A/N: Chapter 11 or Shit Gets Real.
I do not own Mass Effect.
It takes shorter than expected for the Mercs to really start cooperating. Their attacks get tighter. Blood Pack brute strength is tempered with Eclipse cunning. The precise strikes speak of Blue Suns opportunism, hitting where it counts. It becomes harder to procure supplies. The Mercs are quicker in reclaiming their dead on the bridge. A few times, Garrus and Shepard let a couple make it to their base just to strip them.
It works twice until the Blue Suns send over one of their unhinged members. He's slippery and frenzied, laughing as he darts from one corner to another. Garrus takes a heavy blow to the shoulder with the Merc's armor piercing ammo. The man groans in delight as Garrus stumbles back. Shepard takes the opening and blows his fucking head off.
Bastard has no supplies on him but his gun and one extra thermal clip.
The hit to Garrus has bruised his armor. No serious damage. They have ten minutes to reload and recharge. Another group comes down the bridge. Young freelancers in second-hand armor with new guns that make a lot of noise but no impact. Shepard sees too much of her past self in their determined expressions. Her finger hesitates on the trigger.
Garrus fires instead, hitting two of them in the knee. They collapse and their friends kneel by them. The Turian fires again, a concussive round that hits one of their shoulders. Wailing, the two injured parties and two others stumble and crawl back. One remains till Garrus fires again, the concussive shot hitting him in the chest. He runs.
"Damned fools," he grunts. "Hope they tell their friends to stay away."
"Hm." Shepard watches the kids scramble away. Hopes the Mercs don't kill them for giving up.
More freelancers come in waves, the intervals between the attacks shrinking. Then comes a lull that stretches too long. The grand finale is coming. Shepard paces by the window, holding her rifle tight. They've done one helluva job facing these Mercs but…there's hundreds of their enemy waiting to attack.
"Garrus?" She murmurs. He's at his post on the other end of the window, waiting. "Promise me something."
He glances at her, helmet obscuring his expression. "Anything."
"You still owe me a lot." She's glad for her helmet because she can't smile. After faking emotions for so long, sometimes the body just can't do it anymore. "So if you get to heaven before me, make sure I'm on the list. Slip the guy some credits if you have to."
Garrus abandons his post to come to her, taking her hand between both of his. "I can do that. Can you reciprocate, if we all go to the same heaven?"
"Didn't even think Turians believed in heaven. But yeah, I can do that."
"When this over, we can compare beliefs." He leans forward, pressing his forehead to hers. "If you survive without me…find my family on Palaven. Gaius, Aula and Solana Vakarian. Tell them about me. About what we did here."
"I will." She brings their hands against her chest, bending her head towards them. "For me…tell Zaeed he's the best father-figure-slash-pimp a girl could have."
He chuckles and pulls her into his embrace, hands resting on the small of her back. "Got it. Is that…is that enough for a proper goodbye?"
"Not yet." She takes off her helmet and then his. And then pulls him down into a kiss. His arms tighten around her till they're as close as armor will allow. When it ends, she feels like everything is tingling. "That is a proper goodbye."
"Well…" He rubs the back of his neck. "I know Humans like to say and hear certain words. Turians don't much but-"
"Fuck." She pulls out of his arms and points down the bridge. "They're sending down another wave. It looks like the final push. We should-"
"I love you, Shepard."
"-get into position. What?" She swings her rifle onto her shoulder to take down a handful or freelancers. Had she just heard him right?
"I said I-wait." He puts a hand on her arm to stop her from lining up another shot. He whispers, "Well I'll be damned."
"…Because you love me?" She darts a glance at him. Shit, they both need their helmets.
"No," he breathes and points to a woman in white and pink armor. Two soliders in black and white follow. "That's Commander Williams. Back from the dead."
Commander Ashley Williams is alive with two Cerberus operatives at her side. If Garrus wasn't so damn certain it was her, Shepard would declare the woman a fraud. She still could.
"Ash," Garrus smiles as he slumps onto a crate, leaning on his rifle. Trying to pose like a badass even with his fatigue evident. Shepard feels it too as she slumps onto a bench. "I thought you were dead."
"I was," the Commander replies. Her smile is warm as she looks at Garrus. "It's a really long story. You're Archangel?"
He chuckles. "It's a really long story. Glad you came to rescue us Ash."
The word "us" makes the Cerberus operatives—a man named Jacob, a woman named Miranda—frown.
"Rescue and recruit you." William glances at Shepard, lips pursing together. "I'm putting together a team. Whole colonies are being cleared out and we think the Collectors are behind it."
Garrus nods. "Is it dangerous?"
"You could call it a suicide mission." She holds out a hand, her smile is gone. A serious, soldierly expression is in its place. "Can I count you in, Garrus?"
"Two things first." Garrus takes a moment to peer through his rifle. After a moment he sets it back down, satisfied that the runway is clear. "First, you help us face down these Mercs."
"I planned on it," Williams nods.
"And second…" Garrus glances at Shepard. "My partner comes with me."
The fear building inside Shepard dissipates. And then revives when Jacob says, "That's a bad idea, Commander. It sets a precedent for future squad recruits to bring their friends on board."
"He has a point," says Miranda with a nod. "Though we weren't prepared for this. The dossier mentioned no partner. Only a massacre-"
"Shepard and I are a package deal," Garrus interrupts, looking straight at Shepard. She feels the force of his gaze down to her toes. "Where she goes, I go."
"Thank you," says Shepard. Her voice sounds raspy and she clears her throat. "I'll pull my own weight, Commander."
Williams says nothing for a few moments. At last she turns to the operatives. "I can't do this mission without Garrus. So if he insists we bring his partner on board, she comes on board."
"It's a mistake," says Jacob.
"I've made my decision." Williams looks at Jacob with her stern expression until he looks away. Satisfied, she turns to Shepard and Garrus. "Welcome to the Normandy you two. Now let's take care of these Mercs."
When the shutters blocking off the exits are in jeopardy, Wiilliams takes her squad to re-seal them. Shepard and Garrus focus on the frontal assault. Covering each other when one needs to reload. They're quiet except to call out warnings to each other. Shepard can't afford to get distracted. Even if Garrus just admitted he loves her.
Especially if he just admitted he loves her.
"Damnit," Garrus swears. "Ash, how close are you to sealing those doors?"
"Almost there," William's voice crackles over both their comm. links. "They've got Mercs with flamethrowers everywhere."
"Yeah?" Shepard looks ahead. Feels her hands shake before she steadies them. "Well Garm's heading our way and he hates both of us."
"Just sit tight and hold your position. We'll be there soon."
Right. There's a Krogan with a grudge heading for their base and she's supposed to sit tight? Shepard's not about to follow orders. The Commander can reprimand her later.
"Garrus, focus on his men." She changes out her gun for the assault rifle. "I'll keep Garm distracted until it's just us versus him."
"That's reckless, Shepard." Garrus reaches out and grips her shoulder. "I think he hates you more than he hates me."
"Good. It will keep him off-balance." She pats his hand. "I'll be fine. I told you I wouldn't die."
"I'm holding you to that." He sighs and releases her. "Remember it."
"Yeah yeah. I…love you too. Aim well." She makes for the stairs before he can react. But she hears him calling.
"Right! Because now I'm not at all too flustered to shoot straight."
Beneath the laugh in his voice is fear. She can feel it too, as she rushes downstairs.
Garm is charging into the base, nostrils flaring, gun ready. Shepard crouches behind the stair railing. Focuses on keeping her breathing even. Making sure her gun is fully loaded.
"Get ready Archangel!" Garm shouts. "I'm coming for you."
Shepard vaults over the railing, landing in a crouch. Snarls, "Try going through me first, you sonuva bitch."
Garm opens fire with a roar and she tumbles out of the way behind a barricade. She inputs the command for an incineration blast. It catches him as he's rushing towards her. He staggers back.
"Enjoy this Shepard," Garm grunts. He must recognize her voice. "Because when I'm done with you, there will be nothing left to whore out."
She opens fire, bracing her elbows as the shots pour from the assault rifle. Around them, the Krogan's men fall as Garrus does his work. While Garm reloads his gun, she vaults again over her cover. "You were a fucking lousy lay, Garm."
The Krogan charges. Closer. Closer still. So close that she can smell his rancid breath. Then she cloaks herself and dances out of his path. Garm goes flying over the barricade.
She makes the mistake of laughing. He twists around on the ground and fires, catching her shoulder with a concussive round. Shepard falls, the cloak giving out. He fires again and she rolls out of the way. For a giant mass of muscle, he's damn quick. Garm lifts his foot to stomp her and she somersaults backwards onto her knees. Opens fire on his exposed face.
Garm endures the hits and fires back, grazing her helmet. Another concussive round to her shoulder again and she can't hold back the yelp. He bares his teeth, pleased. He's fucking pleased. Bastard. Shepard gets to her feet and backs up into the empty medi-gel dispenser on the wall.
She's got one gel left on her. And she's beyond second thoughts. Garm is getting too close. Shepard lunges forward, flinging the gel onto his exposed eyes.
Garm howls, anguished as the gel burns his eyes, tries to knit flesh between skin and eyelids. Shepard reloads and fires and fires until Garm isn't flailing anymore. He's on the ground, writhing in agony.
Shepard presses the barrel of her gun against his forehead. Garm lunges forward, clawing at her armor. She stands her ground, holding onto her balance while she fires off the last gunshot Garm will ever hear.
Williams and her team return as Garrus finishes off the last of Garm's group. They reconvene upstairs, cataloguing wounds and readying for the next wave.
"Only Blue Suns left," Garrus murmurs.
"We're almost there," says the Commander. She sounds like the galaxy's savior should. Calm, resolute, strong. "How're you holding up?"
"Not…great, Ash," he admits. He's leaning on his gun again. Everything about him seems to droop. "Doesn't matter though. I'll still send those Suns to hell."
Williams recoils a little. Shepard remembers the naïve Turian she met those months ago. That was the Garrus the Commander knew before she died. Or before she'd been presumed dead. He's still there but Omega has hardened him like a callus.
"Just as long as you don't follow them," says Shepard. She grips the back of one of the benches to steady herself. "I hope they didn't fix their-"
The sound of the Blue Suns' gun ship dashes their hopes. Shepard throws herself behind cover. Williams does the same, dragging Garrus with her. Over the noise, Shepard thinks she hears Williams. Something about having sabotaged the ship. The Commander produces a grenade launcher and sets herself up.
The ship is tilting from side to side. Williams' handiwork. Over the ship's radio, Tarak roars, "Archangel! You think you can mess with the Blue Suns?"
"Fucker," Shepard hisses and starts shooting. The end is so close that she's waiting to wake up. Everything—William's apparent resurrection, Shepard killing Garm—seems too good to exist.
Then the gunship starts to falter. Shepard and Garrus rise from their crouches to pour the last thermal clips into making the Suns pay. She can see Williams standing with them to fire.
Shepard's whispering ten names as she holds down the trigger.
The gunship fires one last rocket. Reality, or the dream they're in, slows as it heads for Garrus and Williams. Shepard opens her mouth to warn them.
Garrus shoves Williams out of the way.
The rocket hits.
Garrus is on the ground. Blue, viscous blood pools around him. Shepard watches the edges spread across the floor. Someone is screaming. As she rushes to him, she realizes that it's her crying out Garrus' name. And she can't stop as she watches him bleed out.