A/N:
Three chapters in a day? I'm honestly just trying to get to the part of the story where we have more characters to work with. Especially our favorite Drell, but we still have some people to gather on Omega! Don't worry, we'll be in flight soon.
Shepard came sauntering back on the Normandy with two new recruits in tow.
"What the hell 're ya all lookin' at, eh? Never seen a bloody merc before? Go on, take a good look. Eat yer bloody hearts out. Especially you there, beauiful." Zaeed gave Kelly a particularly scandalous look and raised a rugged eyebrow. She squeaked and pretended not to notice. "Hah. S'alright there, sweet'art. Get it out of your system. We gotta focus on being big goddam heroes." He strutted off to the conference room with Moridin leading the way, muttering something unintelligible along the lines of "human mating rituals" and "extranet".. Shepard wasn't even sure she wanted to know.
Exasperated, she saw Garrus out of the corner of her eye looking very confused. She met his inquisitive gaze with a dismissive and apologetic gesture and went to debrief the new additions to the family.
"Moridin, Zaeed.. This is EDI. She will tell you where to set up camp. I'll come by and speak to you both after you get settled. Any questions?"
"Ah, an AI? Interesting, unexpected. Cerberus. Pro-human terrorist group. Heard of during time with STG. Curious. Have noted nonhumans in the crew, and now the addition of sentient technology. Intriguing. Shepard. Care to explain?"
"All in good time, Moridin. Unless there's anything else?" She looked to Massani who just shrugged and sauntered out of the room. Moridin nodded acceptance and followed suit. Shepard took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Wow. What is she getting herself into? Just then, her omnitool lit up. It was a message from Garrus.
GV: Shepard? Your cabin?
Of course, she still had to talk with Garrus and the anticipation was killing her. She responded.
KS: Grab some liquor and head on up. Meet you there ASAP.
Shepard shook her head to try and focus some of her reeling thoughts on her to-do list. She leaned against the wall with a huff. Time to start sending some messages; she was grimy and stunk to high heavens and the thought of social interaction was...less than appealing. Thank god for omnitools.
KS: Joker, set a course for the Citadel. We've got a thief to catch.
JM: Aye, aye. So, really successful trip to Omega there, Commander. This sounds like the beginning of a bad joke. Commander Shepard, a mad scientist salarian, and a bloodthirsty merc walk into a bar...
KS: Ha-ha, dick. I'll stop by later. A lot to do right now. Be nice to EDI. She can't smell you.
Thank god she could walk and type simultaneously. One more message and she'd finally, blessedly, get to take a shower.
KS: Miranda, I'll file reports TOMORROW. I'm tired and we have a long flight ahead of us. Going to Citadel to get Kasumi. Goodnight.
ML: The Illusive Man won't like that, but I'm glad you got Zaeed and Moridin. Goodnight, Commander. We'll meet first thing in the morning. See you at breakfast.
Shepard was walking out of the elevator and into her cabin and decided she did not have enough face to palm. With a loud sigh, she entered the room and immediately perked up. Garrus was waiting on her.
"Shepard, you look .. disgusting." he deadpanned.
"Wonderful. Pour me a drink, would you? EDI, ask Gardener to send me something to eat. You hungry, Gare? I'm starving."
"Just ate. Not like I had much better to do. I need some answers, Shepard. Hurry up in there." He called as she shut the bathroom door.
Garrus plopped back down on the couch with a bottle of Turian brandy and Elysium Vodka. He poured hers the way she liked it... straight. He listened to the water running in the bathroom and could faintly hear some... was that singing? He chuckled slightly. He'd forgotten she did that. He was staring at her skylight contemplating the installment when Gardener slipped in quietly and put Shepard's food down, nodded at Garrus, and left. Garrus was still recoiling from the horrible conglomerate on his best friend's plate when Shepard walked out in nothing but her birthday suit and went straight to her closet, rubbing a towel furiously on her wet hair. He choked and then chuckled again. He'd forgotten how immodest she was, too. Wow. He'd forgotten a lot. Could two years erode memory so?
Shepard started talking while she was pulling her pajamas on. "Thanks for waiting. I really needed that shower. I rushed all the way through Omega just to get back to talk to you." Now fully dressed, she plopped back down on the couch. Garrus fluttered his mandibles and took a shot. She followed suit.
"Mind telling me how you came back to life? And what the hell you're doing – we're doing – working for Cerberus?"
Shepard sighed again and took another shot. And another. "Okay, well, the long and short of it is.. I don't know how I'm alive, really. I mean Miranda did it. Cerberus did it. Whatever. Here I am." She shook her head, exasperated. "We're on the way to the Citadel now, to talk to the Council. I don't think they'll cave now and believe me. Anderson is there, too, so I'll probably get shut down by the Alliance, too. No one believes the reapers are real. Collectors are abducting entire colonies and no one is doing anything except for Cerberus. It's fucking repulsive. Cerberus is a means to an end, nothing more. If I'm walking into hell.. I want you with me."
Garrus was staring at her, slack-jawed, from her ridiculous explanation. He fluttered his mandibles and let out a huff. "Well, can't say I'd expect anything remotely normal involving you. I'd be one pissed off Turian if you decided to resurrect yourself and go out in a blaze of glory without me. In all seriousness, though, Shepard... When I saw you walking down that bridge, I thought I was hallucinating from lack of sleep. You were the single most beautiful sight I'd ever seen. There, my best friend, two years deceased.. showed up just in time to pull my ass out of the fire." He huffed and shook his head, running his hand over his face, and leaned over to take another shot. "I was broken when you died because I was helpless to stop it. I went to Omega to do something I thought you'd respect. I said to myself, 'what would Shepard do?' so I found the most scum infested rock in the galaxy and went to work. I tried to make a difference. I made a lot of enemies quick, but eventually word got around that I was looking for help and before I knew it I had my own team. Things were great for a while. I was really doing well. Felt good. But then... Sidonis." He practically growled and pounded another two shots, and was silent for a time.
Shepard was flabbergasted, and suddenly it all seemed much more real to her. What felt like only weeks had been two whole years, and now she'd seen how it had treated her best friend. She felt a small surge of pride that he'd try to honor her after her death by doing something noble and stupid, but then her heart broke when she saw the angry grief stricken look that had come over her slightly intoxicated friend. She'd been steadily drinking the entire time he was talking; she had unfortunately discovered on the trip to Omega that her alcohol tolerance exceeded that of a Krogan thanks to her new cybernetic liver, so she had to drink a considerate amount to get where she wanted to be tonight. "Oh, Garrus. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I left you. Alenko cost me seconds, precious seconds..when he didn't immediately follow my orders to leave. I could've made it. I'm so sorry. I'm here now, though, and so are you. But who is Sidonis?"
"Another time, Shepard. I just want to be with you tonight. We've gone through a lot. I want to get blindly drunk and forget about the last two years. That way, we'll be even. Cheers."
The two sat together in a long silence that eventually turned into lighthearted conversation and reminiscing. They did, in fact, get blindly drunk, and by the end of the night, Shepard had taught him an Irish drinking song and they sang until they passed out together on opposite sides of the couch.
She hadn't slept so soundly in a very long time.
A/N:
The parts of the story that are through omnitool messaging start with the initals of the person sending the message. For instance, KS means Kairi Shepard sent the message. JM, Jeff Moreau and ML Miranda Lawson.
Please, leave reviews to give me suggestions. I've never written a fanfiction before and I don't know if y'all like my writing style. Suggestions are welcome!