Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own character and plot idea. The rest are all BIOWARE'S.
Rule #7
Pre-mission research is a must
The two were quiet the next morning as they made their way to Saren's ship. Neither one of them was willing to look in the eyes of the other because of the great sleep they both had the night before. Great sleep contributed to naughty dreams that had them both gasping when they awoke. It only got worse when they heard the other, as they got ready for their mission. Now, as they walked side by side in the somewhat quiet C-sec building, their emotions started to die down.
Nevertheless, Shepard was happy that her helmet covered her entire face from everyone. There was a permanent blush on her face that didn't seem to want to leave. She was supposed to be one of the elite! Someone who was supposed to take on the most dangerous missions from the Citadal Council, and was expected to do it with ease. Yet, here she was blushing like a school girl from no real provocation. 'My fellow humans would be so proud', she thought to herself as they approached the elevator to the docking bay.
The two Turians that guarded the elevator regarded the peculiar pair of Spectres with suspicion. It was uncommon to see two Spectres leaving at the same time, and since they had been walking side by side as they entered the building it was obvious they were partnering up for a mission. This caused the two officers to look more closely. When they noticed it was Saren they already knew who the woman beside him was. They both then looked at one another and started to laugh.
Saren rolled his eyes at the two as he entered into the elevator. Before he turned around and hit the docking bay button he noticed Shepard staring at the two Turians with that curious little tilt of her head she always did before she started asking questions. "I don't understand why you two are laughing at him. Unless, it's because you think that just because I'm here to...observe him that he's now fallen so low where he's beneath you?" The two Turians clenched up and glared at her. She let out a small chuckle and walked into the elevator beside Saren, "I'm sorry to inform you, but he's still a Spectre, and you two are still on elevator guard duty."
Saren hit the button before either of the Turians could get at her. He then turned to her wide eyed, "making enemies with fellow law enforcement no matter how far down the food chain, is never a good idea." He scolded then stood next to her staring out the transparent elevator walls. "But I did enjoy the look on their faces when you put them in their place." Saren admitted. He wasn't sure why he told her that, or why he was so happy to, but he wasn't going to waste energy on figuring it out. At least not right now.
"You should know by now that I hate arrogance," Shepard replied with a smirk. Saren rolled his eyes at the obvious shot at him earning a small chuckle from Shepard. "It's too early in the morning for that." Saren agreed with a grunt.
When the doors opened up, they walked over to Sarens ship. The ship was a perfect Spectre vessel. It was smaller, narrow for speed, and had an excellent engine. Dark weather resistant plates coated the outside of the ship, and with the flip of a switch turned into mirrored ones. In combination with a state of the art stealth system and state of the art tech, his ship was untraceable. Unless, you were Shepard.
The first time he showed Shepard his ship; she had hacked into, and assumed complete control of it in less than 5 minutes. He was so angry by the rude act he wanted to push her off the catwalk. Looking back, he realized that was just her being her.
She didn't seem very well versed in socializing as herself, but when it came to persuading people on missions she was spot on. It took a while for Saren to realize that when Shepard had to persuade people for information she slipped into a different character, as if she was an actor. It made more sense to Saren now that he knew she had been taught by a Salarian. Salarians were known for their passion of artistic endeavors, so it made sense why she combined that with her infiltration skills. More skill sets he could utilize in the future.
After they both were settled in the cockpit, Saren made his way to Asteria. A planet that was habitable, but dangerous since there was little animal life, horrible fertile soil, and terrible atmosphere. Because of this, it was urged for travelers to bring extra oxygen tanks when exploring since the air was so thin. All in all, the Blue Suns picked out a pretty smart place for a drug den.
As Saren flew he could see Shepard's fingers moving rapidly on her Omni-tool. Her face was absorbed in the rapid succession of data she surfed through. Now that her helmet was off he could see how transfixed she was with what she was doing. Saren felt lucky that she enjoyed hacking. When he worked with Nihlus, they had fought about who had to do research into their targets. He didn't even have to suggest it to Shepard.
"The drugs called the Blue Drop." Shepard said after a while, "It affects the users by putting them in a lucid state like LSD, but also increases adrenaline as well as sexual desires. Reported cases include users committing rape, murders, assaults, suicides, and attempts of suicide because of certain illusions they witnessed relating to the different levels of the drug in their systems." Shepard scrolled through the many reported cases, "The drugs in liquid form and only requires a small amount for it to go into effect."
"Makes sense why the council wants this taken care of quickly. How far back are the cases?" Saren asked.
"Only 3 months. It says in the intel, that they're pretty sure the drugs base of operations on Asteria is the only one there is."
"Yet you don't believe it."
"No. There are a couple of Quarions in these case files, and from what it looks like from their blood work and various bodily samples they've been hooked on this stuff for about a year. Albeit, in smaller quantities than the last few months." Shepard brought her confused but set in stone gaze onto him, "In over half of those cases they were on their pilgrimage."
"Since I'm sure the Quarions aren't wasting time on creating a new drug. They're probably being used as paid smugglers, and unfortunately due to their naivety, end up becoming users as well. So, what you're thinking-" he looked over at her with his full attention
"Someone else outside of Citadel space is creating the drug." She stated with a smirk.
"But why hide behind the Blue Suns? The Quarions are easy patsies in this case. Why not just hide behind them?" They both stayed silent. That question definitely needed to be looked at further, but right now wasn't the time for it.
"Should we inform law enforcement to search suspicious new coming Quarian ships?"
"No, you'll need better evidence then just the case files for that."
"When have Spectre's ever needed evidence in a situation like this before?"
"Normally we wouldn't, but you're working with me. And because of the situation I'm in now, everything we do will be under heavy scrutiny."
Shepard nodded, realizing that aggravating obstacle now. She turned her attention to looking out at the view. She never got tired of riding in space ships. She never thought while being a street urchin, that'd she'd actually end up in space being so close to the stars. While her mother would be fighting with her boyfriend, or entertaining clients, Shepard would go to the roof and gaze at the twinkling dots of light. She would day dream about flying a ship around, visiting different planets, and getting to know the other alien children there. Day dreams that she never for one second, actually believed would come true.
Out of the corner of Saren's eye, he could see Shepard getting lost in the stars. It reminded him of when he was young and he used to sneak out and star gaze. He knew nobody would ever expect him to take pleasure in something so simple because of his intense personality, but he wasn't quite as irascible as he always seemed to be. Often times he was quite low-key, he just looked pissed off. For that reason, that's all it seemed take for others to write him off as some hard ass. Admittedly, that had never mattered to him before, since everyone from the time he was born until now, treated him that way. Yet, since he had met Shepard that fact he had adapted to, now seemed skewed.
Right off the bat, Shepard refused to take Saren at face value. She never seemed to believe in the rumors and gossip that was said about him. Instead she allowed Saren to show her who he was. Somehow, she seemed to peer deeper inside of him than anyone else. It made him feel violated, in truth. Especially after last night from her admissions, and her question about Desolas. "Shepard." Saren demanded her attention quietly.
"Saren." Shepard mimicked with a smirk.
"After you asked about my brother last night, why did you let me refuse to answer?" Everybody else always seemed to demand an answer from him, no matter how many times he refused to.
"Many reasons. I never actually expected you to answer, but I wanted to ask anyways..." Shepard answered. She then glared at the controls in front of her and nibbled on the inside of her cheek. She didn't want to give him the other reason, and hoped that he wouldn't notice. However, Saren easily picked up on her sudden change in moods.
"And?" He asked curiously.
After sometime of her body staying completely still, he looked over at her. She sat somewhat slouched, but at the front of the co-pilots chair. Her hands clenched her knees and her face was turned straight ahead. He noticed the wrinkles at the corner of her left eye as she glared at the windshield. Questioningly, he brought his stare forward as well. When he had, he noticed her glaring straight at him in the reflection of them the windshield casted. "And... I'm not sure how I would have reacted if you inquired about my brother. I'd like to say it wouldn't bother me, but it would. And I'd probably end up doing the same thing."
They kept staring at one another like that for a long while, Shepard with a glare, and Saren eyeing her questioningly. As well as, the two furiously multitasking between attempting to read one another and keeping their own feelings In check. Neither one was quite prepared for how that simple answer to that simple question caused them so much turmoil. They weren't upset about the fact that they had slightly trusted one another long enough to open up. No, what made them so flustered was the fact that they didn't know what the other one was feeling about this.
The two had little to no experience in this area of socialness. Saren was regarded as a prude, angry, ruthless solider. Shepard; strange, analytical, and extremely blatant. However, the two together seemed to completely understand the others odd quirks. An understanding neither one of them found from anyone else throughout their life so far. Ultimately, the staring was the only thing they could think to do to express this fact.
Then suddenly, with a sigh Shepard sat back in her chair allowing Saren to shift into a more comfortable position and continue concentrating on controlling his ship. Every now and again the two would glance at each other and hold eye contact, but elected to say nothing else until they arrived at Asteria.
