A/N: Considering how much I like Garrus and enjoy reading fics that star him, this chapter was surprisingly difficult to write. I think I got something good though. I hope you agree.

Enjoy!

Garrus is frustrated.

He doesn't understand why no one is taking Shepard's warnings seriously. Didn't they see what Sovereign did? How can they just ignore all of that now that the Commander's gone? He's always known that the higher-ups are exceedingly stupid, but this is just a whole new level of moronic.

Mere weeks after Shepard's funeral, the talk begins. Whispers of conspiracy and deceit begin to pop up whenever her name is mentioned. Newscasts, extranet sites and video programs begin to question her validity, her honestly, even her sanity in regards to what she's said about the Reapers. With encouragement from the Citadel Council, the current most popular rumor is that whatever it is she saw on Feros made her lose her mind.

It's maddening.

Garrus is very vocal in his support of the Commander. He can stand around for hours, arguing vehemently with his superiors over Shepard's claims. It doesn't earn him any friends, of course - Executor Pallin is constantly cutting him off, and most of the other C-Sec officers give him a wide berth. He's earned himself a reputation as a raving lunatic, so naturally everyone tries to avoid him.

So maybe pissing everyone off with his constant badgering isn't the best plan he's ever had, but it's better than getting overwhelmed by grief and drinking himself into a stupor like Kaidan is doing. Garrus is a turian, after all. He's naturally good at compartmentalizing his own emotions and using them to his advantage. His grief is used to fuel his defense of his dead friend. His frustration is used to give him the drive to fight for the goals she was never able to complete. And his anger is used to keep him from collapsing inside himself and losing himself to despair.

He holds himself together. He has to.

It's what Shepard would want.

By the fifth month, Garrus has had enough of the brass' crap. No one is listening to him. No one seems to care about the horrors Shepard experienced trying to save their sorry asses from annihilation. And C-Sec is pretty much useless, wallowing in red tape and political bullshit and doing absolutely nothing substantial whatsoever. It's driving him insane. If he has to sit through another minute of it, his head is going to explode.

He mentions it to Lucas one day while they're grabbing drinks during some downtime. Lucas is swirling his whiskey around in his glass and complaining very loudly about the idiocy of the Alliance brass. Garrus' mandibles click in amusement - he can relate.

"I swear they're trying to smother us," Lucas says tiredly, leaning back in his seat and swishing the brown liquid around absently. Garrus nods in understanding.

"I know," he sighs. "I'm wading in so much red tape right now that I feel like I'm going to get tied up in it and hung from the top of Citadel Tower where everyone can pelt me with vegetables."

Lucas laughs, shaking his head. "Yeah. You know, sometimes I wish I could just run off to Omega and become a vigilante. I'd get a lot more done that way."

"Why don't you?" Garrus asks casually. Lucas gives him an incredulous look.

"You kidding? Ash would kill me!"

Garrus laughs and nods. "True, true."

Lucas takes a swig of his whiskey and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. He leans forward again.

"You could do it, maybe," the other Shepard remarks thoughtfully. Garrus cocks his head. "You don't really have much to hold you here, except maybe me and Ash. You could leave any time you wanted and no one would question it. I don't have that luxury." He sighs and wags his head. "Honestly Garrus, all things considered… you're lucky."

Garrus snorts. "Sure. Lucky."

"I mean it!" Lucas says emphatically. "You could go anywhere, be anything. Me, though… I'll always be Commander Shepard's brother."

His face clouds as he says it. Garrus watches as his human friend pulls back into his little shell. As his expression closes off, the turian knows that the conversation is over.

Sure enough, Lucas gets up. "Well, it's late," he says flatly. "I should go. See you around, Garrus." He leaves.

Garrus watches his retreating. "…Right… see you."

He remains at the counter for a few more minutes, staring off into space and mulling over Lucas' words. His mandibles twitch into the turian equivalent of a smile as he thinks over one of the man's remarks.

"A vigilante on Omega, huh?" he mutters. "That's not a bad idea…"

Next chapter might be awhile in coming, since I'm kinda stuck on Ash's bit (she's the one that I tend to pay the least attention to since I usually leave her on Virmire in ME1 so I'm not as accustomed to her personality as I am the others'). I'll probably end up writing Lucas' and Kaidan's first and then coming back to hers so… yeah. Just keep an eyes out.