Steadily, the supplies had kept rolling into Palaven. First from some of the less-damaged colony worlds, then from other relatively ignored worlds like Illium. Then Eden Prime started to roll in some supplies, then other worlds, other systems. Slowly, painstakingly slowly, reconstruction was beginning, and little shoots of hope were starting to emerge from the blackened rubble and ash that had largely overtaken the turian homeworld. The turians themselves were a hearty people, strong in battle and stout of will. That stoutness had been tested, and that heart nearly torn from them. But life was being pumped back into that heart; if Garrus was honest, the lifeblood being pumped was being delivered by quarians.

Garrus shook his head, not really believing it all. So much of the galaxy had come together, despite their differences, despite their own troubles. And for all of their power, all of their bravado, it was the people who had suffered the most under their rule that were pulling the mending threads, the stitches, to heal the galaxy.

Hubris was funny like that.

Speaking of, what had remained of his family hadn't made it.

He remembered it well amidst the chaos of those final, climactic weeks of the war. He, Liara, Shepard and Tali, along with everyone else - spirits, there were so many! - had been pushing so damn hard in those days. He'd tried to treat the situation like just another one of the hundreds of dire emergencies that he'd tried to steer from disaster for the Primarch. He'd told them to get the hell off Palaven while they could, to leave before it became impossible to do so. But they'd waited too long, believed for too long that there would be a decisive retaliatory blow that the turians had never landed nor had even thrown. The counterpunch had been swallowed up by the needs of the Crucible. "Many over the few" and all that.

But you could only do so much for those that refused to listen. It was something of a running theme over the last few years.

And upon his return to Palaven to tie up this particularly painful loose end, he had ensured that Kasumi would not join him here. He had actively pushed her away, at least partially because of his family.

"Fucking idiot," he would often chastise to himself.

And now?

Well, now they were dead.

Hubris, vindictive fucker that it was.

Garrus wasn't really surprised, if he was honest. In a way, it was a relief to finally have it known, to have that closure that his family was in fact gone. Just a few more victims claimed by the Reapers along with the countless others that would simply become heartless and cold numbers. It had made him feel a little better that it had been Kasumi, with the help of Jack's biotics, who had unearthed their corpses from beneath the rubble. Kasumi had not explicitly described the sight, but from what she did say, their deaths had at least been…swift. As he thought about this with the benefit of perfect hindsight, there'd been no chance of ever finding them alive. They'd not even survived to have seen the Crucible blast.

He should have known. Probably for the best, really.

"Spirits…"

Shaking his head at the monitors in front of him, he became acutely aware that he'd been seeing but had not seen. Once again, he realized that he'd allowed his mind to wander away from the tasks at hand. This had been a steadily increasing phenomenon, this wandering of his mind and attention. The numbers on his screen had been jumbling together, the orders that he gave were given with little conviction. He drummed his fingers on the desk. He thought back to when he was waiting for his friend Tali in the hospital. He had been waiting for so long - waiting patiently, he'd add - for her, for news on Shepard. Then, it had been his ass that had reminded him so much of the waiting. Here…well it was far more focused in his chest. His mind.

His heart.

In truth, he wasn't sure if it was even in it anymore. When he had left Kasumi behind, he wasn't certain that he'd made the right decision - how could he have been? - but at the time he was certain that the good that he could do was worth the price he would pay with said heart. Irony being the fickle and heavy-handed bitch that it was, he now found that with Kasumi here, he wanted to do nearly anything but the tedious, thankless work that he was stuck doing. Some of his encroaching bitterness was based upon the equally encroaching "red tape", as Shepard had called it many times before. Dealing with the Primarch and the other levels of turian government was increasingly reminding him of dealing with the Citadel Council.

Garrus just wanted to get shit done in the only way he knew how, it's why he thought that Victus had asked that he do this in the first place. But he was being continually restricted, beholden to idiots from above.

It was bullshit, and it increasingly reminded him of why he'd started working with Shepard in the good old days.

The man stared down at his clawed hands, thinking of how much he enjoyed the presence of a certain softer, five-fingered variant held within them. Snorting a chuckle, he further wondered if the presence of Kasumi hadn't brought all of this on to begin with.

With a few taps at his station, he opened the comms. A turian officer with blue and red face markings greeted him. The face was hard, stoic.

"Sub-commander Tarnus."

"Yes sir? What can I do -"

Garrus shook his head and stopped him with a raised hand. "Nothing, Tarnus. I'm leaving for a little bit. I shouldn't be long." He ended the transmission before a response could be snapped back and rested his weight in his hands against the counter that propped up all of this hardware - that propped up all of his current misery.

"Should have told him you were making calibrations, G."

Laughing, he turned to see Kasumi stride into his office, her helmet releasing as she did so. He hadn't heard her come in, which was hardly a surprise.

"See? Terrible comedian. That's a missed opportunity."

After shaking out her tied-up hair, she strode to him, giving him a deep embrace. He kissed the top of her head in reciprocation.

"So, what's the word?"

"The…word? The word is…I don't know, Sumi."

"That's three. Four if you want to get technical."

Chuckling and still holding her hand, he asked if she wouldn't mind slipping on the helmet once again. After a token groan of annoyance, Kasumi donned her protective headgear once more. "Thanks," he began with a sincere tone in his voice, "I just wanted to walk along the river with you, I guess."

Smiling, she took his hand, allowing him to lead on.

"So, what was that all about?"

"What was what all about?"

"That bit with 'Tarmac' or whatever his name was."

He chuckled. "Oh, Tarnus. Just one of my many underlings. I needed to get out of there."

Kasumi sent a knowing smile to the ground between her boots. "Out of there, huh? I wonder why that is."

"Couldn't be because I hate it."

She had to control the laugh that had tried to escape from her chest. He had put himself through all of this bleached…Jack would have called it "Boy Scout bullshit" because he'd simply wanted to do what he could to help, to try. And it was wrecking him. So instead of the laughter that had been her initial reaction, she replied with an evasive yet completely understanding response.

"Mmm, definitely couldn't be that."

He stopped then, pointing to a high mountain in the distance. Smoke rippled away from its peak.

"You see that out there?" He actually waited for her soft nod. "That was Mount Seleya, the tallest peak on Palaven, until about three months ago. The Reapers bombarded the hell out of it." A snort of a laugh. "That's what we get for depositing a hell of a lot of our munitions stock inside of one mountain." He shrugged. "It's a damn shame."

"What is? About the mountain?"

His mandibles twitched. "Yeah, that I never got to climb it."

Kasumi tilted her head and raised a curious eyebrow. Eyebrow aside, Garrus almost laughed at his girlfriend's resemblance to a certain quarian of their shared acquaintance.

"Oh, don't act like you've never done anything stupidly dangerous before. I remember that one time you snuck up behind four of those Blue Suns and -"

"Ended them so spectacularly, if I recall correctly. You and Shep didn't even get a shot off."

"I always wondered if you'd been practicing with Thane."

She crossed her arms in mock defiance. "Oh come now, G. A girl can't reveal all of her secrets."

Kasumi had watched him during this exchange with more than a touch of curiosity. She'd been noticing these changes in him - he was so different than what he'd been while they were on Rannoch. She realized now what she'd failed to see then: that he'd been burdened - so terribly burdened - by the weight of expectation, by the weight of duty, by the weight of the unknown. He'd tried to bury it deep within him as he'd stayed with Tali and Shep, and he had even tried to bridge that gap with herself. But now she was trying to help him with his own personal mandate, trying to do what needed doing - and so far, she'd been damn good at it. Of course, her ability to get into otherwise impossible places was also a bonus, and the number of lives that they'd managed to save likely helped with the easing. He had thanked her every night as she laid in his arms for being there with him and for him. She was lessening his burden merely with her existence.

For a man that was so often terrible with words, he'd been swiftly leveling up in that department.

But with that said, she could see that even with her help he was still overburdened, and maybe realizing that this was not really his place.

"You know Sumi, I really thought that I'd be happy here." She caught his frown. "Well, not 'happy', because, uh…you know what I mean." She squeezed his shoulder. "You know, being a 'productive member of society' finally like my father wanted…"

She nudged him gently forward. "But…?"

"But I'm fucking miserable, and it's affecting the work."

She shook her head. He'd been so close to the truth. "Are you…are you sure it's not the other way around?"

He stood there, looking very much like the turian who had famously managed to walk with that damn stick rammed up his bony ass. Time dragged, and for those long laborious moments, Kasumi feared that she might have erred; might have pushed him a little too much. Finally, those interminable seconds faded into oblivion when he started to shake.

With laughter.

In between the great heaving bouts of it, he managed two derisively wonderful words of acknowledgment:

"Fuck me."

Kasumi, for maybe the first time since the end of the war, felt nothing of the old pain of it. She was light and floating and the feeling was expanding within her chest. Two sauntering steps later, she hung her arms around his shoulders and whispered into his ear through this ridiculous visor.

"Maybe later if you're lucky."

Spirits.

He only laughed harder.

With nothing more between them said, they continued onward along the reflected silver. Kasumi was in a state of near-constant smile and Garrus occasionally shaking his head just to laugh at himself. Eventually, the river dumped out into a huge lake, along the shore of which they now sat. A few birds, perhaps distant genetic cousins to the dominant species on Palaven, loped drearily overhead. Their slightly metallic feathers reflected the light of the local star in a shimmering flash.

"You know, on Earth I wondered if I actually missed being shot at."

The young woman beside him found her reaction to be strange and wholly unexpected. She did not recoil at the idea; in fact, she smirked at it.

"Is that so?"

He sighed, resting a hand on her thigh. "Yeah. Strange, right?"

Now that was a thought that she did find strange. Why had she not recoiled, or even bristled, at the notion?

She was about to give an answer when Garrus's omnitool chimed. Seeing the name attached to the incoming call, he glanced to Kasumi, who was wearing a curious smirk.

"You gonna answer that or just stare at me?"

Shaking his head, he accepted the call.

Indeed, it was Shepard, but he was not wearing the smile that they'd expected. He was serious.

"Hey guys. How's it going?" There was no mirth in the question and his eyes were looking through them. If anything, Shepard sounded tired, which was clearly not a good sign. If he took notice of Kasumi's helmet and exosuit, he didn't overtly let on.

Garrus spoke for them. "Uh, we're good, Shepard. What's wrong?"

Lowering his eyes for a moment, he breathed a rueful little laugh. "That obvious?"

"Quite, Shep."

He rubbed at his forehead. "Are you guys up for a trip back here?"

Kasumi immediately perked up. "To see you and Tali? Of course! There's something I wanted to give you two anyway."

Shepard's face shared a whisper of curiosity before it disappeared completely once again.

This was serious.

"I can't disclose details, not over this unsecure line. But…it's serious."

Garrus sighed, though if he was completely honest, he couldn't help but feel that sneaky little tingle at the back of his neck. It was tangible. "Like 'old times', Shepard?"

A heavy nod.

"I take it the odds are against us and the situation is grim?"

"Yeah, something like that."

Garrus glanced over to Kasumi a bit uncertainly. After all, it was not so long ago that she'd been so hurt and damaged by the war. And now she was being asked to potentially put herself in danger once more. Digging around for a hint, his eyes searched hers. But it wasn't her eyes that would convince him - it was the angled nod and the curl of her lips as they formed a little mischievous smirk.

Spirits, she was in. He returned to the disembodied projection of Shepard's clearly worried face.

"Okay, Shepard. Sounds like -"

"Fun, Shep. It sounds like fun."

As his visage glanced in Kasumi's direction, it appeared that Shepard was smiling.

It was nice being in the city for once, Liara thought. A quaint little change of pace which suited her just fine, thank you very much. Juntaya was the closest city to their last few dig sites, and it was where she had sent that damnable datapad. Ever since she'd done so, it wouldn't leave her mind. She couldn't escape it as it danced around the edges of her vision, whispered to her in her manic dreams that tasted of discovery, yet she could not have named a flavor. After she and Gila had agreed to simply send the fated datapad here, it had taken every bit of strength in her to not simply pack it up and rush back to see just what the hell was on it. Chances were high that it was nothing - probably little more than garbled data after all these years, but she'd seen stranger things.

Like functional Prothean beacons. Goddess, like an actual Prothean. Her lips remembered how to smile then, reminded of Javik and his exterior obtuseness.

She sighed, but immediately recalled many of their quieter moments that they'd managed to share on the Normandy. Yes, she would treasure them: the conversations, him explaining how his people might have influenced Asari cultural development while she pointed out the ways in which they were different. How her people had not developed along those intended paths. Slowly but surely, her memories of him were becoming enough.

It felt quite odd that after spending literal weeks in the somewhat arid frontier with her team of quarians, she believed that they had become…well, if not "friends", they were at least comfortable acquaintances. And truth be told, that was still a mighty improvement over her normal experience with such things. At the very least, she could consider them archaeological comrades-in-arms, so to speak. She imagined that Shepard or Garrus would find the notion amusing.

Hmmm…perhaps not. Not really. They would most likely feel a measure of satisfaction at her new-found…well, she dared not use the word.

At least not yet.

She and Gila were roaming the streets of the old city - this one prominent enough for the Geth to have spent tangible effort on upkeep. He would point out with a measure of excitement and endearing giddiness some of the old buildings that he recalled reading about in the history texts of his youth. After all, Juntaya had been a famous center of art and culture, more so than Jal'Himmom. It had been more cosmopolitan, and less industrial. Giddy and forgetting himself, they would often have to move out of the center of the old streets as he'd grab her arm and explain the significance of one of those buildings, forgetting that there were other quarians with their own lives and duties to attend to.

Strangely for Liara, she had not recoiled or flinched - not even once - at the often-unexpected touch. More often, she would reply with a genuine smile. If anything, his eagerness was rubbing off on her, maybe reminding her of happier times. The significance of this formerly absent and now returning feeling did not escape her.

Goddess, is that what she used to feel like? Is that what normal (well, "normal" by Liara's standards, anyway) felt like?

"Look, Liara! That was the Gee'zat Vel! I mean, well…I guess it still is the Gee'zat Vel. Some of the greatest works of art were housed in there before the war! I am curious to see what the…Geth had managed to retain." Seeing the signs warning that the building was still undergoing some modest restorations, he couldn't help but sigh. "Perhaps one day we could go inside and see it for ourselves." Liara saw his eyes expand, hiding a little smirk. "Keelah! I did not mean to…that is, I shouldn't have -"

It was the "we", the "our", that had shaken something. Fearing that he'd presumed far too much, he'd immediately moved to backtrack.

Liara put a hand on his shoulder and walked out of the street to the safety of the sidewalk. "It is quite all right, Gita. A little bit of excitement at things once thought lost is something that I am somewhat familiar with."

"Yes, I suppose that that is true. But still, I should not have -"

She shook her head, indicating for him to pump the brakes on his apology and presumption that she would not have also enjoyed such an excursion. "I would…quite enjoy exploring it with you, Gita. When it is ready, of course."

He looked away for a moment, trying to quickly process the implications. All of them - at once.

Keelah…

"That…that would be nice, I think. Are you hungry? I am sure that there is a place that serves levo food by now. And besides, it will -"

The sound of Liara's omnitool going off interrupted the idea of lunch, and whatever else was to follow. It was an incoming call from Riku'Vael, who was Liara's liaison for this particular project. She opened the call.

"Liara!" Through his orange-tinted visor, Liara could make out the surprise…no, manic eagerness, in his eyes. They were wide to be sure, but the man's greeting conveyed more.

"Yes, Riku? What is wrong? Has something happened?" Already she could feel her pulse rise right along with the taste of anticipation, of excitement. Something had happened, and if it was truly bad, he would not have approached her this way.

"Keelah, yes! We need you to return as quickly as possible! We have…" he trailed off then, shoulders tightening as he likely remembered that it was quite possible that prying eyes and ears were nearby. "Please, just return."

Glancing to Gita, whose tight shoulders and widened eyes conveyed concern in his own right, Liara asked if she was to come alone.

"Is he a member of your team? If so, then by all means bring him, just come quickly."

After hustling back to Gita's nearby groundcar, they danced their way around the other cars as they returned to Research Center 4, where Riku'Vael was waiting for them inside.

Research Center 4 had been quickly constructed in the early days after the Armistice, with the Geth doing much of the legwork in its construction. It had been a primary weapons research facility during the Reaper War but had since been converted to farming research. Well, that is, until Admiral Koris had tipped it as the main "Historical and Archaeological Cataloging Facility" just for this project. He had understood that it was likely going to be a continuous and important project, and he didn't know just how long Liara was going to remain on Rannoch. They had to relearn old tricks and pick up what they could from their resident asari's expertise.

Panting a little because she had sprinted from the car, Liara poured out her questions with nary a breath. "We got here as fast as we could. What is going on, Riku? Has something happened with one of the items? Did -"

He cut her off. Ancestors, he had to. "Keelah! It is the datapad!" He tugged at her arm. "Come with me!"

He led them, at full sprint, through two hallways and down a flight of steps until they reached a lone, open room. The bright lights from overhead highlighted the handful of quarians that had gathered around a monitor on the left-hand side. At the sound of their entrance, all of their masks lasered on them and followed them until Riku, Liara and Gita had parted the sea of quarians and now stood face-to-face with the impossible.

On screen was the face of a quarian woman - keelah, an uncovered woman - and she was sitting on the floor of what appeared to be a heavily damaged building - possibly what had been her home. Her face was thin, nearly gaunt and her left eye was bandaged over completely. Scarring and bruising around it hinted that it was likely missing from its socket. She looked tired - exhausted - and there was dirt and dried blood caked around her cheeks where scars lived now.

Riku looked at Liara, studied her, until she gently nudged her way to the front of the haphazard queue. After a deep, measured breath, she tapped her finger to the holokey in front of her. Immediately, the video began playback, and the voice of the dead began to speak.

The woman wears a tattered realk of a long-forgotten color. It is ripped and dirty and hangs loosely around her gaunt and nearly colorless face. She tries to speak, but instead she wheezes, hacks and coughs. It is a wet and ominous sound and there are hints of blood as she pulls her hand away from her face. Her breaths come short and shallow. She shakes.

"Huem'Pol, if you find this, know that I have by now gone to be with the Ancestors." The woman squeezes her eye shut; tears wrenched from their hiding place. "It has…been, I believe, five days since I last heard from you." Another cough interrupts her, and it is clear that she is likely on her last legs. "I have not seen a patrol in days, I think. I will not leave the relative safety of home yet. After all, it is our…home." The woman hacks again but does not bother to cover her mouth this time, allowing the little flecks of blood and saliva to exit her freely. Clearly, there is no point in the covering.

"I…buried our children last night, Huem. They were…peaceful when they joined our ancestors, my love." Closing her tired eye, she leans her exhausted head against the battered wall behind her. "Saera," she whispers, "I fear that I am joining them soon. But I have hidden…them away from the machine monsters…"

The woman closes her eye for a long time, the only hints that she is alive are the tears that fall from the unbandaged eye and the slow, stuttering movement of her chest.

"You'll know where to find them. I aimed…to…keep them…cool…"

She suffers one more wretched, hacking coughing fit. There is a moment where the woman appears to want to cry, but she stops just short. It is perhaps the last tangible shred of defiance left within her.

"Huem…I love you; my soul found its home within you, and it sang of its joy. Just know that you gave me so much…my…saera…"

Her eye flutters open again, its luminance significantly lessened now. She opens her mouth as if to speak once more. Instead, a little smile hugs the edges of her mouth, and then she slumps forward before toppling over on her side. The image appears to freeze, though the camera continues recording; she is gone.

The empty silence of the dead is the only sound that remains.

There was a touch of visual haze accompanied by static until, finally, the video simply ended, fading to black.

For an eternity of seconds - maybe minutes - no one spoke or moved. Liara managed to place her hands on the desk as she released a shaky breath behind closed eyes. Gita wrung his hands, his wide eyes staring at the screen with its unknown ghost still sleeping soundly in death.

This was different - so very different - than anything she'd encountered. The only thing Liara could think of by way of comparison was of the VI called Vigil that they'd found on Ilos. But even then, that was a virtual representation with an explicit purpose of dispensing critical information. It had been programmed that way. But this?

There was no vital information for her to dispense; no critical intel that would save the galaxy. Goddess, this was watching a woman deliver a final message of love to her bondmate (Liara remembered the term that Tali had used), informing him that their family was dead and that she was soon joining them. She had been struggling to survive until the next breath, fighting a battle that she could not hope to win.

And she'd known it.

"Keelah…" was the only shocked retort that Riku could manage. It was the first of any such exclamations from them.

Liara finally stood up, straightened by her clarity of thought and propelled by her professionalism. Clearing her throat, she turned to them, placing a hand on Gita's shoulder.

"Okay. That was…something." Liara closed her eyes for a moment - she almost squinted. After a breath to recapture her own damned composure, she resumed with that cool confident voice.

Damn that voice, sometimes.

"She…said that she had 'hidden them away'. I think it's fair to say that she was referring to something important, something that was not the poor woman's children."

Riku cocked his head in slight confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Here, watch."

Taking the controls once more, the former Shadow Broker rewound the video, stopping to play a very specific section.

After the few seconds of video played, she explained. "There. She says, 'I have hidden them away', then later she says that Huem would know where to find them; that she tried to 'keep them cool'. Now do any of you know anything about what she might have needed to keep cool and hidden away from the Geth?"

There was silence, as most of them appeared to be lost in thought, trying to conjure what the woman might have meant.

A man near the back of the small crowd cleared his throat. "Doctor T'Soni?"

Her eyes found a man in a quietly green realk. It sported a very intricate pattern of lines and swirls. The upturn of Liara's lips hinted at a suspecting smile.

"Yes?"

He sniffed. "I think I know what she meant." The eyes of all of the others turned, scrutinizing the man. "She…I think she hid a VI. An Ancestral VI. Probably their Ancestral VI."

Liara was not even really surprised; in fact, she'd begun to suspect as much. Yet her lack of surprise was not a substitute for her excitement. No, that was definitely present. In fact, it was nearly bubbling out of her.

And it had certainly become palpable with the others in the room.

"Okay then. I actually agree with this - that it is a definite possibility. Our first step is for me and my team to return to Nya'Hiatra. It is where the datapad was found and therefore the most logical -"

Her omnitool violently yanked her high-velocity train-of-thought off the rails with an incoming call.

It was from Shepard.

Damn him and his timing.

She gave a small smirk - half apology, half embarrassment - before she'd excused herself for a moment.

"Shepard. While it is always a pleasure, this is not really -"

Before she'd finished her segue to cutting this short, she saw his face. It was not the face of a man who had made a friendly call just to catch up. No, this was serious, deadly serious.

"Liara, I'm sorry to interrupt, but Tali and I need your help."

She swallowed hard; she knew what this was. This was going to one of those requests. It was the kind that she would never say "no" to; not to him, not ever.

"Of course, Shepard. Anything."