Every night she dreamed of a burnt and blackened tree, standing alone against a fiery, blood red sky. Confused she'd trudge forwards only half aware that she was unarmed and only wearing civilian clothes. Upon reaching the tree she noticed a figure, with their back to her, stood facing the vivid sky. Pausing, she watched as the figure slowly began to turn. She recognized with a jolt the features set into the tawny face.
Shepard's eyes lingered on the familiar red and white armour scorched and twisted into a mangled mess. The entire left side was charred and deformed from the mutilated left arm to the burns that had ignited the face and seared the hair. Angry red skin distorted the cheek, chin and forehead; the lips pulled down into a permanent grimace. The once shiny, raven hair stuck out in all directions like lengths of coarse, barbed wire. There was a black, gaping hole where the left eye should have been, that leaked black, sticky tears of oil. Ashley's surviving right eye seemed to stare into Shepard's soul. Hot, fat tears slipped from the right eye mixing with the oil from the left. Shepard stumbled backwards desperately trying to escape the nightmare.
Instead she found herself falling through a void; she twisted and tumbled in the air. Suddenly she was back in the atmosphere of Alchera. The devastated wreck of the Normandy lay in pieces on the peripheral of her vision but all she could concentrate on was the oxygen tube hissing away from her grasp. The air trickled from her deprived lungs and she watched her life empty into the vacuum of space. She closed her heavy eyelids.
Snapping her eyes open Shepard realized she was back in the deserts of Akuze however her old Alliance unit had been replaced with her closest friends and comrades. She was helpless, rooted to the spot as they were fiercely attacked by thresher maws. She stared as their screams were brutally cut short and watched as powerless as the maws dragged them down to their gruesome deaths.
Finally she sprinted forward screaming their names in anguish. Salty tears fell as Shepard stared at her hands. Holes- that stretched along her palms- leaked scarlet; staining the desert sands. Her eyes were wrenched down as an agonizing pain flared in her chest. She stared at the hole, expanding in her chest.
Shepard awoke screaming. Sweat poured off her and her hands shook uncontrollably. It took a while to calm down and breathe. It took even longer convincing EDI not to call Dr. Chakwas. Deciding that a drink was much needed, Shepard swiftly marched to the elevator and punched in the code for the crew deck.
Garrus couldn't sleep. "Tossing and turning isn't going to help" he thought, sitting up in bed. He crept from his bunk and made his way to the crew deck; hoping to find something halfway decent to eat. He was more than a little startled to spot Shepard sitting cross legged on top of the island. Her head was in her hands, her light brown locks obscuring her face. She wore a loose, long-sleeved navy sweater with a gold Alliance logo stitched onto the shoulder as well as grey sweatpants, bare feet peeked out from the bottom.
"Shepard?" Garrus ventured anxiously.
She glanced up at him with red rimmed eyes.
"What's wrong?" Garrus stepped in front of her. He combed away her soft hair with his talons and tried to look into her eyes.
"I'm sorry Garrus... I just had another bad dream" Shepard sighed. She looked into his ice blue orbs and tried to convey the horror of the nightmare through eye contact.
"Want to tell your favourite turian who can't sleep either?"Garrus grinned.
Shepard half smiled and nodded. She slipped off the island and gestured towards the table. She sunk into a chair while Garrus sat opposite. He waited patiently for her to start. She sighed and begun to explain her recurring dream. Garrus didn't interrupt, just listened until she had finished. Somehow in between Shepard talking they had clasped hands. Fresh tears spilled from Shepard's green irises and Garrus was struck by how small and vulnerable she looked. Without thinking he stepped out of the chair and brought her into an enveloping hug and held her there until the tears had stopped leaking.
Exhaustion flooded Shepard and Garrus' sharp eyes noticed the weariness creeping up on her. As if she knew what he was about to suggest she rose from the chair stretching her stiff limbs. Garrus followed as she drifted to the elevator, deciding that he was to make sure she got to her bed safe. She beamed up at him as the elevator zoomed upward,
"Thanks Garrus"
"For what" he gazed down at her, puzzled.
"For listening" she replied.
Shepard collapsed onto the bed the minute she entered the cabin. Garrus gave one last look to make sure she was ok and turned to leave.
"Um Garrus"
"Yes Shepard?" he looked back over his shoulder.
"Please stay".