This time when Sariel approached the entrance of the C-Sec offices, Phrixus was waiting for him with a few other officers. He did not look pleased at the sight of Sariel, let alone at the sight of Nine trailing behind the drell as both were escorted in by a handful of C-Sec officers. A few curious reporters had followed, though other officers were holding them back from the building. When Sariel was close enough, Phrixus spoke in a low and hissing voice.

"My ass is on the line, Zahra's is in there looking for blood, and you guys threw half the Citadel into a panic. I hope you have a good explanation." The officers who pushed Sariel along did not allow him to stop for a chat.

"Zahra is here?" Sariel smiled, still moving. "Good. I have some questions for her."

"The investigation is out of both our hands now. Thank you very much, by the way." Phrixus walked along with them as they entered the building. His voice softened up a great deal when he asked, "What happened?"

Sariel looked back to see that Phrixus's reaction was due to Nine's taciturn behavior. She hadn't spoken a word since they had left the alley, and she was not about to say anything now.

"Six is dead," Sariel stated. Phrixus began a very visible, internal struggle to remain professional. Almost like a hen to a chick, he hovered closer to Nine with a concerned look on his face. Sariel spoke again in an attempt to ease the turian, "Do not worry, though, this will all be over shortly."

They were marching down a long hallway when the asari rushed them, the groundskeeper from Matriarch Shasta's manor following quietly. The asari was enraged, and her choice of words when speaking to Nine indicated that she was Zahra.

"You disgusting little rodent! You think you can just sneak into my home like that? After what you did, you thought you could get away with it? And you!" She turned to Phrixus, "You are done working for C-Sec."

Sariel noticed the groundskeeper was uncomfortable with being there. He had been sweating a little, and his eyes darted around at the different C-Sec officers who surrounded him. When he looked at Sariel, he froze for a moment and then immediately looked at the ground. If Sariel couldn't get Zahra to confess to her involvement, the groundskeeper was a clear alternative.

"You are speaking too soon, Zahra," Sariel said.

"Who the hell are you?" she asked.

"I am detective Sariel Vier." He bowed a little. "If you don't mind, I have a few questions for you."

"You're a detective?" She eyed the handcuffs that chained his arms behind his back.

"I'm one that doesn't work for C-Sec," Sariel said proudly.

"Ma'am, I think it's about time you left," Phrixus said as the officers continued to shove Sariel and Nine forward.

"No!" Zahra followed the group as they walked farther into the station. "I'm staying here. I'm making sure she doesn't get away this time. I want the case reopened, I want justice for my mother." Her eyes narrowed at Phrixus. "You're not even supposed to be here."

"And neither are you. Don't see it stopping you, though," Phrixus said. Sariel cleared his throat rather loudly.

"I did reopen the case and I will gladly offer justice. If you are willing to cooperate, Miss," Sariel said.

"Yes. That's it! Let's have another detective friend of Nine's work on this case." She turned to one of the officers who walked along with them. "I want a detective completely unrelated to her in any way possible working on this. I want strict background checks!"

"I barely know Nine," Sariel chuckled, "and I can't wait to get away from her, as she has nearly driven me insane. She is a very aggravating, overgrown child." He looked back to Nine, who wasn't even phased by his words. "Do you think she even heard me?"

The groundskeeper had managed to slip away from the group, completely abandoning Zahra to the C-Sec officers. Sariel caught a final glimpse of the man as he escaped around the corner. There was not enough evidence to persuade C-Sec to stop the man from leaving, as much as Sariel desired otherwise. He would have to focus on Zahra for that confession.

"She acted the same way when mother died." Zahra glowered at Nine. "Not an ounce of emotion or remorse. Nothing."

"How cold and heartless. It is a clear sign of guilt to not even shed a tear." Sariel joined the scorning.

"What is your interest in my mother's murder?" Zahra asked.

"I believe in justice," Sariel smiled. "I wouldn't have entered such a career if I didn't. Such a horrific crime involving such a beloved Matriarch should not be overlooked as easily as it has been. Also, I've come to the realization that it is very much connected to the current case."

When they finally entered the processing room, Sariel and Nine were both forced to sit down on a bench against a wall while the officers went to their terminals. Another officer in the room walked over with the intent of removing Zahra, but Phrixus stopped the officer by holding up a single talon and crossing his arms. Sariel was grateful that Phrixus was at least smart enough to pick up on his plan, even if he didn't fully understand why Sariel was doing it.

"How is any of this connected to my mother's death?" Zahra asked. Sariel was more than happy to explain.

"By the one thing that bothered me most after I looked over those case files: Nine's age. The timing was almost perfect. If she had a set birthday, it would have been very suspicious for the murder to have happened right when she became an adult by human law. However, she had to have a medical exam for anyone to truly know how old she was. Then I learned something about Nine's past. Six had found her orphaned as a baby. Now, whether she was truly an infant or not can be argued, but this does indicate that the gang could gauge Nine's age, considering the timeline she spent with them."

"I fail to see a connection." Zahra was completely focused on Sariel as he spoke.

"It had to have been someone from the gang that committed the murder."

"Nonsense! You just said she was guilty."

"I said she behaved like someone guilty."

"Why would someone from her gang want to kill my mother?"

"Nine had gotten off easy. Her life was set on a more positive track while the rest were likely to have to serve prison time and be destined for abnormal lives. The murderer waited for her to be old enough to be punished like the rest of them. Additionally, Nine left them; she betrayed them. Her talents with technology were what had given the gang power. Without her, they completely lost it. Thanks to evidence from the crime scene at your home, we are able to prove that the murderer was a biotic. The only known biotic users in the gang were Amber Wynn, known as Ten, and Jesslyn Reed, the leader known as One. Due to the fact that Amber Wynn was in a psychiatric hospital at the time, it only leaves Jesslyn Reed." Zahra's eyes widened in shock. Her voice was uneasy and stressed as she spoke.

"Do you have any real proof at all? This is all theory."

"I will have evidence sooner or later." He leaned back, shifting a little so as to not crush his hands. All eyes in the room were on the two of them. Sariel then continued, quite casually, "You were right in leaving everything in that manor intact, including Nine's things. There is one major piece of evidence on the property that I guarantee will link Jesslyn Reed to your mother's murder. When your mother originally took Nine under her wing, Nine did one last thing to help a member of the gang. She switched Amber and Jesslyn's identities so that Amber could receive medical help from the Alliance. Then, Nine saved Jesslyn's Alliance files on a personal terminal, encrypted and hidden away so that not even her mentor could find it. That data will give us the DNA link to the crime scene that no one has been able to find."

"I don't believe it." Zahra shook her head.

"Why not?" Sariel asked.

"You are telling me she stole Alliance files. That is a serious crime in itself. If someone were to get that out and find no DNA link, Nine would look even worse than before for stealing the files."

"She did it as a child. She may have been a genius with technology, but you cannot expect a ten-year-old to have common sense. By asari standards, she wasn't even a toddler," Sariel said.

"As an adult she should have handed the evidence over years ago. If what you say is true, she would have cleared her name," Zahra shouted.

"She was kicked out of her home, accused of murder and arrested before she was aware she was technically an adult. Then, she wasn't allowed access..."

"She broke into my home!" Zahra stomped her foot.

"That happened within the last 24 hours. She has been very ill within the last 24 hours and I have a doctor to back me up on that. She was only using the safe storage space to rest. She has not had the chance to get access to the computer since being accused of the murder."

Zahra turned her attention to Nine. Zahra was still enraged but her eyes appeared to hover on the verge of tears. Sariel was certain that Zahra was about to discover that she had helped her mother's murderer kill more, and then confess her involvement with the current murders. The desire to catch the real killer would be too strong.

It was then that Sariel became aware of Nine again. Nine had heard the entire conversation. Her head lowered, causing her hair to hide her face. She was taking the truth just as hard. The whole ordeal really was traced back to her through the act of switching those files.

"Nine. Is it the one in the bedroom or the lab?" Zahra finally asked.

"The lab," Nine spoke very weakly.

"You, come with me," Zahra said to Phrixus as she walked out the door. "We're bringing that computer's hard drive in." Phrixus looked to Nine with a small worrisome glance, then followed Zahra out. Everything was set in motion.

When it came to being processed into C-Sec's system, Sariel was curious to see how Nine would handle the situation. Much to his surprise, she didn't resist the compilation of her identity at all.

"You are registered as Rylie Shepard. Is that correct?" the officer asked.

"Yes," she said.

"Of course not," Sariel spoke up. There was a short pause while the C-Sec officer thought.

"Is that a fake name?" the C-Sec officer asked.

"Yes it is," Sariel answered without hesitation.

"Your system would pick up on whether it's fake or not, wouldn't it?" Nine asked.

"Well, yeah..."

"There you go. Stop listening to the asshole over there."

The return to inappropriate language was a bad sign. Sariel stopped pushing about the name. The pressing issue was that Sariel was facing charges involving resisting arrest, public property damage, assault, trespassing, and vigilantism. Nine was in trouble for assisting him, as well as breaking and entering.

When the processing was finally completed, the two were taken to a temporary holding cell to await questioning. Sariel predicted that the charges would be dropped when the truth, as well as all the evidence, came to light. There was nothing else to do but wait for everything to unravel. Still, he couldn't stop himself from pacing in the small cell; every muscle in his body twitched with restlessness. How hard was it to remove a hard drive from a terminal?

As though nothing was going on, Nine merely sat on the cot and stared at the metallic floor that Sariel's feet shuffled back and forth on. She slouched backwards against the wall, her hands resting on either side of her like a lifeless rag doll. Sariel watched her as he made his rounds. She continued to do and say nothing. This was getting on his nerves.

"You do realize that becoming numb to everything isn't going to make things better." When she didn't respond, he continued to circle the cell. He thought aloud as he did so, intent on trying to fill the dead silence.

"They must be trying to access the files themselves." He paced even faster at the idea. "They're holding off on questioning us until they find these files. They will have to come back here at some point for us. They won't be able to open the files without you. Zahra won't let it go at this rate..." He stopped and stared at Nine again. "Say something. Anything at all."

"Pacing isn't going to make things happen faster." Her manner of speech continued to drone. Sariel ignored her and resumed his pacing. She spoke again, "I would think you'd be more confident."

"I am fully confident." Sariel chortled.

"Then relax. You have nothing to worry about." She stretched her arms behind her head and closed her eyes.

"Why do you lie about your real name?" Sariel came to a complete stop in front of her.

"Why do you have to be an ass about it?" she asked.

"I'm going to find out what your real name is."

"I had all of the Shadow Broker's information at my fingertips. But I couldn't find anything about parents or names or DNA connections. Nothing."

"You actually bothered to look? I was beginning to think you didn't care." He began to walk again, only at a much slower pace.

"I've learned to accept that I am Nine and I don't care anymore."

"I find it unbelievable that you found no close family relations at all."

"Just let it go."

"Now you've challenged me. I don't think you've looked at all." Sariel stopped at the force field that locked them in before looking down the hallway of cells. A question slithered its way to the forefront of his mind. It had been at the back of his mind for a while now, he just hadn't had much of a chance to ask. "Why didn't you bother to use the Shadow Broker to find who killed Sashta?"

"I don't like revenge."

"You suspected Jesslyn, didn't you." He looked back to see her finally lift her eyes to look at him. "More denial I suppose?"

"No. Just drop it," she said.

"Dropping it, forgetting and pretending it didn't happen only causes more problems."

"I realize that. Thanks." She exhaled hard. The worn-out look that crossed her face was the first break in emotion she'd displayed since learning of Six's demise. It reminded Sariel that she had lost someone she'd considered a father. He had become so caught up in the details of the case that he had overlooked the fact that lethargy was her way of grieving. Normally she would have gone off the grid and never bothered to look for comfort from her few friends. That was what she had done when Sashta had died. In fact, Nine still planned to disappear after this. Who knew what she would do from there. This might be the final straw to send her off the deep end for all Sariel knew.

He recalled what it was like for him after his father died. Memories filled his mind of what he had felt, and what his siblings' and his mother's reactions had been. There had been a varying range of emotions while they each tried to cope in their own ways. The youngest siblings had struggled the most. His baby sister, Mirari, had just turned six at the time. She'd hardly known their father before she'd had to watch him sink beneath the ocean waters. It had been months before she'd stopped asking when he was coming home.

Sariel reluctantly acknowledged he was in the perfect position to understand what Nine must be feeling. He just didn't want to compare his father's death to Six's. He remembered how he hated it when people did that; it felt so belittling. Someone else comparing their loss to his own made his feelings seem unimportant, not to mention that Six had died in a far more traumatic and unexpected manner.

Instead, Sariel remembered what he had wanted back then. He remembered what his siblings had wanted, and what they had done to handle the loss. There was something Nine needed to do, and for whatever reason she wasn't selfish enough to interrupt everything to do it.

"Go ahead and cry." He kept his voice calm and gentle. "Don't hold back because I'm here. There isn't anyone else close enough to hear you. Or, if you prefer, get angry. Beat me to a pulp if you like. I'll tell C-Sec that I allowed you to assault me and I won't press charges, I swear."

She coughed as if to hide a laugh, and then continued to speak in the same dull manner. "Maybe later. I don't want to feel anything right now. I appreciate the thought, though."

"I..." Sariel's jaw became rigid in anticipation of what he was about to say. It was the right thing to say. A very difficult, but still right thing to say. He stared forward out of the cell, afraid to look at her when he spoke. "I must thank you. For everything. For your assistance in getting this evidence and for saving my life." He paused as he considered whether he meant what he wanted to say next, or if he would regret it later. "I wish to use your technological services again. For future cases."

Without warning Nine's arms were wrapped around him, her face buried in his shoulder. Sariel sighed, a low rumble rounding it out.

"I'm too expensive for your budget, Sari," she whispered. He looked down at her.

"Do not call me that. Also, you're going to charge me full price after all this?"

"Naturally. We are even in owing things to each other now." She lifted her head, looking into his eyes with a small smirk. "There are alternative forms of payment available, though."

"You're disgusting. I would never..." He tried to pull away from her but she kept her grip.

"Oh, now you've gone and challenged me."

"Get off me or I'll charge you with sexual harassment," he warned. She buried her face in his shoulder again, squeezing him tighter.

"It was just a joke, and I want a hug right now. Even if it's one sided. Now be quiet for a little bit. Please. That's all I ask from you. That's all I really want. Silence."

Another low rumble moved through his throat. It wasn't difficult to be silent, just difficult to do so while her arms were wrapped around him. He supported her weight when she seemed to grow weak. Then there was a small, strange gasp that escaped from Nine. He looked down at her when she gasped again. She was crying and attempting to hide it. The sight left a guilty pain in his chest. Carefully he shifted so that he could wrap his arms around her and hold her close. There were things coming to mind that he wanted to say, but he stopped himself. She wanted silence and a hug, and it was working. She was letting her emotions go. The moment didn't last long, however.

The doors at the end of the hallway slid open. The familiar sound echoed through their cell.

"They're coming," he whispered, taking his arms off of her. She let go and walked away, rubbing a handkerchief over her eyes that Sariel realized she had pick-pocketed from him. He let it go; the handkerchief wasn't important. He turned just as Phrixus arrived. "Did you finally give up trying to find the files?" Sariel asked as the C-Sec officers turned the force field off.

"We have one of our top forensic technicians on it," Phrixus said. "He found what he believes are the files, but he can't crack them open. I finally got the okay to allow Nine access." The officers entered the room, one approaching Nine with cuffs ready. She took a deep breath and held her hands out. The handkerchief had disappeared. The officer with cuffs approached Sariel, and Phrixus spoke again.

"You're requested to come as well, courtesy of the technician. Says he's a big fan and wishes to meet you." His tone of voice and the flap of his mandibles hinted volumes. This technician was someone Sariel knew. Considering the timing, he had little doubt who it was. When they entered the computer forensics office, Sariel's eyes went immediately to Amek, dressed in a C-Sec uniform and sitting behind a terminal as though he had worked there for years. Sariel acted as naturally as possible. Nine blinked several times in confusion.

"Ah, the great detective Sariel Vier." Amek stood with a smile. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Yes, and you are?" Sariel played along.

"Just call me Leths." He nodded and looked to Nine. "And you must be the infamous Nine. Funny, I always thought you were male."

"Yeah...funny..." she said.

"Let's get this over with," Zahra said. She was standing at a window that looked out over the wards.

"Yes, let's." Phrixus took the cuffs off Nine and lead her to a terminal. "Executor Pallin is on his way here and I'd like to have the data ready for his arrival."

"I also have a doctor's appointment I can't be late for," Amek said, and glanced at the clock. Pallin would more than likely recognize that Amek did not work for C-Sec's computer forensics division. At first, Sariel wasn't sure why Amek didn't leave then and there, but then he saw why - Amek wanted to see how Nine had hidden the files.

"Can I borrow your omni tool? Mine was confiscated," Nine asked as she sat down. It was a blatant lie to anyone who knew better. Sariel wasn't about to question it, and it appeared Amek and Phrixus wouldn't either.

"Sure." Amek handed it over cautiously. As soon as it was in her hand, the holo lit up and she went to work immediately. Sariel felt his chest swelling. The plan was going smoothly. The additional C-Sec officers present were perfect witnesses. The officers were not associated personally with anyone involved with the case, but they were aware enough to give valid testimony. Unfortunately, there would no doubt be questions later over what happened to this salarian C-Sec technician named Leths. They would have to figure out how to deal with that when the time came; with any luck it would be overlooked.

"Wait, those weren't the files?" Amek asked as he hovered eagerly around Nine.

"No. That was my asari hit-list," she said without a pause in her rapid typing.

"What?" Phirxus appeared alarmed.

"I'd be worried too, if I didn't already know it's more sexual than it sounds," Zahra growled.

"Just get the evidence out, Nine," Sariel demanded before any further discussion on the asari hit-list could commence. A few moments later, Nine announced that she was done.

"Here it is. Jesslyn Reed's complete confidential Alliance files."

Amek leaned in to review the file. "It's authentic. All the tags and encryptions typical of the Alliance are there, as if it never left their system at all."

"Good. Now compare the DNA to the DNA from the crime scene," Sariel ordered.

"Officer Moore, if you would be so kind." Phrixus nodded towards the human officer. Amek did a quick transfer of the files to Officer Moore's terminal; the officer already had the DNA evidence ready for comparison. Moore looked back to Phrixus and nodded.

"It's an identical match."

"Yes!" Sariel stomped his foot in victory.

"Check it again!" Zahra shouted. They all looked at her, surprised by the reaction. Sariel quietly basked in his victory. Here was the confession. Zahra turned from the window; her face was soaked in tears. "I said, check it again!"

Sariel was trying to fight back a smile and Amek's expression only made it worse. He stared so hard at Sariel, waiting for an answer, that Sariel had to bite his tongue. Phrixus was the one to finally say something.

"It can't be wrong, we have one of the best..."

"Damn it!" Zahra ran her hands across the wavy folds of her scalp, "Goddess, forgive me, please."

"What's wrong?" Phrixus asked. Zahra spun around and pointed at Sariel.

"You smug bastard," Zahra shouted at Sariel. "You were the one she was so worried about! She thought you were a SPECTRE!"

"Why don't you share with us? Who is 'she'?" Sariel asked.

"You know very well who!"

"Alright, then how long after Nine's disappearance did Jesslyn approach you?"

"Is he allowed to do this?" Her voice was screeching.

"She made a deal with you, didn't she?" Sariel asked. "Since both of you wanted Nine dead, you decided to work together to get that accomplished. Vengeance for your mother's death, vengeance for her life being destroyed. However, neither of you expected that the Shadow Broker would pick Nine up as an agent and that Nine would use him to hide from everyone. The two of you spent three years trying to find her.

"Meanwhile, Jesslyn discovered that almost all of her old gang members weren't interested in rejoining her. Thus, she made a new plan to eliminate and replace all of them, including Nine. Six being one of the few loyal to her, agreed to carry it all out when he was released from prison. Then you discovered who Nine had been working for. A fellow corporation lost important data to a mysterious agent called Nine. You paid the Shadow Broker a very large sum to push her out into the open.

"Despite her value in data gathering for him, the money was enough to convince him she was not worth keeping. It also put a high value on her head. The Shadow Broker allowed you access to track her. I suspect that even though Nine has gained several enemies while working for the Shadow Broker, many of the people who have pursued Nine up until now did so because you paid them. You became too impatient and didn't want to wait for Jesslyn's plans to kill everyone from her gang.

"Only, Nine kept escaping. Time and time again. Finally, Six was released from prison and you helped him any way you could. You realized that his victims trusted him, so why wouldn't Nine? So you helped him travel, quickly and efficiently, using the Shadow Broker to give him all the locations for every victim and to make him difficult to track. You allowed him full access to your manor and somehow managed to help him past C-Sec security."

"Jesslyn got him through C-Sec security!" Zahra shouted. She could barely speak she was so distraught. "She also had two others brought here. A human male she called Thirteen and this female human she called Three. You go ask for their real names; you have them both in the hospital right now. They were supposed to meet with Six here, and convince him to continue with our plans. I just paid for everything and yes, I did give him access to my home, but I don't know how they got him through customs! I don't know where the other two have been hiding. Oh, goddess, if I had known!" She gasped sharply.

"Zahra, look, let's do a proper interview when you've calmed down," Phrixus interrupted. "You can have your rights read to you and I'll let you make a comm call." Zahra ignored him and looked at Nine, who had long since returned to her very reserved state.

Zahra let out another choking gasp as she spoke. "I'm so sorry, Nine. I'm so sorry. I was so angry and I...I..." Nine didn't say anything, didn't acknowledge that the other spoke to her at all.

Phrixus nodded towards one of the officers, who proceeded to handcuff Zahra. Zahra screamed desperately, trying to get out of the officer's hands "Nine, please! Forgive me!"

"I forgive you," Nine managed to say before falling silent again.

With all the commotion distracting everyone, only Sariel noticed that Amek had taken the chance to slip out of the room. In came a couple of the real C-Sec technicians from their lunch break, their drinks still in hand. They were surprised to see the crowd in their normally empty office. As Phrixus recited Zahra's rights, Sariel quietly approached Nine, who was perhaps more mentally gone than she had been all afternoon.

"Relax," Sariel whispered to her. "I realize it hurts, but please stay. Take the advice you gave me. Seek out your friends for company and do not isolate yourself. Nobody will be after you for a while, I swear."

It was then that Executor Pallin walked into the room. Sariel stood upright.

"What the hell is going on in here?" the Executor asked, seeing Zahra hysterically crying on the floor, with officers trying to move her for arrest.

"A lot more than I thought there was," Phrixus said.

"I can explain everything," Sariel added with a smile.