Chapter 30

Since she saved his team on Omega, Garrus had already admired her. Later, that admiration turned into respect and then into friendship. He found himself teetering on the edges of trust and worship when he began to work with her.

Not once had she shown this sort of fragility—anger, maybe, and a little bit of madness—but never weakness. Even as grey blue eyes met his—they were neither Allison's nor Legacy's. Brittle and as weak as ice, if he pried he could push her control—

And lose her trust or what little she gave him, judging by the state of their friendship. She didn't need anyone but herself and she wasn't afraid to hurt him if it meant this distance could be maintained. If he was a good turian, he'd back down and wait for the next moment to strike.

Except he wasn't a good turian and any weakness exposed by the target was the bread and butter of any marksman. Legacy wasn't the type to be cooed or coddled—not the way Sensat tried. And no distant overlooking helped either—like Mordin's and Aria's method. She needed somebody who would fall into hell with her and back. There was no, as Butler would say, pussyfooting about it. If he wanted to be that person then he would have to fight for it.

He had her in his crosshairs, his finger on the trigger.

"Why are you crying?"

She looked away. "I'm not."

"Don't lie."

"I'm not lying."

"It's in your voice."

"I don't have sub-vocals." Her voice was monotone. "You're over-reading."

Garrus hummed. "So, you just really like the pendant?"

"Yeah." She turned away. "Thanks."

"I—want us to be, well, us. Before—everything. You think you can live with us?"

"I—"

"No is not an option."

"Vakarian—"

"Garrus."

"Fucking hell—are we still on that?"

He chuckled. "We never got off it."

Even with eyes a different color, the glaring was all Legacy. "I don't think I like the sound of your voice."

"You're human. You don't understand sub-vocals." He shrugged. "You're over-reading."

He could tell she tried very hard not to smile and her efforts succeeded. Only he knew her too well not to see through her side glance, her step backwards, her long sigh. "Vakarian, I don't think you understand all the motives behind what I did to Sensat. And even all the days before that when I was being shitty company. So let me put it into words: I want us to be as we were supposed to be, professionals kept at professional distance. And when this is all over, we can go our separate ways and be none the wiser."

He let her have that silence. Apparently, she was hoping for it and when she thought she had won that was when Garrus asked: "Why?"

"Why?"

"Yes. Why?"

"What do you mean why?"

Garrus crossed his arms and leaned back on one foot. Of course, he was channeling her and she knew it. If looks could kill, Garrus would be double dead meat by now. "I mean why? We worked well together as friends, as a team. Why do we need to go back to those days where we knew nothing about one another when we both know that isn't true?"

"Because it's dangerous."

"Why is it dangerous?"

"Because you don't know me. You don't know what I'm capable of. And I don't want to be put in a position where I have to actually care about what you think of—"

What you think of me. She caught herself just in time but they both knew she screwed up there. Legacy wasn't usually wound this tight; she had higher and sturdier barriers. Instead she seemed to be fracturing, little by little, there was something wrong. Not that she would ever admit it to anyone.

"Legacy." He began. "I don't know who you are, not completely. And I already figured out most of the bad parts."

"Meaning?"

"Hm. To put it lightly: you're a bitch and you're not afraid of reminding people. A more detailed description: we don't share the same ideals and it's not supposed to work out between us but it does and that just freaks the hell out of you. So, you're doing the best you can to make this hard for me and it's not working so that freaks you out even more."

"Hah."

He narrowed his eyes at the challenge he saw in her casual stance. "But the one thing you don't have to worry about is my opinion of you. It isn't going to change. Besides, I'm officially still a vigilante—I do enjoy my dose of danger."

"So, what are we?"

He blinked. "What do you mean?"

She motioned at the space between them. "Us. What are we?"

"We're—" His mandible hung open for a bit before he clicked them shut. He could have said friends but the dynamic was too close for even that. A family. A team. Partners. All those things at once and then not at all, not really. Grey, grey, grey. Nothing about them was black and white.

Shit.

"You don't know, do you?" She was regaining her strength. Building up the walls to insurmountable levels. She let out a low and breathy chuckle. "Talk is cheap, Vakarian. I suggest you make declarations when you actually understand what you're getting into here." She motioned between them again. "Until then, there will be nothing here."

Concussive rounds may have made the impact but in the end those bullets were empty. When he found some strength to say something—anything—Victus and Orion entered.

"Vakarian, Allison." The General nodded at both of them. "I hope your discussion is over?"

She was a little glad that in terms of who had more luck, Vakarian always picked the shorter straw. Easily, she shifted back to business, sidestepping Vakarian before he could barter or riot—there wasn't any time for this relationship thing. The mission always came first.

"For now," She put out her hand. "I don't think we officially met. Tara Legacy."

"Indeed." The General gave her the official turian shake by grabbing her forearm. She shook Orion's arm too and motioned for them to enter the briefing room. "Before we begin our meeting—I just want to know why you're involved in this investigation, Legacy."

She smirked at him, leaning forward on the meeting table with both her hands. "I was hoping you'd ask that, sir. And I hope you have the time to listen because it's actually a very long story. Have you heard of Commander Alenko?"

The General tilted his head up. "The human who was killed by a geth attack?"

"You sound like you don't agree."

"Let's just say it was an awfully convenient thing to say when the Citadel was attacked by a giant ship with weapons like we've never seen before. But what does this have to do with our investigation and your involvement?"

"Everything you see—Alenko is alive." She locked eyes with Vakarian. "And I'm helping him out until he can move again."

"The Commander—"

"Is being rebuilt by the criminal organization, Cerberus. They managed to pick up what was left of his body in Alchera with the help of a mutual friend of ours, Vakarian. According to my Intel, the Commander is nearly put together. They're just waiting for him to wake up."

"You knew this whole time and you never thought to tell me any of this?"

Vakarian was practically seething, if turians could actually seethe. She folded her arms against her chest. "Is it upsetting, Vakarian?"

"I just thought you would have the decency to tell me something like this—something that concerns me—and not have to hide it." Like everything else, was left unsaid.

She shrugged. "And if his resurrection failed? Would you have the fortitude to handle that sort of knowledge? To know that a friend was being artificially assimilated by a long time enemy—only to find out that they've failed? There was no reason to let you know about Alenko until it was time."

"You're saying this incident has something to do with Alenko's proclamations two years ago." Victus took control of the conversation with a hard stare directed at Vakarian. Immediately, Garrus crossed his arms and looked away, saying nothing in reply. "The existence of Reapers."

"Do you believe it yourself?"

"I don't deny it, no. Nothing can quite explain that attack on the Citadel two years ago. Not even geth."

"Then, before I tell you more we have a bargain to settle."

Victus put his hands behind his back. "Meaning?"

She put more weight on her hands. "I give you the Intel you sorely need to finish this investigation on the disappearances of prominent turian officials. As well as help you fix the mess, if necessary. In return, you'll owe the Commander the support he may need to fight the Reapers in the future—whether that be a squad or an entire fleet."

"You think just you helping us is enough of a bargain for thousands of turian soldiers? Their lives? Their sacrifices?"

"The war Alenko is fighting won't be a small scale thing. I'm sure you've heard of mass disappearances—human colonies disappearing overnight? The Council is convinced that this is solely a human matter, regardless of the fact that humans are now considered a Council race. No amount of strong arming will convince the Council that humans need their intervention or that their races are involved in these disappearances as well. Unless—they were actually involved and they find out you knew and did nothing about it."

It wasn't blackmail, not really. Only the suggestion that they probably wouldn't be able to move from there seemed to set the turians off. Worst, it was enough to set General Victus's blood on fire in spite of his usually calm leadership. He bore his sharp teeth at Legacy with a smile. "You're saying that the disappearing turians—small as they are—are meeting the same fate as the humans. That this is bigger than I think it is."

"Chances are high."

"And that we won't be able to move forward in this investigation without your help."

She smiled. "Of course you can."

"So why would we need you?"

She tilted her head. "Time."

"Shit. General." Orion looked all the more distressed. "The brass is only giving us—"

"I know about the deadlines."

"So," Legacy didn't smile now—she let the tone carry the rest of the conversation. Of course, none of them were happy. "What will it be? Will you owe me that debt that could potentially save your people in the future? Or will you wait till time runs out on you?"

There wasn't much hesitation on General Victus's part to shake hands. They exchanged information—developing an action plan to infiltrate a facility they both found common in their Intel.

Throughout it all, she felt Vakarian's steady stare on the back of her head. Very soon it was unlikely they would see each other again after this unless she chose to keep helping Alenko. The chances of that were small.

This would likely be the last time they worked together.

She told herself it was for the best.

Edited 06.22.2014