EDI and Joker
EDI and Joker sat watching the vid feed of Shepard breaking the bad half of the news to Garrus in their quarters. He wasn't taking it well.
"SIDONIS? LANTAR SIDONIS!" Garrus yelled. An angry Turian was a formidable thing, and all credit to Commander Shepard, she was standing her ground impressively, if quietly. "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"
"No, Garrus, I'm not kidding. We gave him a second chance on the Citadel for a reason. We gave him a second chance because we thought he deserved it. I've run the background checks, he's clean. He deserves a chance at this," Shepard sat on the bed, where she had been when she passed the datapad over to him, and where she would remain. It wasn't like the Commander to be provoked by another person's anger, even if that person was Garrus. Garrus paced up and down in front of the bed, consumed by rage. "And you need to get over what happened on Omega."
"I feel kinda bad watching this, EDI, but I can't turn it off. It's kinda like watching an air-car crash." Joker grimaced. "He's fucking scary when he's mad, and she's just sitting there. Like he's a child throwing a tantrum or something."
"I understand, Jeff. Turning off camera feeds from their room." The screen went black. "I think, judging by Agent Vakarian's current state of mind, that might have been for the best. Remind me to get the maintenance crew in to the Captain's cabin when they are finished. Vakarian just left a rather large dent in the wall. Don't worry Jeff, no danger of hull breach."
Lantar Sidonis,
(Currently on Palaven)
Working on the clean-up crews was hard work, but rewarding. It had been a long time since Lantar had done anything so manual, but it was worth the pain. Every building repaired, every family allowed home, felt to him like a little part of his soul was returning. He'd been without it for so long after he screwed up on Omega. Turning himself in to C-Sec was just the first step on his path to redemption. Commander Bailey, influenced in no small part by Shepard, had taken pity on him, had even gone so far as to offer him a job with C-Sec. He'd taken it gratefully, but when the Citadel was rendered effectively useless by the reaper war, as many Turian C-Sec officers as could be spared were re-purposed as part of the clean-up crews for harsh Turian worlds like Palaven, where Humans would all but melt from the radiation. Lantar couldn't help but think back to the good times on Omega, where he and Vakarian had made a real difference to the lives of so many innocent people. This was almost as good as back then.
He heard a shout from across the street. "Sidonis, snap out of it! Quentius wants to see you in his office, now."
Karin Chakwas
Karin stared at the file that had been left on her desk the day Mordin had left to cure the genophage, and made the ultimate sacrifice for his work. She hadn't recognised the handwriting across the front, thinking it odd of someone to write a hard copy, particularly of such an extensive file, considering how real paper was such an expensive luxury these days. It almost felt intrusive since it wasn't directly addressed to her. As time passed it merely sat gathering dust in a medbay drawer. And so here she was, indecisive and a little anxious, about to open the file. When she opened it she found a small envelope with her name on, written in English rather than the odd, alien script that was the Galactic Common Tongue. It looked as though the person who had written this wasn't used to drawing the characters, so it definitely wasn't a native earth-born human, if it was a human at all. She opened the letter and began to read, her heart in her throat.
Dr. Chakwas,
Since you are reading this, it is likely that I have passed on. Hope it was an honourable death. This file contains important research relating to the interspecies hybridization process I have been working on for Commander Shepard. She does not currently know,if I have passed on, might be best if you tell her. Have friends in STG willing to continue my research. Pleased with this, and at prospect of curing genophage. Always more satisfying to give life than to take it. Very close to completion, though no live tests completed, was concerned about ethical implications. Have run repeated simulations, however. Could be ready within the year. Contact Mordin Vass at STG, he will have been informed and had latest copies of my work. Look through this paper copy yourself and update it when you get further results from Vass. Thought Shepard might like the file once it is complete. Tell Shepard... Thank you.
Your friend and colleague,
Mordin Solus.
Karin leaned back in her chair and sighed, before pulling a glass out from the bottom drawer of her desk, along with a bottle of brandy. She poured herself a glass and raised it to the room, in silent toast. Well, Mordin, she thought, that's going to be one hell of a wedding gift.
Garrus and Shepard
Garrus's attitude was slowly beginning to grate on her. She felt her rage rising behind the cool, calm exterior. Breathing and counting to ten only did so much to calm the tide.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WANT THAT S.O.B. ON OUR TEAM."
"Garrus, he'll be working under us, we'll be able to keep an eye on him pretty much constantly, and he's already proved himself capable with C-Sec. He's now on Palaven doing clean-up. I've already made my decision on this. You're starting to sound like a scratched Holodisc and I have to say it's getting pretty fucking dull. Having your approval would be nice, but you can't honestly think I'm going to cave in on my judgement just because you throw a tantrum?" Shepard stood up at this point. Garrus was succeeding at goading her, questioning her judgement was one of her very few sore spots successfully brought on over the last few years dealing with the council. "I thought you respected me more than that, and now you're just acting like a spoiled child. Well, suck it up, buttercup. Dismissed, Agent Vakarian." She pointed at the door, a clear 'get the fuck out of my sight' gesture. This only managed to make Garrus angrier. He looked her in the eyes and snarled, pushing her back against the fish tank, towering over her. Shepard stood her ground, not blinking, standing straight until she was only a few inches shorter than him, and suddenly a whole lot scarier. Both of their eyes were cold, staring at each other with steely determination and the resolve of seasoned warriors faced with an equal foe.
"Shepard." He growled, his body pressing against her as he placed his forehead upon hers, still looking directly in his mate's eyes. None of the love and delicacy that was usually there, just blind, primal fury. Unfortunately Shepard felt pretty much the same and this attempt made her even more dangerous. She was set on a hair-trigger, ready to snap at the next push, the slightest violation of her personal space. Walls were up, Eloisa Shepard was no longer behind those eyes, he was staring into the eyes of the Alliance's poster-girl, Commander Shepard, CO of the Normandy. She hadn't got there by taking shit from men who thought they could question her validity, then attempt to fuck her.
"Not a fucking chance in hell, Vakarian. I said, dismissed."
In his rage, Garrus punched the fish tank behind her, thankfully void of fish as she was having it cleaned that day. Still, the glass cracked and shattered, spraying water all over them both, but mostly over Shepard. A few shards of glass came with the water, cutting her back and legs. Shepard lost it, then, totally overcome with the desire to make Garrus see the consequences of pissing her off first-hand. She punched him in the face, right across the bridge of the nose, and watched with satisfaction as he hit the deck unconscious.
"EDI, you may want to get a clean-up crew in here. I'm heading down to the medbay to find some medigel. I don't suppose you could ask Liara to meet me in there, and bring me a change of clothes? I don't fancy sticking around to find anything of mine." She looked down at Garrus with disdain before stepping carefully out the door.
"Yes, Commander. Logging you out."
[Author's note: Oooh, so Garrus and Shepard had their first real fight! Even I wasn't really expecting that, but it didn't seem like my Shepard to just let him walk all over her, and then, well, it just escalated. Next update coming ASAP.]