When Shepard brought Jack on board, her head nearly split in two as she listened to Miranda complain about the woman. She sat on the table in the meeting room, head in her hands, and groaned as Miranda bitched and complained for a solid hour after Jack had left to settle in the lower decks.

"This is irresponsible, Commander! Lord knows what she will find or do."
Shepard sighed, heavily, and over dramatic to put emphasis on her annoyance with the woman.

"Will you stop acting like you're in high school, Miranda?"
Miranda halted in her pacing step and stared at Shepard as she finally spoke, her eyes wide.

"Excuse me?"
Shepard scoffed softly and smiled at Miranda's expression.

"Look. I made the deal. I am responsible for Jack, and anything she decides to do in the future. So, will you stop acting like I just stole your head cheerleading spot?"
Shepard smiled sweetly at Miranda as the raven-haired woman just gaped at her, for once at a loss for words.

"Now… If you are done reprimanding me, I have prior engagements."
Shepard then hopped off the table and walked away from Miranda, leaving the woman alone, and a small smile spread across her face as she rounded the corner and stopped to see Mordin, giggling quietly as the salarian was so engrossed in his work he never even saw her despite the fact he was responding to her words. Shaking her head slightly, Shepard finally left and walked toward the map, watching as the lights flickered and danced.

"Commander? You have a new message at your private terminal."
Shepard paused in her step as Kelly called out to her, smiling lopsided at the young girl before stepping up to the console. Her head tilted slightly, and she had to push loose strands of her hair back from her eyes, as she stared down at the screen and opened her inbox. She waited patiently, looking around the room and staring at each of the human face, she grimaced slightly at them still not feeling completely okay with what she was doing.

A small chime made her eyes flick back to the console and she smiled when she saw a message from Anderson, her mind drifting off as she began thinking she needed to head back to the Citadel soon. Her eyes drifted further down the list of messages and paused when she saw one from Admiral Hackett, her brow shooting so far up it almost vanished into her hair line.
She hesitantly opened the message, skimming over the text and closed it as quickly as she opened it. Her mouth felt dry, horse, and she waited a moment before speaking out to the pilot.

"Joker? I'm sending you new coordinates."
There was a pause in the haul of the ship as she flicked a button on her console to send to the cockpit, the silence eating at the back of her mind.

"Wait, isn't that…?"
Jokers voice rang out in the haul and Shepard closed her eyes, leaning heavy on the railing next to her console.

"Please just do it."
"Aye aye, Ma'am."
Shepard spun on her heels and walked to the elevator, tugging at her fingers as she waited for the door to close behind her before speaking to the AI.

"EDI… Please let me know when we get there… I will be in the forward battery room."

"Of course, commander."
Shepard closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, waiting for the elevator to finish making its slow crawl down to the second deck. Once the door swung open, Shepard was sure she left a breeze behind her with the pace she took on as she walked to the battery room. She tried to slow in her step, tried to calm down, but almost ran into the doors while waiting for them to open.

"Ah, Shepard."
His voice made her stop in her step and she simply stared at Garrus for a long time, opening her mouth to speak but nothing came out.

"Shepard?"
She cleared her throat and swallowed hard, closing her eyes as she folded her hands in front of her. Garrus watched her carefully, unsure if he's ever seen her so rattled.

"I got a message from Hackett… They… Ah… They found the Normandy's crash site."
Garrus watches Shepard for a long moment before turning back to his console and pressing a button to close the door. Once it was sealed shut, he closed the distance between them and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Are you alright?"
She nodded once, slow.

"Hackett has… Requested that we set a memorial statue at the crash site… He sent it in the last group of supplies that arrived while we were on board Purgatory."
Garrus nodded slightly, dipping his head and gently nuzzled his mandible against her forehead.

"Do you want me to go with you?"
All she could do was nod and Garrus pulled her into his arms, carefully holding her against his armor as he nuzzled against the top of her head. Shepards hold was hesitant at first, shaky, and her breathing hitched as she held to Garrus like a life line. Her face burrowing against his armor as she tried to breath deep. Garrus purred in his sub-vocals, attempting to calm Shepards distress, as he continued to hold her close.

What felt like an eternity of holding onto one another, was only a few minutes before EDI's voice echoed into the room.

"Commander. We have arrived."
Shepard tilted her head up and stared over at the blue orb as it flashed in the room, letting out a heavy breath as she closed her eyes and nodded slightly. Garrus' hands coming up from her shoulder and waist to gently cup her cheeks, his thumb tracing across the white paint on her jaw line.

"I'm with you."
Shepard smiled up at him sadly, cupping her hands over his and remained still for a while longer before finally moving, but never letting go of his hand as they made their way to the shuttle bay.

~~~~~~~ Planet Side ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Garrus watched Shepard carefully as she stepped out of the shuttle, offering his hand to her when she paused and seemed hesitant. She took it and Garrus could feel her hands shaking in her gloves, so he simply held her hand tighter as they began looking around at the wreck.

"I… Was spaced from here."
Garrus looked at Shepard when she spoke, pausing in their steps when they reached the cockpit of the old Normandy.

"I helped Joker get in the pod… And…"
Her voice trailed off and Garrus gently squeezed her hand before they continued to walk. Shepard had found a couple old tags from the dead crew, now keeping her eyes out for more as the continued walking. It was a long painful hour for both of them, Shepard as she collected the tags of her old crew and almost reliving the experience, while Garrus could only watch her suffer and not know how to help her.

Shepard had finally decided to place the monument next to the outer haul of the ship that was wedged between two large mounts of snow covered rock, the gold statue glinting in the sun light and reflected beautifully against the Normandy's name painted to the outer haul. Garrus stood there for a while, not noticing when Shepard walked away from his side, but when he finally found her, she was sitting on her knees and hugging something in her lap.

"Shepard?"
He walked over to her slowly and knelt down to see what she was clutching too, and his breathing hitched. Her old helmet. Garrus made a soft clicking noise and placed his arm across her back and she responded by leaning into it, allowing Garrus room to wedge his arm under her knees and hoist her body up into his arms and carry her back to the shuttle.
The ride back to the ship was silent, Shepard still clutching her helmet as Garrus sat with her in his lap. Once they docked, he picked her up in the same fashion and walked briskly to the elevator. He paused seeing Grunt was inside, finally leaving his room to explore the ship and made a noise at the krogan before stepping into the small space.

"What happened?"
Garrus looked at Grunt as he motioned to Shepard in his arms and he sighed heavily.

"I'll tell you another time, Grunt. For now, just make sure no one else comes in here."
Grunt made a noise of acknowledgement, and as if on que, the doors slid open and Miranda looked up at the three of them with annoyance.

"Commander, we need to talk!"
Garrus groaned and Grunt stepped off the elevator and into Miranda's space.

"Not now you don't."
Garrus tried so hard to not laugh, watching Miranda flinch away from the krogan, her gaze flicking back to the elevator just in time to have it shut firmly and resume its course to Shepards cabin.

Once the doors opened again, Garrus moved into Sheaprds room quickly and set her down on the couch, finally able to remove his helmet.

"EDI. Lock the doors. No one comes in here. If they need something… Tell them to piss off."

"Affirmative, Arch-Angel."
Garrus removed his gloves and chest piece quickly before turning back to Shepard and began helping her remove her armor. His mandibles pressing tight to his jaw when he removed her helmet only to see her cheeks stained with tears. Garrus' heart ached as he watched her, carefully removing her gloves, her shoulder pads, her chest piece. When he moved to her pants, Shepard blinked partially and finally looked at Garrus.

"Garrus…?"
He made a low humming noise to acknowledge her, removing her boots.

"I'm…. still here, right?"
Garrus looked up at her, his head tilting slightly as he put her boots to the side.

"This… Isn't a really fucked up dream that will vanish. Right?"
Garrus felt his mandibles flare in shock at her words, shaking his head as he took the old helmet from her hands and sat on the couch next to her. The armor plating of their legs knocking together as he pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.

"No, Liz… It is not a dream. You are here."
Shepard closed her eyes tightly and wrapped her arms around his waist, holding to him for dear life as a silent sob ripped from her lungs and more tears ran down her cheeks. Garrus closed his eyes, a quiet chirping leaving his throat as he purred and tried to sooth her, his hand running up and down her back across her shirt, carefully running his talons across her scalp and massaging her hair between the pads of his fingers. He continued to hold her, run his hand over her back and head, till her grip loosened around him and he tilted his head down to look at her.

A small sigh left him through his nose as he took note that she finally fell asleep and he tested his movements, lifting her in his arms again and moving over to the bed. He dropped her down gently into the sheets before removing her leggings, then his, and climbed onto the other side of the bed and pulled her back into his arms. She made a quiet whimpering noise and she pressed against his bare chest plate and he simply watched as she slept, managing to untangle her hair from the messy bun she wore and began to slowly run his talons threw the fiery strands.