Chapter 25
Omega was a bustling hive of barely contained anarchy. It was an antithesis to the jeweled space station that governed outside the Terminus Systems. In contrast to the Citadel, this space station was a collection of dens. Independent people went about their lives, surviving on their own wits. If there was any power, it was that of the various gangs and contractors. However, above these, at the apex, was Aria.
More implacable than any of the corporations that failed to draw a foothold, the asari had maintained order amidst the chaos through cunning wit and iron fist...and not a little bit of seduction.
Sitting at a booth in one of the more upscale clubs, Garrus looked on bemusedly. The turian nursed a glass in one hand, setting his gaze across the room. Neon lights strobed throughout the club, illuminating the bar as well as the dance floor. Against backlit cages, dancers of various species engaged in fetching acrobatic displays. Garrus sniffed, realizing all the distraction didn't seem to withdraw from the air of anonymity.
Despite the music, it didn't blare, being just subdued enough that one could talk in the booths. The light, while plentiful, failed to shed light into the shadows, which clung jealously to the various tables and corners in the club. Despite to the public setting, it was a suitable place to hide from prying eyes.
Garrus took another swig of the stiff drink in his hand, casually glancing across at the figure seated across the booth from him.
"What do you want with me Bray?" he mused, "I'm trying to relax here..."
A red-skinned batarian shook his head gamely, "listen...SPECTRE...the last time you 'relaxed' in Omega, you managed to unite three entire gangs, AND all their enlisted conscripts, to engage in a futile war against a lone gunman."
"Don't forget air support," Garrus smirked, "I distinctly remember quite a bit of property damage...besides, wasn't Archangel taken down?"
"SHH!" the batarian twitched, "not so loud! The only thing that lets them sleep at night is the thought of you, gone for good."
Vakerian shrugged casually. Although, he had to admit...if he'd sent as many mercs after a single target, he'd certainly wish the job to be completed.
"Well," offered the turian, "rest assured, I don't intend to cause any fires while I'm here..."
"If intentions were credits," Bray sighed, "listen, the Boss is staying out of your affairs, as a payment for past courtesies. We won't look into what you're doing, just tell us where the shit's going to fly...will you?"
The quarian beside him laughed slightly, "oh do be nice, it IS her backyard, I suppose..."
Garrus arched an eyebrow at the shapely woman. Tali leaned back bemusedly, letting her hands rest on the very supple arches of her hips.
The SPECTRE cleared his throat, turning back to Bray, "alright...let's just say Aria wouldn't be unwise to look out for...visitors from Sur'Kesh..."
The batarian across the table sputtered his drink, "the STG?! Are you sure?!"
Garrus nodded, considering his source was Kirrahe, a major in the STG itself, though Bray didn't need to know that.
"Damn it Vakerian! Those fools aren't people you want to mess with!"
"I'm on friendly terms with a few of them," he replied, "don't worry..."
Bray shook his head, "this from a turian...you forget that those in STG became the first SPECTRE's."
Tali gestured with her hand, "a fact that the Major magnanimously overlooks...what brings you here to disturb out dinner?"
The batarian groaned, running his hand through his scalp crest before sitting up straight.
"Admiral Zorah," he began, "I bear a message for you from Aria...a good will token in deference to your former Commander."
Tali immediately dropped her coquettish smile, placing her drink down. Aria T'Loak wasn't someone to be trifled with, nor one to trust unwittingly. The quarian's musings were simply a way to mask her true motivations. But if T'Loak was dealing with her agreements with Shepard, this was something else. The history between the asari and Humanity's First SPECTRE was legend, especially here, in the heart of Omega.
She sat up in response, nodding to Bray, "proceed."
He nodded back, "there have been...citizens of the station going...missing...of late."
Tali shrugged. Missing colonists were no great mystery…certainly not here, on a rock like Omega.
Bray shook his head, noticing Tali's bewildered expression, "it's more than the norm. Whole tenements are vanishing. We haven't seen figures like these since before the end of the Reaper War."
"Like with the Collectors," Tali nodded, "and...?"
"And," continued Bray, "many of the missing, a great many in fact...are quarian...mostly those fresh on Pilgrimage, and the younger ones..."
She shook her head, glancing at Garrus.
Vakerian nodded, "any suspects?"
Bray fiddled with his drink again, derailing the question, "we hear that Shepard is on his way to the batarian Hegemony."
The SPECTRE nodded guardedly. The matter was public record, of course, but it wasn't his policy to divulge the inner workings of military or diplomatic initiatives.
"Let's just say," said the batarian, "that there are certain parties on their way here...with whom Shepard will want to speak...parties who are also looking into this distressing matter."
Tali nodded, "so the quarian people may have allies against these...thieves...why would Aria be so accommodating?"
"Batarian sectarianism will only hurt the rebuilding of Karshaan," Garrus grunted in reply, "besides...a breakdown in the negotiations will also mean a breakdown in trade routes..."
"And all the credits that will flow from that trade," Bray nodded in reply, "certain parties might call that a waste..."
"Well, that's Shepard's prerogative, but I'll pass it along, if I can," Garrus nodded, "certainly WE will look into this..."
Bray stood up, tipping his head slightly before taking his leave, "be sure that you do..."
Garrus and Tali sat in silence, considering what they'd just heard. Quarians were vanishing. Of course, the rite of passage was part of a quarian's puberty, their entry into adulthood. With a newly reclaimed homeworld, many chose to stay and cultivate Rannoch. That left only the most ambitious to seek their fortunes out in the galaxy.
Garrus understood. His own homeworld was still recovering. Palaven was barely little more than rock, and all the terraforming and reconstruction had only started to turn it all around. If the best and brightest of his people were being abducted...
"We can look into this," he offered, "I know what the Council says, but this is important...and so are you..."
Tali started slightly, looking up at Garrus. She understood his meaning. He cared for her, and was willing to deny his orders for her. Furthermore, she was an Admiral in the Quarian Flotilla, what remained of it. On her official order, he was willing to go against the commands of the Council itself.
Once, she would have leapt at such an offer. Looking back on it, her initial journey with Shepard had been a result of such behavior. She didn't regret it...not for a moment...but she had more responsibilities now...to her people...and the Galaxy.
Tali closed her eyes, enjoying the indulgent thought a moment more, before shaking her head, "it's Shepard's job...we only came here to meet Major Kirahhe...Thessia needs us..."
"So does Rannoch...it seems."
She shook her head again, "not without proof...and once we have it..."
Garrus nodded, grasping her hand tightly.
Tali used her other hand to finish her drink, "come on...I need to dance..."
Vakerian barely had a moment to respond, before he was drawn up beneath the strobing lights of the dance floor. The woman grasped him tightly, her curves molding to his body. He swayed with her to the rhythm, twisting and turning their worries away.
She draped her head against his shoulder, "you dance rather well."
"Just trying to keep up with you," mused Garrus, smiling as he brushed a hand through a lock of her dark hair.
An impish grin appeared across her lips, "so, you ever take Elana dancing like this?"
Garrus blinked several times, his movements hitching slightly, as Tali glared at him intensely.
"Er...I...how did you know about...that?"
Tali sniffed, "you men...always thinking you are so clever. Women know these things..."
Garrus shook his head. The only other person he'd told about that was Shepard. He wouldn't...
"I can see what you're thinking," said Tali dryly, "and no...it wasn't him...you just aren't as careful as you think...and on a ship, talk travels quickly."
"It wasn't what you think," sputtered Garrus, "there are plenty of turian combat units that deal with tension in-"
"Is that all I am Garrus, tension release?" pouted Tali sardonically, "well...I DID say I was using you for your body...I didn't think you'd be so literal-"
"NO DAMMIT," hissed Garrus in a hushed, yet adamant voice, "it isn't like that with you...I don't give a damn about my past...I LOVE YOU!"
She fell silent, as they both stopped dancing. Several couples on the dance-floor beside them began to stare. The crowd could see the argument, if not hear it. Garrus shook his head, pulling Tali into a shaded corner of the room, where no eyes, nor ears, could spy on them.
Tali remained silent and unmoving, as Garrus wiped the sweat from his brow with a cloth. He glanced back at the floor, making sure they weren't followed, and then looked back to her.
"Are you alright Tali," he asked, "look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my past, it just never meant-"
"What did you say?" she asked.
"I said it didn't matter," he stammered.
"No, I mean before that...back on the dance-floor."
Garrus stopped a moment, looking at her, and understood, "the only thing that matters is my time on Normandy, with the friends I've made, and, more importantly, meeting you..."
He laughed nervously, "only good thing to come out of this war...I'm sorry I never told you about this. Nothing else really mattered to me before. I should have said so, but I didn't realize. You've never had this before either...have you?"
Tali shook her head, looking at Garrus, as she ran her fingers through the fringes on his head. If she was honest with herself, there had been someone in her life...almost. Of course she had known about Kal'Reegar, one of the Marines under her command on Haestrom...so long ago now...it seemed. He'd died in the war, for all she knew, still holding a torch for her. She valued him as a friend, but she hadn't had space in her heart for him.
The Great Commander Shepard had been an inspiring figure...a dashing young hero who had pulled a child like her out of the gutter. He had taken her on a whirlwind adventure to find her destiny, saved her life countless times, and been there every time she'd needed him.
She'd been in love with him, for a time, though she hadn't realized it. He'd looked to her as a little sister. In her naivety, she'd not questioned the relationship, until he'd found comfort in the arms of another.
Then he'd died, and feelings she hadn't known surfaced, only to be strained yet again a few years later. But by then, he'd moved on, and so had she...it was just hero worship, she'd realized.
Still, it hadn't gotten any easier, not even when she'd become an admiral. She had friends, of course, but she still felt alone. But then, during the most trying time in her life, she'd found hope yet again. Someone else had been beside her, from the very beginning...unassuming and unafraid. Garrus had been quietly at her side, and she'd never noticed it until...
"Do you remember?" she asked, "when we first kissed?"
There was no way the turian would ever forget. He'd sequestered himself in the gunnery room of the Normandy. The guns had been calibrated as much as possible, but he hadn't known what else to do. What did one do to prepare for a battle against the Apocalypse?
So he'd wandered the halls, until he'd found Tali in the Normandy's bar, staring out at the stars. Unfortunately, there was no bottle left of brandy, at least not the kind that quarians and turians favored. Then he'd remembered his private stock, back in the gunnery room.
He laughed, "heh, I invited you back for a drink, and before I knew it-"
"Someone barged in," she laughed recalling the look on Garrus and Shepard's faces.
He grinned back.
"I'm not mad Garrus," Tali sighed, "I've got history as well, but it doesn't really matter, does it?
He nodded, "I suppose not."
She pursed her lips, leaning away from him a bit, "although..."
"Although?"
"Stop walking on eggshells around me," she reasoned, "or you can calibrate your own damn machinery!"
"Deal," the turian laughed.
As Tali leaned against him, her mouth seeking his, Garrus felt all thought leave his mind. She pushed up against him, forcefully bracing him against the wall, all but melting into him. Garrus fought to control his breathing, finding purchase on her hips, molding the pliable flesh to balance himself. He felt Tali take the breath from him, lapping at it like a drug, as his head began to grow light…
Suddenly, an insistent chirping blared in his ear. Garrus groaned in anger at the bothersome call, though still taking the moment to gasp for air. Tali slowly backed away, her surprise turning into a smile. She brought a finger to her lips, biting idly at her finger as she blinked herself back into consciousness…
The accursed ringing was ever more insistent. Garrus took a deep breath, slapping himself on both cheeks. He saw a passing waiter with a tray, grabbing a glass of ice water and drinking it in one gulp, ignoring the protest of the tiny salarian.
"This had better be good," said Vakerian gruffly, "I'm waiting on an important meeting..."
Tali smirked, stifling a laugh as she waggled her finger at him.
"Liar," she whispered.
Garrus made a cutting motion at her, clearing the static on his omnitool, "what is it? Is anything wrong?"
"-said I got a courier," came Elana Pytar's voice, "Kirrahe's in trouble!"
Garrus and Tali immediately sobered, turning to the exit. As Tali reached into the folds of her skirt, she drew a gun, offering it to Garrus. He shook his head, gesturing to the holster beneath his jacket, as he drew up to the lockers in the club, taking out a large duffel bag.
"What happened?" asked the SPECTRE.
"I don't know," said Elana, "but I just got the coordinates, sending them to you, I'm on my way."
"And where's Miranda and company?"
"Kasumi and Revenant are meeting a contact," said Pytar, "Miranda's scrambling remote hack attempts against the ship. She and Zaeed are staying behind to make sure STG doesn't get the Dover."
Garrus shook his head, as he drew into a side room at the entrance of the club, clapping armor over his clothes. Tali took off her skirt, revealing taut flesh as she donned her armor as well. Garrus arched an eyebrow, before forcing himself to look away.
"We expecting trouble from them?" he asked.
"Who else could it be?" demanded Elana, "no use taking chances, I'll be en route to the scene."
"Meet you there," said Garrus, signing off.
He checked his assault rifle and pistol, securing them to his armor before turning. Tali nodded to him, brandishing a shotgun, a pistol in her hip holster, before handing him his sniper rifle.
Garrus sighed, "looks like a firefight after all."
"Bray won't be pleased," she said, allowing herself to be led into their rented skycab.
"It's what Aria pays him for," he said, revving the engines before gunning the motor, "let's get there and finish this quick!"
Tali shook her head, "I'm worried about Kirrahe too..."
"Hell, he can handle himself, I expect just leftovers," laughed Vakerian.
She shook her head questioningly.
"I just want to get this over with," he explained, "so I can take you home, peel you out of that suit, and have dessert..."
"Sweet talker," Tali blushed, looking out the window, as if searching for following cars.
"Well, I kept my promise," he said all business again, "get your shotgun ready."
She nodded resolutely, as the hovercar raced through the lanes of Omega...