All of her limbs ached. Her eyes were crusted shut and she had to wipe them. The smell of antiseptic was strong, and the faint beep of a monitor was sounding in the background. Where am I. She pulled away the bed sheets and tried to get up but all her muscles went limp. A female voice echoed from the hallway and Shepard could only deduce some of what she was saying. "She's unstable, we haven't even completed the process. How can you expect me to..." A gruff masculine voice cut her off. "I don't care how you do it, just get it done quick." Footsteps faded as they walked away. The process? What were they talking about. A woman in a white apron walked into the room. She had wispy grey hair and wrinkled skin. Shepard could hear the clicking from her typing on a computer. She moaned, every joint in her body was only pain. The woman turned around. "Ah Shepard, you're awake." She had pulled a needle from a tray and filled it with some liquid. No way is she getting near me with that. Shepard squinted he eyes into a cold glare and the doctor flinched. "Don't worry, it won't hurt." As the glinting metal of the needle came closer, Shepard held the doctors arm away. She was frail and easy to push. She tripped and fell back against the shelf knocking all sorts of jugs and bottles filled with various coloured liquids. Shepard mustered all the strength she had and pulled herself out of the bed. The sound of crashing bottles had alerted nearby doctors, who had ran in to see what had happened. They had quite a shock to see Shepard on her feet, and the old doctor on the floor. Three sharp needles appeared in their hands, as if by magic, but Shepard evaded them and knocked them flat. Military training bested medical. She ran down the hall, her feet slapping against the hard surface. She was only wearing hospital bottoms and a vest. Head turned as she flew past and quite a few angry doctors were chasing her. They weren't as fast as her though and she sped past. This place wasn't familiar to her, she didn't have a clue where to go and and there were two turnings up ahead. Right, turn right. It's your lucky direction. She wove around people, dodging them as they just stood their in shock. Was there any way out of this hellhole?
Suddenly she was knocked over from behind, two large hands secured her arms. Shepard breathed in deeply before letting her feet kick back into the mans gut. "Shit!" She used the opportunity and sprinted away, leaving him out of breath on the floor. All the sounds of talking, beeping and shouting were muffled as Shepard buzzed past, the adrenaline thumping in her ears. Her eyes were blurry, the doctor had said she hadn't finished the process... Process. She was focused in though that she didn't see a huge tray of medical items a few metres away. There was a loud thump and lots of smashes and she collided with the tray. Her knuckles and elbows were bleeding and she wiped them off. A few people from behind had started staring. Their icy stares... Shepard placed her hands on the floor and pushed herself off the ground.
Everyone chasing her seemed to have disappeared, maybe lost her? So why run? It will only draw more attention. Attention was her enemy now. Too many cold glares, judging stares. They'd stop staring if I showed them a piece of me! She thought. Walking down the hallway, she saw an exit? Possibly an exit. She quickened her pace, eager to leave this... This place. She was about to walk out the door when a hand on her shoulder stopped her. "Oof." Her fist had blown into his chest. She lifted another, ready to knock him to the floor, but somehow he intercepted her. How... How is that possible? No-one has been able to do that. She couldn't tell who it was, her sight wasn't working well enough, but she could tell he was tall, towering over the majority. He pinned her against the wall. Se could feel his warm breath on her. "Miss Commander Shepard, am I right?" That voice...ever so cheeky but serious at the same time. Could it be? "G-Garrus? Is it really you!?" Her whole body tingled, the best face to recognise first. "Oh, I missed you and your 'heroic' ways." He whispered, half playfully, half truthful. His three fingers stroked her hair, smoothing it down. "You don't know how glad I am to have you back." He murmured into her head. His rough skin rubbed against her cheek, but it wasn't horrible. "Garrus, you don't know how glad I am to be back."
Their arms entwined and they both just stood quietly, staring into each others eyes. Garrus' eyes were the colour of ash, but twinkled in the light, his jagged skin was dark, with a pale scar running down the side. On Omega, when he was hit by a rocket. It was good to be back.