Love, Blood & Tears
Chapter 8:
Shepard woke up with a smile on her face; the events from the night before still fresh in her mind. How it felt when Garrus caressed her face, how gentle he was. She was excited now – confident that Garrus felt something for her. I can't call him out, but I can be more forward – try to draw him out! She no longer feared being rejected by him. He feels something for me…I have to find out what.
It was 0600 and both Thane and Samara arrived right on the dot. Shepard greeted them both and gave them a tour of the ship. After the tour was over, Shepard headed to the mess hall to grab some breakfast.
She sat down at one of the tables with her breakfast and her last outstanding dossier. She began reading:
Tali'Zorah vas Neema -Expert in combat tech, systems hacking. - Strong engineering background, familiar with Normandy. Formerly listed as Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, the quarian engineer earned her adult name after helping Shepard defeat Saren two years ago. Tali is currently on a classified assignment for the Migrant Fleet Admiralty Board on Haestrom, deep in geth-controlled space.
Shepard got on her comm, "Joker, set a course for Haestrom."
"Geth territory….how exciting."
"You know it! Tali's there, we're going to go find her."
"Aye aye Commander."
***
Shepard didn't want to seem like she was playing favorites in squad selection for missions but Jack had gotten used to going and would be upset if she was denied. Leaving Garrus behind was not an option either. Garrus and Jack it is then!
Shepard made her way down to the main battery. Garrus was already prepping for the mission.
"Hey," she said.
"Shepard, how are you feeling?"
"I feel great. Thanks for taking care of me last night."
"Don't mention it." He looked slightly uncomfortable but Shepard wasn't going to go easy on him.
"I don't remember much," Shepard lied, "I remember being carried and then….I don't know…what happened after that?"
"Oh, you fell asleep, I took you to your quarters, put you in bed and left."
"I see…well, thank you for being so wonderful to me." She got closer to him, "I never did have an allergic reaction to your drink, did I?"
"Nope," he said, clearing his throat.
She pushed things further, putting her hands on his chest. "You know…"
"Commander," Joker interrupted, "we're approaching Haestrom. ETA thirty minutes."
In the time it took Joker to speak, Garrus had shifted away from Shepard. She had clearly made him uncomfortable.
What's he afraid of?
"Guess that means it's time to suit up," he said, "I'll be ready in ten."
"Yeah, okay. Better bring you're A game! I have a feeling we're going to need your sniping skills on this mission."
She left his quarters and headed to hers to get ready.
Damn Joker and his stupid timing!
*****
Upon landing on Haestrom, it quickly became clear that the Geth strongly occupied the area. They also had to avoid the sun as best they could so their shields wouldn't be drained. Wow, freaking awesome.
"We've got to find Tali! With all these Geth around, her position may be compromised. Move out!" Shepard commanded.
With every headshot Garrus made, Shepard was so grateful to have him with her. She found herself less focused on the battle at hand and focusing more and more on him. God, he's good! Such a bad ass sniper. My sniper…
"Shepard!" yelled Garrus.
She snapped out of it, "What?"
"The area is secure. Orders?"
"Oh yes, orders. Let's move forward." Damn it! Keep a clear head! Focus!
As they moved forward, Shepard saw a quarian radio on the ground. Maybe we can contact Tali!
Sure enough, Shepard was able to establish contact with Tali's team. Tali was in a secure bunker while her security team was doing their best to hold off the Geth.
"We need to get to them quickly! On the double!" Shepard shouted.
More Geth dropships came in and knocked over a pillar, effectively blocking Shepard's path to Tali. On top of that, Geth Hunters were headed their way. Hunters! Of course! Why not?
After taking care of the hunters, Shepard set out to find demolition charges that were stored throughout the facility. She needed them to blow up the pillar blocking her way to Tali. While collecting the charges, they fought their way through Geth prime, troopers and a destroyer.
"Good freaking God! Would they like to throw anything else at us? Geez!" said Shepard.
They came to a bridge that they had to cross and waiting on the bridge for them were Geth rocket troopers.
"You've got to be kidding me…"
Shepard looked past the troopers and saw that they were accompanied by a Geth destroyer.
"Wow…Garrus, you've got this covered right?" she winked at him.
"When have I not? I'm used to doing all your dirty work for you," he said with a smirk.
"Cocky bastard!" shouted Jack.
Once they cleared out the Geth, Shepard planted the charges on the pillar. "Take cover!"
*BOOM!*
"Move out!"
They came across Geth recon drones and more Geth prime.
"Oh dear God! Freaking Tali! What kind of mess did she get herself in?"
They came to an opening to see a Geth Colossus ahead. Shepard also noticed a quarian bunkered by the wall in front of them. It was Tali's friend Reegar. He was all that remained of Tali's security team.
"You stay in cover," Shepard told him. "We'll take care of this."
***
Finally! Shepard thought when they got to Tali.
"Shepard," said Tali, "Without you I never would have made it out of this room. This whole mission has been a disaster!"
"Yeah, I can tell. A lot of quarians lost their lives here….was the research worth it?"
"I don't know Shepard…it wasn't my call. The admiralty board thought the information here was worth sacrificing all our lives for. I have to believe that they know what's best."
"I didn't ask what the board thought…how do you feel about it?"
"I lost a lot of friends today…that damn data better be worth it."
"Not all friends. Reegar is alive. He's hurt but he's alive."
"Oh thank you Shepard!"
"Maybe now that your mission is complete you could help me with mine?"
"Just let me transmit this data to the fleet first, then say good-bye to Reegar."
"Of course."
*****
Once they got back on the Normandy, Jacob tried very hard to be welcoming to Tali. She was uneasy about Cerberus and made it clear that she was there only for Shepard. Tali walked off, dismissing Jacob's efforts and headed for engineering.
Jacob looked up at Shepard, "She'll come around."
"Yeah, good luck with that," she replied.
***
Shepard headed to Garrus' quarters, he had quickly made his way there when they got back on board, leaving her no chance to talk to him.
She entered the main battery…
"Whatcha doing?"
Garrus looked up at her. What is going on with her today? "Cleaning my gun."
"Cool," she said as she swayed back and forth.
"Shepard, are you okay?"
"I'm fine….I'm great. Why?"
"You've just been acting kind of strange today."
"Strange? No, don't be ridiculous!"
He chuckled, "Okay, whatever you say." He noticed that she had been distracted during their mission, not to mention the conversation she started before they left and now this.
Great, this isn't working, she thought. I'm trying to flirt and I'm coming across as strange. What else can I try? She needed time to think about her next move.
"Well, I'll catch ya later," she said as she left the room, feeling like an idiot.
Garrus watched her walk away. What is up with her? It's almost as if she were…
*Bing bing bing!*
He had an incoming message. He scanned through it...Sidonis!
*****
That evening, Shepard decided to eat dinner in her quarters. She wasn't feeling very social and just felt like being alone. Her comm blinked that she had a message; it was from Garrus.
*Shepard, got a minute? I need to speak with you.*
She replied back, *Sure. I'm in my quarters, head on up.*
Not even a minute later, Garrus rushed into her quarters, clearly worked up about something.
"Shepard, I found him! I found Sidonis!"
"Okay, okay, calm down. Where is he?"
"He's on the Citadel! A guy named Fade helped him disappear – he's on the Citadel too!" He was frantically pacing back and forth.
"Okay, I said calm down!" She grabbed his hands and pulled him over to her bed to sit down.
"Just breathe Garrus." She placed her hands on his neck, "Look at me…we'll go to the Citadel, right now, okay?"
Garrus took a deep breath, doing his best to calm down.
Shepard got on her comm, "Joker, set a course for the Citadel."
"You got it Commander."
"See? We're on our way," she said as she moved her hands down his neck and firmly grabbed his arms. "We'll handle this together."
"Shepard, I'm grateful for your support but this is my mission, my fight…I'm going to kill him. An eye for an eye. You know that, don't you? You can't change my mind about this."
"Garrus, I'm here for you and whatever you think is best." He just doesn't know what's best yet…
"Thank you, Jane."
"You got it big guy," she said as she slyly wrapped her arms around his waist and snuck in for a hug. "I just want you to be happy, you know that right?"
"I know. You're always looking out for me and I promise to always look out for you."
Please don't forget that Garrus…
She nuzzled her face up towards his neck, her lips barely grazing him. Garrus felt his body shiver in response, Shepard felt it too…
She wasn't sure what to do next or if she should even do it; it didn't feel like an appropriate time. Her mind raced with thoughts of Garrus' mission. She knew she couldn't let him kill Sidonis in cold blood; that's not who Garrus was. Even if he had forgotten who he was, Shepard hadn't and she wasn't going to let him betray himself. She didn't know what Garrus would do, how he would feel…she felt sick to her stomach.
She gave him one last squeeze before releasing him. "Well, you better go get some sleep before we get there."
"I think you're right. Thanks again Jane, for letting me do this."
"Don't mention it."
Garrus left her quarters and Shepard tried to finish her dinner…
Please don't hate me for what I have to do.
