Garrus Vakarian arrived at Earth after hunt on Omega. Since Cerberus didn't exist, the Alliance had a free hand and could interfere in actions happening in the Attican traverse and Terminus systems. Garrus still felt need to fight injustice in Terminus and so he was fighting on Omega for the sake of old times. He had a new people. Mostly humans, then some turians between them, but he managed to create his own unit with support from the Alliance, mainly donations by admiral Steven Hackett and captain David Anderson. Garrus was leader of group of twelve people including himself. It almost felt like four years ago when he came to Omega for the first time and with Sidonis assembled his team. Now, he returned with his unit back on Earth to get some rest. They were all standing in the row and Garrus was standing in front of them, "We've made a great progress on Omega in last few hunts. Blue Suns, Blood Pack and Eclipse will rather think to do some crime now that they know about us regularly paying them visit. We encountered some batarian pirates who almost got us in trap, but we were smarter, stronger and managed to save ourselves. Remember this, it doesn't matter whether your mission is successful or not. Important is that you arrive back with all limbs attached to your body. Unnecessary death of your comrade is worse than losing package of supplies!" Garrus said and saluted. His soldiers saluted him back, "Enjoy your shore leave! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!" he added, smiling at his soldiers.
After Garrus' speech, his soldiers dissolved into many directions. They had two weeks of free time to spend with their families so some of Garrus' soldiers remained at the astro-port for another ships or planes that would take them to their families. Garrus Vakarian went his own way out of the astro-port and exited the Alliance Navy base area. His colleagues from the Alliance wished him Merry Christmas and yes, it was December 22. Christmas were going to be soon and it was even snowing in London. Garrus decided to enjoy this weather on Earth since he didn't have many options to visit Earth and so he rather walked home on foot. His house was pretty close to the Alliance base so it would be shame to use traffic when it was snowing like that. The streets were quite busy which was result of shopping Christmas presents. Despite the busy street, Garrus noticed something in the further distance to his left. A group of police officers surrounded somebody but Garrus couldn't clearly see who, "I wonder what's happening, but do I really need to know it? I think I should care about my own problems with getting things ready before Solana arrives." Garrus thought about his sister who was going to visit him. Garrus just passed by the spot where policemen tried to negotiate with somebody who insisted on staying on place, "I'm sorry, mister, but this is public property where you cannot beg for money. You are disturbing other citizens!" the policeman said while the beggar defended himself, "Fuck off! Even C-Sec knows how to treat beggars better than you do! I have nowhere to go and nobody cares about me anymore so scram and let me be!" the beggar shouted and Garrus stopped his walk, "That voice… and he knows about C-Sec! Is that…" Garrus thought, "Sir, if you're not gonna cooperate, we'll be forced to put you into detention." The officer said, "Go ahead! I got nothing to lose!" the beggar shouted and the policemen grabbed him. Garrus just squeezed himself between them, seeing that the beggar was Lantar Sidonis, "Sidonis?!" Garrus said and Lantar opened his mouth, not able to believe his eyes. Lantar was sitting on the ground with some newspaper under him, holding empty can so he could beg money from people. Now there was Garrus Vakarian standing in front of him. He looked wealthy, with nice blue and black armor on himself and it was strange to see the contrast between them, "Garrus…?" Lantar asked back, "Mister Vakarian, you know this man?" the officer asked and Garrus' eyes only stayed concentrated on Lantar sitting on the ground, "Unfortunately I do, sergeant. If you let me, I'll handle this." Garrus said and sergeant nodded, "Let's go, boys. We've got other things to do." He said and the policemen left. Lantar looked to the ground, not sure what to say. Garrus didn't let a second pass without examining Lantar as a beggar sitting there in his tattered clothing, "What happened that he ended up like this?" Garrus thought, feeling a little bad. He didn't expect to see Lantar in this condition, "So… I think we've got nothing to talk about… Go ahead, finish me already…" Lantar said and Garrus widened his eyes, "Sidonis…?" Garrus thought, "What are you waiting for? Finish me! You have the opportunity!" Lantar said, people were just passing by and ignored Garrus talking to him, "What are you talking about, Sidonis?" Garrus asked and Sidonis stood on his feet, barely holding stability, "You forgot already? Alright, I couldn't do it, ok? I promised you to redeem myself! I failed! C-Sec threw me away! I had to escape and now I have nothing! No credits, no guns, nothing but my omni-tool!" Lantar was wobbling on place as he was standing, "Go on, hero! Shoot me! You always wanted that!" Lantar shouted and lost stability, going down. Garrus caught him in his arms, taking off his glove and checking his forehead, "He has a fever!" Garrus thought.
Garrus was sitting in an armchair while there was a salarian doctor talking to him about Lantar who was there covered in blanket, "How is he, doctor? He seemed that he's been in that cold weather quite long." Garrus asked, "It's nothing tragic, minor immunosuppression caused by prolonged exposure to severe weather. He will need only plenty of rest, regular income of food, drink and he'll be fine." The doctor explained, "Do you know how long it will take? I am expecting my sister and we want to spend Christmas together." Garrus explained, "Well, it can take few days… it can take week, depending on physical fitness." Salarian doctor said and Garrus sighed, "Alright, doctor, thank you for your patience… I've already forwarded some credits to you." Garrus said, "It's been pleasure, Garrus Vakarian." The salarian doctor said and after shaking hand with Garrus, he left his house. Garrus was standing alone in the room, looking at how Sidonis was wrapped with the blanket, "Was it me? Did he do this to himself because of me? No… Sidonis is coward, he wouldn't go into extremes. He said C-Sec threw him away. What happened to him? Why did he come to Earth?" Garrus thought, leaving Sidonis alone sleeping and went down the stairs into his kitchen to prepare something for his patient to eat. After Jane Shepard died, Garrus gave up on finding anyone else so he was most of his time lonely when he arrived home. It was strange feeling to know that the person he wanted to kill two years back was sleeping in his house. Even stranger was that he was helping him. Garrus wanted to know what made Sidonis to become beggar or how he got kicked out of C-Sec. However, he didn't realize that this helping will give Sidonis new hope, a dangerous hope allowing him to think he has a chance to succeed with Garrus.
In the meantime, Lantar was waking up, feeling everything was spinning around him. He was feeling how every part of his body was spinning, the bed under him also seemed to spin. However, when he looked around and propped himself on elbows on the bed, he couldn't recognize the space and time. Everything around him was dim, "It's dark in here. I guess it's evening? Never thought I would see night light after years on the Citadel… hmm?" Lantar noticed the door was opened and saw that he was not alone in this house. He saw light coming from downstairs, shadow and heard footsteps, "Where am I? How did I even get here?" he asked himself and noticed his uncovered skin, realizing somebody put his clothes down. A while later, he saw somebody coming upstairs but couldn't tell who was it, only knew it was turian, "Could it be…?" Lantar thought and watched. He leaned against the thick pillow behind his back and patiently anticipated the turian coming up to him. He looked like he had something in his arms. When he came up the stairs and lit the light in the room, Lantar recognized Garrus in comfortable clothing and without his eye visor, "Garrus?" Lantar asked when Garrus stood at the doorway, with bowl of soup, "Sidonis, you're awake… how are you feeling?" Garrus asked plainly and Lantar rested his head against his palm, "Feeling like shit… having chills, everything is spinning, muscles hurt me, can't feel my stomach, can't taste or smell." Lantar said and Garrus handed him the bowl of soup, "What is it?" he asked politely, "I don't want to know for how long you've been in that cold outside. I made some soup my mother used to cook when I had fever as a kid." Garrus said and approached the bowl to him, "I… I'm not hungry." Lantar said, trying to avoid the soup, "The doctor said you need to eat and drink if you want to be back on feet. Go on and eat it." Garrus said, "What it matters if I am healthy or not? You could let me freeze out there and nothing would change." Lantar said and Garrus lost patience, "Sidonis! Enough of this shit!" He placed the bowl on the table and stuffed spoon with soup inside Lantar's mouth violently, holding the back of his head, "You're not gonna die on me here just because you are coming through some kind of crisis!" he said and pulled out the spoon once Sidonis swallowed. Then he coughed, "You'll eat it! And I will make sure you'll eat it even if it means prying your mouth open and pour the whole soup in!" Garrus said and breathed long to lower his anger. Lantar was feeling like throwing up so he held his throat, "I thought you wanted me dead, Garrus…" Lantar said and Garrus didn't bother to answer. He stood up from chair he sat on and went to the doorway, looking back at Sidonis again, "Sidonis, you're not in state to argue and I'm tired so please, eat the damn soup and get some rest. It's late and we can talk tomorrow." Garrus said, letting the light on for Lantar to eat the soup and left him alone, "He cares? Since when?" Lantar thought, looking at the bowl with spoon in it, "Maybe I should listen to him and eat something, shit! I'm so cold! He shouldn't have taken off my clothes!" he took the bowl and started eating the soup. It wasn't bad. He couldn't taste much but sensed something that reminded him of Palaven. Truly, Garrus admitted his mother cooked this for him when he was sick. Lantar forced himself to eat the soup. Because the hunger was suppressed by the fever, he wanted to eat even less. However, he managed to finish it and got all soup in him. He felt a heat spreading from his belly. Definitely that soup warmed his stomach up. Lantar rested the bowl with spoon on the table next to him and covered himself with blanket, facing the wall. Garrus arrived few hours later to check up on Lantar. He entered the room, seeing the bowl empty and Lantar shivering as his upper part of body was uncovered. Garrus grabbed the blanket with his talons and rested it over Lantar, making sure he would stay in warmth. That moment when Lantar curled up once Garrus covered his upper body caused something. The expression in Garrus face changed, became less tense, it almost looked like Garrus smiled. He took the bowl with spoon and went to the doorway, switching the light off, "Good night, Lantar." Garrus said and left. After a long time, he said Lantar, not Sidonis.
The next morning Lantar woke up, he heard sounds coming from downstairs, it sounded like Garrus was preparing to leave somewhere, Lantar thought it would be better to find out. He carefully placed both feet on the floor and raised himself with the blanket around himself because he still felt chills. The world around him was still spinning, but it was better than yesterday so he could walk out of his room, seeing Garrus in his civilian outfit, "Garrus?" he asked and Garrus looked up, seeing Lantar on his feet, "Lantar? What are you doing out of the bed?" Garrus asked back, "I heard sounds and I was wondering… where are you going?" Lantar asked, "Well, maybe you noticed your clothing has reached its expiration. I'm going to look for something around in the turian markets." Garrus explained, "That's… nice of you, Garrus but you don't need to bother yourself." Lantar said but Garrus shook his head, "I'm not gonna let you leave this house at the same state as I've found you. I should be back in an hour. In the meantime, it's up to you what you'll do. You can watch something in TV but I'd recommend staying in bed." Garrus said and left the house immediately. Lantar walked slowly down the stairs and sat in an armchair in front of Garrus' TV, switching it on and looking for something to watch, "Did he call me Lantar?" he thought, considering that strange. Lantar rested while watching random human channels, wrapped in his blanket.
Garrus returned indeed after an hour, "I'm back." he said and Lantar waved his arm to show he was in the armchair. Garrus came in the living room, showing Lantar the new clothes he found at the store. They were colored mostly with dark green and white with some thin golden yellow stripes between those two colors, "It looks… good. Thanks, Garrus." Lantar said, "I was choosing sizes according to your previous clothes so… try it on." Garrus said, giving the clothes over to Lantar. He turned around to give Lantar some privacy and let him dress up in the new clothing. Lantar stood up, "I think… I think it fits me well." he said, Garrus turned around and checked him, "Great. Now, you better take it off. I'll have to wash it before you can use it. Go back in bed, I'll bring something for you to eat." Garrus said, "Ok, mom." Lantar nodded and Garrus chuckled. Lantar went up to his room, taking everything off and wrapping himself in blanket again. In a short while, Garrus went upstairs, holding plate of meals for Lantar to eat. He placed it next to him on the table but Lantar didn't seem to be interested in eating, "You're not gonna eat?" Garrus asked, "I will…" Lantar said, turning to Garrus, "I just thought we would talk." He added and Garrus pulled chair to sit next to Lantar's bed, "What about?" he asked plainly, "I feel kinda bad that you're spending money and energy on somebody like me. When I arrived here, I didn't expect to see you." Lantar said but Garrus smiled, "Don't care about money. The Alliance pays well, surely better than C-Sec from what I remember. Besides… what happened to you and C-Sec? You said you were fired." Garrus asked, "I did horrible thing, Garrus. I was doing so well as an officer, having job, helping others, and then I just had to fuck up." Lantar said, holding his head with both hands, "What happened so bad?" Garrus asked, "I killed human… but I didn't do it on purpose. He wanted sex, I accepted. He gave me Hallex and that was fatal." Lantar explained, "Hallex is shit, I can confirm that. Used it once, also before sex and my partner almost didn't make it if she didn't throw me against wall, calming me down that way." Garrus chuckled and Lantar had to smile, "No way. I thought you wouldn't be like this." he said, "Nah. All of us were young and we all did some stupid things." Garrus explained, "So… you don't mind that another innocent died because of me?" Lantar said, "Hey, it's his fault that he gave you Hallex. More I'm pissed off for my ten men back then when we worked together!" Garrus remarked, "Right… that's another thing. Garrus, if you still hate me for what I've done, why do you bother saving my goddamned life?" Lantar asked, "Because I don't want you dead anymore. You forgot that Jane changed my mind two years ago. Let's be honest, Lantar. You're coward, but you're not proud of it. That's all I needed to know and Shepard confirmed it. You know you want to change so you try to fight. That's why I am helping you." Garrus explained, "But something changed, Garrus. You don't call me Sidonis, but Lantar. Are you telling me that we're… friends?" Lantar asked, pushing 'friends' out of his throat, "I wouldn't say friends. Let's say I hate you somehow less." Garrus smiled, "Right… I guess you want me to leave once I'm fine enough." Lantar said but Garrus thought for a while, "Actually… my sister is coming for a visit. Do you want to spend a week of Christmas with us before she leaves or… you have somebody to visit?" Garrus asked and Lantar shook his head. Actually, he thought of Dartus, but he was on the Citadel so he couldn't return. His decision was clear, "I'll stay." Lantar said slowly and Garrus stood up from chair, "Good. It's good to know that I didn't make bad choice letting you live." Garrus smiled at Lantar who smiled back. Before Garrus left, Lantar stopped him, "Uh, Garrus? About what I wrote you in that message, about Shepard… I'm sorry. I just tried to help and-" Lantar said but Garrus waved his hand over it, "Let's not talk about this, shall we? Go on and eat before that meal gets cold." Garrus said, leaving the room with Lantar alone, "It definitely hurts him still." Lantar thought and started eating what Garrus prepared, "I should not mess into this but… he helped me. I should help him as well."