A/N: Alternating POV between Civilian Shepard and Garrus Vakarian. Sorry for crappy quality, just trying to get my fiction "voice" back.

Chapter One: Incorrigible Aliens

Doctor Chloe Michel had spent the greater part of Arin Shepard's shift in the backroom performing surgery with the aid of a bot. That left Arin to tend to the other patients of the doctor's clinic. By all means not a big or horribly challenging feat, but the Upper Wards had loads of people in dire need of cheap medical care- especially during standard-day weekends. Many of such people had an almost innate suspicion of others, which, at least in the eyes of Arin Shepard, was understandable given the corruption of this area of the Citadel.

Sometimes, however, their distrust caused her more headaches than she had the patience for. At present, this particular volus was making her life more difficult than need be.

"But-cgfhhh- my suit released the Medi-gel, -cgfhhh- why should I have to purchase– "

"Like I said," Arin began, "my omni-tool shows there was a lag between when you fell on the hook and by the time your suit registered the rupture and released the Medi-gel. Enough of a delay to cause an infection to spread. You will need antibiotics."

"-Cgfhhh- but the Medi-gel was released."

"Look, there was a lag. You have an infection. You can either take my word for it, or you can leave and come back after a few days to tell me just how wrong I was. If you're still alive by then."

"-Cgfhhh-" The round alien took a deep breath. "-Cgfhhh- Fine, Earth-clan. How much? -cgfhhh- "

Whenever she was busy, the doctor had deferred to Arin to make a judgment on whether the patient should be given free aid or be charged. Whilst Arin had always been a keen judge of character, it was the doctor that guided her through the finer points in observation. In this case, the severely outdated system in the volus' suit and the old suit itself gave the young nurse the direction she needed. "I have samples of the antibiotic you need here," Arin said, handing over a few small packets. "We should be getting more by the time you run out. Take one a day with a meal. I'll ping you when we get more in."

"-Cgfhhh- Thank you, Earth-clan," the volus reluctantly said before leaving.

As she washed and disinfected her hands, Arin thought how much more stressful the doctor seemed lately. Sometimes, she felt sorry for Doctor Michel, so she stayed to help out, fully knowing that she couldn't be paid for any overtime she did. Since both the young women's respective sets of parents were involved with and met through the Alliance, Arin had heard of Dr. Michel's generosity that way. She had never expected the doctor to jump through so many hoops and deal with so much crap just to help others (even those who weren't grateful), until the doctor offered her a place in her clinic. Working with her was certainly a reward in itself.

Although she couldn't wait to save enough money to leave the citadel in search of her dreams, Arin was still appreciative for the experience, and the doctor had restored her faith in… humanity? Well, people, in general. But days like these, where her hours broke way past her shift, she really had to cling to that faith in order to not take off running. Thankfully, the volus was the last in a long line without the doctor's help.

Arin grinned, maybe today she could get out of the clinic in time before her favorite restaurant closed shop, but her smile faded when she heard the door slide open. She sighed; it was very late as it was, and whenever a patient came in this late, it meant there was probably a violent wound to take care of. She walked to the front without paying attention to whoever had come through the door yet, instead, choosing to ready her omni-tool scanner and slapping on a fresh pair of gloves.

"Hello," the nurse said as she adjusted one of her gloves. "The doctor is unavailable at the moment, but I'll be more than happy to assist you. How can I—" It was only then that she looked up to see a turian holding a bloody human by the scruff of his shirt. The human had a black rag tied around his head over his eyes, and another one on his mouth, as a sort of make-shift gag. The poor man had his arms restrained and his shoulder was covered in boiled burns. "Oh my goodness!" Arin rushed toward the man but before she could do anything, the turian yanked him back a little and put up a hand in the universal sign that meant stop.

"Where is the doctor?" he asked, his flanged voice stealing Arin's attention from the other man's burns.

"Doctor M—"

"Don't say her name," he said quickly, "there's a reason why he's tied up like this."

"She's indisposed at the moment. But I can tend to him." Arin returned her attention to the patient, her urge to clean his wounds was gnawing at her.

"I need her… special services."

The human woman eyed the turian, only just noticing he resembled a turian that had been at the clinic before. Yes; there was no way she could ever forget those eyes. She remembered him entering through the back, then. It had been near the end of her shift during one of her first days at the clinic, he had arrived with another turian holding his face but as soon as she had spotted the two, the doctor had turned her lose, telling her to take off early. It was the same turian from that night, she was certain.

The man beside the turian moaned in pain, snapping her out of her daze. "She's in the middle of surgery and cannot be disturbed," she said and grabbed hold of the injured man's arm and led him to one of the medical beds. "I need to look at his shoulder."

"And I need the doctor to take care of this."

Arin sighed, doing her best to breathe out all of her frustration and breathe in calm. "Look, she can't come out and this man needs help." She prepared her omni-tool to scan for any allergies or any graver injuries that weren't visible, but the turian disabled her scan with his own omni-tool. The nerve of him!

"The doctor typically doesn't use her omni-tool for the people I bring in."

Arin wondered what that meant, and a flood of worrisome thoughts filled her mind. "I'm only a nurse, I… I need to do a scan."

His mandibles twitched for a second. Maybe he would see reason. "Just do what you can without it, please." Well, at least he compromised.

Still, she should have asked him questions, insist on knowing what in the hell he was up to, and voice her opinion that he may get the doctor in trouble. More than anything though, she wanted to patch the bloody man before her. "I'm going to cut your shirt," she explained to him, "so I can fix your burns." As she cut, she braved a short glance at the turian only to catch him staring at her with those dangerous predatory eyes of his. She had never been one to adopt xenophobic views or ideals, but there was no denying that turians were slightly unnerving to her for some reason. She prepared gauze with an abrasion cleanser. "This is going to hurt, but it's for your own good." Arin did her best to ignore the moans and pleas of the man, and tried to hold his arm steady at the same time; but during a particularly nasty, and by the sounds of it, painful moment in which she had to peel a piece of melted fabric from his skin, she couldn't keep her mouth shut. "Did you do this to him?" It wasn't an inquiry. It was a demand to know. One he had better answer.

The proximity between her and the turian allowed her to hear the vibrations of his timber before he spoke, reminiscent of when her parents were hesitant to say something. "That? No. That one is all on him." She wanted to believe him, but that damn smug look of his didn't help.

Arin glared at him wanting to know more, but for his part, the turian held her gaze not intimidated in the least. Just then, Doctor Michel came from the backroom where they performed the more serious surgeries and was in the middle of throwing away her disposable scrubs when she spotted the turian. "Garrus," she greeted him with a wide smile.

"Doctor," he replied, baring his teeth as the turian equivalent of a grin .

"Let's see 'ere," the doctor said after cleansing her hands and replacing her gloves with fresh ones. "What do we 'ave?" Arin stepped aside whilst the doctor examined the man's facial injuries; Doctor Michel removed the gag, which the man took as an opportunity to curse the turian for being many a great horrible things, and she slipped her fingers under the cloth covering his eyes. She felt around his eyes and now and then asked if it hurt and to what scale. Satisfied with what she'd found out, the doctor snapped her gloves off and stepped back. "You may continue," she said to Arin.

"Yes, doctor." The nurse was surprised that her boss would allow her to continue to treat the serious burns, but then maybe she was tired from the surgery. With or without the aid of robotics, surgery still took a lot out of a doctor.

For her part, Doctor Chloe Michel must have sensed her nurse's hesitation. "You're doing just fine," she assured her before turning toward the turian. "'E doesn't seem to 'ave any fractures. When she 'as finished I will check 'is abdomen."

"Thank you, doctor."

As Arin scrubbed the burns, a necessary duty she would much rather fall on the doctor's lap, the man screamed and shrieked. She could see tears escaping the bondage of his eyes. "Please! Just stop!" the man begged. Surprised, Arin stopped for a moment and looked to the doctor for answers, but her eyes were fixed coldly on the man. The nurse went in to continue cleaning, but the second she made contact with his skin, he scream again. "Please, I already told you what I know, man."

"I know," the turian replied, just as icy as his blue eyes. "Otherwise I would have taken you straight to C-Sec and you would be in more pain than you're already in." C-Sec? For the first time, the nurse looked at what the turian was wearing, noting the famous black and blue armor only now. Arin wasn't one to be lead by stereotypes, but just then, she really did wonder whether all the damn cops in the galaxy universally corrupt.

The man moaned in resignation, and Arin went back to work. "What 'appened, Garrus?" the doctor asked. "The burns aren't your style."

"You're right, but apparently, they're his. Our friend here didn't feel like cooperating, but instead of running like all the others, he thought he could turn his soldering gun against me. Not a smart man."

"Indeed," the doctor agreed with glee, a rare thing to see after such a long shift. It sent shivers down Arin's spine to see the doctor react like that. After Arin finished applying a generous amount of Medi-gel and bandaging him up, the doctor took over and handed Garrus a few boxes of Medi-gel infused bandages and painkillers, giving the man instructions as she did so.

When the doctor finished speaking, the turian triggered his omni-tool and it quickly connected to the doctor's, causing hers to activate in turn. It wasn't unusual for a paying client initiate the connection, what caught Arin's attention was the fact that there was no exchange of words as the transaction went through, no question as to how many credits the bill was, nothing. On top of that, most people that did pay generally used credit chits to do so.

"Thank you, doctor."

"You gonna book me know?" the man asked before Doctor Michel could reply to the turian.

"No," the officer said, pulling the man in a standing position and walking out through the back, "you get a free pass this time. But if I hear you're dealing with that batarian ring again, I'll make sure you get locked up for a long time."

The two women remained silent for a moment and the quiet was enough to hear gentle shuffling in the back. The patient in the backroom was coming to and the doctor gave her nurse a small smile before heading to the operating room. After a little while, the patient followed the doctor out, wearing an old-fashioned cast around his arm and a smile across his face. Wait 'til the painkillers wear off, Arin thought darkly. She could hear the doctor tell him she'd set up payment plans, but urged him to pursue action against the man who sent him here. He'd been the victim of an enraged krogan, upset about something to do with a lack of fish in the Presidium, and the krogan didn't stick around long enough for C-Sec to come and assess the damage. At least the doctor was understandable.

"Don't worry about cleaning up," Doctor Michel said when the patient left. "You did well today, I am glad you 'ad a chance to practice without using an omni-tool, 'elpful as they may be."

Arin smiled at the doctor. "Thanks, but I can help finish up." They continued to work in silence, until the younger of the two could resist no more. "Doctor…" she began.

"Chloe is just fine, we are not on duty anymore."

"Chloe," Arin said, "The C-Sec turian, well, he wouldn't let me scan that man with him with my omni-tool… And in fact seemed very adamant about it and your special services."

The doctor fell silent for a moment and Arin wondered if she'd stepped over. But surely, having let Arin stay and finish tending to the man, the doctor must have known the nurse would have questions about what happened earlier. "I am sure you've 'eard from your parents how I lost my position at the Davis-Mitch Hospital."

"Very little. Only that you were giving out medical supplies to people in need. An unfair reason, if you ask me."

The doctor mirrored Arin's smile, like she usually did whenever she was about to explain something important. "Never forget that hospitals are businesses too. I stepped over toes and crossed lines to do what I love: doing the right thing. But even 'ere, in outer space, rules are rules. I opened this clinic to run it as I please, but the Citadel is a vastly populated place, and that alone makes it dangerous. 'Ere in the Upper Wards, even more. It helps to have friends."

"It sounds dangerously close to the mafia's 'protection'."

The doctor laughed. "No, no. It isn't like that at all. Now come on, I know neither of us took a lunch break today."