The Mass Effect Universe belongs to Bioware. Only the OC's are mine.
Mass Effect- Post Destroy Ending
Something I've been piecing together around work, kids, and all the fun things that make you wish you lived in a video game. No real relevant plot to speak of, just the lives of the Normandy gang after the Reaper War, so expect fluff and lots of it.
Characters/Pairings: revolves around femShep and Garrus though many other characters (including a fair number of OCs) will make appearances.
Unbeta'd so any mistakes are my own.
Oh, and salty language warning. And maybe citrus at some point.
Prologue(ish)
When they first met, she was every inch the proper Alliance officer...or so he'd thought.
How was he supposed to know most human women did not shave the sides of their heads? Or that her particular hue of red fringe-err-hair was far from common?
Other than her onyx painted fingernails-which he eventually learned to be one of the few feminine practices she allowed herself to indulge in- and the long, jagged scar than trailed from her left temple, down her cheek, and disappeared into the collar of her pristine uniform, she actually looked fairly unspectacular, even for a human.
The first time she joined him as he spent another sleepless night tinkering with the Mako, he discovered what a vibrant green her eyes were. Not the sharp toxic shade of ryncol or the soft hues of wild grass which grew on many garden worlds, but more like the multi-toned green gases which swirled around a nebula. Iridescent, with flecks of gold, silvers, and blue twinkling mischievously in their depths.
Hers were eyes that never mocked, never looked at him with anything less than the utmost respect.
He could never admit it back then, but it was her eyes that began his fascination-and ultimately led to his love- for her.
It was those same eyes that haunted him for two years.
He thought he had finally lost what little of his mind he'd clung to when he sighted a female human cutting through mercs, her body clad in achingly familiar black armor with a tell-tale N7 proudly emblazoned on the chest. This woman's hair was shorter, but the same shocking color and style as his dead commanders. It was only when his scope revealed her face...her riveting green eyes...he was so shocked that he accidentally fired a concussive round into her armored shoulder.
When she spoke, he could barely maintain his concentration as most of his focus was fixed on a long, jagged, and still healing wound where her old scar once trailed.
Later-in the privacy of her cabin, and once she was sure he was safe-she confessed to doing the damage herself after Cerberus' miracle had left her with none of her old scars or tattoos.
During their time with Cerberus, he learned he did truly love the woman hidden behind the loyal soldier...even if that woman could only confess in the dark-amongst tangled sheets and whisper soft caresses-that she feared herself a clone or a VI of the much feared and once respected commander.
It had been those murmured fears which had helped him to cast away the last remnants of hero worship he'd carried around since the day she'd accepted his plea to join in her hunt for Saren and embrace the strange human woman who had stolen his heart and challenged him to be a better person, a better friend, a better lover, a better soldier every day. Not that she would ever ask it of him. No, she accepted people exactly as they were. Scars and all.
She never could comprehend the affect she had on people.
It took so long-damned Reapers, damned Council, Spirits thrice damned galaxy-but little by little did he learn that she had not idly taken his heart and soul, she had taken them in trade for her own.
'No Shepard without Vakarian' she was fond of saying and again he learned to hear the meaning hidden behind the playful words.
The actual words she only ever said twice. Once when he clumsily asked her to become his bondmate. -Are you ready to become a one turian kind of woman?- He'd been so shocked at her acceptance and admission that by the time he'd recovered, she had become self conscious and changed the subject.
He didn't hear them again until that day. The day. He had been furious at being left behind-no matter how grievous his injuries were-but he needed her to know, undeniably, how he felt. In case there was never another chance to tell her.
-The Crucible.
The order to retreat-
-The Illusive Man...Anderson.
Reapers moving in for the kill-
'Forgive the insubordination, but your boyfriend has an order for you...'
-The red wave of energy washing across the galaxy, overtaking the damaged Normandy.
'...Come back alive. It would be an awfully empty galaxy without you.'
Days...weeks...Uncertainty chipped at everyone but him as the crippled frigate limped back to Earth. He wouldn't give up on her a second time.
'I repeat, Commander Shepard has been recovered Normandy.'