"Get up."
Casey peered, bleary eyed, out of bed, to see Kasumi standing above her. She groaned, "You know, some people knock. I hear it's pretty common actually."
"Ha ha," Kasumi replied sarcastically. "Come on, get up." She ripped the blankets off, to reveal Casey in her pyjamas: green with little pyjaks on. "Cute."
Casey glanced at the clock, and then groaned. "Why are you waking me up? It's five thirty."
"Some of us are going to the shooting range."
"And that has what to do with me?" Casey yawned.
"Garrus will be there." Kasumi put on a slushy voice, and continued. "Oh Garrus, please help me line up my shot." She then put on a gravelly voice, "Oh sure Casey, but let me take my pants off first…"
"Very funny," Casey's voice was muffled, she'd slipped the blankets back over her head when Kasumi wasn't looking. Kasumi ripped them off, "Get up!"
"Fine," Casey huffed, she was definitely not a morning person. "But seriously, why am I going?"
"Shep wants all the crew down at the range, says we need the practice."
"All of us?" Casey asked, as Kasumi shoved a toothbrush into her mouth.
"Yep."
"Is it big enough for all of us?" Casey thought of the small practice range set up in the Shuttle Bay.
Kasumi raised an eyebrow. "Do you not know where we are?"
Without waiting for an answer she headed over to Casey's window and opened the shutter. Casey almost dropped her toothbrush in surprise: she'd know that miserable rock anywhere.
"Omega?"
"Yep."
"What are we doing in Omega?"
"Shep's meeting some Asari, a Justicar who's going to join our little group. Unfortunately she's after some murderer bla bla bla, long story short we're helping her catch the killer so she'll join us. But anyway, we're not doing that till later, and Shep thought it'd be good for all of us to go down to that giant shooting range under Afterlife, to get a little practice. So hurry up, and I'll meet you outside in ten minutes."
She was gone before Casey had a chance to argue. Ten minutes? There was no way she could make herself presentable in ten minutes, and she didn't want to give Garrus another chance to realise why he was so un-attracted to humans. She sighed, looked in the mirror, and attempted to tame her hair.
"That was fifteen minutes," Kasumi said, looking at her Omni-tool as Casey left the ship.
Casey yawned by way of reply, and together they made their way through the streets of Omega. Casey wasn't sure if she was going to feel anything, coming back there, but wasn't really surprised to find that she didn't. Well, actually, that wasn't entirely true. She was a little sad. Not because she missed it, but because Omega was the place where she thought she'd start a life for herself. She'd left Earth so full of hope, yet within a few weeks of being on Omega it had been stamped out of her. She knew she owed a lot to this place, it was where she'd met Mordin, and if she hadn't been here she never would've even seen Shepard, let alone been allowed to join the Normandy crew. But she couldn't help but be upset, upset with Omega for not being everything she'd wanted it to be, and with herself for being so naive as to think it ever could.
They arrived at the firing range within a few minutes, and Casey was relieved to see she wasn't the only member of the Normandy crew who looked a little worse for wear. Kelly Chambers, in particular, couldn't stop yawning, and seemed to only have remembered to apply make up to half of her face. Ken Donnelly, who was at the spot next to her, kept looking at her, as if in shock. Samantha Traynor seemed to actually be wearing slippers. Casey went to join some of what she called 'lower level' crew. She included herself in this: the people who didn't make it into the major missions, but who spent most of their time working on the ship. People like Kelly, Ken, Samantha, and Gabby. But before she could take a spot, Kasumi grabbed her by the arm. "This way, Case."
She pulled her towards the far end, where Casey could see Miranda, Grunt, Mordin and Tali all firing at the target dummies. "Here?" Casey asked, looking around.
"Why not?" Kasumi asked, handing Casey a gun. It was lighter than she was expecting.
"Kasumi, I can't shoot. You can all shoot, I'll just embarrass myself." But Kasumi waved away her protests, picked up her own gun, and began firing.
Casey sighed, and lined up her shot.
Missed. Obviously.
She fired again, and missed again.
And again.
And again.
She felt her face burning, had anyone noticed? She hated Kasumi for putting her here.
"Need a hand?"
Casey froze. She knew that voice. She turned around, Garrus was standing behind her. She noticed that Kasumi had stopped firing her gun, obviously trying to listen in, so she gave her a sly kick before saying "I'm not sure there's anything you could do, I'm an awful shot."
Garrus smiled. "So was I when I started. I couldn't hit a three legged Varren." He paused for a moment, "Not that I shoot disabled animals…."
There was an awkward silence, then Casey let out a little giggle. Garrus seemed to relax. He took her gun and looked at it, "Hmm, I can see why you're struggling, this thing is way too light."
"Too light? I thought that was a good thing," Casey replied.
"In essence, but when you're training, you need to feel the weight of the gun, something about that makes it so much more real, it makes you truly appreciate what you're holding. This thing feels like a toy, and so you don't take it seriously."
Casey nodded, not totally understanding, but not wanting to look like an idiot. Garrus continued. "When you fire a gun, you're aiming to hurt someone, maybe kill them. You have to commit to every shot, you have to mean it. You need something real in your hands."
Casey thought she understood that. "Sorry, this is just the one they provide, I don't have one of my own."
Garrus smiled, "We'll make it work."
He stood behind Casey, though keeping a sizeable gap between their bodies, and helped her to line up her shot. She missed again, though only just. She sighed, "I'm not good at this."
"Because you're not relaxed," Garrus said. "Take a breath, and try again."
She did what she was told, and missed by miles this time.
"Ok, that was too relaxed."
Casey turned around, a smile playing on her lips, "You told me to relax!"
"Ok…umm…I'm not making this clear. You need to relax, if you're tense you're putting too much pressure on yourself and you're more likely to miss. But you need to understand the significance of what you're doing…so you can't relax too much."
Casey raised an eyebrow. "So relax, but don't relax."
Garrus seemed unaware of her sarcasm. "Exactly, now try again!"
Casey took a breath, and fired.
It hit!
Unfortunately, it wasn't her target. It was Mordin's. He was four spaces down. However Casey had managed to nail the target right between the eyes. "Excellent shot!" Garrus cried, patting her on the shoulder.
"Well…not exactly what I was aiming for…"
"That doesn't matter."
"I'm pretty sure if I'm trying to take out a guy in a crowded room, my aim matters," Casey laughed. Garrus joined in.
"Ok, let's try something else." He pressed his body against hers, helping her to line up the shot.
Oh God.
Shepard called the team briefing later on, and to her surprise, Casey, along with several other lower level crew members were invited. The rest of the main team were there, including an important looking Asari. She identified herself as Samara, and she was the one looking for a dangerous fugitive. According to Samara, the murderer (known as Morinth), was a certain type of Asari called an Ardat-Yakshi. She effectively brainwashed her lovers before killing them. Samara had found out that Morinth's new hunting grounds were the VIP section of afterlife, and so the crew were going to infiltrate it. Shepard continued:
"We need as many people as possible in the club, because we don't know what kind of person Morinth is looking for. We also want everyone armed, because if she realises what's happening, it's not going to go well. We brought everyone to the range today to see who can shoot, and those of you who are here have been chosen to join us on the mission."
Casey caught Kasumi's eye, had she volunteered her for this? Kasumi was smiling. What was she thinking? I can't shoot!
When the briefing was over, Casey cornered Kasumi on her way out. "Did you tell Shepard I could shoot?"
Kasumi smiled, "Casey, I'm a good liar, but I'm not that good. You were awful. Though you did get better towards the end I suppose…"
Casey was confused, "So you didn't volunteer me?" Kasumi shook her head. "Then who did?" Kasumi glanced over Casey's shoulder, and whispered, "I could make a guess." She smiled, before slipping out of the room. Casey turned, Garrus and Shepard were the only two left in the room. Garrus? Why would he volunteer her? He'd seen how dreadful she was. He looked to be deep in conversation with Shepard, so Casey headed back to her room to get ready, her head still spinning.
Casey slipped into another borrowed dress: this time belonging to Samantha. She hadn't been chosen to come, much to her relief, and had gladly offered up something for Casey to go undercover in. It was a black dress, quite long, with a large slit down the middle to her belly button, held together with a few strips of black material. It looked beautiful, but Casey wasn't exactly sure how much protection it would give in a fire fight.
There was a knock at her door.
"Come in," Casey called, assuming it was Kasumi, and adjusting the dress so that she could be certain there was no way anyone could see her nipple through the slit in the material. She called over her shoulder. "You have to tell me if I look like a tramp in this."
It was at the precise moment she remembered that Kasumi never knocked, that she looked up at the mirror and saw that it was actually Garrus standing behind her.
She turned around, her face burning. "Sorry, I thought you were Kasumi," she stuttered.
He was smiling. He looked good, it was so nice to see him out of his armour again, and dressed like he was going somewhere nice. It looks like we're going on a date. Casey shook the thoughts away, but Garrus didn't seem to notice her awkwardness. He actually appeared to be staring at her. That's right, Turian women don't have breasts, I must look so…alien…
"What's up?" She asked, trying to sound casual. She noticed he was holding a small box.
Garrus seemed to come back to life. "Oh…right…I…uh…well I knew you didn't have one…so I just…it's small, but it packs a punch…I'll leave it here." He put the box on the table and disappeared before Casey could even attempt to interpret what he was saying. She moved over to the table and opened the package. Inside was a small gun. She picked it up, it was heavier than it looked, but small enough to fit in her hand. She smiled. Could she pretend this was the Turian equivalent of giving someone a red rose? Or would she have to accept the fact that Garrus knew she needed a gun, and was simply doing a fellow squad mate a favour? In the box there was also something that looked like a garter, but it was actually a holster. She slid it up her leg, grateful for the second slit down the side of the dress, and slipped the gun inside. She looked in the mirror. No one would ever know she was armed. Now she had to hope she wouldn't have to use it.
She joined the rest of the crew, and they left the Normandy in small groups, heading for Afterlife. They couldn't all arrive at once, it would look too suspicious. She was in a group with Ken, Gabby, and Garrus. Gabby looked beautiful, and Ken scrubbed up pretty nicely too. The two of them were bickering about some maintenance issue for most of the journey, and walked just ahead of Casey and Garrus.
"You look…very nice," Garrus said as he walked beside her.
"Thank you," Casey replied. "So do you. And thank you for the gift, you shouldn't have."
"Do you like it?" Garrus asked.
"It's perfect," Casey replied, and she really meant it. Garrus smiled widely, before looking ahead. Gabby and Ken were still bickering. Casey took a deep breath before asking the question that had been playing on her mind. "Did you volunteer me for this mission?"
"Shepard saw your skills, it was his idea." He didn't meet her gaze.
Casey smiled, "If Shepard had seen me he probably would've thrown me off the ship! I was dreadful!"
"You weren't that bad."
"Garrus…"
"…Ok, you were pretty bad. But we see the potential."
"You won't be saying that when I mangle your face with a rogue bullet."
Garrus turned to face her, and she was reminded of the scarring he had on one side of his face already. He gave her a wicked smile, "Good, I'd love to get some symmetry back."
Casey laughed. Up ahead Gabby grabbed Ken's arm and slipped it into her own. "Make it look believable Kenneth!" She hissed.
Casey and Garrus' eyes met, and placed his arm around her waist. She moved her head closer to him, breathing in that intoxicating scent. She tried not to tremble.
"Don't worry," he whispered, as they entered the doors of Afterlife. "I'll keep you safe."
As Casey was enveloped by the pounding music, with Garrus' strong arm around her, her skin against his firm chest, she'd never felt safer in her life.