Thanks for all the kind reviews. I absolutely adore Garrus. He's always either my Shepard's BFF or main squeeze. In this story he's her bestest friend ever. She tells him everything…

"Hey Garrus, thanks for getting my armor fixed and all, but you were a dick for letting Chakwas slip me that little happy shot," she said from her usual perch on a crate in the Forward Battery. Legs drawn up with her arms wrapped them, cheek resting on her knees, she regarded her best friend as he continued running calibration algorithms on the Normandy's main guns.

"You're welcome, and you're welcome," the big turian said, turning to give her his equivalent of a human grin. "Admit it Commander. Mr. Happy Shot helped you rest and feel better."

"That's the whole problem. I didn't feel anything. I hate being out like that."

"It couldn't be any worse than that rot gut crap you down every night just to sleep."

"Stay out of my liquor cabinet and my bedroom. But seriously, what if something had happened while I was out?" So she was a control freak. She only had the fate of the entire galaxy to think about and save.

"I would have dealt with it just as soon as I locked Miranda in a closet somewhere."

"Funny. But really, unless I'm dying or dead or… worse…"

Walking over to the small woman camped on his crate, he hoisted himself up and sat beside her. "Look, you were in pain and being pork headed about it. I couldn't fix you, but I could let Chakwas block the pain for a while."

"It's pig headed Garrus."

"Huh?"

"Pig headed, not pork headed."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"No. Pork comes from pigs."

"Whatevvaaa…" he replied, waving one talon in front of her face.

"Shit Garrus. No more Beyonce or Destiny's Child or any of that old earth pop crap for you." Reaching up quickly she tried to grab his head's up display. "I'm gonna delete all that crap you listen to and put some real music on this thing."

Garrus moved his head back just in time to get a face full of alien fingers. "Kelly turned me on to this stuff. I really like C & C Music Factory's Everybody Dance Now when I'm killing mercs."

"Oh good grief. You're ruined now. And stay away from Kelly. She's too… too preppy." Kelly was a very nice person, but she tended to want to get inside your head and talk about feelings. Maybe she should let the yeoman see the circus that lived inside her head. She'd be running for the nearest airlock…

"And you're too… not preppy. But I like you anyhow. And Kelly's really funny. She brings me this turian tea…"

"Oh my God Garrus, are you and Kelly blowing off steam together?"

"WHAT? By the spirits, NO!" he protested loudly, and a little too quickly to be convincing. She could tell he was flustered, the paler skin of his neck turning a dark blue. "Kelly and I like the same music and we have fun talking. That's all."

"Damn, I'm just joking Garrus. Since when did you get so defensive about a little sex? I thought that's what turians did? You know, blow off steam to relieve stress?"

"We do. With other turians, Shepard."

"Huh… I never took you for a xenophobe, Garrus. Learn something new everyday."

"I'm not a xenophobe, Shepard. I just… Look, I just really like Kelly, as an individual, a person. I don't want to complicate anything. We just enjoy each other's company. End of story."

"Ok. Don't tell me. But if you ever need to talk, need some advice…"

"Like you talked to me about Alenko? And don't give me any crap. I know you were crazy in love with him."

"He's the first person I thought of when Cerberus woke me up. I know it had been two years, but to me, it was no time at all…"

"I really wish you'd let me hit him on Horizon. I really wish you'd hit him. Or yelled at him, or told him to get lost, or… something. You don't still have feelings for him, do you?"

"I thought I did. I mean, he hurt me so much, all those things he said. I really thought we had something, that I mattered to him. I guess I didn't rank as high as that Alliance uniform."

"And now? Do you still have feelings for him?"

"No. I can truthfully say that I haven't really thought of him lately… Nope, haven't thought of him since we were at the Citadel." She fidgeted with a thread at the cuff of her sweats.

"Oh? And what happened at the Citadel that took your mind off of him?"

"I ah… I kinda blew off steam with someone."

"Shepard. You walk around with the weight of the galaxy on your shoulders. The man you thought loved you ripped into you and called you traitor, basically washed his hands of you. And you keep on going, giving everything you have to keep us safe, to protect a galaxy that doesn't even appreciate it. The council thinks you've lost your mind and won't support you. Yet you keep on doing it. Protecting their sorry asses."

"It's not the council I'm protecting. It's all races in the galaxy. You know as well as I that the Reapers won't stop with humans. They'll wipe everyone out. Turians, Asari, Salarians, Elcor, Hannar, Vollus, Drell…"

"I'm just saying that if anyone deserves to blow off a little steam, it's you Commander."

"Thanks Garrus. But um… Look, you know you're the only soul on this damn ship I can talk to about this, right?"

"I'm sensing there's a problem here…"

"Not really a problem… Just maybe a complication. You remember that night at the Dark Star Lounge? The crew was getting really drunk and I sat there drinking my JD and coke."

"Yeah. That was a wild night. When you strode into that swanky, up class bar wearing that old Beefboy outfit, complete with hat and boots, I almost spit out my drink."

"Cowboy Garrus. Cowboy."

"Whatevvaaaa," he laughed, again waving a finger in front of her face.

"I'm gonna break that finger if you don't stop doing that."

"You holed up in the corner and wouldn't even dance with me. And you have to admit, I have some very stylish moves on the dance floor. You were sitting by that table full of asari."

"Yeah. I started with JD and coke and then someone bought me a Krogan Ryncol and after that things got a little crazy."

"I remember a drell sitting at the next table drinking something green… By the Spirits! That's where I remember him from! He, the assassin, Krios. He was the drell at the bar… You blew off steam with..!" Braving razor sharp teeth, she clamped her hand over his mouth before he could inform the entire crew.

"A little louder and maybe the crew down in engineering can hear you," she hissed. "And yes, it was Thane, but I didn't know at the time."

"Leave it to you to blow off steam with the one drell assassin in the entire galaxy that we need for this mission. Does he remember you?" he asked, then held up a three fingered claw. "Strike that. How could he not remember you? You're Commander Shepard, Savior of the Citadel."

"We really never got around to exchanging names. It was just supposed to be an anonymous good time."

"I can't believe he's never seen a picture or holovid of you. You're one of the most famous faces in the galaxy."

"He said he'd closed himself off from the world, something about the events of the past being as shadows."

"So, up in the tower, that's why you told Mordin and me to go on back to the ship."

"Well yeah," she sighed sarcastically. "After you left I popped my helmet and told him that if he felt I had tricked him into coming with us I would understand. That I didn't hold him to any oath or anything."

"And yet he's here. Interesting… Have you spoken to him since you got out of the Medbay?"

"He stopped by my quarters last night, wanted to know about the mission and what his part would be."

"A reasonable enough request, although I think he could have waited until this morning to talk to you."

"No, it was ok. I had wanted to talk to him, to clear up any misunderstandings that might have arose concerning our unusual circumstances. You know, wanted to clear the air so that I could get on with what I have to do."

"How'd it go?"

"Pretty good, actually. I told him about the mission, all about the Collectors and the Omega-4 Relay, about how Mordin's working on something to block us from the seeker swarms. Everything."

"He didn't bring up the Citadel?"

"No. Not once. Just wanted to know what was expected of him."

"So what's the problem?"

"I walked him to the door and I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page, that what happened on the Citadel stayed on the Citadel…"

"So you brought it up…"

"Yeah… and the next thing I know we're standing there sucking face, and then EDI interrupted with a message from Chakwas."

"Hold on, Commander. Was there by any chance alcohol involved in this meeting?" He knew she always drank at night, had confided in him one night when he found her sitting alone in the Mako too drunk to even make it to her quarters. She drank to silence the voices in her head, to temporarily block the images the beacons on Eden Prime and Vermire had burned into her conscious. Combine that with the after effects of Mr. Happy Shot and that could explain her unusual behavior.

"There might have been a form of alcohol served over ice..."

"Spirits Shepard. Alcohol and Mr. Happy Shot make Shepard one fun spectre!" He winced when she punched him in the arm, but continued. "You weren't yourself. Talk to him sober and set the record straight."

"Yeah. Good idea." She unfolded from the crate and stood to leave. "Thanks Garrus. What would I do without you to talk to?"

"My crate is always available to you, Commander."

"By the way, you and Thane are with me when we go after the Justicar. I promised Chakwas I'd rest today. Be ready at 0800 tomorrow."

"Me and my C & C Music Factory will be there."

"I'm on my way to educate Yeoman Chambers on which music is most suitable for violence and bloodshed… Later Garrus."

"Whatevvaaa… Commander." Thank the Spirits she was already on her way out. She probably would have tried to break his finger…