A/N: Thank you all for reading, favoriting, following and reviewing.

Special thanks to Shootingstar7123, Mei-chiri, DandereGoneFishing, Cassandra Y, Dolce Latte van Creme, Tuffet37, Hringur, Ex Mentis, Yoruki Hiiragizawa, MelShep, Detective-Mason, Suilven, KumoriYami and Tamy2323 for the reviews and messages on the last chapter. I'm so glad you liked the reunion between Shepard and Garrus. :)

So, here's that "talk" many of you have wondered about—and a little extra. I hope you'll like it. :D

Thank you to Detective-Mason and Ex Mentis for giving me some ideas for this chapter, and to KabiViolet for beta reading.

BioWare owns Mass Effect and its characters.


Garrus moved into Shepard's quarters the next morning. She'd made some room for him in her closet and lined up her own toiletry on one side of the sink in the bathroom, and he took over whatever space was left for him with the few belongings he'd managed to grab from his locker when his troop had been ordered to leave Palaven and withdraw to Menae.

His bulky armor was the hardest thing to accommodate, but it usually ended up haphazardly tossed into a dark corner at the end of a long day anyway—along with her clothes and his undersuit—just before they fell into bed (or onto the couch, the desk in the office, or against the cool wall of the shower) and made up for those awful six months when all they'd been able to do was dream about each other. It was nice, cuddling under the blanket afterwards and talking about whatever came to mind before they fell asleep side by side, then waking up in each other's arms again in the morning.

If anybody noticed the change in their sleeping arrangements, they didn't say anything. Those who'd known them for a long time might have caught the light in their eyes and the spring in their steps when they both came down late for breakfast, but the new members of the team seemed oblivious to the fact that the commander was sharing her bed with a turian now.

Not that they would have cared much anyway—after all, most people on the skeleton crew had more things to worry about than the personal life of their CO. Besides, if push came to shove, they all would wholeheartedly agree that if there was anybody in this galaxy who deserved to be left alone and do whatever the hell she pleased in her free time, it was Commander Shepard.

Nevertheless, they did their best not to flaunt the true nature of their relationship in public. Garrus and Shepard did their jobs as usual and were nothing less than professional during the missions they went on together, and when back on board, Garrus stayed locked up in the main battery, tinkering with the weapons systems for hours on end, while Shepard dealt with the never-ending demands of the war.

They didn't talk any more about Kaidan until she received a message from him, telling her that he was awake and conscious and feeling much better.

"Seems like Kaidan's out of the woods," Shepard said in lieu of a greeting when Garrus walked through the door that night and bent down to press his mouth against the top of her head.

He stilled for a moment before he straightened back up and cleared his throat. "That's, uh, good."

She swirled around in her chair and looked up at him. "He wants me to visit him. We're going to have to pick up some supplies and a few new people on the Citadel in a couple of days anyway; maybe we could swing by the hospital then."

"We?"

"Sure, why not? I thought you might want to see him, too."

"Not particularly, no."

She chuckled and stood up to plant a small kiss on the unscarred side of his face. "Fine, you don't have to come if you don't want to." She took his hands in hers and smiled up at him. "But maybe we could do something fun afterwards. Just the two of us."

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. "I can think of a few fun things to do."

"As tempting as that is," she shook her head with a grin, "I meant something on the Citadel. You've been telling me of all those places you wanted to show me one day; well, this might be the perfect opportunity."

He didn't have to say anything; it was enough to look into his eyes to know that he bit back the same thought she'd tried to chase away: it might be the last opportunity before things went to hell.

"All right." He nodded and ran a careful talon along her scalp, brushing a stray lock of hair out of her face. He paused for a second, enjoying the silky feel of the strands underneath the pads of his fingers, before he drew back and looked at her with feigned seriousness and pretended to search his memory for the most exquisite place he could take her to. "Let's see... You want to check out the seediest bar on my old route, right?"

"Not really," she laughed, "though, if they have good ryncol, then why the hell not?"

"I'll see what I can do," he rumbled, putting an extra effort into the deep vibrations of his subharmonics, and grinned happily when she shivered and bit into her lower lip in response. He knew very well what his voice did to her—not that she complained; especially not when he followed up that satisfying purr by sliding his warm hands underneath her shirt as he bent down to nip at her jaw. "But right now, we could have some fun right here," he drawled.

The corners of her lips curled up into a grin and she gripped his hands to lead him down the stairs towards the bed. "That works, too."


They arrived at the Citadel two days later and she spent the better part of the morning staring down bureaucrats (or yelling at them—depending on what worked best) to make sure that they got the supplies she'd requested and that they were actually delivered into the cargo hold of the Normandy. The few specialists Hackett had promised to add to her team boarded without any trouble at least, and she took the time to welcome each of them personally before she declared a 24 hour shore leave and finally headed over to Huerta Hospital.

Garrus had already hurried off somewhere to deal with the needs of a group of turian refugees and to make preparations for their date later in the day—the nature of which she knew absolutely nothing about; all her attempts at coaxing, bribing, and cajoling the information out of him had fallen on deaf ears.

She couldn't even remember the last time she'd been this excited about an impending event; even if they did end up in that seedy bar that he'd joked about, she was sure that it was going to be the best night of her life. Just spending a couple of hours with him without being shot at or getting dragged away to a meeting seemed like absolute heaven right now.

The hospital was even busier than the last time she'd been there, but she managed to bump into Kaidan's doctor before she reached the door to his room.

"Ah, Commander Shepard." The salarian waved away his assistant and nudged his head towards a relatively quiet corner of the lobby. "I heard you were back on the station."

Shepard followed him dutifully and listened to his long-winded explanation about the nature of Kaidan's injuries, but all her brain was able to pick out from the barrage of medical terms was that something bad had happened to his L2 implant and he almost died, but was doing much better now.

She thanked Dr. Ensol when he finally stopped his extensive diagnosis with a nod and a cheerful "We'll keep him under observation for a couple more days," and took the opportunity to continue on to Kaidan's room when the assistant came back and dragged the doctor away.

The last person she'd expected to find when she walked through the door was Udina. He was just leaving, which was more than fine by her, and he gave her a curt 'Shepard' as he exited the room. She reciprocated his strained greeting in a similar manner, and once he was gone, she pulled up a chair and settled down by Kaidan's side.

"Hey. How are you doing?"

"Much better, thanks." His eyes were sunk in and his skin was still bruised, but his smile was as warm as it used to be—once upon a time, a long while ago. "I'm glad you came."

She nodded in acknowledgement and tilted her head towards the door. "What did Udina want?"

Kaidan raised his upper body onto an elbow and rubbed the back of his neck with his other hand. "He wants me to become the second human Spectre." He sounded unsure.

"And? You're going to do it, right?"

"I don't know. I'll have to think about it. I have some big shoes to fill." He smiled at her, and she gave him a smirk in return.

"You can do it—Major." He laughed, and she started to relax a little. It was nice to be able to talk like old friends again. Maybe this was going to work; maybe they could get over all those hurtful things of the past and fight side by side again. She leaned forward, putting her elbows on her knees and resting her chin on her folded hands. "I've talked to Dr. Ensol. Sounds like they're going to let you out soon."

"Yeah. My implant got rattled—don't ask me about the medical gibberish, I don't understand half of it myself—but it's better now. My biotics seem to be even stronger than before, actually."

"Rattled, huh? That's about as much as I could decipher from the doc's explanation myself."

Kaidan chuckled and lay back on his pillow with a sigh. "I can't wait to get out of here."

"I could break you out if you get desperate," Shepard grinned. "Though your doc might not appreciate it."

"Heh, I'm sure he wouldn't." He looked at her thoughtfully and fidgeted in his bed for a while before he approached the subject he'd been thinking about ever since he'd awoken in this place. "Shepard, I'm... sorry."

"About what?"

"Horizon, Mars—everything." He searched her face for a reaction, but all he got was a small nod and a pair of green, inscrutable eyes boring into his soul. He swallowed past the lump in his throat and fisted the sheet at his waist into tight balls without realizing what he was doing. "I was... unfair. I took my anger and hurt out on you and I shut you down. I just couldn't deal with losing you then seeing you on Horizon after two years of mourning, you know? In a Cerberus uniform, no less."

He sighed and raked his fingers through his dark hair. "Look, I know now that I was wrong about you. I was right about Cerberus, but I was wrong about you."

A moment of uncomfortable silence fell on the room before she finally said something. "Okay."

It wasn't exactly what he'd hoped for, but it was better than "Go to hell", so he took a deep breath and continued. "So... can we put the past behind us and go on from here? I'd very much like to join you on the Normandy again. When I finally get out of here, that is."

He gave her an awkward smile. His heart flipped in his chest and filled with hope when she smiled back at him and said, "I'd like that, too."

"I... still care about you. More than you'll ever know." His words spilled from his lips in a choked murmur, and he lifted up a timid arm to reach for her hand. His blood froze in his veins when she pulled away.

"Kaidan, I..." She bit into her lower lip and took a deep breath. When she'd come in here, she'd expected either another fight with him or some strained conversation about his recovery and the war. This—she had not expected this. "I'm glad you're doing better and we've cleared the air, and I'd be happy to have you back on board. But what we had... is gone. I have somebody else now."

Underneath all the black and blue bruises and scorch marks on his face, his skin paled to a ghostly white as he stared at her with hurt in his eyes. "Somebody I know?" he finally rasped.

"It's Garrus."

"Garrus?" The way he growled out his name, it sounded more like a statement than a question. His forehead creased into an angry frown and his lips pressed together into a thin line. He should have known that it was him. He could still remember the irritation he used to feel back on the SR-1, every time he caught Garrus watching Shepard with that stupid, hopeless longing in his eyes. That two-timing son of a bitch, he wanted to say, but he swallowed his words when she started to speak, her voice rising in annoyance at the hint of reproach in his tone.

"Yes, Garrus. Supportive, loyal, nonjudgmental Garrus. My best friend, my pillar of strength, the one person that I can count on to watch my back, no matter what. The person that would follow me anywhere, no questions asked—"

"And the person who finally made his move as soon as I was out of the picture," he spat.

Her eyes opened wide. "What?"

"Come on, Shepard, don't tell me you didn't notice how he looked at you whenever you were in the room. He'd been carrying a torch for you almost from the moment he set foot on the Normandy."

He waited for her to say something, but she merely gaped at him in slack-jawed surprise. Apparently she'd had no idea. Her cluelessness about the turian's long-lasting affections should have been mildly gratifying, but under the circumstances he found little comfort in the thought that she'd been so blind to Vakarian's charms. He wondered when things had changed and couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice when he grumbled, "How long did he wait before he took his chance? Were you two together already when we met on Horizon?"

Her mouth snapped shut and she glared at him for a second before she answered. "Paranoia is a way of life for you, isn't it?" She shook her head with a sigh. She'd been trying to stay calm, but he sure didn't make it easy. "No, there was nothing between us at that time. I was so happy to see you, Kaidan. The Illusive Man had told me that you might be there, and the whole time we were going through the colony I kept hoping against all hope that we weren't too late and the Collectors hadn't taken you. And then there you were, not willing to listen, and you walked away from me. You stabbed me in the heart then kicked me in the gut with that letter when you questioned my integrity once again and told me you'd moved on."

He tried to say something, but she went on. "It was me who went to Garrus after that. Not the other way around. He'd been a perfect gentleman. I was hurt and angry and needed a shoulder to cry on; I needed somebody to hold me and make me feel like I wasn't a worthless piece of trash."

Kaidan winced as her words sank in. He'd been so wrapped up in his own volatile emotions back then that he'd never considered the effect his outburst could have on her. The thought that he'd caused her pain was almost more than he could bear. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Whether she heard him or not, her gaze drifted off into the distance and her voice grew soft when she continued. "He was always there for me and never asked anything in return. I can't even imagine a day without him anymore." Her eyes slid back onto him and she gave him a small smile. "In a way, I have you to thank for that. So it's okay. Really."

He stared at her in stunned silence, trying to put together an intelligent reply, but his brain was too dazed to cooperate. This was not how things were supposed to be; she was supposed to forgive him and they were supposed to forget about the past and move on. Together. This—he didn't know how to deal with this.

Before he could collect himself and say something, the tense quiet of the room was interrupted by the ping of an incoming message on her omni-tool. "Excuse me," she muttered as she lifted her left arm and brought up the interface. The message was from Garrus, letting her know that he was done with whatever he'd been doing and asking her to meet him on the Presidium Commons.

'Be right there,' she typed, beaming at the prospect of seeing him soon, then she turned off the display and stood up. "Well, I have to go now. Take care, Kaidan. And get better soon."

Kaidan stared at the door long after she was gone and wondered what Dr. Ensol would think if, after all his efforts to bring him back from the clutches of death, his patient would end up dying of a broken heart in his hospital.


She found Garrus as soon as she stepped out of the elevator. He was leaning against the glass wall with his arms folded in front of his chest, one leg casually crossed in front of the other. He flashed her a wide grin and proudly held up two tickets to the best movie theater on the station.

"Blasto 6: Partners in Crime," he crooned.

Her eyes lit up and she nearly jumped into his arms in her excitement. "Really? I noticed the ads last time we were here. Never thought I'd be able to see it."

He gave her a satisfied smile and gestured towards the cab station behind them. "Shall we?"

They chose a vehicle and climbed in, and she put her head on his shoulder when they took off.

"So... how did it go with Kaidan?" he asked.

"Fine. They might release him from the hospital in a couple of days."

He nodded in acknowledgement, and she decided not to spoil the moment by talking about Kaidan any more.

The large projection room was almost completely full by the time they got there. They found two comfortable seats and settled down with their snacks and drinks, which Shepard had insisted on purchasing in the lobby in spite of Garrus's repeated warnings that they were going to be late for the show.

The lights dimmed soon after, and the movie started up with an exciting space chase, complete with rousing music and sound effects. Shepard took a sip of her drink and damn near snorted the liquid up her nose when Garrus leaned closer and whispered, "There's no sound in space."

She chuckled, and when one of the vehicles exploded into a red and orange ball of sparks and fire, she put her lips to his ear canal and murmured in her best Mordin voice, "Also, no oxygen—no flames."

He laughed, spilling some of his drink onto the floor, and raised a hand in apology when the hanar in front of him turned around to cast a reproachful look at the two of them.

They watched the movie quietly for a while, until the volus Chief berated Blasto for having destroyed half a level on Zakera Ward and wheezed out something about the Council having given the vorcha "diplomatic immunity".

"Who wrote this stuff?" Garrus grumbled.

"A vorcha?" Shepard snickered.

The hanar turned around again and said, his colors flashing in subtle waves and his voice echoing melodically in the spacious room, "This one requests that you stay quiet. This one would like to watch the movie in peace."

The batarian next to the giant jellyfish shook his head in exasperation and growled, "This one would like all of you to shut the hell up."

There were a few more hisses of "Shh!" around them, and then they all fell silent.

They watched the rest of the show without any further incidence.


Garrus took her to a nearby dock afterwards, and they boarded the small boat he had reserved the night before. He punched the coordinates into the automatic steering system and settled down next to her on the deck. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and she pressed into his side with a blissful sigh.

The artificial lighting had been switched to the night cycle by now, and the lights of the buildings dotting the shoreline reflected off the rippling water, giving the illusion of a million sparkling jewels bobbing up and down around their craft.

"It's beautiful," she said softly.

"Not as beautiful as you," he purred, and his chest rumbled happily when she turned her face up for a kiss.

"Thank you for this," she whispered when their lips parted. "This has been the best date I've ever had."

His mandibles flared in a pleased smile. "I'm glad. But it's not over yet."

"No?"

"The best is yet to come." He pointed at a shimmering spot ahead of them, and she followed his gaze to a graceful waterfall between two huge artificial boulders and a thick vegetation of bushes and ferns.

He fired up his omni-tool and tapped a few buttons. The curtain of the cascading water parted, creating an inviting entrance for their boat, and they slipped into a breathtakingly beautiful grotto, hidden right underneath those unimposing rocks on the outside.

He watched proudly as her eyes opened wide in child-like wonder and she looked around, taking in the scene unfolding in front of them. The water split into different directions from their entry point, each stream ending in a small bay and most of them already containing a water vessel of some kind; further ahead there was a small building delicately decorated with flowering vines and garlands of glimmering lights. The wall and the paths between the waterways were illuminated by the flickering flames of exotic-looking torches, and every available spot was covered with tropical plants of all kinds.

"Wow," she said when she found her voice again. "What is this place?"

"Welcome to 'The Enchanted Jungle' restaurant!" Aveena's cheery voice chimed in as the VI's holographic form shimmered to life right next to their craft. Shepard nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden intrusion, but managed to turn the undignified squeak escaping her throat into a grumbling cough before anybody, especially Garrus, could notice.

She took a deep breath while Aveena directed their boat to bay Number 7, and Garrus steered their vessel to the designated spot, which was surrounded by large shrubs of mauve colored, hibiscus-looking flowers. There was a small clearing right next to the small dock, just big enough for a round table and a few circular seats around it.

As soon as they got out of the boat and settled down next to each other, an asari waitress appeared by their side and took their orders with a pleasant smile. She brought them some drinks, then she retreated to the building in the back while they waited for their dinners.

"I had no idea there were such places on the Citadel," Shepard said when they were alone again.

"Neither did I, until we had a murder case here a few years ago." Not that he condoned the ruthless killing of innocents, but that was one of his favorite investigations while he was in C-Sec. It was full of twists and turns, with intriguing clues that took him all over the station and beyond, and ended with a highly satisfying arrest of the leader of one of the most dangerous Citadel gangs of the time. As a side benefit, it also earned him a much-needed promotion.

Shepard raised an eyebrow and groused in mock indignation, "So... you've brought me to that seedy place you talked about?"

His head whipped at her in shock and he was about to protest when he noticed the smirk pulling at the corner of her lips. "Ha! Funny."

She laughed and took a sip of her drink. It was a fruity concoction with a generous amount of alcohol and one of those cute little umbrellas stuck into the sweet slosh that she never knew what to do with. She wondered if the waitress put this in every customer's glass or if she only tortured those crazy humans with it—it certainly didn't adorn Garrus's brandy. Either way, she decided to get the silly thing out of her way and drop it unceremoniously on the table.

"Actually," Garrus mused, sliding his gaze around, "it was a pretty classy place, even then. The murder happened in the back office; the owner got tangled up in some business with the wrong people. Long story. However," he went on, casting a sideways glance at her with a wide grin, "it did lead to a step up in the cases I was assigned to—one of which happened to be the investigation of Saren Arterius."

Shepard nodded at that. "And, as they say, the rest is history." She fumbled with the discarded umbrella on the table, twirling it around and around, before she looked at him and brought up something that had been stuck in her brain ever since she'd left the hospital. "Speaking of which, Kaidan said something... interesting today."

"Oh?" His mandibles pulled in tight as he peered down at her. Anything involving Kaidan could only be bad.

"He said that you, uh, had a crush on me ever since you came on board the first Normandy. Is that true?"

She reached for his hand and squeezed it lightly when she saw the tension in his face plates. That was enough to make him relax and let out a deep sigh. "Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I... It was clear you loved him. I didn't want to interfere. Besides, I didn't think I had a chance."

She had to admit that he was right. Nobody, besides Kaidan, would have had a chance back then. She'd been a fool; a blind, misguided, clueless fool. "You know, I used to be mad at Kaidan for Horizon. But now, I'm actually thankful that he opened my eyes." She scooted closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder. "I'm so glad I have you. I love you, Garrus."

He rested his chin on the top of her head and let out a happy rumble. "I love you, too. And I'm glad you like this jungle thing, because I uh, thought that we could, you know, settle down in a place like this after the war."

She looked up at him in feigned shock. "Really? You want to settle down in a restaurant?"

"No," he laughed, "on some nice, tropical planet. Just the two of us. And the kids."

"Kids?"

"Yeah. I wouldn't mind finding out what a turian-human baby would look like."

"I don't think biology would cooperate, Garrus. Besides, can you imagine us as parents?"

"Why not?" He shrugged. "I could teach them lots of things: how to shoot, how to take apart their weapons and clean them, then put them back together—"

"How to calibrate..." She chuckled when he pretended to snort indignantly. "You're not putting guns into my kids' hands, Garrus."

"Hmm. I thought we couldn't have any kids anyway. You know, that whole 'biology would not cooperate' stuff?"

"It's still nice to dream."

They fell silent at that. Indeed, who were they kidding? There was a war out there, more desperate than either of them had ever seen, and, despite all their best efforts, there was a mighty big chance that the outcome was going to be total annihilation of all intelligent life in the galaxy, instead of a comfortable and cozy retirement and the start of a family.

Still, the universe hadn't been entirely unkind; they had survived two suicide missions before and they did find each other, in spite of all the odds—maybe a little peace and happiness wasn't totally out of the question after all.

Their mood lifted when the waitress appeared with their food, and they ate contentedly until their stomachs felt like they were going to burst.

Afterwards, they retreated back to the Normandy and finished this wonderful night in each other's arms.

If someone had asked each of them the next morning what they'd dreamt about, the answer would have been the same: "A place by the ocean and the pitter-patter of little feet running through the house."


A/N: Since this chapter became much longer than I'd anticipated, the epilogue will have to wait for the next (and final) chapter.

Also, if you go to my profile page, there's a link to an awesome picture Tamy2323 drew for the story. :)