Garrus Vakarian knows that sometimes it only takes a few seconds for everything to turn to shit. He's had plenty of first-hand experience: Sovereign colliding into the Citadel Tower while he was still inside, getting the news of Shepard's "death", losing his entire team months later, having half of his face blown off. He regards himself as a veteran of tragedy and is even more aware that most of his misfortunes have centered around one Commander Shepard. The very same Commander that is in front of him collecting data on her omni.

Because of his expertise in the field, he's less than shocked when Shepard gets hit with two concussive rounds directly to the chest. She's definitely taken worse hits than this. Spirits, she's come back from the dead. He hears himself sigh has he reaches back for his sniper rifle, resigned, readying to kill any idiot that steps into his line of fire. Combat like this is just another part of his daily life now, it's as simple as breathing. That should worry him. He's become so blasé about death these days.

What does worry him is the extra shot that follows immediately after Shepard's shields fall. The almost theatrical spurts of blood that leave her body and splat onto the dusty floor send shockwaves through him and before he can get to her she hits the ground. A heavy thud of armor. Garrus can't see her face, that silly helmet she picked up on Tuchanka in the way, but he hears her gasp over their open communication channel.

"Shepard!" Any semblance of ease has been ripped away from the tone in his voice. Damn! They'd cleared this base upon arrival, he was sure of it. Now it was crawling with another handful of Blue Sun mercs. "Dammit! Thane, get to Shepard, I'll get the mercs."

The Drell is a fast blur to his right. "Understood."

He can't look at Shepard, can't distract his aim. The strangled grunts coming over the comm are all but killing him. Garrus shakes his head to focus and sets up behind a few supply crates. As much as he wants to be there next to Thane to stop the bleeding and to get Shepard out he knows that they'll be in boiling water if they don't get rid of the mercs first. As he takes stock of their positions he feels the adrenaline hit him and the world around him finally falls away. It's show time. Time to kill these bastards.

They've got good positions, he thinks absently. Good, but not great. And he's great. After he picks off the snipers that were likely responsible for Shepard's injuries the others begin to panic. They might have the superior fire power but they lack discipline. It's his favorite part when they try to run after they realize they're utterly fucked, they get sloppy. Desperate. He switches to his assault rifle to gun down the last few that are trying to make it out of the compound. They're firing without aiming in hopes to punch through his shields or to destroy his cover.

"Garrus," Thane breaks him from his trance. "We're going to lose Shepard if this lasts much longer."

He can hear her again. She's coughing, choking on her own blood, but it's not over the comm channel anymore. He risks a glance to see Thane has thrown her helmet to the side, her head in his lap. Spirits, no. She can't die. Again. He doesn't want their final moments together to be in an insignificant planet's mine. When she died the first time it nearly destroyed him.

"Hang on, Shepard. Don't you dare die on me!" He throws a grenade in the general direction of the remaining mercs and the blast takes them down easily enough leaving behind plumes of dust and debris for them to make an exit through. "Let's go!"

Thane struggles but eventually picks her up, carefully cradling her broken body in his arms. Blood is already pooling outside of her armor and onto his chest, ruby red. By the time they make it out her breathing is incredibly shallow and quick. "Fuckers," she croaks weakly.

When Garrus finds the packets of medi-gel as they step back onto the shuttle he sees how much his hands are shaking. "Get the chest plate off," he orders. "We've got to stop the bleeding."

Shepard cries out as they pull off the piece of armor, her delicate features contorting into an unfamiliar mask of anguish. The woven armor suit underneath the plates is soaked through with her sweat and blood, leaving ugly contact blotches inside of the ceramic plating. Garrus and Thane both suck in a breath, hissing at the visual. This isn't good. Even with all of her cybernetic implants and advanced armor mods the shot has landed just in the middle of her left ribs. The angry wound seeps, pulses with her erratic heartbeat. The mods and implants are likely the only reason she's still breathing by now.

"Garrus, Thane," Doctor Chakwas' voice filters into the shuttle. "Is Shepard still conscious?"

Pilot must have filled her in, Garrus realizes. He kneels down while ripping apart the first packet of medi-gel, scooping a generous amount onto his fingers. He can see Shepard's forest green eyes following his movements, her lips trying to form words. "Yeah, she's still awake."

Thane takes the packet from his hand and cautiously applies the gel to the outside edges of the wound. "Forgive me, Commander," he soothes after Shepard hisses at the contact.

"Keep her awake until I say differently. Get her ready to board," Chakwas is all business. "Under no circumstance can she lose consciousness."

He still hasn't applied any of the shimmering gel to the wound. It's suspended over her chest, and he's lost in a swirling of emotions in his head. Garrus begins to realize that he's losing his composure which is just another tell of how much he's come to care for Shepard. But he knows that this isn't the time for freezing up or confessions and the solider in him snaps to attention. He has to make sure that Shepard makes it out of this alive. It's hard for him to remember that when he can only hear Shepard's small whimpers and only see the tears involuntarily pooling at the corner of her eyes.

"Damn," Thane mutters. "Get the far edge. It's rejecting the medi-gel."

He nods curtly and sets to work. The faintly blue gel warps into a sinister violet the more he smoothly wipes along the entry point. She jumps at his touch, a gasping scream filling the shuttle. He feels a gnawing, clawing pain in his own chest as he holds her down by the shoulders. If she keeps moving things are only going to get worse.

"Shh, hang on Shepard. We're almost back."

Her body convulses once and then goes utterly still. Garrus keeps his eyes the rising and falling of her chest thanking the Spirits with every second it continues the labored movements. It's not much but it's all that he can really hold onto at this point, the only evidence that she's still alive.

Shepard finds his eyes and grabs for one of his hands. "Garrus I can't… it…"

"I know. We'll get you patched up soon, I promise."

"Did you get them all?" The words come out around the rattling breaths, forced past her clenched jaw. She's obviously making a great effort to stay awake. "Are they dead?"

"We're approaching the Normandy," Thane announces and stands, readying himself by the shuttle door. "Keep her still when we land."

Garrus mimics Thane's earlier position by Shepard's side, applying pressure to her wound using what's left of the unsoiled emergency gauze. "They're dead, Shepard. We got them."

The corners of her mouth almost imperceptibly turn upwards as the shuttle lands. The doors rise open slowly and he can see several pairs of feet waiting. There are the usual suspects: Chakwas and Miranda, even Mordin, but several other crew members are there as well. They must be the ones that are going to carry Shepard to the Med Bay.

"Still awake?" Chakwas steps onto the shuttle, waving the others to transfer Shepard onto a stretcher.

"Yes ma'am," Garrus answers instantly.

"Good. Let's get her to the Med Bay, now."

He rises with Shepard as they move her to the stretcher. They mumble around him, blood transfusions, fluids, other things outside of his basic battlefield medical skills. Shepard squeezes his hand once before they move away, forcing her to let go, and the group disappears into the elevator.

"What the hell happened down there? It was supposed to be a simple data fetch," Miranda seethes.

"Blue Suns, surprise attack after we believed the base to be cleared. A small group of reinforcements caught us by surprise and Shepard took heavy fire." Thane relays the information as he wipes his front with a clean cloth someone must have offered him upon arrival. "Two concussive rounds, one penetrating shot."

Concern flashes over Miranda's normally stern face for just longer than a second. "And I assume they were taken care of or do I need to send the two of you back down there to send a message?"

"Miranda, they're dead." Garrus shakes his head as Thane tries to offer him the cloth. "They're not as lucky as Shepard. Doubtful they've got a splinter group ready to spend billions of credits to bring them back."

"Wonderful. If you'll excuse me, Chakwas might need my assistance with Shepard's cybernetics." She brushes past them to the elevator. "By the way, thanks for getting her out alive."

After she leaves Garrus looks to Thane to see his teammate is just as shocked by Miranda's words. "There are miracles," he says slowly, dark eyes wide.

"I thought I was vividly hallucinating," he replies just as dumbstruck.

"I believe Dr. Chakwas and Operative Lawson will tell us when the Commander is well again but if you should need my assistance I'll be waiting outside of the Medical Bay."

He chuckles tiredly. "Me too, Thane. Save me a seat."

They walk towards the elevator together. "As you wish."