Tali paced up and down the alley, looking behind her every couple of seconds, checking both entrances for the umpteenth time in the last half hour. She kept close to a large crate that stood perpendicular to the alley's direction; this way if things went sideways and the shooting started, she would have cover no matter from where they came. Unless of course, they came from both sides at once...

Dammit. Fre'eg.

She was in over her head, and she knew it. When she had set out to capture a Geth memory core, she would never have imagined that suddenly every thug in citadel space would be after her. Well, she never would have imagined to find an ancestors – damned audio file of a council spectre discussing his treason either. Life was funny like that, apparently.

I could be safe with C-Sec right now, and Saren could be in jail. But no, why listen to the vagabond. She's probably a thief, too. Turian det'kazuat fre'eg.

She wasn't even sure which of the two Turians she hated more, the murderer or the C-Sec officer who had turned them away. Her train of thought continued to worm its way to Keenah, her friend who -

No. Not now. Or I'll end up like her.

She checked the time again. Fifteen minutes late. The shadow broker was supposed to be the top information broker in the galaxy. Would such a person be late? Probably not. Every hair on her head and neck down to her shoulders was standing up, or at least they tried underneath the helmet. Again, her hand searched for the reassuring form of the improvised flashbang she had hidden at her waist, under her realk. Again, she checked the safety of her shotgun at the small of her back. It was back, which was not supposed to be possible in the weapon's collapsed state, but she had modified that. She did not want to die because her trembling fingers failed to tap a little switch.

Alright that's it, five more minutes and I'm getting out here...

Half way through her self imposed deadline, three beings entered the alley from the direction of Chora's Den. Two salarians wearing light armor with enclosed helmets and a Turian. His markings were strange, but it wasn't like Tali was very familiar with these things. Still, the man rubbed her the wrong way. A couple of meters out, the salarians stayed back, one leaning against the wall, the other crossing his arms over his chest. It was obvious that they were very comfortable with this situation. She was not. Which got only worse when the Turian stepped in uncomfortably close and asked: "Do you have it?"

"Yes. And half a dozen copies that will be sent to the press if I don't deactivate the timers."

That a was a lie. Tali didn't know anyone from the press, if she had, that's where she'd have gone first. Right now, she was thankful for her mask, because it appeared to actually give the Turian pause. If he had been able to see her face, there was no way he had ever fallen for it.

This guy isn't the broker. You stupid girl, you've gotten yourself set up. Dammit!

She did not like how the Turian looked at her. Was that...lust in his eyes? She shivered. "Where's the shadow broker? Where is fist!?"

"Don't you worry. They will be here..."

He stepped closer, touched her elbow and then slid his hand up her arm to her shoulder. She froze at the spot.

This isn't happening. He's not going to touch me underneath my realk,no. Not happe-

His hand snaked its way across her shoulder, sliding along her collarbone towards the edge of her hood, and she realized that that was exactly what he was about to do. From somewhere within her, white hot rage came rushing in and replaced the crippling terror she had felt a second before. She slapped his hand away with force.

"No way! The deal is off!"

The thug, that's what he was, she was sure of it now, she should have known from the start, stupid, stupid girl, withdrew his hand, a surprised expression on his face.

Didn't expect the little Quarian to have strength, did you det'kazuat?

The surprise made way for anger. "Get her!" He reached underneath his jacket for ancestors knew what, but unfortunately for him, Quarians were an agile people with strong legs, and Tali was an extraordinarily agile Quarian with extraordinarily strong legs. His hand had only just closed around the object as Tali's three – toed right foot already thrust into his abdomen, pushing him back violently and propelling her backwards. In the back of her mind, a tiny, strangely detached voice cursed the suit as she had done so many times before; if not for the shoes holding her claws captive, that kick could have disemboweled him on the spot. Instead she threw the flashbang at the Salarians with her left and drew her shotgun with her right mid-flight as she fell, landing hard on her butt and lower back. Not taking any risks, she fired the Overload that had been pre- loaded on her omnitool for the entire time she had been here, and indeed, he had shields. They collapsed immediately from the assault of her custom - tuned and overclocked program. By the time the thug had recovered from her kick and began to bring up the pistol that he had reached for earlier she was already holding her shotgun with both hands and on target.

"BOSH'TET!"

From this distance, the entirety of the pellets were still grouped tightly enough to impact exclusively on his bony face, turning it into a blue-brown pulp. He went down without another sound. Scrambling on her butt and feet, keeping the gun up, she frantically crawled deeper into cover. The salarians had to come around the corner of the crate any second now...

"Come on you fre'egs! I'll kill you like the other bosh'tet! Damned det'kazuat -"

She didn't even realize that she was screaming obscenities until one of the Salarians did indeed stumble into her field of fire and she reflexively pulled the trigger, turning his chest into a greenish mess and vaporizing his head...what? No, the head had already been missing...what?

A figure cautiously entered her field of view, their hands empty and held away from their body. Human, definitively male. Heavy armor...rank markings...a soldier?

"Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

Wha-What?

Lowering her shotgun, still sitting on her buttcheeks, she blurted out: "I can take care of myself!"

The fre'eg !? Nice way to thank him for saving you, you were dead.

Dropping the muzzle to the floor, she quickly added: "Not that I don't appreciate the help..."

More aliens came into view now. Two more humans, also in alliance armor, a Turian who looked like C-Sec, and... a Krogan?

"Uhm...who are you, anyway?"

"Commander John Shepard, Alliance navy. And your name...?"

Beginning to feel a little silly, still sitting on the floor with her gun out between her legs, she got up, flicked the safety back on and stowed it on her back before answering.

"Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. Just call me Tali."

"Nice to meet you, Tali. My companions here are Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, Urdnot Wrex, mercenary and Garrus Vakarian from C-Sec. Listen , I am looking for evidence to prove that Saren Arterius is a traitor and works with the Geth."

Ancestors be praised! Someone who'll listen!

"Then I have a chance to repay you for saving my life. I have what you need. But...could we go somewhere safe first?"

The commander nodded. "I'll take you to the human embassy. We'll need to show this evidence to the ambassador, anyway. Come on people, I want a ring around Tali, we're not getting sucker punched by any last ditch efforts from Saren's cronies."

They formed up around her and got going, and so she followed. Even if she hadn't felt like she could trust the commander, she was spent at this point, and besides, she did trust him. The man had just saved her life, after all. Walking, she inspected him a little closer. She had not met many humans yet.

They really do look remarkably similar. Bigger, kind of ...blocky...and these weird legs. But still...

The walked most of the way in silence, until they reached the elevator to the presidium.

"I know you've been shot just days ago. Do you need medical attention?"

It took her a few seconds to realize she was the one being addressed. Why was this man so concerned about her, he had what he needed either way? First Dr. Michel now this guy, maybe humans were just nice? But there was Fist, so...

"Tali?"

"Oh! Yes! I'm fine, the bullet only grazed me, I didn't lose much blood really, the polonium was the problem, I , uh, had a bad fever, but Dr. Michel helped me, and it's been a few days, so I'm fine. Mostly."

Babbling again. Stupid girl...

He cracked a smile. "Relax, it's over. You can slow down a little."

Keelah, ten seconds of conversation and you've already talked the poor man's ear off.

He didn't seem to mind though.

"Polonium, huh? Bastards. Been there, had that. Not pleasant. I feel you."

"Y-you've been hit with polonium rounds too?"

"Yes. Terminus and Traverse pirates love the stuff."

"Oh. Yes. It makes sense that's what a human soldier would be dealing with. We know these types pretty well, too. They don't dare going near the fleet, but when we send out mining parties or trade ships to other systems, they're a constant danger."

Shortly after, the elevator opened and they stepped onto the presidium. They walked in silence now, everybody visibly relaxing. Tali had enjoyed talking to Shepard, but here, she felt the disapproving looks of many of the pedestrians of all the various races on her, and it made her want to make herself small and silent. So she tensed up and walked with her eyes on the feet of the human woman, Ashley, walking in front of her. Until a Turian in the same armor as Garrus, but different markings, passed them by. "Garrus! Isn't that a bit much citizen's help just for bringing in one little thief?" She could feel herself blush under her mask as the shame set in. Not even a minute here and someone reminded her of her place.

Garrus didn't seem too happy either. "Eat a foot, Olvis." Olvis just laughed as he went his way.

Shepard shot Garrus a glance. "Friend of yours?" The Turian pressed his mandibles to the side of his head and tilted it before answering. A sign of...unease, maybe?

"Colleague. Not the sharpest fang in the maw."

"What was that about?"

"He..uhm, was trying to make a...joke. Insinuating that..."

Tali hang her head low. "It was about me."

The commander turned his head to her. "You? Why?"

What does he mean why?

"You know..."

"I don't."

'"I-Its because I'm a Quarian. Many people look down on us. They say we're vagabonds and beggars. Or...thieves."

Shepard blew air through his nose, his nostrils flaring as he stopped and turned, clearly searching the crowd for Olvis. "Hm, can't see the asshole anymore. Damn shame..."

Keelah, he's furious. Who is this man?

"Please, Commander, don't concern yourself with it, I...am getting used to it."

"My ass are you getting used to it. At least not as long as you're with me."

This can't be a general human thing. This man is just something else.

"Commander...he was just the first who said something. Half the people here on the presidium are looking at me."

He raised his eyebrows and started scanning their surroundings. After a while, he turned back to her, a look of barely contained anger on his face.

"Not sure why I'm surprised. Not like space racism is new or something...Batarians taught us that much." Ashley snorted at that while the Lieutenant's expression grew grim. Wrex gave a deep, rumbling chuckle. She decided to tell Shepard some more details,his empathy had emboldened her and he seemed to be inclined to listen, and as always when the topic was her people, she felt the words basically bubbling to the surface.

"What do you think why I went to some shady thug like Fist with my information? I went to C-Sec first. They called me a vagabond and threatened to throw us off the station. " Suddenly, she was struck by the thing she had been successfully keeping out of her mind for most of the day, and certainly for the entire time since she'd been saved. "Oh, Keenah...she would still be alive. If this...this bosh'tet had just listened to us...I...I'm sorry..." Her emotions overwhelmed her and a sniff escaped her as tears welled in her eyes and she had to shut up and stop for a moment in order to force down the sobs that were threatening to shake her body. Before she knew it, Shepard had stopped again and a hand was on her shoulder.

"Are you telling me someone died because C-Sec wouldn't look at your evidence!?"

She nodded, but could not yet speak again. As she struggled to regain her composure, the detached voice from the back of her mind wormed its way to the front, musing about how weird human hands were. Five fingers like Asari. So technically, it wasn't human hands specifically that were strange, but human and Asari hands...the absurd train of thought calmed her down enough to continue speaking. "My friend Keenah. We were part of a group of pilgrims. After acquiring the evidence from a Geth unit we ambushed we landed on Illium. Saren's men were there. Surprised us completely. The others...they all died. Only Keenah and I got away. Stowed away on a ship to here. We got caught. They took us to C-Sec. We thought that would be just what we needed. Instead, the Turian officer sent us away. Later that day, the other Turian, the one who worked for Saren, found us. That's were I got shot. I got lucky, he just grazed my arm. Keenah...he got her in the belly."

The group had halted and listened to her story with increasing levels of concern on their faces. Garrus seemed to be squirming uncomfortably. Wrex was unreadable. Ashley's eyes had opened wider and wider and her jaw had come wider and wider apart with every word, until it seemed that either would not go any further and she held a hand in front of her mouth. Shepard's face was petrified as he asked: "What about that assassin? Is he still out there?"

"No. I killed him."

The mood changed, from shock to respect. "Girl's got a quad", Wrex grumbled. Shepard nodded approvingly.

"Alright, before we go inside...do you remember the officer's name?"

She shook her head, casting her gaze towards her toes.

"Shame. Tali, I'm sorry. Hell of a story. Let's get inside, so you don't have to tell all of it twice."

Wrex leaned on the wall of the human embassy, his expression neutral as usual, but in his head, he had to admit that this was an interesting day. Teaming up with the humans and their Turian had been normal enough, these things happened all the time. But exposing a rogue Spectre, a Turian to boot? Priceless. And the company had turned out quite enjoyable, too. Shepard was a warrior of renown, and from what he had seen so far, for good reason. The other two humans were uninteresting, but watching the Turian squirm as the Quarian told her tale about how the narrow-mindedness of one of his colleagues had cost one life, endangered another and almost ruined the entire investigation had been the best thing he'd seen this week, if not month.

The Quarian herself was fun, too. She was a pup, but she had spunk. Right now, she was explaining absolute basics of her culture to the surprisingly ignorant human ambassador. At least he had the sense to understand when he had been a pyjak and ask politely after making a fool out of himself.

Wrex listened, half-hearted at first as none of this was new to him, but increasingly interested later, when she played the audio file of Saren gloating over his 'major victory'.

Great victory you got there Turian, butchering a bunch of farmers and a token garrison with a dreadnought and an army. Pyjak...

His interest peaked even further when the other voice, a woman, started talking about Reapers. Wrex was old, it did not happen often that he heard something that was genuinely new to him. Only minutes later, the entire group filed out of the office to make for the council chamber, Shepard, the other humans and the Turian, who seemed to have a real axe to grind with Saren – a Turian who'll shit at another Turian, and alongside a bunch of humans no less – were positively gleeful at the prospect of bringing down their quarry, the Quarian pup, Tali was the name, seemed about ready to burst from excitement after Shepard had accepted her into his team – a good decision, she had a quad, could shoot and was obviously smart, if a little green, but then again, she was a pup- and as for Wrex himself, he just wanted to see where this went.

Maybe I'll keep tagging along. Got nothing better to do anyway, and this krannt seems entertaining enough...

During the elevator ride, a terribly embarassed Tali tried, stammering it out feverishly like she just realized what she had done, to apologize to Shepard for using "foul language" during the fighting in the alley. The commander seemed just about ready to piss himself, and Wrex felt the same. Even the Turian seemed somewhat amused. The laughter got the pup only more upset, so they quickly got a hold of themselves and Shepard assured her that in combat, she was allowed to curse as much as she wanted, but still, even after cutting this particular amusement short, Wrex was confident that he was making a good decision. This would be entertaining.

Garrus was ecstatic. Not even the council had been able to dismiss the evidence they had found, and now Saren was officially a traitor, with Shepard, the newly appointed first human Spectre, sent after him. And he, Garrus, would be along for the ride. Working with a Spectre! No more bureaucracy in the way, no more stupid rules. A dream come true. The company was strange for sure, but he'd deal with it. At C-Sec, he had worked with humans enough to know that the ill will most older Turians held towards the younger race was simply born of ignorance and prejudice. The Quarian...Garrus had no particular love for the Quarian people, they tended to be involved with trouble , but this one seemed alright. Certainly capable. The Krogan though...he was not even sure why the mercenary had decided to tag along. But he had to trust that Shepard knew what he was doing, he wasn't going to second guess the man five minutes in. Right now, they were headed towards C-Sec to change elevators and continue towards the alliance docks. There would be a detour, though; Shepard was determined to have some choice words with the executor and demand an investigation into the officer responsible for the death of Tali's friend. The commander had already been mad at Olvis' – bloody idiot- lame joke at the Quarian's expense, and when he had heard how C-Sec had failed her, he'd gone absolutely livid; he had kept his composure well, but Garrus was good enough at his job to notice it anyway. For his part, he was tagging along to turn in his badge. If he got to watch Pallin squirm while he was at it, all the better.

Shepard brushed past several agents trying to tell him that he couldn't just barge into the executor's office, and then did just that, Garrus and Tali following in his wake. A human officer stepped forward and tried to stop Tali from entering the room, but Garrus gave him a turian death glare and he thought better of it, and they were in. Garrus closed the door behind them and settled in to enjoy the show.

"Commander Shepard!? Wha – stand by, I'll call you back. Shepard, what do you think you are doing!?"

"You a favor." he answered, stepping up to Pallin's desk and resting his hands on the tabletop. "By alerting you to an utter moron in your ranks who got a someone killed and almost ruined my entire investigation."

"What are you talking about, Shepard?"

"I take it you're aware of the results of the council's last meeting?"

"Yes."

"Then you know who she is." , he said, pointing over to Tali, who was visibly uncomfortable with the whole situation.

Pallin's anger had subsided at this point, replaced with wariness. "Yes..."

The old man might be as flexible as a rock, but he's not stupid. He knows Shepard's about to give him a major headache.

"You might also be aware that she almost got killed by Saren's hired thugs trying to get this evidence to the authorities. In fact, that's exactly what happened to her friend whom she initially arrived here with. What you probably don't know is that C-Sec could've had this evidence days ago. She and her friend tried to give it to you, but the officer they spoke with turned them away and threatened to throw her off the station. Now a young woman is dead, and Saren almost got away with it, all because one of your officers is an incompetent racist!"

The executor sat back in his chair and raised his browplates, taking in Shepard's outburst. "I see. That's...unacceptable. Thank you for coming to me with this, Commander. The press would just love this..."

"Oh, I'm sure they will. I have a contact whom I'll be meeting about something else later, and I will tell her all about this." A predatory smile spread across Shepard's face, while Pallin's darkened.

He really wants to blow this up. I almost pity the guy at fault, can't say I'd be too inclined to listen to some random stowaways either...almost. He should've known better.

"I see. So why are you even here?"

"Consider it a courtesy, we might have to work together in the future after all. I will make sure the story isn't released until tomorrow afternoon, so you should have all the time you need to have the culprit found until then, maybe that way you can at least limit the PR debacle."

"Which you are going to inflict on us."

"No, that idiot did. Blame him, not me. I'm not turning a blind eye to this kind of bullshit."

"Fine." he sighed and turned his head towards Tali. "So Miss, what can you tell me about this officer?"

"I didn't get his name or number. He was a Turian with white markings. We met on dock H-15, three days ago, around noon. We...were being presented to him by the crew of the ship we stowed away on."

"Stowaways? Why?"

"Saren's men tried to kill us on Illium. We were on the run."

The executor grunted. "Should be enough to clear the matter up. Thank you, Miss. And...my condolences, as well as my apology in the name of C-Sec. This was a major error. The man will be punished, I guarantee it."

Shepard nodded and took a step back. "I'll take my leave, come on Tali. Let's get to the ship. See you later, Garrus."

Garrus just nodded and turned back to Pallin, who was already looking at him with an expression that made it very clear that he wanted to have his office back to himself yesterday.

"What is it, Garrus?"

"I'm quitting."

"What!?"

"What I just said. You know me. I'm fed up with this place. I know it's not your fault, but the Saren investigation was the last straw. I'm going with Shepard. Getting done what C-Sec wasn't allowed to."

Pallin grunted, but didn't argue.

Old man knows me better than trying to stop me. He's probably happy to get rid of me, anyway.

"A pity, Garrus."

Huh?

"But I can't say I'm surprised. You're a good officer, but you've never really had the right...attitude for this kind of work. Good luck out there. Just don't forget that most of the rules are actually there for a good reason."

He was surprised to hear this reaction from the executor -the two had been butting heads almost constantly- and so it took him a second to find words.

"Thank you, Sir. Here's my badge. I'll swing by the armory and turn in my pistol, too. Farewell."

Leaving the office, he pondered that perhaps, his appraisal of Pallin had been unjust. The man respected him despite their constant differences of opinion? Perhaps he should have been big enough of a man to feel the same way about him...

After getting his affairs in order, he headed up to the dock. Shepard was leaning on the railing, talking to Tali. As Garrus drew closer, the two of them broke it off and went for the airlock, but when the Commander saw Garrus, he stopped and waited for him. "Got everything taken care off, Garrus?"

"Yes, Commander."

"I gotta ask...are you sure about this? Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to have you. But quitting your job on the spot? Some might call that a little rash. "

Garrus reached him and they entered the airlock together. "It's more than that. C-Sec is completely bogged down with regulations and red tape. Hell, you've just seen it first hand. If Tali hadn't come along, Saren would have gotten away, because I did not have the clearance to dig up his really dirty stuff, and then the case was closed. I could go on and on with stories like this. Spirits, get me a beer or two and I will." They shared a chuckle at that. "I've been putting up with this for years. " he continued as they made their way through the CIC, " getting more and more frustrated. This whole affair was just the...what's the human saying? The nail in the coffin?"

"Yeah, that's the one. "

They entered the elevator and Shepard pressed the button for the cargo hold. "I'd like to thank you again for bringing me along, Commander. This is a dream come true, in a way. Finally, I'll get to do something my way."

Shepard didn't seem to like that one too much, raising a brow. "Well, when we out there its my way Garrus..."

"Of course, Commander. I didn't mean it like that."

"Good. As long as that's clear and you do your job well, I won't tell you how to do it."

"Thanks Commander. Either way, I intend to make the most of this. Speaking of jobs, is there anything I could do on board? Between missions, I mean?"

The door opened as they finally arrived in the cargo hold. It was dominated by a large armored vehicle.

Hmm...M35 Mako? Not bad.

"I'm not sure. What are you good at Garrus?"

"Well, I do have some experience with maintenance of armored vehicles. Someone taking care of that pretty lady over there?"

Shepard laughed and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "She's all yours. See you later, Garrus."

"I'll get to it, Commander." he said, and moved to acquaint himself with his new charge while the Commander made his way towards engineering.

"Keelah se'lai, auntie. I know I'm not supposed to call home during my pilgrimage, but it's important. There was...an attack. They're all dead, I'm the only one left."

She struggled to keep her voice steady for a second before continuing.

"After we left the fleet, we heard about Geth activity outside the Veil and decided to investigate. We ambushed a Geth unit and I managed to extract something from its memory core. It was an audio file that proves that a council Spectre, Saren Arterius, is working with the Geth and is responsible for the attack on the human colony of Eden Prime. You might have heard about that already. We docked at Illium and were attacked by his thugs. They killed everyone, only Keenah and me got away. We stowed away on a ship to the Citadel. We tried to give the evidence to C-Sec, but they wouldn't listen...Saren's man followed us. He...he shot Keenah dead. He shot me in the arm. I..." she had to pause, the memory of Keenah slumping against the wall, her lifeblood seeping from her wound, bringing her close to tears again.

"I killed him. I tried to sell the information to the shadow broker for protection, but I was set up. I would've died there, but I was saved by a human. Commander Shepard, you might have heard about him,too. He was appointed humanity's first Spectre and sent to stop Saren. He is a great man, auntie. He treats me well. He gave C-Sec hell for what they did. He has even taken me into his crew, I work on the most advanced ship in the alliance navy! And he even said he'd help me find a great gift. So...don't worry about me, Raan. I'm fine now. I just wish I didn't have to report so many dead. Say hello to father for me, will you? Keela se'lai."

Tali sent the voice mail and got back to trying to find some sleep. She wouldn't do so until much later that night.

AN: As you may have noticed, I'm using some of Calinstels quarian language. I wont use his quarian culture/psychology/biology. I still recommend checking out to Survive tho, its cute.

As for this project, it is not a 1:1 novelization. The chapters will follow the games in a chronological order, with only slight deviations from canon for now. Reviews and critcism are very, very welcome. I already got like 10 chapters done, currently filling in the gap between Therum and Illos. So weekly uploads for now, should be fairly easy to keep that up for quite a long time.