WARNING: This story contains a suicide
"You know, Shepard. Whether in life or death, you're this galaxy's guardian angel."
-
"Because, while there may be no Shepard without Vakarian, there's no Vakarian without Shepard either."
The only place Garrus ever felt like he belonged was at Shepard's side. Without her there anymore he feels like there is only one thing left to do.
Never would she be the one to have to look over him, all alone in the cold, lonely unknown of the afterlife.
To both their surprise, the afterlife isn't exactly all that lonely and unfamiliar as they expected it to be.
Peace, beauty, calm; everything his mind was not surrounded them in the form of a wild, green, uncharted world. Most people would have called them lucky, Spirits, even Garrus himself would have called them lucky under any other circumstances. Ending up on a planet with a breathable atmosphere after being hurtled through space and the crash not having caused any serious damage to the Normandy, things could have been a lot worse. That part of the equation was lucky, anything else wasn't.
The moments leading up to it, it was as if time had become a thing of its own, slowing down and speeding up again as it pleased with no consideration for anyone or anything else. The agonizingly long wait after the crucible had docked, when it had seemed as if the entire galaxy held its breath for what seemed like forever. The sudden flood of time when it finally fired, the race against it in an attempt to get to Shepard before having to turn tail, desperate to stay in front of the beam and the sudden standstill when they were sucked into the gaping hole, propelling them across space.
The exact moment when EDI slumped in her chair next to Joker and the Normandy started to blear and whine and beep as every single piece of reaper technology, no matter how integrated or modified, shorted out, sending them crashing towards the nearest surface.
As the days passed they all worked their hardest to get the Normandy back into flying shape while a strange sort of serenity hung over the crew. They were all glad to have survived the crash, but no one liked to let their minds drift to the other consequences that had been the result of activating the Crucible. They were stranded who knows where with limited provisions, unsure about whether or not they could get the Normandy airborne again, EDI being offline and the uncertainty of Shepard's fate. No one talked about it to each other, merely focussing on repairing the Normandy.
When the Normandy's basic functions turned back online everyone sighed in relief. Even Joker, who had been very withdrawn felt hope rekindle itself inside of him. Maybe with the Normandy back online it would bring EDI back as well. As more and more of the Normandy's systems came back online and EDI remained still his hope started to dwindle away again until he once again avoided everyone.
Right about when the Normandy was deemed space worthy again Tali had managed to mostly restore the Quantum Entanglement Communicator. Up until then they had only managed to bring limited short-range communications back online so all their hope for news of the current situation now lay with the QEC. When they first send out a message they got no answer, though by the time they had determined a flight plan and where finishing the last repairs away Admiral Hackett had contacted them. Liara, who had been periodically checking the QEC was the one to answer the call.
Admiral Hackett informed them that all reapers had ceased to function after the Crucible fired, making it easy to destroy them all but at the cost of destroying all mass relays, and that they were not the only ship to have been hurtled to some desolate corner of space. He also told her that the Crucible had taken out all other forms of synthetic life, including all the geth.
That would explain why EDI stopped functioning, Liara thought, filing the information away for a later time, she would have more than enough time to think about it what with having to rely on FTL travel alone now that there were no more functioning mass relays. Liara then asked about the situation on Earth.
Hackett told her that the troops that had been stationed on Earth were all helping out with the the clean-up and the rebuilding pending the repairs of the mass relays.
For a few more moments Liara hesitated to ask. "What about Shepard?" She finally asked, voice barely audible, eyes downcast.
Admiral Hackett cleared his throat, shifting his weight before looking straight at Liara. "We sent in several rescue teams. The Citadel was…damaged, but we still hoped. After days of searching, they found her, underneath a pile of rubble, still alive, though barely."
At that Liara let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding, tears welling up in her eyes as a tiny smile settled on her lips.
"On her way to medical," Hackett continued, and Liara took in a sharp breath, smile faltering as she felt something clench in her chest. "She didn't make it. Her injuries were too severe. We tried everything we could. I'm sorry."
Liara gave a tiny nod at that, biting her lip in an attempt to keep in the tears that threatened to spill over. "Thank you, for telling me." She was proud of how even her voice sounded right then.
"Hackett out." And with a small nod the Admiral cut the connection.
Gripping the railing in front of her for support Liara couldn't repress the tears any longer. She didn't know how long she had been crying but at a certain point she straightened up, wiped away the tears and called for Glyph. She had to inform the rest of the crew, and Garrus.
"Glyph, please tell everyone to gather outside the Normandy."
"Of course, Dr. T'Soni." With that Glyph took off.
"By the Goddess." Liara mumbled, feeling more tears well up at the thought of having to tell everyone. They all had seemed so eager for the past few days, knowing that soon they would be on their way, a shimmer of hope igniting in their chests, dispersing some of the gloomy serenity that had hung over them all like a dark cloud.
As she waited for Glyph to inform her that everyone had gathered Liara had retreated to her office, straightening everything out as best as she could in an attempt to occupy her mind. When the drone finally appeared she took a deep breath in an attempt to steady herself and headed up to the CIC to make her way outside.
Seeing the gathered people outside Liara wanted to hurry back inside. She didn't want to be the one to bring the news. However, she suppressed that urge and climbed atop one of the crates that were still outside.
"Everyone." She started out in an attempt to cut through the chatter. No one seemed to have heard her so she cleared her throat and called out again, louder this time. "Everyone! May I have your attention!" This time she was heard and everyone turned to look at her.
"I know that we're close to getting off this planet." There were a few hums of agreement at this, even a muttered "Fucking finally" somewhere in there.
"During the reparations Tali managed to get the QEC operational again and I've… got some news."
"Are they really gone?" A crewman shouted, interrupting.
"Yes, they are." Liara assured. "Though, unfortunately, they weren't the only ones to have been taken out by the Crucible." Here she pointed her gaze at Tali. "All mass relays have been destroyed, having been Reaper tech, and the beam caused all the geth shut as well down the moment it hit Rannoch."
"No." Tali murmured. She had just started to come to terms with the fact that they would work and live alongside the geth, and now they were gone. It didn't seem fair, not after what Legion had sacrificed himself to achieve. Gabby, who was standing next to Tali laid a comforting hand on the Quarian's shoulder.
"Ah, but there's, uh, more." Liara spoke up again when everyone quieted down. "There's also some news about the, uh, the Commander."
As she spoke those words she could sense everyone tensing up, holding their breath, but most of all she could feel Garrus' piercing eyes boring into her, almost as if he was trying to extract the information straight from her skull.
"They managed to get to her, partially buried under rubble on the Citadel, alive." Some of the tension seemed to dissipate. "However," and there it was again. "on her way to a medical station, she…" Liara had to swallow around the lump in her throat. "She passed."
Tears started to well again in Liara's eyes while all around hands flew to mouths that had opened to let out shocked gasps. Traynor started crying soon after, Vega muttered "Dammit, Lola, dammit.", Javik hung his head, Tali and Gabby were crying on each other's shoulders while Kenneth stood shocked with a hand on Gabby's shoulder. Garrus, he stood frozen for a few seconds before turning on his heels and disappearing between the vegetation.
OOooOOooOO
Death. It was not what Shepard had expected it to be. When she thought of dying she thought of endless darkness, of peace and calm, of no more worrying on other people's behalves.
It certainly wasn't an endless stretch of shimmering, swirly opaque glass riddled with milk glass doors with a silver sheen that intensified whenever you got closer, all floating in space and surrounded by countless stars and colourful interstellar clouds.
Confused when she first got here she had tried every door she saw. From what she had seen they led either to another hall of endless glass and doors or to what she had come to call 'balconies'. They were, she thought, the edges of the glass platform. They were all different sizes but all were cut off and at the end was what seemed like a barrier of swirling silver smoke with the occasional ripple passing through. If you stood in front of it and thought about someplace or someone the barrier would shift and allow you to look into the world of the living.
Every now and then Shepard would go down to one of those balconies to check on the Normandy as well as the rest of the galaxy. Whenever she wasn't she would wander about thinking about how true it is that all are equal in death.
Wandering the platform was every form of sentient life currently occupying the galaxy. From human to turian, to salarian to hanar to yagh and protheans. Beside those there were also an incredible amount of races Shepard had no idea what they were called. They greatly outnumbered the ones she did know and at first it had been rather unsettling. Even though she knew that there had been alien life in the galaxy long before their cycle had become dominant, seeing the sheer amount of races the Reapers had harvested over time had been dizzying at first.
Currently Shepard was passing through doors in search of an unoccupied balcony. The only thing that really annoyed her about this place was that as soon as you passed through the door, what lay on the other side changed. You could walk through a door, turn around immediately and walk through it again only to end up in a completely different section of the platform.
When she finally stumbled onto a small and deserted balcony Shepard sat down cross legged at the edge, closed her eyes and thought about Garrus. Back on Earth she had promised to look over him should she die, and she wasn't one to break her promises.
She was really hoping the Normandy would be able to take off soon. Seeing the crew struggling to get her functioning again was frustrating enough. However, the day she had noticed that both Garrus and Tali had started to lose weight due to dextro rations running low a constant fear had settled in her chest.
One other annoyance of being dead was that time seemed to be something relative. You never knew if the next time you looked, days, weeks, seconds, or who knows, centuries would have passed.
When Shepard opened her eyes she saw Garrus, only slightly thinner and leaner than when she had seen him last time, sitting with his back to her in a small clearing in front of a pond. It was a place he had stumbled upon in their first days on that unknown planet, doing recon, and now he always retreated there whenever he wanted to be left alone.
Whenever you use the barrier to look into the world of the living the view you got was kind of like you were floating and by simply thinking about it you could move around. At first it had kind of reminded Shepard of ghosts and if maybe there was any truth to them after all.
Gazing at the turian's back Shepard noticed the slight movement of his shoulders and arms. Afraid that he was preparing to leave she steered herself closer to him. These were the moments she liked the most, when it was just him and her.
Just when she was about to pass him by and settle in front of him she noticed Garrus putting something in his mouth. As soon as she realised what her lover was about to do and she opened her mouth to scream did the loud crack of the gun resonate through her, throwing her back into her body on the balcony.
It wasn't until she brought up her hands to her face and felt her spread lips that Shepard recognized the ringing in her ears as her own screams. Mumbling his name over and over again Shepard sat there for who knows how long, unable to move or thing about anything but GARRUS.
She tensed, drawing in a sharp, startled breath as a pair of arms slid around her from behind. Unsure about what to do for a moment Shepard relaxed the next when the familiarity of those strong arms sunk in.
"I'm sorry." Garrus whispered in her hair, tugging her into his lap and curling around her. "I'm so sorry."
"Why?" Shepard asked, turning around just enough so she could bury her face in his neck.
Garrus slightly tightened his grip. "Because, while there may be no Shepard without Vakarian, there's no Vakarian without Shepard either."
After that Shepard just cried while Garrus keened, each mourning the loss of the other.
OOooOOooOO
The rest of the preparations were made in sombre silence. What should have been a joyful moment, the Normandy up and running again and ready to leave this forsaken plant behind, for everyone to return home, had turned into something almost dreadful. Going back and really facing the fact that the woman who did so much for not only them but the entire galaxy was dead would be to acknowledge it.
With everyone running final checks Tali had gone outside after having Gabby, Kenneth and Adams reassure her that they could take it from there in order to search for Garrus. Ever since Liara had informed the crew of the Commander's death almost two days ago no one had seen him.
She could understand Garrus' need to be alone right now. Both him and her had been with the Commander from the start and as a result had become good friends. As time passed and Shepard and Garrus grew closer she could at times almost see the love and adoration that seemed to radiate off him. She had been happy for them; they made an absolutely adorable couple. Not to mention teasing and embarrassing Garrus had become one of the highlights of her day. She never had a sibling, but over time Garrus had become the closest thing to a brother she ever had.
Tali just wandered about the dense woods, not really sure where to look. Garrus sometimes disappeared for a few hours at a time but no one really knew where to. When she came upon a small stream, not really knowing why, Tali started to follow it downstream.
'If I were Garrus, where would I retreat to?' Tali thought as she walked. Setting foot into a small clearing near where the stream flowed into a pond she froze mid step upon noticing a familiar but still body.
"GARRUS!" She screamed. After gaining control of her limbs again after the initial shock of seeing her friend lying in a pool of his own congealed blood she rushed to his side. "Garrus, no, Keelah, oh Keelah, no no no no." She mumbled, voice quivering as she almost stumbled over the uneven ground a few times, the trip taking way to long than it should have in her mind.
The moment Tali noticed the gun near his hand and the blown out back of his skull she fell to her knees, shaking her head. "Keelah, Garrus no, not you too."
Unable to look at her friend's dead body any longer Tali finally got up and solemnly made her way back to the Normandy where she looked for Liara, pulled the asari apart and told her about Garrus.
A small ceremony was held, delaying the Normandy's departure, not that anyone said anything about it.
Shepard and Garrus had never really told anyone about their relationship, everyone just knew about it after some time. Those that had known Garrus a little better could kind of understand why he had done it, especially those that had known him both before and after Shepard had died the first time, having more or less figured out why he ended up on Omega, not that that made the loss any less.
Right before they took of the crew had gathered in front of the memorial wall and, alongside the names of Admiral Anderson and Commander Shepard Garrus' was placed on it as well. With their hearts and the ship a little emptier they finally left.
OOooOOooOO
"Think we could find a bar here, just like we talked about?" Garrus said after a long time of silence, lifting his head from where it had been resting atop Shepard's.
Shepard was about to say that she hadn't yet encountered a bar here, just endless glass, when they heard the door behind them opening, followed by soft footsteps, causing the both of them to turn their heads. Shepard couldn't help the small smile that appeared on her lips.
"Thane." She said, letting go of Garrus in order to get to her feet, her lover following suit.
A ghost of a smile played on Thane's lips as he nodded his head in greeting. "Shepard, Vakarian." The smile didn't reach his eyes for as glad as he may be glad to see them again, he'd rather not it had been this soon.
"I'd say it is good to see you two again but given the circumstances that isn't exactly true. Come." With that Thane turned around, motioning for them to follow him and disappeared through the door. Shepard and Garrus looked at each other for a moment, shrugged and followed the drell.
The moment they stepped through the door they were in one of the big, crowed hallways and while Shepard had more or less become accustomed to the sights Garrus didn't know where to look first.
"This is…amazing, fascinating, in a weird, morbid kind of way." Garrus eventually remarked after they had had been walking for a while, passing through several doors.
"Hmm," Shepard agreed. "It is. All higher alien life to have ever existed, all brought together."
They continued following Thane through doors and hallways with no idea as to where they were going, sometimes having to speed up into a jog in order to keep up. In crowded areas the assassin seemed to flow through the crowd, like water, while they had to either find a way around or through but with considerably more difficulty.
They had just passed through another door and into an almost deserted hallway when Garrus softly nudged her. "Guess we now finally know what the real Afterlife looks like, huh?" mandibles spread in a grin.
Shepard let out a chuckle at that, soon followed by Garrus' much deeper and throatier version of the same sound. "Pretty sure that the moment Aria ends up here she'll at least try to take it over."
To anyone else, anyone living it might have seemed strange. Two recently departed, joking in death. To them, it just felt natural.
The passed through another door. While Shepard had noticed that there were differences to the hallways and balconies she had already visited, essentially, they were all the same. This place wasn't, she hadn't been here yet. It was a bar. A bar with a counter and tables that seemed to stretch on forever.
"Well, guess turian beliefs of the afterlife were at least right about something." Garrus remarked, causing Shepard to briefly shake her head in amusement.
Thane inclined his head for them to follow again after giving them a moment to look around. Thane weaved his way through the crowd and towards the counter, sitting himself down on an empty stool the moment he had reached it.
Shepard had stopped short in her tracks the moment Thane sat down and she noticed the people next to him, causing Garrus, who had been walking right behind her, to bump into her. Shepard didn't even seem to notice.
At the bar sat not only Thane but Mordin, Ashley, Anderson and even Legion as well. Thane spoke a few words to them and as one the four of them turned to regard both her and Garrus.
"Shepard." Anderson said, voice laced with sadness as he regarded her.
Legion just raised his brow plates while Mordin muttered in his glass. "Unfortunate. Probable outcome considering variables. Still, unfortunate.
In the end it was Ashley who broke the slight tension that hung over the group by saying, "Pull up a chair." before calling a bartender over and ordering Shepard and Garrus drinks.
The six of them drank and talked. They talked about the war and what it would bring to those that had survived it. At a certain point Garrus had asked Legion why they hadn't seen any other geth around beside him. Legion started to explain that, before Rannoch and him uploading the Reaper updates no geth had been their own person, had not possessed full consciousness.
Shaking his head Garrus said that that was not what he was talking about. He meant the fact that all geth had just stopped functioning after the Crucible fired yet none of them where here, and that had happened after Legion uploaded the Reaper updates.
"Maybe it's because they're not actually dead?" Shepard finally offered up after several moments of silence, everyone lost in their own minds, trying to come up with an answer. This caused the others to look up at her with questioning gazes.
"They did possess some Reaper elements, so to speak, like the upgrades Legion installed, but they're not Reaper technology, right? So, maybe, they just went in, like, a synthetic version of a coma?"
"Shepard-Commander might be correct." Legion said.
"Hmm," Mordin agreed. "Exact effects of Crucible unknown. Possible explanation. Would need test theory. Unfortunately unable to."
After that Shepard asked Thane if there was a technique to actually getting to the place you wanted, like how he had led them to the bar, or if it was just a matter of going through as many doors as possible and hoping for the best.
As years passed the six of them occasionally met up, either to just talk, get a drink or watch their friends and the galaxy recover from the Reaper War.
They watched as species worked together to rebuild their homes and the mass relays and the galaxy flourished like never before.
Tali went back to Rannoch to build her house in the exact same spot as she said she would. As the quarians settled a small group studied the geth, curious as to what exactly the beam from the Crucible had done to them.
One day, they managed to activate a single geth. The quarians held their breaths but all it did was sit silently, headlight shining. Thinking that that platform may have just been damaged they continued to activate more and more geth. None of them responsive.
When one scientist suggested to call it quits, Tali, who had been part of the group since the beginning, objected and told him to take a good look at the activated geth. She pointed out that while the first geth they had activated had been completely motionless, now, the activated geth were occasionally turning their heads and flexing their fingers and toes. The scientists said it didn't mean anything, Tali kept on activating geth. With thoughts of the geth's originally collective minds in mind Tali thought that maybe they just needed enough active platforms in order to jumpstart themselves. Oh, how right she was.
With all geth offline the activated ones where unable to connect to any of the others. With every geth activated the network grew until collectively they had enough power to send out a signal, restoring every geth back to its pre-Crucible state. While they had now become individuals because of the Reaper upgrades they still possessed a strong collectiveness, it was simply part of who the geth were.
Afterwards the geth integrated themselves almost seamlessly into the daily life of Rannoch, helping the quarians rebuild while working on their own cities and towns.
Kal'Reegar, who had had a bit of a crush on Tali ever since Heastrom finally decided to ask her out after she managed to bring back the geth, arguing to himself that never again would he encounter a girl like her.
From the afterlife Shepard and Garrus regularly checked in with Tali and Kal, watching over them as they got married and had kids; kids that would never know life of being stuck in an environmental suit or afraid of their species' own creations.
Both of them found comfort in the fact that their friends were able to carry on and live happy lives.
Jack and the kids went back to Grissom Academy. She brought along Eezo, and while at first the kids weren't too keen on the idea of a biotic varren running loose he soon became the Academy's mascot. And if in the years following the Academy gained an extra wing that served as a shelter for biotic varren no one said anything about it, at least not when Jack was within earshot.
Javik left with Liara in order to help her write her book. The two struck up a close friendship and while Javik constantly moaned and complained about how these primitives knew nothing about his people he secretly enjoyed it. The chance to show everyone the real protheans made him preen a little, not that he'd ever let anyone know, least of all Liara who had her suspicions and endlessly teased him about it.
At a certain point Feron had joined them as well and to Javik it was immediately clear that the two fancied each other, even if they were too dense to notice. At a certain point the prothean simply couldn't handle it anymore, called them out on it and locked them in a room before sitting himself down at a desk, head in his hands, muttering. "How do these primitives manage to turn the most simple things into something as complex as they do."
The krogan thrived and where welcomed when they offered up their help to others, their bulk making them perfect for hauling debris and heavy construction work. Grunt revelled in it, challenging the other krogan to contests of who could lift the most or heaviest blocks of stone.
When Wrex and Bakara's first child was born they called it Mordin. Wrex had initially not been pleased with the choice of name but had eventually given in when Bakara had taken to giving him nothing but disapproving looks and huffing in displeasure.
Samara returned to Lesuss to help Falere and spend time with her only surviving daughter, the war having shown her how precious and fleeting everything is, including friends and family, even as a asari.
Miranda helped coordinate the reconstructions but not before taking Oriana with her. After so long apart the sisters had decided that if there ever was a time to get to know each other it was now, with their father, the Illusive Man and the Reapers gone.
Jacob and Brynn settled down on earth where they did everything they could to help out. When their daughter was born she had indeed been named Shepard. After they had found out Shepard had died saving them all nothing Jacob said could have persuaded Brynn and Jacob's complaints had actually become less frequent and severe.
Zaeed had decided to help out on one of the smaller human colonies through his help mostly consisted of yelling at the others, telling them what to do and lounging at the beach, thinking that maybe retirement wouldn't be too bad.
It didn't go as swimmingly for everyone, though. On the Normandy's long FTL flight back to Earth, slowed by stops for fuel, food and occasional repairs Tali and the engineers had managed to get EDI operational again. While her control over the Normandy and ability to use her mobile platform were the same as ever there were certain parts and pathways in her programming that were either blocked or corrupted. Everything they tried failed.
While it was still EDI it was not the EDI everyone had gotten used to. She was more like the EDI right after Cerberus had given Shepard the SR-2. None of her modifications or memories seemed present. There were flashes of things that she could recall but nothing detailed and often not in a context that seemed to make sense.
Glancing at her every now and then Joker realised that, no matter how dumb or absurd he had often found them, he missed EDI's jokes. He'd talk to her about everything they had been through in an attempt to make her remember but it seemed no use. However, the biggest punch to the gut had been when EDI had first addressed him. She had called him Mr. Moreau instead of Jeff. He had become accustomed to the feeling of bones breaking, but the feeling of a broken heart, that was a whole new level of agony.
Quite some time after the Normandy had reached Earth and had undergone extensive repairs she was finally declared fit for duty again. By then a handful of Mass Relays were functioning again, the least damaged ones, causing the majority of the crew to be able to return home and help rebuild.
When the Normandy was appointed a new Commanding Officer the only crew members remaining were Kenneth, Gabby, Traynor, EDI and Joker. Originally a decision had been made to remove EDI from the Normandy. Despite her not really being their EDI Joker and the others had actively opposed the decision, arguing that the Normandy was better off with EDI. Eventually EDI had been allowed to stay on the ship, if only because of the way that she was wired into pretty much everything which meant that it would take too much time and resources to completely remove her.
For some reason the Normandy' Commanding Officers never stayed on for long, always changing every few missions. Their missions usually consisted of either ferrying diplomats or retrieving stolen or missing supplies. On one such mission they ran into Kasumi who had been doing pretty much the same thing though through much more illicit ways.
The problem was that most larger settlements and home worlds hogged or laid claim on goods, leaving nothing for smaller communities.
Kasumi joined them after that, though she was really more of a stowaway than a real crew member. Over half of the times the current C.O. didn't even know about her.
As the years passed Joker and the others kept telling EDI stories, sometimes, she would actually remember something, giving them hope that maybe, with time and patience she would end up herself again one day.
The Normandy was going to be appointed another C.O. again today as well as a new crewmember. Joker hadn't been given names but the notification he had received had said that they were familiar faces. For once Joker was actually curious.
He had just gotten out of his chair so that he could go wait outside to see who the two would be as the hour was approaching.
"Mr. Moreau." EDI said, effectively halting Joker. "Do you have a moment?"
"Sure, EDI. What do you need."
Edi got up from her own chair next to him and walked over to Joker.
"Euh, EDI?" Joker asked, uncertain after EDI had stopped extremely close to him.
"Hold still." And she kissed him.
Joker could feel his legs turn to jelly, confused and uncertain of what to do. Instinctively he grabbed EDI's shoulders in an attempt not to fall and break any bones. The moment he did so EDI wrapped her metallic arms around his waist, effectively steadying him.
When she pulled back all she said was, "I'm sorry, Jeff. I'm so sorry."
"EDI?"
"Yes, Jeff. It's me, all of me."
That's when they heard the airlock open. They quickly let go of each other, Joker stealing sideway glances at EDI while grinning like a loon.
The two men who boarded where not who he had been expecting, although, Joker wasn't exactly sure as to who he had been expecting.
It were Kaiden Alenko and James Vega.
James, now wearing an N7 shirt, smiled when he spotted Joker and EDI. "Kinda feels like coming home, eh?"
"Yeah." Joker replies, still grinning and sneaking another glance at EDI.
As years and decades and centuries pass by, one by one they all join up with each other again, drinking, reminiscing and watching over the ones still alive as well as how life in the galaxy carried on and evolved.
When the 50 000 year mark arrived all of them had gathered on a large balcony, holding their non-existent breath. When nothing happened and life in the galaxy continued on, mundane as ever they all relaxed with relief. A tension no one had known still resided in their bodies finally leaving.
Afterwards everyone stayed and talked. Jack and Kasumi had managed to steal several crates of alcohol from the bar and were handing it out.
Shepard and Garrus were the last ones to stay on the balcony. Shepard was seated in Garrus lap while looking out on the galaxy, feeling glad and relieved that no one else would ever have to go through another Harvest.
The connection with the barrier broke when Garrus started to softly kiss her neck, his breath and the soft fluttering of his mandibles causing her to giggle.
"You know, Shepard. Whether in life or death, you're this galaxy's guardian angel."
Shepard turned around in Garrus' lap just enough to be able to press a kiss to his mouth plates. "Don't be ridiculous."
"No, but it's true. Even now, 50 000 years later you're still checking up on everything and everyone while you don't have to. Your fight's over, it's not your problem anymore. So just take it from me that when I say that if the galaxy ever had a guardian angel, it's you."
"Hmm." Shepard answered before turning around further so that she was now straddling the turian and loosely wrapped her arms around his neck, letting them rest on his cowl. "True as that may be, right now I feel more like a devil."
Garrus let out a deep, reverberating laugh at that, mandibles spread with mirth for a moment before Shepard was kissing him deeply.