Chapter 4 Time On Illium
Sam's face twitched from agitation. Turning she forced a smile. "Conrad...What are you doing here?"
Conrad smiled happily at his idol. "I thought that I could…you know…be like you! Help people where ever I go!"
Sam pinched the bridge of her nose. "Conrad," she sighed, "you don't have any training to fight though…and where did you get that armor?"
"I bought it! They make really convincing N7 armors now in days, and I don't need training to just help people. You would be surprised at the people who just want someone to listen to them. In fact and undercover cop told me this place held red sand and she asked if I can get the deed here for her. That's why I'm here!" He said enthusiastically
Sam resisted the urge to punch the man square in the face and forced her voice down low. "Where is this "undercover cop"? I will go talk to her."
Conrad smiled. "She's at the transportation hub, by that weapons store."
"Thank you, I'll hand it. In the meantime, don't. Do. Anything. Am I clear?"
"Oh yes! Yes of course!" He said nodding his head rapidly."
Sam nodded and turned just in time to see Garrus and the rest of her squad mates walking in. Miranda came out of a room as if waiting for Sam to finish her talk with Conrad. Garrus, noticing Conrad, raised a brow plate, which only received a wave of her hand. They all took a seat in the booth she had lead them to and began to explain what Liara had told her to the rest of her squad mates.
Well, this day is an incredibly long day.
After making sure Miranda's sister was safe (as well as convincing the Cerberus Operative to talk to her) they went to regroup with Garrus. His group was in the Dantious Towers, going after the Drell Assassin, which meant they were out of the women's grasp.
Sam informed that she and Miranda were going to go ahead and see if they could get Samara. They managed to find and locate her, but she was, more or less, non-cooperative with them till they got the name of the ship that the criminal she was chasing had fled on.
Now she and Miranda were working quite well together and slowly making their way through the many, many, Eclipse sisters. One of the rooms they entered held an Asari woman who claimed she didn't know what the mercs were truly like. Sam didn't believe a word, and when the woman tried to shoot at Sam, the bullet was stopped by her kinetic barrier. Miranda then shot the Asari in the chest and asked if Sam was ok. She nodded and they continued onwards.
On Garrus' end things were a bit heated where he was. First off, they were on a bridge that they could fall off of any minute. Secondly, the wind was blowing hard against the offensive group pushing their way towards the Penthouse. Thirdly, they had mercs shooting at them unrelentingly. Popping out of cover he sniped another merc down before shout at Jack to use Shockwave to blow a small group off the bridge. She yelled happily as she unleashed her biotics on the group of mercs. He almost pitied them. Almost. He then shouted an order to Grunt to charge the group blocking the way. Grunted roared and charged at the doomed mercs and they all continued forwards.
Now just outside the door to the Penthouse he turned and issued orders to them as he began to hack at the locked door. They were to spread along the perimeter with their weapons trained on Nassana after he walked in. Now through the door completely, he walked in, his assault rifle lowered but he still had his guard up. The others filed in behind him and trained their guns on Nassana as ordered.
Nassana lifted her hand in a fist. Making the other mercs in the room lower their own guns. She spoke coolly, trying not to show her fear to the intruders.
"I know why you're here, but I promise that I can pay you double of whatever your employer is paying."
Garrus smirked slightly. "Oh, I'm not here for you Nassana, just the one who has targeted you. Though I don't care for you or your kind. Especially those that lie to Shepard." The surprised look Nassana had was quickly wiped away and replaced with a new found fear as they heard movement above.
A silent figure slid out of the air ducts and quickly took out the two mercs beside Nassana before grabbing the Asari and shooting her in the abdomen. She grunted in pain as the assassin laid the woman on the desk. The light quickly left her eyes and the assassin crossed her arm and began a quite prayer.
Garrus stepped forward and quietly said, "You probably heard, but, my Commander is looking for your help. Assuming that you are Thane correct?"
The assassin looked up after his prayer and starred at him. "I am Thane, yes. That depends on the mission."
Garrus sighed. "I will not lie. This is a suicide mission some would say…but I believe my Commander can get us through it."
"Yes, a suicide would be a nice way to go out." Thane looked up. "I am dying."
Garrus was taken aback. "Is this going be a danger to others?" He asked solemnly.
"No, the disease I have is not spreadable and kills slowly. Who is your commander, so I may know who I fight for?" Thane responded. Not but off the slightest about his on-coming death.
"Commander Samantha Shepard."
"The Commander? I had heard rumor that she was alive but I did not believe it. I guess it is true. If I may ask. Why is she not here herself?"
"She went to gather another that is, hopefully, going to join us as well. I am Garrus by the way. We should get back to Eternity. She wants us to be there for when she gets back. You can get yourself acquainted with the others as well."
Thane nodded silently and they all left the tower. As they exited the building Garrus commed Sam up.
"Hey, Shepard wanted you to know we got Thane and on our way to Eternity. You OK?"
"Yeah, few scrapes and bruises…We on our way back to Officer Dara and Samara with the ship name that criminal fled on…AML Demeter is the ship name." She sighed. "I'm really tired Garrus. When it's just you and one other person storming an Eclipse hideout…It's tiring."
"I'm sorry I wasn't there to watch your six, but it seems we are all good to go after this."
"Not quite. I have to fix Conrad's mess. When I get there that's when you can come with me. I'll have Miranda show our new friends around the Normandy in the meantime."
"All right Shepard. I'll be waiting."
Sam sighed as she, Miranda, and Samara walked into Eternity. She just remembered that Liara needed her to hack those terminals. Good thing there in the same place as this "undercover cop". She thought to herself. She saw Garrus and the others sitting in a booth. Walking over she sighed and sat beside Garrus and laid her head on the cool metallic surface of the table. Beside her Garrus chuckled lightly at her and patted her back slightly.
"I should have brought more with me." She moaned.
That received a bark of laughter from Garrus. She loved the way it sounded. Smiling slightly she lifted her head, looking for their other new party member. He was sitting on the edge, beside Kasumi. His eyes snapped to hers as if he felt her eyes on him.
"Glad you decided to join us Thane. I should formally introduce myself. Commander Samantha Shepard." She said smiling while extending her hand. He took it with a firm grip.
"Good to meet you face to face Commander." She smiled at him. Then turned her attention to the others and explained what their next move was.
Garrus and Sam watched as the others left for the Normandy before heading back to the Transportation Hub. She and Garrus split up. Sam was going to talk to the Asari and Garrus was going to handle the hacking.
Sam walked up to the only Asari at the weapon shop and cleared her throat to get the Asari's attention. She smiled and walked over to Sam.
"How may I help you today, Miss?"
"I'm one of Conrad's friends." Sam replied smiling.
"Oh! Of course! Yes, that place's management are red sand dealers and I'm trying to stop them."
"I know but I came to tell you I got the deed. You just need to go there and claim it." Sam lied easily.
"Really? That's great! Let's go now."
"Alright. Can you give me a moment?"
"Make it quick." The Asari scowled at Sam. Garrus came up to her and said that he hacked the terminals and Liara got her data. Sam nodded to the Asari and they walked into Eternity. They watch with amused smirks as the Asari was arrested and the bartender, Aethyta, thanked them. She turned her attention to Conrad, whose eyes were on the ground. Sam's gaze softened as she approached him.
"I know you meant well, Conrad, but this line of work just isn't for you. Please rethink this. I hope you understand." She said softly as she gently squeezed his shoulder.
"OK Shepard. I won't do anything like this again." Sam smiled and turned away, Garrus walking beside her.
"Sam? Are you there?" There comms flickered to life as Liara asked her question.
"Yeah, I'm here Liara. What do you need?"
"I need to talk to you again. Can you come back to my office please?"
"I'm on my way, bringing Garrus too."
Sam looked at Garrus. Clearly a little annoyed but she would never abandon her friends when they needed her. Garrus reached for her hand and squeezed it lightly. This made her smile as they walked past Nyxeris and into Liara's office. A slight frown settled on Sam's lips as she stood there, wishing to be on the Normandy welcoming Thane and Samara. Then proceeding to watch movies with Garrus.
"Garrus! Good to see you again! I wish we had more time to chat but unfortunately, with the info I received I have found out about a senior agent for the Shadow Broker known as the Observer. I want to kill him in order to weaken the Shadow Broker. If you can hack these five terminals," She took out her Omni-tool and sent the info to Sam's 'tool. "And help point out which one is the Observer. I can place the hit."
Shepard nodded reluctantly and left without a word. Garrus sent her a concerned look but she just shook her head, wanting to get this over as quickly as possible so that she can go back to the Normandy, take off her armor, have a shower, eat, and then watch movies with Garrus.
After hacking all the terminals Sam was left with a puzzled expression. This doesn't make any sense. All the suspects are male, but it's clear as day that the Observer is female. Liara has the wrong suspects. She brought her hand up to her ear to contact Liara.
"Have you found the Observer?"
"No, the Observer is female, not male. You were given the wrong info Liara."
"But that's impossible! I was given the information by…wait a minute…Nyxeris can you come in here for a moment? Sam go ahead and come back here."
Liara closed off the comm line after that. Sam and Garrus shared a worried glance before quickly making their way to Liara's office. By time they got there Nyxeris' body was being removed from the office. Sam winced as she saw limbs bent in very awkward positions and half of her skull was crushed in. Garrus bought his hand up and rested it just above the small of her back and guided her into Liara's office.
Liara was nursing a nose bleed when they walked in and smiled slightly. The room had been torn apart from its orderly look before. The window was cracked slightly and there were plenty of dents in the wall.
"Thank you Sam. I know you aren't happy with the way things have happened but you brought me one step to the Shadow Broker, and that means more than you know. I'll let you go now, but you have to promise to visit me every once in a while OK?" Liara said as tears threatened to spill over. She ran up to Sam and pulled her into another hug. Letting go of Sam, Liara turned to Garrus before hugging him too.
"Take care of her." She whispered so that only he heard her and she pulled back. Sniffing once before handing Sam a credit chip. Sam looked at her questioningly. Liara just waved them out. As they walked back to the ship Garrus was pondering as to why Liara had said to take care of Sam. Perhaps she knew about Horizon. She was an Information Broker after all. Garrus shook his head lightly and just looked at Sam. Her red hair looked so soft and he wanted to do nothing more than just sit up in her cabin and hold her while he told her how much he loved her. The thought made Garrus smile slightly.
AN: Oh my gosh! I am so sorry for being gone forever. For those of you who are still with this story thanks you so much! I just lost intrest of this story and I got Window 8 for my laptop but I completely for got to save this story so I lost all of it :( Anyway I just want you guys to know that I have not abandoned this story and I will try to update more often. I know theres not a lot of Garrus/Sam fluff but next ch. will have fluff I promise ^-^ Hint: contains cuddles and movies. Anywho I'll stop talking now. R&R!
-Lady Assassin.