The Citadel tower was an impressive feat of architecture and design; overseeing the entire Presidium, it was where politicians representing the various races of the galaxy convened to the make decisions about galactic law, under council supervision and in offices lined with marble tile and stocked with the finest provisions credits could buy. Garrus hated the place. It was the very pinnacle of unnecessary, restrictive rule-making and waste; the reason for most of the red-tape that had thus far held up his investigation of Saren. He didn't always see eye to eye with his father, but one thing they had both agreed on was that politicians had far too much power with far too little impact.
This was all Garrus was thinking about as he stood waiting for the arrival of the Normandy's crew at the top floor of the tower. The council chambers were just ahead of him, up a short set of stairs. He could see the balcony where they oversaw meetings, but they had not yet arrived. He glanced at the time on his omni-tool. It was almost midday and no one was there yet.
He scanned the room for any sign of the Alliance, but found none. Humans were boisterous, as a species; he imagined he would know when they had entered the room. All he saw for the moment were a few keepers scurrying around making repairs and a salarian staring suspiciously at them. He watched the salarian for a moment, trying to figure out what he was doing, when an unwelcome voice interrupted him from his spying.
"Vakarian, glad that I ran into you."
Garrus turned to his right to find the head of Citadel security, and his boss, standing in front of him. Executor Pallin was a fellow turian, though apart from species the two men were nothing alike. Pallin was a lean man, with a drawn face, and white clan markings that covered his entire face and part of his fringe. Garrus was often butting heads with him. Garrus' approach to his work was much less…orthodox…than Pallin's. As head of C-sec, Pallin didn't appreciate workers who didn't play by the rules, though he must have recognized Garrus' talent or he would have fired him long ago.
"Executor Pallin, I'm glad you're here," Garrus lied. "I wanted to ask you for an extension on the case against Saren."
"I also wanted to discuss Saren," Pallin nodded. "But not for an extension. It's been months, Vakarian, and you haven't turned up a shred of evidence against him. Enough is enough. I can't continue wasting resources on this."
"I'm turning up dead ends because all of Saren's files are confidential due to his Spectre status," Garrus growled, the flange in his voice more pronounced than ever.
"I suggest you consider that you're talking to a superior officer, Vakarian," Pallin replied, his sub-harmonics rising in pitch an intensity to match Garrus'.
Garrus bristled, but tried to control his voice. "Sir, I'm sorry, but I've gotten word that…"
"Enough, Vakarian. You'll be reassigned to a new case tomorrow. Forget Saren. It's over."
The executor marched off, head held high, while Garrus watched him with a growing rage welling in his chest. He turned his gaze back to the council chambers, fuming, and was startled to find himself staring at a group of humans instead. How had humans managed to sneak up on him? That's what he got for letting his emotions get the best of him.
"You were talking about Saren?" the human in front spoke.
She was tall, for a human, though all humans seemed short next to a turian. Her chest was covered in Alliance armor, but her arms were bare past the shoulder, exposing well-toned muscles beneath her soft human flesh. Though many human females Garrus had seen wore their hair long, this human had shorter, more practical hair, cropped at the nape of her neck. Two guns were secured to her back and she carried hacking equipment on her omni tool, though no one without experience with said equipment would have noticed it. She stood at ease, and yet her presence was commanding and more than a little intimidating.
He had never seen a human female as imposing.
"You must be Commander Shepard," he decided. He wouldn't have attributed the title to any of her companions. He knew Ambassador Udina, and was already vaguely familiar with Captain Anderson, through Udina. In addition, the man and woman behind Shepard appeared capable, but their presence didn't demand his attention the way the commander's did.
"Have we met?" She cocked her head. An oddly universal expression across the galaxy: confusion.
Garrus extended a hand, the sharp edges of his talons covered by thick gloves. This was considered polite amongst mixed-species society, and besides, the gloves made it easier to grip his guns and utilize his omni-tool.
"Garrus Vakarian," he explained. Shepard shook his hand. A firm handshake. Good. "Citadel security. I came to watch your appointment with the council. We have a mutual interest in exposing Saren. I've been investigating him for months, but to no end. Ambassador Udina told me you have potential news that could convince the council…"
"I don't know if it will convince them," Shepard admitted. "I don't have any direct evidence."
"If they ask for something concrete, I'm interested in helping."
"I appreciate the offer," Shepard said.
"We don't have time for chit chat, Shepard. The council is expecting us," Udina interrupted.
Shepard sighed. It seemed she was as fond of the ambassador as Garrus was. She gave the turian an apologetic look, then surprised him by shaking his hand again. Her grip was like a vice.
"We'll talk after the meeting."
Garrus nodded and watched them head through the marble-tiled hallway up the set of steps leading to the council chambers. After some space had been put between them, he followed. He would listen from a distance and see what happened.
It came as no surprise to Commander Shepard when the council put little stock in her claims, though she had been surprised by their choice to conference in Saren himself. Typical to his reputation, the turian had laughed at her story of the vision from the Prothean beacon, as well as claiming that Nihlus had been a dear friend. Seeing him say the words just reaffirmed the truth for her.
For his part, Udina did put up a fight with the council, but his overzealous responses always spoke to his true purpose: a place for humanity on the council. They wouldn't hear his complaints, and without evidence, they wouldn't hear more from any of the Normandy's crew.
Dejected, they made their way back out of the tower. Shepard was determined to find something, anything, that could implicate Saren in the mess that had happened on Eden Prime. Innocent people had died because of his actions. She had always had a hard time grappling with injustice, and she'd seen enough of it to last her a lifetime. If she could make a difference here, she was damned well going to try.
She'd go to the turian first. He had seemed eager to help and a C-sec officer would know the Citadel far better than she or her crew did. Besides, there was something about him that she liked. She didn't even know him, but she felt like she could trust him. She would have to follow her instinct as she always did.
Unfortunately, the turian was missing when she and her crew exited the chambers. The only soul left on the entire floor at the top of the tower was a salarian taking notes next to a keeper. Now her only decent lead had disappeared.
"You should go find Vakarian," Udina suggested as they approached the elevator. "Talk to detective Chellick in C-sec. He might know where to find him."
"You know him?" Shepard asked.
"We're acquainted," Udina was impossible to read. Regardless of the subject matter, he always seemed pissed off. Whether he thought highly of the turian C-sec agent or not, Shepard would never guess. "He has a keen interest in stopping Saren and he's been researching the matter for months. I think if the two of you put your heads together you might turn up something. And you had better. There's a lot more riding on this than just bringing Saren to justice."
Before Shepard could speak, he swept away into the elevator and jammed the button to close the door before the rest of them could approach.
"Well isn't he charming?" Ashley spat.
"We might just get along, Williams," Shepard grinned. The gunnery chief returned the smile.
"So we should head down to C-sec then? Ask this Chellick if he know where the turian might be?" Kaidan asked.
"As much as I hate to agree with Udina," Captain Anderson spoke, "I have to agree that the turian's your only key to any evidence right now." He put his hand on Shepard's shoulder and squeezed it. "I'm sorry to keep asking so much of you, but I trust you can handle this. Come by Udina's office if you find anything. If it makes your task any easier, it has to be better than keeping Udina company."
Shepard laughed, "Thanks, Captain."
They boarded the elevator together and took it out to the Presidium. Shepard had only been to the citadel a handful of times, but she never got sick of the sight of it. An artificial atmosphere had been created around the center ring of the Citadel where the Presidium lay, and the sunshine, though fake, felt real enough on her skin as they exited the elevator. Lush grass and flowing lakes surrounded by skyscrapers curved up and out of sight in either direction, an artificial gravity field created by the constant spinning of the center ring.
The three alliance crew members escorted their captain back to the embassies, said a quick goodbye, and made their way across a bridge spanning the running water below, toward the C-sec training academy where they were told they could find detective Chellick.
Ashley was staring in wonder at everything they passed, trying to take in everything at once. Shepard could see she was overwhelmed by it. The girl was well traveled, but she'd spent her service on human colonies. It was her first time on the Citadel and it was plain to see she was in love with it, an in awe of the diversity of the alien population. She'd probably only seen hanar in training pamphlets, yet there they were, floating on those spindly legs, preaching outside the academy.
"It's a lot to take in, huh?" Kaidan said.
"That's an understatement," Ashley replied. "I've never seen anything like this."
"I remember my first time on the Citadel," Shepard spoke. "I think my reaction was something like yours. It never gets old though. I could see myself living here, if I ever settled down."
"No offense commander, but I can't see you working a desk job," Kaidan said, smiling.
"Me either," she laughed. "I'd be bored in five minutes. But there are days, like today, where it seems appealing."
The C-sec academy was bustling with activity when they entered. Humans, turians, asari, even a few salarians were all passing to and fro across the great main hall where elevators led back to the Presidium and up to the docking bay. All of the officers wore the standard blue and black C-sec issue armor, custom fitted to their frames. Turians overwhelmingly made up the bulk of the officers. Udina said it was in their nature to be in such authority positions. He wasn't fond of them, to be sure, which was why it surprised her that he knew the one they'd met up in the tower.
"So first we have to figure out how to find Chellick before we can even find the turian," Kaidan said. "This place is huge, and the hallways are a maze, I know from experience. We should ask someone for directions."
Shepard reached out and grabbed the arm of a passing human. She wasn't sure the gesture would be taken well by an alien, but a human she could handle pissing off for the moment. A young officer who couldn't have been older than eighteen jerked to a halt at the commander's grip.
"Can I he-" her sentence trailed off as she saw who the hand on her arm belonged to. "You're Commander Shepard!" She said excitedly. She seemed to remember herself immediately after her outburst, and flushed red. "I'm sorry, ma'am. But you're a war hero and a…a personal inspiration."
Shepard felt her cheeks warming. She hated when people called her a war hero. She had only been doing her duty. She wanted to believe any other Alliance officer in her shoes would have done the same. She was also tremendously bad at taking compliments.
"Er…" Shepard cleared her throat. "I'm looking for detective Chellick."
"Sure, I can take you to him. Wow, I can't believe I'm actually talking to the commander Shepard. I heard you were up for Spectre consideration. Is that true? My boyfriend told me, but he's always blowing hot air and I know how unlikely a human Spectre is, but if anyone could do it you could, and I told him so and…"
The rate of the girl's speech was making Shepard dizzy. She and her squad followed her around the corner down a long hall, through twists and turns until she was sure she'd never find her way back. Kaidan hadn't been lying, the place was a maze.
Finally they came to a halt in front of a small office with no door where a turian officer sat typing away on his private terminal. Shepard had always had a hard time telling different aliens apart, as much as she hated to admit it, but turians all wore different clan markings on their faces that helped differentiate. Garrus' had been blue across his eyes and the bridge of his nose, but Chellick's were silver down his chin and mandibles.
He glanced up at their arrival and gave the young officer a withering look. She shrunk back, but mustered up the courage to speak.
"Detective Chellick, this is Commander Remblery Shepard of the alliance navy. She was looking for you."
Chellick's beady green eyes turned sharply to Shepard. "I've heard of you."
Shepard's reputation always seemed to precede her. "I'm looking for Garrus Vakarian," she cut to the chase. "Ambassador Udina said you might know where he is."
Chellick rolled his eyes. "What's he done now that he's got the Alliance navy looking for him?" He held up a hand before Shepard could speak. "You know what, I don't want to know, because if I know, then I have to report it to Pallin, and I'm not dealing with that today. He mentioned over the extranet that he was headed to the wards. Looking for a guy named Fist. He runs a strip club down there called Chora's Den. Real scumbag. Garrus said he got a tip that some of Fist's men were going to be hitting up a med clinic. Something about a doctor knowing too much. I can't be expected to read every message Vakarian sends."
"That's plenty of information, really. Thanks for your help," Shepard said.
"Yeah, whatever," Chellick waved his hand. "I've got work to do, so help yourself out."
A/N: Sorry that the first few chapters are a bit slow/re-treading the basics. I promise the relationships/deviations from the main plot will pick up soon. As always, constructive criticism/reviews are appreciated. Thanks to all those that favorited/followed!