Hi my Readers!

Back again with a new chapter! Not much to say about this one other than a lot of arguing going on.

Fixed 2021

Hope you'll like it!

Escape the Fate

Chapter 6: Report to the Council

**John's POV

Riding the elevator to the Citadel Tower was a bit uncomfortable to say at least. The meeting with the Ambassador had left the pirate in a very angry and restless mood. Her temper had flared up the moment Ambassador Udina had mentioned Nihlus' death and it seemed it wasn't going to change for quite some time. After she had stormed out of the office, she had disappeared despite the warnings of being arrested if she was seen alone. Fortunately, they had found her at the bar across the ambassadors' offices, drinking a couple of shots and leaving the tab in his name. Figures. It had taken them some convincing, – mostly threats – to get her to leave the bar and the alcohol behind, but at least she had walked on her own. To get the pirate to sober up, they had gone to grab some food and also to kill some time before they had to go and meet the Council.

That his sister's emotional state was all over the place, was clear, but he had yet to figure out why. The mentioning of Nihlus was the cause of her angry outbursts, but that did not explain why a pirate was emotional unstable when it came to the death of a Spectre. True, she had seen the death up and close but the way Nihlus was killed was not as horrible as her own doing to the marines she has killed. It was odd and he would be lying if he said he wasn't curious.

John kept an eye on her as she let her biotic slip through her left hand before closing it to a fist to summon more and the release it over and over again as she gazed through the windows and down on the Presidium below. Her right hand was tapping on the side of her thigh, and occasionally went for the back where she stored the assault rifle which she wasn't carrying, like she had forgotten it had been left on the Normandy. Even if she hadn't spoken much since they had left the bar, he could see she had a lot on her mind.

But Quinn wasn't the only one who was frustrated. John was as well. He knew there was a slim chance the Council would actually heed their warnings and allegations about Saren. He knew they needed solid proof to act and a witness statements from a dockworker and a pirate, along with their own reports was not much to go on, but at least it was something and they should at least take them into consideration. Saren was a traitor, and he was sure they would be able to find proof if need be. At least he had more faith than his sister had.

Leaning against the elevator wall, John decided to look up some information about Saren. He needed to know as much as he could about him to understand why a top Spectre decided to go rouge. He brought up his omni-tool but unfortunately, most of the records about the turian was sealed and what he indeed could learn about the turian was not much to go on.

Saren Arterius. Born 2139 years old. He entered the military at the age of 15 and the youngest turian ever to be accepted into the Spectres. Been a Spectre agent for 24 years and is the longest serving turian agent. Is considered to be one of the best. Follows turian traditions. Has the reputation of being ruthless and brutal, but get results. Was also mentor to Nihlus Kryik.

That must have been the reason why he had managed to kill Nihlus by shooting him in the back of the head, – Nihlus had trusted him. Although he had heard it from the dockworker on Eden Prime, John had tried to ask Quinn about it some more to confirm it. But she had shut him down quickly, told him Saren had killed Nihlus, but how and why – she had refused to reveal. Pressing on the matter had not helped at all and had only resulted in her getting furious and violent.

John looked up at his sister on the other side of the elevator, still deep in her own thoughts. Her right hand was still going for the assault rifle, only to be reminded again it was not there. True, he did not know her, but even he could tell that something was tormenting her.

As the elevator finally was getting closer to the floor of the Council chamber, Ashley's nerves were taking a hold of her and she asked, letting the nervousness slip; "The Council isn't going to ask me any questions, are they?"

If they did ask her questions, she was not sure what or even if she could tell them. Most of what had taken place was a blur in her mind and only key parts of it was clear and those clear parts was still hurting. When she closed her eyes, she could see it all clearly, but voicing the horrific events was not as clear. All she wanted to, was to forget. Forget the pain, forget the grief, and forget the guilt. The faces of those that had died – friends, comrades and civilians would haunt her for the rest of her life without anyone asking questions about it. She had written it all down as accurate as she was able to, it should be enough.

Looking up from his omni-tool and to the Gunnery Chief, the little pleading in her tone had not gone unnoticed to John and he couldn't help but smile a little. Although he did not really know what to tell her as he had no idea if they were going to ask questions or not.

"I doubt it," Alenko said, sure of himself and shook his head at Williams. "We made our reports. Now we just have to trust Ambassador Udina."

Trusting the Ambassador was maybe going a bit too far according to John. He had no problem with the man per say, but there was something with the man that didn't quite feel right. He was a politician and John could never trust a politician completely.

"No, we don't, sir," Williams said bluntly as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Thankfully, the subject didn't elaborate any further as the elevator came to a stop. John pushed himself off of the elevator wall and walked out to the corridor leading into the large chamber. Impressive, was his first thought of the large space. He could already see the top of trees from above the first flight of stairs and water shooting up into the air from a fountain.

"You sure have to climb a lot of stairs to reach the Council. Think that's supposed to be symbolic of their importance?" Alenko asked, clearly impressed by the chamber as well.

"I bet all these staircases aren't just for show. They make for good defensive positions if this place is ever attacked," Williams countered with.

Two turians stood at the top of the first flight of stairs, arguing. The darker one, John recognized instantly as Executor Pallin, head of Citadel Security. He had been quick to make his presence known and inform them he wasn't overly fond of having a known pirate warlord running lose throughout the Citadel. Although he had been powerless to arrest the pirate as she was an important witness and protected by the Alliance, much to her delight at the time and had rubbed it in his face the first chance she got, he had still held her for almost an hour when they had arrived at the Citadel to explain to her she was not untouchable no matter who's back she was scratching.

"Saren's hiding something!" The turian in the blue armor said before demanding; "Give me more time. Stall them."

Pallin stood with his arms crossed and began to shake his head as he said with an absurd tone; "Stall the Council? Don't be ridiculous!" He uncrossed his arms and his tone got decisive. "Your investigation is over, Garrus." With that, the head of C-Sec turned and headed for the stairs, nearly bumping into John's shoulder. He managed to give all four of them a hard and frustrated stare before disappearing behind them.

Frustrated and angry, Garrus just stood there as his superior walked off. Of course, he had expected his investigation of a Spectre would not be well received, and even worse so when it came to Saren, but come on! Over?! He just needed more time to get something solid! He had a few more contacts who said they knew something about Saren, he just hadn't had the time to talk to them yet! He felt eyes on him and turned to the group who had just climbed the stairs. He immediately recognized man in the lead.

"Commander Shepard? Garrus Vakarian," he greeted, before they could walk past him. "I was the officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation into Saren." He had made sure to find out who had opted for the investigation into a Spectre when he got the assignment and had been surprised to find out it had been the Alliance. Frustrated he had not found anything solid, he felt ashamed of the presence of the humans.

"Sounds to me like you really want to bring him down, Vakarian," John said, thinking of the argument he had just witnessed.

"Sounds more to like you came up empty," Quinn spoke up from the back and walked up to them with her arms crossed.

Garrus knew who she was. Quinn Shepard, pirate warlord who was wanted in all Citadel Space but was here as Alliance witness and informant. She was untouchable as long as she had an Alliance soldier with her, but Garrus, like the rest of C-Sec had orders to arrest her at any given chance. From the looks of it, she was nothing like she had been described. This tiny human woman did not look as intimidating as all vids had made her out to be. The female soldier behind her looked more like a woman who could pull a punch.

Mirroring the pirate's stance, Garrus crossed his own arms as he explained; "Saren's a Spectre. Most of his activities are classified. I couldn't find anything solid." He turned to the Commander. "But I know he's up to something." He returned his gaze back to the pirate as he finished, "Like you humans say, I feel it in my gut."

John couldn't help but crack a smile as the turian was clearly putting his sister back in her place. The C-Sec officer seemed used to deal with her kind of attitude and he wouldn't let her intimidate him. For that, John kind of liked this turian. But it was obvious that Quinn wasn't as easily amused.

However, she wasn't allowed to elaborate on the subject as Alenko reminded them why they were there in the first place; "I think the Council's ready for us, Commander."

John gave the Staff Lieutenant a nod of acknowledgement before he said; "Right. Let's not keep them waiting." He turned to the turian officer, giving him a thankful smile for sharing the information and concerns regarding Saren. "Don't give up, Vakarian," he said hoping it would give the turian some reassurance that it wasn't over yet.

"Good luck, Shepard. Maybe they'll listen to you."

"I sincerely doubt it," Quinn muttered to the turian and walked past him.

Shaking his head to her negative attitude, John followed her around the large fountain and up the next flight of stairs with Alenko and Williams on his heels. As they walked deeper into the large chamber, it amazed him how huge it actually was. On the second level, the gardens looked even more amazing, and the trees were spectacular. There were even rocks in different shapes and sizes which he wondered how they had gotten there. Everywhere he looked, there were people there walking around, some waiting to get an audience with the Council, while others seemed to be there just to see the gardens.

"What are those? Cherry trees?" Williams asked behind him.

"I don't know. I like the fountain though," Alenko said.

Clearly the two was just as amazed by the Chamber as he was.

Further in, John spotted Captain Anderson standing by the last set of stairs, waiting for them. As they climbed them, the man gave them an acknowledging nod before he turned around and said; "The hearing's already started. Come on."

Indeed, the hearing was in full session. All three Council members were there, standing on their podiums up above a catwalk, looking down at Ambassador Udina who was standing on the Petotopner's Stage and had his frowning eyes up on the huge communication hologram of none other than Saren.

As they neared, John heard, Tevos, the asari Councilor, speak with a calm and collected tone; "The geth attack is a matter of some concern. But there is nothing to indicate Saren was involved in any way."

"The investigation by Citadel Security turned up no evidence to support your charge of treason," The turian Councilor continued, although much harsher than his fellow colleague.

John and his group neared the stage, but Alenko and Williams dropped off in the background while the rest entered the stage.

"Two eyewitnesses saw him kill Nihlus in cold blood!" The Ambassador countered with a growling tone, but the man was obviously trying to hold back some as well so to not offend the Council, yet still trying hard to make them see reason.

Being a politician could not be an easy job, John thought.

"We've read the Eden Prime reports, Ambassador," Valern, the salarian Counilor said, then his tone turned dismissive and condescending as he turned his eyes to the newcomers. "The testimony of one traumatized dockworker and a petty criminal is hardly compelling proof."

"Who you're calling "petty"?" Quinn growled, clearly insulted.

"Shhh." John turned his head to her with hard eyes. "Not now."

Quinn hissed in detestation at the three aliens up on the platform, especially the salarian Councilor. His warning to her was ignored, yet she stayed put with anger growing visually on her face. Even if his sister could probably cross the large gap between them and the Council with her biotic, John was glad for the garden underneath. But as much as she detested the Council, her focus was more on the hologram of Saren and no matter how much she wanted to, she could not get her hands on him.

"I resent these accusations. Nihlus was a fellow Spectre–" Saren said calm and collected, and then forged a hurt tone as he spoke the last three words; "–And a friend."

"Bull shit!" Quinn roared and took a few steps forward towards the huge hologram.

"That just let you catch him off guard!" Anderson interjected, beating Quinn to it.

Saren ignored the pirate and turned his attention to the Captain. "Captain Anderson. You always seem to be involved when humanity makes false charges against me," he rebuffed with a hint of mocking amusement behind his tone. He then turned to the siblings. "And this must be your protégés; Commander John Shepard, and his sister; former Commander Quinn Summers, or is it Shepard now? Turned to a vicious pirate and hunted by Nihlus. The very one who let the beacon be destroyed."

No one could miss the patronizing tone in his voice. It was enough for John to want to walk up to the turian and punch him in the face had he been here physically. So, he wasn't surprised when he turned to look at his sister that she was about to do the same, the only difference was, she did not care whether he was here or not. If John hadn't put up an arm in front of her to block her way, then she would have been across the garden and trying to destroy that hologram.

But that did not stop her from run her mouth and throw back that accusation with a killing tone; "You're the one who destroyed the beacon!" She pushed at John's arm as she tried to get closer to the hologram. "Then you tried to cover it up by blowing everything up!"

With not even a shift in his tone or a hint of acknowledgement of her threatening voice, Saren spoke calmly; "Shifting the blame to cover your own failures, just like Captain Anderson. He's taught you well."

Growing tired of this arrogant Spectre himself, John spoke the facts that the Council could not ignore. "The mission to Eden Prime was top secret. The only way you could know about the beacon was if you were there!"

But with everything else, Saren had a quick and clever reply to everything. "With Nihlus gone, his files passed on to me. I read the Eden Prime report. I was unimpressed. But what can you expect from a human?" He turned to the Council as he said the word "human" like it was the most appalling word ever coming out of his mouth.

If John didn't already believe that Saren hated humans, then that would really be what would convince him.

A blue flash caught John's attention from the corner of his right eye. Alarmed, he turned to see Quinn forcefully push past him and walk up to the very edge of the catwalk, his body tense and rigged of anger as she screamed at the hologram, her biotic flaring some around her form; "Nihlus died because you shot him in cold blood!" The whole chamber was now on full alert once her biotic had flared up and everyone was expecting the pirate to become violent, but Quinn didn't even take notice. "You couldn't look him in the eye as you pulled the trigger! He trusted you and you shot him in the back of his head, you fucking coward!"

Although no guns were pointing at her just yet, John guessed it was only a matter of seconds before the guards had ready their weapons and if Quinn didn't get a grip of herself soon, then there would be a huge possibility of her being seen as a real threat and shot down. The Council had seemed wary from the very moment she had stepped into their line of sight and had watched her every move from the corner of their eyes. They were probably just waiting for a good reason to take her down despite the threat of angering the other warlords in the Terminus Systems.

It wasn't a surprise that Saren wasn't at all intimidated of the pirate's outbursts and kept a cool exterior in front of the Council to make himself seem innocent. "Do you truly expect us to take the word of a low-life pirate who has actually killed a Spectre once already and who has also made it a game to kill another?" Saren asked her directly, a hint of mockery in his tone. Then he turned to the Council to enforce the doubts in their mind by inquiring; "How can we be sure she did not kill Nihlus herself?"

Shocked, John turned to look at Quinn, who ignored everyone's stares and just kept her eyes on Saren. John turned to Anderson, who too looked like this was news to him. Although Nihlus had not shared most to nothing about himself during his brief time on the Normandy, John had realized there had been something between the Spectre and the pirate. Of course, they knew about one another, but to this extent – John could never have guessed. But with this knowledge, he now realized why the Council saw her as a threat and how deadly she truly was. Kill a Spectre was not an easy task and avoid capture by another was impressive.

However, this did not explain why she reacted the way she did whenever the turian Spectre was mentioned. If she wanted him dead, should she not be satisfied then? For a second, John actually invited the idea of Quinn being the real killer, but then pushed it aside. The dockworker had been so sure of himself when he told them that the other turian had killed Nihlus. And Quinn may be a liar, but his gut was telling him that she was telling the truth. He may not have known what his sister had been up to during the eleven years apart, but he could still tell when she got furious, with or without her biotic slipping.

"I don't fucking care if those fuckers believe me or not–," she spat and pointed at the Council with her whole arm, letting some of her biotic slip. "–All I need to do is to find you and kill you!"

"Quinn!" Both John and Anderson yelled at her as the biotic ball flew past the Council and hitting a tree trunk, severing it, and the tree timbered backwards.

"Are you really threatening me in front of the Council?"

"Fuck the Council!"

Suddenly, she seemed to notice the small red dots on her, from the various weapons which was aimed at her from the balconies above them.

"Think carefully about what you're going to do next," Tevos warned, her calm tone had turned dire.

Quinn glared at the asari with murder in her eyes, but then seized control of herself. She clenched her fist tightly to stop the dark force from slipping further, then turned to Saren. "You can expect me to kill you the next time we meet!" She threatened through clenched teeth before she took a few steps back and resumed the spot behind John and the others.

"You imbecile—" Ambassador Udina began to roar at her, but Anderson intervened.

"Not now."

Releasing the breath, he didn't know he had been holding, John felt relief that she at least knew when she was outmatched. He turned a quick eye to her, and she was standing with her arms crossed, ignoring Udina and keeping her eyes on Saren.

Then, trying to get the topic back on track. "Saren despises humanity. That's why he attacked Eden Prime!"

Saren turned to John. "Your species needs to learn its place, Shepard. You're not ready to join the Council. You're not even ready to join the Spectres!"

"He has no right to say that! That's not his decision!" Udina complained to the Council harshly, seeming more offended by that than John was, like it had been directed towards him.

Tevos turned to Saren as she spoke; "Shepard's admission into the Spectres is not the purpose of this meeting."

"This meeting had no purpose. The humans are wasting your time, Councilors. And mine." The annoyance in the turian Specter's tone grew deeper as he was losing his patience.

"Saren's hiding behind his position as a Spectre. You need to open your eyes!" John desperately tried to push, though he knew he was fighting a losing battle.

"What we need is evidence. So far, we have seen nothing," Valern declared, still with his dismissive tone. He too, was losing patience.

Seeing that the hearing was leaning towards its end, Anderson tried for one last desperate attempt to get the Council to react. "There is still one outstanding issue: Quinn Shepard's vision. It may have been triggered by the beacon."

Turning to the Council, the derision was clear in his voice as Saren said; "Are we allowing dreams into evidence now? How can I defend my innocence against this kind of testimony?"

Sparatus was quick to come to his fellow turian's defense and turned to the other Council members. "I agree. Our judgement must be based on facts and evidence, not wild imaginings and reckless speculation."

Valern turned to the group of humans across the garden beneath. "Do you have anything else to add, Commander Shepard?"

Knowing they had been beaten, there wasn't anything else John could add to change their minds. "You've made your decision. I won't waste my breath," he said, lowering his head in defeat. They had gone in blind, yet hopeful but now that had been crushed as well.

"Fuck no!" Quinn suddenly outburst from behind the group.

She violently pushed her way through her fellow humans to get closer to the Council once more, not caring at all whether they were about to be pushed over the railing and fall down to the garden below or not. Nor did she care about the weapons being pointer at her again from the balconies and just strolled forward to the edge of the catwalk.

John hit the railing hard and almost fell over. If it weren't for Williams who grabbed his arm in the last second before he fell over, he would be smashing through the glass roof right about now.

"He's not getting away from this!" Quinn shouted at the Council. "He killed Nihlus! You're supposed to be the "good" guys and yet you let a murderer go free?!"

"You're one to talk," Valern spoke harshly. "You've killed more people than anyone in this room."

"I never claimed to be good. I'm a killer. I kill people," she declared with no hesitation. "All you spoon-fed idiots care about is if you need to get your hands dirty or not. And with your finest Spectre Agent in question of being dirty, you choose to turn your heads and keep your hands clean. You don't care what happened to the lives of some fucking humans as long as it doesn't fall on you!"

"The Council has found no evidence of any connection between Saren and the geth," Trevos answered her calmly.

"Then you're fucking blind!" She pointed at them again and then to the hologram as she kept her eyes on the Council. "He was the one ordering the geth to blow up the spaceport on Eden Prime. He was after the beacon!"

"According to the reports, you were after the beacon," Saren opposed harshly. "Wasn't that why you were on Eden Prime?"

"I was brought there by these idiots!" She pointed at the group behind her. "That's when I saw you shoot Nihlus in the back of the head! You nearly had me killed too!"

"Was this in your "dream" as well? Or are you just delusional?"

Saren's mockery of Quinn had her shake off fury. Her biotic began to violently flare up again from her hands. The little control she had managed to regain and maintain was quickly breaking down into nothing. John wasn't even sure if she was aware of the guns targeting her form. He turned a quick eye to the Council members, who all looked at the pirate unfazed, knowing that she would not be able to reach them before she was shot. He quickly grabbed a hold of her arm before her biotic could fully engulf her, and Anderson did the same with the other arm before she could charge.

"That's enough, Quinn! Stop it!" John commanded her, yet she did not comply. He wasn't even sure if she could hear him.

"You're dead if you release!" Anderson tried to reason with her.

Yet she kept struggling against their holds as she was screaming death threats at the hologram.

"That's what you get for bringing a criminal to a hearing," Saratus remarked with disgust.

Ignoring the turian Councilors cold remark, Anderson knew that whatever they did next would only make them lose the Council's trust even further. Before they had even stepped a foot into the chamber, the Council had already made up their minds about Saren's innocence. He thought some of Quinn's remarks were true, the Council did not want to dirty their hands unnecessarily. But Anderson refused to give up so easily. The people who had died on Eden Prime deserved justice and he was going to fight for them.

He leaned in closer to the pirate and spoke quietly into her ear; "We will get him some other way. He won't get away."

John felt her freeze in her struggle, then turned to glare at the Captain. The only exchange he could see between the two, was Anderson's reassuring nod and determined expression.

Standing straighter, Quinn turned her murderous eyes at the hologram once more. "You can't hide behind the Council forever!" Then she forcefully yanked her arms free from their grips, then turned and walked off the catwalk.

"Do we need to call C-Sec, or do you have that under control, Commander?" The salarian Councilor asked once the situation was dealt with.

"It's under control," John answered firmly, yet he didn't take his eyes off of his sister until he was sure she had not stormed off somewhere.

"For now," Ambassador Udina chipped in coldly.

"Instead of focusing pointless energy on me, maybe you should arrest the real criminal here," Saren stated.

"Quinn Shepard was on Eden Prime and is a valuable witness. Her other crimes have nothing to do with this investigation. She won't be charged of any prior crime until this one is over with," Udina remarked strongly, although it was clear he did not agree with what he was saying.

Trevos turned to her fellow Councilors in turns before she finalized; "Ambassador, your petition to have Saren disbarred from the Spectres is denied."

Satisfied, Saren said; "I'm glad justice was served," before signing off.

"This meeting is adjourned," the asari Councilor ended and the Council prepared to leave.

Not lingering more than he had too, John turned around and walked off the catwalk, followed by the others. His eyes fell on the back of the pirate who stood by the stairs, pumping her fist in anger, much in the same fashion as she had done in the elevator. He was furious at her for putting the hearing in jeopardy like that and he was ready to give her a piece of his mind when Anderson grabbed his shoulder. He was about to ask why the hell he stopped him, when Anderson just shook his head, indicating that it was no point. Turning to his sister again, she had begun to phase back and forth in front of the stairs as she was trying to calm herself down, her hands flaring up with the dark force, only to disperse and flare up again as she quietly chanted something over and over again. The four of them kept a watchful eye on the pirate in silence, though each and every one of them wanted to question her actions.

"Now that went… not as I had expected…" Alenko said, choosing his words carefully.

Williams wasn't as modest. "It should've gone better if it wasn't for—"

Approaching footsteps behind them caught John's and the rest of the soldiers attention and they turned around as Udina walked up to them. His expression was not happy, to say at least. He shot a glance at the unstable pirate that was still phasing, before turning his hard eyes on the Captain.

"It was a mistake bringing you into the hearing, Captain. You and Saren have too much history. It made the Council question our motives," Udina raged, although most of the blame, he wanted to give someone else, yet he was smart enough not to raise that conversation at the moment.

Anderson turned to John, Williams and Alenko with a pained expression. "I know Saren. He's working with the geth for one reason: to exterminate the entire human race. Every colony we have is at risk. Every world we control is in danger. Even Earth isn't safe."

"Tell me about this history between you and Saren," John asked with a questioning tone as he crossed his arms over the chest. This was news to him.

For a moment, Anderson hesitated and turned away. "I worked with him on a mission a long time ago. Things went bad." He turned back to the group and looked at John with a more pained expression on his face. "Real bad. We shouldn't talk about this here. But I know what he's like. And he had to be stopped."

Not satisfied with that answer, John was about to argue, but then Quinn suddenly walked up to the group and demanded; "What's our next step?" clearly, she was a bit calmer and more collected, yet the frustration and anger was still evident in her tone.

Ambassador Udina crossed his arms as the pirate neared and about to snap back a rude comment when he thought better of it and actually considered her question. "As a Spectre, he's virtually untouchable. We need to find some way to expose him."

"Really? Like we didn't know that already!" She exclaimed, her tone full of sarcasm. "Do you have some more unnecessary advice to give in that head of yours?"

"Watch your tone with me, pirate-scum!" Udina warned her. "You're only here because of the "vision" you had. After your reckless actions, you should be glad we don't throw you to C-Sec nonetheless!"

"Just try it, old man!" She challenged and walked up to the man.

The mentioning of C-Sec seemed to spark some idea in Alenko. "What about Garrus Vakarian, that C-Sec investigator? We saw him argue with the executor." He looked at the people around him.

"That's right!" Williams agreed, her tone filled with new hope. "He was asking for more time to finish his report. Seems like he was close to finding something on Saren."

Gaining some hope himself, John turned to the two superiors and asked; "Any idea where we could find him?"

Udina nodded and offered; "I have a contact in C-Sec who can help us track Garrus down. His name is Harkin."

"Forget it," Anderson dismissed as soon as the name was mentioned. "They suspended Harkin last month. Drinking on the job. I won't waste my time with that loser."

"So what?" Quinn asked, not seeing the problem. "If he knows something, I don't see the problem of talking to him."

"He's dirty. Unethical. I don't trust him."

"You don't have to," Udina said to Anderson. "I don't want the Council using your past history with Saren as an excuse to ignore anything we turn up. Shepard will handle this." He turned to look at Quinn. "John Shepard, that is."

John threw a glance at his sister, who narrowed her eyes at that remark, yet surprisingly kept her opinions to herself. Although he was satisfied, she wasn't arguing this, at least not yet he was not satisfied with the Ambassador's dismiss of the Captain. "You can't just cut Captain Anderson out of this investigation."

"The Ambassador's right. I need to step aside," Anderson said, knowing it was the right decision.

Satisfied with that answer, the Ambassador turned to the Captain and said; "I need to take care of some business. Captain, meet me in my office later."

"Leaving already? Ow, I'm so sad to see you leave now when action in needed and not just talk, old man," Quinn mocked, glad to see the man leave and he threw her a dirty look.

Anderson shook his head to her unnecessary comment, before turning to John. "Harkin's probably getting drunk at Chora's Den. It's a dingy little club in the lower section of the wards."

"Yeah, I know the place. The Citadel's asari strip club, as I call it," Quinn said as she watched the Ambassador walk away with a suspicious expression, then turned back to the group. "Cheap booze, though." Her voice turned a bit more cheerful at the mention of alcohol.

"I thought you said he was a drunken loser, who couldn't be trusted," John asked the Captain.

Anderson shook his shoulders. "Couldn't hurt to go talk to him. Just be careful. I wouldn't call him reliable."

John had heard of Chora's Den. It was a club where a lot of shady people and criminals hung out, and he didn't like the idea of stomping in there with guns and armors. The people there would immediately recognize them as Alliance soldiers, and it was bound to end up badly. Still, they had no time to go and change into civilian clothes just to ask a former cop a few questions.

"Maybe there's another way to find evidence against Saren?" John asked.

"You could also talk to Barla Von. Over in the financial district. Rumor has it he's an agent for the Shadow Broker," Anderson offered.

"The Shadow Broker?" Williams asked, though her question was more of the origin of the name rather than what or who it was.

"An information dealer," Anderson explained. "Buys and sells secrets to the highest bidder. I've heard Barla Von's one of the top representatives. He might know something about Saren. But his information won't come cheap."

"If I had access to my bank accounts, then it would not be a problem," Quinn commented, as well as pointing out she was not happy about the many restrictions they had put on her.

"Good luck, Shepard. I'll be over in the ambassador's office if you need anything else." Anderson walked off to where the Ambassador had disappeared to, leaving it to the group to find the evidence to bring down Saren.

John watched the Captain go for a few more seconds as he considered their options.

"So, Barla Von or Harkin?" Alenko asked.

The Shadow Broker sounded too shady for John's liking. That and the amount of credits it would cost to get that piece of information, if he actually had any. Buying information may be simple, but could you really trust the information that came from someone you did not know who or what was the source? Although, what Anderson had told them about Harkin wasn't as reassuring either. But he had to choose one, and he honestly felt more comfortable with seeing the person face to face than anything else.

John turned to his team. "I think our best lead is Harkin. Vakarian investigated Saren, maybe we can get something useful there," he said.

"To Chora's Den, then!" Quinn sang approvingly and headed for the elevator.

The anger and frustration seemed to have subsided for now, and it did not sit well with John that she only had the alcohol in mind. "To work. Not to drink," John pointed out firmly as he followed her.

"If you're going to be this up tight all the time, dearest brother, then we will have yet another problem between us," Quinn called over her shoulder disapprovingly.

*Quinn's POV

Loud music greeted them as they reached the cab station near Chora's Den. Although a lot of people had told her she wasn't a good dancer, the music still made Quinn want to move her body to the rhythms she apparently could not find. With a few drinks in her system, she wouldn't even care how she looked out on the dance floor, and fuck how desperately she needed a few of those right about now!

Just underneath the fury and anger she felt towards Saren, Baktan, the Council and these Alliance fools she currently was leashed to, the failure and grief she felt towards Nihlus still lingered under the surface. It was easy to channel it all into anger and lashing out at anything she could, but eventually, she would need to face it.

It had taken them some time to get to the club because John had had the brilliant idea of helping yet another annoying person in need. So instead of heading to the club directly as expected, they had instead run around to scan twenty-one freaking keepers! What the fuck?! And of course, John had refused to let her go off on her own, cause then C-Sec would arrest her and there would be a lot of shit and some more shit and then some… His explanation was long and hard, and she had stopped listening as soon as he had said no, knowing that it was pointless to try. Yet she had complained from the beginning to the end, and when it had only been a few left, she had finally managed to convince him to go to the club. Or maybe she had threatened him…? Whatever, as long as it worked, and they were moving towards the club, she was satisfied.

Two days in the presence of her brother and that was already more than enough for her to reconsider the deal she had made with Anderson. He constantly reminded her that she was there in the watchful eyes of the Alliance and though she had a deal with them, they would not bend the slightest for her. And then there was the talking. And the helping. And people coming up to thank him for his service. If this were going to be constant during their chase of Saren, she would have to kill John just for all the annoying shit he did! Who the fuck asked him to be such a fucking paragon anyway?! And then there was the annoying Girly-Scout who kept asking him about different stories she had heard about him and of course, he happily answered every question with every little detail just to annoy her! All the stories were about the same shit: moral, honor and all that stuck-up shit that came with being a good marine.

She could not take it anymore! She needed a fucking drink to drown all that paragon shit away and she would fight a fucking krogan warlord for it if necessary. Fastening her phase to get away from them, she passed the corner to the front of the club and when she saw the neon sign formed of a naked asari's silhouette, she could already picture the drink in her hand.

"That's her!" Someone yelled from the other side.

"Look out!" John called out and before she could even understand what was happening, she was tackled to the floor by her brother and her head was hitting the half wall. John got off of her and immediately pulled out his pistol, followed by Girly-Scout and Mini-John and returned the fire that was shot at them.

Being taken by surprise wasn't something Quinn took easily, and it made her blood boil inside as she realized how close she had been to be killed. Pushing herself to a sitting position, she looked at the wall she had just passed and saw the two smoking holes where her head had just been. As much as that was hurting her pride, it was nothing compared to the fact that it had been John, who had saved her life. Once up on her knees, she took a quick glance over the wall to get a grip of the situation, then she stood up as the two turian assassins were focused on the three Alliance soldiers.

Summoning a large amount of her biotic to form a shield around her form, she yelled at the two attackers; "Fuck you, assholes!"

A large orb of the dark energy was thrown at one of the assassins, which caught him right in the chest. The turian stumbled a few steps back, surprised by the dark energy which was expanding around him and lifted his body up to the ceiling. Now when he was fully exposed, the three marines didn't waste any time in shooting the assassin dead. Quinn released the grip she had on the body, and let it fall down the hole in the middle of the two passages and grabbed a hold of Girly-Scout's assault rifle.

"You hurt?" John asked when he crouched down by her to change the clips in his pistol.

"No!" she roared as she leaned out of the corner to shoot at the last assassin who was taking cover behind the other corner.

"Good. Wouldn't want you sent to the hospital, it's rather expensive and I'm not paying." The teasing in his voice made her want to growl at him even more.

"I'll have you stuffed in a body bag if you don't shut. The. Fuck. Up!" She threatened through clenched teeth and stared daggers at him. He returned an amused smile which annoyed her even more.

"All clear," Girly-Scout declared

With a triumph grin on his face, he put his pistol away in its hoister by his hip and stood up. He also dared to offend her further by reaching out his hand towards her to help her up, knowing that she wouldn't dare take it. Then he said; "The gun, please."

Her eyes narrowed and his smile widened. Standing up, she reluctantly handed him the assault rifle by pushing it into his abdomen hard, then turned to walk over to the dead turian.

"Those were Saren's men," Pretty-Boy declared rather disturbed after he had examined the body.

"There's no evidence that can link them to Saren," John said as he walked up to the body and kicked it a little in the leg to make sure it was really dead.

Quinn had a better way to make sure someone was truly dead. Summoning the dark force into her hands, she slammed her fist down with as much force needed to crush the turian's skull. The three people around her visually flinched as bone was crushed and brain matter turned to liquid and splashed the floor. They took a few steps back from the body. But to Quinn, this was music to her ears. Some of her pride was restored, but not nearly enough to endure John saving her life. Standing up again, she looked down on the face which no longer could be identified by any face recognition tool.

"That's for taking me off guard, you fucker!" She spat on the body.

Only half recovered, Pretty-Boy exclaimed; "What the hell–?!" but never finished the sentence as he could not find the words.

"What was that good for?!" Girly-Scout demanded with a forceful tone.

Quinn eyed the female soldier for a second like she was totally clueless, then harshly replied; "It sends a message." Turning on her heel, she walked towards the entrance of the bar. She may have agreed in setting their differences aside for now, but that didn't mean she would stop being ruthless. Saren had sent them to kill her, of course she would send him a message back. Only two assassins? Was that a joke?

"I need a drink," she declared more to herself than the other three.

"Em… Shouldn't you wash your hand first?" Pretty-Boy asked and glared at the blue blood on her fist.

"Whatever."

Ashley watched in frustration as the pirate enter the bar. Although she desperately tried to hide it from her superior, her stiff shoulders and clenched fists was impossible to miss. The pirate was trouble and Ashley hated to have to work with her. It was unnatural, unethical and she just knew they would regret it in the end.

Thank you for reading!

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But before you go, here is the teaser...

She turned her head to stare him straight into the eyes. "You're not the boss of me, John. I can take care of myself. Always have, always will." She freed herself brutally and kept her cold stare on him.

"If you step out of here without any of us, you're done."

"Well, that's my problem, right?"