"Yes, there." Javik said, gesturing to some landmarks Traynor had pulled up on the screen before her. "Send me those coordinates." He said. "Sending now." Traynor said, tapping a key on the screen. The omni-tool that had been fitted to Javik's prothean armor emitted a beep and he tapped the display, confirming the receipt. "Excellent. I thank you, Traynor." he said.
"I didn't know you were up here harassing the humans." Said a rumbling voice from behind Javik. He turned to see Garrus emerging from the hallway behind him.
"Javik is always welcome." Said Traynor diplomatically.
"I needed arial scans of the eastern continent." Javik said. "And Traynor was willing to oblige."
"Did you need something, General?" Traynor asked.
"Yes, if you have a moment." Garrus said.
"Certainly, sir." replied Traynor.
"I need you to get a message to the Justicar Samara." Said Garrus, scratching his head. "See if anyone on Thessia knows where she is. Checking in with Liara might not be a bad idea either." Traynor nodded. "The message should state that her presence is requested on Palaven by Commander Shepard and Clan Vakarian."
"Yes, sir." Traynor said, nodding quickly.
Garrus turned to Javik. "Actually, while you're here Javik, do you have a moment?" The turian asked cryptically.
Javik frowned slightly. He liked the turian and had enjoyed dining with him and hearing Garrus' thoughts on Legion's growth and the strangeness of the salarian homeworld. Javik had said it had been a pity Garrus had not enlisted the salarian surgeons in giving him an extra pair of eyes as it would greatly have improved his aim, which had caused the turian to snort; choking on his drink, some of it coming out of his nostrils. Garrus had said that he would have Shepard add it to his medical orders for the next time he was inevitably shot to shit. "Yes, of course, Garrus." He said. And followed the turian down the corridor.
/././././././././././././././././././.
Javik considered the intricately carved wooden box Garrus had handed him. He stared at the turian for a moment and slipped it into a carrying pouch on his armor. "Yes, Garrus Vakarian. I will serve you in this way." He said.
Garrus let out a breath he had been holding and nodded. "Thank you." He said tensely. "You'll know when."
"You are departing Rannoch this evening, correct, and returning to your home world?" Asked Javik.
"Yeah." Garrus said. He leaned with his elbows on the railing of the upper level of the war room, staring out the huge window at the gleaming quarian planet below the Normandy."
"Have you received reports of how reconstruction is going there?" Javik asked. It was widely known that Palven had been one of the planets hardest hit by the Reapers.
"Yes." Garrus breathed. "It's bad and slow," he said. Javik could see that the turian's jaw was tight. "Personnel shortages are an extreme issue. We sent a lot of my people to Sanctuary." His eyes were hollow. He turned to stare at the prothean, changing the subject. "You're sure about remaining here?"
"For the time being." Javik said. "I remember the quarians from my time. With all that they lost to the Geth and the time they spent on the Migrant Fleet they are not so different now than they were in my cycle." He shrugged. "It makes me feel a little less out of place." Garrus nodded. "And the Geth and Echo are my best chance of finding my people." The prothean added softly.
"I will be sure to send word if we hear or see anything about them." Garrus said. "The Reapers were everywhere at once. There are bound to be some on Palaven."
"I thank you for that, Vakarian." Javik said. "I should get back down to Rannoch. There is something I have to go over with Liara." Before he could turn to leave, Garrus spoke.
"Before you go…" Garrus straightened. "Look, Javik. I like you but-" Before the prothean could move or do anything, Garrus connected a right hook with Javik's face. The crack of exoskeleton on exoskeleton echoed in the war room and it was silent in the aftermath, apart from the males' heavy breathing. Javik spat green blood onto the floor. Garrus shook his right hand, glaring, and said, "that was for trying to kill Shepard in the medbay."
Javik ran a hand along the side of his throbbing face. He found it slightly remarkable that the turian had managed to land the blow. Javik had been very distracted, which made it less impressive and honorable, yet he could not fault the stealth combatant for his tactical choice in timing. "Given the circumstances…" he said slowly, Garrus still scowling at him, "I deemed punching Shepard in the jaw as appropriate recompense for her not destroying the Reapers." He spat more blood onto the floor. "I would suppose that my actions would entitle you to exact similar retribution. To put it simply… I deserved that." Garrus nodded once, his breath slowing.
Javik gave the turian an appraising stare. "I am glad you did not perish, Garrus Vakarian. I enjoy your company."
"As do I." Said Garrus. "But never go after Shepard again."
Javik cocked his head to one side. "I will do my best."
/././././././././././././././././././.
The engines of the Normandy's drop shuttle hummed as Cortez steered it up and away. The human would rendezvous again with Javik and Liara in a few hours. Garrus had withheld his questions that morning when the prothean had asked if he could "borrow your girlfriend's shuttle," but made arrangements for their trip that afternoon.
They had landed on the eastern continent, an area dense with twisted jungles at the base of a mountain range. Liara shielded her face from the bright sun, taking in the new terrain around them. "This is fascinating, Javik," she said. "But I don't see what it has to do with trying to communicate with the Ascendant. Are there more Ascendant living on this continent?" She asked.
"No." He said. "And this is… perhaps not directly connected to our work, but I think you will find it to be worth your time." Her expression made it clear that she still had misgivings. "Do you trust me, Liara T'Soni?" He asked.
"Yes." She said slowly.
Javik repressed a smile. "Then follow me."
They walked deeper into the dense jungle in the foothills of the mountain range. Javik could hear and smell other organic life forms scampering away as the bipedal pair tread where none like them had been for generations. Javik paused, eyeing a mossy outcrop of sloping rock, a rare formation in the otherwise wooded area. He scraped at the slightly sandy dirt beneath his feet. It was shallow here and with little effort his boot swept the earth away from a layer of stone hidden underneath. Surprisingly regular lines ran across its surface and Javik nodded approvingly. He turned to Liara who had been watching him skeptically with crossed arms.
"Take a look around you," he said. "What do you see?"
Liara frowned. "I see unexplored and possibly dangerous jungle and a prothean who is withholding information."
Javik kept his face impassive. "Look more closely, doctor."
Liara uncrossed her arms with a sigh and tapped open her omni-tool, using it to assist her eyes in scanning her surroundings.
"The foliage is not of any species I have seen on other planets, but bears similar markers and chemical structure to the ones that have seen planted in Legion." She said. "They are rather unremarkable. There are some small mammalian and reptilian life forms in the surrounding trees but nothing particularly large. Thankfully." She added, shooting the last word at him pointely. "And…" she paused looking through her omni-took at the ground beneath her feet. "The topsoil here is very thin with thick stone beneath. Although that's not too remarkable given that we are in the foothills of this mountain range. But there are irregular structures beneath...a cavern system wouldn't be impossible. These would be large, though, and they seem oddly regular in dimensions." Liara's gaze fell upon the sloping boulder and she tilted her head to the side. She slowly crossed to it and ran a hand along the surface, her omnitool displaying information regarding its composition. Her eyes widened at something she saw there and she swiftly closed her omnitool. She was beginning to breathe fast. She reached out and carefully began to peel some of the moss from the face of the boulder. Once she had cleared a section she ran her hand over the surface, wiping away some of the loose dirt, revealing a symbol carved into the rock face. "Prothean…" she breathed, her eyes shining.
She stood up, swiftly crossing to a smaller stone several feet away, partially covered in creeping vines and roots. She scanned the composition with her omnitool and nodded excitedly. She raised her arm, scanning the device again. She followed something on its screen to a hanging wall of vines, pushed them back, and gasped at what lay behind it. The four foot base of a crumbling column stood before her, heavily damaged but still with discernible carvings ringing the base. Her head snapped to him. "These…" She said breathlessly. "These are prothean ruins. Here on Rannoch!"
The corner of Javik's mouth lifted. "I have told you that my people knew the quarians." He said. "We were influencing their development as well as that of the Asari. We had a settlement here. Many considered it to be a pleasant destination for recreation."
"But that's… why didn't you tell me?" she asked, not looking at him, eyes still roving over the carvings on the column.
"It was not relevant to our work in communicating with the Ascendent. But I thought you should see it before you and the Normandy made your departure."
Liara turned and beamed at him. "Thank you. This… this is incredible. I have not come across carvings like that before. There has been nothing like them by the prothean beacons we found. Perhaps since those had a more utility-focused nature the surrounding constructions were simpler? If you were saying this was a place of pleasure and recreation a more detailed facade would make sense." She gazed around excitedly. "I won't know until I send for my excavation equipment." She said. "I have to clear a lot of this away to know what I'm really looking at." She was clearly talking to herself now, lost in her tumbling and excited thoughts, Javik's presence completely forgotten.
He smiled and said softly, "Do you want to see what it was like?"
Liara stopped and stared at him. She'd stopped breathing.
"I visited this place when it still stood." Javik continued. "I can show you. If that is something you would want."
"Yes." She said swiftly, crossing to him. "By the Goddess, yes."
"You will have to connect to my mind." he said. "If you maintain the connection as we walk I will be able to show you the extent of this settlement. However," he extended a hand towards her. "I would recommend using me for physical support as the terrain beneath your feet will not match what you are seeing."
Liara placed her delicate, dirt covered hand in his. "I am ready," she said excitedly, "if you are."
Javik smiled slightly. "Yes. Welcome, Liara, to Requi Cura."
He felt her presence wrap around his mind. It was very different from the sensation of the rapid information exchange his species practiced. The Asari's abilities had clearly morphed and grown a great deal since the initial efforts his people had made to shape them. Remembering his thoughts were no longer private, Javik brought Requi Cura to the forefront of his mind.
A tiled courtyard spread beneath their feet. The towering trees that had surrounded them were gone, replaced with elegant columns reaching far above them, supporting a gently sloping ceiling several hundred feet above. They stood in the base of the Atrium, a historical structure of pleasure and ease now converted to a tactical base. The sky peaking through the alabaster column was bright and clear, and gleaming prothean war ships sailed through the spaces between the columns to docking bays on upper levels further back in the Atrium. Temporary shelters and pieced together facilities ringed the base of the massive columns, all constructed of timber and canvas. Smoke rose from cooking fires. Javik could tell by the smell in the air that some inept cook was burning the turian. Excellent, he thought sarcastically, the meat could be tough enough if not handled correctly. Burning it would not make it more palatable. They must have needed to use thermal units elsewhere if they were preparing food over an open flame. That did not bode well. He could see the smoke drifting up the columns and into the shadows of the sloping ceiling above. Javik felt the curiosity of his younger self in the memory. He had been sent here to resupply and gather additional members of his team before retreating to oversee security and preparations for eventual stasis on the Chrysalis. He did not usually hold much regard for historical monuments. His superiors had found his focus on the task at hand and clear direction commendable and he believed it was part of the reason for his rapid advancement. Yet the graceful vault of the ceiling above him… he could not stop staring at it. He would satisfy his curiosity and be done with it.
He pulled the memory shard he carried from its sheath on his armor and grasped it tightly in his hands, focusing on the structure around him as he did. Images shifted and flashed through his mind and then eventually settled into a view of the Atrium. The mosaic floor beneath him shone, the colored tiles depicting star charts of this system. The blues, golds and sparkling marble made him almost believe he was walking across the stars as his ancestors had, making one star system after another their home. The underside of the sloping roof of the Atrium was similarly decorated but it depicted the constellations above Primatch, the original prothean homeworld, a reminder of the greatness from which he and his people had come. Small open ships that must have been pleasure crafts soared to and from the docking bays of the Atrium. He could hear laughter and music echoing off the stone. He walked across the mosaic floor towards the edge of the vast space. Javik began walking deeper into the jungle, guiding Liara who gazed around her, mouth open in wonder as she took in the visions of the past. He passed a seating area at the base of one of the enormous support columns ringed in smaller ones. He steered Liara around the ruined column she had found earlier. Low stone benches stretched between them. Beside a shelf of slim metal glasses was a water feature to quench the thirst of any on this hot planet. He stepped from the shadows of the Atrium and stared down the hill. The native jungle had been cleared away and the city extended down the hill on a series of enormous curving steps. The Atrium marking the center of their summit and the hub of meetings and transportation. Elegant buildings punctuated the steps spreading below him. Many had entrances marked with columns and nearly all had sprawling open patios with carefully maintained foliage. A set of stairs ran all the way down the center of the descending curved landings, a series of constructed and intricately decorated waterfalls flanking either side of the massive stair. They stretched perhaps a mile and half down the hill before flowing into a large lake at the base of the city, its sparkling surface marred only by spray from low skimming crafts.
Protheans in ancient flowing robes and armor descended the steps before him and walked in and out of the Atrium at his back. Some had personal VI strolling beside them, the protheans casually dictating commands to the semi-transparent avatars of their species. He could see children sprinting through some of the streets below; VI flickering in and out of sight in pursuit of some rogue organic charges.
The buildings were more highly decorated than anything he had seen elsewhere. Facades depicting scenes from prothean history as well as tableaus illustrating activities of pleasure bedecked the sides of some buildings and the bases of columns. The buildings of the tier immediately below him had large entrances perhaps three stories tall, and above each doorway stood a statue of a prothean with an arm outstretched towards the lake below, flanked by backwards bowlegged quarians, the primitive bipedal species native to his planet. This must have marked these buildings as the Cosmic Imperative Institutions, the centers for developmental work for primitive species.
The wind off the lake below drifted up to him, carrying the scent of something heavily spiced and delicious. They moved towards the edge of the stairs. Javik extricated his mind from his younger self and his connection to the shard and pulled gently on Liara's hand as she tried to follow the ancient Prothean's memories down the hill to whatever delicacy was being prepared in that lost world. She stopped at his tension, staring out from the cliff edge they had come to stand before, looking at the choking jungle below and the lake that now just barely peaked out of the lush canopy of the valley. She ran a hand over a stone that rose to her hip that had once been part of the ancient, enormous staircase and then looked at him. Her eyes were gleaming and she wiped some moisture from below one with the back of her hand.
Javik felt caught off guard. "I am sorry." He said quickly. "I had not intended to cause you distress. I believed this would-"
"No," Liara said, wiping her face again, her tears and dirty hands leaving streaks of mud on her cheeks. "It was wonderful. I… I never thought I would see them… your people like that."
Javik considered her. "I have heard you speak about writing a book on protheans. If this still interests you, I could assist, if you like." He said hesitantly. "I would like my people to be remembered the way that you see them. I think it would honor who we were before the Reapers came."
"Javik," she said gazing at him. "I know we have not yet found any sign of the harvested protheans. But we will. And no matter what happens..." She stared out at the valley below as if she could still see the shining lost city. "I will make sure they are not forgotten."
/././././././././././././././././././.
The doors sighed open and Shepard stepped into the cool shadows of the Harvest Memorial Tower. She pushed her ta'hal back on her head a little. She'd found that they turned out to be rather helpful for shielding her eyes in the sun-baked climate. Spots swam in her vision as it adjusted to the darker interior. There were windows above sending shafts of light through the cavernous space, but the lower entryway had many pools of cool shadows. She walked slowly towards the fountain in the center of the entry hall, the echo of her boots on the stone were the only sound. Despite being the central hub of Rannoch, the space was empty save for her. That seemed right somehow.
Shepard neared the base of the fountain that served as a war memorial for the growing settlement. A jagged shard of metal rose from a pool of water in the center of the floor, water cascading down its side. The towering shard had been torn from the hull of the first ship of the Migrant Fleet to be lost while fighting the reaper-controlled geth. Shepard could see scratches and burn marks under the shimmering water, but it was now decorated with other images as well. All of the quarian ships that had been lost in the battles for Rannoch and Earth had been carved into the metal face. The shimmering light of the water both running down the enormous shard and in the pool below made it seem like they were soaring in a peaceful, star-filled sky that would never again be troubled by wars.
The edge of the pool was ringed with a small garden of plants with numerous star-shaped white flowers. Following the instructions Tali had shared earlier, Shepard plucked one of the blossoms from the plant, knelt, and gently set it in the rippling waters with a whispered, "Thank you." The tiny white "star" slowly glided towards the center of the pool where it mingled with a dozen other blossoms the people of Legion had set adrift, each prayer and thanks adding a gleaming star to the skies that were now the resting place of the lost members of their fleet.
Shepard remained sitting in silence for a few moments, the soft trickling of the water easing the ache in her chest. Two carvings at the top of the monument caught her eye. There was a series of sweeping peaks etched above the last ships of the Migrant Fleet. Someow, the skyline of the city on Echo's homeworld had been carved near the top of the quarian monument. She wondered if Admiral Ra'an had had a hand in placing it there. It felt right, that the loss of the synthetics and organics that now lived on Rannoch were honored together. There was another symbol just above the skyline, one she did not recognize. She wondered if it was another skyline, but… that didn't seem right, it was too uniform. Five slim peaks made of a continuous line filled the space at the top of the monument. The center most was the tallest, the next tallest the two on the very outside, then the second and fourth. Just below them were two tapering ovals shaped almost like leaves. She had no idea what it was but had the strange sensation that she had seen it before.
The door opened and the sound of another pair of footsteps rang through the space. They seemed strangely loud. Shepherd turned and found Liara walking towards where she knelt. Liara gracefully took a seat beside Shepard and the two stared at the waters for a moment.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" the asari said.
"Have you seen it before?" asked Shepard.
Liara nodded. "Admiral Ra'an and Tali brought Garrus, EDI and I here the first night you were working with Javik." Then she asked, "Did you add a flower to the waters?"
Shepard nodded.
Liara stared at the drifting blossoms and said quietly. "Mine was for my mother." She let out a breath and then asked in a small voice, "Was that a waste?"
Shepard took her friend's hand in hers, squeezing gently and whispered, "No."
They were quiet for a moment, then Shepard saw a smile growing on Liara's face. Shepard raised an eyebrow at the asari. Liara's eyes flicked to Shepard with a nervous excitement. "Guess what, Shepard?" she breathed.
"What?" asked Shepard with a slight frown.
Liara was tense for a moment with held excitement and then whispered, as if trying very hard not to disturb the peaceful air with their excitement, "There are prothean ruins here!"
Shepard burst out laughing and fell onto her back. She couldn't stop herself. The sound bounced around the huge chamber, shattering the silence.
"Shhhh!" Liara hissed, trying to press a hand over the Commander's mouth, but then Shepard started snorting loudly, having enough trouble breathing through her manic crackle without the asari blocking an airway.
A quarian stuck its head out a door from down a hallway to their left and called, "Show some respect!" Shepard tried to restrain her laughter, her sides shaking with the effort. They heard the door snap shut and Liara snorted with suppressed laughter herself. After a few long breaths that required a great deal of effort, Shepard managed to speak. "That's exciting, Liara."
Liara elbowed her and Shepard winced. She had bruises everywhere from working with Javik and her side was aching anew from laughing so hard. Liara gave the Commander an apologetic glance and then said seriously. "I hate to tell you this, but... I think I'm going to stay here on Rannoch."
Shepard's face fell. "Oh, ok" she said, biting her lip. "I… are you sure? We'll miss you. But, if that's what you want to do or if you need -" Shepard babbled, then stopped herself. "Of course, do whatever you want, whatever makes you happy," Shepard finally managed. "But you're always welcome on the Normandy."
"I know I am." Liara said with a sigh. "But, these ruins are huge. There are subterranean caverns, and Javik, he said he would help me understand them, and he needs my help communicating with Echo - and that offers its own possibilities for research. I haven't even begun really exploring their culture…" She took a deep breath, stemming the tumbling tide of possibilities. "I can work as the Shadow Broker here on Rannoch as well as I could on the Normandy, and I can of course still share any information you need." Shepard nodded in thanks. "But working from Rannoch may actually assist with anonymity." She added, "It's so underdeveloped it would be highly unlikely for someone with as much influence as the Shadow Broker to be here."
"It makes a lot of sense and sounds exciting." Shepard said, "I… I'll just miss you."
Liara gave her a long look. "I know, Shepard." She shifted on the ground. "But… you're heading to Palaven… and… there isn't really anything on the Normandy for me… is there?" she said, her voice trailing off.
Shepard bit her lip and studied her hands for a moment. Her green eyes lifted back to Liara's graceful features. "No, you're right," she said quietly. "I'm sorry."
Liara smiled sadly and shrugged slightly. "It's a big universe and I'll always be grateful for how much of it I've seen with you." She gave Shepard a soft, mischievous smile. "I also owe you for making sure it's all still here for me to explore."
Shepard smiled softly, "Anything for you, Liara." The truth and lie of the words hung in the air between the old friends.
Shepard clambered to her feet. "I'd better get up to the Normandy before they leave without me." She said. She placed a hand gently on Liara's shoulder. "I'll have your things sent down."
"Admiral Ra'an can give you the details of where I'll be staying." Liara said. "Oh, and you better tell Glyph about the change of plans. I'm sure EDI won't want him bouncing around the Normandy all the way to Palaven."
Shepard squeezed Liara's shoulder gently in acknowledgement. She was about to pull away when Liara caught her hand, turning her own face and placing it into Shepard's palm. Shepard stood there for a moment before gently taking Liara's hand in both of her own. She bent forward and pressed a kiss to the asari's forehead and whispered, "I'll see you soon."
And Liara let Shepard go.
The Commander left her sitting before the gleaming waters, but not before pressing a stolen, crumpled piece of paper into the asari's hand.
/././././././././././././././././././.
Shepard stood before the galaxy map, hands on the railing before her. The Normandy thrummed around her. She stared into the sea of stars and felt the tingle of that rushing high that came from standing here in the rare moments where she was truly in control. Most of the time she came here laden with assignments, errands and the looming threat of potential casualties from the orders assigned to her by the admirals of the Alliance. But sometimes, she climbed to this spot and held her own destiny in her hands.
Her eyes roved from one star system to another. Her very soul seemed to sing in echo of the Normandy's engines. She could go anywhere, anywhere, if she wanted. She'd been fortunate for much of her career in having an agreeable and obedient crew, but in the wake of the war with the Reapers… she knew every soul on this ship would sail with her… to whatever end. Palaven gleamed to her left, nestled in the heart of the turian-controlled system, but her eyes strained towards the Relays at the outermost edges of the map's current display, and the possibilities that lay beyond. With just a few words she could go anywhere. With the right Relay jumps, in half a day she could soar beyond even the Alliance's reach. She, Joker and EDI could find out what this ship really was capable of and she could - she could do whatever the hell she wanted to do… and right now there was no one to stop her.
There was power and weight in that privilege. As far as they might follow her, she knew it also meant that she decided if each soul on this ship lived or died. The joys and sorrows of those who filled her crew members' lives also lay in her hands alone. A prick of light glided along the top of one heavily laden hand. For years she had watched the display of the galaxy map paint those who accessed it with light, but this was different. An ember of that strange green light crept from the underside of her hand and over her knuckles, fading into the back of her hand.
She closed her eyes, listening to the Normandy: the engine, the slight creaks of the floor as her crew worked around her, the sigh of doors sliding open and the soft harmony of the ventilation system. She knew this ship better than she knew her own body now. It had changed less than she had in the last few months. She was still catching new scars in the mirror as she dressed, undressed and did...undressed activities in her cabin. But the Normandy… she could hear if the ship needed a new air filter, could feel when the engines needed tuning, knew the sound of the cannons when Garrus had been a little overzealous in his calibrations, and could smell when Gardener was trying to be polite and creative but really needed her to pick up more diverse supplies for the mess.
She would never be the pilot Joker was (she, and even EDI had agreed that he truly was a freak) but she could guide the Normandy anywhere from that railing. She could push it to its very limits, let the engines roar in joy at all they were capable of. Shepard suddenly felt that slight dragging weight, that sensation that the very air was pushing on her as the Normandy accelerated. Her heartbeat quickened, keeping pace with the building rhythm of the Normand's engines. A soft hiss of static crept into the air. A gleaming spark of green light ran from the control panel and up Shepard's arm.
At a terminal a few meters away beeped an alarm and EDI slowly turned her head towards the Commander as the AI felt the change. The Normandy's acceleration increased. "Commander." The AI called softly.
Shepard's eyes flashed open suddenly and the Normandy began to decelerate. She eyed the AI apologetically and pushed off the railing, walking around the map and down the corridor towards the bridge, Garrus following from where he had been watching her in the shadows of the corridor to the rear.
/././././././././././././././././././.
He'd been watching her. He did that sometimes. He was a sniper. He watched lots of things, and in his time as a C-Sec officer he'd found that definite tactical and conversational advantages could be gained by standing just before a threshold for a few moments before entering an area. He'd been transfixed by her staring into the map. The light gleaming on every scar and strand, her face unreadable as she took in the universe at her feet. Her hair, longer every day, it seemed, in the wake of the war with the Reapers, seeming to turn a hundred different colors in the gleam from the galaxy map. He wondered what she saw in those stars that he could not.
He felt the change in the ship when she closed her eyes. Somehow felt the woman and vessel become one. It wasn't like when she'd lost control and that deadly mind had become one with the warship. This was different, a small unleashing of some undiscovered power. And he wondered if the stars they sailed past quivered in its wake. He saw the rest of the crew around notice the change but only the AI, it seemed, was truly aware of the cause, calling Shepard back to herself without alarming the crew. Shepard straightened, sweeping that hair of hers up into a tousled bun, a subconscious ritual he knew well now, one that meant she was about to get to work. She started down the hallway towards the bridge and he followed.
He was fairly certain she knew he was there now. He watched the crew she passed straighten at their stations as the Commander walked by, her very presence stirring the spirit of the ship. Joker's updates on their flight echoed through the comm system. "Atmosphere cleared. Accounting for gravitational field. Maintaining vectors. Stable orbit achieved," He finished as Shepard reached the bridge and stood just behind him. Joker glanced over a shoulder, nodding. "Commander, we have exited Rannoch's atmosphere." He eyed her suspiciously. "Happened a little more quickly than my flight plan but everything seems normal now." The last word carried an unspoken accusation. Garrus thought he caught Shepard giving a slight apologetic shrug.
Shepard stared at the reclaimed quarian homeworld below and the systems gleaming in the dark void beyond its reflected brilliance. She was quiet for a moment. Garrus wondered if the ship felt empty to her with the Shadow Broker's cabin now deserted, as Javik's and many others had been for months now. He knew she was an only child, unlike him. She had a tendency to gripe about the hassle of running a ship crowded with more than six species and several eccentric individuals who's strong suits rarely seemed to include playing nicely with others. He had definitely heard her rant at the top of her lungs about picky eaters and goddamn over-sensitive senses of smell and how her solution to the next complaint would be to kill two varren with one bullet and feed the complaining party to Grunt or Javik; and if Grunt or Javik were either of the aforementioned complaining parties, she would drop the pair on the nearest barren rock with a hint of an atmosphere and pick the survivor up after their exercise and meal. Despite all her blustering he had the feeling she was one of those people who would have liked to have grown up in a big noisy house and actually slept more soundly in a ship full of the fascinating creatures that had come into her life over the past few years. She had certainly been quick to fill Anderson's apartment on the citadel with their rowdy bunch and almost too happily kept the various forms of alcohol flowing all night, inviting everyone to stick around (to his slight frustration, if he was being honest).
Garrus wondered how she felt about Liara staying behind. His own thoughts on the subject were rather tangled and he felt a surprisingly strong sense of gratitude to Javik for showing her the ruins there. The asari was charming, and downright hilarious when she went prothean crazy over some new discovery, but he would not miss seeing the blue figure hovering in the shadows at the end of the hall to Shepard's cabin, nor the slight guilt it stirred in him. He hadn't expected Javik or Tali to join them when so much work awaited them on Rannoch. He knew he would miss them. Although he felt a little better about Shepherd's ability to stay in one piece at a greater distance from the prothean, especially in the wake of Javik's lack of actually promising not to try to kill Shepard again. Although the Commander would probably take it as a compliment if he shared that detail with her.
"Orders, Commander?" asked Joker. By Shepard's slight shake of her head, Garrus suspected she too had been lost in thoughts. She released a small sigh through her nose that seemed to be tinged with both regret and hope, and glanced slightly back over her shoulder to where he stood a few feet behind her. Ok, she'd definitely known he was there all along.
"Set course and full speed to Palaven," She said. She caught Garrus' eye and added softly, "Take us home."
/././././././././././././././././././.
The red haired woman finished the elaborate braid. Her body reflected in the mirror was lean and whole. There were some silvery scars threaded along her torso, trailing behind the black lace bra and underwear she wore. She opened the closet, searching for a dress uniform. A rough pair of hands slid across her stomach and hot breath crept across the back of her neck.
"Spirits, woman." Garrus breathed in her ear. She reached out for the uniform.
"Oh, you don't need that." The turian that had crept up behind her said. "I think you look perfect already." She grinned and leaned back into him as his hands continued to roam.
"I don't think the Primarch or your family would think it was very appropriate attire." She said, chuckling.
"Listen Shepard, if you look like that I don't give a damn what anyone thinks." He rumbled, his finger circling her navel. She batted the hand away, elbowed him, and slipped into the dress pants. Garrus sighed in lament as she slid the jacket on, but stepped forward and gently swept the braid back from her neck as she did the last of the buttons, before setting the hair back in place with a gentle stroke. His eyes roved over her uniform. "Mmmm. Well, that's a different kind of hot. That look works pretty damn well too, if you ask me." He said with a wolfish grin.
"You are shameless." she hissed. He stepped in close and his hands resumed their roaming. The red haired woman slowly turned and her green eyes bored into Shepard's. "And you are mine."
Moria wanted to scream, to run, to push whatever that thing was away from Garrus, to stop him from touching it, from kissing it as he was now, hands gently cradling the other Commander's neck. But she couldn't move. She couldn't speak. She was frozen in the corner of her cabin and all she could do was watch. Garrus' thumb caressed the strand-free face of the woman, the thing that was not Moria Shepard but had her eyes and hair and voice, and then he disappeared into the bathroom. The thing stared back at Moria. "You're not real," it said. "You're just PTSD. Just my fears if I hadn't managed to replace you. If I hadn't been able to eliminate the core members of her team. If I hadn't realized that keeping Vakarian would sell the lie." It scowled at her. "You are not real. I am Commander Shepard now." Moria's heart pounded but she remained uselessly frozen, watching this thing speak and move about her cabin. "I watched the Illusive Man die." It continued "Watched the light fade in the eyes of that fool who made me for parts. I outlived him. I destroyed the Reapers. I command the Normandy."
Moria wanted to be sick with the wrongness of it. Anger burned within her. She didn't understand why she couldn't move. Didn't understand how her clone was here in her cabin with her - with Garrus. She pushed with everything she was and managed to growl. "You are not me!"
The clone grinned, fiddling with a ring of scraped metal on her left hand. "No," she said. "I'm not you. I am better than you."
Garrus emerged from the bathroom in his own formal uniform. Moria tried to scream his name but could only manage a faint hiss of air. He didn't see or hear her. He wrapped his arms around non-Shepard again and murmured in her ear. "I am so proud to walk beside you on Palaven. To stand with you before my family. My people." The words were like a blast to Moria's gut. It was wrong. Everything was wrong.
The clone continued to stare at Moria, leaning back into Garrus' embrace. It spoke to her and it was as if Garrus couldn't hear the words. "You should have killed me when you had the chance," it hissed. "Now it's my turn. You would have wasted being 'Commander Shepard,' but I won't. Now I get to live. I get to be free. To do whatever I want. To take…" its hand ran across Garrus' face and he leaned into its caress, "whatever I want."
"He's not yours." Moria managed to growl.
Her clone grinned. "Look at him." It said as Garrus' hands moved tenderly across its body. "Of course he's mine."
"You're not real," Moria groaned, still pressing with her body, her biotics, her mind against whatever force held her.
"Oh but I am." the woman in Garrus' arms said, "I'm you without the wear and tear… the doubts… the failures… without the emotional baggage to stop me from destroying the Reapers so that organics can live." She eyed Moria in disgust. "You would have prioritized a few rogue AI over ensuring peace. You would have risked all life when there was a guaranteed way to destroy them." The clone grinned as Garrus kissed its neck. "How could you be the real thing if you were going to jeopardize this?"
Moria wanted to scream, to run at that thing in Garrus' arms. To tear him away from it or pound screaming on his chest till he sensed her there. To blast her biotics at it; tear that monster to smithereens with her bare hands.
"Thank you for saving us. All of us." Garrus whispered in its ear. No, this wasn't real. It couldn't be real. Shepard thought.
"You," Shepard spat, "are not. Me."
The clone grinned and shrugged. "Perhaps not. But I'm everything you'll never be."
The doors to Shepard's cabin slid open and Garrus turned, grinning as he saw who entered. "Well look who's here, Moria." He said softly. Small feet patted on the ground. Red hair streamed behind a slim little figure whose head bore a crest of horns. Not-Shepard smiled and swept the child into her arms. The little one beamed back, her narrow face bearing her father's tattoos and bright green eyes.