This chapter was especially frustrating. It was easy to write, sure, but I kept losing it all. My new laptop doesn't have Word, so I was just writing it in the Doc Manager, and Firefox crashed. Twice. Good thing I had it pretty much memorized at that point. .
By the time Shepard's team had closed the first shutter, Garrus was doing well. Jacob was proving himself to be quite adept with a shotgun, taking down mercs left and right, rivaling even Garrus' skill. Truth be told, Garrus was enjoying himself. It had been so long since he'd been in a fight like this, vastly outnumbered and desperate. And then Shepard had shown up, shocking him to hell and back.
He'd almost shot her when she got to him. Hell, if she hadn't been taking down mercs as she ran across the bridge, he would have. But then she'd pulled off her helmet, and she was exactly the same as he remembered her, all soft curves and straight teeth, her hair plastered to her face with sweat, grinning up at him with her easy smile, and so, so alive. So, he'd abandoned common sense and invaded her personal space (though she didn't seem to mind much), and breathed her in for as long as he could.
They'd fallen right back into their old way of bickering, and Garrus loved every minute of it.
He'd been loath to let her out of his sight for even a second, and even more reluctant to release her from his grasp, but, as usual, the mission came first. He sure as hell wasn't going to let her down by dying, though, and he'd be damned if she thought she was leaving him in this hellhole once everything was settled.
By the time the other team had closed the second shutter, Garrus was struggling. His trigger finger ached, and his neck and back muscles we screaming at him, but he kept shooting, taking down the mercs with well placed head shots. He'd be damned if he was going to let himself get killed here, after finally seeing Shepard again.
'You okay, Vakarian?' Jacob's shout brought him back to reality, and he ducked behind the windowsill as a spray of bullets flew past him.
'Sorry,' he called back, 'just a little distracted.' He could almost hear Jacob's smirk.
'It's Shepard, isn't it? I know you both denied it, but I've never seen her like that with anyone. Not even Tali.' Garrus quirked his mandible curiously.
'You met Tali?'
'Yeah, we ran into her on one of our first missions. And yeah, Shepard was happy to see her, and they hugged, but it wasn't the same as when she saw you. She lacked the relief then... The... The joy, I guess.' Garrus opened his mouth to talk, but Jacob cut him off.
'She's never asked us to leave her alone with someone. Not once. And the way you two interact... Well, you must be someone very special, Vakarian.' He grinned. 'Personally, I think you should go for it.' Garrus glanced at his team-mate oddly.
'Go for it?' He asked falteringly, still unused to some human slang.
'Yeah, you know, date her.' Garrus tilted his head.
'I don't see what establishing her date of birth would do.' Jacob laughed and slapped a hand against his face.
'Come on, Vakarian. Romance her, woo her, court her. Hell, marry her if you want.' Finally, Garrus caught on.
'Oh. Oh.' He felt his mandibles grow warm, and he turned back to his scope. 'No, it's not like that. We just worked together.' Jacob snorted.
'I don't know, Vakarian. Professional relationships don't usually end up with one of you holding the other so tightly.'
'I'm sorry, the turian you are trying to reach is currently doing his job,' Garrus said mechanically, 'please try again later.' Jacob stifled another laugh.
'All right, I'll let it go. For now.'
By the time the third gate was closed, Garrus was in a bit of a bind.
Garm had breached the base and had somehow managed to get right behind him, waited until he popped a new clip into his rifle, and clubbed him across the side of his head, grabbing his rifle when his grip went slack.
Garrus blinked the stars from his vision and spun around, reaching for his assault rifle as he went, then froze when he saw his own sniper rifle trained on him.
'You can go ahead and kick that toward me, Vakarian.' Garrus hesitated, and Garm let out a warning shot, the bullet sailing through the wall inches from his head. 'Now.' The turian growled in defeat and slid his last weapon toward the krogan.
'I've been waiting a long time for this, Vakarian,' Garm sneered cruelly, slowly backing him into the corner of the room. Despite himself, Garrus smirked.
'For what, exactly, Garm? To shoot an unarmed turian? I'm impressed by your honor, Garm,' he said, his voice low, and laced with venom. The krogan reeled back and smashed his fist into Garrus' face, leaving him gasping and spitting out blood.
'Shut up, turian. Don't talk to me about honor, you genophage-inducing bastard.' Garrus couldn't keep the words in.
'Yes, and bribing and bullying your way through spaceports just makes you a model citizen,' he spat sarcastically. He regretted his words a bit when Garm grabbed his shoulders and dragged him down, meeting his knee with the turian's sensitive abdomen. Garrus sank to his knees, barely able to breathe. Garm laughed.
'The all-powerful Vakarian, brought to his knees by one simple krogan. What would your precious Shepard say if she could see you now, I wonder?' He trained Garrus' own beloved sniper rifle at his uncovered eye, but not before quickly turning it and smashing the butt into the side of his head. Blood filled the turian's mouth again, and he spat it at the krogan in front of him.
'She would- ah - she would utterly destroy you,' Garrus croaked, glaring at Garm.
'Too bad your little girlfriend's dead then, isn't it? Nobody's here to save you now, Vakarian.' He lowered his head to Garrus' scope, his finger hovering over the trigger dangerously. Garrus sighed.
Forgive me, Shepard.
'Hey asshole!' The feminine voice carried loudly through the room, followed by three quick shots, all burying themselves in Garm's head plate. 'Get the hell away from my friend.' Garm reeled, stunned from the shots. Garrus didn't waste a second, shooting to his feet and snatching his rifle back from the krogan's slack grip.
'Good try, Garm. Better luck next time,' he hissed before emptying a full clip into the soft fleshy part of the krogan's head. Garm dropped, dead before he hit the floor.
His gun still trained on the lifeless krogan, Garrus scanned the room. Miranda was already beside Jacob, pumping medi-gel into a nasty wound on his leg that he'd gotten when Garm stormed in. His eyes landed on Shepard, who was staring at him, her expression unreadable. She took a few steps toward him, and as she got closer, he could see that her eyes were full of concern.
'Garrus.' It was all she said, his name. Miranda and Jacob shrugged it off, and focused on the human man's wound, but Garrus understood the meaning behind it.
Are you all right?
What happened up here?
Once we're back on the Normandy, you're on pot scrubbing duty for a long time, mister.
I'm so relieved you're safe.
He finally relaxed, letting the tension fall away from his shoulders, and leaned back against the wall.
'Spirits, Shepard. You certainly took your damn time.'
'Oh, you're blaming me? You're the one who sent us down there with no idea where we were going. "Oh yeah, the gates are down there. Somewhere. Just wander around until you find them."' She rolled her eyes. 'Damn turian.'
'Excuse me, but I was just beaten to a pulp, then almost shot. Does that count for nothing with you anymore?' Shepard rolled her eyes.
'Oh, please. After you pulled that card every other mission on the old Normandy? I don't think so, Vakarian.' Before he could retort, she turned back to her squad.
'We've only got the Blue Suns left. I suggest we fight our way out.' She glanced at Jacob. 'How's the leg, Taylor?' Jacob heaved himself to his feet.
'It's not great, but it'll serve. Let's get the hell out of here.' Miranda nodded.
'I agree. I've had enough of this damn rock to last me a long time.' From his place against the wall, Garrus lifted his hand for silence.
'Wait. Do you hear that?' Shepard nodded.
'Yeah, it sounds a bit like a-' A large gunship dropped into view. 'Damn it.' The three humans dove behind cover, but Garrus wasn't quite fast enough.
Three bullets ripped through his shields, jerking him back violently, and before he had time to recover, the ship fired a rocket directly at him, hitting him square in the shoulder and throwing him to the ground.
'Garrus!' He heard Shepard's scream, and he tried to drag himself behind something- anything to get away from the spray of bullets aimed at him. Finally, he made it behind a couch, when his arms gave out, and he collapsed to the floor with a strangled sigh. The last thing he saw was Shepard's determined expression as she shot the damn gunship out of the sky.
Poor Garrus! I hated that part in the game! But then he got that bitchin' scar, which sort of made it worth the agony. Anyway, thanks for your reviews, guys! I'll respond to any signed ones!