It was his sixth day in this colony and frankly, Nihlus wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. He didn't have anything against humans but the humans here kind of freaked him out. They were too… touchy for his taste, always had their hands on him in some form; his shoulders, arms, chest, legs. It was like they'd never seen a turian before. He was here by choice of course. He had rescued a human girl on his last official mission and figured he'd deliver her home personally. When he had, the girl's family had asked that he investigate some strange disappearances that had been occurring over the past few months. The council didn't have much interest in solving the problems of human colonies but Nihlus was not so cold as to leave without doing anything, so he had begun by searching the colony, investigating all of the residents, then searching the abandoned buildings in the dead lands, which is what the colonists called the areas of the planet where no crops would grow. There weren't many buildings in these areas, of course, the planet wasn't very large and there was only the one colony so it hadn't taken him to long. He just had one more building to check before he would be sure that the missing colonists were no longer on this world. In that case, he may ask the council to step in and send another Spectre. He wanted to help them but after his last mission he needed a break before tackling what could turn out to be a slaver ring.

He quickly cleared the perimeter of the last abandoned building to make sure there were no guards. Everything seemed alright so, with his gun at the ready, he kicked the door open. There was no one to be seen, at least on this floor. Nihlus was about to head up to the second floor when he heard a muffled cry from downstairs. He raced down the steps, being as quiet as he could, following the declarations of pain until he found the room they were in. He kicked this door in as well and took in the scene before him. There was a turian male tied up to a chair, blood streaming from the side of his face where his captor had apparently whacked him with the butt of her pistol. Nihlus leveled his gun at the assailant, ready to fire if he had to, until she turned around.

"Cira? Spirits, what are you doing?"

It seemed to take her a while to register that it was her friend standing in front of her. When her brain caught up, she smiled broadly and waved to him.

"Hey Nihlus! I didn't know you were here. How have you been?"

"Oh, I'm pretty good, just going around saving people. Spectre stuff. How about you?"

"I'm cool thanks. Just trying to find my parents. Thanks for the info by the way. I don't think I thanked you in person."

"It was no problem. Glad to help. Now what are you doing?"

Cira turned back to her prisoner who had been watching their exchange with disbelieving eyes.

"Oh, I found out that my parents were receiving several shipments but I couldn't figure out where they were delivered to."

"So you kidnapped the delivery boy?"

"Yes. But he won't tell me anything. I'm going to get an answer though, won't I?"

This last part was directed at the delivery boy in question who shook his head enthusiastically, determined to keep quiet. Cira scowled at him and raised her gun to hit him again. But Nihlus darted toward her, catching her wrist before she could make contact. She glanced up at him questioningly.

"Let me talk to him for a bit."

She didn't even take a second to consider the suggestion. She nodded once and walked quickly out of the room. Nihlus sighed and rubbed a palm against his face before turning his attention back to the prisoner.

"Dude, she's gonna kill you… I'm sure what she's got planned is going to be far worse than what will happen if your boss finds out you broke your confidentiality agreement."

He considered this for a moment then nodded his consent. Nihlus smirked, "Good choice."

He left the room briefly to retrieve Cira and when they both returned the Turian delivery boy gave them what information he had.

Apparently the packages had been delivered to a warehouse owned by a 47 year old human woman named Ginnie Harver. From what Cira could tell, Harver was a completely ordinary person; she was the manager of a Wal-Mart a few blocks from her home and had been there for almost 27 years. She was single, with her two nieces and a three dogs living with her.

Her brother had been in the Alliance and had been killed in action; his wife then promptly decided that she would rather eat a bullet then remain alive to care for their two daughters. Thus the girls moved in with Ginnie. Cira could find nothing about her that would link the woman to her parents, but that didn't mean she didn't know anything. It was worth paying her a visit. After all, the packages that her parents ordered were stored at Ginnie's warehouse for however long so she at least had a business relationship with them.

Cira pressed her hands over her eyes. She was finally on the path to getting some answers, after all of this time but…

"What if they don't want me to find them?"

Nihlus looked up from his omni-tool. They were both now in the cockpit of Cira's little ship. He had been running diagnostics on the ships systems and as he had expected, it was probably the best vehicle you could find in the galaxy. But examining it could come later; for now, his friend needed him. Cira lowered her head until it rested on the console in front of her.

"Why else would they have left in the first place? Why else would they make it so hard for me to find them?"

"Does it matter?"

She uncovered one of her eyes to peak out at him. "What do you mean 'does it matter'?"

"You want to find them. You want to know what happened to them and it seems to me that they owe you some answers. Would you be able to live with yourself if you didn't at least try?"

She shook her head slowly.

"Well there you go. If they don't want to be found, that's their problem. Worry about yourself first."

"But what if I don't like what I find? They've been gone for so long…what if the people I find aren't my parents anymore?"

Nihlus reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, comforting her.

"Then you have me and you have Saren. He'll never admit it but I have no problem thinking of you as family. Kind of like the little sister I never had… wait, no that doesn't work, we were dating."

"Saren thinks of me as family?"

"Well, maybe not family yet, but definitely a potential mate."

Cira smirked, "We're already 'mating' Nihlus."

"Ha ha, trust me I know. But I mean a serious mate, a bond mate."

Oh…

The thought definitely surprised her. Saren wasn't known for being friendly towards humans and though she appeared to be an exception, Cira hadn't thought that Saren would ever want to marry her. At least she guessed that "bond mate" was equivalent to wife.

"Why would Saren bond with a human?"

"Well technically he doesn't see you as human first, but as Cira. He respects you and your abilities and to be honest, he's really not that sought after in the marriage market. I think that the affection you've shown him has made him see you in that way."

Cira beamed at him looking slightly proud as well. She should be. She had blown through the protective shell of the most stubborn Turian Nihlus had ever met. It was definitely an accomplishment. A flash of realization crosses Cira's face as she remembers what they had been talking about before the conversation turned to Saren.

"We were talking about what would happen if I didn't find my parents."

"And I made you forget all about it didn't I."

Cira punched him lightly on the arm and charted a course to Lenistine. While Nihlus leaned back in his chair, ready to doze off.

"You'll be fine Roselli."