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Smile
It had always bothered Garrus that her last words were to someone else, to someone who didn't care about her as much as he did. He knew it sounded dumb and selfish, but it was very much true.
Her pictures were everywhere at first, all over Citadel Space, reminding everyone what a hero they had lost. In the beginning, he couldn't stand to see her face. None of the crew could. The photo they used was staged, with a tired smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. It was a startling reminder that they had all lost a comrade, a lover, a best friend. People eventually gave them their respect and stopped giving their condolences, instead replacing it with a mere sad look. That was the worst part, Garrus remembered. All of the people and their sad looks, each one more painful to deal with than the last.
It was ironic that her death did not deal with combat of any kind, even though she had looked death in the face many times before. What was supposed to be an easy search mission was the one that brought everything to a close. After the crew of the SSV Normandy had destroyed Saren, destroyed Sovereign, and fought one of the battles that defined history, they had been disintegrated by a simple attack they should've seen coming a mile away.
He can still clearly see Joker setting foot outside of that emergency shuttle. Alone. Even with all of the chaos surrounding them, the entire mass of people, both Alliance and non-Alliance, fell quiet.
Alenko had come out of nowhere, throwing himself into Joker's face. "Where is she?!" he screamed. "WHERE IS SHE?" His voice shattered the veil of silence, bouncing off of what seemed like every surface in the Citadel.
Joker couldn't even lift his head to look Alenko in the eye. "She's… she's gone."
---
Garrus shot merc after merc, taking his anger out with a trigger-happy talon.
There was one over to left behind that crate, and another to the right slightly, trying to hide behind a doorframe unsuccessfully. Within two minutes, both were down on the ground, their lifeless eyes looking to the ceiling.
He never understood the merc organizations or their need for credits and black market items, but then again, he figured they probably never understood the Council or any of their laws, either. The river in the Terminus Systems ran both ways, and it ran deep.
---
His father had always said "Do things right or don't do them at all." In the beginning, he had taken after his father, adopting the mantra as his own. He had joined up with C-Sec, and as he rose in the ranks, his father's pride had also. "Like father, like son," many had said of him. Garrus laughed to himself.
If only his father could see him now.
After she had died, he had gone to Omega , the most wretched place anyone had ever heard of. It was known to house criminals and be the setting of horrible crimes, and he was determined to bring it down. He figured that if he and a few good people could take down Saren and Sovereign, then it would be even easier to take down idiots who didn't know what the word 'government' meant.
For a few months, he had quietly gathered a team, much like Shepard had. Then all hell broke loose as they introduced themselves to town. The joy of never knowing what would happen next reminded Garrus of old times, taking out a legion of geth before moving on to the next planet.
The only thing different was that he didn't have a best friend to laugh with, to share stories with, to be himself with. He was always 'archangel' to these guys, never Garrus.
He remembered seeing different members of the old crew as they made pit stops to check up on him. He hated, no, he was envious how they talked about her so freely, sometimes even smiling. They'd joke about old times, and while everyone was laughing, he'd give a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
One particular evening, right before the ship was taking off, Joker had come up and stood beside him, before looking out into the deep dark abyss of space. After a few moments of silence, the short little human had turned to him and said, "Garrus, we're all hurting. We all miss her like crazy, and we know it sucks that she's not around to keep us in line anymore. But we're not letting it rule our lives."
Garrus had shaken his head before sighing, "The ship's about to take off, Joker. You better get on it."
"Garrus. We're not letting it rule our lives." It was one of the few times the human pilot wasn't smiling.
"It's hard. Her not being here, I mean." The turian's voice had gone an octave lower as he stared at the ground. "I didn't even know it was possible she could die. It never crossed my mind before."
"Believe me, I know. I know."
---
Garrus looked down the barrel at another merc, talon on the trigger. As he pulled it, the merc moved slightly to the left, therefore the bullet that was supposed to be lodged inside of his head by now bounced off the floor with a loud crack.
He had thought about pulling the trigger on himself before. Once, he had gotten the gun right up between his mandibles, ready to end it all. His eyes had strayed over to the only picture he had of her. It was one of the rare photos that actually made her look caring instead of a psycho Commander bitch. Her arm was slung around Garrus' shoulder casually, her smile reaching her eyes as the sun glinted through her soft hair. The turian had been looking off to the side somewhere, not even noticing the picture being taken. That was its best quality: the fact that it was candid. It hadn't been staged or forced upon her like so many others; instead it had been taken in a moment that just defined Shepard herself.
His hands had shaken slightly as he loosened the grip on the gun before letting it fall to the ground. His head hung low as thoughts raced through his mind.
She would've never wanted him to be that way. To end his life that way.
---
Suddenly Garrus heard emerging gunfire coming from across the bridge. He readied his sniper rifle once again, getting prepared for the next wave of mercs. The door clicked open and three small figures ran out, dressed slightly different than the previous fighters. Before he could get in a decent shot, they dashed, hiding behind some crates in the back.
He sighed, muttering himself, "Got to take the long road, huh." He looked down the long scope of the gun, noting where they were hidden before turning his attention to some other mercs across the room.
As he got ready to shoot again, finger on the trigger, he saw a wave of blue light and suddenly the group of Blue Suns were no more.
"What the hell? Who the fuck are these people?" he thought as he turned to look back at the place they had previously hidden. His scope caught the sight of armor and he pulled the trigger hard, hoping that'd take care of the problem. Instead, his bullet ricocheted off their shield and ended up somewhere in the rafters.
More blue light filled the room as Garrus realized they were fighting with him, not against him. Another merc hit the floor and a few shots had finished it off. The small group was on the move again, getting closer to the staircase that lead upstairs.
After a while of keeping the mercs at bay, he heard a familiar sounding voice yell, "Archangel!" with just the slightest bit of fear.
The turian's eyes opened wide as he realized who it was. Turning around, he saw the familiar face of Shepard staring back at him. Not quite believing what was going on, he sat down on a crate as he took off his helmet.
The Commander didn't look much different then when he has seen her last. She had the same eyes, that rare smile she had when she knew she caught someone, and her familiar swath of hair was hidden beneath her helmet. But there were some definite changes, too, such as the scars running along her cheek bone, the Cerberus clothing she was wearing, and while she had the same eyes, they looked more tired than usual. But it didn't matter because it was still her. As she saw who it was, she lowered her weapon, along with the other two people she was with.
"Shepard." He spoke cautiously, but with hope.
A smile crossed her face, reaching her eyes.
Suddenly, it didn't matter so much that her last words weren't spoken to him.
fin
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