A/N: Hey everyone! Just letting you all know that I'm still alive, but working feverishly on my Mass Effect Big Bang fic (look it up, it has its own Tumblr and LJ! Great project!) After playing Leviathan and watching the LI content in this magical DLC, I knew I haaad to write a little something for my favorite OTP-if only to to take a break haha
It's only half the length of the previous chapters (50o words!), but please enjoy anyway : ) And as always, reviews are much appreciated!
When they bring her back onto the Normandy, no one asks what happened, not with the way she shivered and hobbled towards the med bay, her arms slung over her squad mates' shoulders. Dr. Chakwas doesn't bother with inquiries either and has Shepard talk only when required, which is just as well because the commander volunteers nothing in return. She takes a single meal in private and retires early to her cabin with Garrus in tow.
It's only hours later, and far past everyone's curfew, that she finally speaks.
"I could hear the glass creaking from the pressure."
Garrus stops scrolling through his messages and closes his omni-tool. Several feet away, Shepard is lying on the bed in civvies, her thick hair fanned out over disturbed sheets. "After the submersion, I kept sinking for the longest time, and I don't know how long it took until my feet hit rock bottom—literally."
She stretches her hands up, fingers spread toward the ceiling window. "People like to tell you about the vastness of space, about the countless stars and planets, how you can get lost up there." Her sharp exhale sounds like an aborted laugh. "That's only because they don't bother to look down."
He can't hold in his curiosity anymore. "What did you see?"
The bed lets out a whump as her arms fall back on the mattress. "Darkness so heavy you can touch it. Shadows of things we don't have names for. My whole world, narrowed to a pinprick of light my suit gave off. Fragments of—" And here she has to stop. "—of dreams, or nightmares."
The awe in her voice (or is it barely contained terror) brings his next question to a hush. "And…Leviathan?"
The room goes still for one long, agonizing moment. "I—I can't," Shepard says unsteadily, shaking her head. "Not yet. Just know that it was the coldest I'd ever felt, when talking to it."
In two strides, Garrus is at the foot of the bed, but he tries hard to make the walkover appear casual. His commander's eyes are closed, which he's grateful for because he doesn't know what he might find in those depths. "Sounds like I was right about your brand of crazy being off the charts, but I wouldn't recommend a return trip."
Her smile relieves him somewhat. "Duly noted."
"Turians aren't overly fond of water. I can see why now."
Glancing at him, Shepard softly snickers and reaches for his hand, which he freely gives. Her thumb rubs circles on his palm while she continues. "If only you'd have been there, with true alien life staring you in the face. The silence, dwarfing what you thought was so big."
He instinctively tightens the grip on her fingers.
"What Thane said about the ocean and the deep, all those months ago…I get it now. It's beautiful. It almost took my breath away."
Garrus says nothing, but kisses her instead to keep her from slipping back into the water.