Shepard

"Saren's hiding something—give me more time! Stall them!"

Saren's name caught Shepard's attention as she approached the fountain ring of the Citadel Tower, and her eyes swung to its source: two arguing turians. She had to guess that the one who was practically baring his teeth was the one pissed off about Saren. The other one sounded downright zen by comparison.

"Stall the Council? Don't be ridiculous. Your investigation is over, Garrus."

And he walked away. The angry one, Garrus, turned to her with short glances at both Kaidan and Ashley behind her. "Commander Shepard." Figured that one was easy to figure out. "Garrus Vakarian. I was the officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation into Saren." And that explained the anger.

"Who was that you were arguing with?" Not that she couldn't guess. She knew A subordinate-commander argument anywhere.

"That was Executor Pallin, the man in charge of Citadel Security. He and I... don't agree on a lot, particularly in this case." The last words were practically grumbled, but meant for her to hear, spoken with a glance toward where the Executor had gone with what she could only guess was annoyance in the subordinate officer's eyes.

"Doesn't sound like you like Saren much, officer." More, it sounded like he'd been doing his damndest to help her cause. She was damn sure he was in the minority, there.

His mandibles twitched, eyes narrowing into a scowl. "I know he's up to something... like you humans say, I can feel it in my gut. But he's a Spectre, so just about everything he does is classified. I couldn't find anything solid."

She sensed the frustration in him, and had an uncomfortable feeling that she'd be feeling it herself soon enough. Still, she had to try.

"I think the Council's ready for us, Commander." Kaidan's voice interrupted any further attempt at conversation, and Garrus nodded his farewell.

"Good luck, Commander. Maybe they'll listen to you."

Yeah, I doubt that. She didn't let her doubt show on her face, nodding back to him. "Maybe. Nice meeting you, Garrus."

He seemed reliable. Maybe if this hearing went sideways, he could help her out.

Garrus

So that was the woman who'd led the groundside investigation of the hellhole that had been the Eden Prime attack. Garrus had to admit, for having just come back from a mission that by his reports went about as sideways as it was possible to go, she looked pretty together. She carried herself like any soldier who'd earned their rank should, and met his eyes evenly when they spoke. It was no big surprise to him that the two soldiers behind her looked like they had total faith in her.

"Commander Shepard. Garrus Vakarian, I was the officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation into Saren." For all the good that did. He had a report on the events of Eden Prime that barely mentioned Shepard herself (only references to 'Alliance forces' repelling the Geth attack), and didn't breathe a word of Saren or even Nihlus, though he knew by word of mouth that the other turian Spectre was dead. Beyond that, he had pretty much nothing: Saren's public profile that read like a celebrity promotion, a few paltry press-reports on his heroic Spectre achievements... nothing helpful.

But damn it, he knew something else was going on. Every instinct he had told him to pursue this, but the Executor refused to let him, and now it was out of his control.

"Doesn't sound like you like Saren much, offcer." That was putting it gently. Saren's mere existence was starting to piss Garrus off. The idea that one of his own kind could be out there committing atrocities like allying with the geth to attack innocent colonies... it made his blood boil.

"I know he's up to something... like you humans say, I can feel it in my gut. But he's a Spectre, so just about everything he does is classified. I couldn't find anything solid." He had a few leads, but he hadn't been given time to pursue them. Hell, he would probably pursue them no matter how Shepard's audience went. He hated leaving things unfinished.

He saw her smile, apparently pleased with his efforts regardless of the pitiful results. He was no judge of human beauty, but he knew strength when he saw it. This woman was a credit to her military and her species, and if the Council didn't listen to her (and he knew they wouldn't, not about this), they were idiots.

"I think the Council's ready for us, Commander." Her male subordinate called attention back to the matter at hand, and Garrus nodded. He shouldn't keep them.

"Good luck, Commander. Maybe they'll listen to you." And maybe the keepers would put on a song and dance number in the Presidium. Hah.

"Maybe. Nice meeting you, Garrus." She nodded as she stepped past him, and he turned to watch her approach the Council chamber before sighing. He could stay and watch the hearing, but why bother witnessing the inevitable? He knew the Commander would need better than her own testimony and his pathetic excuse for an investigation, and he resolved to get it for her.

He headed out of the tower, towards the ward access elevator. With any luck, whatever Dr. Michel had called him about earlier (before his investigation was cut off) would still be useful.