"Who the hell are you?" Thea and Rallel asked simultaneously. They just arrived at to Rallel's detaining cell, which was was much more comfortable than the one where Thea and Rallel had their interview: It had four padded chairs, a wooden table and a computer. However, neither of them were thinking about their newfound luxuries, being too worried about the rare and powerful human being in front of them. Thea was even more worried – how did HIGHCOM, Jackson's old affiliation, find them? What did they want?
She had a hunch that she wasn't going to like the answers.
"Hello. I apologize for the sudden and unexpected entrance. My name is Finley Adams, Alliance Spec-Ops member. Please call me Fin." The human answered. He sat on one of the chairs, indicating both women to sit on the other side. They complied placidly.
"I am currently under the orders of Admiral Han, second-in-command of the Alliance Eighth Fleet, to observe both of you and, if need be, get you out of trouble." He opened an official-looking document on his omni tool and turned his screen towards the two women. Thea gave the document a brief glance: He was right – it was a direct, hand-written document by some Alliance admiral.
"But I don't have the clearance to get you out if you are condemned under terrorism laws. The best I can do right now is to delay the trial." He said, turning off his omni-tool. An uneasy silence fell upon the three people… well, two people, since the human showed no sign of discomfort.
"You are a HIGHCOM member?" Thea finally asked. She would have loved to get out her darling shotgun right about now, but she didn't bring it to the Citadel. She knew she was going to regret that decision.
The human merely stared at her, his face still frozen in his grin. Rallel could see that he was somewhat surprised at the question.
What's HIGHCOM?
"Yes." The human replied. "Now, you have claimed that there is further evidence arriving soon? I hope I haven't been cheated on the first day!" Thea repressed another impulse to punch.
As if in response, Thea's omni-tool beeped. She opened the message.
Will be arriving in fifteen minutes with the package, Kisa
Glad to escape the human in front of her, she excused herself and left room quickly, much to Rallel's horror. However, Rallel didn't have to stay alone with the human – he also left the room without a word, silently shadowing Thea.
…
"I hope this identity is clean even in the Citadel." Jackson said. He wore the enviro suit again, which Kisa noticed that it has stretched to fit his body. Now, he was just a very tall Quarian walking with crutches.
"You can stay in the ship if you like. We should be able to handle things by ourselves." Kisa suggested. She suddenly felt a strange chill – the last time when Jackson was under a breathing mask, he was a ruthless, lone wolf killer. But now, he was a friendly Quarian. The stark juxtaposition was unsettling.
"Nah, I want to see this new recruit first as a Quarian. See how she acts." Jackson replied.
The cockpit's overhead lights turned green, indicating that they finally gained the clearance to land. Jackson manoeuvred the ship into the docking bay close to the Ward. A flood of noise and light filled their cockpit as soon as the airtight door opened. The Citadel was an ever-busy, ever-bright place, even when it was technically night time. That was one advantage of the eternal daylight of the artificial city.
Thea stood just outside with three police guards, ready to escort the new evidence to the questioning room. She greeted them formally, although she did squeeze Jackson's hand very hard.
She's pissed off that I sent her here. Jackson smiled. The thick gloves had absorbed most of the pressure. She's gonna have to learn that she can't do what she wants... Forming a brand new team was never going to be easy.
"So, is the evidence safe?" Thea asked.
"Safe and secure, and very willing to answer." Kisa said. Jackson had scared the living daylights out of the Batarian before they left, threatening him to "personally take care of" him if he didn't answer properly. The Batarian looked as if he would rather fight a Thresher Maw than to see Jackson again.
"Good. I've been having trouble here with the law and stuff, but I'm sure a real criminal can change the tides." Thea said, inspecting the pressurised soft-room that was in the cargo hold. "Sirs? Could you please kindly move the person inside that room to the questioning room? I'm sure he'll bring a new perspective into the case." The police officers nodded. They scanned the new Asari and her injured Quarian friend, to make sure that they weren't a threat. The scanner beeped when it tried to scan Bui, but that happened all the time with Quarians. They just waved the startled kid away.
The trio made their way down back to Rallel's detaining cell. Jackson told them that he will meet them in the courtroom, and headed towards the C-Sec office to gain clearance (Kisa and Thea already had access status A from a deal with the Asari Councillor a long time ago).
"How are you going to gain clearance? They'll never let you in!" Kisa said.
"I'll just send a word ahead that he's my law student." Thea answered.
"Not sure whether they'll buy that." Jackson replied.
"Probably not, but they'll be too scared to refuse my order." Thea said. The three laughed.
"I'll figure something out. Don't worry." Jackson said.
…
They parted their ways in a dark corridor. Jackson/Bui hobbled his way towards the C-Sec office. His crutch-walking was getting faster by the day, though he still had to act injured. That wasn't easy for a fit and somewhat heavy soldier like him. Still, he managed it, using the wall as his fake support. After about five minutes of crutch-walking, he heard a voice.
"Nice disguise! Wouldn't have recognised you."
Immediately, he stopped, cursing himself for having relaxed his guard. He had focused too much on becoming a Quarian that he forgot to scan ahead. He closed his eyes and probed forward with his senses. There was a human was in front him… A biotic human.
Knowing that nobody else was nearby, he slowly placed the crutches against the wall and reached out with his three-fingered hands. They were visibly glowing blue, and the suit's helmet showed an eezo contamination warning.
The other human resisted biotically, but a simple tug pulled him stumbling into view: Agent Finley Adams.
"Finally found you." Adams said. "That's another tick on my-"
Jackson slammed Adams' body into the wall, pinning him down with his biotics. As much as he wanted to fight hand-to-hand, he knew that the enviro suit wouldn't allow him to throw a punch. Instead, he pulled out an omni blade and drew it close to the Adams' throat, its edge burning viciously with heat.
"This isn't like you, Jackson. A straight-up murder for no reason? Or have you turned gay all of a sudden?" Adams smiled, flashing his teeth. "I thought you had a wife."
Jackson glared at him through the visor. Although Adams couldn't see his face, he could certainly see his eyes, highlighted yellow by the visor. They were everything but friendly.
"That helmet stare is really threatening. You should be a Quarian more often." Adams continued. He tried to struggle free, but Jackson's biotic grip was just too strong. They stood motionless for a couple of more seconds before Jackson released Adams. Adams seemed completely unaffected by his confrontation with death and merely talked on.
"The Admiral was worried about you. His poor little Jackson was gone! What do we do now? How do we fight the Reapers now? What's beyond Beta-"
"Cut to the chase." Jackson interrupted. If he hadn't, then Jackson wasn't sure if he could take in another insult. Agent Fin was only a hair's width away from being a messy splat on the floor. He seemed to realise this, and stopped smiling.
"As I said, the Admiral wants to know why you've gone MIA. Instead of court-martialling you, he decided to talk with you. How nice of him!" To this, Jackson had to agree. He was worried that HIGHCOM would try to hunt him down for going AWOL… or becoming indoctrinated. It was a real possibility for the agents in HIGHCOM, and they already lost two good men due to indoctrination. Because of this, if a HIGHCOM agent suddenly went missing, then they were hunted down to be captured or killed.
But Jackson knew that no-one in HIGHCOM would even dare to fight him.
Well, no-one except for this bastard.
"HIGHCOM knows where you've been and what you're trying to do. You didn't seem to act indoctrinated, so the Admiral let you off. Seriously though? You're trying to hire a band of mercenaries? For what? A ship full of N7 elites didn't survive your mission, you think others will?"
"Where's the Admiral?" Jackson avoided his question.
"No answers? I thought so. The Admiral's back in his fancy office for once. He's been there ever since you disappeared. You should probably go there now. I'll keep an eye on your ladies." Agent Fin finished. He flashed his signature smile, and started to walk off towards the court room. Jackson wondered how such person managed to pass the N5 program, but he couldn't change history. He sighed, extinguishing the blue flame that encompassed his body. He picked up his crutches and started to hobble towards the Citadel Embassies. He sent a quick message to Kisa using his helmet's interface:
Sorry Kisa, an important issue just popped up. I'm gonna have to see to that first. If I finish early, I can probably arrange a more comfortable transport back to Omega. Wait for me at the Presidium until I send a message. Good luck with the trial! Liam.