Running Silent:

Interlude Interrupted

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A/N: A new chapter for N7 day! Please R&R.

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An alternate ME3. Commander Shepard and her team are on the run from Cerberus and trying to make alliances before it's too late. In a galaxy with no reaper kill switch, how can they hope to defeat something so ancient and powerful? Their last hope is a desperate plan that may cost them everything. Shepard/Garrus, other side pairings.

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Disclaimer: This author in no way profits from the writing of this story. All characters, dialogue, or other referenced material from the Mass Effect trilogy belong to Bioware.

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Shepard wrestled with the listening device under her desk with an impatience borne of frustration. A datapad, on the desk directly above her head, still displayed its puzzling message.

Shepard—

Had to leave to deal with a heat diffusion emergency in the main battery. Don't worry—I'll let you know if anything needs your attention. I'll come see you once everything is taken care of.

G

Alright, so the message in itself wasn't puzzling, but Shepard couldn't help examining it repeatedly for any kind of subtext or clue to his feelings.

He had left so quickly. Which was to be expected if there was an emergency, of course, but couldn't he have at least called through the door to let her know he was leaving? Or hell, he could have poked his head in in. It's not like he'd see anything he hadn't seen before.

She continued wrestling with the audio bug for a few more minutes before she dropped her hands with a sigh.

"EDI," she called, "What's the status of the main battery?"

"The situation in the main battery has been adequately handled."

"And Garrus?" Shepard ventured.

"He is calibrating the main gun."

Shepard's mouth dropped open. "Seriously?" she muttered.

"Yes," EDI replied. "Though it is curious; his work is not as efficient as usual. Garrus has needed to correct 13.7% more manual errors than is typical. Perhaps there is something on his mind."

EDI's slightly amused tone was not lost on Shepard. She glared in the direction of the AI's wall unit. "Really don't need your commentary on my love life, EDI."

"Logging you out, Shepard."

Shepard turned back to the bug she was supposed to disconnect, but her thoughts were lost somewhere near the main battery. Garrus always calibrated when something was bothering him—when he couldn't get out and shoot, that is. Likely he was trying to figure out how to let her down gently, she thought glumly. A rift between them could upset the entire balance of the ship. They were too professional to let a breakup (how dramatic of her to call it that) ruin their working relationship, but any tension between them could disturb the crew nonetheless. Exactly what she was trying to avoid.

Maybe, she considered, her thoughts taking a lighter turn, he was trying to figure out a way to express his feelings for her. Garrus was more a man of action than words, and he seemed uncharacteristically unsure of himself when it came to his emotions. Maybe he just needed time to figure out what to say.

Shepard groaned at herself. She was a sap. A moronic, love-struck teenager. But knowing how badly all of her previous relationships had ended, could anyone blame her for wanting one to go right?

With a shake of her head, she dismissed the thought. She needed to finish up cleaning out her quarters first, then she could worry over what was going through Garrus's mind. She leaned forward, getting back to work on disconnecting the Cerberus bug beneath her desk.

After a few more minutes, the bug came loose with a loud bang and yell that rattled her model ships and scared her hamster into the back corner of his cage. Boo let out a terrified squeak.

"Damn it!" Shepard scooted out from under the desk with a scowl on her face and a hand cradling the back of her head. She should have listened when Tali explained how to disconnect the bugs without brute force. Or maybe she should have taken out her relationship woes on the punching bag downstairs instead of the hated Cerberus device.

"Having trouble?"

A rich voice from the doorway nearly made Shepard jump. Her eyes darted over her shoulder to find Garrus Vakarian laughing openly at her bug-disconnecting skills.

"Go to hell, Vakarian," she grumbled, throwing the dismembered bug his direction. He easily dodged the projectile and walked towards her.

"What do you want?" she asked, trying to scowl despite the way her heart pounded in his presence.

He reached out a hand to help her up. "I was thinking you and I might go out tonight," he said, pulling Shepard to her feet. "No further than Afterlife. It's a short walk through the safest part of the station, and Aria doesn't let the mercs cause too much trouble in there. Besides," he added, placing his free hand on her waist, "You need a break."

Shepard slid her hands up to rest on his shoulders. "So do you," she countered. "EDI told me you were calibrating."

Garrus's mandibles fluttered nervously. "The guns can always use the work. You never know when we're going to need them," he said. "Anyways," he hurried to add, "what I'm proposing is a break for both of us. A night out."

A whole night out hadn't been in Shepard's plans—she'd been thinking there would be a short discussion about their feelings and hopefully some late-night lovemaking to follow. But if this was his way of trying to show her how he felt, she wouldn't dissuade him.

"Okay," she conceded and offered him a smile. "Work can wait for one night."

…

If any of the Normandy crew had walked into Afterlife on this particular evening, there would be no question in their minds about where Shepard and Garrus's relationship stood.

Shepard had slowly worked her way onto the turian's lap as the night progressed, nuzzling her face into the cowl of his armor. She was almost unrecognizable in leather and jeans, wearing makeup and a rather un-commander-like attitude that was explained only by the collection of empty bottles on the table in front of them.

"I thought of one good thing about Omega," she whispered, grinding against him as if he could feel her through the armor. Her breath was hot in his ear.

"What's that?" he asked, fingers trailing down her hips suggestively.

Shepard motioned to the club around them. "No one cares who's fucking who," she said, and swung a leg around to straddle him. "Now, if I were to do this, for example…" She broke off her sentence to drag her tongue up the turian's neck.

"Spirits, Shepard!" he shuddered, fingers tightening on her instinctively.

She grinned at him with a sparkle in her eye. "If I were to do that anywhere else, people would be staring, saying things about you being turian and me being human. But nobody gives a damn here."

"Thank the spirits for that," Garrus uttered, his thumbs stroking up and down her shapely hips.

Shepard slipped her tongue into his mouth experimentally, flicking across his teeth before twining with his own tongue. Their attempts at kissing before were rudimentary at best, but she wanted to experiment a little further. She nibbled at his lip plate as it subtly flexed, attempting to replicate the movements of her lips. It was different, but not in a bad way, she decided through her haze.

"Shepard," he gasped into her mouth, and she pulled back.

"Jane," she said softly. "When we're alone, call me Jane."

"Jane," he began again, lifting her away as she leaned down to kiss his neck, "How fast can we get back to your quarters?" He hungered for her, eyes filled with a predatory look that made her quiver with desire.

She gave him a seductive smile and and stood, pulling him along as she rushed out of the club.

They were unable to take their hands off each other as they made their way back to the ship. In that moment there were no reapers, no Cerberus, none of the problems that had plagued them for so long. The only thing that mattered was the two of them. Shepard stopped in the hallway to kiss him again, intoxicated with lust and alcohol.

Shepard stiffened suddenly in the middle of the kiss—something wasn't right. Moving more on instinct than logic, she threw Garrus behind her. An armored man was closing in fast, reaching for a shotgun. With two steps forward and one powerful swing, she knocked him out, the weapon falling from his hand. As it clattered onto the floor, Shepard saw the familiar logo. "Cerberus," she hissed, and all thoughts of being alone were forgotten.

"They're after the ship," she said worriedly, and activated her comm. "EDI. EDI!"

"Shepard!" Garrus cried, grabbing her out of the way barely in time to miss a shot that struck the wall just where she'd been standing.

In a few swift motions, the turian hand-to-hand specialist crossed the space between them, disarmed a second Cerberus agent, and snapped his neck with a sickening crack.

Shepard stared. What the fuck.

She stormed over. "Damn it!" she swore, glaring up at the turian. "You had him disarmed! You could have gotten information out of him. What the hell?"

"He tried to kill you," he explained weakly. Shepard's eyes narrowed.

She pushed a finger into his chest. "I need you to keep a clear head, Vakarian," she snapped, eyes blazing up at him. "You know better than to let feelings get mixed up in missions. Understood?"

He snapped to attention. "Understood." That turian military training was good for something.

Shepard let her hand drop and took a deep breath, trying to alleviate the dizzying feeling in her head. Garrus wasn't usually like this. She hoped it was the alcohol and not some new protective thing due to their burgeoning relationship. "We need to get to the Normandy," she said. "EDI didn't respond." She took off down the hall. "Disconnected or jamming signal, you think?"

"Jamming," Garrus said, jogging along beside her. "They'd have to get to the AI core to disconnect EDI. She'd have locked down the ship before they could reach it."

"I sure as hell hope so," Shepard muttered. Unless there's a traitor on the ship.

The thought made Shepard's blood run cold. Should she have kicked off the Cerberus crew when she had the chance? If her trust got someone killed, there would be hell to pay.

They rounded the corner to the docking tube and found themselves face-to-face with four Cerberus troops guarding the hallway. Two more stood at the far end, trying to pry open the Normandy's airlock with brute force.

A spray of bullets forced Shepard and Garrus into cover, but the sight of those Cerberus soldiers touching the Normandy filled Shepard with rage. She let out a feral growl. A blue glow enveloped her body, and she stepped out of cover. "Get your hands the fuck off my ship!"

A biotic push threw the four guards skittering down the hallway. She stormed ahead, ripping the other two away and slamming them to the ground with immense force. The guards behind her began to recover. A crack rang out. Five Cerberus left. She pulled the pistol from her thigh holster and got off two shots that hit right between the eyes. Four.

"Shepard!"

She turned towards his voice and went momentarily still. His sniper rifle was pointed at her.

Time seemed to slow as his finger twitched on the trigger. She heard the resounding boom, accompanied by a splattering sound behind her. She whirled around just in time to see the soldier's lifeless body fall and land at her feet. Another was scrambling to stand, hands grasping at his rifle.

She could hear Garrus behind her rushing to reload as she raised her pistol. "Damn it, Shepard! On your five! I can't—"

She was grabbed from behind. Shepard twisted in the soldier's arms, bringing her leg up to trip him to the ground—

He didn't fall. He was too fast for her, she realized in shock. When had anyone been too fast for her?

That was about the time she decided she was never going out drinking again.

Another guard approached her flank with weapon raised. She ducked only a second before he pulled the trigger, a spray of bullets going over her head. That was a little too close for the soldier who was holding her, and his grip loosed just enough for her to free herself. She raised her pistol, but Garrus beat her to it. A shot rang out, dropping the soldier to the ground.

She spun around to point her pistol at the next nearest soldier, but before she could attack, a biotic glow surrounded her, ripping her back through the doorway, past Garrus and into the hall. Everything ached as she scrambled to pull herself up, staring at the Cerberus soldiers that were making their way towards her once again. Which one was the damn biotic?

The unexpected answer came in the form of a biotic detonation more powerful than any she'd ever seen. It filled up the docking tube with a bright light and deafening noise, and when the blast cleared, the remaining Cerberus soldiers were dead.

The sound of footsteps echoed in the following silence, and Shepard whirled around to face the intruder.

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