Chapter 25

Shepard was unsure of how to act with Garrus in public. On Omega no one gave them a second glance, she figured all kinds of interspecies relationships were common there, so she had never really thought about it while they were there and it was never a concern on the ship because it was their home and all of the xenophobes had bolted the second they'd cut ties with Cerberus.

The Citadel, on the other hand, was a different story. They had wondered about it while they were on Illium but, again, it was on the edge of the Terminus Systems and a lot of things were okay there that weren't in Council space. Plus, in the days before she became the Shadow Broker, Illium had been Liara's turf and they could trust that she wouldn't let information about their relationship leave orbit.

So, Shepard was deliberately keeping her distance in order to let Garrus decide how he wanted to play things and was a little surprised when he took her hand.

"Jane, I don't care what others think about our relationship. In fact, I struggle to not want to tell everyone in sight about it." She smiled at that.

"I know, me too. I just wasn't sure if you wanted people to know or not." She shrugged, still smiling as he pulled her to his side.

"Jane, you're my bondmate and I'm not ashamed of that fact." She bit her lip at that.

"I know Garrus, I feel the same but... I guess I'm just a little worried that the second this becomes real to anyone outside the ship and our friends, it'll complicate things." She admitted and he sighed.

"That doesn't mean I want to hide our relationship." He said, keeping a hold of her hand.

"Me neither. Although, I'm guessing you want to explain this to your sister before she sees it so you might want to let go of my hand for now." She pointed out and he nodded, giving her hand a quick squeeze before letting go.

"Where are the rest of the crew?" He asked, trying to keep their minds off of what was to come.

"Thane is visiting his son, the rest of the guys, including Legion, have decided to head straight for the nearest bar and Kasumi organised a shopping trip with all of the girls, they're going to meet the guys back at the bar later along with Thane and, if we're done, us. Kasumi even included Miranda and Samara agreed to go but I think that has more to do with me booting everyone off the ship for a few hours than anything else..." Garrus gave her a quizzical look.

"Why has everyone been booted off?" He asked and she grinned a little.

"Well, I got sick of flying under Cerberus colours so I ordered a paintjob, which Joker is overseeing. It shouldn't take too long so he'll be with the other soon enough but I think he likes the alone time with EDI. Those two have been getting really close since she was unshackled." She was still grinning and he had to admit, Joker and EDI had been getting along much better recently.

"So, are you just wiping the Cerberus logos off or are you replacing them?" He asked and her grin widened.

"I know that the Normandy is a pretty recognisable ship but it didn't feel right to not have any distinguishing features so I used this." She pulled up a logo on her omni-tool that appeared to be a phoenix with angel's wings.

"It's... perfect. When did you come up with it?" She shrugged, looking a little self-conscious.

"Honestly? It's just a redesign of something I made back on the SR1, just after we'd made up our crime-fighting nicknames. Obviously the phoenix part is new, originally it was two angels. Anyway, a few weeks ago I was trying to restore some more of my old omni-tool files that I'd lost when I died and I came across this. I wanted to get rid of the Cerberus logo and I figured that with a little reworking this would be awesome. I like this, Garrus. I like what I've got right now, with my family of crazies on our ship. Not Cerberus's, not the Alliance's but ours. Is it bad that I'm this happy to not have to answer to anyone but myself?" She asked and he shook his head, laughing a little.

"Not at all. But, then again, it is me you're asking." He pointed out and she laughed at that as they continued through to the Presidium.

They were headed to the park just outside Huerta Memorial Hospital in order to meet his sister before his mother. He needed Sol to know about what he'd been doing before they decided what to tell their mother. He was unsure of how Sol would react to Shepard. He knew that Sol was angry about the fact that he hadn't been to visit in over a year and that she might blame Shepard for it.

The first thing Shepard saw of Solana Vakarian was a grey-blue blur tackle Garrus. Her biotics began to pulse before the blur detached itself from Garrus, revealing itself to be a turian female with blue facial markings. Shepard had only seen a handful of turian females before but could still recognise them by the shorter fringes. Solana was only a little shorter than Garrus and Shepard had always figured that he was tall, even for a turian. Shepard let her biotics dissipate, not wanting to seem hostile towards her bondmate's sister. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that they were siblings by the similarity in their features.

Shepard had no trouble recognising the look of shock on her face as she pulled away from her brother and saw his wounds.

"Spirits, Garrus! What happened to you?" She asked, causing him to sigh.

"Hi Sol, it's nice to see you too..." He said sarcastically, causing her to give him a look.

"Okay, I get it. The hole in your face is a touchy subject." She said, sighing as she folded her arms and looked him over. "Well, at least that's the only damage you've taken. Can I assume that this is why you haven't called?" Garrus shifted uncomfortably at that.

"I didn't want you to worry." He explained sheepishly causing Solana to shake her head.

"I worried anyway Garrus. I haven't seen you since you dropped off the grid over two years ago." The hurt was evident in her voice and Garrus tried to fight back the wave of guilt as his sub-harmonics trilled with apology. It was rare for turians to say the words 'I'm sorry' because if they were then it was evident in their sub-harmonics. Solana's rang back with acceptance but it didn't stop the guilt already building within him. He should have been there for his family but he had instead lost sight of what he had in the face of what he had lost...

At that point Shepard put all of her concentration into sending him her understanding and empathy through their bond and he smiled at her a little, realising that she had been forgotten in his reunion with his sister. It always surprised him at how she could easily transition from being the object of everyone's attention to a nameless shadow. At the moment she was blending into the background so well that he figured that Solana hadn't even realised that she was there. Or, at least, hadn't until Garrus had smiled at her.

"Sol, this is Commander Shepard, my CO." Shepard had wondered how he was going to introduce her at first. She agreed with him that it was probably a good idea to ease his sister into it, rather than just dropping the bondmate bomb on her from the get go.

"I thought you were dead." She remarked coldly, her sub-harmonics relaying the fact that she wasn't too fond of the commander.

"I was only mostly dead." She replied, her back straight with her hands clasped behind her back. Garrus recognised this as her 'Commander Shepard' stance and remembered it from when he'd first seen her again on the Citadel, Kaidan and Ashley trailing behind her... But the stance was not as fake as it had been that day, instead she genuinely had more self-confidence and a little humour played in her eyes.

"You speak Turian." Solana remarked, her mandibles widening a little with shock. Shepard shrugged.

"One of the benefits of being rebuilt is the ability to add things here and there, like a second voice-box." Shepard said, smiling a bit. She was nervous as hell, Garrus could feel it, but she was doing an excellent job of keeping it hidden. The only give away was her hands twisting behind her back and he knew she was resisting the urge to mess with her hair.

"A lot of trouble to go to just to learn Turian." Solana remarked and Garrus felt Shepard's mind draw a blank so he stepped up for her.

"She doesn't just speak Turian, Sol." He said but his sister largely ignored him although Shepard sent him her thanks.

"He's right. I speak a little Salarian and bits and piece of Drell but, since I spend most of my time with Garrus, I'm much better with Turian." She reasoned as Solana narrowed her eyes.

"So, if you're his CO then you're responsible for this?" She asked, indicating her brother's face. Shepard took a deep breath, unsure of how to defend herself. It was her fault. Garrus probably wouldn't have gone to Omega if she hadn't died and even then she couldn't escape the feeling that if she'd just been a little faster... Garrus growled a little as he followed her train of thought.

"Sol, that was before Shepard came back. There was nothing she could have done to stop it and if she hadn't shown up when she did I wouldn't be here right now." He was talking to Solana but it was obvious that his words were for Shepard who gave him a small, thankful smile but he began to feel her 'Commander Shepard' act falter a little. She felt his concern and heard it voiced at the edges of his sub-harmonics. She immediately riled up, her own sub-harmonics beginning to trill with defiance and a little anger. She hated it when he got concerned about her ability to cope with others. It had always been her problem by it's very nature and she hated how it made her look weak. He trilled back with apology before she focused on a memory of her slicing through an army of husks, her sub-harmonics voicing her triumph as she drove home the point that she was not weak. His sub-harmonics still voiced apology but it was mixed with humour.

That was when Solana cleared her throat and they were reminded that they were not alone. They had become used to no one being able to hear their sub-harmonic conversations apart from Mordin and Thane, neither of whom were particularly bothered about listening in to their banter. Solana just looked between them as they both looked a little like kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar. She frowned before she shook her head.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" She exclaimed, raising her hand to her fringe as she realised the consequences of what she'd just figured out.

"Sol..." Garrus started but she cut him off by raising her hand, still shaking her head.

"Dammit, Garrus. It's like you go out of your way to make my life difficult." She said, frustration evident in her voice before she took a deep breath and looked at the two of them. They were standing as close as possible to each other without actually touching, their body language told her that no matter what she said or what happened, they would be alright as long they had each other. All this time she'd been worried about her older brother and now she realised that she really didn't have to be. The human spectre was clearly just as much in love with her brother as he was with her and Solana knew that although the commander might drag him into all kinds of danger, she would die before he actually got hurt. Sol was a turian and she was used to her family being in military service but her mother's sickness had driven home what it really meant to lose someone and she was determined to not let it happen again. And, although she hated to admit it, it took a special kind of idiot to think that separating bondmates wouldn't do more harm than good. Garrus was going to stick with this human no matter what and if she didn't accept that fact then she'd be left with even less family than she had now.

"I'm... I'm happy for you Garrus, I really am. This just... complicates things." She said finally, seeing the relief flash across her brother's face before quickly turning into concern for her.

"Sol, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you alone to deal with this." Sol shook her head at that.

"Garrus, it's fine. I'm just glad you could visit but... it's bad, Gar. She probably only has a month or two left, despite the treatments you paid for, although they are keeping her lucid. And yes, I know that was you. You're not as sneaky as you think... Anyway, she decided that she wanted to return to the Citadel, to remember her days in C-Sec when she first met dad. She probably won't leave..." Sol trailed off at that and Garrus put his hand on his sister's shoulder, causing her to smile weakly at him, sub-harmonics trilling with thanks.

"Where is dad?" Garrus asked and Solana sighed.

"He had to return to Palaven to get some things... He'll be back next week. But Garrus, this has been hard on him." Solana didn't really have the words to explain what she meant but she didn't have to. Just the thought of having to watch, helpless, as his bondmate slowly slipped away from him was enough to chill his blood.

"I know, Sol." He said simply and Solana just nodded. She wondered if Garrus had known that Shepard was his bondmate when he'd heard of her death two years ago.

"Okay, then. Well, shall we go up and see mom? You'd better bring your bondmate too." Solana sighed, leading the way.

Shepard once again blended into the background as they entered Salina Vakarian's room. Even Shepard could see that the older female's face looked worn but it lit up as Garrus entered the room.

"Hi Mom." Garrus said, looking a little ashamed. He knew he should have visited sooner and he was afraid that she would be disappointed in him. However, despite his fears, his mother beamed at him, although she looked a little concerned.

"Garrus, I'm so glad you came." She smiled at him, grasping his hands in hers. "But what happened to your face?" She asked, causing Garrus to sigh through his own smile.

"Why is that the first thing everyone asks me?" He wondered and Shepard found herself suppressing a laugh. "I ended up using my face to stop a rocket. Not one of my best plans." He joked, causing his mother to shake her head.

"I suspect there's a story here. You'll have to tell me." She said but he shook his head.

"It's not a particularly good story. I've got some better ones, though." He said, causing Solana to speak up.

"I imagine the best stories involve Shepard." Sol said, putting her hand on Shepard's arm and drawing their mother's attention to her for the first time.

"I didn't see you there, dear." Salina remarked, causing Jane to look a little sheepish.

"Yeah, I get that a lot..." She said, smiling a little apologetically.

"It's alright, dear." Shepard tried not to squirm as the woman regarded her carefully. "I was wondering how long it would take my son to realise that you were his bondmate. He can be quite dense sometimes." Garrus and Solana spluttered in surprise but Shepard just grinned. She liked Salina, she decided.

"That he can be, Mrs Vakarian." She replied, her eyes sparkling with laughter as Garrus shook his head at both of them.

"Just call me Salina, dear." She said to Jane, both of them ignoring the two stunned siblings.

"How did you figure it out? When did you figure it out?" Garrus finally managed and his mother just chucked.

"Garrus, I figured it out when I read the first message you sent home after joining the Normandy. It was pretty obvious." Garrus shook his head again and looked at Jane.

"Here was me thinking it was some big secret." He said as Jane linked her arm through his. She would have put her arm around his waist but she was very much aware that the gesture was a hell of a lot more intimate to turians than it was to humans. Not that her crew recognised the difference but his family probably would.

"To be fair, I ended up omitting everything I wrote about you from the messages I sent home because when I read back through them I realised I sounded like a love-sick schoolgirl. Which, looking back, I realise I kind of was." She admitted, blushing a little.

"Why wouldn't you be? It's me." She laughed at their old joke, hitting him lightly.

"Baka." She muttered as he lowered his forehead to hers and Solana made retching noises in response, earning her a look from her mother.