Garrus Vakarian walked out of the terminal. Security was incredibly lax. He was carrying a pistol in his pocket and a rifle in his bag and no one even stopped to check his papers. Pathetic. Garrus dropped his luggage off at his apartment. His father had tried to give him an apartment, but he firmly turned it down. Instead he took a dingy one room flat which was the best he could afford.
Garrus wasn't sure what to do now as he had a couple of days before C-Sec training started. He sent a message to Charlie, that girl always responded quickly and he was sure that she would want to do something. Garrus really wished Lia was here. She always knew something to do, but she was stuck on the Argo. Cecilia had gotten an offer to work for an engineering firm on the Citadel and Garrus was really hoping she would take it. Then they could get properly attached and she could take his colony markings. His father wouldn't approve, but that didn't matter.
Why isn't Charlie responding?
If she was working then she would have responded immediately and if she wasn't working well it was still fairly early, she should still be awake. Garrus knew that that dingy asari club, Valhalla, was on Charlie's normal route. It seemed like as good a place as any to get a drink and they had a decent turian whiskey.
There was loud music coming from the club as he neared; that wasn't particularly odd, what was odd was that it was not any kind of music he had heard before. There was a male's voice speaking quickly through the cacophony of sound and his translator helpfully informed him that it was English. The singer must have been using some kind of colloquial slang, because every third word couldn't be translated.
When he walked into the bar, it was almost empty. There were a few asari wandering around but they weren't scantily clad and instead were dressed completely in white. Garrus didn't know much about asari culture, but he seemed to recall that white was a mourning color for them. A loud female voice drew his attention to the bar. A woman was sitting on a bar stool and was practically fawning over a large bearded man.
"Hey DJ play me some Jamie T! I need some Sticks N' Stones."
Garrus was not sure of a lot of things in that moment. Who that man was, what a DJ was, and what a Jamie T was; to name a few. He was sure of two things though. That the woman at the bar was Charlotte Nacht and she was incredibly drunk. Garrus made his way over to the her.
"So this song is like really awesome, but you need to listen to the lyrics. 'It's the only place but home I feel relaxed enough to crap. I know it sounds crude, but there's something in that.' I love this British bastard. I used to listen to him all the time."
Garrus had never heard Charlie speak like this before. It was like she was parodying her own voice. Charlie always spoke with her hands, but right now it was ludicrous how much she was using them. The way the man was leering at Charlie disgusted Garrus. He knew it wasn't his place to get involved, but surely she would thank him when she was sober.
He rested a hand on her shoulder. "Charlie."
"Oy gevalt, I swear to god if that is Pallin, I will rip off your talons and shove them so far up your cloaca they'll be permanently lodged in your stomach."
"The crazy bitch has got a mouth on her." The drunk was really pissing off Garrus. He was going to do something about it when the bartender walked up to the man.
"Leave." Garrus had never in all of his years of the military heard so much force put into one word. If that command had been directed at him, he would have been halfway to his apartment before he came to his senses. The human male did not realize this though.
"No, I'm staying here. This bitch wants some and I'm giving it to her. Isn't that right, sweetie?"
"What?" Charlie was roused from her thoughts and was clearly disoriented. "Oh yes beard man. Yeah leave him alone Sharisse, I'm getting some of that tonight."
The asari clearly faltered during Charlie's speech, but Garrus wasn't exactly sure why. He was sure that this man was leaving. Now.
"I believe the lady said to leave. I agree with her. Go." Garrus allowed all of his disgust show in his dual tones.
The man still refused to leave and it took Garrus and the bartender forcibly evicting him. The bartender then locked the doors behind him.
"What's going on?" Garrus asked the asari, thoroughly confused.
"Do you actually know her?" The asari asked, ignoring the question.
"Charlie? Yeah I know her."
"Are you looking to fuck her?" The asari asked baldly.
"What, no!" The idea was revolting even if Charlie had been sober, which she clearly was not. "I have a mate."
"Good. If you want to know, ask her. It's not my story to tell."
Garrus was still confused, but so far this was the only encounter he had had with Charlie that didn't start with them attacking each other. So he was cautious as approached the bar and took the seat recently vacated.
"Charlie, are you alright?"
Charlie who had been humming along with the song stopped and stared at Garrus. "Oh it's Garrus Vakarian, my favorite fictional character."
"Why are you here? What happened?"
"Well you would have to ask chief-pain-in-my-ass Pallin. He lied and let that bitch go. Said that he was going to keep her and punish her. He didn't. Saw it on the tele. Isn't that right Sharisse?"
Garrus kept quiet as none of this still made any sense.
Charlie looked down into her glass and furrowed her face. "Oh, that's right that hooker is dead. How many does that make? I can't remember, it's not like I can do anything about it. I mean I tried, I really did. I did everything. Fucking everything."
The bartender came over placed a hand on Charlie's shoulder and gave her a light squeeze. "There are kids that I can't save. I tried there too. Do you remember, Nexxia? Do you remember how I tried with them? Couldn't get them to stay in the home. Then the hookers kept dying, I was going to save them. I thought that this time it would be different. I mean there are laws that protect them, right? What they do is legal."
Garrus nodded his head.
"I need a light."
"What?"
In response, Charlie put a turian cigarette between her lips.
"Those aren't for humans. I can get you a human one if you like." Nexxia was shaking her head, as if she had already had this conversation.
"Don't have the farkakte allergy do I? 'Sides I like these better. Give me some fire, fictional squad member."
Garrus shook his head, reached over to Charlie and flipped the backwards cigarette and lit the proper end. "Do you want to finish the story?"
Charlie frowned at him as she took a drag. "Where was I?"
"You were telling me how you were going to save the prostitutes and how that was legal."
"I think they prefer 'hookers', right Nexxia?"
Nexxia sat down next to Charlie and stole a drag off her cigarette. "I wouldn't know. I'm just a bartender."
Charlie laughed a bitter sound. "Well Garrus Vakarian, turian sniper extraordinaire, I was going to save all of the asari hookers. I found out who was killing them. All I had to do was convince someone to talk. It wasn't even hard. I just asked her. Sharisse said yes, of course she did, she trusted me. Can you guess what happened next? I don't know if you saw the news, but it made all of the headlines. 'Asari Matriarch, Pimpin' and Killin' Hookers'"
Garrus could visibly see the pain and guilt in Charlie's every word and motion. It was enough to make bile rise in his throat. He wanted to maim every individual responsible for the way she was feeling. He had never felt such a strong urge to protect someone before and he wasn't sure why he was feeling it now. He didn't really know Charlie that well, but she always laughing and joking. To see her use those same tactics in such a bitter and cruel way, felt fundamentally flawed and wrong.
"One last thing had to happen first, though, and no one even cares about it. That's the kicker. The last act of vengeance that bitch had in her, was to murder Sharisse. Sweet Sharisse. A victim of honor. Oh wait, there is one more thing. You see I had the evidence to convict, Matriarch Ryza. Fucker Pallin promises me that he will make sure the bitch pays. Says that he'll personally make sure that she doesn't get sent to Thessia. That she'll actually pay for her damn crimes. I want you to guess what happened next."
Garrus shook his head.
"I said I want you guess, Garrus. Play the game, that's all it is." Charlie laughed the twisted sound again.
"She's being sent back to Thessia."
"Ding ding ding, we have winner folks."
Charlie paused and tried to pour another shot from the bottle on the counter, but couldn't quite figure out how to do that. Nexxia helped her out and poured them both a drink.
"Do you really think she needs more to drink?" Garrus asked seriously.
Both women frowned at him and proceeded to knock back the liquor.
"I'm drinking for more than just Sharisse." Charlie lit another cigarette with the lighter Garrus had left on the counter. When she realized that she now had two lit cigarettes she offered one of them to Nexxia, who turned it down. Charlie then forced Garrus to take the other one, surprising even himself, he took it.
"Like I was saying, I'm drinking for more souls than Sharisse. Do you know how often people die around me? I'd tell you to watch out, but you're a fictional character so you don't have to worry much. So the last people to die around me, besides the nameless children and the hookers, was the entire colony of Mindoir. Sometimes I try and remember all of their names, but I can't quite get them all. I could have saved them. If I had ignored Ethan, I might have been able to fend off the attack with him. I'm damn good. I'm better now, maybe I wasn't good enough then. I don't know. I'd be dead anyways. Before the Mindoir attack, there was Cody. I definitely fucked up with him. I saw that thing in the water. I knew it was there. He didn't and because I didn't tell him; he died. At least, then I got to shoot that fucker dead."
"Charlie, stop."
"No, I'm not done. I have been to far too many funerals and I'm done, Garrus. I'm done with being the survivor, I'm done with being the one who didn't save everyone, the careless one, the failure. Every single time, I just needed to try a little bit harder. Push the rules a little bit further. I could have stayed with Sharisse last night, but I went home to Grace instead."
"Charlie, stop. This isn't your fault."
"Schtup ir. What do you know?"
"I know that if there was anything you could have done you would have done it. If you want to sit here and berate yourself then fine do it. But you're not helping anyone right now and I didn't know Sharisse or Ethan or Cody, but they wouldn't want you here doing this to yourself."
Charlie sat there for a while, idly twirling the lit cigarette around her fingers.
"I wasn't supposed to come here and talk." She mumbled after a while.
"Why did you come here then?"
She looked at Garrus and huffed a laugh. "I was going to get very drunk and break my four year dry spell."
Garrus gave her a confused look and Nexxia said, "Holy shit, it's been four years since you've gotten laid."
"Yes, ma'am. It might have been only three. Either one is far too long."
Garrus gave Nexxia a pointed questioning look.
The asari raised her hands. "Me? No, I know I don't have the right equipment for Nacht. If you know what I mean."
Charlie let loose her first genuine peal of laughter Garrus had heard that night. "Oh I'm sorry, Nexxia. You're very pretty, but I like … well … you know." She held two of her hands apart and gave Garrus a knowing look and waggled her eyebrows.
Garrus chuckled along with her and spread her hands even farther apart.
"No. Fucking. Way." Charlie's mouth hung open in shock.
"What? That's average for a turian of my height."
"Lia's a lucky lady, that's all I'm saying. Also I did not need to know that particular piece of information about all of the turian males I work with."
All three of them laughed then and Charlie pulled out her omni-tool to pay. Nexxia stopped her and shook her head. "This one is on me, love. Go home and get some rest."
Charlie moved to stand up off of the stool and would have fallen to the ground if Nexxia and Garrus hadn't been quick enough to catch her. Her face contorted into a pained expression as she realized her predicament.
"Garrus, I'm kind of alone right now and if I had anyone else to call I would, but … can you help me home?"
Garrus wasn't sure if he had ever heard a more ridiculous request. Of course he was going to help her home. He had originally gone looking for Charlie, leaving her alone at a bar was crazy. He was going to say as much, but the tone of vulnerability struck him and instead he slipped her arm over his shoulder and walked her towards the door. She was a lot more unsteady than he had previously thought. Nexxia caught up with him.
"I know she seems meek right now, but you should know that she still has a large knife at her back and I'm pretty sure she is still carrying a small pistol in her boot. Here is her C-Sec issue." Nexxia was whispering and was clearly trying to avoid Charlie.
"She's pretty drunk, I doubt she's much of a threat." Garrus offered Nexxia a wry grin as he took the pistol.
"I put nothing past her. I saw her tackle a krogan to the ground once; the girl didn't even use a weapon. I mean he was a little drunk, but that just makes them meaner."
Garrus gave her a disbelieving smirk, Nexxia raised her hands and nodded her head. "Seriously. He comes in all the time asking about her."
Garrus just shook his head and continued to the door. Before they were completely out, he heard Nexxia say behind him, "Take care of that girl, Vakarian. If anything happens to her we will find you."
He glanced behind him to see six asari watching them leave.
By the time they made it back to Charlie's apartment building, she had passed out. Garrus was stuck carrying her upstairs. She was a little heavier than he thought she would be, but then again humans have those solid bones. During the trip up the elevator she adjusted herself and put her arms around his neck, muttering something about someone named Justin.
The elevator door opened to reveal a turian male with Odessa colony markings. He was shorter than Garrus, but broader across the chest. He was also growling at him.
"She is a highly respected C-Sec officer. What are you doing with her?" Protective anger was thrumming through the strange male's subvocals.
"I'm putting her to bed. Who are you?"
"I am Tevan Clodius and I am a friend. I know she had hard day, but that does not excuse you taking advantage of her." Tevan moved as to take Charlie away from Garrus.
Garrus took a step backwards into the elevator. "I don't think you understand. I am also her friend and that's why I'm taking her to bed. I don't know you, so back off." Garrus heard the protection echoed in his own voice, but didn't care.
"What's going on?" A sleepy voice coming from his arms asked.
"Garrus? Oh shit, Tevan. Can you put me down, Garrus?" Charlie squirmed.
"Can you stand?"
"Guess we'll find out." Charlie could stand, but barely; when she stumbled both Garrus and Tevan reached out to steady her.
"Look, Tevan, I don't know what this looks like, but whatever that is … it isn't that." Charlie made a face like she was trying to comprehend her own choice of words, then shook her head and continued. "Garrus is just helping me home. I'm not drunk … okay I'm a little drunk. Don't worry Grace isn't home. I left her with Mya. Well Mya's parents, that is. I'm not a bad guardian. She's safe, I promise."
Tevan put a hand on his face and Garrus was pretty sure he was attempting to hold in laughter. "I know, I know. You're an excellent guardian. Just go to bed. I was just making sure that you were alright."
"I'm fine." Charlie gave a helpful grin and waited for Tevan to go back to his apartment door, before turning back to Garrus. "I can't walk. You need to carry me."
Garrus gave her a mock groan and rolled his eyes.
"Hey, I carried your drunken ass before and you're a lot heavier than I am."
Garrus carried Charlie to her room and put her in bed. He still wasn't sure exactly what was going on with the troubled woman, but he was sure that she was definitely not alone.