Hello everyone, thanks for sticking with me! This is the finale of 'Falling for Garrus', and I really hope you enjoy it!

When Casey woke up, she wondered whether it had all been just a terrible nightmare. That she might turn over and see Garrus sleeping beside her, or looking at her in the way that always made her tremble. The Collectors never boarded the Normandy. She was never taken, never forced into one of the tubes. She was safe.

Except she wasn't. The Collectors had boarded the Normandy, and now it was more likely than not that she would die right here.

Wherever here was. Casey's eyesight was blurry, and she just about had enough room in the tube to rub her eyes with her hands. It was at that moment that she realised the tube was upright, and she was standing with her forehead leant against the glass. She steadied herself, and tried to take note of her surroundings.

She was in the Collector base. It didn't take a genius to figure that out. Though the world outside the tube was sparse to say the least, she could see the room stretched for miles, and the walls were made of a dark brown material which Casey could only liken to an insect nest of some kind. She could see thousands of tubes on the wall across a wide ravine only a few yards from her. She looked to her left, Samantha! Traynor's tube was positioned right next to hers, although she appeared to still be asleep. Casey could just make out Doctor Chakwas and Gabby from engineering in the tubes along from Samantha, and more Normandy crew just past that. To her right was Ken, and then more Normandy staff past him. So far Casey appeared to be the only one awake.

She began to hammer against the glass, but it was no good, she could tell these things were built solid. There was no way she'd get out of there using her hands alone. Then it struck her, she had a knife tucked into her belt! There wasn't a lot of room to manoeuvre, however, and as Casey reached for the blade, she managed to dislodge it. It clattered against the floor of the tube. It was loud, but Casey was sure the tube was sound proof. She bent her knees, lowering herself as much as possible, her fingers skirting the floor of the tube searching for the blade.

Finally her fingers brushed against the metal, and she grabbed it tightly, wincing as it sliced into her skin. She shifted back into a standing position, took, a breath, and hit the glass with the knife.

Nothing. Not a dent. Not a chip. Not a scratch. She exhaled angrily and tried again. Still nothing. The knife may have been strong, but not enough to damage this glass at all. Casey frantically searched the tube for any kind of weak spot. It was smooth and clear all around…except... Casey lowered herself to the floor again. There was a small panel, fastened down with several old fashioned looking screws.

Slowly and carefully, Casey used her knife to turn the screws, until finally, the panel popped open. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting. A button that said 'Press to Escape'? All she found were a few grey wires. Unwilling to admit defeat, Casey hacked through the wires with the serrated end of the blade. Nothing happened. Casey let the blade slip from her still bleeding hand. It was no good. There was no way she was getting out of here.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Casey recognised the voice, it was Samantha. Casey eased herself back upright, and turned to her left, just able to make out Traynor hammering on the glass of her tube. Casey wondered briefly how she was able to hear her, then noticed what looked like a large pipe which ran through each of the tubes. Casey wasn't sure what it was meant to pump in or out, but it allowed her to hear what was happening in the other tubes along the line.

"Sam, over here!" Casey called. She saw Samantha look around, before realising where Casey was.

"Casey! Are you ok?"

"Yeah, well…as much as I can be. You?"

"A bit groggy," Samantha replied. She seemed to be taking in her surroundings. "I guess whatever gas they pumped into our tubes to knock us out has run out."

"Yep, which is lucky, because I really wanted to be awake for this whole harvesting thing," Casey joked.

Traynor's eyes widened, "shh!" She hissed, gesturing to her left, before closing her eyes and leaning against the back of her tube. Casey caught sight of what she was pointing at, two Collectors heading in their direction. Casey leaned against the back wall of the tube, closing her eyes a little, but still able to watch as the figures approached. They seemed to be talking: and were moving much quicker than Casey expected. They didn't even glance at the tubes as they hurried past.

"They look worried," Casey remarked as they disappeared into the distance.

"Casey, I'm sorry." Samantha's voice sounded thick with emotion, and when Casey turned to look into the other tube, it looked like tears were running down her friend's cheek.

"What?" Casey asked, confused.

"I'm sorry you're here. It's my fault, if you hadn't come back for me-"

"Don't say that," Casey interrupted, shaking her head. "The only ones to blame here are the Collectors."

"Hello?" Another voice flitted through the pipe and into Casey's tube.

"Doctor Chakwas?" Samantha called.

"Samantha? Are you alright?" Chakwas asked.

"I'm fine."

"Who else is here?"

"Just Casey and I awake so far," Samantha replied.

"And me." That was Ken Donnelly.

"Ken? Ken are you ok?!" That was definitely Gabby. It seemed like everyone was waking up now.

"I'm fine Gabby," Ken replied. "Royally pissed off, but alive. You ok?"

"Course," Gabby replied, seeming to compose herself.

"Everyone look around you," Chakwas called. "Is there any way to open the tubes?"

There was silence for a few moments, before Casey sighed. "It's no use, I've already looked. There's no way out of these things."

"Casey's right," Samantha agreed. "These things weren't meant to be opened from the inside."

"So what should we do?" Casey recognised Kelly Chambers' voice.

"Shepard will come for us," Chakwas said. These were the words Casey knew all of them wanted to say, but no one had had the courage to do it so far.

"I know," Samantha replied.

"How can you know that?" Kelly asked, sounding almost hysterical.

"Do you think they even know where we are?" Gabby added.

"Don't talk like that Gabby," Ken scolded. "'Course they know where we are, Shep's probably fighting through the creepy bastards as we speak!"

Seconds after the words left Ken's lips, the whole base seemed to rumble and shake. It felt like something had crashed into it, but that couldn't be right, could it?

"What did I tell you?" Chakwas asked, a lighter tone to her voice. "Shepard is the only one who can make an entrance like that. All that's left is to wait."

Casey had no idea how long they waited, listening as the sounds of gunfire and explosions got louder. It seemed like every time she heard a shot her heart stopped, but no one had arrived yet. The crew had stopped talking now, everyone was on edge.

Then it happened, the door opened, and Shepard, surrounded by the rest of the team arrived inside. They were still shooting out of the door, while Tali typed away into the console. Casey couldn't see Garrus yet, but then so many of the team were out of her eye line. She could see Mordin though, who at that moment, turned to face the tubes. Casey saw his mouth drop open, and he called something to the others. Casey could hear some of the sounds, but it was muffled, nothing was clear. Mordin ran over, apparently saying something to the people in the pods.

"Does he know we can't hear him?" Ken asked.

Mordin arrived at Casey's pod, and she pointed to her ears, shaking her head. He nodded, putting his hand against the glass. She didn't need to hear to know that he was trying to reassure her. At that moment James appeared next to Mordin, eyeing the pod angrily. He said something too, but Casey couldn't hear it. He hit his shotgun against the glass of her tube again and again, but nothing happened. Casey could see other crew members doing the same at the other tubes, while Shepard and some of the others still fought Collectors at the main doors. Thane was at Samantha, hitting the glass with his gun, Miranda was at Chakwas, and she appeared to be trying to prise the door open with her hands. Grunt began to smash at Ken's tube, "No, Gabby! Get Gabby first!" Ken yelled. But Grunt couldn't hear. His tube burst open, and Ken, fell out onto the floor. Grunt didn't help him to his feet, instead moving along to the next pod.

Then Casey heard the scream. It travelled along the pipe, so she didn't know whose tube it came from, only that it was a voice she didn't recognise. "Help!" The woman cried. Casey saw Samara and Zaeed move towards the sound, their mouths open in horror. Whatever was happening in that tube, it wasn't good.

Then Casey saw Kasumi standing in front of her, essentially barging James out of the way. She stared at the tube for a few moments, then began frantically typing onto her Omni-tool, waving it at the pod every few minutes. Her eyes constantly darted from the screamer's pod (she'd gone quiet now), to Casey. Then she turned and seemed to be calling out.

There he was. Garrus was next to Kasumi, smashing his rifle against the glass. Casey could see the other tubes around her opening under the pressure of the squad mates' actions, but hers seemed as secure as ever.

Another scream. This time Casey recognised the voice as Kelly Chambers. She could just see that tube, and watched as the floor slowly opened up, and Kelly began to disappear as she was pulled down. There was some kind of mechanical device, it looked like it was…Casey didn't want to think of it….grinding Kelly up, and within moments Kelly Chambers was spattered across the glass of her tube.

Garrus, who had paused only for a second, began to hammer harder against the tube. Samantha was out now, Chakwas, Gabby, Ken, and some others. But no matter how hard Garrus fought, he could not break the glass. Grunt pushed him aside, began to smash himself against the tube, but though it had worked on the others, it would not work for Casey's.

Then she remembered the wires. What if she'd stopped the tube from ever being able to open?

"What's happening?!" Garrus yelled.

"I don't know!" Grunt replied, not stopping his barrage against the tube.

"Why won't it open?!" Garrus turned to Kasumi, who was still waving her Omni-Tool.

"I don't know!" She sounded frantic. "This should've worked!"

Garrus looked back at Casey, who had a calm, yet defeated look on her face. He watched as she moved closer to the glass, and pressed her hand against it. She was bleeding. Garrus pressed his own hand on the other side of the glass, vaguely aware that Grunt had stopped, and everyone had gone silent.

"It…it won't work." Kasumi breathed.

Garrus watched Casey give him a weak smile, a tear sliding down her cheek.

"I…It has to work…try it again!" Garrus yelled, not taking his hand off the glass. But he watched as Casey pointed as Kasumi and shook her head.

Casey looked like she was saying something, but Garrus couldn't hear her. Another tear slid down her cheek, and she removed her hand, leaving a bloody hand print on the tube. She glanced at this for a moment, then dipped her finger into the blood, hastily writing a message.

Garrus saw Kasumi lower her hood. Many of the others had now crowded around. "Don't give up!" He yelled, beginning his own assault on the glass again.

"Garrus…" Shepard said, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder. Garrus looked up at the message Casey had written.

"I love you too," he whispered, putting his hand on the glass again.

Casey didn't know if he had said it back, it certainly looked like it. And as she felt the floor of the tube begin to rumble and slide open, that was all she really needed. She looked at each of her squad mates in turn, then took one last look at Garrus, before falling through the floor.

Pain. In her hands, legs, arms. But not as much as she expected. Casey came too and looked at her body, hardly daring to trust her senses. She was alive! She was in one piece! Cutting the wires may have stopped them being able to open her tube, but it also turned off whatever had been programmed to slice her up as she fell through the floor. As it was, she had fallen down the pipe and knocked herself unconscious. She was now in a tub of something which was half liquid, half solid.

As Casey saw a dog tag drift past, she decided she did not want to think about what this substance might be, and instead half swam, half walked, to the edge of the container. Halfway to the edge she found her knife floating near the remains of what looked like a human shin, and she quickly grabbed it. Large tubes were sucking the thick liquid out of the pool, and she climbed onto one of these to help ease herself over the side.

And then she was on the floor. Bruised, bloodied, covered in what she knew was probably parts of other people, but alive. Her arm hurt. A lot. She was so battered that she could barely walk, but knew she had to get out of there. There was only one door, so she headed towards it, cradling her arm against her chest.

Once outside, she found herself in a long corridor, with two directions to choose from. Casey didn't think about Garrus, or her friends, or even the Collectors. She decided her biggest choice right now, would be finding a way out of here.

She chose to go left, and set off down the long corridors. She ignored other doorways and side passages, continuing forwards. Her arm was so painful, and every now and then she saw bright spots in front of her eyes, but she would not let herself stop, not even for a moment. Stopping meant dying, and she would not die here.

More crashing, more banging, and something which could only be described as a roar. All these sounds echoed around her, but Casey could no more decipher one from the other than pin point their location. She continued on, wondering every minute whether she would ever find a way out.

As she rounded the next corner, Casey quickly pulled back, leaning against the wall. A Collector. Just one, alone, was standing just a few feet away. It had its back to her, and appeared to be guarding the door at the end of the corridor. If it's something worth guarding, it's something I could use, Casey thought. She was so weak, noticing for the first time that the pain in her arm was caused by a shard of her own bone jutting through her skin. But if she didn't keep going she knew she would be stuck here until Shepard destroyed the base, and from the increased explosions and roaring, that would certainly not be long. Casey took a breath, gripping her knife tightly, and slipped around the corner.

Walking without making a sound was not easy, every step made Casey want to groan in pain, but she held it together, and the explosions masked any noise she might otherwise make. As Casey approached the Collector, she willed him to turn around. She didn't want to stab him in the back, she wanted him to see her, to know that it was her who was ending his life. She wanted him to be afraid, like every single person he'd taken had been afraid.

She wasn't afraid though. Not anymore. She wasn't the same Casey that Shepard had recruited on Omega: who'd been afraid to stand up for herself, who'd always seen the best in everyone. That Casey was dead. This was new Casey, and she wasn't going to let herself be afraid ever again.

"Hey," she hissed. The Collector spun around, but before he could even aim his gun she slammed her knife into his neck. The gun dropped to the floor, and the Collector dropped to his knees. Casey leaned in, whispering just loud enough for him to hear. "Fuck you."

She pulled her knife out roughly, and looked down. The Collector had some kind of key card hanging from his chest. She pulled it off, and moved towards the door. It opened as soon as she held up the card, and she limped inside as another explosion rang out.

Casey let out a little laugh. It was a hanger bay, filled with small Collector fighter ships. She moved as quickly as she could towards the nearest one, as an explosion, even louder than before, shook the entire base. She didn't have much time.

Casey climbed into the cockpit, and slid the key card into a little slot next to the controls. Immediately the console lit up, and it was only at this moment that Casey realised she had absolutely no idea how to fly a ship, let alone a Collector ship. She shook her head, frantically looking at all the different areas on the holographic interface. She struggled to remember anything she'd seen Joker do, but even if she could somehow convert that into knowledge that would work for a smaller craft, all of the writing was in a language she didn't recognise.

Casey smashed her good hand against the chair she was sitting on in anger. Another explosion, and now the station was shaking, with no suggestion that it would stop.

It was then that Casey saw it, a map interface, like the galaxy map in the CIC. But she didn't recognise the planets, and the names were written in the same unreadable text. She wasn't Shepard, or Traynor, she couldn't tell which planets were which by eye alone. If she chose the wrong one, she could be stranded somewhere with no oxygen or surface gravity, this small ship wouldn't have enough fuel to do a tour until she found a hospitable planet!

Casey searched the map for a single place she recognised. And there it was. Not a planet as such, but somewhere she would always be able to identify. The horrible little piss-hole that she'd spent so many years trying to escape from. "Omega!" She shouted out its name like it was the most wonderful place in the galaxy. Casey clicked on the icon, and suddenly the ship came to life. The engines rumbled, and, apparently on autopilot, the craft began to move towards the hangar doors. They opened immediately, and the ship gained speed, shooting out of the open doors within seconds.

Which was lucky, as Casey could hear the station exploding and collapsing behind her as the little ship shot away.

As the ship navigated the debris field on its own, Casey caught a single glimpse of the Normandy before it disappeared through the Omega 4 relay. There was no way she could hope to catch or track it, the Normandy was a marvel of engineering, and she was in a one man fighter she didn't know how to fly.

No, she would let this thing take her to Omega. She'd get herself patched up, and she'd find a way to get back to the Normandy.

Casey cradled her arm, watching as she got closer and closer to the relay. She didn't know how she'd do it, but she'd find her friends. She'd find Garrus.

It had taken Casey years to find the man she loved, and in doing so she'd found herself. There was no way she was going to let either of those things get away from her.

Hello again guys,

I had planned to make this a 'happily ever after' ending, and then move on to a new story...however Casey would not let me let her go that easily, and ideas are now running through my head for a sequel! I will start that as a new story, but it will follow on from this one, so if you're interested in reading it (when I get the chance to write it of course), please favourite me as a writer, and then you should be notified when I post the new story (i'm assuming? I'm afraid I don't 100% know how it all works!).

Thanks for all the comments and reviews, I've loved writing this story, and if you can be patient, I really look forward to continuing Casey's story :)

Love Melshep x