Here is the next chapter. It is a little longer but I wanted to include two vital scenes. Of course one is the budding romance between Claire and Garrus, but the other is a scene with Luke that becomes extremely important later on in the future. We also see a little bit more of Mallory than other chapters. If you are a Mallory fan, don't worry. She still has some major parts to play. Please R&R and enjoy!
Claire collapsed on her bed. They would have about twelve hours of down time before they reached Tuntau. Wrex had been training with the hand-to-hand combat module when they came back on board. He claimed that the pirates they were going after liked close quarters combat. Claire decided to get some rest rather than jump straight into the training. Fighting rachni for four hours straight was not easy work.
"Commander, I mean, Claire, you mind if I come in?" Claire smiled to herself as the two toned voice reached her ears. Garrus stepped inside closing the door behind him.
"What's on your mind?" Claire said sitting up. She felt like such a mess. She still had helmet hair and was covered in sweat. She was still in her under-armor suit that clung to her skin like a wet blanket. She immediately stood up and found a pair of old training shorts and an N7 tank top which she set down on her small bathroom counter. The captain's cabin may not have been much, but in a sense it was its own little apartment. Claire had a small shower with a sink and vanity, a desk desk with an omni-screen, and a bed that she hardly ever seemed to use. There was an open area with room for physical training but she preferred to be down in the hold with the rest of the team when she trained she liked seeing their progress and talking with them if she saw a move or technique she had not seen before.
"I thinking that if we end up on the Citadel again sometime soon… maybe… um… well, you know… um…" Claire smiled. What was Garrus so nervous about? What was this about the Citadel? She stepped into the bathroom and changed into her shorts and tank top quickly. She could shower after she found out what Garrus wanted and got some rest.
"You have a hot date or something?" Claire asked from the bathroom. She paused and listened to try and judge the turians reaction, but nothing verbal came.
Garrus smirked at his thought. Spirits, I hope so.
As Claire rounded the corner in her shorts and tank top, Garrus' had to really concentrate to keep his eyes from wondering. Seeing Claire as the beautiful woman she was rather than the armor clad or uniformed soldier was breath taking to say the least. "So how is your hot date with?" Claire asked.
"I don't have a date. I was just wondering if… um… you wanted to go to the range with me. You said that you wanted to see who was the better shot." Claire smiled. Although their dinner together had turned into a crew dinner, she had really enjoyed getting to spend at least a little time just being herself with the turian rather than his commander.
"I did, and you better bring you're a-game Vakarian." Claire responded. She enjoyed shooting at a range. There was something about shooting at target that was not a living being or a synthetic life form that was actually relaxing.
"That's all I really wanted to talk to you about." Garrus said standing there for a moment longer before turning to leave.
"Garrus wait." Claire taking a couple steps forward. The turnian turned around to look at his extremely attractive commander yet his eye could not settle on anyone one part of the beautiful woman. "Look, I've been having trouble sleeping thanks to these stupid visions from the beacon. Would you just sit and talk to me for a while? Just until I fall asleep."
"You want me to bore you to sleep?" Garrus asked looking over at the door somewhat hurt by the implication.
"No, not bore me. Relax me. Tell me about Palaven, about your family, the way the weather is where you grew up. You know, that kind of stuff." Claire said sitting down on her bed.
Garrus stood there for a moment. It sounded like boring Claire to sleep to him but she really seemed to want him to stay. He sighed and nodded crossing over to the desk to sit down.
"No, no, come sit over here next to me please." Claire said patting the bed beside her as she settled into her pillow. Garrus swallowed a lump that immediately formed in his throat. His mandibles flared for a brief moment before he sat down on the opposite side of the bed from Claire.
"I'm not sure where to start. Palaven is like… a planet…" Garrus started. He had never tried to describe Palaven to anyone. Not even himself. "I grew up on the outskirts of the capital. My sister would sit on our back patio and watch the military shuttles fly over."
Claire listened as Garrus talked about his sister and growing up with her on Palaven until she would see the greenish blue sky and the turian ships soaring over.
Garrus continued to talk until Claire rolled over to face him and startd to use his thigh as a pillow. The turian cleared his throat softly and leaned back settling his back against the headboard of her bunk. He slowly placed his hand on her shoulder with a slight smile. Claire let out a soft groan of comfort as she nestled closer to him. Garrus smiled slightly.
"Get some sleep Claire." Garrus said rubbing his thumb on her bare arm. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
000
Claire woke a few hours later; at least she thought it was a few hours. She glanced at her omni-tool lazily and slowly got up. Garrus was asleep on the bed next to her with his back against the wall like a guard watching over her. It made her feel safe, like nothing could hurt her.
This is crazy. Not only is he an alien, he is my brother's friend and a member of my team. I have to remember N-school. Do not place anyone in your group above the others. The mission must always come first. Claire shook her head. She didn't want the mission to come first. Not right now, not when she was laying in bed with a wonderful person keeping her company. Just for once she wanted to do something impulsive and stupid, reckless and unthinking.
"Commander, sorry to wake you." Joker's voice came over the intercom.
"What's up Joker?"
"We're about an hour out from Tuntau. Figured you'd want to know." Claire checked her omni-tool again. She and Garrus had been a sleep for nearly ten hours. The longest amount of sleep she had gotten since Eden Prime.
"Right, have Wrex, Luke, and Mallory meet me in the cargo bay. What is Ashley's status?" Claire said slipping into the bathroom and closing the door.
"She is up and moving. Dr. Chawkwas says that she will be sore for a few days but no permanent damage."
"Thanks Joker." Claire turned the water on for her shower. She would need to get clean if they were headed out on another mission. At least clean enough that Luke would not comment on her smell in the Mako. As this point she really did not care that Garrus was still in the room on the other side of the door, at least until she head the cot creek as he got up to leave.
"Garrus, I want you in the cargo bay ready for this mission. It's a favor for Wrex." Claire shouted as she stepped into her small shower.
"Headed there now Commnder." Garrus answered. He was glad she could not see him. He was fighting internally on whether or not to stay and try to say what he wanted to say. But with Claire's orders to prepare for the mission, he headed for the door. There would be plenty of time at the shooting range when they headed back to the Citadel.
000
The turian pirate and three of his men were on their knees in front of Claire. Wrex was holding the ancient armor that the alien had stolen from his forefathers. There was a look of thanks, admiration, and even some pride in the krogan's face.
"I can't believe my ancestors wore this piece of crap, but at least it is back where it belongs. I owe you for this one Shepard." Claire smiled before looking over at their prisoners. Luke was walking in front of them with his pistol in his hand.
"Luke, just lock them in a crate. They don't have any information that we need." Claire shouted as her brother knelt in front of the turian pirate.
Luke looked over at his sister then back to the turian. "Do you want to tell her what I found in your files, or should I?" Luke looked straight into the turian's face and flipped the safety off of his pistol, placing the barrel up under the turian's mandibles.
Tonn Actus looked up at the human with hate in his eyes. He spat in the youth's face and muttered something inaudible under his breath.
"Okay, I'll tell her." Luke said wiping his face with his hand and immediately standing a delivering a sharp kick to the turian's groin.
"Was that really necessary?" Mallory asked as she watched the Actus roll in pain on the floor.
"I think so…" Luke's demeanor complete changed as soon as he was talking to her. He waved Mallory over to him and Claire. This must have been something big. "When I was going through his files I noticed something kind of off about some of his sources and income."
"What about them? I mean he is a pirate. I'm pretty sure you'll find all kinds of stuff in his files." Mallory replied.
"This guy has been in business for a long time. He sold the defense outlines for Mindoir to the slaver fleet that attacked it. He sold the routes and rotation layouts of the Elysium local forces for the Blitz." Both hit home for Claire. All three Shepards had survived Mindoir in some capacity or another, but the Blitz. Claire had been award the star of terra for her actions of holding the line alone until alliance reinforcements arrived. This bastard was responsible for all of it, or was he one that gave them the intelligence to succeed where they would have failed.
"That bastard." Claire looked over at the turian.
"Claire, you and Mal should leave." Luke said his eyes locked on to Actus. If there was hate in the turian's eyes before, pure wrath burned in Luke's
"Luke you can't just…" Mallory started but Claire raised her hand.
"I authorize any and all force necessary to deal with the prisoners. Luke, deal with them. Garrus, Wrex, we're headed back to the Mako. Luke will join us in a minute." The phrase was one of the most difficult things Claire had ever said. The decision went against everything that she believed in, but Tonn Actus was a pirate that had already proven to be a major threat against humanity. He needed to be dealt with, and it seemed that Luke was the only one who could bring himself to do it.
Garrus stopped next to Luke. "You want me to stay? Watch your back?"
Luke smiled. "But at a distance. I want them to think that we are alone. This is not like Saleon. This is much more personal." The turian nodded. He understood. He would want retribution as well.
Wrex stopped next to Luke. "Make him suffer." Wrex said patting his friend on the shoulder.
Luke looked over at the krogan and nodded. The turian was not going to be comfortable by any means. Garrus had slipped into the crates and was covering his human partner.
Luke used his omni-tool and unlocked the other prisoners shackles. "You have a choice. Walk out of this shelter with your hands up, turn yourselves into the Citadel authorities when they arrive, and spill your guts about everything your group has been involved in including where every base is, who are the leaders, and what all of your businesses are, or stay and die the way your leader is going to."
One of the men was immediately on his feet and headed out the door with his hands in the air. The others did not move.
"Well, one's all I really need anyway." Luke whipped his pistol from his side and executed all the pirates but Actus. The human knelt in front of the turian once again looking him dead in the eye. "I know who you have had dealings with and I want a real time trace and location for a batarian ship and its captain. Give it to me and I will end it quickly for you, if not, I'll have to resort to other manners of persuasion."
"Torture me all you want. I won't talk." The alien said. Luke smirked. The turian had no idea what an interrogation was.
"I'm not going to hurt you…yet. But I wonder what the Turian Hierarchy would pay for a former separatist ring leader? You think they would be as gracious as me? I hear their interviews are done with sharp pointy instruments and they can take weeks."
Garrus listened as Luke talked to the turian. Luke was a damned good interrogator, he was playing on Actus' fear of pain rather than pain itself. It was a useful tactic that the turian military used from time to time, but Garrus had never seen someone put it into practice.
"The hierarchy would never believe you." Actus said. Luke smiled.
"You know what I use to do for a living? I was a C-Sec officer and my job was to find criminals and arrest them. Some went almost as far underground as you did, but if they kept a shoelace from a combat boot from their first mission, I could use that shoelace and hang them with it." Garrus smirked. Luke had used that analogy before when he was explaining from of his investigative tactics. All he ever needed was just enough proof to make circumstantial evidence in to a solid case. Luke punched in a few codes to his omni-tool and brought up some of Actus' files. A holo of a group of turians armed to the teeth appeared and Luke highlighted one of them.
"Where did you…" Actus started but he immediately stopped realizing he was playing straight into Luke's hands.
"This is you during the turian civil war with four known separatist leaders. The fact that it was found in your files with documents linking you to your old identity are more than enough to convince even the most skeptical of the hierarchy. Now, let's try this again. I am looking for the batarian ship, Brofka, and its captain, Kullack. Where are they?" Actus' mandibles flared as Luke crossed his arms tapping his pistol against his bicep.
"I hear he is living like a king now. Running a prison in the Bohak system. He had at least 300 men under his command, and fifty personal slaves along with another thousand that he rents out. There is no way that some human gets to him. He is out of your reach." Luke punched in the information into his omni-tool and smirked.
"It looks like you were telling the truth. I've got a fix on him. I'll let him know who betrayed him." Actus snarled up at Luke as the human looked down at him. Luke turned and started to walkway punching in a few more commands on his omni-tool.
"You said you would end it quickly!" The turian shouted.
"That I did, and this interrogation did end very quickly. Now, let's see what the hierarchy wants me to do with you." Garrus' jaw dropped. Was Luke really walking out on his word?
"Luke, you told him that you would end it quickly. I have never seen you break a promise." Garrus said.
"I said I would 'end it' quickly. I never told him what exactly 'it' was. Besides, this should earn Claire a few favors with the Turian Hierarchy, and I know that those guys are not gentle. This bastard will get what he deserves. A slow painful death." Garrus sighed and fell into step next to Luke. He did not agree with turning the pirate over to the hierarchy but Luke was right. It would earn Claire and the Normandy crew a great deal of support from the Turian Hierarchy and the military. It could prove useful if they ever did have to fight an army of geth head on.
As they exited the bunker, Claire approached Luke with her arms crossed. Luke knew the question before she even asked it.
"He's alive. We are handing him over to the Turian Hierarchy for processing. I got all the information out of him that I wanted. Anything else is Palaven's business." Luke said. Claire nodded.
"I half expected you to be dragging what was left of his body out. What made you decide not to kill him?" Claire asked.
"The Hierarchy will pay for his capture. Besides, turian interrogators are nowhere near as gentle as I am." Garrus looked over at his friend.
"I still think he should be executed right here and now, but I guess I understand why you are doing it this way." Luke and Claire looked over at the turian and started to laugh.
"Okay, big guy, next time we catch a dangerous criminal, you can shoot him through the head. How's that?" Claire said placing a hand on Garrus' chest. The alien felt his heart flutter slightly as seeing her hand on his chest, even though he could not feel it through his armor.
"Works for me." Garrus remarked.
Mallory watched as Her brother and sister Joked around with Garrus. She could not understand just how Claire and Luke were about to enjoy themselves and laugh on missions like this. While true that Luke was not a soldier, he had the capacity to be cold and calm on a mission, but unless he was angry to the point of flying into a rage, or distracted by something, he would have made a damn fine marine. Claire on the other hand was a soldier and first class officer, ever since they had graduated from N-school, Claire had always been professional in her duties. Their bother seemed to be bringing out the old pre-military Claire. It was odd seeing that after over a decade, but Mallory could not switch the military training on and off. She had to be one or the other, a soldier or a civilian. Mallory just could not bring herself to be playful and goofy with her siblings anymore. There were times that she felt left out but Claire and Luke were much more like each other than like her. Her brother the rogue cop, her sister the hero spectre, and her, the professional marine; they made quite a trio. Quite an effective trio indeed.