A/N: Finally finished this! Sorry it took as long as it did. This chapter is a little more dramatic, focuses a lot more on Garrus/FemShep, and I'm sorry that there's not more Admiral Hannah in it. I wanted to use this to set up somethings and maybe answer a few questions. The Talk with her will be in the next chapter though!
Original this story was going to have four parts totally, but I extended it to six parts because I wanted to involve Garrus' family too. XD
0o0o0o
If you had asked Garrus Vakarian less than an hour ago, he would have said honestly that their families weren't something that he and Shepard had talked about much. Not that he had hadn't thought of his before, in the down shift hours when she was curled up in bed next to him and he had wondered how he was going to bring up the topic of an alien girlfriend to his father. That it was Commander Shepard might either make things worse or better depending on how his father chose to see things.
But Lil's own family? The mother had he had heard mentioned once or twice? That was something he hadn't thought of much, aside from being happy for Shepard when she had told him that her mother was all right. He had known in the back of his mind that he would have to meet her someday, the woman who had raised ihis/i Shepard. Really introduce himself to her, not like before when they had exchanged grief stricken platitudes that had barely been noticed. This time, he had wanted to do things right.
Of course, apparently the universe had decided it had other plans. He had never, in his worst imagined confrontations thought that meeting would turn out like it had. In his mind Lil had been there, by his side. Not lying here, so wounded and fragile it felt like a wrong look would shatter her. As he watched Admiral Shepard leave, he couldn't help but feel that something, somewhere had gone very wrong. He very much doubted that yelling at Marines and nearly running her over had left a very good first impression on her. One of the things forefront in his mind was that he wanted to get along with her, even if it was only for Lil's sake. This didn't look like a very good start to that.
When she was gone Miranda didn't say anything, just gave him a look and raised an eyebrow at him. Garrus decided to ignore that and turned back to Lil, trying to reassure himself that she was alive, that she was breathing and her heart beating. Part of him still wasn't sure it was real. He wondered if this was just a dream, and he would wake up alone in the Normandy again with the knowledge that this had just been a fantasy and she really was gone.
"I take it that the Admiral…knows about the two of you? I can't imagine what else would drive her to say that," Miranda's question was actually a welcome distraction for the direction his thoughts had been headed and Garrus glanced over at her.
"Yes, she knows," was all he said. He didn't see why Miranda of all people should know how she found out. He wasn't entirely sure on human protocol for introducing yourself to your lover's parents but he was positive that his announcement back there had been far outside it.
"I'm surprised she let you back here then," was the reply from the former-Cerberus operative. He couldn't stop the soft growl that crept into his voice.
"Why wouldn't she?" he asked shortly. "She doesn't seem to mind my..relationship with Shepard. Not all humans are Cerberus." The unsaid words of 'like you' hung in the air after it. At least the Admiral hadn't outright objected to him. Maybe things weren't as hapless as he thought.
"I thought you were aware I have nothing to do with Cerberus anymore, and has nothing to do with what I was trying to say," Miranda scowled, "I was talking about the fact that the esteemed Admiral served in the First Contact War. I can't imagine that makes her welcome the thought of a turian courting her daughter with open arms. Or weren't you aware of that fact?"
Garrus was immediately grateful that Miranda hadn't shown any interest in learning how to read Turian facial expressions. He wasn't able to keep all of his surprise off his face, and giving her the satisfaction of knowing she had caught him off guard was the last thing he wanted. Shepard hadn't mentioned that to him, although to be perfectly fair, she probably would have if he had asked. Discussing potentially awkward family history just been a high priority with everything else going on.
"So what? Clearly she wasn't that appalled by it," he said at last. "She let me back here, didn't she? If she really didn't want the big, bad Turian near her daughter all she had to do was step aside and let the guards stop me."
"If they would even be able to do that without causing a bigger mess. You do realize that dropping threats to Alliance personnel is not likely to go over well?"
That made his mandible flare a little. "How did you know about that?" Another thought occurred to him. "How did you even know that we were here? It's much of a coincidence that you show up right after we get here."
"You give yourself too much credit Vakarian," she said. "I'm in charge of looking after the Commander's health. I do take that seriously enough to check on her. I was actually on my way here when I received the alert that you had arrived. It doesn't take much to realize this was the first place you would go."
"I'm surprised you have access to official Alliance channels," he said, his hand not leaving Shepard's yet.
She snorted. "Looking after the Commander is the largest part of my duties, but I have been lending my support in other ways. And don't worry, the Alliance has been making sure that I remain a good little girl." She smiled in a self satisfied way. "Although this time they can't take all the credit for it. I was well aware of your arrival even before those Marines you were so cheerfully abusing called in to complain about the 'crazy turian'."
"You should be grateful. Those scanners weren't just for show you know. I rigged them to accept the biometrics of half the Normandy crew when I got here. I was sure that none of you would be anything like patient or logical when it came to the Commander. An alert was sent to me when the scanner recognized you."
"Yes, thank you for that," he growled. "Clearly I wouldn't have been able to get back here at all without your help."
"Without any help at all you would still be arguing with Alliance Command," she observed, "But regardless of that I really do need to do my job. You're going to need to leave. Now. The Commander has been put under enough for stress for one day."
"No," he didn't bother trying to keep the growl out of his voice. "I'm not leaving her again." His hand tightened around Shepard's and he glared at Miranda. "I'm staying right here."
He had expected to hear something form her, something mocking or a snapped order to comply. Instead her face shifted into something softer.
"I'm not heartless," she said, "I understand what it must feel like, and why you would want to stay by her side. But, can you honestly say there's anything that you would be able to do to help her right now?"
"I…" he looked down at Shepard. His Shepard. That was a blow he hadn't expected and he didn't know how to respond to it. It had been a fact he hadn't want to face and had been trying to avoid thinking about. All he could do with her in this state was stay by her side and hoped his support counted for something. The only medical knowledge he had was the basic battlefield first aid that all turian soldiers were taught, and that was mostly 'how to apply medigel correctly'. He couldn't even tell you want half the readouts around her meant, or even how she was doing right now.
"I know you don't trust me," Miranda said, steeping closer, "but trust in what I owe the Commander at least. I wouldn't do anything that could hurt her. I want to see her back on her feet, and up to her usual insane antics. I can't do that when I have someone under my feet at all times." Her eyes were serious. "I told Admiral Shepard the same thing. You aren't going to help her, or yourself, standing here worrying. I doubt she's going to thank you for it either, once she's awake."
"You really think you know her that well? Because I really don't remember the two of you being best friends on the Normandy." Was what he said, although he already knew the truth of her words. Shepard always hated anyone fussing over when she was injured, Miranda was right about that at least. There was just this feeling that if he looked away she was going to disappear. He knew how stupid that was, but he couldn't shake it.
"You know that answer to that," was the only reply he got. "I have everyone, even her mother under a time limit for visits," Miranda was saying again. He didn't even look up at the former Cerberus operative. "Does turian command even know you're back? I find it hard to believe that they wouldn't be looking for someone with a rank as high as yours."
"You really want me to believe that turian anything would confide information to you?" he snorted.
"Of course they wouldn't," now Miranda just sounded annoyed. Good. He could deal with her being annoyed. He didn't know how to handle a sympathetic Miranda. That was just weird. "But, I thought you could use the reminder that there are other things you could be doing besides hovering over a sickbed."
Logically he knew she was right. At the very least he should contact the Primarch to tell him he had made it back alive. Victus had become something of a friend while they had been stuck on Menea and he owed the man that at least. Contacting him would mean admitting that he was here though, and the moment that happened then he would be dragged out to deal with the aftermath of the battle. His rank alone would make it impossible for him to get away from the responsibilities.
He growled a little under his breath, trying to ignore the smug expression on Miranda's face. Shepard herself would tell him to go, to stop fussing and see to his duties. He knew her well enough to know that. She had told him, several times, that she was proud of him for what he had accomplished. It had felt good to hear it from her, but now it was just another thing that was trying to drag him away . He hadn't been there to watch her back this time, and look how she had ended up.
"I'm staying."
"I can make you leave this room you know," Miranda's voice was icy. He could hear the shuffle of a bootstep out in the hallway. Right. Guards.
"Are you really willing to do that?" he said softly. "I doubt it. Forcing me would ending up being messier and much more stressful to the Commander. I'm not going to go quietly." From the furious expression on Miranda's face, he had won that round. He allowed himself to savor that small piece of victory before a calmer expression crossed the woman's face and he felt dread settle in the bit of is stomach.
"You're right," she said, "forcing you would be messy. But I can tell the Alliance that they have a rouge Turian who is refusing to listen to reason hovering around the Commander. I can also tell Admiral Shepard that you aren't listening to the doctors and could be endangering her daughter's health. I'm sure she would love to hear that about the man she brought back here herself."
If there was any sort of justice in the universe than the glare he sent Miranda's way should have fried her. Or at least tossed her across the room. Or done something. Instead she just kept on talking. "I imagine, even if specifics didn't make it into the report, that your turian Hierarchy wouldn't be pleased about someone was…high ranking as you are causing problems with their allies." She paused and titled her head. "Now I wonder which way would really turn out to be messier for you?"
"You fight dirty," he growled.
"All's fair in war. I thought you of all people would know that." She uncrossed her arms and took a step nearer to him. "Now, what will you do, Vakarian?"
There was a tense pause between them that was broken only by a soft tap in the doorway.
"Excuse me?" He knew that voice, and looked up, past Miranda.
"Liara?"
The asari information broker smiled at him. "Garrus," she said in some relief. "I had heard you had arrived. I thought you might be here." She was wearing some sort of long hooded coat, which part of his mind noted was strange for her.
"Dr. T'soni," Miranda said after taking a deep breath. Her tone was curt. "I would ask what you are doing here but I don't think that matters at the moment. You know that the Commander is at a delicate state. Having this many people crowding into her room is not going to help her in anyway. Unless you can get him," she gestured in his direction, "to leave with you, I suggest you go right now."
"At least let me speak to him?" Liara asked. Well half asked, in polite way. He could hear the steel in her voice, and knew that she wasn't going to let Miranda chase her off. "I know very well what the Commander needs, Miranda."
"Then try to be quick about it," the other woman said. "Otherwise I will before force to take some sort of action."
He hard Liara give a low voiced reply, then a few steps and he felt her lay a gentle hand on his upper arm.
"She's going to be all right, Garrus," she said gently and looked down at the Commander. "Everyone is doing all they can for her. Believe me, I have been checking on her everyday. She's getting better."
"…I should have been there with her Liara," he said softly. "I should have had her back. If I had been there, if I hadn't let her persuade me to go back to the Normandy I could have.."
"It would haven't have made a difference," the words were spoken with some conviction. "I was there, remember? James and I, we did everything we could for her but she insisted on going ahead. You know how she gets when the fighting starts."
He did know, that was the worst of it. Shepard was never content to stay behind the lines. Of course she would have been the first out in something like that. That was why he should have been there! He could have pulled her back, or been there with her. Guarded her. Now the only thing he could do was be here when she woke up.
"You know I need to be here," he said quietly, "I can't leave, Liara."
"You think I don't understand that?" her voice was equally quiet but there was an edge to it. "I was right there Garrus, and I could do nothing. You think that I don't want to be here, with her, making sure she recovers? I've been worrying every moment of every day since we found her." Her voice half broke. "I would stay here if I could, but you know Miranda is right. The only thing we can do here is get in the way. But there are other things we can do, away from here, to make sure everything that Shepard worked for holds together. When she wakes up, don't you want to be able to tell her that everything is going fine and all the races were still working together to rebuild?"
He knew that he had technically most of that was things Miranda had already said. It didn't make any logical sense why they felt more real when Liara said them, but they did. Maybe it was because he knew that she meant them. With Miranda there would always be that doubt lurking in his mind at what her motives behind her words were. No matter what Shepard said, he couldn't shake that.
Liara though, she was a friend. She had been with Shepard at the beginning, and he knew that tone of voice. The asari cared about Shepard, maybe even as something more than a friend if the rumors to be believed. He had never had reason to believe they were true before, but, well, if they were then she would understand where he was coming from more than most.
"I don't want her to wake up alone again," he told the asari. Once, after she had saved him on Omega, he had asked her about what it was like to wake up from the dead. Both of them had been more than a little drunk at the time, and she had admitted how terrifying it had been to wake up on that slab, alone, with only a voice telling her what to do and enemies around her. It was one of the few times he had ever heard her sound truly frightened. Even though that had been before they had gotten together, he had still made a promise with himself that he wouldn't let her go through anything like that by herself again. Waking up here, surrounded by machines, guards and doctors, what would that be like for her?
"She won't be alone," Miranda said impatiently. "We'll have someone by standby at all times for when she wakes. We can explain and.."
"Because having a doctor come visiting is so comforting," he couldn't help saying. "Nothing at all like anything else she's been through." The jab made Miranda frown. He took a breath. " She's going to need a friendly face, not one of your goons."
"They aren't…" Miranda sighed. "I've been monitoring the readouts personally. I should know the moment she starts to come around, and I'll send you a message immediately. Will that suffice?"
He knew it wouldn't, not really. But there was a sudden urgent beep from one of the machines, something that causes Miranda to frown and push past him to check on. Another reminder, no matter how much it hurt, he really wasn't of much use here.
As Miranda muttered about something on the machine, Liara whispered softly. "I have my own programs watching the machines. I'm not an expert but I should know anything as soon as Miranda does." That did make him feel a bit better.
"Well?" Miranda had turned around now and was looking at him.
"..Give me a few minuets," he said at last. "Then I'm gone for a while." He turned his head to pin Miranda with a look of his own. "I'll be back though. I'm not leaving her alone."
The former Cerberus agent looked as if she would like to argue with him, but for some reason she didn't. "You'll have to wait until tomorrow then. Along with everyone else. You need to let her rest. I'll give you five more minuets, then I'm having you dragged out of here." She turned and left then, going to talk to the guards outside. Liara hesitated, then gave his arm a last pat before following her, leaving him alone with Shepard.
He was silent as he looked down at her, his hand still gripping hers. His thumb rubbed her knuckles gently, and then he leaned down to brush his forehead against hers.
"This isn't what I meant by coming back alive, Shepard," he said softly. "I know you're shit at following orders sometimes, but please let this be one of the few times that you actually listen. I'll keep coming back until you wake up and tell me to stop." He paused, taking a deep breath. "Come back to me Shepard. I don't think I can deal with this alone."
He stayed that way until Miranda came and reminded him that he had to go.
Liara was waiting for him in the hallway. The guards seemed amused by something as he went by them, but were silent.
"Thank you," he said to the asari as they started back down the hall.
"I realized that something like that might happen after I sent you the message," she admitted. "Miranda has been very protective of Shepard since I asked her to help, and I knew that she might object to you being there." A small smile touched her lips. "Although after everything the two of you have been though, I doubt she could have kept you from Shepard."
"The message was part of what I was thanking you fo…" the rest of her words registered with him then. "You're the one that dragged Miranda into this?" He didn't try to hide the accusation in his tone.
"You didn't see her when we found her, Garrus," Liara's voice was shaky. "Goddess…I wasn't sure she would make it. We got her to help as fast as we could, but I was still so worried. Miranda had been here, helping. No matter what she was before, you have to admit that she's probably the one that knows Shepard best at this point. She would help."
"Do you trust her?"
"I'm not sure," the asari admitted. "But I know that she's trying her best and I know that Shepard did seem to trust her."
"I'm still going to be much happier when Dr. Chakwas gets here," he fully intended to tell the Normandy's doctor where the Commander personally, if Liara hadn't gotten to it already. She knew the Commander was alive, he had told her that himself, but he wasn't sure the good doctor knew the details. While he wasn't sure how she felt about Miranda, he would personally feel better with Chakwas there to keep an eye on things. Besides, having here there when she woke up…that would be good for Shepard.
"I was wondering why she wasn't with you," Liara admitted. "I know that my messages reached the Normandy and I had gotten word that it had crashed, but nothing else." She looked at him curiously.
"The Normandy slammed into the other side of the planet," he said softly. "We plowed into a jungle of some kind. It knocked out power and communications for a bit…I have never seen Joker that panicked before in his life. There wasn't any major settlements nearby, which is probably why the Reapers had left that area alone. Of course that meant there wasn't any patrols nearby either. We did get short range communications back up in time to contact someone and they brought over supplies. Private messages didn't start coming though until after that." Most communications had been limited to 'necessary for the war effort' before the final battle against the reapers. Personal messages, even highly encrypted ones like Liara's had been, were moving much slower than military messages. Even though he realized why she hadn't set her messages as higher priority than they were, he still wished she had done it. It would have saved a lot of heart ache.
"Once I knew she was stable, and what they were planning I decided that you and well, the rest of the Normandy crew really, at least deserved to know that she was alive," she said softly. "Not knowing any thing at all, I couldn't imagine what that was like."
He decided he wasn't going to tell her about receiving broadcasts that Shepard was dead. "Believe me, that was one of the most welcome messages I've ever received," was what he said instead. It was the complete and utter truth too. He didn't like to think about the way it had felt when EDI had tapped into the Alliance feeds and a report that Shepard had been confirmed dead had come in. Like someone had blown a hole in him, only there was no bullet, no bleeding, just the pain that came with it. Pain that transformed into a kind of numbness for a while. "Everyone else gave a sigh of relief too when it came though," he couldn't help adding, not wanting to remember that time. "Although I'm not sure how 'secret' her condition is going to stay once everyone gets here."
"Where is the rest of the crew?" They passed through the second set of guards as she asked that question. The Marine's watched them but didn't even move. "I haven't seen anyone else besides you."
"Joker didn't want to leave the Normandy until she was able to get airborne and move somewhere safer," he said. "Most of the crew is staying to help with that. I was going to wait too, but I was more or less thrown on to the supply shuttle and told to 'go find Shepard'."
If he was being honest with himself, he hadn't fought that order as much as he should have. Yes, Tail and most of the others were insistent, although how so many people had found out about his relationship with Commander he didn't know, but there was no one of high enough rank to really force him to do anything on the ship. He had more or less been Shepard's second in command for most of the mission. A good Turian would never have abandoned responsibility like that, no matter the reason and the competency of everyone else on board.
Then again, he had always been bad at being a proper turian.
"So the rest of them should be here soon?"
"Yeah," he responded, "Dr. Chakwas was going to come with me, but she had patients that she didn't want to leave until she was sure they were settled somewhere." When an alarmed expression flickered across her face he cursed himself for not realizing how that would sound. "It's nothing life threatening. Ship crashes aren't exactly gentle, so we had a few minor injuries. They'll be back on their feet in no time."
"That's…good," Liara said slowly as they reached the final checkpoint out into the hospital. Despite the fact that it felt like it had been hours since he had last been here, little time had passed that the guards hadn't even changed shifts. One of them appeared intent on acting professional, but he could almost feel the heat of the glare the other gave him. Liara must have noticed too, because she gave the guard such a curious look he blushed and looked away from them.
"Did you really threaten them?" she asked once they were through.
"Only because they were being idiots and wouldn't listen to me," he responded automatically. "It's not like I was asking the impossible after all. One call to turian command or even their own superiors could have cleared things right up."
"You shouldn't have been that hard on them," Liara tried to sound stern but there was a sort of half smile on her face. "They were just following orders after all. I am entirely surprised they even you through after that."
"Yeah, Admiral Shepard's endorsement might have had something to do with that," he said slowly. Now that he had assured himself that his Shepard really was alive, was here, and was recovering, his mind was free to contemplate the elder Shepard woman. He had faced down everything from Geth, to Cerberus, gone on suicide missions, fought Collectors and Reapers….yet for some reason none of them had never brought on the sort of nerves that thinking about a Talk with Admiral Shepard did.
"Admiral.." Liara's mouth fell open into a small 'o' for a moment. "So…you've meet her?"
"Only for a little while, and yes," he said in response to the unspoken question in hr voice, "she knows about Shepard and me. Or, well the Commander and me. Us anyway." He reached up to rub the side of his neck nervously. A human gesture he had picked up on the Normandy but it seemed to fit here. "Not sure about the approving part of it though."
That did seem to surprise Liara. "Why wouldn't she? You and Shepard have been though so much together…and she did go though all the trouble of letting you see her. She's been nothing put polite and friendly when I've spoken with her, so it's not likely she has a problem with other races."
"Humans have never been at war with asair," he pointed out. "And I think her being okay with aliens in general is a just a little different from her being completely and utterly fine with one dating her only child."
"That.." she said thoughtfully, "I had forgotten how strange humans would be about things like that."
"I guess I'll just have to win the Admiral Shepard over with my considerable wit and charm," he said, trying to sound more confident than he felt. They were walking through the hospital proper now and were forced to slow down because of the press of people. Medical personnel, patients, soldiers, and visitors all rushing through the halls intent on getting somewhere. "Managed to do it once before after all." He paused.
"You know her, right? Is she anything like the Commander?" If he could find out a little more about the Admiral, figure out what she was like, maybe he could figure out someway to approach her that didn't involve him screwing things up again.
Now they were forced to raise their voices as the entered a larger area. At one time it had probably been a waiting room for the hospital. Now all chairs had been removed to make way for rows and rows of cots. Here were those who weren't as badly wounded and could be left to recover on their own but were juuust high ranking enough they warranted a spot here. It wasn't as quiet here as it was in the rest of the hospital because of so many gathered in an open area. You could hear the pain in some of the voices. There just wasn't enough medical staff to get to everyone.
"We've only talked a few times," Liara said as they stopped in a small corner of the room, out of the way of a team of medical personnel that had come rushing by. "She's a bit like her daughter I suppose, but she isn't quiet as flexible as the Commander is in…what's wrong?"
Garrus tried to choke back the sound he had made. "It's, uh, nothing," he said quickly. Maybe a bit too quickly from the look she was giving him. Well, she was just going to remain confused about this one. Luckily the way was clear now and he took it as an excuse to dodge out the doors.
It was raining outside. He vaguely remembered it had been the same earlier, when he had arrived, but he hadn't been paying much attention to what the weather was doing then. At least it explained the outfit that Liara was wearing, and it was just water.
"What will you do now?" she asked as she came up beside him and drew her hood up.
He sighed. "Probably follow Miranda's suggestion and check in with turian command. Just don't tell her that."
"I won't," was the promise that came with an amused smile.
"What about you?" he asked as he moved out the way of the doors. There was a small crowd here. Mostly military trying to make their way, although there was a small group of relatives and friends who were here looking for loved ones. The latter he felt a pang of sympathy for. Given what the Reapers had done to the people they captured, well, it was unlikely there was even a body left for them to mourn.
Liara was also looking at that small crowd. "I've been keeping busy. I've been trying to reestablish my networks, and get a better picture what's happening in the rest of the galaxy. I haven't had as much luck as I wish I was, so I've been helping with the organization here as well. It's most logistics and working with supplies, but" she blinked a little and looked away, her eyes wet. "…I've been helping make lists of the wounded…and the dead. It's not much and things are still so confused we don't have much information, but at least we might be able to help someone that's searching for answers." She was twisting her fingers around each other now. He put a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sure they appreciate it," they both knew that it had been each of them waiting like that not that long ago, not sure of what had happened and fearing the worst. He took his hand off her shoulder and tried not to think about those painful memories. "So I'll be seeing you around here?"
"Of course," was the reply, "I….I've been keeping an eye on Shepard too. It will be nice to have someone else to talk to." A friend she meant, he could read that in her voice without even trying.
"Yeah," he said then shook his head. "Well, time to get back to work before I drive myself insane, and hope the Primarch hasn't heard about that little…incident earlier."
"Good lucky," Liara said with a smile before they split and he set to work composing a message that would, hopefully make up for not reporting in right away.
0o0o0
Victus' reply was surprisingly quick given how much pressure he had to be under. Below the coordinates that gave the location of the command post, there was a small note from the other man mentioning he was glad that he was 'glad you're alive and mostly unharmed'. Now Garrus just felt guilty. In his own rush to get to Shepard he had completely forgotten that there might be people who were looking for him too.
It was thirty minuets on foot to where his people had set up command, but luck was on his side for once and there was a transport heading in that direction. He managed to make it in under ten minutes. After that little fiasco back at the hospital it was something of a relief for the guards here to meet him with salutes and 'sir'. That sort of respects still sent shocks of uneasiness through him. He had started to get used to it back on Menea,, but part of him still felt that this was just a mistake on someone's part. It didn't feel like something he had earned for himself. During odd moments he still had to stop himself from glancing over his shoulder to see who people were really talking to.
One of the guards told him that the Primarch was waiting for him, which wasn't that surprising. There was still a massive amount to do before the turian forces could get organized enough to leave earth. All hands were needed for that.
He found his friend in the center of the building, arguing with someone over the com. Garrus caught the other man's eye and received a nod in return. As he waited for the Primarch to finish with his conversation, he walked around the room exchanging quiet words with some of the other turians there, trying to get a sense of the situation here in London.
"It's good to see you, Vakiran," were the first words Victus said to him. There was a sense of honest relief there as they exchanged a brief arm clasp.
"It's good to see you too, sir," he said politely. "Sorry abut the wait. Ran into a little ship trouble." Garrus took a moment to study his friend. Victus didn't look like he was injured, but there was a sense of exhaustion about him. Even with the war over there were still so many emergencies he wondered if Victus even had time to sleep.
"I see," was the dry response to that, "You'll have to indulge my curiosity later." He motioned back toward the counsel he had been working at. "I would insist that I hear the story now, but there's much to do right now."
"Of course," he said, following the Primarch back over the workstation. He would have cracked a joke about the Reapers being too inconsiderate to clean up after themselves, but that didn't feel right, not with all the losses they had suffered. "What do you need me to do?"
Victus flicked something that might have been a grin at him. "You've already helped with on thing just by showing up. Now I won't be making excuses to your father anymore."
"My..father?" Garrus wasn't sure he had heard that right. How could his father have been gotten into contact with the Primarch? What was he even doing here? The last he had heard both him and Solana had been on a refugee ship!
"Yes. I believed he all but forced his way onto the fleet and insisted on taking part in the battle," The Primarch glanced at him. "He did put in a request for your where about through official channels but, unofficially…I've had several damage reports that have somehow managed to mention he would be most pleased to know if we had heard anything about you." Victus was clearly enjoying his discomfort, and his rank plus the presence of the other turians in the room kept Garrus from shooting back the reply he would like.
"That does sound like something he would do," he said instead. "I'm just surprised the Heirarchy let him do it." His father had been retired. It should have taken much longer for anyone to get back into service. Not to mention it was hard to imagine his father, his father of all people, coming that close to outright breaking the rules just for information.
"We needed every soldier we could get," Victus reminded him. "Your father's history and abilities made him invaluable. He's been organizing transportation of some of the wounded from the ground back up to the ships."
Said like that, it was all to easy to picture his father stepping up and ordering around everyone in the operation He knew his father well enough to be able to admit that he was good at taken control of situations…even if there were situations only he saw the importance of. At least he was still alive. There had been so many ships during that battle, he didn't want to think about how close his father had come to dying up there.
"I'm surprised he unbent enough to slip in a request like that." Better to think of that surprise than to remember how close he had been to losing him.
"He's your father, Garrus. He's worried," Victus had gone slightly tense. "This war has been hard on all of us. Isn't it natural to want to confirm what we do have left?"
Suddenly Garrus remembered that his friend had lost a son to this mess, and with a rush of guilt that no one in his family had been given enough time to properly morn his mother before the Reapers hit, and he had barely even thought about her, him included. It almost felt like a betrayal to her, to forget about her so easily. You could blame the war and the Reapers, but he knew his father hadn't forgotten. He was just doing it again, screwing up where it mattered.
"I'll send my father a message," he said. He wasn't sure what he was going to say, but he would. It was the very least he owed the man. Even if he didn't always see eye to eye, Victus was right. It was still has father. "But I don't think you wanted me here to talk about family. What else do you need me to do?" Anything at all to change the subject.
Thankfully, Victus seemed as eager to focus on something else as he was. "I need someone to be our go-between for the Alliance forces while we help with organization and prepare to pull out. You have the rank for the job, and more importantly you served with Commander Shepard. You're more familiar with the Alliance than anyone else here right now."
"I'm not really a politician," he said, trying not to wince as he remembered his little confrontation. He doubted the Alliance would be thrilled to have 'that crazy turian' as a liaison between them and his people. Besides, he was still getting used to having his own people regard him with any respect. How was he suppose to get the Alliance to listen to him?
Victus gave a quiet snort that was probably far to undignified for a Primarch. "I'm not asking you to be one, at least not right now. I just need someone who's familiar with humans and who can get their respect. You served on a human vessel with a living legend. That's more than enough to qualify you for both points."
"You have a point, sir," he was forced to admit. He wouldn't think of anyone else who had anything close to the sort of experience he did. "What do you need me to do?"
He worked alongside his friend for a while, dealing with reports from the fields and trying to keep up-to-date lists of the wounded and dead that the human patrols had found. His heart sank whenever he realized there were far more of the latter. It didn't escape his notice that the Primarch kept looking at him oddly. Almost as if he was puzzled or waiting for Garrus to grow a second head, and he could not think of a single reason for his friend to be looking at him that way.
Before he could come up with a way to call him out on it, Victus answered his unspoken question. "Are you really all right, Vakarian?" It was during a small lull in the reports coming in and it gave him the room to relax a bit.
"What, don't believe me, Sir?" he said as politely as he could. Inwardly he was running over what he could have said to make his friend doubt him.
"I'm not sure," Victus leaned against his workstation. "You're just…calmer than I expected."
"I'm not sure I understand."
Victus glanced around them quickly then dropped his voice slightly when he was sure on one was close enough to hear. "You haven't even mentioned Shepard's name since you arrived here. I was sure I was going to have to keep you from dragging men off for a search party."
Garrus froze. "Ah.." it honestly hadn't occurred to him that the Alliance would have kept the truth about Shepard from even the Primarch. His own fault for not realizing that they wouldn't be willing to trust someone so far up in the Hierarchy. Now what was he suppose to do? He was sure that Victus wouldn't intentionally do anything that would endanger Shepard, but he also knew that his friend's rank and title meant he didn't have the luxury to keep secrets. If duty forced Victus to tell someone where she was, and someone who wished her harm overheard… "I went looking for her before I contacted you," he said to buy some time. "I got kicked out of the hospital after awhile. They acted like I was making a nuisance of myself."
He did not want to lie to someone who he owed both his loyalty and friendship. But he didn't want to betray Shepard either, and he was sure that was what her caretakers would call it. On the other hand, his people would call him keeping it to himself treason in it's own right. A good turian wouldn't even think about keeping this to himself. Not something he normally cared about, but Vicuts was a friend.
"You gave up that easily?" If Victus had heard anything regarding the 'crazy turian' from that area he didn't show it. Instead he dropped his voice even lower. "Garrus," and suddenly he knew it wasn't the Primarch talking but just Adrian Victus, "I know damn well how much she meant to you. Your little display before the battle just made it even more obvious. You really want me to believe that you're going to shrug and walk away when you don't know what happened to her? That isn't like you." He sounded worried.
Garrus was almost going to tell him the truth, but then he pictured what would happen if a bunch of turians suddenly knew where the Commander was. Saying Miranda would be annoyed would be an understatement. The Alliance leaders probably wouldn't be very happy about it either. They might try to ban him from seeing Shepard again. Even if he managed to get past Miranda at least, Admiral Shepard probably wouldn't forgive him for it. Not that he wasn't willing to face her down, but if he made an enemy of her it would hurt Shepard. That wasn't fair to her. Damn, why did his luck have to drop decisions like this on him?
He had to say something. Victus was looking at him. "You don't know Shepard like I do," he said at last. "She's tough. She'll come back."
He knew it didn't fool the Primarch for a second. Victus actually looked as if he wanted to say something, but one of his men came up with a question and he was forced to make do with only a look that said he was going to bring it up later.
Garrus went back to work, trying to ignore the knot of guilt in his chest. All he had to do was stick it out until the rest of the Normandy crew arrived. He doubted that even the Alliance would be able to keep it secret with that many people wanting to see Shepard. He would tell Victus everything then, and hope that he would forgive him for that tiny bit of betrayal.
He just hoped that by then Shepard would be awake and helping him explain. She had to wake up soon. She had to.