"Okay," Jax said, bringing up a holographic grid of the Normandy. "there are fourteen squad members on this ship, including ourselves but excluding the standard Cerberus personnel." Just over a dozen blue blips appeared on the Normandy in varying rooms to illustrate his point.
Garrus nodded, his eye steel behind his visor. The pair were conferring in the main battery, Garrus had rooted out all the Cerberus bugs and cameras, guaranteeing them a blind spot but given how many of the crew members had done the same, not arousing suspicion. "If we're getting you home, we need to get at least half a dozen of them on our side."
Jax touched his omnitool and the blips on the Normandy shifted into a grid of pictures of the crew. "Who do you want to start with?" He asked.
"It's easier to figure who we can't get on board" Garrus replied, highlighting some of the photos. "We're never going to be able to convince Miranda or Jacob to our side. Whatever their personal characteristics, they're loyal to Cerberus and to Shepard, we can safely rule out both of them."
"Samara too" Jax said, "didn't she swear her loyalty to Shepard directly? Her creed or code won't let her go against Shepard."
"You've done your research" Garrus noted, approving. Three photos shifted to the left under the 'N7' emblem.
"Zaeed is loyal to the credits, not the cause, he's likely to stick with Shepard and Cerberus" Jax said, moving it over.
"Unless we can find something that means more to him than credits" Garrus replied. "Grunt is certainly a dead end though" Garrus added, "he follows strength, Shepard has established herself as a firm battlemaster."
"That's already five against us" Jax said grimly, "and they've got some of the heaviest hitters."
Garrus nodded. "It's going to be tough, Shepard inspires loyalty from even the best of us, but we're not out of this yet. When did we ever let odds stop us?"
Jax nodded. "You and I make two. I think I can convince Jack to help us, she hates Cerberus and with Shepard walking around with that logo on her shoulder, it shouldn't be hard."
Garrus nodded. "That leaves Tali, Thane, Mordin and Kasumi. To borrow a human phrase, we need the lion's share of their support to pull this off."
"Any suggestions to make that happen?" Jax asked.
Garrus rubbed his eye under the visor. "If we use our shared history of caring for Omega with Mordin, we might be able to secure his support. He may act dispassionate but that salarian has a deceptive amount of heart. Thane and Kasumi are both here for more personal reasons, telling them about your family would be your best bet if I had to guess. Leave Tali to me, we have a shared history together."
"Got it" Jax nodded. "Time to make friends."
The pair split up after that, Jax fully intending to head to the Port Observation Deck and strike up a chat with Kasumi, but someone found him first.
"Jax!" He heard his name being called from behind with that perfect effeminate softness.
He turned around, already knowing it was her. Kelly.
"I haven't seen you in a while" she said. "Not since…" She trailed off.
Shit Jax thought. The last time he had been with Kelly, they had talked, kissed, and then his life had completely flipped over with a single communication from Aria. He had been so focussed on his mission he had completely forgotten her. The mission comes first logic argued, we need to talk to Kasumi more than we need to talk to her. Jax agreed with the voice, but found that his feet weren't going anywhere. "I've… been busy" he finished lamely, looking away.
"I was waiting for you to talk to me" Kelly told him, similarly tip toeing around the issues at the forefront of this moment. "I've been delaying your psych evals until after we talked but I've only got a few days until I need to submit them and you're only one I have left."
"I'm not sure which conversation would reflect worse on me" Jax half-heartedly joked. "Where do you want to talk?"
Kelly gestured to Portside Observation Deck. "We can take the couch? I'm sure Kasumi will give us a moment of privacy."
Jax nodded and Kelly led the way. "How have you been?" Kelly asked Jax.
Jax shrugged. "I've been alright. Just doing whatever's needed of me."
"Which hasn't been an awful lot" Kelly noted. "How does that make you feel?"
"Annoyed," Jax admitted before realising the word had slipped out of his mouth. Kelly just had a charm that inspired honesty, he couldn't picture himself lying to her. "Frustrated. I could understand Shepard if there was something more important to be done but there isn't, it's all just 'sit tight' and 'wait for further instructions'. Meanwhile my home, my family, everything I ever grew up with is at risk. How am I supposed to feel when sitting tight is deemed more important than that? How important can I really be to Shepard's crew when that's my reality?" Jax exhaled, noticing the bar. "Exactly how unhealthy would it be if I went and made myself a drink right now?"
Kelly pretended to think about it. "I wouldn't exactly recommend it, but it's clear you're using alcohol as a means of procrastination rather than medication. So that begs the question, when you have so little to do, what is it that you're procrastinating?"
Jax responded the only way he felt was appropriately inappropriate; he turned away from the bar and kissed her. He felt Kelly's lips stiffen in surprise, but then she softened into the kiss, looping her arms around his shoulders and pulling him in closer. This wasn't out of the fire of spontaneity that had blazed their first kiss, this was delicacy, a soft breeze as opposed to a crashing wave. The moment began to subside as they broke away from each other, but kept their proximity to each other.
"I'm afraid" Kelly suddenly admitted, disturbing the silence.
"Of what?" Jax asked.
"That another message is going to come through and ruin this moment" Kelly told him. "I'm not a soldier, some people here can be so unfeeling but you, you make me feel like you're the one who tells me the truth, not just what they think the yeoman wants to hear."
"Everything I tell you will always be true" Jax promised.
Kelly smiled and kissed him again, although this one was much more brief. "I have to get back, but my shift will end a few hours. See you then?"
"Absolutely" Jax told her, "hopefully Rupert will have got something good cooked, not that calamari gumbo he tells everyone is god's gift to the culinary arts."
Kelly smothered a laugh as she stood up. Jax walked her to the door as she left the lounge before it closed after her.
"Well that was cute" a voice remarked from behind him. Jax turned to see an uncloaked Kasumi sitting on the couch, inches from where Kelly and Jax had just been.
"Please tell me you weren't there the entire time" Jax replied.
"No!" Kasumi rebutted. "Well… not the entire time."
"Kasumi!" Jax scolded with a chuckle.
"Hey, I'm a master thief" she told him equally playfully, "just how much respect for privacy do you expect me to have?"
"So much did you see?" Jax asked. "Or hear?"
"Just your opening chat."
"Perfect" Jax said.
"Perfect?" Kasumi queried.
"Then you know my sentiment" Jax told her. "I don't think I'm considered important here, when sitting tight is a preferable option to saving my home."
"You're thinking of leaving?" Kasumi asked carefully.
"I'm thinking of escaping" Jax corrected her. "The Omega civil war means all the traffic in and out has been virtually cut. I can't just buy transport to Omega on Illium and never return for shore leave, I need to get in myself."
"You want to steal the shuttle" Kasumi deduced.
"And I'd consider it a coup if I had the master thief on my side" Jax finished.
"Sorry Jax," Kasumi told him, "Shep may haven't helped you but she's done all right by me, I'm seeing this mission through."
"I'm not asking for you to join me" Jax asked, "all I'm asking for is your help in getting me home. There are others helping me."
"I don't know…" Kasumi sounded conflicted.
Jax kneeled to be level with her, to look her in the eyes. "Kasumi, there is no middle ground in this. You know what I'm planning to do. You are obligated to tell Shepard. If I go ahead with my plan and it comes out that you knew about it, how do think Shepard will see that? What if I can't get away cleanly, and things get messy? I don't want to hurt anyone; I just need to get to Omega. I'm asking for your help to make my getaway a clean one. Can I count on you?"
Kasumi closed her eyes in an achingly long moment for Jax. She opened them, the lights in her eyes sharp and ready. "What do you need me to do?"
Jax explained his plan to her, and the tasks that he wouldn't be able to achieve on his own. Kasumi, ever the mastermind of covert operations and having spent the time in cloak learning every corner of the ship and crew member, helped to make his plan tighter and after an hour, Jax felt sure in his plan.
He left and returned to the main battery, where Garrus was only just returning himself. Jax looked around before asking. "Have you talked to Tali?"
Garrus nodded. "I have, it was quite productive. Have you finished your conversations already?"
"I had a great conversation with Kasumi, Mordin is next" Jax told Garrus. "We can really manage this."
Two days later, Shepard was enjoying a bit of rest after saving a large amount of weapons meant for arming a colony's defence network from a Geth attack on a freighter, when she received a communication on her omnitool. "Talk to me" she answered, noting the urgent priority attached to the message.
"Commander, it's Ken, uh Engineer Donnelly," the voice said.
Shepard narrowed her eyes. "Why are you whispering? And why contact me directly instead of my personal terminal?"
"I can't talk long" Donnelly whispered, he seemed to be spooked. "The Normandy may be compromised, I need you in the subdeck as soon as possible Shepard."
Shepard's eyes shot around for anyone who might have been listening in. "I'm on my way, hold tight."
Upon heading down into the subdeck, Shepard was greeted by a litter of components and parts all over the ground. Jack was absent, and her cot had been subsequently converted into an inventory, pieces everywhere. "Donnelly?" Shepard asked, stepping over an electrical conductor.
"Commander!" Donnelly replied in a hush tone, pulling himself out of a framework of components in the wall.
"I assume there's a reason for all this?" Shepard asked, indicating the mess Donnelly had made.
Donnelly nodded, seemingly out of breath, he ran a hand over his forehead, pushing a sheen of sweat into his hair.
"Kenneth," Shepard said in a quieter tone, noting how disturbed he was. "You're shaking, what's going on?"
"An hour ago" Donnelly told her, "I was monitoring the power grid and the draw increased out of nowhere. No other systems came online, engines were cooling, but suddenly the ship was expending more power."
"So you went looking for the cause?" Shepard asked.
Donnelly nodded. "Aye, the increase was minimal so I had to explore a number of options, those are where the parts came from."
"Did you find it?" Shepard asked.
Donnelly nodded again. "It's sabotage, Shepard."
Shepard went cold, "sabotage?" On a warship in vacuum, sabotage had the potential to kill the entire crew in seconds.
Donnelly was still nodding, almost out of habit. "Follow me Commander."
Shepard was forced to push herself through a cramped duct to a small space where Donnelly was crouched. He pointed and Shepard looked to see a slim silver disc wired onto a control board, the soldering messy and hastily accomplished. "What is this?" She asked.
Donnelly shook his head. "I don't know Shepard, I've never seen anything like this. I cannae tell you what it does or how it'll do it. I could set off any triggers it may have so I haven't tried to remove it."
"But from the fact it's now drawing power, we can tell that it's armed" Shepard mused.
"Unfortunately Shepard, that's only a small part of an even bigger problem" Donnelly told her, looking at the device.
"There's more to the problem than this?" Shepard asked.
Donnelly nodded again, his eyes jumping around. "I took some non-invasive readings, the power it's drawing doesn't equate to what I detected on my control board."
"So what does that mean?" Shepard asked.
"It means that this isn't the only device that has been activated in the last hour" Donnelly told her. "This is just the one I've found."
"How many other devices could there be?" Shepard asked.
Donnelly shrugged. "Could up to a baker's dozen Commander, but that's only half of what scares me."
Shepard could barely believe her ears. "There's more?"
Donnelly nodded reluctantly. "I managed to trace the activation signal history. I couldn't tell who it came from, but it was a short beam transmission."
"Meaning?"
Donnelly took a breath. "Meaning the signal was sent from someone on this ship, aboard the Normandy."
A block of ice dropped in Shepard's stomach.
"That's why I contacted you personally" Donnelly told her, "I dunnae who might be listening."
Shepard nodded. "You did the right thing, good job" she told him, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "What I need you to do now is quietly and covertly find any other devices you can. If you can disarm or determine their purpose, do it, but this moment I just need you to do reconnaissance and get me intel."
"What are you going to do Commander?" Donnelly asked.
Shepard gritted her teeth. "I'm going to find the person who did this." Every fibre told her this was Jax. She marched for the elevator and commanded it to go to the crew deck. A few seconds after she did though, there was the crackle of an electric charge and the elevator stopped working. Shepard looked around wildly at the red emergency lights. "Joker?" She asked. "What's going on?"
"Unclear," Joker called back. "Some sort of electrical disruption, power systems to the elevator and non-critical lighting are non-responsive. Not sure what caused it."
"I detect a second detonation" EDI called. "It is affecting my connection to most ship systems."
It's starting. Shepard opened a communication to her crew, excluding Jax. "Code red" she called, "potential mutiny is in progress, all members secure critical stations, secure Jax but do not use lethal force."
Jax looked up at Garrus, whose omnitool was glowing from the communication. "How considerate" he remarked, looking back to his own omnitool with the readout of all the explosives, one of which had now been detonated. He pressed another and the sound of parts of the Normandy whirring down was audible. "Internal surveillance down, ship wide communications compromised!" Joker called.
"Get Jax now!" Shepard yelled, fortunately direct omnitool chat functions were not linked into the Normandy's systems.
Samara emerged from the Starboard Observation Deck but halted immediately. "Shepard" she reported, "I fear there is an additional complication." In front of her, Jack was blazing with biotic power.
"What is it?" Shepard asked.
"Jack is here. I do not believe she will allow me to carry out your orders" Samara said, feeling her own power ignite. "Would you like me to kill her."
Jack let loose a toothy grin. "Just when you thought things couldn't get more interesting."
"Jack, what are you doing?" Shepard asked, bewildered. She was the ranking officer, this was her ship, and she was currently being blindsided from all angles, as if being trapped in her own elevator wasn't bad enough.
"Here's the deal Shep" Jack sent back. "You tell Samara to back off and I sub myself out of the game. Otherwise, who knows what we might tear apart in here?"
"You'll surrender yourself if I order Samara to stand down?" Shepard asked.
"That's the plan" Jack replied.
Shit Shepard thought, realising there was only one sane decision left to her. "Samara, stand down" she relented.
"As you wish" Samara spoke, stepping backwards into her room, Jack accompanying her.
Jax traded a glance with Garrus. "One down."
"Shepard!" Grunt roared.
Shepard was instantly keying back into her comms. "Grunt, what's your status?"
"The door won't open Battlemaster!" Grunt roared, pounding the metal. "I've been trapped by cowards too fearful to fight me!"
"Or smart enough not to" Kasumi murmured, kneeling as she finished uploading her tampering programme to the digital lock.
"Hold it" a grizzled order came from behind her. The butt of a gun pressed into the back of her shoulder. "Up" Zaeed ordered, "easy." Kasumi rose gracefully, her hands raised in surrender. "Thought you were smart did you?" Zaeed asked. "What was your little plan for getting past me?"
The door to engineering hissed open.
"Her" Kasumi replied as it revealed Tali with her shotgun raised at Zaeed.
"Please lower that" Tali requested.
Zaeed snorted. "You think you're enough to stop from taking you both on?" He asked Tali. "What are you going to do, shoot me?"
"No" Tali replied, "this is to stop you long enough for you to hear me out. I've seen your M6 Lancer in your room, you call it Jessie?"
"What's your point?" Zaeed growled.
"Jessie was misdiagnosed with a critical failure" Tali told him. "Stand down from this conflict and I'll repair it for you back to firing condition."
Zaeed's good eye narrowed. "You can do that?"
"Please Zaeed, I'm a quarian" Tali told him, "give me a circuit board and some eezo and I could have Jessie making precision jumps across the system."
Zaeed hesitated for a second before holstering his assault rifle. "Shepard," he radioed, "I'm compromised, I don't think I can offer much help right sorry."
"Dammit Zaeed" Shepard cursed, three of her crew had already been expertly removed from the conflict and the same number were not reporting in. Was it possible Jax wasn't acting alone? This level of analysis was something she wouldn't have expected from him.
"Shepard, I'm here" Jacob radioed from the armoury. He pushed a thermal clip into his shotgun and cocked it. "Moving to secure the CIC now, I-". His communication cut out suddenly.
"Jacob?" Shepard asked, her pace quickening. Her options were quickly disappearing.
Jacob grunted as he struggled to move but his limbs were firmly locked. He locked down to see his black bodysuit was now covered in a solid layer of white. "Apologies, need to add to confusion to ensure plan's success" Mordin's voice came from behind him. He lowered his omnitool that had fired the cryo-blast as he quickly paced towards Jacob.
"Mordin" Jacob grunted as the salarian scientist removed the shotgun from his frozen hands and placed it carefully back into its place on the table. "You're mutinying against Shepard too?"
Mordin blinked, as if trying to figure out where Jacob's question. "Plan not to mutiny, no plan to supplant Shepard as ship commander. Plan is to merely divert attention, cause confusion, need to remove dangerous members of crew from courses of action, minimise risk of fatalities."
"So what's the end game of all of this?" Jacob asked, Mordin was steadily maintaining the cryo-blast to keep Jacob immobilised.
"Not my part to tell, now relax" Mordin ordered. "Cerberus bodysuit environmental protections against cold sufficient to protect from any damage but conserve strength, allow greater degree of comfort."
Jacob could barely believe it. Mordin had frozen him still, was acting against the crew and was still giving him doctor's orders. The concept of sheer salarian indifference and detachment bewildered him. "Will secure CIC" Mordin told him, "ensure no one comes to harm. Will check on you periodically to minimise distress."
"And that's Jacob out of the picture" Jax murmured.
It was at that moment Miranda stepped out of her office, a shuriken in one hand a fistful of biotic power in the other. She had made it all of three steps out of her office before a blur flashed in front of body and the gun was torn from her grasp. Miranda whirled to find Thane already moving after his first kick to disarm her. She released her power in a push but Thane's own biotic barriers easily absorbed the impact as he struck at her body with stiffened fingers. Normally Miranda would have been much more adept but this wasn't a Cerberus sparring session, she'd been ambushed by one of the galaxy's most efficient assassins and before she knew it, he had somehow rippled like water around her strikes and struck her again, precise blows up her back, each targeting a different muscle group. Miranda realised his strategy too late as she whirled again to meet his blow, cruelly soft against her neck. She struggled for a brief moment, and then wobbled as her muscles began to go limp. Thane moved quickly and caught her in his arms, Miranda powerless to push him away. "I am sorry" he finally spoke, lowering her to the floor. "I only wished to minimise the risk of this mission incurring casualties, and Kalahera saw fit to make my body steady and swift." Miranda could only glare furiously at him, the last pressure point strike had paralysed her jaw. "I will remain with you until you are able" Thane told her humbly, "you shall regain the use of your limbs within a short period of time." Miranda could only seethe as Thane lorded over her, his obvious exceptional knowledge of human anatomy and martial art expertise was only being rubbed in by his presence.
Thane flashed back to his conversation with Jax merely a day ago. You told me in the absence of a reason to carry on, I should make one Jax had said. Well I did, and it takes me away from here. I will be leaving this ship, and Shepard will try to stop me. Again from what you told me, you do not question why these events will occur, you only strive to make the best of yourself through them. The kind of person I want to be must leave here, but I don't want to harm anyone if I can make it so. Will you help me save my home from suffering a fate like yours?
Thane's reasoning had taken him on a journey of self-inflection, but had centred always on Kolyat. Before he knew his son rather than simply knowing of him, he had been prepared to accept Shepard if she had refused his request to go to the Citadel. Knowing his son the way he did now though, seeing how disconnected he had become, would he have done the same in Jax's position. Thane did not immediately know the answer to this question, and in that wavering Thane knew his answer to Jax's request. He would help Jax to become reconnected again, only then would he truly fit on the Normandy, even if he threatened to tear it apart first.
Jax looked up at Garrus, "well, that's most of our problems dealt with, now comes the best part."
Garrus nodded as he pulled up a section of the floor. "After you" he gestured to the opening in the duct. Placing the overload charges had provided Jax with a deep knowledge of the duct systems that linked the different floors to each other, and it was just his luck that one ran past the main battery.
"EDI, I need you to regain control now" Shepard ordered. "Jax is loose and all specialists are non-responsive, lock down the ship."
"My control override systems are still faulty, but I shall do what I can" EDI replied. "I can however, redirect power towards the elevator."
"Shit!" Joker cried over the radio. "Another overload charge has gone off, systems are being scrambled on the regular, all remote shuttle bay and cargo hold functions are offline, the bottom fifth of the Normandy is a blackout."
The overloads are just distractions Shepard realised, he's stealing the shuttle. The Cerberus Kodiak was designed to be able to make long distance jumps, it had done exactly that following her escape from the Lazarus shuttle. "EDI, get me down to the shuttle bay, now" Shepard ordered.
"Shepard, you need to stop Jax or kick him off the ship," Joker said, stress heightening the tone of his voice. "I am not letting that little shit make me wait for a third Normandy"
"Shepard, life support in the shuttle bay is compromised" EDI reported. "I recommend equipping your breather helmet before I open the doors for you."
Shepard donned the helmet, and unholstered the pistol that was always at her side. She checked; the carnifex had a full clip, six shots. She would only need one.
"We're good to go" Jax reported to Garrus, finishing the last of the hastily conducted pre-flight checks. "All the ordinance and ammunition we could ever want is on board, pop the manual override on the cargo doors and we'll be in Omega's streets in a few hours."
"Jax" Garrus told him, his voice with an extra layer of gravel through his helmet's radio. "I'm not going."
"What?" Jax asked. "What do you mean, we're in this together, I couldn't do any of this without you."
"You already have" Garrus told him. "You inspired half this crew to help you despite all the loyalty we all have for Shepard, you've carried out a mutiny without a single casualty on perhaps the best equipped warship in the galaxy and you're about to escape."
"With you" Jax insisted.
Garrus shook his head. "I promised I would help you get off the Normandy but…"
"You never were planning on coming with me" Jax spoke, finishing Garrus' sentence.
Garrus could only shake his head. "My place is here, with Shepard if she'll still have me. I can't leave her, but that doesn't mean I won't also do whatever I can to help you. I know everything has been difficult but on Omega I saw a light in you, help those people again, for Archangel."
Jax had no words left as he embraced Garrus in a hug. With his biological family on Omega still believing him dead, Garrus was the closest Jax had to family anymore. Garrus held Jax as he touched his back. "Go" he said softly. "I'll be all right."
Trying to remain stoic, Jax climbed aboard the shuttle and the door closed shut. As the locks sealed and Jax removed his mask, his omnitool's communicator buzzed. "Jax?" A female voice asked.
Jax's eyes scrunched shut, the one voice he didn't want to hear in all of this.
"Jax, is that you?" Kelly repeated. "They're saying you've done all these things, that you're trying to take down the ship. What's going on, please, talk to me. We can work things out, we can fix this, please…"
Jax waited for another second before drawing up on his composure, he could not falter now, not after everything Garrus had given him. "No" he replied softly, "I'm sorry Kelly" he added before dumping the frequency.
Back on the CIC, Kelly blinked, her mouth hung open for a moment but no breath would come or leave her. Jax had lied to her, used her insight to influence the crew to join him, and he had left her. It was all a lie. She could barely feel herself as she crumbled to her knees on the floor, everything was so wrong at this moment. No sooner had she fallen had Mordin extended a long fingered hand to help her back up. "Here" he offered, "mild sedative, will ease mental strain of today's events."
Kelly just nodded as she swallowed the pill. Some part of her brain told her it was bitter but another told her it was tasteless. It was if all her senses had decided to go offline, choosing to feel nothing rather than what had just happened. She had trusted him, and he had left. "Come" Mordin told her, "have cot in lab, rest there a while, further observation prudent, my responsibility" he said before humming a tune as Kelly let herself be led away.
The doors to the elevator slid open as Shepard burst out, carnifex raised. The shuttle's lift engines were already engaged as it hovered slightly above the floor of the bay. Shepard could maybe have loosed a shot to try and disable the engines or even a concussive round to put in some damage, prevent the shuttle from leaving the system but all her attention was fixed on the figure in front of her. Garrus' helmet covered his face but it was still the same blue battle-scarred armour of Archangel, and he was standing in her way. His pistol was unholstered but not raised as he held it steady in both hands. "I'm sorry Shepard" he said, holding his ground as she took a step towards him. "I had to do what was right, no matter the cost. You taught me that."
Shepard held her silence, she wasn't sure if she started speaking to Garrus whether she would ever stop. She could barely think what to do in this moment.
The shuttle seemed to recognise her indecision as the thrust engines began to engage and it glided out of the shuttle bay into the vacuum of space.
"Joker" she radioed, "I don't suppose we can stop him?"
"Negative Commander" came the resigned reply. "He just detonated what EDI thinks is the last of the devices, it disabled our weapon targeting systems, he knew what he was doing all along."
"Get every crewman working on repairs" she ordered before looking back at Garrus.
He raised his pistol as she took another step closer to him, but not threateningly. Shepard took it cautiously from his hands as he offered it to her. "I'm sorry" he repeated.
Over his shoulder, Shepard saw the brief brightening of the engines before the shuttle warped the light and disappeared. "Get on the elevator" she ordered Garrus, who complied immediately.
"Bringing you back up to the crew deck Commander" Joker said, "barely have eyes anywhere on the ship but at least we can get that moving."
Taking the opportunity of their moment alone, Shepard removed her helmet. Garrus mirrored her actions. Shepard stepped up to him. "What am I supposed to do?" She whispered as he lowered his head, unable to look at her. Her head rested against his. "What am I supposed to do when the man I trust more than anyone else betrays me like this?" She could feel her eyes growing hot, she was the indomitable Commander Shepard and the idea of Garrus knowingly acting against her like this wanted to make her retreat to her quarters and disappear.
Garrus exhaled softly. "You should," he spoke, his voice hurt in how comforting it was to hear him speak, "continue to act as an exemplary commander." His hands found hers and she laced her fingers through his, his talons somehow more delicate than any human hand she had experienced. Shepard savoured the touch of her skin against his, the lightness of his breath bristling strands of her hair, the way she fit into her embrace before she took a step back and the door opened. "Garrus Vakarian" she spoke, her voice authoritative knowing what she had to say but quiet as if her throat was trying to stop her from saying the words that followed. "I hereby charge you with treason against the command of this vessel, and place you under arrest pending further charges and sentencing."
Garrus nodded as she placed binds around his wrist.
"Until more suitable arrangements can be made, I hereby confine you to your quarters in the main battery." Shepard concluded. There was no way the Normandy's brig could hold the amount of people who would be facing the same charges soon enough. Shepard looked around the crew deck as Miranda shoved Thane back into life support with two armed guards, EDI began scrambling the lock of the Portside Observation Deck to keep Kasumi confined and Samara escorted Jack past her into the elevator.
Shepard rubbed her face, it was all she could do not to run to Garrus right now. Half her crew had mutinied against her, the Normandy was currently gliding listlessly through space and she had no idea what to do. It was at this moment she needed Garrus the most, and it hurt her more than any bullet that he was the reason why she needed him so much.