Between The Scenes

by MartaTowne

My first ME fic, FShep/Garrus. Starts after ME2 and goes into, through and past ME3. This is the story of lives intertwined, events that happened when the game cameras were off, so to speak. This is AU but relies heavily on the game, then takes a different path at the end. Heroics and friendship, fighting and love in shades of grey

35. Scene 31

Again some of this is direct conversations that are in ME3, they belong to Bioware and I make no claims (or $) on them or any other part of this story. IF, the writers at BW would have made a decent ending that didn't ruin the entire trilogy, I wouldn't have felt the need to write this!

Diana Allers… other than whatever points you get for her… is there ANY reason to keep her on the ship? I mean, I guess she fulfills the "T&A" in tight leather, but my story still has Miranda for that… and Miranda at least has SOME personality! Unless I can figure out a good reason to bring her on board, I think we'll just leave her on the Citadel.

Yes, I know I skipped the "rush Kaiden to the hospital" first scene. AND in the game, we don't see Thane until the second time on the Citadel… BUT, I wanted my Drell back, dammit! So we'll run into him this chapter!

As always, Special THANKS to Marie Fan-Writer! My wonderful Beta!

CHAPTER BEGINNING

Garrus walked into his tent and dropped onto the cot. He'd been awake for three days straight and he was finally so tired that he had to get at least a few hours of sleep. Lying on his back, he threw an arm across his eyes. Spirits he was tired… but he couldn't sleep, not yet. Garrus reached into his armor and pulled out his Love Stone, seeing it was almost glowing in a blue/grey color. Garrus frowned, the only time he'd seen anything close to that was when they'd looked at their stones after making love. Both had been relaxed, satiated and sleepy; content even. Garrus wondered why it was that color but he dismissed any other thought and just concentrated on how much he loved his mate… how much he needed her, loved her, wanted her. He gazed at his stone, waiting, hoping that it would change color. When nothing happened, he slid it back into his armor and tried to sleep, his thoughts chaotic and worried.

CHAPTER BREAK

Shepard wasn't sure what woke her, but she shot awake and gasped. She was confused for a moment, then realized she was sleeping in her own nest, hugging one of Garrus' pillows because it smelled like him. She even wore one of his shirts, while it was way too big, especially around the neck, it smelled like him and it felt like him. She'd been sleeping, something that she wasn't used to doing anymore. While she knew she wouldn't truly sleep ntil she was back in her mate's arm, being in their nest, surrounded by their things, and his scent, she'd slept better than she had in months. She'd been looking at her stone when she fell asleep and now she almost went into a panic when she couldn't find it. But then her hand closed around the familiar shape and she pulled it out; it was a deep, gleaming, cobalt blue. Gasping, she sat up and said, "Lights on 50%, Edi."

Shepard nearly wept with joy, her mate was alive! She tightened her hand on her Stone and began to pour all her love, all her desire, needs and feelings into the stone in her hand. She wanted her mate to know that she loved him; she wanted it so bad she could taste it. Her Stone began to fade back to its normal blue and Shepard lay back down, curling on her side, cupping her Stone in her hand and let herself weep. Eventually, she slept, unaware when Edi silently lowered the lights once more.

CHAPTER BREAK

"DAMN IT!" Garrus cursed at the young turian before him, gripping his armor front, "What the hell were you thinking, Cleos? You want to kill yourself? That's fine… but you're going to get your damn platoon killed, not to mention the rest of us!" He shoved the soldier backwards and saw him hit the makeshift desk and barely keep his feet.

Garrus stopped to take a breath and turned, stalking back to the rear of the tent. He heard a sound and spun, stopping stock still; the recipient of his ire stood where he'd left him, leaning against the desk, his sub-harmonics keening and the expression on his face made Garrus pause. The turian was young, barely out of boot camp, not more than 17 years old. For Spirits sake, the kid should be on a ship someplace, safe and trying to talk another turian into blowing off steam. But instead he was here, watching his friends die every moment, seeing his world on fire… and being attacked by his General for not knowing what he hadn't had time to learn.

Garrus raised his hands to rub his face; Spirits he was tired. Looking at this kid, Xander Cleos, if he remembered correctly, he was taken back to three years ago, standing on the Citadel having the first human Spectre berate him for making a foolish mistake, for taking a shot without considering the rest of the situation.

Garrus' father had done everything in his power to teach his son to think before he acted; to be less hot headed, more patient. Amantius had yelled, shoved, bullied and glared at him and nothing had made Garrus hesitate. But Shepard's disappointment in him had done what years of his father's anger hadn't been able to. And now here he was, in the same position and rather than follow Shepard's path, he was on his fathers.

Garrus lowered his voice and stepped over to stand before the youth. "Cleos… Xander? Calm down… its fine."

The kid's head jerked up so fast that Garrus thought he was going to break his neck. Cleos eyes were as wide as a turians could get. Keeping his voice calm and soft, his sub-harmonics putting across gentle, soothing sounds, Garrus said, "Sometimes I forget how young some of you are… I'm not going to say I'm happy with the choice you made, and you could have definitely have thought it through better. But no one died, no one was badly hurt… and now you've learned something, right?"

The young soldier stood up straighter, his sub-harmonics calming as he said, hesitantly, "I'm sorry, General Vakarian… I didn't think it through… but I'll do better…."

Garrus nodded, gently clapping the kid on the shoulder and said, "I know you will, Xander… and that's why you're going to be a great soldier… you learn from your mistakes. I have faith in you; you think you can handle it, Corporal?"

Corporal Cleos stood straighter, his sub-harmonics thrumming with pride; he saluted and said "Yeah… definitely! Thank you, General…."

Garrus righted the chair he'd knocked over and sat down as he watched the young turian march out of the tent. The youth's words amused Garrus, but that humor was quickly gone. With a sigh, he rubbed his face again. He was tired, but if he was honest with himself, he'd have to admit that his quick temper had more to do with the state of his mate then his sleep situation. Turian's had long ago developed the ability to get by on little sleep, catching a few minutes here and there. But he was worried sick about Shepard.

Garrus was startled out of his introspective thoughts by Victus. "Vakarian… we need to move out. New orders…."

Garrus sighed, his head dropping backwards, rolling his neck side to side before standing up and nodding, "Yeah… on my way."

CHAPTER BREAK

Shepard marched into Udina's office, clearly furious with the Council's attitude. She used some of the tricks that she'd learned from Thane and Samara to calm herself, and was leaning on the desk when Udina stormed in, just as furious as Shepard. The two talked a moment, then both started as they heard the voice of the Turian Ambassador.

"Yes, our people are scared… and we are looking out for them the best we know how." Udina greeted the newcomer, but other than a nod, the Ambassador seemed to only have eyes for Shepard.

Moving to stand in a parade rest, the Ambassador began, "Commander… I cannot give you what you want, but I can tell you how to get it."

Watching the Ambassador, Shepard nodded, "I'm listening…."

"Primarch Fidorian called the war summit, but we lost contact with him when the Reapers hit Palavan. Those meetings won't proceed without him." The turian looked saddened, but then drew himself up and turned, facing the Commander once more. "The Normandy is one of the few ships that can extract the Primarch Fidorian undetected."

Shepard stepped forward, eyes narrowing a bit as she said, "So far you've only described how I can help you."

Apparently unmoved by her sarcasm, the Ambassador went on, "It might seem that way. But the leaders of this summit will be the ones deciding the fate of our fleets, where they fight; and with whom. A grateful Primarch would be a tremendous ally in your bid to unite us."

Irritated, Shepard said, "We're at war and you want me to play politician?"

"If it gets you what you need… what does it matter?" the Ambassador turned to walk over to the vid screens on the wall and with a grumble of irritation, Shepard joined him. "Our latest intelligence says that the Primarch was moved to a base on Palavan's largest moon. I've done all I can to help, the rest is up to you."

The Ambassador turned to leave the room and Udina joined Shepard at the vids screens, but the turian's voice drew both their attentions, "There is one other thing… the council wanted me to tell you that we've chosen to uphold your Spectre status." He keyed in a sequence to his Omni Tool and Shepard's glowed. She checked it and then looked back at the Ambassador, "And various resources will be made available to you. Good day."

Shepard and Udina watched the Ambassador leave the office, and then Shepard said, sarcastically, "Well… that went well."

Udina sat down at his desk, "It's a start… I'll talk to the others in the meantime. See if I can get a little more support."

CHAPTER BREAK

Before going back to the Normandy, Shepard went to catch up with Bailey in C-Sec, then to the hospital to check on Kaiden, who had been dropped off at Huerta Memorial hospital upon their arrival. Walking out of the elevator, Shepard stopped and laughed out loud. Standing there, wearing a small, dignified smile, hand clasped behind his back was Thane Krios. Shepard walked over to him, smiling and said, "Thane… you have no idea how happy I am to see you! How are you feeling?"

Thane took her hand, squeezing it between both of his, "I am well, Siha… I am happy to see you as well… I tried to write to you, but I do not believe the correspondence made it past security."

Shepard shook her head, "They kept a pretty tight control over me… but I'm happy to know that you were thinking of me. I've missed you, Thane."

He smiled at her, "And I you, Siha."

"Are you ready to come back to the Normandy?"

"I am… I will say goodbye to my son, pick up my bag and meet you on the ship."

"Good… it's not been the same without you, Thane… I have to visit Kaiden, but I'll meet you on the ship in a couple of hours."

Nodding his head, he let go of her hands and said, "As you wish, Siha…."

Shepard, still grinning, began walking toward the patients' area, and then turned, walking backwards as she said, "And Thane?"

He was still standing where he'd been standing, now he gazed at her quizzically "Yes, Siha?

She said, teasingly, "You still fill out those leathers nicely!"

She heard his surprised chuckled as she turned and kept walking, waving at him over her shoulder.

Shepard stood looking down at Kaiden's still form, he looked bad. His normally smooth skin was covered in deep, purple bruises. She'd purchased a bottle of whiskey for him and now she set it on his side table. Gazing at him, she said, "Get your ass moving, soldier!" There was no change, not that she expected it. She patted his shoulder and turned and left the room. Once in the lobby, she saw a welcome sight and a no-so welcomed sight. Dr. Chakwas was standing talking to Dr. Michel. Despite the fact that Shepard knew Garrus had no interest and really didn't even know that Dr. Michel was interested in him… she was still not impressed with the very pretty human doctor. But, Dr. Chakwas, was an entirely different story.

"Doctors… how is Kaiden?"

"He is stable… he has not regained consciousness… but all of his vitals are strong. I believe he will make a full recovery…." the doctor's French accent irritated Shepard, but then, almost everything about Dr. Michel irritated her.

Shepard nodded, "Thank you, Dr. Michel…. Dr. Chakwas… I thought you were going to be on the Normandy…."

Chakwas smiled knowingly, "I had an offer I really couldn't refuse… working in the lab allowed me to contact other Alliance soldiers who I felt would want to serve. However, now that you're back, I'm hoping you'll offer me my job back."

Shepard smiled at her, and started to speak, but was interrupted by Dr. Michel, "Commander… have you heard from Garrus?" Shepard frowned and turned to the doctor and said,

"He's on Palavan… we're going to pick him up soon…."

"So… he will be back on the Normandy?"

Shepard frowned, "Yeeesss… of course he will. We just have to pick up him up from Palavan…."

"Ahhh, will you be needing an additional physician on board your ship?" There was a haze of pure rage overcame Shepard, but before she could speak, Chakwas said, coolly,

"I believe I have the medical needs of the Normandy crew well under control, Dr. Michel. Shepard and Vakarian run a tight ship, but it's like a family."

Dr. Michel frowned, "Shepard and Vakarian? They run the ship…together?"

Pretending to be surprised, Chakwas said, "Oh, you didn't know? Shepard and Garrus are married… it was a very romantic ceremony…."

Shepard was very thankful for Chakwas' interruption, because she was just now getting a handle on the jealous rage. Dr. Michel looked heartbroken, and Shepard felt like gloating. To stop herself from being ungracious… more so than she already was, she said, "Dr. Chakwas, I'll see you on the ship. Dr. Michel, thanks for taking good care of Kaiden…."

Shepard turned and left the hospital, heading for her ship. She had a date with a Primarch… and her mate.

CHAPTER BREAK

"DAMMIT!" Garrus cursed in every language he could think of. He was coming from the left flank and trying to keep the Reapers off of Victus' Legion's flank.

"VAKARIAN!"

"Victus…."

"There's a heavy Reaper unit on my flank… GET THAT THING THE HELL OFF MY MEN!"

"Roger that, General…."

Garrus ordered his unit to follow him and headed toward the Reaper, taking a position on a high spot to snipe the Reaper unit while his men spread out to enter combat. Growling, Garrus found himself separated from both Victus and his men, and ended up making his way to the outpost run by General Corinthis. He knew that once he got a few minutes rest, and checked in with the General, he would be able to go back out and locate his Platoon, and his Legion. The turian military structure was a bit complex. There were a set number of soldiers in a company; a set number of companies in Platoon and a set number of platoons in a Legion. There were also divisions of "Generals". While there were exceptions the most common situation was that each company had a head whose rank was basically "Commander". Platoons were led by what a human would call a "One Star General". The Legions were held by 2 or 3 star Generals. The person in charge of the Legions in a geographic area were 3 or 4 Star Generals. Directly over that was the Primarch himself.

Unlike humans, turnians never felt the need to mark their rank by buttons or patches, nor did they mark their membership in their Legion, Platoon or Company. Instead, they used distinctive, at least to other turians, armor color design. Upon leaving the military, or upon gaining proper rank, the turian created his own armor that combined his military unit design with his family design.

The other thing that most other races didn't understand is that in the turian military, it wasn't about gaining rank. There was nothing wrong with staying a specific rank, advancement wasn't the goal, serving the Hierarchy and the turian people, So becoming a General had more than just military service behind it. Part of the advancement was based on family or clan lines. All of that became important for a turian who didn't consider himself a very good turian, but who had been appointed to lead a task force and had a very old and respected family line. And when you realized that the position of Primarch was held by a General… well, Garrus had a lot of reasons to pray to the Spirits that Primarch Fidorian stayed healthy.

Garrus growled as he dove into cover and a wave of husks and cannibals came out of the rocks toward him. He really hated up close combat… that was always his mate's choice. He'd rather stay back and snipe. Not to mention he was far more deadly as a sniper. But, you did what you had to, and since these creatures hadn't been nice enough to announce their presence before he nearly ran into them, well… he'd fight in close quarters.

Just as he killed the last of them, something strange happened. His chest began to vibrate and he felt a heat building. Thinking that he'd been shot, he frantically looked to see where the hole in his armor was, but found nothing. As the heat got to near painful, he realized it was his Stone… and using his mouth to pull off his gauntlet, he dug the stone out from his armor and gasped. The stone was a vivid purple, and shot with lines of milky, iridescence. Then he felt it, like a kick to the gut, his mate was HERE! She was close… and she was in danger!

A near howl escaped from his throat as his sub-harmonics churned out long growls and deep throated trills, torn between being thrilled she was here, and furious she was in danger. Shoving the Stone back into his armor, he turned and began to run toward the outpost. It was nearly nine miles from him, through the worst of the Reapers and their units… but it didn't matter, his mate needed him.

CHAPTER BREAK

"General, your communications tower should be up and running…."

"Great work, Commander… come back to the outpost… we have word for you from Palavan command."

As Liara dropped down from the ladder, Shepard turned to Thane and Vega and said, "Ok, let's move back to the General's position… the sooner we find out who this Primarch is, the sooner we can get him. Garrus was on this moon. She knew it, she felt it. There was no question and she was going to pull the moon, and every Reaper on it, apart to find him… just as soon as they had secured the Primarch.

As they got back to the outpost, the General spoke "as your partner said, succession is usually simple, but right now, everything is in chaos… so many dead or MIA…."

Frustrated, irritated and anxious to find her mate, she said, "I don't care who it is, I just need someone, and I don't care who, as long as they can get us the turian resources we need."

Just then a familiar, flanging voice said, "I'm on it, Shepard… we'll find you the Primarch."

Shepard felt her heart skip, her body go into something similar to the state she went in when she shot… slowed down, every action detailed. The only thing that stopped her from flinging herself into his arms were the turians' around them and the mission. She wasn't sure how much Garrus had told the other military officers and she didn't want to interfere in his career. She'd die before she'd let her love for him screw up his life. Garrus, for his part seemed glad to see her… even if was just in a friendly, non-committal way. This was NOT how she'd seen their reunion going.

General Corinthus said, "General Vakarian… I didn't see you arrive…" and saluted Garrus. Shepard narrowed her eyes, and filed that away for future reference.

"You're… alive…." Shepard's words were a bit hoarse, and Garrus stepped forward, reaching for her. Shepard thought everything was going to be fine… but he only took her hand and said. "I'm hard to kill; you should know that."

Trying to cover the beating of her heart that she knew all the turian's could hear, she decided on, "I thought you'd be on Palavan…."

"IF we lose this moon, we lose Palavan…."

Shepard was determined to follow Garrus' lead in this, so she simply introduced him to James as a 'hell of a soldier who helped her stop the collectors". Garrus greeted Liara and Thane with the warmth you'd expect from old teammates. Then turned to Shepard, all business once again,
"General Corinthus filled me in… we know who we're after."

The other General felt the tension and filed it away for future reference, saying, "Palavan command tells me the next Primarch is General Adrian Victus…. "

Liara frowned, "Victus, his name's crossed my desk."

Turning to Garrus, she tamped down viciously on the need and the pain and said, trying for normal, "know him Garrus?"

"I was fighting beside him this morning. Lifelong military, gets results; popular with his troops… not so popular with military command. Has a reputation for playing loose with accepted strategy".

Frowning, Shepard said, "What do you mean?" At least this conversation kept her from throwing herself at her mate and ripping his armor off in the middle of a war camp.

It was Liara who told her that on Taetrus during the uprisings, his squad had found a group of Salarian Spy Rings about the time the turian separatists group had. Victus had pulled his men back and allowed the two enemies to destroy each other. Then he had waded in and taken them both down, and didn't lose a man. Shepard was impressed with his ingenuity, but she understood how an organization as strict as the turian military would not be as amused.

General Corinthus admitted it was bold strategy, but warned that didn't get you moved up the meritocracy. Garrus told her that seeing "Primarch Victus" would be something to see and when she asked if he could vouch for him, Garrus pointed out that they both knew conventional strategy wasn't going to beat the reapers, and that he could be their best shot. Garrus hesitated, then finished with, "I trust him".

That was all the Commander needed, "Ok, let's get him and get out of here."

As they prepared to head out Joker cam over the com and told Shepard that something was happening on the Normandy… so she sent Liara to check it out and continued the mission with Thane, who was ever the dignified shadow on her six, and Vega.

Before they could head out to search for Victus, a Harvester decided to drop off some new playthings, so Shepard, Garrus and her crew took to the walls to protect the outpost.

CHAPTER BREAK

Garrus smelled his mate before he saw her and he was just about ready to stride up the stairs to fling his arms around her and hug her, never letting her go, to hell with the war, Reapers and everything else; until he saw Thane on her six. She'd gone for the Drell before coming for him… her mate. Garrus' mind went back to all the times he'd found her stone in the colors that meant relaxed, content and a cold hand of dread reached up and grabbed his gizzard. He viciously tamped down on his sub-harmonic keening. IF she'd found comfort in the arms of the Drell, he wouldn't say anything. He had always wondered if the mating he felt so strongly about, was actually reciprocated. Oh, he knew she loved him… but he wondered if the connection was the same. Apparently not. He forced himself into a professional attitude and strode up to the little group. He was determined to do what had to be done… even if his heart felt as though it were breaking and being burned into a million pieces of ash.

Before they could go find the Primarch, they had to deal with a bunch of reapers forces, thanks to a Harvester. When Shepard fell off the ledge from the big gun his gizzard clenched, and then flew up into his throat. He didn't miss how Thane followed her down, always watching her six. Spirits be damned, Thane was in HIS place… and even if Thane had replaced him in her bed, there was no way in hell that he'd replaced him on the Commander's six.

On the way to find Victus, Garrus stopped them and pointed up to Palavan, hanging there in the sky and said, "See that big orange glow? That's my home…."

Both Vega and Thane followed his eyes and were silent, watching the burning of Garrus' world. Shepard, on the other hand, stepped up to Garrus and rested a hand on his shoulder, her voice soft, "I'm sorry, Garrus… have you heard from Amantius or Solana?"

Garrus eyes softened despite his previous determination, he raised a hand, hesitating, then gently touched his talon to her face. "No…" Spirits, his voice sounded weak. He tried to make it stronger as he continued, "Nothing… the last I heard, they were still at the house…." Shepard stepped close to him, hand sliding to his cowl, then to touch his cheek,

"I'm… Damn Garrus… Amantius and Solana are smart… they'd have gotten to safety. I…", but Garrus was a coward, he determined, because he didn't want to hear her tell him they're relationship was over, or give him some damn pity talk. So he turned and started back on the path, leaving Shepard to watch him, trying to force the tears back down. Vega was shocked by the carnage and made a comment that he wanted to be back on earth, that leaving the fight just pissed him off. Garrus, in typical Garrus fashion, pointed out that they were here to convince Victus to do the very same thing.

A turian fighter crashed near them and Shepard insisted on checking to see if either the pilot or co-pilot lived; unfortunately neither did. Garrus made a determined to effort to be normal; wise cracking and making comments just like old times.

As they ran, Vega asked, "So Lola… you really think this summit will work? I mean, asari? salarian? Where's the krogan and batarian? Where's the meat?"

Thane, usually quiet on missions, spoke softly, "I agree with Mr. Vega… I fear the success of the mission will be in jeopardy if we cannot include all the sentient beings."

Shepard sighed, "It's not that easy…."

"The batarians were the first hit when the Reapers arrived, there's not much left. The krogan have never forgiven us for the genophage…" Garrus explained,

"Yeah…turians sterilized them…" Vega snarked.

"Salarians came up with the plan…" Garrus tried to rationalize, but Shepard interrupted him, still running and gunning ahead,

"And the krogan hate them both for it."

"So they won't be joining us…" Garrus dropped down a small hill as he spoke, and Thane followed directly after him,

"This does not bode well, Siha."

"We run with the hand we're given, Thane…."

In response to Garrus' statement, Vega said, "Too bad about the krogan, I've fought with them they're tough sons of bitches…."

Eventually, they found Victus, and he was, of course, under fire. Shepard called, "Ok, double time… no one's taking this Primarch from me!"

"On it, Siha…" acknowledged Thane as Vega chimed in,

"Right behind you…."

Garrus said nothing, just stayed with her, watching her six. They managed to clear the outside of the compound and headed inside, taking on one final brute on the way in. Shepard, of course, ran in first and when the thing charged at her, Garrus felt his gizzard clench again. Dropping down to a crouch, he began firing into the thing repeatedly, drawing its attention. As Lia ducked behind a rock, Garrus saw Thane, almost directly opposite Lia, rise up and begin to shoot the creature as well. Between them, they brought down its shields and kept its attention off of Shepard until she managed to get her shields back and stand up, her own rifle crack as she finished it off. That action turned the tide and with a few more battles, they made it to Victus.

Shepard walked up to Victus, "General Victus?"

Walking down the ramp, his mandible fluttered in mild confusion as he said, "Yes…?"

'I'm Commander Shepard of the Normandy…."

"Ahh, Commander. I know who you are… I can't wait to find out what brings you out here." Then turning to Garrus on her right, he said, "Vakarian… where did you go?"

Garrus smirked, mandible widening slightly, amusement in his voice, "Heavy reaper unit on the right flank? I believe your exact words were 'get that thing the hell off my men.'

Victus sounded sarcastic, but friendly as he replied, "Appreciated."

Then Shepard stepped up, bring the conversation back to point, "General, you're needed off planet. I've come to get you…"

Victus looked away a moment, "It will take something beyond important for me to leave my men. Or my turian brothers and sisters in their fight."

Garrus stepped forward, falling into the familiar role with ease as he said, tag teaming with Shepard, "Fidorian was killed. You're the new Primarch"

Shepard took back over, "You're needed immediately to chair a summit and represent your people in their struggle against the reapers."

Victus walked past them, moving to stand where he could look up at Palavan. Almost in a whisper he said, "I'm Primarch of Paladin? Negotiating for the Turian Hierarchy?"

"Yes."

Turning back to face them, Victus replied, "I've spent my whole life in the military, I'm no diplomat… I hate diplomats…."

Standing strong, Shepard said, "War is your resume. At a time like this, we need leaders who've been through that hell."

Victus shrugged, "Put it like that… you're right."

"And honestly, uniting these races might take as much strength as facing the Reapers." She walked over to the bluff, turning to face them and said, "See this devastation, Primarch? Double that for Earth. I need an Alliance. I need the turian fleet"

Victus moved past the others to stand facing Shepard. She stood at attention, meeting his eyes and for a moment, Garrus sensed the Primarch's pheromones spike, and growled deep in his throat. Thane looked at him, quietly, but ready to intercede if necessary, but then the Primarch said, "Give me a moment to say goodbye to my men."

Still angry, frustrated and irritated, Garrus stalked up to Shepard and said, "Without him down here, there's a good chance we lose this moon…."

But she faced him down as she always had, "Without him up there, there's a good chance we lose everything."

Garrus wanted nothing more at that moment than to throw his mate down on the rocky soil of Menae, rip her armor off and take her; make sure that at least her body knew where it belonged. In order to distract himself, he turned to the Reaper in the distance and said, "Look at that thing… and they want my opinion on how to stop it?" His voice was incredulous and self-depreciating as he continued, "Failed C-Sec officer… vigilante… and I'M their expert advisor?" He glanced at her, but all he could see was his mate slipping from him, so he turned again and asked, "Think you can win this thing, Shepard?"

She turned to him, her eyes suspiciously moist, she had no idea what was Garrus was feeling or thinking; he'd definitely not shown the actions she'd expected from her mate. "Shesh… I don't know, Garrus. But I'm sure going to give it my best shot."

Garrus gave up on having any pride, he had to go with her, even if it meant watching her living, being happy, with someone else, or just not with him, "I'm damn sure nobody else can do it. For what it's worth, Shepard… I'm with you."

Fear trilled in him, that she'd shoot him down, tell him he needed to stay here… but instead, she smiled and it warmed her eyes, though they were still sad as she said, offering him her hand, "Welcome aboard." Garrus thought he saw something in her eyes but before he could chase that fleeting sign, she turned her to right and asked, "Are you ready, Primarch Victus?"

The Primarch left his men, and said, "One thing… Commander, I appreciate your need our fleets, but I can't spare them… not while my world is burning. But… if the pressure could be taken off Palavan…" he let his words trail off, and Shepard observed him, head tilted as she said,

"That's a pretty tall order."

"We need the krogan. I can't see us winning this thing without them. Get them to help us, and then we can help you."

Shepard looked pensive, "The krogan…."

Smirking, because he recognized her expression, Garrus said, "Looks like your summit just got a lot more interesting."

Shepard said nothing, just turned to walk away, as Thane called for a pickup by their shuttle.

END

Yes, cliffy… sorry bout that! Poor Garrus… he, as usual, jumped to the WRONG conclusion, LOL. Next time, we'll see how it works out. I know a lot of you were looking forward to the reunion… maybe next chapter the two will find their way through the obstacle course of their love life. It's never easy with Garrus and Shepard…. Luckily, Shep has a better idea of things now….