AN: Another chapter! Heading into post ME1 territory now. The plan is to just keep going on into ME2 because I keep getting ideas... ^^
Kind of been waiting for this chapter since day one... ^^
Thanks again go to everyone who reads this. Double thanks to everyone who favourites and follows, with special triple thanks to barbex for the review! I just do this for shits and giggles, so it's really nice to know that other people enjoy it. ^^
Hope you enjoy! ^^
Chapter Twelve - The Beginning. If There is Such a Thing.
"It was always a long shot..." Sophia told her husband as he sat next to her in the garden of their new home. "The life we've lived for years? Plus, you know, dying twice... it's not surprising that I can't..." She sighed. "It was a long shot."
He pulled her into his arms, getting the distinct feeling that she was trying to reassure herself just as much as him. "There are always other options."
She nodded. "I know. And maybe we should just take some time for ourselves. Just the two of us."
He nodded back, although he knew that she didn't mean it. They'd already had time for just the two of them and they couldn't escape the fact that the new house felt far too big for only two people.
"I love you, Soph."
She smiled at him. "I love you too, Garrus," She replied just as he omni-tool bleeped at her. "What now?" She asked as she activated it, reading the message.
"Who is it?"
His bondmate frowned. "Anderson. I don't think he knows what the word 'retired' means..." She muttered.
Her husband grinned at her. "You know you've missed the action."
She grinned back. "Okay, maybe a little. They're still cleaning up the remaining Cerberus labs and he wants us to go and take a look."
"Sounds like exactly what we need right now."
"Do we know where they are?" Kira asked as soon as they docked with the Citadel, her brother right behind her, preparing to leave.
"We haven't received word yet," Joker answered as Nihlus jogged up to them. "Communications are still down. You'll have to search for them on foot."
"I'll go with you. It's probably the only way you'll be let through," Nihlus told them.
Kira nodded before heading out. "I hate to say it but... we should probably head towards the hospital."
"Which one?" Nihlus asked. "Isn't that part of the problem?"
"Yeah, but I think we can start at the ones closest to the tower."
He nodded as they headed off, traversing the wreckage. Occasionally they encountered a few civilians or C-Sec officers but the way was unobstructed for the most part.
"What's up with him?" Nihlus asked as they found themselves out of earshot of Tom as they climbed over a particularly large piece of Sovereign. "He's awfully quiet..."
Kira shrugged. "He hooked up with Tali and he thinks I don't know. He's fretting over how I'll react."
"Why don't you just tell him?"
She grinned at him. "Because this is more fun."
He shook his head. "You're terrible."
"You know you love me," She countered, shocking him a little before he realised that it was just a phrase. "Now help me up."
He nodded, helping her up by her arm. She stumbled a little as she climbed up the broken structure. He put his arms out to steady her, resting them on her sides. She narrowed her eyes at the movement, frowning.
"Why is... this feels familiar..."
I lied.
She snapped her eyes up to meet his as she remembered what had been bugging her all day. He hadn't just been trying to show her that she was clinging too hard to the past when he had shown interest, he had actually meant it. But he thought that she didn't feel the same way. Shepard had been right, part of her would always love Caius but another part of her was slowly starting to develop feelings for the turian currently holding her.
Ah, to hell with it... She thought, finally deciding that life was just too damn short.
"You idiot..." She groaned before pulling him closer by the cowl, pressing her lips to his mouth plates.
"Wai- What?!" He asked as she pulled away. He had never imagined in a million years that she returned his feelings for her in any way.
And then I just feel guilty for even thinking about caring about someone else...
Was it possible that she had been talking about him? That she did return his feelings, but was simply too scared to admit it?
She sighed. "You know what? We're trekking through the ruins of the Citadel, looking for my parents who may or may not be dead because the future isn't fixed. We could literally die at any point so I don't intend to live in the past anymore. Or, the future or whatever..."
He raised a browplate. "Just like that?"
She shrugged. "I've been wrestling with this for a while now and... well, Mom's right. I've been clinging so hard to the past because I felt that I should. I didn't feel like I could let go, but I had a while ago. I was just didn't want to admit it because I felt as if I shouldn't have, you know?"
He shook his head. "I have no idea what you're talking about but it sounds as if you're sure."
"Not in the least, but I decided that I shouldn't let that stop me."
"Are you two stuck or something?" Tom called back. "Come on, communications are back up. I know where they are..."
Kira was glad for having brought Nihlus, knowing that she and Tom wouldn't have otherwise gotten through security. It took almost an hour for them to even get to the right ward after swearing up and down that they weren't reporters.
"I'm sorry, I can't give you any information about Shepard's condition," A nurse told them as Kira rolled her eyes.
"Well, who would you tell?"
"Just her immediate family."
Kira groaned, rolling her eyes at the asari once more.
"Kira and Tom are authorised," Anderson informed the nurse as he arrived.
Kira sighed with relief, smiling at him as the nurse left. "I have never been so glad to see you, Sir. Is she okay?"
He nodded. "Your- Shepard's fine. A little banged up but she'll be discharged in a few days."
Kira smiled with relief at that. "I wasn't sure. Different timelines and all. Plus, you don't have to watch your words. Nihlus knows."
Tom frowned. "Wait, he knows?!"
"Oh, shit, did I not tell you?"
He groaned at his sister. "I don't even- Okay, fine, so Mom's fine. What about Dad?"
Anderson sighed. "That's a different story. He got hurt the worst."
"How bad?" Kira asked, her blood chilling.
"He's lost a lot of blood. Synthetic tissue isn't going to cut it anymore. They say that he needs a transplant from a relative, the closer the better, but his father and sister are both too far away."
"Kira, what are we going to do?" Tom asked, the fear trilling through his subharmonics setting her on edge.
Kira swallowed her own fear, although it wasn't for her father's condition. She knew that he would be fine. It was fear for what she knew that she would have to do next to ensure that outcome. "Tom, you'll be a match."
He frowned at her. "I will?"
She nodded. "I... I'll explain but it sounds like this is a time sensitive thing."
"Right... Of course... But, as soon as I'm done, you're explaining everything to me," He growled at her.
She averted her gaze. "I know..."
He left at that, as Nihlus put his hand on Kira's shoulder.
"You going to be okay?"
She shook her head. "I... I don't know. He... Spirits, he's going to hate me for this..."
Nihlus pulled her into his arms at that, ignoring the odd looks people were giving them, simply hoping to offer her some level of comfort. He couldn't deny the way his heart seemed to want to tug its way out of his chest, towards the human woman, as she wrapped her arms around him, holding him tighter. "He's your brother, he'll understand," He reasoned softly, hating the fearful sound her subharmonics were making at him as he attempted to soothe her.
"I hope you're right..."
Tom entered the waiting room to find it empty, except for his sister. If he hadn't been so mad, he probably would have noticed how she was pale with nerves, holding herself completely still as he entered, but, as it was, he was furious. Kira knew what they were, that much had become obvious, but she had kept this information from him. How long? How long had she known and kept him ignorant?
"So..." He managed, putting all of his effort into keeping his biotics in check. "You were right. I was a match. In fact, they were quite stumped. Apparently, they don't have any record of him having a twin brother. They were also curious to know where I got my genetic enhancements."
Kira nodded, taking a few moments to answer. "Yeah... that would be about right..."
"What do you know?" He asked through gritted teeth, just wanting a straight answer from her for once in his life.
"Everything," She replied, her voice small. She sighed before continuing on. "I guess I should start at the beginning..."
"I guess you should." He had no patience for her evasions or games. He wanted the truth, nothing more, nothing less. Something he wasn't even sure she was capable of.
"I... Remember when we were younger and we started to realise that... Well, that we weren't biologically related?"
"I remember Frank Busey from the year above telling us to try and upset us..." He said, his voice quiet but the story gave his sister courage to continue on with her own.
"Well, I... decided to hack into some records to get some answers. It took me years but I eventually found the truth. Aunt Liara did a good job of covering everything up, but I followed the missing data. It eventually lead me back far enough, to where it all began. What do you know about our grandmother? Our human one?"
Tom shrugged, not sure of the relevance. He just wanted her to get to the point. What were they? Was was he? "She died when Mom was little. She was a soldier in the Alliance, right? Intelligence?"
Kira nodded. "Yeah. During the First Contact War, she was part of an Alliance Black Ops program. The idea was to get Alliance soldiers on par with the turians through genetic engineering. Of course, the younger you are when you receive the treatment, the better it takes. Rosa Shepard was in her late twenties. But, they saw an opportunity in her. She was pregnant, although she didn't know it at the time. So, they didn't tell her, giving the treatment to both her and her unborn child."
"Mom?"
Kira nodded. "What, you thought blood red hair was a natural genetic trait?" She joked but Tom didn't so much as flutter his mandibles.
"So, what does this have to do with us?"
She sighed. "That Black Ops program was what later became Cerberus..."
"So?" He wanted the truth, not a history lesson.
"So, we're skipping ahead. You want the whole story, don't you?"
He gave a frustrated sound that was a cross between a sigh and a growl before nodding. He may not want to wait for answers, but also didn't want half-baked truths. If he was going to know, he wanted to know. No more being kept in the dark like some kid who's too young to understand. "Yes, I want to know everything."
"So, once Grandma knew what they did, she was careful to keep Mom away from the Alliance, letting them blackmail her into more and more dangerous missions until she and her husband were killed. What the Alliance didn't count on was our Great-Grandmother being such a bad-ass. She single-handedly managed to stop the Alliance from getting their hands on Mom when she was young. After she died, it was just luck that kept her out of their hands. Until, of course, she ended up in the hospital with biotic exhaustion. At that point, she joined up, exceeding all of the Alliance's expectations for her. They never told her what they had done."
Tom folded his arms, clearly getting frustrated by how long it was taking her to get to the point. But if she was going to tell him the truth, she was going to do it properly. Maybe then he would have an easier time of it than she had had, although she doubted it.
"Imagine how pissed off Cerberus was when she got killed by Collectors..."
Tom frowned. "So, that's why they brought her back?"
Kira shrugged. "It definitely played a part. They even updated their work, made her stronger, faster, and less resistant to dextro amino acids. But then she put a spanner in the works once more, refusing to work with them anymore after she blew up the Collector base. At that point the Illusive Man decided to simply start from scratch, although he had seen that Shepard and Vakarian, as a team, were exactly the kind of operatives he needed.
"So, he started up a cloning facility during the Reaper War. The idea was to perfect the genetic engineering that they had used on the original Shepard, creating stronger, better versions of Shepard and Vakarian that could take on the originals. They even figured that if they could give Shepard Vakarian's marksmanship, and Vakarian, Shepard's biotics, they could be damn near unstoppable. Raised by Cerberus, of course. It took them numerous... tries. They made clone after clone and... discarded them when they realised that they weren't exactly perfect."
Tom's skin paled beneath his plates at that, realising where it was headed. "How many... attempts did it take for them to perfect the process?"
She shook her head. "They never did. The last pair were close. The Vakarian clone was perfect. Improved skills as well as biotic potential more powerful than any turian before him. The problem was that the clones were grown in pairs. Designed to work together perfectly. If one wasn't perfect, both were terminated. The Vakarian clone was better than they had hoped for but... the Shepard one, while she had increased strength, dexterity, and intelligence - even more so than the previous clones - they realised that they had gone too far, changed too much, and, no matter how much eezo they pumped into her, she never developed any biotic potential. They were scheduled for termination as a result. However, they, and the facility, were abandoned when they discovered that the Normandy was inbound. This was about a year after the Reaper War had ended. Mom and Dad searched the facility and found us, deciding to take us in and raise us as their own. They never told us because... well, how do you tell a kid that? But I found out anyway when I was thirteen... after I came back home, Mom let me decide whether or not to tell you and... after what it did to me, I just couldn't..."
"So you decided to keep it from me?!" He yelled, pacing the floor.
Kira flinched a little from his words, otherwise not moving from her spot. "What else could I do?"
"You should have told me! Spirits, Kira! What in the hell gave you the right to decide what I should and shouldn't know?!"
"I was thirteen! I thought I was protecting you..."
"Yeah, well, you thought wrong," He countered, bitterly. "You're not thirteen anymore, Kira! You kept making this decision, even when you knew it was wrong! Don't kid yourself, you were only looking out for you. That's all you ever do."
"Tom..." She pleaded, but he shook his head.
"No, Kira. I'm done. I'm through with you and your selfish bullshit. Even if you found a way home... I wouldn't go. I'd rather stay here. At least here I know where I stand..." He left the room at that.
"Tom!" She called after him, but he didn't turn back.
She didn't know what to do. She was too numb to even cry. She'd finally done it, she'd chased away the only family she had left.
She was alone.
She left the hospital silently, her tactical cloak active, not wanting anyone to follow her. She just...
She wanted to shoot something. Anything.
She stopped wandering as soon as she realised that she had made her way to the docks, looking around, trying to decide what to do next.
That was when a particular transport caught her eye.
Omega.
That seemed as good a place as any to find something to shoot, she figured...
"Tom! There you are... Tom, slow down..." Tali called as she ran up to the furious turian, eventually putting herself in front of him so that he stopped in his tracks. She had gone to meet him at the hospital, to see if Garrus and Shepard were okay, only to find him storming off. She had never seen Tom seem so... angry. She wondered what in the hell had happened to make him like this, her heart aching at the sight of him hurting. "Tom, what is it?"
He shook his head. "Kira didn't... She knew all along and she didn't tell me. Thirteen years, Tali! Thirteen years, she knew and lied to me."
She placed her hand on his mandible, hoping to calm him. "Tom, what did she know?"
"That I'm just some fucking experiment..." He spat, confusing her further.
"Tell me what's wrong, my love."
His heart melted as she called him 'my love', pulling him from his anger as his sub-harmonics started to trill with sorrow. He leant against the nearest wall, sliding down so that he came to sit on the floor as she sat next to him.
"Ever wonder why I'm such a strong biotic?"
Tali shrugged a little, trying to remain calm and collected, but it was difficult. She had never seen him look so defeated. "It crossed my mind."
"I wondered. Every moment since my biotics appeared when I was eleven... I would have figured 'good genes', but I knew Mom couldn't really be my biological mother. Although, I guess if they used her as a template for my biotics..."
"A template? Tom, what is it? What did you find out?"
He sighed. "I'm just a shadow, Tali. Just a... clone. I'm a clone of my dad. How fucked up is that?"
She frowned, digesting his words. "A clone? Wait..." She regarded his features carefully for a moment as she realised what he meant. What he and Kira had been keeping from everyone. "Wait is... Are you Garrus' son?"
Tom sighed, averting his gaze. He knew he was a terrible liar. And, he didn't want to be like his sister. He didn't want to keep things from those closest to him. "Could you not tell him? That's an awkward conversation I really would like to avoid..."
Her frown refused to lift at his admission. "Wait... if your mother couldn't be your mother and she's a biotic..." She gasped. "Shepard's your mother!"
He sighed. "Again, I really would like to avoid that awkward conversation..."
She smiled. "I knew they liked each other."
"Wait, this doesn't bother you?"
She couldn't help but widen her smile at the hope in his tone. Finding out this information had clearly thrown his worldview completely off kilter but she was determined to show him that things were still the same. Her feelings for him were the same. "I'll try really hard to think about the fact that you're my best friend's son," She told him, jokingly.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Mrs Robinson," He joked back, finally smiling back at her.
She shook her head. "I don't know what that means, but I can guess... Anyway, I don't think I'll have any trouble sleeping as long as you're sleeping alongside me," She told him, a little sheepishly.
He pressed his forehead to hers through her faceplate. "Spirits, I love you so much..."
She was about to reply when she, instead, paused, a slightly disturbing thought striking her. "Wait, do you know me in the future?"
"I think I met you once when I was a toddler or something but, otherwise, no." He couldn't lie, but at least he could evade.
"Okay, just checking that this wasn't creepy... I mean, it might still be, but I can live with it. Because, I love you too. More than anything..."
"You up yet, sleepyhead?"
Garrus groaned, his head pounding. He opened his eyes slowly, finding his room empty except for Nihlus.
"How long was I out?" He asked, his voice rough.
"A few days," His friend replied.
Garrus frowned, before bolting upright, remembering the events leading up to the blast. "Wait, Sophia, is she-"
"She's fine, Garrus. In fact, she hasn't left your bedside since she got up. Anderson had to practically drag her away a few hours ago to answer some questions for the Council."
Garrus tried to not let his subharmonics give away how that statement made his heart jump to his throat. "So, erm... what's been happening?"
"Well, I suppose congratulations are in order. Thanks to you taking down Saren, the Council have decided to promote you to full Spectre status."
"I didn't take down Saren. If anything, it was all Shepard."
Nihlus sighed. "Garrus, you know that the Council won't give her any credit if they can avoid it..."
"Even if it was all her?"
"She's a human, Garrus. They don't want to give them any more political clout than they have to."
"So, I get a promotion and she gets swept under the rug?"
Nihlus shook his head. "Only you could turn a promotion into a bad thing. Look, Shepard gets it and she understands."
He nodded, not happy but knowing that ranting at Nihlus wouldn't do anything. He would save that for the Council themselves. "So, what else?"
Nihlus shrugged. "Mostly everyone's been helping with the cleanup of the Citadel while the Council tries to figure out exactly what happened."
"We know what happened."
"Yeah, well, this is the Council we're talking about. I've given them all of the first-hand accounts that I can but I wasn't there for most of it. Basically, I think they've just been waiting for you to get up."
He sighed. "I'm going to end up stuck in debriefings for the next month, aren't I?"
Nihlus smiled. "Yeah, but they'll probably keep Shepard around too, so it's fine."
Garrus nodded, not even bothering to deny the implication his friend was making. "So, is that it? Everyone's fine and nothing more exciting than political bullshit?"
Nihus sighed, looking more than a little strained as he averted his gaze. "Well... for the most part. But... no one's seen Kira in days."
"She's missing?"
Nihlus nodded.
"Have you asked her brother?"
"Yeah. He said that she'd probably come back on her own but... well, I think they had a fight."
Garrus frowned a little at his friend. "You're worried about her," He observed.
Nihlus shrugged. "Is that so hard to believe? You just woke up and your first thought was of Shepard."
"Wait, so are you two..."
He shook his head. "I don't know... there was something but..."
"But then she left without saying goodbye?"
He sighed. "Yeah... So, what about you and Shepard?"
Garrus looked away at that. "I... don't know what you mean."
"Oh, okay. So, you're still in denial about being in love with a human?"
"I'm not..."
"Yeah, you are. And, just a tip, women don't usually stay by your bedside for days unless they have some kind of feelings for you..."
Shepard walked into the hospital, more than a little tired. She was sick of the endless questions the Council was putting her through, trying to find fault with her every decision. She desperately wished that Garrus had been there with her to back her up. Honestly, she would just take awake. She knew that he was alright and that it was just going to take time but... Seeing him hurt like that...
"Checking in on Garrus?" Tom asked as she approached.
She nodded. "Yeah. Any word from your sister?"
She didn't miss how his mandibles tightened at that. "I wouldn't know..."
"Tom, I've never seen you like this. What did she do?"
He sighed, shaking his head. "She just... Never mind."
"So, I take it you're not going to look for her?"
"She's a big girl, Shepard. She can look after herself."
"That doesn't mean that everyone should just stop caring about whether or not she's okay..."
"It's not my responsibility..."
"Tom..."
He shook his head. "No, don't look at me like that..."
She frowned a little. "Like what?"
"Like you're disappointed in me... Shepard, Kira doesn't need me watching her back, she's made that more than clear."
Shepard nodded. "It's not my place to say anything, Tom, but... I feel like if it was you that went missing, she'd go after you."
"She's not missing, she's sulking..." He countered, growling a little.
"So, if you're not going to look for her, what are your plans?"
He sighed. "Tali's got a transport booked back to the Migrant Fleet. I'm going with her. Things are going to be quiet on the Reaper front for a while so there's no real reason for me to stay..."
"Shepard, what are you doing here?" Nihlus asked as he walked up to them.
"I'll give you three guesses. The first two don't count."
"Well, you just missed him. He got discharged."
She gave him an incredulous look. "You mean he woke up and no one told me?!"
"I figured you would have run out of your meetings with the Council and rushed here."
"Well, yeah, but- Damn, how did he get let out so quickly?"
Nihlus shrugged. "Turians are pretty resilient. Shepard, it's fine. Just go and see him."
"I don't... Wouldn't that be weird? Just showing up... I mean..."
Nihlus sighed. "Shepard, when he woke up, the first thing he did was ask for you. Go and see him."
Shepard stood nervously outside the address Nihlus had given her. She had told herself that she would deal with her feelings for him as soon as they had dealt with Saren.
And now they had dealt with him.
She went to ring the doorbell, only to find that it wasn't locked, opening as soon as she approached.
"Garrus?" She called.
"Soph?" He replied, his voice coming from what she figured was the bedroom.
"Your door was open. I didn't mean to just-"
He entered the room, shaking his head. She found her words halted by his shirtless form, her eyes drawn to the bandages across his side.
"It's fine, I shouldn't have left the door open... I was going to see you, in fact. Once you were done with the Council..."
She stepped towards him, her eyes still on his wounds. "Are you okay?"
He nodded. "Just a scratch."
"Does it hurt?" She asked, stepping towards him once more, making him feel a little self conscious at his state of undress.
"Ah... no. It's mostly healed now. They were careful to keep me sedated until I could move about without hurting myself..."
"Yeah, they weren't too happy with me moving about so early, either..." She told him, before she realised that she was standing so close that they were almost touching, causing her to blush. "Oh, sorry, am I... I'm invading your personal space, aren't I?" She asked, her blush deepening as she stepped back.
He shook his head, closing the gap between them once more. "I... I don't mind. I trust you, Soph. So, it doesn't bother me to let you get close."
"I guess that's why we work so well together... Although, I guess we're not going to be working together any more..."
His subharmonics seemed to take on a lower, almost sad tone. "Yeah, I guess not..."
"So then, I have no reason to feel guilty about this," She told him, wrapping her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his mouth plates with as much passion as she could manage - which wasn't an insignificant amount. She had decided not to beat around the bush. He either wanted her, or he didn't. And she'd much rather avoid the awkward situation her subconscious seemed sure a more subtle approach would result in. She knew that Garrus had a habit of over thinking things sometimes, so she just wouldn't give him the chance to think.
After a moment to get over the shock, he responded by pulling her body flush to his, wrapping his arms around her waist, noting how her skin seemed soft, yet firm, beneath her vest. He allowed his mouth to open a little in a moan as her tongue pressed forward. As soon as she touched hers to his own, his knees nearly gave out beneath him.
He sighed as she pulled away. "That was... different."
She grinned at him. "Yeah, I wanted to cut through the awkward chat..."
"You definitely did that..."
She grinned at the growl in his tone as it reverberated through her, pressing her lips to his neck. "Good different?"
"Very..." He growled as she moved her hands to the sensitive skin of his waist, careful to avoid the bandages. "Spirits, Soph... You have no idea how much I want you..." He admitted, assuming that the feeling must be mutual to a certain degree, turning to trap her between himself and the wall.
Her biotics flared in response to the sudden movement, although not harming him in the least. The blue flames actually felt nice, crackling against his plate. Warm, almost. His thoughts were pulled from the new sensation, however, by her gasping softly. "You're so... bright..."
"Bright?" He asked, frowning a little.
"It... erm... if I just went back to kissing you, would you forget I said anything?"
"I might..." He growled, lightly nipping at her neck, sending shivers down her spine as she bit her lip to hold back a moan.
At that point, he decided that she was wearing too many clothes, tugging at her vest. She smiled in response, pulling it over her head. Her grin broadened as the world returned to her this time, confirming that this was, indeed, real. He moved his hands to her breasts, his touch a little nervous. "I, erm... you might have to help me out..."
She smiled a little at his awkwardness, undoing her bra. "I take it turian women don't have these?"
"Ah... no..."
"But asari do. So, you've lived on the Citadel for years and you've never looked outside your own species?"
He shrugged a little, gently teasing her breasts, experimentally. "It never really interested me before... well... before you..."
She blushed a little at his admission as he gently lowered his forehead to hers. "Me neither..."
"So, show me..."
She wrapped his hand in hers, gently leading him back into the bedroom so that she could show him just how much she had come to realise that she wanted him in the past few weeks, quickly stripping off her remaining clothes as he did the same, both of them knowing that the other would struggle to help in removing the foreign items.
As soon as she had removed her last item of clothing, she turned to see a fully naked Garrus taking in every inch of her scarred body, clearly liking what he was seeing if his throbbing erection was any indication.
Cristo, are all turians built like that? If so, they might possibly be the galaxy's most underutilised sexual resource because... damn... She thought as she pushed him back against the bed, moving between his legs, her hands wandering up his thighs, coming to stop at his thick cock, starting to stroke it gently, earning her a lustful growl.
He responded by cupping her arse in his hands, pulling her body closer to his as he lowered his head, quickly putting his agile tongue to good use, quickly finding just how sensitive her breasts were as she moaned in response, halting her work on his cock. He was about to object when she instead positioned herself so that the tip of his member was at her entrance, giving him a questioning look, as if searching for his permission.
He responded by bucking his hips upwards, burying his cock deep inside her. He was repaid with a pleasurable gasp as she took a moment to adjust to his size. He was struck by how different she felt, so tight, her muscles seemingly drawing him inwards.
"Spirits, Soph..." He growled, enjoying the way she seemed to shudder with pleasure at the sound of his voice.
She lowered her lips to his ear, steadying her weight on the edge of cowl his cowl as she leant forward. "Fuck me, Garrus..." She moaned.
He needed no further invitation, flipping them over so that he had her pinned beneath him, her biotics flaring once more at the sudden movement, engulfing them both as he began pumping his thick length in and out of her.
She gasped as the edges of his groinal plating hit her clit, sending shockwaves through her, peeking Garrus' curiosity.
"Oh, what's this?" The growl in his subharmonics only made her hotter as he moved his hand down, just above his cock, the pad of his finger quickly finding her nub.
"Ah... Careful!" She gasped. "That's really sensitive..."
He nodded in understanding, seemingly quite happy with his discovery as he began moving his hips once more as he simultaneously teased her clit.
It wasn't long before she found herself clutching at his bedsheets, her breathing shallow and rapid as pressure seemed to build up through her body. "Garrus... I'm so close..." She pleaded. To her delight, he responded by slamming into her, quickening his pace until she was shuddering beneath him, crying his name as she came around him. The feel of her clenching around him was more than enough to push him over the edge with her, spilling into her.
Once he was done, he rolled over to lie next to her so that he was no longer at risk of crushing her beneath him.
"Where have you been all my life?" Sophia asked when she finally regained her ability to speak, stretching out next to him as she grinned.
His own grin broadened at that. "Opposite end of the battlefield..."
"All that time wasted fighting each other."
He laughed a little at that.
"What?" She asked.
"It just hit me how ridiculous this is..." He trailed his hand down her side, causing her to shudder a little beneath his touch. "How long did we spend trying to kill each other? And now..."
Her eyes searched his, trying to decide if he was regretting anything that had just happened, as she lightly traced his colony marks with the tips her fingers. "I think I prefer this to the fighting."
"Definitely," He agreed.
They were interrupted by the sound of his omni-tool beeping.
"It's the Council," He groaned, shifting so that he was closer to her once more, not really wanting this to end.
"What do they want?"
"My account of the battle against Saren... Don't worry, I plan on setting them straight. This was your mission, I was just along for the ride."
She shook her head, lacing her fingers through his with her idle hand. "Garrus, we're a team. Partners and equals. We took down Saren."
He pulled her closer to him at that. "Spirits, Soph... I wish we could just keep on working together forever."
She shrugged. "Me too. But, we can still spend our leave together. If you want to, that is..."
He nodded. "I can't think of anything I want more," He admitted.
She bit her lip a little, looking a little sheepish. "How much trouble are we going to be in? If anyone finds out, I mean..."
He shook his head. "I don't care... You're worth it, Soph. You've always been worth it..."
She grinned at him. "You've always been worth it, too..."
Sophia was so tempted to join Garrus in the shower that it was unreal, but she held herself back, knowing that, if she did, they'd never make it to the Council in time. Maybe ever. So, she had showered quickly before him, now finishing getting dressed as she fought the urge to return.
She was pulled from her thoughts by her omni-tool beeping at her, frowning a little at the ID.
"Tommy?" She asked, activating audio only.
"Hey, little cous."
"Something wrong? It must be costing a you fortune to call realtime from Earth..."
"Nothing's wrong, I just wanted to congratulate you on taking down that rogue Spectre."
"You heard about that?" She was sure that the Council had been eager to keep her involvement under wraps.
"Are you kidding? The Alliance is holding you up as the best of humanity, even more so than before."
"Urgh... Sometimes I think Mama had the right idea, working intelligence. I hate the attention..."
Her older cousin laughed a little on the other end of the line. "You going to come home anytime soon?"
"Home?"
"Soph, this is your house. I'm just looking after it for you. Come on, you have to have some leave coming up."
She felt uncomfortable at that. It wasn't her house, it was her grandmother's. There was a reason she never went home... "I, erm... As much as I want to see you, I've got stuff going on here..."
"'Stuff'?"
"Yeah, you know... stuff."
"Soph, is that a shower I hear in the background? Are you with someone?"
Her face burned bright red. "No," She responded, a little too quickly.
"Alright, alright, if you don't want to tell me... There was something I wanted to ask you, anyway."
"Sure."
"Do you know where Nonna kept the old photos of Mama and Zia Rosa?"
Sophia found herself caught a little off guard by the question. "I don't know... have you checked the loft?"
"A little. It mostly seems filled with... well, I'm pretty sure most of these files are the kind that I can be killed for looking at..."
"Wait, are you telling me that our grandmother had top secret, classified Alliance files stashed in the attic?"
"No, I'm not saying anything of the kind. Especially not on an unsecure channel. I'm just saying, I'd rather not pry..."
"I... I'll try to swing by on my next leave and take a look. I haven't seen you or Carmen in, well..."
"Since she was born?"
Sophia felt bad at that. It always felt a little weird, being around family. Once she had 'resurfaced', Tommy had made an effort to help her out but it had just felt too weird. She wasn't used to family or being close to anyone. "Yeah, I guess... Sorry. I've just been..."
"Busy?"
"I guess I use that excuse a lot, huh?"
"I get it, Sophia. You're busy saving the galaxy. I just sometimes worry that you're on your own... I still feel bad that I couldn't do more for you when we were younger..."
"Tommy, it's fine. And, I'm not on my own. I've got plenty of friends."
"That a friend of yours in the shower?"
"See, I knew you wouldn't just let that go..." She countered, hoping that he didn't ask anything more about Garrus. That could be awkward.
"Soph, are you almost ready? We're gonna be late for the Council meeting." As if on cue, Garrus' voice called through from the the room.
She responded immediately, before she had time to register that the line was still open. "Yeah, Garrus, I'm already ready."
"Wait, Garrus?!" Her cousin asked from the other end of the line. "Please tell me that's not, as in 'Vakarian'..."
"Tom, if you're just going to judge-"
"Soph, I didn't say that. If anything, I'm not surprised..."
"Wait, what?!"
"I learnt a long time ago to not be surprised when it came to you. Plus, I don't think I have any room to judge when it comes to choosing who to be with..."
She found herself blushing once more at that. "Tommy, it's not the same thing. I mean, it's not as if I'm gonna marry him or anything..."
She could have sworn that she could hear his smirk on the other end of the line. "Not yet..."
"Will you just- I have to go. I'll try and get home next time I have leave, okay?"
"Alright. See ya, cous."
"See you..."
Only a few moments after she had ended the call, Garrus headed back into the room, fully dressed in his armour, grinning at her.
She couldn't help but grin back. "Honestly, I think I prefered you out of your armour," She joked.
He pulled her closer at that, making a noise that sounded more than a little like contented purring. "I could say the same for you."
"I'm not in my armour," She pointed out. "You seem happy."
"Is there a reason I shouldn't be?"
"Not at all, Spectre Vakarian."
He grinned at that. "You know, I get the feeling things are going to start looking up for us..."
"I think you might be right..."
