August 2172

"She's a pimp, sir."

Pallin looked exasperated. "You can't prove a damn thing, Nacht. If you could, then you wouldn't need to convince me."

Charlie ran a hand through her black curls, it was a nervous habit, but much less detrimental than her old ones. "I told you I have a girl who will talk. You need to get her into witness protection."

"Nacht, this is not your jurisdiction. You're a beat cop. You walk the beat and you keep the peace, if you happen to stumble across evidence you bring it to a detective." If this was the first time he was having this exact conversation, he might have been a little calmer. However Charlie Nacht was a pain in his cloaca. The fool woman was constantly stretching further than her reach.

"She is not evidence." Charlie was barely keeping her temper in check. "I also brought this issue to Detective Cassius. She informed me that Sharisse is not a credible witness. I informed the 'Detective' that prostitution is a legal activity and Sharisse has no record of illicit drug use. Cassius then called Sharisse a whore to her face. I will have all of you know that Sharrise Aleya is a 250 year old asari and she is many things, but whore is not one of them!" By the end of her recitation Charlie had clearly lost her temper, as she was shouting at the Executor.

"Are you finished, Nacht?" Pallin ground out.

"Not even close, sir. I don't care what the rules are on your planet, this is the Citadel."

"Yes, it is the Citadel and on the Citadel who is in charge of enforcing the rules?"

"Citadel Security, I believe I am still a member of that illustrious institution, sir."

Pallin growled a low warning at Charlie, but she held her ground and glared at him. "Nacht, you have been here for two years and do you know why you are still a member?"

Charlie made a small chuffing noise under her breath. "Because the council refuses you every time you try and fire me." She smirked at Pallin's furrowed eyeplates. "I get a letter from Ambassador Goyle every attempt you have made. I believe it has been three times already?"

"I was going to say it's because you are a good cop and the only complaints I have ever had concerning your behavior have come from within the office."

"If I'm such a good cop, then listen to me. Matriarch Ryza is a monster. I can't prove it without Sharisse's testimony, but she is responsible for, at least, two of the asari murders in the past few months."

Pallin looked down at the data pad on the desk. "It says here that those were textbook overdoses. That's not a m-"

"It is murder, sir. Ryza is forcing the ODs on any girls trying to walk away. Trust me I would love to go to the Asari embassy and take this up with them, I have tried you know."

Pallin gave a slightly amused growl. "I am aware of the incident."

Charlie gave him her own growl in response; it was a curious habit she had picked up from working so closely with turians. "Anyways, I tried and they can't prove I called them anything not befitting their station."

"Curious, how nobody can ever prove that."

"I'm not here to prove myself to anyone. I'm here, because I refuse to find anymore dead asari hookers on my patrol. I have a witness now; you just need to get the ball rolling, sir."

"So now they're hookers?"

"Yes, legal hookers."

"Detective Cassius has refused to work with you on this."

Charlie sighed and again ran her hand through her hair. "Fine. I'm just a beat cop, after all. She shouldn't have to work with me, just as long as she does her job … I don't care."

Executor Pallin sat back in his chair, he had already assigned the detective to the case. He really just wanted to see why Nacht had punched the insufferable woman. Pallin really wanted to like Officer Nacht, but she made it damn near impossible to do so. "You know if you'd stop assaulting your superiors maybe I would actually promote you."

Charlie snorted at the executor, "With all due respect, sir, she started it. If I hadn't stepped in, Cassius would be a pile biotic soup right now. Don't lie to me, sir, I could start shitting roses and properly filed reports tomorrow, and I'd still never get the badge."

Pallin actually laughed at Nacht, but not because she was wrong. He wouldn't be able to handle the political shit storm that would blow through if Charlie ever became a Detective.

"I'll get Sharisse Aleya in the witness protection program. Don't worry so much, it's being taken care of."

Charlie gave him a short nod, saluted, and left the office.

"I believe thanking me would actually kill her." Pallin mused to the empty office.

Charlie was feeling pretty good as she made dinner for Grace and Darius. She had actually made a difference today. Sharisse was safely locked away and eventually Ryza would be off the streets. She opened the oven door to check on the stroganoff. It smelled fantastic. Darius' dinner was a pan seared yolane, which was a dark red fish, over a bed of what looked like short noodles, but was actually shaved trollan. Charlie had never been a great cook, but she was a quick study and Grace had forced her to learn. Darius, Grace's turian friend, had forced her to learn to cook dextro cuisine as well. That boy was staying over more and more often. Charlie wasn't positive, but she had her suspicions that his parents' marriage was failing. She liked them both and really hoped that she was reading too much into the situation.

"Darius. Grace. Come on out here and eat."

The nine-year-olds running feet could be heard long before they were spotted skidding into the kitchen.

"Thank you, Ms. Nacht." Darius said as he took his plate.

"Hey, how come you never call me 'Ms. Nacht'?" She asked Grace, with a playful smirk.

"Because you're Char." The girl gave her a shrug.

"True, but you're welcome Darius. Let me know how it is."

They all sat down at the tiny table in the corner of the kitchen. Darius pronounced the dish 'tasty', but Charlie was well aware that he was far too polite to tell her if it was terrible. At least, I have yet to outright poison him. So there's that. The stroganoff was delicious to Charlie and by the way Grace was eating hers, she must have agreed.

"So anyone want to tell me about school?"

The kids looked at each other, before responding in unison. "It's fine."

"That's an informative answer." Charlie gave them both a wry look. "Darius, I seem to remember that math was your favorite subject. How's that going?"

Darius gave a half-hearted shrug. "It is fine, I guess."

Grace piped up, "He likes history now."

"Ooh, I also like history. What are you two studying?" Charlie said in between bite.

"We're studying human history. I think Darius only likes it, because Marta likes it."

This brought about a verse of "No, I don't like girls. Especially not human ones." from Darius that was backed up by a chorus of "Darius likes girls" sung by Grace; Charlie desperately tried to keep from laughing, because it would only encourage them. She failed miserably and the two children continued to harass each other.

A beeping from her omni-tool brought her out of her laughter and Charlie quickly left the room to answer the call. It was work.

"This is Nacht."

"Officer Nacht we have a code black with your name attached to it. We are forwarding the address now."

"Can I get a little more information first?"

"I'm sorry there isn't any more at this time."

The salarian officer ended the call and Charlie was forced to get quickly dressed. The kids had finished eating and a call to Darius' parents let her drop them both off. She really hated to bail on them, but technically she was always on-call.

Charlie was very nervous about responding to the call. She made her way through the ward with leaden feet. Code black meant that there was a body and the only reason her name would be attached to the call was if she knew the person. That meant it was either one of the half a dozen people she actually knew on the Citadel or it was a duct rat or it was a prostitute.

A small group of people had gathered around the quarantined alley way when she arrived. There weren't any reporters which meant it wasn't a personal friend, but that didn't help her feeling of dread. If it was another kid, Charlie would lose it. She had seen too many of them dead. She tried to help them, but there was only so much she could do. If it was another one of Ryza's prostitutes she would personally oversee Sharisse's protection detail. Charlie didn't care how many strings needed to be pulled.

Charlie tried to make her way to the body when Detective Cassius stepped in front of her. "Nacht, I don't know why you are here, but you are way out of line."

Charlie stared down at the small turian female. "I was called here by dispatch. Cassius, you better tell me what's going on."

"I don't have to tell you shit."

Charlie's hand itched to hit Cassius again. In her heart she knew why she was here, but she wanted Cassius to say something reprehensible to give her a reason to kick the crap out of her.

"Why are you here and don't give me any farkakte."

"That whore witness of yours OD'd." It was the smug way that Cassius said it. It was exactly the way that Charlie imagined her saying it. Her next move would be to the rip that smug face off of the bitch's body. Charlie had planned it. But when Cassius actually said the words, it didn't matter anymore. Sharisse was dead. Somehow Ryza got to her and did what Charlie had feared. Sharisse who was her friend, who had done her hair and tried to make her go out and have fun. Who had come over twice and watched Grace for her. One of her only friends left in this stupid universe, and she was dead. A victim of trying to do the right thing, a victim of honor. Sharisse had never been one of Ryza's girls; she was just tired of the dead women piling up. She wouldn't be dead right now, with her name being spat on, if Charlie hadn't forced her to speak up.

Charlie stood there shaking not with rage, like Detective Cassius thought, but with grief. "She was in protective custody." Charlie's voice wavered just above a whisper.

"She was." The voice that was speaking now was much deeper and older. Pallin motioned for Cassius to leave. "The officers assigned to her detail said they didn't see her leave the building."

"Then they're lying."

As soon as Cassius departed, Charlie made her way to the black plastic sheet hiding the body. She pulled back the corner of it, despite the protests from the coroner, and looked at Sharisse's face. Sharisse had always been a dark purple color, but this face was pale … too pale. There was foam at the mouth and when Charlie opened the eyes they were completely bloodshot. There was a little trickle of blood slipping from a tear duct.

"Red sand. Looks like they fucking poured it her eyes." The voice that spoke these words didn't sound like Charlie. The syllables were flat and dead.

Pallin made a disgusted noise of agreement behind her. "They're not even trying to make it look like an accidental overdose anymore."

"No. This was a statement. Tell me that her written testimony was enough."

She could hear the Executor shuffling nervously behind her, so she stood up and looked him in the eyes for the first time that night. Charlie had thought about hitting Pallin in the past, but had never seriously considered it till right then.

He must have sensed her thoughts, because he finally spoke up. "Her testimony has been wiped."

Charlie's body jerked back like she had been slapped. "Are you kidding me? Tell me that you are kidding me. Tell me that this is horribly inappropriate joke to be had in front of the dead woman who just gave her life for nothing. If you can't tell me that, then tell me you know which one of the illustrious C-Sec officers did this."

Pallin glared at Charlie and shook his head.

"God damn it all, Pallin! Did they get the recording of the room too?"

Pallin nodded his head.

"I was there. Detective Cassius was there too. Surely, we can …"

"You know that that doesn't count as viable testimony."

"Son of a bitch. I need to sit down and smoke a carton of Camels." Charlie kicked the wall and then slid down the filthy side of it to the even filthier floor. She held her head in her hands and it took a second for her to recognize the light blue cylinder being thrust in front of her.

"I don't have your brand, but I can give you an Ignis."

Charlie barely hesitated before sticking the paper wrapped tube between her lips. "Got a light?"

Pallin lit her cigarette before lighting his own and leaning against the wall. Charlie savored the sweet taste, it was nothing like her old menthols. This tasted of cinnamon and spices, like a clove, but Charlie had always hated cloves. This tasted like what she had always thought cloves should taste like. There was still the strong hit of whatever kind of tobacco this was, but it was flavored with sweetness. Charlie took long drags both savoring the taste and enjoying the slightly dizzying effect of the new drug.

"I assume Cassius didn't take a personal recording?" She asked after a while.

"No, to be honest I was kind of hoping that a certain paranoid cop I know had done that."

Charlie almost responded with a no, but then she remembered that her glasses are set to record by default.

"Sir, give me a moment. I might have something."

She quickly shuffled through the day's events, quietly praying that she had been wearing them. When Sharisse's face came up in the video, Charlie almost wept.

"Executor Pallin, I have the evidence. I'm sending you a copy now and, with your permission, I'm forwarding one to every member of C-Sec. They can't erase them all."

Pallin appeared to consider this for a second. "Do it, but encrypt the message so they can't play it. Use my codes."

"Done."

"Good work, Nacht. Go home and get some rest. We'll bring this in tomorrow. Do you want in on the arrest?"

Charlie thought about it. She really did want to be there when Matriarch Ryza was brought in, but it really was not her place. Charlie was just an officer. She wasn't there for the glory and didn't give a damn which detective got the praise. Well she almost didn't care.

"No, sir. It's not my place. I do have one request though."

"Don't you worry, Detective Cassius will not get the arrest. I'll bring her in myself. I'll make a proper political stink over it too. She will not be extradited to asari space; I'll make sure of it."

Charlie took another cinnamon sweet drag. "Thank you, sir. I'm sure Sharisse would have appreciated it."

"Go home and take the next couple of days off. You need it."

"Is that an order, sir?"

"Does it have to be?"

Charlie wasn't sure what Mya's parents thought when she asked them if they could watch Grace for a couple days. Mya's father was a human and Charlie had always thought he had looked down on her as a guardian. She was pretty sure Mya's mother, Rychana, understood why she needed a few days alone. Especially after the asari thanked her, but failed to mention what the thanks was for. Charlie ignored most of this though and focused on Grace.

"I'm not leaving you, ok?"

Grace gave her a shrug.

"Grace, I know I'm gone a lot for work and this is a work thing."

Grace looked up at Rychana and leaned close to Charlie's ear and whispered. "Is this because that asari lady died?"

Charlie placed her hands on Grace's shoulders looked at her questioningly.

"I saw it on the news."

Charlie sighed heavily. "She was a friend, a really good friend, and I need some time alone if that's alright. I should have just told you. I forget how grown up you are, sometimes."

Grace smiled at Charlie and gave her a hug. "It's ok, I forgive you. I wanted to have a sleepover at Mya's house anyways. Maybe Darius can come over?" Grace looked up questioningly at Rychana, who nodded.

After Grace and Mya had escaped to a back room, Rychana caught Charlie as she was leaving.

"She's really is more grown up than she should be."

"I know, I'm doing the best I can. Grace lost her parents too young, I can't change that." Charlie was speaking defensively out of habit, whenever she was questioned about Grace. She had had her for over two years now and it felt like she was still dodging attacks.

"No, you misunderstand me. I'm sorry. I meant that in a good way." She continued after noting Charlie's confusion. "Grace is a very calm child. She thinks about her words before she speaks them. This is unusual for a girl so young and yet she has been this way since I met her. I have … sensed something in her. You may want to have her checked for any dormant biotic potential."

Charlie started to shake her head. "No, that's not possible. Grace was conceived, carried, and born on Mindoir. That planet does not have any element zero and as far as I am aware there have been no industrial accidents there. I'll check, but I feel fairly confident in that. To the best of my knowledge, there is no way that Grace has any biotic potential. She's just Grace and full of empathy."

Rychana looked skeptical, but bowed her head to head to Charlie's explanation. "Take care, Ms. Nacht, and thank you again. I know that it was you who pressed the issue."

It was Charlie's turn to look skeptical.

"I'm a receptionist at the asari embassy."

Charlie blushed a deep red, remembering that loud and unfortunate incident. "Sorry about that desk."

Rychana laughed, it was a musical sound, and Charlie quickly left.

Charlie stood in her room. She was wearing a pair of jeans, they had been very hard to find and she paid far too much for the familiar comfort, a spaghetti strap tight black shirt, and a pair of boots. She scrounged around in the drawer until she found the only earrings she owned. They were some kind of blue pearl that Sharisse had given her. Charlie looked at the tangled excuse of a hairstyle and realized it was beyond help. She sighed, then slipped her knife in its holster hidden at her back, fitted her pistol at her thigh and slipped a small concealed pistol in her boot. She technically did not a permit for that one, but she was a C-Sec officer and the rules regarding weapons were a little loose. Fully armed, she grabbed a long jacket and headed out the door.

Charlie told herself that she didn't know where she was going, but that was a lie. She was going to get incredibly drunk and go home with a stranger. She needed or wanted, she wasn't sure which and it didn't matter, to get laid. It had been a very long time since Justin and while Charlie was not the kind of person to drown her sorrows in alcohol and a warm body, it had been known to happen. Once … maybe twice .. alright it had happened quite a bit. Actually the last time she did this exact thing, Justin had found her and taken her home. She wasn't holding out hope for a repeat performance on his part, but if there was enough alcohol involved she could at least pretend it was Justin. A sigh escaped her lips, Justin had been tall, broad, bearded, and always had a smile. She missed his smile.

Charlie was just so tired of being alone.