Chapter 7

The first sensation he was aware of was sound as a high-pitched ringing noise screamed through his head. Pain closely followed as the sound thrummed deafeningly loud in his ear cavities. The noise was hurting his whole head now, including his face, which he could now tell was covered in some hot, sticky liquid that dripped to his neck. Something was pulling him across the ground. He opened his eyes and drew a breath, surprised at how shaky it sounded. Blurry figures stood above him, shouting words he couldn't hear through the ringing sound. The enormity of the pain finally found him and as quivering fingers rose to verify the source, he noticed half his face was gone. That must have been where the pool of blue came from.

Dizziness overwhelmed him as one face loomed closer to his. The words echoed, muffled, in his head. "We're getting you out of here. Do you hear me, asshole? Fucking look at me." His eyes slid closed against his will, and, for some reason, he dreamed of Nihlus Kryik.

He woke to a loud beeping sound and his eyes shot open. Immediately he cringed as the bright lights awakened a throbbing ache in the side of his head. Memories flooded back to him, and one taloned hand reached up hesitantly to touch his face. It was covered in bandages. Garrus sucked in a deep breath, which triggered a cough that sprinkled drops of blue onto his arm. He groaned internally. How long had it been since he'd taken a hit this bad? Probably years. As he thought back to his C-Sec training when he'd eaten some hot dogs a smirking human at one of those food carts had sold him, a small laugh escaped him. That definitely counted as a hit. He'd been sick for weeks.

Taking another deep breath, grateful that the coughing had subsided, Garrus sat up and looked around the med-bay. He was alone, but one of the other beds was unmade, and a bit of red indicated the bed's recent use. He repressed a shudder at the sight of the human blood. It didn't matter how many times he'd seen injured humans, red was a disgusting color to bleed. He turned deliberately away from that bed and swung his legs down to the floor, testing his weight. Good, he seemed stable. He stood, and was overcome by a wave of dizziness that almost made him lose his balance. He fought back against the nausea that accompanied it and took a few cautious steps. Okay, everything still seemed functional. The doors to the med-bay slid open and Chakwas, cheeks bulging and holding a half-eaten sandwich, stared at him.

"Gawwuf?" she choked out.

"Sorry if I startled you," he replied, hiding a smile.

The doctor swallowed. "Don't be sorry. I'm glad to see you up - though I can't believe you're awake so soon. You sustained some very serious injuries. Do you remember what happened?"

He frowned. "I was on Omega, holding my position... Then Shepard showed up. And then there was this loud ringing sound." He shook his head and instantly regretted it.

"You took a missile to the face," Chakwas said plainly, taking another bite out of her sandwich. "Gunship shot you point-blank. Joker pulled the ship around and picked you all up, and here you are." She beamed, gesturing around her.

He stared at her. "THE ship? You're not telling me the Normandy wreck was a hoax?"

"Oh, not at all," she murmured sadly. "We lost a lot of great people. But Cerberus rebuilt a near-exact replica of the Normandy. Garrus Vakarian, welcome aboard the SR-2. We are trying to stop the Collector attacks on human colonies - they're connected to the Reapers."

"Reapers," he muttered. "Of course. But since when does Shepard work for Cerberus? And how did she survive her ship blowing up?"

"Those sound like questions you should as her."

He nodded and took a step toward the door.

"Uh, no. Sit down. You're not going anywhere until I make sure you don't have a brain hemorrhage."

Garrus signed, but obediently returned to his cot.

"Don't talk to me."

He stared at Shepard as she stabbed at her vegetables without enthusiasm. She was sitting alone in the mess hall, despite the fact that dinner was hours ago.

"I didn't say anything."

"First, I don't care. Second, what did I JUST say about talking to me?" Garrus opened his mouth to reply, but she held up her hand for silence. "Nope. That was a rhetorical question. You still can't talk."

He sighed. "This is ridiculous. We're stuck on this ship together, and at some time or another, you're going to have to talk to me."

"You're missing the point. I know I'll eventually be forced to actually converse with you. But in the meantime, I'd like to go as long as possible pretending that you aren't here. That way, maybe I can go a little longer without taking Jack's advice, stealing this flying piece of Cerberus shit, and becoming a pirate. I can't put into words how much I hated being a puppet for the Alliance, let alone the racist organization that's funding this suicide mission. You have no idea what hell I've gone through just to be breathing right now."

Garrus gravely watched her face as she continued to stare deeply into her plate of mediocre food. "Fine. I'll try to stay out of your way. But before I do that, I want to know how you survived a wreck in space without getting into an escape pod. I want to know why half the rest of the crew is dead when you aren't, and why Cerberus has so much control over you. And lastly, I want to know why you didn't leave me for dead on Omega if you really hate me so much. You owe me answers."

Shepard stood quickly, her chair falling backward as icy eyes turned in his direction. "I didn't save your ass on Omega, Miranda did. You are scum, and I owe you NOTHING."

She turned to storm off, and his mind flooded with anger. How dare she ignore him? He deserved to know what was going on.

"No! You do NOT get to walk out on me." He grabbed her shoulder, and she hissed in pain, recoiling from his touch. Some anger subsided, and for a moment, he almost felt guilty for hurting her.

"Are you injured?" he asked dubiously, removing his hand.

"That's none of your business," she snapped.

As he tried to regain his composure, a few quick strides had carried her to the elevator, doors sliding shut to conceal her tormented expression before he could read it accurately.

(A/N): I just lost a whole chapter's worth of this story. Forgive me if it takes a while to rewrite.