** Garrus POV**
"The lead was a dead end," Nihlus said, entering the apartment and setting his things down.
Garrus looked up from his omni-tool and leaned back on his chair, "That's the last one."
"Councilor Sparatus is not going to be happy," Nihlus said, walking over to the kitchen and pouring himself a drink. "He'll want an update soon."
"Not much we can do," Garrus replied, stretching. "We'll have to return to the Citadel soon. We've been away for a few months."
"What about that girl from the clinic?" Nihlus asked, sitting in the chair next to Garrus.
"What about her?" Garrus asked.
"I thought you and her had something going on," Nihlus replied, taking a drink. "At least it looked that way to me."
Garrus grunted but didn't reply. In truth, he wasn't so sure about Ms. Vicki. At first, he did feel something familiar about her, but since her return from taking care of her family, the feeling vanished. She still seemed nice and all, but it didn't seem like she was interested in him at all. He was getting mixed signals, as the humans would say.
"You're still into Aster," Nihlus stated, giving him a long look.
"I'm not into her," Garrus said, standing up. "We were just casual, that's all."
"Yeah, sure," Nihlus said, not believing him. "You don't believe that, and neither do I. A few months ago, I might have believed you, but now... Not the way you've been acting. After your assignment as her personal guard, you've changed."
"I'm a Spectre," was his lame reply. "It wouldn't have worked out between us anyway."
"You don't say," Nihlus agreed. "Then why did you let her go? No one would have said anything to you about your relationship with her.
Heck, by now you would have a few kids running around. Turians aren't pregnant as long as humans. Besides, human and turian relationships are on the rise."
"It was my fault she got hurt," Garrus replied, standing and walking over to the window. "I promised her I would get her out. I couldn't look at her without-"
"There was nothing we could have done differently," Nihlus argued. "For all we know, that A.I was the one who caused the accident.
You told her about the kill order. You warned her so that she could hide. Why do you keep blaming yourself when she clearly doesn't blame you?"
"That's the problem," Garrus said after a few moments of silence. "I blame myself. We went in there blind; we didn't know what we were up against."
"Look," Nihlus said, walking over to him. "The mission on Junhix was nothing like we have ever encountered. The creation of an A.I has never been attempted since the Quarians were driven from their home by the Geth. When an A.I is involved, things won't go as planned. They are illegal for a reason."
"I know," Garrus said. "It's just wish I could have done more."
"You are now," Nihlus replied. "You're trying to save her life when others would have killed her."
"She is innocent," Garrus stated, having no doubts.
Nihlus didn't say anything else and stared out the window. If Garrus thought that she was innocent, maybe there was something else going on behind the scenes that the Councilor wanted to keep quiet. Nihlus got the feeling that something was being kept from them, but he wasn't sure what it could be.
"How about we head back to the Citadel?" Nihlus suggested after thinking for several minutes about the best course of action. "There is nothing on Aster here. We can try to talk to her family when we get back; they must have heard from her by now. We'll head back tomorrow."
Garrus sighed and agreed. It was time for them to return. Councilor Sparatus would want to know what they have been up to. Garrus headed to his room and packed his things.
Garrus sat in his room and tapped his omni-tool to bring up the extranet feeds. His omni-tool suddenly chimed, alerting him. He brought up his message board and saw a message had come through from Solana.
"Hey Garrus! Can we meet up after you get back? I have a small favor to ask. Nothing too crazy, I promise! - Solana"
Garrus chuckled. "Nothing too crazy," coming from Solana, could mean anything. Leave it to his sister to keep him guessing.
He re-read the message. A favor. That pricked his Turian curiosity. He typed up a quick message. "I'll let you know when I get back. We can meet up for drinks."
"As long as Nyreen is not invited," he added.
"Deal." Solana's reply came back instantly.
*
The next morning, Nihlus and Garrus woke up early and headed toward the small transport vehicle they had hidden when they arrived. They thought it best not to dock at Omega with the Battle Cruiser.
"You have everything?" Nihlus asked, settling in and doing the pre-flight checks.
"Yeah," Garrus replied, making sure their bags were secure. "Looks like we got everything."
"Alright, let's go," Nihlus said. "We are meeting with Aster's brother sometime later at the Citadel. He finally replied to my messages."
"Did they say anything else?" Garrus asked, buckling the harness.
"He agreed to meet," Nihlus replied. "The family is still pretty upset about what happened with the Captain."
"I heard the father got engaged just before the trial," Nihlus continued. "From the commotion it caused, the Captain wasn't too happy about it."
"I was there when it happened," Garrus admitted. "It wasn't pretty. They ambushed her at the hospital. Aster had them blacklisted from entering the hospital."
"No wonder he didn't want to meet," Nihlus commented. "He's still upset about the whole thing. I don't know human males, but from what I hear, they tend to hold onto things."
Once the aircraft docked on the Battle Cruiser, the two Spectres were on their way to the Citadel. They traveled through the relay and ended up at the Citadel in no time. Once the cruiser had docked, Garrus and Nihlus went to drop off their bags at Garrus's apartment.
Garrus sent a quick message to Solana letting her know that they had docked but he had things to take care of. Garrus followed behind Niglus as he led the way to the food court.
Spectre John Shepard was already waiting for them.
"I hope we didn't keep you waiting," Nihlus greeted. "We just landed on the Citadel."
"I just got here," John replied.
"Thank you for seeing us," Nihlus said.
Nihlus introduced Garrus. "This is Spectre Vakarian."
"We've met," John stated.
"What can I help two Spectres with?" John asked, inviting them to sit at his table.
"We are looking into the whereabouts of Captain Shepard," Nihlus began, taking a seat.
Major Shepard leaned back in his chair, scoffing, "Like I told Vakarian a few months ago, I haven't heard from her since the trial. No one has.
She's still throwing a tantrum."
"Why are you looking for her?" he asked curiously. "She got herself into some trouble?"
"She may have some information on a case she worked some time ago," Garrus answered.
"Which case?" John asked. "My dear sister usually doesn't work on any cases; she just infiltrates and gathers information so that someone else can deal with it. Hiding is her specialty."
Garrus heard something in John's voice that he didn't like. It sounded like a bit of resentment coming from him.
"The batarian kidnapping cases," Garrus replied quickly before Nihlus could reply. "She's the only one who has infiltrated a batarian ship without being detected."
"Unfortunately, the Captain's intel can't be accessed without alerting the batarian mole on the Citadel," Garrus continued.
John scoffed.
"I haven't heard from her since she left the family," he repeated. "No one has heard from her since. We've tried sending her messages, but they don't get returned with a no recipient error message.
She made clear that we weren't family. Whatever she had gotten herself into, don't involve my family."
"Thanks for your time," Nihlus said, sensing that the conversation was over.
Garrus and Nihlus excused themselves and went to get something to eat.
"You believe him?" Nihlus asked, making a stop at a turian mini-mart to grab some food.
"Yes," Garrus replied, grabbing a few things from the fridge. "He didn't seem like he was lying; Shepard isn't a good liar from what I could tell."
"What do we do now?" Nihlus asked, as the pair of them paid for their food.
"Keep looking out for her," Garrus replied as they left the store. "I may have some old contacts that may tell us where she could have gone. Any news on a possible third-party involvement?"
"They are just rumors," Nihlus replied. "But they seem to have some truths to them."
"Shall I contact the Shadow Broker?" Garrus asked as they headed back to the apartment.
"Let's wait," Nihlus answered, entering the elevator. "You never know what the Shadow Broker wants in return."
As soon as they exited the elevator, Garrus made a complete stop as he saw his sister and a human waiting outside his door. His sister, Solana, stood tapping her foot with the impatience only a Vakarian could truly understand. But it was the woman beside her that made his mandibles twitch in disbelief.
Beside her, leaning casually against the wall, was a woman he didn't recognize. A human woman. And something about her twinged at his senses.
As he got closer, the faintest, almost irresistible scent reached him. The unknown woman was releasing a turian scent marker. He quickly glanced at Nihlus. It didn't appear as though Nihlus noticed the scent.
Why is it just me? he wondered.
From his knowledge, the turian scent marked would only be released when their mate was nearby.
His mandibles twitched involuntarily. The human straightened as he approached, her eyes, a startling shade of green, meeting his with unsettling directness. She was tall, athletic, and carried herself with a quiet confidence that reminded him uncomfortably of Aster.
"Garrus!" Solana greeted, her voice laced with barely-contained laughter. "Look who decided to finally show up. This is… Mina."
"Mina," Garrus echoed, his voice a little rough. "It's… good to meet you."
He couldn't shake the feeling of unease that settled over him. The scent marker couldn't possibly mean what his instincts were telling him. That he had somehow ended up marking this unknown human as his mate. The last and only human he had been with was Aster.
"Why dont we talk inside?" Garrus asked, glancing around the hallway. He didn't think it was a good idea to linger in open space for too long.
Garrus quickly opened the door and followed behind everyone else. He locked the door and scanned the apartment for bugs. Nihlus placed the food on the counter and went to grab a drink for everyone.
"I'm sorry for not waiting," Solana began. "This is urgent. Mina and I need help."
The scent marker, now stronger, swirled around him. He had a feeling his quiet evening brainstorming with Nihlus was about to become incredibly complicated.
He approached cautiously, his gait carefully controlled despite the sudden surge of adrenaline. "Solana, why don't you explain what's going on?"
Solana hesitated. "We need you to pull Aster's file."