Hi all my lovely Readers!

So, I don't know it you realised it yet, but John adresses people with their last names or title/rank, if they have one that is. Quinn on the other hand is very bad at remembering names and therefore gives them nicknames. Only when the two of them respect or gotten to know the person more, will they use their first names.

Fixed 2021

But I hope you still like it!

Escape the Fate

Chapter 8: Garrus

*John's POV

The Wards were just as crowded as always with all kinds of species going on about their day in normal fashion. Some were on their way home after spending the whole day at work, while others were on their way to the markets to shop whatever they needed. People were chatting everywhere, most standing in groups with their own specie and few with mixed. It was rather fascinating to see how similar the alien races were to the humans, yet so different. For example, there were a turian family out shopping and a little boy ran up to the weapon shop where John and Williams stood, looking at the human made merchandise. The boy, which John guessed was about 3–4-year-old, glanced with great interest, not caring which race it was produced by. Not far behind, his parents were arguing whether they should allow him to look at the human made arms or not and take him to their own races proudly produced merchandise.

John examined the heat sink upgrade in his hand, but soon felt eyes on him. He looked down and saw the turian boy stare at the weapons he had in his hoisters.

"Hi, little guy," he greeted the boy and placed the upgrade down on the counter. "You like guns?"

The boy nodded happy and exclaimed; "Yeah!"

"Really?" John sat down on one knee so he could see what the boy saw and asked; "Which one is your favorite?" He pointed at the weapon display behind the counter.

The boy pointed at one of the arms right away. "The sniper rifle, like my dad."

John smiled at the boy's clear admiration of his father. "That is a good one."

"I know," the boy scoffed like it was no debate. "I'm gonna be a sniper just like my dad! When I'm a little older, my dad is gonna show me how to use it."

"I bet."

"Vindel, come here. We're leaving," the boy's father called with a little irritation in his tone.

"Coming," the boy called back before throwing one last look at the weapons before reluctantly tear himself away to catch up with his parents.

John watched the boy run up to his parents, who were still arguing. The mother waited for the boy, revealing she was also holding a little bundle in her arms. The small family continued on and John couldn't help but feel a little envy inside.

He and Williams lingered at the shop a little longer before walking off to brows at the others. He took notice that the Gunnery Chief favored weapons of the Tsunami line, a familiar Earth-based merchandise, especially their assault rifles. Overall, John noticed that most of the equipment she looked at was Earth-based and seemed to prefer them over the aliens.

Before they left for Dr. Michel's office, John decided to buy the heath sink to his assault rifle and apparently Williams bought herself a whole new weapon. They climbed the stairs and as they reached the top, a man spotted them, and a huge smile crossed his mouth before he pushed himself off the wall and approached them.

"Is that really…" The man began with disbelief in his voice before turning into awe. "Wow! It's you! You're Commander Shepard, the hero of Eden Prime. I am so honored to meet you!"

John was used to meet fans who wanted to thank him for his service, but most often it was for Elysium and not something so recent as Eden Prime. In fact, he was surprised the news had spread so quickly.

"Nice to meet you. And you are...?" he said politely and reached his hand forward.

The man took it firmly and shook it with excitement. "My name is Conrad. Conrad Verner." The man let go of his hand. "They say you killed more than a hundred geth on Eden Prime!"

Rumors spread like wildfire and the truth burned along with it. There was no way he had killed so many geth, not even with the help of his team and Quinn included.

"I spent most of the time trying to stay alive and help the colonists," he said honestly.

"Hey, I know you're probably busy, but do you have time for a quick autograph?" The man pulled out a regular pen and a piece of paper instead of using the regular digital one before he could finish his question.

John looked at the pen and paper as he said; "Anything for a fan," then grabbed the items and it felt nice going back to the basics. The man turned around so he could use his back to write, once done, he said; "Here."

Verner turned around and took the piece of paper and looked it over eagerly. He was practically bouncing up and down like a small kid. "Thanks! I really appreciate it. My wife is going to be so impressed!" He tucked the paper back into his pocket. "I'll let you get back to work, but next time you're on Earth, I'd love to buy you a drink! Thanks again!"

The man left the two soldiers standing there.

"It must be nice to have admirers, sir," William teased as they began walking again.

John turned an eye to her before saying honestly; "It's a bit awkward, but I'm used to have people come up to me once in a while."

"I bet. You handled it professionally, almost like a famous movie star."

John turned his head to her, his brow raised as he asked; "Are you trying to tell me something Gunnery Chief?"

"What would that be, sir?" She asked innocently.

"You think I have star potential?" John asked, almost hopeful as they stepped through the door.

Feeling awkward, Williams hesitated with the answer. "Em… I…"

John couldn't help but laugh a little at that. "At ease, Chief. I'm just messing with you. But good to know where you stand on that."

"Well, I never said you're not…" Then her attention was drawn somewhere as they passed the entrance of the new nightclub, Flux, and Williams stopped. "I think someone's calling for you, Commander."

John turned to look at where the Chief was and saw a hand raised in the air beyond the crowd and over their heads. As he got closer, he heard a woman call his name.

"Commander Shepard!"

Once they had past the crowd and close to a column where they could get away from the crowd, they found an Asian woman with short black hair waiting for them. John turned to Williams with a questioning look, who just shrugged her shoulders, indicating that she did not know the woman either.

"Excuse me, Commander Shepard!" They walked up to her, who visually lightened up once she realized she had gotten their attention. "I'm Emily Wong," she introduced before they had even come to a stop before her. "I'm an investigative Journalist working here on the Citadel. Could I have a moment of your time?"

Knowing what that tone of voice implied, he was sure the woman was about to ask him for a favor. Although he was happy to help, he couldn't help but feel frustrated at times too as he was just about always dragged deeper into their problems later on.

"What do you need?"

The woman grew coy and turned away to have a look around her to see if there was someone listening before she began to explain. "I've been hunting for evidence of corruption and organized crime on the Citadel, but there are places I can't go." She turned back to them, her voice now pleading. "I was hoping you might share anything you find during your own investigation. I can make it worth your time."

Naturally, he grew a bit suspicious, yet he kept his tone neutral. "How do you know I'm investigating anything here on the Citadel?" Breaking the law was nothing he was interested in no matter what kind of good it might do. He had put that life behind him as soon as he had signed up for the military and it would take a lot for him to change that, like save lives.

As soon as the question had been uttered, the woman's shyness disappeared just as quick as it had come. Wong sounded a bit offended as she stated with a strong voice; "I'm a good journalist, Commander Shepard. Words gets around."

Still not fully convinced, he rephrased the question; "How do you know that my investigation is going to uncover anything you need?"

The woman grew frustrated and pushed; "You wouldn't be investigating if it weren't big. And if it's big, it's something I'd like to hear about."

The woman was determined and wouldn't take no for an answer. John searched her eyes for any ill intention or an alternative motive, but found none, yet that was not enough to trust someone, and definitely not a reporter. "If I stumble upon any information, I'll consider it," he then said.

A relief smile crossed the woman's lips before she bowed in an Asian fashion as she said; "Thank you, Commander. You won't regret it."

Before they parted, Wong gave him the fastest way to contact her, then she disappeared into the crowed with high spirit. John and Williams continued towards Dr. Michel's Med Clinic without being ambushed by another person who needed help with something.

As they stood outside the clinic, John felt something was wrong. He could hear muffled voices coming from inside and he was alarmed. He put a hand to his pistol to be ready to draw it if necessary. Williams followed his lead and they both carefully approached the door which slide open.

"I didn't tell anyone. I swear!" A female voice cried out in desperation and fear.

Within the first few seconds, John's mind grasped the situation at hand. Through the windowed wall separating the room into two parts, he saw five human thugs threatening a woman dressed in medical clothes on that side and the back of a crouching turian on this side, moving along the windowed wall with his weapon drawn.

John pulled his pistol and moved inside, hitting the close and lock button on the door so no civilians could get inside and worsen the situation.

"That smart, Doc," one of the thugs said to the woman with an intimidating tone. "Now, if Garrus comes around, you stay smart. Keep your mouth shut or we'll—" He cut himself off once he threw an eye to the window and saw John and Williams with their weapon drawn. The man grabbed the woman by the throat with his arm and placed himself behind her, using her as a shield. "Who are you?" He demanded, his pistol placed at her temple for a second before pointing it at John.

"Let her go!" John said firmly as he took aim, knowing the bullet would pierce through the glass easily.

In the corner of his eyes, he spotted Vakarian rounding the corner and placed himself along the edge of the wall. As the thugs were distracted, the turian C-Sec Officer decided to take that to his advantage. He threw a quick glance around the corner to set the situation in his mind before he pushed himself off the wall, into the open and fired a single shot at the thug holding the woman, hitting him in the side of the head, killing him instantly.

The Doctor screamed in both panic and fear at the fired shot and her hands went up to her head to cover it as the man was falling to the floor. Once she had realized it was not her who had been shot, she turned an eye to the dead thug at her feet, before throwing a glance at the other thugs and then to the C-Sec Officer, not really sure what she should do next.

The rest of the thugs were surprised at the shot, but quickly moved further back into the room, taking cover behind the pillars and equipment crates as they fired their weapons at the turian. They did not care if the female doctor was in the crossfire or not, but she scrambled to the turian for help., who pulled her behind the wall and into cover.

John and Williams ran to the window to get cover as the bullets flew at all directions. The glass on the window crashed into million pieces and fell over their heads. Now with the glass gone, it would be easier to take them all out from two points. The thugs were cornered and there was nowhere for them to go if they didn't want to jump through the windows and drop a few stories.

"Surrender and you'll live!" John called out to the thugs but was answered with more bullets.

There was no other option than to take them out. From their point of view, he and Williams had a somewhat clear view of two of the thugs and they took them out. The third one was taken out by Vakarian and the last one was soon dealt with as well. It was unfortunate they had to kill them, but they did not give them any other choice.

"All clear," Williams declared as the last one fell to the floor after a few minutes off gunfire.

John cast a glance at the four bodies and wondered silently if it could have been avoided. They could have tried to talk them down, but the first killing shot had sealed the deal and not only that, but it could also easily have killed the hostage if the target had moved them slightly to the side. It had been too big of a risk to fire that shot, yet the turian officer had recklessly taken it and that was angering him.

John walked around the corner to see both the officer and the doctor safe and sound, although the woman was still very rattled where she sat and was doing her best to try and calm herself down and not panic.

"Perfect timing, Shepard," Vakarian said with an eager tone. "Gave me a clear shot at that bastard."

"What were you thinking?" John said sharply and let the anger slip through. "You could've hit the hostage!"

"There wasn't time to think! I just reacted. I didn't mean to–" Vakarian began to explain but grew hesitant to his actions and realized what could have happened. He turned to the doctor who was still sitting by the wall and asked with worry in his tone; "Dr. Michel? Are you hurt?" as he offered her a hand to help her up on her feet.

The woman took the offered hand and let him help her as she tried to reassure him; "No. I'm okay." Although her tone was still shaky and not entirely convincing. "Thanks to you. All of you." She turned to John and Williams with a grateful nod.

Although still angry at the turian for his reckless action, John let his stern face soften a bit as he accepted the doctor's words. He turned to look at the dead thugs and figured they could not have worked alone. Neither was bright nor skilled enough to be the brains behind it which meant the doctor was still in danger.

"I know those men threatened you," he said as he turned to her. "But if you tell us who they worked for, we can protect you."

The woman hesitantly looked down at the bodies and a distressed expression crossed her face before she realized it had shown and she composed herself once more. "They work for Fist," she said and turned to look at him in the eyes. "They wanted to shut me up." She paused to swallow the thought of what could have happened if they had succeeded, and it scared her. She turned to Vakarian as she continued; "Keep me from telling Garrus about the quarian."

"What quarian?" William asked.

Dr. Michel began to fiddle with her hands in a nervous fashion and as that didn't take away her anxiety, she began to walk back and forth. "A few days ago, a quarian came by the office. She'd been shot but wouldn't tell me who did it. I could tell she was scared, probably on the run," she explained and turned to the group. "She asked me about the Shadow Broker. She wanted to trade information in exchange for a safe place to hide."

"Where is she now?" John asked.

The woman hesitated for a few seconds as her gaze traveled over the three, contemplating whether she should tell them or not and if it were safe to do so, both for her and the quarian. There was a heavy sigh from the woman as she said; "I put her in contact with Fist. He's an agent of the Shadow Broker."

"Not anymore," Vakarian said with an edge in his tone that John couldn't place. "Now he works for Saren, and the Shadow Broker isn't too happy about it."

"Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker?" Dr. Michel exclaimed in disbelief. "That's stupid, even for him. Saren must have made him quite the offer."

"That quarian must have something Saren wants," Vakarian said bluntly. "Something worth crossing the Shadow Broker to get."

"She must have something that proved he's a traitor," John said with a hopeful tone and anxiety was welling up inside him with the knowledge they were getting closer in getting something on the rouge Spectre. He turned to the doctor. "Did the quarian mention anything about Saren? Or the geth?"

The woman pondered the question for a moment, before she said; "She did! 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," Vakarian said with hope in his tone. "There's no way the Council can ignore this!"

If they could get their hands on that kind of evidence, then they would defiantly have Saren's innocent flushed away. No matter what the Council thought about their prime Spectre, they could not ignore it and would be forced into action.

"Time we paid Fist a visit," John said firmly.

"This is your show, Shepard," the turian C-Sec officer said and there was determination in his tone. "But I want to bring Saren down as much as you do. I'm coming with you!" He said it like he would take no for an answer.

John was surprised to hear that declaration and wasn't so sure how he felt about it. "You're a turian. Why do you want to bring him down?" He asked curious and somewhat suspicious. Sure, he was not about to say no to someone who wanted to help, yet he needed to know the full extent to why and especially with a race who majority of it had problems with humans. He was already expecting one knife in the back and could not look out for two.

Vakarian shifted his weight to the other leg as he stared at John, contemplating on what to say. He would not lie, but he could not tell what the turian was thinking and that was a bit frustrating.

"I couldn't find the proof I needed in my investigation," he finally answered, his tone spiteful. "But I knew what was really going on. Saren's a traitor to the Council, and a disgrace to my people!"

The dedication in the turian was clear. He wasn't like most officers and wasn't going to let go of his case halfway in. John could relate to that and felt for the turian. There was no denying that they needed all the help they could get and so far, Vakarian knew far more about Saren than any of them and that would come in handy.

"Welcome aboard, Vakarian," he said and offered the turian his hand, which normally most turians would look at with disdain, but not this turian. He took it and shook it firmly with his three fingers.

Before they left the Med Clinic, Vakarian called in to C-Sec and the coroner to come and collect the bodies and to take the doctor's statement and make an official report. Then the doctor had told them she would be fine on her own until the other officers got there, they left.

Once they had stepped out of the clinic, Vakarian stopped and said; "You know, we aren't the only ones going after Fist. The Shadow Broker hired a krogan bounty hunter named Wrex to take him out."

"Yeah, we saw him earlier in Chora's Den," Williams said with a scoff. "A real charmer."

John had not witnessed the scene involving said krogan. He had been too busy with talking to the bartender and tried to get her straight, with no success. But John was not too keen with having a krogan with them as they were unpredictable and quite cranky. But he couldn't deny that there might be some useful information the krogan had against Saren and John would like to cover all bases just to be sure Saren couldn't get away.

"Okay. Let's go find this Wrex," he said.

"Last I heard, he was at the C-Sec Academy," Vakarian informed and brought up his omni-tool to verify this.

"Why am I not surprised," John said sarcastically and rolled his eyes as he headed for the Academy.

"What's he doing there?" Williams asked, not sounding surprised either.

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

John silently debated whether they should go to the Academy or if they should go to Chora's Den and find Fist first. After all, Fist had threatened Doctor Michel and the quarian had gone to see him and could be in danger too. But the krogan seemed to know things about the bar owner and it was clear he was dealing with illegal stuff. They really could use the information the krogan had and an insight to what they could expect when confronting the bar owner.

They stopped at the cab station, but the waiting time was about thirty minutes. It was the middle of rush hour and people was still trying to get home after a long day of work. It was more people out than before they got to the clinic.

"Is it already that late?" John asked with a loud sigh after he looked at the time on his omni-tool which was past 6.30 p.m.

"It doesn't take that long to walk," Vakarian said as he looked upon the line of people waiting for their cabs to arrive.

With a heavy sigh, John turned around and headed for the Academy on foot. During their walk, they met another fan of John's – a human C-Sec officer who wanted to discuss his accomplishments and missions. John had humored the man with a few details the man had not known about and then they had moved on. The John had tried to get in contact with Alenko to get an update on how things went with Quinn, but the Lieutenant had not answered. It had worried him, but he trusted his Lieutenant that he would get in contact with them if the pirate were up to no good. Also, he was certain he would also hear from C-Sec if there were anything suspicious about her behavior or doings. He would not overreact about a missed call until necessary.

The three of them arrived at the C-Sec Academy soon enough. There were people coming and going at all times. Most were C-Sec personnel, but occasionally, there were thugs and other people being brought in for questionings and leaving after being interrogated. People of all races circled, but none of them matched the krogan they were looking for. Then Vakarian walked up to one of his co-workers and asked.

"Yeah, I told him to get the hell out of here," the human C-Sec officer answered a bit dismissive as he leaned against the wall, not at all happy he had been interrupted while he talked to a female officer. "Why do you want to know? I thought you looked into that Spectre Saren."

John asked another question before Vakarian could answer. "Do you know where he went?"

The man turned to the two humans like he hadn't bothered to acknowledge them until now and crossed his arms, looking a bit suspicious at the pair. "Maybe. Who wants to know?"

"Commander John Shepard, Alliance military," he introduced himself and the man immediately recognized the name and changed demeaner.

The man straightened himself up as he said; "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize the Alliance wanted him."

"He may have information we need," John explained and didn't care about the man's attitude, nor his apologies.

The man turned to the direction where he had last seen the krogan as he said; "Yeah, I think I saw him go off with two humans. A guy and a chick." The Officer tried to think of more information to give. "I didn't get a good look at them, but the chick seemed familiar, though."

"Familiar? How?" John asked, a bit suspicious.

The man shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know."

"So, you can't tell us anything about them? Any small detail?" Williams pressed

The man sighed before he looked up at the ceiling to jog his memory further. "Like I said, I just saw them for a second or two. The guy was not memorable, but the chick…" The man whistled as he thought about the woman. "Blond. Mid-twenties. A bit of an attitude. Crazy hot!" The guy turned his eyes to Williams, giving her a stare that told her she didn't even come close to compare. Then he turned to John as something significant came to mind. "Her eyes had two different colors, though."

That was all the information John needed to know exactly who the two humans had been. That and what his pirate sister had been up to. She had gone the different route to find evidence against Saren and that had led her to Fist too. Which meant—his eyes widen as he realized the circumstances to their little detour to the academy.

"How long ago?" John asked in a dire tone.

"About half an hour ago. Why?"

John turned to Williams and Vakarian. "We need to get to Chora's Den. Now!"

Then he hurried out of there and tried to get in contact with Alenko again. When the Lieutenant didn't answer, he cursed.

*Kaidan's POV

The car ride to the Bank District on the Presidium was quite strained and uncomfortable to say at least. As soon as they got into the space car, he had tried to fill the ride with whatever small talk he could come up with to ease the tension in the air. But to also get the pirate to loosen up a bit. It was clear she did not trust him nor anyone else in the Alliance and kept them no closer than an arm's length. He wanted to give her a chance, to show her she could at least trust them with her life now when they were working together. But she was not easy to talk to. Kaidan wasn't trying to aggravate her or anything, he just simply wanted to ease the air. He tried to ask questions and share things about his own life to make her relate and open up, but she did not bite.

Instead, Quinn just sat in her seat and stared out of the window as they drove through the wards. Some of the questions he had asked her, she had answered with a curt word or two as they were harmless and standard questions. But when the questions got deeper and too personal, she had just plainly ignored them and kept quiet. Yet he had felt she had gotten angry, and they were bothering her. Still, she had not told him to shut up, like she wanted the distraction from whatever was currently in her mind.

Kaidan cast a glance to her, and her reflection could be seen in the window. There was no denying she was a beautiful woman. Disturbed, misguided, but beautiful. Her blond hair was up in a messy ponytail with some of the loose hair hiding her face a little. There was a shine to it which reminded him of sunshine. Her nose was perfectly refined, her pink lips downturned with the lower lip fuller. As he looked at her now, he had a hard time seeing her as the dangerous pirate she truly was. She just looked like a young woman who had taken the wrong path early in life and got stuck in it. He had seen a lot of young people falling victim to a criminal life and no help to escape it. There was a sad and painful glimmer in her eyes sometimes which betrayed her strong front she put up. Especially in front of her brother. It was like she did not want him to see her weak. Like she had something to prove.

He could at least say that so far, her mood had been more in control then when she was around the Commander and he was thankful for that at least.

"How old were you when your biotic manifested?" He asked, changing the question once more.

It was a question he had wanted to know for a while now. Ever since she had demonstrated it on the Alliance Freighter back when they had first met her, he had been curious. There was no doubt in his mind that her biotic was stronger than his own skills even though he was implanted with the L2. He was sure he had more control of the dark force than the emotional pirate who seemed to get most of the power fueled by her emotions rather than strong will and focus.

"Nine," she said simply.

"That young, huh? How did it happen?"

She ignored him.

He turned to look through the front window as he said; "I think I was about 14-15 when I first showed any sign." He laughed a little as he recalled the memory. "I was so shocked and scared—" He cut himself off as it was clear she wasn't listening.

In the corner of his eye, he saw her eyes narrow before she closed them and discreetly shook her head like she tried to get a bad thought out of her mind. When she opened them again, they were cold. She shot him a piercing glance through the window and their eyes met. He averted his to avoid her evil stare on him.

Kaidan knew it was childish of him, but what was he supposed to do? Clearly the woman's mood could shift at any given moment and he wasn't about to let her take it out on him in such a confined space. Yet he would not give up.

He turned to her as he said; "Come one, give me something. At least I'm trying…"

"Like what?" She asked coldly before turning her eyes to the window again.

"Well, it's been a hell of a cruise so far," he said as he thought. "Our first mission ends with one Spectre killing another. The Citadel Council is not happy about that. Probably use it to lever more concessions out of the Alliance."

She sighed annoyed before she turned to him and asked; "You're not gonna shut up anytime soon, are you?" He gave her a smile as an answer. "Fine. I'll bit. You know what the hell you're talking about, so, you a career man or something?"

"Yeah. A lot of biotics are," he answered, satisfied that he got her to talk. "We're not restricted, but we sure don't go undocumented, as you probably know. May as well get a paycheck for it." He shrugged at the last part before he let emotions get into his tone as he spoke next; "Besides, my father served. Made him proud when I enlisted. Eventually."

She rolled her eyes at him before she was about to turn her attention back to the window. "I'm sure he was."

"Is that why you enlisted?" He asked curious, although he knew she was not a fan of talking about the Alliance. "Because of your family?"

"What family?" she asked.

"The Commander. He's your brother, right?"

There was a small laugh from her, though there was nothing funny about it. Keeping her eyes locked forward and seeing their destination approaching, she said with the most despiteful tone of voice she could manage; "I stopped seeing him as that a long time ago. If he wanted to be family, he wouldn't have shipped off to be a space hero."

There was bitterness in her tone. But if she hated him for it, then why follow in his footsteps? He asked; "But you enlisted?"

"Yeah. Unfortunately, I let myself get talked into it." But then she chuckled a little. "Got me some big opportunities though, so I guess I shouldn't complain too much."

"Ah, that's right. Torfan," he said knowingly.

She turned an eye at him like that was not at all what she had meant.

Of course, Kaidan knew that. But he preferred to talk about her accomplishments in the Alliance rather than her experiences with the pirates. "I imagine that brought you any post in the fleet."

"Sure. I had my pick and choosings – the Alliance really want their soldiers sent to their deaths by their commanding officer," she said sarcastically.

"Is that really how it went down?"

She turned to him fully as the cab was descending to their reached destination, her eyes staring warningly into his own. "If you're trying to figure me out, I'll make it short for you – I am the killer the vids make me out to be. So, stop trying to figure me out!"

Before the space car had reached the ground, Quinn pushed the side door open and jumped out. Kaidan watched her walk off and that got him to get out of the car before it had fully stopped too. On the Presidium there were a lot more C-Sec Officer controlling the area, which meant he could not get to far behind from the pirate even though she tried. He spotted her walking into a building and followed her only to have the door close shut in his face.

Once it opened, he walked into the small bank and spotted a single volus behind the counter.

"Two of the Earth-clan?" The male volus said with their iconic hissing sound their suits made as they spoke, which made their tone of voice sound exactly the same. "Ah, and one very famous, yes? You are the one called Quinn Shepard," he stated, trying to sound astonished, but failed. "You are the one targeting Alliance vessels, correct? It's not often I see a known criminal walk in this district."

Crossing her arms in disapproval, she said strongly; "I don't like strangers keeping tabs on me."

There was a hissing sound as the volus took a breath before he said; "Forgive me, Earth-clan. But I'm guessing you have many eyes on you already." That did not change her demeanor. "My name is Barla Von. My job makes it necessary for me to keep informed. I am a financial advisor to many important clients here on the Citadel. When someone as important as yourself arrives on the station, I take notice."

So did a lot of people, Kaidan thought. Fortunately, there wasn't many common people who knew who the pirate was, otherwise, they would have had much more of a problem walking around with the pirate without people panicking.

"I heard you work for the Shadow Broker," she said, cutting straight to the case. "Do you have any information about the Spectre Saren?"

Barla Von took a step back before he stated; "You're very blunt, Shepard, but your right." The volus composed himself, although Kaidan had a hard time telling his tone apart from one another. "I am an agent for the Shadow Broker. And I do know something about Saren."

Quinn's tone was easy to read in comparison. It had grown darker as she demanded; "I need that information. Now."

But the volus was not as easily intimidated. "Threats don't work on me, Pirate. This information is worth a small fortune."

Quinn clenched her fist in frustration and Kaidan was afraid the pirate would assault the volus, but then instead, turned to him and said; "You! Pay him."

"What?" He exclaimed in surprise, but the woman did not repeat herself. "I don't have that kind of money!"

"Then have the Alliance do it, then," she said, not understanding why he couldn't. "I would if I could, but you idiots decided to cut me off from my funds."

"I–I can't… they would never—" he stammered, not knowing how to explain to the pirate that he had no such access nor the authority to make such a decision. But she had been a soldier once, she should know that. Or did she—

"But this is an unusual situation," the volus said, bringing both of their attentions to him. "So, I'm going to let you have it for free."

"What's the catch?" Kaidan asked, not fully trusting the volus, knowing very well nothing came for free.

The volus turned to look at him as he said; "There is no catch." There was sincerity in the words. "The Shadow Broker is quite upset with Saren right now." The volus turned back to the pirate when he noticed neither of them was fully convinced. "They used to do a lot of business. Until Saren turned on him."

Quinn turned to Kaidan. "Saren betrayed him, imagine that." She meant to be sarcastic, yet her tone was stone cold.

"No matter what you think of Saren, he's not stupid," Barla Von said, and the both of them turned to him. "He knows the Shadow Broker is a valuable ally. Turning on him doesn't make sense. Not unless something huge was at stake." The volus stopped to take a breath, making the suit hiss once more. "I don't know the details, but the Shadow Broker hired a freelancer to deal with it. A krogan mercenary."

"That's not much to go on," Kaidan stated.

"I bet it's that krogan I saw at Chora's Den," Quinn declared with confidence. "I knew there was something I liked about him." Then she turned to the volus, her expression disappointed. "That's the information which is so valuable?"

"I just told you that the most famous Spectre in the galaxy betrayed the Shadow Broker. Quite a bargin, considering the price," the volus said frustrated and actually managed to sound like it too underneath the hissing of the suit.

Quinn just rolled her eyes at him and Kaidan couldn't help but shake his head at her.

Growing even more frustrated, the volus then said dismissively; "Speak with the krogan if you want to learn more. I heard he was paying a visit to Citadel Security. If you hurry, you might catch him before he leaves the Academy."

"Isn't it strange that a krogan would want to speak with C-Sec?" Kaidan asked, doubtful it had gone down that way and not the other way around.

"Very," the volus answered. "I doubt the visit was entirely his choice. You'll need to speak with him if you want to know more."

"Yeah. I should go," Quinn said as she turned on her heels and headed for the door.

"Goodbye Shepard," Barla Von called after them and before the door closed, Kaidan heard that hissing sound one last time.

Thank you all for reading!

It's not a long chapter, but hope it was alright anyway.

Thank you for all the fave, comments and followings! Keep that up if you still like the story! There is much more to come.

If there is something I've missed, gotten wrong or anything, please tell me so I can fix it!

Now for the small teaser...

"Concerned with her safety?" she repeated perplexed and tried to understand how he could come up with such an outrageous thing. "You think I care what happens to that girl?"

"No," he stated simply. She raised an eyebrow inquisitive. "But I can make sure you have less of a problem with C-Sec when you're on the Citadel," he continued. "I know who you are, Quinn Shepard. And I know you should have an Alliance escort with you at all times." He took a glance behind her to emphasize she was alone.

"Are you threatening to arrest me if I don't fix your problem?" She growled and narrowed her eyes at him.