"I will break a damn window if I have to".
"Garrus, getting the rest of us killed isn't going to bring her back", Kaidan gruffed, his voice gravely with sorrow.
"I'm not trying to bring her back, I'm trying to keep her alive now," Garrus bellowed, a crazed look in his eye that can only be described as a breaking point. "She's not dead".
The vast space of the shuttle bay went uncomfortably silent, the entire surviving crew exhausted in more ways than one. "You seen the explosion, Garrus," Tali trailed, "It would take a miracle to survive that kind of trauma".
"She's survived worse, and she'll do it again" He slammed his hands on a desk and dropped his head, focusing his thoughts. Slowly, he lifted his gaze to survey the crew's reactions. He gritted his teeth, mandibles flickering in frustration. "How many times has she saved your lives?"
The crew remained silent, only the sound of the ship's hum as it continued to fly away from Earth, the distance between him and his other half growing larger and larger.
He pointed a finger accusingly in Tali's direction. "Haestrom. Shepard pushed through countless enemy forces, blistering heat that tore apart her shields. You didn't even have to ask".
He turned to Javik, "Eden Prime. She put her life on the line for the chance to save you, giving your entire species a chance at victory. It was a tremendous risk to her own safety, but she gave you the chance to live."
Finally, he approached Kaiden who's gaze was cast at the floor. "She's saved your life more times than any of us. Virmire. Mars. The citadel." Garrus jabbed a talon in his chest firmly, jolting him to meet his gaze. "Even when you wouldn't so much as trust the woman you claimed to love, she visited your hospital room every chance she got".
Kaidan's face turned thoughtful, seeming to at last consider the possibility that leaving behind their commander wasn't the only option. The energy in the room shifted. I suppose listening to all of Shepards inspirational speeches was finally wearing off on him.
"Our fight isn't over". Garrus stated firmly, his eyes darting from person to person. "Her fight isn't over".
The words caused Garrus' mind to drift...
"Our fight isn't over, Executor!" Garrus ranted, "Saren is dirty and you know it".
Executor Pallin's, subharmonics hummed in annoyance. "Keep it up and your career will be over, Detective Vakarian."
"Saren's hiding something- give me more time!" He pleaded, "Stall them!"
"Stall the council? Don't be ridiculous. Your investigation is over, Garrus," With that, Pallin walked away.
A figure appeared in the corner of his eye, drawing his attention. He met the gaze of a small, yet intimidating looking human. He recognized her instantly. Burgundy hair was pulled into a… what looked like a bundle on top of her head?. Her features were gentle, soft looking, giving my stomach a simultaneous sense of calmness and discomfort. Her emerald colored eyes were framed by long, impractical eyelashes. How could she even see through those? Of all of the hair humans had, those seemed the least practical. Shoot, you're staring, Vakarian, don't be weird.
"Commander Shepard, Garrus Vakarian," He introduced himself, the back of his neck slightly flushed with embarrassment.
"Detective Vakarian," She began, " I am told you're investigating a spectre named Saren".
Garrus chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. "Not anymore, apparently. I've just been officially shut down by the Executor." He looked around, ensuring nobody was listening. "I've got intel that could be invaluable, Commander," He took a few steps closer, lowering his voice, "Perhaps we can speak privately?"
The music pulsed as Garrus strolled into Purgatory, looking uncomfortable no doubt. He wasn't exactly the club type, but this is where Shepard wanted to meet so he thought best not to put up a fuss. He scanned the room, almost missing the small frame of one Commander Shepard. Her hair cascaded down her shoulders, a glittery emerald dress adorning her strong frame. For an infamous force of destruction she certainly did clean up nicely.
A human male towered over her, leaning in for what looked like a kiss. She dodged him quickly, a sound of amusement erupting from her as he fell to the floor. He stood abruptly, anger evident in his demeanor.
"What the fuck?" He barked, balling up his fists.
Garrus took this as an opportunity to rush over. "Is there a problem here?"
Shepard rolled her eyes, leaning back onto the bar counter. "Hardly".
"This bitch was just being a prude".
I felt anger build up inside me. "You-"
I paused as Shepard's hands began to glow, holding one palm up to him, and lifting him off the ground effortlessly with her biotics. She glanced at her other arm, tapping a few buttons on her omnitool with a bored expression on her face. "This bitch single handedly took down hundreds of pirates, slavers and batarian warlords on Elysium during the Blitz, which according to my omnitool is where your mother resides," With a swift, effortless motion she tossed him across the room. "Tell her I said hi".
She turned back to me, a tight smile on her lips.
I stared back at her in awe, "I have the feeling we are going to get along swimmingly".
Garrus smiled fondly at the memory, continuing to search the remaining ruble in the foreseeable area for any sort of life sign. He was able to track Shepards omnitools last known location but it unfortunately did not provide any specifics.
"Garrus, we've been at this for hours, there's no telling how scrambled the signal could be after an explosion like that. She could be floating in space for all we-"
"Shut your damn mouth before I shut it for you," Garrus growled, seeing the fear and exhaustion in Liara's eyes. He recomposed himself and gave her an apologetic look. "You can head back to the shuttle. I'm… I can't go anywhere. We're close, I know it."
"Guys!" Kaidan yelped.
Garrus closed the distance between them quickly, and what he saw caused the blood to drain from his face. He joined Kaidan in frantically clearing the rubble from around her body, and pulled her into his arms. "Shepard", his voice cracked.
The rest of the ground team ran over, Tali waving an omnitool over Shepards lifeless body, "Her vitals are weak, but she's still alive!", she exclaimed.
""We need to get her to the Medbay immediately," Liara confirmed.
Shepard tossed her head back laughing. "You mean to tell me Nihlus tried to kiss you?"
"Well, to be fair he thought he was sneaking into my sister's tent, but yeah," Garrus said between sips of his 5th drink. "Could you really blame the guy for wanting to kiss me, though? I've been told I'm quite the, uh…" My drunken state struggled to form the sentence. "Quite the catch".
"So it would seem," She smiled, downing the last of her Thessian Sunset without breaking eye contact.
His neck flushed dark grey, and his mandibles flickered amusedly. "Now I know the drinks are getting to you", he laughed.
She said nothing, simply smiling over at him, her cheeks flushed with a light pink. At last, she spoke, "Well, this intel exchange has been very amusing, however I do think it best that I get back to my ship before I forget everything you've told me,"
Garrus deflated slightly, oddly not wanting the exchange to end. "Right, you've got a, uh, team to command… commander."
"Call me Jane,"
He smiled. "Right, Jane." He held out a hand. "It's been a pleasure".
She stood to her feet, smoothing her dress and taking his hand in hers. Despite his seated position, she still stood below his height. She shook his hand firmly, "That it has".
With that, she let go of his hand and turned to walk away. She disappeared through the double doors. He sat for a moment thinking.
What a woman.
Now, Garrus wasn't the sappy type, and certainly not a romantic, but he couldn't help the unsettled feeling in his stomach. What did his sister call it? Butterflies? Surely, it had to be the alcohol in his system. Nevertheless, he felt an undeniable pull to this... human. She was a force to be reckoned with, and he wanted to be on her side. Before he knew it, he was running after her. Right as he opened the door, he met her gaze, as she was about to walk back into the bar herself.
They both stood alarmed for a second, before speaking simultaneously.
"Come with me,"
"Let me come with you".
"Let me come with you!" Garrus exclaimed, despair evident in his subharmonics.
"Garrus, she needs surgery," Doctor Chakwas stated, "Unless you are a trained medical professional you need to wait outside of the medbay until she is stable".
A sound resembling a whine escaped his throat. "Doctor, I-" He paused, trying to rationalize his thoughts. "I need her to be okay", he closed his eyes, drawing in a deep breath and pulling himself together, "I can't explain to you how badly I need her to be okay".
She nodded, a look of sympathy in her warn eyes, "I'm going to do everything I can".
With that, she closed the door to the medbay.
He felt himself fall beside it, sliding against the cool metal of the wall. He pressed his head into his hands and let his mind wander back to his memories of her.
Garrus loaded the last of his things onto the ship, thanking the kind crew members who offered to take some of his things to the crew's quarters. "Leave it in the main battery for now. I'd like to poke around and see how well humans keep up with the needy calibrations of a Turian made ship".
He scanned the room, eager to see the complex force of nature that was Shepard. Leaving C-Sec was a risk, but if it meant playing first hand in taking out Saren, it was worth it. Not to mention he wouldn't mind sharing more moments with his new Commander. He'd never worked under a human before, but after seeing what she was capable of he had no objections. Nothing could be worse than dealing with the C-Sec bureaucrats. Perhaps he could actually make a difference with this new opportunity.
Finally, his eyes landed on her, only she wasn't looking back. She was running a hand down the chest of a dark featured man adorning a uniform similar to hers. At last, she glanced over at Garrus, an innocent smile on her face.
"Garrus!" She grinned, turning back to the man, her hand still places affectionately on his chest. "Kaidan, this is Garrus, he's the newest member of our crew."
Kaidan smiled as well, holding out a hand to shake Garus'. "Welcome to the Normandy".
He couldn't help but notice a sinking feeling in his gut. Was this Kaidan guy her mate? Had he misread their banter the night before? Why did he care? He had joined the Normandy for one reason: To take down Saren before he ruined the galaxy as he knew it. Still, he couldn't help but notice a ping of what felt like… jealousy?That couldn't be it. Humans were vulnerable and squishy. They couldn't be more different from his own species. Any sort of attraction or attachment he felt had to be out of intoxication the night before, nothing more. Finally, he snapped out of it, shaking Kaidan's hand.
"Great to be a part of the team,"
"Garrus," Doctor Chakwas interrupted his thoughts, and he quickly stood up. "Perhaps you should follow me".
He obliged, following her obediently into the room. His heart continued to beat out of his chest. "What is going on?".
"I want you to brace yourself for what you're about to see, Garrus." She sighed, stepping aside to reveal the love of his life, battered with various tubes sticking out of her.
He gasped, "What did you do to her?"
She shook her head, "Everything I could, as promised," She paused, before continuing, "The commander suffered severe physical trauma, I'm afraid she's in a comatose state for the time being."
She waited a few moments for him to process the information before continuing, "The good news is she's alive. You saved her life today, Garrus. She never would have survived if we hadn't found her when we did".
He gulped, drawing in a deep breath and processing his thoughts. "Is she going to wake up?"
The doctor sighed, shifting her weight to her back foot. "That, unfortunately, is the question". She walked to the door, looking back briefly. "I'll give you a moment alone".
The room was silent, apart from the wheezing of the machines she was on. Garrus found a spot by her side, grabbing her hand into his own and squeezing it tightly. "Shepard".
He briefly wondered if she could hear him, but he persisted anyway. "Shepard, I don't know if you know this but you saved the galaxy today." He paused, a light chuckle escaping his mouth plates. "Let me be the first to thank you. Now, I don't mean to sound ungrateful but I need to ask you to save one more world today." He paused, a lump welling up in his throat. "My world. You…"
He pressed his head to hers, sighing deeply to repress a sob, "You're my world, Shepard. I need to be selfish, just this once. I know you want to rest, the spirits know you deserve it, but… please keep fighting for just a little bit longer",
"I… can't do this without you".
He waited a few seconds, hopeful for any sort of reaction. Alas, the painful silence persisted.
Authors Notes
Hi everyone!
I wanted to give a bit of background on myself. I'm not sure how many people will actually read this, but if you are I am so happy to meet you! My name is Alyssa, and I have been a massive mass effect fan since I was 16. It really shaped who I am as a woman, and taught me that there is great power in being a powerful woman. I've always loved to read and write, and actually had a very popular glee FanFiction when I was about 15 that had hundreds of thousands of supporters. I've really been missing the community this past year, and have been reading up on a tooooon of mass effect fanfics. I figured I'd take a stab at it and see how it goes.
I'm aware that the "After the final assault" category of mass effect fan fictions is a bit oversaturated, but I am hoping I can put my own twist on it!
I am looking forward to taking this journey with you guys! Happy reading!