Maribellu - Beautiful female … undercurrents of radiance and within a close relationship (wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, etc.)

30 Days ASR

Shepard pressed her lips to Garrus's brow and closed her eyes. The malaise and pain of the past few days disappeared into the texture of the tough plate, the subtle scent of his sweat and cleanser beneath the smell of hospital. She smiled, soaking in the warmth and strength of his long arms as they slipped around her and pulled her in tight against the side of his chest. Completely content to stay that way, she lay her cheek against him, not even the ache of her wounds enough to prompt her to pull away.

A soft breath from the corner of the room reminded her that they weren't alone. Without opening her eyes or moving a millimetre, she smiled and said, "Hello, sir. It's nice to see you again."

Herros chuffed softly and chuckled. "And you, Captain. And you."

Shepard kissed the top of Garrus's head. "How you feeling, big guy? We should probably get you into bed."

Garrus just shook his head and gripped her tighter.

Herros stepped forward. "Come, Betru. You need to get up off the floor before you're too stiff and tired to help me lift you. I'm getting too old to carry you around." He laid a hand on his son's head, then ran gentle talons over Shepard's hair. "Welcome back, maribellu."

Shepard pulled back and looked up at the older torin, remembering when they'd met. She'd trusted him instantly, the solid feel of his energy so much like his son's. Or the other way around. "Thank you, sir." She smiled and reached out to squeeze his hand, then placed a knuckle under Garrus's chin, tilting his face up to meet hers.

"Your father is right, Garrus, bed is where you need to be. I'm not going anywhere, and I'd much rather be laying down as well. As good as fighting was for my brain, it wreaked havoc on my poor old body." She bent and pressed a chaste kiss against his mouth. As his mouth nuzzled hers, a fiery blossom of happiness exploded like Armistice Day fireworks in her chest. Since that first moment she heard his voice whisper through her thoughts back on the Cerberus base, a huge part of her had been aching for that sweet connection.

She drew back and caressed her fingertips along his undamaged mandible. "Come on, up you get." Stepping off to the side, she bent and slipped a hand under Garrus's arm. Even with both Shepard and Herros helping, it took a bit to get Garrus up onto his feet, and she was glad they hadn't waited, allowing his muscles to chill and stiffen further.

The ridged plate along Garrus's forearm felt as though it might actually be stripping the flesh off her shoulder, but Shepard just breathed into it and let it burn. Sometimes life meant pain, and sometimes … like that moment … pain meant life. Her love's arm slung over her shoulder, accepting her care … yes, some things were just worth every twinge and stab.

All three of them paused when they stepped through the door into Garrus's room and saw two of everything had been moved into the room, the two beds pushed together at the center.

"Move it along," Chakwas said, her voice managing stern amusement. "The faster we get you two into bed, the faster you'll be out there getting yourselves blown to bits again." She pushed past them, then turned to meet their curious and amused stares, finally shrugging. "What?" She sighed and shook her head as if she'd been caught doing something wrong. "Okay, yes, I'm breaking my 'no two problem patients in the same room' policy, but when I weighed the odds of you staying in your rooms … ." She held out her arms as if that explained everything. Which, of course, it did.

Shepard grinned and gripped the doctor's hand on the way past. "Thanks, Doc. It's much appreciated," she said, leading Garrus to the free side of his bed. "I've spent far too long away from the big guy." She helped Garrus up onto the deep mattress and pulled the blankets over him. Leaning down to stare into his eyes, she frowned, his passivity worrying her. "You doing okay?" she asked, her voice soft enough to stay just between them.

"Yeah, I'm fine." His good mandible fluttered a little. "Just wondering if maybe that rocket didn't take me out after all." Extricating one hand from his blankets, he pressed his palm against her cheek. "When I saw you on the bridge, I thought you'd come to take me with you, and we'd lie together in the sunshine … and you'd call me Callor." The weariness and confusion in his eyes pulled at her, prompting an answering tightness in her throat.

"No. We're both here. At least, if we aren't and your idea of heaven is fighting Reapers and Collectors … we need to have a chat." She turned her face into his hand and kissed his palm. "Now, since you're comfy … I'm going to fall over next to you, and we can get some sleep." Truly, her entire body felt like a giant abscessed tooth, short, thin blades stabbing into her in time with the throbbing. Garrus wasn't the only one she'd been separated from for way too long, her painkillers calling her home to the temporary but welcome peace of their embrace.

The mattress felt like thirty shades of heaven and about twenty fives shades of hell when she stripped down into a t-shirt and shorts and climbed under the blankets. After submitting to Dr. Chakwas's scans she rolled over onto her side to find Garrus fighting off sleep, his eyes riveted to her. He reached out a hand, exhausted talons clumsy as they caressed her jaw and neck.

She took his hand and pulled it in tight, hugging it against her breast. "Go to sleep, love. Once you're rested and healed, we can worry about what comes next."

"I don't want to wait," he whispered, his eyes fluttering shut.

"For what?" Shepard let out a long breath. The cool air and dim light coaxed her toward sleep, the room disappearing into liminal mist around the edges as she drifted.

"Anything." His voice slurred. "To be together. For the war to be over. For our lives."

Her turn to caress his face. "We won't. No more waiting."

Shepard heard long, lengthy strides approaching down the corridor and managed to lift her head just far enough to see Nihlus stop outside the door. She smiled and held out a hand to wave him in.

"Hey there," she whispered over the steady rumble from Garrus's bed. Ten different emotions surged through her at the uncertain way he hesitated at the door, as if he didn't have the right to enter … as if he felt it wasn't his place.

"You're supposed to be sleeping," the Spectre replied. He finally crossed the threshold and lifted a hip to sit on the side of her bed. "How are you feeling? The doc get all those wounds to stop bleeding?" He cradled her fingers in his talons, the pad of his thumb stroking her hand.

"Yeah. Medigel … you're my hero." She chuckled. "As for sleep, I'm going to be in just a couple of seconds." Letting her eyes close, she squeezed his talons. "You okay?"

A soft chuff answered her as he stood and laid her hand on her hip. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"I can't help it." The words strayed from her lips as sleep pulled her down, her last thoughts indeed ones of worry for the Spectre and the sweet, biting scent of alcohol on his breath. "I love you."

33 Days ASR

"So no one has heard from Liara since the siege?" Shepard strode down the SR2's CIC, a small herd of crew at her heels, all waiting for a chance to put forward their issues. Nihlus walked just behind her, on her right, a silent wall of supportive strength. He'd woken her that morning with the message from Liara saying that her contact, Dr. Gerret Bryson, had uncovered a lead in their research, and she was off to Thessia; would Shepard and Nihlus join her as soon as possible?

Miranda shook her head without breaking stride or looking up from the datapad in her hands. "The ship logged her return while you were still clearing out the mercs, then EDI had her logged onto the computer in the lounge but she managed to bypass our tracer programs and security."

Shepard paused and cleared her throat as she fought to keep the faint glow of pride off her face. Liara might just have a future in espionage if she managed to slip past EDI and all of Cerberus's spyware. "Right, so we don't know what she was up to." As had become her habit, Shepard found herself looking up as she spoke to the AI. "Or do we, EDI?"

The slightest hint of humour ... or maybe it was embarrassment that warmed the edges of the AI's response. "I would not have expected an archaeologist to circumnavigate my security protocols with such ease. Dr. T'Soni did not bother to mask her correspondence with Dr. Bryson, or the initial few vid-calls with a Matriarch Aethyta. After her second call with the matriarch, she eluded my ability to track her signal."

Shepard waggled her head a little. The information didn't offer anything unknown, but at least it confirmed their destination. "Which is where she wants us to go, anyway." She opened her omnitool and sent a message to Anderson and Garrus. Maybe, Liara sent more details to someone she knew she could trust with them. She shrugged and cracked her neck as if shaking off that problem. "Okay, we'll depart for Armali at 0800. Next."

Two hours later, she completed her walk-through debriefing and tour of the ship. Kelly reported that Jack and Javik were going ever so slightly stir crazy on the ship, so Shepard assigned them to escort the ship's alpha shift engineers to find a used replacement part, and to dig up some groceries with the cook, Sgt. Gardner. The refits she'd asked for, including a more useful shuttle bay, were well underway, Archangel's engineers polishing off her few requests in excellent time, despite Miranda's constant and strident insistence that only Cerberus personnel should be working on a Cerberus ship.

In the corridor outside of engineering, Shepard stopped and signed off on Miranda's datapad of details. Giving them a curt nod, she said, "Lots to do before 0800, people. Dismissed."

"So," Nihlus said, once the Cerberus employees boarded the elevator and headed back to work. He leaned back against the port overlooking the shuttle bay. "We're headed for Thessia?" He grinned, the 'itching to get back into action' grin of a torin well used to life on the move.

Shepard nodded and leaned forward, bracing her hands against the ledge. "Yeah. Anderson received a message last night from Liara. It asked him to forward a file to me. I told him to send it to Garrus's computer in his office. Figured that was the most secure place to look at it." She looked around. "I've got this amazing, albeit nameless, ship, and I feel like it's hostile territory. I'll be glad to have you along, although you're going to have to work with Javik." She grinned at the face he made.

The Spectre elbowed her. "It'll be fine. It wasn't my life … and really, it wasn't this Javik either. He's a long way from that gasin. Must be a hell of a shock waking up fifty thousand years later to an entirely different galaxy." He pushed away from the window. "You really should name this thing before we take off. It's bad luck."

Shepard chuckled and nodded. "Like it matters with us. We find all the bad luck there is anyway." Still, there really wasn't any point in inviting bad luck in. She hit the elevator control and stared at the wall, possibilities flicking through, most of them discarded as quickly as they appeared. "So, I started on the Normandy, which was named after a famous front in World War II on Earth." A thoughtful scowl pinched the skin between her brows and tugged at the wounds around her eyes. "What's the name of Garrus's ship? It's got a world war tie, as well."

"Passchendaele," Nihlus answered. "Try wrapping a mouth without lips around that one. It got shortened to Passch in the first minute."

She grinned. "A bunch of my ancestors fought there in World War I. So, we have world wars, my relatives … and I'd like to stick with the Alliance naming scheme despite the fact that I'm pretty sure I'm not Alliance anymore." Stringing the lines together, one name came to mind. "Okay, another World War II front where Shepard relations fought … and it's a pretty name. Ypres."

"Eepress?" Nihlus frowned, his mandibles spreading a little crooked. "You sure about that? It doesn't sound like a war ship."

A wide grin met his skepticism. "No doubt you think it should be called the 'Bloody Cudgel of Death' or something." Shepard elbowed him and stepped into the elevator as the doors opened. "Yes, I'm sure. It's the Ypres. I'll spell it for you later."

"Don't bother, you know I don't read human common." He stepped to the back of the carriage and faced the front. "And I think you should call it Cruentan Mirtus."

Even though she knew she was walking into it, Shepard cocked an eyebrow and looked up into his far too pleased, green stare. "And that means?"

"Bloody, terrible death." He laughed, then let out a pained grunted when she punched him. "Ow. Cerberus really jacked up the kilos per square centimetre behind your punches." He rubbed his belly through his armour. "So, what now, Captain Shepard?"

"Back to base, check what needed Liara's immediate attention, and ours." When the elevator opened onto the CIC, she led the way out, bypassing Kelly and the galaxy map, heading back to decon. "Then spend a quiet evening with the general before shipping out tomorrow." She trotted up the stairs halfway across the deck and let out a faint, sad sigh. "It's going to be strange leaving him behind so much." She shrugged. "To me, it feels like a month ago we were the musketeers."

Nihlus led the way into the decon area and shrugged, his mandibles flicking with a teasing smile. "You still have me."

Shepard wrapped her arm around his waist and gave him a squeeze. "I do at that."

They grabbed a cab at the end of the docking bay, only to get stalled in a massive exodus of shuttles and vehicles.

"Looks like the fleet is starting to arrive home," Nihlus said, nodding toward the private bay where Archangel docked its ships.

Shepard just shook her head. "I can't believe what you all built. It's amazing." Thinking about it a second, she shrugged. "Come to think of it, I guess I can believe it. I knew he could do it. He always had that spark."

Nihlus let out a long breath, something in it drawing Shepard's undivided attention. "Despite all the pain he was in after you died, he saved me … gave me a purpose … something to hold onto when I was drowning." His eyes met and held hers, his expression one of mixed wonder and love … and sadness. "He's my fratrin … my brother, and he's the gravity that holds all of this together."

Shepard reached out to press her palm against his mandible. "Yeah, he is that." She let out a long breath and let the hand fall to the Spectre's shoulder. "But don't short change yourself, Nihlus. You've held him together as much as he's been there for you." She gestured toward the base as they closed in on it. "All of this … I see how much it weighs on him, and you've helped him carry it."

Her hand returned to caress his cheek. "He loves you too, you know. That's why he freaked out when he saw we'd slept together. It wasn't jealousy." She tipped her head in a half shrug. "Well, mostly it wasn't. He was just worried that you were going to get hurt again, and he wanted to spare you that."

Nihlus glanced at her then turned back to his driving without replying.

They landed right outside the front door, stepping out of the cab into complete mayhem. Nyreen Kandros, Vortash, Butler, and Martin all stood out front trying to sort refugees and get them sent to the correct building. Shepard just winked and gave Martin a kiss on the cheek as she passed.

"Meet you back down here at 0530?" Nihlus asked, at the elevator.

Shepard palmed the control. "Sure thing." She grinned, her eagerness to get back into action and her old life escaping. "It's going to be nice to get back in the saddle again, at least one of the old cowpokes riding next to me."

He cocked a brow plate at her and shook his head. "Sometimes I don't understand a single word that comes out of your mouth."

"I know," she said, stepping into the elevator, "it's brilliant." Lifting one hand in a small, teasing wave, Shepard hit the door control and headed up to the twenty-first floor.

Other than the geth and their technician assistants, the research level sat almost deserted. She checked the time, then realized that the dinner hour had long gone by. "2004, geez louise." Looking down, she thumped a hand against her belly as it growled at her. "Yeah, yeah, I hear you." She let herself into Garrus's office. As soon as they broke free of Dr. Chakwas's custody, he'd given her back her omnitool, which was already keyed to all the locks, computers, and comm terminals. Despite her joy at seeing Ingrid again, Shepard just might have been slightly happier to see her omnitool. Maybe. A tiny bit.

She heard the faint murmur of Garrus's voice behind the door to his comm room, so just sat at his desk and woke up the computer. He'd already set Liara's message aside for her, so she just clicked the link. What was their lovely asari researcher up to?

Liara's face appeared on the screen, earnest and excited. "Shepard, Dr. Bryson and I have discovered some very exciting pieces of information. His daughter, Dr. Ann Bryson, has been running decryption on my mother's files … apparently the encryption she used is based on a very ancient asari code." The researcher shook her head. "My apologies. As fascinating as it is, it's a matter for another time. She has uncovered something both remarkable and terrible. I don't want to say anything in a message, no matter how well I think my tracks are covered, but I need you and Nihlus to come to Thessia as soon as possible. It's about two very old friends and the work they left behind." After another second, she nodded again, and the channel closed.

Two very old friends. Shepard grinned. Way to try for subtle and fail there, but still … .

Shepard had intended to go to Thessia and see if she could find where Tashac and Merol lived. Somewhere on that mountain, they'd built a refuge. She had no idea what they'd stored or housed in that cave, but the possibilities were encouraging and exciting.

"So you and Nihlus are headed for Thessia?"

A wide grin spread across Shepard's face at the warm voice, its subvocals rich and rumbling. She turned to face Garrus, leaning back casually in his chair. "Hope you don't mind that I made myself at home."

His mandibles fluttered in a gentle smile. "I built all this for you ... to be our home, not just mine." He walked over and sat on the edge of the desk. "So, what's going on with Liara?"

She laid her hands on his knees. "I don't know exactly, but she's uncovered something to do with what Tashac and Merol left on Thessia." Standing, she stepped between his thighs and leaned in to wrap her arms around his waist. "I hate leaving so soon. We haven't even spent any time alone together outside that damned hospital room."

His arms slipped around her. "Well, we'll change that tonight." A long sigh rumbled from his throat. "Besides, Anderson and I have business in batarian space. We'll be gone for about a week." He leaned down to touch his brow to hers, and a long sigh drifted between them. "I admit, I don't like the idea that we're going to be going separate ways so often. I got used to having your six." Nuzzling her hair, he whispered. "I could always quit, rejoin your crew."

Looking up into his eyes, Shepard nodded. "Yeah, you could, but they'd miss you around here." Standing on her tiptoes, she kissed him. "Besides, I sort of like being able to say, my boyfriend, the general." She grinned. "It's sexy."

A wide grin and throaty rumble answered that. "Well, then, in that case." He pulled back as he belly rumbled again. "Are varren eating you from the inside out?"

Shepard clapped her hands over her belly and grinned. "I think so." She nodded toward the door, the most wonderful feeling of peace greeting the simple normalcy of the moment. "Come on, General Boyfriend, let's go get some supper."

(A-N: So sorry this is so short and sorta just in between stuff. I had more planned, but I am moving tomorrow and our internet is going down soon, so I wanted to get something up. I may be a few days before posting again, so please bear with me. I promise it will be worth the wait. *whispers* One word … Thane. :D Thanks so much, and see you when I am moved.)