Shepard breathed out exhausted. He began to understand why the Presidium was designed the way it was. It was not just the snobism of the political elite, even though that surely played a part of it. However, after a straining if constructive meeting with Admiral Hackett, it felt good to walk through the light-trenched, open places of it, the Presidium Lake at his side, surrounded by marvellous white buildings. Considering how often diplomats went through even more exhausting talks and meetings, maybe there was some logic to place them all in such a luxuriously spaced and maintained location.

The only problem were the people frequenting the place. He shrugged thinking of the incident that had happened on his way, and entered the Asari Consort's residence again, making his way to the room where he hoped Tali would still wait for him. He was oddly pleased to find her there, still sitting at the table. I suppose it's nice not only having to deal with admirals and ambassadors. He had to admit that having Tali with him gave him some comfort. After all, it's not like I can really talk to Alenko at the moment.

He was a bit surprised to see a glass standing on the table in front of Tali, filled with a coloured liquid. It was a very classy class, but that impression was dampened a bit by a plug put over it. The effect was that the liquid was sealed in, with only a straw leading outwards.

This made Shepard laugh when he entered the room. "So I see you had a good time while we were away," he joked.

Tali's head rose when she heard the Commander speaking, then leaned sidewards. "An acolyte was friendly enough to provide me with this. It's dextro-amino and sterilised, yet was provided free of charge! Other than that, it was mostly a boring time. Admiral Hackett must have had quite a lot to say."

"Yeah, sorry for the delay," Shepard said and sat down at the table. "I ran into some people on the way back. An asari pleading for my help, and a human woman. Now she was strange. In open daylight on the Citadel she wanted to basically hire me to assassinate her partners in a crime syndicate. I handed her over to C-Sec, but that took some time. That reminds me – she managed to start an unauthorised file transfer to my omni-tool. Said it were the coordinates where her partners hide. My anti-virus program has isolated the file... could you take a look at it please?"

"Let me see," Tali said, and Shepard laid his arm on the table with activated omni-tool. Tali started up her own omni-tool and began typing on both. She always hesitated slightly before typing on Shepard's, touching his arm. The Commander had to admit it was an odd situation. Maybe he should've unequipped the omni-tool before. It was a strange feeling for him, too. He looked at how her three fingers worked the buttons and touch-screens. It looked strange, or rather it looked intriguing.

"It's legit" she said after a while. "Not a virus, a simple plain-text file. Seems to be planetary coordinates indeed. It also includes accusations against those partners of her, something about engaging in slavery. Furthermore, it includes descriptions of their bases' defences."

Shepard shrugged. "And she thinks I'll just so do her dirty work, based only on her say-so of those people engaging in slavery? Kinda deluded. Besides, we already have a highly important mission."

"The woman probably thought it worth a try," Tali commented, and continued humorously: "And then you arrested her, even though she wasn't even of ExoGeni!"

Shepard chuckled. "Yeah, well, I'm expanding my activities." He sighed. "I wish I could do the same to Ambassador Udina. I'm really not looking forwards to meeting with him, which is next on the agenda."

"From the sound of it, it seems you'd rather fight a room full of geth, husks and those 'creepers'," Tali said.

"Yeah..." Shepard agreed, voice trailing off. "So, ah, would you come along, maybe, please? I'll justify your presence with whatever. It might help me keep my head clear." He grinned lopsidedly. "Of course you don't need to. After all I've just explained just how bad this is probably going to be."

Tali crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I've not waited all this time just so you could send me away now." Then she uncrossed her arms and leaned forwards, speaking softer: "Of course I'll come along if... well, if you think it'll help you." She held her head oddly low saying that.

Shepard was relieved. It was strange; he had only known Tali for some weeks, and had spoken with her regularly for a shorter time even, yet he was sure that her coming along would make things better for him. And he very much appreciated her doing so for his sake.

Nonetheless he was anxious during the walk to the human embassy. He knew the meeting with Udina would end in a confrontation. Potentially in a pretty bad one, too. The last message he had had for Udina had been that the Ambassador could "go to hell". Even discounting that, Udina's insistence on hushing matters up in regards to ExoGeni's crime on Feros clashed with the Commander's own insistence on bringing the megacorporation to justice. Shepard thought it unlikely either side would stand down, so a heated confrontation seemed inevitable.

Of course, he hoped for the best, and hence decided to at least start politely. Standing in front of the embassy's entrance, he breathed out heavily and entered. Udina was waiting for him, sitting at his desk. Captain Anderson was standing besides the desk.

"Good day, Ambassador, Captain" Shepard greeted. "You wanted to speak with me?"

"Commander Shepard," Udina said, only briefly acknowledging the Spectre's presence, and not at all acknowledging the presence of the other two people who had entered the room. Anderson merely nodded in greeting and let the Ambassador speak. "I assume you were in an emotionally bad state when you wished me to go to hell, so shortly after the battle on Feros?"

"Indeed," Shepard admitted. "I should've chosen better wording." He would start out politely, but he would not offer an apology. Not to somebody thinking ExoGeni's crimes should be hushed up. "But never mind the formulation, I still stand to what I said, if not to how I said it."

"That's unacceptable!" Udina stated firmly "And now the local newsnets are suddenly full with information about your prisoners!"

Good. Emily has done her work. "Hm, seems like a leak," Shepard commented innocently. "I should investigate it once I return to my ship."

"You better should indeed," Udina said. "This is problematic. Too much attention drawn to the case limits our options!"

"I don't see what options there are," Shepard replied. He tried to remain as calm and objective as possible, but the ambassador's behaviour already began to grate on him. "ExoGeni needs to stand trial for its crimes."

"There is no need to make a media spectacle out of the whole case," Udina commented "It would be most efficient if you simply handled your prisoners over to the embassy, and we can process the case from there then."

Udina was apparently unwilling to directly order him to release the prisoners, instead putting on a show. Playing along, Shepard answered: "I don't think the embassy is equipped and staffed for that, Ambassador. Besides, given the importance of the accusations they need to be tried somewhere central. On Earth, for example."

"Earth?" Udina asked. "What do you want there?"

Time to end this façade. Shepard grinned when he answered: "Create a media spectacle."

"What?" Udina blurted out, "So you're responsible for the leaks, too."

Shepard defiantly crossed his arms. It was time to speak plain text. "You know damn well what would happen if I simply quietly turned over Jeong and Ross to you, Ambassador." He spat out the title. "The whole thing would just be hushed up. I won't allow that."

"You won't allow that?" Udina shouted, further heating up the conversation. "And who exactly gave you the right to decide that?"

"What's there to decide?" Shepard asked, "I'm just making sure justice is served."

Captain Anderson spoke up and intervened on Shepard's side: "The Commander is right. We have a responsibility to the people of Zhu's Hope. We owe it to them that justice is done."

"Maybe," Udina allowed curtly, "But what about our position in the galaxy? What about humanity? ExoGeni ensures our continued expansion into space."

"It's exactly humanity I'm thinking of," Shepard replied. "Humans. Like the colonists of Zhu's Hope."

"I assure you, had we known about the Thorian, we'd never have allowed ExoGeni to settle Feros", Udina stated in a calmer voice.

Obviously trying to placate me. After all he wants something from me, not the other way round. However it only enraged Shepard further, who now began to shout himself: "Oh great! That's reassuring to know! So ExoGeni can try to kill entire colonies, because it's not like they have to fear any consequences. Might as well try if there's profit in it! Do you have any concepts of ethics at all?" Oops. And here we cross the line to personal attacks. Bah, whatever, he had it coming.

"You have to think of humanity's position in the galaxy," Udina stated, almost pleading but firm. "If ExoGeni is hurt this will set our expansion program back years! If ExoGeni falters, then human expansion among the stars will come to a grinding halt!"

"Humanity's position in the galaxy?" Shepard asked rhetorically, "To me, right now, that seems to be 'can be sacrificed at any time by the whims of a megacorporation or the Alliance'. I will protect humanity - and if need be from those megacorps or the government, too!"

"Commander, please," Anderson intervened again. "You're right, but there is the issue of galactic politics to consider. There needs to be a trial, but we also need to think of the consequences,"

"Indeed, Captain," Udina agreed and turned to Shepard again: "I understand your position, Commander. But we must work towards achieving the same standing as the Council races."

"Maybe," Shepard admitted, quieter now, but instead gravely serious. "But I won't let you or anybody sacrifice innocents towards that end. Not if I can help it."

This seemed to enrage Udina. "Somebody has to make the hard decisions," he stated, "That's just how galactic politics are."

"Hard decisions," Shepard scoffed. "About the lives of other people!"

"Well, it's obvious you are not capable of doing so!" the ambassador replied. His volume rose to almost shouting levels.. "It's a good thing you saved that colony, but humanity wouldn't be helped now if ExoGeni is hurt or even goes down!"

"Humanity?" Shepard replied angrily. "It seems you see humanity as little more than tools, tools in your own race for status!" The Commander was definitely shouting now. "Humanity is not some abstract ideal, it's more – it's the entirety of human beings! If you hurt humans, you hurt humanity. If you sacrifice colonies for some 'greater good' you hurt humanity. It's as easy as that!" And now the conversation goes down the drain. It was indeed inevitable.

"Those may be your personal views, but it's not for you to decide!" Udina answered, shouting the last part right into Shepard's face. Anderson appeared as if he wanted to say something, but then thought better of it, while Alenko and Tali held their heads low, unsure what to do in this shouting match. All three probably felt awkward and maybe even frightened to be caught between the fronts. "You may see humanity as little more than the human masses, but I see it as something that must rise to greatness!"

"Ah, but it is for you to decide, Ambassador?" Shepard answered, losing even the last vestiges of respect for Udina. "For you and the megacorps to decide about the lives of others, yes? Rise to greatness, eh? You mean that you and the other politicians want to play great power, and hey, if 1000 lives have to be sacrificed for that, so be it! If children..." He stopped himself there. He had wanted to include BAaT in his rant, but any information on it was classified. Technically, Alenko had acted illegally in telling him, and he did not want to get the Lieutenant into trouble. Instead he continued: "If even more thousands have to live in impoverished conditions on the colonies, constantly preyed upon by raiders, so be it! Main thing is that you can stand proudly in front of the Council, right? That's what it's all about."

"I merely represent humanity" Udina defended himself. "This is about something greater than you or me. It's about humanity - "

"Oh shut up!" Shepard rudely interrupted Udina, his rage boiling over, "Somebody willing to let ExoGeni get away with planned mass murder is in no position to talk about humanity!"

"Again - if you see humanity as nothing more than teeming masses of people, then fine," Udina stated. "But that is not the stance of the Alliance government. It isn't your decision to make!"

"You wanted a Spectre," Shepard said, pointing towards the ambassador, "so now deal with me and my decisions! Of course you never really wanted that, right? You never wanted an independently acting agent, but a puppet whose strings you could pluck! You wanted somebody who can execute your decisions on the battlefield. Well for that to happen I'm afraid you have to go the battlefield yourself. I'm not your puppet, and I will protect humanity, humans, from everything including their own government if need be!"

"You're dangerously out of control, Shepard!" Udina shouted, uncomfortably loud. Apparently he was coming dangerously close of losing any self-restraint.

"Well, he is a Spectre, but..." Anderson began calmly, but even he could not salvage the conversation any more.

"Yes, outside your control!" Shepard replied loudly to Udina, ignoring Anderson. "So what do you want to do about it? You can't put me on trial, not even by a military tribunal. I'm a Spectre, I can't be tried." To hell with my restraints. Sometimes being a Spectre is quite nice.

"But we could discharge you from the military and take the Normandy from you," Udina threatened. Anderson looked quite shocked at that notion.

A hollow threat and he knows it. However, better if he's reminded of it. "Ah, yes, you could do that" Shepard agreed. "But I am the only human Spectre, and currently probably the human best informed about the activities of Saren and the geth. If I don't have the Normandy then who will stop the geth attacks on the Traverse colonies? I'd try, but I wouldn't have the means any more."

"And so you use your advantaged situation to get your way," Udina accused the Commander. "You use it to strong-arm me, to strong-arm the Alliance! So that you can sabotage human expansion in the galaxy!"

"I'm just doing my job, serving justice, protecting humanity, humans from attacks and conspiracies," Shepard said. "It's you who wants to use unethical means to deny justice!"

"I don't think your tone is helping, Commander," Anderson commented, "Even if your cause is just."

Shepard didn't answer, but instead focused on Udina, who had remained silent. The ambassador's forehead was furrowed, his mouth was working, his teeth were gnashing. After a while he said in a deadly calm manner: "This will have consequences, Shepard. You're right, we can't move against you right now. But the Alliance won't forget this"

"And I won't forget what the Alliance has done and is doing!" Shepard hissed in response, the first thing that came to his mind.

"Are you threatening me?" Udina asked, raising his voice again.

Shepard laid all the contempt he could into his answer: "You're beneath any threats" And with that he turned around and left the embassy, not bothering to hear Udina reply, not even bothering hear what Captain Anderson might have to say.

He walked large steps, trying to get away from the embassy as quickly as possible. He did not care for any people in his path; they quickly removed themselves after looking in his face and then seeing the weapons he carried. It was just as he had feared; now rage boiled inside him. Worse, all those alien emotions of sadness and despair he could feel since having gotten the Cipher rose inside in his mind, too. He stopped at the Presidium Lake, gripping the railing tightly, bending forwards and breathed in and out several times, trying to calm down.

Tali and Alenko took some time until they caught up to him. He turned his head towards them and smiled humourlessly. "I did say this would turn out badly, didn't I?" he asked bitterly.

Tali and Alenko looked at each other and the Lieutenant answered: "Uh, yes, sir." After a while he added: "I don't want to... well. I understand why you did it, Commander, but do you think it's wise to provoke both the Council and the Alliance?"

Shepard pushed himself away from the railing, turned towards Alenko and shook his head. "Probably not, no," he answered. "However... goddamn! One wants to hush up Saren's involvement in the Eden Prime attack, never mind the thousands of deaths he has caused, and the other want to hush up ExoGeni having had plans to kill hundreds of people! Surely that can't be right, or is it?" He looked pleadingly at Tali and Alenko, awaiting some confirmation.

"No, Commander," Tali replied shortly and decisively

"I understand why you do it, sir" Alenko said, "and you're right. I'm behind you on this, ExoGeni needs to fall, or at least to hurt. I... well, I just want you to be careful not to attack too many enemies at once." He paused, and added: "I, ah, hope I haven't spoken out of line, sir."

Shepard shook his head. "No you haven't, Lieutenant. I appreciate your advice. We need to speak anyway, about... well, you know. However, not now, now my head is too full of other things. I think now I need to calm down first. You two can return to the Normandy, if you wish."

Alenko nodded, and left. Tali, however, remained where she was, even if she looked a bit insecure. Her hands were at her waist, and her fingers dancing with each other. Shepard merely raised an eyebrow at her continued presence.

"Are you still trying to get rid of me?" she joked, but she did not sound as secure as before. "If I leave you alone now you might try to storm and plunder the embassy and abduct Udina. I don't think the Council would approve of that."

Despite all the anger still inside him, Shepard had to laugh. She always has the right words. "I don't know, I don't think the Council much likes him, either," he joked along. "However, you just might have a point. So you're my chaperone now?"

"Somebody has to, it seems," she replied.

Shepard sighed and shook his head. He still felt angry and down. "Seems like I need to find... less destructive ways then to get rid of my aggressions now."

Tali visibly hesitated, but after a while managed to suggest: "You need to find some distractions from your problems. It can't be healthy always taking that burden with you."

"Oh? And what would you suggest?" Shepard asked. He was actually curious now. Taking the initiative like that seemed somewhat unlike Tali. Not that it was bad thing.

"Ah..." Tali began unsurely, "Well if you ask me like that." She paused again, and her fingers twiddled with increasing speed. But then an idea seemed to strike her. "Why don't we go to Chora's Den? It has people, loud music, dancers, surely a good place to rid your mind of unpleasant thoughts."

"Chora's Den?" Shepard asked surprised, "Fist's bar?"

"Fist is dead," Tali replied, "So why not?"

Shepard hesitated, but could in truth find no reason why not to go. He had no pressing duties any more, and with all the tumult in his mind he doubted he could get any work done right now anyway. Still, it was an odd thought. Tali was one of the few squad members who had a positive opinion of bars like Chora's Den. However, going to actually visit it was something else. Besides, did she just ask me out?

But then he shrugged. There really was no reason not to go. "Sure, why not," he said.

"Great!" Tali answered surprisingly enthusiastically. Shepard suppressed a chuckle; he didn't want to embarrass the quarian.

As they entered the public transport system, Tali said: "I think it's admirable how you fight for justice at several fronts." She sounded uncomfortable, but continued: "However, Lieutenant Alenko may have had a point. At the moment you're fighting a three fronts war."

"At the least, yes," Shepard replied. He felt a bit uncomfortable himself, about the compliment he had just received. He did not quite know what to think about it. "However, somebody just has to! If I don't speak up for Zhu's Hope, or the victims at Eden Prime, then who will?"

Tali lowered her head a bit and leaned it to the side. I should pay closer attention to quarian gestics. Maybe I can find something on the extranet on what they mean. "You're right of course," she said, "And I'm glad it's you." She paused, then rose her head again and hastily added: "I mean, you seem to get the job done!"

Just what's up with her? Come to think of it – she's pretty bad in receiving compliments, so probably she's just as inexperienced in giving them. Maybe she wants to cheer me up with those compliments or something...

He smiled at her in response, but did not say anything. The quiet continued until the shuttle landed at a place in the Lower Wards, only a short walk away from Chora's Den. The contrast to the Presidium was stark. It was much more apparent here that they were in a space station. A lights filled ceiling spanned over the entire plaza they had landed on, and corridors passed through it on several levels. There was nothing like the dignified architecture of the Presidium here. Instead, every cubic centimetre of space seemed to be constantly used and reused, with shop fronts, neon lights, emporiums, cafés and so much more, all chaotically mashed together and vying for attention. Between them masses of people of all known races went about their business.

The shops and bars and public life continued into some corridors, which were choke full with people, masses blocking the way. Others, though, were smaller, having none of the décor of the plaza. Those were minimalist and utilitarian in design, almost sterile, corridors that could as well be located on Jump Zero or Arcturus Station. It was through such a corridor, plated in grey and blue, that Shepard and Tali walked towards Chora's Den.

There were several ways to reach the bar, which basically was located in the middle of a labyrinth of corridors and stairs. In one of the less frequented ones Fist had tried to set up a trap for Tali. Even though that was only some weeks ago, to Shepard it seemed like it had been an eternity.

The corridor was mostly empty of people, though sometimes somebody passed by or waited at a crossing. It was rare but not surprising to see other people here. As everywhere else on the Citadel, most belonged to the Council races – asari, salarians and turians. However, they also passed by a very massive elcor, and in some distance Shepard could see a human leaning at the wall. That person even looked somewhat familiar, but Shepard could not link anybody he know to the figure. He shrugged and let it go.

"I can't believe we're really going to Chora's Den," he said to Tali. He grinned lopsidedly.

Tali hesitated before replying: "We could also go to some other place."

"Nah, it's fine," Shepard reassured her. "Though you must be the only one on the Normandy who actually likes the place. Well, maybe except for Wrex."

"I don't see why," Tali stated. "It has music, dance, lights, people. It's much more pulsating with life than such places as Flux."

"Hah, yeah, 'dance'," Shepard laughed and then looked up again. They had come near the man leaning at the wall. Wait a moment he looks like... "I don't think choreography is on the mind of either the 'dancers' or the audience!" That can't be him!

"Regardless, it's a form of dance I hadn't seen before entering the bar," Tali said. However, Shepard's attention was elsewhere, focused on the man in front of them. The Commander recognised him.It's Finch! What the hell is he doing here? Unaware of that, Tali continued: "So of course it's interesting to me, no matter what its purpose is supposed to..."

She was cut off by Finch. Totally ignoring her, he turned to Shepard.

"Hey Shepard," he said. The Commander was of a mind to simply let him stand there and walk on, leaving him behind like he had left behind his entire past. However, he was too shocked to see him here, and morbidly curious to know what he wanted, so he stopped, as did consequently Tali. "They told me it was you, but I didn't believe it. The first human Spectre in history, and it turns out it's our good old friend Shepard, all grown up to be a soldier."

"Finch?" Shepard blurted out. "What the hell are you doing on the Citadel?" He had not seen the guy any more since his gang days on Earth. When he had left his gang, the Tenth Street Reds, Finch still had been a member in good standing. He was worried to see him here now. Tali in the meanwhile seemed to intensively look at both men, turning her head back and forth.

"Oh, maybe I just wanted to say hello to you," Finch replied. He sounded just as oily as Shepard had remembered him, "Talk about the good old times, catch up, you know stuff like that. The vids hardly ever mention you were one of us, so I thought maybe you wanted to be reminded of that." He gave Tali a look laced with utter contempt.

Oh, so that's it. Finch, or anybody else from the old gang would never go all the way to the Citadel to remind him of his past, if they did not want something from Shepard. "It's not exactly secret knowledge," he replied gruffly. "It's all in my bio, publicly accessible. What do you want Finch? I'm appointed a Spectre and already on my next stay on the Citadel you remind me of my past?"

"Hey, I don't want to cause trouble!" Finch claimed, "But yes, it does seem you have some pull with the aliens now, doesn't it?" He stared at Tali again while saying so, almost hatefully "So, all we want is a favour. For old time's sake, nothing more."

"So that's it?" Shepard answered, increasingly hostile, "You hear I'm a Spectre, and immediately you try to recruit me for one of your jobs as soon as I've returned to port. Have to give you credit on your speed, Finch, but I'm not in the streets of New York any more. I don't play the favours game any more."

"But you were once, running with a gang," Finch reminded him. He didn't become angry or aggressive, he just kept sounding annoyingly smug. He had always been one of the talkers in the gang. In fact that had made him one of the people Shepard had liked back then; at least he had not been a macho brute like so many others. "That's your best chance to cut off your past. See it as a parting gift to us."

"I don't owe you anything," Shepard said icily. He did not like at all where the conversation was going.

"If it weren't for us you'd never have made it back then, and we both know it," Finch stated, "We looked after each other back in the day, and hey, we thought you might at least still do that. Help a Red out of trouble."

Finch's claim was true enough. Until it all had fallen apart in the end, the Tenth Street Reds had actually been one of the less brutal gangs in the area, at least to their own members. Their initiation rituals had not been nearly as brutal or humiliating as the ones of the surrounding gangs, there had been less dominance quarrels inside the group, and without their help Shepard most likely would not have survived street life. However, that didn't mean the gang had been truly nice to its members, just less brutal in its methods. In the end, everybody had looked out only for their personal gain. And towards outsiders and victims the Reds had been just as brutal as every other gang.

Besides, those days were over. "Trouble he has surely brought onto himself. Or she on herself," Shepard answered.

"None of us is clear and innocent, Shepard," Finch said. "Not you, either. You know how it goes, on the streets you have little chance if you want to make it out, or even only survive. So we all do some little crime on the side."

Unfortunately, that was all too true, too. Shepard had not left the streets with clean hands, either, and he knew how hard life could be there. He knew how street life made everybody guilty. He did not answer.

"Listen, Shepard," Finch continued, "I'll just tell you the case, and then you can do whatever, right? This guy, Kurt Weisman, he became a member after your time, but now he has been arrested by the turians. You have authority and connections now, don't you? So surely you could use them now to help one of us. You know, for all the times back then when we had helped you."

"By the turians?" Shepard asked surprised. "What the hell was a Tenth Street Red doing in turian space?"

"The Reds have expanded since your time," Finch explained. "We're doing salvage now, a little shipping here and there, that kind of thing. And yeah, this has us be all over the place. The Citadel, turian space, and so on."

"So you're doing smuggling now," Shepard deduced.

"Well, you can hardly expect us to compete with the established transport megacorps, now can you?" Finch asked rhetorically. "Sure, maybe some of us carry a little bit of Red Sand on the side, but what of it? But you know how the turians are. They just declared Weisman a problem and are shipping him off to face trial. Okay, so maybe he didn't play entirely by the rules, but turian prison terms? He doesn't deserve that!"

Shepard answered: "The turian conceptions of justice and punishment are hardly ideal...

"No kidding," Tali muttered.

The Commander wondered what she thought about this. However, he couldn't dwell on that and continued without missing a beat: "...but I doubt your motives are entirely humanitarian, either. You just want to employ my new authority to spring one of your people."

"Hey, nothing like that!" Finch defended himself, "We, ah, just wanted to see what you could do, that maybe you could achieve something..."

"Yeah, right," Shepard answered sarcastically. He had become quite fed up with the gangster's weaseling. "Listen, Finch, my gang days are over. I want to have nothing to do with it any more."

"Suit yourself, Shepard," Finch said, "We thought you'd remember how we always helped each other in the Reds. We thought I could remind you of it, that you'd remember at least that. Maybe now I need to remind others how your days in the Reds were. Do this for us, and you never see any of us ever again. We can part on amicable terms, and that's the best for all involved. We don't want a Spectre as enemy, but I can tell you, you also don't want the Tenth Street Reds as enemies."

Rage boiled inside Shepard at this thinly veiled threat, but he managed to keep it down. "Showing your true face now, eh, Finch? That's beneath my notice. Now get out of my way."

"Fine. As said, your choice," Finch allowed. "Just remember the consequences. You can talk to the turian guard, a guy over at Chora's Den, or you might have a little PR problem. Either way, I'm outta here. Bye, Shepard." And with that he straightened from his position and walked away, towards the plaza Shepard and Tali had come from.

Shepard breathed out. Fuck. He kind of wished Tali had not seen this scene. Not because he was worried about the image she had of him, not really. He had told her in rough outlines about his past, after all. However, now that he thought of the matter, their conversations had been something bright and almost cherished for him. And in recent days, especially now, she had always been at his side when he had needed support or distraction. He feared that his past, now so blatantly presented to Tali, could somehow poison that. My misspent youth has destroyed enough already. An awkward silence ensued.

Fuck it. Finch thinks he can threaten me? He'll see how much I care about his threats.

"Come on, Tali," he said, "if Finch wants us to go to Chora's Den, then let's go there."

As they walked, he asked her: "You're probably wondering what the hell just happened?"

"I could gather enough," she replied, "one of your former fellow gang members, trying to blackmail you into springing somebody from prison by threatening to make your past public. And you don't sound like you will let yourself be blackmailed." She sounded approving, but since he could not see the facial expression accompanying what she had said it was difficult to say.

Shepard was surprised. There had been pretty many facts in the conversation, but Tali also seemed to be highly observant about his response. He shrugged amused. "Yeah, I guess that's the gist of it. What Finch doesn't seem to realise is that it's all already public, so to hell with his threats. Who the hell does he think he is anyway?"

Chora's Den seemed to have survived the deadly change in ownership without any problems. It was just like the last time Shepard had visited during open hours. The last time he had visited it, period, Fist had tried to make it a fortress for his personal safety, but any signs of Shepard's assault on it back then seemed to have been removed. A loud, bass heavy music filled the room, everything was bathed in red light, and asari dancers were presenting blue and purple skin on the large, central tribune, or on smaller ones dispersed all over the bar.

It was not exactly high-brow entertainment, but Tali seemed to prefer it that way, and Shepard had to admit he could see why. It was difficult to think of problems here, indeed it was difficult to think of anything instead of getting lost in the moment. He wondered what a turian guard was doing here. At least he was easy to find – while many turians were here, only one did not seem to enjoy the view, the music or some drink, instead standing very straight, looking a bit lost and out of place.

Shepard approached him and asked: "You have a prisoner named Kurt Weisman?"

"Oh, you're the new Spectre, aren't you?" the turian answered. "The first human one, too. It'll be interesting to see whether a human can handle such a status. In any case, yes, the xenophobe is in my custody. Why do you ask?"

"I just wanted to give you a warning," Shepard answered, ignoring the jab at him. Are all turians like that? Well, all turians except Garrus, that is. "Some associate of his tried to blackmail me into using my Spectre authority to free him. Seems like some friends of his have come onto the station."

"I understand," the turian replied. "Weisman was too well supplied to be acting alone. Thanks for the warning, we'll increase the guard on the cell."

"Why do you call him a xenophobe, anyway?" Shepard asked.

"The human acknowledged his affiliation with several anti-alien organisations," the guard answered. "His crime specifically targeted turians as a species. It was a hate crime and will be treated as such."

"Exactly what was his crime?" Shepard inquired further. He noticed a movement on the edge of his vision field.

"He attempted to poison medical cargo being sent to a turian colony to treat an outbreak of a dangerous disease," the turian explained, "if he had succeeded, millions would have died. That human is a dangerous xenophobe!"

"Oh keelah!" Tali exclaimed.

"What?" Shepard shouted appalled. "Being xenophobe seems to be the least of it! That rather sounds like an attempted genocide!" And Finch wanted me to free him. As if he had been on a Reds' mission. Just what have they become?

"You humans have a tendency to over-dramatize..." the turian guard began, but stopped when Shepard suddenly swirled around, drawing his pistol in one smooth move. Finch was standing there, and the Commander now directly aimed at him.

However, the gangster seemed to be unimpressed by that. "I knew you'd rat us Shepard," he said. "Now it's payback time. When we're through telling our story, the aliens will all know what the first human Spectre really is."

Shepard did not lower his pistol. "You tried to blackmail me into freeing an attempted mass murderer," he answered. "Just what have the Tenth Street Reds become?"

Finch was still not impressed, and did not seem to feel any remorse, either. "And you were part of us, once," he replied, "Your alien friends won't like you so much when they hear what your gang did. Or does."

Shepard couldn't help but laugh. His 'alien friends' already did not like him to begin with, and would even less once his interview with Emily Wong would hit the extranet. Still, it was something the Council could use against him, so he had to be careful.

"My bio is on public record," he said, "everyone knows I ran with gangs as a kid. And when I was with the Reds, it was just a gang indeed. Just when exactly did you become a terrorist Earth First group?"

"We're a human group now, and we've got the backers to handle off-world missions," Finch claimed. "But of course the vids won't make that distinction. I can find a dozen Reds who'll swear you killed aliens for fun. Who's going to believe you then?"

"The same Shepard who walks around on the Citadel together with a quarian, a turian or even a krogan?" Tali asked. She stood half-sideway to Finch, crossed her arms, cocked her head up and looked at him over her shoulder. "I think your plan has a flaw."

Shepard laughed at that and grinned. Nice, Tali. "So you're a 'human group' eh? And that's why you target the first human Spectre. Yeah, smart move."

"The Spectre's right," the turian guard agreed. "This is humanity's chance to prove themselves. There's even talk of earning a council seat."

Finch looked at the turian with utter disgust and hate. "Of course you'd side with Shepard," he told the guard. "You want somebody who's in bed with your kind. What use is a human Spectre if he sells us out to the aliens?"

"I can tell you, Finch," Shepard replied. "It's only thanks to there being a human Spectre that you're even still alive. I think a turian Spectre would've already shot you."

"Only too true," the guard commented.

"Yeah, and that's why we want aliens off of Earth, and why we want the Council to stay out of humanity's business," Finch replied. Ironically, Shepard could not fully disagree, given his own negative opinion on the Spectre system "So let's see how long you will stay a Spectre once the aliens have learnt of your past."

"You think I care what the aliens think of me?" Shepard asked. His patience was running very thin.

"But this is your career!" Finch exclaimed disbelieving, "You'd throw it all away like that?"

Shepard grabbed Finch at the shoulder, pulled him towards himself and held the pistol at his head. "Listen, Finch. You know my next destination? Earth. And I'm a Spectre. I can go to the streets of New York again and shoot every Red I see with no legal repercussions whatsoever. I think that makes your threats somewhat laughable. You better think carefully about going through with them." He let go of the gangster again. He was bluffing, of course, but Finch had no way of knowing that.

"Fine," Finch replied, "I get it. You're not a Red. Maybe you never were."

He turned to go, but Shepard grabbed his shoulder again. "And speaking of which, as a Spectre it's my duty to uphold security in Citadel space. You tried to get an attempted mass murderer sprung, hell maybe you even were involved in the complot. You're not getting away like that. You're arrested."

Finch struggled a bit at first, but it was a purely instinctive reaction. He offered no further resistance beyond that.

"Arrest him?" the turian guard asked. "That man is a dangerous xenophobe who tried to blackmail a Spectre. And you can legally kill him. Just shoot him!"

"Why?" Shepard asked icily, "To prove I have what it takes to be a Spectre? I'm not shooting anybody just to fulfil your expectations." I won't abuse my Spectre powers. Not against people for whom there is a regular security and juridical system, anyway.

"So I see," the turian replied. "It will be interesting how the first human Spectre will turn out to be. Maybe there is some hope for you, human. Are you going to turn your old friend over to us?"

"Yeah, do it," Finch mock-urged, "Make your betrayal complete!"

Shepard shook his head. "This is C-Sec jurisdiction. If they find out he was involved directly in Weisman's crimes, they can then turn him over to you."

The turian did not say anything in reply, but Shepard thought he heard a faint, disapproving growl. He sighed. This visit to here had turned out way worse than he had planned. He let his head hang low and shook it. Damn it. All the adrenaline that had built up during the confrontation seemed to flee him; his entire anger just disappeared, as if drained out of him. Shepard came down from an emotional high, and now feared falling into an emotional pit. He had after all just sold out his former gang and arrested one of them. His days with them were long over, but he did not doubt it would still affect him.

He was somewhat surprised when Tali lightly touched his arm as a gesture of reassurance, nodding approvingly. He smiled back. Despite the worries he had had earlier, he was glad now she was at his side. As she had been during many difficult things in recent time. And even though neither said a word, they seemed to understand each other.

Fortunately, Chora's Den was known as a hang-out for potential troublemakers, a reputation that had only become worse since Shepard had started a shoot-out here during his last visit. Thus, C-Sec was patrolling the area around it very frequently, allowing Shepard to get rid of Finch very quickly by turning him over to one of those patrols.

He entered the establishment again and took a seat at the bar, shaking his head. Tali took a seat next to him. Shepard looked at her and said with an ironic, sad smile: "So much for coming here to relax, eh?"

"We're still here," Tali pointed out.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Shepard apologised. It was true. He was glad she had been at his side during all this, but it must have been rather weird for her.

"What I saw was you doing the right thing," Tali insisted firmly, but also with a faint hint of humour that disagreed with Shepard's estimation. Mock-seriously she added: "So don't descend into too much self-pity."

Practically against his own will Shepard had to laugh. "Well, maybe," he admitted, but then sighed again. "It still pretty much ruined our visit here."

"The music is still playing and the dancers... or 'dancers' are still dancing," Tali said. A sudden enthusiasm seemed to grab her. "This is no place to be gloom. Grab a drink and come on!"

And so Shepard did. He ordered a drink, a cocktail of the sort his old drill instructor would probably have called 'something fruity with an umbrella' or 'something only asari drink and not real humans', and then stood up from his seat, accompanying Tali to an open space. Or at least more or less open – the bar was full of people and nearly overcrowded.

Tali seemed to like it that way, though. The two found a spot for themselves, and she bounced on her feet, full of enthusiasm. Shepard was smiling at how she appeared to enjoy the atmosphere.

Light flickered through the masses of people, painting them red or blue. It was odd to see Tali coloured like that, the light reflecting from her visor. Her bouncing became more coordinated. She began to use her arms, and moved them in a rhythmic manner, a rhythm that had soon captured her whole body.

Dancers are highly respected in quarian society, Shepard remembered. Tali had told him she was at best an amateur at it, and probably even way below average. However, at the moment that did not seem to be the case to Shepard at all. Even though people were all around them, limiting their space, this did not hinder her. Her movements were exact, never using up more space than strictly necessary. A very quarian dance, I guess.

And a very enchanting one. The music, the light falling on Tali, her movements,her curves... that all had an effect on Shepard. His heart began to beat faster. He remembered again how much time the two had spent recently and how she had always been there to cheer him up or support him. He realised how he had felt safe enough to talk with her about pretty much everything, even if tales of his youth had been rare.

And now she was dancing here, in front of him, in a manner that made Shepard all forget about the asari 'dancers' on the main tribune. Mostly for her own amusement, he did not doubt; she seemed to be losing herself in the dance. However, it was still quite a sight.

Amazing. Enchanting.