They would be touching down at the Citadel in two hours. The closer that moment became, the more worried Garrus grew. He wanted to make extremely sure nothing went wrong because of him. Ideally, nothing would go wrong at all, but he was concerned enough about the parts he could control to worry about those he couldn't.

If he were to be completely honest, he didn't actually care about humanity or whatever their status in the galaxy might be - but there was one human he had come to care for immensely in the last months. And this meant that by extension he now also had to care about the human species as a whole.

"Remember, those people have never seen anything like you." He'd probably said a million things like this in the last hour. "They'll probably be staring. Don't take it the wrong way."

"I'm not going to." Shepard looked out the window longingly. Her calmness was almost contrasting to his own nervousness. (And it was her species' future on the line, not his.) He wondered how she did this. Was it a human thing or a Shepard thing?

She looked at him, leaning back in her chair.

"Tell me... On a scale from human to turian, where do those other alien species land?"

"On a scale from human to turian?" Garrus repeated. "How do you even imagine that scale would work?"

She shrugged.

"And how exactly do you imagine other non-human species look?" He couldn't help asking.

"I've got an active imagination," Shepard replied tersely. "Do they even stand upright? Have one pair of eyes? Four limbs? You're not that different from me, all things considered, but I have no idea what to expect from other aliens."

That one gave him a pause.

"You... think we're similar?" Garrus could tell his nose was twitching way too fast, but he couldn't control his excitement.

"Well, yeah? I mean, we are very different, don't get me wrong—but in the end, you've got two arms, two legs, one head with one pair of eyes, a nose, and a... mouth, I think... As far as different species go, we're really... not that different." She covered her mouth when she saw his expression. "Okay, calm down," she snorted. "You look way too excited right now."

"Sorry." Garrus couldn't stop grinning. He didn't even sound sorry. "This just opens up so many new avenues..."

"You're purring."

"I'm... not." He was.

"You're distracting me." Shepard looked at him and pouted. "Hey! Do you think I can't tell this is a smile?!" She crossed her arms. She didn't seem to be joking anymore. "Please. I need to keep a level head right now... I can't afford any distractions."

Garrus flared his nostrils, intrigued. The stress of it all finally got to you, huh? The notion that Shepard wasn't as level-headed as he considered her to be was a strange one. She'd never shown any sign of fear or stress before, even in the most life-threatening of situations. Garrus smiled fondly at the memory of her running out unarmed in front of an entire turian platoon and ordering them around as if they weren't on opposite sides in a war. That was Shepard, alright. She seemed to always be in control, always fearless and decisive.

Until now, apparently.

He tilted his head to the side, looking at her. She looked right back at him.

"Stop being cute and help me out," she said, her brows slightly narrowed. "I need to know what to expect when we arrive on that Citadel."

He'd never get used to hearing her call him cute.

"Right." He shook his head, hoping maybe that would snap him out of his thoughts (which, admittedly, had lately been occupied mostly by one person).

He sat down on the floor next to her. (He still couldn't even begin to wrap his head around the way her legs were intertwined when she sat like this—it looked nothing short of unnatural. Just another reminder that this was an alien he was dealing with.)

Shepard smiled.

"Fine." Garrus sighed. Damn this human and her beautiful smile. Can't exactly say no to that. "What do you want to know?"

"That's a space station?" Shepard couldn't stop staring out the window even after the ship had begun docking. "That's a space station?" She raised her eyes at Garrus. "It's enormous. How— How did they build something this massive?"

"No idea. It's been around forever," Garrus replied. "The Citadel's ancient. 50 000 years old by most estimates."

"Fifty thousand," she repeated in a whisper. "This advanced...?"

Garrus looked around, but they were alone. He put a hand on her shoulder. "Shepard, I promise, I'll tell you everything you wanna know later. For now, you have to get through this initial culture shock."

"Right. I'll..."

"This will pass." He smiled, hoping it would reassure her. "If there's anything I know anything about you, it's that you're flexible. You'll adjust in no time."

Shepard nodded. "I hope so..." She adjusted the armor on her shoulders. "Well then. What's the itinerary?"

Garrus brought up his omnitool.

"Let's see... You have three or four days as an acting ambassador of your species until your leaders arrive. You're not authorized to make any vital political decisions without consulting with your superiors... All expenses paid... Living arrangements..." He skimmed through the rest of the message. "It... doesn't really go into any specifics."

"We're docked at the Citadel. Local time is 1400 and our arrival is right on schedule," the asari pilot reported through the intercom.

"We're right on schedule," Shepard repeated in a mockingly cheerful voice.

Garrus sent her a look and she just shrugged. He smiled, shaking his head at her.

"Oh. There's no military jurisdiction on the Citadel. From now on, you don't represent the Systems Alliance, you represent humanity."

Shepard nodded.

"Alright." From her tone, Garrus gathered it didn't really make a difference to her.

"You're allowed to carry your weapons," he added quickly. He was almost certain that would be her immediate next question. "Since you're still military personnel, you won't need a permit."

"You know a lot about this," she noticed.

Garrus didn't answer. Not that it had been a question in the first place. Damn it, Shepard might be completely in control of her emotions, but he for one couldn't help feeling slightly nervous. Extremely nervous.

As soon as they stepped out of the ship, they were approached by a couple of armed turians who immediately insisted on checking their credentials even though Shepard was so very clearly and completely alien that Garrus didn't see any sense in following this useless protocol. Eventually, they reluctantly let the two of them go and instructed them to head straight to the embassies on the Presidium.

"For a civilian operation, they seem very militarized," Shepard noticed with some spite in her voice.

"That's C-Sec," Garrus explained, sharing her unfriendly look. "Citadel Security. They're... a whole other thing. Carry themselves like military, but in practice, they act as a police force... More or less."

She immediately turned her head towards him. "Personal issues?"

Damn it, she was good.

Garrus massaged his nape. There was no point hiding things from her, was there?

"My father's C-Sec," he admitted after they were safely alone in an elevator. "One of the best, actually. He probably would have expected me to join up too, if I hadn't enlisted before. I mean, it's not like that would have been a bad career path for me, a lot of the core premises stay the same." He exhaled sharply. "But... I wanted to be a soldier."

"So you grew up on this station?" Shepard looked up at him with those big green eyes of hers.

The personal question threw Garrus off his rhythm for a second.

"I... No, I didn't. I'm from Cipritine, originally."

"I have no idea where that is."

"It's on Palaven."

"I have no idea where that is."

Shepard snorted. Garrus laughed too.

"Thanks for being here, for coming with me," she said. "I'm glad it's you and not some human." She blushed. "However strange that might sound."

"As flattered as I am that you prefer me to some human," Garrus grinned, "I don't have much more choice than you here. You know, it took two people for that stunt back on Shanxi."

"If by stunt you mean making out in front of officers from both sides..."

"Shut up, you were the highest-ranking human officer there."

Shepard raised her eyebrows.

"Fine, you win this one," Garrus grumbled. He was actually relieved when the elevator doors opened, saving him from having to continue that conversation. (Conversation, banter, argument, flirting... Whatever the hell that had been.)

Here goes.

"This... could be a lot." He reached for Shepard's hand. He had no idea what was on her mind right now, but the bottom line was that he wanted to help her through this, in whatever way he could.

She shook her head without a word, not looking at him, and Garrus immediately let go of her hand. If she was intent on keeping all appearances that their relationship was professional, then that's what he would do. He was only there to support her.

So when she stepped out of the elevator, he kept close to her but didn't fraternize in any way. He was hoping it all wouldn't be too much of a culture shock for her, but he also knew how open-minded and flexible Shepard was. She would probably be fine. She looked around and Garrus could only notice tiny changes in her facial expression and the way her gaze lingered in one place when she noticed a hanar and later an elcor.

He didn't mention this part to Shepard, but he'd actually synced up her vitals with his visor—only as a precaution, not because he was expecting her life to be in danger anytime soon. Nonetheless, he'd gotten used to seeing that data in the corner of his vision. It calmed him.

Right now, he was keeping an eye on the fluctuations in her heart rate. It was slightly faster than usually, but other than that it seemed like she was handling this just fine.

"Thank you for telling me what to expect," she said. Garrus was suspecting she was just being considerate. Some of the other alien races were very clearly unsettling for her, even if she was an expert in hiding it. "Want to run it by me again?"

"Right away." He nodded his head at individual people from the crowd, trying to avoid pointing with a finger. "That's a hanar. Elcor. Krogan—be careful, don't talk to them unless talked to. Turians you've seen. The two over there are asari."

Shepard was clearly shocked.

She stared at the couple of asari watching them from afar. "But they look almost..."

"Turian, yes." Garrus wasn't particularly bothered by the fact. He'd been dealing with asari his whole life. "You'll get used to it."

"Turian?" she repeated. She stole one more look at the asari. She wrinkled her forehead. "In what—"

"Commander Shepard?"

"Uhhh... Hello," Shepard said slowly, facing the asari who'd just addressed her. "Um... And you are...?"

"I'm sorry." She motioned to the turian accompanying her. "We're from the foreign affairs branch of Citadel Security."

"We were told a human diplomat would be passing through here. If you need any sort of assistance on this, your first visit on the Citadel—"

"I already have assistance," Shepard said dryly. "But thank you for the offer."

"In that case, if you'll follow us, Commander, we should get to the embassies. And, of course, you're welcome to take your, uh..." The asari looked at Garrus critically. "...attendant."

"I'm not—" he growled, but Shepard put a hand on his chest, which kind of held him back.

"He's not a subordinate," she said firmly. "This is the turian attaché from Shanxi. We're by all rights equals and shall be treated as such. Is that clear?"

"Yes, ma'am..." The asari looked down. "Sorry, sir."

Garrus clicked his mandibles, surprised enough not to respond. He couldn't remember the last time anyone had called him sir. He looked at Shepard, but she just raised an eyebrow, a smug smirk playing on her lips. It was almost as if she were saying you're welcome.

"This way?" The turian was more collected than her asari colleague. She immediately took over the role of the orientor.

"Thank you," Shepard said with a small smile.

She followed them to a smaller—though still rather spacious—room. Two more turians were inside - a man and a woman, if she could tell by just looking. The male turian was wearing a more decorative robe, so she assumed he was the more important person here.

"Laiel Sparatus, turian ambassador," Garrus quickly whispered in her ear.

She mumbled a quick thank you to him. Day one and he's already been proving invaluable. She was glad she'd declined on taking a human attaché with her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ambassador." She remembered Garrus's advice on turian body language. Keep your throat exposed as a sign of trust and respect. No exoskeleton. A weak spot. (The fact that he'd told her this so easily and casually was still kind of heart-touching. She wasn't so sure if she'd be able to just come out and tell a turian—even Garrus—what the weak spots of her species were like it was no big deal. Damn... Why did he trust her so much?)

Do aliens shake hands? Probably not.

The turian nodded his head at her, but he seemed far more interested in her companion.

"Is that him?" He asked his assistant in a whisper. She nodded her head. He looked back up. "So you're the soldier. Come on up, step forward, don't be afraid. You are...?"

"Uh... Second Lieutenant Vakarian, 35th Infantry Division." Garrus held his head up high, but inside he was panicking. The hell is 'the soldier' supposed to mean?! He had no idea how detailed the reports from Shanxi had been, or how they'd characterized his relationship with Shepard. Pretending there wasn't one would be as impossible as it would be stupid, but now he was afraid of how he would be judged for fraternizing with the enemy. True, the conflict was officially over now, but it hadn't been back when he'd first saved her life. The fact that she held a significant position in the human military made the whole situation even worse. He had pretty much spent almost a month going out of his way to help a high-ranking officer in the enemy army.

What did the reports say about him? What had Shepard said about him to the Alliance and to the Council delegates on Shanxi? Why hadn't he asked her about it? She wouldn't intentionally put him in harm's way, he was sure of that, but there were so many cultural differences and small social cues she had no way of knowing...

Sparatus looked at him. Garrus wondered if the ambassador could see through his charade and notice his emotional turmoil. He was well aware he wasn't nearly as good as Shepard at hiding his emotions.

"Good news, Vakarian. You got lucky." He shook his head to himself. "No charges, you won't be court-martialled. You're free to go."

"I actually—" He looked at Shepard - for the first time since entering the embassies. She appeared her usual calm and collected self, but now Garrus knew that it wasn't always necessarily the reflection of her emotional state. She noticed him looking at her and sent him a small, brief smile—with just one corner of her mouth. The other non-humans had no way to pick up on it.

"He follows her wherever she goes," the turian woman explained.

"Sort of like a dog. I see." Sparatus set his brow plates in an expression of underhanded amusement. "Do you intend to protect this human, Vakarian?"

"I... Well... Yes, I suppose that would be one way to put it..." Garrus took a step back, returning to his previous spot at Shepard's right-hand side.

"Very well, that will spare us the expenses of assigning her a bodyguard."

Garrus froze for a second. Oh. He wasn't so sure if he was bodyguard material. He was a sniper, after all... But then again, this arrangement didn't change that much for him. And after all, it wasn't like Shepard needed his or anyone's protection—a fact that the politicians probably weren't aware of.

"I am actually standing right here," Shepard said dryly.

"Excuse me?" Sparatus looked at her for the first time since he'd first spoken to Garrus.

"No, excuse me. I thought this meeting was supposed to be between me and the turian ambassador... Yet with the way it's gone so far, he has yet to say as much as a single word to me." She narrowed her brows and Garrus almost panicked, but he kept himself from reaching for his gun or grabbing on to Shepard to keep her from making a mistake that might have long-lasting diplomatic repercussions for both their species. I trust her, he reminded himself. He took in a deep breath. I trust her. I trust her. Spirits, I hope that's the right decision.

Sparatus blinked repeatedly, for a moment unable to gather his thoughts. In Shepard's defense, she didn't say anything more during that moment even though she easily could have.

"...Of course," he said eventually. "That's on me. Please excuse me... Welcome on the Citadel."

Garrus suspected the delegates the ambassador was used to dealing with were far more docile than Jane Shepard. She didn't have the political filter all other races in Citadel space had—she didn't see a turian as in any way higher standing than her own species... Maybe I should have said more about what the Council works like. Hopefully, she won't offend the asari ambassador... That could be bad.

There were some empty diplomatic pleasantries exchanged for a moment, which Garrus didn't really care about or listen to, aside from noticing that, for a soldier, Shepard was very well-spoken in the political field. The atmosphere wasn't particularly friendly—he couldn't tell if it was because Shepard and Sparatus weren't a good fit or because of the First Contact War. He wasn't sure which answer would make him feel better.

"Well, that could have gone better," Garrus said as soon as they'd left the embassy.

"Could have gone a lot worse, too." Shepard was even more reserved with her feelings now than usual. Garrus felt strange walking behind her when she was like this. She just glared ahead with a steel-cold methodicality and all their rapport seemed to amount to nothing right now. "What now?"

"...Salarian embassy," Garrus answered hesitantly. "Listen, you're meeting with the Council tomorrow—"

"I know."

She stopped and he almost walked into her, unprepared for it.

She sighed.

"I hope I didn't come off too hard." She ground her teeth. "Maybe I shouldn't have talked back to the ambassador. Especially since he's a turian. I was ordered to make as good diplomatic relations with the turians as possible... Part of why you're here, too."

"Hey, no!" Garrus lifted her chin so she'd be looking at him. "That's absurd. He had no right to ignore you like that. You were right to call him out on that."

Her expression softened. She brushed some hair off her face.

"There's that smile," Garrus said with a smile of his own. "Just keep on doing what you're doing, Shepard. You're standing your ground. That's good. You're showing everyone that you're not going to be pushed around—not you, not your species. That's as good a first impression as any."

"And pray tell, what was your first impression of me again?"

"Now that's not fair, you know I was mortified of you the first few weeks of our relationship."

Shepard laughed. "Thank you, Garrus. Really." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear nervously. "Moving along?"

Garrus nodded. "Moving along."

The salarian ambassador had little to say that hadn't already been said by the turian - the only significant difference was that he didn't have to apologize for a war that'd killed hundreds of humans over the last few months. Garrus hung around in the back of the room, taking his new responsibilities as Shepard's bodyguard with a certain—albeit minimal—amount of respect. When she called out to him by name, he followed her to the next equally boring meeting, and then another one, and another, until he almost lost count. At some point, he even stopped paying attention. The diplomats all said a different version of the same thing—how amazing it was to find a developed sentient species in our galaxy and yes, how are we looking forward to having diplomatic relations with humanity, and we hope we can all benefit from possible future arrangements. Some of them acknowledged him, some didn't give him a second glance. No one questioned that the human ambassador was only accompanied by one turian soldier.

"I hate politicians," Shepard complained once they were out of earshot of even the nearest person.

The last meeting, the one with the elcor ambassador, had dragged on for longer than either of them would have been comfortable with—and Shepard had already been tired out after a long day of shaking hands, exchanging pleasantries, and pretending she was fine among all these strange creatures she hadn't yet quite learned to think of as people.

"You're a politician now, too," Garrus noticed. He opened the door to the hotel room Shepard had been given. It was a master suite, the kind he would never be able to afford to rent out. "Well, then. This is it. The itinerary for tomorrow is on the datapad by the window, you can contact anyone you wish to from that terminal over there, there's levo food in the minifridge, and... I'll see you tomorrow." He nodded his head at her as a goodbye and prepared to leave.

"Hey, um..." Shepard touched his arm.

Garrus stopped.

"What?" His gaze softened like it always did when he looked at her.

She looked down, either sheepish or puzzled, or maybe just unsure how to ask her question.

"Can you, um... maybe..." She nervously kicked the ground with her foot. "...keep that visor on...? Please?"

"This?" Garrus touched his visor, surprised. "Uh... Sure. I will. I..." He nodded. "I will, of course."

"I just... want to know it's you. I'm still... not very good at... telling you all apart." She hung her head again. Embarrassed. Maybe even guilty? He didn't blame her for being worried she wouldn't recognize him, but he also understood why that would make her feel bad.

Garrus himself had gotten better at telling humans apart in those last two weeks. Granted, he'd been telling them apart only based on their hair, but so far it'd worked.

And thank the spirits above and below that there was only one human with hair as fiery red as Shepard's.

"It's okay." He flared his mandibles. "I'll keep it on."

"Thanks." Shepard smiled sheepishly. "It... means a lot."

He awkwardly stood there, in the doorway - not inside and not outside either.

"I'll, uh..." He pointed behind himself. "I'll... be leaving."

"Um..." Shepard bit on her lip, clearly wrestling with herself. She shut her eyes. "...See you tomorrow!" She quickly put a hand on his shoulder and kissed him on the cheek.

She immediately stepped back inside, trying to hide the blush that colored her face. Embarrassed, she all but slammed the door shut right in front of his face.

"Er..."

Garrus stood before the closed door, his mouth open with an unsaid goodbye stuck in his throat. Slowly, he touched the spot where she'd kissed him.

He smiled.