A/N: I have to admit, I was all about the Shenko love in ME. And while I've seen some good fics out there that do a good job at making post ME2 Shenko work for me, personally, I've never forgiven the bastard for Horizon. Jerk.
Kaidan saved Shepard from Earth - Shepard saved Kaidan from Mars. That should have been the end of it, right? But now Kaidan's back and gunning for Shepard's heart. There's only one thing a former vigilante can do... fight. Garrus POV oneshot. Shenko ME, Shakarian ME2.
Worth Fighting For
Normally, the sound of the door to the battery whooshing open is a welcome distraction. It means that there's a problem that needs his immediate attention, that requires him to think of something other than Palaven and the radio silence from his father and sister. And, who knows, it might always be Shepard.
It's not.
"Vakarian," says the last voice Garrus wants to hear. "Do you... ah... have a minute?"
His mandibles twitch irritably. "I'm in the middle of something, Major. Can't it wait?"
"I... uh... no. It's important." Even without turning, Garrus can see the man shifting from foot to foot, sense his tension. It's all there, in the gravelly voice.
Garrus schools his expression carefully before he faces the human. "What is it?" he asks shortly.
The major meets his eyes briefly and then looks away. "It's... it's about Shepard."
Garrus folds his arms over his chest. He knows what this is about - has known it was coming ever since the newest Council Spectre asked to be reinstated on the Normandy. But damned if he's going to make it easy.
"Don't tell me," he rumbles. "She got you with the, 'just a friendly little game, a couple of hands, it'll be fun' line, and now you owe her two years' pay and your shorts. You'll have join the queue behind Donnelly, Vega, and that Allers woman."
"Ah... no." Alenko utters a short bark of laughter. "I know how Shepard gambles, but... that's not it." He rubs a hand over the back of his neck. "I... ah... I know about you and... and Shepard."
Garrus fights every urge to bristle at the other male. Forces himself to breathe slowly, remain relaxed. Years spent behind a rifle scope have taught him how. And right now, he needs every second of that training.
"And?" he says, trying to keep the subharmonics in his voice steady.
That obviously isn't the answer Alenko was expecting. His eyes snap up sharply. "I don't know what the situation is between you two, but I love her, Garrus," he says pointedly.
Anger begins its slow burn in his gut. Garrus has to battle every instinct not to rip the human's head off his unprotected neck. How dare he make that claim! How dare he!
He straightens and drops his hands to his sides. He knows he's posturing, but Garrus can't help it. "The situation," he growls, "between Shepard and I is none of your business, Major."
Alenko half reaches out with one hand. "Look, Garrus... When she died... I... it... it nearly destroyed me. And now, with the Reapers... I can't... I won't let her get away from me again."
Garrus feels his mandibles flare in disbelief. "You?" he mocks. "You think you were the only one affected by Shepard's death? The only one devastated? We all were, Alenko. Joker, Liara, Tali, the crew... even the damned krogan put his head through a wall when he heard!"
To his credit, the major shifts uncomfortably. "That's... that's not what I meant, Garrus. I know that it hit the crew hard. Losing the Normandy, losing Shepard... I was at the funeral. I saw the grief."
"You obviously weren't seeing it clearly enough." Garrus can feel his throat tightening, projecting a warning vibration in his subvocals. "Part of me died when they declared Shepard KIA, Alenko."
Anderson's grief-stricken eyes meeting his own, the Councilor's face haggard and care-worn, looking far older than his 46-standard years.
I wanted to let you know personally. The Alliance has called off the search. Shepard's status is now official.
Garrus can still remember the feeling, like a dual shotgun blast to the chest and gut. The sensation of bleeding out without losing a drop of blood. Everything fading out of the world - color, life, meaning - except the burning, gnawing feeling of injustice.
The major's lips firm. "Then you can understand why I'm not letting this go."
"No," Garrus snaps. "I don't understand. You let go on Horizon."
He can see the way the human's jaw muscles bunch, and imagines how Alenko's mandibles would be working if he was turian. "Horizon was a mistake," Alenko says quietly. "I told Shepard as much. Hell, I knew it the moment it happened. Barely got back to Citadel space before sending her an apology by email."
The Spectre sucks air through his nose in a great rush and lets it back out again. "I... God, Garrus, you can't imagine what it was like, seeing her there. Knowing she was alive. Feeling her in my arms again." Garrus feels his talons curl into fists, "Smelling her shampoo - the one she likes, that smells like cherry blossoms..."
Alenko's eyes are soft, wistful. "And then realizing that it was true - that she was with Cerberus, even after everything they'd done. The shock, it... I... it was like being stabbed in the gut and looking down to find that the hand on the hilt belonged to the woman I loved."
Fatigue in every muscle. Eyes burning with the need to close, to rest. Scope, drop. There's no end to the mercs. They just keep flowing over the bridge like packs of damned varren. Scope, drop. Scope...
He blinks, sure that he took a shot through his visor, through his brain. That he's dead. But that's okay, because it's Shepard, wearing that predatory look in her human eyes, and spirits, he's never seen anything half as beautiful, ever.
Smiles stupidly, mandibles crushing against his helmet. Watches her gesture to the dark-colored human covering her six, and catches the insignia on the man's armor.
Cerberus.
"I think I can imagine, actually," he says dryly, with a flick of his mandibles.
Alenko looks as if he'd like to argue, but acquiesces with an almost sheepish nod. "Yeah," he says, "I guess maybe you could."
The human fixes him with a stare that borders - to a turian - on offensively challenging. "And the hell of it was, I still loved her. Even though she was with Cerberus. Even not knowing what they might have done to her, I still loved her."
This is too much. Garrus can no longer restrain himself. "Bullshit!" he roars. "If you loved her, you would have stood by her! If you loved her, you would have been there, on her six, every minute of that damn mission! If you loved her, you would have listened to her! If you loved her, you would have trusted her!"
"You didn't. I did." Garrus knows his eyes must look like two bright blue marbles of fury, pupils constricted to pinpricks. Any turian would know to back off. The human doesn't.
"I had a duty to the Alliance, Vakarian. I thought you turians understood duty." The major's nostrils are flaring, and Garrus wonders if this is some human body language he's supposed to understand, the way Alenko should understand his stare.
"And I thought you humans were supposed to understand friendship. And love."
Alenko looks dumbfounded. "You... I can't... you..." Garrus has noticed that the major tends to stammer when upset.
"So you're not going to step aside, then," the human manages, finally.
"Not by a long shot," Garrus declares quietly, but with such force that his mandibles stretch painfully. "I promised Shepard I'd have her six, through hell and back, until the end."
His eyes burn like the fiery sword of the archangel he was once named for.
"Some promises are worth fighting for."
