The days all started to blend together. With each day that passed, someone else needed her over in this star cluster; then the next day she was needed in a star cluster on the other side of the galaxy. Cries of help in the form of emails flooded her inbox. She couldn't save them all, and she knew it. The best thing for her to do was take out the collectors. Now.

She leaned over the galaxy map and tried to organize her thoughts. Her and Zaeed were surprisingly closer after their argument at the refinery. Salvation over destruction, any day. Miranda's sister was safe, Jacobs dad was behind bars…Jack's request had been a bit rough. The thought that she could have easily ended up there as a child; that she could have been taken by slavers, injected with drugs and tortured in the name of 'science'….it was all too real. She thought of her friends that had been taken…How, if it weren't for Nihlus, she would have been killed or taken…

She looked up at the Galaxy map, spinning lazily in front of her. They had just picked up a reaper IFF, from an actual reaper, supposedly this was all they needed to get to the collector base. But that wasn't the part that interested her. They'd also snatched up a geth, a geth who not only spoke, but knew her name and was wearing a piece of N7 armor with some very familiar scuffs. She leaned against the railing and twiddled her thumbs.

She knew geth were dangerous, and her experiences thus far were them shooting at her. It wasn't like letting Grunt out of his tank, that was a Krogan and she'd spent so much time with Wrex hunting Saren that as a whole she trusted them. And they couldn't hack her ship in seconds. He'd also saved her life when two husks crept up behind her and her crew. She remembered the gentle breeze as the bullets flew past her head to obliterate the skull of the husks. If he wanted to kill her, he would have done it then. She owed him her life, and being indebted to a Geth was not a feeling that sat well with her.

She pushed off the railing and hopped in the elevator. When she got to the med bay, Garrus was leaning against a bed talking to Chakwas.

"Hey, what's up?"

He pushed off the bed and walked towards the AI core, "I'm here as back up."

"Garrus…"

"Relax," He interrupted, holding up his hands, "I'm unarmed."

She smiled at him and shook her head. She missed him. Yeah they were on the same ship and she'd taken him on almost all the missions, but outside of that she was too swamped in paperwork to go visit him down in the battery. He'd come up a few times to her cabin, at least, she thought he did. There were a few nights where she distinctly remembered being on her couch or at her desk, and had woken up the next morning tucked into bed. He hadn't pressed anything, to which she was grateful, she cared about him, sure, but trying to form a relationship right before attacking the collectors? Not the best idea.

"EDI, be ready, I'm reactivating the Geth."

He wanted to protest, but knew better and held his tongue. He knew she wouldn't toss it out the airlock without knowing it was guilty first. Her kindness was going to get her killed one day. Luckily for her she had a cynical Turian watching over her shoulder. He crossed his arms and leaned against the door.

As soon as she got the go-ahead, she began to reactivate the geth. After a couple of tries, it looked around quickly, as if trying to get a handle on the situation. It sat up immediately, standing to face Shepard. Garrus pushed off the wall, waiting. The geth froze and stared at her.

"Can you understand me?" She asked gently.

"Yes." Its voice grated.

"Are you going to attack me?"

"No." It stated matter-of-factly.

"Why not? Every geth I've met before you has tried to blow my head off…" She ran a hand through her hair.

"We are geth. And we have not met." He explained that all geth are a single unit, and that the ones she had faced before were not true geth, but 'Heretics' who supported the Old Machines. She was a bit creeped out that the geth were watching her, but she shook her head and ignored it for now.

"And you don't support the old machines?"

"No, Geth build our own future, the Heretics asked the old machines to give them one."

"What future are you building?" She crossed her arms.

"Ours."

She was silent for a moment, then continued. "So…You want to fight the reapers? You want to help us?"

"Shepard-commander opposes the old machines, Shepard-commander opposes the Heretics." The geth made a hand gesture, "Cooperation furthers mutual goals."

She smiled, deactivating the barrier, "Well then, what should we call you?"

"Geth."

"I need a little less of a point and shoot name…What is your name?"

"We are geth…. There are currently 1,183 runtimes in this platform."

"I can't just call out 'Geth' in a battle situation, you'll get shot." She smiled at him.

"Our name is Legion, for we are many." EDI added. And so the Geth was named 'Legion'.

She had to ask, "So, why are you wearing N7 armor?"

"It was yours."

"…Mine?" She shook her head, "Why use my armor?"

"We encountered resistance from the Heretics on Ilos while trying to find Shepard-Commander after your disappearance, this was the result of the following altercation." He gestured to the hole in his chest.

"That's a long time to walk around with a hole in your chest… Why didn't you repair it sooner? Why wait to use my armor?"

"…No data available." The geth looked away.

"I think you have a fan, Shepard." Garrus grinned.

Shepard felt terrible. She hated the idea of taking over the Heretics future, but it needed to happen, or the reapers would be stronger. After confirming with Legion that the Heretics could be rewritten by the reapers should they return, she had to destroy them. It made her sick to her stomach to kill so many in a single blow. Before meeting Legion, she would have jumped for joy, but now that she knew more about the geth… she hated it.

She went to the bar on the crew deck and was a few drinks in when her omni-tool lit up like a light. Her breath caught in her throat.

Nathan… He'd finally replied. He wanted to meet her on the Citadel, an address was enclosed for a noodle house on Zakera ward. They were already on their way to the Citadel, they would arrive in the next hour. She wanted to meet with Anderson before they hit the base, just to be sure he knew how much he meant to her just in case she didn't make it back. She shook her head, she couldn't think like that. She had to stay strong for her crew.

She pushed away from the bar and stood, heading back to the elevator. She still hadn't filed her report from the Heretics base and she wanted to get it done while its events were still fresh. The door opened and she rode up in silence. After she finished her report, she hunted through what little civilian clothes she had for something to wear to see Nathan.

She settled on the boots, leggings with the large belt, and a loose fitting lilac sweater. She pulled out a necklace she'd kept hidden in her drawer, Nathan had given it to her for her 16th birthday, two weeks before the Batarian attack.

Miranda informed her that most of the crew had a few things to take care of on the citadel, and they all rode down in the shuttle together while Joker and EDI pieced together the IFF into the Normady's systems.

Garrus was being stubborn. He wanted to go with her. She hadn't told him exactly where she was going, only that she had something to take care of on Zakera ward. She tried to stress that it was personal but the man was too damn good at reading her and knew she was stressed.

"Not now, Garrus. I'll tell you about it later." Her patience was wearing thin.

"Yes, now. What is going on with you?" He leaned against the rapid transport and blocked her exit.

"It's not your business." She crossed her arms, "And I don't want to talk about it."

He quirked a brow plate at her.

"No."

He shifted back on his heel and stared her down.

She shifted back on her hips and caved, "I'm meeting Nathan. He isn't a fan of aliens and I don't want you scaring him off."

"Scare him off? Me? I'm hurt." He shook his head, "At least let me walk you there. That area of Zakera ward is too dangerous for you to go alone and unarmed."

"I was by myself for a long time, Garrus, and this time it's a place as civil as the Citadel. I'll be fine, don't follow me." She pushed past him and vanished, he stared off after her. She wanted to rush off and face her past alone, without him.

"Like hell." He muttered, following from a distance.

After a few shuttles, they wound up in a very seedy part of the wards, it almost looked like the slums of Omega. Shepard walked up to a run-down noodle house. She looked around confused for a moment before her omni-tool lit up. She answered, a smile immediately lit her face. She was too far for him to hear. After a few moments she walked down an alley and approached a door.

She knocked on the door to an apartment, and it opened just wide enough for her to slip inside, locking shut behind her. Garrus didn't like this one bit, it all seemed so suspicious. He heard her shout from inside and didn't stop to think. He hacked the door quickly and rushed inside to see her grinning with her arms around the neck of some human with blond hair. Her eyes went wide when she saw him, her face white as a sheet as her smile fell, she looked frightened. What had he just walked in on?

The man turned around and saw him, his face immediately flushed red as he reached for his gun, which Shepard took from him effortlessly, holding his arm and pleading with him.

"Wait!" He tried to shove her off, "Nathan, this is Garrus."

The man's lilac eyes flashed to meet hers, "Him?" The disgust was plain in his voice.

"Yes, please calm down, he won't hurt you." She moved to stand in front of him, blocking Garrus behind her.

"Arri I was so happy to hear from you…and now you show up with ….that." He practically growled. "After everything aliens have done to us you end up fucking one?" He spat. Garrus saw her cringe, he wanted to kill him. Who the hell did this human think he was?

"Nathan, Garrus had nothing to do with Mindoir." She held her hands up. "Just, please, wait one second." Nathan nodded, glowering at Garrus.

She walked back over to Garrus and grabbed him by the elbow, all but shoving him out the door.

"Shepard what the—" He began, only to be cut short.

"One fucking request, was it that hard to let me go off by myself?" She pushed her hands into her hair angrily, "Son of a bitch, Garrus, do you really think I'm that incapable?"

"Of course not." He tried to find the words to explain himself but she didn't give him the chance.

"Go back to the presidium. Now." He went to protest but she cut him off, her tone low. "That is an order, Vakarian."

She went back inside and didn't wait for a reply, she slammed the door behind her. She let out a sigh. What am I thinking? She just bit Garrus' head off, she knew he was just worried, but it still ate at her. Why was she protecting Nathan so furiously? She hadn't seen Nathan since Mindoir, she knew he would hate Garrus, that's why she wanted to explain everything about him, make Nathan like the person he was before finding out that he was a Turian. But then Garrus had to follow her, what was he thinking? She shook her head, she was being ridiculous. Garrus came to help her if she needed it and she'd just bit his head off, and the look on his face when she addressed him the way she did when they'd met…she owed him one hell of an apology. She looked back to the door and almost went through it before Nathan spoke.

"Is it gone?" His tone was acid.

"He." She shot him a look, "And yes."

She sat beside him on the couch, "Listen, I know you hate aliens but they aren't all bad."

He shot her a look, "Arri, you have no idea what you are saying. You left Mindoir first chance you got and left us all behind. You didn't see the aftermath like we did, like I did. You were too busy playing nice with the monsters who took everything from us."

"I had to. I looked at the buildings and all I remembered was fire, being beaten, being covered in blood, my parents… And it was the Batarians; not the Quarians, not the Krogan; not the Turians, not even the freaking Geth, just the Batarians."

"They're all the same."

"Nathan, please." She put her hand on his shoulder, "You have to give them a chance."

"Why?" He shouted, standing. "What have they done to earn it!?"

"For starters, letting us on the Citadel in the first place, but that list goes on and on. Personally? My crew has saved my life more times than I can count." She sighed and stood. "Nathan, I love you, you know that, I would love to have you back in my life." His face softened slightly.

"Make a choice, Arri. Me, or them." He turned his face from her.

She stood from the couch without hesitation. . "Don't think for an instant that I would abandon them for you."

"Wait!" He grabbed her wrist, "It's been so long, Arri, don't you at least want to catch up?"

He stroked his thumb inside of her wrist and her stomach lurched, she wrenched free from his grasp.

"No. I don't." She shook her head, "I'm sorry I ever contacted you. It would have been so much better to have never seen you again, to only have that ideal image of who you used to be. Not this."

She couldn't stop the tears. She stormed out of the room before he could catch her, sprinting to the nearest transport terminal. Hell yes she was running away, she was going to run as hard and fast as she could from this, to leave her past behind before it destroyed her. She buried her face in her hands once she sat down in the cab and was safely away, she hoped Garrus would forgive her.

She exited the shuttle and went to Anderson.

Garrus saw her run out, her distress apparent. He went to go after her but caught the scent of her tears and stopped dead in his tracks. That bastard made her cry. Made his Shepard cry. He pivoted on his heel and turned back towards the apartment, knocking softly.

The door whooshed open and Nathan had a sleazy grin, obviously expecting someone else. The grin fell into a sneer when they locked eyes. Garrus was easily half a foot taller than him, so he had intimidation on his side.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing here?" Nathan growled at Garrus who stood calmly on the doorstep.

"I'm not entirely sure." He pushed his way into the house and looked around. It was minimally furnished, but looked much nicer on the inside. "Looks like you spent your royalties well."

"What are you talking about? Get out of my house, filth."

"Tell me, you know Shepard, even strangers can easily access her email, yet you never once contacted her since Mindoir, why is that?" Garrus crossed his arms.

"That's none of your god damned business." He snapped.

"Are all colonials this foul-mouthed?" He shook his head, he was worse than Shepard, "I'm asking how even though you didn't try and call her, ever, you expect her to drop the entire life she's built for herself, for you?"

"Why not? She's mine. She's loyal. That's more than you aliens could ever understand." He gestured to the door. "Now get out. She'll be back any minute and I don't want you here when she comes."

"What do you mean, 'shes mine'? Please, you don't honestly think she thinks of you that way." He let out a laugh, and hoped not.

"Of course she does, why else would she have called me, not been able to stop thinking about me after all this time? She's always wanted me." He smirked, Garrus couldn't stop himself. He punched him in the jaw, hard.

"Listen, you can think whatever you want but I'm going to let you in on a little something called the truth." He crouched down over Nathan as he held his nose to stop the bleeding, "Shepard is mine, and I'll be damned if a sniveling brat like you will ever take her from me." He stood. "I came here to convince you to make up, to get you to see how much you were hurting her by being so obstinate. Now I see you would only hurt her more if you did. Do everyone a favor, stay in your hole."

He turned to leave and glowered over his shoulder. "And just in case you were thinking of following, I want you to know I am very good at long range."

He turned and stormed off, taking a cab back to the shuttle.

She smiled at Anderson, he always knew just what to say. She went to hug him goodbye when all of the sudden her omni-tool began blaring an alarm. Her face when white as she listened to the message and she ran to the shuttle to find Garrus. He saw the alarm on her face and immediately approached, bracing a hand on her arm.

"Whats wrong?"

"It's the Normandy…The collectors hit and… Oh god Garrus they took everyone..."