Garrus was one of the few people who knew about the original trick with Shepard's locator and Sophie the dog-mech. It had become obvious about halfway through the mission that the Reapers were using the Alliance's locators to pick out high-priority targets. That had been broadcast by an Alliance asset tapping his radio—meaning it was either Sheffler or Coats—something the humans had translated out. It was a good way to make cleanup harder.
It was true that Harbinger had killed Sophie. But the locator keyed to the ID of one Gina O'Connor was still traceable, and it was this signal that drew Garrus and his small search party onward. It was imperative to find Shepard, especially if she might be injured. There was no way of knowing, but given how the locator hadn't moved for some time…she probably was.
EDI, her mobile platform temporarily out of commission, had already located Shepard and was feeding coordinates to the rescue team. She didn't say so, but he had the impression the Normandy's skeleton crew was waiting with baited breath for news.
Spirits, he thought, let her be alright. Just banged up in Shepard fashion, but essentially alright. And let his father still be with her. If Antilles had her, he could handle basic first aid if it was needed. C-Sec taught all that. Garrus had to believe that wherever Shepard was, his father was with her, because if he could have gone he would have been with her, and there was no Shepard without Vakarian…
…she trusted him to be there, to help find her.
Further back in the column, Campbell and Westmoreland clattered. Part of Shepard's reinforcements, they were glad to be out of the Underground and doing something more than just digging in. He had the impression that last stretch, with the Reapers punching holes in the Underground while the biotics tried to hold the ceiling up had been a bit more than they could handle. They'd certainly taken it out on the confused Reapers afterwards.
It was fitting that so many of the rescue party were Shepard's crewmen. Garrus approved. That was Shepard's leadership style shining through: we look after our own.
And they'd won, the allied galaxy had actually triumphed over the Reapers. Part of him hadn't really grasped the fact yet; there was too much uncertainty. It was too big a thought, so he occupied himself with the smaller, actionable ones about Shepard and her safety. She couldn't die now, after all this. She had to live, to enjoy the benefits that would surely come her way. Being able to say 'just like old times' again, or handling normal Spectre tasks.
"We'll find her, don't worry," Tali assured him, softly so no one else would hear. She found it difficult to keep up with her shorter legs, but she didn't complain, merely forced herself to trot along.
No one was taking chances: although the Reaper ground forces had lost cohesion, there was no reason to believe they weren't still dangerous, so everyone was armed from Garrus himself to the medical personnel shuttled down from several of the Alliance ships, all of whom were under the stern authority of Dr. Chakwas.
According to her, Alenko, Vega, and Javik were all okay, with only 'relatively minor injuries.' He didn't know how minor those injuries were, only that they were major enough to keep Alenko from looking for his missing wife. That had to be something pretty major. Then again, Dr. Chakwas could boss Shepard around. If she could boss Shepard, no one else stood even a remote chance…except maybe Javik. Javik alone of Hammer One had come with Dr. Chakwas to assist in looking for Shepard. He limped heavily, but the Prothean would probably die before he let a little limp stop him.
Garrus could almost hear the Prothean defending his presence: he was here to see all the dead Reapers and spit on their corpses. Still, having served with Javik, Garrus knew the truth. The Prothean really did care, in his own emotionally constipated way. And now, he'd have the chance to work through that; maybe start acting like a real person and not just the angry part of one. It would probably be good for him, for a variety of reasons, to help fish people out of the rubble.
Already, one of the Monkey Wrench teams was arriving at the run-up Hammer One had used to offer aid to anyone they found still scattered along it. A lot of Hammer One had died. They had all known it, but the numbers were still sobering. Dr. Chakwas wasn't completely certain Anderson would pull through.
That brought Garrus' mind back to the big question: was Shepard alright?
For once, Garrus wasn't sure she was. She'd been so tired, so threadbare by the time she set foot on her people's homeworld. He could see it, even if she scrupulously hid it from most people. He worried what this threadbare-ness had done to her general survivability. What if she was too old in her mind, too tired in her body, too weakened in her heart, to keep fighting now that the need to actually fight was over?
That was it. The final question: had Shepard simply run out? Of fight. Of hope. Of determination. She'd kept those things gushing for the sake of those around her…but were the returns of the same she received from others enough to keep her will to live intact?
He didn't want to think about it.
Off to one side, Liara stumbled over something. He was glad to have biotics present; what if Shepard was trapped under rubble when the Reapers decided to employ their version of…car-pet-bombing…the humans called it? It was good to have a couple biotics, each capable of moving a few walls if need be.
"It's just ahead! Bear left!" Tali announced.
Garrus obeyed without thinking. Then, the realization slammed into him: there was no real need for silence. "Shepard? Dad!"