Author's Note: Well Guys, the team has been through a lot, so I feel like it is about time for a girls night...and some more drunken Shepard antic's No?
Our favourite Quarian returns!
Enjoy, and thank you to Sister Magpie, my awesome Beta.
As always, your reviews keep me going.
Thank you to frxlz for following! It really means a lot to know you are enjoying this enough to follow!
Chapter Twenty-Five
Shepard collapsed onto her bunk in exhaustion. The past 18 hours had been an absolute nightmare. Everything that could go wrong did. After recruiting Thane and listening to Miranda's story about her sister, Shepard had taken Garrus and they had dealt with the terminals for Liara, then she and Garrus had grabbed Jack and went back out to recruit Samara, the Justicar.
To say it had turned into a complete shit show would be putting it lightly.
It had started with a murder investigation, which the Justicar was somehow a part of. Then, because of her 'code' the Justicar had to go with the cops, which left Shepard hunting for the information to track down the crazed killer the Justicar was tracking. Which led to a firefight with a bunch of Eclipse mercs.
Oh and let's not forget the stoned Volus who thought he was a biotic god. He had threatened Shepard with his "god-like biotic skills' to which Garrus sniggered uncontrollably, so Shepard had to put him in his place. She had tapped him on the shoulder, and he had promptly fallen over and staggered off in search of a place to nap.
Speaking of stoned. Shepard groaned and rubbed her throbbing temples. There had been canisters of this drug 'Minagen X3' all around the compound she had been fighting through. The bitch Asari that she had been fighting kept shooting them when Shepard was next to them, and for a while there, she had been high as a kite. When Jack had gone through a cloud of the stuff, she had pulled off biotic feats that Shepard had never even imagined.
Jack was currently passed out in the Med Bay, where Chakwas could keep an eye on her. All the intense use of her biotics had almost cooked the tiny tattooed woman's brain. For all that it had given Jack intense, albeit short-lived powers, all it had given Shepard was yet another near death experience, and a massive headache.
The worst part of the whole experience hadn't even been the drugs or the gunfight with the mercs. It had been right before they hit their final stop where they had to take out a gunship.
Shepard's heart raced as she remembered how Garrus has frozen when it had risen up in front of the balcony he had been standing on. Thankfully, she had been close enough to tackle him, and knock him behind a cement pillar into cover before the gunship unloaded on them. His strangled, panicked breathing still rang in her ears. He had shaken it off after a minute or so, and rejoined the battle to take it down, but Shepard had been terrified that he would just stand there, frozen, and be gunned down.
She resolved to go and have a chat with him…just as soon as she managed to get a couple hours of sleep.
She felt like her eyes had been closed for seconds, when a determined beeping pulled her from her napping. Groaning, she brought her omni-tool up to her face to see what the hell was happening now. She was shocked to see she had been out for almost 4 hours.
A beeping light showed a priority message from the Illusive Man. It contained another Dossier. Shepard grinned to herself as she replayed her last conversation with the man in her head. Guess he didn't feel like having a little chat this time, so just sent it along electronically. Fine by me.
When she opened the Dossier, she sat upright in her bed quickly in shock.
Tali. He was sending her to go get Tali. She leapt out of bed and dragged on her fatigues. The data pad clutched in her hand, she raced down to the bridge to give Joker the new co-ordinates. She burst onto the bridge, barely registering that the door was closed.
The door was never closed…she should have taken it as a sign.
Her ears were assaulted with music that sounded like 'bow chicka wow-wow' and lusty moaning and grunting. With an unholy shriek she dropped the data pad and clamped her hands over her eyes, although she wasn't quite fast enough and got an eyeful of tangled limbs…limbs that were definitely not all human.
"Joker! Seriously! What the fuck are you doing?"
"Commander! Oh my god. Oh my god! What are you doing here?"
"Turn it off, turn it off now!" Shepard's voice was dangerously close to shrill.
With a click, ringing silence filled the bridge. Shepard peeked through her fingers and let out a sigh of relief when the normal Normandy's systems appeared in the cracks of her fingers. She lowered her hands, and pivoted slowly until she was glowering at her pilot.
"Look Shepa-"
"Never. And I do mean never, will you ever watch that…that…whatever the hell that was in here again. Come on, Joker. This is the bridge. Of a warship."
Joker fidgeted and looked down at his hands guiltily. "Yes Ma'am"
"I mean it Moreau. Never, ever again do I want to be subjected to that…that…I mean really. Human, Asari and Turian porn?"
"There was a Salarian too but-"
"Never mind!" Her hands waved frantically. "We will never speak of this again. I need you to set a course for Haestrom. We are going to get Tali."
She bent to pick up the data pad she dropped in her haste to shield herself from the horror she had witnessed. As she straightened, a glimmer of light caught her eye. Oh god no.
"EDI?" She asked tentatively.
The orb popped fully into sight, next to Joker's elbow. "Yes Commander?" The pilot jumped in shock.
The same thought she was thinking appeared to have dawned on Joker as well, if the horror blooming in his face was anything to go by.
"Were you here, observing this…what ever this was, the whole time?"
"Yes Commander. I thought it would be good to gather as much information about organic mating rituals as possible. Mr. Moreau is not usually so diverse in his vids. I thought the interspecies aspect was worth further study."
If a hole opened up in the Normandy (again) Shepard was sure Joker would dive willingly into space. For a brief moment, Shepard thought about cutting the pilot a break. Then she remembered the assault on her senses after waking up from a lovely nap.
"EDI, this was not the type of mating ritual you should be observing. Mr. Moreau is going to explain to you the proper way humans show their affection. Ask him any questions you have on the subject."
"Thank you Commander." EDI's voice almost sounded…excited.
"Shepard no! You wouldn't…"
With a little wave and an evil grin, Shepard left the bridge and headed for Miranda's office to tell her that they would head back to Illium ASAP to help move her sister. She hoped her XO would understand that this had to be done first.
00oo00oo00
Haestrom was quite literally, hot as hell. She had been planning on bringing Garrus with her, but when she went to the battery to tell him about Tali, there had been a noticeable tremor in his hands, and a look on his face that told her that he had most definitely not gotten any sleep.
Despite his protests, she decided to leave him aboard, and grabbed Thane and Miranda. Miranda had been a little peeved that they were leaving Illium without taking care of her business, so Shepard though she was a good choice to bring, as it would keep her mind off other things.
Shepard brought Thane along as she wanted to test him out, and see how the usually solitary assassin did in a team setting. He was exceeding her expectations at every turn. The Drell was almost as good a shot with his sniper rifle as Garrus, though she would never tell the Turian so. He moved with ruthless and silent efficiency. She was very impressed.
She had the team stick to the shadows, because if they were in the direct sun for any length of time, their shields would begin to fry and they would burn up. Darting around they took out a few waves of Geth, and headed towards the next section of the compound. There was a dead Quarian laying in their path, and for a moment Shepard's heart lurched. It was a male however, and she quickly grabbed his radio.
"This is squad leader Kal'Reegar, come in, over."
"This is Commander Shepard of the Normandy. I passed a lot of dead Quarians on my way in. You're the first survivors I've found."
"Damn! Wait…Shepard? The Spectre Tali worked with? Don't know why you're here, but right now, any organic is a welcome sight. Patch your radio into channel 617 Theta. We were on a stealth mission. High Risk. We found what we were after, but the Geth found us."
Shepard looked around and got nods from Thane and Miranda as they patched into the radio feed.
"They've got us pinned down. Can't get to our ship, can't transmit data through the Solar Radiation."
"What's the status of your team? How many of you are left?"
"We were a small squad. A dozen marines, plus the science team. We are down to half strength now. Made the synthetic bastards pay for it though."
"What's your current location?"
"We're bunkered down at base camp across the valley. I left Tali'Zorah at a secure shelter then doubled back to hold the choke point. Getting Tali out safely is our top priority. If you can extract her, we will keep them off you."
Shepard could see some of the Quarians now, they were hunkered down behind concrete barricades north of her position.
"Hold position. We'll hit their back ranks."
There was roar, and Reegar shouted into the comm. "Wait! Watch your ass! We've got a dropship coming in!"
There was a hum, and then a Geth ship loomed into sight directly above the Quarians in Shepard's line of sight. She instinctively started forward, only to have her arm caught in an iron grip as Thane grabbed her. The ship fired upon the Quarians, killing them and causing a massive concrete pillar to fall directly in front of the door she needed to get to. She cursed savagely as the waste of life, and the frustrating inability to do anything to help them
Reegar informed her that there were demo charges in the building nearby, and that she would have to use them to get through the pillar. Thane released her, and they moved towards the first set of charges.
It was long and gruelling fight. Wave after wave of the synthetics poured from everywhere, including Geth Hunters. Hunters had the tech to cloak, rendering them virtually invisible, and extremely dangerous. Thankfully, Thane was also incredibly dangerous. He seemed to know exactly where to shoot to drop the cloaks so she and Miranda could finish them off.
One of the monsters managed to get right on top of Shepard, and dealt her a bruising blow that knocked her backwards into a massive metal crate. With a flash of blue, the hunter was thrown into the open, then shot through the head.
Shocked, Shepard turned to Thane. She had had no idea the Drell was a biotic. Judging from the look on Miranda's face, she hadn't known either.
Assassin one. Illusive Man zero.
Thane nodded his head at her, and she grinned back, then moved out to grab the explosives. After some intense back and forth fighting they managed to get all the explosives strewn throughout the compound and blow the pillar. The three of them burst into the blessedly cool room and Shepard leaned against the wall in relief.
It was with no small amount of satisfaction that she saw the usually perfectly coiffed Miranda was filthy and sweating. The brunette's hair was covered in sweat and plastered to her head, and her face was red with sunburn. The skin tight body suit was apparently not moisture wicking. Shepard took off her helmet and set it down pointedly beside her as she sucked back an energy gel. Miranda looked at her, taking in the fact that Shepard was sweaty, but unburnt, and then sniffed and took a pull from her water bottle.
"Krios. Here, take a gel. They are dextro/levo, so you should be good."
He snatched the gel she tossed at him out of the air, and just looked from it to her, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
He blinked with his inner lids, his dark eyes trained on her face. "I am just unused to having someone look out for me, Commander."
"Well, I guess you'll have to get used to it then. I look after everybody."
"Yeah. She's a regular mother hen" Miranda snorted.
Shepard scowled at her, then returned her attention to Thane.
"I can't help but notice Krios… the heat doesn't seem to be bothering you at all…If anything you seem to be enjoying it."
Now that she said it, Shepard noticed that Thane was practically gleaming. The green and black scales swirling on his face and were noticeably brighter.
"Ah. Yes. My people hail from a desert climate originally Commander. My body reacts…favorably to the heat."
"Must be nice" Miranda muttered, tucking the small mirror she had produced back into a pocket on her lower back.
Before Shepard could reply, a voice crackled over a terminal in the room.
"Hello? Is anyone there?"
Shepard pushed off the wall, and headed towards the terminal. As she approached, a holo of Tali popped up.
"Tali, it's Shepard. I'm sorry. Everyone here is dead. Any survivors must have fallen back."
Tali's head bowed. "We knew this mission was high risk. Damn it. What are you doing here Shepard? We're in the middle of Geth space!"
Shepard grinned at her former team mate. "I was in the neighborhood. I thought you might need a hand."
Tali chuckled. "Thanks for coming Shepard. It means a lot to hear your voice. Kal'Reegar and what's left of the marines got me into the observatory. From where you are, It's through the door and across the field. I got the data I needed, and I'm safe for now, but I've got a lot of Geth outside."
Miranda moved to the door, and shook her head when she discovered it was firmly secured, and she couldn't get it open.
"Somebody's sealed the door against the geth, and the console is damaged. Can you get it open on your end?"
Tali head bobbed as she looked around for something on her end. "Let me see… Yes, I can do it. Here. Should be unlocked now."
With a click, the lock turned green.
"Be careful Shepard. And please, do what you can to keep Reegar alive."
Shepard nodded and Tali cut out. The three of them moved to the door, weapons raised to face whatever may be on the other side. Flying drones. That is what was on the other side. They were wicked fast, and deadly accurate. Shepard took four shots to the chest as soon as she cleared the door, and her shields fizzled. Once again Thane was there, grabbing her arm and hauling her backwards into cover.
As soon as she was clear, he moved away and found a spot to take the drones out with the sniper rifle. The worked as a team, Miranda overloaded them, and Shepard and Thane took them out. Exhibiting significantly more caution, Shepard moved father into the field. She was about halfway to the other side, when another wave of flying drones appeared, accompanied by a Geth Prime.
Primes were big, red and mean. And they shot rockets. She gritted her teeth as said rocket exploded into the container she was crouching behind.
"Anytime now Miranda!" She shouted, waiting for the Cerberus Operative to overload the thing so its shields would drop.
Thane continued to take out the drones with precise shots from cover. With a shout, Miranda dropped it's shields. Shepard stepped fully out of cover and with a roar unloaded her assault rifle into the prime. It shuddered but didn't go down, then with a flash of blue, it's shields were back up, and it leveled a rocket at Shepard.
She dove, having no choice but to roll into the open, where the sun immediately took out her own shields. She rolled again, desperate to get into the shade. She was still to far. The prime rained shots down on her, and she screamed for Miranda to overload it again. With a flash it's shields dropped and Shepard unloaded her rifle into it again, ignoring to blistering pain as the sun tried to cook her alive.
It exploded in a fiery blast and knocked her on her ass. She rolled into the shade, then hissed as she assessed the damage on herself. She punched the command into her suit to inject her with pain meds and medi-gel. Her gauntlets had gotten so hot, the skin beneath them had blistered, the same with the skin on her thighs.
She remembered the attack from the Klixen. She had told Kaidan about it, what felt like forever ago in the bar with Wallace. This was a lot like that. And although the monster burn scar she had gotten from the Klixen had been removed when Cerberus had brought her back, judging by the pain radiating through her limbs, it was going to be replaced with some new ones.
With a grunt, she pushed herself up, and they moved through to the far end of the compound, taking out the last of the drones as they went. It was with a sigh of relief that they stumbled into a dim room, fully enclosed away from the harsh sun. Shepard punched another command into her suit for pain meds, ignoring the safety warning.
Her blistered skin was chafing against her under suit, and she could feel the blisters bursting, causing a harsh sting as the watery fluid trickled along her burned flesh. Miranda moved up next to her and sucked in a breath as she saw the scorched gauntlets.
"Jesus Shepard, are you alright? I need to look at that, let me get more light."
"No Miranda, don't worry-"
It was too late. The Australian hit a button to open the shutters on the room and let in some light. Unfortunately, with the shutters open, they were in perfect sight of the enormous Geth Colossus squatting across the compound.
"Down!"
Shepard grabbed Miranda and threw her to the ground. Thane landed with a thump beside them as the monster machine unleashed a brutal assault on the room. Hissing at the pain it caused her, Shepard urged the others on, and they belly crawled their way to the edge of the room, until they were out of its line of sight.
They peeked around the edge of the wall, and with no small amount of relief Shepard caught sight of red suited Quarian, hunkered down behind a massive concrete barricade. The bodies of what was left of the other Quarian marines were strewn around him.
He caught sight of them. "Over here! Get to cover!"
She scuttled towards him, and planted herself beside him. "Squad leader Kal'Reegar, Migrant Fleet Marines. We talked on the radio before the dropship arrived. I still have no idea why you're here, but this ain't the time to be picky!"
There was a massive explosion as the Colossus fired a rocket at them, and they were all showered in dust.
"Tali's inside over there." He nodded his head across the compound, directly where the Colossus was.
Figures.
"The Geth killed the rest of my squad, and they are trying to get to her. Best I've been able to do is draw their attention."
He went on to explain how the Colossus had a repair protocol. It could huddle up and fix itself. He had tried to move in close to it, so he could have a clear shot while it was down like that, but one of the Geth had managed to get a shot at him. He had a suit puncture and for a Quarian, a suit puncture was incredibly dangerous. Life on the Flotilla left them extremely vulnerable to disease and infection. Reegar would need immediate medical care if he was going to be ok. He was adamant that he wanted to keep fighting, and he refused to be taken out by an infection in the middle of a firefight. He told her his plan.
"Look, I might not be moving so well, but I've got a rocket launcher that the sun hasn't fried yet. You move in close. I'll keep the Colossus busy, maybe even drop its shields. With luck, you'll be able to finish it off."
"You've done enough Reegar. You don't need to throw your life away."
The Quarian shook his helmeted face at her. "Wasn't asking your permission. My job is to keep Tali safe. This is our best shot."
She made eye contact with Thane, who was crouched behind Reegar. Wordlessly, he gave her a tiny nod.
Reegar stood up, to return fire, and Shepard was on him in an instant, Thane spinning away from the wall to take her position and lay cover fire. She pushed Reegar back into cover behind the concrete wall.
"We don't have enough people on our side for you to take one for the team! Stand down!"
It was the voice she had used on marine's and Admirals alike. The Quarian squad leader was not so easily cowed however.
"I'm not gonna stand there while you run into enemy fire! They killed my whole squad!"
Ahh. Survivor's guilt. Shepard had been in his position. He would have to deal with it when they got off this hellish planet. Shepard would make sure he got the chance.
"If you want to honor your squad, watch my back! I need you here in case they bring reinforcements."
They glared at each other for a few moments longer. Then with a grunt, Reegar relaxed slightly.
"All right, Shepard. We will do it your way. Hit them good for me. Keelah se'lai"
She squeezed him arm in reassurance. She peeked her head out of cover, and managed to get a quick lay of the land before a geth saw her helmet and peppered her cover with shots. She checked her weapons, and punched another command for pain killers into her suit. Her arms were on fire, and it was making her grip on her assault rifle weak. She overrode the security protocol, and felt the stims and pain killers rush into her system.
She told Thane to stay here with Reegar and lay cover fire for her and Miranda until they cleared the path closer to the Colossus so he could move up. With a curt nod, and a concerned look at the blood trickling out from beneath her scorched gauntlet's, he moved into position.
"Shepard…" Miranda too had seen the blood.
"There's nothing to be done about it now. Move out."
The two women moved into the field, laying a path of devastation through the synthetics. The battle was brutal. Between the sun frying their shields and the massive amounts of Geth pouring into the compound, they made their way what felt like an inch at a time. When they finally made it to the Colossus, Shepard had decided upon a plan of action.
With a cry, Miranda overloaded it. Its shields didn't go down completely, but were weakened. Shepard screamed into the radio and Reegar blasted it with the last of his rockets. Praying to any gods that might be listening, Shepard rolled out of cover and ran up to the Colossus, unloading her shotgun into the wiring exposed by the connection of it's legs to its body.
It began to shudder, and smoke. She started to turn, to try and get clear before it blew. She made it a couple steps before something heavy crashed into her. At first she thought it had exploded, sending shrapnel into her exposed back. Seconds later there was an enormous boom, and it did explode. She was facedown on the concrete, with a weight across her back, behind a large metal crate. The weight lifted and she rolled, looking up into the face of Thane Krios.
Once again, the quick thinking Drell had managed to save her ass. He crouched next to her, perched on the balls of his feet like he had all the time in the world. He checked their surroundings, and apparently satisfied with what he saw, stood. He reached a strong hand down to her, and she reached up and grasped it as he pulled her to her feet.
"Krios, after today I owe you a beer. Or whatever you preferred drink is."
He cocked his head at her, and allowed a ghost of a smile to play across his lips. "Commander. If this is how all your missions go, I feel like we will share many beverages in the future."
She laughed, a full belly laugh. One of the first since Horizon. She liked this enigmatic Drell. Still chuckling, she moved up to the door, where with any luck at all, Tali was waiting. Miranda got the door open, and they moved inside. Tali was typing frantically away on a terminal, absorbed in uploading whatever data it was the Quarians had come here to find.
As Shepard moved up beside her, and laid her hand softly on her former teammates stiff shoulder, Tali finally said softly "Thank you Shepard. If not for you, I would never have made it out of this room."
Tali' shoulder's slumped, and she stepped away from the Terminal and gave Shepard a quick hug.
"This while mission has been a disaster. I wish I had joined you back on Freedom's Progress, But I couldn't let anyone take my place on something this risky."
"A lot of Quarians lost their lives here. Was it worth it?"
Tali hung her head. "I don't know Shepard. It wasn't my call. The Admiralty board believed the information here was worth sacrificing all of our lives for. I have to belief that they know what is best."
"Tali. I didn't ask what some Admirals thought. I asked what you thought."
"A lot of people died here. Some of them were my friends. All of them were good at their jobs. That damn data better be worth it. The price was too high."
Tali's voice was bitter. For all that Shepard felt for the young Quarian, she was impressed at how grown up she was. It was impressive for someone so young to be in charge of such important missions. Shepard worried what that meant for bringing Tali back on board the Normandy.
"Whatever the reason Tali, I am glad I could help. Once you deliver the data, I could use your help on the Normandy."
"I promised to see this mission through. I did. I can leave with you and send the data to the fleet from the Normandy. If the Admirals have a problem with it, they can go to hell. I just watched the rest of my team die."
They turned to leave, and Shepard was surprised to see Reegar stagger through the doorway.
"Maybe not the whole rest of your team Ma'am." He wheezed.
"Reegar! You made it!"
"Your old Captain is as good as you said. Damn Colossus never stood a chance."
Shepard stepped forward and shook Reegar's hand. "If need be, the Normandy can get you out of here Reegar."
"The Geth didn't damage our ship. Long as we get out of here before reinforcements show up, we'll be fine."
Tali wrung her hangs together, and stepped closer to the marine. "Actually I wont be going with you Reegar. I'm re-joining Commander Shepard."
"Oh. Ok Tali. I'll uh pass the data to the Admiralty board and let them know what happened."
He and Tali shook hands, and Shepard couldn't help but notice that they clasped each others hands for a little longer than necessary.
She bit back a grin as Reegar said. "She's all your now Shepard. Keep her safe."
00oo00oo00
One they were back on the Normandy, Shepard and Tali hid themselves away in the drive core and had a good long chat to catch up. Shepard hadn't realised how much she missed having the young Quarian around to talk with. She had had a couple chats with Jack and Miranda, but it wasn't the same as it had been with Tali and Liara.
Garrus was probably the best friend she had, or ever would have if she was honest about it, but it still wasn't the same as having a girl friend. She told Tali all abut waking up in the Cerberus lab, finding Garrus, the various other missions she had gone on to build a team. Then she told her about Horizon.
"He said what!" Tali gasped.
Shepard hung her head. "Yeah, well I guess if he had died and come back from the dead, while working for a terrorist organization I would have been a little shaken too."
"That Bosh'tet! I cannot believe him! Oh Keelah Shepard, how horrible for you."
Shepard tried to put on a brave face, to tell Tali that it was alright and she understood, but when she opened her mouth everything else she was feeling came pouring out.
"God Tali, it was awful. He looked at me like I was scum. Like I was nothing to him. He just…walked away."
The Quarian scooted closer to her and put her hand on Shepard's knee. Shepard sniffed and gave her a watery smile.
"Then he sent me a message. He basically said that he was confused and thrown for a loop when I just showed up. He said… He said he had just started dating again and now all these feelings caused by seeing me again… God Tali, he sounded so torn up about it all. I wanted to hate him. But I can't. He is still Kaidan. The man I fell completely in love with over the last year. Well, three years I guess."
"Oh Shepard." Tali leaned into her side and they just sat in silence.
Suddenly Shepard started to laugh. "God Tali, you should have seen Garrus. He was so mad, I thought he was going to strangle Kaidan. And he was so worried. I really scared him when we got back from Horizon. I felt like I was sleepwalking, everything was just numb and blurry. Dr. Chakwas said that he had to lead me back onto the ship like a little kid, while holding my hand."
"Wow Shepard. I really can't picture that. You are always so strong. You have everything together. Even after Virmire and Ash… You just straightened your shoulders and made sure everyone else was ok."
"Well, even I have bad days I guess. I am just glad Garrus was there. If he hadn't been… I don't know. I wasn't being myself."
Tali nodded, then looked over at her with her helmet tilted in what could only be described as speculative.
"You said Cerberus went all out with this 'new Normandy' right?"
Shepard was confused. "Yeah. Everything is top of the line. You should have heard Joker when he saw the leather pilots chair. He squealed, actually squealed with joy."
"Sooo, that means there's a bar right?"
"Yes Tali, yes there is." With a wicked grin, Shepard added "I'm gonna go gather the ladies… we are gonna have a girl's night."
Laughing, Tali and Shepard stood and headed out into the mess. Shepard sent a message to Miranda, Jack and Gabby, telling them to meet in Port Observation. Garrus was in the Battery with the door open, so she left Tali to gather up a few snacks and went to let the Turian know that he was in charge for the night cycle.
"Why Shepard? Is everything alright?" He flared his mandibles at her worriedly.
"Oh yeah Garrus, everything is fine. Me and the girls are going to head to Port Observation to have ourselves a party, so I need you to be me for the night m'kay."
His mouth dropped open in shock. "You and the girls…are going to have a party." He said it like a statement… a statement that made no sense to him.
"Yeah Garrus. A party. You remember what a party is like right? People drink, and tell stories and generally have a good time? We that's what we are going to do. Have a good time. We will have another one soon and invite the boys, but tonight is ladies night!"
She grinned at him, and he just smiled weakly back at her. "Ok then Shepard. I'll keep an eye on things out here. Have fun, and Shepard… Keep an eye on Jack ok?"
She burst out laughing. "Oh don't worry Garrus, I will."
00oo00oo00
Shepard roared with laughter while Tali just covered her mask with her hands and yelled "Stop Jack! I don't want to know anymore. Keelah, just stop!"
Jack was standing at the front of the room, gesturing lewdly and causing her drink to slosh wildly around the room.
"Blue I tell you! Blue as the drive core."
Tali moaned at the comparison to her beloved drive core.
Shepard was, as a rule, not a big drinker. There had definitely been moments over the years, especially with Wallace, but she didn't make a habit of getting drunk. The room was slightly blurry around the edges, and she was feeling warm and full of merriment. The night had started out with all of them sitting around somewhat awkwardly. Jack had been loudly bemoaning the fact that she was there and didn't 'want any part of some touchy-feely fucking girls night'. Gabby had been quiet and slightly intimidated by Jack and Shepard, and Tali had very quickly shown her tolerance for alcohol was low. Miranda had loftily refused to participate, stating that one of them had to keep their wits about them in case Garrus needed help, and retreated back to her room.
Shepard had decided to break the ice with a drinking game. Which had progressed very rapidly to her and Jack arm wrestling. Which had progressed to the four of them exchanging war stories, which had led to where they were now. Listening to a very loud, very scarring story of Jack, going into the bathroom on Omega to discover a very large, very aroused Turian having sex with a human.
Gabby piped up from where she was laying limply on a chair. "Bullshit Jack. There's no way their…things…are blue."
Jack staggered over to the chair and leaned down till she was in Gabby's face. "You calling me a liar?"
Shepard groaned and pushed herself to her feet, ignoring the alarming way the room spun wildly around her.
"Back off Jack. It does seem kind of crazy. There is an easy way to find out, though ladies."
At this Tali's peeked through her splayed fingers. "Hic-How?" Her tone was curious between the hiccups.
Jack came over to Shepard and swung her arm over her shoulders in a conspiratorial manner. "I gotcha Shep, I gotcha. You think he is still awake?"
Shepard blinked. "Who's awake?"
"Garrus. That's the plan right? Ask Garrus to tell us the truth."
Horror bloomed on Shepard's face."What? No! I mean we could look at a vid!"
She tried to scramble backwards away from Jack so quickly she hit an ottoman with the backs of her knees and came crashing to the floor with a shriek.
With the timing of someone truly unlucky, the door to Port Observation opened with a whoosh to reveal none other than the Turian in question. He stood framed in the doorway, taking in a slow scan of the room. His gaze skimmed over Gabby, now passed out in a chair across the room, to Tali, huddled on the couch still peeking through her fingers, to Jack standing weaving in the center of the room, finally resting on Shepard, flat on her back on the floor, her mouth hanging open like a fish.
"Speak of the fucking devil!" Jack crowed. "We have a question for you Gary!"
Garrus was still looking at Shepard. Wariness and confusion on his face.
Shepard started trying to scramble to her feet, which was hard as her legs were tangled up in the ottoman. Jack took a wobbly step towards Garrus and Shepard shrieked and grabbed her ankle, causing the tiny biotic to crash to the floor. Shepard scrambled to her feet, and propelled herself forward and latched onto Garrus' arm.
"Out Garrus. Out!"
"Shepard, what's going on? I heard you yell. What does Jack mean you have a question for me?"
Jack chimed back in from the floor just she Shepard hauled Garrus back to the door.
"We need to know what colour your-"
The door swished shut, cutting off the rest of her question.
"You know Garrus, it isn't important. At all. Let's never speak of it again, ok?"
Garrus was looking at her, confusion all over his face. She had a death grip on his arm, and she suddenly realised that if she let him go, there was a very good possibility she would fall on her ass.
"Umm, Garrus?"
He sighed, resignation on his face. "Yes Shepard?"
"Could you uh, walk me to my room?"
He finally seemed to understand. He leaned closer to her and sniffed her, then took in her hair, which was coming out of its braid, her flushed face, and the way she had a hold of his arm like a lifeline.
He started to chuckle, then blew into a full blown laugh. "Yeah Shepard. I'll help you to your room."
Shepard glowered at him. "Walk Garrus. I said walk me to my room, not help."
"Whatever you say Shepard."
They moved to the elevator and took it up to the loft. He helped her to the edge of the bed, which she sat on in relief. The room was spinning again, and she was feeling decidedly unwell. Garrus moved away, but didn't leave. He went into her washroom, then came back to the bed and handed her a glass of water.
"Drink it Shepard." His tone brokered no argument, so she just downed the water and handed the glass back to him.
He moved away again, and she bent over to unlace her boots. This wasn't the best of ideas, as hanging over the bed to unlace the boots caused her stomach to lurch unpleasantly. She groaned, and crawled onto the bed, ignoring her half laced boots.
Garrus returned to the bed, and set the now full again water glass on the night stand. She groaned, and snuggled into her pillow. She felt a tugging on her leg, and relaxed, allowing Garrus to pull her boots off for her.
"Thank you Garrus. You're the best." She mumbled.
He hummed, that deep hum from down in his chest he made sometimes.
"Garrus?"
"Yes Shepard?" He whispered.
"What does the hum mean? I know you told me, but I can't remember."
"It means I care Shepard. Are you going to be ok?" He sat on the edge of the bed. Shepard blearily noticed he wasn't in his armour. He was always in it, so it was odd to see him without.
"Garrus? Where's your armour?"
He looked down at himself as through just realising it wasn't there. "Oh, I finally started repairing the cracked shoulder plate. It needed to set."
She scooted closer to him, he was incredibly warm.
"Mmm. I like you without the armour. You look nice. You're very warm Garrus."
"Oh, uhh yeah. It's a Turian thing."
"That must be nice. I always feel cold, since coming back. Space is so cold Garrus." She shivered as the memory of the cold vacuum of space danced through her inebriated mind.
Garrus stood, and Shepard grabbed his hand. "Don't go yet."
He hummed again. "I am just grabbing a blanket Shepard."
He slipped his hand from hers, and returned with the blanket off the couch. He draped it over her, and she snuggled into it with a satisfied sigh.
"Garrus? Will you stay for a bit? Just until I fall asleep?" She peeked up at him from her blanket cocoon, feeling warm and safe, and terribly alone. She didn't want the memories of Kaidan to swamp her when he left. She wanted a night of peace from the memories.
He looked down on her, long seconds ticking by before he finally said. "Sure Shepard. I can stay for a bit."
He took off his boots, and swung his legs over the bed, leaning back against the head board.
"Thank you." She whispered, then curled into his side. He very gently let his arm drape across her back, and she sighed at the warmth now surrounding her. Sleep called to her, and it didn't take long for her to be right on the edge of the blissful abyss.
Just before she drifted off, she felt the soft touch of someone running their fingers through her hair, undoing her braid. She sighed, and snuggled closer, the soft hum under her ear lulling her into a deep, restful sleep.