"Getting settled?"

The atmosphere in the room changed as he approached her. Shepard gave her surroundings one last visual assessment. "Yeah. It's semi-comfortable." There was a burning sensation within the air and she figured she would extinguish it immediately.

"Are we- sharing this space, Garrus?"

The question made him scoff. "What? You have got to be kidding me. I'm sorry, but I recall you insisting on the Normandy that I move in with you." Her scrutinizing gaze made him forget for a moment that she was no longer his commanding officer. "Yes. But I seem to remember that you rejected my offer because it wasn't proper 'protocol'." His mandibles flared and he nodded. "Well, I just didn't think it was the right time. I can admit that I wasn't ready. But after almost losing you for the third time- I don't think it would be wise to wait any longer." Shepard adjusted her position on the bed. It was not desirable in firmness, but despite comfort level it was probably considered a king in size by human standards. She found her eyes shifting back to the rectangular grey rug on the floor beside the bed. "Is that my old rug?"

"Yeah, I took the liberty of emptying your cabin on the Normandy before the Alliance could confiscate it all." On the other side of the bed, he brought out a box full of things and placed it next to her. "This is some of it, there's more in the closet." The door he referred to was on the wall adjacent to the desk. As she sifted through the old clothing, she found the warm comfort of familiarity. Her belongings kept her planted in who she was; gave her some sense of normalcy in her unpredictable everyday situations.

With glassy eyes, she looked up at him. "Why did you keep all of this?" Garrus moved to position himself beside her, pushing the box aside to do so. "I- couldn't get rid of it. Every time I tried to convince myself that it was time- I couldn't do it. I guess my instinct was telling me that you were still out there. My head told me to hell with it- but the longer I kept putting it off the more I tried to find you.." He was reluctant to admit it, but the smell of her that permeated the clothing had kept him grounded in reality- as painful as that reality was.

He met her gaze, smiling. "Hackett contacted me. That's when he told me where you were in a heavily encrypted message. He was using some kind of old human coding. He probably wanted to be sure that if anyone intercepted the message it would be protected."

It was remarkable just how much Hackett had actually cared. She gave the old admiral a lot of crap, but he did more for her than she gave him credit for.

"Thank you, Garrus."

"What for? All I did was make myself look like a fool for hording my supposedly dead girlfriend's stuff." She smiled and raised an eyebrow.

"Did the crew just let you take it?"

"Well, I let Vega have the Cerberus husk head. That thing was freaky."

She leaned over and rested her hands on Garrus' thighs. Their faces inches apart. "I don't blame you. It had a tendancy to make noises at all hours. Would have been a pain to haul around. Plus, I'm pretty sure it could bite."

He grumbled and brushed a few of her dark wavy locks out of her face. "Mh, apparently you aren't afraid of being bitten anyways 'cause you kept it."

"Hell no, if that thing bit me I would have thrown it out of an airlock."

He chuckled and ran his talons through her hair. "If I bit you would you throw me out of an airlock too?"

"Mmmh, I'd say that the odds are in your favor."

She mumbled with a grin before getting up and patting his leg. "I'm going to go check on Dr. Chakwas and see if she needs any help settling in."

He caught her hand as she was walking away. A swift movement of his arm pulled her back to him. His eyes were fixed on her with the intensity that she had missed. She anticipated what he was going to say- bracing herself for impact.

"Don't miss dinner at 1700." She snickered at his reminder and gently tried to free herself.

"I won't."

He refused to let go of her hand.

"1700- in the dining hall. I showed you where it was."

"Yes, Garrus! I will be there!" He stood up and his mandibles twitched in what she recognized to be a sign of playfulness. His eyes had softened now and she stopped struggling, attempting to stay cool with her own expressions.

"You promise?" His other hand had come up to brush against her side. Her body jolted away from his attempt to tickle her and she used his opposite hand as leverage to stay upright.

"Garrus Vakarian! Let go of me!"

She managed to slip away only because he had loosened his grip. "Nice try, Vakarian. not today.." Her tone ridden with jest as she left the room before he could stop her this time.

"1700!" He called after her as she disappeared. His intuition pricked at him and he felt a tightness in his chest.

She was definitely avoiding something. What she was avoiding he couldn't say, but it was unlike her.

"Is this really necessary?" Shepard asked and got a hiss from the doctor. "Don't move, Shepard." Karin scanned and made Shepard perform a few standard medical assessments. Chakwas didn't seem pleased at the results of the scan and pursed her lips in thought. "I received the records from London and they were very specific about their treatment plans."

The doctor flicked away at her omni-tool while continuing.

"Because your cybernetics have recorded trauma, and even though the doctor in London worked to reboot them, if I am interpreting these readings correctly; they are no longer needed for your body to function properly." Karin's expressions communicated her amazement and dumbfounded bewilderment. "I need to run some tests."

Shepard gave a grunt in reply and shook her head. "Let's not get too carried away, doc. Is there anything wrong with me?" She was ready to be finished with this charade. She was done being analyzed and picked apart by doctors. She loved and admired Karin, but Shepard's mental state was fragile. Hearing about her cybernetics left her feeling relieved, yet concerned- adding to the pile of stress.

"Nothing is in dire need of attention, but I must press that you need to be resting, Shepard. Do not participate in anything overly physical for the time being." She cleared her throat and looked down at her omni-tool. "How are you, Shepard?"

The simple question caught Thalassa in a bind. It was in these moments that white lies were easy to tell. "Fine- I feel great. I still have trouble getting out of bed, but-"

"That's not what I meant."

The good doctor sat on the examination table across from her and abandoned her omnitool to give Shepard's soul a soft, yet pointed gaze.

"PTSD is not something you can shove under a rug, Thalassa."

"Yeah. Well, a lot fits under my rug. I don't think it'll be a problem." Chakwas shook her head and stood up.

"I say this as your friend, sweetheart-"

There was more than just empathy behind the elder woman's eyes.

"Please don't wait too long to deal with your past and present pains. It will only stunt your current situation."

Karin placed her hand over one of Shepard's briefly before moving back to her desk.

"You are free to go. I will see you at dinner. 17-"

"1700- yup."

Weights felt as if they were strapped to Shepard's feet as she left the med bay.

Her shoulders took the brunt of the tension- creating pain in her neck.

Shepard once painted a picture in her mind of what her life might look like after the war. She realized that the brush she used for those strokes were far too idealized; reality was poised to cover her easily attained fantasy with many shades of uncertainty that she wasn't ready to face.

Nothing was ever that easy. Why had she expected anything less?