Garrus sighed and flicked the datapad's screen, dismissing the image of a middle-aged asari– prime suspect in a recently discovered homicide. It was a rotten coincidence that the woman had also killed a C-Sec officer and wounded others before they'd discovered the corpse. The latest body hadn't been discovered for weeks, which was problematic in itself. But the biggest problem was that he had heard a rumor.
Someone had approached Lang, according to the human, requesting a warning be sent to the beat officers if an investigation came up about this asari. Lang had mentioned it in passing, but with his focus so solidly on Valor just after her accident– right around when the recently discovered victim had been killed– he hadn't really given it much thought. Now, though, it seemed possible that some members of C-Sec might have taken justice into their own hands. Poor bastards had no idea the woman was going to become the prime suspect in another homicide a few weeks down the road. But the important fact was that they were his brothers in arms– if he could deflect an investigation, knowing it would only lead to more heartache and good men being punished for simply taking a little too much liberty in how they did their jobs, he would do it without hesitation.
"Suicide," Garrus stated, not even trying to mask his irritation. He knew Shepard– always by the book and more concerned with protocol than results– was about to argue. It had been difficult working with Shepard since her last house call for Sparatus. He couldn't find any evidence that she was having sex with the Councilor, but he couldn't bring himself to dismiss the possibility. Her scent was different that afternoon, but if anything it was more purely her scent than anything. Since then, her perfume had seemed absolutely cloying to him. The effort it took to keep a clear head and stay focused was certainly not helping his patience.
"Are you kidding?" Valor demanded, equally irritated. "Ignoring the obvious fact that he didn't inflict those wounds on himself, the weapon that killed him was an asari commando's knife. Where would he get something like that, and why would he use it to kill himself?"
"But his family's never going to question our ruling," he argued. "At this point, the body is so dessicated that no one is going to want to see the remains before burial. And his bondmate expressed concerns that he was behaving strangely and might have been depressed before he died."
"So you're okay with letting his murderer walk free?" Shepard demanded, disgust plain on her face.
"We're never going to catch the bitch anyway. She's gone– given her supposed mental condition, she might be dead by now anyway. We should give his family some closure. I understand there's a stigma attached to suicide for humans. Turians are different."
"It doesn't matter if we can catch her– it's our job to try. That bitch has a body count," Valor pointed out heatedly. "She's mentally unstable, and you're just going to lie and say this was suicide so we don't have to try and catch her?" Shepard demanded in disbelief and outrage. "Like you said, the asari's probably already dead, so it shouldn't be hard, but we have to do our jobs. Get to work tracking her down or Pallin's going to hear about this, Vakarian," she warned.
"No need for that. You're right," Garrus grudgingly admitted. "We even know the name of the woman who owns the knife, but if there's a warrant out there and she turns up dead, there'll be another investigation and it's going to complicate this one."
"If by complication, you mean extra paperwork, then maybe you're right. We can handle it," Valor firmly stated.
"What if the person or people responsible for her death... knew she deserved it?" he asked.
Shepard's eyebrows rose and her eyes widened. "If you're saying what I think you are, you've misjudged me. If you know something, you'd better tell me now or I will report this, Vakarian."
Stubborn woman. Of course she wouldn't let it go. "You've got me wrong, Shepard," he snapped, "I'm no vigilante, but this asari we're looking for has C-Sec blood on her hands and no one was happy about that. And before you decide to report me over this, there was one thing that made me wonder if that asari was actually responsible."
"Oh?" Shepard prompted.
"The suspect isn't left-handed, but the simulation was pretty clear. Whoever killed Avitus used her left hand."
"Are you kidding? That's weak. Maybe he fought back and her dominant hand was injured so she switched." Shepard grabbed the datapad with the case files and found a holo model of Avitus's injuries. "These cuts here were made right-handed. See the angle? You can tell because the leading edge is ragged, consistent with the serration and wear on the blade, and the angle is too awkward for a left-handed stroke. She switched hands before the killing blow. A skilled warrior isn't limited by that kind of thing."
"Huh. We should add that to the report. How sure are you?" he asked, trying to keep his cool. He couldn't pin it down, but his intuition told him this was important somehow.
Shepard magnified the wounds to fill the screen, then pantomimed all the cuts with each hand. Some of them were too awkward to complete with the left, while some were next to impossible using only the right. "See for yourself," she said. "It's obvious. I think this is a perfect example of why the simulations are a poor substitute for actual holographic photography. Turians should make an exception for law enforcement on that taboo about recording the images of the dead."
"It'll never happen," Garrus dismissed. He happened to agree– to a point, but it was such a deep-seated superstition and honestly, he wasn't sure how comfortable he'd be looking at recordings of dead turians. It wasn't worth discussing at the moment. "Did you know humans are one of the only species that shows any real variation in dominant hand? Salarians are all left-handed, asari and turians are right-handed. Krogan are ambidextrous."
"Yes, I'm aware," Shepard said with feigned patience.
"I've noticed you're left-handed, Shepard," Garrus levelly stated.
"Of course you did, you've been stalking me," Valor said, but she continued before he could argue, "though actually, I'm ambidextrous, just like a krogan."
"What a coincidence," he said, not taking his eyes off her.
Valor met his gaze steadily for a moment before speaking. "Somehow I get the feeling you're planning to make your own report on the evidence for this case and that you're not going to suggest that it was suicide. Why don't you tell me what you have in mind?" she coldly suggested.
"It is pretty obvious it wasn't suicide, isn't it?" he conversationally began. "There are more plausible explanations," he said, pointedly staring at her.
"Just say it, Vakarian. If you've got a scenario worked out, let's hear it."
"Scenario? No. I was just looking at the profile the lab worked up and it reminded me of you."
"Female, unattached, military or hand-to-hand combat training, attracted to turians and what? Sinister or ambidextrous," she spouted off, either from memory or on-the-fly deduction.
"Wait, what was that? I think my translator… malevolent or ambidextrous? What is that supposed to mean?" Garrus asked, a shiver skittering over his plates at what seemed like a subconscious slip on her part.
Valor shot him an irritated look. "Sinister means left-handed as well as malevolent. Humans considered it an ill omen for centuries. Sounds like you need a translator update. Of course, I suppose both definitions fit the murderer. Now stop trying to distract me. That description fits a lot of people," she concluded.
A quick extranet search confirmed her definition and he cued a download for a translator patch before returning his focus to the matter at hand. It didn't make a lot of sense to him, but either way, she hit every major point in the report. "But not many asari once you get to that last one," Garrus pointed out. "You were in the general neighborhood of the tenement that night and you did turn up pretty badly injured. You broke your left arm, didn't you?"
"And you know exactly how."
"I know the skycar pileup wasn't exactly an accident. Somebody caused it, and other than revenge against you for that failed arrest attempt, no one can come up with any motive."
"Stop right there. Let me get this straight. You're saying I somehow got my hands on an asari commando's knife, and not just any knife, one belonging to a woman who has literally centuries of combat training and battle experience, is mentally unstable and fatally violent and also happens to favor turian bondmates. Then I seduced a slightly unhappily bonded man, killed him and fled the scene after destroying any evidence that I was there, leaving the knife in order to cover my tracks and throw off the investigation. That would explain the presence of the substance that caused the body to deteriorate so rapidly. How am I doing?"
"Shepard, don't..." Garrus began, but she cut him off with a raised hand.
"Next, I went to Cerulean Star," she said with a shrug, "where I met and paid a hacker to destroy the electronic evidence of my presence in the tenement and... did I pay for the virus that caused the pileup or did he throw that in gratis?"
"Shepard, stop. This is demented," Garrus protested. His plates itched and a sick feeling was settling in the pit of his gut. The way she said it all made it sound completely outrageous, but her scenario had more of the ring of truth than he'd heard from her, maybe ever. He had to be wrong, but for all he tried to reject the idea, this sounded like a confession.
"No, wait, it must have been intended, right?" she continued thoughtfully. "Injured in the scuffle before I killed Avitus, I needed an unquestioned trip to the hospital. So there you go. Or maybe I never met a hacker, and I just did all that myself. A contingency plan in case I needed medical care with no questions asked. It was just a coincidence that you found someone matching my bogus description leaving the station during the correct time frame. Why not? Other than the complete lack of human DNA at the crime scene, it all fits. Other than evidence, all your scenario is missing is a motive, Garrus."
Not my scenario, Valor. I didn't put half of that together. So now I just need the motive and I'll know what happened, not that I can prove it. "What about Serol Filos– what he did to you? Maybe you went to that tenement with Avitus and didn't like how he treated you, so you decided to kill him."
"You're reaching. Why would I have the knife and the means to erase my presence there if I had not planned to kill him going in? But the biggest problem with the scenario is that none of it is true." She leaned closer, holding his gaze, "Well, you had better hope it's not true, because if I'm cold and devious enough to pull all that off, revealing your suspicion to me has put you in grave danger."
He released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, and the itchy feeling and his certainty of her guilt became clouded. It sounded exactly as ridiculous as she seemed to think it was. He couldn't completely shake his suspicion, and now that he knew what to look for, maybe he could find the evidence and motive that were still missing. "Knock it off, Valor," he said, dismissing her pseudo-threat. "I know I've been a complete jackass. Obviously you didn't do that. That's the kind of crap bad movies– shit like Blasto and its excessive sequels– are made of."
Shepard suddenly laughed– she sounded relieved. "Oh good," she said with too much feeling– her smile was too bright as well. "So now that the suspicion is out of your system," she continued, the smile melting into a scowl as she spoke, "may we get some work done during short phase where you trust me?" she acidly asked.
"What are you talking about?"
"Your fucking cycle of trust and obligation versus suspicion. How often are C-Sec detectives put through psychological testing?" she questioned pointedly.
"Suspicion is an asset in my line of work, Valor. And I don't think my mental state is what we need to be worrying about," he countered.
Her face showed surprise, "Meaning mine is? You want to see my last psych evaluation? It was two months ago. They won't let me see it, but maybe it will shed some light on the criminal workings of my mind. What do you think, shall we get you a copy?"
"I did see it, as a matter of fact," he admitted. It was yet another artifact in a collection of perfect, pristine facts about Valor Shepard. "You were investigated before you were reinstated. We were going to require testing but the Alliance produced some very thorough documentation and Pallin accepted it in place of our own evaluation." Garrus still thought the Alliance dossier had been carefully tailored and possibly edited before being presented to C-Sec, but he couldn't prove a damned thing and even though he had insisted that independent evaluations were necessary after something like the accident, no one had listened.
"Pallin let you lead the investigation into your own goddamned partner?" Shepard spat, clearly furious. "What kind of slipshod police work is that?"
"He... didn't exactly. I just helped Lang out with some of the grunt work. He was swamped. I stepped in."
Shepard pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut. "You were right– we're not getting anything done. I really wanted it to work out, but it just keeps getting worse with each attempt."
"Shepard, I know this is a mess," he said, trying to soothe her. Right now, he needed to convince her that he wasn't suspicious anymore and that he was sorry. Of course, he'd have to do it without actually apologizing, because he'd be damned before he apologized to her again. "For some reason, you seemed like you were hiding something and I couldn't find proof of anything amiss after the accident. I thought maybe you weren't trying to arrest that hacker at first and that was why it seemed off, so I tried to let it go. Then they found Avitus and it turns out he'd been killed that same night. I let it distract me."
"Damn right you did. This isn't just a mess, it's a disgrace. There's a difference between you and I– and it's the same difference between police and soldiers. You should be the one holding me to a higher standard here. I understand that your culture forces every citizen to enlist, so you don't exactly have a reason to understand the concept of civilians or civilian police forces, but that doesn't excuse your failure to appreciate the distinction between them and military aspects. The fact that Eddie let you stick your nose into something you should have felt obligated to recuse yourself from entirely makes me think this is a problem with C-Sec, not your fucking culture, Vakarian. It's disturbing."
Garrus carefully controlled his reaction. She was technically correct, but he still felt that in this case, he had not only the right, but the responsibility to do what he'd done. "If you were a civilian, you'd be right. But, like you said, you're a soldier. And you're my partner. Whatever you do reflects on me, like it or not. I have an interest in knowing all I can about you."
"Do you treat all your partners like this, then? Or is this because I'm human? Alliance and not actually C-Sec? Or because I'm female? For all that turians claim a gender-blind culture, I haven't seen very many females around at all."
"Females are usually drawn to different work than males," he explained.
"Which is exactly what gender roles are all about, Vakarian. And I guess I have my answer," she said as she gathered up her case files. "We have a meeting with Pallin and the heads of Patrol and Special Response. Shelve this until we get our requisitions and mission op approved to bring in that farm ship, will you?"
"Sure," he said, helping her with the materials they'd need and falling into step behind her. His emotions simmered, but he set them aside. It wasn't the time to let his judgment get clouded by suspicion. She did good work and there were a lot of things he liked about Shepard. His gaze slinked down her body and he couldn't help but appreciate how fluidly she moved, and as her scent filled the air around him, he decided that those were two of the best things about her. By the time they got to the boardroom, his suspicions about her were beginning to feel more than a little unfounded.
Nihlus deftly secured the mag-cuffs to the bulkhead of the small chamber. The shackles on his prisoner's ankles were next, and for all the curses and threats the kid was spewing, he put up very little physical resistance.
"You don't know who you're messing with, let me go!" the kid demanded, the cocky jut of his mandibles proving he had no idea who he was speaking to. "Aria's going to be pissed when she finds out you fucked with me, pal."
"Aria told me where to find you. She and I go way back," Nihlus informed the hacker. Finding Cypher had been a simple matter of asking Aria where to look for the arrogant fledgling once he got to Omega. Nihlus spent a few cycles building up a profile on the kid and researching his recent activity, but someone like this didn't warrant much preparation.
"No," the kid said, the word a disbelieving plea. "She wouldn't. I work for her and she likes me."
"Ooh, I wouldn't let her hear you say that. You're a useful pet to that woman. She doesn't expect to see you grow into your plates. And you won't unless you answer my questions."
"Fuck you. You're lying and Aria's going to pry your plates off for this. Unless you let me go."
Nihlus tried not to let his mandibles rise in amusement at the kid's attempt to manipulate him. "Only the truth can buy your freedom, Cypher. My name is Nihlus. Do you know it?"
"Nihlus? Nilus Kryik?" the kid whispered, awestruck and terrified. He turned his face away and cast his eyes to the ceiling. "You're a Spectre," he shakily stated.
"Good lad. So now you'll stop trying to intimidate me, I hope. Amusing as that was, it's wasting my very valuable time. I just have some questions. You don't mind giving me some answers, do you?"
"I've got nothing to hide. What do you want to know?"
"Good," Nihlus muttered. He'd believe Cypher's show of cooperation when he had the truth. "Why did you come to Omega?"
"Citadel was too hot. I had to get off that station fast. You here for C-Sec?"
"No," Nihlus answered. He wasn't here to take the kid back, and there was no need to lie about that. "Elaborate. Why couldn't you stay?"
Cypher flicked his mandibles."You know what I did or you wouldn't be here."
"This isn't about what I know, it's about what you know."
"I crashed some skycars," Cypher flippantly answered. Too easy. His subharmonics were flat– there was no emotional connection to the admission.
"People died," Nihlus mildly pointed out. "Why did you do it?"
"Why the fuck not? If you could do that, wouldn't you?" the hacker asked. This time, there was longing in his subharmonics. Longing, not pride. Interrogating a juvenile was too easy. He had no control.
"No, I wouldn't," Nihlus evenly replied. "My patience is wearing thin and you still haven't answered three questions clearly."
"I left because of some drunk slut who started hitting on me on the dance floor."
"So you left because you met Lieutenant Shepard?"
"I have no idea who that is," Cypher said, a hint of fear in his subharmonics. Was he afraid of Shepard? More afraid of her than the Spectre questioning him?
"The 'drunk slut,' presumably," Nihlus drily answered, playing along with the kid's lie. "Tell me about her."
"She was hot and when she walked up I knew she was going to ask me to fuck her. I could smell how bad she wanted it. Never really been into humans, though."
"So it might have been Shepard after all. She's a human, you know. She's not bad looking for one of them," Nihlus said, hoping his approval would set Cypher more at ease. "So you didn't get a piece of that?"
"I didn't say that, old man," Cypher said with a repulsive layer of smugness in his subharmonics.
"So you left the club with her?"
"Sure. We left the club. When we got to my place, she dropped her pants and took it like a champ. Humans are even hotter than asari. She was fucking amazing. And she even had the medicine she needed to counter her allergic reaction. Good thing, because there's no way I was going to call a fucking hospital for her."
Nihlus quelled his disgust. He promised himself that he'd get the yellow paint off Cypher's face– see who the kid really was– before he left Omega. Right now, the story he was being fed had just begun to unravel. "She wasn't wearing a skirt?" he asked.
"What? Uh, she took it all off. I wasn't paying attention," Cypher said with a dismissive flick of one mandible. Nihlus could tell he was nervous, but it wasn't clear the cause was his questions or a sign the kid was lying.
"And why would you? The clothes come off, and that's what's important," Nihlus conversationally agreed. "So, you had sex with her. When did she flash her badge?"
"Later."
Unhelpful. Nihlus didn't believe it. "Did you do something to provoke that?" Shepard's statement detailed a different meeting with this young hacker, but maybe there was a seed of truth to it.
"No way. Got no idea why she lost it," Cypher replied without hesitation– and without any emotional underscoring in his subharmonics.
"How did you get away?" Nihlus asked. Shepard claimed she'd been hit from behind. If that was the case, Cypher would probably jump at the opportunity to shift some scrutiny to the responsible individual.
"Got lucky," the hacker said, flicking his mandibles twice.
"Okay. So tell me again how you met Valor."
"Old man, I told you already. Got a new question?"
Cypher had claimed not to know 'Lieutenant Shepard,' but he knew her first name. Odd. "Huh. So did she introduce herself?"
"No, I told her my handle and she just jumped on me."
"And did she know who 'Cypher' was?"
"Yeah, she knew. Later I found out why– she was there to bust me."
"So it wasn't just a coincidence that she met you?"
"You should really be asking her this shit." Again, the kid's subharmonics were laced with fear. "Is that it? Can I go? Let me down, my hands are getting numb."
"We're just getting started, son," Nihlus sighed. He was certain someone was lying, but he couldn't tell if it was this punk or Valor Shepard. Of course, it might be both. Since he only had Cypher and he didn't care to cross Aria by transporting the kid back to the Citadel, he needed to be thorough.
"What the fuck is that?" Cypher demanded, craning his neck to see what Nihlus was doing.
"Something to help you feel like telling me the truth. Don't worry, I do this all the time when people lie to me– it works very well. Of course, if I get the dosage wrong, you might not ever fully snap out of it, so you should definitely stop distracting me," Nihlus said. Narcosynthesis was his favored interrogation method. Some people claimed you couldn't trust the results, but those people had obviously never practiced the method themselves. Now that he knew Cypher's lie, he was looking forward to learning the truth.
Shepard left the conference room a few minutes behind Garrus. Pallin had finally decided to confront her about her interrogation techniques, but at least he'd waited until after the meeting, and despite his distaste for her actions, he had strongly advocated for the operation.
Shepard rounded the corner and stopped cold when the office space she shared with Garrus came into view. The tall, sandy-haired man in her office speaking to Garrus had turned just enough for her to catch a glimpse of his face. Garrus caught sight of her as she was contemplating making a break for the lift, and he waved her over, prompting Jack Harrow to look over his shoulder. She took a deep breath and hoped neither of them noticed the falter in her stride.
"I'll, uh, leave you two to catch up," Garrus said, rising to leave as Valor approached. "It was an honor to meet you, Sir," he said to Jack, awkwardly shaking the human's hand.
"Likewise, detective Vakarian."
"I had no idea you were on the Citadel, Sir," Valor said as Garrus left.
"Just passing through. It's been a long time," he said.
"Yes, it has," she agreed. "I don't really have time to waste, so I'm going to be blunt. You've been on the Citadel four times since I was posted here, and there have been six other opportunities over the years for you to drop in. You never did. Why are you here?"
"I'm here to take you to lunch, Val," he said, smiling at her. "And I have a birthday present for you, too."
"You're either five months early or seven late, then," she informed him, dismissively.
"I know that. Come on, Val, I'm trying to mend this."
"Alright," she sighed. "But I've explained and apologized and fucking groveled all I ever intend to, so cut and run right now if you think you're getting that from me."
"Groveling? That was… wow. I definitely wouldn't call it that. Your pride is worse than your mother's and mine together, Val."
"This doesn't need to get ugly," Shepard bit out, choosing not to directly engage, "but I've made efforts over the years– you really haven't."
"And that was wrong of me," he immediately offered. He sounded sincere. She didn't believe it. "Come on, don't make me beg."
"Certainly don't want to see that," Valor drily remarked, waving him to follow her. She'd be damned before she let him take control of the situation. For the first time since she had totaled her skycar, she regretted not replacing it. Maybe Garrus would let her borrow his for the afternoon. "Excuse me while I let Vakarian know we're out of his workspace. We just got out of a pretty tough meeting but our cases don't solve themselves," she muttered as she began composing a brief message.
Shepard: Office clear– Jack and I are going out for my birthday. May I borrow your car? She sent the line of text and waited impatiently for the lift.
When the doors opened, Garrus stepped off. "Valor, glad I caught you. I grabbed your key by mistake," he said, tossing his key to her. "Guess you're headed out?"
"We are. Try and track down that suspect we discussed earlier, and let me know right away if our bust gets approved," she requested.
"Of course. Drive carefully. It'd be a shame to total another skycar so soon," he pointedly stated.
Valor flicked her wrist and stepped onto the lift without a word, Jack close behind. She was grateful that Garrus had been so cooperative. She expected him to argue with her, or at least throw a fit about her snapping orders while she skipped out on him. The doors closed and her 'tool chimed.
Vakarian: What the hell? It's not your birthday. Put a scratch on the car and you can buy me a new one. Parked on dock 9, space 23. It'd be nice if I don't have to take transit home tonight.
She closed the message quickly, not wanting to explain anything to her father.
"So your partner's a turian," Jack tentatively ventured.
"Astute observation," she said, wondering if she should be trying to be more friendly. Something about his sudden appearance didn't feel right. Why, after so many years would he decide to finally forgive her and try to reconnect? No, there was something else going on. After the message from Anderson, she wondered if he might have sent Jack to check on her.
"I guess you work with a lot of aliens in C-Sec, though. Not like the Alliance."
He was definitely probing, but was it to satisfy his own curiosity about his daughter, or was he going to be reporting this to someone else? "It's not a problem," she lightly stated. "Garrus and I get along very well and we compliment each other on the job. I do miss the Alliance, though. I enlisted with the military for a reason– I never wanted to work law enforcement." She hurried through the parking dock to Garrus's skycar and took the driver's seat before Jack could ask to drive. If he did, she would tell him no of course, she needed at least this much control over the sudden and unexpected meeting.
"You never really had any other examples, though, did you?" he mused. "You have to have had second thoughts about a military career."
"Why? You're the one who said I was perfectly suited to it. Even before that, I never wanted anything else. Nothing has changed. I thought you'd be pleased. Hannah's still mortified that I enlisted and she has no respect for what soldiers like you and I do, but I'm following in your footsteps, Jack. Doesn't that count for something?" she asked, more than a little sarcastically. Her tone wasn't lost on him.
"You know, I watched the ceremonies after the Blitz and even after Torfan, Val," he said after a moment of thought.
"So did half the human population of the galaxy, along with just as many aliens," she dismissed. Of course he'd watched. Everyone in the Alliance had.
"I wanted to call. I should have gotten in touch before now, I know. I wish I had, I just couldn't."
"You have been in touch," she pointed out. At least as much as Hannah had ever bothered. Neither of them knew what to say to her.
"Not like I should have," he argued. "Our message history reads like a very sparse series of status updates. It's disgraceful. I think you talk to Anderson more than you do to me."
"What do you feel like for lunch?" she brightly asked, happy to change the subject as they finally cleared the parking docks and merged with the flow of traffic.
"You pick. I'm buying."