta District. I’m sending you the coords.”

“I’ll send a team over to clean up the bodies. My only question is why are you shooting up Shalta District?”

“We will tell you when we get back to the station, Chellick.” Garrus cuts the call as Shepard finally manages to unlock the door as it slides open. They walk in and start searching for the datapad in the mercs apartment. “The datapad we’re looking for has a little nick at the bottom of it.” Shepard reminds more herself than Garrus but he responds with a grunt all the same as they search.

“Ah-hah! Found it.” She says lifting the datapad above her head in triumph. “Alright now that we have this we can go back to the Shadow Broker.” Shepard puts the datapad in a pocket and they make their way out of the apartment and back towards the Shadow Broker’s lair.

Shepard stands in front of the building looking around for the door they entered before. “Do you see it anywhere?” Garrus raps a knuckle on the building gently looking for the opening. Shepard shakes her head, tapping a finger against her chin thoughtfully then kicks the side of the building.

“Don’t kick my house. What do you want?” the asari’s voice sounds out from the intercom like before. “I have returned with your datapad.” Shepard pulls the datapad out of her pocket and waves it around in the air. A few seconds pass and the door slides opens like before allowing Shepard and Garrus to enter the building.

Once inside, the door closes behind them and they walk down the hall towards the glowing room. She pushes the door open to see the asari where they left her. Once she sees Shepard holding the datapad at her side she stands and comes over to stand in front of her, hand held out.

“Information first then you get your datapad.” Shepard says making her glower then put her hands on her hips. “I know where his hideout is. This is the information I will give you in exchange for my datapad.” She says and Shepard hands the datapad over to her which she gladly takes and starts looking through the files contained on it while she walks back to her desk.

She sits down, types a few sentences and brings up a map on a large screen on the wall which she points to and says, “ His hideout is here.” The map is a zoomed in view of Shalta District with a small red circle on it. “You’re kidding me? His hideout is right out in the open? We’ve been walking past it for the last three days.” Garrus groans as he looks at the map and Shepard releases a small bark of laughter.

The murderers hideout was across the street from the bar they went to get information the first time they set foot in Shalta District. He had probably been watching them this entire time. Shepard folds her arms across her chest and exhales deeply. "Well at least we know where to go now.” Shepard states turning towards Garrus as he nods.

“Thank you for this information we will be leaving now.” Shepard turns and starts walking out when the Shadow Broker’s voice calls her name. “I know who you are, Commander Shepard.” her voice is dripping with smugness. Shepard turns slowly on her heels to look at the asari.

“After you two left I knew I remembered you from somewhere, when it hit me, you were on Elysium.” she smirks then adds, “And you were Nihlus Kryik’s partner… before he died that is.” Shepard glares at her, rage mixed with sadness swirling around in her gut as she clenches and unclenches her fists.

“Shepard what is she talking about?” Garrus asks coming to stand beside her. She hangs her head to avoid eye contact but the gentle noise of metal clinking against metal pulls her attention. She lifts her head to see the asari holding a turian military service medallion. “Catch.” she says throwing the medallion at Shepard who catches it. She turns it over to reveal the words. ‘Captain Kryik, Nihlus. Turian navy’ she rubs her thumb against his name before pulling her pistol out and pointing it at the asari. “Where did you get this from!” she shouts, moving closer.

The asari just sits there with her hands folded in her lap. “Tell me, now!” Shepard feels a hand on her shoulder but she violently shrugs it off while she keeps her gun trained between the asari’s eyes. The Shadow Broker leans over to look past her pistol and at Shepard. “I didn’t kill him, Commander. I bought that medallion from a Krogan four months ago.” she states matter of factly. Shepard keeps staring at her, fire in her eyes.

“You’re welcome to keep it, Shepard. I know how much he meant to you.” a devilish smile spreads across her face then she adds while waving the datapad, “Thanks.” Shepard keeps her pistol pointed at her a few moments more, her finger hovering over the trigger but she pulls it away and curses.

She turns away from the asari and practically runs out of the Shadow Broker’s lair, the air inside now suddenly too stifling, the walls too close. Once outside she takes a few deep breaths, hanging her head to look at Nihlus’ medallion in her hand.

She doesn’t notice Garrus behind her or hear him calling her name until his hand lands on her shoulder making her jump, turning around to look up at him. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asks softly and she just shakes her head, moving away from him. “We should go back to the police station to tell Chellick what we found out.” Shepard turns around and starts walking from Shalta District with Garrus following behind her.

Chapter Text

As the skycab travels through the city heading back towards the police station, Shepard watches the buildings as they pass by then sighs letting her head fall down to look at her closed hands. She opens them slowly, revealing the medallion nestled inside. She gently rubs the name etched into the metal as her mind drifts back to the last time she saw Nihlus.

A gunshot echoes off the walls of the mine shaft making Shepard stop in her tracks, bringing her hand up to her ear piece. “Nihlus, was that you?” she says then waits for a response. A minute passes before trying again. “Nihlus? Answer me.” a little more panic in her voice this time.

Shepard starts backtracking quickly trying to find Nihlus. They had split up, against Shepards protests, she had a bad feeling about this mine. The report they got said it was a drug den making red sand. At first it was but once they got farther into the tunnels it became more apparent that was not the case.

Now she is panicking, Nihlus won’t answer her near constant stream of talking, trying to get a reply as she makes her way through the twisting tunnels. “Shepard…” a voice from the left so faint she barely hears it over her own incessant talking. She turns the corner and sees him leaning against a crate, helmet discarded to the side while blood oozes out of his stomach at an alarming rate and blood runs down his chin.

“We need an evac, right now.” Shepard says holstering her pistol and kneeling down in front of him. She grabs her medi-gel and goes to apply some to Nihlus but he grabs her wrist, stopping her. “Nihlus let go I can save you.” her voice so full of concern, tinged with fear as she looks at her friends face.

He shakes his head and takes a few shallow, ragged breaths before speaking. “I’ve lost too much blood, Shepard there isn’t anything you can do. Medi-gel can’t fix this.” he weakly gestures towards his stomach. “Who did this?” she asks and he exhales, cringing as he does so. “I didn’t see his face, he was wearing a helmet but it was a turian.” The blood flow has slowed slightly but considering the amount of deep blue blood already on the floor around him she can tell why it’s slowing down. “I’m not going to just let you die here, Nihlus. Where is that fucking evac.” Shepard growls, standing up and opening her omni-tool as she starts pacing. “Jane…” Nihlus’ faint voice says making her stop in her tracks and slowly turn to look down at him.

Shepard kneels down in front of him again but this time he isn’t moving, his head hangs down and his shallow breathing has stopped. “Nihlus? Talk to me… please.” her voice tiny as she pleads.

“Shepard?” a voice pulls her mind out it’s memories. “Mm?” she grunts not lifting her head. “You okay?” Garrus asks and she nods, lifts her head to look at him. Turians were usually hard to read but Garrus’ expression was clearly one of concern as he looked at her. “Come on, Vakarian. Let’s go.” smiling at him.

Shepard pockets Nihlus’ medallion then exits the skycab and walks into the police station. “Good evening, Commander Shepard, Praetor Vakarian.” the officer behind the front desk says with a smile and Shepard responds with a smile of her own while Garrus nods and they move past the desk towards Chellick’s office.

As they move through the police station, officers of both species greet Shepard and Garrus enthusiastically. Some of them commenting on old missions while others comment on the mercs they just took out. They try to get to Chellick’s office quickly, keeping the conversations short as they make their way there. They enter his office while and Chellick is sat behind his desk staring at his monitor. “Fill me in on everything.”

“You’re telling me that the Shadow Broker is here, on Horizon?” Chellick leans back in his chair. “I feel like that is beside the point. We know where his hideout is.”

“Garrus is right but we need a plan. How long until you can organize things?” Chellick sighs then sits up and checks computer. “Probably two days? Maybe less. We would have to brief my officers.” Shepard nods as she stands and goes to the door. “That’s good. Well you know where I’ll be and if you need help let me know. Coming Garrus?” she stops by the door and looks at him while he sits in front of Chellick’s desk. “I need to talk to Chellick.” he gives her a flick of his mandibles as he looks at her. Fear lances through her but her face remains neutral as she nods. She didn’t want Garrus to ask about Nihlus but she couldn’t tell him not to do it. It would just raise more questions. “I’ll see you around, Garrus.” she leaves Chellick’s office.

As she walks out of the police station she gets a ping on her omni-tool.

From: Ash
To: Shepard

Kaidan and I are going out tonight. You’re coming with us skipper. You can’t refuse.

She reads the message and chuckles slightly as she walks towards the hotel. She hadn’t spent much time with them since coming to Horizon and now she was kind of regretting bringing them. She sighs and types a reply telling her to bring Kaidan to her room in an hour.

Someone knocks on the hotel door making Shepard sigh. “Give me a moment.” she finishes drying her hair while she looks at her omni-tool to see the time then walks over to the door and opens it. “You guys are five minutes- Oh, hello Chellick.” she says as he stands in the hallway. “Are you okay Shepard? Garrus told me what happened.”

“I’m fine, Chellick.” Shepard crosses her arms across her chest. “Do you want to talk?” parroting what Garrus had said earlier making her sigh and pinch the bridge of her nose. “No Chellick I do not want to talk about it.” The plates on Chellick’s forehead scrunch up as he frowns at her. “Shepard, you can’t keep everything you feel bottled up inside.” he is almost shouting at her as he takes a step towards her making her angry and she points a finger at him. “Don’t you think I know that? Do you think I’m oblivious?” she growls at him and he takes a step back then she adds softly, “I just… I don’t know… I miss him.” she lets her hand fall by her side. Chellick goes to open his mouth to speak but someone clears their throat.

They both turn to see Ashley and Kaidan standing in the hallway. Chellick takes another step away from Shepard’s door then coughs. “I’ll talk to you another time, Shepard.” He walks away quickly, moving past Kaidan and towards the elevator.

“What was that about, Shepard?” Ashley asks once Chellick is no longer in view. She just waves a dismissive hand at her while she mumbles, “Don’t worry about it.” She quickly puts her shoes on then leaves the hotel room, following Ash and Kaidan.

Chapter Text

Shepard wasn’t really a fan of going to a club. She always found it too loud and she was never able to think, while also having to scream over the music at your friends. But tonight she was thankful for it, the constant noise kept her mind focused on that rather than what happened earlier.

She tilts the bottle of beer in her hand slightly to the left, watching the liquid inside move then brings it up to her mouth and takes a drink. Turning her attention to the dance floor she spots Ashley dancing between two people, swaying with the music. “Commander?” Kaidan says from the other side of the booth making her turn. “Yeah?”

“Been calling your name for a minute.” he says making her rub the back of her neck. “Sorry, it’s loud in this place. Did you need something?” he shakes his head and takes a sip from his beer then asks a question about the topic she was trying to avoid. “How is the investigation going?”

She takes a drink from her beer before answering as if building up the courage to. “It’s going well. We got a really big lead today so hopefully we’ll be able to go home soon. Actually speaking of I may send you two a message to help us.” she goes to take another drink when Ash slaps her hand on the table making her almost spill beer on herself. “Ash, what the fuck?” she growls looking at her. That line of conversation interrupted now.

“Isn’t that your partner?” Ash slides into the booth beside Shepard and points across the dance floor. Shepard follows her finger to see Garrus sitting leisurely in a booth on the other side of the bar talking to a female turian sitting with her back facing Shepard. She pulls her attention from the female back towards Garrus who nods then chuckles and brings up his omni-tool.

He says something and the female stands up and he follows making Shepard look away to peer into her beer as they leave the club. For some reason a stray tendril of jealousy floats around her head making her raise an eyebrow. She was confused, she was aware that he would want company and female company at that. It wasn’t like they were anything more than maybe friends and she wasn’t completely sure about that either they hadn’t really done anything other than investigate this case. “Don’t see many female turians.” Kaidan observes making Ashley scoff then say under her breath, “Yeah because they look like the men.”

“Can I get you anything?” A waitress says standing at the edge of their table. Shepard finishes her beer, slamming the bottle on the table. “Yeah a round of shots along with a bottle of asari tequila for the table to start.” the waitress nods then leaves to get their order.

Shepard knew drinking away the pain never helped but at this moment she didn’t care. The pit in her stomach needed to be filled with something, so why not flood it with alcohol? The waitress comes back, placing three shot glasses down then fills them with the tequila and leaves the bottle. Each of them picks up a glass, clinks them together then downs them and Shepard pours another round.

They stumble out of the club five and a half hours later and into the skycab waiting outside. Once inside a profound silence falls over them. Kaidan rests his head on the window as the cab takes off. Ashley has her arms crossed across her chest while her head slumps forward, chin resting on her collarbone.

Shepard looks outside, watching the blurry world pass by as the skycab takes them to the hotel. “Shepard? What is with you and that spikey guy?” Ash says making her chuckle and turn to look at her. “Which one?” Ashley untangles herself then starts making vague hand gestures like she’s playing charades.

Shepard raises an eyebrow, still giggling. “What does this… mean?” she tries to mimic Ash’s hand gestures with little success. “The one we saw at your room earlier. When we came to pick you up.” Shepard met Ashley and Kaidan four months after Nihlus died they didn’t know about Chellick or Nihlus. No one knew about Nihlus.

“He’s just a friend from before I met you guys.” Ash nods slowly then stops as they hear snoring and look over to see Kaidan drooling on the window. Ash slowly turns her head to look at Shepard and the moment they make eye contact they burst into laughter.

Kaidan jolts awake and looks around the cab confused, drool still running out of his mouth he forgot to close making them laugh harder. Shepard doubles over and holds her stomach. The skycab lands in front of the hotel and they fall out as the doors open, howling into the night.

Eventually they stop their laughter as they stand in the elevator. Ashley and Shepard lean against the walls while Kaidan stands in the center, swaying back and forth. The doors open and Kaidan looks at the floor number for a few seconds before walking out. “Good night.” he mumbles then shuffles his way down the hallway towards his room.

The doors close and go up another floor, opening to reveal Ash’s floor. She pushes herself off the wall and leaves with a weak salute to Shepard. Once alone Shepard releases a heavy breath and closes her eyes, waiting for the elevator to take her to her floor. Her mind goes back to Garrus and the turian he was with. The jealousy that was lingering in the back of her mind is now in the forefront making her grumble.

The doors open and she pushes herself out of the elevator and towards her room. It takes her a few tries before she finally manages to open the door. She walks in, locks the door and sits down on the couch releasing a sigh of relief.

She closes her eyes and leans her head back, resting her arm across her eyes trying to make the spinning stop. “I need water.” she mumbles out loud into the darkness then goes to stand up when her eyes land on something. When she got home she had taken Nihlus’ medallion out of her pocket and placed it on the table then went to have a shower. Now it looks at her from its place on the table, almost chastising her for her behaviour. She reaches out, grabbing the cold metal in her hands that feel like they’re on fire.

She stares at it for what feels like an eternity. Her body bent over as if she is protecting the medallion from something and doesn’t realise she’s crying until tears drop onto the surface, distorting the words and insignia of the turian navy. The tears further blur her already blurry vision and more fall onto the medallion as they run down her face. She brings it to her forehead, pressing the cold wet metal to her skin and whispers through sobs, “I’m sorry…”

Chapter Text

When Shepard woke up in the morning the only thing she had to deal with was her incredibly dry throat. She drank two and a half bottles of water and only then did her throat not feel as dry as a desert. She received a message from Chellick informing her that she could relax and explore Horizon for the day. She was thankful, she didn’t really want to be around anyone, she just needed a day to herself and that is what she was planning on doing.

As she sits in a park surrounded by trees and greenery with the setting sun to her left she’s happy. She takes a deep breath, filling her lungs with the scent of earth and she exhales then hangs her head, rubbing her forehead. “Garrus, we should get back.” a voice says from her right making her head snap up and look at Garrus standing beside a female turian. She had never seen Garrus out of his armour before now. He was thinner than she thought he’d be, his armour made him look bigger than he actually was but that was normal for turians.

She couldn’t quite tell but she assumed it was the same one from last night in the club and she sighs as jealousy once again nips at her ankles. “Yeah I know.” he says then turns left and their eyes meet. “Shepard, didn’t expect to see you here.” he says with a flick of his mandibles.

Shepard gets up from the bench and stands in front of the two turians. “Chellick said I wasn’t needed so I could go around and do what I please.” she smiles up at him. “Yeah he sent me the same message so I decided to spend it with my family since they came to…” he pauses for a moment, glancing over at the turian next to him then back to Shepard and continues, “they came to visit. Speaking of family-” Garrus goes to motion towards the turian beside him but she pushes his hand away then holds hers out towards Shepard.

“I’m Solana, his sister.” she says taking Shepards hand and shaking it while her mandibles flick out in a smile. Shepard releases a sigh of relief unknowingly as the jealousy she had felt before dissipates. “It’s nice to meet you, I’m Shepard.”

“What were you doing here alone, Shepard?” Solana asks and Garrus elbows her in the side. Shepard chuckles then waves her hand at the surrounding trees. “I just like trees they are peaceful and remind me of home.” she smiles and Garrus flicks his mandibles slightly making Solana look over at him in confusion for a second then returns her gaze to Shepard and asks, “Earth?” Shepard shakes her head. “I was born on Mindoir. It’s a farming colony in the Attican Traverse.”

“I wouldn’t have taken you for a farmer, Commander.” a smirk tinges Garrus’ voice making Shepard put a hand on her hip. “You’re saying you can’t picture me in a straw hat holding a pitchfork?” Shepard smirks and she notices Solana, in her peripheral vision, look over at Garrus again, flicking her mandibles slightly. Shepard’s omni-tool pings once, pulling her attention from Garrus to her wrist for a second but she ignores it.

It was probably Kaidan or Ashley wanting to hang out and she could answer it later, but when it pings again she lifts her arm, sighing and opening her omni-tool. “Is it Chellick?” Garrus asks as Shepard opens the message and reads it.

To: Commander Shepard
From: A Friend

Commander I require your assistance. Please meet me at the Shadow Broker’s lair. Alone.

“Shepard?” Garrus asks making her look up at him. “Oh no I just remembered I have to be somewhere.” Shepard tries to sound convincing even adding a smile to go along with her lie. “So with that I should leave. It was so nice to meet you Solana; I’ll see you later Garrus.” Shepard walks away quickly from the two turians and back to the hotel to change into her armour.

After getting her armour on Shepard rushed over to the Shadow Broker’s lair but once there she became cautious. She was standing in front of the building looking up at the structure. She walks up to it and taps her knuckle on a panel. A moment later a voice different from the first time comes through the intercom. “Please come in, Commander.” The voice is softer, kinder.

The panel slides open and Shepard walks in through the doors then makes her way towards the glowing room. The door opens and she enters the room to see a different asari from last time. Wrex stands beside her as she sits at the desk and types away, unconcerned by Shepard. The other asari Shepard had dealt with before was purple with light purple markings. The one before Shepard now was a pale blue colour with barely visible purple freckles across her cheeks and nose.

“Where is the Shadow Broker? I was supposed to meet her.” Shepard says making the asari turn her head towards Shepard and chuckle slightly. “Nyxeris was not the Shadow Broker. I am, although I understand the confusion. Speaking of Nyxeris she has become a little troublesome and stolen something from me. I need you to get it back for me.” Shepard frowns at the asari.

“Why would I help you? What do I get out of this? Also why did I have to come alone?” Shepard moves closer to the asari making Wrex move closer to Shepard but the asari puts a hand up to stop him and stands up to walk over to Shepard. “You should help me because then I’ll owe you a favour and having me owe you a favour is very good. And you won’t be alone. You’ll have Wrex to accompany you.” she says turning and motioning with her hand towards the krogan behind her.

Shepard crosses her arms across her chest, regarding the asari for a moment. It would be pretty useful having a favour owed to her from the Shadow Broker. “Fine where do I go?” This makes the asari smile then turns around and walk back to her desk to sit down. “Wrex knows where to go he will lead you.” Wrex steps forward and grunts as he looks at Shepard. “What am I supposed to be retrieving?”

“The datapad you got before. It has information that I needed but Nyxeris decided that she would rather get more money for her work and so she is keeping the datapad and will only give it back for a price.” the Shadow Broker sighs and leans back in her chair then adds, “I have no intention of paying her. I just want what is mine. It is important to me.” she looks at Shepard and for some reason her eyes are filled with sadness. “Where are we going then?” Shepard asks Wrex and he nods then leads Shepard back out of the Shadow Broker’s lair and into the street.

“Tell me about yourself, Wrex.” Shepard says trying to make conversation as the skycab takes them to their destination. The krogan grumbles and turns to look out the window. “Ain’t nothing to tell. I’m a krogan mercenary like most of my kind. I’m not any different. We’re here.” Wrex slaps the door of the skycab making it open and he climbs out. Shepard follows him out and looks up at the building they stand in front of. A whistle comes from her mouth as her eyes travel up the large skyscraper to see a skycar flying off the roof making Shepard shake her head while thinking, Rich people.

“Nyxeris does well for herself.” Shepard mumbles to herself as they enter the building and walk into the elevator. Wrex hits the floor and then they wait while the elevator takes them to their destination. Wrex stands in a corner grumbling to himself about something while Shepard leans against the back wall of the elevator, arms crossed across her chest

The elevator opens and she pulls her pistol from its holster. Wrex walks out of the elevator first, pulling his shotgun out as he walks down the hallway while Shepard follows him. They stop in front of a door then knock on it and wait. As the minutes pass by Wrex becomes more and more impatient until finally he punches the door making it open.

What they were expecting to see was a nice, neat apartment. What they saw looked more like a war zone, the furniture had been tossed around the room, vases smashed on the ground. Shepard moves into the apartment slowly, glass crunching under her boots as she starts looking around. “What the hell happened?”

Wrex walks into the apartment and starts looking around for the datapad while Shepard moves further into the apartment and turns over a couch to uncover the body of Nyxeris. A bullet hole in the middle of her forehead while she stares in horror at the ceiling of her apartment. Shepard calls the krogan over then crouches down and looks her over, Wrex walks over to hover above her while she examines the body. “Someone clearly didn’t like her.” Shepard says under breath then adds, “The body is still warm. Only a few minutes… who could have gotten here before us and done this?” Shepard stands and sighs, looking around the room for the datapad they had come for. “Did you find it while you were looking around?”

“No, whoever did this was clearly looking for something. Or she put up a fight.” Wrex says still standing above Nyxeris. “Go guard the door. I’m sure someone heard something while they were fighting and the police shouldn’t be far out. I’m surprised they aren’t here already.” Shepard says pointing to the door and Wrex gives her a nod then walks over to it, shotgun at the ready.

Shepard starts searching frantically, trying to find the datapad and getting increasingly angry. “Where the hell is it!” she shouts, kicking a small metal statue against the wall. The statue hits the wall making a clang and then a soft echo making Shepard tilt her head towards the source of the sound. “Clever. Now I know why the person searching didn’t find what they were looking for.” she mumbles to herself.

She walks over to the false wall and starts touching it to find a console. Eventually one lights up and she opens her omni-tool to start hacking when Wrex says, “Shepard hurry up I just say two police cruisers set down outside.” Shepard curses under her breath as her fingers start moving faster on her omni-tool display. “Alright just give me a moment.” she says more to herself then to the krogan.

Wrex walks over to her, “We don’t have a moment! Hurry up.” Shepard keeps hitting walls in the security system which elicits curses. “If you’d like to try you’re more than welcome, Wrex!” She growls and with a few more keystrokes the doors lock turns from red to green and opens.

Wrex chuckles then pushes her shoulder gently and walks into the room. “See I knew you work well under pressure.” he says, perusing leisurely. Shepard just stands there looking at him while he shops around like he is searching for something in a supermarket. He finds it on a desk near the back, picks it up and walks back out of the room motioning for Shepard to follow him. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” he stops at the door waiting for Shepard. “I assume the police aren’t here?” she asks, cocking her hip to the side and crossing her arms across her chest.

“Of course not. I just didn’t wanna be here anymore.” Wrex says pocketing the datapad and holstering his shotgun. Shepard groans loudly, pinching the bridge of her nose and Wrex emits a loud bark of laughter as she walks past him to leave the apartment pushing him in the process and starts walking down the hallway with him laughing behind her all the way to the elevator.

Shepard walks into the Shadow Broker’s room following behind Wrex. He hands her the datapad and she quickly looks through it then releases a sigh of relief, holding the datapad to her chest, her eyes closed. She opens them with a smile on her face and looks at Shepard. “Thank you so much, Commander. You have no idea how much this means to me.” the asari places the datapad on her desk then stands up, walks over to Shepard and hugs her tightly.

Her sudden affection catches Shepard off-guard and her hands hover on either side of the asari in confusion until she finally hugs her back, mumbling a soft you’re welcome into her ear. The Shadow Broker pulls back and exhales happily then moves back to her desk. “Well now that I’ve got that thing back twice what exactly is on it?” Shepard asks after clearing her throat. “It is the location of a base. My friend is being held by a group of… unsavoury people.” she says settling into her chair then looking at her screens as she types.

Shepard just raises her head slightly making a noise of acknowledgement. “Well if you need anymore help just ask.” The Shadow Broker turns her eyes away from her screens to look at Shepard, she blinks a few times then says, “Thank you, Commander. You may call me Liara T’soni. It is a pleasure to meet you.” she smiles brightly before turning her attention back to the myriad screens before her.

Chapter Text

The next day Chellick sent Shepard a message early in the morning, telling her to come to the police station to discuss the plan he had worked out. She slips in through the doors, walking past officers and into his office to see Garrus already sitting in a chair in front of Chellick’s desk talking casually.

“Good morning, guys. I brought Ash and Kaidan to help.” Shepard says walking over to stand in front of his desk with Ash and Kaidan tailing her. Garrus stands from the chair to stand beside her. “Morning, Shepard.” Chellick just nods to the other two, Kaidan returning the nod but Ash just looks at him, uncertain. “Ready to hear the plan?” Chellick says standing from his desk and walks out of his office, with the rest of them in tow. They walk through the police station and into the same conference room they were in on the first day. The main difference this time is that it is now filled with officers.

“Sit down and we will proceed.” Chellick motions towards a chair near the front and walks over to the large screen, pulling up his omni-tool making the screen come to life, revealing a map of Shalta district along with the building.

“This is the suspects' hideout. We are going in to capture a turian by the name of Tibemus Terrinus.” a picture of Tibemus comes up on the top left of the screen. “The three points of attack are here, here and here.” three circles pop up on the screen as he talks. One on the front and back door and one for the roof. “Our goal is to infiltrate the building, take out whoever is in there and take the suspect into custody to face justice. There will be six officers at the back entrance and four will go in through the roof. Lieutenant Alenko will be going with the roof team and Chief Williams will be joining the other team. The rest of the team will be going in the front entrance with Praetor Vakarian and Commander Shepard.” Chellick’s eyes flick towards Shepard when he says her name then back to the rest of the room then asks, “Any questions?”

A few officers asked which team they were in and one asked what they were going to expect inside the hideout. “We don’t know what to expect, unfortunately our source has no idea so keep your head on a swivel, don’t let your guard down and watch each other's backs in there.” Shepard had to give Chellick some credit, he was a fantastic captain and wanted to keep all of his officers safe. She knew a lot of captains that were more concerned with the political side of the job rather than the actual job. “We are going to move on the hideout in two hours. Go and get ready. Dismissed.”

The time seemed to crawl along as they waited but soon it was time for the assault on the hideout and everyone seemed to be wired, as if electricity coursed through them. They were in a police cruiser on their way towards their destination. “We are landing shortly, be ready.” Chellicks voice comes over the radio.

The cruiser lands outside the building and they file out. Shepard looks up at the building then looks around to see a few people looking at the police trying to figure out what is happening. “You ready for this?” Garrus says coming to stand beside her, gazing up at the building as well. “I am. It would be nice to put the people he murdered to rest.”

“Alright we are ready to enter.” As soon as the words leave Chellick’s mouth things start happening quickly. He orders the back door and roof teams to move in and then the front door is opened and the officers rush in with Shepard and Garrus following behind them, weapons held in front of them. The inside of the building is mostly ruined; the ground littered with debris that crunches under Shepard’s boots as she walks further in. “He could have at least tidied up a little before we arrived.” Shepard mumbles as she steps over a rusted metal beam making Garrus chuckle.

“Contact!” an officer says over the comms and a second later Shepard can hear shots being fired above her from the roof team. They move out of the hallway and into the larger factory area when suddenly the building explodes into action. Mercenaries start springing up out of nowhere, from behind the abandoned crates and out of doors as they set on the intruders in front of them. Shepard ducks behind a crate then peaks her head up in time to see a sniper on the catwalk peering through his gaze at the unsuspecting officers below.

Pulling her rifle out she trains her scope on the sniper, inhales then exhales as she pulls the trigger and the mercenary’s helmet shatters and he falls forward, tumbling over the railing and onto the ground below. “Nice!” Garrus says over the comms and she feels the corner of her mouth lift as she smiles but keeps her focus on the battle in front of her.

She scans the battlefield once more checking for anymore snipers before holstering her rifle and pulling out an assault rifle that Chellick insisted she use. She was more comfortable with sniper rifles and pistols but Chellick had told her pistols and sniper rifles aren’t useful when there are a lot of enemies in close quarters. She disagreed but didn’t feel like arguing with him further so she took the assault rifle.

She moves from her place behind the crate, moving forward, deeper into the factory and taking out two mercenaries on the way. She stops to stand behind a stack of crates as she surveys the officers and looks around the building to see Garrus kneeling behind a crate. He pops up, shoots a merc in the head then another in the chest and dips back down.

“Clear!” an officer shouts and Shepard peers around the crates to see all the mercenaries are either dead or dying and she moves out from her cover. “Any injuries?” She asks an officer reloading his gun and he shakes his head. “No ma’am everyone is accounted for with no injuries. The roof team reported in saying the upper levels are clear and they are going to reconvene with us. The back entrance team has cleared it but has run into a locked door that cannot be hacked.”

She raises her eyebrow at that. “What do you mean it cannot be hacked?” Garrus asks making the officer turn to look at him. “They tried but they cannot get it open. There was only one mercenary at the back entrance so they were able to secure it easily and have been trying to unlock the door since we entered.”

“Only one guard for a door that is clearly important? Maybe he knew no one would be able to hack into it so he only put one guard. Bizarre.” Garrus says, clearly confused making Shepard nod her agreement. “Well, we will figure that out once we get there. Move out, we need to get to the centre of the building.” Shepard says motion for the team to keep going further into the factory.

The group makes their way to the back of the factory floor and into another hallway. The roof team is waiting for them in the hallway along with Kaidan and they make their way down the hall. They check each door and are confused to find no one in them, but they clearly had people living there. Cots and duffel bags were found in some of the back rooms. “Were the mercenaries living here?” Kaidan observes walking out of a room he just searched. “It seems that way, maybe protection? Or a ruse? If someone came in here they wouldn’t think twice if they had found a bunch of mercenaries squatting in a building. Would have been even stranger if it was only one turian.” Shepard says making Kaidan nod and they continue.

“Commander we found something.” an officer says standing beside a closed door, ear pressed to it. “We can hear mumbling and the occasional shout on the other side of this door, how do you wish to proceed.” he asks, turning to Shepard and putting his helmet back on. Shepard turns to Garrus then asks, “You know him. Do you think you can reason with him to come in without violence?” Garrus thinks for a moment then nods, looking resolved. “I think I can.”

“Praetor Vakarian and I will go in first, keep your men back we don’t want him to spook.” She says and the officer salutes her quickly then moves to the side. The other officers and Kaidan stand on either side of the door then Shepard looks up at Garrus. “Ready?” he nods and opens the door to see Tibemus pacing in the middle of the room mumbling to himself as he points to a crate, almost like he’s having a conversation with it.

“Tibemus?” Garrus says moving forward slowly and the older turian stops his pacing and turns to look at him. His eyes dart around the younger turians face looking for answers then eyes eyes focus on him in recognition. “Garrus, what are you doing here?” he asks, confused. “I’m here investigating murders, Tibemus.” he says making Tibemus scoff then say, “Who would murder people in the capital of Palaven?” he shakes his head. Shepard raises an eyebrow and looks over at Garrus who seems sad suddenly.

“Tibemus, where do you think you are?”

“Cipritine. Where else would I be? Who is that beside you Garrus?” he asks pointing towards Shepard.

“That isn’t relevant right now. Tibemus you aren’t on Palaven.” Tibemus’ face turns sour at that and he takes a step back as if someone pushed him. He looks down at his hands, clenches and unclenches them a few times then looks up at Garrus. “Garrus, where am I?” Shepard looks at Garrus as he sighs loudly then moves to stand in front of Tibemus. “Horizon.” he says softly. “Chellick we have him but… well you’ll see once we bring him in.” Garrus says then turns and calls for two officers to escort Tibemus to a cruiser outside.

A few minutes pass before Shepard decides to ask questions. “Garrus he is ill, isn't he?” Garrus sighs again and nods. “Yes, he is very ill but we can worry about that later. We need to finish clearing this building.” he says making Shepard actually look around the room. It just looked like an apartment but without a stove. A bed and desk were in a corner along with a television. Shepard walks over to the fridge and pulls it open to find fresh food in it. “Someone has been keeping him here... and feeding him? Why? What purpose does that serve? Was someone caring for him genuinely or using him as a scapegoat?” she thinks out loud as she tries to work through the questions floating around her head.

“I found another door. I think it might be to the room leading to the back entrance.” Garrus says making Shepard walk over to join him. Garrus pulls out his gun, readying himself while Shepard moves closer to the door, pulling her pistol out. She braces herself beside the door then nods to Garrus to open it.

He pushes the button and at the same time Shepard hears a turret powering up and fear shoots through her. Time seems to slow as she opens her omni-tool’s display in her palm and presses a button, queuing up her omni-tool to hack the turret. The door opens and she pushes Garrus out of the way just as three bullets whiz between them and embed into the wall on the far side of the room. “How did you know it was in there?” Garrus asks from the other side of the door as he hides from the turret’s gaze.

“I heard it power up when you hit the door. Must be linked to the door to shoot immediately at whoever opens the door.” Shepard says then quickly flings her arm around the door and hacks the turret then peeks her head around the corner of the door to look at it, the barrel of the turret now pointed down at the ground and she’s satisfied that the turret has been temporarily disabled. Shepard walks behind it and turns it off permanently.

“Now we can look around the room without being shot.” Shepard says as she starts looking around. The room was filled with piles of boxes and books. A console sits on a desk on the right wall filled with datapads in disarray. “This room is a mess. Was someone looking for something or was it like this to begin with?” Shepard mumbles to herself as she moves further into the room and opens one of the boxes and peers inside.

Garrus sighs from behind her then says, “I have a feeling we are going to be spending a lot of time sifting through all this stuff.” Shepard chuckles and nods as she lifts up a stack of papers to find some pictures under it. It’s mostly photos of turians in boot camp or during the First Contact war. But one catches her eye and she drops the others into the box to examine it closer.

The turian in the picture looks different from any turian she had ever seen. His gaze was piercing and cold as he stared at the person taking the picture. It was as if all his hatred and anger inside himself was being directed at her specifically. The turian he was standing beside was almost the complete polar opposite of him. His eyes were kind and inviting while his mandibles were flared out slightly in a smile.

“Hey Garrus?”

“Yeah? Find something over there?” he asks, dropping the datapad he had been searching through back onto the desk and walks over to her. She hands him the picture. “Do you know who this is by any chance?” she asks, pointing at the turian with the piercing gaze. He brings the photo closer to his face to study it; his eyes darting around the photo. “That looks like Saren Arterius.”

“Who is he?”

“He’s a general in the Turian Military; pretty well respected too. That turian next to him is his younger brother. He died in the First Contact war though.”

“He’s still in active duty?”

“Last I checked, yeah.”

Garrus hands her back the photo and she inspects it again while he wanders off to continue looking through things. With a sigh she sets the picture to the side to keep looking through the box then immediately regrets it. The picture on top is of Nihlus.

More specifically it was of her and Nihlus on the first day they were assigned to work together. She gently picks it up as if she could break it then stares at Nihlus’ face as he smiles into the camera. He seemed so hopeful and happy. She remembers back to that day; about him telling how he saw the potential of the human race and was eager to work with her.

When Captain Anderson had first told her she was being assigned to work with him she was less than enthused, but Nihlus’ attitude and comment had made her feel happier about working with a turian.

“Whatcha’ got there?” Garrus says making her jump and nearly drop the picture onto the ground. She quickly squirrels it away back in the box while Garrus continues reading the datapad in his talons. “Nothing important?” she says softly.

Chapter Text

Shepard sits on the couch staring absentmindedly at the television that is on the wall in front of her, not really paying attention to her surroundings. “Jane?” a familiar voice says making her blink a few times, coming out of her reverie and turn to see Nihlus sitting beside her on the couch with a confused look on his face. “You okay? You zoned out for a good twenty minutes there.” he asks turning his attention back to the television. “Oh... yeah I’m fine… was just thinking.” she mumbles as she stares at the side of the turians face.

“What were you thinking about?” he asks making her sigh and pull her knee up to her chest as she hugs it tightly to her and rests her chin on it. “Why did you stop me from helping you?” she says softly, her voice barely above a whisper and Nihlus turns to look at her, his face full of concern. He sighs quietly and looks away for a moment before returning his gaze towards her. “Because there was no saving me. You know that Jane I had lost too much blood.” he explains, sounding like he’s done it too many times, making her jump off the couch.

“But I could have saved you! You didn’t have to die you just chose to give up!” she shouts her anger at him. Clenching her hands into fists at her side while she stares at him. “You and I both know that isn’t true Jane.” he says making her shake her head in frustration. “You don’t want to believe it, Jane. You want to stay stuck in the past, thinking that it was your fault that I died so you have a reason to feel guilty,” he adds, standing finally.

She looks up at him, fighting back tears that threaten to fall. “It is my fault you’re dead. I should have been faster, I should have been there with you, I should have… I…” her voice catches in her throat and she covers her mouth.

Nihlus lifts his hands and places them gently on her shoulders to steady her shaking. “If you had been there with me you would be dead too.” he says softly, squeezing her shoulders then pulls her into his chest as he hugs her tightly. “You don’t know that, I could have helped.” she wraps her arms around his waist and Nihlus just sighs again.

“Jane. Why are you arguing with a ghost?” he says and she looks up to see him gone. The feeling of his arms around her now a faint tingle of what it was and she frantically looks around the room for him, calling out his name until her voice is hoarse.

Hours seem to pass as she searches for him; she didn’t think her apartment was this big but it seemed like a universe while she searched. Then she turns a corner and spots him again. She rushes over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist again making him chuckle but it sounds wrong as he hugs her back.

“I thought I’d lost you again,” she whispers against him, she pulls her head back and looks up at his face only to see streaks of dark blue blood running down his chin making her push away from him. “What is wrong, Jane?” he says, more like gurgles, as he moves forward towards her. “Stay away from me! I’m sorry!” she screams, holding her hand out in fear and she’s horrified to find it covered in his blood.

She can practically see through him as the hole in his stomach pours blood onto the floor as he walks towards her making her stumble backwards and bump into the wall behind her but he keeps coming forward. She starts sliding down the wall, still screaming in terror as he keeps moving forward, saying her name.

Shepard screams in horror as she sits up in bed, looking around her hotel room; fearful of the shadows that seemed more ominous than usual. She swears into the darkness as she puts her head in her hands.

She lays back down on the bed and stares up at the ceiling that is slightly illuminated by the light from outside. She didn’t think that the street lights could reach her up this high; she was mostly right. They were on the very edges of their effective range which she was thankful for. She sighs and flips over to look out the window and watch as the sky cars fly past her window occasionally.

She was quiet for a long time while her mind processed her nightmare. It had been so long since she had a nightmare and was confused as to why they decided to come back so suddenly. Maybe it was because she was constantly reminded of Nihlus at every turn while she investigated this case.

She sighs loudly then rolls over onto her back then mumbles into the darkness, “I need a distraction.” she looks around the hotel room while trying to find something to take her mind off it. She didn’t want to drink her memories away again; besides drinking alone was pointless and boring. She throws off the blankets and gets out of bed, readjusting her tank top as she walks over to the couch and plops herself down. Turning on the television she starts flicking through the channels.

After a few minutes of channel surfing a loud aggravated groan escapes from her throat and she angrily turns the T.V. off and lets her head fall onto the back of the couch so she’s staring up at the ceiling and allowing her mind to wander.

As much as she tried to get the nightmare out of her mind she just couldn’t; it was too vivid for her to forget, too recent. The image of Nihlus walking towards her with a hole in his stomach makes her shudder and close her eyes as she tries to forget but it just makes the image more clear in her mind until she finally jumps off the couch with a curse. She paces around before deciding that getting out of the hotel and getting air might help her. She gets dressed and leaves the hotel to go to the same park she had went to before.

Shepard walks slowly through the now silent city as she makes her way towards the park. She enjoyed walking around cities during this time. The only people awake were the people who couldn’t sleep, like her, or the people that had work. She turns the corner into the park and makes her way towards a bench and sits down, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before opening them up and looking up through the trees to see the stars which brings a small smile to her face.

She may spend the majority of her time flying around space but she still always saw the beauty in the stars. She’s so enraptured by the scene in front of her she doesn’t hear someone approaching her until they speak, “Shepard?” she jumps and turns to see Garrus standing beside her. She opens her mouth a few times before words actually come out that are stilted and awkward. “Garrus. Hey,” she says, standing up quickly and clearing her throat before continuing. “Wait… what are you doing here?” she asks him.

He awkwardly shifts his weight back and forth on his feet before giving an answer. “I couldn’t sleep so I took a walk. Why are you out here?” he asks her the same question making laughter bubble up from her throat as she sits back down and gestures for Garrus to join her. “I…” she starts but stops herself and looks down at her hands in her lap. How much did she want to tell him? Did she want him to know about her nightmare? Was she prepared for the questions he might ask her? No. “I couldn’t sleep either. So I came to the park; seemed a more productive use of my time than twiddling my thumbs in bed.” she finishes and lifts her gaze to look over at him.

He just nods his head, looking out into the park as his eyes scan the trees. She returns her gaze to the stars as they fall into a comfortable silence. Shepard feels Garrus move beside her but doesn’t think anything of it while she continues gazing at the stars a smile spreading across her face. “Space is so beautiful and mysterious.” she says softly, more to herself then anyone else and is surprised when Garrus responds.

“Just like you.”

Shepard feels heat rise to her face as she tries to process what Garrus just said and it takes her a moment before she is able to turn to look at him, confusion clearly written on her face. “What?” and Garrus’ eyes widen finally realising what he had said before he lifts his hands in front of him, shaking them wildly. “Mysterious. I mean. Because I know so little about you,” he says the words slowly as if trying to convince himself that is what he meant while his eyes move about her face quickly.

Shepard deflated slightly, suddenly sad by his response. She realises he’s been waiting for a response for a minute now and she gives him a slight nod and she watches as he breathes a sigh of relief making her deflate more and turn away. “I asked you before to tell me about yourself and you evaded the question then changed the subject.” his voice sounds accusatory making her arch her brow then turn to look at him once again.

“What I said hasn’t changed Garrus. I’m just a normal soldier but if you insist on knowing how I like my coffee in the morning or my favourite colour ask away.” she says with a slight upturn of her mouth as he frowns down at her. A chuckle escapes her and she slaps his arm then says, “Interrogate me, Vakarian. I’m ready.” she notices the slight flutter of his mandibles as his frown dissipates and he adjusts himself on the park bench.

“Let’s start with an easy question since you already suggested it. What is your favourite colour?” he says, a grin colouring his voice and Shepard looks at him. “Really Garrus?” she asks and he just nods, never taking his eyes off her. She starts thinking about it seriously as she taps a finger against her lips. “You know, I don’t think anyone’s asked me what my favourite colour is since I was a child.” she says looking around at the muted colours around her, obscured by the darkness. Her eyes drift over to Garrus and to his dark blue clan markings and before she can stop herself, she blurts out, “Blue is my favourite colour.” He nods then releases a noise of contemplation as he thinks of the next question.

“How old are you?”

“29 almost 30. My birthday is April 11th.”

“Interesting.”

“Interesting how, Vakarian?”

“I thought you were older.”

“You know. I don’t know if that is a compliment or an insult.”

Garrus waves a hand at her clearly ready to move onto the next question and he scans the area in front of him before returning his focus back to Shepard. “What is your favourite meal?”

“Oh I love lasagna. With a lot of cheese and garlic bread.” Shepard says almost immediately making Garrus’ eyes open wide at her enthusiasm. “Well now I know your weakness. Food.” he says and she just shrugs then says, “I’m a simple person.” prompting Garrus to chuckle.

“Let’s get a little more personal. Did you always want to be a soldier?” he asks and Shepard leans back on the bench, releasing a sigh from her throat as she looks up at the sky for a second.

“No, I actually wanted to be an agricultural bio-engineer considering my family.”

“A what?”

“It’s a scientist that genetically engineers crops and things. It’s more complicated than that but that is pretty much what it entails.”

“You know I can actually see you as a scientist believe it or not.” he says making her arch an eyebrow in confusion and look over at him. “So what about your family? Are you close with them? Do you have any siblings?” he says, a whirlwind of questions and it takes her a second to sort through all of them.

“Uhhh well I used to be close with my family and I did have a younger brother.” she says making Garrus look over at her. “Why is everything past tense?” he asks.

“There was a Batarian Slaver raid on Mindoir 13 years ago. I was the only one to survive from the colony.”

“Shepard, I’m so sorry for bringing that up.” Garrus says and Shepard looks up at him while he looks at her. “It’s alright Garrus. It’s been a long time since that’s happened and I’m okay now. Really.” she says giving him a reassuring smile even though his face is still one of sadness. She lifts a hand and puts it on his shoulder. “I’m fine, really Garrus.” she says softly.

They fall into another stretch of comfortable silence. Garrus deciding not to continue the questions as he sits beside her and she is slightly sad that the conversation came to a halt. She enjoyed talking to him for some reason, she hadn’t known him for that long but it was so easy to talk to him as if she had been doing it for years. She looks down at the hands clasped in her lap and smiles to herself as she picks at the skin on her thumb and a pleasant warmth spreads through her.

“Shepard?” his voice is quiet beside her making her lift her face to look at his. “How do you and Chellick know each other?” he asks making her tilt her head to the side, confused. Why did he want to know about Chellick? “I met him on a mission about eleven months ago. Why?” she asks trying to read his face for some kind of answer to his line of questions.

She notices his mandibles twitching slightly and he’s wringing his hands in his lap nervously, clearly not wanting to ask the question on his mind or unable to word it right until finally he asks, “Do you love him?” she stares at him in silence, eyes wide and mouth hanging open slightly. She was stunned. How could she respond to a question like that? Where did it come from anyway? Why was he asking her this and so randomly and for seemingly no reason.

She goes to speak but the words catch in her throat and she clears it before continuing. “What?” is all she says making Garrus stand from the bench like something bit him. “I’m sorry I shouldn’t have asked. It’s getting late I should get going.” he says in a hurry.

“Wait, Garrus why did you ask that?” she says, standing from the bench as well and grabbing his forearm to stop him from running away. She turns him around to face her, his mandibles pressed flat against his face as he looks at her. She studied his face again in the dim light trying desperately to see the answer to her question but his turian visage stayed stoic while he looked down at her.

“I’m sorry, Shepard. Good night,” he says and shrugs off her hand from his forearm, turns away from her and practically sprints out of the park away from her.

Chapter Text

The next day she hurried to the police station to see Garrus. She wanted answers so she was going to corner him and make him tell her what last night was about. She makes her way through the station and into Chellick’s office expecting to see Garrus there chatting with Chellick or lounging on the chair in front of his desk looking through a datapad but the only person there was Chellick.

He lifts his head from his screen to look at Shepard with a flutter of his mandibles and a slightly quizzical look on his face before returning to his report. “Where is Garrus?” Shepard asks, making Chellick stop in his typing to look at her again. “He said he needed a day off. Family stuff or something. He took some stuff home to look through it though and-”Chellick sighs loudly and rubs his face before continuing-”it’s a good thing, there is so much stuff to sort through. I’m glad you’re here early Shepard. Means you can help.”

Chellick goes back to his report not really paying attention to Shepard while she sighs and turns on her heels to leave the room but his voice stops her. “The evidence room is through the big double doors on your left and first door on your right. You can start sorting through stuff with the other officers,” He says. She sighs and gives him a nod as her shoulders slump and she leaves to go to the evidence room.

She follows his directions and ends up in a room filled with boxes and four officers reading through documents and datapads, rifling through boxes and placing things in piles. A pot of coffee resting in the centre of the table while cups sat in front of each officer who occasionally took a sip before replacing the cup.

She takes a tentative step forward and clears her throat to get their attention. The officer closest to the door lifts his head to look at her and she can see the bags under his eyes and bloodshot eyes from too much caffeine and not enough sleep. “Commander. It’s good to see you. Please come in and grab a box. Just search through the box and separate things into the three piles. This one is for important documents, this one is for irrelevant things but still need to be looked over more thoroughly and the last one is garbage,” he says pointing to the corresponding piles.

Shepard nods her understanding and grabs a box along with a seat and starts reading through things and putting them in piles. Her mind was distracted though, she found herself reading and rereading things multiple times before putting them into the right pile. She knew Chellick said Garrus had a family matter to attend to but her mind kept making her think he was avoiding her. She was having an internal struggle with her own subconscious as she kept repeating over and over again Garrus’ question last night.

“Do you love him?” Why did he think she loved Chellick? She didn’t even like him in a romantic way. They were friends with benefits. Their relationship was never romantic and she didn’t do anything to make Garrus think she did.

“You’re frowning Shepard,” a voice says from beside her and she lifts her gaze from the datapad she had been glaring at to see Chellick standing in the doorway. “Want to get lunch?” he asks her and she looks over at the clock on the wall to see it’s almost 1 in the afternoon. She puts the datapad down and stands, groaning at her stiff muscles that haven’t moved for nearly five hours. She follows Chellick out and into the break room to grab food.

“So… What was on that datapad that had you so angry?” Chellick says after they sit down at a table and he bites into his food he got from the vending machine. Shepard rubs the back of her neck, sore from being hunched over for so long and she looks over at Chellick. “I wasn’t angry at the datapad. I was just… thinking,” she says eliciting a concerned look from Chellick but he stays silent to let her continue.

She heaves a breath out of her nose and slouches in her seat slightly before giving him a shrug. She didn’t want to talk to him really, she wasn’t even hungry she just needed out of her own headspace for a while. To prevent her from stewing.

“How is Tibemus doing?” she asks trying to change the subject.

“He is… confused most of the time but they have him on medication for Corpalis Syndrome. Not a cure mind you, there is no cure. But it’s just something to help patients become more lucid I guess. The doctor explained it to me but it was a lot of large words I didn’t understand.” he says around bites of food.

“Will we be able to ask him questions soon?” she asks and he nods, his mouth full of the last bite of his food. “The doctor says it should be about three days before the medication takes full effect and he will become lucid enough for us to question him. Then we may finally get answers to all these questions we have. Would be nice.” he mumbles the last part as he stands to through away the wrapper. Shepard knows he was directing that comment at her and she frowns at his back as he walks across the room.

“You’re frowning again, Shepard.” he says when he turns around and sees her, making her frown deepen and he smirks at her. “You’re an ass you know that.” she says and can’t help the smile that tinges her words. Chellick sighs as he sits back down in the chair opposite Shepard, stretching his leg out under the table. “How goes the file sorting?” he asks and she shrugs her shoulders again. “It’s going I guess. Most of it is unimportant garbage. Old files from years ago that were just piled up that have nothing to do with anything but we haven’t gone through everything we still have so much to do.” Chellick releases another sigh and rubs his face.

“Is there anything useful in all that junk?”

“A few receipts that we have to follow up on with the seller but I have a feeling we will get an alias he was using that has no connection to anything.” Shepard says playing with a crack in the table in front of her. “This case is a mess…” Chellick groans as he leans back in the chair and covers his face with his hands and Shepard just nods even though he can’t see her.

Shepard clicks her tongue and stands from the chair then says, “Well I should get back to looking through those boxes. Thanks for the chat.” Chellick just gives her a grunt as he keeps sitting there covering his face and she leaves him to his own devices to make her way back to the evidence room.

She grabs the datapad she had been reading, or rather glaring at, and starts rereading it. Her mind was still focused on Garrus but not to the extent it had been. She chews on her bottom lip then puts the datapad down and opens her omni-tool about to send Garrus a message, asking him about last night. She needed answers. She was going crazy. But then she faltered for a second.

What if Garrus really had a family matter he had to attend to and she feared he would see her as demanding. She growled under her breath and closed her omni-tool then continued to glare at datapads for the remainder of the day.

Shepard only stayed for another 5 hours at the police station, going through more documents and datapads before her eyes had become blurry and she had to stop. She stands outside the station, reaching up to the sky in a stretch as she groans and looks around with a sigh. What was she going to do now? She hadn’t planned this far ahead in the morning. Her first objective was to talk to Garrus. That failed when he didn’t show up to the station.

She lets her arms fall to her sides as she continues looking around when a hand grabs her shoulder making her nearly jump out of her boots and turn around to see Chellick standing behind her looking just as surprised as she felt. “What the fuck, Decian,” she said, glaring at him angrily.

“I could say the same to you. What was that? You usually know when I’m trying to sneak up behind you.” he says, the plate above his eye lifting slightly. Shepard runs a hand down her tired face. “I did just spend 10 hours in a dusty room going through box after box of useless garbage.” she says hoping that will be a good enough excuse for her lapse in attentiveness. His eyes narrow at her for a moment before nodding his agreement.

“Want to go get dinner?” he asks and she smirks at him, jerking her thumb towards the police station. “We’re already here. You seemed to enjoy that vending machine food well enough,” she says making him grumble under his breath quietly and she laughs. “I forgot to bring my lunch alright don’t judge me,” he says and she just nods slowly along with a mocking ‘mhmmm’ noise.

He gives her a disgusted noise and points towards the parking lot. “Just go. Leave me to my shame alright,” he says as she starts walking towards his parked car, laughing.

The diner Chellick took her to was homey as she stepped inside. Warm light filled the entire place and people sat in booths or at tables talking softly and laughing. The smell of food comforted her like blankets fresh from the dryer and a smile spread across her face as her and Chellick sit down at a booth near the back waiting for their server to come up.

“This place is nice.” Shepard says quietly as she looks around, smiling at all the pictures on the wall, the smiling patrons laughing and having a good time. “It’s where I usually get dinner. They have great food here. And thankfully it’s usually quiet.” Chellick says from across the table as he looks at something on his omni-tool.

A few minutes pass allowing Shepard to look through the menu. A smiling Asari walks up to their table, holding a small notebook along with a pen. “Hello my name is El’na what can I get you two for dinner?” she says, her voice sounds like a small bird just loving life as it sings it’s song in the early morning. Chellick says his order and she writes it down then turns her attention to Shepard. “I’ll have a cheeseburger, please, fries on the side no pickles.” She says and the asari nods as she writes down then turns and leaves back to the kitchen.

“I see you haven’t changed. You always get a cheeseburger. Wherever I take you, you get a cheeseburger.” Chellick says sounding slightly annoyed making Shepard look at him confused. “What’s wrong with burgers? They are good. And I know how they’ll taste… like a burger. I don’t want to get something I may not like and have nothing to eat,” she states making Chellick huff a sigh out his nose and bring up his omni-tool again. She crosses her arms over her chest and looks out across the diner letting her mind wander.

“Did you find anything else in all that stuff?” He asks, not lifting his eyes from his omni-tool and Shepard shrugs. “Not much. Just more receipts and things. We aren’t done yet; we still have five boxes to go through I think” she says then frowns and adds, “And whatever Garrus took with him.”

Her voice makes Chellick lift his eyes to look at her, scanning her face before returning his eyes to his omni-tool. “Garrus only took a single box with him.” Chellick says making her head snap to him. “Which box did he take?” she asks trying to keep her voice calm as she desperately tries to remember which box she stashed the picture of her and Nihlus away in. “He took the one with the picture of Saren Arterius in it. Said he wanted to look through the rest of the photos to see if any other turians stood out.” Chellick sounds blasé as he speaks. Shepard on the other hand is panicking.

She should have taken the picture with her. Put it in her pocket so no one else would see it. She hits herself in the forehead with the heel of her palm, chastising herself under breath. “And here we are.” The asari says happily placing their food in front of them then clasping her hands in front of her before walking off to another table.

Shepard looks over at Chellicks plate and tilts her head in confusion, trying to figure out what she was actually looking at. It looked like a fish but had too many fins, but it was clearly a fish by the dead eyes that stared at the ceiling and its mouth open in comical horror that almost made her laugh. “What is that thing?” she says lifting a fry from her plate and pointing at it.

Chellick snorts then lifts his utensils and starts cutting flesh off and putting it into his mouth. “It’s a fish native to Palaven,” he says around his food and Shepard just nods, sticking the fry into her mouth.

Shepard groans and rubs her stomach as Chellick pays for their meal. She always had a bad habit of eating too much. But if she had a good meal she had to have dessert. And dessert was always her downfall. “What are you going to do now?” Chellick asks as they walk out of the diner and into the setting sun. Shepard shrugs her shoulders, running a hand through her hair. “Go back to my hotel room and go to bed I guess. Why?”

“Did you want to come over to my place?” He asks, opening the passenger door for her and looking at her hopeful. She looks between him and the open door as her mind thinks. She knew what he wanted. It was what he always wanted when they were alone in the same room. Slowly she shakes her head and his eyes drop to the ground. “Sorry I’m just tired and want to sleep.” Liar.

He just nods as she gets into the car, closing the door for her before he walks around to the driver's seat. “I’ll drop you off at your hotel,” his voice was stern as he started the car and drove towards her hotel. She takes a glance over at him, his eyes facing forward, hands clutching the steering wheel tightly.

They fell into an uncomfortable silence until finally the car landed in the parking lot of the hotel. Shepard sat there for a moment, picking at her cuticles as she looked down at them. “Good night, Shepard.” he says making her lift her head, his voice now soft as he looks at her and gives him a small smile. “Thanks for the ride, Chellick.” She says then opens the passenger door and climbs out.

Chapter Text

The morning came quickly and she raced to the police station again. Nearly skidding to a stop outside Chellick’s office and opening it expecting to see Garrus but when it was just Chellick alone in his office she frowned and without saying anything just made her way towards the evidence room to continue her work from yesterday. The day went similar to yesterday. Stare at datapads and documents for five hours, Chellick would come get her at lunch and they would talk in the break room until she went back to work and then they would have dinner at the diner and he would drive her home.

The third day when she walked in and towards Chellick’s office she wasn’t surprised to not see Garrus. Chellick looks up from his omni-tool to see her and she gives him a wave and goes to turn to go to the evidence room but he stops her. “We got a call from the hospital. Tibemus is ready to be questioned. Thought you’d want to be there for that,” he says and she nods as he stands up. “Wait, shouldn’t we wait for Garrus? This is his case as well and I’m sure Tibemus would appreciate being questioned by someone he knows,” she says as they walk out of the police station and towards Chellick’s car.

“Garrus said he needed a few days off and to go ahead and question Tibemus without us.” Chellick says opening the driver side door and getting in. “Why does he need a few days off?” she asks sliding in the passenger seat and closing the door. “Family matter was all he told me,” he says shrugging his shoulders as he takes off and starts flying towards the hospital while Shepard stares out the window and frowns.

When they got to the hospital and followed the doctor to Tibemus’ room the old turian was sitting in a soft chair staring out the window and looking out over the city. The doctor gently knocks on the door frame making his head snap towards the group and he motions for them to come in. “Good morning, General. How are you feeling?” the doctor asks making him grunt and squeeze the arm rests.

“Go slow. Don’t overload him with too many questions too fast. Someone will be right outside if something happens,” the doctor says softly and Chellick nods, pulling a chair up beside Tibemus and takes a seat, pulling out a datapad. “Tibemus? I’m Captain Decian Chellick. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He says calmly and Tibemus turns to look at the young turian, scanning his face then his eyes shoot up to Shepard and begins scanning her face, his eyes narrowing and something of recognition passes over him briefly before he returns his gaze towards Chellick.

“Ask your questions, fledgling,” he says, his voice gruff from not using it a lot. Before Chellick can ask a question Shepard blurts out, “Who did this to you, sir?” Tibemus looks up at her, eyes darting about her face again before sighing. “I… I don’t know,” he says sounding incredibly sad while he looks down at his hands. “What’s the last thing you remember?” Chellick asks as the old turian lifts his head and returns to looking out the window.

“Last I remember was being on Palaven, in Cipritine with my mate. She had just finished dinner and we were sitting down to eat,” he says lifting his face and sniffing as if he could still smell the food she had prepared. He sighs then continues, “I remember flashes and snapshots that don’t make sense and I can’t piece them together. I remember cargo bays and the feeling of sleeping in a bunk on a ship.” he says sounding more and more sad as he continues.

“You said your mate lives on Palaven? Does she know you’re here?” Shepard asks leaning forward, hands gripping the back of Chellick’s chair and Tibemus shakes his head. “I think… I think something bad happened,” he says then his head snaps to Chellick and points a talon at him. “Where is Garrus. Tell him to check on her, I need to know if she’s okay. Please. Tell me she’s okay. She’s all I have left.” he says in a hurried voice. “Garrus is dealing with a family matter, sir. But I will check on your mate for you,” Chellick says and Tibemus narrows his eyes at him.

“Is there anything else you remember? Anything at all?” He asks and the turian taps a claw against his chin while his diseased brain tries to remember. “A name. But it is eluding me. It is on the tip of my tongue as humans say. I can almost grasp it but it keeps slipping from my hold. If I remember it I will let you know, Captain,” he says turning to look at Chellick who gives him a nod and stands from the chair and puts it back where he found it. “Thank you for the help. Get some rest.” Shepard says giving him a small smile before turning and leaving the room with Chellick.

Once out in the hallway and the door closed she releases a sigh, rubbing her face. They were only there for less than 10 minutes but it felt longer. “Hopefully he can remember enough to get the name but for right now we just have all the evidence we collected maybe that will give us something to go on.” Chellick says as they walk through the hospital and into the early morning air.

They get in Chellick’s car and make their way back to the station while Shepard stares out the window once again her mind occupied by Garrus. “I assume you’re going to be looking through the stuff in evidence?” he asks, pulling her from her thoughts and she nods. “Yeah, almost done sorting through everything and then we can start checking things properly,” she says as the car lands in the parking lot and they step out.

She presses a thumb against her bottom lip and chews on it while she scans through the datapad in her hand. Why was she acting like this? She couldn’t think straight, her mind constantly going back to Garrus. A small voice in the back of her head told her what it was but she kept silencing that voice, stating it was crazy to think that. She hadn’t known him that long. She knew Chellick for longer and she didn’t feel that way about him. Why had her mind become suddenly focused on his face and the way he looks at her as they talk or the way his cologne lingered in her nose long after she smelled it.

A growl emits from her throat unexpectedly and she lifts her gaze to see the other officers in the room looking at her with puzzled looks before returning to the thing in front of them. She puts the datapad on the table, pulling up her omni-tool and goes to send Garrus a message but her hand hesitates, hovering over his name in her contact list before sighing and dropping her hand into her lap. A finger taps against her knee while she contemplates whether or not she should message him when a thought crosses her brain and a smile tugs at the corners of her mouth.

Shepard brings up Garrus’ file and starts going through it, looking for the name she needed. Emitting a happy noise of discovery once she spots it and she taps on it hoping against hope that the information she needed was held within. With a quick message sent to the person she returns to her datapad, a smile replacing the frown she was wearing before.

She wasn’t expecting a response that quickly. She wasn’t able to read more than three words before a ping at her omni-tool pulled her attention away from the datapad in front of her to her arm. She pulls up the message and her eyes widen as she reads it.

From: Solana Vakarian
To: Commander Shepard

Garrus is doing fine just a little stressed from everything that is happening with our mother. But hey! My birthday is tomorrow and we are having a little dinner. I’d love it if you came. I’m sure my brother will be happy to see you. Hope to see you soon.

What was happening with their mother? Was this the family matter that kept Garrus from work? Shepard releases a heavy breath through her nose, closing her omni-tool to focus on the task in front of her.

Shepard stands in front of Garrus’ house, staring up at it while she fiddles with a loose string on her pants. The only thing she had to wear that wasn’t her armour or her combat uniform was a pair of leggings and an N7 t-shirt. Shepard sighs loudly and walks up the path leading to the door then rings the doorbell. She looks around at the house while she waits, large windows were set in the front of the house letting in sunshine and a view of the garden on the front lawn.

The house was larger than she thought it would be making her raise an eyebrow. How far up the turian hierarchy was Garrus and his family exactly. Lost in thought the door opening makes her jump. “Shepard?” Garrus asks as he looks down at her. She blinks a few times to try to dispel her surprise then offers him a small, awkward smile and goes to explain what she is doing here but Solana pushes past Garrus. “Hey you made it! Come on in,” She grabs Shepard’s wrist and pulls her into the house and Shepard shrugs at Garrus as she is yanked by him making a chuckle escape his throat as he watches the scene in front of him.

Solana pulls her into the kitchen before releasing her wrist and leaning against the island in the centre of the room. “Oh I’m so glad to see you again. This time we can actually have a conversation without you sprinting off to do something mysterious,” Solana says wiggling her talons in front of her face.

“Yeah sorry about that. Something came up,” Shepard says rubbing the back of her neck as she stands awkwardly in the large kitchen. She waves a dismissive hand towards Shepard then turns around gesturing to the food Shepard didn’t realize was resting behind her on the island. A squeal emits from Solana as she wiggles happily then says quietly, more to herself rather than to Shepard, “Happy Birthday to me.”

“Solana likes food. It’s her weakness as well, Shepard. You two will get along swimmingly,” Garrus says from behind her, making her turn around to see him leaning against the door frame, his eyes looking her up and down until they come to rest on her face. His mandibles flutter against his cheek as he looks at her and she gives him a small smile but is pulled once again by Solana deeper into the house as she takes her on a tour. She looks over her shoulder to see Garrus still staring at her while she’s led away. Their eyes staying locked until she disappears around a corner.

Solana takes her all around the house for what feels like hours, showing her everything from the books their mother collected to the wall of picture frames. It was easy to get along with Solana, her personality was bubbly and kind. Always a smile tinging her voice making Shepard smile by proxy.

They were sitting in the den when a turian that looked almost, but not quite like Garrus walks in and stops as he looks between the two of them. “Hey dad. This is Shepard, Garrus’ partner. Shepard this is my Father, Castis Vakarian,” Solana says and Shepard stands up, holding her hand out towards him which he takes and shakes. “Hello Commander Shepard. I’ve heard a lot about you and not just from Garrus,” he says releasing her hand and she lets it drop to her side.

“Dad when are we eating dinner? I’m starving,” Solana says, dramatically draping herself across the chair she was sitting in. “We had to wait for Shepard’s dinner to get here. It’s why I came here-” Castis turns to look at Shepard before continuing,-”I hope you enjoy what we got you. We weren’t entirely expecting you to be here so it was a last minute thing,” he flicks annoyed eyes towards his daughter who jumps up from the chair and starts pushing them both towards the dining room clearly ready to eat.

Shepard stumbles into the dining room but rights herself quickly and looks around. Garrus already sitting at the table along with another turian she assumed was his mother. She looked small, fragile, like a strong wind could break her. But her eyes were clear as she looked at Garrus. His eyes flick up towards her as she walks in or rather falls into the room and he stands, motioning for her to join him.

She walks over and takes her seat beside Garrus. Only noticing now what sat in front of her on the table. A large plate with lasagna on it with a piece of garlic bread sat on the plate beside it. A large smile spreads across her face as she stares at it. “Garrus picked it out. Hopefully it’s something you’ll actually eat,” Solana says from across the table and Shepard lifts her gaze to look at her as she’s already shoving food into mouth.

“Yeah I’ll eat it,” Shepard says with a laugh as she nudges Garrus gently with her elbow getting a soft chuckle from him in the process. “Shepard I’d like you to meet my mother, Lividia,” Garrus says and Shepard turns her gaze to the turian sitting at the end of the table. “It’s very nice to meet you,” Shepard says with a smile as Lividia lifts her head from her plate. “Oh Garrus has told us much about you. What he didn’t tell us was how brightly coloured your fringe was,” she says making Shepard laugh softly and touch her hair. “I got it from my mother,” she says and Lividia’s mandibles flare out in a smile before going back to eating. Shepard returns to her own plate, picking the utensils and cuts into the lasagna. She brings the fork to her mouth and tastes it. She now realizes she hasn’t eaten all day and is suddenly ravenous as she eats it faster than she should have.

They sit around the table laughing and telling stories for a while after dinner. It was nice to just relax and laugh. Shepard missed this. She would do this with Nihlus all the time but it was always just the two of them. This is better. she thinks as she looks around the table. It felt like a family and it brought a smile to her face.

Castis looks up at the clock then turns to his mate across the table who gives him a nod. “It’s time to get your mother to sleep. Solana come help me,” Castis says, standing from the table and walking around to gently hold onto Lividia’s elbow as she stands. Garrus stands up from his seat but Castis shoots him a look then says, “Your sister can handle this Garrus. You need to remember you need a break sometimes,” making Garrus sit back down beside Shepard.

“It was so nice to meet you, Shepard. I hope to see you again soon,” Lividia says as she is escorted out of the room by Solana and Castis at either side of her. “Yes of course. I enjoyed meeting you as well,” she calls after her then leans back in her chair.

It was suddenly too quiet, Shepard was almost certain she could hear crickets outside but was probably mistaken. “Garrus, why did you ask that?” she says the question before she can stop herself. She was thinking she would have to explain such a random question but when she turns to look at him the look on his face said he knew what she was talking about as he looks down at her.

He sighs loudly, tapping a claw on the table seemingly not wanting to answer that question. “We should go somewhere private. Solana likes to eavesdrop,” he says standing from the table and Shepard stands as well, following him to the backyard of the house.

She looks around at the landscape in front of her. It looked like a miniature park. A small pond sat in one corner with small fish darting around. Flowers sprouted around the perimeter of the fence as they walk through it. Garrus leads her to a bench under a tree and she sits down beside him, letting her eyes wander around the backyard.

They stay quiet, neither wanting to be the first to speak. Shepard fiddles with her hands in her lap awkwardly, chastising herself for asking the question. She was having such a good time why did she have to spoil it. She shouldn’t have asked, she should have just stayed quiet and enjoyed the company.

Five minutes pass and Shepard is almost ready to run home when Garrus starts speaking. “How did you enjoy your dinner?” he asks making a nervous laugh escape her. “It was delicious. Thank you. I see that you remembered,” she says, still fiddling with her fingers, picking at the skin that has now started to peel beside her thumb from repeated abuse.

“I remember everything you say, Shepard,” he says quietly making her brows knit together. “You have a lovely home here,” she says, skirting around the topic they needed to discuss. “My father got it shortly after my mother got ill. The medical teams here are the best in the galaxy and she gets treated at the hospital,” he says with a sigh, leaning back on the bench and making it creak slightly under his weight.

“Garrus, why did you ask if I loved Chellick?” Shepard asks, finally lifting her head to look at the turian beside her. A pained expression darkens his face, as if he would rather be talking about anything other than this. “I see the way he looks at you. The songs his sub-vocals sing when you’re around,” he says, his voice quiet and a frown forms on her face.

“Sub-vocals? What do you mean?” she asks, confusion on her face as he turns to her looking shocked. Nihlus never mentioned anything like this; nor Chellick for that matter. “You don’t know?” he asks and she shakes her head making his mandibles flare out momentarily. “Turians hum under their vocals. It’s kind of like… facial expressions? But more complicated. Unheard communication between turians that expresses our feelings towards things. Happy feelings, sad feelings. I don’t do a good job at explaining things.” he says scratching at his forearm awkwardly.

“Why can’t I hear them?”

“They are very quiet; imperceivable to most people. You’d have to put your ear on my chest to hear them and even then you may not hear them,” Garrus says, resting his elbow on the back rest. “Don’t freak out.” she says and Garrus laughs quietly. “What do you-” he starts but is cut off when Shepard presses the side of her head to his chest. “What are you doing?” he asks, sounding nervous as he tries to scramble away from her.

She frowns, trying to listen for what he was talking about but he is moving too erratically for her to hear anything but the creaking of the bench. She lifts her head away from his chest to stare at him and he returns her gaze with questioning eyes as if to say ‘what?’. “Stay still, I told you not to freak out. I’m trying to listen,” she scolds him, making him become a statue as she once again places her ear to his chest.

At first she doesn’t hear anything, just his gentle breathing and his heartbeat and a frown creases her brow. Then she hears something, a gentle hum deep in his chest and she smiles. “I can hear it. It’s so soft,” she says happily and brings a hand up to his chest. The sound intensifies suddenly; becoming almost too loud against her ear. She lifts her head and smiles at him, removing her hand from his chest as well. “Well you learn something new everyday and all turians do this?” she asks and he just nods as he awkwardly shifts on the bench beside her.

“Sorry if I made you uncomfortable but I was curious,” she says, waving her hands in front of her slightly in an apology then a question crosses her face as she remembers what he said. The songs his sub-vocals sing when you’re around. She tilts her head then looks at him. “What do Chellick’s sub-vocals ‘say’ when I’m around?” she asks and he sighs loudly, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. “They say… “ he starts but stops himself with another sigh before he continues, “They say he loves you.”

Shepard jumps off the bench. “What do you mean?” she asks, turning around to look at him and he shrugs. “He loves you. I can’t explain it anymore,” he stands up. Shepard’s mind wanders for a second while she thinks of all the things Chellick has done; none of them screaming love. She runs a hand through her hair as she thinks then she snaps her attention to Garrus. “Why did you want to know if I loved him?” she asks, trying to swallow past the lump in her throat her mouth set in a straight line as she looks at him.

His eyes dart around, clearly looking for a way out before they land on hers and he sighs, shrugging his shoulders, unable to come up with an answer. She frowns slightly then turns on her heels. “Tell your mother thank you for dinner,” she says over her shoulder as she leaves the backyard. Once inside she follows the path they took and turns a corner into the kitchen and into Solana. “Hey! I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Where’s Garrus anyway? He still has to help me clean all this stuff up.” she says pointing to all the food still on the island that wasn’t eaten.

“He’s in the backyard. Happy Birthday, Solana and thanks for inviting me to have dinner with your family. I have to get going,” Shepard says making Solana’s mandibles pinch to her face as she watches the commander walk past her quickly. “What happened? Did he do something do you?” Solana says quickly walking around the island to intercept Shepard before she’s able to leave.

Before she can respond Solana looks over Shepard’s shoulder and her eyes narrow at someone. “What did you do to her, Garrus.” she scolds him, pointing a talon at him. Shepard turns around and looks at him. “He didn’t do anything.” she says the last word with venom, making Garrus wince slightly then she weaves her way past Solana and out of the door.