And here is the next chapter. I won't blab to much on this. R&R please. Enjoy!
Claire watched as Luke cleaned his pistol of salarian brain matter at the equipment table. He had not said a word since they came back on board. He refused to make eye contact with anyone, not even Ashley.
"What happened out there?" Mallory asked as Claire stood silently watching their brother. Mallory could see the sorrow and fear in her sister's eyes. She had never seen anything like it before. The great Commander Claire Shepard was scared of something.
"I'll uh… Come up to my quarters. I'll tell you there." Claire said making her way toward the elevator. Garrus stepped in their path suddenly but Claire pushed straight past him.
"Commander?" Garrus said but he realized quickly what he had done. He had backed Luke in his murder of Saleon. But Luke wasn't wrong, was he? Saleon deserved to die. The worst criminals always do. To avenge their victims and protect the people that would end up being their victims, criminal monsters have to be killed.
Garrus sighed and watched as the door to the elevator closed. He looked back at Luke as he worked and nodded. Luke was a good man, but he was not a C-Sec agent anymore. He and Garrus both were on a Spectre's ground team. Essentially, they were council agents with the authority to do anything as long as Claire approved.
"No red tape." Garrus said softly. He let out a grunt of approval and made his way over to the Mako to tinker with the machine gun.
Ashley crossed the room slowly and approached the equipment table. As she picked up one of the assault rifles, Luke reached over and put his hand on it keeping her from taking it.
"I got it." Luke said softly.
"Are you sure?" Ashley asked. She felt a bit hurt by his rejection.
"Yeah, I'll see you for chow time." Luke's expression was cold and blank. He worked slowly and concentrated on each detail of the weapon he was cleaning. Ashley lowered her gaze and turned to leave.
"You know Luke, I am here for you. I care about you…" She paused and looked around the cargo bay. "And not just professionally." Luke stopped and allowed a smile to come to his face as he turned to face the marine.
"Ash, I care about you too. I just don't want to put you in a bad way with Claire." Luke said.
"How would you do that? You are her brother. You two worked out your leaving and coming back. You said that you had your past squared away. What could possibly have happened that would cause you and everyone around you to fall on the skipper's bad side?" Ashley asked crossing her arms.
"I killed a really bad guy. Dr. Saleon." Ashley looked at him. There was a gleam of accomplishment in his eyes. "Claire is mad about how I killed him."
"Well, how did it happen?" Luke could see Wrex perk up and look his way.
"We cornered him, and positively identified him. Then Claire arrested him." He could see the look of surprise in Ashley's face.
"Wait, I thought you said you killed him?" Ashley started.
"I did. That bastard deserved a much slower death than he got. I walked up to him and shot him point blank in the head with shredder rounds." Ashley's eyes widened.
"You killed him after Claire arrested him? Luke, that is breaking just about every rule of engagement there is. I know Saleon deserved to die about fifty times over, but you just crossed a line." Ashley took a small step back.
"Ash, I did what needed to be done. I protected the galaxy. Same way Claire does. She gave us clearance under her spectre authority to act. Garrus and I both agreed that that was the only end for Saleon and I don't regret killing him. Not even the way I killed him." Luke paused and looked back at his weapon. "I guess what bothers me about this is the way that you and Claire are looking at me. I'm not a murderer. At worst I'm a vigilante, but I did a good thing. There are some people in this galaxy that the universe is better off without."
Ashley stood speechless as Luke went back to cleaning his weapon. Not only was he unremorseful of his actions, he was even proud. "Luke, you don't want to become this kind of person."
"I am this kind of person, Ash. When I find a monster, I kill them. I've always been this way. If that is a problem then maybe we shouldn't be working together… or hanging out anymore." Luke turned back to his work and continued cleaning.
I'm going to have to toughen up if I'm going to be doing this. I can't let what Claire and Ashley think of me stop me from doing what needs to be done. I may have been a cop, but not anymore.
Claire watched Luke work through the security screen as she explained the mission to Mallory. Her sister sat on the couch and listened without making a sound.
"I just don't understand. How could Luke do that?" Mallory looked up at her sister.
"Luke did the right thing. I read up on Dr. Saleon while you were on the mission. Personally, I would have killed him on sight myself. Look, you gave the boarding team spectre authorization to engage any and all threats. Luke was doing what needed to be done." Claire turned to her sister more in shock than anger.
"What are you talking about? Did you not hear me? Luke killed Saleon while he was in my custody that was not the right thing?" Claire exclaimed.
"He acted in the interest of the greater good. He killed a man that deserved to die. I'm sorry Claire, but I have to agree with Luke's actions. They might have been a bit cold but he got the job done." Mallory said crossing her arms.
"Mal, he is not suppose to be like that. He has been telling us all this time that he is a cop and Garrus says that he was one of the best." Claire paused wringing her hands. "That is not how C-Sec agents handle things."
"What are you saying?" Mallory asked.
"I'm saying that we need to keep an eye on him. I'm worried that being out here with us maybe blurring his judgment. I don't know if I can trust him to follow orders on a mission, especially after this." Claire looked back at the security feed as Luke finished cleaning the last of the weapons.
Mallory stepped to her sister's side. "We can trust him to make the tough calls and follow through with it. Luke is becoming someone that I would want on my squad. Have you noticed that he is not having those episodes as much anymore?"
Claire stopped and considered Mallory's statement. It was true Luke had not been freezing up after a fight anymore. He was very focused and even calm during high stress situations, and the way that he executed Saleon she thought should have started an episode but Luke's demeanor had suggested more relief and pride than remorse and anxiety. It worried her about what her brother might be becoming, or perhaps what he had always been.
Claire's eyes flicked to the view screen and watched as her brother finished cleaning the last weapon and placed them in her team's respective lockers. Luke looked up as if he could sense that they were looking at him. Claire sighed and closed the view screen.
Luke still had his eyes on the surveillance probe that was nestled in the corner of the cargo bay. Claire probably used it to keep track of everyone on the ship considering there were so many non-Alliance crew. Or maybe it was Mallory's idea… Either way, there was nothing he could really do about it. He wiped his hands and made his way over to Garrus and the Mako ready to work on something else.
"Hey Shepard, I thought a lot about what you said, and you were right." Garrus said turning to look at his friend and partner.
"About what, buddy?" Luke asked picking up a wrench and climbing up into the engine compartment to tune the components.
"There are a lot of bad people in the galaxy and there was not much that we could do about it as C-Sec agents. But as a Spectre we would not have to play by anyone's rules but our own." Luke stuck his head out the compartment and looked over at his friend.
"I can see them taking you in as a spectre there big guy, but me… I think I'm more of a support team kind of guy." Luke said checking one of the hoses with his omni-tool. Luke smirked and looked back to his work as Garrus chuckled.
"Come on Shepard, you are the brother of the first human spectre, part of her team. You have the skills, why not?" Garrus asked.
"Because I can't go back to where there are rules that I have to follow. C-sec and the spectres are both wrapped in red tape, even Claire has to submit reports on every action we take. Even Saleon." Luke said slowing his work to a stop. "No one would want me to be a spectre after hearing about that. I know I was right to kill him, but with the way Claire reacted… I don't know. Maybe that would be the kind of reaction I would get from the council each time I killed a target."
"That is the exact reason why you should be one. You are able to act without any hesitation for the good of the galaxy. If the council can't see what a great spectre you would be, they don't know you very well." Garrus said tossing Luke an omni-gel applicator. Luke coated some of the wiring and nodded.
"I suppose it doesn't hurt to put in my name as long as I can get another spectre to approve it." Luke said climbing out of the compartment. Garrus and Luke shook each other's hands.
"Shepard and Vakarian. Spectres. Sounds good to me." Garrus said with a chuckle.
"I agree." Luke responded.
As they laughed and started toward the elevator, they heard the radio channel on their omni-tools turn on and Claire's voice begin to speak. "Alright team, listen up. We have a new mission. Someone is killing Alliance scientist and we need to stop them. Luke, Alenko, Tali and I will drop in the Mako as the first round team and make our way to the facility where the next scientist is held up. Once we have confirmed that there are no air defenses, everyone else will join us ground side. This is a shoot 'n scoot mission people. Consider all combatants as hostiles." Luke looked over at Garrus as the radio signal cut off.
"Let's hope this is just a normal swoop in and save the day kind of mission." Garrus said.
"Yeah, but maybe without the swooping…swooping is bad…normally." Luke said looking back over at the table. He was happy to have another mission to soon but there was something that felt off. I'm sure it is nothing. Just pre-mission jitters, nothing to be worried about. Luke told himself.