Vicki was wiping down the waiting room when Garrus walked in the door, surprisingly alone. She pretended not to see him and continued her work. Since both Nihlus and Garrus showed up 2 months ago, the pair of them have been showing up several times a week to speak with the Professor. Vicki wasn't sure about what, but she knew she had to keep her distance. Even SAM was being more silent than normal.
Regardless of why they were here, Aster was happy to see him again.
"Nurse," Garrus said, breaking the silence as she continued cleaning.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Vicki said with a smile. "I didn't see you there. Are you here for Professor Solus?"
Garrus looked embarrassed and rubbed his neck.
"No," he replied. "I was hoping you'd accompany me to dinner."
Vicki looked at him, surprised. Dinner? Where had this come from? He had never shown interest in her before.
'He's fishing for information,' SAM piped in. 'They haven't found anything related to you besides the fact that you came to Professor Solus when you arrived.'
'They don't suspect you are Aster,' he continued. 'If you want to know if they have a second agenda, I suggest you stay close so that I can connect to their omni- tool.'
"I wouldn't say no," Vicki began. "However, I still need to finish cleaning and disinfecting."
"I-I don't mind waiting," Garrus quickly said. "I'll wait over here out of your way."
'Persistent,' She commented to SAM. 'The Council definitely wants something.'
'Are you keeping things from me?' Vicki teased as she continued cleaning.
'No more than usual,' SAM commented.
Vicki hid her smile and finished cleaning. She put away the supplies and got her coat from the receptionist's desk.
"All set," She announced, locking the office and filing cabinets. "Do you mind waiting outside while I set the alarm?"
"Y-yeah. No problem," Garrus replied, standing up from the chair and stepping out.
Vicki activated the alarm and stepped out, bumping into Garrus's armored back.
"Ow," she said, rubbing her forehead.
"Ms. Vicki," Garrus said, alarmed, turning around and inspecting her forehead. "I shouldn't have stood so close."
"I'm fine, Mr. Vakarian," She replied, as Garrus kept examining her forehead. "It's nothing medi gel can't fix."
"Let me," he said, applying a bit. "I'm an expert."
"So am I," Vicki replied, amused.
"Good as new," Garrus said softly after applying the gel. He still had her head in his hands.
"Thanks," She replied, taking his hands in hers. "Shall we go to dinner?"
Garrus cleared his throat, looking embarrassed.
"Wherever you want to go," He continued.
"Wherever, huh?" She asked.
"I, no," Garrus said, flustered. "That's not .."
Vicki laughed.
"I know the perfect place," she continued, dropping one of his hands. "Follow me."
'Smooth move,' SAM commented as Vicki took them to a nearby ramen restaurant. 'I need a few more minutes. The Spectre here has top-notch security.'
'Knowing him, I bet it's the best there is,' She replied as Garrus ordered them a family meal.
"So," Vicki began. "What questions did you want to ask me?"
Garrus looked surprised. He wasn't expecting her to be so direct.
"Aw, come on," She said, pouting. "No offense, but it's hard to imagine a turian of your status to be remotely interested in me."
"Who says I'm not?" Garrus asked, challenging her.
Vicki couldn't help but laugh. He looked so serious.
"Your tier won't let you," she said softly. "Your parents won't let you. Trust me, all I see is a well-bred turian in front of me. A Spectre too."
"It's not what you think," Garrus replied. "Turian and human relations have changed. The Citadel is changing."
"Maybe on the Citadel," She replied. "Not so much on Omega. At least not yet."
"It's different here, that's for sure," Garrus commented as the waitress stopped by with their drinks and food.
"Mr. Vakarian," Vicki said. "Although I'm flattered by the kind gesture of dinner, I'm sure you have questions."
"I didn't ask you to dinner to interrogate you," Garrus replied. "I ask you to dinner because I'm interested in you."
"It's hard to believe that when your friend keeps talking about a Nyreen," Vicki countered. "From what I gather, she's engaged to you."
"I'm not marrying her," He replied sternly. He was serious. "I won't. I've made it very clear to her that I don't have any intentions of developing a romantic relationship with her."
"If you say so," Vicki replied kindly.
Garrus took a sip of his drink.
'Anything yet?' Vicki asked as they ate in silence.
'Plenty, ' SAM commented. 'I'll tell you later.'
"Ms. Vicki," Garrus said after some time. "Did a woman with black hair and turquoise eyes ever stop by?"
"She sounds beautiful," She replied smartly.
"Yeah, she is," Garrus said without thinking. Before getting embarrassed again. "Not that you're not...I mean she's..."
"I'm teasing you," Vicki said, smiling. "I made that comment because if she looks like you say she does, she would be hard to miss. I don't recall ever seeing anyone like that."
"All I know is that she came to see Professor Solus a couple of months ago," Garrus began. "After that, it's like she's disappeared."
"Maybe she got into trouble?" Vicki suggested. "People come to Omega to disappear."
"Why are you here?" Garrus asked. "You running from something....or someone?"
"If you asked me that a couple of years ago, I would have said yes," Vicki said, sticking to the real Vicki's story. "But once that was over, I decided to stay and help out the Professor. He does some great work around here."
"But I have a question for you," Vicki said, breaking the silence. "Who is this woman to you?"
She watched as Garrus choked on his drink and handed him a napkin.
"Thanks," he said with a raw voice. "She's a good friend of mine. It's been a few months since I've seen her. I'm worried something must have happened to her."
'Aster,' SAM interrupted. 'I have access.'
'Have you found something useful?' She asked, masking her excitement by taking another bite of the food.
Vicki felt SAM off a bit. SAM had definitely found something.
'Plenty,' SAM stated. 'He doesn't know that you are Aster, but it's best not to risk it until we know on whos side he's on.'
'Does he still have the kill contract?' Vicki questioned.
'Yes, he does,' SAM confirmed. 'It appears as though Nihlus has become involved. They've been searching for the same person whom we're chasing. I'll tell you more later.'
Vicki faked a yawn and continued to eat. But she did see how Garrus took notice of her actions. No doubt he was reading her vital signs. Good thing SAM had control of those.
"I'm sorry," Garrus said as she faked yet another yawn. "I hadn't realized how tired you must be."
"It's not your fault," Vicki replied quickly. "It's been a long week."
"Here, let me take you home," he said, standing up.
After paying and grabbing a carry-out box, Garrus was overly sensitive to her yawns and made sure she didn't fall from exhaustion. It wasn't long before they were standing outside her apartment.
"Thanks for dinner," She said. "I enjoyed our conversation."
"Maybe next time we can go out for a drink or something," Garrus said, rubbing his neck. "If you want."
"I can't promise you anything, but we'll see," Vicki agreed. "Keep the food, I'm sure Mr. Kryos is hungry and wants to know what we talked about."
"Probably," Garrus mumbled. "Thanks, Ms. Vicki. Have a good night."
"You do the same," She called out, walking back to the apartment building and heading straight to the elevator.
'SAM,' Vicki said as the elevator took her to the third floor. 'What's going on? I thought Garrus was the only one with the kill order.'
'I'll explain when it's safe,' SAM said, refusing to say anymore.
When Vicki arrived on the third floor, she headed straight to her room number and activated the anti-hearing device she had equipped before setting the alarm on the door and making sure her windows were still locked.
She couldn't be too careful since there were two Spectres on Omega looking for any clues on Aster's whereabouts.
SAM, tell me what you found.
Vicki listened quietly as SAM explained what he had found in Garrus's omni-tool.
"After you left the Citadel," SAM said. "Councilor Sparatus was given some information that should have been destroyed in Junhix."
"Information?" She asked, confused. "What information? "
"A clip that shows you unconscious and a small circle at the edge of the screen," SAM replied. "From what I gathered, Sparatus already knew that the circle was me."
"That's not possible," Vicki said in disbelief. "The only person who knew about that surgery was Alec and Dr. Susan. He wouldn't have trusted anyone else with that information."
"You're wrong," SAM said. "Dr. Susan was behind the surgery. She lied to Alec, telling him that you volunteered. She had Dianvi fabricate the evidence to point to Alec leaving her free from blame."
"Why am I just hearing about this?" Vicki accused. "You should have told me this at the beginning. Leaving the Citadel only made me look guilty."
"Only to Councilor Sparatus," SAM corrected her. "Everyone else saw you as a hero. He issued that kill order without the approval of the rest of the Council. It leads me to believe that someone else besides Dr. Susan, Alec, and Dianvi knew of the situation. Someone else sent the clip to Sparatus," SAM concluded.
"My research had led me to believe that an anti-alien group may be behind all of this," SAM continued. "They're known as Cerberus."
SAM began his explanation. On Junhix, before her arrival, someone had approached Alec about funding his project on A.I research even though that research was illegal. The benefactor promised that no one would know that Alec had continued his research.
The mysterious person had informed Alec that an undercover agent would be arriving on Junhix who could help him achieve his goal. When Alec questioned if the undercover agent had agreed to the experiment, the mysterious person had assured him that everything had been taken care of.
So when Dr. Susan had told him that Dr. Lang had agreed to the surgery, he didn't question it.
"Alec must have been desperate," Vicki noted. "What happened to his wife?"
"I don't know," SAM replied. "No one has seen her since Alec's arrest."
Vicki nodded, deep in thought.
'Is it possible that Alec's wife is the one who sent the clip to Councilor Sparatus?' Vicki questioned.
"The only way to know who sent the video is to connect to Councilor Sparatus personal device," SAM informed her.
"I guess we're heading back to the Citadel."