Disclaimer: I do not own anything Mass Effect belongs to Bioware. Please enjoy.
Chapter 7: Choice of mind and heart.
The tech lab was silent except for the few clicks and beeps from monitors and machines that dotted the room. Shepard sat at the upgrades console checking through the list of armour and ship upgrades that she had purchased. Mordin was out of the lab tending to business with other crew members. The harsh lighting hardly left any shadow in the room but the hum of the drive core gave some small comfort.
"We've got better plating for the ship…Shields are good too" Shepard talked to herself, She thought the Normandy's weapons could do with upgrading; she found an item she thought Garrus would love. Shepard's heart skipped a beat when Garrus entered her mind, the feel of his skin on her lips still lingered the way he smelt still tingled her nose. Shepard shook her head trying to rid herself of the memory her hair messed up as her cheeks flushed; she knew if she didn't do something soon, something more than a kiss, she was going to snap.
They were still on their way to the Citadel help Garrus with his personal mission of finding Sidonis. Shepard also wanted to know why Sidonis left; to her leaving crew members or friends behind was the ultimate betrayal. She wondered if even she could forgive Sidonis, but one thing played on her mind more than anything. What was Garrus going to do?
"Shepard" Mordin's voice sounded behind her. Shepard clicked on the upgrade for the Normandy's weapons as the Iridium resources depleted. Shepard spun round in her chair and smiled at the old Salarien.
"Hey Mordin" Shepard greeted him as Mordin smiled in return.
"Do you mind if we talk…medical matters" Mordin asked, as far as she knew she was fine unless it was something about her scars which she asked about frequently.
"Sure Mordin what about?" Shepard asked as Mordin walked over to his desk.
"Understand that mission is dangerous, different species react differently to stress" Mordin started as Shepard's chill shot up her back.
"Understand that intercourse in normal for humans and Turians as stress relief, but beware of chafing" Mordin told her as Shepard literally fell out of her chair. She hit the floor as her mind raced, Mordin was giving her something she thought she had escaped from, sexual education class.
"Mordin what are you talking about" Shepard asked him as she picked herself up off the floor. Mordin blinked at her distress.
"Have been watching yours and Garrus's behaviour towards each other. Both displaying courtship behaviour, also your irrational protection instinct for Garrus." Mordin spoke flatly as Shepard couldn't believe it; she was that obvious that it seemed everyone but Garrus. Shepard sighed as she looked at the aged Salarien.
"I care about Garrus, but I don't want to hurt him" Shepard told him as it felt like part of her weight had been lifted.
"Of course Hormones, but still come to me when you need ointment" Mordin told her as she rubbed her head.
"You have a recommendation as a doctor?" she asked meekly as if she was preparing for the worst.
"Turians based on dextrose-amino acids could cause anaphylactic shock…so don't…ingest" Mordin covered his mouth as Shepard's face turned scarlet. A lump formed in her throat as she listened, she wanted him to stop but he kept on explaining about how Turian skin might feel against hers. She felt like she wanted to scream that everything about sex was new to her.
"Also sending information to your cabin, sites, information on…" everything just seemed to blur after that, Mordin actually sent her porn to…study. Deep down she always knew that sex ED class was another way of teachers looking at porn without an excuse.
"Mordin, telling me you're just pulling my leg" Shepard begged but Mordin's face dropped with shock.
"What? Doctor Patient confidentially sacred trust, would never dream of mockery" Mordin spoke with shock in his voice but Shepard saw the smile grow on his face, he was enjoying this.
"Enjoy yourself while possible Shepard" Mordin walked over to his desk as Shepard turned and headed for the door. As she opened the door and walked down the corridor she dumped into a wall of armour, a pair of hands gripped her shoulders before she fell as she turned her scarlet red face towards the person saving her. If she could have gone any redder she would have as her eyes lay on Garrus, her mind went back to the memory of her kiss on his cheek mixed with the recent conversation with Mordin.
"Shepard…do you have another fever" Garrus asked her as she shook her head, the feel of his hands on her arms was playing hell with her imagination.
"No I'm alright, the Tech lab is a little hot" Shepard knew it wasn't the right thing to say but it was the only thing she could say while her eyes travelled his along his armour looking where the clips were. Her mind showing her images of him pinning her again the wall and clawing her back. Shepard shook her head again to try and get rid of the images.
"Is Mordin in there? He wanted to see me about medical matters I think…maybe about my scars" Garrus mentioned as Shepard's heart skipped beats while it cried out for him to run or become deaf.
"Yeah he's in there, I better go get ready we're nearly at the Citadel" Garrus let go of her arms and nodded. He ran his talon through her hair before he left making her shudder at his touch. She listened to the hiss of the door open and close before she almost sprinted to her room, she didn't want to be around when Garrus found out she didn't warn him about the trap.
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The ride to through the Citadel was, well tense, Shepard and Garrus didn't talk the whole time and Thane remained silent out of respect. Shepard's face held a slight blush while Garrus's mandibles stayed clasped to his mouth, whatever Mordin said to him was just as bad was what he said to her, but she did wonder what courtship behaviour Garrus had been doing, she knew she had been flirting with him something horrible sometimes but she could never pick up what he was doing. She looked out the window to watch the lights zooming by; they all blurred together creating what looked like lasers at the Darkstar night club. The Citadel had changed so much over the two years she had been dead and now to see them with her new eyes it was more amazing than the first time. They had learnt that "Fade" was actually the old little worm Harkin from C-sec, the Volus told them that he was in the factory area but he was guarded by Blue suns and Mechs. Shepard wondered if Garrus liked to attract people who were involved with the Blue Suns.
"We're here" Garrus spoke suddenly snapping Shepard back into reality. The trip seemed so short she wondered if Garrus broke any speeding laws. The door opened as Shepard and the others hopped out and saw Blue Sun mercs at the door, Shepard looked round at the room that was filled with boxes; Harkin was easy to spot all she had to do was follow the pungent smell of booze and there would be Harkin.
Harkin turned round as his face went from "Who the hell are you?" to pure horror. Shepard smiled as Garrus strolled forward.
"Garrus…Shepard…" Harkin almost knew that the jig was up so ordered the mercs to start shooting. Shepard and Thane took near by cover as Garrus loaded an impact shot into his rifle and fired it. A loud thud sounded that was later followed by screaming men, Shepard loved it when they really did scream like little girls. Harkin had made a run for it but Shepard was hot on his trail, she knew that he would use the warehouses as defence. Shepard began to wonder if she should actually live in a warehouse since the scene of fighting through warehouses was becoming all too common for her liking. Machines rode over their heads carrying heavy crates and boxes filled with harsh chemicals, EDI said something about not shooting them but Shepard could barely hear her over the gun fire of the Blue Suns.
"You think you can catch me Shepard!" Harkin shouted over loud speaker as he dropped one of the heavy crates near Shepard. She snapped her herself out of the way before it landed on her, the crate smashed as Garrus ran over to her, her breathing was hard and heavy while her heart was beating ten to the dozen.
"You alright Shepard" Garrus checked her over as she nodded her head.
"Yeah…just got out of the way in time" Shepard smiled as she laughed. Garrus watched her as her hair fell in front of her face and her cracked lips stretched and twisted into her smile. She looked so beautiful when she smiled; it was like a shine awoke in her eyes and brightened up her face.
They made their way through the warehouse until they came upon a room that over looked the rest of the warehouse, Shepard stood behind Garrus as he surveyed the area. He looked tense and primal but something didn't feel right, he looked like a hardened solider with no soul and only focused on one thing.
"What you going to do to Harkin?" Shepard asked as she looked out over the area, she noticed a small office area that looked like the control room; Harkin would most likely be in there.
"He's a criminal now; I should turn him over to C-sec but I'd much rather shoot him" Garrus admitted. Shepard's eye twitched, Garrus didn't normally kill in cold blood and he was all about criminals going to jail instead of shooting them dead. Then Shepard noticed something in the warehouse moving behind one of the crates. She drew her submachine gun and hid behind the wall, Garrus ducked low while Shepard told Thane over the radio to keep cover.
"Did you see that?" Garrus spoke.
"I saw something" Shepard answered as she looked down at Garrus.
"I know what you're going to say Shepard" He looked at her as she bit her lip.
"I'm just worried about you, are you really sure you want to kill Sidonis?" Shepard asked as she looked into his eyes.
"I can't believe you would ask me that, you taught me to shoot before the enemy shot you in the back" Garrus almost shouted but Shepard ducked down to his level and looked at him.
"That's when you have no choice, you still have a choice" She told him as his mandibles flared in surprise.
"This is my burden Shepard, I'll take the shot and I'll deal with the consequences" Garrus told her as he looked away but Shepard grabbed his face, trying to be careful of his scars, and pulled so that he looked at her.
"That's what I'm worried about, I don't want you to live with those consequences if their bad" Shepard looked into his eyes. Garrus looked at her with surprised, she was always one for trying to find ways of saving people but there was something in her eyes that told him that this wasn't about Sidonis and that it was about him. He ran his talons along her jaw line as her eyes fluttered; he knew that if they weren't trying to get Harkin or dodge Blue Sun bullets, he would have taken her there. Mordin's voice sounded in his head of that he should be careful with Shepard because of all the scars she has on her body making the skin weaker than it should be. He remembered that she used to have two scars on her face, one above her left eye and one of her chin. Those were taken away by Cerberus but he could still see them faintly.
"Garrus I…I just don't want you to be hurt anymore" Shepard spoke softly as she leant her cheek into his talon; he was so glad he was wearing gloves. Garrus sighed as Shepard moved her hands from his face and along his arms to hold his hand against her face.
"Come on Shepard, before Harkin gets away" Garrus bit back his primal urges as he stood up. Shepard watched him leave as she punched the wall. She did it again she couldn't say that she cared so much for him, now she was insulting herself. Shepard picked up her gun and headed out the door, she immediately started shooting down the Blue Suns. In the distance she could see Harkin typing at the controls trying to delay them or stop them if he could. Blue suns began to fall like cherry blossom petals at the end of spring; their blood covered the floor in a river of crimson while Shepard heard something over head.
"Let's see you deal with this Shepard" Harkin's voice sounded over the loudspeaker as two heavy mechs landed on the platform. Shepard cursed to herself as she threw a singularity at one of the Mechs, her shields were down in no time and she took one bullet to the shoulder. She stumbled backwards looking at her shoulder that started to pour blood from the wound.
"Shepard look out" Thane's voice sounded over the radio as Shepard looked up towards the Mech. It loaded a missile into its gun and aimed it at Shepard. Shepard's legs sprung into action as she sprinted along the walk way, she heard the mech fire the missile as she dived behind some crates. The missile flew over her head and exploded on the far wall. Shepard took out her pistol and fired the heavy bullets at its head. Thane fired one of his bullets directly into the main drive core making the heavy mech explode smashing into the other one that was about to get Garrus.
Shepard stood up as she held her shoulder, Garrus rushed over to check on her but she smiled and gave him a look that it will be fine. Garrus's mandibles twitched with worry as he looked at the gapping hole and torn muscle, if there was one good thing about Cerberus their cybernetics were good as he saw them getting to work on her wound.
"Garrus, Harkin might get away" Shepard told him as she touched his arm. Garrus nodded as he told her that he would go round to the other side and they'll pincer trap him. Shepard agreed as Thane joined her, both Shepard and Thane crept up towards Harkin. Harkin typed on the console as his eyes were narrowed trying to see where Shepard and the others were, Shepard counted to three and rounded the corner with her gun pointed at Harkin. Harkin started to back off as he smiled.
"Close but not close …" Harkin's face met Garrus's head; Shepard winced at the pain she suddenly felt. Garrus picked Harkin up by the collar and swung him round to pin him against the wall.
"Garrus…what are you doing here" Harkin blurted out as Shepard folded her arms.
"I'm looking for someone and your going to help me" Garrus told Harkin as he turned his back.
"Come on Garrus you know how this works, I give you something and you give me something" when Harkin said that his eyes wandered to Shepard's chest and hips with a grin. Shepard felt physically sick but she picked up Garrus's growl as he turned and kneed Harkin in his unmentionables, the look in Garrus's eyes made Shepard warm inside as her face flushed with colour.
"You're going to tell me" Garrus barked at Harkin as he picked himself up off the floor.
"Terminus really changed you" Harkin spoke as he cradled his broken pride.
"No, but Sidonis opened my eyes" Garrus admitted. Shepard walked up to him and stared Harkin down.
"Look Harkin just tell us and then we can go" Shepard said but Harkin shook his head.
"Screw you" Harkin threw at Shepard as she saw Garrus's leg twitch again.
"I can't tell you, it's bad for business" Harkin trying to talk his way round the situation. Garrus lost it and head butted Harkin on the nose making Harkin meet the ground.
"You know what else is bad for business" Garrus stepped on Harkin's neck as he the drunken man started to turn purple. "A broken neck" Garrus barked again but Shepard grabbed his hand and looked into his eyes.
"All right I'll tell you" Harkin blurted out as Shepard pulled Garrus away. Garrus took a deep breath as if he was trying to calm himself.
Harkin picked himself up and walked over to the communication link, the screen flashed as he started talking. Garrus brought out his gun as Shepard's chill reacted to the sight of it.
"Alright, he'll meet you in the Orbital lounge at noon" Harkin walked over "Can I go now before C-sec arrives"
Garrus pushed him down and pointed his gun at Harkin.
"Sure, but I'll slow you down first" he was about to pull the trigger but Shepard pulled on his arm as the bullet travelled into the ceiling. Garrus looked at Shepard as her eyes pleaded for him not to do it. Harkin got up and dusted himself off while Shepard walked off knowing her work was done.
"Knew you couldn't do it" Harkin told Garrus but Garrus gave him another head butt on the nose making him fall to the ground. He walked along side Shepard who gave a faint smile.
"You said I couldn't shoot him" Garrus told her as her eyes flickered towards him, her hand brushed against his.
"That would have given him a broken nose anyway" Shepard smiled as they made their way out of the warehouse.
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The car landed on one of the walkways above the Orbital lounge, Shepard moved her hair behind her ear trying to hide the recent blood splatter that was stuck in her hair.
"Harkin's a bloody menace, you should have let me shoot him" Garrus rested his head back against the chair as Shepard looked over at him.
"He wasn't worth it Garrus" She spoke as Garrus sighed and looked away.
"What do you want from me Shepard?" he asked as it felt like a dagger went through her heart.
"How would you feel if someone betrayed you?" Garrus looked at her, Shepard had never had anyone betray you but she knew there was more to Sidonis doing what he did than what Garrus had said.
"I don't know but I wouldn't let it change me" She spoke trying to give a neutral answer.
"I would have said the same thing too before it happened to me" Garrus told her as she gripped her hands.
"Let me talk to him" she pleaded.
"Talk all you want it's not going to change anything Sidonis needs to die" Garrus growled as Shepard looked over at him, she could feel Thane's eyes watching the scene but he remained quiet.
"I've always hated injustice…Why should Sidonis live while ten good men lie in unmarked graves?" Garrus asked her as she looked away from him.
"No one understands no one cares" Garrus muttered that's when Shepard snapped.
"I CARE YOU IDIOT!" Shepard shouted making Garrus jump, Shepard realised what she said and opened up the door.
"You better go and set up" she mumbled, Garrus got out and watched the car go down to the lower level. Thane glanced over at Shepard whose face was now covered in damp tears.
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Shepard landed the car on the lower level. Her radio was turned on so that she could hear Garrus; she heard the faint sound of his sniper locking into place as more of her tears fell. She gripped her fists trying to stop herself from crying out load, and then she felt a hand upon hers. Shepard looked down at the green scaled skin as Thane looked at her with his onyx orbs full of concern. Shepard reached up and turned off her radio so that Garrus wouldn't hear her.
"Shepard" Thane's deep voice broke the tension as Shepard's upper body collapsed. She began to cry for some reason of why even she didn't understand. She felt Thanes fingers run through her hair but it wasn't the same, she wanted Garrus's talons running through her hair feeling the sharp tips gently run along her scalp.
"Why does he have to be so stubborn that damn idiot of a Turian" Shepard spoke out but Thane gave no answer. Shepard rose up and dried her eyes and took deep breaths to calm herself down, she checked her eyes to make sure they weren't that red…unfortunately they were.
"Come on" Shepard got out of the car and turned the radio back on.
"Shepard? You there?" Garrus asked over the radio.
"I'm here" Shepard spoke as she looked at the only nervous Turian across the room.
"There he is, wave him over and get him talking" Garrus told her. The pale Turian looked over at her as she waved him over, he strode up to her.
"Let's get this over with" He spoke in a hushed tone to her, Shepard's mind went to two places she could let Garrus just kill him now or she could try and do this her way and hope something good comes out of it.
"You're in my shot Shepard, move aside" Garrus spoke down the radio, that was it she pulled Sidonis close to her.
"I'm here to help you Sidonis" Shepard whispered as he looked shocked.
"Don't say that name aloud" he looked round as if he didn't want anyone to hear.
"I'm a…friend of Garrus's" Shepard told him as Sidonis look petrified.
"Damn it Shepard if he moves I'm taking the shot" Garrus shouted at her, Shepard scowled but secretly she like it when he gave her orders.
"What? I'm out of here" Sidonis started to walk away but Shepard grabbed his arm and pulled him back. She looked at him with warning as he started to pull away.
"Get off me!"
"I'm the only thing standing between you and a hole in the head" she told him as his fear rose in his face. She heard Garrus's growl down her radio which sent shivers through her legs…that didn't help.
"I didn't mean to betray them…but they forced me…told me they'd kill me if I didn't help them" Sidonis explained, Shepard understood that he was trying to save his own skin. Sidonis walked towards the railing.
"Everyone has a choice" Garrus growled as Shepard walked along side Sidonis trying to block Garrus's shot.
"I'm a dead man anyway, I don't sleep, and food has no taste. I see them each time I close my eyes just staring at me" Sidonis looked like a shell of a Turian and Shepard felt sorry for him.
"Garrus he's already a dead man…there's nothing left to kill" Shepard told Garrus as she heard him growl more.
"Tell Garrus…I guess there nothing I can say to make this right" Sidonis spoke as Shepard gave him a sorrowful look.
"Tell him to go…just let him go" Garrus told her.
"He's giving you a second chance Sidonis, don't waste it" Shepard told him as Sidonis nodded. Shepard walked back to the car and went to pick up Garrus.
She landed the car on the walkway and stepped out, Garrus walked up to her and he did not look happy. Shepard prepared herself for a slap of jab or something.
"I know you want to talk about this but I don't…not yet" Garrus told her as Shepard looked at him.
"It was for the best Garrus" Shepard spoke as she watched him pace. "Just give it time"
"I guess, but I need to know I did right not just for me, for my men" Garrus looked into her eyes as she gave a soft smile.
"The lines between good and evil blur when we're looking at people we know" she told him as he nodded.
"Yeah, I guess your right. I was ready to kill him but when I saw him…I just couldn't do it, I could still see good in him. It's so much easier to see the world as black and white, Grey…I don't know what to do with Grey" Garrus told her. Shepard smiled and put her hand on his chest and looked up at him, Garrus looked down into her eyes.
"You have to go with your instincts" she told him but Garrus sighed.
"My instincts are what got me into this mess" he told her as she gave a soft laugh. He ran his hand through her hair again as she leant into it.
"Come on, lets go I need some distance from this place" he walked to the car as Shepard turned round.
"You go, I need to do something" She told him, Garrus spun back round as he looked at her with puzzled eyes.
"I just need to go somewhere that's all" Shepard explained as the look he gave her shot another dagger through her heart. This was one place she felt like she needed to be alone.
"You sure?" Garrus walked up to her as she nodded. He held her hand as she entwined her many fingers in his hand.
"Don't worry…I'll have Thane watching me, but you need some distance from me too, I can scene that much" she felt another dagger plunging into her heart but this one was not from Garrus but from herself, she was going somewhere without him but taking Thane, mainly because Thane found out about his son that she wanted to help him with. Garrus looked at her and nodded with a strained look on his face, she could tell he hated following this order.
He went back to the car as she watched it zoom off. Thane appeared near her as they set off towards C-sec.
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Garrus arrived at the Normandy and was greeted by Jacob; he leant against the hanger door as if he was waiting for Shepard to come back.
"How did it go?" Jacob asked as Garrus gave him a look of don't ask.
"Shepard gone to the memorial?" he asked making Garrus stop and look at him.
"What memorial?" Garrus was puzzled in all his years of being at the Citadel he had never seen a memorial.
"The one that has all the names of the people that died on Akuze, I thought you knew" Jacob pushed himself off the door and went inside the ship as Garrus followed. He remembered a lot of names on the wall but never thought it was a memorial, humans had such strange ways of remembering the dead.
Garrus headed straight for the main battery but then he got there he saw the engineers coming out with boxes and equipment. Garrus looked puzzled at why they would be in there.
"Ah Garrus, Shepard bought a upgrade for the weapon system, she said you'd like it" one of the engineers told him as he walked in to find one of the best looking Thanix Cannons he had ever laid eyes on. Shepard really did know him well as he set to work on calibrating the weapons system for the new upgrade. But he found it hard to focus, the event with Sidonis was going to be hard to get over as he thought he might have done wrong by his men but something told him that Shepard was right (as usual). But Shepard's face and soft sobs down the radio were held within his mind, she shouted that she cared…even called him an idiot which she had never done before. Her eyes were filled with anger but a wanting to be heard, her hair messed with blood splatter and rubble, her eyes dotted with tears. She may have been a mess but he thought that at that moment she look so beautiful like a battle angel that had her wings clipped and was trying to fight her way back. Garrus knew she was always trying to tell him something but she always ran or changed the subject, but he was no better he did exactly the same thing.
Mordin's lecture on Turian and human pairing didn't help the matter and when he found out that Shepard had been told the exact same thing he finally knew why she was so red, but he swore he would get pay back. He locked the door to the main battery as he took out the Holo Shepard had given him, he turned it on to see the smiling figure peer up at him. He couldn't help but smile, he remembered his men asking about why he had a holo of a human female and when it was none of their business they would tease him that he had a human fetish. In fact he never did, all the humans he had dealt with were men and he never found any of the human women on the citadel appealing, but Shepard was different she was more Turian like than human. Her laugh and smile got under his skin, the way it felt when she touched him sent sparks through his body. The way her hair felt on his hand and the fact that she leant into his hand each time he did it. At first he wanted to know how it felt but now it was something they connected them and calmed her down. Then the way her lips felt on his cheek, he couldn't describe it, it was soft and gentle but her lips were moist even though he could feel each crack in the skin.
Garrus sat down on the crate next to the console as he looked at the holo, he remembered when he got the news that Shepard was declared dead and no body was found. It was like his world shattered everything went down hill after that he quit C-sec and his spectre training and left for Omega, killing mercs was the only way he kept his mind off Shepard. Then one that day when he saw her through his scope he thought he was seeing things he thought he was seeing a double but then he saw her fight and that's when he knew it was her. After that he didn't want to let her go she had infested herself with his heart and invaded his mind, he didn't know how it happened but it just did. He loved Shepard but did she love him back?
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"Kolyat!" Shepard shouted as the young Drell turned round to see her sliding down the railing. He disappeared into the building with the Turian while the Krogan lay on the ground wounded.
"Thane!" Shepard gasped when she landed on the ground; Thane was right behind her running to catch up.
"I saw" he spoke as they rushed inside towards the apartment. When Shepard opened the door the Turian knelt on the floor with his head under the barrel of a pistol. Shepard stepped forward with her pistol aimed at Kolyat.
"You're kidding me…now, now you show up" Kolyat spat as Thane entered the room. Shepard lowered her pistol to show she wasn't a threat.
"Kolyat you don't have to do this" Thane told him but Kolyat almost hissed him away.
"I'm going to kill him and then I'm going to walk out of here" Kolyat told Thane but Thane merely looked at Kolyat with pity.
"They'll have snipers outside" Thane told him. Shepard didn't want Kolyat to be gunned down before Thane had a chance to tell him what happened.
"Kolyat, your father doesn't have much time, please listen to him" Shepard begged Kolyat hoping that he would have enough love for his father to realise that he was trying to do the right thing. Kolyat started to shout at Thane which in the end ticked Shepard off so she aimed her pistol at the lamp fired off round. Kolyat jumped as the lamp fell to the ground while Shepard pushed past Thane and punched Kolyat in the face; the young Drell fell to the ground as Shepard kicked the Turian out of the building.
"Kolyat you are going to listen to your father" Shepard warned him.
"Who's this? Your new wench" Kolyat spoke out but Shepard's blood boiled. Wench? Thane's wench? Now Kolyat had it coming.
"Thane permission to beat your son senseless" Shepard gripped her fists making Kolyat back off a little but Thane placed his hand on her shoulder and looked down at her with thanks in his eyes. Shepard nodded and backed off so that they could talk, that's when C-sec moved in. Their timing was horrible, Shepard rolled her eyes and ushered them out of the room to give Thane and Kolyat some privacy.
Moments pasted and while Thane and Kolyat spoke, Shepard talked Bailey into giving the boy community service for attempted murder. Kolyat was a good kid but misguided by his own judgements of what his father wanted him to become. Shepard sat down and looked at her own hands, she wondered if she was to have children would they want to grow up into being a galaxy saving person just like her or would they hate her because they wanted them to be just like her. She used to always tell herself to try and make time for starting a family with someone you like, but as the years rolled by she became more and more focused on advancing within the Alliance. Now she was technically a free agent, still working under Cerberus regulations, but still she could try and start a family. She wasn't too old and she defiantly wasn't too young. The thoughts of her and Garrus having a family together crept into her minds eyes again, and as she started to think of how their children might look Thane came out of the room. Shepard pushed all thoughts to the back of her mind and gave Thane a reassuring smile.
"How did it go?" She asked as Thane lowered his head.
"It's not something we can fix with a few words…it's going to take time" Thane told her, Shepard smiled and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"That's better than nothing" she told him as he smiled at her.
"Thank you Shepard" Thane bowed to her as she smiled.
"Come on, I need to lie down" Shepard pulled on his arm as they retreated back to the Normandy. But Shepard knew that she needed to see Garrus before she went to her room.
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Back on the ship it was quiet, Shepard plotted a course for Omega, Samara had come up to her asking if they could go and kill her daughter because she was a deadly killer. Shepard agreed but her chill ran through her body so much so she thought she was covered in thousands of ants. Tali was still adjusting to the new crew and new ship but Shepard could tell something was off she looked worried about something and would play with her fingers when she though Shepard wasn't looking.
"Commander, you might want to go and see Garrus he's been locked in the main battery ever since he came back from the Citadel" Kelly informed her as Shepard found that unusual even for Garrus.
"Thanks Kelly" Shepard hopped down and entered the elevator and pressed the second floor. When the doors opened she took a quick pace to the main battery, saying hi to everyone in the mess and pasted the sleeper pods. Kelly was right; the door was locked and shut tight. She figured that Garrus had done it himself, she couched down to the control panel and started to bypass the lock…Garrus had obviously forgotten how good she was at bypassing systems and hacking data pads and PDAs.
The door flew open as Shepard stepped into the room to find no Garrus standing in front of the console. She looked at the console data and saw no new calibration, that wasn't like Garrus at all. She heard the door close and lock again, and then as Shepard turned round she saw Garrus asleep on his cot. Shepard breathed a sigh of relief as she walked over to the sleeping Turian. Shepard quietly sat on the floor and simply watched him sleep, her eyes looking along his body. He still wore the damaged armour from Omega, his bandage covering his scars and cybernetics. That was when she saw something clutched in his hand; her curiosity got the better of her as she lent forward to inspect the item. Her heart stopped once she saw it was the Holo she had given him two years ago.
"He still has it" Shepard muttered as she lightly pressed her hand to her mouth. She thought he would have thrown it away or lost it somewhere but here he was sleeping on his cot clutching the holo like it was a stuffed animal. Garrus stirred as Shepard froze as Garrus opened his eyes.
"Shepard?" he spoke groggily as Shepard gave a sheepish smile.
"Hey" locking yourself in here isn't good you know" she said as Garrus rubbed his fringe.
"Sorry, just needed to rest my eyes" Garrus spoke as he sat up that when he noticed he still had hold of the holo. Shepard smiled and placed her hand over the devise.
"Have a good dream?" she asked while she looked into his eyes. Garrus smiled as she shook his head.
"More like reliving a mission back when I was in the army" he told her, Shepard tucked her legs under her.
"Tell me" she smiled as Garrus felt his heart race.
"We're were about to hit a Batairian pirate squad, very risky, me and this recon scout had been at each others throats for weeks. Nerves mostly she suggested we settled it in the ring." Garrus told her, Shepard nodded she had already known that Turian ship were run differently so it was no surprise that the commanders would allow them to fight each other.
"I assume you took her down gently" Shepard spoke as Garrus shook his head with a smile.
"Actually she and I were the best hand to hand combat fighters on the ship, I had reach but she had flexibility" Garrus told her, he wondered how flexible Shepard was she didn't seem bendy but the way he would watch her stretch or move made his imagination go wild.
"It was brutal, nine rounds before the judge called it a draw. There were a lot of unhappy betters but we held a tie breaker in her quarters…as I said I had reach but she had flexibility…one way to work off stress I guess" Garrus laughed but when he looked at Shepard her face was filled with hurt. Shepard knew that Garrus was possibly attractive within his people but it still hurt to know that he had had women before her. Shepard coughed as Garrus realised what he had done, he looked horrified as he leant towards her.
"Shepard I'm…"
"You kept the holo" Shepard interrupted him as she pointed to the holo. Garrus looked down at the devise and clicked it on.
"Of course I did Shepard, anything you gave me I cherished" Garrus admitted as he ran his talons through her hair to calm her down, she leant into his hand as she looked at the holo of her smiling. Back then she was full of courage almost bursting to tell him how she felt about him, but when he left and she died and came back to life she couldn't bring herself to say it. Shepard held his wrist lightly as she felt his talons along her scalp. She inhaled his exotic scent and looked into his eyes.
"I thought you…Garrus I…spirits why is this so hard to say in front of you" She exhaled her breath as she leant forwards.
"Shepard?" Garrus grew concerned as she put the holo down and made her stand up gripping her upper arms. Shepard's mind went into overdrive as she imagined him dragging her to his cot, her clothes being ripped off with his talons…Shepard shook her head to rid herself of the images it wasn't working, she closed her eyes and flung her arms round his neck pulling him close to her as she hugged him. Garrus wrapped his arms round her tiny body.
"…ov…ou…" Garrus could barely hear Shepard as she began to speak; he saw her tight jaw as she strained to give him a simple hug.
"What?" Garrus asked.
"I…ov…ou" Shepard spoke again but even though Garrus had really good hearing he was getting slightly ticked off.
"Shepard I can hardly hear you" He peeled her away from his body but then she lunged forward and placed her lips on to his. Garrus froze as he felt her lips on his, his mandibles flared with surprise but the feeling going through him was electric, her lips were softer then he thought but he cursed himself for being in his armour. Shepard pulled away as she breathed heavily her hair covering her eyes and the blushed that covered her face and ears but Garrus watched her as he felt her eyes bearing down on him like a primal female Turian.
"Garrus…Vakarian…you are stubborn…you can be an idiot…and your scars make you look god damn sexy and I love you Garrus" Shepard finally said it to his face, she felt the weight of it all lift from her chest as her mind cheered with victory.
Garrus blinked. Did he hear her correctly? She loved him and she thought he looked sexy with his scars. Garrus's heart was jumping out of his chest as he looked at Shepard; he brought his hand to the back of her neck and leant forward. He touched his forehead with hers and as he felt her breath on his face he ran his talons through her hair.
"I love you too Shepard" He told her as he felt a tear drip down her cheek as she smiled. She ran her hands along his arms as she felt his brow plate throb with his heart beat while his warmth enveloped her.
"Garrus is this how Turians…kiss?" Shepard asked meekly feeling like she ruined the moment. But Garrus smiled and ran a talon along her jaw line.
"Yeah…I almost fainted when you did it to me in the med bay" Garrus told her as she blushed bright red, Shepard remembered when she touched his forehead with her own just to tell him to be safe. Garrus laughed as he brought her close to his body…still cursing that he was wearing his armour. Garrus and Shepard just stood there holding each other for a time until Shepard pulled away.
"I better go tell the crew you're alright…I don't want to distract you from your calibrations" Shepard teased him as he chuckled. Shepard went to the door but when it opened, Miranda, Jacob, Tali, Kelly, Mordin and surprisingly Jack and Grunt collapsed in front of her. Shepard blushed bright red as the group of spies tried to get up off the floor.
"How much did you hear?" Shepard asked. The group looked up at her and smiled with sheepish smiles, Shepard blush deepened she turned to Garrus and smiled.
"If you'll excuse me, I'll be in my room…screaming into my pillow" Shepard jumped over the group and ran off towards the elevator. Garrus looked down at the group with folded arms and his best Turian glare.
The group knew they were in for it.
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