Garrus watched the bullet tear through Udina's chest and thought that he should feel something, satisfaction at least, but no, there was only the disquieting realization that Cerberus had planted sleeper agents as far up as this. The Illusive Man was a cunning adversary indeed, Garrus had been foolish to underestimate him. More unsettling was the fact that Shepard had underestimated how far the human would go, how far he'd fallen. He saw all this in the flush of her cheek as she approached the dead councilor, saw Kaiden step back out of her way.
Kaiden...Garrus was so very glad that he hadn't had to shoot the man, that Kaiden had finally seen reason. It would have been terrible to lose yet another one of them, Garrus didn't know how Shepard would have dealt with that.
Someone was cutting through the elevator door and everyone jumped to the ready, guns up and loaded. The door opened to reveal Bailey and a detail of C-Sec and he sagged in relief, even though he was kind of hoping that assassin was about to make another appearance.
"Bailey." Shepard holstered her shotgun.
"We made it as fast as we could, Shepard. Looks like you, uh, took care of things." He stepped forward, looking around, eyes finally settling on Udina's corpse. Bailey had a faint smile on his face as he turned to look at the remaining councilors.
The asari councilor, Tevos, spoke, her tone fearful, "Something's not right here. You said Cerberus was targeting us. Where did their soldiers go?"
"Cerberus was right here, but they beat feet into the keeper tunnels as soon as they saw us coming." Bailey shrugged, "Sorry, councilor, I'll say it plain. Shepard just saved the lot of you."
Sparatus, the turian councilor approached Shepard and she angled her head back to look him in the eye. He took her hand in his and said, "Then you have saved my life twice now, Shepard. I owe you both a personal debt and one on the behalf of Palaven."
Garrus snorted quietly, more than twice, but who's counting.
They finished up and headed back to the Normandy, he could tell by the set of Shepard's shoulders that she was carrying a lot of tension, but he didn't know what he could do about it right now. They had a friend in the hospital, more than likely dying, she had to meet the council, there was no respite to be had and from the looks Kaiden gave her, there was more drama to be had there as well. Garrus fretted over her not being able to unwind before she snapped and did something she'd regret, like destroying the Citadel or something.
Garrus left her at the airlock, stating he had some business to take care of and tried his best to ignore the tight skin around her eyes as she waved him off. In truth, he needed to think, there had to be a way to take the pressure off her without compromising the mission. Her bout of madness had scared him deeply, he certainly didn't want to return to the days of the first Normandy, when everyone of them had had to tiptoe around her instability. He headed toward the hospital to check on Thane.
The antiseptic smell of the clinic washed over him as he stepped into the long corridor. There were quite a few casualties awaiting triage in the hospital's foyer. He made his way to the far end, where the semi private rooms were, a familiar face stopped him before he passed into the decontamination area. "Garrus Vakarian?"
He took in that oval face under the coppery hair and said with a smile, "Dr. Michel? It's good to see you."
"And you too, Officer Vakarian. I hear you're on the Normandy nowadays." She smiled in genuine warmth, taking his hand in hers.
"I am, I am. This is a far cry from a clinic in the wards." Garrus gestured all around them and she laughed.
"I've worked hard to make this dream happen. And now I'm relieved it's here, because I don't know what we'd have done without it in light of the difficulties of the times we live in." Dr. Michel walked with him through decon into the corridor beyond. "I have something for you. I never did thank you for saving my life all those years ago. I sent Commander Shepard a letter, but I don't suppose she had time to tell you about it."
He rubbed the back of his neck guiltily, "I guess she didn't, I'm sorry, Dr. Michel-"
"Chloe." She interrupted, her eyes shining up at him. She handed him a small box from her coat, its top covered in gold foil. "I saw it and I thought of you."
"-Uh, Chloe. If I'd known about the letter, I would have gotten back to you." He turned the box over in his hands, read the label, "Chocolate."
"Turian chocolate, just a little token of thanks, Garrus." She said his name with an odd inflection, almost like she was tasting it and he felt a touch of alarm. She's not..flirting, is she? No, no this is just a gift of gratitude.
She looked slightly disappointed when he backed away a step, toward the patient rooms, "Well, Chloe, thank you for the gift. I've, uh, got to go see my friend now. He got hurt pretty badly in the attack and-"
"I understand. Don't be a stranger, Garrus, I'm always here if you want to catch up." She smiled at him as she disappeared into one of the labs and he felt relief wash through him. He put the little box in a compartment of his armor and approached a doctor who looked like he was in charge.
"I'm looking for a drell, came in with a stab wound."
"Oh, Mr. Nuara, he's in that room there. His son, Kolyat, is on his way." The man turned away from him then and Garrus walked to the room, palming the lock.
Thane turned his head on the pillow and smiled in greeting. Garrus chuffed, "Even on your deathbed, you're gonna wear those leathers, huh? Trying to be as stylish as me?"
Thane wheezed a tiny laugh and winced, "Hospital gowns are...drafty. But rest assured, if I so chose, I believe I could be at least twice as stylish as you."
Garrus plopped into a chair next to the bed, fixing a wry smile on the drell, "Shepard will probably be here later. If she can pry those pyjak councilors off her ass."
"I am glad to see she is still fierce."
"Fierce is an understatement. She throttled an Atlas pilot with her bare hands." He tried to keep the tremulous fear out of his voice, but Thane's sharp glance told him he didn't quite succeed. Thane questioned him with a look and he swallowed, "I need...advice. She's under a lot of stress and I'm...afraid for her."
"She has you."
"It's not enough. I don't know if I can be strong enough for her if she...breaks again. And Thane, she was so close to breaking today. She's starting to lose people, Mordin and now...you. You're all taking pieces of her away with you." He didn't mean it as recrimination and was grateful that Thane saw that, with a smile of perfect understanding. "And I want so much to be strong enough for her."
Thane sighed and closed his eyes, "Fear and doubt are your enemies, Garrus. Don't let them blind you. If you believe yourself to be strong enough, you will be. She needs you. Don't fail her."
A polite cough from the door caught their attention. Kolyat stood there hesitantly and a proud smile affixed itself to Thane's lips. "Father...they told me you had been injured."
"The time has come and I am so very glad you came. Will you..talk with me?" At the younger drell's nod, Thane turned his gaze to Garrus, "I'd like to talk to my son for a time, Garrus."
The turian stood and reached out to clasp Thane's hand warmly, "Sure thing, Thane. I'm going to miss you, my little green friend. Stay deadly."
"And I will miss you, perhaps someday we can find some trouble together in your afterlife."
Grief threatened to close his throat and he croaked, "Yeah, it's a date."
He turned before he broke down and left the two men, father and son, to their final goodbyes. The walk back to the Normandy was long and he yearned to find somewhere to just think, to come up with some kind of plan. There was precious few choices to be had on the busy ship so he turned away to find somewhere on the station.
There was a new bar on one of the decks above the docking area, Purgatory. Fitting, since that's where he felt his head was, at the moment. The typical asari dance music mix pounded out at him from the doors and he almost turned away from the cacophony, but finally gritted his teeth and went in. It was packed, no doubt people came to forget their troubles, and the Reapers, and Cerberus, had left many troubles in their wake. He ordered a drink and found a table on the middle level next to the stairs.
A familiar blue face from his left stared in his direction and he tipped the ousted ruler of Omega a salute with his drink. That scowl never changed, but the flicker of recognition in her eyes said it all. Aria wanted him to come talk to her. He thought about just leaving, but considering all that Shepard had done to get the mercs to fight under the banner of the resistance, he relented with a sigh, picking up his drink and walking over to the asari.
Garrus sat next to her and watched her out of the corner of his eye as he sipped his drink. "Hello, Aria."
"Hello, Archangel. Or are you going by something else now?" She smirked at him and he smirked right back. "Still with Shepard?"
It was more statement than question. He didn't have to ask her how she knew that, her intel had always been impeccable, "Why? Do you miss me?"
"I miss all the credits I made selling weapons to the mercs trying to kill you. I don't know if I like this you, I think I liked the dangerous, half-crazed you better." She turned to look at him fully, a crooked smile on her painted lips. "Did you ever regret the terms of our agreement?"
"No. Not at the time." She let his little coterie kill mercs with abandon and she made gains in the power struggles that ensued. It was patently neat and at the time, had appealed to his sense of karma. Using evil to combat evil. Now it just seemed deplorable, but all the fault had been his. He was the one that had compromised his honor, because she'd had none to begin with. "I'm even more dangerous now, if you were thinking of testing me. So...don't."
"I don't have the luxury of playing games any more, Garrus Vakarian. I've funneled all my resources into Shepard's little campaign, I have none to spare for you." She leaned back, arching her spine erotically and he turned away. She sneered at his supposed prudery, "Still not tempted, hmm? I remember you weren't always so discerning."
"I never liked your games, Aria and I have even less time for you than you have for me."
"Oh, you bore me, Garrus. One thing, call it a boon, for all the amusement you brought me," She handed him a datapad and as he scrolled through the data, and his eyes widened with excitement. It detailed all the locations of Cerberus bases and other interesting things on this side of the galaxy and his mind spun with possibilities. This was the key, this was how he could take the pressure off Shepard. He could send his own people to complete the tiny tasks that had so monopolized Shepard's time, gathering data, tracking down artifacts, all the miscellaneous minutiae that she couldn't seem to help involving herself in.
Garrus swung his regard on Aria and brought his face dangerously close to hers, growling, "If you weren't an evil, sadistic bitch, I would kiss you."
She smiled, flattered by the description, "And if you weren't already taken, I would let you."
He reeled back in shock, "What?"
Aria rolled her eyes, "It's obvious to anyone with two eyes, or four, or whatever the hanar have for seeing."
Humbled, he said, "Thank you, Aria. You have no idea what this means to me."
"You're starting to bore me again." She waved him away and he took his leave, almost running back to his table to start this new undertaking.
He was pecking away at his omnitool taking notes, sending messages when James pulled up a chair at his table. He nodded a greeting to the human, who drank his beer while watching him work, "Don't you ever relax, Scars?"
"Are you kidding, this is how I relax." He put it away for now, a good amount had been done already, the rest could wait. He gave James his full attention.
"You were getting pretty cozy with that asari over there." There was a glint in the marine's eye and Garrus laughed. How they all jumped to Shepard's defense.
"Getting cozy with Aria is not exactly good for your health. We're old...not friends, almost enemies? In a cordial way. Is there a human word for it?"
"No, there isn't." James leaned out to take her in and whistled, "That's Aria T'loak? Hot."
"She's dangerous, almost Shepard dangerous, but without the morals."
"That's even hotter. Think she'll go for human?"
"You don't have a very good survival instinct, do you?" He got a ping on his omnitool. It was a message from Shepard, 'Thane is dead. Location?'
He typed a response and sighed deeply, heart thumping a funeral march in his chest. He bowed his head and sent a prayer to follow the assassin to his new home. He looked up into James' questioning eyes, "Thane just died. Shepard is coming here, probably."
"That's the drell assassin, right? I had a look at the crew dossiers they found on the Normandy. Tell me about him."
"I don't even know where to begin. He was...one of us, part of us, part of the ship and part of Shepard." Garrus paused in thought, "He was a father, not the best, but he tried to fix it in the end. He was brilliant and he was one slick son of a bitch."
James laughed and signaled for another round. Garrus started telling stories, all the stories about Thane and his quiet ways, his hidden sense of humor. Shepard had joined them at some point and just listened, her face so still, emotionless. He watched her as he spoke and it seemed to him that it was helping ease that cold knot she'd made of her heart. Soon she was smiling faintly, even adding details to his stories that he'd missed. Joker and EDI wandered over, to join the gathering of shipmates.
Joker had some stories to tell and Garrus laughed with the rest, his heart lighter with the sharing of grief. Shepard said softly, "Remember that time Mordin sang Gilbert and Sullivan in the lounge?"
Joker and Garrus groaned in unison,then laughed. It set off another round of stories, these about Mordin and his inappropriately loose definition of doctor-patient confidentiality. James prompted them when it got quiet, keeping them from becoming maudlin, cajoling them laughingly. Garrus was grateful to him, the human knew how to help them with their grief. It was a lesson that Garrus took to heart. He thought of the man they'd left on the Normandy. Javik should be here, in this shared comraderie, but he'd kept himself apart, he was not part of them...yet, the thought whispered in his mind.
With a guilty start, he remembered Liara. She definitely should be here, with them. He sent a message to her and got a cryptic response in return, 'Am working on project with J. Will try to come out later.'
Garrus showed the message to Shepard, whose eyebrows shot up in surprise. James, watching them over his beer, said, "Spill the beans, Scars. What's up?"
"Liara says she's working on a project with Javik and doesn't want to come drink with us." He shared incredulous looks with everyone around the table.
Joker chuckled, "Does she mean working...or working?"
They laughed at the lascivious wiggle of Joker's eyebrows. EDI gave him a sidelong look, "I don't understand, Jeff, the words sound the same minus the curious emphasis the second time."
"It means...I just-I'll tell you later." Flustered, he finally took in her amused head tilt, "Aw, you knew what I meant. Why do you do that?"
"Maybe I like to see you turn that interesting shade of red. Like the time I found all those pictu-"
"Okay, you can shut up now. The 'Embarrass Joker' hour is over." The crew laughed as Joker stood, his face indeed red and he left the table for the bar.
Garrus spoke to EDI, "You better go talk to him, you know how broody he can be."
EDI said, "I will apologize...maybe."
And she left, too and the trio that remained at the table laughed. James leaned toward the other two and said, voice low, "Seriously, Doc and Buggy? Not that I don't think our resident prothean jerk needs to get laid, but..."
"Stranger things have happened." Garrus looked askance at Shepard, who had a tiny little smile on her face as she sipped her beer. James rolled his eyes at them.
"Maybe I'll go find out if Aria has a date." The marine left the lovers alone and Garrus reached out to pull Shepard's stool closer to his.
"Brave man." Garrus turned her face to him with a finger and thumb on her chin, "Are you okay?"
She took his hand in both of hers and sighed, "It's easier, now. All those memories, it's like they never left."
"Maybe they didn't." He smiled at her.
"Maybe they didn't. I still miss them."
"Me, too. You scared me today."
"I know. I'm sorry." Their short sentences were all that was needed. A wealth of information flew between them with every syllable. Garrus rumbled in his chest at the pleasure of having her near. Doubt abated for now, he just basked in her presence. "It's getting harder to keep an even keel, but I'm trying, Garrus."
"I know." He pressed his mouthplates to her temple and a sudden impulse struck him, "Dance with me?"
She laughed, pulling back to see if he was joking, saw he was not, "You dance, Vakarian?"
"I've studied the theory, yes. Even field tested it once or twice." He led her upstairs where the music pounded loudest.
She gasped when he spun her into his arms, "So I see. I bet you say that to all the ladies."
"You make it sound like I'm some sort of Don Juan. Really, other than a few encounters, my experience has been all theoretical." They swayed easily together, moving across the dance floor as fluidly as they dodged bullets.
"Mm-hmm," she said doubtfully, "so you're saying, all this...and that one day on Earth, was the first time you'd ever done romance."
He chuffed at her chidingly, "I'm a tactician. When I plan to do things, I'm thorough."
"What about spontaneity? So this dancing, was it planned?" Her eyes gleamed invitingly at him from under her long lashes. He was starting to feel desire coil in his loins.
"There's a generous budget in the plan for spontaneity." He twirled her out to arm's length and pulled her back to him, her soft intake of breath music to his ears. Garrus felt excited anticipation for a different sort of physical activity assail him with its siren song. He ran a hand through her short locks and stared intently into her eyes. They smoldered at him from her beautiful face and he rolled his hips into her with the beat of the music.
"So what's your plan now? Will it be thorough?" Her breathy words made him growl low in his throat and he fought the urge to take her here, in this public place.
Garrus nipped at her earlobe, breathing, "Isn't it always?"
She moaned, "Ship. Now."
They walked quickly to the exit, winding their way through the crowds of inebriated partygoers. The elevator took forever to get to their level and they attacked each other as soon as the doors closed. He cursed the armor he was wearing and felt her scrabble for the seals. His hands were all over her, sliding under her shirt to feel the dip of her waist. He groaned as his lower armor came free, and her hands found his erection tenting the material of his underarmor. She pulled his pants down to his greaves and slid to the floor on her knees. He felt overwhelming panic when he saw what she was about to do, "Jane, what are you- I don't think-"
And then her mouth engulfed the tip of his member and his knees tried to buckle, he supported almost all of his weight on his arms where they'd latched onto the rails along the walls. It was indescribable, this hot shot of pleasure that coursed through him. She fed inch after inch into that wet, red mouth and he felt his mandibles spread in what he was sure was the silliest expression of astonishment ever conceived. She paused halfway down and looked up at him wickedly, her eyes dancing with mirth. Then her cheeks hollowed and he bucked helplessly, eyes screwed shut in ecstasy, fucking her mouth in a way that he hoped wasn't hurting her, because he had not one ounce of restraint over his hips.
He convulsed with every swipe of that tongue around the head of his cock like he was being whipped. And the suction, the fucking suction, he'd never imagined. As he started to lose control, he was struck by the horrifying vision of what it would mean to cum in her throat, suffocating her and with a choking gasp, pulled her off just as the first streams of silvery fluid surged from him to splat along her cheek, the head of his cock engorged in a large ball of nerves. She squeezed it, opening her mouth to accept his issue. The erotic sight nearly made him cum again and he trembled from head to toe. He wheezed eloquently, "Fuck..."
He slid to his knees, unable to support his weight, breath heaving in and out. Shepard chuckled and he growled, reaching out to drag her by her hips to him. Garrus spun her around and pulled her hips tight to his, reaching around to dip his hand into her pants. His still hard cock twitched spasmodically when his fingers encountered no barrier of cloth between pants and skin. Shepard looked at him over her shoulder, voice a sultry growl, "There was a cut in the panty budget."
He couldn't wait any longer, he pulled her pants down roughly and sunk his finger into her soaking cleft, bringing a handful of her juices to lubricate his cock. The tip was still distended and sensitive, but he pushed it into her regardless of his or her discomfort, sinking the last few inches in with a grunt. She bowed her back deliciously before him, her shirt riding up to show him her smooth skin and he slid almost completely out of her before slamming back in, punishing her for the naughty, dirty thing she'd done with her mouth. He pounded her ruthlessly, making her shift along the floor with the fervor of his thrusts. Frustration made him growl and he picked her up bodily and pinned her against the window of the elevator, finally she couldn't shift away from him and he relished the slap of his plated flesh on her soft pink flesh as he moved in and out with increasing speed. He lost count of how many times he came and how many times her pussy clenched around his shaft.
Finally spent, he retracted from her slowly, seed sliding down her inner thighs to soak into her pants, which were still around her ankles and she heaved great gasping breaths in time with his. She slid bonelessly to the decking, saying with awe, "Holy fuck..."
Garrus lifted her to her feet and pulled up her pants, she dropped the edge of her shirt down to cover the stains. With shaking hands, he put his own clothes and armor in order, whispering hoarsely, "We are quite the eloquent pair."
"Eloquent doesn't cut it sometimes." She ran a hand through her hair, wincing at how it stuck up with some of his spunk embedded in it. "Thank god these elevators are so slow."
"Was that thorough enough for you?" He leaned in for a lingering kiss, nipping her chin and all the way up her jawline. She giggled.
"I am thoroughly fucked. You might have to carry me into the ship." She yelped as he lifted her over his shoulder, slapping her buttock playfully. The doors opened and he ran for the ship, past the wide eyed stares of the C-Sec agents in the hall and right into the safety of the airlock, "EDI, is anyone in CIC?"
"No one but Comm Specialist Traynor, Shepard. Would you like me to have her run diagnostics in the AI Core?" The machine's voice sounded amused.
"Do it." Garrus slapped her butt again and she swung a glare on him, "Are you going to put me down now? We're in the ship."
"No." He laughed at her expression of mock anger, "Did you see those salarians watching us through the glass of the elevator?"
"No! Why didn't you-" Shepard gasped in horror, her hand over her mouth.
His face broke out into a devious grin, unable to keep a straight face.
She slapped his shoulder as she realized he was joking,"There were no salarians!"
And as he carried her through the empty CIC to the elevator, he cajoled her, "No, but there could have been, Jane. You did a naughty, naughty thing to me and I'm going to have to punish you...thoroughly."
