"The beacon destroyed, rogue Spectres, geth attacking human colonies outside the Veil." The human ambassador threw up his hands and stormed away a few metres. "You were sent on a simple pickup run with what we were assured was one of the council's best Spectres aboard. How did you manage to screw this up so completely, Captain?"
"Hey!" Despite all her assurances to both Anderson and herself that she'd hold her temper, Shepard stepped forward, unable to let the ambassador's diatribe go on unchallenged. "The captain didn't screw anything up. Nihlus didn't screw anything up. If anything intel screwed up. We went in to be completely blindsided by that other Spectre." Try as she might, she couldn't keep the sneer of distaste off her face.
He's just doing his job, and as much as you hate him, he's actually pretty decent at it. Keep it cool, Janey, this isn't personal.
Too bad everything felt personal when it came to Udina. Still, she took a deep breath and cracked her neck before continuing. "Saren dragged the geth there to get the beacon, and the only reason he didn't is because my team kicked a whole lot of ass to get there in time, and stopped him. Every member of the team performed above and beyond the call in an impossible situation, sir."
Udina turned on her, stomping over to shove his face into hers. His cologne, expensive and liberally applied, turned her stomach. No one who played people like chess pieces the way the ambassador did should smell that good. She controlled her urge to punch him, helped along by seeing how hard he was fighting the urge to haul off and deck her. She narrowed her eyes and stared at him until he backed away. They'd been down the bitch-slapping road before. Admiral—then Rear Admiral—Hackett hadn't been amused when their brawl spread until it spilled out of that bar on Arcturus Station into the corridors. It had taken nearly two platoons of Marines to break up the resulting furball. Good times.
"Above and beyond?" The ambassador's voice derailed her trip down memory lane. "And yet the beacon is destroyed, and Saren escaped without any proof he was even there, is that about right, Commander?" His voice dripped distain. Her hands balled into fists.
"Yes, that's about right, Ambassador." She made a show of flexing her hands, earning a grumbling sigh from Anderson. She relaxed and shook her fingers out. "When the beacon overloaded, it put out an EMP that wiped the recorders in our hard suits. However, we do have five people who witnessed the entire thing."
Udina's oily stare slid over the others. "Brought your entire crew, Anderson?"
"Just the ground crew from Eden Prime in case you had any questions for them, Ambassador." The captain kept himself so cool that Shepard both envied him and felt the sudden urge to smack him. She held the last one in check. Her history with Udina wasn't Anderson's fault.
"I have their reports. I assume they are complete?" Udina looked at Shepard and curled his lip. She wondered if he'd 'lose' her report just to spite her.
"Actually, Ambassador, I broke my giant pencil while I was writing mine up. Can I borrow the one stuffed up . . .." Anderson thumped her from behind, and she stumbled forward, almost landing with her face in Udina's chest. She reeled back. Everything about the man dragged her back to Elysium, and she had no desire to return there in any form. Once more, she shoved down the rolling of her stomach.
Udina's eyes narrowed with enough hatred that Shepard checked her armour to make sure his scorching-laser glare wasn't burning holes through it. "You've done more than enough to endanger your candidacy for the Spectres. I suggest you stop while you're ahead, Commander."
The ambassador pressed in on her again. "I wish Spectre Kryik had seen what a monumental mistake putting your name forward would be before he'd done it." He shoved her back a half step. "Try to rise above your base nature, Commander, before you embarrass humanity any further." His voice lowered to a bare whisper. "I know how difficult it will be for you." He spun on his heel and strode to the door, a lightning storm in a suit. "Meet us in the council chambers within the hour. I'll be sure you have clearance."
Shepard swallowed the knot of rage, humiliation, and bitter memory that tied itself in her throat. Acid burned up her esophagus. "I embarrass Earth? Ambassador, I go out there every fucking day. I bleed and I sweat, trying to keep all the bad things in the galaxy away from our people, but inevitably, I end up walking through wastelands where good men and women ... innocent children have been taken by slavers or slaughtered by pirates." She took two steps toward him, her entire body bristled, blades set to cut and cut deep. "You do your job, and you do it pretty damned well, but until you're prepared to go out there and take my place instead of just taking the applause for what I accomplish, you have no right to call me an embarrassment to Earth." Shepard bit her tongue as soon as the words came out, but then of course, they'd already escaped.
"For God's sake, Shepard," Anderson said, growling the words out between his teeth. "Can't you leave Elysium behind long enough to avoid screwing this up for Earth?" He let out a sharp but understanding sigh and pressed his hand down on her shoulder. "Find a way to stow the attitude before you get to the council chambers."
"Anderson!" The ambassador's call sent the captain hurrying, rigid and furious, out the door.
"Crap, I shouldn't have let him get under my skin." Shepard sighed as the rest of the team walked up beside her. "I hate that man so very much, and I don't hate many people. I'm cheerful, easy to get along with, work and play well with others." She sighed again.
"Yeah, that's the exact description I was thinking, Commander," Ashley said, a sardonic grin on her hard, pretty face. She stepped up beside Shepard. "So, we head for the council chambers?"
Shepard raked her fingers through her hair. "Nah, Nihlus and I can handle that mess. You guys go do something that doesn't involve listening to pontificating politicians. Take Jenkins to a club, get him loaded, and take vid." She grinned at the young Marine as his face turned scarlet, then reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Go to the embassy staff, see if they can help you find out if your folks are okay. Yeah?"
He nodded, a slow, relieved smile replacing the stark terror of a moment before. "Thanks, Commander."
"Come on, Jenkins," Alenko said, clapping him on the back. "We'll come with you. Can't hurt to have backup when trying to convince the bureaucracy to do something."
Shepard gave Alenko a grateful smile as the three headed out. When the door closed behind them, she walked to the balcony railing and looked out over the presidium. It would be beautiful if it didn't all reek of artifice and politics. She closed her eyes, tilting her face up toward the fake sky. Even the sun on the Citadel was a lie. It didn't bode well. She felt Nihlus walk up beside her but didn't look at him. Anderson was right. She needed to find a way to avoid going off during the meeting with the council.
"Are you going to stick with that story through the council meeting?" Nihlus asked from just behind her left elbow. He pressed in, turning a little to lean against the balcony railing.
Shepard opened one eye to look at him, then closed it again. "What story? Oh, you mean the one where I didn't chase you halfway across Eden Prime and save your ass twice?" She smiled to soften her words as his mandibles fluttered and dropped. "Nah, I figure that I'll retract it at the last second and let you swing. I just want to see Udina's face when I change my tune. It'll be a moment to treasure." She dropped her chin and pushed away from the railing, feeling incredibly weary. "Let's go get this over with. My rejection as a Spectre candidate awaits."
"I sent my report on Saren back as soon as we got off Eden Prime. Hopefully they've started investigating him," Nihlus muttered as he followed Shepard to the door. "I'd be willing to take the hit for letting my guard down if it meant having hardsuit data to prove he was there and what he was doing."
Shepard shrugged as she stepped over the threshold and turned down the corridor. "Fall on your sword on your own time, Kryik." She trotted down a short ramp. "While I'm thinking about it, it's probably best you don't mention getting half the vision."
His scowl deepened, but then he nodded. "Yeah, they don't need any more reasons to suspend me."
"Exactly, and it's always good not to throw all your cards out on the table. For now, pull your balls out of your designer handbag, gird your loins, and man up." She turned to look him up and down. "Where do you keep your balls, anyway? Do you even have any?" The adorably bashful look on his face told her all she needed to know. "Hm. Interesting. Note to self: research this at a later time." She chuckled, a possibility occurring to her. "Ooo, is that why it hurt so bad when I hit you in the gut?"
Nihlus just sighed and fell in beside her as she trotted down the stairs toward the embassy lobby. "You and Udina have a history, don't you?"
"Picked that up did you?" She led the way down the presidium, eating up the distance to the massive tower at a smart jog. "Yeah, we do, including at least one brawl at a memorial ceremony and a bar fight." Cutting off his comment with a slice of her hand, she shook her head. "And no, neither time did I take the first punch. He quite possibly hates me more than I hate him. I represent everything he had to fight in this galaxy." A small shrug dismissed it. "I don't even blame him, really. Every time a major catastrophe has befallen a human colony, I've been it's poster girl."
She stiffened, hoping he'd take the hint as she slapped up an invisible wall between them. Some things she just didn't talk about.
Sighing, she looked up at the tower. As much as she hated the idea of having to suck up to the council all the time, being the first human Spectre would've been something. And, despite the fact that she knew Udina had been trying to land a solid blow below the belt, the fact that she might have embarrassed humanity stung.
You've got bigger concerns, Shepard. The petty war between you and Udina, even being made a Spectre is nothing compared to Saren, so suck it up. You can flagellate yourself later.
Right. She threw the past into a crate at the back of her mind and focused on Eden Prime. Whatever Saren had been up to on the colony, she doubted it stopped there. Why would he recruit the geth to steal a beacon? It didn't make any sense. Maybe he wasn't the one in charge. The geth could be controlling him somehow.
She stopped at the base of the tower, a big green bug with huge eyes catching her attention. "Ooo, check out the green cutie. I take it this is a Keeper?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at Nihlus. At his nod, she leaned closer. "I've been here dozens of times, but have never seen one before. I guess we don't have the same hangouts."
"Please do not disturb the Keepers," the Avina terminal next to it said.
Shepard ignored it. "Hey there, little guy. Dear, sweet baby Jesus, you are just the cutest." She giggled happily. "Look at the purple backpack. Okay, I just died a little. Damn, he's . . .."
"Please to not disturb the Keepers," the terminal said again.
Shepard stepped around the Keeper and crouched next to the terminal. "This thing's annoying."
"Shepard, what are you doing?" Nihlus stepped up and grabbed her shoulder. "Leave it. It's just an automated message."
"Yeah, and … ?" Shepard glanced around to make sure she wasn't being watched before popping open a panel and tinkering for a moment. She activated her omnitool, hacking into the terminal.
He pushed in closer, as if trying to hide her from view. "You're going to get arrested. There are a dozen C-Sec in the area."
"Yeah, and if you push your groin any further into my face, we're both going to get arrested for public lewdness, so back up a bit." She finished and closed the panel. Standing, she stepped around him and bent over to look into the Keeper's eyes, just barely managing to control her urge to hug it. "Don't worry, little buddy, I've got your back."
"Can we just get up there?" Nihlus grumbled, holding out an arm to usher her away from the scene of the crime.
"Sure." Shepard led the way to the elevator. "They really are cute. Think I could convince one to come back to the ship with me?" Glancing over at him, she met his glare with a, wide-eyed, guileless smile and a shrug. "What?" Nihlus just shook his head and looked front.
After a minute or so of silence, Shepard cleared her throat. "So, Nihlus .. the night I woke up to find you peering at me while I slept … what was that about?"
He looked down at her and frowned. "Peering?"
"Yeah. I woke up and you were standing right over me, staring." She bristled. "It was sort of creepy."
He laughed and shook his head. "I was walking by to get some sleep myself, and you were kicking at the blankets and muttering. I shook you awake." He shrugged, his head doing the odd little neck bobbing thing that made up for lack of shoulder mobility. "It seemed like a terrible nightmare. I apologize if I offended."
Shepard chuckled and gave a stout nod. "Thanks. Okay, so in hindsight, not creepy. Good to know."
What felt like a lifetime later, they stepped off the elevator and through a small room into the council chambers. Shepard whistled softly as her eyes travelled up past the fountains and rock gardens. The whole thing was so beautiful and felt so wrong. She didn't belong in a place like that. Hell, she didn't belong within thirty klicks of a place like that. It took all her pride and every ounce of self confidence to stop herself from shrinking down into her armour. Instead, she took a deep breath and puffed herself up.
"I like it," she said, nodding as she looked around. "I'll take a room on this floor, concierge." She strode between the glowy, blossoming trees and up a set of stairs. She could see Anderson waiting at the next set of stairs and locked onto him, using him as an anchor in increasingly heavy seas.
"They sure want you winded when you get there, don't they?" she grumbled, trotting up next to him, covering her nerves with surliness. Butterflies fluttered through her guts, trying to gnaw their way out into the world. Damn things. She really needed to switch them out with acrobatic elcor or something.
"Please try not to be yourself," Anderson said, keeping his voice low. "Your Spectre candidacy is nearly dead in the water as it is." When she didn't reply, he stopped and turned to grip her elbow, as close to a hug as he got in public. "I mean it, Shepard. Keep the smart-ass shit tied down. These people don't give a crap, and they won't hesitate to eviscerate you."
"Fine," she said and growled. "I do have a small measure of self-control, Captain." Despite the rumble in her voice, she felt affection rather than annoyance. For almost a decade and a half, Anderson had proven to be her only shelter in a cold, brutal galaxy. No matter how brusque he got with her, she knew it originated from wanting the best for her. It wasn't his fault that he hated watching her follow a course destined for self-destruction.
"Really? So, you've just been hiding it the last thirteen years?" He sighed and let his hand drop. She saw a smile flirting with the idea of appearing before he killed it.
Grinning, she took a deep breath and turned toward the long gangplank to the council. "Well, yeah, of course. I've been waiting for the perfect time to spring it on you." She gave him a wink and strode up the walkway to stand just behind Udina.
The council stood across a wide gap from the platform that supplicants stood on, presumably to keep from being throttled by the aforementioned supplicants. Shepard glanced at the guns on her back, taking a buffet to the shoulder from behind. Apparently, either Kryik could read minds or he'd had the same thought about a few metres not making any difference to a bullet.
"Our colony was all but destroyed by the geth!" Udina protested, the pitch of his voice setting all the hair on the back of Shepard's neck on end. "Geth led by one of your Spectres!"
Shepard looked up at a large holo of the Spectre in question. Saren didn't look like other turians. His hips and waist were all wrong, his fringe crazy long, and what was with the glowing eyes?
"Do you have evidence that Saren was behind the attack?" the asari councillor asked. "All these reports say is that another turian was present in the colony." The councillor's composed regard turned to Shepard. "All the reports other than yours seem to indicate that Spectre Kryik was culpable in his own attack, and thus for the suspect escaping."
Shepard stepped up. "I was a great deal closer to the incident than the others, Madame Councillor. Spectre Kryik approached the platform at the docks. Saren stepped out from behind some crates. They spoke, and there was no indication that Saren presented a threat at that time. I saw him raise a pistol, but instead of firing, I moved to radio Nihlus to ask for confirmation. When it became apparent that Saren intended to kill Nihlus, I fired, but it was in haste and my shot went wide." Shepard took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, clasping her hands behind her back. "It's my responsibility that he got away and that Spectre Kryik was injured. By the time we caught up with him again, Saren had activated the beacon, but he escaped."
"Isn't this charming? Couldn't find anyone else willing to join your conspiracy, Captain Anderson? Had to pull in the adopted delinquent?" Saren asked, his voice one part barely controlled rage, one part condescension. "Why is it that every time humanity accuses me of something ridiculous, you're behind it, and there is never any proof?" He threw a dismissive gesture at Shepard. "It's this human's word against mine, unless Nihlus has anything to say."
"You leave Shepard out of what's between us, Arterius." The captain moved to stand just in front of Shepard. "You and I know the truth, and one of these days, I'm going to prove you're dirty." The tone of Anderson's voice sent shards of ice and splinters of steel ripping down Shepard's spine. She'd never heard him speak with such vehement hatred and rage.
Saren just laughed.
Shepard touched Anderson's arm, moving him off to the side. She glanced over her shoulder, then backed up so Nihlus could approach the end of the platform. God, she hoped he didn't do anything stupid, not after she'd just thrown herself on his sword.
"It happened as Commander Shepard stated. I turned to find a gun pointed at my head, Saren and I fought, and he escaped. We followed him to the docking platform and discovered that he'd activated the beacon. Saren was just leaving the area. I pursued, but he eluded me." As he said the final words, Nihlus looked up at his old mentor with a cold fury that curled the corner of Shepard's mouth into a grudgingly appreciative smile.
"And what of the beacon?" the salarian councillor demanded. "We sent two competent agents to retrieve it and somehow it ended up destroyed."
"When we approached, Saren had already activated it, Councillor. When I walked over to investigate, an energy field began to pull me in. Commander Shepard threw me clear, but was caught in the blast."
"The beacon gave Shepard a vision," Anderson called out.
"A vision of what?" the turian councillor asked. He glanced up at the holo then shifted from foot to foot and clasped his hands behind his back. Shepard scowled as she watched his mandibles flutter. They dropped which usually meant suppressed emotion of some kind, and the quick flutter … . A knot tied in her gut, her stare sharpening, looking for more clues as she wondered just how much the council knew about Saren's activities.
Shepard looked from councillor to councillor for a moment, getting the distinct impression that telling them meant throwing good energy after bad, but she related what she could of the nightmarish images. A vacuous silence filled the gap between them as she finished.
Shepard studied their faces, her blood turning to sludge in her veins. What she didn't see concerned her more than what she did, and what she didn't see was surprise. They knew. She and Nihlus hadn't presented a single piece of evidence that the council didn't already know. Damn it. She forced herself to stay still and appear as calm as possible. If they were involved with Saren, she certainly didn't want to let them know she'd guessed as much.
"Am I to try to prove my innocence against dreams, now?" Saren's mocking laughter dropped down on her like sleet. "There is no proof of anything other than the fact that Spectre Kryik has been spending too much time around humans, and that his little protege isn't suitable to be a Spectre." The corrupt Spectre stared over Shepard's head at Nihlus. "Your feelings overrule your head far too often, old friend. I hope you clear your vision where that one—" Those eerie eyes turned to Shepard, snap-freezing her in place. "—is concerned."
Shepard shook off the momentary terror and smiled, as warmly and sweetly as she could manage while shooting him with mental death rays. Even though she and Saren had never met, she felt a sort of betrayal at his words, maybe on Nihlus's behalf, or maybe on behalf of her species.
Udina jumped forward, a furiously petulant finger rising to jab at them. "That is not his decision to make."
Her stomach dropped as she looked back to the council to see them glancing back and forth, all of them waffling. She shouldn't have expected anything different from politicians. Every single stupid, FUBAR thing in her career traced its origin back to a politician. Cutting a sharp glance over at Udina, she swallowed a lead billiard ball's worth of hatred. Nothing ever changed.
The asari councillor held up her hands, and Shepard was pretty sure Tevos rolled her eyes at Udina—she empathized with the impulse. "This hearing is not to decide Commander Shepard's candidacy for the Spectres." She glanced to the salarian on her left and the turian to her right, both shaking their heads in a way that told Shepard everything she needed to know. The moment she and Nihlus set foot on Eden Prime, they'd been shot down. The only mistake they had made was not dying there.
Tevos gave her lovely head a firm, decisive nod. One Shepard recognized well from her childhood—that 'I don't want to hear another word on the subject' nod. "We find that there is not sufficient evidence to prove that Saren had anything to do with the attack on Eden Prime or the destruction of the prothean beacon. This hearing is adjourned."
Shepard let out a long breath and looked up at the gloating holographic turian, holding the electronic blue gaze that drilled into her. Fury poured down her spine, setting like cement. Oh yeah, they'd meet again. Next time, he wouldn't get away. She gave him a slow, exaggerated wink and turned away before the hologram vanished.
"Well, that went awesomely, didn't it?" Shepard sighed looking first to Nihlus then Anderson. She edged toward the elevator, every nerve ending prickling as though someone had stuffed her clothing full of nettles. None of them could let their guard down. Lies hung heavy, tangled, and deadly in that nest of vipers dressed in fine clothes and genteel manners.
"We've got to find proof that Saren's dirty," Anderson fumed. He strode for the elevator, a storm gathering along the horizon, all barely contained thunder and lightning. She snagged his hand, holding him back, and gave his fingers a quick squeeze before releasing him. Spinning around, he met her eyes, then let out a sharp breath through his nose and nodded.
Her lips pressed thin in a tiny smile before she turned her attention to the ambassador.
"You don't have to do anything, Captain," Udina said, even more pompous for having been summarily dismissed. "Anything you found would be ignored as part of your grudge against Saren." He twisted his face into a grimace that said he'd rather tongue-kiss a crocodile than speak his next words, and looked at Shepard. "We have one chance to see you made a Spectre, Commander."
"Prayer?" She nodded and glanced around. "Sure, there's got to be a church here somewhere."
"I'll speak to Alliance brass, but I'm fairly sure I can convince them to go along with my plan. You'll be promoted to Captain and placed in command of the Normandy. Hopefully, if you look the part, and actually manage to discover some evidence against Saren, the council will forget this entire debacle."
"Captain?" Shepard laughed. "Oh yeah, the brass will love that. Most of the admirals would have busted me down to serviceman third class by now if it wasn't for my frackin' Star of Terra." She looked to Anderson, quite proud of having managed to substitute for the curse. He just shook his head. She cast an accusatory glare at the ambassador. "Although, that bloody medal was your idea as well, wasn't it? Slap a pretty, heroic face over what happened on Elysium."
She pushed that aside and started toward the elevator. "Besides, you can't just cut Anderson out of this." She glanced to her CO. "What's the deal between you and Saren, anyway, sir?"
He sighed and shook his head. "That's a story for another time and a lot of alcohol, Shepard. The ambassador is right. I need to step aside, and the Alliance needs to get you accepted as a Spectre."
Shepard scowled, but choked back her arguments. She'd dumped enough crap on Anderson's shoulders already. Time to grab a shovel and start digging her way out of the ruins. "Okay, so where do we start looking for evidence against Saren?"
"I'll approach C-Sec," Nihlus said. "I have contacts who can tell me who was working on their investigation."
Anderson nodded. "Talk to Barla Von, a financial advisor here on the presidium. He owes me a favour, and he might have some information that will help."
"He's an agent for the Shadow Broker," Nihlus confirmed.
"Shadow Broker?" Shepard grumbled, looking from one to the other. "You all need to stop talking in code. It's getting annoying, and my inner bitch is starting to get twitchy."
Anderson chuckled and reached out to squeeze her shoulder. "Shadow Broker is an information trader. Very powerful. Talk to Barla Von, he might be able to help."
Shepard stepped into the elevator, the three males following. No one spoke on the way down. Udina busied himself sending messages back and forth with Alliance command. By the time the door opened, he turned to Shepard.
"Congratulations, Captain Shepard. You've just been given your first command."
Shepard shook her head, nearly choking on the urge to kick him in the ass. "In the time it took to ride the damned elevator. Back at Arcturus, Mikhailovich is going to be having so many kittens, they'll need to call animal control." She sighed. "God, I hate politics. I don't want promotions I haven't earned, Udina."
Udina struck out toward the embassy, his back stiff, shoulders puffed out. "Perhaps if you played nice once in a while, you'd be … ."
Shepard ignored him, deking over to the keeper. She leaned down and whispered. "I think I love you, cutie."
"Please do not disturb the keepers," Avina said, "or Ambassador Udina will spank you like a bad, bad monkey."
Shepard managed to hold in her smirk and keep walking, but she was pretty sure she heard Nihlus chuckling as she passed him.
Shepard stopped next to Anderson and gave him a quick, tight hug. "If I don't see you again, sorry about the Avina terminal." She stepped back and gripped his arms. "Watch Udina. I wouldn't put it past him to keep you here as a leash on me." She shot a glance at Kryik that turned the Spectre's back to them, then kissed Anderson's cheek, flushing a bright red as she did. "Take care of yourself, Anderson. I'll see you."
He nodded. "Just bring yourself home, kid. The galaxy needs you."
She grinned and shook her head. It had been the same line since he pulled her out from under her father's corpse. The Alliance or the galaxy … or hell, the consumer economy needed her. Never him. Still, she knew the truth, and that was all that mattered. "I'll do my best, sir."
Spinning on her heel, she strode off, trying not to grin too widely as Udina shouted into his omnitool, his arms gesturing madly. All she made out from that distance was the fury, and she sent a mental apology to the poor tech person on the other end of that call.
"Proud of yourself?" Nihlus asked as he fell in step beside her.
She nodded. "I am, in fact. Damn promotion." She shook her head. "I bet the brass back on Arcturus are all having litters of kittens about this. Well, except Hackett. He's probably grinning from ear to ear, but he always did have a slightly off-kilter sense of humour." A faint nausea rolled through her guts. The elcor troupe bringing in their gear?
Captain? You can barely remember to brush your teeth, Janey. How the hell are you going to captain a ship? You're the lone operative … the rogue wolf who needs no pack … you know, all that romantic shit you con yourself with. Are you really up for this?
Nihlus stared at her for nearly a minute, the expression on his face almost comical as he very obviously tried to figure her out. In the end, however, he just shrugged. "Why are you so unpopular with your command structure? You've been awarded almost every medal, award, and commendation the Alliance gives out. Your record is exemplary."
Shepard stopped at the cab stand. "They don't have any issues with my abilities; it's my abhorrence of being paraded about like a show poodle that sticks in their gullet. That's the short of it. For the long version, we'll have to get to know one another a whole lot better, and I'll have to be a whole lot more shit-faced." She looked into his eyes for a few seconds then nodded her head toward the cab behind her. "I'll meet you back aboard the Normandy."
"You're going somewhere? Alone? Now?" He frowned, his mandibles fluttering in a very uncertain way. "You saw what was going on in there, didn't you? We were never supposed to come back from Eden Prime."
Shepard nodded. "Yeah, I did, and I have no illusions about my odds of making it through this thing, so I'm going to go take care of a little personal business before we have to bug out of here. I'll be aboard within the hour."
He nodded and backed away. "Very well. Keep sharp."
"You too." She opened the cab and climbed in, watching until he ducked into an alley, heading for the wards and the C-Sec Academy. Her trip took just under eight minutes, soaring along unfamiliar traffic routes. Whenever she'd been to the Citadel before, she'd stuck to the wards.
The cab settled into a parking spot out front of a non-descript building next to a park area. She sat there for long moments, watching the patients and their attendants moving around the gardens. It looked as though a wheelchair basketball game was either about to start or had just ended. Taking a deep breath, she dropped her shoulders, plastered a smile on her face, and stepped out of the cab. The moment people saw her, they called out greetings. Shepard waved but hurried to the door. She didn't have time to greet the entire rehab center individually. Somehow she knew that if she was even a couple of minutes late, Nihlus would put out a call.
"Hey, Shepard!" a middle-aged man called, wheeling himself through the front door. He stopped and tossed the basketball in his lap to her. "Going to come play with us, beautiful?"
Shepard chuckled as she caught it. "Hey, Sam, you old flirt." She tossed it back. "No basketball for me today. Sorry. Where is he?"
"Inside, painting. He's been pretty blue the last few days. Maybe you'll be just what the doctor ordered." He lifted a hand. "See you later. You still haven't answered me about our movie date."
Shepard walked to the door. "I'm onto something pretty huge, right now, but as soon as I have a couple of days, I promise we'll go see something." She blew him a kiss and pulled the door open.
Voices of staff and patients alike called out to her as she made her way through the halls. It had been a couple of months since her last visit, and it stung to see how happy everyone was to see her. She really needed to find more time. Stopping in the doorway to the art room, she smiled, spotting the handsome young man sitting in the light from the window, brush moving over the canvas in front of him. After a moment, he stopped, and his head turned toward her. He sniffed and grinned.
"Please tell me you haven't been boxing with Udina again," he said, his voice muffled and indistinct. "I would know his cologne anywhere."
Shepard laughed, forcing aside everything but how good he looked. "Actually, I can truthfully say that." She stepped inside the door, but didn't walk over to him, giving him the chance to show off a little.
"So, you two were making out, then?" The young man chuckled as he slipped a pair of sunglasses over his eyes, seating them into clips at his temples. Standing, he walked over to her, making his way around tables and chairs without the slightest hesitation. By the time he stopped in front of her, he smiled ear to ear.
"You look beautiful today, Shepard."
"So do you." She grinned and reached out. "Come on, give us a hug."
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "I've missed you."
"I've missed you too, kid." She kissed his cheek, swallowing hard. Her heart ached with awe at how far he'd come. "It looks like the latest round of implants is working great."
"Yep." He pulled back and grinned, reaching up to touch the tip of his finger to her nose. "I can still only see your freckles in my memory, but the rest is right there." Laying his hands on her shoulders, he asked, "How long can you visit?"
"Not too long. I'm up to my eyeballs in disaster."
He laughed. "As usual."
"Yep, as usual." She took his hand, squeezing his fingers. "Come on, let's go sit in the garden. You can fill me in on all the news."