True Loves

Chapter 3: Archangel's Unkeepable Promise

"Oh… my… God…" Kasumi said, her voice quivering.

"This is… disgusting. It's an abomination!" Garrus said softly.

"Well, it sure as hell explains what they needed the humans for. A human reaper. I guess after we killed Sovereign they needed a replacement. Made from the species that killed Sovereign. Reaper evolution, I suppose."

Their platform had led them into a large central room with what looked like a giant human-shaped robot hanging from the wall in front of them. The ground was made up of several floating platforms like the one they were on.

"Shepard," EDI chimed in, "the reaper is incomplete. It is a construct composed of a mixture of organic and inorganic material. Several tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands of humans will still be required to complete it. If you work to destroy it now, you can prevent its 'birth'. Look above the reaper. The tubes that are pumping the organic matter into it are its supports. They should be the weak points. Destroying them should cause the creature to fall from the wall and be destroyed."

The three looked up at the tubes. They all converged into three large glass tubes that were pumping the fluids into the reaper's body. The squad looked at each other. "Well, if we each target a different one, maybe we can take them all out at once," Kasumi suggested.

Garrus nodded. "I'll take the one on the right."

"I'll take the center one. Kasumi, you've got the left one," Shepard said.

Kasumi nodded and pulled out her SMG. Garrus took his sniper rifle and Shepard grabbed her assault rifle. They all aimed their shots. "See?" Garrus said, "Moments like these are why constant calibration is vital for success."

"Ready," Shepard said, ignoring him, "aim, FIRE!" The air rang with the sounds of their gunfire. Garrus blasted shot after shot into the tubing with his Viper rifle. Kasumi's Locust was shooting so rapidly that the kickback almost made her lose control of it. Shepard did her best to keep her Revenant steady and focused on the tube. Eventually, the loud sound of shattering glass sounded through the air. Shepard's tube smashed to pieces, the liquid inside falling onto the reaper's head in a giant splash. After Shepard destroyed hers, a thick metal shield slowly started to close over the other two.

"Hey, hurry up! Break 'em before the shield comes down!" she yelled.

Kasumi managed to break hers soon after, but Garrus was having difficulty. The shield was almost completely closed, so he quickly looked through the scope for any possible faults in it. He saw a large crack he had created in the glass. He aimed for the crack, fired, and the tube broke to pieces. He pulled his rifle away and sighed. "Impressive." The pumps stopped and the reaper sunk lower and lower, its main supports destroyed. The remaining metal clamps holding it against the wall broke off and the reaper fell into the abyss below. Shepard looked at Garrus.

"Quite impressive," she added.

She looked around for a panel that would allow her access to the self-destruct function. Kasumi walked to a platform to the left, stared at its center for a moment, and pulled up a strange, cylindrical object from it. "I think this is it," she called to them.

Shepard approached it and began to activate the countdown when Joker's voice came through over her intercom. "Uh, Shepard? Incoming message from the Illusive Man."

"Put him on, Joker," Shepard replied. Kasumi pulled up her omni-tool. A hologram of the Illusive Man was projected through it. He had a wide smile on his face.

"Shepard, you've done the impossible. You defeated the Collectors and even prevented the creation of a human reaper."

Shepard tightened her jaw. This was how he always worked. Always so congratulatory and peaceful to try to get you to let down your guard. He'd act like your best friend to try to deflect any suspicion, gain your complete trust. It didn't work on her. She didn't trust him at all. And she could definitely tell that he wanted something. "Is that all you had to say?" she asked impatiently.

The Illusive Man's face darkened. His smile dissolved into a serious frown. "No. I've been looking through the schematics EDI sent me. It looks like the base can be salvaged. A timed radiation blast would kill every living being on the station, but leave the hardware perfectly intact. Think of the possibilities of what we could accomplish with reaper technology! I'm sure it would be especially useful to use their own knowledge against them."

Shepard looked to her teammates. Kasumi vehemently shook her head. Garrus looked uncomfortable. "That… doesn't sound like the best idea. This stuff is evil. It deserves to be destroyed. We can destroy the reapers without resorting to using… this."

The Illusive Man rolled his eyes and looked irritated. "I should have expected as much from a turian. Your species is too mindless and violent to realize the true potential of gifts such as this station. Stay out of our conversation!"

Garrus looked surprised. He opened his mouth but closed it without saying anything. Shepard's eyes were wide. She turned to look at the hologram, a starkly offended stare on her face. After a second, she spoke. "Stay out of our lives." She gestured to Kasumi to cut the transmission. The hologram vanished. Shepard turned to face them both.

"Okay, this place is gonna get blown to pieces shortly. We better get outta here soon." She set the self-destruct and prepared to set the platform to return to where it came from. Suddenly, she stopped and perked her head up. "Wait… did you hear something?"

Kasumi and Garrus looked at each other. "I didn't hear anything," she said.

"It sounded like a… ratcheting sound. You sure you didn't hear it?"

She shrugged. "Nope." As she said that, a loud creaking sound emanated from below. "… but THAT I heard. What…"

"Kasumi, BEHIND YOU!" Shepard yelled.

Kasumi started to turn as what looked like a large metal whip rose from the abyss, slammed into her chest, and sunk back down again. Shepard and Garrus could tell what this meant. The human reaper wasn't dead. And it was right underneath them.


The platform ride was longer than expected. Garrus, Shepard, and Kasumi had been waiting to reach the center of the Collector base for at least five minutes now. Garrus thought this was the perfect time to discuss something with Shepard. He approached her and got her attention. Kasumi, realizing that they might want some privacy, stood on the other end of the platform, giving them all that could be given in such a small space. They spoke softly to each other.

"Okay, Shepard, we've gotta talk about what the hell happened on that walkway," Garrus said.

Shepard responded, "What do you mean, 'what the hell happened?' You were being carried away by seeker swarms! I was trying to pull you back in."

"I'm aware of that," Garrus said firmly. "But they were clearly too strong for you. You were being taken away as well. What were you thinking? You should have let me go. It would be absolutely useless for you to be taken away as well. I'm more expendable than you."

Shepard shook her head. "Garrus, do you know what my final thoughts were when I was falling onto Alchera? I was thinking of you. I was worried for you, praying that you made it off the Normandy before its destruction. The oxygen leaking out of my suit? Pah. The searing heat of atmospheric entry? Never gave it a second thought. Garrus, I've loved you for a long time. Longer than you'd probably think. I regretted never telling you before the Normandy's destruction. When I actually woke up again, my first thought when they told me that you were alive was that I had to find you. I couldn't bear never seeing you again, especially when so much was left unsaid. When I happened to run into you again on Omega, I thought it must be a miracle. I promised myself that I'd never let you go, never let us be separated ever again." She smiled at him. "As long as we've been allies, you've stolen my heart."

Garrus seemed genuinely surprised at this. "R… really, Shepard? You felt that way about me, even way back then? I… I'm shocked, I… kind of felt that way about you, too."

Shepard smiled. "You know, deep down, I had a feeling. Your perpetual nervousness around me got me to wondering, but simple fear kept me away. But, Garrus, you are hardly expendable. Like I was saying, I promised myself that I would never let you go. I had to do all I could to save you, even if it meant my own death. And, if I couldn't save you, I intended to die with you. I lost you once, and I sure as hell wasn't about to do it again."

Garrus shook his head rapidly. "Are you insane? What do you think I was thinking when those seekers were pulling me away and you stubbornly held on? I wanted you to let go! I wanted you to be safe! I would die to save you! And I couldn't bear having you die to save me."

Shepard sighed in frustration. "That's my thought exactly. I don't really think we're getting anywhere arguing like this." She rested her head in his neck. "Oh, Archangel. Always so sweet, so selfless."

"Why exactly do you keep insisting on calling me Archangel? It's just a silly nickname some people on Omega gave me, and you call me by it almost as much as you call me Garrus."

Shepard tilted her head to look at his face. "Because you're my Archangel. You're my ever brave, protecting guardian. You're constantly watching out for me, keeping me safe. It's so romantic." She giggled and kissed his cheek. It fluttered in surprise.

"Um, okay," he said, momentarily caught off guard. "Well, then, if I'm your brave protector, a protector's job is to guard his ward's life. So promise me that you won't do anything stupid like sacrifice yourself to save me or, even worse, choose to die with me. It would break my heart."

Shepard frowned. "Well, you better promise me the same thing. Don't you ever sacrifice yourself for me."

Garrus sighed, relenting to appease her and end the cyclical argument. "I'll try. Happy?"

Shepard continued to frown. "No. But... I guess it's all I'll get, isn't it?" She kissed him on the mouth and wrapped her arms around him. Garrus brought his hand up to stroke her hair. He wished this platform ride could go on forever.


Kasumi was thrown into a nearby wall. She slumped down, not moving. Shepard and Garrus had no time to see if she was okay. They ran to the edge of the platform and looked down. The metal whip lashed straight up at them, forcing them back. Shepard screamed into her communicator, "Ground team, get back to the Normandy, NOW!" They both fired fruitlessly at the giant whip as it lashed at them. They continually dove out of its way until it seemed to simply disappear, retracting itself below the set of platforms.

They both spun around, frantically looking for it. The strange silence was unnerving. It had, for the moment, stopped making its ratcheting sound. Suddenly, the sound loudly continued as it burst up through a platform and aimed itself straight at Shepard. It thrust its tip straight into her chest, slightly lifting her up before forcing her to the ground and making her hit her head hard on the platform. The whip retracted to below the set of platforms again.

"Shepard!" Garrus ran over to her to see if she was okay. He placed his ear by her nose. Still breathing, at least. He tried to rouse her with no success. She was out cold. EDI's voice popped up in his communicator.

"Shepard, Garrus, Kasumi, whoever can hear me, listen. I have been able to analyze the human reaper. Apparently, if anything disturbed the mechanisms sustaining it, it was designed to immediately wake up and terminate the saboteur so it could fall asleep again to continue its creation. Its eyes are the weak spot. They should be glowing bright yellow. They're the power source!"

Garrus looked back over the edge of the platform. He could see the reaper's face looking up at him. He aimed at the creatures shining yellow eyes. He fired rapidly, but the reaper simply turned its head and the shots bounced harmlessly off its tough exterior. The whip rose up again to attack him. How can I get to the face? There's no way to get at from this distance, especially when it doesn't need to look at me to attack!

The monster changed tactics. It used its whip to slam down on the platforms, causing them to shake violently. Garrus was having trouble keeping steady on his feet. Then he saw Shepard. With each slam, she slid closer and closer to the edge of the platform. He couldn't let her fall off the edge. And time was running out. He didn't know exactly how long he had until the self destruct, but it had to be rapidly approaching. Suddenly, he got an idea. He quickly tried to think of others but none came to mind. There was no other way; Garrus knew what, now, only he could do. When the monster raised its whip, he carefully ran over to Shepard and pulled her to the middle of the platform. He shot a quick glance at Kasumi. He saw her currently safe slumped against a wall, hoping she was still alive. He reached down and grabbed the Cain off of Shepard's back. He reached down and kissed her. He could see her starting to stir; he had to move fast before his conviction faltered. He ran to the edge of the platform and looked down. The creature's whip momentarily stopped as it stared at him as well, roaring as Garrus refused to back away.


He was brought back to the night before with Shepard. Initially, he was absolutely thrilled that Shepard might actually be showing interest in him. Then he realized how little he knew of human courtship and began to panic. Several times that evening he considered just calling it off, he was so afraid of making the wrong move or saying the wrong thing and gravely offending her. Finally, he convinced himself that if he could handle being holed up in an abandoned apartment with three powerful mercenary gangs after his head, he could handle a date. He wanted it to go perfectly. He bought the most expensive levo-amino-acid wine he could afford. He struggled to think of some music Shepard would like to set the mood when he remembered Shepard mentioned that she liked the music from Flux. But, when he tried to compliment her, he totally blanked on what was appropriate. He was so afraid that Shepard was simply humoring him by voicing her appreciation, so afraid that when she said she was interested in him she was only telling him what she felt he wanted to hear, but she convinced him that night that she meant every word. He loved her, and for the first time he could truly accept that she loved him.

He remembered their first meeting in the Council chambers. He looked at her once and felt a bit intimidated by her. She had such a forceful presence, and he was dreading giving her the news that his Saren investigation turned up nothing of use. She was so kind to him, however, and surprisingly did not hate him for failing to help in Saren's conviction. He was so used to people in superior positions berating him for failure, but she was different. He found it hard to look her in the eyes at that first meeting. He had never met anyone who was both so nice and so beautiful… but, no, nothing like that could ever work. He worried that he was too eager to join her when they met in the clinic, but he really admired her. He felt that they'd get along well, that they had real chemistry… but, he knew that was just crazy talk. Yet his constant, somewhat intrusive feelings for her never diminished. He truly felt like he… loved… her. But he continually convinced himself that no human, least of all her, would ever have feelings for a disgusting alien like him. So he kept his feelings bottled up, avoiding all potentially compromising situations, and made sure that she'd never think he harbored any feelings other than professional ones toward her, no matter how much he hated it.

And then she was killed. Killed, with him being too terrified to ever tell her how he felt. He had never felt so regretful, so moronic, being too afraid to ever tell Shepard how he felt. What would she have really done? She had always been so kind to him before. Would she have really started to hate him if he admitted having deeper feelings for her? He couldn't take it anymore. He wanted to run away, find a new life. He left Council space, went to the Terminus systems, and created one for himself on Omega. Killing mercs helped him keep his mind off his past life. He was no longer Garrus; he had shed that former, weak identity, adopted a colder demeanor, taught himself how to forget about his fallen commander. He was only Archangel, protector of the weak on Omega. And then, she reappeared alive again after two years. It didn't seem real. At first, he wondered if he had been the victim of a well-placed sniper shot and was dead, as well. But he soon realized that he was definitely alive when she barreled him over with a giant hug and they both toppled to the ground, him landing painfully on his rifle. At that moment, everything he had crammed into the deepest recesses of his mind came flooding back in a raging torrent; his Archangel persona vanished, replacing itself with the old Garrus. Now that he knew his fear he felt before was completely unnecessary, that she always loved him as much as he loved her, he felt especially foolish. But they had been given a second chance. A chance for new memories and mutual love.


These memories game him comfort as he took a deep breath and jumped off the platform. Shepard raised her head in time to see him jump and screamed.

Garrus landed on top of the reaper's head. It seemed surprised by his maneuver and tried to swat at him with the whip. Garrus kneeled down to stay steady and carefully climbed down to the creatures face and stretched his body over it, wrapping his legs tightly around its head and grabbing hold of its eye with his left hand, his right hand still tightly holding the Cain. The reaper flailed around, trying to shake him off. He had to do it. Now. She still called him her "Archangel," her brave protecting guardian. It was time to live up to that name. I'm sorry, Shepard, but I tried. I really did try. There's no other way I can protect you. He took the Cain and pointed the end of its barrel directly at the monster's eye. He took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. He saw it begin to charge up, it started glowing and quivered in his hand. He closed his eyes as the monster continued to roar and flail. Garrus took a final deep, stuttering breath. "Shepard… I lo…" The weapon fired.

Shepard had managed to crawl her way to the end of the platform where Garrus jumped off. She tried to look over when a gigantic mushroom cloud erupted from below, knocking her onto her backside. She got a horrible feeling in her stomach and felt her back. Her Cain was missing. Her eyes widened and she began trembling as she realized what Garrus had just done. The shockwave from the Cain's explosion struck the set of platforms she and Kasumi were on. They were launched far away from where Garrus made his sacrifice. Shepard screeched in agony as she was shuttled into the distance.

Kasumi woke up in silence. The first thing she noticed was the room. It seemed to be glowing red. She looked around. There were several of the floating platforms in a wreck, smashed against a wall. They appeared to be back where they started, where Shepard said good-bye to Miranda. Shepard was kneeling on one of the platforms, completely silent. Kasumi brushed some light scrap metal off of her and stood up. Garrus was conspicuously missing. "Uh, Shep, where's Garrus?" she asked. Shepard didn't respond. She just looked toward the center of the facility where the mushroom cloud was still lingering, barely visible in the distance. Kasumi was confused by it. What did she miss? She remembered being struck by… something, and then she was out cold until now. Shepard finally spoke.

"Reaper… wasn't dead. It came to life, knocked you out, knocked me out." She was speaking as if she was in a trance. "Garrus took the Cain, jumped onto it…" She began to break down. "…boom." Kasumi took a second to process this information and finally gasped in disbelief and horror as she realized that Shepard was saying that Garrus was dead. An alarm sounded. The self destruct was about to trigger. There was no time to lament just now. Kasumi pulled Shepard up to her feet. "Come on, girl, we've gotta beat it!" Shepard didn't want to move. Her love died here. She wanted to stay, to follow him, to hopefully be with him again. Kasumi became frustrated.

"Shepard, Garrus wanted you to promise that you wouldn't do anything stupid like choose to die with him. Do you really want to ignore his wishes now?" Shepard looked up at Kasumi, confused. She had overheard? Wait, why am I surprised? she thought. This is Kasumi I'm talking about. And I suppose we can't really have been talking that quietly. Shepard accepted that Kasumi was making sense. After all, if she gave up now and let herself die, Garrus would never forgive her. She nodded and began running back toward the entrance. Kasumi quickly followed.

"Joker, it's Kasumi. Is everyone else there?" she asked into her communicator.

Joker responded. "Everyone else made it, we're just waiting for you three!"

Kasumi was silent for a second. "We're on our way." She had no desire to say any more.

She turned off the communicator and Harbinger's voice rang through the facility. "Human, you've changed nothing. That which you know as reapers will be your salvation through destruction." Shepard tried to ignore it as she continued running. "You refuse to recognize this. But all races will someday realize the unfathomable superiority of us. The fool turian threw his life away on a hopeless venture. We cannot be stopped. The universe has no place for ones like him." Shepard covered her ears, trying to block out what Harbinger was saying. She would not tolerate him speaking ill of Garrus like that.

"You cannot win, Shepard. You will lose all you love. You will know pain."

Kasumi ran ahead. The Normandy rose up at the end of the walkway they were on. Its airlock was open and facing them. Joker emerged wielding an assault rifle, firing at the Collectors who had emerged behind Shepard and Kasumi to stop them. Kasumi reached the end of the walkway and deftly jumped onto the ship. After she was aboard, however, falling debris forced the ship away from the walkway. Shepard ran faster and faster to try to pick up speed. When she reached the end of the walkway, she jumped as far she could, fighting her desire to give up on life without Garrus. She managed to grip the bottom of the airlock and Kasumi reached down to help her into the ship.

Joker made his way back to the pilot's seat. "Wait, Garrus…?" he asked.

Shepard had collapsed and was on the floor. She shook her head. "Go," she said emotionlessly. Joker had a solemn look on his face as he turned the ship to leave. As they left the base, it erupted into a giant fireball. Joker pushed the ship to its limits as it sped away from the blast and went toward the mass relay to leave.