First off, Thank you to everyone for being patient with me on my fanfics! Real life tossed me one hell of a distraction, but in the end I am beginning to get back into the swing of my stories that need to see some proper love.

This chapter is a wee bit short, but hell, after so long of being unable to add anything new, it is good to have something up XD

R&R are still welcomed as usual!

We're out of time Commander! We Have to go!"

Joker's voice yelled loudly through Shepards internal mike as she with her heart racing and lungs burning, ran hard for the shuttle. Guns blazed wildly towards the husks that chased after, the many blue soulless eyes glinting at her and her team built of Garrus and Mordin.

"You heard the man- Everyone on the Normandy! Move!"

Shepard's voice shouted through her helmet and to her team as they firing a few final rounds at the sprinting enemies be it the husks or actual collectors. Not even waiting to strap down into the shuttle's seats, Shepard smashed her hand on the doors controls as the shuttle itself began to pull away from the collector's ship.

"Faster!"

Shepard yelled to the pilot who gunned the shuttle as fast as he could, white knuckles gripping tightly onto the steering. Upon docking on the Normandy, Shepard with her hear filled with both dread and fear, memories of the last time this ship had come into contact with the collector's plaguing her mind, the Commander entered the cockpit where Joker was busy running his hands over the consoles like a mad man.

"Strap in people- Gonna make them work for it this time!"

He yelled through the intercom as the Normandy pulling away from the side of the massive nightmare, took off racing through the debris as behind them, the huge charging canon unleashed its hellish power at the small stealth fighter.

"I can't dodge this guy forever! EDI. Get us the hell out of here!"

Shepard standing behind Joker, looked over to the flickering orb of EDI as she appeared in response to Joker's frantic voice. Like the Commander, he too had not forgotten this monstrosity of a ship chasing after them. He was not going to allow it to take down another Normandy if he could help it!

"Specify a destination, Mr. Moreau."

EDI's calm and collected voice spoke out as the ship shuddered violently from a too close of an attack. Shepard cursing softly, her knuckles as white as paper with her fingers digging into the back of Joker's leather seat, her eyes focused ahead on the many graphics upon the consoles.

Please... please, get us the hell out of here...

She prayed to who knew what as the ship shuddered once more with a savage force.

"Anywhere that is not here!"

Joker yelled those words with both force and growing fear, his heart was with the ship as it fled from the enemy. All within the Normandy, the crew and Shepard's team were buckled down, some praying to their gods, others in silence, waiting for something to happen...

"Very well. Engaging mass effect core."

Was all EDI spoke before the ship seemingly falling eerily silent, with a sudden force, roared into space, leaving the collector's vessel far behind in the debris of the asteroid field they had found it residing within.

It took a few moments to let it sink in as they feeling the drive core slow its thundering charge... They had gotten away from the collector's ship with no damage. It was like deja vu but with a better ending...

Shepard slowly let the breath she had been holding since they had jumped away from the enemy vessel. That was close... too close, this whole mess... a not so human like growl escaped past her lips making Joker look over at her with concern flashing in his eyes.

"Commander?"

"This is all the Illusive man's fault... I could have lost someone if not the ship itself all because of that man."

With those angry words spat out from her mouth, Commander Shepard turned and stormed out of there, her emotions fuming as she headed for the debriefing room where the communications were set up to talk to the supposed man in charge of this entire 'adventure'.

Garrus with trembling claws, leaned himself over the console for calibrating the forward guns. This was too close to the scars in his heart. To see that ship again, to realize it was the very same that had caused Shepard to go down two years ago, to have all those buried memories resurface once more of seeing Joker step out of the final escape shuttle, informing everyone of Shepard's fate.

Too much... too much all at once, and it showed the turian just how suicidal their entire mission really was. There was a real chance they were not going to come back from all this. He was not even fearful for his own life, only another. One who he started to realize he was falling for.

Shepard meant everything to him, when Garrus had not wanted to go on, she was there to shout at him to stand back up. When he was close to death's door from that missile striking him, she was there to show him to way back from the light. Even when he thought her dead and gone, his memories of her had kept him stepping forward without looking back.

"Shepard..."

His mandibles flexed ever so slight as he whispered her name, as if afraid speaking it to loudly would cause some form of backlash. His mind swam with the memories of recent passing, both finally recognizing each others emotions back on the citadel within the eternity bar, their lacking in the sober mindset, he recalled the time of when he thought she had been crushed, and the time of her finding him, at the bottom, and having embraced him when her own voice failed her.

A turian in love with a human who accepted his courting advances...

Blinking, a small dry laugh passed his jaws as the turian wondered how his mind went from being fearful of the collecter's vessel and this very mission to his thoughts and feelings of Commander Shepard and their involvement with each other.

"Fuck that man until the reapers all rust away!"

Garrus jumping hard, whirled around at the very vemenous words spilling from a rather perturbed Shepard who growling to herself entered the battery room as her eyes focused ahead yet glazed over with the anger she felt towards no doubt the very man Garrus had to in a disgruntled way, thank for returning the turian to Shepard's side.

"Shepard?"

She stopping, clearly startled, looked up, her eyes focusing as she looking around and landed her gaze on Garrus, gave into a very sheepish grin.

"Um... this is so not my chambers."

She spoke in a weak voice, hating herself for the cheesy excuse as she having been so enraged at the illusive man and his pathetic antics, subconsciously stormed her way right to where a particular turian that made her mind even more confused.

It took Garrus but a moment to realize she was tempting a feeble joke, making his eyes shine with laughter as he straightening his form, took a few long strides before stopping a couple feet in front of the woman, their eyes locked in place.

His breath seemed hitched, his heart raced but no longer with fear from the collectors of this mission. Raising his left claw ever so slowly, he with a faint smile tracing his eyes, brushed a few loose strands of hair away from the woman's face as he took notice of the slight pink color brushing along the Commander's face.

"Shepard; you really are something else."

Garrus spoke, his words simple but his eyes shone the admiration he had for her, be it as a fellow soldier following his commander, and that of a male being fully taken back by the strength and beauty of the woman before him. Though his thoughts were suddenly gone as he saw her face flush, in fear of her being angry of him intruding within her personal space let alone her comfort zone, the turian stepped back quickly.

"um- sorry, please forgive me Commander Shepard, I had not meant to just do that. Commander I-"

Garrus was instantly silent as Shepard, with a small smile on her lips, rested her hand upon the center of his chest, the armor feeling cool even through her armored hand. She could feel the faint thrum of his heartbeat racing within the metal shell of his armor.

"Garrus; you can try with all your might, and you will fail at ever offending me. Making me embarrassed and feeling awkward is one thing, but you have no ground to fear while being near me."

She spoke softly, the laughter shining in her eyes as he sighing, cocked his head to the side and admired her openly. As odd as this whole mess was, he had to agree, it was well worth this insanity to see what would become of them versus never knowing.

Shaking his head, he sighing nodded to his commander before turning around to run his claws over the controls of the calibrating console. The sudden jump with no real prep time had scrambled some of the controls of the forward guns, so he went to trying to fix them as he had a few moments ago before his mind had plagued him with the old memories from a Hell he had some how, crawled out of.

Shepard coming up along side Garrus's left, leaned against the console as she loosely crossing her arms over her armored front, let out a harsh breath as she staring forward, looked at the door that took them from the main battery to the commons of the Normandy.

"So."

Garrus started, clearing his throat as he felt the awkwardness of this whole mess seem to thicken the air with each breath of both turian and human.

"What is our next objective Shepard?"

A bit stale but meh... more will come, when, no idea but a lot sooner than it had taken to post this one.