Chapter 22: Lovers Old and New

By the time Shepard reached the Normandy's medbay, Garrus was still out like a light. Shepard slapped the door control to open up the medbay, and paused at seeing her old friend. Rah was laid out on one of the beds in the room, with a few different machines hooked up to him.

Shepard entered in hesitantly. Chakwas caught her eye and the matronly doctor motioned her to put Garrus into a free bed. Once Garrus was settled on the bed, Shepard walked to her friend's side, taking in his new appearance.

His entire right shoulder and arm were covered in a hard cast. the skin on his chest was black and blue and made even her wince. His neck was surrounded by a brace, and an air mask covered his mouth and nose. Shepard relaxed slightly when she saw the steady rise and fall of his chest. The last time she had check in on him, his breathing came only from the mask on his face.

"How is he?" Shepard asked, keeping her voice low.

"I'm fine Sarge." Rah's voice replied from his now active omni-tool. Shepard looked to see that his eyes had shot open and he was trying to smile to her.

"I've been through worse though." Rah tried grinning to her.

"So how are you talking with the mask on?" Shepard asked, smirking down at him.

"Fox." He replied sheepishly.

"Uhuh. So they really did give us all AI's back then?" Shepard replied, smirking at him.

"Yes and no." Rah replied. "They gave us VI's to see how we would work with a basic AI. Not everyone got one, and those of us that do have one, well we're kinda already insane."

"You mean more insane than the rest of the outfit?" Shepard chuckled.

"Pretty much. Had you lived long enough, they'd have given you Delta's full version. He's still around, just not with an N7 like he was meant to be. Think he's Anderson's assistent now."

Shepard snorted and noticed that Rah's gaze flicked to Chakwas who'd been watching the two from Rah's right side.

"Mind taking this thing off me Doc? I think I can manage breathing. Not like I've ever done it before." Rah smirked to Chakwas.

Chakwas rolled her eyes at his snarkiness, but the doctor had dealt with Joker for longer than Shepard knew and was used to worse. Chakwas removed the mask and Rah closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of being able to breath on his own. Shepard knew all too well just how it could feel.

"Most of the AI's that were given out, they were given to members of the Ghosts that could work on solo ops. Haven't had a team since getting the full Fox package." Rah told her, his voice scratchy from lack of use.

"And it hasn't stopped him for making the crudest jokes possible." Fox's voice replied.

Rah rolled his eyes and his omni-tool powered off. Shepard looked to where the device was on his arm and blurted out her next question without thought.

"How you you have her? EDI needs an entire server room for our ship." Shepard asked and Rah grinned to her.

"My own ship. Not just for jumping to FTL, but also for housing Fox." Rah grinned to her.

"I will never understand the Alliance." Shepard shook her head.

"So Karin, how is he really?" Shepard asked the elderly woman.

"His new bone weaves are taking nicely. The brakes should heal soon, but I am going to keep him off duty for at least a week. The internal bleeding from the brakes has been stopped." Chakwas told her, only to be interrupted.

"I'm fine Sarge. Didn't make us super soldiers to be taken down by our own guns." Rah smirked to the two women.

"You pull another stunt like this again and I'll show you how wrong you are." Shepard scolded him, not even aware that she had taken on her "mom" voice

Rah chuckled and then winced slightly. "Sarge, I fear for any kids you'll have with Scarface over there. Anyone else and your 'mom' voice would be scary."

Shepard looked at him with wide eyes. He had never really talked to her or Garrus aside from banter at the mess table the few times he was there. And yet he had picked up on her and Garrus right away.

Are we really that obvious? Shepard asked herself.

"To anyone that knows you, yes. It is a million percent that obvious. Couldn't tell it from looking at him, could tell it from you." Rah told her, knowing what she'd been thinking.

"What? How?" Shepard stammered.

"I was around when you and Jane would do that thing you did about being friends with benefits yet more than just that. It's kinda easy for me to pick up on things after I see them." Rah smirked to her.

"If it's some big secret, I won't tell a soul." Rah smiled to her, easing any possible fears she'd have.

"Thank you Rah. I'd like that." Shepard sighed out, smiling to her old friend.

"Now, I need to go and take care of the others. I'll see you around Rah." Shepard smiled to him, patting his left shoulder.

"Later Sarge." Rah grinned back to his former CO.


Hours after Shepard left him, Rah grimaced at his stomach churning. He'd not yet eaten solid food, and was in dire need of getting some in him. Dire need might have been pushing it, but damn did he want something to eat.

Fox, how are my bones healing? Rah asked the AI, sitting up.

"Fine if you want to, taking it off wouldn't do anything. It never really did anything in the first place." Fox replied to him.

Good. Rah replied, reaching up and undoing the neck brace.

With his neck finally free, Rah stretched out the stiff muscles and looked around the medbay. The lights were dimmed and it was into the night shift of the ship. Chakwas had probably turned in, likely with orders for EDI to wake her if Rah started doing something.

At this point, Rah didn't care and he carefully slide out of his bed, unhooking himself from the machines that were to monitor him. It felt weird not being able to move his primary arm, but he was ambidextrous, so he could live with it for a while. He slipped out of the medbay and into the empty mess hall. He realized that it wasn't as empty as he thought when he felt Jack's biotic aura behind the counter.

"Jack?" Rah asked, walking towards the counter.

Jack shot up and looked at him, her biotics flared and a snarl on her face. Her glow dropped along with her scowl at seeing it was him behind her.

"What are you doing here? Doesn't Chakwas have you tied to that bed?" Jack asked, looking around almost nervously.

"Only one person on this ship that I'd let tie me to a bed." Rah smirked, winking at her. Rah held in any other response down at line when he spotted an unusual coloring come to her face.

"Not getting enough for meals?" Rah asked, nodding to the open cabinets behind her. Jack looked oddly relieved at the topic change.

"I haven't been eating regularly since you stopped bringing me food." Jack replied, glaring at him.

"Yeah…. Sorry about that." Rah replied scratching his jaw nervously. "Thought you didn't want to see me after that little talk we had."

"Yeah well, you were wrong. So time to make it up to me." Jack replied, shoving his chest from across the counter.

Rah grinned to the woman and opened up the fridge. "Let's see, what shall be our poison today?" He asked mostly to himself.


"Doctor Chakwas." EDI's voice broke into Karin's light sleep.

"Yes EDI?" She replied, keeping her voice low so as to keep the others on the room from waking up.

"You requested me to inform you should Major Carmine do something other than sleep." EDI replied, making the doctor sigh.

"I'll deal with it in a minute." Karin replied, slipping out of her bunk.

Once she was presentable and no long in only her sleeping attire, she padded her way out of the sleeping quarters of the Normandy. The moment she stepped out of the crew quarters, an almost heavenly smell washed over her.

Only one arm and he can still make the worst ingredients smell like that?! Karin thought to herself in bewilderment.

Karin began making her way towards the mess, but stopped in her tracks when she heard two voices. She had expected Rah to be signing, it was just something that he did, even more so when cooking. What she hadn't expected was for him to be talking to someone else.

Karin cautiously walked into the mess hall, only to find both Rah and Jack behind the counter.

"Got the peppers diced up?" Rah asked the slim woman, his left arm seeming to be stirring something.

"I think so." Jack replied, almost hesitantly. Karin had never heard the woman like this. She'd never even thought it possible for Jack to be unsure about something.

Rah looked over at whatever it was that was in front of Jack and gave the woman a beaming grin. Karin watched in awe when Jack looked to Rah and then quickly away. It was hard for Karin to believe that the gruff, crass, and blunt woman that was Jack could be anything but a pissed off tomboy. Yet in front of her, she could see that something in Rah pulled the woman back to the girl that she must have been before Cerberus.

Karin shook her head. For once, she would let it go that someone didn't follow doctor's orders.


Garrus let out a heavy sigh when he stepped into the elevator. He had spent too much time in the main battery after he'd woken up, even by his own standards.

When he woke up from being knocked out by the Shadow Broker, he'd retreated into his hole that was the main battery for the evening. He spent hours there until he finally tore himself away from his calibrations. He walked through the mess and passed by Rah and Jack sitting at one of the tables. Neither of them paid him any attention however, they were too busy being the closest thing the a normal couple that those two could get. Garrus now knew what it must have been like for everyone else on the SR-1 when he and Shepard didn't realize what it was they shared.

Garrus felt a smile tug at his mandibles when he entered Shepard's cabin. The lights were off, yet he could faintly see her curled up on one side of the bed under the covers. Shepard always looked so at peace when she was sleeping.

As silently as he could, Garrus moved into the room and began stripping of his armor. When he was free of all clothing, both armor and undersuit, he slipped into the bed behind Shepard. With his arms around her, she turned and pressed herself into him. She was still asleep, but it had become common her her to sleep as close as possible to him.

Garrus felt sleep beginning to take him now that Shepard was in his arms. He was already asleep when he realized that something was off about Shepard. It wasn't something unpleasant however.

Garrus woke up hours later to the pleasant sensation of Shepard's deft fingers tracing the cracks in his plates that showed his leathery skin underneath. He gave a small rumble of approval and nuzzled the top of her head.

"Nice to see you finally tore yourself from your wife." Shepard teased him.

"The guns of the ship have got nothing on you Kate." Garrus purred into her ear, giving her a quick nip. Garrus grinned smugly when she shuddered against him.

"No one in the 'verse has got anything on you." Garrus purred, dragging his talons down her back.

"Is that so Vakarian?" Shepard teased back. "Not even someone like a Primarch's daughter?"

"Not even if every woman in the galaxy started throwing themselves at me." He replied, nipping where her shoulder met her neck.

"You sure know how to make a girl feel wanted." Shepard replied to him, her fingers finding the sensitive spot under his fringe.

Garrus simply rumbled happily in his chest. For what felt like hours they lay they basking in each other's presence.

"So what do you think?" Shepard asked after a while of warm silence.

"About what?' Garrus asked, not sure what it was that she could be talking about.

"About this." Shepard replied, her voice heavy and sultry.

She pulled away from him, giving him a full view of her near naked body. What caught Garrus attention, was that she wasn't wearing the Alliance issued underwear she'd been wearing since first stopping at the Citadel.

His breath caught at seeing she was wearing blue lace bra and panties. The blue was the exact same shade and tint as his markings were. The pattern of the lace looked like a stylized version of the markings that covered his body as well. Seeing her wearing his blue and the closest thing to his markings made his growl deep in his chest.

"I didn't realize that store carried things like this." Garrus growled, his voice holding a possessive note to it. Garrus watched as a red flush started to appear on Shepard's chest and cheeks.

"They normally don't." Shepard replied, almost giving him a purr of her own. "And just how would you know about this Vakarian."

"There was a similar store on the Citadel that I answered a few calls for when I was starting out in C-Sec. Never got the point to what they sold there." Garrus replied, his eyes devouring the sight of Shepard. He noticed that she had a look of self doubt flash over her face.

"Until now that is." Garrus growled lustfully, placing his forehead against hers.

"So you like it?" Shepard asked timidly.

"Katherine." Garrus purred. "It's one of the few things that I'd die to see you wearing."

"Oh?" Shepard replied, her eyes sparkling and her voice mischievous. "And what would these other things be?"

"My markings." Garrus blurted out without thinking. One of Shepard's hands flew up to her mouth, covering it in surprise.

"Garrus did you…" Shepard stammered, her eyes watering.

"Katherine?" Garrus asked nervously. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing Garrus." Shepard replied. Only a moment later she was pressing her lips to his mouth.

"You sure nothing's wrong?" Garrus asked after several long minutes of kissing.

"I just never thought you'd ask that." Shepard smiled to him. The way she smiled in pure love and joy made his spirits soar.

"So you know what you wearing my markings means then?" Garrus asked Shepard, eyeing her closely.

"It's the equivalent to marriage for humans right?" Shepard replied, almost hesitantly.

"Formally, yes. By all rights, you and I are already bounded." Garrus replied.

"How so?" Shepard replied, a curious look on her features.

"This." Garrus pointed out the bite mark at the join of her neck and shoulder.

"And this." He pointed to the equivalent one that she had given him.

"For Turians, it's like being bounded, just without the legal benefits." Garrus told her softly.

"So I'm almost Commander Vakarian in that case then." Shepard smiled to him, but Garrus looked to her with a raised brow plate.

"When humans get married, the woman usually takes the man's name, showing that she's now part of his family." Shepard elaborated for him.

"I'd never ask you to change your name for me Kate." Garrus replied to her, Shepard only gave him a warm smile.

"It's my choice to make, Garrus. And it's one that I'll decide when we get there. After this whole end of the universe thing is done with." Shepard smiled to him.

"And also after you tell your parents." Shepard teased.

Shepard stifled a laugh when Garrus felt his face plates go slack. The utter horror of needing to tell his parents was something he wanted to wait on for now.

"We have some time before we need to do anything you know." Shepard told him, her voice sultry and suggestive.

Garrus shoved the thoughts of after the Reapers to the back of his mind. He pulled Shepard into him, letting out a possessive, lustful growl.


Rah was cooking lunch for him and Jack with her help when he heard the elevator open. The hairs on the back of his neck rose in danger. He felt Shepard's biotic aura along with the aura of someone else. Whoever it was, had an immensely dark taint to her power.

Rah looked up from the lasagna that he and Jack were making and looked to the lift when he heard Shepard's voice talking to someone.

Rah blocked out what it was that Shepard was saying and focused his attention on the Asari that followed on his old CO's heels. She seemed to be pleasant enough just from the way that she moved and held herself. Rah quickly pulled up his mental file on Shepard's old team and realized that this was the Liara T'soni that they had come to save.

"Waste of effort with that one." Rah mumbled to himself.

"The fuck are you talking about?" Jack asked him, her voice not holding the usual bite to it.

"I have a bad feeling about T'soni." Rah shrugged. "You learn to trust the feelings you get about people after a while."

"And what did you feel about me?' Jack asked, looking like she almost dreaded the answer.

"That was a weird one." Rah replied, chuckling.

"Part of me told me to kill you on sight, part of me wanted to hug you for no reason." Rah grinned to her. "Think I'm more inclined to do the later."

Jack looked away from him and back to the meal they were preparing. "I wouldn't stop you." Jack whispered, almost soft enough that he didn't catch it.

Rah didn't reply, feeling it best that he not push it. He and Jack were just friends, even if that damned thing in his chest wanted more.

"Liara, I'd like to introduce you to Major Robert Carmine." Shepard's voice sounded behind him.

Rah grumbled and wiped his hands on a rag before turning around.

"Doctor T'soni." Rah said in a professional tone, stepping around to the other side of the counter.

Rah held out his hand in greeting towards the Asari. Liara however stepped in and gave him an extremely awkward hug for him. Rah looked between the three women around him awkwardly, unsure of what he should do.

Shepard seemed to be trying, and almost failing, at holding in laughter. Jack seemed to be scowling and almost growling at the Asari.

"Kat has told me so much about you. And I must thank you for taking out Vasir on Illium." Liara spoke when she pulled away from him.

"Who?" Rah asked blankly.

"The Asari that caused you this dipshit." Shepard laughed at him, tapping on his cast.

"Well fuck you too Sarge." Rah barbed back at Shepard, giving her a slight wink.

"And that wasn't a problem for me. Probably just as good a shot as Vakarian." Rah told Liara, wincing when she brushed his still sore chest.

"Thank you for that still. I don't know many that would take that risk for a friend." Liara smiled to him. It wasn't lost on Rah when the Asari's gaze swept over his half naked form, only downside to wearing only shorts at times.

"You should know the type of people Sarge keeps around her. Most of our old mates would've done the same thing." Rah shrugged, brushing it aside.

"Most?" Shepard asked, a playful eyebrow raised.

"Well, not Johnson, Blizz, and Red. Those girls couldn't hit jack shit. You'd think that being a Fury would make you not terrible at shooting anything that required you to aim." Rah joked. And Shepard rolled her eyes at him.

"You just had to bring them up didn't you? Trying to make me jelous?" Shepard barbed back.

"Maybe someone else if I ever get around to telling her about those three." Rah smirked, glancing at Jack. He wasn't sure when it started, but Rah felt most comfortable when teasing and being around Jack.

"You better not do it on my ship when you do, I'd rather not have a you sized hole in it." Shepard chuckled. "Come on Liara, let's let them be, still got a few parts of the Normandy left for you to see."

Shepard and Liara left him and Jack alone, much to Rah's relief. Liara had been standing too close to him for comfort.

"Fucking Asari." Rah snarled when they were out of earshot.

"Not a fan of the blue bitches?" Jack asked with a smirk.

"I'm not a fan of most things that have boobs, so no." Rah replied. Sure Asari were useful, but other than their Justicars and Commandos, he could live without them.

"That's how you feel then." Jack said, almost disappointedly.

"Well, not for you, mine are bigger than yours." Rah joked and Jack couldn't help but snort and glance at his bare chest.

"Yours are all muscle, that's not fair." Jack pouted in response.

"Let's get this cooking before Chakwas comes out here and rips my head off. Just need to hope your cooking is enough to satisfy that one." Rah chuckled.

"You're probably dead then Boyscout." Jack joked.

"No confidence in your in abilities there Princess." Rah shook his head.


"Certainly an interesting ship Kat." Liara told her when they stepped into Shepard's cabin. "More than an interesting crew."

"Nice seeing some old faces?" Shepard asked liara, leading her friend to her couch, pulling out a bottle of Asari wine.

"And interesting to see some new ones, like the one from your past." Liara replied, giving her a smile.

"Garrus must have some high competition with him still on board." Liara told her taking a glass that Shepard gave her.

"Who?" Shepard asked, looking at her friend in confusion.

"Major Carmine. Everything I've read says that you two were close, and where even more so when you became N7's." Liara told her and Shepard couldn't stop herself from laughing.

"Rah? Hell no!" Shepard laughed, only laughing harder at the bewildered look on Liara's face.

"No, he and I are the closest thing that either of us will come to having siblings. He and I are even closer than Tali and I are. He's held me up when I was down, and hasn't done anything but be my rock when no one else could." Shepard told her friend when she caught her breath.

"So he's free then?" Liara asked, almost slyly.

"Only if you feel like trying to get him from Jack." Shepard smirked to her friend.

Liara frowned and sat down. "You don't know what it's like Kat. Not being able to find someone when all you want is for someone to be there with you, hold you as you cry yourself to sleep."

"I know perfectly well what that's like Liara. I've been there before, but you don't need to look so far to find that person for you." Shepard told her friend wrapping a comforting arm around the Asari's shoulders.

"Who then?" Liara asked, almost hopefully.

"Ferion." Shepard told her simply. She could see that there was something that the Drell had for Liara when they found him in the Broker's ship.

Liara looked up to Shepard with a small smile. Clearly he was someone that she hadn't thought of before.

"Here." Liara spoke, holding out a data pad. "I found this in the Broker's files, I thought you'd be interested in it."

Shepard quickly scanned through the contents. On the pad, were dossiers the Shadow Broker had on each member of her squad.

"God damn Liara, you couldn't have given me any more of a gold mine." Shepard smirked to her friend.

While she had never really been the gossipy type, it was still human nature to find out any secrets that one could about anyone around them. Having the secrets on her team was both exciting and frightening. Shepard both wanted to look at what the Shadow Broker had on all of them, but at the same time she was afraid of what it was that she would find in there.

"I also have this for you Kat." Liara spoke warmly, holding out a paper wrapped box.

Shepard took it and tore it open the paper. Inside in a glass enclosed case, were her old dog tags.

"Why are you giving me these Liara?" Shepard asked, not understanding the point.

"I had read that marines often had an emotional attachment to their tags. Was I wrong?" Liara replied hesitantly.

"For most no. I'm just not the sentimental type about stuff." Shepard replied, looking up to her friend.

"The thought was what counted. Thanks Liara." Shepard smiled warmly to her friend before pulling her into a tight hug.

"You're welcome Kat." Liara replied, giving Shepard a kiss on the cheek.

"I've loved this, getting to see the new Normandy, getting to catch up." Liara smiled. "But I need to get back to the ship. So much for me to still do."

"I understand Liara. Just remember, you'll always have a home here if you need it." Shepard smiled to her friend.

"I will Kat. Take care of yourself, and take care of Garrus for me." Liara smiled before leaving her cabin.

Shepard waited a few minutes after her doors closed before turning to the pad in her hands. She sunk deeper into her couch and started reading through the files the Shadow Broker had.


Garrus rubbed the back of his neck when he stepped into Shepard's cabin. There was a nasty kink there and it had been bugging him all day.

Garrus sat down next to Shepard on her couch. She didn't even notice that he was there until he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Oh, hey Garrus. I didn't hear you come in." Shepard smiled to him, but he could tell it was a little forced.

"Are you ok Kate?" Garrus asked, concern thrumming in his subvocals.

"Liara gave me some interesting information." Shepard replied,sidestepping the question.

"How interesting?" Garrus asked, pulling her into his lap, the kink in his neck forgotten. He had the sense to leave his armor in the battery, so it didn't get in the way of this simple action.

"Our friends interesting." She replied with a hesitant look to her. "Including you."

"Have you read mine yet?" Garrus asked. He was to the point with Shepard that he wouldn't hold anything from her, but he would tell them to her on his terms.

"No. I wanted you to read it first, then tell me if there was anything that you didn't want me to see in there." She told him, looking away from his gaze.

"We'll read it together then." Garrus smiled to her, nuzzling the top of her head. "I have nothing to hide from you."

With that, Shepard opened the file. It had the basic information that any public file would have on him, along with some more personal things. Things like the names carved into his visor, the music that he preferred to listen to, the specs on his visor, and even his prime kills on Omega.

Shepard teased him about some of this. Apparently he didn't seem like the Fleet and Flotilla kind of guy. Garrus knew his neck turned an interesting shade of blue then, and Shepard offered to watch it with him after their mission was done, like a normal couple.

Then they came to the messages between him and his sister Solana Vakarian. And then the message from Doctor Jelith Kieron, one of the doctors that would be taking care of his mother. All the while, Shepard stayed silent as they read those messages.

When the file had been read over, she turned the pad off, tossed it to the side, and spun in his grip to face him. Garrus was expecting her to chew him out for not telling her about his mother. He wasn't expecting her to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him into a tight hug.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Shepard asked, her voice soft, almost hurt.

"You didn't need the weight of my mom's condition on your shoulders. You've got enough to worry about. I didn't think it was important." Garrus replied, his voice soft and tender.

"Garrus." She spoke quietly, sadness in her voice. "Anything and everything about you and your family is important to me."

They stayed like that for minutes, Garrus could feel a wetness on his leathery skin. He began cooing softly to Shepard, trying to ease her sorrow.

"When we're done with this." Garrus spoke softly. "I'd like you to meet my mother."

Shepard pulled away from him just enough to look him in the eye.

"Are-are you sure?" She asked, the trails of her tears still on her face.

Garrus lightly brushed the trails away and leaned his forehead against hers. "I want her to know about us." Garrus smiled to her, showing his love for her in his voice and eyes.

"You sure know how to make a girl feel wanted Vakarian." Shepard chuckled before pulling him into a deep kiss.

"And how to give a girl some hope." She spoke softly when they parted.


A/N: This chapter is brought to you by Fluffy bits Inc.