[A:N] Just some forewarning, I wanted to try something different with this continuation of "Nothing is Trivial", so I added in sections of background music. Feel free to ignore. Thank you everyone for your efforts in bearing through my previous attempt, as well as a special thank you to the person who was willing to listen to my ramblings. I hope this continuation meets your expectations.

*Background Music: Lithium, Evanescence*

Silence …

Calm …

The peace of the hush that reverberates throughout the expanse was fleeting at best. Gazing over at the lithe form laying beside him in contented slumber, a grin crossed what passed for lips on his face. Disturbing the dark embrace of the void between them was the persistent glow of his appendages.

Forever infused with this blight, her vision of him was unwavering. Forever stained by the horror cursing through his flesh, her touch never recoiled. With baited breath she awaited his caress. In her repose, her subconscious reached out for his embrace.

And yet as he stared down at the incarnation of his most primal desires, the guilt that had overtaken him with each twilight passing had grown evermore.

"… Gary … You know we should get a dimmer switch put on you." His love playfully said as she soothingly caressed his outstretched arm that braced the weight of his body.

"That or The Clapper as Joker showed me in an old Earth vid."

Sitting upright Garrus removed his arm unceremoniously from his mate's grasp. Coming to his feet, he walked over to the dresser adjacent to the bed. Grasping a darker colored bottle from the collection in front of him, he poured the contents into a tumbler before consuming rapidly. Resting both of his hands on either side of the glass, his head sunk downward as the liquid took its desired effect.

The joy of the moment now a distant memory, Kasumi rose up from their bed. Lifting her robe which laid without care on a nearby chair, she briefly studied its bright floral pattern.

'One of her favorites …'

Smiling forlornly, she covered her bare skin before gradually coming up behind her turian love. Reaching her arms around his waist, she grasped him with gentle firmness before receiving a reassuring squeeze from his hand on hers.

"I'm okay …"

"No … You're not. Don't shut me out …" Kasumi pleaded softly.

Turning to face her, Garrus slowly caressed her arms before reaching up with one of his hands; resting it softly on her cheek. Joining his warm touch, her hand grasped his before pulling him closer into a comforting embrace. Gazing into her eyes, Garrus lightly grasped her supple chin before drawing her in as their lips united into one.

Withdrawing reluctantly, he turned his gaze away from hers before being redirected by her soft touch on his battle-scarred cheek.

"… Please …" She implored as the meaning behind her words was not lost.

"Shepard …"

Nodding in quiet response, she had dreaded that this moment would eventually come. As with all things, her hopes had fallen back to reality just as Shepard's many foes had fallen before him.

"Do you need me?" Kasumi empathetically implored.

"Yes …" Garrus said as he ran his hand along her arm before tenderly removing her hand from his cheek.

"… and I always will …"

Grasping both her hands in his as he stared down at the familiar set before him, he spoke.

"I need to know you're safe ..."

Reluctantly releasing his grasp, Garrus proceeded towards the footlocker holding his armaments. Grasping what he felt would be needed, he began the slow process of entombing himself in its protection. Suddenly he felt a light embrace around him grasping at the plates guarding his chest.

"Let me …" She said as she began the process of enclosing him within its protection.

Turning slowly, Garrus raised his arms as the last piece of armor was caringly laid into place. Reaching over his shoulders before clasping it together, Kasumi gently whispered as a lock of her hair rested on his shoulder.

"Promise me, you'll come back …"

Lightly resting his head against hers, Garrus enjoyed the brief respite before making his way towards the door. Stopping suddenly, he turned his head slightly as his back faced his mate. With a heavy heart, Garrus slowly let a response escape before leaving her presence.

"I promise, I'll try …"

*Background Music: To Be Treated, Terry Reid*

2 Months ago

"Tell me something …" The intoxicated human said as he stared at the contents in the glass before him.

Forcing down the foul fluid as his eyes slightly winced, he slammed the glass on the counter causing the others to rattle incessantly before calm returned to the collection massing before him. Reaching for the bottle that he had often referred to as his Salvation Through Inebriation; his unsteady reach tipped it precariously over before being grasped by a familiar set of talons.

"What does it profit a man to save the galaxy but lose his soul?"

Pouring the fluid into the waiting container, he joined the intoxicated human at the bar, drawing several curious stares at the eerie glow gracing his appendages. Returning their gaze with a stern look and sinister grin, the onlookers thought better and returned to their own contemplations backed by the low chatter in the establishment.

"You hearing me!" The human shouted as he unsteadily reached for his companion's shoulders, almost falling out of his seat.

Grasping his arm, the turian calmly steadied his comrade before returned his limb back to the table in front of him. Nodding at the barkeep, he received a safe equivalent of what his companion had been consuming.

"He's been at it all night …" The salarian barkeep said with an annoyed tone.

"And so what if I have! You wouldn't even have this fucking job let alone your fucking life if I didn't risk my fucking ass and that of a lot of fucking people you son-of-a …" The enraged soldier yelled as he reached out towards the recoiling salarian, knocking several glasses to the floor.

"Hey … Forget it … Remember, they used to eat flies?" The glowing turian said as the bartender confusing stared at the pair.

Laughing loudly at the comment that filled his mind with a pleasant memory, Commander Shepard uneasily raised his glass to his turian brother-in-arms. Slurring his words, he attempted to make an adequate toast.

"That Protintin … Prothean … What's his name … Jav … Javish … No, no … Javik! … Funny son-of-a-bitch …"

"To Javik." Garrus said with a strong bravado drawing a final annoyed look from the bartender before leaving to attend to other patrons.

Little did he know how close he became to becoming nothing more than a stain on the floor at the hands of the drunk human. Downing their drinks in unison, Garrus poured another round for the pair from their respective liquors. Seeing that Shepard even in this extreme of an intoxicated state was staring keenly past his glass, deep in thought, Garrus decided to broach the subject of what was bothering him.

"Rough day I take it?" he said as he sipped the strong liquor, his thoughts focusing briefly on future implications with his mate if he continued this course of action.

'Better take it easy here or it's another night on the couch …'

Fiddling with his glass as it bounced lightly back and forth between his hands, Shepard continued his gaze before responding softly.

"You wouldn't lie to me, would you Garrus?" His pointed words taking his turian friend aback.

Choosing his next words cautiously, Garrus took a slow swig from his glass as he formulated a response in his mind. Finishing his drawn out sip, he placed his drink down. Opening his mouth to speak the words that his friend desperately wanted to here, he was interrupted before they could escape his lips.

"I saw Admiral Raan today …" Shepard said as he slid the glass ever faster between his waiting finger tips, infused with miniature biotic barriers to cushion the impacts.

"That must have been …" Garrus started to say before being interrupted again.

"Yeah, it was." Shepard responded as he grasped the previously sliding glass tightly with his hand, cracking it as the shards dug into his flesh.

At that moment, Garrus felt as if time had come to a standstill as Shepard slowly turned his head toward him. Gazing with the intenseness of a hunter stalking his prey, Shepard pointedly asked him the question that he had been dreading.

"Was I right?"

Earlier that day …

Shepard knew that the quarian-geth delegation would be arriving sometime today for an official recognition from the Council on their contributions to defeating the Reapers and formal reception of a joint embassy. Due to old wounds that for some would never heal, there were grumblings from quarian factions that a separate embassy should be granted. But for those who had known the hidden truth behind the Morning War and were not blinded by their own prejudices, this was a small price to pay for recognition, and ultimately, a lasting peace. But most of all to the troubled Commander, he knew that she would be in attendance as a diplomat for her people.

His official death wasn't widely known and to those who had a passing knowledge of his demise through scuttlebutt, it was assumed that it was a similar ploy as had been done prior to the defeat of the Collectors. But she knew the truth. She knew what had become of him, of her.

As the hero of the war with the Reapers and member of the Alliance, notwithstanding the efforts he had gone through to forge not only peace but an alliance between the quarians and the geth, Shepard was expected to be in attendance to greet the dignitaries. At the insistence of Admiral Hackett, he reluctantly accepted. As he stood at the end of the platform waiting for the shuttle to dock, he wished he hadn't.

Flanked on either side of him by representatives from the turian and asari governments, he waited their arrival as a condemned man would the gallows.

"Is everything alright, Commander?" The turian representative asked the Commander as he sensed his uneasiness.

"What? Yes … Yes everything is fine." Shepard spoke with a feigned confidence.

Turning his attention to the now docked shuttle, several geth platforms disembarked from the transport before flanking the shuttle entrance in a ceremoniously defensive posture. Since the completion of hostilities between the two races, the Geth had surprisingly taken a proactive stance in their defense of their creators, allowing the quarian people to devote their efforts on settlement work on Rannoch. They also provided invaluable assistance on the home-world with acclimatizing the flotilla population during this transition.

'Your sacrifice Legion hasn't been in vain …'

"Commander?" The asari representative inquired as Shepard was brought again out of his inner most thoughts.

Shaking his head briefly, Shepard proceeded forward with the rest of the Council representatives to greet the dignitaries. The odd site of geth platforms, now infused with individuality due to the Reaper code within them, performing the pleasantries of diplomatic interaction was not lost on the Commander. As he made his rounds, the procession moved towards the suites designated for the reception.

Sipping lightly on a drink he had been provided as he studied what was unfolding before him, his mind drifted away to a guilt ridden thought.

'If you could only see this, Tali …'

Suddenly he felt a firm grasp from a three fingered hand on his bicep directing his attention towards the owner.

"Admiral Raan …" Shepard started to say before being cut off by a forceful set of words.

"I need to speak with you Commander, now."

Excusing himself from the rest of the party, Shepard quickly downed his drink before proceeding after the determined quarian making her way towards one of the offices set aside for the quarian-geth delegation. The office was flanked by a pair of geth sentries, slightly bigger than a standard platform with a few upgrades that Shepard didn't recognize. Motioning with her helmet covered head, Admiral Raan spoke commandingly.

"Leave us."

Acknowledging her orders, the platforms proceeded away from the office as they glanced at each other momentarily.

'I swear I think they both just gave each other a confused look …' Shepard thought briefly before following Admiral Raan into the office, the automatic door shutting behind them.

"So what is it you would like to see me about Ad …" Shepard attempted to say before being greeted with a strong strike across his face; the force of the blow knocking him slightly backwards and twisting his head.

"Enough with the diplomatic pleasantries Commander. Where is my Tali?" Admiral Raan said with a building anger behind her words.

"Shala I …" Shepard attempted to say before being interrupted by a now furious quarian.

"Don't you call me that Shepard! You don't have the right to address me in such a manner, not after what you have done! Now, I'll ask again for the last time, where is she?"

Shepard briefly contemplated the events that had lead up to this moment before being grasped on the shoulder by his former attacker, causing him to turn his head back towards her.

"Commander … Please, I need to know … Keelah …" She said with her voice breaking slightly as she finished her words.

Her earlier assault had caused a cut to form on Shepard's face; the blood from it had slowly trickled down his cheek. Before her very eyes the cut had already mostly closed before shutting completely, the only sign of the previous attack being the red stain of blood on his cheek. Looking at his assailant with a cold stare devoid of emotion, Shepard responded with ice behind his words.

"Follow me … Admiral."