Come to Me

F!Shepard/Garrus

While it was the most logical of pairings, it certainly wasn't the easiest to have get to this point. The strong Vanguard Commander Isseya Shepard and the protective Sentinel Major Kaidan Alenko, two souls thrown into a near impossible fight to save galactic life that not only succeeded but resulted in the both of them surviving the battle. It was a story that humanity could have gotten behind at the time but only their close companions on the Normandy knew due to the circumstances with protocol and other situations that related back to Alliance Military. That...and the aftermath of the Reaper Invasion seemed to keep them busy enough.

Though Isseya survived the firing of the Crucible, it was only the beginning of a longer recovery ahead. Waking up took time healing in an Alliance Hospital and even after being released, there was still a long road back to being 100%. It was a struggle from beginning to end, only made easier by having her friends and Kaidan by her side.

The proposal came while they visited Kaidan's family in Canada, the pair taking an evening to themselves and enjoying the scenery. The moment itself was sweet, the two of them at the edge of one of Canada's majestic lakes. Kaidan would always joke that had he been anymore nervous, Isseya would've caught on and ruined the surprise. Isseya always joked in return that she had a sense that something was going on but she wasn't the kind to ruin a surprise.

Now that the day was finally here, it seemed like half the galaxy would be gathering for what was sure to be quite the union of souls. For Kaiden, the day seemed to move along ever too slowly as he'd been taken by the groomsmen and not allowed to see his bride since the day before. For Isseya, everything was happening in a flurry of events as she was fussed over by seemingly ever female she'd ever traveled with and left without much of a moment to process things. Little did they know that this day wouldn't end as it was intended.

"Are you ready for this, Shepard?" Garrus asked Isseya, offering up his arm for her to take. "I know that human weddings aren't like Turian or Asari bondings but you know what they say...last chance to back out?" He offered, half-teasing. Garrus had offered to walk Isseya down the aisle, as her parents were both deceased and the only other man she would have considered for the job, Admiral Anderson, died as they tried to reach the Crucible's docking point on the Citadel. He had volunteered to do it on behalf of their Normandy family.

Isseya stood with Garrus and reached out to take his arm but paused, thinking. It felt like even though she and Kaidan had always been heading to this, something was telling her that this wasn't quite what she wanted. What she really wanted, she thought she found on the mission to cross the Omega-4 relay but she had let it slide, not being sure how her turian companion still felt. Then, there was the awkward air with all the unfinished business between her and Kaidan but she hadn't ever been sure about it. Every insecurity she had regarding Kaidan always led her back to Horizon and Mars, something that had never settled well with her. Isseya stayed because it was always safe but now, looking at what waited ahead of her and the person who'd been looking back at her in the mirror earlier...she wasn't sure if she could settle with safe when nothing about her life had ever fit perfectly into the box he seemed to expect it to.

"I don't know," Isseya finally admitted, her voice little more than a whisper.

Garrus turned to look at Isseya and he didn't need his visor to tell him that something was wrong. Her cheeks had flushed to pink and her pupils had widened slightly, beginning to fill with tears. His expression turned a little more serious as he placed one of his taloned hands on her shoulder while using the other to tilt her head up. "Talk to me, then. The music is loud enough that they won't hear you," he answered, lowering his voice.

"Now that we're here, this feels all wrong. Kaidan was always safe to me, since the days on the SR-1, but how can I go read these vows in front of all those people if I don't believe them?" Isseya questioned Garrus, tears spilling over before she shook her head. "I don't even know how we ended up here. Nothing about my life has ever fit into 'safe' and I still can't reconcile Horizon and Mars into the same Kaidan that I remembered from before. When did I let an apology simply cover all of that up with a band-aid?"

Garrus reached down into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, something given to him by Liara in case Shepard dissolved into tears, and he began using it to try and dry away her tears. Only problem was that her tears began to make the eye makeup run and by trying to dry the tears, Shepard soon had dark splotches under her eyes across her face. So, by trying to fix one problem, Garrus felt like he had unintentionally created two or three.

Garrus sighed, handing the handkerchief to Shepard to allow her to attempt to dab what he'd already destroyed beyond repair. "So what do you want to do, Shepard? Leave Alenko at the alter and run to...where? Or go in and break off the wedding and engagement before riding off to God knows where?" He questioned, looking at her with a sense of sadness. "Whatever you plan to do, I'm here for you."

"I know...and I'm sorry," Isseya apologized to Garrus, who looked surprised at the apology. "All this time, I've been chasing what I thought I wanted only to leave behind everything that I ever really needed," she admitted, sniffling as she dabbed at more fresh tears. "I just...I didn't know what you really wanted after the attack on Palaven and I was still so raw after what happened to Earth. I didn't want to hurt you anymore on top of everything that you were already dealing with."

Garrus reached over and brushed the back of his talon over her cheek. "You don't have to apologize to me. I've always been here for you, regardless of anything else. I just wish that this hadn't gotten to where it's this hard on you," he admitted to her. "So what does this mean for you? For all of this?"

Isseya shook her head as she looked at the large doors that hid them from the audience. "I can't go through with a marriage that won't survive the doubts behind it," she admitted softly to Garrus before putting her hand up on his forearm. "But I could abscond with a Turian for several days while the aftermath blows over, if he wasn't too against the idea," she added, leaning her face against the back of the talon he'd been using to caress her cheek.

"And what about the wedding?" Garrus questioned, gesturing to her dress and the decorations. "Do you tell Alenko or just take off?"

"I have to tell him. So, I'll need to get him somewhere private or the vids will be ridiculous," Isseya added, dabbing at the last of the tears. "Wave over Wrex and then tell him to get Kaidan to meet me in my dressing room."

It had been four days since the Shepard/Alenko wedding had abruptly ended with the bride calling off things before disappearing into the evening without much explanation to the guests. In those four days, the news stations and extranet had been having a field day with neither Isseya or Kaidan speaking to anyone outside of their close circles. In both cases, the two had disappeared from the public eye as they tried to keep their privacy.

Isseya's disappearance, however, had been in a much more physical way as she had ended up absconding on a distant planet with Garrus, just to get away from Earth and the shitstorm that they'd likely cause being seen there together. It had been easy to get a place at the distant resort that they'd booked themselves into and even easier to get staff to agree to respect their privacy. Isseya suspected it had something to do with a suspicious note that arrived at the same time they did but she decided not to question it.

The resort wasn't on a well-known planet but it was on a Earth-like planet and happened to be right on a beach. It was a set of separated villas and they'd just happened to get the most secluded one, giving them the maximum amount of privacy. While Isseya was just happy to get away from the fallout, Garrus was going to make sure that she enjoyed the vacation one way or another.

"Liara just sent us a message. Said that as long as Kaidan stays low, this should blow over in four more days," Garrus summarized to Isseya, who was laid back on the couch. "Good thing that you took that two-year sabbatical from the Alliance to get yourself back together," he commented, turning his omni-tool back off. He then looked down at her, noticing her emerald eyes locked on the waves that were visible out the living room glass doors. "Something on your mind?"

"A few things, yeah," Isseya answered, turning her eyes back to meet his. "You know, you didn't have to stay here the past four days. You could've left any day that you wanted."

"Well, somebody had to field questions and mail from Liara and the others," Garrus answered easily. "But I'm aware that I'm not under any requirements to stay. I wanted to."

Isseya slowly moved herself to sit up, so that she could be on a more even level with Garrus. "You know what I've been going through. I just want to know that you understand that I'm not...I'm still working on a lot of things. Not every day is going to be easy. I don't have hundreds of people requiring my help every time that I turn around so...it might be a lot to handle sometimes," she began to explain to Garrus.

Garrus gave her a small smile and shook his head at her words. "Shepard, I've seen you at your best and your absolute lowest. You don't have to explain post-war status to me. Hell, you've even died. If I didn't give you a pass for that every now and then, I'd have to be a rather large asshole. War's not easy but...nobody tells you how much harder coming home is," he reminded her, putting his hand over her knee, being sure to be careful with his talons.

"I..." Isseya began before taking in a deep breath and calming her nerves. "Sorry, it's easy getting caught up in all my nervous thoughts," she apologized, putting her hand over his. "Kaidan always liked to tell me to forget about the bad things but it's a little hard with all the shit we've seen. But, that's not what I wanted to talk about."

"Probably best not to until you're ready to. It's all still a bit raw for you, I think," Garrus suggested, looking to her thoughtfully. "So, what do you want to talk about?"

Isseya looked over to Garrus. "About what I said at the wedding," she began. "I was telling the truth when I said that I needed you and I never meant to leave you behind. Everything that led up to the night before we jumped through the Omega-4 Relay was real and it was everything that I ever needed or wanted to need. With you, I knew that someone cared if I came back after all this was sorted out," she told him honestly, not looking away. "Even now, I still love you, Garrus. I just...I didn't want to put you in a bad position with your family missing and everything happening to Palaven and Earth," she explained.

Garrus was quiet for a moment before leaning forward to place his forehead against hers. "I understand where you're coming from, Shepard. During the Reaper Invasion, none of us were in a good place as we saw our homeworlds be attacked or lost friends and acquaintances to other Reaper attacks," he reassured her before his blue-green eyes met hers. "But I want you to know that despite everything, I still love you too. Even when Palaven was being attacked, all I could hope was that you were out there somewhere safe...though I knew that whatever safety it was wouldn't last long. It made it a little easier."

Isseya closed her eyes as she leaned her forehead back against him. "Knowing that you were out there somewhere was the only thing that made leaving Earth tolerable," she admitted to him. She was quiet a moment as they sat together. "This feels so overdue."

"Maybe but all that matters is that it's a moment happening now between you and I," Garrus told her, not moving from the position he was in. "You deserve to be happy after everything you've dealt with...everything that you put yourself through to save everyone. That's what matters."

"You deserve to be happy, too," Isseya replied, leaning back a bit to meet his eyes. "We've both been through hell these past few years. In spite of everything, we're still here. I think that is enough of a sign for us," she reminded him, her eyes illuminated by the sunlight that poured into the windows.

Isseya watched Garrus's mandibles twitch as she took his hands in hers, being sure to be careful of the sharp talons. It was quiet between them for a few moments, the two just taking the time to be together. Isseya flipped one of his hands over, feeling the soft palms with her thumbs. She never expected them to be so soft, given how rough the back of his hands were. It was quiet, with only the sound of the ocean waves on the beach to break the silence.

"Come on," Isseya suggested to Garrus, standing and pulling on his hands.

"Where are we...?" Garrus began to ask.

Isseya grinned at him. "There's a beach out there and I see no reason not to go out into the water," she teased him.

"I thought we discussed this thing about Turians not being good swimmers and flailing about a lot?" Garrus answered back frowning.

"Oh, we're not going far, silly," Isseya tried to sooth him. "Waist deep."

Garrus looked at her with some apprehension before shaking his head. "Fine, but close to shore," he agreed as Isseya gathered needed beach towels before they headed out to enjoy their vacation on this tropical paradise.

Author's Note : This is my first foray into Mass Effect writing, specifically Shepard/Garrus shipping. Let's just say that this one-shot began as an idea much different from what it became.