Chapter 12 - Loosened Tongues

Alliance News Network - Councilor Donnel Udina defended 6th Dimension Vids' decision to cast asari actress Adria S'Voz as the character based on Commander Shepard in the upcoming vid Blasto: The Battle for the Citadel. "Let us not forget that the true heroes of the day were the members of Alliance Navy's 5th Fleet. Many bravely died in that battle and the Blasto vid will, I understand, recognize and honor their sacrifice. Commander Shepard's role in the battle, by contrast, is still a matter of some debate. Given the commander's upcoming war crimes trial, this is perhaps not the best time to have that debate. Substituting a fictional character for Shepard is therefore a reasonable solution to the matter." Udina rejected as "baseless, untrue and frankly insulting" claims that his opinion was influenced by his position as an executive producer for the vid, reflecting his role brokering the deal for 6th Dimension Vids to get the official rights to the Alliance Navy's account of the battle. - Diane Allers reporting.

Jacana hadn't been sleeping. It was strange, in six centuries she had never suffered from insomnia before. Not until she met Khalisah. Then suddenly, in those few months they had spent together, she had found herself lying awake at night replaying their conversations in her mind, wondering if she had said or done the right things.

She had fretted over the tiniest details, reading sagas into the smallest interactions. She had craved spending time with the human but struggled to enjoy it when they were together without wondering if the relationship would last. She had been terrified that Khalisah would leave or that the feelings would somehow fade and it would turn out to be nothing but a brief fling.

And then Khalisah had left and she had found herself lying awake wondering if she would ever come back. If she did would things be the same between them? Or would the time apart have killed the spark? Even the prospect of that made her fists clench and her heart burn. She cursed herself for not saying more or doing more while they had been together.

She had told herself how ridiculous she was being, acting like a love-struck maiden. Some days she had sat alone in the café where they had first sat down together, back when Khalisah had been nothing to her but a target in one of the Shadow Broker's operations. Even so, she had always been drawn to the human from the moment they had bumped into each other – quite literally – at the asari embassy, intrigued by something she couldn't rationalize.

Some days she had dropped by Khalisah's now empty apartment. She still had the keycard Khalisah had given her and most of her furniture she had left behind. She had even tried sleeping there once or twice, wondering if it would help with the insomnia. But without the clutter of Khalisah's clothes and shoes strewn everywhere, or dishes and datapads covering every surface, or the spicy smell of the human's perfume in the air, the apartment was just cold and empty and no longer the familiar place that had come to feel like a second home.

Soon she had realized that life had to go on. She had forced herself back into work and over time things went back to normal. The feelings did start to fade, just as she had feared and she had started to remember who she had been before Khalisah came crashing into her life like a hurricane, leaving behind a mess she wasn't sure she had wanted to rebuild. She still thought about the human often, but not with the same intensity as before.

Then Khalisah had come back. And in an instant the feelings had all come flooding back, like no time had passed at all. And now here she was, lying awake at night, analyzing every word that had passed between them in their two fleeting encounters, trying to make sense of where it had gone wrong.

She had been lying in bed, thinking herself in circles when Quet had messaged her. A cryptic email asking her to meet him right away at some diner in the wards, just round the corner from his apartment. She had no idea what he wanted but since she had nothing better to do than stare at the ceiling and drive herself crazy with what-ifs, she had jumped out of bed, pulled on yesterday's clothes and was now sitting at a table on her own, tapping her fingers to the muffled music that was coming from the low-quality speakers above her.

There weren't many other customers in at this time of night and the place was otherwise quiet. It was a dingy little spot but it was clean and the human waitress who was working that night had a friendly demeanor and a nice smile, which was about the best you could hope for in this part of the wards.

Jacana had no clue why Quet had asked to meet her. It was possible he was just worried about her. He was the only one who knew what she was going through with Khalisah, even if he didn't quite understand it and she knew he must have noticed her unusually erratic behavior. Maybe he just wanted to check in, see that she was okay.

It seemed a little farfetched, but Quet could be thoughtful when he wanted to. And he was about the closest thing she had to a friend. Having friends wasn't easy when you were an undercover agent for the Shadow Broker, you couldn't exactly confide in people about your problems. Not if you were fond of your vital organs, anyway.

It was the same reason relationships had always been so fleeting. Marriage just wasn't on the cards in this life. She could just imagine the dinner conversations: 'how was your day, Darling?' 'I'm afraid I can't tell you, the Shadow Broker might have you assassinated.'

She laughed grimly to herself.

But her and Quet had accidently become something of a team over the years. They always seemed to end up wrapped up in the same operations together. He probably knew more about her life than anyone. Maybe he really was just looking out for her.

With this running through her mind, Jacana was understandably surprised when Quet entered and – rather than joining her at her table – he breezed right past her without even making eye contact and proceeded to sit by himself at the table behind her. He then pulled a datapad out from his coat and began studying it intently, showing no sign of even having recognized her.

Now seated back-to-back with the salarian, Jacana glanced round him and pointedly cleared her throat. "Um… Quet, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Shush!" he insisted sharply. "Do not address me by my name in public, Operative Menthe."

"Operative… why are you using my old codename?" Jacana questioned, perplexed. "And why are you sitting at a different table? I thought you wanted to talk to me."

"Shhh!" he hissed again. "It's better that we're not seen together, could arouse suspicion."

"What are you talking about? I'm in and out of your office at least once a week," the asari retorted. "Your entire department thinks that you and I are having some kind of sordid affair and sneak off to the storage cupboard for a quick one now and then. Don't you think it's going to be more suspicious if any of them sees us in the same diner at different tables?"

"A-ha!" Quet said, breaking his façade and turning to look at her fully. "That is why I am wearing a cunning disguise so no one I know will recognize me."

Jacana frowned, looking him up and down. "What disguise?"

"Can't you tell?" he pressed eagerly, waving a hand across his torso as though unveiling a priceless work of art.

"Erm…" Jacana hesitated, "you're… wearing a different color shirt than usual?"

"Exactly! Bought it specially," he said proudly, "since we're in my local area, it's important I don't get recognized by anyone who might know me."

"Usual Quet?" the human waitress breezed past them, plonking a drink down in front of him without waiting for his answer.

"Oh, thanks Glenda," he replied. "Put it on my tab."

Jacana pinched the bridge of her nose, clenching her other fist to keep herself from losing her temper. "Goddess, sometimes I wonder why the Shadow Broker hasn't had you killed yet," she muttered.

Quet, who was now loudly slurping his drink through a straw, turned to frown at her. "What do you- ahhhh!"

He squealed as Jacana hooked a finger under his collar and – with a flair of her biotics – forcibly yanked him backwards over his chair so that he landed upside down on the seat beside her, his legs flying over to hit the table, "Ow!" he complained.

"Oh, sit up straight, you imbecile!" Jacana snapped. "Here I was thinking you might have dragged me out here in the middle of the night because you were worried about me. But no, you just want to play stupid spy games as usual. I swear to the Goddess if the Shadow Broker doesn't kill you soon I might!"

"Okay, Okay!" Quet exclaimed, scrambling back into an upright position and straightening out his new shirt. "Wow, when did you get so tetchy?"

Jacana sighed, he had a point, she was more on edge than usual at the minute. "Sorry. Haven't been getting much sleep," she said. "Look, was there a reason you called me out here?"

"As it happens, yes," he replied, a little indignantly. "I've come across some intelligence relating to a person of interest to you and, being the good and thoughtful friend that I am, I have decided to make you privy to the information before I pass it to the Shadow Broker. At great personal risk to myself, I might add!" he straightened up, adopting a supercilious air about him as though he had just donated his whole wage packet to starving orphans, or something equally heroic.

"So," Jacana muttered dryly, "you do care."

"Yes," he said proudly, "I'm even going to offer you a discount."

"Quet…" Jacana narrowed her eyes warningly.

The salarian gulped. "Which you can owe me later. A few days ago, I bugged the offices of," he paused, glancing around the diner before leaning in and lowering his voice meaningfully, "Subject K."

Jacana blinked, "Who?"

"The human," he said, "the one who makes your pupils dilate and your breathing go funny whenever you're in the same room. You know, you should really see a doctor about that, you might have an allergy or something."

"Khalisah?" Jacana clarified. "You bugged Khalisah's office?"

"Yes," he nodded eagerly. "I've learned that, as we speak, she is conducting a private interview with Subject A, emphasis on the private." Quet paused, then added, "At least that's what the human male said. Don't know why he said it like that, but he made the 'private' part sound really important."

"Subject A?" Jacana questioned. "You mean Aria? Khalisah is interviewing Aria!?"

Quet frowned. "No, the other Subject A. Hmm, gonna have to come up with another codename. Subject A-point-two? No. Subject S? Subject SV?"

"S'Voz?" Jacana felt a pang of dread cut through her chest. If Adria S'Voz had managed to secure a private interview with Khalisah then she was willing to bet Aria had something to do with it. It was clearly some kind of trap. "Quet, this is important: where are they meeting?"

"A secret, undisclosed location known only to me," he revealed, grinning. "And them, of course. And the receptionist who relayed their messages. And the fifty-seven Westerlund News employees that the receptionist copied in a message titled: 'Is Kali screwing the hot alien from Vaenia now?'"

"Quet!" Jacana grabbed his collar, making him squeak in alarm.

"They're meeting at Khalisah's hotel room. Thought it was an odd place for an interview personally. Not to mention an odd time. It's really late, and a week day. You'd think they'd both want to be in bed right now, not- OW!" he squealed as Jacana clambered over him, not even sparing him a second glance as she bolted for the door.

Khalisah stood in front of the mirror, smoothing down the creases of her dress. She had taken great care to pick it out from her wardrobe. It was deep purple, figure-hugging and revealing in all the right places. The moment S'Voz saw her in it, it would be abundantly obvious what Khalisah had planned.

Or, rather, what she wanted S'Voz to think she had planned.

Still, she had hesitated to wear this particular dress tonight. She had, after all, bought it for Jacana. Not to for her wear. Jacana never wore dresses. But Jacana had always liked the long, elegant gowns Khalisah wore for interviews and she had once said purple suited the human best. Actually, the exact words she had used were, 'It makes you even more irresistible than usual.'

She had bought the dress just before returning to the Citadel, knowing that she and Jacana would be reuniting. She had bought a lot of things actually. Clothes for dates. An expensive bottle of wine, the same vintage they had once shared during a cozy night in watching trashy vids. A box of Jacana's favorite chocolates that now sat unopened in the bottom drawer of Khalisah's bedside table with a ton of datapads thrown on top so she didn't have look at it.

Khalisah had crafted so many stupid daydreams in her head: lunch dates; nights out at clubs; nights in with takeaway food and, perhaps. Vaenia. Maybe they would have even make it to the end of the vid this time, though, in truth, Khalisah had hoped that they wouldn't. She had thought of stories and anecdotes to tell about her time away, rehearsed them even and imagined them being told by some charismatic, cheerful version of herself who wasn't cold or spiteful and didn't snipe unfairly at the people she cared about.

It all seemed so stupid now. She should have known that their first meeting would be a disaster, that she would ruin things by being too caught up in herself. That's just how she was: selfish, moody, and difficult. She just couldn't seem to play well with others. It was something she had learned a long time ago and she kept learning it over and over again. Relationships, even friendships, she just couldn't do them. She wasn't a healthy person to have around. She would always be alone.

Khalisah knew this. She had even told Jacana this. The asari had had no right to try and prove her wrong.

Perhaps the most foolish thing Khalisah had done in preparation for seeing Jacana again was having a picture of Danyiah framed to give her. How stupid was that? Why would Jacana have wanted a picture of her daughter? It wasn't like the three of them were ever going to start living together and become a family.

But, in one of her messages after Khalisah had left for Earth, Jacana had said she was looking forward to the day she met Danyiah. She didn't even say she hoped to meet her, or would like to meet her. Jacana had seemed so sure their relationship had a future that she just took it for granted. Reading that had made Khalisah's heart lurch like nothing ever had. It had even made her cry. In public. On a busy transport ship!

She had thought….

But no. People said all sorts of stupid things. Even if Jacana had meant it at the time, it didn't mean she felt the same now. It was best to read nothing into the sentimental nonsense people spewed in the heat of the moment. Feelings like that so rarely lasted.

Khalisah scolded herself for even thinking of these things. She was meant to be preparing for her interview with Adria. The actress wasn't someone to be underestimated. She thought she was coming here as a hunter tonight and that Khalisah would be easy prey. The thought made her smirk to herself. She did enjoy outwitting people like S'Voz, but she couldn't let herself get distracted, she'd have to play it carefully.

Jacana had once told her- Dammit! Why did everything have to make her think of Jacana? She mentally kicked herself and refocused again on the dress. Everything was set; her video drone hovered on standby to at least make it look like she thought S'Voz was coming here for an interview. Two wine glasses stood ready and she'd tidied the hotel room. Well, she'd gathered all the clutter up and flung it into the walk-in wardrobe out of sight. Organization had never been her strong suit.

The asari had always found it amusing how untidy Khalisah's apartment always was. Clothes and shoes strewn everywhere. She had never tried to tidy it though, or criticized Khalisah for it. She had respected the way Khalisah chose to live. Even if she chose to live in a bombsite.

She found herself smiling before realizing she was distracting herself again.

Dammit! Focus!

She checked the time. It was five minutes before S'Voz was due to arrive and Khalisah was willing to bet she was the sort to be precisely on time. She adjusted the earpiece she was wearing.

"Mister Massani? Can you hear me alright?" she asked.

"Loud and clear," the gruff voice responded in her ear. "I can see you too. I've taken up position in an empty room in the east wing of the hotel. I've got a clear view of your room and I can be there in a flash if you need me."

"Good," Khalisah declared. "How are your security systems holding up?"

"The amount of deadlocks I've got on that door? No one's getting in unless you let them in," Zaeed assured her. "Wait a minute, got something on the front lobby camera. S'Voz just pulled up." The mercenary paused and added, "Looks like she's come alone."

"Of course she has," Khalisah agreed. "She has no reason to think she'll need backup."

"Huh, guess you were right. Looks like she's brought a bottle of wine."

"Of course she has," Khalisah repeated. "She wants to make her intentions clear."

"You're better at reading people than I gave you credit for," the mercenary grunted over the com, making Khalisah smirk satisfactorily. "You know, this'll be the first time I've been in a hotel room and watched Adria S'Voz seduce somebody without my credit chit being charged."

Minutes later there was a knock on the door. Khalisah steeled herself, took one last look in the mirror and walked across the room to answer it.

Adria was dressed in leather, not entirely dissimilar to the commando outfit she wore on set and more than a little reminiscent of Jacana's usual style. Perhaps she had done that deliberately. Khalisah was sure the actress would have done her homework.

But if she thought that dressing like Jacana was going to turn Khalisah on, she was wrong. Because Adria wasn't Jacana. She didn't smell like Jacana. She wasn't leaning casually on the doorframe like Jacana would have. There was no genuine warmth in her smile or spark in her eyes when she looked at Khalisah. She didn't hover awkwardly, trying to think of an appropriate compliment. There was no moment of hesitation between them while they tried to decide whether to greet each other with a hug or a kiss or a simple 'hello'.

Instead Adria smiled confidently, oozing the kind of arrogant self-assuredness that Khalisah had come to expect from the asari vid star. "Ms al-Jilani," she greeted smoothly, pausing briefly to look Khalisah up and down, confirming to her that the dress had had the desired effect.

"Come in," Khalisah offered, standing aside. S'Voz swaggered in like she owned the place with no hint of trepidation or doubt.

"Nice place," she said, casting a cursory eye around the hotel room. "I heard what happened to your apartment. Have they caught who did it yet?"

Khalisah waited to answer, turning her back briefly as she closed the door. It was obviously a jibe. She knew Aria must have been behind the invasion of her apartment and Adria obviously knew it too. Perhaps she thought Khalisah too stupid to pick up on it. Perhaps Khalisah would indulge her that assumption. At least for now.

"Not yet," she said, smiling as she turned back to the room, "but with the kind of reporting I do, I was always bound to make enemies."

"That doesn't seem to faze you," Adria observed, tilting her head.

Khalisah shrugged. "My goal is always to get to the truth. If people want to try and scare me off, let them. I won't be intimidated."

Adria quirked a brow, perhaps surprised, perhaps even a little impressed. "Well, you're certainly dedicated," she said, giving nothing away. "I brought wine," she held up the bottle she'd had cradled in her arm. It was an asari brand, expensive enough to impress but not so expensive it seemed ostentatious.

Khalisah made a show of looking puzzled. "Do you often bring wine to interviews?"

"You said you wanted this to be an intimate conversation. No topic off-limits. That means we may be here a while, and this particular vintage always… loosens my tongue," she replied, her smile subtly transforming into a slightly mischievous grin.

"I'll keep that in mind," Khalisah responded, taking the bottle. "Have a seat," she nodded to the plush leather sofa and wandered over to the wine glasses she had ready.

"Could be spiked," Zaeed muttered in her ear. "Better run a scan, just to be safe."

Khalisah doubted Adria would have bothered, but she brought up her omni-tool and quickly ran the scan anyway, keeping her back to the asari so she wouldn't notice. It came back clear. She turned towards S'Voz and opened the bottle, making a show sniffing the contents. She grabbed a pair of glasses from a cupboard and filled them before handing one over to Adria.

She sat beside her, a little closer than she normally would but still a suitable distance away. They sat side-on to each other, each with an arm stretched across the back of the sofa leaving their hands an inch or two apart.

"So," Khalisah began, taking a first sip of her wine. "We have all night. No one's going to disturb us. Where do you want to start?"

Jacana had sprinted through the wards, the neon lights of clubs and bars streaking past her in a blur, reflecting the mad flurry of her thoughts as she frantically tried to reach Khalisah's hotel. That damned human was a complete idiot, agreeing to meet Adria S'Voz – Adria S'Voz! – in private, in her own hotel room, in the middle of the night?

What was she thinking?

Actually, Jacana knew exactly what Khalisah was thinking. This was an obvious ploy by Adria, she probably thought she could seduce Khalisah into revealing her sources. Or maybe charm her into backing off. There was no way Khalisah would fall for that. She may have been an idiot but she was also too clever for her own good.

No, she would be trying to turn the tables. Trying to seduce her right back. Well… not seduce. She wouldn't want to seduce Adria. Would she? She did find S'Voz attractive. Or at least she had when they had watched Vaenia together. But it was purely physical. She would actually be interested in…

Well, even if she was. That wasn't any of Jacana's business. They clearly weren't together anymore. The human could seduce anyone she wanted. Not that she would want to… probably.

Shit.

How had she even got onto this line of thought? She was going to the hotel because she feared for Khalisah's safety. Not because she thought anything might be going to happen between her and Adria. It's not like she was some creepy, possessive ex who couldn't let go.

Was she?

Shit!

She reached the public elevators that would take her to the Presidium and barged straight through the que of salarians who were about to enter, knocking several of them aside and raising a chorus of shouts and curses from them as she skidded into the elevator and punched the controls. The doors obediently snapped shut and Jacana fell back against the wall, breathing heavily.

She brought up her omni-tool, "Quet? Where the hell are you?" she barked into the com. The salarian had managed to follow her for a good five minutes before falling behind but she had warned him not to stop completely. She knew she might need him when she got there.

A disturbing series of spluttering gasps broke over the com, making her recoil in mild alarm, "Quet?"

"Yeah," the salarian's strained voice replied, followed by an audible gulp of air, "I'm… about… four blocks back."

"You alright?" the asari asked. "You sound like you're having a heart attack."

"Fine," he gasped. "Just… a little… out of… shape."

"I thought you said you passed your C-Sec physical with flying colors?" Jacana said.

"Absolutely!" Quet shot back. Even out of breath and straining for air, he still managed to sound indignant. "And it… only cost me… three hundred… credits! I haggled… the guy down… from four-fifty!"

Jacana closed her eyes and shook her head but decided not to argue with him. "Just hurry up and meet me at the hotel," she demanded before shutting off the com.

The doors to the elevator slid open and Jacana bolted out onto the Presidium without a second thought.

"Shit."

The word was stated matter-of-factly with no hint of alarm or urgency. Still, it wasn't the most reassuring thing to hear your bodyguard mutter through your earpiece during a delicate operation. Khalisah couldn't ask Zaeed to elaborate without alerting S'Voz, so instead she could only stay quiet and hope he did it on his own initiative.

"Your girlfriend's just turned up," he said after a moment. "She's running through the hotel like her arse is on fire. Must be planning to crash the party. Not to worry, she's never getting past my security systems."

Khalisah felt her heart involuntarily lurch at the knowledge Jacana was on her way. A ridiculous instinct that was soon wiped away by mild anger as she realized the asari was once again trying to interfere in her investigation. She hoped Zaeed was right. The last thing she needed was Jacana bursting in unannounced.

"I'm gonna make my way over," Zaeed announced. "Try to head her off."

Khalisah's heart lurched again, 'Make sure you don't hurt her,' she wanted to say out loud and had to bite her tongue to stay silent.

"Everything alright?" S'Voz asked, making Khalisah kick herself for getting distracted.

Outwardly, however, she gave away nothing but a charming smile. "Of course, you were telling me about Vaenia."

"The rooftop scene, yes," Adria agreed, matching her smile. It was abundantly obvious to Khalisah why Adria had chosen to talk about that particular scene and she found herself resenting her for it. It was the most iconic scene in the vid but it also held particular significance for her and Jacana. It was as far as they'd made it into the vid before they'd decided to relocate from the living room to the bedroom.

They hadn't even made it through the whole scene. They'd only got as far as the moment S'Voz's character slipped her hand inside the human's dress and began whispering into her ear. That was the moment Jacana had chosen to nuzzle closer and Khalisah had stopped paying attention to whatever was going on on screen.

She had been warm with wine that night, she remembered. Not drunk, just relaxed. Jacana's musky scent had seemed more heady than usual, her breath warmer, her lips wetter, her hands soft as they slipped inside-

No! Dammit, focus!

"It was the first scene we filmed," S'Voz explained. "You have to understand, the vid was on a tight budget and everything was rushed. Josephine – my co-star – and I had only met the day before. We had to get to know each other very quickly," a devilish gleam crept into S'Voz's eyes and her fingers inched a little closer along the back of the sofa. A gesture so subtle someone else might have missed it. But Khalisah didn't miss anything.

"You must have heard the rumors?" S'Voz pressed. "That not all of our romantic scenes together involved… acting."

It was a pretty common rumor that followed S'Voz everywhere. It was one she venomously denied whenever faced with an interviewer brave enough to bring it up. Had Khalisah actually been writing an intimate biopic on Adria, she would likely have jumped on such a comment. But since she knew the actress would say anything to get Khalisah into bed, she disregarded it instead.

"I'm actually more interested in your career before Vaenia," Khalisah countered. "I believe you started out as a dancer on Omega?"

Adria visibly recoiled a little, obviously taken aback. It was a telling reaction but one she recovered from quickly enough. "I wouldn't say it started there. I had a few gigs before Omega. Nothing too impressive. Commercials and a few…" she trailed off, seeming to become suddenly distracted. She reached for her wine glass but lost her balance slightly and had to grab onto the side table to keep from sliding off the sofa.

"Everything alright, Ms S'Voz?" Khalisah enquired calmly.

"Yes," she replied after a moment. "I think this wine has gone to my head. I've had to cut down on drinking for the vid. I must be... out of practice," she took the opportunity to unzip the leather jacket she was wearing, shrugging it off to reveal a chic black crop top that showed off her tight stomach muscles.

Jacana never wore crop tops, Khalisah mused idly. She didn't like showing off her midriff. Khalisah couldn't understand why. Her six pack was much better than Adria's. She didn't mind though. It meant that she was one of the few people ever to have seen it.

She found herself casually wondering whether Jacana had reached the door yet.

Jacana skidded to a halt outside the door to Khalisah's hotel room and quickly brought up her omni-tool. She performed a cursory scan of the door and found herself cursing under her breath.

"Goddess, how many security systems does one door need?" she muttered, shaking her head in disbelief. She brought up the com.

"Quet? Where are you now?"

"Still," Quet gasped, "in… the wards… I've… stopped… for… a rest."

"You sure?" Jacana questioned, "You still sound out of breath to me."

"I can… talk now… that's… an improvement," he wheezed.

"I need you here now. This door's got too many deadlocks for me to hack, I need your help."

"Sorry… gonna take… me a while… to get there… couldn't you just… knock?"

"Not sure that's a great idea," Jacana muttered, more to herself than him. "I need some other way in. Do you think you could find me a blueprint of the building?"

"So, why Omega?" Khalisah inquired.

Adria, now lounging casually against the cushions of the sofa, frowned slightly as she refocused on the reporter and blinked blearily. A heady flush had risen to her cheeks and she seemed slightly distracted. The wine really must have been going to her head, Khalisah mused.

"You really are interested in Omega, aren't you?" she queried wearily.

"I'm more interested in Aria T'Loak," Khalisah pressed. "You've been quoted as saying she's your mentor. Your role model."

Adria shrugged lazily, her whole demeanor becoming increasingly relaxed. "And why not? There are worse ones to have."

"She's an intergalactic criminal," Khalisah noted.

"Yes," Adria agreed, "but you shouldn't let that distract from everything else she is. Aria is... strong. Determined. Principled. She believes in freedom. True freedom. She won't coddle or comfort you. She inspires you to find your own strength. To depend on no one but yourself. I won't deny I admire her for that. I think you share some of those qualities. Perhaps I admire you too."

"I'm not convinced that's a compliment," Khalisah replied carefully.

"It was meant as one," Adria said, her mouth twitching into a flirtatious smile.

"More wine?" Khalisah asked, picking up the bottle and refilling the glass in the asari's hand. Adria watched her quietly.

"I'm starting to think you're trying to get me drunk," S'Voz declared.

Khalisah shrugged innocently. "You did say it would loosen your tongue."

Adria smiled devilishly and raised the glass to her lips. Then some semblance of common sense seemed to break through the daze and she frowned, setting the glass aside. "Actually, could I have some water?"

"Of course," Khalisah agreed, standing and making her way over to the side where a jug of water sat. As she poured it into a glass, she found herself wondering about Jacana again. Was the asari outside the door now? Trying to find a way in? Would she be brazen enough to just knock?

Ironically, had she not been so distracted by wondering, she might have heard the gentle, metallic thuds above her, perhaps even the occasional, muttered curse. But she didn't hear anything as she walked back to S'Voz and handed her the glass of water.

The asari drank deeply, downing the whole glass in one and then gasping for air.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Khalisah asked.

"Yes," Adria replied, "I'm just going to use the bathroom," she stood, swaying slightly, took one step forward and promptly stumbled. Khalisah caught her instinctively and the asari's head fell against her shoulder.

Before either of them could speak, however, they were distracted by a loud crashing sound above them. The ceiling began to creak and bulge and, all of a sudden, a large section gave way and a sizable portion of the ventilation system came crashing down, along with the flailing limbs of a very familiar asari.

"Ow! Fuck!" Jacana cursed as she scrambled to her feet. No sooner had she laid her eyes on the two women currently in each other's arms, she immediately seemed to forget her unconventional entrance and bolted forwards, pushing them apart and placing herself between them, shoving S'Voz backwards.

"Get your hands off her!" she demanded.

S'Voz stumbled but miraculously remained upright. "You!?" she exclaimed. "Again!? What the-"

She never got a chance to finish the sentence as the door promptly burst open and Zaeed entered, pistol in hand. "Alright, step away from Ms al-Jilani, both of you."

"What?" S'Voz questioned, turning on Khalisah. "What is- whooooa." She swayed for a moment as a wave of dizziness seemed to overcome her. Then, quite abruptly, she collapsed into a heap on floor.

Still with her back to Khalisah Jacana stared at the unconscious asari. Then she looked round, quirking her brow quizzically. "What just happened?" she asked.

"Oh, her?" Khalisah folded her arms and shrugged. "I imagine that's just the sedative I laced her wine glass with finally kicking in. Took long enough."

For a moment, Jacana just blinked as she looked between Khalisah and Zaeed the now unconscious S'Voz.

"You… drugged Adria S'Voz?" she asked.

"Of course," Khalisah replied. "You didn't think I was stupid enough to take her on without at least one trick up my sleeve, did you?" She quirked a perfectly styled eyebrow and Jacana found herself lost for words.

Her attention then turned to the heavily-armed, heavily-scarred human man who was now pointing his gun at her. "And who are you?"

"I'm Ms al-Jilani's bodyguard," he replied coolly. "And I believe I told you to step away."

"Don't worry, Zaeed," Khalisah said, "she's no threat."

"She just nearly brought half the fucking ceiling down on yer head," he said, gesturing to the large hole above them.

"Yes," Jacana agreed, "and if you're the one in charge of Khalisah's safety then you need to take a good long look at your security systems! There's a serious weak point in the ventilation systems!"

"You don't say," Zaeed muttered dryly.

Khalisah stepped around Jacana to kneel beside S'Voz, apparently ignoring the unfolding argument, "Help me get her on the sofa, will you?" she asked, looking up at Jacana expectantly.

Jacana hesitated only briefly before finding herself joining Khalisah in hauling the unconscious asari up off the floor and onto the cushions.

"I'm not sure I'm keeping up here," Jacana announced. "I assumed you agreed to the interview because you wanted to get information out of her."

"That's right," Khalisah confirmed.

Jacana was baffled. "Then why drug her? Isn't that a little counterproductive?"

Khalisah snorted a laugh. "Adria has had centuries of interviews to hone her skills. She was never going to tell me anything about Aria's operations. I may be good but I'm no match for her, and I'm not arrogant enough to think otherwise. That's the main difference between us. Arrogance. She came here tonight expecting to beat me at my own game. Well the joke's on her. I wasn't even playing."

Jacana faltered for a moment, impressed. And surprised. Despite the bizarreness of the whole situation, she felt a flutter of admiration – or perhaps affection – at the way Khalisah could always surprise her with her ingenuity. It made her crave knowing what was going inside her head again. Khalisah's head was such a mysterious and fascinating place. A deep, exotic pool worth getting lost in for hours.

"So… why did you invite her here?" Jacana asked, carefully.

"For this," Khalisah said, activating S'Voz's omni-tool. "I'm glad you dropped by actually, you can help me hack it. I'm sure you have more experience of this kind of thing than me."

"I didn't come here to help you," Jacana protested. "I came to try and stop whatever insane plan you had."

Khalisah's face darkened. "Fine. I'll do it myself."

Jacana groaned, mentally cursing this damned woman who could somehow inspire such frustration from her. "Can you even see how crazy this is? This is Adria S'Voz!" she exclaimed, gesturing wildly to the actress. "She's one of the most recognizable people on the Citadel. One of Aria T'Loak's closest associates. And you've just drugged her so you can hack her personal information. Do you just not care about living anymore? And you!" she rounded on Zaeed, making him raise his gun again instinctively. "You're supposed to be protecting her and you let her do something like this?"

"I'm a hired gun not her goddamn father," Zaeed growled.

"And I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself," Khalisah added stubbornly.

"Your apartment was attacked!" Jacana told her angrily. "You've had to hire a bodyguard and you're hiding out in a hotel room with more security systems than most prisons. Why are you doing this?"

Khalisah's head snapped round, anger glinting in her emerald eyes. "You need to ask? Aria T'Loak is up to something, I know it. You asari can preach all day about how strong and determined she is but at the end of the day she's still just a criminal. I don't care how charismatic she is or how hot she looks in leather. I won't be blinded by it and I won't be bullied into silence. My job is to expose the truth."

"But why this truth?" Jacana pressed. "There's hundreds of scandals on the Citadel you could expose, why are you so determined to get yourself killed over this one?"

"Because no one else will!" Khalisah snapped. "No one will speak against Aria. Maybe it's because they're scared of her but honestly, I think it's because they like her. In the same way people used to like Donovan."

That made Jacana pause. Khalisah had rarely spoken of Donovan Hock – her dead husband – since the drama surrounding his inheritance that had first brought them together. Even in their melds he had been a shadow behind a locked door in Khalisah's head, a door she didn't want opened.

"They liked him because he was charming and charismatic and rich. But really, underneath it all, he was just another hoodlum. The same goes for T'Loak." Khalisah turned to look Jacana right in the eye and the asari suddenly remembered how deep those emerald eyes could cut. "I'm not scared of her. And I'm certainly not in awe of her." Her omni-tool bleeped as the hack completed and she sighed heavily, slumping back against the sofa. "Shit. Nothing."

"It was always going to be a long shot," Jacana said gently. "You must have known that."

Khalisah slowly shook her head. "I'm beginning to think I should just walk up to Aria and demand to know everything she's doing."

"You do that and I might actually have a stress-induced heart attack," Jacana said, risking a smile.

"Would you run in to save me like a lunatic?" Khalisah quipped.

"Of course," Jacana agreed light-heartedly. "I care about you."

Khalisah's face fell a little and she looked up sadly. "You should go. There's no point getting you on Aria's shit list too. You don't want to be tainted by association with me again," she laughed but there was no humor in it and that made Jacana's heart ache unexpectedly.

Jacana opened her mouth to protest but thought better of it, instead asking, "What about S'Voz?"

The reporter shrugged. "I'll get Zaeed to sort it."

"Right," the mercenary nodded. "I'll stick her in a cab. With the amount of sedative you gave her, she shouldn't remember much."

"Okay," Jacana nodded, hovering a while longer before turning towards the door. She paused in the open doorway, looking back at Khalisah one more time, "I like the dress, by the way," she offered, making the human look up at her, emerald eyes glistening. "The color really suits you."

And finally she left, letting the door swing shut behind her.

"Idiot!" she cursed herself, knowing full well the whole exchange would serve as more insomnia fuel for her to drive herself crazy with over the next several nights.

As she made her way out of the hotel, glum and dejected, she was practically knocked to the ground by Quet charging in the opposite direction.

"Jacana!" he exclaimed, staggering to a halt and clutching at his chest as he bent over double, wheezing, "Wow… I can't… believe… I… actually… made it," he paused, gulping in lungfuls of air, "you know… now I think… of it… I don't know… why I didn't just… get a taxi," he declared. "Would have… saved… a lot… of bother," he coughed twice, took a few more deep breaths and finally straightened up.

"So," he said, "did the blueprints help?"

Jacana sighed. "They taught me a valuable lesson, Quet. The action vids all lie. A ventilation shaft is not capable of supporting the weight of a fully grown adult."