The Promise of More
The reflection of Shepard's bruised face frowned as she stared at herself in the mirror, examining the garment that had been left clearly and purposefully on the bed. The influences of turian culture were evident but she could also tell that this was not a turian robe that had been altered to accommodate her human form, as the other clothes here had been. This was… this was different. This was something that had been made for her. It fit her perfectly. Either Garrus had an excellent memory of her size from all the places his hands had been, or he had gotten her armor measurements from Atala. Either way it made Shepard's privacy feel very violated.
It was made of a similar material that all turians wore, but this version felt thicker, more sturdy somehow, despite the fact that it carried no additional weight. The top was long and tunic-like with a stunning, sweeping v-shaped neckline that started at her sternum perhaps three inches below her collar bone and swept back to the tops of her wide shoulders. The fabric of the tunic was an emerald green, like the first leaves of spring, and the ends of the long sleeves, neckline and hem bore intricate designs of black and silver that crept up the fabric in places as if they were alive.
Her legs were shrouded in another pair of fitted but functional pants that bore a line of matching green ornamentation down each leg. Boots of silver and black had been included with the ensemble: hints of the same green, swirling designs dancing around the top of the boot and around her ankle.
She heard an appreciative whistle from her bedroom door and whirled to find Atala leaning against it. "Damn." The turian said. "You look like Fiatara incarnate."
"Who?" Shepard asked.
Atala grinned. "She's our spirit of the hunt. She's a badass and lives in the spring winds, shadows and starlight. She carries the scent of prey on the wind to strong hunters so they can honor her by making a kill."
Shepard eyed herself in the mirror; the description did seem to fit. The black and silver designs made her think of starlight and shadow after hearing Atala's words. "You like the old stories a lot, don't you?" She said softly.
Atala shrugged. "I listened to them a lot as a kid." She didn't say any more; simply watching Shepard arrange her hair. "That stuff is weird and seems like a lot of work."
Shepard laughed. "It is weird, and you are right."
Atala squinted. "When you run, the color makes it look like your head is on fire."
Shepard frowned. "That sounds like I look stupid."
"No…" Atala said thoughtfully. "It's more scary and threatening looking."
"Ok, I'll take that." She glanced at Atala in the mirror. "You know I could have been naked in here, right?."
Atala shook her head. "How do humans do anything? I would have been able to smell a lot more of you if you were in here naked. I wouldn't have come in then."
Shepard scowled. "You did on the Normandy."
Atala tilted her head in acceptance, "Yes, but in the recycled air of your ship everything smells like naked human."
Shepard wrinkled her nose at that idea.
Atala chuckled. "You don't have to make that face. It's not bad… just strong. Point is I'm not an ass. I'm not going to come in here if you're naked." She pulled something from one of the pockets of the jacket she wore. "Actually, I brought you something that might help for tonight."
She held out a small container of a white cream in her three fingered hand.
"What is that?" Shepard asked.`
Atala looked hesitant. "It's… a particular formula of medigel that erases bruises easily."
"In humans?"
"Oh yeah, it's a human product. Turians would never waste time with this kind of thing." Shepard was still staring skeptically at Atala. The turian sighed. "Your doctor had a note in your medical file that this was something that should be added to the medigel in your omnitool, but there just wasn't room for something so cosmetic given the damage you usually sustain." She bit her lip and added quickly. "I have a really really good memory and I saw it on the first and only pass I made through your files, I swear!"
"And how do you have some?"
Atala shifted uncomfortably. "I ordered it after Garrus said you would be coming to Venatura." She stared at her feet, "In case… you weren't joking about sparring with me." She looked up and squared her shoulders. "Or if you were sparring with Garrus. I would have offered it to you after you bruised your chest and broke your collarbone, but it only just arrived today."
Shepard squinted at the turian and snatched the jar from her hand. She opened it and sniffed it. It didn't smell bad. "And you and your excellent memory are sure you ordered the correct thing?"
Atala rolled her eyes but added "I swear on my namesake."
Shepard stuck a finger in the gel and smeared some on the side of her jaw where the bruise was slowly developing. She could feel it tingle a little. She wiped her hands and finished adjusting her hair. "Do you have any idea what I'm in for tonight?"
"No." Atala said, "And I'm sorry but I wouldn't tell you even if I did. Garrus likes surprises and fancy food. Also, you're you and he's him. You'll both be fine."
Shepard glanced at her face; the bruise was almost gone. She rubbed a little more of the gel on for good measure.
"Well, you two kids have fun tonight." Atala said. "Oh, and Commander, you should know those pants have some hidden pockets specifically designed to holster a small pistol. I made sure Garrus added those because I think they are awesome." Well, that confirmed Shepard's suspicions regarding just how many nosy turians were involved in the creation of this outfit. Atala began walking towards the door. "Have fun, Commander."
"Atala," Shepard called. The turian stopped in the doorway to the bedroom, slight confusion sat in her turquoise eyes. "It's just Shepard."
Shepard descended the stairs to find Garrus sitting on the couch reading on his omnitool. He looked up as he scented her on the stairs and his eyes went a little wide. He was in turian robes of his own in a navy that was so deep it was almost black with lines of silver and pale blue to accent his broad chest, tapered waist and long legs. His visor gleamed on his face and his eyes were hungry as he watched her draw near.
"Spirits," he breathed as she reached the bottom of the stairs and stepped near him. He caught her hand and raised it, spinning her gently like when he had danced with her at the bar. She let him, feeling his eyes on every inch of her as the strangely flowing bottom of the tunic flared out with her spin. "Atala said you looked like Fitara. She wasn't wrong. Who knew Venatura's patron spirit was actually a human."
Shepard raised an eyebrow at him. "I thought I was a tiny krogan?"
He pulled her close, running fingers through her hair and murmured, "You are many things, and I can't wait to discover all of them." He shook himself slightly, something she knew meant there were certain physical activities he was contemplating. "But right now you are very nearly late." He took her and led her out the sweeping doors to the lawn and the sunset-stained forest at its edge.
They walked through shafts of honey sweet light and velvety shadows, making their way along the "scenic path" down to the heart of the city. The walk was so different from when they had wound down the mountain to meet with the Primarch. Garrus told her stories of his and Atala's childhood exploits in the forest and pointed out some of the more creative defensive installations his grandparents had made to the clan lands. At one point, to her deep frustration, he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. His hands were liberal in the movements required to secure her and he swore that he was doing this because it was the "only way" that he could step on the particular stones leading across the rushing stream that did not trigger mines submerged in the shallows.
"Isn't Palaven and its various large carnivorous wildlife deadly enough without making explosive streams?" Shepard asked when he had put her down and she was finished smacking him for his handsey behavior.
"Yes," he said slowly, "But you have to remember that we evolved to use tools and now we are the deadliest things on the planet. Well, until I made the mistake of bringing you here." He grinned at her out of the corner of her eyes. "Speaking of which, how was sparring in Palaven's gravity?"
Shepard grinned. "Wanna find out after whatever it is you have planned tonight?"
"Oh, I have other exercises in mind for us later." He said, reaching out and running a talon down her spine. She shivered at his touch and elbowed him. "But really." He pressed. "How was it, apart from Atala's temper tantrum?"
Shepard was quiet for a moment and then said. "I can jump really high."
Garrus threw back his head and laughed.
They reached Venatura's streets as the lights in the shop and restaurant windows were being turned on. Their walk down had been such a welcome reprieve from the strain that had filled her days that Shepard didn't even feel out of place as the only human on the street. Her mind was completely occupied with the way the sunset was painting the mountains, the feeling of Garrus' arm at her waist and his breath tickling her ear. He led her to a little restaurant with a patio set with hovering lights, built at the edge of the cliff that had spectacular views of the valley below.
The host greeted them at the door, recognizing Garrus without needing an introduction and led them to a table at the patio's edge. Garrus lengthened his strides as they neared the table the host had pointed to and pulled out a chair, looking pointedly at Shepard. She raised an eyebrow at him but sat in the offered chair. He took a seat across from her and a server brought them two glasses and a bottle of wine. When the waiter slipped away Shepard said, "You pulled out the chair so you could look at my ass again in the outfit, didn't you?"
Garrus' lips tightened and he said. "I am deeply offended by your insinuation, Madam. I would never do such a thing." He took a sip of wine. "But it does look incredible in those pants. I'm starting to think Atala stealing your personal data was totally worth it-ow!' He yelped as she kicked him under the table.
Shepard grinned. "I noticed that the toes of the boots were reinforced." She said sweetly. "I have to say I like that aspect."
He smiled, looking genuinely pleased. "I thought you might, and you're surrounded by turians with four inch talons on each toe; I figured it wouldn't hurt to give you a little bit of an edge. And I know you do enjoy being stunning but deadly."
She looked around at the other diners, at the deep green of the trees in the valley over the stone walls next to her and the hovering decorative lights in the air. The mountain air was sweet and cool on her skin. Despite the weight of Rafia's disapproval and the looming battle with the Council she was deeply enjoying Venatura. She couldn't remember the last time she had spent so much time on a planet rather than a ship. The Normandy was more than her home, it was part of her, but she deeply enjoyed being in the open air and spaces of Palaven.
She eyed Garrus skeptically when she caught him watching her. "This is a surprisingly human date." She said, "Nice clothes, nice walk, sunset, fancy dinner," she eyed the label on the wine bottle and raised her eyebrow. "Expensive alcohol. There is no way you could have afforded that on your vigilante salary." Garrus shrugged. "What gives?"
He rolled his eyes. "Really Shepard? Something can't just be nice?"
"The last time I went for a nice dinner I ended up fighting my clone before the end of the night." She felt her shoulders hunching a little, feeling uncomfortable all the sudden. "'Nice' is for other girls. I don't get nice. I get bullets and broken fish tanks. If you want a life full of 'nice' you should go sit with that totally normal looking female behind you," she added softly, "because I don't think you will find it with me… and you deserve to get what you want."
Garrus laid a hand over hers. "Hey." he said. "None of that tonight." There was a challenge in his eyes. "I don't give a damn about nice or normal. I fell hard for a human that smells like gunfire…" She saw his nostrils flair. "And it is intoxicating. If that comes with bullets then I don't give a damn…" he ran his thumb across her hand. "Because it's all I want." He looked around. "And yes, it's a very human date because… well, you've been getting a crash course in all things stupid, stuckup and turian so I figured it would be a nice change of pace."
She squeezed his hand and beneath the table she ran her foot gently along his leg. "Well, it's appreciated. Although, the turian crash course isn't all that bad. There are lots of shiny weapons involved, and your clothing style is very comfortable and practical. I am very much appreciating those aspects."
"Good." He said. He stood up and Shepard frowned. "I have secret things about our meal to go over with our server." He leaned down and gave her a long slow kiss and then rumbled. "I'll be right back." Shepard allowed herself to enjoy watching him leave. He moved like water through the tables, the picture of predatory grace. It made her shiver. She sipped her wine and watched over the wall as a fox-like creature with a strangely scaled snout, legs and horns dashed between the trees in the valley below, the bright red of its fur gleaming, not too different in color from her hair. She wondered if Atalanta would have had some story for Atala about the creature made of scales and fire that lived in the shadows of the forest. She could do this. She was beginning to realize. Rafia was obviously a huge issue, but Casuts wasn't so bad, and Atala… she could do this family thing.
In her years serving the Alliance, when things became busy and strained between her and her mom, she had never bothered to think about it. Besides, a crew was better. You could love them but everyone knew they might die in the line of duty. So you could love and fight with the same ferocious zeal without any unfair expectations about survival. It was so much safer than a family. But the Vakarians… they were family and crew, a seamless bond of love and service.
"Your first course, madam," said their server, gently lowering a covered tray onto the table before her and pulling her from her thoughts.
"Oh, thank you." She said, Garrus hadn't yet returned.
The server caught her eyeing the empty chair. "Your dining partner," he said helpfully, "Is, I'm afraid, still discussing the preparation of some non-dextero food with our chef." He frowned slightly. "I heard raised voices about something called 'vegetables'. He wanted me to tell you to please begin the first course without him." He bowed slightly to her and left the table.
Shepard sighed slightly, waited a minute for Garrus, but was getting hungry and didn't want him to be disappointed by finding out she had let the food (which was probably expensive) go cold. She tapped the button on top of the tray and the arc of the tray's cover opened and folded down into the rim. Shepard frowned at the platter.
Garrus' visor sat on top of some carefully arranged garnish. She noticed that there was also a small note on a folded piece of paper. She opened it;
Wear me.
That was all she got. Two words in a familiar if almost illegible scribble. Mentally she took back every nice thing she had thought about the Vakarians. She sighed, lifted the visor, flicked something small and green off it and placed it over her left eye, adjusting the metal band so that it fit her much smaller and un-turian head.
Everything on the left side of her vision now had a slightly blue cast to it. The tone lowered bright spots or areas where the sun was being reflected strongly, making it easier for her to focus on everything equally and focus on anything that moved rather than her eye being drawn to something bright. She could see how this would be useful. A calibrated circle of white lines appeared on the display and rotated back and forth a few times. It followed the movement of her eye as she looked around the patio and then flashed a message saying, pupil lock achieved.
"That looks good on you, Shepard." She was almost startled. The audio was so clear it was like he was literally whispering in her ear, if not for the lack of hot breath that accompanied his voice. The audio in all her comms and her Alliance gear was nothing by comparison. "But I'd much rather see you in just the visor…" She could hear every subtone of his voice and the sound of his breath. She was totally getting one of these for herself.
"I don't think that would be appropriate attire for this establishment." Shepard said softly.
He made a contemplative noise that made her toes curl just a little. "I guess you're right. Also I don't want to share that view of you with anyone. Turians are very possessive."
"And handsey." She heard him chuckle wickedly. "Is your audio always this good?"
"Yes it is." He said in a tone that was loaded. "It has its tactical advantages. I can hear if my teammates are struggling or calm."
"So you've been listening to my breathing as we took down the Reapers?" She swirled her wine and took a sip. "Do you realize how creepy you are?"
"Kept you alive, hasn't it?" He purred. "And let's just say… I was in love with how you sound when you're breathing heavily before you invited me to your cabin." Shepard felt her face getting hot and she was very glad he was wherever he was and not at the table. She heard him laugh softly. "Embarrassed, Shepard?"
"There is no way you can see me blush from wherever the hell you are."
"I'm wearing my spare and you are lighting up on my infrared settings." He said. "You don't think I would let you have all the fun toys."
"And how exactly do I get to use this toy?" She asked. "The waiter hasn't brought the second course or user's manual."
"If you want to change to thermal vision or biotic, sonar or magnification modes, you just flex the muscle at the side of your eye to jump between them. The really fun bells and whistles take some muscular articulation training… and I don't know if humans have those muscles in their faces but the basics should be fine for now."
"So… this wasn't just so you could whisper sweet nothings in my ear?" Shepard asked.
"No…" he said in a tone that made her a little crazy. Ok, maybe getting one of these would be a bad and very distracting idea. "It's for a little entertainment and so I can whisper in your ear. Get up from the table and walk into the restaurant."
"Wait. What about dinner?"
"Trust me, Shepard."
She laughed. "After tonight, not in a million years."
"Look, if you liked the surprise I had waiting for you upstairs, which you better because you look amazing and I am thoroughly considering shooting the male three tables over who won't stop eyeing you appreciatively-"
"No massacres at dinner, please."
"Point is," he continued, "you will really like what's waiting for you inside."
Shepard drained the last of her wine and got up from the table, walking across the patio and weaving between the hovering lights and tables. "What, did you find me a turian chef who can actually cook vegetables?"
"Oh no, it's way better than that." She stepped inside the restaurant, trying to spot where her pain in the ass turian was. "Head to your left, Shepard." She followed his instructions, using the elegant mirrors in the wall to search the diners inside the restaurant. He could clearly see where she was, she just couldn't find him.
"You know it's hard for me to imagine that your ass could look better than it does in those pants." He said. Well he was clearly behind her. If she could get him to react to her somehow it might give away his position. "I think your favorite," Shepard said under her breath as she slipped past tables of regular turians enjoying their nice normal meals, "is when it has a few claw marks on it."
She heard him cough through the visor but didn't hear anything in the room.
"That… might be an accurate assessment." He cleared his throat and she grinned. "Alright, now go through the back door, and the one beyond it." She slipped through the door into a hallway that seemed to lead to kitchens and bathrooms, and saw another door directly ahead of her. She was starting to wonder if he was maybe using surveillance and just tracking the visor and saying things to make her think he was watching her. She opened the second door, and stepped out into what must be a service courtyard for the restaurant and surrounding buildings.
"Now open that crate to your right." Shepard frowned but bent and opened the large metal crate that was sitting against the wall just outside the door. And found her armor and several guns inside.
"Vakarian, what the hell is my armor doing here?"
"You're going to need it, so I saved you a trip back to the house."
"My N7 Alliance issued armor and my Cabal issue guns have been sitting in this random courtyard while we took a nice long walk?" She seethed
"It's not a random courtyard, it belongs to the restaurant and Giano has been watching them."
"Who the hell is Giano?"
"He buys the restaurant's wine. Good turian, excellent at darts. Now stop fussing and put your armor on."
"Garrus," she said, trying to put calm into her voice that she did not feel. "I'm kind of already wearing something and the undersuit for my armor is not here. Neither is my helmet."
"Come on Shepard, I'm a professional. You don't need your helmet tonight, and you're already wearing your undersuit."
"There is no way this is an undersuit."
"Turians are a little nicer to their soldiers than humans are. I figured it was time for you to have a real suit." Shepard was digging through the crate. As he spoke she found a strange piece of material that was rather triangular and was the same fabric, color, and pattern as the rest of her clothes
"And what's this triangle thingy?"
"That would be your neck guard. It seals in the front." Shepard studied it for a moment and then lifted it behind her head and draped it across the back of her neck and shoulders. The guard covered the exposed tops of her shoulders and sternum, the collar rising to about an inch below her chin. She could feel that it contained built-in reinforcements, likely to add extra protection to the delicate tissues and bones along that area."
"The design of this seems very very human." She said. "And I've watched you take off your armor a thousand times and never seen one."
"That's because turians have them built in. Evolution gave us the collar and neck plates, or this ancient warrior Aia, if you ask Atala. But your collar is a special, overprotective-sniper-boyfriend issue. I've taken out too many humans with a shot to the sternum or the neck joints of their armor and… if I'm being honest, had a few nightmares about you going out that way. No way is that happening on my watch."
She shook her head, pulling on the rest of her armor. The tunic, she discovered, actually had a slit subtly hidden in the back and front that allowed the fabric to lie perfectly along the side of her legs within her armor. It was a thousand times more comfortable than the one she usually wore. "You know I'm only going to go looking for more trouble if it means I get cool new turian equipment," she said. "Careful Vakarian, you may be setting an expensive and dangerous precedent."
"Don't get any ideas, Shepard. Now pick two weapons."
Shepard eyed the four guns that had been placed in the crate.
"What exactly are we hunting? We're hunting right? Something big and requiring armor? Cabathi? Is that why you had the collar made?"
"Just pick two guns, Shepard."
"I need to know what I'm hunting!" She snapped. "I'll choose based on what I'm gonna be facing."
"I'm not falling for that. You just want information, and it's not happening. You walk into hell not knowing what you're gonna find all the time."
"But -"
"Pick. Two. Guns."
Shepard kicked the crate in frustration, making the boots that she had removed in order to don the ones that were part of her armor slide across the bottom. She holstered a small pistol and picked up a gun that paired a lot of punch with decent range, feeling disappointed that the shotgun-cannon, which was perhaps her new favorite, was not one of the options. Although, perhaps that was because there wouldn't be much left of whatever they were hunting when she finished firing it.
"Alright, now go through that gate at the end of the courtyard and down the stairs. Giano will guard your new boots and other guns, don't worry."
Shepard snorted in frustration and headed for the gate. She flicked through the settings of Garrus' visor but didn't see anything new of note on the display. Her boots clanked on the stone steps that lead into the evening mist of the valley below. "I thought this was a date."
"It is a date."
"I wanted food."
"You'll still get food."
"You never went into the kitchen, did you."
"..."
"Did you."
"I went through the kitchen."
"Doesn't count, and now I have confirmation that you are a liar." She lightened her step as she entered the mist. She didn't trust anything right now. "That server didn't even know what the word "vegetables" meant."
"He is part of the local theatre group. He got a nice tip to remember very specific lines."
"How is a monster like you allowed out in public?"
"Because with the sexy scars, devastating looks and voice…" he drew out the words, "that I know makes your knees weak…" His assessment was accurate. "Everyone's clamoring for a piece of Archangel."
"I am going to kill you with this gun or my bare hands. It's gonna depend on how hungry I am."
A crack rent the air and the display of Garrus' visor lit up. Incoming Projectile. Shepard dropped into a crouch and some of the stone on the staircase next to her exploded.
"WHO THE HELL IS FIRING AT ME?"
"Get down the stairs, Shepard." Garrus' voice was calm. She was going to kill that turian slowly and painfully.
Her visor lit up again. Incoming Projectile. Incoming Projectile. Two more bullets slammed into the stone next to her.
"WHY AM I BEING SHOT AT?"
"Just hurry up and get down the stairs."
She cursed, eyeing a railing and then made a snap judgement as the visor lit up again. Incoming Projectile. She boosted herself onto the railing, leaning back up the incline slightly. She felt herself start to slide and grabbed the rail with one hand to control the speed of her descent. Gravity brought her sliding down the railing, firing into the mist below her. She heard a few grunts and a curse. She reached the end of the rail, adjusted her weight, released her hand and let the momentum send her off the edge of the rail and several feet forward. She landed easily, dashing to take cover behind a low wall on the lower patio she now stood on.
"We're in the middle of a city!" She yelled. She looked around. She had slid past a series of terraced gardens that sprawled down the side of the hill. He had to be here somewhere. She had been able to hear the shots aimed at her through the visor's ear piece as well. But her sniper boyfriend was being an excellent sniper and she couldn't see him anywhere. She heard boots on the stairs below her. "I would like to know what is going on before I accidentally shoot a turian civilian and start a diplomatic incident."
"You'll be fine." He drawled with that calm that made her want to kill things. "Both of your guns only contain concussive rounds."
"WHAT?"
"So fire away, and just don't get too excited with your biotics or your omni blade and everyone will be fine."
"WHO'S EVERYONE?"
Gunfire rang out again. Incoming Projectile. Shepard threw herself across the patio to another low wall as something hit the stones where she had been a moment before.
"I'm a lot less impressed with your abilities." She said, "How do you get shot so much with this thing nagging you all the time? It's doing all the hard work for you." More gunfire sounded in the distance and she saw the impacts on the wall behind her. They knew her position and that her cover was very one sided. She needed to take them out or move.
"Excuse me." Garrus said. "But we usually have a lot more that thirteen people trying to shoot us-"
"HOW DO YOU KNOW THERE ARE THIRTEEN?"
"-and there are usually several nasty things that do a lot more than shoot. Not to mention our friends end up unconscious a good deal, leaving you and I to deal with that and not getting hit." Shepard was breathing a little harder as her adrenaline spiked. "Then there's that panting noise you make that is very distracting."
"You are so dead, Vakarian."
"Now you have a hostile coming up on your eight. Run to the next low wall to your right and I'll cover you."
She crouched for a moment and then sprinted for the wall he had indicated. As she dashed for it she saw that she was on a patio overlooking an elegant garden full of artfully arranged hedgerows, willow like trees with branches drifting in the twilight breeze, fountains and statues of noble looking turians, some of which were wrestling with large metal beasts. Behind her she heard an impact, a grunt, and felt a thrill of satisfaction as Garrus' shot found its mark, her pursuer drawn into the open by her dash for cover. It was a move they had used endless times on missions together. She reached the wall and dropped below it.
"So these are fun to fight through?" She asked dryly, looking at the flowers spilling from an enormous vase to her right.
"Yes." Garrus said. "But anything is fun to fight through if you're around." Garrus said.
"And what exactly happens when we get shot?"
"Oh right, I didn't say that earlier. They only have concussive rounds too."
"YOU COULD HAVE LEAD WITH THAT."
"But where's the fun in that? Anyway, you have so many bruises already you'll never notice a few more. And you haven't been shot at in over two months. Gotta keep sharp, Shepard."
She took a deep breath. "You will be finding out exactly how sharp I am later."
"That's fine. But for now. What do you say to us having a little fun? You have five incoming about forty feet out. You take out the center two and I'll handle the periphery."
Shepard felt a smile creep across her face in spite of herself. "Alright."
"That's my girl." He whispered. "Now go raise hell."
Shepard edged her gun around the side of the wall, delivered a barrage of fire and then flipped herself over the wall, drawing her pistol with her left hand and activating her omniblade. She dashed across a perfectly manicured bit of lawn towards a long narrow water feature set into the gently sloping garden. In the corner of her eye she saw a figure in turian armor go down to her right. She fired her pistol at the next target that was closest to her, caught them in the leg, and they staggered. She increased her speed, closed the distance between them and slammed the flat side of her omni blade into their side, taking advantage of their lack of balance and sending them tumbling into a bush. To her far left she saw the impact of Garrus' shots flashing on the ground as his target took cover behind a large metal statue.
Her next closest target raised its rifle, training it on her, but before they could fire she leapt into the fountain, shifted her weight back and sent a shockwave behind her. The force of the biotics sent her skimming over the wet stones in the fountain's basin, her flexed feet sending up a wall of white spray in front of her. The water slammed into the turian who had been aiming at her and it shifted its grip, wiping frantically at the drenched visor of its helmet. Shepard let her biotics die out as she drew level with the turian, then launched herself at them, diving through the wall of water she had created, slamming her shoulder into the center of their mass, and taking them down in a tumbling dive. She rolled out of it effortlessly and slid behind one of the trees with weeping branches.
Garrus' target was still hiding behind the statue. She could see Garrus now, no more than a whisper of shadows on the patio she had been on, circling the statue to bring his target into his line of sight.
"Need me to give them a boost?" Shepard asked.
She could hear the grin in his voice. "What exactly did you have in mind?"
Shepard extended a hand towards the sheltering figure and used her biotic to lift them flailing into the sky. She flexed her fingers and they went flying through the air. She heard the crack of Garrus' rifle and saw the figure spasm as his shot found its mark.
"Spirits, I love you."
Shepard grinned. Then something caught her eye in the tree above her on the thermal display of Garrus' visor and she dove out of the way at the last second before Atala landed where she had been crouched. The delight in Atala's eyes made them gleam brighter than the cabathi's had. "Hey, Shepard." She said, slowly rising to a crouch and circling the Commander.
"Ohhhh," Shepard breathed, "you said you had no idea what Garrus was planning."
Atala shrugged, her grin widening. "I lied." Light flashed out of the corner of Shepard's eye and she threw up a shield as a biotic blast slammed into it. A biotic blast that had not come from Atala. The spy laughed. "And he didn't think one biotic would be enough fun."
"You know you're gonna pay for this, right?" Shepard said, green light beginning to sneak up the strands on her neck and creep across her jaw. An incredibly wide figure that Shepard could only guess was Zyan was moving across the lawn towards them.
"You can say that, but I've already seen your moves." Atala gloated,
Sheapard grinned. "Not all my moves."
She slammed both hands outwards sending a blast of green light at each biotic turian. Then dashed towards Atala who had shielded before the blast could hit her. "I'll slow the big guy" She heard Garrus bark in her ear. For the second time that day, green and blue light exploded around the two females. Atala had remembered everything from their morning spar and was making Shepard work for it. Shepard heard pounding footsteps nearing her and Garrus' visor informed her that Zyan was within ten feet of her, the barrage of Garrus' rounds doing little against his bulk. Shepard sent out a shockwave in an arc before her. Atala managed to block it with a shield but it caught Zyan, throwing him back a few feet. Shepard activated her omniblade again and just as Atala's shield faded, Shepard flashed a blinding but superficial burst of green right in Atala's sight line. Atala cried out, her eyes closing reflexively, and Shepard brought the flat of her omni blade into Atala's side, sending her tumbling to the ground. She pivoted and began dashing for Zyan who threw up a shield in front of himself. "Watch this!" She hissed to Garrus.
With a burst of constantly subdued rage she felt her biotics flair to life. The green crept into her eyes and she tore at Zyan's shield as she reached it. A crack like thunder echoed through the twilight air and his shield vanished. Shepard pressed off the ground with all her might on the next step and with the help of Palaven's low gravity, soared through the air, descending and bringing both feet square into the chest plate of the huge turian's armor. He went down. Hard.
"Holy spirits of destruction." She heard Garrus breathe, the night air distinctly empty of his rifle's fire.
"Told you I could jump really high." She could hear him running but couldn't see him yet.
"Yes, you can, but I'm a little more preoccupied by the fact that you just tore through a biotic shield."
"Oh yeah, I figured that out today. I'm gonna have to ask Samara about it." She saw seven figures closing in on her, creeping through the rows of hedges. "Shit. Garrus, you know the trouble with concussive rounds is that they don't exactly keep people down."
"I know." She heard his voice through the visor and in her other ear as he vaulted up from a lower level of the garden to land next to Shepard. He grinned at her. His carapace gleaming silver in the light of the slowly emerging stars. "That's what keeps it fun." He grabbed her, and kissed her roughly until they heard gravel crunch under a boot. He pulled back, staring down at her. "Had enough, Shepard?"
"Never." She said breathlessly. His sharp toothed grin made her blood sing. Without needing a signal they each spun around so they were at each other's backs and unleashed a rain of green fire and bullets onto the world.
Shepard wasn't sure if she had ever felt so alive. It was perfection, it was ecstasy… it was fun. For years she had delighted in fighting with Garrus at her side, but part of the attraction was that he was less likely to end up unconscious, like some of their other comrades, and she was less likely to get shot or gorged or otherwise injured. But now… in this crazy arena where all they risked was a bruise, or a scab, or maybe a broken bone if something really got out of hand, she could feel that she just loved fighting with him. She could read every movement of his body and face; knew the rhythm in the symphony of his firing; the crescendos before he needed a second to reload, when she would release a biotic barrage or gunfire of her own to buy him time. She could feel when he saw that the number of targets approaching her was just beyond what she could handle and his shots brushed them out of her way as if they were the stray hairs that were always falling in front of her face.
/./././././././././././././././././././././././
She was wrath and destruction incarnate. Watching her leap over the wall like some fire haired demon had taken his breath away. She swept across the garden like a wildfire, dashing from one piece of cover to another and blazing across open spaces. She was more predator than any turian or krogan, catching a lack of balance in an instant as if she was scenting blood in the air and developing a merciless way to take advantage of it less than a heartbeat later. He didn't think he had ever seen anything more beautiful and terrifying than when she leapt through the wall of spray she had created and slammed his cousin into the ground.
Last year, during the Reaper War he would have thought there would be nothing more precious than seeing her sitting in her cabin reading peacefully or walking down a street, the burden of protecting them all no longer resting on those exquisite shoulders. But no moment of serenity could surpass this. If the spirits had forged the turians from starfire then she must have been sparked from the embers that had given birth to that fire, for there was an ancient wildness in the way she moved.
They laughed and danced around each other. She somehow managed to perfectly keep track of nearly all his shots, providing personal commentary on his performance while taking down just as many people in close range.
"You must be so disappointed tonight!" She called, sending a blast of biotics into the dirt to Zyan's left, spraying the turian with earth, which distracted him enough that his shield faltered and she was able to send a biotic blast directly into his chest.
"I'm fighting with a terrifying woman." Garrus said, trying to land a shot on Atala who was zig zagging across the lawn towards him. "Why would I be disappointed?"
"Well, we can't exactly get any kill shots tonight."
He let out a single harsh laugh... "That's true. We'll never know who won." Atala and two others were almost on him. He could see Shepard's hand reaching in their direction so he focused on a target likely just out of her range. He heard her let out a deadly laugh.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that." He saw a green light build out of the corner of his eye, becoming so bright that it was glaring through the hotspot-dimming setting on his visor. Just when it had reached the point that he was going to need to cover his eyes or turn away she threw her hands down and outward, releasing an enormous circular shockwave out from where they both stood, which swept through the air in every direction, blasting the nine turians who had been approaching them to the ground. It vanished in a flash and he heard a chorus of groans and swears. Shepard was panting, the strands across her skin a dull silver. A small trickle of blood was coming from her nose, but she looked far too pleased with herself. She grinned at him. "I think I won."
