Rocket and Drax looked around the Normandy impressively, for they had never seen a ship of this size before. It was sleek and shiny, like a new penny.
"Drax" Rocket said in a hushed voice, "Remind me to wake up in a few hours, I think I'm dreaming."
Drax laughed, for he couldn't help but agree, as far as the ship went, it was a spacer's wet dream.
"Wake you?" Drax replied, "Wake me! This is ridiculous, who needs a ship this big anyway?"
Drax and Rocket's voice carried across the room, going in every direction except Garrus' eardrums, who seemed unaffected by their presence as if he were in a self-induced trance, his eyes squarely locked on the galaxy map in front of him.
Quill and Gamora looked around as well, they remained silent, simply soaking in what they would. When they saw Garrus, leaning on the railing, with eyes distant and far away, they couldn't help but stare in complete wonder. Gamora in particular, immediately she thought of what could be behind those eyes, what thoughts they had, if any. Quill quickly lost interest in Garrus, his mind turning towards the Normandy's crew, some of whom glanced passively as they passed, others going about their business as if nothing was happening. All of them visible and yet invisible, in another world all together.
Groot casually bobbed his head to music only he could hear, he looked as if he were about to break out in a random dance, like the tree was prone to do on occasion. Rocket, from the corner of his eye, caught this and turned around and stopped him.
"Will you stop with the dancing?" Rocket declared, "You're embarrassing yourself, not to mention us."
Groot smiled and produced a radio that he had been carrying around inside himself for some reason and began playing perhaps one of the most embarrassing songs to ever play when meeting people- Billy Idol's Dancing with Myself.
As soon as the music came on, three things happened simultaneously. Groot began randomly dancing, the crew stopped what they were doing and Garrus came out of his trance. Quill, to avoid public humiliation, rolled his eyes and turned off the radio, despite it being his taste in music.
"Time and a place buddy" Quill said to Groot, reassuringly, "Time and a place. This ain't it."
Groot stopped and sighed, immediately turning the radio off just as the first chorus came around. The tree put the radio back where it came from. Looking around, unashamed, Groot had on his usual goofy grin and waved, causing most everyone, including Rocket, Quill, Drax, and Gamora, to wave back, slow and steady in complete disbelief.
"Your friend is very unusual" Garrus replied from across the room with a slight laugh, "That's good. We could use a bit of strangeness around here."
Quill and Gamora made their way forward, stopping at the other side of the galaxy map. For the moment they were taken with Garrus again, this time however, the impression was one of intimidation, for he never seemed to look at them directly, instead it was always to the right side, as if he were looking at something that wasn't there.
"Guardians of the Galaxy" Garrus began, trying to focus and bring his mind back to the situation, "Welcome to the Normandy, the best ship in the Alliance fleet. The perfect example of what species' can do when they come together for a common cause, and in more ways than one."
Quill smiled humbly and nodded, for it was obvious that now was the time for introductions.
"Captain-" Quill began, only to be cut off by Garrus, who reminded him of his no formalities, first name basis rule.
"Sorry" Quill recovered sheepishly, "This is Gamora."
Gamora, confidently and with conviction, stepped forward as Quill continued her introduction.
"She's a trained killer, an assassin and adopted daughter of Thanos. There's no one else I'd rather have at my side."
Drax and Rocket, sensing they were next in the introduction cycle, stepped up and took their places next to Gamora and Quill respectively.
"Drax the Destroyer and Rocket Raccoon" Quill continued, "Both incredibly insane and both most likely deserving of strait jackets-"
Rocket glared at Quill, half insulted, he was reminded of his time at Halfworld, an experience best left forgotten, in which the experiments, most of them animals like himself, were treated like prisoners or insane inmates. Rocket said nothing and only growled silently to himself, although secretly he wanted to pounce on Quill for so blatantly, seemingly without effort, belittling him in such a way. It wasn't like Rocket wasn't insane enough not to be thrown in a strait jacket, for he most certainly was, it was more of the suggestion that such a thing would even be necessary. Drax however, being more emotionally sound, shook it off as nothing, in fact, he let out a laugh, it was small and barely audible, but a laugh all the same.
"They're incredibly efficient" Quill exclaimed, now giving them due praise, "Put a weapon or tool in their hands and they'll make it work."
Rocket huffed, "Drax fixing something is the day I'm human" he grumbled, "He'll more likely take the easy way out, breaking the shit out of it, than actually fix it. Why can't you just tell the man the truth Quill?"
Quill ignored him, either because he didn't hear him or because of the comment itself. Garrus turned towards Rocket with curious eyes.
"Interesting" Garrus said, speaking for the first time in minutes, "A walking, talking, thinking animal. Where do you come from?"
Rocket folded his arms defensively and huffed.
"That's privileged information" the raccoon replied, "That and I don't like you much Scarface."
Garrus shook his head, "How are we supposed to work together if we don't even take the time to get to know each other?"
Rocket groaned, for Garrus was starting to sound like Quill, and as far as he was concerned that was a bad thing.
"Don't lecture me!" Rocket said, almost to the point of screaming, "When I want your opinion on something, I'll ask for it, damn it!"
Groot picked up Rocket by the tail and turned him around.
"I am Groot" Groot declared, "I am Groot, I am Groot, I am Groot, I am Groot."
Rocket huffed, "Why should I show him respect? What kindness has he given me? What have any of these people done for us that we should blindly, without even so much as asking any questions as to what we're getting into, offer to help find this cure for a disease that's probably incurable to begin with."
Garrus slammed his fist down on the railing, for that was as far as he would allow Rocket to go. The sound of his fist making contact with the rail echoed throughout the room, bringing with it a deafening, almost maddening silence.
"That's enough!" Garrus screamed, "I will not have that kind of talk on this ship, not while I am in command and especially when my commander is on her death bed!"
Rocket huffed, still hanging in the air, for Groot did not release him, and rolled his eyes.
"Big deal" Rocket declared, for the moment having lost all sensitivity, "People die all the time. I'm sorry but let's be realistic, you have all this technology, this great, big wonderful ship, all these big guns and fancy navigational systems, if you haven't found a cure on your own what makes you think in a thousand years that we'll be able to help you in any way?"
Garrus hung his head, for despite his words, harsh as they were, Rocket had a point. Still, he refused to be taken down so easily, he had to hope, if not for himself than for the crew.
"Wouldn't you do everything to save the one thing you couldn't live without, even if it was the smallest of chances?" Garrus answered, "If I give up now it's like she's already dead. But she's not. She's still alive, still breathing, still talking, still smiling."
Garrus laughed humbly, reminiscing something that Shepard said to him about the capacity of hearts and their ability to love endlessly, even in death. It gave him hope, but most of all, it gave him strength. That life goes on. Garrus wasn't entirely sure about where humans went when they died, the concept of Heaven and Hell having never been discussed, even in casual conversation, but he knew that whatever it is, it was sure to be beautiful. It saddened him to think that in the eventuality of his death, whenever and however it happened, that Shepard wouldn't be there, for this and many reasons Garrus considered, multiple times in fact, to call the relationship off. But every time he came close he saw Shepard's eyes, the eyes that even now, in the face of death, seemed to glisten and sparkle with life, as if it was never leaving her to begin with.
"Forgive him" Quill said apologetically, "He doesn't do well with meeting new people."
Garrus turned towards Quill in surprise, for it had been a total of five seconds since he last spoke, enough time for him to forget Rocket and his insult.
"Please" Garrus exclaimed, lifting his hand in peace, "There's no need to apologize on his behalf. He's capable of speaking for himself. If that is his opinion, then he's more than welcome to it, however negative it may be."
Groot slowly set Rocket down, the raccoon immediately brushing himself off and scolding to himself at the mistreatment. Drax hit him as hard as he could in the shoulder, Gamora didn't even so much as look in his direction.
"Where do we start?" Quill asked curiously, eager to begin.
"If we knew that Quill than we wouldn't need your help" Garrus answered, "Honestly we don't even know where to begin. Much less what we're even looking for."
Rocket rolled his eyes and shook his head, for the solution was so obvious, almost too obvious.
"Did you try examining her?" Rocket suggested, "How else are you going to find out how to cure it if you haven't even looked at any of the symptoms?"
Garrus growled annoyingly, for they weren't that stupid. Mordin and Chakwas had been examining and theorizing and reconstructing and deconstructing everything there was to examine, theorize, construct and deconstruct for the past three days with various degrees of success and no breakthroughs. At the moment, until a breakthrough was found, the only thing they could do, the only thing anyone could do, was watch and wait.
Garrus had done enough waiting. It was time for action.
"Joker" Garrus commanded, "Set a course for Tuchanka, time to meet an old friend."
Joker was on the intercom five seconds later.
"Would love to do that for yah Garrus" Joker replied, "But it's not showing up on any of our systems. According to EDI, we're not even in the Milky Way anymore."
Garrus stared at the galaxy map once again, the only thing that showed up was the Milky Way and explored space.
"Well then where the hell are we?" Garrus asked, slowly becoming panicked.
Quill raised his hand, as if he were in a fifth grade classroom and had been called on for an answer.
"I can answer that" Quill replied, "We're about three or four parsecs from Xandar, two from Knowhere, six from Leos and a half a light-year from Tartarus."
Joker appeared from the cockpit, he never left the cockpit unless it was important.
"Garrus" Joker began, "We've got a situation. It's not good. There's no way to say without saying it, so I'm not even going to try to anything different, we're not in our time anymore."
Garrus raised his eyebrows curiously, for he did not understand what Joker was talking about. Joker shook his head annoyingly as he turned back to the cockpit.
"Whatever happened to us" Joker continued, "However we got here, it sent us back 172 years in time."
Drax laughed, slightly amused.
"Well that explains a lot" he replied
Garrus turned to Kelly, Shepard's administrative assistant and as calmly and quietly as possible, requested that the guests be put up in whatever rooms or space was available. When that was done, Garrus turned towards them and motioned for them to follow, walking towards the elevator heading down to the crew quarters once again.
As they ventured down to the medical bay Quill thought about the situation he found himself in. Here he was on a ship he had no business being on and involved in problems that weren't his. He was beginning to think that he was coming down with something, for he was never this charitable unless there was something in it for himself, like money or goods, preferably goods that were actually useful like weapons, armor, or equipment.
"Why am I here?" Quill thought to himself, "What is there to gain, if anything? Friendship, who needs that these days? Money? I could always use more of that…Fame? Maybe. We'll have to see."
Garrus shook his head, almost as if he were reading Quill's mind.
"Help me and you become the third most important person in my life" Garrus exclaimed, his voice low and hushed, for he was specifically talking to Quill, "Refuse and we part ways as if none of this ever happened."
Quill raised his eyebrows, for this was the first time that a real choice had been given to him in the matter. He felt slightly used, for turning back now would be against everything he stood for, which was surprisingly a lot for a man who had little. But it was more than just Quill's reputation at stake, for he also had the rest of the Guardians to think about, if they refused to help it would tarnish what good reputation they managed to have in the Core, not to mention it would also leave a highly ranking officer, and a woman at that, as if it made a difference, to die a painful death.
Rocket, at hearing this, shook his head in disbelief, completely flabbergasted at the news.
"Are you kidding me?" Rocket began, getting more annoyed the more time he spent in the elevator, "You mean we have a choice in this?"
Garrus nodded, "There is always a choice between what is right and what is easy."
The elevator door opened, Garrus stepped out. The others remained motionless, reading Garrus' body language and recognizing that he was giving them an option.
"You can come with me and save millions" Garrus continued, "Or you can take the elevator back up, walk down the hallway, get back in your ship and we never have to see each other again."
Groot ruffled himself and stepped off the elevator, pushing Quill aside for the moment, who wondered why Garrus was giving them a choice at all when they had already agreed.
"We already agreed to help you" Quill explained, "Why are you telling us this?"
"Do you have stones in your ears Quill?" Garrus began, slightly irritated, "If you were listening to me it should be obvious. I need people I can trust. This isn't just for her, it's for everyone back home who's suffering the same thing. I need people ready to make the sacrifices necessary, whatever they are, to see that this mission is done. If you and your team can't handle that, walk away. Leave me and my crew to our misery."
Groot beat his chest and stared at Rocket and Drax, the latter stepping off the elevator accordingly with Gamora following close behind. Quill turned to Rocket and shrugged.
"We can't let innocent people die" Quill exclaimed, "No matter who they are or where they come from."
Quill turned back to Garrus and nodded, stepping off the elevator.
"We'll follow your lead" Quill continued, "Your ship, your rules."
Rocket stared at the elevator button that would take him back to the command deck and then back at his friends. He closed his eyes and shook his head, it was against everything he had to step off the elevator, but step off he did.
"I still think it's none of our business" Rocket declared, "But we've gotten this far together, might as well go a little further."
Garrus lead them to the medical bay. Mordin and Chakwas were out, having gone to the lab to continue their research. Wasting no time and not giving anyone the chance to admire the Normandy and figuring that introductions to the rest of the crew could be made later, Garrus pushed forward without saying a word.
"What's your hurry?" Quill asked, a little insulted, "It's not like she's going anywhere anytime soon."
Garrus rolled his eyes, equally insulted.
"You need to know what we're up against" Garrus answered sharply, "If you're with me on this than I need your full cooperation. No exceptions."
Quill nodded and said nothing, remembering his words from moments before and how quickly he took them back.
Shepard lay on the second table on the left, her body shriveled like a prune, it appeared broken. Dark yellow circles had formed around her eyes, her hair, what was left of it, for most of it was gone, was now matted and frayed. Shepard's lips were pale and cracked, making her look older by forty years. The worst part was perhaps the skin, grey and slowly flaking off.
As soon as they entered the room Shepard, with as much energy as she could muster, turned towards them and gave a weak smile.
"Garrus" Shepard began, coughing up a bit of blood at the same time, "Good to see you, what does Mordin have to say?"
Garrus said nothing and gesturing towards the Guardians, who remained silent, only giving a gentle and meek wave, like one would give to the sick, old and dying.
"These are the Guardians of the Galaxy" Garrus exclaimed, "They're going to help us."
Shepard moved to sit up, the cracking sound of bones could be heard at the same time, causing Garrus to sit down and bring her back on the pillow.
"Rest" Garrus commanded, "You have to rest, you're no good to me to dead you know."
Shepard smiled, her eyes landing upon Quill.
"You look familiar" Shepard said faintly, "Very, very familiar. Have I seen you before?"
Quill shook his head, for the first time in his life he found himself speechless. Old memories of his dying mother flashed in his head, the last time he had officially been in a hospital room. Rocket nudged Quill's leg, motioning for him to lean down. Quill did nothing and simply hung his head.
Garrus, seeing their discomfort, but specifically Quill, grabbed them and pushed them as quickly as he could out of the room.
"What the hell was that?" Garrus asked curiously as he began to pace in the hallway, "I thought you guys were vagabonds not five year old children!"
Rocket rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment and sighed, stepping forward he decided to speak for the group.
"We have bad times in hospitals" Rocket admitted, "We've seen things. Heard things. Quill here-"
Rocket turned slightly to Quill at the mentioning of his name, only to turn back to Garrus.
"His mom died of cancer not even five minutes after he was taken by scavengers. Groot and I-"
Groot kneeled down and placed his hand on Rocket's shoulder, showing support.
"We came across each other right after my escape from Halfworld. It wasn't pretty."
Garrus stopped pacing, his eyes locked on Drax and Gamora, who hadn't said much of anything since their time on the ship.
"And what about you two?" Garrus exclaimed, stopping Rocket with the raising of his hand, "What's your excuse?"
Drax huffed and folded his arms in disgust, "As if anyone needs an excuse for that? You'd have to be blind to not be affected by that monstrosity!"
"She's not a monster" Garrus defended promptly, "She's infected."
Gamora rolled her eyes annoyingly, believing that Garrus was completely delusional with hopes of finding a cure.
"Whatever that is, it's killing her" Gamora declared, "We either find something now or we don't find anything at all."
Garrus raised his eyebrows, curious and intrigued at the same time. There was something about Gamora that he liked, perhaps it was her upfront, don't take shit from no one attitude. Perhaps it was because, in his own way, he was attracted to her. Or maybe because so far she was the only one besides Rocket who bolstered anything that remotely resembled opposition and encouraged immediate action. He went with the latter.
"You are a very curious for an asari" Garrus declared, "Very curious indeed."
Garrus turned to Quill, getting himself back on track.
"Where is the nearest settlement?"
Drax stepped in, for some reason he had taken the time to memorize Victor's charts that he occasionally sent out.
"That would be Leos" Drax exclaimed confidently, "If you let Victor hook up with the ship he'll send you coordinates."
Garrus nodded, "Do it" he commanded, "The rest of you can do as you wish. If you don't mind I need to be alone."
Quill shook his head, "What about the whole 172 years back in time thing? Don't you think you should be worried about that?"
Garrus said nothing and walked away, too lost in himself to give a proper answer, that and, in his own way, he was beginning to grieve. Quill looked on in total confusion.
"What's his problem?" Quill asked rhetorically
"If you ask me" Rocket answered, "That guy has a stick so far up his ass he's impaled. Don't bother with him, he ain't worth it."
Despite this Quill couldn't help but worry. Seconds later Garrus reappeared again, looking as if he forgot something.
"Rocket, Groot" Garrus exclaimed, "Stay away from Mordin. He's, shall we say, different. He most likely try and kill you or something, use you for experiments, that kind of thing."
Without another word Garrus turned back around and continued the way he was going.
"What the hell was that about?" Rocket asked turning to Groot hoping for answer
"I am Groot" Groot replied
Rocket nodded in full agreement, "Forget one stick, he's got two."
Quill slapped the back of Rocket's head in response and made his way towards the elevator. Gamora and Drax however, began walking down the other hallway, leaving Rocket and Groot to themselves and their own thoughts.