Chapter 8: Ghosts

Shepard stared down at the objects in her hands. In her right was a datapad, the message written on it and still open. In just the few short minutes it had taken her to read through the message, she had gone through more pain than she had ever before.

In her left hand was the source to take it all away. In the syringe that she held, was a dose of one of the more powerful drugs known to the universe. She had learned about the effects of the drug, a chemical cocktail known only as "Demon's Breath", during her time in the Ascension Project. The effects of the drug were monumentus, but the troll of using it was just as steep. The drug would increase the user's biotic power, opening up the area of the brain that accessed the power. The drug would give the user unparalleled biotic power and reserves. Once the drug worked it's way out of the system however, It would cause devastating effects to the body. The after effects could be anything from going blind to outright death and everything in between.

She looked back at the datapad and reread the message. She had stopped crying not long ago, now the message only made her more numb, only made her more resolute in using the drug in her hands. If she was lucky, the drug would let her save the lives of the civilians here on Elysium, and then kill her afterwards.

She scanned the message again, burning it to her mind. The pain she had felt at being told of the biggest loss in her life had become a dull throb at the bottom of her stomach. She had spent the last several hours staring at the message, unable to believe what was written within. It had told her that her lover, the man she had just been engaged to just a few short months before had been killed in the line of duty. The message told her that he and the rest of his squad had been ambushed by a nest of thresher maws when sent to the planet Azuke. It had continued to spew forth words that could never mend the hole she now felt. Words that could never bring the dearest person in the galaxy back to her.

Shepard closed her fist around the syringe in her hand. She threw the datapad away from her, bouncing it off the nearby wall to land somewhere on the floor. She positioned the needle just over her vein in her arm and shoved it in. She pressed the release on the vial, the fluid drained out of the vial and into her bloodstream. The effects were instantaneous but wrong.

Every inch of her body felt like it was on fire. Every nerve screamed out in agony. Every fibber of her being cried out in the intense burning pain that seared every inch of her.

No. She thought This isn't how this happened.

Another wave of pain crashed through her body, this one more intense than before. She arched her back but found she could not move any farther than that. It felt as if her wrists and ankles were bound, but when she looked nothing was there. She threw her head back and opened her mouth as if to scream, but no sound came out.


Her scream filled the room. Her senses brought her back into what was real, pulling her out of her memory. Her nerves were alight in pain, all of them screaming out. Her back arched, futilely seeking an escape from the pain wracking her body. She tried moving her arms and legs, but found them to be bound, tied down to something. A sound filtered into her ears, but was drowned out by the sounds of her own pain filled screams.

Control it. A voice spoke in her mind. The voice was familiar and yet unknown to her. Some part of her recognized the voice, another told her that she never heard it in this life.

She managed to regain control of her voice, silencing herself. Her body still wracked with searing familiar pains. She had felt this before, and only once before. The first time she had felt this, it had nearly destroyed her.

"Katherine!" A deep soothing voice spoke to her. That voice had been her anchor in times of hardship before and would be again.

Her eyes snapped open at the usage of her name. Her eyes were greeted with the familiar harsh lights from the medbay. She managed to control her body, no longer did it seek release from her restraints. Her body still felt as if it was bathing in fire, but was under her control. She didn't understand it, in this much pain she should have been unconscious or even dead, why wasn't she?

"Katherine!" The deep voice spoke again, filled with worry and concern. Garrus, she recognized the voice belonged to her closest friend, the one that made her feel completely at peace. A soothing wave of relief washed over her at the sweet, soothing sound of his voice.

Her vision was filled with his face just a moment later. She could see the worry in his voice written across his face. His icy blue eyes seemed to draw her into the pits of warmth they always were. Shepard became dimly aware that the rhythmic beeping in the room began to speed up. She felt her heart hammering in her chest and her blood rush to her face and between her legs.

Garrus looked turned to look at where the beeping as coming from. Shepard saw his eyes widen at what he saw.

"Chakwas!" He yelled out.

Shepard chuckled and he turned back to her, confusion now mixed in on his face and eyes. Shepard turned her head to look away from Garrus, feeling her face flush an even deeper shade of red. She felt a wide grin slowly creeping it's way onto her face. She heard the door to the medbay cycle open with a hiss.

"I'm fine Garrus." She managed to choke out, her voice sounded rough and harsh from lack of use.

"You most certainly are not Katherine Shepard!" Shepard winced at the sound of Chakwas' accented voice. Shepard turned her head to face the angry doctor, her grin turning sheepish.

"Never! Never in my life did I think you stupid enough to use that drug!" Chakwas yelled at Shepard, coming to stand next to her.

Shepard glanced over at the machine monitoring her vitals. She sighed with relief at seeing her vitals dropping back into normal range.

"Didn't they tell you in the Ascension Project what that thing will do to you?" Chakwas continued checking over Shepard's vitals herself.

"Of course they did." She continued not giving Shepard the chance to reply. "That is probably how you knew about it in the first place."

Chakwas turned back to her. Shepard could see the lines of worry etched into the matronly woman's features now. They seemed to be softening a bit now. Before she could say or do anything, Chakwas leaned over Shepard and brought her into a tight, motherly hug. Shepard hissed in pain, the pain she had felt had numbed a bit but was still present. Chakwas pulled back at the noise, worry once more on her face.

"I'm fine." Shepard grit out between clenched teeth.

Garrus and Chakwas looked at each other, almost as if trying to decide something. Shepard looked between the two of them, careful not to look into Garrus' eyes for too long lest she have the same reaction she had just moments before hand.

"How long was I out?" She asked. The last time she had used "the Breath" she had been in a coma for almost two weeks, she hoped the same wasn't true now. Chakwas nodded to Garrus, giving him permission to tell her.

"You've been out for nearly a week Shepard." His voice and face darkened. "It wasn't a particularly peaceful week at that."

Shepard sighed. "Well that explains the restraints."

Shepard allowed the edges of her mouth to pull up slightly. "Doesn't explain why you decided to actually use my given name."

She had to stifle a laugh when Garrus dropped his head awkwardly. When he reached up the rub the back of his neck in embarrassment, she noticed the slight blue tinge to the skin on his neck. She let out a chuckle at seeing the blue tint, the Turrian equivalent to a blush, she had never thought Garrus capable of it.

"Well… Um…." He sputtered, but Shepard cut him off.

"It's fine Garrus." She let her smile grow wider. "I'm just surprised it took you this long to use it is all. Hell, I'm surprised more people don't use it."

Chakwas chuckled next to him. "Well if you are as fine as you say I'll let you out of these."

Chakwas removed the restraints from her limbs. Shepard rubbed her wrists and sent a grateful look towards the doctor. Chakwas once more looked to Garrus.

"Don't keep her awake too long Garrus." Garrus nodded in response. Chakwas moved towards the door to the room.

"I'll be back to check back up on you in a few Katherine." Chakwas called over her shoulder.

Chakwas opened the door and was nearly knocked over by a familiar small, purple suited form. The shrill, filtered voice that accompanied the suit reached her ears, just a moment later.

"Shepard!" Tali'Zorah spoke her voice filled with joy and relief. "Oh, sorry Doctor Chakwas."

Chakwas simply smiled at the young Quarian and left the room. Tali turned back to a slack jawed Shepard and rushed over to the side of her bed.

"OK" Shepard spoke once her brain caught up the the situation. "Either Chakwas has me high on painkillers." She looked at Garrus. "Or you somehow managed to get Tali on the ship. Which is it?"

Both Tali and Garrus chuckled at Shepard's confusion.

"She's really here Shepard." Garrus spoke between chuckles. "Just because you've been out cold doesn't mean we can't be productive."

"Ok you two are going to need to fill me in on what's happened." Shepard grinned up at her two friends, sharing in their mirth.

Her grin left her face however when she spoke again, her voice calm and almost sorrowful. "Start with Horizon. Last thing I remember is Kaidan being a douche, then me going blind."

Garrus' face visibly darkened and Tali wrung her hands nervously. Shepard hated to do this, but she needed to know, the effects of "Demon's Breath" could be devastating, but she had to know what it would do to her should she need it again. Garrus let his head drop a little, collecting his thoughts before he spoke to her.

"I'm not going to lie Shepard it was bad." Garrus looked back up to her, the hurt in his eyes caused her heart to twist. "You said you couldn't see and then you collapsed."

Garrus drew in a steadying breath, she could tell that just remembering this was hard on him. "We got you back to the ship and you were just dead weight. If it wasn't for your breathing and Mordin monitoring you, you could've passed for dead."

Garrus paused, Shepard could visibly see the strain it took for him to talk about this. Shepard placed a reassuring hand on his arm, letting him know that he didn't need to continue. Garrus looked at her and shook his head, now that he'd started she knew he wouldn't stop.

"We got you back to the ship and brought you to Chakwas. Neither she nor Mordin knew what was wrong. They didn't know what was happening to you until I remembered what Kaidan had said."

Garrus paused once more to collect himself, Shepard felt her heart twist at seeing him so hurt. "They made me leave while they treated you, so I don't know what they did. Only a few hours after getting you on the ship, Miranda told me of a message The Illusive Man sent her. I don't know how he knew but he told her that Tali was on Haestrom and could use our help."

"I want to know how he knew too." Tali spoke up after being quiet for so long, her hands still twisted among themselves at her waist. "The mission i was on was top secret only a handful of people knew about it."

"Let's not worry about it now." Tali spoke, adding more of a cheerful note to her voice and turned to Garrus. "Why don't you get us something to eat? Kat's probably starving."

Shepard's stomach growled loudly at the thought of food. Shepard beamed up at Tali. "Glad to see you still use my name, took me forever to get you to use it two years ago."

Shepard received a slight chuckle from the younger woman. Garrus nodded to both women and clasped Shepard on her shoulder before reluctantly leaving. They watched him leave and as soon as the door closed behind him Tali sent a mischievous look at Shepard.

"So when did it happen?" Tali asked, practically giddy for some sort of juicy news.

"When did what happen?" Shepard asked, completely confused as to what her friend was talking about. "'It' is a very broad word Tali."

"You know…" Tali motioned towards the door. "You and Garrus…"

"Me and Garrus what?" Shepard asked, her confusion growing.

"You really haven't told him yet have you?" Tali's voice held a disappointed note to it.

"Told him what?!" Shepard was starting to get annoyed with her friend's need to beat around the bush.

"Really, Kat? It's obvious to see that you're in love with him." Tali looked towards the door as if to make sure they weren't about to be walked in on. "It was obvious on the SR-1 too. Why do you think people thought you two were a thing?"

Shepard slumped her shoulders. "It's that obvious that I have feelings for him?"

Tali nodded. "For anyone that knows you two it's clear as day that you have feelings for each other."

Shepard snorted. "Tali I'm pretty sure this is one sided. Garrus even told me he didn't have a thing for humans on the SR-1."

An accented Japanese voice spoke to Shepard's left, making her jump in surprise. "It's not one sided Shep. I've seen the way he looks at you."

Shepard turned her head to look at the lithe form of Kasumi that had appeared on the bed next to her. Shepard glared Daggers at the small woman.

"Damn it Kasumi! I told you not to do that around me." Shepard spoke to the woman, mock anger in her voice.

Kasumi shrugged, a smile playing across her lips. "I'm just saying Shep, the way he looks at you would make me jealous if I were into Turians."

"And how exactly does he look at me?" Shepard demanded.

"Well." Tali spoke this time. "He stalks your movements with that predatory gaze of his that he has when sniping. Just mixed in with an almost tangible hunger."

Kasumi chuckled. "He almost looks as if he's trying to figure out the best way to eat you." The lithe woman sent her a suggestive look.

Shepard placed her head into her hands, trying to hide the angry red flush coming to her face. She couldn't believe, refused to believe, what her friends where telling her. Garrus couldn't be interested in her, could he?

"I figured that time at Hock's place would have tipped you off to it." Kasumi remarked. Shepard's head immediately snapped up. Kasumi smirked seeing that she had Shepard's full attention now.

Kasumi pulled up her omni-tool. "Lets see, when did it start?"


Garrus slipped a dextro ration bar into one of the pouches on his belt and a nutrient tube into another. He turned away from the crate of dextro rations and looked towards where the Normandy's cook, Rupert Gardner, was making some food for Shepard. Gardner motioned him over and pulled out a large bowl from one of the cabinets. The cook filled the bowl full of the odd yellow noodle food Shepard favored, macaroni and cheese if he recalled correctly.

"Here ya are Garrus." The cook spoke and handed him the bowl. "Need anything else?"

"Hot sauce?" Garrus asked and took the bowl from the other man. Gardner nodded and handed him a bottle of the red liquid.

Shepard had showed an almost excessive use of the spicy liquid two years ago. It seemed as if she used it on everything she ate.

Garrus nodded his thanks and headed back to the medbay. He tapped the door open with his free hand and was greeted by a sound he thought he'd never hear again, one that sent sparks of electricity down his spine.

"I'm going to kill you Kasumi!" Shepard shouted at the lithe thief. Her voice drowned out the muffled moan that Garrus remembered from the mission at Hock's party. Garrus shook his head, he couldn't let himself go down that train of thought. Thinking about it at all was hopeless, there was no way she would ever return the feelings he felt.

Garrus cleared his thought, both to announce that he was there and to clear it of the desire he knew would be there if he didn't.

"Garrus!" Kasumi perked up from her seat on the bead to Shepard's left. "Just in time for me to leave!"

Kasumi stood up and quickly crossed the room. "Later Shep!" The thief called out over her shoulder and quickly left the room. Garrus thought he could hear faint giggling following the woman.

He shook his head and moved over to Shepard's side. "Gardner thought you'd like this." Garrus spoke tenderly, and handed Shepard the steaming bowl.

"And I grabbed this." He handed her the bottle of hot sauce. "If how he makes dextro food is any way to tell, that man is a terrible cook."

Shepard chuckled. She took the bottle from him and proceeded to pour the red liquid over her food. Garrus pulled out his ration bar and gave Tali the nutrient tube.

"So what was that all about when I walked in?" Garrus asked, taking a bite of his bar. Shepard's face started turning red and her mouth turned up in an almost embarrassed smile.

"Oh just girl stuff." Tali spoke and waked her hand dismissively. "You wouldn't really care to know."

Garrus merely shrugged in response. He caught the quick thankful look she sent to the other woman, but it happened too quickly to be sure it had happened.

The three of them finished their meal in a peaceful, relaxed silence. The silence was broken however when Garrus' omni-tool beeped angrily at him. He pulled up the device and checked what it was that had caused it to go off. He had received a message from one of his old friends in C-Sec. Shepard looked up at him, an eyebrow raised in a silent question. He closed his omni-tool.

"Some simulations I had running are done. I'm going to go check on them." Garrus started to move towards the door, but stopped. He looked back over his shoulder.

"If you need anything let me know ok?" He stated more than asked. Shepard nodded anyways and he turned back around and left the room.

"Holy shit. I think you're right Tali." Shepard's voice reached his ears just before the door closed behind him.

Garrus shook his head. Whatever it was Tali was right about, he definitely didn't want to know what it was. He quickly hurried to the main battery. Once he was in the battery he locked the door behind him and pulled open the message on his omni-tool.

G

I've had no luck finding him, but I know who helped him. It's too risky to talk of it in messages. When you're next in the arms contact me. I'll find you.

N

The message was simple yet he couldn't help a grim sense of joy come over him. Soon his squad could rest in peace. His mind stilled however when he thought of Shepard's words just a few weeks ago. He had indeed considered her words, but the thought of just letting Sidonis live made his stomach churn.

Garrus hung his head. The thought of causing Shepard to see him as a cold blooded monster however, made his heart still. He shook his head. He would go through with this. He was certain that any chance he had of her returning his feelings where null.


It had been two days since Shepard had been let out of the medbay, four since she had woken up. She was still a bit sore from using muscles that hadn't been used in over a week, but it was nothing compared to being able to do something other than sit around.

"We are now docked at the Citadel Commander." EDI's voice spoke over her room's stereo system.

"Thank you EDI. Please let all crew members know that starting tomorrow there is a mandatory ten day shore leave."

"Yes Commander. Will there be anything else?"

"That will be all EDI, thank you."

"Logging you out."

Shepard leaned back in her chair and rubbed her eyes. She had sent the last few hours finalizing the details of getting the Normandy outfitted with improved and stronger hull plating. Shepard felt better knowing that she'd have a week of relaxing and catching up with her friends while the plating was installed. She felt it was a much needed break, especially with the internal maelstrom of emotions she had been having since waking up.

Her mind drifted once more to Garrus. It had been hard to keep him off her mind before, it was even harder now that she knew what to look for. During the two days Chakwas had kept her in the med bay Garrus was either always there or just a button press away from being there. She was grateful for someone being there to keep her occupied while she spent the otherwise boring days doing nothing but watching old mission videos or filing reports. Shepard felt a heat start to spread out from her chest at the thoughts of him. He had a way of always raising her spirits by just being there, even more so now that she could see the tells that Tali and Kasumi had spoken of. She felt even more uplifted whenever he would use her given name. He only did it when they were alone, but that suited her just fine.

On her last day in the medbay, Garrus had started to tell her of what Turians did on their ships before high risk missions. Before he could get any farther than saying that there was full contact sparring, he was interrupted when there was a loud crash and shouting coming from the mess hall. They rushed out to break up a fight that was about to start between Jack and Miranda. Shepard ordered them to always be on different decks at any given time. Both women knew better than to argue and followed her orders.

Chakwas had let her go back to normal duty only a few minutes later. Shepard had rushed off to take a much needed shower, but promised to get Garrus to finish his story when they were both free.

Shepard was pulled out of her thoughts when her terminal beeped at her. She looked over to see a new message from Councilor Anderson. She hurriedly opened it and devoured the message.

Shepard,

I've asked your mother to meet with me and a college tomorrow. We're supposed to meet at your memorial, but I won't be there. I'll tell her that something came up but my college would still like to meet with her. I'll probably end up getting some flack from her later but for this it'll be worth it.

Anderson

Shepard smiled at the message. When she had found out that her mother's ship, the SSV Orizaba, was docked at the Citadel she instantly contacted her old mentor. Anderson had agreed to set up a meeting with her mother. Shepard hated the thought of her mother finding out from someone else that she was alive and not from her.

Shepard opened up a new message and started typing. Once satisfied with the message she sent it off.


Garrus' omni-tool pinged at him for the hundredth time. He finished writing the program he'd been working on for the last few hours and set it to begin testing. He pulled up his omni-tool finally at seeing that the tests had started without any issues. His mandibles reflexively flared into a smile at seeing who the sender of his most recent message was.

Garrus,

I'm heading out to meet with my mom tomorrow. If you're up for it, I'd really appreciate you being there. It'd help to have someone there that could prove I'm me to her.

I understand if you don't want to. Spending your day convincing my mom that I'm me probably isn't your idea of a good way to spend your shore leave.

Let me know,

Shepard

Garrus smiled even wider and felt a pulling in the pit of his stomach. He would never admit it to her, but doing anything with her was his favorite way to spend his time. He begun typing up his reply.

Kate,

I'd be happy to help. I've met your mother before so it should help make things easier. Maybe we could even stop by a bar afterwards. I know this great place that I think you'd like. Just let me know when to meet you at the airlock and I'll be there.

Garrus

He reread the message before sending it off. Once it was sent he immediately started a new message.

N

I am being embraced in the morrow. I will be with CS for the day. Find me when you can.

G

He sent the message and his mood turned to a more somber note. Thinking about what he would do in maybe a day dampened his joy of getting to spend more time with Shepard. His console pinged at him, signalling the completion of his tests. He turned back to his work and pushed his thoughts of everything but firing algorithms out of his mind.


Captain Hannah Shepard sighed in frustration. She was nearly at the memorial to her daughter when her omni-tool beeped angrily at her. It was notifying her of a message from Councilor Anderson. She shook her head and filed away the message to give him flack for later.

"Something wrong ma'am?" The pleasant deep voice of her escort spoke.

Hannah turned to face the soldier she picked to be her guard for the day. She once more took in his strong muscular build and handsome features. She still felt a bit on edge that he had neglected to wear armor, but his N7 history told her she had nothing to worry about.

"No, Lieutenant." Hannah turned around and continued walking. "We won't be meeting the Counselor today, but we are going to meet with his college. He didn't give a name or description other than it's a woman and I'll know her when I see her."

"Yes ma'am." The soldier returned to his deadly calm silence.

It only took the pair a few minutes longer to reach the spot of Katherine's memorial. The place had an air of sorrow around it, it always felt like this whenever Hannah would come here. There was something off though, she couldn't place what it was until a deep rumbling laugh filled the air.

Hannah turned to glare at the source of the laugh, a Turian and a human who were the only other people in the area. She felt a pull at the back of her mind at seeing the odd pair, a couple no doubt based on the way they seemed to lean towards each other. The Turian in blue armor seemed to be familiar, she could faintly see blue facial markings on the part of his face that wasn't heavily scarred. The Turian had his back to the memorial and was facing the direction that Hannah and her escort had come from. The Turian looked away from his partner, his piercing blue eyes met Hannah's gaze. He nodded to her and bumped his arm into his companion.

His companion froze at the touch, visibly stiffening. Hannah studied the woman next to the Turian. She seemed familiar but Hannah could place why. Something about the way she held herself in her completely black clothes. The woman was wearing black combat boots and the casual grab of an N7, the same clothes her escort wore just fit to her form.

The Turian seemed to say something to the woman who nodded to a question Hannah couldn't hear. The Turian moved away from his companion and walked towards Hannah and her guard. Hannah began walking towards the approaching Turian, deciding to find out if they were the ones she was to meet.

"Stay on your guard." Hannah whispered to the soldier behind her. "Anything happens and deal with the woman first."

The Turian stopped a few feet in front of her. The nagging feeling that she knew him only grew stronger when his piercing blue eyes sized up her and her escort. The Turian nodded as if approving of what he saw. The Turian extended his hand forward and spoke in a rumbling voice that she could never have forgotten.

"Captain Shepard, it's good to see you again."

Garrus Vakarian she remembered his name now. Hannah felt her heart spas in her chest at the memories his name brought up. Two years ago whenever she would check her messages there would always be one from her daughter. Hannah couldn't remember a single one that hadn't talked of the Turian in front of her in some way.

Hannah reached out and clasped his outstretched hand. She felt a small sad smile begin to pull at her lips.

"It's nice to see you too Officer Vakarian." Garrus stiffened slightly at how she addressed him.

"Garrus will do just fine ma'am." The Turian replied a slight strain in his voice. Hannah nodded her assent.

"I take it you're here with the person Anderson wanted me to meet?" The elder Shepard asked.

"I am. If you're ready my friend would be more than happy to speak with you." Hannah couldn't help but note the slight strain in his voice when he spoke the word friend. It seemed that whoever this person was she was more to him than he wanted to admit.

Hannah nodded. Garrus lead the human pair back to the lone woman standing before the monument to the great Commander Shepard. Garrus stepped up next to the woman and laid a hand on her shoulder. The woman's hand laid over his and squeezed lightly. Garrus let his hand drop and returned to how he had been standing when Hannah had first spotted the pair.

Hannah stepped up to the woman's right and for the first time in over a year, looked up at the likeness of her daughter. The statue that was her daughter's memorial was three times the size her daughter had been, but it was far from perfect. The statue was made of steel and molded to look almost exactly like Katherine had. The statue was posed with her fist raised in victory and her face carved to look triumphant. The details however were all wrong.

Unlike her daughter, the statue had long hair and completely unblemished skin. Her daughter had always worn her hair neck length at the longest and had scars marking her otherwise perfect face.

Hannah was about to speak but froze when the voice of a ghost came from the woman next to her. Hannah's eyes widened in surprise, and disbelief.

"Why do the people that make statues never get the details right? I mean come on not even putting the scars on?" The woman next to her spoke.

The ghost next to her turned her head to look behind her at Hannah's escort.

"Hey Draven, remember when they made that bust of General Jellail? They never did get his scowl right."

The elder Shepard stared at the woman that wore her daughter's face and voice. Hannah felt the air around her escort shift. In the six months of having a squad of N7's on her dreadnought she had never seen any of them flinch or be caught by surprise. The shift behind her worried her, if her escort had been caught by surprise then something was definitely amiss.

The soldier behind her yelled out and Hannah felt the tingling of another biotic using his abilities. She felt it to an almost overwhelming degree when the woman next to her flared in an azure aura and made an uplifting motion with her hand.

Hannah turned to see her escort glowing blue and lifted in the air a few feet from the ground. The woman next to her turned as well to face the floating soldier, a smug and disappointed look on her face.

"Eric Draven, how many times do I need to tell you? If you want the drop on your target, don't fucking yell like a little girl." The woman spoke and shook her head, a teasing note to her voice.

"Fuck. You. Kat." Draven spat out through grit teeth.

"Seriously, it's been what? Three years? And you still haven't learned that? How did you even become a Ghost in the first place?" The woman wearing her daughter's face spoke, her voice still teasing.

Draven looked to the elder Shepard. "Ma'am If you had any doubts don't. It's her. Still the same bitch I remember." Draven spat the last words out with mock venom.

"Awwwwww." Katherine spoke, her voice holding a sisterly affection. "Love you too Eric."

Hannah couldn't help but start to smile at the banter between the two N7's. All info about an N7 that a CO didn't need to know about was withheld but it was clear that her daughter and Draven had worked together before. She couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the cringing look on Draven's face. zeveryone on the Orizaba knew that to call the soldier by his first name would end badly.

"Very funny Kat." Draven spat. "Now put me down this still feels weird."

The younger Shepard chuckled and let the blue aura fade from herself and from Draven, who landed on his feet with practiced ease.

Hannah turned on her daughter and brought her scolding mother look to her face.

"Tell me," She spoke, her voice demanding her words to be followed. "where have you been the last two years and why didn't you tell me you were alive?"

Hannah mentally grinned at seeing her daughter cringe at the voice she had used. She had been blessed with a child that both knew enough to not get caught and to not cause too much trouble growing up. When she was caught however, Hannah had used the same voice. The disapproval and harshness of the voice usually kept Katherine from getting herself into trouble, especially when it was used in front of her friends.

A light clicked on in the elder Shepard's mind. She flicked her gaze to the Turian standing behind her daughter, a slight mischievous smile found it's way to her lips. Hannah raised an inquiring eyebrow asking if her thoughts were true about the Turian. Her daughter shook her head in a way that said not yet.

"I couldn't tell you because I wasn't alive." Her daughter put it bluntly, her voice deathly serious. "Or at least not alive in the material sense."

"What do you mean…" The elder Shepard began to ask, but was interrupted when her daughter held up her and and shook her head.

"I was dead. Killed when I impacted some planet after making sure most of my crew survived the attack on our ship." A dark look passed over her face.

A three fingered hand found it's way to Katherine's shoulder, she seemed to be more at ease with the reassuring hand there. Hannah didn't fail to notice the brief scowl of jealousy that flashed over Draven's face. Seemingly bolstered by the hand on her shoulder Katherine continued.

"It was weird being dead, but I got to see some faces that I never thought I would again." Katherine paused and took in a steadying breath. "But my 'death' didn't last. Cerberus rebuilt me, so yes that tidbit is true."

"Alright, I believe you." Katherine looked at her mother with surprise. "It's weird yes, but I believe you."

A grin split her daughter's face but shrunk when a growl was heard behind her. Hannah looked to Garrus and saw him gazing at another Turian, a female. Hannah felt her heart sink for her daughter. A growl for Turians could either be one of anger or desire. She had never been particularly good at reading the subvocal language of Turians, but it was clear to her what this growl meant.

Katherine turned her head to see what had caused Garrus to make that growl. Her smile took on a saddened tinge to it. Her eyes went to Garrus.

"That her?" She asked simply. Garrus only nodded in response. She sighed.

"Alright. I'll meet up with you later." Garrus nodded and almost reluctantly left her side. He walked towards the other Turian, Hannah as equally bad at reading Turian faces and couldn't get a read on this one.

Hannah couldn't help but notice that her daughter kept her gaze on her friend. She only looked away when her omni-tool beeped at her. The device flared up on her arm and she scowled.

"Not even here a day and she already made trouble." Katherine muttered. She looked back up to Hannah.

"I need to go. One of my crew started a bar fight." Katherine's voice sounded as if she expected it to happen but not so soon.

"Alright. I need to get back to my ship, but I'm here for a week. Let me know when you're free." Hannah was surprised to find herself enveloped in a tight hug once her words left her mouth.

"I missed you." Katherine whispered into her mother's ear. Hannah returned the hug just as tightly.

"I missed you too."

With that the two women parted ways, one headed towards the seedier part of the Citadel, the other to the docks.


Shepard felt a shift in the air next to her. She had learned that shifts like this were a sign of a nearby biotic. He presence next to her was strong but not nearly as strong as Jack's. Shepard glanced away from the empty space she had been staring at for the last hour and looked to where the presence was radiating from.

For the last hour after bailing Jack out of trouble from the bar fight she'd started at human bar, The Drunken Wolf, she'd been mindlessly sitting in another, more reputable bar. Over the hour and countless drinks that didn't even give her a buzz she had been mulling over Garrus.

While thinking about what could be happening to the Turian that refused to leave her mind, she was forced to shut down and turn away several people hoping to be her bed mate for the night. She had been forced to turn down humans, both men and women, along with almost a dozen Asari. Some that were extremely drunk were thrown out of the bar with her biotics, much to the amusement of the Turian bartender.

The deep purple skinned Asari sitting to her right had the look about her of trying to be far better than those before her. Shepard sighed at the thought of needing to go through the task of rejecting yet another suitor. She knew that if she wanted to she could have taken up any of the offers, and in the past she even did, but that was before she had met Garrus.

The Asari turned to face her, a small, timid smile on her lips. Shepard could almost feel how nervous the Asari was.

Just as the Asari was about to speak, she looked up and her eyes widened. Shepard turned around to see what the Asari was looking at and felt her entire being brighten at the person storming towards her. In seconds a deathly determined Garrus was standing next to her. The scent of pine, his scent, washed over her and sent sparks through her body.

Shepard felt other eyes on her. She turned around to see a group of humans in Alliance casuals glaring at Garrus. Almost every one of the soldiers, in varying states of drunkenness had tried to seduce her. Now the lot of them were glaring bullets at Garrus' back, hating him for having the opposite effect they had on her. Shepard caught the gaze of one of the soldiers and flared her biotics. The soldier's eyes widened and he muttered something to the rest of his group. They all turned their attention to everything but Shepard and Garrus. They knew better than to mess with an N7, especially a biotic one.

Shepard snorted and turned to Garrus who was now sitting next to her, a brownish glass of Turian brandy in his hand. Shepard noticed the rigidness with which he sat, as if something was bothering him.

"You ok there big guy?" Shepard asked allowing the worry into her voice.

Garrus took a sip of his drink before nodding. "The woman I met with had some information for me. And I know where to look for him now."

Shepard placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, there wasn't a day that went by that she didn't think of this weight that was on his shoulders.

"You want my help with this?" She asked him. She had already made up her mind that she would be there for him to do this, whether he wanted it or not.

Garrus nodded. "This is one thing that I can't do alone." He turned his head to look at her, a slight sad smile on his face. "I wouldn't have anyone else help me with this."

Shepard smiled in return. It heartened her that even in his darkest moments he wanted her to be with him, supporting him.

"My friend gave me the alice of the person that made Sidonis disappear. He goes by the name Fade, and I know where he is."

"Alright, let's go then." Shepard motioned the bartender over and paid for her drinks and Garrus'.

Garrus nodded and downed the rest of his drink. He stood up and followed Shepard to the Rapid Transit station nearby. They got into one of the awaiting air cars, the VI asked for their destination.

"Where is he Garrus?" Shepard asked her voice already showing that she was mentally preparing for combat.

"Storage district 28 in Zakera Ward." He spoke without thinking. The car lifted up and headed towards the district.

"Wait. We're not going to the Normandy first?" Garrus asked, alarm and concern in his voice.

"Nope, don't need to." Shepard replied coolly.

"But you don't have a gun… Or armor." Shepard could hear the concern for her safety in his subvocals.

"I've been on plenty of missions not wearing anything at all." Shepard send a smirk at him, he was no doubt picturing her fighting without clothes on now.

Garrus shook his head, confirming her guess. "As to the weapon issue, I have my biotics. And you have a spare gun."

Garrus awkwardly pulled his Vindicator off his back, the cramped cab making it a chore. He handed it to her and seemed to relax a bit with her being armed. She however didn't feel any better shorting him a weapon. While Garrus did favor his Mantis over everything else, it did have it's limitations.

They spent the rest of the flight to the district in the comfortable silence that as always around them. Shepard couldn't help but wonder how the day would change Garrus. How it would change the man she had fallen for.


When they landed at the pad just outside the district there were two Blue Suns mercs standing guard. Their weapons were out but not trained on them. The door behind the two guards hissed open when Garrus and Shepard stepped out of their cab. A middle aged, balding human stepped through the door, but he was looking at a datapad in his hands so he didn't see them.

The man looked up and his eyes widened in recognition when he spotted Garrus.

"Garrus? What are you doing here?" The man spoke, fear in his voice.

Garrus pulled his Mantis off his back and Shepard brought his Vindicator to her shoulder.

"Shit!" The man spoke turning around.

"Kill them you idiots!" The man yelled at the two guards and fled through the door.

"You can run Harkin but you can't hide!" Garrus yelled before the door hissed shut.

The two guards raised their weapons, both pointing them at Shepard. Panic and fear for Shepard filled Garrus' mind. He quickly grabbed her about the waist and pulled her into a tight, shielding hug. The guards opened fire a split second later, their rounds pinging off Garrus' shields and armor.

Garrus felt his body begin to tingle and looked down at Shepard. Her form was alight in azure energy and it spread over him too protecting them both. Shepard looked up at him and he could swear that her eyes held a gentle loving look to them.

"On three?" Garrus asked trying not to let his voice purr at the look in her eyes.

"On three." Shepard's voice held a loving tone to it and it nearly melted him.

"Three" She spoke softly and Garrus had to resist the urge to press his forehead to hers, the Turian equivalent of a kiss.

Without missing a beat Garrus spun around to face the two mercs who wear now reloading. A dark purple glow surrounded one of them and Garrus sighted the other. Both mercs dropped to the floor, one missing a head and the other mangled from being biotically crushed.

"You ok?" Garrus asked and turned to face Shepard once more.

"Well I probably reek of Turian now, so just peachy." Shepard's voice teased at his senses, sending a shudder down his spine. The loving look her eyes still held didn't help matters either.

Without another word Shepard pushed past Garrus and headed towards the door, a slight teasing swing to her hips. Garrus could barely keep himself from confessing his feelings towards Shepard right then and there. Garrus met Shepard's gaze one last time with a loving look of his own before taking the lead.


It took them a while to track down Harkin, much longer than Garrus would have liked. Garrus let go of the discomfort of having to fight through mechs and mercs at a slower pace when he glanced at Shepard. Keeping her safe was more important to him than even his own life.

When they had found Harkin, trapped in a corner with nowhere left to run, they forced him into setting up a met up with Sidonis. They were on their way to meet with him after heading back to the Normandy to get Shepard a better set of clothes, ones that weren't covered in sweat and soot.

When they finally stopped they parked in a lot that was overlooking the area where Shepard was to meet Sidonis. They got out of their cab and Garrus went to find a shadowy area to set up. Shepard went down to go bring the Turian out for Garrus. Garrus was still haunted by the saddened look to Shepard's eyes when he found a spot to set up in.

"Sidonis?" Shepard's voice crackled over his comm, he had asked her to leave it open.

"Don't say that name!" The familiar Turian voice met his ears, his grip tightened on his rifle.

"Who are you? What's going on? Harkin said this was important." Garrus felt a slight ping of regret when Sidonis' panic filled voice came to him.

Garrus found Shepard and Sidonis. He almost had a clear shot, the only thing blocking his shot at ending Sidonis was Shepard's head.

"Shepard move, I've got the shot." Garrus spoke, his voice calm.

"I'm a friend of Garrus'." Garrus mentally cursed at her, she was making this harder than it needed to be.

"He's here!? Fuck I need to.." Sidonis looked as if he was about to bolt, the panic in his voice increased. Garrus adjusted his aim to shot as soon as he did.

"Wait." Shepard grabbed Sidonis' arm. "I'm the only thing keeping you alive."

"Shepard, I can end this. Just move to your left." Garrus felt his anger being to seep into his voice.

"I need to know. What made you do it?" Shepard asked ignoring Garrus.

"The Blue Suns caught me when we had a week of leave." The sadness in Sidonis' voice showed when his shoulders slumped.

"They spent that week torturing me. I was weak and gave them what they wanted, the location of our base." The grip Garrus had on his Mantis made the weapon creek.

"And you didn't tell them about this?" Shepard asked, her own anger present in her voice, her biotics flared slightly.

"I never got the chance to. The day the let me go they took my omni-tool and told me to leave Omega. They were sparing me for helping them."

Sidonis moved into Garrus' line of sight, but for some reason he couldn't pull the trigger. Something inside him told him to hear out the Turrian that had once been his friend. Sidonis leaned against a nearby railing overlooking one of the lower levels to the area.

"If I was the Turian I should have been I wouldn't have been scared out of my mind. I would have gone to warn them anyways." Sidonis' voice held a far away sound to it.

"Not a day goes by that I'm not reminded of what I've done. My food tastes like ash and I barely sleep. Every time I close my eyes I see their faces, judging me, cursing me." Sidonis turned to face Shepard, the look on his face the one of a haunted and tortured man.

"Garrus, let him go." Shepard spoke into her comm. "This isn't living, he's punishing himself more in life than you could give him through death."

"Go. Tell him to go." Garrus spoke after a long pause, his voice rough with the hate he held for Sidonis.

"He's giving you a second chance Sidonis. Don't waste it." Shepard's voice was harsh, but Garrus could hear the thankful undertones just below the surface.

"Thank you Garrus. I'll make up for this somehow." Sidonis hurried away, eager to leave the spot that was almost his end.


They rode back to the Normandy in silence. To Shepard's surprise Garrus wasn't angry at her, or at least he didn't show it if he was.

The Normandy was empty when they got there, all the people working on the hull had left for the day and most, if not all, of the crew were staying somewhere on the Citadel for the week. The CIC deck was empty save for the two of them as they walked to the elevator. The elevator was already waiting for them and the door opened when Garrus pushed the call button.

"Kate?" Garrus behind spoke once they had entered the elevator, the door sealed behind them. His voice speaking her name sent jolts through her body.

"Yeah?" She replied turning to face him. Her heart twisted at seeing his head down, almost in same.

"Just…" Garrus' voice sounded strained and conflicted. "Thank you. For being there."

Shepard lightly placed her hands on Garrus' mandibles, she thought she felt them quiver under her soft touch. She tilted his head up so that he was looking at her. A smile made it's way to her face.

"Anytime Garrus." Her voice held nothing but affection for the Turian. Shepard could see an inner conflict raging just behind his eyes.

What she did next surprised both of them. Shepard leaned her head forward and touched her forehead to his, never taking her gaze from his.

"Kate do you.." Garrus began to speak, his voice holding concern. Not many non-Turians knew what the gesture meant.

Shepard silenced him when she moved her lips to met his mouth plates. Garrus hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth. Their tongues met tentatively but passionately, both savoring the moment they had long awaited.

Shepard felt Garrus' hands move up and pull her into a tight hug, as if letting go would cause her to leave. She dropped her hand from his unscared mandible just long enough to touch the button for her cabin. Sparks raced along her body from his touch and the purr that seemed to be emanating from him.


A/N:

So this chapter didn't turn out how I thought it would. I didn't plan for most of it to be fluff but whatever! I still like it and hope you all enjoyed this too. Parts, if not most, of the next chapter might be more fluff I haven't decided and won't until I write it.

As always thank you all so much for the favs, follows and views. Massive thanks to GC42 and Rebeca for the reviews.

Until next time!

Edit: Corrected spelling mistake with Sidonis' name (everywhere) in this chapter.