"The Citadel, Shepard? Again?" Garrus asked. He was growing tired of dealing with C-Sec.
"You heard me, Garrus." the commander replied, hand on her hip. The redhead turned to look at the rest of her crew. "We're here on business, not shore leave...unless we pull this off."
"Rewarding us with drinks?" Jack crossed her arms over her chest.
"We've been working hard. I think everyone could benefit from a little fun." She looked at the biotic sternly. "We've got two days here. Garrus and Tali, you're with me. We're stopping in to check on things with C-Sec and then it's straight to work. For all of us."
Murmurs of "Yes, commander" and "Understood" rippled through the crew as the Normandy docked. They had all been hoping for some shore leave, but the commander had been keeping them busy for the past few months, away from friends and family and edible food. They dispersed as soon as Shepard left with her squad, all eager to finish their work and get off the ship as quickly as possible.
Maryanne Shepard was always aware of how the crew felt. They had grown frustrated lately, and she knew that shore leave was what they wanted and needed. It was also what she needed-a break from the rest of life, a chance to pretend that she was just a normal tourist visiting the Citadel. The Normandy had been called to assist C-Sec with some slightly-out-of-the-ordinary security issues, and Shepard, never one to deny them, immediately agreed to help.
So now, she and two aliens were busying themselves in the office. Garrus itched to leave the whole time they were there, honestly wishing he were anywhere else, and when Shepard finally turned to leave, he had never been so relieved. He hated those assholes and their red tape, and dealing with them always left him in need of a stiff drink.
This time, he was allowed to get one.
"Garrus," Shepard said as she and Tali led the way to a bar. "I'm buying. You deserve it."
"Shepard, I can hardly-"
"Not taking no for an answer, Vakarian. I'm buying your drink and that's final."
The turian sighed. When she got like this, there was no arguing. His best bet was to just go to the bar and try to enjoy himself, even if that meant begrudgingly forcing a happy look into his grouchy turian face.
As soon as they reached the bar, however, Garrus spied something that made it seem a little bit easier to fake having a good time. A female turian stood there, leaning against the ba rtop, one foot propped up casually. She was wearing light armor with no insignias visible on it, just plain black standing out against her pearly white hide. It was a skin color that was uncommon, but not necessarily rare, and one that had always seemed particularly attractive to Garrus.
He could only see her from the back, but he liked what he was taking in so far. She was thin but not starved, with a nice waist and short fringe. A pistol was strapped to her side, and she probably had more hidden on her. She seemed to be watching the salarian bartender's every move, inconspicuously keeping an eye on him as he made drinks as if she were concerned about assassination. Maybe she was; Garrus had no idea where she was from or what she was expecting. All he knew was that he liked the look of her, and that it had been too long since he had seen a female of his species.
"Ooh, Garrus," Tali said, her mask flashing with her words. "Go talk to her!"
The turian tried to play it cool. "Maybe I will. Maybe I won't."
"Go on, you big raptor," Shepard said, giving him a nudge as she grinned. "And tell the bartender to put it on Commander Shepard's tab."
"Whatever you say, Shepard." Garrus said, trying not to seem too eager as they parted ways.
While Shepard and Tali headed over to a booth, probably to spend the extra credits on bottle service, the sniper made his way over to the bar and stopped himself a few feet away from the female turian. He saw her notice him, her right eye sliding to look at the newcomer, as he motioned for the bartender and ordered the strongest thing that he could drink without dying.
"Brave." she commented, her voice flat.
"What makes you say that?" he asked, turning his head to give her his full attention in hopes that she would do the same.
She didn't. "You must be on shore leave if you're willing to start your night off with something that strong."
"You sound like you disapprove," he commented as the salarian brought him his drink.
"Quite the opposite." she answered.
He looked at her for a moment, noticing that she only stared forward. "Make that two." he said to the bartender.
"Generous for a soldier." the female said, voice still emotionless.
"You sound like you disapprove of that, too."
"Maybe I do." she was quiet for a moment, searching for words. "Maybe I don't like soldiers."
Garrus was finding that he wasn't completely sure what to say to this woman. "Why?"
Her mandibles flared. "Maybe I think they're all varren shit."
"Didn't enjoy your civil service?"
Her mandibles flared a second time, more forcefully and with more anger. "I never did it."
Now that was strange. And bad news. Interesting news, but bad. He was getting the sense that she had the potential to be very, very dangerous. "Then why do you wear armor?"
"I'm involved with...other work."
That meant she was a merc. "Who are you with?"
"Nobody."
The bartender brought her drink and she immediately grabbed it, downing it as quickly as she could. Garrus could tell she was growing agitated, nervous almost.
"Look, I'm not going to-"
"I know you." she interrupted suddenly, her voice cold as ice.
An uneasy feeling rose inside of him. It was probably nothing. He had made a name for himself in a lot of circles-the Alliance, C-Sec, the Hierarchy, even among mercs. "Do you?"
"I never expected to find you here though, out in the open." her face split into a grin. "Imagine my surprise when I'm just out at the bar and Archangel himself buys me a drink."
Garrus felt his stomach drop.
She chuckled to herself. "But you probably don't remember me."
"Should I?" he asked, trying to play it cool all over again.
With a sudden snarl, she turned to face him, grabbing the pistol from her hip and aiming it as his head. "Look at me!" with her free hand she point to her face. "Look at what you did!"
His eyes widened, both at the gun and what she pointed to. She had no left eye, only an ugly scar stretching across her face that made his own pale in comparison. Her mandible was damaged, and he guessed that significant reconstruction had to be done to salvage her head, if it had been bad enough that she lost an eye.
"I have no idea-"
"Yes you do!" she shouted, taking a step toward him. "You shot me in the fucking face!"
Garrus grabbed his own gun, the smallest one he had, and pointed it right back at her. "You don't want to shoot me."
"Oh, I don't?" she asked sarcastically as she forced him to take a step back. "I should have killed you when I had the chance!"
His eyes widened slightly. "You're that Blue Suns-"
"What the hell is going on here?" a female voice snapped. Garrus recognized it as Shepard's.
The white turian made the mistake of glancing at her and Garrus took the chance to jump forward and slam her back against the bar, looming over her with his gun pressed against her exposed throat while she struggled to grab her own. He pinned her with his weight and he felt someone reach down and rip the pistol out of her hand, the brush of familiar purple fabric greeting him as Tali pointed the gun at the merc.
"You've got three Normandy crew members pointing guns at your head," Shepard said. "I suggest you either start talking or start walking to C-Sec."
"Take this nonsense outside," the salarian bartender said, more annoyed than anything. "I don't need this in here."
Shepard made an irritated sound and stepped back, motioning for Garrus to bring the female. "Salarians," the commander grumbled as the white turian dragged her feet, desperately digging her heels into the floor as the bigger male dragged her out of the bar.
"Let me go!" she snarled, struggling against him.
"Unfortunately, this is what happens when you try to assassinate someone. Twice." he said.
"Would one of you mind explaining what is going on?" Tali asked as they approached an elevator.
"He shot me in the face," the female growled. She threw her head back and her fringe collided with Garrus's chin, eliciting an irritated snarl from him.
"Stop struggling!" he shoved his gun into the quarian's arms and after a quick moment of wrestling managed to get the other turian into a tight headlock.
"You stupid, bare faced-"
"That is enough!" the elevator opened and he pushed her in, slamming her against the wall even harder than when he shoved her into the bar. She tried to headbutt him but he pulled back, a hand on her throat while the other grabbed both of her wrists and held them down.
"Both of you, calm down!" Shepard commanded as the elevator shut again. "Garrus, what the hell is going on?"
"She's a Blue Suns merc." he answered coldly. "She tried to take me out once a long time ago. I thought she was dead."
"Seems like you were bad at making friends while I was gone." Shepard said, pressing the barrel of her gun up against the female's jaw. "What's your name?"
She only gave a hiss in response and Shepard put her finger on the trigger. "I'll ask you one more time before there's blue blood all over the walls. What is your name?"
"Novitiria." she growled, a grimace on her face.
"Novitiria what?"
"Not important."
"Novitiria what?"
"I'd answer if I were you." Garrus said, eyes narrowed.
"Terculus." with that, she clamped her mouth shut, refusing to speak further until they reached the C-Sec offices.
They were greeted by Bailey and two turian officers who dragged a very angry, very violent, Novitiria away while Shepard and Tali gave all the information they could based on their brief interaction. The two male turians were having difficulty controlling the white female as she thrashed and threw her elbows towards their guts, even going so far as to sink her teeth into an arm.
Garrus watched as they went, wondering if he should try to help and why all the beautiful girls had to be vicious mercs who tried to kill him.
Well, she was the first, but damn, if she hadn't been a criminal….
"Garrus?" Shepard asked.
"Hmm?" he turned to face her.
"They're going to want an official report from you."
"I don't know if I can give that, Shepard."
"Well, you're going to have to give them something." she folded her arms over her chest, as was her habit. "I don't care what it is, but you know the drill."
"At least she isn't our problem." Tali said. Garrus imagined her wrinkling her nose behind her helmet. "They can deal with her now."
"Tali's right," Shepard agreed, turning to leave. "I already said all I can. It's all you now, Garrus."
He sighed and turned towards Bailey. He had enough to think about as it was, without making some stupid official statement on it for them. He really hated C-Sec and their red tape.
He hated it so much.