The next morning she gently shook me awake, I opened my eyes and smiled sleepily at her. She then went out and I was left to wake up on my own, I dressed myself and sat down for breakfast with everyone. "I'm glad I actually got to sleep tonight, yesterday was just too noisy." Ashley exclaimed with a smug grin on her face. She made eyecontact with Joker and he said "I agree, but from what I've heard you don't mind some noise when you try to sleep, Tali?" Tali then began explaining to Joker about the flotilla and the grin on his face faded. Content, I continued eating and listening to the others discuss their day-to-day business. When most of us were finished the commander announced that the ceremony for her would be in two days, everyone then began talking about how they were excited and the commander and I left.
"I see your point in telling the media beforehand, but what would be the best way to tell them?" Deya said as we were alone by my workbench, I thought and said "You could just formally announce you are now in a relationship to everyone, no matter what you do, there will always be someone who is unhappy. Don't try to please everyone.". She smiled and said "Well, maybe I should just kiss you on stage then. That would certainly please you." I laughed and went through her dark brown hair with my hand. "I'll figure something out. How are those new parts on the Mako looking by the way?" She said, I began explaining and even though she wouldn't understand half of it, she still listened. This was the reason I loved her, one of many actually, but she understands me and that's what makes her so special and very important to me.
The next day and a half flew past us, the ceremony would be in two hours. We had just arrived on the Citadel, the ceremony was going to be held at the council's meeting spot. The afterparty was going to be in a penthouse not too far away, the afterparty would be mostly to keep the younger guest's attention, but I think Shepard was looking forward to it. I can't blame her, when you fight so much it's nice to take some time to have fun with your crew, no, friends. For the ceremony I just wore simple but formal light armor, I don't like the way normal clothes make younlook so fragile, I was dressed mostly in black with the N7 logo on the right side of my collar. The ceremony took about fortyfive minutes in which they did practically nothing but talk and give the commander a pin, during the talk I had plenty of time to look around and noticed that Wrex was still carrying his weapon, the security was probably scared into allowing it in. I was pretty sure Shepard had a gun somewhere on her, even if they took that from her, she would have her biotics. I ofcourse also carried a gun, just well hidden, you never know what kind of trouble we get into next. As I looked around I saw a salarian doctor that I had seen before, Mordin Solus, I had heard about him working in the Omega station. The others didn't seem very interesting though, except for that one annoying human that had tried to make Shepard look bad on live tv, dreadful woman.
When the boring part was over the commander began her speech "Most of you have seen the political struggle against Saren, but have you seen the military struggle? We lose lives everyday, from all species and races, this is no longer the act of a human hating spectre, this is the work of something bigger and I'll find out who." It was inspiring to me, probably something that was going to be ingored or criticized by others. "I have lost many friends on my journey and I haven't even reached the midway point, but I know that it will be worth it for in the end I may have lost those dear to me, but I have also gained. I hereby publicly announce that I, commander Shepard will be pursueing a relationship with former c-sec officer and luitenant Garrus Vakarian. I am aware that this announcement will result in controversy, but I would rather tell this myself than for it to get out via the media. If there are some questions that are left unanswered, please do ask them and I will try to answer them without giving away any restricted information. Thank you." She spoke , she then descended from the stairs and was bombarded with questions until the council quickly asked for attention. "The commander will answer your questions when we are done, we have sent all of you the details about the afterparty." The council said. Immediately after the commander was once again bombarded with questions, I tried to get to her through the crowd, but when the media began asking questions to me too I quickly retreated, waiting for the press to leave.
It took twenty minutes for Shepard to shake them off and find me, she looked tired and a bit annoyed. "Those bastards, I try to give them a formal announcement and they ask questions like 'Do you have a turian fetish?' And 'What role do you play in your sexual relationship?'. I forgot how nosey the press can be, when you're not in a ship they follow you everywhere." I laughed and pulled her in for an embrace "Don't worry so much about them, they don't matter." She sighed and leaned against me, resting her head on my shoulder. "HEY! You guys coming or not?" Ashley yelled from the other end of the hallway.
The party was a bit more than I would've thought, there were people everywhere around the penthouse and the music was so loud I could almost not hear anything that was going on. The commander went to drink something with Ashley and the others while I just sat down with the male crew members.
Shepard p.o.v.
"It's been some time since I have been to a party, I don't remember them being so loud." I complained, parties weren't really for me. I prefer to hang out with my friends and just them, not all these people who don't even care about my wellbeing. But I have to admit, if my friends are having fun I won't abandon them. "Don't think so much, just let go." Ashley said as she danced, Tali was right there with her, though she danced quite different from a human. Liara sat next to me, sipping from her drink and taking in the room. I decided that if I wanted to even have a little bit of fun I would need to drink, so I excused myself to get some. On my way to the small bar where they served the drinks I smiled at Garrus, waving at him, I think he smiled back, though it's hard to say when he doesn't really have lips.
I took three drinks, not caring about what others thought. When I sat back down Ashley commented "Wow Shepard, you really want to have some fun, don't you?" I shrugged and downed my first drink, I almost coughed it back up, it had been some time since I last had a drink. But when the alcohol became effective I felt myself get very giddy and started dancing with Tali and Ashley, surprisingly I didn't even feel stupid while dancing. "Everyone needs to have some fun now and then." I said to Ashley, to which she raised her glass. After the second drink I began to wonder how much alcohol these drinks held, not caring I continued dancing. "Hey Deya, when was the last time you blew off some steam, you're dancing like crazy!" Williams yelled over the music that had become even louder. I began giggling and yelled back "Just a week ago, with Garrus. That's how I relieve my stress!" Williams laughed loudly and replied "Well, I should be blowing off some steam too then, it's been some time!". I then sat down to rest for a bit and saw that Liara had a slight blush from the alcohol, I smiled at her and said "Why don't you join our dancing? I heard Asari are real good dancers!" I then downed my third drink, even though that was probably not wise. Unexpectedly she replied "Yeah, I have some of those skills, let's show 'em off." I was a bit taken aback but laughed anyway. I suspected the Asari downed more than a few drinks the way she was dancing you would think this was Chora's Den.
Garrus p.o.v.
"Excuse me, Vakarian. Need to speak with you. In private, follow me please." Doctor Solus said to me, I got up and followed him there wasn't much to do anyway. "Yes, what do you need from me?" I asked as we stood outside the appartment. "Need to inform you about... interspecies relationships. Thought it might be helpful." The doctor said, a hint of a smirk on his calm and collected face. I tensed up a bit, he could help us, he probably knows a lot about this stuff. "Yes it might be very helpful." I said, feeling embarassed. "Right, you need to know about the dangers of interspecies intercourse." Solus said, he then taught me a lot of things for half an hour. He then said he had to go, but sent me some data to answer any questions, the data included videos... I felt very embarassed and definitly not in the mood to get back in there with the guys, I decided to stay outside. I sat for some time and just looked over the inside of the Citadel, very pretty, tiny lights seemingly floating along the bridges and paths beneath me.
I felt someone tap my shoulder and turned around, it was Shepard, she looked flushed and a bit unstable. "Garrus, I love you." She said as she embraced me and sighed contently when my arms wrapped around her soft frame. "I love you too." I replied, still finding it an odd thing to say. After some time embracing I noticed she had fallen asleep, she was slumped against me and made soft breathing noises. I carried her back to the shop informing the others of where we were. As I lay her down in her bed she looked so peaceful and content, I softly put my forehead against hers and crawled into the bed, letting her wrap her arms around me as we slept.
Very early in the morning I woke up feeling abnormally warm, there was also a hellish pain in my stomach. I sat up, immediately regretting it, feeling a wave of pain hit me. I looked at my stomach, but there were no wounds. The room felt like it was spinning and the warmth was making it hard to think straight. What did I do yesterday? The ceremony. Did I eat something wrong? No, I don't remember eating anything. I groaned a bit as the wave of pain hit me again, I tried to think. Have I done anything unusual the last few days? No... well maybe... damnit. I would slap my hand against my forehead if I would have the strength. Ofcourse it was because of the, uhm, intercourse with Shepard. I was such an idiot, how could I ever forget the basic rules of going to outerspace and being in contact with aliens? Don't ingest anything if you are not sure of it's effect on your body. I was so lost in the moment that I... fuck, the pain in my stomach getting worse by the minute. I need to get to the doctor, I shouldn't wake Deya. I stood up, feeling the room spin around me and the urge to throw up. Trying to set another step I lost balance and landed against the wall, resulting in a loud 'thunk!'. Ofcourse Shepard was up in a minute to see what was going on. She quickly stood up from the bed, then seemed to wobble a bit and examined the room. When her eyes found me leaning against the wall, probably looking very ill, she rushed over and supported my arm. "Garrus, what's wrong!?" She said, unable to hide the fear in her voice. "J-just get me to the doctor." I answered, hating that I wasn't able to comfort her. She then quickly threw on a shirt and guided me through the halls, following my orders as I would normally follow hers. By the time we fovision was blurry arry and I passed out.
The next time I woke up was more pleasant. I lay in a white bed in the medical bay on the Normandy, it seemed to be late afternoon, since the doctor wasn't here, but the lights were on. I lay still waiting for the doctor to return and hear if my suspisions were correct. Doctor Chakwas walked in "Ah, you're up. I gave you a temporary shot to clear out your system, how do you feel?" She asked. "A lot better, but also kind of stupid for the mistake I made." I answered feeling a bit uncomfortable talking about this. "Well, you're still alive and I trust you not to make the same mistake twice. Though you might want to get a more permanent shot at the hospital if you keep this up." The doctor said, taking my hint and not going into detail. I thanked the doctor and went to my room, catching some more sleep.
The next thing I know I was tightly embraced, startled, I opened my eyes to see the commander was the one embracing me. "What was wrong? I thought you were going to die." She said, I sat up as she sat next to me on my bed and said "I didn't take the neccesairy precautions when we... when we experimented." She looked at me with a worried look and held my hand as she said "Don't ever take that risk again. I will wait for you if you need me to, this is not worth dieing over.". I smiled at her and said "Thank you for your concern, I will take those precautions the next time we visit someplace with a hospital." She smiled back in her human way and asked "Do you know how we're going to make this work?" I then remembered my talk with dr. Solus. "Actually, at the party I was approached by a salarian doctor, dr. Solus, and he said he would send me data." I said, she had a mischievous smile on her face as she asked "What kind of data?" I looked away from her large brown eyes and coughed "Uh, well, a few books." I coughed again "And videos." I quietly added. She burst out in laughter and kissed my forehead "I enjoy it when you're so embarassed, sorry, I still love you!" I smiled at her words and felt my nervousness sink away, but then she just had to add "We should watch one of them together." I almost choked on my own spit and looked at her dumbfounded. "Do humans usually do that?" I asked her, she answered "I don't know, maybe some of them." I then came up with a question "Were you ever in a relationship before?" The commander seemed to be caught offguard with my question. "No, actually, I have not." This struck me as a bit odd, since she was certainly attractive, to me at least, maybe not to humans. But then again, maybe she was very selective, the thought made me feel proud of her choosing for me.
"Then did you ever, you know, go all the way?" I asked, I wasn't sure how normal one time flings were for them. "No. I did try some things out when I was still in the early years of my Alliance training." She said, a faint blush forming on her cheeks. "I actually expected someone like you to have done it before." Admitted to her. "I guess I'll take that as a compliment. Have you?" She smiled at me. I thought back, once when I was also still in the militairy. "Yes, once in the millitairy. We came to a tie at a match and ended up rematching in my room, my reach versus her flexibility." I said and she said "I envy her, she took your first. In human culture the first time having intercourse can be very important, though it is different for every individual, it is seen as an important event you don't just share with anyone." That surprised me, intercourse itself was ofcourse meant as an intimate way of showing your affection in my culture, but we didn't regard the first time as special. "It isn't like that in turian culture, but if that is true then wouldn't you want to experience it with one of your own species?" I asked, genuinely worried. What if I ruined her first experience, I was no stranger to the concept, but practically I had almost no experience myself. She then leaned in and placed a soft hand on my jaw, which I began recognizing it as a comforting gesture, and she said "Garrus Vakarian, if there is anyone in this universe I would want to share my first experience with, it is you." I let out a sigh and pressed my forhead against hers, feeling her press back. "Plus, I would like to prove that I am way more flexible than your first." She added smiling mischeavously. This flooded my mind with all kinds of inapproperiate images, but, remembering that I needed to get a more permanent allergy shot, I smiled back and watched her as she left me to do my work. Which, ofcourse, was exactly where my mind was right now.
In the next few days I thought about where all of this was going, the commander and I. Everyday we came closer to finding Saren and everyday we had to accept the fact that we were most likely not going to make it. I had gotten an injection that would prevent me from getting sick, but the fact that the commander was not immortal and would thus have a big chance of dieing made me feel sick anyway. I sometimes wondered if it would have been better if she had gone with Alenko, our relationship, as good as it sometimes felt, was a hard one. Keeping a relationship between two different species was tireing, different cultures and morals were sometimes hard to understand. But the commander didn't give up, so I wouldn't either. I was analyzing some data when the commander called the crew to the comm room.
"We found Saren's base. A group of the salarian special tasks group has discovered it, but is unable to proceed or turn back. We need to go there and find Saren." The commander said. Everyone had mixed expressions, but none of them were fear. "I won't lie to you, this mission will not be easy, but I want you all to know that I believe we can make it out of there." She said and everyone nodded in agreement. "So, who will you take with you to clear out the enemies on land, commander?" Alenko asked, he looked a bit worried. "I will be taking you and Garrus in the Mako." She answered with a confident smile. "Yes commander." Alenko just said. A part of me was excited to see how this mission would end, but I was also afraid, if it came down to it, would I be able to let the commander go when the succes of the mission was on the line? I nodded in agreement and we all went back to our own spaces, waiting for the ship to arrive in Virmire.
The commander knocked on my door, I let her in. She sat down next to me on my couch and said "We will arrive at Virmire in less than an hour." She looked worried, as if something was bothering her. "Garrus, if the mission goes wrong, will you let me do what I have to?" She asked, her voice filled with emotion. I felt my heart sink as I looked at her, she looked sad. I sighed deeply and let my hand go through her hair "If you ask that of me, I will." I answered, though I was not certain if I would actually be able to do it. "Thank you." She said as she laid her head down onto my lap, I brushed through her hair with my fingers giving her some peace before the mission.
We landed on Virmire shortly after. The first part of the mission was fairly easy, shoot some geth, drive around, open some passages. Then we arrived at the building, it was a very big building and a group of salarians stood near it. The commander talked to the salarian in commando and he explained that Saren was breeding Krogan in there, enslaving them and using them for an army. These krogan were tankbred and thus were not like real krogan, there were born and trained to fight, to kill. But Wrex didn't seem to understand that, all he heard was a cure to the genophage. The commander tried to explain that she didn't have a choice in the matter, but the krogan just stomped off. Then the commander talked with Alenko and Williams, after which she approached Wrex. Wrex was shooting at the water and I felt concerned for the commander, just to be sure I stayed only a few metres behind them. The commander explained to Wrex why she could not leave this facility unharmed, and Wrex pulled out a gun. I felt my hand unconsciously rest on my own as the commander only explained further. In the end she seemed to be able to convince him that these krogan were nothing like the real ones, Wrex seemed to accept it and we spoke to the salarian commander.
The plan was to blow up the facility with a nuclear bomb, we spoke about the risks and concluded that our team would be a shadow team. Alenko led the second team which, together with the salarians, attacked from the front. Our team disabled the defences from inside out so Joker could arrive with the nuclear bomb. The fight was not easy and we soon realised that something bigger than Saren was at work. We then met Sovereign, an ancient reaper, who told us about his plans and how this cycle had been around for longer than we could ever imagine. The reapers were the ones to create the citadel, they were also the ones to wipe out the protheans and the many other races before them. Then Sovereign left and we had to continue to blow this place up. As we fought through, we finally reached a place where Joker could land, then Alenko said through our earpieces that his team was stuck in one of the towers, surrounded by enemies. We fought our way towards the tower, but then heard that Ashley was being overrun by geth, forcing the commander to choose. After her punching a metal crate, in frustration she decided to get back to Ashley. On her way back she apologised to Kaiden, she had tears in her eyes, but she fought on. The bomb was planted and everyone got into the Normandy, Jeff then got us away as fast as possible and we could see the explosion. The commander appeared composed, but I knew she wasn't.
Then the crew came together and we went over some of the events. When everyone left I took the commander into my arms, letting her spill her tears, on the outside she was a hard and strict woman, but she had feelings lke every other living being and right now I only wwnted to comfort her. We then went to her room and stayed together, sometimes talking, sometimes just enjoying eachothers company and holding eachother. Eventually we both fell asleep, forgetting our worries and not dreaming about anything.