*CITADEL*
"If you expect to get me in a tinfoil mini skirt and thigh high boots, I want dinner first." Ashley stated matter of factly before the realization of what she'd said, and who she'd said it to, dawned. "Sir…" She awkwardly added to mask her mistake.
"Just dinner, Chief?" Alenko teased.
Shepard stood for a half-second to digest the implications before mentally formulating a response that would divert without offending. She was attractive, no doubt, but not really his type. "Should I come back later? Seems like the two of you are having a moment."
Both of his companion's faces began to flush crimson, though for entirely different reasons. He had to work to keep a straight face. "No? Alright then, let's get moving. We've got to get down to the clinic to find that Turian from before."
"And pray he's nothing like that sleazeball, Harkin." Ashley grumbled, shaking off her embarrassment first and trailing after the Commander.
"Amen to that." Shepard agreed. "Although I have to admit it was pretty entertaining watching him wilt like a flower after you nut-busted him."
Ashley snorted in disgust. "What kind of moron thinks he can just cop a feel on an Alliance soldier and get away scot free? He's just lucky I'm wearing armor. If he'd gotten a real piece of me, I probably would have shot him."
"I have no doubt you would." Kaidan chuckled, finally rejoining the banter.
Shepard allowed himself a guarded smile. He was ecstatic that the Normandy's newest crew member was fitting in so well. She was no replacement for Jenkins, by any means, but she was good at what she did and had already made solid friendships with most of the crew on their short flight to the Citadel from Eden Prime. His expression dropped somewhat as he recalled the events leading up to their current situation.
A simple shakedown run of the most advanced ship in the galaxy, presided over by an infamous Alliance Captain, and accompanied by a Turian spec ops agent met resistance in the form of Geth and some giant, squid ship. The shakedown then turned into a smash and grab for some old, Prothean relic the poor saps at the colony uncovered. Ashley's 212 was obliterated to the last member. Shepard's own crewman, Jenkins, was gunned down by Geth drones. Then, as if all of that wasn't bad enough, hundreds of colonists were spiked, Vlad the impaler style, on enormous spines to become synthetic, walking dead.
'No wonder that scientist went off the deep end.' Shepard thought to himself grimly, remembering a less than fruitful conversation they'd had with some scientists that had hidden in one of the colony pre-fabs.
He recalled fighting through wave after wave of Geth and Husks to reach the spaceport and that damnable Beacon everyone was so paranoid about. Said Beacon had then nearly snatched up Williams, and would have if not for his timely intervention. Instead, he had received the opportunity to be brain-boned in her place by whatever nightmare images were stored in the relic. All that followed were accounts he'd had to learn second hand.
Apparently, after unabashedly violating his consciousness, the Beacon had exploded without even offering a cuddle and smoke afterward, leaving him completely out cold for the better part of a day. When he'd come-to back in the Normandy's med bay, he'd offered up his best explanation of what had happened for the Captain. Anderson had in turn informed him of the shadowy figure behind the colony's assault, and that they were headed back to the Citadel to try and mete out justice.
After arriving at the Citadel, they'd gone straight to the Council to bring down that shadowy figure. A Turian who just happened to be a Council Spectre, Saren Arterius. Shepard had spent most of that meeting mentally kicking his own ass as the Council demanded proof of Saren's misdeeds. Proof that the Commander could have had if not for the simple fact that he'd put a bullet between its beady eyes while it stood cowering behind some crates.
'That little bastard is probably laughing himself wet in whatever afterlife there might be.' Shepard had thought darkly as he and his team left the Council chambers to try to chase leads that might yet provide evidence of Saren's betrayal. Hence leading them to their current location outside of a hole-in-the-wall med clinic on the wards searching for a hot-headed C-Sec officer.
As they neared the clinic, Shepard could just barely hear the sound of raised voices through the closed front door. He reflexively reached for his sidearm while gesturing with nod that the others should do the same. Better to be safe than sorry and always shoot first. He could hear the voices getting louder as he keyed open the door's mechanisms and let the muzzle of his pistol lead them all through.
In an instant he took in the situation. Several thugs stood clustered around a terrified doctor. The muscleheads seemed unaware of the Turian hunched behind the half-high wall partitioning off bed alcoves from the waiting area.
"I didn't say anything I swear!" The Doctor pleaded with tear blurred eyes as the chief asshole shoved his gun in her face.
"That was smart, doc. Now you stay smart and if Garrus…" He didn't finish his thought before it registered that unwelcome guests had arrived. He wrapped his arm around the doctor's neck to pull her to his chest as a Human shield and pointed his weapon at the newcomers. "Who are you?"
"The goddamn tooth fairy. Let her go." Shepard commanded.
Just as the last word left his lips, Garrus vaulted out of cover and let fly with a single shot. In an instant, nondescript bad guy number one's brain spewed out of the back of his thick skull like wet confetti. Shepard was dimly aware of the Doctor's terrified scream as the body limply collapsed onto her, but he was far too preoccupied with the bodies that could still fight back. Ironically, nondescript bad guys two, three, and four turned out to be much tougher nuts to crack as they hunkered down behind medical equipment that was actually capable of stopping bullets. For several seconds, both parties traded fire before the Commander's temper got the best of him, as per usual.
"Cover me!" He hollered to his teammates before bowling forward to smash the bad guys in their jimmies. His biotic corona lit up like a cobalt christmas tree as he flung gravitational care packages in every direction on his way to the far wall. It had the desired effect as the thugs were caught completely by surprise at the suicidal charge and thrown about like sweaty ragdolls. A few shots into each crumpled tangle of limbs served to eliminate the threat entirely.
Once the twitching stopped, Shepard and his team walked over to where Garrus stood with the Doctor. "Sorry about the mess."
Garrus shook his head. "Your timing was perfect, Shepard." He looked back at the doctor and laid his taloned hand on her shoulder. "Are you hurt, Michelle?"
She hugged her arms tightly around her middle and stared at the floor for a moment. "No. No, I'm ok." She raised her eyes to meet Shepard's and his team's. "It's a good thing you got here when you did. Thank you."
"Don't mention it." Shepard replied, holstering his weapon. "What was that all about?"
The doctor's stare shifted from Garrus back to the Commander. "Fist sent them to shut me up."
"Who's Fist?" Kaidan asked.
Garrus holstered his own weapon. "He owns that seedy club by the markets, Chora's Den. Somehow he's connected with Saren, but what did he want with you, Doctor?"
"I treated a Quarian girl a few days ago. She'd been shot, and was barely able to stand, but she'd made it here looking for sanctuary. While she was here she asked my help in setting up a meeting with the Shadow Broker. She wanted to trade information on Saren for protection, so I put her in touch with Fist. Apparently he didn't want me saying anything about it to anyone." Michelle explained.
Ashley crossed her arms and cradled her chin in one hand. "Hang on. So does that mean Fist went bitch on the Broker to help Saren cover up whatever dirt the Quarian has?"
"That'd be stupid even for him. But that's the way it seems." Michelle affirmed.
"So what information does this Quarian have that's so valuable?" Shepard asked thoughtfully.
"I believe she said it was something about the Geth. She didn't want to share too much, but I'm certain at least some part of her information involved them." The Doctor replied as her face finally started to regain its color.
"It's not much, but if we can link Saren to the Geth, we're in with half a chance to bring him down. We need to find this Quarian before she finds any more trouble herself." Shepard stated blandly as he moved to the medi-gel dispenser on the wall. "Mind if I uh?" He asked, pointing.
"Not at all, Commander. Please help yourself."
"Thanks, Doctor." He said as he topped off his team's supply. "Looks like we're going to have to pay Fist a visit."
"What about that Krogan, Wrex? Wasn't he after Fist too?" Kaidan asked, accepting a small canister of people glue from the Commander before slotting it into a receptacle in his armor.
"That's right. Having a Krogan to help storm the gates might not be a bad idea if Fist doesn't
feel like sharing." Ashley agreed.
"Can't say I disagree. Know where he might be, Garrus?" Shepard asked.
The Turian nodded. "Actually, yes. A handful of our officers detained him an hour ago. He's probably still at the station."
Shepard nodded and gestured for his team to move out. "Thanks."
"Wait. I'm coming with you. Saren was my case so I want to be there to see him hang." Garrus vehemently insisted. His tone and flared mandibles made it patently clear that he was expecting some kind of pushback to his demanded inclusion.
Shepard only smiled, but not in a good way. "In it 'till his feet stop twitching, eh? I'll take whatever help I can get. Welcome aboard, Vakarian." He extended his hand.