Added as a break between chapters. Just because I've always wanted to give my view of this.

Song inspiration: Rest in Pieces by Saliva

Story idea and dialog sorted out while driving home from work with my Turian muse singing in my ear.

I don't own any of this, bla bla. Sue me for using it, bla bla. If you don't like it, bla bla. Forgive any errors, bla bla.


This was it. The end. Everything he had accomplished, everything he had worked for in his life, everything his father expected of him would end today. Before him lay the three largest merc groups in operation, and their leaders. Stirring up a hornets nest no longer did this particular event justice. He had taken the nest, locked himself in a small apartment, and torn the hive open to make sure the hornets couldn't miss. That didn't mean he would make it easy on them. All three of them had been throwing everything that they could muster in his direction, but the bridge had provided him with enough protection to last this long. Twenty four hours ago he had lost count of how many heads he had singled out, how many times he had squeezed the trigger of his rifle, and how many times he had cursed his own flawless aim.

He was here to die, after all.

He took cold comfort in the fact that it was becoming more and more difficult. Each shot took slightly longer to line up, and in their last rush one of them had almost managed to make it into the building. Almost. The tiny thrill he had felt when the human merc had run in a mad dash towards the lower level doors had been short lived when he automatically swung the rifle around. Removing any thought from the woman's mind with a white hot slug gave him no pleasure at all. More than once he had considered letting the in. Make it look good, but let one or two of them slip through without seeming to notice them so some lucky merc would become a hero by putting a bullet in the back of his head. The end of Arch Angel. It had a ring to it.

The end. No more struggle. No more pain. No more pointless fighting.

It was pointless. Everything he had done sense the day the Normandy was destroyed was pointless. He had tried to reintroduce the idea of the Reapers to the Council, but had failed. He had tried to become a Specter, so that he could carry on where the others had left off and had failed. He had not managed to bring the crew together, and had not managed to do anything good. What good was left? He was exhausted, and broken.

Not that the mercs would have known this. They all came to the bridge thinking that they were going to make a quick cred, left in body bags, and again the leaders of the merc groups were left wondering if they were fighting the devil himself. Whatever their species considered to be the devil, at any rate. To them, he was unbreakable. To him, he simply knew that it was pointless to break what was already shattered and scattered on a planet two Mass Relays and one days flight away.

Shepard. This is all your fault, you know.

Scoped and dropped might have meant something to him two years ago. Now as he lined up a vorcha stupid enough to peek over the barrier that had been built on the other side of the bridge, he felt nothing more than the jerk of the rifle as the curious head was yanked back and never seen again.

You did this to me.

They were coming again. Only six this time, like some sort of sick test. How quickly could Arch Angel drop six hired killers?

"Nine seconds, Garrus! A new record! Next time I think we need some kind of handicap or the others are going to start wondering why I need them at all."

Focus. Offering himself up to death did not mean he was going to simply hand himself over. He would make her proud, go out in the blazes of battle so that he would not dishonor her name any further.

Sixteen seconds.

She would have gotten a kick out of that time. She would have smirked, ribbed him a few times and asked him what girl had him so distracted. Would have been just blind enough not to realize that it was her. Not that it would have mattered, had she known.

She was Commander Shepard.

She was Commander Shepard. Drawing the rifle closer to his shoulder, he narrowed his eyes as he focused on the last merc to clear the barrier. Crimson armor, dark hair, green eyes focused on him.

This was the end, then. He knew that he was not insane, and he had often wondered if she would come for him when his time was up. Just to see her one last time before he was sent to whatever hell people who committed suicide by merc went to would have made almost everything worth it.

Her eyes did not waver from him. Challenging him. Daring him to fight.

Don't you dare look at me that way, Shepard. I am fighting.

Determined to prove his point, he adjusted his sight to the merc closest to her and dropped him with a single shot. And the one beside that, and the one beside...

I've been doing nothing but fighting since you left us.

Anger destroyed his aim. Mercs he had been killing like still holographic targets on a good day were avoiding him almost easily as he yanked the trigger with his sudden fury driven into each shot, missing just as often as he hit.

Since you left me!

Some slipped past him, into the building but he knew that he would keep fighting.

I'm tired, Shepard. Let me rest...

He would be damned if he gave up and let anyone have a shot at his back while he was being watched by the very reason he was here. Swinging the scope back to the ghost from his past, he would take one last look before he dropped scope and switched to his assault rifle for close combat. Watching the ghost draw a sub-machine gun from her hip made him pause in motion, watching as she took aim at one of the mercs that had run ahead. The flurry of fire that she sent into the batarian's back was followed by a volley of fire from two human men who stood on either side of her, another two dropping with military precision.

"She's with Archangel!"


Broken but unbreakable was how she would have described the man that pulled himself to his feet slowly. The three powerhouses of Omega had been beating against a turian rock, but every rock wore down over time. That he was exhausted to the point of collapse was made obvious when she watched him stand, using the sniper rifle that had been the death of so many mercs to push himself up before he made his way towards them slowly. The rifle hung at his side, but was not raised, which was a good sign.

Cerberus information on Arch Angel had been little, except for the fact that he had been able to hold off every merc organization on Omega for three days, and had done so alone. This made him perfect for the team, in every tactical way. Expect tactician, one hell of a shot even if he was exausted. Good, but not as good as another turian she knew.

Where are you, Garrus?

Of all members of her crew, she missed the turian the most. Their connection had been deeper than she had expected from the start, and upon questioning the Illusive Man about the location of her her former crew, she had asked about him first. Hearing that he had dropped out of all known space, she couldn't help feeling alone in everything. The two beside her, she did not trust. One worked for Cerberus and was an unknown even if he seemed straight forward enough. The other, a mercenary himself though on a completely different level of bad ass when compared to the ones they had cut down so far. Brought back to life, sucked back into a war only she seemed to know was raging, with no one to stand beside her. Sure, there was Joker. But standing was not one of his strong points. She wanted someone she could have at her back.

Click went the seal on Arch Angel's helm.

She wanted someone she could trust to follow every order, and believe they were doing the right thing.

One three fingered hand gripped the of the blue and black armor to pull it off.

Someone she could laugh with, talk openly to. Someone with the same predatory blues that gazed at her once the helmet was gone.

She wanted...


"Garrus!"

The sound that left his throat with his first gasp for breath was sickening, and she felt her stomach roll even as she gripped his armor clad shoulder to roll him onto his back. Holding back the sudden ache in her chest when she saw his face, she quickly activated whatever medigel she had left and pumped all of it into his armor. "We're getting you out of here, Garrus. Just hold on!"

Please, please hold on! Don't leave me alone.

"Radio Joker! Make sure they're ready for us!"

You can't die on me, Garrus! Look at me! Gripping his forearms so tightly that her own fingers ached from the pressure created, she watched his eyes as he held onto his sniper rifle as if it were the only things keeping him breathing. She heard Zaeed comment on something in the background, but ignored his words as she focused on the blue eyes that were blindly searching. Look at me, damn it! See me! I'm here for you, Garrus.

"Please!" She was unaware that the last word had been spoken aloud, but if the two men hovering around her and her best friend had heard her, they wisely kept any further comments to themselves. But the word was enough to draw his eyes to her now, and time froze for just a moment when they met. Desperation in her eyes, and empty exhaustion mingled with pain in his. A look she had seen too many times in the past, in the eyes of the dying. In the eyes of someone who had given up on life, and was ready to let it all go. And she felt painfully selfish in that moment, as she looked down into his eyes and willed him not to give up. Lowering her voice was she leaned over the dying turian, not caring who heard her words, though neither of the men did as they went off to clear the way for extraction. "You always told me that you would be there when I needed you, and I am going to hold you to that, damn you. I need you now. I..."

"Commander! Extraction team is here, and the Doc is ready to receive."


He wasn't in enough pain, or on enough pain medication to believe that everything he had seen was a dream. The fact that his face felt like it had been struck by a missile (tell me you wouldn't be proud of my surviving that, father.) and and his armor verified that fact helped banish the idea that he was dreaming. But he needed to see for himself again. He needed to see her again to be sure. The determination in his steps made certain that every Cerberus crew member that he passed simply stepped (and sometimes nearly jumped) out of his way as he followed the directions that ships AI had given him. Turning the corner, past the first door, into the door at the center of the hall...

"Best we can tell, he'll have full functionality, but..."

Predatory blues focused on Shepard the moment the door opened at his approach. "Shepard." Cool. Calm. Don't break down. But just to see her, alive and breathing, and smiling at him. Smiling at him, with light in her eyes that told him that she wasn't just happy to see him alive. She was happy to see him.

"Tough son of a bitch," the dark skinned human commented with a surprised chuckle. He didn't seem dangerous, but he still wore a Cerberus uniform. He wasn't to be trusted. "Didn't think he'd be up yet."

Stepping into the room, he was focused on on the human woman who seemed unable to wipe the grin from her face. Only her. She was all that mattered, and he made it a point to maintain his confident strut as he walked towards her. "No one would give me a mirror. How bad is it?"

"Hell, Garrus, you were always ugly. Slap some face paint on there, and no one will even notice."

Relief. That was Jane Shepard. Relief so deep that he couldn't help but laugh, even if it did cause pain to shoot through the side of his face as his mandibles widened further than they were ready too. "Ohh, don't make me laugh, damn it. My face is barely holding together as it is." Keeping the banter alive, to make sure it was as real as it was starting to feel, he waved his hand towards his face. "Someone women find facial scars attractive. Mind you, most of those women are Krogan."

It wasn't until the human called Jacob left that he was able to fully direction his attention to Shepard. And as good as it was to see her, he had to voice his concern. And as only she could do, she somehow put his fears to rest with a few words about needing someone she could trust.

"You do realize that this plan had me walking into Hell too?"

Anywhere you lead me, I'll be with you. Anywhere you go, I will follow.

"Just like old times." The small tilt of his head as he said this was more to set forth an ease he did not feel at the moment. The haunted look in her eyes when she gazed at his face made him want to hold her, just to remind her that he was there for her. "I'm fit for duty. I'll settle in and see what I can do at the forward batteries."

Turning now, he made his way towards the door only pause on his way out. Turning back to see her still watching him, still haunted as their eyes met. Something else needed to be said, and he stopped to face her fully. Every breath hurt, but he breathed in deeply anyway. Faint at this distance, but her scent was there and it was a comfort to him to know that she was alive once more. He didn't think about the words, so much as hoped they were what she needed to hear. "I'll be here if you need me, Shepard."

Never in all of his life would he have expected that two years of personal torture, pain, and the loss of half of his face would be worth a single smile from a female.

Never, until that moment.


And that's my take. I jumped a lot, because it's all been written a dozen times and no doubt played many thousands of times.

I am a hopeless sap, I know. Deal with it. ;) R&R please!