Chapter 3
Garrus didn't hate her. It wasn't an overwhelming urge to kill her or watch her suffer. But something about the way she strutted about the ship like she owned the place - which he hated to admit she did - set his blood on fire. In a bad way.
He didn't want to hurt her, but he did want to take her down a peg. For such a small human, she was far too arrogant. And he absolutely loathed her nickname for him and the many horrendous metaphors she created with it.
Maybe he'd do something to take her down a peg. She seemed awfully proud of her hair, and he had to admit the color was nice, despite the rest of the ugly traits that came with her race. He could wait until she fell asleep and cut off her tresses, or put paint on them. Surely that would make her a little less smug.
He contemplated the many way s he could injure Shepard's pride as he worked to repair the Mako she'd trashed on her last excursion. He was currently underneath the vehicle, with just his legs sticking out, when he heard her voice.
"Wrex."
"Shepard."
A large clank, which he assumed was a headbutt of comradery between the two. They did this every time she came down here.
"I almost felt that one," Wrex rumbled with some amusement. "Maybe you'll grow a quad after all."
She scoffed. "I've got more quad than the entire Urdnot clan combined!"
"If you'd said Wreyloc, I might have believed you."
They laughed for a moment before something caught her attention, and he could hear her move away from Wrex.
"Aww, look, Ashley! He's nesting!"
Anger flooded through Garrus, but he ignored the taunt, continuing his work.
"I'm glad you're here, Commander. I wanted to speak to you about a... situation that's been bothering me." Ashley's voice was low and concerned. A human might not have understood her at that distance. Garrus, however, heard every word. "I know things are different on the Normandy, but I'm concerned about the aliens, Vakarian and Wrex. With all due respect, Commander, should they have full access to the ship?"
If he wasn't mad before, he was now.
"Gunnery Chief Williams, what in particular about them are you uncomfortable with?"
Ashley gave an uneasy cough. "They're aliens, Ma'am. They don't have humanity's best interests in mind."
"Let's get something straight, Williams: if you feel nervous about something going on here, I encourage you to speak to me about it. However, if the only thing bothering you is your own racism, don't waste either of our time. I trust my crew. You don't have to, but you'd damn well better keep your mouth shut about it if you don't. Are we clear?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Good day, Soldier."
Garrus was shocked. He'd expected an entirely different reaction from Shepard. Her complete intolerance of prejudice caught him off-guard. He realized that he'd been so focused on the conversation he'd stopped working and, with slight annoyance at himself for caring at all what the humans thought of him, resumed his calibrations on the Mako.
"Hey!"
"Agh!"
He jumped, hitting his head on the Mako. Shepard had snuck up and crouched down a few feet away from him. She grinned as he glared at her.
"How's my Mako coming along, Bird?"
"Considerably slower since recent findings indicate your mechanic has a concussion," he growled. "How the hell did you do so much damage to this thing?"
"It's not like I was trying to."
There wasn't much humor in her reply, if any. Had he struck a nerve?
"You should let someone else drive next time," he suggested, trying to sound casual. "Obviously you're no good at it."
He was rewarded by a flicker of irritation crossing her features.
"And I don't suppose you're up to the task?"
"Really, anyone will do. Just not you. Your driving was on the verge of jeopardizing the mission, according to those who saw it in action. I haven't personally, but the damage to the Mako definitely suggests that's an accurate description."
She snarled and stood, storming out of the cargo hold.
"Double-time on those repairs. Have it ready by the time we get to Feros or it's your ass in the fire."
He smirked to himself. That was satisfying. Her cool and collected attitude had been driving him up the wall, so getting under her skin proved to be highly entertaining to Garrus. He resolved to do it more often.
The Thorian was unlike anything Garrus had ever seen or heard of before. The plant, as big as a building, vomited up creatures that resembled green asari, which they were forced to gun down as they hacked away at the Thorian's support structures. Finally the thing collapsed, surrendering a last asari, this one of normal coloring.
She told them how she had been a loyal follower to Matriarch Benezia, who had become indoctrinated to Saren's plot after trying to take the turian down. She too had become indoctrinated, then used as no more than a tool for the Thorian. She said that she wanted to help them take down Saren.
Garrus watched Shepard hesitate, unsure whether or not to believe the asari, before agreeing to let her go. The decision startled him. It wasn't the one he'd have made.
"You shouldn't have let her go," he mused as they ascended the crumbling staircase back to Zhu's Hope. He was polishing a bit of Thorian goo off his sniper rifle as he walked, his head tilted downward, but he watched her face from his peripheral vision.
"Why not, Bird?"
Garrus grimaced internally, wishing she'd stop calling him that. He knew better than to tell her it bothered him, though; bothering him seemed, at times, to be her sole purpose for existence. If he asked her to stop, he would be effectively destroying any hope that she would eventually forget about it. They rose up to ground-level and began the short walk through the dead grass and rubble back to the colony.
"She freely admitted she was indoctrinated. What makes you think she changed just because the Thorian is dead? Seems kind of soft to let her go just because there's a small chance she's not crazy anymore."
This time he looked at her face, hiding his satisfied grin. That remark would surely irk her, and he waited for her response. The look on her face was hard, focused, and she did not meet his eyes. She was looking ahead, staring intently at something. Without a word, she snatched the rifle from his hands and aimed, shooting.
A geth sniper he hadn't noticed until that moment fell to the ground, and he stared at Shepard with a mixture of awe and surprise. She shoved the gun, smoking lightly, back into his still-frozen arms.
"You are a young hot-head who thinks he knows all there is to know about the world," she muttered in reply, walking forward again as he trailed after her, still stunned.
"You don't know me at all," he replied, somewhat dazed.
"I've seen your kind before. Plenty of humans I knew growing up who were just like you. Wanted to be cops to stop all the 'bad guys.' You don't realize that good and bad aren't exclusive. Every person, every action, carries both. Some day you'll get that, hopefully sooner than later."
Her tone was placid and weary. It made Garrus uncomfortable.
"You can't be more than a few years older than me," he protested, trying to snap her out of this strange state of reverie.
Shepard turned back to him and gave him a sad, tired smile as if to say, "If only you knew what I've done."
Instead, she said plainly, "War ages people."
She continued walking, but his feet didn't move as he contemplated her words. She cast another glance over her shoulder, now several paces ahead of him.
"Start flapping, Bird," she called back to him, a mischievous grin playing on her face. "I don't have all day."
The sudden changes in her mood had just about given him whiplash, but he hurried up to keep pace with her. There was definitely a lot about Shepard that he didn't know.
He hoped he wouldn't have to find out.
(A/N): Reviews, glorious reviews! This chapter took all day (and a few beers) to write, and I hope all the extra attention I gave it helped polish it up nicely.
Layla12: I love that idea of them doing frequent sparring matches! I had them spar together in my other story, In the End of the World, so I'm not positive I'll use it. However, I really like the thought of Garrus starting to respect Shep, even if he simultaneously can't stand her. That gave me the idea where she steals his gun and snipes something he didn't even see, which makes him start to realize that she's actually earned her rank and Spectre status. Thank you for that lovely input, it gave me a lot of ideas!