Title: Commander Shepard, You've Got Mail
Summary: Every day, starting when Garrus rejoins C-Sec up until the destruction of the Normandy, Shepard and Garrus exchange emails. After all, good friends stay in touch.
Rating: K+
Pairing: Garrus/Shepard friendship, flirting
Spoilers: All of ME1
Timeline: post-ME1, pre-ME2
Commander Shepard, You've Got Mail
Part Twenty-One
Received: 2:19 p.m. 12/20/83
I just had a holo-chat with Tali. She asked how you were doing.
(Sent from private terminal of Commander Artemis Shepard, Alliance Navy)
Received: 2:23 p.m. 12/20/83
Busy with reconstruction. Running on stims and buried in paperwork. How is she?
(Sent from private terminal of Officer Garrus Vakarian, Citadel Security)
Received: 2:28 p.m. 12/20/83
Troubled, or at least she sounded that way. She called to ask for my advice.
(Sent from private terminal of Commander Artemis Shepard, Alliance Navy)
Received: 2:33 p.m. 12/20/83
About what?
(Sent from private terminal of Officer Garrus Vakarian, Citadel Security)
Received: 2:39 p.m. 12/20/83
Her Pilgrimage is finished, and she's just caught up to the Fleet. But she isn't sure if she wants to turn it in.
(Sent from private terminal of Commander Artemis Shepard, Alliance Navy)
Received: 2:45 p.m. 12/20/83
Why not? I thought that was how quarians progressed to adulthood.
(Sent from private terminal of Officer Garrus Vakarian, Citadel Security)
Received: 2:51 p.m. 12/20/83
It is. But once she turns in her Pilgrimage and joins a ship, she'll be expected to remain a part of that ship's crew.
(Sent from private terminal of Commander Artemis Shepard, Alliance Navy)
Received: 2:56 p.m. 12/20/83
Ah, I see. No more jaunts around the galaxy on the Normandy. She'll have to stay with the Fleet.
(Sent from private terminal of Officer Garrus Vakarian, Citadel Security)
Received: 3:02 p.m. 12/20/83
Exactly. And she doesn't know if she wants that.
(Sent from private terminal of Commander Artemis Shepard, Alliance Navy)
Received: 3:07 p.m. 12/20/83
I don't know if I would, either. What did you tell her?
(Sent from private terminal of Officer Garrus Vakarian, Citadel Security)
Received: 3:13 p.m. 12/20/83
I told her she was always welcome on the Normandy, no matter what she decided. But it isn't easy for her, Garrus. Quarians are conditioned to put the flotilla ahead of themselves. It's the only reason they're all still alive. If Tali decides to leave, she'll feel like she's abandoning them.
(Sent from private terminal of Commander Artemis Shepard, Alliance Navy)
Received: 3:19 p.m. 12/20/83
Whatever she does, we've got her back, Commander.
(Sent from private terminal of Officer Garrus Vakarian, Citadel Security)
Received: 3:24 p.m. 12/20/83
I know. I miss her. It would be painful to say goodbye like that. But I don't want to make this even harder for her.
(Sent from private terminal of Commander Artemis Shepard, Alliance Navy)
Received: 3:27 p.m. 12/20/83
You didn't tell her that? That you would miss her?
(Sent from private terminal of Officer Garrus Vakarian, Citadel Security)
Received: 3:36 p.m. 12/20/83
How could I? If I did, and she decided to rejoin the flotilla, she would feel guilty for hurting me. You know how she is, always conscious of other people's feelings. Even worse, she might feel guilty enough to come back to the Normandy, even if it wasn't what she really wanted.
(Sent from private terminal of Commander Artemis Shepard, Alliance Navy)
Received: 3:44 p.m. 12/20/83
So you're not going to tell her how you feel about it, because you don't want to influence her decision. Even though you'll be hurt if she rejoins the flotilla.
(Sent from private terminal of Officer Garrus Vakarian, Citadel Security)
Received: 3:49 p.m. 12/20/83
Not hurt, exactly. Just sad. Everything has to end, I suppose. It's silly of me to expect any different.
(Sent from private terminal of Commander Artemis Shepard, Alliance Navy)
Received: 3:55 p.m. 12/20/83
You're an organic, not a synthetic. You can't just dismiss your emotions as "silly." Don't you think Tali cares about your feelings? She would want to know.
(Sent from private terminal of Officer Garrus Vakarian, Citadel Security)
Received: 4:01 p.m. 12/20/83
When did you get so good at this?
(Sent from private terminal of Commander Artemis Shepard, Alliance Navy)
Received: 4:04 p.m. 12/20/83
Sometime between Dr. Saleon and killing Saren. But that's not the point.
(Sent from private terminal of Officer Garrus Vakarian, Citadel Security)
Received: 4:09 p.m. 12/20/83
I can't just ask Tali to abandon her people.
(Sent from private terminal of Commander Artemis Shepard, Alliance Navy)
Received: 4:13 p.m. 12/20/83
Shepard, this might even be good for her people. Quarians don't have much of a galactic presence outside of the flotilla and Pilgrimages. That's part of the reason why none of the other Citadel species really respect them. If the quarians had more representatives in the galactic community, especially ones like Tali, things might start changing for the better.
(Sent from private terminal of Officer Garrus Vakarian, Citadel Security)
Received: 4:27 p.m. 12/20/83
Garrus, you are amazing. I didn't even think of it that way.
(Sent from private terminal of Commander Artemis Shepard, Alliance Navy)
Received: 4:32 p.m. 12/20/83
Don't flatter me too much, Commander. I have a hard enough time with humility already.
(Sent from private terminal of Officer Garrus Vakarian, Citadel Security)
Received: 4:38 p.m. 12/20/83
I mean it. This is why I need you, Garrus. Everyone else either agrees with everything I say, or disagrees so violently that I have to shoot them. But you help me see things in ways I haven't thought of.
(Sent from private terminal of Commander Artemis Shepard, Alliance Navy)
Received: 4:46 p.m. 12/20/83
That's not what people normally say.
(Sent from private terminal of Officer Garrus Vakarian, Citadel Security)
Received: 4:49 p.m. 12/20/83
What do they say, then?
(Sent from private terminal of Commander Artemis Shepard, Alliance Navy)
Received: 4:54 p.m. 12/20/83
"Shut up."
(Sent from private terminal of Officer Garrus Vakarian, Citadel Security)
Received: 5:07 p.m. 12/20/83
You can always speak your mind with me, Garrus.
(Sent from private terminal of Commander Artemis Shepard, Alliance Navy)
Received: 5:13 p.m. 12/20/83
I know. You're... different from a turian commander.
(Sent from private terminal of Officer Garrus Vakarian, Citadel Security)
Received: 5:17 p.m. 12/20/83
Trust me, I'm not like most human commanders, either. A lot of people have said that I'm not professional enough, that I treat my subordinates too much like equals. I suppose I learned that from Anderson.
(Sent from private terminal of Commander Artemis Shepard, Alliance Navy)
Received: 5:22 p.m. 12/20/83
With all due respect, Commander, I thought the same thing when I first joined your crew. My opinion has changed since then.
(Sent from private terminal of Officer Garrus Vakarian, Citadel Security)
Received: 5:26 p.m. 12/20/83
Oh? How so?
(Sent from private terminal of Commander Artemis Shepard, Alliance Navy)
Received: 5:33 p.m. 12/20/83
Usually, the regs are there for a reason. Most C.O.s need space between themselves and their subordinates to command effectively. But you're different, Shepard. You command respect without really trying. People want to follow you because of who you are and what you've done for them, not your rank.
(Sent from private terminal of Officer Garrus Vakarian, Citadel Security)
Received: 5:38 p.m. 12/20/83
I... wasn't expecting that. But thank you.
(Sent from private terminal of Commander Artemis Shepard, Alliance Navy)
Received: 5:47 p.m. 12/20/83
Here to serve, Commander. Now aren't you going to call Tali back?
(Sent from private terminal of Officer Garrus Vakarian, Citadel Security)
Received: 5:51 p.m. 12/20/83
Right! On it. By the way, I mean it. Thank you. You've given me a lot to think about.
(Sent from private terminal of Commander Artemis Shepard, Alliance Navy)
Received: 5:56 p.m. 12/20/83
Don't worry about it, Shepard. It's about time I started giving back.
(Sent from private terminal of Officer Garrus Vakarian, Citadel Security)