Kaidan and Kacey went back downstairs, overhearing the discussion taking place in the lounge and kitchen below. Kacey was still a little uneasy on her feet, but thankfully the medicine had kicked in quickly; colour was coming back to her face as she managed to keep herself steady enough to walk down the stairs. It didn't take long for Garrus to notice the pair's reappearance.
"So, what was it, Kacey? Five minutes before someone started shooting at you?" Garrus joked.
"Ten actually." Kacey replied.
"If it makes you feel better, we get this cool secret hideout to hang out in…unless the bad guys look in the window." Garrus laughed, "So, are you feeling better?"
"Yeah, a bit better."
"I heard Kaidan has that effect on you."
"Garrus, why?" Kaidan facepalmed.
"You stole my line!" Joker said, heading over to the trio, "Okay, later when this is all over and everything's settled, we are gonna talk about this bait thing."
"It's not my fault you got caught." Kacey snickered.
"Not the point, Kacey." Joker mused.
Kaidan couldn't help but laugh at the back and forth between the pair. It didn't look like either of them were taking it as seriously as you would think. The levity of the moment was interrupted by Liara's voice, calling everyone over to the table at the back of the kitchen.
Keeping Kacey's concerns in mind, Kaidan noticed how Brooks seemed to be studying Kacey's appearance, especially since the visible nausea and pale complexion seemed to have eased within the span of fifteen minutes. Once the squad was gathered around the table, Liara addressed the group.
"We have a lead." Liara said as the crew gathered around the table, "I called in some favours to run a trace on the gun. It led me to a casino owner named Elijah Khan. He's been suspected of using his profits to smuggle weapons onto the Citadel. Immediately after the attempt on Shepard's life, Khan made an interesting call."
Liara pulled up her omni-tool, and began to play a recording:
"I'm cutting you off. I'm returning your down payment now."
"What's the problem?"
"Turn on a vidscreen! When I sell a gun, I don't want it showing up on the nightly news!"
"You won't be linked to me."
"Save it. Our association is terminated. And if you even think of coming after me, I've got info on you ready for prime time, so you ponder that. Khan out."
Kaidan didn't know what to make of it; the thief was clearly using some kind of voice modifier to hide their voice but it was clear that Khan knew who the thief was.
"So, that's our identity thief." Kacey said, her arms crossed.
"Looks like they've got an ID disguiser." Garrus mused, "Those things are a pain in the ass to get around."
"Lovely." Kacey replied, her voice laced with sarcasm, "Did you get anything on those mercenaries?"
"They're a private military corporation called CAT6." Liara replied.
"You're joking." James interrupted, "They're CAT6?"
"Am I missing something?" Tali said, confused.
"CAT6 is an Alliance nickname for dishonourable discharges." Kaidan explained, "They're a group of people who lean more Cerberus than Alliance."
"Most are criminals, and the rest are a bunch of crazies." James added, "Or so I've heard."
"You're not far off the mark there, James." Kacey mused.
"No doubt they were hired by the thief, not by Khan." Liara mused.
"That phone call was pretty damning stuff." Kacey said, "How'd you get it?"
"It involved the weapon's biometric data, salarian intelligence, and a hanar prostitute with camera implants." Liara replied.
"Seriously?"
"No, but the truth is boring."
"Okay, forget I asked." Kacey replied, "Khan didn't sound friendly to whoever that voice was. Maybe he'd pass that info to us."
"That would take some extreme smooth talking." Liara responded sceptically, "If he sees you, he'll probably think you're looking for revenge. The casino has a panic room. Chances are he'll have gone to ground there. EDI can give us programs to hack the door, but the cameras and guards complicate things."
"Yeah. Khan could disappear or worse." Brooks interjected, "If his guards ever open fire, normal people could get hit. Like I did."
"Right, so we can't risk spooking him, got it." Kacey mused, "We go in quiet. Small team. No gunplay."
"Doctor T'Soni, this evening the casino will be hosting a charity event to assist war refugees." Glyph chimed.
"Purchase some tickets, Glyph, then call up a layout of the building." Liara said.
"Score!" Joker confidently said, "So how close can you get? You don't usually put a back door in a panic room."
"The air shaft bypasses the security gate and ends up in storage." EDI stated, "From there, the panic room's door-camera can be disabled."
"Still, we're talking about a casino. There's got to be alarms all over that shaft." Kaidan pointed out.
"I believe I have some countermeasures that may help." Liara said, "I'll know more once we're inside."
"Please tell me you tested them first." Kacey responded.
"I have, don't worry."
"Who will go in the shaft?" Javik spoke up, "They need to be small in size."
"Yeah, that's not me." Wrex chuckled, "Too many snacks of roast varren leg."
All eyes moved to Tali, who jumped as she realised what was going on, "I suspect my suit's built-in tech would be picked up by security sensors." Tali explained.
Eyes then moved EDI who was quick to say, "My presence in the casino would arouse suspicion. Mechs are not allowed since they can have cheating software."
"Commander?" Joker suggested with a smirk.
"Are you joking?" Kacey said, "I fell through a fish tank and you want me to crawl around in some vents?"
"She'll fall through the vent before even reaching the storage room." Garrus smirked.
"Fuck off, Garrus." Kacey snickered.
"What you need is somebody trained in zero-emissions tech." Brooks said, "No electronics, no metal. Just undetectable polymers. We had a course back at Op-Int, disabling a bomb with these little tweezers. See, the bomb was filled with shaving cream…"
"All right, you're in." Kacey said.
"What? No? What?"
"We all have too much tech." Kacey said, "You don't."
"But…I managed to get shot just coming to talk to you!" Brooks countered, "Now I'm supposed to hack my way into a safe room?"
"Yeah, basically." Kacey replied nonchalantly, "Look, the second you hit something you can't handle, we'll cover you."
"If that's settled, it looks like there's one last hurdle to get inside." Liara said.
"Which is?"
"Black tie required."
"Shit." Kacey mused, unenthusiastic, "Right, I'll go get ready."
"You better get ready as well, Major." James smirked once Kacey, Liara and Tali were out of earshot
"What?" Kaidan mused as Garrus and James shot him a sly look.
"Come on, you're not gonna go with your girlfriend?" James said, "Go get ready."
"Fine, fine." Kaidan mused, finally realising why Kacey was so unenthusiastic about dressing up.
…
Kaidan wasn't the type to dress up; truth be told, he disliked the idea. It was one of the similarities between him and Kacey. Neither were really keen to dress in suits and dresses, with ties and heels; it just wasn't them. Kaidan was a soldier first and foremost, so practicality took precedence when it came to attire. Because of this, he had to go and buy a suit out on the Silversun Strip.
James and Joker found that ordeal hilarious; clearly neither of them were taking this seriously. Garrus, however, didn't seem bothered by it. Kaidan put the shirt on, buttoning it up as his mind drifted elsewhere. As extreme and ridiculous as this situation was, he was looking forward to spending the time with Kacey; after all, they were the furthest thing from normal.
Once he was ready, with the jacket buttoned up over his shirt, he exited the room beginning to make his way to the casino, ignoring the snickers of Joker and James. Thankfully, the casino wasn't too far away, meaning a short walk from the apartment. As he arrived he could see Kacey approaching the casino, wearing a navy cocktail dress with black heels. She smiled as he approached, swinging her arm around his as they walked down the red carpet towards the casino.
"You're looking radiant, Commander." Kaidan teased; he could see Kacey blush as they strutted down the path.
"As in 'beautiful' or as in 'causing invisible damage'?" Kacey teased, radiating confidence.
"Why can't it be both? Ow, my heart." Kaidan replied. A small laugh left both their lips as the moment was interrupted by Brooks' arrival.
"Nice. Oh, speaking of, can you see my exit wound?" Brooks said, "The medi-gel is supposed to match skin pigmentation, but it never does."
"Just smile and wave, Brooks." Kacey replied calmly.
"How are you so calm?!" Brooks responded, "Well, you did run under a Reaper while it fought a thresher maw, so this is no big deal for you."
"Yep." Kacey mused, "Sounds about right."
"I'll get to the ventilation shaft." Brooks added, "Wish me luck!"
As Brooks left the pair in the centre of the large hall, Kacey smirked as she looked over at Kaidan, "Come on Kaidan, let's go meet the riff raff."
Kaidan smirked as he took Kacey's arm, "Let's go."
Moving through the casino and making small talk with the patrons was not something that he thought he would be doing. The patrons had little to offer conversation wise; most were about hobbies, work or political nonsense and rabble. Yet Kacey managed to appear interested and even managed to get engaged in the conversation. It didn't take long for Brooks to speak over the comms.
"Commander, I'm upstairs by the grate leading to the shaft. But there's a problem. Can you meet me?"
Kacey sighed, "On my way."
"Well, that didn't take long." Kaidan mused as they headed upstairs.
"Tell me about it." Kacey mused.
Upstairs had proven to be a lot more lively than downstairs, with a dancefloor and bar full of patrons. After navigating through the crowds, the pair found Brooks in the corner by the air vent.
"Okay, right." Brooks mused, "Just like we thought, there's an alarm on the grate."
"Of course there is." Kacey sighed.
"We'll just have to bypass it." Kaidan added.
"How?"
"Liara, do you have anything for this?" Kacey said through the comms.
"I put a resonance emitter lens in your purse." Liara replied, "It should let you see security grids and wiring. And before you ask, yes I tested it."
"Okay." Kacey said, putting on the lens, "I'll follow the wiring to the junction box, splice it and disable the alarm."
"Follow the blue wiring." Liara said, "In case it needs to be said, don't try to bypass a camera while you're being watched."
"Got it."
…
"Any particular reason you wanted to go to the bar, Kaidan?" Kacey said, taking a seat on the bar stool.
"Come on, after the day you've had, you're telling me you don't want one?" Kaidan replied.
"Touché." Kacey laughed, "Hopefully, Brooks doesn't run into any more trouble while we have one."
Kaidan laughed as the bartender made his way over to the pair, "Drinks are complimentary tonight." The bartender said in a thick English accent, "What are you having?"
"Nothing too crazy." Kacey replied, "I want to be able to walk in a straight line."
Kaidan snickered; he knew damn well that Kacey could hold her liquor, no matter the strength. She always managed to drink him under the table at every given opportunity.
"Thessian Temple coming right up." The bartender replied, "And you sir?"
"I'll have the same, thanks." Kaidan replied.
"Are asari drinks usually mild?" Kacey asked.
"Not all of them." The bartender replied, "Mr Khan had us put out some gelatin shots earlier. Also asari, but they kick like a shotgun."
"Sounds like my kind of drink." Kacey mused as the glasses arrived.
"Kacey, half that bar is your kind of drink." Kaidan replied, taking a sip out of the glass.
"You're telling me." Kacey said, taking a sip out of hers only for her face to scrunch up, "Damn, that's sweet."
"It does taste a bit sweet."
"A bit? That straight up tastes like sugar." Kacey replied before adding, "Although, if you mix that with vodka it might taste alright."
"Vodka? That would make it taste better?" Kaidan questioned.
"You sound surprised."
"A little. I didn't know you liked it."
"Only if it mixed in with something else." Kacey elaborated, taking another sip, "Vodka on its own is disgusting."
"No kidding." Kaidan mused, "I remember having it for the first time; I was doing shots with some friends, I…I didn't even look at the glass and I just picked it up and drank it. Ended up floored afterwards."
"Sounds like you were in for a nasty surprise."
"Oh, I was. Ended up feeling sick right after." Kaidan replied, "Last time I did shots like that."
Kacey let out a small laugh, "Maybe we should do some when we sort this out."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously." Kacey replied, "I meant what I said about this possibly being our last chance; we don't know what will happen next, so we might as well have fun while we can."
"True." Kaidan said, taking another sip.
"Commander!"
Kacey sighed, "What?"
"There's a guard right below me." Brooks said.
"Don't panic. I'll get his attention." Kacey said as she walked away from the bar and back downstairs.
"Kacey?" Kaidan said worriedly as he followed her downstairs. Kacey continued to make her way towards the guard, before addressing the guard.
"Excuse me!" Kacey said, catching the guard's attention, "I think I saw someone doing drugs in the ladies room."
"I see." The guard replied, "Were you able to identify the substance used?"
"Red sand."
"We'll take care of it. Thank you, ma'am." The guard responded before leaving.
"For a second there, I thought you were gonna do something drastic." Kaidan mused.
Kacey scoffed, "Tempting, but now's not the time for it. So, what do we do now?"
…
"Well, this is gonna be tricky." Kacey mused as they moved towards the roulette tables.
Kaidan nodded; the biotic wasn't sure how Brooks kept ending up hitting several roadblocks trying to crawl through a vent. The junction box was within view, but with two guards within sight of the box, it was going to be difficult.
"That guard over there has his back to the junction box." Kaidan pointed out.
"So as long as we don't cause a ruckus we should be fine." Kacey mused, "Now we just need that other one out of the way. You think you could distract him?"
"Yeah, I'll give it a go." Kaidan said as the pair separated.
Approaching the guard, Kaidan made up some sort of nonsense to keep the guard occupied. A deep dive into animal testing was not on his list of things he anticipated for shore leave, but it seemed that everything in the last four years was as hard to believe as flying pigs. Thankfully, it didn't take long for Kacey to hack the junction box and the conversation with the guard came to a close.
Unfortunately the second box was in sight of a camera and guard; again Kaidan was distracting the guard with a load of nonsense. Kacey managed to hack the junction box and the pair made themselves scarce before the guards realised what had happened.
"I'm in the storage room grate." Brooks said, "Time to hit the lock. Um…hey Commander?"
"You okay?" Kacey asked, "What happened?"
"Infrared laser hooked up to a silent alarm. I didn't get to it in time!"
"Shit."
"Shepard, I can call the responding guard and inform him it was a false alarm, but you must stall him." EDI chimed.
"Got it." Kacey replied.
Kaidan couldn't help but laugh as Kacey bolted over to the guard, barely keeping her balance in the heels she was wearing. By the time she returned, the grin was still plastered on his face as Kacey shot him a teasing smile.
"Not a word." Kacey said, as she walked towards the lower bar with Kaidan in tow.
"Sure." Kaidan smirked, "Not a word about you nearly falling in heels."
"Laugh it up." Kacey replied, "God, how long is this gonna take?"
"Hopefully we'll get through soon." Kaidan replied, "It should be much longer."
"I hope you're right." Kacey mused, "This was not how I thought shore leave was going to be."
"What? Secretly breaking into a casino's panic room after falling through a sushi restaurant's fish tank floor?" Kaidan teased.
"Surprisingly no." Kacey added, "I actually thought we'd be able to relax for once."
"And we will. I promise you that."
"I'm holding you to that."
"Okay, so now I think yhou just need to get to me." Brooks interrupted, "I'm on the other side of the security grate."
"Got it." Kacey confirmed, "Have you bypassed the camera?"
"Well I got my side. Yours is still on though." Brooks elaborated, "We need to finish this fast before someone comes by."
"Hang tight. We'll be there soon." Kacey said, "Fuck. Two guards and camera. No way we're getting past them conventionally. We need a plan."
As Kacey got lost in her thoughts, Kaidan looked around; the place was full of people who were uptight and posh. Very orderly. And so, a certain type of thought crossed his mind.
Kaidan moved a little closer to the bar; noticing a few of the nearby patrons becoming more rowdy by the minute. Making sure he wasn't being watched, Kaidan used his biotics carefully to move one of the bottles of alcohol off the shelf and smashed the bottle, causing its contents to cover the patrons. An argument ensued as Kaidan discreetly made himself scarce and returned to Kacey, who looked confused as the guards rushed over to the commotion.
"What the–?" Kacey questioned.
"Don't ask." Kaidan replied, "Come on, we better be quick."
"Wow. I'm such a bad influence on you." Kacey smirked as she hacked the camera.
The moment the coast was clear, the pair bolted down the hall and caught up with Brooks, who was absent-mindedly on her omni-tool. Brooks jumped as Kacey and Kaidan arrived and all three of them entered the panic room. Khan was seated behind the desk of the firelit room, his back to them as Kacey removed the lens.
"Khan, I'm not here to threaten you." Kacey said calmly, "We need to talk."
Khan didn't respond; Kaidan couldn't help but feel like something was off. He walked around the table and turned the chair around. The man's head hung low as he remained as still as a statue.
"What the hell?!" Brook exclaimed.
"And here I had this good cop routine all planned out." Kaidan mused as Kacey shot him a sceptical look.
"You're the good cop?" Kacey said teasingly.
"Do you honestly see me being a bad cop?"
"Touché."
"Commander! There's a deletion order on the terminal." Brooks interjected.
Damn it!" Kacey said as she moved Brooks out of the way and began to look through the terminal.
"Everything's been wiped." Brook's continued, "I don't know if it was him or the killer or…When I tripped that alarm, did I screw up? What are you looking for?"
"Mistakes." Kacey said calmly, "Hmm, thought so. Whoever it was had to do this fast. They wiped the terminal, but not the comm."
Kaidan observed Brooks as Kacey spoke; she seemed unnerved as Kacey criticised the culprit. If Kaidan didn't have his reservations about Brooks before, he definitely did now.
"Oh. So we can take the comm back to the safe house to scan it, or…" Brooks trailed off. Before the analyst could continue, the screen behind them switched on, a static image displayed as the identity thief began to speak through the ID disguiser.
"Elijah. Come crawling back?"
"Guess again." Kacey said firmly, her arms crossed.
"You." The thief growled, "I see you've recovered from flopping on the floor like a fish."
"You'll need to do better than that." Kacey retorted, "The last guy that trash-talked me was a few kilometres taller than you."
"Brave. I thought as much, but it won't matter." The thief continued, "You have nothing. All you can do is wait for the hammer to fall."
Kacey scoffed, "Enough with the cryptic bullshit, what the hell do you want?"
"I'm going to take everything you have, and everything you are."
The call cut out from there; Kaidan could see that the call had unsettled Kacey, as subtle as it was. Brooks continued to fiddle with her omni-tool as the screen faded to black.
"Damn it!" Brooks cursed, "Sorry, Commander. There wasn't enough time to trace the call."
"We're not finished." Kacey replied, "Pull out the data drives."
"They ones that got wiped? You think we can find something?"
"With EDI, anything is possible. The sooner we get them to her, the sooner we can track down this threat." Kacey said.
…
"Hell of a party." Kaidan mused as they walked into the apartment, "Though not so fun for the host."
"At least it was a total loss." Kacey mused, "Brooks, work with EDI, see if there's anything useful on those drives."
"Here's hoping!" Brooks said in a perky voice, "I'll let you know what we find, Commander."
As Brooks walked off, Kaidan could see Kacey mouth out the phrase 'I really don't trust her.' Kaidan nodded in response before a loud whistle rippled across the apartment.
"Looking fine, Commander!" James smirked as he exited the kitchen. Kacey turned around, a bemused look on her face as Kaidan crossed his arms.
"Watch it, Lieutenant. My boyfriend's right there." Kacey teased; James turned red as Kaidan moved closer to Kacey, swinging his arm around her, a bemused look on his face.
"I mean, he's not wrong." Kaidan snickered.
"Oh, gross." Joker's voice called from the hall, "Come on, don't get all touchy-feely with us here."
"Hey, this is my apartment. I can get all touchy-feely if I want." Kacey retorted.
"You won't hear any complaints from me." Kaidan snickered, kissing Kacey on the forehead.
"Oh guys come on!" Joker said, clearly disgusted.
"Relax Joker, they're just being affectionate." Cortez piped up from the bar, "It's actually quite cute."
"I agree." Tali chimed in, "It's nice to see you both so…relaxed."
"Relaxed? That's not the word I'd use." Kacey mused.
"So, how did it go? Any life or death encounters with fish aquariums this time?" Garrus mused as Kacey shook her head, "No? Too bad. I can hear Vega's stomach grumbling from here."
"The host ended up dead and the thief is still hiding." Kacey said.
James snickered, "Damn Commander. You can't even attend a party without someone ending up dead."
"Yeah, yeah."
"I could go for some food while we wait." Joker mused with a sly grin, "Too bad you shot the hell out of the best sushi place on the Citadel, huh?"
"I'm never living this down, am I?" Kacey mused.
"Not in a million years." Joker retorted, still smirking, "I mean, Commander Shepard, hero of the Citadel, fell through a fucking fish tank? Haha, you can't make that up."
"It could be worse when you think about it." Kacey said.
"Commander, we have found something of interest." EDI chimed in.
"Okay, let's hear it." Kacey said as the group walked towards the table.
"Though the data's root structure was erased, the logic integrity remains viable." EDI explained.
"EDI has an incredible talent for this stuff." Brooks said, "I know she's an AI, but even still. We found an encrypted communication from a few days ago. Just need another minute to crack it."
"A whole minute? EDI here could shave that down to five seconds." Joker said.
"Gross, Joker you're getting all touchy-feely." Kacey smirked.
Joker scoffed, "Fuck off. This is not the same as you and Kaidan."
"I thought it best to allow Staff Analyst Brooks a chance to improve her decryption skills." EDI interrupted before Kacey could retort.
"And now you've lost your chance to show off." Joker mused.
"Likes she needs it." Brooks replied, "You're the crew of the Normandy. You're legends to the rest of the Alliance."
Kaidan looked around the table at the rest of the squad; the reactions were a lot more mixed than he thought. Everyone was more or less pleased to hear it, with the exceptions of Javik, who couldn't care less, EDI who didn't seem phased by it in the slightest, and Kacey who couldn't decide if she was pleased to hear it or not, but had a look of unease as she tilted her head to the side.
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" She said, her voice calm.
Kaidan watched as Brooks observed Kacey carefully before replying, "You're the kind that people look up to. The kind they owe their lives to."
"Then how come everyone's always shooting at us?" Wrex asked, unimpressed.
"I think it's mostly you, Wrex." Tali quipped, "The bigger the target, the bigger the…uh, target."
"You're saying I've gained weight?"
Kacey and Joker struggled to hide their snickers as Liara piped up, "It just means there's more of the legend to love."
"I think more of them are flying at me." James added, "You know, 'kill the badass first and the fight gets easy'."
"Is that why most of them end up flying at me?" Kacey smirked. Kaidan and Garrus couldn't help but laugh in response as Kacey added, "Although, I think it's more Reaper beams than bullets."
"And the camaraderie? The friendship?" Brooks interjected, "I think that's your secret weapon."
"We just do our job, that's all." Kacey replied.
"Wait." Garrus said, "'Job'? You mean the rest of you are getting paid for this?"
"Yes." Kacey, Kaidan, James and Joker said. Everyone else shook their heads in response.
"Wait, how come you guys are getting paid?" Tali asked.
"Because it's our job?" Joker replied.
"Is it? Cause there's nothing in the job description that covers half the shit I've seen." James added.
"Look, I just get money to keep the Normandy running." Kacey explained nonchalantly, "My paycheck keeps getting swallowed up by all the collateral damage I've got to pay for."
"The fuck?" Joker quipped.
"You still haven't paid that off?" Kaidan asked; Kacey shook her head.
"Nope. I've got another three years worth of pay to go."
"What the actual fuck did you do?" James asked.
"Don't ask." Kacey replied
"Oh, here we go." Brooks said, "Wow. Those mercs that were after you? They bought a lot of weapons. Like, big ones."
"Mechs?" Kaidan mused as the holographic image of a mech appeared, "What do they need with that kind of firepower?"
Glyph floated onto the middle of the table, a red light flashing rapidly as it whizzed past. Javik scoffed, "It appears this drone is preparing to rebel."
"I have just monitored the commander's Spectre access code in use at the Citadel Archives."
Kacey sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, "Are you serious? Punch it up."
"The archives are going into emergency lockdown." Brooks added, "Whoever's hacking your codes is there right now!"
"What do we know about the place?"
"Council keeps sensitive historical information there." Garrus explained, "Real hush hush. Even my old C-Sec clearance never got me in."
"Then we'll find our own way in." Kacey said, "Gear up and let's—"
A volus was stood a foot away from Kacey, holding a pizza box. Kacey turned, a look of confusion on her face, "What's with the volus?"
"Oh. Pizza delivery guy." James replied sheepishly, "I got the munchies."
"Double pepperoni." The volus stated.
"Let's just get ready." Kacey said, "And that means everyone."
"Hell yeah." James said, "But, uh, who gets to take point with you?"
All eyes were on Kacey, who looked startled as she was suddenly put on the spot. She started to fiddle around with her heels as she replied, "Why am I the favourite all of a sudden?"
"Ahem." Javik and Liara spluttered as Tali let out a small squeak.
Kacey kicked off her heels as she slowly backed away before shouting quickly, "Kaidan and Garrus!" before turning and running off. Kaidan laughed as the group chased Kacey upstairs, trying to catch the now elusive Commander.