Disclaimer: I own nothing, I make no money.

Author's Note: This was done as a Secret Santa gift fic in the Mass Effect Fanfiction Writer's SR-2 Facebook group.

Together

"She thinks of all the threats they've faced and all the battles they've endured. She thinks of all the weight that years of fighting have leveled on their backs. She shifts her gaze to the booth and finds Garrus staring back at her, his gaze questioning." - In the final days before the battle for Earth, Shepard takes it back to the beginning, one last time.

"The great Commander Shepard, quitting already?" Garrus raises a challenging brow plate at her.

Shepard laughs, shaking her head and securing her shotgun in its hip holster. "You know I'm more of a brawl girl. Get me in a ring and then we'll talk." She flares her biotics briefly, the hint of blue curling off her body in response as she punches a fist into a palm to emphasize the sentiment. "But I'm calling it quits on the gun range," she chuckles good-naturedly, hands falling to her sides as she shrugs her shoulders. "Besides," she begins, nodding to Liara, Tali, Ashley, and Wrex near them, "I think the crew's ready for a change of pace."

They stand gathered around the shooting booths of the Citadel's gun range just past C-Sec headquarters. Garrus leans over the edge of the booth's counter, the bipod struts of his Black Widow sniper rifle braced upon the surface. "That's only because they can't keep up," he quips.

Shepard shakes her head at him, chuckling. The others converse not far from them. "You're too cocky for your own good, you know."

Garrus straightens and reaches a hand around her waist, drawing her close. "Confident," he corrects.

Shepard's hands fall along his chest. "Infuriating," she responds.

Garrus trails his hand up the valley of her back until it rests between her shoulder blades and he holds her there. A hum of contentment rumbles through him and she feels it through her hands on his chest. "You wouldn't have me any other way," he boasts, but the words are followed by a short flutter of mandibles that Shepard has grown to recognize as hesitance. Insecurity even. And she has to wonder at it.

For all his confidence, all his smart remarks and unabashed preening, he is still only ever cautious with her.

With her heart.

As though he expects her to take it back one day and leave him hollow.

Shepard's smile turns secret and intimate, her hands slipping up over his cowl to rest behind his neck, her fingers brushing along the base of his fringe. The resonant near-purr that curls along his throat is satisfying beyond all measure. "I could think of a few ways I'd prefer you," she remarks suggestively, one brow lifting with the words.

His responding chortle is slightly choked, and he pulls his free hand up to cover his mouth.

Shepard beams back.

Garrus shakes his head as he moves his talons from his mouth and along her jaw, tracing her tender skin. Shepard leans closer, resting against his chest, and she sighs. Contentedly. Easily. Her whole body shifts into place with his, smoothly and naturally. They have always fit each other in ways they could never fit anything else in their lives.

Shepard's smile smoothes out into a contemplative purse of her lips. "But truthfully, Garrus," she begins in a conspiratorial whisper, leaning her head forward and watching him do the same until they are braced forehead to forehead, "I think I like you best just where you are. With me."

A low keen escapes him as he moves to brace his cheek against hers, his hand sliding from her jaw into her hair. She closes her eyes and feels him there, smiling into his cheek.

"And here I thought I was the sweet-talker," he chuckles.

She laughs against him, and they pull apart together, just enough to brace mouths together and share a short kiss.

Tali's "eugh!" interrupts them.

Shepard and Garrus laugh, pulling apart fully as they glance to Tali beside them, hands on her hips and masked face turned to them.

"I guess some things never change," the quarian sighs, shaking her head and sliding her hands from her hips. A light chuckle escapes her.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Shepard feigns mortification, one hand braced to her chest as she slings an arm around Liara's shoulders, hooking it tight around her neck. "Am I neglecting you guys?"

Liara snorts, a decidedly unmaiden-like sound that cracks a wide grin over Shepard's lips. The asari struggles under Shepard's vice grip and manages to squeeze her head out of Shepard's playful arm lock with some semblance of grace that still surprises the commander. Beside them, Garrus turns back to the target controls and adjusts the length of the mark along the firing lane, already intent on continuing regardless of the crew's thoughts on the matter. "Please, Shepard," Liara begins, a smirk pulling at her lips, even as she rolls her eyes. "I think we're all happy to be spared your particular brand of attention."

"More for me then," Garrus retorts, adjusting his rifle along its rest.

Ashley places her chin in her palm, elbow braced against the scoring table where she sits, and motions toward the ever-retreating target in Garrus' firing lane. "You know, Vakarian, there's no one new here to impress." Her drawl is accompanied by a friendly smirk.

Garrus glances back over his shoulder to where she sits and is about to respond when Wrex interrupts him. "Ah, let him. I want to see him cry when he misses." The laugh that leaves the krogan is oddly both encouraging and menacing to Shepard.

Garrus scoffs. "Such doubters. Were you always this dull? I seem to remember the SR-1 with much more fondness."

"Fifty credits says you can't make it."

Shepard raises a brow at Ashley's remark to Garrus, crossing her arms and cocking a hip out. His mandibles flutter as an amused click falls from his mouth. "You're on, Williams."

"If we were just going to end up gambling," Liara begins, placing her hands on her hips and huffing, "there is a casino on the Citadel, you know. I thought today was going to be about 'team bonding'."

Wrex snorts from his position leaning on the wall beside them, adjusting the high caliber barrel on his shotgun. "I sure as hell didn't sign up for that."

Ashley smirks from her position at the scoring table, tapping in the last numbers from their previous round. "Aw, come on, Wrex. You miss us, admit it. All that clan leader business keeps you too buttoned up. I'm sure you're just itching for a tour on the Normandy." Her teeth glint in the light, her smile stretching wide.

Wrex growls. "And spend the whole war playing diplomat to some scrawny salarians and delusional quarians?"

Tali's indignant "Hey!" is drowned out by his responding chuckle.

"No thanks," he finishes, smirk spreading across the planes of his face.

Shepard shakes her head and chuckles. "We get our hits in, Wrex, don't worry."

"The Reapers don't seem to think so," he grumbles.

Tali crosses her arms beside Liara, her chin lifting in mild indignation. "We killed that Reaper on Rannoch, didn't we? How many Reapers have you taken down, Wrex?" She cocks her head in challenge, and if Shepard didn't know better, she'd swear the quarian was wearing a smug grin behind her mask of glass.

Wrex only grunts, a harsh expel of air from his nostrils. He turns his attention back to his shotgun.

"Really though, people," Garrus drawls, his accompanying sigh rather dramatic. "You're missing my glorious victory with all this prattling." He settles back along his rifle's sight and squeezes the trigger, the sharp crack of his shot ringing through the range.

Liara rolls her eyes and tries to smother the smile breaking free from her lips.

Shepard reaches a hand out to pat Garrus' shoulder as he straightens from his lean. "Don't worry, honey. We were watching," she reassures unconvincingly.

Garrus releases a quick huff, glancing at her.

She beams back unrepentantly.

Tali taps a couple keys to bring up the interface on the booth's omni-screen. Blinking into view is the holographic image of the humanoid target Garrus had shot at moments ago down half the length of the firing lane. A single bullet hole rests between what would stand for eyes.

A collective groan rises up from the team.

Garrus preens shamelessly, turning to Ashley. "Did you want to send that credit transfer now, or after your pride crawls back from that brutal defeat?"

"You're not the only sharpshooter aboard the Normandy, you know." she answers, one brow raised in a challenge.

Garrus chuckles, his mandibles flexing with the sound. "Yes but I'm the only good sharpshooter aboard the Normandy."

Ashley slams her hands on the table and rises, pulling her own sniper rifle from her back holster. "That's it, Vakarian. We're settling this right now." Her menacing grin stretches wide.

Tali braces a hand on Liara's shoulder and leans toward the asari. "I told Shepard we shouldn't do the gun range."

Liara chuckles beside the young quarian, glancing at her.

Shepard groans, wiping a hand down her face and turning to the women. "I didn't think Garrus would get so serious about it," she sighs.

Wrex snorts his response.

Liara cocks her head at Shepard and levels an amused smile her way. "'Just like old times' you said."

Shepard groans once more.

Tali cuts off a chortle, her hand slipping from Liara's shoulder as she watches Ashley set up her sniper rifle in the booth alongside Garrus, the two exchanging taunts and jabs. "Still," the quarian begins, "I'm glad we did this. Just us. Just…the originals."

Shepard spares a warm smile Tali's way. "Same," she agrees.

Nobody mentions the lingering absence of their lost original. Nobody breathes the name Kaidan, for fear it might shatter this rare, intangible moment of peace in a galaxy ravaged by war. So they hold tight to the family still present, still fighting, still living. And they honor Kaidan in the privacy of their hearts where they can hold his death close and tell themselves 'Never again'. They feel it still.

Shepard thinks they always will.

Wrex grumbles beside them, holstering his shotgun. "When you said you wanted to get the old crew back together I thought you were planning some suicidal run on the Reapers. Not this…party." He says the last word with disdain, as though a suicidal run would be preferable.

Shepard rolls her eyes at the thought. "It might just be our last chance, Wrex." She leans back on one leg and throws a weighted stare his way. "This 'party' at Anderson's old apartment tonight isn't just about blowing off steam. It's…my way of celebrating all the good things in my life. All the good people." Shepard looks back to Garrus and Ashley arguing at the booths, a slow smile pulling at her lips. "I want to be with you all one last time. Just…together. And I want you each to know how much it's meant that you've stayed by my side for so long. It's the only way I know how to honor your sacrifices." She clears her throat at the end of her words, shifting her gaze between Tali and Liara on her left and Wrex on her right.

Liara smiles at her affectionately, reaching for her hands and grasping them between them. Wrex grumbles something low and rough, shifting along the wall.

Shepard shakes her head. "Forget it," she laughs. "Just…thank you. For coming. For..everything."

Liara rubs her thumb along Shepard's hands. "Always, Shepard. You are our commander, after all. We will follow you anywhere."

Tali nods enthusiastically. "Anywhere," she agrees.

When Shepard glances to Wrex and finds him watching her without objection, the swell of emotion that fills her chest threatens to break the smile along her lips. So she swallows back that stinging slice of apprehension and for once, for the first moment since Earth started burning, she puts Reapers from her mind. It is only them now. Only these brilliant and steadfast and breath-taking people before her. Only her family.

Only her everything.

She thinks of all the threats they've faced and all the battles they've endured. She thinks of all the weight that years of fighting have leveled on their backs.

She shifts her gaze to the booth and finds Garrus staring back at her, his gaze questioning.

And then she thinks of his breath in her mouth. His smile against her lips. His talons in her hair. She thinks of all the moments his words and his touch and his presence have anchored her. She thinks of a life lived happy and fulfilled, even in the midst of war.

She thinks of a life lived in love.

Looking around her at the faces of her teammates, her family, her reason for even fighting this war, she feels it as well.

Love.

Unconditional and unrestricted.

Somehow, she knows it won't be the last time she feels it.

"Take him down, Ash," she says, smile breaking along her lips like the first breath of dawn. "Or I'll never hear the end of it."

She cannot tell whose laugh fills the room then. She doesn't think she cares. It is each of theirs. Indistinguishable. Inseparable

Theirs.

Together.