Moruvesin - Winged insect analogues native to Palaven that grow to approximately 2 cms in length. Covered in articulated armour, they are very difficult to kill and have a sting that might not kill you, but it will make you wish it had.
Netichik: Insect analogues native to Palven that have been exported to many colony worlds. About two centimetres long, they live in colonies burrowed into trees. Meat eaters, they drop out of trees in large masses onto the backs of animals passing beneath their nests.
Gasin (Gasinu - pl)- Prothean male the age of majority. (Dropped from 20 to 13 over the course of the war.)
46 Days ASR
The darkness outside Garrus's frigid, underground prison swelled with insectile sounds. Papery wings fluttered, chittering and clicking sounds swelled outside the door of his cell, another wave approaching. How many days had it been since the shipyard and the horrible, but very different darkness?
The voice returned. It spoke in his head, but it certainly wasn't any internal voice of his. Female, clipped, professional, cold … almost antiseptic in its lack of emotion.
"They're coming again. Get up!"
His body obeyed the voice inside his head, and he fumbled in the dark, searching for, and then scrambling up the wall. Every cell in his body screamed, netichiks eating him from the inside out while moruvesin swarmed over his hide. Leaning into the slick concrete, he dragged his feet under him and managed to claw his way to his feet.
"I can't do it," he whispered to the darkness as his legs trembled so hard his knees kept locking to keep him on his feet, and claws scraped at the door, alien fists pounding against it, trying to get in. "No more." Sagging against the wall, Garrus began to slide back down to the floor. For a moment, everything turned into stillness and acceptance, and he understood why, in that last breath, Shepard relaxed in his arms. The inevitable cannot be fought, not in that last, airless second as one's breath leaves their lungs for the last time.
And it didn't need to be fought. There was nothing to fight against. Everything ended.
And it was okay.
"Get up. Think light, then think medigel twice, then stims, then painkillers, and then hydration. In that order. Then get to your feet and fight to stay alive."
Not that he had any choice, his mind forming the ideas as the voice spoke them inside his head. Light blossomed, a diffuse, but bright illumination that revealed the featureless walls and the door that cracked open, giving way before the horde on the other side. The familiar, cool bliss of medigel shot through him, propelled by the heart that took a last beat, and then another last beat, and then another, the foreign parts and pieces inside him obeying the voice, refusing to let him quit. Stims calmed his tremor-wracked muscles—filaments of chemically-induced steel reinforcing them—then painkillers beat back the netichiks and moruvesin.
"Activating combat suite. Activating command and control suite. Begin recording."
"General Vakarian?" Not the same voice, but definitely the same tone.
He stood and reached for Roger, his movements smooth and strong. A wall slammed up, locking down his mind, his weariness, everything that made up Garrus Vakarian. His body moved, reacting faster, hitting harder, and lasting longer than he could have imagined. Then, as the last alien fell, Roger's broken stalk fell from numb hands, a dark curtain falling even before his body hit the floor.
"General Vakarian? Have you been hit?" Miranda.
Garrus shook his head, trying to swipe Haestrom's cobwebs from his eyes.
"They're coming in on all sides!"
"Jack! Alenko! We need barriers over everyone!"
"General Vakarian?" Collector claws latched onto his shoulders, but fell away as he swung his rifle around to club his attacker. "It's Operative Lawson! General, are you all right?"
"Wrex, move your krogan to the back edge, hold our six. Jack and I can't fight if we're going to hold this barrier."
"Gun barrels outside the fucking barrier, assholes. We can't hold against fire from both sides."
"Let me know when you get tired, pyjaks. Uncle Urdnot can take over."
"Uncle … what? Seriously?"
"General!" That time something impacted Garrus's cheek hard enough to drop him to one knee.
Surging to his feet, he drew back his rifle, winding up to smash his attacker in the face. Cerberus had done this to him … and to Nihlus. The bastards tore him apart, filled him full of tech that didn't allow him any choice but to play their sick fucking game. He'd kill her! He'd tear her to pieces before she got a chance to do the same to him.
"General Vakarian! Snap out of it!" Sour veins of bile-coloured fear threaded through that voice, disrupting his rage. No, he was a lot of things, but no … not what that blow would make him.
The bitter, overripe stink of the woman's fear finally grabbed Garrus by the mandibles, yanking him into the present and halting his blow. The cold darkness of Haestrom's underground vanished, the watery light of their second day on Korlus blinding him. He stumbled, the room swirling unsteadily around him as his vision cleared, allowing him to focus on a set of black and gold armour. "Lawson."
"Welcome back," the operative said. With a snap of both wrists, she created a barrier around herself and pushed out of their circle.
"Oh, the princess is running away from the castle," Jack said, her tone might have been teasing but for all its sharp edges.
Garrus nodded. "Focus on the barrier," he said, then snapped his attention back to the Cerberus agent. "Lawson! What are you doing?" He aimed his assault rifle at the Collectors and husks swarming into the room through the far door. The second the enemy disentangled themselves from the portal and each other, they howled and raced toward the cerberus operative.
"Lawson!" Louder that time. "What are you doing?" Damned woman.
"Clear a path for me," she shouted back. She glanced over her shoulder, then let out a pained grunt as a husk slammed into her a moment before his rounds took it out. "Shepard has no protection from the swarms. I've got to get to her."
It might prove a suicide run, but Miranda had the right of it. A wall made of pure, frozen fury met the idea of Miranda's death, but he let the truth of the situation burn through it. They needed to bulldoze a path to Shepard and get her through to the group. He clenched his jaw, firing into the doorway, trying to bottleneck the enemy a little. Whether being willing to sacrifice Miranda made him callous and brutal or not, she amounted to an expendable wedge to hammer through the enemy ranks.
No, not just expendable ... someone they needed to lose before she could hurt Shepard more than she had already.
Setting those thoughts aside, he did as she asked, sending a nearly uninterrupted stream of rounds through the door while keeping track of the fight surging around him through their shouts to each other. They fought better as a unit than he'd feared, forming a tight circle with the unarmed in the center of the formation.
A husk charged at Miranda, the thing looking as though its inner workings had started on fire and burned through the exterior. Garrus took it out with two headshots, but then it exploded, splashing everything around it with some sort of incendiary. "Spirits!"
"What the fuck was that?" Jack hollered. "That is some messed up shit."
Is that what hit me on Lorek in the slaver's den?
"Concentrate on the ones that aren't dead," Kaidan replied, exhausted snark sliding beneath the words, slick and just as edged as Jack's.
Despite putting up a strong fight, Miranda began lagging long before she reached the door. Damn. Without some major intervention, she'd go down without ever reaching Shepard. They needed more biotics in Archangel. Then the light dawned: they had another biotic with them.
"Javik, get out there and support Lawson," he called, looking to the silent prothean. "You can hold a barrier, can't you?"
The gasin didn't reply, just summoned a barrier and started pushing his way out through the wall of husks, both active and dead.
The cacophony of bodies clambered and howled, their roars and the sound of hundreds of weapons firing swirled into a veritable maelstrom that neither Shepard's group nor his own could survive for long. If they faced only the husks, maybe, but the chaos provided the perfect distraction for the Collectors to disperse around the large room, using the growth pods as cover. Most of them used a sort of assault rifle, but a few wielded particle rifles. Bunched up as Garrus's people were, they didn't stand a chance once those opened fire. Luckily, the sheer number of husks beating at their line provided some cover, the monstrosities' armour blocking incoming rounds.
And everywhere, the small drones swooped and dove at the barrier like a flock of birds, moving in single-minded formations.
Garrus studiously ignored the little seekers, as if doing so could keep Shepard's safe from their sting. Instead, he kept laser-keen focus on the husks trying to take down Miranda, relaxing it only to glance over at Jack and Kaidan when he traded out heat sinks. He watched the biotics for weariness, any sign of their stamina cracking. Duty first … always duty first, even when his heart beat on the other side of that door, amidst a hundred enemies, and the rest of him screamed to join it.
"Wrex, spell Jack on the barrier!" Garrus shouted, seeing the young human lagging. "Jack, stims! And take his place on the firing line."
A deep, guttural roar rose above the scream of shredding metal and crunch of shattering bones to announce Shepard's arrival in the lower labs. Husks and Collectors exploded in through the door, flying through the air as if launched by missiles. The massive krogan from the tank plowed through everything in his path, tramping what remained with a reckless glee. Another krogan, the shaman, muscled in right behind him, the pistol in her hand shooting two or three times before smashing a husk's head into paste. Behind them, Shepard fought backwards, her back pressed to the shaman's as she kept the enemy off their six.
Garrus reached up to his radio with his one hand, the other pulling the stock of his assault rifle in close against his side to steady its fire. "Shepard, make your way toward Miranda and Javik. They're moving in to protect you from the swarms."
A sharp nod was his only answer, but it proved enough to warm him through and put the steel back in his spine he hadn't realized was missing. No fight had ever proved hopeless around Shepard. He focused on clearing her path to Miranda, letting out a faint sigh when the biotic's faltering barrier surrounded all four of them.
Shepard slipped one arm around Miranda, dragging the operative toward Javik and his oddly green, but hardy barrier. Before they reached the prothean, Miranda stumbled and went down on one knee.
"Dammit!" Shepard hollered over the noise. "Grunt, break us a path through to the alien with the green barrier." Showing strength remarkable even for her, Shepard hoisted Miranda over one shoulder and continued fire, her back never budging from the shaman's, stuck there as if someone had soldered their armour together.
Three deep chuckles rumbled from the young tank-grown's throat as he set his head down into his shoulders, dug in, and then charged. Like a wrecking ball, the youngster plowed through the crowd, tossing ruined bodies in every direction. Garrus stilled, heart stopping for the moments it took Shepard's group to cross the five or six metres of floor. The entire way, the seeker swarms swooped in on them with the speed of diving maraquil, but Wrex tossed a steady stream of warps that kept them at bay despite weakening with each volley
"Come on," Garrus said, a low growl between clenched teeth. His muscles pushed, striving to help them along, railing against his helplessness. Sometimes bullets just didn't seem enough. "Come on." Another heat sink spent in under five seconds. "Push through."
"Hey!" Jack elbowed him, hard, and he realized he'd been creeping in Shepard's direction. "Back off, big man, you're cramping my fucking style."
Then the prothean enveloped them in his bubble of green energy, keeping it tight around them, probably to maintain the barrier's strength and his own. Javik turned, not wasting any time making his way back down the right hand side of the room to the ramp and the safety of the larger bubble.
"EDI," Shepard called, "ETA?" Despite not hearing the response, Garrus read by the grimace on Shepard's face that it was going to be a good deal longer than Shepard wanted. His muscles turned to water for a half-second. Exhaustion weighed everyone down; he didn't know how long they could hold: a tiny island in a sea of enemies, and they were running low on heat sinks.
The small group made it back to their bubble, Javik taking over to give Kaidan a break as soon as he returned. Not two breaths later, Shepard slid into position next to him.
"The Ypres is still ten minutes out," she reported, leaning in a little to keep it between them. She launched her drone out into the clusterfuck of enemies outside their perimeter. "They had to play hide and seek with the cruiser to get into orbit." Peeling off her utility belt, she tossed it behind her. "There are a dozen or so heat sinks there." She took out a husk with a couple of quick headshots. "They're sneaking up on us from the other side of the planet."
"Not sure how long our biotics are going to hold up," he replied, keeping his voice low. "We need something major to turn our way." A clutch of husks raced at him, all loose limbs and animal howls. He waited until they were just about on him before blowing them back with a heavy concussive shot. "Wouldn't happen to have a miracle on you?"
He saw Shepard stiffen in his peripherals, and spun, expecting to see blood, not a wide grin. She nodded. "Glory be to the great glowing asses of the Enkindlers, Brother General! I do indeed appear to have a miracle handy. Praise be the Father of Light's slimy tentacles!" She hung up her Mattock. "Cover me for few seconds, and I'll get us some relief."
Garrus saw her omnitool flare to life, but needed to pay attention to keeping the seemingly unending horde held back. Where in the name of buratrum were they all coming from? That number couldn't be Suns stuck on dragon's teeth. The Collectors brought husks with them: colonists turned into husks. Dear spirits, the well just kept going down and down, no bottom in sight.
"Jack! You okay?"
Garrus glanced toward Kaidan's call, but the shaman already knelt at the young biotic's side, administering medigel. Two of the krogan lie in the center of the circle along with Miranda, who was just starting to look aware of her surroundings.
The sound of a large mech core spinning up set his heart racing, and he knew what Shepard had done. Love washed over him like a hot summer rain, and he allowed himself a second of indulgence to stand in it. He'd fight through a thousand battles, endure any amount of torture—even at the hands of Cerberus—if he had even the smallest hope of getting back to her.
Because she's a miracle, the kind that only ever comes along once.
"Sweet baby Jesus, I'm good. One miracle as requested, General," Shepard said, her shout bordering on slipping into a self-congratulatory crow. "Thank you, thank you, really. I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your engineer!"
He bit down on a laugh and focused, slipping the lover back into the crate so the soldier could get back to work.
Yes, only once, and thank the spirits for that. Who could survive two of her?
The YMIR's guns whirled to life, targeting the Collectors with their twin mass accelerator cannons and rockets. Garrus could make out the Collectors' particle rifles firing at it, but Shepard kept boosting its shields and concentrated on taking out those Collectors first.
"When this thing is about to die," Shepard called, "finish it off with a headshot. That'll vaporize everything around it."
Garrus grunted his acknowledgement, seeing a slight thinning in the enemy ranks. "Everyone, start moving toward the open side of the room," he said into his radio, the mech making too much noise without. "We need to keep them from getting a foothold on that side." The krogan on the back side of the circle began to push toward the edge, Shepard's YMIR taking off enough pressure to free up a couple guns … enough to help get them moving.
Jack appeared back on the line at his side. "Ready to spell whoever's been holding the barrier the longest."
"Okay, General," Shepard said, cutting across Kaidan's reply, "it's on its last legs."
In a quick, smooth movement, Garrus traded guns, lifting his sniper rifle to his shoulder to sight the mech's head. He adjusted the sight, a thin thread of longing for Ingrid drifting out with his breath, then fired. As the mech went into meltdown, he realized they were all far too exposed for an explosion of that magnitude. Luckily, the rest of them had seen it before him and leaped for cover, dragging others along with them.
Shepard grabbed the cowl of his armour and hauled him down next to her behind a trashed grow-tank. She tucked her face into his neck, covering both of their heads with an arm as the mech blew. Taking shelter in her embrace, he hid his face from the brilliant flash and searing heat that blasted over them. When it passed, an absolute hush fell over the lab for two breathless heartbeats before chaos poured back in, the tidal wave racing into shore. He listened for gunfire, pleased to hear only intermittent bursts, and no droning from the swarms.
Shepard pressed a hurried kiss against his mandible. "No hot dogging, General," she whispered, her face pressed to his aural canal. "You've got a family to look after." Then she leaped up and held out a hand to help him up. "Everyone okay?" she called even as she tugged him to his feet.
"Wrex is down," Kaidan called. "We need to get him to medbay and soon." The smell of charred shell and flesh told Garrus all he wanted to know about the krogan's injuries.
"EDI," Shepard called, even as she couched her Mattock in the crook of her elbow and strode out to finish off any stragglers. "ETA." She stopped and spun toward the open side of the room, eyes intent, but free of fear. Instead, she showed the face that meant the tumblers inside that keen mind spun faster than light, searching for a solution for whatever new hell awaited them. "If you give me any more bad news, I swear … ." Nodding to the voice in her ear, she hung up her rifle. "Roger that, see you in five. Shepard out."
Shepard pointed to Grunt, Jack, and those among the Marines and krogan who hadn't been wounded. "We have a couple hundred Collectors and husks coming up that side of the ship at an unreasonable speed, and I am all out of mechs. Those I've pointed out, we're running up the stairs and through the labs. Grab all the grenades you can carry." She looked to Garrus, her expression sending his heart plunging into his gut. It told him he was taking the safer, slow road. "General, get the wounded up and moving. We'll clear your path, and when you get through the door, make sure it doesn't open."
He nodded and, shoving a rod of tempered steel down his spine, turned to his people. "You heard the captain, let's get the wounded ready to move." He glanced back at Shepard, her tiny form looking even more fragile as she strode amidst the krogan. A grin tweaked his mandibles. Anyone who thought his Kahri fragile or weak were in for the last surprise of their lives. He chuckled and headed over to help Miranda up off the floor.
"Come on, Operative," he said, grunting a little as he saw the jagged wound in her shoulder. He checked it briefly, but someone had already administered medigel, and the bleeding had slowed to a slow seep. "Let's go get that shoulder into medbay."
"Amp … fried," she said, her voice soft and dreamy.
When she mentioned it, he could smell the scent of burned hair around her. An almost cruel satisfaction sparked—not so perfect after all—and then smothered under a cold splash of shame.
A primal challenge that could have come from only one set of lungs screamed on the other side of the door to the upper labs, and then buratrum unleashed its denizens. Gunfire, biotic detonations, bones cracked so hard that he winced, hearing it over the rest of the cacophony. Over it all, his Kahri, bellowing like a krogan, and he knew in a sudden rush of certainty that she'd get them out.
"Move out. Shepard's breaking through." He could see her squad in the picture windows above, bursting through the door. "We can't let the Collectors cut us off from one another." He glanced over to make sure Wrex was covered to find the krogan hanging almost limp between the shaman and one of the less wounded krogan. "All right. Move quickly. Stay in the bubble. Kaidan? Javik?"
A swirling dome of blue and green appeared around them, and he started to the door, keeping an eye and an ear on the fight above.
"Stop that," Miranda said, her voice slurring a little. When he arched a brow plate at her, she let out a gravelly coughing sound. "Grinning like an idiot. It's not general-ly."
Through his worry, through the days of exhaustion, through the stink, and the sweat, and the uncertainty of battle, Garrus laughed. "General-ly." He cocked a brow plate at her and shook his head, then tugged a little, urging her to move faster.
The Ypres flashed past the open end of the room, pivoting around in the tight space between ship pieces to pick them up on the other side. Garrus's heart jumped into his throat, strangling him as it pounded there. How the hell did the pilot think he could maneuver a frigate that size in that space? It remained their one chance to get off that damned mudball.
"Don't worry," Miranda said, patting the hand holding her waist, "Lt. Cortez was chosen for this because he's the best fighter pilot out there."
"That's not a fighter." Garrus looked past her to check on the others, pleased at their speed, only a few more strides to the door, then the stairs. Dear spirits, he hoped the stairs remained clear.
The door slid open, but before he could put a bullet into their attacker, Shepard ran in. "What's taking you guys so long? There's a giant, metal husk head beetle thing attacking the Ypres." She glanced over her shoulder. "Kaidan, Grunt, Barl, hold the door, make sure we have a clear exit. The rest of you down here and help."
She jumped in to help one of the Marines who'd taken rounds to his leg and shoulder. "We've got to move fast, so this won't be big on dignity," she said as she heaved him over her shoulders in a fireman's carry. A quick, bracing smile and wink, and she took off at a light jog, holding Peterson's weight with an ease that tied a knot in Garrus gut, that unbelievable strength reinforcing everything Cerberus had done to her.
A heavy, low droning sound rose over the sound of running feet on metal deck plating, one that he'd heard before. "Run!" he shouted. "As fast as you can. Shepard have the Ypres use its GARDIANs! They're the only thing that'll take that thing out fast."
"Sweet Jesus." Shepard lifted one hand to her radio, stumbling a little as Peterson's weight shifted.
Garrus didn't hear what she said, he was too busy trying to locate the massive Reaper-beetle's location through all the echoes, failing completely until the twin lasers exploded through the wall of the lab. The force picked Garrus up, flicking him into the air. As he hit the ground face down, his breath hammered from his lungs, he caught a glimpse of at least one Blue Sun vanishing in a brilliant blue flash.
They needed to get out. He needed to get up. Damn it!
"General! Get up!" That voice … Miranda? The one from Haestrom?
Without air, he tried to claw his way up off the floor but just floundered, the room spinning, his muscles as weak as a newborn drellak.
"Come on, General." Miranda crouched next to him, ducking under one of his arms to haul him up with a strength he wouldn't have believed possible.
He sucked in a shuddering, stringent-acid breath, able to do little but stumble along next to her as he recovered from the impact. The razor-edged buzz of the lasers roared through the derelict ship again, metal shrieking and crashing as the wreck began to disintegrate under the onslaught. Above the rest, a deep, hoarse scream punched him in the gut, telling him that the monstrosity had claimed at least one of the krogan.
And then Korlus's sky opened above him, the Ypres hanging, huge and beautiful at the edge of the deck, maybe twenty metres distant. Its GARDIANs fired almost constantly, losing focus as they heated.
"Cruiser incoming!"
Shepard's bellow over the radio steadied Garrus's limbs, his muscles rallying enough that he simply scooped up Miranda in one arm and sprinted for the ramp … so close, beckoning with promises of safety and rest. The Reaper-beetle thing exploded behind him, the blast hot on the back of his neck, but he didn't even flinch. If that Collector cruiser got within weapon range, they were still all very, very dead.
Then hands grabbed him, heaving him up onto the steep grade, dragging him into the cargo bay even as the ramp began to close, the Ypres fleeing for the relay.
He reached the shuttle bay floor, his trembling legs stumbling, failing to adjust to flat deck plating, and went down. Twisting, he managed to land on his side rather than on Miranda. Dizzy and gasping, the air burning in his chest, he closed his eyes, waiting to feel the slight, internal torque as the inertial dampeners lagged behind evasive maneuvers. It never came. Instead, the brief tug of the relay grabbed them, and he relaxed down into the floor. They'd escaped. Mission success. Too bad it felt like a question mark followed those two words.
"Hey." Gentle, calloused hands caressed his face, their warmth pulling him all the way back from the edge. Instead of trying to get him up, Shepard sat on the deck next to him and pulled him into her arms. She pressed her brow against his cheek. "Holy crap, Garrus." Despite inhaling as if she intended to continue, she simply held his head close, her arms wrapped around his neck as if her life depended on it.
He cleared his throat, a soft chuff of strangled air. "Kahri? I can't breathe."
Her arms loosened a little but didn't release him. "I nearly lost you there," she whispered. "Don't ever scare me like that again."
Garrus frowned at the thick, phlegmy undercurrent in her voice, surprised by her reaction. She didn't usually over-dramatise. "It didn't come very close to me and Miranda." He nuzzled her cheek. "The laser must have hit something that blew up and gave us a good shove."
Shepard pulled away and smacked his shoulder hard enough to rock him before scrambling free and up onto her feet. He stared at the hand she shoved in his face, his confusion deepening when she shook it at him. "Get up!" she ordered. "Come on, up."
Indulging the tangle of fear, love, and anger twisting her features, he took her hand and allowed her to help pull him to his feet. He wobbled a little, then looked around, surprised when he didn't see Miranda, even more suprised at himself for caring enough to wonder. She was the enemy … the cold, clinical voice of Cerberus. Not the one who had ordered him while they cut him apart and tortured him, but still culpable for so very much, Shepard's control chip paramount on that list. He sighed. Still, she'd stayed and gotten him to his feet. "Is Miranda in medbay?"
"Yeah, all our biotics are, well, except Javik. Apparently in his cycle …" She stiffened and arched her neck a little, imitating the prothean's arrogance. "... a well-grown child could hold a barrier longer than that without suffering ill effects." She shrugged. "The rest of them fried their amps and will be out of commission for a week or so."
She swallowed hard and cracked her neck, her eyes glassy with emotion held in a tight grip. "We lost five. Two suns, two krogan, and Nyguen. Wrex is critical, but the docs say he'll pull through. Handful of others have a few more holes than they started with." Shaking herself and cracking her neck again, she held out her hand. "Take off the armour." When he hesitated, she gave him her 'don't test me' glare and slammed her arms down over her chest, walling herself off.
Confused irritation simmering behind his eyes, he obeyed, popping the seals on his gauntlets. As he removed each piece, she snatched it from his hand. He unclasped the two halves of his torso armour and lifted it off, his breath rushing from his lungs in a short, heavy sigh when he saw the reason she was upset. The ceramic had been burned away, the metal melted to slag that looked like dripping wax.
He set it down and held out his arms, pulling her into a hug, armour and all. "I didn't realize it got that close." He nuzzled the top of her head. "But I'm okay. All parts and pieces intact."
She dropped his armour and wrapped her arms around him. She didn't speak, and judging by the way she shivered in his embrace, she probably couldn't. It had been a long, hellish few days for them all.
He smiled, weary, sore, and a little heart-sick, but like so many times before, his ornery little miracle had brought them through. As he'd thought when she burst into the room and commandeered the mech, in the end, he'd fight through a thousand battles, endure any amount of torture if he had even the smallest hope of ending the day in her arms.
Even if it means playing nice with Cerberus.
He tightened his grip. "Let's go up to your cabin, shower, and then get some sleep?" Pulling away, he pressed a knuckle under her chin, lifting her gaze to meet his. "Then we'll head back to Omega, grab Nihlus and your family, and take off to Palaven to get married." He grinned wide at the surprise that wiped away the leftovers of anger and terror. "Sound good?"
Shepard pulled in a deep breath, and returned his smile, some of the spark returning to the brilliant green. "Yeah, that sounds like a really great plan. You'll make me an excellent wife."
Heart settling back into place, blood warming, he chuckled and caressed her cheek. "You're such a giant pain in my assless." But damn it, if she wasn't the good, clean air in his lungs.
Because she's not just a miracle, she's my miracle, the kind that only ever comes along once.
(A-N: So, as always, thanks so much for reading! I have all the love for you and your support! *Passes out baskets of hugs and cookies*
I appear to have made a big boo boo when I split this story into two pieces, I lost a lot of people. So, this will be the last chapter I posted in the separate novel … and I will add all 13 new chapters to Future Imperfect. (Which I have done) That way, it will all be in one, easy place. :D And if people go … holy crap, that story is way too long to even think about reading, when it gets to 250 chapters, well … their loss. ) And their lack of screen eyes and migraines! :D So yeah, Chapter 14 will be posted right here ... in that space right after this chapter!
Thanks again, and moar hugs!)