Mothers and daughters

Concussion, broken leg, dislocated shoulder, burns on 40% of her body, overall cuts and bruises.

Admiral Hannah Shepard sat by her daughter's bed, lightly stroking her hair. It was over, finally...finally over. Thanks to the woman in front of her, this remarkable woman, who had ridden piggyback on her father's shoulders, cut her own hair at age five because Hannah always wore it short, stayed in late to read "just one more chapter, mom, it's so exciting!", started crying the first time she discovered her biotics and had ruined their kitchen. This woman had just saved the entire world. Words or feelings could not describe the swelling of pride in Hannah's chest when she looked at her, and dear god, she wished her husband could have been here to see. But things were as they were, and the Admiral would take pride in their girl for both of them.

She made a small noise but remained otherwise asleep, completely unaware of her surroundings. Her skin where she had been burnt was shiny and frail, and a few tones lighter than her usual bronze colour. The doctors were forced to shave off her hair to treat her headwound, but her scalp was now covered in a soft, short pelt. The Shepard gene, thick untamed, red hair, Hannah mused. Combine that with her father's frizzled darkbrown locks, and you had the commander's practically impossible hairdo. For now though, it was thin and pleasant to the touch, just reaching the top of her ears. She didn't look very menacing at all, lying here, but Hannah knew better. Everyone did.

She looked over at the bedside table and smiled. Almost half the room was covered in flowers and get-well-soon-cards, many from people the Admiral had never even heard of. Ashley she recognized, Liara and Tali as well. They had served together on the first Normandy. Other names were new, though some rang a bell; Miranda had sent a lovely bouquet of artificial lilies, a nice and quirky gift, Hannah thought with warmth. Or maybe just a coincidence. She looked at several other cards, one of them a hologram-picture of her pilot, and was that a robot beside him?

She looked through some of the others, there was one from a Kelly Chambers, where she wished the commander a speedy recovery, as well as another hologram-picture, this time of her daughter herself. Standing in armor, just about to exit the ship, Hannah guessed. Along with her was a tall woman with black hair and pale skin, with the Cerberus-logo on her chest. That must be Miranda, she thought.

Her daughter hadn't had much time to contact her mother after her surprising resurrection, but had sent quick messages when she could, mostly telling her about her squad. Miranda Lawson had been skeptical of the commander at first, but after a few conversations and excellent teamwork in the field, the two women had become close friends.

On the photo, she appeared to listen to whatever her daughter was saying, and beside her, apparently much more invested in the orders they were receiving, stood a turian.

Garrus Vakarian, Hannah mused. They had served together since day one on this rollercoaster-disaster. Close friends, and more, according to her daughter.

Just as she was about to put the photo down, she heard footsteps closing in and Garrus himself walked into the room. Damn, he looked tired, worn-out.

He must have stayed here since they found her and brought her in, Hannah realized. When Garrus saw her, he stopped in his tracks, probably trying to put the pieces together, then his eyes widened a notch.

"Admiral." He nodded, staying where he was, most likely unsure on how he would act. Hannah nodded back, and urged for him to sit down. Before he did though, he walked over to the table.

"More cards..." He mumbled, as he put them down next to the flowers, then sat down next to her. These cards were also from people she had never heard of.

"It's so strange." She ran her hand up her daughter's arm. "The entire universe is wishing my kid to get better, to survive. It's surreal."

"She is known to defy the impossible." Garrus said, his subharmonics flanging.

"That she is." Hannah agreed, and couldn't help but smile at the way he looked at her, he may be from another species, but man was he easy to read. Atleast when it came to this. "Which is why I feel so out of place now." She added. "I can't do anything. Just wait for her to slowly get better."

Garrus only nodded, words weren't necessary to know he felt exactly the same. How many times hadn't he put his faith in her daughter to do the right thing and lead them through hell?

"I'm so damn proud of her though." She continued and grinned. "My little girl; Savior of the Citadel, and now savior of the entire world."

Garrus gave a short laugh and nodded.

"Your daughter is a hell of a commander, ma'am."

Hannah nodded solemnly, then gave him a smug look.

"From what I've heard, she's a lot more than that."

His mandibles twitched, and he straightened in his chair, much to her amusement.

"Ah, well…" He cleared his throat. "Your daughter is a hell of a commander…and woman…ma'am"

He was clearly nervous, which only added to her sudden glee. Then again, he had all the right in the world. Meeting your partner's parents was scary to begin with, and he had clearly imagined another scenario than this for their first encounter.

"Hey, relax." She chuckled and gave his shoulder a light pat. "I don't bite. Honestly."

His mandibles made a quick tug again, before he leaned back against the wall, seemingly more at ease.

"Sorry ma'am, it's just..." He rubbed his forehead. "I don't think this was how she imagined us meeting." He looked over at the hospital-bed and a breathy chuckle escaped him. "I sure didn't"

Hannah smiled warmly and looked over at her daughter as well. There, unconscious, she looked so small, so fragile, nothing at all like the hero she was. Her little girl, she's still a little girl, yet she's seen far more than any human should. To carry all those burdens, all by herself, all alone.

No, not alone. She turned her gaze to Garrus, his fumbling fingers, his tired eyes, never leaving her daughter's sleeping form.

"You know, it's kind of funny." She began, and smiled to herself when he turned to her. "She used to be scared to the bone of Turians when she was small, hid behind me everytime I talked to one."

Beside her, Garrus hummed lightly and crossed his arms.

"Oh, really?" He asked, and sounded rather amused.

"Yep, it was a pain in the ass everytime we had shoreleave. We used to have an apartment on the Citadel that we lived in when we weren't on a ship. Nice place, nice streets, multicultural." He nodded, and she continued. "There was a store there, sold all kinds of figurines made of different metals. I loved going in there everytime we had a break, always bought something to add to the apartment. And I always brought her with me, it was one of my favourite stores after all, and I wanted to share that with her."

Garrus leaned forward to rest his arms on his knees.

"Something tells me she didn't like that store though."

Hannah laughed at that.

"You can say that again." She grinned. "The storeowner was a turian, nice lady, two teenage kids, husband- or mate, I suppose. We always talked a little before I bought something, catching up you know? Problem was, my little girl refused to show her face, always clinging to my leg, hiding. One time, the clerk tried to say hello, even bent down in front of her."

Hannah rubbed her forehead, and chuckled at the memory.

"That didn't go well I take it." Garrus mused.

"Absolutely not, all hell broke loose." She laughed. "That was the last time I brought her with me, I don't know how many times I apologized to the owner. She didn't take offense though, thank god."

She chuckled again and looked over at the bed, smiling affectionally.

"Took a while for her to get over it, she was eleven I think. Her father had taken her to buy groceries, she got lost in the store. An elderly turian-couple helped her find him again." Hannah shrugged. "After that, she was still a bit shy, but gradually opened up more. Then I guess she just forgot what she thought was so scary." She smirked at him. "And look at her now, a turian boyfriend, who would have thought?"

Garrus looked away at that, but she saw that a smile crept up on his face.

"There's no one in the galaxy I respect more than her." He said, still looking away. "That she even considered me as something more than a friend, well- I feel honoured, in the purest sense."

Hannah was quiet for a moment, then punched him lightly on the arm.

"Damn, son, if you didn't convince me before that you were worthy of my girl, you sure did now."

He scoffed at that, but a bit of pride snuck its way across his features.

"I wasn't trying to convince you I'm worthy ma'am, she has the best sense of judgement I know, so if she has decided to waste her days on me, then I must be worth something." He chuckled though, and looked at her. "But I'm still glad that she won't wake up seeing her mother beat me up."

A wheezing laugh escaped her at that and she struggled to draw breath for a while.

"You have the oddest sense of worth about yourself, young man." She shook her head when he just shrugged and leaned back against the wall again. He gave off smugness one moment, but then the next, immediately seemed to tell himself he didn't deserve her daughter. Over the various calls and messages mother and daughter had sent eachother over the years, Hannah had got the impression that the commander clearly saw huge potential and thought the world of the turian next to her. The Shepard women were very private people, her daughter no exception, and seldom told her parents much of anything when it came to her lovelife. Hannah had always had to pry it out of her, even then with little success. Therefore she knew very little of the current relationship before her, only that her daughter had started it and that she seemed very content the last time they spoke with eachother.

She had never questioned her choices in boys before, and saw no reason now. That Garrus was here by her hospital-bed now, deadtired as he was, but not leaving her side even though she was going to be fine, was reason enough. It made Hannah curious as to how the two people in front of her had taken the step from comrades in arms to- well, comrades in arms. If she couldn't get her daughter to talk, perhaps Garrus was more open.

"My dear offspring isn't that keen on sharing what's going on in her personal life." She began, and beside her, Garrus made a noise that sounded like agreement. "So I have no idea how you two actually got together, care to satisfy a mother's curiosity?"

He immediately seemed to look more uncomfortable, as he crossed his arms and cleared his throat. An awkward silence settled upon them and Hannah's curiosity was at once replaced by skeptical worry. Then Garrus' mouth opened, as if he was about to say something, then closed again. Hannah crossed her arms as well and gave him a sharp look, which seemed to be the kick he needed.

"I'm not sure I would explain it very good." He coughed.

"Explain?" Hannah repeated. "You make it sound like such a complicated thing, you're making me nervous kiddo." She jokingly smiled and unfolded her arms. Garrus groaned and tilted his head to the side.

"Well..." He rumbled. " It was before the Collector base. You know how it is. High risk mission, casualties was a huge possibility. What do you call it..."Cakewalk" compared to this, but we didn't know that then." He looked over at the bed and his eyes softened for a quick moment. "She...expressed interest in me. In situations like this, you take comfort where you can I suppose." He rubbed his neck and coughed. "Damn, that sounded awful."

But Hannah only nodded slowly. Ah, casual sex. Dangerous mission, small chance of survival. She got that.

"I understand if you're nervous." She chuckled. "But come on, those things happen more often than you think, and look where you are now. She clearly wanted you for more than a tumble in the sheets."

He shifted in his seat while giving off a light cough, and Hannah laughed loudly.

"Like I said..." He mumbled. "Collector base sounds like a welcomed distraction right about now."