And It All Seemed Harmless: Chapter 16

Barla Von's office on Illium is far more meager than his office on the Citadel, a tactic the volus likely employed to fly under the radar in the city of information brokers and spies. The office is little more than a labelled door in a large building of alternate financial service offices, so unimpressive the Commander nearly walks past it when she steps off the building lift onto the correct floor.

When she enters the office, Shepard finds herself in a box-sized lobby, containing only about six empty seats facing each other on opposite sides of the room. A glass window beside a locked door is on the far side of the room, and an asari receptionist sits typing away at the terminal behind it. Though Barla Von himself would have charged across the floor to get a good look at the galaxy's famously dead Commander, the receptionist seems to be only a hired data worker here to schedule appointments, not an information broker. She doesn't even pay Shepard an inquisitive glance away from her work as the spectre enters.

Shepard strides to the front of the office and raps her fist on the glass, finally causing the asari to face the woman.

"One moment ma'am, do you have an appointment?"

The soldier chuckles dangerously, reaching for her side only to come up empty handed.

Dammit. My Carnifex is really good at scheduling appointments.

"No, I don't. But I suggest you let me speak to Barla Von. People who keep me waiting….generally regret that choice." The soldier remarks in a low voice, each word dripping with dangerous intentions.

The veiled threat causes the asari to give the woman her attention, and her brows crease as she scrutinizes the soldier, unsure as to why she vaguely recognized the tousled human before her.

"My office does not take threats lightly, nor do they have a chance of succeeding in here. I suggest you find another financial advisor and make an appointment." She replies in a matter of fact tone, and Shepard smirks, inching close to the glass dangerously. The glass appears too thin to be bulletproof, an unusual mistake for an information broker's office. Maybe he really did think his connection to the Shadow Broker was an all powerful protection.

In one swift movement, she slams her biotically charged fist through the glass, grabbing the asari by the collar and holding her up so that she was eye level with the soldier.

"You don't want to stand in my way. People that do that have a bad habit of getting killed. Take me to Von's office. Now."

"Right….right away ma'am." The asari mumbles, her body shaking with fear in the soldier's hold. Shepard releases her and she drops onto her seat with a small huff, immediately scrambling to her terminal to unlock the door beside the glass separating the waiting area from the back offices.

Shepard vaults through the broken window instead, landing beside the asari and putting a hand on her shoulder, as if to remind her there was no escaping the spectre.

"I said now." The soldier barks, and the asari sets into motion, leading the soldier down a thin hallway from the receptionist area.

The Commander usually had a bit of a soft spot for asari, but between the soldier's trying day and her aching muscles that hadn't quite recovered from her recent injuries, she couldn't find it in herself to be patient even for a moment. The sooner the threat was taken care of, the sooner she could return to the Normandy and lick her wounds from the day. Until then, her mind would have to be laser focused on eliminating the possible threat to Liara.

After a few steps, the asari knocks on an unmarked door, and the Commander tightens her grip on the the thin blue shoulder.

"Tell him to let us in." Shepard whispers in a chilling voice, and the asari nods vigorously in response.

"S...sir? I need to speak with you for a moment."

There is no response, the only sounds the muffled whimpers of the asari shaking in the soldier's grasp.

"Sir?" She pleads, her voice strained as if she expected the spectre to put her body through the door if no answer came.

Shepard waits only a minute before giving the asari a rough shove into the hall away from her and the doorway.

"Get out of here. Tell no one I am here or was here. If backup comes, I will have you personally explain to me where they came from. Go home."

The asari nods franctically and rushes away from the spectre, tripping over her own feet in a hurry to get out of the narrow hallway. Taking a deep breath, Shepard focuses her biotics, preparing herself for whatever was on the other side of the curiously silent door.

A moment after her biotically charged boot collides with the door, the soldier rushes inside, her body enveloped in a bright blue glow the exhausted spectre is surprised she can still manage to project in her worn down state.

The soldier is ready for anything. Ready to kill as many Krogan bodyguards and Vorcha mercenaries Von could possibly have in his employ to make the Volus answer for the information he should have never sold. What the soldier is not ready for however, is nothing.

The office is stripped. Only a desk with no terminal sits in the center of the room.

What the fuck...he didn't even leave a goddamn picture on the wall…

The soldier stalks over to the only piece of furniture left, sinking to her haunches and performing a routine search of the piece. Her hands snake above and below every drawer, but each time she pulls away her hands only contain a thin layer of dust.

"Aaaargh!" In frustration the soldier's fist collides with the wooden furniture, the tabletop splitting in two as the force of Shepard's hand falls into it. Ordinarily, the N7 operative would understand the setback and contain her emotions until an alternate route to her goal had been identified. Shepard had trained for years in the art of failing and moving on in a split second for the sake of the mission, and yet the small failure of the volus slipping through her grasp threatens to shatter the spectre.

I need to find Archer….what if he knows where Liara is...why did Barla Von leave in such a hurry, did he know I would be coming?

The soldier's head races with thoughts and she brings her palm up to her forehead forcefully, mentally berating herself for her inability to focus.

She never could focus when it involved Liara….

"EDI." Shepard barks into her comm, gritting her teeth as if doing so could keep her from leaping down the rabbit hole that was her complicated feelings for the asari.

"I need you to hack into every frequency you can possibly intercept on Illium. Looking for any mention of Dr. Gavin Archer."

"Yes Commander." EDI's voice sounds from the comm on the soldier's forearm. "Shepard, you did request for isolation from the Normandy crew. However, I have received several emergency notifications from Jack. It is my observation that humans are distraught when they do not receive transmissions that are sorted under the emergency tag. Shall I allow them to transmit while I monitor the transmissions you have requested I search?"

Oh no….

Shepard grimaces at the AI's words.

Not only have I hurt her today, but now I've ignored her when she needed help…

"Transmit them immediately EDI. Do you have a link to Jack? Give me a vitals update."

"Yes Commander." The AI shines a dull blue as the the content loads, the soldier's fingers drumming an anxious pattern on her tool as it does.

"Her vitals are stable Commander. Subject Zero has sent a message containing a link to a tracking signal. The message reads 'Shepard. Liara and the Cheerleader got taken, they're in trouble. Follow this signal right censored now. I'm on my way already. I'll try not flay alive every bad guy before you get there."

Liara….

Ordinarily the soldier would find amusement in EDI reading aloud a message from Jack. The AI's stable tone reading the aggressive message and pronouncing the word "censored" usually provoked at least a chuckle from the Commander. However, the very mention of the asari causes the soldier's stomach to turn. Her hands shake causing her tool to jostle, the soldier doing everything in her capability to control her breathing as panic sets into her body.

"EDI when did you receive this?"

"25 minutes ago Commander."

"Patch me into Jack immediately, I need to talk to her right now."

Though the convict was indisputably the most powerful biotic the soldier had ever known, whatever force had been capable of taking both Miranda and Liara hostage was clearly a reckoning one. The soldier was not interested in her best biotic and companion facing it alone.

Shepard's omni-tool flashes twice before a gruff "Shepard" is heard in response from her wrist.

"Jack, listen to me, hold your position until I join your formation. We need to go in there as a team. I want your coordinates. Now. And I want every piece of information you have on the company that took them."

"I don't have answers for you Shepard. I went to Eternity to check on bubble butt because she hadn't returned to the ship and EDI told me she was there for some fucked up reason. Whole place looked like a scene from a bad vid when I got there and they were already gone, I didn't see the dicks that took them. I managed to receive a tracking signal for Liara from some close friend of Blue's. A location which I already forwarded to you. So there, same page now? I didn't even want to involve you but Liara's fucking pal wanted you involved as well. I don't think she trusted me to bring them both back."

Shepard pauses, uncertain of how to respond to the statement. It hurts her to think that her own crewmate wouldn't seek her company in a dangerous situation by choice, but she understands why Jack is uninterested in seeing her at the moment. However, the biotic's implication that she would leave Liara with an unknown enemy nearly incites the same rage in the Commander that had flashed earlier.

"WOULD you have brought them both back?"

There's a short lapse from the comm before Jack responds, her voice edged with irritation.

"Of course I would have brought them BOTH back Shepard. Who the fuck do you think I am? I don't fucking like Liara at the moment but I don't want anything to happen to her for the sake of your screwed up head."

Shepard lets out a long breath in relief, looking down at the floor as if to hide her face in shame for the accusation of ruthlessness even though she wasn't even facing the other woman.

"I….I'm sorry about earlier. And..now. I know you look out for me Jack and I appreciate it. I was out of line."

"Save the apologies for later Shepard. I don't have time for you to dance between thinking I'm a heartless killer who would smear the walls with your fucking ex."

I should have known she wouldn't be interested in forgiving me so easily...dammit Shepard she was really opening up to you lately.

"Right….I...yeah. Send me your location Jack. I guess we can talk about this later. We need to get to them. Now. I have reason to believe Gavin Archer's men from our mission on Aite may have involvement. " The soldier's voice shakes, hindering her attempt to stay commanding. Her voice has lost her usual edge, and sounds more like a plea than an order. Doing her best to avoid picturing Liara at the mercy of Archer's men, the soldier practically shakes with the need to help her love as immediately as possible.

"You don't need my location Shepard. You have what you need. Catch up to me when you catch up to me, I'm not waiting on you to frolic your ass down here. If Archer is involved, I don't want that sick fuck turning anyone else into an experiment."

"Jack!" The spectre's voice is practically a cry now, panic taking a firmer grip of her body at the simple statement. On a normal day the Commander would be staunchly against sending a squad member into a dangerous situation alone. On a day when Liara was involved, the idea made her want to flat break down.

"Miranda is one of the best operatives in the whole damned galaxy and Liara can hold her own in a fight. Whoever took them you are not facing solo Jack! I order you to stand down and send me your coordinates!"

"Eat my ass Shepard. This isn't a goddamn mission. You can't order me to do jackshit. I'm going in for them. We don't know what these creeps want with them or how long they even fucking have."

With that, the line is abruptly disconnected, ending with a loud blip that makes the soldier want to put her hand through the wall.

Taking a few deep breaths, the soldier accesses the tracking signal the other biotic had forwarded to her.

Jack is just mad. Calm down. She's doing the right thing even if it is the aggressively stupid thing. Miranda and Liara may not have until you arrive….

Goddammit Liara please be alright….

"EDI…"

"Yes Commander?"

"Give me nav to this signal. I want the fastest way possible to get there."

"Right away Commander."

I guess I'm backup...