Garrus hadn't seen Shepard since they stepped off of the shuttle and back onto the Normandy. She'd disappeared around the side of the shuttle before he could pull off his helmet and he had that down to one swift motion, maybe three seconds tops. He'd looked to Mordin in hopes of an answer but the Salarian had already taken off to the elevator with his Collector samples in what one could only describe as barely contained elation. Normally, he would have gone after Shepard. Normally, he wouldn't have lost track of her. But after what had just happened back on Horizon Garrus decided to give her as much time as she needed.
Seeing Kaidan again had been a surprise. At first he'd been happy to see an old crewmate alive and well, especially after what they had seen on this human colony, but his excitement had quickly fallen into rage. As soon as the human biotic had opened his mouth Garrus knew nothing good was going to come of it. Shepard had tried. Spirits she had tried to reign in her indignation but it had seeped into her tone as the conversation had continued. He'd wanted to punch Alenko right then and there, to make him shut up and actually listen to Shepard.
He walked slowly towards the elevator, feeling the heaviness in his muscles that always came after a ground mission with Shepard. The anger was still simmering hot and vicious at the bottom of his stomach and he gripped his helmet even harder. There were some things he would never understand about Shepard. It amazed him that she had allowed Kaidan to essentially rip her apart without even blinking. She'd just stood there and let him have a go. Garrus shook his head and entered the elevator, tiredly tapping the glowing orange display to take him to deck three.
As the elevator rose he wondered what the difference between himself and Kaidan was. He was here, wasn't he? He was here even after learning that Cerberus - the organization responsible for those horrific experiments they'd destroyed two and a half years ago – had been responsible for resurrecting Shepard. Sure it was strange being on the SR-2 as the only non-human so far besides Mordin. That was weird. Not necessarily uncomfortable, he'd gotten used to being with humans ages ago, but he would have liked to see Tali around. Hell, he'd even gotten around to missing Wrex of all people. A little diversity wouldn't have hurt.
But he could live with all of that. He could live with the looks and whispers if that meant he was helping Shepard. She'd said it herself, that if she was going into Hell then she wanted someone at her side that she could trust. It hadn't even bothered him to stay aboard for the mission. The squishy, stubborn little human Commander had become his closest friend and Garrus knew following her would no doubt lead to another adventure that would change the fate of the galaxy. Shepard was reliable on things like that.
She knew how to walk into an oncoming storm like she'd been born for it and he had been ready to make sure she made it through the minute he'd seen her crossing that bridge on Omega. It still turned his world upside down sometimes to see her alive. He'd walk out into the mess to grab something to eat in between calibrations and there she would be sometimes drinking a coffee and reading a data pad, very much alive. Garrus sometimes wondered if this was all some kind of nightmare and if he would wake up back in his base, still Archangel. He worried he'd wake up and Shepard would be dead again.
Deck three opened up in front of him to reveal a tense looking Miranda Lawson. He still didn't know what he thought of her but he was grateful that she'd been in charge of the Lazarus Project. If she ran that operation anywhere near as tight and streamlined as she did this ship when Shepard needed her to then Garrus would have been terrified to have been on that project. The woman knew how to get things done.
He raised one of his eye plates in surprise when she didn't immediately try to push him out of the elevator. "Need something, Miranda?"
"How close would you say you are with the Commander?"
If he'd been drinking anything he would have choked on it. "Uh, well... Shepard and I have worked together before if that's what you mean."
Miranda rolled her eyes, resting one of her gloved hands on her hip. "Obviously. Are you good with talking to her? Are you good at bringing her attention back to the mission?"
"Is this you asking for my help?"
"Normally I wouldn't have to ask for it but Shepard still doesn't trust me," her blue eyes watched him like a Varren watched it's prey, "and I need to know that Shepard won't let someone like Kaidan Alenko throw her off course."
Something about Miranda's biting tone made him bristle. "Shepard won't let personal matters get in the way of the mission." He took a step forward which forced her to move to the side and put on the calmest voice he could muster. "To put your concerns at ease I'll check up on her later."
With that, Garrus moved briskly to gun battery, and tried to shake off the discomfort that had settled in the middle of his back. Being the good guy was proving to be difficult today. He didn't know how Miranda knew they'd run into Kaidan but he doubted that it even mattered. Cerberus had information coming in from every possible direction at all times and he figured they had already known Kaidan would be there long before they landed. Maybe it had been some kind of stress test for Shepard to unknowingly take but the thought made him growl in disgust. Cerberus was playing dirty in his books.
There wasn't much else for him to do about it, though. They'd stopped the Collectors from taking the entire colony which was the silver lining to an otherwise bleak mission. He held onto that fleeting feeling of satisfaction. Sloppily, Garrus tossed his helmet onto the small workbench to his right. It knocked over an empty coffee mug but he made no move to fix it. Seconds later his guns were also on the bench's smooth metal surface. With a final sigh he turned his attention to the endless calibrations he'd do until Shepard was ready to talk.