.

Loyalty and Limerence

Part 1

Chapter 1

Shalta Ward, 1 Week Later

"Move! Get out of the way!" Garrus Vakarian shouted as he dodged between two asari, nearly bowling them over before catching his footing and propelling himself toward the salarian escaping ahead of him. A terrified visage glanced back at him quickly before sliding around a corner and out of sight. Garrus willed his legs to move faster, cursing his heavy C-Sec issued armor. He couldn't afford to lose this one, he was his last link in this spirits forsaken investigation. At this point, all his other leads were cold, and his gut told him that this one would lead where he needed it to, if only he could stop him from getting away.

Garrus whipped around the corner, but to his dismay he could see the green head of the salarian bobbing through the enormous crowd coming and going from one of the most popular shopping districts on this ward. Cursing, he propelled himself into the mass of people, pushing and shoving to ensure he could keep his prey in his sights. People pushed back, yelling and cursing at him, but he continued onward, his eyes never leaving the salarian. Garrus knew he was running out of time, as just beyond was one of the larger tourist transportation ports in the area, with thousands of people coming and going per hour. If he lost the salarian there, he would disappear among the crowds like a ghost. Growling, he pushed himself to go even faster. Before he knew it, the sign for the port began to loom above, moving closer step by step. Panic began to well up in his throat, and in desperation, he whipped his side arm out.

"Everybody down!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, as he drew his pistol up and took aim at the back of the escaping salarian. Screams erupted as everyone learched back, limbs pushing and skittering to get away. But as he took a deep breath to calm his shaking arm, doubt started to push in. Shooting him would certainly slow him down, but accidentally killing him would answer none of his questions. In the split second he wavered, his target disappeared, already outside of his reach.

"Damn it!" Garrus dropped his gun to his side, holstering it and clenching his fist. He ran toward the port entrance, but he knew it was a fruitless cause. He shouldn't have hesitated, he should have just acted. Fortune only favors the bold, afterall. Turning the corner into the port entrance, he scanned the area. It was a rabbit warren of doors, entrances, halls, and gates. Plenty of salarians insight, as well as hundreds of others, but not the one he sought. Anger and self recrimination bubbled up, and he smashed his armored fist into the nearest bulkhead. Sighing in defeat, he turned and made his way back.

This had probably been a doomed investigation from the very beginning, but this lead had seemed so promising. The salarian's terrified face floated in his mind as his feet dragged him back to the nearest local transport console. He had done well to finally track him down for questioning, and it had been going well at first. He'd been open to talking, even answered some easy, low hanging questions. But then all Garrus had done was mention Saren's name, and it was as if he had pulled a gun or something. Just the name alone had been enough to drain the color from the man's face and send him running. Garrus had given chase, but to no avail. Yet another lead, gone. At least this one hadn't ended up mysteriously dead… yet. This hadn't been the only lead that evaporated the moment the Spectre was brought into it.

As he arrived at the C-Sec headquarters, he took a look at his omni-tool before cursing. It was late and he was out of time. He was going to be up late compiling all his notes and writing up his final report on the case. If he was lucky he might catch a quick nap in the break room before calling Executor Pallin to discuss his findings. Or lack thereof. He was not looking forward to the embarrassment, but in retrospect, he had probably never been expected to find anything in the first place.

He'd been excited and enthusiastic the moment the case to investigate Spectre Saren Arterius had come across his desk. But when he was told he would only have a week for his investigation, his jaw had hit the floor. It was very unusual to have such a hard deadline on an investigation like this, but he took it anyway. The Spectre's name had come up in other investigations of his during the past few years, but it only ever ended in more questions or suspicious incidents. Never any proof, nothing that could be used against him.

Looking back, the entire investigation had probably been a token effort on the Council's part to appease the humans after the incident on Eden Prime. The report regarding the incident, written up by the commanding officer of the team on the ground during the attack, Commander John Shepard, had been included in the files he had received almost exactly one week ago. Or rather, the files he had received really had not included much other than the report; he had been given very little to go on. He had read the report over and over, combing through it looking for anything that he could use. He had managed to use a few of his contacts to rustle up a few leads, but all for nothing, apparently. A handful of very suspicious incidents, disappearances, and petrified informants.

Even though Garrus had nothing that could be used against Saren, he was absolutely positive that each of those incidents was a thread that would have eventually led back to the Spectre. Arriving at his desk, he sat down with a grunt and prepared to compile his notes, for whatever good it would do.

Morning came all too soon, and with it came his disappointing call with his boss. After a few terse replies, Pallin thanked him for his time and informed him that his investigation was now closed. Growling, Garrus tried to ask for more time to follow other possible leads, but had immediately been shot down. He had then been promptly hung up on.

Cursing, he quickly made his way to the Citadel tower. Maybe he could head off the Executor before the Council's hearing with the humans and try to talk some sense into him. He had managed a few hours of rest the night before, but it clearly hadn't been enough to help the throbbing in the back of his head as he made his way up the stairs toward the Council's chambers. The disinterest and finality in Pallin's voice had just added fuel to his belief that he'd never been expected, or perhaps not even desired, to find anything after all.

"Vakarian. What are you doing here?" The darker plated head of C-Sec, Venari Pallin, called out as Garrus beelined for him.

"I'm positive that there is more to this case. I just need more time to make a few more inquiries. Last night I was almost able to get some information out of a-"

"No, the investigation is over for now until the Council decides otherwise. Thank you for your time and effort. Now, if you don't mind…" The dismissal was clear, and did nothing but cause more indignation to well up in his chest.

"Saren's hiding something! Give me more time. Stall them."

"Stall the Council? Don't be ridiculous! Your investigation is over, Garrus." The finality of the statement was like a slap in the face. With an irritated flick of his mandibles, he turned away just in time to see a group of human soldiers ascending the steps toward him. The one leading was a tall, broadly built man with a buzzed head. His armor had a single red stripe running down his right arm and on his chest was the insignia "N7". With a jerk, he realized that this must be the human Commander from the reports. Their eyes met, and Garrus nodded his head in greeting, turning toward the human team.

"Commander Shepard? Garrus Vakarian. I was the officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation into Saren."

"Come across anything I should know about?" The man's voice was calm, leveled, and resonated with the sound of an experienced soldier, one used to command.

"Saren's a Spectre. Most of his activities are classified. I couldn't find anything solid." He glanced away, the weedling worms of shame pricking at his ego. "But I know he's up to something." He glanced back, wanting to communicate the strength of his conviction. "Like you humans say, I feel it in my gut." Shepard nodded, turning back to his team for a moment to answer one of their muttered questions, and Garrus took a moment to run his eyes over each of them. They were typically equipped for an Alliance team, and including Shepard, there were two men and two women. Two of them he probably couldn't have picked out of a crowd, his ability to tell humans apart imperfect as it was, but the last one gave him a moment of pause.

Her fringe, or rather, her hair, was… red. He had seen human hair in a few odd colors before, and he knew that it could be dyed different colors. But it was fairly rare, at least here on the Citadel, and the few humans he had seen with colorful hair had been the complete opposite of an upstanding, no-nonsense Alliance marine. His eyes widened when he noticed that her armor, too, had the stripe and insignia of an N7.

Just then, something gained the attention of one of Shepard's men.

"I think the Council's ready for us, Commander." They all seemed to tense slightly, preparing themselves.

"Good luck, Shepard. Maybe they'll listen to you." He tried to not sound petulant as he nodded his head by way of goodbye to the human commander. Shepard nodded back before proceeding to lead his team toward the council's dais. After a few moments of internal debate, Garrus decided to follow at a distance, at least until he was close enough to listen in on the hearing. He might not get to continue his investigation, but that didn't mean he wasn't interested. Stopping below one of the blossoming trees, he was far enough away not to be conspicuous, but close enough to hear.

Very quickly, it became apparent that it was going nowhere. Without any evidence, the human's argument didn't have a leg to stand on. Listening as the commander and Saren exchanged verbal jabs, Garrus felt any hope he'd had in the situation dwindle. The only bit that surprised him was the mention of Shepard's Spectre candidacy. Had they been scouting him as a possible Spectre? After reading the reports from Eden Prime, he wasn't surprised. The man was clearly incredibly effective in the field.

Sighing, Garrus turned and made his way to the public transport console. There wasn't any point in sticking around now. Glancing back for a moment, he caught a glimpse of where Shepard's team were milling about, waiting for the end of the hearing. He watched as two slim, human fingers reached up to tuck a lock of red hair behind an ear. Ripping his eyes away after a moment, he put in the coordinates for his desired destination.

Garrus' feet felt heavy as he made his way through the halls toward his desk again. He was exhausted already, and it wasn't even lunch time yet. He wasn't just tired, he was frustrated as hell. He had felt helpless many times during his tenure at C-Sec, but now he nearly felt choked by it. What was even the point of it all when the worst scum managed to get away nearly every time? He was really starting to regret letting his father talk him out of Spectre training. He would kill to be Shepard right now, he had no doubt that the humans weren't giving up on getting Saren that easily.

Just as he reached his desk, his omni-tool buzzed, showing an incoming call. Looking at the name, his brow plates shot up. Doctor Chloe Michel. She was a contact of his, and often fed him useful information. She had been one of the people he had contacted at the start of his investigation into Saren, but she hadn't been able to share anything useful… but then why…?

"Garrus Vakarian." He answered tersely, trying to keep his exhaustion out of his voice.

"Hello, this is Dr. Michel. Is now an okay time to talk?"

"Yes, of course. How can I help you?"

"Well…" There was a pause before she continued hesitantly, "I just… I just saw a patient a day or two ago, and I think that you… Well, the last time you contacted me, you told me you were interested in Saren or the Geth, so I thought I should tell you about what she told me. But I wasn't sure if this was really worth mentioning." Garrus felt his exhaustion evaporate the moment she mentioned the Spectre's name.

"Go on, I'm listening."

"I'm not sure that talking about it on the phone is wise. Can you stop by the clinic? I'll explain more when you get here." His immediate response would have been to dash out of the room toward the transport console, but he held himself back. Technically, the investigation had been closed, he wasn't authorized to be looking into the matter anymore…

"I'll be right over." Garrus hung up the call and holstered his sidearm before hurrying out of the room. But just as he rounded the corner, he nearly collided with someone.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" The older human spat, shoving him back.

"Get out of my way, Harkin. What are you even doing here, didn't they suspend you?"

"You'd think that being suspended meant not having to waste my time around here anymore, but apparently I still have to show up for fucking hearings. Can you believe that?"

"Whatever, I have to get going."

"Always in such a rush! Where, exactly, are you running off to this time? Off to save the world again?" Garrus felt his mandibles twitch in irritation at the mocking tone of the other man's voice, but he fought to keep himself civil.

"I'm meeting a contact down in the wards at the clinic. Now if you don't mind…" He trailed off as he slipped past the other man.

"You take this job way too seriously. You should be the one heading out for a drink, you need to relax! Or better yet, you need to get laid, blow off some steam every now and then. Ha!" Garrus rolled his eyes as he left the older man laughing in the hallway.

By the time he made it down to the clinic, his irritation was replaced by excitement again. He had a good feeling about this, and there was something about her tone of voice that told him that Dr. Michel had stumbled upon something important. But when he approached the front door, he paused, reaching for his sidearm.

The door was ajar, which was odd. Had it been hacked? Possibly. Slowly, he made his way closer, only to have his thoughts interrupted by a scream. Dr. Michel!

Quickly, he ducked through the door, staying low. He crouched behind a low wall, listening as the thugs threatened the human woman.

"I didn't tell anyone. I swear!" She gasped, desperation making her voice ragged.

"That was smart, Doc. Now, if Garrus comes around, you stay smart. Keep your mouth shut or we'll-" Just then, the door swished open and the thug grabbed the doctor, bringing his gun up to aim at the intruder. Readying himself, Garrus raised his gun and prepared to act.

A gunshot rang throughout the room, and Garrus' eyes widened in alarm, his own pistol yet unfired. He whipped around, weapon drawn, to see the thug lurch sideways, a hole drilled neatly between his eyes. Dr. Michel screamed and jumped aside, and Garrus' eyes flicked to the door as he kept his gun trained on the other men around the doctor.

In the doorway, red hair still settling after her abrupt entrance, stood the steel eyed N7 marine from Commander Shepard's team with her pistol raised.