If You Only Knew, Chapter 4

Garrus POV

Garrus would have thought it was impossible, but Haestrom was way hotter than Palaven had ever been.

The sun beat down on their backs, scorching their shields and armor alike. The geth didn't help. He envied Kasumi for her hood and her cloaking ability—one for the sun and one for the geth. To give her credit, the thief pulled her weight just as well as anyone else. As Garrus picked off the psychotic VIs one at a time, he couldn't help but feel nostalgic. It was just like old times—fighting through geth and rescuing a quarian from danger…he smiled in spite of the situation. This was where he belonged, fighting at Shepard's side.

Add a Colossus to the mix, and it was like Shepard had never died.

Just like old times, he thought dryly as he dove behind cover, barely missing a missile screaming past his ear. He risked a shot at the metal motherfucker before ducking back in cover, cursing as a bullet grazed his neck.

Shepard streaked past him in a flash of bright biotic blue, and Garrus heard the gratifying sound of crumpling synthetic material as her charge found its mark. He chanced a glance at the battlefield, searching for a window for a shot, and was almost blinded by a deafening blast.

Yelling out in shock, Garrus covered his eyes and looked back just in time to see the remnants of a mushroom cloud dissipating into the Haestrom air. What the hell…

The Colossus was gone—it had literally been evaporated by whatever Shepard had been using. Shaking his head in disbelief, Garrus ran over to where Shepard was already pulling power cells out of an ammunition box.

"What the hell was that?"

Emily shrugged and grinned. "Cerberus technology. I must say…it's growing on me. Come on. Let's go get Tali."

He nodded and followed her to the blast door with the welcome voice of Tali'Zorah in his earpiece.

"Reegar! You made it!"

The relief in Tali's voice was almost palpable. Garrus sneaked a glance at his Commander, who was wearing a barely concealed smirk on her face as she turned to the quarian commander. "I'm taking Tali with me," she informed him. "Do you need assistance? We can help you get back to the shuttle."

Kal'Reegar shook his head. "I should be fine. As long as there isn't another dropship, the ship should still be there. I should get going. Take care of yourself…Tali."

He limped out of sight. Shepard waited until he was out of earshot before looking up at Garrus, a smirk playing on her face. "D'awwww."

"What?" Tali said indignantly.

"Our little girl is growing up," she teased.

"What—no—it's not like that," the remaining quarian protested.

Shepard clapped her old friend on the shoulder. "Sure it isn't. Come on. Let's roll out."

She shot Garrus a meaningful look as they walked out, leaving him to trail behind them and try to decipher what it meant.

Shepard POV

"Commander, Garrus received some news that put fire in his eyes. You should check up on him."

Shepard jerked her head up from the railing of the galaxy map. "What…? Okay."

Sighing, she heaved herself off of the bar and trudged over to the elevator. God, but she felt so drained. Maybe it was Haestrom, or maybe it was those monotonous hours spent scanning planets—mostly for boredom, really—but she knew deep down that seeing Kaidan again, like that, had sucked the energy out of her.

The elevator hissed open and Shepard stepped inside, punching the button for the third deck and watching the doors slide shut. She dropped her chin down on her chest, exhausted. What she wouldn't give for a nice nap…

But then, with a tinny "ding," the doors opened and Shepard found herself walking towards the main battery. Garrus was hunched over the controls, like he was trying to look busy, but turned around when she entered.

"Shepard…glad you came by. I need to talk to you about something."

She gave what she hoped was an encouraging nod. His eyes momentarily hit the floor, then returned to hers.

"I never got a chance to tell you what happened on Omega, did I?"

Shepard froze. A block of ice slid into her stomach as she realized that she hadn't even bothered to check up on Garrus and investigate as to why half of his face was missing. Had she really been that far away? She cursed herself.

"What did happen to you?" Now that she actually thought it over, questions came tumbling out. "Who were those people wrapped up on the ground?"

There was a beat of silence. Garrus looked away, and she knew.

"They were your squad, weren't they?"

"Yeah." The single word, laden with grief and bitterness, shocked her.

"I'm sorry," she said awkwardly.

"Yeah."

She cleared her throat, aware that the tension was thick enough to be cut with a knife. "How?"

"It was my damn fault. One of my men betrayed me. A turian named Sidonis."

Shepard nodded, urging him to continue.

"He called me out on an assignment…said he needed my help…but when I got there, he wasn't. By the time I got back, seven guys were dead. And the others didn't last so long." He paused, his eyes clouded with bitterness. "Sidonis is the only one still alive."

Garrus paused, as though lost in a bad memory, and there was silence. Finally, Shepard spoke.

"Do you know where he is?"

"I do now."

Pause.

"Care to elaborate?"

"I contacted a guy named Fade, who specializes in helping people disappear. He might have some information…I arranged to meet him on the Citadel."

She nodded. "I'll chart a course to the Citadel, then."

A/N: Sorry for the holdup. I haven't had much opportunity to think about this, but I haven't forgotten (don't worry). New chapters are in the works!