Liara was impatiently waiting for Garrus at the café for nearly twenty minutes before he finally showed up.
He looked horrible. His armor was unpolished and he looked like he hadn't really eaten since their call. She was surprised to see him amble in under his own power and flop into the chair before her.
"Garrus… Have you taken the pills again?" She asked, pretty sure the answer was a resounding no based on how he looked.
He shook his head in response, "No… I had headaches for the first few days but now I just feel… Spent. What is this stuff, Liara? I've never heard of a legal medicine having this kind of withdrawal response before…" He asked with real concern lacing his voice.
Garrus couldn't believe that this was happening to him. He thought he loved Quin, was planning on asking her to mate with him, but the longer that he was off the meds the less and less he felt that way about her.
He couldn't understand why he ever thought getting involved in her was a good idea, especially over Jane. He had left Jane alone for too long… He wanted to be a Spectre so he could take care of her, he wanted to make her proud and do something instead of moping around waiting for her to wake up. Instead he had betrayed his feelings and her trust.
Spirits, what have I done? He kept asking himself. He remembered having similar thoughts before, but Quin would always come and give him something to drink and let him talk about his feelings until he forgot why he was upset.
He had ignored five calls from Quin in the past few days, he wanted to remember the data package the Liara had sent him. He wanted to remember to meet her for lunch, he wanted to find out if there was a chance that Jane was alive.
Liara wasted no time in taking a blood sample from Garrus to field test for the suspected drug. She added the testing strip to the vial and shook it for a bit, waiting for the test to complete. She kept an eye on Garrus as his eyes slipped in and out of focus.
"Hmm positive… I was afraid as much. This is a similar compound to what Dr. Lawson was experimenting with on the Sanctuary, remember? It was one of the earlier compounds used to try and control the Cerberus troops before they found the Reaper code. The chemical delivery method is common among pharmaceutical companies based out of Noveria… I'll do more research to see if we can pinpoint who the buyer is… For now, I suggest you keep yourself hidden and do not contact Quinela until we know what's going on."
Garrus nodded with her words, it seemed harsh to just cut contact, but his mind seemed clear enough that it made sense for now. If he were honest with himself, when he was doubting that Jane could be alive, he felt the strong desire to contact Quin and just talk to her. He really didn't have a reason why it was so important to him, just that it was.
Garrus stumbled his way back to his hotel room after Liara tried to convince him to let her help. He refused and eventually he convinced her that he would be fine. Once in his room, he sat on the edge of his bed and searched the extranet for pictures of Jane. It was sad that he hadn't kept any for his own… He thought he had, but he must have deleted them at some point. His favorite one of them in bed, it was her with her face pressed against his neck and a smile on her face while she looked sideways at the camera, was missing as well. He didn't remember ever deleting it and his heart sunk that he could have been convinced to.
Suddenly a thought entered his brain, unbidden but necessary. He needed to meet with Sparatus' guard Oya. He needed to talk to her, see if she was Jane. Then he could take more pictures. He needed to see her more than he needed anything else right at the moment.
He struggled to stand and ambled his way out of his room and out of the hotel.
Elsewhere on the Citadel, Oya and Stryder were lounging in Sparatus' office as the Councilor went through his messages and completed his work for the day.
"I have heard that there seemed to be some suspicious activity going on in docking bay D15. I think you two should check it out when we are done here. I have a meeting with Tevos and I have informed her that you two would be unavailable to guard, so her own guards are going to pull the duty."
They both nodded at Sparatus before Oya spoke up, "What kind of activity are we to expect? Smuggling, or something more in line with the attacks?"
"Strange persons and ships, everything checks out from a paperwork standpoint, but I want someone to board the ships undetected and take a deeper look in to them. They have spectre access codes as a part of their docking requests but it's a generic code and nothing overly specific. If a spectre is involved I want to know which one."
Both nodded and started planning various routes of infiltration quietly. Eventually Sparatus had them escort him to Tevo's office before they were dismissed. Both wasted no time heading to the docking bay to scope out the ships in question. However, they didn't get far.
When they went to enter the elevator to head down to the docking bay, a turian on the ground stopped them in their tracks. He was propped against a wall with his head down. They could see the rise and fall of his chest, but he wasn't conscious – or wasn't lucid enough to be aware of how Stryder was trying to get his attention.
Oya crouched down in front of the passed out alien and reached her hand out to cup him by the chin to raise his head. Her blood ran cold as recognition soared through her veins.
"It's Vakarian." She said privately to Stryder. "We need to get him to a hospital." She added as Stryder nodded and they both hooked one of Garrus' arms over their shoulders to hoist him up to a semi-standing position. The angles were awkward due to the height difference between them, but it was easier than trying to carry him any other way.
The pair quickly veered towards the nearest hospital where they were met by an emergency team, thanks to a quick message Oya had sent ahead of them. The team took Vakarian and promised the guards updates. Stryder went to head back to the elevator but Oya found she couldn't move, her feet planted where they were and her eyes never leaving the door they had taken Vakarian through.
"Oya…" Stryders voice called over their private link, a tinge of sadness lacing his voice, "If you want to stay-" She turned abruptly and followed him in to the elevator. She was with Stryder; Vakarian would come later.
Before the elevator opened to the docking bay in question, Oya moved to stand in front of Stryder and pulled his head down to touch hers. They had helmets on, but the element of the emotion was there and he visibly relaxed.
"Let's go see what's going on with these ships, yeah?" Oya asked after half a second and Stryder answered calming with a responding "Yeah," all traces sadness gone from his voice. It was surprising to him how quickly she could reassure him. It was unrealistic for him to expect her to be completely over Vakarian, but she was with him now and she wasn't going anywhere. He knew that just as much as she did.
When they arrived at the docking bay, the ship was strangley vacant. No mercs, no signs of mercs, and no one guarding the vessel. Oya cloaked herself and explored the vessel for a good twenty minutes before completing her scans and meeting Stryder at his outlook post on top of some supply crates.
"Sparatus is right, this ship is weird. No signs of inhabitants, I can't find any secret compartments and the logs have been cleared. I downloaded them anyways and will work through a scrubbing software to try and mine any left behind data…"
Stryder nodded and relayed the information to Sparatus, also relaying the strange state in which they found Vakarian in. Sparatus ordered them back to Huerta Memorial to meet him while he met with Vakarian and said to for Oya to keep scrubbing the data files.
The ship left them uneasy as did the entire docking bay. It was strangely quiet. Usually when ships came in the docking bays would be teeming with people, some resupplying, and some crew members just ready to be off the ship, some more unsavory types trying to ply their wares to anyone looking for a little deviancy before shipping back out.
This bay had no one, not even the standard C-Sec officers; it was all too empty.
They met Sparatus at Tevo's office and escorted him down to the hospital. They had already gotten word back from the doctors working on Vakarian that he was awake and stable. They said he had been malnourished and severely dehydrated. It rubbed Oya the wrong wa. He had never been one to not take care of himself, if anything, he was almost too meticulous with personal health and hygiene. It was too out of character.
When Sparatus entered the hospital room, he had Stryder scan the room for any bugs. He wasn't sure what kind of information he would get from Vakarian, but he knew that it could possibly be something he didn't want to get out of this room. When the scans were done and Stryder gave the go ahead, Sparatus moved to speak.
Garrus beat the Councilor to his questions by posing a few of his own. He knew what the Councilor had Stryder do and Garrus couldn't help the words that came tumbling out of his mouth. He pointed at "Oya" as he spoke, "Before we start, Councilor, I want to talk to Jane. You and "Stryder" need to take a step outside."
All three of them stopped what they were doing. Garrus heard a faint growl escape from Stryder and felt his own growl rumble. He couldn't help the instinctive reaction he felt to fight for the woman he knew in his soul was rightfully his.
Sparatus looked at Garrus for a minute before confidently answering Garrus' request, "Vakarian, Jane Shepard has been dead for a while now. I would love to bring her back for you, however that it outside of my power." The condescending tone harshened the Councilor's words, but didn't anger him as much as the fact that he could smell her. In such close quarters even her suit couldn't keep the distinct scent of her away from him.
He snapped his head towards the Councilor, his hands gripping the bed and starting to tear at the sheets. "I know who she is, I can smell her and her medical records are identical to Jane's. Don't take me for an idiot!" He all but yelled, his instincts to just see her face were warring with his need to be right. He needed to be right more than anything else right now, he needed her to be alive. He could deal with the fact that he could smell Stryder all over her later.
"This isn't the place to discuss this." Sparatus finally caved. He was already typing up something to his fellow Council members as he spoke. "We will have you transported to the Guard's private apartments and there we will continue this discussion." Sparatus turned leaving no room for further arguments. Oya and Stryder followed him out, but Garrus did not miss the way Oya turned her head to glance at him as she left.
Just the small gesture eased his worries - she was Jane. He knew it. He had no other proof other than what Liara had said and what he knew from his own interactions with her – which was minimal – but he knew in his gut that it was her. He was finally thinking clearly again and his thoughts were all about her.
The transfer to the apartments was easy enough to coordinate. The medical staff assured Sparatus that Garrus would be fine now as long as he kept up on his fluids and meals and shouldn't have a relapse. They left him at the Rapid Transport station that led to the Council Chambers where he was greeted by Stryder. Stryder was never one to hold back an opinion or mince his words. But the short walk to their apartments seemed to stretch on forever in the tense silence.
The turian jerked his head indicating for Vakarian to follow him as he led him to the guarded piece of wall, removed his glove and motioned for Garrus to enter the hallway first. Stryder followed him in and motioned for him to enter the door labeled "Three". Garrus assumed he had struck a nerve with the other turian for demanding to see Oya – or Jane. They were a team designed to protect the Council members. Garrus knew how demanding he was. It didn't matter to him, he could have his Spectre status revoked at this point for all he cared he only needed to verify that Oya was Jane.
"Vakarian, I want you to know how unusual these circumstances are. We would be within our rights to make you disappear, but you have been a trusted friend to the Council as long as Shepard had been. You were a part of her team and therefore we are willing to put the same faith in you that we did her. I will tell you now that if this information leaves this room, I will destroy you and your family, do you understand?" Sparatus said with a glint of fire in his eye.
So Garrus was being trusted with something no others were? Good. He quickly decided that he would out Liara as his source – sort of. The Shadow Broker was still a major player in galactic politics, so to get information from "him" was still not unheard of.
"You want to know how I found out?" Garrus asked and Sparatus nodded. Oya shifted beside Sparatus and Stryder in turn behind Garrus. This was a security risk to not only Sparatus' team and Garrus recognized that.
"The Shadow Broker sent me Oya's medical files from when she was admitted into the hospital before she officially became a guard member. Had anyone else seen them, I doubt they would have made the connection… But given my history with Shepard, I recognized the similarities." He stated honestly, he didn't want the Councilor to think that this information would be spread around the galaxy, because it wouldn't. Liara and he had both agreed to keep it to themselves.
Sparatus nodded and motioned to both of his guards. "Then, Garrus Vakarian, meet my guards. Jane Shepard and Tiberius Cretin."