The last time Garrus Vakarian saw Commander Shepard, she told him to be careful.

The SSV Normandy was in Dock 422, occupying her usual space above C-Sec's academy; luckily, the academy and docking bay hadn't taken much damage during the battle with Sovereign a few weeks prior. The ever-present hum of passing ships' drive cores and the insistent voices of the longshoremen that were preparing the vessel for launch almost drowned out Shepard's final order.

"It'll be like taking a vacation after what we went through to get Saren, but we have to stay vigilant. You know what's coming." Shepard's tone was fairly light, but something in her troubled expression reminded him that she had seen firsthand what awaited them if they ignored the danger; he doubted he would have registered the subtle nuance of it before his time among humans on the Normandy.

Almost as soon as he took note of her unease, her brow unfurrowed and she smiled a warm, rare smile. It caught him off guard, and his mandibles flickered in surprise when she reached up to put a hand on his shoulder. "So long, Garrus. Be careful out there. I have a feeling I'm gonna need you at my six again before this is all said and done."

He agreed, but the events of the last few weeks compelled him to stay on the Citadel. The Council wasn't quite sure how to explain the Reapers to the public and ensured that the media fixated on the team that defeated Saren instead. Images of Shepard, her sniper rifle in hand, were on every Alliance vidboard; the first human Spectre, savior of the Citadel, a shining paragon of humanity's better nature. Councilor Tevos personally presented Liara with a Flame of Thessia, proudly declaring that the scientist was the youngest asari to receive the award since their people discovered the Citadel.

Garrus, in turn, received a commendation to join the Spectres and a curt congratulatory phone call from his father. Neither could convince him to leave the Normandy and remain on the CItadel, his father especially so; Garrus still bitterly remembered the smuggler he let run free just before Saren went rogue, his disapproval of Garrus' methods causing a rift between them. Besides, there were still plenty of geth left to hunt in Citadel space.

Or, at least, there had been. It soon became clear that the geth were on the run, returning to the space beyond the Perseus Veil. The Normandy would need to venture into the Terminus Systems to keep up the chase. In another turn of events, Executor Pallin was the one who convinced him to stay, practically begging in the message he sent requesting Garrus' aid with C-Sec's recovery efforts. According to the executor, seeing and working with the officer that helped save the Citadel would do wonders for civilian and department morale. The good turian in him recognized it as his duty, and that was how he ended up standing across from Shepard as the Normandy prepared to leave on another mission without him.

Millions of brilliant lights glittered on the Citadel arms behind her, interrupted in several spots by damage from the recent battle. The biggest dark spot over Shepard's right shoulder was near the center of Tayseri Ward, where he would resume his C-Sec career the next day. A faint pink glow illuminated her dark hair, and he wondered how different things would be the next time they looked each other in the eye.

"Goodbye for now, Shepard. I'll be there when you need me."

Shepard's grasp on his shoulder tightened for a moment, and an emotion that he did not entirely recognize clouded her features before quickly passing. With a nod and a final pat on his shoulder, she turned and crossed the bridge that attached the dock to the Normandy's decontamination chamber without a backwards glance.

oOoOoOoOo

"Vakarian. Good to have you back."

With a start, Garrus turns from the rubble he was examining with his omni-tool. He would recognize those subharmonics anywhere, and his suspicions are confirmed when he sees the turian they resonated from. Officer Castis Vakarian stands before him in the ruined corridor, stern as ever in his pristine C-Sec black and blues.

"Dad. The executor told me you were on Tayseri Ward." Garrus approaches his father hesitantly at first but clasps his strong arm firmly in a sign of greeting. He feels the need to explain his presence after the discontent that his potential departure caused. "He asked me to stay, to come here and help. Practically begged."

"Yes, I heard you left the Normandy at his request - a shame you would not extend me the same courtesy." His grip tightens on Garrus' arm for a moment, and then he turns to survey the rubble that his son was scanning. "Find anything?"

Garrus almost shakes his head in the human way but lightly hums his dissent instead, his subvocals finally useful again after so much time among species that didn't have the ability to perceive his secondary social cues. In their defense, face reading was much easier to pick up.

"Seems like I was every hour over by the concert hall yesterday, but not today. No bodies, no deactivated geth, not even a stray Reaper piece." The last item on his list was particularly important – Pallin stressed the absolute importance of tracking down as much of Sovereign as possible. Garrus assumed that the galactic government would want to study the massive sentient ship carefully.

His father scoffs. "Reapers. Between you and me, Garrus? The Council doesn't want to buy Shepard's story or try to sell it to the public, and I'm not sure I do either." Before he can snap back, his father continues. "I haven't forgotten what happened before you were assigned to investigate Saren, and I doubt that running in a Spectre's shadow taught you anything about following the rules. If I may adapt a charming human expression: one talon out of line and you're off my ward. Understood?

Garrus takes a moment to process his father's words, and curtly agrees with a soft hum. He knows that arguing won't change his mind, and his suggestion about the Council and the Reapers is devastating.

"Good." His father regards him and seems inclined to take his silence as some kind of deference, likely feigning unawareness of the seething anger beneath it. He turns away, leaving Garrus to the battle-scarred rubble. "Be careful out here, son."

Garrus watches his father's shape disappear behind the shell of a ruined flower shop as he regrets his decision to return to the Citadel for the first time. Unfortunately, it will not be the last.

oooooooooo

Notes: Thank you for reading! I've wanted to write in the Mass Effect universe for years, and am tentatively going to promise at least ten chapters. Because this story will take place primarily during Garrus' almost two years on Omega, there will be many OCs whose names are established in canon, but little or nothing else. I am very excited to start introducing those characters to you, but the first several chapters will have a lot of familiar faces...