Author's Note: Just so you guys know, I posted two chapters today. So you might want to skip back a page and check it out. Also this chapter takes place two years after the trip to Earth. To prevent confusion, Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year and, yes, it would take place in October of 2179. It is also one of my favorite holidays as it involves eating lots of sweets. :)
October 2179
The doorbell rang and broke Charlie's concentration. "Can someone please get that?" The strained note of anxiety pulled through her voice. She heard it, but didn't bother to correct it. Why had she had that fool notion to cook so much food? It was just for the four of them.
The ringing of the chime sounded a second time through the kitchen. "Holy shit, Garrus. One thing, one thing I ask you to do! Can you just answer that damn door?" Charlie punctuated the sentence with a slam of the oven door, which she immediately regretted. Garrus had been in and out of the kitchen the entire day. As her appearance and mental fortitude had slowly eroded, his annoying question of "Is there anything I can do to help?" had only succeeded in driving her further into madness.
Charlie wrestled the annoying (when had everything become an annoyance today?) apron off her head and briskly walked out of the kitchen. A large turian blocked her path.
"Who was it?" Charlie asked not unkindly as she saw the strained look on his plates.
"It's … Nihlus." He replied with a very avian tilt of his head.
"What? I didn't invite him." She replied as if that would make the interruption go away. "Alright, I'll take care of it. You need to keep an eye on the baklava. It'll be ready in … about fifteen minutes, but you're going to need to check on it. The top needs to be brown, but not too brown. It needs to be crispy, but soft. We don't want dried out baklava."
The wide-eyed expression he gave her prompted them to speak simultaneously.
"You know what just ask Grace to check." She said as he said. "I'll ask Grace."
Charlie made the short journey out of the house and immediately found the turian sitting in her chair on the porch. Instead of acknowledging him, she made a show of slowly sitting down in the opposite guest, usually Garrus', chair and lighting a cigarette.
"What are you doing here?" She asked.
The turian lazily turned to observe her and noted her bedraggled appearance. Charlie noted his with a flicker of concern. Nihlus was dressed in full armor, which was highly unusual for him. "What kind of party are you having in there? It has to be the good kind if you are covered in white powder."
"This is flour." Charlie responded dryly. "You didn't answer my question."
"I'm not invited?"
"No, you are not." Charlie said firmly. "We have a strictly professional relationship. Inside is for family only."
With a smirk and a raised eyeplate, Nihlus responded. "Is that what we have, Nacht, a professional relationship? If you consider this 'professional', then that explains how you were able to get away with so much during your C-Sec years."
Charlie smiled in spite of herself. "Point taken. You didn't come all the way to Elysium for an invitation to my Rosh Hashanah party, so why are you here?"
"You owe me a favor."
"I do?" Charlie knew exactly what Nihlus was talking about, but feigning ignorance was the only gambit she could come up with. She had been dreading this conversation for a while now.
"You're right; you actually owe me two favors."
Charlie closed her eyes and forced her lungs to not betray her with a sigh. "What do you want?"
"Nothing too difficult. I want you to come on a little trip with me." Nihlus offered a smile, but Charlie detected just a hint of a falter. He was tense. Which made sense since Nihlus was not the type to call in favors. He was more of a collector.
"Where?"
His eyes darted from hers so quickly Charlie almost missed it. "Omega."
"No, absolutely not." Her reply was forceful and immediate.
"Why? Aren't you a little bored here? Come on, Nacht. It'll be fun. Grace is almost eighteen; she can take care of herself for a little while." Charlie noted that his argument was exceedingly weak and wondered what that meant.
"A Spectre doesn't have that much power out in the Terminus Systems." She stated as she mulled over the concept. Every conversation and interaction with Nihlus had been a battle. This one was no different. "So why would you go out there and why drag a former cop with you? Neither of us has any power nor influence out there."
"You wouldn't be going as a former cop; you'd be going as a silent partner who can be fairly intimidating."
"I'm much more interested in why you are going out there."
Nihlus broke his eyes from Charlie, stretched his legs, and stood. His armor could not conceal the growing tension between his plates. "Because you were right. Cerberus is staging something on the Citadel. There are now three districts under their control. I don't have proof, but you were right Nacht. I'm going out there to try and find out for myself. Whatever their plan is, it does not bode well for the Citadel."
Damn it.
You're going aren't you?
Yes.
Damn it.
I know.
"I have a job here. I don't know if I'm going to be given that much time off on such short notice." Charlie lied to the turian. Her position had once been a flexible one as a security consultant, but she had slowly accrued more and more responsibilities until she was essentially Director of Security for the now planetside Jon H. Grissom Academy.
Nihlus' response was a knowing nod of his head, but the subtle movements of his plates spoke volumes.
He knows that you have plenty of vacation time saved up and they've been harassing you about taking it.
How?
"Fine, but I have some requirements." A sharp jerk of Nihlus' head spurred her further. "I want a new suit, I'll send you my measurements and specs. This trip will not last longer than a month. Also, I'm not leaving until this weekend is over. I've put too much time into planning it."
Nihlus immediately stretched a too quick arm out to seal the words. "Deal, but this still only counts as one favor you owe me."
Charlie considered arguing the point with him, but instead clasped arms with him and then he was gone. Stubbing out her cigarette, Charlie huffed a sigh and walked back into the house. She attempted to compose herself for the conversation with Grace and Garrus.
"Well?" Garrus said abruptly from directly in front of her. Charlie jumped back startled in spite of herself. "What did he want?"
Charlie pulled the band from her hair and shook out the loose curls. The action relieved some of the tension she was feeling. "He asked for a favor."
"And you said yes. What is it?"
"I'm going on a trip. It'll probably be a fairly long one." Charlie said as she sat down on the low table in the foyer. She scowled at the protesting creak under her weight.
"Where?"
"Really, you're just going to harass me with questions?" Charlie wondered if Garrus could see her scowl under the curtain of black curls.
"Yes." Garrus replied with a smirk that said he had seen her expression. "That is until you actually tell me what is going on."
"Smartass." Charlie sighed. "Fine, little-prissy-ass-Spectre is scared to go out to the Terminus systems all alone. So, I'm accompanying him to Omega." Her judgment on Nihlus was far from fair, but the levity helped her at the moment. "Garrus, it's about Cerberus and the gang problem on the Citadel. I have to go."
Garrus' eyes narrowed at the pleading tone in her voice. "I'm not arguing that it doesn't sound important, but why you?"
She shrugged. "I owe him a favor, or apparently two."
Garrus made a thoughtful noise before he swiftly crossed the room and made her crane her neck to keep her eyes on him. "He's making you a Spectre. This is all of the classic signs. Take you out on a mission and witness how you handle decisions."
Charlie stood up and pushed Garrus back a step. "That is not happening." She said the words in her best stern commanding tone. "Even if that's what he thinks he is doing. I am not going to become a Spectre and I believe I still have the final say in what happens in my life."
"You're a fool if you don't believe that there is another reason for him taking you to Omega with him." Garrus said in a low voice.
Charlie was about to respond, but Grace's voice called from behind her. "Baklava is done and the lamb is out of the oven."
"Okay dear, call Micah and set the table. We'll be there in a moment." Charlie turned back to Garrus, but his face had shifted from serious to concern for her. She gave him a smile she did not feel and said. "Well it's a hell of a way to start my new year."
Grace woke up before the adults. She swiftly put on her clothes and crept quietly out of her room. Last night had been interesting. It was supposed to have been fun and a break from the pressure of her senior year, but instead it had been intriguing. Grace had never met Nihlus. She supposed that she still hadn't met him, but now she knew a little bit more about the sometime lover of Char. It was definitely odd that Char never invited him over and the few times that Grace was sure that he had been in the house Char had carefully hid all of the evidence. Grace had her theories as to why her guardian acted in such a perplexing manner, not that she would ever ask directly. That was not her style. Char always emanated protectiveness towards Grace whenever Nihlus was around. There was also an undeniable slant of guilt that tugged at the corners of Char's mind. Grace never even considered intruding on Char's thoughts and unraveling the mystery. Again that was not Grace's style, and it was an intrusion, she preferred to gather hints and clues around her and fit the pieces together like a puzzle.
After Micah had left that evening, Char had told her about the unexpected trip with Nihlus. Grace was not particularly concerned about the woman's safety until she felt the subtle anger and protectiveness from Garrus wash over her. Char was naturally resonating her usual arrogant confidence. Grace knew there wasn't much that she could do to prevent her from leaving. If she was being truly honest with herself, Grace was a little excited about having the house for an entire month. She was, after all, seventeen and Micah had grown into such a handsome young man.
A sudden intruding presence cut off anything thoughts that had threatened to form about her high school sweetheart and Grace quietly slipped out the front door before the courier could ring the chime.
"Package for Charlotte Nacht." The salarian announced briskly.
"She's my mom, I can sign for her." Grace said in a sweet smooth voice.
"No, it has to be individual the package was sent to. There is a privacy clause on this -" The salarian paused and looked blankly at Grace.
"Just sign here and here." He handed her the datapad and she calmly accepted the large package.
"Thank you." She called to his retreating form. Grace knew that she shouldn't have done that, but sometimes the urge was too great to resist. She hardly ever got to practice her abilities and the touch she had used on the courier was feather-light. Just a gentle nudge and his mind shifted under hers.
Grace carried the heavy package inside and only briefly considered waking Char up before she opened it. The plastic box opened and revealed two smaller packages nestled within. The first box was metallic and bore the imprint of Kassa Fabrications. Grace set that one aside as it was simply armor and was wholly uninteresting. The second box was a much smaller and lighter plastic case with no identifying marks. Grace lifted this one into the kitchen. She carefully stepped around the sleeping turian on the couch. Her feet remembered the creaky places in the floor and deftly avoided them. Her fencing lessons had given her more control over her own body.
She opened her prize on the counter and was a little shocked at what she found within. Little bottles of hair and iris dyes lined the inside of the case, along with a palette of makeup that was perfectly matched to Char's skin. Grace carefully read the labels, but her curiosity had been sated and left her alone with anxiety. Char could handle many things, but disguises and espionage was definitely not her strongest suit.
"Do I look like a man? I feel like I look like a man." Charlie asked Grace in a worried tone. Her hair was short now and closely cropped against her skull. Only a slightly longer top that was coiffed off to the right of her face resembled femininity.
Grace put her hands on her slender hips and huffed again at Charlie. "No one is going to mistake you for a man." She directed a pointed look towards Charlie's abundant chest and rolled her eyes. "Now stop moving, I'm doing the color."
Red. Her hair was red. It was a dark gorgeous red on anyone else, Charlie thought, but on her it just felt so wrong. Grace had even adjusted the color of her dark eyebrows. The green eyes were wrong too. Charlie's eyes should be a light grey-blue, the ever shifting hue had been her long companion and a gift from her grandfather. The green eyes that stared back at her called her a liar. She was not going to be able to do this. How could she pretend to be another person if her hair and eyes were going to shout her identity so loudly?
"Alright I'm done." Grace looked at her creation with her head tilted to one side before she made a small sound and disappeared into a drawer. The device she came back with caused Charlie to stand and protest.
"No, I'm drawing the line right there. I am not going to straighten my hair every single day. If God wanted me to have straight hair, I would have been a pale white girl."
Somehow the slight woman Grace had grown up to be managed to push Charlie firmly back into her chair. "You are not allowed to talk about God, Ms. Gene Mods. This is what us in the 22nd century like to call a hair straightener. You will notice that it does not iron your hair flat. Instead it changes the shape of your hair follicles. Now it won't last forever, but it'll last for a good six months."
Charlie closed her eyes. "You promise that my hair will come back?"
Grace giggled at the woman's vanity before deftly sweeping the device over Charlie's scalp. "I promise."
When Grace's machinations were complete and Charlie had stepped into the beautiful matte black armor with gold trim, it was startling how much she looked like a different person. Charlie was forced to admit that her hair had turned out quite nicely. The dark red strands would catch the light and unnaturally reflect a shimmer of gold. She turned from side to side and stared at the new face observing her. Grace, however, was frowning at her.
"It's the nose isn't it?" Charlie poked at the large broken fixture on her face. "No amount of makeup is going to help there."
Grace frown deepened. "Well, at least, your skin has gotten darker with all of this natural sunlight. Maybe you look different enough to mask your identity."
"Well let's hope so." Charlie said before she swept the woman up in an aggressive embrace. Even though Grace was seventeen, she was still so small that Charlie could pretend she was a little girl for a little longer. "Thank you, for your help. I'll miss you."
Grace responded with a mumble into her shoulder. "I can't hear you. Did you say to squeeze you tighter? Well alright then." She felt the girl trying to get a hold on her, but Charlie easily avoided it and quickly trapped her arms. "Aw, I love you too." A bright blue glow surrounded Grace and a firm, but gentle force pushed Charlie free. "Nicely done, dear." She said in a proud voice.
Grace gave her a falsely exasperated expression. "You are impossible."
"I just want to make sure you'll be fine without me. Remember what we talked about. Keep your head down and -"
"Check your corners and keep moving." Grace finished for her with another exaggerated eyeroll.
When Charlie emerged from the room, Garrus' face told her that the disguise might actually work. There was only a briefest flash of confusion and wariness before his features softened and he recognized her.
"Your fringe, uh, hair is all red." Garrus brilliantly commented.
"Used all of your C-Sec training to figure that one out, didn't you?" Charlie smirked at the turian.
Garrus ignored the barb and slowly circled her. "Does it hurt to cut your hair?"
Charlie chuckled at the very turian question. "No, it's mostly dead cells. Here." She abruptly snatched his ungloved hand and forced it into her hair.
Garrus made a brief chirrup of disgust at the sensation before his manner turned curious again. "Oh, it's soft and thin. I'm sorry. It's too weird." He pulled his heavy hand back and became serious. "That looks like expensive armor, Charlie."
Charlie looked down at the suit. It was manufactured by Kassa Fabrications which made the top-of-the-line armor for humans and it was the most recent release of the Colossus line. In addition to possessing the best shields Charlie had ever seen, it also came with a built-in medigel dispenser and integrated hardware for all sorts of applications. It was also rated for long term use in non-hospitable environments. The helmet, which Charlie would begrudgingly take with her, had a completely plexi-glass front. This negated her only real complaint about the bulky piece of equipment, that it hindered her peripheral vision. The suit was probably worth half of Charlie's yearly salary.
"Yeah it's pretty pricey." She said lamely, knowing full well what Garrus was going to say.
"And Nihlus had it delivered to you within twelve hours of you agreeing to do the mission with him."
"Yeah."
"Didn't you tell me that he had already put in a request for your leave of absence before you agreed?" Garrus said.
"Yes, he did." Charlie scratched the back of her head, without realized she had stolen the nervous habit from Garrus. She had already been over all of this in her head yesterday. "So he's yet another arrogant turian who I am forced to work with." She said dismissively.
Garrus finished his circle of her and stopped directly in front of Charlie. "I'm not concerned about his arrogance. I'm concerned that Nihlus won't watch your back."
"I'll be fine, Garrus." Charlie gave Garrus a crooked smile.
"Sit." Garrus barked the order in a commanding tone and Charlie sat down. "You have no idea what you put me through when you charge blindly into danger. You are a reckless whirlwind and, yes, it might be effective, but half of the time I'm stuck trying to put you back together. Now you're heading to the Terminus Systems with someone who left you bleeding out on the step of Huerta the last time you were in a firefight." His voice had become progressively more heated until he was yelling at Charlie. A blue flush was stretched across his neck. "I know I can't stop you from going, but don't leave me here with empty words as a comfort. You probably won't be fine. You'll probably be injured doing something incredibly brave and stupid."
Charlie watched the plates on his face shift under the strain of his anger. "You're right I probably will. That's who I am. I'm not the smartest person or the most reasonable, but I get results. I need the results, Garrus. I left one arm of the Citadel in shambles when I moved to Elysium and I didn't have any proof of where to point the finger. Now I'm being given a chance to fix that. I'm not going to Omega as a favor; I'm going to Omega to get some answers. I'm sorry I lied to you. I probably won't be fine, but I promise that I will come back with a few new scars for you to yell at me over. Okay?"
When she finished her response, Garrus offered her a hand to stand up and they looked at each other for a long time. Finally, Garrus sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "I don't think I can take you seriously with green eyes."
The joke was an olive branch and Charlie's laughter was her acceptance.