Author's note: I am sorry about the wait! So, there is a bit of interest in this story so I will give it a few more chapters to see how it goes. Thanks! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Dedicated to: VGirl7553: Thank you for encouraging me to keep writing these stories. :D
Warnings: Language and OOCness.
Word Count: 4,778
Garrus was an anxious, twitchy mess, waiting for the doctors to tell them anything about Shepard's condition. Mandibles flicking out every couple of seconds, blue eyes darting back and forth and every time a doctor or nurse comes close, he tenses up. But no one will say anything to him. No one will tell him what's going on. He's trying to keep himself calm, but his anxiety is mounting, and quickly.
"Whelp, that was fun," Jack says, walking over.
Relieved by the distraction, Garrus looks up at her. "What did Kahlee Sanders say?"
"She understands the situation, and is glad that Shepard is alive. She said she can find someone who can look after my kids until I have all of this shit figured out." Jack rolls her shoulders back and cracks her neck before relaxing. "Jesus, even when she's newly revived, she's causing shit. How do you deal with that?" She looks down at the blue marked turian.
"Very carefully," Garrus says, smile thin.
"We got some coffee for everyone," Vega says, walking into the waiting room with Ashley right behind him. Both of them are holding cups, one marked differently than the others, for Garrus. Vega hands that one to the turian, who takes it, thanks him, but just holds it in his hands without drinking from it. He lets out a little sigh, looking down at the steam that was coming off of the coffee.
Ashley takes a sip of her own drink, while handing the other to Jack. "So," she says, "have you guys heard about Shepard's condition yet?"
Garrus shakes his head. "No," he says softly, letting out another sigh. "I haven't heard anything yet. No one will say anything to me. Not that I think that they could. We aren't family."
"Shit," Jack says. "That's bullshit! She doesn't have any family. I would think that a boyfriend was close enough, right? I mean, you guys are practically married. If you had enough time to get your tongues out of each other's throat, you'd been able to say your god damned vows and whatever the fuck turians do to be bound together for the rest of forever. So they should just let that be as it clearly is." She waves her hands around, annoyed.
Garrus blushes a bit at her words. Their relationship wasn't... well, that far along yet. They didn't really know if their union could be recognized by either or both of their people, if it did become that serious. There wasn't a lot of relationships between turans and humans out there, at least that was public. There was a lot of turian and asari, but not a lot of turian and human. Even though, from what Garrus understands, much of their... basics are the same, between female humans and asari, there was an unspoken stigma about a human and turian being together.
And it's all because of the First Contact War. At least, that's what the human's call it. But Garrus can understand. People were surprised when they learned that Shepard and he were in a relationship - not so much the people on the ship, they became welcoming to the idea of everyone being treated equal, so there wasn't much of an issue there but it's different out there - they didn't say much because Shepard was a big hero, but Garrus had to wonder what people really thought about it.
It was strange, really. It was like, while on the Normandy, everything existed in a bubble purely Shepard. She knew everything that went on in the ship and she is the one that made sure it kept going. Maybe not so much physically, but in the sense of the crew. How they treated each other, how they treated any and all situations that came their way, things of the light. It was like the Normandy became Shepard's world and while at first, at least for Garrus, it was a bit clonky and not what he was used to, it was a world that he loved, enjoyed and fit in just fine.
And that's how it was formatted. Shepard was the type of person that just wanted everyone to be involved. She wanted everyone to know that they have a role and that they were the only ones who could do it exactly they way that they could do it. It may not be much and some could argue that there were people better suited for some place or another, but that wasn't how Shepard ran things.
Everyone had a job. Everyone was important. Everyone was indispensable. And everyone was equal.
Garrus had to wonder if this open-mindedness was something that Shepard always had or if it was something that she just picked up over her years in the Alliance service. It was something that Garrus wants to ask her about once she wakes up, because she will wake up. He just knows that she will. Now that she is alive - again - there is no way that she's not going to wake up. She's too strong not to.
But going back to whether people would be able to accept them as a legal partners, he didn't really have the time to talk to his sister about it, and his father was the type of person that either liked to rip Garrus a new one for his life decisions or ignore what he's doing all together. It's hit or miss with his father. Shepard was one of the things that his father seems to want to pretend doesn't exist. Not so much Shepard, but the true nature of Garrus's relationship with her. Not that Garrus minded all that much.
Whenever they spoke about Shepard during her time on Earth, Garrus called her 'Shepard' and his father called her 'Commander Shepard', there was nothing in those conversations that could betray how close Garrus and Shepard were, nothing that could set his father off in any negative way. But he had to of known about Garrus and Shepard, but never said anything about it, which served Garrus just fine.
"It's good that we have two Specters on our side," Jack says after a long silence. She didn't finish the thought, but she didn't have to. She was right. At this point, Garrus didn't know if they would have accepted Shepard with how clustered they were. They may not have even believed Garrus and his friends that she was Shepard if Ashley hadn't been there to wave her Specter status around in their faces forcing them to make room whether they really could one way or the other. They couldn't very well refuse.
Thankfully Chakwas worked here almost two years ago, after Shepard was arrested and locked down on Earth. With an extra capable hand there, they were a bit more forthcoming in taking Shepard in. They didn't like it, especially since they didn't really have much choice, but having Chakwas there helped ease their ire. At least a bit.
"How do you think she's doing..?" Garrus asks quietly, just needing to fill the silence. He actually dreads the answer but needed something to occupy him from his thoughts. He looks around helplessly at the three humans around him.
Vega crosses his arms over his broad chest while Jack leaned heavily on one hip, placing a hand there and gazing out the window behind him. It was Ashley who spoke, her voice even and confident, "She's doing good, Garrus. Come on, you know Shepard. She's the strongest person I've ever met. I know this won't keep her down for long."
Garrus nods slowly, but someone says, "We." Garrus, Ashley and Jack all look over at James.
"We," he says again, looking at Ashley slowly. "She's the strongest person we've ever met. You aren't the only one that's seen Lola, both in battle and out of it. She's a force to be reckoned with. This," he does a wide gesture around them without signaling to anything in specific, "is nothing. She'll be up and out of here in no time. Easy."
"I haven't the slightest clue how you know your way around being led by blind faith like that," Jack mutters, narrowing her large brown eyes.
Garrus looks over at the biotic. "Jack..."
"Think about it," Jack says blithely, glaring at them. "I mean, really think about it! She's been through hell, literal hell, multiple times. She's died twice! And I say twice because like hell she survived the explosion here. Someone came in, took her broken corpse and fixed her up again. Just like Cerberus did before."
"Whoa," James says, shaking his head, raising his hands up.
"Hold on," Ashley snaps. "Where in the world do you get off? What are you trying to say?"
Garrus' hands curl into tight fists.
"I didn't know Shepard before, truth," Jack says simply, "but when I met here, I knew it. Shepard is fucked up, like, bad. Worse than me."
"Jack!" Ashley snaps, brown eyes wide. "What the hell?"
"Oh come on, you guys can't honestly tell me that you think that entire thing was normal, can you? The things she did, the things she said? I saw some of the footage from when she first woke up, her face was in cracks and craters! It was barely holding together as it is. I've seen her napping in the little canteen shit, or whatever you call that place where the shit food was prepared, she was wracked with nightmares! And during battle, no one could stand directly behind her while she had to wear the enviro-suits." Jack crosses her arms over her chest.
"There's a good reason for that," a voice says behind James. He half turns to see Joker walking over to them slowly, being mindful of his brittle bones. He stops between James and Ashley. He looks over at Jack. "When Shepard... when she got me out of the Normandy SR1, something happened. She was either hit by shrapnel or when she hit the side of the deck she damaged her suit, but she somehow managed to hit her oxygen tank and suffocated in open space before burning up in the atmosphere," Joker says flatly, staring at Jack.
"How..." Ashley says softly, eyes wide and horrified.
Joker looks over at her. "Do I know that?" he guesses. Ashley nods, mutely. "Miranda told me. Later, when she managed to work out her daddy issues." He shrugs his shoulders. "Jack," he looks over at the dark haired biotic, "I think I get what you're saying. Shepard was unusual, but it wasn't by design, she went through something traumatic. She died, like, actually died. She suffocated and burned to death and then was basically forced back into her body and never given the proper time to process what all happened to her. Wouldn't you be pretty messed up too?"
"Yes," Jack says flatly. "That's what I'm trying to say. We keep saying that she'll be fine, but that's not going to be the case, I think. She died, again. She barely had time to process it the first time, how in the world do you dumb fucks think she's going to take it this time. I mean, she didn't have time to feel the first time around, the threat of the Reapers, and all that, but what now? There is nothing for her to focus on now expect for that. Someone can't die then come back to life completely okay. That has to change someone. I can't believe that Shepard would somehow be the exception."
No one spoke for a moment, everyone lost in their thoughts. Garrus' fingers curl and uncurl into and out of fists, trying to control the anger boiling in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't deny Jack's words, having known Shepard a bit before she died the first time, there was a bit of a shift in her personality that he did notice. It wasn't anything big at first, but as he began watching her more closely than he was originally allowed to, he began to see it.
The reason he thinks it like that is because it's true. Garrus wasn't allowed to love - well crush, at that point - on Shepard when he first joined her crew. There was already a man - a human man - vying for her love and Garrus was a turian, a turian who was still trying hard to still be a good turian at the time. The separation between a human and a turian was greater than that of an asari and a krogan or a salaran and a yahg. No matter what similarities they may or may not have had, the stigma between humans and turians still existed.
Because Garrus wanted to be a good turian to a degree at the time, there is no way he was ever allowed to love Shepard. Or for her to love him. It just wasn't something that either of them could want. If Shepard ever wanted it back then, but once Garrus gave up on being what his father wanted of him, he didn't care anymore. He wanted to do whatever he wanted, and when Shepard showed that she was interested in him, the stirring feelings he shouldn't have been feeling when he first joined her crew came rushing back to him full force.
"Shepard is strong," Ashley says, pulling Garrus from his thoughts. He looks up at the dark haired Specter. "No matter what is next to come, she's going to be strong, I know she is. Even if she needs help, she needs someone to be in her corner, then that's what we'll do."
No one spoke again.
A salarian doctor comes walking out, heading their way. Everyone stops breathing, but he walks past them to a man and woman sitting a few chairs away and spoke to them for a moment.
"Shit," Garrus groans, shaking his cramping hands around, trying to release the tension. "I'm exhausted. This stress is going to kill me." He runs his palms up and down his face plates, groaning again.
"Excuse me?"
Garrus pulls his hands away from his face to see the salarian doctor that walked past them standing next to Jack and Ashley. He looks around at all of them. "Um, is there any family here for the human Jane Doe under Doctor Chakwas' care?"
No one spoke for a moment, although Garrus wanted to. He wanted tot ell them that he was her boyfriend, but he knew that wouldn't get him anywhere. They wouldn't accept that, if they even believed it.
"I am," Ashley says, turning toward the doctor. "She's my sister."
The salarian doctor seemed to believe that for he turns to her. "Doctor Chakwas explained that she was a VIP and couldn't be put on official records right now, is that true?"
Ashley nods. "Yes, she is."
"Alright, we've done a few checks on her and the damage is extensive but it's all healing. There is copious amounts of cybernetic enhancements beneath her skin that appeared to have been shut down at some point, assisting in what we can only assume was... well, death."
It's like the air left the room. "She died," James says, bringing his hands up and behind his head. "Do... Do you know how long?"
The salarian shakes his head. "No, it's impossible to tell for certain. If I had to guess, maybe a few minutes, an hour or two, even. Normally, such a thing would cause brain damage in humans, lack of oxygen I mean, within three minutes, but the cybernetics in her body somehow managed to repair the damage done once it somehow reactivated an undetermined amount of time later."
Jack shakes her head. "How the hell is it possible for her cybernetics to turn back on on it's own?"
"No idea," the doctor admits. "But I'm not an expert in that field of study. What I know of right now is that she is in too weak of a condition to be taken on the medication that's keeping her asleep. Her natural healing abilities coupled with the cybernetics are doing wonderful at fixing her. But with her quick healing now, we can only determine that the damage was pretty bad. To be honest, I'm surprised she's alive now. She must have someone out there looking out for her."
They all share a look. Garrus stands up. "Doctor..." he wrings his hands in front of him, anxiously, "would we be able to see her?"
The salarian doctor stares at him for a moment, tilting his head to the side. "Um, I'm not sure..."
"It's alright," someone says, stepping up next to Jack's other side. Another doctor, this one is a turian. His head is tilted to the side slightly, as if listening to something. Garrus looks away, suddenly embarrassed. "Doctor Rodis," the turian doctor says, "it's alright." He looks over at Garrus. "I hear you, brother," he says and Garrus shrinks a bit more.
"Hear what?" Jack says, eyebrow quirked. She looks around confused for a moment.
The salarian doctor makes a gasping noise in understanding. "Very well," he says, tipping his head. "She'll be able to have some visitors in about twenty minutes. We just need to finish setting her up in her room." He nods and turns around, heading back the way he came from. The turian doctor looks over at Garrus and tips his head a bit before turning and heading back the same way.
"What the hell was that?" Joker asks, shifting slightly from one leg to the other carefully.
Garrus sighs, scratching his neck slowly. "My sub-harmonics. I was... making distress noises he must have heard." He clears his throat, embarrassed. "There is no other turians here as far as I can see, I didn't think anyone would have heard it. That's embarrassing."
"Yeah, it is," Jack says, shaking her head. "Especially if you didn't want anyone to hear."
Garrus glares at her. "Thank you, Jack."
Her eyebrow quirks up again before her expression turns serious. "Well, this is fucked up. Dead again."
"I wonder what made her cybernetics activate again," Ashley says, cupping her chin with her right hand, eyes narrow.
"Could it have been whoever it was that stole Lola from here?" James asks, looking around the room as if someone would suddenly come through the crowd and admit to being the person who pulled Shepard off of the Citadel and saving her life. Just because she was saved, didn't mean she was saved by someone bad, just shady.
Who know how much more to this story they don't know? They have no idea.
"Damn, I don't know," Jack sighs.
There is a ping and Ashley flinches, pulling up her Omni-tool. She scans the screen for a moment before lowering her arm again. "It was from Tali. I messaged her, Wrex, Liara, Grunt, Samara and even Kolyat. I've only heard back from Tali and Liara so far. Both are on their way to the Citadel. Liara is half a day out and Tali is three days."
"They don't have to rush," Garrus says, sighing, relieved that the attention is off of him now. "Something tells me that she's not going to be out of here for a while." His own words depressed him.
A few minutes later, the salarian doctor comes out and waves for them to come in, taking them to Shepard's room, the same room that Ashley was being held in when she was attacked and hurt by Doctor Eva. It was strange to be back in this room, but for Shepard this time.
Shepard was laying in bed, her face turned toward the windows, drapes darkening the room so that she can sleep peacefully with a bit of the artificial sunlight peaking through. The lights above are dim above them, making it look like she was just sleeping. With the exception of all the wires connected to her arms and the heart monitor beating slowly but surely.
The heart monitor is turned down, so the room is filled with the sound of Shepard's soft breathing. Garrus walks over to her, lightly touching her right harm that is resting across her stomach. He slowly wraps his three fingered hand around her wrist, holding it gently. He slowly sits down on the bed and stares down at her without saying a word.
They stay for a few hours, talking quietly amongst one another, just listening to Shepard sleep before they decide to go their separate ways. It goes without saying that they are going to be sticking around the Citadel for an undisclosed amount of time, but only one of them could stay with Shepard for the night and it only seemed right that it was Garrus. Liara was to be on the Citadel soon and would come to see Shepard in the morning. So everyone else said their goodbyes and promised to be back in the morning before departing.
Garrus has no idea how many hours he just sat there, looking down at Shepard watching her breath, feeling her pause beat beneath his talons. It was a relief that she was alive. He brought his other hand up and lightly stroked the side of her face, being mindful of the bandages on her face. But like before, she didn't move, didn't show any sign that she was awake, and alive, other than her gentle breathing.
"Thank you for helping me earlier," Garrus says softly, still staring down at Shepard.
The turian standing in the doorway steps in so that the door would close behind him. He looks around the room for a moment as if it was somehow different from all the other rooms in the hospital before looking over at Garrus and saying, quietly, "You're welcome. I'm one of the few turians here in the hospital right now, so I was surprised to hear someone else and in such distress." There is a short pause, before he says, "You're... Garrus Vakarian... aren't you?"
Garrus pulls his eyes away from Shepard at last to straighten up where he's sitting to look over at the turian at the door. "Yes, I am. How did you know?"
The turian crosses his hands in front of himself. "I, um, actually know your sister, Solana."
Garrus tilts his head to the side. "My sister, huh? How does a doctor on the Citadel know my sister? I don't think she's ever left Palaven, well, not until the Reaper invasion."
The turian doctor rubs the back of his neck. "I understand your skepticism. I originally worked on Palaven and met Solana there."
Garrus' back straightens up sharply. His eyes widen in horror. "My sister visited the hospital? Is she okay? Did something happen to her?"
The turian's eyes widen, showing a large dark green color. His marking the same dark green color with almost white plates around his face. He shakes his head quickly. "No, Garrus, there is nothing wrong with Solana. She wasn't in there because she was sick or anything like that. She was in there because she wanted to be a doctor. She's... been taking classes in secret from her... um, your father and I was giving her some lessons before the Reaper attack on Palaven."
Garrus relaxes, letting out a shaky breath. "Oh thank the spirits, you scared me. I thought something horrible had happened. Well, thank you for helping my sister out. I wasn't aware that she wanted to be a doctor but if that's what she wants, thank you for helping her. So... um, who are you?"
"Oh!" The turian says, looking embarrassed. "I'm Roik Londis. I was moved here about three months ago. It's nice to officially meet you, Garrus Vakarian."
"Ditto," Garrus says, giving a little nod. "Thanks for looking after Sol."
"You're welcome," Roik says, pausing for just a moment before saying, hesitantly, "She spoke about you a lot, Solana, I mean."
"Good things, I hope," Garrus says with a touch of humor.
Roik nods. "Yes, all good things. She told me that you joined Commander Shepard, the first human Specter, on her mission to hunt down the rogue Specter Saren Arterius. She said that you quit C-Sec to do it."
Garrus rubs the back of his neck. Their father was going to kill Solana for going and talking about he family to people. It was bad enough that all of C-Sec knew about Garrus leaving, and his reasons behind it, but the more people that know the madder their father would become. Maybe it'll be okay now that so much time has passed since then and his father has gotten over it - at least a bit. Maybe everything is going to be okay. Well, Garrus isn't going to say anything about Solana running her mouth, so if their father hears about it, it won't be from him.
"Well, Solana doesn't know when to keep matters private," Garrus says, shaking his head.
"She said that she was proud of you," Roik says, smiling. "She was proud to have a big brother that was willing to risk it all to save the universe. I guess... when I saw your clan markings in the waiting room that I knew you were her older brother and I had to say something. I'm sorry for intruding."
Garrus shakes his head. "No, it's fine. Thank you for your help."
"Can I ask you something personal?" Roik asks, shifting slightly.
Garrus stares at him for a moment in debate. He didn't seem dangerous. Besides, he did kind of help them out earlier. "Go ahead. But I reserve the freedom to say nothing depending on what it is. Is that okay?"
Roik nods. His green eyes lower to the prone woman sleeping on the bed. "Is that her?" He didn't have to clarify. They both knew who he meant.
The room is silent. Garrus doesn't pull his eyes away from the other turian, his breathing even, his sub-harmonics quiet. He just stares, mentally debating on what he should so. Was this man a threat? Did he want to hurt Shepard? How did he know this was her? Well, it wasn't exactly like they were hiding it, per se, they just didn't want people swarming her before she even woke up. They wanted to make sure that she rested safe, and under the radar for a little while. But Garrus didn't know this guy, didn't know if he should trust him.
But then again, her entire time here, Shepard wasn't going to be left alone for a moment. It shouldn't be so bad. Solana knew him and well enough to tell him about their family drama. Maybe he should give her a call later and ask her about him, for now, it should be fine. It's going to get out anyway.
"Yes," Garrus says, looking down at the sleeping woman in front of him. "It's her."
Roik's eyes are blown wide as he stares at the sleeping Specter like she was an angel descending from the heavens. "Commander Shepard," he whispers. "She's really alive..."
Garrus nods. "Yes. But for now, let her sleep. At least until she's well."
Roik blinks back into reality and nods quickly. "Yes, yes, of course. Of course, the secret is safe with me." His Omni-tool pings and he glances down at it. "Oh, I... I um, got to go. But, um, okay." He turns to leave, pauses to look back down at Shepard, still amazed, before leaving.
Garrus waits until he's gone before looking back down at the pale, sleeping face of his love, willing that she wake up soon, and be okay when she does.
For the Reviewer:
7553: Aww, thank you so much! I appreciate what you said. I'm sorry about the wait!