This fic is just a short one-shot that follows on from my other two stories about my canon Shepard, Teagan, and her relationship with Garrus. The first, Home, was completed almost a year ago now, and the final chapter of its sequel Where You Belong went up last month. This fic meant to take place about a week after the end of the latter, but before the events of the Arrival DLC have taken place. It might have worked as an epilogue to that story, but since I'd already marked Where You Belong as complete, I decided to post it separately. Also, it links up with the plots of both Home and Where You Belong so it makes some sense for me to keep it on this site as a separate piece.

Given how it follows on from those two stories, it will obviously spoil major plot elements of both of them.

I wrote this partly for fun, and because I wanted to explore Kasumi's character a bit more, but reviews are both welcome and very much appreciated. I know I've said this before, but I'm still trying to improve as a writer so feedback is always of great help to me.

Anyway, onto the story…

...

The sound of footsteps approaching the main battery captured Garrus' attention, luring it away from the glowing orange text on the console in front of him. He immediately whirled round to face the door, presuming that Teagan was on her way to see him. Since they'd become engaged she'd taken to visiting his quiet little enclave while he was working even more frequently than she had done before. Sometimes she dropped by for a brief chat with him. Sometimes she simply came in, pressed her soft lips against his cheek and then disappeared again. Such behaviour was hardly becoming of a starship Commander, but he really didn't give a damn about that and clearly neither did she. Her visits added a little bit of colour into the grey monotiny of even the dullest of days until both their shifts were over and they could be alone together in her quarters again.

This time, however, when the door to the main battery slid open he came face to face with Kasumi, the Normandy's resident master thief and gossip, instead of her.

If it had been Teagan as he'd expected, he would have likely strode across the room and pulled her into his arms. As it was Kasumi, he simply stayed put in front of the console and waited rather stiffly for her to approach him. He'd fought side by side with her on hundreds of missions, they'd even been stranded on a planet together for two days, but they never really met alone in this way.

He liked and respected her well enough of course, and was grateful to her too for the role she'd played in helping to get him and Teagan together. Her meddling had been rather...obvious at the time but he'd been happy not to question her actions too closely. A wise decision, one of the best he'd ever made in fact, given the good things it had led to for him. However, they could still not be said to be close friends. They'd simply never tried to establish that sort of relationship. After all, few people would expect a former cop and a self-confessed kleptomaniac to form a firm a bond with each other.

Why she would suddenly decide to make the trip across the mess hall to visit him today was a mystery, and her simple statement of "Garrus" as she drew up to him did little to shed light on the situation.

"Uh...hi, Kasumi," he said.

She smiled at him from beneath her hood, making the air of perpetual amusement that seemed to hover around her become even thicker than usual. "Are you busy, Garrus?" she asked. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything important."

"No, no," he said because anything else would have been a complete lie. True, he had been doing calibrations for most of the morning and afternoon, but at some unknown point he'd lost his concentration and begun to search the extranet for information on Citadel wedding venues. "What brings you all the way down here Kasumi?"

"I wanted to congratulate you."

"Okay. That's, uh, nice of you. What exactly are you congratulating me for?"

"For getting engaged to Shepard of course."

Whatever sort of reaction she'd been expecting her words to illicit from him, the one they received was pure shock. He stared at her, his mouth open, his mandibles flaring, and for a moment he wasn't quite able to speak.

His engagement to Teagan was a good thing. A very good thing. Thoughts of it were capable of driving everything dark from his head. Even his worst memories from Omega had lost some of their power over him since she'd agreed to become his wife. However, both he and Teagan had decided that it was best to keep the new development in their relationship quiet for a while. They weren't planning to marry for some time and they didn't want to needlessly disrupt the crew. Everyone on board knew they were together of course. Hell, thanks to the photo of them that had made its way into the press most of the rest of the galaxy did too, but that didn't mean it was a good idea for the entire Normandy crew to instantly be informed of just how serious their relationship now was. His own family didn't even know yet.

Plus, he had to admit that he'd sort of enjoyed the engagement being a secret that only the two of them were privy to. Something that they could only discuss when they were shut off from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the ship, cosy and content together.

Now Kasumi knew though, it wasn't just their little secret anymore.

"I…don't understand," he finally said. "How did you even find out that we're engaged?" We both agreed it was best not to tell anyone yet."

Her smile widened. "I noticed the ring."

"Oh..."

Even though Teagan had been wearing it almost constantly on a chain around her neck – something which greatly pleased him - he hadn't thought anyone would notice it. Unless there was no one but him there, she kept it hidden under her armour or uniform. He'd come to love pulling all the layers of clothing off her at the end of each day until the shining silver band and purple stones were revealed to him again.

"That was...very observant of you, Kasumi," he said.

"Well, because of my profession I tend to notice little details. I saw the outline of the ring under her uniform right after we all came back from shore leave. I probably wouldn't have thought much of it except she seemed to be wearing it all the time. I asked her just a few minutes ago whether you'd brought her anything recently and she told me the truth. All about you getting down on one knee and everything. That was a nice touch by the way."

"Uh…thank you."

"It's a lovely ring as well, Garrus. Shep showed it to me before I came up here. You have surprisingly good taste for a turian. I thought you guys were all about boring smooth lines."

"I did my best to get something she would like and I'm, ah, glad you think it's nice too, but, look, please don't tell anyone else on the crew about any of this. We'll let them know at some point, but not yet. We're not planning to actually get married anytime soon anyway."

"Shepard already told me not to say. She gave me one of her little lectures."

"Good. My family don't know at the moment and it would be pretty weird if the entire crew of a starship found out before them."

Unlike the crew, he and Teagan were planning to let them know soon though. He was actually quite looking forward to telling his mom and Solana, but he needed a little more time to prepare for the storm of acrimony that might follow on from his father finding out. Hopefully given the little bit of progress they'd recently made in their relationship, he would take it okay, but Garrus couldn't be sure.

"Don't you trust me, Garrus?" Kasumi asked, but there was mischief, rather than any hurt in her voice.

On the battlefield, yes, he trusted her. He also trusted that her friendship with Teagan, and even with him, was genuine. Whether he trusted her with a massive piece of gossip, however, was far more open to question. Most rumours that circulated through the Normandy could ultimately be traced back to her and his engagement to Teagan was big news whatever way you looked at it.

"I guess so," he said finally.

"Your trust is well placed. I promise I won't tell anyone that Shepard's making an honest man of you. Or even drop subtle little hints."

"Thank you, Kasumi."

"No problem, Garrus. I'll just gossip about other things until you and Shep let the cat out of the bag. So…are you looking forward to tying the knot?"

"Yeah, I am. I still can't believe she said yes sometimes."

"I can. You make her very, very happy, Garrus."

"Thank you," he said, and he really did feel grateful towards her. Teagan might not have any family for him to win approval from, but at least it was clear that he'd received the official sanction of her closest female friend. He'd definitely got off easy considering all the strife Teagan had been put through by his father and sister on Palaven.

"No need to thank me, Garrus. I meant what I said."

"You can come to the wedding you know, Kasumi. Whenever it actually ends up taking place."

"Shepard invited me earlier, but it's nice to hear it from you too."

"Well, we both know you'll probably turn up even without an invitation. We may as well make it official."

"You got me." She laughed. "Hey, I have an idea; I know the engagement needs to be kept quiet for now, but why don't the two of you come to my quarters for a small celebration in its honour this evening? It's been a while since we last shared a few drinks together."

Her face remained bathed in shadow under her hood as she spoke and her tone was light, but something not quite hidden in her voice made Garrus think that she was really hoping he would say yes.

"That sounds like it could be fun," he said.

"Oh, it will be. And I'll try even harder not to tell anyone about your engagement if you come."

"Kasumi..."

"Just joking, Garrus. I won't say anything either way but it would be nice to share some drinks with the two of you. So…will you come?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll let Shepard know that you've invited us over."

"Great. I suppose since we're meeting later, I should leave you in peace for now. You can get back to your wedding research."

"How did you..."

"I told you, I notice little details, Garrus." She nodded at the console behind him. "You left the screen on. Personally, I think a venue on the Presidium would be nice. I've always liked the greenery there and the way the lake sparkles in the artificial lighting."

"We won't be making any decisions soon, but I'll be sure to take your recommendation into consideration."

"I appreciate it." She turned to the door. "And I'll see you in a few hours, Garrus. The drinks are all on me."

"I'm really looking forward to it," he said as she left the room.

That wasn't entirely true though. It was selfish of him, but, overall, he probably would've preferred to spend the evening with just Teagan in her quarters. Nowadays, most of his happiest moments occurred when they were alone together so he tended to guard the free time he had to spend by her side fiercely.

However, he was willing to sacrifice one night of quiet peace with her for Kasumi's sake. She'd appeared to be so keen of the idea of them having drinks together again and it had been fun the last time. Teagan especially had seemed to have a good time judging by how tipsy and affectionate she'd become by the end of the night.

Besides, he owed Kasumi. He owed her so damn much.

...

Kasumi's mouth curled into a smile as she left the main battery and began to head in the direction of her quarters. The look on Garrus' face had been priceless when she'd revealed that she knew his and Shepard's little secret, though he'd soon relaxed again once she'd made it clear she wasn't going to tell anyone. And she genuinely wasn't. For a change her lips would be sealed tighter than the most impregnable bank vault on Illium.

Garrus was a good guy really. A bit reserved for her tastes perhaps, but always easy enough to get along with. She could even forgive him for the sin of being a former cop who'd once chased down malcontents like herself for a living. And he was perfect, absolutely perfect, for Shepard.

One of her proudest achievements over the last few years, aside from reappropriating some of the galaxy's most valuable treasures and taking on the collectors, had been helping to breathe life back into their romantic relationship. Trying to push them together while they'd all been stranded on that planet with only a deck of cards for entertainment and a base full of batarians for company had certainly made the time go faster. But that wasn't the only reason she'd done it of course. She still wasn't clear on the exact circumstances that had caused things to falter between them (though she could hazard a guess), but they'd been so miserable without each other. She'd rarely seen someone look as downhearted as Garrus had done back then and she couldn't even read the turian species all that well. Shepard, meanwhile, had been pale and drawn, like she hadn't slept properly for days. She'd just had to help. If anyone deserved to be happy it was the two of them after all the troubles they'd both had to wade through. And clearly they weren't going to be happy apart.

Watching the two of them now they were together and definitely happy could get quite amusing, like when Garrus sometimes slipped up and called Shepard "Teagan" in front of other people. He'd last made the mistake two days before in the mess hall and then desperately tried to backtrack, getting so flustered in the process he'd somehow managed to knock over the grey mush he'd been eating.

She often caught them sharing lingering touches and little looks with each other too. Even on missions they would exchange private glances and smiles that weren't really meant for her eyes as well. Although she still went out with the two of them frequently, in some ways she knew she had become the redundant third wheel that didn't really need to be there for the cart to turn.

Things likely wouldn't be much different tonight. But that was okay.

When Kasumi reached her quarters she made a beeline for the bar so she could check her current alcohol stocks. Luckily, she still had some dextro-safe beer and wine left over from the last time she'd had Garrus over. That would have to do for him again. For Shepard and herself though, she'd make some kind of cocktail. Probably something bright pink and happy since tonight was meant to be a celebration.

After locating all the bottles and ingredients she needed and arranging them so they were standing in a neat line on the bar, waiting patiently for her to use them later, she walked over to the bookcase at the other end of the room. Following a short, but intense period of deliberation, she pulled A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens from the shelf and then curled up with it on her leather sofa. She'd read it before, more than once in fact, but it was hard to grow tired of a book entrenched with so much wit and feeling.

There wasn't really anything more productive for her to do anyway. Her skills as a thief, though finely honed, weren't much use on the Normandy unless she was planning to hijack the ship or pick the pockets of some of its inhabitants.

No, she'd stay in here, read for a few hours, grab some food and then get ready for Shepard and Garrus' arrival. Their visit would be fun, perhaps even warm and happy enough to distract her from things that she didn't want to dwell on too much.

She hadn't told anyone, not even Teagan and she did consider her to be a real friend, but it was almost two years to the day since her partner Keiji had failed to return to their meeting point after leaving on what had seemed for all intents and purposes like it would be a routine job.

She'd realised straight away that something had to be very wrong if he wasn't there. Out of the two of them, he was the reliable one. Still, she'd begun to search for him anyway, hoping against hope for good news that in the end would never come. A week after he'd failed to turn up, she'd discovered some extranet reports about a body matching his description being found on a space station and she'd known for sure that her other half, both professionally and romantically, was gone for good.

There had been no one since him. Jacob had caught her eye on the Normandy, but so far nothing solid had happened between them for her to grab onto. Shepard had made several rather clumsy attempts to get the two of them talking, possibly because she wanted to repay her for her help with Garrus. That really was very nice of her. Unfortunately it just hadn't worked all that well. They had eaten together once or twice recently, but things hadn't got any further than that. Even if something more solid did happen between them though, the truth was it would probably still only be a weak imitation of what she'd had with Keiji. Her connection to him had been both immediate and intense. What were the odds of finding something like that twice in the same lifetime?

She still missed him so much, but all she really had left of him now were the memories in her grey box and she'd been watching them so frequently lately it was starting become a bit morbid. In an ideal world, he would definitely be the one she was sharing tonight with, but spending it with two friends was good too. Even with him gone, life - and love – went on and she was glad that she could still find some joy in most days.

She opened her book and began to idly flick to the start of the first chapter. Yes, tonight would be fun.

…..

So now this is up, I probably won't be posting anything else new on this site for quite a while. I've been back at uni for a week and on top of that have started a new job as an intern for a public affairs company, which means I now spend a lot of my time taking notes on governmental meetings! I've quit most of my freelance journalism work, but I'm still working far more hours than before.

However, my uni term does end a bit earlier than I expected it to (at the start of May) and I might be back then with some more one-shots. I have plenty of ideas so I do definitely want to return if I can. For now though, I'll probably just stick to reading other people's work.

Thanks so much to everyone who read this little piece :)

All the best!

Robyn