Running Silent:

To Catch a Predator

…

An alternate ME3. Commander Shepard and her team are on the run from Cerberus and trying to make alliances before it's too late. In a galaxy with no reaper kill switch, how can they hope to defeat something so ancient and powerful? Their last hope is a desperate plan that may cost them everything. Shepard/Garrus, other side pairings.

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Disclaimer: This author in no way profits from the writing of this story. All characters, dialogue, or other referenced material from the Mass Effect trilogy belong to Bioware.

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Garrus was hardly aware of his actions as he dragged Shepard's unconscious body into his room. He worked on instinct as he tried to rouse her, barely receiving any reaction from his mate. He checked her over, seeing no sign of injury. He'd never seen Shepard sick before, and he'd definitely never heard of a human illness coming on so strongly or suddenly. The most likely cause was poison.

He took a moment to call Wrex before focusing back on Shepard. Without knowing what she was poisoned with, he couldn't determine how to counteract it, and he didn't trust any medics on site. He didn't trust anyone her after this… only Wrex, who would protect Shepard with his life. He dragged her to the bathroom and helped her purge her stomach. It could have been something she'd eaten. After carrying her back to the bed, he went for a wet washcloth to cool her burning forehead and cheeks. He sat by her side and prayed to the spirits that she could fight off this poison on her own.

A pounding came on the door. "Come in, Wrex," he called. "And lock it behind you."

"What the hell is going on?" the krogan growled.

"Shepard's been poisoned," Garrus said, without turning to look at his friend. "No idea who did it, or with what."

The krogan charged over to look at Shepard's prone figure on the bed. "She's stronger than most humans," he rumbled. "She'll make it through this."

"She better," Garrus said, his voice brittle as ice. "Or people will die."

Wrex nodded approvingly at the turian's ruthlessness. "What do you need from me?"

"We need to figure out who did this and why. Did you notice anyone acting strange today? Who did Shepard talk to? Did anyone avoid her or watch her?"

Shepard thrashed with fever through the night as Garrus and Wrex argued about who the assassin could be. "I still think it's the salarians," Wrex insisted. "Those slippery little bastards are sneaky enough to do it."

"Your grudge against the salarians isn't helping here, Wrex," Garrus said in frustration. "We can't go out there in the morning not knowing who did this. We can't let ourselves be unprepared."

Garrus turned at the sound of shifting and a moan from Shepard. He pushed her damp hair away from her face and turned over the moist cloth on her forehead. "I'm right here, Jane. Everything's going to be alright," he whispered, as he had throughout the night when she'd been restless.

Wrex would never admit it, but it warmed his old heart to see the tenderness and care that Garrus had for Shepard. After all she'd done for the galaxy, she deserved to have someone looking out for her.

After a few more minutes of restlessness, Shepard's eyes blinked open for the first time. She frowned in confusion. "Garrus?" Her voice came out in a hoarse whisper.

Garrus let out a shaky breath, pressing his head down to hers. "Jane, you… you scared me so much." His subvocals were keening. He raised his head back up, pulling himself together.

"Someone… tried to kill me?"

"They poisoned you," came Wrex's gruff voice. "Probably would have succeeded with any other human."

"My cybernetics," she said hoarsely. "They wouldn't know."

"Don't try to talk too much," Garrus said. "How do you feel?"

"Like shit." She managed a half smile.

He reached for a glass of water at the bedside and helped her take a few small sips. "You should rest," he said. "But first… do you have any idea how you were poisoned? When did this start coming on?"

Shepard frowned. "Didn't feel anything 'til I was in the hallway. Worked fast."

"What did you touch in your room before leaving? Did you eat or drink anything?"

"Drank some water. Touched the button for the door panel. Grabbed my bag," she said, motioning to the overnight bag that sat forgotten by the door.

Garrus scanned the bag for anything suspicious, then looked to Wrex. "Will you stay with her while I check out her room? Then maybe you can go try and get some sleep."

"Don't need a babysitter," Shepard protested.

"Please," Garrus said, pressing his hand over hers on the bedspread. "For me?" She nodded.

When he left the room, Wrex looked over at Shepard and sighed. "He loves you a lot, kid."

Shepard gave another drowsy half smile. "I know."

…

When Garrus reached Shepard's room, he drew upon all his experience as an investigator. He pulled up his omni-tool immediately to scan for fingerprints and any traces of DNA. He tagged everything that wasn't his or Shepard's, despite having nothing to compare them to yet. The button for the door panel was clean, but there was some sort of residue around the rim of Shepard's water glass. While he wasn't able to identify the poison without access to the C-Sec database, it was evidence nonetheless. After a thorough search of Shepard's quarters, he returned to check on her.

"She's asleep," Wrex said, as quietly as his booming voice could manage.

After glancing over at her to ensure she was well, Garrus turned back to his friend. "It appears the poison was applied to the glass at her bedside. So we have a method, but not a motive or suspect yet. Could you come back in the morning, before we head out to breakfast? We can talk more then."

"Sounds good." Wrex nodded and left.

Garrus climbed into bed, exhausted with the night's events but unable yet to sleep. Shepard was everything to him, and if she hadn't had those cybernetic upgrades, he would have lost her. Even after all the battles they'd been in, this wasn't the sort of danger they expected. He hadn't been ready for something like this.

But he hadn't lost her.

Garrus forced himself to focus on that, and gazed at her sleeping form next to him until his eyes closed of their own accord.

…

Shepard's head was pounding, her throat dry and raw. Her body ached like she'd been running for days. She groaned as she stretched out her arms and legs, trying to remember what she had done to cause herself such suffering.

After a moment the memories came back, fuzzy and indistinct. Collapsing in the hallway. Waking up in the night to Garrus and, surprisingly, Wrex hovering over her in worry. She'd been poisoned.

Garrus was waking up beside her, switching off the alarm he'd set on his omni-tool. Without a word, he put on his visor and began scanning her. "How are you feeling?" he asked, after a thorough scan of her vitals.

She smiled half-heartedly. "Alive, anyhow."

"Do you think you can make it through the talks today?"

"I plan to," she said, but Garrus only frowned.

"Maybe you shouldn't," he said. "You look… sick. But your temperature is back to normal."

"I'm tired," she admitted. "And I have one hell of a headache. But nothing else is wrong with me anymore." She decided not to mention the nausea churning in her stomach or the lingering ache in her muscles. He was worried enough.

He sighed. "You ought to have time to recover, but maybe it's better if you show this morning. We still aren't sure who did this." He stood from the bed and stretched. "You should grab a shower. Wrex is coming over before breakfast to talk it over some more. Then we can figure out a plan."

Shepard stood on unsteady legs and made her way to the bathroom. She winced when she saw herself in the mirror. Garrus wasn't wrong—she looked like shit. The last time she'd been this pale was when she had the flu four or five years ago. She'd have to pull out her little-used makeup bag to avoid looking like a zombie this morning.

After a shower, a change, and some carefully applied makeup, Shepard stepped back out looking better, if not quite as well as normal.

"Shepard!" Wrex boomed. "Glad to see you back on your feet. Let's talk about how we're going to catch this bastard."

She sat down on the bed next to Garrus. "Well, I had a thought about that. I think we need to look for someone who's indoctrinated."

Garrus nodded. "It's a possibility. We weren't able to come up with anyone who would have a known grudge against you, at least no grudge big enough to potentially derail the war over."

"I still think it was the salarians," Wrex grumbled.

Garrus rolled his eyes, but Shepard's lit up in recognition. "You know, I was talking to them last night at dinner. The STG guy, um… Doctor Ells? He said he'd studied reaper artifacts from the battle of the Citadel. And the dalatrass seems hostile, though I don't know why."

"Told you!" Wrex cried. "It's always the salarians."

Garrus shook his head. "Dalatrass Linron has always been like that. It's not just you, Shepard. Though the STG guy bears watching. What we need to do," he said, "is keep an eye out for anyone who looks surprised or angry to see you this morning. That could easily indicate guilt. Then, if we think the council is clean, we can get their permission to check the suspects' DNA and fingerprints."

"You think it was one of the members of the summit? Not the staff here?" Shepard asked.

Garrus shook his head. "If it was someone working here, they were almost certainly paid off or coerced by one of the people attending the summit within the past day. The staff wouldn't have known what event they were working or who would be present until they arrived. Anyone attending the summit would know they wouldn't have a war summit without you."

Wrex stood. "I'll keep an eye on the salarian," he volunteered, to no one's surprise. "Now I'm going to breakfast."

"I'm not hungry," Shepard said. "It'll be a better entrance if I just show up in the conference room anyway."

Garrus looked at her worriedly, but nodded his agreement. "I'll look for anything suspicious. See you soon." He nuzzled her neck before leaving.

Shepard flopped back onto the bed, setting an alarm on her omni-tool. No one would blame her for taking one more little nap.

…

Garrus was in his element.

He stationed himself close enough to the door to see everyone's expressions if they looked up to see Shepard come in, but far enough from the door to avoid suspicion. He'd also discovered that all events in this room were monitored and had managed to hack into the feed. He'd have video from multiple angles that could be reviewed as needed. Everything was ready.

In truth, Garrus had been a great detective at C-Sec. What he hadn't been great at was following directions. He preferred to follow his gut.

Working with Shepard—and leading his own team on Omega—had tamed him a little. He wasn't so eager to jump in without looking first. Particularly now, when Shepard's life was the one in danger. He'd make sure to have enough evidence for the council this time.

As it got closer to time to begin, some people moved to their seats. Garrus stayed in place. Wrex, across the room, gave him a nod.

And then Shepard entered.

Garrus resisted looking at her, forcing himself to examine the expressions of others in the room. The humans seemed to almost collectively frown. They could probably see that Shepard looked ill. Most others in the room barely gave her a glance… except the salarian STG agent. His expression went from shock to anger and finally, fear.

Garrus cursed inwardly. Wrex would never let him hear the end of this.

After another moment, Garrus made his way to his seat. He kept an eye on Shepard this time, who was having a hushed conversation with Councilor Tevos.

Garrus typed a quick message to her on his omni-tool as soon as Tevos walked away. STG guy confirmed. What did Tevos want?

Checking up on me. I asked to meet with council at lunch break.

He glanced up and gave her a subtle nod, just moments before Councilor Valern cleared his throat to begin the days talks.

Keep an eye on the salarian, he messaged Wrex. He's our guy.

His omni-tool buzzed one more time. Told you.

…

For Shepard, the morning seemed to crawl by. When the lunch recess finally began, she immediately approached Tevos. "Is there a private place that we can meet?" she asked, and Tevos guided her to a smaller, private conference room.

The councilors looked up in surprise when Garrus followed them in.

"Vakarian is here at my invitation," Shepard said immediately. "He has some important and relevant information."

"About what exactly?" Valern asked, exasperated. "Why are we here?"

Shepard stepped forward, her arms crossed. "There was an attempt on my life last night." She paused as the councilors talked over each other, exclaiming in their shock.

"This station is secure," Sparatus insisted. "No one could have gotten in without our knowledge."

"That's why we believe it to have been one of the invited guests," she replied.

"Please, Commander," Tevos jumped in. "Will you tell the story from the beginning? And do sit down," she added. "You don't seem fully recovered." She motioned to the chair across from her own.

"I'm fine," Shepard said, but sat down anyway. "Last night I went back to my quarters after the talks. Shortly after getting up to leave my room, I began to feel sick. It came on strong, but I was able to make it to Vakarian's door." She motioned to Garrus.

Garrus cleared his throat. "Upon seeing Shepard's condition, I immediately suspected poison. I am not an expert in human illnesses, but it was clear that the illness had come on suddenly. This fit the profile of a certain subset of poisons. I called Urdnot Wrex right away so that we could investigate."

"Urdnot Wrex?" Valern exclaimed. "You should have called the on-site medic. Or us! Shepard is our guest here."

Garrus shook his head. "I'm sorry, Councilor. At the time, I had no idea who might have been the culprit. I contacted the only person I trusted fully with Shepard's life. Once Shepard had recovered enough to speak with me, I learned what had led up to the sudden illness, so I investigated her quarters." He pulled up his omni-tool, sending a data packet to each councilor. "The most likely culprit seems to be a residue I found on the rim of the water glass in Shepard's quarters. I also scanned for trace DNA and fingerprints, though we have nothing to match those to yet."

Udina raised his brows. "You aren't asking to check everyone on the base, are you? That would cause a panic and could take hours!"

"No," Shepard said. "We have a suspect. We have reason to believe there may be an indoctrinated person here."

Tevos looked horrified. "Who?"

"Doctor Ells, the STG agent that Dalatrass Linron brought, told me that he had personally studied reaper artifacts and remnants from the battle of the Citadel," Shepard explained. "He said they were shielded, but I haven't met anyone yet who has successfully shielded themselves from reaper indoctrination while in close contact like that."

"While interesting, that isn't enough to accuse someone," Valern said, angry.

"His reaction this morning to seeing Shepard alive and well was also suspect," Garrus quickly added. Typing a command into his omni-tool, he pulled up the recording from earlier that morning, zooming in on the agent's face when he saw Shepard enter. "While this isn't hard evidence, it is indicative of guilt. I'd like to request permission to check his DNA and fingerprints against what was found in Shepard's quarters."

Sparatus sighed. "You aren't C-Sec anymore, Vakarian. Your evidence isn't admissible in a courtroom."

"However," Udina jumped in, "As a Spectre, Shepard has a great deal of leeway in conducting an investigation personally."

For the first time that day, Shepard smiled. "As a Spectre, I would like to request that we acquire his DNA and prints from his lunch plate and glass. Then we can be sure before we approach anyone."

"Certainly," Tevos agreed. "Allow me to call in one of my trusted bodyguards. She can pose as a server long enough to collect the evidence."

Shepard nodded. "Once we see if the evidence fits, we can take out next step from there."

In addition to requesting her bodyguard's aid, Tevos asked for a private lunch to be brought in for them, as they wouldn't be making it out to the communal lunchroom during this break. A short while later, Garrus was able to do his scans and confirm that the DNA was a match.

"I'm never going to hear the end of this from Wrex," Garrus groaned.

Shepard smiled. "At least we didn't have to search for further suspects." She turned to Valern. "Dalatrass Linron may want to have a new specialist flown in. It wouldn't be fair for her to be short a person on the last day of talks. Can we have her and Ells brought in?"

"And have security meet them," Garrus added. "We'll have to detain him."

"Security's on their way, as are the Dalatrass and her guest. With your spectre authorization," Sparatus said, nodding at Shepard, "We can also have his belongings searched."

"Do it," Shepard agreed. When security arrived, she briefed them and prepared them to bind Ells when he arrived.

When the two salarians entered, a nod from Shepard was enough to have the STG agent immediately approached from behind and cuffed.

"What is the meaning of this?" Dalatrass Linron exclaimed, affronted.

Shepard ignored her for the moment. "Jadik Ells, you are under arrest for attempted murder. You'll be held under guard here until the summit is over and you can be returned to the Citadel for a trial."

Linron huffed. "This is outrageous! How dare you make such accusations!"

"Peace, Linron," Valern said, his voice weary. "The evidence is near irrefutable. Doctor Ells attempted to poison Commander Shepard last night. We believe he is indoctrinated."

"Indoctrinated!" she said in shock. "Why—he is my top reaper expert!"

Shepard turned back to her as Ells was led away. "Unfortunately, that very research was what led to his indoctrination. The STG lab that is studying reapers will most likely need to be quarantined. I recommend dealing with it immediately once you return."

"Of—of course," the dalatrass said, shaken. "But what now? I've lost my expert and we're only halfway through the summit!"

Tevos put a calming hand on Linron's arm. "Is there anyone else you might call to join you here? A military strategist? So long as they weren't at the same lab…"

"If I may," Shepard jumped in. "If you don't have anyone in mind, I'd like to recommend Doctor Mordin Solus. He's the smartest person I've ever met, and already knows quite a bit about the reapers."

Linron nodded, her usual poise beginning to return. "I'll consider it, Commander."

Shortly after, security returned with the final nail in Ells's coffin—a container with residue of the poison, secured in the bag he'd brought on board the station. Shepard felt sorry for him, but no one knew of a cure for indoctrination. Something to think about if we survive this war, she thought.

Despite all these distractions, the summit went on. By the end of the day, they had agreed on the vague outline of a plan, but it all hinged upon the genius of their collected scientists. They needed to design a weapon targeted specifically to reapers. If they could do that, their problems would all be over.

If.

…