Chapter 26
Shepard left the Vakarians to catch up after an hour or so. She almost laughed out loud with relief as she headed back towards through the wards to find out where the girls had got to. She hadn't really known what to expect from Garrus' family and was glad that at least his mother and sister seemed to like her. Although, they had all avoided talking about what his father's reaction would be which told her that it probably wouldn't be good. But it wasn't a problem right at that second so she decided to not worry about it as she wandered through the wards, pulling up her omni-tool to message Kasumi.
That was when she heard the scream.
She ran around the corner and into an alley to find two young human thugs, around seventeen years old, cornering a young girl who seemed about eleven. Her mind flooded with the memories of the day her biotics had just broken through as one of the thugs pulled a gun from his side and the all too familiar scene played out in front of her.
"Hey!" She said drawing their attention to her as her biotics flared. She smiled, clasping her hands behind her back and tilting her head to the side before raising an eyebrow and smiling condescendingly.
"I'm going to count to three and if either of you two are still standing here when I hit three, I'm going to paint the walls a very ugly red colour with my biotics." She said, staring at them through their glasses.
"One." The boy with the gun aimed it right at her head and she allowed her biotics to flare more intensely. The second boy kept switching his terrified gaze between Shepard and the first guy, his stance tensed to run.
"Two." The first boy shot a round but her biotics stopped it easily and she raised her eyebrows, causing the second boy to flee.
"Three." She had barely opened her mouth when the armed boy turned and ran away. She chuckled lightly as she reached down to where the girl was sitting on the ground, her left hand clutching a wound on her right arm where a bullet had grazed her before Shepard had shown up.
"Here." Shepard said calmly, handing the girl a pack of medi-gel. "What's your name?"
The girl applied the medi-gel, keeping her gaze level with Shepard's. She seemed scared, trying to decide whether or not she could trust Shepard. She narrowed her eyes before finally speaking. "I recognise you. You're that Spectre." She said and Shepard nodded, smiling reassuringly.
"Yes, I'm Commander Shepard." She said, still holding the girl's stare.
"I thought you were dead." The girl said suspiciously causing Shepard to smile a little more.
"Turns out I'm hard to kill." The girl nodded, seemingly accepting her answer. "What's your name?" Shepard asked, causing the girl to narrow her eyes again before she checked that the medi-gel on her arm was working.
"Kara." The girl said and Shepard nodded.
"Nice to meet you. Do you know why those boys were after you?" She asked and Kara nodded reluctantly.
"I saw something I shouldn't have. I... I decided to go to C-Sec." The girl's eyes flared with anger and sorrow.
"And they came after you?" She nodded. "Is there someone to call for you?" The girl shook her head and Shepard frowned slightly. She suspected that the girl wouldn't want to return to C-Sec but there wasn't anyone else who could deal with her. "Why didn't you stay at C-Sec?" The girl shrugged.
"They can't do anything. I'm too old. Smart kids stay silent. I'm not smart..." Shepard smiled at that.
"You're brave. I think that counts for more." She said, sincerely. The girl smiled a little at that. "Look, I've got a few friends at C-Sec, I'll make sure those thugs can't get you again." The girl nodded, seemingly not believing her. "Come on, let's see if I can help you out." Shepard said, standing up. She half expected the girl to just leave, having no reason to follow Shepard now that her wound was fixed other than the small hope that she might be able to help her out of her current predicament. After a few moments the girl nodded, standing up, seemingly deciding that Shepard at least had a chance of being able to help her.
As they moved towards C-Sec headquarters Shepard noticed that the girl was short for her age and skinny, the look in her eye the only indication that she wasn't as young as she seemed. Shepard figured she wouldn't be younger than ten but she couldn't be sure. She wondered how long the girl had been by herself and how long the thugs had been searching for her.
As they approached the C-Sec building Garrus appeared and Kara clutched Shepard's arm, ducking behind her.
"It's fine, he's a friend." She said to the girl and she nodded but she refused to move from behind her.
"I can't leave you alone for five minutes." Garrus remarked, shaking his head.
"I'm fine. You didn't have to come." She said, smiling at him as he shrugged.
"As if I wouldn't. Who's you friend?" He asked.
"This is Kara." The girl refused to move from behind Shepard as she regarded the turian carefully. "She's a little shy." She explained and Garrus nodded as they moved into the C-Sec building.
"Shepard. What can I do for you?" Bailey asked as they approached his desk.
"I was wondering if you could do me a favour, Bailey. My friend Kara here got attacked by a couple of young thugs. I managed to scare them off but she doesn't have anyone looking out for her. I was wondering if there was something you could do." Bailey looked at the young girl and sighed.
"I really wish that I could Shepard, but there are a lot of kids like that in the wards and she's too old for the system." Shepard gave him a pleading look.
"Please, there has to be something you can do, someone who'll look after her. I'll give you all of the Spectre authorisation you need and I'll pay any cost that the government won't but I can't just leave without knowing that she's safe." Bailey sighed before nodding his head.
"I think I've got an idea but I'll have to make some calls." Shepard nodded in response.
"I'll wait here with her until you're done." She walked over to the bench just outside of C-Sec and sat down with Kara.
"Are you hungry?" She asked the girl, who simply nodded. "Garrus, can you get us something to eat? Something nice?" Her bondmate nodded, knowing that Kara still wasn't comfortable with anyone but Shepard, and left. Shepard smiled before turning to Kara.
"How old are you?" Shepard asked, still unsure.
"Ten and a half." The girl replied, bringing her knees up to her chest in a gesture so familiar to Shepard that she almost laughed.
"Bailey, the C-Sec officer I was talking to, is a friend and I trust him. He'll find somewhere for you to stay, I promise." The girl nodded in response. "And I'll come and check on you whenever you want me to." Shepard said, smiling at the girl. She liked the kid and she didn't want anything to happen to her.
"Thank you." The girl said, so quietly that Shepard almost didn't hear it, despite her enhanced hearing. That was when Garrus returned with what seemed like a whole vending machine worth of chocolate, sweets and snacks.
"I didn't know what she'd like so..." Kara's face lit up and she forgot her shyness towards Garrus as she looked hopefully at a chocolate bar and he handed it to her. She sat, excitedly eating the chocolate as Jane smiled at her, eating a pack of fruit gums.
Kara was much more animated after that and seemed friendly towards both Shepard and Garrus. They were about half way through the pile of sweets when Bailey returned to them. Kara once again fell silent and grabbed Shepard's arm but didn't hide.
"Okay, there's a woman that I know who owns a bakery on the other side of the ward. She's got an apartment upstairs and says that there's too much room for just her and she needs a helping hand in the bakery anyway. She was going to hire someone but she said she'd be more than happy to hire and look after our little friend here instead." Shepard nodded.
"Is the woman nice?" Shepard asked and Bailey nodded.
"Yeah, nice old woman. I've got to know her quite well since she moved here a week ago. She's sweet but she knows how to use a gun which may come in handy if those thugs decide to show up again. I'll keep tabs on her as well, though." Shepard nodded at that before turning to Kara.
"Does that sound okay?" Kara bit her lip for a moment before nodding. "Okay, do you think you'd be okay to go with Bailey now? I promise I'll check in on you tomorrow." Kara smiled when Shepard promised to check up on her and nodded again.
"Alright, come on then." Bailey said to the girl and she hesitated for a moment but she nodded again and let go of Shepard's arm to follow Bailey leaving Garrus and Shepard alone.
"Do you ever think about when we first met?" She asked him, picking at her sweets.
"I guess. Mostly just about how improbable it was that we met again. You?" She looked away, allowing herself to become lost in the memories.
"I often wondered, in the early days of Biotic Training, about that girl. The one I saved? I didn't even know her name..."
"Laura. Her name was Laura." Jane looked at him, a little confused. "After I left you at the clinic I went back to C-Sec and asked my dad about her. Her parents came to pick her up and wanted to thank the officer who had rescued her but there wasn't anyone there to thank and you'd only told me your first name. I remember wishing that I'd asked for your full name so that I could contact you and tell you that there was a family who wanted to thank you." Shepard smiled a little sheepishly at that.
"Is it bad that I'm glad that you didn't? I mean, I wanted to know that the girl was alright but I don't think I could have handled face-to-face 'thank you's from her and her family." He smiled at that. She'd always been bad at accepting thanks.
"You were good with Kara." Shepard shrugged at that.
"You know, I never got on with other kids when I was a their age but now I'm grown up I get on quite well with them. Well, except for the bratty ones. I mean, what is wrong with their parents that they just let them act like that?" She shook her head, still smiling.
"Do you ever think about that? Having kids, I mean?" He asked uncertainly, and a little fearful. She shrugged, holding his hand in hers.
"I used to. Back before Mindoir, when I had a plan for my future. I used to love taking care of James and Bella for my aunt. I guess I never really thought about it after they..." Garrus squeezed her hand, wondering at how she could so casually discuss her own death but the deaths of these two children seemed to affect her more than anything. "Anyway, I guess I never really thought about it since then but yeah, I guess I want kids. What about you?" Garrus shrugged.
"The same, I guess. I never really thought about it too much but I always figured it would happen. But it's probably not possible..." He said and she took a deep breath.
"Maybe. But this is me you're talking to. I don't believe in impossible. Plus, even if it is, look at what happened today. There are plenty of kids who need homes so, I guess the whole incompatible biology thing doesn't bother me. Does it bother you?" He shook his head.
"No, ani. Not as long as I have you." She smiled at that as he lowered his forehead to hers.