Edited for flow ~
Late at night, Ayete Shepard often finds herself in Garrus' quarters, talking until she falls asleep in his arms. Occasionally, she thinks about her family back on Mindoir and tells Garrus stories from her childhood. He smiles and listens to her talk, trying not to show the remorse in his eyes. "My mother would have loved you…she was so kind to everyone" she closes her eyes and sighs, "My father would have taken you in as a son, he wanted a son so badly. He even taught me how to fight when I was just starting school. Without him, I guess things would have been a lot different." Shepard grows quiet, resting her head on his steady shoulder.
Garrus remains quiet, not wanting to interrupt her thoughts. He drifts off into his own memory - first of many missions with C-sec all those years ago.
The threat of slavers was increasing in a few of the colonies near the Terminus System and Garrus had been sent to apprehend one of the leaders on Mindoir. He pulled out his sniper and set up on the hillside overlooking a small settlement where he knew his target was last seen. After a while without a sight of the man, he starts to drag his scope along the landscape of the town. A young girl catches his eye in front of a small but pleasant house.
Shepard moves slowly, her breath becoming deep as she slips into her slumber. Garrus gets up, trying to not wake her, and carries her up to her own bed. Trying to sneak past all the prying eyes had to be one of the most difficult tasks of their relationship, but he would rather see her comfortable than cramped up in his corner of the battery. After punching in the code to her door, he lays her down, covering her with her blanket that she often left under the bed - a birthday present from her parents. Not feeling tired, he sat down in the chair facing the window to continue his thoughts.
The young turian smiles at the beautiful girl, knowing she couldn't see him but still wished she could. He shakes his head, "What am I doing? She's human, the age difference..the species difference..man I need to get out once in a while." Looking back through the scope, he checks to make sure his target is still not out. He finds himself looking back toward the girl, mesmerized in the sights of his sniper rifle.
Suddenly, shots were fired near the front of the colony. Garrus quickly scans the area, finding many people running around frantically, none of which being his target. He gets up, hoping he didn't miss his chance and caused all of this. He moves to a better viewpoint and finds that multiple ships had landed on the base, thousands of batarians exiting the vehicles with guns drawn. After not recognizing their uniforms, Garrus kept back and hidden, not wanting to blow his cover. He calls C-sec for back up but the closest ship would get there by the time most, if not all, of these people would be taken. Looking around, he tries to pick off as many of them as he can, until he ran out of ammunition. Panicking, he looked to see if the young girl was still there, but she had run, leaving her book and drink spilled on the chair she was sitting in. He had no choice but to leave, though his conscience would never forgive him; he was simply outnumbered.
The first time Garrus met Shepard, he instantly recognized her as the girl from Mindoir. With relief, he found that he had a million questions for her about that day. In his head, he knew that he could never ask her, for she would find out that he was there. Not just that he was there, but that he was watching her…that he failed to protect the colony…he failed to protect her and her family; the family that would have loved him, in reality, would hate him. He would lose her trust, she would feel completely different and he could never risk losing the best thing that had happened to him.
Garrus yawned and stood up, laying down in the bed next to his love, wrapping his arms around her sleeping body and kisses her forehead. Keeping his secret to himself will be his priority, next to making her happy and keeping her safe for as long as he lives.