Semper Fi
Chapter 26
Nihlus – 3

The sun never set on this part of Illium and it reminded Nihlus of what he had once called home, a godforsaken small town on a dry planet used as base camp for a lot of mercenary groups between the Terminus Systems and the Attican Traverse. Only the poles were habitable due to the dying star the planet orbited, inflated and burning any rock around it. Water had to be extracted from underground with kilometers-long pipes. All this industry kind of looked like Illium's towers, now that he thought about it. Vegetation was sparse outside of the plantations and hydroponic cultures, nothing taller than a bush, but the horizon was stricken by towers made of pipes and engines to dig deep beneath the surface. And they made a lot of noise, you could hear them kilometers around at any moment of the day or the night.

Nihlus had hated that noise as a child, but he had learned to not complain about it. His father had worked on those damn pipes and was proud of it so his son couldn't say anything about it. Junadus Dorinas, proud pipe builder and renown mercenary, chief of a gang of a hundred, famous for his regular attacks on turian ships and the raids on the nearby asari colonies. Nihlus had never really managed to connect to the guy. He had been his father, sure, but Nihlus never loved him. Junadus had been too absent for that, and too strict with his only child when he was around. Nihlus believed his mother when she told him his father was a good man, a loving man, but he had never seen any proof so far.

That didn't have much importance now anyway. Junadus had been killed in action by one of his own men seeking power when Nihlus was fifteen. His mother had had to leave their home because her life was on the line and she had sent her son to boot camp on Palaven. They had stayed in contact so Nihlus knew she was alive somewhere, still doing mercenary jobs, but he hadn't seen her since then. It had been thirty-six years but it didn't bother him that much, to be honest. Nihlus smirked at himself. Such a lack of emotional bonds would assure him a series of long talks with a psychiatrist if he had pursued a career in the army, in the best of cases. Fortunately, Saren had saved him from this terrible fate a long time ago.

The old man was still on Arcturus Station to help Ambassador Memniris deal with the Alliance, for his greatest joy. Last time Nihlus had had him on the line, Saren had spent more time bitching than actually giving him news. Things were settling down for the Alliance after a few months of political nightmare. Earth Ambassador Udina was still in charge, replaced on the Citadel by Anderson, but elections would be held soon to create a new government. Nihlus knew a lot about how Humans worked but their political system really didn't make sense to him. Choosing a person to represent all the others was kind of romantic, in some way, but also crazy. Nothing guaranteed the Chosen One would be able to do the job since the campaign was all talk and no action.

The worst thing was that the current candidates didn't have much experience with the army or how the galaxy worked in general. Nihlus had kept an eye on the list because those elections could deeply impact Shepard's life. Hackett was probably the most capable man to do the job but the Union of Nations, some sort of international parliament back on Earth, had refused his candidature due to his role in this mess. The next best choice was Anderson, who had publicly announced he wouldn't be part of the race. "I'm a soldier," Nihlus had heard him say on the news, "not a goddamned politician. I wouldn't know what to do." And Anderson was right. He wasn't the kind to lick butts and search for compromises. It would be foolish to put him at the head of the Alliance.

Of course, the Council had their favorite, the first human Ambassador Anita Goyle. They had worked with her for many years and knew she would do anything possible to keep her species in the game. Goyle was a smart woman, not a soldier, but she knew how to rule and get out of dangerous situations. And it was no secret she listened a lot to the Hierarchy. All attempts of cooperation between their species, like the Normandy SR-1, Gagarin Station, joint military training programs, trades and the all of that, had been developed thanks to Goyle. She had also heavily insisted to place her precious first human Spectre under turian protection. Goyle certainly was the Council and the Hierarchy's ally in that matter.

But Udina had his chances to keep the crown for a while. Humans would probably choose him over Goyle because he was known for his numerous strong oppositions to the Council. Goyle was all for cooperation, while Udina was all for pushing Humanity on a greater path or something. Humans would see someone composed and reasonable against a hot head making a lot of noise, and they'd probably choose the loudest. A lot of Humans wanted more recognition for their species, preferably now or even yesterday. They lacked patience, patience Goyle knew was necessary. The Council shouldn't have granted them an embassy so fast after the Relay 314 Incident. Now the Humans wanted a place in the Council, even if they didn't do shit for the galaxy yet. Turians didn't get their seat in the Council right after the Krogan Rebellions. They had had to wait a century before the Asaris and the Salarians thanked them and gave them power. Humans weren't there yet and probably never would be.

Goyle was definitely the best choice and Nihlus wouldn't be surprised if Udina had a tragic accident in the next months, especially with Saren on Arcturus Station.

"Spectre Kryik?"

Nihlus blinked and realized he was staring at the window instead of focusing on the meeting. He cleared his throats and turned to all the blue, gray, white and other faces looking at him with more or less annoyance. Contracts, yes, very important contracts. The Council had sent him to Illium to make sure their interests would be protected in this new merger. A full platoon of asari and salarian lawyers were actually doing all the job but Nihlus' presence served to remind the corporations that the Council was seriously invested in those matters. It was no secret Nihlus was the most decorated agent of the Council, one of their most trusted Spectres. They often sent him as their representative, even if he didn't know the first thing about contracts and big money – well that wasn't true, signatures were involved in all of that, but, yeah, he didn't know shit about the law. It tended to happen when your job authorized you to ignore it and do what you want.

"Yes?" he smiled as if nothing had happened.

"You can't be serious," Nassana Dantius said, their cute little nose wrinkling in their fury. "You didn't listen to a word we said, did you?"

"Come on," Nihlus replied, certainly not impressed by the company, "we all know I'm here to look pretty, not to make decisions. Those guys, in the other hand," he continued, pointing to the Council's lawyers, "have been sent to do the talking and make sure nobody will screw with the Council. Is that the case?" he asked, turning to Shaun Oken, the Salarian in charge of the delegation, a brilliant lawyer and also a fellow Spectre but that wasn't common knowledge. Shaun was officially the head of the legal department working for the Council. His Spectre status authorized him to access any file, legally or not, which was clearly cheating but the Council didn't care much for rules when their interests were on the line. Shaun couldn't blow his cover though, so he often worked with another Spectre doing the dirty work for him on the ground. Nihlus liked the guy. He couldn't use a gun to save his life but he was as ruthless as the next mercenary and a hundred times smarter.

"They want to screw our client," Shaun confirmed, his enormous eyes fixed on Dantius, "but we won't let that happen."

"The Council asks for too much," Dantius argued. "A third of the benefits and recognition of Council Law? This is ridiculous."

"The Council helped you take over Noveria," Shaun replied, "it is only fair that you give something back."

"Our clients come to Noveria because Council Law doesn't apply there," another Salarian raised his voice. "They search for more flexibility and discretion in order to work free of all restrains. They take risks investing in cutting edge technologies that will, one day, benefit all Council Space. Those risks must be taken and Noveria exists for this purpose."

Nihlus snorted, amused by the passionate speech. How did the guy dare talk about taking risks? "Did you forget what happened on Noveria or are you deliberately avoiding the subject?" he asked. Some people exchanged anxious looks. Dantius was one of them. Nihlus smirked. The Council had also sent him here because he had personally cleaned the mess on Noveria five years ago. "Dantius," he continued, "you're going to accept the Council's terms without discussion and place Noveria under Council Law, unless you want your investors to learn what happened in Peak 15's labs."

"You cannot..." Dantius hissed.

"Oh I can," Nihlus replied. "I'm a Spectre. I can do whatever I want." The Asari gave him the most hateful look of his week, their fists clenched on the table. Nihlus wasn't an idiot. He may have been a Spectre but his title wasn't a magical shield protecting him from assassination. He could walk out of that building in ten minutes and take a bullet in the head right after. Illium was this kind of place, a place far more dangerous than Omega from his point of view. At least people on Omega were honest. They tried to kill you themselves, they didn't pay someone else to do the job. Nihlus relaxed in his chair and drummed on the table with his fingers. "And, just in case you have something really stupid in mind, I'd like to remind you I'm not the only one holding evidence of what happened. My protegee was with me all along this mission."

And his mentor had had interests in that damn laboratory, but Nihlus didn't say a word about that. Saren's Spectre status had been on the line when the Council had realized he had money involved in Benezia's dirty little secrets. He had claimed having no knowledge of that investment since he trusted a volus banker named Barla Von to deal with his comfortable savings. Nihlus had investigated with Shepard on the matter and they hadn't found any proof of Saren's implications in Benezia's Rachni grooming business. Nihlus had gladly announced to the Council that his mentor was in the green, but an absence of proof wasn't proof enough. It was strange, at best. Nihlus had kept all of that for himself, just in case. He loved Saren, truly, and would do anything for the old man, but that didn't mean he had to trust his every word either.

Dantius was boiling with rage when they finally signed the papers half an hour later but Nihlus didn't celebrate his victory or relax then. He'd be a potential target as long as he was on Illium, and even after. A lot of Spectres finished their career with a bullet in the head due to a bounty, especially those like Nihlus who were well known. A guy like Shaun had no worries on the subject. He could walk free out of the building without looking at the windows around, as long as his secret was kept. Nihlus, on the other hand, wished he had taken his helmet with him when he set foot outside.

"They won't try to kill you now, Nihlus," Shaun stopped and smirked while all the delegation kept on walking. "It's a little too obvious."

"People do stupid things all the time for less than that," Nihlus replied, looking around. Spirits, he should have brought heavier armor for this trip. To be honest, he hadn't thought he'd threaten one of the most influential Asari of the decade during his visit to Illium. Who was stupid now? he thought, keeping an eye on a particularly shady bush. "The Council screwed them good. Nobody will invest in Noveria now, the corporations will withdraw and the planet will be abandoned to colonization in a century or so. We know it, they know it," he pointed at the twin towers behind him, "everybody knows it, and I'm the one who made it obvious. It'll be a fucking miracle if I live till tomorrow."

"So you're leaving before us?" Shaun asked, leading the way. The lawyers still had paperwork to do. They'd stay on Illium as long as it took.

"I'm tempted to disappear somewhere for a while, yes," Nihlus nodded. Usually, in this kind of situation, he called Shepard and asked her to pick him up somewhere, but he couldn't do that. Well, maybe he could, she must have calmed down by now, but Nihlus had no desire to see Vakarian's smug face at the moment. The only contact he wanted with that face was with his shotgun breaking its bones.

"I've heard Palaven is quite nice in this season."

"Yeah, if you ignore all those Turians," Nihlus grumbled and Shaun laughed at that. Palaven was indeed the safest place he could find after the Normandy. The planet was dangerous for pretty much all species, except the Krogans, but no Krogan had ever dared walk on Palaven, which proved they indeed had a brain. Even Turian mercenaries would think twice before following him there. They could land and kill him, sure, but they wouldn't get out of the planet. Bounty hunters didn't like those kind of jobs. They preferred to stay alive to enjoy their money. "I don't know," Nihlus sighed. "Maybe it's time to retire or something. I've made more enemies in my life than friends, and I'm only fifty-one."

"I'm thirty-two," the Salarian replied. "I'd kill to live till fifty-one."

"It's not the same and you know it," Nihlus whined. "I've reached a third of my species' lifespan. I'm officially not a young adult anymore and my peers will just start to consider me as someone reliable. Actually, no, I'm a Spectre so forget about that. I'll be an outcast until I die."

Shaun turned to the Dantius Towers and waved at them. "You can do it now, he's ready!"

Nihlus glared at the laughing Salarian. "Asshole."

"Eh, part of the job my friend," Shaun smiled and wrapped an arm around Nihlus' shoulders, pushing him towards the street. "Now, can I buy you dinner to celebrate our victory?"

Nihlus snorted. He had offered to take Shepard to a nice restaurant just after her nomination, to talk and learn a bit more about her, even start their relationship on a positive note. She had stared at him with those piercing green eyes and a slightly disgusted wince on her face before declining. She had joined the crew of the Normandy instead to celebrate her promotion that evening and Nihlus had learned months later that what he had proposed to her was the lamest excuse a human guy could use to get sex as a reward. Which was disgusting and illogical, but Humans weren't known for their social skills.

"Pass," Nihlus shrugged. Shaun probably didn't know about that human custom, and he certainly wasn't the kind to try to fuck him, but Nihlus didn't want to bet on it either. Partying with the lawyers was not a good idea. Nihlus knew himself quite well. He'd drink too much or use whatever drug was on the table, and therefore be exposed and in danger. "There must be a turian ship somewhere around here leaving this planet soon. I'll ask them for a ride, I don't even care where they're going."

Shaun nodded as they joined the rest of the group waiting for cabs. Nihlus followed them to their hotel, not wanting to draw attention to his departure, and used the employees' back corridors to get out of the building discreetly. Illium had a pretty efficient public transportation system for the commoners. Nihlus jumped in the first train he found, not even caring for its destination, waited for the next big hub and took another one, going wherever the crowd went. After a good hour of commuting and keeping an eye on his rear, he found himself in a denser part of the city with a lot of activity on every level he could see. Buildings were lower but closer, barely allowing the sun to shine. Nihlus entered the first bar he found and sat there for another hour at a table with a good view on the room, a wall in his back.

Nobody tried to kill or poison him but Nihlus didn't take that as a good sign. He let his untouched beer on the table and left the bar by a backdoor. He didn't plan to find a turian ship at all, not tonight anyway. Instead, he kept on walking here and there, enjoying the crowd but always aware of his surroundings and with his shotgun within reach. Not a lot of people around carried weapons or wore armor. It made Nihlus easy to spot but he didn't care. Better safe than sorry.

A glimpse of red hair and green eyes made him stop in the middle of the street. Someone bumped into his back and Nihlus' heart missed a beat, hand already on his shotgun's handle. He was about to unsheathe when he realized it was only an angry Asari telling him to be more prudent. Nihlus let them pass without a word before checking his armor. No damage.

Idiot, he thought as he looked around, frowning. There wasn't many Humans around and he would know if Shepard was on Illium since he kept track of her – officially for the Hierarchy, unofficially for himself. No sign of her. Nihlus grumbled and started walking again but he stopped when a flash of red caught his attention from across the street. There, on a holoscreen, was Shepard's face in an ad. Nihlus stared, incapable of reading the asari language but understanding what the ad was about since it displayed alluring bodies and the universal symbols for money.

That wasn't possible. That wasn't Shepard but someone who looked like her. A lot, granted, but that wasn't her. She wasn't so pink and plumped. Her nose wasn't that straight or her skin so smooth. The real Shepard had a scar striking her left eyebrow and a lot of marks on her face. She definitely didn't wear this kind of fancy lingerie and she wouldn't expose herself on an ad for a brothel. Shepard was the kind to pay an exotic dancer to get off a table and get angry when women were treated like objects. It couldn't be her. It wasn't her.

Nihlus crossed the street nonetheless and found the brothel soon enough. Prostitution was legal on Illium and it was a very lucrative industry. Anyone could start a career as long as they were of legal age, and since the galaxy was full of weirdos, anybody could find something suitable, even if they got their kick out of strange niches like being licked by pregnant Elcors or something trashier. Of course, if an asshole wanted to fuck a kid or far worse, that was possible. There wasn't a week without a news related to Illium's darker side. Some people were really fucked up and truly despicable.

As a Turian, Nihlus didn't think much of prostitution. It was a job like another, as long as everybody was consenting. Turians didn't often pay for sex, considering it was quite easy to fuck for them. Sure, it required friends, but the typical Turian was well acquainted. Nihlus had himself a bunch of friends with whom he felt comfortable enough to fuck, but they were scattered all over the galaxy. He regularly paid for sex when his hand wasn't enough anymore, and his preferences clearly went to human women. It had started long before he had met Shepard, and since then he often searched for redheads, preferably with green eyes. Even he found that sad.

The brothel was like any other: a bar with loud music and colored lights where pretty bodies would try to get a client. They'd take a room upstairs or something like that once they'd agree upon the price. Nihlus looked around but didn't find the redhead of the ad. He walked to the bartender, a turian woman who seemed bored to death by her job. Turians rarely worked in this industry either. They usually preferred the thrilling life of mercenaries because they were used to weapons and the rush of adrenaline provoked by a good fight. But they were all officially well balanced and not traumatized at all by their years in the army, of course.

"Hi," Nihlus saluted as he leaned on the counter. "I'm looking for someone special."

The bartender gave him a cold look before pointing to his shotgun. "You can't use that here, understood? It ain't that kind of place."

Nihlus frowned. He had seen a lot of shit in his life but knowing there were places on Illium where you could shoot prostitutes for a decent price made him nauseous. "I'm an asshole alright, but not that kind of asshole."

The bartender gave him a look that clearly indicated she had seen what a sentient being could do to another, the kind that gave him shivers all along the spine. She slid a datapad in front of Nihlus with a list of the brothel's employees. It took him a minute to find the human girl and damn, she really looked like Shepard. A more naive and careless version of her. This was really disturbing but he wanted to see her in the flesh.

"Her," he pointed. "Is she available?"

"She's with a client for now," the bartender checked. "Grab a drink and take a sit, I'll tell her to come to you when she's ready."

It was a classic tactic to get the clients to spend a lot of money on booze but Nihlus played along. He paid for the most expensive dextro drink he could get here to show his good intentions to the bartender and moved to a table with a good view on the room. Girls, boys and others tried to get his attention but Nihlus sent them away each time. He wasn't interested in them and he didn't want to miss the redhead girl.

She appeared maybe an hour later, wrapped in white lingerie, her long hair floating behind her, and went straight for the counter when the bartender made a sign for her. Nihlus watched her move in the crowd, gracile and not as assured as Shepard. This one moved around people, while people moved before Shepard. She looked in Nihlus' direction and was smart enough to catch his gaze and smile. Nihlus gulped. That was Shepard's smile, strong and confident, knowing fully she was charming in her own way. He watched her come to his table, a drink in her hand, not breaking eye contact once. She sat next to him, her heavy breasts bouncing in the process, and Nihlus couldn't not stare. Shepard had smaller breasts. She was skinnier in general, hard muscles everywhere, while this one was round and voluptuous.

"Hi," she said and damn her voice was Shepard's. The make-up wasn't though. It was discreet but too much nonetheless, strange even. Shepard only allowed herself a black line on her eyes – eyeliner, that was the word – and her colored nails. This one had lipstick on and stuff all over. It hid her freckles a little. "You okay?" she asked.

"Yes," Nihlus replied, snapping back to reality. He smiled and leaned in her direction, whispering in her ear. "I'm just startled by your beauty."

She smiled a smile that said he didn't need to woo her with sweet words. All he had to do was to put credits on the table. "So, what did you have in mind, Handsome? I can do everything there is on the menu, as long as we keep it safe for both of us."

Nihlus blinked. What did he have in mind, exactly? He had walked in without thinking, like pulled by gravity. He wanted to confirm that girl wasn't Shepard, and she wasn't, but at the same time she was. How could it be possible? Okay, Shepard was an orphan and Nihlus knew she had a brother, but could it be possible that she also had a sister? A sister that ended up in a brothel on Illium? It was too big to be true. It was something else. A trap? A trap. Spirits, he was dead but he wanted answers.

"You're sure you're okay?" she insisted, standing back a little.

"What's your price for an hour?" Nihlus abruptly asked, looking around anxiously. Fuck, he had seen that Human outside, in the street. What was she doing here now? She was looking in his direction. Did she have a weapon?

"It depends on what you..."

"What's the most expensive item on the menu?" he interrupted her, standing up. "I'll pay twice as much if we go now." The girl gave him an unsure look before turning to the bartender. Shit, Nihlus thought. He'd be thrown out if he kept acting like that. "I'm sorry," he lied, "I'm not used to this and if my boss catches me here, I'm dead. I'm asking for an hour, full price up front and the same amount after."

"And what do you want to do, exactly?" she asked, still uncertain.

"I'm a boob kind of guy," he replied, giving the room a new anxious look. The woman had disappeared. Where was she? "Anything you want, as long as your boobs are involved."

"You're crazy," she said.

"Yes," Nihlus smiled back forcefully.

She stared at him a little more, her green eyes not as intense as Shepard's, and stood up. "Alright," she agreed. "Go pay Tacia at the counter but don't tell her about the second part of the payment, okay? That's between us."

Nihlus didn't complain and paid the heavy price to the turian bartender, then followed the redhead girl to her room upstairs. There was a large bed with fresh satin sheets, a pole, mirrors and lights everywhere, a fridge, and a collection of dildos and other toys. Nihlus made sure the door was properly locked before heading for the bathroom. Nobody inside. He returned to the main room and noticed at least two cameras.

"It's for my security," the redhead told him. "Why don't you sit down and relax a little, hm? Maybe we could talk for a bit and make you comfortable?"

"Yeah, let's talk," Nihlus agreed. He grabbed a chair in a corner and put it in front of the bed. He sat there backward, facing the girl who tried to look at ease around his crazy self. "What's your name?"

"What do you want it to be?" she smiled back, playing with a lock of hair.

"Give me a name," Nihlus replied, annoyed. "Lie to me, anything, I don't care, but give me a name." He didn't want to give her one because he knew exactly how he'd call her. And then he'd try to fuck her and he didn't really have time to do that. He had to get answers fast and disappear by yet another backdoor.

"April."

"April. Okay, great." Wasn't April the name of a month for Humans too? Nihlus kind of remembered Shepard telling him she was born the eleventh day of that month. "I'm Nihlus."

"Hi," she teased.

"Hi. So, where are you from, April?"

She shrugged and gave him an apologetic smile. "Does that have any kind of importance?"

"Yes," Nihlus sighed and decided to play the species card. "I'm a Turian, woman, in case you didn't notice. Fucking with strangers is weird, at best, so I gotta know you a little before anything can happen, okay?"

"Fine," she calmed him down, raising her hands up in the air. "I was born on Horizon, in the..."

"Yeah," Nihlus interrupted her. "I know where Horizon is. Any family? Siblings maybe?"

"Nope," she shrugged and her breasts wiggled. Spirits, not now. "I'm an only child and my parents are dead." That should have been a relief but it didn't feel like it. Something wasn't right. Nihlus felt it.

"You're sure?" he insisted, staring at Not-Shepard straight in the eyes. The girl looked at him back, not impressed at all, but there was something in her posture that indicated she wasn't comfortable. She was hiding something, if not lying completely. Nihlus took his gun swiftly and aimed at her. The girl opened wide eyes and whitened but she didn't scream. She gave a quick look on her left. There must have been a panic button nearby. Someone would come quickly anyway because of the cameras. "Are you sure?" Nihlus asked again.

"It's what I've been told," the girl said, her voice trembling a little.

What she had been told? Nihlus frowned but his next question was interrupted by a loud alarm wrecking his brain and screams from the other rooms. That was too much noise for his translator to pick anything up but the meaning of all this became suddenly clear when it started raining in the room. Fire. Nihlus laughed. Of fucking course.

Not-Shepard sprung out of the bed and ran for the door. Nihlus tried to catch her but her skin was wet and she slipped out of his grip.

"Don't open the door!" he yelled as he stood up, trying to cover the alarm. "It's a trap!"

"You're crazy!" she screamed back and she opened the door.

A blue flare struck her and threw her back, right on Nihlus who caught her by reflex, red blood raining on his face. There was a human woman in the corridor, her arm extended in his direction, biotics underlining her slim figure, looking at him. Nihlus let the girl fall on the ground and aimed for the woman but she pushed him back with her biotics. Nihlus fell on the bed, and by the time he was on his feet again, the woman had disappeared in the crowd. He followed her in the corridor, pushing aside the screaming employees and their clients, occasionally shooting in the air to make way, but he couldn't catch the woman. Nihlus saw her in the hysterical crowd trying to get out of the brothel. She looked over her shoulder and he caught her gaze, blue and cold. She was going to escape.

Nihlus raised his gun and aimed for her head. A punch hit him right in the face when he pulled the trigger, deviating his shot by a few centimeters and aggravating the general panic. Nihlus automatically aimed for his aggressor and saw the turian bartender ready to give him another punch.

"Not that kind of asshole, huh?" she yelled as she threw another punch.

Nihlus barely avoided it, pushed by the crowd. "That woman killed the redhead!" he defended himself. "Go upstairs and see by yourself, she took a direct biotic hit!"

"Shut the fuck up, motherfucker!"

She kicked him right in the stomach and Nihlus plowed, his breath lost for a second. He didn't have time for that, so he shot the bartender in the knee and let her fall on the ground. Nihlus pushed the remaining clients out of his way to get in the street. There was people everywhere, panicked clients of the brothel and their prostitutes, curious passer-by and other merchants, police officers running in their direction. The woman had disappeared. Nihlus yelled his frustration out loud in the middle of the crowd.

"I strongly suggest you to disappear this time," Shaun said as they got out of the police station three hours later. It was now the middle of the night but the sun was still above the horizon, messing with his internal clock. Nihlus rubbed his face. Damn, he needed a drink.

"I'm a Spectre," Nihlus replied, "I shoot who I want."

"That isn't true," Shaun contradicted him. "Spectres can do what they want during their missions but you weren't on official business when you started to shoot at people in that brothel. You're lucky few people know that, Nihlus, otherwise that cop would have had your head. And they'd be right. You injured seven people and killed two others."

"One," Nihlus corrected. "I killed one guy. The redhead girl's not on me. I told you, a human woman came in and blasted her with her biotics."

"You're the only one to claim that woman exists," Shaun growled.

"You don't believe me?" Nihlus asked, grabbing the Salarian's upper arm. "Look at the video surveillance, you'll see I'm not lying!"

"Everything burned," Shaun said, taking back his arm, "there is no evidence."

"Oh that's just convenient," Nihlus snorted. "Just like that fire, by the way. I've had time to think in there," he continued, pointing to the police station in his back, "and the only logical explanation is that the redhead had a contract on her head. Baby Blue didn't try to kill me..."

"Baby Blue?" Shaun interrupted.

"The biotic woman. She had blue eyes." Shaund rolled his. "She could have killed me too but she just pushed me back. Her target was the readhead."

"So what?" the Salarian replied, annoyed. "It's not your problem Nihlus. She probably had debts or one of her clients was unhappy or whatever. It happens all the time here. It's Illium, for fuck's sake! A thousand prostitutes die or disappear every day between those towers."

"Not all of them looks like my protegee, Shaun!" Nihlus yelled, making the lawyer jump in surprise. "The redhead looked exactly like Shepard, dammit!"

"People have look-alikes," Shaun replied. "Heck, she could have used plastic surgery to look like your damn protegee. I imagine some guys would pay a lot to fuck the first human Spectre."

Nihlus punched Shaun in the face, anger burning his insides. The Salarian slammed into a kiosk, spitting blood and saliva, and Nihlus caught him by the collar, lifting him from the ground even if the lawyer was taller than him. "Don't talk about Shepard like that," he barked, "ever!" He pushed him against the kiosk before releasing him.

"Or what?" the Salarian asked. "You're gonna kill me, Kryik?"

"With pleasure."

Shaun wiped the blood off his face with the back of his hand, looking at Nihlus straight in the eyes. "The Council will be notified of your behavior," he said, keeping his distance.

"Oh, I'm terrified," Nihlus chuckled. The threat made him want to laugh for good, actually. How many times had the Council closed their eyes on his behavior? Nihlus was too useful of a tool to them to be discarded because of a dead prostitute and a threat to a fellow agent. Spectres often had strong personalities and got into a fight with a comrade on a regular basis, especially the Turians. One like Shaun who never saw action had no idea how this kind of problem was smothered. The Council was going to give Nihlus a lecture by email, maybe even convoke him to the Citadel to tell him face to face how a bad boy he'd been, then they'd keep him there for a while, probably inform Saren of his protegee's behavior, and that would be the end of it. Nihlus really wanted to laugh at that moment.

Shaun didn't reply. He stared at Nihlus for a few seconds before leaving him here, in the middle of the street and the whispering crowd. Nihlus couldn't care less. He turned heel, without really knowing where he was going. He couldn't go back to the brothel in hope of finding clues. The Council would never allow him to investigate on the murder of a prostitute anyway, even if she was the spitting image of one of their Spectres. Of course, Nihlus could do this on his spare time, but he'd get another scolding for wasting time and resources on something that really didn't matter on the galactic scale.

No, Nihlus couldn't investigate. He needed someone to work on this case for him then. He knew just the guy for that. Nihlus just hoped he was on Illium at the time.

And he was, glory hallelujah! Nihlus thought as he watched the Drell walk in the fancy club they had elected as their rendezvous point. Thane Krios was a small green man covered with shiny little scales. He wore some sort of black leather head to toe, exception made for his chest window, which Nihlus had always found ridiculous but it seemed to please the women around him. His bad boy look might have helped too, or the calm and confident aura surrounding him. Thane could be confident. He was one of the best assassins you could find on the market.

"Nihlus," Thane saluted him as he sat on the stool.

"Thane," Nihlus nodded. He made a sign to the asari bartender, a matriarch that looked pretty angry all the time, and they ordered drinks before anything else. Drells didn't drink alcohol – it tended to dry them, which wasn't pretty to look at – so Thane sipped a fruit juice while Nihlus enjoyed his dextro beer, the kind you'd find outside of Hierarchy-controlled space. "I have a job for you," Nihlus said.

Thane had a very precise smile that didn't reach his enormous black eyes. "You're not even going to entertain me with your stories before talking business?"

"It's always the same with me," Nihlus shrugged. "People try to kill me, I kill them, in between I save the galaxy and I fuck a marvelous creature in the end. Nah, it's boring." This time the Drell was a little amused. "You've been working on something lately?" Nihlus asked before taking a sip of his beer.

"I was thinking about retiring, actually," Thane replied, playing with the little umbrella that came with his juice.

"Retiring? You?" Thane nodded, keeping his eyes on his drink. "Well shit," Nihlus snorted. "Won't be the same without you, Krios."

"Hm," Thane agreed. They stayed silent for a minute which Nihlus used to look around, just in case. "I'm sick, Nihlus," Thane eventually said. "I won't walk the earth for long and I would like to use this time to save my son from the Darkness."

"I didn't know you had a son," Nihlus replied. He couldn't care less about that but Thane was an old friend, he owed him some small talk, even if it was a waste of time.

"I had to dissociate myself from him for his own sake." Nihlus nodded. He perfectly understood that. Family and friends were liabilities in Thane's line of work.

"Maybe I can help," Nihlus said.

Thane gave him another smile which didn't reach his eyes again. "You're not the kind of person to do something out of goodwill."

"I'm not," Nihlus confirmed.

"This must be important."

"It is." Sort of, he added for himself.

Thane looked at his glass and Nihlus let him do that patiently. Drells could be quick as lightening during a fight, but otherwise they took their sweet time in everything. They were a contemplative people. They liked long walks in the sunset and endless philosophical discussions embellished by poetry. Some species were just meant to disappear, if you'd asked Nihlus.

"I want you to find my son," Thane eventually said. "This should be easy enough for a Spectre like you."

"That's it?" Nihlus asked, surprised. "That's your price? That's something you can do by yourself, you know?"

"I can find my son but I cannot reach him in the Darkness." Nihlus did his best to not roll his eyes. Drells and their mystical bullshit!

"Alright," Nihlus sighed. "I'll find him and drag his ass out of trouble or whatever hole he's in."

"His name is Kolyat. He's a Drell."

No shit. "Don't worry," Nihlus said, patting Thane on the shoulder, "I got this."

Thane nodded. "What can I do for you, then?"

"I want you to find a human woman."

"This is something you can do by yourself," Thane gently mocked.

"My bosses won't allow it."

"I'll take care of her," Thane agreed.

"That's the thing," Nihlus ticked, "I don't want you to kill her."

"You don't?"

"No," Nihlus shrugged, playing with his bottle of beer. "I want to kill her myself."

TBC

Edited on 2015, August 22nd

Note
Thanks for all the reviews last time guys! I really appreciated it!