The battlefield chemistry that Garrus Vakarian had developed with Commander Shepard was completely turned on its head as they travelled across the rock-ribbed landscape of Therum. 'Blue Shepard', as he had come to refer to her in his head, was all biotics and shotgun pellets, up close and efficient. She would find cover and when an enemy got close enough she would unload an expert and intentional storm of firepower. Garrus's part in this was obvious; keep the swarms off of her, to pick off the enemy one by one so she could take out everyone that was left. It was comfortable, like they were two parts that made up a very deadly whole.
That, of course, wasn't the Shepard who he was escorting through the volcanic scenery. The red armored Shepard's personality and look were different, but that wasn't the full extent of the change. She hung back with Garrus, each of them sniping the bulk of the Geth Solders and letting Tali use her technical prowess for support. Instead of the orchestrated dance that he and the first Shepard had, his relationship with this Shepard was combative to a fault.
She mocked Garrus and kept score. Each head shot made she tallied and relayed to him, teasing him mercilessly when he fell behind. It boiled his blood and forced his hand to go faster, get more kills, see more synthetic heads explode in his scope. For how much he wanted to impress the shotgun toting Shepard, this Shepard inspired a rivalry in him that drove him to perform at his heated peak. He began feeling almost predatory toward Shepard, a feeling he wasn't entirely comfortable with, but damn if it wasn't fun.
He didn't have time to agonize about the strange events that had been taking place since he met the Commander only a few days prior. All his focus was on the game. Occasionally he would miss the cool consistency of the Shepard in blue, but those thoughts only lasted a moment before the next wave of Geth would force him to once again fall into the competition that he and the Shepard in red had established.
They kept this up even after they entered the mine that led to the Prothean ruins. After clearing out what seemed like countless Geth they finally found the Asari Scientist. She was trapped inside of some kind of ancient device, a blue orb of energy levitating her in the middle. Dr. T'Soni continued calling for help as they approached. Garrus, still feeling adversarial from the fight to reach her, wanted to tell her to shut her mouth, but then thought better of it.
Shepard didn't have Garrus's tact, "Quit shouting, this place is crawling with Geth!" He smiled internally at the thought that Shepard might have read his mind.
It didn't take them long to figure out that the key to getting T'Soni out of her self inflicted prison was a powerful mining laser. With Tali's help they worked out the proper coding sequence to get the machine powered up and functioning. Shepard reveled in the extra destruction the laser caused, while Garrus considered it a shame to destroy such ancient ruins. Even so, he still felt a modicum of amusement at her reaction. This was the first moment he had taken the time to think about how the other Shepard might have reacted to this turn of events. He thought very much that 'Blue Shepard' would have agreed with him.
Blowing up shit was always a good time in Shepard's book. Too bad Wrex wasn't there, he would have thought this was a blast. Shepard eyed Dr. T'Soni as she was freed. She didn't think that this mousey little Asari was anything special. Shepard found herself hoping that T'Soni's biotics were more commanding than her disposition, otherwise this whole thing might be a waste. They already had word on where Benezia might be and Shepard didn't feel like she'd need any extra intel to kill some old Asari Matriarch.
Shepard momentarily cursed her inability to think ahead as the hole caused by the laser started a cave in that threatened to end her mission sooner than she would have liked. Luckily her adrenaline kicked in and gave her the drive to rally her team and get them out of there. Right after she called Joker for a pick up, her group ran right into a wall of angry Geth (at least she imagined they were angry) and a very large, very scarred up Krogan Battlemaster.
"Liara, Tali, take out these Geth! Garrus cover them! The Krogan is mine," a wicked grin spread across Shepard's face as she eyed her opponent. Suddenly she was glad the cave was coming down around them, it made for a very dangerous and dramatic battlefield, and that was her favorite kind.
The first phase of the fight didn't last long. Between Liara, Tali and Garrus the Geth were completely eradicated in a manner of minutes. All that was left was their Krogan leader. Shepard had definitely done some damage to him, but the resilient Battlemaster was still standing. In hindsight, maybe it was good that Wrex wasn't here to see her relish this kill. She always loved going toe to toe with a Krogan, fierce warriors that they are. She hit him a few times before having to move to another position. Shepard tried to keep away from him, but the regenerating bastard just wouldn't go down. He kept charging at her to close the gap between them. She was about to switch to her pistol when the Krogan sent off a biotic burst that threw her off her feet, knocking her senseless.
Everything went bright white with pain. As her vision slowly came back the first thing Shepard saw was a gigantic Krogan foot, preparing to stomp whatever life was left out of her head. She readied her pistol as quickly as she could manage in her hazy state, attempting to get off one more shot before meeting her maker. If you're going go out, you might as well do it getting your brains splattered on an alien planet by a pissed off Krogan right? She lined the sights of her weapon between his eyes and started to squeeze the trigger, but before she heard the shot the Krogan's face exploded with a concussive blast laying the him out flat on his back. Still half-dazed, she noticed Vakarian saunter by, his handgun pointed toward the Battlemaster. Garrus stopped just above the Krogan and unloaded the rest of his clip in his head, causing copious amounts of orange blood to pour out the gray stone floor of the cave.
Realizing that the fight was over, Shepard felt her adrenaline ebb away. She closed her eyes and curled up into a ball. "That really effing hurt," she rasped.
"Keelah! Are you alright Commander?" Tali called. Dr. T'Soni hung back, realizing that there wasn't much she could do.
"Let it never be said that Commander Shepard is careful!" Shepard joked despite herself. She opened her eyes and immediately wished she hadn't, everything around her was spinning. The one thing she could make out was a pair of Turian legs striding across the battlefield way toward her.
Garrus crouched down next to her, a flanging chuckle in his voice, "I wouldn't worry about that Shepard. Careful isn't a word anyone wise would use to describe you." Shepard saw all three of him appraise the damage, "I think you'll live. Though I can always find you another Krogan to kick your ass if you want?"
"All right, laughing boy, just patch me up so we can get off this rock," she coughed, more amused than annoyed at his impudence.
"A Medi-gel pack should keep your insides together until we can get you to Chakwas," he applied the salve gently to her neck and chest, which had taken the brunt of the Krogan's biotic attack. Shepard had heard that Turians temperatures ran a hotter than humans, but she had never experienced it directly before.
As Vakarian slipped his hand down her chest just under her armor she noticed that he had taken off his glove to apply the medicine. "Trying to cop a feel Garrus?"
"I just didn't want to get it on my gloves, they're a bitch to clean," he laughed again.
The anesthetic properties of the gel did its job within seconds and she could feel the bruise cauterizing internally, but she still felt like she might pass out. "All right, let's get out of here before we get eaten by this hellhole," her voice cracked. Pieces of rock and a steady rain of dirt was falling down all around them. This place was coming down, one way or another.
"Come on Shepard, we gotta go! You can't nap down there all day," Garrus offered Shepard his hand. As she took it she let herself feel the novelty of holding his three fingers, each set with a talon. He hadn't put his glove back on yet so she could feel his strange, warm, leathery skin. In one smooth motion he put his arm under hers and around her waist to hold her weight. "I know you're still hurting Shepard, but you are really going to have to run," this time all the of the humor had melted out of his voice. Garrus used the arm that wasn't supporting Shepard to motion toward the exit of the mine, "Tali, T'Soni, go, go go!" The next few minutes sped by in a blur, but by some miracle everyone made it out of the cave intact. Joker had the Normandy waiting for them as soon as they emerged. By that time Shepard was swimming in a dreamlike state somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness. The last thing she could remember was being laid on a table in the Med Bay and a pair of ice blue eyes staring into hers before everything went black.
As the Normandy left the atmosphere of Therum, Garrus finally allowed himself to think about what had happened there. The grey haired doctor had told him Shepard would make a speedy recovery, but that she would have some lasting bruising. At least he didn't have to worry about that, he had enough to mull over. He had concluded that the unusual events were not some kind of conspiracy orchestrated by the crew to mess with him. So it had to be something more… complicated. Garrus Vakarian was no quantum physicist by any means, but this situation reeked of alternate realties to him. That is, unless somewhere along the way he really had gone crazy. He shook that thought away and decided that looking at the situation from that tack wasn't going to be helpful. Maybe now was the time to do some research.
He thought back to the conversation with Alenko. He would have to be more careful in the future so as to not alienate the rest of the crew. He opened his Omni-Tool and looked up Dr. T'Soni. While in person she came off as flighty she did have a reputation for being rather brilliant. This wasn't her field of expertise either, but she seemed like the best person to ask. He could do research himself, but T'Soni would give him a place to start.
He began some mindless busywork on the Mako while he ran over the events of the past few days in his head again and again. Before he could get too wrapped up in his wild theories he heard the elevator doors open. The now familiar footsteps notified him that it was the Commander approaching him. He wondered for a moment which Shepard it would be when her voice piped up, "Yo, Vakarian - Hope I didn't screw up that beast too much." So the Shepard in red was still with us. Garrus didn't have any reason to believe she would become the Shepard in blue again, or any other variation for that matter, but somewhere in his gut he believed (or was it hoped?) that he would see her again.
He turned toward her, she looked pretty good, all things considered. She did have a nasty purple bruise on the side of her neck that had bled down over her chest plate. He thought for a moment of asking her if she was all right, but thought better of it when he imagined her response. Instead he made a joke, "It's something to keep me busy while I'm not saving your ass from a Krogan." He heard Wrex's low chortle from the other side of the room.
Shepard ignored Wrex and kept her focus on Garrus, "About that… I just wanted to say thanks for your help on Therum." She struck him lightly on an armored shoulder in what he hoped was a gesture of camaraderie. Then she combed her hand through her curls, sending them from one side of her face to the other, "Not that I couldn't have saved myself."
Surprised at the appreciation Garrus smirked and opened his mouth before being shut down by Shepard, "Keep your smug mouth shut Vakarian. And don't expect me to keep singing your praises. I just like to give credit where credit is due." She crossed her arms over her chest and adjusted her weight from one foot to the other. "We'll be rolling through Noveria in a few days with T'Soni and I want you to be there."
"Looking for round two?" Garrus challenged.
"You know it. As of Therum I'm ahead you know," she smiled triumphantly.
She was right, she had managed a bigger body count on Therum than he did, though he was secretly pleased he'd have the chance to catch up on Noveria. "What? You mean taking out that Krogan before he stomped your brains out doesn't get me a bonus?" Garrus was half joking, but somewhere deep inside he hoped this ploy would net him a few extra points in their game.
"Psh. Hell no. That counts as one. And I even softened him up for you," she put her hands on her hips and leaned toward him.
Garrus was enjoying his banter with Shepard, but a thought was formulating in his head that he couldn't help but express, "Seriously though Shepard, I'm surprised you'd rather have me along than your Alliance crew." He let his eyes wander to where Ashley stood. She was modifying an assault riffle with a scowl on her face. Ashley could hear his conversation with the Commander and he were having and she didn't like it.
Shepard followed Garrus's gaze toward the Gunnery Chief and as soon as she saw the resentful expression on the woman's face, Shepard's eyes narrowed. Without looking away from Ashley, Shepard put up a single finger in front of Garrus's face, "Wait here." She crossed the room to Ashley, and began a whispered conversation with the obviously cross woman.
Garrus was torn between trying to eavesdrop and letting them have their privacy. He decided that these were unusual times and that he could do worse things than listen in on a private exchange. Even after coming to that mental decision he really couldn't hear that much. He made out the words, Vakarian, Alenko, and the phrase don't trust. It wasn't much to go on, but the message was pretty clear. Garrus wondered if there was anyway to cure the Chief of her xenophobia before things got really out of hand.
The conversation didn't last long, but by the end Ashley looked like she wasn't as burnt up as she had been before. When Shepard came back to finish speaking with Garrus he wordlessly raised his brow plates with inquiry. "Don't stress, Vakarian," Shepard said casually. "Ashley's a pain in the ass," she glanced meaningfully the Chief, knowing that Ashley could still hear her, "but she's a good soldier. She'll make nice."
Garrus received a sideways glance from Dr. Chakwas when he entered the Medical Bay. She was sitting in front of a monitor, logging files. "Feeling well Officer Vakarian? I am by no means an expert, but I'm fairly well versed on Turian physiology and medicine," she said with a particularly strange accent. Garrus had noticed that humans were not only genetically diverse but they had an incredible range of cultural diversity as well. He had heard from a human colleague at C-Sec that there were thousands of languages on Earth, even before the advent of translators. Garrus viewed this as lunacy, though it did explain why humanity very rarely agreed on anything.
"I'm fine Doctor, though that is good to know. I hadn't really considered what would be done with me if I got sick." Garrus crossed his arms over his chest.
The Doctor cleared her throat and swiveled toward the Turian officer, "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. I'm sure much worse than sickness will befall you on one of those crazy missions you kids go on. Dangerous times, these. At least you'll know who to talk to if the Geth blow off one of your appendages." She looked at him very seriously for a moment before cracking up at her own morbid joke.
Garrus starred at her blankly and when she noticed she stifled her laugh to speak again, "Sorry Officer Vakaraian, this is just how I deal with all of the violence, death and everything else one deals with when one is military. Do Turians not do that sort of thing?"
Garrus leaned back a bit, "Depends on the Turian, Doctor. A lot of us are pretty uptight, hence the stereotypes of the Turian with the stick up his ass you humans are so fond of."
She matched his movement from her chair, leaning back into it, and folding her hands together. She had so many fingers. "But not you, eh?"
Garrus's mandibles flicked as he chuckled, "I never was an average Turian. I am glad to know that you could patch me together if I ever part with an arm or leg. Though I think I'd rather lose an eye. I've heard humans say eyepatches make you look tough. I could start a new fad."
"How would you shoot with no depth perception, Officer Vakarian?" Chakwas raised her eyebrows.
Garrus thought for a second before recognizing the error in his plan. "Not well, I imagine. I may not have thought this through very well," he drawled.
The Doctor laughed again, "Don't worry Garrus, there are wonderful innovations being made in synthetic optical devices. You know… just in case."
"Just in case," he smirked in reply.
Dr. Liara T'Soni was browsing on her computer when Garrus entered her room at the back of the Med Bay. It had been decided when she joined the Normandy crew that this lab would be the best place for Liara to continue her Prothean research. She was so completely entrenched in her studies that she didn't even notice Garrus's presence.
Garrus shuffled from side to side for a moment before speaking, "Liara? Dr. T'Soni?"
"Oh," she replied in a bright soprano, "Liara is fine." She stood up, brushed down her clothes, and looked into Garrus's eyes, "Did you need something Garrus?" Liara's gaze was so open and childlike that it was difficult to remember she was more than three times his age.
"Well, sort of. This may seem kind of random, but I wanted to ask you something - You know, as a scientist," Garrus rubbed his forehead with a gloved hand.
Liara smiled calmly, "I can do random, I suppose." She raised her eyebrows (which Garrus noticed weren't hairy like Shepard's) inquisitively and gave him an encouraging nod to urge him to continue.
"What do you know about alternate universes, Liara?" Garrus readjusted his weight from one leg to the other. "I was watching a vid about them the other night, fiction of course, but I was thinking, 'Hey! Maybe our resident Scientist would know a thing or two about alternate universes.'" He knew he was yammering, but at least this conversation was less awkward than asking Alenko his opinion about a strip club. "So do you? Know about how alternate universes would work in real life that is?" Garrus didn't understand how sometimes he could be so smooth and yet at other times he could become such a babbling idiot. The babbling idiot seemed to be winning out more and more these days.
Liara's peaceful smile didn't waver at all as Garrus spoke. "Well Garrus, I'm not an expert on such phenomena if that is what you are asking. I'm an archeologist, not a physicist."
"I understand that. I was just curious, in your opinion, how would that type of 'phenomenon' work realistically?"
Liara's face had settled into a smirk at this point, "Well in my opinion, it probably wouldn't work. There are versions of Multiverse Theory in the disciplines of cosmology, physics, astronomy, religion, philosophy, transpersonal psychology and of course fiction all throughout the galaxy. One of the older, less observed religions of my own people recognizes another universe parallel to our own. Obviously, I put more faith into some of those studies than others, but they all posit that if we live in an infinite universe it would only make sense that there would be alternate versions of our own reality out there."
"Is there any evidence that Multiverse Theory could be real?" Garrus was starting to doubt it, but he was grasping at straws here.
"Well, no. It's really hard to say though. Like I said, Quantum Physics isn't my field. I think that it's completely possible that there could be multiple universes running parallel to each other. It does however, seem unlikely. In my professional opinion Multiverse Theory runs contrary to the Principle of Sanara, which is something I hold in high regard."
"The Principle of Sanara?" Garrus asked. He'd never heard of any such thing.
"Humans call the principle Occam's Razor. I imagine the Turians have a name for it too, but I don't know what that might be. It states that among competing hypotheses, the one that makes the least assumptions should be selected," Liara looked at Garrus expectantly before recognizing his vacantly confused stare. "Basically, whatever the simplest explanation is, it's probably the one that is true." She clarified further, "It is like this: Your visor goes missing. Did you misplace it? Was it stolen? Or did it grow wings and fly off into space? Odds are you probably just misplaced it. It could have been stolen, but that is less likely. And it is nigh impossible that an inanimate object grew wings and took a jaunt into space." Garrus had never thought about it before, but this was a rule he actually used quite regularly during his investigations for C-Sec.
Garrus had rested his elbow on his arm and put a closed fist thoughtfully under his chin while listening to Liara, "That makes a lot of sense actually. Thanks for your help Liara," he lowered his hand from his chin and nodded politely toward her. "I'll let you get back to your work."
"I wouldn't have pegged you for a romantic, Garrus." Liara looked pleased, crinkles beginning to form around her eyes.
"How do you mean?" he asked. "I've never thought of science as 'romantic'."
"Oh, it is though," Liara replied dreamily. "Wouldn't it be wonderful if our universe existed in countless numbers with any variation we could think of? Maybe in some of them you were never a C-Sec officer at all. You could be Primarch or the Turian Councilor or even a Prothean Archeologist like me," Liara looked up and away from Garrus, lost in thought. Slowly, she turned back toward him and walked over to him, swaying her hips from side to side. All of the timidness Liara had presented earlier melted away as she brought her hand to his face. "In one reality I could do this," she stroked his mandible tenderly. "And in another I could do this," she learned toward him and kissed the place she had touched, her lips barely brushing him.
That sent Garrus careening out of his comfort zone, "I, uh… I'm not here for..."
He considered just leaving without saying anything more, but he thought that might be weird. Not that things weren't already incredibly weird. Before he could force any words out of his mouth, Liara took the opportunity to speak up, "Don't worry Garrus, you're a very handsome man, but I have eyes for someone else. I was just caught up in the moment. I for one find science, very romantic." Garrus had heard that Asari were a sensual species, but this was getting ridiculous.
"Sure. Don't worry about it." He began backing away toward the door without turning around. "I'm just going to get back to the Mako now. I have a few more dents to work out before our next mission." Garrus swung around and exited before Liara could get in another word.
Garrus had known a few Turians who had relationships with Asari, but he didn't understand the appeal himself. They were all squishy blue skin, diplomacy, and mind games. He tended to like women who took the direct approach. An Asari Commando maybe? He shook off the thought. Nah, still not his thing. Garrus's stomach clenched a bit when he realized Liara would be accompanying him and Shepard on the next mission to Noveria. Because that won't be awkward or anything.
He noticed outside of the Med Bay that 'Red Shepard' was conversing with Alenko in his poorly lit work area. Garrus's heart dropped when he realized that they very well could be talking about him. He wasn't sure what the Shepard in blue would think about his recent bout of strange behavior, and he certainly didn't want to know how the Shepard in red would react. She came off as much less tactful and much more cocky, and he had no doubt that this Shepard would never let it go if she could tease him about it.
Garrus brought out his Omni-Tool and attempted a casual saunter over to the commons table in the middle of the habitation deck. He tried to convince himself that this was just like a stakeout for C-Sec. Then why did he feel so tense? Maybe he should ask Chakwas about getting something to calm his nerves. As he sat down, he realized that if this was going to be the new norm, he was going to have to just roll with the punches (love this human jargon software) and get used to it.
Shepard laughed boisterously at something Alenko said. Garrus tried to focus in on their conversation without blatantly staring right at them. Turians had excellent hearing compared to humans so he could make out most of the conversation they were having.
"Oh, I'm sure Joker said he could make the Normandy dance. That kid's love for this ship is a little unnatural," Alenko mocked the absent pilot.
Shepard giggled again and then caressed his arm, "I'm glad you're here, Alenko. Who else would make fun of Joker with me and let me do this!" She brought her hand back from his arm, closed the fist, cranked it back and hit him between the muscles on his tricep.
"Jesus Shepard! That really hurt!" Alenko rubbed his arm futilely as another sequence of breathless laughs escaped Shepard's lips.
"What are you gonna do about it tough guy?" She raised her fist again in a playfully aggressive manner.
Still tending to his arm, Alenko's head slumped down, "Nothing."
Shepard lowered her hand and grinned triumphantly, "Exactly."
Garrus smiled to himself, before a thought occurred to him. This seemed like a certain kind of behavior he couldn't quite nail down. He let his eye flick to one side to activate his human decoding software and two words replied on his visor, aggressive flirting. Shepard was… flirting with Alenko? Really? Garrus could see that from a human standpoint how Alenko was supposedly handsome. He had seen the other women on the Normandy taking notice of his physique.
What confused Garrus was that Alenko's relationship with Shepard didn't seem conducive to romance. They were friendly, that was certain, but Alenko acquiesced to her every whim like a… like a… Garrus let his eye twitch through different phrases in his visor program until he found the one he wanted. Like a puppy. Lost in his own world Garrus watched a vid on his Omni-Tool about Earth puppies. Yes! That was it exactly. Kaidan Alenko was like a puppy in regards to Shepard. How could she see such a creature in a sexual context? Or even in a relationship context?
Both of the Shepards he knew melted in his brain into one indomitable woman, one brilliant soldier, one force of nature. She needed someone who could challenge her. She needed someone who wouldn't let her railroad him. She needed someone who could support her in the face of the trails that surely awaited her. Someone like… someone like… "Someone like…" Garrus found himself speaking out loud despite himself.
"Someone like who, Vakarian?" Shepard plopped herself down on the opposite side of the table from him.
"Huh?" This snapped him out of his internal monologue and back into reality. "Oh, nothing Shepard, don't worry about it."
"Nothing my ass. Now fess up!" Shepard brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. Garrus's eyes widened with consideration. She was definitely more flexible than any Turian woman he'd ever met.
Garrus readjusted in his seat, leaning forward toward the Commander. He casually turned off his Omni-Tool. If she wanted a fight, even it was just for fun, he would be more than happy to oblige.
Garrus Vakarian paused for a moment before focusing his gaze on Shepard, his pale blue eyes burrowing into hers. As he slowly opened his mouth, Shepard imagined a confession on the tip of his tongue… Someone like…? Then he closed his mouth again and shook his head, "Nah. I'm not saying another word about it."
"Damn it! I nearly had you!" She untucked her legs from her chest and playfully hit the table a couple of times with her fists. Shepard had absolutely no idea what he had been talking about when she approached him. A few moments ago she had noticed Garrus sitting by himself and went over to see what he was doing, only to discover him talking to himself and watching puppy videos on his Omni-Tool. What would a Turian be doing watching puppy videos? Did he want a puppy? Shepard had always been a Varen kind of girl. "Alright, I'll change the subject. Why are you watching puppy videos over here?"
"What? I wasn't-" Garrus began before Shepard interrupted him. If he could have gone pale under his face plates, the Commander imagined he would have.
"-We could always ask Kaidan what kind of puppy you should get. Hey Kai-" Shepard was stopped by a Turian hand slapping the table in front of them. Shepard hadn't really intended to get Kaidan involved, but the mention of his name had gotten the result she wanted.
Garrus coughed, "No, no, that won't be necessary. I'll 'fess up' as you so eloquently put it."
"Effing finally! I thought I was going to have to order you to tell me," she pursed her lips, "but you did keep a Krogan from crushing my head like a melon so…"
"A melon?" Garrus sat still for a moment. Shepard, who was still intently looking into his eyes saw the one that was obscured by the visor flit to one side. It was a negligible, but noticeable alteration. Somebody with average eyesight wouldn't have been able to detect the movement, but Shepard wasn't the best damn sniper on the ship for nothing. "Ah, you're referring to the Levo-Amino fruit. I can see what you're saying there, but you're head doesn't really look like a melon to me."
"Are you using that human analyzing program over there? I saw you flicking your- Wait a minute! You're getting me off topic on purpose!" She laughed and combed a hand through her curls, brushing them out of her face.
He finally conceded and delivered an explanation, "I was just thinking about how much I appreciate the opportunity to work on the Normandy with someone like you, Shepard. You're… a complicated, compelling woman. I'm glad I am getting the chance to know you. Thank you for rescuing me from the Citadel," his voice's natural flanging reverberated down Shepard's spine.
Shepard's skin flushed and her lips parted a bit at the officer's admission. She shook off her shock and returned to her usual swagger, "Sure thing Garrus. We couldn't leave a galaxy class rebel in C-Sec to drown in red tape, could we?"
That stopped Garrus in his tracks for a second before eliciting a smile (Shepard was beginning to understand his facial expressions), "No. We couldn't have that." His smile melted with his next line of questioning. "So, how long 'til we get to Noveria? Do we have a plan?"
"We should be ready to dock sometime tomorrow afternoon. You, Liara and I will go check out the sights and shake down some important people for information on Liara's mom. I figure bringing her along will be helpful, and I'll never hear the end of it if she doesn't get to see Benezia one more time before we shoot her full of lead," there was no humor in Shepard's voice.
"Maybe it won't come to that," Garrus folded his gloved, three fingered hands together on the table.
Shepard turned away coolly, "Maybe… Liara is going to have to be prepared for things to go sideways, though." While it was true that Liara was annoyingly naive, she did seem like a good kid. The more Shepard talked to her the more she hoped things on Noveria wouldn't end in heartbreak. If Benezia couldn't be reasoned with, Shepard would do what she had to do, come hell or highwater. She always did. Shepard hopped up, her brash confidence returning to her, "Well, I'm gonna go get changed for dinner. You gonna be there? I figured the ground team should try to get to know each other better since we'll be working together for a while. I stocked up on some real food last time we were at the Citadel for a special occasion. Now seems as good a time as any." Garrus eyed her skeptically. "Yes, I even got some Dextro grub for you and Tali. You guys did good work on Therum, you deserve it."
He chucked to himself, "Sure Shepard, I'll be there."
Commander Shepard changed into some civvies for the dinner she had planned with the crew. She judged the black on black ensemble as it sat on her curves. It was fun, slightly sexy and yet still appropriate for her position. Yes, it was perfect. Her uniform was comfortable, but she figured if she wanted to build a rapport with her Non-Alliance staff she'd have to put in the extra effort. She looked into the mirror in her private quarters, throwing a hand through her masses of red curls to get them out of her face. Evaluating the bruising that covered her lower jaw, neck and chest, she brushed her fingers gently along the damage. It was turning a strange shade of purple-yellow, but with the treatments Dr. Chakwas had applied to the injury, it would be mostly gone by the next day.
As bleak as things looked in the wake of Saren's betrayal, her mission had been going remarkably well so far. Shepard had gathered a well rounded, rag-tag group of humans and non-humans whom she felt pretty confident about watching her back. She wasn't one to make friends, but Kaidan had been supportive, as always… and then there was that Turian Ex-C-Sec officer. Garrus was a bit on the strange side, but he made her feel vital, he made her feel impressive, and he even made her feel protected. That was a feeling she hadn't experienced in a long time. If ever.
Trust and friendship weren't things that were earned easily with Shepard. She could count the people she really trusted on two fingers: the steadfast Captain Anderson who had acted very much like a father figure to her, and maybe Kaidan Alenko. If she wasn't so sure he wanted in her pants, Kaidan would be a definite pick for her best friend. However, even after the relatively short time she had known Garrus Vakarian, he had already earned more faith with Shepard than most people obtained in years.
Shepard ran the water from the sink, letting it cool on her fingers to a refreshing temperature before dipping her face into it, washing the water over her features with her hands. For a brief second under the exhilarating cleanse she let her mind go blank.
After a moment she lifted her face to the mirror again, looking into her own reflection. Commander Shepard took the band out of her shiny black bob with ease, letting it fall to her chin. It was orderly and looked soft to the touch. She grabbed a blue terrycloth towel, sweeping it from her forehead to her jaw. Shepard applied a bit of gloss to her bow-shaped lips before giving herself one more glance over. She felt ready for the informal party she had arranged for the crew. Before she walked out of her quarters door she assessed her clothing again, feeling slightly self conscious. This was a good look right? Alenko was likely to be pleased, but then she thought of her new Turian crewmate again. Would this be appropriate for a Turian commanding officer? She smiled to her self when she assumed, probably not.
A/N: Yay! Another chapter up! I hope you guys are enjoying. I am having a lot of fun writing it. Thanks to my fabulous beta for being so thorough. Please review if you get a chance! Reviews fill my inspiration bar.
Note: The next chapter and a half are written. As soon as my Beta is done with the third chapter it will go up. Thanks for your patience.