**Hello! I hope anyone reading this enjoys my fanfic. This is just the intro chapter, and yes I simply retold the opening of Mass Effect 2 in my own words. But fear not! After this, the story only mentions the actual ME story line in very few instances.

I will try to update the story about once a week/ once every week and a half.

I guess I don't have any readers yet, but if any future readers have a Mass Effect oneshot request, feel free to PM me about it!

Apparently everyone's doing disclaimers, so uhh. Mass effect isn't mine, it's Bioware's and EA's I guess.

P.S. I like to pronounce this particular femShep's first name as Veh-leer-uh.


*Thump thump*

"Who is it?"

"…Shepard…It's me."

The woman blinked a few times into the datapad camera and sighed. It seemed like she could never get anything done on this damn ship without someone interrupting her. While still looking into the camera, she blindly reached for the sensor on the wall behind her to let in her guest.

"Oh, Garrus!" Shepard smiled at the Turian and left the datapad alone while she greeted her friend. "Sit, please. I'm sorry about the mess, I wasn't expecting any visitors."

Garrus scanned the table in front of his commander quizzically, searching for an object that gave way to just what exactly she had been doing. There were very small tubes scattered about, some with vibrant color and others just a shiny black. A few of the tubes had strange looking probes sticking out of one end with what appeared to be black feelers…or something.

"What in the hell are you doing in here, Shepard? As your lieutenant and friend, I don't condone drug use."

Shepard choked on her own spit and coughed exasperatedly in an attempt to save herself from the nonsense she just heard. He thought she was doing drugs? When her hacking had subsided, she allowed a light chuckle to escape her lips before explaining to her alien friend the purpose of the tubes.

"It's called make-up, Garrus. This is what humans' version looks like. The Asari seem to have things a bit more, laser oriented. But I never got used to how tattoo-like the lasers seem, so I opted for the poor-man's paint. It's great though, the stuff is fully waterproof and doesn't start to fade for about a month! You just happened to catch me as I was redoing it." She reached for the datapad once more and flicked on the camera. Her reflection appeared on the transparent screen with lines marking symmetry for her reference.

Garrus nodded in satisfaction with a light 'hmph' and sat in the chair across from her. "I guess I might never understand women," he paused and darted his brights to her to see what kind of reaction he would get. He chuckled when he saw her using the tube with the feelers to brush at her eyelashes with her mouth gaping open in the shape of a small 'o'. It was one of the most ridiculous things he had ever seen. Then again, everything about her was exotically alien to him. But that was beside the point. He needed to tell her.

I could just let her find out slowly through the rest of the crew…

Garrus blinked and mentally slapped himself for such an absurd thought.

She's my commander, she deserves to know.

"Shepard I…I need to talk to you about something." Vylera stopped her hand's brushing motion and looked across from her. Garrus Vakarian was not, in any sense of the word, emotional. Yes he was passionate about certain things, but she had never heard his voice falter in the way that it had just now. In his eyes she saw pain, remorse…even sadness. She slowly put the tubes down, and flicked off the datapad, sliding it across the table at the same time. Her hands brushed the rest of her makeup to the side before automatically folding together. Garrus now had her full, undivided attention.

He swallowed. Hard. Never in a million years would he have ever thought that it would be this difficult to tell one woman a single sentence. His hand involuntarily moved to his collar and readjusted it around his neck. The entire suit, including the collar, had suddenly seemed like it would squish him flat. If Turians could sweat, he would have drowned himself and his commander an hour ago. He shifted in his seat and cleared his throat in preparation for his suicide. Closing his eyes, he slowly began to unravel the burden on his heart.

"I feel like I need to do something. Not that I haven't already been doing something. But I need to do more. I see you, Shepard, leading a ragtag team of soldiers, throwing yourself on the front lines to save all of the moral beings in this galaxy. And here I am, just sitting, waiting for you to lead me. I feel like I've been floating, and ever since the battle at the Citadel, I've been floating further and further away from my ambitions. You're the first human Spectre! And that inspires me to do something more. I…I need to go back to the Citadel. I'm reapplying for Spectre training." He took the biggest breath of his life, as he felt like he hadn't circulated air throughout that entire message. His heart raced through the chest plate of his armor while he waited for his commander to respond.

Vylera was speechless. She didn't know what she could possibly say to the Turian in front of her. She knew he was serious. Garrus never made promises that he couldn't keep. Not only was he always true to his word, but he also could never be swayed. Once he set his mind to something, that something would happen. She felt light headed, but bit the bullet and smiled sadly through the fogginess of uncertainty.

"That's great that you feel that way, Garrus. It makes me happy to know that I, being only one human, can have such a profound and awe-inspiring effect on any of my crew members. I wish you well, and I hope to every god out there that you obtain the success that your heart longs for in life. We'll be at the Citadel in a few days, so let's just save our goodbyes for then, okay?" She stood with the demeanor of a lost ghost, and slowly walked towards the door, leaving for the mess hall. A drink was all she had in her sights at this point.

When Garrus realized that he had been left alone by the commander in her own room, his body felt like it would break from any sudden movements, and his mind rested heavy on the weak support of his wavering confidence. She had meant every word of encouragement towards him, but it didn't support him like he thought it would. He knew she was happy for him, but he also felt the aura of her sadness, and it filled him like air in an empty room. What did he just do?


Garrus found himself wandering into an empty mess hall. No, nevermind, Shepard was here. He looked upon her limp form with heavy eyes. Her head was laid on the table, hair scattered in a halo around her, and her hand clutching a still half-full cup of something. The Turian took a seat across from her and leaned against both elbows on the table. He folded his hands in front of his mouth and rested, eyes closed.

He had always looked up to Vylera Shepard. She was the shining hope where there was none. But when he told her he was leaving not more than 12 hours ago, he saw the light drain and the hope fade. Did he do that to her? What did she see in him that could make her lose her happiness at the thought of losing him? It didn't matter now. A promise made is a promise kept, and he needed to keep this one. Perhaps after the spectre training he would meet up with her again. They could have a few drinks together, laugh at old times, and talk about life. No matter what, he needed to return to what he was working at before he had ever met her. Shepard was a pause in his game of life. C-Sec was just the transition for him to move on to bigger and better things – on a more Galactic scale, rather than just the Citadel. And now that the big battle was over, it was time for them to get back to their lives, and continue where they left off.

Garrus opened one eye at the movement of the entire ship. It felt as though they were passing through a particularly dense gas cloud. He could hear the faint sound of a siren. It was coming from upstairs, probably another malfunction in the rear distributors. More recently they had been unstable in a small spot where they were bolted and it would accidentally set off only one set of sirens for a hull breach. Joker needs to take it easy. We've got people trying to sleep here.

He shook it off and closed his eyes again, slowly allowing himself to fall asleep and shut off the chattering thoughts of regret in his mind.

*BOOOOM*

The crash of three support beams through the overhang of the mess hall ceiling jolted Garrus and Shepard awake like lightning. Red emergency lights flashed in revolutions as the entirety of the ship shook each crew member to their core. Standing was not an option.

"What the hell is going on?!" Vylera screamed to Garrus as she grabbed hold of the table to prevent from being flung towards the wall. Garrus reached for Shepard's hand and pulled them both to the port side wall lockers. He yanked two lockers open, and pulled out Shepard's exo suit and his helmet. When he saw the woman next to him hesitate, he took hold of her shoulder and yelled at her to put on the suit.

"This is NOT a distributor malfunction! This is a legitimate breach of the hull! You put that suit on NOW or you're dead!" Shepard nodded quickly and began switching to the zero gravity suit as fast as she possibly could, all the while trying to avoid scraps of metal flying through the air. They both finally made their way to the stairs when Ashley's voice patched in through their comms.

"Commander, we're being attack by one of the biggest ships I've ever seen! We've already had one of the pods jettisoned, if you want to get off this ship alive, you need to make it to a pod!"

The scream of a crew member caught Vylera's attention as she pointed Garrus towards some more fallen crew. He nodded and ran for them, helping them up two at a time. When he turned back around for Vylera, she was gone. Without warning, a support beam flung itself off of its hinges and into Garrus's unknowing form. His helmet snapped off of his suit, slamming his head into the door panel. Hurried arms reached for the Turian's body, pulling him into the pod and strapping him into the last empty seat. Vylera held her breath as she looked back, waiting for some type of acknowledgement that the pod was safe. T'soni's hand reached out in the doorway, giving a weak, thumbs up signal just before the pod door sealed itself shut. Satisfied, she launched herself off the wall as best she could towards the engine room. If she could reach the electronic system, the warp drives could be rerouted to give one last, life-saving burst of energy towards the rear shields. The large data screens were in bad shape, and she could only get one monitor to respond to her access code. Suddenly, shaky hands on her feet ripped her back into reality. Vylera looked down in horror at the half dead crew member, trying to pull their legless body closer to her. Terrified for them, she watched as they grasped at her legs in panic with their final choking breaths. Her eyes welled with tears while her hands moved to the victim's neck, twisting it to rid them of their suffering.

"Commander! Joker's still in the cockpit! He won't abandon ship!" Ashley yelled for Vylera to turn around. Shepard tossed a fire extinguisher at her lieutenant.

"I'll take care of Joker! I need you to get yourself and the rest of this crew off of this ship!" Before Ashley could protest, another beam fell between them, blocking her view from the commander. Vylera's hurried voice made its way to Ashley's ears, telling her that the previous comment was an order.

Suddenly, Shepard was floating. Her mind was in a daze as she wondered how her feet were still moving her to the cockpit of the Normandy even though she wasn't telling them to. Time seemed to slow to a screeching halt. Pieces of her beloved ship bubbled past her helmet towards the stars, and fires on the floor and in the vents died out, releasing the burning metal to the exposed insides of her vessel. Vylera held her breathe as she saw herself nearing the final oxygen field in protection of the pilot. She landed with a *thud* behind Joker's chair.

"Commander?! What are you doing?! There's one pod left, you need to get there now!"

"I'm not leaving without you," Vylera breathed loudly and heavily. She put a hand on his shoulder in comfort. "I know you love this ship. And you've got to be the best damned pilot I've ever known. But going down with the ship will not add to your legacy. Survive with me, Joker." Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed her pilot by the arm and helped him to his feet. The pod was open and waiting for their escape.

"There it is!" Joker yelled in frightened excitement, though it was short-lived. A final blast pushed both parties towards the pod doorway, venting Joker through with a clean shot, but slamming Shepard into the doorway. The force of the hit cracked her helmet and ricocheted her off into a flying support beam. With nothing near for her to push off of towards the escape pod, she motioned for Joker to close the door and took a deep breath in anticipation. She watched in a proud fury of emotion while the last pod shot away from the remains of the Normandy, into the stars in the distance.


'Scanners; 95% damaged…'

Soft green words appeared on her helmet visor. Even through the deathly crack running through the middle, she could still make out the message. Her armor was not the least bit salvageable and final protocol of the standard issue N7 armor was damage readouts.

'Life support; 97% damaged…'

Great. She didn't realize that damage readouts also meant her knowing almost exactly when she was going to die. Speaking of which, the oxygen readout should be coming up in just a second…

'Oxygen generator: 96% damaged…'

There it is. In her final hour, or rather, seconds, she decided with much difficulty to ignore the readouts and focus on her surroundings. The words on her screen faded to blurs as she changed her line of sight to the planet that she was slowly hurdling towards.

"No, no, no I can't die like this." She grabbed her helmet in panic and tried to hold the oxygen seal as tightly as she could.

'Time until oxygen depletion; 25 seconds and counting…'

"Damnit!" Her hands were shaking too much to be able to continue pressing the seal, and in one final, frustrated attempt at life, she tried to stretch the oxygen cord closer to her helmet. She knew it wouldn't work. The oxygen loss must have been getting to her already, because what she just tried to do didn't even make sense. She laughed weakly.

'…15…14…13…'

"…Garrus, you would've laughed at that too." She smiled in remembrance of his dual-toned laughter as her breaths became more and more labored. Her chest hurt, and she let the tears in her eyes fall where they pleased.

'…9…8…7…'

She clutched her chest hard with her hands in anger. Tears flowed from her eyes while she struggled to take in even one breath. This was not the death she wanted. Helpless, she let go of her chest with clenched fists and held her breath. In her hazy state of mind, it was the only way she could think of to gain at least a little control of how she died. Even being able to discern when she wanted to breathe in nothing was enough of a victory at this point.

'…3…2…1.'