If you guys haven't noticed, I tend to bring people in from the series from time to time...

Also, yay for interspecies awkwardness things!

Side Mission

Officers Vakarian and Luna-Bailey:

It has come to my attention that Officer Harkin has been caught drinking on the job and roughing up innocent suspects. Find proof of his indiscretions so that C-Sec can be rid of one worthless human.

-Pallin

I placed the letter down on Pallin's desk and then backed up, crossing my arms over my chest and staring at the man I had been starting to respect. I stared at him for a while and he didn't avert his gaze, instead raising his eye plate like Garrus. That same damn eye plate that I hated.

Finally, after a few moments of staring off, he said, "Can I help you, Officer?"

My jaw was set so tightly that I was sure my teeth would shatter. "Yes, Sir. I want to know why you deemed humans worthless."

He scoffed and finally turned his eyes from me, organizing papers on his desk as a distraction. "Don't you have a photo shoot to go to, Luna?"

I gave out an unbelieving laugh and shook my head. When your boss was against you, you were in the dog house, and it didn't matter what you did. "You don't like humans, do you?"

"Just figuring that out, are you?" he asked sarcastically, leaning back in his chair. I hated it when turians stared at me, especially the way he was. They were a predatory species...and it showed when they looked at you as if they would eat you. "But don't take it personally. It's merely political."

I blinked and tried to think of how his not liking humans couldn't be personal. "I'm human, sir. I'm going to take it personally when my boss makes his disgust of me obvious!"

"It's not Mia Luna-Bailey that I dislike," he said simply, his mandibles fluttering around his face. "It is humanity as a whole."

"I'm sorry?" I asked incredulously, holding my hands out in front of me. I wasn't quite sure what he was getting at. He was okay with me, but not with humans?

Pallin tented his fingers underneath his chin and set his elbow spurs on his desk. "Humans, as a whole, are becoming too powerful too quickly."

"And that makes you dislike us?" I cocked my head at him, at the same time that I cocked my hip and crossed my arms. A twinge of pain ran up my side, so I stopped that stance and instead stood up straight, ignore the throb of pain from my thighs and hips. The cuts from Garrus's talons had gotten extremely infected. I ordered some prescription-strength Benydril from the doctor, who told me that I was allergic to anything and everything levo-based. This included food, allergens, and bodily fluids.

"Any pet to the Council is disliked among the races."

I threw my hands in the air and wanted to strangle him. "Executor! We've fought for everything! We don't have a seat on the Council, we don't have any Spectres, we—"

Suddenly his mandibles clenched tightly inward, signaling anger. I closed my mouth and stood back at attention, realizing my mistake. "Don't even get me started on Spectres."

"Apologies, sir," I said lowly, my eyes to the ground. Angry turians frightened me, I was ashamed to admit. I then remembered what Garrus had said about Saren, and the reason he was against the male. "Most turians dislike Spectres...but my point was that humans have had to work for everything we have. Just having human food here on the Citadel is a step that we've forged for years. We've had to fight."

His mandibles loosened slightly, but not completely. "Well...don't expect us to just sit back and let you take it."

I smirked and shook my head, glad that I had gotten out of a scolding from my superior officer. "I would be worried if you did, sir. Now, about this mission..."

He finally turned his uncomfortable stare off of me, leaning back in his chair and relaxing slightly. His voice even became softer. "I just want the best of the best in C-Sec. Harkin is a disgrace to the badge. Now that there are more exceptional humans in the force—" I blushed as he gave an approving glance in my direction, "—the human embassy won't be as inclined to want to erase his record."

I nodded and stood up straight, saluting, blush still on my face. "I won't let you down, sir."

Pallin raised one eyeplate, looking at me curiously. "And your partner?"

"Officer Vakarian and I are on the case."

oOo

Garrus was standing by his desk when I made my way out of the office. His mandibles fluttered in concern as he glanced at the clock on his omni-tool. "Are you alright? You were in there for a while."

I blushed with pride and beamed him my brightest smile possible. "I'm great, actually. What did you find out?"

He gave me a curious look before glancing down at his omni-tool again. He punched in some functions until information was sent to mine. "I talked with Harkin's past partners, but they won't testify. Haron said that Harkin has been passing through his security checkpoint every day about halfway through the work schedule, coming back around an hour later."

My eyes quickly scanned through the information, stopping on one juicy tidbit. "But look at the hour listings for the Enforcement branch. He doesn't clock out before he leaves."

Garrus got a look in his eye, kind of like the one he got when he was talking about criminals. There was a glint and a strange happiness, as though he would enjoy capturing Harkin. "I hope we catch this bastard. Drinking on the job..."

"And who knows what else," I added on, flicking through the reports but finding nothing else.

He smiled a turian smile, teeth and all, and stood up, looking the ever-proud turian. "Well then, let's get going...partner."

Pride filled me, almost making me giddy, as I grabbed my purse and gun, holstering one and throwing the other over my shoulder. "I'm right behind you, Garrus."

oOo

"This isn't going to work."

Garrus eyed his partner out of the side of his eye. "Will you just trust me for once?"

She shrugged and pulled collar of her dress further up her neck. "I do trust you, Garrus. I just don't think that this disguise is going to work. We're rather well-known around the Citadel."

He shook his head and turned his eyes away from her curving frame. He had changed his clan markings from blue to white, just temporarily, to disguise who he really was. It would work for turians. As for Mia... The dress she was wearing only accentuated those curves he watched sway. At least the bruising is gone. "You look different out of uniform." Especially so when she let her fringe down around her waist.

Mia's face turned red again and she beamed with her very blunt teeth. "I thought turians thought that all humans looked the same?"

"You do," he said bluntly, making her scowl and lose the blush. "But you smell different." She smelled like him still, which was embarrassing.

Human faces showed so many kinds of emotion, Garrus was surprised that he realized that she was indeed curious. She pushed her way through the throng outside Chora's Den and asked, "Well...what do I smell like to turians?"

The loud, pulsing lights and music penetrated the room. Garrus grasped her shoulder to steer her, not having to smell her to know her scent. "You smell like gun polish. And something that must be human."

"Gun polish?" she asked under her breath, sniffing herself. She just looked confused.

Garrus laughed and steered her over to a table for two. He was ready for any confrontation or bar brawl necessary, as long as they got that slimy Harkin. "Yes, gun polish. Don't worry, turians like that sort of thing."

She sniffed her arm again, apparently not smelling it. "I don't know what you're talking about. I smell like cocoa butter because that's the soap I wash with. Target at two o'clock."

Garrus didn't turn his head, instead, leaning back in his chair and still looking at her. "You'll have to show me that human thing. It's not too bad. Don't worry, you smell attractive to turians. What's he doing?"

"Slobbering over an asari dancer," Mia scowled, her face contorted into disgust. "Slimy culo..." Mia pulled up her omni-tool and checked some kind of record. Garrus watched her face glow in the dim lighting. "Looks like he's still clocked in. Oh, and since when do turians find humans attractive?"

In the lighting, Mia looked even darker than normal. Her cheeks weren't covered in plates, her shoulders were too narrow, and her waist wasn't supportive enough. He didn't find his partner physically attractive. When it came to her personality, though, he figured she was...okay. "Some have fetishes. Is he drinking?"

She snorted in amusement and mimicked his posture, trying to look more relaxed. "No, not from what I can tell. Like I said, he's drooling. And since when do turians revolt against their militaristic, perfectly principled lives to chase some human tail?"

Garrus felt his mandibles fluttering, not sure if he was amused or flustered from her comment. "It's obviously not very common."

"The First Contact War is still too much in everyone's mind," she agreed with a slight nod of her head. "In fact, we're getting a little too much attention because of that."

Garrus looked around the room, noticing a few Turians who had their eyes on the couple. He glared at one while saying, "You're right." He glanced up at the bartender, noticing a turian male, and got ready to move. "I'll go up to the bar and—"

"No, I'll go up to the bar," she said quickly, standing and flipping her fringe over one shoulder. She gave him a look that had his mandibles tight against his face in confusion. "You said I smell attractive to turians? Let's put it to the test."

He almost snarled at her. "Mia, we're on a mission."

The female rolled her eyes and started walking away. "I'm just obtaining some intel, Garrus...no worries."

This female is going to be the death of me. He watched in trepidation as she walked with a sway in her step toward the bar. Many eyes followed her appreciatively and he resisted the urge to growl. Finally, she made it to the bar, smiling at the male turian and leaning over the counter. He assumed that this was a tactic to show him her breasts. He hated to tell her, but turians didn't find the soft flesh of humans appealing—

Garrus watched in shock as the bartender's mandibles flared in interest. He looked confused for a moment as he smelled the air, sniffing at Garrus's scent, before returning his full attention to the female in front of him. He started ignoring his other customers and even gave Mia a drink on the house. She continued talking to him, even caressing the male's hand when he moved it towards hers. Finally, she grabbed her drink, blew the turian a kiss, and made her way back to him.

He was still shocked into silence as she sat down, took a drink, and then said, "Harkin has had two whiskeys, a beer, and some kind of krogan beverage. The bartender then told me that it looked as though Hallex was exchanged." Mia took another drink, still not meeting his eye. "Also, some turians have a perverse interest in breasts."

It took a moment for the information to register in his mind. He couldn't fathom... "What?"

"I got our information," she said simply, shrugging, although he saw a mischievous twinkle in her dark eyes. "Is there a problem, Gare?"

He cleared his throat and coughed a little, trying to speak finally. "You found all that out in the ten minutes you were over there."

She smiled cockily and took another sip of whatever it was she was drinking. "I have my ways."

Garrus took a deep breath, counted to three, and made sure that he wouldn't yell at his partner when he spoke. He wasn't sure why he was so irritated, coming to the conclusion that that was just what Mia did to him. "We still need proof, not just a testimony from a bartender that works in a sleazy bar."

Mia shot him a fake horrified look, putting a hand to her chest. "Why, Garrus! Barv isn't so bad!"

"Barv? What kind of name is Barv?" He felt his hackles rise slightly...literally...

She shot him a look and sneered, "What kind of name is Garrus?"

The turian officer threw his hands up in the air, sure of the fact that he would never win with this woman! "It's a very old, very proud turian name, Mia!"

Her smile told him that he'd taken her bait and he groaned, making her laugh. She shook her head and said, "You need to loosen up, Garrus. Get that stick out of your ass."

"Stick up my—?!"

She gave him a look that he guessed told him to shut up. "Back onto topic, big guy. Harkin is watching."

His sigh was soft enough that she didn't register it. Did she understand that merely being around her put extra years on his life? He was going to die before fifty years at this rate. "I know. I've been watching him since you made a scene with the bartender. He's got his eye on you."

Mia smirked and took another sip of her bubbly drink She then set down her cup, grabbed his wrist, and started pulling him to the dance floor. "Let's give him something to watch, then."

She pulled him through a group of sensual dancers, mostly asari strippers, and let him go before she started dancing. This was the dancing weeks ago that had gotten him in trouble in the first place. Something about the way her body moved was even worse than asari's.

Her glare snapped him out of his staring. "Grab my hips and dance, Vakarian," she growled under her breath, grasping his talons and placing them where she told him to. He could feel the warmth of her body through her back. Then she reached up and put her arms around his neck, between his cowl and the plating in front of it. And that was when she started gyrating her hips against his.

Garrus then understood why females of the human species had the extra padding on their rears. It created a very interesting feeling against his lower plates as his partner pushed and moved against him with her usual ease. There was a slight crease in the cushion that he would have fit in quite nicely if she eventually coerced him from his protective plating.

She thrust back against him, stretching upwards before moving her fingers against the back of his fringe. Her fingers danced dangerously around, making him growl. His talons tightened painfully on her hips, making her hiss at him and buck her hips back harshly. "Careful! Humans are fragile, if you don't remember!"

He leaned down and nipped at her ear, moving his hands forward and grasping the front of her thighs underneath her dress. He could smell her arousal as soon as he did it, making his mandibles flutter to catch the scent. "Well then stop moving like a damned asari. I may not be human, but I am male."

He could feel the heat coming off of her ten times its usual amount as she flushed from head to toe. "Oh, God...I-I, I didn't mean—"

Garrus nuzzled the side of her face, his scent automatically marking her again as it had before. He couldn't help the primal gesture. She seemed to find it strangely embarrassing, blushing and letting out a strangled, 'Oh.' "Yeah." She was just lucky that his plates hadn't completely shifted. "Keep up the act or he'll suspect."

Mia suddenly stiffened and turned in his arms, wrapping her arms around him again. This time she pushed her front against his carapace, her lips on the side of his mandible. His hands alighted on her narrow hips, his talons almost reaching around to the crease in her back cushion. Their hips moved against each other as the music pulsed and the lights flashed, making their bodies shadows in the room.

"Sorry," she whispered against his mandible, her lips feather light against his face. Garrus could barely hear her, instead focusing on the blood rushing through his body and his fast-paced heart. The cushions on her chest now made sense as well. They felt rather nice against him. The more she pushed up against him, the more his plates shifted and he growled in her ear. Without the hip spurs of turian females, the heat of her womanhood pushed directly against him. "I didn't realize..."

Her fingers trailed up his fringe once more at the same time as she attached her lips to the tip of his mandible. He tightened his hold, pulled her harshly against him, and leaned down to bite her neck through her dress a lot harder than he'd nipped her ear. Against her skin he growled, "Damn it, Mia!"

She gave out a little scream of pain, which went unnoticed in the loud club. "What am I doing?" she asked through a whimper. "Goddamn! Let go!"

He did as she told him, a deep growl continuously rumbling through his chest. "Stop touching my fringe, first of all." Her hands instantly flew away from his neck, making him calm down slightly. His plates had fully opened, but he'd been able to keep inside, especially now that she wasn't touching him.

"I thought it was—"

"A turian erogenous zone."

Her body heated up again. It would have been comical to see her red all over...all over as he pushed her up against the wall of the club, his tongue flickering out to lick her ear, his knee between her legs. Garrus shook his head to rid the image from his mind, grasping Mia's wrists and taking a step away from her.

"Are you alright?" she asked in a soft voice that only his hearing could decipher.

He took a few deep breaths and managed a sharp nod, his mandibles tight against his face. He didn't know what was wrong with him—he wasn't attracted to humans, let alone his partner. He didn't have some human fetish. "Like I said...I may not be human, but I am a male." He chalked it up to the fact that a soft, flexible female had been rubbing sensually up against him. Even a Krogan wouldn't have been able to resist.

The blush on her face was slightly attractive. She looked a little embarrassed and wouldn't meet his eyes. "And this is why you should tell me these things before we go undercover."

Garrus felt a sarcastic retort coming along, but stopped it before he could hurt her feelings. It wasn't her fault that she didn't know. Most humans didn't. "I didn't think we'd be in this situation. Fighting mercs? Sure. Bar fight with Harkin? Possibly. My partner trying to seduce me? Not really."

Her face was beet red, almost comically so. "I was not—!"

The look he gave her silenced her. He would have found it comical if he wasn't aching in all the wrong places. Instead, he took a deep breath to calm himself and surveyed his portion of the club. He didn't see Harkin. "What do you see?"

"Harkin is leaving. He's been watching us this entire time. Well...me."

"Still?" She nodded. Garrus pulled her back to him slowly, one hand on her lower back. She laid her head on his chest, her hands on his shoulders, and they swayed. They weren't in time with the song but Garrus didn't care. "Which exit?"

"Back alley."

Good. He leaned his head down to her fringe, smelling that strange human scent that came off of her. Also, her fringe was strangely soft and silky. "Go around to the side alley exit and intercept him. I'll leave the normal way and back you up."

She took a deep breath as if she knew the danger of splitting up. She looked up at the same time he did. She made the extra move to place her forehead on his, making his breath get caught in his throat. "You'll have my six?" Her eyes, so dark and colorless, were looking at him as if he were water and she were dying of thirst.

Garrus forgot to breathe for a moment, wondering if she knew what she'd just done. He assumed that, no, she didn't. He tried to swallow to help his dry throat but it didn't help. Instead, he pushed his forehead back against hers and said, "Always."

The smile he always assumed was a growl at first, but he knew was a smile, disarmed him. "I knew I could count on you. Let's go!"

oOo

Although I should have felt mortified over what had just happened between my partner and I, I actually felt determined and confident. The fact that we'd learned about each other—or that I'd learned anything about him, even sexually—made me feel more trusting of my partner, and therefore closer to him.

I took a deep breath and took the Cricket pistol out of my breast holster. It was so small that it fit perfectly in my cleavage...I'd just waited until Garrus (and anyone else for that matter) was gone so that I could retrieve it.

This is it, Mia, I told myself as I sneaked through the side exit. An asari stripper was making out with a batarian, which kind of freaked me out. You can do this. This isn't your first rodeo. You can make a good name for the Force and get rid of a bad egg from the clutch all at the same time.

I made my way around the ready-to-fornicate couple and wished them luck in the asari/batarian hybrid babies they were about to make. Not really. Actually, I could only hope that the babies would be asari because batarians freaked me out with their eyes.

Back on the subject at hand, Mia! I shook my head and nonchalantly made my way around. The alley was dark and quiet, the base of the club vibrating behind me. Lights flickered overhead and vermin scurried through the trash on the sides of what most people wouldn't call a walkway.

Suddenly I was grabbed from behind. I went for the defensive maneuvers we were taught in C-Sec training, but they were countered rather easily. I went for military defense and found that slightly effective, wrapping my leg around his and jutting my knee into the back of his, making my assaulter lose his balance.

We fell to the ground and struggled. My being in a dress didn't help matters as he pinned the fabric to the ground. Now I was on my stomach, his knees on my shoulders and his butt on my hips, keeping me pinned rather effectively.

It was hard to breathe. I felt his hands start massaging the back of my neck, running through my hair and he hummed. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the face of C-Sec. Where's your lover, the turian?" It sounded like Harkin, but I couldn't be sure.

I balled my fists and released them, trying to keep the blood flowing in my arms. "He isn't my lover, you slime." Where are you, Garrus? "Get off of me and fight me like a man!"

He leaned down and whispered into my ear, his breath smelling of alcohol and smoke. "And what'll that get me?" His body started sliding lower, helping me get loose but putting me in a position that made me freeze in terror. His lips touched against the side of my neck, his hands moving down the sides of my dress.

I used my better position and flipped us, making sure to jam my heel into his crotch when I stood back up. He was there as I held the cricked to his head, ready to shoot. "Touch me again and you won't be able to have children."

He was a slime. Balding, with a beer belly and rotting teeth from the drugs I knew he did. His beady dark eyes were all over me. "Is that a promise?"

I wanted to shoot him. Even if he wasn't armed. But that was wrong and I'd probably be stripped of my badge faster than the satisfaction would come from seeing the pain on his rat face. "What are you doing here, Harkin?"

"So the priss knows who I am?" he scoffed, stumbling slightly as he came closer. My gun shook a little as I took a step back into some trash. I realized then that I was trapped in an alcove as he stumbled toward me. "I'm here to have a little fun, sweetheart. Now why don't you put that gun down and I can show you how humans hop in the sack. Better than a turian, I bet."

Suddenly Harkin was pulled back by a scaly arm and pushed against the opposite wall. Garrus was there, his strong body standing between the pervert and I. "I highly doubt it." He turned a raised eyeplate to me and asked, "Is this man bothering you, honey?"

"Just a little, darling," I replied sarcastically, putting my weapon down and stepping out of the trash alcove I'd been stuck in. "Wherever have you been?"

My partner gave off what I guessed was a laugh and pulled Harkin's hands behind his back, cuffing his wrists. "Wouldn't you believe it, there were these detour signs, and—"

"You got lost."

"Yeah."

I sighed but couldn't be mad at him. We'd just solved our first case together—and there really hadn't been any arguing. Other than the fact that I'd been manhandled, it had turned out to be a good day. "What do you say we get this guy to a testing facility and see what he's been on?"

Garrus pushed Harkin up against the wall for good measure. He must have enjoyed the man's pained groan as much as I did. "I'd like nothing better."

oOo

In recent news, Officer Harkin of Citadel Securities has been stripped of badge and gun and is on trial for the distribution and usage of Hallex. Intoxication and sexual harassment are also on the list of infractions at his hearing scheduled today at five.

"A toast!" I said, holding the drink in my hand, (non-alcoholic,) in the air and standing. The officers at my table looked up in interest, not all eyes human. "May we keep good, righteous officers in our midst...and get the bad guy!"

Laughs rang out in the dining room. "Hear hear!"

I smiled at the group around my table. Filled with some of my office-mates, I finally felt a part of something. And, well, since they were in my apartment, eating my food, I figured that they thought I was a part of them. I hoped.

As I was sitting down, Garrus nudged me in the side, making me slosh my champagne onto the table. I glared at him as he said, "Wonderful speech. I was left astounded."

"Shut up, Vakarian. You wish you had my charisma." I took a sip of my bubbly and smiled at the group of turians and humans that were getting along really, really well. The turians seemed to like the food I'd ordered them and, since I couldn't cook worth a damn, the humans seemed to like their takeout. I also made sure to stay as far away from it as I could-going into anaphylactic shock was not on my to-do list.

My partner shook his head in amusement. "Whatever you say, Probee."

"I worked really hard on that speech." I almost couldn't say that without a laugh, which then hurt my bruised ribs. I groaned and frowned a little.

This time, Garrus let out a chuckle. "I'm sure you did..."