Chapter 25

Shepard woke up alone. The unoccupied half of her bed was cold, and she shied away from it as goosebumps spread across her flesh. She rubbed her eyes and sat up slowly. So, Garrus had left. She knew she shouldn't have felt disappointed, but a small sigh escaped her lips as she combed her hand through the tangled mess of her hair. For her, last night had felt... intimate. Meaningful. Perhaps it hadn't to him.

Before she could swing her legs over the side of the bed, a noise caught her attention. The bathroom door opened and Garrus stepped out, drying himself with a fluffy towel. She couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face at the sight of him.

He glanced up and caught her eye, returning the smile. "Good morning."

"Morning," she yawned, stretching her arms above her head.

"So, Commander..." he hummed emphasizing her title with a gleam in his eyes, "Should I help you round up the crew? I'm sure a few cups of coffee are in order after the night they had."

"Actually, I'm going to take mercy on them. Hackett said the Crucible still needs some last minute touch-ups, so we can board tonight. That, and I don't need them hungover on the most important mission of their careers."

Garrus shrugged. "According to Wrex, guns and hangovers mix well..."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but Wrex thinks guns mix well with everything. Anyway, I thought it seemed right to give them all one last day in case things go sideways down there."

She didn't want to say it, but they all knew they wouldn't come back from Earth. She'd only been there twice in her life, and strangely enough, both times had been because of Alliance. The first time was for her parents' funeral (Alliance had given everyone on Mindoir, including her parents, the proper Earth funeral), and second was when she'd been relieved of duty. Though Shepard knew with Earth's current state she wouldn't get a burial she almost smiled at the thought of dying on Earth, where her parents were buried. It seemed fitting. She loved space, but she'd already died there once, and it hadn't been very permanent. This time she hoped to stay dead.

"One last day, huh?" he pondered, sitting at the foot of the bed. A slow smile crept over his face, pulling her from the darkness of her thoughts. "I know exactly how I want to spend it."

"This is how you wanted to spend your last day?" Shepard yelled from cover, throwing a grenade at the advancing Cerberus troops.

"You're just mad because you're losing," he replied, releasing a few well-placed bullets into the glowing orange visors.

She growled, jumping out from cover and punching the nearest assault trooper. "It's totally unrealistic! If this was a real battle, I'd be kicking your ass. The buttons are sticking, so I can't even use biotics."

Garrus fired off another shot, and the last remaining centurion dropped. Simultaneously they removed their simulation visors, and he smirked at her. "That sounds an awful like poor sportsmanship."

"And that sounds just like gloating" she returned, punching him lightly on the shoulder.

"Okay, okay, point taken," he laughed, hands held up in surrender. "No more Armax Arena."

They started up the stairs, making their way out of the crowded arcade.

"It feels weird fighting Cerberus troops after I brought down their organization anyway," she remarked, hiding a grin.

"Would you have prefered to battle the geth?"

"After all the help they've done on Rannoch? I'd feel terrible."

He chuckled, but didn't press the issue. They reached the exit, pasuing outside the door.

"Any other big plans for your last day?"

He pretended to consider the question. "Well, I don't know about you, but killing bad guys all morning really worked up my appetite. There's this dextro-levo place I've been dying to try. It's next to the casino, formal dress... You know the one."

She crossed her arms, leaning back coyly. "I don't know, isn't that place a little expensive?"

"Haven't we been introduced before? I'm Garrus Vakarian, high-ranking military officer and savior of the Citadel. I have more credits than I know what to do with."

"Garrus Vakarian?" Shepard repeated, feigning confusion. "Hm, that sounds familiar. Didn't you get fired from C-Sec?"

"Oh no," he assured her, "I left to become a vigilante. You know, to save lives. Ever hear the name Archangel?"

"Yeah, I heard Commander Shepard had to pull his ass out of the fire on Omega. Wait a minute, isn't she the one who saved the Citadel too? And I'm pretty sure she outranks Archangel."

"I wouldn't put too much stock in Shepard, she does it mostly for the attention," he said dismissively.

"Oh, yeah? Well, I have it on good authority that Archangel is a total fu-"

"Hey, Shepard," Kaidan interrupted, walking toward her.

"Alenko," Garrus nodded. "We were just finalizing some plans."

"Oh, Garrus, I didn't see you there." He sounded uncomfortable. "Uh, don't let me bother you guys."

"No, that's alright," Garrus replied, still smirking from the previous conversation. "I should go change anyway. Meet me in an hour, Shepard? And don't forget to wear something nice to dinner." He mussed her hair as he walked away and she glared after him, trying ineffectively to smooth it back down.

As soon as Garrus was out of earshot, Kaidan turned his gaze on Shepard. "So, you and Garrus, huh? What, is it some turian fetish?" Irritation colored his tone.

"What?" she demanded, paling. He didn't really think she was in a relationship with Garrus, did he?

"I was talking to that girl, Kasumi, yesterday. She said you've been with him since before the Collector Base."

"She's mistaken," Shepard replied firmly.

"It's fine, Shepard. Really," he insisted, still sounding angry. "You can do what you want. I just think it's weird that you wouldn't tell me."

"Kaidan, you're not listening to me -"

"Yeah, I should probably go," he said, giving her a fake smile. "Wouldn't want to spoil your big date!" The smile vanished, and he muttered, "See you on Earth."

Shepard pulled the hem of her dress down nervously as she stared down at the table. The dress, provided by Kasumi, was much too short for her taste, and she felt exposed. Sure, Garrus had seen her naked only hours before, but when was the last time she'd worn casuals that weren't military issued? She couldn't even recall. It was unnerving, and despite the pistol strapped to her thigh, she felt vulnerable.

She was decidedly avoiding his eyes.

"This is a little different from our usual meetups," he observed, taking in the ornately decorated room. "Lots of unbroken glass, no dead bodies, no one shooting at us..."

"Yeah," she muttered. "It feels wrong."

He grinned at her discomfort. "Come on, I think it's nice. Even if the rest of the meal is garbage, I got to see you in a dress."

"Great, now you're laughing at me?" she jested, hoping to break the strange mood that had fallen over them.

"Actually, I think you look fantastic."

Well, that had backfired. She sighed and drank her wine.

"Shepard? What's wrong?"

She met his eyes, full of concern. For her. Where was this going? Just weeks ago she's absolutely hated him. Now the look he was giving her made her want to comfort him, to assure him everything was fine. Everything was not, in fact, fine. They would both die sometime tomorrow, then the Reapers would probably destroy the universe. Yet here she was, worried about a stupid notion that she'd been conned into a relationship.

"Garrus, this isn't a... date, is it?"

He shrugged with an apologetic smile. "We're eating together in a nice restaurant and wearing fancy clothes. So yeah, it's kind of a date."

"Shouldn't we talk about what this is first?" she asked, gesturing between them. "We haven't exactly established that there is something, uh, between us."

He looked at her incredulously. "You want to talk about feelings?"

"No," she glowered. "It just seems like... I don't know. Like we should figure out where we stand."

"Shepard," he said soothingly, taking her hand, "there's no guarantee either of us will live through the end of tomorrow. Even if we do, I have no illusions that things will suddenly be perfect between us, and I know you don't either. So let's table this, and agree to figure things out after you save the galaxy again."

"What if only one of us survives? Wouldn't you always wonder what could have been?"

"Spending our last hours arguing about a future that may not even exist?" he asked drily, and she looked down, sighing again. "This is where I want to be right now, Shepard. With you. No matter what happens on Earth, or afterward, we'll always have this one perfect day."

She looked back up at him with a faltering smile. "Alright. Do your best, Vakarian."

"I always do."

(A/N): Two more chapters left. Shepard might seem a little out of character from how I've portrayed her so far, but she knows she's probably about to die, so she's less concerned about appearances and more interested in pursuing anything that feels comforting (i.e. Garrus).