Eventually, the human and his salarian partner had brought them to a dingy office building near the border of the Gozu district. Garrus noted that the hastily affixed neon sign in front of it was in the shape of an eye, though the significance of it was lost on him. The interior was a mess of papers and datapads spread out over a small desk. The few chairs in the building had seen better days, and Garrus wasn't holding out hope that the bathroom would look any better.
It had been a close call, and all of them were just starting to catch their breaths.
Butler, the human that he and Sidonis had rescued was just staring at him keenly from behind the desk and rubbing at raw wrists. It was the look of somebody that was turning information over in their head. Taking his measure. Debating what to say. Whoever this human was, he had a plan. The salarian stayed by the window and checked the street outside through the shutter every minute or so, while Sidonis watched both of them warily. Butler broke the awkward silence with a snap of his fingers.
"I know who you are, don't I?"
"I highly doubt that." Garrus said, stretching and working out the kinks in his neck.
The human snapped his fingers again. " , I do. You're the Kima killer, ain't ya? Aw jeez, just wait 'till my wife hears about this."
"The- who?" Garrus said in confusion, having expected the human to bring up something about the hunt for Saren.
"The Kima district killer." The human continued. Somebody's been running around, popping street level dealers. Then there was that one shipment of hallex that got set on fire a couple weeks ago. Most people thought it was a rival group moving in on their turf. Trying to send a message." Butler raised an eyebrow and leaned in conspiratorially. "Of course, some folk said it was the Kima District Killer, some kinda spirit of vengeance bringing justice to the streets." He laughed. "Personally, I doubt spirits need bullets. Or camp across the street from this warehouse and snipe people."
"Lot of theories going around." Garrus said carefully. "Who would you be?"
"Oh, my apologies, that's bad manners. The name's Butler. Frank Butler, private investigator." The human got up from where he was sitting and held his hand out for a shake but Garrus just stared at it. A self-employed detective? On Omega? The human curled his fingers back and nodded in understanding.
"Right, right. Can't trust me. I wouldn't either. I could be anybody. Even the Kima district killer." Butler cracked his knuckles. "But I'm just me. Thanks for shooting the guy planning to show me the color of my insides by the way."
Garrus nodded. "You're welcome." He paused, looking at the detritus scattered around the room. By the moons of Palaven, how did the detective ever find the files he was looking for? "Why were they planning to kill you anyway?" he asked Butler.
"Ah, because Mirkit caught me snooping around his place of business. I was investigating a disappearance." Garrus hummed in his throat. "A disappearance?" he repeated. Butler nodded and pulled a cigar out of a pocket, rolling it around his fingers before putting it in his mouth unlit.
"We handle all types of cases. My partner here infiltrated the organization a month ago. We figured it would come in handy if they ever got wise to my snooping." He said, jerking a thumb in the salarian's direction.
Garrus nodded and turned to their blood-covered rescuer. "And you are?"
"I change my name once a year. It keeps things fresh." The alien replied.
"Uh-huh." Garrus said slowly, unsure how to proceed. If the salarian noted Garrus's discomfort, he said nothing about it.
"Now, lately I've been going by the detective formerly known as the mercenary formerly known as the Sensational Sur'keshian the Third."
"There's been two other people with that name?" Sidonis said with widening eyes.
"Well no, but it makes me sound like…regal and shit." The salarian said with a snort.
"Right well, that's far too long to say all the time." Garrus deadpanned.
"You're telling me; you know how hard it is to fit that on a business card?" Butler exclaimed.
The salarian shrugged, though his facial expression was unreadable through the mask.
"Eh, fine. Call me Sensat. That's what Butler calls me anyhow."
"Spirits preserve us." Sidonis said helplessly.
"Look," Butler cut in. "Uh, you're pretty new on Omega right? But you want a make a difference, help the little guy, all that? I mean, you can deny being the Kima Killer all you want but I don't know why else you'd be gunning for Mirikit when you ain't wearing any gang colors..."
"I was promised credits." Sidonis said off-hand.
Garrus ignored him and focused on the human. "What's it to you?"
"Well, you been doing okay for yourself but you been operating on the fringes. What you need is the know-how. The information. You don't know the players. You barely know the rules o' the game. I do."
Butler tapped the side of his head.
"I've got a proposition for all of ya."
"No thanks, salarians like myself are not driven by such primal urges." Sensat yawned.
"Not that kind of proposition." Butler said with a muted sigh. "Jeez Sensat, you want to me tell Nalah you been talking like this?" Butler shook his head as the salarian put his hands up and turned back to Garrus. "Look, you've been vigilante types for a month or so now, right?"
"This idiot only started working with him yesterday, thank you very much." Sidonis said with a resigned head shake. Butler chuckled and then continued.
"What say we partner up? I can't be putting myself out there all the time; I'm not really built for combat see, what with my lumbago. But you are. And I know what's what on Omega. You don't. We could help each other out."
Garrus leaned back slowly, crossing his arms in front of himself as he processed what the human was saying. "You want Sidonis and me to provide the bullets, while you and your partner provide the targets."
"Something like that." Butler said with a grin.
Garrus was silent for a few moments, staring at the detective and his partner with a critical eye. He was already taking a chance, working with Sidonis, but he'd known from day one he wouldn't be able to do this alone. He needed a team eventually. He just hadn't known where to begin. Convincing people to after galactic threats like Saren was a lot easier then convincing people to clean up the streets. Shepard would have been able to build a team already, he thought glumly.
Then again, it had worked with Sidonis, but the kid seemed more interested in credits than fighting the good fight. If Butler really knew as much as he was implying, then it was possible that Butler would be able to connect with other people like himself. Other vigilantes. On a station with nearly eight million people, there had to be others that wanted to fight back against the corruption. Who were tired of the filth.
"I suppose we have unfinished business with Thralog." Garrus mused aloud.
If I'm lucky, I'll find where they took my rifle.
"Is that a yes, killer?" Butler said with a note of hope in his voice.
"Call it a serious maybe. And it's Vakarian. Garrus Vakarian."A brief look of recognition flashed across the human's face, and Garrus hoped he hadn't made a mistake in giving his name."You're very quick to trust us, Butler. Any reason why?" The human started to respond, but was cut off.
"So, let me get this straight," the salarian butted in. "You're on a crusade to take down the scum Omega has to offer."
"Er, well, yes." Garrus said with a shrug.
"Okay, I'm in." as he stated that, he held up one skinny finger and pointed it at Garrus. "On one condition. I get to blow stuff up."
"That's kind of the only thing you're good for." Butler responded dryly.
Sidonis threw his hands in the air. "They're insane. Insane. Garrus, Garrus, these men are not well."
Garrus nodded in agreement, but at the same time, he knew that beggars could not be choosers, and they were in sore need of help. If he made another mistake like the one today, it could end with him and Sidonis dead in a ditch.
"Okay, Butler, Sensat. You've got a deal."
"We're doomed." Sidonis moaned.
"Excellent!" Butler whooped. "Here's the address to a local bar, we can meet up there tomorrow…"
Garrus nodded.
Maybe this will work out after all.
"I'm telling ya, this could be it Nalah. This is the big one, the one I been waiting for ever since I left ERCS to make a go of this private detective biz."
"You say that about all your cases dear."
"Yeah but this time…" Butler rifled through his desk, pulling out pictures, papers and files and popping a cigar in his mouth. "Nuthin like a good hard copy," he muttered to himself. "Yes ma'am this is it. Me and Sensat couldn't do it alone, but… with that Vakarian and his partner, we just might be able to get him Nalah. We'd finally get justice for…for…" he trailed off, looking in the direction of the second bedroom in their apartment. The one whose door he hadn't opened in months.
"Frank." she said tiredly. We've talked about this. You finally put it behind you; remember what your psychologist said? This obsession isn't hea- "
"It is not an obsession!" he snapped, taking the cigar out of his mouth. "I know its him. I know Nalah. And, and You didn't see these turians in action alright? They took out half of Miri'kits crew by themselves with nothing but a pair of sniper rifles and some carefully placed explosives. The one, whatshisname. Vakarian! He's a bleeding hero Nalah, worked with Commander freakin' Shepard, or ain't you seen the reports? I'm telling ya, with his help…"
Butler trailed off as he read the headlines he'd saved and started a vid on a well-worn datapad.
Mysterious viral outbreak in Tuhi district claims seventeen lives
Khelish word for "cure" found burned onto walls of homes belonging to all eight victims of the recent Rhines Disease epidemic
Nayala T'gano, notable for opening free medical clinic found dead of apparent allergic reaction
Khelish word for "cure" found carved in skin of Elcor who contracted dreaded Spotpox
Three children die from Yidaka-H2, salarian illness long thought consigned to history books
Eventually, the vid stopped on a grainy image of a quarian wearing a sleek slate-grey envirosuit, looking dead at the camera and saluting it before the feed cut to static. Butler turned to face the spiderweb of connected pictures and notes on his wall. A quarian wearing the same suit was in nearly every picture.
One showed him leaving T'gano's clinic in the middle of the night. In another, walking down a street in the Tuhi district carrying a small package. The rest were the same, all connected, all pointing to a picture in the center of the wall, a still frame from the video feed he'd just watch, zooming in on the mask and the white eyes behind it. Butler put the cigar in his mouth again, but didn't light it.
"No one believes me. But I know it's all connected. I'm gonna get you, you sick fuck," he whispered angrily to the picture. "If it's the last thing I do."
I suppose this qualifies as an undead fic now. Thank you for reading!