The hospital sat in a busy section of the metropolis on Illium. Shepard stared at the skyscraper behemoth of a hospital towering in front of him. The sheer size of the tower dwarfed in comparison's to Shepard's nervous optimism. Tali walked up beside him with an unbreakable gaze that through messages of hope and concern. Shepard looked at her briefly before he nodded to her and walked into the hospital with Garrus close behind.
The hospital was a bustle of Asari and salarian doctors and nurses. They didn't appear to be in a hurry, but the first room was more chaotic than the restrooms after Gardner's Surprise Gumbo. Shepard walked up to the front desk where an impatient Asari nurse fiddled through the varying phone calls on her headset and the paperwork that was laying in front of her. She looked up briefly a raised a finger for Shepard to wait.
"Good! The mechanic! Room 3A down the hall's holo-vid player is broken!" the secretary said looking at Tali.
Tali's eye twitched under her mask. A burning hate began to fill her, but before she could say nasty things to her Shepard chimed in.
"She's not the mechanic… She's my wife. We are here to see Liara T'Soni?" Shepard said easily hiding his anger at the busy woman.
"Liara T'Soni. Liara. Liara. Liara. Ah, yes! Liara T'Soni!" The woman said as she flipped through the patient directory. "Room…" She smiled. "3A, down the hall on the right." She looked at Tali as she laced her hands together and rested herself on her desk. "So could you…?"
"No…" Tali said, angrily.
She sighed. "What a shame…"
They walked down the hallway that led to Room 3A. Shepard, with his curious behavior, looked into each room he passed to see what was happening on Illium. 1A had a Salarian with a fork stuck in his head; 1B had an elcor with glitter in his eye; 1C had an Asari, that from what Shepard could see, couldn't sit straight; 2A had a pink Asari dancer; 2B was empty; 2C had a veil up so that people couldn't see the person laying in the bed, but from what Shepard could see, or at least guess, it was a Krogan.
3A seemed much more luxurious than the other rooms. Shepard walked into the room and looked immediately at the bed. Empty. He looked over at the room's balcony to see a table and a familiar head. Shepard smiled as he walked over to the door to the patio to find Liara sitting at a table on the balcony. She sipped at the tea or whatever they had given her to drink before she looked over to see who was visiting.
"Shepard!" Liara said, weakly. She tried to stand, but her body buckled under the strain and she gave up. "Forgive me that I cannot stand to greet you…" She said humbly.
"Don't strain yourself Liara. You are still very weak. We want you to rest and get back to your old self again." Shepard said.
"I won't be able to return completely…" Liara said, sullenly.
She moved the blanket that was keeping her warm to reveal a cane.
"The bullet clipped my spine… There won't be any severe effects, it's just that I am going to be stuck with a cane for the rest of my life…" Liara said, nervously shifting the stylish black cane in her hands.
"I'm sorry to hear that…" Shepard condoled.
"Yeah… So I hear that Vido is dead." Liara said, changing the subject.
"You get information fast." He almost laughed out.
"Well I had a source that was there." Liara said, smiling.
"There?" Shepard looked around. "We were the only ones there." Shepard said.
"Forget me already?" Came the strong and familiar voice of Krog from the doorway.
Shepard quickly turned to him, but found him buried in a double wrap of blood soaked bandages. One half of his face was covered in the bandages along with his chest, his arm was in a sling and his leg was in a cast, yet he still smiled and appeared to be ready to fight at any time. Garrus had never met the Krogan before, but from Shepard and Tali's reactions, he assumed that this was Krog that they kept talking about. Krog slowly limped into the room. A passing nurse came in to help him, but he brushed her off.
"So Shepard…" Krog plopped down on Liara's bed. Liara smiled slightly at him. "Your promise…"
"You can't be serious?" Shepard asked.
"I'm not… not yet, but I expect that fight one of these days Shepard. You and your beautiful wife, Mrs. Tali'Zorah are invited." Krog chuckled to himself before coughing quietly.
"Why do you want to kill me and Tali so bad?" Shepard asked.
"You are the hardest thing in the galaxy to kill! Why else? I was originally only after you, but luckily your wife graced me with her blade" He rubbed the scar on his neck. "And I simply had to take you both!" Krog laughed again.
Tali shifted her stare from Shepard and Krog. Both appeared to be in a gaze that, if broken, would erupt a fight that would leave one of them gasping for air on the ground. She didn't want the conflict to escalate, but she had to agree with Shepard on this one.
"Why can't you leave us alone?" Tali asked.
"Why didn't you leave the fate of your homeworld alone? It is because that is the thing that motivates people to live! I have no point in living if it wasn't for you and Shepard!" Krog laughed heartily and coughs. "I enjoy our games though we can never seem to finish them…"
"Krog…" Liara started.
"Liara! I didn't see you there! Come here and join the party!" Krog exclaimed his merry manner.
"Shepard…" Liara said, extending her hand out to him.
He grabbed her hand and helped her up to her shaky feet. The cane clanked against the tile flooring with soft cracks. Krog watched her as she made her way over to the bed. She sat down next to him and put her hands on his. Shepard looked at her hands and how she looked at Krog.
"Liara? Are you in love with him?" Shepard asked.
"What if I am?" Liara asked, defensively.
"We are best friends Liara, and he wants to kill me… Those seem reason enough to yes or no…" Shepard reasoned.
Liara had never told Krog and they had simply acted like they loved each other, but neither had out-right came out and said it; they believed it showed weakness. Liara stared deeply into Krog's eyes trying to make him say it first, but Krog only chuckled at her.
"Yes… Shepard…" Liara said without looking at him.
"You love someone who wants to kill me!" Shepard yelled.
"Yes, he wants to kill you, but he doesn't hate you Shepard. You are his hero! Can't you see that?" Liara said, rubbing her hand through a groove of a deep scar on his neck, Tali's cut.
"I see that Liara, but if he tries to kill me, I'm going to have to kill him!" Shepard told her.
"I know…" Liara said, smiling as she fell closer to Krog.
Shepard collected himself. Now is not the time!
"I'm sorry Liara. I didn't mean to… I'm happy for you…" Shepard struggled to say as Krog threw him another smile.
"I understand your hesitation Shepard." Liara said, finally turning to Shepard.
Shepard nodded a few times, feeling a bit out of place with Krog in the room. He decided that this was the best time to leave so he made his way to the door.
"Shepard!" Liara called after him.
"What?" Shepard asked, standing in the doorway.
"I just got some news about your mercenary, Zaeed Massani." Liara said, looking at her Omni-tool.
"Is he already making trouble?" Shepard asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"Define trouble… He just reclaimed his title as head of the Blue Suns and is gathering a meeting with the other mercenary bands." Liara said, mechanically.
"Great…" Shepard said through his teeth, as he ran out the door.
He passed a quarian in the hall who seemed lost.
"Room on the right at the end of the hall!" He yelled as he pushed through the crowd. He didn't even see the quarian wave an unsure thank-you to him.
Much of the run over to the back alleys of Illium was aimless running around, but eventually Shepard gained his bearings and ran to a opening in the buildings. Zaeed and a group of Blue Suns mercenaries were about to board a shuttle by the time Shepard made it into the opening.
"Zaeed!" Shepard yelled.
Instantly, the mercenary guards turned their guns on him. Zaeed stepped out and put his hand on the one guards gun to drop it. The guards looked at him curiously, but turned back to Shepard, Tali, and Garrus just in case they pulled guns.
"What do you want Shepard?" Zaeed asked.
"What are you planning on doing?" Shepard asked.
"I'm taking back my rightful spot as leader of the Blue Suns… I thought you would know that Shepard." Zaeed said, rubbing his bandaged faced.
"What are the Blue Suns going to do when your in charge?" Shepard asked, again.
"What else Shepard? When the time comes for it, we are going to help you fight the Reapers, and I promise you that the mercenary groups will listen to me, and if they don't…" Zaeed tapped his rifle. "…they better be ready for a fight."
Shepard laughed. "Well I guess I'll be seeing you around then…"
"Maybe Shepard… I have a lot of work to do to clean up the mess that Vido made, but you can count us in on your Reaper battle." Zaeed said. "And Shepard… Some interesting news for ya… It turns out that the sniper that shot your Asari friend or whatever wasn't a Blue Suns Merc. In fact, he wasn't a merc at all… from the news that has been flowing through Illium lately, at least what my associates say, is that it was the Shadow Broker."
"An assassin?" Shepard asked.
"It would appear so…"
"But Vido…"
"He was just using it to make himself terrifying… like he was every…" Zaeed explained.
Shepard thought about it as the doors to Zaeed's shuttle closed. He quickly looked back at the shuttle, but he could only smile at the stubborn soldier. He waved, but figured that Zaeed wasn't watching. He turned back to Tali and Garrus who both gave him respectful nods. Shepard smiled and flipped open his Omni-tool as he walked. Entry: Shadow Broker.
The meeting place was dark and foggy. Pip never enjoyed going to these places, but he went wherever the Shadow Broker told him to go. He was to tell no one of these meetings, nor the location of such meetings which only made Pip more nervous. People believed that Pip the Psychotic Salarian was simply bipolar or schizophrenic, but no one knew the degree of his worries. Pip always appeared talking to himself as he walked, but few people ever noticed the space that he kept around him. No one ever noticed how he would glance over to nothing on his right, quickly straighten his view again and apologize.
The Shadow Broker saw this opportunity in Pip, the perfect messenger. The Shadow Broker bet that even if Pip talked no one would believe him and that only the receiver would be the believer of the message which was equally wrapped up in a code that would quickly make the most suspicious people doubt the liability of Pip's info.
Pip sat nervously at the prearranged chair that had been set up. He shook like a leaf, looking in every direction, trying to catch the Shadow Broker's face or at least it's species. He looked to the right. He looked to the left. Right. Left. Pip felt the strong familiar hands of the Shadow Broker, or at least from what he could tell belonged the Shadow Broker, wrap tightly around his shoulders. His body ceased to shake, but his heart fluttered like a terrified moth.
"The Messenger is to send the message: 'Asari delicacies are of Turian delight. Turians find Humans Enjoyable, but Humans Object to the Salarian's Proposals. Interject! Turians and Asari are in Love.' The message is to be sent accordingly to these coordinates. If you speak, you will die. If you hint, you will die. If you run, we will find you. If you are late, you are expendable." and just like that the pressure disappeared.
Pip quickly turned around, but the figure had melted into the fog around him, encroaching, suffocating, satiating. Pip quickly stood, rubbed his hands together and left. The airways of Illium were exceptionally busy today from Pip's view, so he decided to walk instead.
