"Let's see if we can't locate Harkin." Shepard started walking back towards the transport kiosk.

Kaidan hesitated briefly. "What about Barla Von, sir?"

"You heard Anderson. He's expensive, and I don't think the Council is going to reimburse us for this." Shepard shook his head. "I doubt they are even going to validate our parking. And sticking a gun in the face of one of the Shadow Broker's reps is stupid even for me."

"Just a thought, sir..." Kaidan followed him to the kiosk. "You could try asking nicely. Maybe saying please?" Williams stared at him. He mentally kicked himself. Shepard had just cussed out some of the most powerful people in the galaxy. Maybe provoking him wasn't a good idea.

Shepard turned to face him. "Please?" He tilted his head. "That's one of those strange Canadian concepts, isn't it?"

"Right." Kaidan shrugged, and figured if he was this deep in the hole, he might as well keep digging. "Along with apologies and beer that tastes good."

An amused sound came from Shepard, and he patted Kaidan on the shoulder before gently shoving him towards the just arrived taxi. "Alright, Alenko. Let's go see Barla Von." He shrugged "Any idea where to start looking?"

"He's probably in the financial district." Kaidan tried to hide a smile.

"There is an Avina kiosk." Williams gestured.

"Let's head to the financial district and track him down."

#

"I once had to take out some pirates on Desigo." Michael looked around the clean white park with its lush planters. "Swamps filled with mazes of razor sharp volcanic glass, and a weird atmospheric effect that rendered our sensors useless. There whole place that this dark gray mist that prevented light from penetrating more than a dozen feet." He shook his head at a fountain between two elegant benches. It was like the entire Citadel was allergic to straight lines. Most advanced technology and culture in the galaxy, and they couldn't lay out a city in a way that made sense? "I'm kind of feeling nostalgic for the place right now."

Williams pointed. "There is an Avina kiosk right over there."

"That might be the place." Alenko nodded to where an asari receptionist stood in front of a building.

#

"Alenko..."

"Sorry, Commander." Alenko actually blushed.

Williams was snickering. "Do I want to know why the Consort knows of you?"

"I'm kind of curious why the Consort knows of me." Michael glanced back at Alenko. "Add 'Oraka' to the list of turians we are trying to track down."

"You know, there is an Avina kiosk right there." Williams pointed.

#

"This garden looks familiar." Alenko looked around. "Isn't that the transport stop where we arrived?"

"You know, there is an Avina kiosk right there." Williams pointed. "And one over there." She pointed in another direction. She sighed dramatically. "Just imagine how much further humanity could have explored by now if men would stop and ask for directions."

Michael glared over his shoulder, then shook his head. He turned to Alenko. "You realize now we can't ask for directions."

Alenko nodded. "Because she made it a thing."

#

"Alright, the hanar's shop is..." Michael tilted his head. "Right over there, on the other side of the river."

"How are we supposed to get there from here?" Alenko raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, look, another Avina kiosk." Williams had a smug look on her face as she pointedly didn't look at either of them.

"I don't need to ask for directions." Michael started walking. He made it about five steps. "Chief."

"Yes, sir?" Williams raised an eyebrow.

"I order you to go over to that kiosk and ask for directions."

"Yes, sir."

#

"I'm not sure how helpful a krogan mercenary is going to be." Michael shrugged. "Though the fact that Fist is working for Saren could be useful."

"We can still go find Harkin." Williams pointed to a nearby transport kiosk.

"Right." Michael gestured. "Go get directions to Chora's Den." Sounds like they were eventually going to end up there anyway.

"Yes, sir." Williams gave a salute that failed to meet proper military standards before walking over to the Avina.

"Alenko, remind me to download citadel maps to my omnitool when she's not looking."

"Yes, sir." Alenko's lips twitched just slightly.

#

A shot impacted the wall just a couple inches from where Michael's head had been a moment before as he pulled Alenko down and out of the line of fire. Williams ducked back behind the wall. "This must be the place," she said as she drew her rifle.

Michael drew his own sidearm. "Well, we got someone's attention."

#

And now he was taking his subordinates to a club filled with half naked women. Hadn't Anderson chewed him out for something similar a couple years back? A serving girl was happy to point Harkin out, muttering something about hoping they were there to shoot him.

From the way the man's eyes locked onto Williams' chest, it wasn't a far-off notion. "Alliance military. Hmph. I coulda been a marine you know. Instead I joined the goddamned Citadel Security. Biggest mistake of my life."

"I'm looking for a C-Sec officer." Michael looked down at the drunken mess sitting casually at the table. "A turian named Garrus." Maybe the krogan would have been a better idea.

"Garrus?" Harkin snorted a laugh. "You must be one of Captain Anderson's crew. Poor bastard's still trying to bring Saren down, eh?" He leaned back in his chair. "I know where Garrus is. But you gotta tell me something first. Did the captain let you in on his big secret?"

"Just tell me where Garrus is before this gets ugly." Michael shifted just slightly to block Harkin's view of Williams.

Harkin glared at him. "But it's all related. Don't you see?" He smirked. "The captain used to be a Spectre. Didn't know that, did you? It was all very hush-hush. The first human ever given that honor. And then he blew it. Screwed up his mission so bad they kicked him out. Of course, he blames Saren. Says the turian set him up."

Michael leaned forward, and patted Harkin's shoulder before catching the front of his tunic and pulling him up straight. He kept his face pleasant. "Why should I believe a drunk like you?"

Harkin looked down at Michael's hand, then there was a small glimmer of recognition. He swallowed. "Fine. Ask Anderson. I bet he tells you. He's too stupid and proud to lie right to your face."

He let Harkin go, smoothing the front of his tunic before stepping back. "Just tell me where Garrus went."

"Garrus was sniffing around Dr. Michel's office. She runs the med clinic on the other side of the wards. Last I heard, he was going back there."

"I'm out of here."

#

He was about to leave the bar when Alenko gestured to a turian sitting at table on the other side. "That's General Oraka, sir."

Michael sighed. "Well, this should be fun."

#

"Why didn't Captain Anderson tell us he used to be a Spectre?" Williams asked.

Alenko shook his head. "Maybe it's not true. Harkin's an ass. I bet he's just messing with our heads."

"Williams, I order you to get directions to Dr. Michel's office." Michael glanced down at the datacard in his hand before tucking it into a pocket. "And the elcor embassy." He started walking towards the transport kiosk. A couple teenagers with ruffian written all over them were goofing off nearby. He 'accidentally' dropped Harkin's credit chit as he passed them.

On their way to the clinic, they were stopped twice. The first was by some strange blond man who actually asked him for an autograph. He complied mostly due to surprise at being asked. The second was a reporter who had heard about their investigation and wanted him to pass on any interesting information he learned. Corruption on the Citadel. That should just thrill the Council. He agreed readily.

#

They walked into the medical clinic to find Garrus crouched behind a low wall and several thugs holding weapons on a panicking doctor. "I didn't tell anyone. I swear."

"That was smart, Doc." The lead thug smiled threateningly. On the other side of the wall, Garrus was moving into a shooting position. "Now, if Garrus comes around, you stay smart. Keep your mouth shut, or we'll -" The door behind Michael slid shut with an audible click, drawing the attention of the thugs. Shit. The thug immediately grabbed the doctor and used her as a shield. "Who are you?"

Michael pulled out his pistol and gestured for his companions to start spreading out. "Let her go."

Alenko flared his biotics, and the thug turned towards him. Garrus immediately moved out of cover and put a slug in the lead thug's head. Michael put his own slug through the head of the thug that had been standing next to him. Once clear, the doctor wasted no time in diving behind a desk. He moved in to provide Garrus with some cover fire.

The remaining thugs dove behind a low wall and a file cabinet. Alenko gestured at Williams before simply using his biotics to lift the file cabinet out of the way. Williams chuckled as she shot the man behind it. The two thugs behind the wall both popped up, and Garrus and Michael put slugs in them before they could get shots off.

"Perfect timing, Shepard." Garrus nodded to him. "Gave me a clear shot at that bastard."

"You took him down clean." He returned the nod before briefly checking to see if any of the thugs were still breathing. None appeared to be.

"Sometimes you get lucky." Garrus offered the doctor a hand up. She was shaking slightly. "Dr. Michel? Are you hurt?"

"No." She wiped her hands on her tunic. "I'm okay. Thanks to you. All of you."

"Why were they threatening you?" Michael collected the weapons, handing them off to Williams. "Who do they work for?"

"They work for Fist." Dr. Michel looked from Michael to Garrus as if not certain which of them she should be talking to. "They wanted to shut me up, keep me from telling Garrus about the quarian."

A quarian? "What quarian?"

She wrung her hands and paced nervously. "A few days ago, a quarian came by my office. She'd been shot, but she wouldn't tell me who did it. I could tell she was scared, probably on the run. She asked me about the Shadow Broker. She wanted to trade information in exchange for a safe place to hide."

"Where is she now?" Information was something they could use.

"I put her in contact with Fist. He's an agent for the Shadow Broker."

Well. Shit. That complicated things. Garrus shook his head. "Not any more. Now he works for Saren, and the Shadow Broker isn't too happy about it."

The doctor's eyes widened. "Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker? That's stupid, even for him. Saren must have made him quite the offer."

"That quarian must have something Saren wants." Garrus turned towards Michael. "Something worth crossing the Shadow Broker to get."

"She must have something that proves he's a traitor." Michael frowned and raised an eyebrow at Dr. Michel. "Did the quarian mention anything about Saren? Or the geth?"

"She did." Dr. Michel nodded. "The information she was going to trade. She said it had something to do with the geth."

"She must be able to link Saren to the geth." Garrus gestured. "There's no way the Council can ignore this."

Back to Chora's Den. "Time we paid Fist a visit."

"This is your show, Shepard." Garrus took a small step forward. "But I want to bring Saren down as much as you do. I'm coming with you."

And now he was working with the cops. Though more firepower never hurt. "Welcome aboard, Garrus."

"You know, we aren't the only ones going after Fist. The Shadow Broker hired a krogan county hunter named Wrex to take him out."

Turians. Quarians. "A krogan might come in handy." Maybe they'd pick up an asari while they were at it.

"Last I heard, he was at C-Sec academy." Garrus nodded.

"What's he doing there?" Alenko asked.

"Fist accused him of making threats. We brought Wrex in for a little talk. If you hurry, you can catch him at the academy before he leaves."

"Move out." Michael headed for the door.

#

Wrex appeared to be completely unconcerned about the fact he was surrounded by heavily armed C-Sec officers. Michael liked him already. "Witnesses saw you making threats in Fist's bar. Stay away from him."

"I don't take orders from you." Wrex towered over the human officer.

"This is your only warning, Wrex." The officer glared.

"You should warn Fist. I will kill him." Wrex returned the glare, and leaned forward in a way that made it clear he was fully capable of literally biting the officer's head off.

"You want me to arrest you?" The officer gestured.

The krogan actually chuckled. "I want you to try." He waited a beat, and none of the officers moved. He shrugged, and started walking.

"Go on. Get out of here." The officer spoke to the krogan's back.

He saw Michael watching, and stopped. "Do I know you, human?"

"I'm going after Fist." Michael shrugged. "I don't want you getting in my way."

"Now I recognize you. Commander Shepard, from the Alliance." Wrex looked him over. "I've heard a lot about you." He walked closer. He was slightly larger than the last couple krogan Michael had encountered, and had a fairly impressive scar collection. "We're both warriors, Shepard. Out of respect, I'll give you fair warning. I'm going to kill Fist."

Garrus spoke up. "Fist knows you're coming. We'll have a better chance if we all work together."

"My people have a saying: Seek the enemy of your enemy, and you will find a friend." The edges of Wrex's mouth curled upward.

Michael held out a hand. "I think we're going to get along just fine, Wrex."

Wrex accepted the handshake. "Let's go. I hate to keep Fist waiting."

#

Someone must have tipped Fist off. The only people in the bar were heavily armed mercenaries, all of which were shooting at them. Definitely his kind of place.

They cleared the bar in under a minute. Michael gestured for Garrus and Williams to hold position. Alenko and Wrex followed him through the door.

Where two unarmored men stood, pointing crappy pistols at him. "Stop right there. Don't come any closer."

"Warehouse workers." Alenko shook his head. "All the real guards must be dead."

"Stay back or we'll shoot." The pistol shook a little in the man's hand.

Michael sighed. "I just killed fifty bodyguards to get in here. What do you think I'll do to you?"

"Uh..." The two men looked at each other. "Well..." They lowered the pistols. "Uh..."

The shorter of the two shrugged. "Aw, screw Fist. He doesn't pay us enough for this." Both men walked out. Williams and Garrus let them pass, with slightly amused looks on their faces.

"It would've been quicker to just kill them." Wrex shrugged and started walking towards the next door.

#

For a man with a supposedly scary reputation, Fist went down rather quickly. Michael only had to put two slugs in him. "Wait. Don't kill me. I surrender."

"Tell me where the quarian is and I won't have to shoot you in the kneecaps."

Fist flinched. "She's not here. I don't know where she is. That's the truth."

"He's no use to you now." Wrex cocked his shotgun. "Let me kill him."

"Wait. Wait." Fist held up his hands. "I don't know where the quarian is, but I know where you can find her." He looked up at Michael. "The quarian isn't here. Said she'd only deal with the Shadow Broker himself."

"Face to face?" Wrex shook his head. "Impossible. Even I was hired through an agent."

"Nobody meets the Shadow Broker." Fist stood up, a little shaky. "Ever. Even I don't know his true identity. But she didn't know that. I told her I'd set a meeting up. But when she shows up, it'll be Saren's men waiting for her."

Michael stepped forward and tucked his pistol under Fist's chin. "Tell me where that meeting is before I blow your lying head off."

"Here on the wards." Fist swallowed nervously. "The back alley by the markets. She's supposed to meet them right now. You can make it if you hurry."

He stepped back, and Wrex promptly shot the guy. Michael gave him an annoyed look.

"Oh my god." Alenko stepped back in surprise.

"The Shadow Broker paid me to kill him. I don't leave jobs half done."

Good to know. Michael bent and scooped up the OSDs scattered on Fist's table. "A lot of people died because of him. He had it coming." He straightened up and started back towards the door. He could hear fire. "Now let's move. We have to save that quarian."

#

Williams and Garrus had mostly taken care of the backup problem by the time they left Fist's office. The turian was proving that the thug at the doctor's office hadn't been a lucky shot. Michael put a slug between the last thug's eyes before heading out the door. "Come on."

#

The quarian had clearly already figured out that she was being set up by the time they'd arrived. She took immediate advantage of the distraction they provided to hurl a flashbang at a few of the thugs and dive for cover. With that bit of chaos, taking out the mercs was easy.

She stood up from behind the crates as soon as the fire ceased. "Fist set me up. I knew I couldn't trust him."

"And he got dead for it." Michael nodded to her. "You've got proof Saren is working with the geth. I need it."

"Not so fast." She raised a hand. "Who are you?"

"We're the folks who killed Fist and rescued you. And we are running out of time. I need the evidence you have against Saren."

"I guess I owe you." She adjusted the hood on her envirosuit. "But not out here in the open. We need to go somewhere safe."

Alenko stepped forward. "The ambassador's office. It's safe there. He'll want to see this anyway."

#

Udina started the lecture before he was all the way in the door. "You're not making my life easy, Shepard. Firefights in the wards? An all-out assault on Chora's den? Do you know how many -" He turned around, and then took a step backward when he realized Shepard wasn't alone. "Who's this? A quarian? What are you up to, Shepard?"

"This quarian can help us bring down Saren." Michael shrugged. "I would've told you that if you hadn't jumped down my throat."

"I apologize, Commander." Udina actually looked like he meant it. Maybe he wouldn't steal the man's chair. "This whole thing with Saren has me a bit on edge." He nodded to the quarian. "Maybe we should just start at the beginning, Miss...?"

"My name is Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."

"We don't see many quarians here. Why did you leave the flotilla?" Udina actually sounded personable when he was playing the diplomat. Perhaps they had given him the job for a reason other than to get him off Earth.

Tali paced a few steps. "I was on my Pilgrimage, my rite of passage into adulthood."

They really didn't have time. "What kind of evidence did you find? How did you get it?"

"During my travels I began hearing reports of the geth. Since they drove my people into exile, the geth have never ventured beyond the Veil. I was curious." She stopped pacing. "I tracked a patrol of geth to an uncharted world. I waited for one to become separated from its unit. Then I disabled it and removed its memory core." The kid had guts.

Captain Anderson raised an eyebrow. "I thought the geth fried their memory cores when they died. Some kind of defense mechanism."

"What did you find out?" Michael gestured for Tali to keep talking.

She began pulling up something on her omnitool. "Most of the core was wiped clean. But I salvaged something from its audio banks."

A recording came out of the omnitool. "Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."

Anderson actually smiled. "That's Saren's voice. This proves he was involved in the attack."

"Saren won't get out of this one." Michael gestured sharply.

"Wait..." Tali touched a couple more buttons. "There's more. Saren wasn't working alone."

The recording replayed, and this time a feminine voice answered Saren's. "And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."

"I don't recognize that other voice." Udina frowned. "The one talking about the Reapers."

Why would he? The galaxy had trillions of life forms. Something about the Reapers tickled his memory. Where had he heard that? "I feel like I've heard that name before..."

"According to the memory core, the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed 50,000 years ago." Tali spread her hands. "The Reapers hunted the Protheans to total extinction, and then they vanished. At least, that's what the geth believe."

"Sounds a little far-fetched." Udina folded his arms.

One of the images from the beacon tried to crawl across his mind. He shoved it away. "The vision on Eden Prime -" It kept trying to come back. "I understand it now. I saw the Protheans being wiped out by the Reapers."

"The geth revere the Reapers as gods, the pinnacle of non-organic life. And they believe Saren knows how to bring the Reapers back." Tali looked from him to Udina and back again.

"The Council is just going to love this." Udina shook his head.

"They won't believe you anyway." With the evidence, he'd be cleared for going after Saren. "Just keep them out of this."

"We have to tell them." Anderson stepped forward. "Even if they don't believe anything else, this proves Saren is a traitor."

"The captain's right." Udina waved a hand. "We need to present this to the Council right away."

Wrex's deep voice came from behind him. "What about her? The quarian?"

"My name is Tali." She turned to face Michael. He couldn't see her face behind the mask, but he was pretty sure if he could, her eyes would be wide and excited. "You saw me in the alley, Commander. You know what I can do. Let me come with you."

Having a geth expert along could be useful. "I'll take all the help I can get."

She actually bounced a little before moving back to join Alenko and the others. "Thanks. You won't regret this."

Anderson and I will go ahead and get things ready with the Council. Take a few minutes to collect yourself, then meet us in the Tower."

#

The husband of one of Williams' former squadmates met them as they were leaving the embassy. A few minutes later, Michael found himself dealing with a clerk who was refusing to relinquish the body of the squadmate. "Look, I'm going to be blunt here." Michael put a hand on the clerk's shoulder. "You won't be the first person I've kneecapped..."

Wrex smirked. "You won't even be the first person he's kneecapped since having lunch."

"Commander, I -" The clerk swallowed nervously. "I don't think threats are necessary. Even if the body were here on the Citadel, would you really risk going in shooting to get it?"

"Didn't you say you were briefed on his activities?" Williams raised an eyebrow.

The clerk looked from Williams to Wrex to Michael. "All right, Commander. You win. It was hard enough refusing Mr. Bhatia. I'm not going to risk an incident by refusing you."

#

"Come on." Anderson was waiting at the base of the stairs. "Udina's presenting the quarian's evidence to the Council."

Michael followed him to the dais. Udina appeared to be fully in his element, complete with theatrics. "You wanted proof. There it is."

It was hard to read the turian councilor's expression, but Michael was fairly confident the man was not enjoying the taste of crow. "This evidence is irrefutable, Ambassador. Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes."

"I recognize the other voice, the one speaking with Saren." The asari councilor clasped her hands behind her back. "Matriarch Benezia."

"She must be working with the geth, too." Michael didn't recognize the name.

"Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic, and she had many followers. She will make a formidable ally for Saren." The asari councilor nodded.

"I'm more interested in the Reapers." The salarian councilor tapped his... or her... dammit, he should have looked it up... fingers on its chin. "What do you know about them?"

Anderson stepped forward. "Only what was extracted from the geth's memory core. The Reapers were an ancient race of machines that wiped out the Protheans. Then they vanished."

The image tried to crawl across his mind again. "The geth believe the Reapers are gods. And Saren is the prophet for their return." He was having some trouble believing synthetics even had a concept for a god.

"We think the Conduit is the key to bringing them back. Saren's searching for it. That's why he attacked Eden Prime." Anderson nodded.

"Do we even know what this Conduit is?" The salarian councilor asked.

Michael wasn't sure it mattered. "Saren thinks it can bring back Reapers. That's bad enough."

"Listen to what you're saying." The turian councilor shook his head. "Saren wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? Impossible. It has to be. Where did the Reapers go? Why did they vanish? How come we've found no trace of their existence? If they were real, we'd have found something."

Two hundred years ago, most of humanity would have said similar about aliens. "I tried to warn you about Saren, and you refused to face the truth. Don't make the same mistake again."

"This is different." Once again, the asari councilor stepped in to play peacemaker. "You proved Saren betrayed the Council. We all agree he's using the geth to search for the Conduit, but we don't really know why."

"The Reapers are obviously just a myth, Commander." The salarian councilor waved a hand dismissively. "A convenient lie to cover Saren's true purpose. A legend he is using to bend the geth to his will."

The images that had seared into his mind were far too real to dismiss so casually. "Fifty thousand years ago, the Reapers wiped out all galactic civilization. If Saren finds the Conduit, it will happen again."

"Saren is a rogue agent on the run for his life." The turian councilor leaned on his podium. "He no longer has the rights or resources of a Spectre. The Council has stripped him of his position."

"That is not good enough." Udina pointed a hand at the council. "You know he's hiding somewhere in the Traverse. Send your fleet in."

The salarian councilor shook its head. "A fleet cannot track down one man."

"A Citadel fleet could secure the entire region." Udina gestured sharply. "Keep the geth from attacking any more of our colonies."

"Or it could trigger a war with the Terminus Systems." The turian councilor's mandibles clicked. "We won't be dragged into a galactic confrontation over a few dozen human colonies."

As if it hadn't been their Spectre that had set all this in motion. Michael stepped forward. "Every time humanity asks for help you ignore us."

"Shepard's right." Udina nodded to him. "I'm sick of this Council and its anti-human bull -"

"Ambassador." The asari councilor held up a hand. "There is another solution. A way to stop Saren that does not require fleets or armies." She glanced over at the turian councilor.

The turian councilor immediate started protesting. "No. It's too soon. Humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the Spectres."

"It was a turian Spectre who betrayed this council." Michael glared at him. "And it was a human who exposed him." If this is what it took to get Saren, so be it. "I've earned this."

Both the salarian and the asari turned to stare at the turian councilor. Though he was clearly reluctant, the turian councilor nodded.

"Commander Shepard." The asari straightened. "Step forward."

Michael glanced at Anderson, who nodded. He stepped forward. Udina was actually smiling. He looked around to see that others in the vicinity had stopped what they were doing to come observe. For the first time in his life, he gave serious consideration to running for it.

"It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel."

"Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file."

"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will."

"Spectres bear a great burden. They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold."

"You are the first human Spectre, Commander. This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species."

Well.

Shit.