Chapter 4: Through Lava and Fumes
Mako's thrusters whined as the rover descended towards the surface of Therum. Holding his breath, Garrus folded both arms over his stomach, already regretting his decision to persuade Dr. Chakwas to clear him for this mission. As the vehicle hit the ground with a thud, Garrus lurched forward with a grunt. Too slow to grab hold of something with his hands clasped over his stomach, he already saw himself on the floor, and then a strong arm suspended his fall.
"You alright?" Ashley Williams asked. "Your plates… look duller than usual."
"Just…" He had to gasp for breath. "Just a little trouble with my stomach, that's all. Nothing to worry about."
One of Ashley's eyebrows curved. "And you agreed to come on a mission that includes riding in the Mako? Is Commander Shepard trying to kill you?"
He chuckled. "No, I—I insisted to come along. I'm not a quarian to let a little tummy-ache stop me."
He looked around in panic for a moment, forgetting that Tali was still on the Normandy, safely out of earshot. Jokes from the turian military didn't work on this ship. He ought to watch his mouth more.
"Men." Ashley scoffed, shrugged and rolled her eyes, all at the same time. Human vocal capabilities and body language would never cease to confuse him. She offered no further elaboration of her remark, though, and the conversation died on the spot.
Still, it was an improvement over the cold and hard glares they usually traded across the hangar. This mission was so much different from what he expected, or anything he had been through in both C-Sec and turian military. If it wasn't for the commander and her subtle, unobtrusive guidance he would have been truly lost. Somehow, she had managed to make this ragtag group to work so far.
"I'm getting some strange readings." The pilot's voice echoing through the comm almost made him jump. "Like, really strange. Off the damn charts."
"Know where they're coming from?" Shepard asked, and in a strange way Garrus was glad to hear a trace of irritation in her voice. Spirits knew Joker's attitude and, well, jokes grated on his nerves more than once. It was reassuring to know that Shepard had a similar opinion.
"From an underground complex about two clicks from your position. I think it's a Prothean ruin." This time, the Flight Lieutenant's reply lacked any of the usual snark. Garrus quietly applauded Shepard's ability to bring out the best in people in the subtlest way possible. "Just follow the river of lava you see on your left and you'll find it."
"Garrus, bring up the map," the commander said.
He did so and plotted the course to the location Joker marked, taking great care to set the waypoints as far away as he could from the molten rock.
"Two clicks…" he muttered to himself. "Did we have to drop in so far from our target? Does she have any idea how far two click—Ow!"
Shepard put the engine into ignition and charged forward, making him bang his head. Running his head over the spikes of his fringe, he couldn't hold in a groan. Great. His forehead still throbbed with pain from the encounter with the Mako's panel, and now his fringe got the same treatment. This death machine would be his end one of these days.
Ashley watched him with a smug smile on her face. "Tummy-ache again, Mr. Tough Turian?"
"Fringe tips," he explained. "Weak spot. Not as bad as groin on human men," he clicked his mandibles, "but painful enough."
"I know," she scoffed again. "I'm a hand-to-hand expert and, believe it or not, humans are trained on how to take down a turian. It was just funny to see your indomitable mask slipping. Tell me, is that a turian thing or a Garrus Vakarian thing?"
Garrus opened his mouth and then closed it again, his mandibles clicking involuntarily this time. It was true, he had tried everything to present himself to Shepard in his best light from the time he boarded. He had never tried it with any of his previous commanders. What was different about her?
Shaking his head slightly, he mumbled, "Both." Something unpleasant snaked around in his mind, not letting him take a look and tell what it is.
Ashley's entire face lit up, basking in triumph. "Knew it!"
The flash of anger he felt drove the unpleasant thing away. "Care to show that training of yours?" he asked with some of the anger bleeding through the subharmonics. He doubted any human could pick it up, though. "I'm up for friendly sparring anytime."
Ashley blinked and cocked her head to one side. Her lower lip shook for a moment.
"If you're done flirting, maybe you'd like to know I just spotted a geth dropship ahead." Shepard's voice made them both flinch. "Ashley, you're on turret. Garrus, you handle the electronics."
Ashley's climbed into the turret without a word, leaving heavy air floating between her and Garrus. Her reply remained a mystery.
Bringing up the screen again, Garrus tried to focus on the icons and gauges and keep the turret from overheating and shields from failing. Losing himself in complex algorithms was one of his favorite ways to escape difficult questions.
This time, he wasn't quite sure what he was running away from. In that moment, Shepard's voice echoed the word flirting in his head.
Would he flirt with Ashley, a human? No, not with Ashley. But another human? Would he?
He wouldn't. Turian females suited him just fine. Human hair was messy and their curves did nothing for him. He liked sharp fringes, silver plates and supportive wais—
Shepard made a sharp turn, misaligning his target painting for Ashley. Garrus heard her swear up in the turret. "Not my fault," he muttered with indignation.
"Doubting my driving abilities, Vakarian?" Shepard asked through what sounded like a suppressed laugh.
"I… uh, I… never…"
No. He couldn't say such a blatant lie.
"Aw, c'mon! I bet I could drive us to the ruin blindfolded!"
"No!" Garrus and Ashley shouted in unison.
Shepard laughed outright then. There was genuine, contagious mirth bubbling in her voice and neither of them could resist joining her.
"Just joking," Shepard added when the laughter died down. "Whoever designed this… this piece of shit was a sadist. Or a crazy scientist. Maybe both."
That was the first time he heard her swear, and lose formality completely. It happened in the middle of a battle with geth, no less. The humorous side to her he saw on the Citadel showed itself again, too. It felt so good to serve under a commander who wasn't horribly stuck up like those in the turian military. His mandibles fluttered in excitement.
Garrus felt the tension drift away from the air as he returned his full attention to the holographic screen. Another wave of the robotic enemies dropped from the sky and advanced on their position.
They continued to fight through the twists and turns of Therum until they reached an impasse. The crack in the rock face was too narrow for the Mako to go through. They had to continue on foot, and Garrus felt no shame in admitting that he was glad. His stomach climbed halfway up his throat again.
"Let's see how good you are with your Overloads." Shepard turned to look at him, with a challenging smirk stretching her lips. "I believe you said something about frying shields in one go? I took out geth troopers on Eden Prime with one zap, not just disabled their shields. Let's see how you manage."
Straightening, Garrus fought a strange feeling that settled in his stomach, and this time it wasn't nausea. He hadn't felt like this since… since forever!
"Game on, Commander," he replied, grinning. Truth be told, he had never tested his omni-tool on geth before. Still, he believed he could do it.
"Bullets can take them out just as well," Ashley stated. Her eyes narrowed and her lips tightened. Was that… jealousy?
There had to be a guide on human facial expressions and body language somewhere on the extranet. Garrus decided to look it up as soon as they were back on the Normandy.
The commander turned to Ashley. "This is between me and Vakarian. He is in delusion of being better with omni-tool than me. That is unacceptable." As she spoke, Shepard made an exaggerated pouting expression. Even Garrus could tell that it was fake.
Ashley seemed to pick up the hint, too, as she brightened and replied, "Just leave some for my gun."
Shepard's magic was at work again, defusing the situation in a moment. As they walked through the passage and the open area beyond, Garrus felt ready for any challenge that awaited them.
Soon they reached an open area crawling with geth troopers. Garrus and Ashley took cover immediately and Shepard… Shepard ran in the middle of the battlefield, tossing the mechanical enemies with biotic powers and frying them with zaps from her omni-tool.
Garrus had seen this before, even admired it. This time, his stomach rebelled again. What if she—
"My count's at five, big guy!" Shepard yelled without turning around. "How's yours?"
None. He hadn't killed a single enemy yet. Instead, he spent precious moments gawking at Shepard.
What the hell was wrong with him?
Rising partially from cover, Garrus targeted a geth trooper with his visor and initiated the overload sequence. The visor refused to lock on the geth he intended to attack, warning him of something in the dis—
"Sniper!" He shouted and aborted the sequence. Instead, he programmed the tool for an overcharge attack and reached for the rifle folded on his back.
Shepard dove behind the nearest rock. In the next moment, the air shimmered with the heat from the read beam extending from a tower in the distance. The round dug a hole in the ground where Shepard was a moment ago.
Not wasting time, he pressed his mandible against the stock of his rifle. The magnifier in his visor brought the geth sniper closer. It was partially obscured by the tower wall, but he had scored more difficult hits in the past. He could do it.
Holding his breath, Garrus hooked one of his talons around the trigger and aimed. With a slow release of the air through the nose, he squeezed it, and watched the geth disintegrate in his own red beam of destruction.
"Nice shot," Shepard said, grinning. "But it doesn't count. Omni-tool kills only."
He scoffed. "I'll catch up. Just wait and see."
"If you're done flirting, maybe you'd like to know I gunned down the remaining geth." Ashley's voice startled him. One of Shepard's eyebrows twitched.
Weird things, those eyebrows. Always on the move. He needed to look up that guide.
The ruin Joker spoke about turned out to be just beyond the sniper tower. There weren't any geth around, and Garrus felt regret for a moment. How was he going to catch up with Shepard now?
"Let's go in," Shepard commanded, "and hope that the geth haven't breached the ruin yet. Dr. T'Soni is just a civ—"
The roar of a geth dropship cut her out. Looking up, Garrus saw it fly overhead and drop a Colossus-class geth behind them.
"Shit!" he hissed and ran for cover. With a corner of his eye, he spotted Ashley and Shepard doing the same. This wasn't good time for playing hero.
He also spotted a very faint movement in the metal construction where they sought cover. Before he had the time to warn anyone, a spider-like geth revealed itself and jumped on Ashley, knocking her down, right in front of the Colossus.
There was no time to waste, even to hiss a curse. He started an Overload sequence, changing several parameters on the fly to make it stronger. Then he released it on the spider-geth at the same time when Shepard blew it off Ashley with a biotic throw. The force hurtled the geth several meters in the air before it landed, shooting off sparks from his attack.
The Colossus hummed with power as its attack neared the release. Ashley tried to clamber to her feet, but was obviously disoriented. Garrus rushed over to her, and flung her arm across his shoulders, helping her get up and reach safety. The energy blast sizzled past them, hitting empty air.
Ashley jumped away from him, reaching for her weapon in the same motion, as soon as they were out of the Colossus' reach. Her discomfort was almost amusing.
"I'll keep it distracted by draining its shields," Shepard muttered while working on her omni-tool. "You two pelt it with armor-piercing rounds. Oh, and that one counted."
Garrus grinned as he reached for his assault rifle and set it to shoot the rounds Shepard requested. That one was just the first. Many more would soon follow. There was no way he would lose this competition. It was a matter of turian honor.
Or was this about his personal honor?
The Colossus fell to the ground after a while, unable to withstand their combined attack. Garrus looked at Ashley and she returned the gaze. There was genuine surprise in her eyes, coupled with discomfort, and so palpable he didn't need a guide.
He chuckled inwardly. What? Did she expect he would leave her at the mercy of the mechanical beast just because they had a silly argument on the way here? Was it really that surprising that a turian would help a human, especially if they were teammates?
Garrus shook his head. There was more at work here than just different facial expressions and body language. As they made their way to the entrance of the ruins, he made a mental note to check on the human version of the Relay 314 incident.
The elevator stopped at the cargo bay level with a bump. Shepard lingered in the doorway for a few moments, holding in a cough. The fumes spewed out by the awakened volcano did nothing good for her throat.
The mission was a success. They reached Dr. T'Soni before the geth did, and brought her safe and sound to the Normandy. Too bad about the ruins that got blown up, but it wasn't her fault, really. What were the Protheans thinking when they built a complex in the middle of a fucking volcano? If only that good-for-nothing Council would see that.
As she stepped out of the elevator, Shepard spotted Garrus over at Ashley's station. The pieces of his disassembled rifle were scattered all over her table. As she watched, Garrus picked up a part and offered it to Ashley. The Gunnery Chief shook her head and stepped back. Garrus took a step forward and put the mod under her nose. Ashley shrugged and accepted it.
Did her trick with humor and friendly competition work? Were they bonding? If so, it was another success. It seemed like she wasn't a total failure as a commander.
But if it was a success, then what was this feeling that just stabbed her chest? It stung.
Feeling like an intruder, Shepard backtracked into the elevator and pushed the button for the crew deck. She could ask about the damage done to the Mako later.
Another coughing fit shook her as she passed through the mess hall. The door to Dr. Chakwas' office suddenly looked inviting. If molten rock melted sensors, as Joker kindly pointed out when they returned, what could it do to her mucous membrane?
"I've been expecting you, Commander." Dr. Chakwas accosted her without greeting. "Ashley and Garrus were already here, both with irritated throat. Glad to see they're finally working together."
"They were here together?" Shepard croaked. Her throat felt like it was on fire.
"Yes. I assume it is your handiwork? It was obvious they didn't get along from the start." As she spoke, the doctor produced a bottle of nasal spray and stuck it in Shepard's nostril. The commander felt a cool liquid pouring down her nose and throat, increasing the burning sensation for a while, until blissful numbness finally took over.
"I'm trying," Shepard mumbled, and not only because the numbness in her throat made it difficult to speak. "I'm trying to make this crew work."
"And you're doing a very good job, Commander."
Shepard looked at the gray-haired doctor, finding only sincere praise in the other woman's eyes. Still, she felt like fidgeting. Certain decisions she had to make recently were questionable, to say the least.
"How's the newest addition to our crew?" Shepard asked.
Chakwas' eyes flickered towards the door in the back for a second. "She is fine. Some throat irritation like the rest of you who were down there, plus fatigue and slight malnutrition. I gave her a mild sedative. Once she sleeps it off and has a good meal, she'll be as good as new."
Shepard nodded, sighing with relief. Dr. T'Soni had been trapped for several days before her team found her. It was good to see she didn't suffer serious damage.
Some would say that bringing the daughter of Matriarch Benezia on board was a tremendous risk, and one part of Shepard wanted to agree. Especially since it turned out that Liara T'Soni didn't know how the Protheans went extinct. Still, Shepard trusted her instinct. It kept telling her that Liara would be a great asset to the crew.
But if she was wrong… If—No. If they were going to succeed, she couldn't doubt herself.
"We're done, Commander." Dr. Chakwas' voice shook her out of her reverie. "Is there anything else?"
Shepard rubbed her neck. It sounded tempting to confide her worries in someone. Maybe Dr. Chakwas wasn't so scary, after all.
"No, Doctor." She turned around to leave. "Thank you."
If they were to succeed, the crew shouldn't doubt its commander, either.
Just before she reached the door, Dr. Chakwas called her. "I almost forgot. Lieutenant Alenko was here earlier. His migraines are stronger than usual today. I think he's upset about something. You might want to check up on him."
"Thanks again, Doc. I will."