"Shepard, I'm so sorry. There was nothing we could do. Whatever happened to him it sucked the life right out of him."
Doctor Chakwas' words barely registered in her mind. The body had been left on the medi-transport. All the monitoring machine was still attached to his bed, but Chakwas was removing it. There wasn't anything of him left now but the carcass. Sonya sat by his side regardless. It was all she had left of him. She held his hand in both of hers. At first the she tried to hold back the tears, but the flood gates opened when she caught a glimpse of Garrus returning to the forward batteries simply because he was turian. Chakwas had instructed every one to keep their distance for a few hours out of respect. No one argued. When the tears dried up from dehydration, she stood, lightly caressed his face one last time, and left the room for her quarters.
The body was left in tact. There was no need for an autopsy. A detailed scan told them everything they could learn from the body. Nothing. There was no damage to his physical being, including the brain. The Normandy would not be returning to the Citadel until their mission was over. Meanwhile, Nihlus Kryik's remains would be kept safe in the main cargo hold on the hanger deck. It was the only space big enough for the cryo-coffin.
Sonya felt terrible for putting him in an ice box. He always hated the cold. She sat on the floor with her back to the center of the coffin. The tears stopped flowing hours ago, but the emptiness left behind still ached with the pain. It was her fault he was dead. If he hadn't pushed her out of the way... if they had just left... if Nihlus had remembered the justicar sooner... he might still be alive.
"Commander?"
A familiar voice floated over to her from the entry. She looked up slowly from where her head rested on her knees. It was Garrus. He'd left her alone the first few days while they waited for further instruction from TIM. She could only guess that he felt it time to begin fulfilling his promise. As he stood there waiting for her to respond, she felt nothing for him or whatever news had had to bring her. The sorrow had turned to numbness.
"Commander, TIM is waiting for you to contact him in the com room."
"Okay..." She spoke barely above a whisper. "I'll be there in a minute."
"Shepard," Garrus said, shaking his head.
He walked over to where she sat and took the floor next to her. He brought his knees up and rested his arms on them. For a moment he hung his head, then looked at her. The deep darkness of her eyes was a bottomless void. The coldness sent a chill through him that over powered the cold metal at his back.
"Shepard, you can't spend all your time down here."
He glanced at the pile of data pads that held the daily reports on the other side of her.
"You can't run the Normandy for the cargo hold. Moral is dropping. Nihlus wouldn't want you sulking down here in the dark. It isn't healthy."
"I just lost the love of my life, Garrus!" She snapped at him. "It's hardly been a week and you're telling me to just get over it? Fuck you!"
"That's not what I meant." He responded calmly.
He tried to put an arm around her, but she pushed it away.
"I'm only trying to help. I care about you Shepard. You're like family to me. I hate to see you like this."
"Just go away." She mumbled. "Just go."
"I'm not leaving this hold without you, Shepard." He told her.
"Yes you are, that's an order!" She shouted.
Garrus' mandibles tightened along his jaw. He could be stubborn too.
"No, I'm not." He shook his head. "I swore to Nihlus that I would look after you. That means dragging you out of here kicking and screaming if I have to."
"Just try it!" Shepard growled.
"Fine!" He shot back.
His strong arms were around her in less than a second, securing her firmly to his chest. She struggled in vain as he picked her up off the floor and started literally dragging her to the door.
"Garrus! This is fucking ridiculous! You release me, NOW!"
She kicked him hard with her heel in the leg and tried to trip him up. But he was no stranger to the tactics and he countered her attempts to foil him. However, Nihlus had taught her well and she managed to free herself from his grip. A quick blow to the face and he was seeing stars.
"Shepard, don't do this!" He warned. "I was one of the top two hand to hand combatants of the last turian vessel I crewed on, remember?"
"Well this isn't a turian vessel and I'm not that little tart you diddled either!"
Now he was pissed. Novea wasn't a tart. She had, in fact, been his first. The lingering emotions for her were wounded by Shepard's words and his blue blood boiled with rage. He charged her, knocking her to the ground, and pinned her down. In his anger, he brought his head down on hers nearly as hard as he could. Red blood smeared across her forehead. Her eyes fluttered, but she didn't loose consciousness.
"You fucker!" She shouted.
She tried to kick or punch or bite, anything to get away and retaliate. But Garrus wasn't playing around and he wasn't instructing. He was serious, and she wasn't getting out of this.
"Goddamn you!" She spat. "Goddamn you..."
Then emptiness of the well filled with water as all the emotions she tried to burry there bubbled to the surface once again. The tears came, uncontrolled and bitter.
"Why did she have to kill him? Why did he have to die?" She sobbed.
Garrus picked her up off the floor and sat holding her in his arms and she wept her sorrow into his chest. He had no words that could comfort her, so he held her and let her cry and bleed on him. He brushed the wild strands of hair away from her face and held her.
