Garrus walked to the edge of the escarpment and looked down over the city, his mandibles fluttering in a warm smile as he saw the lights glowing in his parent's domin. He needed to go home when he finished on Rannoch and Tuchanka. Lowering himself to sit in the grass, he watched the city below with a homesick stare. Cipritine was beautiful at night, a vast sea of lights and flowing lines.

"Guess this means I managed to fall asleep," he whispered, hoping for an answer, but not expecting one. His mandibles flicked when only the silence and distant sounds of the city replied. "Why did you leave, Kahri? I don't care if things never grow past where we are."

"You need to wake up."

Garrus spun toward the voice, hope exploding firework-hot in his chest only to die. Of course she wasn't there; Shepard said she was leaving, and she kept her word. He needed to accept it, as impossible as it seemed. He just didn't understand why. It didn't make any sense. Did she think she could force him to move on? A yawning hole opened up inside him as he tried to imagine living the next ten decades or so without her.

Do you love her enough to last a century? What about everything you wanted to have with her? Just going to give all that up?

He shoved the doubt aside. It was just the exhaustion talking. After a couple nights of decent sleep, he'd be back to his old self. Besides, his odds of living to reach old age worsened all the time. Once the Reapers descended, he'd find his way back to Shepard's arms eventually.

"You need to wake up, Garrus." This time, the soft whisper of breath caressed his neck.

He closed his eyes and turned toward the voice, smiling as soft lips kissed his mouth. "Shepard?"

"Wake up. You need to wake up, love." The lips withdrew.

Garrus opened his eyes to a darkened room. Even with a wide shaft of light shining across the floor it took him a couple of breaths to recognize the house he and his team had been given on Rannoch. He scowled, leaning up a little. Why had Shepard told him to wake up? Was she just trying to torture him? It wasn't enough that she deserted his dreams, she had to keep him from getting any sleep as well?

His breath caught as he heard the whisper of fabric against stone from behind him. Shifting to look out into the other room, he saw Martin sitting at the table and Kasumi sleeping in a reclining chair by the fireplace. Who was in the room with him? He flipped over, throwing the covers straight off the bed as he leaped to his feet.

A slim figure hung most of the way out the window. Lunging for its foot, he managed to just catch a corner of their cloak, tearing it loose. The intruder fell out the window, and by the time Garrus made it there and looked out, they had disappeared into the shadows.

"Who the … ?" Garrus closed and latched the window, then turned to look over the room. Martin hadn't alerted to their presence, and all the evidence from the cave was in the main room with him. What had the person wanted?

"You need to wake up," Shepard's voice whispered through the hush.

A pale red glow bathed the room. He blinked. Still there.

Garrus scowled and bent down. A red light glowed across the floor. Grabbing his blankets, he threw them back up onto the bed. He lowered himself onto all fours, bending down so his mandible pressed against the floor, and looked under the frame. As he watched, the number on the small container changed from 2:48 to 2:47, Garrus froze just long enough to register: bomb. Snatching it out from under the bed, he leaped up and sprinted out of the room. He hurdled the crates and stasis units, hitting the door control so hard that his wrist popped.

"Come on!" he hollered at it as it crept open, squeezing out as soon as he could get his cowl through. Adrenaline pounded through his veins, pushing back the exhaustion and granting him speed he hadn't tapped in a decade. Watching the timer, he ran until it clicked over to 0:45 then threw it as far into the desert as he could.

Timer or not, the second it hit the ground, it exploded, the blast wave knocking him back almost ten metres, and peppering him with shrapnel.

Garrus laid there, his hearing ringing, eyesight fuzzy, his entire front side stinging. "The perfect end to the day." A long, weary groan dragged out of his throat as he rolled onto his side and lifted up onto an elbow.

"Garrus!" Martin and Kasumi raced toward him, the former sliding to a stop and crouching at Garrus's side while the latter continued on to the blast site.

"Are you okay?" Martin demanded before looking up at the smoke and dust still drifting back to the ground. "What the hell was that?"

Garrus held out a hand. "I believe it's known as a bomb. Luckily, it was a small one." He shifted around a bit. "Help me up."

Martin stood and clasped Garrus's wrist, helping haul him up off the ground. "Nice speed and agility there, Boss. Didn't know you were a hurdler." A crooked grin accompanied a steadying hand on Garrus's elbow. "You okay?"

The general looked down at the thin streams of blue running down his chest, arms, and legs before brushing himself down carefully, making sure he didn't have any chunks of bomb or rock embedded in his plates. "Yeah, just dinged up a bit. Better than I would be if I hadn't woken up." He stretched, his neck and shoulder popping, then limped over to look at the blast area. "They came in through my window and put it under my bed."

"Good thing you're a light sleeper." Martin crossed to the center and crouched down. "Why, though?" He twisted, looking around, the area visible in the moonlight. "It wasn't big enough to take out the whole building. The evidence, Kasumi and myself would have come through, especially with it under the bed."

Garrus nodded and leaned a hand on his hip. "It was meant for me. They didn't want the evidence destroyed. They're worried I'm going to cover it up. If I'm killed or badly wounded, it draws attention to the evidence." He shook his head and turned back toward Base One. "I wish I'd gotten a decent look at whoever planted it."

Martin stood. "You didn't get anything?"

"A two-toed foot hanging through my window by the knee." He shrugged. "I grabbed the cloak they were wearing, but that's it. Could have been quarian or geth."

He glanced back, looking for Kasumi, but she'd cloaked. As he clicked over from sleep-deprived bombing victim to general, he walled away his reactions. Fear and shock, even the comfort of Shepard's voice calling him from sleep, pushed aside to make way for logical and reasoned action. The evidence had to be removed from the planet, and he needed to make sure everyone on Rannoch remained secure during his absence.

"Martin, get the shuttle," Garrus called. "We'll load the evidence up now. I'll grab Tali and we'll head to Dholen, have the Normandy pick us up there before continuing on to Zaherin. The Archangel frigates can report to you, here. The Passch will stay in orbit if you need it."

Lifting a hand to contact Tali, Garrus saw the quarians hurrying through the moonlit village, no doubt awakened by the explosion. Tali and Kal pushed to the head of the group, jogging toward him.

Garrus stopped and turned to Martin. "You and Kasumi will stay here, keep going through the data of Legion's last whereabouts. He left from that upper door for a reason. If we're going to find him, we need to know why. Find out." He turned toward the house, climbing the short slope up to the door. "You'll be in charge of the Archangel forces while I'm gone. If it looks like shooting is going to start, park our ships between them and call me. Don't start any wars. I'd better be back in a couple of days at the outside."

"Yes, sir," Martin called as he dashed off to get the shuttle. "Kasumi, with me."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," the thief grumbled from somewhere to Garrus's left. "Just had to go and leave him in charge, didn't you, General?"

"Behave yourself, and back him up," Garrus replied, snapping his mandibles tight on a smile.

Tali ran up, sliding to a stop a couple metres away, and just stared at Garrus long enough to make him uncomfortable. After maybe twenty seconds, she shook herself and looked up into his eyes. "What happened? You're bleeding everywhere."

Realizing he was standing in the middle of Base One wearing just his undershorts, Garrus spun around and hurried up into the house. "It was a small bomb. Someone put it under my bed. Luckily, I woke up while they were still sneaking out and found it." He continued on into the bedroom to get dressed.

"A bomb?" Chair legs squeaked across the floor as Tali flopped onto one of the seats. "A bomb under your bed. So, they were trying to kill you?"

"Yes," he replied, shrugging into the light tunic he wore beneath his armour. "You and I are going to take off as soon as we get the shuttle loaded with the evidence. We can rendezvous with the Normandy in Dholen." He looked out the door, meeting her gaze. "Are you packed to spend a couple of days away? Got everything arranged? If not, better get to it. I want to be on our way within the next ninety minutes."

"Okay." She pushed off the table to stand. "I'll be ready to go."

Garrus wedged himself between the pallet of evidence and the shuttle's bulkhead to hit the vidscreen control and activate the forward cameras. He let out a heavy breath. "Damn, she looks beautiful right now," he said, watching the Normandy as the frigate lowered the ramp to let them dock. Backing out of the tight space, he glanced over at Tali. "I'll be glad to be aboard her again, even if just for a couple of days."

The quarian just nodded. Hunched in her chair, arms wrapped tight around herself, she sat shrouded in a heavy miasma of misery. The weak slump of her shoulders and the way her head hung like an impossible weight felt like a tear in the fabric of reality, a small piece of some backwards universe intruding into the reality where Tali'Zorah vas Rannoch bounded through life full of energy and fire.

Shuddering, he rubbed his hands together, suddenly chilled. "Are you cold? Must feel like a refrigerator in here after being on Rannoch for so long." He sat next to her and put his arm around her shoulders, for comfort more than warmth. His armour pretty much negated the second. "It should be warmer on the Normandy."

Shaking her head, she leaned into him. "No, I'm not cold. Well, not enough to mention, anyway. It's just … ." She reached out and placed a hand on one of the stasis units. "Did I cause this, Garrus? Was it too soon?" As she continued, her voice barely registered over the shuttle engine. "Is it the geth? Did they lure us in, or did the heretics make them turn on us?"

A silence lapsed between them that grew heavier by the second, and Garrus knew that, in those moments, Tali forced herself to look into the worst, ugliest parts of who she was and what it meant. He wished he could spare her that long stare into her own darkness, but the questions needed to be dragged out into the light and asked.

A heavy shudder ran down her spine, and her voice dropped even lower. "What if my people did this, Garrus? I know some of them are afraid that the geth are setting some sort of trap for us. I've even heard people say that it's an insult to accept our home from the geth, to live there as equals. They believe we should go to war, take back Rannoch and make the geth servants again." The silver reflections of her eyes stared into his. "What if my own people committed these atrocities because I'm pushing for peace and resettlement?"

He squeezed her tight, proud of her courage and honesty. "First of all, whoever did this, did it because of their own messed up agenda, Tali. None of it is your fault." A talon jumped up between them to halt her next words before they made it out. "You've put yourself on the line from the very beginning to give your people back their homeworld. This is just the result of sapient beings having free will." He patted her shoulder and released her as the shuttle landed inside the Normandy's cargo bay. "All we can do is make sure the minority don't derail what is best for the majority, right?"

After a moment, she nodded and straightened a little. "If I give up and let them remove us, I'm letting everyone down. I can't do that. We can live in peace with the geth. I know we can."

"That's more like it." He stood and opened the hatch. "Come on, let's go make sure the quarians get back their homeworld."

Nihlus stepped into the shuttle as soon as the hatch raised. The Spectre gripped Garrus's shoulders, looking him over with an intense, hawkish stare. "Spirits, you look even worse in person." After a moment, he looked past Garrus at the pallet of crates. "What's all of this?"

Garrus smiled and gripped his fratrin's shoulders, the embrace settling something deep in his gut. He'd come to rely on Nihlus over the months, the Spectre a volatile counterpoint to Garrus's insistence on reason and planning. As they'd supported, bullied, inspired, and argued, they'd become brothers in truth, and although he'd never admit it, Garrus missed Nihlus while the other torin went about Spectre business.

"I'll explain everything in a minute," he said and clapped Nihlus on the back. "I'm glad to see you. It's been a hell of a week."

Releasing the Spectre and looking out the door, Garrus called, "Permission to come aboard, Captain?" He reached out to take Anderson's offered hand as he stepped down into the Normandy's cargo bay. Giving the captain a warm smile, he said, "It's been too long."

"Permission granted. Welcome aboard, General, and yes, it has." Anderson smiled at Tali and extended his hand. "Good to see you again, Tali'Zorah."

"Thank you for coming out here to help us, Captain," she answered, quickly sidestepping out of the way. Looking over at Garrus then back to Anderson, she said, "Is it all right if I hide out in Liara's old lab, Captain?"

"Of course. The cots are still in there, and there should be blankets in the crates if you need to get some sleep," Anderson replied. "If you need anything, just let Kaidan know."

"Thank you." She turned and hurried toward the elevator.

"So, this is … ?" Nihlus asked again, peering into the top crate. "Blood-covered rocks. You always get me the nicest gifts."

Garrus spun back. "It's crime scene evidence, including two bodies that I could really use Dr. Chakwas's help with." He glanced back at Anderson. "If you would be willing to lend her talents to the cause, Captain?"

Anderson scowled, but nodded. "Whatever you need, although I presume an explanation is forthcoming?"

"Thank you." Garrus let out a long breath, sagging a little. "And yes, I'll tell you both everything in exchange for a hot cup of amarceru and the use of a rack for a few hours."

Nihlus ran the pad of his thumb talon over the worst of Garrus's blast damage, a long furrow a chunk of the bomb had carved out of his crest. "Your explanation will include this?" Lifting a brow plate, he leaned in, forcing Garrus to meet his stare.

"Yes. Just cut me a little slack, Nihlus. I haven't slept in days and now, I've been blown up." He staggered toward the elevator, needing to collapse into a chair at the table in the galley. "Could you take the bodies up to the doctor, please?"

"Yeah," the Spectre called. "I'll be up in a few minutes."

Garrus ended up drinking three cups of amarceru while he brought Nihlus and Anderson up to speed. Nihlus even managed to force some eggs and drellak roast into him, but pretty much the second he finished eating, unconsciousness started to suck him under. Adding to the full belly, the relief of finally being able to share some of the burden and insanity of the situation on Rannoch had his eyes preparing for rebellion if he kept them open any longer.

"Take my rack, son," Anderson offered, startling him back to full consciousness with a hand on his shoulder. "I'll have Alenko find you a couple of pillows and blankets. Someone should have brought your footlocker up already." He glanced over his shoulder at the lieutenant, but Kaidan was already in motion.

Garrus nodded, too tired to argue, and far too tired to want to cram himself into one of the crew bunks just to spend his few precious hours of sleep time listening to a dozen people snoring, talking in their sleep, and passing gas. Besides, maybe Shepard would be drawn back to where they'd actually spent their nights in one another's arms.

That decided it, and he nodded. "Thank you, Anderson. I appreciate that." He squeezed Nihlus's arm. "See you in a few hours."

Faced with actually entering what he still thought of as Shepard's quarters, Garrus hesitated, needing to take a deep, steadying breath before he palmed the door control. When it opened, he stepped right through, not wanting to draw Anderson or Nihlus's attention, but once inside, he stalled just far enough over the threshold that the door closed.

Dear spirits, almost nothing had changed. But for her missing scent and a double picture frame sitting on the table next to the bed, she could have stepped out a minute before. He stared at one of the photos in the frame, the brilliant, mischievous smile on her sharp, pretty face freezing his talons to the ground. She was so beautiful, the image revealing how much she had truly faded, even in his dreams.

Kaidan broke the deadlock between Garrus's brain and his legs, his knock ringing metallic and heavy. Garrus stepped aside to let the LT in.

"Here you go," Kaidan said, setting a couple of blankets and two pillows down. "I've got your foot locker outside." He strode out, returned a moment later to set the chest down at the end of the bed. He straightened, his eyes lingering on Shepard's pictures. "You sure you'll be okay in here?" he asked, his voice soft. "I'm sure we can—"

"It's fine, Kaidan, thanks," Garrus said, cutting across the LT's concern. He nodded toward the door. "See you in a couple of hours."

"Sure thing, General." He gave Garrus a crooked smile. "It's good to have you and Tali back, even if for a couple of days. We've missed you." Without looking back, he headed to the door and out.

Doing his best to avoid the beckoning pictures, Garrus spread a blanket out over the bed and tossed the pillows over onto the far side. Peeling off his armour distracted him for another couple of minutes before all that remained was to lay down, cover himself up and try to sleep. For a moment, he considered folding up the frame and laying it down, but his throat closed at the thought. Instead, he stretched out along his side of the horrendous bed, his pillows hugged tight against his chest and fell asleep staring into the bright emerald of Shepard's eyes.

505 Days ASD

Garrus woke with a start, the mattress moving under him. Halfway through leaping out of bed to deal with another assailant, he recognized Nihlus and let himself flop back down onto his pillows. "You shouldn't do that to people who've recently awoken to bombs being planted under their bed."

The Spectre nodded. "It's happened to me a few times." He waggled his head back and forth a little. "Well, if you count grenades." The Spectre chuckled and turned, drawing his knee up onto the bed. "If you're trying to change the galaxy and people aren't trying to blow you up, you're doing something wrong, Garrus."

Garrus settled his pillows back between his head and cowl. "What time is it?" Knowing Nihlus, they had hours yet before their rendezvous with the flotilla. He studied the other torin, looking for signs of wear and tear. For the most part, Nihlus had rallied, but between his drinking and working almost constantly, Garrus worried about burnout. Still, the Spectre looked good, clear-eyed and focused.

Nihlus looked over at the pictures, going rigid for a second before letting out a long breath. "We have three hours before our meeting with the Admiralty Board," he answered. His hand reached out a few centimetres, then hesitated for a good thirty seconds before closing the rest of the distance to lift Shepard in reverent hands. "Huh," he said, chuffing softly, "they're very good images."

Garrus nodded. He hadn't looked at the second one for longer than a second. It showed a teenage Shepard. Somehow it seemed to him that version of Shepard belonged to Anderson's memories—looking at it would be intruding—so he'd focused on the one who belonged to his.

"I came in early because I wanted to sit down and check in before we go up against the quarian government. I'm worried about you." His mandibles dropped and he shook his head, a determined gesture that Garrus knew Nihlus meant as a warning to not try to slip any bullshit past him. "You look like hell, Garrus, and not the got blown up sort of hell. What's going on?"

Garrus stared into Nihlus's eyes for long seconds before he let out a resigned sigh. "Shepard left a few nights ago. She just said that the time had come and disappeared." As he said the words, he knew how they sounded.

Nihlus nodded, a low thread of empathy running beneath his words as he said, "I'm sorry, Garrus."

Garrus chuffed. "I looked for her, but when she decides something, it's decided." He winced again. Anyone else would be calling up mental institutions on their omnitool. Nihlus understood, though. After all, much of his attachment to Shepard stemmed from fifty thousand cycle old memories.

"That part of you is ready to start grieving and move on." Nihlus held up both hands, stilling Garrus's protest before it began. "I know, you swore to be faithful to her memory, but you also know she'd never want that for you."

Garrus leaned up on an elbow and laughed, a bitter sound that tasted like sulfur. "Are you moving on, Nihlus? Are you out dating or sleeping with anyone special?" The second the words came out, he wished he could suck them back in. Spirits, he could be an ass.

The Spectre just shook his head. "No, I feel like I've had the great love of my life thanks to the beacon. But you're a young torin at the beginning of discovering all that, Garrus." He smiled, a nostalgic smile that set off a flare of jealousy deep in Garrus's gut. "Shepard would want you to live fully, and now the part of you that clung to her is ready to start down that path."

Garrus threw back the blanket and sat up. "I don't have the strength to do that, Nihlus. I'm worn to the bone." He raked his talons over his fringe and rubbed the stiff muscles in the back of his neck. "Trying to build Archangel, trying to pull off the impossible every single day … it's scraped me paper thin. With Shepard, whether she was a spirit or my overworked imagination, I could rest. I needed that, and now it's gone."

Nihlus reached out and laid his hand on Garrus's head. "I know. We'll figure it out. I know you need to control everything—that you feel like you're letting her down unless you're doing it all—but maybe it's time to let me and the others take some of the burden. Archangel is alive and well, Garrus. She's sailing on her own. We can help."

Garrus leaned into the contact for a moment before pulling away and getting up. "One thing at a time. First we've got to figure out what the hell is happening on Rannoch." As he stood and stretched, the weight settled around his neck once more. As much as Nihlus and the others tried to talk about his needing to delegate, the promise had been his. The responsibility was his. The weight was his to bear.

"Dr. Chakwas wants to speak with you once you're awake and functional," Nihlus said, not entirely succeeding in keeping the resigned disapproval out of his subvocals.

Garrus had always wondered what it would be like to have an older brother. Nihlus was teaching him.

"Then Tali, you, and I need to sit down and decide how we're going to approach the Admiralty Board. We can't hide what you found, but with the way you found it, if we don't handle things delicately, they'll be bombing the planet before we can get back." He stared at the pictures in his hand for another few seconds, then replaced the frame on the table.

Garrus gathered up his pillows and stacked them on his footlocker, then stopped and looked down at Nihlus. "Is it still there?" he asked, knowing the Spectre would know what he meant. "Does it get any better?"

Nihlus stood and pressed his hand against Garrus's face. "Yes." He sighed. "And no." He turned on his talons and strode to the door. "Dr. Chakwas, then meet me in Liara's old lab."

Garrus watched the door close behind the Spectre, a slow ache spreading through his chest, but not for himself. He'd thought Nihlus weak because of his drinking, but at least the Spectre lived in the harsh glare of reality. Pushing Shepard and all his associated emotional baggage to the back of his head, he grabbed his blankets and started folding. Without Shepard, work would prove his salvation.

Once he'd minimized his presence in Anderson's quarters, he made his way to the head, then to medbay.

"Ah, Garrus, good," the doctor called, jumping up from her desk.

Garrus nodded. "Have you found anything, Doc?"

"Quite a lot, actually, although I've just started the in depth post mortems." She walked to the foot of the first table. "I don't know that I've ever had to deal with anything quite this disturbing." Dr. Chakwas cleared her throat and held her hand out to one of the two victims. "I have no idea what the purpose of all this was, Garrus. Or at least, nothing more than guesses."

She opened a file on her omnitool. "The female was dead when the parts and pieces of geth were attached. There is some blood loss just from the massive trauma, but its passive. Her heart wasn't pumping." Letting out a long, agonized sigh, she stepped up to the end of the next bed. "The male was not so lucky. He awoke at some point, tried to move … there are signs of the implanted tech tearing away throughout his body." Shaking her head, she patted the dead quarian's foot absently, as if she could comfort him.

"So, he woke up before he was finished?" Garrus shuddered. "We heard him scream."

"No, Garrus, that's just it." The doctor met his eyes, her expression grim. "He was never meant to work. None of the attachments were functional. Saren had a geth prosthetic that was very functional. This … ." She gave a helpless little shrug, her mouth working trying to find the right words. "Near as I can tell, this was just meant to horrify."

Fury exploded in his gut, his vision flashing white stars streaking across a wash of cobalt, and he stumbled beneath the weight of fatigue and dizziness. Catching himself against the bed, he let his head hang for a second as he reined the rage in. "This was staged?" he asked without looking up. "Someone did this to these people for no reason?"

"Other than to incite that reaction right there," she said quietly, reaching out to squeeze his arm. "Tali said someone is trying to provoke war?"

He nodded and shoved himself onto his feet. "Yeah." Taking a couple of steps toward the door, he policed his horror and revulsion. He needed to keep his cool if he was going to figure it all out. "Is there any evidence that leads you to believe that this was done by either geth or quarian hands?"

The doctor turned and walked up alongside the bed. "The incisions are precise, methodical, and professional despite the results. The individual who did this is versed in quarian anatomy and physiology, and has experience either in surgery or dissection." She shrugged. "But I can't say that rules out the geth. Their platforms are capable of delicate and precise work. With the right data, they could easily have done this."

Garrus nodded, and let out a short, heavy breath. "Thanks, Karin. Let me know if you find anything that will help me find the bastards who did this."

"I will."

He turned toward the lab, a supernova of panic looming on the horizon, sweeping toward Rannoch at light speed. Whomever it was spoiling for war, it seemed that war was exactly what they were going to get.