AN: This is just a stupid little short story that's been playing in my head for a while as a result of playing too much Mass Effect and reading too much of J.D. Robb's In Death series...or maybe it's just a sign I shouldn't try my hand at a crime drama, take your pick. It's actually not much of a bridge between ME1 and ME2, just a bit of troublemaking shenanigans with Garrus, Shepard, and Liara (with special guest star Officer Eddie Lang) on the Citadel. I started out writing first person from Garrus' point of view (because I find the idea of him narrating a story noir style hilarious) but I've found I really can't write noir very well so I'll leave that to authors who can.
Oh, and it is also my pleasure to introduce you to some members of the Shepard clan.
Everyone loved a party, didn't matter what species you were. And no club threw a party quite like Seven Veils, especially of the 'Yay, we weren't killed by ancient living starships!' variety. Couple that with the star performer's impending nuptials and you had one hell of a crazy celebration on your hands.
Seven Veils slicked a high gloss of modern tech over a look that brought to mind pictures of dungeons in ancient ruins on Earth. Panels made of dark, smoky glass studded the walls at intervals. When the lights flashed right, figures appeared to be frozen within. The rest of the walls were made of rippled metal and black stone. Looming over their heads, lit by hundreds of flickering multicolored lights, was a giant chandelier formed of tall black metal spikes and sharp edges, draped with sheer black and white veils that drifted like ghosts. With so many flashing lights, strobe lights, and laser patterns dancing over the ceilings and walls, the atmosphere was gaudy and over-dramatic, yet slightly sinister as well. The novelty of it drew people from all over the Citadel to visit it at least once, just to say they'd been there.
It was lucky the club was located in one of the more...Shepard called it 'bohemian'; Garrus called it weird...areas of the Wards where there was a lot of crazy stuff going on and the noise level was almost constantly in the upper decibels, otherwise Janine Shepard would have been slapped with complaints about the noise every night. Especially with her club becoming quite the hot spot, what with her niece (although strictly speaking, she was Louis Shepard's first wife and not technically her aunt anymore, not that Shepard gave a damn) being the savior of the galaxy and all.
But for all Janine's considerable reputation, it was her daughter that was the true spectacle and who was currently holding the awed and fascinated attention of Officer Eddie Lang.
Garrus considered nudging him and poking a bit of fun at him for being fickle. It had been the idea of meeting Shepard face to face that had gotten the rookie so fired up about this case and now he was mesmerized by her cousin.
Not that Mischa wasn't worth a few minutes of contemplation. She was easily six inches shorter than Shepard and much more...bouncy. That was the only word that came to mind as he watched the woman dance across the stage, singing at the top of her lungs. She was a dark skinned, buxom little bit of a thing. Her hair was dyed a violent purple and multicolored lights twinkled throughout the locks. The bright colors were echoed in her costume, which consisted of a glowing pink skirt and a strip of some kind of silvery material across her chest, both only covering just enough to keep her from getting slapped with an indecent exposure charge. She was also wearing boots that hit her at mid-thigh made of some kind of bright red gelatinous material that looked frankly disgusting to wear with crystal blue heels so tall and thin Garrus had no idea how she was hopping around the stage like that without breaking her ankles.
Garrus scanned the crowd that had come to the open party Shepard and her aunt were hosting for her. He'd pointed out he found it strange her cousin was technically working at her own bachelorette party, but Shepard had dryly replied Mischa couldn't turn down the chance to perform in front of so many people. Her being off the clock just meant she could go on stage a bit tipsy.
With so many people in attendance of all races, many of them celebrities and even well known political types, C-sec was sending a few extra patrols around just to make sure things didn't get out of hand or a random assassination attempt wasn't tried. But that was not why he and Lang were here.
Garrus glanced over and grabbed hold of Lang's sleeve, pulling the young human away from an asari who looked to be well on her way to falling down drunk. Lang was blushing as Garrus calmly pulled him through the crowd. "Mind on the job, Lang."
"Yeah...er...yeah, um...you think Shepard is around here?"
Garrus had to bite back a grin. "I know she is."
"She's helping us with this, right?" Lang craned his neck, trying to find the Spectre somewhere in the crowd.
"If she has to. Strictly speaking, this is a C-sec operation. Call her a back up option." Shepard had shown herself quite capable of knowing when to throw her weight around and when to just back off and let non-Spectre authorities take care of a problem. It came from being the first- and therefore only -human Spectre in the galaxy. Humans were barely established throughout the galaxy and some other species resented the fact they had a Spectre so soon, which meant sometimes Shepard had to be more cautious than a Spectre of another race would be.
Although Garrus knew from experience that if someone stood in her way, she was more than happy to go around them. Or, if that didn't work, why, she'd just run right over them.
It was nice to be working with her again, even in a very limited capacity.
"Hey, Garrus! Hey! That guy there? The one dancing around with that frilly hat on his head? He's a senator!" Lang shook his head, incredulous.
"Eh. I watch the vids, Lang. Your senators do crazy stuff all the time. If I see the Primarch in here somewhere, then I'll be surprised."
"There are turians here," Lang pointed out.
"We like a party same as any species when we're off duty. Which I'm not. And neither are you." Though no one else would know that. It was hard to be inconspicuous in uniform, so they were both dressed in civilian clothes, though they were both armed, courtesy of special permission from the lady of the house as long as they kept them hidden. "Take that side and keep an eye out for the target, she should be here with her little gang of sycophants. Lang." He gave him a sharp look as the human turned back to look at him. "If you spot her, tell me over the comm and wait. Don't approach."
"Yessir," Lang said without a hint of sarcasm, eager to please in a way that actually discomfited Garrus a bit. Sometimes he forgot he was lauded as a hero himself until someone like Lang gave him that wide eyed kind of admiring look. It made him understand why Shepard was so uncomfortable with fans. He shook his head and picked his way through the crowd, taking the other side of the room.
Lang couldn't believe he'd never tried this club out. It was a little overdone for his tastes but with Mischa shining like a sun on the bright, colorful stage, the effect was really something else.
He'd known about Seven Veils, of course. Janine Shepard had been a notorious pin up girl (he had a couple pictures of her himself) before she'd gotten married and it was rumored the kind of dominatrix type modeling she did wasn't just modeling and she still took clients now and again. Now her daughter was a performer already becoming well known for her wild antics and her son's casts on the comm channels were almost as infamous. Lang thought he was funny as hell, but many politicians on Earth...and some on other planets... who had been on the receiving end of his jokes didn't find him so amusing.
It was kind of a mystery Shepard had made it so far up in the military, much less became the first human Spectre. Not that anyone was going to say that anymore since she'd saved the Council...along with everyone else.
Lang shot a quick glance around, but he still couldn't catch a glimpse of her. Oh, well. Mind on the job, Lang. It was enough of a thrill to actually be working with Garrus Vakarian. It had been a surprise when he came back to C-sec, since everyone assumed he'd be going for the Spectres, but Lang guessed he needed something to do during Spectre training. Lucky for Lang, since it gave him the chance to work with one of the actual heroes of the Citadel.
He caught sight of their target as he was stealing a glance at Mischa hip-grinding her way across the stage to a chorus of blaring guitars and crashing drums. His eyes went cop cool, all his focus narrowing down to that single woman. "Garrus, I've found her," he said quietly into his comm.
"Where are you?"
Lang moved carefully through the crowd, keeping the group in sight while staying out of theirs. "To the far right of the stage, table overlooking the dance floor."
"On my way."
Lang waited although adrenaline was already starting to kick in through his system. Moira LaChance, as she styled herself, fit into the atmosphere of the club like it had been tailor made for her. She wore a sleek black dress of asari design that draped over impressive curves and long legs sheathed to the thigh in sleek black boots. Her dark hair was swept up and fixed in a pearl studded hairdo atop her head, leaving soft curls to trail down and frame her face, and diamonds glittered around her slender neck. She was seated at one of the best tables, on a raised platform near the stage, queening it over the dance floor like she owned the place, holding a pose effortlessly like she was expecting to be photographed at any moment. She was surrounded, as always, by an entourage of sycophants and 'assistants', all human. A hulking brute of a man who acted as her bodyguard stood behind her chair. Several of the others seated at the table with her Lang recognized from photographs. Most of them he didn't know, including the kid Moira was draped over. Lang had never seen him before, and he wasn't the same stud she'd been hanging all over when they'd started tailing her yesterday, so he guessed she must have just picked him up sometime tonight. That wasn't surprising, as she had a reputation for chewing them up and spitting them out pretty quick. He fit her tastes, one of those young pretty boys from a good family that did their best to attract playgirls like LaChance and squirm into that particular social circle. Tall and slender with black hair styled into spikes, he was posing more than she was with that affected boredom that suggested he was far too cool for...anywhere, really. He was dressed entirely in black, setting off light brown skin, and his lips and nails were painted black as well. Wide, mirrored sunglasses shielded his eyes and the upper half of his thin, sharp face from view.
Sunglasses. Inside. Lang just shook his head in exasperation, though he felt a small bit of sympathy. Poor kid, the woman would eat him alive. He turned to scan the crowd for Garrus, finally catching a glimpse of him. The turian came up beside him, falling into step, still keeping in the crowd. Lang tried to stay as cool and collected as Garrus was, but it was a hard thing. "You really think she'll be stupid enough to try something here? Even with this big a crowd, it's a risk."
"She's been getting increasingly stupid and arrogant over the past few months, so yes. The trick is to get her red handed."
Lang took his word on it although privately he was worried and he was pretty sure Garrus was too. LaChance was the daughter of the ambassador that had stepped in to take Donnel Udina's place when Parliament had voted him to be humanity's representative on the Council. As long as he was on the Citadel, the ambassador...and by extension, his daughter...enjoyed a level of diplomatic immunity that was enhanced by the fact the Councilor himself would probably be willing to subtly back them up to prevent embarrassment.
Things were further complicated by the fact LaChance had been implicated and accused of several crimes but was smart enough not to actually get caught at them herself. Garrus had started looking hard at her not long after he'd returned to C-sec because a young woman who had the misfortune of crossing LaChance had disappeared. It wasn't the first time it had happened but it had drawn Garrus' attention to her and made him, along with several other C-sec officers, notice that there were often disappearances of young people following the woman around. Notorious party girl that she was, she was out and about the clubs around the Wards nearly every night. The trouble was, they couldn't prove anything yet.
Garrus subtly nudged him and led the way to an alcove where a human couple were making out. They stumbled away, grumbling, when Garrus curtly told them to find somewhere else but were apparently not willing to challenge him for the spot. Their vantage point gave them a pretty clear view of LaChance's table and Garrus' sharp eyes fixed on it as an asari waitress approached with a tray of drinks. LaChance was talking quietly to her associates and barely acknowledged her as she set the drinks down around the table, although her boy toy had enough manners in him to at least give her a nod of thanks.
At that moment, Mischa suddenly swung off the stage and started dancing through the tables in a whirl of color. The crowed on the dance floor went crazy, their cheers shaking the walls, and the people at the tables either stared or applauded. When she reached LaChance's table, she actually jumped onto it, nipping between two chairs and hauling herself up, dancing a bit before jumping back down and continuing on.
Suffice to say, no one took notice of the waitress as she moved away from the table and hugged the wall, moving through the people. Lang was surprised when she cut a winding path toward them, finally stopping near them. She smiled at them and Lang was struck by the feeling he'd seen her somewhere before. She looked at Garrus. "Janine told me to let you know her security has noted nothing around the building itself but one of them thinks there's something going on across the street. Ms. LaChance is also definitely expecting someone, though I wasn't able to pick up on who it was. I'm sorry I wasn't able to find out more."
"No, that's helpful, Liara, thanks." Garrus' mandibles flared in a smile. "Not bad for your first bit of undercover work."
"Liara? Liara T'Soni?" Lang managed to keep from gaping, but it was a hard thing.
"Liara T'Soni, Officer Eddie Lang," Garrus said, introducing them with a bit of a flourish. "He's been helping me from the start."
Liara gave him a bright smile that he swore could have melted all the ice on Noveria, her blue eyes sparkling. "Pleased to meet you, Officer Lang."
"P-pleasure's all mine, Miss T'Soni." Was it ever. He shot Garrus a 'you could have warned me' look. Asari had a tendency to frazzle his senses in general but Liara was, in his opinion, a prime example of the species, he'd always thought that even just seeing her on the vids.
Even if they didn't nail LaChance, tonight fucking rocked.
Liara turned her attention back to Garrus. "I admit, helping you out is certainly exciting. I was just looking forward to meeting some of Shepard's family, I wasn't expecting to get involved in something like this. Although...with Shepard, I suppose I should have."
Lang snickered and Garrus nodded in agreement, chuckling. "Where did you put the bug?"
"I put it on the tray and 'accidentally' left it there. I figured there was less of a chance of someone finding it that way."
"That's a good idea, actually, especially since you had to think it pretty quick."
"Janine did kind of just shove me out the door. I'm just glad I didn't drop the tray on the way over, I don't know how the real waitresses do it." She sobered. "She has her people looking for the officer that was supposed to plant that bug, but no one has seen her, Garrus..."
Garrus' eyes went cold and Lang felt a sick sensation in the pit of his stomach. If LaChance or whoever she was working with was stooping to killing cops...
Garrus stood up straight suddenly as a human in a blue suit approached LaChance's table. He said something and nudged the boy toy out of the chair next to her, making him scowl and look at LaChance, who simply gave him a brief, regal nod. Flushing, he moved back to stand nearby since there were no more chairs at the table.
Even with the bug at the table, Garrus had to listen hard to make out most of what they were saying over the pounding music and noise in the crowd. "...hope you are not expecting a long partnership in this, Ms. LaChance. The window of opportunity afforded by the geth attack on the Citadel is closing more each day. Eventually, the blue's numbers will be replenished and they will focus very hard on driving back the increased business opportunities that have sprung up in the wake of the attack. I have little faith you can maintain under normal circumstances, especially now that you have moved into...how shall we say?...more local crops." The man in the blue suit spoke in a calm voice.
"I find myself a bit hurt that you have so little faith in my skills," LaChance said with a bit of a pout in her voice, though it was for show. Beneath it, Lang heard nothing but cold professionalism. "Though I have every intention of making use of this 'window of opportunity', as you put it. We can discuss the future later, what I want to know is whether your boss is interested in what I have now. Are we doing business or not?"
The man in the blue suit was quiet for a few moments. "Show me the merchandise. If it's good enough quality, he has instructed me to negotiate."
"Wonderful." LaChance pulled a small pad of paper and a pen out of her purse, writing something down on it and pushing the paper toward him. She wasn't taking any chances sending him coordinates for the buy on anything that could be hacked. "That's the address. My people are waiting for you."
The man laid his hand over the paper. "I expect to see you there as well, Ms. LaChance."
The woman's voice sharpened. "I don't..."
"Do you really think not being present will help you?" The man sounded taunting now. "Your ignorance of this game is showing, Ms. LaChance. You gave up the ability to pretend you have nothing to do with any of this when you got directly involved. I assure you, I have records of our interactions and should anything happen to me or anything go wrong, you will go down just as hard as I will. You there, or no deal."
Garrus held his breath as there was silence from LaChance. The man, surely a bastard, was also correct. LaChance had grown bolder over the weeks and had shown signs of getting in over her head, which was why he'd started watching her closely. He listened, tense, silently urging her to act like the greedy idiot she was...
"Fine."
"Very good." The man sounded amused. "I shall assume you want to meet me there. I shall wait. Also, you should know certain parties bent on harming your business are watching you here tonight."
Lang stiffened beside him and shifted further back into the shadows.
"I know," LaChance said calmly. "One of them who was supposed to plant a bug on me informed me of it."
Lang cursed, but Garrus pushed it to the side in his mind. If they got out of this with a list of cops on her payroll, so much the better.
The man in the blue suit left, picking his way through the crowd. LaChance waited until it wouldn't look suspicious, then took her leave as well, arm slung around her boy toy's waist, no apparently trying to soothe his ruffled feathers, her entourage following close behind.
Lang started forward but Liara laid a hand on his shoulder and Garrus shook his head. "She'll be watching for tails."
"But we're going to lose them!" Lang protested.
"No we won't. Trust me, Lang."
Lang scowled but didn't protest further, taking him at his word. Garrus waited a while and then moved them into the backstage area. A tall woman with dark skin and long black hair was waiting for them. Lang actually gulped as Janine Shepard gave him a grin and looked at Garrus. "There's a car prepped at the back for you to use."
"Thank you for your help, Ms. Shepard. You and your daughter both," Garrus said, extending a hand.
She shook it. "My pleasure and I'm sure she'll say the same. It's not every woman who gets to celebrate her bachelorette party by helping stop a crime."
"Let's hope we do stop it," Garrus said quietly. His eyes were on his omni-tool. Lang fidgeted, started to ask him what he was waiting for, when the display on the tool lit up. Garrus nodded and showed it to him. To Lang's astonishment, the coordinates to where LaChance was were blinking there. Garrus grinned and tugged on his arm before he could ask. "No time to lose. Liara, are you coming?"
She laughed. "You think I would miss this?"
Garrus radioed for backup as he drove, parking well down the street. "Awful deserted even for this time of night, wouldn't you say?"
Lang peered down the street to the warehouse where the coordinates had led them. "Did you have someone watching this place?"
"On and off. The place belongs to one of those guys you always keep your eye on if you can. Rich human, Donovan Hock. Wouldn't be surprised if he and LaChance had some kind of arrangement, since they run in the same circles. Doubt we'll be able to nail him on it, though." Garrus got out of the car and pulled out a scanner he attached to his omni-tool, aiming it at the warehouse. "Liara, have you found anything on our friend in the blue suit?"
"My contacts are rounding up all the aliases for him they can find. He goes by Malachi Reilley for the most part on the Citadel. Also known as Jean Horace, Michael Pouner, and Khalid Dahn. Different information comes up every time any of those names are scanned, so it's no wonder you have no records on him. From what I gather, he acts as a representative for certain batarian interests in Citadel space."
Garrus looked at her thoughtfully. "You have a knack for that, Liara."
The asari looked slightly embarrassed. "After, well...during the hunt for Saren I learned the usefulness of having a good network of information and I'm...expanding on it. No reason not to, after all."
"No reason at all," Garrus agreed.
"She's selling humans to batarians?" Lang's voice went high with disbelief.
"That appears to be the case, yes. Despite the animosity between batarians and humans, there are increasingly members of both species greedy enough to work together, which is unfortunate for all species."
"Shepard is going to love that." Garrus moved to a better angle to get a scan of the building, keeping a wary eye out for lookouts. The scanner beeped and he narrowed his eyes, studying the screen, tapping the red figures that came up on an image of the warehouse, the walls made transparent in the render. "I've got warm bodies. Lots of them. First level, main room." He turned to look at Lang, who was finishing up putting armor on, a pad over his chest and back in lieu of his standard armor. He connected it to his omni-tool and activated a kinetic barrier with a low hum. "Lang, get as close as you can and try and see if there are any guards on the other side of the building, do a scan to double check. I'm going to see about disabling any alarms they might have set up."
Lang nodded and moved across the street.
"You didn't tell him," Liara commented.
Garrus shrugged. "If all goes well, she won't have to break her cover. Executor Pallin always hates it when Spectres get involved with C-sec."
"And we all know how much you go out of your way to keep from upsetting the Executor, Garrus," Liara said wryly.
Lang's voice came over the comm before he could reply. "Got about the same numbers as you from this side, Garrus. Guard at every entrance but other than their bodyguards, they don't have much firepower on their side."
"Good, we'll go in like we're expecting a bad fight anyway." Garrus looked over as their backup started to arrive. "Meet me back here, Lang, and let's get this done."
How Garrus had gotten a bug into the warehouse, maybe Liara had planted a second one onto one of LaChance's entourage, Lang didn't know, but they all got a clear listen as the buy between LaChance and the man known as Malachi Reilley, representing his batarian associates. Garrus split the group into three units for each doorway, communicating with each unit's leader as they took down the guards and surrounded the main area of the warehouse.
LaChance stood in the middle of the area, talking with Reilley, haggling over price, from the sound of it. Lang had no idea why she'd dragged her entire entourage along for the ride, including her boy toy, who was shifting from foot to foot nervously, casting glances to the far side of the warehouse where several stasis pods were prepped and set in upright crates, ready to be covered and transported. To show the goods, LaChance had two humans, male and female, cuffed and standing off to the side. They had batarian slave collars around their necks, ready to send pain through them at the slightest move. The girl was young and pretty, still dressed in the remains of a sparkling party dress, her feet dirty and bare and her face puffy from weeping, tears sliding silently down her cheeks. The other was a good looking young man, heavily muscled like he either lifted weights or was a laborer of some sort. His face was sullen and mutinous, but he too was standing still, aware of the collar around his neck.
"Since you're so nice about meeting my price, I'll throw in a bonus for you," LaChance purred. She nodded to her bodyguard, who grabbed her boy toy by the arms and shoved the kid forward. The kid let out a startled yelp, struggling in vain. "What the hell?"
Later, he could only chalk up his moment of sheer, utter stupidity to seeing all those people both human and not in those damned pods and thinking that kid didn't deserve a betrayal like that. He also chalked it up to the smug, superior little smile on LaChance's lips that made him want to hit her. He lunged toward them, shouting at them to let the kid go.
LaChance stood frozen, her lovely face a mask of shock. Reilley and her bodyguard were better trained. The bodyguard threw the kid to the side and stepped between Lang and LaChance, swinging a fist the size of a ham at him. Lang barely managed to duck out of the way, dimly hearing Garrus shouting orders behind him. Reilley had a gun out but before he could fire it, a biotic throw- Liara, it had to be -tossed him up so fast and hard he actually did a full flip in the air before crashing into a pile of crates.
That was all the time Lang had to take note of anything because a moment later, the bodyguard seized hold of him by the hair and hauled him up. The pain was so sudden and vicious it made him see red but he still struggled to get a hit in on the goon. The goon wasn't having it, twisting his head to the side and upward hard enough he could feel his vertebra creak, one huge hand holding him in place and the other twisting his arm behind him.
LaChance had moved as the rest of the cops took out Reilley's bodyguards and the rest of her entourage, holding a pistol herself and pointing it at the kid, who had risen to his feet. Her face was twisted into an angry sneer. "Nobody move or both of them die!" she snarled.
Garrus simply looked at her. Then he sighed in exasperation, shaking his head.
LaChance's brow furrowed, confusion flickering across her face. Then boy toy stepped forward to meet the gun, the move startling LaChance and making her hesitate for a moment she couldn't afford, the gun dropping slightly before she brought it back up again.
Too late. The kid snatched the gun out of her hand in a move so fast and swift she could only gape and brought his fist crashing across her face, knocking her on her ass. He didn't wait to see her fall, whirling and snatching the hand on Lang's neck, managing to wrench it free. The bodyguard recovered from his shock quickly but before he could regain his grip and attack the kid, one of the C-sec officers- a female turian -came up behind him and cracked him over the back of his head with the butt of her rifle. The kid yanked Lang free as the man staggered. The turian was already yanking his arms behind him and slapping cuffs over them in a quick, expert movement as she read him his rights, planting a foot on the small of his back and forcing him forward as he struggled.
LaChance was on her feet, surrounded by two C-sec officers and Liara as she faced off with Garrus. Everyone else was taking the rest of the group into custody and getting the would-be slaves freed and calmed down. Garrus sent a single, quick glance over his shoulder to confirm Lang was all right before turning his head to regard LaChance. The woman was brushing herself off huffily. To give her credit, she kept her head, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring defiantly at Garrus, her lips curving into a smug smile. "You really want to bother taking me in, Officer? You can't even pull off a full arrest. It was all Reilley's idea, after all, and the law can't really touch me. You know that."
Garrus simply looked to the side as the kid strolled up. "Yeah, sugar...only, see, I am the law and I can touch you however I damn well feel like it." The sunglasses slid off and tilted gray eyes locked with LaChance's. Lang felt his jaw drop. She couldn't hide her eyes without the sunglasses, he thought foolishly. No way she could pull off looking naive and innocent without hiding her eyes. "Not that I would. Touch you, I mean. I've seen too much of where you've been," Arian Shepard continued, showing a pale faced LaChance her Spectre identification. She smiled. "Now I can make a full arrest and remand you to C-sec's custody and would you look at this! Here's a C-sec officer right here to take you!"
"Man, I didn't even guess for a second..." Lang whispered to Liara as they stood in the observation room, watching LaChance glare at Garrus across the table in the interrogation room beyond. Garrus had ripped into him for the stunt he'd pulled but since Lang had done so much to help bring her in, he'd allowed him to observe.
"She has a skill for it, in fact I can mention a couple of times in our acquaintance where she's passed herself off as male simply for the fun of it," Liara said, smiling fondly.
Lang was a bit nonplused by the whole thing. "She's...she's kinda weird, isn't she?"
This time Liara laughed out loud. "She is. But then again, gender itself doesn't mean much to my species in general so I don't really understand why some people react to it so strangely."
Lang flushed a bit. Asari always appeared female to him. He wondered for the first time exactly how it really worked when they...no, he wasn't going to think about that now.
In the interrogation room, Garrus listened with half an ear as one of the two high priced lawyers LaChance, aka Caitlin Farrow, had called in droned on about diplomatic immunity and lack of evidence and so on. He tapped the datapad in his hand and bit back a smirk as he noted Emily Wong was already interviewing some of the would-be slaves, running the story live despite the late hour. She must have arrived mere minutes after they hauled LaChance, Reilley, and the rest off. She would no doubt be running it quite a few times when the morning hit.
One of the lawyers glared at him sharply, frowning. "Officer Vakarian, are we perhaps interrupting something? We would prefer not to waste our client's time further. We were just talking about how it would be best for all involved if this nonsense remained discreet."
Apparently he hadn't caught wind of the news report or the fact that somehow LaChance's involvement was being speculated on. Well, he'd leave that to find out on their own, no sense in ruining the surprise for them. He set the datapad aside. "I'm merely giving your client a chance to cooperate. In case you hadn't noticed, slavery is illegal in Citadel space."
LaChance sneered. "If they aren't strong enough or smart enough not to get caught up in it, they don't deserve freedom. I'd think a turian would understand that concept better than anyone."
It was amazing how this bitch managed to encompass so many things he hated with every fiber of his being. Garrus held his temper in check with some difficulty, calling on training and sheer force of will to hide how many times he'd envisioned tearing that smug look off her face...and taking her face with it. If Shepard could restrain herself, so could he.
Garrus glanced over his shoulder as the door opened and Shepard stepped in as if summoned. Her hair was still black but she was dressed in more casual clothing and had wiped off the lip dye. "Spectre Agent Arian Shepard entering interview." Shepard sat down in the chair next to him, her eyes on LaChance, crossing one long leg casually over the other as Garrus continued. "Trafficking people of any race gets you an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole."
"That's the same on Earth, if they deport you, you might be interested to know," Shepard added pleasantly.
"Which is unlikely, considering the bulk of people you've sold weren't human," Garrus said.
LaChance looked bored. "You don't have a damn thing to prove it."
"We have recordings, files and witnesses, including the testament of seven C-sec officers, a civilian consultant, and a Spectre Agent, who you were about to throw in as a bonus, that you were doing it, Ms. Farrow."
The lawyers were eying Shepard, looking uneasy for the first time. The one doing the talking rallied himself. "The fact remains Ms. Farrow is involved in several delicate diplomatic negotiations alongside her father, an important ambassador. Her diplomatic immunity stands no matter how serious these absurd charges are while she is on the Citadel. I have also contacted Councilor Udina about this attack upon my client."
Shepard chuckled low in her throat. "Trust me, he's going to back away from her like she's on fire."
Garrus tapped the datapad and leaned back in his chair. "That actually works out fine for me. I really didn't want to give her a break in exchange for a list of names and locations for her associates and victims both. As for the diplomatic immunity, I guess I'm going to have to let you go." He paused. "Of course, being a Spectre Agent, Commander Shepard isn't bound to obey any of those laws."
The smug smile vanished from LaChance's face. Her lawyers sputtered.
"Of course, I think to make it easier for everyone, I'll simply take Ms. LaChance off the Citadel," Shepard said thoughtfully.
"That's entirely up to you, Shepard. She's all yours." Garrus rose, turning toward the door.
Shepard stretched. "If she's got business with anyone on the Citadel, I'll send you the list once I get it out of her."
The talkative lawyer pushed himself to his feet. "You can't be serious!"
"You'll find the brig of the Normandy quite comfortable, darling," Shepard assured LaChance.
The woman was staring wide eyed at the lawyer. "Brent, do something! She can't do this!"
"Shepard, if you even think about taking her..."
"Brent, is it? Well, Brent, you are most certainly welcome to petition the Council on her behalf. I don't think you're going to find them particularly sympathetic, however."
"I'm not going anywhere with you," LaChance snarled, jumping to her feet.
"Then I'll stun you and drag your ass to the Normandy myself," Shepard said implacably.
"Wait!" The lawyer that had been quiet up to this point bent and said something urgently to LaChance. She turned her head to stare at him. "Are you crazy? I'm going to prison!"
"I think the Normandy's brig is nicer than any prison here, but I could be biased," Shepard said to Garrus, who had paused by the door.
"I wouldn't know, Shepard, I haven't spent time in either," he replied, amused, completely ignoring the argument going on between LaChance and her lawyers.
She winced as LaChance's voice rose into a shriek. "Thank God for soundproofing."
"Commander!" One of the lawyers turned toward her. Lawyers didn't deal well with Spectres, it seemed. He was barely concealing his panic. "Be reasonable about this. Taking a young woman with no previous criminal charges away on your ship under trumped up charges...that might wreak havoc on your reputation...look suspicious..."
"Considering her crimes and the fact she was associating with batarian slavers, I think my reputation will survive it."
Garrus flipped the datapad around so he could see Wong's interviews playing. The lawyer sputtered even more. "Actually, considering this is going to be all over every news channel by mid-morning, your client might be safer on the Normandy." Garrus' eyes went hard. "Last chance, counselor. She can deal for softer time and stay in C-sec custody until the matter of whether her immunity will be waived is decided or I escort you and your associate out and Agent Shepard takes her into her custody right here and now."
"I won't kill you, my dear," Shepard said helpfully. "In fact, considering your faith in your skills, once we've chatted a bit, I might just turn you loose on a batarian colony and leave you there. After all, if you're not strong or smart enough to prevent them from getting you, you don't deserve freedom, yes?"
LaChance looked from one hard expression to the other. The trapped, disbelieving look on her face was absolutely priceless. It was, perhaps, the first time in her life she hadn't been able to twist or manipulate a situation her way. She glared at Garrus hatefully but when she turned her gaze to Shepard and met those eyes of hers, she clearly wilted.
In the observation room, Lang let out a whoop as she sank back down into her chair, trembling. "What is the deal?"
Garrus let Lang take her down the holding cells and he, Shepard, and Liara were all waiting in one of the corridors when he came back up. Shepard cocked an eyebrow. "Kid, running out like that was one of the bravest things I've ever seen and you're lucky Garrus didn't whack you upside the head for being so stupid."
Lang blushed. "Yeah, I know..."
"But appreciate the outrage on my behalf." Shepard gave him a swift grin and looked over at Garrus. "She caved faster than I expected."
"No one can stand up to your scary look, Shepard. Although the threat to toss her into a batarian colony was a nice touch."
"You wouldn't...ah, you wouldn't really have done that...would you have, Commander?" Lang said hesitantly.
Shepard sobered a bit. "No. Not even to her." There was a chilling look in her eyes that made Lang wonder if LaChance would have survived, however.
Garrus sighed. "Well, fun part is over. Luckily, I won't be the one that has to wrangle back and forth about all the little details about getting her sentenced. I just hope they don't pardon her."
"If that seems to be how it's going, please feel free to remind them my offer still stands," Shepard said.
Garrus nodded and motioned to Lang. "Come on, if I have to get buried in paperwork, so do you. Shepard...?"
"Barring the Council calling me in for something specific, I should be able to start hitting the slaving outposts and going after the people running it. We're going to break this ring, Garrus," she said. Her lips quirked into a wicked smile. "Taking down Cerberus bases is getting boring anyway." She slung a friendly arm around Liara's shoulders and guided her down the hall. "But first, we got a party to finish and a wedding to attend!"
Lang couldn't resist grinning after her. "Glad to see you have your priorities in order, Commander."
"Hey, you only live once."
AN: The prologue for ME2 will be up soon!