"It is a good thing that the locals are so gracious, otherwise we would not be taking off as fast as we are." The accented female voice drawled. She was staring at the engine core of the Normandy... or at least Garrus thought that she was. With her helmet, it was almost impossible to know where Tali was looking. For all he knew, she could be looking somewhere completely different. But her face... well... mask was facing towards the engine core, so that was where the turian presumed she was looking. He crossed his arms and nodded.

"Yeah. They've been a big help. After Ash talked to them, it wasn't long before we got the parts that we needed."

Garrus thought back to the Spectre who had been accompanying them around the galaxy. While Ashley wasn't always with them, and still stuck to her guns and to the Alliance, it did come in handy. She could use her influence as Lieutenant-Commander to try to get some supplies from the colonists of Eden Prime. Of course, it helped that she was once stationed here, and that she had fought alongside their commander to save the place. Ashley Williams was well-liked amongst the humans, and Garrus was grateful for that at times. He shook his head slightly. There was no way that he would've gotten the humans to part with their resources so willingly.

Though Tali was still staring at the engine core, she commented, "What's wrong?" Garrus' eyes narrowed a bit. Damn that quarian woman... a very dear friend, but sometimes a man just wanted to be left alone with his thoughts.

"Nothing, I'm good. When can we get off this rock?"

The quarian's mask turned towards him finally and she shrugged. "Hard to say. I wouldn't give it more than a day though. The Normandy really didn't take much damage at all... Joker's flying was incredible."

"When isn't it?" The turian commented wryly. He pushed his body up off of the wall he was leaning against, giving a small grunt of discomfort. Tali noticed.

"How's your injuries?"

"Chakwas says I was lucky to be alive. Gave me the mother of all lectures." Garrus recalled back to when he got this injury... his armor had been a complete and total mess. He had to use a spare set that he had now; a red one that had a comm link attached to it, molding around the scarred side of his face like a glove. He had been running with Shepard and Javik towards the beam of blue light, attaching London to the Citadel. A Reaper had blown up a Mako, sending it flying. He remembered that Shepard had dove down to make sure she wasn't caught by the Mako, but Garrus and Javik hadn't been so lucky. It had landed in front of them, causing them both to go flying, but Garrus had been closer. He remembered how the earth had careened around him, the shock going through his body, wondering if he would lose consciousness here, before Shepard had come and grabbed him, dragging his sorry ass to shelter, Javik right behind her. He had been struggling to keep conscious as Shepard had radio'd for transport, and finally he seemed to realize what was going on when she told Javik to take him into the Normandy.

"And you have got to be kidding me!"

He came back to the present to see Tali had approached him, and had placed a hand on his arm. He glanced at her quietly and then shook his head.

"I'll be sure not to do that again. I don't know which one I'd like to face more... the Reaper, or Chakwas."

The quarian laughed a little. "Dr. Chakwas isn't that bad."

"True." The turian tried to flash her a little grin, his mandibles quivering upward. "But she told me to take it easy."

"You're not going to, are you?" The quarian asked with a bit of skepticism.

Garrus started to walk away, waving as he went. "Tali, I've been shot, I've caught a missile with my face, and I've destroyed Reapers, and survived every time." He stopped and looked behind him, smiling genuinely. "I'll be damned if I stop there."

"Take care of yourself, Vakarian. We need you in one piece."

"You too, Tali. The only way we're gonna get off this rock is if you stay focused."

He saw the quarian nod, and then began to walk towards the elevator. He was deep in his thoughts however, as he walked down the hallway. That speech... he had no idea where it came from. It sounded like something that she would have said. Their commander. He chuckled a little and then sighed. He thought back to the commander's idealisms... the thought that she always had in her head that she could save as many lives as she could, even if it meant her own, and even if it was against all odds. The few times that she had no choice, Garrus had watched her make the choice with a great pain on her shoulders. He always felt like he wanted to make those decisions for her... to tell her to relax a little bit before she killed herself with stress. But now that he was in her boots... sure, making jokes with Tali was all well and good, but he knew that with that position, he also had to make the tough decisions.

He stopped at the elevator and stared at the door. Then, he bowed his head a little.

"Jane... I don't envy you now." He murmered as he summoned an elevator to floor two. He stepped into it, and the doors closed behind him. But he wasn't alone in the elevator. A voice came through a speaker in the elevator door.

"Garrus, Admiral Hackett just got into contact with us. He wants to see one of us on vidcom." Samantha Traynor's voice sounded unconfidant through the speaker. "I thought, well... even though you're not Alliance..."

Garrus nodded quietly, then suddenly realized that Traynor wouldn't be able to see him. "Yeah. No problem, Specialist. I'll talk with him."

"Thank you. Sorry to... place that pressure on you. I'm not even sure if you're the right one to talk to him... whether it's Ashley, or even Joker..."

Garrus laughed a little. "Not much command around here, is there? Don't worry, I've got it covered."

"No Garrus. You've done a wonderful job. It's only your second day after all, and we lost her rather quickly-" The voice suddenly stopped, and Garrus' face looked pained. He coughed to break the silence.

"I told you not to worry about it, Traynor."

"Right. I'm sorry."

Garrus could've laughed. Were all humans like this? Well, he knew that they weren't, but they were so concerned about not offending people... it was an admirable quality but it really allowed for a lot of apologies.

"Stop apologizing. It's okay."

"Right. I'm-" There was a quick pause. "Right."

"Damn right." Garrus commented as the elevator stopped at the second floor. He walked out of it, and saw Traynor staring at him with her chocolate brown eyes. She looked completely embarrassed. He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but he wasn't entirely sure if it worked. Then, he proceeded into the war room, to have his little meeting with Hackett.

Chapter Notes

- I nearly stopped writing this story all together after some indoctrination theories that I read online. I'm really really glad that I didn't though. I downloaded the PC version of Mass Effect 3, which added in From the Ashes and the Extended Cut DLC for free (Although, EC was already free). So, when I read the theories, they made no bloody sense to me, because of some of the content. However, this fanfic has changed in a sense in my mind; cause dammit all, I want to know how the hell Shepard survived, and if I have to write it myself, I will!

- Music listened to:

Two Steps From Hell - United We Stand, Divided We Fall

CleverNoobNetwork - The Indoctrination Theory (Not music, but certainly enlightening)