Chapter Thirty: My Son
"Like I said, Mouse is gonna be your best bet to find Elias Kelham," Bailey said, "He keeps tabs on everyone."
Colt appreciated the tip, but was far more interested in one of the Captain's earlier comments. "Wait, they have an illegal VI of me?"
"Yes," Bailey said, "When you delete a file, it says, 'I delete data like you on the way to real errors.'"
"That's a little much, don't you think, Shepard?" Garrus asked from behind him.
"Didn't I say something similar a long time ago?"
"We were hunting down Saren and you threatened some poor asari almost word-for-word," Garrus said. He just loved pointing out less than savory moments of Colt's career.
"I also remember that I let that asari go." Shepard turned and crossed his arms.
"Yah, after scaring the blue off her," the turian said. He'd clearly wasn't letting this go. Let the argument begin.
"I could've shot her, you know."
"You also could've reassured her."
"Okay, so I'm not a perfect person. But don't deny she didn't deserve-"
"-I can't decide if you guys sound like my two-year-old kids or an old married couple," Bailey interrupted.
Garrus and Shepard looked at each other for a moment and said simultaneously, "An old married couple."
…
"Krios? I thought you had retired? And...Commander Shepard? I thought you had died," Mouse said. Retired and dead? Goddamit, Colt didn't deserve this bullshit in his thirties..or maybe twenties? What was the protocol for dying?
"Be still Mouse. You can change your pants later," Thane said. Amazing. Brutal, yet hilarious. Shepard could only strive towards such greatness. Thane continued, "Now tell me about Elias Kelham."
Colt turned away from the two towards what he assumed was Mouse's bag. A nicely framed picture of a varren immediately caught his eye. He examined it carefully, noting the quality of the picture. Whoever took this picture knew what they were doing.
"-Any questions, Shepard?" Thane asked behind him.
"Ya, who took this wonderful picture?" He asked, holding up the frame.
Garrus, Thane, and Mouse looked at like he grew two heads. "I, um, think Thane meant questions about the Kolyat or Elias," Garrus said.
"Oh," he said in a small voice, lowering the picture. "I don't have any questions, I guess."
"...Okay then," Thane said, turning back to Mouse, "I think that's it for us."
"Actually, one more thing," Colt said, causing him to receive a fearsome side eye from Thane. "I heard you're selling a Shepard VI?"
"Oh shit! You heard about that?" Mouse flinched backwards.
"Yes, and I want a copy," Shepard said. He was curious to see what the galaxy thought about him.
"That's it? I mean, ya sure," Mouse said. He dug around in his pockets before handing Colt a small package. "Here you go."
If this thing acted more like a AI than a VI, EDI could kiss her job goodbye. Who wouldn't want an AI version of themselves controlling the spaceship?...But that would also mean that Joker would be flirting with Colt's AI counterpart. There were some obvious tradeoffs with this plan.
…
"Kolyat must not assassinate him; the life of an assassin is one of the worst lives you can live. The life of sin." Thane's voice crackled through Shepard's earpiece.
"Does that mean you regret what you've done?" Colt asked. He leaned against the rafter's railing in hopes of spotting Joram down below. According to Mouse, Joram was Kolyat's target. Not that Colt could really blame Kolyat. By all accounts, Joram was a massive asshole. But, there were other ways to get rid of politicians than assassination. Routes that didn't involve the degradation of democracy and society.
"I'm still trying to decide that. But I do know that I wouldn't want my son involved with this life," Thane said, sighing, "As an assassin, I felt nothing for years. I built myself an island with no routes in or out. I don't want that for anyone, especially not my son. Take my advice, Shepard: don't lock yourself somewhere no one else can get to. There's always another mission to be completed, whether it be for the Alliance or someone else. Always will be. There's more to life than work, and I realized that too late."
This was a weird time to be having a conversation about loneliness and what it meant for Shepard. He imagined that this subject weighed heavily on Thane's mind and needed to tell someone. Hopefully it was that, and not that Colt seemed to be crippled by loneliness.
"Thanks, Thane. I'll...I'll have to think about what you said."
He kept scanning the room, but was losing faith rapidly. How long had he been watching for Joram now? "Thane, are you sure Mouse gave us reliable info? I mean-wait. I think that's-I have a visual. Following now," Colt said. He pulled himself off the rail and started to trail the politician and his bodyguard. The bastards were moving quickly. They could easily travel across the room, as opposed to Colt, who kept having to duck under support beams that held up the scaffolding he was standing on. Both he and Thane thought that staying in the rafters would be advantageous because it would be easier to track Joram and avoid the crowds. Colt was having second thoughts about that genius idea as Joram slipped farther and farther away.
"I'm starting to lose them," Shepard hissed. He ducked as he went under a beam. He was only halfway across the room when Joram entered the next room.
"Shepard," Thane growled. Getting on the drell's shit list was at the bottom of Colt's to do list, so he started to sprint. A few seconds of running allowed him to catch up until he was standing just above Joram.
"Alright Thane. He's heading-," Shepard stopped as soon as a Kolyat dropped down next to Joram. Fuck! Colt vaulted over the railing and activated his biotics to lessen the twenty foot drop. "KOLYAT!" He screamed. As soon as he hit the floor, he took off towards the drell. Much to Colt's horror, Kolyat pulled out a gun and started firing. One shot hit Joram's bodyguard, sending the krogan careening backwards.
Without the threat of the bodyguard, Kolyat grabbed Joram and pulled him into the elevator. The doors closed just before Shepard reached them. "Fuck!" Colt said while slamming his fists into the closed doors.
"He's heading to Joram's apartment," Thane said. Colt jumped at the sound of the drell's voice.
"That was fast."
"I was never far," Thane replied, "Come on." He gestured to the open elevator. Shepard stepped on and watched Thane press level four. The two stood in silence while an asari flutist wailed over the speakers.
"This apartment here," Thane said while stepping out. Colt followed and pulled out his Carnifax. The apartment door slid open to reveal Kolyat and Joram crowded in a corner. Kolyat had a pistol pressed to Joram's temple. The hand holding the pistol was shaking.
Shepard aimed his Carnifax at Kolyat and quietly stepped to the left. Kolyat's attention was on Thane, so anything short of firing a weapon would go unnoticed.
"Is this some kind of sick joke? After ten years you show up?" Kolyat spat. His eyes glistened with hatred. Thane seemed unaffected. Not even a flinch.
The door to the apartment slid open once more. Colt's assumption about the newcomer was correct as soon as Captain Bailey opened his mouth. "Put down the gun, Kolyat."
"Get out of my way! I'm leaving, and Joram's coming with me." Kolyat shoved Joram forward while keeping his gun firmly dug into the politician.
"Please help me," Joram whined.
"Shut the fuck up," Shepard said. If this asshole opened his mouth one more time, Colt was gonna kill him himself.
"They have snipers outside, they'll kill you," Thane explained, "Put the gun down and come with us."
Kolyat was getting twitchier by the second. At this rate, things would start to deteriorate quickly. No amount of talking was gonna get Kolyat to stop.
Colt shot a bullet dangerously close to Kolyat's head. The surprise and noise of the shot sent everyone, except Shepard, into a stunned silence. Shepard used the next few shocked moments to move right up to Kolyat. He grabbed the gun out of the drell's hands before yanking Joram out of his grip. Colt dragged the politician backwards before depositing him on the floor by Bailey.
"Arrest him," Bailey told the two men with him.
"What makes it okay for him to kill people but not me?" Kolyat cried, jabbing a finger at Thane.
"I was six when the Hanar started teaching me how to kill, I didn't know any better. Until your mom came."
Colt adjusted his chest plate and looked around awkwardly. This conversation was painfully public.
"Then why weren't you there when she died?" Kolyat's voice cracked. "Why were you never there?"
"They killed her to get to me. I hunted them down. Hurt them and eventually killed them. When I went back to see you, you were-older. I should've stayed," Thane whispered, "I should've stayed."
"My loss, I guess."
"I've taken many bad things out of this world. You're the only good thing I've ever added."
"Perhaps this conversation would be better in private," Captain Bailey cut-in, "Boys, give them a room, and as much time as they need."
Colt watched Thane and Kolyat get escorted out of the apartment before turning to Bailey. "That was awfully nice of you." He liked Bailey, but up to this moment, had only really seen him as background. Perhaps he'd underestimated the Captain.
"Do you think he's the only one who screwed up raising a son?" Bailey asked.
…
Shepard glanced at the holding room before turning to Garrus. The turian just shrugged his shoulders. They'd been talking for awhile. Hopefully the meeting was going well.
"About ten years ago, some real bad people were killed," Bailey said as he walked up, "Our main suspect was a drell. We never caught him." Silence dropped uncomfortably over the three.
"That isn't something you want to get involved in," Colt said. It had been a long ass day and Bailey's threat just made him angry.
"Oh, believe me. I know not to mess with a Spectre...or his friends." An opening door stopped Bailey before he could say more. Thane stepped out and started to walk over.
"How'd it go?" Shepard asked.
"I can't fix everything with just a few words, but we'll keep talking." Thane seemed happy. He was smiling at least.
"Look, Thane," Bailey started, "Your boy killed some people, no one I care about, but murder is murder." Bailey was just trying to follow the law. Colt got that, but it was still fucking annoying.
"Look, if he goes through the system his life is fucked. We both know that," Colt said, "Someone who has so much to offer society is locked up because of a few people no one cares about. The better solution would be to give him a job, make him pay off his debt to society. He won't get off scott free, but his life won't be ruined." That sounded fair.
"C-Sec won't allow it," Bailey responded, "We have to go through protocol, and different channels."
"Have him work for you, keep C-Sec out of this," Shepard said, "Teach him to be a good officer and in time, he'll do enough good to pay back those murders." Colt was pushing hard, he knew that, but Thane was his friend.
"Interesting idea. I'll think about it," Captain Bailey said. He rose and shook hands with Shepard and Thane.
Colt sighed with relief. Today was a good day, a nice relief from some of his most recent missions. He'd bet anything that Bailey would take his suggestion. He took his wins when he could get them.