Hello everyone! It's certainly been a while! I've been back from vacation for about a week and I've poured a lot into this chapter. Some of the last parts were hard to write which was why this wasn't put up earlier. Updates will be regular from now on! Thank you for all of your continued support!

xoxo

THR

Chapter 44

Your name was Kaidan Alenko and you knew that you had reached the correct destination when you heard muffled screams and the deep baritone voices that were a distinguishing characteristic of batarian men.

No matter what kind of reservations Shepard had, keeping in radio contact via omni-tool became a necessity between the two teams. You had reached the bowels of the unnamed prison before Garrus and she had. There was no way you were going to blind yourself more than you had to. Even while using the most secure channels and enabling encryptions, breathy sighs with panicked undertones never stopped echoing through your feed. They were feminine, meaning that their sole owner had to be the Commander.

"I had to mess with a crane and some boxes to get down to where I am." You whispered. "Didn't you say that you were close?"

"That was before I realized I had to reroute the damn power god knows how many times. You never mentioned having to tangle with varren, either."

You imitated one of her sighs and made sure she understood that you really didn't feel comfortable being down here alone. It felt like a cliché war-horror vid; sooner or later you were going to get captured by the illusive aliens and would be held for ransom while the great Commander Shepard and her associate scoured in search for you.

You laughed for a second and then found yourself holding back again.

Like that would ever happen.

In her defense, though, getting down to the lowest and most secure level took thoughtful planning on all three of their parts. After you shared map schematics with her and Garrus, assisting each other and taking turns at redirecting electricity and power wasn't a simple job. Doing it while remaining undetected had been a bitch. As far as you knew, there weren't any other tech jobs that had to be remotely taken care of. All Shepard had to do now was meet up with you in the deep depths of the asylum-like building.

"Copy, Alenko. I didn't get that."

Her voice wasn't laced with sarcasm, meaning that she legitimately thought that you had said something important. You turned silent again and leaned against one of the countless concrete walls. There wasn't anything else left to do while waiting for your superior.

"Nothing, Shepard. Just get down here ASAP."

"Noted."

The line fell silent after that and you took the time to try and piece your situation together. The Commander had filled you in on what she had overheard other guards saying. From recovering old security logs and scavenging around for datapads, piecing this situation together made you feel even worse about it.

For starters, it had been made clear to you that Amanda Kenson was not a simple doctor with a theory about the Reapers. She also wasn't working alone.

Her operations were shady to say the least. The recordings of a former guard's musings revealed that her ship was embarking on frequent missions to Omega to acquire parts for engines and other things that would likely propel a large vessel of some sort. Compared to some of the other things you had heard, though, smuggling parts seemed tame.

It was common knowledge around the galaxy that the Hegemony was a manipulative government. They leaked what they needed to leak to the public and kept a majority of their citizens enslaved or in the dark about what went on in their mystifying empire. Most of the time the "facts" they released had little to no truth behind them, meaning that nobody actually believed a word the estranged race said. Due to your lack of information regarding the inside workings of the batarian systems, you didn't know for sure if their government employees were well informed or not. While passing by yet another group of watchmen prior to settling in your current position, you had intercepted another fact about Kenson and her team that confirmed your suspicions about the mission: this woman was trying to blow up a mass relay.

Hearing the sentence about a half hour ago had made your heart jump into your throat. Detonating one of the most precious resources the galaxy had to offer was unheard of; everyone thought that they were indestructible. After trying to process the overwhelming bit of information, you had trudged further into the prison and eventually ended up near the chamber that Kenson was in. You weren't aware of her close proximity quite yet, but that was about to change.

As you leaned against the wall and watched your glowing blue barrier fade away, you wondered if the tidbit held any validity. You had already executed the responsible maneuvers and notified Shepard a long time ago about it. Ironically enough, she had uncovered similar information and the pieces of the puzzle were starting to come together. You couldn't see the full picture yet, but you had a feeling that it wasn't going to be a pretty one. If anyone had the intention of annihilating a mass relay, you would be able to fully comprehend why Hackett had given your crew this mission to begin with. Things would make sense and doubting Shepard would be obsolete.

You became lost in these few seconds of thought that you had given to yourself. Thankfully, you weren't engrossed enough to ignore a shocking screech coming from the room beside you. The hideous sound was coming from the depths of a woman's lung and sang across the terrain.

"Shut your damn mouth and tell us what you're doing!"

As if nothing had even happened, your body reapplied a coating of dark energy around your form and you pounced towards the nearest door. With a loud whisper, you put your finger up to your ear to signal your superior.

"We've got the doctor down here! Those batarians are trying to torture her and it doesn't sound like she had much time left! I can get to her but I can't wait for you!"

Static greeted you on the other line and you tried not to assume the worst. A gruff voice responded seconds later, meaning that Shepard wasn't available to respond.

"It's Garrus." the familiar turian barked. "We're getting down as soon as we can. Just-"

"Don't let Kaidan go in there alone!"

Shepard's voice could be heard in the background along with the distinct noise of her biotics charging out into the confined halls of the prison.

You exhaled while another one of Dr. Kenson's screams echoed throughout your vincinity. With a gruff growl, you lunged up and began decrypting the locked door. A woman's life was at stake and you weren't about to wait for Shepard to complete the job when she wasn't there to do it. This wasn't about who got the glory or who was able to break into the interrogation room with the most style. It was about a person who was facing life or death and had the potential to save the entire galaxy from the Reaper's imminent threat.

"Patch Shepard through!" you yelled, your voice getting excited from the action you heard coming from their side of the line.

A few bumps and yells were heard before you heard a familiar voice.

"Kaidan, who knows what's going to be in there?! Keep an eye on Kenson but don't throw yourself into suicide! Do you have any idea the kinds of sensors that could go off if you break in there?!"

Your omni-tool dinged and the door no longer had a red light floating above its metallic finish. The only thing standing in between you and the target were Shepard's orders.

"With all due respect, Commander," you began. "I don't follow orders from Cerberus personnel. There's a life that needs to be saved and you're telling me to wait. Alliance or not, I'm not going to stand for that."

Anything else that she said after that became a blur. You tried telling yourself that your remark wasn't based on past grudges which had supposedly been put behind you. This wasn't a jab at Shepard nor were you trying to be hostile. Water poured in from the ceiling and hit your head and the building's temperature was starting to have an effect on you, but you weren't about to give up here.

You stepped closer to the door and forced it open, revealing a horrid sight.

The room you entered had to be the most advanced one in the entire prison. A capsule-like mechanism held Dr. Amanda Kenson and was probing her face with an external device. Although the capsule had an open front, it was clear that it could be sealed off at any time. The metal contraption had her strapped down to its frame while it poked at her and it pained you to watch her flinch away. She didn't speak; instead, her lips remained pursed in a permanent scowl that wouldn't budge for anyone, not even her ruthless captors. She was older than you had expected. Dust colored hair had been swept into her face and formed a modern styled bob. She hadn't been kept in custody for long; you assumed this because of the plum lipstick that remained smeared upon her mouth. For an older woman, she appeared to be feisty. She didn't give in to what the batarians wanted nor had she given up her career as a deep space operative due to her age. Even from across the room, she had a fire in her eyes that was unmistakable. Any other characteristics regarding the woman of interest would have to be left to your imagination. There was a fully armed batarian guard operating the probing device and allowing him to advance further into her personal space wasn't something you would let happen.

Her bluish orbs locked onto yours almost as if you were the last hope she had left. She was brave, but not brave enough to break out alone.

You threw a biotic charge, sending the guard into a semi-permanent stasis. The doctor's eyebrows went up in shock and it was as if she hadn't seen a human in at least a hundred years.

"Who are you? How did you make it down here by yourself?"

Beads of sweat fell down your forehead; the downside of being a biotic was starting to kick in. You felt your body yearning for some sort of energy, and of course any sort of nourishment would only be available once you reached the shuttle again. After examining the tech controls in front of you, you swept your omni-tool over the capsule and worked at getting her out.

"Major Kaidan Alenko of the Alliance. I'm on the team that was sent out by Admiral Hackett to get you out of here."

Your mouth moved faster than it should have while you expended more brain power on getting her out rather than thinking over your words.

"Your debt won't go unpaid, Major." she replied smoothly. With the flick of a single switch, the prongs let go of your victim and she slid out onto the floor again. She gave the device a look over before turning to you and offering her hand. "I'm also assuming you heard rumors from the guards. Allow me to explain."

Her explanation ended up being rather brief. In fact, she didn't have the time to explain anything at all. Your hyped up metabolism and your attention had been diverted elsewhere, causing you to forget that you had left the guard in stasis. As talented as you were, there was no way that the batarian could stay frozen forever.

"Who are you and how did you manage to break into a Hegemony run facility?"

As if he had been released from a curse, he fell to his knees and coughed wildly. His voice was intended to be much powerful than it had sounded. Your attack had damaged him enough to come close to taking his life, but it hadn't been enough. Kenson grabbed your arm and moved her hand to where your pistol was located.

"Shoot him!" she howled. If you weren't going to do it, you wouldn't be surprised if she snatched up your weapon and did it herself.

The prisoner wasn't given another chance to speak. Another biotic shockwave hit him like a brick wall, except it wasn't from you. The wave of blue pulsated across the air, pressing him up against the confines of the room. Objects from shelves toppled onto him and hit the man square in the head, which brought the end upon him.

"Shepard!"

Your eyes darted forward, revealing a tall woman who was glowing as much as you were. Her tech armor shined brightly against the violet metal clinging to her, and although her hair was beginning to flop into her face she managed to maintain the aura of a soldier. Standing in front of her was a turian who towered over every person in the room. His slender waist was coated with armor that most likely weighed more than the woman who was standing beside him. Blue markings were tattooed onto his upper facial plates, and his matching eyes were inches away from staring down the scope of a sniper.

Their names were Liz Shepard and Garrus Vakarian and they had arrived fashionably late.

In theory, this would have been humorous if the three of you hadn't been in such a serious situation.

The redhead nodded to her turian partner, who disregarded you and went over to check the body of the dead guard. Her arm went down, meaning that she had no intentions on sending another biotic shockwave throughout the room.

The bun in her hair finally gave out while she took steps towards you, sending her locks flowing down onto her shoulders. She picked the mass of hair up and pinned it back into place in a sloppy manner. Now that you could get a good look at her face, she looked as beat up as you did. Before conflict plagued your relationship, you used to share the woes that came with having L2 implants while on shore leave and during times of rest on the Normandy. Even though she was covered in armor, her chest was heaving and it seemed like she had exited a heavy fight. She mustered a composed face and, like Garrus, didn't bat a single eyelash at you.

"You must be Dr. Amanda Kenson." she began. Her tone mimicked yours in a way and she slid out a gloved hand to the only other woman in the room.

"Commander Shepard, Council Spectre and informal member of the Alliance. I see Alenko got here before I did."

Kenson took her hand and shook it with a firm grip.

"Commander Shepard?" she asked. "I supposed informal would be more than a fitting title." Shepard's eyebrow quirked up, presumably because she didn't know if the woman was being sarcastic or not.

"Hackett has told me about you. I've seen the vids and didn't know for certain that you were alive. Considering that you've brought a team here, I'm guessing that the Alliance ended up receiving my distress signal."

Garrus' body rose up again and his hands held nothing, meaning that no physical evidence had been extracted from the guard.

"If we're going to avoid any major incidents, I'd recommend getting out of here as soon as possible."

The doctor wrinkled her nose at the turian and swept off her science uniform.

"And I'm, uh, Garrus Vakarian. I don't exactly-"

"Garrus is my ship's acting XO."

Silence fell into its usual place in the room. An aura of shock accompanied it and everybody stared at Shepard as if she was a lunatic.

Garrus stared because he wanted to call Shepard's bluff.

Kenson stared in awe because a turian was second in command on an Alliance ship.

You stared because you had no idea if she even had the authority to do what she had just done.

Her sudden declaration made a bit of sense in your mind; from what you could gather, the last executive officer had been Cerberus and had resigned from her position right after the supposed suicide mission. The temporary Alliance crew that had been designated to the Normandy lacked a true second in command. Out of all the people on the vessel, Garrus was without question one of the few people that Shepard had left to trust. No matter how much you wanted to like the former vigilante, memories lingered in the back of your mind and clouded the positive ones that you shared with him. He was a good man but he had managed to lure Shepard out of the bond that you had formed with her. She had assured you that there had been no coaxing on his part, but his presence was a constant reminder of what you had lost. You hated yourself for still thinking about these things. You could talk things out until you were blue in the face but nothing would ever change indefinitely.

After clearing her throat, Shepard broke the quietness. "I'm assuming that you have the information to back up what Admiral Hackett told me." she continued. "As long as it has to do with Reapers, then this rescue was worth it no matter how many batarians we pissed off."

With confidence, Kenson turned to look at the door and put a hand thoughtfully to her chin.

"There's no doubt that the Reapers are coming, Commander. The information that my team has uncovered is monumental compared to what those four eyed creatures think about us. However, none of the intel will be accessible unless we can create an escape path."

"That would require a security override." you commented. The doctor nodded her head in agreement.

As soon as the words exited your mouth, the buzzing of alarms began to fill everyone's ears. Your infiltration skills had worked well all up until this point, but you knew that it wouldn't be a mission led by Commander Shepard without something going wrong.

It also wouldn't be a Commander Shepard mission if she didn't find a way to fix it.

"Someone better start working on that override." she muttered. "Because the batarians aren't going to sit around while we twiddle our thumbs and work on building a security hack."

"We're in code red mode! The leader escaped and every guard better get their asses in gear to stop them! This is not a drill!"

You tilted your head up to hear the message that echoed in sync with the alarms over multiple loudspeakers; if it wasn't obvious that Kenson was breaking out, it certainly was now.

"Alenko!"

You turned to Shepard, who appeared to be less than pleased with your previous misconduct.

"Get out there with Garrus and hold them off while I cover Kenson."

You tried to dig deeper and determine the meaning of the tone she had used. It was firm and orderly, but there was an underlying note in it that made you wonder if she was proud of you for what you had done. She didn't show any indication of being pissed off. Based on how she used to behave towards you, you'd say that her current mood was far from livid. She wasn't giving you any body language to go off of; she stood tall and was ready to fight with you at a moment's notice if she had to. You decided that it was better than nothing and then cursed yourself for even caring; idolizing her like a child was something Garrus did, not you. You were older than her and you were so damn close to having more experience than her. Hell, you even outranked her, but that didn't matter to anyone in the Alliance. She had proven her worth time and time again. According to Hackett, you had too. You had almost forgotten that you had a biotics team to go home to and lead. You had climbed the ranks for longer than you were able to remember. You had gotten your recognition not only because of your valor and talents, but also because of your split second decisions that ended up saving people instead of taking their lives.

What you had done ten minutes prior was one of those decisions.

The popping sound that a heat sink made echoed throughout your ears. Before you could confirm your orders, gunshots were fired in the direction of the alien enemy that was starting to close in on the room you were in. Two guards that had made their way to the doorway were now standing dead at your feet.

"I appreciate the backup, but I remember where they kept the guns in this room." Kenson pointed out. In her hand was an M-6 Carnifax which she had grabbed off a counter. "And Alliance training taught me more than just how to hold a petty little pistol." A hellish expression was painted upon the older woman's face. She was out for revenge and a few shots weren't going to stop her.

A small smile came up to Shepard's face and she blew a spare strand of hair away from her reddened eyes.

"Alright everyone, change of plans!" she said, her hands locked around her own heavy pistol. "Let's double time it so we can find that console!"

Garrus and Kenson wasted no time in taking down the first wave of the guards that had piled up in the hallway that you had used to enter the room. The winding paths of the prison still daunted you and you were fortunate that you didn't have to go through it alone for a second time.

"Kaidan, wait!"

A hand grabbed at your arm, which was still coated in cerulean dark energy. The blue hue had transferred to Shepard's hand as well, causing her to retract her limb in a heartbeat.

"What you did back there was…"

She sighed and rubbed her head, causing the lazy bun to fall back down onto her shoulders. It had been a long time since she let her hair down, literally and metaphorically.

"Damn it!" she hissed. With the free moments she had, she took the time to push her hair up into a proper knot and made sure that it stayed in place. Like it had before, a single strand of hair teased her upper cheek and threatened to be the sole piece that didn't make it into the tight hairdo.

"It's not like we have much time here." you prompted. She was stalling whatever she was about to say.

"Just…know that what you did down here was a good call." she said begrudgingly. "Don't make a habit of going against a superior's orders. Whenever we have our next sparring night I might just kick your ass without biotics."

This was the closest thing to a loving remark that she was able to give you. You answered her with a smile and began to feel a little better.

"Thanks, Shepard." you replied. "And, by the way, you've got a lock of hair sticking out."

"You act like I don't know it's there."

Your name is Kaidan Alenko and as you fought your way through the batarian prison to get to a single security console, you couldn't help but smile just a teeny, tiny bit. Those kinds of moments overshadowed your problems. They were stupid to dwell on and sometimes easy to forget, but recalling them made the days go by a little bit faster. If you weren't going to be able to see her smile at you again or watch the natural breeze of Earth tease at her loosened hair again, you would indulge yourself in a self-made façade.

Your name was Garrus Vakarian and you put a taloned hand over your forehead to block the sun that shined through opened industrial doors of the hangar that you found yourself in. An hour and a half of fighting had paid off; Kenson had been able to hack the prison's security system through a remote terminal while your squad destroyed any of the batarians that got in your way. It had been liberating to fight again. Your teamwork skills had gotten a tad bit rusty, though. It wasn't often that Shepard brought someone along who had the same general skill set as her. Kaidan's biotics surpassed hers and even you could feel the pushes and pulls when it came to their supremacy on the battlefield. Shepard would exert herself and throw enemies down into elevator shafts while Kaidan upstaged her with lifts and biotic slams. Everything became an indirect power struggle between them; whether it was who could load their gun the fastest or whose shielding stayed up the longest, they had managed to make the escape into some sort of sick challenge.

The funny thing about the situation was that Alenko wasn't the one egging Shepard on. In fact, you were even able to see a small grin on his face for some odd reason. You didn't have the time to observe them in detail due to your eyes being preoccupied with looking through a scope, but it was very clear that Shepard wasn't about to be upstaged. You had even heard her cry out in pain a few times from too much biotic exertion. Kaidan looked just as worn as she did but he never said a word.

Your partner's determined attitude was what was keeping her going. Her lustrous desire to come out on top against her ex put her into overdrive.

That burst of energy had since worn off. The mission had been completed and all that was left was to hijack a shuttle and get the hell out of batarian territory. You had come across the prison's hangar out of sheer luck; you thanked the spirits that you didn't have to circle the jail in search of an escape. Of course, the maps you had installed into your omni-tool did wonders, too.

While Kaidan checked the shuttle to see if its systems were intact, Shepard stood beside you and let the sun radiate her dewy complexion. Although rain still poured down on the planet, vegetation was more visible and the yellowy orange star shined through the defiant clouds. Her entire body was dripping with sweat and she was fortunate enough to have a uniform to cover up most of it, leaving just her hairline tinted with a dark color from the moisture. Bloodshot brown eyes met your own blue ones and she offered a smile. Nothing more was needed and for once you were able to just enjoy the view again.

Avian-like creatures cawed in the distance while you observed trees that were somehow anchored to dark rock. Canyons of stone and hills of jagged minerals completed the landscape and stuck out against the now vibrant colors of the sky, which had once matched its planet's terrain. As if there weren't already enough colors, trees glowed a dark green and whispered softly as their leaves were hit by the descending water droplets.

"Call me crazy, but if this place wasn't infested with batarians and had a decent city, I think retiring here would be one hell of an adventure."

She laughed at your comment and shielded her own eyes from the sun's brightness. After a second long pause, she turned to you and leaned against your side.

"Do they have sunshowers like this on Palaven?"

Your mandibles flared at the foreign term, which hadn't been interpreted correctly by your translator.

"A what?" you asked.

"It's called a sunshower." she continued. "It's self explanatory. The rain falls when the sun is still out. The kids back on Earth say that it's because the devil himself is beating his wife."

A deep chuckle exited your throat and you accepted the weight that was being pushed onto your right side.

"You humans and your damn religions. I'll never understand half the things you come up with. It's creative compared to turian spiritual beliefs."

The echo of the rain began to die down and the sun took center stage, staining the environment with its luminosity.

"And no, we don't have such a thing."

She affirmed your response with a grunt and pulled away when she heard Kaidan calling for her. That meant that the shuttle was finished and it was either totaled or ready for takeoff.

"Wait, Shepard!" you exclaimed, wanting to address one more thing with her before she went off. She tilted her head in your direction and crossed her arms, waiting for you to say something.

"What you said back in the prison…" you began, not sure of where to take the remainder of the conversation. "You didn't really just promote me, did you?"

She uncrossed her arms and placed her weight on her left hip in almost a suggestive manner.

"Come on, XO Vakarian," she teased. "The shuttle's probably ready and you're sitting here asking questions about your rank."

"I guess it's just another position I can add to the book, then." you continued. "Former C-Sec operative, Archangel, boyfriend of the great Commander Shepard…Executive Officer of the Normandy would sound pretty good in that list, won't it?"

Instead of veering off to go and deal with the shuttle, she moved in dangerously close to you, her breath tickling your plated cheek. She smelled of sweat and the metal that coated an empty heat sink, which was something you had gotten used to. The contact you shared felt invisible through your armor but that didn't mean that you couldn't enjoy it.

"You forgot a few things," she whispered while bringing her mouth up to one of your mandibles. "You're the bravest, most loyal person I've ever met." She nipped at you, knowing the right places to put her teeth and how much pressure you liked. Her tongue glided across the tough flesh that was near your mouth and almost nothing was holding you back from leaning in and kissing her.

"You're the best marksman in the galaxy, you saved Omega, not to mention that you're the best guy I could ask for when it comes to what goes on in the bedroom."

She pulled her mouth away and went back to being a leader again. The suave smirk on her face suggested otherwise, though.

"The position's yours, Garrus, really. Nobody else could help me keep the old girl running like you."

She became quieter as she spoke and you were tempted to pull her into you again so you could return the favor. Wetness came from around her eyes and nobody could be sure if they were tears of just stray beads of sweat."

"Y-You're…the best damn partner anyone could ask for." she continued. "Now come on, let's get moving."

You rubbed the scarred side of your face and followed her. Your strides were naturally longer than hers, which meant that keeping up was never an issue.

"Love you too, Liz." you replied, your mandibles moving up into a smile.

You weren't sure if it was appropriate to say anything else as you boarded the shuttle with everyone else and listened as Shepard addressed Kaidan about the status of the spacecraft. The stress was now gone from her face and she was going to be able to face Hackett with a triumphant mission report. Everything had been a total success.

Your name was Garrus Vakarian and you had just discovered your sudden fondness for sunshowers and the scent of sweat and the metal that coated an empty heat sink as you sat on a seat in a batarian manufactured shuttle.

Your name was Garrus Vakarian and you had never been a poetic man until tonight.

Turians weren't known for their rich culture for a reason. If one was to look around the galaxy for edifying information regarding the arts, Palaven would be the last place they would look. You never seemed to hear about turian philosophers or painters; martial society didn't give fame to those who focused on creativity off of the battlefield. Generals and Primarchs were the ones who were put in the history books, not free thinkers. They wrote battle plans instead of bestsellers and the only plays that they directed were laced with danger and sometimes certain death. This rigid thought process that had developed in your people wasn't as dreadful as it sounded, though. There were, of course, still men and women that practiced and perfected their arts as a career.

Granted, they just did so after their mandatory military service and few were successful.

While races such as the asari had spent their time going through enlightenment in their ancient days, your people had already started building an armada that would span across the galaxy. It had paid off; the turians still possessed the largest fleet in the known universe even after being decimated by the Reaper War. Military was a component in every single cobalt colored cell in a turian's body. Turians used to say that their children were born to hold rifles, not paintbrushes.

This statement held true to you for most of your life. You had learned a thing or two about giving a squad an invigorating speech before a battle and that was about as far as your persuasiveness extended as far as you were concerned. You had spent a lot of times tripping over your words during your childhood, much to your sister's delight. You had grown out of that phase and you laughed sometimes when you thought of how far you had come throughout the years. You even managed to hold a serious relationship and job, which were always your two main priorities. Somehow you had made it through nearly three decades without having to be deep or lyrical. You got the job done and that was all that seemed to matter.

When your partner needed you to tell her something that would make the pain go away, you were damn sure that you were going to put everything behind you, wipe the nervous sweat from her forehead and tell her that things were going to get better even if you didn't think you would be able to do it.

And that was exactly what you did.

With gentle, expressive words, you began to retell the fondest memory you had with her on the Citadel. It had been about a year ago when the Normandy had been docked for pre-Reaper invasion maintenance. Just weeks before the final assault on Earth, you and the entire crew had the time of your lives and encountered a bit of shore leave that nobody was going to forget anytime soon. During this limited period of time, the Normandy crew saw a clone of Shepard, the destruction of the Citadel's best sushi place and the last party they would all have as one big dysfunctional family. You tended not to dwell on those parts of the adventure, though. As fun as it was to have one last hurrah before the grim reality could set in again, there was really only one thing that you wanted to relive over and over again from that extended Citadel shore leave period.

That one thing was your first real date with Shepard.

After deeming the kitchen as an unsuitable place to conduct an intervention, you picked up the once strong woman and decided to move her back up to her bedroom. Despite her stature, it was now even more obvious that she had lost a significant amount of weight during her time alone. Carrying her up the stairs would have been a simple task if you didn't have to retell a story at the same time.

"Remember the time when you insisted that we have a real first date on the Citadel? It was before Earth, before solitary confinement…in fact, I'd call it the last time either of us let loose without killing someone." you joked while keeping her steady as you ascended the stairs. "To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect. A night at a casino with my human girlfriend, blazing lights, a good crowd…what could possibly go wrong? The last time I had been on a date since then had been ages ago. I remember dressing up that night, wondering what would go wrong this time. Contrary to what I believed, everything that went on had been absolutely right. Especially that dress you wore."

You figured that using the same words that you used when reliving the memory by yourself would be the most comforting way to make her feel better. Even though you knew her a little bit too well, you still weren't sure how to go about helping her. She had changed so much but you knew that deep inside there had to be the same woman that made you melt at a single touch. The beautiful girl who played coy and even gave in to dancing with you on that momentous night was in there somewhere; you just had to look a little harder this time.

As she gripped the talon that supported her shoulder, her eyes closed and she immersed herself in your words. You described every single detail that you could remember; the hue of the lights, the key of the music, the step patterns that made up the tango, the oxblood color of the lipstick that she had smeared onto her lips. It got more challenging as you went on because it forced you speak of a different Shepard than the one you were cradling. What you had back then was so dissimilar to what you had now.

You lost track of time once you hit her bedroom. You resumed your position in the bed, letting her get tangled up in your entire being. Whenever you pointed out your habit of rambling to her back in the day, she would smile and wait for you to continue because she genuinely loved to listen. This time, she was a little less comprehensible. You tore up the sheets and she inched closer to you, giving you soft kisses in exchange for just talking. That was your only signal to keep going.

You didn't stop until the both of you had fallen asleep. By that point, even you had become exhausted. Your eyelids drooped closed and the thought of sunrise made your plates shiver in displeasure.

All of those emotions could be thrown to the wayside for her.

Your name was Garrus Vakarian and you wouldn't have done any of the things that you did if you didn't love her.