Garrus drove through the slums of Segusk, not risking walking in C-Sec armor. The rental touched down into a dirty, disrepaired skyport near Shepard's nav point.
Orange neon signs led Garrus to a building listed as Segusk's Sertoma Springs, where Shepard leaned against the entrance. Her hood still encompassed her face, but a loose piece of her red crest poked out as she nodded to the entrance.
In the better lighting, a dark blue and black circle formed under her eye. As she walked in, the fabric of her sweatpants stretched over her pistol. By its shape, Garrus would guess it was a Carnifex. It was not registered under her name in the C-Sec files, either. Garrus added an illegal firearm with the illegal cloak to the list against her.
The rusted steelhead doors opened to bright, pristine lights. Dark blue tiles lined the wall in a diagonal fashion. An ornate silver chandelier of asari design hung from the high ceilings. The entire interior design looked out of place in Segusk and out of place for someone like Shepard.
Behind a sleek steel kiosk, a young human woman with a long yellowed crest stood straighter as they entered, beaming a smile.
"Welcome to Sertoma Springs. Do you have an appointment?"
Shepard stepped forward, raising a hand to gesture she'd handle it.
"No, but we need a meeting room, Presidium facing, with food privileges," she leaned on the kiosk, mirroring the same smile back at the human, with her voice pitched higher.
"Presidium facing?" Garrus asked.
"I like the view," she said while watching the other human.
"A hundred credits per hour," the human gave a timid glance between him and Shepard. "Per each individual."
Shepard turned back towards him, her smile still plastered on. It was probably the first time she had looked at him without anger.
"Well? You're buying Vakarian. Let's say for two hours for now."
"Four hundred credits? Are you out of your mind?" Garrus protested.
"Charge it to the company chit or whatever C-Sec uses," Shepard said with a wave of her hand. "Call it a business dinner. It's with food included."
Garrus flicked his mandibles in annoyance but relented as he waved his omni-tool for purchase.
"Um, excuse me, Officer?" The human pointed to his hip. "Weapons will need to be stored within the locker room with your clothes. Security will stop you otherwise."
"Clothes? Shepard, what is this place?"
"You've never been to a Sertoma?" She wondered, watching him with a now relaxed smile. "You know, an asari spa, restaurant, retreat. All wrapped up in one. Best part? No weapons or armor. Tends to ruin the relaxation vibe."
"Absolutely not. We're going somewhere else." Garrus spat out, turning to leave, but Shepard remained planted on the kiosk, scanning the food orders on the holo screen before her.
"You want me talking? It's here or nowhere." Shepard remained still, but her voice rose in irritation as her smile dropped. "I need to eat. Keep griping, and I'll add more to the tab. I'm thinking of a hot stone massage while I'm here."
The human girl began to back up. Her beaming smile turned to a frown as they raised their voices at one another. Garrus huffed a breath out to calm himself. Arguing with a citizen in public would not do him any favors.
"They better have dextro food here," he grumbled. Shepard wheezed a laugh back at his expense.
"I've heard the Vero Noodles are good."
"That's a kid's dish," Garrus said flatly.
"That recommendation does come from a four-year-old."
Garrus' brow plates rose up in interest. "You took Speca here?"
Shepard's eyes shot to the human girl, who busied herself with their admission to get them out of the lobby.
"Let's get changed, and then we can talk. Hurry up with the order, or I'll pick the kid's meal for you."
Garrus searched through the order options along with Shepard to have food prepared in their private room. Shepard racked up a long food order but kept the stone massage order off.
"See, I can be reasonable."
"So you say," Garrus muttered.
After payment, the girl passed them both a light blue tunic with matching pants, slippers, and an orange holo wristband for their lockers.
Garrus held up the tunic as the fabric swooshed with ease. The thin material hardly looked wearable. Shepard smirked as his face fell while examining the light garment.
"It's not that complicated, let's go."
Garrus clamped his mandibles to his side, but he followed suit and walked alongside her.
"I like how she didn't say anything to you about your pistol."
"That's why you hide your pistol. She's not as observant as you," Shepard jeered.
"Right, because I'm sure you have a concealed carry permit with that registered gun?" Garrus taunted back.
"I might, I might not, but that's not why we're here. Get changed." Shepard pushed him along into the shared locker room—An asari innovation, no doubt.
They entered another pristine room filled with lockers and stalls lined in silver. Several people bustled in the room as they changed. An asari, with just a towel wrapped around her waist, applied makeup in a nearby mirror. A male salarian and a turian female covered only in robes chatted on plush seat rockers. Garrus jumped as an elcor the size of a volus scurred by naked.
"Exasperatedly, Celan, get back here." The monotone voice of an adult elcor called after the child.
Spirits, what did he get himself into?
"There's stalls if you're squeamish, Vakarian."
He clamped his mandibles in annoyance once again. A jolt of pain shot through his jaw, caused by the overuse of the muscle.
"It's fine."
"Sure it is." Shepard laughed as she walked to her row, one ahead of his assigned spot. She placed her Carnifex in her locker, looking back to him to ensure he saw. Garrus mirrored her actions, tucking the gun deep in his locker, and nodded.
She then tugged off her hoodie with her back facing towards Garrus. He tried to avert his eyes, but a bright red marking that matched her crest caught his attention. In bolded print, the number ten, surrounded by a dark red circle, covered her left shoulder blade.
The symbol of The Tenth Street Reds.
She knew more than she let on. If he was going to get her talking, Garrus needed to push down his unease around her.
The rest of her back lay bare in pale pink, and her red crest fell below her ears. She craned her neck in a stretch, activating her muscles that were more well-formed than those he had seen on humans. The light blue tunic fell along her form, and Garrus turned away, trying to ignore the heat that rose on his neck.
Garrus shoved his armor into the locker but kept his black undersuit on. He threw on the tunic that laid loose over his carapace. The pant legs fell passed his spurs. The shoes fit taut over his talons. The outfit flowed around him. Garrus gritted his fangs at being so open and exposed, even with the under armor that covered him from spurs to his neck.
This was not how he saw his day going.
The elcor child continued running around the locker room as Shepard pushed Garrus towards the elevator. The warehouse had fifteen floors, and each race had a dedicated spa. One floor was listed for volus, with the required atmosphere and pressure. Another for pools built for hanar. Clean room environments for their quarian clientele. And even dedicated heating rooms to replicate Palaven's sun. No wonder it was in a slum district. The cost had to be insane to run such a massive operation.
Shepard hit the top button labeled Coalesce. Garrus stared into the elevator doors, trying to ignore the heat that ran down his neck and spine that only grew in such a cramped space near Shepard.
No weapon. No armor. No shield. Her biotics could take him out within seconds.
"The under armor kind of defeats the purpose of the spa," Shepard bluttered out, her tone tinged with the sarcasm he was used to from Ridgefield.
"Are we talking or relaxing?"
"What? Can't do both?"
"Well, talking to you throughout today has been so relaxing." Garrus quipped.
"Fair point."
The elevators opened to a high-ceiling room decorated with polished silver and blue tiles. Almost every species filled the room, lounging in plush chairs and mats in the space. Garrus welcomed the open space and pushed himself several feet away from Shepard. She strolled ahead of him with an eye roll and led them near the sauna rooms that lined the back wall. Two humans lounged in the ice sauna. A batarian slept in a sauna with clay beads. Garrus peered into a brick dome where a salarian and human sweltered in the steam.
In the next dome, a turian woman, with her neck and cowl exposed, bathed in infrared lighting. Her eyes darted to Garrus. With a stretch of her neck and a lidded gaze, she signaled him to join.
Garrus turned his head again, rubbing his neck where the heat lingered. He was not going to survive this place.
Shepard turned back to face him, smiling as though she sensed his discomfort from the attention.
"I'm going to the room to eat, but if you decide to actually relax, don't go deep in the saunas. You never know who might try to grab you."
"Thanks for the warning," Garrus said as his subvocals rang flat.
They arrived at the private rooms down a long hallway away from the saunas. Thin, opaque windows lined the doorways of the meeting rooms. The silhouettes of an asari and turian chatted only an inch apart over a terminal. In the next room sat the silhouette of a human tucked away, eating a meal alone. The rooms seemed almost a little too private for comfort.
Shepard rushed past him through the doorway of their marked private room, where plates of food rested on the long table.
"Oh, thank god!" Shepard exclaimed.
The room matched the rest of the Sertoma in a sleek, minimal style. The wall-sized tinted window decorated in silver trimmings faced the Presidium ring. Now that they had entered the late-night hours, the wards below gleamed with neon lights. But Shepard focused on the piles of food, already devouring the first plate before Garrus could sit down.
Garrus kept his back to the door, with Shepard opposite him. The window overlooked them both. Once again, only a table kept them several feet apart. Since childhood, his father had drilled into him never to have his back to a door. But this time, having Shepard in his way of an exit seemed worse.
Shepard paid no mind to Garrus' growing discomfort as she worked on the food. Some of the food was recognizable from all the overnight stings Garrus had done with Lamont: burgers, fries, noodles, some kind of soup, and a colorful-looking dessert.
"Biotics, burn right through me," Shepard said between mouthfuls. "I don't normally use them. Let me finish so I don't faint this time."
"And you only used them this morning?" Garrus asked. Shepard's eyes narrowed at him, her face a mess from eating.
"Interrogation later. Food now," She grumbled out between bites.
Garrus nodded, not wanting to push her, and focused on his meal. He savored a roasted Kayzuc, a rare delicacy for the Citadel as the aquatic animal was only domesticated on Palaven. Meanwhile, Shepard ripped through her meals without much thought or patience.
They sat in silence for several minutes, only interrupted by the scrapping of utensils on the plates. The muscles in Garrus' jaw ached more as he kept his mandibles clamped to their side. No one back from the force knew he was here. His excitement about getting a lead in a case may have led him into a trap. He didn't want to imagine what his father would say about his current actions.
A light cough from Shepard pulled Garrus from his thoughts.
"You know Vero Noodles is literally all she would eat when I brought her here," Shepard said, pushing a finished plate away to work on her fries.
"Speca? So you would take her here?" Garrus asked.
"Yeah, kids get in free, and I'd just study and eat. This place gives students half off, so we'd come here often."
"And you let me pay full price," Garrus said unamused.
"Well, I'm not studying, am I?"
"You're being difficult."
"I'm not asking for a lawyer every five minutes. That's an improvement from this morning," Shepard said, waving a fry in his direction before taking a bite.
"But you're in law school, right?"
Shepard pinched her lips together. Garrus was always surprised by how animated humans were when they moved their faces. His jaw relaxed as he laughed at her expression before speaking.
"Fine, we don't need to talk about your personal life. How about the Reds? How does that connect to Aptis? Does it have to do with 'the runs' you were yelling about?"
"Fuck, you heard that?"
"Among other things," Garrus' mandibles dipped below his jaw, a general tick when he bent the truth.
"Liar."
"How would you know?" Garrus questioned. Shepard's lips turned up in a smile at the challenge and huffed.
"I helped raise a turian kid. She'd do the same thing with her mandibles. You literally lie like a child. I should have gotten you that kid's meal."
"Okay, fine, 'fuck your runs' was about all I got when I heard you yelling through the wall."
"So you were spying on me?"
"You weren't subtle. It wasn't hard to figure out it was you." Garrus stated
"What gave me away?"
"The fuck part mainly, got a few examples of it this morning."
"Well, I'm fucking predictable, aren't I?" Shepard said with a smirk.
Garrus rolled his eyes as she tried to derail his questioning. "We're getting off-topic here. What do these runs have to do with Aptis?"
She took a deep breath before a knock at the door interrupted them. The thin window obscured the waiting figure, but Shepard waved them in. A light blue asari, no more than a century old, came in with a water pitcher.
"Oh, Liv, it's nice to see you again. I just want to check-in. Do you need more water?" The chipper asari's voice lowered as her eyes shot over to Garrus. "No Speca today? Is this Aptis?"
Shepard's eyes widened as if she told him to play along.
"Study partner." Shepard's tone cut short.
"Just chatting about law stuff," Garrus said, dipping his mandibles once again.
The asari's eyes scanned over Shepard longer than necessary and then back to Garrus, who sat up with her glare. Straightening his stance had become a second-nature reflex under a watchful eye.
"Uh, oh well, just call me if you two need anything else, okay?"
"Thank you, Kira. We're good. I'll be ordering again soon, so expect to see a lot of me tonight." Shepard's face plastered on a smile again, way too high than he'd seen on humans. The asari placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed before leaving. Shepard's face fell as the asari left the room.
"You're a horrible liar, and you need to get that stick out of your ass 'cause she could tell you're a cop."
"Turians naturally have sticks up their asses. That goes against my nature."
"Trying to be funny sure seems against turian nature too," Shepard spat back out.
"Never said I was a good turian."
"Well, not a good comedian anyway. Maybe you'd make a good clown."
Garrus couldn't help but laugh. "How would you know she could tell I'm C-Sec?'
"Well, the underarmor doesn't help. And Kira's talkative and friendlier. She could tell something was off."
"Well, you do look like you're in trouble. Clipped tone with a black eye and scarfing food down like you haven't eaten in weeks."
Shepard's brow furrowed at him. She took a bite of fries before speaking.
"Or maybe it was my broken nose that gave it away. You know, the one I got from the other C-Sec asshole."
Garrus' brow plates rose at that comment. "What do you mean?"
"Don't act surprised. The barefaced turian shoved me into a doorway before the interrogation. I was literally spitting up blood on you."
Garrus' mind flashed back to the interrogation. Her lips caked with fresh blood, and how she spat blood on the floor. The idea of an officer doing that to her didn't even cross his mind. He assumed it was a drunk tank tumble. No wonder the interrogation started off so hostile.
"I didn't know. I'm sorr-"
"Bullshit, you don't want to know. That's the problem with you C-Sec types. Get the job done and look the other way." Her voice grew louder as she continued. "And don't act innocent. You came in with talons out. I know an intentional threat when I see one."
A flash of anger rose in Garrus' chest as her words cut through him—not anger for her but for himself. She was right. Maybe he could have been further along in the case if he hadn't come at her so harshly.
"Look, this morning got off rough. You want to solve this, right? I am sorry about your nose. I didn't know. I'll talk to Alli-"
"It's whatever, talking won't do shit. Let's get this moving. Ask your questions." Shepard said, shoving the finished plate before her and working on the next part of her meal.
Garrus pushed out a deep sigh before moving on.
"Okay, let's start with the threats. You mentioned pulling plates. How did you know Aptis' plates were pulled?"
Shepard rolled her eyes. "That was a figure of speech. I meant the Reds would kill me and you if they found out I was talking." She paused, eyes darting to the window. "Which is why I want to be here. Away from prying eyes and ears."
"So you had no clue about Aptis?"
"I did-I didn't know he was tortured. Aptis has been my friend for years. I want whoever did that to him to pay." Shepard's face grew paler as she spoke. "Fuck, I can't eat now."
Last time, the sight of Aptis made her faint. Reminding her of Apits' mangled body was not going to help.
"Take your time. Drink some water."
"I'm fine."
"Sure you are. You promised no fainting this time."
Shepard leaned her head against the sleek table. "I guess I'm a better liar than you." She took a few moments to compose herself. At least she wasn't falling out of her chair. The color returned to her face as she sat up with a wince.
"Okay, continue."
"Do you think someone with the Reds has something to do with Aptis?"
Shepard paused, pursing her lips together before sighing.
"I do. He owes money on a car loan I helped him get through the Reds. You said there's a vid of me yelling at him?"
Garrus paused as well, unsure of how much to tell her about the investigation, but his gut told him to cooperate with her if he wanted to solve the case.
"The last footage of him shows you yelling at him. It is convenient that any other footage after that has been wiped from the area."
"Too convenient?"
"It generally never is."
Shepard's eyes grew wider."Do you think someone is trying to set me up?"
Again, he wanted to stay silent. Maybe she was playing into the innocent act, but his instincts gnawed at him.
"The possibility is there."
Shepard stared at the table for a minute. Garrus stayed quiet to let her lead. Finally, another defeated sigh fell from her lips.
"God damn it. Well, I'm between a rock and a hard place, huh?" Shepard asked.
"I'm not familiar with that human saying."
"It just means I'm fucked."
"To put it mildly."
Shepard leaned forward, large dark green eyes fixed on his gaze.
"Okay, I'll tell you what I know. Yelling at Aptis was really the last thing I remember. I know that's-
"Convenient?"
"Yeah, but I did drink a lot. I was celebrating my birthday."
"Do you have anyone else I can talk to who was there that night?"
"Let me reach out." Shepard brought up her omni-tool and typed away while continuing to talk. "I don't know. Again, I honestly don't remember much after yelling at him. I was angry 'cause he wasn't paying for the last month on his car, and he didn't have the credits to cover, and now he's-"
"Dead, and you're the last person to be with him after you fought. Again. Convenient."
"Yeah, I co-signed him on that loan. Now I owe 35K. Rock in a fucked place." Shepard looked out to the Presdium ring, the slow rotation barely noticeable, but Garrus felt the small tung of pseudo gravity that kept him in place.
"You know? I had an okay life before this, studying and hanging out with the kid. Had my own shitty little apartment. I was making due." Shepard buried her face into her hands and winced. "Aptis being dead destroys all of that."
"Then help me and tell me what you know about the Reds, especially if they could be using you. What are they doing on Zakera?"
"You trust me that I have nothing to do with this then?" She muttered as she rose up.
Shepard looked at him, her expression hard to read with eyes downturn. Mournful? Miserable? How much of that could be feigned? Too much could be read into human expressions.
"Do you? How involved are you with the Reds? I saw the tattoo, Shepard. You can't act like an innocent bystander with them."
"You were looking?" Shepard asked, shooting up her brow with a cocked grin.
Garrus clamped his mandibles again, embarrassed to be called out for seeing the tattoo.
A small laugh escaped her lips. "I got that when I was like fourteen. Dumb kid shit. I used to run with them back then. After I left the Alliance-"
"Left?"
Shepard slit her eyes at Garrus, but he was actually interested. He didn't know the difference between less-than-honorable and dishonorable discharge–it was all the same to turians.
"Ass, fine, got kicked out. Joshua helped me get back on my feet until I started school a year ago."
Garrus thought back to the thin file he studied of the Reds. Joshua Beckman was listed as an affiliated, but he didn't dig further into him.
"Beckman, right? And 'back on your feet.' How exactly?"
The tapping of her foot echoed and filled the room. Her eyes darted to his and back to the window. Sweat formed at her temples, and her heart rate rose. She was panicking again. Garrus sat back, trying to keep distance from her. Weaponless, armorless, and in a private room with her again, this time, she had food and energy if her biotics acted up.
"Yeah, um, Beckman runs the Reds," Shepard said with a clenched jaw. "The Earth-based division mainly. When I was just a kid, they were focused on California. But now-"
"They've expanded to the Citadel."
"And the Terminus systems—uh, they've had a lot of growth, funneling drugs through the Citadel." She crossed her hands neatly on the table, her foot stomping against the ground before continuing.
"How much of what I say can be used against me?"
"We're not in C-Sec. It's just me and you, Shepard. I just want to know what I'm up against."
"I do not consent to any recording," she sneered while leaning closer to him. Garrus' brow plates twitched as she entered his personal space. Slitted green eyes locked with his as her tone shifted from pale pink to darker red. The same floral scent from this morning wrapped around him.
"I'm not recording," Garrus said, flicking one mandible out in irritation as she approached him. He twisted the clear omni-tool band and threw it to her. "You can check yourself."
Shepard picked up the band and turned it over in her hands before dropping it to the side.
"I'm trusting you on this Vakarian."
"All I want is the truth, and I'll do everything I can to bring justice for Aptis."
Shepard's eyes fell from his down to his mandibles. Most likely waiting for a dip. But Garrus spoke every one of those words with earnest. The Reds needed to end.
"Okay," Shepard said while gnawing at her lip. "I acted as muscle for drug runs. I don't know about the inner and outer operations. They just told me where to go, and I'd show up as protection."
"What drugs?"
"Red Sand is their trademark, you know? The Reds. But they've been expanding into weapons smuggling recently, too."
In the past two years since Garrus transferred to Zakera, Red Sand deaths had increased ten-fold on the ward. To be almost face-to-face with the gang that caused such silent destruction of the ward's citizens was unthinkable. Now, to imagine guns flooding the streets, Garrus needed to take action. But the anger boiled in his chest, knowing that C-Sec's red tape would prevent him from stopping it sooner. He needed to focus on the murder investigation at hand if he was going to take down the Reds.
"Did they run a loan operation as well? You said Aptis was late on payments. Did you help collect debts or-"
"I've never done debt collection, and I don't really know what happens there-"
"So you'd just 'get the job done and look the other way' for the Reds, then?" Garrus said, his anger rising in his throat.
"Fuck off. This isn't a competition unless you want to start comparing cops to gangs, which I'm more than happy to do." She stood up, fidgeting in place while watching the door. "Do you actually want to work with me, or are you gonna be a judgmental prick?"
Garrus put up his hand to stop her. Taking his anger out on her was not going to help.
"You're right. That was unwarranted. Again, I'm sorry."
"I'm putting a lot on the line right now. The snark isn't needed."
She paced the room and began typing at the terminal in the middle of the table.
"I need a drink."
"That's not the best idea-"
"I'll talk more freely. Do you always argue when things work out for you, Vakarian?"
"I tend to make it a bad habit."
"I can tell." Shepard punched in her order. She turned to face the window, watching skycars go by, ignoring him.
The sleek white room stayed quiet as Shepard stewed and worked on the drink that Kira brought. The asari didn't say much but watched Garrus with a narrow glance before leaving again.
"If I keep talking to you, will you help me contact Speca?" Shepard asked while working on the drink.
"That's not really my jurisdiction, but I can try."
"Well, you either believe that, or you're better at lying," Shepard scoffed.
"You did give me some pointers."
"Again, you're not funny."
"I try," Garrus said with a shrug.
"Try being the operative word."
Shepard knocked back the rest of the drink before collapsing back into the chair. She nodded to Garrus to continue while scowling.
"So Beckman runs Earth operations. Who's main here on the Citadel?"
"Fitch Watkins," she stated with ease. "He was the one I was yelling at. He didn't even act surprised about Aptis. Like he already knew."
"Interesting. What does he get out of Aptis being dead?" Garrus asked
"I don't know. I guess Aptis wasn't paying, and he knew he could hook me in again."
"Hook you in? What do you mean?"
"I was his best for protection. He's been trying to get me to come back since I started school. I haven't worked for him in a year, so that's about all I've got. Is there anyone else you need me to rat on?"
"Why don't we go over known affiliates," Garrus paused, thinking back to the list from before now that his omni-tool remained off. "Curt Weisman, Marsa Keyes, Will Plock, and Wes Elders?"
"Weisman and Plock are out in the Terminus systems. Keyes helps Finch a lot with day-to-day operations, at least she used to a year ago. I don't know Elders."
"Are there any others?"
"Yeah, but I don't know them. Finch and Keyes were my contacts. I would start with them. I just know that rat Finch had something to do with Aptis' death."
"Shepard, I believe you, but what you're saying is we have an earth-based gang moving in on the Citadel, possibly torturing turians. I can't have that. I'm going to need more than just your belief that someone in the Reds killed him."
Shepard paused and ground her teeth loud enough for Garrus to hear. Her foot tapping echoed even louder. Garrus leaned in and raised his brow plates to her, waiting for an answer.
"Finch runs out a restaurant named Harlows in the Zakera ward, on the 3rd floor. That's where they operate."
Garrus' mandibles spread into a grin, so they did fall under his jurisdiction, which made it much easier for him.
"Can't say I've been."
"Well, it only serves human food—bad human food, I might add. They've got this huge patio area that you'll never see anyone sitting in, with blacked-out windows."
"So, a front?"
"How'd you know 'cause they made it so inconspicuous," Shepard said.
"And Finch wants you to meet him there and do more of these runs. Did I guess that right?"
She sat back and cocked her head almost as if to ponder what he said until her eyes grew wide with realization.
"No, absolutely not." Shepard's voice rang out, "I can't go back to that shit. You want me to do them too, don't you?"
"Talking can only help so much. I can enter you as a confidential informant with C-Sec–"
Shepard slapped her hands on the table to interrupt them. Garrus pushed back further from the table in case she had another outburst.
"So I can get the fancy formal title of a snitch," she sneered.
"What do you think you're doing right now?"
"Being an informal snitch," Shepard quipped.
She was putting his eye muscles to use with how often he had to roll his eyes at her.
"Well, you're being difficult. I'm not stopping you from leaving, but something tells me you want to help."
"CI is just too formal, records, wires, and I don't know. I just don't know-"
"Only I, as your contact officer, would know who you are. I won't ask you to put yourself where you are uncomfortable. Just continue talking to me, is all I'm asking for."
Shepard fidgeted in her seat, hands wrapped around the now-empty glass. Eyes focused on the melting ice.
"Fuck, let me think, I need another drink, I know that rat Finch had something to do with-"
Garrus waved his hand to stop her.
"I'm not going to have you make this decision drunk. You're not comfortable with this. I'll work with what you've told me so far and figure something else out."
"No, it's just," Shepard straightened herself in the chair, peering into him. "I am stuck doing these runs. Finch has me by the collar. If we can bring them down." Shepard leaned forward once again, entering his space. "Then I'll do it. I'll be your CI."
Her eyes snapped up to him, peering into him. The scent of florals once again wafted off her.
"Perfect, let's go over-"
"Wait, I have two conditions. First, we meet here. I'm not going anywhere near C-Sec."
Garrus grumbled a bit; the idea of having to change out of his armor to keep meeting her made him nervous, but he knew a good deal when he made one. Having an inside man on the job of infiltrating this gang could bring so much to him. He could solve this case and even take down a criminal organization in the process.
"Fine. And the second condition?"
"C-Sec is footing the bill for my hot stone massages."
Garrus laughed. "Yeah, I think I can arrange that."
The cloak fell away from Shepard's body as she entered her apartment building. She trudged her way to the elevator, almost too exhausted to keep her body moving. The elevator shook as it climbed the twenty-five stories. The doors opened to the old water-stained walls that she had become accustomed to. Aptis' apartment remained taped off and barred from entrance.
She spent hours talking with Vakarian, working out the agreement of their deal. Shepard would work with the Reds as much as she felt comfortable with. For now, they wouldn't be using recordings, in case The Reds somehow found out. But whenever she worked with them, Vakarian needed to be in the area with her comms on. She only agreed to meet with Finch once to talk and report back to Vakarian while he looked into contacting Speca.
Shepard continued to move and work her way through her cramped apartment until she collapsed into her bed. She closed her eyes to relax but kept being met with Vakarian's piercing blue eyes that had been burrowed into her all day.
He had looked so much thinner with the armor off and only in the under armor and flowing Sertoma uniform. The tunic had laid loose on his cowl, inviting her to peer up where the under armor stretched taunt on his neck. She had gotten used to being around turians from Speca and Apits. But something about Vakarian seemed so different. She couldn't help herself at times staring at him through their talk, finding the way his plates gleamed and how his subvocal rang interesting.
Shepard squeezed her eyes shut at the thought and opened her omni-tool to distract herself. First, She fired off a message to Finch. She didn't have much of a choice, as one way or another, he was going to make Shepard pay back Aptis' debts.
OS: I'll be at Harlow's tomorrow. Let's work something out.
FW: Awesome, it will be just like old times. Meet me at 1200.
Next, she sent a message to an encrypted system she set up between her and Vakarian.
OS: Meeting at 1200
Within seconds, a message fired into her inbox.
GV: Perfect, I'll be in plain clothes nearby. Keep comms on. Remember, only talking.
OS: Got it : emoji turian thumbs-up :
GV: You know that basically means fuck off to turians?
OS: yeah, I know
GV: Well, good, I just wanted to ensure you were properly insulting me.
She laughed as the message zoomed in. God damn it, he was actually funny too. Although she would never admit that to him.
Another message pinged in her omni-tool. She had sent several messages to her classmates and friends who had been at Dark Star the night before. All saying the same thing:
O S: Hey, how are you doing? I don't remember much. What happened last night?
The message read from Elizabeth Collins, a former Alliance infiltrator who bore the brunt of Elysium's attack with Shepard. They both took the stress of the insurgency hard. Collins left the Alliance after that, while Shepard was forcefully kicked out. But even through all the stress, they remained close. The messages fired into her inbox one after another.
EC: Hey birthday girl! Glad you're alive!
EC: And sorry, just reading this! It was fun, I may or may not have hooked up with one of your classmates, want to guess who?
EC: Yeah you did get pretty hammered, Aptis took you home early
EC: Is everything okay?
Shepard's heart pounded out of her chest. She sucked in the air only to wheeze as if the wind got knocked out of her. She had left the club with Aptis and couldn't remember a goddamn thing.
What happened? And what did she do?