Chapter 1

"You utterly infuriating, ludicrous, thickheaded woman! May the spirits curse you were ever born!" Garrus fumed while putting bullets through everything that moved. He was going to kill her if it was the last thing he did!

Kasumi had giggled when Garrus tensed up and let slip a subvocal growl, the turian equivalent of muttering or cursing under once breath, when Shepard charged into battle and disappeared around the nearest corner. The thief then proceeded to sparklingly evaporate into thin air, as was her custom, only to reappear in a rain of blood as she slit some poor schmucks' throat. The mere thought of that annoying thief having fun at his expense made Garrus mood worsen significantly. Especially when he had every right to be angry in the first place. Spirits he just got Shepard back! And now she seemingly made it her mission to disappear on him… Again!

"Must she charge out of sight at everything from husks to atlases?!" he thought "Must she give me an aneurysm every damned battle!" He lined up a headshot and watched through his scope as the head of the merc exploded in a brilliant cascade of red mist.

Since coming back to the land of the living Shepard had taken to the bad habit of never pausing to see if her team kept up with her. No, she just charged on ahead and left her team scrambling to pick up the slack, weather they were able to or not.
Sure Shepard was a brilliant vanguard and thrived in close-quarter-combat but she was just as deadly in long-range battles and didn't have to hand-to-hand it with every enemy they crossed.

Shepard was, as far as Garrus' and many others knew, the only vanguard favoring sniper-rifles over submachine-guns and shotguns and she also was a more powerful biotic than most vanguards with a knack for biotic flares, slams and reaves.
Seeing her wipe an entire room of mercs out in a couple of seconds was quite breathtaking and awe-inspiring but Garrus just could not wrap his head around the fact that the Commander no longer seemed to have any inkling of instinct towards self-preservation. The worst part of it all was that no one, other than himself seemed to think that was a problem! They all just let her charge off without even battering an eye, never vocalizing any complaints or stress the dangers of such behavior. Garrus' blood was boiling at this point and the subvocal growl had built to a constant low menacing thrumming.

As the last merc went down Garrus and Kasumi quickly followed Shepard. It was just a simple matter of following the usual trail of dead bodies and mayhem the Commander always seemed to leave behind. They caught up with her in time to hear her cornering a merc about the whereabouts of their latest recruitment goal, Thane Krios.

"You've got two ways down, express or coach." she said matter-of-factly. "Your choice." she continued, following the merc who were steadily backing up due to her close proximity. When he stood flush up against the window Shepard closed in until she was only inches away from his face. The merc tried to be smart and ran his mouth at her, dead certain his companions would come running any second to deal with his problem. Shepard frowned, poked him in the chest with an index finger, told him it was the wrong answer and shoved the poor delusional guy out the window.

"Bye bye…" they heard her snicker as the mercs' fading screams echoed through the newly broken window. Shepard nonchalantly turned around like she hadn't just pushed a guy out a 50 story building and greeted her team with a wide grin.

"Took you long enough!" she said snarkily, spinning on her heel to move towards their destination again.

"Well some of us actually have to work so the likes of you can run off and play." Kasumi retorted cheerfully attaching a snicker on the end as she bumped the Commanders shoulder playfully.

"Aww, all work and no play, poor little thief." Shepard mocked with a slight chuckle.

Before the accident… attack… well, death of Shepard, Garrus was normally at the receiving end of such playful banter. But he just, was not able to do it anymore, not when she seemed hell-bent on getting back to being dead.

"Would you to get your heads in the game!" he snapped when they readied themselves for the battle to cross the narrow bridge connecting their office-building with the one they wanted to get to. The bridge held an unspoken promise of wave after wave of mercs and commandos at the least.

"Geez, someone has their fringe in a twist." Shepard huffed in annoyance and rolled her eyes at him, like he was hampering her game, and it irked him to no end. Before he could retort or even react he saw that grin spreading wide on her lips. She glanced at him from the corner of her emerald eyes, eyes that now sparkled with mischief and in a wave of familiar blue, she was gone. There were no curses in any tongue Garrus' knew that would fit the rage he felt towards Shepard in that moment.

"I am going to kill you!" he hissed at the blue trail of Shepards biotic charge. Seething in his own anger he perched himself at the highest point he could find and began picking of enemies at a frightening pace. The black widow with the state of the art high velocity barrel-mod and top of the notch scope was a joy to handle, it had been a gift from Shepard and any other day of the week he would have been euphoric.

He had found her standing in the main battery fidgeting when he came back from his meal in the mess one day. She'd looked up, straightened her clothes and announced she had a surprise for him.

"Only the best is good enough for my best friend!" she said in that warm tone of voice as she flashed him a brilliant smile. A strong, warm hand with entirely too many fingers had wrapped itself around his left wrist as she pulled him towards his workbench.
He had been lost for words as he laid eyes on the beautiful weapon. He didn't even notice the armor stacked beside his bench as he reverently stroked the black metal for a second before withdrawing his fingers as if it burned him and snapped his slack-jawed head to the tiny woman beside him. She was bouncing up and down, making a lock of her fiery hair dislodge itself from her ponytail and fell over her cheek. Her impossibly green eyes sparkled with childish excitement as a goofy grin was spread across her face while she held her hands clapped together at her chest, awaiting his response.

"You're kidding?!" was the only thing the very awed Garrus' had been able to say before she had launched herself at him. Arms in a vice grip around his neck, her face nuzzling his healthy cheek slightly before letting out that childish laugh reserved for her most trusted friends. He had barely hugged her back before she pressed her lips gingerly to his mandible. And just as quick as she had been in his arms she was backing away again. To his own surprise he felt a sting of sadness as she backed out of his personal space.
He was vaguely aware that he was silently staring at her in shock, dumbfounded and still slack-jawed. Shepard fired off a blinding smile at him again, gesturing towards the weapon again.

"You like it?"

"Like? You kidding?! Is that a trick question?" he managed to splutter out in his dazed state. He didn't know what shocked him more, the gift which must have cost a small fortune, her hug and, or…kiss… Or maybe what really stunned him was his own reaction at her display of affection.
He knew he cared for her. Enough so that her death had made it unbearable to stay anywhere Shepards warnings were being distorted and corrupted to fit the nonsense the Counsel was spouting. Enough to make him a shadow of his own self according to his family. But to react this strongly? His entire being wanted nothing more than to grab this woman by the waist onto the workbench and have his way with her. The pang of disappointment in his gut as she had left his embrace was disconcerting to say the least.
"I'm still in chock she's alive." he rationalized with himself. It must be the cause, right?

She blabbered excitedly about the mods she had bought him and the speed of her speech rivaled that of Mordins as her obsession with guns made itself evident.
Suddenly she quieted and turned to him, scope in one hand and high velocity barrel-mod in the other. A spark of uncertainty crossed her eyes as they met his and he realized that he had been quiet and hadn't moved a muscle since she had released him from her embrace. He shook himself mentally and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"I…" he began "I don't know what to say." he continued truthfully and rubbed one hand behind his neck, embarrassment clear in both his voice and body-language.

"Well a 'thank you' will go a long way." she chuckled. "I also got you a new set of armor. You know since your current one is…" Shepard trailed off as a shadow fell over her. She lowered her head and turned away from him.

"Hey." Garrus put a hesitant hand on her shoulder "I'm not going anywhere."

"Yeah…" was her answer.

A pregnant silence spread around them like a heavy blanket for a minute before she turned back to him, all trace of sadness wiped from her face.
"I'll let you get familiar with your new baby." she blinked at him and started walking out of the main battery.

"Hey." he called out as the door whooshed open. "Thanks." She turned to look at him, smiled that heart-melting smile and proceeded to walk away.