A/N: Gah sorry about forgetting to post yesterday. Apparently I forgot when my own birthday fell into place. Here's Chapter 7, apologies I didn't get that surprise done. I'll aim to get it done tomorrow.
Chapters may be a little slower due to my Proof reader taking a 'vacation' and driving across the US. Still grateful that he's willing to help with it.
Usual thanks to those two amazing people, Wrex and Garrus.
-Feary
With that the Normandy was on its way to another crew member. Garrus wondered how Liara would react when she saw Shepard alive and well once again. Probably starting with her usual phrase 'By the Goddess!'. He chuckled softly at the thought as he turned his attention back to Shepard. "Hmm an hour of flight.. and everyone is working except for you and I. What ever shall we do?" His tone was sarcastic as a grin spread over his face, mandibles clicking with amusement as she eyed him.
Her brows perked in curiosity as Garrus had chuckled, but it only made her smile as she turned to see Traynor staring at her intently. Both brows rose now, and as Garrus spoke, she responded quickly to cut off Traynor. "Well as Specialist Traynor has informed me, I have.. many messages I need to go through." She chuckled uneasily, not really ready to read them all, but it seemed Traynor wasn't gonna let her off that easy.
"Very well Commander, in which case I will go down to the Main Battery and work on the Normandy's weapons systems. Let me know when you've finished, or if I'm needed to perform some.." His throat cleared as he already started to stride away, "Calibrations elsewhere." He tossed her a smirk, which had her face turning a bright pink as she scowled after him.
The battle hardened woman kept the scowl on him as the doors started to close between them. "Yeah yeah, watch it scars." She called back as she turned back to her terminal under the watchful eye of Traynor.
There were so, so, so many messages, so much that it was damn near stressful. Message after message from many different races of people, thanking her for her service and her ultimate sacrifice she made on that fateful day. Most of them were deleted, she of course could not reply to them or risk blowing her cover. Anything that Traynor had marked as important was saved until the spam had been cycled through. It had taken well over a half an hour before she could get to the important ones, pulling up old pictures of the crew that the members had sent in remembrance in the past years. It brought a smile to her face, tears to her eyes, and melted away the stress from all the previous message. Each image was saved to her holo drive.
"I think I've got them all." She turned to Traynor with a perked brow as she spoke. "I'm going to go speak with Garrus before we reach the Broker's ship." She didn't expect the Specialist to really care so she headed for the elevator, taking it down to the crew deck. Her foot tapped impatiently until finally it dinged and swished open. She strode with purpose to the main battery, sneaking in behind Garrus, and wrapping her arms around his back, crossing them over his broad chest as she buried her face into his soft clothing with a sigh.
He'd heard her of course, but kept working as the familiar gait reached his ears. As her arms wrapped around him, he chuckled. "Well I wonder who this could be?" He rumbled softly as he turned in her arms to return the embrace. "You finally got away from that mean ol' Specialist? I was just devising a plan on how to get you out of there!" He smirked sarcastically. "On a different note I did think of some things while you were reading and it came to mind. What are we going to name the baby? Then I thought, that with you saving the galaxy and all, and the fact that you're the mother, you should name them." Blue eyes met her emerald gaze as she turned her face up to him.
"Yeah, so many messages. I hope I never have to do that again. Eesh." She sighed, rubbing her face against the velvet clothing, it was so warm and comfortable. Her shoulders rolled at his question. "Not sure yet, I don't even know the gender yet, though Dr. Chakwas could probably figure that out easily." She murmured softly, then bounced on the tip of her toes. "I want it to be a surprise too! And when the time comes, I think we should both choose a name. I may be the mother, but you are also the father. It's only right to have us both decide." She grinned.
"Very well then. The suspense is quite high though, especially just thinking about the look on the crew's faces. Uh.. well except for Tali, no one can really see her face.."
Shepard snorted softly before allowing it to become a laugh. "That's quite true. Haven't you ever wondered? What her face really looks like I mean." She asked curiously, remaining close but stepping back slightly from their embrace, and watching him as she awaited his answer, however EDI chose that moment in time to interrupt.
"Commander, we've arrived at the Shadow Broker's ship, Dr. T'Soni has granted access, and eagerly awaits you."
"Thanks, EDI. We'll be at the bridge shortly." She called back, emerald gaze still locked onto Garrus. "Ready Scars?"
Garrus nodded immediately. "I'm right behind you!" He chuckled as he quickly followed her out to the elevator, hands interlocked, however in her eagerness, she was practically dragging him forward with her wide steps.
EDI met them just outside the elevator. "Ready when you are, Commander." She chirped, falling into step with the pair as they moved on.
Shepard was quite contented as they made their way forward, paying no mind to anyone really as they headed across the CIC and into the airlock. As the air began to vent and stabilize, she turned, watching both EDI and Garrus with curiosity, if only she could read minds. "Send us through, Joker." She called, turning to straighten as the laser passed through the small room a few times.
The doors opened to both ships connecting their main airlocks together to form a bridge, and the door across was opened, and awaiting them. They all walked through until the doors sealed safely behind them. As the door closed, a trail of blue lights illuminated their path forward. "Huh, I don't remember those being there. Looks like Liara has added some personal touches to her new ship already. I wonder if she finished the upgrades on Glyph. He seemed to have a bad habit of popping in unexpectedly, and he's not as cool as EDI."
EDI shrugged at Garrus's words. "I do believe that is because I am an AI Garrus.. not a floating drone. He often tries to get into my systems. I respond with electricity through his core processor. That was the only way he would accede to not do so again." She placed a hand to her mouth as she stifled a giggle.
A sigh left Shepard as she made her way forward "Well, that's one way to do it." She chuckled as she arched a brow at EDI. "I miss Glyph, even with his unexpected entrances." She laughed again as the door slid open, revealing the wide ships interior, and a familiar face standing there eagerly awaiting her new guests.
"By the Goddess, Shepard it really is you! In all this time I never thought this could be possible yet again!" The Broker stepped forward to embrace her Commander. Yes, her Commander. Just because she operated on a different ship did not mean she did not still wish to fall under the command of Shepard. "I'm so glad the rumors were true Shepard, it was.. rough without our favorite galaxy saving Commander." She offered a small smile before welcome them all on board by stepping back to allow them entrance. "Garrus, and EDI! It's a pleasure to see you to again as well!"
"Good to see you too Liara." Garrus was astonished on no matter how long it had been, Asari were able to fight aging and ignore time. He wasn't about to say that out loud though.
They walked into the room, screens lining all over until Glyph popped up out of nowhere as usual, and spooked the hell out of Garrus. "Hello everyone, nice to see you all again."!
Garrus groaned in irritation while Shepard and Liara laughed at his reaction. Needless to say his temptation to swat the drone was higher then usual. It reminded them of the good times, and as usual Glyph ignored EDI, knowing that if he got too close, she'd zap the hell out of him again.
Liara continued onward, gathering everyone to the bar shaped table in the corner of the large room as Garrus began to explain the reasons why Liara should join back on the team without disclosing to her about their soon to be parenthood. "I see.. well then I will be more then happy to join everyone. I can look into the Vorcha with the system and keep constant updates with you Shepard. Assuming I get my old room again?" Liara smiled as she raised a brow at Shepard.
"It's much appreciated, Liara. It'll be nice to have you back on the Normandy, and of course! The room is just ad you left it, most of your equipment is still there, and whatever managed to go missing I'm sure we can replace quickly." She replied with a grin as she moved to step from the table. "We can send some of the crew in to help with anything you need to move. Glyph?" She turned toward where the drone had last been, and he materialized almost immediately. "You can head aboard now if you wish to begin preparations for transferring any data Liara needs."
Glyph bobbed in understanding before turning to zip away. Garrus nearly sighed in relief as the drone was gone. He hated when it tried to modify his calibrations, but with that quick thought pushed away, they turned to help get Liara's belongings situated.
Once back on the ship, Liara was quite pleased with the great condition her room was still in. All the screens still in place, and the data panel still in check. It was almost as if she had never left. "Everything is perfect and complete, especially now that you're back Shepard. Thank you again Garrus for helping me with my things, and I will do what I can to research what Cerberus is up to, including Garrus' theory with the Vorcha. It's great to be back and I will get to work right away!"
"I'll swing by later, Liara. Keep me updated on anything important you find." She waved slightly as her and Garrus departed.
With that she quickly turned to her computers to do her thing while Garrus and Shepard left. As the door closed behind them, Garrus could feel fingers interlace with his own. He looked over to see her clinging to his arm, leaned up against his shoulder smiling. "One more down, six more to go. Now we go get Jack and Alenko."
She'd be damned if she'd let anyone take her away from the arm she had claimed her own, distant thoughts of her past often haunted her, this would explain her clingy nature around her loved one, for what seemed like days before she thought she was never going to see him again. And now come to find out, shes not dead! His words brought her back from her thoughts, and her sea colored eyes turned up to him, a smile still on her face. "Ha! Jack and Alenko, Oh dear God it's going to be interesting to see them again." She sighed slightly.
"I agree. Jack probably changed her look once again, and Alenko probably did get another promotion.. It'll be nice to have them back on the ship." He looked over to see that wide smile, green eyes staring up at him. Her grip on his arm tightened even more as they stood like that for a few moments.
She laughed and nodded in agreement. "Who knows, maybe this time she actually has hair!" She made a shocked face before laughing more and perking a brow. "Well Alenko is a good soldier, it wouldn't surprise me if he gained yet another promotion." She murmured softly as he turned toward her.
A chuckle left him before he turned to embrace her. "You know I love you right? Nothing is ever going to come between us again." He murmured, "Especially with the Reapers long gone."
Her grin widened even more at his words, the memories being slowly pushed away as his words sunk in. It may be true that the reapers were gone, and that nothing was going to tear her away from him without one hell of a battle, but she would always always fear the day if that battle were ever to come. "I love you too."
Holding her close he used his free hand to lace through her hair and placed it gently resting between her cheek and her neck. Bending over to place his forehead upon her own. He remained silent, not wanting the moment to pass. Wishing that there weren't any threats out there, but he knew better. He had to make sure they weren't going to be a threat in the future.
His touch was so very comforting, and she could stand there all day if time would permit, but they both knew that eventually they would have to send for Jack and Alenko. However, for now, she would enjoy his embrace, her own arms moving up around his shoulders as a soft sigh left her lips. "I'm so glad most of the mess got cleaned up, and only a few stragglers remain." She peeked up at him from their forehead bump.
For what seemed like hours, the two of them stood there embracing one another. He could feel the slight tilt of her head as she placed a kiss upon his skeletal face, her arms still wrapped around his neck, her fingers interlacing with the fringed on his head as her lips gently pressed to his face. He wished he could understand how it felt to have lips to kiss her back with. However, of course, the intercom interrupted his thoughts, "The ship is prepped and ready to go Commander.. Just um.. whenever you're ready, also a reminder that the Normandy still had Cameras. I think I actually just saw EDI blush!" Joker snickered over the com.
Garrus looked up at the camera in the far corner of the mess area. He'd completely forgot there were cameras and felt if Turians could blush, his face would be glowing a bright red color. He felt her lips separate from his face, hands still wrapped around his neck, not wishing for their embrace to part. His own hands remained on her hips, pulling her close to him. "Well, damn! Totally forgot about those." Chuckling a bit nervously as he turned his gaze to Shepard.
To say she was content didn't even brush the surface of what she felt as they stood there. Not even the interruption from Joker had her feeling any less. She simply grinned widely, turning her head to face the camera so that they got a nice glimpse of her smirk. "Yes Joker, I know." She laughed, turning her attention back to Garrus. "EDI? Blushing? Well that's a first." She snorted, leaning forward to place her head against his chest.
A soft sigh left her before she carefully stepped back. "Well I suppose we should go get Alenko and Jack." She glanced up at him before tapping back into Joker. "Send us to these coordinates, I heard Jack and Alenko still operate with the Alliance, these are the coordinates Hackett provided." She tapped onto the data-pad she pulled from the back of her casual wear, sending the coordinates to Joker.
The intercom patched on again as she tapped away on her data pad. "Coordinates received Commander. On our way to the new and improved Grissom Biotics Academy." That place was taken by Cerberus years ago, Garrus was shocked the Alliance had taken it back. With those thoughts, Dr. Chakwas appeared behind him and Shepard.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything but I need to pry Mr. Vakarian from you for a moment Commander. He forgot his boarding check up." Garrus moaned in discomfort, he never did like the check ups. "Alright... lets get this over with Doctor..." He looked at his lover once more before separating. "I will seek you out shortly after this is done." With that, he hugged her before following Dr. Chakwas into the Med-Bay.