A/N: I made this chapter as sort of a filler for the time being. Mostly because the next couple of chapters are going to fluctuate between a lot of fighting and a lot of dialogue. And after the last couple of chapters I thought Alex could use a break from all the fighting.
I own nothing
Alexander 'Maverick' Drake
Alex & Rinna's Apartment - Lower Wards
October 15, 2180 - 1320 hours
Despite his unease, Alex found himself getting along very well with Chellick. The three of them sat around the kitchen table talking about life on the Citadel. It turned out that him and Reena had known each other for a year now. They met when another C-Sec officer was harassing her because of her race.
Chellick put the racist officer in his place and apologized to her for his co-worker. They just hit it off from there and continued to grow closer.
Alex was grinning throughout the story, "So I ask again...when's the wedding?" he ducked when Reena threw an empty nutrient paste tube at him. Chellick shook his head at their antics. "So in all seriousness, what made you wanna come around here?" asked Alex leaning back in his seat.
"Reena's been telling me a lot about you lately. How you've been doing at the weapon shop and giving her a place to stay instead of her staying at the shelter." said the Turian. "Your a good friend to her. It's kinda rare seeing a Human treating aliens with equality, especially after what happened during the First Contact war."
The soldier shrugged, "Like I told Reena. It's a big galaxy out there, why be ignorant to the others living in it. We all breath, sweat, love, and die. What we're made of and our culture shouldn't be a barrier, it should be a bridge to help make friends and allies."
Chellick clicked his mandibles lightly, "That's...very intellectual." Alex smirked, "Mom and dad raised me right. One of dad's best lessons was that you should only hate those who harm others for no reason than to seem superior, and that you should be the better man and stand for those who need it."
Both aliens looked at Alex like he had a second head. "Why can't everyone in the traverse have your type of thinking?" wondered Reena.
"It certainly would lead to a lot less bloodshed." commented Chellick smirking.
They talked for a while longer before Chellick got a message on his omni-tool. "I gotta go, they need me back at the office." he said standing and heading to the door with Reena seeing him out. He paused before looking back at Alex, "You know, me and a few guys from the office are going out for drinks tonight at the new bar that opened up in the Upper Wards. Your welcome to join us."
Alex thought it over. The only thing he had been doing lately was his job and cracking merc skulls. A night off to cut loose wouldn't have been too bad. "Sure. Name the time and the place."
Chellick smirked, "Bar's called Flux. Around 8 o'clock." Alex nodded, "See you there." The detective left after that. Reena came back and sat back down with him, "So...what do you think of him?"
"He's a good guy, I can tell." said Alex. He grinned widely, "You want him don't you?"
"ALEX!" Reena screamed in embarrassment.
X
Chellick entered the C-Sec Academy roughly ten minutes later to see Garrus standing by the front desk waiting for him. "What's going on?" he asked as his fellow Turian lead him into the offices.
"We found something." said Garrus picking up a datapad from his desk. "The last place that was hit by Maverick, the mercs that were there, they were protecting Marcus Greves." he said handing Chellick the datapad.
Chellick was a little shocked, "Marcus Greves? The one who helped the Suns destroy that colony on Sorren?"
Garrus nodded, "We identified his body amongst the debris. Gunshot wound through the heart, before the explosion. Maverick killed him before setting the bomb off to take out the rest of the mercs."
"Spirits. He was another one on the most wanted lists." said Chellick reading over the autopsy report. High caliber round through the heart. Instant kill. But it also showed he had several shattered bones in his arm and a hairline fracture on his skull. "Looks like Maverick fucked him up a bit before killing him."
"It was an interrogation. Greves was a glorified information broker, he would have been a wealth of intel to anyone who could get him to talk. Looks like our vigilante got what he needed before taking him out." said Garrus.
Chellick looked at his friend, "Any idea what Maverick was looking for?"
Garrus shook his head, "Not yet. CSI managed to find a couple terminals still functioning. Their raiding whatever data may have survived to see if they can find anything useful."
Sighing, Chellick dropped the datapad back on the desk. "So where does that leave us now?" "He'll make a mistake sooner or later. And then we'll have him. Until then we'll keep our eyes and ears open for what he or the mercenaries are up too."
Nodding Chellick went to head off to his desk when he remembered something. "Oh, by the way. I invited Reena's friend Alex to come out with us to Flux tonight." Garrus raised an eye ridge, "The Human she's been telling you about all this time?"
"Yeah. He moved to the Citadel six weeks ago, thought we could show him around town since he doesn't seem to get out a whole lot according to what Reena's told me." said Chellick.
Garrus nodded as Chellick headed off. Sitting at his desk, Garrus paused a moment. "Six weeks ago?" He picked up another datapad that held the information they'd gathered on Maverick thus far. The top of the file read when each incident occurred. The first attack on the Blue Suns happened five weeks ago.
Thinking about it for a few minutes he tossed the datapad back on the desk shaking his head. Dozens come to live on the Citadel every week, the chances of this guy being the vigilante is a thousand to one.
X
"What the fuck happened! And what's this I hear about Greves being dead?" Tarak recoiled slightly as his boss raged on the other end of the vid screen.
"It was that vigilante that's been running around. He's been picking apart our operations for weeks now and no matter what we throw at him he keeps taking them down." replied Tarak. "I don't know how he's learning about what we've been doing, but somehow he's climbing up our power structure."
The man on the other end of the vid call gritted his teeth, "I don't care what it takes. I want this fucker dead! I want whoever is helping him dead! He can't figure out what our plan is, cut off all the loose ends leading back to us. I'm sending help your way to deal with all of this." with that the line went dead.
The Batarian snarled as his fist went through the terminal. Maverick was causing too many problems, and it was time the vigilante was put down.
X
Alexander 'Maverick' Drake
Flux Bar & Club - Upper Wards
October 15, 2180 - 2000 hours
The sounds of the club reverberated through the walls that Alex leaned against. Flux was a said to be a very famous club despite being up and running for only a couple weeks.
Decked out in jeans, a black t-shirt, his combat boots and leather jacket. The soldier caught several odd looks from people coming and going from the bar as he waited for Chellick to arrive. Checking his omni-tool he saw that it was now ten past eight.
"Wow, punctual aren't ya?" Alex looked up and saw Chellick approaching with another Turian and two Humans. He recognized one of the Humans instantly...but not as quickly as the other Turian.
"Alex Drake, these are some of the guys from the academy. This is Rick Bailey and Ivan Richards." said Chellick introducing the Humans, one Alex knew was a younger Captain/Commander Bailey. The other was a guy his age with blonde hair and green eyes built like an olympic runner. "And this," Chellick said patting the Turian's shoulder, "Is my friend Garrus Vakarian."
Alex put on his best smile and shook each of their hands, "Nice to meet you guys, thanks for inviting me out with ya."
"Hay no problem man. It's good to show someone new around the station." said Ivan grinning. "Even though I've been here over six weeks already?" Alex asked with a raised eyebrow. The blonde officer shook his head and chuckled, "Then it's a good thing we got you out here. Not better way to show the town than to get completely shitfaced."
Bailey shook his head, "You damn kids." he saw what Alex was wearing, "Old school huh?" he asked looking at the younger man.
"Hay, you can't beat the classics." said the soldier putting his hands in his jacket pockets. "And besides, it's a lot more comfortable than what they're making these days." The officer nodded and smirked, "You and I are gonna get along great kid."
Garrus observed their guest with a calculating eye. Catching sight of the scars on his face, the detective in him came to life as he wondered how he got them. "Chellick hasn't told us much about you other than the fact your his friend's roommate."
Alex shrugged, "Not much to tell. I'll give you the cliffnote version when we get inside." with that the five men walked into the club, being swallowed by the lights, sounds and the people moving on the dance floor.
Finding an empty table, they ordered drinks from the Asari waitress as they got comfortable. "So what brought you to the Citadel?" asked Bailey after a little while.
"Looking for a fresh start, in a matter of speaking." said Alex as the waitress returned with their drinks. "Grew up on a colony on the edge of Terminus Space."
"The Terminus Systems are a pretty dangerous place, living that close must have been tough." said Chellick taking a sip of his Turian Brandy.
Alex nodded, "Yeah. My home got attacked by some mercs several years go. Mom and dad didn't make it." he motioned to his face. "Got these and quite a few others from the attack. Spent the rest of my time there working with the colony's militia to ensure that it never happened again."
"Sounds rough." said Ivan. Alex took a long drink of his whisky, "I came here hoping to do better. So far so good." he said before finishing off his drink.
Garrus drank from his own glass, one eye closely watching the scarred Human as he ordered another drink. Before coming here he did a quick background check on Alex Drake. His dossier matched up with his story, but the veteran detective could sense something else just beneath the surface.
The Human held himself in a way most soldiers would after combat. Relaxed, yet stiff in the shoulders as though he were ready to draw a weapon at a moments notice. And even though he kept up a carefree and joking appearance, Garrus could hear the subtle hints in his voice that meant he was hiding something.
There was a lot more to Alex than they might think.
The next two hours were spent talking about various things happening around the Citadel. Bailey and Ivan talked about various cases they were going on at the moment. Chellick talked about being a detective and how he was hoping to put an end to the illegal smuggling of weapons on the station.
Garrus didn't talk much, Alex knew the Turian was watching him out of the corner of his eye. He was sharp. He could see and read things a lot easier than many people would believe. Regardless if Garrus was one of his favorite character's in the game back in his world.
But considering this was a real life situation with him being a wanted vigilante with a secret identity, and Garrus was a cut throat detective that was most likely hunting for him. It wasn't a situation to be taken lightly.
"So Alex, you heard about Maverick?" asked Ivan.
All conversation at the table came to a pause. Alex raised an eyebrow, "You mean that vigilante that's been running around beating the holy hell out of the mercs on the station? Who hasn't? The guys practically on every news network."
"Our boss wasn't too happy with all of that leaking out. He's been trying to keep it quiet so that the public doesn't see him as some kind of hero." said Chellick finishing off his second brandy.
Alex took a sip out of his third whisky, "Honestly, I don't see why there's such an issue with it. The guy's running around making your jobs a little easier. Why hunt him?"
"Because vigilantism is against the law. It's our job to uphold the law, not someone who thinks they are above it." said Garrus stiffly.
"I think that the public should feel honored to have someone standing up for them." said Ivan. "I mean think about it, the mercs haven't been making any problems for us since Maverick showed up."
Chellick shook his head, "What the people need, is people in office elected to help with this kind of situation. And cops like us out on the streets doing things by the book to make sure order is kept in check. I believe that's what you Humans call a democracy."
"That's a good point, in theory." said Alex. "Meaning what?" asked Garrus interested.
"A little fact from Human history." The soldier started to explain. "When their enemies were at the gates, the Romans would suspend democracy and elect one man to defend the city. It wasn't considered a job, but a privilege to the people of Rome." explained Alex.
Bailey sat up straighter, "Nice statement kid, but if I remember my ancient history the last man to be elected like that in Roma was Julias Caesar and he never gave up his power, did he?"
Garrus and Chellick couldn't seem to make heads or tails of what the two Humans were talking about while Ivan knocked back another beer.
Alex shrugged at the older man, "Fair enough. All I can say is this; you either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Whoever Maverick is, he's trying to do what he believes is right in order to keep the people of the Citadel safe regardless of what happens to him."
"You seem pretty adamant about your position on the subject." said Garrus. Alex smirked, "I do my best to keep an open mind about everything. I base most of my assumptions about someone after I've met them in person."
Chellick smirked, "And what's your opinion on us?" Alex chuckled, "Your all good guys. Except for stiff over there." he said pointing his thumb at Garrus.
The Turian in question just waved him off as they changed subjects.
Alex looked up when the Asari waitress came over with a fresh bottle of whisky and put it on the table for him, "Compliments of the lady at the bar." she said with a wink. The soldier craned his neck, as did the C-Sec officers, as he saw a light blue skinned Asari wearing a tight black dress that complimented her curves stirring her drink slowly and watching him intently.
"Gentlemen, if you'll excuse me for a moment." said Alex getting up and walking over to the bar.
Taking the stool next to the Asari, Alex smiled. "Thanks for the drink, but I assumed you wanted me to talk to you." The Asari smiled back, "That I did, you seem like a very likeable person."
"That so? You have a name, beautiful?" he asked pouring a shot from the bottle she got for him and knocking it back.
"Lorna. Lorna Ver'one. And what would be yours handsome?" she purred back while taking a sip of her own drink.
"Alex Drake." replied the soldier holding his hand out. The Asari shook it as her smile shone a little brighter. "So what about me caught the attention of a angel such as you?" he asked pouring on the charm.
Lorna blushed a light purple at the compliment, "You just strike me as a very interesting. I've come to this bar every night since it opened. Hoping to find someone that caught my fancy." her green eyes looked into his gray ones. "You have this aura around you that easily draws people in. I can feel it." she said resting her hand on his thigh.
Alex stiffened slightly. He hadn't had a relationship with anyone in a couple years. The last one was with a fellow soldier back in his world, but she was from another unit and they rarely saw each other when their units got redeployed. So they called it off and remained friends.
"I'm a bit rusty in the dating department darlin." he admitted with a slight smirk. Lorna just smiled back, her hand squeezing his leg gently, "I think I can help you with that." Her omni-tool flared and his chimed a moment later. "Give me a call sometime. If your interested." without warning she leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek before getting up and leaving the club.
Shaking his head, Alex went back to the table where all four cops were looking at him expectantly. "What?" he asked sitting down.
"Dude, you just got hit on by a hot girl, she gave you her number and kissed you. And that's all you gotta say?" asked Ivan shocked. Alex shrugged, "Chicks dig me." he said with a smirk while the others, including Garrus, all started laughing.
X
It was almost four in the morning when Alex stumbled through the front door of his apartment. Boarderline shitfaced as he tried his best to stay quiet as he made his way to his room.
Tried being the keyword.
Alex stumbled over everything and anything in his path. Reena sat up from now awake and watched holding back giggles as her drunk friend tried to get to his room. "Alex? You need any help?" she asked doing her best not to laugh.
The soldier froze, leaning against the kitchen table for support. "Nah! I'm...I'm good!" he said loudly before slipping and collapsing to the floor. After attempting to stand back up a few times, Alex just gave up and laid on the kitchen floor before light snores could be heard coming from him prone form.
Reena shook her head and laid back on the couch. Reminding herself to make sure coffee was made in the morning and ask Chellick just what they had been up to last night.
X
Tarak looked at the six people he had kneeling on the floor before a large group of his men with guns aimed at them. Red Sand dealers that they had done business with in the last few weeks to aid them in their plans. "What about the others?" he asked his subordinates.
"Couldn't find them. Don't worry boss, they won't get away." said a Turian merc with his assault rifle up.
With a nod from the Batarian, gunfire echoed through the room as the Red Sand dealers were all executed. He looked to the rest of his men, "Find the rest. We can't run the risk of C-Sec or Maverick finding out anything more."
The mercs all gave responses before getting to work. Tarak brought up his omni-tool and spread the word to all other factions of the Blue Suns that had gone underground from the recent attacks. Their leader wanted things ready in two months, and they had to make sure that there weren't anymore fuck ups.
A/N: I made this one rather quick which was why it was kinda short. The next chapter will take a little while because it will go deep into what's really going on and what Alex will be up against in the near future. Keep the reviews coming guys.
(P.S. If you can figure out where I got a few of the quotes from you'll have my respect, lol.)