And we've returned for my second bout of fic! Inspired by the reviews left on 'A Hundred Little Instances'--thank you very much, by the way--I knew I wanted to write something much longer for Garrus x Fem!Shep. I really didn't know what to write, or how to begin; after a conversation with a friend, I decided I would try to go about this by picking out some inspiration from the instances.
This might go rather slow, but hopefully I can come up with ideas quickly! And of course, if anyone is interested in being a beta for me, feel free to ask.
Worry not about Garrus--the next chapter will be from his point of view, I promise.
Mass Effect, Garrus, and Shepard are (c) to BioWare.
Please enjoy!
The first time she saw a turian, the moment was nothing less than sheer magic.
Of course, most of that could be accredited to the fact that she was a mere eleven years old at the time. To a young girl of such an age, anything dramatically unfamiliar to the norm could be magical. It was back on Mindoir, at the shipping ports of the main part of the colony. Her father's warnings not to go near the place did little to heed her curiosity and desire for exploration; after all, if her fifteen-year-old sister could visit the ports with her older friends, why couldn't she? So the girl had sneaked away to the towers and nestled herself behind a pile of crates, ready to see what could possibly be so amazing to warrant a need for caution.
Her answer came in the form of a trading ship; a rather small frigate, it still held a formidable number of workers. Her tiny eyes widened as she caught sight of some of them unloading boxes and carrying others back to their vessel. There were beautiful women with blue and purple skin, their hair oddly twisted at the backs of their heads; gigantic, two-legged lizards with mouths that stretched wide and far-set eyes beneath a massive hump; among all the overload of strange and wondrous things was a lone creature, taller than anything she'd ever seen. Its legs seemed to be broken backwards, angled in such a peculiar way, and its waist tapered off to rather sharp hips. The head was the most interesting part; mandibles flaring on either side of an almost turtle-like mouth, and then there were the piercing eyes and striking tattoos. Of course, she had no name to put to any of it, so all she could do was stare in awe. So great was her curiosity that she inadvertently poked her head out for a closer look, compromising her hiding spot.
All too soon, the creature's eyes flitted over to her, and remained there. A tiny gasp passed her lips--she was caught!--but her body was frozen in place, stuck by a mixture of fear and amazement. Even as it walked over to her, becoming larger as it came nearer, she could only tilt her head back to keep her eyes on it. Finally, the wondrous being stood just above her, looking down past the crates at the overly-curious little girl.
"A human child?" Its voice captivated her; it flanged and nearly carried two tones, as opposed to anything she'd ever heard before, and it definitely sounded male. He tilted his head in curiosity, lowering a bit for a closer look at her. "I've never seen one quite as small as you before. What are you doing here?"
"....I...ah..." She was amazed she had the ability to speak at all, though she was still a long way from forming coherent sentences. Instead of trying harder to speak, she settled for continuing to stare up at him in wide-eyed disbelief. Salvation eventually came in the form of a gruff voice directed to the creature.
"Hey, what the hell are you doing?! We've still got crates to move here, and don't think I'm going to cover for your turian ass! ...What are you lookin' at?" A face appeared next to the 'turian'--it was a dockworker who sometimes went to work on the fields, she remembered, and he'd even come to her family's house with her father sometimes. "Well, well...what do we have here? A nosy little one? What're you doin' here, kid?"
"Do you know why a child is here?" There was that voice again, strong and powerful despite a distinct lack of volume. It frightened her, just a little.
"No, but I do know it's one of Shepard's girls. I'd recognize that crazy red hair anywhere." A calloused, dirty hand reached down to ruffle through rouge curls, and she instinctively flinched away from it. The movement solicited an amused laugh from the man as he pulled back away. "Just as stubborn as he is. What're you doin', huh? Your dad's gonna give you a real whuppin' if he finds out you're here."
"I...I just wanted to see!" She finally found her voice, though it was pathetically weak and a bit whining. Her nose wrinkled in distaste at herself before she pressed on. "Rileigh can come out here, so I should too! ...You're...you're not going to tell him I was here, right? Please..." Her pleading would fall on deaf ears, she was sure; if she did /anything/ against the rules, it was doubtless and inevitable her father would somehow figure out what happened. No, she didn't exactly relish getting back home and explaining why she hadn't been there sooner. Before the dockworker had time to respond, the turian spoke again.
"Seems odd to me that a man wouldn't allow his children to the ports. Were she a bit older, she'd be just at the age where we send our young to train for the military."
"Yeah, that's the thing..." The man shook his head, rubbing at his neck while making a face at the girl. "Her old man's got no patience for aliens...'specially not your kind. If he were here, he'd probably be screaming at you to get away." His words seemed to have an effect on the object of her fascination; his mandibles flared out and a hard look came to his eyes, which he directed down at her. She shivered and drew back into herself a little more; his angular features brought on a whole new danger to the look of annoyance. At the response, he seemed to soften and back off just a bit.
"...But...I don't see why." The phrase brought their attention fully; she felt a little strength build up when she talked, sure of what she was saying. "I mean, you're different, but...why is being different such a bad thing?" Silence greeted her; neither adult seemed quite sure what to say. "...What? W-why are you looking at me like that?"
"....Such a strange human," the turian finally stated. Something like a smile curved his mouth, and he nodded to her. "How odd, that someone from your race says something that makes the most sense to me. Maybe someday others might think in the same way."
"Doubt it," his companion answered matter-of-factly. "Now c'mon, we're not gettin' paid to stand around and humor some little girl. Later, kiddo!" He walked back in the direction he'd come without so much as a glance back, but the alien seemed to pause for a moment, as if to study her. Within a moment or so, he turned away as well, leaving her to her own devices.
The child sat back on her hands and continued to watch until the trading frigate had completed its work and flew back into the sky, taking the strange workers with it. She stayed there for a long time, reflecting over the new experience and thinking about home. Finally, someone else poked their head over the crates; much more familiar and comfortable, the teenage girl sighed in relief before putting on an expression of irritation.
"There you are! I've been looking for you for hours, Caelie." She reached her hand down to the younger girl, who gingerly took it and allowed herself to be helped to stand. "Come on, we have to get back home before Father does. For all he knows, you've been there with me all day."
"Rileigh...," the younger began as they made their way down the path towards their home and through the fields, "why does Dad hate them so much?"
"Hate who?"
"The...what did he say...the 'turians'?"
Her sister paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. After a few seconds of silence, she looked back down at Caelie, cautious hazel eyes meeting curious green.
"...Of course you wouldn't remember," she finally admitted, continuing their walk. "You were just three at the time. But back then, there was a...a fight. Sort of. We had just moved up here from Earth, you know, and it was a huge deal because we were meeting aliens for the first time. But all that talk of 'we come in peace' was absolute bullshit, compared with--"
"Bad word."
"Do you want me to explain what happened or not?!" Rileigh glared at her younger sister for a while until the latter pouted, insisting she go on. "Alright, fine. It was crap compared with what really went down. Long story short, we made the turians angry, they attacked us, and we kicked their asses back. Then the Council stepped in, we got space ambassadors, and here we are."
"So Dad hates turians because we got them angry and they attacked? It sounds like self-defense to me."
"No, no...it's not that simple. That attack was totally unprovoked, Cae--we didn't do anything, they just decided to start beating us up. A lot of humans died because of that. They have a memorial now, you know, and then there's Armistice Day...don't you remember the fireworks last year?"
"But that's stupid! A lot of turians died too, right? I mean, it isn't right to say they were entirely at fault. It sounds like we both made bad decisions, so we should--...stop looking at me like that, I'm not dumb! How come you never listen to me?"
"You'll get it when you're older, Caelie. I promise." A hand reached over and softly ruffled her hair, which she accepted with a little hesitation. She knew better than to argue when Rileigh was getting all self-righteous. And at least she'd listened, as opposed to Dad--he probably would have just told her to go to her room and not have any dinner. "Now come on...I bet Mom's worried sick about you."
"Y...yeah." The girl nodded slightly, frowning as her sister pulled away to walk ahead. "When I'm older..."
Eighteen years later, with plenty of battles and broken memories under her belt, Caelie Shepard could definitely say she felt older, but the understanding had never come, even after hearing a million and a half reasons to hate anything remotely un-human. She shook her head a little and frowned, placing a gloved hand against her cheek. Why had she suddenly been thinking about that?
"Commander?" A male voice broke her chain of thought; she glanced over to see Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko looking at her with concern in his eyes. "Everything all right? You drifted off for a second..."
"Maybe she's still feeling the effects from that beacon," interjected her other companion, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams. The tanned woman pursed her lips and tilted her head slightly, still a bit irritated from their encounter with the human Ambassador. She couldn't really blame her, as it had not been a pleasant experience. "It did lift her into the air without touching her, and then there are those visions...I wouldn't be feeling too hot, either."
"It's my fault. If I hadn't gotten so close to it, the commander would never have--"
"Hush, Lieutenant." The woman came off a little harsher than she'd intended, but she'd already been listening to him apologize for the past six hours since she'd woken in the medical ward back on the Normandy. "I already told you, it isn't your fault. There's no point dwelling on it now, anyway. I just have a little headache...thinking about things. It'll be fine. And we have more pressing problems to take care of now."
More pressing problems was right. Ambassador Udina had not been happy with the report she'd given from the mission on Eden Prime, but had sensed an opportunity. In the years since he'd taken the coveted government position, he was constantly shoving humanity's importance in the Citadel Council's faces, whenever he could; if there was even the slightest chance one of their precious Spectres had gone AWOL, it seemed as if he wanted the credit for exposing the traitor. Not that it was any of her business; galactic politics had never been too interesting, what with a penchant for species racism every politician seemed to carry.
Besides, it was about more than just petty arguments. This was quite possibly the fate of the galaxy--and of course, the backstabbing Saren, along with all those geth. She remembered reading about them in school, they hadn't been seen past the Perseus Veil in centuries. What was bringing them out now? What sort of omen did that represent for life as they knew it, both on the Citadel and off? The thought sent a chill down her spine; better she should meet the Council and spell out the danger immediately.
They walked along the Presidium in awkward silence, and she felt a little guilty for driving small conversation right out the proverbial window; she really hadn't meant to sound so annoyed. It was just--well, this whole thing scared her, much more than she would ever care to admit. A big-time commander, possible candidate for the Spectres, one of the N-7 Elite; people expected her to be a strong role model for the Alliance, not some groveling little girl whining about 'the bad dreams'. Her thoughts were still a bit jumbled from the shock, but she worked to focus on the duties and tasks ahead of her. Within moments, the three stepped into the Citadel Tower's main glass elevator and were shut inside with the soft whoosh of the compressed door.
As the elevator lifted up high above the ground, Caelie took a moment to admire the view; this was the first time she'd ever stepped on the Citadel before, and the sight was enough to take her mind from her problems, for even just a little while. From the barely-held gasps she could hear behind her, she figured she wasn't the only one to feel that way. Even with each of them captivated by the sight, their unease was quick to return; Williams was the first to speak her mind.
"The Council isn't going to ask any questions, are they?"
"I doubt it," Alenko responded, frowning a bit. "We've made our reports. Now we just have to trust Ambassador Udina."
"No we don't, sir." The chief didn't sound the least bit convinced; politics didn't rub her the right way, either. The commander spared a glance back at her as the sight of the Presidium gave way to the dark walls of the Tower surrounding them.
"I'm not very happy with him either, Williams, but the lieutenant is right. We're just soldiers, after all; it's his job to make sure the Council will listen, not ours." The words were pitiful, and she knew they wouldn't have convinced her, but her subordinate seemed to be willing to humor her.
"...Yes, ma'am." The conversation was cut short as the elevator slowed to a halt at the top floor of the Tower, opening up to the Council chambers. They made their way out of the limited space and walked across the floor, marching quietly and in time to one another.
Caelie was ever-impressed by the Citadel; decorated with fountains and shining walls, it seemed as if nothing was left to chance in the search for aesthetically pleasing surroundings. A few diplomats strolled along, pausing to converse with one another quietly; they mostly ignored the Alliance soldiers and proceeded about their business. Everything seemed to be falling right into place, so far--but then there were a pair of turians arguing just before the stairs to the Council meeting place. The one on the right seemed commanding, though she'd no idea just who he was; the way he carried himself gave off an air of authority. The one on the left was dressed in the standard C-Sec fare for turian officers; neither seemed to pay any attention to the approaching squad.
"Saren's hiding something...give me more time. Stall them!" His voice had an interesting allure, even if he was unabashedly angry; the commander quickly perked up when she heard him mention the name of the rogue Spectre. Pallin, on the other hand, didn't seem quite so taken.
"Stall the Council? Don't be ridiculous." The other shook his head, clearly displeased with the officer. He turned to leave, apparently deciding the conversation was not worth his effort. "Your investigation is over, Garrus."
His mandibles flaring, the officer glared at the retreating back of his superior before noticing he was not alone. He shook his head a bit and turned, walking over to greet them.
"Commander Shepard? Garrus Vakarian. I was the officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation into Saren." Despite being in a dark mood mere moments before, he had been quick to calm himself in a show of respect to the commander. She had to admit to being a little impressed.
"Who were you just talking to?"
"That was Executor Pallin. Head of Citadel Security...my boss," the turian added, distaste plain in his voice. "He'll be presenting my findings on Saren to the Council."
"Sounds like you really wanna bring him down." Caelie let a very small, reassuring smile curl her lips; he either didn't notice or had chosen to ignore it. Garrus crossed his arms and looked off to the side--a telltale gesture of an upset disposition, one she really hadn't expected to be coming from an officer.
"I don't trust him. Something about him rubs me the wrong way. But he's a Spectre, everything he touches is classified. I can't find any hard evidence." They were silent for the most brief of instants; her mind was racing with the new information before Alenko interrupted.
"I think the Council's ready for us, Commander." She nodded a bit to acknowledge him before looking at the turian again, as if to see if he would have anything to add. Instead, he looked nonchalant; their eyes met for the first time, and he held her gaze for a moment.
"Good luck, Shepard. Maybe they'll listen to you." The commander frowned in response--he'd seemed pretty sullen when he said that, and who was she to blame--but apparently he had nothing more to add. With a sigh, she muttered to her comrades to follow, continuing her walk to meet with the Council. Captain Anderson was waiting for them; with a little exasperation, he took hold of her arm and guided her up the steps to the Council platform.
"The hearing's already started, come on." With his hand securely leading her up, she took the chance to look back over the vast array of benches and stairs below; off in the distance, she could see the officer headed back to the elevator for the Presidium. Just before directing her attention forward once more, she nodded a goodbye he would never see; it wasn't going to be the first time she greeted this 'Garrus Vakarian,' she just knew it.