Unbroken
A Mass Effect story
Summary: Shepard's been tasked with infiltrating a Turian slave ship. Shepard hardly has the disposition of a slave and Garrus has no idea how to command his commander.
Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to update. Life happened.
CHAPTER 7
Janika was pacing. The woman had looked capable. If Aria picked her it would mean she had trusted her. Also, the Commander was practically a legend. There was no way she'd fail and leave her to rot in this cage. Right?
So the panic built. Oh goddess, she prayed. Let this not be my end.
And the answer came in the shape of three hunkering forms that stumbled through the cellblock door and leaned against it as it snapped shut. Janika took one look at the bleeding, gasping woman on the arm of the Turian guard and her head fell into her hands. "Oh I'm screwed."
"Show some faith, little one."
She remembered that voice. The one she'd heard speaking with the Commander. Lifting her eyes, she saw a pretty green Drell slowly move closer to her cell and swipe an ID into the control panel. The force field vanished and Janika threw herself into him. "Oh thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou…"
Shepard saw through a haze of blue as Thane stumbled, his arms full of a gratefully blubbering Asari. The look on her poor infiltrator's face was priceless. There was a mad giggle that was probably her own and then another wave of pain went through her.
"I'm glad you're still capable of being amused Commander." Garrus lowered her to the floor and let her sit in the corner as he quickly applied another wave of omnigel to his Commander. It was his last. He'd been saving it for her. "And have I told you how stupid that was?"
"Awo," she groused as he shifted her arm. The omnigel wasn't doing a lot to dull the pain, but at least she wasn't bleeding out anymore. It hadn't been her smartest plan, but Maximus had been so smug and the Quarian had so little time. She had meant to be faster, stronger, but the shotgun had nearly ripped a hole in her side. And when he lay did, she felt little victory. The futility gnawed at her somehow. Killing him. Watching the Quarian girl die in Thane's arms. Pointless. Despite all her cybernetics, Shepard was still human. "For the thousandth time Garrus; yes."
It had been a slow trip back to the holding cells. The Agrippa was in chaos. Once Maximus fell, they had to clean the slave ship room by room. Heat sinks were scattered everywhere. They armed the ones who could fight, rounded up and secured the ones they couldn't. There were losses. There were deaths. But more than that there were hostages.
Shepard's wasn't used to fighting without her usual arsenal and she was already wounded. She had to rely on her biotics and her speed to just keep up with Garrus and Thane. Maximus had taxed her reserves. Her implants were singing with pain and overuse. And through it all, Garrus Vakarian was infuriated.
She still couldn't get over how deadly her Turian was when angry. In one breath, she'd watched Garrus bring down two guards, free a hostage, overload an approaching mech and kick a half dead drone out of his way as he moved to cover. She wished she had time to marvel at how skilled her Turian friend had really become since Omega.
"Wow. She looks bad," Janika spoke with a sense of obviousness that made Shepard choke on another spurt of laughter. Poor Thane was an interesting shade of pink as he escorted Janika to his wounded commander. Clearing his throat, he handed the medic a makeshift First-Aid kit he'd acquired on their way to the cell block. "Not very apt is she?" Janika shook her head before kneeling down.
"Apt, yes." Garrus growled, his eyes on his snickering commander. He couldn't believe she still had breath to be amused. "Prudent, sensible and rational she is not."
Shepard groaned as Janika skillfully removed a few pallets before she began to close her wound. "Do we really have to do this now Garrus?"
"Oh I don't know," Garrus scowled before holding down the bandage over her side as Janika secured it in place. "You might decide to bite the next heavy mech to death. I might not get another chance."
Thane offered the Asari a hand as she wiped her forehead and stood. "Are you apt with a weapon?"
Janika snorted and crossed her arms. "You think Aria would keep me around if I couldn't shoot straight?"
"Point." Thane stifled a smile as he handed a borrowed rifle to the woman.
"Gonna help me up Vakarian?"
Garrus hadn't stopped glaring at her since they had taken down Maximus, but he gave her his hand and carefully draped her arm around his cowl. "You and I will have words Shepard. Make no mistake about that."
There was a rumble and the ship shook. Janika immediately had her arms around Thane. Shepard wondered how someone like her could be anything to a warlord like Aria. There was more to this Asari than Aria had led on. "Please tell me that was the cavalry."
There was a crackle and their coms came online. "Commander Shepard? Do you copy?"
A flood of relief went through her as she let her Turian hold her weight. "EDI, I have never been happier to hear your voice."
"Even when you were on that derelict collector ship?"
Shepard chuckled. "Not even then."
"It is my pleasure Commander. The Normandy landing party is accompanying the Turian General's team. Please prepare for extraction."
"The what?"
Garrus shrugged. "I told you Maximus was important."
Thane checked his Omnitool. "We're a few levels below. Can you walk?" He met Shepard's eyes.
"Yes." Sarah planted one hand on the Turian's chest plate and pushed to stand on her own two feet. "OOF!"
She couldn't budge him an inch.
Startled at the strength of his hold and the cocky smirk he sent her way, she was almost tempted to use Throw on him. But she was wrong. Her limbs could barely hold her up, her muscles screamed for respite as the painkillers began to work through her system. She could not walk on her own. "No."
Thane frowned when Shepard could barely extricate herself from the Turian's iron hold. It was all the proof he needed. "Then I suggest Ms. Kunis and I take point. We will locate the landing party and meet you back here."
Garrus unceremoniously picked Shepard up in his arms and moved towards one of the open cells. "We've cleared this level anyway. We should be safe."
The Drell nodded before holding the door open for the Asari medic.
"By the goddess you're a gentleman. We don't get a lot of Drell on Omega. Quarians we have by the dozens, but Drell? Not so much. Hey, is it true that Drell have the stamina of a varren alpha in heat? Hey, why are you moving so fast? I might be a little weak from imprisonment. Hey! At least hold my hand. Hey wait! What's your name!"
Shepard closer her eyes and imagined the poor Drell's face as Janika's voice trailed down the hallway before the doors slid shut.
And then, she was alone with him.
The only sound was her slightly labored breathing and the shuffle of her tattered dress as he lowered her onto one of the cots. She'd barely thought to throw him a sarcastic remark before he had turned and walked out of the cell. He didn't go far, but his rigid back, those balled fists spoke enough.
She knew Garrus. They had taken down Saren together, spent hours talking beside the Mako. Spoken of the universe, its design, their purpose. They ate together, fought together, nearly died together.
And then everything changed.
The Turian she'd found holed up across the bridge on Omega was The Archangel. Rougher, larger, jaded. But he was still the only one she trusted more than anyone. The one who always had her six. If he had continued to rage at her, she could have breathed better. But his silence. Oh how it cut something deep in her chest.
Then she remembered how she felt when he'd lain there in his own blood, barely able to speak. She remembered her horror at the possibility of losing him when she'd barely found him. How selfish had she been? Shepard let out a shaky breath. "I'm sorry."
There was a twitch in his metal covered frame but he didn't move.
"I have been reckless." He didn't turn around, but she decided it was time to just let go. Leaning her head back against the wall, she closed her eyes. "Dammit Garrus, I was so naive. I had no idea what the world was really like. I spent those years fighting enemies I could see clearly. Elysium was a not victory. I was a fool. Going after Saren. Saving the citadel, saving the council. It was an illusion. Only black and white. I died and came back without the veil of the Space kid, the war hero and I saw the galaxy for what it is.
"Cerberus opened my eyes to all those shades of grey I had been missing. Seeing Omega. Seeing you on Omega. Aria. Morinth. That club…" She trailed off, the heat building behind her eyes. "And Jack," her voice cracked. "I put it all in a neat little list of missions. Prioritized so I wouldn't have to think of it all in one go because…I thought I'd go mad." Her hands covered her face almost as if it would hold her together. "I am mad," she whispered on a broken little laugh. "Because I think the Reapers are right. We do deserve to be wiped out."
"You don't mean that."
Lifting tear-brightened eyes she saw Garrus turned towards her, his bandaged face a stark reality of what their world did to people. To her people. "Don't I? Look at what a father can do to his own daughter? A childhood of violence, experimentation and a lifetime of recounting the horrors with ink on your skin. That child. The girl in his room. I walked through this ship waiting find a room full of bloody manacles."
His mandibles pulled tight against his jaw and her eyes slid shut again. "There is a room full of bloody manacles. Shit." The heels of her palms pressed against her eyes.
Two strong hands wrapped around her wrists and she looked up startled to find him crouched before the little cot, his blue eyes nearly swallowing her whole. "You cannot save them all Shepard."
"Then the Reapers are right."
"No, they are not." His talons tightened nearly making her gasp as he pulled her closer; nearly to the edge of the cot. Her legs opened around the girth of his hips as he hissed furiously at her. "You are still here."
"Look at what we've done to the world!" She snapped angrily, a tear sliding down her cheek.
"Look at what YOU have done to the world Shepard." He shook her slightly, his nose nearly touching hers. "If it hadn't been for you, there would be more ink on Jack's skin, a sister lost, a son gone astray, a daughter turned monster out there and a Turian hell-bent on dying with his crew!" She gasped when his hands slid up her arms to hold her shoulders. "Those Batarians you tried to warn; their deaths were not your fault. You don't need any military tribunal to tell you that. I am telling you that. You have had to make nothing but impossible choices since you set out on this mission Shepard. You might not see all you have done, but the Reapers do. If they didn't think you were saving the world, they wouldn't be sending Collectors to kill you. Don't you see! Look how everything is different when you touch it. Look at me!"
And she did. His mandibles fluttering with unrestrained emotion, his blue, blue eyes pleading and yet filled with conviction. Through it all he'd stood by her. She didn't know if she could have done this without him. Stylishly or otherwise.
"You forgot Tali."
"What?" Garrus teetered off balance; from his own confession and her ability to throw him for a loop.
Her smile was tremulous but grateful as she quipped. "Killed the colossus, saved the girl. I really am a knight in Shepard armor."
With a bark of laughter, he changed everything as his forehead fell against hers. Shepard lost what was left of her breath on his name. "Garrus."
Eyes shut, he reveled in all that her voice revealed to him. The way it rolled over his name, the shuttered breath it came with. His Turian hearing could pick up on every single hope she had put into it. It was wrong on so many accounts for him to ask it of her. But there was no one in this screwed up galaxy he wanted more. No time for proper. "Dammit Shepard, if you kiss me now, I could love you forever."
Only…her breath hitched and all he heard was fear.
His heart stilled. Perhaps it was wrong. Too much to hope for. He allowed himself one brush of her nose against his before pulling away. It was enough that she understood.
But the human pushed forward past his insecurities, his awkward retreat – and kissed him.
She was flesh. He was metal. They were bleeding…but it was perfect.
She realized what had been missing from her second chance the moment she had her arms around him. It was the steadfast reassurance for his belief in her, his ability to hold her no matter how broken she was. To slowly fill every crack shut until she was whole. Herself. As she let her mouth play across his, despite how it wasn't meant to be kissed that way, they made it work. Her tears were grateful and his talons in her hair were a promise.
When her team came with the convoy she sat beside her Turian a smile on her face.
To be continued...
