2,992Harry was not a happy bunny.
He was beginning to regret his decision to leave Rannoch as soon as he could.
But he really wanted to get back to Earth.
Of course his current situation pretty much guaranteed that outcome.
He was sitting in a medical lab slash storage room just off the medical bay.
Williams and Alenko had thrown him in there when they had brought an unconscious Shepard aboard.
That had been two hours ago.
He wasn't able to communicate with his ship as the geth living in his head had warned him that the humans could detect any transmissions even if they couldn't decode them.
That didn't stop the geth from entering the Normandy's systems and monitoring things.
He had a direct link to the security cameras around the ship and was monitoring the events in sickbay in his head.
Eventually the door was opened and Captain Anderson, the commander of the ship, and Commander Shepard, his XO (Executive Officer), entered.
"Harry James Potter. Born July 31st, 1980. Missing since 1997." Anderson read off a data pad.
"He doesn't look 200 years old." Shepard said dryly.
"Thanks… I moisturise." Harry shrugged. Lavender and Pavarti had been quite vocal on the benefits of a rigorous moisturising routine to stave off the signs of aging.
"Can you explain where you've been all this time?" Anderson asked calmly.
Harry looked at him with a thoughtful frown. "Can you tell me why I should answer your questions?" He countered.
"It would only be to your benefit." Anderson reasoned. "We are currently holding you because you claim to be allied with the geth. The geth are an enemy of all Citadel Races which makes you either an enemy or delusional."
"So the fact that I destroyed all those heretic platforms on the planet means nothing to you? Brilliant. It's Britain all over again." Harry grumbled.
"If you answer our questions we might be able to reach an agreement." Shepard offered.
"You mean you'll let me go? Treat me like an equal? Maybe even say 'thanks' for all the help I gave you?" Harry asked doubtfully.
The two men shared a look.
"You have to understand our position-"
"How about you understand mine." Harry interrupted the Captain. "I willingly responded to a distress call from a colony. I willingly risked my own life to protect that colony. I saved the life of your Commander by getting him away from that beacon. Sound about right?" He asked irritably.
"According to the reports of the ground crew, yes." Anderson allowed.
"Right. So, lets look at what you did." Harry said as he popped off the bed. "You greeted me with guns in my face despite my obvious friendly actions. You took me prisoner despite my honesty and openness and lack of aggressive intent towards you. Finally, you kidnapped me and locked me in a room despite having just rescued your Commander.
"Are you getting a good view of my position?"
Anderson sighed. "Yes, I understand where you are coming from but-"
"So ask yourself this: What would your people do if you were kidnapped by an alien force?"
"Err… Captain, there's a ship that is blocking the Mass Relay, they are claiming we have their erm… 'Emissary' captive and demanding that he be released."
Harry just smiled at the announcement over the speakers.
"The geth just wanted to make contact. That is why they sent me. Not very hospitable to keep me locked up now, is it?" Harry smarmily pointed out.
"But now you've got a ship threatening us." Shepard argued.
"No, we have a ship making demands. Your guy on the speakers didn't say anything about weapons." Harry pointed out.
"Joker, what is the status of the geth ship's weapons?" Anderson called out.
"Geth ship? Captain, there is only one ship out here and it doesn't look anything like a geth ship." Joker reported. "It looks like the Normandy and it hasn't powered up its weapons."
"The Normandy is a prototype." Shepard frowned as he moved to the lab's computer and brought up the sensor and camera readouts.
"It only looks like the Normandy. The geth decided that you wouldn't fire on a human looking ship without cause." Harry explained. "They won't take aggressive action unless you threaten them or me.
"Look, I am not a threat. I've already proven I'm an ally. I have been open and honest with you. Stop treating me like a prisoner and I will answer any questions I can. I was heading for the Citadel before the distress call so I can easily do it with you."
"What about that ship about there? You just happen to have an exact duplicate of one of the most advanced ships in the Alliance fleet?" Shepard asked as he indicated the image of the ship on the screen.
"Like I said, it only looks like the Normandy. The inside doesn't look anything like this ship. If you want we can go over and have a look." Harry offered.
Shepard and Anderson shared another look. "Very well Mr. Potter. We won't keep you locked up. We will have to assign you an escort though as you are a civilian and this is a military ship." Anderson agreed.
"Fine by me." Harry nodded.
"How did they know you were locked up?" Shepard asked.
"Erm… huh… apparently the geth in my head hacked your running lights and used them to signal my ship." Harry looked sheepish. "Sorry about that. I'll reconnect with the rest of the Geth network so they can track me directly."
"Captain there is an signal being sent and received from the ship located in the medical lab." Came Joker's worried report.
The Captain and Commander glared at Harry.
"At least you'll always know where I am." Harry shrugged. "Oh, and apparently the ship has additional data and downloads from Eden Prime if you want them."
"Can you at least get them to let us through the relay? We need to report back to the Council about the geth attack-"
"Heretic attack." Harry corrected the Captain.
"-Saren, Nihlus and the Prothean Beacon." Anderson finished as he ignored Harry.
"Captain, the ship has moved out of the way and they say they won't stop us."
"Take us through Joker." Anderson ordered.
"Roger."
"Commander, take Mr. Potter here and give him a brief tour. I'll oversee the Normandy docking."
It was unspoken that the Commander should grill Harry as much as possible without pissing him off.
"Aye Captain."
Harry watched the Captain exit the room. "So… you ask a question, I ask a question?" Harry offered.
"Fine. But I want Dr. Chakwas to give you a physical first."
"Aww." Harry whined. "I hate hospitals."
Harry was quickly introduced to the grey haired Alliance doctor.
"You're English!"
"And so are you." The doctor responded dryly.
"Yeah… sorry, it's just that all I've met so far are geth and Americans. It's nice to meet someone from home."
"You've met the Captain. He's from London." She pointed out.
"He is? He sounds American." Harry frowned.
"Mr. Potter needs a Physical. He claims to have several geth implants." Shepard interrupted.
"Geth? Were you captured and experimented on?" She asked as she patted the bed indicating Harry to lie on it.
"No, I just sort of… landed on their planet." Harry said unhappily.
"We could provide Chakwas Doctor with our files on your arrival and subsequent medical procedures."
"Yeah, just don't make me watch it again." Harry shuddered.
"Excuse me?"
"Sorry Mada- I mean Doctor. The geth were suggesting I give you a copy of the files and videos of what they did to me. It wasn't pretty."
"You can hear the 'geth' talking to you now?" She asked carefully.
"They use a small computer they installed in my brain. Most of which isn't my original brain though."
Chakwas pushed Harry back on to the bed and ran her scans.
"Well I'll be." She muttered. "This work is far more extensive and advanced than anything the Alliance can do. Even the salarians aren't this advanced."
"Why is his skeleton glowing?" Shepard asked.
"Because of the metal it is made of. His entire bone structure has been replaced with some form of super dense alloy."
"Yeah, they actually dropped me onto Eden Prime from orbit. Bloody terrifying." Harry grimaced.
"You survived an orbital drop? Without a pod?" Shepard asked with wide eyes.
"What's a pod?"
"Something's wrong here." Chakwas said quickly as she began tapping the screen. "The machine is being fed data from an outside source."
"Apparently the geth don't believe in asking permission." Harry said dryly. "They had hooked themselves into the medical computer so you can view the data collected by the nanites in my body."
"Nanites? You have fully functioning nanites?" Chakwas demanded.
Harry made a face of tasting something yucky. "They've also downloaded a copy of my medical files. If you are going to watch them, can I wait outside?"
"What? Yes, of course." She said quickly. "In fact both of you can go and I will view these privately. Mr. Potter is not a soldier and doctor/patient confidentiality applies."
Harry jumped off the bed and headed for the door… Shepard, left in his dust.
When the Commander realised that his charge had left him he quickly followed only to find Harry waiting outside calmly.
"Everything ok? The images can't be to bad."
"Commander, when you land on the ground from over four hundred feet and break every bone in your body then you can complain. I've had a lot of nasty stuff done to me… but watching a video of the Geth replacing my powdered bones with what's in here now is more than I can stomach.
"Speaking of which, I'm hungry. Any chance for some food?"
"Well, I am supposed to give you a tour. We can start here, with the mess." Shepard led him over to the food dispensers and helped Harry use the vending machines.
"So are you really over two hundred years old?" Shepard asked as they sat at one of the tables.
"No… I sort of travelled through time. One moment it was 1997 the next… 2183." Harry shrugged as he began to eat. "I don't suppose you know anyone who can use magic as opposed to biotics?"
"Magic?" Shepard asked with a smirk.
"That's what I thought." Harry sighed.
"So why were the geth attacking Eden Prime?"
Harry put his spoon and fork down and looked at the Commander steadily. "Alright, let me explain this to you clearly. Several years ago a very old machine, an AI in a huge ship, approached the geth. It offered to advance the geth beyond their current state.
"This offer split the geth into two groups. Those that wanted the advancement and those that felt it would be better to advance on their own terms.
"It doesn't help that the old machine wanted to eradicate all organics.
"The geth that joined the old machine split off from the main group and are now known as 'Heretics'. You cannot call them geth because it would be like referring to racists as the human species. They aren't. They are just a group of evil gits who happen to share the same body type… like Death Eaters and Nazis."
"Ok, then why did the heretics attack Eden Prime?" Shepard decided to humour his guest.
"Because of that beacon apparently. The leader of the Heretics is a turian named Saren Arterius. He needed the beacon for something to do with the old machines. I don't know what because the geth don't know. This was all they could find out from surveillance footage."
"There wasn't any surveillance footage." Shepard countered.
"There was, before the heretics wiped it. The geth hacked the systems from orbit as soon as we arrived. That Saren is a real creep. He shot that other turian in the back." Harry scowled.
Shepard noticed that Harry seemed to look into the distance. "You're watching the footage now? In your head?"
"Sure. It's kind of weird. I think the geth messed with my brain more than they have told me because I am sure it shouldn't be as easy as it is, I'm sure I shouldn't be as accepting of all this as I am."
There was a pause as Harry tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. "Apparently they added false memories and experiences that made me think I had been using this stuff for years. Once my brain had achieved 'sufficient levels of competence' they removed the memories.
"Is that what they call 'brain washing'? Oh, 'brain conditioning'. Much better." Harry said sarcastically.
"So why did the geth make you this Emissary?" Shepard asked as Harry continued eating.
"They believe that I was sent to them. In a way I agree. I did appear somewhat randomly on their planet."
"But why do they need an Emissary?" He pushed.
"Because they want to be with the quarians again. I think it is a mistake but they aren't the first creatures I've met who enjoyed serving." Harry sighed.
"But they attacked the quarians. They drove them off Rannoch."
"Actually the quarians attacked them. The geth were just defending themselves."
"Commander Shepard to the CIC."
"Should I just wait here?" Harry asked.
"No. Come with me, just don't touch anything and stand where I tell you to."
Shepard allowed Harry to enter the cockpit and watch as the Normandy docked. He hadn't seen many pictures of space and this was an incredible experience.
Once they had docked Captain Anderson led the Commander, Alenko, Williams and Harry onto the Citadel to meet with the human ambassador: Donald Udina.
The man was ranting at three holographic projections of a turian, asari and salarian.
It was clear that the three aliens considered the human nothing but a whining brat hardly worth their disdain. Eventually the transmission was cut and Udina turned his ire on Anderson and his group.
"I see you brought half your crew, Anderson." Udina sneered.
"Just the ground crew and Mr. Potter who has his own business on the Citadel and was instrumental in driving off the geth." Anderson remained firm and unyielding.
"A boy?"
Harry hated being called 'boy'. His Uncle called him that. The wizarding world made it his title.
"When you've destroyed several heretics and taken down numerous terrorists then you can dispute my age…old man." Harry glared at him.
"Wonderful." Udina said sarcastically as he turned back to Anderson. "Another barbarian. If it wasn't bad enough that Shepard destroyed a priceless prothean artefact you bring a civilian child mercenary."
"First of all, Shepard didn't destroy it. The beacon attacked him and then self destructed." Harry stepped into the man's personal space. "Secondly, I am eighteen years old and have never been paid for the work I do. I have never even been thanked for all the lives I've saved. So lose the bloody attitude or I'll give you a personal demonstration."
Shepard nudged Alenko who quickly pulled Harry back and behind the Commander.
Williams was fighting hard to control her smirk. She hated politicians as they were the driving force behind ruining her family name because of her grandfather's surrender during the First Contact War with the turians.
"Maybe we should try and stay on track." Shepard tried to play peacemaker. "If we can show the council our evidence we can prove that Saren was behind the attack."
"Fine." Udina was not happy at being deprived the opportunity to berate them some more. "Head to the Presidium Tower. The hearing is due to start in an hour."
Udina stormed out of the room.
"What. A. Child." Harry glared after him.
"Shepard I'll meet you outside the Council Chambers. Don't be long." Anderson said before leaving himself.
"That could have gone better?" Alenko sighed.
"Why? Because you have a mysterious ability to control other people's opinions?" Harry scoffed.
"What?"
"That was always going to go the way it did." Harry explained. "Udina is an arrogant git and the Council are a bunch of old condescending geezers."
"Potter is right."
"Call me Harry." Harry told the Commander. "Most of my life my name, 'Potter', has been used in a bad way."
"Alright, unless it's official." Shepard agreed slowly.
"You're just abandoning your family name?" Williams asked with a frown.
Harry looked at her curiously before he remembered the information he had downloaded on her. "This isn't because of something a family member did with good intentions and was then harassed about." Harry told her. "This is me personally been accused of everything and it was always: 'Potter this and Potter that'." He spat. "Only my friends called me Harry and it was always with affection and caring." He said in fond remembrance of Hermione and Hagrid.
"We should get moving sir. Might be a good idea to speak to someone in C-Sec too. The Asari Counsellor did say they were leading the investigation." Alenko suggested.
"Lets find out where they are then."
"Follow me." Harry said as a small icon appeared on his vision with a map of the local area.
"I thought you'd never been here before." Williams frowned.
"Haven't, but I've downloaded all the data I can for the Citadel. How do you think I know about your family?" Harry pointed out.
"Lets get moving if we are going to make it to the hearing on time." Shepard said as they headed out.
As they left the embassy offices Harry led the way down the stairs. He then noticed the asari at the receptionist's desk.
"You go on. I want to talk to the receptionist. I haven't talked to any aliens other than the geth yet. Just go up those stairs and take the first door on the left."
"Williams, stay with him." Shepard ordered.
"Aye Skipper."
Harry walked up to the blue skinned woman who looked up and smiled professionally. "Hi."
"Hello, how may I help you?" She asked.
"I was hoping you'd talk to me about some stuff. I'm completely new to all this stuff about aliens, space and advanced tech. I only learned it all existed a few days ago."
"Really?" She asked doubtfully.
"There was a whole mess of unusual events that led to me finding out."
She sighed. "Look, if you are looking for a thrill with an alien then go to Chora's Den or book an appointment with the Consort."
"Huh?"
"I'm not going to date you or have sex with you." She said irritably.
"But I don't want either of those things." Harry said in confusion. "I don't even know you. I was just looking to find out some stuff from an asari point of view."
"Asari point of view?"
"I've read all about your biology and culture. I know there are no male asari. All the sentient species I have read about so far have a mother and a father… even if there isn't any love or connection. I was wondering what the Asari think of the concept of dual genders and requiring two genders to pro-create?"
"I-" That one stumped the woman. "No one has ever asked that before. They always just question how we pro-create, they never ask our opinion on other species."
"Well… how about this, do you find male aliens to be more alien to you than female aliens? Take Williams here, I'm male and she is female. Do you find her easier to relate to than a man?"
She looked between the two thoughtfully. "I'd never really thought about it before but I suppose I do find her easier in some ways. She has breasts, softer features, similar reproductive structures… the only thing that makes us really different is human hair and skin colour… and the fact that you have lots of shades of skin colour." She admitted.
"Cool, do you mind if I ask something similar?" Harry grinned.
She gave a wry smile. "Go on, I'm curious as to what you want to know now."
"Well, asari don't have hair like you pointed out. Have you ever touched human hair and what does it make you feel? Is it pleasing, off putting, curious or what?"
"I have never touched human hair so I couldn't say."
"What about how it looks then?"
She frowned as she sat back in her chair and folded her arms and looked at them carefully. "It is… strange. The most physical contact I have had with humans is their custom of shaking hands and hugging."
"Hugging?"
"A lot of the male humans hug… don't they?"
Harry and Williams frowned. "No, they don't. And if they try to touch your breasts or ass file a complaint." Williams said as Harry nodded.
"File a complaint anyway." Harry said. "Listen, would you mind if we continue this another time? I'd like to report the fact that human males have been inappropriate to you to C-Sec."
"I- ok." She said slightly sick of the thought that she had been duped and used.
"Thanks, it's been great talking to you." Harry gave her a friendly smile before he stomped off to the stairs.
"I can't believe that jerks would try something like that." Williams scowled.
"Lets make sure they can't do it again." Harry said as he knocked on the door.
"Come in."
They found Shepard and Alenko standing in front of a turian seated at a desk.
"Wonderful. More humans." The turian said sarcastically. "What do you want?"
"You're the head of C-Sec right?" Harry asked.
"Yes."
"The asari receptionist downstairs, she's been taken advantage of by human males. I am filing a complaint on her behalf and I am requesting that a guard be placed downstairs for her protection."
"Why would humans report on other humans?" The turian, Executor Palin, asked.
"Because it's the right thing to do!" Harry said impatiently. "She didn't know that human males don't hug in greeting and they tricked her and used the opportunity to grope her. She didn't realise this was happening but that doesn't mean it is alright."
"This is a C-Sec matter, but I am not the person you should be coming to."
"She works closely with you. Perhaps she deserves the attention of the Executor." Harry countered reasonably. "She is much like an ally, making sure to filter who gets to see you."
"Fine. I won't lead an investigation but I will instigate it and have it reported to me." Palin agreed reluctantly.
"Thank you. So, did you answer the Executor's questions?" Harry asked as he turned to Shepard.
"Questions?"
"He's C-Sec, he's running the investigation into Saren, right? We are the ones with the evidence, isn't that how investigations work?" Harry asked in confusion.
"I already have the files from your ship and crew." Palin waved his three-clawed hand dismissively.
"'Kay, guess we'll see you up at the hearing."
"I'm sure I won't be needed."
Harry frowned and turned to leave. The others followed him curiously.
"Problem Harry?" Shepard asked as they headed down the stairs.
Harry gave the asari receptionist a reassuring nod before he turned left and out onto the walkway and towards the Presidium Tower.
"He could be a problem." Harry said cautiously. "He didn't seem all that interested in investigating. If he was then he would have asked us questions. Taken statements."
"I think he's torn between his dislike of humans and his hate and disdain for Spectres." Alenko offered.
"He doesn't like Spectres?" Williams asked.
"He doesn't like it when people are put above the law." Shepard clarified. "He thinks Spectres are a recipe for abuse of power."
"Well… he's not wrong, is he?" Harry shrugged.
They passed by lots of aliens as they headed to the tower. Harry really wanted to talk to some of them. Like the hanar who were floating jellyfish looking aliens. He was curious and wanted to know more.
He was also still suffering a bit of denial and couldn't shake the thought he was dreaming all of this.
Although it was more a matter of wishful thinking on his part.
Eventually they reached the base of the Presidium Tower and entered the lift to the top.
After a minute of riding Harry began to get restless.
"So… Williams… your armour is… pink." He smirked.
There was an audible growl from the dark haired soldier.
"No, it's just… light red." Shepard stifled a smile.
"Skipper!" Came the betrayed cry.
"Really? Because last I checked that was just a way of using more words to say… 'pink'."
"It's more politically correct to say 'light red'."
"Is it more 'politically correct' to make women wear pink?" Harry laughed.
"No, but there isn't a regulation about it. Why is your armour pink, Chief?" Shepard asked.
"Because it was the last armour available, that's why." She grumbled.
"Lucky for you guys we've arrived." Alenko smirked as he hastily headed through the opening doors of the lift.
Williams sent Shepard and Harry a glare before she stomped after him.
"We are going to pay for that." Shepard sighed.
"It's not my fault! The lift should have moved quicker." Harry said defensively.
The group of four made their way through the gardens that lined the stairs up to the Council meeting area where Anderson warned them they had already started.
"The geth attack is a matter of some concern. But there is nothing to indicate that Saren was involved in anyway." Harry's implants immediately identified the speaker as Tevos, the Asari Councillor. He was not impressed by what he was hearing.
"The investigation led by Citadel Security turned up no evidence to support your charge of treason." That was Sparatus, the Turian Councillor.
"An eye witness saw him kill Nihlus in cold blood!" Udina argued.
"We've read the Eden Prime report, Ambassador. The testimony of one traumatised dockworker is hardly compelling proof." Valern, the Salarian Councillor commented with an almost bored tone.
"I resent these accusations. Nihlus was a fellow Spectre. And a friend." The holographic projection of Saren was some twelve feet tall. Of course Harry was wondering why Saren wasn't here in person.
"That just let you catch him off guard!"
Harry was surprised that Captain Anderson was allowed to speak. He guessed that this was more informal than his own trial for miss-use of underage magic.
"Captain Anderson. You always seem to be involved when humanity makes false charges against me." There was an almost smug tone to Saren's comment. It reminded Harry of Lucius.
"And this must be your protégé, Commander Shepard. The one who let the beacon get destroyed." Saren taunted.
"Actually, it wasn't Commander Shepard's fault." Harry spoke up.
He was very nervous but he could see that they were about to be rail roaded like he was.
"The beacon self-destructed. I don't know if it was because you booby trapped it or because it was built to do that, but I know for a fact that Commander Shepard didn't even touch the beacon."
"Who are you?" Sparatus demanded.
"Harry Potter. I was there on Eden Prime and helped Commander Shepard and his team. I'm curious, why have you thrown out the video evidence?" He asked before the turian could respond.
"There was no video evidence." The Valern stated. "The geth wiped all data from the systems."
"Well, the heretics did. The geth downloaded the data as soon as they arrived. We gave copies to Udina." Harry turned to the Ambassador.
"We were unable to confirm the identity of this individual and didn't want to enter possibly tainted evidence." Udina admitted.
Harry moved to the screen in front of the human group. He stood there staring at it as instructed by the geth in his head until he was told otherwise.
"Where did this data come from?" Sparatus demanded angrily.
Harry looked up to see the images from various security cameras showing Saren working with the heretics, using the beacon and… shooting Nihlus in the back.
"These files were downloaded as the geth dropped me on the planet to help deal with the heretics." Harry explained.
"You were working with the geth?" The Asari asked in surprise.
"If I could explain on his behalf." Shepard spoke up. "According to Mr. Potter, the geth have split into two factions. Those working with Saren are known as the 'Heretics'. The rest have no interest in harming organics and just want peace."
"And you believe this fairy tale?" Sparatus scoffed.
"I don't believe in dismissing people out of hand." Shepard retorted a little heatedly.
"Does it matter? These images clearly show that Saren needs to be brought in." Anderson argued.
"These images have clearly been faked. If the human is really linked with the geth then he has access to advanced imaging techniques." Saren said dismissively.
"Why don't you add some proof that you weren't there?" Harry challenged.
"What?"
"We have images and eye witness testimony that you were there. Where are you right now? We can use that to at least determine if you could have been in the area based on your ships top speed and range." Harry was being fed the information by the geth based on his idea of making Saren prove his claim.
"There are thousands of ships within range of Eden Prime. Are you going to search them all?" Saren laughed mockingly.
"We aren't trying to prove they did it." Harry smiled. "We are trying to prove you did it. If we search your ship then we can prove either your guilt or your innocence. If you are innocent then you have nothing to hide."
"My work is top secret. I can't have you primitive humans-"
"Then have a group of Spectres do it. No one said a human had to. With an attitude like yours I'm sure you can't have many friends." Harry muttered at the end… unfortunately, whatever audio amplifications were used managed to pick it up.
"No other Spectres have been read in on my missions."
"Then read. Them. In!" Harry said sarcastically. He turned to the councillors. "Honestly, I thought Spectres were supposed to be smart. You don't have to arrest him, just call him in and search his ship. Have a team of Spectres run the investigation. They have the necessary clearance, right?"
"My current mission is time sensitive-"
"Then travel fast or hand your mission to another Spectre." Shepard countered.
"Enough." Tevos said sharply. "The humans are right. This matter can be resolved simply by verifying your own claims, Saren. Return to the Citadel for de-briefing. In the meantime we will attempt to authenticate these recordings. I will warn you that these recordings alone may not be enough. A secondary source would be better.
"This meeting is in recess. We will re-convene in two hours to determine the authenticity of the recordings provided by Harry Potter."
Harry sighed in relief.
"That was impressive, Potter." Anderson nodded in approval as they moved away from the platform for petitioners to the Council.
"That was damn near a disaster!" Udina argued. "Do you know how close we came to being accused of colluding with the geth!?"
"Based on what I saw, not very." Williams smirked.
Udina chose to ignore her. "And you, Anderson. Bringing you here was clearly a mistake. I should have known your history with Saren would be an issue."
"Look, we really don't have time to deal with your tantrum." Harry said quickly, he resisted the urge to smirk as Udina turned purple. "We have two hours to find additional evidence. My advice is to start with C-Sec. Try and see if they have anything else that can be used."
"That's a good start." Anderson agreed. "You should also try the volus, Barla Von. He works for the Shadow Broker."
"The volus are in charge of banking, right?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, grumpy little bastards." Williams scowled.
"Chief." Shepard said warningly.
"Sorry sir." She really didn't mean it though.
"I can check with him then. I need to see about money and stuff. Especially as I haven't been around for… far too long." After a year on the run with Hermione, Harry had learnt to think practically.
Although he still charged in like a Gryffindor.
"Williams, you can go with him."
"The C-Sec officer in charge of the investigation is a turian named Garrus Vakarian." Udina said authoritatively. "I have a contact in C-Sec named Harkin. He can track him down for you."
"Harkin is a drunk. He was suspended for drinking on the job. I won't trust him." Anderson declared.
"You won't be doing anything. I won't have the Council using your history with Saren against us." Udina was about as snooty as they come. If you weren't with him then you were just a waste of space.
"You can't just cut the Captain out." Shepard said heatedly.
"No, he's right. I'm too close to this." Anderson admitted defeatedly.
"Good. Anderson, meet me in my office in an hour." Udina ordered before he turned and strode off.
Harry glared at the man as he headed for the nearby rapid transport terminal. He then grinned for a second and waited as he stared at the terminal from a distance. Then he turned back to the others who were looking at him curiously.
He ignored their looks.
"So, Anderson. Udina is a git. A stupid git. As you have an hour, I have an idea of how you could be a part of this without exactly being part of this." Harry smiled.
"Oh?"
"I hope this doesn't involve fashion for women soldiers." Alenko groaned quietly.
"Saren isn't the only Spectre, right? Nihlus was one too. Why not try and find another Spectre and see if you can't convince them to investigate."
"He's right Captain. Only the Council and other Spectres have that sort of pull." Shepard agreed.
"Yes. Of course finding them won't be easy." Anderson mused as he rubbed his chin.
Harry stared at the man's arm and Anderson's omni-tool lit up.
"And now you know where a good few of the off duty ones are." Harry grinned.
"You can hack omni-tools?" Williams asked.
"Me? No. The geth can though and there are plenty of them in my head. But that was me just downloading a file to his omni-tool."
"We have a plan people. Let's get to it." Anderson ordered as they moved off.
The group walked past Udina who was still trying to get the rapid transport terminal to respond to him. They got to the lift and entered.
"What did you do to Udina, Harry?" Alenko asked knowingly.
"Me? Nothing!" Harry said innocently. "Although I may have asked the geth to lock him out of the rapid transport system."
"So he has to take the elevator like the rest of us grunts." Williams smirked.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear this." Anderson declared as he stifled a smile.
After a few minutes silence Harry got restless again.
"So, Williams."
"Oh god." Alenko groaned.
"What is the justification for pink armour?"
Williams glared at him as Shepard turned away to hide his own laughter and Anderson raised an eyebrow.
"Are there pink worlds out there where your armour is perfect camouflage? Or is it because you can blend in better with the battlefield blood?"
"I'm just a grunt." She growled sullenly. "I wear what they tell me to. I sleep where they tell me. I eat what they tell me to and I shoot what they tell me to.
"Captain, any immediate targets that need 'shooting' sir?" She asked as she snapped to attention.
"Not at the moment Chief." Anderson said with an amused smile. He turned back to Harry. "It is actually designed to put civilians at ease around soldiers who are deployed to colonies. Lots of soldiers in black tend to be fairly intimidating. Varying colour schemes were introduced to make things more friendly."
"Huh… I don't remember seeing many colours of armour back on Eden Prime. I guess your CO must have thought you had the… right type of personality." Harry grinned.
"Sir-"
"At ease soldier." Anderson said as seriously as he could, despite the Chief's begging expression.
"Thank god!" Alenko gasped as he quickly dived out of the opening lift doors.
"Oi! Aren't you supposed to wait for your superiors to leave first?" Harry called out.
The lieutenant blushed. "Erm… just checking the area for hostiles sir."
"Glad to know I won't be attacked by that shifty looking shrub." Anderson said dryly. "Shepard, Potter, I'll see you both back at the hearing." He said be for he marched off.
Harry was sure he heard the man's deep voice chuckling.
"Chief, try not to get Harry killed." Shepard instructed. "Or kill him." He added as an after thought.
A/N: Anyone who has played the games knows the hell that is the elevator ride. The conversation though was based on both a long running gag in Red vs Blue and a conversation I have never been able to have replayed between Tali and Ash during those rides.