This is something I wrote on the spur of the moment, it's a shortstory/novel about the Arrival DLC from ME2.
There's only going to be two chapters for the complete story. I'd appreciate any comment or suggestion!
Warning!
*Constains harsh language
*Smut (light action, not very describing)
*BRUTAL VIOLENCE (very describing action scenes, lots of blood, so if your queasy I'd recommend not reading)
This story takes place after the suicide misson, Garrus and Shepard have already been a couple for a while.
So read on and have fun! Hope you have fun and hope I've managed to write something decent!
(I've revised the story since it was last published. There were many parts I felt unhappy with and I think the story flows and make more sense now. Hope you'll enjoy it!)
"I don't like it Shepard, not one bit" He leaned against the console, folding his arms, glaring out of frustration.
She heaved a sigh "believe me, spending the night roaming through a batarian rathole of a prison, isn't exactly my dream vacation" She lowered her gaze and strode over to the workbench, picking up a drilling tool, letting it roll absentmindedly between her index finger and thumb.
"Then why are you so fucking stubborn?!" a deep rumble settled in his abdomen as he took a determined stride and ripped the tool from her hands. Placing a talon under her chin while tilting it upwards "You can't possibly understand how I feel..."
She batted his hand away, adopting a stern expression "What can't I 'possibly' understand Garrus?.. Do you think I'm completely incompetent?"
"That's not what I meant!"
"Then explain!"
He clutched her shoulders, clinging to her desperately "I won't let you go to Aratoth! It's too dangerous!"
She laughed bitterly and cocked her hip "And here I thought that 'I' was the commanding officer! Didn't think I'd signed up for outright insubordination when you stepped aboard my ship!"
"If this is insubordination then I don't care, I just want you safe!"
"So you're the almighty turian that's kept me alive all this time huh? Without you I'm completely worthless?"
"No!.. Of course not..."
"I'm going whether you like it or not!"
"Then you'll have to take me with you!"
"I could handle myself long before you joined my crew!.. I could handle myself after I dumped your scaly ass back at the Citadel when the Normany was still SR1.. So I'll manage just fine without you now!"
"When did 'you' ever dump 'me' on the Citadel?.. If I recall correctly it was I who left!"
She cocked an eyebrow, eyes wide with disbelief "Is that all you gathered from that statement?!" She broke into a thunderclap of laughter.
"Of course.. that was the most important part!"
"Yeah, you're a really handsome and brilliant space lizard who blessed my ship beyond belief.." She peered at him with a crooked smile.
"Yeah, how could you possible resist all of this 6,5 feet tall 'pure handsomeness'.."
"Great.. I wonder how large that head of yours can swell before it explodes..."
"Well, I think there's still room for more"
"Nah, if you get any more confident I´ll have to detain you on the Normandy before you run off snatching unsuspecting maidens"
"Like you'd ever be able to stop me if I wanted to run off"
"How can you still doubt me after all this time? I'm always on point!"
"Oh, is that so?.." He cleared his throat, hiding a smile behind his hand "Like that time you compared a Varren to a, what was it you called it, a teddy bear? Or that time you yelled 'SHORTCUT' in the Maco, heading straight up a mountain, ending up nosedived in a crevice!"
She stuck out her jaw arrogantly, folding her arms "tss.. Varrens are extremely cute! plus, I saved you from a life of boredom in that brick of a maco! You would have become an old, boring fart by now if I'd not intervened with my adventures! I know you loved it, you can thank me anytime now!"
He took the few steps separating them and cradled her cheek, tracing a talon gently along her cheekbones "Yeah, you sure gave me the run around.. I'm Sorry... that I didn't realize sooner.."
She raised an eyebrow "What? That you're a boring fart?"
He laughed vigorously "No... That other... thing..."
"What 'thing'"
"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about"
"Nah, I don't get it at all, please elaborate... I'm just a bit to thick to comprehend that 'oh' so very complicated brain of yours" She poked his head playfully with her index finger.
He exhaled slowly, gently resting his brow against her forehead "That it took me so long to realize what it was that I felt for you.."
While sliding an arm around her waist he pulled her closer, burying his hand in her velvety, ebony curls "you should know by now that I'm completely useless with words.. and that I seem to fuck up everything I touch... not to mention just how much you terrify me.."
She leaned as far back as allowed without breaking the embrace "Ge.. thanks! If I'd known sooner that I was the freakin boogie man I would've left you alone!"
"You see, words.. not very compatible"
"It's good I'm here to help you along then"
He ruffled her hair teasingly "Seriously though.. you've climbed so far up that pedestal that you're impossible to reach.. for you it might've been easy, but for us mortals, watching you up there..."
He exhaled, leaning back against the console "Do you remember the first time we met, on the Citadel? You emanated this overwhelming superiority, I was convinced that you would come to stand out amongst everyone else... I'm a picky guy but you won me over so easily. I just had to follow you.. and when I got to join you, everything moved so fast that I could barely comprehend what was happening.. I just felt this need of catching up to you, to gain some of that force.. It became my goal.."
"Was that the reason you left?.. Why you wanted to continue the Spectre training?" she mumbled faintly..
"Yes... I left without realizing just how much you'd already changed me.. How you'd become such a huge part of my life..and then you died... spirits.. just thinking about it.." He buried his face in his hand "lets just call it an understatement that my life got royally screwed up.. nothing meant anything anymore.. everyone denied what had happened, about the reapers, about our mission.. I left C-sec to find some sort of purpose on Omega... Well, you know the rest.. ending up a mercenary responsible for the deaths of my own squad.."
"Yeah sure.. you're the one who forced Sidonis to betray everyone.. You're the one who served your crew on a platter for the mercenaries to snack on.." she grabbed him by the collar and yanked up, glaring fiercely at him "do I really need to tell you what you already know? That it wasn't your fault!.. That nothing you did could have prevented it.. Fine..maybe you're just so fucking masochistic that you actually enjoy beating yourself with that stick up your ass!"
She released him and started pacing back and forth "as for your other ridiculous statements, they end right here and now.. I'm not some goddess up on an imaginary pedestal.. I'm just a soldier like everyone else.. You seem to have this image of me where I'm some military wonder who never fucks up, but let me give you a harsh wake up call..." She halted abruptly and turned towards him furiously "Kaidan, jenkins.. Akuze that's deemed as the highlight of my career, a fucking failure that killed over fifty people.. were I abandoned Toombs to end up in the hands of a deranged scientist of Cerberus.. they all died because I couldn't protect them.. because I wasn't strong enough... Yet they still slapped medals on my chest.. praising me.. That's not really the trademarks of a hero..."
At that point he grabbed her fiercely, planting a hungry kiss on her lips "you are a hero.. people die in the military all the time.. you can't keep them all alive no matter how hard you try.. it's thanks to you that Saren was stopped, that our galaxy didn't become the reapers playground..."
She buried her head in his chest "but it's not enough.."
"When will it be enough then?.."
"I don't know..."
"When you've saved them all.. when no one dies?"
"Maybe.."
"Well.. that's just insane.. and impossible.." He pulled her into a tight embrace "You already carry too many burdens.. you better start sharing them with me.. unless you'd prefer a scary turian clawing at your door late at night, demanding answers"
She shook in his arms from subdued chuckles.
"What's so funny?"
She laughed and punched him gently in the gut "Garrus Vakarian, scary! Clawing at my door! Good one!"
"Well... I can be scary, it just demands the right situation..."
"Oh sure big guy, I can just imagine..." She walked towards the bunk and slumped down, leaning back against the wall, sighing.
"What are you thinking about?.."
"I don't really get why you're so concerned about Aratoth.."
"Because every mission you get your hands on, even the simple pickups, turns into a fuckload of explosions!"
"You're exaggerating!"
"Oh really?.. How about Okeer, you were supposed to land, pick him up and go. But you ended up surrounded by a bunch of crazy tankbread krogans. What about Jack, a whole prison colony blown up"
"Well.. that's not.."
"Those are just a few of the missions" He interrupted "I could go on and on about every easy mission that's turned sour as soon as you happened on the scene.. When you're involved everything easy flies straight out the airlock!"
"I don't have a choice Garrus, it's Hacket after all... Since Cerberus picked me up I've wanted nothing more than to show the Alliance that I've not turned my back on them.." She threw a fist against the wall and glared straight ahead, fire dazzling her eyes "I hate living on this ship where Cerberus symbols are plastered all over the place, I want to rip them all out.. Now I've got a chance to put everything right again.. I have to do this.."
"I'm not telling you to abandon the mission... but bring someone with you, don't do this alone.."
"I can't.. Hackets right.. If the batarians notice a squad of soldiers infiltrating their colony, it'll start a conflict.. this is something I'll have to do alone, sneak in, grab Dr Kenson and get out..."
"So.. sneak in, sneak out huh..." He stalked over to her, placing a hand on each side of her hip on the bunk, leaning in close "I listened when you told me to lead a squad on the collector base, though I wanted nothing more than to stay by your side.. I will keep listening to your command.. but it's getting harder to stay away.. I've already felt what it's like to live in this galaxy without you.. I wont let that happen again..."
She placed a hand on his mandible, stroking comfortingly "I can handle this.. I'll be fine..."
"How can you be so sure?.."
"Because this is not me jumping into a fray of crazy collectors... I know how to be careful.."
"Shepard and careful doesn't really fit in the same sentence"
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
"Well sweetie.. You're more of a blast your way through brick walls than a sneak in the dark kinda lady... though I do like that part about you"
"You only know my explosive side! I've gone through plenty of stealth missions... I can be sneaky when there's a need for it..."
"Is there any way for me to persuade you not to go?"
"No.. You certainly can't, but don't worry, I'll be back long before you miss me"
"Doubtful.."
Her eyes traveled between his, a gaze of undeniable need and hunger. That fire in her soul that drew him in like a magnet, he'd never been this affected by anyone before. She'd entered his life like a raging tornado, turning everything upside down. Slowly nestling her way into his heart, leaving a piece of herself there. The way she threw him out of his paces until he could barely recognize himself, like a drug that he never could, nor wanted to escape from. The need to touch her warmth, to somehow integrate it within himself, it turned him on more than he could have ever imagined,
She looped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck, her wet, soft lips tracing slowly along his pulse, sending shivers throughout his spine. He slid one arm under her thighs and placed the other on the lower part of her back, lifting her up while she looped her legs around his waist, locking herself in place with her ankles. He slipped one hand inside her shirt, tracing his talons softly along her back, she arched, melting into his touch. He kissed her feverishly, wanting to absorb every single part of her.
Two days had gone by without a single word from her, he felt like ripping out every single bulkhead, shredding his whole compartment into little pieces. But what would that help other than reduce his anger and frustration somewhat. He wasn't the only one worried, every crew member stalked around the ship like lost little puppies. Only Tali and EDI worked frantically to try and find out what's happened to her, they were the only ones capable of accomplishing something.
Once again he was on the elevator going down to engineering, he suspected that Tali had already grown tired of his constant visits that didn't yield anything. But the low hum of the drivecore and her tinkering on her omnitool, exclaiming 'Boshtet' now and then helped reduce the buzzing in his head.
She stood in front of the battery console, hammering away at the keys.
"Have you found anything yet?"
She glanced at him over her shoulder "I've traced the signal to an asteroid not too far from Aratoth...
It seems to be some kind of research base, it's bigger than I thought, and their security is far above the usual"
"So?.."
"So.. their firewalls are constantly kicking me and EDI out.. But don't worry, we'll break through soon enough.. we were just about to contact you actually"
"So why aren't we already on our way there?" He grumbled fiercely.
"Yeah! Why not just blindly rush into a batarian colony, blasting our guns yelling Where's Shepard! that seems like the perfect plan, Garrus..."
He snorted "What could possibly be going on there that's of any good? She must be in some kind of trouble.."
"What if she's not though? We have to know more before we go there.."
He sighed and strode up to the console, leaning in, settling on watching her tinkering away. Minutes that felt like hours ticked away while Tali kept blipping and grumbling.
"Keeelah.."
"What?!" He grabbed her arm, dragging her in to gawk at the video erupting on her omnitool.
"OUCH! Did you need to rip my arm off!"
The video before him grew a heavy lump in his already tight chest. It was Shepard, hiding behind a low wall in a corner, surrounded by dozens of soldiers. Bullets flying everywhere, smoke rising by the craters from where they'd tried to hit her with grenades. She was displaying her otherworldly ability to fight, a battledance were only the one skilled enough would survive. Sending her drone to distract the opponents who wasn't getting their shields ripped apart by her tech abilities. Though her weapon play was by far the most impressive, every time she fired that sniper rifle someones head would fly off in a gruesome shower of blood, not a single shot missed, not a single opportunity wasted. All the while an annoying voice would echo through the speakers 'bring Shepard down, she mustn't be allowed to stop the arrival!' or shouts from the soldiers complaining how they couldn't take her down. That's when a heavy mech entered the area and began closing in on her.
His blood began to boil, the pulse like a drum solo against his temples, a low rumble festered in his abdomen "We have to get there!"
He was about to head for the elevator when Tali interrupted him "Garrus... This was two days ago..."
"I DON'T CARE!" he roared furiously "EDI get us there!"
"I've already plotted the course" She answered in her robotic alluring tunes through the comm.
He focused on the screen again to watch how she skillfully handled the oncoming mech, just as a rocket was about to blow her head off, she hacked it, making it slowly turn around, spraying bullets over the soldiers who barely had time to throw themselves behind cover. She gracefully vaulted behind it and with unnatural speed ran over the battlefield, picking up ammunition on the way, to finally throw herself behind the nearest cover.
Something ominous was taking place in that pristine white science building, and it wasn't the dangerous heavy mech or the battlecrazed soldiers. It was the strange, enormous darkblue artifact centered in the room. It emanated blue electric pulses, almost like thick smoke that drizzled down its tentacle like fixtures. There was no question about it, that was reaper tech, all the puzzle pieces fell into place, she was fighting indoctrinated slaves.
The annoying voice on the comm kept droning on 'don't worry, trust in the artifact, it will do its job', Shepard switched between covers, firing her sniper rifle in between the rain of bullets. The never ending stream of soldiers finally ended, the heavy mech was destroyed, her alone was left. That's when the artifact seemed to explode in a bright blue electric pulse. It ran throughout the room and smashed into her, she fell to her knees, clawing at her head as if to dig something out of it. When she'd finally collapsed a bunch of scientist entered the room behind a squad of shield-bearing soldiers. They approached her with a long stick that must've been a type of stun-gun. Every time they poked her she would convulse violently on the floor. They picked up her unconscious body and carried it away, out through the doors.
Garrus growled, gripping the railing so hard it creaked in his taloned hands."Where are they taking her?!"
"I don't know, hang on, I'm gonna go through some more footage.."
He waited impatiently until finally another video flashed up on her screen, it was Shepard again, laying on a bed in a medbay. "This is footage from about one hour ago" Tali mumbled beside him.
They watched as she rose from the bed, holding her head as if in pain. The frantic nurse rushed out of the room shouting about how 'the sedatives weren't working'. Shepard only had her military garbs on when she stole a gun from one of the powered off mechs, running out of there as the station wide alert blared out in the background.
He began strolling back and forth irritably, gabby and ken, who'd observed everything at a safe distance looked at him pitifully "What are you two looking at!" he barked fiercely, they threw their hands in the air, waiving them in a 'we're unarmed' fashion and returned to their tinkering.
"Garrus It's not their fault! You have to get a grip!"
"What the fuck do you know!" He roared and locked her gaze, his pulse exploding in his temples.
"Don't you think I want her back just as much as you?!"
"I strongly doubt that Tali!" he spat out sarcastically "Aren't you gonna return to that stupid fleet once as all this is over anyway huh!"
"Fine, yell and shout as much as you like! see if it helps! I've got more important things to do than listen to you, I'm actually gonna find her"
"YOU DO THAT!" He threw a fist to the wall, feeling one of the bones in his hand crack as it hit the cold metal "She's out there alone Tali, against a station filled to the brim with soldiers, nothing but a simple handgun as protection..."
"I know... That's why you gotta get your shit together, so that we can hurry along and save her"
He felt ridiculous, knowing full well how right she was. But the anger in him felt like a burning inferno that would swallow him whole. He rushed out of the room towards the elevator, slamming the button towards the garage, there were some punching bags down there that could take a beating.
The pictures flashed through his mind, Shepard trying to stop Dr. Kenson from blowing up the comm room, failing and getting caught up in the violent explosion, ultimately falling unconscious on the floor. At least she'd had her armor on so she must have picked it up somewhere along the way. He rushed through the never ending white corridor, Miranda's voice buzzing in the comm about how he needed to slow down. He'd left her in one of the previous rooms since she was too slow to keep up.
A while ago they'd finally figured out what the asteroid project was really about, so the rest of the crew tried to help evacuate the batarian colony on Aratoth, not a simple feat.
Though 'he' had only one goal, finding Shepard and dragging her out of there before someone else decided to finish her off. He was reaching the end of the corridor and rushed to press the console of the door, it whooshed open with a hiss, temporarily distracting the squad of soldiers who had their weapons aimed at her.
She was on the floor, about fifteen feet away, supporting herself on one arm, her head flicked in his direction, eyes connecting with his. Everything stilled, time stopped flowing, she was covered in soot and blood from head to toe, her messed up ebony curls in a halo around her banged up face. Those dazzling eyes with the inferno in them that could never, ever be quenched. She breathed a contended sigh "Garrus.."
A loud bang ripped through the air like shards of glass slicing through the silence. He couldn't comprehend what had happened until she crumbled, falling in slow motion.
Something snapped in his mind, like a tight rubber band getting cut. He launched himself in a bestial leap towards the closest soldier, burrying a talon deep into his jugular, ripping his spine straight apart as if it were mere clay. With one quick stride he was already upon the next victim, grabbing his jaw and tearing it back until he heard the satisfying cracks of the head separating from the rest of the body in a rain of blood. Their chock had so far kept them from firing, but now bullets whizzed through the air hitting him in sharp thuds. He couldn't care less though, the second it took him to kill one of them he'd already latched on to the next one. He moved like a panther from prey to prey, wading in rivers of blood, ripping off anything that he got a hold of. The only thing left in his wake were a myriad of puddles of meat, bone and blood. He grabbed the last soldier still standing, his frightened yelps and panic stricken eyes could do nothing to prevent the oncoming slaughter. He planted his face a few inches from the soldiers face, growling threateningly, ending the screams when he broke his neck with a deafening crack.
He breathed heavily, surrounded by the devastation he'd left behind, covered in crimson blood that dripped from his sharp talons. He knew what lay behind him and dreaded to turn around, finding her yet again gone from this world. Shaking violently from the adrenaline leaving his body, forced himself to slowly turn around. He searched the floor for her mangled body and found in astonishment that her gaze, though hazy and unfocused, still lingered on him.
"Shepard..." He fell to his knees and dragged her into his embrace, clinging to her desperately "Don't you dare die on me..." He applied medigel to the bullet wound below her shoulder blade.
She tried to speak but the words turned into violent coughs that ripped through her body "You... were right..."
"About what?..."
"Even you.. can get scary sometimes..." She slowly looped her arms around his neck "It just demands the right situation..."
"I warned you..."
"We have to get out of here..." She said while releasing herself from him "This asteroid is heading straight for that relay.."
"I know.." He scrambled to his feet, grabbing her hand to hoist her up.
"Garrus! You there?!" Miranda's annoying tunes broke through his earpiece.
"Yeah, I'm here.."
"Fucking finally! I've been trying to reach you forever!"
"I found Shepard, We're getting out of here now, you go ahead first!"
"Good! Though I called to inform you that the way you came is a no go.. Those damn fools blew up a corridor, the whole goddam thing collapsed and I'm stuck on the other side! you'll have to find another way out!"
"Thanks for the heads up!" He scanned the room for an exit.
"What's going on?"
"We're blocked from the way I came"
"This day just keeps getting better and better!" She limped forwards on unsteady legs "that elevator will get us closer to the hangar... We need to send a message to Aratoth for evacuation"
"The others are already on it, though I doubt it will do any good" He strode after her, grabbing her shoulder to give support but she just batted him away.
"I'm not a baby that needs cuddling, I can walk on my own.." her gaze fell on the countdown screen above them "Fuck.. only thirty minutes left!"
The eerie, compact silence of the vacuum filled hangar slapped them like a brick wall as they stepped through the doors. Shepard hobbled on towards the comm tower, her movements screaming of the strain she forced upon herself. It was a mystery how she hadn't collapsed yet. Even so, she didn't hesitate a moment to reach for the rifle on her back when soldiers headed heir way. Her arms shook of exhaustion every time she raised the heavy weapon to aim at her opponents.
He felt like yelling at her to just stop and leave it all to him, but he knew better, knew that she'd never stop. And even though he hated these moments where she fought instead of depending on him. They where also the parts of her that he admired most, her unwillingness to surrender.
They fought their way through the hangar like a well oiled machine, so used to each others rhythm, that it felt like child's play to bring down the two heavy mech's targeting them.
When they reached the comm tower the hologram of an enormous reaper flickered to life, spewing out its doomsday prophecy in its dark threatening tunes "Shepard, you have become an annoyance, you fight against inevitability. Dust struggling against cosmic wind. This seems a victory to you. A star system sacrificed. But even now, your greatest civilizations are doomed to fall. Your leaders will beg to serve us."
Shepard laughed bitterly and cocked her hip "however 'insignificant' we might be, we will fight, we will sacrifice and we will find a way! Just like we smashed your best friend Sovereign into tiny little space particles the last time you 'arrived'!" she caught her breath, stumbling slightly, pointing boldly at Harbinger "But know this! as soon as you creepy, disgusting robots, dare flap one of those disgusting tentacles in our milky way, I will personally tear you apart with my bare hands! Come and try me you fucktwat!"
Despite her disregard to his previous attempts of helping her, Garrus gingerly slid an arm under her shoulder, supporting her as they hurried towards the landing pad. Harbingers image flickered and slowly dissipated behind them.
The mass relay loomed so close now that it felt like they could just stretch out their hands to touch it. The Normandy docked against the ramp as they threw themselves aboard, barely getting through the airlock before the ship entered FTL.
"Get us the hell out of here joker!" She sagged against the wall in the cockpit, watching through the front windows as they approached the relay. Her arms hung slack against her sides, blood drizzling in generous amounts down her glowed hand, slowly falling in huge drops towards the floor. The scent hit him like a punch in the gut, overwhelming now that his helmet was removed.
"Shepard..." the distress in his husky voice was palpable. She turned towards him, meeting his gaze with distant, cloudy eyes. A slight smile grazed her features as she fell, he lunged forward and caught her in his arms, crashing to his knees "Shepard! what's wrong?!"
She chuckled faintly "It.. took me some time to find my armor.. there were some... obstructions along the way.." her head lulled into place in the crook of his arm "I'm tired... Garrus..."
The crew on the bridge watched in shock as he hoisted her up, running frantically towards the elevator.
"EDI, alert Dr Chakwas that the commander is heading towards the med bay... tell her.. that it looks bad" joker mumbled dejectedly.
