Chapter 6:
Garrus
Chora's Den reminded of a typical American gentlemen's club… not that he had ever been to one. The walls were bright silver and a giant sign hung on the mountain of metal, flashing blue and purple lights as a mechanical girl was advertised. It wasn't a human though, not that Patrick had been expecting it be. Humans weren't as seductive to other species like the Asaris were. The Asari's limbs moved along with the advertisement, her body framed in a bright blue light similar to the color of their skin. All in all, the creators had left out a lot of descriptive characteristics when they made the game. Patrick didn't blame them though. He doubted any of them had actually stood outside the infamous Chora's den.
"Nice place," Kaidan said with a nod as he and Ashley climbed out of the backseat of the cab. Patrick had earned the privilege to sit beside Shepard as the quartet flew over the Citadel. At first inspection, the Wards appeared to be very much like the upper levels of the Presidium, but after standing out in the polluted air, anyone could tell that the Council didn't pay as much attention to the slums below them.
"You would say that wouldn't you?" Ashley laughed as Kaidan loaned her a hand and she pulled herself out of the cab. Ashley glanced around them before her amber eyes landed on Shepard, "So skipper, you really think it's worth our time to see what Harkin knows? Anderson said he was a drunk. Not to mention he was suspended from C-Sec last month. How much could he know?"
"Anderson also suggested that we see him," Shepard said with a shrug although it was clear he was reluctant to put trust in the drunken C-Sec officer even if a higher ranking officer suggested him, "Even if Harkin doesn't give us any new information, we can at least honestly say we tried. This may be the easiest way to find and reach Garrus, but I doubt that it is the only way."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Patrick asked and took a step forward just as a shot was fired over his head. Patrick ducked and looked up at the wall where a smoking hole had appeared, "What the-"
"Get down, Hamilton," Patrick felt Shepard shove him down before the four of them ducked behind a wall as a couple more shots were fired at them. Patrick barely hesitated as he withdrew his pistol and then glanced at Shepard, not wanting to act until the Commander ordered them to.
"That's him!" Patrick heard one of the assassins shout in the gruff voice of a turian and Shepard made eye contact with everyone before giving a slight nod. Already knowing what it meant, Patrick pulled himself up and fired off a couple shots. With Ashley's help, one turian went down while Shepard and Kaidan brought down the other one in a couple of seconds.
"Those were Saren's men," Kaidan whispered as they walked towards the dead assassins, teal blue blood spilling out of their heads and onto the silver sidewalk. Kaidan bent down and touched their armor, "There's nothing here. No orders or anything."
"Then how can you be so sure they are Saren's men?" Shepard asked his lieutenant as he too bent down to examine the two turians. "They just look like a couple assassins?"
"I think the lieutenant is right, Commander," Patrick offered, standing above Shepard and Kaidan's heads. "After all, who else would be trying to kill us?"
"The farmer's right, skipper," Ashley said, "But it doesn't make any sense? How could the assassins or even Saren know where we were? How could he know we were heading to Chora's den?"
Shepard shrugged, "Maybe he has someone tailing us or maybe it was just common sense. After all, Saren knows we are trying to bring him in. Maybe he predicted that we would go after Garrus."
Ashley glanced at the sky, "Let's head inside. If Saren is indeed having assassins tail us, I will feel much more comfortable when we're inside somewhere."
"I agree," Patrick added as he felt his neck hair rise. Despite the fact that he knew this was the last time Saren's assassins would attack Shepard, he couldn't shake the feeling of someone watching them.
Shepard led the way into Chora's den and inside loud music reached Patrick's ears. The inside of the club was flashing with blue and pink lights that gleamed off the silver walls. Asari danced around as men sat down in large chairs, their dates sometimes on their laps as their boyfriends watched the aliens dance.
"Now don't you three get any ideas," Ashley laughed and Patrick grinned at her as the four of them walked around. Patrick was surprised at how many other species there were. For some reason, he only imagined humans at Chora's den, but there were many turians and even a handful of salarians.
Shepard suddenly stopped and Patrick was about to ask why until he saw the reasons. A krogan- there was no denying the large alien- shoved another one, causing him to stumble.
"Back off Wrex," The first krogan growled and Patrick found himself staring at Wrex. The alien reminded him of a giant reptile and frog hybrid with scars embedded on its green skin. Patrick could honestly say he had never seen anything as ugly, but he found the alien fascinating. This didn't look like a creature that could be destroyed by something as common as a disease… even if that disease was the genophage. "Fist told us to take you down if you showed up again."
"What are you waiting for?" Wrex growled in response. "I'm standing right here."
"Fist isn't coming out," The other krogan growled, walking back to his post, "Go home, Wrex."
Wrex snarled and Patrick was sure a fight was about to break out, but Wrex merely walked away, shoving into Shepard, "Out of my way, human, I have no quarrel with you."
"What was that?" Kaidan asked as Wrex disappeared from sight.
"Who knows," Ashley responded with a shrug, "Let's just not get caught in the middle of it."
"Oh, we're going to get caught in it," Patrick whispered to himself as he and the others followed Shepard to where a bald man was sitting, a beer in his hand.
"Alliance, huh?" Harkin laughed, his speech slurred from his drink, "I could have been Alliance, but no. I had to sign up for the god damn C-Sec. Biggest god damn mistake of my life."
Harkin then turned to Ashley, putting his drink on the table, "I like how you look in the armor, girl. How about you take a seat down here besides good ol' Harkin?"
Patrick could tell Ashley was about to give him a smart response and apparently so did Shepard because he stepped in front of the two, "Harkin, I presume? I was told you might be able to help me. I'm looking for a C-Sec officer named Garrus."
"Garrus?" Harkin scratched his chin, stubble painted on his face, "Hm… you must be one of Captain Anderson's men. Poor bastard still trying to bring Saren down, I take it?"
"Just answer the question," Ashley snapped.
"Oh I will," Harkin grinned, "But first tell me this. Did the Captain let you in on his big secret?"
"That doesn't concern me," Shepard snapped, "We're only looking for Garrus."
"But it's connected don't you see?" Harkin grinned, "The Captain used to be a Spectre. Didn't know that did you? It was all very hush, hush. First human ever given that honor and then he blew it. Poor bastard blamed Saren though. He couldn't take the blame."
"This doesn't concern us," Shepard snapped, "We are just looking for Garrus."
Harkin shrugged, "Last I heard, he was looking for Doctor Michel."
"Thanks," Patrick muttered as the four of them walked away.
"Now get out of here," Harkin called after them, "And let me drink in peace!"
"Charming fellow," Patrick mumbled as they walked out and Ashley laughed with him before adding,
"Why didn't the Captain tell us he used to be a Spectre?"
"Maybe it's not true," Kaidan said with a shrug, "Harkin's an ass. I bet he was just messing with us."
Ashley shrugged in response, "I would still like to do know if it was true or not."
"After we find Garrus maybe we're have time to interrogate the Captain," Patrick joked as the four of them hopped into a cab that Shepard hailed. Even though they were in the Wards, none of them knew how far away Dr. Michel's office was.
"This place is huge," Kaidan whispered as he stared out the window as they flew around the Citadel. Kaidan had once again claimed his spot in the front seat. "You see it on the vids, but watching it secondhand makes it look so much smaller."
"It makes every other city of visited look like a village," Ashley added.
"No one the Council is careful about newcomers," Shepard said as drove them around. "They represent a lot more races than I thought."
Patrick nodded, "Humans are going to have to work hard to catch up with everything the Council has accomplished. We are like children in a sea of adults."
"Very poetic," Ashley laughed before growing serious once more, "No wonder aliens don't like us."
"It's not they don't like us," Shepard said, "The Council and other species just see as us too aggressive, too headstrong. Sometimes they're right."
"Don't forget Asari live for thousands of years and the krogan aren't far from them," Patrick commented, "We're short-lived compared to them. I think we have the right to be a little aggressive in headstrong. We don't have as much time."
"True," Kaidan said, "But that doesn't mean we can push the other species around. They know so much more than us. If we listen to them, we might be able to further our own technology."
"Here we are," Shepard said as he set them down, "Dr. Michel's office."
"Think Garrus will be here?" Kaidan asked.
"I'm almost positive Garrus will be here," Patrick said with a grin as he took out his pistol.
"What? Are you going to shoot Garrus?" Kaidan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Always like to be prepared," Patrick said as Shepard opened the door. There Garrus was crouched by the glass as four thugs walked over to Dr. Michel.
"I swear I didn't tell anyone," Dr. Michel cried as the lead thug backed her into a wall.
"Good doc," The thug smirked, "Now you just keep your mouth shut when Garrus comes around."
A thug turned and his eyes locked with Patrick's, "Boss! We have company!"
Garrus jumped up and took out the lead thug while Patrick and the others opened fire on the remaining three thugs. Once the last one hit the ground, Patrick followed Shepard, who was chastising Garrus,
"Are you crazy? You could have hit the hostage!"
"I…" Garrus's voice trailed off and he turned to Dr. Michel, "Doctor, are you alright?"
"Yes I'm fine," Dr. Michel whispered in her thick accent, "Thanks to you, Garrus. All of you."
"Can you tell us what those men wanted with you, Doctor?" Shepard asked.
"They wanted to know about the quarian," Dr. Michel said.
"Quarian?" Garrus asked.
Dr. Michel nodded, "A quarian came to me a couple days ago. She was shot, but she wouldn't tell me who did it. I patched her up and she asked me about the Shadow Broker. She said she had some very important information so I put her in contact with Fist."
"Did she say what type of information?" Shepard asked, taking a step closer to Dr. Michel, "Did it have anything to do with Saren or the geth?"
Dr. Michel nodded eagerly, "Yes! She said that her information had something to do with the geth!"
Dr. Michel paused before asking, "Do you think I was wrong to put her in contact with First?"
"Who is Fist?" Kaidan asked.
"An agent of the Shadow Broker," Dr. Michel explained.
"Not anymore," Garrus said, "Now he works for Saren."
"Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker?" Dr. Michel asked, "That's stupid even for him."
"Looks like we should pay Fist a visit," Shepard suggested.
"Shepard, I know this is your mission, but let me come with you," Garrus pleaded.
Shepard shared a glance with Kaidan who nodded, "Welcome aboard, Garrus."
"Thank you, Commander," Garrus said before adding, "Just so you know we aren't the only ones looking for Fist. The Shadow Broker hired a krogan bounty hunter, Wrex, to take him out."
Ashley nodded, "We saw him."
"It couldn't help to pay him a visit," Kaidan added, but Shepard shook his head,
"We have enough troops to take down Fist."
Patrick glanced away. Was Wrex not going to accompany them? How different would their mission be if Wrex was left on the Citadel?"
"Okay, Alenko and Garrus," Shepard said, "Come with me. Let's pay Fist a visit."
Patrick blinked in surprise and Ashley seemed to not like the idea of being left behind either for she snapped, "What about Patrick and me?"
Had Patrick not been annoyed at Shepard, he would have been surprised that Ashley called him Patrick. It usually was always "farmer" or "kid."
"You and Hamilton will stay in the embassies," Shepard ordered, "While the three of us go and see Fist."
"What if you need help?" Patrick asked.
"I think we are more than capable of taking out Fist," Shepard said before the Commander, Kaidan, and Garrus walked out of the office, leaving Patrick and Ashley behind.
"Like hell we are staying in the embassies," Ashley muttered, "Come on, farmer. Let's see if we can find a bar nicer than Chora's den."
A/N: Sorry if there are any grammatical errors. I'm on my grandmother's computer and she doesn't have a spelling check or grammar check on her computer. Anyway please review.