Chapter Two

As Lt Cortez banked the transport on the final approach to Menae, Palaven appeared on the shuttle's interior display. Liara gasped at the scene - fire bled from the surface of the wounded planet. The sight of the devastation caused the icy fingers of fear gripping Linda's heart to squeeze even tighter. Get a grip, Shepard, she scolded herself. You've got a mission to complete. Her years of training kicked in andshe pushed her personal fears aside, focusing her mind on the battle ahead.

As the team leaped from the shuttle to greet the swarm of husks rushing to meet them, Cortez called out "Don't take all day, Vega. I've got things to do."

"Yeah, yeah," James called back over his shoulder. "No worries, Lola," he added with a grin as he casually slammed the butt of his shotgun into a husk. The force of his blow sent the creature flying; it crashed into a rock outcropping and disintegrated. "We'll rescue the Primarch and be back on the shuttle before Cortez has time to take a dump."

####

Shepard paced restlessly as General Corinthus worked through the chaotic remains of the turian hierarchy in an effort to determine the name and location of the new Primarch. She turned as he gave a satisfied grunt.

"Finally!" The general motioned for Shepard to join him at the terminal and pointed at the picture displayed on the screen. "This is the man you are looking for – General Adrien Victus. There's just one problem. We don't know where he is."

Before she could respond, a familiar voice rumbled "I'm on it Shepard." She wheeled around sharply, her heart in her throat. "Garrus?" It was Garrus, grinning at her as if they had never been apart. "I thought you were on Palaven. I thought you were… dead."

Garrus took Shepard's hand in both of his. The contact was brief, but spoke volumes. "I'm hard to kill - you should know that." He gave her a wink. "The Reapers are in trouble now! Vakarian and Shepard are together again."

At Garrus' touch, the icy tendrils surrounding Shepard's heart shattered and the numbness fled. She noticed James looking at them curiously and turned to make introductions. "James, this is Garrus Vakarian. Garrus is an old friend and a damn good soldier; he helped me defeat Sovereign and the Collectors. Garrus, this is James Vega, the newest member of my team." She smiled to herself as the two shook hands and sized each other up as only men can do. During the course of the brief handshake they tested each other's strength and took each other's measure as both men and as soldiers.

Just as she turned back to General Corinthus, her comm link squawked to life with Joker yelling something about the Normandy being possessed and a Harvester swooped overhead, almost close enough to touch, en route to the turian airfield. She took control of the situation. Damn, it was good to feel like herself again.

She pointed a finger at each of her teammates as she issued orders. "Liara, get back to the ship and help Joker. Garrus, James, you're with me – we need to clear the airfield of whatever that thing just dropped off." As she slammed a new thermal clip into her assault rifle, she rounded on Corinthus. "General, I need you to find the Primarch!"

With a quick jerk of her head in the direction of the airstrip, Shepard took off at a trot, the men hot on her heels. After months apart, Garrus had one burning question to ask as they ran into battle.

"Shepard, what the hell have you done to your hair?"

"What's wrong? Don't you like purple?"

"Not as much as I liked the original color."

She laughed at the concern in his voice. "Don't worry, it's temporary. " She shrugged. "What can I say? I had too much time on my hands in detention. I got bored."

James chimed in, "You must get bored easily, Lola. You had only been in detention for a few days when I met you and your hair was already purple."

Garrus leveled a steely gaze at James when he heard the nickname; the expression on his face was hard to read – even for a turian.

"What can I say? I guess I was feeling a little rebellious."

Garrus snorted. "You? Rebellious? Never!" He laughed when Linda stuck her tongue out at him.

The battle was brief, but intense. Upon returning to General Corinthus, they learned that he still had not been able to locate Primarch Victus.

Garrus spoke up, "I was with him this morning; I can take you to where I saw him last."

Shepard nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a plan. Everyone stock up – grab as many thermal clips and grenades as you can carry." After a quick weapons check, she gave Garrus a nod. "You've got point."

####

"Hey, Commander." Joker turned his chair around to greet Shepard as she stepped onto the bridge. "Were you afraid that this mission was going to be too dull? I mean, isn't fighting the Reapers exciting enough? Did you really have to bring a turian and a krogan on board at the same time?"

Linda rolled her shoulders to ease the tension that had built up during the "discussion" in the conference room. "Don't forget about the whiny salarian."

"Yeah. Are all female salarians as bitchy as this one or did we just get lucky?"

"I think we just got lucky. If they were all this bad, the race would have died out a long time ago."

"Well, at any rate, I'm glad that Garrus is back. A suicide mission just wouldn't be the same without him."

Linda laughed. "I'll tell him that you said so." Giving Joker a wave, she headed to the main battery for a private reunion with her favorite turian.

Even though the engineering deck was the true heart of the Normandy, Shepard always felt its heartbeat best in the main battery - perhaps because its occupant was the one that her heart beat for. She paused briefly outside the door and closed her eyes as she pressed her face against the cool metal. "Thank you," she whispered to Whoever might be listening. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the battery, carefully locking the door behind her.

She paused for a moment to get her bearings; the Alliance had reconfigured the room. Following the sound of Garrus' voice she found him already at work, his head buried in the inner workings of the Thanix cannon. She leaned against the wall and crossed her arms, appearing much calmer than she actually felt as she waited for him to finish his conversation with Primarch Victus. When he broke the connection, she couldn't resist asking, "Calibrating already?"

Garrus put his tools down and turned to her with a grin. "Well, you know me…" He cleared his throat awkwardly. "So, uh, is this the part where we shake hands? I'm not really familiar with the protocol for reunions."

Shepard slid her arms around Garrus' neck and kissed him soundly; he returned the kiss with a fervor that took her breath away. When they finally came up for air, she assured him "That is the protocol for a reunion."

"I had hoped it would go something like that…" Garrus' voice broke. He pulled Shepard against him in a crushing hug and buried his face in her neck. "Spirits, Shepard. I thought you were dead. I saw the vids of the attack on Earth – I even saw the remains of the building that you were in. I didn't see how anyone could have gotten out alive. When I got word that you were on the way to Menae…"

"I know. I felt the same way. I had no idea where you were, but after seeing the devastation on Palaven, I had pretty much given up hope. When I heard your voice…" This time it was Linda's turn to clear her throat.

They stood in silence, foreheads pressed together, arms wrapped around each other. Finally, Garrus couldn't stand it any longer. "So, Lola, is there something I need to know about? Do I need to be concerned about the new Lieutenant?"

With a start, Shepard realized that he was actually jealous. She took his hands in hers and pressed them to her lips one at a time. "Absolutely not. I've been a one-turian woman since you took me up on my offer to test your reach and my flexibility. You're the only man for me. Besides, James is just a flirt; he's harmless."

"Harmless?" Garrus snorted. "Are you sure that we're talking about the same person? The kid's built like a baby krogan!"

Shepard laughed. "You should tell him that – he'd probably take it as a compliment. Trust me, James is all talk. Give him a chance. I think you two will get along famously; you're both rather… self-assured." As she talked, her hand drifted up to stroke Garrus' scarred mandible as she had so often done in the past. He chuckled and she arched a violet brow questioningly.

"My scars are healing. I know they used to drive you wild. Maybe I should go out and get new ones?"

Shepard's blue eyes darkened slightly. "Don't go to any trouble on my account. You'll have more than enough opportunities for new scars before this is over with." Shaking off the brief moment of melancholy, she grinned as she continued, "The scars were sexy, but it's really your voice that makes my toes curl."

Garrus leaned down and growled seductively in her ear, "The voice is it? I thought it was my tongue that made your toes curl – among other things."

Linda's breathing quickened and her nipples grew hard against the fabric of her shipsuit at the combination of the voice and the memories of his tongue and exactly what it was capable of.

Garrus was well aware of the effect that he was having on Shepard – just as he knew the effect she was having on him. He drew her close and kissed her again. Shepard pressed against him, slowly backing him against the wall, her hands eagerly seeking the fastenings on his armor.

"Easy, Shepard." Garrus took her hands in his to still them. "I'm as eager to get… reacquainted as you are, but don't forget – we haven't had our anti-allergen injections. I don't want our first night back together to end with a trip to the Med Lab."

Linda sighed as she pushed away, her body thrumming with need. "Damn. I guess you're right. I think I'll go have a little chat with Dr. Chakwas. Don't go anywhere."

Garrus strode to his workstation and pulled out a bottle of wine. "You know where to find me – and this time, I can afford the good stuff."

After one more lingering kiss, and promises to return quickly, Linda made her way to the Med Lab. As she stepped through the door, she literally ran into Dr. Chakwas, who was on her way out. The two danced around awkwardly for a moment as they each tried to keep from falling. Finally, she grabbed the doctor's elbows and succeeded in steadying them both.

Doctor Chakwas quickly smoothed her grey hair back into place. "Commander! What a coincidence. I was just on my way to see you." She held out a pouch. "This is for you."

Curiously, Linda opened the bag; she laughed as the light shone on the hypo sprays and the vials of red and blue anti-allergen serums filling it. "I guess you heard that Garrus is back." She blushed slightly. "I was just coming to talk to you about this."

"Yes, when I heard that our favorite turian was alive and well and onboard the Normandy, I got to work immediately. I thought it might come in handy."

"Yes, it will." Shepard gave the doctor a quick hug. "Thank you."

The doctor shooed her away playfully. "It was my pleasure. Now, speaking of pleasure…" she nodded meaningfully to the main battery. "I'm sure you can find a way to put those to good use."

"Yes ma'am." Linda gave her a playful salute as she turned to walk away, but paused as the doctor spoke again.

"It's good to see you smile again, Commander."

"It's good to feel like smiling." Shepard continued to smile as she made her way back to the battery. As the doors slid open, she heard Primarch Victus' voice on the intercom; the only words that she caught were "War Room".

Garrus acknowledged her presence with a nod, but directed his statement to the Primarch. "Immediately, sir. Vakarian out." Breaking the connection, he turned to Shepard and took her hands in his – after putting the pouch on his workstation. "Damn, Shepard. I'm sorry – Victus needs me in the War Room right away. The rest of our reunion will have to wait. Forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive. This is a war and we are both soldiers; sometimes sacrifices are necessary. "However…" she reached in the pouch and drew out the vials of blue serum and handed them to him. "The good doctor had already made these for us. I recommend that you begin using them immediately." She stepped closer, took his hand and placed it on her breast. "I want you to be ready. The next time an opportunity presents itself, you are going to have a hard time convincing me to wait."

Garrus' breath quickened as he took advantage of the opportunity to cop a feel. "Believe me, Shepard. I'm more than ready – and having a hard time. It would be painfully obvious if I weren't wearing body armor." He grimaced slightly as his cock responded with enthusiasm to his thoughts. "As it is, right now it's just painful." Giving Linda a quick kiss, he grabbed his data pad and headed for the door.

"Hey, Vakarian!" Linda stopped him just as the door opened. When he turned around, she told him seriously, "I've missed you, Garrus. I love you."

He smiled. "I love you too." With that, he turned and headed for the elevator at a trot.

Shepard leaned back against the workstation and watched him go, the warmth of pure happiness spreading through her body. In spite of everything that had happened and everything that lay ahead, her little corner of the galaxy had become a much brighter place.