Chapter Thirty Two: Lair of the Shadow Broker-Part 1
"Liara, I have some information that you may like." Colt extended a datapad towards the asari.
She barely glanced up before asking, "What kind of information?" The annoyance in her voice cut to the quick.
"It's on the Shadow Broker's location."
She sprang out of her chair immediately and grabbed at the datapad. "Let me see!" Her eyes scanned greedily across the text. After a minute or two she put a hand on her forehead as if she had a headache.
"What's wrong?" He stepped towards her carefully. Whatever boundaries that existed before he died had obviously shifted.
"It's been two years, Shepard. Two years since Feron sacrificed himself," she said while closing her eyes for a moment before glancing at something on her desk. It looked like a framed pair of...dog-tags? "Two years since everything changed."
A tidal wave of jealousy rolled over him. "Who's Feron?" He tried to ask casually, but the edge in his voice was unmistakable. It was stupid feeling considering he and Liara were no longer together. As far as he could tell, she was completely uninterested in him.
It'd been two years for her. Things weren't the same. They weren't together anymore. She wasn't coming back to the Normandy. He'd tried telling himself this over and over. The year was 2185 and the world stopped making sense years ago.
"A friend who helped me get your body. He actually betrayed me and Hannah, but in the end he saved us. For two years I thought he was dead, and now I find out he's alive. It's all a bit overwhelming." Liara walked back to her desk and started rifling through her drawers.
His brain was working overtime to completely process what she'd just said. "Get my body? What the fuck are you talking about, Liara?"
"Your mom didn't tell you?"
"My mom tells me jackshit," he growled. He was about three seconds from walking out of her office and never returning.
She must've sensed his growing anger because she responded quickly. "The Shadow Broker wanted your body so he could sell you to the Collectors. Feron, Hannah, and I stopped him. Cerberus, Miranda to be more specific, said they could bring you back. I believed them, or wanted to, so I handed you over."
"So you're the one responsible?" Colt couldn't look at her, he could barely speak. Biotic energy was starting to build around him without his permission. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He had no desire to liquefy Liara on accident.
"Shepard...Colt. What was I supposed to do?"
"I don't know!" He yelled. "Give me to the Alliance maybe? So they could fucking bury me and be over with it."
"I couldn't do that." She was barely audible.
"Cerberus has an agenda and they repurposed me to fit it! These biotics? I don't know how to handle them! It's like handing a toddler a gun. My goddamn face glowed when I first woke up, so did my eyes," he said while shaking his head. He got out of his chair and walked over to the nearest window. The year was 2185 and he should've been dead. He started more quietly, "I can tell myself all the lies I want. I can tell myself that I still have my memories, so I'm still me. But..." He tensed his jaw and leaned against the windowsill. His breath fogged up the window and dimmed Ilium to a faraway land. He brought up his hand to clear the picture, but couldn't quite bring himself to wipe away the condensation. "I should be grateful to Miranda. I know I should. But every time I look at her… I think I hate her."
She walked past him and stopped only a few feet away. "I'm so sorry." She started walking to the door, but Colt caught her wrist before she could leave. He held it lightly enough so she could pull her arm away, but she stayed still. He turned her slowly to face him. "I've been after the Shadow Broker for years. And now I can save Feron and kill the Broker? I can't let this opportunity slide through my fingers."
"The Shadow Broker is no joke. I've heard stories and I've crossed path with their agents more than a few times," he said, "Cerberus may have had an agenda, but they know what traits win fights. Let me help you."
She pulled out of his grip and turned back around. She brought her hands up to cup her head tiredly before asking, "Don't you hate me?"
"I couldn't hate you even if I tried."
Liara let her hands fall to her side. She gazed out the window for a long moment before finally saying, "I need to go to my apartment and think about this."
"How about I meet you there?" He suggested. Now was the perfect time to really figure out the nature of their relationship. He'd loosed the crew upon Ilium, so there would be nobody breathing down their neck. It could just be the two of them. And if things went poorly between them, he'd be able to retreat in private.
She paused before nodding. "Okay, meet me there in half an hour."
…
"What the hell happened here?" Colt demanded. Police tape and several officers were blocking off the apartment he was supposed to be in. He tried to duck under the tape but was stopped by a turian C-Sec officer. "I'm a Spectre, let me in!" He flashed his credentials and was waved in.
"Looks like someone tried to kill Doctor T'Soni," an asari on his right said. He hadn't noticed her approaching. "She was saved by kinetic barriers around the glass. It was a clever, but paranoid move. Very clever."
"What?!" He demanded. "Where is she? Is she hurt?" Shepard started to look around the apartment frantically. Where was emergency services? Had they already left? What hospital would they have taken her?
"There's no blood or body. It looks like your friend got away," she said. He sighed out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Holy shit. Thank God. "I'm Tela Vasir, by the way. Council Special Tactics and Reconnaissance."
Colt never heard of her, which was odd. At the very least, he thought he knew all the Spectres. "A Spectre?"
"Yes," she said, "You're our most famous member. I might even get you to sign my chest plate later. Congrats on being reinstated by the way, and the miraculous return to the living."
Something was off. He knew every Spectre. So who the hell was she? "Thank you. If you'll excuse me, I need to make a quick call," he said.
"Of course."
He walked out of the apartment and dialed up an old friend once he was sure Tela couldn't hear.
"Colt? Is there something wrong?"
"Amara, hi. It was good seeing you the other day. I have a quick question. Have you heard of a Spectre named Tela Vasir?"
"Ya, she's pretty new. Likes to work alone, I think."
"Listen, some shit is going down with Liara and she's shown up. Thoughts?" He said.
"I'd exercise caution," Amara said, "A brand new Spectre concerning herself with the resurrected Commander Shepard and his girlfriend? It seems weird. She may be angling for more press coverage or fame."
"Any weaknesses? Shady connections?"
"You tell me, Spectre killer."
"Alright, alright," he said, "I better get going, but I'll call you later, okay?"
"Okay. See you later."
Colt shut down his omni-tool and walked back to the apartment. Tela Vasir met him close to the front door and asked, "Everything okay?"
"Ya, it's all good…So, what are the facts so far?"
"About twenty five minutes ago, someone took a shot at your friend. The kinetic barriers stopped all the bullets. It looks like she hung around for almost four minutes before leaving," she said, "Whatever she was doing must've been important. Did she mention having any enemies?"
"You're kidding, right? She has all the enemies the galaxy has to offer."
"That narrows it down."
Colt laughed before saying, "Welcome to the wonderful world of Commander Shepard and crew, where half the galaxy wants to kill you and the other half won't believe it."
"What a shitty life."
"Tell me about it," he said, "Has C-Sec found anything? Anything that could lead to her location?"
"Just the bullet holes so far, but they'll let us know if they find anything," she answered, "But honestly? I think we have a better shot at figuring out her location ourselves. You know her better than probably anyone."
"She expected me, maybe she left something," Shepard said, "Let's spread out and look for something, anything." He didn't wait for an answer before going over to the bullet holes.
"Hello, Commander," a C-Sec officer greeted, "The rifle used to shoot wasn't standard issue. The kinetic barriers slowed the bullets tremendously, but they still penetrated the glass."
"Thank you," he said while walking away. Whoever did this was a professional. Maybe not a good one since they didn't clock the kinetic barriers, but the gun they used was no joke. They had to be taking their orders from the Shadow Broker.
He walked over to a case displaying a Prothean artifact. It must have been thousands of years old and very expensive. He felt around the case for anything that could lead to her location, but there was nothing. When he looked up, a familiar sight caught his eye.
He moved slowly to another case containing his old N7 armor chest piece. It was shredded and barely clinging together. For a moment, it felt like the world glitched. He was standing in his new armor, looking at the armor he'd died in. Actually died in. There was no near death experience, no fun story to tell. One moment he was choking above Alchera and the next he was gone. Try as he might, there was no clever antidote, no lesson learned. He'd fought for the galaxy and died for nothing.
What had his body looked like when it hit Alchera? What did Miranda have to work with?
"Looks like someone didn't like you too much, either," Vasir said behind him.
"No," he croaked out. He walked over to a painting, hoping to avoid making eye contact with Vasir.
"That's not the asari homeworld," she said, "Actually, I don't know what planet that is."
"It's Ilos," he said. It felt like he'd been on Ilos's surface just a few months ago. In reality, it'd been years.
He moved into the next room and started shuffling through her desk. Her desk was littered with datapads and hand written notes. There was nothing here that could help. If she left something, it would be obvious. Colt stood back up and caught sight of her diploma.
"Doctorate from Serrice University back on Thessia," Vasir said next to him, "Smart cookie."
"You have no idea," he said while walking for the stairs.
The second story was much smaller than the first and had barely any decoration, although, the gigantic fish tank above her bed was a nice touch.
Colt scanned the room and almost immediately gravitated towards her night stand. It had a gorgeous picture of the Normandy SR-1. He went to pick it up for a closer look, but as soon as he touched it, the picture changed. The new picture was of a Prothean ruin. Was it a dig site she'd been to?
"Check every Prothean artifact, I just got a message from Liara," Shepard called out to Vasir.
He headed back downstairs and made a beeline for the first Prothean artifact he saw. As soon as he touched the case, a hidden drawer slid open to reveal a datapad. Liara must've left it for him considering that everything was written in English. He read it quickly for a location.
"Do you know where Baria Frontiers is?" He asked, "In the Dracon Trade Center?"
"Yes. My hovercar is outside," Vasir answered, "Let's go."
…
"Baria Frontiers is on the third floor," Vasir said.
"Okay," Colt said with a nod, "So we go in, and find Liar-,"
Before he knew what was happening, he was flying backwards while heat lapped at his face. He landed hard enough to knock the wind out of him. He sat up, trying to both regain the ability to breathe and sort out what happened. He took in a gulp of air and quickly rejoined the world. Piercing screams were his welcome back.
Shepard staggered to his feet and surveyed the carnage. People, all civilians by the looks of it, laid in pools of their own blood and screeched. Not for help or a higher power. They just screamed and screamed. Only a bomb could cause this kind of havoc, and a big one at that. He was lucky to be wearing armor or the explosion would've done a lot more damage.
He sent a message to C-Sec notifying them of the attack before wandering towards the building. Why were they here again?
Wait...Liara was inside the building that had just exploded.
"I'll go to the roof and work my way down," Vair said, "We can meet in the middle." Colt was already flying up the stairs into the bombed building, but grunted in the affirmative.
There were no thoughts, just shoot, kill, and run. He made his way through the building in impressive time. Killing mercs had never been easier.
Finally he reached the last possible place Liara's contact could be. He breached the door and bolted into the room. His gun was raised and his biotics pooled around him. Once he saw Vasir, he quickly lowered his weapon.
"Pity. If we'd just been a little faster, then we could've saved him," Vasir said. She holstered her pistol around the same time Colt noticed a line of blood coming towards him. She must've just shot the merc who killed Liara's contact.
"This is Seket?" He asked. He kneeled in front of the salarian and started searching his body.
"I think so."
"No sign of that data Liara mentioned," he said, standing up, "Dead end, I guess."
"Speaking of which, did you find your asari friend's body?" She said.
Dead? No, no. That was a mistake. Where was she? His heart lurched before sinking into his stomach. Bile rose in his throat the more he considered the possibility that she was gone. He gagged before stumbling into a wall.
"You mean this body?" Liara growled, causing him to jump. She seemed to materialize out of the shadows. Her gun was raised and her teeth were bared. Shepard's heart lunged back up from his stomach and burrowed in his throat. A sigh of relief rushed out of his lungs and made him sag forward a little. He pushed off the wall and approached Liara.
"Liara!" He called, "It's okay, she's a Spectre."
"She tried to kill me," Liara said. Colt stopped dead in his tracks and turned slowly to the Spectre. Nobody hurt, or tried to hurt, Liara.
"It's been a long day for you, Doctor. You were almost killed a couple of times," Vasir answered. She was backing up slowly, steadily. "So I'll let your accusation slide. You can put that gun down now."
"Do you think I'm an idiot?" She hissed. "I doubled back after I left my apartment. I watched you break in."
"And you needed me to find Liara's message," he said while unholstering his shotgun.
"I appreciate the help," Vasir said, grinning. Colt could tear her to pieces right now. A few shotgun blasts, a couple punches, and overwhelming barrage of sloppy, yet powerful biotics would finish her off quickly. But what was Liara's angle? Did she need Vasir for information purposes? He didn't want to do anything without first knowing the game plan.
"Once Shepard figured out my location, you contacted the Shadow Broker's forces. Then they bombed out this building to kill me," Liara said. She inched forward towards the slowly retreating Spectre. "She got in, probably killed Seket, and got the data disk he was holding for me. You probably still have it right now."
"Huh, I guess your education wasn't wasted on this crazy douche and his failed crusade," Vasir said, nodding in Colt's direction. A wave of blue exploded from the Spectre, shattering the large glass window behind her. "Now fucking die you pureblood bitch!"
Colt charge forward, ready to break Vasir with his bare hands. "Take it back, you bitch!" He yelled. A moment later, he realized he should've waited to asses the situation. Vasir turned her arm lightning fast and sent the shattered glass flying at him. He was able to produce his own biotic shield, but was slow to the draw and much less powerful than he needed. Some of the larger shards were stopped completely, but most were only slowed. He felt a thousand knives open him up. He screamed in pain, but was only propelled forward faster by sheer rage. Liara yelled for him to stop, but he kept going. Cerberus hadn't skimped on his speed. He reached Vasir before she could make another move and tackled her. The force of the tackle sent both of them flinging out the window. They free fell before activating their biotics simultaneously. They floated down in twisting hurricane of blue. Their powers surged against each other, searching for any weakness. Colt focused on pumping more energy in until her biotics finally gave way. She shot out from under him and crashed to the ground with bone breaking force. He followed more slowly before his biotics gave way. The glass had done its job. He fell about ten feet before collapsing into a pile. He felt the wetness of his own blood start to collect under his head.
To Vasir's credit, she stood back up despite her injuries. She started limping towards the exit while cradling an arm.
Colt somehow found his feet and started after her. He almost fell back down when Liara landed lightly next to him. "You scared me!"
"Colt...goddess," she said while looking him up and down. "You need to stop. You've been injured."
"Ya, well, Cerberus didn't genetically engineer no quitter," he said. He could already feel strength returning back to his limbs.
"Goddess," she said again. He looked down and realized that green numbers were flittering across his skin. Little shards of glass were being pushed out of his body and onto the floor.
"Just a little improvement the Illusive Man made," he said, turning away from her. He didn't need her looking at him like he was a monster. He watched the numbers fade slowly. Once they were completely gone, he straightened his back out and started to give chase. Vasir had a few minutes on them, but she was still injured while Colt had never felt better.
Liara followed at a slower pace.
…
Colt slid across the debris-filled ground into cover. Where was she? A moment later he watched a sky car pull out only a feet from him. She sped away before he could latch onto the car. Fuck! "Liara!" He yelled through the comms.
"Here!" She said breathlessly while sliding next to him.
"Let's go. She's already in a hovercar." He stood and tried to open the door of the nearest sky car. Much to his annoyance, it was locked. Nothing was ever fucking easy, was it? He grabbed the handle and ripped the door of its hinges with mild strain. Once the door was off, he tossed it to the side, got in, and reached over to open the passenger door. "Come on."
Liara got into her seat at a frustratingly slow pace. She turned to look at him with wide eyes. "What-"
"-Ah hah!" He said after finding the keys in the side compartment. He shoved the key in and accelerated as soon as he heard the engine fire.
Luckily, Vasir's own shuttle was still in sight. Air screamed past the open window as he pushed the sky car even harder. No way in hell was she getting away.
"Hang a right, no a left!" Liara said while jabbing her finger towards their disappearing enemy.
"I can see her." He pressed his foot down and banked a hard left. As soon as they cleared the corner, he saw her drive into a high rise still under construction. Ballsy, but not impossible.
"Oh Goddess, we're not going into the construction site, are-?"
They plunged forward into the half finished building. Pylons and scaffolding dotted the area, threatening to obliterate their car. Colt maintained their speed while construction materials rushed at them with dizzying speed. The debris was easy to spot and even easier to avoid. He zig-zagged between the obstacles with relative ease. A sense of calm descended the moment he sat foot in the sky car, and it did not go away despite the frantic nature of his maneuvers.
A moment later, they emerged from the building and were practically on top of Vasir. She must've gone through much slower.
Colt swerved to ram her, but she shot out from under them. It looked like her car had some sort of booster attached. "Do we have one of those?"
"Yes!" Liara said. She reached over to the console and pressed a rather unimpressive black button. He was pushed back into his seat as they rocketed forward.
"Fuck yes!" He screamed.
"Go, go, go!"
"I'm going, God dammit!" He said. Vasir took another sharp turn, causing him to veer after her.
"Oncoming traffic!" Liara yelled. She was just a master of the goddamn obvious.
"We'll be fine!" He replied, "Probably!" He took the car above the regular stream of traffic and watched Vasir do the same a moment later. Neither were stupid enough to risk a head-on collision. She turned once more into a cluster of high rises.
"Booster, Liara!"
She pressed the button and they were pushed backwards once more. They exploded forward and came close enough to ram her once more.
"Proximity mine!" Liara shouted. Colt pulled up in time to miss it by a few feet.
"She's dropping proximity mines!"
"I noticed!" He said. They made another hard right past a few more mines. An explosion just behind them made the sky car shake violently. He checked his rearview mirror to find another hovercar on their ass. Where was the damn cavalry?
"She brought back-up!"
"What kind of weapons does this thing have?"
Liara laughed for a fleeting second before answering, "This is a taxi, Shepard. It has a fare meter!"
"Fuck me!" He slammed his foot on the accelerator and shot forward into a traffic tunnel. Hopefully that would lose them. They sped around another corner only to be greeted by an oncoming truck.
"Truck." Liara said, her voice straining.
"I know."
"Truck!"
Colt swerved around the truck with only a little decrease in his speed. Some mixture of skill and luck allowed them to get out alive. Liara let out this noise that was halfway between a scream and a sigh. It was kinda worrisome.
"There we go," he said with a laugh.
"You're enjoying this?" He could feel her gaze upon him.
"What's not to love?" He said, realizing he spoke to soon. Vasir swerved into oncoming traffic once more.
"Truck!" She yelled.
"What the hell? Again?" This time he was able to dodge the truck with relative ease before turning another corner. It was a good thing he didn't get car sick. "Booster please!"
He saw Liara reach out of the corner of his eye before getting pushed into his seat. He pulled up beside Vasir and turned his wheel to ram her. The two sky cars bounced off each other, so he went in for another hit. He was vaguely aware of alarms blaring.
He rammed the hovercar hard enough that Liara practically flew into his lap, but the job was done. Vasir spun into another hovercar which took a good portion out of her car's front. Smoke immediately burst from the engine and she started to nose dive. Colt followed close behind in case she survived the crash.
Her hovercar plunged through two levels of a building before coming to stop on a patio. There wasn't enough room for another hovercar, so he parked a level below. Shepard hopped out and unslung his shotgun. Liara jumped out of her side and slapped a thermal clip into her pistol.
A skycar drove over their heads and started to descend about fifty yards away. "More reinforcements," Liara said. The Shadow Broker had tenacity, there was no denying that.
…
"I'll go back to the Citadel and get a nice, clean job. I swear."
"Me too! Just please don't kill us."
Colt took off his helmet and holstered his shotgun. He approached the two asari slowly and scanned for any injuries. "My name is Commander Shepard. Are either of you hurt?"
"C-Commander Shepard? I thought you were dead?"
"I was...it's a...it's a long story. Are you hurt?" Colt repeated. He crouched down in front of the two and set his helmet beside him. Hopefully the Broker's agents hadn't gotten this far into...whatever this place was.
"N-no. And we didn't see anything either!"
"We swear!"
"It's okay," he soothed, "I'm not gonna hurt you. I just wanna make sure you're alright." He brought a hand up to rest on one of the asari's shoulders. She didn't flinch away, but her eyes grew wider. He noticed a line of blood cascading down the other one's hand and forming a little puddle. "Here," he said while handing her a packet of omni-gel, "Put this on any injuries. I'm gonna call emergency services and they'll be able to check you out. But stay here. I don't want either of you to get caught in the crossfire. Okay?"
"Okay."
He nodded at the pair before picking up his helmet and standing up. He tapped out a quick message to emergency services on his omni-tool and then turned towards Liara. She was standing by the door but seemed to be watching him closely.
Colt brought up his helmet but quickly let it fall to his hip when he noticed the massive vid-screen on one of the walls. There were a couple asari-dancers in various stages of undress dancing around the very room he was in.
"What kinda place is this?" He asked Liara. He looked at the two asari huddled in the corner and realized that their outfits didn't leave a lot to the imagination.
"It's a hotel called Azure. It has an...exotic edge," she replied, "'Azure' is slang for an asari body part in some parts of Illium."
Colt couldn't resist turning to Liara with the best shit eating grin that he could muster. Azure wasn't just slang on some parts of Illium. His experiences as a young Alliance officer told him as much. "Where?" He asked.
"Mainly the lower reaches, near the bottom."
"I meant where on the asari?"
Liara shot him a smug look. "So did I."
Colt's eyebrows shot up and he let out a bark of laughter before shaking his head. "Good night," he said with another chuckle.
…
Shepard bent down next to the body of another asari dancer. He checked for a pulse and sighed when there was none. He listened as Liara walked up behind him. "Who the fuck does this?" He asked, "What sorta Spectre does this?" No one had the right to cut down civilians. But a Spectre doing it? It made his stomach turn. Did her vows mean nothing to her?
"Come on," she said. He felt her hand grip his shoulder. "If we let her get away, she'll do much more damage."
"Ya." He stood and walked back to the closest blood stain. He began following it once more. "She's lost a lot of blood. That glass must've shredded her," he said, "She's tough, that much I'll give her."
"She's a Spectre."
He marched through a doorway into a courtyard. She couldn't have gotten far. He looked through the crowd, hoping to spot her.
"There," Liara said. She pointed to a stumbling figure about half way across the courtyard.
"Stop Vasir!" He roared, "It's over!" He started jogging to the asari with his weapon raised.
Vasir stopped for a fleeting moment before erupting into an impressive ball of biotics. She turned before releasing a charge that allowed her to grab a nearby human. "What's your name?" The Spectre asked. She pressed her pistol to the human's head.
"M-Maria."
"Well, Maria, you want to live don't you?" Vasir said, "Tell these nice people that you want to live."
"Please!" The human cried.
"We'll get you out of here safely," Colt said, "Don't worry, Maria."
"That's a nice sentiment, Commander. But a false one. All you had to do was walk the fuck away," she said, pressing the pistol harder into Maria's head. "You turned this ugly, Shepard. You killed this woman."
"I have a son," Maria sobbed.
"A son?" Vasir said, "I hope you see him again. I hear that losing a parent really fucks a person for life."
"I am going to end you, Vasir," Liara said coldly.
"It's okay Liara," he said, "We'll handle this, like we always do."
"Do you want Maria's boy to live without a mommy, Shepard? Or did you forget what it's like to lose a parent? Thermal clips on the ground, now. And power cells."
Colt turned his attention back to the other Spectre. She was dying, and she was organic. Her reaction times would be incredibly slow.
He snapped his arm forward and shot a singularity at the pair. Even with his limited training he could tell it was shitty. But the singularity was powerful and most importantly, he shot it off like a speeding bullet. It enveloped both Maria and Vasir, and made them spin around lazily in his biotics.
He walked over, feeding more and more energy in. Vasir was a talented biotic and could possibly break his hold. The more energy he pumped in, the less likely that scenario became.
Colt came to stand in front of his singularity, watching the two float around aimlessly. Vasir's eyes were blazing and she said, "Every report said that you're biotic now. They also said that your abilities were subpar."
"Well, to be fair, it was a bit sloppy."
"What the fuck did Cerberus do to you, Shepard? You were supposed to be the best of us, and now you're some Cerberus cyborg? The Illusive Man's fucked up biotic experiment!"
"I'm certainly better than you! You sold out the council so you could help the goddamn Shadow Broker?" He yelled, "Does your oath mean nothing to you?"
"You think I betrayed the council? Like Saren? Go to hell! The Broker has given me damn good intel over the years. He helped me become a Spectre, and he's helped me save lives and keep the Citadel safe!" She said. "So if the Broker needs a few people to disappear, that's a price I'll pay without hesitation."
Colt shook his head. How the fuck did he keep running into people and beings with such horrifically twisted logic? How did she know that the people the Broker wanted dead were actually criminals and not just his political opponents? And where the fuck did a fair trial go? Spectre's could kill without immunity, but a trial was always preferable to death. Killing was the always last resort. "Spectres don't blow up buildings filled with innocent people!" He said.
"Yes, we do. And you know it," she hissed, "The Council may frown upon some of our proceedings but they never look too closely. We get our hands dirty so they don't have to. We do whatever it takes."
"The ends never justify the means. Ever. The fucking sanctity of life means something!" He screamed, "Those were fucking people you bombed out and shot along your way! Young men and women with their whole lives ahead of them! And you cut them down without a second thought, you sick fuck!"
"Don't you dare judge me," she growled, "You're with Cerberus. Do you have any idea what they've done?
Colt released his biotics and watched Vasir thud to the ground. A pool of blood immediately started to form under her. Liara came up from behind him and wordlessly took the data disk from Vasir's side pocket. She walked away while tapping at her omni-tool. Hopefully she was getting the Shadow Broker's location sent to the Normandy.
He approached the wounded Spectre and crouched just in front of her face. He stared at her for a long minute before speaking in a low tone, "Of course I do. And they're coming down next."
Her eyebrows rose momentarily before a sick grin crossed her face. "Next? Why not now? What happened to the ends never justify the means?" She asked. "How about you cut your self-righteous bullshit and take a long look in the mirror before you judge me for anything."
He looked down at his blood-stained boots before glancing up again. She wasn't exactly wrong. "Come on," he said quietly, "I'll patch you up and get you to a hospital. Can you stand or-"
Her head snapped back while her blood exploded onto his face. The crack of a gun left his ears ringing. "What the fu-?" He stood up and turned to find Liara lowering her pistol.
"Liara-wha?"
"She did not deserve a hospital trip and definitely didn't deserve to live. Plus, she could have warned the Shadow Broker that we're hot on his trail. That kind of warning would kill us."
"Okay," he said slowly. His ears were still ringing. "Is Maria alright?"
"She's fine, but I gave the hospital a call. She left plenty of bodies and people needing help in her wake," the asari said, "Believe me when I say she wasn't worth it."
"It's not about being worth it. What I said had nothing to do with her and everything to do with me," he said, "It's about setting your morals and living by them. Morals aren't a goddamn hobby that change as you see fit."
"And you did follow your morals. And so did I. I have no qualms about killing her."
"Well you should!" He said. "She was unarmed and injured. That's not a fair fight."
"She decided on an unfair fight when she bombed out three stories of innocent people," Liara said.
He brought his hands up to rub his eyes. This wasn't the hill he was willing to die on. "Fine. Okay? Whatever," he said, throwing his hands up in the air, "She deserved it, blah fucking blah. Let's just get the fuck on with this shitty mission okay? Fuuck."
"Colt…" she said softly. She reached out for him, but he pulled back. "I just sent the Shadow Broker's coordinates to the Normandy. We have a minute to talk. We'll be jumping a few light years."
"What do you wanna talk about, huh? About how you've changed? About how I've changed? About how I died and you had to listen?" He demanded. "What is there to say? I promised I'd help you save Feron, and I will, but…"
"-You're here to help, just like always," she interrupted. She paused to look out the window before turning back. "Do you remember the day we met? On Therum? You saved me from those geth and then took on a krogan battlemaster while I cowered-"
"-Cowered?" He asked. "I think you're remembering wrong. I remember that you kicked plenty of ass, and you'd been in that bubble for almost an entire day. You didn't cower by any means." He said more quietly, "I always found that so impressive. Hell, if'd been suspended in Prothean bullshit for almost an entire day, I think I'd let my rescuers do all the work."
"You still saved me from that prison and those Geth, and did most of the work against the krogan battlemaster. And now here we are, and you're helping me again."
"Well, what are friends for?" He asked.
She looked him the eyes for a moment before looking down. She promptly turned on her heel and marched away. He strode after her and almost caught up to her before she started speaking. "The Shadow Broker's agents are shooting their way through Illium right now. If we can board the Normandy quickly, they won't notice we've left."
"There you go again!" He said.
"What?"
"Just when I thought we could have a real conversation and figure out what we are, you turn off again. A second ago you said you wanted to talk and then you close right off. It's like I'm speaking to a fuckin' robot. "
She turned back around and glared at him. "I have to stay rational, like I did with Seket! If we're going to defeat the Shadow Broker, we have to have a level mind."
Colt nodded slowly. So, that's what this was about. "I'm sorry about Seket. But his death is on Vasir, not you. Trust me on this."
"I put him in harm's way to get the data. I got him killed," she said, "But you know what?"
"Hmm?"
"I'd do it again."
He took a step backwards and looked her up and down. Causing the death of someone else was its own shitty thing, but not regretting it was somehow much worse.
She eyed him coldly before turning and walking once more. "Things should be much more simpler from now on. We get in, we kill the Shadow Broker, rescue Feron, and then we get out. My contacts shouldn't be involved in any way. No one else should be in harm's way."
"What's with this Feron guy?"
"Hannah and I owe him our lives," she answered, "He distracted the Shadow Broker's people so we could escape. He was captured because of us and I owe him...And I suppose you do too. Without his intervention, you'd still be dead."
"I see."
"We just need to grab him and go."
"That's it?" He asked.
"That's it. And the sooner we get to the Normandy, the sooner we can save him."
"I thought you wanted to talk?"
"Shepard, listen, I'm...glad you're here."
He snorted before saying, "What? You need any terminals to be hacked?"
"That's not fair and you know it!"
"You wanted to talk, so talk!" He said.
She put a hand to her forehead. "You were dead, Colt. For two years. And then you show up again and you can rip car doors off their hinges without so much as breaking a sweat? Not to mention the fact that you can heal almost instantly. It's just a lot to take in."
For him, no time had passed. One moment he was gone and the very next, Miranda was trying to get him to calm down. He hadn't moved on. It felt like he'd been on the SR-1 only a few short months ago instead of almost two and a half years. He could've picked up right where he left off, but no one seemed willing to allow him. "I know that better than anyone."
"Two years of mourning doesn't just suddenly vanish."
"Why does everyone keep blaming me for something I had no control over?" He asked. "I didn't choose to get killed by the Collectors, nor did I choose to be brought back by Cerberus. Stop blaming me for a crime I didn't commit."
"Shepard, I-"
Colt shoved his helmet on, sealing it. "Come on. Let's just go."