Note: Like I mentioned before, I will be using # for scene breaks. I enjoyed writing this chapter. Let me know what you think. Thank you for the reviews.
"Freeze—put your hands in the air, drop your weapon. Down on the ground, now!" Several officers chided as they advanced on an already wounded Ryu.
With a challenging smirk on his face, his limbs defiantly went through the motions of their demands. As the officers surrounded him, he had to be forced onto his knees, with his hands put behind his back—weapon removed that had been dangling on his index finger—before being cuffed.
C-Sec blurted his rights and then yanked him off the ground, escorting him to one of their skycars.
#
Back at the station, the officers were congratulating one another for a job well done, simultaneously morning their dead. Nihlus attempted to call Garrus with the good news, but to his surprise there was no answer. He tried several times to no avail.
"Hey, don't get too excited." Nyreen abruptly stated, returning from Pallin's office. "We still got to interrogate these guys."
Nihlus didn't respond, knowing that Garrus should be here, partaking of the celebration. To him, this was still Garrus' investigation. Nihlus had caught wind about what had happened to his best friend when he spoke to the Executor earlier. He felt so bad but powerless at the same time; after all, Nihlus was a good turian.
"Nihlus!" Executor's voice rang from the interior of his office.
"Here we go." Nihlus grumbled before Nyreen gave him an encouraging tap on his shoulder.
#
"What do you mean Garrus wasn't at his post, where could he have gone?"
"I have no idea, that's why I'm asking you?" Pallin spat.
Not thinking, Nihlus replied, "… I'm not Garrus' keeper."
Pallin slammed his fist down on his desk causing a vibration to run through its entirety as he rose to his feet. Glaring at Nihlus, he warned, "You grew up with him for sprit's sake. You know him best. Find him and tell 'em that if he wants to keep his job, he'd better report to his post."
Nihlus' brow-plates had been furrowed as he looked into the older turian's eyes. "Yes sir." He responded bitterly.
"Dismissed." Nihlus exited Pallin's office.
Nyreen was dismantling her gun which she always did first before hitting the locker room for a hot shower. She stole a glimpse of her partner from out of the corner of her eye. "What's wrong," calling out from the distance?
Nihlus neared her, pulling his partner away from prying ears. "Garrus was put on guard duty in the Market District, but he never showed up."
"Uh-oh." Nyreen was notably concerned.
"Uh-oh is right. Executor wants me to find him … and I guess talk some sense into him before he gets fired. I tried calling him but no answer."
"You think something's happened to him?"
"I don't know," a worrying sigh leaving his mouth-plates?
"I'm sure he's alright," would've been a human's response, but Nyreen was turian—casting platitudes out the door like old weapon mods. "Well you better find him before I do, because I'm going to beat the living shit out of Garrus if I find him first." Her mandibles flexed into a devilish grin.
Nihlus scoffed jokingly as they marched toward the interrogation room.
#
"You've got an answer for everything don't you, human?" A turian C-Sec investigator spat. "So how do you explain this!" Drawing his hand up to Ryu's face, he brandished a hair sealed in a small plastic bag.
The other investigator waltzed behind Ryu with his hands folded behind his back. He was a young drell, named Kolyat who hadn't uttered a word since the interrogation started.
"Oooh, what's that, a hair from your bond-mate's ass?" Ryu exclaimed cynically.
The other turian stiffened for a moment, dropping the bag on the table. Then, he shot his fist into the right side of Ryu's face. The human's head bounced harshly, spitting blood out of his mouth.
Snickering he added, "Come on, I know you can hit harder than that."
BAM! Ryu spat out more blood.
"I know you're enjoying this, but I'm going to try to enjoy this a little bit more." The turian sang before snatching up Ryu by his collar and slamming him into the nearest wall.
The wind rushed from his lungs, but his taunting grin remained. He was handcuffed and practically powerless in the turian's grip.
"We know you and your sister are the ones making HS—the drug that is responsible for dozens of deaths, so why don't you save us all the hassle and confess," the last word straining his vocals, making the turian sound like an Opera singer who'd been choked.
Ryu started laughing. "I have no idea what you're talking about, cuddle-bone."
His knee shot up, crashing into the abs of Ryu, causing him to slouch over, coughing profusely. The turian then dropped him like a bag of garbage. Ryu hit the ground with a loud thud. Kolyat then jerked him up harshly plotting the human back in his seat and handcuffing his hands to the armrests.
"Hey fish-lips, why don't you make yourself useful and get me something to drink?" Ryu demanded on labored breath.
The turian shot his face closer to the humans. "The only thing you're getting is a quick and painful death sentence!"
Ryu started blatantly laughing, teeth exposed, colored red with blood mixed with saliva. His face was mildly bruised and cut. His clothes were dirty, slightly burned and ripped. The turian was about to punch him again when, Nyreen and Nihlus entered the room.
"Oh great, saved by tweedle-dee, and tweedle… holy shit you're a female—tell me something, do female turians like it up the ass-"
BAM! Her fist flew into his face, clocking his jaw hard enough to make blood fly out. That last blow took Ryu a moment to recover, spitting more blood as his world slowly spun.
"Judging by that last blow, I'd say yes."
Snatching him by the collar, she hissed, "No one's got time for your fucking games, human. So tell us what we want to know, now!" Her fist hovered in a threating gesture as the two detectives exited the room.
Ryu scoffed. "You seemed to be carrying a lot of tension, sugar-scales. What's the matter, mate not hitting it right?"
"Do you want me to make your life a living hell?"
"Whoa, sugar-scales, I'm not ready for a relationship just yet, but thanks for offering."
She was about to hit him when Nihlus stilled her arm. Ryu coughed, blood dripping from his mouth. "Hey, ease up, he's had enough," Nihlus hummed.
Nyreen reluctantly threw him back down in his seat, seething as she stormed to the nearest corner.
Nihlus took a seat. "How about that drink?"
"I prefer Heindale Scotch, on the rocks."
"How about a water instead?"
"How about you go fuck yourself?" Ryu then spat, sitting more relaxed in his seat. Nyreen came up behind him, ready to do only spirits-knows-what, before Nihlus casted up his hand.
She backed off.
Ryu glanced at her with a two-sided smile; mockingly and devilishly. Nyreen's sub-harmonics were screaming so loud that she couldn't even hear herself think.
Nihlus placed his forearms on the table in the institutional-gray room before speaking. "Ryu, I know this isn't your first go-around with the law-"
Heard it all before. "Look cock-sucker, why don't you spare me the good cop—bad cop routine. It's obvious it didn't work the first time, what makes you think it's going to work now? Better yet, send in Garrus. Where's Garrus at? He's so much better at this than you guys are." Ryu looked around anxiously, expecting Garrus to burst through the door, grabbing him by the neck—beating the shit out of him while saying nothing.
Nihlus' eyes turned dark, brow-plates furrowing, and heart rate increasing steadily—secretly offended. "Interesting that you mention Garrus, after you tried to have him killed!"
Ryu's face twisted with slight perplexity that could've easily been mistaken for repulsion. "Tried? If I wanted Vakarian dead, he would be."
"Really."
"Really!" Ryu spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.
"So you didn't hire mercs to try and take him out?" Nihlus inquired, not believing the human.
Ryu exploded with laughter before responding. "You're joking, right?" Nihlus and Nyreen didn't respond. "Seriously, where is he," his laughter dying?
"We were hoping that you could tell us?" Nihlus replied.
The room fell silent, with Ryu's lips still in a sarcastic smile. He glanced at Nyreen and then back at Nihlus, slightly taken aback. Then he finally proclaimed, "Garrus really isn't here. Mmm, then he must be fucking my sister."
Nihlus searched his face for sarcasm, Nyreen coming up from behind him to bash his skull in. Nihlus held up his hand to halt her.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Nyreen spat. She came around the table to meet his eyes, looking for the slightest hint of 'I'm just fucking with you' on his face.
"Oh, you two didn't know?" Ryu began. "Garrus has been fucking my sister for the longest—he can't keep his hands … claws … whatever-off her. He's like an animal." His voice hovered just above sarcasm.
Nihlus abandoned his seat, leaving the interrogation room. He was immediately met by Executor Pallin, Kolyat and his partner, and the Chief. He froze for a moment, meeting Pallin's eyes.
"He's not bullshitting is he?"
"He's playing with what few cards he has left in his hand, Executor, nothing more."
Pallin's face was unchanged, making it hard for Nihlus to tell if he believed him or not?
"Garrus is C-Sec to the core, he would never betray the department, Executor-you know that." Nihlus added, feeling like that needed to be said.
The Executor held his silenced as he watched the last of the interrogation through the one-way mirror.
#
"Looks like your friend took the news pretty hard." Ryu chimed in the silence. "What about you, sugar-scales, are you going to run out of here too, like a scared little girl?"
Nyreen never stopped glaring at him, her mandibles clapped against her jaw. "First off, stop calling me that, and secondly, Garrus would never mate with your sister. Garrus isn't in to humans. And even if he were, he wouldn't choose your sister as a mate. Garrus has class." Her mandibles were clapped against her face, slightly trembling.
Ryu scoffed, "No Garrus has a dick, and he wanted it sucked. So he came to my sister… and he probably came in her as well—no pun intended." He then smiled snidely again before hopping back to the first topic. "That's something you turian women can't do… suck dick, because of the sharp teeth, I mean." He gestured as best he could with his hands despite being cuffed to the armrest of the chair.
"Is that why you women have such a hard time keeping a turian man nowadays?" Nyreen had been standing in the corner with her arms folded over her clavicle just waiting for him to slip up somehow, but now he was striking a nerve.
Ever since the First Contact War ended, turian men had been flocking to humans—mostly women, for this new and exciting practice of intimacy. So many turian men flooded human colonies that it was once seen as a crisis and was actually brought forth to the council. It was also rumored to have been the driving force that helped end the war.
She shifted uncomfortably, hopping that he didn't notice her weakness starting to show—the atmosphere growing incongruous once again. Nyreen's father had left her mother for a human. Swallowing the bitter memory, Nyreen feign like his words weren't striking a particularly sour note.
"Why don't you do yourself a favor and start answering our questions before I start painting these walls with your blood?"
"Hmm, must not be getting any. Not to worry, I have something for that."
She engaged him with an ominous fist waiting to crash into his face when the door swung open and the detectives, and Executor Pallin stepped in.
"Whoa—wait," Pallin began, "his lawyer has just showed up."
It took every bit of her self-restraint to not hit him again. BAP! Never mind… she punched him again. More blood ran from his nose, his eyes watered—having broken blood vessels.
"You're gonna pay for that you scaly bitch." Ryu exclaimed with blood jumping out from his mouth.