He ran and ran and the only thing he had on his mind was to escape, to get away from those suited men with the sunglasses that were hunting him down.
He panted as he ran through the streets of the dirty Omega and tried to use the environment to his advantages. Those men really wanted him captured or dead.
He was a fast runner, but as were they. In addition they had guns and they weren't afraid of using them, even though they were in public.
He didn't have any kind of weapon, only his legs and stamina. But he knew that if he would keep running and force himself forward, he would escape them eventually.
He was optimistic, but also a fool.
He looked back and noticed them slowing down, giving up. He laughed at them, but he wasn't careful. He tripped over and fell to the ground harshly. That made the men in the suites start running again.
"Get your fucking hands off me!" he shouted and struggled like a fish on land.
"You are coming with us." they replied.
"Fuck you! I'm not going anywhere with you! Help! Anybody!" he shouted and struggled even more. He was muscular, so it took three guys to hold him against the floor while the fourth, the leader, handcuffed him. Two of the men were aliens and the other two were human. The leader was human.
"You disappoint me. I thought you were better than that. With all your training in the Alliance military. Your rank is N7. Am I correct?" he said very calmly.
He didn't reply, but instead he spit on his expensive shiny black shoes.
The leader took it very calmly and wiped off the sputum with the downed man's clothes.
"Like I said. You disappoint me."
"Glad to disappoint you."
The leader walked around him and very slowly shook his head. He took his sunglasses off to take a better look at his iris.
"Your eyes are remarkable. Two different colors. Your right eye is purple, yet your left eye is green. Now tell me, how did that happen?"
"You did this to me in one of your experiments on me you sick bastard!" he shouted at him and stared at him with his evil eyes full of hate.
People were watching, almost everybody in that area, but nobody did anything.
"You people are just going to let them take me?" he shouted at them.
"After all I've done for you people! You disgraceful little bastards!" he shouted even louder, which led to more struggling.
"Don't let us put you down. We have sedatives and we ain't afraid to use it."
"Go to hell!" he shouted at him.
"Fine. Give him the sedatives." he commanded to his men.
He refused to give up struggling, but the sedatives soon took over.
Garrus woke up in some kind of container made of glass and the first thing he did was to check if he still had the dog-tags around his neck. He calmed down when he noticed them.
His head hurt as hell but he couldn't feel the right side of his face.
There were many tubes injecting something into his veins. White shit, probably some kind of sedatives or a medicine to make him feel better. If that would be the case, the medicine weren't working. Not at all. He felt like shit and he could barely move his limbs.
Fortunately the lights in the room were fainted and comfortable.
He thought to himself where he was and what had happened, but he couldn't remember.
"W-what is going on." he said to himself very weakly.
"Try to relax." a female voice told him. He didn't recognize that voice, but it had to be friendly.
"W-who are you?" he said, but wasn't sure if she heard him.
"I'm Dr. Chakwas. Just try to relax. And don't worry if I can't hear you. I can hear every words you even mumble."
"Where am I and what happened to me?"
"I told you to relax. A missile to the face. You're damn lucky to be alive. And don't worry where you are. You are in good hands."
"Missile to the face?" he asked to be clear.
"Is it going to show?"
"Unfortunately yes, now go get some sleep. You aren't ready to leave this glass container."
"Shepard?" he forced out. He didn't have the energy to ask the question. Dr. Chakwas smiled.
"Go get some sleep."
He woke up late next day, and the weird thing was that he felt much better. There was nothing wrong with him. His headache was gone and he even felt stronger than before.
"Huh, doctor? Are you there? Can you open this container?"
"Ah, so how are feeling?"
"Never better." he replied and eagerly waited to get out of this 'box'.
"Can you open the-"
"Yes, yes. Wait a second." she replied.
The glass container opened quickly. He jumped out and stretched his back.
"Hey, hey! Easy!" she said not amused.
"Why? I feel really good. What did you inject into me? Whatever it is, it can't be legal." he asked. Dr. Chakwas smiled and replied.
"It's a medicine that quickly heals wounds and makes you stronger. And it's legal by the way, but it's just rare. This medicine needs to be used with caution though, and can never be used without the doctor's permission."
"Why?" he asked curious. "Why can't I just inject everything in that bottle into my veins?"
"Because overdosing of this is not funny, nor comfortable. If you want to keep your insides, I recommend leaving this alone." she answered with a sarcastic smile.
"If you say so."
The doctor handed over clothes he could wear, as his armor was totally broken.
"Where the hell am I anyways? I don't remember what happened. Is that normal?"
"Yes, it's normal. A missile to the face? Hell, I would be worried if you would remember anything. Just tell me what you can remember. What is the last thing you remember?"
"Well, I don't really know. But I was killing some mercenaries... and I don't remember."
"What happened? Did somebody come to rescue you?"
"No, don't think so. I- I don't remember goddamn it!" he said a little annoyed, but not at the Doctor.
Dr. Chakwas realized that he had forgotten that he had reunited with Shepard. She decided to keep it a secret until he would meet her again.
"Alright." she said and took notes.
"Can you now tell me where the hell I am?" he asked again impatiently.
"You are aboard on our ship. You are lucky we had scouts in that area. You would probably be dead by now."
"Thanks, but I really need to get out of here. Can you land on the Citadel maybe?"
"You don't want to stick around and get to know the crew a little bit first? I'm sure you'll find someone you'll be interested in." she told him with a grin.
Garrus thought about it, altough he really wanted to leave and continue with his miserable life, but he eventually accepted.
"Fine."
"That's more like it. My commander will be here in a matter of seconds." she said still with her subtle grin.
"He's ready. You can come in now." she yelled at the door.
The metal door opened loudly and quickly.
As soon as Garrus saw who it was, he immediately regained his memory back. He remembered that Shepard had returned.
"Shepard!" he yelled and spread his arms in joy.
"Garrus!" she replied and hugged him.
"It has been too damn long!" she said calmly and closed her eyes.
"I can't believe it's really you." he said and stared at her.
He lifted her chin up so he could see her face. It was so beautiful. He never thought he would see her again. He pressed his forehead against hers and they rested like that for some time.
Shepard noticed the scar on his face, but she didn't react to it. She kind of liked it. This was a nice battle scar indeed.
Dr. Chakwas fake coughed, and tried to interrupt.
"Do you think this is the appropriate time or place?" she said with her devilish grin on her face. It looked like she enjoyed ruining moments.
They both turned their heads in her direction to see her smiling and telling them to get out of the room.
They both got the hint and they both nodded to her.
"Thank you." Garrus said to her and nodded once more.
"You're welcome, and try not to die." she replied with a warm smile.
Garrus smirked and turned around to face Shepard. She just stood there with one hand on her waist and smiling like a badass.
He missed that smile, and the spectacular green iris in her eyes.
His mandibles fluttered of joy, and it made her laugh like always.
All of a sudden he remembered that Nihlus was also alive. His stopped smiling.
"Is there something wrong?" she asked him a little worried.
"Yeah, everything is alright. I... have to tell you something. Can we go to your quarters?" he asked her still extremely happy to see her.
"Sure, just follow me." she said and indicated with her hands that he should follow her.
When they arrived to her quarters, she sat down on the sofa, and Garrus did the same.
"So, what's wrong?"
"First off..." he said and quickly threw himself at her. He kissed her like she had showed him two and a half years ago. He kind of forgot how his 'tactics' to kiss her, but he didn't forget the basics.
She allowed him to kiss her, and she kind of led and reminded him how it was done. That feeling was beyond anything else he had encountered in those two crappy years.
She got off her as he wanted to get the news off his chest as soon as possible. He believed it was the right thing to do. To let her know that Nihlus was alive. The sooner the better.
"Thank you." he said quietly to her, and stroked her smooth black hair with his sharp talons.
Shepard smiled and nodded to him.
"Was there something you wanted to tell me, or was it just this kiss?" she said with a smirk on her face.
"There is one thing, I'd like to tell you." he said nervously. He gazed at the floor for some time. He didn't really want to tell her, as he thought that she would maybe look up for him, and maybe she would... No she wouldn't do that.
"Well... you remember Nihlus..."
"Yes, of course I do."
"Well, I kind of saw him on the Citadel two years ago."
"Did they bury him? That's good news!" she said a little sad now that they were talking about him, but also happy to know that they had a funeral for him.
"Alive..." he added and waited for her response.
Shepard didn't know what to think. She knew Garrus wasn't joking. He wasn't that type of person that jokes about serious things. But she did not believe that he was alive.
"What?" she said a little shocked, but not too much as she didn't know what was going on.
"He has been brought back to life. Just like you." he said, and Shepard noticed how nervous he was. She touched his hands and held them tight. It made him smile.
"I- I don't... what are you talking about?" she asked more shocked than before.
"Well, he didn't tell me who revived him."
Shepard believed him. She trusted him more than anyone else, and lying about this would be really cruel. He would never do such a thing.
"Garrus... if you really think that I'm going to ditch you to be with him, you are mistaken. I love you, and nothing is going to change that. Not even my fallen former lover." she said and smiled weakly, but yet determined.
He was really glad to hear that, and he was embarrassed to think that she would actually do that.
He smiled at her and stared at her in her eyes.
"Oh god how I've missed you." he said and chuckled a bit.
"Everything can go back to normal." she said to him and rubbed his hands.
"Yeah, I'd like that."
They stared at each other for some time.
"What happened? How did you get killed?" he asked her and eagerly waited for an answer. He had always wanted to know specifically what happened. Right down to the tiniest details.
"We were sent to check out if there were any remaining Geth around the Citadel. Fortunately they were all gone. We went a little further than we were supposed to go and... well... we were attacked by an unknown enemy. I don't know who. But they had technology nobody has ever seen or heard of before. We weren't ready, and..." she said and swallowed.
"They ripped the hull In just one blast. Yeah, it was that powerful. We got everyone to safety, but as I was entering the shuttle with Joker, another blast hit the ship and pulled me away. I just managed to launch him into space before the last beam hit the ship. It ripped my air container, so I couldn't breath. It was like someone was burning my lungs. But, Cerberus recovered me and rebuilt me. And now I'm here, talking to you." she said and smiled again.
"Wow. I'm so proud of you. You were very brave to sacrifice your life for others. Just like my people would do in your circumstances. Isn't it kind of rare of bravery among humans?"
Shepard smirked and chuckled. She nodded to him a couple of times.
"Yes, it is. But I was just doing the right thing to do. They're all my friends."
"This is why I love you. You are unlike any woman I've ever met." he drew closer to her, but she sat patiently and waited for him to come near.
"Just like old times, huh?" she whispered as he came closer.
"Yeah. Just like old times." he said as he was going to kiss her again, but more slowly and romantic this time.
He stroked her nape like he was used to before as she kissed him. He followed her lead.
He missed that feeling. Everything was back to normal now. He wanted to fuck her right at that moment, but he didn't want to rush things and force her as they had been separated from each other for 2 years. Fucking death...
As they were kissing, Shepard's omni-tool beeped and lightened up. The omni-tool automatically read a message for her:
"Shepard, come see me at the galaxy map. We need to discuss our plan. It's urgent that you meet me right now."
It was Miranda. Shepard knew that if she wouldn't show up, Miranda would interrupt their moment.
"I have to go." she said and looked at him.
"Yeah, go do your thing." Garrus said disappointed.
"Meet me here at midnight. We'll continue this little... 'talk'..." she said with a subtle smile.
Garrus got excited. He couldn't believe that they were going to have sex that night. It has been too damn long. But he got a little worried, because he was afraid that he had forgotten how to fuck her without hurting her. He thought about watching those tapes...
"Looking forward to it." he said and kissed her again, but his style.
They both stood up and walked out of her room.
The human woke up in a dirty room with the four men surrounding him. He tried to hit them, but one of them tazed him. He screamed and lost all his energy.
He panted on the ground and just lay there like an animal.
"We have decided to stop the experiments for now. Instead we are going to ask you questions." The leader said, calmly as always.
"Go to hell." he said weakly and spat blood at the ground.
"We are just trying to be polite. Why won't you co-operate with us? We are more than willing to set you free if you give us the information we need."
He didn't answer them.
"Here, sit down." The leader said to him and pointed at a stool.
"Oh, yeah. You are weak. How rude of me." he gave directions to one of the men to help him to the stool.
The strongest of them nodded and picked him up. He walked to the chair and put him gently down.
"What do you want from me?" he asked weakly, and he didn't look at the leaders face.
The leader sat down to another stool against him.
"We know that you and Shepard have been good friends..." he said, and that got his attention.
He looked at the leader like an angry wolf, ready to attack it's prey.
"Where is Shepard." he asked calmly and waited patiently for an answer.
"Why... why have you moved from experimenting on me, to asking about Shepard? That doesn't make any fucking sense..." he stated and spat blood to the ground again.
"Because... you don't see the big picture."
"What big picture!" he shouted at them and stood up. The leader remained calm and told their men to stand down.
"That's none of your business. It goes like this: We experiment on you, you obey. We question you, you answer the questions. It's that simple."
"Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!" he shouted even louder and punched him.
The three other men quickly took him down and tied him to the chair. The leader rubbed his jaw and put on his sunglasses.
"I'm not going to ask you again. You are going to answer me. Where is Shepard."
"Even if I knew I wouldn't tell you, you bastard!" he said chuckled.
"Doesn't it bother you? Doesn't it bother you that you are never going to know where Shepard is? Because I'm not telling you shit!" he said and laughed.
"Mr. Vega... or is it Nathan? Oh sorry. I'm bad with names. It's Vega right? Not Nathan?"
James Vega didn't answer him, he simply just stared at him with his hateful eyes.
"Oh, one way or the other. We will find your girlfriend." he said and gave him a big smile.
One of the men kicked his stool down. Vega grunted as he fell to the ground.
"Enough for today. Boys!" he said and they all left the room.
Vega lay there without energy, but he needed to get out of there. He was already planning his next escape attempt...