Emma sat at the bar in Flux, tossing back her fourth drink. It was a mixture of vodka and some turian alcohol that made her head spin as it went down. She wanted nothing more than to forget about Horizon; she wanted to forget everything Kaidan had said to her. She wanted to forget about Kaidan completely.

Garrus climbed the steps to Flux and entered the night club, spotting his Commander at the bar. She was easy to find, her Cerberus casuals and fiery red hair making her a sore thumb in a room full of evening wear and dancing. He had heard from Miranda what had happened on Horizon, and wanted to lend a shoulder if one was needed.

She was pointing down into her glass for another when she caught sight of Garrus approaching. Her head buzzed as she felt happiness fill her at the sight of him. Garrus was her only friend. He was always there for her, despite any differences they had, which really, there were none.

Garrus was accustomed to walking the straight and narrow from working at C-Sec for so long. At first, he found his recent vigilante-justice-freedom stance was hard to adapt too. Emma smiled at the memory of seeing him again on Omega, fighting off three sects of mercenaries all on his own. He'd obviously come to terms with that pretty quick.

"Garrus, what're you doing here?" she asked, eyeing the drink being poured into her glass as he sat down next to her.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, "I just came to make sure you weren't completely drowning yourself."

She leaned into his hand and smiled. "I'm fine. Just relaxing, you know?" She leaned away from him as she lifted the cup to her lips and finished the drink in two gulps. She clenched her eyes shut as she swallowed, feeling her head spin and the heat of the drink slide down her esophagus.

Garrus smirked. "How many of those have you had, now?"

"Five."

He nodded. "Right. What is she drinking?" he asked the bartender.

"Vodka Tereal. You want a Tereal?" she asked Garrus with a flirty smile.

"Tereal?" he looked at Shepard, his eyes slightly widened. "You've had five of these, Shepard? You gave her five of these?" he glowered at the bartender.

Emma nodded. She smiled up at him, "Call me Emma, Garrus. We're friends, right?" she placed a hand on his arm.

He shook his head as he laughed at the drunken smile on her face, his anger at the bartender fading into amusement. "You prove to be tougher every damn day, Emma. I'll have one, please," he answered the bartender. "Most humans would be out cold or dead having had that much Tereal." He glanced down at Emma's hand on his arm.

Emma shrugged, "I'm not most humans," she pulled her hand back into her lap.

He frowned at her words. She spoke sadly, not proudly. "What do you mean?"

"Commander Shepard?" the bartender's mouth dropped in surprise as she immediately recognized her, "I had no idea!"

"It's nothing," Emma eyes lifted to the bartender. She wore her Commander's face that told the woman to leave it as it was.

She nodded. "I understand. You just want to relax," she gave Emma a wink. "Well drinks are on the house, Commander."

Emma smiled drunkenly at the bartender after securing that she wouldn't have to be Commander Shepard right then. "Thank you Raiyna."

"Anything for you," she flirted as she moved across the bar to help another drunken soul.

Garrus turned in his seat to face Emma. He watched her rub her face with both of her hands as she sighed deeply. He was worried about her. "What's going on, Shepard?"

"What'd you mean Garrus?" she looked at him with a smile. "Nothing's wrong. We're sharing a drink together. Are you enjoying your drink?" she asked. She turned in her seat to face him, the two almost touching knee's.

He looked down at the blissfully happy look on her face as she talked to him. It made him warm up inside to know she was so happy to see him, but the reason for her drunken state brought him back to reality. "Shepard-"

"Emma. Call me Emma," her expression darkened only for a split second as she reiterated that he call her by her name again.

He frowned. "Emma. Why are you doing this to yourself?"

"Doing what?" she scoffed. She was growing irritated with her friend.

"I know you're upset about Kaidan, but-"

Emma's brow furrowed angrily, "Kaidan? You came down here to talk about him?"

Garrus paused at her sudden anger. As he looked into the fire in her eyes, he felt small and uneasy at provoking her. But he reminded himself of how she must feel. To her, all of this was like waking up from a night's sleep. In reality, it was two years later for everyone else except her. In her mind, she had just hit the release on Joker's escape pod just as the Collector's blew apart the Normandy...

"He does care for you, Emma-"

"Does he?" she growled at Garrus; her memories of the Normandy falling apart before her eyes, the dead bodies of the crew she couldn't save, the air she so desperately had gasped for as she died... it all fueled her rage. "How do you know that?"

Garrus frowned, "Because he loves you. He lost everything when he lost you." He couldn't help but quickly relate to the words he spoke on Kaidan's behalf. When Emma was lost on the Normandy, Garrus felt like the part of him that was connected to anything had disappeared. He'd lost touch with his purpose in galactic space without her there to fight by his side.

Emma's scowl deepened. "If that was true, he wouldn't have left me there. He wouldn't have walked away from me." Her eyes began to brim with tears. "I don't want to talk about this. I just want…" her voice broke.

"Oh, Emma," he regretted bringing Kaidan up with every fiber of his being at the tears in her eyes. He watched as she sucked in her sorrow, not knowing what to do. He awkwardly held out an arm and placed it on the back of her shoulders, gently rubbing her shoulder with his talon-ed hand to try and comfort her.

She slid willingly into his arm as she choked back her tears. She didn't want to cry. Not when everyone was looking to her to save the galaxy. She had to be strong for everyone.

"I'm sorry. I didn't come here to upset you." Garrus hugged her to him.

Emma rested her cheek on Garrus' shoulder and felt safe and happy at the feeling of his arm around her. She calmed, and enjoyed the moment of feeling taken care of by her friend. She began to feel excitement rise up in her chest at the seemingly Kodak moment she was having with Garrus. They were friends, but not really the affectionate kind. But it wasn't because she didn't want to be. She clenched her eyes shut as her thoughts overwhelmed her.

Garrus never questioned her, she thought to herself. When he found out she was on Omega looking for Archangel, not knowing it was him, he was more than happy to see her again. He was grateful to know she was alright. That was all he needed. He was happy enough to know that in the end, she was alright.

Her mind began to spin from all the alcohol. She lifted herself from him but grabbed him gently under the arm to keep him close. She looked up at him and deep into his eyes. She wanted to see if she could find feeling's for her in them somwhere.

Garrus looked back down at Emma and smiled. Unbeknownst to her, she was smiling up at him with her big, doe-y eyes and it made him chuckle. She was the fiercest human being he had ever met, and here she was, drunk, giving him bedroom eyes. What made it hit home was how much he wished she wasn't drunk at that moment. He wished this was real.

"I think we should get you back up to your quarters, Emma," he squeezed her shoulder.

In the split second before he spoke, she saw it. She caught a flicker of how much he cared for her and it forced a grin to her lips.

"Thank you," she continued to hold on to his arm. She wanted him to know she meant everything she was saying through her drunkenness. "You are all I have left, Garrus."

Garrus smiled at her words, his smile turning to laughter at the belch Emma let out. It was quiet, but funny nonetheless.

"Ohh god I drank those too fast," Emma brought a hand to her head.

"C'mon," Garrus stood and wrapped an arm around her middle, lifting her from her chair.

She leaned into him heavily, having not stood up for a good 30-40 minutes whilst she filled herself with turian alcohol. "Oh wow. I'm really fucked up," she said with a chuckle.

Garrus laughed too, "Aren't we all?"

Emma smiled as she let him practically carry her out of the bar.