Garrus Vakarian had good instincts when it came to these sorts of things. He always had.

Oh, the Executor might not believe him, and the rest of C-sec might think he was crazy for even trying to pursue an investigation with a Specter's name attached, but Garrus was nothing if not a stubborn, loud-mouthed, unreasonable stick in the mud whenever he smelled criminals getting away without consequences. Even when the hard evidence still needed finding, and the tough stones needed turning, everyone knew that the son of Castis Vakarian had gut-feelings that were almost magical in their ability to ferret out the dirty little secrets best left hidden.

And it definitely wasn't his fault if some of those secrets were inconvenient to C-Sec brass.

"Garrus." Short, clipped, annoyed.

Garrus ground his mandibles together, facing away from the comm screen; he couldn't let his father see the frustration, lest the old man think Garrus was unduly invested. He could see the argument racing toward him like an asteroid on collision course; if he'd known it was his father calling in the first place, he wouldn't have answered the damn thing. But that was his own fault for getting excited to check; he'd been waiting for news from Dr. Michel since yesterday.

"Dad," Garrus replied flatly.

"You're causing trouble again."

"And who," Garrus asked with as much calm as he could muster, "might have told you that?"

"Don't pretend you don't know why I'm calling, Garrus, it's beneath you."

Garrus turned around to face the comm screen, where his father was glaring daggers. "Beneath me? Pallin's letting a criminal get away with actual murder, theft, blackmail and smuggling, and I'm the one who's stooping too low?"

"He's the damned Executor, Garrus, not 'Pallin'. Don't talk about your superiors as if you're better than them."

"Did he even tell you about what's going on in this case? Because he sure as crap isn't better than me as an investigator."

"'Crap.' That some new human word you picked up?"

"You call to tell me what a bad kid I've been, and you're focusing on the expletives."

"You're right, doesn't matter. And neither does your chain of command, apparently."

"Then tell me why the good and righteous Executor just had to go and contact my father to call me personally and scold me for making too much of a mess when he could have marched down here and told me himself how much harder I've been making life for him?"

"Because he has told you. Over and over, from what I've heard. And he told me to shut you up because you have been making life hard for literally everyone in your chain of command except yourself."

"Oh don't worry, I've been making life hard for myself, too. But, listen, just hear me out―you know what can really make someone's life hard? Finding out a Specter has been smuggling tainted Eezo on the Citadel, and then getting murdered for it. Can really put a damper in your morning routine."

"You have no evidence it was Saren, Garrus."

"Because if he had been any single other person on this Citadel, I would have already been given access to look at his finances!"

His father's calm snapped. "Drop it! Damn it, Garrus, I've been hearing secondhand stories about you since the day you became an investigator, but when I saw the reports about the Saleon case…"

"They just let that bastard get away!"

"Garrus. The Executor doesn't talk to you for a reason. So I'm going to let you in on a little 'hunch' of my own." Castis leaned closer to the monitor. "You're on damn thin ice. One more screw up like Saleon, and Pallin will snap for good. You want to keep your job, I'd highly suggest you keep your head as far down as possible before he kicks you off the Citadel for some peace and quiet."

"Peace and quiet?" Garrus scoffed. "Maybe he should just retire if that's what he's looking for, no place for 'peace and quiet' in a C-Sec job."

His father physically turned away from the feed to look at a wall and collect himself, giving Garrus a small swell of pride; the older he got, the better he became at knocking down that illusion of calm the legendary Castis Vakarian liked to pretend was impenetrable.

His father didn't turn around to growl out, "Garrus. Vakarian." The man must have been seething, to be full-naming his son.

"I don't understand why you're even fighting so hard on this," the younger Vakarian sighed. "You hate the way Specters do things; I would have thought you'd like to see one face consequences for once."

"C-sec isn't about what any of us like to see, Garrus, and I don't understand why you still think it is. C-sec exists to keep the peace on the Citadel."

"C-sec exists to serve justice on the Citadel."

"C-sec exists to keep the peace on the Citadel. And as much as you'd prefer otherwise, peace and justice aren't black and white absolutes that always show up clearly in every case you handle. At the end of the day, you have to make compromises if you want to keep the most amount of people safe."

"Keeping people safe? This guy murdered witnesses and smuggled Eezo!"

"But you don't have proof. I know it, and Pallin knows it."

"But. I. Can. Get. Proof."

"Not legally. And we both know that, too."

"We're not going to agree about this, Dad."

Castis let out a long, deep sigh. "No. We're not. But I was at least hoping to keep you from driving headfirst off a cliff."

"I'm not driving off a cliff, Dad, I know what kind of situation I'm in. Pallin might get pissed off now and then, but I've never put anyone's job in actual danger."

"If you keep chasing Specters, you're putting your own job in danger."

"Yeah, I know that. But it's my own security to do what I want with; no one else on the force is going to get backlash from me ruffling feathers."

Another sigh. "You care too much about this, Garrus."

"More than you would, yeah. But you're not going to talk me out of it."

There were a few moments of silence, and then Castis looked back over his shoulder. The two Vakarians locked eyes for a moment, and Garrus was the first to look away.

"No. I'm not going to talk you out of anything." Castis' gaze drifted away from the monitor again. "You get to choose what hill you die on, boy. Hope this one's worth it."

"We'll see―"

But Castis cut the video call, and the comm monitor went dark.

Garrus leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling of his apartment. His throat clenched with―with what? Frustration? Betrayal? He was almost flattered that Pallin would try sicing his own father on him to get some 'peace and quiet,' but even more furious at the gall of it. If the Executor hoped a warm sense of family obligation would pull him off this case, Garrus had bad news for him.

And what the hell, if Pallin was allowed to go for low blows, then Garrus was going to deliver that bad news himself.

Executor Pallin was puttering around the Council chambers; it was his favorite place to be whenever the Council was in session, regardless of whether or not the session had anything to do with C-Sec. Or perhaps he had just taken cover there while the two Vakarians caught up; either way, the man looked both surprised and angry when Garrus came charging his way through the sleek silk of courtiers and businesspeople. That look alone made the trip worth it.

"Garrus," was the unthrilled greeting of choice. Once upon a time Pallin had called him Vakarian in recognition of his father's good name, but that honor hadn't stuck more than three days after the young man began working actual cases.

The only names he had from the Executor these days were "Garrus," "Oh, it's you," and "Damn it, what do you want now?" Garrus deeply preferred that last one; some days the only difference he could make in the world was ruining Executor Pallin's day, and by the Spirits today was going to be one of those days.

"Executor," Garrus chirped. "So glad I could catch you. I can see you're terribly busy right now―" He gestured at the tree beside which Pallin was doing nothing, "―but I just had the most fascinating call, you wouldn't believe, the previous Executor himself reached out to me and it turns out that somehow, in some inconceivable way, my current investigation made its way out of my classified files and ended up crossing his desk all the way back on Palaven. In his retirement. Which he came out of for ten minutes to give me his opinion on what I should or should not do with information I come across regarding criminal activity on the Citadel."

Pallin shook his head. "Spirits, Garrus, can't you just say 'My father told me to stop being an idiot and now I'm mad about it?' You talk way too much for how many cases you actually solve."

"If it gets me what I need, this duty becomes a pleasure." Garrus crossed his arms and levelled a challenging look at the Executor. "That was a low blow, bringing him in. If Saren didn't know I was onto him before, he certainly does now."

"Don't act like your 'investigation' has been compromised. Saren doesn't care about C-Sec, or you."

"Good, then there's no reason for you to ride my ass about this investigation anymore. Can I get secret clearance now?"

"'Ride your ass?' That's a Harkin phrase."

"No, just a human one. You should listen to your human officers more, Executor; their expletives are so… vivid."

"I've never heard any human officer say that but Harkin."

"That's because when they do, you start treating them like Harkin."

"What did you even come here for, Vakarian? Did you actually expect asking for clearance a hundredth time would help you any more than the first ninety nine?"

"No. But it's good to remind you I'm not dropping the scent; you'd forget about me otherwise."

Pallin took a deep breath, raised his eyes to the simulated sky above them, and then exhaled in a controlled and calm manner. "Garrus. You're not getting clearance on Saren. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. Drop it, if not for your father's sake, then for your own."

"Come on, Executor, we both know 'my sake' is worth about, what, twelve credits? Might even be pushing it." Garrus shrugged. "But I'll find out, sir, don't you worry about that. Compared to Doctor Saleon, tracking Saren is just a straight line. The only difference is how much smoke and mirrors is thrown in my way."

Pallin put his hands out in exasperation. "Garrus, if this is what you want to do with your own time off, the only legal thing I can do to stop you is sit back and watch it fail. You might like dying on this hill, but I'm not going with you. Good luck with your fool's errand, boy; I've got plenty of problems that actually need solving."

With that, the Executor of C-Sec turned on his heel and left to find cover somewhere else. Garrus watched him go, trying very hard to milk even a single drop of satisfaction from the sight.

He realized then that he had an audience. In the Wards or below, Garrus was alert to being watched, but the Council chambers were one of the few places he could drop his guard and focus all his attention on pissing people off; he didn't notice them until silence settled back under the tree. The three humans stuck out against the flow of courtiers moving around on business; they had likely been watching long enough to catch the tail end of the conversation.

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that one of the humans was watching him; a tall woman stacked in armor and firearms, with a male at one flank and a female at the other. Her associates kept their attention on blind spots and moving courtiers, as if they expected gunfire to erupt at any moment ― soldiers, not mercenaries, from the natural way they moved in formation. Alliance, then, armored for official business? A bit unusual on the Citadel, more so in the Council district.

Their leader met Garrus' eye and nodded an acknowledgement, before coming up the stairs between them.

"I heard an argument," she said. "C-Sec?"

"More or less," Garrus answered. "I work for C-Sec, that turian with the pleasant demeanor is C-Sec. That's Executor Pallin, my boss."

"Quite a boss you have there."

"He has his charms."

"I heard the name Saren."

Garrus tilted his head curiously. "My current investigation. I know it's crazy to try going after a Specter with any sort of legal action, but I'm unfortunately incapable of 'just dropping' things because they annoy my boss."

"You think Saren's dirty?"

There was something in the way she said it―hungry, urgent, demanding―that immediately made Garrus perk up. "I know it," he answered. "But knowing something and having hard evidence for it are two different things."

She chuckled humorlessly. "I hear that. Any advice on getting the Council to believe witness testimony?"

Garrus turned to face her fully. "Against Saren? Are you after him?"

She nodded. "Probably not the same as what you're after him for, but are we talking about the Saren who's a Specter, wears a black thing over his fringe?"

"Those are the most beautiful words I've heard all month." The turian held out a hand, as he knew was the human custom. "Garrus Vakarian, C-Sec."

She looked surprised for a moment, then shook his hand gladly. "Commander Shepherd, Alliance. Wish I had time to chat, but we have a hearing to get to."

Garrus leaned forward a bit, intrigued. "You wouldn't happen to mean…?"

"That this hearing might possibly be related to a person of interest for both of us? Not allowed to comment."

Garrus had worked C-Sec to know when a hint was being thrown in his face. He settled back and nodded. "Duly noted, Commander. Good luck in that hearing; 'persons of interest' are hard people to press charges to."

Shepherd let out a short breath, and glanced a few yards behind them at the stairs to the Council chamber. "I suppose I'll find out on my own soon enough." She looked back at him, clearly steeling herself for whatever bureaucratic mess lay in wait for her. "Good to meet you, Garrus Vakarian."

He inclined his head, and stepped out of her way. "And you too, Commander Shepherd."