Arturia woke slowly, feeling comfortable and well rested. Courtesy of getting used to sleeping in the pods most military ships used - regular beds felt like heaven. And this particular bed felt even better than usual.

She was willing to delay the moment of being fully awake for a while, right up until she felt the presence of somebody next to her.

Her body tensed, eyes shooting open, and Arturia was a fraction of a second away from attacking whoever it was before she caught a glimpse of his face.

Shirou.

The memories of the previous evening came back swiftly after and she allowed herself to collapse back into the bed and enjoy the warmth.

It was an odd feeling, to take comfort in waking up to somebody. Especially after so long of being alone.

Even when she had been with Guinevere, it had been about duty on both ends. Theirs had been a political marriage, and both had known it. After a time, she liked to think they had become friends - good friends even - but it had not been love.

It was why she could hardly hold it against either Guinevere or Lancelot when they had been caught together. Guinevere had sacrificed so much for the sake of her family and country, how could Arturia begrudge her friend from trying to be with somebody she loved?

Now, what she did hold against them was their attempts to keep it secret from even her. She could have helped them keep their secret much more effectively.

But that was all in the past. A past that she had long accepted. For now, she had the present to be concerned about.

The present in which she was currently in the same bed as Shirou.

For Arturia it was almost a revelation, waking up to one that she did have feelings for. It felt so much better than she expected it would, especially with the knowledge that she'd be able to experience this again.

As Arturia let herself relax against the warmth and feelings of waking up, she even considered forgiving Merlin for his foolish meddling the previous evening.

Maybe.

Arturia felt, rather than saw, when Shirou first woke up. Like her, his muscles tensed in the unfamiliar environment. She shifted so she could look at Shirou just as his eyes opened, and she favored him with a smile.

"Good morning, Shirou."

The look on his face as he stared back made it feel as if all the hardships she had experienced up till now, all of her struggles, had all been worth it. Just to end up here.

"Good morning, Arturia."

Breakfast was a simple fare. Arturia sat at the bar as she looked through their messages on her omni-tool while Shirou cooked.

"Anderson wants to talk to us," she reported after making her way through a number of unimportant emails - It looked like Tess was being unusually demanding for an update on whether she'd had a meal from the 'Chef Commander' yet - "As soon as possible he says."

Shirou nodded from his position in the kitchen, "So much for being on shore leave," he murmured thoughtfully as he walked up and placed a plate in front of her before sitting next to her with his own. "I assume he wants to talk about the attack yesterday?"

"He doesn't say," Arturia admitted with a frown, tapping the Omni-tool thoughtfully. "I have no doubt he will, but it sounds like there's something else as well."

Shirou made a contemplative noise, "Does he say how long he expects it to be?"

"No," Arturia replied, taking a moment to enjoy a bite of Shirou's food. "But hopefully it won't take too long, since it looks like we have a different appointment at noon."

When Shirou looked at her quizzically, Arturia flipped her screen around to show him. "Looks like Kunio contacted that lead regarding Saren. He wants us to meet them at the diner."

Shirou furrowed his brow, "That was a lot faster than I was expecting. I don't have any issues with meeting them if you don't."

Arturia tilted her head in agreement as she sent a quick acknowledgement to the info broker.

The remainder of breakfast passed in relative peace. To the point that Arturia was genuinely suspicious of Merlin's absence.

While Merlin was a notorious late sleeper, he was annoyingly able to overcome this when there was potential mischief to create.

It was that thought and paranoia that brought to mind the memory of another person. One that she met during the Holy Grail War, yet was not a participant herself. One that would once frequently interrupt their meals.

"Whatever became of Taiga?"

She felt a small bit of amusement as Shirou suddenly coughed, clearly taken aback by the unexpected question. "Wha-" he coughed again, "What brought that on?"

Arturia raised an eye at that, "You've already brought me to see Kunio Fujimura." She replied, putting emphasis on the last name. "I can hardly be blamed for thinking of Taiga Fujimura, can I?"

She was indeed curious, but there was more to it.

She knew Shirou. Just as she knew that Shirou knew her. Their connection during the Holy Grail War gave them a leg up on understanding each other that most people simply didn't have. However, there was still much that they didn't know about each other.

Arturia had no idea what he did after the Holy Grail War. Just as she was sure he didn't know of many of the events of her own life. She didn't know what happened with Rin, Sakura, or Taiga. And Shirou (probably) didn't know her feelings regarding her Knights (It was hard to say what all he got from the Dream Cycle, but there was only so much).

So many years had passed since then. What was his relationship with his current family? Did he still train like they once had? What of current friendships?

Arturia sighed, and quieted her thoughts. They were together now. They had time. Arturia wished to know more about the man she loved, and she wanted to share her own life and perspectives with him.

Shirou's lips twitched upward, "I suppose not," he replied before frowning. "Unfortunately, that takes a bit of context."

He glanced at Arturia as if asking if he still wanted to continue, and she nodded encouragingly.

"After the Holy Grail War, I joined Rin at the Clocktower." Shirou explained, folding his arms as he looked at the ceiling in thought. "I kept in contact with Taiga, but without being able to talk to her about anything related to magecraft, we eventually drifted apart." He gave a bitter smile, "I'm pretty sure she suspected I was lying to her. Things had become pretty strained between us."

Arturia nodded in sympathy, "Having such a secret between you would no doubt cause friction." She knew from experience.

Shirou let out an absent nod. "Rin ended up staying at the Clocktower. Meanwhile, I would go out on jobs for both the Clocktower and the Church and help where I could. However, one job went… bad." He grimaced. "Really bad. Essentially, an entire city was destroyed."

She frowned at the pain on his face, reaching out to grab his hand. "Sometimes, regardless of what is done, we still lose." She murmured, thinking of her own past and battles.

King Arthur was praised for his victories, but most people never realized the losses that occurred along the way.

Save for her final battle at Camlann at least.

Shirou shook his head. "It gets worse. Things got so bad, the entire world knew something was up."

Ah. Arturia grimaced. "And it is forbidden for people to tell others of magic."

She wondered at how the rest of magus society evolved as time moved on. Did the Clocktower still exist? Did the Church? She had not gone back to Earth herself, so she had no idea.

Not that she would have gone searching for them even if she had gone. Though she wondered if Shirou had gone.

Another question to ask in the future.

"Correct." Shirou nodded to her statement. "And in order to preserve the secrecy of the Moonlit World, the Church decided to cut its losses." He gestured to himself and gave a self-deprecating smile. "They decided to use me as a scapegoat to the world at large. All it took was one day, and I was the world's number one terrorist."

"They did what?!" If Arturia hadn't been so shocked, she would have been incensed.

The idea of somebody just throwing Shirou away sounded ludicrous to her. The Church should have been overjoyed they had found somebody as loyal and strong as her chosen. "Just what exactly happened?!"

Shirou hesitated for a moment, "The official story was a sabotaged nuclear reactor. But the real story is a bit longer." He admitted slowly, "And not one we have time for I don't think."

Arturia spent a moment studying Shirou, taking note of the haunted look in his eye, and acquiesced.

For now.

Shirou wasn't quite ready to talk about it. She could recognize that. However, she also recognized the glint of guilt in his expression. She would yield for now, but she would ask him about that story later.

"I escaped before the execution," Shirou continued, "But by that point, most of the world governments considered me a terrorist, and my contacts with the Church and the Clocktower were effectively burned."

"The other mages didn't stick up for you?" She asked with a frown. Had Shirou not made any allies in his time there?

Shirou rolled his eyes at some memory. "One of the Lord's there was fond of me and might have tried, but the others probably didn't see any benefit in it. Magus' in general aren't exactly big on loyalty. And Rin was… unavailable." He shook his head at her questioning look. "Her… Teacher sent her somewhere, so she wasn't around. Another story." He said sadly.

The list of stories she'd have to get out of him was increasing rapidly it seemed.

"It wasn't as bad as it could be." Shirou said unconvincingly. She had no idea if he truly thought it was reassuring or not.

"It wasn't," he assured her, seeing her skeptical look. "I wasn't declared a Sealing Designee, so not many people in the Moonlit World really cared to hunt me down. It was mostly the various governments around the world."

"Ah yes, because they are so easy to avoid." She said while giving him a flat stare.

"Comparatively? Yes." Shirou said with a note of certainty in his voice. "The main difficulty was having nobody I could really turn to. So, with a rather impressive bounty on my head, I ended up going back to Fuyuki."

"And that's where Taiga comes in." Arturia concluded confidently.

Shirou nodded, letting loose an amused smile. "Taiga was… Upset. But apparently even before I arrived she had refused to believe anything the news was saying about me." A melancholic look came over him. "Even after everything that had happened between us. But when I met up with her, she tied me down and demanded answers. And… I told her the truth. About everything."

Some might have thought Shirou was exaggerating. But thinking back, Arturia could very much imagine the excitable woman going to the extreme of tying Shirou up.

Whether it was truly able to keep him down was another matter.

"In the end, I owed Taiga 'free meals for the rest of her life'." Shirou quoted with a nostalgic smile. "But in return, the Fujimura group outfitted me with a place and a new identity. With their help, I was able to still help others. And when Taiga eventually took over from her father, I supported her during the times I was laying low." Shirou gave a huff while shaking his head in slight disbelief. "Seeing her in a leadership position was just odd."

"It doesn't surprise me." Arturia returned with a knowing look. "Taiga always struck me as being surprisingly insightful when she desired. She simply enjoyed playing the part of the playful sister with you and Sakura."

She found herself extremely grateful to the exuberant woman. Loyalty like that was as valuable as it was rare.

Shirou couldn't resist a snort, giving Arturia a skeptical look. "Are you sure we're thinking of the same Taiga?" He asked wryly.

Arturia shrugged. "She got you to agree to make her free meals for life. I'd say that that's as good a sign as any that she's doing something right." She replied in complete seriousness.

Shirou rolled his eyes at that. "Ok, I still think you guys put too much stock into how good my cooking is."

"And you are, of course, allowed to believe that. Just so long as you continue cooking." Arturia 'graciously' allowed.

As somebody who had experienced it in many different ways, Arturia could say with absolute surety that army food did not taste good. It might be better than it used to be in Medieval times, but there was much to be desired.

Also, while she loved her father and would praise many of his skills, cooking was not one of them.

Shirou shook his head fondly. "I ended up dying before Taiga did." He continued, Bringing the conversation back again. "But by then, she had been the head of the Fujimura group for years, her position was pretty well solidified, and was well respected. Though she never married anybody to my knowledge. If their family history is accurate, Kunio is related to her through a cousin. I've done what I can to keep an eye out for him once I found out."

Arturia frowned at the mention of his death but let it slide. That was another bundle that they'd have to unpack at another time.

Instead of asking about that, Arturia gave him a smirk, "You know, there's a certain amount of irony here. Taiga managed to get free meals out of you, and now her descendents are giving you free meals."

The unexpected comment did its work in getting rid of the heavy atmosphere, and Shirou gave a bark of laughter. "Trust me, I've already thought of that." He let out a fond smile. "It's… odd, actually. I've shared recipes with Kunio, and some of the recipes he's shown me are family recipes that I once gave them years ago." He shook his head fondly. "He's a good man."

"I can tell." Arturia assured him. And she could - his respect for Shirou was also easy to see.

Arturia hummed before Shirou stood up, pulling her with him. "We should probably start getting ready so we can head out to meet Anderson." He said, and she sighed before nodding in acknowledgement.

Before they could separate to get ready, Arturia grabbed his hand, taking him by surprise as she pulled him to her, letting their foreheads touch.

Shining emerald met startled amber and kept their attention.

"I don't know what happened that caused the Church to let you go like they did," She murmured quietly, inserting as much conviction as she could in her words. "But whatever the case, they were fools to do so. Whatever it was that you did that makes you feel that guilt, I want you to know that I accept you."

Arturia had been the leader of armies and had had to deal with politicians at their worst. She could see that whatever it was that happened caused an intense amount of guilt within Shirou.

Shirou hesitated for a moment before relaxing in her arms. "You don't even know what happened." He murmured back.

"No," Arturia agreed. "However, I know you."

Shirou gave a sad smile, "A person can change." He replied.

"They can. But I've been with you long enough to know that you haven't." She replied firmly, holding on tightly. "Whatever it is that happened, you are a good man. And I refuse to believe otherwise. I'll tell you now, and when you feel ready to share your story with me I'll tell you again."

Shirou looked ready to argue the point, but Arturia glared at him until he backed down.

Good.

Arturia quickly pulled him in for a quick kiss before separating once more. "We need to hurry if we wish to avoid making Anderson suspicious." She declared before taking off for the room to get dressed, pleased that she could still fluster him as he stood there for a moment, red creeping onto his face.

Shirou had once helped her with her guilt, and now it was her turn to return the favor. Whatever had happened, she would not let it hurt him as she had once been hurt.

Shirou's POV

"… Whatever it was that you did, I want you to know that I accept you."

If anybody would understand how he felt, it would be his Saber. Yet a part of him still struggled.

Shirou had made his fair share of mistakes. Rin called him stubborn, but he wasn't so stubborn that he couldn't learn from them. But this wasn't even a mistake - not really.

Watching as millions died around him, without being able to help… Later, learning that even those he managed to save were killed for being 'witnesses'?

It wasn't a 'mistake' on his part. The decision was made by the higher ups in the Church, to preserve the secrecy of the Moonlit World. They had chosen him as a scapegoat not because of any perceived wrong, but out of convenience. After all, he was just a magus to them. Useful, but dispensable.

Yet that did nothing to stop the frustration and guilt. It had taken years before he was able to gain a modicum of acceptance, and it still bothered him.

He'd talk to Arturia eventually. Just… Not now. They had other things to worry about .

Like the Admiral that was currently pacing in the Ambassador's office.

Walking into the office, Shirou made note of the other people also there. The Ambassador himself of course, looking annoyed. But then, there were also the three others that had accompanied Arturia and him on Eden Prime. Chief Willams and Corporal Jenkins stood awkwardly, as if they weren't quite sure what they should be doing, while Lieutenant Alenko was at least confident enough to sit, even if he also looked uncomfortable.

He and Arturia had barely entered the offices when the entire room focused on them.

"Good. Now that you two are here, we can begin." Anderson greeted in a terse voice. "Between Myrrdin's email and your own, we have a decent grasp of the what happened -"

"Indeed. Congratulations on getting arrested not even a full day after arriving on the Citadel." Udina drawled from where he was typing at his desk. "While I'd like to say that it was a new record, I sadly cannot."

Anderson gave a brief glare towards Udina before looking at them once more. "However, Myrrdin's email was a bit… Lacking." He ignored Udina's snort at that. "What can you tell us about the attack?"

Shirou let Arturia take the lead in giving the report, only stepping in once or twice.

"Wait, you guys beat up an armed group with omniblades?" Jenkins interrupted, his voice incredulous and slightly disbelieving.

Shirou raised an eyebrow. "Yes?" He asked, confused.

"But that's… isn't that stuff kinda, you know, useless?" Jenkins asked, still in disbelief, though he grew a bit flustered when he realized everybody was looking at him. "I mean, c'mon, I'm not the only one that thinks that! You're literally bringing a knife to a gunfight!"

Shirou lifted his arm and activated his Omnitool. He hesitated for a moment as an idea came to him. Instead of creating a normal omniblade, he chose one of the custom models he made.

Within moments a dagger formed, runes carved across the blade, and he had to resist an pleased smile as Arturia stiffened in surprise.

Carnwennan. In legend, it was one of King Arthur's many weapons. A dagger that could cut through magic and conceal oneself from sight.

Not that it was actually one of Arturia's Noble Phantasms. It was actually far from it. But what was he, if not a Faker?

Usually an omnitool came with some fairly standard designs when creating tools. If one wanted to, they could even download a wide variety of other options from the extranet, but most simply downloaded the most efficient designs.

Or, there was the option to create and save your own design for the omnitool to make.

It had been curiosity at first. How close could he get his omnitool to create the arsenal of his soul? From there, it had turned into a hobby.

"So long as I have omnigel, I can create almost anything I need to." He patiently explained, hiding a smile at Arturia's reaction. "I wouldn't call superheated pieces of metal useless in a fight. And unlike a gun, I'm actually allowed to carry this around the station."

With enough imagination, anything could become a weapon. Some things were more naturally inclined to be dangerous than others.

"I mean, I guess not," Jenkins didn't look convinced, but didn't say anything else.

"Yes yes, two of the Alliance's top soldiers are actually decent at fighting, who'd have guessed." Udina snapped, causing Jenkins to blush in embarrassment. "Now, onto matters that are actually relevant - do you have any guesses as to who the assailant's were working for?"

"Maybe"/'We do not." Shirou and Arturia answered promptly. Arturia gave Shirou a look, but he was unrepentant.

"We don't have any proof." She stressed instead, and Shirou couldn't say much against that. "They were clearly waiting for us in particular though. They were a mix of Humans and Turians, and were decent combatants. However, they didn't speak or accuse us of anything, nor did they wear any type of uniform."

"They knew where we'd be." Shirou added thoughtfully, slipping the created knife into his pocket once it cooled off. "And were there long enough to prepare an ambush despite it being a last minute decision on our part. Which meant they were either following us or they had another method of surveillance. Clearly not something a normal gang would do."

"Yes, well, neither are their actions after being arrested." Udina huffed.

Both Arturia and Shirou looked at Udina in confusion till Anderson sighed. "We heard from the C-Sec just before you arrived." He supplied. "The men that attacked you committed suicide this morning."

"They what?" Arturia asked, aghast, a tone Shirou found himself echoing.

"Was it actually suicide? Or were they 'assisted'?" Shirou asked intently.

Committing suicide… It took a lot for somebody to make that decision. It wasn't an easy choice to make by any means. And how did all of them manage to slip weapons through to do it with? Shirou would find it more likely to believe that either C-Sec had a mole or that somebody snuck in to quiet them.

"Your guess is as good as ours." Anderson said tiredly, running a hand over his face. "They wouldn't tell us the 'how', only that 'they had' and that they would be opening an investigation."

"Hmph. They're keeping an annoyingly tight lid on it I'm afraid." Udina grumbled. "My contacts have told me that the deaths were deemed 'suspicious'. But they were unable to get anything else."

Anderson coughed, looking back towards Udina. "This has to be Saren. Is this enough for you to act? For this to occur not even a day after we accused him? That can't be a coincidence."

Udina rolled his eyes at Anderson, "Ah yes, let's go in front of the Council, again, and declare that their top agent is sending thugs to kill our people based on the mountain of evidence we have. Oh, wait. " He sneered at Anderson. "We have no evidence!"

"Saren represents an active threat against humanity," Anderson argued back. "Eden Prime showed that Saren was willing to act in an overt manner to get what was in that Beacon. The only reason Saren would try to take out the Commander's is because he thought they were a threat to his current plans. Are you going to wait until somebody dies before taking this seriously?"

"Of course not!" Udina snapped, "I may not be doing what you want me to, but I am doing what I can! And unless you can provide sufficient proof, I cannot bring this to the Council!"

Anderson clearly wanted to say something else, but bit it back as he looked back towards Shirou and Arturia.

"Until we figure out an appropriate response, I don't want either of you to take any chances. I want these three," he gestured towards Alenko, Jenkins, and Williams, "to accompany you while on the Citadel."

Shirou frowned. "You're giving us bodyguards?" He asked incredulously.

"I'm giving you backup." Anderson returned. "Until we get to the bottom of this, I don't want either of you to go anywhere alone."

Shirou and Arturia both nodded, though Shirou did his best to hide his disappointment.

It wasn't that he doubted their skill. All three handled themselves well enough while on Eden Prime. However, if they were going to be followed, then he and Arturia would have to pretend they had only recently met once more.

They talked a bit more, with Anderson and Udina asking for various details about the attack, followed with working out the logistics of having three others with them at all times. Eventually Anderson and Udina were satisfied, and the five of them were dismissed.

As they were leaving, Shirou moved next to Arturia and slipped the copy of Carnwennan into her pocket. She looked startled for a moment before giving him a look that was a mixture of reproach and amusement, but there was a light blush on her cheeks as her hand brushed up against where the knife now was.

Some girls liked flowers, others preferred different gifts. While he certainly wasn't opposed to giving Saber flowers, he figured she'd appreciate this more.

Though he should probably hold off for a bit. He'd only be able to get away with so much before the others caught on, and they'd probably wonder why he was happy after that meeting.

"Phew!" Jenkins practically sagged as they walked out of the offices. "That was kinda intense."

Alenko hummed in contemplation. "It was kinda odd. I don't know Udina all that well, but I've never seen Anderson like that."

"Saren is a touchy subject for him I'm afraid." Arturia said with a frown.

Williams snorted, "you think? I almost thought he was going to punch the Ambassador for a second."

Arturia cracked a small smile at that, "it wouldn't be the first time." She said with a hint of amusement. "Anderson is a great leader, but he's human as well, with his own frustrations and troubles he must deal with."

"Yeah, I guess that's true." Alenko nodded seriously. "And I'm sure you're just as mad about the whole Eden Prime thing as he is."

She looked at him seriously. "The death of many innocents would make anybody upset, I'm sure."

"Well, yeah, but also because you and, uh," Alenko hesitated as both Shirou and Arturia looked at him questioningly. "You know…"

Jenkins coughed, scratching his head awkwardly. "Yeah, so, do you guys really think that Spectre is sending goons after you? I mean, isn't that guy supposed to be a major anti-humanist? Why would he send humans after you?"

It was a rather forced change of subject, but while Shirou was curious as to what Alenko was alluding to, it wasn't a bad question.

"It's not uncommon for people to be a bit hypocritical when in pursuit of a goal." Shirou remarked dryly. "Especially when you're sending people to fight and die. He might even view it as poetic - getting humans to fight humans."

Williams let out a snort, "Yeah, that sounds 'bout right." She scowled. "So you do think that bastard is behind this as well then?"

Arturia shrugged. "There's a high chance of that." She admitted. "The odds of it being a random mugging are practically zero. However, without more evidence, it could be any number of other groups out there. Both of us have made our fair share of enemies I'm afraid ."

Well. Shirou personally thought the timing was way too coincidental for it to be anybody else. But Arturia wasn't wrong.

"And, what, we're just gonna wait for them to try again?" Jenkins asked, looking a tad frustrated at the prospect.

Now, Shirou hesitated.

He had noticed that Arturia hadn't mentioned their meeting with Kunio to either the Admiral or Ambassador. There was a tacit understanding that it was his secret, to keep or to share.

… It wasn't that he was against them knowing, he supposed.

Shirou had just developed a healthy amount of paranoia through his experiences, and while he wasn't as averse to communicating with people as most magus' were, the secrecy still rubbed off on him.

As it was, he didn't want for them to get their hopes up over something that might come to nothing. But if they were going to be accompanied…

"Not quite." Shirou answered Jenkins.

Well, Kunio always did appreciate more business.

"I hope you guys don't have any plans for lunch."

"You know, I always thought an info broker's place would be, I don't know… Different." Williams noted quietly as they sat down at a table.

"Oh yeah?" Alenko asked curiously as he sat next to Shirou. "How so?"

Williams looked around the brightly lit area with a contemplative look. "Eh, I don't know. Maybe a bit grungier, darker, maybe a bunch of computers."

They jumped as Kunio burst into laughter behind them, the large man moving surprisingly quietly while cleaning a plate.

"You've been watching too many movies, Lass," he chortled, "that sounds as uncomfortable as you get! Not to mention unsanitary."

"Ah, sorry - "

"And why wouldn't my place be clean?" Kunio barreled on, setting the place down and placing his hands on his hips in faux offense. "I run a respectable diner here! I got recipes going back generation after generation. My ancestors would think poorly of me were I to cook in unsanitary conditions."

"That makes sense -"

"Besides, I'm not doing anything illegal. Nothin' wrong with keepin' yourself informed and knowin' shit. Gotta keep your ear to the ground just in case, you know?"

"Of course -"

"But if you think that the only reason people come in here is because of that, you got another thing comin'! I take great pride in my food, ya hear?"

"Yes -"

Shirou listened with some amusement at the back and forth as the large man bulldozed over every attempt. "Alright, that's enough hazing Kunio."

With a final chuckle, Kunio clapped his hands together. "Ah, you guys are alright. But I'll be honest, wasn't expecting a group today."

Shirou gave a shrug, "They're companions of ours." He said simply, not wanting to explain why they had bodyguards.

And yes, despite what Anderson said, they were totally bodyguards.

"Well, any friends of yours are friends of mine." Kunio said cheerfully before giving a frown. "But I'm afraid that the person that wanted to speak with ya is only expecting you two. They're in the back waitin' right now, but the others will halfta wait out here."

"Alright." Shirou nodded, having already expected that, and he and Arturia stood up.

"Wait a moment," Williams held a hand up and looked at Kunio for a moment. "Can we have a quick second?"

The moment he walked away she turned back to them. "You sure about this? Anderson just ordered us to hang out with you guys because there's some group that's trying to kill one of you. And now you want us to stay behind while you meet with some mystery man?"

"It will only be for a little while." Shirou assured her. "And Kunio is right - the informant wasn't exactly expecting a crowd."

He thought about just pulling rank when she appeared unconvinced, but if they were going to be following them then it wouldn't exactly have been the best of moves.

"Here." Shirou quickly synced up their omnitools. "If anything happens, you guys can come running."

Williams frowned, but finally relaxed back into her seat. "Fine."

"Hey, I'm sure it'll be fine." Jenkins assured her. "These two already took out an ambush. I'm sure they can handle another."

"And if they don't, it's our ass in the fire." Williams retorted sourly.

Arturia rolled her eyes. "Anderson's not that bad." She protested lightly before turning to Shirou. "Shall we go?"

As the two of them walked into the back rooms, Shirou couldn't help but think that the others would have been much more reluctant to let him and Arturia out of their sights had they known the 'mysterious individual' was a Turian.

Garrus' POV

Garrus Vakarian looked at the two humans in surprise as they walked into the room he was waiting in.

Having been in charge of the Saren investigation, however short-lived it had been, it would have been criminal levels of neglect to not recognize these two.

Commander's Emiya and Pendragon. Alliance military, highly decorated. A small stream of information came from his visor, but he discarded that with a blink.

It was a surprise, but it probably shouldn't have been. After all, It made sense that the ones that would be looking at Saren were the ones screwed over by him.

This… This was actually a lot better than he was expecting. Far more than simply sharing information, these two would have contacts and positions that gave them far more leeway than what a C-Sec officer had!

Spirits, after days of going at this all by himself, constantly hitting dead ends and being brushed aside by fellow officers and superiors alike, support like this would be amazing.

Garrus gave a chuff as he stood up. "Wasn't expecting Mr. Fujimaru to hook me up with two people so high up." He remarked wryly, hiding his excitement before extending his hand in a typical human greeting. "Officer Vakarian. It's a pleasure to meet you."

They both shook his hand. "Commander Emiya," the male introduced. "And this is Commander Pendragon." The female gave a nod. "Though it sounds like you already knew that. C-Sec?"

"Right on the money." Garrus admitted. "Currently an investigator."

Emiya nodded thoughtfully. "And what's C-Sec's interest in Saren?"

He let out a scoff. "C-Sec isn't interested in Saren." Which was exactly the problem. "However, I was in charge of the Saren investigation when it first came through. That's why I'm here. I was hoping to talk to somebody that was actually interested.

That got both of their attention. "I take it that there wasn't enough evidence if they closed the case?" Pendragon spoke up, her tone slightly exasperated..

Garrus shot the woman a look, but she just shrugged. "It would make the most sense. I mean no offense, but as a member of C-Sec investigating a Spectre, I would be quite surprised if you had the authority to access anything truly incriminating."

… Ok, yes, she was right, but it was frustrating to have it pointed out so blatantly.

"I was able to find a few things." Garrus defended before deflating at how pathetic that claim sounded. "But, you're not wrong. Saren's been a Spectre for over twenty years, and rumor has it that he's saved each of the Councilor's lives a time or two. Put it all together, it means anything related to him is locked up tighter than a Volus' purse strings. Saren was supposedly on a mission at the time, but looking at what details I'm allowed… The whole thing feels wrong. Like you're staring at a picture that's just slightly off."

"And your superiors didn't agree?" Emiya guessed.

"I couldn't find any proof," Garrus grumbled, fists clenching at the memory. "If I just had a little more time… But no, once my superiors discovered I had no evidence they ordered the investigation closed."

Emiya gave a curious look, "And yet you're here?" He prompted.

Garrus couldn't resist a smirk.

Turians had a reputation for being sticklers of the rules and hierarchy. But then, he had always been a bit of a rebel in that regard.

"Something about this whole deal feels rotten, and I can't just let it go." Garrus replied confidently. "First with the destruction of Eden Prime and all that death, but then he's gone and allied himself with Geth to do it. Yet the moment I feel like I'm getting anywhere, I get stonewalled?" He shook his head. "I don't know what he's up to, but if I have a chance to figure it out, I'm going to take it."

If Garrus was reading human expressions right, then that was approval that Emiya was showing.

"So what is your plan?" Pendragon asked. "If you were hoping to learn more about Saren from us, I'm afraid we can't offer much."

"Anything at all would be useful." Garrus leaned forward. "My plan was to get enough information to establish reasonable doubt. A lot of people in C-Sec dislike Spectre's for the free reign they're given, Executor Pallin included. If I can just find something, then I can get them to throw in their own support, which could force the Council to act."

Pendragon hummed contemplatively. "I assume you've read our reports regarding Eden Prime?"

"Naturally." Garrus confirmed. "Poor luck that the only one to see Saren there was a criminal. Not the most reliable of witnesses. But, I suppose we should consider it lucky anybody saw."

Pendragon shook her head. "Then I'm not sure our input can be of help then. By the time we reached Nihlus, Saren would have been long gone."

"We have some footage from Eden Prime." Emiya brought up. "However, it's all been corrupted by the geth."

Garrus grimaced. "Yeah, C-Sec got sent copies as well. Our technicians spent hours on it without any effect. Maybe if we had a Quarian engineer - and a good one at that - they could clear up whatever the Geth did to the footage. But that's a bit of a long shot."

Not to mention finding a quarian engineer was harder than you'd think.

"Has there been any incidents with Prothean relics lately?" Emiya asked thoughtfully. "We don't know why Saren was after the Beacon, but this might not have been the first time."

"Good thought." Garrus acknowledged. "But unearthing Prothean tech doesn't happen all that often. And I can guarantee that there wasn't a Geth incursion the last time."

Even though he was shooting down their ideas, it was so refreshing, being able to bounce ideas back and forth.

Pendragon and Emiya shared a glance and seemed to communicate something with their gaze before turning back to him. "What about the attack yesterday?" Emiya asked.

Garrus blinked. "There was an attack?" He asked blankly.

"An ambush." Emiya confirmed. "C-Sec arrested the perpetrators, but we heard that they actually committed suicide this morning."

Garrus spent a few moments grappling with that information.

Why wasn't he informed of this?! Surely this would count as a connection to his case!

Unless…

Garrus scowled.

Unless Executor Pallin was purposefully witholding this from Garrus specifically because he thought Garrus was getting too obsessive.

"Ok." Garrus breathed out heavily. "That's a new one. I can work on that. Even if they committed suicide, I can still push to figure out where they worked, what they were doing before."

"Is there anything else we can do to assist?" Emiya asked intently.

Garrus hesitated for a moment, "Not at the moment, but let's exchange commlink numbers. I'll keep you updated on my progress, and if you could pass me any information that you find on Saren, that would be appreciated. Especially anything that Admiral Anderson knows."

Pendragon looked at him with curiosity. "You know the Admiral?" She asked.

Garrus chuckled. "You hear a thing or two if you work at C-Sec long enough." He smirked. "Anderson's dislike of Saren is rather well known I'm afraid."

They talked a little bit more, to work out a few details, but overall Garrus felt overjoyed at the sudden progress.

Shirou's POV

"I don't like it." Williams scowled, stabbing her steak viciously. "You guys are attacked - an attack we assume was orchestrated by the same Turian Spectre that destroyed Eden Prime - and just a day later you guys find a Turian that claims he wants to help you? Anybody else find that a little suspicious?"

"According to Kunio, he was looking for information on Saren well before that." Shirou pointed out as he took a bite out of his own meal.

He and Arturia had finalized everything with Vakarian, exchanging numbers so they could communicate when necessary.

The C-Sec officer had gone back to the station to look into the suicides. Meanwhile, the two of them went back to their bodyguards to brief them on what they learned.

Reactions had been mixed.

"So maybe he's playing the long game?" Williams looked at them in frustration. "I'm sorry sirs, if you ask me to follow, I will. But why would he stick his neck out for us like this?"

Shirou shrugged. "Maybe he's somebody that's just trying to do the right thing." He suggested.

"Yeah, but there's doing the right thing, and then going up against both your countrymen and leaders when they tell you to stop." She returned, looking frustrated.

Was there? "Try changing the script a little." Shirou suggested. "If a human destroyed a Turian colony, wouldn't you want to do what you could to bring him down?"

Shirou actually sympathized a surprising amount with Vakarian after hearing his frustration. It was a feeling Shirou knew quite well.

If he had become a cop, as was his intentions before the Holy Grail War, would that have been him?

… Minus the galactic repercussions at least.

Williams glared at her food for several seconds before sighing, "Ok, fine, I'd do exactly what he's doing." She muttered.

"Besides, what makes you think we'll be trusting him implicitly?" Arturia cut in, giving each of them a look. "Right now, he is a potential asset. One we didn't have previously. However, it would be foolish to rely on him without knowing him. We'll be doing our own footwork."

"Oh!" Jenkins brightened and leaned forward. "So you have some other stuff for us to look into?" He asked eagerly.

Ah. To be young again. Shirou had to stifle a laugh, as he knew what was coming.

"We do." Arturia brought out her omnitool and started sending them files. "We met with Kunio yesterday, and he gave us everything he could find on Saren and his career. I've split up the files as best as I could, but it'll be our task to make our way through these and see if there's anything useful we can find."

Jenkin's face was almost comical as his expression fell at the sheer amount of information that was sent his way.

Twenty years of highly decorated service made for a considerable amount of reading material. Even if most of it was officially sealed, Kunio had included newspapers, blogs, even social media messages around the areas or events that Saren had been suspected to be at.

Arturia gave an amused smile at their expressions, and Shirou couldn't help but be struck once more at how beautiful that simple expression made her.

"Welcome to the world of reports and paperwork." Arturia informed the three soldiers, unaware of Shirou's attention. "I'm afraid it only gets worse from here."

That evening

Shirou rubbed his eyes tiredly and immediately went for the kitchen the moment they walked into Merlin's apartment. He needed some form of relaxation after all that.

The others had gone to their own apartments nearby, so he and Arturia were alone once more.

They'd probably have to look into getting an apartment for themselves. While this place was convenient, and the kitchen was suspiciously well stocked, being under the same roof as The Merlin was rather nerve wracking.

"You seemed way more familiar with reports than I would have expected." He glanced over at Arturia who seemed none the worse for how many files they had all gone through. "I refuse to believe that they had you on a desk job the last couple years."

Shirou honestly didn't mind doing the legwork. But it still surprised him how he was being outpaced by Arturia.

Arturia rolled her eyes. "A king that can only fight is a rather poor excuse of a king." She said dryly. "Before I was king, I had to read troop reports and enemy placements. After I was crowned, tax reports and trade agreements were added to the pile. Then there were the reports from Agravain." she shook her head. "I had retainers to assist in the compiling and filtering, but it was still considerable. This was nothing."

Shirou's response was cut off as his omnitool alerted him to a message. Seeing it was from Vakarian, he quickly glanced through it.

"Vakarian says that he managed to trace the thugs that attacked us." He relayed to Arturia. "Says they were last seen employed by a crime lord in the Wards named Fist."

Arturia moved next to him and leaned against him, closing her eyes in thought. "I don't recall reading about a Fist in Saren's files." She mused.

"I think it was in one of the ones I looked at." Shirou hesitated, but after a moment he put his arm around her waist, pulling her slightly closer. "It wasn't much. Just a picture and small description of Saren and Fist walking into a building together a couple years ago. The only notable thing about it was Fist's position and the fact he was a human, considering Saren's stance on humans."

"Hmmm, so we have a connection, but it's distant." Arturia noted with a frown.

"It's more than what we had before." Shirou pointed out. "And even if it's not related to Saren, we at least know it has something to do with this Fist."

"That's true." Arturia acknowledged, and he nearly jumped when he felt her lay her head on his shoulder.

They spent the next few moments side by side, arms around each other, and Shirou found himself debating on which was better - to keep this contact or to start cooking. Both apparently did wonders for his stress levels.

In the end, cooking won out. He didn't want to risk a hungry Saber.

With a feeling of disappointment, Shirou separated from Arturia and began to gather the various utensils, while Arturia sat at the bar and started going through more files.

He was just about ready to start when a note floated out of one of the mixing bowls.

… Really?

Shirou sighed as he read the contents.

'Got called for business at Arcturus Station, will likely last the week, so feel free to use the apartment. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!

-Your Benevolent Benefactor, Merlin!

P.S. Don't wreck the beds too much!

P.P.S Oh, and don't worry about bugs - I've already moved all of Tim's, and he's not scheduled to try again for a couple weeks.'

"Dare I ask who 'Tim' is?" Arturia murmured as she read the note over his shoulder.

Shirou shrugged. "I'm not sure. But I think I'll be doing my own sweep of bugs." Mentally adding it to his todo list.

"Hmmm, good call." Arturia said, her expression completely serious.

Merlin said he only moved 'Tim's' bugs. That didn't mean there weren't others.

Merlin might not do anything that would harm Arturia, but he would definitely do something if he thought it was funny enough.

He sighed and decided to not worry about it for now. "How long do you think it will take to find a lead?"

Arturia tapped Merlin's note several times, her face a picture of annoyance.

"If I know Merlin?" She asked with a huff. "We'll have about a week."

Their answer came six days later, as a message from Vakarian came.

Arturia's POV, six days later

'Dr. Chloe Michel, Ward clinic. In danger.'

Arturia found herself growling internally as she pushed the vehicle as fast as she could.

They had been in communication with the Turian all week, and he'd been keeping them abreast of his progress. Most recently, he had found a series of more solid connections between Fist and Saren, and that Fist was acting as a set of eyes and ears for Saren on the Citadel.

And then that morning he'd sent that message.

Arturia could understand the necessity of keeping a message brief. But it would have been greatly appreciated had he included what sort of danger he was referring to.

Was he in danger? The 'doctor'? Was the doctor the danger?

"Take a right here." Shirou instructed her from the passenger side, a few wires connecting to the internals of the car from where he'd disabled all of the safety features. Thus, allowing her to go as fast as she needed. "Unless there's an unregistered Dr. Michel, we should be there in two minutes."

"Good." She acknowledged before glancing in the back. "Remember, no shooting unless they shoot you first. Kaiden and I will be in the front with our shields up. Emiya, Williams, and Jenkins will use the car as cover just in case. We don't know what the situation is, so I expect everybody to play it safe."

"You're the boss," Williams shrugged, though her shoulders were clearly tense, with her hand brushing up against her gun. "Though I want you to know that if I die because you didn't want us to wear armor, I fully intend to haunt you."

"You won't, but feel free. You know we didn't have time." Arturia shot back.

It was true, none of them were wearing armor. Instead, each was in their usual casual clothes.

All of their armor was back at the Normandy, and judging by the urgency of Garrus' message there was no way they had time to go all the way there and equip themselves. They were lucky they had pistols on hand.

Shirou suddenly perked up. "Vakarian, can you hear me?" He demanded, fingers flying over his omnitool. "I have you pinned at the clinic. What's the situation?"

"Emiya," Garrus' voice came over the comms as Shirou patched him through, sounding out of breath. "Seven thugs, lightly armed, one techie and no sign of biotics. They're here to kill Dr. Michel. I was able to call and warn her to lock her doors, and I've informed C-Sec, but haven't heard back."

Arturia frowned as she went through the information. "Current positions?" She asked.

"Two outside. Five inside. Took a hot second for them to break down the front door, so we have a bit of time before they make it to her."

Ok. They could work with that.

"I've got an eye on them, but I can't do anything without starting a large firefight. What's your - ah, there you are."

They sped around one last corner and came to a sudden halt in front of the clinic itself. She and Shirou were out almost before the vehicle was stopped, though Shirou remained by the car.

He was frowning at the building, and she could see the telltale glow of his omnitool creating something.

Arturia wasn't too concerned for herself. She had her biotics, and she highly doubted these men would have anything strong enough to make it through her before they were taken out. In addition, she had the copy of Carnwennan that Shirou had made the week prior.

Her heart warmed slightly as she felt the weight of it, ready to be taken out. It might only be a replica, with none of Carnwennan's abilities, but its presence was oddly nostalgic. It had been so many years since she had had her weapons with her after all.

"Hey!" What was obviously one of the thugs Garrus warned them about gave a shout. "The clinic's closed. Try again tomorrow."

Arturia gave him and the other man a brief once over. Neither was very impressive, but she could see weapons underneath their clothes.

It would be so much easier if they could just fight their way through. With Shirou at her side, three Alliance soldiers at their back, and Garrus providing support, she was rather confident in taking them without even killing them.

Alas, it wasn't that easy.

It would hardly benefit anybody if they were all arrested for 'aggravated assault', or something of that nature. Which is what would happen, regardless of intentions. They had no authority on the Citadel, nor did they have any actual proof of wrongdoing besides what Garrus had informed them of.

Arturia would still do it if it meant the difference between somebody living or dying, but thankfully they had another option.

"You there!" Arturia ordered, letting her prior irritation bleed through. "Let me speak to your leader!"

Charisma: B

Both thugs seemed startled and looked at each other, suddenly uncertain at the unexpected demand.

"Uh, the doctor isn't -"

"I didn't say I wanted to speak to the doctor. I wanted to speak to your leader". Arturia corrected coldly. "One of the men currently in that building."

"What are you doing?" Garrus hissed over the comms.

The thugs hesitated once more before one of them went inside.

The remaining thug stood awkwardly in front of them, clearly feeling the difference in numbers. To his obvious relief, a third man walked out with a scowl.

"What do you guys want?" The man bit out. "Didn't you hear? Place is closed."

Arturia kept her gaze unimpressed. "You work for Fist, is that correct?"

The man's eyes narrowed, and heads could be seen peeking out of the windows to the clinic. "What's it to you?"

"I'm here to offer you an ultimatum." She declared, as she suddenly shrouded herself in biotics, her eyes shining with power. Beside her, she could see Alenko following her lead. "You can either surrender, or you can die."

Sometimes, a bold approach worked wonders. A tactic she had used many times in her life.

This was a risk, she would admit. Biotic barriers were good, but enough bullets (or a strong enough one) could make it through.

But she was banking on the fact that this was a group sent to kill a civilian doctor, not meant to combat a serious threat.

The truth was, most people didn't like getting hurt. Those that enjoyed fighting (usually) didn't want to die.

These men were, in simplified terms, a singular force in 'hostile' territory. While they might have a somewhat defensible position, they were suddenly up against an unknown superior force. A force that had the potential for reinforcements in the form of C-Sec.

They were at a serious disadvantage. And they knew it.

His eyes widened in panic, and he was about to reach for his weapon when she cut him off. "If you take out that weapon, we will fight." She warned.

Fighting against biotics was really quite scary. Unless you caught them unaware, they had both offensive and defensive capabilities that you couldn't easily disarm. And right now, these men were facing at least two of them.

The man grimaced. "Confident of ya to assume you'll come out on top of that fight." He bluffed, trying to make a subtle gesture with his hand that had clicks of guns being readied inside the building.

"I am." Arturia said simply, a statement not meant for just their leader, but them all.

People were not nameless puppets. Each was an individual with their own reasons for following. And there came a point where they would question if what they were being asked to do was worth it.

Even if - by some miracle - they won, not all of them would make it out alive. And they knew it.

"How long till C-Sec shows up?" She asked with a lilt of curiosity. "As of right now, you have 'breaking and entering'. Do you wish to add more? "

"Ah, I see what you're doing," Garrus mumbled. "Here, tell them that Fist has betrayed the Shadow Broker. His days are already numbered."

Shadow Broker?

Arturia had never heard that particular title before.

"Fist has betrayed the Shadow Broker." She declared, watching as the information clearly meant something to them. "Do you truly wish to associate yourself with him? Surrender, and I promise you will be treated fairly. Fight, and I cannot guarantee your life."

Now there was open muttering between the men. Something the leader realized, as his scowl increased, his eyes darting back and forth between the group.

She saw it in his eyes before he did anything, and she frowned as he snatched his weapon.

"Kill them - gurk!"

Before he could say anything further, he was clubbed over the head and restrained by two other thugs. He resisted furiously, but was unable to get out.

One of the men looked at Arturia nervously. "That offer's still open, uh, right?"

"T-thank you so much for s-saving me." Dr. Michel stammered out, clearly shaken from the experience.

Garrus' warning had come just in time, and she had been able to lockdown the clinic and hide. Her clinic wasn't very large, nor did it have the best security, but it managed to buy her enough time for help to reach her.

They had the thugs currently tied up in another room until C-Sec arrived.

"I was staking out Chora's Den when these guys came out." Garrus explained. "I overheard what they were planning, and immediately called for reinforcements. When nobody had C-Sec responded, I sent a message to you guys and the doctor and raced here as fast as I could."

"So why would Fist want you dead?" Arturia asked, turning to the doctor with a frown.

"I… I don't know." Dr. Michel stammered with a confused look. "I hardly have any interaction with the man. Yesterday was technically the last one I had, and I helped arrange a meeting for a quarian that had information for the Shadow Broker."

"What was the information?" Garrus asked, leaning against the counter.

Dr. Michel hesitated for a moment, "The Quarian girl, she said her name was Tali, she was being chased. She came to my clinic because she had been wounded. Said she found some incriminating information about a Spectre. She just wanted to get the information out there. If it was no longer her that had it, then there would be no reason for them to keep on chasing her, see? I knew that Fist worked for the Shadow Broker, so I recommended that she sell it to him."

"Tarc," Garrus swore angrily, "Fist is working for Saren! If that girl had something worthwhile, he was probably worried she had told you something."

"Where is the girl now?" Arturia demanded a suddenly pale Dr. Michel.

I-I don't know." She whispered, "I just gave her Fist's information. I wasn't even sure she had called, she had already left by that point."

"Then that means we need to figure out where that girl is." Garrus declared. "Right now, she's in more danger than you were."

"Then we need to go after Fist directly." Shirou proposed. "Figure out if he set up a meeting, and if so, where it is."

"I hate to rain on everybody's parade here," Alenko suddenly spoke up, looking apologetic. "But there's a good chance that this 'meeting' already happened and the girl is dead."

"She might be. But we don't know that." Shirou said firmly. "Until we find evidence otherwise, we'll treat it as if she is alive. Understood?"

Alenko pursed his lips but nodded. "Yes sir."

"Which brings us to our next problem." Garrus grumbled. "Any information like that is either only known by Fist, or on his personal computer. Which is in his office. Fist himself is surrounded by bodyguards at all times, which means his office is well defended. How do you intend to get in there? A full frontal assault?"

He sounded way too eager for that option…

"That's not necessary." Shirou was suddenly typing on his omnitool, an intense look on his face. "Vakarian, C-Sec should be here any moment. Emphasize to them that these were Fist's men. It won't be enough to arrest him, but it should be enough for them to bring Fist in for questioning. Now until then…" Shirou shook his head and gave a sigh, "What can you tell me about a Krogan named Wrex Urdnot?"

Shirou's POV

"I don't like this."

Shirou shifted his glance from the program he was tweaking to Alenko. "What about it?" He prompted.

Alenko groaned, putting his head in his hands. "Look, I get that saving the quarian is important. I understand, trust me. But you're about to sneak into a criminal syndicate's office, by yourself, just to find the information."

Shirou nodded absently as he tweaked a few more lines of code. "Sounds about right." He agreed absently.

It wasn't like he hadn't done it before.

The other man stared at him for a few seconds, clearly waiting for more of a response, before sighing. "And it doesn't bother you that your first idea involves crime as opposed to leaving it to C-Sec?"

Shirou paused for a moment. Should it?

"Garrus is going to C-Sec with Dr. Michel as a witness." He answers instead. "If they find her first, then that would be ideal. But in case they don't, we're doing it another way."

Alenko rubbed his forehead with one hand. "A method that is dependent on a Krogan Mercenary?" He asked dryly.

They were interrupted by a deep chuckle.

"I thought I heard my ears burning." Wrex Urdnot lumbered into view, just as intimidating as he had been the previous week. "You know, when I said to call me for a drink sometime, this wasn't quite what I had in mind."

Shirou raised an eyebrow at the approaching Krogan. "Are you complaining?"

Wrex smirked, "To get paid to have a good time? Can't say I am. But it is rather sudden."

The Krogan sat down across from them, looking over the ledge. They were currently on one of the upper levels of the Wards, and the entrance to Chora's Den seen way off in the distance.

"So let me get this straight." Wrex sat across them and leaned forward a bit. "Your message said you wanted me to create a commotion in Chora's Den. Get everybody's attention and keep it for as long as I can. Easy enough." Red eyes narrowed on Shirou. "Why?"

"Because I'm willing to pay you to do this." Shirou responded immediately.

Honestly, this was hardly an ideal situation. But they were low on options and they needed to get in there now if they were going to save the Quarian girl. If that only cost some credits to make that happen, Shirou would consider that a bargain.

Wrex grunted, "And you ain't afraid I'll go off and tell on you?"

"No." Shirou responded confidently. "First, you're a professional. Second, you don't like C-Sec. But third and most important, I know you don't like Fist."

It was a lot to go off of, basing this solely on an encounter that he witnessed in front of C-Sec a week prior and what Garrus could tell him. But what mattered is that Fist's men knew and would recognize Wrex.

While the Krogan was in there, all eyes would be on him.

"Heh." Wrex looked amused. "That I am. And nope, I don't. But you're not exactly right. Fist, the little idiot, he's got delusions of being bigger than he is, but he ain't worth getting riled up about. That bein' said, he's an idiot with a decent bounty on his head."

"He's not there right now." Shirou shrugged, having expected something like that. "He's currently at C-Sec for questioning, so there won't be any conflict with your other contract. That's also why we have to do this now."

Wrex frowned and let out a grunt. "Is he?" He sounded disappointed before leaning back and studied Shirou for a moment. "Alright, so what's Fist got in there that one of the Alliance's golden boys wants so badly?"

Golden boy?

Shirou knew a number of superior officers that would disagree with that thought.

"That's my business." Shirou deflected. He was willing to hire Wrex to make this happen, but he didn't know the other near enough to talk about his goals.

Wrex gave a knowing smirk, causing Shirou to frown. "Yeah, it is your business. And I'm making it mine. That, or I take my business elsewhere."

"I'm willing to pay -"

"I don't care about the pay." Wrex interrupted with a wave of his hand. "You got my curiosity all riled up. I'll take the job, but I wanna know the whole story."

Shirou hesitated for a bit. He could do this without Wrex - but the Krogan was the most convenient and fastest way.

Well, it wasn't like Wrex would be able to do anything with the information.

"Fist arranged a meeting with a Quarian." Shirou eventually admitted. "She has information that Fist doesn't want to get out, so he wants her dead. We need to figure out where and when he told her to meet him."

"Oh?" Wrex perked up, looking intrigued as he leaned forward. "What information is that?"

This time, Shirou gave a small smirk. "Help us out and I'll tell you."

By the time they learned what information Tali knew it wouldn't be a problem for others to know, so that was an easy promise to give.

Wrex stared at him for a while longer before barking out a laugh. "Fair enough. I'll be expecting that information later this evenin' then boys, 'cause you've got your distraction."

Wrex's POV

There was a bit of an art to starting a good barroom brawl, especially in a place like Chora's Den. The place might be complete drek, but it was drek that knew what they were doing. Go at it all half-assed and even the stupidest bouncer would be all over your hump before you got the fun really started.

It's a good thing Wrex considered himself a bit of an artist then.

Emiya probably expected him to go it alone. Maybe just cause a bit of a scene. But that? That just sounded boring. So he called in a few hot-blooded young ones he knew to spice things up a bit.

He sent them in just a bit ahead of him to avoid suspicion.

Walking in, Wrex couldn't help but smirk as the bartender immediately moved his hand under the bar with a look of panic. (Weapon or a button? Eh, didn't matter). The rest of the bouncers (totally not thugs) focused on him. Heh.

"Wrex," the bartender stated cautiously as the Krogan walked up to him, "You have no business here. Fist has already told you he has no intention of meeting you."

Wrex gave him a grin full of teeth, not bothering to hold back a snicker when the man paled and let out a gulp. "Relax, I ain't here for Fist." He threw some credits on the bar, "Gimme a bottle of your best Ryncol."

He almost laughed at the look of confusion on the bartender's face. He could feel the eyes on him as he moved to a booth. No doubt they thought he was gonna wait it out or something, but didn't want to make a fuss until he did. Pansies.

Ironically enough he wasn't lying.

It was a real shame Fist wasn't around. At this point, he wasn't sure if he was invested enough to get this particular bounty.

Wrex knew he could have killed Fist by now - He had thought up a dozen plans just the other day alone - but he hadn't gotten as old as he had by being stupid.

The trick wasn't in the killing, it was getting away with it without his mug being thrown up all over the Citadel as a murderer.

Granted, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if he had to be a fugitive in Citadel space, but it wasn't something he was willing to do on a whim, especially for someone like Fist.

If he ever did it, it would be for something big. Something with some sort of significance to it. It wouldn't be for a minor crime lord with delusions of grandeur.

He just took the job because he was bored. He was essentially waiting for a good chance to knock him off without being instantly pinned by C-Sec.

But now he had another, more fun, job to work on.

Wrex ignored all the eyes on him as he took a discrete glance around.

Shame there wasn't much to work with…

Chora's Den was pretty much one large room. A circular bar in the middle, booths around the perimeter. Plenty of patrons, but far enough away from each other it would be difficult to get things to escalate.

He hummed to himself as he drank and looked at his potential targets. Besides the boys he brought over, there wasn't much.

Wasted C-Sec officer at the bar was no threat. Asari dancers were at every other table, and he wouldn't be surprised if they doubled as security. They'd probably put up a fiery fight. Couple humans here and there, a group of Turians in one booth that looked promising, another Krogan in the corner that would probably join if the fighting got good…

Wrex saw a lone figure at one table and his face split into a grin. He stood up (he snickered as every thug visibly tensed) and made his way over with his drink.

The best kinda fight is one where you can legit say, 'the other guy started it.'

"Huh, what do we have here?" Wrex drawled as he sat down heavily, ignoring the glare sent his way. "What's a Turian General doing in a third rate dive like this, lookin' like his sweetheart left him?"

Shirou's POV

Shirou and Alenko had claimed a table nearby a door guarded by a bouncer. Shirou had already connected his omnitool to the club network, and both were currently watching how everybody's attention was on the Krogan.

"You think he'll actually get everybody's attention?" Kaiden asked dubiously. "I get he's a Krogan, but there's still only one of him."

Shirou was about to answer when suddenly the Turian let out an angry shout and punched Wrex in the face.

For an instant, everything seemed to freeze… And then all heck broke loose.

Wrex, with a terrifying grin on his face, immediately reached out and grabbed Turian, pulling him across the table, and threw him at a table of other Turians.

The Turians sprung up and charged Wrex, who gave a bellowing laugh, which was then answered by a nearby table of Krogan. A couple of Asari dancers tried to separate them, and the bouncers sprung into action.

Within moments, the entire club was thrown into chaos.

Shirou immediately brought out his omnitool and activated a virus he had been tweaking. Soon, the cameras and lights went on the fritz, turning the entire fight into a rave-like scene.

Following that, several more people burst out of the door to the back rooms and attempted to stop the fight. Shirou took that as his cue.

With the fight, nobody paid him the slightest bit of attention as he quickly made his way to the door and slipped through.

Only to come face to face with another thug.

Naturally.

The thug looked at him in surprise, and the moment he opened his mouth to shout, Shirou punched him in the throat.

The guy gasped, eyes bulging, and before he could react Shirou created a small club with his omnitool and slammed it over the back of the man's head, knocking him out.

Shirou let out a huff and quickly grabbed the man and shoved him into a closet before moving on.

Well, if his bad luck was going to strike this early, then it was less likely to strike later, right?

Besides that little mishap, the hallways were empty, and Shirou sped past what looked like a couple storerooms before coming across a security room. In there, there was a man that was desperately trying to fix the virus Shirou had sent into the system.

One well-placed blow from behind, and the man was out like a light.

It wasn't hard to find Fist's office from there. A couple turrets were in front of it, but neither were currently on. Which made sense - you didn't want your defenses to attack our own men. Had this been a frontal assault, then Fist would have activated all of the defenses beforehand.

Him being gone made things much easier.

A little bit of hacking later, and Shirou was in.

With experience borne from doing this sort of thing hundreds of times in the past, Shirou ignored everything else in the office and went to the computer, hooking his omnitool into it and activating a program.

The computer itself wasn't on the network. Otherwise, Shirou would have attempted to remotely hack into it. But using his own omnitool as a middleman…

Once it started downloading, the program began transferring everything found from his omnitool to another.

Jenkins would be able to filter what they were looking for. Shirou's job was just to infiltrate and send the information.

He couldn't risk spending too much time here, but while he was waiting for the download Shirou quickly searched the room for anything else of potential value. He couldn't trust that Fist had all his information on his computer.

One hasty search later, and the only thing he found was a data pad under the desk (which he hacked and downloaded) and some paper reports in one of the drawers. To be on the safe side, he took pictures of them as well.

Shirou had to admit, he was a little disappointed that he hadn't found anything behind the paintings.

But the moment his program was finished with the computer, Shirou disconnected it and rushed out.

Thankfully the bar fight was still going strong. Fueled by alcohol, rivalries, and racial pride. Between that and the flashing lights, Shirou was reasonably certain nobody saw him, so he made his way to the table that Kaiden was using as a shield.

"Did you get it?" Kaiden shouted, throwing up a barrier to deflect a chair.

"Yes!" Shirou shouted back. "Now let's get out of here before - "

The door burst open, and C-Sec suddenly swarmed into the building with lots of shouting.

Shirou grimaced. "Before that happens." He muttered.

Dang it. He knew he was pushing his it with how long he was taking.

Still, even as C-Sec rounded everybody up, Shirou wasn't worried.

It was up to Arturia now. And there was nobody he trusted more.

Arturia's POV

"I'm getting the download!"

Arturia breathed out slightly at the excited response from Jenkins.

She, Jenkins, and Williams were currently waiting in the car. Jenkins was working fast on his omnitool.

"Oh, crap there's a lot in here… k, got the messages… man, this guy has a stupid amount in here… ah, here it is! 'I have some info for the Shadowbroker… Want to meet in person… when…' oh shit, it's… it's in ten minutes?!"

Arturia cursed, "Where?"

They were shooting out of the parking lot before Jenkins finished giving the address.

Tali's POV

"You're late." the barefaced Turian said, and Tali eyed him nervously as he took a step towards her. She did not like how self-assured he was being.

The gun on his hip would also rip through her own shields if it came down to it.

Another Turian approached her from behind, startling her.

"What is this?" Tali demanded, doing her best to hide how nervous she was. "Where's Fist? Where's the Shadow Broker?"

The first Turian let out a creepy chuckle. "He's coming, don't worry."

She felt her heartbeat speed up when she saw another person join in, a Salarian.

They were boxing her in.

"No," She backed away, "No deal -"

Too late. The second Turian grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms against her sides. The first one stepped in close before she could think and grabbed her pistol, twisting it from her hands.

And then he punched her.

White spots danced across her faceplate as the gloved hand slammed into her stomach, knocking out all the air out of her lungs and leaving her gasping.

"Where is the intel?" A voice demanded, insistent. She didn't know who spoke, and couldn't muster enough focus for it as another blow hit the back of her head. "Come on, don't make this more difficult than it has to be. Where's the data?"

Shaken, she lifted a hand and quickly typed in the command, activating the two flash-forged mines she had scraped together and placed around the area, just in case.

The detonations startled them, causing them to let out cries of pain, and she was able to take advantage of their confusion to twist out of their grasp.

"Tarc! You stinkin' suitrat!"

One of them kicked at her, but she only stumbled as it hit her leg. She saw them raise their guns, and she began to run, knowing instinctively that she wouldn't be able to make it.

'Keelah… I'm sorry father. I won't be able to say goodbye.'

Just as she prepared herself for more pain… A miracle happened.

A blue wave of biotics charged directly in the middle of the group, an explosion sending all three of them flying, the one that was hit crying out in pain as she heard bones break.

Tali jerked further back as more gunfire came from behind her, and a couple other men that she hadn't seen cried out in pain, but her eyes were on the figure in front of her.

She was shimmering with power, emerald eyes shining angrily as she lifted up one of the fallen Turians with her biotics and threw him against a wall, looking more like a portrait of an avenging sar-rheel from a story than anything real.

Within moments the fighting was done, the people planning on ambushing not prepared for being ambushed themselves.

The human biotic looked at her, and Tali felt herself calming down. Like she was in the presence of friends once more.

"It's alright," The person assured her in a confident voice. "You're safe now. Nobody will hurt you anymore."

Despite everything that had just happened, Tali believed her.

Author's Note:
Man... It's been two years since I last posted this story. The main culprit I'm afraid is writers block. Beyond that, I really don't have an excuse. However, hopefully this chapter was a good present for those who've been waiting all this time for another chapter.

I'll keep this author's note pretty short - I'm afraid things are a bit busy, but I wanted to quickly post this while I had the chance.

As usual, I'd like to thank those who are currently supporting me on pa tr eon; I'm super grateful for the support they provide. For anybody that is interested or would like to support me, the link to that page is P a treon . com (slash) shdowstep. (remove the spaces).

To those of you who celebrate Halloween, I hope you all have a very spooky evening! And I'll see you in the next chapter, whichever story that is!