A/N: This is my first stab at an ME story and the first fic I've written in quite some time so all critism will be much appareciated.
Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or any of its characters-- but that doesn't mean I won't play with them!! Don't worry I'll put them back exactly as I found them.... more or less.
Summary: Post ME2. Shepard recruits the help of an agent to help her find a cure for Thane. Like the rest of the crew, the spy has her own problems to deal with. Like the Shadow Broker for instance. Slight FemShep/Garrus and maybe some Thane love.
Chapter One
The purple asari nodded her head towards the other end of the couch and Shepard settled into the smooth leather. "I see the rumors are true," Aria said, light purple eyes examining the woman beside her. "You made it though the Omega 4 Relay and lived to tell about it."
Commander Jane Shepard smirked slightly, large green eyes dancing with humor. "What can I say? I've made a career out of doing the impossible." She shrugged her proud shoulder casually.
Aria let out a breath of dry laughter. "What do you need?" she asked, getting straight to business and settling back into her normal brusque manner. The thumping beat of loud techno music and the smell of sweat and liquor were a stark contrast to the cold asari.
Shepard leaned forward, elbows on her knees and hands loosely clasped together. Her brow tugged together very slightly but the rest of her face remained a perfect mask of indifference. "Does the name Corey Gidget mean anything to you?"
Purple eyes narrowed and suddenly wary, Aria stared hard at Shepard. Her previously relaxed posture stiffened and the human could see a slight flicker of anger in the asari's eyes. "Not many people know that name," she said, luring Shepard into give her more information.
She took the bait willingly. "I work for the Illusive Man," Shepard said, hands held up with her palms up in a placating gesture. She needed Aria's cooperation on this. "He knows a lot things most people don't."
Aria stood up and turned too look out over Afterlife, arms crossed over her chest. She looked at one of the dancers up on the catwalk in the center of the room but watched Shepard from the corners of her eyes. "What do you want with Gidget?"
Standing beside her, Sherpard spoke in a more hushed tone, barely audible over the music. "I was told Gidget could help one of my crew." She looked over her shoulder where Garrus and Thane stood eyeing Aria's personal guards. The batarian stared back, probably wishing he could take one good swing at either of them.
Aria pursed her lips for a moment. "Gidget is my best informant. I would be very upset if something were to happen to her." The implication was obvious in the asari's icy tone.
"I don't want to hurt her, " Shepard assured. "The Illusive Man told me she might know something about Keplar's Syndrome."
Turning her head slightly, Aria looked over her shoulder at the drell assassin who was talking quietly with the turian that was always at Shepard's side. "I'll see what I can do." Aria resumed her seat on the sofa and waved Shepard off. The human nodded her thanks before collecting her alien entourage and rejoining the crowd in the club.
The private room to the left of Aria's "throne" was being guarded by a turian with a white tattoo covering most of his face. He held a hand cannon in one clawed hand, letting it hang by his side. Shepard, Thane and Garrus approached and the turian held up his free talons.
Shepard stopped beside him. "You're the only one that goes in," he said in a deep rumbling voice as he glanced back at Garrus and Thane. "Aria's orders."
Shepard could feel rather than see Garrus bristle at this news. She turned her head and met his small blue eyes. "It' ok," she said before he could protest. Garrus stood down but his mandibles twitched erratically in irritation while he glared at the turian guard.
With a final, reassuring glance to Garrus, Shepard walked to the door. The red indicator beeped once before turning green and the door swished softly open. She stepped into the room. With another beep it whirred closed and locked behind her.
The small room where she had been recruited months ago to help take down Archangel-- though she wound up slaughtering all the mercs involved, thus saving Garuss' ass-- was dimly lit. There was a chair in the center of the small room, the weak light pooling around it. The corners of the room were cast in shadows and Shepard's green eyes narrowed as they tried to penetrate the darkness.
"Please, take a seat." The calm baritone belonged to a human female. Shepard looked towards the corner to her right. "The darkness is for my protection. Aria doesn't like people to know what I look like and neither do I for that matter," she said, guessing Shepard's mistrustful thoughts. Slowly, Shepard sat in the metal chair and her green and white armor scraped against it slightly.
The owner of the voice shifted in the dark corner and Shepard could see the outline of a body leaning against the back wall. "Aria must really like you," the woman said. "I've worked for her for," she paused in thought, and Shepard got the impression she was counting on her fingers, "almost ten years now. I've only ever met two other clients of hers." The woman paused again and gave a humorless laugh. "Of course, those two are dead now."
"Aria's been hiding you all these years?" Shepard asked, curiosity peaked.
The woman shifted again. "In my line of work I don't make too many friends.. On the contrary, I've pissed off a lot of people." She shrugged and continued, "Aria's kept me off their collective radars."
"That's a long time to be hiding," the Commander mused. "You must have pissed off half the galaxy."
The woman laughed softly. "Give or take a few. At the very least I've attracted the attention of some mighty powerful people." She waved a hand dismissively. "We're not here to talk about me though. Aria said you needed some information but she wasn't exactly forthcoming with the details."
Shepard leaned forward, one elbow on her knee and a hand on the other. She adopted her solemn voice once again. "One of my crew is a drell with Kepral's Syndrome and he doesn't have much time left. I was told you might know something about a cure, Gidget."
The woman wasn't leaning against the wall anymore. Her silhouette was rigid with tension and her previously pleasant voice was suddenly sharp. "Who told you that?" she demanded. "Where did you hear that name?"
Shepard's own spine stiffened in response to the sudden hostility. "My employer told me--"
"You employer?" she snapped. "You mean the Illusive Man. You are after all with Cerberus." Gidget began to pace and the dim light gave some illumination to her short wiry frame. "Shit," she breathed. "This is bad."
"Cerberus isn't interested in you," Shepard said, holding out a hand in a calming gesture, her voice steady. "We only want everything you know about Kepral's then we'll leave you alone." She looked at the pacing woman in earnest. "We won't hurt you."
Gidget stopped pacing and let out a short, frantic laugh. "Cerberus isn't what worries," she said, voice sounding a little high. "If the Illusive Man knows my whereabouts then the Shadow Broker's agents are probably already waiting outside the damn door." She gestured to the locked door behind Shepard as she spoke and then returned to pacing, one hand running through her light brown hair.
"The Shadow Broker makes your boss look like schoolyard bully. Where do you think the Illusive Man even gets half his information?" Gidget sighed angrily. "I knew this would happen," she muttered, shaking her head. "I knew they'd catch up with me eventually."
Standing up, Shepard took a step towards the woman. In her most calm and patient voice she asked, "Why is the Shadow Broker looking for you?"
The pacing stopped and her shadowed head turned to look at Shepard. The light illuminated half her face and revealed dark green eyes and a pale, face. Shepard would have described her as ordinary-- the perfect look for a spy. "Let's just say he didn't like my 'letter of resignation'."
"You worked for the Shadow Broker?" The Illusive Man had only told her that this Corey Gidget was an informant who might have some information on Thane's illness. He didn't give details and for once Shepard didn't ask. If it meant saving the life of one of her crew-- her family-- she'd do nearly anything.
Gidget rubbed her forehead. "Tell you what Shepard," she said, voice steady again. "If you can get me out of here, I'll tell you everything I know. Hell, I'll even tell you how many times Aria visits the bathroom in a day if you can get me out of here before the Shadow Broker's agents find me."
"I'll help you," Commander Shepard said without so much as a second's hesitation. He hand went to her earpiece so she could contact Garrus and Tane outside. "The last part won't be necessary though." Shepard turned her head slightly. "Garrus? We've got a package to bring back to the ship. There's a catch…"
It was almost too easy. As Shepard opened the door of the private room, Gidget activated her tactical cloak. The shorter woman placed an invisible hand on Shepard's shoulder so the Commander would know that Gidget was actually with her and not running for cover in the other direction.
"Let's go," Shepard said as she approached Thane and Garrus. Keeping her behavior normal for any prying eyes, Aria included, Shepard patted Garrus' back and gave him a small smile as she passed.
The three walked back to the Normandy at a clipped pace. Thane's black eyes roved from side to side drinking in every detail of every person they passed and every shadow where someone may hide. Garrus kept his eyes straight ahead for much of the walk but he watched from his peripherals and kept a particular eye on Shepard. The Commander's body was taut with worry. She could feel the invisible hand on her shoulder like a lead weight and she held her breath, waiting for the cloak to give out and the agent to be exposed to all of Omega.
"Hey, you." All three of them stopped dead in their tracks and turned simultaneously to look at the krogan who had approached them from the left. Shepard raised a brow at him and crossed her arms while Thane and Garrus subconsciously stepped slightly in front of her.
The krogan, outfitted in dark gray amour and armed to the teeth, barely glanced at the rest of the shore party. He focused on Shepard with his beady eyes. "You Commander Shepard of the Normandy?"
As he spoke, Gidget squeeze Shepard's shoulder. "Agent," she muttered under her breath so only Shepard could hear her.
Shepard only shrugged. "Yep. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm on my way to the Citadel for an appointment." She turned and began walking away.
"Hold it," the krogan barked, stepping towards her.
In a flash Thane was blocking him and Garrus had pulled his gun. Shepard merely paused and looked over her shoulder. "I do not recommend you delay the Commander," Thane stated calmly in his strange gravelly voice. "She tends to get… annoyed when she is late."
The krogan glared at Thane before his eyes dropped to the drell's SMG and the rifle in Garrus' talons. His narrowed red eyes settled on Shepard for a moment. The krogan rattled of a few guttural strands of curses before he rolled a shoulder and fell back. He didn't take his eyes off the trio as they entered the Omega docking area and the door slid shut behind them.
Throughout the entire exchange Shepard was just waiting to the inevitable moment when the cloak would drop. Then, of course, the krogan would attack Gidget and there would be a huge firefight. There was always shooting when she left the ship and Shepard always expected the worse to happen. To her astonishment the cloak held until they were halfway down the dock.
"Tell your pilot to open the door, I have to make a run for it," Gidget muttered quietly. Shepard couldn't see it but she could feel the woman turn her head to look over her shoulder.
On her orders, Joker opened the airlock-- not without a comment or three, of course-- and the agent's soft footfalls were barely audible over the hum of machinery and the bustle and flow of the docks. It had been too easy.
"Get us out of here, Joker. Right now, it doesn't matter where we go." Shepard called to her pilot as Thane and Garrus filed past her. The latter rested his talon briefly on his shoulder before following Thane to the elevator.
Gidget had her back to the wall, hands on knees and eyes closed. "You okay?"
One eye opened and looked up at the Commander. "That was close," she sighed but her lips twitched up in a smirk. "My cloak barely made it to the ship and I thought for sure those agents were going to jump you."
Shepard's brow furrowed. "So there was more than just the krogan." It was more of a statement than a question as she crossed her arms and watched Gidget.
"Oh yeah," she replied, looking genuinely surprised that Shepard hadn't realized this sooner. "At least three."
A frown creased Shepard's face and she let her arms fall to her sides. "Come on," she said, gesturing towards the CIC. "I think it's time you and I had a little chat."