"What do we do now, Commander?"

Shepard clenched her hand into a fist, trying her best to resist the urge to punch the nearest wall. She wasn't surprised that the Council had ignored them, not really, but that didn't mean it didn't frustrate the hell out of her. And judging by the tentative tone in Alenko's voice, she was doing a horrible job of hiding it.

"Give me a second, Alenko," she managed to choke out, her voice not nearly as calm and collected as she wanted it to be.

He nodded and stepped back to join Williams and Jenkins, disappearing from her immediate view.

Shepard took a few deep breaths, forcing herself to unclench her fist. It was a good question. Udina and Anderson both had made it clear that they expected her to do something. She just wasn't sure what would be the best move. She'd started toward the elevator that led back outside to the Presidium on autopilot, without a single plan other in her head other than to put as much distance between her as the Council as possible.

It would probably be a good idea for her to actually start thinking about to do next.

"Okay," she said finally, clapping her hands together as she turned around. She wasn't surprised to see all three of her crew hanging loosely back. Jenkins and Williams were both leaning against the nearby wall, although they straightened up quickly when they realized that she had turned her attention back toward them. Alenko, unsurprisingly, was already standing at attention.

She couldn't help but wonder if the man ever relaxed.

"You have a plan, ma'am?" Williams asked.

Shepard shrugged and gave them what she hoped was a fairly reassuring grin. "The start of one, at least." She turned toward Alenko. "Lieutenant?"

Alenko met her gaze and, if anything, he straightened even more. "Yes, Commander?"

"I want you and Williams to follow up on Anderson's advice," she said. "Go talk to Barla Von and see what you can get from him."

"Aye, Commander," Alenko said instantly.

Williams took a few steps forward to stand beside him. "Aye aye," she said with a nod.

Shepard started to turn away from them. Then she frowned and stopped. "I doubt he'll give you any information for free," she said slowly. "I'll leave it up to you two to decide whether or not what he asks for is worth it." She gave them a warning look. "Be careful what you promise him, okay?"

"We'll be careful, Commander," Alenko said seriously.

After another second or two of hesitation, Shepard turned toward Jenkins. "Jenkins, you're with me. We're going to head to Chora's Den and try to find Harkin."

Jenkins nodded. "Right behind you, Commander."

"Stay in radio contact," Shepard said, turning her attention back toward Alenko and Williams for a second. "If you find anything out, let me know. I'll do the same."

Alenko and Williams both nodded.

"Okay then, let's move out."

Shepard was acutely aware that Jenkins was doing his level best not to talk to her as they made their way towards Chora's Den. She didn't regret being harsh on him back on Eden Prime, considering the situation, but it was past time that she talked to him about it and she knew it.

"Have you heard anything from your family?" Shepard asked, glancing back at him.

Jenkins startled, and it took him a second to reply. "What?" he asked, sounding confused. Then, as if he suddenly remembered who he was talking to, he flushed. "I mean, yes. Ma'am. Yes, ma'am. The captain gave me an update while you were in the med bay back on the Normandy, ma'am."

Shepard raised an eyebrow, but she didn't comment on the number of times he'd managed to fit "ma'am" into his reply. "And?" she prompted, trying to keep her voice gentle. Based on his tone, she didn't think it had been bad news that he'd received, but she didn't want to risk it.

If anything, Jenkins's face grew even redder. "They're fine, ma'am. Their farm is pretty far out. The geth didn't make it out there."

"That's good to hear," Shepard said, smiling.

"Yes, ma'am," Jenkins agreed. "Thank you, ma'am."

Shepard felt her mouth twitch as she tried to hold back a smile. "Jenkins, at ease."

"Sorry, ma'am."

Her mouth twitched again, and she had to struggle not to let her amusement show. She shook her head instead. "Jenkins, I promise that I don't bite." She shot him a look. "At least, not unless you deserve it."

He flinched and looked away.

Shepard sighed. "Kid, I'm not angry." She paused. "Well, not anymore. Do you at least understand why I was so ticked with you back on Eden Prime?"

"Because I screwed up," he said quietly, not meeting her gaze.

"Well, yeah," she admitted with a half-shrug. "But so did I."

Jenkins finally glanced at her.

Shepard gave him what she hoped came across as a reassuring smile. "It was my responsibility to get you out of there in one piece," she said. "It was your first time on the ground with me. I should have been paying closer attention."

"You kept me alive, ma'am," he said with a puzzled front. "If you hadn't been paying attention, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be here right now."

She just shook her head. "That's not how it works, Corporal."

For a second or two, it looked as if he was going to say something else. Then his eyes narrowed, and his hand went to his sidearm.

"Jenkins?" Shepard asked, her own hand instinctively going toward her weapon. She glanced around even as she spoke, trying to catch sight of whatever it was that had spooked the kid. They were getting close to Chora's Den, if her murky memories from the one and only time she'd visited there before were right.

He gestured with his head toward the doorway in front of them. "It opened a second or two ago, just for a moment," he said quietly. "I saw movement on the other side."

"An ambush?" she asked, her eyebrows raising. "On the Citadel? You sure, Jenkins?"

Jenkins nodded, his face serious. "They were in flanking positions."

Shepard frowned, considering her options for a second. Udina was going to be livid if she got into a firefight here on the Citadel, but if Jenkins was right and there was someone waiting for them then there really wasn't anything she could do to stop it.

"Gun out, but don't fire until my mark," she said finally. "I don't want to risk an incident if it turns out to be a bunch of drunk turians looking to start something with some upstart humans."

Jenkins nodded. "Yes, Commander."

She took in a breath, then gestured for him to follow her.

"Harkin, let me put this another way," Shepard said, glaring at the man in front of her as she uncrossed her arms. "I'm in a bad mood. In the past three days, I've been shot at more times than I can count, the most recent being ten minutes ago. I don't like you, and I'd like nothing more than to punch you right in your face."

She leaned in, her eyes pointedly drifting downward for just a second.

"Or maybe somewhere a bit more sensitive," she added, baring her teeth. "If you get my drift."

Harkin shifted uncomfortably. "Fine," he spat out. "Garrus was sniffing around Dr. Michel's office."

"Dr. Michel?" Jenkins asked. He'd been quiet for the past few minutes, letting Shepard do the talking, but she could tell from the tension in his voice that he was as disgusted by Harkin as she was.

"Yeah," Harkin said. Even though he was answering Jenkins, he didn't take his gaze off Shepard. "She runs the med clinic on the other side of the wards."

"And that's where Garrus is?" Shepard asked sharply.

Harkin gave her a nonchalant shrug. "No promises. What do I look like, his mother?"

Shepard glared at him.

Harkin glared back. "Last I heard, he was going back there." He rolled his eyes. "You're welcome to him. He's a damn hothead, always bucking heads with the executor. Still figures he can save the world." He reached out and grabbed his drink, taking a swig of it. "Fucking idiot. Just you wait and see, the executor will put him in his place soon enough. Just look at me."

"I'm trying not to," Shepard shot back, not even trying to hide her sarcasm. "If we don't find Garrus, we'll be back."

Harkin waved a hand at her. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let me drink in peace."

Not even bothering to reply, Shepard turned around and started walking. A second or two later, Jenkins caught up, almost jogging to keep up with her pace. She hadn't realized just how quickly she was moving, and she forced herself to slow down a little.

"Do you trust him?" Jenkins asked quietly.

Shepard snorted. "About as far as I can throw him without using biotics," she replied. Then she shrugged. "No idea if his intel on Garrus is good or not. There's only one way to find out."

Jenkins nodded. "Yes, ma'a—"

He cut off abruptly as a krogan pushed past him. Shepard caught him as he went tumbling into her, knocked off balance by the unexpected shove.

"Out of my way humans, I have no quarrel with you," the krogan grumbled. Then, raising his voice, he called back to another krogan standing nearby, one that was obviously a bouncer at the bar. "Next time, Fist dies. You tell him that."

"We'll see about that, Wrex," the bouncer said, glaring. "Get the hell out of here."

The first krogan, Wrex, made a disgruntled noise and stomped toward the door.

Shepard and Jenkins both stood there staring for a second or two.

"What just happened?" Jenkins asked slowly.

Shepard kept her gaze on Wrex as he stormed out of the bar, not looking away until the door shut behind him. Then she turned toward Jenkins. "I have no idea," she said slowly. Reluctantly, she shook her head. "It doesn't have anything with us. Put it on the back burner for now."

"Aye, ma'am," Jenkins said instantly.

"Come on, Jenkins," Shepard said. "Let's go try to find Officer Vakarian."

"This is starting to get fucking ridiculous," Shepard grumbled as the last of the thugs hit the ground. She kept her gun out for a second, looking around warily. The way the last few days had been going, she didn't quite trust that people were done shooting at her.

Beside her, Jenkins put his weapon away. "Commander?" he asked curiously.

Shepard shook her head, slowly putting her own gun down. "Don't get me wrong, kid, I've been shot at a lot of times," she said, "but I think this week might be going for some kind of record."

Jenkins's mouth twitched, as if he was hiding a smile.

Shaking her head, Shepard turned her attention back toward Vakarian. The doctor had flung herself behind a nearby desk during the fight, and he was helping her up.

When he saw Shepard heading his way, Vakarian straightened a bit. "Perfect timing, Shepard," he said, baring his teeth slightly in what she thought might be the equivalent of a grin. "You gave me a clear shot at that bastard."

Shepard was torn. One of the first things that had been burned into her all the way back in basic had been not to take a shot that would put a hostage at risk. Then again, Vakarian's shot had been clean. And trusting your abilities, knowing when a shot was safe to take and when it wasn't, had been another part of her training.

"That was a good shot," she said with a careful nod. "Clean."

"Sometimes you get lucky," Vakarian said, not even trying to hide the pride in his tone. As if the thought of not hitting exactly who and what he'd been aiming at hadn't even crossed his mind.

At that, Shepard frowned. "Yeah," she agreed, letting a bit of displeasure into her voice. "Lucky you didn't hit the hostage."

Shepard was expecting the turian to protest. To argue that he knew what he was doing, that there wasn't any chance of his shot missing. To tell her that she didn't know him or what he could do.

Instead, he surprised her.

Vakarian's eyes widened a bit, as if the thought of hitting the hostage hadn't even crossed his mind. "I just reacted. I didn't meant to—" He trailed off, almost like he realized how bad that sounded, and instead turned his attention toward the doctor. "Dr. Michel, are you hurt?"

Michel shook her head. "No, I'm okay. Thanks to you." She looked away from Vakarian, turning her attention toward Jenkins and Shepard. "All of you."

"Happy to help," Jenkins said immediately. His gaze was focused entirely on the doctor.

Shepard glanced at him, trying to hide his amusement. He really was young, and she had to admit that the good doctor was more than a little easy on the eyes.

"Why were they threatening you?" Shepard asked, bringing the conversation back to the topic at hand. She glanced down at one of the thugs that was lying on the ground nearby. "Who do they work for?"

Michel let out a shaky breath. "They work for Fist."

"Fist?" Shepard asked.

"He owns Chora's Den," Vakarian said, his eyes flashing. "He's scum, and the only reason he's not in jail is because he bribes the right people. But why would he send his goons after you, Dr. Michel?"

She looked down at her hands, and Shepard followed her gaze. The doctor was flexing them nervously. "They wanted to keep me from telling you about the quarian, Garrus."

"What quarian?" Shepard prompted gently.

Michel bit her lip. "A few days ago, a quarian came by my office," she explained. "She'd been shot, but she wouldn't tell me who did it."

Garrus cut in. "Why didn't you—"

"Notify C-Sec?" Michel asked, cutting him off. "What do you think would have happened to the poor girl if I had? They probably would have accused her of shooting herself and then found a way to arrest her for it."

Shepard narrowed her eyes when Garrus looked away, not protesting against the accusation. As much as she wanted to press, though, that wasn't the topic at hand.

"There had to be more to it than that, if this Fist character is sending thugs after you," Shepard prompted.

Michel nodded. "Yes," she agreed. "I could tell she was scared, probably on the run. She asked me about the Shadow Broker."

Shepard glanced over at Jenkins, who was frowning. Alenko's and Williams's talk with Barla Von was looking like it might be more important than she'd realized. Once they were done here, she needed to get them on the comms and find out what information he'd given them. If he'd given them any, at least.

"She wanted to trade information in exchange for a safe place to hide," Michel continued, apparently not noticing the looks Shepard and Jenkins were exchanging. Judging by the way Vakarian's eyes were narrowed in their direction, it looked like he might have picked up on it. It looked like he might actually be a decent cop, at least.

"Then what?" Shepard asked, when Michel paused.

Michel gave her a weak shrug. "I put her in contact with Fist. He's an agent for the Shadow Broker."

Beside her, Vakarian shook his head. "That's not what my contacts tell me. He cut ties with the Broker. Now he works for Saren."

Michel's eyes widened. "What?"

"Wait a second," Shepard said, holding up a hand. "Don't get me wrong, I'm far from being an expert on the matter, but from what I've heard betraying the Shadow Broker isn't exactly the smartest or safest thing for someone to do."

"It's stupid, even for Fist," Michel agreed immediately. "This Saren must have made him quite the offer."

Vakarian's hands clenched at his side. "That quarian must have something Saren wants," he said. "Something worth crossing the Shadow Broker to get."

"Do you have any idea what kind of information the quarian wanted to trade?" Jenkins asked.

Shepard glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. He flushed a little but didn't look away.

"Good question," Shepard acknowledged. If anything, his face grew even redder as she turned away from him and back toward Michel. "Doctor?"

Michel stood there for a moment, obviously parsing through her memories. Then she snapped her fingers. "Geth! Her information had something to do with the geth."

"She must be able to link Saren to the geth," Vakarian said. He didn't even try to hide the note of cheer in his voice. "There's no way the Council could ignore it if we had that information."

"I think it's time we paid Fist a visit," Shepard agreed. "Thank you for the help, Dr. Michel."

Michel gave her a weak smile. "No, thank you."

Shepard started to turn away, already gesturing for Jenkins to follow her.

"Shepard?"

She stopped, turning her head back in Vakarian's direction. "This is your show, Shepard," he said frankly. "But I want to bring Saren down as much as you do. I'm coming with you."

Part of her wanted to tell him that this was Alliance business, but then her brain chimed in with a reminder that, technically, it actually wasn't. Chora's Den was on the Citadel, and if she was honest with herself it would probably be helpful to have someone from C-Sec with her. But she knew almost nothing about Vakarian, only what other people had told her.

"You're a turian," Shepard said carefully. "Why do you want to bring him down?"

"I couldn't find the proof I needed in my investigation, but I knew what was really going on," Vakarian replied, his voice rising in volume. "Saren is a traitor to the Council and a disgrace to my people!"

The last few words were almost shouted. Shepard couldn't help but be a bit impressed. Unless he was lot better actor than she was giving him credit for, he really did seem to want to help.

And they could use all the help they could get.

"Welcome aboard, Vakarian," Shepard said, holding out her hand.

Vakarian stared blankly at it for a moment, and Shepard grimaced. Human custom, right. She started to pull it back, but then he surprised her for the second time in the last few minutes by reaching out and taking it. His grip was careful but firm as he shook her hand.

"You know, we aren't the only ones going after Fist," Vakarian said thoughtfully as he let go of her hand a moment later.

"Oh?" Shepard asked.

Vakarian nodded. "The Shadow Broker hired a krogan bounty hunter named Wrex to take him out."

Shepard stared at him for a minute. Then she snorted.

"It doesn't have anything to do with us, huh?" Jenkins muttered not-so-quietly.

"Shut up, Jenkins," Shepard said, careful to keep her tone light.

"Yes, ma'am."

Both Vakarian and Michel were staring at them as if they'd lost their minds.

"We ran into Wrex earlier," Shepard explained. "Long story. But a krogan might come in handy. Any idea where we can find him?"

Vakarian nodded. "He's, uh, paying a visit to C-Sec. Fist accused him of making threats."

This time, it was Jenkins who snorted. "That's an understatement."

Shepard just shook her head. "Come on, you two. Let's go find us a krogan."