I'm not going to do the next scene for a while. I have other stories to write and plenty of work to do. Probably going to finish that cameo chapter for Hierarchy III just because I feel bad for never finishing it and This is not about sex and One stop gone have been waiting on there next chapters for a while…

Enjoy and continue attempting to speak British to me in reviews. It makes me giggle, you crazy yanks. (Lashings of ginger beer to all you fellow Brits.)


Chapter 4 Rescuing Garrus part 4

"Raaah! Rip them to shreds!" Garm the krogan stomped into Archangels lair.

As the over dramatic krogan paused at the doorway, for slightly more theatrical pretension, the vorcha next to him squawked and spluttered blood all over his boss's shoulder before disappearing to the floor. Garm followed the vorcha's descent with a placid expression before looking towards the sniper rifle wielding turian. He had to admit; he was impressed the damn budgie could pull off a one-hit execution with a long-range weapon whilst standing mere feet away.

"Watch my back. I'll deal with Archangel." Garm grinned with eager anticipation.

As Garrus and Garm began to tango, Jacob apparently hiding behind some crates and weeping like a small child during the altercation, Shepard and Miranda exited the basement. Levelling her flamethrower over a vorcha's head, having run out of fuel for the heavy weapon, Shepard stepped over the unconscious body muttering an apology and proceeded to whack her way through the small unit of vorcha attempting to block the pair from making it upstairs.

"I need help with this guy Shepard." Archangel shouted down from his balcony like a damsel in distress.

Leaving the Aussi to finish off the concussed batch of vorcha, the commander hopped up the stairs and sauntered into Garrus' office. As Garm tossed the struggling turian onto a comfy looking sofa Shepard threw her empty flamethrower at him. He turned catching the weapon with athletic ease but didn't expect the armoured glove that was suddenly slapped across his face.

"A duel to the death!" Shepard bellowed before shoving a shotgun in the startled krogan's face and pulling the trigger. "I have won my tea makers honour back!"

"They've stopped. Come find me." Garrus requested from a foot away.

Dusting the chunks of brain matter from her chest plate, Shepard wandered closer until she was near enough to be considered within intimate quarters with Archangel. He didn't seem to notice however; then again this is the same turian that doesn't realize you're in the same room as him.

"Tough bastards. But I've seen worse." Garrus rocked from one foot to the other in complete giddiness. "And we took out Garm and his Blood Pack. This day just gets better and better. He was one tough son of a bitch."

"My tea leaves did declare a krogan with an exploding cranium was in my prospective future today." Shepard winced at the newest foul stench to adorn her attire. "I take it you knew the brute that so sort your downfall, Mister Vakarian?"

"Yeah, we tangled once." Archangel went back to his wandering around the room aimlessly. "Caught him alone. None of his gang to help him. I still couldn't take him out. I've never seen a krogan regen that fast. He's a freak of nature. He just kept at it until his vorcha showed up. It was close, but I had to let him go. Not this time."

"What conceivably do you insinuate "not this time", old chum?" She crossed her arms over her bosom exasperated. "It was I who fell the beast! I suggest we vacate these premises before my vexation stumbles forwards into darker realms and new trials of righteous honour are decided."

"I think you're right." He nodded agreeing. "Tarak's got the toughest group, but nothing we haven't faced before. Besides, he won't be expecting us to meet him head-on—"

"Heads up!" Miranda, trailing a shell shocked Jacob, shouted at the bickering duo.

As a gunship fluttered down and rammed into the rooms only window, sending shards everywhere, Jacob promptly went back to his hiding place whilst Miranda tried to coax him out. Shepard on the other hand stared at the oversized bird (not Garrus) with childish glee.

"Damn it! I thought I took that thing out already!" Garrus growled as he hid behind a crate.

"Well, I did confiscate the start-up key from them, but I dare say it wouldn't have taken them a prolonged quantity of time until they'd manage to conjure a hot-wirer amongst their posse of villains."

"They're off loading troops! Watch your back, Shepard!" Archangel continued to use a sniper rifle in close combat, missing most of his targets.

Stroking her missile launcher with all the love and care normally bestowed on a new baby, the commander popped up from behind the plant pot she was using as cover and fired a shot off. As the missile found a body to collide with it exploded, sending all the other nearby bodies back out through the window with a chorus of terrified screams followed by silence. As Shepard fired her second shot, at the gunship, the pilot quickly decided upon a prompt retreat managing to evade the errant missile homing in on his haul.

"They're rappelling down the side wall. Ground floor!" Garrus, evidently now psychic, turned and shouted at Shepard almost deafening her. "They've reached the rear stairs."

Shepard sighed twirling a finger in her abused ear, trying to bring back some audible range, and began the leisurely jog to the lower floor. As she reached the stairs, Jacob and Miranda appeared behind her and started flanking as the commander took to firing her missile launch at anything that moved bellow her.

"Archangel!" Tarak in his gunship decided to re-appear, now someone bigger wasn't around to stand up to him, and began firing at Garrus. "You think you can screw with the Blue Suns!"

Caught off guard polishing his rifle, the turian looked up in time to see a hail of bullets fly at him. Taking a heap of the projectiles directly to the body he slipped to the floor, still clinging on to his precious weapon, and crawled behind a randomly cube shaped piece of furniture.

"This ends now!" Tarak hollered as he released a wave of rockets at Garrus catching him clean in the face.

"Garrus?" Shepard called to the unconscious and heavily bleeding turian.

With newfound rage boiling through her veins Shepard gripped her missile launcher with a new found determination. As Tarak, cackling with generic evilness, pulled his gunship around for another run she was waiting for him. Without any hesitation she fired hitting the enemy smack bang in the cockpit and knocking the window out but the bastard was still alive.

Pulling the trigger a second time the empty clicking of the weapon warned the commander she was all out of missiles. Flinging the weapon at Tarak, trying to dislodge shards of glass through his person, Shepard looked around the room for anything to use as a weapon. Spotting Garrus's sniper rifle she flung that to only to have it rebound back as she missed. Finally she came across something of use, Archangel's teapot, and tossed it at Tarak before he could aim his rocket launchers.

As the teapot struck its target, Tarak yelped in pain as scolding hot tea burned and blistered his skin. Unable to concentrate on what he was doing the gunship spun out of control and rammed into the bridge with an explosive finale.

"How'd you like that cup of tea you incestuous, matriarchal fornicator!" Shepard crowed victoriously before dashing over to her fallen comrade.

Lying in a pool of his own azure blood, Garrus continued to be dead or unconscious. Moving closer Shepard squatted besides the mutilated turian, stroking his cheek gently. As if by divine intervention, Archangel opened his eyes to glare up at the commander gurgling all the while.

"Mister Vakarian!" Shepard leaned in and administered all her medi-gel. "I'm truly sorry about the sniper rifle, old friend. It was pure folly on my part. Oh, please do stop glaring at me so. I promise to buy you a new and improved model. I truly do feel rotten about the whole misfortune. Will you ever forgive me?"

Garrus gurgled up some more blood in response and made sure to get a good amount over the commander. Sighing with defeat she moved to lift the fallen turian with Jacob's assistance.

"Send word to the ship. Let them know to ready my personal physician and lashings of ginger beer."

"We better hurry. He looks bad." Jacob shook his head solemnly.


Back on the Normandy.

"Commander. We've done what we could for Garrus, but he took a bad hit." Jacob attempts to soothe Shepard as she bows her head, dismayed. "The docs corrected with surgical procedures and some cybernetics. Best we can tell, he'll have full functionality but…"

The door abruptly opened, cutting Jacob off as the person in question strolled in. A curious aroma of silence followed for a few seconds before someone finally dared to break it.

"Shepard." Garrus greeted his old commander with a mild amount of venom.

"Tough son of a bitch. Didn't think he'd be up yet." Jacob laughed.

"Nobody would give me a mirror. How bad is it?" The turian walked over to Shepard and loomed.

"Well… the bandage leaves much to be desired. Of course with a little effort, some ribbon and perhaps… yes, some embroidery we could certainly brighten your countenance." Shepard folded her arms and grinned. "The scarring, however, I believe we'll just have to brutally disregard it and trust it'll go away of its own accord. If you do not indulge in a things existence, it cannot subsist."

Archangel erupted into laughter that quickly diminished as the pain from working the jaw surfaced. He paused holding his bandage for a moment before continuing his looming.

"Ha-ah! Don't make me laugh, damn it. My face is barely holding together as it is. Ah, probably for the best." The turian sighed. "Some women find facial scars attractive. Mind you, most of those women are krogan…"

Shepard shook her head and smiled serenely at the pleasant atmosphere, feeling as if things were returning to some normality. Jacob, however, feeling like a third wheel saluted out of nowhere before marching off in a hump, Garrus trailing him like a predator until out of eyeshot.

"Frankly, I'm more worried about you. Cerberus, Shepard? You remember those sick experiments they were doing?"

"Much like the rebellion with the Americas, new allies must be forged to subdue the Yanks. Though, we did rather lose that war or did we just leave and try to forget about them like the Australians? History was never my forte I am afraid, mister Vakarian, but strategy on the other hand..." She shrugged. "If we cannot impede such tyranny occurring within our human colonies, as that with the Collectors, then innovative and additionally devious comportment must be revealed, referred and resorted to."

"I can't argue with that. Hard to believe the Council is letting the attacks go unanswered, though. Damn politicians." Garrus wandered to the side then posed for dramatic effect. "I'm fit for duty whenever you need me, Shepard. I'll settle in and see what I can do at the foreword batteries."

As quickly as he came, Garrus left leaving behind a lonesome Shepard with her half eaten crumpet and lukewarm tea.