Unseen: Mass Effect FanFiction

Chapter 19

"The lead was a dead end," Nihlus said entering the apartment and setting his things down.

Garrus leaned back on his chair, "That's the last one."

"Councilor Sparatus is not going to be happy," Nihlus said pouring himself a drink. "He'll want an update soon."

"Not much we can do," Garrus replied stretching. "We'll have to go back to the Citadel soon."

"What about that girl from the clinic?" Nihlus asked sitting on the chair.

"What about her?" Garrus asked.

"I thought you and her had something going on," Nihlus said shrugging. "Looked that way to me."

Garrus grunted but didn't reply. In truth, he wasn't so sure about Ms. Vicki. She seemed nice and all but it didn't seem like she was interested in him at all. He wasn't going to waste his time with her if that was the case.

"You're still into Shepard," Nihlus started 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. "The way you're acting; you wanted it to be more."

"I'm a Spectre," was his lame reply.

"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."

"It was my fault she got hurt," Garrus replied walking over to the window. "I couldn't look at her without-"

"There was nothing we could do," Nihlus said interrupting him. "She doesn't seem the type to blame you."

"That's the problem," Garrus said after a few moments of silence. "I blame myself."

"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 said without doubt.

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 asked after several minutes of silence. "There is nothing on Shepard here. We can talk to her family when we get back; they must have heard from her by now."

Garrus agreed and the both of them began to pack their things. Nihlus was able to get their small aircraft ready to depart first thing in the morning.

"Get some sleep," Nihlus said already in bed. "We got a long day tomorrow."

In the morning they both of them ahead to the aircraft bags in tow. It was early enough that there was no traffic delaying them.

"Got 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 the Captain's family for lunch."

"So they finally spoke to you?" Garrus asked strapping in.

"The brother finally replied," Nihlus replied. "They're 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."

"No wonder he didn't want to reply," Nihlus commented. "He's still upset about the whole thing."

The flight to the Citadel didn't take as long as Garrus remembered it, they had enough time to drop their bags in Garrus's shared apartment before making their way to the food court where they were supposed to be meeting the Captain's brother. (Yes, he still keeps his things at Aster's apartment.)

"Major Shepard," Nihlus said in greeting. "Thank you for seeing us."

"This is Spectre Vakarian," Nihlus said introducing him.

"What can I help two Spectres with?" the Major said inviting them to sit at his table.

"We are looking into the whereabouts of Captain Shepard," Nihlus said taking a seat.

Major Shepard leaned back in his chair scoffing, "Haven't heard from her since the trial. No one has."

"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 replied.

"Which case?" the Major 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."

Garrus heard something in the Major'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 successfully infiltrator 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.

The Major scoffed and didn't reply.

"I haven't heard from her since she left the family," he finally said. "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."

"Thanks for your time," Nihlus said sensing that the Major wasn't in a good mood any longer. "If we hear anything from her, we'll let her know you want to speak with her."

Garrus and Nihlus excused themselves and went to get something to eat.

"You believe him?" Nihlus asked making a stop at a turian shop to grab some food.

"Yes," Garrus replied grabbing something to eat as well. "He didn't seem like he was lying, the Major isn't a good liar from what I could tell."

"What do we do now?" Nihlus asked paying for the food.

"Keep looking for her," Garrus replied as they left the store. "I may have some old contacts that may tell us where she could have gone."

"Shall I contact the Shadow Brooker?" Nihlus asked as they headed to the apartment.

"I rather not," Garrus said entering the elevator. "You never know what the Shadow Brooker 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.

"Why'd you stop?" Nihlus growled after running into him.

"Solana," Nihlus said in surprise seeing her. "What brings you here?"

"I sent a message ahead," Solana replied. "I see you weren't expecting us... We can come back."

"No," Nihlus said hurriedly. "Let me grab my bag and I'll leave you to talk."

After Nihlus grabbed his bag and left, Garrus put his food on the counter.

"Garrus," his sister said after scanning his apartment and making sure it wasn't bugged. "We need your help."

Garrus looked at his sister and the human woman she had with her. Something told him that this human woman was in deep trouble if Solana was asking him for help.

A/N: Chapter 19 has been edited.