Beta: None
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"I'm glad you're here, Kate. I need your help," Garrus said as the Commander walked into the forward battery and sat on a crate.
"What's up?" she asked with a smile, trying to put the turian at ease.
Garrus started pacing. "I found a lead on Sidonis, the bastard who betrayed me and my team on Omega. He was last seen here on the Citadel, in the company of a forger by the name of Fade. It's rumored that Fade helps people disappear, for a fee."
"So you want to confront Fade and find out where Sidonis is hiding, yes?"
"Exactly."
Kate stood up and placed a hand on Garrus' armored shoulder. "Anything you need, I'm game."
"Thanks, Kate," Garrus said, his mandibles twitching into the turians' version of a smile.
Kate and Garrus went straight to Captain Bailey's desk at C-Sec.
"Shepard, Vakarian. What can I do for you two?" the captain asked cordially.
"We're looking for someone, thought maybe you could help," Kate said as she and Garrus sat on the other side of the desk.
"Alright, lay it on me."
Garrus leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "You know of a forger named Fade?"
Bailey sighed. "Yeah, I know him, the name at least. Son of a bitch has been a thorn in the Network Division's side for the better part of the last year and a half. Every time we get close, he disappears. Obviously he knows our procedures; we just haven't figured out how. Either he's got a spy on the inside or he figured out our radio frequencies. I don't know which is worse."
"Do you have any leads at all?" Garrus asked anxiously.
"All we've been able to determine is that he's got operatives in a warehouse on Zakara Ward. Maybe you'll be able to get some answers out of them."
Garrus and Kate stood. "Thank you, Bailey," he said as he shook the captain's hand.
"Just talk to them," Bailey warned. "I don't want to hear about you two getting into a firefight in the wards."
Kate had to stifle a laugh as she said, "Of course we're just going to talk to them. Wouldn't dream of causing you trouble, Bailey."
"Thank you," Garrus said as the two friends made their way to the warehouse Bailey had indicated.
"Anytime, big guy," Kate said with a grin. "Alright, this is it."
They pulled out their pistols just in case and made their way into the warehouse. Two krogan stood facing the door, leaning casually on some crates. A volus appeared around the corner.
"Fade?" Kate asked. "You're not exactly what I was expecting."
"Ah," the volus said. "Looks… can be deceiving. So which one of you wants to disappear?"
Garrus stepped forward. "I'd rather you make someone reappear."
The volus gulped. "That's not the, ah, service we provide."
Guns pointed down at the shorter alien, Garrus growled. "Why don't you make an exception, just this once?" It wasn't a request.
"Shoot them! For gods' sakes, shoot them!" the volus screeched as he dove out of the way. Two shots from Garrus and Kate's pistols had the krogan bodyguards doubled over in pain on the floor.
"Useless slugs," the volus muttered.
"So," Kate said menacingly. "How about we talk business?"
"I… I… I'm not Fade," the volus stammered. "I just work for him. Sort of."
"I knew it," Kate said as she rolled her eyes.
Garrus holstered his pistol and knelt down in front of him. "Well then maybe you'd like to tell us where we can find him."
"Yes, yes… anything. He works out of the old pre-fab foundry in the Factory District. He's got a bunch of Blue Suns working for him."
"Blue Suns?"
"Yes. Harkin thinks they're protecting him."
Kate bristled at the name. "Harkin is Fade? How?"
"After he got fired from C-Sec, he used his knowledge of its inner workings to make himself disappear. Shortly thereafter, he helped a couple of acquaintances disappear as well and 'Fade' was born. So to speak."
"Fuck!"
"So um… can I go now?" the volus asked nervously, wanting to get as far away from the two larger-than-life Spectres as quickly as possible.
"Sure," Garrus said in a saccharine voice. "But if we don't find Fade, we're coming back for you."
"Oh. Good." The volus beat a hasty retreat as fast as his short stubby legs would take him.
Garrus turned to Kate. "Are you gonna be OK, Kate? I can take someone else if you'd rather not deal with Harkin."
She shook her head. "No, I have to face the bastard sometime. I think it's time we told Zaeed about him though."
"Oh, that should be a fun conversation."
They went back to C-Sec, to update Bailey on everything they'd found out.
"Harkin? God dammit! I knew something wasn't right! He finally got fired almost two years ago, a few months after you went MIA, Shepard. Then he completely dropped off the radar. I should have known it was him from the beginning."
"Well, we're going after him. It's time to end this, once and for all," Kate said. Bailey hadn't been around two years ago, and didn't know her well enough to see the fear that flickered across her face nor hear the slight waver in her voice when she spoke. But Garrus certainly did. And he knew she wasn't just talking about taking down Sidonis.
They'd faced worse enemies than any they were likely to face with Harkin's crew and the turian had never seen his Commander show fear with any of them. She lived for the thrill of the hunt, walking into the unknown. But Harkin himself wasn't an unknown. He wasn't some faceless soldier or alien that needed killing before the next goal could be accomplished. After Marcus Dylan, Harkin was the only man Kate had ever been wary of, but for different, albeit equally legitimate reasons.
"We need to talk."
Zaeed looked up from his scotch to see Garrus and Kate standing in the doorway of the lounge. He raised an eyebrow. "Who's 'we'?"
"It's not that kind of 'we need to talk,'" Kate said, taking Kasumi's usual spot by the window.
"OK. What's going on?"
Garrus cleared his throat. "Remember when we were talking the night after Horizon? About Kate always being happier than usual when we were going to be on the Citadel at the same time you were?"
"Yes." Zaeed looked warily at the turian.
"While everything I told you was true, there was another, darker reason."
Kate looked over to the bar, where Zaeed was watching her. "Just before I became a Spectre, I ran into a C-Sec officer named Harkin, down in Chora's Den. He was the one who told me where Garrus was, actually. He was a drunk, disgusting sexist pig, but after I left, I thought that would be the end of it. I couldn't have been more wrong. After I became a Spectre, he started sending disgusting messages to my extranet account. I tried to take it to the Executor, but Harkin would delete them before I could get to them, so I gave up, since Palin hates me anyway. Eventually Harkin escalated to following me around the Citadel. Every once in awhile, he'd send me threatening messages as well, but those would be gone in a matter of minutes. That is why I felt better when I was meeting you on the Citadel. Harkin wasn't afraid of Kaidan or Garrus or even Wrex, but I knew he was afraid of you."
By the time Kate had finished speaking, Zaeed was gripping his glass so tightly, he was in danger of causing it to shatter. Garrus noticed the dangerous glint in his eyes and moved to put himself between Zaeed and Kate.
"Why didn't you tell me any of this two years ago, Kate?" the mercenary asked.
She stood up and walked over to him, brushing off Garrus' warning hand on her shoulder as he tried to hold her back. If there was one thing she knew about Zaeed that would always be true, it was that he would never hurt her, no matter how angry he was.
She sat on the bar stool next to Zaeed and pried the glass from his hand and replaced it with her own hand. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry, Z," she said gently. "Kaidan, Garrus and Wrex were already on high alert whenever we were on the Citadel; just because Harkin's stupid enough not to be afraid of them doesn't mean he could take them in a fight. But when I was with you, I just wanted to be able to relax and have fun. I couldn't do that if you were always looking over your shoulder or making me look over mine."
Zaeed sighed and kissed her hand. "Fine. If I think about it long enough, I suppose that makes sense. But if all this happened two years ago, why are you telling me now?"
"It's like the universe is sending me a message: 'you should have stayed dead,'" Kate said bitterly.
Zaeed raised an eyebrow.
"To get to Sidonis, we're going to have to talk to Harkin," Garrus explained. "And by 'talk,' I mean fight through his hoard of Blue Suns."
"Christ. There's no other way?"
Garrus shook his head. "Not that I've found."
"And before you even think it, I'm going," Kate said.