Disclaimer: not mine
Wrong version of this originally went up, sorry. This is why you shouldn't post when mostly asleep.
Chapter 4
As soon as he'd heard of the Citadel, he'd downloaded all the files he could on it, staring in wonder at the massive construct. But even the best images couldn't prepare him for actually stepping foot onto it. It was a struggle not to just stop and stare in awe at it or the bustling crowds of aliens. He'd also downloaded the basics on the main alien species to be found on the Citadel, like the Asari and Turians. At least his Earth knew about aliens or all of this would have been a massive shock to him.
He wanted to split off and explore but given what had happened on Eden Prime he should stick with them. After all, the Geth had supplied the video evidence of events and he'd likely have to explain to the Council about the difference between the Geth and Heretics. So, he followed them to the Embassies area, taking in all the people moving about their business. All of the races that weren't on the Council had their Embassies in the one area, humanity was lucky to have one to themselves, especially when species who had been part of the galactic community had to share.
Tim didn't expect the Ambassador to immediately begin berating Shepard as soon as they entered the office and the call to the Council ended. Wow, talk about a bad first impression. The Council's disdain for the man had been obvious even in the few seconds of interaction he had seen which was not good for the rest of them.
"I see you brought half your crew, Anderson." Donnel Udina sneered.
"Just the ground crew and Mr. Drake-Wayne who has his own business on the Citadel and was instrumental in driving off the Geth." Anderson remained firm and unyielding.
It was weird to get the praise for something to do with a fight outside of the Red Robin mantle.
"A boy?" the Ambassador sneered, and Tim stiffened, he knew he looked younger than he was, he always had, but to call him a boy when told he had helped drive off the enemy?
Tim gave him a cold stare, calling up the memories of his mother staring down various socialites at galas. He was back in armour and very visibly armed, something the man finally seemed to realise. He'd put the armour back on for extra safety, because the clothes he had been given didn't fit properly, and because he wasn't Alliance so it wasn't right to wear their uniform.
"Wonderful," Udina muttered sarcastically as he turned back to Anderson. "Another barbarian. If it wasn't bad enough that Shepard destroyed a priceless Prothean artefact you bring a child mercenary."
"First of all, Shepard didn't destroy it. The beacon attacked him and then self-destructed," Tim came to Shepard's defence, stepping into the Udina's personal space. "Secondly, I am nineteen years old, I am not a child. And the title of mercenary would indicate I was paid to help the colony, I wasn't. I intercepted the distress call and chose to try to help." He gave the age he should be if he hadn't spent two years dead, it was close enough and meant that legally, he was an adult. And he'd never been a mercenary, a vigilante sure, even the leader of the LoA briefly and against his will, but never a mercenary. Not that there was anything automatically wrong with being a mercenary, he just wasn't one.
Shepard nudged Alenko who quickly pulled Tim back and behind the Commander, to his amusement. He let Alenko move him, done with talking to the stubborn Ambassador anyway.
Williams was fighting hard to control her smirk. She hated politicians as they were the driving force behind ruining her family name because of her grandfather's surrender during the First Contact War with the Turians.
"Maybe we should try and stay on track," Shepard tried to play peacemaker. "If we can show the Council our evidence, we can prove that Saren was behind the attack."
"Fine." Udina was not happy at being deprived the opportunity to berate them some more. "Head to the Presidium Tower. The hearing is due to start in an hour."
Udina stormed out of the room.
"And he called me a child," Tim muttered, hearing Alenko smother a laugh.
,
David felt like pinching the bridge of his nose, but he avoided it. Though…he did agree with Drake-Wayne, Donnel's exit had been rather childish. But there was no time to dwell on the man and his actions, they had work to do.
"Well, I was going to say you need to speak with the Ambassador about changing your status from deceased in the records…"
"Already delt with," the young man offered, a slightly playful smirk on his lips. Right…how deeply could the Geth infiltrate their systems? And he should have realised when security didn't go off when he left the ship with them.
"Very well, I'll meet you outside the Council Chambers. Don't take too long but you might want to check in with C-Sec, see who's running the investigation," he suggested.
"Understood sir," Shepard answered.
If they got up to anything else along the way, he didn't want to know.
,
"That could have gone better," Alenko sighed.
"Why? Because you have a mysterious ability to control other people's opinions?" Tim shook his head.
"What?"
"That was always going to go the way it did," Tim explained. "It took two seconds to realise that Udina is overly arrogant and disdainful towards others. The Council didn't seem too keen on listening but that may have been due to Udina."
"Drake-Wayne is right."
"Call me Tim," he told them all. "Drake-Wayne's too long."
"Alright, unless it's official," Shepard agreed slowly, he'd already asked the man to call him Tim on the Normandy.
"You're just abandoning your family name?" Williams asked with a frown.
Tim looked at her curiously before he remembered the information he'd downloaded on her. "This isn't because of something a family member did with good intentions and was then harassed about," he explained. "This is me finding the hyphenated name too long. Besides, if you want to be technical, I'm a Drake by birth and a Wayne by adoption," even if neither family actually existed here, the Geth had had to make up the records going back several generations in case he was investigated, and they watched his records closely so they could add to them as needed. "The only people who call me that are people I don't know or who are mad at me usually. I prefer just being Tim." He remembered what he'd told the Commissioner while going after the two corrupt cops…he was a Wayne when he wanted a table and a Drake when looking in the mirror. It was hard to believe that to him, that was only a few months ago but in reality, it had been years.
"Alright, let's find out where C-sec are then," Shepard stepped in since they were short on time.
"Follow me," Tim said as a small icon appeared on his vision with a map of the local area.
"I thought you'd never been here before," Williams frowned.
"I haven't, but I have downloaded all the data I can for the Citadel. How do you think I know about anything? Having the Geth in my head is very handy, though I memorised the map immediately. " Tim pointed out.
"History class?" she shot back.
"Alliance history wasn't really taught on Chasca given how they really wanted to split from Earth." He shrugged, from the records on the colony the Geth had, it was true enough.
"Let's get moving if we are going to make it to the hearing on time." Shepard said, ushering them from the office
As they left the embassy offices Tim led the way down the stairs, noticing the Asari manning the reception area. He really wanted to talk to her, downloaded files were never the same as real personal interaction, but they didn't have time at the moment.
"Tim?" Shepard asked, and he shrugged.
"I was planning to check on some things while here, but we're pretty pressed for time," Tim shrugged.
"Alright, go ahead and you can catch up. Williams, stay with him," Shepard ordered.
"Aye Skipper."
Tim nodded in thanks and they split off from the others, Tim following the Geth's directions on where to go, the access point not too far and not technically off limits. He was looking for any sign of magic or dimensional tech since he was ninety nine percent sure that it had been magic that had dumped him on Rannoch. Scanning for it was difficult though since Tim himself was not magical but he had a…sense for it. If there was going to be magic anywhere then there would surely be traces on the Citadel. Thankfully, Williams didn't ask what he was doing.
"Did you actually find what you were looking for?" she asked when they headed for the office.
"No, but that doesn't mean I won't eventually," Tim told her as he hit the 'doorbell' for the office.
"Come in."
They found Shepard and Alenko standing in front of a Turian seated at a desk.
"Wonderful, more humans," the Turian grumbled sarcastically. "What do you want?"
"We're with them," Tim answered, pointing at Shepard, crossing the room to stand with him and Alenko. "So, is the interview over yet?" Tim asked as he turned to Shepard, surely, he had questioned them, right?
"Interview?" Shepard asked him.
"He's C-Sec, he's running the investigation into Saren, right? We are the ones with the evidence, isn't that how investigations work?" Tim asked in feigned confusion. His oldest brother had served as a cop, in his current records it had Dick listed as colony security but it was close enough.
"I already have the files from your ship and crew," Palin waved his three-clawed hand dismissively.
"'Alright… guess we'll see you up at the hearing." He really did not like this. Even a corrupt Gotham cop would at least interview those involved!
"I'm sure I won't be needed," Palin denied, and Tim quickly asked the Geth to dig deeper into him, because that sounded an awful lot like he was either covering for a fellow Turian, was corrupt and taking bribes…or didn't care because it was a human colony. None of those options were good given his position and power.
,
Damian glanced at the memorial case as he emerged from the changing room. When Timothy had first died, he hadn't cared at all other than to be frustrated by the reactions of the others. Now…now he wasn't sure how to feel. They had not been brothers or friends; they had barely tolerated each other. And now he realised that was due to his actions, looking back, Timothy had attempted to reach out in the beginning and Damian had reacted by trying to kill him because that was one sure way to advance within the LoA. He had seen Robin as his birthright and Timothy had been in his way.
Did he regret his actions towards Timothy? Honestly…he didn't know. He wasn't the same person he'd been back then, but the idea of Timothy still didn't feel comfortable. But the family was sadder without him, for that, he wished he had lived.
,
"Problem Tim?" John asked as they headed down the stairs. It felt weird calling him by his first name, but he wasn't part of the Alliance military after all, though he was old enough to join up if he wanted to…which John doubted since he was the Geth's Emissary.
He watched Tim nod to the Asari receptionist before turning left and out onto the walkway towards the Presidium Tower.
"He could be a problem," Tim answered cautiously. "He didn't seem all that interested in investigating. If he was then he would have asked us questions, taken statements. My older brother worked Colony security and they would have run a much more thorough investigation into vandalism. Something this big…" Tim shook his head.
"I think he's torn between his dislike of humans and his hate and disdain for Spectres," Alenko offered.
"He doesn't like Spectres?" Williams asked.
"He doesn't like it when people are put above the law" Alenko clarified. "He thinks Spectres are a recipe for abuse of power." And Tim was right, Palin's actions did not add up if he was actually investigating what happened. Damn it.
"Well, in this case, he's not wrong, is he?" Tim pointed out to them. "But he still doesn't seem all that interested in investigating what is the perfect chance to prove his point about Spectres."
They passed by lots of aliens as they headed to the tower and he could tell that Tim wanted to talk to some of them, but they had run out of time. It was good that whatever had happened to him hadn't made him wary of aliens.
Eventually they reached the base of the Presidium Tower and entered the lift to the top.
,
"So, can I ask you all something?" Tim was genuinely curious and concerned but he also couldn't help the gremlin urge. He'd grown up since his Young Justice days …mostly …sometimes.
"As long as it isn't classified," Shepard agreed.
"It's about your amour."
Williams tensed at his answer, watching him carefully. "What about it."
"Well, the Commanders has N7 on it, which is an Alliance ranking, but not everyone would know that immediately. And the two of you are in very different armours with nothing saying you are soldiers. Why is that? Don't most militaries have uniform armour? And it's not just the appearance, the armours are different levels as well. Williams' is the weakest and the Commanders the strongest." He would not mention the colour, he wouldn't.
All three were now uncomfortable.
,
Kadian's mind went to Eden Prime and Jenkin's death, his armour was at least two levels above William's, she was very lucky to have survived against the Geth until they arrived. At least Drake-Wayne hadn't mentioned the colour like she had obviously been expecting. He could think of at least one reason for why she had weak armour, would her commanding officer have been that petty over something that had happened decades ago? Likely. He'd checked her service record and she should have been promoted long ago but kept being denied the assignments needed for it to go through.
"It's all about funding, giving everyone top of the line armour would bankrupt any military, so it goes by rank," the Commander explained, obviously not happy with it, but there wasn't anything anyone could do about it unless they found a way to make armour for free.
"Ok, so what about the fact they look nothing alike despite being made for humans? Yours is black and red, Alenko's is grey, and Williams' is pink. Please tell me it's not due to gender."
She growled and Kaidan shifted further away. "It's not pink," she snapped.
"No, it's just… light red," Shepard was obviously stifling a smile.
"Skipper!" Came the betrayed cry.
,
Karin sat back, finally done with everything the Geth had given her about Drake-Wayne and what they had done to the boy. As far as she was concerned, he was just a boy, he had been dead for the last two years. He might be chronologically nineteen but he had died at seventeen. Seeing him hit the ground…she had seen a lot but that made her feel ill.
Did he realise exactly what the Geth had done to him?
,
"Really? Because last I checked that was just a way of using more words to say… 'pink'," Tim pressed, his own face blank as he held back a laugh at her reaction to the colour. He wasn't looking to get shot thanks.
"Maybe," Shepard shrugged. "Why is your armour pink, Chief?" Shepard asked, inspecting it, a frown appearing.
"Because it was the last armour available, that's why," she grumbled.
He got it, who would willingly pick the pick armour and from what his scans said…it wasn't very good either. Had that been done on purpose given her family history? Even if it had been first come, first served, who decided on the order?
"Lucky for you guys we've arrived," Alenko smirked as he hastily headed through the opening doors of the elevator.
Williams sent Shepard and Tim a glare before she stomped after him.
"We are going to pay for that," Shepard sighed.
"I was just curious about why you have uniforms but not uniform armour," he smirked and moved out. For such a high-tech place, there really was no excuse for such a slow elevator.
The group of four made their way through the gardens that lined the stairs up to the Council meeting area where Anderson warned them that they had already started.
"The Geth attack is a matter of some concern. But there is nothing to indicate that Saren was involved in any way," Tevos, the Asari Councillor, was saying as they entered.
Tim was not impressed by what he was hearing given the evidence the Geth had submitted through the humans.
"The investigation led by Citadel Security turned up no evidence to support your charge of treason," Sparatus, the Turian Councillor, spoke up, and Tim was glad he had already downloaded their information.
"An eyewitness saw him kill Nihlus in cold blood!" Udina argued.
"We've read the Eden Prime report, Ambassador. The testimony of one traumatised dockworker is hardly compelling proof," Valern, the Salarian Councillor commented with an almost bored tone.
"I resent these accusations. Nihlus was a fellow Spectre and a friend." The holographic projection of Saren was some twelve feet tall. Of course, Tim was wondering why Saren wasn't here in person, they had made it after all.
"That just let you catch him off guard!" Captain Anderson snapped, surprising Tim that he was allowed to speak. He would have thought only Udina could unless specifically asked a question.
"Captain Anderson. You always seem to be involved when humanity makes false charges against me." There was an almost smug tone to Saren's comment which wasn't good. "And this must be your protégé, Commander Shepard. The one who let the beacon get destroyed," Saren taunted.
"Actually, it wasn't Commander Shepard's fault," Tim spoke up, finding his voice was being transmitted as well. "The beacon self-destructed. I don't know if it was because you booby trapped it or because it was built to do that, but I know for a fact that Commander Shepard didn't even touch the beacon."
"Who are you?" Sparatus demanded.
"Tim Drake-Wayne. I was there on Eden Prime and helped Commander Shepard and his team. I'm curious, why have you thrown out the video evidence?" He asked before the Turian could respond.
"There was no video evidence," Valern stated. "The Geth wiped all data from the systems."
"No, the Heretics did. The Geth downloaded the data as soon as they arrived. We gave copies to Udina." Tim looked to the Ambassador.
"We were unable to confirm the identity of this individual and didn't want to enter possibly tainted evidence," Udina admitted.
"Funny, Captain Anderson and Doctor Chakwas were able to confirm my identity," Tim muttered. He didn't bother to move from his spot, allowing the Geth to do as they pleased as they infiltrated the nearby display systems, ensuring the evidence was shown. As long as he was in range, there was no need for him to even look at the device.
"Where did this data come from?" Sparatus demanded angrily.
Tim looked up to see the images from various security cameras showing Saren working with the heretics, using the beacon and… shooting Nihlus in the back.
"These files were downloaded as the Geth dropped me on the planet to help deal with the Heretics," he explained.
"You are working with the Geth?" The Asari asked in surprise, her gaze considering and wary now.
"If I could speak on his behalf," Shepard stepped up. "According to Mr. Drake-Wayne, the Geth have split into two factions. Those working with Saren are known as the 'Heretics' but the rest have no interest in harming organics and just want peace."
"And you believe this fairy tale?" Sparatus scoffed.
"I believe in evidence and everything I've seen shows he's on our side," Shepard retorted a little heatedly, and Tim found it felt nice to have someone defend him.
"Does it matter? These images clearly show that Saren needs to be brought in," Anderson argued.
"The images have clearly been faked. If the human is really linked with the Geth then he would have access to advanced imaging techniques," Saren dismissed the evidence, as expected.
"So then prove that you weren't there," Tim challenged. Seriously, did no one in this dimension understand how to run even the most basic investigation?
"What?"
"We have images and eyewitness testimony that you were there. Offer proof that would prove our evidence false. Your current location could be used to determine if you could have been on Eden Prime." Tim didn't need the Geth to tell him that, he knew that much from dealing with aliens back home or even tracking an aircraft or boat.
"There are thousands of ships within range of Eden Prime. Do you plan to waste time searching them all?" Saren laughed mockingly.
"Why would we? All we have to do is prove whether or not you could have done it, not them," Tim smirked. "We're trying to prove that you did it. If we search your ship then we can prove either your guilt or your innocence. If you are innocent then that evidence will prove it."
"My work is top secret. I can't have you primitive humans-"
"Then have a group of Spectres do it, no one said a human had to. With an attitude like yours I'm sure you can't have many friends," Tim muttered at the end… unfortunately, whatever audio amplifications were used managed to pick it up. Oops?
"No other Spectres have been read in on my missions," was his new argument.
"Then read them in!" Tim snapped sarcastically before turning to the councillors. "Honestly, have none of you ever run an investigation? Call him in, check if he could have been there, get the other Spectres to investigate both sides."
"My current mission is time sensitive-"
"Then travel fast or hand your mission to another Spectre," Shepard countered, agreeing with Tim. It was nice to see someone else with common sense.
"Enough," Tevos said sharply. "The humans are right. This matter can be resolved simply by verifying your own claims, Saren. Return to the Citadel for de-briefing. In the meantime, we will attempt to authenticate these recordings. I will warn you that alone they may not be enough. A secondary source would be better," she explained. "This meeting is in recess. We will re-convene in two hours to determine the authenticity of the recordings provided by Tim Drake-Wayne."
Tim bit back a sigh of relief as they left the room.
"That was impressive, Drake-Wayne," Anderson nodded in approval as they moved away from the platform for petitioners to the Council.
"That was damn near a disaster!" Udina argued. "Do you know how close we came to being accused of colluding with the Geth?" he snarled.
"Based on what I saw, not very," Williams smirked.
Udina chose to ignore her. "And you, Anderson. Bringing you here was clearly a mistake. I should have known your history with Saren would be an issue."
"Look, we really don't have time to deal with your tantrum," Tim spoke up, beyond done with the unpleasant man, resisting the urge to smirk as Udina turned purple. "We have two hours to find additional evidence. I think we should see if C-sec actually has something we can use, go around Palin."
"That's a good start," Anderson agreed. "You should also try the Volus, Barla Von. He works for the Shadow Broker."
"I can check with him then. I need to see about money since I was listed as dead." He was used to having basically unlimited funds and he wanted to ensure he had full access to the accounts the Geth had created in his name, mostly 'inheritance' from his deceased family. They had taken money from abandoned accounts, tiny amounts off of companies that would never notice, any method that wouldn't hurt anyone or be tracked.
"Williams, you can go with him."
"The C-Sec officer in charge of the investigation is a Turian named Garrus Vakarian," Udina announced authoritatively. "I have a contact in C-Sec named Harkin. He can track him down for you."
"Harkin is a drunk. He was suspended for drinking on the job. I wouldn't trust him," Anderson argued.
"You won't be doing anything. I won't have the Council using your history with Saren against us," Udina was worse than most wealthy Gothamites. If you weren't with him then you were just a waste of space.
"You can't just cut the Captain out," Shepard argued heatedly.
"No, he's right. I'm too close to this," Anderson admitted in defeat.
"Good. Anderson, meet me in my office in an hour," Udina ordered before he turned and strode off.
Tim glared at the man as he headed for the nearby rapid transport terminal. He then grinned for a second and waited as he stared at the terminal from a distance. Then he turned back to the others who were looking at him curiously but he ignored their looks.
"So, Anderson, Udina is an idiot. As you have an hour, I have an idea of how you could be a part of this without exactly being part of this," Tim smirked at the man.
"Oh?"
"Saren isn't the only Spectre, right? Nihlus was one too. So, what's stopping you from finding others and asking for their help? Surely, they would want justice for Nihlus and to know if they have a traitor among them," Tim pointed out.
"He's right Captain. Only the Council and other Spectres have that sort of pull," Shepard agreed.
"Yes. Of course, finding them won't be easy," Anderson mused as he rubbed his chin, already considering his options.
"And now you know where a good few of the off-duty ones are," Tim explained as the man's omni-tool lit up.
"You can hack omni-tools?" Williams asked.
"Me? No," well, not yet, he was still working on that. "The Geth can though and there are more than enough of them in my head. But all I did was download a file to his omni-tool."
"We have a plan people. Let's get to it," Anderson ordered as they moved off.
The group walked past Udina who was still trying to get the rapid transport terminal to respond to him. They got to the elevator and entered.
"What did you do to Udina, Tim?" Alenko asked knowingly.
"Me? Nothing!" Tim said innocently. "Although I may have asked the Geth to lock him out of the rapid transport system."
"So, he has to take the elevator like the rest of us grunts," Williams smirked.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear this," Anderson declared as he stifled a smile.
Seemed they all felt the same about the man. It was always nice to share opinions with others. He could ruin Udina's life but so far there wasn't any evidence bad enough to do that much…yet. Tim knew a man like that had to have a lot of skeletons in his closet. It just depended on what kind they were as to whether they should be acted on.
Still, they had a lot to do and limited time to get it all done.
TBC…