One quote verbatim from the game because perfection. Also, some cameos, I didn't plan it that way, I swear, they just turned up!
One thing nobody tells you before you sign up on a fancy new ship with or without aliens is - how boring spaceflight is.
After the mission on Feros they had yet another frustrating talk with the Council. Garrus could not understand why the councillors were so reluctant to accept that Saren became increasingly dangerous. Shepard held her face tight and neutral but she finally hung up when the turian councillor accused her of only saving Feros because it was a human colony.
Now, without new information as to Sarens location, they had nothing else to do.
Garrus had put all his weapons and his armor through complete maintenance cycles and modded and calibrated his guns in any way possible. Ashley had let him use her workbench for that. At first she eyed him critically but she relaxed after a while and they even had some nice conversations. Mostly about guns of course but she also told him interesting things about life on Earth, about her family and the rituals they had. She told him about holidays she celebrated with her sisters and he got a glimpse of her religion. As with everything, human religions were diverse and confusing to an outsider.
Shepard joined them on the second day of sauntering through space, having finished all her reports. She also worked on her guns and armor but she didn't participate in the chat about turian and human religion. Garrus made a mental note of asking her about that later.
The Alliance threw them a few jobs here and there and Shepard had the scientists scan every system they entered for resources. But it was all busy work, it did not bring them any closer to catching Saren. Shepard spoke to one of the ANIS crew daily but they still could not find any trace of him.
Tension began to run high, as it was to be expected if you stuff a bunch of highly trained soldiers into a metal box with nowhere to spend their energy. Shepard took big teams of five or six down on every mission, even though most did not require such a big effort. But it was all she could do to keep the crew busy and distracted. As soon as there was a lull in activity, someone started a fight with someone.
Garrus had to break up an argument between Ashley and Wrex at one point. When he entered the cargo bay, they were standing almost nose to nose, grumbling and yelling at each other. Garrus quickly stepped between them, not even asking what was going on. He was not here to pick sides, he just wanted to prevent them from injuring each other. Wrex may have been stronger than her but he had seen Ashley fight, he would not bet on Wrex getting out of a fight with her unharmed.
They calmed down enough to talk reasonably to each other and when Garrus looked back to them from the Mako, they were tentatively shaking hands. He sighed, he would have to report this incident to Shepard.
Wrex had settled down on his mat, a frown on his forehead as he studied something on his omni-tool. He wondered what the old mercenary was working on. Apart from the trust between him and Shepard, Garrus wasn't sure why the krogan had actually joined them and why he was sticking around. He had the feeling that Wrex was along for more than just shooting husks.
Ashley had taken the elevator up and Garrus decided that he needed something to eat. He looked one more time towards Wrex as he stepped into the elevator but decided not to disturb him. As much as Wrex had accepted him and was sometimes even friendly with him, he was still a turian. There are limits to krogan tolerance towards turians.
Garrus stepped out of the elevator only to hear loud voices coming from the mess hall. He sighed, it sounded like another fight was going on. This time, Shepard seemed to be involved. Garrus stopped behind the corner and listened.
Shepard spoke in biting calmness, "So, you're calling me a racist?"
Kaidan answered her, sounding unusually defensive. "No, I just want you to be aware of what you base your judgement on. Your boyfriend may be a turian, but you avoid asari like the plague, can you be truly objective?"
Garrus flinched. Talking to your superior officer like that? Highly unlikely to ever happen on a military ship and very much out of character for Kaidan.
"Aren't you the one with the problem? That turian instructor at your brain camp doesn't shape your opinion of turians?" Shepard snapped.
Ashley spoke up, "Low blow, Skipper."
Garrus heard Shepard sigh and her voice turned softer. "I'm sorry, Kaidan, that was wrong."
There was a pause before Kaidan spoke again, his voice almost back to his normal soft tone. "I'm just asking you to question your motives. We are all formed by our experiences and you are in an intimate relationship with a turian while we are chasing a turian. You know people will wonder."
Garrus decided to walk around the corner and join the conversation. The humans were sitting around the table in the mess hall. Shepard smiled at him but turned back to Kaidan and Ashley. He sat down next to her.
"He's right Skipper," Ashley said. " I mean, I love being here on the Normandy but I was a bit taken aback by the human-turian loveboat vibe going on at first."
Shepard laughed out. "There seems to be an asari-human vibe going on too, I think."
"Touché," Ashley said and her cheeks turned red.
Kaidan leaned back and seemed to relax. "Our experiences influence us whether we like it or not." He looked at Garrus. "I had a bad experience with a turian but I try to not let that color my reaction to every turian."
Garrus turned to him. "What bad experience was that?"
Kaidan sighed before he answered, looking down on his hands. "He was one of the instructors at the biotic camp the Alliance built back then. I was still a kid. He mistreated a friend of mine, broke her hand because she didn't use her biotics to pick up a glass of water. I attacked him... I didn't have my biotics under control... I killed him."
"Damn, Kaidan," Ashley mumbled, "that's some tough shit."
Kaidan raked through his hair. "I was really suspicious towards aliens for a while but I got over it." He looked at Garrus again. "Sorry if I came over as cold in the beginning, sometimes I fall back into that."
"It's okay, Kaidan," Garrus said. "I didn't notice any hostility coming from you."
Shepard took a sip from a bottle and leaned forward. "So you think that I may not be entirely objective?"
"Well, think about it. You know there will be press on the Citadel when we get back and what do you think they will ask? Why does it take so long to catch Saren?" Kaidan hesitated a bit. "And also - what about Liara? Her mother was possibly the leading figure in this plot and you don't even talk to her."
Shepard slumped forward. "You think I avoid her because I don't like asari?"
"Maybe? I think you might miss out on valuable intel. Her mother worked directly with Saren and she was an influential Matriarch," Kaidan said. "Liara could know something, even if it isn't directly related. You should talk to her."
Shepard looked pleadingly at Ashley but she shook her head. "No Skipper, I'm not doing that for you. I'm just a lowly grunt, it's your job to put everything together, I just wait till you tell me where to shoot."
"Fucking mutiny, damnit!" Shepard grumbled with a little smile playing on her lips. "Okay, I'll talk to her. She better not look into my head though."
She stretched her arms over her head and bent backwards in a way that started all kinds of inappropriate thoughts in Garrus' head. He must have made a growl or Ashley had learned to read turian expressions, because the marine looked at him with a smirk on her face.
Shepard got up and looked over to the med-bay with a sigh. She looked around as if she wished that someone would want something from her so that she would have a reason to not go to Liara. But for once, no other task rescued her.
Another couple of uneventful days passed. They hopped around the galaxy, doing jobs for the Alliance that Admiral Hackett kept on giving them. They also followed a trail of material that had been sent from Feros to another science station. They had to fight Thorian thralls in that station. There was a single pod from the Thorian attached to the wall and it had been enough to infect the whole station and turn everyone into mindless slaves. Since Garrus had not been with Shepard in that fight, he was thoroughly creeped out by the idea of a whole giant plant like that.
He must have broadcast his disgust quite openly because Shepard was softly bumping his shoulder on the way back and hummed at him. It still endeared him endlessly how she tried to copy turian subharmonics for him. Although her tone was off and she sounded a bit like a little child, he knew she asked him if he was okay. He hummed back at her, giving her helmet a short bump with his own.
Spirits, he loved that woman.
On the tenth day, when Garrus had to really concentrate to not let his subharmonics creak like a bored child, he got a message from Frank. It was a short note with coordinates and a single name:
Saleon. It was signed with 'Get him, Birdy! - FJ'
Garrus jumped up, sending a message to Shepard and ran towards the CIC. The coordinates Frank had sent pointed to the Herschel system in the Kepler Verge. The doctor was on a ship, the MSV Fedele. A small cruiser, no external weapons according to the ship-register. Shepard keyed in the coordinates. They still needed a few hours to get there but at least now they had something to look forward to. Shepard threw him a worried look but he just grinned at her.
Garrus reveled in the feeling of excitement. The hunt was back on.
He spent the rest of the time preparing his weapons, laying out his armor and imagining the many ways he would make Saleon suffer for his crimes. That monster of a doctor would not get away from him again, he would not look at that arrogant grin again as he slipped through his grasp. This wasn't a C-Sec operation, he was with a Spectre now! Saleon was going down.
He was so distracted by his violent thoughts that he was surprised to hear Joker announcing their arrival in the Herschel system.
Time flies when you think about death.
A few minutes later, Shepard arrived in the cargo bay in her skintight underarmor to put on her armor. Garrus was already set and prepared, bursting with excitement. They made their way to the airlock in silence.
On normal days, Garrus probably would have noticed the strange mood Shepard was in, but at this moment, his usual perceptiveness had left him. All he could think of was how he would make Saleon suffer.
Joker turned to them as they arrived at the cockpit. "Hailed them, no answer. We are docked but they didn't reply to my friendly question of opening the fucking door." Shepard only nodded, not reacting to Joker's remark. Again, an unusual behaviour for her that Garrus should have noticed but didn't.
As they waited for the VI to open the airlock, Ashley Williams joined them wordlessly. She nodded at Shepard and hefted her Assault Rifle to the back of her armor. Garrus was slightly disappointed, he had expected to do this mission with Shepard alone but apparently she was treating it like a normal mission. She even ordered a second team to stand by over the comm.
When the outer airlock door had opened to the sealed walkway to the other ship, Shepard finally spoke. Her voice was calm and professional, not in the least bit as excited as Garrus felt. But Shepard hadn't seen the confident grin of this doctor as he flew away from the Citadel with his victims. Maybe she wasn't quite as affected as he was but Garrus didn't care. He was angry enough for both of them.
"As far as we know, this is a hired ship, so there must be a crew and we may find patients of Dr. Saleon. Garrus, I want you to stand back, Ashley and I have tranq darts to take out patients and crew non lethally. Keep an eye out for the doctor, he might be not so easily taken. We are heading for the bridge first."
Garrus swallowed his impatience with difficulty, all he wanted was to find Saleon and make him pay. "You think these mercs will let you take over the ship without resistance?"
Shepard closed her helmet as she answered. "According to the files I found, this is not a merc ship. They are transporters, they may hire mercs for security sometimes but they seem to be honest and legal. We will not treat them like pirates just because we suspect Saleon to be on board. I want to talk to the captain first."
Garrus swallowed any complaint that wanted to rise in him, he may have done this differently but Shepard had the command. He was still turian enough to not question his commanding officer. He turned to the control panel and started a hacking program from his omni-tool. A few seconds later, the door opened with a hiss and they stepped into a corridor.
Their omni-tools declared the air as clean but they kept their helmets on. Shepard downloaded a map from one of the terminals and they made their way through the empty cargo bay towards the bow of the ship. According to the map they had to follow a long corridor with many rooms on each side to reach the bridge.
Garrus noticed that the ship was old but seemed to be in good shape. The tell tale signs of wear and repair were visible on the walls and floors but the repairs looked well done. The terminals and the interface systems looked a bit outdated but everything seemed to work.
The ship was eerily quiet. Every groan of the outer plating, every click of machinery sounded twice as loud in the silence. Garrus felt his plates rise on his back, he had the feeling that they were being watched. Shepard looked at him and then pointed upwards. There were old fashioned cameras on the ceiling that followed their movements. Someone was definitely watching them.
"So they know we are here," Shepard said, "and they haven't attacked us yet. That's a plus in my book." The corridor stretched out in front of them, at least six closed doors visible on either side.
Ashley let out a snort. "Don't count your blessings just yet, Skipper." She looked on her scanner. "I'm getting life signs from behind all of these doors but no movement."
Shepard nodded, looking at her own scanner display. "There's a field in front of the door to the bridge. As if they wanted to protect themselves from the rest of the ship." She frowned and pointed her pistol to the door at the end of the corridor. "I really want to talk to the bridge crew now."
Garrus stomped forward with quick strides. The bridge crew would know where Saleon was and he couldn't wait to get his hands on him. The mass effect field in front of the door wavered as he approached and he scanned for the emitter. He was about to shoot at it when Shepard put her hand on his arm, giving him a pointed look.
She accessed the terminal next to the door. "Garrus, can you get me a line onto the bridge so that the crew can hear me?"
He considered that a waste of time and almost said something. But he held back, snapping his mandibles shut and hacked into the communications grid. It took him a few tries, his concentration flipping between the task at hand and the giddy excitement of finally getting his talons on this monster of a doctor.
Eventually he cracked the security and stepped back to let Shepard access the connection. "This is Commander Shepard of the Alliance Navy. We are looking for a salarian doctor called Saleon and would like to talk to you..."
The field disappeared with a fizzle and the door opened. Ashley had her Assault rifle up and Garrus also raised his pistol while Shepard stepped into the room, her pistol arm relaxed at her side. The bridge looked like a mechanics shed, a collection of various kinds of technology connected in ways that should not work at all. Some of it looked ancient, some of it looked like an insane person had built it from scratch.
Garrus quickly scanned the bridge and noticed that the crew tried to appear non threatening but was watching them carefully. They were mostly human, except for two asari and a batarian. One asari looked strikingly beautiful and was dressed in expensive clothes that looked very much out of place on this bridge. The other asari was smaller and so thin, she seemed to disappear. Her eyes followed every movement and she made Garrus slightly nervous. He kept his eyes on the batarian. The guy didn't have his gun raised but his hand was lying on it and his fingers were twitching. He kept looking at a human who sat on the left in a chair, as if he was asking for confirmation.
Shepard's eyes had quickly flown over the crew and if she had flinched at the sight of the batarian, Garrus had not seen it. She looked perfectly calm and stepped up to the human in the left chair. He looked so relaxed as if he had just invited some old friends to a party. The tall human woman next to him looked less relaxed and had the stance of a seasoned soldier.
"Welcome to the Fedele, Commander Shepard, I'm Captain Tony Martel," the man drawled, "I normally don't let you Alliance types just dance onto my ship but you seem to be looking for this doctor and I would very much like it if you took him away from my ship." He leaned back in his chair, one leg up on some part of the console that looked useless but probably held this collection of machinery together. His clothes were old and worn and hung loose off his frame, not telling if he wore armor underneath.
Shepard fell into a relaxed stance and signaled for Ashley and Garrus to stand down. "You have a problem with your doctor, Captain?" she said, an amused smile playing on her lips. The Fedele's captain grinned at her and after a nod towards his crew, they all relaxed and settled down. The batarian looked quite disappointed to have to put his weapon away.
Captain Martel stood up and punched some commands into the ancient looking interface, bringing up the ships layout. "He isn't my doctor, he just hired us on Noveria. A salarian, calls himself Dr. Heart. Came on board with a bunch of medical equipment and some twenty patients. He assured us that they were not contagious and our own good doctor confirmed that. I still had a bad feeling about it, should have listened to my gut."
The Captain nodded towards a slim, somehow noble looking human who looked decidedly out of place on this bridge and among this crew. He stepped forward now and introduced himself as the ships doctor. "The patients got progressively worse once they were on board, what he did with them was absolutely unethical. Half of them have died by now and the rest are on life support units in the side rooms back there."
He pointed back towards the corridor and Shepard raised her hand to her head to open the comm. "Dr. Chakwas? I want you and your team standing by for medical emergencies. We also need a lazarett ship to evac the patients, contact the Alliance for that." She turned towards Captain Martel. "That doctor sounds like the guy we are looking for and I will take him off your hands. But you will have to wait for the lazarett ship to take the patients, the Normandy isn't equipped to handle so many emergencies."
A woman in a dirty overall and with a soft smile stepped forward and put her hand on Shepard's arm. "Please, just help these poor people, he did horrible things to them."
"Did you find anything in the air when you got on?" Captain Martel asked. "Because when he began to run out of patients we kind of feared that he would release some kind of anaesthesia to continue his experiments on us. That's why I sealed us in here and called some friends." He looked at Shepard with a wide grin. "I had no idea one of my friends knows the first human Spectre."
"Frank Johnson is a friend of Garrus Vakarian here. Him and Vakarian have some unfinished business with Saleon."
"I see. Tell Frank I said thanks," Martel said to Garrus, who dipped his head in answer. He would have to ask Frank how he knew a guy like this. While he had no illusions that his business was not quite as legal as Shepard had made it sound, he seemed to be an honest guy who took care of his crew. People like that were rare out here in the fringes of Council space.
"We scanned the air when we came on, we didn't find anything." Shepard started another scan on her omni-tool and waited for the result. "Still clean, no anaesthetics."
"Our sensors are not sensitive enough to find stuff like that," Martel said and then pointed at a room on the projected map. "There he is. Aft section, behind the purifiers."
"Got it." Shepard turned and strode out into the corridor. She stopped and turned to Martel. "Stay put, don't do anything funny."
Martel sat down in his chair and put his feet up on the console. "Wouldn't dream of it, Madam Spectre Shepard."
Shepard rolled her eyes at that title. She contacted the Normandy through her comm and ordered Kaidan to come on board with his squad. They were to escort Dr. Chakwas and her team to the patients in the life support units. And also to keep a discreet eye on Captain Martel and his crew.
She kept kept walking back towards the cargo hold, her eyes on her scanner and it was all too slow for Garrus. He passed her and fell into a jog, his fingers twitching on his raised pistol. This time, Saleon would not get away.
He rushed through the cargobay, and almost ran into the aft door as it didn't open for him. He stared at it dumbfounded, searching for the sensor or the button that would open the door until Shepard appeared at his side.
She grinned at him. "This is an old, human ship, some doors are just mechanical." She turned the wheel in the center of the door and with a metallic sound, the bolts retracted from the frame. The door swung open and revealed a dark corridor, lit up by the light of Ashleys Assault rifle. Garrus wanted to storm forward but Shepard stopped him with a hand on his arm.
"Formation?" She smiled but her eyes looked serious.
Garrus shook off a rush of anger, to stick to procedure felt quite unnecessary right now. But the good turian in the back of his mind made him pull himself together. He took his usual position at the back of the squad, his assault rifle ready. Ashley scowled at him and moved to the left side of Shepard. They made their way slowly forward to the door at the end of the dark corridor. The ship felt even older here, the floor was creaking with their every step.
The door behind the maintenance area for the purifiers opened automatically and the room was empty except for one salarian with his back turned towards them. He was working on a console, quickly typing.
"Saleon, step away from the console and turn around!" Shepard's voice had that distinct tone of an order and it made even Garrus flinch even though he wasn't addressed. For a second it looked like the salarian wanted to resist but then he raised his hands and turned around. Garrus hissed out in content, he would recognize that sick smile anywhere.
"You must be mistaken, my name is Dr. Heart and I..."
Shepard turned to Garrus and ignored the salarian. "Is that him?"
"Yes." Garrus spread his mandibles in a smile and aimed for the salarians head.
"You positive?" Shepard looked at him pointedly and Garrus had to stop himself to not snap at her. Of course I'm sure!
"Yes, that's Saleon." His moved his finger towards the trigger, just waiting for Shepard to give her ok. He would finally bring this monster to justice. "You will not get away again."
The salarians eyes got wide. "No! Listen, my name is Dr. Heart! You must mistake me for someone else."
"No, I'm not mistaken." Shepard cut him off with a wave of her hand but the step closer she took towards him brought her in Garrus' line of fire. He was dumbfounded. Shepard did not make mistakes like that. Her spatial awareness was almost flawless and had probably saved her life countless times.
"You are under arrest for crimes on the Citadel and in Citadel space. Under my authority as a Spectre I arrest you and will transfer you to the authorities. Hand over your weapons." She held her pistol up but she was still in Garrus' line of fire.
For Garrus, the world stood still for several seconds. He couldn't believe what was happening. They finally had this slimy bastard in their grasps and she would not let him shoot him?
How can you do this, Shepard? How can you betray me like that?
"Shepard! You can't let him get away from this! What are you doing?"
Shepard turned her head so that she could look at him. "The right thing. We arrest him."
"But..."
"We don't even know what he has done, we need information to help the patients here on board. He won't get away, he will pay for his crimes."
Looking past Shepard he could see Saleon grin even wider and the slimy bastard raised his pistol, mumbling something. Garrus stepped to the side to have a clear shot but he was too slow. Saleon had his pistol up, aiming at Shepard's head, his finger moving on the trigger.
A shot rang out and Saleon fell, hit by an armor piercing round that not even the reinforced chest piece on salarian armor could withstand. Shepard put her pistol away and sighed.
"And now he dies anyway!" Garrus yelled out, glaring at Shepard.
How could you take this away from me?
She turned towards him and took her helmet off. In his rage he didn't even notice how sad and soft her eyes were. "You can't predict how people will act, Garrus. But you can control how you'll respond. In the end, that's what really matters."
Garrus deflated, all air punched out of him. He tried to say something but only his subharmonics could convey his confusion and war with himself. "I ... just..."
"I know, Garrus, but..."
He knew she was right, he knew this was how it was done but by the thrice damned ancestors - it didn't feel right!
Ashley cleared her throat and walked back towards the door. "I'm just gonna check the area, Skipper."
When she had left, Shepard came over to him and carefully put her hand on his gun. "Garrus, please calm down."
"You almost let him get away! How could you?" He stared at her, rage making him blind to the expressions of her face. "He killed Sarah, have you forgotten that?" The holding mechanism of his armor made an angry beep as he jabbed his pistol against it.
"No," Shepard said quietly, "but it's the first time you mentioned it. Because this wasn't about Sarah or the other patients, this was about you and that he had gotten away from you." She took his hand and pressed it so hard that it almost hurt. "We are here for justice, Garrus, not revenge."
Garrus felt like the air had left the room. Awareness crept up on him mercilessly. He hadn't even thought about the innocent people involved or Sarah, he had just wanted to bring Saleon down because - he wanted to kill him for getting away from him. Pure revenge.
"I'm..."
Shepard placed her hand on his helmet and he suddenly felt as if he was suffocating under it. He ripped it off and let it drop to the floor. The stale air of the ship felt cool on his fringe. Her hand moved to his mandible, softly stroking. "I know, Angel. You lost your way there a little."
She raised herself on her toes to bring her face closer to his. "I'm always on your side, Garrus. Even if you've forgotten what your side is."
Garrus pressed his forehead against hers, his love for her finally winning over his hurt ego. His subharmonics hummed for her, still in disharmony reflecting his internal fight but slowly the only song that counted won out. Love.
He took a deep breath, and pulled her towards him, as close as it was possible with the hard shell of their armor between them. "I thought I was supposed to watch you so that you don't lose your way..."
She smiled as she whispered, "Looks like we're watching each other."
"I'm sorry, Shepard, I don't know what came over me."
Shepard pressed a kiss on his mandible. "We all have darkness inside of us," she whispered against his face, "all of us have that monster of anger and revenge that's just waiting for the right moment to come out. We have to control it."
"I'm not very good at controlling it, I think," Garrus had to admit. Thinking back on his time at C-Sec, there had been many cases where he had let his anger control him and not the other way around.
"You'll get there, we'll get there. Together," she said, pressing her forehead against his.
Garrus sang out in love, his marking scent releasing.
Together was all he wanted.
I was worried that Garrus came across like a whiny teenager but on the other hand, this is ME1, so he is still a bit raw, young and reckless. He has a long way to grow ahead of him.