A/N: Sorry for another delay with this chapter, no thanks to Uni and writers block. There might be a good chance that I'll be only releasing one chapter per month from now on due to the demands from Uni. So once again, apologies.
Carry on.
Chapter Eight
Rainfall
Enough is enough.
For a while she had to endure the silence that grew between them, lost within the uncertainty, when Garrus became unresponsive to her in the aftermath. While she was worried about his reaction, she decided to leave him alone out of respect, while hoping he would come around later on. Instead, he had crossed that certain line that she had never dared to imagine.
"Why did you disobey my orders?" Shepard questioned him.
Garrus crossed his arms. "As I said before, you didn't bring your gun along... I was worried about your safety."
"You think you're the only one was worried about me? Ask Miranda, her whole objective is to protect me from any sort of dangers during this mission. She didn't rush out blindly, like you did."
"Lawson was only worried about you because you're playing a bigger part in their goals. I'm worried about you because you're my commanding officer. I had to..."
"Bullshit!" Shepard yelled before continuing. "If this was part of the turian doctrine, you would have stayed put in the ship, as I ordered everyone else..."
"And deal with someone while you're not at your strongest point? I don't think so." Garrus countered.
"It was part of the mission. A delicate situation at that. I had to go in unarmed to bait her."
"Why didn't you tell me about this before you left?"
"And then what? You're going to rush in and screw up this mission just for my own sake?"
There was uncomfortable pause as they continued to glare at each other. She crossed her arms, her eyebrows furrowed, expressing her distaste in this matter. While she didn't like his actions, he had a point.
Shepard cleared her throat, "You're right. I should have told you but... you're acting a bit unreasonable lately as well."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, you're the one who's being uncommunicative. I wasn't exactly sure if some cat got your tongue or you're naturally just mad at me."
"Angry? Why would I be angry at you?" Garrus asked.
"Sidonis."
She watched as Garrus averted his eyes from her. While she felt bad mentioning Sidonis' name in front of him, Shepard had to test the waters, to see how he reacted. So far, Garrus seemed to be more calm about it, a slight relief for her. However, she wasn't going to rule out this reason, since she noticed the growing silence between them had started after that last confrontation.
As she was figuring out the proper words, she heard Garrus replying to her. "No. It's not Sidonis."
"Then what's the matter. Why all this secrecy between us?" Shepard asked.
She watched as Garrus' face plate shifted to convey his nervousness. Shepard noticed the subtle eye movements, as he was trying to find a way to escape from the room. She had made it this far, there was no way she was going to let him crawl back into the hole that he'd been digging for himself. She had already fulfilled his personal request, so now it was her turn to ask something from him. She took a step closer while focusing on him.
"Talk to me! Tell me what's wrong!" Shepard demanded.
Garrus started to stutter, "I'm... I'm worried... afraid that I'm going to make that same mistake again."
"What mistake?"
As he lifted his head upwards and looked at her, she felt her heart clenching inside of her. When Shepard gazed into his sights, she could still see the same sad yearning within his deep blue eyes, the ones from her vivid dream. At first, she thought that her mind was muddled from her confrontation with Morinth, but then her vision was clear enough to watch him struggling to hide those emotions in front of her.
Garrus took a deep breath, "For letting you go. I... I should have stayed at your side. Your death... Cerberus... none of this would have happened if I did. Instead, I turned away and let you die on that day."
There was a moment of silence between them as Garrus looked down to the floor awkwardly. Shepard bit her lip, gripping her hands tightly to her side, trying to hold herself. She couldn't let her feelings spilt out in the open, especially not at this time. She then tried to comfort him with a gentler tone.
"Garrus... it's not your fault."
"Yes it is!" Garrus protested. He continued, "A good turian would always protect a superior officer, no matter what happens! Instead, I..."
"I don't want a good turian! I only want Garrus! The old Garrus that I've remembered before." Shepard yelled as she interrupted him.
Shepard then felt shaken by her sudden emotional outburst, but then she realised she couldn't maintain her calmness any longer. Not when their friendship was at stake.
"When I first met you on Omega, I noticed you've changed. To the point that I couldn't recognise you. We haven't spoken much and even less since we left the Citadel. "
"It's complicated... Things began to change during our time on the old Normandy. Everything was different for me since then."
"What do you mean, different?"
"You're more than just my Commanding Officer. You're my friend. A good friend. Because of that... I had to leave." Garrus replied.
"So... you didn't just leave the crew two years ago because of C-Sec?" Shepard asked.
"No, it's more than that. I had to go... because of you, Shepard. I was... confused. I wanted to find a bit of time for myself to think things through."
"It's just like before, after we dealt with Sidonis back on the Citadel."
Garrus nodded at her slowly, "I suppose you can call that ironic, but the point is that I've failed my duties as your solder. I've should have stayed at your side... maybe I could have saved you from the Collectors at the time."
Shepard then gently lifted his chin upwards and locked her sight into his eyes.
"You haven't failed. No one saw it coming when it happened. I certainly didn't. Even if you were there, I'd probably still have died. Worse than that, you might have died as well if you'd have stayed with me."
"Shepard, I..."
"It's alright... we all made mistakes. I don't know what to say about this, I'd call it human nature but..."
"Even if it's a slight mistake... It's still not right, especially for a turian. You know that everyone in my own race frowns upon such things."
Then Shepard patted him gently on his shoulder. "Then maybe you should stop frowning and start forgiving yourself."
"Even after all this?" Garrus asked.
"Of course. I think I can see where are you coming from. I'm not going to pursue this matter further, you can leave now."
She watched as Garrus expressed his relief, as the tension on his face plate relaxed, but at the same time, he was still holding his hands together nervously. While she could see the same dullness in his eyes due to his sadness, at least they brightened a little after she gave him a bit of peace. After he gave her a courteous nod, Garrus was about to walk out when Shepard called him.
"Garrus, can you do me a favour?" Shepard asked.
"I'm listening."
"Can we... talk a bit more from now on?"
"I'll try, but I don't have interesting topics to talk about, though."
"Well, we could try to find something to talk about. Besides, I don't mind anything as long we can keep talking."
"Alright then. We'll see how it goes," Garrus replied.
After he departed from her room, she leaned herself onto the edge of her desk for support. Her whole head was spinning as she began to reflect about their last conversation.
While she had managed to break the silence that plagued them for so long, Garrus' hidden confessions troubled her. He didn't specify, but the way his eyes glimmered when he looked at her and how he held his mandibles tightly. All conveying his hidden feelings for her. After seeing those emotions he was trying to hide from her, she wasn't sure what to do with it, nor she was really sure how she felt about it. She wondered if Garrus had thought about her the whole time. At the time, she didn't she had the courage to open it up to him, due to one thing that held her back.
She was afraid of his reaction if he knew about it. At best, he would have felt uncomfortable about it and at worst, he would express his disgust towards her; the strained diplomatic relations between their own races didn't help them one bit. While he was a turian, he was her friend too. And a good friend that she didn't want to lose. From the times they worked together to take down Saren, he was always there for her when she needed him; whether to watch her back as they took down down a horde of geth or a thoughtful ear to listen-in whenever she need to vent her frustrations. As she recalled from her memory, he was the only person in the recent times who she would willingly open herself up to.
Shepard glanced back at the picture on her desk. The images of her childhood seemed like a distant memories to her now. She could still remember that day vividly, the gentle warmth in his arms and the childish joy she felt at the time. All those moments were gone now. The familiarity, safety and innocence; she would never be able to bring those back, even if she was a Spectre. Then she remembered the suicide mission.
She reached out for intercom. Her days were coming to an end soon. With the suicide mission looming over her shoulders, she had to deal with this before her death.
It was the morning cycle on the Normandy. Garrus continued to work on his task, but he couldn't focus on it. Even his daily task couldn't give him a tiny bit of solace, like it usually would on most days. After he revealed his emotions last night to Shepard, he couldn't shake off that fearful tension from his mind. He had already alienated from his family, his old friends and co-workers from C-Sec before. Although Shepard had forgiven him for his insubordination, he was even more troubled about losing her, due to his actions in the future.
He was snapped back to reality when he heard the door behind him slide open. Garrus quickly minimised the logbook on his screen and gritted his teeth nervously, as he was preparing himself to greet the visitor. However, it was Tali, not Shepard.
Garrus sighed in relief. He was afraid that Shepard would come to check on him, since that schism hadn't eroded between them. Still, he wasn't in the mood to have a conversation at that moment.
"Tali, what are you doing here? I thought you were busy with the configurations down in the Engineering section." Garrus asked.
"I've finished most of the work for the day, I've left Gabby and Ken to clean up the rest just to check up you." Tali replied.
"Well, I'm fine. Thanks for asking... I'm a little busy here, so you might want to talk another time."
He was hoping that his excuse would get her to leave him alone, but instead she continue on with a concerned tone, "You're sure? You look terrible today."
"It's only a headache. I'll be fine once I'll check in with Mordin and Dr. Chakwas."
"Don't lie. I know it's about Shepard. I saw that look on your face when you walked out of her quarters last night."
"I know, I've been chewed out by her. Who wouldn't be upset about getting called out?"
"But you seem more distressed than usual. What's up with that?"
Garrus turned his back towards her and attempted to work on his task. Even after two years had passed, Tali was still curious as ever, to the point of being 'nosey' in human terms. It didn't matter how nice she seemed, if there was one about her that annoyed him, it was the way Tali got into other people's business, especially with his own.
Then all of a sudden, Tali questioned him. "You have feelings for her, don't you?"
"Wonderful. Have you been tuning in lately? If so, why don't you try hack into Miranda's terminal, instead of listening to nonsense like this."
"Garrus, stop sidetracking and answer my question."
"I'm a turian and she's a human. What do you think?" Garrus grumbled.
"I'll take that as a yes," Tali replied before summoning her combat drone out into the open.
"Sh-Shit! What the hell are you doing Tali?" Garrus yelled.
"Calling out Chikktika vas Paus to help out with your problem."
"Wait, we can discuss this..."
"We're not going to discuss any further, Garrus. Now stop being a bosh'tet, get out there and talk to her, before I order Chikktika to fry you a new scar!"
Then out of nowhere, Kelly appeared at the doorway to the main battery. "Is there something wrong?"
"No, no! Nothing at all. I'm just showing Garrus... my new mods on my combat drone," Tali stammered.
"I guess it's ok as long you didn't break anything on the ship." Kelly replied before turning to Garrus, "We need to talk."
"You too, Kelly?" Garrus moaned.
"I just wanted to pass-on the message from Shepard that she just left the ship. She said that she wanted to deal with a personal matter."
Garrus frowned, "So she left the ship without telling me at all. Again."
"Well, we're just arrived on Mindoir... you probably know why she wanted to be alone this time."
"Oh... I see. Well, thanks for passing the message... I suppose."
"That's not the only reason why I'm here." Kelly then handed him over something. It was some sort of stick with a flimsy cloth, with some waterproofing material embedded in the cloth.
"Wait, why are you giving me an... umbrella? If that's the right word to describe it in human terms."
"It's going to rain today and I noticed that Shepard didn't pick up the warning, from the way she was dressed."
"And get on her bad side again? No thanks."
"Would it help if I said that it was an order from Miranda?" Kelly countered.
Garrus gave out a resigned sigh. "Fine. I'll go and find Shepard immediately, if that's what it takes to get Miranda off my back."
"That's good to hear. I wouldn't like to see you getting chewed out by Miranda for letting Shepard walk back with a cold." Kelly remarked.
"Well, I'd better let you get back to your task," Tali replied. As she was about to away from him, Tali whispered quietly to Garrus.
"Good luck."
The crisp cool wind lightly blew against Garrus' head fringe. The red dried leaves were flying in the breeze, indicating winter was coming to Mindoir. The atmosphere on this world seemed a little different to Palaven. The air was colder and more sharp, compared to the usual warmth and the humidity that he grew up with back at home. Despite his thick protective hide and plating, he could still feel the coldness piercing right into his bones, to his dismay. As always, he couldn't stand it and wondered how humans could cope with such discomfort, with only flimsy human clothing to protect them. The chill from the wind didn't help him much, since he was walking through the graveyard, searching for Shepard.
While he reminded himself that this memorial park was supposed to be a resting place for the dead, he still felt wrong intruding in their grounds. Maybe because he was a turian, the people on Mindoir gave him suspicious looks while he was making his way through here. Or maybe because he didn't like the idea of dealing with the dead spirits buried beneath him.
Then he felt the first raindrops. They felt cold, almost icy. Normally he would welcome the rain if he was on Palaven, but the cold rain on Mindoir felt discomforting to him, as it slowly sapping the warmth from him. He then started to fumble with the umbrella, trying to open it up without accidentally snapping it in half. After a while, Garrus finally found a small release button and pushed it. Unfortunately, he also heard a sharp tearing sound, as his talons accidentally got caught within the flimsy fabric while opening. He looked up, there was a large hole above him.
He sighed and he was about to continue his search, when suddenly the rainfall seemed to stop. Garrus looked around and found himself being shielded by a biotic bubble field. There was a small tap on his shoulder, which made him jump.
It was Shepard. He rarely saw her outside of her hardsuit these days, whenever she left the ship. Today, it was different. It felt strange when he saw her in her civilian clothing: he would almost mistaken her for a normal colonist, if it wasn't for some of her features that were recognisable. Her right hand glowed brightly as she was maintained the field. The faint violet light gently bounced on his hide. She was holding a bouquet of flowers in her free hand.
"Shepard, how did you find me?" Garrus asked.
"I have eyes in the back of my head."
"Right... Last time I checked with the extranet, humans have two eyes. Unless I missed something about human biology."
Shepard laughed sardonically, before she replied. "It's a human metaphor. You know, about not being able to hide everything."
"I get it. Still, how did you know that I was searching for you?"
"Well, I heard the locals talking about some turian asking directions. I've figured it was you. So tell me, why did you find me?"
Garrus stuttered, "I heard it's going to rain today. I thought that you might need this but..."
Before he could hide the umbrella, Shepard quickly snatched it from him and studied it. Then she gave him a bemused look.
"How did that hole get there?"
"Well..." Garrus rubbed the back of his neck. He continued, "There was a slight accident."
"Slight?" Shepard remarked while pointing at the size to him. It was big enough to fit a normal human size head through it.
"Well... for a turian. My talons got tangled with it while opening it."
"It's alright. I appreciate the thought, Garrus. You don't have to apologise."
He was about to say something, when Shepard quickly gave him the flowers, before wiping all the water droplets on his face with her sleeve. He shifted his eyes away from her, his whole body instinctively felt tense, due to his nervousness.
"Are you alright? You seemed to be a bit concerned." Shepard asked.
"No, no! I'm fine. It's just the weather. You know how I feel about the cold, right?"
Shepard made a soft chuckle as she continued dry his face. The warm feathery touch felt comforting for him, especially at this moment when the rain continued to hammer harshly at them. Strangely enough, he felt secure underneath Shepard's biotic field.
When she finished, Shepard asked him, "There's someone that I would like you to meet, if that's alright with you?"
"Fine by me."
They walked together underneath the biotic shield, through the endless waves of gravestones that were scattered throughout the grassy area. It took them a while before they came across a particular gravestone that Shepard recognised. After she took the bouquet from him, he examined the writings on the stone, while she laid the flowers down. He noticed a familiar name.
Xavier Merrett.
"This is..."
"Yes. He's... my old flame," Shepard replied.
Garrus stuttered, "Wait... why didn't you tell me this before? Especially about the 'leaving' part."
"Why are you so concerned all of a sudden?"
"Well... at the time, I thought he 'left' you for something 'better'. I'm sorry about this. I didn't mean to speak ill about him, especially if he's with the dead..."
"It's alright. You didn't know at the time. Besides, it's a habit of mine to keep personal things under wraps. I don't like to talk about it that often."
Shepard got up from the ground and looked at Garrus. There was a slight hint of sorrow and guilt in her eyes, as it began to dull again. Two years ago, he heard the Consort giving Shepard some advice in her personal chamber on the Citadel, while commenting about seeing the 'sadness behind her eyes that made her want to weep'. He scoffed and dismissed it as some asari trivial prophesy musing. However, he had began to see the Consort's point during the time he spent with Shepard.
And now, she had started to shred the barrier between them. As that human saying goes, 'letting her hair down'.
"Xavier once told me that he wanted to join the Alliance Military as soon he turned eighteen," Shepard murmured.
"Eighteen? That's a little old to join boot camp."
"In human standards, that's still young although it's the starting point of adulthood. Unlike turian society, you're still considered a child at the age of fifteen. No boot camp for you if you're under the legal age."
Garrus made a small chuckle, "Well, he must have been very eager to sign up at the time."
There was a slight pause between them, as Shepard looked back at the gravestone. A boy that wanted to join the Alliance? Wasn't that a coincidence?
"Even now, I still don't get it, why he wanted to be some sort of galactic hero." Shepard remarked.
"Does our current mission put you off a little?"
"Not as much as before. When I was a kid, I was worried that Xavier would run off with some exotic asari girl, while I was busy doing the chores in some farmstead. You know, the vids that portray Spectres and agents."
"Well, I didn't see you approaching an asari. You even turned down Liara's proposal one time. Guess the vids were wrong."
"Yeah, well... I have a preference for men, Garrus."
"Still, it doesn't changed the fact he would be a good man... if he got the chance to grow up."
"You're right... he was a good sort. He always tried to reassure me that he would never leave my side, that he'd always be there for me till the end... and he was."
Garrus quickly held both of her arms: she was losing her composure as she was about to collapse. However, then she remembered her surroundings. Shepard quickly straightened herself and tried to retain most of her stance.
"Shepard, are you alright?" Garrus asked.
"I'm fine. I'm not feeling well, that's all. I just had a memory shock of some sort."
"What just happened?"
"I remembered something... the rain, it reminded me about that day."
It had been four days since the burning of Mindoir. The murderous slavers were long gone, along with the rest of her family, friends and what was left of her old life. Now she was cowering for her life in a cave, in the wilderness, along with Xavier. He was badly injured from a bloody fight with one of the slavers, who almost took 'advantage' of her when he cornered her. Despite the slaver being well armed, Xavier managed to take him down, barely. Now he was barely clinging onto his life.
Shepard managed to bring back bits of food from the outside. Mostly food scraps that she could find, while scouring the ruins of her hometown. She also managed to pick up some leftover medigel and morphine for Xavier. Unfortunately, they didn't help him to recover. It only helped to delay the inevitable.
"Elly?" Xavier called out to her.
Shepard was checking outside of the cave, watching the rain, when she heard him. She quickly rushed to his side.
"Is there's something you need?" She asked.
"No, not really. It's been a long day, hasn't it?"
"It has, Xav. Still no sign of them."
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure they'll come to us at any moment."
"But.. but..."
"It's alright. Everything is going to be alright."
"It's not alright, you're hurt and... Damn the Alliance, why they are not here when we need them..."
Xavier gently placed his fingers on her lips, ushering her to be still, before pulling her closer to him. Despite his injuries, he managed to hold her down in his arms, while allowing her head to rest onto his chest. She could hear him faintly coughing, as she was about to attend to him, but he refused to let her go.
"You need to get some rest." Xavier remarked.
"No, I can't. I still need to do something about that injury."
"Elly... can you just stay with me for a moment, please?"
Shepard made a small nod at him, before resigning herself lay down beside him, she snuggled him closer and noticed the unusual coldness from his body. She reached out towards his blanket and covered the both of them. As she looked up at him, his once brilliant blue eyes began to dull, he looked more delirious and unfocused.
"Xav... are you sure you're alright? You look... terrible."
"I'm fine... I always feel fine when you're around."
"This is not a joke. I'm serious."
"I'm serious too. I'm... glad that you're here beside me. If anything happens... I just wanted to tell you that... I love you, Elly."
Shepard shook her head, "No, don't even say that. We'll come out of this alive. We can and we will!"
"Still stubborn as before, eh?" Xavier remarked as he gently stoked her cheeks, before he pulled her closer and gently started to kiss her in desperation. She instinctively closed her eyes, while her fingers lightly touched his cheeks. It felt cold, too cold for her liking. Then afterwards, his grip started to loosen and she could feel the warmth from him fading away further. She quickly grabbed his hand and held it close to her cheek.
"No! You can't just leave me like this! You promised me that you'll be here for me!" Shepard cried.
Xavier explored her cheek with his thumb and weakly replied to her, "Don't worry, you'll never be alone."
"Then he was gone... just like that." Shepard closed her eyes as she turned away from Garrus.
He was speechless about the whole story. Garrus wasn't exactly sure how to approach her. Still he had to do something about it. He was about to console her, when he felt the raindrops getting through the shield. He looked around and noticed the biotic field began to fade away, as her focus began to waver. The next moment, Shepard quickly walked away from him, without saying a word to him. Something was not right.
"Shepard!" Garrus called out to her, but she continued to move on, ignoring him.
He ran after her. When he caught up to her, he grabbed her right arm. She angrily tried to fight off his grip but he still managed to held it firmly in his grasp.
"Get off me!" Shepard yelled.
"Would you just stop that!" Garrus growled before reaching up and turning her whole body to face him. She glowered furiously at first, he was half expecting her unleash her anger onto him, but then she started to avoid his gaze.
"What's the matter?" Garrus asked.
The lingering silence continued, as Shepard became unresponsive. He was not good with this, especially when dealing with women who gave him the silent treatment, but he's going to try to coax her out of her shell.
"Shepard... I know you're in a lot of pain, but please... talk to me. If there's anything I can do... just tell me what to do and I'll do it."
"What can you do... when you regret getting too close to someone?" Shepard asked.
"What do you mean by that?"
He could feel her arms trembling as she slowly looked up to him. His heart was beating when he looked at her. He could see the tears that were starting to form at the corner of her eyes, the pupils growing larger.
"Xavier was the first person I lost. Over the years, I lost a lot of good people, more than I wanted to. Some of them were my close friends... and now, I'm going to lose more in this damn mission. Including... you."
Garrus was speechless. He wasn't sure how he could reassure her, especially when she was right about the chances of surviving the mission was nil at worst. He could have given her some false hope, maybe joked about his high chance of survival after that incident on Omega, but he knew she wouldn't buy it.
Shepard continued, "Damn it... I should have told you to get lost, instead of taking you into my crew two years ago... this is all my fault. If I didn't taken you in, maybe you'd be safe within the walls of C-Sec..."
"I don't want to be safe. I want to stay with you, fighting until the end... that's all I've ever wanted."
He watched as Shepard averted her gaze from him again. From the way she was closing her eyes, he can tell that she was trying really hard not betray herself. Then all the sudden, Garrus instinctively pulled her in and gently held her in his arms. He was surprised with his own actions, especially when he usually tried to refrain himself from stepping into her personal boundaries. He was half expecting her to resist him from his hold, but instead he felt her arms folding around him, while nestling her head against his chest. No struggles, no arguments, no awkwardness. Just Elly accepting his embrace.
For what it was worth, he didn't mind the rain beating down on him, as long he was able to be at her side.
The next solar morning, Shepard stumbled out of her room and into the elevator. Still feeling exhausted from yesterday's events and the lack of sleep, She decided to head down to the Mess Hall to grab herself a mug of coffee, hoping it would give her a swift kick. She clumsily poked the interface button in the elevator and waited until it reached its destination.
As she was walking towards the kitchen counter, she heard a loud sneeze coming from the med-bay. She arched her right eyebrow in curiosity and headed towards the med-bay, just to check on the patient. Once the automatic door opened in front of her, she was greeted with more sneezes. She casually leaned her back against the doorway, watching at a distance, as Dr. Chakwas bickered with the patient.
To Shepard's bemusement, it was Garrus.
"What do you mean I'm not allowed to work?" Garrus yelled indignantly. He continued, "Just because I've come down with a cold..."
"It's a bad case of influenza you're talking about, Vakarian. I'm sorry but you have to stay in bed for today."
Then Dr. Chakwas noticed Shepard at the doorway. She greeted the Commander while explaining the predicament that Garrus was currently stuck in, before she headed out of the Med-Bay, leaving the two of them alone. Shepard pulled a nearby chair and sat down next to Garrus. He was about to get up, but she ushered him to stay put.
"Shepard... are you alright?" Garrus asked.
"I'm fine. Thanks for asking but... I'm more concerned about you. I've heard something about a flu..."
"Don't worry about it. I'm still alive, although I think Miranda is trying to kill me, by making me chase you in the rain."
Shepard bit her lip, while looking at him guiltily. "I'm sorry about that. I've should have tried to maintain the field much longer."
"Don't worry about it. As long you're not the one getting the cold, influenza, whatever, I'm fine with it."
She gently gripped Garrus' hand firmly, while he looked up to her intently.
"Garrus, I wanted to thank you for... being here. I don't know how I could get through this mission without you."
"Well, you're the one who masterminded a one way ticket to the void for Saren, I'm sure you'd figure out something." Garrus jested.
"You're awfully quick with metaphors."
"What can I say? The human language is quite interesting to say the least."
"Fair enough... Still, I owe you a lot, especially for yesterday."
"Shepard, we're... friends. You don't have to deal with it alone. If you need something, I'll do what I can for you."
"Then would you be able to stay with me till the end? And when I say staying with me, I mean... not dying."
She felt a tight squeeze from Garrus' grip, as he tried to reassure her. He replied, "Of course. No matter what happens."
Shepard wasn't sure if Garrus was over-confident about his answer, especially when the chances for their survival in their mission were low. Still at least it was reassuring to hear Garrus' determination to stay at her side. At least when the mission came, she knew that she wouldn't be alone this time.
