Chapter 35

Anamanaguchi: Jetpack Blues, Sunset Hues

"Anybody home?" I shout, heading through the front door of the house and into the living room as I fold my helmet back into my armour and move to my locker. Evan didn't even try and follow me home, much to my surprise. I made sure to cover my tracks regardless, but I'm almost certain the Blue Suns man stayed in the tent after I left. I might not trust him, but at least he's not enough of an idiot to try and turn on me. Not while we have a common goal. I can extend him the same courtesy.

Course, I need to make sure no-one finds out about my new friend…

Silence greets my call, despite the fact I'm almost certain I heard people moving around when I walked in. Huh. Well, most of the squad are out sabotaging eezo shipments, so it should be only Laet and Monteague left. Guess they went to bed already. I reach into the locker, grabbing a change of clothes as I move towards the shower room, located nearby the stairs leading down into the vast basement area. Maybe not the best place for it considering most of us sleep upstairs, but as Melanis pointed out when I first brought it up, the house wasn't exactly designed to sleep twelve people.

I can just get changed in there, though. And I seriously need the shower…Omega always has this closeness to the air, a humidity born from sub-par ventilation and a constant battle between species between temperature in certain parts of the station. Combine that with running and jumping across rooftops, and…yeah, you get the picture. Lovely.

Dumping my handgun and other equipment, I snatch up a towel, already beginning to loosen the seals on my armour as I amble up to the corridor leading to the showers, whistling aimlessly to myself. I can probably enjoy this, make myself some pasta, then look at the files until the rest of the squad turn up and try to figure out the best way to get to an Ardat-Yakshi. And not get killed by her.

The fucked up thing is, it might be Morinth. I know she's supposed to only get to Omega just before Shepard recruits Samara…but hey, canon's been fucked up enough before. Samara might be behind on the trail, for all I know. We're close enough to ME2 events for it to be possible, and Samara's psychotic daughter isn't something that appeals to me, considering I've seen what she can do. Which is both a blessing and a curse. Samara's loyalty mission lets me know what buttons to push with her…but they also mean I'm going to be freaking out, knowing what and who Morinth is. Being absorbed to make her more powerful isn't exactly high on my list of priorities.

Assuming she's even involved. I'm not sure if Ardat-Yakshi can make eyes bulge out like that…but then again, I've never seen a victim of one, so I've got no idea. The rest of the theory fits too. As does the idea of a toxic gas being spread. But we can't rule either of them out until we're absolutely certain.

I suppose it's a good thing Morinth doesn't go for looks, considering you could make your Shepard an absolute trollop and she'd still bite. For her, at least if she gets the opportunity, it's all about the power she can take from the person she chooses, and her senses are sharp. Morinth might not specifically know I'm Deadpool, she might not know I'm not from this universe, but I'd bet my life savings she'll be able to get a scent of something from me. A scent that'll probably drive her crazy. If only I had that effect on women who aren't vampiric killers.

I sigh, pulling off my armour gauntlets as I walk past Laet's workshop on the way. I guess I'll have to co-ordinate with Evan tomorrow and see what the plan for getting me mind-raped is. Can't fucking wait.

I suddenly whirl around as the lock on Laet's door suddenly disengages, and I raise my hands in a defensive position…as I see him and Monteague staring at me. "Hey guys," I say, lowering my hands slowly, frowning at the weird looks they're giving me. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Monteague replies quickly. Is it just me, or does he sound out of breath? "We thought we heard someone come in, but we weren't sure. We were…"

"Monteague needed a hand with some calibrations," Laet says, barely stifling a laugh as the drell glares at him. Am I missing something here?

"I thought Garrus was the best for calibrations," I say. Laet practically has to shove a talon in his mouth to stop himself from descending into hysterics at that, and even Monteague smirks. "What? I'm being serious!"

"Sure, sure," Laet nods, looking like he's regained some kind of composure before he descends into flanging giggles again, mandibles rapidly widening and pressing back in as he does so. "So, uh…where have you been?"

I shake my head, deciding to just the subject of whatever private joke they have going here. The two of them can have fun with it. Even though I dunno what 'it' is. "Crime scene. You've heard about the serial killer, right?"

"Who hasn't?" Laet replies. "Lurking in the shadows at night, causing the eyes of humans to simply pop out at the sight of him." He leans in conspiratorially. "They say he's a demon. Something that only humans fear, that the sheer mention of him sends them running away, screaming. His name drives people to insanity, but the sight? At the sight, the body simply kills itself to escape."

I give him an unimpressed look. "Where'd you hear that rumour?"

"I started it," he shrugs, throwing up his arms as I roll my eyes at him. "What? I used to do it all the time back on the Citadel when any big news happened. Brought the customers back, since they figured I had all the insider gossip."

"And I used to wonder why the station got into such a panic over stuff sometimes," I sigh. "Thank fuck you were an armour merchant rather than a journalist."

He gives me a confused look. "Technically, I was both. They had to get their stories from somewhere, right?" I just gawp at him, before his face turns into the turian equivalent of a trollface, mandibles stretched all the way out as he opens his mouth in a mocking smile. "I'm joking, Ian."

"You'd better be," I mutter, turning to Monteague. "In the interest of getting a mature point of view on things, what's your read on the killer?"

"I'm curious as to how the effect on the eyes is produced," the drell muses, blue scales shifting as he breathes in. Laet's also breathing heavier than usual, so I dunno. Calibrations might be harder than I give Garrus credit for. "If I had a moment with the bodies, perhaps I could tell…"

"I should be able to get you a toxicology report," I say. "I know it's not quite as good as the real thing, but it ought to help, right?"

"Of course," he nods. "How will you obtain that, though?"

Aw, crap, awkward questions… "I'll just nick it off the mercs." Both aliens look like they don't follow. "Nick as in steal. I'll steal the files off them, at least when the post-mortem is done. Which might be a couple of days."

"They'll be keeping those files in a secure compound," Laet says, sounding unsure. "You're going to get in there, by yourself?"

"And a post-mortem shouldn't take more than a day if carried out quickly," Monteague adds.

Holy shit, they're tearing through my cover already. Literally in seconds. Funny, how lying about being from a completely different universe is easier than this shit… "A couple of days gives me enough of a window to be certain the results will be out," I explain, trying to keep my poker face on. "And a compound is no bother for me, you know that."

"That's not what Melanis says," Laet replies.

"Well, sometimes she's as full of shit as you are," I say, a little too harshly due to worry about slipping up. Monteague and Laet both look at me, before they burst out laughing.

"Touchy subject," Laet chuckles. "Didn't realise she had her talons in you that much, Ian."

"Right," I say briskly, "I'm getting a shower." I turn to walk into it, then suddenly swivel around. "And she does not have her talons in me. Whatever that means."

Monteague apparently deems it necessary to add his two cents worth, as he clears his throat. "You do get…riled, when people talk about her in regard to insulting you."

"I only just got used to it from her," I say. "I'd rather it just stayed between me and Melanis, rather than everyone else taking a pop at me too."

"It is almost like you enjoy it from her, but not anyone else," Monteague chuckles.

"And it's almost like you're reading way too much into it," I reply, turning to head into the shower room. "If you need me, I'll be on my bed, reading through the files I recovered. I don't want to keep you from Monteague's calibrations."

Laet's mandibles widen in a small grin, despite him obviously trying to control his expression. "We've got plenty more to do with them," he says.

"Well, you have fun with that," I reply, heading to the shower room as the turian and drell practically run back into the workshop, and the door locks red behind them.

Huh…odd guys. I wonder if Laet knows Monteague's gay?

##########

I run a hand through my hair as I look through the files again, desperately hoping some concrete proof that eliminates an Ardat-Yakshi pops out the screen and punches me in the face.

No such luck. The one time I'm literally asking for something to punch me in the face, and it doesn't happen.

I drop the datapad on the bed next to me, lying back and sighing. I really don't want to do this. Especially if it's Morinth. My earlier theory about Samara being behind on the trail seems a bit unlikely, though. Maybe she came to Omega, then fled to Ilium, then back here? Even if it's not Morinth, the fuck does it matter? Ardat-Yakshi on the loose are as bad as each other, to be honest.

I quickly open my omni-tool, typing out a message to Evan. He'll probably be done at the crime scene by now, plus the two of us should get used to keeping regular contact about the case. I suppose I may as well start the attempt at teamwork with the guy who works for our sworn enemies. No-one else is around, so…

Had a look through the case notes and found fuck all :P . Looks like we're going to have to hunt down the Aradt-Yakshi tomorrow, unless you've found something.

Hmm. I could make it a bit light-hearted. It alleviates the thought of me potentially being absorbed by an asari. It's not even like Morinth's sexy.

So, I'm really praying you've found something, cos being bait for a killer isn't my idea of a good night.

Ah, that's not even that funny. Wait, why do I even care? It's not like I'm trying to fucking date the guy.

Anyway, just get back to me with the plan. Or if you manage to track down any leads. Cheers.

I press send and lie back again, running things through. Vents and a toxin. Wouldn't leave a forensic trace of the killer…though they probably would've had to be on the scene to release it due to the localised effect. Which means there should be something. Rather than a total forensic blank. Plus, the only people killed so far have been humans. Could be a fetish on the Ardat-Yakshi's part, or it could mean something else entirely.

Theories, theories, theories. I hiss out a frustrated noise through my teeth. Having nothing concrete sucks. At least Xenvalis was considerate enough to leave us enough evidence to track him down. He did dislocate my shoulder and practically kill me when we did that, mind, but still.

The now familiar sound of the squad shuttle knocks me out of my thoughts, and I sit up in the bed to look out the dorm window, just in time to catch it descending in to land. No-one called ahead, so presumably the mission was a success. Whatever the mission actually was. We've been sabotaging eezo shipments for about a month now, same tactic as we did with Mirki'it's red sand, and it's working rather nicely. Of course, Eclipse has more resources than a drug dealer, so it's taking a wee bit longer. Wouldn't hurt to go and check on the team, though. Sitting here thinking things over is getting me nowhere.

I hop out of bed, calmly walking over to the stairs…then suddenly freezing as I hear a familiar Scottish accent swearing loudly as he barges into the living area, across into the comm. room, then locks the door behind himself. I look over the stair rail, to see Garrus sighing in exasperation as the rest of the squad file past him.

"Looks like Butler had a good time," I say, making Garrus look up in surprise, then roll his beady eyes. "What's up with him?"

"We saw an old friend of his at the spaceport," the turian replies, as I take the last few steps and move closer to him while the rest of the squad starts putting their gear away.

"They obviously get along really well, then," I say sarcastically. "Did it fuck up the mission?"

"No, it just meant we all had to make sure he didn't get himself killed trying to get to this guy," Garrus sighs. "Says he was called Ripard Davies." Ripard? The fuck kind of name is that? "The two of them have a past."

"No shit, Sherlock."

"That's all he would say," Garrus replies, hint of a growl in his voice at my remark. "He mentioned Ripard when he first came on the squad, said he wanted to find him, but that's all I know. I'll give him some time to calm down, then we'll see what this is really about." He breathes in deeply, obviously settling his own temper before looking back at me. "Did you find anything at the crime scene?"

"I've got a few things to look into, nothing concrete," I say vaguely.

"Did you run into any Blue Suns?"

I feel myself looking away as I answer. "Yeah, you could say that. It's taken care of, though, I didn't have any bother."

"Good," Garrus nods. "I kind of miss the old cases. At least the bad guys didn't have entire merc companies out to kill us." He chuckles dryly, mostly to himself. "Keep me updated on it, anyway. I might be able to help."

"Will do," I lie. Garrus walks off to deal with the rest of the squad, leaving me standing by myself, feeling like a right asshole. Garrus and I…we don't have secrets. We don't lie to each other. The only big lie I ever held was my origins, but now that's gone, we agreed to be completely open with each other. Except I'm hiding the fact the squad's gonna be betrayed, and that I'm now working with a Blue Suns mercenary. If he found out, he'd probably tear my head off and use it to beat Evan to death…with is pretty much why I can't tell him. There's a certain irony in the fact I know him too well to tell him the truth, even though I hate doing it.

I look around, noticing the lock on the comm. room changed from red to green. Ah, I should go and check on Butler, see what's going on with him-

A small trill from my omni-tool makes me pause and lift up my wrist to check it. New mail from Evan…

I've got an idea.

Yay!

But not enough to take the Ardat-Yakshi off the table.

Aww…

You remember how there was virtually no forensic evidence?

Yeah…

Well, I've been thinking. Either our killer cleaned up really well after themselves, and I mean one hell of a cleaning job, or they were wearing something that doesn't let any forensic evidence out. Like an exo-suit.

Ah, smart…

Volus or quarian. And considering the most vicious thing a volus can do is run into your ankles, I reckon the quarian idea might be the best one to run with. I've got a guy I can ask about this stuff, Golo'Mekk…something something, I can't fucking remember those quarian names.

Wait, wait…Golo. Why does that sound familiar? A quarian informant on Omega called Golo…is the guy in Mass Effect: Ascension. Holy shit. I thought he only worked for Cerberus, but I imagine a guy like him will just take money where he can get it. Plus, at least as far as I'm aware, the big attack on the Flotilla during Ascension hasn't happened yet, so that explains why he's here. Quarian community is quite tight-knit on Omega too, even if the vast majority are all exiles. Generally speaking, quarians are nice, but the exiles…they're the murderers, rapists, psychos. Which the quarians just dump on other planets, which is awfully helpful of them.

Anyway, I'm going to see what I can get from him. Golo's a right prick, though, so he might not play ball. If he does, I'll let you know what he says. As for tomorrow…you know more about Ardat-Yakshi than I do, so you suggest when and where we meet up to do this. I'll bring the garlic, crucifix and stake. I roll my eyes at that. Later.

"And what might this be?" a familiar flanging voice asks, making me jump about a metre high as I rapidly close the message window and turn to look at Melanis.

"Nothing," I say, way too quickly. Asides from Garrus, and maybe Grundan, Melanis is the last person I need finding out about Evan…

The female turian gives me a curious look. Oh fuck, she saw, she saw… "Please don't tell me you were looking at that Fornax subscription Garrus got you."

I breathe out the breath I was holding in. It's not great, but at least it could've been worse. "Well, you know I can't resist the krogan section." Melanis' eyes widen in horror. "I'm joking."

She gives me a relieved look. "Thank the spirits. You were about to lose any respect you've managed to gain."

"Not a massive loss, then."

The turian's mandibles widen in a grin. "Not so much. So, what were you looking at?"

"I…uh…" I shrug, frantically trying to think of an excuse. Unfortunately, now my mind's just stuck on krogan porn. "Can we just forget about it?"

Mel's expression changes back to shock. "Sprits, it was actually Fornax, wasn't it?" Well, the excuse is right in front of me…

"It wasn't krogan."

"That only helps so much."

"I was just checking to see how to cancel the subscription," I say, feeling like I'm digging myself a massive hole. "It's still not working. Honest."

"Fine," Melanis says, giving me a hugely sceptical look. "I'll believe you…for now." There's a brief pause, then she seems to think of something. "So, how's the hunt for your serial killer?"

Fuck, I wish people would stop asking that… "About as good as you can expect after my first look at the crime scene. Couple of leads, nothing concrete, I'm looking into it."

"And here I thought the great Detective Shaw would have the case solved already," Melanis says sarcastically.

"Hey, I'm working on it," I reply, bristling. "This ain't fucking Cluedo." I pause briefly. "You don't know what Cluedo is, do you?"

"Not at all."

"It's on a par with I-Spy, that's all you need to know."

"Then I'm glad I've never heard of it," she chuckles. "So, what kind of leads do you have?"

Ah…may as well tell her a bit, sate curiosity. "Toxins are looking likely for the eye effect, but I can't be certain," I sigh. "Can't really be certain about much, actually. There's fuck all evidence."

Mel's voice turns somewhat tentative as she replies. "Maybe I could…help. Two minds are better than one, and all that."

"Are you serious?" I ask. Come on, she's gotta be trolling. Melanis is never this nice out of the blue. "Or is this some kind of sick joke you're playing?"

"Of course I'm serious," she says calmly. "If this case is giving you trouble, I'm here to help."

"I…" Wow. She's genuinely being sincere. "Thanks. I'll let you know if I need anything." I can't help a small smile slipping onto my face. "I appreciate it."

"No problem. I know it can be hell trying to work alone."

"I thought working with me was your version of hell?"

Melanis chuckles at that. "Only one of many." The two of us stand in silence for a couple of seconds, smiling, kind of unsure what to say.

"Well, I'm gonna go check in on Butler, so…"

"And I'm going to go see Garrus for a debrief, so…"

"Right. See you around."

"Good luck with your case."

I shake my head as I walk off towards the comm. room. She's being oddly friendly recently. I mean, sure, she still takes the piss out of me on a regular basis and all that, but the genuine hatred I used to feel seems to be getting gradually replace. It's quite nice, actually.

Butler's just sitting, staring down at the floor as the door slides open and I walk in, causing him to tilt his head slightly towards the intrusion.

"You alright, big man?" I ask, taking a seat next to Butler as he looks up at me next to the video console, trying to give me a small smile as he does so. It doesn't really work.

"Aye, I'm fine," he replies. "Just calling back home. I couldnae let Nalah not know about me seeing Ripard again."

"Nalah's your wife?"

"Nah, she's my hamster," Butler says, chuckling. "Course she's my wife, you daft bastard."

I laugh too, happy to see he's obviously not in too much of a bad way. Talking to his wife probably helped. "She's doing okay?"

"Not bad," he nods. "We miss each other. She's talking about moving to Omega, so we wouldn't have to."

"That's not a bad idea," I say. Would've been nice if Tali had done that for me…but hey, I'm over it.

"It isn't?" Butler asks. "Come on, Shaw, really? We've both lived here long enough to know Omega's shite."

"I'm pretty sure she knows that too," I reply. "But she still wants to be here with you. Hell, there's room enough in the base. I'm sure someone with a room will switch to a bunk so the two of you can have it."

"I told her I'd think about it," he shrugs. "I'm no' even considering it until Ripard's out of the way, though."

I fold one leg over the other, settling back. This is probably gonna be a bit of a story, so I may as well get comfortable. "Why? Who's Ripard?" Butler looks at me for a couple of seconds, then sighs. "If you don't want to tell me…"

"Now I know where he is, I ought to be open with everyone," he says. "You've been a good friend to me, Shaw, may as well be you first. You remember what I said about a lot of crap happening between me and the Blue Suns?" I nod. "Well, Ripard's the wee bawbag who made it happen. He was in charge of my squad when I was with the mercs. Useless prick. He couldnae have led a primary school cake stall if he'd tried."

I frown at him. Something there doesn't quite add up. "Wait, Ripard was your boss in the Blue Suns? How'd you see him at an Eclipse smuggling operation?"

"Bastard obviously switched sides to whoever was paying him more," Butler mutters. "I don't care who he works for, anyway. Doesn't change the fact he's mine." There's a genuine hatred in his voice when he says that. I don't think I've ever seen Butler this pissed, actually. The normally good-natured Scot has his hands balled into fists, his whole body tensed as he glares down at the floor. We stay like that for a few seconds, before he breathes out, loosening off and looking back at me apologetically. "Sorry. Just…it runs deep between us."

"I can see that," I say, still surprised at his outburst there. The worst part is, he looks so old after it. He's only in his thirties, but those stress lines shouldn't be setting in until at least ten years from now. "What'd he do to piss you off?"

"This goes a bit beyond just pissing me off," Butler replies, chuckling, though he obviously doesn't find this funny. "Ripard and I had professional disagreements when I was working for him. I joined the merc groups for the legitimate money, but Ripard was all about ripping off everyone we could. He knew I didnae like it, but then he wanted to try stealing from one of our biggest contractors. They're a pharmaceutical company, big factory line on Omega, but they hire mercs in for private security. Our group got the deal, but Ripard reckoned we could look for any research inside we could sell to other companies."

"You bailed out, right?"

"Aye, course I did. Told him I didnae want a part in his stupid fucking scheme and left. They caught him trying it on the job, of course. They didn't kick him out, but he got a demotion. Absolutely fucking convinced I'd sold him out. This was about when I went back to Glasgow, met Nalah, started to settle down. Everything's all good for eighteen years. Until my son, Scott, wants to run off and follow in his dad's footsteps as a merc. Nalah and I didnae give permission. Course, that didn't stop him hopping a shuttle once he'd left home."

I'm unconsciously leaning forward now, listening to the story. "Scott became a merc then?"

"Aye. Eclipse," Butler nods. "This was a year or so back. Nalah and I knew he'd gone…then one day, we get mail from an Eclipse address." He looks down, gulping a tiny bit. "Scott was KIA. Killed in a crossfire between rival groups. Course, when I got the bottom of the mail, I saw who'd written it."

"Ripard Davies."

"Fucker led my son into that crossfire and left him to die," Butler growls. "I never expected Ripard to get back into merc work. But a lot changes in eighteen years. He knew Scott was my son, so he let him die to get back at me. Then he sent that mail to let me know, to get back at me for something I didnae even DO!" Butler yells the last word, pounding a hand into the wall in anger. He breathes in deeply for a few seconds, then starts talking again, voice shaking but calm. "He wanted me here. He's been waiting for me. His fucking mistake. I'm no' letting him get away."

"None of us are," I say firmly. "Not after he did that to you. I mean…shit, Butler, I'm so sorry you had to go through that-"

"I dinnae want sympathy," he says calmly. "I just want Ripard dead. I haven't seen him for the year I've been here, but now he shows up, working as Jaroth's lieutenant on this. The wee bastard's finally broken cover, and it's payback time."

Well then. Fuck. As vendetta's go…it doesn't really get much more personal for this. And for good reason. This Ripard asshole killed his son. "Whatever I can do to help, let me know, alright?"

"Aye, I will," he nods, clapping a large hand on my shoulder. "Thanks, Shaw. I'll ask Grundan to scan the mercenary files we have for him. And I want someone I trust helping me with this. Once we find him, you're coming with me." Ah, that'll fuck up stuff with Evan…but this is more important. Than a serial killer. I think.

"I'll be there," I say. "You can count on me." Butler gives me a curt nod as I rise to my feet, heading through the door and sighing as I move back up the steps towards the dorm.

So. Let me run through the checklist. I've got a serial killer to find, Ardat-Yakshi to get seduced by, Blue Suns ally to keep hidden, personal vendetta to pursue, and potential crossover with Ascension events.

Well, so much for free time this week.

A/N: Another squad member's past revealed! And yes, in case you haven't guessed, Ripard is a bit of a bad guy. Multiple cases FTW.

So, next up, Ardat-Yakshi time…and more of the hunt for Ripard. It's more of an either/or situation as to which one comes first. I'm leaning towards Ardat-Yakshi, so that'll probably be it.

Anyhoo, thanks for reading and reviewing, and I'll see y'all next chapter!