A/N: Greetings, my beloved readers! Real life dictated this be finished in three weeks instead of two (for anyone reading Doppelgänger, next chapter probably won't be out for another week), but as always, thank you all for your support (really, really appreciate it!) and continuing to read this story despite my inconsistent updates.
Also, thank you to Bella, Blausen, Calasin, a guest reviewer, guardianesmi, and silvertongued-witch for your reviews last chapter and to those who favorited or are following this story.
-14-
Shepard didn't know how long she lay there on the floor or where Garrus and Nyreen ended up. Time seemed to hold no meaning, the sounds of gunfire, shouts and screeches seemed to blend together in a deathly harmony that would have been painful to the ears if not for them slightly muffling the sound.
She vaguely questioned if this was what it felt like, as she continued to press her fist against her gut as a crude tourniquet. For her father. Did the wound feel as finite, life ending?
A shadow came over her, blocking the fiery red neon lights above her. She wondered if it was death finally came to take her to the place of rest, but the grim reaper wouldn't grasp her shoulder so gently, call her name in a mix of distraught tenderness.
"Garrus..." she croaked. Her eyes were still a little blurry, unable to properly make out the concern in his bluish-grey eyes.
"How long can you hold that barrier, Kandros?"
"How long did you need?" she heard Nyreen call back. Shepard could see it now, the biotic protector encasing them. Through from what her brain could sort out, it wasn't deterring the troopers or Adjutants from firing at it.
"Enough to get some medi-gel on her."
She found the strength to shake her head persistently, even if they were just short jerks of her head side to side. "No...you might need it..." Even in her haze, she recognized that was probably his last one. He couldn't sacrifice it for her, not when it wouldn't do more than patch up the wound, not when she really needed proper medical attention.
Without replying, he carefully removed the hand at her wound, the blood flowing more freely without anything pressing against it, to apply the medi-gel. His eyes widened and his mandibles slackened at the sight.
"Spirits, Jane…" He broke off, closing his eyes as he did so, exposing the emotional pain he was fighting to keep back. "I told you you're worth more than this."
"No," Shepard forced herself to spit out. "You're worth more…always will be." This wasn't the time or place for such intimate admittances, given the high volume of projectiles they had directed at them, but it had to be said, in case things really did go to hell.
Garrus was barred from replying by Nyreen's urgent cry. "They're pressing! We need to find cover for her!"
"She's not stable yet!"
Shepard saw Nyreen spare a moment to glance down at her and take in Shepard's condition for herself. "Can you carry her if I cover you?"
"Guess we're about to find out."
Garrus went about to scooping Shepard into his arms, one arm under her knees, the other near her shoulders, with a grunt. She was amazed he could even lift her at all. She knew he was strong, but her armor wasn't exactly made from the lightest material in the galaxy, not to mention the sniper rifle she had attached to her back.
"Now, Kandros!" At Garrus's call, Nyreen dropped the protector, harnessing the biotic energy to send the approaching enemies spiraling off their feet. Garrus bolted as fast as was feasibly possible, due to both the hindrance of her weight and not wanting to jostle her around. She could feel the medi-gel start to work, closing up the wound, taking the edge off. But she still felt like a woman who had been dealt a serious gunshot wound.
"Get me out of here, Nyreen! Now!" She heard Aria yell above the din of gunfire. In her daze, she had almost forgotten Aria was still trapped. They needed to shut down the power generators to the stasis trap. There had to be override controls somewhere. If Aria was back on the battlefield, she could compensate for the loss of Shepard, especially with how fueled with rage Aria was.
By some miracle, Garrus got her to one of the upper levels, lowering her down behind the shelter of a booth seat that hadn't been removed from Afterlife, shooting at an assault trooper that had rounded the corner with a pistol that looked suspiciously like Shepard's.
Once Nyreen made it to their position, she continued providing them with cover until they could devise a plan.
"We have to get Aria out of there. The override controls aren't too far," Nyreen informed, tossing a lift grenade at a Nemesis setting up her sight line not too far away.
"I can get them open…" Shepard offered. Now that the fog from her brain had cleared a little more, if she kept it slow and easy, had her tactical cloak on at all times, she could…
"You'll re-open the wound doing that," Garrus countered, giving her the same look he had when she volunteered to get into that underwater mech to find the Leviathan. "I'll take care of it. Kandros can stay with you."
"Not to mention with those Adjutants roaming around," Nyreen added, sounding just as uncertain and uncomfortable with leaving Shepard alone.
"Can fry them and shoot them…got my bases covered," Shepard said, regaining some strength back in her voice. "We can't leave Garrus without back-up."
"There are no gunships this time. I should be fine," Garrus replied, pausing to take shots at more Cerberus troopers.
No, just Zuhayr. Archangel hadn't yet made an appearance (being too focused on helping Shepard), but once Zuhayr showed his face and came out from whatever rock he was hiding under…
Another cry of pained rage had their attention back on Aria, who was flailing around in her confines as another surge of power raced through the stasis field.
"She doesn't have much time. We have to get her out of there. You sure you got this?" Nyreen asked Garrus.
"Faced worse, remember? There's only four. Shouldn't take too long with someone of my skills," Garrus stated, bringing full cockiness to the forefront.
Nyreen shook her head. "You're still a cocky bastard, Vakarian, you know that, right?"
"How could I forget with you bringing it up every second of every minute back in the day?" Garrus turned back to Shepard, the look in his eyes clearly showing he wanted to do more than squeeze her shoulder like he was currently doing but knew it wasn't the time.
"Stay with me, Jane. Please," he murmured in a tender voice he reserved just for her, that never failed to make her feel all warm inside.
Shepard's lips morphed into a cross between a reassuring smile and a smirk, laying her hand over his and giving it a squeeze of her own. "Think I'm going to leave you…take all the credit for kicking Reapers' asses…and taking the final kill shot? Don't think so, Vakarian."
That got a small chuckle out of Garrus, even if it was still forced, fraught with tension. "I wouldn't hog all of it. I'd share it with Vega."
"That's good to know…you're still capable of sharing."
Garrus squeezed her shoulder again. "I'm willing to share my title of the bottle shooters with you."
"Can only be willing…if you actually have the title. Lucky for you…I'm all for sharing."
All the time they hid the seriousness of their situation, again dancing around how they were currently feeling, behind good ole'fashioned bantering, Shepard's eyes were doing no such thing, conveying a message completely different from the one leaving her mouth.
Don't lose yourself. Kill Zuhayr like any other enemy opening fire, but don't butcher him, even if he deserves nothing less. You're a better man than he could ever hope to be. You promised me you'd try. You promised me you'd try to be safe. Please prove me right.
By the look of understanding flooding Garrus's eyes when he studied hers, she knew she got the message across.
Whether he would listen to her or not was a different matter entirely.
Garrus handed Shepard her pistol back, then reached behind him for his Mattock.
"Holler over the comm if you get swamped."
"Sure you'll be able to tell when no hostiles are coming at you and flocking towards us," Nyreen paused, as if hesitating on something and then deciding to say it. "Good luck, Garrus."
Garrus's eyes widened in surprise Nyreen calling him by his given name (probably for the first time), but didn't prevent him from replying in kind. "You too, Nyreen."
Shepard watched Garrus dart off to the first override control, then turned back to Nyreen firing at yet another assault trooper. She had never felt more useless during a battle. Bullets and shrapnel had pierced through her armor before, but never this badly. So thoroughly. Whatever ammo Zuhayr used, it was definitely top grade.
"You still doing alright, Commander?" Nyreen asked, flinging an overload blast at a soldier's shields.
"As good as someone shot could be," Shepard replied back dryly.
A violent vibration rocked the floor as one of the stasis shield generators shut off.
"He got one of them. Only three more!"
Just shoot and run, Garrus. Just shoot and run.
Shepard finally got to use her pistol (which only held a few rounds) at a Nemesis that had snuck into the corner across the way, with a well-placed incineration blast to be safe until Nyreen turned around and finished her off.
Another vibration and shot for Garrus to hurry the fuck up signaled the second one was shut down.
"Two more!"
"Attention, do not kill Commander Shepard. I repeat, do not kill Shepard. I want her alive!"
A little late for them to have been given that message now, Petrovsky!
"Keep Vakarian away from those generators!" Petrovsky exclaimed, the rough burr infused with a hint of desperation. He realized it. If Aria was freed, it was over.
It almost seemed too good to be true (excluding the fact Shepard was shot). Could Shepard finally breathe that sigh of relief?
When she spotted Zuhayr appearing from out of nowhere behind Nyreen (who was distracted with an Adjutant down below shooting its projectile at her), she held onto that breath.
"Nyreen! Behind you!"
Despite her best effort, Nyreen couldn't spin around in time to avoid the hammer-like blow to the back of her from Zuhayr's pistol. She collapsed to the floor in a heap nearby Shepard, still as death, but her breath still audible to Shepard's ears.
As Zuhayr approached Shepard, she raised her omni-tool to blast him, but it flew right over his head. Was her aim really that affected or did he just have ridiculously fast reflexes?
"Brave of you, Shepard. You actually followed through. I really don't want to kill you, but can't have you interfering again," Zuhayr said with an eerie calmness, as if there weren't a battle raging on around them.
"You really think you're going to gain something…by picking Cerberus over Aria?"
"Of course not. I have no interest in being a figurehead. Their alliance is a means to an end. All I have to do is bide my time. It's all just part of the game on Omega. Even Aria understands that."
Try telling Aria that when she rips you in half.
"At the very least, I'm offered the chance to eliminate Archangel, something my brother could never do."
So that's what this was about. It was never completely about rallying his mercs behind him, but besting his dead brother, proving he was a more competent gang leader than he could ever hope to be.
"The battle is lost, Zuhayr. Once Aria is released…your ass will be blasted from one end of Omega to the next," Shepard threatened, attempting to sound intimidating, despite how weak and defenseless she looked and sounded in her current state.
Zuhayr raised his Carnifex, pointing it steady between her eyes. "You're wrong, Commander Shepard. It hasn't been lost." The click of his gun signaled his readiness to take the shot. "The battle has only just begun."
The shot Shepard had been expecting whistled past her ear, grazing it lightly like her cheek earlier that day and burrowing into the couch behind her. Her brain barely registered the sensation, completely focused on the sight of Garrus pulling the pistol back in time and trying to force Zuhayr to the ground, hands locked in a death grip with Zuhayr in a complete hand to hand showdown. Shepard prayed he was as great a hand to hand specialist as he had boasted being.
To her side, she heard Nyreen begin to rouse. She silently urged her to hurry.
"Is this the best you can do, Archangel? I shot her. Don't you want to hurt me?" Zuhayr asked, attempting to get Garrus to rise to the taunt and lose focus. He wasn't buckling, but Shepard had caught a glimpse of that spark Archangel had.
He was coming back.
"Until there's nothing left," Garrus growled, pushing back and planting his feet more firmly in the floor to gain better leverage.
"Yes, that's it." Zuhayr sounded pleased, even as Garrus was gaining the upper hand in their fight and he was curving down towards the floor. "Subdue me, torture me, kill me, like all the others. The power of life or death over someone…intoxicating, isn't it?"
Shepard was about to tell Garrus not to listen to him when something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. The very large, bulbous forms of something soon to round the corner.
Could this situation get even worse?
She turned back to find Zuhayr (who seemed much swifter and agile than Toombs had been) able to push Garrus away from him and go for his discarded pistol.
Shepard held her wrist with her other hand to keep her aim steady this time, managing to strike him, but his shields were still plenty charged. She directed another incinerate attack at him, causing to fly in the direction of the stairs, at risk of toppling over.
Garrus hopped to his feet, firing an overload blast at Zuhayr before running into him, forcing him to tumble down the stairs, Garrus following close behind.
Nyreen had shaken the haze away and was back on her feet, firing away at Cerberus lackeys who had momentarily ceased in their attacks, at the same time Aria made sure to remind them she was ensnared with a well-placed yell.
Shepard rotated her head back and forth, finally crawling on hands and knees to see where Garrus and Zuhayr and those Adjutants ended up. Her heart lodged in her throat and showed every sign of staying there when she saw the Adjutants she had spotted earlier changing course towards the still fighting figures of Garrus and Zuhayr…along with three more Adjutants moving in from the other end.
The situation had just found a way to get worse.
"Garrus!" She didn't jump in front of him to take that shot only for him to be surrounded by five, count them, five Adjutants. She couldn't get to him in time, even if she could, her aim was off, her body a broken mess. But she couldn't just stand idly by, even if she reopened the wound and bleed to death in the attempt.
Nyreen's gaze fell on the sight down below them and Shepard clawing her way back onto her feet to help Garrus. "Spirits…"
"Nyreen, go and get…the reactors…I'll…argh!" Shepard fell back towards the couch, half her body draping over it as pain shot through her for moving too suddenly. The sweat poured down her cheeks from her damp temples and forehead. "Go help him."
"They're almost on top of him," Nyreen ducked to barely avoid a Nemesis shot from across the room. "They're still two more!"
She was right. The Adjutants were close, close enough to pin Garrus down, yet he still seemed focused on Zuhayr. Or rather, Archangel was.
"God damn it, Garrus, get out of there! Now!" Shepard ordered as loudly as she could, shocked at how obvious the fear in her voice was. But that second of self-consciousness was displaced by a deeper fear growing every second he stayed down there.
If they turned him…she didn't know if she even could…
She turned back to Nyreen, the distress in her voice still apparent, causing it to wobble more than it already was. "Nyreen…please…do something…"
Nyreen looked at Shepard, then back down to Garrus, who had finally broken out of his blood rage to realize what was happening, then back to Shepard, who was having a more difficult time concealing her anxiety. Then over to Aria, her struggles against her restraints weaker than before.
The expression on Nyreen's face was unreadable to Shepard (and she liked to think she had gotten pretty good at interpreting turian facial expressions), but Shepard sensed the air of determination coming over Nyreen, who bolted over to the closest fallen Cerberus soldier and grabbed the line of grenades at his belt.
"What the hell are you doing, Nyreen?"
She didn't answer Shepard, instead plunging head-long into the mess that lay below them.
What happened next passed by in a blur of motion and sound as Shepard tried to keep herself up right enough to watch while protecting herself from flying Cerberus bullets. Shepard heard some shouts, one from Zuhayr, demanding something (whether from Nyreen or Garrus she couldn't tell), Garrus's protestation at Nyreen forcibly pulling him away and having the strength to send him spinning towards the stairs and Aria questioning Nyreen what she thought she was doing.
Without hesitation, Nyreen unpinned the grenades and launched her biotic barrier to trap the five Adjutants had moved into a close enough radius and Zuhayr in with her. The slippery bastard managed to roll away before the barrier enclosed him, but Shepard was too focused on Nyreen and what this all meant to allow the disappointment to hit her.
She turned back up to Shepard, as if she knew Shepard would be watching. Even from Shepard's vantage point, she could see it. Any trace of fear Nyreen had felt from before had been entirely removed. All that was left was acceptance, that this was how it had been meant to end all along.
Shepard continued watching as Nyreen disappeared from view, hidden behind the Adjutants advancing on their supposed victim, just as the grenades detonated.
When the barrier dissipated and the smoke cleared, all that were left were scorch marks on the floor from Nyreen and the Adjutants once stood.
The battle didn't rage on for much longer. Garrus took care of the remaining generators to free Aria, who wasted no time in butchering anyone who had the Cerberus emblem on their uniform. Petrovsky only released one more Adjutant, which fell more easily than the others they had fought since being on Omega. Probably just a spare, not up to par with the others.
Zuhayr also fled the battlefield, leaving Afterlife, probably recognizing the battle here was over, probably to prepare for his upcoming behind the scenes (or maybe not so behind) with Aria, signaling further misery to come for the people of Omega and further concern for her whether he would try to send someone after Garrus (or even worse if Garrus would try and hunt him down himself). The only thing that comforted Shepard was Zuhayr had shown a major lapse in judgment, playing his hand too soon and setting Aria's sights on him, not allowing him to strike as secretly as he had before with so many others.
But for the moment, as far as Cerberus was concerned, the war had ended with words from Petrovsky that sounded so sweet to Shepard's ears:
"Attention all Cerberus forces...surrender."
She just wished it hadn't been because of Nyreen's sacrifice. It had certainly contributed in changing the tide, but had it been truly necessary?
When she had asked…rather, pleaded Nyreen to do something, she had meant take care of the generators (there had only been two left) or provide back-up for Garrus, pull him out of there, not do a kamikaze run on the Adjutants. Yes, there were a number of them for three to handle along with the barrage of bullets from Cerberus, but had Nyreen felt it was the only way to win? Had she felt she needed to do this to prevent the possibility of anyone else dying at the hands of Adjutants? To prove to herself she could face them without being afraid? Was sacrificing her life worth all that, at the cost of leaving the Talons without a good and incorruptible leader?
Questions that would haunt Shepard to the end and back.
Garrus came back over to her once he had shut the generators down. She had been half tempted to strangle him (followed by a prolonged death grip) for putting her through that and allowing Archangel to run rough-shot over him again, but the deep regret filling his eyes for what Nyreen had done, the knowledge he was a major reason for it (though Shepard would never think it his fault), stopped her. She didn't need to pile on more guilt.
Once the battle was finally over, he helped her to her feet, holding her more tightly to him than usual (still being mindful of her wound). He could have carried her again, but she insisted she could handle being on her feet now (even if she really couldn't), so long as he propped her up. It wasn't too far from Petrovsky's location, even if they had to take their pace very slowly so as not to risk her re-opening the wound (or further damaging any internal injuries). She detected his hesitation on risking her health even further, but even he knew it would be a battle he couldn't win.
Aria had already beaten them to the locked door separating them from Petrovsky in Aria's former lounge area. If she was upset over Nyreen's death, she was doing a good job hiding it. In fact she barely paid the two of them any mind, seemingly pinpointed on her target.
"Cease and desist all aggression..." Shepard heard Petrovsky order his troops as they approached. "It's over..." At least he had the common sense to know when the odds were against him.
Petrovsky turned to face them once everything at his console had been shut off, including the holo-graphic chess pieces on his board a few steps away. She tried to look as imposing as someone who could barely stand on her own two feet, much less walk, could possibly hope to look.
"Officer Vakarian. Commander Shepard. A well-played checkmate. I surrender myself into your custody." His Russian accent was more pronounced than ever before.
Aria strode up to Petrovsky past Garrus and Shepard, the stride of a woman who meant to act before anyone had time to stop her. "That is the most pathetic thing I've ever heard." Her back-handed slap a moment later sent Petrovsky reeling to the floor, struggling to get his bearings.
"Shepard, I never meant for you to be harmed." Shepard had to bite back a scoff. If he didn't mean to have her killed, he would have captured her, sent her packing off to the Illusive Man who would have done who knows what to her. Probably implant her with Reaper tech since that seemed to be a popular thing for him lately. Nor could she easily forget the bounty he had essentially put on Garrus's head for any merc with a gun to take a crack for it.
She could have sworn she felt Garrus's grip tighten on her waist even more at his words. She couldn't tell what he was thinking, whether Archangel was feeding him lies that this was poetic justice or if he was trying desperately to rein Archangel in before he caused more problems.
"I'm unarmed and I can give the Alliance intel on the Illusive Man," Petrovsky insisted.
Aria clenched her hand around his throat and pulled him off the floor, pinning him to a table. "You'll say anything to save your skin." She used both her hands now, trying to choke the life right out of him. Petrovsky attempted to struggle, but Aria would not let go, not after months of fantasizing about this very moment.
"But I let you...escape...Omega," Petrovsky weakly protested through jerky breaths. "I deserve... mercy."
That got Shepard to speak out for the first time. "Is this true, Aria?"
"Yes," Aria said, her gaze still locked on Petrovsky's twitching form. "Cerberus had successfully taken control of the station and he let me go..." Her hands squeezed even harder on his neck, like she wanted to try and snap it in half like a twig. "I'd think he'd agree now that it was the biggest mistake of his life."
"But...this is...murder."
"That's right," Aria said, sounding completely unmoved. "Cold-blooded murder. No less than you deserve. Do you feel that, Oleg? That's death. Only inches away. But I won't give it to you yet. This won't be a quick, easy death. I'm going to make you suffer. "
As she stared down at Petrovsky, she could see it, the vulnerability now that he had finally been bested. Now that this moment was staring her in the face, she couldn't do it. This wasn't right; this wouldn't help them. Even if it cost her her alliance with Aria, all her resources, she couldn't let this happen. Petrovsky would be tried, brought to justice for everything he had done, but he was too valuable. They needed Cerberus intel, now more than ever.
Shepard opened her mouth, mentally preparing herself for a verbal battle she didn't know if she had the grit to fight, but she didn't need to.
"He's more valuable to us alive," Garrus the practical Reaper advisor argued. "The Alliance can use what he knows about the Illusive Man's plans."
"Don't you dare…" Aria breathed, turning her fury onto Garrus. "Don't you dare get in my fucking way. You've done more than enough damage! Need I remind you of what just happened?" The reference to Nyreen was not lost on anyone and Shepard felt Garrus visibly recoil, the wound still raw. So much for Aria not being upset about that.
"He's right, Aria," Shepard added, giving Garrus a moment to recover from that verbal blow.
"You really want to risk it, Shepard?" Her biotics hadn't stopped flaring, leaving that doubt hanging in Shepard's mind whether she would use them against her or Garrus.
"We don't win against Cerberus or the Reapers...you won't be able to reap the benefits of having Omega back. We need...every advantage we can get."
The pause in Aria choking Petrovsky was only momentary, but it was enough for Shepard knew they had her, even if she wouldn't admit it. "He has to pay for what he's done!" she ground out, her tone conveying none of that hesitation.
"He'll get what's coming to him," Shepard promised, "But not today…and not by your hand."
Aria was staring off into the distance, no longer laser-focused on Petrovsky, deep in thought. Until finally, finally, by some miracle,she let go with a frustrated snarl and he fell to the floor, rubbing at his throat and trying to get his breath back.
"I hate you for this, Shepard," Aria said, her heated gaze on Petrovsky and not on them. "You and him."
"We helped you get Omega back."
"Yes, you did…Archangel. Which is the only reason I'm allowing you to walk and not kill you on the spot. You have exactly one hour to get off Omega, out of the nebula, and never return. This alliance is over. You knew the price, Shepard," Aria countered brusquely when Shepard opened her mouth to object. "You're not getting a thing from me. I hope the information he provides was worth everything his miserable life cost you."
Shepard waited until Aria was finished to make her case, finding the energy within herself to fight back. "You never had a say with Garrus…yet you're letting him live. You're letting Petrovsky live…"
Aria's eyes narrowed. "Your point, Shepard?"
She had seen the moments of hesitation, however few they were. They were still there. She finally understood, something that hadn't really clicked before. If Aria had really meant to kill Garrus or Petrovsky, she would have done it by now. She wouldn't be doing this unless there was a small part of her that agreed with it. "Do you hate me for stopping you, Aria? Or causing you to question…everything you believed about yourself?"
Aria reeled with indignation, her biotics flaring violently again. Shepard had clearly touched a nerve. "Get out. All of you. I have a station to rebuild. A rebel leader and his mercs to hunt." She looked pointedly at Shepard and Garrus like it was their fault Zuhayr had turned traitor against her (if anyone was at fault for that, it was Petrovsky). "Revenge on any Cerberus troops still breathing."
Shepard readied herself to argue more, but Garrus began walking her away before she could even get another word out. "It's not worth it and you need treatment."
Just as quickly as the energy had come, it deflated in her like a balloon. She nodded in reluctant acceptance and Garrus slowly guided her out of Afterlife, directing Petrovsky up ahead of them. Petrovsky showed no signs of wanting to escape, seemingly accepting his capture with dignity befitting any officer on the losing side of a battle.
A crowd of people awaited them both in and outside of Afterlife and Shepard looked away at their questioning stares at being half carried by a turian and directing Petrovsky away in one piece. She tried not to indulge them, not look at them and focus on keeping her feet moving one step at a time.
They had just passed through the entrance to the docking hangars with the door sealing behind them when she felt another bolt of pain, but this time the result of another tremor. She willed herself to ignore it, that they only had a few more steps until they could get to a shuttle, but her body wasn't having it. The spasm was enough to get her body shaking…and her gunshot wound to reopen.
"Damn it," she hissed as she felt the blood slide down her belly, the metallic smell hitting her nose.
Only to be replaced by the sensation of a cool gel-like substance and the antiseptic smell that came with it hitting the area, from the omni-tool of a batarian who had followed them down there.
"Got to say, you lived up to the hype, Shepard," Bray stated.
"Aria know you're here?" Shepard asked, waiting for the medi-gel to seal the wound.
"Aria's got bigger things to worry about. And I owe you."
Her mind flashed back to saving Bray from those mechs and Centurion. "Appreciate it." She could feel the wound begin to close up again. "Just wondering…you always get these crap details, Bray?" she asked, thinking to how he seemed to be doing was playing chauffeur or guide.
"Not this time." Bray laid Shepard's free arm around his shoulders while he did the same around hers, that little contact something she would have literally recoiled at just the thought of back in the day. Maybe she had progressed, afterall.
During this entire exchange, Petrovsky hadn't said a word, watching in complete silence with rapt attention, making Shepard feel like she was some specimen under his microscope. She focused straight ahead to escape his gaze.
"Let's get you back to your ship," Bray said. "You have a war to win."
Only if she was still in one piece to finish it after all this.