(Author's Note: The italics are a flashback)
After watching Garrus just break down, James abruptly turned and stalked away a few yards until he thought he was far enough out of earshot. His shoulders were shaking and his hands were fisted tightly as he struggled to keep his emotions in check. He stared at the rubble beneath his feet but all he saw was his commander's body. It just kept circling in his head that she was dead over and over again until he just couldn't take it anymore.
James threw back his head and released a guttural roar in sheer frustration, anger and sorrow. As his cry echoed off the walls of the crater, he sank to his knees and threw his fist down into the rubble. He kept doing it again and again each time a bright flash of pain bloomed but was quickly overshadowed by the pain and sorrow in his heart.
Shepard was his commander, a woman he looked up to and respected and she was gone. He agreed with Garrus, why did she have to die? She accomplished so much by uniting the galaxy and then defeating the Reapers all on her own. But it still wasn't enough, she was still dead.
By the time his fist went numb, tears were streaming down his face but he did nothing to dash them away. He was not ashamed of them. He just curled his head down into his chest and wept for his commander.
Wrex continued to stand vigil on the rim of the crater; ever watchful of their surroundings, but grieving for Shepard nonetheless. She truly had the gumption of a Krogan and she won his respect when she went toe to toe with him back on Virmire. She continued to strengthen that respect from then on. He had no qualms calling her a sister to the Krogan and specifically to him.
Gazing down to where Garrus was holding her still body, he too agreed with what he expressed earlier. She did not deserve this fate. A quiet growl rose from his chest with his frustration. Being near a millennium in age, Wrex had seen his fair share of death dealt out in his life. Sometimes it was for those who deserved it, others just because a bounty was on their head. But there were some that never deserved it, and Shepard was one of them.
As he continued to watch the disheartened turian, he came to a conclusion that Garrus did not deserve this either. They had been through so much together, so to tear them apart again after all that had happened was borderline torture. He thought of how he would feel if he was forever separated from Baraca and if he said that did not scare him he would be a liar.
Wrex shifted again tearing his eyes from his grieving ally and scanned the horizon, seeing all but not at the same time. He sent up a prayer to his ancestors to see if it was in their hearts to help ease the devastated turian's pain and to make sure that Shepard's spirit was at rest. He also vowed that he would continue her mission at uniting all the people of their galaxy and to make sure her name would go down in history as a true hero.
Garrus did not know how long he sat there cradling Shepard's body in his arms. Nothing else matter to him at that point. His whole world was gone and there was nothing he could do to bring it back. His heart simply felt empty, his body numb. So he just sat there, studying her face like it was the first time he saw her again.
The stress and constant worry that dogged her features over the past few months were gone. She actually looks peaceful, he thought to himself. The last time he remembered seeing her like that was back on the SR1, after they defeated Sovereign.
After their debrief, Garrus hobbled back to the Normandy where he had stripped out of his armor, put on some civilian clothes and sat down on his cot with a groan. Various crew members had invited him to go out and celebrate with them but he declined preferring to sit in the quiet and just recharge.
Gingerly, he leaned his head back against the bulkhead next to his cot and stretched his legs out in front of him. He was sore all over, which was to be expected. He was honestly surprised he wasn't more banged up. Garrus closed his eyes and reveled in the silence.
When he heard the elevator doors open, he lazily opened his eyes to see Shepard stepping out and limping in his direction. She was wearing loose black pants and a tank top with a N7 insignia revealing several bruises starting to blossom. Her right arm was in a rigid brace, her light hair tied loosely in a braid.
She smiled when she noticed him watching her approach. Garrus shifted slightly as she got nearer to his cot but stiffened when Shepard simply collapsed next to him where he sat, completely spent. She leaned heavily against him cradling her injured arm against her chest and resting her head on his shoulder. She took a deep breath and let out a contented sigh.
Garrus was nervous and confused as to what to do. Sure they had been talking almost every night for the past month either down here or in her quarters but never had they been that close before. Multiple scenarios ran through his head but he relaxed as Shepard looked up at him with those tired green eyes and simply smiled at him.
"Thank you for having my six, Garrus. I couldn't have done this without you. Just wanted to let you know," Shepard said tiredly followed shortly by a yawn.
"My pleasure, Commander."
Shepard chuckled softly, "Garrus, drop the 'Commander'. We're friends aren't we? Call me, Meara or Shepard if that makes you more comfortable, okay? Everyone does it anyway." Her smile tired but warm.
He flared his mandibles in a turian smile, "I can do that, Shepard."
They continued talking for a few minutes before she nodded off that with the smile remaining, still nestled against his arm and shoulder. Gently, Garrus moved his arm from between the two of them to around her shoulders and pulled her closer hoping that it would make her feel more comfortable. Shepard made a soft sound as she scooted closer to him in her sleep. He didn't stop his mandibles from fluttering again or the soft reverberating purr from deep in his chest.
He managed to reach a blanket and draped it as best as he could with one hand across the two of them. As he too began to feel the fatigue from their battle embrace him, he realized that feisty little human was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He closed his eyes and nuzzled his head on the top of hers breathing in her warm lemony scent. He pulled her a little closer to him before he too drifted off to slumber.
Garrus felt another keen begin to make its way up from his chest as he remembered their memories, but he pushed it down. Her soul needed to be honored and while he knew nothing of Shepard's human religion of Christianity, he knew how to honor with his religion. And as her mate, it was his place to lead the prayer.
He delicately traced imaginary clan markings across her face, taking time to brush away some of the soot and grime from her features. Leaning forward he touched his forehead to her cool one and felt his throat close as his emotions threatened to take over again. After taking a steadying breath, he regained his composure and began reciting the prayer his mother taught him when he was just a child.
"Spirits, I ask that you to protect this soul as I place her in your wise and caring hands. Guide her to the lands of eternal rest and happiness. Keep her safe until I am able to join her at her side once again as I had in life, whenever that may be,"
While it hurt, he did not want to break from his contact with her, wanting to savor what was probably going to be some of the last contact with her. He eased back after some time and stared down at her face again. Even now in death, he still thought she was beautiful.
"I love you, Meara Shepard. Forever and always, I will love you. Keep that seat saved for me. I'll be there before you know it," His voice hitched at the last words as he tapered off.
Silence enveloped the area around him not that he noticed much. Garrus just continued to study the woman he loved taking in her features and committing them to memory like it was the first time he was seeing her. So when her arm twitched the first time, Garrus thought it was his mind playing tricks on him and ignored it. But when it twitched again, this time harder, he took notice.
Shepard's face was still pale but some color was beginning to blossom; her cheeks had a dusting of pink of them and her eyes were losing the deep purple smudging under them. Garrus leaned closer and caught a whiff of warm lemon. He jerked back in shock however when her mouth opened and she gasped causing her back to arch throwing her chest in the air.
Garrus stared down in complete shock! She was dead! How is this happening!? I read her life signs myself. There was nothing. What is going on?!
All these thoughts and more ran through his head as he watched as Shepard continued to breathe, more color flooded her features and warmth spread throughout her body.
Her facial features contorted into a grimace, and slowly her eyes began to flutter and squint open. Garrus shifted so the bright light would not assault her vision and leaned closer to her face, allowing her to open her eyes showing off their bright green color. Garrus held his breath as they looked around her before settling on his face.
They were still cloudy and confused as she studied his face as he studied hers. He could almost feel them rake across his clan markings and focus on his scars. As she focused on them, her eyes and the grimaces softened like she understood and knew what she was looking at.
When they came back to his eyes, he noticed that the cloudy like appearance over her eyes vanished revealing clear and bright green eyes. While she was obviously still in a great deal of pain, she still offered him a small smile. With a weak gesture, she tried to raise her hand and managed to place it on the arm that encircled her waist giving it a feeble squeeze.
"Hey there, Garrus,":
It was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard throughout the entire galaxy.
Hello readers! So sorry that it took so long for me to get this chapter out. A lot has happened since the last update. Good news is that I got my formal status on my Jedi General build for Rebel Legion and have been trooping a lot. Bad news is that I found out that my position at my company is being eliminated in July and I am job hunting like crazy. It's quite annoying that people ask for experience in a certain field but the only way to get said experience is to work the job in that field. Grrrr!
Any who, the chapter is done! We're drawing to a close soon ladies and gents. I'm thinking about one or two more chapters and then an epilogue, we'll see how inspiration hits me. To all my readers, thank you so much! I hope you have enjoyed up to this point and always remember to leave a review!
