When a krogan comes of age, they had to fight a thresher maw? Seriously? They couldn't just get wasted and watch a bunch of crazy porn or something? Shepard thought it was ridiculous, but it was what needed to be done and she couldn't refuse a request from anyone on her team.

"Why can't we just take him to Omega and buy him a few dances?" Garrus had asked. Shepard did her best not to laugh. How was it that they could be thinking exactly the same thing?

But now here they were, fighting wave after wave of enemy. Grunt was in the middle of it all, relishing every kill. She was further back, Garrus next to her. Always next to her. She watched out of the corner of her eye as they moved flawlessly together across the battlefield. She seemed to take in every little detail: how precise his shots were, the way his mandibles twitched and the subtle ways his expression would change, how bright his silver plates were in the sunlight… It was almost like she was seeing him for the first time.

In her bizarre distracted state, she failed to see the varren headed straight for her.

"Shepard!" Garrus yelled. She turned, but it was too late. It was flying through the air at her. The next thing she knew, a heavy weight slammed into her and she went crashing to the ground. She looked up, eyes wide, to see Garrus' blue eyes baring deeply into hers. She felt her heart jump up in her throat. Time seemed to stand still. Then he was yanking her up as her brain was still trying to process what was going on, and he turned, shooting the varren right between the eyes. Shepard bent down to grab her assault rifle, still bewildered and slightly shaken up. When she straightened back up, he was staring at her curiously. She felt a shiver crawl up her spine. For a moment she thought that shiver had started to go down her legs, but then she realized that it was actually the ground shaking underneath her feet. Grunt let out a triumphant laugh.

"Shepard! Here it comes!" he shouted way to excitedly.

'Okay, Jane. Time to focus.' she thought to herself. Shit was about to get real intense.

—

A scalding hot shower had never felt so wonderful. She had been so grimy, sweaty, and sore from their time on Tuchanka. So much was running through her mind as she grabbed a towel to dry off with. They had been able to help both Grunt and Mordin while they were there. It was also wonderful getting to see Grunt again, and doing so much good for the krogan. However, it all kept getting pushed aside as her mind continued to wader back to the same person every time - Garrus.

She pulled on one of her N7 tanktops and a pair of cotton workout shorts. Why couldn't she seem to get that turian out of her head? It had started to remind her of how things were with Kaidan early on, which disarmed her. They were close, sure, but it didn't make any sense. Maybe her brain was trying to rebound from the shit storm with Kaidan and latched itself onto her closest friend? It was stupid. She tried to push it out of her mind as she headed down to make her rounds through the ship.

She went to check on Grunt first, see how he was faring. The krogan was in a very analytical mood, pondering all the species, and looking rather closely as his own. His rite had clearly given him lots to think about.

Most everyone else was business as usual. Kasumi was doing a strange amount of investigating into her personal life. The thief had a rather sharp mind, though, so Shepard was curious what she had started to pick up on. She spoke so cryptically, with her sly little smirk, that it was hard to tell what she was actually thinking. Definitely an interesting conversation.

As she walked through the mess hall, she felt her paces quicken as she headed towards the Battery. She tried to ignore this little detail. When the door slid open, Garrus turned almost immediately.

"Shepard. I'm glad you came by. I've got something. May need your help." His voice was a mix of anxiety and excitement. "You remember Sidonis? The one who betrayed my team. I found a lead on him."

He walked over to her swiftly. Her heart was beating faster than normal, but if he noticed (and he usually did) he didn't mention it. His mind was clearly elsewhere.

"There's a specialist on the Citadel. Name's Fade. He's an expert on helping make people disappear. Sidonis was seen with him."

"What are you planning to do when you find him?" she finally asked. Things got serious very quickly. Her gut was screaming out all kinds of warnings if they didn't handle this properly.

"Humans have a saying: an eye for an eye, a life for a life. He owes me ten lives and I plan to collect."

"Are you sure this is how you wanna play it?" Yeah. This was going bad, quick. Garrus had revenge on the mind, and nothing else. She was getting worried.

"I'm sure," he said quickly. Too quickly. "I don't need you to agree with me, but I would like your help."

"What did he do?" she asked softly. They had never talked about Omega, and she needed more information before they jumped into this. Luckily, he was happy to explain now. The pain was still evident in his voice and eyes as he explained how Sidonis betrayed and killed his entire crew. It broke her heart. His experience had been so similar to hers, and she was all to familiar with every single emotion he had to be struggling with.

She had to help. She wanted him to be able to move on from this. She just prayed she could find a peaceful way to end all this. As much as Garrus wanted revenge, she was worried what it might do to him. They had to get there first, though, before she could lay it all out. He was thrilled that she had agreed to help, like he was worried she would have refused.

Time for bed after that. She told Joker to set a course, and they'd be docked at the Citadel by morning. That night, her dreams had a lot of blue and silver in them…