Dark - Seasick Steve
Garrus's hand trembled violently as he input his father's comm code. He hadn't spoken to any of his family members in two years, and he doubted they would forgive him for his abandonment of them. But given his current situation, he felt that he owed them one last chance to hear from him.
To put it in layman's terms, he was fucked. He had been cornered for two days now, living off of rations and adrenaline. No sleep, barely anything to eat or drink. Although every one of his shots still landed - he never missed - he was growing tired and the mercs weren't stopping any time soon. They were pausing now - no doubt to either regroup or plan another radical method of attack - so he took the brief pause to throw the last of his water down his throat, choke down some of that disgusting nutrient paste, and call his family to apologize.
He heard a click as his father answered his comm wave, followed by a hesitant: "Raius Vakarian."
"Dad," Garrus whispered.
A long pause succeeded the fateful word. "Son?"
"Yeah it's... it's me."
"Where the hell are you, son? We - we haven't heard from you in so long - we didn't know if you were still alive..."
"I'm in a jam, dad, and I don't know if I'll be able to get out of it. I've pissed off a lot of people in the name of justice, but they're fighting back, and I'm cornered and alone. I'm sorry for waiting for so long to get in contact with you, but it hasn't been an easy two years for me."
"You think it's been an easy two years for me, Garrus?" He shrunk when he heard his father's anger. "You think it's been easy for me, working all day and taking care of your mother and sister all night? Your mother's hospital bills are so high that we haven't been eating more than rations for six months. Six months, Garrus. We've sold almost every possession."
Garrus's voice betrayed him and he let out a low howl of pain. "It's not much, but I'll forward to you what I have left in my bank account. I still have a few thousand credits in my pension fund from C-Sec."
"It's not just the money, Garrus; it's the stress on the family of constantly not knowing where you are. Your mother has fewer and fewer days of remembering who you are."
He took in a deep breath, his heart aching at the thought of his loving mother losing all of her precious memories. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to feel his mother's forehead resting against his own, and to hear her comforting words telling him that he would be ok. "That's why I'm calling to apologize, dad. I've been a terrible son and brother. I don't think that there's a way I'll be able to make amends -"
"Damn straight there isn't!"
"But unless the Spirits save me, this is the end. Between you and I, dad, I want you to know that I went out fighting evil and helping the good. I may never be the model turian you wanted me to be, but at least you can rest knowing that I did something good for the world."
Raius let out a long sigh. "Thank you for getting in touch with me, son. I'll never forgive you for leaving C-Sec, and I'll definitely never forgive you for abandoning us for two years, but I appreciate you giving the smallest effort to make amends."
His words stung, but Garrus knew he deserved it. "Can I... Can I talk to mom? I won't tell her about my current situation but... I... want to hear her voice."
"That's your choice. Give me a moment."
The line was silent for a few seconds, so Garrus took the opportunity to take out his rifle and scope the area. He took out one scout, but the area was otherwise clear, so he dipped back into cover.
"Tallia Vakarian speaking."
"Mom? It's your son, Garrus."
Garrus heard silence on the line. "My son? What son? I don't have a son. Raius, take the comm back please, it must be one of those prank callers. He's saying he's my son... really... it's-"
Garrus cut the comm, letting out a quiet but agonizing howl.
I don't have a son.
I don't have a son.
I don't have a son.
Those words would haunt him for the rest of his life.
He slipped further into cover, holding his helmet-covered face in his taloned hands. He closed his eyes, feeling his whole body ache with the emotional pain. Unlike humans, he didn't have tears to release him from the pain building inside of him, so instead he released low, primal howls of pain. He understood at that moment the desire for death. To no longer have any want to grace this galaxy, knowing there was no one there for him.
He swallowed back his pain and loaded his rifle. Although he had accepted that he was nearing the end, he was going to take out as many goddamn merc criminals as he could on the way.
"Alright, Jacob, Miranda, let's assess the situation. We have two team members on Omega to recruit: Archangel and Doctor Solus. We're going to have to try and make our way into the quarantine zone to access Mordin, and we're going to run into a lot of Blue Suns, so Miranda, I'll want you with me to take down their shields. That being said, Mordin doesn't appear to be in any immediate danger, although we need him for maximum lab time on the ship.
"On the other hand, we have Archangel, who's currently holed up with endless waves of mercs being sent to kill him. I'm going to want Zaeed on my mission, what better way to infiltrate a group of mercs than with a merc? Although I'm sure that Archangel will prove to be an invaluable asset to the team, we don't need his skills as badly as we need Mordin's research. But he's no good to me dead if the mercs manage to take him down before we get there.
"As my team, I value your opinion. Who should we get first?"
Jacob shared a significant glance with Miranda. The last thing they expected was their commander not only asking for their opinion, but saying that she valued it. Between being in the Alliance and working for Cerberus, Jacob had spent so many years being a yes man that he had entirely forgotten how it felt to have someone want to hear what you have to say.
"If Archangel is as good of a fighter as his dossier says, I think he can hold his own for a few more hours," Miranda said. "We need to start researching the Collectors as soon as we can and learn our enemy."
"I'm going to have to disagree with you on that one, Miranda," Jacob countered. "I'm sure Archangel is more than capable, but I think that research can wait a few more hours. Besides, it's not like we're going to be hitting the Collector base tomorrow."
"Alright Operatives, let's go back to the ship and pick up Zaeed. Jacob, you'll be coming with me. Miranda, I want you to use this chance to see if you can get us any more information on this quarantine and see if you can find a way to get us into that quarantine zone.
"Let's get Archangel."
A/N: Garrus's mother having Corpalis was something that always hit close to home for me because my grandfather suffered from dementia. He spent the last of his years in a retirement home, and we would visit him often but it was haunting the way he'd smile when he saw us even though he couldn't remember who we were. This was a hard one to write for that reason.