**Garrus POV**
After Aster had left the apartment, Garrus packed a light bag and headed to his ship. Tomorrow, he would have to pretend that he didn't have anything to do with her. Tomorrow would bring a lot of questions.
Something told him that John would want to get involved. Maybe Nihlus would be told as well. Either way, he would find whoever was responsible for that video.
*
The next morning, Garrus headed back to Aster's apartment in the pretense that he was looking for her. He asked several of her neighbors, but no one had seen her. He put out feelers to get Aster's location, but none of them yielded anything useful.
Three days went by with no news. Garrus wasn't disappointed; he was glad no one was able to find her. Her ability to disappear didn't surprise him. She had always operated in the shadows. As long as he fed Councilor Sparatus some useful information, he wasn't inclined to give the contract to anyone else.
Garrus eventually made his way over to meet up with John and Anderson. That conversation was really short, and Garrus could feel the hostility coming from John.
"We haven't seen her since she left the trial," John had said. "I'm not interested in finding out where she went either."
The days went by without any news, and eventually Nihlus asked if he needed help. Garrus reluctantly accepted his help. He doubted that Nihlus would find anything either.
"What did you find out? " Garrus asked Nihlus as the two of them waited to be seated at the only good turian restaurant on the Citadel.
"Not much," he replied distractedly, eyeing one of the waitresses.
"But?" Garrus prompted impatiently. "Nihlus, what did you find out?"
"You know as much as I do," Nihlus replied, annoyed. "She left the Citadel after the hearing, and she hasn't been in contact with anyone since. Her apartment is cleaned up, and her things have been donated. No one can find any traces of her."
"Someone like her doesn't disappear," Garrus growled. "She's too well known. Someone must have seen her. Someone's covering for her."
"How long has it been since she left, huh?" Nihlus asked, still annoyed.
"It's been a week," grumbled Garrus.
"Yes, one week," Nihlus repeated. "Leave her be. She's innocent. Why are you looking for her anyway? Do you have something going on for a human?"
"No reason," Garrus said, keeping his sub vocals neutral.
Good, it doesn't seem as though Nihlus knows what's really going on.
"Yeah, ok," Nihlus replied, not believing him. "Does this have anything to do with Councilor Sparatus calling you to his office?"
"Vakarian, party of two," an asari called out, saving Garrus from answering.
"Let's go," Garrus said, in relief. "I'm hungry."
"Your waitress will be over momentarily," the asari said before leaving them with a pair of menus.
"So does it?" Nihilus asked, obviously not going to drop the conversation.
Garrus gave him a long look before deciding to tell him. Nihlus has been his childhood friend and has never done anything to betray his trust. Maybe Nihlus would be able to help him keep the Councilor off his back.
"I can't say anything here," Garrus replied softly so that only a turian could hear. "I could be under surveillance."
"Whatever," Nihlus said, leaning back in his chair. "Don't tell me."
"Hello, my name is Bianca," a human waitress said as she approached the table. "Are you ready to order?"
"We'll have a big order of burgat and a couple of your turian beer," Nihlus said, taking a quick look at the menu.
"Could you add some dextro cheese and crackers?" Garrus asked, putting his menu away.
"I'll give your order to the chef, and I'll bring you your drinks in a moment," Bianca said, leaving.
The human left and soon returned with their drinks in hand.
"So how's Nyreen?" Nihlus asked, taking a swing of his beer
"Fine," Garrus replied, distracted.
"What do you think of her?"
"She's ok," Garrus said still thinking about Aster.
I'm glad she's been able to hide successfully.
"How good is Shepard in bed?"
"Great," Garrus replied, then stopped when he realized what he had said.
"Ha. Got you there," Nihlus said, laughing. "Are you looking for Shepard because she's pregnant, huh? Ran away from you?"
"She's not pregnant," Garrus replied angrily. "Stop making things up. You know better than I that humans and turians can't have children together."
"I heard that it is possible," Nihlus countered. "My sources tell me that human/turians' children have been born."
"Yeah, whatever," Garrus said, ignoring the last part.
"You're so protective of her," Nihlus commented. "You act like she's your mate."
"Fine," he continued, dropping the subject when Garrus didn't say anything. "Don't tell me."
Garrus glared at him but refused to say anything else. Shortly afterward, the human came back with their food. After dinner, they said goodbye to one another, and Garrus headed back to his shared apartment deep in thought.
He wasn't against staying at the apartment, but he needed to be careful. Garrus wanted to avoid being associated with Aster until he had more information. So far, he hadn't found any information on who had leaked the video.
The turian bed had been delivered in the first week of his return, so that kept his mind preoccupied. Garrus ended up replacing the couch, but he left the rest of the things as they were. He did put more food in the fridge and got her some more movies to watch. Her collection was lacking.
**Three weeks later**
Garrus hadn't gotten any new assignment since Councilor Sparatus had given him the contract on Aster. The Councilor wanted him to keep his attention on finding her.
It had been three weeks since Aster had disappeared without a trace. Three weeks of sleepless nights and stressful days, hoping that no one would find her. Councilor Sparatus still wanted her dead, regardless of how long it would take. The Councilor had no doubts that Aster knew about the A.I.
Although no new evidence had appeared since the short clip, the Councilor was adamant about Aster's death. Something about the whole assignment didn't sit well with Garrus, but if he wanted to be a good turian and keep Aster alive, he would pretend that he was on his side for as long as it took. He didn't want the contract to go to anyone else.
Garrus sent a quick, encrypted message to Nihuls letting him know to stop by later so that they could speak without being overheard. He couldn't be too careful. Since his investigation had started, Garrus had noticed that a certain krogan had been tagging along not too discreetly, but he figured that the krogan might have also been hired for the same purpose.
Why else would a krogan follow a turian Spectre around in the first place?
Garrus was making some late breakfast since he had overslept, talking to Nihlus all night, when he heard a knock coming from the apartment door. He opened the door and saw his mother in the doorway, her hands full of bags. She looked like she had bought the whole supermarket.
"Mother," Garrus said, walking over to help her, wiping his hands on the apron. "What's all this?"
"Groceries," she replied, heading toward the kitchen. "Don't tell me you forgot?"
"I-" Forgot what?
"Nyreen is coming over for dinner," his mother said. "We agreed that you would be cooking."
"When did this happen?" Garrus asked, surprised. How could he have forgotten?
"When you were busy at Huerta Memorial," she replied, beginning to put the groceries away. "I swear whoever you were guarding had all of your attention."
"Why are you here?" his mother asked, looking around. "This looks like a human apartment."
Garrus stayed silent at that remark and helped his mother put things away. She was right, Aster had taken up all his time to the point where he didn't remember ever having conversed with Nyreen. Let alone planning to have her over for dinner.
"It's my friend's apartment," Garrus answered. "I haven't found an apartment for myself yet. They're letting me crash here as they are gone on a mission."
"This won't do," his mother replied. "I'll get a turian-size table and chairs."
"Your sister will be over in a couple of hours to help you prep everything," his mother continued. "I'll check on both of you later. Your father and I will stop by after work. Nyreen should be here shortly after 7:30."
"I have Spectre business to attend," Garrus said, following his mother as she headed to the door. "I can't-"
"We will be having dinner as a family, and Nyreen will be our guest," his mother replied, giving him a pointed look.
Defeated, Garrus said goodbye to his mother and went to finish his breakfast and hopefully relax a bit before his sister showed up. Knowing her, she would run him to the ground to make sure dinner turned out great. He wasn't sure why Nyreen was coming over when he didn't like her; she was not his type.
Solana arrived a quarter till 4, fired up about making the best dinner Nyreen had ever tasted. Garrus wasn't as enthusiastic as she was, but hoped dinner didn't get burnt. He was striving for small achievements. He'd rather learn how to make human dishes.
Their mother arrived an hour later and helped them finish the rest of the dishes. She got someone to deliver the table and chairs for them. With her help, they were able to get everything done and had a few minutes to spare so that Garrus could clean a few messy spots his mother had pointed out.
"Mom, stop fussing," Garrus said as he set the table. "It's only dinner."
"You know that your father wants a marriage between the two of you," his mother said, making sure the silverware was placed correctly.
"I'm only doing this to please father, but I have no intentions of getting married," Garrus replied. "I'm a Spectre, not a homemaker."
"I suggest you speak to your father," his mother said. "He had other plans for you."
"Doesn't he always?" Garrus mumbled out loud, going over to the kitchen to check on the meat. "It's not like he'll give me the chance to speak to him."
'The first chance I get,' Garrus thought, seasoning the meat. 'I'll let father know that I have no intentions toward Nyreen.'
At exactly 7:45 Citadel time, Nyreen showed up accompanied by her father.
"Something smells good," his father, Castis, commented going over to his mother and kissing her. "Nyreen, make yourself at home."
"Thank you, Mr. Vakarian," she replied.
Seeing Garrus, she walked over.
"Thanks for making dinner," Nyreen said, taking a peek into the kitchen. "You didn't have to."
"I didn't have a choice," Garrus said before he could stop himself.
"I didn't-" she began.
"Look, I don't have any intentions of marrying you or having any relationship with you," Garrus said, making sure only she could hear. "I don't care what my father says regarding that issue. Let's have dinner and go our separate ways."
Garrus excused himself and went to greet his father.