Chapter 17: Convictions
Tali didn't recall stepping off the shuttle. She didn't hear Garrus call out to her as she walked away nor did she even remember the ride up the elevator. Everything just seemed to disappear into a fog. Despite that gap in time, however, the young quarian wasn't surprised when she found herself standing at the door to Shepard's cabin. The lock was glowing red as it always did when he wasn't in.
Some desperate part of her mind told her to knock; if she knocked on the door, just like the dozens of other times she had come up to talk, it would slide open and he'd be standing there admonishing her for even bothering with the formality. Her three fingered hand splayed against the metal, cool even through her suit. Instead of knocking, she pressed the door lock once. The grating buzz as it refused her entry was like the scraping of nails on stone.
"E-EDI... I know I'm not... supposed to- if he didn't want me to- but I just need..."
"The door is unlocked now, Tali," the AI responded, her tone surprisingly gentle when it emerged from the speaker above.
With a familiar hiss the door opened and allowed her entry. She hesitated for a moment before she stepped across the threshold, sucking in a breath as she did. It looked the same as it had just a short time ago, the night when he had rushed her out without explanation. Shepard hadn't even cleaned up the mess from when he'd thrown his pistol. It looked as if he had simply picked up the weapon from where it lay among the debris and left the rest. Tiny fragments of the plexiglass were scattered all over the floor. Half a dozen of his model ships had been knocked from the case, some to the floor, others half-hanging from the case.
There, laying on the top of the terminal, was his model of the SR-1. Tali stepped closer and reached out to pick it up. As she lifted it one of the wings fell away in her hands, causing the quarian to frantically scramble to catch it... only to watch as one of the top fins broke away as well. No matter how hard she tried it seemed to be disintegrating in her hands.
She dropped to her knees and snatched up the pieces. With shaking hands she tried to put the wing back in place with no success. Another piece came apart with a faint crack. The thin piece of plastic breaking was enough to draw an agonized cry from her chest. She sat heavily back on the floor and cradled the ruined model as she began to sob.
"Bosh'tet... stupid... stupid bosh'tet," she cried. "Why won't... why won't you just work... just stay together..."
Behind her the door hissed open once more, but she ignored it. She heard the sound of glass being brushed away as someone took a seat beside her. Tali started when an arm wrapped around her shoulders and she found Kasumi there.
"Hey, fishbowl."
Before she could even stop them sharp words leapt from her mouth like knives, the flash of anger the only thing that cut through the thick haze of her grief.
"Why did you stop me? I could have... could have done something... If you'd let me go I could have saved him!"
"Because then you'd be gone too," the thief replied quietly. "And I don't think he would have wanted that."
"You don't know!"
"Yes, I do."
She wanted to pull away but when she looked at the thief she could see tears in the older woman's eyes too. Kasumi had pulled back her hood to reveal a mass of jet black hair that contrasted sharply with her pale skin. Tears left glittering trails down her cheeks. Kasumi's hand squeezed her shoulder tightly.
"That's when you know someone loves you. When your happiness, your life, matters more to them than than their own."
"B-But I didn't ask for that!" Tali objected, fingers tightening around the small ship in her hands as she sucked in a ragged breath. "He didn't even say why..."
Kasumi shook her head. "I don't know what happened. Garrus told me that Shepard ordered him to leave. But there wasn't time for more than that."
"Garrus," the quarian hissed. "How could he leave Shepard behind? He was his best friend!"
"I don't know that either. But you can't think that Garrus would have done it willingly, can you?"
"I don't know what to think," she whispered, choking back another sob. "I c-can't do this again, Kasumi. The old Normandy... then seeing him a-again... I thought I was getting through to him but he... he said he didn't want to stay there! He joked with me. He was supposed to be right behind us..."
She felt the thief's hand gently rubbing her back. "I don't think it's a matter of what he wanted, sweetie."
Shepard's last words to her, so calm and casual, flashed through her head and unleashed another torrent of tears. For long minutes the two of them simply sat in silence. Kasumi held her as she cried, occasionally wiping away tears of her own. Whenever she thought she finally had it under control Tali would lift her head and see some reminder of what she'd lost, and the tears would come again. Even the fish, swimming lazily in their tank, made her cry. She didn't know how long they sat there but finally it felt as if she'd exhausted whatever reserves she had, instead just feeling numb.
"What now?" Tali asked. "Do the others... know?"
As if waiting for her to ask the ship's internal comms clicked to life and a faint cough echoed through the cabin. There was a brief pause and then a flanged voice began to speak. Garrus' tone was strained, but he managed to speak with the barest hint of a waver.
"This is Garrus Vakarian addressing all crew. It is my... greatest regret that today I assume command of the Normandy. Some of you may already have heard... Commander Johnathan Shepard, my friend... my brother did not return from Utukku. He sacrificed his life to give us all a chance to stop the Reapers."
He paused, whether it was to let the crew absorb the news or to marshal his own emotions Tali didn't know.
"I've never been the one give speeches... that was Shepard's speciality. But I will make a promise to each of you and to his memory: No force in the galaxy, not Cerberus, not the Reapers themselves, will stop us from completing the mission that Shepard charged us with. We will end this war. In the weeks to come I don't know what will be asked of each us. What we will be asked to sacrifice. But no matter what comes, we won't forget the man that brought us together. That gave not just the people of this ship, but the galaxy itself, the chance to stand against the darkness."
The quarian looked at Kasumi, both of them hearing an edge in Garrus' voice that was new. A hint of fire that went beyond his normal self-assurance and drive. Every word carried the sounds of pain, but also the sound of an undeniable anger. Not the fury of a krogan blood rage, but something that burned cold and endlessly.
"Remember him. Remember our mission. Vakarian out."
"We'll set course for the Citadel," Tali muttered, remembering the conversation she'd had with Garrus previously.
Her friend looked at her curiously.
"Garrus told me that Shepard had left instructions to turn everything over to him. That it had already been approved by the Council. I just... I just thought that Shepard was being prepared. Planning for the worst... but I never thought it would happen."
Kasumi patted her back one more time. "We never do... If I leave you here, will you be okay?"
She nodded and glanced around the room. Saw the glass, the ships, the general clutter. Shutting her eyes briefly she swallowed down the pain and stood, Kasumi following after her. This time when she spoke her voice was quiet, but calm.
"I'm... going to clean this up. It shouldn't be left like this."
"Okay," the thief agreed. "And if you need me, just call."
As the older woman turned to leave, Tali spoke.
"Kasumi?"
"Hm?"
"You said you knew. That... that J-John wouldn't have wanted me to follow him. How?"
The thief smiled gently and pulled her hood back up.
"The last message Keiji ever left me told me that he wanted me to go on. To be happy once he was gone," she replied. "He knew when he recorded it that he'd likely be dead within hours, but that was what mattered to him. To tell me to be happy because he loved me. If Shepard could have done so... I know his message to you would have been the same."
Then she was gone in a shimmer of light that slipped out the door, leaving Tali in a room of memories and debris. One by one she picked up the fallen models, trying to keep them together as best she could.
Each one brought back a memory and the threat of fresh tears. A quarian transport made her think of Shepard's speech at her trial, fire in his voice. She looked at the geth ship and remembered waiting to die on Haestrom, only to see him come striding in like some larger than life hero. The last one she found beneath the desk - an Alliance dreadnought that brought another sudden stab of pain.
Hannah Shepard. She had seen a report from Hackett that the older woman had survived the initial assault, even taken command of the remnants of one of the Alliance fleets. Beyond that there had been little information. Now all Tali could think of was the same woman that she had met, sitting all alone in a room just like this one when she received the news. Tali closed her eyes as a few more tears escaped.
"How could you do this to us?" she whispered to the small model in her hands. "Just tell me why..."
When the elevator opened Kasumi could see that Garrus was still standing on the platform in the CIC, taloned fingers gripping the handrail as the turian gazed at the galaxy map. Traynor was at her terminal, head bowed, but drew herself up when the turian finally stepped down. She could see that their communications specialist's eyes were no drier than Kasumi's own had been.
"Garrus... I mean... do I call you Commander now?" the woman fumbled.
"No. We only had one Commander," Garrus answered sharply, before his flanged voice softened. "Just call me Garrus, Traynor. I don't need a title."
"Yes, sir... Garrus. I'm sorry to bring this up now but I was going to show this to... to the Commander after the mission."
For the moment Kasumi simply watched. She had immediately slipped into old habits when she had left Tali in Shepard's quarters, activating her stealth net and moving silently. Neither of the other pair had even noticed the elevator doors open. The thief couldn't make out what was on the datapad that Traynor handed him, but if she moved any closer she knew that Garrus would catch her scent. Turians had damnably keen noses.
"I'm not sure what I'm looking at Traynor. A turian evacuation signal? I didn't know we had any ships in that area but..."
"It's a turian code, sir, but it also matches another code that we have on file," Traynor explained. "I noticed something seemed off when it came in and had EDI run an analysis. It has the same markers as the signal that was sent out by the Illusive Man to lure the Normandy to the Collector warship."
"You think it's Cerberus?"
The specialist bit her lip for a moment, but finally nodded. "You said it yourself. There aren't any turian ships reported in the area and that signal came from the Grissom Academy. Some of humanity's smartest young minds and most advanced technology are there."
"Meaning the Illusive Man would want both," Garrus said with a low growl.
"The... the Commander's death means you'll want to get to the Citadel as soon as possible. But if this is is Cerberus-"
The turian covered his eyes for a moment with his hand and sighed. After everything that had happened he just sounded tired.
"I know what Shepard would have done. I'll have Joker set a course."
EDI's voice came from Traynor's terminal before either of them could move.
"I have adjusted our heading, Garrus. Jeff is... indisposed at this time. I believe it would be best if the cockpit was considered off limits for the time being."
"Understood, EDI. If anyone has a problem with that they can take it up with me."
His tone made it clear that any such objections would be ill advised at best. Turian voices were strange, the dual tones sometimes made it harder to pick out certain emotions than for a human, but Kasumi thought she had learned fairly well in the past months. That cold anger was there in abundance, coloring everything. Most people wouldn't catch the faint pause before Garrus spoke. The slower speech patterns that told her he was thinking of everything he said carefully before he said it.
"Comm me when we're an hour out," Garrus told the tech. "I'll put together a team to investigate."
Traynor nodded. "Yes, sir. And... Garrus?"
His head turned to examine the dark skinned woman.
"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. Not all of us knew the Commander well, but we respected him. He was an amazing soldier."
Something flashed in the turian's blue eyes. "He was more than that, Traynor. That was just the face they put on the recruiting posters."
Before the specialist could respond he had moved past her, giving Kasumi just enough time to move away. Garrus jabbed one of the elevator buttons. The last thing that she saw was the turian slumping back against the wall just as the doors closed.
Kasumi sighed. She should follow him, she knew. But she would give him a few minutes alone. Since they had left the planet's surface Garrus' entire demeanor had changed. There had been a smattering of contention when they had stepped off the shuttle but he had quashed it almost immediately. Gone was the sharp tongued renegade that never seemed bothered by the current crisis. The vigilante had been replaced by a soldier. His cockiness has become cold self-assurance.
Instead of following she moved around the ship quietly, catching small snippets of conversation echoing in the otherwise silent decks. Crewmen talking about Shepard, of course. Stories that they had heard. Disbelief that he was gone. Far less whispers about a turian taking command of a human warship than she had expected, as well. It brought a sad smile to her face. Even when he wasn't at his best Shepard had made the Normandy his own.
When she found her way to the lower decks the thief she noticed only Adams was at his post and soon stumbled across another quiet conversation. It wasn't hard to identify who was speaking by the rough scottish brogue.
"I dunnae rightly know, Gabby... the universe is a shite place sometimes. If anyone deserved better it was 'im."
The loud sniff that came immediately after carried far in the corridors beneath main engineering.
"What's going to happen now that he's gone? First he saved us from the Collectors, then he got us both out of detention on the Citadel. We owe... owed him so much..."
"Then we'll be repaying him by finishing what the man had started 'ere. Garrus might be a turian but you heard him, lass, he's gonna pick up the torch. The fight ain't over. I don't plan to stop even if it means I have to pick up a rifle myself."
She heard Daniels give a weak laugh. "You're a terrible shot, Ken..."
"Then I guess I'll have to practice," Donnelly stated firmly.
"Please don't, Ken."
"What are ya talking about, woman?"
There was a moment of silence before the reply came, so low that even Kasumi's usually keen senses could barely pick it up.
"Because if you start trying to be that kind of soldier you might not come back either. You're an engineer. You belong here with... with me."
"Gabby... I..."
The strained, husky sentence was cut off when Kasumi heard the sound of movement and then a small sound of surprise, one soon turned into a pleased gasp. Another smile crossed her lips before the thief quickly slipped away. Despite her usual loose understanding of personal privacy... even she knew some moments should remain between just two.
The thief had someone else to visit anyway. The elevator ride to the crew deck was brief. A few members of the regular crew were sitting at the mess tables but she ignored them. Her objective, the main battery door, was glowing red. Of course Garrus had locked it behind him. A lock was the last thing that was going to deter her, however. A single press on her omni-tool triggered the mechanism and let her slip inside.
"Only one person on this ship would bypass a locked door without so much as knocking."
"I could just say that you forgot to lock it," she replied.
"I haven't forgotten to lock a door behind me since I started working at C-Sec."
Inside the battery the only light was the glow of the emergency lamps, painting the entire room in monochromatic red and deep shadows. She could just make out the outline of Garrus' tall form where he sat at the end of the room between the two main guns. The thief stepped down and around the railing for the gunnery console.
"Okay, so I'm not polite, etiquette wasn't something I needed a lot of to be a thief... but do you really think sitting here in the dark is a good idea?"
The growl that came from the end of the room was enough to give her pause.
"I just left my commanding officer... my best friend behind to die. Alone on some spirits-cursed planet full of bugs and dust. Do you think I give a damn about what anyone thinks is a good idea?"
He punctuated the statement with a loud clang, the sound of a fist striking metal. It appeared that his preternatural calm had only lasted long enough to make it back to the main battery. Ignoring the implied warning in his voice Kasumi stepped closer, keeping her voice low.
"Tell me what happened."
"It doesn't matter now."
"It matters to me. I'm sure it matters to Tali."
The turian jerked as if he'd been slapped and his taloned fingers curled into fists. With a heavy sigh he shifted and put his back to the wall before finally meeting her gaze.
"Does she hate me?"
Kasumi shook her head. "No. Right now she's just... lost. It's going to be hard for her. I wasn't there the first time, but I'm sure she took it hard. Losing him again..."
"It tore us all apart," Garrus rasped in response, shadowed gaze momentarily unfocused as he lost himself in a memory. "Everything that he'd built fell apart. I couldn't let that happen this time. Not when he trusted me to keep it together."
"You did that. The ship isn't falling apart. It's just the two of us here. You don't have to put on the 'commanding officer' face..."
He didn't respond, just dropped his gaze and let the silence draw out.
Turian psychology wasn't something she had ever bothered to consider beyond how to sneak past a particularly zealous guard. She could see the tension in his body despite the casual way he leaned against the wall, hear the ache in his voice as they spoke. And that pain made what she already felt worse, sympathy for a friend's grief at the death of another.
Once again it struck her how strange it was to think that in just under a year's time she had gone from being a solitary thief, a lonely one she could admit to herself in retrospect, to someone that called a Spectre, an admiral, and a vigilante her friends. After Keiji had been taken she had thrown herself into her work and her quest for vengeance. It had been a shy quarian girl in desperate need of a friend that had first forced her to connect to something other than her own grief, offering advice and forming a personal connection. Then an infuriating turian had kept her on her toes, giving as good as he got in their constant banter and occasionally slipping in some wisdom of his own.
What felt like a lifetime ago she had called them nakama. An odd, archaic term from her culture's language that had come to mean something akin to friends that were as close as family. It threatened to bring about fresh tears when the thief thought of how it had taken the loss of one of those three friends to make her realize how true it was. She had stopped being just a thief when she had joined Shepard's crew. All she could do now was offer comfort to the two that remained. In Garrus' case that meant forcing him to do more than bottle up everything inside.
Kasumi broke through her hesitation closed the distance between the two of them, reaching up to touch the sides of the turian's face. Her fingertips brushed his mandibles and forced him to meet her gaze again.
"Tell me, Garrus. It never has to go outside the three of us: you, me, and Tali. But you have to tell me... I can hear it weighing you down. What did Shepard tell you? What happened?"
To her surprise he didn't immediately pull away from her hands. It gave her time to realize just how warm turian scales were. The plates beneath her right hand were smooth and even, those beneath her other hand were irregular from the scars that marked the side of Garrus' face. Her significantly shorter stature was actually a help in this case. It made it far harder for him to avoid her gaze when they were in such close proximity unless he actively started looking up and away.
"I failed, Kasumi," the vigilante whispered harshly.
"You're going to have to explain that to me," Kasumi urged. "We all heard Shepard's plan, it should have worked. You were doing what you were supposed to do..."
A sigh forced its way past his lips and Garrus shook his head, finally pulling his face away from her hands but let them remain on his shoulders.
"No, not that. I should have seen it, I just didn't want to. Shepard... he never intended to make it to the surface. All this time we thought the war was wearing Shepard down. And it was, but it wasn't just the war. It was all of it. It was fighting, dying, waking up and going right back to fighting... one of the last things he told me was that he was going down the same path as Saren. And that he wouldn't let it come to that."
Kasumi couldn't stop the small gasp that escaped her lips, but it was ignored as he continued. The fists at his side continued to flex and relax, emotions causing the usual stoic turian's entire body to shudder.
"He was fighting a war for his own head all this time. I was supposed to be the one that always had his back. And I didn't see it."
"How did it happen?" she asked.
"I don't know. He was always afraid that the cybernetics that Cerberus used to bring him back were Reaper technology... and before turning himself in he told me about the Reaper artifact that he encountered in the Bahak system. He always said he was worried about becoming something he didn't want to be, but I laughed it off. I was so convinced that Commander Shepard couldn't be affected by something like that."
Kasumi tried to sound soothing. "No one saw it. Tali didn't either, I didn't... Chakwas... nobody. It's not your fault, Garrus."
The turian grasped her wrists in shaky hands, trying to push them off his armor.
"I should have... and because I didn't..."
His words trailed off even as he still held onto her wrists, a strange sound echoing in the back of his throat. Low and oddly melodious, but quickly choked off. A fragment of memory rose to the forefront of her mind. Kasumi had seen a turian funeral once and had been amazed at the stoicism of the bereaved until the final moments. Like almost all turian funerals it had been conducted with military precision and as the ranking officer had moved to light the pyre the widow standing nearby had given off a high-pitched, undulating cry.
Turians didn't possess tear ducts like those of most species. They had no ability to cry, they had evolved from true predators to never show pain or fear. Turian stoicism was as much an evolutionary trait as it was a societal one. The only way they possessed to show grief in the way that many other races did was with their voices. A primal throwback to the days when they had run in packs, hunted and died together, and mourned their dead with chilling howls that served as both a warning and an outlet.
"I'm not turian, big guy... you don't have to put on a mask... I know all about those."
Kasumi easily broke the weak grip of his talons and placed her hands on the sides of his face once more, this time pulling him down to her height. She could feel his body tense for a moment, trying to resist, until he suddenly dropped as if he was a puppet whose strings had been cut. The turian's armored knees struck the floor and Kasumi knelt with him.
This time she felt the vibration under her fingers as he let out a long, low keen. Garrus didn't resist when she wrapped her arms around him and a second later she felt him return the embrace. When the talons brushed her back the thief momentarily tensed but fought the instinct down and whispered soft, soothing words in her native tongue as she listened to his mournful cry. The pain there caused a few tears to stain her cheeks anew.
The sound finally trailed off and Garrus' head dropped forward. His cheek brushed hers as he panted. Once again she was reminded just how warm turians were, the scales of the former vigilante's face felt like sun warmed leather against her skin and the hands on her back radiated the same heat. Rather than question it she just relaxed into the mutual embrace.
As if waking from a dream Garrus suddenly pulled back and shook his head, mandibles flexing in silence while he searched for words before finally stammering out an apology.
"Sorry, I... shouldn't have... involved you with this. Turians don't usually let people see that other than family."
"I'm a thief. We're good at keeping secrets, remember?"
"True, it just wasn't fair to you," he replied. "Thanks, though, for trusting me. You accepting my order to leave, helping control Tali... it helped the others fall into line."
The thief smiled faintly. "That's what friends are for... I seem to recall you're the one that jumped in front of a thug with a vibroknife for me."
He laughed, a weak one but better than nothing, when she tapped his chest where the scratch had been on his old armor.
"I wear armor, you don't."
"And if the knife hadn't been inactive it would have cut right through it. You might try to pretend to be a jerk, but you're soft inside, Scars."
It was somewhere in those quiet seconds after she spoke that Garrus apparently realized that his arms were still around her, in truth she had almost forgotten the fact as well. He let go immediately and pushed himself to his feet, offering her a hand up. His mandibles flared as they moved back into the better lighting near the battery consoles.
"I... uh, sorry... I think I got a little..." the turian mumbled, gesturing to her face.
She cocked her head. "What?"
"Ah, your cheek."
Kasumi reached up to touch the side of her face and felt something on her skin. When she looked down her fingertips were stained. Confused she reached out to tap the nearby console and engaged the overhead lights, finally dispelling the angry red shadows that had previously blanketed the room. Upon reexamining her fingers she found that they were blue. Garrus' paint.
"Let me get that," Garrus said quickly.
He fumbled around the console, finally finding a small cloth that he brought up to wipe the smeared paint with surprising gentleness. It was more than a little fascinating that talons that were more than capable of tearing soft human skin open could also be so careful. The turian's reaction to the entire act was extremely odd, his nostrils flaring slightly and his crest flexing. If she didn't know better she would have sworn that the skin beneath his plates had flushed blue.
"Looks like you got a little smudged too," she added once he finished.
"Our paint isn't exactly rated for... ah, human interaction. We don't sweat so most of the stuff isn't even water proof."
She flashed a grin. "Sounds like an untapped market."
"If it was you'd think the volus would have gotten to it by now. Even this long after the 314 Incident... probably not that many turians get close enough to a human to worry about paint."
"Then I guess I'll take this as a compliment," Kasumi said, holding up her blue-stained fingers.
The turian coughed and rubbed the back of his neck, a gesture that suddenly reminded her just how alike he and Shepard had become. That thought drained some of the levity from her, snapping her back into the reality, but she didn't let it overwhelm her.
"Look, Kasumi... what I said, in here... it does have to stay between us. If Tali is willing to talk to me then I'll tell her too. But no one else can know that Shepard was suffering from... indoctrination."
He almost seemed to spit the word out, as if tasting it for the first time and finding it even fouler than he had imagined.
"I can keep secrets. What Keiji found... that still lives up here," she assured him.
"Add that to the things that I never want to know. I just wanted to make sure we understood each other," he said with a sigh. "Shepard will always be a symbol, even now that he's gone, but more than that I owe it to him. I won't let him be remembered in the same breath as Saren. You didn't know him before... when this all started. That's how he should be remembered."
"I promise you, Garrus, no one will ever know."
"And I believe you. Which is an odd thing to say. Three years ago I'd have been trying to arrest you."
"Please, a lowly C-Sec agent catching me?"
"Everyone gets caught."
"Not me," she countered, wagging a finger.
The turian moved with lightning speed and caught her wrist, his grip far firmer this time. She gave a small gasp of surprise and actually felt her cheeks flush when he didn't let go immediately, glad for the concealment of her hood.
"Everyone," he replied with a smirk and released her.
Kasumi smiled and shook her head. "Okay, Scars, point proven. Now... why don't you tell me about this mission involving Cerberus?"
"You never stop sneaking around do you?"
"Of course not. I'm sure it's just one of the many things you love about me," she shot back.
Oddly enough he didn't immediately reply, just fixing her with a stare. Without further response he turned back to the console. A few keystrokes brought up a report and various data streams.
"Fine. Take a look at this transmission that Traynor intercepted..."
"What do we have, Joker?"
"Cerberus."
The normally verbose pilot was far more reserved, but Garrus didn't make mention of it. There wasn't a need for discussion, everything he that needed know had been conveyed when he had stepped onto the bridge and met the human's eyes. The same mixture of pain, anger, and determination had been a mirror for everything that beat in his own chest. They had simply exchanged terse nods. A silent understanding between two people that had been with Shepard since the beginning.
"When did Cerberus get cruisers?"
"Do I look like I'm on the Illusive Man's frequent calling plan?" Joker replied acidly. "Everything checks out the same as any Alliance cruiser. That could be the Capetown or the Geneva from what the readouts say."
"Damn," the turian muttered. "We can't go in head on. If we take out the cruiser any troops they have inside might try to use the station personnel as hostages."
EDI spoke up.
"Our stealth systems will prevent detection at range, but any attempt to dock will likely be detected by external observation. Unlike geth, humans do seem to favor windows."
Scenarios danced in his head. C-Sec training that he hadn't recalled in months came back to the fore. A hostage situation would be bad. Not only would they have their victims isolated on a space station, easy to lock down, they would also be fanatics if the data Shepard had retrieved from the encounter on Mars was accurate. It also meant that any sort of negotiation was ultimately doomed to failure. Which left them with only one option, get inside before Cerberus realized they were there.
"Joker, can you give us a distraction? Get the cruiser and its fighter compliment to focus on the Normandy while we try to slip in with the Kodiak?" Garrus asked. "If we time it right we can be inside before they get a chance to lock things down."
The pilot nodded. "I'll give them the chase of a lifetime."
"Good."
Garrus tapped his omni-tool and opened his comm. "Javik, Legion... meet me in the shuttle bay in five. Full combat gear, close quarters."
He cut the line and headed for the elevator. While it made its slow crawl to the lower deck the turian sighed and leaned his head back until his fringe scrapped the metal wall. Everything felt wrong, like he was ten again and trying to wear his father's C-Sec uniform to play at being a cop. Shepard was supposed to be here, leading them all into hell and bringing them out again on the other side.
"Dammit, Shepard... this wasn't how it was supposed to go," he whispered to the empty elevator. "But I'll keep them safe. I promise."
The doors opened to reveal the shuttle bay and a familiar silhouette perched on the edge of the gun bench. She swung her legs idly and gave him a wry smirk as he stepped out of the elevator, eyes glittering beneath the shadows of her hood.
"Trying to leave without me?"
After Kasumi had come to him in the battery Garrus' thoughts had been even more scattered than usual. The turian part of him was ashamed to have shown the pain he felt so openly. But he couldn't deny the relief he had felt or the comfort that the touch had provided. The fact that it had done so, though, continued to plague him because he knew that he'd reacted to more than just the act itself. It had been the scent, faint perfume and aged paper, that always told him Kasumi was near along with her voice that had helped push past his barriers.
When she had first came aboard Garrus had been understandably suspicious. Years in C-Sec and six long months on Omega fighting criminals had left him bereft of trust, especially for someone that made a living at grand theft. It had been hard to keep the suspicion up in the face of her constant cheerfulness and good natured meddling. The way that she had quickly befriended Tali and helped the young quarian come out of her shell had been a nice surprise. For his own part more than a few of his evenings had been spent sitting at the small bar in the lounge. Kasumi had never pushed him about his past, his old team, or any of the other wounds he'd been carrying.
All of which left him in a very awkward position because he wasn't a teenager fresh out of boot camp. He recognized the feeling, the way he reacted to her scent, and how easily he had given in to her offer of comfort for what it was. At least for now, he had to focus on the mission. Everything else would have to wait.
"I'm only taking a small team," he told her simply.
"Four seems like a pretty small number to me."
"I was trying to keep it to people that... well, you know."
"Weren't as close to Shepard? Or in Legion's case just don't have emotions to worry about?"
He grimaced but nodded. For someone that claimed to be a loner Kasumi was far too perceptive for his good at times. Javik was the last of his kind and couldn't really be described as a friend to anyone. At best it could be said that he had respected Shepard for his determination. And while he wasn't sure if Legion was quite as emotionless as the geth claimed, he was fairly certain that the platform wasn't ever going to have a breakdown in the middle of a firefight.
The thief hopped down from the table and fixed him with a look.
"Then shouldn't you be the first one to be staying behind?"
"We don't have time for this, Kasumi. Shepard trusted me to lead his team and I'm going to do just that," Garrus replied and then lowered his voice. "Being turian is about more than marching and fighting... I'll be fine. But Shepard was your friend too, and I know that humans aren't always as good at... compartmentalizing."
Kasumi frowned up at him and jabbed one finger into his armored chest.
"This human is, Scars. And if you're breaking into one of the most advanced human facilities in known space... that's exactly what I'm good at," she stated firmly. "Which is why I'm going to make sure that you don't get yourself killed trying to protect the rest of us. Tali wouldn't survive losing both of you, even if she's mad now, and... I don't want you to get yourself killed either."
"I..." Garrus trailed off in surprise.
It was definitely the most forceful statement he'd ever gotten from the woman. Their banter had always been sharp words, an easy back and forth. Kasumi liked to use her wits and often times seem to treat everything as a game, but her words now had been deadly serious. He relented, snapped his mouth shut, and gestured towards the shuttle.
"Much better! You can learn," the thief teased, climbing aboard the Kodiak.
He ignored the comment and addressed the the other two.
"Everyone ready?"
"I am ready, turian," Javik said. "I only hope that your dedication matches that of the Commander. This war could ill-afford his loss."
"Don't worry about my dedication. If you want to kill Reapers you're in the right place."
"This unit is also prepared, Vakarian-Spectre."
Garrus' head snapped around to focus on the geth's optic.
"What did you just call me?"
"We are aware of the information contained within the Normandy's databanks regarding Shepard-Commander's designation of yourself as successor," Legion explained, its flaps drooping slightly as it continued. "The loss of Shepard-Commander's runtime... is unfortunate and damaging to unit cohesion. We will serve in whatever capacity is necessary to complete Shepard-Commander's designated mission."
He was fairly certain the statement had been Legion's way of saying that it was with him, but Garrus had never been the best at interpreting the geth's hyper logical statements.
"I'm not a Spectre yet, Legion. But... thanks."
Cortez gave them the green light and the shuttle exited the Normandy. Once a few hundred meters of distance had been put between them Garrus saw the Normandy's drive flare brightly and the frigate accelerated rapidly towards the Cerberus' cruiser. Just as planned the larger ship immediately began to turn to track the smaller vessel, the cruiser's port guns already taking poorly aimed shots.
"Get us in, Cortez."
"Yes, sir," the pilot acknowledged.
The shuttle moved under stealth towards the station. With the Normandy lighting up their scanners Garrus was counting on the Cerberus forces not noticing a single shuttle slipping into one of the smaller docking bays until it was too late.
"This... Cerberus. They are the same ones that attempted to extract my stasis pod before Commander Shepard arrived, yes?" Javik asked.
"That's them," Garrus said. "I didn't realize they had become this overt, though."
The prothean's lips curled in disgust.
"They are fools. Shepard informed me that this Illusive Man stated his intent was to control the Reapers, use them as a tool. Some of our people believed the same during our war... they were all indoctrinated."
He saw Kasumi's lips twitch downward ever so slightly as Javik spoke and did his best to keep his own expression emotionless. For turians at least it was far easier than for humans and their wildly expressive faces.
"Cerberus has been trying to get their hands on any piece of tech they can find. It wouldn't surprise me if they've been working with too much Reaper tech. That just means that we have to get everyone off this station. We can't let them have access to a bunch of young biotics or the tech that the place is probably full of."
"This is an accurate assessment," Legion agreed. "Grissom Academy was noted by the Collective as one of the most likely locations to develop electronic warfare and viral suites capable of hindering the geth."
"So, yea... Cerberus plus Grissom, equals bad. Great," Kasumi said.
After that the shuttle was silent aside from the ever present hum of the engines. When they had almost reached the docking port that EDI had identified as the best location to board Kasumi leaned over and poked him in the ribs, her voice a whisper.
"I see you fixed your paint. One of these days you're going to have to explain to me why you don't have it just tattooed on if you're always going to be wearing it. Unless the whole point is just to get it on other people when they get too close like some sort of turian anti-theft device."
He was caught speechless the second time in so many minutes, finally rallying.
"Well, there is the part where my skin is covered in armored plates."
"Details, I can't believe someone hasn't thought of it before. You're going to make me start doing extranet searches."
The turian swallowed heavily. He desperately hoped that Kasumi's curiosity was only a temporary need to occupy herself while dealing with everything that had happened. The last thing he needed was for her to look up how exactly the paint was involved in many old turian traditions including adoption and marriage.
Cortez's voice called from the cockpit. "We've got a seal, you're good to go!"
"Thank the spirits," Garrus muttered.
No Cerberus forces were waiting for them much to the turian's relief. It appeared that Joker's distraction had gone as planned, now it was just up to the pilot to keep the Normandy in once piece so they had somewhere to extract to. He tucked his rifle into his shoulder and approached the nearest door.
"Javik, overwatch. Legion, you're on door duty. It looks like the whole damn place is locked down. Once we're through I'll take point. We look for survivors and send them back here for evac, clear?"
Three heads bobbed in agreement.
"Vakarian-Spectre... we are attempting to override, however security encryption is far in excess of previously encountered Systems Alliance countermeasures. Deactivation will take approximately two-point eight minutes per lock."
"I might be able to help with that," a harried voice said over the intercom. "I'm unlocking the door now, I'm in the control room down the corridor and to the right. Please hurry, Cerberus soldiers are outside!"
"Could be a trap," Kasumi suggested just as the door flashed green.
"I like traps. It surprises the hell out of people when they don't work," Garrus replied with a smirk.
The door opened and they rushed through, turning the corner at the end of the corridor at a run. Half a dozen Cerberus troopers were indeed standing just outside another locked door, one of them with a plasma torch. A cry of surprise went up as the enemy tried to shift their attention to this new threat, but it was far too little, too late.
Garrus' first burst of fire from the Vindicator caught the nearest soldier in the thin armor of his throat while Javik's strange rifle cleanly burned through the chest plate of a second trooper in the same instant. One of the Cerberus grunts did manage to fire off a volley from his submachine gun but Garrus simply dropped his head and let his shields and armor absorb the rounds, returning fire with two quick bursts from his rifle. The last two fell a second later, one to Legion's rifle, the other pitching forward as Kasumi materialized behind him holding a smoking pistol. One of the fallen soldiers shifted and earned himself another burst of fire for his trouble.
The door to his right opened and Garrus snapped his aim to the woman that stepped out. She was middle aged for a human, he'd guess, though that age distinction was already fuzzy based on their ever increasing life spans. He noted her Alliance uniform and let his finger off the trigger, but didn't lower his weapon.
"I'm Kahlee Sanders, I'm the one that sent the distress call out."
"You're Alliance?" he asked.
She nodded. "Civilian for a while, but once everything happened... back into uniform. I shouldn't complain about the help, but who are you?"
"Garrus Vakarian. I'm..." the turian hesitated for a moment before lowering his rifle and stepping forward. "I'm the current commanding officer of the Normandy."
"Vakarian? You were part of Shepard's team, David told me about you... but where is Shepard?"
He felt his mandibles draw tight against his face and he shook his head. "It's a long story, for now we need to get your students out of here. Why didn't you evacuate when Earth was hit?"
"Most of the students and staff did, but some of us volunteered to stay behind as did a few of the older kids," Sanders explained. "Shepard isn't the only one that believed in the Reapers. We've been working on every kind of technology we could here, training biotics. But now it looks like Cerberus wants those kids - and I can't let that happen."
"It won't. Can you clear me a path and direct us to where they're holed up?" Garrus asked.
"I can, but they're all over the station. I knew Cerberus was dangerous, but I never realized that they were this well equipped."
Garrus laughed bitterly.
"They fooled us all, but don't worry about that. We're not marines on guard duty."
He slapped a fresh thermal clip home in the rifle.
"This is what we do."
It was times like this that he would have mentioned to Shepard just how stubborn is race was, but the thought merely made him scowl so he shoved it aside. The young biotic in front of them was clearly terrified. Garrus put on his best negotiator voice and stowed his rifle on his back, keeping his hands open in front of him. Every movement caused the student to start but the field he projected didn't waver.
"Look, kid... I'm a turian. Behind me is a geth and a prothean, I bet you didn't even know they still existed, right?" Garrus patiently pointed out. "Do we look like the kind of people Cerberus would recruit?"
The answer was hesitant, but hopeful. "No?"
"So drop the shield and go. Kahlee Sanders is waiting back at the docking bay on B level. Any Cerberus troops between here and there aren't going to be a threat to anyone. You can keep standing here and not trusting me, but it sounds like your friends are fighting like hell on the other side of that door. The longer you keep us here, the longer it will take us to help them."
Finally the shield flickered and dropped. The young student's eyes were closed and he flinched as if expecting to be shot for his trust, only opening them slowly when that didn't happen. Garrus nodded.
"See? We're the good guys."
"Thank you!" the kid yelped and then bolted past them.
From behind the blast door an explosion could be heard, followed by the sound of automatic weapons fire. He glanced back at this small team.
"Sanders said most of them were making a stand, ready to go be the cavalry?"
Legion's flaps twitched upwards.
"Cavalry generally refers to soldiers mounted on domesticated animals or in modern terms to the use of armored vehicles, Vakarian-Spectre. We do not appear to possess any domesticated native lifeforms."
"Sometimes I think you are actually making a joke, Legion, but then it's gone," he replied wryly and then began issue orders. "Javik, you and I are going to straight in, get their attention on us. Legion, if you see any of them getting an angle on one of the students take them out. Kasumi, get to their position and provide support."
Without waiting for a response, he slammed his fist into the door controls and charged inside. These soldiers weren't nearly as off their guard as the first team they had encountered, but they still weren't expecting the sudden assault. In his peripheral vision Garrus could see that the students had taken the higher ground of the upper floor that looked down on the rest of the cafeteria. One of them apparently had good tactical sense.
"Officer, opposite door, right," Javik said calmly as he cut down one of the soldiers that was firing up at the students.
Garrus immediately zeroed in on the target that the prothean had called out and found the Cerberus soldier in his heavier silvered armor. He yanked a grenade from his belt and gave his omni-tool and audio command to charge the device before hurling it into the clump of troopers. The device exploded with a crackle of electricity and he watched as kinetic barriers flashed out of existence. A steady volley of fire followed up on that advantage and the soldiers began to drop, starting with their leader.
"Vakarian-Spectre, units are approaching your left flank!" Legion stated.
He spun in time to see three men come charging from one of the side rooms. The first dropped from a three round burst to the chest, but the others were far too close by then. He lashed out with the butt of the rifle and staggered the closest backwards, then delivered a vicious kick to the man's knee. It folded inwards with a sickening crack. Garrus caught the soldier's chin as he fell and used the Cerberus trooper's own momentum to snap his neck.
The last trooper was smart enough to forgo trying to bring his rifle to bear and instead swung at Garrus with an electrified baton that had sprung from the forearm of his armor. He ducked beneath the blow and swept the trooper's leg, knocked the other hand aside with his left and then drove his right hand forward twice into his enemy's throat with his talons held together like a knife. There was a choking sound that soon cut off when Garrus yanked the pistol from his hip, placed it against the soldier's ribcage, and fired twice.
A heavy thump came from behind and he shifted, still in a crouch, to point the pistol in the direction the sound had come from... only to immediately drop the barrel away.
"Jack?"
"You're damn right," the biotic growled and stalked towards him.
She had changed in six months. The tattoos were still there, of course, but considerably more of them were covered now that she wore some kind of leather jacket. Her shirt wasn't exactly what he'd have called modest, barely being more than translucent, but the most striking addition was the fact that she had hair. Still shaved at the sides, but quite a bit of dark brown hair was tucked back in a ponytail.
"This is the last place I expected to find you."
"Didn't realize you were keeping track of me, scales," Jack growled and shoved him in the chest. There was a haze of biotic power around here, giving an almost visible glow to her anger.
"Where the fuck is he, Garrus? How many times did I warn him about Cerberus? He always gave me that crap about how they wouldn't do anything stupid and all that bullshit, well now some of my guys are dead because of Cerberus! So where is Shepard so I can punch his stupid ass?"
Garrus knew that Jack's anger at Cerberus was justified, but it didn't stop his response from coming out as a barely coherent snarl.
"He's dead, Jack."
To his surprise the biotic field around the tattooed woman disappeared instantly.
"That shit's not funny, Vakarian."
"Do I look like I'm fucking joking?" he snapped back.
Jack took a step back, shaking her head. "There's... just no way. Shepard was the toughest son of a bitch I'd ever seen..."
"It's true."
Kasumi appeared at his side and placed a hand on his elbow, a silent reminder and reassurance that he took to heart. Closing his eyes briefly he reigned in his sudden burst of anger. It felt a little too good to take his anger out on Jack. She wasn't the cause. If anything she deserved better, she had been crew. Part of the unit. Even if it was an unstable part.
"He died less than two days ago," the thief continued, voice somber. "We were on a mission and he was... forced to choose between his life and the life of the rachni queen. He stayed behind so she could escape."
"Shepard died for a bunch of fucking bugs? Dammit," Jack said, her voice becoming quieter as she spoke. "Only reason I'm here is because some of his do gooder crap rubbed off on me... then the bastard went and got himself killed."
"We do not have time for this discussion," Javik interjected. "More soldiers will come soon."
This, of course, caused another shocked reaction from the biotic. The hazy field of energy sprung up again and her gaze locked on the prothean.
"Okay, then what the fuck is that? Because I might not do a lot of reading but I know that it ain't a rachni."
Javik actually gave a small laugh. "Ha... no, I am prothean. My people held the rachni in check before your species even evolved. I sense an undisciplined mind in you, human, but great power. You have a fire inside you. This is good. You will need it."
"Assuming I believe that shit... now what?" Jack asked.
She gestured up at the line of teenagers that were looking down at them in obvious awe. With Jack leading them they had acquitted themselves well, Garrus had seen more than a few Cerberus troopers on the way that had been taken out by biotics and they had been holding out against the onslaught without help until his team had arrived. But they were still just kids that shouldn't have had to see the things they just did.
"Now we get off this station," Garrus replied and turned to Legion. "Find the nearest terminal and tell Sanders to give you full access. Can you rip everything off the station database?"
"Affirmative, but this platform does not possess the free data storage capacity for such a large volume."
"Then upload it to the Collective... er, your Collective. The good one."
"You're going to upload all of the Alliance's top military projects to the geth?" Kasumi asked in surprise.
He shrugged. "It's either that or they're gone forever when we blow this station to hell. If the Alliance doesn't like it they can sue me."
Jack threw up her hands. "I don't give a rats ass about the Alliance and their secrets, but did you forget the big damn cruiser out there?"
"Not at all," Garrus replied and opened his comms. "Joker?"
There was a short pause and then the reply came with the faint crackle of static.
"I'm here."
"We've secured the students."
"Great, what does that have to do with me at the moment?"
Garrus cracked a predatory smile. "It means we don't have to play nice with that cruiser anymore. Show them what all that Cerberus money paid for."
"Aye aye... EDI, prepare for a high-G turn. And then ready the main guns. We're going to show'em our teeth."
He couldn't see it, but he heard the same smile being returned on the other end of the line. The turian jerked his head towards the way they had come.
"Come on, Jack... let's get these kids out of here."
"Report."
"The mission to the Grissom Academy was a failure," a voice said over the comm.
Kai Leng stood just behind and to the side of the Illusive Man's seat, but he could see the look of disgust flash across the assassin's face before his expression returned to its passive state.
"We sent an entire cruiser to secure a barely staffed space station filled with children. I find that hard to believe," the Illusive Man replied.
With a touch one of the screens expanded to fill the entire monitor, displaying everything from a blueprint of the facility to a detailed personnel list. The biotic potential of the students would have been a significant boon to Cerberus' forces. Technologically, most of what the school had contained was no more advanced than what he already had access to. The several working prototypes within would have quickly advanced numerous projects overnight, however.
"The only truly dangerous individual in the entire facility should have been Subject Zero. And I would have thought and entire platoon would have been enough to take down on biotic... even a powerful one."
"The last transmission we received from the cruiser was that the Normandy had jumped in system and they were moving to pursue," the voice said.
He inhaled deeply before blowing out a trail of smoke and dashing his cigarette in the ashtray on his chair.
"The Normandy?"
"Our teams aboard the station were wiped out but not before they were able to send out a databurst. The team that boarded the Grissom station was lead by Garrus Vakarian."
The Illusive Man leaned forward slightly in his chair.
"And were they able to confirm the other information?"
"Yes, sir. We only got a partial conversation before the armor recording units ran out of emergency power but, according to statements made by both Kasumi Goto and Garrus Vakarian, Commander Shepard was killed in action on Utukku."
"Very well. Continue preparations for Operation Keystone."
He cut the transmission off and leaned back in his chair once more, examining the myriad data screens in front of him. It was an odd thing to hear. Shepard had been such an important part of his plans in recent times and for a short time he thought that the other man would understand. All the elements of his personality were there. The drive, examples of extreme pragmatism, personal tragedy. Everything that should have made him Cerberus' finest champion. But there had been too much of an idealist left buried inside the soldier.
"I believe it's time to execute Operation Keystone. The failure of the Grissom mission is disappointing but with Shepard out of the picture it only makes the mission's success an almost certainty."
Again, a quick curl of the other man's lips. The briefest flash of contempt.
"You put too much stock in Shepard. Did you really believe one man could have stopped our plans?"
"Too many people underestimated Shepard and paid the price, Leng. Cerberus is finally in a position to catapult humanity to the heights of power because I have learned to never underestimate my opponents," he informed Leng. "Mercy, idealism... they're all weakness. But to respect your opponent is quite the opposite."
Still not looking back at the other man, he gestured to the small dossier that had appeared at the corner of one of his screens at the sound of the fallen Spectre's name.
"Shepard was a man that saw the big picture. He fought with the determination that only true conviction can bring. There is no man more dangerous that one that knows, beyond a doubt, that he's doing the right thing."
The assassin shook his head. "If Shepard was so astute he would have joined us when he had the chance. The destruction of the Collector base showed him to be a short sighed fool. And his... relations with an alien only further prove his failings."
The Illusive Man frowned. Kai Leng, for all his usefulness, was still a blunt instrument. He was highly intelligent but he would also be subject to his fears and prejudices. Such sentiments had been what allowed him to create Cerberus in the first place, but he hadn't lied to Shepard when he had told him that he held no particular hate for aliens. They were a means to an end. The salvation of mankind from the tyranny of the Reapers and the key to their rise as the dominant force in the galaxy. A way to fulfill a promise made lifetimes ago.
"What about the implants? Are you feeling any ill-effects?" he asked, changing the subject.
Kai Leng held up his hands and looked at them, flexing his fingers experimentally.
"None."
"Good. I need you at your best. We're on the cusp, Leng... the final pieces are falling into place. Make sure that there are no problems."
"I will ensure the mission's success," Leng said.
"See that you do."
Leng was gone an instant later, as always without a sound. Like a game of chess these moves had been planned years, sometimes decades, in advance. Adjustments had been made as new information had arisen and circumstances had changed, but the final goal had never wavered.
The Illusive Man reached down and opened the small container beside his chair, retrieving a fresh cigarette and lighting it. His old habit satiated he reached for the other. A long pour of scotch doused the ice in his glass with amber liquid.
He raised the glass to an empty room and then took a sip.
The dark was like a blanket wrapped around him, but it carried no warmth. His eyes must have been open but there was nothing to see. Just blackness. The absence was almost comforting in its own way, like a sign that it was finally over. All around him the void seemed to press down and tell him to just shut his eyes. Sink into the nothingness and let it carry him away.
Somewhere in the distance he heard the ghost of a sound. A melody, muffled and slow. Single notes as if it was being picked out a single key at a time on a piano. Each note pushed through the darkness a little farther than the first. Brought memories swirling out of the shadows.
A single low note.
"I can't just take her from you, sir."
"She's your ship now, Shepard."
The Normandy sat moored at the dock, all sleek lines and fresh paint. She represented more than just the most advanced ship in the Alliance. She was the freedom to go out and make a difference, and she was also the trust of the man that had been his friend and mentor for years.
He came to attention and snapped a salute.
"I'll take care of her, Anderson."
His former captain returned the salute and smiled.
"I know you will, son. I know you will."
He hadn't kept his promise, though. The original Normandy had died over Alchera. Before he could sink into the old pain another note pierced his consciousness.
"Garrus?"
The turian cocked his head, eyes narrowed. "How do you know that name?"
"I doubt it's one I could ever forget," Shepard grinned, reaching up to remove his helmet. "What did Tali call you whenever you were picking on her? Her 'Big blue armored bosh'tet'? Never did find out exactly what bosh'tet meant."
"By the spirits..." Garrus said, sounding slightly strangled. A moment of suspiciousness flashed in his eyes, but at Shepard's words the spark of recognition quickly overrode it. The turian stalked across the room with such speed that his two Cerberus companion's nearly raised their weapons again. He grabbed the human in a back slapping hug that nearly lifted Shepard off his feet.
"You son of a bitch! I should have known! Who else would pull off a stunt like that on the bridge... but how the hell are you alive? I watched the Normandy burn... I was at your damn funeral!"
The turian struck his chest at the word funeral with one armored fist.
"It's a long story, Garrus. Let's just say I got put back together at great expense of time and credits. I've been out for the last two years."
His old friend smiled wickedly.
"Hell, Shepard... you come back from the dead and this is how you spend your time? And what happened to your face? I know two years is a long time but what did you try to do... mate with a varren?"
In the darkness he groaned while the melody grew. Single notes had become faster and more complex, the music calling to him all the way to his bones. It began to change and shift, voices singing wordlessly in his thoughts.
"I seem to recall that's how I met a certain quarian girl," the Spectre pointed out. "It's just who I am."
Tali leaned over him, straddling his waist and kissing him with sudden need. His hands cradled her face, letting her set the pace. When she pulled back the look she gave him spoke volumes.
"I remember it. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. But that day that the Normandy was destroyed, looking helplessly out of an escape pod was one of the worst. I don't... I don't know if I can survive that again, not after this, after finally feeling everything I've missed all these years," she told him through tears.
Shepard kept his hands on either side of her face, fingers lightly tracing the small ridges that were her ears. Using his thumbs he brushed away the stains on her cheeks. When he spoke it was with every ounce of conviction he possessed. He had told her once that he couldn't keep the promise that her father made to her, but he could at least promise to try.
"Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, I will let nothing keep me from coming back to you. I'll fight my way out of hell if I have to. I don't know what will happen tomorrow, or when we finally fight the Reapers... but I'm done just surviving, I want a life, and I want it to be with you. If that's not worth fighting for I don't know what is."
The song became a symphony.
John Shepard woke all at once, sucking in a breath. Eight sapphire blue orbs glowed in the darkness.
Sings-of-Endings.
When he spoke his voice was dry and cracked, but it was his own.
"I made a promise."
As promised, I tried not to leave you hanging for too long! I did resist the urge to temporarily change the story tags to Garrus V. and Tali'Zorah, at least ;) Thanks for all the reviews and feedback both publicly and privately, I'm always interested in what people think.
This arc had been planned for awhile and Shepard wasn't always guaranteed to wake up at the end. I know that would have made a great many people angry but at the same time I think it would have been a good story to tell all the same.
