I was really happy with the reception that the first chapter got. It was fun going back and overhauling the original version of the last chapter. I meant to have this chapter finished much sooner, but my work hours have been pretty hectic, so it's been hard to keep up with all the projects I'm working on.

I'm also concurrently working on another story- set after the end of ME3- so hopefully I should have the first chapter of that story posted around the same time as this one. Anyway, I want to say thanks to GC42 and sarahbearalove for their reviews of the last chapter.

MASS EFFECT:
STARRING INTO THE ABYSS

Chapter 02: "Lazarus"

There was a strange sensation of falling... then a more literal sensation of hitting the floor!

She wasn't sure when she'd become aware- of herself, the universe, anything- or how for long, but the darkness was everything. Then, after some imperceptible amount of time, vague awareness of self gave way to the sudden inrush of existence- blinding light invading her inner world as the darkness abruptly parted for eyes long unaccustomed to the world beyond them...

Sitting bolt upright, green eyes blinked as the blurry world slowly came into focus. Groping, unsure of her surroundings, hands met nothing but air- a body unused to moving, leaning to the side, toppled off of the surface it had occupied, crashing to the hard surface below. Messy red locks obscured her vision as she fumbled across the cold floor- bumping into something. She paused, looking at the obstruction before her, seeing a familiar face in the smooth surface.

Green eyes, fair skin with the faintest hint of freckles, collar-length reddish-brown hair, full lips and long lashes, dark eyebrows, and a defined jaw... But the strangest part of the sight before her was the hair-thin, faintly glowing lines- on the curve of her jaw, cheekbones, and around her eyes.

Commander Jane Shepard gingerly touched her face, looking at her own reflection, while the weight of her reality (and the weight that came with suddenly having ones physical body restored to them) finally dawned on her. "I... I'm alive." She uttered. "Oh crap..."

Shepard was given a crash course in reality- alone in an unfamiliar room, clinical white and utterly sterile in design, with the muffled sound of distant gunfire and the occasional scream from just beyond the security doors. Prompted by a disembodied voice, she composed herself and set about raiding a nearby locker to scrounge for equipment...

A suit of armor- black, with white and gold trim- similar to the gear she'd worn previously, but heavier and without signs of prior use. The Commander quickly set about donning the numerous pieces of the armor with an instinctive ease of familiarity she'd forgotten for so long. Linking the segments together, a suite of contained armor was assembled and powered up. As the voice had informed her, there was a basic pistol in the locker- the problem was it was empty...

Thankfully, the rampaging mechs outside provided her the heat-sinks for the sidearm. However, she lost radio contact with her faceless helper- not that Shepard was any stranger to navigating her own way through danger. While making her way through the mystery complex, she finally encountered another flesh-and-blood person amidst the chaos.

The crash course continued, Jacob Taylor- as he'd introduced himself- told her what he could of the circumstances that lead to her "resurrection". Given that she had done the impossible, Shepard would have been content to ponder the vast philosophical and metaphysical implications that came with her return from the dead... except for the fact that she owed this second life to Cerberus!

. . . ...o.o.o... . . .

Cerberus perfectly embodied everything that Shepard was opposed to: an untraceable, clandestine organization, full of spooks and terrorists, passing off their anti-alien bigotry as pro-human, with links to enough human deaths to fill a list that would be longer than her arm.

And yet, only Cerberus was actively combating the wholesale abduction of entire human colonies in the Terminus System. Hundreds of thousands of humans were vanishing without a trace and Alliance Brass remained silent- or utterly impotent- in its response, while the Council did nothing. And as if to deliver a metaphorical slap across the face, the Council's investigation retroactively discredited the existence of the Reapers as just a myth, with Shepard herself portrayed as simply having been manipulated by some elaborate ploy by Saren- to keep her distracted.

And so, Shepard found herself in a position where she had no choice but to ally herself with Cerberus to stop whatever atrocity was being perpetrated against humanity...

Commander Jane Shepard stood at the head of the giant CIC holographic interface, on the command bridge of her new ship- the Normandy SR-2. In spite of all her efforts, it was proving rather difficult for Shepard to separate herself- as Shepard- from yolk of Cerberus. This was typified in the fact that she was now dressed in a uniform that was effectively a parody of her Alliance duds- swapping the navy blues and blacks with the white, black, and gold color scheme of her antagonistic benefactor.

The only consultation she had in all this was that she had successfully altered her armor- replacing the white and gold trim with a more familiar red pallet, and changing out the garish shiny jet black finish of the armor with a more muted dark gray tone. And as Cerberus was picking up the tab, she replaced the knockoff N7 armor with a custom suit- a mix of mostly Kestrel and Hahne-Kaeder components.

Presently, they were docked at Omega- a mined out asteroid, turned refuge for the criminals and the downtrodden of the galaxy. So far they'd already picked up three of their many prospects- the master thief Kasumi Goto (on the Citadel), and the veteran bounty-hunter Zaeed Masani, and the genius Salerian exo-biologist and former STG operative Mordin Solus (from Omega).

Presently, they still had one more prospective recruit still in Omega- a mysterious vigilante, who was known only as "Archangel", who'd become (in)famous for his war against the Mercenary Groups who operated out of Omega... The only problem: he'd been so effective that the Blue Suns, the Blood Pack, and the Eclipse had united- in an unprecedented moment of unity- soley to kill him. As such, Archangel was now beset by a coalition of hundreds of mercenaries, constantly laying siege to his base- for over a day- in an protracted effort to kill him!

Shepard was good, in fact some would say she had the devil's luck, but not even she was sure how the hell she could extract this guy while fighting hundreds of mercs- including some of the most dangerous assholes in the known galaxy! As stated, Shepard was good, but this was going be nothing short of a herculean undertaking, even for an experienced combatant like herself!

. . . ...o.o.o... . . .

Anticipating a one hell of a fight, Shepard had opted to go in ready for war, and so had chosen to bring Zaeed and Miranda along with her, reasoning that the combination of talents that the veteran mercenary and the genetically engineered super biotic would be ideal against the odds they were facing.

Having spent several years as both an Alliance N7 Marine and a Council Spectre, the Commander had learned long ago the importance of knowing just who it was that you were intrusting your blind spots to during a life and death situation. As such, she'd made a point to get to know the people around her, and in more than a few cases, this had lead to some of her most meaningful and lasting relationships...

Presently, she was still getting a feel for the people around her. Despite the handful of run-ins she'd had with Cerberus, her instincts compelled her trust Jacob. Like her, he was former Alliance... Except in his case, he'd simply 'walked away', while she'd been placed on the KIA list. She was less sure of her other Cerberus-provided ally. Miranda was an unknown, she was quite skilled- both as a squad mate and the Executive Officer of the ship- but Shepard knew next to nothing about her. She'd smiled and explained that she'd been genetically engineered to be "perfect".

If unresolved, the vagueness of where he loyalties lie could potentially become a dangerous liability for the mission and the squad in a worst-case scenario.

Shepard and her team began crossing the bridge, amidst the second-rate mercs that were being used as fodder by the three power-players. Between the periodic kill-shots that came down from the mysterious Archangel and their own efforts, the cannon fodder had proven as unhelpful as expected. The three of them made their way up the staircase, unto the second floor of the fortified building...

For the second time in the matter of days that she'd been conscious after escaping the massacre at the Lazarus Project, Shepard met a ghost from her past...

He removed his helmet and regarded her. "So... It really is you, Jane?"

"Garrus?!" Shepard exclaimed, with such genuine happiness in her voice that Miranda arched a brow as she watched the armor-clad woman advance to greet the Turian.

"To think that I'd run into you, here, of all places!" She exclaimed, her cheeks flush, a bright smile on her face as she appeared at his side. "Garrus, I-" And just like that, Shepard fell silent, suddenly struck by the realization of how something like this must have seemed to him... Was he even happy to see her, or more likely was he upset, confused, maybe both?

"Wait a goddamned secant, you two know each other?" Zaeed asked in his gravely accent.

A devious smile quickly appeared on Miranda's face. "Well, it would seem that our files on you weren't as complete as we thought, Commander." She quipped. "We knew that you'd worked with Vakarian on a number of mission prior to the destruction of the first Normandy... But we had no idea that the two of you were on such intimate terms." She finished, arms crossed in a show of confidence.

To his credit, Garrus maintained his cool- especially impressive when considering that Turian had just met someone who was supposed to be dead. He just sat back, briefly pausing as if to take everything in, and calmly explained how he'd ended up in his current predicament. If he was feeling anything, then he was doing a hell of job keeping it all on the inside as he spoke.

If the situation were different- without the uncertainty and internal conflict caused by two year chasm between them- then Shepard would have admitted to being damn impressed at the feet that Garrus was presently carrying out. Here he was, alone, single-handedly fighting a small army with his usual calm precision and attention to detail... This had gone on for over twenty-four hours, with him still alive and scores of Mercs dead, and the people still trying to kill him had shit-all to show for their efforts. Were he an N7, Garrus would have been minted- free drinks and bragging rights for life!

"From up here, I've got the perfect vantage point." He explained. "The walkway down there is a natural choke-point, ideal for sniping... I've held out for over a day, but it seems like they're planning to launch a full-scale attack from multiple fronts." Garrus lamented. "They'll probably try to flank me and kill me in a crossfire or with sheer numbers- it's just a matter of who plans to attack from which front..."

Zaeed had been watching the walkway, then turned back to the others. "The Eclipse bastards are on the move down there... Just like they said." He observed. "Typical, they're sending out the goddamn Lokis ahead of their main force- use the 'bots to soak up the bullets first, then go in the for the kill."

"Don't forget the heavy mech we saw," Miranda reminded. "Light Mechs and assault troops are one thing, but that Ymir is going to be the real problem."

Shepard smirked slightly. "Actually, that Ymir shouldn't be a problem..."

. . . ...o.o.o... . . .

The Eclipse sent out their Loki Mechs first, then their Leader- a Salerian, Jaroth- lead their teched-out assault troops, with the Ymir to cover them. However, they troops were rapidly decimated by the heavy mech's auto-canons and rockets, due to a few "crossed wires" thanks to Shepard.

Miranda had remained on the second floor- to back up Garrus- while Shepard and Zaeed went down to mop up the remaining Eclipse Mercs. But the siege was far from over: an alarm alerted them when the Blood Pack had overridden the doors to the bunkers, beneath the building. The damned Vorcha were a particular pain in the ass as the they struggled to reseal the bunkers. As soon as they'd fought their way through three waves of Vorcha, Varrens, and Krogan Berserkers- the Blood Pack Leader, Battle Master Garm, burst through a wall and made a b-line toward Garrus.

"...I never encountered a Krogan like Garm- nearly invincible, a freak of nature." Garrus observed as he stood over the body of the fallen Battle Master. "That just leaves us with Tarak and the Blue Suns to deal with." The Turian reasoned thoughtfully to the others, just in time for the sound of roaring engines to be heard, causing all them to turn and look as a gunship appeared at the window.

As they fought the Blue Suns on both floors, Tarak got the drop of Garrus. "Damn you, Archangel, this is where you die!" The Baterian's rasped over the loudspeaker. White-hot rounds came from Gunship's M350 machineguns, shredding the second floor. As Garrus frantically ran for cover, he was struck by a sharp pain in his side as he slid to the floor. Behind a couch, the Turian hissed sharply when he moved his hand to the breach in his armor, then looked down at the sight his blood- trickling onto the the floor and staining it blue as he tried to steady his breathing.

He looked down at his blood-stained hand. "Gah... Ugh, dammit all!" He cursed, trying to compose himself and figure out what to do. "This is no good... Don't suppose you could play some music with those speakers- to maybe lighten the mood." Garrus called out with some effort, grunting as he set his sniper rifle down and drew his Vindicator Rifle. "Any you Blue Suns know a good song, maybe-"

Impatient with his current rate of progress, Tarak then fired a duo of Inferno PK Rockets, exploding and launching the injured Turian across the room as they hit their mark.

Things became a little hazy from that point on... Garrus heard Shepard's frantic cursing as her team shot down the Gunship, and the sound of it crashing and exploding. He felt strangely numb in the right side of his face, and there was the lingering smell of burnt alloy and plastic...

. . . ...o.o.o... . . .

Shepard leaned against the briefing table, arms crossed, a pensive look on her face. She was alone and the room was totally silent. As a soldier and leader, she was well-practiced at internalizing her personal problems for the sake of the mission. Right now, her concern for the well-being of her teammate came before her personal concerns over her...

Her lover...?

Could the two of them even be considered as such, given how long they'd been separated from each other? After two years, believing she was dead, surely Garrus would have moved on with his life in some way or another... She'd been absent from his life, and from the look of things- seeing what had become of him- she regretting that she hadn't been there for him, when he most needed her...

Things changed, that was the way of the universe. And Jane realized that she couldn't expect him to just welcome her back into his life, like nothing had happened. He had every right to be angry with her, and she wouldn't blame Garrus if he rejected her outright.

She closed her eyes and took a slow deep breath, before being alerted to the sound of the metal doors unsealing and parting. Shepard turned in time to see Jacob enter the room. "Commander," he began in his usual professional tone. "Vakarian suffered some pretty extensive injuries in the blast, to the point that Mordin was brought in to assist- because of his background in xeno-studies and exobiology." He explained to her. "The Doctors did their best, but..." Jacob paused.

"There was a limit to what they could do for him. They had to use cybernetic implants for the internal damage suffered." He continued. "As for the external damage... The dermal re-generator couldn't do much for Turian tissue, it's too different from human skin." Jacob explained. "The lower right side of his face and neck suffered deep tissue damage in the explosion- especially to the, er, mandible... I'm not sure when he'll be out of the medi-bay."

The door panels slid open again, revealing Garrus. Without prompting, Jacob firmly saluted Shepard and departed, so that the two of them were alone. The Turian stepped forward, and she noted the visible damage to his armor- blackened scorch marks and blast holes marred the upper body, including a large gap blown through the wide armored collar. The lower right side of his his face was covered with fresh scars- including his mouth and cheek- leaving exposed pink tissue, in contrast with his dark gray color of his skin and plates. The blue markings that adorned his mandibles and horizontally across the middle of his face were "broken" by scars on that side. The rest was covered under surgical bandages.

"Garrus...?" Shepard asked tentatively, her posture rapidly changing, and uncertainty flickering in her bright green eyes as she took a step towards him.

He paused, not saying anything at first, then rubbed the back of his neck- a universal gesture between their two species that Shepard recognized as implying uncertainty and evn bashfulness. He appeared to have composed himself somewhat as he advanced towards her.

"So, tell me Jane... how bad is, really?" He asked, his tone casual.

The redhead relaxed slightly. "To be honest," she began. "Not much all that much different from how you looked before the rocket hit you, Garrus." Shepard added teasingly.

Garrus chuckled, only to groan mildly and grip his side. "Ah... Please, don't say things that, it still hurts whenever I laugh." He jokingly complained. "Well now, they do say that some women find scars to be attractive... Granted, that's mostly Krogan women." He lamented.

Shepard advanced and reached up to gently caress the battered side of his face, and looked into his dark blue alien eyes as a smile played across her face. "And this woman." She quipped, standing on the tips of her feet to plant a kiss on his mouth, his clawed hands coming to rest at her waist.

They parted, and he brushed a hand through her red locks. "Considering everything that's happened and what we've both been through... I'd hardly consider this an ideal reunion for us, Jane."

She rested her head against his chest. "Don't worry, Garrus..." Shepard began softly. "We can make this work, just like we always do." She added, eyes closed. "It's like you always say..."

"There's no Shepard without Vakarian." Garrus recounted, still holding her against him.

(- End of Chapter 02 -)

I'm glad that you guys seem to be enjoying this story, and I'm planning to have the next chapter posted a hell of lot faster than it took me to get this one up. Anyway, feel free to let me know what you guys thought of this, your feedback is very much appreciated.

-Bojack727