We entered the ship, just me and him, and poked around a little. Two doors were locked, the one that wasn't opened into a cargo hold-looking room. Crates upon crates, stacked up in random ways, with enough space between to make several paths leading up to the door at the back.

And, of course, there were violent... people wasn't the right word- test subjects looking to rip out our throats. Which is always nice.

Speaking of the door at the end of the room... the hall behind it opened into the room where a salarian stood.

He breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of us. "Thank you. Thank you for saving me from those things."

"Shepard-"

I nodded, keeping the smile fixed to my face. "You're safe now. Is there anyone else on board..?"

"Doctor Heart." He supplied.

Always check you've got the right target.

"I'm the only one, I think. Please, get me out of here."

"Of course." I approached, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Tinvaak vahzah."

His eyes rolled back for a few seconds, and he almost collapsed. I wrapped an arm around his waist. To keep him up.

"Now, Doctor." I cooed. "What's your real name?"

"Saleon."

"And what were those people we just fought in the other room to you?"

"Test subjects."

"Good, good. You're doing so well, answering my questions."

He got a strange, dreamy smile on his face at my praise.

"Saleon, what kinds of tests were you running on those people?"

"It started as organ replication, but after a few months ago, I was approached to do genetic alterations."

"Do you know who it was?"

"He didn't give me a name, and I never saw his face. I was always contacted via comm call, but they were always in shadow."

"Okay. Now, tell me, do you remember my friend here?" I motioned to the turian.

"I do. He's in C-Sec. Was investigating me. He's one of the reasons I had to flee the Citadel."

"Do you have anything to say in your defense, should you be caught?"

Garrus bristled, eyes narrowing. He didn't like what my words implied.

"I don't. I would only lie and say I had nothing to do with any of it."

"Well, that's all I wanted to say. May whatever you believe in show you mercy." I shifted my gaze to my companion, dropping my arms to my sides and stepping away.

Letting him do whatever he felt he needed to.

The doctor snapped out of the daze, confusedly looking between us.

"There's no escapes this time, Doctor. I'd harvest your organs first, but we don't have the time."

"You're... You're crazy. He's crazy." He turned pleading eyes on me. "Please, don't let him do this to me."

Garrus seemed to hesitate, conflicting expressions warring with each other. After several minutes in silence, his shoulders dropped, and he looked at me.

"We'll... take him in. Give him to the military."

I nodded, patting the salarian's shoulder. "Ni unt wah filok. Daar los faal nunon miiraad zu'u fen bolaav hi." Before radioing Joker to let Hackett know we had a prisoner for them to pick up.

I let the turian do the honors of putting handcuffs on the man, leaning against the wall to the open doorway. Waiting.

It didn't take them long, there was a ship nearby, just a system over, that came and picked him up. They stared at me, for the most part. Not surprising, considering who I was.

"Here." I pulled out an OSD and handed it over. A copy of the recording I'd taken while I was asking him questions. "You'll find this to be useful for prosecution. And put it on the record that a Spectre got this information, so it's less likely to get thrown out."

My words were met with several nods.

"What did you say?" Garrus asked after they'd left, before we'd gotten back onto the Normandy. "He was awfully cooperative."

I gave a small smile. "'Speak truthfully' was first. Then, 'Don't try to escape. This is the only opportunity I will grant you.' Speaking in thu'um is the easier than using magic, and it leaves next to no trace. Only other sossedov would be able to pick up on it." I blinked. "Sorry, dragonblood. Only others with dragonblood in them would be able to see the trace."

He nodded slowly, thoughtful.

We boarded the Normandy, and I started to walk away, but he stopped me with a hand around my wrist.

I looked at him curiously.

"I wanted to say thank you."

A bemused smile. "For what?"

"For everything. Taking me with you. Letting me be part of your team. I've learned a lot." A pause. "And for trusting me."

"Of course. I rarely turn people away."

"I wanted you to know that I've thought a lot about what you've told me. About not sacrificing innocents to achieve the goal. About finding other ways and really looking into things, not just picking the quickest one." He sounded so earnest, I let a fond smile turn up my lips. "And with Saleon... For the longest time, all I wanted was to kill him. I'd convinced myself that he deserved to die. But you- you got me thinking about why I wanted him dead. It wasn't what he did to those people. That was a part of it, yeah, but I think most of it was because he got away from me."

Judgment clouding everything. Understandable. And Admirable, that he could recognize it and choose to look past it.

"I'm glad you're open to seeing things differently. Not everyone is."

"I'm learning." A chuckle. "I've got a good teacher. Patient, too."

I laughed, grinning. "I try. You're a quick learner, so that helps."

As what seemed to be the norm with our conversations, a message came through my omni-tool. He released my wrist, giving me the opportunity to check.

My eye twitched.

Something in my expression had him leaning forward. As if to read what it said, but stopping himself from being able to.

"Shepard?"

"Ugh. Sorry." I wanted nothing more than to card my fingers through my hair. So, I let it free from the bun and did just that. "One of my contacts in the Lower Market wanted to let me know Conrad is back in the same spot, talking about me again." I input to head toward the Citadel. Again.

"That guy has a few screws loose."

"He really does." I grumbled, before shaking my head. "Maybe I'll happen upon another mission. As adventurers do."

A blank look.

"Where I'm from, people going out on quests- missions- are adventurers."

"I know what adventurers are, Shepard." He said dryly.

"Right. Sorry. Anyway, they always seem to come upon quests by chance. Like fate. If that floats your boat."

"I'm surprised you don't believe in that kind of thing."

"Oh, I do. But I also believe in free will and making your own choices. Not just simply being a sheeple."

"Sheeple?" I could tell how foreign the word was to him, how it clumsily it came out.

"Sheep people. Like, people who go with everything without thinking for themselves."

"Oh. Huh."

I pushed back a sudden rush of emotion, blinking back tears. Abruptly, I walked off, cloaking so I could freely wipe my eyes.

Talking with him reminded me of being with Nihlus. I'd shoved aside how much I really missed him these last few days, but today just... I saw so much of Nihlus in Garrus. While I enjoyed his company, it was hard to be around him.

I went to the kitchen, revealing and grabbing a water.

"Shepard?" Tali's voice made me jump.

"I didn't see you there." I smiled.

She studied me a moment. "You missed a spot." She tapped her helmet, where her cheek would be.

I swiped at it quickly, my fingers coming away wet. I glared at them.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I-" I sighed, going over to her table, the closest to the kitchen area, and sat across from her. "I miss my partner, the Spectre Nihlus. He's in the hospital, recovering from being shot. And I'm also missing home a bit more than usual."

"Can't we visit Earth- or whichever colony you're from?" Her head tilted. "As for your partner can't you go see him, as well?"

"Oh, I'm not from- I can go see him, but he's in a coma." I sighed. "But enough about me- how are you faring?"

"I'm doing good. I enjoy being near your engineers- they're very knowledgeable." She looked away, a tinge of embarrassment in her voice now. "I have been having trouble with one thing, though. Your ship is very quiet. It's hard to sleep."

"Have you tried searching the net for flotilla sounds? Like a ten hour video? I do that, but with rain."

"I- I haven't, but I will tonight. Thank you."

"Of course. I like to help, when I can."

"Shepard... Thank you." At my bemused smile, she explained. "For taking me onto your ship. For the geth data. For being knowledgeable about the Pilgrimage. For making me feel at home here. Thank you. If there is anything I can do..."

I reached across and squeezed her hand. "Just listening, you've done more than enough. And like I said, I'm glad that I could help."

"We're about to dock, Shepard." Joker called over comms.

"Welp. That's my cue. I've got a fanboy to go deal with." She tilted her head. "It's a boring story, really. I saved his life a few years ago, and apparently, he's been idolizing me and following every non-classified mission I've been on since." I'd had someone look into it. Part of what was in the message letting me know he was there again. "Well, I didn't know that at the time when he asked for an autograph and a picture. And now, he's back at it again, talking to anyone who walks past him. About me and how great I am. I'm gonna go gently tell him to hush his mouth. You wanna come with?"

"Sure." She jumped at the chance.

As we walked down to the docking port, I asked. "How are they treating you on the Citadel, anyway? We've been there a handful of times in the last few days."

"I am treated as any quarian is."

So, not great. I frowned. I'd never understood why they were treated the way they were.

"Well, stick with me, and if they give you any trouble, I'll Spectre their asses."

She let out a soft chuckle. "Thank you, Shepard."

"Of course. What are friends for?"

"Friends?" It was a murmur, barely audible, but I heard it.

"Uh huh. Connecting on an emotional level and talking about things that bother you with someone who cares makes you friends. I don't make the rules."

We came across some of the others, who all fell into step behind us. Like little ducklings. Again. It was kind of cute, actually.

I caught murmurs from the lot behind me, overhearing them betting on what I would do to him. Hardly anything was secret on that ship. Jeeze.

...

"Shepard!" Conrad waved me down.

I frowned slightly, concerned by how jumpy and excited he seemed to be. Bursting at the seams.

"Hello, again."

"I've got an idea, and I wanted to run it by you."

I wasn't going to like this, was I? "What's up?"

"With so many human colonies being attacked, I'm not sure that one Spectre is enough." No. "What if you signed me on as another Spectre?" No.

"Conrad." I put a hand on his arm, the touch relaxing him immediately. "I'm not sure if that's a good idea."

"But I'd make a great Spectre! I'd be right there with you, showing the Council what humanity is capable of!" A pause. He shook his head, giving me a strange look. Was that... pity? "I know you're afraid to trust people after Asteria." It took everything in me not to narrow my eyes at him. A herculean effort to keep my expression neutral. "I'd never let you down!"

"What about your wife? You two are supposed to go on vacation for your second honeymoon soon, aren't you? To reaffirm your vows to each other? She trusts you to be there. Wouldn't you be letting her down, if you couldn't make it? Because you were injured, or worse?"

"I-"

"Everyday life needs to go on. That's what I'm fighting for. Everyone. Small, big. Important or looked down on. I'm fighting for every single person who can't. But I can't always be there to help for every little thing. The people that do good deeds, who help those in need. We need more of them. Always will. They help make things worth fighting for, reminding others, me, that there's good left in the galaxy. I need you to be one of those people, Conrad."

There was a pregnant pause, where the conflict openly raged on his face. Finally, he relented. "You're right. I just got so caught up it all. I'm sorry, Shepard."

"It's okay." I gave his arm a little pat.

He went on his way, shoulders drooping, looking like a scolded puppy. I shook my head, exasperated.

"You've always been good at the whole speech thing, Shepard." Wrex spoke up, looking to me.

Everyone else was staring after Conrad.

"Good at handling people, too." Ashley added.

Credit chits were exchanged. Wrex came out on top.

I shook my head again. "You guys." A sigh.