Noelle continued visiting the crew, including Garrus, on a regular basis. She had gotten to know all of them well, but enjoyed herself the most when joking around with the turian. On the battlefield, they had already developed a speechless system of understanding, exchanging instructions in the form of looks, and that was translating to life on the Normandy as well. Shepard had never been this comfortable with a turian, and she didn't know how to feel about it.
It was blatantly obvious how her human crew felt. Kaidan, though not openly expressing his surprise and confusion about Noelle's friendship with Garrus, was clearly uncomfortable and seemed to view Garrus as a threat, though the commander couldn't understand why. Gunnery Chief Williams, on the contrary, was rather vocal about her opinion of Garrus and the other aliens on the ship.
Noelle noticed Williams' discomfort the first night she spent talking to Garrus on the Normandy. They were enjoying themselves, cracking jokes at each other's expense, when Noelle looked to her right only to see Ashley staring at her, appearing extremely discontented. The next morning, Shepard resolved to ask Williams if she had anything she needed to say. However, before the Commander could even utter a word, she got exactly the response she was expecting.
"I'm concerned about the aliens. With all due respect, Commander, should they have full access to the ship? I mean, the vids always painted you a certain way and I expected-"
Shepard cut her off before she could finish. "What? Expected me to only take you and Alenko on missions? That Vakarian, Wrex, Tali, and the asari we're going to get were only brought aboard to appease the Council? If you haven't noticed Williams, I'm not here to appease anyone." Shepard immediately grew defensive at the Gunnery Chief's assumptions.
"Commander, I just assumed based on your actions on Torfan...I mean, you wiped out the batarians…"
"Everyone assumes things about Torfan," Shepard interrupted, "Commander Shepard, the ruthless, xenophobic bitch, right? The thing about that is they only know a fraction of that story-of my story. Honestly Williams, I respect the fact that you came to me with this; it's more than Alenko would do. But this is my ship; not yours, Vakarian's, Alenko's, or anyone else's-mine. All of the 'aliens'-who have names, by the way-are important parts of the crew, and talented fighters. They are people that I picked to be a part of my crew. So your concerns seem like more of a problem to you than they are to me. I suggest you resolve this inner conflict or your time on the Normandy will be cut short."
Williams stood there in shock. The Commander knew that she had been a bit tough on Williams, but she felt very defensive of her crew, and her decisions. Since her actions on Torfan, Noelle's reputation escalated; she was no longer a woman in the eyes of the people, she was an object to be admired. Though she put on a show for anyone that required it, Shepard's reputation bothered her. Ashley quickly regained her composure and said, "Aye aye, ma'am. It won't be a problem." The Commander then placed her hands on Williams shoulder, gave a caring but stern smile, and walked away, convinced she had proved her point.
"Now, suit up Williams, you and Vakarian are coming to get Liara with me."
The mission on Therum, as was becoming the norm for Shepard, was a bit of a shit show. They had to fight their way through waves of geth to get to the excavation site where they found Dr. T'Soni, trapped in some sort of Prothean stasis field. They had to use a mining laser to get to the asari, and when they found her, they had to fight through an insane krogan and his squad of geth while the active volcano collapsed around them.
When they'd returned to the Normandy, it gave Shepard the chance to assess Dr. T'Soni. She seemed genuinely appalled by her mother's actions, and shocked about Shepard's ability to withstand the beacon's message. With Dr. T'Soni's theories combined with Shepard's vision they were able to confirm the Reaper threat-before Dr. T'Soni grew faint and had to lie down. Shepard hoped Liara wouldn't be a liability, but she wasn't sure yet.
That night, the Commander walked to her cabin, only to find Williams in the mess hall talking to Garrus and Wrex. The Commander greeted them all, and shot Williams an approving smile.
Commander Shepard got ready for sleep and closed her eyes. She wasn't prepared for what happened next.
Garrus came walking into her cabin, only to find the Commander with her eyes closed. He went to turn around but ended up knocking over some datapads, waking the Commander. Groggily, she said, "Oh, Garrus, hi. Did you need something?" Shepard, seemingly prepared for anything at any time, quickly shook off the cobwebs while Garrus got his thoughts together.
"Uh, sorry," he started, "I didn't know you were asleep. I just...I overheard Williams and your conversation today about me, Tali, Wrex, and Liara, and well...thanks. For sticking up for us. You didn't have to."
The Commander flashed a quick smile and replied, "Oh, Garrus, you don't need to thank me for that. I was just telling the truth. Please, sit down, we didn't get to talk today and I'd like to share a drink."
Garrus sat down as the Commander pulled out two types of liquid; one for humans, another for turians. She poured them each a glass and sat pensively before saying, "You know, Garrus, I can't figure out what it is about you; you intrigue me. From the moment I met you, I understood you, and you understood me. Do you know how rare that is?" She took a sip from her glass and continued, "No one really gets me, they only get the idea of the great Commander Shepard...but you see Noelle."
Then, Shepard did something she never thought she would do. She sat right next to Garrus, used her hand to pull his face to hers, and kissed him. She didn't know why, but it had felt like she wanted to do this forever.
Shepard jolted up, startled by her own dream. She went into her bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. Garrus? Did she have feelings for Garrus? She knew he had become a great friend, but having romantic feelings for him was another story entirely. Though she didn't enjoy it, she had somewhat of a reputation to uphold. A turian-human romance between her and the rogue C-Sec officer would do nothing to reinforce that reputation. It was then that the Commander knew what she had to do. She got dressed and went out into the mess hall for breakfast. A little while later, she saw Alenko at his usual spot, and gained her composure.
She sauntered over to him, looked flirtatiously, and said,"Hey, Alenko, can I talk to you for a minute?"
Garrus had decided in between missions that he needed to talk to Shepard-to thank her. A few days ago he had been working on the Mako when he overheard the Commander talking to Chief Williams. Williams was complaining about the aliens on the ship, and Commander Shepard had defended all of them. After that, Williams wasn't exactly friendly, but she had stopped staring at him like he had two heads. He had been grateful that the Commander intervened and made life more comfortable for him on the ship. He needed her to know that.
When he woke up in the morning he stepped on to the elevator to speak to Shepard in her cabin. He knocked on her door only to hear her laughter coming from the mess hall. He looked over and saw Shepard talking to Lieutenant Alenko. Shepard had regular conversations with all of her crew, but Garrus could tell this was different. Shepard was acting like a teenage girl, twirling her hair and laughing a little too loud at the Lieutenant's jokes. If he didn't know better, he'd have thought she was interested in Kaidan.
But what if she is interested in him? Garrus thought. He wasn't sure why the thought bothered him so much. Alenko seemed like a good person overall, if not a little wary of Garrus himself. But he didn't seem like Shepard's type. He was attractive by human standards, but her previous conversations with him seemed to have little relevance and resembled small talk more than flirtation. He was a skilled soldier, but Shepard rarely took him into battle. He couldn't understand where this sudden interest came from, and why she was acting so strangely.
In fact, the more he watched Shepard, the more her behavior disturbed him. He had never seen her act the way she was now. Shepard is a respectable woman, and shouldn't have to dumb herself down for anybody. But when she was talking to Alenko, she was no longer the fierce, dominant, hilarious Noelle Shepard he had come to know. She was actually being submissive, letting him take control of the conversation, and stroking his ego when the conversation deemed it appropriate.
Though he was bothered by what he noticed about the Commander, he would never bring it up to her. She was his superior, and he knew she would grow angry at his questions. Just as he was about to stop staring, Alenko caught his eye. Immediately the Lieutenant's face changed, and he spoke solemnly to Shepard, nodding in Garrus's direction. Shepard turn around to look at Garrus, her cheeks flushing to a vibrant red. Turning around, she put her hand on Kaidan's shoulder and departed, walking towards Garrus.
Her stature changed immediately to that of the comfortable and confident Commander Shepard. "Hey Garrus!" she said. Realizing she still sounded like an excited little girl from her conversation with Alenko, she cleared her throat and said, "Did you need something?"
Garrus tried to push aside his thoughts of Shepard's behavior long enough to formulate his thoughts on the reason he actually intended to speak with her. When he found the right words he spoke. "Yeah," he hesitantly continued, trying to find the right words, "I just wanted to thank you."
The Commander looked quizzically back at Garrus. "For what?" she asked, genuinely confused about what he meant.
"Commander, I heard your conversation with Gunnery Chief Williams. No one has ever stuck up for me like that, especially a human. Most humans look at us the way Williams does, so her outlook doesn't surprise me. But, I've never met anyone like you, Shepard, and I want you to know how much I appreciate you."
The Commander's facial features went from tense to soft as Garrus spoke. Her vibrant green eyes were almost unreadable to Garrus, and by now he'd become quite good at reading human expressions. He wasn't sure what to think until she threw her arms around him. She hugged him tightly and said, "Thank you, Garrus. You have no idea how much that means to me. I'm glad I have a friend in you." She wiped her eyes, and Garrus wondered if the Commander had been crying during their hug. "Anyway," she proceeded, "We're on our way to visit our first human colony-Feros. You and Alenko are coming with me, we're docking tomorrow. Be ready, I have no clue what to expect."
Garrus nodded, and Shepard took that as her cue to return to her cabin. He was surprised that Alenko was accompanying them, but her behavior towards him this morning could be enough to explain that.
Feros had thrown off the crew. They were immediately greeted by geth, who took out the one human that was to escort them to the colony. Instead, the three of them had to fight their way through a large amount of geth to actually reach the colony at all. When they had, the colonists were at the entrance wielding small pistols to do whatever damage they could. They spoke to the leader, Fai Dan, and made their way to the highway above in order to take out the remaining geth. Throughout the whole fight, Shepard and Garrus shared their wordless tactics, Garrus knowing which targets to shoot to keep them off Shepard, Shepard turning around and winking at Garrus in thanks. This only created more tension between him and Alenko, who seemed to take every single interaction personally.
The team had navigated the highway, taken out the geth dropship, and were headed back to Feros to take out the Thorian, the plant that was controlling the minds of all of the ExoGeni colonists, and what Saren and the geth were after. Shepard had insisted that they use paralyzing grenades instead of killing the colonists, who attacked as soon as they realized that the team was out to kill the Thorian. Garrus smiled as the Commander continued to surprise him.
The Thorian was much bigger than they expected. They had to take out nodes along the side of the plant in order to kill it. Out of those nodes came husk-like creatures, as well as green copies of an unknown asari commando. The Thorian's minions were easy enough to take out, but the commandos proved challenging and dangerous at close range. Normally this wouldn't be a problem for Garrus, since he usually stayed back with his sniper rifle, but one got past Alenko and ran right through to Garrus.
Before Garrus was hit with a powerful biotic throw, he looked to Alenko, and noticed that his attention was turned to Garrus, not to the fight. Had he intentionally let the commando pass? Even more suspicious was the fact that while Alenko was looking, he didn't do anything to apprehend the commando he effortlessly let pass him.
Garrus was knocked back so hard with biotics that he was bashed into the concrete walls of the complex, and his gun went off the edge of the staircase. He was defenseless when a bullet went straight through the commando's head. As the asari fell, he saw Shepard holding her shotgun; she had saved his life, her signature smirk plastered to her face as she did so.
"Damn it, Vakarian, do I have to do everything?" she jested, continuing to smirk until she knelt down next to him, seeing how hard he had hit the wall. "Shit, Garrus, are you okay?" she asked, behaving the same way a concerned parent would. She checked him for injuries while he replied.
"I'm fine, Noelle...I mean Commander," he chuckled. He only called her by her first name when it was the two of them talking; he quickly adjusted his tone so not to appear to be undermining her. "I guess my head is a little bit more banged up then I thought."
"Well luckily I've never known someone more hard-headed."
The two of them laughed as he continued, "My gun is gone, though."
After Shepard was convinced that Garrus hadn't sustained any serious injuries, she rose and took out her sniper rifle from its holster, "Here, borrow this." She threw the gun and he caught it effortlessly. She shot a look at Alenko, and they left to finish off the Thorian.
On the way back to the Normandy, Alenko decided it was time to break his silence. "Sorry, Garrus, sorry, Commander. I can't believe that asari clone got past me."
He expected Shepard to argue with Alenko, calling him on purposely letting the commando pass him, or at least for being careless in battle. But she just flashed him a smile and said, "It's okay, Kaidan. People make mistakes."
Garrus was seething as they entered the airlock. He couldn't believe the Commander had blown off Alenko's "error". Garrus could have died because of what he did, and all Shepard could do was brush it off because she had a crush on him? The smarter half of him was telling him to cool off before talking to Shepard, but the angry turian couldn't comply. He stripped his helmet off and threw it on the floor next to the galaxy map, following Shepard into her cabin.
Shepard must not have realized that Garrus followed her because when she turned around to see him in her room she jumped. "Garrus, you scared the shit out of me!" she gasped.
Garrus, practically hissing, replied, "Well, you're scaring the shit out of me too, Noelle." She appeared immediately hurt by his tone, but he couldn't stop. "First, you act like a silly little girl towards Alenko, and then when he tries to get me killed, you forgive him without asking for an explanation or scolding him at all?! I put my life on the line for you and for our cause every day, and this is how you repay me? By forgiving the man you're sleeping with for almost causing my death?"
Shepard's eyes were wide now, and Garrus could tell he'd pissed her off. "How dare you, Garrus!" she retorted, making Garrus feel like he had just awoken a sleeping bear. "First of all, I am not favoring Alenko because we're together and he did not try to kill you! I would never condone an action like that. I thought you knew me better than that. Second of all, Alenko and I aren't together, and third, us being together or not being together isn't any of your business anyway!"
Garrus scoffed, "Shepard, he stared directly at me as the commando took me down. He didn't flinch, he didn't shoot her, he did nothing! He wanted me to get hurt. Even if by some chance, it was an accident, it was a huge accident. I have been close to death before, that's not even what bothers me. It's that you have literally betrayed me because you're into the Lieutenant. You've been the best friend I've ever had but Alenko turns you into someone that isn't Noelle Shepard. You stand back and let him take control every time he speaks, and it doesn't seem to bother you at all!"
Shepard was staring at him, tears welling up in her eyes. Garrus had crossed a line, he knew that. He reached out to her but she slapped his hand away. "Just go, Garrus. I can't even look at you right now," she whispered.
Garrus left, and couldn't sleep all night.